Post by adm on Mar 23, 2010 23:14:33 GMT -6
Gladiator (Hit Me)
Well, it looks like a few people have teeth. Welcome to my new home until Sovereign, I am here, inside what looks to be a cage…similar very much to the one we will be using for the Coliseum. I am training in the cage. I have weapons, I have workout gear, hell, and I even have a small makeshift cot here in this private gym. Why? Because I CAN. Why? Because I feel I need to prepare better than Mr. Warrior Washington, and you know what, it’s time for me to start this baby up, so I climb to the top of the cage and sit on the ledge.
“Well, well, well, looks like some people grew testicles and began spouting words back at me, why how lovely of you to think about it. I’m sure you all wish you were me right now, practicing for most of the week in something like the cage for the Coliseum. But you know what…I’m not ALONE here. Allow me to introduce you to someone who hasn’t seen the light of a ring in a long time, who will be helping me for one week only.”
I gesture to the entrance to this private gym/wrestling area and it becomes very clear why it’s so private. An older looking gentleman, in his mid to late forties approaches us. This is my trainer, the man who got me into nCw, Orric Ryker. He has only one eye, from a botched Xtreme rules match where his career ended. So he’s been training wrestlers ever since. And now it’s time for him to join me in the cage.
Orric Ryker: Nice thing of me to let you use one of my gyms for this little “experiment” of yours, huh?
“Indeed, now, get in here; I need to say a few things while you prepare me for my battle.”
Orric Ryker: I like how you say that word…battle…reminds me of the old days.
I climb down from the top of the cage as he uses his key to unlock the padlock on it, and let himself in. I know I could escape at any time, unlike the Coliseum, but the point of this is not the roof, but the feeling of being surrounded by the steel and weapons. You probably wouldn’t understand, but I know who would.
TO MY FRIENDS:
“So, Zane, do you think our solidarity is going to get us through this match after what has been said by our opponents? How they are going to gang on us, and tear us apart? How they will take us to our limits of “pain”, however high they may be? I don’t think they understand what they are dealing with, Jimmy. I mean, you’re VOODOO. I’m just Kristoff Liam Bates, always have been, no matter what “normal” or “Perfect” crap I’ve been spewing from my mouth, but I know the one thing that hasn’t changed…it’s my undying need to be here, wrestling, and venting my anger and rage in the ring…right?”
I wink at the camera, refusing to mention names, but a second of the chorus of a specific song plays “I am Indestructible” and then cuts out. You know who you are. I assume a position on the bench press I have set up in the ring and begin doing reps on a relatively average weight for me to do for long periods of time, without wearing myself down too much. It’s not the weights I’m worried about, it’s…
Orric Ryker: So, if I got you right, you wanted me to come here and…hit you while you train?
“Damn right. HIT ME!”
I call him out, and I know he’s willing to do anything to get me ready for this match. So he pulls out the weakest weapon he has…his flat hand. He begins to slap my exposed torso as I am lifting weights, and it really doesn’t faze me at all, so I continue on.
“See, Zane, you get what I’m saying, and you want revenge for what they did as much as I do. We’ll do what it takes to win, but unfortunately…I’m preparing in a completely different method to anyone else in this match. I’m using my skills and connections from before I was here, to get a hold of some equipment and work on my physique a bit more.”
Orric Ryker: Damn, you’re not flinching…I gotta try harder.
Orric begins to kick at my shins, which stings just a little after a few kicks, but I keep moving on. Onward and upward.
TO MY ENEMIES:
“So Mr. Washed-up-before-he’s-anything-ton; how does it feel to be on a b-rated show doing impressions of the Ultimate Warrior? I can’t get past that, really. You’ve never been trampled by elephants, and you definitely do not train for your matches. I mean, look at that flabby body of yours; you don’t even look like you could lift a grocery bag, let alone a whole human being. An elephant turd could crush you, and for sure you’ve never thought of the amount of idiocy the whole plane rant really was, when Warrior said it first. Uh…are you on DRUGS? Oh yeah…you were in a war, of course you ARE! Soldier, you may have been, but you are definitely not a GLADIATOR like I am.”
My legs are beginning to become sore, but Ryker is not done yet. He sees I am still doing my weights, though I’m beginning to grow tired of him hitting me in the legs. Vary it up a bit, man, HIT ME! Don’t TRY, DO IT!
“Orric, HIT ME HARDER!”
Orric Ryker: You sure, Bates?
“Do it!”
He grabs the Singapore cane and begins to alternate between hitting me on the stomach, the sides, and the legs and the arms. That stings, a LOT. But it feels GOOD. I love the feeling of the welts forming on my body. I am having a hard time keeping up my weights now; this is exactly what I wanted to happen. I wanted to feel the amount of determination over the pain I need, to beat someone like Paul “Loudmouth” Star.
“So *winces* Paul, how do you *winces*, feel about this? Do I *winces* endure enough pain for you? *winces* You really don’t have a clue, OUCH! Do you? I mean *winces* you can’t possibly think you can *winces* push me to my limit when I push myself. I am a *winces* gladiator, and I am going to take the pain…ALL OF IT!”
I sit up, only to get caught right in the ribs by a baseball-style swing from Orric that practically breaks the cane in half. A small barb of the cane gets stuck in me, and I pull it out, letting the blood flow just a little. Again, I take the blood and smear it on my face. I am a GLADIATOR; I revel in the pain, no matter how great. This is the mentality I need to win this match.
TO THE WORLD:
“Thanks for that, I needed it. A Gladiator cannot escape unscathed, we are not impenetrable to all manner of attacks, and we are just…INDESTRUCTIBLE *wink*. We cannot be stopped, we cannot be killed, and we will not stop until we get what we want. I set my eyes on the nCw World Title last summer when I faced Adam Knite, and I will not stop until I have held it in my hands, and am the World Champion. This is yet another shot at me being able to get that distinction. I want to be the best, and to do that, I have to overcome the odds, and be the GLADIATOR, I want to be, I NEED to be. So, Orric, grab that barbed wire briefcase I use on my opponents…do it.”
Orric Ryker: You don’t possibly…
“Orric, you trained me; you know I can take this…DO IT! HIT ME!”
Orric picks up my trusty weapon, and whips it hard into my chest, letting the blood flow freely. I feel so relieved to have the cold air of the air-conditioned arena touch my open wounds. I feel relieved to be bleeding. I feel like I am earning my strength to win in this match.
“I was one of the longest-lasting participants in the Riot. And no matter who you are, or what you are doing, you will realize…that I…am a GLADIATOR. I have proved it in the past when the big matches come, win or lose, I will fight with EVERYTHING I have, and by surviving, and by not dying…I grow stronger, and am better able to seize the next opportunity. I hear backstage they are growing tired of my slogans, so you know what, here’s a new one for you. If you think you can take me, prove it. Just…****ing…HIT ME!”
Cut the camera, it’s time for Bates to take some more abuse while he trains inside his little cage.