Zeel1

I keep thinking some up and then forgetting them by the time I get to writing them here... - A worker or team accuses another of copying their look, style, finisher and/or nickname. - A worker or team is outright impersonating another, much to their chagrin. (The above might sound similar but they're pretty distinct. Think of the first as a Hulk Hogan/Superstar Billy Graham scenario whereas the second is more akin to Undertaker vs. Undertaker) - Two workers of similar style want to see who is the best technician/high flier/hardcore wrestler ect. - A larger worker becomes protective of a smaller one.

Love the look of the list, very nice~ - A monster is unhappy with being fed enhancement talents, keeps making open challenges after squash matches until someone can give them a real fight. - A babyface befriends/mentors a heel, trying to get them to turn over a new leaf. The face stops them any time they try to cheat. - After a particularly intense battle, two heated rivals come to respect one another and form an alliance.

Yeah I think I'm just gonna be adding more whenever they hit me... - In the lead-up to a big match with someone's mask or hair on the line, the heel repeatedly unmasks or shaves low-level workers to send a message. This can be done officially in road agent notes or merely in angles, where someone shaves a little hair or steals a mask without a stip. - A heel champion with their own stable forces any potential challenger to run the gauntlet before making a defense. This means they must face and defeat everyone in the group consecutively, usually from least to most threatening. - A heel champion has a particular challenger that they really, REALLY do not want to defend against and they do everything in their power to duck their attempts. This can coincide with the above, but they can also do things like offer title matches to others first, or otherwise make sure one of them is too busy. (The above is a little vague so as an example, my tag champs were a tandem called the Bloodletters - Bruiser Brody and Billy Jack Haynes - and the No. 1 Contenders were the Rock 'N Roll Express. They earned a title match but the Bloodletters did everything they could to avoid a title match whilst always claiming this was not the case, it was always framed like a coincidence that it never happened. They would generally get involved in singles feuds to get booked in one-on-one matches on major shows instead, and also joined a Survivor Series team partly so they could do this instead of defend their titles. Brody even managed to challenge for the WWF title instead of defend the belts on one episode of Saturday Night's Main Event! This was all actually a follow-up to the Best of Seven story, RNR won the shot at SummerSlam by finally beating the Beautiful Hammers but they didn't end up getting the shot until the Royal Rumble!)

Thank you very much~ I'm particularly proud of the second one because I'm certain I've never actually heard of a tag team best of seven before, but I saw a chance for a unique story and took it. If you're curious, the faces were the Rock 'N Roll Express and the heels were the Beautiful Hammers, a team I made up consisting of Greg Valentine and Bobby Eaton. The other one is from when I was much younger (it was actually an EWR thing!) and looking at it now it had some holes in it that I'd probably be better about sealing up today... but I still think the spirit of it is pretty cool. The group was kind of a weird one, the leader was Raven, the one who refused to take the title that way was William Regal and he went on to beat Kane in the finals. I also came up with several more immediately after I made that post, as is wont to happen... - A champion is pinned in a tag match/tournament of some sort to set up a title match later. - A champion retains their title via time limit draw, setting up a rematch with either no time limit or a much more forgiving one. - A stable decides to kick out one of it's members for one reason or another. But one of them - the ex-member's closest ally - refuses to join in on the beatdown and finds themselves torn between loyalties. - Worker refuses to fight their family member, no matter what they do to them. - A worker who either just lost a title or a major match against their arch rival refuses to show up again under any circumstance until they're granted a rematch. - Worker holds back against an opponent out of concern, either due to size difference, gender or injury. The opponent is offended and does everything they can to get them to fight seriously, out of sheer pride. - Specific to organizations with gimmicks that are passed down, the most recent generation of a character is attacked by a jealous sort who, for whatever reason, believes they should've been given the honor. (ex. In my BHOTWG game, Elemental III has to deal with this a lot. American Elemental appeared to try and take the mask, believing that he'd earned it with his years of growing his own legacy. Later, MYSTIC Dragon comes after him, claiming that as the son of the original Elemental, he is the rightful heir.) - An older ace of a company feels the clock ticking and becomes increasingly desperate to hold onto their top spot. - An aging worker who was never quite a main eventer seeks to finally win a world title before they retire. - A worker finds that they have one particular rival that they just can't seem to beat, no matter how hard they try. But they keep going for it, even if it takes years. - Linked to the above but taking it a step further: two workers rise up the ranks simultaneously. One of them always wins their respective level's title first but without fail, the other beats them for it every single time and they can never win a rematch. They keep trying until it gets upgraded to a world title feud. - Workers feud over differing wrestling philosophies. They take exception to their opponent's cartooniness/high flying/hardcore wrestling/charisma void/boring oldschool stallfests/meatheaded posedowns/size/age/whatever else and believe with all their heart that them and everyone like them are ruining wrestling.

