....sincerely yours. [v. Nero/Runble]

[The Silver Tongued Devil]

[september, 2014]

[texas]

[xff fury]

At the advice of Jimmy Riley, I had finally travelled from San Diego to Arlington to get the experience that I was going to get in REVO. A chance to sharpen a skill set without the bias of a crowd or a roster for that matter who had already labelled me as everything but what I was.

Talented and driven.

Out west they were so engrossed in their Twitter accounts that they couldn’t see undeniable talent unless it was right in front of them. And even then...they were still blind.

But it was nothing to be worried about.

Soon enough, they’d all see..even if I had to peel back their eyelids and force them to watch.

Arlington was a bit different then out West, they didn’t give a shit about gimmicks, they didn’t give a shit about your ‘act’, they just wanted to know one thing:

Can you wrestle?

After that, everything else took care of itself.

Sat in my small locker room, making a successful XFF debut in which I made short work of the guy across from me. Carefully, I peeled the tape from around my wrists and my gloved hands creating a small pool of dirty and sweat soaked athletic tape at my booted feet. I could hear the roars of the crowd through the thin walls of the locker room as I freed myself from the tape and pulled the black and red leather Mizuno batting gloves from my hands, dropping them to the floor.

I was ready to get out of the arena, collect my check and get back to the apartment that Jimmy had set up for me so I could get some sleep before waking up and heading back towards the Lion’s Den for another training session, just like REVO, I didn’t come to the XFF or Arlington for that matter to make friends, I came to win...I came to get paid...I came out West to prove back those beach-bummed morons that Aries Reed was more than just the other black guy that wasn’t named Black Jones.

I was tired of playing second fiddle to a guy who…

-knockknockknock-

My train of thought was interrupted by the light knock on my locker room door as I arched a brow not expecting any visitors, especially with Jimmy already back in San Diego only days earlier.

“Yeah, come in.”

The door opened slowly as a small frame of young Puerto Rican woman stepped in holding a small white box in her hands and a large smile on her face. A small black t-shirt hugged her frame rather flatteringly enough, revealing the toned midsection underneath, completed with a pair of tattered blue jeans that sat low on her hips. She tilted her head to side slightly as she studied my curious look on my face.

“Aries, right?” She asked softly, her voice seeming to brighten up the darkened locker room.

“Yeah...you are?”

Her smile faded slightly at my failure to recognize her which was only short lived as she brightened up immediately.

“Melody...Melody Torres, you asked for the German Chocolate Cake. It my way of welcoming new talent to the roster, remember? It's kinda my thing.”

I perked up slightly at the mention of cake, allowing a smile to spread over my face. “Oh yeah, now I remember you. Gotta excuse me there, honestly, I didn’t think you were serious.”

“If I wasn’t serious, I wouldn’t have asked.”, she shot back quickly impressing me with the quick wit.

“Touche’, Melody.”

Slowly she shook her head slowly as her dark brown hair sways behind her. “Mels...it’s just Mels.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I nod my head slowly.

“Alright...Mels, it is.”

[www.theblackestsun.com]

[fga present gold rush rumble]

[aries reed v. nero]

[hype video i]

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

[With his head hanging down low, Aries Reed stands next to the hospital bed where a thin white top draw sheet was draped over the figure in the bed as the life support machine continued to measure its fledgling vital signs as Aries frowns slightly, placing his large hand on the figures shoulder. Slowly, pulling his hand back, Aries takes a seat in the nearby chair and sighs softly as shakes his head slowly. The room door opens as a nurse walks into the room and looks up, startled by Aries's appearance in the room.]

“Oh I'm sorry, sir...I didn't know you were in here. Are you related to the patient.”

[Aries looks up at nurse with remorseful eyes as he shakes his head slowly.]

“No...no I'm not but I'm a close associate just coming to say my final goodbyes.”

[With a sad smile spreading over the lips of the nurse, she nods her head slowly.]

“Yes sir, I do apologize for intruding...I'll give you some time.”

“Thank you, ma'am.”

[The nurse closes the door behind her as Aries slowly stands to his feet and walks over to the door and locks it as the deadbolt slides home with a click. Turning back to the bed, Aries is all smiles as he nods his head slowly. Walking towards the bed, he takes a seat next to the covered figure as his smile remains on his lips.]

“I want to feel bad. I really do because nobody deserves this kind of fate, they really don’t.”

“But yet, you asked for this...you begged for this and in the end, everything that happened is your own fault.”

“You stepped into the ring with the Blackest Sun of the FGA and you wanted to teach the me something.”

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

“No, Nero...you had it all mixed up. Hell, you got it all wrong. This isn't some game, I’m not some random guy they plunked off of the street...that'll pass by like a fart in the dark. Despite what everyone else may want, I'm not here today, gone tomorrow...I'm more like the sun, even on those cloudy days...you know I'm still here and I will continue to shine day in and day out. So while you speak of moons remember that you're just nothing more but a floating rock of nothingness.”

