Inevitable.

[Sabin / Madjinn]

“Destiny…”

The single word is muttered and is easily recognized as the voice belonging to the second generation star, and former world champion, Madjinn. A low chuckle follows the singular word just as the scenery fades into place and you see the golden irises peering between strands of tousled, dampened hair; the corner of his lips curled into a smirk and his head cocked to the side. Without moving his lips, his voice continues to be heard as snippets from past matches flash across the screen – victories in his first tournament.

“Year after year, I have told everybody it was my destiny to be HEIR TO THE THRONE.”

There is a short break as the image takes another glimpse of the golden eyes, and Madjinn cracks his neck whilst turning toward the camera. Soon, though, another series of snippets from a previous Heir to the Throne with victories over the people in his second year in this tournament. Another short break, as the camera pans backward to catch a full glimpse of the man– the monster– The Mad Prince. His head is lowered and he rubs his palms together before you are treated to another series of videos playing in a sequence, showcasing the grit and anger that had built up inside of him as the images displayed him having Nick Danger locked in The Phoenix Triangle, then James Gilmore in Death’s Door, TJ Alexander in a similar predicament as James Gilmore, and then hoisting John Nash Strader onto his shoulders in the final imagery of dominance.

“It was my destiny to stand tall at the end of the illustrious tournament and be granted a chance to claim the grandest prize…the IWF Men’s World Championship.”

We return to the same imagery of Madjinn sitting with his hands pressed together, and slowly, the golden eyes turn toward the camera and even in the darkness, you can see the further frustration he feels as he snarls and grimaces.

“Every single year…”

The imagery flashes several times, going back and forth between Madjinn and details of the past. First, it showed Roberto Verona hitting him with the Ides of March, and then Angel hitting him with Deadlights, and finally Pax Stormcrow hitting him with Peace Out. After each one has hit their move to bring an end to each respective Heir to the Throne, it shows the trio, one by one, standing tall in the center of the ring with the resonating and taunting voice of Alison Valance as she declares each of them the Heir to the Throne.

“I failed.” Madjinn growls out, and the Madjinn that sits in front of you starts twisting and turning his head while he had no choice but to accept what had happened in all of the previous years. The camera finally zooms in as Madjinn raises his head, as he speaks aloud instead of a voiceover, “Each and every year, I would be at the top of my game! Each and every year, I would fight to be the most dominant entity inside of the tournament, and each and every year, I had everybody knowing that if they brought anything less than their best, they were not going to win…but each and every year, they managed to do that. All the stars would align for them…all the stars would align for them, and they would stop me from achieving my DESTINY. They would stop me from being declared the HEIR! TO! THE! THRONE!” He growls under his breath, and snickers.

“I’m in a situation that is rather… unfamiliar…” He says with a shrug, “Y’see, I’m used to having everybody put that target on my back. I’m used to everybody looking at me and knowing full well that I am the single biggest threat in these types of situations, and I’m used to seeing them give… everything… just to walk out with their name announced to the world as the winner! And– after they’ve given everything, I’m used to watching them crumble because they have nothing left… There’s a part of me that takes pride in watching them flounder for a short time after defeating me, just for them to break… physically… and mentally… and y’know what?” He presses his hand to his chest and is beaming with pride, “I did that! I was the cause of that!” A low chuckle escapes from under his breath, and he holds back from breaking out in full laughter.

“I’m not wanting to come out here and strip away their accolades from the past – I mean, the record still stands… Roberto did defeat me; Angel did defeat me; Pax did defeat me, but how often have we seen our boss step between the ropes in recent years? What happened to Father? And Pax– there is a man who lives in his own realm of reality.” He smacks his lips together, then traces his tongue across his bottom lip before continuing, “But I think about who I’m stepping into the ring with this week, and I think out of everybody that I’ve broken in the past – he’s the only one who has been able to continue to stand… the soon-to-be uncle, Allen! Chaney!” He says the name with a hoarse tone.

Sabin sat on the couch inside of his suite in Yokohama, Japan; sitting beside him is his older brother, Dean Harper, and each one is holding a controller in their hands. The angle shifts slightly to get a quick glimpse of the room to show Damien sitting with Mikaela Jade in his lap while showing her what he had built on Minecraft, and the camera continues to pan around showing the brothers playing Baldur’s Gate 3.

“I’m really surprised by what you did…” Sabin says almost nonchalantly, barely blinking as he quickly studies the layout of the characters on the screen.

"Thought I'd been domesticated?" Dean asked as he moved his character on the screen.

