Post by Ulf Hednir on Aug 17, 2017 15:03:21 GMT
"For the eleventh I know,
if I have to lead my ancient friends to battle,
under their shields I sing,
and with power they go safe to the fight,
safe from the fight;
safe on every side they go."
-Odin's Rune Poem
if I have to lead my ancient friends to battle,
under their shields I sing,
and with power they go safe to the fight,
safe from the fight;
safe on every side they go."
-Odin's Rune Poem
Here it was. An opportunity det jeg could not squander; jeg knew det dis was the only opportunity det jeg had left to enter Heir to de Throne… de fault, jeg did not feel, was of my own. Jeg shook my head as jeg thought of the matches that jeg was denied. The points jeg was denied. It made me angry thinking det dis opportunity was almost robbed of me! And very well could be! Because now my road was going to be a difficult one, for jeg had to defeat my brothers in the ring-- ja, Jason and jeg had our differences for hvat he did to Jayson Matthews. Even Kole had a way of doing his business det he knew vi differed our opinions on. But vi were still family.
Jeg had to have some time to min selv… jeg had to silence this anger det was still screaming in my mind, jeg tried to silence it by focusing on min surroundings; jeg decided to see some of the sights before making my way toward Shanghai. Jeg could hardly live with min selv for not raising a hand to stop Jason from dishonoring himself with det attack, jeg certainly could not live with min selv if jeg did not take the opportunity to visit de Great Wall of China. One of the most magnificent sights det jeg ha heard of, but never had an opportunity to visit for myself. Until today.
Jeg smiled looking over the scenery, de trees stretching toward de sky… jeg was able to see over all of them. The birds perched along de wall. Even the breeze helped relieve some of min anger and allowed me to relax for a few more days before this battle with my fellow Council members. There were many tourists that were along the wall and jeg heard the sounds of cameras so they could look back at their own memories, some of them were from more professional cameras, while others were from smart phones. Jeg glanced at one of the crowds and recognized one familiar face to me.
Thursday.
The giant of a man snapped a picture with some of the female tourists before walking toward me, with a big smile on his face; jeg looked forward, but he clapped me on the back before his powerful voice boomed toward me.
“Hei, gutt!” (Hello, lad!) Thursday said after patting Ulf’s back, and he leans over the Wall to see some of the sights that Ulf, himself, was taking in. Ulf smiled to Thursday, still astonished that he had seen someone that he had only briefly run into back in Norway.
“Hei, venn. Hva gjør du her?” (Hello, friend. What are you doing here?) jeg asked him, as jeg turned toward him slightly and extended a hand for a handshake; the man that jeg remember having a powerful handshake took my hand, and jeg was surprised to see det his grip was not quite as tight as the first time vi met. He grinned toward me, and shrugged his shoulders.
“Jeg liker å reise,” he said with a guffaw, but continued speaking shifting his language from Norwegian to English, “Sanhetten er det jeg heard det dis… IWF… was coming to Shanghai, og jeg knew det my friend, Ulf Hednir, was competing! Jeg heard det du ha a huge opportunity dis week against these venner of yours, og jeg just thought that jeg would ensure your mind was in the right place.”
His smile… de grin… it seemed sincere, but jeg tried to focus on hvat he was saying, and jeg did not know that jeg had left much of an impression on him det he would come all dis way. Jeg smiled back to him, and nodded min head.
“Ja, jeg vil ha to step into de ring with de Council. My friends. My family. But the opportunity is my only way to get into Heir to de Throne anymore… Du see, one of de owners jeg cannot help but feel has a little something against me which is why he refused to let me compete to enter this tournament for de Imperial Championship. Jeg do not wish to fight them,” jeg finally admitted to min selv, and to Thursday, “But vi are competitors! Vi are battling for de same thing! And… whoever wins… jeg know that vi vil make some noise and show de world det de Council truly is hvat is best--”
“Nei, nei,” Thursday interrupted, “You cannot concern yourself with them being your friends, Ulf. My boy. These men… this… Kole Kaos… this… Jason Sandman… both of them have been doing this for years, and do you really think that they are going to want some rookie like you to suddenly beat them?” The Norwegian accent that was present seemed to erase itself, but his voice became low, as if he wanted to be careful for who may hear him speak… Thursday even glanced around to ensure no one was listening in.
