Post by THERE IS A GOD on Jun 27, 2008 18:33:58 GMT -4
[glow=red,2,300]RATED: PG13
FOR MARINE VIOLENCE, AND STRONG THEMES[/glow]
FOR MARINE VIOLENCE, AND STRONG THEMES[/glow]
Balance… Balance is a word that would most directly be associated with the way that a certain KaotiK God would choose to exist, and be. Balance is a simple thing to achieve, action giving way to reaction, so on, and so forth… So what happens when things just stopped falling into that balance? What happens when everything around you is going astray, you’re falling ill, and nothing for just a moment can go the way that you want it to? What happens now? You… You are the god of your own world, and all the power resides within your very hands. You already know the rules of existence so now when existence has failed, truly now is the time to be the divine. When life refuses to be within the natural balances of order, then it is you that must restore order. Or in this case restore Kaos…
-FLASHBACK-
Metal and Jeff roll away from the pack and actually all the way to the outside of the ring exchanging rights and lefts. Kenny looks up and twitches to go help his friend, but quickly shakes that notion and continues to assail Trevor. He drives a hard boot into the side of Trevor's head before standing up and striking another I am god pose as out of no where Twister rolls Kenny up in a school boy.
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Winner: Twister
Harvey: TWISTER WON!
Chase: HE BEAT THE CHAMP!
Well as you can imagine Kenny's jaw drops not literally but you know what I mean. He turns just in time to see Trevor Blackwell lunging at him. Trevor hammers hard rights and lefts into Kenny before getting countered with a hard clothesline from Kenny. Jeff slides into the ring and Kenny flips on him. Jeff shrugs and points to the ref who is standing... barely... next to the time keepers table. Apparently he didn't like getting his ego crushed. Jeff holds the APW championship in his hand and hands it to Kenny. Kenny smirks still realizing the important thing is still in his camp as he holds the belt in the air. Just then Metal springs into the ring and tackles Jeff again. Jeff counters away momentarily, but ends up getting tossed over the top rope via another counter by metal. Kenny swings the title at Metal but metal ducks out of the way... Kenny gets spun around and as he finds himself, gets grabbed by Twister and spun into a fierce Wind breaker! The championship goes flying as Kenny rolls out of the ring subconsciously I'm sure. Leaving Trevor Blackwell, Matt Metal and Twister in the ring as BOOM blasts onto the speakers.
Harvey: My god Johnny, Twister just laid out the champ!
Chase: And Metal and Trevor seem to have had the last laugh on this night!
-AFTER THE MATCH-
We come to find the still APW World Heavyweight Champion, ‘The Ego Crusher’ Sgt. Kenny Lambardo, sitting alone in a chair placed in the center of the ‘Church of Kaos’ locker room. You never wanted to be around Kenny after a loss. A loss was something that never happened often to the sergeant, and it was always something that he would take very personally. Now it gets worse. This wasn’t just any other kind of loss. This was a loss against a man that they called Twister.
It had been nearly five years now since the first time that the godly one’s eyes first gazed upon the phenomena, and Champion, Twister. It was in an independent Hardcore organization called Insane Wrestling Championships. The place was garbage when you really looked at it. We we’re in the same venue night, after night, and used a big screen plasma TV on a hand truck instead of a Titontron, and only to be wheeled out on ‘SuperCards’. The microphones were wired, and the arena could barely hold 250 fans. However, were those fans rabidly loyal to the cause, and this was the place that first gave the marine his shot. It was different in IWC. Twister was the ‘top dog’, and Kenny was the bottom of the line. At the time the sergeant was no marine, and was simply a violent psychopath just out of the hospital they called Kaos.
It would also be Kaos that would watch the only man that could beat Twister, and that man was Hurricane Jeff. HJ, and Kaos as the KaotiK Storm would come to hold four out of the five belts that ran through that federation including the IWC Tag Team Championships, and HJ was now that ‘top dog’. With no title that could be on the line the match that everyone in that federation would never come, due to a mysterious attack on the owner, Steve Beckett, that would lead to the end of the federation. Wonder who that could have been???
Just less than a year after Kenny Lambardo found his way to the company called World Wrestling Championships. WWC was another creation from the business genius of our own President Jeff where Kenny had almost immediately the enemy of Trevor Blackwell. Twister was there as well, but a strange series of events would quickly lead to Twister becoming owner of that company.
What was a KaotiK to do? What would you do if you’re worst enemy suddenly became your boss? What do you think that he would do to that man that saw him in that way? The answer was shocking. It was a match against WWC World Heavyweight Champion, Matt Metal leading to the first true ‘Reign of Kaos’.
Soon Twister disappeared, the company changed hands, and Kenny left. Mostly due to one Diana Steel, but we really don’t want to go into that at the moment I think…
Now you can sit there, and try to say that there was no need for that history lesson in the life of Twister, and Kenny. The god lost, and that’s all there is to it, but you’d be wrong. Sgt. Kenny Lambardo is nothing if not confident, and a loss to the man that you have been claiming that you can beat for five, six years pins you? It can break that very confidence.
The somehow still APW World Champion sat with his face buried in his hands when his cell phone began to blare ‘Walk’ by Pantera. Kenny reached into his pocket to answer the call.
“Hello… Well I’m glad you saw the match… How’s that… He really wants to see me, huh… When can we leave…”
[glow=red,2,300]Mr. and Mrs. Lambardo’s Hotel Suite
Tuesday June 25, 2008
0600 hours[/glow]
[glow=red,2,300]BZZZ… BZZZ… BZZZ…[/glow]
The alarm clock rang as it did every morning next to the bed of Mr. and Mrs. Lambardo, but this time it rang for a different reason. There was no training today. There were no press conferences, or autograph signings. The sergeant had a flight to catch.
Kenny hit the off button as he did in the mornings, and immediately went to give Diana a kiss good morning, as had become quite customary, but she wasn’t in bed. The marine was immediately out of bed, switching back into his earlier days in the core, going back through the fundamentals of military clearing during a MOUT situation, and doing so in his own hotel suite.
He hugged the wall as he made his way to the bedroom door. He checked both sides ofthe hall, and saw her in the living room. She appeared deep in conversation, and never even noticed him sneak up behind her.
“BOO!” he yelled.
Diana yelped, quite startled, but obviously knew that it was Kenny. She turned to see her husband.
“Listen.” She spoke into her phone. “I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Diana closed her phone, and looked back to Kenny. “What are you doing up so early? You still don’t feel well, and you need to get some rest.”
“I…”
Kenny tried to rebut, but Diana just kept going. “Don’t you give me any lip.”
“Listen.” The sergeant was a bit sterner with that statement. He hated when parts of him like than came out towards her. “I need to go catch a plane?”
“No, you need to go back to bed.” Diana continued her argument. “Where the hell are you going that you need to take a plane, and leave me behind? Were you even planning on telling me that you were going anywhere?”
“I was going to tell you when we got up in bed, but you were already awake, and on your phone at six in the morning.”
“So now I can’t be on the phone?”
“That’s not what I said!” His blood was boiling. “I got a call from my Lieutenant last week, and I need to go see him. There something that I need to go take care of, and I can’t take you with me. I love you. I love you more than anything else that has ever come before you.” He smirked. “You’re the only thing that I ever wanted selfishly. Just for me. I’m sorry I need to do this one alone.”
Diana’s voice went quite. “You’re not planning on going back to the marines, are you?”
“And leave you behind?”
Diana smiled, and the two kissed. Wonder who she could have been on the phone with so early in the morning???
[glow=red,2,300]IRAQI AIRSPACE
WEDNSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008
0400 HOURS[/glow]
Kenny sat in the cargo hold of the most advanced piece of aeronautical technology that had ever been designed by man, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, and did it with a lit blunt in his lips. Every moment that he spent since he had left his wife’s side the morning before was to be in the very seat that he was now.
It had been so long since he had worn the dark jumpsuit that he had become so use to over his three years in the corps. Black was a color that was most perfect for what was about to happen, a color of the darkness that swept the skies over the early morning mountains of Iraq. There were no tags, or patches, or rank. The only thing that could possible tell you that this man was really Kenny Lambardo, other than the lordly appearance, was a wedding band that some poor private got their nose broken over when they told the sergeant that it was policy to not let him leave with anything that would be physically distinguishable on a ‘Black Bag Operation’.
