Post by ZƎRO on Oct 29, 2016 20:39:53 GMT
Immediately Following Vendetta.
Issak Otto helped his Larsen International partner, ZERO, backstage immediately after they failed to secure a victory against Arianny DeLise and Bryce Albright. Even though he was masked, ZERO still clutched at his eye after Arianny stabbed him with a nail file. Traces of blood covered his hand after removing it on doctor’s orders. He sat on a chair backstage now, two doctors on the DeLise payroll examining the masked fighter. The camera remained positioned behind him, obstructing the view when he was ordered to remove his mask.
“This doesn’t look good..” the doctor said after he looked at the wound, dabbing at it immediately with gauze to soak up the blood. ZERO’s heavy breathing was audible. It wasn’t due to pain, but due to anger and frustration. He lost his focus tonight. He was in the position to give Ari the Year ZERO, but instead he gave it to Bryce. And after that? Ari withdrew the nail file and, well you know how it ended.
Behind ZERO, Issak paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair. It was then that Lauren Parker walked into the picture. “What happened?” Stupid question, really. She knew. Issak was quick to respond - “We failed, that’s what happened. We couldn’t win. Bryce’s big stupid body was in the way. I couldn't break the pin after Arianny stabbed ZERO.” He sighed, “We failed Larsen Inc. We failed Miles. We couldn’t win as a team and then we were attacked.”
Lauren softly patted Isaak's shoulder, but right now comforting him wasn’t top priority. She had to focus on the well-being of ZERO. Moving to stand by his side, her eyes fell down to him. He breathed heavily, sitting hunched forward slightly. “What do you think, doc?” she says, lifting her eyes. By the look on his face, she could tell it wasn’t going to be good.
“I’m not sure right now, Miss. From what I can tell, the nail file missed the internal carotid and the optic nerves. He’s very lucky in that respect. There may be minimal damage to his vision right now but it should return to normal.” She sighed a sigh of relief. “What about his match coming up?” she said. That was the cause of his uneasiness. He reluctantly spoke. “I..uh..I can’t give medical clearance for that. It’s too risky.”
ZERO picked up his head, eye(s) up to the doctor. “What do you mean?” Lauren finally said. “This is the biggest match of his career. This is everything he’s been working for. Bryce Albright for the Absolute Championship. You can’t not clear him for this match.” The doctor looked apologetically at Lauren, “Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I cannot clear him to step inside of a steel cage at Screamfest. The risk of further injury is highly elevated in that scenario.”
“Maybe you’re right” Lauren said, which caused ZERO to tense up, “For months Bryce has gone after him with attacks not only to him, but to all of Larsen International. Miles? He’s out because Bryce and Shawn DeLise shattered his knee. Bryce started all of this the night he attacked ZERO and took his mask.” She spoke quickly and sighed heavy afterword. “Bryce will be looking to finish what he started and I understand that this is very dangerous.”
“It’s best that we just put this on the back-burner for now. We will have to wait for our chance at revenge, no matter how much it angers and upsets us.” She looked from ZERO to Issak, who also looked upset by her decision. “I get that it’s personal for you two. I get that you both want revenge for what happened to Miles, but playing a bad hand against the house is always a bad idea. Bryce has everything to his advantage. He’s bigger, stronger, quicker and technically superior to ZERO. It’s best that we go back to the drawing board and come up with another plan of…”
She’s cut off by the immediate actions of ZERO. Shooting up to his feet, but still maintaining his angle against the camera to hide his face, he snapped. “NO.” he shouted. “I worked too damn hard for this opportunity to lose it like this. I fought through everything Shawn DeLise and company have put me through all because of Miles Larsen.” Lauren took a step back from him as he turned to the doctor.
“You are not canceling this match for me. That title match is mine and I will climb into that cage or walk through hell if I have to. You, Lauren, Larsen or even Issak - I don’t care if any of you think I’m well enough for this match; I’m not going to let anyone stop me. I’m not going to let Arianny DeLise’s actions tonight stop me and I’m certainly not going to let Bryce Albright stop me. Bryce took my mask months ago. He spat on the beliefs and tarnished the heritage of the Luchador when he did that. That is why this is personal.”
He shot his eyes to Lauren, who just stood back speechless. “You may doubt me because Bryce is so much better than me in every aspect that you mentioned. But this match isn't going to just be about technical ability. He wants to go to war with me finally? He's going to have to go through hell to win. It's going to be an endurance battle, and endurance is a thing that Bryce lacks.”
“Agility is another thing that a cage match demands that you have. Bryce is a big, blundering fool and will probably fall of the cage just trying to escape. And above all else? I have situational awareness, something that Bryce doesn't. I have the in-ring intelligence to use the environment to my advantage. All while Bryce is going the route of trying to over power me to death. We've seen how well that works.”
He paused. “He thinks this is about the mask? He can keep it. Him taking it was the catalyst that began this rivalry, but it’s become more about the championship that I’ve had to scratch and claw my way to. Nothing is going to stop me from achieving what I should have a long time ago if it wasn’t for my agents.” ZERO stopped, letting that sink into Lauren's mind.
“I’m going to be at Screamfest and if anyone tries to stop me, then they will suffer just like Bryce Albright will. They will regret stepping in my path, just like Bryce Albright will regret every decision he’s made. The Steel Cage match is going to be the death of the Bryce Empire.”
ZERO then began walking away from everyone. However, the camera picked up the audible sound of him saying, “Cero Miedo” to himself over and over again.Zero Fear.
