Shilo Valiant vs. Autumn Valentine

[SnowQueenSCW]

OOC: No words. Just… enjoy

Send in the Clown

Chapter 15: …I guess this way works.


There was no one around me. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be. How many months – how many years – had I travelled alone here? How long had it been since I had Marina with me consistently? Not that I could blame her. She was allowing me to do this by staying behind more often than not to raise our son. Without her, returning to SCW would not have even been possible, and Shilo Valiant would not have had a second try at this… he’d just be working some random 9-5.

I had to smile at the thought as I sat in the empty seat, one of, literally, thousands that filled the empty 02 arena in London, England. It was hard to imagine. My semi-retirement hadn’t endeared me to any particular occupation and, thanks to Marina, and what savings I had amassed in my career, I didn’t have to really seek out meaningful employment.

But what if it had just been Memphis and I? What kind of job would fit Shilo Valiant, the former wrestler? Fry-cook? Some kind of entertainer or personality? I didn’t think I could go back to the streets of Toronto selling Necro – being too well known.

I gave it some thought as I sat back in the hard plastic of the chair, my legs hanging over the head of the next chair in front of me. I didn’t want this to be my last match – not here in London. Don’t get me wrong, I had nothing against the United Kingdom in any way. One of my favourite matches in my career had been when I had defended the United States Title against Lucas Knight at the “Anarchy in the UK” event in my earlier years, defeating the ‘hometown hero’. Doubt he still hadn’t forgiven me of that one – poor bastard…

I closed my eyes to breath slowly. No, this was not how I had wanted to go. Perhaps I had always been aiming too high, but there was only one place that I had wanted to end things in wrestling for me forever. The place that had become synonymous with my name almost ten years ago: The main-event of Rise to Greatness. The place where I, and I alone, had been able to headline three times in a row. The main-event that had housed so many other deserving superstars dreams and some incredible matches… I had wanted it to be there so badly. One more time to just…just…

I opened my eyes to sadly dismiss the sad thoughts. I could see the ring from here, the white canvas just begging for some kind of splash of color. How many years had I tried to provide that color in the ways of my ‘entertainment’? The Tour De Necro, The Sky of Dreams, The Valley of Thorns… My head craned upward to see the scaffolds hanging high above. I had run so many catwalks like that, haunting SCW like it was my playground. Dropping down from them to the shock and awe of the SCW Universe - I couldn’t do that now, my knee would not have managed the impact very well – risking locking and immobilizing me in front of the SCW Universe, something I couldn’t allow.

I felt hot tears sting the back of my eyes. It was so different than it had been five years ago, when I had
‘bowed out’ out of SCW during the last Shot of Adrenaline tournament. I had been tired. I had been sick. I had felt like I had nothing left to give. After eight long years in SCW, achieving nearly everything there was to achieve, I had simply had enough. I felt I could not keep it up anymore. Consistent losses to those like Xander Valentine and Regan Street… So, I had walked away thinking that I would not miss this place…

How wrong I was.

No, it wasn’t the superstars – my fellow wrestlers that had come and gone without a care, few really mentioning me with any fondness or worthwhile memories. Hell, most of them still held a grudge against me for losing or ‘having their number’, if Discord was to be believed, and I had no reason to doubt it. And it wasn’t even the fame or the spotlight, though I had certainly ‘played the part’ in pretending it was over the years.

It was just…being here. Performing. Whether I was the good guy “The Necro-Merchant” or the villainous “Blood-Stained Joker”, months away had left me missing it – but… but…

I smiled sadly. SCW had moved on. Moved on so easily. There were other superstars. Far greater ones. I didn’t think it needed me anymore. And the time away until they did need me?

No… this end was different than the last time. I didn’t want to go this time. I didn’t want to ‘bow out’. I wanted to stay. I wanted to perform. I wanted to entertain. And yet…

I’ve been here long enough… I whispered, taking my eyes off the ring to look around the arena, unable to stop the sniffle that came from me. A little embarrassed, I ran my hand through my short hair – remembering when it used to be so long, fitting of the Necro-Merchant but not so much Shilo Valiant’s current incarnation: The Man Who Laughs. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied one of my old masks, the one I had used during the “Silent Showman” time, simply cast upon the nearby steps, blank eyes staring nowhere. Near it, there were a few syringes – the ones the Merchant use to use in his entrance as he shouted “NECRO!”.