The veteran marine looked down at the oxygen mask that he hated so much, too enclosed. It was a necessity though. The plane was at such an altitude that the sheer vacuum could nearly implode a human being. Why be that high you ask? It keeps us off the radar…
The bud that rest in Lambardo’s ear crackled…
Lt. Browne: Put that thing out, and get your helmet on. We’re two minutes from the drop zone.
Lieutenant Justin Browne was Sergeant Lambardo’s commanding officer during his time in the marines. The man trained him about fighting, about sniping, about war. He taught him how to remain calm during the heat of battle, to lie like a snake waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike at your prey, quick and true, to breathe through the emotion, and remain calm, to become the weapon that he had been trained to be, and the weapon that he was now.
The sergeant grabbed the mask, and adjusted to his face. The jump hatch opened, and Sgt. Lambardo came to the edge of the door.
Crackle…
Lt. Browne: Are you sure about this Kenny? I mean we can turn around anytime that you want.
“Just do me one favor.” Kenny responded.
Crackle…
Lt. Browne: Anything…
“Tell Diana that I’ll be home for dinner.”
And God fell from the heavens on the darkest of nights. He plummeted towards the mountains, two miles outside of where his destination actually was. It was two miles of sand that the marine had sworn never to return to, yet there he was. Falling to the earth like the falling star that he was so seemingly becoming, but in the ways of Kaos, death is something that brings with it evolution, rebirth, and a new life.
Lambardo checked his altitude, and saw the tip of the mountains coming. He yanked on the string that released his parachute, continuing to plummet back to the earth under the starry night sky. His decent began to slow, and soon he unbuckled the backpack as he free fell the last twenty feet to the ground, and the backpack going off the back of a cliff.
Crackle…
Lt. Browne: Alright Lambardo. You’re on your own from here. Remember, you have no affiliation to the American government, so if things go wrong, don’t expect a rescue party. I’ll see you at the rendezvous point at 1600. Good luck…
[glow=red,2,300]IRAQI MOUNTAINS
WEDENSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008
0605 HOURS [/glow]
Two hours of crawling and he had just under a hundred yards to go. Two hours, and he still wasn’t there meant only one thing, that he was getting slow. There was another problem too. It was six o’clock in the morning, and the Iraqi Special Forces would be waking up soon.
The Special Forces in Iraq were like none other in the world. Most militaries teach survival of a war, these guys taught you to kill the enemy even at the cost of your life, and the lives of your comrades. It truly is a difficult thing to fight a man that had no fear of death, nor was worried about making out of that fight what so ever.
In just a forty more yards that fear was realized. The soldiers used the mountains as training grounds, and Lambardo was completely unarmed, and hadn’t been in real combat in over six months. His path was blocked, but Lambardo kept his cool. He breathed. He waited. He watched. He watched his enemy’s patrol. He watched his enemy’s movements. The tiniest of things give away all…
Lambardo watched his enemy time, and time, again. Just on that verge of watching for too long, and just long enough. The enemy took seventeen steps at a count of twenty three each way. He looks once while he’s far, and twice when he’s near. It was so systematic it was nauseating. It was predictable, and reeked with the stench of a rookie.
Opportunity!
The sergeant’s enemy turned for what would be his final time, and Lambardo came to a crouch position, quickly, and silently stalking behind his foe. The trained killer that he was, the marine took advantage of his enemies three point strap. With a fluidity that was near god-like, he reached around the Iraqi guard with a one hand on the stock of his rifle, and the other on the barrel. Sgt. Lambardo lifted the barrel with force, but it would be the harness that would do most of the work of snapping the kid’s neck.
The boy that had been killed couldn’t have been any older than sixteen, and how easy was it to kill him. That’s the funny thing about war. No one really has a face, or an age, or a family, or cares… They’re just targets to be shot at, and killing is truly one of those things that gets easier the more that you do it.
Lambardo laid the boy down as he fell back limp, and closed the child’s eyes with a soft hand as he bows his head in reverence to his victim, and prey.
“May we see each other again soon my brother in arms…”
The marine quickly relieved the fallen soldier of his weaponry, and went along the path to see the man that he came here to see, and to get the answers that he came here to get. He entered the cave of the man that had called himself the Guru of the Smoking Grail.
The Guru was short, stocky, and bald, his body littered with the tales of his experience. He lived within his cave as a true Guru to all people that would take the time out to listen to his teachings. He would guide all who only took out the time to be guided. Lambardo was one such person. Like the sergeant, the Guru of the Smoking Grail was a marine, but one that had been stranded here since Operation Dessert Storm. War ran through his veins, and he knew of the battles within, and without. He knew of the battles of both mind, and body. The man had such knowledge that it was to a point scary, and absolutely uncanny to behold.
Kenny came upon the Guru as he sat on a pillow in front of his grail within his smokey cave. Another pillow laid across from him, almost as if the Guru had been expecting the presence of our lord.
“Sergeant Kenneth Lambardo Jr. ESQ, the man with the longest name in the history of the world.” The Guru looked up to the marine. “What brings you back to this part of the world? The last that I saw you, you were on your way back to the states.”
Kenny sat on the pillow that was seemingly meant for him.
“Things have changed.” Kenny responded.
“They call you the Champion of the World.”
“Yes they do.”
“Well I still call you child.” The Guru’s voice was cold, and stern in tone.
“There’s more…” The ever confident marine was meek, and shaken.
“I’ve heard.” The Guru of the Smoking Grail smiled slyly. “There’s a Mrs. Lambardo now. I’ve heard. Congratulations”
“How the hell do you know all this?” The sergeant was flooded with an intimidation unlike that he had ever felt before. He reached for the trigger of the rifle strapped to his chest.
“You don’t need that.” The Guru of the Grail spoke without fear. “I watch all of my students forever, that’s all…”
“You’re still creepy.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Fear…” Kenny finally admitted to the Guru of the Smoking Grail as he admitted it to himself.
“Fear?!” The Guru roared with an unholy rage, the likes of which would make a mere man return to the dust of creation. “You come to me out of fear?! You, Sgt. Kenny Lambardo, the greatest of all my students, the man proclaimed god come to me out of fear! What are you afraid of? Who are you afraid of? Tell me! Matt Metal? Trevor Blackwell? Twister?”
Kenny collapsed within himself as the Guru of the Smoking Grail spoke these words. A man that lives in a cave, that knows so much about another man, in another country is quite a scary thing to behold when you really think about it. Do you think that they get APW in Iraq??
The Guru continued. “You are so far beyond the three of them its ridiculous. The first thing that you have to do is get Twister out of your head. You don’t need to worry about him right now, and if you’re really that worried about it down the road, then when the time comes you are always welcome to come back, and seek my council. Besides, a loss to Twister in the conditions that surrounded it doesn’t mean a god damn thing, so again I say, don’t worry about it.”
Kenny Lambardo took a deep breath as he began to feel better. The Guru inhaled some of the smoke that danced in the air above the grail between them.
“So what about Matt Metal?” Kenny felt brave enough to ask a simple question.
“What about Matt Metal?” The Guru of the Grail responded sharply, and harshly. “Matt Metal is a fucking joke. You could, and did eat him alive in WWC, and you’re going to do it again at TEST 4 THE BEST. Who the hell does Matt Metal think he is anyway? What the hell does he do? I’ll tell you what he does. He does a really good job of being a horribly watered down version of Sergeant Kenny Lambardo.”
Kenny smiled the cocky Lambardo half grin that had made him famous.
“Matt Metal was good, but Kenny Lambardo is just plain better. Do you remember when he first entered the federation calling himself the messiah of wrestling, and then everyone else backstage had to tell him that there was a church to you in the federation, and he was just not gonna make it? Not only does that prove that he still has no fucking idea what the fuck he’s talking about, that proves that he’s still old news, and still trying to catch up to you, Kenny.”
