Post by Rowan MacDonnough on May 25, 2017 21:26:00 GMT
The video begins in blackness, with Rowan's voice whispering through the darkness.
"Hate... is the ultimate motivational force.
We live in a world full of hate, pain and fear, swirling in a never ending cycle of birth and consumption. By fearing something, humans will learn to hate it... and when you hate something enough, humans are willing to go to any lengths to make the object of their fear and hatred suffer. By inflicting that suffering, they themselves become the feared... and the hated. And so the cycle of agony continues, ever spiraling in upon itself... nature's finest infinite loop.
It can change you, when you embrace it. Charity Crowne will learn this... very soon."
Red light rises in the camera, illuminating Rowan standing in a cage, splattered with blood. Her arms are extended, eyes ablaze with anticipation and destructive desire as she looks to the camera as though daring the viewer to come closer. In one hand is a kendo stick wrapped in barbed wire.
"We've been dancing around one another for months, Charity Crowne. Since the Diamonds in the Rough competition we've been circling, darting close but never truly clashing. We first met in the semi-finals of the tournament, a victory you denied me by picking the bones of the other soul in the ring. A week later, you did the same thing again... snatching your accolades as winner of the tournament, the Diamond in the Rough. Since then we've danced and spun in an ever-intensifying spiral of hatred and fear, but you always spin just out of reach before I can sink my claws into your prideful flesh.
Not this time. This time you walk into a fight on my terms, in my arena, and you have no way out. Locked in a cage with the Wolf of the Abyss, you will look into the eyes of your darkest fears... and fight for your life against the manifestations of your harshest nightmares. The culmination of every insult, threat and betrayal... you will suffer for every arrogant word that has slithered from your tongue. I will make you regret stealing those victories from me, betraying me in our match against Shae O'Hara and Astrid Hall, as I leave you bloodied and broken in the cell after inflicting atrocities upon your flesh unlike anything you've faced in a match before.
I have never been pinned, and you lack the strength to change that. I have never yielded, and you lack the cruelty to change that. You cannot defeat me by throwing me over the ropes. You cannot run from the cage. The referees will not intervene when I beat you within an inch of your life with steel. Nobody will break into the cell to save you. Your only hope would be to render me unconscious as Shae and Astrid did several weeks ago... but I doubt you have the will to accomplish such a thing.
We both know there is only one way this ends - with your complete and absolute destruction... exactly as it should be."
"Holy shit, she actually booked it."
They were all gathered in their remote home, twisted shadows dancing around the room, cast by the brazier of fire in the center. Rowan sat by the fire's edge, staring contemplatively into the flames as her fingers curled through their edge, heedless of the blisters the heat draw forth from her skin. Dean often wondered if Rowan even felt pain with how much she indulged in it on her own volition. Perhaps it simply affected her differently than it did others? He had heard of people whose nerves hadn't formed properly in ways that made their brains process pain the same way most processed pleasure. He wouldn't have been surprised if Rowan's were the same - after all, no normal human could hold their hands in a fire like that without even flinching... right?
"I told you she would," Rowan whispered in reply, her voice seeming to fill the large room and fall on everyone's ears with perfect clarity. "People in power will do what they can to keep it. With the buildup, the messages, the threats... the people want to see this match at Night of the Immortals. Whatever other motivations Conway might have, its in her best interest to please the crowds."
Dean nodded. It made sense. He knew that the rivalry between Rowan and Charity was getting a lot of buzz, and the idea of opening Night of the Immortals with the two of them in a Cell Match was enough to get people's attention. If the existence of the Dragon's Den match proved anything, its that fans of the IWF were always hungry for a bloodbath. Despite the advent of thousands of technologies between now and then, human society's desires hadn't changed much since Ancient Rome. If Conway announced that the Diamonds Championship would be determined by a fight against lions, ratings would likely spike and the only backlash they'd get would be PETA arguing that it was cruel to the cats.
Dean smiled at the thought before continuing. "Do you think you hurt Pandora or Shae enough to impact the championship matches?"
Rowan shrugged. "We will see how much pain lingers on Sunday Night. I certainly wrenched some bones and bruised some muscles. Whatever the result, it's of no concern. I got what I wanted."
Dean nodded. "And... after Night of the Immortals?"
