Post by Teo Blaze on Sept 12, 2019 0:51:24 GMT -5
Attention Action Faithful:
Your help is required.
Your presence requested.
A message awaits those who will hear it.
Those who ignore it will have only themselves to blame.
That was it. The email had been sent out at approximately 3:00am, and had been distributed to any ticket holder that had registered, as well as all subscribers to the Action Network. Below it were details, map coordinates.
But the odd thing was...nobody had authorized the message. As far as anyone could tell, the message was a glitch in the system, an anonymous but clear directive sent through the Action servers. That was why he had come, after all. Camila had been incredibly clear about the instructions.
“Do you realize what kind of shitstorm this could be if it got out?! Go there, investigate, and fix it!"
The executive sighed as he recounted the instruction. What he hadn’t told her was that he had a sneaking suspicion from the moment he saw the message just who was responsible. He had spent the entire drive over trying to convince himself that there could be another culprit- an online prankster, or even a rogue employee trying to stir up trouble on their way out the door.
The message had not gone unheard, it seemed. The location was a small warehouse, not far from the stadium, and a crowd had already gathered, almost entirely in Action Wrestling T-shirts, holding up hand made signs or replica title belts. But what struck him most was the noise. The entire crowd buzzed like a hornet’s nest, suspicion mingling with speculation to form a chaotic and wild sound. “Who could it be?” “What are they planning?” “Is this some kind of secret event for fans?”
If only they knew.
Bluntly pushing his way into the crowd, the executive ignored the very vocal objections as he made his way to the front, shouldering onlookers out of the way. And then, as he started to reach the front of the warehouse, as his eyes approached the stage, he saw what he had feared, and yet what he had expected.
Walking onto the stage, just out of view of the crowd, was a man he was all too familiar with. In a plain black T-shirt and jeans, arms crossed in front of a large CD player, was Teo Blaze.
The executive opened his mouth to cry “Stop!” but it was too late, the people surrounding him saw their King, and any objection he could have had was immediately swallowed by an explosion of sound. The entire crowd lurched forward as if to charge the stage, and the executive felt his feet knocked from under him. Everything was chaos, his balance gone, his perception swallowed in the roar of the crowd. As he fell forward, propelled by the weight of the crowd, his eyes darted one last time to the stage, where he saw Blaze standing, arms held out, with a crooked and wicked smile etched onto his face.
===
Teo Blaze: Are you listening now?
He seems to almost be floating, as if surrounded by dark fog, shrouding all light around him and casting a shadow over his expression. His face seems lost in thought, as if pondering a problem, considering a conundrum. But the voice continues.
Teo Blaze: Do you see?
Do you see what I have been saying since the day that I walked in?
Do you see the truth?
A small, almost imperceptible twitch comes across Teo’s lips, the very beginnings of a smile.
Teo Blaze: It always comes out, the truth. Sooner or later. If you give it enough time, if you are patient, and if you seek it? You will find it.
I have borne witness to a cancer infecting this world since the moment I walked through the door, a benign and terrible growth on the very heart of Action Wrestling that threatens every day to turn malignant. We have walked a razor’s edge for too long.
And when I say a cancer?
I mean it.
A cancer occurs when the body’s own cells turn against it, when the very lifeblood that pumps through us is stolen by an unwelcome and useless growth. Growing larger and larger, taking more and more of its host until there is nothing left to give. Sacrificing the very thing that keeps it alive just so it can grow larger, and giving nothing in return.
This is what I face at Execution.
But the thing about a cancer? There is no cure. There is no way to undo the damage once it begins...no way to negotiate, no way to stop it from taking everything it can.
It must be cut out.
It must be...eliminated.
Teo slowly raises his right arm, his index finger extended, even while his eyes remain closed, and gradually, deliberately lowers it. The camera slowly zooms outward as he does so, the dark fog that surrounds him gradually choking more light from the scene. And then, at once, his hand comes in contact with something…
With the play button on the CD player he brought on stage.
The dark fog that surrounded him vanishes in an instant and is replaced by the chaotic and furious roar of a crowd. A warehouse of people, packed shoulder to shoulder, all calling out his name at once. A speaker system blares the music as loud as a concert as Teo turns to the crowd, holding his arms out, soaking in the sound, absorbing it, feeling it in each and every pore. It strengthened him, enlivened him...brought him clarity.
