"My Wheelhouse." Proving Grounds 9

The room was dark. Almost pitch black other than a single lightbulb that hung down from the ceiling. An unprotected bulb with a pull chain that was just pulled to illuminate the room - as much as it could, swayed from side to side. There was already a figure sitting with their backs to the stationary camera. The hood of their black sweater up, further disrupting our view of this person. This person sat completely still; whoever it was stared straight ahead. And then, the complete - eerie silence of the room was filled with a loud noise. That noise was wooden chair legs being dragged over concrete flooring. The dragging got progressively louder as it approached the motionless figure sitting in the middle of the room, stopping suddenly once the chair became visible in the light. The chair spun so that it’s back faced this motionless figure, and then Lazarus Arjen could be seen slumping into the chair - straddling it to face the figure.

Appearing just seconds later were Euan Hill and Aurora Ray, who walked into the dim lighting - standing behind Lazarus. Aurora placed a hand on Lazarus’ shoulder, her eyes burning a hole through this motionless figure. Euan’s arms were crossed over his large chest, and from what we could see through the strands of hair that covered his face, his eyes were also locked on this figure before them. Silence filled the room again. Lazarus’ eyes studied the figure in front of them. His forearms rest on the back of the chair, one hand draped on top of the other, hanging over the edge - just dangling in the air. The silence in the room was cut, finally, when Lazarus spoke.

“Accepting our invitation means you were, at the very least, interested in what we had to say.”

The figure in front of Lazarus, Euan and Aurora nodded their head, remaining silent.

“We’ve done our research on you; we know all about you. We know all about your failures and all about your shortcomings. We know about your history, your past and everything you could imagine. Honestly, we see something in you. We can see that fierce, ferocious side of you that’s dying to come out but, for whatever reason, you have it locked away. And look at what it’s done to you; it’s crippled you. You have nothing because you played ‘nice’ for your entire career. You have nothing left because you let everyone roll over on you. You are the perfect example of someone needing us.”

Lazarus adjusted in chair, pulling something out of the pocket of his jacket. Readjusting to how he sat before, in his hands he now held a black piece of fabric in his hand. His eyes refocused on the figure in front of him.

“What we offer you is the opportunity to become a new person. You have sought out help before, but every direction you turned - you were met with a closed door. We are here before you, no closed doors. No boundaries. No limitations. What we offer you is the chance to be free, to truly become the rabid animal that is inside of you. No more collars, chains or muzzles; we offer you freedom. And with us, you’ll not only have learned how to harness all of your rage, aggression and anger. Not only will you learn how to become the vicious fighter that I know you can be; but with us, you will have something that everyone longs for. Family.”

Lazarus said, knowing that this figure - this person - was hanging on every word he said. He briefly looked over one shoulder, then the other, looking back at his family members Aurora and Euan, before turning back to the figure in front of him.

“The term is thrown around a lot in this industry, but what we have is real. We look out for each other, we support each other, and we are there to remind one another that anything in this industry that we want? We can take. I freed Aurora and Euan from the control that The Father had over them, and now they are a deadly force. Unburdened with rules and guidelines, they are free to do anything they desire to anyone that stands in their way without fear of repercussions from The Father, who had them operate within the confines of his desires. Now their desires are what drives them, and I stand back and watch happily while they leave bodies at their feet. You have that opportunity too. You have the opportunity to be reborn as a member of this family. No need to follow the guidelines of “good” for the sake of being liked anymore. You need to do what is best for your career, and removing the chains that bind is the first step.”

“So, what do you say? Do you want to become one of us?”

Lazarus asked. His eyes never moved from the figure in front of him just as his tone never changed when he spoke. The three watched the figure in front of them waste no time before they nodded their head, agreeing with everything Lazarus said and accepting the offer. Lazarus pushed his arm out, his hand clutching the fabric he held until the figure reached out. Their hands briefly shown in the dim light, smaller than Lazarus’, moving the fabric before withdrawing back into the dark.

