04-13-2024, 12:24 AM
Date: April 7th
The screen static jumps and we find ourselves at the Toyama TechnoDome, The immediate area is swarming with all kinds of people to help set up the upcoming first Defiant show (following all of that legal “ugliness”)-from electrical techs bundling things together in order to help keep the show generally all the way down to some of the talent helping to put the ring and other such duties, such as helping to put the ring together which is something that made quite a few people confused such as one of the chief “heels” of the Pro Wrestling Nova’s “Revolution Pro” brand in “Lord” Thomas Imperious stood there on the edge of the entrance way area with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched of all people David Striker help carrying the ring ropes and then stretch them apart for proper ring settings for several moment before he let out a derisive snort and ambled off.
Joseph Gribble, the head of the construction teams for Pro Wrestling Nova, raised an eyebrow at the sight of Striker working on the ring when he got to the ringside area after having a long talk with the pyro teams for the forthcoming show involving one of the talent that PWN shared with the Omega Wrestling Alliance made him curious as to why someone who was one of the upper tier talents in the company doing such menial work and after the ring was completed, Joseph walked up to the younger man and adjusted the old cap that belonged to his father. “Hey David, you got a second?”
David nodded and walked over to where Joseph was standing, holding a length of extra cable that he was winding around to put up. “First off, I wanted to say thanks for all the help that you do before some of these shows when you’ve got the time, David. It means a lot to me and the boys but I’ve been wondering, why do you do it?”
David nodded as he listened to Joseph for a moment and then he motioned at the crews that were still setting everything up for the Defiant show in a few more days and he nodded, “You know my dad was a part of the Frontier Wrestling Alliance ring crew for the longest time. He set up the ring the night that Jacob Sikes defeated Randy McGraw to become the very first FWA World Heavyweight champion back in the early nineteen nineties and he stayed on the ring crew until he finished his training under Cody Conway and started wrestling as one of the original Rogue Horsemen three years later.” David explained with a wistful look on his face as he recalled his father talking about his past. “He said that working the ring crew helped clear his mind on whatever he was having trouble with.”
Joseph nodded, “I can understand that all too well, my dad was a bit of a freak but nobody killed bugs like he did. So I can respect that, but why are you still working the crews, I mean you’ve got a main event spot for the show in a couple of days *and* you’ve got that pay per view gig with SCW like a couple of days after that, don’tcha?”
“That I do, which is why I’m helping with the ring crews today. I’ve got so many things running through my head concerning those two matches that things are beyond not funny because on one hand, I’m squaring off against Kimberly Williams for the Underground championship again but the match that I’m fighting her in is one of the most fucked up ones in the industry, I mean you know since you helped set up two of the structures in the Universal and World Wrestling Headquarters.”
Joseph didn’t say anything to that but he did nod, the “Long Hard Road out of Hell” match needed a very specific structure that was considered to be one of the most sadistic ones in existence and following Marcus Slayton Senior’s taking over of the match in twenty ten following his cousin Paul’s retirement to focus more on his family, the structure became even more sadistic and vicious…but he also knew that for this one, the man *himself* was overseeing the construction of the structure for SCW.
“But on the other hand, my match on Defiant is going to be just as vicious because it’s against Ryo Sakazaki, the Mad Dog of the The Profane Covenant for his SSW US title. I mean I remember Ryo growing up and how cool he used to be before he started losing his ever loving mind because of the bullshit that he kept getting pushed into over in the OWA for whatever reason and Ryo just kept taking it because of his love for this industry.” David explained as he crossed his arms over his chest while shaking his head.
Joseph nodded in agreement with his younger counterpart. “When I first met Ryo, he seemed like a pretty solid guy…but did working for OWA really change him that much?”