“No, these people have one thing in mind… and it is the same thing that you have in mind, Ulf. To become the Imperial Champion. Remember Norway, Ulf; remember your family… not these people that pretend to be your family, but your actual family. Your blood. Your ancestors. Who is it that you are trying to make proud? Us? Or the Council?” he had a questioning expression on his face as he looked toward Ulf, who seemed to be listening intently to the words that Thursday was saying. Thursday feigned a smile to Ulf before continuing. “You are not in this… as a team… Ulf. You are only here as an individual, and these people are standing in your way! They are standing in your way of becoming the greatest Imperial Champion that the IWF has ever known! That the world has ever known! My advice to you, Ulf: bury them. Make them see that you do not need the Council to prosper; you can prosper on your very own! Take it a step further, even. Hurt them. Make sure they know that you are the future, and that when the time comes… they will be nothing more than stepping stone to you, to greatness.”
Jeg shook my head in disbelief at some of the words, but some of the words did truly make sense. Both Kole Kaos, and Jason Sandman, have been in this business for a long time… How would it make them feel for a rookie like me to suddenly beat them to de Imperial Championship? Jeg stammered a reply to Thursday, “Perhaps… du er right. Jeg cannot allow even them to stop me.”
Thursday nodded his head, as Ulf just had a blank expression looking forward; Thursday clapped Ulf’s back again and this time retreated back a few steps, “It was great to see du, bror! Du vil do fine dis week! And before du know it: du vil be the Imperial Champion! But jeg må gå! Vi ses!"
“Jeg decided to visit the Great Wall of China… and jeg could not help but wonder hvat it was that drew me there. Why could jeg not wait to visit the Wall until our next tour? De only thing det comes to min mind for why jeg had to visit the Great Wall of China this time around is because jeg see dis Wall as de same obstacle det has been placed in front of me for Heir to de Throne! Du see, when the tournament was first announced… jeg was off to a great start… jeg seemed unstoppable… Roberto Verona knew it. De IWF knew it.
They knew det there was nothing within de IWF det would stop me from shattering records and becoming the quickest IWF Imperial Champion in history, as well as de youngest Imperial Champion in history! Det was exactly why Roberto Verona decided to do hvat he must do to bury me: not book me. Not allow me to compete. Let the rest of the roster get so many more points ahead over me det there was no way jeg could possibly be entered into Heir to de Throne, and then suddenly jeg am starting to get matches!
Not matches jeg want, mind you,” jeg said with detest in my voice, recalling min previous matches, “As soon as Heir to de Throne was announced, hvat did they do? They decided to send Jayson Matthews to harass me and take min mind off of the prize! Jayson Matthews was… is… nothing more than a puppet for Roberto Verona, hvem, like a good dog, decided to ensure that our paths crossed!
Perhaps he felt that if jeg had focused on the Invictus Championship, jeg would allow min selv to lose… and no longer be able to enter Heir to de Throne. Next, he puts me in a match with Jason Sandman as my partner to face who? Gilmore? Jeg tell Jason that jeg do not need his help in this match, but jeg could not really blame him for insisting on being involved… but then he secured the victory for us. Jeg cannot complain that vi won, but jeg wanted to make GIlmore tap out; jeg wanted to send a message to Verona, and to Montfort, to let them know that they would not hold me back from Heir to de Throne!”
My voice raised with anger, as jeg insisted that jeg would not be stopped from entering this tournament… jeg would not be stopped from battling for de Imperial Championship. Jeg sneered finally and shook my head in shame of min selv as jeg had to admit de next words.
“They succeeded. It is one week until Heir to de Throne combatants are announced, and there is no way that jeg could make enough points off of this match to enter Heir to de Throne. But it seemed that Kole Kaos pressed the right buttons on du, og du decided det du would give something to offer because du think det we are afraid of a little competition amongst ourselves. Du ha given me the golden ticket! A ticket through this wall that du ha built to keep me out!
If jeg am victorious against de Council; jeg vil be entered into Heir to de Throne! None of us-- Xavier, Kole, nor Jason-- are afraid of battling each other, and none of us will ever have hard feelings for hvem som enn walks out with de victory! It was your hopes to eliminate de entire Council from Heir to de Throne, but instead of eliminating us from the competition: du er going to ha to deal with ALL of us.
Kole Kaos, no matter hvat, vil walk into Heir to de Throne. His seat is in Heir to de Throne. Jason Sandman, is in Heir to de Throne. Xavier Cross, is in Heir to de Throne. Now, hvat vil it take to get Ulf Hednir into Heir to de Throne? Ja, ja, du ha your rules… they cannot simply give me the victory, because then vi would all be eliminated! Det is where it goes into discussion det vi are not afraid of competing against each other. And even if it were agreed det they would give me de victory…
Hvat makes du think jeg would agree to that?” jeg said with a questionable expression, wondering who in their right mind would really believe that jeg would take an easy way out.