The Guru sighed to himself. “That’s the problem with us older guys, always stuck in the past. People like Matt Metal can only go so far, and then they just become slow, and weak. There is always a next generation that will take it to the next level far faster than he will ever do it, and that next generation is you. Where you were the future, and he was the present, now you are the present, and he is the past. So is the natural way of things, and the balance of life.”
Lambardo slowly shook his head as he took in the words of his old teacher.
“But that is only the beginning for Metal.” The Guru continued. “Matt Metal is supposed to be this loved guy that is famous throughout the industry, right? The perfect wrestler that’s practically unbeatable, right?”
Lambardo nodded in reluctant agreement.
“Aren’t you a two time World Champion?”
Kenny smiled. “Yes I am.”
“Weren’t you at one point called WWC’s longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion?”
“Yes I was.” Lambardo’s grin gets ever wider if you could imagine such a thing.
“And who did you take that title off of?”
“Matt Metal.”
The Guru nodded with just the smallest hint of a smile. “So Matt Metal, this near- perfect, and undefeatable wrestler, had one of his reigns ended by you already in life, before that prime that you are just now starting to reach. Matt Metal’s near perfect record already has a blemish on it named Sgt. Kenny Lambardo, so this Sunday its time to make the blemish a little uglier.”
“Or a little prettier,” the cocky little upstart interjected, “just depends on how you look at it.”
“Cute.” The Guru gave the comment the dignity of a response before continuing. “And don’t forget that Matt Metal is riddled with injuries, and his age doesn’t make a good bed fellow for that. Not to say that he’s old, just saying that maybe there’s a reason that he hasn’t stepped into the ring in three years. How many times has his neck been broken?”
“Not only that,” Kenny Lambardo interrupted his teacher, “but three years is a long time to spend out of the ring for a man that claims a six year career of legend. I’m surprised that he can move around the backstage of an Overdrive set with all that fucking ring rust all over him. I mean Matt Metal & ‘The Career Killer’ Trevor Blackwell vs. Hurricane Jeff, and ‘The Ego Crusher’ Sgt. Kenny Lambardo is a hell of a match to make a come back on but you would think that when he had the power to put himself in any match he wants that he would pick one that has a better survival rate, like a bear…”
“There you go, young one.” The Guru of the Smoking Grail spoke softly to his student. “There he is, feed into it…”
“Do you know what really pisses me off about this guy?”
“No.” The Guru responded with a smile of accomplishment. “Why don’t you tell me about it?”
“He screwed Jeff.” You could hear the Kaos rumbling in his voice, reaching for its freedom. “I hate that. Jeff gave Matt Metal his start. He found Matt Metal, and made that son of a bitch famous. He turned that nobody into the champion of his day, and now in Action Packed Wrestling he’s Overdrive’s fucking General Manager. Jeff, the superhero that he is, continues to give, and Matt Metal screws him. HJ asked him to do one simple thing. For the first time ever Jeff asked something of Matt Metal, and Matt Metal was the one that put the knife in his back.”
Kenny’s eyebrows lowered, his lips narrowed, the anger, and Kaos within was becoming overwhelming…
“Jeff is my best friend.” Kenny continued. “Whether he knows it or not, he has been with me in the worst of time, and taught me this business, and he did the same for that scumbag Matt Metal. The difference between Metal, and I is the fact that I actually appreciate the things that others do for me. Unlike Matt Metal, I appreciate every ounce of what Jeff has given me, and what he has helped me to become, and that is a very simple reason on why Matt Metal is going to get his fucking head caved in! I’m going at him with a wrath, and holy vengeance the likes of which only a god could give! The best part about it, is that he has no clue that I’m coming. This isn’t about me. For him it’s about Jeff, and that is the fatal flaw in his plan. It is in the very moment that he is worried about that impending HurraDriver that threatens to end his already near-lifeless career, that again he becomes just like everyone else, and again, he becomes just another on an ever growing long list of egos crushed…”
“What about Trevor Blackwell?” The Guru asked a simple question that was sure to receive so much more than a simple response.
“What about Trevor Blackwell??” The KaotiK within raged forward to answer with the question just asked. “Trevor Blackwell, the so-called ‘Career Killer’ isn’t even worth the ring that he walks in. I’ve seen more talent left behind in tightly coiled piles on the lawn by my dog! There has never been a match between Trevor Blackwell and Kenny Lambardo in all my years of wrestling that Trevor has ever won. It won’t be any different at T4TB either. To tell you the truth I’m just getting plain tired of kicking his ass! Why the hell is it that I’m constantly pitted, federation after federation, match after match, against that son of a mother’s cunt?”
“Did you ever stop to think that the two of you put on the most amazing matches that the fans just can’t get enough of?” The Guru answered his long time student, and friend. “How many people we’re at Mayhem, Kenny?”
Fuck man, after Mayhem they might as well of named him ‘The Career Killed’ Trevor Blackwell. That man wanted to make an impact, and he made with his head! And he still needed an Ego Crusher to fucking do it! How many vertebrate did he snap in that Iron Man Match? Three to be precise… Is he cleared to wrestle? No… Why? Because the doctors are afraid that he can step into the ring with Iceman, and get his fucking self killed! That’s exactly what’s going to happen to him at TEST 4 THE BEST. Trevor Blackwell is going to get himself killed. If not. He’s going to be a paraplegic for the rest of his natural life…
Kenny took a deep breathe as he came back to composure…
“Do you know what the worst part about this all is?” The sergeant asked.
“What?” The Guru responded with a question of his own.
“What the hell am I going to tell Skylar?” Lambardo asked an almost rhetorical question. “I killed your father. I killed your father because he was a fucking scumbag that just couldn’t let shit die. I killed him because he had to find a way to get back in the ring with me regardless of doctors orders. I killed your father because he was stupid, brash, and pig headed enough to think that he really was unbreakable, and unstoppable, and he had to test that against the man that just keeps on fucking coming… Me!”
Sgt. Lambardo looked the Guru of the Smoking Grail right in the eyes as he continued to speak.
“I can’t do that to her.” The statement was law that was already carved into the stone of his mind. “I’ve been with that girl more, and more now, and love her like she was my own daughter. The problem is that I’m not her father, he is. The problem is that I don’t have it in me to do that to her. What kind of a man does it take to take a father from their child? I’m not that person.”
“Yes you are.” The Guru of the Smoking Grail interjected. “You have to be. Don’t forget that Trevor Blackwell has been holding a secret from you for months. The thing is that he doesn’t really hold it over you he holds it over Hurricane Jeff. Be careful in the decisions that you make when regarding the relationship that you choose to have with the self proclaimed ‘Career Killer’, he may very well be the key to your success, and failure in everything that you are about to embark on…”
The Guru took the smoking Grail in both hands, and raised it towards Kenny.
“Now breathe.” The Guru spoke. “Breathe in your fear, and remember who you are.”
Lambardo closed his eyes, and leaned over the grail to inhale the blue smoke. He took small breaths at first, that fought to be deeper, and deeper, until the marine found himself alone in the darkness but with nothing around him.
