Post by Chris Madison on Oct 12, 2013 20:25:50 GMT -4
"In a weeks time the landscape of the Black Hand has changed tremendously..."
"Tommy Knox, our de facto leader, has lost his APW Overdrive Championship and has fallen off the face of the earth in the process..."
"In the meantime I, Chris Madison, in only four months time in APW climbed the ranks as was the one to dethrone Tommy. Leaving the Black Hand leaderless going into One Night In Hell against The Space Cowboys and Foul Play."
"Someone needs to step up an take the reins. The Black Hand will not die out just because one man has chosen the high road. This is a movement that is larger than anyone individual. It just needs a new face. And with Michael Jennings's health in question and fingers point to me being that man...A responsibility that I'm fully capable of shouldering!"
"Niobe, Raab, and Jennings, they're down for the cause but they need someone to help guide them...I'm that guy! I'm the face of The Black Hand!"
"How well do you know this Jason Kash guy?"
Chris Madison shot his head up from the luggage he was packing next to the bed. "I've known the guy for nearly a decade", he explained. A look of astonishment overcame his own face after realizing how long it's been.
Maria placed the APW magazine she was reading down onto the nightstand on her side of the bed. An orange tank top barely covers the tattoos that are scattered across her arms and chest. She sat silently while chewing on her bottom lip. "So you guys are friends right?"
Chris paused for a moment, not sure of the answer to that question. "Yes. No. We were. Still are. Maybe." Madison confused himself with that answer. "I don't know..."
"I would think you would know who your friends are", she teased.
Madison stood up, turning away from his unpacked luggage. He crawled on top of the bed and inched his way towards the always smiley Maria. "That's just it...when I left for Japan, all contacts I had in the US were cut off. After six years I made my way back and one of the main reasons I signed with APW was because Tommy and Kash were there. I figured familiar faces would make for an easy transition."
"Must have worked, you're the Overdrive Champion and it's only been four months!" She smacked Chris on the shoulder playfully.
"Well Tommy was welcoming. Kash not so much. We've barely had a conversation! An the one we did was me warning him to steer clear of Raab. A fair warning from a friend." Chris rolled over onto his back. He placed his hands behind his head and got lost into the ceiling.
Maria climbed on top of Chris, straddling him. Her hands found there way from his stomach slowly to his neck. She leaned in and began to tenderly kiss him on the lips. "I know exactly what will cheer you up." The kisses moved from his lips to the side of his neck. Chris had a firm grip on her petite hips when a knock at the door interrupted their intimate moment.
The two stopped and looked at one another choosing to ignore whomever was at the door. Just as their lips were about to touch there was another knock, followed by the voice of Chris's business manager. "Chris I can hear you breathing in there. Open up man."
Chris grunted as he rolled out of bed. Maria laughed as Chris stomped his way to the door. He frustratingly swung the door open. "What is it Frankie", he interrogated while only opening the door wide enough to poke his head out.
"Am I interrupting you guys? Sorry!" Frankie pushed the door open a ways and poked his head in. He smiled at Maria who had reassumed her position reading a magazine. "Sorry Maria, I have to borrow him for a moment."
No matter how annoyed she was, she couldn't show it. There wasn't a mean bone in her body. "It's okay Frankie", she exclaimed while refocusing back to her reading material.
Chris grabbed Frankie by his suit jacket and tossed him out of the hotel room. Chris walked out and slammed the door shut behind him as Frankie adjusted his jacket. "This better fucking important", he shouted while pointing at his manager.
"You know I'm getting tired of the way you treat me sometimes. You're not paying me enough to get bullied around daily." Frankie smirked as the sarcastic comments only boiled Chris's blood some more. "Relax big guy! I came by to finalize your travel plans to Beijing."
Madison looked bewildered and shook his head while chuckling to himself. "That's it? That's what you're bothering me for? That could have been handled over a phone call. You didn't need to come down here to do that face to face."
Frankie looked as if he wasn't being completely honest to Chris. He avoided eye contact and the muscles around his lips twitched uncontrollably. "You're right...I could have just done it by phone. I'll tell you what, I'm out of here. Pretend like I never showed up and I'll call you in about an hour or so."
Frankie turned and frantically started to walk away. Chris had a keen eye for Frankie's tell. "Hold up Frankie!"
The order sent chills down his spine and caused him to freeze as if time itself stood still. He swallowed that nervous lump in his throat an slowly faced Chris. "Yeah Chris?"
He licked his lips like a wild animal going in for the kill. "How long have I known you Frankie?"
