Demons Run

[Ghost Spike]

Nobody can understand the build behind this, not a single one of their feeble minds could understand what this means to both of us. How much it can sway our minds, and how much it occupies it. No matter what either of us might say, ever since that decision came at the end of the Extinction Event it was building to this. Every single moment has built to this. 

History in the making. 

{Penny’s in the air} 

I can’t tell you how much I’ve been longing for this, how much the destiny between the two of us has pushed and pulled over the years, bringing us as close as we need to be, as close as we can be, before it all falls to shit and it never lives up to the billing. Once it did…..once it made history, and has been remembered for all time. It made an impact that was never repeated. and after all that time…..after six long years we find ourselves here again. You and me, setting the bar once again, making history once again. 

{Still spinning} 

We’re finally doing what we were meant to be, and nothing can stop us, nobody can prevent the hell that will be unleashed at Metamorphosis not for the first, and I imagine not for the last time…..we’ll be there, headlining the most important show of IWF’s short run together…...we’ll crush Davey Ortega once and for all my love… 

{And here it drops.} 

MY Dragon’s Den. 

~~~ 

The lights seem a bit dim as they first come on, but it simply takes my eyes a moment or two to adjust. The arena is cold and empty, though sounds can be heard off in the distance of busy bees off and about their business. I flipped the switch that was for the lights just around the ring, and it glows with such a haunting quality…..it draws you in, and it’s in that moment that I realise it always did. Ever since day one.

{You were born for this.}

The voice in my mind seems to spring to life, almost as if it was awoken by the ring itself, but it no longer causes me alarm. Instead, it’s became a part of me. Ever since I realised that I wasn’t under any influence, that I am and always have been the master of my actions…..it’s become a friend, a reminder that I’m not alone.

{We’re never alone.}

Some people would have cracked, they would have given in and crunmbled, but not me. I am the God of Xtreme, and I have made IWF my personal playground. As I begin to walk down the steps towards the ring, I can hear each step echo throughout the arena, and I wonder what it must be like to sit in these seats when history unfolds. When I walk into my home, and bat Davey Ortega around like the crash test dummy he always has been…..what will they think?

{All Hail!}

“Heh…..haha….I like that.”

Funnily enough I don’t hear my voice echo, just the footsteps, but my thoughts about the lowly peasants sitting in this seats don’t linger for long as I make my way towards the ring, my beautiful creation hanging above it. My eyes draw to it as if hypnotized…….oh, the fun I’ve had within the confines of that creation.

{And many more to come.}

Time doesn’t seem to flow the same as I get closer to the ring, before I know it I’m inside, and in the back of my mind I hear the roaring of the crowd. It fills my chest with warmth, as if I have a power building within me. As I circle the ring, seeing images of crowds over the years before me, the Den shifts and comes crashing down around me, sending chills through my entire body.

{At last…..we’re home!}

I can feel a low rumble chuckle building within me, but it doesn’t escape just yet. No, instead I keep it inside and lower my eyes to the ring, where before me I see the image of Davey Ortega, laying amongst the wreckage of a broken and burnt table clutching at his back in agony.

“Look at him! The fool!”

The image shifts ever so slightly as I move towards it, standing over the broken image of my adversary. That night always remains in my memory, no matter how much I try to push it out, no matter how much I try to play it off…..that night changed me as much as it changed Ortega, though obvioiusly I came better off.

{Times have changed.}

“And so have I….”

In my mind that’s where I realise that Ortega claims to have changed, to be a different man to who he was in nCw, yet is blinded by his own ignorance to believe that I haven’t done exactly the same. I evolved over the years, I became a more fine tuned wrestling machine, I learned to control my emotions and use them to my advantage…..and I’ve learned to corrupt people….which is something he’s missed completely.

{Oh he’ll realise soon enough, the plan draws near.}

“Demons run….”

With a blink of my eyes the image is replaced with that of Davey Ortega beating the holy hell out of Joe Everyman, shouting for Spike to come out and face him.

{When a good man goes to war.}

“Demons run….”

Once again the image shifts to Davey trashing his locker room the night Spike Kane unveild the formation of The Empire.

{Night will fall and drown in sun}

“When a good man goes to war!”

Almost as if a crescendo of music builds behind me a blinding light flashes and the scene within the Den is replaced with the culmination of the Extinction Event. The night I collided with Davey with fury for the first time in a very long time….the night Davey Ortega began his war with Spike Kane.

{Friendship dies and true love lies}

“Night will fall and the dark will rise, when a good man goes to war”

Almost as if a music video plays before me, behind the in-ring action, upon the walls of the Dragons Den itself flash images of my war with Rob Diamond, of my ex-wife leaving me after everything I did for her.

{Demons run…..but count the cost….}

I close my eyes and feel it all melt away, leaving me standing there inside the center of the ring and nothing but a camera looking at me. My grin spreads as I open my eyes and lock onto the camera stepping forward and taking it all up with my face.

“When we finally lock horns inside this ring, inside my home Davey…..my plan will finally be complete, and I will finally push you to the edge and watch as you become my true protoge….as you become the heir to my throne, as I corrupt you once and for all and push you to become the monster you think I am…….”

{The battle is won, but the child is lost.}

“So what I’m saying my dearest Davey, is for you to beat me…...you have to become me!”

{Demons run…..when a good man goes to war.}

Now I feel the laughter building, and this time I throw my power behind it, lifting my head, it bubbles and bursts free, a laughter that could chill your very spine, and in the back of my mind I hear the sounds of the bees going about their business stop…...stop, in fear.

In fear of me.