“Become who you are.” The Guru’s voice echoed throughout the vastness of this dark space. “Remember that it all begins with you, and ends with you the god. Remember the teachings of combat. Matt Metal, and Trevor Blackwell each represent but a fraction of the combat that professional wrestling has become so used to. Trevor Blackwell is merely the aspect of Hardcore. Take him out of a Hardcore environment, like in a tag team match, and the man becomes useless. Matt Metal is a Showman. Take him off the stage, and off of the mic, he becomes useless when things really come down to the fight. Where he is worried about the reaction that the crowd has to what he does, you will be worried about one thing… The win… Remember that combat starts with one thing, and that is your very own body. You are the weapon. All warriors began with the idea of one man hits another. The clashing of bone, and sinew… From there, the realm of combat evolved into a more tactical sense. Where a man will look at another man, break down his strategy, and take out the weakness. It doesn’t matter what your enemy can do, it’s what your enemy can’t do, and how well you can exploit that weakness. With that mentality came the idea of holding your enemy where you want him to be, and keeping them within the realm of your own power, and damage, only to take complete advantage of that one weak point on your enemy’s body. In the case of Matt Metal, and Trevor Blackwell this weak point would be the neck, and you just happen to be the master of the RKO… Remember also that modern warfare is a war that is fought in the skies. An enemy on the ground his helpless when being bombed from above, and again your body is your weapon. The faster that you can strike at your enemy the better the cause, but never forget that power is always a factor. In everything that you do in combat, every attack that you execute must hit with the most force that is possible. The more of your speed, and body behind each blow the more powerful, more damaging it will be. War, and combat further grew to use weapons such as is done by one ‘The Career Killer’ Trevor Blackwell. Weapons are always a help. Most of the time a foreign weapon can improve your performance, and strength, even be a turning point in the battle for you or the enemy. Remember though that it is you behind the weapon, and not the other way around. You are the greatest weapon you have, your own body, your own hands, feet, and above all your brain. Your ability to pick apart your enemies game, and take advantage of them whenever you can… Then, add some more of your own. You are better, because you will take the win above all costs. There is nothing that will hold you back. The fans love them, and it will fuel an unholy rage against them. The hatred that the fans have for you is the thing that you will use that will drive you forward in times of need. Use it to your advantage, the way that you would use anything else. Theatricality, and dramatics are powerful allies in war. Nothing is true, and everything is permitted.”
A man walked out of the darkness, and in everyway resembled the Kenny Lambardo that was left sitting in the darkness, yet somehow was still different than the marine. He wore all black, his eyes red, and gold. You could feel the aura of hatred, and apathy rolling of that man. He looked at Kenny, and smiled.
The Guru continued. “Remember these words, for this is something that can be taught to anyone, but you are one that has something more than any of that. You are someone that has a power behind you that no one else will ever have. You have the unconditionally, and eternal love of a woman that will keep you going at any cost. When great things happen, ‘That Girl’ is truly the catalyst, so be that great thing. There is something that changes in you the moment that you have her in your life. An ability to change the world around you as you see fit, so take advantage of that! When some people would say that she is something that would simply hold you back it is out of the sheer jealousy that they don’t have someone standing behind them, driving them to do great things.”
The man that appeared in the darkness leaned over to kiss Kenny on the forehead. Kenny Lambardo disappeared into the darkness leaving only the Kaos to speak.
“I’ll take it from here.”
[glow=red,2,300]COMMERCIAL
FRIDAY JUNE 27, 2008
1645 HOURS[/glow]
The screen goes dead black. The APW logo flashes, followed by a flash of the Banner for TEST 4 THE BEST.
Diana: I could have chosen.
A fading shot of Trevor Blackwell striking a Crucifix pose.
Diana: I could have chosen anyone, did I ever tell you that.
The shot fades to an image of Andy McHeyman as the owner of WWC.
“Like the others here, you are strong…”
‘The Irish Hammer’ Sabur giving Razor Ryan the House of Pain on Overdrive.
Diana: And quick…
‘The White Lion’ Michael Lively hitting the Prelude on Kenny Lambardo at Carnage.
Diana: And brave…
‘The Xtremist’ Tony Blackwell with a Jager Bomb on Vin E Lambardo at Mayhem.
Diana: A born warrior…
‘The Ego Crusher’ Sgt. Kenny Lambardo’s Ego Crusher on Trevor Blackwell at Mayhem.
Diana: But you have one thing that the others don’t…
Sgt. Kenny Lambardo kissing Diana Lambardo at the end of their wedding on Overdrive.
Diana: Luck.
Hurricane Jeff nailing Trevor Blackwell with the HurraDriver at the end of Sabotage.
Announcer: For the first time in four years…
Hurricane Jeff, and Kaos shaking hands in the office of IWC President, Steve Beckett.
Announcer: They have been reunited…
Hurricane Jeff, and Kaos with their hands in raising the IWC Tag Team Championships.
Announcer: ‘Action Packed Wrestling President’ Hurricane Jeff…
Hurricane Jeff unleashing the HurraBreaker on Dr. Matt a RASSLEMANIA IV.
Announcer: APW World Heavyweight Champion, ‘The Ego Crusher’ Sgt. Kenny Lambardo.
Lambardo rising from the stage with the Championship Belt held high.
Announcer: The KaotiK Strom returns at…
TEST 4 THE BEST
“MESS WITH THE BEST AND DIE LIKE THE REST”
[glow=red,2,300]ST. LOUIS
FRIDAY JUNE 27, 2008
1647 HOURS[/glow]
The camera comes to find ‘The KaotiK’ himself, sitting backwards atop his 2005 Harley Davidson V-Rod, leaning back on the handle bars. As always the coveted APW World Heavyweight Championship Gold lay securely over his shoulder as he waited with the cameraman, and APW backstage commentator, Cindy Shannon. ‘The KaotiK One’ wore black jeans, and a T-Shirt that had the image of a dead dove in risen hands on the front, and read: ‘Behold Thy Lord’ on the back.
A limo pulled into the parking lot, and Kaos adjusted the sunglasses hiding his eyes, as he dismounted the bike. The spurs on the back of his leather motorcycle boots clanged as his heels met pavement. The limo parked, and ‘The KaotiK God’ approached the black Lincoln’s back door, and opened it.
‘That Girl’ Diana Lambardo was immediately in ‘The KaotiK’ Kenny Lambardo’s arms. The arms of her husband…
“I missed you.” Diana said as she squeezed.
“Well now that we are all here, you only have me for twenty more minutes.” Cindy interrupted.
“Yeah,” Sgt. Lambardo said with a smile. “but she has me forever.”
“Since when did you start riding your bike again?” Diana felt the urge to ask.
Kenny shrugged.
“And we’re rolling in five.” Cindy said to quicken the pace.
“This is Cindy Shannon live with Kenny, and Diana Lambardo.” Cindy started off. “Tell me something guys. What is it like to be married?”
“This was the best decision that I ever could have made in my life.” Kenny answered. “I never wanted anything else since I was a little boy, and here in APW I have just that. This is everything to me.”
“What news of your absence over the past few weeks? It even seems like Diana hasn’t seen you in quite some time.”
Lambardo answered. “It’s simple. Things change. This is a time of change, for both me, and this business. It’s the end of the quarter, and this is the time that we get to look back on the things that worked, and the things that didn’t to determine what the best move that we can make for ourselves, and the fans are. You’re all going to see a lot of things happen in the next few months, things that you never thought possible because we as a federation are the best thing that is going today. We are the future of this industry, and already push the limit, so let me be the first to tell you that your going to see a lot more out of APW, and a lot more out of Kenny Lambardo.”
“Any words on TEST 4 THE BEST?”
“Actually,” Diana pulled on the microphone, “I would like to say something. Iceman, and THK have some idea that they are going to walk into that ring, and not get the ever loving crap kicked out of them. Their wrong, plain, and simple! STJ, and I are the Tag Team of legend, and there is no way that a couple of jobbers like you are going to take the Tag Team Gold away from us gals.”
She blew a kiss at the camera, and Kenny took a turn.
“Let me tell you something.” The Kaos began. “This match has brought back the most devastating force that has ever hit this industry, and that my dear friend is the KaotiK Storm. Nothing that stands in our way will survive, and that is just the way of things. The strong rule, while the weak serve. HJ, and I are champions of all divisions, and have never had a problem with one another. We don’t know what it is to fight each other, we know how to work off of each other, unlike those two thrown together assholes that are supposed to be opponents. They aren’t worried about the tag match, their worried about ego. And that is the best way to get it fucking crushed. There is no more playing around for this soldier boy. The kids gloves have officially come off. It is time for the dominance that this industry deserves, and craves, come to you in the form of a great storm. HJ, and myself are the chosen, the divine, and gods of this industry… We are a natural, and unnatural force of entropy, and nature that can never be stopped. We are the messiahs that have come to save. We are the storm sweeping over this industry. We are what makes this great. We are the thing that makes this all so entertaining. We are myth, and we are legend. We are lords of the ring, and founders of the ideal that we both embody. The ideal to be something great… There is nothing that is going to stand in our way. Come! Come I say, I challenge thee. All those that would fuck with my life, come out, come out, wherever you are! Face me! I want it! Why? Because one by one the will line up in front of me, and one by one shall they fall before me. All in the name of a man that has given me everything that I could desire, and all for the woman that I couldn’t live without! TEST 4 THE BEST will mark a new beginning for the Reign of Kaos, because… THROUGH HOWLING WINDS… AND POURING RAINS… YOU WILL ALL LEARN TO FEAR KAOS… AND THE HURRICANE!