Rowan leaned further into the fire. "Change," she replied quietly, enough that Dean thought he might be the only one to hear. "Some form of Change is coming. The balance of the Diamonds Division is tipping. Darkness is beginning to take hold, stronger than ever. Floodgates will open, and forces of destruction will descend upon the Diamonds in ways unlike anything that's happened to the division before. The Diamonds in the Rough tournament brought change to the division, change that has been rippling in the background... but after Night of the Immortals, I think it will very shortly be unleashed."
Dean didn't know what to say to that. "Uh... right. So... so what are we... I mean, uh, you... going to do about it?"
Rowan turned to him sharply, fixing him with a sharp glare... but he got the strange impression that, under her mask, she was smiling. "Do about it? Nothing. I'm going to be a part of it. The destruction of Charity Crowne isn't just vengeance... its an application form."
She turned back to the fire, staring at her hand as it crackled in the flames. "And then we'll burn it all to ash around us, and destroy anyone... and anything... that stands in our way."
"I have said many times before, Charity Crowne... that you are my Avatar of Pride. And as such, there could only be one way to truly... utterly... crush you. You think you're better than everyone else, Crowne. You look down at the masses and see them as lesser, believing that they should worship the very ground you walk upon. Your pride permeates your skin so deeply that simply defeating you wouldn't be enough to break you. You'd find an excuse, find a way to justify your loss... your pride would blind you to your failure, and though it would hurt your body, it would not hurt your soul.
Not this time, Charity. This time you will stand at Night of the Immortals, before the largest crowd of those masses that you have ever stood before. Tens of thousands of them, screaming our names as we stand together in that steel cage. Hundreds of thousands more will watch from home. The world's eyes will be upon you.
And as they all watch, I will break you. Punish you. Torture you. They will watch you bleed, and they will watch you scream, and they will watch you beg, and they will watch you weep... And then, millions of people, around the world - perfect, ordinary people that you have so long looked down upon - will pity you. They will feel sorry for you. Even those that hate you will look upon you with absolute pity, as they realize that no matter how little they have... they have more than you do.
And then, in that moment, as the world looks down on you with sympathy... that is when your pride will finally crumble, and you will be left... truly... broken.
At Night of the Immortals, Charity Crowne, everything that you are... ends."
"Hate... is the ultimate motivational force.
We live in a world full of hate, pain and fear, swirling in a never ending cycle of birth and consumption. By fearing something, humans will learn to hate it... and when you hate something enough, humans are willing to go to any lengths to make the object of their fear and hatred suffer. By inflicting that suffering, they themselves become the feared... and the hated. And so the cycle of agony continues, ever spiraling in upon itself... nature's finest infinite loop.
It can change you, when you embrace it. Charity Crowne will learn this... very soon."
Red light rises in the camera, illuminating Rowan standing in a cage, splattered with blood. Her arms are extended, eyes ablaze with anticipation and destructive desire as she looks to the camera as though daring the viewer to come closer. In one hand is a kendo stick wrapped in barbed wire.
"We've been dancing around one another for months, Charity Crowne. Since the Diamonds in the Rough competition we've been circling, darting close but never truly clashing. We first met in the semi-finals of the tournament, a victory you denied me by picking the bones of the other soul in the ring. A week later, you did the same thing again... snatching your accolades as winner of the tournament, the Diamond in the Rough. Since then we've danced and spun in an ever-intensifying spiral of hatred and fear, but you always spin just out of reach before I can sink my claws into your prideful flesh.
Not this time. This time you walk into a fight on my terms, in my arena, and you have no way out. Locked in a cage with the Wolf of the Abyss, you will look into the eyes of your darkest fears... and fight for your life against the manifestations of your harshest nightmares. The culmination of every insult, threat and betrayal... you will suffer for every arrogant word that has slithered from your tongue. I will make you regret stealing those victories from me, betraying me in our match against Shae O'Hara and Astrid Hall, as I leave you bloodied and broken in the cell after inflicting atrocities upon your flesh unlike anything you've faced in a match before.
I have never been pinned, and you lack the strength to change that. I have never yielded, and you lack the cruelty to change that. You cannot defeat me by throwing me over the ropes. You cannot run from the cage. The referees will not intervene when I beat you within an inch of your life with steel. Nobody will break into the cell to save you. Your only hope would be to render me unconscious as Shae and Astrid did several weeks ago... but I doubt you have the will to accomplish such a thing.
