Our opening is an unorthodox one as static dominates our eyes and our ears. It is loud and painful in nearly equal measure, but mercifully it ends as we cut to the closing moments of the main event from Ascension 50 and the World Heavyweight Championship battle between David Cougar and champion Steven Kurtesy:
This is extremely dangerous for both men but this is what you have to do to become World Champion!
Kurtesy realises his predicament and tries to find a way out with strikes but Cougar is determined and fights his way to the top rope. Both men stand precariously on the top strap which wobbles beneath their collective weight. Cougar tries to hit the Final Act but Kurtesy tries to stop it but he cant, Cougar is unyielding in his efforts until both men go flying through the air and land with a crash as the Final Act brings them crashing to the floor with authority! Slowly, Showtime gets his arm across Kurtesy and he uses his leg to hook the limb of the champion! 1...........2.................3!!!
Hes done it!!! David Cougar has finally achieved his dream!!
Congratulations Showtime!!!
Your winner and NEW Heavyweight Champion of the WORLD, SHOWTIME DAVID COUGAR!!!!
Cougar is handed the World Championship and he clutches it to his chest in the centre of the ring.
Suddenly the image is frozen, a split second after Cougar reigns supreme. Its a fleeting image. One of Steven Kurtesy, crushed by the loss of his championship. We slowly pull-back as a maniacal laughter is heard bellowing out, this now the dominant presence in our scene. Having pulled back, we see a roaring fire in an open fireplace and a grand armchair where the source of the laughter originates. Weve seen all of this before and it become soon apparent that we are currently in the home of one of WZCWs most diabolical residents; Steven Holmes. Our view changes, seeing Holmes sunk into his chair, very comfortable, a television remote in one hand as the other dangles over the side. He is dressed in his evening wear, complete with robe and ever so comfortable slippers.
Holmes: Pathetic isnt it Steven?
Like a great mantis, Holmes sits, elongating his limbs. His feet stretch far in search of warmth from the raging fire, while his arms weigh on the chairs own arms. The fire reaches great heights, thus creating drastically caricatured shadows, turning everything into an exceptionally gothic creation. Even the portrait Holmes has of himself with the Elite Championship is shrouded in shadow, giving it a dark mystique.
Holmes: One year ago you I was trying to destroy you Steven. I tried to bury the legacy of the Crashin Movement in one fell swoop and defeat you. I tried twice. I failed twice. It was only after these shortcomings that I began to tap into my true nature and embrace my real self. Only then did I begin to journey to become the man I am today. In defeat, I claimed victory. I would establish a destructive, deadly partnership with...someone else, and claim my birthright; the Elite Championship. I slaughtered countless fools, including Big Dave. I became a marathon man, lasting from the second entrant position in Lethal Lottery to the final three men. I engaged in a blood feud rivalled by few, equalled by none.
As Holmes catches his breath following the recap of his year in WZCW, he cant help but smile, knowing that while hes had a busy existence; its the simplicity thats keeping him entertained.
Holmes: After all was said and done though, after all the speeches on fear and the bloodshed, after all of that, it all boils back down to one simple thing. After a year of me rising higher than ever before, and you my dear boy doing the same, we find ourselves at the same crossroads we did twelve long months ago. Finally we find ourselves face-to-face once again.
Holmes now changes his sitting position. He recoils his legs, slowly moving them to a more recognisable shape. They now form a ninety degree angle more commonly seen. Holmes then shifts his back into a more upright position. His perfect posture matching the shape of the chair. And finally, Holmes works on his arms. He turns them one hundred and eighty degrees, before folding them inwards. Now more compact, Holmes resumes his dialogue with the television image of Kurtesy.
Holmes: I became a darker, twisted human being, bent on ushering in a new era of destruction and pain. I craved the barbarism and the madness. I relished squatting in the epitome of terror. Heck, Im not sure why Im talking in the past tense; I still relish all of that! Its who I am. I have embraced my true nature and it has taken me to new heights I previously had not achieved. While you are my opposite. I am dark, the devil incarnate perhaps, you are heavenly, a saintly figure, not unlike some sort of guardian angel.
Now, Holmes rises out of his armchair. He shuffles himself towards his fireplace, his television still frozen on the image of Kurtesy.
