To Destroy

“This is beautiful. Isn’t it? All of the cards have fallen into place, and now.. You, my personal goliath, will be walking out of Destino as the Gold Crown Champion. Do you like the sound of that?”

His reflection was stunning. Nicholas Gabriel, the handler and mind behind the monster known as FUMIHIKO, watched his own reflection in absolute awe. His suit was on point, but he couldn’t help but notice the smallest flaw. Sneering with disgust for the moment, his eyes shifted toward his monster. FUMIHIKO, with his hair dangling over his eyes, stood firmly by the side of the savior. No verbal response from the man, but Nicholas had already known the answer. Outside of the mirroring of their perfect frames, the cityscape of Osaka was right in front of them. The land where the money was made for Nicholas.

“We’re not that far away, are we? No, we have the routes in place. Chapter 46 of Wrestleworld. Four people who have either been a Champion in the company, or currently carry your Championship. Then, we have Layne, Estrella & Yago, and the man who is sent to be the destroyer of the weak. It would have been a challenge if anyone else was that fourth, but you.. You’re about to make this child’s play. You’re the one to enter the sandbox and kick over their creations.”

The door slid open of the penthouse to give Nicholas and his monster the access to step onto the balcony. Twenty floors up with nothing but lights below them.

“This is perfect timing, let me just say that. To put it in a way that everyone can comprehend, my personal destroyer will be storming in, not walking. He will be finding all who he will squash under his boot. The beginning of that list, let’s be real here. Arata Asakura. You’ve been the talking point of Wrestleworld for so long that I can’t imagine a Wrestleworld without you. Then again, Wrestleworld wasn’t even a thought until our amazing Director, Joe Smith, came to me personally to bring on the opportunity of a lifetime. He knew I didn’t speak in wishes. He knew I didn’t clamor to the concept of making a name for him. No, he spoke about two things that will always be ingrained in my life.. Money. Power. The two greatest things a man can receive. You’d know a little about the latter, wouldn’t you? See, Asakura.. You’ve made some money, but it’s the influence that you have around here that has me in awe. Your wars that you have fought, your triumphs as the Shogun Champion. That’s pretty good. Hellacious wars, and now the Gold Crown Champion.

You must be very proud of yourself. That’s not even including the aroma of influence that you have carried elsewhere. World Champion here, World Champion there. You have faced some of the toughest opposition so far. Of course, you think this is going to be the guy who is going to be the dumb rookie who falls for the tricks of the Self Made Man. That is where you’re going to be learning a very tough lesson. You see, this isn’t a guy looking to sink his teeth in friendly competition and development. I don’t pay FUMIHIKO to develop, that’d be a waste of money. I don’t pay FUMIHIKO to play nice and do fancy chain wrestling, again.. Waste of money.

I pay him to demolish. To crush the dreams and careers of those before him. In two weeks time, he’ll do it to another one of your fabled Wrestleworld Former Champions. This weekend though, it’ll be so much worse. The Golden Crown Champion, crushed like he was a little bug. Imagine the headlines. Even more so, imagine the hit that you’re influence will take. The Self Made Man, a mere mortal after all.”

With the silent destroyer by his side, Nicholas glanced at the skyline. He couldn’t help but feel overanxious with all of the destruction that is about to be inflicted on these competitors.

“Moving on. Now we have the FORMER Campeonatos De Parejas. Former Paradigm Tag Team Champions. The Crimson Bouquet.. You two sure have a lot of ‘Former’ in your name. Once Destino is finished, you will add former World’s Finest members to that list. Now, I could do the cliche thing and talk about the eight thousand personalities of Crazy Violet. Let’s talk about something even more important. The fall of Violet. You have fallen at a rapid pace, have you not? Did you ever think that maybe this run might be over? You need a resurgence. You need revitalization. You need an answer. The answer has always been there, and you’ll be living that answer soon enough. Be one of us. Be part of the Ghost Organization. We’re not looking back on your past sins, your many sins. We’re looking at what you’re going to be good for. We don’t want the cute little Violet, we want the sinister and unstoppable Violent. We’ll get both soon enough, taking the FORMER out of the equation.

That’ll be easy enough. You, on the other hand, Lillie Saint.. Lillie, I’ve known you for a long time. Your heart has always been in all of the wrong places, hasn’t it? You tried to make Crimson Bouquet work, you failed. You tried to make the World’s Finest live and breathe, you failed. Everything you’ve done, it has been a bust. Now, I know we can’t crack the ignorance that sits between your ears, but we can offer a true and easy solution to all of life’s problems. Just..Leave. Leave before what’s left of your early career becomes nothing more than a figment of your imagination. Go get hitched to a bum. Go pop out some kids like your sister in law did. Go find meaning in your useless life.

I can promise you that one thing will happen if you’re in there with FUMIHIKO. It’s something you already know. He doesn’t care about your wellbeing. He doesn’t care about out wrestling you. He will do what he did back in November and he will drop you straight on your head. Oh, you’re going to cry foul again after he does it? It went so well the first time. People saw you as fragile, just as they do now. All those losses you’ve gotten, you’ll be facing two of your greatest hits soon. First, your body will be crushed.. Then at Destino, your soul will be crushed.”

Looking over at FUMIHIKO, Nicholas knew what was going through his mind. He wanted to see everything in his path burst into flames. One day, he will do just that.

“Why stop there? Of course, the lady who brought that awful tag team together to begin with. Stephanie Matsuda. Let me fill you in on something, Mats. You’ve been just that for Wrestleworld since dropping the American Dream Championship. A doormat for the incoming talent. You had to step aside while the failures like Stark and Graham Baker popped their noses into the company. The smell of greed was more powerful than your drive and determination. You stood idly by while they were crushed. Then, you felt that same fate. What have you done since?

Right, I can see it now. Mats is going to get all bent out of shape and say, ‘what does Nicholas Gabriel know about me? Who is he?”.. I’m going to tell you just once. I know everything. Ears around the world and they all give me the information I need. Knowledge is indeed power, and that’s why I’m where I am. Just keep those foolish thoughts in your mind, because FUMIHIKO will gladly wipe them clean when you take that Backdrop Driver. He won’t stop at one, no. He’ll do it again.. and again… and again…again… AGAIN. Until there is nothing left of that fried brain you carry around. It’ll be like listening to a beautiful symphony. Sweet notes of destruction and despair, courtesy of FUMIHIKO. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, Mats. Soon, when you’re eating through a straw, you’ll figure out that you made a very, very wrong turn in life.”

Standing over Osaka, Nicholas Gabriel closed his eyes, slowly conducting the symphony of agony that FUMIHIKO will unleash on the world.

“Music. Sweet…Music. See you soon, Ladies and King.”

A sickening smile arrives on his face as he glanced over at FUMIHIKO. Still stoic in his stance, the destroyer is ready to unleash his power onto the world. No superpowers, just dominance.