Post by Ziu Zhong on Aug 13, 2014 18:37:55 GMT -6
The scorching sun strikes Ziu’s back like a laser beam as he strolls up the swerving pathway to his front door. Sweating buckets as he passes various brightly coloured flowers, he admires his lovely green lawn beneath the clear blue August skies. The smile on his face is priceless. Coming off such a big win at Heatstroke he was bound to be happy, but this was beyond happiness. Despite carrying a briefcase, his gym bag and other shopping bags, Ziu looks as happy as a kid in a sweet store.
A welcoming cool breeze caresses Mr Selfie’s left hand side as he reaches into his pockets for his door keys. Suddenly, the curtain to the front room is pulled back slightly and Ziu’s wife, Ling looks out and ends up catching flies as she is so shocked to see her husband home so early. Ziu walks into an empty hallway as the sunshine behind him fights its way into the Zhong household, revealing his dominant silhouette on the wooden floorboards. A single stampede heads for Ziu and he is soon bombarded with a thousand hugs and kisses from Ling. Every time she lets go of her kung fu grip she stares at her man and then repeats the hugs and kisses process.
”You did it baby. You won match. Me say you come back like strong warrior this week.”
“You certainly did.”
”Me won you tell all ‘bout match.” Not letting Ziu have time to reply, Ling continues, “Oh Ziu, me miss you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
Ziu shuffles forward with Ling griped to him like a monkey and with the back of his foot he shuts the front door. Ziu lifts Ling off her feet and pushes her against the wall and kisses her passionately. It was a perfect kiss and this very moment showed just how far they had come in just a few weeks. They had spent years either barely talking or constantly arguing and after talking with their marriage counsellor Julie Covenhorn they seem to be a completely different couple. They only needed one session to realise their love for one another and that they were both being stupid and obstinate.
“I’ve been thinking, Ling. You know this marriage counselling.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Week one was great wasn’t it. Week two, last week, we had to cancel. Well,
I think we should scrap it completely now. Just look at us. This feels so real, don’t you think? It’s just like when we first met. That one session we had with Julie has worked wonders and made us both realise what we have to work on. I don’t think we should waste any more time going t—“
“Me agree.”
Ziu wasn’t excepting that response. On the flight back home from Heatstroke Ziu was thinking of various ways to win Ling over as he was excepting a swift ‘no’ to his request.
“You agree?”
"Me do think too you no. Me happy to cancel.”
”That’s great. We can keep it open for a return if you like, but we don’t need it, do we? We know what we have to do to make this marriage work. We were too stubborn to realise before.”
"Cancel is good.”
Ziu laughs to himself. “Looks like we will be marriage cancel-Ling, aye…”
Ling doesn’t laugh. Oh, you so geeky Ziu.”
“Well I thought it was funny. You should see some of the wrestlers these days – pure geeks.”
”You my geek.”
Ling gazes in Ziu’s eyes and smiles.
”You home so early. Me like that.”
“I wanted to see my bae didn’t I.”
Ling giggles now and Ziu pretends to eat Ling’s neck as if he is mauling her. Ling looks over Ziu’s shoulder and spots various bags, including the briefcase he won.
“What’s all this? Oh, you have the briefcase; can we open it?”
Ling bends down to touch it but is quickly stopped by her husband.
“No! Make sure you don’t touch that as I will not receive the prize inside it if it’s opened. As for the other bags, well I had a bit too much time to think on the flight and I’ve created a little plan for my opponent this week which I believe will help me get the upper hand. I bought a few items that will assist me.”
“Oh baby, why you got be like them. Train, wrestle, home to wife; that’s what should be.”
“Ling, I explained to you last week why I can’t just do that. What happened on my debut? I approached the match against Judas Dathan, Death and Patrick Jones in the wrong way. I lost. What happened this past week in my second match? I approached the match in the correct way. I won. My debut week I remained anonymous until my match and I lacked the cutting edge. I was nervous. It’s like working out without stretching the muscles first; or going on a long road trip with very little petrol. You need to prepare for your match and I didn’t. But for the Quest for the Case I was ready. My rant got into my opponents heads before the match had even started and I was able to overcome them. I felt good in that ring. I felt like I had been in VOW for a long time. It was natural. My debut was different and I’m glad I found my mistake early on or I could have gone on a winless run.”