He nervously responded, "about thirteen years".
"Right..." Chris smiled and nodded his head while Frankie cautiously watched. "In those thirteen years I've gotten to know you pretty well right?"
His brows scrunched down as he mumbled, "Yeah..."
"You spend that much time with someone and you're able to learn things about them. Things they may not even know they're doing." Chris reached out and got a nice firm grasp on Frankie's trapezius muscle with his right hand. He squeezed making Frankie growingly uncomfortable. "Like for instance body language. I don't need you to even say a word. I can read you just by your mannerisms."
"Okay...okay..." Frankie pulled his body free from Chris's hold. "I didn't come by to tell you about your travel plans. I already emailed you those details."
Chris patted Frankie on the back before asking one more time. "Then what is it?"
Frankie lowered his head and didn't say a word as he tried to think of how to break the news to Chris.
The hesitation caused Chris's mind to race. The first thing popping in his mid was his little brother which Frankie was supposed to be keeping a close eye on. "What did Nick do now?" He shouted loud enough to cause other guests to poke their heads out of their respective rooms to check on the commotion.
"Nothing...it's not Nick."
A sigh of relief was released as Chris placed his hand over his mouth. His eyes danced around as he tried to figure out what was so important. "Frankie I'm not really in the mood. I'm in a bad mood as it is after a dissatisfying match against AC Smith. Just break it to me..."
"He found me Chris..." The cryptic message put Chris at a loss for words. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. "Kiyomi's brother found me, found us. He confronted Nick about his sisters death! He knew both of you were there."
Chris put his hands on top of his head, interlocking his fingers. He turned away and took a few steps towards his hotel room door. "Did Nick tell him that it was a suicide?" Chris spun back around for Frankie's response.
"Chris, he tried. Nick explained everything. He just wouldn't hear it. He wanted a face to face sit down with you." Frankie reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. On the paper was a phone number written down with the name Koji underlined. "He said to call him..."
At first Chris didn't even look at the paper that was in Frankie's extended hand. After peeking through the corner of his eyes he titled his head down and stared for a moment. "I don't got time for this. I've got a huge match with another ghost from my past with major pay per view implications. I can't be bothered beating it into his head that his sister had no desire to live!"
"He won't stop trying. You know him. He was a friend. The least you can do is talk to him...listen to what he has to say." Frankie waited for his clients decision.
Chris placed his hand over his mouth before finally agreeing with Frankie. "Fine! You set it up and I want it to be somewhere public. Last thing I need is a samurai sword in my gut for dishonoring his family..."
"I'll make the arrangements...you focus on Asylum!" Frankie reached out and shook Chris's hand before the two split ways...
_________________________________
"Jason Kash..."
"This has been a long time in the making hasn't it? This goes back before my time in Japan. Back before the days of Pro Championship Wrestling. This isn't the first company we've worked together and I wouldn't be surprised if it's the last."
"What does surprise me though is the strong hatred you seem to have in your heart. Up until a few weeks ago I would have never thought that there were any issues between us. When I told you to leave Raab alone that was a friend reaching out to you. Trying to warn you that's a route you may not want to go. But you've made it perfectly clear that my word has about as much value to you as that crappy title that Knuckles carries around has in this company. You see I'm just one man. I'm a man who's apart of a movement. I can't be responsible for the actions of everyone else. And as much as it would pain me to have to put you down Kash...if it's for the greater good of the group, I will do it!"
"You had an opportunity to be apart of this Kash. You, me, and Tommy could have flipped this company upside down. This place is in a desperate need of an overhauling and you would have been a perfect piece to the puzzle because you are a champion! You are one hell of a competitor! I'm not surprised you're a grand slam champion here, I always knew you had it in you. The Jason Kash I knew would knock your teeth down your throat so you'd be shitting chiclets for thinking else wise. But APW has done something to you. Jason Kash is a changed man. That champion is now just a chump...APW's personal punch line...Twitter wars with Level One and childish pranks have turned you into the laughing stock of APW, something to be real proud of!"
"You and your partner are just a novelty act. A shtick that makes people feel good about themselves. It's amazing that you stand by while the rest of the roster laughs at you. Jason Kash and Johnny Knuckles should be names feared. The keyword being should. No one fears you two anymore. Not for a long time! Could you blame them? What have you done lately? You haven't held a title here since AJP beat you back in January! That's a ten month drought...and in that time AJP propelled herself up the ranks and went on to become the Undisputed Champion. What do you have to show for yourself over that period? Nothing! Irrelevancy!"
