An Evening Stroll... (Proving Grounds)

The time is coming upon us. The inaugural Project: Honor event is coming up with so much on the line. Who can win their match the fastest, they ask. The two with the fastest times move onto a World TItle match on an upcoming show. It’s no longer about who wins the match, so much as who can put their opponent away first. Eight incredible talents will be finding their way through that night while walking on eggshells. Nobody really knows what to expect. All they do know is you have to hit them hard, and you have to hit them quickly.

Of course, the object of the debut match is Dickie Watson. The runt of the Russian litter finds himself looking for opportunity. He’ll claim that this is no problem for him. This is just another stepping stone to claim another title. He’s won a few of those, doing so with a perfect record. You know who else has a perfect record here in Project: Honor? Everybody. No losses in the company, everybody is on equal footing. Or so they think. Just one loss in the company is going to run any hopes of running the table, no matter how good you think you are.



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Leaves rustle out of the alley under the pale moonlight. Commotion comes from the darkness as things have been getting physical between a man and a woman. Aggressive shouting comes from the woman before a high pitched scream breaks out. The two begin to quiet down moments later as heavy breathing takes over. A loud kick, followed by a body hitting the ground happens next.

“Oh, it’s beautiful! Thanks baby!”

“Do the honors”

A blood curdling scream is heard as something is being stepped on, or someone for that matter. The scream continues until a loud hit causes the screaming to stop. That’s not terrible or anything.

Kimberly Chase laughs as she walks out of the darkness, adjusting her leopard dress. A lighter glows in the darkness as a cigarette is lit up. Out steps the 6’5” Colton Saint, sporting a pair of black slacks and a crimson red dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Between the two of them, they look like they have been busy in the alley, with their hair messed up and in Colton’s case, bruised knuckles.

Looking like a couple of innocent lovebirds, they laugh together as they walk down the street, as the pedestrians pass them without any knowledge of what they’ve done to a poor soul. They look like just any other couple on a fun night on the town. Kimberly looks lovingly into Colton’s eyes as they walk, with the promise of Colton walking into Proving Grounds tomorrow night with a plan, and walking out with a spot in the World Title match.

“Colton, my love, I have a question for you.”

Not responding to her, he takes a drag of his cigarette. Even in a casual, wonderful walk, he’s all business. The grand posture, the eye contact with everyone he comes across, a half smirk on his face while he strolls. A man of power without needing to have a nickname behind it.

“Why is it that a company like Project: Honor continues to promote a bunch of teenagers who look like they should be flipping burgers? The greasy faces, the skinny-fat bodies, the lack of moral, and well physical, hygiene? Why is it that when a grown, beautiful man joins the company, they throw the man into a match with a petulant child?”

They continue down the street, her arms wrapped around one of his. Colton Saint isn’t built like them, he can’t relate. The top baseball player in Texas during his senior year in high school, full ride scholarship to Texas A&M. He was to be the next Nolan Ryan. He never had to get a ‘normal’ job like the rest of the trash that surrounds them.

“That’s easy. Wrestling used to be the land of the Titans.Gods among Men scouring the globe for a championship. Eventually, the Gods faded away. Rather than letting it end there, they looked for replacements. By the year 2020, this is what they can give us. THIS is what they have. If they can do a sloppy flip, they can be a wrestler. If they can get into a wrestling ring, they’re suddenly knighted as professional wrestlers. It doesn’t take much.”

Kimberly’s face grimaces while the two walk. Just the idea of these boys parading around as titans is cringeworthy. They have the bodies and the looks of meth addicts, not star athletes. Still, Kimberly found solace in the arms of Colton. No terrible habits, just terrible. He has become a master of manipulation, fooling all of those in the industry as a man who would give to the poor, when it turns out, he only gives what he doesn’t want anymore.

“Tomorrow night, please make sure you shower right after the match. Sure, you won’t even break a sweat, but that greasy, disgusting body of Dickie Watson, I just don’t want him touching you. He looks like he hasn’t showered in six months.”

