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The heat here would be enough to kill a man by itself in a matter of mere hours. In part due to this harsh environment, this particular species of cobra is not commonly known to harm humans, since they rarely encounter any. Still, a small black mist lingers around the snake, an unseen spirit of death which awaits the fanged beast's prey.
"WHAT A REMARKABLE CREATURE. CALM, COOL, COLLECTED. YET STILL AN UNFEELING SOURCE OF QUICK AND PAINLESS DEATH. WHEN HE FEEDS, HIS PREY NEVER STANDS A CHANCE. IT IS DEAD BEFORE IT KNOWS WHAT HIT IT. WHEN THREATENED BY LARGER PREDATORS, HE CAN SPRAY HIS DEADLY VENOM INTO THE EYES OF HIS FOES TO RENDER THE THREAT TEMPORARILY OR PERMANENTLY BLIND." Death booms with a tone of awe.
The cobra lifts his crimson head, sensing the unseen body and the unheard words. Seeing and hearing nothing, the snake slowly lowers its head back onto the hardened brown mud.
With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate
Elsewhere in the semi-desert region, Josh Konnely kneels in the sand and points at a different species of cobra- from a safe distance away. Josh holds a one liter bottle of Dasani water in his other hand. He is wearing a short sleeved Under Armour shirt and red shorts.
"I am here in the deserts of Chad, and what we are looking at here is the Naja haje, otherwise known as an Egyptian cobra. It is this very species of snake that is believed to have been used by Cleopatra when she committed suicide. It is commonly found across North Africa and in the southern Arabian peninsula, though never in a true desert habitat, as it prefers areas with at least some vegetation and water.
SwitchBlade, on Sunday we will head north into Egypt for a no holds barred brawl in Cairo. I have brought you out here into this no man's land of Chad to show you just an example of what you will face at Heatwave. As I explained to The Dark Wolf prior to our match last week, I am not unlike that cobra. I am a cold, unfeeling beast capable of striking suddenly and out of nowhere with lethal venom. Even though the Wolf is far larger and more powerful than the majority of cobra species, the venomous snakes can lash out from nowhere with absolutely lighting speed and precision. Once he sinks his fangs into any living beast, he brings paralysis and death. Even though the various species of cobra generally range from two to six feet in length, with the largest species only topping out at two meters, these usually docile creatures can unleash sudden Hell on any animal or person fool enough to cross it. Are you starting to get the picture, SwitchBlade?
When you step into that ring in Cairo, you will look into the eyes of a cobra, cold and calculated. Though the cobra does not kill for pleasure nor out of any anger or hatred, he kills quickly and without feeling. At Heatwave, one of us will be leaving the hall on a stretcher. Even though you are more than half a foot taller and outweigh me by a whopping sixty-nine pounds, my unfeeling and unforgiving venom will see to it that it is you."
Konnely cracks open the bottle of Dasani and takes a long sip.
"Come, let us leave this God forsaken place."
"IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, MORT. MY OLDEST AND DEAREST FRIEND." War says, his booming voice echoing through the chamber.
"Oldest? Dearest? I am your only friend." Mortimer replies.
"I SUPPOSE THAT IS TRUE."
"So what are we doing here?"
"WHAT? WHY WOULD ANYONE COME TO EGYPT AND NOT SEE THE PYRAMIDS?"
"You've got me there."
"I HAVE A HARD ENOUGH TIME UNDERSTANDING WHY ANYBODY COMES TO THIS WASTELAND ANYWAY, CONSIDERING THE MILITANT ISLAMIC MURDERERS TARGETING EVERY NON-MUSLIM WHO DARES LAY FOOT IN THEIR DESERT."
"....."
Josh Konnely sits in the "nosebleed" seats of a small arena in Memphis, Egypt. The arena is otherwise empty, but a wrestling ring with the SFT logo on the apron sits in the center of the venue's concrete floor. Josh is dressed in his wrestling gear.