“You are to wear this. It’s not who you are that’s important right now. The important thing is to learn our ways, and our craft. This is a symbol of the rebirth process. You wear this because the old you is dead from this moment forward. And once complete, we will reveal you to the world as the newest member of this family.”.

Lazarus stood up, pushing his chair out of the way - that same dragging sound from before filling this small room. Now Lazarus stood in the middle of Aurora and Euan, all three looking down at the figure who remained seated.

“Welcome to the family. Welcome to Death Blooms.”

---------------

The members of Project: Death otherwise known as Death Blooms stand in a cold, concrete room that’s roughly six feet by eight feet. The side and back walls from our viewpoint are a dreary grey color, leaving one entry way - a thick, steel barred door. Euan Hill and Aurora Ray stand in the background, on either side of the room. Aurora with her back to the wall, arms crossed over her chest. Euan in the far corner, arms at his side and his head lowered - shielding his face with his long hair. In front of them stands a figure in all black, with a ski-mask over their face and a hood from their sweater over their head. This person would remain almost motionless, but completely silent. And fronting the group was Lazarus Arjen, who sat on the edge of the cot-like-bed that was pushed against the wall. Laz’s head was lowered just slightly, but his hair was pushed back to the back of his head. You could see his eyes locked on the floor, staring off into space as he collected his thoughts. Without notice, his hand came up to his face and he rubbed his scruffy jaw just before he spoke.

“It’s hard to take you seriously as a ‘bad guy’, Colton. A lot of big talk; threats and promises. The same that we get some every other guy that comes in off of the streets and decides to lace a pair of boots. Being bad and hard is the universal language in this profession, isn’t it? But not even your little ‘power of attorney’ Kimberly Chase can separate you from every other joker that comes in spitting the same bile that you do. Not even the X-Factor championship could make you stand out in a crowd of your peers, Colton.

But then you do something… something that shocked the world, made you ‘Public Enemy Number One’ of the state. Something that you think really solidifies you as some tough badass. You go off the deep end and kidnap someone. The night you lose your title to Indy Darling, you attack a security guard in the parking lot and then attack Zane from behind, dumping her body in the trunk of your car. And I’m supposed to be intimidated by that? I’m supposed to fear you because you attacked some fat rent-a-cop and an unsuspecting girl trying to aid him? Real tough guy, you are Colton. See, where I’m from - tough guys don’t attack from behind. There’s a word we have reserved for those kind of guys, it’s pussy. Where I’m from, tough guys look you right in the eye. Tough guys don’t sit and bark, then hide in the shadows and be a bitch. Tough guys take you on, head on. And what’s worse is you’re so-called ‘repercussions’ of your actions. A verbal tirade from Rock Johnson, a pathetic little slap on the wrist and thrown into a Deathmatch against me as punishment. You’re gifted a main event match on Proving Grounds Nine because you kidnapped someone.

Cool.”

Lazarus said in sarcasm, shaking his head after. The two full-fledged members of Death Blooms have remained quiet and motionless up until this point, because even Aurora scoffed at the ‘punishment’ handed down to Colton. Lazarus would take a moment before continuing, this time looking up at the camera as he spoke.

“Every action has a consequence, Colton. And it would seem this Deathmatch is your consequence, and in case you haven’t paid attention or have followed along - this is my wheelhouse. Fuck a standard, traditional match - this is my environment. Light tubes, barbed wire, doors, tables, nails, thumbtacks, skewers; all instruments that I use to deal pain that you could never even imagine. And this isn’t the stereotypical tough guy talk that comes with the territory. This isn’t the ramblings of a try-hard that wants to make everyone think he’s big, bad and tough. Every word I say can be taken as the gospel.

Take my match against Elena DeDraca for example. I said that I would make Elena the killer that she claims to be and what happened? She, now, is more vicious than she ever has been. She needed to tap into that killer-potential in order to do what she did at Proving Ground Eight. Whether she likes it or not, I freed her from those chains and the ‘Fist of Hydra’ has undoubtedly been freed upon this industry to wreak all of the havoc that she is capable of. Just as I said I would do just two weeks ago. Now Elena can hold her head up high and go for that Project Honor championship, because now she truly is free.