What would those Shilos think of me now? Willingly choosing to leave…

Marina and I had been thrown a bit when SCW had announced that my final match was not to be against some jobber or some mid-card looking to make a name for themselves or even some main-event loser from Body, Heart and Soul looking for a ‘bounce back’, though she could very well be, but one last Television Title match against Autumn Valentine.

The amused scoff escaped me. Too little…too late… I whispered, pushing myself out of my chair and to my feet. Quietly, I stepped out of the aisle, stepping over a few more variations of my masks that littered the floor. I almost slid on one of my long coats that hung on one of the other seats, spilling out to the ground with its long leather. My soulmate and I had, indeed, been stunned, perhaps more so at how little it changed things. Even if I were to pull off some miracle and beat Autumn again, odds were it would not be something for the title to change hands – Autumn was LexyCorp’s only champion now, that Television title the last of their ‘power’ after the humiliation they had suffered at the pay-per-view. No… if I had learned anything in the previous encounter, it was that Ace and Lexy would be there tonight, happy to screw me out of another title opportunity to keep their ‘angel’ safe…

True, SCW deserved better entertainment than that… but it wasn’t going to be me that would be able to give it to them after tonight… even if I did win… I would merely be delaying the inevitable. A few more matches until I, inevitable, burned out and lost the title… and I would be back here… this same spot, saying goodbye…perhaps forever…

Again, those damned tears pricked my eyes and I wiped them away with my sleeve and with a laugh. There it is. I smiled sadly as I descended the stairs, my eyes back on the ring. Big, old silly SCW Universe…

Silence greeted me, but I didn’t need an active audience now. The more I entertain it… the more it needs entertaining…

A sigh escaped me as my mind flashed to the events of Body, Heart and Soul and End of the Year – moments that were supposedly meant to be ‘entertaining’:

The live ‘accidental’, ‘sex show’.
The fake wedding.
The World title in pitiful controversy.

Was this what SCW was going to continue to be? I shook my head dismissively. Yes! I sighed loudly, my voice echoing just a bit throughout the empty arena. Yes, I know they’ll get it wrong without me. Like they did with Blackbourne… like Ace Marshall failed to do… often poorly imitated… never truly duplicated…

I felt my knee tremble from one step and my hand quickly gripped the cold metal of the nearby rail, steadying myself. My eyes still on the ring, though I could see more of my past littering the chairs and steps near me, making almost a trail to the squared circle.

Masks.
Costume pieces.
Old gags like ladders and ticket stubs of past events.
A career laid before me like a graveyard, living only as memories.

Well, I suppose… came my whisper of a voice. Just to show them how it’s done… one more show-stealing moment… won’t kill anyone. My eyes travelled down to where my hand gripped my knee hard, an amused smile crossing my features. Except maybe me.

My eyes travelled up to the red lights I could see hovering around me, the drones that I knew where there from the start – SCW’s camera staff recording everything I was doing.

They were waiting for me… She was waiting for me.

One last smile and I pulled myself up fully, spying the one thing I needed. Reaching out, my hand took the long, crimson red coat with the green words “HA! HA!” spray-painted on the back and all over the arms: The Man Who Laughs’ coat. You wait a moment, Autumn! I shouted out to the drones as they flew around me, my arms slowly finding the right place to pull the longcoat over my frame. I want to do this right!

Adjusting the coat, I took a deep breath as I made my way further down the steps. I’ve got a few things I want to say to you. I bit my lip at that, my smile never fading. Basics first… I turned to one red light.

Tell me, does the ‘Crown Jewel’ of LexyCorp still shine so brightly and smugly? Or has it dulled? Has that gleam faded just a bit with the knowledge that, despite every which way you’ve tried to be relevant, you lost to a team that has ‘Unicorn’ in their name and tinfoil hats on their heads?

