Post by Matt Slater on Sept 3, 2016 21:58:18 GMT -6
With “Hold Your Ground” by Cavo blasting from the speakers, the cameras pan around the scenic Homewood Field in Baltimore, Maryland, taking in the crowd that occupy half the stadium which has been allowed. They go around several times, taking in the atmosphere and the evening sky that hovers above each person in attendance. One camera then focuses in on Axel Reid and Ruby Parvati at ringside.
Axel Reid: What a special venue for a special night in the history of VoW! Ladies and gentleman, welcome to a milestone event, Breakthrough #50! We are live from Homewood Field in Baltimore, Maryland, and these fans here tonight cannot wait to witness all the action VoW provides! I am Axel Reid, and I'm joined as always by my broadcast partner, Ruby Parvati! Ruby, what a glorious night this could be for everyone involved!
Ruby Parvati: Are you being serious or are you being sarcastic? Not everyone is going to have a glorious night. There will be winners and there will be losers! And let me make one thing clear... Stacy Jones is definitely going to be a loser when Casanova English takes out all his aggression and malice on her and proves why he should still be our rightful World Visionary Champion!
Axel Reid: ... You are never going to let that go, are you?
Ruby Parvati: Certainly not! Heatstroke was a great event, but that... that...
Axel Reid: Well as you try to come up with a word that properly defines how you feel, we are going to see some tremendous action tonight. Our Main Event of the evening will have Gwendolyn Massey challenging Constance Chapin for the Xcel Championship in an Xcel Rules Match!
Ruby Parvati: And we have Casanova English going against Stacy Jones!
Axel Reid: I believe we already established that, Ruby.
Ruby Parvati: I just wanted to make it clear, that's all!
Axel Reid: We will also have Ace Watson defending his Zero Gravity Championship tonight against two men, Tristan Ambrose and Jamo, in a Triple Threat Match!
Ruby Parvati: Oh so you actually remembered to advertise his match this time around?
Axel Reid: I felt it was worth mentioning, since it is a championship match.
Ruby Parvati: Good. At least I know his eye is mostly better after what Katie did to him at Heatstroke. That still makes my blood boil...
Axel Reid: Moving on, another match we'll see will be a rematch from our very first Breakthrough show, way back in 2014, as Reya Serra takes on Seth Iser!
Ruby Parvati: How the moons align to create such a match at such a perfect time. Well it won't be perfect for Reya, because Seth has a lot of anger after Matt Slater forced him to tap out at Heatstroke... after suffering his own Black Magic as well!
Axel Reid: And speaking of Matt Slater, he will go one-on-one with Joanna Thade!
Ruby Parvati: War taking on a former knight. Oh the poetic circumstances.
Axel Reid: ... What?
Ruby Parvati: I'm just saying Joanna will show Slater that chaos can never be truly extinguished.
Axel Reid: Then, of course, we have Rayne Draven-Omega taking on a mystery opponent. Now Rayne was supposed to have been suspended until Armed and Dangerous, where she will face Reya Serra in a Weapons Match as sanctioned by our General Manager Ryan Omega, but Sky Sangue overruled her suspension for one night only so that this special match could take place.
Ruby Parvati: If it's the return of Blue Suede Bruce or Starrkadian, I am leaving this stadium and never coming back...
Axel Reid: Just like how you got annoyed Valquist returned, who will be competing tonight as well against the new Quest For The Case Briefcase holder, Datura?
Ruby Parvati: Exactly like that! He shouldn't be allowed here! I keep saying that but it's true!
Axel Reid: Well some things never change... and then there are others that do, as well will also see Winter Pine battling the brand new World Visionary Champion Emma Carlisle!
Ruby Parvati: ... No comment.
Axel Reid: It is going to be a night filled with action, and we--
Suddenly, Axel is cut off as "Unchain Utopia" by EPICA starts playing throughout the stadium. The cameras cut to the ring following the rundown by Ruby Parvati and Axel Reid. Joanna Thade and Katalina Star then appear on stage, flanked by the first five of the Chosen. All seven women walk towards the ring swiftly, and they are wearing similar expressions of satisfaction, particularly War herself.
Ruby Parvati: Whoa, this is quite the group march going on.
Axel Reid: For one specific purpose I imagine, given a certain someone's absense.