Apologies if some of these are a bit too long and need a summary but I like detailing these things... - Two workers with big winning/undefeated streaks find themselves on a collision course. - A worker is injured but is wrestling through it anyway. His tag partner, out of concern for his well-being, always hesitates to tag him in out of fear of exacerbating the injury. Though they're both well meaning, this causes a rift. - Worker blames their manager for a big loss/losing streak, rightly so or otherwise, and attacks them. Manager goes out to find a new client to get revenge on their old one. - A tag team is forced into hiatus due to injury. The active worker finds a new partner while the old one is on the shelf and they find success, or the active worker goes into a singles career and finds success. Either way, when the injured worker returns, they're bitter and jealous. - During a match with no feud, one babyface injures another over the course of the bout with an otherwise routine maneuver. They're remorseful and it was clearly an accident, just something that happens in wrestling. After a couple of weeks, the other worker comes back and goes out of their way to injure the face on purpose. - Worker is fired, banned from the company or loses a loser leaves town match. A corrupt authority figure agrees to bring them back but only on the pretense that they'll agree to do whatever they say. - In the face of a major threat (ie. an invasion that puts the whole company at risk) a formerly broken up tag team agrees to reunite, just this once. - Two or more factions find themselves trying to court the same worker into joining their ranks. - Over the course of a tournament, a worker or team that was beaten in an early round interferes and costs whoever eliminated them in the next round out of spite. - In a tournament, a draw in another match gives a worker or team the advantage of a bye. - In a double elimination tournament, a worker or team is taken into the loser's round early, perhaps by dirty means, only to rise all the way back up and get a shot at revenge against them in the grand finals. These are probably a bit too specific to fit into a list of generic story beats but I'm fond of them and wanna share. And you actually can take bits and pieces from what happens in them and twist them your own way. - The leader of a stable, whilst already a midcard champion, wins a world title. By the rules of the promotion they cannot be a double champion. Wanting to keep all the gold in the group, he offers to hand the midcard title to one of his stablemates, rather than vacate it. However, the stablemate refuses, finding this to be disrespectful to the title and a dishonorable way to become a champion. Angry, the leader kicks him out of the group. The title is vacated and a tournament is held. The newly turned babyface fights through the tournament, facing and defeating another former stablemate in the finals to win the title the right way. - In a tag team Best of Seven, the babyface team fights to a 2-1 advantage to start off. Clearly not confident in their chances of turning the tide the fair way, the heel team assaults the face team and injures one of their partners, forcing the other to continue the series in handicap matches, hoping to be able to buy enough time for his fallen friend to recover. He fights valiantly but the numbers aid the heels to two wins, a 3-2 lead. With the series on the line and his back against the wall, the face miraculously wins the third handicap match, tying it up. In the final match, the injured partner makes a surprise return to even the odds and win the series.

There's only one answer... The remnants of both teams must join forces. 'Tis fate.

<p><strong>New Old School</strong> - Intended for modern-era promotions actively attempting to present a throwback to the golden age companies. It's presentation is largely drenched in tradition, nostalgia, and a dose of realism. It has a much bigger emphasis on promo work than most. However it can't help but have comparatively more modernized in-ring work than the old ways, due to current sensibilities - though they do hold themselves back to an extent. </p><p> </p><p> A slight distinction meant to properly emulate NWA Powerrr.</p>