Just as I did to Euan and Aurora. Just like I will do to my new follower here. I free them of the chains that bind them; and just like I will do to you. Free you.”

Lazarus stood up, turning his body fully toward the camera. He stepped in front of the person known simply as ‘The Follower’, making it so that he was the primary focus in the shot.

“The difference between Euan, Aurora, my new Follower and Elena - and yourself is; I have removed their chains to prepare them for war. To unleash the inner killers inside. You? I will free you in another way altogether. What I’m going to do is sever your ties to existence. There is a reason it is called a deathmatch, and there is a reason why I specialize in them; because I have no fear. Not even for someone who stands Six foot Five inches and has an eighty-plus pound advantage over me. I’ve been put through tables and doors. I’ve been driven down into tacks and nails. I’ve had barbed wire rip flesh from my body and I’ve bled buckets in this environment. I am battle tested - I am proven. This isn’t big, tough guy talk either. It’s not meant to intimidate you, either. I don’t need to spew nonsense in these videos to intimidate anyone - I let my actions do that for me. I know you’ll come back at me with ‘you haven’t won a match’, and when you do it will be clear that my point - the point of all of this…” He said, spreading his arms to motion to his group, “...Has missed you. That’s not surprising, though. It seems to have missed everyone in this second-rate, and clearly unethical company. They brush us and our cause off like they brushed your criminal act off. But our words have remained true until this day; we have caused chaos, wreaked havoc and - you can ask Elena DeDraca this - have given people the fight of their lives to the point where our names will never be forgotten. This fight between us, though, will be just slightly different from the previous couple that I’ve had.

Shawn Warstein and Elena DeDraca, they might have officially ‘beaten’ me - but you won’t. Unlike them, you are in my playground, Colton. You have stepped out of the boundaries of Professional Wrestling, and I’m sure that makes you happy doesn’t it? Afterall, according to you - wrestler’s are ‘petulant children who can’t really fight’. Well, welcome to my world now, bitch - and I will tell you bluntly; you won’t survive here. You see; I was once heralded as just ‘trash’, the embodiment of the death of this industry because I proudly represented my Deathmatch fetish. And funny enough, that talk and torment came from people like you. People who build themselves up as tough guys, but are the same cowards that have to hide and sneak attack people. It’s people like you - the fake-tough guys who are quick to argue traditionalists in this industry are superior to my kind, but turn around and use weapons and tactics that they openly ridicule; or specifically use weapons to attack when they claim to be ‘real fighters’. Get something straight, Colton - this isn’t your wheelhouse, and tough talk and promises about how you’re going to step into my environment and ‘handle me’, will be met with laughter. I’ve seen bigger than you. I’ve faced bigger than you. And in this environment … I’ve beaten bigger than you. Because size and skill mean absolutely nothing when I’ve broken a light tube over your skull and proceed to drive the jagged edges into your flesh. Every man bleeds the same. And trust me, there will be blood shed at Proving Ground Nine, that is a guarantee.

I imagine though,” Lazarus stopped as he moved closer. Upon doing that, the camera zoomed out to show that Laz and co. were inside of a jail cell with the door closed. Lazarus’ hand moved up to the door, swiping to the left - his fingertips sliding from bar to bar. “I imagine you’re salivating at the opportunity in front of you, though. A real fight. A fight to the death. The art of combat that, according to you, is lost on the current class of professional wrestlers contracted by Project Honor. Lucky for you, I’m not a professional wrestler. Unfortunately where there’s luck, there’s equal bad luck. So, unlucky for you, I want nothing more than to open every vein and artery in your body and watch you bleed out like the pathetic little cunt that you truly are. A sniveling, whining little bitch - complaining about losses in a profession that you have vocally expressed your disdain for. You’re not man enough to admit that you lost, you make excuses for everything under the sun - and yet you want us to believe that you’re a badass, quote-unquote, ‘Outlaw’. If you were a badass, as I mentioned, you wouldn’t have to beat up rent-a-cops to establish dominance, nor would you ever show up on screen and make excuses. Own your mistakes, own your failures. But in your case, owning your failures is something that is beneath you, right?”

