❝ CAUGHT IN THE SCOPE . ❞
king of elite. part i.
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Words are useless. They hold no meaning in life. Those promises and proclamations that people love to make bear nothing of true substance and worth. They can be small or grand, but when people don't follow through with their words, it's still a disappointment, isn't it? Promises become white lies. Then, those white lies metamorphose themselves into bigger, nagging lies. They may seem inconsequential at first until they aren't. They begin to pile up, and the more people churn out those empty, worthless, stupid words, the more it becomes a bigger pile of bullshit. So, ladies and gentlemen, let it be known that Halsey Neel doesn't make promises. She only guarantees results. Actions matter. Words don't. And after beating Ronan Malosi in order to get this match for the Hardcore Championship at King of Elite, that should be clear enough. After all, I have all of your attention, don't I?
In just a matter of a few, short weeks, I got to this point. I never needed to puff out my chest like Ronan and continue on the wheel of self-serving mediocrity by making promises of domination and success. I never needed to do any shit like that from the moment I signed with EAW, because unlike a lot of the Elitists here, I understand that I am actually expected to back up my words inside of that ring. I know. Shocker, isn't it? However, what's the sense of bragging and trying to be some sort of star if you don't put in the work deemed necessary in order to become one? It's easy to say that you're better than someone. Far too easy. Anyone can fool themselves into thinking that they can matter here. It doesn't take much talent to run your mouth off aimlessly about that sort of shit. However, as wrestlers, it is our actions that will forever define us. So, when I had the chance presented to me, I knew I had to take action. I needed it to be shown that I'm not here to fuck around.
I bided my time and waited for my chance to strike. Such patience afforded me the Hardcore Champion in my line of sight. I did what needed to be done. I knew I couldn't waste another single moment. If I was going to leave behind the message that I've been trying to get across to so many after all of this time, I knew that I needed to send it with the help of Hikari's lifeless body. I attacked her, and I won't shy away from it. People can be livid, including her. They can bitch and moan, whining about how cowardly such actions are to them. However, I don't give a shit. What I did was necessary for me to do; to wake all of you up and show that in the end, no amount of wishing or trying to speak worthless affirmations into reality is ever going to work out in your favor. Especially not when I'm more than liable to take away your precious dreams and break them myself. I stand on the cusp of becoming everyone's worst nightmare. I, the same uninteresting, plain, generic, boring woman who couldn't give a rat's ass about accomplishment have the chance to achieve something that so many of you worthless cretins desperately seek, and that couldn't bring a bigger smile to my face than it already does.
I'm shitting all over you.
I'm better than all of you.
And it's all just so effortless for me.
In fact, it's too easy. I mean, Hikari, you really should've known better than to let your guard down when I'm around. I figured that being a champion, you'd try to take your challenger a little more seriously than that. Perhaps your established win over me in the past fooled you into thinking that things were going to be easy and comfortable for you. And if that's the case, then I guess that match at the Hawaii show has fucked you up more than we initially thought it did, hm? I hope you weren't expecting me to all of a sudden show you any sort of respect all because you clapped your hands together like a braindead fan when you were watching Ronan and I fight. I was never the type that was easily smitten by the applause or adoration from people - unlike you, in your not-so-distant past. But hey, you finally won something meaningful; an accolade that can be proudly synonymous with your name. It did take you a good few tries before you were able to get to this point of recognition on your own two feet, but hey, better late than never, right?
It's just a shame that this fanciful tale for you is going to have to come to its abrupt end.
Go ahead and carry on with your elongated speech and pseudo-intellectual ramblings that poorly disguise your rampant egoism, but honestly, Hikari, I'm not going to be bowing to you or try to acknowledge any sort of "levels" that may separate us here. I'm not here to play into this legend you're trying to build with yourself. I'm only interested in breaking it down. Especially not when I was able to leave you vulnerable and knock you off of your high horse just last week. If I could lay you out flat inside of the ring just like that, then imagine what I can do to you at King of Elite. Just imagine what I am truly capable of now that the rules have been lifted and I have all of the permission in the world to destroy you any way I see fit. You might've been able to beat me before, but trust me, you don't want to hang that sole win over me as if it's some golden, coveted 'gotcha!' above me. Plenty of time has passed since our last encounter, and though I may not have gotten a title during that period, my hunger hasn't diminished. In fact, it's only grown. I'm itching to do serious damage here. And now that our match draws closer and closer, that need hasn't weakened in the slightest.
So, for your sake, you don't want to let your guard down around me again. Because this time, I can fuck up your whole night when you least expect it.