“Domesticated. Gone soft.” Sabin answers with a shrug, delivering a killing blow to one of the goblins on the screen. “You did seem to want to explain your actions to that…” he glances over to his side where the two kids are playing, and opts to keep it clean, “Lesser Madrox.”

"I certainly didn't want to deal with the whining during the match." Dean hit a couple of the goblins with eldritch blast. "She sort of grew on me, like a fungus. Good with kids. Pissed Warren off."

“What doesn’t piss Warren off?” Sabin retorts.

Dean smirks, "I could say but there are children present."

“He’d probably try to correct you on that, too, if he didn’t know that would mean being cut off.”

Dean laughs, "Mmm, you're likely not wrong. How's your girl doing by the by? Recovering well?"

“She enjoyed herself a lot.” Sabin glances again at the kids, “I’ll give you details later.” He says and quickly disposes of another goblin and moves his character closer to Dean’s. “You know I hope we get to fight in the tournament this year.”

“So do I.” Dean hits another goblin with his spell. “I enjoy getting to play with someone who doesn’t bitch and moan about how hard I go.”

“You know…” the turn comes back around to Sabin, and he seems to be going back and forth on his action bar, “I really do think that this is it…this is finally going to be my year. Y’know?” His voice trails off slightly.

“What do you mean? You’ve been world champion before. There’s barely a belt you haven’t held in the company. Or are you trying to cross accomplishments off the top of your to-do list now?”

“Heir to the Throne.” Sabin states, “It’s been stripped from me the last three years... I've come close, and I thought every time, I was finally going to have it, but just then lightning kept striking. But this is finally my time. Like—you aren’t going to be able to stop me this year, y’know?” Sabin finishes with a smirk. “And then I’ll do what you aren’t strong enough to do.”

“Guess we’ll see if you have it in you to stop me if we go head to head.”

Sabin sniffles as he glances around the enemies a little bit more, using a bonus attack to power up his character before finally moving the cursor over Dean’s character and beginning to attack.

“Asshole!” Dean objected as he couldn’t get a response action in time

“You’d have done the same, I was just quicker,” Sabin says with a smirk, “It’s time to play my story.”

"Apparently." Dean leaned back on the coach, "And what are you going to do with your story, huh?"

Sabin contemplates momentarily. The imagery starts to blur out, as we return to the setting where Madjinn is...his golden eyes peering directly at the camera, a glint of determination to finish the tournament and finally have his name announced as Heir to the Throne, but a look of excitement as he ponders his next opponent. Allen Chaney.

“You’ve made quite the name for yourself in my kingdom, haven’t you?” He asks and scrunches his face. Clicking his tongue as he recalls to himself everything that Allen had done in a relatively short time span, “I mean, you’ve become an upstanding talent for everybody in the locker room! You’re one of those people that everybody else looks to, everybody gravitates to, everybody respects, everybody adores, everybody loves. Who doesn’t like you? I didn’t even dislike you! But I did–” he raises a finger to protest, “–want to hurt you.” Silence follows briefly, and his lips curl into a sadistic grin.

“Who doesn’t like Allen Chaney? I mean– clearly, there’s someone… right?” Madjinn shrugs.

“Y’see, I can recall going into your house… years ago… PWE… and fighting you to a draw. I remember that! And–” he shakes his head while sucking in air through his teeth again, hissing it back out before continuing, “–I can’t help but feel that we’ve never had the chance to finish our fight! We’ve never had a true chance to finish our story, but we did come close! You came to my house… the IWF… and you made a name for yourself that people are singing to this day! The Joker in the Pack! So– very close–” he says while pinching his fingers together, “–if you were just a couple inches shorter, you might’ve won the Roulette. And then you seem to have gotten Roberto’s attention… And to think that you had the chance to have people sing your name a little earlier. You could have been the one to end my historic reign as the greatest IWF World Television Champion in the history of the company! But...someone attacked you, didn't they? Someone took you out of the match? And...it would be safe to assume that someone could have been intimidated by you. Someone could have not liked that you flew as high as you did, as fast you did, and skyrocketed to the top. There's so many people you went by, but I already know: all eyes are on me." He says while spreading his arms out with a wide grin, putting himself on full display.

He claps his hands together, and hunches forward, "Would I? It's the question... Would I? We do have that lingering question, the question that has followed us for years: who is the better man?"

He sinks back slightly, and shrugs one shoulder, “But do we really want to know?” He asks.

“I have made my goal clear… And–” he scoffs, “There’s a number of people who have gotten in my way, and you– Allen– are one of them. You stopped me from winning the Joker in the Pack. But you are not taking Heir to the Throne from me. Even if it means– ending you early.” He snickers.

The scene abruptly ends.