Somewhere in the night in Dallas, Texas, the lights are bright and the music is loud. Known for its barbecues and Mexican food, the city doesn't sleep in the dark. We approach the main bar district of Downtown Dallas, entering a crowded night club full of people, who seem to be bouncing up and down in unison to the most pulsing dance music you can imagine, as lights infect their bodies.
But enough about them, lets take a detour to the ladies' room, quiet and deserted except for the sounds of agony from a cubical. We get closer and see a body with red hair on the top of it, leaning over a toilet, spluttering. After a few moments, she sits back, facing us. Mascara down her face, sweat on her forehead, title belt in her head, Emery Layton smiles.
EMERY LAYTON:
"Hello. I'm the champion."
She holds up her title, the Union Battleground Championship, for a few moments before her arm just drops down onto the floor next to her.
"Now, you might look at this and go 'man, Em's not doing too well, is she?' but you try looking like a work of art after celebrating in Dallas nightclubs for hours on end. Last time I was in Texas for Union Battleground, I'd just won the Trench War Championship and got into a fight at a bar- what you're seeing tonight is just my version of behaving myself. But who cares? I won the Union Battleground title! Took a whole damn year- lets party! Oww..."
Emery holds the top of her head, scrunching her face up and closing her eyes. That's when more tears seem to stream out like a fountain, involuntarily. Looking up at us, she points to her head, as she fights back the pulsing pain.
"Keep hitting my head. Gonna catch up with me one day, that. Got a concussion recently and I don't think I'm ready to be drinking yet but here I am. I've had six. SIX! My head's still all like 'nah, Em, too much'. I remember once, right, when I was in Mexico, there was this bar I used to go to and they had some bad people in there all the time. I ain't playing, man, these were some real bad eggs, might've been some cartel or whatever, I dunno. I never checked. But they had this boss who loved his drink, said he could drink anyone under the table. Had a load of friends, the lot of 'em were feared by everyone. This guy just out-drank anyone who came in, used to challenge people around midnight. One day I feel pretty damn brave and I'm like "me. I'll have him!" Course by that point, the dude's got all this legend behind him. They call him The King. I been coming to this bar for a year now and this guy rocks up, all his goons behind him, and all I ever hear is how he's big and bad, and mostly all from him. So we sit there with shot-glasses, and we go. We keep going. But every king loses their crown eventually. We're all skin and bone. I take my shot. Dude falls flat on the table, he's spark out. They ask me for my name, I tell 'em I'm the She-King- dunno where I got it, just thought it sounded cool. I get egotistical when I'm hammered- and I get outta there. All they talk about now is how he lost and who the arse this 'She-King' was. People tell me they still ask where I am, these days."
Emery stands, dusting herself down and then dusts her beanie with the sleeve of her jacket, shoving it onto her head as she leans onto the cubicle wall.
"Y'know I ain't talked a whole lot about Nemesis or Salvation or any of that crowd over my time here, but don't think that's cos I'm being ignorant or nothing. I got eyes on my face and in the back of my head and all over my body. I'm kinda like a monster made of eyes, really. Actually no I'm not, that'd be terrifying, forget I said that. But anyway, the point is I see everything that goes on in this place- all the stuff Nemesis has done, the stuff Salvation's done, hell, their whole feud with Devereaux, tryna destroy everything he is just to keep this title away from him. And then..."
Em pauses, looking down. It's like she's just realised what she's done.
"And then I cashed in on Devereux. You tortured the dude and when he finally won, I took it away from him. I gotta live with that. But knowing him, knowing the fighter he is, I know he'll wanna come get this back. And I'll just have to be ready."
She shakes her head- but not too hard, because it's still quite fragile and full of alcohol.
"But first, we get through Salvation. See the thing about them is they rule a whole little world of their own based on fear- you talk about Salvation on the corridors of a LiGHTS OUT show, people respond with whispers and concern. Now, I ain't ever really been too afraid of no dudes wearing paint all over their bodies or spouting all sorts about 'annihilation' and 'you will learn to fear us' and all that gubbins. Ooh, that's a good word- gubbins. But I know all that stuff...it's your thing, and you go outta your way to make it your thing, and that's all cool, but it ain't gonna help you with me."
We get closer to Emery as she begins to run her fingers along the gold center plate of the Union Battleground Championship.
