Centre of the Universe

[Addy A]

Adelaide walks silently along the pathway, in her left hand hangs a cigarette, which she drags on occasionally between steps. Her meandering footfall seems to place in the world of having no place to be and no place to go. She stops in her tracks and looks out over the midnight blue waters of one of the many lakes found within Orlando. Her mouth opens, but no words come forth, only a deep sigh. She pauses on her path and loses time, standing still, staring into nowhere, under the neon night sky of Orlando. A stranger walks up to Adelaide, “What are you looking for?” The interruption shakes her from whatever world she was lost, she stares at him, blinking wordlessly before speaking. “Something, anything.” --- “How long have you been chasing the big one, Jaice? How long have you been craving to be on the top of the food chain? How many chances have squandered because of your own self-aggrandizing hyperbole? “Too long and too many are the simple answers to those questions. But answering those questions isn’t suddenly going to give you the answers you need to unlock the secret to all that you desire. For far too long you’ve been wandering aimlessly through the night to find the key to success.” “A purpose without direction.” “Despite this opportunity right now, Wilds you haven’t suddenly fucking found it. You might think you have it because ‘you want it oh so bad.’ Wanting and having are to completely separate things on the plane of existence, homie. I want Robbie Hope to be alive but wanting isn’t going to make me have him in my arms again. Short of learning necromancy.” “But the metaphor remains the same - you wanting the WrestleVerse championship isn’t suddenly going to allow it to fall in your hands - you have to fight through everything in front of you. Let’s be honest here Jaice, even IF you get through Max and Aiden, you’re not going to get through me.” “Which puts you back on the clockwork-like merry-go-round that you know oh-so-well of getting close but not close enough. That’s your career though Jaice, isn’t it. You can look but you can never touch. You can rent but you can never own.” “I would suggest you’ve built your career on close but not close enough. Truth is - this is the closest you’ll ever get.”		"I’ve been watching you.” the stranger tells Adelaide with less than subtle overtones. Taking the last long drag of her cigarette before flicking it to the ground, Adelaide stares at him dead-eyed. “People seem to do that.” she mumbles without emotion. He smiles, as if reading into her intent, “I have no sexual desire for you, Adelaide.” He snorts, “You have the wrong genitalia.” She shakes her head in disbelief but doesn’t offer any response. She seems unperturbed that he knows her name. “See, Ms. Ainsworth, I’m a fan of your work - I had sent my associate to see but you seemed to ignore him. I have come to tell you my offer is genuine.” “What offer?” --- “Kay. Pee. En. It’s been a while ain’t it? I mean since Trinity. 5BW was a cup of coffee and we ain’t really ever crossed paths proper there. But Trinity - that was where I fucking showed you and your giraffe looking ass that I wasn’t someone fresh to be trifled with.” “I remember those days when you all high and might because I had cojones to take out Madwoman when I was fresh into the industry and since then I’ve only continued to grow and grow. To the point I am one half of the greatest team in this fucking industry.” “To the point that my name alone is enough to enlist me in the main event of a pay per view. Where my name alone is enough to bring your name to the headline just because we passed each other for one fucking second of our existence.” “Do you think for a moment, you’d be here without me?” “If you do, Kay, you’d be fucking delusional. You’d been tripping more balls than a hippie at Woodstock.” “Our history is why you’re in this match. Our history is why you’ll be nothing more than a footnote in time at the end of the night.” “My body of work since our first encounter has spoken for itself. My name is uttered in every fucking corridor you’ll ever walk down. Your name - outside of Five Boroughs - people can’t even pronounce it. You have your occasional little adventure outside of your comfort zone. But it never takes you long to run back to your security blanket, does it, Kay?” “Yeh, it’s rhetorical.” “This time, you won’t get the chance to run.”
