Promo: "Uncrowned."

[Guest Kibagami]

PROMO: “Uncrowned.”

 

 

 

 

 

”Maybe some of you believe that Thoth was right about me. Maybe you believe I’ve lost my touch.”

 

 

--

 

Thoth stands over the body of a bloodied, unconscious Nathaniel Kibagami. “You did it wrong, Nathan. You always did it wrong. You always tried to bring them to our side by cutting them. Making them bleed. And by their blood you thought you could bring them to a resolution. Our resolution.”

 

 

--

 

”He thinks I did it wrong. He thinks there needs to be some passion, some anger, some kind of hatred…to really fight. He thinks I’ve lost that passion. He thinks I’ve lost that anger.”

 

 

--

 

 

“What’s going on up there?” hollers Mark Stevens through his newly acquired headset. “We can’t hear anything…can we get a…oh, no.”

 

Stevens stares, his face pale, as Silent braces his feet against the cage and carefully picks Z up…into position for the Fall From Grace.

 

“There’s no way he can…Silent will kill himself when he falls off the cage, and damn it, he’ll take Alex with him!”

 

“It’s too late to turn back now, Mark! Z knew what he was asking for when he challenged Silent to this match, and I’ll be damned if he’s not about to get it!”

 

With an effort visible from fifteen feet below him, Silent lifts Z above his head. Both men totter dangerously on the edge for a long, long moment…

 

…Before Silent hurls Z from the cage…

 

 

All.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the ground.

 

**CRASH!**

 

 

--

 

 

”He thinks that he…can teach me…about hatred.”

 

 

--

 

 

“NO! NO NO NO NO!” screams Riley as Strangler, supporting Thoth almost entirely with his right hand and using only his left arm for balance, takes a couple of tenative steps forward. The rest of the crowd is going nuts as Strangler looks around, a wild-eyed expression on his face. Finally, Strangler drops Thoth back onto his shoulders as he falls down towards the canvas. Flashbulbs explode throughout the arena as Thoth is spiked head-first into the canvas. Thoth rolls onto his side, knocked out cold, as Strangler rolls over and makes the cover. “MASSACRE! MASSACRE!” screams Stevens in a hoarse voice as Hebner drops into position to make the count….

 

DING! DING! DING!

 

“YOUR WINNER, AND THE NEWWWWWWWW SSSSS-WWWWW-FFFFF WORLD CHAMPION, THE BOSTON STRRRRRRRRRRRANGLER!” crows Funyon. Funyon’s voice, as well as “Godzilla”, can barely be heard over the massive, MASSIVE roar of the Philly crowd….

 

 

--

 

 

”But you’re the one who’s had it wrong from the start, brother.”

 

 

--

 

 

”Thoth, you’ll never be as powerful as me!”

 

Silent lets go of Thoth’s leg, and he falls…

 

 

--

 

 

”Passion is not the key. All it will ever do is cloud your vision, obscure the clearest path.”

 

 

--

 

 

“The key is sacrifice.”

 

Kibagami sits alone in front of the entrance to the Savvis Center, clad entirely in white – with the exception of his black trenchcoat. It’s early in the morning – the sun is just barely creeping over the horizon – and the sun reflects eerily off Nathan’s sunglasses. He reclines easily against the glass doors as the camera slowly focuses on his face.

 

“I forgot that for such a long, long time…the importance of sacrifice. When I was chasing after Edwin, when I was trying to protect Angel, when I was pursuing Janus…I let my emotions control actions.”

 

Nathaniel stands up and saunters away from the Savvis Center, towards the camera. The camera backs away accordingly, framing Kibagami against the doors. Sunlight reflects off the doors and off Nathan’s sunglasses, obscuring the camera’s view of its subject sporadically.

 

“Sacrifice is the reason I am standing upright today. Do you have any idea how painful it is to learn to walk again? Eighteen months, I spent in the hospital. Every day was agony. Every step was suffering. Every cell in my body wanted to give up and rest, wanted to be confined to a wheelchair for no better reason than it was easy, and pain was hard.”