"Everybody runs around scared of you cos they're scared of what you try to be. They're scared of the 'idea' of you. People train for this, they're told they're gonna compete with wrestlers like them...no one tells 'em about people like you. No one tell 'em about Salvation. You're beyond their idea of the world. But here's the deal, fella- I ain't looking at that. I ain't gonna pay no attention to the 'stories' or the 'myth' you've made yourself into cos they're just that- stories. I'm not talking to Nemesis right now, the terrifying leader of Salvation. I'm talking to the dude behind all of that. The dangerous competitor that held the top spot in this company for so long.
You are skin and bone."
She holds the title up.
"I have in my hand something that you used to have. Regardless of how I won it, this puts us on even ground. We are two of the three people in this world who know how to win this. I have waited a very, very long time to be able to prove it. Any doubts anyone has about me cashing in at Guerrilla Warfare, I'm gonna kick them to the curb on LiGHTS OUT when I show that I can definitively beat you and keep the Union Battleground Championship outta your filfthy, paint-filled palms. Every king loses their crown eventually. Yours is gone. I got it and I ain't giving it back. Now if you don't mind. I should be getting back to it..."
She straightens her lapels, despite still looking like absolute garbage, and hiccups as she puts the title around her waist.
Emery leaves the women's bathroom and pounces out into the crowd of strobe lights and people, jumping right on top of them. The crowd passes her along, her arms out as she closes her eyes, letting them carry her like a rockstar at a concert.
The song playing is "King Of The Mountain" by Kate Bush. At Emery's request.
The whispers throughout the locker room and the industry is that the mighty may have finally fallen and that a former Trench War Journeywoman is now about to embark upon a long, wondrous reign.
But has the darkness really been expelled from the Battleground? Were Dick Devereaux’s sacrifices enough to rid this land of Nemesis and Salvation?
No.
Instead, Nemesis’ words leading up to Guerilla Warfare somewhat prophesized this outcome and here we are; Emery Layton versus Nemesis for the Union Battleground Championship where for the first time, in a very long time, Nemesis is the challenger.
Emery Layton’s Championship victory has resulted in her immediately going down the rabbit’s hole like Alice but the life of a Champion may not be the Wonderland she expected…
”For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.” - Proverbs 1:32
The sun shines brightly while the greenery of beautiful shrubs and trees sways slightly, almost in perfect rhythm with the gentle breeze that rolls through. The fluffy white clouds and clear blue sky behind it even further the sense of calmness that is amongst the air. Off in the far distance we can see what looks to be a table with a white cloth on it and various items scattered amongst the tabletop such as small plates, teacups and teapots. There are eight chairs as well, three on the right and lefts sides with one at each head of the table. Curiously, in front of the chair at the head of the table on the far end, is a top hat on a plate, resting on the table, which looks to have a hatband sticking out the side of it which reads “In this style, 10/6”.
A rumble in the distance shakes the ground and rattles the trees. Blackness forms in the sky, piercing through the blue that once existed until it no longer remains causing the once fluffy, white clouds to become as grey as thick, polluted smoke along with it. All of the plant life has started to wilt and decay, going from a beautiful, lush green to an awful whitish-grey. This is all happening behind the chair in front of the top hat, as if an invisible line has been drawn with everything in front of that remaining as calm, still and beautiful as it once was creating quite the dynamic as the light visibly meets the darkness.
The breeze that once was picks up, adding a whistle to the wind when a loud, earth shattering crack breaks the stillness and a bright, blinding white flash of lightning stemming from the darkness crashes down to the chair at the head of the table, in front of the top hat. Smoke invades the sight, not allowing much to be seen to the human eye but it slowly and surely begins to dissipate up into the air until finally, only a thin layer remains allowing one to make out the shadow of someone now sitting at the head of the table in front of all this death and darkness.
He lifts his hand and places it upon the top hat, tapping his fingers ever so slightly while in unison.
“For the first time…in a very long time, I am no longer deemed Union Battleground Champion”, The familiar sound of Nemesis’ voice breaks the returning calmness after the smoke had somewhat cleared like a rock through a glass house
“It took everything one man had. Blood, sweat, tears, his friends and even his own sister were required to be the catalyst…the driving force…the inspiration he needed to finally topple me. No man or woman before that had been successful, including himself on more than one occasion.”, Nemesis continues tapping on the top hat but it doesn’t seem to be out of irritation
With the smoke finally settled Nemesis can now be fully seen, yet only from the waist up due to the table. The fact he is shirtless allows one to see the evil entities littered amongst his chest and neck as they look to be even angrier on this day. The red in his markings looks a lot closer to blood than usual and the blackness is far deeper than we’ve seen before. The length of his headpiece also causes most of the strands to fall behind the chair he is seated in, while a few on the sides move with the wind as it’s come back down to a calm breeze though the sky behind Nemesis still looks as if the mother of all storms is about to roll in.