David nodded, “Yeah, Ryo decided to go big right out of the gate because he wanted to prove himself as a legit wrestler and that’s mostly because of how everyone has always viewed him which was as nothing more than some little rich kid and nothing else. I mean look at how he was before his match against Theodor Pavel and afterwards, Pavel kept calling him his “Friend” and yet Banch Morgan kept spearheading all of that bullshit that Ryo no doubt kept having to swim in and not once he got a rematch against Pavel.” David explained before shaking his head, “That’s the kind of demons that has been swimming around in his head and that’s the kind of man that I have to go through before I can even *GET* to Kimberly in SCW, if I can beat Ryo…if I can stand and deliver against a Mad Dog like him, then maybe….just maybe I can come out the survivor of my match with Kimberly.”
Joseph nodded in agreement, “You got this kid, there is nothing for you to worry about.”
===================================
A short while later, David was walking around the streets of Toyama when he bumped into Gabriel and Sabin about to enter a ramen stand. “Oi my brother!!” Gabriel said with a huge smile on his face before the shorter man drew David into a brotherly hug which David returned before doing a fist bump with Sabin. “What the hell are you two guys doing out here at this hour?” David asked.
“The gang decided to grab some late night ramen before the press thing tomorrow and here we are.” Sabin said with a grin.
“Alrighty then, lead on Don Rocco!” David said before indicating for the tallest man of the three to enter the ramen stand first and sure enough at a table…booth…thing…in one corner of the small restaurant was the other members of the Phantom Troupe in Dylan Maverick, Zach Stryfe, Chris Dumont, Rachel Lockhart, and Kimberly Rhodes.
“OI OI OI!!! THE HEADMAN IS HERE!!” Kim said with a huge grin on her face as she quickly went over and gave David a huge hug.
“You do know that the Japanese culture is about showing some form of restraint in public, right Kimmie?” Dylan asked the dark haired vixen with a critical look.
Kimberly turned her head just enough to blow a raspberry at her fellow Troupe member before giving David another hug before going back to her spot next to her best friend and tag team partner in Rachel who simply rolled her eyes at her partner’s actions.
The group then got settled in and food was ordered all around at which point the group simply enjoyed some of the finest ramen in all of Toyama Japan and they had been there for a while when suddenly Zach’s eyebrows went up and he tapped David on the arm and said “I don’t believe who decided to come out into public.” at which point David then turned to face what Zach had pointed out, but he heard the voice before he saw the person;
“Yes I would like an order of Miso Chashu pork ramen with an extra serving of pork, please.”
“....oi, isn’t that?” came Kimberly’s voice in utter confusion at which point David simply nodded in agreement.
“Yep, that is Dante. I wonder where the rest of his krew is at though.” Chris commented as he looked at the serious looking young man as he directed his ice blue eyes directly at the assembled members of the Troupe as he scrutinized them all which made the entire group even more uneasy before Dante was handed his order and he headed back out of the restaurant and into the slightly chilled Toyama evening.
“By the Black Goat and her thousand young, what the hell is up with that guy?” Kimberly asked as she shook her head.
“Yeah, I thought Davey-boy here could be rather infernal at times but shit!! What crawled up Dante’s ass?” Zach asked as he ran a hand through his hair, still unnerved by Dante’s sheer presence.
“I think that Dylan and Rach might know a thing or two?” Gabriel offered up out of the blue to which the group looked at the two siblings.
“Um yeah, I don’t know much about the guy other than he’s a pet project of Davey’s big brother and trains over at Serenity’s gym. Apparently the guy is some kind of freaking machine…” Dylan said, actively trying to avoid the question which brought a raised eyebrow from David who knew that his best friend usually was straight up about things like that.
“Yeah, enough about Creepy Pasta…i want to talk about something much more important in if our bossman here is actually ready to make wrestling history as being the first member of the Striker family to win the Long Hard Road out of Hell match in SCW history!” Rachel said in a beaming tone.
Zach shook his head slightly, “Technically you don’t *win* a Hell match as much as you *survive* the damned thing because of how brutal it is, Rachel…”
“Not the point, Zachery.” Rachel said as she leaned over and ruffled the blonde man’s hair in a friendly, teasing manner.