“Baby, you not have to rant every week.”
“Oh I know I don’t. But I need to get my face out there, you know. I need to make my presence felt, especially early on.”
“Ok baby. Me understand.”
“Thanks.”
“So who opponent this week?”
“It’s actually VOW’s first ever champion, PKA. Patrick Kay Anthony to be
precise. He won their first ever championship this week and he’s on form at the moment.”
“Can you beat him?”
“I’m hoping todays antics go a long way to helping me do just that.”
Ling frowns.
“I need to get into PKA’s mind this week. I’ve spent hours researching him and I know who he is and what he’s all about. For the past 24 hours I have lived inside his mind. I know what he is doing right now.”
“Darling, you so strange.”
“You may well be right, but you haven’t met PKA.”
“Me dough want to.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t. So anyway, like last week I need to let a few things
off my chest. Last week I went to the gym as you know, but this time I’m actually going to need this house to myself.”
“How you mean?”
Ziu takes out his wallet and removes various notes.
“Take yourself shopping and get yourself some new bits.”
“OH BABY! Me can’t do that.”
“No, seriously Ling; I need the house to myself. It’s not going to be a pretty sight.”
“Me don’t like sound of that. Me stay.”
“Ling, it’s not anything bad but I need to move some furniture around and it
may smell a bit in here too.” Before Ling can talk, Ziu continues and speaks even louder. “Don’t worry! I will clean up afterwards.”
Ling doesn’t look too sure. “O…k.”
“Take this.”
Ziu hands his wife the fresh notes.
“Spend every penny. Go wild. Buy yourself something nice.”
“Ok, you win. Thank you baby. Me buy nice dress for you? Me buy something sexy?”
“Ooo yeah, why not, aye.”
Ling kisses her husband but worries what he will get up to in her absence. Looking down at the bags she notices various cans of beer, some strange looking clothing that Ziu would never wear and a tube what looks like make up. Ling ignores it, throws on her cardigan and departs the house leaving Ziu to go ahead with his plans. Ziu looks down at what he has brought home and an evil smirk appears on his face. He rubs his hands together and then turns around and takes a big look at the rest of his house. He starts talking to himself.
“Right…I need that old creaking chair from the attic…as much trash as I can find…something messy, yeah, something messy…what sauces do we have…hmm…oh yeah, and some candles.”
Ziu doesn’t waste any time and rushes around the house to get the equipment that he needs for his plan to work. He slides the briefcase underneath the king-size bed and proceeds with his search around the house as Ling enjoys herself out shopping like all women do.
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The room is in complete darkness. A flame appears and a candle is lit. A second candle is lit followed by a third. A figure is sat on a chair in the middle of what looks like a living room with the sofas along the wall and a TV in the distance. The room is a mess, and trash can be seen scattered all over the floor. Nothing is entirely visible due to the dim light, but you can see there’s rubbish everywhere.
Fresh yogurt and ketchup stains are splashed on the walls and even though you’re not there, you can just taste the fail stench that lingers in the air. A fourth candle is lit and now we have four candles surrounding a grubby, rotten, ancient, wooden chair in the middle of the four walls. Empty rum bottles lie on the carpet along with crushed beer cans.
The figure sitting down lifts his head up and reveals himself to be none other than VOW wrestler, Ziu Zhong. He is not in his usual smart and sophisticated attire, or his modern and fresh wrestling gear, no, this time he is dressed like an absolutely tit. He dons some white baggy basketball shorts and a dull, grey V-neck. He blends in with the eerie background, especially with his guyliner that he is wearing.