All seven women enter the ring, and they all stand in a specific spot, creating an organized shape inside the ring. As Katalina brings up the microphone, "Unchain Utopia" fades out and the fans continue on with their hard-to-divide mix of cheers and catcalls.
Katalina Star: Ladies and gentlemen, drones and pretenders, the awakened and the dying...
Axel Reid: Isn't she just a ray of black sunshine?
Ruby Parvati: Oh, quit bellyaching.
Pausing for effect, Katalina grins and tosses the microphone to her fellow rider. Joanna turns to catch it and resumes where Strife left off, gesturing toward the stage.
Joanna Thade: ...rise and show proper respect to your NEW VoW World Visionary Champion... EMMA CARLISLE!
The lights go down quickly, leading to an increase in the simmering murmurs of the fans under the night sky in Baltimore. After several moments, fog wafts up from beneath the stage, lights going off with a strobe effect meant to resemble lightning white the calculated notes of a synthesizer weave their way through the sound system. Twenty-two seconds in the music picks up in strength and fullness, the strains of The Birthday Massacre's "Midnight" wafting through the speakers and into the arena at full power. After a few moments before the lights come up in tints of blue and purple, a spotlight shining down on a single figure standing within the fog at the top of the ramp with a confident pose.
Axel Reid: Ladies and gentlemen... the woman who ended the dominant, record-setting reign of the Modern Day Messiah at Heatstroke.
Ruby Parvati: I'll never forgive her, her Horsewomen or Brett Carson for that, but I have to respect the fact that she IS the new champion just as she said she would become.
The fog melts away and Emma soaks in the, perhaps surprisingly, mostly-positive reaction to her arrival. In a long black dress beneath a black cloak clasped at her shoulder with a silver skull, the World Visionary Championship draped over her shoulder, Emma makes her way down to the ring with an expression of pure satisfaction and determination. Reaching the steps, she ascends to the apron as Joanna and Katalina hold the ropes for her to enter the ring. The champion does so with grace, walking to the ropes to face the fans and holding the championship up high in her right hand.
Axel Reid: Not to insult the woman, but I don't think anyone expected this when Emma stated that she was putting English in her sights. The man tore through his competition week in and week out, fighting through some of the most vicious pay-per-view matches in our company's short history. No one can ever say that the Modern Day Messiah wasn't a fighting champion.
Ruby Parvati: He damn sure was. And Emma will be extremely lucky to match half of what he did. Winning the title, after all, is the easy part. Now it's time for her to show that she can keep it. Many before her have tried and failed.
Axel Reid: If I were a betting man, I'd say she has a good shot if she keeps up the level of intensity she's shown over the last few months since Fate of the Gods II.
Ruby Parvati: Losing to the Neon Twits really lit a fire under her butt, that's for sure.
Draping the title back over her shoulder, Emma leans in to Katalina Star, saying something in her ear that makes Strife smile widely. Turning to Joanna and accepting the microphone from her, Death and War briefly share a kiss before Emma brings up the stick. "Midnight" fades out and the fans continue to react loudly to the new champion... so much that she has to pause for another moment to let the reaction run its course.
Axel Reid: Not as divided as it used to be, Ruby. The fans are starting to come around on this woman now.
Ruby Parvati: Bandwagon jumpers. I've been a fan of hers since the start. They can wave around their lit-up cell phones all they want but Death knows who's been naughty and who's been nice.
Axel Reid: Making her one decidedly-evil Mrs. Claus. And you were only a fan until she faced your favorites.
Ruby Parvati: Even so. She's the champion and these people are showing due respect.
Another couple of seconds, and the subtle smile that Emma had been wearing since she made her entrance... completely disappears. The cold visage of the woman who has termed herself the End of All Things goes from exultant (by her standards) to game-faced in a blink. She looks out at the masses and starts slowly, methodically.
Emma Carlisle: The fight... is NOT over.
Every other woman in the ring nods solemnly as Emma gives a moment for those words to sink in.
Emma Carlisle: Casanova English, I know you're backstage lurking around, wondering whether you should come down and say a few words or perhaps offer respect like your fellow Orphan did over social media. Or maybe you want to rally the troops and storm the ring to make an example of the woman who dared to take this...
She holds up the championship to another brief round of cheers and boos before laying it back to rest.