He soaks in the sound for only a moment, before his eyes snapped open, the light reflecting in them like a flame as he reaches behind his back. There, hidden previously by the fog, a wireless megaphone. He snatches it, holding it up to his lips, his voice roaring forth with an unearthly, primal emotion.
Teo Blaze: Action Faithful, you have been led astray!
The audience’s roars and cheers continue, only increasing in volume, but a momentary confusion can be heard seeping into the chaotic roar.
Teo Blaze: You have been lured into the open arms of usurpers! Men and women who have built themselves on an empty foundation, who have lied and manipulated at every opportunity, all in an effort to secure the world!
Vipers, each and every one of them! Venomous serpents who would gladly burn Action Wrestling to the fucking ground if it meant a single day to falsely call themselves the best in the world! People who have lied, who have manipulated, and who have used you day in and day out.
Pieces of shit, all! They have shown time and again that they are interested only in serving their own despicable egos than anything else. People whose eyes become colored by gold the instant it comes into their view, backstabbers who are so obsessed with that image of a belt on their shoulder that they allow themselves to become traitors to the very things they claim to stand for!
That is why I have called you here today, Action Faithful.
For you see...these...detestable souls, these poor excuses for humanity?
They’re scared.
Last week, each and every one of them watched as I pinned their World Champion in the center of the ring.
Now, the crowd explodes with a cheer, remembering the match result that saw Blaze’s team victorious.
Teo Blaze: And that? That is something that they were not prepared for.
In an era defined by alliances, with Man Made Gods and Hollywood Elites joining forces, with loose friendships where partners shake hands with their left hand while holding a dagger behind their back in their right hand… The man who stood tallest was the lone madman with a microphone, the wild spark in their powder keg.
For the first time, they truly saw what we were capable of.
And I say we...because you have been behind me each and every step of the way. The Action Faithful have each and every week pushed me, driven me to do more than I imagined myself capable of, and I have in turn given you everything I am capable of. I have risked my life, my health, and even my goddamned name!
All so that you might finally be able to turn on the television without the disgust of knowing that the world is in the hands of a fucking Judas.
And I am ready to do it again.
Make no mistake, I will leave behind nothing! When I walk into that chamber. So long as I can still draw breath, I will not stop, I will not allow myself to rest until I have eliminated this cancer from Action Wrestling once and for all!
Call it a threat, call it a warning, call it a fucking promise.
But all of you know in your heart of hearts what this is.
It’s the truth.
The audience is enraptured by Teo’s words, their excitement now mixed with something new, something deep. The torrent of sound, of voices crying over one another slowly shifts, like a lurching behemoth, changing, transforming into something different, something tinged with anger.
And sure enough, the crowd’s face begin to shift, their faces torn between ecstasy and fury, the message whipping a frenzy of emotion that seems to almost consume the warehouse, a sleeping beast of outrage and disgust that has too long lain dormant. Teo smiles, knowing that he has awoken the very beast that his opponents wished to suppress. It would take just one more push, one more spark to bring them to the peak.
And he knew what they were waiting for.
Teo Blaze: I hear your anger, Action Wrestling, I know that it feels as though you are awakening from a deep sleep, that you have been charmed, misled, fed on empty promises. For the first time you see the world.
He inhales deeply, closing his eyes as he envisions each of his opponents, their twisted forms playing themselves across his mind. All five appear in his mind, each with a shining golden belt over their shoulder, each with a demonic grin across their face.
Teo Blaze: You see Alex Richards, the man of a thousand title shots, the man whose sole purpose since walking into Action Wrestling has been to build an empire on his own name. A man who has endlessly sought validation for himself above all else. A man who time and time again has sought rewards, championships, accolades...a legacy to be proud of.
But you also see a man who is at heart, fundamentally and irrevocably broken. A man whose view of the world has become so wrapped up in his own accomplishments that he has taken any shortcut that comes along. A man who is happy to wear a hall of fame ring with someone else’s name engraved into it, so long as it means that he can claim another accolade.
You know what Alex Richards is? A human fucking asterisk. Every single one of his championship victories, the very things that he almost obsesses over, that he thinks validate him? They carry a mountain of caveats, of technicalities.
When I beat Alex for the World Championship in WCF, I said that he only is willing to put enough of himself forward to win a championship, but not to reign as one. That he cares more about adding his name to a list than accepting the burden that comes with being a champion.