David rolled his eyes as he pushed his unfinished fourth bowl of ramen aside (of which, Rachel noted mentally, was the *exact* same order as Dante) and then slowly nodded, “I’ve got to be honest that once I get past Ryo in two days, I’ll be more than ready to go to war with Kimberly again…I mean she and I, we both need this rubber match but I did promise her before Retribution that if it needed to come to this then I was going to have her join me on the long hard road out of hell to see who could come walking back back out once again, with the Underground championship around mine or her waists being a totally separate item all together, this is going to be one for the record books here in this industry.”
Rachel nodded, “That’s kind of a non answer there, buddy boy…” she started to say before a look from David cut her off.
“It’s also the best one that I can give you right now, Rachel. I’ve got to keep my mind in the zone that I’ve got it in right now because if I try and focus on anything else, save for the actual long hard road match, then I’m going to lose everything in the long run because that is the reason *WHY* I lost my match against Deanna on Breakdown last week, the match isn’t just something you can sign, wrestle it, and then move on…no, like Mister Slayton told me, that when you have a Long Hard Road out of Hell match, it usually takes something from you.” David tried to explain.
“He’s right.” Dumont said from his spot at the table finishing his glass of soda as he did so.
“My dad fought in a Long Hard Road match back in twenty eleven and it was a horrendous thing to see happen but it was almost like the match actually tore something out of my dad and added it to the ring itself.” the son of the “One Man Crime Spree” explained with a troubled look on his face as he glanced over at David, studying the other man’s face for a few seconds before nodding. “But you’ve got this, David. One way or another you’re going to come out the pay per view with either the Underground championship or a major question that you yourself needed answering…but in the longest run of all, Kimberly will also be getting a few answers about herself as well because nobody ever comes out of that match the same person that went into it.”
David nodded as he reached over and picked up his bowl, resuming his meal as his phone buzzed at him, making him stop long enough to glance at the screen.
“We need to talk.” was the only thing that appeared on the screen…along with one name;
Dante.
{The screen then fades to black}
The screen static jumps and we find ourselves at the Toyama TechnoDome, The immediate area is swarming with all kinds of people to help set up the upcoming first Defiant show (following all of that legal “ugliness”)-from electrical techs bundling things together in order to help keep the show generally all the way down to some of the talent helping to put the ring and other such duties, such as helping to put the ring together which is something that made quite a few people confused such as one of the chief “heels” of the Pro Wrestling Nova’s “Revolution Pro” brand in “Lord” Thomas Imperious stood there on the edge of the entrance way area with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched of all people David Striker help carrying the ring ropes and then stretch them apart for proper ring settings for several moment before he let out a derisive snort and ambled off.
Joseph Gribble, the head of the construction teams for Pro Wrestling Nova, raised an eyebrow at the sight of Striker working on the ring when he got to the ringside area after having a long talk with the pyro teams for the forthcoming show involving one of the talent that PWN shared with the Omega Wrestling Alliance made him curious as to why someone who was one of the upper tier talents in the company doing such menial work and after the ring was completed, Joseph walked up to the younger man and adjusted the old cap that belonged to his father. “Hey David, you got a second?”
David nodded and walked over to where Joseph was standing, holding a length of extra cable that he was winding around to put up. “First off, I wanted to say thanks for all the help that you do before some of these shows when you’ve got the time, David. It means a lot to me and the boys but I’ve been wondering, why do you do it?”
David nodded as he listened to Joseph for a moment and then he motioned at the crews that were still setting everything up for the Defiant show in a few more days and he nodded, “You know my dad was a part of the Frontier Wrestling Alliance ring crew for the longest time. He set up the ring the night that Jacob Sikes defeated Randy McGraw to become the very first FWA World Heavyweight champion back in the early nineteen nineties and he stayed on the ring crew until he finished his training under Cody Conway and started wrestling as one of the original Rogue Horsemen three years later.” David explained with a wistful look on his face as he recalled his father talking about his past. “He said that working the ring crew helped clear his mind on whatever he was having trouble with.”
