Post by Natasha Walker on Nov 15, 2024 21:08:38 GMT
“So, you’re telling me I’m second to last out, and I gotta wait on Serenity and go after Tytus to lay the damage in as best I can? Or heck Even have to face a TJ hungry and ready?”
The voice over kicks in before we find footage of Nat in her ring gear, sat backstage with her knees drawn up to her chest listening to music just outside of the ‘Gorilla’ position, a mid backstage portion between the changing rooms, catering and wardrobe the meat of a production that goes unseen and the stage itself where the show is seen in another lens. Audience and officials in the chaos of another world separated by entryway and curtain.
“Or is this another time I come up short and hear that laugh of Serenity’s? See Tytus or TJ standing stall and find myself buried in a corner with somebody I tried to stop? I’ve found myself sat just before the match and Gorilla waiting for my name to be called more times than I really care to count, it becomes autopilot, a pre-match ritual at this point something you use to get your head in the game and make everything else quiet.”
The echoing reverberating sounds stop as the muffled shout of her name rouses her attention and she rises in slow motion passing by backstage stage and sound equipment as she starts to climb up the stairs to the entryway with a slow bounce in each step.
“You wait for that cue , the little sound in your music, the one that gives you the go, standing behind that curtain like it’s a fuckin’ launch ramp and it’s just Go…Go…”
Red…Red Green.
Nat surges fords as the electric scream in her entry song dies and everything suddenly cuts to black.
“Everything you do after that is part of a well constructed plan you have to suddenly improvise for, the car crash that is a wrestling match isn't forgiving, it takes no prisoners , and a lot of people look at you like you’re crazy.”
A slow fade back in to Nat stretching in a practise ring smiling as she bounces in slow motion with a huge smile on her face exchanging a fist bump with Charlie as they counter rotate each other.
“Fact is? We are crazy.”
The counter rotation member changes to Rini as Charlie Dips out of shot , an elaborate slow transition of practice ring to show time on each rotation of the camera, the person opposite Nat changing from friend to foe, that smile never really leaving her face.
“We go out on the road all year around we make our families there and then with no certainty, we have people we travel with eat with, people we trade ideas with in the moment between bell to bell we’re one weird messed up fucked up family and there’s nothing i’d trade for that in the world.”
Another shot of the Birds of Prey crew at a Fan meet up, signatures photos, tables the whole thing before the environs around Nat Fade out as she slowly sits down, facing back in to her sat in the corner of the practice ring finally opening her eyes to look at the camera and speak.
“It all comes down to events like this, I’ve now done my share of multi opponent matches, more than most I’d reckon and I can almost understand our champions frustration at how unfair it must all seem but didn’t I already warn you there’d be a time you’d regret signing on with Verona?”
She huffs a small breath, her hands spreading across the bottom rope as she sits head resting angst the middle turnbuckle
“Hate to say I tol’ you so, staring down the barrel of Tytus, Tj and myself, you might be out last you might have every single card stacked in your favour and hell honey, you earned that you picked your shots and you have proven people wrong time after time.”
She took her hands off the ropes and started to clap with a nod and a sly grin.
“Congratulations you got everything you wanted and it’s tearing you apart…No seriously babe I am -worried- for you and this dive into the obsession you got, I mean what if you do lose? Will it be an excuse? Storming over to Verona and begging for another shot? You are a champion, you are Invictus and you know what I promised you I had you in my sights, this is my second go around the wheel.”
She sighs and looks into the camera with a small chuckle.
“You’ll notice no nicknames this time babe, no games no poking at you, You’ll stamp out how you;re going to look dominant, truth is You squeaks out your win against me last time, Island though I wasn't happy about it I was willing to follow the rule book, referee’s decision is final but Karma’s clock is a ticking and I intend to make it my business to see you on the other side of Tytus. So I’ll circle back around to you.”
She rubs her brow as she tenses in the corner thinking about what is to come the opponents she might have to face even before she faces Serenity, running a hand through her hair as she grins.
“Tytus, my guy you have a habit for underestimating people don’ ya? Pride of a lion indeed, that’s ok, For what it’s worth i I don’t win this thing you’re my pick for the guy who does, you know? Somewhere in me is a Tytus Rost fan, But that isn't gonna stop me from letting up on your ass.”
She gives a wry smile.