And Alex, nothing has fucking changed. I don’t want to repeat myself, but you’ve given me very few other options. You have no convictions, you have no strength of character, you have nothing more than hope that as long as you keep trying, as long as you keep pushing, one day you’ll get lucky, one day you’ll get to say that you had the championship.
And then, like always, you will quit. You want to be champion because you believe that it will make your career better, that it will prove to the world that you are as good as you say you are. You want the championship to show that you’re as good as you want to think you are.
Fuck that.
When you go for that belt, you don’t do it for yourself, you dumb son of a bitch. To win that belt is no achievement, it is a sacrifice. It is to put the world on your shoulders, and to either survive or break under its weight.
You claim to want the world in your hands, Alex, but the truth is you want the world to carry you.
The emotion in Teo’s worlds is palpable, the kind of contempt that can only come from a long and storied history, of someone who speaks from countless encounters. But his vitriol only serves to stir the audience up further, and with a smile he continues.
Teo Blaze: You see Allison-Riggs Preston.
Even the mention of her name is enough to draw a cascade of boos from the crowd, but Teo holds his hands out to quiet them.
Teo Blaze: I know, and there is a lot to be said about her behavior, her...association with that despicable pile of shit Johnny Stylez, and her character...or lack thereof. Truth be told the less said about that soap opera, the better.
Because what Allison’s relationship with Stylez has proven is that for all of her talk, for all of her bluster, for all of her talk...she is as naive as they come. A blind, deaf, and brain damaged man who had spent the last year living in a cave could have told Preston not to trust that walking chat-bot, and yet she still managed to find a way to be surprised when things went south.
I am the worst possible thing for Allison-Riggs Preston. I am not fooled by a pretty face, and I do not feel an ounce of sympathy when someone pays the price for their own fucking ignorance.
You want to hear the truth, Allison? You want to hear what I think about that betrayal? That clothesline?
That’s on you.
You need to wake the fuck up and stop letting yourself be a victim. Every word out of your mouth has implored people to see things from your perspective, whether because you don’t want to be seen as a backstabber, or because you let yourself get played like a pawn store fiddle by a man who can’t even spell his own name.
You had by far the easiest road here, overcoming a man who has not had a win in months. And your response?
Fucking arrogance.
Forming a haphazard and embarrassing team with Richards and Divito and bowing out of the match early.
I will say this only once. This is not a business for naivete. This is not a game.
This is the Elimination Chamber. This is a match that ends careers.
Do not make me hurt you, Allison. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you want to twist the situation, I feel nothing for you. If you give me no other choice, I will not hesitate to show you just how real this business can get.
If having your blood on my hands is the only way to keep the world out of yours? That is a sacrifice I will gladly make.
The crowd roars its approval as Teo holds up his hand, knowing that there is still more to say.
Teo Blaze: You know who I have to now address...KOS, Spencer Adams, take your pick. The man I once proudly called my best friend, who has now become one of my greatest rivals.
The crowd seems torn, a scant few people shout out “UCI”, but the chants are swallowed quickly by the fervor of the crowd.
Teo Blaze: Ah yes, Spencer is very quick to point out our paths, both in WCF and UCI. And I speak as someone who has known Spencer Adams for a long time. And I have only this to say…
Don’t believe his lies.
KOS is a man who would build a cult of personality, with his own face on the banner. Listen carefully to his words, listen to the meaning.
With his words he claims that he wishes to start a movement on behalf of the people, to take them on a path towards something greater, to become stronger through unity…
Sound familiar?
Spencer Adams may be here to start a movement, but I came to start a fucking revolution!
Spencer Adams can claim till he is blue in the face that he is the most deserving contender in the history of Action Wrestling, that he has been screwed time and time again, but every single word out of his mouth is in service to one goal and one goal only, and that is to serve Spencer Adams.
No matter how much he claims to care about the people, no matter how much he promises his movement will bring, and yet he takes every bit of credit that he can get his grimy fingers on. He dreams of a unified people, but make no mistake, it is a people unified under Spencer Adams.
You want to talk about what people deserve? You want to talk about getting recognition for your deeds? You think you deserve the World Championship more than anyone?
Fuck off!
There’s not a man in this company who gets what he deserves, and each and every person on this roster has risked just as much, if not more to get where they are today!
You used to call yourself “The Antidote”, Spencer, but you have let yourself become the poison, the same rot that permeates every aspect of this company’s main event. The only difference is that you’re the one asking people to drink it.