 

Kibagami turns to face the doors and pauses for a moment, searching for the right words.

 

“Pain is a sensation, you know. It’s a simply a message, sent from the nerves to the brain. Messages can be ignored. Sensations can be controlled. Like emotions. Like anger, like passion. Like hatred.”

 

Nathaniel lowers his head slightly, and the camera drops a little to keep his face centered – and hits just the right angle, avoiding the glaring sun and framing Kibagami clearly against the glass doors.

 

“I have sacrificed much to be part of this federation. I put my life on the line whenever I step in the ring, moreso than most of the roster. Despite this, I’ve never held a title. I have a match against Mak Francis on Storm, for the ICTV title. I don’t know Mak personally, but I do know that he’s come back from a serious knee injury. I know Mak has made some sacrifices to get into this business, and he’s made more to stay in it. But has Mak Francis sacrificed as much as me? Has anyone given up what I have given up? And more importantly…what is Mak Francis that I should hold anything back?”

 

Kibagami begins to walk back towards the doors, and the camera loses him in the sun.

 

“Should I sacrifice this chance for recognition out of concern for someone else’s well-being?”

 

His footsteps begin to fade away as the sun rises higher in the sky.

 

“I have made my sacrifices, and then some. I will not make any more, for anyone.”

 

The footsteps stop.

 

“I wonder…what else will Mak Francis be willing…to sacrifice?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

”And so one skilled at employing the military

Subdues the other’s military but does not do battle,

Uproots the other’s walled city but does not attack,

Destroys the other’s state, but does not prolong.

One must take it whole when contending for

All-Under-Heaven.”

 

-Chapter Three of the Sun-Tzu.

 

 

END

[Guest Muzz]

Excellent. He's been through so much, yet he still finds a reason to keep going, and is as strong as ever, even more so.

 

This makes me eagerly anticipate the main event, one I'll definitely want to read, and hope to see you in many more to come.

[Guest kelloggs]

Another very solid promo. It does an excellent job of explain Kibagami's latest actions and why he's doing them. I particularly like the way that you weaved, and drew parallels through the similiarites between our characters, via sacrifice, into that story. Kibagami's have a stronger base and have had more time to grow and develop, while Mak's sacrifices, although large to him, are nothing like Kibs' and have just been beginning. It's the perfect veteran vs. rookie dynamic.

 

“I wonder…what else will Mak Francis be willing…to sacrifice?”

 

By the way. That line helped me get over the hump in my promo. It's very dramatic and the way you made it stand out, makes it all the better.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

You're gonna run out of Sun-Tzu one of these days, I swear.

 

I very much like the way you took this--you maintain Kibagami's deep history, but you finally start to get away from the epic, monster storylines that have kinda limited you. His drive is translated towards a slightly simpler path, and you've taken what moves him in a direction that will make that ICTV match viable and without too much extra baggage.

[Guest realitycheck]

It had me in it, roundabout mention as it was. Going through a table, but still. (Y)!

 

Z HAS COMMENTED.

 

THIS PROMO MAY NOW DRAW 120 HITS.

 

-Z

[Guest Drew_K]

Ah, the Sun Tzu. That brings me back. Now he just has to no-show and overcomplicate his storylines, and I'll be right back, stuck in the middle with Kibs. Jokers to the left of me, (Points to Mak Francis) fools to the right. (Points to Ash Ketchum). Seriously, nice work, Kibs. It's good to see a wrestler wrestling for Wrestling, and not revenge, or his girlfriend, or anything else. But then, you said basically the same thing in the promo, and Edwin said the same in his comments. Really, this is AWESOME work, which I've hesitated to say about some of your previous stuff, as I feared where it might go (Or more likely NOT go), but this time, I'm really into it.

 

Good luck with your match, and continued success, as you're one of my favorite people in the fed. That said, unless you write CIA running in and Mak doesn't, he's still my partner, and I still Back the Mak.

[Guest Ace309]

I'm quite pleased with this promo. It's a nice reminder and is duly entertaining.

[Guest Crowe]

An excellent read, as per usual with Silent's work. Now go smoke some mushrooms.