"Tomorrow night we embark on our television world tour with Heatwave in Cairo. Tomorrow night SwitchBlade and I will face off in a stretcher match that guarantees to turn up the heat on the night's festivities. We will bring extreme back. We will bring hardcore back. The match will only end when one man can no longer stand."
Josh rises from his seat and walks down the aisle. He makes his way down the steps until he reaches the wall in front of the floor. Konnely leaps the short wall into the floor seating where rows of empty steel chairs are set up. He makes his way through the floor section and climbs over the retaining wall to get to ringside. He reaches under the ring and wheels out a gurney, which was collapsed down to fit under the ring. Josh raises the stretcher up fully and grabs a microphone which was laying on top of the gurney. Konnely speaks as he begins to push the stretcher up the ramp.
"For those who are unfamiliar with this type of match, the objective of a stretcher match is simply to lay your opponent out on a stretcher like this one here. At the top of the aisle where the ramp meets the stage there is a strip of tape, and in order to be victorious you must get the stretcher across that line before the opponent can rise up off it. In that way, it is similar to a last man standing match. You must incapacitate your opponent long enough to stretcher them up past that line and onto the stage. The sole focus is to beat the very fight and life out of your opponent. What better match for men like SwitchBlade and myself than one where your simple mission is to beat your opponent lifeless?"
Josh stops just before the end of the ramp, holding the stretcher so that it doesn't roll back down the aisle.
"I respect SwitchBlade, and I can only hope he shares that sentiment. He and I are alike in the sense that we enjoy pounding the very life force out of each other. So why would I want to have a match like this with a man whom I respect and have no real quarrel with? Well, for one, SFT needs some heat if they are going to call their event Heatwave, But more importantly, this is the perfect environment in which to display my unfeeling appetite for destruction.
Also, I felt as though SwitchBlade would welcome a match such as this. I know it fits his style as well. Men like us don't only aim to defeat our opponents, we seek to destroy them. SwitchBlade did not only want to defeat Shadow. He wanted to end Shadow.
I believe our illustrious owner put this little match together with the intention of punishing and destroying SwitchBlade. As I said, I am not a huge fan of being used in that way. It was a win-win for our boss. One of us destroys the other, and eliminates a threat to Shadow and The Wall in the process. We each lead a faction intended for domination and full control of Strike Towers. Blades of War versus Revelation. A match between SwitchBlade and Konnely assures that one man will at least be damaged, if not completely broken. One of us, if not both of us.
But if SwitchBlade and I are going to have an otherwise meaningless match, I figured we should up the ante. I do not doubt that this stretcher match will be a bloody war of a contest. I know that is what the fans want to see. Especially since we are hardly the most popular people in the company.
SwitchBlade, I look forward to doing battle with you. I do not doubt that a match such as this will not intimidate you, and that it is very much up your alley as well. That is why I made the challenge. We are more alike than you know, SwitchBlade. We enjoy destruction and misery. But for that reason I cannot wait to beat you at your own game. By doing so, I will establish my domination and supremacy.
That is what this match is all about. The ultimate display of superiority. Beating and weakening your opponent until they can no longer fight nor stand.
And that is why it is perfect for you and I, SwitchBlade. Do you agree? We thrive on the weakness of others. We enjoy creating and exploiting that weakness. It is in both our styles to pound our opponents into submission, and a stretcher match merely exemplifies that mentality. It's a bit of a mixed martial arts mentality, seeking to drive the fight out of your foe."
Konnely finishes pushing the stretcher up onto the stage, letting go of it now that all four wheels are on a flat surface.
"SwitchBlade, you will fall! Destroying people is what I do! I will make you suffer, and I will defeat you! You are in the cobra's clutches, and you cannot escape!
Do you feel the heat yet, SwitchBlade? Can you take the heat? Can you withstand the Heatwave? CAN YOU?!"
Josh kicks the gurney over onto its side and disappears through the curtain into the back. The scene fades to RED.
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