Holmes: Steven Kurtesy fought the demonic and dastardly forces of evil in the good name of WZCW, slaying the evil Apostles of Chaos and their master Ty Burna, and in the midst of the chaotic aura, claiming the World Heavyweight Championship. It was only through you Steven that WZCW was not plunged into darkness. The moon did not bloody and the sun was not blackened. You the great saviour Steven Kurtesy. I laugh at that pathetic notion. You are far more comparable to the Saint, Jude.
You see, Saint Jude is the patron of lost causes. You thought you had defeated the storybook villain. You thought you had vanquished the big bad wolf. You thought it was all over, but you shouldve known better Steven. Youre fall has begun, and with it, a new era is shortly beginning. As you writhe in embarrassing pain, much as I did at Kingdom Come, you realise that a dark dawn has arrived. Showtime David Cougar is a man who defeated you, but he is not the man who shall end you. No, that is me.
Holmes reaches his fireplace, resting his cold hands on the edge of the fireplace. The heat envelopes the hands, but the flames never touch him. His shadow is cast all over the gargantuan room. Its shape is like that of a monster from a Brothers Grimm tale or some sort of equal gothic fantasy. Whatever it is, it is diabolically evil.
Holmes: We are rapidly approaching something that I have sought to achieve for such a long time. It began to take form with my victory over Ricky Runn last week and its true nature will become apparent through my supremacy over you Steven. And then its completion will arrive in the form of a win over the war machine that is...that is...
There is a forced delay as Holmes struggles to utter the word. That name burns a hole in him and he will have to force it out as if it were a profanity. Then, he finally does it.
Holmes: ...CONSTANTINE!
Its a lot louder than intended and echoes like a haunted scream in the dark. There is another pause, before Holmes continues.
Holmes: I speak of course Steven, about Redemption. We are so near the event, and I so nearly have my own personal redemption. I have destroyed those who would dare stain my glorious coronation, and you fall next. My former brother in arms. You shall fall as a sacrifice. Youre fall will signify the turning of the tide as Ty Burna struggles with his own self emotions, a new master of chaos shall rise. That is me. I will assume the role of dark overlord and I will start by doing what he could not; I shall defeat you. You shall be cast aside. And then, I can finally and fully focus on the man who stabbed me in the back.
Holmes face drips with sweat. The salty liquid oozing off of his face, and dripping into the raging fire below. Holmes uses his heated hands to wipe his brow, before turning to face the screen of the television.
Holmes: The final thing that blocks my path to the glory and the grandeur I was born to achieve is a beast of a man. I have described him for months on end as a war machine. He described himself as a snake tongued beast. I of course refer to...Constantine.
Holmes swallows hard as he slips the name in.
Holmes: John Constantine was so similar to you Steven. He was. He had so many aspirations. He had so many dreams. He wanted to go to so many places and achieve things never before seen in this company, just like you Steven. You made it happen, and maybe one day he will too, but there is no way that this faux monarch shall achieve it at my expense. Nay, he shall feel the fiery anguish that he decided to put me through at Kingdom Come, only he shall feel it ten thousand times greater. I am not someone who takes betrayal lightly. Steven, youre aware of that. After all, I stabbed you in the back. My betrayal of you was a natural occurrence though. What I engaged in was evolution. What he did was destroy my moment in the sun, and as such, I shall destroy him.
What happens at Redemption will be a beginning and an end. It will mark the end of a long era in my career that started with my betrayal of you Steven. It will mark the completion of my redemption. I shall finally defeat the demons who taunted me about my past for years. It will also mark the start of the era where I finally achieve omnipotence. I will begin to finally ascent to the top of Olympus where I will be greeted by the Gods as the future of WZCW. I shall reach the summit and I shall be rewarded with the Heavyweight Championship of this World. My shadow will be scast over WZCW and I will create a new era, in my image. Redemption is coming Steven, and you play a grand part in it. I shall see you at Ascension, and perhaps beyond...if you make it.
The television blips out of existence, killing the image of Steven Kurtesy that had been burned there for so long. Holmes then collapses back into his chair, again allowing himself to be swallowed by the enormous furniture, ending our scene.