I'm not totally sure if doing this product is even possible in TEW, it might need some engine reworking to be viable and doing that for a single product doesn't seem worth it. But I like the idea and there's no harm in putting it out there... Memetic Wrestling - Something of a satirical self-parody promotion aimed at a base that appreciates ironic humor. It's got an equal measure of promos, skits and matches. Angles and storylines are tongue-in-cheek and good comedy is rewarded. However a key feature is that the audience has a special appreciation for genuinely poor workers or cringey promos. A bad wrestler would legit be better received than a good one. Aside from that, this one seems a bit of an essential... Sports Entertainment Xtreme - This takes the Attitude Entertainment core and amps it to absurdity. It's a shamelessly racy product, with as much sex and mature content as their distributor would allow, and regularly shatters the fourth wall rather than just lean on it. Most matches and in fact most angles are very short, but there are always tons of each on a given show. A worker's qualities are not factored into their booking whatsoever. Bro. Need to get that Russo flavor goin', bro. Stoner or Absurdist could maybe work in a pinch, but neither seem to get across how rique or ridiculous the philosophy is. I also know that it might be something better tailored to an actual booker but... theoretically it has to be done for some kind of audience, right? I suppose for early TNA, you could use a similar parallel that I gave to WWE, where the promotion itself would have an indy-riffic product to build a fanbase around, but then it would be booked like the above to constantly alienate that base.

Hardcore Evolved - This product takes a lot from Anti Establishment Hardcore, but tones down the blood and sex, removing most of the more immature aspects so as to take itself more seriously. It also plays itself more workrate oriented with diverse styles. Nonetheless it takes on a cult-like air and isn't afraid to be violent or controversial, priding itself on being an edgy alternative. This is an attempt to be a close approximation of what Impact Wrestling currently is. Very much an updated ECW vibe.

I actually kinda think sticking with the same product kinda works to depict things, because basically they have a lot of modern day super talented workrate folks having really good matches but rarely ever getting over and that's... mostly because the booking is terrible but also partly because they always conditioned their fans to think of the wrestling as secondary. They trained them over decades to expect big stars and moments, popping for entrances and finishes. Thus they aren't people who will get into good matches just because they're good matches. They aren't like a lot of old Nitro crowds for example, that could at times get into a good lengthy match between nobodies. So as far as depicting that accurately in TEW goes, it'd be fair enough to have it as a Sports Entertainment company that regularly puts on long matches between talented but not particularly over workers. That would certainly not be the strategy one would use in that type of game so it makes sense that it fails in real life as well. By contrast, I suppose NXT is basically LuchaResu...

Grindhouse Lucha - Even more over the top than normal, this unique form of lucha libre exists in it's own universe where any and everything can happen. More akin to a karate or action movie than a sport. Significantly darker and edgier than the typical comic book fare, with storylines inspired by the grindhouse film genre. Workrate still has significance but matches tend to be relatively short, with emphasis on a fast pace and occasional intense violence. In other words, the Lucha Underground product. Telenovela might be intended to fulfill that but I'd like for a product to go a little deeper into what it's about, since most soap operas don't include people ripping out still-beating hearts and eating faces.

Okay so I'm running this custom-made fed in an early 2000s real world mod. It sorta uses a sports presentation, it's called the Wrestling Premier League. Admittedly just an unused C-Verse promotion name that I'm really fond of and like to go with. After a few in-game years, I've recently grown to the point where I was comfortable making a developmental promotion. In going with the theme, I just named it Wrestling Minor League. Not super fond of WML as an acronym, I ended up just having 'Minors' as the shortened name. And that's why this screencap exists.

<p>Life comes at you fast...</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="hkCVQEm.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hkCVQEm.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="FYzKlFb.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/FYzKlFb.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Poet Justice" data-cite="Poet Justice" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="41231" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Can I get this Mikey Lau :<p> </p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/rTi2tN5.jpg?1</span></p><p> </p><p> With this matching/a similar tattoo?:</p><p> </p><p> <span>http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/Sigilistic/TCW%20Renders/FrankiePerez_alt2_zpsaf49756a.jpg</span></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> This was done in about the laziest way possible, don't even have Photoshop handy right now, but it doesn't actually look bad all things considered... this alright?</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="u2HRG6z.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/u2HRG6z.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