I grinned, turning away to walk down the aisles, knowing the cameras would follow. It was perhaps, the only thing entertaining about you that I have seen all this time. If that sounds bitter, it certainly is. I wish I had been given the time you had these past few weeks – how I could have done things. How I could have entertained…

You always confuse me, Autumn. Speaking of ‘proving your worth’ in the ring and then throwing yourself into such low-brow nonsense! One of the most talented people here and yet one of the most boring and predictable outside of wrestling. I laugh a little. From someone that has made a career out of ‘acting a part’ and ‘playing an audience’ – do you really believe you fooled me with that sex-show? Or that ‘wedding’ swerve?

That’s why I ask if you are still the woman wishing to prove herself when you faced me last time. Are you that same woman? Or has being denied over Holly Adams and her ‘photoshop’ buttons on Twitter left you jaded?

Oh yes… I smiled. I understand the allure. I understand being slighted when it comes to End of the Year voting. In perhaps my greatest year, one where I won the Flame Royale from start to finish, won the SCW title back at Rise, and held it all the way to Under Attack, I was denied the wrestler of the year award to a creature that beat up jobbers most of the year. I understand the bitterness… but has it consumed you? Are you becoming more desperate to be relevant that everything about you is fake?

I turned my head up at nearby camera. Or have you simply faced the truth? I tilted my head.

What was your biggest complaint? That you deserved it because you had “the longest Television title reign in SCW history”? Yes, so magical. So important. And, no doubt, indicative of your abilities. Turning back such names as Konrad Raab, Kandis, Bison Jones, Purity Pixie – I could go on with the names… but one thing is missing. Your tag ambitions aside, one word you haven’t been able to say all this time regarding your historic reign, no matter how amazing in the ring you are…

I turned my head then to grant her a jester-smirk. ”Undefeated.”

You can’t say that, can you? Because then you would be as big of a lie as your sex-video and as much of a fraud as your ‘wedding’, wouldn’t you? You’d be as big of a fraud as Ace and Lexy, wouldn’t you?

It’s something I actually can be somewhat proud of. That as how good you are, Autumn. That for all of your wins – your conquering of this division – I…and I alone… beat you.

A laugh escapes me as I reach another set of stairs, continuing my descent, the pieces of my past showing up as I pass them.

Not that I imagine the feeling is mutual. After all, you still retained the championship, but I know it sits with you, doesn’t it. It sits in the back of your mind. One man – one single person – keeping you from being ‘undefeated’ in title defences. One jester, a masked fool- I couldn’t help spinning slowly on the spot as I gripped a rail, careful of my knee, chuckling a little still. A man you needed Ace Marshall to deal with-

Does it make you think, Autumn? Does it make you doubt? That perhaps it wasn’t Holly Adams and her campaign that kept you from being chosen for the End of the Year and it wasn’t a conspiracy, but rather, your biggest argument in favor of your case for it… was built around the fact that had it not been for Ace, you may not have been the Television Champion. That without Ace saving you from me, your reign would have not been record-breaking or historic or… anything…

I smiled as I threw my head back, my eyes looking around the arena. I mean, if it were not so – if it was merely a delay in the inevitable of me joining the list of those you had vanquished… then why didn’t you fight for a rematch? Why has it taken over four months to reach this overdue second round? Why, the moment you lost to me, were you suddenly facing Lexy’s FATHER, CHBK?

I felt a wicked grin grace my features, my brain bubbling with theories. Oh, my dear, Autumn… how amusing… you don’t realize – you’re too busy whining about the tag titles and ‘not being picked for the world title’ to realize just how protected you actually are. How you’ve always been protected in this little reign of yours.

Even… I look down, my eyes scanning my bad leg. Even on a bad leg, the world saw that I was more than a match for you. The world saw that I, even as I am now, could very well have taken the last of your relevance… and Lexy has been keeping you safe – keeping you as far away from me as possible. Because as good as you are… you are good enough to beat Josh Hudson. Good enough to beat CHBK. Good enough to beat NEARLY anyone.