	“No matter our circumstances we all step foot into these ventures with one fucking outcome in my mind.” “Our own victory.” “So if anyone thinks for the slightest second that I am coming to WrestleVerse for shits and giggles, then they would be dead wrong.” “Fatal will be a watershed moment for me in wrestling. I will lift the WrestleVerse Championship - I have absolutely no doubt about that. I have seen the names from my past filter across the newsfeed as new signings in this - whether directly or by association. Let me assure you, I see every one of you, but as of right now - none of you are a single concern of mine. The only concern that rests on my radar is the singular desire to put down those that stand in my way at Fatal.” “Two matches.” “One outcome.” “My victory.” “You can call that ego if you wish, you wouldn’t be fucking wrong - not by any stretch. But stop to think for a minute all of you. If any of us walk into those cages without the surety that will be victorious, then assuredly we’re going to lose. I know that I’m not going to lose - not to any of you. Not by a longshot.” “Is it about dreams and desires? Somewhat. But, the crux of the argument, the reason why - I will win this.” “With the belt comes the challengers - everyone wants the throne. Come for the Queen. I can drive chairs into the skull of anyone, anytime I want. But when I sit atop the mountain as Queen of the WrestleVerse. Well, every single one of you cunts is coming for the fight - every single one of you will be seeking my place at the centre of the universe.” “That’s what I’m looking forward to most after I walk out of Fatal. Chopping the false (scuffed) gods down at the knees - when they come for me and my throne.” “It’s the driving factor behind me. It’s the knock on the door that is telling me and showing me why I am the pinnacle that each and everyone of you should aspire to be. You’ll deny it in all of your different ways - it’s why you (we) do. It’s all about the lies you live, but the truth I’ve become and all I fucking will be.”
“It was a cunning strike, Max. I will certainly give you that. What you did on the tailend of Eternal Four. But you had the opportunity. I created the moment and you took it. There is no place on this fucking Earth or that fucking Moon that I can fault that behaviour.” “But…” “All that you’ve done now is put yourself firmly in my sights. Like a well trained sniper I will be taking you out with a single headshot. I won’t need JFK’s magic bullet to complete the job, either.” “See, Max, despite the short life of WrestleVerse and even shorter of my time in this place - it’s evident to every layman that I am and will continue to be the centre of the universe. No matter how much you or CruZe or any of the circus animals try to justify otherwise. But, don’t be disappointed in that, Max. My existence makes you more important just by osmosis.” “You’re the champion, I should offer your more fucking respect - maybe, maybe not. But, he’s why it’s not from me. You had the chance to prove your Alpha Male status last week but all you could do was sit there like a muppet until we all had our say. If I was you, I wouldn’t put every cunt down as they stepped into my ring. But after Fatal - I will be in the same position you are now and that’s exactly what I will do.” “I’m coming for your crown, Max. I’ll guarantee you that I will not fucking miss.” --- “I’ve got work for you.” he says without elaborating on any of the details. Adelaide looks at him, while reaching into her pocket. She pulls out a packet of cigarettes and slowly, deliberately goes through the process of extracting one from the packet and lighting it. “Do you want to know about it?” he says plainly. She continues her stare into his face, trying to get a read for what he truly wants. Taking a long drag of her freshly lit carcinogenic stick of tobacco, she blows the smoke in his face with a complete lack of respect. “I ain’t fuckin’ ya,” she smirks. The stranger shrugs his shoulders, “I guess you don’t listen.” The smirk on her face grows larger on her face as her lips curl upward, “I listen when someone has something worth saying.”		“You were a history maker, Aiden. You completed the one task in WrestleVerse that no one can take from you. The one record that can never be broken. You were the very first champion.” “That’s a fucking achievement.” “But history shows you were a weak champion. You weren’t prepared for the war to come from three hundred and sixty degrees.” “The first challenge that came to you was the first hurdle you fell at. Which begs the question ‘why are you still here’?” “These cage matches have no place for the weak at heart or the soft of hand. This is the place where legacies are made and reputations are cemented.” “Given the weak shit you’ve put forth of the last few shows - you are going to prove your legacy is of fool’s gold and your reputation will be cemented as nothing more than a pimple on the ass of what WrestleVerse will become. Especially, when I emerge victorious from both of these cage matches and elevate the WrestleVerse Championship high above its current place in the history of the industry.” “I am the only one of the fucking five of us that can the title to the heights it requires. I’m the only that put the universe only fucking back and carry into and out of any black hole. I am the only one that keeps WrestleVerse alive when Thanos snaps his fingers. “You might’ve been the first champion, Aiden. But, now, WrestleVerse needs a whole fucking more than you can ever be.” “WrestleVerse needs me.” --- “So,” Adelaide continues with a sardonic drip to her words. “The question is do you have something worth listening to.” The stranger nods. “That’s the thing, Adelaide you have to want to listen.” Blowing more cigarette smoke into his face, “What makes it worth listening to.” He smiles, not a pleasant smile but one to hide his frustration with Ms. Ainsworth. The two parties continue to stare at each other, waiting for the other to break. The silence is only broken by the sound of Adelaide’s inhalation and exhalation of the burning embers of tobacco. “I’m waiting.” she says with sarcastic impatience. “To be honest, while I’ve seen your resume, Adelaide. I’m not sure I can trust your attitude.” She huffs, “And what’s wrong with my attitude.” His voice is suddenly laced with derision, “You’re not the centre of the universe.”