“If we’re standing across from each other I already know I’m in for a war, I was the last time, and now there’s a belt a stake I don’t think you’re gonna have any notions like holding back and I’m not gonna lie…That’s not a nice notion babe..So it’s not just everything and the kitchen sink..”
Nat lets loose a long , long sigh as if she can visualize it already.
“It’s everything, the kitchen sink and then a few rounds of artillery to make sure, nuke the site from orbit , debut a new finisher.. Hit you with everything Hoping I don't gas out and you don’t get a hold of me and lay a beating on me…”
Another slightly more nervous chuckle, rubbing at the corner of a brow.
“That’s the part I'm not looking forward to my man, You’re a bulldozer, hell a Killdozer, so I have to bring 100 no more than 100 to face you down and that was in a normal match so like with more motivation and that new outlook? Hell, I cannot put you in the rear view until your shoulders are on the mat.”
She looks to the floor and hugs her knees and closes her eyes.
“But I gotta if I have to m’man , it's not just professional pride here, how many times and I gonna let opportunity after opportunity slip through my fingers. How many times is, close but not enough gonna be worth it?”
She laughed a bit and chuckled, it sounded just a little bitter.
“Hell I bet you’re thinking the same damn thing man, we see eye to eye on one thing. Serenity can’t leave this match as champion Tytus, She can’t she won’t .. I promise you if I get past you when I get past you then I’ll take that strength of yours as a sign of respect and purpose it to propel me like a railgun to the next goal..You feelin’ me?”
She releases a small sigh and idly peeks between her knees.
“Maybe when this is over I’ll bring something to the farm as an olive branch, if that’s ok?”
She grit her teeth and then looked up as her hands moved to the second ripe and her eyes hit the camera.
“It would be easy to write you off TJ, all said and done but you have the hardest job of all of us, hell a part of me wanted to have, why? Because I’m crazy.”
She let loose a grim chuckle even as she pulled herself up to sit on the second rope with that signature grin
“To work from the first place all the way to the last and face down the champ? That’s a fairy tale and a half. I’d sure have loved that, but you see I couldn’t let go of my competitive nature, I made the smarter choice and let the cards lay, because I wanted the shot at Serenity more than I wanted the shot at a fairy tale. I had my own professional pride and I put that first.”
She gives a small shrug, and that smile remains.
“Hell, none of us is perfect are we? I could go on ad infinitum TJ, but you beat your chest and do the shouting for yourself. Tell me about how we all underestimate you. You want to be respected? You want the chance to show out? Here it is Alexander, You and Rost face to face winner faces me, winner of that faces Serenity Winner Of that gets the belt, nut up or shut up hon…Because there’s no prisoners in this one, nowhere to hide no underestimation, it’s on you.”
Natasha’s face tilted up to look at the windows of the little practice gym she was in, finally bracing herself fully in the corner as she seems to meditate on the next subject.
“Which leads me back to the start doesn’t it? Back to the rock where I can see the cracks forming, The pressure piling up and you’re thriving under it Serenity but you very much aren’t a picture of your name. You’re gettin’ messy and sure you're winning but it’s plain to see the leaks are happening and I seriously wonder what’ll happen to you when you lose that belt not if. One day somebody's gonna creep it out from under you and you’ll have a few moments of coyote time before…”
A pause and she tilted her head as if interrupting herself
“I don’t need to explain the concept of coyote time do I?”
She holds up her index fingers as if saying ‘wait a second’.
“Just in case you didn’t know, coyote time is a brief period of time after running off a platform where a game will still register the player pressing the jump button. It’s also the time period in a road runner cartoon between The Coyote discovering there’s no floor underneath him…before he falls, all caught up? Great.”
Natasha continues a little after getting herself back on track and smiling.
“Either way, You’re gonna fall back to the bottom of the line yourself Serenity, any of them, you’ll have proven yourself but 'm starting to wonder if you aren't holding into this belt so hard… the reason you’ve gone all barnacle on it is because …You don't have anything else? No seriously, Hear me out.”
Natasha slides off the turnbuckle as her head tilts and she looks at the camera.
“Like , when I’m done with my matches, win or lose, I have a place I can kick back, a palace I can go home to, I have a save point, a safe space, what do got Serenity? Is this all you have? This business? The fight? That belt on your shoulder the Legion that really isn’t at your command? Nobody to tell you good luck, no friends really? Just train, work, fight, sleep repeat?”
Natashs gives a slow, slow shake of her head.