But good enough to beat me? I make my way down another set of stairs, my feet hitting the ground mats that surround the ring. Now that is an entertaining debate… one I have waited four months to find the answer to.

Turning, I jump up to sit on the apron of the ring, my back against the ropes as I look at the cameras hovering in front of me. But do you know what interests me just as much, Autumn? As much as proving that, even now, Shilo Valiant can beat the greatest Television Champion in SCW history?

My jester-grin softened to a knowing smile. Being able to say I beat a future World Champion.

I knew I had her attention and I leaned back into the ropes. Star of Tomorrow? Do you need any more proof, Autumn? It’s there. Right before you. Problem is? You’re too busy being what everyone else in Lexy’s World wants you to be. Television Champion? Tag-title champion/contender? Surrounding yourself in scandals and mistakes rather than emerging and standing as one of the brightest futures here?

Lazily, I dropped down to roll under the ropes, getting up slowly to stand in the ring. You don’t see it. You look at me and see a legend ‘desperate to restart his career’… and that’s not true at all, Autumn. I’m not looking for a new beginning… I’m looking for a fitting end.

I smile knowingly, those damn tears back as they pricked the back of my eyes. Tonight, I will not lie, Autumn, you have with you two options – and both of them you are going to thank me for, just like you should have thanked me for keeping away all those months while you padded your reign with more wins to ‘forget that one loss’ against me.

Option one! I held up a finger as I walked around the ring. I beat you – and I take away that Television Title. I free you from the mid-card and with nothing holding you back now? Nothing to burn you out week after week? You will be free to challenge the upper card! Syren, Glory, Selena, Cid – no longer trapped in a reign that’s long since served its purpose to you. I beat you and not only do I prove something to myself, I free you from that title’s obligations to allow you to FINALLY live up to your entertaining potential of “The Star of Tomorrow”… No more need for fake sex-videos and fraudulent weddings. No more need for conspiracies… you become set on the path you desperately desire…

That’s option 1.

My fingers change to the “2” sign. Option 2… you beat me… and you can say with your head held high that not only did you beat Shilo Valiant… you sent him on his way as he left SCW…

With a sad smile, I turn to gaze kindly at the nearest camera. That’s right, Autumn. You and you alone – temporary or permanent – can say that you were the last person to fight me… and that you sent me out of SCW with a loss worthy of a world title contender… My eyes travelled down to my knee once more. I have very little left… A sad smile as I came clean. Little left that I can do with how I am… but I can do this, Autumn. One more moment in the spotlight. One more moment to steal the show.

Reaching out, I dust my hands in front of me. So!! I hope you are prepared, “Angel of LexyCorp”! Because if this is to be ‘the end’ for me – in a fitting “Angel vs. Jester” match? Then I truly have nothing to lose. And if you don’t know how dangerous that makes me - when I have nothing to lose? Just ask Ace Marshall. Ask him how and who I beat while he was both the World Champion and Television Champion – ask him how that went… That wicked grin returns to my features.

I thrust my hand up a little. So prepare! Prepare to gain so much but also to lose something that has been long overdue to me! Because if I have any say…well… I’d rather walk out holding a title than walk out empty-handed once again.

I give one last smile to her – truly hopeful that all I have predicted for her…and myself… will come to pass.

One more moment in the spotlight…
One more moment to steal the show…
One more moment… to make me laugh…

Hearing a snap and pop sound, I jerked my head up just as all the lights go out, save for a single spotlight shining down on top of me. I saw the bright white shining down on me, almost blinding me… and I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped me, tired and amused as it was.

Thanks guys… I smile before casting one more glance towards the light. Do me a favour, will you?

Keep the lights on while I’m gone…

I don’t wait for an answer from the SCW staff. I know none will come… I just… I walk out of the spotlight – even if every part of me was begging me to stay in it…

I guess… I guess I couldn’t really say it after all, could I? Sorry, guys…

Necro.