Post by Kyle Travis on Jul 19, 2014 16:19:51 GMT -6
::There are sixty-four squares on a chessboard. Whereas checkers is played on a board colored red and black, with the pieces going on their own color, chess is played on black and white, with the pieces assembled in two rows, one of pawns, and the other pieces behind them, but the king must be on the same color as the piece, while the queen is always on the other color. However, none of the pieces are in place.::
::A folded chessboard is placed on to a table and opened. It is black and white. Next to the board, a box is placed onto the table. A hand opens the box and seems to be digging through its contents. The hand pulls out a black knight piece; small, round with the head of a horse. It is small, able to fit in the palm of a hand.::
::Kyle Travis looks over the knight in his hand, turning it over and seeming to study the piece in his hand.::
“So what do you think McBride?”
::Travis sets the piece down on the board.::
“Do you think the hope is that we destroy each other? Or do you suppose they are hoping I just manage to injure you enough to keep you out for a few weeks?”
::“The Once and Future King” reaches into the box, pulling out a white pawn and sets it down on the board. He reaches back in.::
“Personally, I think it would be the former, that we just take each other out. I mean without you, the Children of Nephilim are leaderless, and much easier to take down, and if I get knocked out of competition for awhile, then I suppose someone out there wouldn’t mind seeing that.”
“I suppose we should have seen this coming. It is sort of like trying to get two monsters to fight each other in some sci-fi movie, where they hope one monster can take out the other. Or maybe they are just hoping that I hurt you. Admittedly, to use the classic villain catchphrase, the plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity.
::So far, Travis has set up two black knights, one white pawn, a white bishop and a white rook, or castle, as it is sometimes called due to its resemblance to a castle tower.::
“I think it is safe to say that they are hoping I hurt you. However, I really doubt if I manage to injure you, it would have an impact on derailing the Children of Nephilim’s momentum. No one said you had to lead from the front, did they McBride? They seem like they will follow your orders even if you write them on some bar napkin and hand it to your priestess, telling her to “do this” and she would do it. It is an impressive level of control.”
“Searing Agony was a truly a show. Somewhere, I do feel like the plan went wrong, but honestly, if you had won, I do not think the sudden betrayal of Bene Elohim, which Aerynn apparently saw coming, but ignored every sign, would not have had the same impact. I still cannot help feel you threw the fight just for that moment. You sacrificed a pawn to set up capturing a bishop.”
::Travis places the black queen down on the board as he keep talking.::
“The more I watch you work McBride, the more I have to admit to a grudging respect for you. While I have not seen any of your crew win a match, save for Bene Elohim prior to their joining you, you have made the biggest impact I have seen a group make in ages. You are so far in Aerynn Donnelly’s head that it’s like watching a puppet on a string. Last week, when you caused her to snap and attack Jamie Hensley, it was a thing of beauty. And it seems as if you have driven a wedge between the Kenyon sisters, a truly impressive action. It takes work to drive a wedge between two close sisters. I cannot wait to see what comes next.”
“As I said, you are playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.”
::He pause for a moment and gestures to the board in front of him.::
“In checkers, it is a war of attrition. You keep going until you completely and totally eliminate every single piece your opponent has, or he manages to take you out first. There is almost no strategy, no real attempt or need to plan anything, or restraint. There is just you going out and trying to destroy before you are destroyed.”
::Reaching back into the box, Travis takes out two black pawns and sets the on the board.::
“Chess is different. Chess ends either when you finally capture your opponent’s king, takes every piece he has, or your opponent realizes that the match is hopeless and forfeits. It is a game of strategy, a game that can be won before the first move is even made. It is also a game of patience, waiting for the right moment, the right time to strike, for the proper opening. The game is played in three parts, the opening, middle and the endgame. You make the opening move, set your pieces in the middle and bring it all together in the endgame to crush your opponent.”
“And right now, that is what everyone is wondering what exactly your endgame is. I admit I find myself curious, but it would seem we are going to learn that as sooner or later, it will be you and Aerynn Donnelly in the ring for the title. I doubt your endgame is just to become world champion, but I have been wrong before. And somehow, it seems to be lacking with the rest of the impact you have made since coming to the UWA. I admit a curiosity to the revelation.”
::Travis sets the white knight down on the board.::
“But right now, that is neither here nor there. Now it is simply about you and me, in the ring, one-on-one McBride. And only one of us gets to win, and I have every intention of making sure that it is me.”
“Personally, I really have no interest in listening to whatever bizarre or hypocritical religious rhetoric you are going to use to try and get inside my head. You think you are the first guy I have seen doing this whole religious thing to try and make it in this business? You are hardly the first and you will not be the last. You are however the most successful to do it.”
