[LK] - NO FEAR.

Posts : 12 Join date : 2022-03-03

“I fucking hate scary movies. I sort them into the same fucking category as fairy tales and other flights of fancy that keep children from disobeying parents or straying too far off the path that's been predestined for them. This ain't a popular opinion, of course, and I'm unsurprised to find myself standing across the ring from some once empty-headed fuck who's found meaning and purpose in the safety that these piece-of-shit fantasies offer.

You know why?

Because all that those fucking stories do, for all the worth they have, is put silly little ideas into empty little heads. That’s what happened with you, JUDITH, isn’t it? That’s where you managed to go from a silly, empty little shell into The Butcher. Strong, dominant, Next Level Champion. That gold represents strength, it represents promise, it represents majesty. It’s the second most important belt in a company full of prestigious belts-that is, of course, until I drive my boot into your skull and your skull, subsequently, into the canvas, cementing myself and Alyssa as second-from-the-mouth of God in this company.

But I digress over positioning, because that belt is still important, for the moment-because it's also something that I want.

That’s right, JUDITH, I may not’ve asked for this match, I may’ve been surprised by this match, but I’ll never look a fucking gift horse in the mouth. You see, I’ve claimed to be the Ace of APEX because I fucking am the Ace of APEX. Even without the title that Finn took from me, fair and square, I’ve STILL been changing the landscape of this company, I’ve STILL been forcing the game to evolve, I’ve still been AT THE TOP OF THE FUCKING MOUNTAIN, world championship or not. Alyssa and I don’t just follow the fucking trends, we SET THEM. We gave APEX Wrestling a crown worth fighting for, we acted as a beacon for other teams to come follow, we lit the torch that will carry this fucking company forward.

It’s for those reasons that this goddamned champion vs. champion match is so important to me-that, and the Next Level Championship. I may not be able to get back after Finn for quite some time, and I’m okay with that. I’m fine being otherwise preoccupied with affairs that involve bringing this company up on my goddamn shoulders as I have from the first day I set foot in here. What I’m not fine with is settling for what I have, letting myself rest on my laurels the moment that I get some gold between my fingers. What I’m not fine with is not pushing myself to be better consistently, to aspire beyond what I’ve already done, to get further than I’ve gotten already.

It’s why I’m not fine with letting that Next Level Championship sit in your hands anymore.

You’re a strong bitch, JUDITH, and I know what that belt means to you. I know that you’re going to fight with all the vitriol and venom in your body to hold onto it, beat me the same way that you beat my little protege at King of the Mountain. Despite your inability to feel pain, Chelsea nearly wore you down, and I was impressed with her. She couldn’t get the job done, but you can’t blame her for that-facing a monolith like you is always going to be a hard task. Chelsea had a gameplan, and she exposed a break in the armor, a little piercing point that I can push my fucking knife into and end you for all you are. Chelsea ain’t the only girl on the roster who knows how to choke a bitch, and big as you are, you’ll still fail when the reality of empty lungs settles in.

Even The Butcher can’t outrun the failings of her own body. Pain or not, the flesh can only take so much even if the spirit is so menacing, so forward-thinking, so willing. There's always a breaking point.

Truly, we’re all well oiled machines in this industry, and you and I stand above the rest, right alongside Alyssa, Finn, and C. We don’t get to the top of a company like this, a dog-eat-dog world where we’re all starving for our next bite out of one another without being in tip-top fucking shape. But this grind that we all run on, JUDITH, it beats us on. I’m going to be beat up heading into your match, and I’ll likely feel it more than you, too. The pain I feel makes all of this real, makes me honestly consider how much damage I’ve done to myself, how much damage I’m going to do to myself, how much I’m willing to push this body of mine, all five-feet and hundred-fifty pounds, again and again until something gives or my heart gives out. I know when I step across from you, JUDITH, I’m going to feel way worse than you will, and you’ll take advantage of that. You’ll twist and torque and try to slam me, pull my fucking head off, and I’ll pray for mercy as I withstand, as I fight, as I war with the Nightmare Butcher.

But rest assured, aside from all of that, I will fucking win.

I will stand up against you with all of the heart that I can muster as I have against every fucking challenge, all of the self-honesty about the state i’m in and the war I’m able to bring, and I will weather the fucking storm that you send my way. I know this shit won’t be easy, but the want I have is much more potent than any measure of violence you can bring against me, much stronger than the war-drum beating of your blackened heart, much more ready to survive and withstand the onslaught that you’re going to put me through. I can’t falter against you, JUDITH, because the one time I faltered here it set me on a downward spiral, and I won’t let someone like you do that to me. I won’t let some nightmare-headed cunt get her hands on me and compromise me to a permanent end, you won’t beat me because I won’t fucking let you. I won’t let you land that killshot, I won’t let you cleave my head from neck, I won’t let you end this unless the end you’re bringing is your hand tapping the fucking mat, over and over again.

I want this, you big bitch, and I’m gonna get it.

I see how this fucking place works, and I see what I have to do to get what I want, to push beyond where I’m at. No laurel-resting, no off nights, If I want to be Next Level, if I want to get the APEX Triple Crown, I’m well aware the easiest road to that victory lies in a win over you. I’ll do whatever it fucking takes to get there, even if I have to wait for a dozen contenders to pass me by, to pass through you, to survive the meat grinder and all its woes, I’ll fucking do it. I’ll hoist this potential victory high like a goddamned torch to ward me through the darkness, to burn away the cobwebs, to lead me onto an assured victory, no matter what the cost is to my own body.

I am the fucking ACE, and it’s time that people started to REMEMBER THAT.

So let you be an example, eh? Nightmare that tormented our roster, fighting your way through Emmanuelle, Chelsea, Nia and all the others to get that gold around your waist, spectre in the shadows waiting to cleave your next opponent limb from fucking limb, you’ll fall to me all the same. Let your failure to destroy me be a message to all of those fiending for your championship, or those watching from outside, even your tag team partner who I quite fancy.

Let them all fucking know that you can bleed, and we can kill you.

You better bring your A-Game and your working boots to this match, JUDITH, and you better leave that fucked up crowbar of yours at home, because I’m not playing any fucking games. When you come for me, you better come correct, because the moment you slip up, my boot’s taking a chunk out of your fucking skull, and no Crystal Lake Vacation will bring you the fuck back from that. I want what you have, and I take whatever measures come into my mind, whichever routes provide the most violence, whatever it fucking takes to get my hands around the ten pounds of gold that sit around your waist. I will end you, JUDITH, I will dispel this fucking nightmare, I will become Next Level, or, God as my witness, I will fucking die trying.

I hail to no fucking Butcher…because in APEX, between these four ropes and within these company walls, I am the fucking Final Boss. I don't hail to you, bitch, you fall before me."

» CHAPTER 6: FEAR ON THEIR FACES