“Hon, That’s not only incredibly sad, that's kinda unhealthy. Like we're all here to be the best we can be but the route you’re running? Burn out city, I’ve seen before maybe my mercurial nature means I’m hard to take seriously but trust me hon…I actually worry some.”
She closed her eyes and wrinkles her nose as she takes a long slow breath.
The voice over kicks in before we find footage of Nat in her ring gear, sat backstage with her knees drawn up to her chest listening to music just outside of the ‘Gorilla’ position, a mid backstage portion between the changing rooms, catering and wardrobe the meat of a production that goes unseen and the stage itself where the show is seen in another lens. Audience and officials in the chaos of another world separated by entryway and curtain.
“Or is this another time I come up short and hear that laugh of Serenity’s? See Tytus or TJ standing stall and find myself buried in a corner with somebody I tried to stop? I’ve found myself sat just before the match and Gorilla waiting for my name to be called more times than I really care to count, it becomes autopilot, a pre-match ritual at this point something you use to get your head in the game and make everything else quiet.”
The echoing reverberating sounds stop as the muffled shout of her name rouses her attention and she rises in slow motion passing by backstage stage and sound equipment as she starts to climb up the stairs to the entryway with a slow bounce in each step.
“You wait for that cue , the little sound in your music, the one that gives you the go, standing behind that curtain like it’s a fuckin’ launch ramp and it’s just Go…Go…”
Red…Red Green.
Nat surges fords as the electric scream in her entry song dies and everything suddenly cuts to black.
“Everything you do after that is part of a well constructed plan you have to suddenly improvise for, the car crash that is a wrestling match isn't forgiving, it takes no prisoners , and a lot of people look at you like you’re crazy.”
A slow fade back in to Nat stretching in a practise ring smiling as she bounces in slow motion with a huge smile on her face exchanging a fist bump with Charlie as they counter rotate each other.
“Fact is? We are crazy.”
The counter rotation member changes to Rini as Charlie Dips out of shot , an elaborate slow transition of practice ring to show time on each rotation of the camera, the person opposite Nat changing from friend to foe, that smile never really leaving her face.
“We go out on the road all year around we make our families there and then with no certainty, we have people we travel with eat with, people we trade ideas with in the moment between bell to bell we’re one weird messed up fucked up family and there’s nothing i’d trade for that in the world.”
Another shot of the Birds of Prey crew at a Fan meet up, signatures photos, tables the whole thing before the environs around Nat Fade out as she slowly sits down, facing back in to her sat in the corner of the practice ring finally opening her eyes to look at the camera and speak.
“It all comes down to events like this, I’ve now done my share of multi opponent matches, more than most I’d reckon and I can almost understand our champions frustration at how unfair it must all seem but didn’t I already warn you there’d be a time you’d regret signing on with Verona?”
She huffs a small breath, her hands spreading across the bottom rope as she sits head resting angst the middle turnbuckle
“Hate to say I tol’ you so, staring down the barrel of Tytus, Tj and myself, you might be out last you might have every single card stacked in your favour and hell honey, you earned that you picked your shots and you have proven people wrong time after time.”
She took her hands off the ropes and started to clap with a nod and a sly grin.
“Congratulations you got everything you wanted and it’s tearing you apart…No seriously babe I am -worried- for you and this dive into the obsession you got, I mean what if you do lose? Will it be an excuse? Storming over to Verona and begging for another shot? You are a champion, you are Invictus and you know what I promised you I had you in my sights, this is my second go around the wheel.”
She sighs and looks into the camera with a small chuckle.
“You’ll notice no nicknames this time babe, no games no poking at you, You’ll stamp out how you;re going to look dominant, truth is You squeaks out your win against me last time, Island though I wasn't happy about it I was willing to follow the rule book, referee’s decision is final but Karma’s clock is a ticking and I intend to make it my business to see you on the other side of Tytus. So I’ll circle back around to you.”
She rubs her brow as she tenses in the corner thinking about what is to come the opponents she might have to face even before she faces Serenity, running a hand through her hair as she grins.
“Tytus, my guy you have a habit for underestimating people don’ ya? Pride of a lion indeed, that’s ok, For what it’s worth i I don’t win this thing you’re my pick for the guy who does, you know? Somewhere in me is a Tytus Rost fan, But that isn't gonna stop me from letting up on your ass.”
She gives a wry smile.