Still, you won't take my word for it, will you? Oh, no. You'll still be stuck in your little world of ignorance, chastizing me and bringing up all of my mistakes as if I'm not already aware of them. As if it's all brand new to me. As if I haven't heard the same things from people, including those I've beaten recently who think that they offer anything new to the table. As if they themselves, like you, aren't guilty of doing the exact same shit. I mean, the last time we were set to go face-and-face, you wanted to decry me as some apathetic bitch who only cared about speaking up at the last minute when I deemed it necessary to, yet... don't you do that most of the time, Hikari? Oh, but your opponents don't bring up anything new, do they? They don't hold your interest enough, is that it? Shit, I don't think you were even the first person to speak up in lieu of the Hardcore Championship match that you ultimately won, but sure, I'm the apathetic and uncaring one here. But hey, I guess when it comes to you, you're exempt. You get to coast on by, doing the bare minimum, all while people prop you up whereas I have to deal with people regurgitating their criticisms of me over and over again. I guess the idolation from your idol days has never truly gone away.
Oh, but don't take this as me being bitter. Far from it. I find the whole thing, hilarious, really.
Because you, Hikari Kanno, are perhaps the biggest hypocrite walking around EAW today.
It's easy for you to slight others for their failures but forget that you yourself have had multiple chances to become a solidified singles champion already before, failing in those opportunities time after time. It's easy for you to say how other people are self-absorbed and egotistical far more than their careers can actually support, yet you were an annoying, clout-chasing asshole who only just barely got her shit together not even a whole year ago. So mighty and right is Hikari Kanno, who can slay others with her tongue in presenting their shortcomings, but if we dare to highlight obvious facts and her own history of shortcomings, then we're just unoriginal and too set on the past or whatever the fuck she likes to say in her gloriously-fake wisdom. It's honestly funny witnessing how quickly someone can transform into being this supposed mirror of truth for Elitists to stare into all because they managed not to completely shit the bed the millionth time around. Disingenuous as all hell, but still mildly entertaining.
Am I supposed to discard your mistakes, Hikari? Am I supposed to head into this match with my tongue held so that your poor little ego doesn't get shattered? Am I supposed to procure some bold-faced lie and act as if I'm intimidated by you in the slightest? You can be insulted if you wish, but I'm merely being honest here: something that hasn't changed about me after all this time. Unlike you, I never needed to spend weeks going through a mental breakdown because I realized my partner has accomplished more than me. I can be frustrated, but I don't let those same frustrations consume me. I repurpose my rage for something good, something productive, instead of indulging the three simps that decide to stick around and coddle me. I certainly don't have to take too long breaking out of someone else's shadow either. I never needed to change because I couldn't achieve my unrealistic dreams. You did. I never once had to feel like a fraud. You did. That's what separates us here, Hikari; that's what makes me ahead of you in this shit. My constitution is unshakeable. My mentality hardly wavers. I never once had that doubt creeping in, let alone to the point where I need to put on this facade like you do to seem like I matter. When it comes to the war of steel fortitude, there is not a single soul out there that’s able to beat me. You can say what you wish about me, but I won't care, Hikari. That's the main thing here. You care, but I don't. You care too much. Just like everyone else here, you're too caught up in your presentation and how you are viewed. Even if you try to deny it, your words can never discard the painful truth. After all, in your former world before wrestling, image was everything. Your image, your persona, was currency for the fame you sought to seek. You wished to be validated. And even now, I do believe there is still that part of you that wants that.
That title is just a means to the end you've been wanting ever since you decided to step into the Land of Elite.
Just another serotonin boost to your already-manic ego.
You're still unproven in my eyes because of that. King of Elite is the first time people can see Hikari Kanno at the absolute top of her game as the defending champion. This is the last test for you; the final hurdle for you to jump and overcome so that those nagging, persistent doubts of the past won't haunt you any longer. Because you already failed in your past title matches, in your past partnerships, and in your past career. No one will be here to guide you. No one else will be around to take the fall for you. It's just you against me; a match that will truly put you through hell and back as nothing and no one will stand in between us. Nothing will shield you from your own mistakes, however. There is no barrier for you to hide behind. With me, you will be wholly exposed. I will decimate you and leave you shattered like the pieces of your fragile hubris. I will make you crumble underneath the weight of your own insecurities that still loom within you. In a fight without limitations, I still conquer. I'm untouchable in this shit. And this match is my wheelhouse to leave you behind in Vancouver, laying amongst your broken dreams as I hold everything you worked so hard towards upon my shoulder.
I won't waste my words on all of that, though. I'm a woman of action, after all.
Tangible, worthwhile action.
But please, do your usual schtick. Carry on with your long-winded 'teardowns' and continue to carry yourself with your over-inflated sense of self-worth. I'll be here, waiting for what will ultimately be a verbal shortcoming of yours. Put on a hard front and pretend that everything that came from my lips was lies. Just make sure you point the same finger you're poised to point at me with at your own fucking self., for every shot you try to fire my way, I've got a bullet loaded into the chamber with your name on it.
I've got the kind of aim that can kill you in an instant.