“I have seen people who use religion to try and make it and they never seem to last longer than a few weeks or a month at most. Usually, they give me that whole “you are evil, I serve God and thus I shall vanquish you” speech, lose to me and than completely disappear. It literally happened with my first match here when I beat Castiel. He gave me the whole thing about how God was on his side and he would emerge victorious against me. I won and he is no where to be found. It’s predictable, and honestly, it has just gotten a little boring at this point, I have to say.”
::Sighing, “the Canadian Legend” shakes his head and smirks. He continues to take pieces out of the box and places them on the board as he sets both black bishops down on the board and then the white knight.::
“It seems that in every single wrestling company I walk into there seems to be that guy, that one guy, who wants to be the moral authority of the company, acting like he is so righteous. My personal favorite though was the German guy in NEW, because I think we can all agree that Germany has lost any and all right to even think about judging someone’s morality. And he later sold out, which just made it so much better. But usually there is someone there who is just going to declare me to be evil, like I am some sort of cartoon supervillain and I am building a deathray or whatever. In this line of work though, good and evil really are just words, although, I do admit that a few things I have done may qualify as acts of evil.”
::For a moment, Travis allows a very satisfied smile to show on his face. It quickly fades.::
“Likewise though, McBride, I doubt you want to hear my usual lines about my being a legend or my being better than you or whatever else I usually say. And I know you don’t want to, because you have faith on your side and there is nothing I am going to say that is going to work to deter you or really phase you.”
::Travis keeps placing the pieces down on the board. He seems to be doing it without paying any attention to what he is doing. It is as if he has done this before, a practiced and repeated action.::
“And yet, I wonder, do you consider yourself a righteous man? Do you consider this crusade the work of a holy man, a righteous man? Do honestly believe the tactics you have used, the deed you have committed and the actions you have taken can be judged as righteous?”
“Personally, I have always believed in the old adage that “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. However, neither you nor I seem to have good intentions, do we McBride? Yet, this is the sort of match Hell would love to see, not a chess game, but a fight. Two men enter the ring, but only one walks out with a victory.”
::Without even looking up, Travis keeps placing the pieces on the board, one at a time, or two at a time, each one in their proper place and position on the board. He sets the white queen on black, and the black queen on white.::
“That victory will not easy to attain. There is perhaps nothing worse that facing a man who believes he is a righteous man and yet will use that to commit the most terrible and heinous of actions. History is full of people like that. I look at you McBride and I see that kind of man. You will have the Children of Nephilim do whatever you desire, whatever you command, all in the name of your faith, and they will follow as only a true believer will and you will do it all in the name of being a righteous man on a righteous course.”
::Travis places the last two pieces, the white and black kings on the board in their proper spot.::
“Likewise, McBride, I am something of a sadistic bastard in this ring and I am one of the greatest technical wrestlers in the game today. I have been in the ring with some of the best this business has ever seen and I have beaten the best. I am a legend. And most importantly, perhaps the biggest factor you need to take into account is the simple fact that while I will admit that you have impressed me, I am not afraid of you.”
::“The Once and Future King” gestures to the fully assembled board of black and white, all the pieces in their appropriate places, with one row of pawns each, then in the back, going inside, the rooks, the knights, the bishops, then the king and queen, with the king on its own color and the queen on the opposite color from the color of the piece.::
“The teaser for Monday Night Mayhem, asks if I can stop your momentum and I know that I can, and yet at the same time, I know that I can not. Even if I win, even if I mange to beat you, I think you would see it as nothing more than a minor setback. If I injure you, your army still marches as if nothing has changed. Beating you makes you appear mortal, makes you look vulnerable, but it is not you the man that the Children follow. They follow what you represent, they follow what you preach. You are not the god to them, just the prophet.”
“What people forget, what people seem to forget, but what you and I know to be true is that evil never dies. Evil only evolves. Maybe you are really a righteous man, or maybe you are the sinner pretending to be the saint. I do not care. To me, this just another match, and a match I have every intention of winning.”
::He seems to be studying the board like he is trying to formulate a plan of attack, a strategy, before the match even begins. He looks up with that cold, calculating predatory look of his.::
“Like I said McBride, you are playing chess while Aerynn, Jeszika and K.I.S.S. are playing checkers. That is what this match will be, a game of chess. You with your mind games and me with my technical ability, and we are going to play the game. So let’s see which one of us can get the checkmate.”
