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And they try to pull me into the dark I struggle to find my faith As I'm slipping from your arms It's getting harder to stay awake And my strength is fading fast You breathe into me at last I'm awake, I'm alive Now I know what I believe inside Now it's my time I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life (Here, right now) Right here, right now Stand my ground and never back down I know what I believe inside I'm awake, and I'm alive I'm at war with the world 'Cause I ain't never gonna sell my soul I've already made up my mind No matter what, I can't be bought or sold When my faith is getting weak And I feel like giving in You breathe into me again I'm awake, I'm alive Now I know what I believe inside Now it's my time I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life (Here, right now) Right here, right now Stand my ground and never back down I know what I believe inside I'm awake, and I'm alive Waking up, waking up Waking up, waking up Waking up, waking up Waking up, waking up in the dark I can feel you in my sleep In your arms, I feel you breathe into me Forever hold this heart that I will give to you Forever I will live for you I'm awake, I'm alive Now I know what I believe inside Now it's my time I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life (Here, right now) Right here, right now Stand my ground and never back down I know what I believe inside I'm awake, and I'm alive Waking up, waking up Waking up, waking up Waking up, waking up Waking up, waking up
A large and mighty wolf steps its way casually and confidently through the loose sand of the plateau. Its eyes are golden and glisten in the moonlight. The beast resembles the one that the spirits of War and Famine had previously encountered, if it is not the same exact wolf. His ears suddenly shoot up and he sniffs at the air, sensing something nearby. With a quick glance around in the darkness, the massive wolf spots the source: a big fat badger stalking through the grass. A gleam appears in the wolf's eyes, as he knows that the badger will not be an easy kill alone, and he begins to salivate at the thought and smell of the hefty potential meal.
The badger suddenly rears up on its hindlegs and wheels around to face the wolf. His beady red eyes meet the golden-rimmed pupils of the wolf. Immediately the badger realizes that it may be in trouble, since he is no larger than an ordinary badger, and the wolf is decidedly larger than average. The beast is five feet high at the shoulders and six and a half feet long with a two foot long tail. It weighs a hundred and seventy pounds, twice that of the average grey wolf. Even through its thick, coarse hair the beasts massive muscles are obvious.
The badger gives a hiss and begins to growl. It barks at the wolf, which weighs more than four times the badger's own weight. Suddenly the badger runs up with surprising speed and bites the front leg of the wolf. He does not let go as he begins to scratch the monstrous wolf's heavily muscled leg. The wolf yelps and howls in pain and surprise, then begins to thrash the leg about desperately. At last the wolf succeeds in bashing the badger against a nearby rock, but still the badger holds on.
A large red mist forms several feet from the fighting animals, completely unseen. The wolf growls angrily and clamps its massive jaws around the flank of the badger. With a snap of its head, the wolf pulls the badger forcibly off of his leg. The wolf gives a muffled yelp as the badger's teeth tear flesh and muscle from the beast's leg, but the monster slams the badger into the rock again. The badger, now bloody and battered, falls to the ground in a heap as the wolf releases it.
The badger growls again and barks furiously. It jumps up and attaches itself to the wolf's chest, teeth and claws tearing at the monster's flesh. The wolf howls again. He swings a mighty paw and strikes the badger with great force, slapping its prey off his body. A cloud of the loose sand is kicked up a yard away as the badger hits the dirt hard with a THUD.
The wolf pounces quickly on the stunned beast. He shuts his jaw on the badger's neck and twists, ending its valiant struggle with a sickening snap as its neck breaks. The wolf raises its head proudly, blood dripping from its teeth and snout, and lets out a victorious howl. The wolf fails to hear the ominous hissing sound as he digs his teeth into the badger's chubby torso. The red mist figure nods knowingly.
Suddenly a splash of spit hits the massive wolf in its nose and in its golden eyes. The source slithers up quickly: a black cobra easily fifteen feet long. The wolf is partially blinded and feeling intense pain. It snaps its powerful jaws several times in the direction of the cobra, unsuccessfully attempting to kill the new threat on his life. With lightning quick speed the cobra's lashes out his scaled head and sinks its fangs into the neck of the wolf. The huge wolf rears up on his hind legs and shakes his head about violently, trying to throw the cobra off. He struggles in vain as the snake's potent venom is being pumped directly into the primary vain carrying the blood to his heart. The wolf drops back down onto all fours, then collapses to his knees.
