Post by Khaos on Oct 18, 2021 20:15:01 GMT -5
“Eternal Darkness”. It’s not just a wrestling move that I slap on my opponent and squeeze the life out of them. It’s a mindset, a state of being. It’s me peeling the wool off of your eyes and showing you the hellish existence that is our world. Most can’t stomach it; most tap out. Others embrace it, like I have. Some of these people I’d call “friends”, but most are “foes”. Because in this world, only the strongest survive. And relying on others to watch your back is a dangerous game; trusting them even more foolhardy. You’ll rarely find a group of individuals that share a similar mindset; it’s typically ever man or women for themselves. But when you find those that see you for you, accept you for who you really are, it’s a rare and beautiful thing. Some would call this “a family”. It’s been awhile since I’ve had that…
When the Revo1 camera crew finally catches up to the Sin World Champion, Damien Carter, he is sitting on one of the edges of the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. His feet dangle harmlessly over the ledge as he seems to be transfixed on the water below. At first glance, you’d think this might just be another homeless veteran looking for a way “out”. He was dressed down for the weather, wearing a pair of ripped sweat pants that did little to help with the growing cold of the night. Above, he wore a nondescript hooded-sweatshirt, the hood torn in one spot that made it flap in the wind; like a cape. He sensed their presence but didn’t acknowledge them. They were wary to walk out onto the bridge, this one primarily used for trains. But they had shut down any traffic for the night so the documentary team should be safe…
“It never ceases to amaze me how, no matter where I am, you always seem to find me,” Damien kept his eyes fixated on the water, his words meant for the Revo1 cameras and audience, but – somehow – it seemed like they were meant for someone else. “Though I tolerate these ‘intrusions’ on my down time, I’d warn you not to come searching for me outside of my pre-approved windows of availability.”
As if the things Damien hunted cared anything about his wrestling career. In truth, they’d probably wish for their encounters to be caught on camera. The more people that knew about their existence, the more panic and anarchy that would ensue.
“Halloween is fast upon us,” Damien continued, almost as if lost in his own world. “A time of year where kids embrace their inner-demons and are rewarded for it with candy. It’s all in good fun, I’m sure. But for me, it’s just another day. I see demons everywhere I go; yours… mine… theirs…”
Damien nodded down towards the water, as if he was peering through its waves and staring at the bottomless hellfire pit below.
“Though I will say,” Damien half-smiled. “It does give me a chance to show myself; my true self. And though people still run away out of fear, there’s a sense of security in it. As if they, too, are in on the joke and that it’s only all for ‘show’.”
Damien turned now, his eyes staring into the camera.
“I’ve gotten pretty good at that, don’t you think?” Damien sneered. “Putting on a show? Entertaining the masses? Letting you see bits and pieces, but never the full puzzle. It keeps you intrigued; has you begging for more. And why is that? Why do people gravitate towards that? Do you not feel that tingle on the back of your spine, warning you of the impending danger? Do you not hear that voice in your head, telling you to run; to save yourself?”
Damien looked away, glancing down at his left hand.
“The Left Hand invasion backed me into a corner,” Damien declared. “They came in to Revo1, thinking they could control the ‘Khaos’, but they learned – like so many others before them – that there can never be order, ONLY Khaos!”
The fingers on his left hand curled into a fist.
“I systematically and single-handedly uprooted them and cast them out and by doing so, that – somehow – made me a ‘hero’,” Damien scoffed. “I am NOT anybody’s hero; don’t let my actions deceive you as such. I am drawn to the darkness, like a millionaire to a mistress. It calls to me constantly, embraces me in its cloak of shadows. Who knows how long the Left Hand had been planning this ‘hostile takeover’. I know, now, that it was THEIR sins that drew me here, to this place. But now that they have been vanquished, it is not THEIR sins that keep me here. Truth be told, I may not be here for that at all. This place… Revo1… feels like… home…”
Damien’s words trail off in the wind as he tries to process just what he is saying. He hadn’t had an actual “home” since a very early age. His family was all killed and he was the only survivor. He left and went to live at the Silver Oaks Orphanage. That’s where he stayed until that, too, was taken from him. From there, he spiraled further and further down into the darkness – until the Lord of Shadows himself took him in, gave him a purpose. But now, since returning from the In-Between, he felt like he had a second lease on life. He wanted more.
“I built myself quite the reputation on Legacy,” Damien continued. “An ‘unstoppable and unbeatable monster’, that’s what they called me. Whether you believe that or not is your prerogative; my track record speaks for itself. Since the end of March, I’d been that brand’s main attraction – I defeated Cartier and became the Legacy Heavyweight Champion. It was never my intent to go for any type of gold here but after I bested my opponent at The Ides, I began to understand the infatuation. And so, maybe that’s why I now find myself on Sin…”
Damien narrowed his eyes, his mind contemplative. For a moment, it looked like he might actually be thinking about jumping into the watery grave below. Instead though, he turned his body and placed one leg over the barrier, now straddling the edge; half-alive, half-dead.