<p>Just sharing a few of my old ones from the <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=542651" rel="external nofollow">earlier attribute thread</a> - I'm not sure if it was ever actually studied previously so I figured I'd link it so people can bring suggestions from there into here.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Weekend Warrior</strong> - This worker will absolutely not care the level of show they're on and work just as hard in front of 50 as they will 50,000. (I think the opposite of this where they specifically go hard on big stages was already suggested.)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Red Light Champion</strong> - This wrestler will give it their all on televised shows, but hold back if the cameras aren't rolling.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> These effect owners and bookers:</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Expansion Hungry:</strong> Will ferociously seek to expand into other markets, perhaps to the point of going too fast and making rash decisions.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Comfort Zone:</strong> Fearing overexertion, this is the classic owner who settles into a home region and rarely if ever attempts to go beyond it.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Ally:</strong> Philosophically in favor of Alliances, will be more likely to join existing alliances and potentially start new ones.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Individual:</strong> Naturally opposed to Alliances, determined to reject any invites and will never start a new one.</p>

So Curry Man's in Michinoku Pro, won one of their titles about seven months ago and... he's had, a reign. This is particularly striking because no defense before this ended in count out. I suppose this is part of his gimmick over there.

So I'm in a real world save in 2003 and PWG just came into existence... This is somewhat of a different universe.

Really glad you love it so much~ And I was just talking about the arrows... ...but yes I am already planning season 2.

Just wanna thank EBEZA for nominating me for August's DOTM! Much appreciation in advance to anyone who votes for me. More than anything I just want more people to read this, and getting into the DOTM seems like a great way to raise awareness so it means a lot to me. Incidentally, I've also quietly added a feature of a sort to this diary. You may notice every chapter title is now fitted with some arrows. Click on the right ones and you'll be sent to the next chapter, click on the left and you'll go to the previous. Obviously the first and latest chapters only have the one set of arrows. I still dunno if I like how it looks but it's functional. Formatting them all was actually more time-consuming than I expected them to be, heh. I'm thinking of eventually adding a second series of this which will let you go from show-to-show specifically.

<p><em>For your prediction needs...</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">IFL Bitter End Card</span></p><p> </p><p> Bobby Roode vs. Jay Briscoe</p><p> <strong>Submission Match:</strong> Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Alberto El Patron</p><p> The Lucha Brothers vs. Marty Scurll & Tomohiro Ishii</p><p> Johnny Galaxy vs. Tetsuya Naito</p><p> <strong>Hardcore Do Or Die Match:</strong> Terry Funk vs. Sami Callihan</p><p> <strong>Immunity Championship:</strong> Kevin Owens © vs. Seth Rollins</p><p> <strong>Do Or Die Match:</strong> Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi</p></div><p></p><p></p>

