Post by JC Keeton on Apr 27, 2023 10:37:41 GMT
OOC: Music not required and probably not anyone elses taste but it accompanies the RP well.
“Oh and two…” the familiar yet unusually raspy voice of JC Keeton trailed off.
He was seated in a lawn chair next to a barrel with flames and black smoke rolling from it. Even though it was dark, the fire illuminated the backyard enough to see the boxes and bags that were scattered around. Beer cans and broken glass also littered the yard as well. JC himself looked as disheveled as the scene surrounding him. Both eyes were black and his badly broken nose was swollen twice the size of normal. He looked dirty and unshaven, his attire consisted of only a pair of soot covered jeans, no shirt, shoes or socks. He leaned forward to pick up a half smoked cigarette off the ground. He lit it against the side of the barrel then took a long deep drag. Being a non-smoker typically he coughed lightly as he exhaled blowing the white smoke into the air where it swirled and danced around the night sky.
“That's my record in CULT.” He continued “Despite the circumstances around those losses it don't erase them. All I can do is hope to turn things around and make people forget them. The quickest way to do that is to win this Heaven Sent Battle Royal.”
He reached into a box to his left and took out an 8x10 photo. He held up the picture and it was of him sitting on a throne, covered in blood, with a beautiful championship belt over his shoulder and a beautiful girl on his lap. The title was the Crisis Core Wrestling Platinum Championship, his first time holding the top prize in any company. The girl was Xiuhua "Dizzie" Zhou, a fellow wrestler for CCW who JC had been flirting back and forth with for weeks. She became the love of his life. That was February 15th, 2020. A lot has changed since then. He tossed the picture into the fire.
“I’m a realist though,” He began, taking another drag off the cigarette and flicking the butt into the barrel “I realize I've got a one in twenty five chance of that happening. The thing is though, that's the same chance everyone else has too. From the front runners and names everyone knows like Max Daemon and my buddy Matt Knox who I owe this broken nose to, to the unknown like Addison Stockton, the former champion here Noah Ortega, all the way to the man that signs our paychecks Casanova English. Thanks again for the Popeyes by the way. My point is that anything is possible and no one has a clear advantage. Or do they?” He asked.
He picked up the box he'd taken the picture out of and chucked the box and all into the fire. It crackled and popped as the box and the contents of it incinerated.
“Maybe I do.” He stated confidently “I ain't the biggest, the fastest, or the smartest person in this match but let's face it, ain't none of us all that smart or we wouldn't be so willing to get set on fire. So what is it that makes me think I might have any advantage?”
His question hung in the air with the smoke while he stood up and walked over to a black trash bag sealed with a knot. He ripped the plastic and stuffed animals spilled out. He picked up a little yellow bunny with “My First Easter” embroidered on the chest. He turned back to the barrel and held the bunny over the fire. He bit his lip trying to fight back emotion and took a moment to contemplate dropping it in but couldn't go through with it and just tossed it back on the pile of toys.
He sat back down and sighed, trying to compose himself. “Experience.” He answered “I don't mean wrestling experience cause I'm only seven years into this and I'm sure plenty of folks in this match have a lot more experience than me. I'm talking about Battle Royal experience and I don't just mean being in one or two over your career cause I'm sure the majority of us have. Nah, I mean Battle Royal winning experience where the stakes are as high as they are in this one. Cause I got that.” He proudly exclaimed.
“All the way back at the end of 2019 I had my breakout moment in the first ever Action Wrestling CruiserHavoc placing in the top four and had everyone talking about me the next day. A year ago I won this big ass annual Battle Royal in IWF called The Roulette to earn a title shot at their biggest show of the year. I went on to capitalize on that opportunity and I won the World Title. Am I saying that I guarantees history will repeat itself here?” He questioned ”Not at all cause CULT is a whole other animal and the fire adds an element to the match not many of us, if any, have ever had to deal with.”