Lazarus stopped pacing and turned to stare dead ahead at the camera. His hand moved from the barred door, swinging limp at his waist.

“Owning your failures here in Project Honor wouldn’t make Kimberly Chase very happy, would it? Knowing that she backs a former champion who squandered all of his time as champion, and every opportunity to really put a division and this company on his back. You barely got past ‘the Predator’, you lost to Zane, you lost to MYOJIN and you lost your championship to Indy Darling. Those were nothing though, right? Professional wrestling might not be your ‘thing’, but a real fighter like you should have no problem dummying smaller guys. The power of your strikes should be enough to crack skulls on their own; but when faced against an athlete with a significant size advantage tipped to your favor - you lost in under ten minutes. Dickie Watson defeated you, and instead of owning it like a man - you bitched and moaned. And even worse, Kimberly Chase bitched and moaned. The two of you threw petty insults and stomped around like children. Do you want to know why I want to gut you like a fish, Colton? Because people like you give the men of this industry a bad name. You say and spew every tired and cliche line there is in order to make people think that you’re hard, but then turn around and let the littlest thing like a loss affect you, make you react in ways that only spoiled, rotten brats react. Kimberly Chase, I could see and expect that reaction from. But a so-called ‘man’s man’ like Colton? No. But failure is something we should expect from a tag team wrestler who has lately even found failure in that territory.

Isn’t that right, Colt Montoya?

Changing your name and surroundings doesn’t change the past, nor does it erase your failures. Just like threats of domination and destruction doesn’t change the fact that you can’t back up what you say. Just like how promises of Kimberly’s so-called ‘Christmas presents’ doesn’t make them reality. Kimberly has you wrapped around her little finger, and yet you claim to be an Outlaw. A term coined for those individuals who are free from the binds of law, order and any other confines. Yet here you are, at the beck and call of Kimberly. It shouldn’t surprise anyone, though. A man who claims to be a real fighter, but turns pussy at the first chance of a fight. A man who thinks professional wrestling is a choreographed stunt, yet complains about losing a pro. Wrestling match. And a man who cites himself as an Outlaw, but does the bidding of a delusional tramp. The hypocrisy checks off on every level.”

Lazarus takes another step closer to the barred door. His eyes never deviated from the camera. Every word that Lazarus spoke seemed to drip with both sincerity and venom at the same time.

“Mock and ridicule all you want. Scoff and sneer your way through another boring, generic and cliched match hype video. Nothing will change the fact that, in just a couple of days, you will be stepping into a world that you truly know nothing about. You can hype yourself up, talk your tough talk with Kimberly standing beside you, nodding her empty head and agreeing with the bullshit that you spew; it still doesn’t change the fact that at Proving Ground Nine, you are walking into my realm. This is where I made my bones. This is where I was discovered. And when I am finished with you, the ‘Last Breathing Outlaw’ will have drawn in his final breath. My realm will be the resting place of the ‘Outlaw’.

All of the tough, macho machismo that you can muster wouldn’t be enough to escape the fate that is in store for you. I told you, Colton. I do not offer you the same freedoms and opportunities that I have offered my family members, or even Elena DeDraca. I simply do not care about you enough to entertain the idea that, deep inside of you, there could be a killer that would do real damage to this industry if freed. The only thing I offer you, is a way out. A way out of this industry, a way out of this profession, and a way out of your sad, pathetic little life. And even that … it isn’t really even an offer. It’s more of a promise.”

Now Lazarus would reach forward, wrapping his hands around the bars of the door. He moved closer so that his face was just inches away from being pressed against the cold steel.

“Colton; you should have been jailed for your actions, at least then you would have been safe.”

With a sick, sinister little smile creeping onto his face, Lazarus let go of the bars. Euan and Aurora moved out of the corners of the room and The Follower joined them to stand right behind Lazarus. The family, Project: Death, Death Blooms - whatever you want to call them, stood in front of the camera for one final frame before the camera feed abruptly cut to static.