<< .27 Battlelines It should go without saying that the mood was different after what had occurred last night. Darker, drearier than even a typical day amongst the warriors of the IFL. Frightmare wasn't close to most, if any, on the roster, that was true. He had tried but struggled to make any real connections in his near two months on this alien den of madness. But in seeing him hang there, dead by his own hand rather than another's, choosing to die before he chose to kill... this fact almost made it worse. There was a deep sense of regret... regret that they hadn't been more receptive to him. Regret that they hadn't counted him among their friends and gotten to know him better. Regret that they weren't there to offer him comfort or security. It was, in many ways, a common reaction to one's suicide. And in that sense, in a tragic sort way, it was a scenario closer to home than any of them had felt in quite some time. Frightmare's death only intensified the dread that they all felt as they were headed towards the appropriately named Bitter End event. They knew that atleast two more deaths were guaranteed to take place, with two Do Or Die matches set. One, a sure-to-be-grotesque hardcore match in which Terry Funk will do everything his 74-year-old body could possibly manage to take down Sami Callihan and avenge the fallen Tommy Dreamer. But the other... the other was a match neither combatant would've ever asked for. Kenny Omega... Kota Ibushi... the Golden Lovers, in a match that will not end until one of their plugs are pulled. A sadistic machination of Malell's own doing, looking to fire an arrow into the heart of the Pact. In addition, Johnny Galaxy has promised to take out Tetsuya Naito once and for all on that same night... and of course, Kevin Owens will be defending his Immunity Championship against Seth Rollins. The leader of the Sole Survivors and his bloodthirsty teammates will do anything to keep that title in their midst. And Rollins is of course nursing a severe concussion which only seems to be worsening by the day... Time seemed to move so slow to these warriors on most occasions, but the nights ahead of the Bitter End seemed to be racing by with a merciless quickness. They were facing the event down like the blinding light of an oncoming freight train... ----- The night after that last episode of Bloodsport, they sat on opposing beds, taping up their fists. They weren't even sparing each other the slightest of glances for quite some time as they seemed to be trying to mentally prepare themselves for what laid ahead. Everyone else was doing their damnedest to recuperate and ensure their health for what laid ahead. But here they were doing this. Were they crazy...? Yeah, probably. But this seemed the only way to settle their dispute... well, no. It would be more accurate to say it's the first way that came to their mind. It... usually was. Mark Briscoe stood up, exactly as his brother Jay did the same. He couldn't help but smirk at that. They tended to be in sync like that... "You ready?" Jay asked, just to confirm anyway. Mark bit the stray, hanging bit of tape off, pulling the rest all the more taut across his fists and spat it aside. "Hell yeah." The only reason they even had that tape was because they always kept it with them back home for just such an occasion. Jay pounded his fists together. "Good... then go." he grumbled before charging forward, a fist reared back. ----- Alberto El Patron paced hurriedly back and forth, in front of his teammates. He was seething, repeatedly thumping his chest and mumbling various Spanish obscenities to himself. It was almost impressive. He'd maintained this exact intensity level for nearly 24 straight hours now. "I'm really gonna have to ask you to stop that." Roode grumbled, his heel repeatedly thumping the floor. "You're putting us all on edge." "But I can beat him! Goddammit, I know I can!" he hissed. He turned to his comrades and yelled, "You saw what happened out there! That son of a bitch... that 'ZSJ'... I'll make him pay." "I'd have thought you'd have wanted another crack at Charlotte." Penta replied. "After uh... what she did to you in that match..." "Oh she deserves every bit of pain coming to her too!" Alberto noted. "And I will gladly snap that coño's arm and send her to her death afterwards, but I have to take down Zack Sabre Jr. first... that cabrón thought he could make me tap out! He challenged me to see who could best the other in submissions! And then he dared surprise me with a roll-up! A roll-up?!" "...Is this really that big a deal to you?" Callihan sighed. "Hell yes it is!" Alberto spat. "I am the greatest submission wrestler here, by far, by far! Zack Sabre Jr. is a pretender! His holds are pretty... but no real wrestler would ever get caught in one!" Suddenly he stopped pacing and whirled around to face his leader. "Owens!" he shouted, storming up and placing his hands on Kevin's shoulders. The others seemed to twitch at this... he didn't generally like being touched. Owens just stared up at Alberto blankly as the fiery grappler yelled, "You are in with Malell! We all know it! He does you favors! So tell him this... I want Zack Sabre Jr. at the Bitter End, and I want him in a Submission match! He will have no choice but to play my game and see how superior I am... and once he taps, I will end him!" Kevin Owens stared at Alberto for a few moments more, before slowly taking him by the wrists and removing his hands from his shoulders. "...You want this match that badly huh?" "I need it!" Alberto hissed. "I can beat this guy, I know I can beat this guy!" Owens nodded. "...Y'know, usually I don't think we'd bother with petty stuff like this. But lucky for you, Zack is pretty high on the hitlist. And the less allies Rollins can have backing him up out there, the better. So okay. You'll get your shot. Guarantee it." Alberto finally smiled for the first time that day, chortling and pumping his fists as he continued pacing around the room - happily this time. As he did this, Owens looked up at where he presumed one of the