Camera fades to black…
-FLASHBACK-
Metal and Jeff roll away from the pack and actually all the way to the outside of the ring exchanging rights and lefts. Kenny looks up and twitches to go help his friend, but quickly shakes that notion and continues to assail Trevor. He drives a hard boot into the side of Trevor's head before standing up and striking another I am god pose as out of no where Twister rolls Kenny up in a school boy.
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Winner: Twister
Harvey: TWISTER WON!
Chase: HE BEAT THE CHAMP!
Well as you can imagine Kenny's jaw drops not literally but you know what I mean. He turns just in time to see Trevor Blackwell lunging at him. Trevor hammers hard rights and lefts into Kenny before getting countered with a hard clothesline from Kenny. Jeff slides into the ring and Kenny flips on him. Jeff shrugs and points to the ref who is standing... barely... next to the time keepers table. Apparently he didn't like getting his ego crushed. Jeff holds the APW championship in his hand and hands it to Kenny. Kenny smirks still realizing the important thing is still in his camp as he holds the belt in the air. Just then Metal springs into the ring and tackles Jeff again. Jeff counters away momentarily, but ends up getting tossed over the top rope via another counter by metal. Kenny swings the title at Metal but metal ducks out of the way... Kenny gets spun around and as he finds himself, gets grabbed by Twister and spun into a fierce Wind breaker! The championship goes flying as Kenny rolls out of the ring subconsciously I'm sure. Leaving Trevor Blackwell, Matt Metal and Twister in the ring as BOOM blasts onto the speakers.
Harvey: My god Johnny, Twister just laid out the champ!
Chase: And Metal and Trevor seem to have had the last laugh on this night!
-AFTER THE MATCH-
We come to find the still APW World Heavyweight Champion, ‘The Ego Crusher’ Sgt. Kenny Lambardo, sitting alone in a chair placed in the center of the ‘Church of Kaos’ locker room. You never wanted to be around Kenny after a loss. A loss was something that never happened often to the sergeant, and it was always something that he would take very personally. Now it gets worse. This wasn’t just any other kind of loss. This was a loss against a man that they called Twister.
It had been nearly five years now since the first time that the godly one’s eyes first gazed upon the phenomena, and Champion, Twister. It was in an independent Hardcore organization called Insane Wrestling Championships. The place was garbage when you really looked at it. We we’re in the same venue night, after night, and used a big screen plasma TV on a hand truck instead of a Titontron, and only to be wheeled out on ‘SuperCards’. The microphones were wired, and the arena could barely hold 250 fans. However, were those fans rabidly loyal to the cause, and this was the place that first gave the marine his shot. It was different in IWC. Twister was the ‘top dog’, and Kenny was the bottom of the line. At the time the sergeant was no marine, and was simply a violent psychopath just out of the hospital they called Kaos.
It would also be Kaos that would watch the only man that could beat Twister, and that man was Hurricane Jeff. HJ, and Kaos as the KaotiK Storm would come to hold four out of the five belts that ran through that federation including the IWC Tag Team Championships, and HJ was now that ‘top dog’. With no title that could be on the line the match that everyone in that federation would never come, due to a mysterious attack on the owner, Steve Beckett, that would lead to the end of the federation. Wonder who that could have been???
Just less than a year after Kenny Lambardo found his way to the company called World Wrestling Championships. WWC was another creation from the business genius of our own President Jeff where Kenny had almost immediately the enemy of Trevor Blackwell. Twister was there as well, but a strange series of events would quickly lead to Twister becoming owner of that company.
What was a KaotiK to do? What would you do if you’re worst enemy suddenly became your boss? What do you think that he would do to that man that saw him in that way? The answer was shocking. It was a match against WWC World Heavyweight Champion, Matt Metal leading to the first true ‘Reign of Kaos’.
Soon Twister disappeared, the company changed hands, and Kenny left. Mostly due to one Diana Steel, but we really don’t want to go into that at the moment I think…
Now you can sit there, and try to say that there was no need for that history lesson in the life of Twister, and Kenny. The god lost, and that’s all there is to it, but you’d be wrong. Sgt. Kenny Lambardo is nothing if not confident, and a loss to the man that you have been claiming that you can beat for five, six years pins you? It can break that very confidence.
The somehow still APW World Champion sat with his face buried in his hands when his cell phone began to blare ‘Walk’ by Pantera. Kenny reached into his pocket to answer the call.
“Hello… Well I’m glad you saw the match… How’s that… He really wants to see me, huh… When can we leave…”
[glow=red,2,300]Mr. and Mrs. Lambardo’s Hotel Suite
Tuesday June 25, 2008
0600 hours[/glow]
[glow=red,2,300]BZZZ… BZZZ… BZZZ…[/glow]
The alarm clock rang as it did every morning next to the bed of Mr. and Mrs. Lambardo, but this time it rang for a different reason. There was no training today. There were no press conferences, or autograph signings. The sergeant had a flight to catch.
Kenny hit the off button as he did in the mornings, and immediately went to give Diana a kiss good morning, as had become quite customary, but she wasn’t in bed. The marine was immediately out of bed, switching back into his earlier days in the core, going back through the fundamentals of military clearing during a MOUT situation, and doing so in his own hotel suite.
He hugged the wall as he made his way to the bedroom door. He checked both sides ofthe hall, and saw her in the living room. She appeared deep in conversation, and never even noticed him sneak up behind her.
“BOO!” he yelled.
Diana yelped, quite startled, but obviously knew that it was Kenny. She turned to see her husband.
“Listen.” She spoke into her phone. “I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Diana closed her phone, and looked back to Kenny. “What are you doing up so early? You still don’t feel well, and you need to get some rest.”
“I…”
Kenny tried to rebut, but Diana just kept going. “Don’t you give me any lip.”
“Listen.” The sergeant was a bit sterner with that statement. He hated when parts of him like than came out towards her. “I need to go catch a plane?”
“No, you need to go back to bed.” Diana continued her argument. “Where the hell are you going that you need to take a plane, and leave me behind? Were you even planning on telling me that you were going anywhere?”
“I was going to tell you when we got up in bed, but you were already awake, and on your phone at six in the morning.”
“So now I can’t be on the phone?”
“That’s not what I said!” His blood was boiling. “I got a call from my Lieutenant last week, and I need to go see him. There something that I need to go take care of, and I can’t take you with me. I love you. I love you more than anything else that has ever come before you.” He smirked. “You’re the only thing that I ever wanted selfishly. Just for me. I’m sorry I need to do this one alone.”
Diana’s voice went quite. “You’re not planning on going back to the marines, are you?”
“And leave you behind?”
Diana smiled, and the two kissed. Wonder who she could have been on the phone with so early in the morning???
[glow=red,2,300]IRAQI AIRSPACE
WEDNSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008
0400 HOURS[/glow]
Kenny sat in the cargo hold of the most advanced piece of aeronautical technology that had ever been designed by man, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, and did it with a lit blunt in his lips. Every moment that he spent since he had left his wife’s side the morning before was to be in the very seat that he was now.
It had been so long since he had worn the dark jumpsuit that he had become so use to over his three years in the corps. Black was a color that was most perfect for what was about to happen, a color of the darkness that swept the skies over the early morning mountains of Iraq. There were no tags, or patches, or rank. The only thing that could possible tell you that this man was really Kenny Lambardo, other than the lordly appearance, was a wedding band that some poor private got their nose broken over when they told the sergeant that it was policy to not let him leave with anything that would be physically distinguishable on a ‘Black Bag Operation’.
The veteran marine looked down at the oxygen mask that he hated so much, too enclosed. It was a necessity though. The plane was at such an altitude that the sheer vacuum could nearly implode a human being. Why be that high you ask? It keeps us off the radar…
The bud that rest in Lambardo’s ear crackled…
Lt. Browne: Put that thing out, and get your helmet on. We’re two minutes from the drop zone.