::With a gentle motion, Travis lays both the white and black kings down on their side. In chess, when one places the king down on its side, it symbolizes the end of the game either by checkmate or a surrender. “The Canadian Legend” gets to his feet and walks in as the camera zooms in on the downed kings. The scene fades to black.::
::A folded chessboard is placed on to a table and opened. It is black and white. Next to the board, a box is placed onto the table. A hand opens the box and seems to be digging through its contents. The hand pulls out a black knight piece; small, round with the head of a horse. It is small, able to fit in the palm of a hand.::
::Kyle Travis looks over the knight in his hand, turning it over and seeming to study the piece in his hand.::
“So what do you think McBride?”
::Travis sets the piece down on the board.::
“Do you think the hope is that we destroy each other? Or do you suppose they are hoping I just manage to injure you enough to keep you out for a few weeks?”
::“The Once and Future King” reaches into the box, pulling out a white pawn and sets it down on the board. He reaches back in.::
“Personally, I think it would be the former, that we just take each other out. I mean without you, the Children of Nephilim are leaderless, and much easier to take down, and if I get knocked out of competition for awhile, then I suppose someone out there wouldn’t mind seeing that.”
“I suppose we should have seen this coming. It is sort of like trying to get two monsters to fight each other in some sci-fi movie, where they hope one monster can take out the other. Or maybe they are just hoping that I hurt you. Admittedly, to use the classic villain catchphrase, the plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity.
::So far, Travis has set up two black knights, one white pawn, a white bishop and a white rook, or castle, as it is sometimes called due to its resemblance to a castle tower.::
“I think it is safe to say that they are hoping I hurt you. However, I really doubt if I manage to injure you, it would have an impact on derailing the Children of Nephilim’s momentum. No one said you had to lead from the front, did they McBride? They seem like they will follow your orders even if you write them on some bar napkin and hand it to your priestess, telling her to “do this” and she would do it. It is an impressive level of control.”
“Searing Agony was a truly a show. Somewhere, I do feel like the plan went wrong, but honestly, if you had won, I do not think the sudden betrayal of Bene Elohim, which Aerynn apparently saw coming, but ignored every sign, would not have had the same impact. I still cannot help feel you threw the fight just for that moment. You sacrificed a pawn to set up capturing a bishop.”
::Travis places the black queen down on the board as he keep talking.::
“The more I watch you work McBride, the more I have to admit to a grudging respect for you. While I have not seen any of your crew win a match, save for Bene Elohim prior to their joining you, you have made the biggest impact I have seen a group make in ages. You are so far in Aerynn Donnelly’s head that it’s like watching a puppet on a string. Last week, when you caused her to snap and attack Jamie Hensley, it was a thing of beauty. And it seems as if you have driven a wedge between the Kenyon sisters, a truly impressive action. It takes work to drive a wedge between two close sisters. I cannot wait to see what comes next.”
“As I said, you are playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.”
::He pause for a moment and gestures to the board in front of him.::
“In checkers, it is a war of attrition. You keep going until you completely and totally eliminate every single piece your opponent has, or he manages to take you out first. There is almost no strategy, no real attempt or need to plan anything, or restraint. There is just you going out and trying to destroy before you are destroyed.”
::Reaching back into the box, Travis takes out two black pawns and sets the on the board.::
“Chess is different. Chess ends either when you finally capture your opponent’s king, takes every piece he has, or your opponent realizes that the match is hopeless and forfeits. It is a game of strategy, a game that can be won before the first move is even made. It is also a game of patience, waiting for the right moment, the right time to strike, for the proper opening. The game is played in three parts, the opening, middle and the endgame. You make the opening move, set your pieces in the middle and bring it all together in the endgame to crush your opponent.”
“And right now, that is what everyone is wondering what exactly your endgame is. I admit I find myself curious, but it would seem we are going to learn that as sooner or later, it will be you and Aerynn Donnelly in the ring for the title. I doubt your endgame is just to become world champion, but I have been wrong before. And somehow, it seems to be lacking with the rest of the impact you have made since coming to the UWA. I admit a curiosity to the revelation.”
::Travis sets the white knight down on the board.::
“But right now, that is neither here nor there. Now it is simply about you and me, in the ring, one-on-one McBride. And only one of us gets to win, and I have every intention of making sure that it is me.”
“Personally, I really have no interest in listening to whatever bizarre or hypocritical religious rhetoric you are going to use to try and get inside my head. You think you are the first guy I have seen doing this whole religious thing to try and make it in this business? You are hardly the first and you will not be the last. You are however the most successful to do it.”