"Six years ago I did cut my ties to just about everyone I knew. I had my own demons to deal with and to be frank, I was on the verge of losing it all together. If you felt slighted by it Jason, my bad, but I needed to get my head cleared. I needed to put myself in a better place. If you can't understand that then so be it. Perhaps we were never really as close as I thought we were..."
"Let me give you some advice Kash, you should cut your ties with Knuckles. He's holding you back man. Everyone can see it. You guys claim to be a well oiled tandem but you've never won the tag titles here! Can't you see it Jay? Or are you that fucking blind?"
"He's an anchor. Holding you down in the bottom tier. Eventually it will hit you. You'll feel like your drowning and you can't swim up for air. Knuckles, Reaver, whatever the hell it is he's calling himself is preventing you from claiming a stake in the top ranks of Asylum. Perhaps you don't need it. Perhaps you've come to terms with yourself and realize that mediocrity is a success for you. That's not me. I could never settle for average. That's why I left. That's why I went to Japan. I need to compete with the best. It's how I'm wired. Just staying afloat is torture for me."
"This match of ours has a little prize worth fighting for. At One Night In Hell we'll be competing in an iconic War Games match. A perfect battleground to settle all of our differences. One team gets the advantage. Two competitors start with entrants being allowed to enter at alternating intervals. One of the teams is going to earn that advantage. We work well when the numbers are in our favor and as long as I have any say in it, that advantage, WILL belong to the Black Hand..."
"You always talk about how I was everything you wanted to be in professional wrestling. Sunday night I'm going to show you why that's just a pipe dream! No matter what you do in this business, no matter what you accomplish, one thing will always remain true...Chris Madison is better than you!"
"The people of Beijing are in for a treat because this tag match of ours is filled with emotion that's going to be released in an all out war! How much faith do you have in your partner? I know Niobe is down for the cause. Her eyes are set on One Night in Hell and she's licking her lips for the chance to prove that she's not just Tommy Knox's pretty little girlfriend. With him out of the picture, Niobe gets to prove her worth in this company...what a better way than pinning a grand slam champion?"
"I'll see you in China Kash...hopefully you'll be able to make it to One Night in Hell after we're through with you!"
"Tommy Knox, our de facto leader, has lost his APW Overdrive Championship and has fallen off the face of the earth in the process..."
"In the meantime I, Chris Madison, in only four months time in APW climbed the ranks as was the one to dethrone Tommy. Leaving the Black Hand leaderless going into One Night In Hell against The Space Cowboys and Foul Play."
"Someone needs to step up an take the reins. The Black Hand will not die out just because one man has chosen the high road. This is a movement that is larger than anyone individual. It just needs a new face. And with Michael Jennings's health in question and fingers point to me being that man...A responsibility that I'm fully capable of shouldering!"
"Niobe, Raab, and Jennings, they're down for the cause but they need someone to help guide them...I'm that guy! I'm the face of The Black Hand!"
Friday, October 11th, 2013
Hotel New Grand, Yokohama, Japan
11:30 AM
Hotel New Grand, Yokohama, Japan
11:30 AM
"How well do you know this Jason Kash guy?"
Chris Madison shot his head up from the luggage he was packing next to the bed. "I've known the guy for nearly a decade", he explained. A look of astonishment overcame his own face after realizing how long it's been.
Maria placed the APW magazine she was reading down onto the nightstand on her side of the bed. An orange tank top barely covers the tattoos that are scattered across her arms and chest. She sat silently while chewing on her bottom lip. "So you guys are friends right?"
Chris paused for a moment, not sure of the answer to that question. "Yes. No. We were. Still are. Maybe." Madison confused himself with that answer. "I don't know..."
"I would think you would know who your friends are", she teased.
Madison stood up, turning away from his unpacked luggage. He crawled on top of the bed and inched his way towards the always smiley Maria. "That's just it...when I left for Japan, all contacts I had in the US were cut off. After six years I made my way back and one of the main reasons I signed with APW was because Tommy and Kash were there. I figured familiar faces would make for an easy transition."
"Must have worked, you're the Overdrive Champion and it's only been four months!" She smacked Chris on the shoulder playfully.
"Well Tommy was welcoming. Kash not so much. We've barely had a conversation! An the one we did was me warning him to steer clear of Raab. A fair warning from a friend." Chris rolled over onto his back. He placed his hands behind his head and got lost into the ceiling.