“If we’re standing across from each other I already know I’m in for a war, I was the last time, and now there’s a belt a stake I don’t think you’re gonna have any notions like holding back and I’m not gonna lie…That’s not a nice notion babe..So it’s not just everything and the kitchen sink..”
Nat lets loose a long , long sigh as if she can visualize it already.
“It’s everything, the kitchen sink and then a few rounds of artillery to make sure, nuke the site from orbit , debut a new finisher.. Hit you with everything Hoping I don't gas out and you don’t get a hold of me and lay a beating on me…”
Another slightly more nervous chuckle, rubbing at the corner of a brow.
“That’s the part I'm not looking forward to my man, You’re a bulldozer, hell a Killdozer, so I have to bring 100 no more than 100 to face you down and that was in a normal match so like with more motivation and that new outlook? Hell, I cannot put you in the rear view until your shoulders are on the mat.”
She looks to the floor and hugs her knees and closes her eyes.
“But I gotta if I have to m’man , it's not just professional pride here, how many times and I gonna let opportunity after opportunity slip through my fingers. How many times is, close but not enough gonna be worth it?”
She laughed a bit and chuckled, it sounded just a little bitter.
“Hell I bet you’re thinking the same damn thing man, we see eye to eye on one thing. Serenity can’t leave this match as champion Tytus, She can’t she won’t .. I promise you if I get past you when I get past you then I’ll take that strength of yours as a sign of respect and purpose it to propel me like a railgun to the next goal..You feelin’ me?”
She releases a small sigh and idly peeks between her knees.
“Maybe when this is over I’ll bring something to the farm as an olive branch, if that’s ok?”
She grit her teeth and then looked up as her hands moved to the second ripe and her eyes hit the camera.
“It would be easy to write you off TJ, all said and done but you have the hardest job of all of us, hell a part of me wanted to have, why? Because I’m crazy.”
She let loose a grim chuckle even as she pulled herself up to sit on the second rope with that signature grin
“To work from the first place all the way to the last and face down the champ? That’s a fairy tale and a half. I’d sure have loved that, but you see I couldn’t let go of my competitive nature, I made the smarter choice and let the cards lay, because I wanted the shot at Serenity more than I wanted the shot at a fairy tale. I had my own professional pride and I put that first.”
She gives a small shrug, and that smile remains.
“Hell, none of us is perfect are we? I could go on ad infinitum TJ, but you beat your chest and do the shouting for yourself. Tell me about how we all underestimate you. You want to be respected? You want the chance to show out? Here it is Alexander, You and Rost face to face winner faces me, winner of that faces Serenity Winner Of that gets the belt, nut up or shut up hon…Because there’s no prisoners in this one, nowhere to hide no underestimation, it’s on you.”
Natasha’s face tilted up to look at the windows of the little practice gym she was in, finally bracing herself fully in the corner as she seems to meditate on the next subject.
“Which leads me back to the start doesn’t it? Back to the rock where I can see the cracks forming, The pressure piling up and you’re thriving under it Serenity but you very much aren’t a picture of your name. You’re gettin’ messy and sure you're winning but it’s plain to see the leaks are happening and I seriously wonder what’ll happen to you when you lose that belt not if. One day somebody's gonna creep it out from under you and you’ll have a few moments of coyote time before…”
A pause and she tilted her head as if interrupting herself
“I don’t need to explain the concept of coyote time do I?”
She holds up her index fingers as if saying ‘wait a second’.
“Just in case you didn’t know, coyote time is a brief period of time after running off a platform where a game will still register the player pressing the jump button. It’s also the time period in a road runner cartoon between The Coyote discovering there’s no floor underneath him…before he falls, all caught up? Great.”
Natasha continues a little after getting herself back on track and smiling.
“Either way, You’re gonna fall back to the bottom of the line yourself Serenity, any of them, you’ll have proven yourself but 'm starting to wonder if you aren't holding into this belt so hard… the reason you’ve gone all barnacle on it is because …You don't have anything else? No seriously, Hear me out.”
Natasha slides off the turnbuckle as her head tilts and she looks at the camera.
“Like , when I’m done with my matches, win or lose, I have a place I can kick back, a palace I can go home to, I have a save point, a safe space, what do got Serenity? Is this all you have? This business? The fight? That belt on your shoulder the Legion that really isn’t at your command? Nobody to tell you good luck, no friends really? Just train, work, fight, sleep repeat?”