Once again he stood up, took a few steps forward and picked up a box. He looked down and could see more pictures, handwritten notes with little hearts, and a Pro Wrestling Insider magazine from late 2021 featuring himself and Dizzie on the cover after they won the Olympians Mixed Tag Team Tournament. With his teeth gritted and little hesitation he dropped the box into the barrel and stood and watched it burn. After a few moments of watching the box of memories smolder and burn to ash he suddenly and frantically struck his hand into the fire and pulled out a picture. The stench of the hair that had burned off his knuckles filled the air but he was able to save the photograph all but one of the corners that had been charred before he pulled it from the flames. The picture was JC and Dizzie who was holding a smiling baby girl while they stood in front of a Christmas tree. Written on the back of the picture was ”Our first Christmas as a family.” He couldn't hold it in anymore and a lone tear rolled down his cheek.
“Fuck.” He mumbled to himself.
He wiped his eye with the back of his hand, wincing slightly as he brushed against his injured nose. He stuck the picture in the back pocket of his jeans and grabbed a beer out the case beside the chair. He downed the warm Natural Light in one long swig before crushing the can and tossing it down. It was at that point he realized that he hadn't just scorched the hair off the back of his hand but an angry looking blister had formed also.
“If a shot at the New World Champion ain't enough incentive to do everything in your power to keep from getting thrown out of the ring then not getting set on fire should be. That shit fucking hurts.” He said with a belch “For as proud as I am of my prior Battle Royal victory it takes about as much skill to win one as it does to put on a pair of pants. If you can get your ass out of bed and put on your pants in the morning well you can win a Battle Royal. You ain't even gotta know how to wrestle. Just try to throw people out while not getting thrown out yourself. It sounds like a pretty simple concept but how many wrestlers do you think half their boots up without having ever won one? I'm willing to bet it's a lot. To win a Battle Royal you have to be an opportunist and constantly be thinking one step ahead of everyone else in the ring whether that's just one person or twenty.”
He held up his index finger.
“One wrong move and it's over. You have to have eyes in the back of your head and you can't trust anyone. I mentioned him before but I consider Matt Knox a pretty good friend and a bit of a mentor even but I know for a fact if it comes down to me and him he ain't gonna go jumping in the fire. it's every man or woman for themselves cause for what's at stake I'd set my grandmother on fire.” He joked.
He reached into another box, taking out a small velvet covered presentation box. He opened it to look at the ring inside before flipping it shut with a snap that echoed through the night.
He continued while clenching his fist tightly around the ring box, “What is at stake is more than just a New World Title shot and I didn't come back for the free chicken either. It's been no secret over the last three and a half years that Lissie Hope and I don't care much for each other. I'd like a match with her here but she's up here.” He motioned with his hand above his head “Where as I'm down here.” He moved his hand down to his waist “In a perfect World she'll beat her little homeless looking emo boyfriend and I'll be the last pyromaniac standing and we can just cut to the chase. But who knows, she may lay down for Johnny again like she has for him and hundreds of other men over the years and we have a new champ. Then I'll have to beat him and I'll give her the first shot. Shockingly for as arrogant as I am I'm not arrogant enough to guarantee that's what happens but I'm gonna try my darndest to make it happen. Even if I don't win I'll settle for a good showing that might get me closer to her if she drops the belt.”
“My intentions are clear.” He stated after a brief pause “I just gotta get my mind right cause right now it's not. I didn't wanna talk about it so please don't ask but hopefully I'll be thinking clearer and can focus fully on carrying out those intentions by Sunday.”
He pulled his arm back and as hard as he could threw the ring into the woods behind his house. As the ring zipped into the foliage like an MLB fastball he let out a guttural yell that caused all the nearby dogs to begin barking and birds to fly out of the trees. He stands just staring out at nothing until his phone rings to break the silence.
“Hey Jennie,” He answered, “I wasn't expecting to hear from you this late.”