“Perhaps it is as they say,” Damien mused. “Perhaps winning changes you; that intoxicating power of being the ‘best’, of being able to hold the title up for all to see, and, in return, demand that they all acknowledge you as such. When I say it aloud, that doesn’t sound like me. I go about my business. I do what needs to be done. Win or lose, I bring everything that I am and with it, the darkness follows.”
Damien takes one last look over the edge before lifting his other leg and placing it securely back on the bridge. He stands up, a dark aura forming around him.
“Is it the title that keeps me here?” Damien rhetorically asked. “Is it my connection to Cerise; someone who has pulled back the veil of my mysticism and not gone insane as a result? Is it my sins that have drawn me to this new brand, full of new challenges? Or is it… you?”
Damien points at the camera and, for a moment, no one seems to know about whom he is referring to.
“Is it you, Sara Pettis?” Damien inquired, tilting his head slightly. “Are you the reason that I have remained? Are you the one that is meant to challenge me and, finally, take from me what I’ve fought so long and hard to retain? People say that I’ve ‘dodged a bullet’ with Maggie Lockheart opting to face Jin Min-jun at Christmas Chaos. I can’t really say that I’m all that surprised by her actions. She won the Remembrance Battle Royal, which proves her resilience and strength. And she, clearly, chose the easier opponent, which proves she has brains to go with that brawn. So while I will have to wait my turn for the privilege to face off against the ‘Black Legacy’ herself, it now becomes apparent that Sin has no heir-apparent to my throne. No one to challenge me.”
Damien scratched at his three-day-old beard as he winced at the thought of having to sit on the sidelines for a PPV that was, aptly and appropriately, named just for him. However, they did spell “Chaos” wrong…
“I didn’t know of you before,” Damien continued. “You were the returning superstar with which I had never had any previous encounter. Your time in the spotlight was before I had even thought of making my presence known. I don’t know what your reasons were for disappearing before my arrival, maybe you felt the winds of change and realized that you needed to bunker down and wait out the storm. But as the Cowgirls from Hell can attest to, I’m relentless – I’m all-consuming – I’m never-ending. I can count on one hand the amount of times that the Tag Team Champions have made their presence known since I’ve been here. Every single time that they popped their little heads up from their mole-hills, Cerise and I were there to ‘bop’ them back down. Since our arrival, there has been no team BETTER than us. And though I would’ve loved nothing more than to take those Tag Team Titles from those undeserving Champions, I’ve done what I seem to always do, and that is scare off the competition.”
Damien narrowed his eyes, more-so out of disdain.
“The first chance that they get, they high-tail it over to Legacy where they think the Diamond’s will protect them,” Damien smiled. “But there is no where you can run; nowhere that you can hide. It doesn’t matter if it’s on Sin, on Legacy, up north in Canada, down south in Texas, or on the fucking moon; the PsyKhotics will find you and we will take what should’ve been ours months ago – those Tag Team Titles.”
Damien smiled again.
“So perhaps we’ve come to it at last,” Damien half-laughed. “Perhaps it is truly MY own Sins that have brought me to this place. Perhaps my sin is lust; lust for power, for gold, to be the best and to damn the rest.”
Damien began walking towards the camera as the crew did its best to back up, giving him as much of a berth as they could. With the bright lights reflecting off of the lens, it almost seemed like a freight train was barreling down on them.
“One thing you should know about me Sara,” Damien spoke again, his voice deeper; darker. “Is that I don’t EVER make the mistake of taking someone lightly. Just because I know very little about your past with Revo, doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed what you’ve done since you’ve been back. Hell, you lasted until the final three in the Remembrance Battle Royal, along with Cerise and Maggie. I know how tough Cerise is, so for you to outlast her only confirms what I already knew about you. You are worthy to challenge me for this Championship; there is no doubt about that. But I don’t make those decisions, the ‘Boss Lady’ does. That being said, this match between you and I is YOUR opportunity to prove to them and the rest of Revo1 what I already know – that you can be a World Champion. I pray that you rise to the occasion and that you don’t disappoint; but it wouldn’t surprise me if you do falter in my presence, it’s not the first time that something like that’s happened, and it won’t be the last.”
Damien lowered his head, flipping the hood up.
“As the old adage goes… ‘Sometimes when you stare into the abyss’,” Damien slowly lifted his head, his eyes burning red. “… ‘the abyss stares back’…”