She continues to grimace, disgusted by Colton’s opponent. It’s one thing to be put in a match with somebody like him, but it’s another to try and win the match in record time. All that grease on his body will make him tough to catch.

“Don’t remind me. Unfortunately in professional wrestling, we have to do some pretty awful things. Such dirty things. I don’t want to share a ring with that little thing. If it was up to me, they may as well not have the match at all. This isn’t for my pleasure of hurting others, this is a necessity in order to achieve the goal we want. World Heavyweight Championship gold. The Grand Championship they call it. Attainable by most, but for me, it’s a certainty.”

Kimberly breaks away from him for a moment, extending her hand and looking at the golden ring on her finger. It looks a little loose on her finger, telling one that obviously it wasn’t hers to begin with. Still, she skips ahead of Colton with a gigantic grin on her face. This draws attention from a few gentlemen. They approach her to talk, but she simply plays with the ring, shaking her finger at them.

“Nuh uh uh!”

She laughs hysterically as Colton approaches them. The glare catches their attention, as they back away from him.

“Awwwe, my man is such a gentleman….Throw them into traffic.”

The sudden shift in tone sets the men into panic, as Colton grabs both of them by the throat, delivering a series of headbutts to both men before shoving them into the street. This leads to an excited scream from Kimberly followed by her laughter.

The aggressive, no-nonsense attitude of Colton leads to Kimberly grabbing onto his arm again with a smile on her face while they continue to walk down the street.

“See, that was easy! I mean, both of those swine were about the size Dickie. They were no match for the one true titan. How is Proving Grounds going to be any different? Well, I suppose Dickie won’t be thrown into traffic, but at least he will be considered a speedbump. Which by the way, I want that belt, Colton. I want it, and you know what you have to do.”

The calm, dark eyes of Colton tell a very different story. He doesn’t carry the extroverted wild side that Kimberly does. It all sits inside. Until that moment comes where the lovely Kimberly Chase wants something, he will harm nobody. What she wants, she gets.

They turn the corner, into a more darkened sidewalk.

“You know what I really would love to see? I want Dickie to hit you as hard he can. I want him to throw every single piece of his arsenal at you. I want him to hit you with his little Calamity Insurance fifteen times. Just so you can stand up, stare him down, and knock his teeth right out. Then you can look down at him, not a hair out of place, and stand on him for the pinfall. I’d love to see that.”

He finishes with a final drag of the cigarette, tossing it into the street while the two walk. He didn’t have a direct response from her request of his willingness to take such punishment from Dickie Watson during their contest. He knows the rules of the game, especially this one. Win the match as fast as you can. Inflict the punishment if you want to risk not being in the Grand Championship finale. So much at stake in this contest, maybe the idea of gruesome violence in the workplace could cost him the opportunity that the two have been wanting. Dickie isn’t going to pull the punches either, he’s going to want to win in record time as well. Expect high impact moves from both men early on, and a war to commence.

“It sounds too simple, Kimberly. To label Dickie Watson without having seen a single fight of his, it may be premature. For all I know, he could be hoarding some Bruce Lee shit in there. Maybe he has super human strength. Maybe he’s the Einstein of wrestling, he can figure out how to be in exactly the right place at the right time. A lot can happen at Proving Grounds. I don’t for a second believe that someone like Dickie, someone who looks like Dickie, could ever stand a chance, but I know he’s going to fight. He’s going to fight with all of his heart, and his soul. Everything will be on the line for him, and like the sad reality of life, he will come up short. Very, very short.”

In any other event, or place and time, Dickie Watson would fall even shorter. A win in Project: Honor’s first event would be a wonderful sight, and of great importance. It doesn’t change the fact that there is such a size difference, such a difference in discipline. Dickie doesn’t even know what he’s up against. In his career, he’s probably taken on some pretty bad boys, but there’s something about the Last Breathing Outlaw that can put a prompt end to the short run of Dickie’s tenure in the company.