Feeling defeated, the wolf lays down on its side as the snake releases its toxic death grip on the beast's throat. The wolf begins to ponder its nearly ended life, and his unfinished final meal. He howls again as his vision begins to blur. Now he sees a red mist standing over him, fully seeing it for the first time. He whimpers as he wonders whether or not the human-shaped spirit form is real or not. The wolf's dark slate gray fur is stained red with blood as the torn vein hemhorrages.
RELAX, POOR UNFORTUNATE WOLF. YOU NOBLE BEAST, IT IS TRULY A SHAME TO SEE YOU DESTROYED. YOUR SUFFERING SHALL NOT LAST LONG. THE COBRA'S DEADLY VENOM WILL REACH YOUR HEART IN A MATTER OF SECONDS, AND YOU WILL DIE QUICKLY. YOU FOUGHT HARD, AND YOU FOUGHT WELL. YOU FOUGHT WITH HONOR. TRULY YOU ARE A LEGEND.
OH, IT IS SO IRONIC, THOUGH. WITHOUT YOUR INTERFERENCE, THAT COBRA WOULD HAVE BEEN BADGER CHOW. YOU ARE THE REASON HE IS STILL ALIVE, AND IN HIS UNFEELING WRATH HE HAS STRUCK YOU DOWN. YOU NEVER KNEW HE WAS THERE, OR OF THE DANGER HE WAS IN. ALL YOU DID WAS MAKE HIS PREDATOR YOUR PREY. IN RETURN FOR YOU SAVING HIS LIFE, THE COLD COBRA HAS TAKEN YOURS.
The wolf's bright golden eyes begin to fade to more of a dull bronze or dirty brass. He blinks as his heart ironically beats itself to inevitable death. His gray fur has white hairs mixed in, some of which are now painted red. The wise old wolf is more than smart enough to realize his imminent demise. His eyes slowly slip closed, but just before they do he sees a pale green mist appear behind the red one.
HELLO, Death. I WAS EXPECTING YOU.
IT LOOKS LIKE DOUBLE DUTY TONIGHT.
"How are we cutting it today?" the barber asks.
"Number one, please. All the way around."
"That short? Alright. Easy enough."
The barber buzzes Josh's hair to the requisite length, and neither man says a word. When it is done, Konnely hands the man a twenty.
"Keep the change."
Josh shakes hands with the barber and leaves the shop. He smiles as he feels the wind on his close cut hair and head.
"Apparently the World Heavyweight Champion The Dark Wolf has spent the last week in a coma. Big T was in a coma, Dark Wolf was in a coma. What's going on around here? I'm sick and tired of hearing about people being in comas. Quite frankly, The Dark Wolf is probably more entertaining when he is in a coma than he is on the microphone or in the ring.
By the end of the night, however, The Dark Wolf will wish he had stayed in his little coma.
I am not a man who is known for a lot of feeling, but I honestly feel a little bit sad about this match tonight. It is a little sad, honestly. It is sad that The Dark Wolf is going to walk out of that hospital- probably A.M.A, which stands for against medical advice, for those who don't know- only to step into this ring with the Butcher of Bridgeport. The sad part of it is that by the end of our match The Dark Wolf will be having his ass checked RIGHT BACK IN to the hospital.
See this stretcher, Wolf? There is only one way you are leaving Strike Towers Wrestling tonight, and that is on one of these. Because unlike the coward that put you out last week, I do not NEED a sledgehammer to put a man unconcious in a hospital bed. All I need is my vast expertise of lethal chokeholds. You might be The Dark wolf, and you might be bigger than I am, but I am like that cobra you saw there earlier. With one quick strike, I can put down the biggest and nastiest beast that crosses me.
Now, I will concede that wolves and cobras might not generally be thought of as cohabitating in the same region or location, but that is merely a metaphor. It is a demonstration of what a cold, heartless snake like the man standing in this ring can do when he sinks his fangs into his target. Most cobras are native to Africa, while some are found in the south of Asia and in the Pacific islands. The only place you may find wolves and cobras in the same place is in the Middle East. As for the badger, I'm not entirely sure what he has to do with any of it or how he would be in the same place as the wolf and the cobra. The badger is more like a distraction. What is your badger, Dark Wolf? Who is your badger? The man who took you out with a sledgehammer next week? Or having to defend the SFT Championship next week on pay-per-view?
