Out of my element.

[Seth Evans]

LIVE.

The red dot in the upper-right hand corner of your screen continuously blinks, and you hear the Gregorian chant for Halo getting louder and louder until the imagery finally shows on the screen: a montage, along with an overlaid text reading “STREAM STARTING SOON”. The montage plays various gaming clips, as well as wrestling clips from Seth Evans’s time in the ring. The montage goes in sequence with “Blow Me Away” by Breaking Benjamin, the song created for Halo 2 that Seth had adopted as his theme song for the majority of his career.

The scene suddenly transitions, and you can see “The Guardian” Seth Evans is front and center of the camera as he greets the audience with a subtle wave.

“Welcome, gamers, and thank you for coming by my stream! It has– it’s been a bit of an eventful couple of months for me, hasn’t it? As most of you have heard, and even seen by now: I am returning to professional wrestling, and not just at a desk!”

He breathes in heavily, a content smile on his face as he nods his head to contemplate what the future could hold for him.

“Of course, I’m sure that most of you caught me on ARCADIA, which was– it was something.”

There is a short hesitation in his voice, and he rubs his chin while giving a subtle nod.

“And the last time that you saw me inside of an IWF ring was against Chris Page, and I feel like– I did– I let you all down by letting him come into my house and beat me. Believe me when I say, if that rematch ever comes, lightning is not going to strike twice! Even before that, though, I wanted to do something– more. I wanted to elevate the level of competition in the industry, in this company, and I think while I was so focused on training everybody to become the best they could possibly be, I forgot about my own goals– my own ambitions– my own dreams! I don’t know if any of you remember this, but I’ve been in this industry for a long time… a long time… How long?”

Seth takes a momentary pause to let the question sink into the mind of the viewers, and of course everyone in the Twitch chat box is giving the correct answer. He slouches back in his seat, and mouths the number to the audience before finally saying it aloud.

“Seventeen years. Seventeen years– that is including a number of breaks that I’ve taken to pursue other goals that I set out for myself; goals that I have accomplished, but seventeen years, I have had my name in this industry, and seventeen years, that top prize has eluded me! Seventeen years, I have not been able to stand at the top of a single company and truly call myself the best. Seventeen years.”

He snickers. He licks his lips and shakes his head as that fact, that thought, penetrates his mind and there is a brief moment where you can see the disappointment on his face… but ever the optimist, he does shift it back into a smile that would be enough motivation for everyone around him to also believe in him, as well as themselves.

“But I’m not going to let the past bother me. I’m not going to let the fact that it’s been seventeen years, and I have not accomplished the goal that a ten-year-old boy told himself he would one day turn into a reality! I’m going to–”

Seth thrusts his hands forward, cutting through the air accompanied with a short whistle.

“–start soaring! I’m going to start looking at what I have to do to turn this dream, this goal, into a reality, and I know! I know! It’s going to be a long road… It’s not going to be an easy one… But it’s one that I’m going to do, and the day will come that I will hold that IWF Men’s World Championship over my head and I will be able to declare to the world that I am the champion! I will be able to declare that I am the best!”

With a glint in his eyes and determination riddling his voice, Seth bites down on his lip as if he could see this future right in front of him.

“Step one, though.”

A sudden pause, and the screen transitions yet again… A border surrounds Seth’s webcam footage in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, and another image shows up behind him: the World of Warcraft loading screen.

“Step one is to get my feet back in the water, and I’m starting it off against something… much like before… a bit unconventional. I’m fighting– an Orc? Hellscream? I’ve dabbled into the realm of Azeroth before, but it wasn’t something that really piqued my interest. Give me Halo and the Master Chief any day! But I figure– since I am fighting an Orc– what better place to get my practice than re-entering the realm of Azeroth? And to help me–”

A sudden voice is heard, and a new image pops up in the bottom right hand corner. Jennie! She waves at her own camera.

“HI, GUYS!”

She exclaims.

“Hey, Jennie!”

The loading screen on the game is going through, and the avatar representing Seth Evans’s character is seen moving as another image comes to the screen inviting him to form a party in the game.

“You are a bit more of an expert than I am in this field, so I have to ask… What do you recommend?”

“Well, Seth, I’m glad you asked that! The main thing you have to remember about Orcs is that you CANNOT fight them hand to hand! They’re big, they have sharp nails, and they’re just…STRONG, Seth! In order to take down an Orc, you have to be cunning. You have to–”

She snaps her fingers together several times.

“–be patient. You have to wait for your opening! Pick your opening! Do what you can, Seth, do what you can, and then take a step back and wait for the next one. Don’t be greedy! Y’know?”

“Fair advice.”

And just then, another screen pops up on the screen and the cursor moves to the button to accept the queue.

“You ready for this?!”

“I’m ready! I’m ready!”

He says while trying to hype himself up, and the loading screen brings them into an arena mode on the game. The fight is underway, and Seth circles the perimeter of the map whilst an opponent charges right down the middle– the opponent happens to be an Orc Warrior.

“Alright, Jennie! You got me?!”

“Yup!”

The Orc Warrior charges Seth once in range, and…

“Wait, wait, no!”

The fight ends rather fast after the Orc gets several successful hits against Seth, and Seth’s character dies.

“Oh… Damn…”

“How’d you die so fast?!”

END SCENE.