“There is nothing in my life det has ever been handed to me, and jeg vil not start now! When Kole Kaos, Jason Sandman, and jeg go into the ring to compete against each other: it vil be all of us giving our best to each other… it vil be Xavier Cross calling this match directly down the middle! De man who walks out with their arm raised as the winner vil know that they walked out deserving to be the winner!
Jeg vil walk out knowing that JEG deserve to be the winner! Jeg know that Kole Kaos and Jason Sandman are great wrestlers, and jeg cannot take anything away from them… jeg vil not take anything away from them. But at Sacrifice, jeg will not let min selv be defeated. Ja, among their crowd: jeg am the baby. Jeg am the fresh blood. Jeg ha not even been around de world with de IWF one time, and jeg am saying that jeg vil become de Imperial Champion! Jeg know min selv better than any other person knows me, including them… including my family… and jeg know that jeg ha never been the one to let my dreams, or my ambitions, escape me!
We have very different ways of handling our business. As we saw a couple weeks ago, Jason decided to use acid against Jayson Matthews to send a message… this angered me! This pissed me off! When we step into the ring for this triple threat, jeg vil make him pay for hvat he did… but at the end of the match, jeg will shake his hand, and embrace him like a brother. Vi vil potentially meet in Heir to de Throne again, but beyond that: he will go after Jayson Matthews… and jeg… will go after de Imperial Champion.
Kole Kaos is another one… He does things his way, and jeg do things my way! Vi would have it no other way, in all honesty. Jeg understand det things are de way they are for de reasons they are; these men have been around the world several times, while-- like jeg ha said-- jeg ha not been around the world one time with the IWF. This road has been known to turn warriors into monsters! De warrior vil look in de mirror one day, and they vil not even recognize themselves anymore… Because of some of de things they did throughout their career. But things that had to be done.
Kole Kaos knows hvat has to be done. He does… what even jeg cannot.
Your plan backfired, Roberto. Come Monday, de Council will have a civil war with each other… and the worst part for you, is det jeg-- Ulf Hednir-- de mann det du vil learn to fear. Or det you already do. Will be the one walking out with his arm raised! And with his golden ticket for Heir to de Throne! This wall, this Great Wall, that you have built to stop me from fulfilling my destiny-- it will not stop me! It cannot stop me! Jeg will go through the wall-- over the wall-- around the wall-- or even under the wall… but it WILL. NOT. STOP ME!
Skål!”
The massive man known only as Thursday to Ulf Hednir continued strolling along the Great Wall of China, with a deceitful smile on his face as he nibbled on a rice cake; he laughed to himself as he considered what was going to happen at Sacrifice… how The Council would hurt themselves, or better yet: how The Council members would be hurt by Ulf Hednir! The possibilities seemed to be endless within the confines of his own mind as he continued to laugh to himself, taking another bite from the rice cake, before a single bolt of lightning struck down from the sky and hit the wall directly in front of him! The bolt left no burn mark on the ground, or any physical damage to the structure, which caused him to smile as his face suddenly shifted. A much smaller stature compared to that of Thursday, the one known as Loki. He had stopped in his tracks, but spoke aloud.
“Thor,” said Loki, as the regular man who appeared to Ulf as Thursday cautiously walked forward; his eyes narrowed on Loki, and Loki could see the anger on his face, “You do not need to worry about this Ulf fellow, I’ve been taking great care of him!”
“You’ve been corrupting him!” shouted Thor, and the sound of rolling thunder took over the sky despite there not being a cloud in the sky; his eyes appeared as if the lightning and clouds were in his very eyes as he heaved a few deep breaths.
Loki did not appear to be intimidated by Thor, as he spoke to try to weasel himself out of trouble with Thor, “No, Thor, I have only been doing what you have wanted for Ulf. You wanted him to become something great, but he lacked the spine! I am merely suggesting that he grow one so that he may follow this destiny you wanted to carve for him, and let him be great!”
Thor seemed to be shaking with anger that he felt toward Loki, “Not like this.”
“I know you don’t like dealing with this Midgardians directly… only giving them a push in the direction. You did that. Let me take him the rest of the way.” Loki said, taking a step forward and placing his hand on Thor’s shoulder which caused Thor to back away and snarl toward Loki, “I will fix this. I will do things your way. But I will take care of it.” He said with his traditional grin.
"If you shapeshift yourself to be me again, I will crush you." Thor shook his head before a second lightning bolt came down to where he was standing, and just like that: he was gone.
Well howdy there pardner.