Just out of a coma, with a World Title defense right around the corner. You surely do have plenty of 'badgers' to distract you and screw up your focus. Forgive me for getting off on a tangent there, but I brought it back to a singular point. Anyway, you cannot afford to be distracted by the 'badgers' in your life. Not with a cobra waiting to slither in for the kill.
Your buddy Ray Cross spoke on your behalf. Honestly, he would have done you much better to keep his mouth shut. I know you have talked a whole lot about Cross being a multiple time Hardcore Champion, longest reigning Hardcore Champion, and a hardcore legend. But even if you hadn't told the world ad nauseum, I would have known he was a hardcore wrestler. He is clearly taken far too many chairs and kendo sticks and kitchen sinks to the head. I mean, did you get a load of the awful grammar spewing from your ex-military buddy's mouth? He clearly is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Ray Cross called me a punk kid and accused me of not even being able to hold a decent match anymore. Well, I have just two things to say about that. One: take a look at the competition around here. Newsflash: there IS none. Two, I have already decimated and destroyed every man in that locker room at least once. So maybe I have gotten a little soft since losing the SFT Championship back in February.
Still, I am a two-time SFT Champion. The last time I won it, I held it with an iron fist for more than TWO MONTHS. I laid waste to the entire SFT roster during that time. I can prove no more than I already have.
The Dark Wolf is a new challenge for me, Ray. A new face to ruin, a new body to break. Ray Cross, you opened your mouth and declared war. In doing so, I fear that you have only just awoken a SLEEPING GIANT.
Well, maybe not a literal physical giant. I mean, look at me. I'm only five foot eight. But let's not get off on a tangent again.
As was the case with Pearl Harbor, the phrase 'sleeping giant' refers simply to an unstoppable destructive power that can and will crush the party responsible for awakening it. Sadly, Ray Cross, it is The Dark Wolf that will suffer the price for your ridiculous and insulting bravado.
Ray, allow me to properly introduce myself. I am a cold-hearted, ornery snake with a city upbringing and Army training. I once had to pull a knife on a man who assaulted me from behind, and that was just on the streets of my hometown. A block from my front door. I am a heartless beast, consumed with rage and resentment from the life I'VE led. I lost my father, the most important thing in my world, when I was just eleven years old. At thirteen I moved from the peaceful Hudson valley of upstate New York to the murder-ridden streets of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Poverty forced me into the National Guard. The cold, unfeeling world turned me into an even more cold and unfeeling savage animal.
The Dark Wolf might be Strike Towers' ultimate underdog, he might be hungry like a wolf, and he could even bring your pet alligator out to the ring. Wolves, alligators, lions, tigers, and bears. It simply does not MATTER. I might be smaller and weaker than all of them, but when I strike and my VENOM sinks in, they all will fall. There is no animal in this whole big Strike Towers jungle that can survive the deadly quick strike of the cobra.
Cross, in all fairness, you did say one thing and ONLY one thing that close to right. You said I was lucky it is not a title match. Are you so sure about that? Have you been watching SFT the last three or four months? The last two title matches I was booked into, I left Saint Jude laying in a battered heap in the middle of the ring with only 'HIS' National Championship to comfort him and ease his pain. I have held titles. They mean nothing to me anymore. A championship is only as good as the man who holds it. It was The Dark Wolf himself who said that. With Saint Jude as the National Champion, that title is completely WORTHLESS.
Someone is lucky that tonight's match is not a title match. But that someone is not Josh Konnely. His name is The Dark Wolf.
As for you, Dark wolf, I hope you are as close to a hundred percent as you can possibly manage tonight. Sampson, tonight when I sink my fangs into you, my venom will cut off the source of your power. I will choke the life from your body, and leave you dying in the ring. When the smoke clears and the match is finished, the trainers will come down with one of these and carry you out of the ring and right back to the hospital.
You are a dying Wolf. Tonight my venom will put an end to your suffering."
"Indestructible" by Disturbed hits again and Josh Konnely drops the backboard on the mat. He climbs out of the ring and drops the microphone to the floor. The camera focuses on the stretcher, and the scene fades to RED.
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