places' many hidden cameras were. He knew he didn't really have to tell Malell anything, not to his face... ----- Later that night... Mark Briscoe found himself crumpled to the floor. His blood was all over his brother's fists... albeit the same could be said for Jay. But Mark was the first to fall. "O-Okay... you win..." Mark sputtered. "You can... challenge Roode." Jay smirked... and then stumbled his way over to give Mark a hand. Mark reached up to grab for it, but when Jay tried to pull him up, he just found himself collapsing instead... Just a day in the life. ----- Marty sat at the couch, as he tended to during the nights, his chin buried in his hands as he slumped over. There was a noticeably blank space next to him... Charlotte walked through the main room, checking up on him. "You holding up okay?" He looked up at her, pretending to be surprised. "Yeah. No issues. Aside from the usual..." She sat next to him, and looked him in the eye. "Marty, I... know you thought of Frightmare as a friend." He bowed his head... he was keeping up a good calm facade, aside from the trembling bottom lip. "...Yeah. Yeah we tended to talk a fair bit. I uh... I know he always wanted me to take the Pact. And I was always urging him to join our group... but I was too pessimistic to go with him, and he was... just too damn nice to be one of us." He paused, wringing his hands together. He glanced back up at Charlotte and lamented, "If we had... if we could've banded together out there, maybe... this wouldn't have had to happen..." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You can't... you can't go on thinking like that. Not... on Earth, and certainly not here." He gave her a knowing glance... "Ah. That's right... I'm sorry..." "No, please. Believe me, I know where you're coming from." Charlotte assured him. She sighed, a thoughtful pause. "...Even, just here, even aside from suicides... we've already lost so many good people to this. I... I hated Madison so much, I was so furious with what she'd done, but... even with her, I had the feeling that if I were just stronger, if she actually felt safe with me backing her up, things would've been different." She leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. "And I often think, if this group had started earlier... we could've joined it together. Us, and Fabian..." "Aichner?" Marty asked. "I didn't think you two were friends." "We weren't... not exactly." Charlotte answered. "But after our match at Killer Instinct, we shared a moment. A moment of respect. And that meant a lot to me. He was, the first to take me seriously as an opponent, the first to fight me for real. God knows he didn't want to, but he got there. And that was huge for me. Just being seen as an equal, meant everything. I was so scared of being targeted for weakness, so scared to be a victim... I guess I preferred being the aggressor." "I get that." Marty nodded. "Yeah, we've lost a lot of fine blokes... just, seems like we're so powerless to it. Even if you try, you'll never save everyone. I guess that's why I struggled so much with the idea of joining in with the Pact. The thought of putting that burden on yourself, only to fail and watch people die anyway... I don't think I could deal with that." Charlotte nodded. "Same here. Thanks for talking to me, Marty, I know it's been tough for you to open up to people around here." "Aye, same to you." ----- After Alberto's rant was over and the others dispersed, Fenix laid on the bed, alone in that room. He flipped over to his front and peeked under the bed. Just, to make sure what he'd put under there hadn't been taken away. He was paranoid the cleaning staff would swipe it, or else one of his comrades would spot it... but so far, so good. Fenix heard the door slide open and awkwardly jutted up, turning to see his brother Penta walk in. He had a bit of a dour expression on his face. "H-Hey. Is something the matter?" Fenix asked, shooting to his feet. Penta motioned for Fenix to come in close. He spoke under his breath. "I need to talk to you about what happened out there. With you and Frightmare." A bit of a shiver went down Fenix's spine. He wasn't really ready to discuss the situation, but he saw little choice. "Wh-what about it? I won..." "Yes, after I helped you. Even though you shouldn't need my help against a guy like him." Penta hissed. "By the end it seemed you didn't even want to win. You spent that whole match going easy on him until he forced your hand. I had to make you finish him off... you want to explain that to me? 'Cause I'm the one who has to explain it to Kevin." "I... just, it wasn't that important of a match, from my perspective." Fenix claimed. "I was really more focused on, getting an elimination than taking him out so, I was trying to plan out a way to uh..." "Fenix." Penta cut him off. "Lie to the others if you must, but you know you can't lie to me. Tell me what happened." Fenix paused, then sighed, his shoulders slumping. "He was no threat to us, so we... we had nothing to gain from hurting him. Nothing to gain from beating him. And he was..." Fenix stopped, almost frightened of what he was about to say. Penta slit his eyes at his brother, wordlessly demanding he finish his sentence. Fenix looked to his feet and noted, "He was... a good guy." Penta gently put his hands to his brothers face, forcing him to look him in the eye. "Listen, hermano... we've been over this. We can't afford to show mercy, we can't afford to show weakness. If there were any other way... we'd take it. But this is how we survive, and we must survive. Until then, there is no one we won't fight. We don't drop our guards, not for anyone. If you are not our ally, you are our enemy... and nothing else." Fenix nodded, pressing his forehead against his brothers. They held that pose for a bit, as Fenix uttered, "Thank you, Penta. If not for you, I'd have broken long ago..." "Stay tough, Fenix." he whispered. "We will endure..." ----- That night, as always, Kenny and Kota sat together on the bed... "...There just... there has to be some way." Kenny