Bullet-Riddled Wings

by **krzy** Wed Aug 12, 2020 1:01 am

I don't... Deserve to call Suraci a friend. But he's a fighter of a caliber I could only hope to dream of, and there's almost nobody in this business I respect more than him. You wanna say that I set him up to take a bullet, to give myself an edge? Well, that is a low blow, Val.

You have my attention... And you've really pissed me off. I'm coming for you now, Val. You and your operation are done- believe it.

Spade shoots a finger gun at the camera, before the scene--smash cuts to a still image of Suraci kneeling on the stage while performing his signature entrance when he returned to CMV...a bullethole in his chest...through his heart.

The camera zooms in on the “wound” and takes the viewer through the hole. On the other side is a clip of Suraci pinning Jason Spade in an elimination chamber match to win NGCW’s Extreme Championship.

As Suraci’s hand is raised in victory, Tailcoat Val’s voice booms over the replay.

“Tell them the truth.”

One replay bleeds into the next. This one a replay of Jason Spade jumping Suraci before their title match...for the Extreme Championship.

“Tell them who you are.”

As Spade celebrates his championship win, the replay freezes and dramatically “melts” off the screen, dripping away into the ether.

“Tell them what you’ve done.”

There’s now a face to the voice. A masked one, at least, as Val is captured standing in front of her wall of monitors that collectively display the many interactions Suraci and Spade have had throughout their careers.

Show them your hands for they are soaked in his blood!

Are you Daedalus in Suraci’s tragic tale? The beacon of knowledge and wisdom? A father figure? A mentor who warned the fool about the sun...no, the wolves...who would sink their teeth into his flesh for a taste of that untainted blood being pumped by his pure heart?

But there is no ocean parallel in this modernization, because I snatched him out of the teeth of the waves that would swallow him whole. I saved him from an untimely end.

The next replay is of Shay Hoxton dismantling Suraci after their match for the International Championship.

I saved him…

from you.

As if watching it again once wasn’t enough, the uncomfortable clip of Hoxton’s ruthlessness is looped.This time, however, it’s played side by side with Hoxton and Spade shaking hands after their history-making triple threat at DefCon.

You’ve worked hard and failed..what does that failure force a man to do when he can no longer smile through that bitter taste? What is he willing to sacrifice?

It’s almost imperceptible during the live airing of the segment, but once it’s uploaded online, those with a sharp eye and good reflexes notice that, but for a fraction of a second, Joseph Santos’ picture flashes on the screen as Val says that. Suddenly, we have to question if it was truly by chance that it was he who was chosen to challenge Subject: ZERO at Validation.

In your case, who is he willing to sacrifice? It’s so easy to lay the blame all at my feet, but you didn’t just set him up to take the bullet, the gun was only ever in your hand!

Spade shoots a finger gun at the camera...

I didn’t choose the target.

I didn’t pull the trigger.

I merely collected your victim so it didn’t go to waste.

The screen fades to black, but the segment isn’t done yet. Suraci’s voice, from the last promo he cut in CMV, echoes in the darkness as though calling out from the other side.

Jason Spahd asked for my help.

And if you know anything about Mr. Spade, then you know how dire of a situation it was for it to ever come to that.

But...if you know anything about Suraci...then you know how much that meant to me.

Not as a wrestler.

As a human being.

An uncomfortable silence.

And then...

Everyone saw you for who you are...so you preyed on the one who saw you for who you could be.