Teo spits on the ground, turning his head to his side, his face is contorted into an expression of pure disgust.
But his work is not done yet.
Teo Blaze: Odin. Balfore.
The crowd is immediately torn, some cheer as he says the name, others howl out calls, but all voices are united by a desire to hear his words.
Teo Blaze: The mad god, the titan, the man, the myth, the legend.
Teo inhales deeply, his eyes closing. Though his expression does not betray it, a shot of emotion runs through him as he speaks the words, his grip tightening on the megaphone until his arm is shaking.
Teo Blaze: No matter how many times I hear him speak, it is all I can do to keep from kicking his door in and slapping the taste out of his arrogant mouth.
We've never fought, Balfore, but I have watched you. I have watched you for a long time. I know how you think, I know how you fight, and I know how you operate.
And if there is one thing that I am sure of, it is that right now in your little head you are looking at me as just another name to be added to your resume. Just another victim.
Teo’s face changes. His grip tightens even further, resulting in a distinct sound of cracking plastic, and his face echoes in a grin.
Teo Blaze: Please, Odin. Go ahead. Underestimate me. Doubt me. Call yourself a god.
Because I see the truth. I have watched you time and again swoop in and snatch opportunities that others deserve based on your name and your name alone.
You are not in this match because you had to put anything on the line, you are not here because you have sacrificed for this company, broken your body, let yourself be subjected to the humiliation of possibly losing the Balfore name.
You’re here because you’re Odin Balfore.
You don’t earn things because you don’t have to.
You got a lazy win over James Wolf on the same night I was thrown off three ladders and still came within inches of winning Final Destination.
Face it Odin, you’re worn down. You’ve done this for a long time. But we’re not talking about a gold fucking watch for 20 years of service.
This is the World Championship.
You represent stagnation. You have done things the same way for decades, never innovating, never changing.
You are the last thing that Action Wrestling needs right now.
Look around, Odin. The winds of change are blowing. We are a people hungry for change.
You are no legend, you are a fucking novelty.
A step backwards.
The crowd is restless, a sea of humanity undulating wildly, each and every beat of Teo’s speech bringing them into a higher and higher octave, but still he manages to silence them as he holds out his hand for the final time.
Teo Blaze: Four down, one left. The man who stole the World, the cancer of Action Wrestling embodied. A man who has built his entire career on a persona.
Let me make this very clear, Dandy.
This is not about you being a fucking embarassment to human decency, who every time he opens his mouth only reminds the world that he wants you to see him as a subhuman piece of filth.
This is not about the fact that I beat you last week.
I know how this goes, Dandy, I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m not about to get cocky and talk about how easy it will be to do it again.
I know you, Dandy Divito. I know that you want us to look past you, to see the perpetual bullshit you cover yourself in and take you for a fool.
But I know how dangerous you can be. I’m not going to make the same mistake Lockhart did. I’m coming at you with everything I have. I’m going to beat your ass inside out if I need to.
Because I know you’ve got a trick up your sleeve. I know you want me to overlook you just because I beat you once already.
And I could give a fuck, Dandy. I could give a fuck about your machinations, your alliances, I could give a fuck about the fact that you tried to cobble together a partnership with Richards and Preston and got embarassed for it.
All I see is the fact that you have taken that belt and made the world your personal plaything.
The World is Dandy’s, and he gets to dictate what goes on.
But Dandy...I am about to burn your fucking world to the ground.
And there is not a thing that you can do about it.
Teo turns to the crowd, which is now practically rushing onto the stage. The drum beat and music spurring them ever onward, and he smiles, holding the megaphone up for the last time.
Teo Blaze: There is a cancer infecting Action Wrestling, a group of tumorous growths only interested in growing larger and fatter off of your lifeblood!
And on Sunday, I go in to remove that cancer once and for all!
I am fighting not to win the world...I am fighting to save it!
Our revolution begins on Sunday, and we shall eliminate any obstacle!
Divito, KOS, Balfore, Richards, Preston…All seek the belt for themselves.
I seek it for all of us. I am going to fight on your behalf!
We shall be the spark that sets off an inferno!
With that, Teo drops the microphone, turning and falling backwards off of the stage. Without missing a beat, the crowd catches him in their upturned arms, lifting him over their heads. As the camera slowly fades, the final image is of Teo being held up by the roaring crowd.
His face covered by a twisted grin.