muttered, trying to hold back a breakdown. "Something we can do, some way to get out of this..." Kota shook his head. "We went over this with the first Do Or Die match. There's simply nothing to be done." "But we weren't in that match!" Kenny yelled. "There was no talking Charlotte down, but neither of us want this... surely we can figure out a way to, to force them to cancel..." "The guards will be surrounding us... trying to run would just get us killed faster." Ibushi lamented. "Anyone else trying to help would see the same fate. Stalling it out wouldn't work either, they'd grow restless with us eventually... there's... nothing." "But... but we..." Kenny sputtered, looking for words that just don't exist, tears escaping him. "There's just no way... this can't... this can't happen, it..." Kota put a hand to his face, wiping a tear away. "Shhh... Kenny. We only have a few more nights together... let's not spend them in fear and regret." ----- That next morning, Tyler Bate sat in the lounge, as Colby Corino made his way in, in a bad mood as he tended to be these days. He glanced over and noticed his (even) younger Pact-mate sitting with a journal. As he turned the page, a single tear went down his cheek... "...What is that?" Colby asked. Bate wiped the tear away and glanced back to see him. "It's... it's Frightmare's. It was... left next to him. I guess he's been writing in it for a while." Colby had little reaction to this. Tyler turned his head back to keep on reading as he spoke, "He was an insightful guy. Had a good read on a lot of people, atleast I think so. God, if I only knew the things that were on his mind..." As his eyes drifted to the parts about himself and Colby, Bate seemed... breathless. "I... I think you should maybe read this, Colby." He turned to him once more, only to find that he'd disappeared, having already made his way back up the hall... ----- Later that day, everyone had woken up and filed in... the usual meeting room scenario, with typically little discourse between the Pact and Honest Few aside from the general well-wishes. As usual, Braun Strowman and Johnny Galaxy stayed off on their own. All seemed normal. And then... they came in. It was rare that they ever wandered into the main hall outside of immediately before and after matches, but in came the Sole Survivors. Every single person in that room shot up to their feet to greet them. It was like the air in the room immediately thinned, and breathing became more a challenge... "Relax." Alberto began. "All we want to do is make one thing clear. Every last one of the Sole Survivors will be competing at the Bitter End. And if any of you think you can interfere and help our opponents, save them from elimination, just know that you will be making yourself the prime target. You'll be the one taken out in their stead... that's your reward for heroism, perro. We will show no-" "Oh, shut the f*ck up." Terry Funk grumbled, as he walked right up to the group. Some people tried to reach out and hold him back, but he ripped his arms away from them, fearlessly stepping right up to Sami Callihan. "I've waited way too damn long to talk to you, boy..." Sami stared him down, wordlessly, as the others assembled behind Funk, ready to make a move at a moment's notice. "You think you're a monster... you think you're nothing but a born killer, ain't that right? At first, I thought the same... you broke my ribs. And you murdered my best friend, one of the most decent, honest men I've ever known..." Terry growled. "But ever since then, whenever I got the chance, I've been looking in your eyes. And I've realized something... Tommy was right. He was right all along about you. You're just a gimmick... everything you've done, it's just to convince yourself that you're something you're not." Sami just stared as Terry went on, "You knew the man who came here wasn't strong enough to survive this. So you put on a front. You put on a scary f*ckin' voice, and do everything you can to be the sickest bastard here... but inside... you're afraid. Inside, you hate yourself and everything you've ever done... and that's why no matter what, I know I have a chance. Even if I have to die to do it, I know I can put you out of your misery." Sami took a deep breath, doing everything he could to ensure his expression was unchanging, remaining cold. Finally, he replied, "...I'm not the one putting up a front here. You're the one pretending he has any business being in a fight, let alone a death match. Even before I snapped those ribs, you never had a prayer against any of us, let alone someone as depraved as me. And I'm not the only one that knew that... Tommy did too." "...The f*ck did you say?" Funk grumbled. "Yeah, he knew you better than anyone... and he knew that you were broken down. He knew you stood no chance of surviving this... I could see it in his eyes, how terrified he was for you every single f*cking day." Callihan hissed. "That's why he was so furious when I attacked you. That's why he was always following you around like a guard dog. He knew you couldn't protect yourself... he knew you needed him. And now, you're all by yourself, trying to convince yourself you'll be able to lay a hand on me. Trying to act like your death won't be just as meaningless as his..." Funk's fists tightened, his teeth gnashing. But he seemed to calm himself down, keeping his composure. "...Yannow what? You're probably right. That's probably exactly what Tommy thought. But you want to know something about Tommy Dreamer...?" Sami raised an eyebrow. Funk finished, "...He's a better man than me--" before surprising Callihan with a wild headbutt! This re-opened the wound that Funk created days earlier, blood pouring down Sami's face immediately - though he also split his own forehead open in the process! The Sole Survivors quickly grabbed Sami, as the others did the same with Funk, keeping them apart from one another, eventually taking them back to their rooms. It took all their combined might to keep them from tearing each other to pieces... it was all they wanted to do...