Mr Selfie whips out his phone and takes a quick snap before shaking his head as he looks at the outcome. Ziu reaches down to a bag full of beers and cracks open a can and drinks about half before talking to the wrestling world.
“This past week was a good one for me. I won the Quest for the Case match against four other opponents and I was the one who managed to take home the briefcase. Hopefully I don’t have to wait too long to find out the code to get inside it, but I’m patient and I can wait. One thing I wasn’t patient about was getting my hands on Judas Dathan. As you all see at Heatstroke, I proved that I’m the better wrestler as I outclassed him. Judas had to cheat to win on my debut, but I learnt from my mistakes, I was clever, and it was I that took home the prize. I feel refreshed and happy now that I took care of Dathan. He is nothing to me now, and I move on to bigger and better things.”
Ziu looks at his t-shirt and scowls. He brings his arm up to his nose and smells it before looking disgusted.
“Sorry guys, as you should know by now, I don’t dress like this nor do I live in such foul conditions as I am right now. However, my opponent this week, he loves it. As he is meant to be a mentor for VOW fans what with being a champion and all, I was trying to see how great it was to live like the champ but I’ve found that it’s far from great. Very far from it. Look at this place.”
Ziu picks up various empty rum bottles and beer cans and tosses them in the opposite direction. He takes a candle in his hand and circles it around the room to show the horrendous conditions. Food crumbs sink into the sofa, stains on the wall as if a baby has thrown his dinner over it and barely any carpet visible due to the countless takeaway boxes and sweet wrappers being left on the floor. The place is in such terrible condition that you wouldn’t even let your pets go near it, but this is in fact a home that resembles PKA’s own home.
“No one would ever dream of staying in a trashed up nest like this, so how do you do it PKA? Each and every week you run your little promos in your house and I’m absolutely appalled by the living conditions. Every single time you make us watch your home I cringe. I would not be surprised if you have a party up in there with rats, snakes, spiders and god knows what. And you say that you need to drink to perform. You claim to lose when you’re sober and win when you’re drunk. Do you realise how sad that is? You should be banned from wrestling for being a drunk ass.”
Ziu looks himself up and down with laughter at the baggy basketball shorts and V-neck that PKA would wear and then very swiftly pulls a straight face.
“PKA, I respect you for becoming VOW’s first champion and I congratulate you on winning the Xcel tournament, because it’s not easy, but ask yourself this; are you really VOW champion material? Just take a real good look at yourself for a minute.”
Ziu looks around the room and shakes his head. He takes a sip of his beer and then spits it out and throws the can halfway across the room. He then kicks the empty rum bottles crowding his feet and decides to rip off his dull V-neck to reveal a toned, slim physique.
“This is not what children should be looking up to when they watch wrestling. Ridiculous clothes and bottles of alcohol, it’s a joke. You drink, you do drugs, take pills, and quite frankly PKA, you’re an embarrassment to wrestling. How you’ve become VOW’s first ever champion is beyond me. If I were them I would keep you as far as way as the limelight as possible. A drunk cannot represent VOW going forward and everyone needs to realise this.”
Ziu leans forward and stares straight through the cameras lens into PKA’s eyes.
“I’m so glad that I face you this week. It’s a dream match for me coming off a debut lose and the big, big win in the Quest for the Case. I get to humiliate you and show VOW that they made a mistake in making you their first champion. VOW can’t have a drunk as a champion; it’s a simple as that. I’m not going to sit her and claim I want you’re championship belt because I don’t. I’m looking at things in a whole bigger picture and you’re not on my wavelength, PKA, no, you’re not. It’s funny because every time I see you you’re getting your drunken ass beaten by Brett Carson. You’ve lost to him twice already and VOW has only been open three months. Then at the end of Heatstroke you got your ass handed to you by him yet again as he humiliates you seconds after you become a VOW champion. He knocked you spark out; it’s pure comedy. I hope that Brett gets a title shot against you, and I hope he takes that belt off you.”
Ziu motions his hands in the way of a belt around his waist.