Maria climbed on top of Chris, straddling him. Her hands found there way from his stomach slowly to his neck. She leaned in and began to tenderly kiss him on the lips. "I know exactly what will cheer you up." The kisses moved from his lips to the side of his neck. Chris had a firm grip on her petite hips when a knock at the door interrupted their intimate moment.
The two stopped and looked at one another choosing to ignore whomever was at the door. Just as their lips were about to touch there was another knock, followed by the voice of Chris's business manager. "Chris I can hear you breathing in there. Open up man."
Chris grunted as he rolled out of bed. Maria laughed as Chris stomped his way to the door. He frustratingly swung the door open. "What is it Frankie", he interrogated while only opening the door wide enough to poke his head out.
"Am I interrupting you guys? Sorry!" Frankie pushed the door open a ways and poked his head in. He smiled at Maria who had reassumed her position reading a magazine. "Sorry Maria, I have to borrow him for a moment."
No matter how annoyed she was, she couldn't show it. There wasn't a mean bone in her body. "It's okay Frankie", she exclaimed while refocusing back to her reading material.
Chris grabbed Frankie by his suit jacket and tossed him out of the hotel room. Chris walked out and slammed the door shut behind him as Frankie adjusted his jacket. "This better fucking important", he shouted while pointing at his manager.
"You know I'm getting tired of the way you treat me sometimes. You're not paying me enough to get bullied around daily." Frankie smirked as the sarcastic comments only boiled Chris's blood some more. "Relax big guy! I came by to finalize your travel plans to Beijing."
Madison looked bewildered and shook his head while chuckling to himself. "That's it? That's what you're bothering me for? That could have been handled over a phone call. You didn't need to come down here to do that face to face."
Frankie looked as if he wasn't being completely honest to Chris. He avoided eye contact and the muscles around his lips twitched uncontrollably. "You're right...I could have just done it by phone. I'll tell you what, I'm out of here. Pretend like I never showed up and I'll call you in about an hour or so."
Frankie turned and frantically started to walk away. Chris had a keen eye for Frankie's tell. "Hold up Frankie!"
The order sent chills down his spine and caused him to freeze as if time itself stood still. He swallowed that nervous lump in his throat an slowly faced Chris. "Yeah Chris?"
He licked his lips like a wild animal going in for the kill. "How long have I known you Frankie?"
He nervously responded, "about thirteen years".
"Right..." Chris smiled and nodded his head while Frankie cautiously watched. "In those thirteen years I've gotten to know you pretty well right?"
His brows scrunched down as he mumbled, "Yeah..."
"You spend that much time with someone and you're able to learn things about them. Things they may not even know they're doing." Chris reached out and got a nice firm grasp on Frankie's trapezius muscle with his right hand. He squeezed making Frankie growingly uncomfortable. "Like for instance body language. I don't need you to even say a word. I can read you just by your mannerisms."
"Okay...okay..." Frankie pulled his body free from Chris's hold. "I didn't come by to tell you about your travel plans. I already emailed you those details."
Chris patted Frankie on the back before asking one more time. "Then what is it?"
Frankie lowered his head and didn't say a word as he tried to think of how to break the news to Chris.
The hesitation caused Chris's mind to race. The first thing popping in his mid was his little brother which Frankie was supposed to be keeping a close eye on. "What did Nick do now?" He shouted loud enough to cause other guests to poke their heads out of their respective rooms to check on the commotion.
"Nothing...it's not Nick."
A sigh of relief was released as Chris placed his hand over his mouth. His eyes danced around as he tried to figure out what was so important. "Frankie I'm not really in the mood. I'm in a bad mood as it is after a dissatisfying match against AC Smith. Just break it to me..."
"He found me Chris..." The cryptic message put Chris at a loss for words. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. "Kiyomi's brother found me, found us. He confronted Nick about his sisters death! He knew both of you were there."
Chris put his hands on top of his head, interlocking his fingers. He turned away and took a few steps towards his hotel room door. "Did Nick tell him that it was a suicide?" Chris spun back around for Frankie's response.
"Chris, he tried. Nick explained everything. He just wouldn't hear it. He wanted a face to face sit down with you." Frankie reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. On the paper was a phone number written down with the name Koji underlined. "He said to call him..."
At first Chris didn't even look at the paper that was in Frankie's extended hand. After peeking through the corner of his eyes he titled his head down and stared for a moment. "I don't got time for this. I've got a huge match with another ghost from my past with major pay per view implications. I can't be bothered beating it into his head that his sister had no desire to live!"