Lieutenant Justin Browne was Sergeant Lambardo’s commanding officer during his time in the marines. The man trained him about fighting, about sniping, about war. He taught him how to remain calm during the heat of battle, to lie like a snake waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike at your prey, quick and true, to breathe through the emotion, and remain calm, to become the weapon that he had been trained to be, and the weapon that he was now.
The sergeant grabbed the mask, and adjusted to his face. The jump hatch opened, and Sgt. Lambardo came to the edge of the door.
Crackle…
Lt. Browne: Are you sure about this Kenny? I mean we can turn around anytime that you want.
“Just do me one favor.” Kenny responded.
Crackle…
Lt. Browne: Anything…
“Tell Diana that I’ll be home for dinner.”
And God fell from the heavens on the darkest of nights. He plummeted towards the mountains, two miles outside of where his destination actually was. It was two miles of sand that the marine had sworn never to return to, yet there he was. Falling to the earth like the falling star that he was so seemingly becoming, but in the ways of Kaos, death is something that brings with it evolution, rebirth, and a new life.
Lambardo checked his altitude, and saw the tip of the mountains coming. He yanked on the string that released his parachute, continuing to plummet back to the earth under the starry night sky. His decent began to slow, and soon he unbuckled the backpack as he free fell the last twenty feet to the ground, and the backpack going off the back of a cliff.
Crackle…
Lt. Browne: Alright Lambardo. You’re on your own from here. Remember, you have no affiliation to the American government, so if things go wrong, don’t expect a rescue party. I’ll see you at the rendezvous point at 1600. Good luck…
[glow=red,2,300]IRAQI MOUNTAINS
WEDENSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008
0605 HOURS [/glow]
Two hours of crawling and he had just under a hundred yards to go. Two hours, and he still wasn’t there meant only one thing, that he was getting slow. There was another problem too. It was six o’clock in the morning, and the Iraqi Special Forces would be waking up soon.
The Special Forces in Iraq were like none other in the world. Most militaries teach survival of a war, these guys taught you to kill the enemy even at the cost of your life, and the lives of your comrades. It truly is a difficult thing to fight a man that had no fear of death, nor was worried about making out of that fight what so ever.
In just a forty more yards that fear was realized. The soldiers used the mountains as training grounds, and Lambardo was completely unarmed, and hadn’t been in real combat in over six months. His path was blocked, but Lambardo kept his cool. He breathed. He waited. He watched. He watched his enemy’s patrol. He watched his enemy’s movements. The tiniest of things give away all…
Lambardo watched his enemy time, and time, again. Just on that verge of watching for too long, and just long enough. The enemy took seventeen steps at a count of twenty three each way. He looks once while he’s far, and twice when he’s near. It was so systematic it was nauseating. It was predictable, and reeked with the stench of a rookie.
Opportunity!
The sergeant’s enemy turned for what would be his final time, and Lambardo came to a crouch position, quickly, and silently stalking behind his foe. The trained killer that he was, the marine took advantage of his enemies three point strap. With a fluidity that was near god-like, he reached around the Iraqi guard with a one hand on the stock of his rifle, and the other on the barrel. Sgt. Lambardo lifted the barrel with force, but it would be the harness that would do most of the work of snapping the kid’s neck.
The boy that had been killed couldn’t have been any older than sixteen, and how easy was it to kill him. That’s the funny thing about war. No one really has a face, or an age, or a family, or cares… They’re just targets to be shot at, and killing is truly one of those things that gets easier the more that you do it.
Lambardo laid the boy down as he fell back limp, and closed the child’s eyes with a soft hand as he bows his head in reverence to his victim, and prey.
“May we see each other again soon my brother in arms…”
The marine quickly relieved the fallen soldier of his weaponry, and went along the path to see the man that he came here to see, and to get the answers that he came here to get. He entered the cave of the man that had called himself the Guru of the Smoking Grail.
The Guru was short, stocky, and bald, his body littered with the tales of his experience. He lived within his cave as a true Guru to all people that would take the time out to listen to his teachings. He would guide all who only took out the time to be guided. Lambardo was one such person. Like the sergeant, the Guru of the Smoking Grail was a marine, but one that had been stranded here since Operation Dessert Storm. War ran through his veins, and he knew of the battles within, and without. He knew of the battles of both mind, and body. The man had such knowledge that it was to a point scary, and absolutely uncanny to behold.
Kenny came upon the Guru as he sat on a pillow in front of his grail within his smokey cave. Another pillow laid across from him, almost as if the Guru had been expecting the presence of our lord.
“Sergeant Kenneth Lambardo Jr. ESQ, the man with the longest name in the history of the world.” The Guru looked up to the marine. “What brings you back to this part of the world? The last that I saw you, you were on your way back to the states.”
Kenny sat on the pillow that was seemingly meant for him.
“Things have changed.” Kenny responded.
“They call you the Champion of the World.”
“Yes they do.”
“Well I still call you child.” The Guru’s voice was cold, and stern in tone.
“There’s more…” The ever confident marine was meek, and shaken.
“I’ve heard.” The Guru of the Smoking Grail smiled slyly. “There’s a Mrs. Lambardo now. I’ve heard. Congratulations”
“How the hell do you know all this?” The sergeant was flooded with an intimidation unlike that he had ever felt before. He reached for the trigger of the rifle strapped to his chest.
“You don’t need that.” The Guru of the Grail spoke without fear. “I watch all of my students forever, that’s all…”
“You’re still creepy.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Fear…” Kenny finally admitted to the Guru of the Smoking Grail as he admitted it to himself.
“Fear?!” The Guru roared with an unholy rage, the likes of which would make a mere man return to the dust of creation. “You come to me out of fear?! You, Sgt. Kenny Lambardo, the greatest of all my students, the man proclaimed god come to me out of fear! What are you afraid of? Who are you afraid of? Tell me! Matt Metal? Trevor Blackwell? Twister?”
Kenny collapsed within himself as the Guru of the Smoking Grail spoke these words. A man that lives in a cave, that knows so much about another man, in another country is quite a scary thing to behold when you really think about it. Do you think that they get APW in Iraq??
The Guru continued. “You are so far beyond the three of them its ridiculous. The first thing that you have to do is get Twister out of your head. You don’t need to worry about him right now, and if you’re really that worried about it down the road, then when the time comes you are always welcome to come back, and seek my council. Besides, a loss to Twister in the conditions that surrounded it doesn’t mean a god damn thing, so again I say, don’t worry about it.”
Kenny Lambardo took a deep breath as he began to feel better. The Guru inhaled some of the smoke that danced in the air above the grail between them.
“So what about Matt Metal?” Kenny felt brave enough to ask a simple question.
“What about Matt Metal?” The Guru of the Grail responded sharply, and harshly. “Matt Metal is a fucking joke. You could, and did eat him alive in WWC, and you’re going to do it again at TEST 4 THE BEST. Who the hell does Matt Metal think he is anyway? What the hell does he do? I’ll tell you what he does. He does a really good job of being a horribly watered down version of Sergeant Kenny Lambardo.”
Kenny smiled the cocky Lambardo half grin that had made him famous.
“Matt Metal was good, but Kenny Lambardo is just plain better. Do you remember when he first entered the federation calling himself the messiah of wrestling, and then everyone else backstage had to tell him that there was a church to you in the federation, and he was just not gonna make it? Not only does that prove that he still has no fucking idea what the fuck he’s talking about, that proves that he’s still old news, and still trying to catch up to you, Kenny.”
The Guru sighed to himself. “That’s the problem with us older guys, always stuck in the past. People like Matt Metal can only go so far, and then they just become slow, and weak. There is always a next generation that will take it to the next level far faster than he will ever do it, and that next generation is you. Where you were the future, and he was the present, now you are the present, and he is the past. So is the natural way of things, and the balance of life.”
Lambardo slowly shook his head as he took in the words of his old teacher.