Joseph nodded, “I can understand that all too well, my dad was a bit of a freak but nobody killed bugs like he did. So I can respect that, but why are you still working the crews, I mean you’ve got a main event spot for the show in a couple of days *and* you’ve got that pay per view gig with SCW like a couple of days after that, don’tcha?”
“That I do, which is why I’m helping with the ring crews today. I’ve got so many things running through my head concerning those two matches that things are beyond not funny because on one hand, I’m squaring off against Kimberly Williams for the Underground championship again but the match that I’m fighting her in is one of the most fucked up ones in the industry, I mean you know since you helped set up two of the structures in the Universal and World Wrestling Headquarters.”
Joseph didn’t say anything to that but he did nod, the “Long Hard Road out of Hell” match needed a very specific structure that was considered to be one of the most sadistic ones in existence and following Marcus Slayton Senior’s taking over of the match in twenty ten following his cousin Paul’s retirement to focus more on his family, the structure became even more sadistic and vicious…but he also knew that for this one, the man *himself* was overseeing the construction of the structure for SCW.
“But on the other hand, my match on Defiant is going to be just as vicious because it’s against Ryo Sakazaki, the Mad Dog of the The Profane Covenant for his SSW US title. I mean I remember Ryo growing up and how cool he used to be before he started losing his ever loving mind because of the bullshit that he kept getting pushed into over in the OWA for whatever reason and Ryo just kept taking it because of his love for this industry.” David explained as he crossed his arms over his chest while shaking his head.
Joseph nodded in agreement with his younger counterpart. “When I first met Ryo, he seemed like a pretty solid guy…but did working for OWA really change him that much?”
David nodded, “Yeah, Ryo decided to go big right out of the gate because he wanted to prove himself as a legit wrestler and that’s mostly because of how everyone has always viewed him which was as nothing more than some little rich kid and nothing else. I mean look at how he was before his match against Theodor Pavel and afterwards, Pavel kept calling him his “Friend” and yet Banch Morgan kept spearheading all of that bullshit that Ryo no doubt kept having to swim in and not once he got a rematch against Pavel.” David explained before shaking his head, “That’s the kind of demons that has been swimming around in his head and that’s the kind of man that I have to go through before I can even *GET* to Kimberly in SCW, if I can beat Ryo…if I can stand and deliver against a Mad Dog like him, then maybe….just maybe I can come out the survivor of my match with Kimberly.”
Joseph nodded in agreement, “You got this kid, there is nothing for you to worry about.”
===================================
A short while later, David was walking around the streets of Toyama when he bumped into Gabriel and Sabin about to enter a ramen stand. “Oi my brother!!” Gabriel said with a huge smile on his face before the shorter man drew David into a brotherly hug which David returned before doing a fist bump with Sabin. “What the hell are you two guys doing out here at this hour?” David asked.
“The gang decided to grab some late night ramen before the press thing tomorrow and here we are.” Sabin said with a grin.
“Alrighty then, lead on Don Rocco!” David said before indicating for the tallest man of the three to enter the ramen stand first and sure enough at a table…booth…thing…in one corner of the small restaurant was the other members of the Phantom Troupe in Dylan Maverick, Zach Stryfe, Chris Dumont, Rachel Lockhart, and Kimberly Rhodes.
“OI OI OI!!! THE HEADMAN IS HERE!!” Kim said with a huge grin on her face as she quickly went over and gave David a huge hug.
“You do know that the Japanese culture is about showing some form of restraint in public, right Kimmie?” Dylan asked the dark haired vixen with a critical look.
Kimberly turned her head just enough to blow a raspberry at her fellow Troupe member before giving David another hug before going back to her spot next to her best friend and tag team partner in Rachel who simply rolled her eyes at her partner’s actions.