Natashs gives a slow, slow shake of her head.
“Hon, That’s not only incredibly sad, that's kinda unhealthy. Like we're all here to be the best we can be but the route you’re running? Burn out city, I’ve seen before maybe my mercurial nature means I’m hard to take seriously but trust me hon…I actually worry some.”
She closed her eyes and wrinkles her nose as she takes a long slow breath.
“Maybe we’ll see how true that is when I take that belt off your hands, huh? You think I'm joking? You think i;’’m playing around? You forget hell I’m still riding high off taking one of my best friends to a time limit draw in the Dome, Arguably the match of that night, I told myself that one day I’d get a belt around my waist, that I would end this year a champion of some kind and that I would defend it.”
She stares down the barrel of the camera.
“November, I’m comin’ for you Serenity, It doesn't matter who I have to Goblin glide, who i have to Tsuchigumo, hell I might even break out a Goliath Birdeater for you, watch the life drian form your eyes as I lock in a triangle and squeeze.”
Chuckle and she seems to comment to herself.
“Jesus Nat, there’s a mental image. But that is saying it is one thing but this sunday in Dallas? This isn’t a case of trying to catch up, we’re already locked in, we're already predestined to collide this time, it's not a case of keeping up, it's a case of who has more in the tank.”
She rolls her eyes mentally pulling herself back on track and rubs her neck before re looking at the camera
“A case of who’s crazier to go the distance, I’ll tell y'all something, I’ll take that bet, I will claw and scramble and i;ll do it my way, i‘ll claw. I'll struggle I'll fight I’ll ask the crowd to lend me their energy I’ll scream, I'll cry but i’m not gonna give in… no matter how busted up I get..”
She nods a bit again, determination starting to etch into her face as she hops out the corner to stand a bit taller.
“This isn’t about survival anymore, is it? This about stepping up…So that’s what I’m gonna do, for me…for the IWF for the Belt, I’m going out there with the goal to win, nothing else can do will do.”
She makes that wry smile again and caps a salute to the camera.
“See ya’ll in Dallas, then See y'all when the bell rings…Don't let me down… I want your best, anything else and it’s lights out.”
She gives a bow to the camera.
“Gambatte! Right?”
She smiles brightly and moves to start stretching against the ropes as Charlie Shimizu comes into shot.
“You Ready?”
Nat offers that fist bump, her smile brightening all the more
“You Bet.”
Charlie gives a wry chuckle as the scene fades out as Charlie returns it and they start to circle once again the cheerful supportive shout of Rini heard in the background.
Fin.
She stares down the barrel of the camera.
“November, I’m comin’ for you Serenity, It doesn't matter who I have to Goblin glide, who i have to Tsuchigumo, hell I might even break out a Goliath Birdeater for you, watch the life drian form your eyes as I lock in a triangle and squeeze.”
Chuckle and she seems to comment to herself.
“Jesus Nat, there’s a mental image. But that is saying it is one thing but this sunday in Dallas? This isn’t a case of trying to catch up, we’re already locked in, we're already predestined to collide this time, it's not a case of keeping up, it's a case of who has more in the tank.”
She rolls her eyes mentally pulling herself back on track and rubs her neck before re looking at the camera
“A case of who’s crazier to go the distance, I’ll tell y'all something, I’ll take that bet, I will claw and scramble and i;ll do it my way, i‘ll claw. I'll struggle I'll fight I’ll ask the crowd to lend me their energy I’ll scream, I'll cry but i’m not gonna give in… no matter how busted up I get..”
She nods a bit again, determination starting to etch into her face as she hops out the corner to stand a bit taller.
“This isn’t about survival anymore, is it? This about stepping up…So that’s what I’m gonna do, for me…for the IWF for the Belt, I’m going out there with the goal to win, nothing else can do will do.”
She makes that wry smile again and caps a salute to the camera.
“See ya’ll in Dallas, then See y'all when the bell rings…Don't let me down… I want your best, anything else and it’s lights out.”
She gives a bow to the camera.
“Gambatte! Right?”
She smiles brightly and moves to start stretching against the ropes as Charlie Shimizu comes into shot.
“You Ready?”
Nat offers that fist bump, her smile brightening all the more
“You Bet.”
Charlie gives a wry chuckle as the scene fades out as Charlie returns it and they start to circle once again the cheerful supportive shout of Rini heard in the background.
Fin.
Well howdy there pardner.