“But that is only the beginning for Metal.” The Guru continued. “Matt Metal is supposed to be this loved guy that is famous throughout the industry, right? The perfect wrestler that’s practically unbeatable, right?”
Lambardo nodded in reluctant agreement.
“Aren’t you a two time World Champion?”
Kenny smiled. “Yes I am.”
“Weren’t you at one point called WWC’s longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion?”
“Yes I was.” Lambardo’s grin gets ever wider if you could imagine such a thing.
“And who did you take that title off of?”
“Matt Metal.”
The Guru nodded with just the smallest hint of a smile. “So Matt Metal, this near- perfect, and undefeatable wrestler, had one of his reigns ended by you already in life, before that prime that you are just now starting to reach. Matt Metal’s near perfect record already has a blemish on it named Sgt. Kenny Lambardo, so this Sunday its time to make the blemish a little uglier.”
“Or a little prettier,” the cocky little upstart interjected, “just depends on how you look at it.”
“Cute.” The Guru gave the comment the dignity of a response before continuing. “And don’t forget that Matt Metal is riddled with injuries, and his age doesn’t make a good bed fellow for that. Not to say that he’s old, just saying that maybe there’s a reason that he hasn’t stepped into the ring in three years. How many times has his neck been broken?”
“Not only that,” Kenny Lambardo interrupted his teacher, “but three years is a long time to spend out of the ring for a man that claims a six year career of legend. I’m surprised that he can move around the backstage of an Overdrive set with all that fucking ring rust all over him. I mean Matt Metal & ‘The Career Killer’ Trevor Blackwell vs. Hurricane Jeff, and ‘The Ego Crusher’ Sgt. Kenny Lambardo is a hell of a match to make a come back on but you would think that when he had the power to put himself in any match he wants that he would pick one that has a better survival rate, like a bear…”
“There you go, young one.” The Guru of the Smoking Grail spoke softly to his student. “There he is, feed into it…”
“Do you know what really pisses me off about this guy?”
“No.” The Guru responded with a smile of accomplishment. “Why don’t you tell me about it?”
“He screwed Jeff.” You could hear the Kaos rumbling in his voice, reaching for its freedom. “I hate that. Jeff gave Matt Metal his start. He found Matt Metal, and made that son of a bitch famous. He turned that nobody into the champion of his day, and now in Action Packed Wrestling he’s Overdrive’s fucking General Manager. Jeff, the superhero that he is, continues to give, and Matt Metal screws him. HJ asked him to do one simple thing. For the first time ever Jeff asked something of Matt Metal, and Matt Metal was the one that put the knife in his back.”
Kenny’s eyebrows lowered, his lips narrowed, the anger, and Kaos within was becoming overwhelming…
“Jeff is my best friend.” Kenny continued. “Whether he knows it or not, he has been with me in the worst of time, and taught me this business, and he did the same for that scumbag Matt Metal. The difference between Metal, and I is the fact that I actually appreciate the things that others do for me. Unlike Matt Metal, I appreciate every ounce of what Jeff has given me, and what he has helped me to become, and that is a very simple reason on why Matt Metal is going to get his fucking head caved in! I’m going at him with a wrath, and holy vengeance the likes of which only a god could give! The best part about it, is that he has no clue that I’m coming. This isn’t about me. For him it’s about Jeff, and that is the fatal flaw in his plan. It is in the very moment that he is worried about that impending HurraDriver that threatens to end his already near-lifeless career, that again he becomes just like everyone else, and again, he becomes just another on an ever growing long list of egos crushed…”
“What about Trevor Blackwell?” The Guru asked a simple question that was sure to receive so much more than a simple response.
“What about Trevor Blackwell??” The KaotiK within raged forward to answer with the question just asked. “Trevor Blackwell, the so-called ‘Career Killer’ isn’t even worth the ring that he walks in. I’ve seen more talent left behind in tightly coiled piles on the lawn by my dog! There has never been a match between Trevor Blackwell and Kenny Lambardo in all my years of wrestling that Trevor has ever won. It won’t be any different at T4TB either. To tell you the truth I’m just getting plain tired of kicking his ass! Why the hell is it that I’m constantly pitted, federation after federation, match after match, against that son of a mother’s cunt?”
“Did you ever stop to think that the two of you put on the most amazing matches that the fans just can’t get enough of?” The Guru answered his long time student, and friend. “How many people we’re at Mayhem, Kenny?”
Fuck man, after Mayhem they might as well of named him ‘The Career Killed’ Trevor Blackwell. That man wanted to make an impact, and he made with his head! And he still needed an Ego Crusher to fucking do it! How many vertebrate did he snap in that Iron Man Match? Three to be precise… Is he cleared to wrestle? No… Why? Because the doctors are afraid that he can step into the ring with Iceman, and get his fucking self killed! That’s exactly what’s going to happen to him at TEST 4 THE BEST. Trevor Blackwell is going to get himself killed. If not. He’s going to be a paraplegic for the rest of his natural life…
Kenny took a deep breathe as he came back to composure…
“Do you know what the worst part about this all is?” The sergeant asked.
“What?” The Guru responded with a question of his own.
“What the hell am I going to tell Skylar?” Lambardo asked an almost rhetorical question. “I killed your father. I killed your father because he was a fucking scumbag that just couldn’t let shit die. I killed him because he had to find a way to get back in the ring with me regardless of doctors orders. I killed your father because he was stupid, brash, and pig headed enough to think that he really was unbreakable, and unstoppable, and he had to test that against the man that just keeps on fucking coming… Me!”
Sgt. Lambardo looked the Guru of the Smoking Grail right in the eyes as he continued to speak.
“I can’t do that to her.” The statement was law that was already carved into the stone of his mind. “I’ve been with that girl more, and more now, and love her like she was my own daughter. The problem is that I’m not her father, he is. The problem is that I don’t have it in me to do that to her. What kind of a man does it take to take a father from their child? I’m not that person.”
“Yes you are.” The Guru of the Smoking Grail interjected. “You have to be. Don’t forget that Trevor Blackwell has been holding a secret from you for months. The thing is that he doesn’t really hold it over you he holds it over Hurricane Jeff. Be careful in the decisions that you make when regarding the relationship that you choose to have with the self proclaimed ‘Career Killer’, he may very well be the key to your success, and failure in everything that you are about to embark on…”
The Guru took the smoking Grail in both hands, and raised it towards Kenny.
“Now breathe.” The Guru spoke. “Breathe in your fear, and remember who you are.”
Lambardo closed his eyes, and leaned over the grail to inhale the blue smoke. He took small breaths at first, that fought to be deeper, and deeper, until the marine found himself alone in the darkness but with nothing around him.
“Become who you are.” The Guru’s voice echoed throughout the vastness of this dark space. “Remember that it all begins with you, and ends with you the god. Remember the teachings of combat. Matt Metal, and Trevor Blackwell each represent but a fraction of the combat that professional wrestling has become so used to. Trevor Blackwell is merely the aspect of Hardcore. Take him out of a Hardcore environment, like in a tag team match, and the man becomes useless. Matt Metal is a Showman. Take him off the stage, and off of the mic, he becomes useless when things really come down to the fight. Where he is worried about the reaction that the crowd has to what he does, you will be worried about one thing… The win… Remember that combat starts with one thing, and that is your very own body. You are the weapon. All warriors began with the idea of one man hits another. The clashing of bone, and sinew… From there, the realm of combat evolved into a more tactical sense. Where a man will look at another man, break down his strategy, and take out the weakness. It doesn’t matter what your enemy can do, it’s what your enemy can’t do, and how well you can exploit that weakness. With that mentality came the idea of holding your enemy where you want him to be, and keeping them within the realm of your own power, and damage, only to take complete advantage of that one weak point on your enemy’s body. In the case of Matt Metal, and Trevor Blackwell this weak point would be the neck, and you just happen to be the master of the RKO… Remember also that modern warfare is a war that is fought in the skies. An enemy on the ground his helpless when being bombed from above, and again your body is your weapon. The faster that you can strike at your enemy the better the cause, but never forget that power is always a factor. In everything that you do in combat, every attack that you execute must hit with the most force that is possible. The more of your speed, and body behind each blow the more powerful, more damaging it will be. War, and combat further grew to use weapons such as is done by one ‘The Career Killer’ Trevor Blackwell. Weapons are always a help. Most of the time a foreign weapon can improve your performance, and strength, even be a turning point in the battle for you or the enemy. Remember though that it is you behind the weapon, and not the other way around. You are the greatest weapon you have, your own body, your own hands, feet, and above all your brain. Your ability to pick apart your enemies game, and take advantage of them whenever you can… Then, add some more of your own. You are better, because you will take the win above all costs. There is nothing that will hold you back. The fans love them, and it will fuel an unholy rage against them. The hatred that the fans have for you is the thing that you will use that will drive you forward in times of need. Use it to your advantage, the way that you would use anything else. Theatricality, and dramatics are powerful allies in war. Nothing is true, and everything is permitted.”