The group then got settled in and food was ordered all around at which point the group simply enjoyed some of the finest ramen in all of Toyama Japan and they had been there for a while when suddenly Zach’s eyebrows went up and he tapped David on the arm and said “I don’t believe who decided to come out into public.” at which point David then turned to face what Zach had pointed out, but he heard the voice before he saw the person;
“Yes I would like an order of Miso Chashu pork ramen with an extra serving of pork, please.”
“....oi, isn’t that?” came Kimberly’s voice in utter confusion at which point David simply nodded in agreement.
“Yep, that is Dante. I wonder where the rest of his krew is at though.” Chris commented as he looked at the serious looking young man as he directed his ice blue eyes directly at the assembled members of the Troupe as he scrutinized them all which made the entire group even more uneasy before Dante was handed his order and he headed back out of the restaurant and into the slightly chilled Toyama evening.
“By the Black Goat and her thousand young, what the hell is up with that guy?” Kimberly asked as she shook her head.
“Yeah, I thought Davey-boy here could be rather infernal at times but shit!! What crawled up Dante’s ass?” Zach asked as he ran a hand through his hair, still unnerved by Dante’s sheer presence.
“I think that Dylan and Rach might know a thing or two?” Gabriel offered up out of the blue to which the group looked at the two siblings.
“Um yeah, I don’t know much about the guy other than he’s a pet project of Davey’s big brother and trains over at Serenity’s gym. Apparently the guy is some kind of freaking machine…” Dylan said, actively trying to avoid the question which brought a raised eyebrow from David who knew that his best friend usually was straight up about things like that.
“Yeah, enough about Creepy Pasta…i want to talk about something much more important in if our bossman here is actually ready to make wrestling history as being the first member of the Striker family to win the Long Hard Road out of Hell match in SCW history!” Rachel said in a beaming tone.
Zach shook his head slightly, “Technically you don’t *win* a Hell match as much as you *survive* the damned thing because of how brutal it is, Rachel…”
“Not the point, Zachery.” Rachel said as she leaned over and ruffled the blonde man’s hair in a friendly, teasing manner.
David rolled his eyes as he pushed his unfinished fourth bowl of ramen aside (of which, Rachel noted mentally, was the *exact* same order as Dante) and then slowly nodded, “I’ve got to be honest that once I get past Ryo in two days, I’ll be more than ready to go to war with Kimberly again…I mean she and I, we both need this rubber match but I did promise her before Retribution that if it needed to come to this then I was going to have her join me on the long hard road out of hell to see who could come walking back back out once again, with the Underground championship around mine or her waists being a totally separate item all together, this is going to be one for the record books here in this industry.”
Rachel nodded, “That’s kind of a non answer there, buddy boy…” she started to say before a look from David cut her off.
“It’s also the best one that I can give you right now, Rachel. I’ve got to keep my mind in the zone that I’ve got it in right now because if I try and focus on anything else, save for the actual long hard road match, then I’m going to lose everything in the long run because that is the reason *WHY* I lost my match against Deanna on Breakdown last week, the match isn’t just something you can sign, wrestle it, and then move on…no, like Mister Slayton told me, that when you have a Long Hard Road out of Hell match, it usually takes something from you.” David tried to explain.
“He’s right.” Dumont said from his spot at the table finishing his glass of soda as he did so.
“My dad fought in a Long Hard Road match back in twenty eleven and it was a horrendous thing to see happen but it was almost like the match actually tore something out of my dad and added it to the ring itself.” the son of the “One Man Crime Spree” explained with a troubled look on his face as he glanced over at David, studying the other man’s face for a few seconds before nodding. “But you’ve got this, David. One way or another you’re going to come out the pay per view with either the Underground championship or a major question that you yourself needed answering…but in the longest run of all, Kimberly will also be getting a few answers about herself as well because nobody ever comes out of that match the same person that went into it.”
David nodded as he reached over and picked up his bowl, resuming his meal as his phone buzzed at him, making him stop long enough to glance at the screen.
“We need to talk.” was the only thing that appeared on the screen…along with one name;
Dante.
{The screen then fades to black}