"He won't stop trying. You know him. He was a friend. The least you can do is talk to him...listen to what he has to say." Frankie waited for his clients decision.
Chris placed his hand over his mouth before finally agreeing with Frankie. "Fine! You set it up and I want it to be somewhere public. Last thing I need is a samurai sword in my gut for dishonoring his family..."
"I'll make the arrangements...you focus on Asylum!" Frankie reached out and shook Chris's hand before the two split ways...
_________________________________
"Jason Kash..."
"This has been a long time in the making hasn't it? This goes back before my time in Japan. Back before the days of Pro Championship Wrestling. This isn't the first company we've worked together and I wouldn't be surprised if it's the last."
"What does surprise me though is the strong hatred you seem to have in your heart. Up until a few weeks ago I would have never thought that there were any issues between us. When I told you to leave Raab alone that was a friend reaching out to you. Trying to warn you that's a route you may not want to go. But you've made it perfectly clear that my word has about as much value to you as that crappy title that Knuckles carries around has in this company. You see I'm just one man. I'm a man who's apart of a movement. I can't be responsible for the actions of everyone else. And as much as it would pain me to have to put you down Kash...if it's for the greater good of the group, I will do it!"
"You had an opportunity to be apart of this Kash. You, me, and Tommy could have flipped this company upside down. This place is in a desperate need of an overhauling and you would have been a perfect piece to the puzzle because you are a champion! You are one hell of a competitor! I'm not surprised you're a grand slam champion here, I always knew you had it in you. The Jason Kash I knew would knock your teeth down your throat so you'd be shitting chiclets for thinking else wise. But APW has done something to you. Jason Kash is a changed man. That champion is now just a chump...APW's personal punch line...Twitter wars with Level One and childish pranks have turned you into the laughing stock of APW, something to be real proud of!"
"You and your partner are just a novelty act. A shtick that makes people feel good about themselves. It's amazing that you stand by while the rest of the roster laughs at you. Jason Kash and Johnny Knuckles should be names feared. The keyword being should. No one fears you two anymore. Not for a long time! Could you blame them? What have you done lately? You haven't held a title here since AJP beat you back in January! That's a ten month drought...and in that time AJP propelled herself up the ranks and went on to become the Undisputed Champion. What do you have to show for yourself over that period? Nothing! Irrelevancy!"
"Six years ago I did cut my ties to just about everyone I knew. I had my own demons to deal with and to be frank, I was on the verge of losing it all together. If you felt slighted by it Jason, my bad, but I needed to get my head cleared. I needed to put myself in a better place. If you can't understand that then so be it. Perhaps we were never really as close as I thought we were..."
"Let me give you some advice Kash, you should cut your ties with Knuckles. He's holding you back man. Everyone can see it. You guys claim to be a well oiled tandem but you've never won the tag titles here! Can't you see it Jay? Or are you that fucking blind?"
"He's an anchor. Holding you down in the bottom tier. Eventually it will hit you. You'll feel like your drowning and you can't swim up for air. Knuckles, Reaver, whatever the hell it is he's calling himself is preventing you from claiming a stake in the top ranks of Asylum. Perhaps you don't need it. Perhaps you've come to terms with yourself and realize that mediocrity is a success for you. That's not me. I could never settle for average. That's why I left. That's why I went to Japan. I need to compete with the best. It's how I'm wired. Just staying afloat is torture for me."
"This match of ours has a little prize worth fighting for. At One Night In Hell we'll be competing in an iconic War Games match. A perfect battleground to settle all of our differences. One team gets the advantage. Two competitors start with entrants being allowed to enter at alternating intervals. One of the teams is going to earn that advantage. We work well when the numbers are in our favor and as long as I have any say in it, that advantage, WILL belong to the Black Hand..."
"You always talk about how I was everything you wanted to be in professional wrestling. Sunday night I'm going to show you why that's just a pipe dream! No matter what you do in this business, no matter what you accomplish, one thing will always remain true...Chris Madison is better than you!"
"The people of Beijing are in for a treat because this tag match of ours is filled with emotion that's going to be released in an all out war! How much faith do you have in your partner? I know Niobe is down for the cause. Her eyes are set on One Night in Hell and she's licking her lips for the chance to prove that she's not just Tommy Knox's pretty little girlfriend. With him out of the picture, Niobe gets to prove her worth in this company...what a better way than pinning a grand slam champion?"
"I'll see you in China Kash...hopefully you'll be able to make it to One Night in Hell after we're through with you!"