“At one point you were something that everyone wanted to know about...and once they did, they've never cared about again.”

“I may not be made out of steel, Nero, but when you step into the ring with me this Saturday...you're going to have your doubts. I have plenty of miles to go before my road is done...I have many matches to fight all over the world before it's time for me to hang them up. Just like you, I will have thousands of matches underneath my belt around the world and I have a lot of successes in the FGA underneath it as well. I came into Frontier with nothing...and I’m in the process of turning it into one of the most defining careers that the FGA has ever seen.”

“I've stepped into the ring with legends and you are no different, just another name who thinks that they’ll be the one to finally silence the kid who think he knows it all..”

“I've been cheered...I've been boo'd...I've been loved...I've been hated.”

“...and I still win at such a high-level that I dare any man to replicate what I plan to do here.”

“The cost that I've paid is something that I continue to pay night in and night out because I can afford it. You come into FGA thinking that you’re going to get at me when you don’t understand that you’ve lost before you’ve even begun. When it comes to the FGA...when it comes this Rumble, when it comes getting the chance to finally showcase my skills in such a way that I’ll take center stage...it’s too good to pass up. But I’ll ask, do you have it takes to put it all on the line?”

[Aries shakes his head slowly.]

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

“No.”

“No you don't, Nero.”

“We are not the same...we maybe on the same road to greatness, but we are not a part of one another. I've driven fast my whole career because I know where I want to be and I refuse to sit around with my thumb up my ass because I'm worried about the next guy who wants to think that I’m available. This business isn't about what you've done it's about what have you done for me lately.”

“And with the Gold Rush in my sights...I can say that pretty soon, I’m going to accomplish quite a bit.”

“Yeah, Nero, I don’t know where you come from or where you’ve been...but in the end, you still haven't come close to what I continue to do in the FGA.”

“...and that's raise the bar.”

[Standing from the bed, Aries looks over at the motionless figure and sighs softly as he walks over to a row of cabinets on the other side of the room and grabs a pillow off the top of folded linens, fluffing it slightly.]

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP


“Yes, Nero..I'm nothing more but a man. But I'm a man that's come into the FGA and made something for himself. I'm a man that's going to sit at the head of the Frontier Grapple Table because I’m taking what I wanted, everyone else be damned. And if you think that because you think the time is right for you to come knocking at more door that I'm just going to let you have it.”

“My legacy...my livelihood is on the line every time I step into the ring. I put my foot down on the throttle because we live fast and we die even faster and in this business if you're not going not going as fast as the other man beside you then you're getting left behind.”

“You think you’re more prepared for this?”

“Nero...you're stupider than you look.”

[Aries grits his teeth, speaking with harsh whispers not wanting to alert the nurses just outside of the door.]

“I was going to give you the chance to end your own damn miserable career here...I was going to give you the chance to put yourself out of your own misery and ride out in the sunset.”

“But that's not what Nero wants...that's not what Nero deserves.”

“...what he deserves is something much much more fitting for his station.”

[Slowly Aries makes his way over towards the bed and places the pillow over the face over figure as it slowly starts to struggle underneath the weight of Aries's hands pressing the pillow down.]

“...Nero wants a fight...”

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

...Nero wants a shot at greatness...”

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

“...but all Nero is going to get is what he deserves...”

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

“...and that's to be put down like the rabid dog he is.”

[The struggling stops as the figure lies motionless as Aries release the pillow from over his face before promptly unplugs the life support machine as the beeping comes to an abrupt halt. A smile returns to his face as he looks at the recently deceased.]

“Nero...this is what you wanted. This is what you asked for. You wanted Aries Reed...you wanted the Gold Rush Rumble...but you failed to realized one simple fact.”

“The Blackest Sun of Exodus will outshine you all.”

[february, 2016]

[law offices of williams, randof, and waseman]

[san diego, california]

I was dreading this day.

But there was no way that this is going to happen without a bit of bloodshed.

Figuratively speaking of course.

It’s been a few days since me and Melody had even spoke on a personal level, keeping this as professional as possible especially with her having a miscarriage only a few weeks earlier.

I was a bit skeptical but only time would tell.

Sitting at the head of the freshly polished table in the large meeting room, I looking at the small stack of papers in front of me as I held a black fountain pen in my right hand.

“Alright, Mr. Reed...just one more place to sign and we’ll be all done here.”

The paralegal reached across in front of me as she turned the page and pointed to the blank space, which already had my name in print. I looked at the papers in front of me as I felt a familiar twinge in my chest right where my heart continued to beat.

I was once as a child that was told ‘The heart wants what the heart wants.’

At the time, that did make sense of to me but then again I was a child and I couldn’t comprehend what anything meant outside of what a child could even understand.

But as I grew older, as I grew wiser…

...it all started to make sense.