They continue walking, but notice a figure leaning against the wall. In a protective state, Colton steps in between the distant figure and Kimberly. His eyes narrow while they approach. The figure slowly stirs, arriving to their feet wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

“We don’t have any change for you, go away.”

The figure reaches over, grabbing the wrist of Colton. He stops, looking down at the figure before yanking her hood back. The woman shakes, nearly trembling to the ground.

“Look at that, Colton! Blue hair, fragile, a beggar. That has to be Hannah Watson!!”

Kimberly laughs hysterically again, mocking the poor woman. The lady has been through enough it seems. A crooked spine, a few teeth missing, relegated to being on the streets. It’s a terrible fate.

“Who?”

“Hannah Watson, don’t you do your homework?!”

Obviously this woman isn’t Hannah Watson. The only similarity would be the hair color, but even that isn’t a fair assumption. The woman’s hair may share the color, but the straggly, knotted up look wasn’t the same. This woman has suffered.

“Cooooolton… You know what I want, right? I want this savage swine destroyed.”

Kimberly notices the hesitation on the side of Colton, and proceeds to storm over to the poor lady. He stops her, looking at the two of them.

“If you want material things, fine, we take them. If you want me to hurt someone who has wronged you, fine, we do it. We can’t destroy her, fate itself will eat her. Let the vultures feast when the time comes.”

A look of defiance arrives on the face of Kimberly, who slaps him across the face. A second slap comes, but zero reaction from Colton, he simply glares at her with a smirk on his face. The look the two give each other gives a story of frustration, yet infatuation. Kimberly breaks her glance and looks at the poor woman.

“You’re one lucky bitch…”

She turns from the poor woman, putting herself under the arm of Colton as the two walk away.

“So are you.”

Giggling to herself, Kimberly embraces the loose ring on her finger with a gleam in her eye.

“See, this whole thing is simple, Kimberly. We’re in a world of false prophets and paupers posing as royalty. Everybody wants to rule the world, and everyone wants to be the Kings or the Queens of the streets they walk on. Not us. With roads in the business littered with such imitation talent, who would want to rule that? Surely, we wouldn’t benefit from it. See, our views are a little different. We don’t want things handed to us, that’s boring. We don’t want to wake up one day with all the gold in the world. That’s for chumps. Nah, we want to walk down these streets, find what we want, and take it. No permissions needed, no requests pending, we take what we want. It starts tomorrow night. Whether the company flourishes, or burns to the ground on opening night, I will be the first ever Project: Honor Grand Champion.”

Colton has said all he needs to say. A swooning Kimberly rubs on his arm, blushing from the mere dominance of his words. That little devilish look in her eyes gives away her intentions for the night, as she leans up, whispering to him.

“Let’s go. I want to make sure you’re ready for tomorrow night.”

He smiles, knowing how this plan usually plays out. Kimberly casually strolls away from Colton, looking around before glancing back at him with those eyes. He steps back into the darkness as she hikes her skirt up a little, before waving a thumb into traffic. Cars pass, but not before slowing down to look at her. She gives them a polite wink as they pass until one poor sap pulls over to pick her up. The window rolls down, it’s a man in his twenties, driving a lousy Ford Explorer. Seriously, gas mileage much?

She leans on the door, innocently asking for a ride to Stockton, CA. The man looks her over, in his perverted, non-subtle ways. He waves her in, allowing her to climb into the car. No sooner than the door closing, Colton emerges from the shadows, wrestling the driver side door open. The stunned driver is pulled out of his car, as Kimberly can be heard laughing hysterically from inside of the vehicle. After a swift kick to the ribs, Colton climbs into the car, slamming the driver side door shut. The car speeds off with traffic, leaving the victim lying in agony. Onto Proving Grounds.