“But as the Battleground was brought to it’s knees and chaos ensued throughout, one person seemed to be missing. One person who avoided conflict with Salvation and myself at seemingly all costs. Yet, that same one person has been babbling on recently about “Day One” like she’s a pair of twin Samoans who have made it in the ‘big time’”, A loud sneer comes from Nemesis as if in disgust
“Emery Layton. You have re-defined the word ‘coward’. After my loss, you pounced on Richard to obtain the Union Battleground Championship and scurried out of the ring, back down your rabbit hole and apparently into some sort of magnificent Wonderland where you’ll defend the Union Battleground Championship show in and show out like you are unbeatable”, The most sarcastic of laughs bellows out from Nemesis at even the thought
“Emery, quite simply, you’ve let your Trench War reign inflate your ego far too much, as well as your odd fascination with hats and it’s gotten to your head much like the mercury in these types of hats to factory workers in the 1800’s “,Switching from tapping the top hat to patting it gently, Nemesis continues on
“It seems as though you’ve got a case of Mad Hatter’s disease and it’s affected your nervous system making you delirious…I mean, one only has to hear you speak and it becomes quite obvious to even the simplest of minds.”, Nemesis can’t help but snicker once again
“Axel Graves protected that reign of yours like it was his first born, handpicking your opponents, fraudulently inflating your value until what? Until he too saw that the hype didn’t live up to the results we all saw and put a ‘hit’ out on your Championship reign, which might I add was very successful with a wrestler of mediocre caliber at best in Rogan MacLean. Look around that locker room, who have you really beaten that’s accomplished great heights in Union Battleground? One person, that’s it and he also had just barely escaped a match up with myself with his life intact…that opportunity won’t be presenting itself to you at L!GHTS OUT though. No, you will stand face to face with myself, the best the Battleground has to offer who you’ve avoided like the plague, why? Because you know as well as I do that on your best day you couldn’t even pull back the curtain for my entrance, let alone defeat me in a ring.”, Confidence oozes out of Nemesis’ pores and clings onto every spoken word
“But what did you expect Emery? That like Alice, you would escape reality and live in this fantasy Wonderland you’ve created in your mind where like I said before, you can’t be conquered and that Union Battleground Championship will reside with you forever? You really have gone as mad as a hatter named Tarrant Hightopp.”, Nemesis says as he raises his right hand up while leaning casually back in the chair
“Take a look behind me and see what has happened to this Wonderland, for it resembles your short Title reign; everything was sunshine, roses and a tea party full of the comedic antidotes of Union battleground’s resident Mad Hatter until the ‘Alpha & Omega’ made his presence known. Axel Graves isn’t around to protect you. AJ Morales won’t come dashing in like a white knight to defend you. No, it’s just you and I, Ms. Layton. I will fill the state of Texas with your blood in an amount not seen since the assassination of one, John F. Kennedy. As the streets of Dallas run redder than your own hair Emery, it will be in that moment in which realization will set in worldwide that biggest joke you ever made was not any of that promotional satire against your opponents that you to try to pass off for laughs but instead, ever thinking you would make it past me to defend that Union Battleground Championship on any show after this.”, He picks up the top hat and holds it at eye level as he continues on
“Your time with that Title draws to a close, only to be remembered as what you mortals refer to as a ‘cup of coffee’ or in this case a ‘cup of tea’. I will rid the Battleground of the Mad Hatter and stake my claim as its Ruler once more. After L!GHTS OUT, no one will even be thinking about that ‘day one’ nonsense, no, instead, what little fan base you have will be mourning your LAST DAY which came courtesy of the ‘Harbinger of Revelation’ because I am Nemesis...the extinguisher of the fiery redhead that is Emery Layton”, With that Nemesis stands up still holding the top hat
He pauses, looking down at the top hat and then glances up, staring directly into the viewer’s soul before tossing the top hat towards the screen as it eventually gets close enough to cover the screen fully. Fade to the blackness.
Last Edit: Jul 14, 2018 14:44:38 GMT -5 by Nemesis
Union Battleground Record: 10-1
Accolades: Union Battleground Champion [1x] Guerrilla Warfare Winner [1x]