“A few weeks back you said that you’re sick and tired of falling down the mountain that is the wrestling rankings. You climbed to the top then you rolled, bounced, bled and bruised all the while falling to the lower part of the mountain. You continue to climb and fall but this week you managed to get to the top and claim victory in the Xcel tournament. Well what I want you to do for me is stop celebrating for a minute, turn round slightly and can you see that mountain there in front of you, yeah, can you see that it’s considerable higher than your mountain? Yeah, well look straight ahead for me and you’ll see a warrior climbing that mountain, and that warrior is me. I’m coming from the bottom and I’m climbing straight past you and on to bigger and better things on a completely different mountain to you. My mountain is huge and I will work hard to get to the top. I’m not content with keep climbing and falling up the same hill for half my life. I’m not you. I like to climb one mountain and then move on to an even bigger one. I’m going to defeat you this week Patrick, and then I’m moving on up.”
Suddenly, Ziu makes a ringing sound with his mouth and takes his phone out of his pocket and answers the imaginary call.
“Hi. Yeah, it’s Ziu speaking. Who’s calling? Oh future. Hi future, how you been? Good to hear. Oh so I defeat PKA this week and show him who’s boss. I hit him with the Ziu Fly and it’s humiliation for VOW’s champ. Ok future, nice catching up with you man, bye.”
Ziu finishes mocking PKA, who also received a phone call from the future a few weeks back, and slips the phone back into his pocket and talks directly to PKA once again.
“Sorry, that was the future on the phone telling me that you’re ass is mine this week.”
Ziu can’t hold it in any longer and laughs out loud for a second. The serious face is soon back on and Ziu goes in again.
“Patrick, I told everyone last week and I’m telling you directly right now; it’s my time to shine and I will shine brighter than ever. It’s only my third week here in VOW but I’m main-eventing a weekly event. I even lost my debut and I’m put up against VOW’s champ just two weeks later. It just shows how highly rated I am here. PKA you have lost 5 matches already and that’s all I have my sights set on right now. You’re beatable and I will make that 5 a 6 come the end of Breakthrough 10. It’s like when your opponent has a knee injury and you work on it and work on it until they crumble. I’m going to work on your loss count and there’s no doubt that I will be making that a 6. I don’t want to come across as arrogant because I’m really not. It’s what I like to call ‘smart confidence’. Even though he cheated, Judas was smarter than me in week one. This past week I was smarter than the other four wrestlers I competed with. Now we move on and PKA, this week I will prove much smarter than you.”
Ziu looks away from the camera and chuckles to himself.
“You make me laugh, Patrick, because we’re now in 2014, heading towards 2015 and you’re still talking about 2003. What’s that all about? No one cares if you were the real deal back in 2003, this is nearly 12 years on and things are completely different. You remind me of those singers with the one hit wonders. Well, in your case you’ve come back and won the VOW Xcel Championship, but overall you’re still living in the past. I can see through you Patrick, and you’re very predictable. You may have been the man back in ‘03 but this is years ahead and you need to stop whining about the past and look to the present and the future.”
Ziu acts out a crying baby with his hands and eyes.
“You once said, and I quote, ‘darkness is deemed as evil, but in my world, I welcome the fade to black’. Well Patrick, that’s just what you’re going to get at Breakthrough when I wipe you out and put you on your back and the ref counts 1…2…3.”
Ziu blows out one of the candles that surround him leaving the three remaining candles still lit.
“You and your pencil don’t scare me. You threaten people with it like it’s some kind of chainsaw but it’s clearly not. I’ve got sharper toe nails than your pencil. See, I don’t need weapons. You can bring your pencil, you can even bring your friend Kris, you can bring whoever and whatever you like, but it won’t stop me making your guyliner run when you cry your eyes out and beg me to stop inflicting pain on you.”
Mr Zhong stands up and whips off the baggy basketball shorts and tosses them across the room leaving him wearing his own wrestling attire that was underneath.
“Let’s get rid of these terrible shorts.”
Ziu shakes his head.