<p>Been sorta interested in doing more recolors, looking through pictures and thought Miwako Katsukawa was a good canvas for that. So here's a buncha options for her, including a maverick one where she <em>doesn't</em> have highlights!</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="ASyNE6V.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ASyNE6V.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="pXXN5PA.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/pXXN5PA.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="I9dkZii.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/I9dkZii.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="OcwFz9S.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/OcwFz9S.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="Dv5qDSa.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Dv5qDSa.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="0byZ5dV.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/0byZ5dV.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="AfmyCn0.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/AfmyCn0.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="h3Tn4wa.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/h3Tn4wa.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="c56SFZg.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/c56SFZg.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="9cwYYHd.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/9cwYYHd.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="8J71yYw.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/8J71yYw.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="JTGkAkf.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/JTGkAkf.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="600FeTN.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/600FeTN.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="pFfFr9g.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/pFfFr9g.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="RW2KNTk.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/RW2KNTk.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="89ML3bl.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/89ML3bl.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="NWww7IJ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/NWww7IJ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="575dZQE.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/575dZQE.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

<< .26 Entry IV >> "Are you... really sure this is a good idea...?" ZSJ asked, as he aided Rollins through the tunnel to the main room. Somewhat ironic, considering he was the one who lost. Rollins was, even now, trying to catch his breath. "Dude, he's... we're gonna have to... go through Malell eventually. So why would we wait... to do it on his terms...?" "...I'm pretty sure it's gonna happen on his terms regardless, mate." ZSJ scoffed. The two of them made their way into the main hall, usually bereft with people right after a show. But on this night... they were the only ones there. Some yards in the distance, they heard a commotion, and then... silence... "What the hell...?" Rollins muttered. They peered down the hall and saw a group of people formed outside the door of one of the bedrooms. It seemingly had to be forced open. Nobody was saying a word, many looked frozen on the spot. "Uh... I'll see what's up. You rest here." Zack instructed his friend, as he guided him to the couch and sat him down. ZSJ then limped over through the hall. "Hey, what's... what's going on?" Nobody answered him. A sense of dread seemed to be filling the air. So he pushed through the crowd a bit to peer into the room... The light in that room was somewhat similar to some fluorescent lighting fixtures one might see on Earth. They hung down from the ceiling with two long, thick cords. One of those cords had been cut. This was not a detail most gave any thought to. How it was done, who could say? Why... very few in that room could give any real insight to. All they knew, was that they were staring at a face that they'd only just now seen for the first time. A face that was now turning blue... The man they had come to know as Frightmare had hung himself. On the bed behind him, was a journal, left open. On the page, there were only two words written... "I tried."

Damn, somehow amongst all that I still managed to forget something important. Added a little Galaxy promo to that last show. 'Kay, now another chapter incoming...

I may or may not intend for this to be the darkest story in GDS' history. Incidentally... there's gonna be another little chapter posted in about half an hour...