Emma Carlisle: ...from you after almost a year of dominance. And you were so VERY dominant. Not even Death can take that from you, English, nor can the fight you gave to keep this gold around your waist be understated. It would be too easy to make snide remarks and run you into the mud like an animal, but... I'm not going to do that. Not out of respect, but because grinding what's left of you, the memory of your long reign, into dust would only weaken the reign that I have just begun. Consider that gesture the closest you're ever going to get to a kind word out of any of us, and consider more carefully in the future the next time you overlook someone like me. It could cost you everything.
Death pauses, looking at the gold over her shoulder before, for just a moment, that smile peeks out again.
Emma Carlisle: I will not make those same mistakes. And should the day come that another warrior steps forth to challenge Death and defies fate by taking this title from me? I will not turn tail and run like a scolded beast. I will turn around, rip apart everyone and everything in my path until I have gained another opportunity and make them regret ever hearing my name.
Axel Reid: A... pointed shot at the former champion, Ruby. He's taking his leave of VoW after tonight, I hear.
Ruby Parvati: He feels wronged, which I don't blame him for. But just up and refusing to resign? It leaves me with a sour taste. As I'm betting it does not only with his fans but with his former stablemates as well.
Axel Reid: I don't doubt that we'll see him back again at some point, though.
Emma Carlisle: And I know they will come. There ARE those who would risk everything, sacrificing life and limb, all that they love and hold dear... for this title. One can never guess where the next challenge may come from. Perhaps those who play with power will take my advice and position Stacy Jones for a long-overdue opportunity at my title. Or maybe we'll get a call back to another life and time, and see Constance Chapin make a run for my prize. It might even be some bum off the streets if those in charge think for one moment that some dingy alley-dweller has half a chance to survive a dance with Death. All this and more I welcome, for as champion it is my sworn, devoted duty to cull the weak and pluck from the debris the strong, those who will stand tall when the end comes. Survival of the fittest is the rule of Visionaries of Wrestling now and you are all looking at the Queen of the Mountain.
Her grip on the championship visibly tightens, as does the ferocity of her expression.
Emma Carlisle: But allow me to enlighten those of you who still don't know who and what I am: Chaos is what I thrive on. I never know who's coming at me or from what direction, and I LOVE it. Send one, send all... and tell them to bring something to bury themselves with as I leave challengers stacked like cordwood next to the bloody road I forever walk.
The look in her eyes dares an argument as Emma lowers the mic a moment, the fans liking this attitude from the champion before she resumes.
Emma Carlisle: As I said, the fight isn't over. This championship comes with a lot of pride and a lot more pressure. Now, as if they weren't before, all eyes are on Death and, by extension, the Horsewomen. The pressure is on for us to live up to our mission and to carry the battle to the next level. And we will do just that. It starts tonight as my lovely War takes on Matt Slater and our wicked Strife, along with Blink, takes on Casa De Kami. And it continues further as I step into the ring with the Big Bad Wolf herself, Winter Pine.
A lot of boos go out at the mention of Winter in stark contrast from the cheers that had followed mentions of Slater and Casa De Kami. Emma lets them die down before continuing.
Emma Carlisle: I made my intentions clear where you're concerned already, Winter. There's no need to belabor that point. This match of ours is an important one, for me as well as for you. It will show the difference between Death on the hunt... and Death ruling all she surveys. You are a strong, cunning and ruthless woman and for that alone you earn a little respect. But you are just that: a woman. Had the fates saw fit, you might be standing with us right now and not against us. But it was not to be. You will be the first of many to fall as I seek to eclipse the reign of Casanova English and bring this company to its rightful place atop all others. If you, any of you…
She points sharply at the path to the locker room, then out at the fans in attendance.
Emma Carlisle: ...think we were dangerous before, that all we're capable of has already been shown... then I pity you. With this title over my shoulder, I will be more relentless than ever as will the warriors I ride alongside. Starting tonight, we prove that. Welcome to a brand new Chaos.
Tossing the microphone to Jerry Heisenberg outside the ring, Emma once more holds the championship in the air as "Midnight" starts to play again, the rest of her group standing at her side and behind her.
Axel Reid: Sounds like Winter Pine might be in for the fight of her life. If even half of what Emma says is true, we haven't seen anything yet.
Ruby Parvati: She won't slide past Winter easily, Axel, but the Big Bad Wolf had best be prepared for a whopper of a battle.
The Horsewomen leave the ring en masse, heading up the ramp as Breakthrough cuts to a brief promo for the Armed and Dangerous PPV coming up in a few weeks.