~~~ 

There is and always was two ways to go about this Davey. I could have ignored you, and let you continue to beat up lesser people, claiming to be trying to get my attention…..floundering down in the lower leagues of IWF until you finally caught my eye….or of course, I could have got your attention instead, slapped you in the face and literally lifted you up to the upper echelon of this company and it’s talent. 

Guess which one I chose? 

I can just imagine you ranting and raving about how you made yourself the man you are today, and that I’ve played not a single part in that. Yet behind that mask, you know that you are wrong. Davey Ortega, the one man crusade for redemption, tell me little Davey - without me, where would you be? Without the horrible, devious, evil, manipulative….{you could go on forever} …..bastard that ruined your life…..where would you be today? Do you honestly believe you would be standing in IWF with a chance to become the face of the company? Let’s be brutally honest here Davey….. 

Without me, you’re nothing. 

If we want to push the boundaries, without me there wouldn’t be an IWF. InFamous never would have carried the shows week in and week out, I never would have stepped up to carry the ball after both Joe Everyman AND Lex Sense dropped it…...do you honestly think this company could have survived? I want to hear you say it, all of you, I want to hear you cry out and let the truth reign free.  

Spike Kane is your savior. 

Humorous as that might seem, it’s not without my own agenda of course. I need a playground after all, I need a place to wreac havok, and of course….I need toys to play with. Like yourself Davey…..the latest toy to be thrown into my playpen - although for you it’s literal - and you actually believe that you stand a chance to come out of this the hero! You genuinely think you can triumph and walk away from not just Metamorphosis, but the Dragons Den as the Imperial Champion! ….I’m sorry…..ha….haha…...hahaha… 

MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 

Oh, man...I couldn’t help myself. Davey, for a so called “genius” you’re pretty fucking stupid. Every single aspect of what has gone down between us since this company began has all been part of my game. Do you think I chose to rebirth The Empire out of some form of nostalgia for the cesspit that was New Championship Wrestling? Did you think it was in honor of yourself? Please, don’t make me laugh Davey. It was a calculated slap in the face that pushed you to where I wanted you. It pushed you to up your game, and it made you that more determined to get your hands on me. 

Stop me if I’m wrong? 

Exactly. 

We’re days away from locking horns properly Davey, once and for all this will be settled. You may think that you’ve played the power game and pushed me into a corner, that I’m afraid because my Empire cannot back me up, that I can’t run away, but I feel like you’ve forgotten something pretty major Davey; I’m more than capable of kicking ten shades of shit out of you without any help. I don’t back down from fights, and I don’t give up easily. You think you stand a claim for my Imperial Championship…..and it’s about time I laid that to rest, it’s about time the world realised once and for all - Davey Ortega doesn’t have what it takes to carry this company. 

And he never will. 

It’s been building Davey, and I’m not blind, I’ve noticed it. Since day one of you walking into this company it was just a matter of time before we clashed. There was no chance in hell I was going to allow that to be some throwaway match on national television for free. See, despite what Bertie thinks about me - I’m still making his company money! You and I? Clashing heads finally in a match that has been building ever since I slammed you through a god damn flaming table so many years ago? Oh man Davey….. 

I haven’t been so excited for a long time. 

Just think about the carnage we’ll be able to throw at each other. Just think about the levels of violence we’ll be LEGALLY allowed to go to! What we do within the confines of my Den will make people scream, it will push the boundaries like nothing people have ever seen before. In short Davey…..we’re going to make history once again. I’m going to drag you through this match, kicking and screaming if I have to and I’m going to make what happened back in nCw look like a pillow fight. 

This is the beginning Davey, of your ultimate end. 

I’ve never been one to play with my hand on show, and I like to think I’ve been the kind of man who can hold quite a good poker face. However, I’m more than happy to throw everything at you Davey. I’ve been pressing your buttons since day one, leading you up to this point…..guiding you by the hand, but now? Now it’s up to you, you have a choice Ortega. Prove to the world what kind of man you are…...Championship or Honor. Are you truly redeemed? Can you still take a knee and stand at my side in MY Empire? 

Make a choice Davey…. 

Slay me…...and become me…..