“Mr. Reed? Are you okay?”

Snapped out of my train of thought, my head snapped up at the paralegal, who looked a bit concerned over my current mental state as a forced a smile from the corner of my mouth and slowly nodded my head.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just kind of realizing the gravity of it all."

"The paralegal gave me a sympathetic smile in return. "Mr. Reed, I can't imagine what you're going through and I'm not going to patronize you and try. But we are here for you and if don't want to go through with this..."

I raised a hand slightly, dismissing the notion of wanting to back out.

"No, this is happening." My nerves solidified as I placed the tip of the pen to paper and with a few flicks of my wrist, my signature had sealed a fact that I never thought would ever apply to me.

Aries Reed was a divorced man.

[www.theblackestsun.com]

[fga present gold rush rumble]

[hype video iI]

[Chess is a thinking man’s game.]

[Chess is about strategy.]

[Chess is about making the other man believe that he’s making all the right moves…]

[…when he’s doing nothing but hanging himself with his own rope.]

[Chess requires patience…chess requires skill. All that Aries Reed possesses but I’m afraid the rest of the Gold Rush Rumble participants do not.]

[Sitting in front a empty marble chess board, Aries sits with a soft smile on his face as he slowly begins to place the artfully and rather eloquently marble pieces on the board slowly and carefully as if they were made from glass. He slowly placed the ebony pieces in their correct positions one by one as he never looks up at the camera.]

“To the participants of the Gold Rush Rumble.”

“For some of us we’ve never had the pleasure of meeting before this week and unfortunately for you after this trip to Hershey is over with, the name of Aries Reed will reverberate into the depths of brain that you didn’t know existed.”

“I hate to be one to bring this to your attention, but you all aren’t as good as you think you are and sadly enough, the fact that you’re even coming to Hershey for this bloodbath in the first place is nothing more but a means to a very horrible end for you all. So please before you start you diatribe about how many places you’ve been, what other meaningless titles that you’ve won and what your plans on coming to the Gold Rush Rumble are, please allow me to beat you to the punch by saying the following:”

“I don’t give a shit.”

[With disgust, Aries waves his hand dismissively as the thought of wasting the time and the mental capacity on such fools has brought him as he slowly starts to begin place the ivory pieces on the board.]

“I don’t give a shit about whom you are…I don’t give a shit where you’re from or what you’re about.”

“You want to think that you’re a real bad inside of the ring, but in actuality you have no idea what it takes to beat a man like me and when push comes to shove, you’re not ready to see how far and how deep that rabbit hole goes.”

“And that makes you fake.”

“That makes your transparent.”

“That makes you nothing more but a little child trying to play a man’s game, the game is Chess…not checkers, people and I’ll already have you in Checkmate and the game hasn’t even started yet.”

“You want to think that you’re ready…but you aren’t even close. You want to step into the ring me with and prove me otherwise, then by all means…please do. I want you to attempt to prove me wrong because when it’s all said and done you’ll realize that you never had it in you in the first place.”

“And who’s the blame for that egregious error in character and talent development?”

“Maybe it’s the people around you who inflate that ego of yours unjustifiably, giving you a false sense of accomplishment.”

[Aries smirks and begins his sarcastic slow clap for a moment before turning his attention back to the board that sits in front of him.]

“Regardless of your past accolades…I’m better than you.”

“No matter how you slice it, no matter how you spin it. In every single aspect of the word, I’m better than you all. I’m a better wrestler and I’m a better athlete in every single sense of the word. And if this is the first time that you’re hearing this…well, I just feel bad for you because to be honest…you don’t have it in you to prove me wrong.”

“But if you must…I know you will…”

[His arrogant smirk fades from his lips as his brow furrows slightly the camera seeming to slowly zoom in on his face as he looks into the camera for the first time.]

“…then let’s dance. Let’s see who’s willing to do what it takes to walk out of the Gold Rush Rumble a winner. Let’s see who’s willing to get the dirtiest, let’s see who will be willing to do the things that most people won’t do. Because I am…I’m willing to go to the seven depths of Hell and come out smelling like a rose on the other side. And I will bring you with me kicking and screaming the entire way because I don’t think you have the minerals to fight that kind of fight. Are you ready to bust your knuckles open? Are you ready to take years off of your life just to prove a point? Are you willing to push yourself to the point of no return…just so you can push the other off that ledge first?”

“You’re not that guy, so who are you fooling?”

“Yourself?”

“Those around you?”

[With a shrug of his large shoulder Aries continues on…]

“…like I said earlier. You’re all fake…and once in the Giant Center I will strip everything back like an onion and show you off to the rest of the world for the men and women you are…”

“…or in this instance…the wrestlers you aren’t.”

[Reaching over Aries carefully knocks off the ivory King piece over before standing to his feet.]

“Check Mate, gents. Check Mate.”

[Fade]