“I have seen people who use religion to try and make it and they never seem to last longer than a few weeks or a month at most. Usually, they give me that whole “you are evil, I serve God and thus I shall vanquish you” speech, lose to me and than completely disappear. It literally happened with my first match here when I beat Castiel. He gave me the whole thing about how God was on his side and he would emerge victorious against me. I won and he is no where to be found. It’s predictable, and honestly, it has just gotten a little boring at this point, I have to say.”
::Sighing, “the Canadian Legend” shakes his head and smirks. He continues to take pieces out of the box and places them on the board as he sets both black bishops down on the board and then the white knight.::
“It seems that in every single wrestling company I walk into there seems to be that guy, that one guy, who wants to be the moral authority of the company, acting like he is so righteous. My personal favorite though was the German guy in NEW, because I think we can all agree that Germany has lost any and all right to even think about judging someone’s morality. And he later sold out, which just made it so much better. But usually there is someone there who is just going to declare me to be evil, like I am some sort of cartoon supervillain and I am building a deathray or whatever. In this line of work though, good and evil really are just words, although, I do admit that a few things I have done may qualify as acts of evil.”
::For a moment, Travis allows a very satisfied smile to show on his face. It quickly fades.::
“Likewise though, McBride, I doubt you want to hear my usual lines about my being a legend or my being better than you or whatever else I usually say. And I know you don’t want to, because you have faith on your side and there is nothing I am going to say that is going to work to deter you or really phase you.”
::Travis keeps placing the pieces down on the board. He seems to be doing it without paying any attention to what he is doing. It is as if he has done this before, a practiced and repeated action.::
“And yet, I wonder, do you consider yourself a righteous man? Do you consider this crusade the work of a holy man, a righteous man? Do honestly believe the tactics you have used, the deed you have committed and the actions you have taken can be judged as righteous?”
“Personally, I have always believed in the old adage that “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. However, neither you nor I seem to have good intentions, do we McBride? Yet, this is the sort of match Hell would love to see, not a chess game, but a fight. Two men enter the ring, but only one walks out with a victory.”
::Without even looking up, Travis keeps placing the pieces on the board, one at a time, or two at a time, each one in their proper place and position on the board. He sets the white queen on black, and the black queen on white.::
“That victory will not easy to attain. There is perhaps nothing worse that facing a man who believes he is a righteous man and yet will use that to commit the most terrible and heinous of actions. History is full of people like that. I look at you McBride and I see that kind of man. You will have the Children of Nephilim do whatever you desire, whatever you command, all in the name of your faith, and they will follow as only a true believer will and you will do it all in the name of being a righteous man on a righteous course.”
::Travis places the last two pieces, the white and black kings on the board in their proper spot.::
“Likewise, McBride, I am something of a sadistic bastard in this ring and I am one of the greatest technical wrestlers in the game today. I have been in the ring with some of the best this business has ever seen and I have beaten the best. I am a legend. And most importantly, perhaps the biggest factor you need to take into account is the simple fact that while I will admit that you have impressed me, I am not afraid of you.”
::“The Once and Future King” gestures to the fully assembled board of black and white, all the pieces in their appropriate places, with one row of pawns each, then in the back, going inside, the rooks, the knights, the bishops, then the king and queen, with the king on its own color and the queen on the opposite color from the color of the piece.::
“The teaser for Monday Night Mayhem, asks if I can stop your momentum and I know that I can, and yet at the same time, I know that I can not. Even if I win, even if I mange to beat you, I think you would see it as nothing more than a minor setback. If I injure you, your army still marches as if nothing has changed. Beating you makes you appear mortal, makes you look vulnerable, but it is not you the man that the Children follow. They follow what you represent, they follow what you preach. You are not the god to them, just the prophet.”
“What people forget, what people seem to forget, but what you and I know to be true is that evil never dies. Evil only evolves. Maybe you are really a righteous man, or maybe you are the sinner pretending to be the saint. I do not care. To me, this just another match, and a match I have every intention of winning.”
::He seems to be studying the board like he is trying to formulate a plan of attack, a strategy, before the match even begins. He looks up with that cold, calculating predatory look of his.::
“Like I said McBride, you are playing chess while Aerynn, Jeszika and K.I.S.S. are playing checkers. That is what this match will be, a game of chess. You with your mind games and me with my technical ability, and we are going to play the game. So let’s see which one of us can get the checkmate.”
::With a gentle motion, Travis lays both the white and black kings down on their side. In chess, when one places the king down on its side, it symbolizes the end of the game either by checkmate or a surrender. “The Canadian Legend” gets to his feet and walks in as the camera zooms in on the downed kings. The scene fades to black.::