A man walked out of the darkness, and in everyway resembled the Kenny Lambardo that was left sitting in the darkness, yet somehow was still different than the marine. He wore all black, his eyes red, and gold. You could feel the aura of hatred, and apathy rolling of that man. He looked at Kenny, and smiled.
The Guru continued. “Remember these words, for this is something that can be taught to anyone, but you are one that has something more than any of that. You are someone that has a power behind you that no one else will ever have. You have the unconditionally, and eternal love of a woman that will keep you going at any cost. When great things happen, ‘That Girl’ is truly the catalyst, so be that great thing. There is something that changes in you the moment that you have her in your life. An ability to change the world around you as you see fit, so take advantage of that! When some people would say that she is something that would simply hold you back it is out of the sheer jealousy that they don’t have someone standing behind them, driving them to do great things.”
The man that appeared in the darkness leaned over to kiss Kenny on the forehead. Kenny Lambardo disappeared into the darkness leaving only the Kaos to speak.
“I’ll take it from here.”
[glow=red,2,300]COMMERCIAL
FRIDAY JUNE 27, 2008
1645 HOURS[/glow]
The screen goes dead black. The APW logo flashes, followed by a flash of the Banner for TEST 4 THE BEST.
Diana: I could have chosen.
A fading shot of Trevor Blackwell striking a Crucifix pose.
Diana: I could have chosen anyone, did I ever tell you that.
The shot fades to an image of Andy McHeyman as the owner of WWC.
“Like the others here, you are strong…”
‘The Irish Hammer’ Sabur giving Razor Ryan the House of Pain on Overdrive.
Diana: And quick…
‘The White Lion’ Michael Lively hitting the Prelude on Kenny Lambardo at Carnage.
Diana: And brave…
‘The Xtremist’ Tony Blackwell with a Jager Bomb on Vin E Lambardo at Mayhem.
Diana: A born warrior…
‘The Ego Crusher’ Sgt. Kenny Lambardo’s Ego Crusher on Trevor Blackwell at Mayhem.
Diana: But you have one thing that the others don’t…
Sgt. Kenny Lambardo kissing Diana Lambardo at the end of their wedding on Overdrive.
Diana: Luck.
Hurricane Jeff nailing Trevor Blackwell with the HurraDriver at the end of Sabotage.
Announcer: For the first time in four years…
Hurricane Jeff, and Kaos shaking hands in the office of IWC President, Steve Beckett.
Announcer: They have been reunited…
Hurricane Jeff, and Kaos with their hands in raising the IWC Tag Team Championships.
Announcer: ‘Action Packed Wrestling President’ Hurricane Jeff…
Hurricane Jeff unleashing the HurraBreaker on Dr. Matt a RASSLEMANIA IV.
Announcer: APW World Heavyweight Champion, ‘The Ego Crusher’ Sgt. Kenny Lambardo.
Lambardo rising from the stage with the Championship Belt held high.
Announcer: The KaotiK Strom returns at…
TEST 4 THE BEST
“MESS WITH THE BEST AND DIE LIKE THE REST”
[glow=red,2,300]ST. LOUIS
FRIDAY JUNE 27, 2008
1647 HOURS[/glow]
The camera comes to find ‘The KaotiK’ himself, sitting backwards atop his 2005 Harley Davidson V-Rod, leaning back on the handle bars. As always the coveted APW World Heavyweight Championship Gold lay securely over his shoulder as he waited with the cameraman, and APW backstage commentator, Cindy Shannon. ‘The KaotiK One’ wore black jeans, and a T-Shirt that had the image of a dead dove in risen hands on the front, and read: ‘Behold Thy Lord’ on the back.
A limo pulled into the parking lot, and Kaos adjusted the sunglasses hiding his eyes, as he dismounted the bike. The spurs on the back of his leather motorcycle boots clanged as his heels met pavement. The limo parked, and ‘The KaotiK God’ approached the black Lincoln’s back door, and opened it.
‘That Girl’ Diana Lambardo was immediately in ‘The KaotiK’ Kenny Lambardo’s arms. The arms of her husband…
“I missed you.” Diana said as she squeezed.
“Well now that we are all here, you only have me for twenty more minutes.” Cindy interrupted.
“Yeah,” Sgt. Lambardo said with a smile. “but she has me forever.”
“Since when did you start riding your bike again?” Diana felt the urge to ask.
Kenny shrugged.
“And we’re rolling in five.” Cindy said to quicken the pace.
“This is Cindy Shannon live with Kenny, and Diana Lambardo.” Cindy started off. “Tell me something guys. What is it like to be married?”
“This was the best decision that I ever could have made in my life.” Kenny answered. “I never wanted anything else since I was a little boy, and here in APW I have just that. This is everything to me.”
“What news of your absence over the past few weeks? It even seems like Diana hasn’t seen you in quite some time.”
Lambardo answered. “It’s simple. Things change. This is a time of change, for both me, and this business. It’s the end of the quarter, and this is the time that we get to look back on the things that worked, and the things that didn’t to determine what the best move that we can make for ourselves, and the fans are. You’re all going to see a lot of things happen in the next few months, things that you never thought possible because we as a federation are the best thing that is going today. We are the future of this industry, and already push the limit, so let me be the first to tell you that your going to see a lot more out of APW, and a lot more out of Kenny Lambardo.”
“Any words on TEST 4 THE BEST?”
“Actually,” Diana pulled on the microphone, “I would like to say something. Iceman, and THK have some idea that they are going to walk into that ring, and not get the ever loving crap kicked out of them. Their wrong, plain, and simple! STJ, and I are the Tag Team of legend, and there is no way that a couple of jobbers like you are going to take the Tag Team Gold away from us gals.”
She blew a kiss at the camera, and Kenny took a turn.
“Let me tell you something.” The Kaos began. “This match has brought back the most devastating force that has ever hit this industry, and that my dear friend is the KaotiK Storm. Nothing that stands in our way will survive, and that is just the way of things. The strong rule, while the weak serve. HJ, and I are champions of all divisions, and have never had a problem with one another. We don’t know what it is to fight each other, we know how to work off of each other, unlike those two thrown together assholes that are supposed to be opponents. They aren’t worried about the tag match, their worried about ego. And that is the best way to get it fucking crushed. There is no more playing around for this soldier boy. The kids gloves have officially come off. It is time for the dominance that this industry deserves, and craves, come to you in the form of a great storm. HJ, and myself are the chosen, the divine, and gods of this industry… We are a natural, and unnatural force of entropy, and nature that can never be stopped. We are the messiahs that have come to save. We are the storm sweeping over this industry. We are what makes this great. We are the thing that makes this all so entertaining. We are myth, and we are legend. We are lords of the ring, and founders of the ideal that we both embody. The ideal to be something great… There is nothing that is going to stand in our way. Come! Come I say, I challenge thee. All those that would fuck with my life, come out, come out, wherever you are! Face me! I want it! Why? Because one by one the will line up in front of me, and one by one shall they fall before me. All in the name of a man that has given me everything that I could desire, and all for the woman that I couldn’t live without! TEST 4 THE BEST will mark a new beginning for the Reign of Kaos, because… THROUGH HOWLING WINDS… AND POURING RAINS… YOU WILL ALL LEARN TO FEAR KAOS… AND THE HURRICANE!
Camera fades to black…
