Sever the Tongue

Posts : 9 Join date : 2023-12-04

The lines in the sand have been drawn.

Sawyer knew the target on his back was expanding by the second but it never deterred him. He knew it came with the territory and it only pushed him that much harder. The Chamber of Valor seemed eons ago but the hostility remained fresh in the participants' minds. Sawyer was well aware of the spite displayed by those who craved what he had but he did not fear what was on the horizon. He was prepared; steadfast and vigilant as a champion should be. He knew as soon as he won The Chamber of Valor on that fateful night, there would be challengers fighting over each other tooth and nail to get to the front of the line. To Sawyer, the why or the how didn’t matter. He would tackle this challenge the same way he would for any oncomer - with a relentless pursuit of defending The Valor Championship with the utmost ability and proficiency. It would not be elementary, nothing ever is, but Sawyer wasn’t going to get caught off guard.

He had come too far to let his work go by the wayside.

Sawyer must be at his best, week in and week out. Anything less would be a kick in the teeth of the Valor Championship and himself. The ebbs and flows were always changing in PCW but Sawyer wanted more than anything to remain the one constant. The one beacon of hope and a guiding light to pave the way forward in PCW. He will do so with inner resolve, vigor, and unmatched prowess. He’s his biggest critic.

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

++++++

On the outskirts of Newark, New Jersey the gate arms of the railroad level crossing barriers slid into place as cars stopped before either divider on opposite sides. A cacophony of sounds ground against the tracks when a speedy train came racing by. Graffiti danced on the side of the carts showing a mixture of bright colors and indecipherable letters until finally, the caboose punctuated the end of the train’s departure from the area.

Sawyer stood as still as a statue on the other side of the tracks once he was revealed. His hair blew against the light graze of the wind. He watched the cars pass him by before stepping onto the tracks that stretched for miles. The Valor Championship glistened against the deadened and smoggy backdrop of Newark. Sawyer’s wounds had faded in opacity and he appeared well rested as much as he could be amid a championship reign.

“You can often tell when the light has left someone’s eyes. It is a sad occurrence but not an uncommon one. I would give these individuals the benefit of the doubt but a lot of it is self-inflicted. I’ve seen it firsthand and I can say that with certainty the once hopeful glow has washed out in Tomi Venus’ eyes. It does not flicker, it does not spark with life, it is but a dull ember in the darkness. He has turned to a rogue lifestyle because he feels slighted. As if we owe him something. As if we should answer to his beck and call. Yet Tomi Venus has had a bone to pick with damn near everyone he’s come across during his career dating back to Target Smiles far before PCW was constructed. He cannot help it. He doesn’t take accountability for his actions. Instead, he lashes out. Why? Because Tomi Venus is a deranged substitute for inadequacy with a pipe dream. Do you know what that tells me? He doesn’t learn. He doesn’t want to. That is why he will never blossom. He believes he’s shed the skin of his former self and created a 'monster' in its place.

I do not see a monster.

There was no monster in the Chamber of Valor when I bested you at your own game. When you let your wrath bubble up to the surface. When you let your newfound aggression take the wheel only to crash and burn. When you let the ugly inside of you consume you whole and wound up with nothing. Since then you have run your mouth without consequence, without resistance but you know as well as I do that only buys you so much time until the charade is up. You’ve defeated Matt Miles. You’ve defeated Emmanuelle. Do those victories absolve a lifetime of underachievement? Were those victories by a ‘monster’?

Or a coward in the guise of one?

It doesn’t matter in the long run because I will sever the tongue of this misguided and deluded ‘monster’; this flimsy fairy tale so he cannot continue to vomit forth hollow threats and embarrass himself. The Valor Championship was not made for half-men like Tomi Venus. It was not created to be made a mockery of. Besides, you’ve stated in the past leading up to your match with Matt Miles you don’t give a damn about the Valor Championship. Yet here you are, competing for it, for control, for power, for dominion, for vengeance. Futile desires I will snap like a twig. Remember Tomi, I am not your worst enemy, you are, and when you step into the ring at Fool’s Gold, that’s exactly what you will be remembered as. Your quest to burn down PCW is pointless and doomed from the start as you will never get off of square one. Any tricks or deceit you have saved will be met with a force you cannot begin to comprehend. The Chamber of Valor was a mere prologue. I will not give you the chance to pull a fast one. I will kick Tomi Venus back through the ghost of Target Smiles and into irrelevance where he belongs.

For monsters aren’t real, but I am.”

The icy look in Sawyer’s eyes spelled doom for Tomi Venus as he walked tall down the train tracks and vanished into the blur of the city.