We both know there is only one way this ends - with your complete and absolute destruction... exactly as it should be."
"Holy shit, she actually booked it."
They were all gathered in their remote home, twisted shadows dancing around the room, cast by the brazier of fire in the center. Rowan sat by the fire's edge, staring contemplatively into the flames as her fingers curled through their edge, heedless of the blisters the heat draw forth from her skin. Dean often wondered if Rowan even felt pain with how much she indulged in it on her own volition. Perhaps it simply affected her differently than it did others? He had heard of people whose nerves hadn't formed properly in ways that made their brains process pain the same way most processed pleasure. He wouldn't have been surprised if Rowan's were the same - after all, no normal human could hold their hands in a fire like that without even flinching... right?
"I told you she would," Rowan whispered in reply, her voice seeming to fill the large room and fall on everyone's ears with perfect clarity. "People in power will do what they can to keep it. With the buildup, the messages, the threats... the people want to see this match at Night of the Immortals. Whatever other motivations Conway might have, its in her best interest to please the crowds."
Dean nodded. It made sense. He knew that the rivalry between Rowan and Charity was getting a lot of buzz, and the idea of opening Night of the Immortals with the two of them in a Cell Match was enough to get people's attention. If the existence of the Dragon's Den match proved anything, its that fans of the IWF were always hungry for a bloodbath. Despite the advent of thousands of technologies between now and then, human society's desires hadn't changed much since Ancient Rome. If Conway announced that the Diamonds Championship would be determined by a fight against lions, ratings would likely spike and the only backlash they'd get would be PETA arguing that it was cruel to the cats.
Dean smiled at the thought before continuing. "Do you think you hurt Pandora or Shae enough to impact the championship matches?"
Rowan shrugged. "We will see how much pain lingers on Sunday Night. I certainly wrenched some bones and bruised some muscles. Whatever the result, it's of no concern. I got what I wanted."
Dean nodded. "And... after Night of the Immortals?"
Rowan leaned further into the fire. "Change," she replied quietly, enough that Dean thought he might be the only one to hear. "Some form of Change is coming. The balance of the Diamonds Division is tipping. Darkness is beginning to take hold, stronger than ever. Floodgates will open, and forces of destruction will descend upon the Diamonds in ways unlike anything that's happened to the division before. The Diamonds in the Rough tournament brought change to the division, change that has been rippling in the background... but after Night of the Immortals, I think it will very shortly be unleashed."
Dean didn't know what to say to that. "Uh... right. So... so what are we... I mean, uh, you... going to do about it?"
Rowan turned to him sharply, fixing him with a sharp glare... but he got the strange impression that, under her mask, she was smiling. "Do about it? Nothing. I'm going to be a part of it. The destruction of Charity Crowne isn't just vengeance... its an application form."
She turned back to the fire, staring at her hand as it crackled in the flames. "And then we'll burn it all to ash around us, and destroy anyone... and anything... that stands in our way."
"I have said many times before, Charity Crowne... that you are my Avatar of Pride. And as such, there could only be one way to truly... utterly... crush you. You think you're better than everyone else, Crowne. You look down at the masses and see them as lesser, believing that they should worship the very ground you walk upon. Your pride permeates your skin so deeply that simply defeating you wouldn't be enough to break you. You'd find an excuse, find a way to justify your loss... your pride would blind you to your failure, and though it would hurt your body, it would not hurt your soul.
Not this time, Charity. This time you will stand at Night of the Immortals, before the largest crowd of those masses that you have ever stood before. Tens of thousands of them, screaming our names as we stand together in that steel cage. Hundreds of thousands more will watch from home. The world's eyes will be upon you.
And as they all watch, I will break you. Punish you. Torture you. They will watch you bleed, and they will watch you scream, and they will watch you beg, and they will watch you weep... And then, millions of people, around the world - perfect, ordinary people that you have so long looked down upon - will pity you. They will feel sorry for you. Even those that hate you will look upon you with absolute pity, as they realize that no matter how little they have... they have more than you do.
And then, in that moment, as the world looks down on you with sympathy... that is when your pride will finally crumble, and you will be left... truly... broken.
At Night of the Immortals, Charity Crowne, everything that you are... ends."
Well howdy there pardner.