“I just don’t understand you PKA. How can you walk around smelling like you do and acting like you do? You live like an absolutely tramp. You’re officially the face of this company now. How you’ve managed to do it I don’t know, but you have. VOW management need to realise that this needs to change rather promptly. I just hope they have made the right choice by putting something World Visionary Championship related as the prize in the briefcase, because I could certainly be the guy to take this fed forward. Maybe my prize is a title shot at the World belt with a choice of opponent too. Who knows? I may be getting ahead of myself after just a few weeks here, but if you’re ready then why not? I’m putting it out there that I want to be the face for this company. “
Ziu leans forward and puts his face nearer the camera lens. This blocks out some of the weak light but doesn’t affect the delivery of his message that he aims to VOW management.
“I may be very inexperienced in the world of wrestling, but I’m here, I’m happy, I’m in form and I’m looking to the future for VOW. With all this new talent arriving in VOW, along with the talent we already have, we can take this fed skywards. I want to be top of the pile to lead this pack. Let’s get the people back that are away on injury and simply missing, and lets build one of the best wrestling companies ever made. Let me be the face on the advertising boards and PPV posters. The Quest for the Case was fun; I enjoyed being quickest to the prize, and after that victory I feel like I belong here. VOW needs a World Visionary Champion to take the fed up the rankings. VOW needs a champ to look up to. The fans need that light at the end of the tunnel and I can be that light. PKA should not be your light.”
Ziu blows out another candle leaving two still lit. The background is getting less and less visible but the focus is all on Ziu. His focus is still on VOW staff and fans.
“I will defeat your first ever champion and prove that I could have won the Xcel tournament had I not arrived so late. Then again, maybe it was fate? Maybe my arrival was for a reason. Maybe I was meant to sit back over in XWA and let VOW grow its roots and then jump on as they grew out into the world. Maybe I skipped the Xcel tournament for a reason. PKA, you got lucky with my arrival being after the Xcel tournament had started, but now, well, now you’re truly unlucky as you meet somebody you’ll wish you never met.”
Ziu blows out the third candle leaving one remaining candle alight.
“I want children, adults, men and women and every country to sit up and take notice of VOW with the best part of their week being the night VOW airs. The adrenaline and excitement running through me right now for this place is surreal. I’m young, fresh and willing to put my body on the line for everybody associated with this fed. The refs, the cameramen, writers, chef, ticket lady, receptionist; it will be down to everybody to grow this fed and I want to be the one that leads us into this exciting new stage. We have started well and now we can push on. I want to lead this pack into a new era for wrestling.”
The Centipede takes the last remaining candle and holds it beneath his chin showing the viewers just his face. He wants his opponent this week to take him seriously because he means every word.
“PKA, let’s put on a show for the fans this week, but I hope you realise that I need to beat you and I WILL beat you. I respect you for what you have done in the last 10-15 years but Ziu Zhong has arrived and you will be shocked at what I have in the tank. There’s no chance of me cutting out; I have a constant full tank. All I see is acceleration. Go, go, go.”
Double Z licks his lips and looks into the eye of the camera, once again picturing PKA’s eye instead.
“You call yourself the ultraviolent perfectionist and ‘pure perfection’, well come the end of Breakthrough 10 perfection may just well have met its match. I’ve noticed that you forget a lot of your opponent’s names but by the time I’m finished with you you’re going to be saying my damn name in your sleep. I’ll be like Freddy Krueger; I’ll be coming for you in your sleep too.”
Ziu smirks and it’s one of the evilest smirks you could ever imagine. He follows it with reading PKA the famous Freddy Krueger song but the Ziu version.
“One, two, Ziu’s coming for you
Three, four, better lock your door
Five, six, grab your Kris
Seven, eight, gonna stay up late”
Ziu slowly, as if in slow motion, blows out the last remaining candle and the flickering flame glides towards the cameras lens before eventually fading out to black.
Ziu whispers the last line of the song in the darkness.
“……Nine, ten, never sleep again."
