Chapter 002: The Symbol. [The Gatekeeper.]

It had been a couple of months since the events had transpired, and the problem was that Liliana, Tara’s older adopted sister, was the only one that knew what had happened to her. Liliana took care of business in her own way; she did not want Tara to know about the pull she had, and Tara would always act oblivious to it. There was no denying that Liliana would kill for her. They may have not been blood, but they were sisters. Liliana would watch Tara wake up after having a nightmare more times than she could count; it seemed to be a nightly routine, and it broke her every time to see how she was damaged. Tara, an innocent girl; the type of girl who grew up and was able to light up the room with her smile. The type of girl who would always see the good in someone, and encourage them to share their light with the world. Now… she seemed like a shell.

Liliana would watch over her at school… Liliana was a junior as Tara was just entering as a freshman, and she would watch as Tara just kept her head low and tried to avoid all of her friends as she just walked to and from her classes. Tara would go to her martial arts classes; Liliana and their brother were in the same class. Despite being the youngest of the three, Tara had a blue belt with a stripe, while Liliana had purple, and their brother had yellow; Liliana watched her during the class become more and more aggressive and she felt that this was her way of letting her frustration over what happened come out. When they got home, she watched as Tara tried to escape into the realm of video-games… to escape the realm of reality. Liliana would catch Tara huddled in a chair with her knees held to her chest, and one hand on the mouse, as she would play for a couple hours a day on Diablo. The occasional exasperated sigh would escape from her while playing, and it was easy to see that she was still hurting. It hurt her to see.

As the older sister, Liliana did what she could… and she had sent a clear message that Tara was not to be trifled with. It was coming close to the winter break from school, and Liliana had a project that was due for her mythology class. She knew how bright Tara was, and although she was younger, Tara was always a great help in getting her work done right, on time, and with a perfect score.

“Girl, I need your help,” Liliana said while walking into the bedroom she shared with Tara. Tara was already huddled on her bed seemingly lost in one of the most recent books she added to her collection. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Tara raised her eyes and eyebrows to look up at Liliana with a puzzled look, “I have this project due before break, and I just don’t know where to start…” Liliana resumed.

“What’s it on?” Tara asked. She was still rather snappy, and in no mood to really speak.

“Mythology. Can you take a look?” Liliana asked while taking a seat on Tara’s bed, and holding the book out for her.

Tara put a bookmark on her own before accepting the mythology book and began thumbing through the pages; she would skim a few of the words and look at some of the illustrations before flipping to the next page. “An essay?” Tara asked without looking away from the book.

“Yeah.”

“How many pages?”

“Ten. Front and back, double-spaced.” Liliana said and rolled her eyes.

“Okay…” a hint of sadness still in her voice, which disappointed Liliana; she thought that getting her mind onto a project would be the best way to bring her back to normalcy. “I-- I like this one…” Tara stopped on a page, and rather than skimming, her eyes read each word. Liliana leaned over and Tara tilted the book toward her, showing the mythological phoenix along with the brief description of what the phoenix was, and its origins. Tara placed her finger at the description, and Liliana murmured it to herself.



There was more going on about the phoenix… but Liliana seemed to like what she read, and answered her sister, “So are you going to help me?” and for the first time that Liliana could see in months, Tara smiled and seemed bashful. Tara nodded her head and began reading closer into the details. Liliana tried to follow along with Tara’s reading as the two were brainstorming an outline for her essay.

---

Tara leaned into the corner of a railing, just staring at the camera with a smirk on her face. Despite the fact that she went on to become the Project: Honor Warrior Rising Champion for one week, only to lose it to Petey, this did not dissuade her; this did not discourage her; she still smiled after having the time to process what had happened. She was still smiling and looking toward the next challenge. And it was a challenge, that much she knew… that much was clear… she would be sharing the ring with Mark Hunter. There was not one chirp that disturbed the silent venue… The only sound that protruded the air at this time was that of the air conditioner. She cocked her head to the side, still with that smirk, and finally broke the silence with her own voice.

“I suppose that I should congratulate Petey on defeating me just one week after I won my first belt in Project: Honor. I suppose I should congratulate Petey on handing me my first one-on-one loss since signing with Project: Honor.” Tara’s lips pursed together, and turned her head away from the camera. “I suppose I should…” She repeated. She ran her tongue across her lips and shrugged her shoulders before returning her attention back to the camera.

“It was short-lived. It was a short run. Not one defense to my name, and I let myself down-- I let my friends down, I let my family down, I let--” Tara stifled her voice, and it was clear that some of the frustration was getting to her as she sneered, “--I let my son down. But at the end of the day, it was a loss, right? I may have not been able to do what I sought out to do to raise the bar that Emmanuelle set with holding the Warrior Rising Championship, but I am not going to let that pitiful run be what people remember me for. You see, there’s a reason… that I chose the phoenix to be my representation… because no matter how many times it burns, it rises from its ashes. No matter how many times you try to break it, it continues to rise, and each and every loss that I receive in my career, I look at it for what it is: burning in my ashes, but each and every week, I will rise, and rise to greater challenges. That-- is what my son needs to see. He needs to see that no matter how many times that I’ve fallen; no matter how many times that I’ve been beaten; I get back up and I go for the next challenge! I become… greater… and so I feel that I do need to just go ahead and get this off my chest: congratulations, Petey. Do what I couldn’t. Hold the Warrior Rising Championship to Emmanuelle’s standard.”

---

Tokyo, Japan

Night of Honor
STAY WITH ME

All I could see was red as I stomped my way behind the curtain… I felt the judging eyes of everyone backstage, and when I glanced at each of their faces, they were in excruciating shock. Disappointment. I knew the shock and disappointment they felt for me did not scrape the surface of what I felt. I walked in silence to the locker room, ignoring even my friends… MYOJIN tried to reach out to me, to comfort me, but I couldn’t even look at them. With a bit of extra force, I pushed the door open for the locker room and went straight to my locker… I didn’t want to bother changing. I just wanted to leave.

The first thing I do is take my phone and scroll through my messages: there he was, right on top… Jason Cashe. Dio. I wanted to feel anger; I wanted to scream. But when I saw his name, I felt myself able to stomach it. But it did not change the feeling. I had to leave. I open the messages and type out a quick message.



I didn’t wait for a response. I just tucked my phone into the pocket of my bag, slung it over my shoulder and stormed toward the back… I felt the blood rushing, and boiling on my face. I knew my cheeks were a shade of red closer to that of a tomato. All I could do was lower my head and hope no one tried to stop me. It didn’t take me long to get there, and it was perfect timing: Dio pulled up with the rental just as I walked out the door. He leaned toward the passenger window and put his hand on the passenger headrest.

“Yo, Bluey!” He said. It was some silly nickname he started calling me… I laughed the first time he called me that, but I stifled my laughter this time. I just flung my bag into the backseat, and slid onto the passenger chair slamming the door behind me. “You’re not going to shower? It was a solid fight, just—“

Please don’t finish that. I had to cut him off, “No.”

The single word came out more sternly than I intended, but I could see something different in his eyes. He wasn’t going to try to tell me to calm down. He wasn’t going to be upset with my attitude. He just nodded. “Where to?” He asked me.

“Just take me back to the hotel, please…” Please? I don’t know how it just rolled off my tongue, but it did.

“You've got it, Bluey.”

The drive was relatively quiet. He would try to get me to perk up, but just nothing seemed to work. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to be furious. But at what? At who? When we reached the hotel, he got out and got my bag… I looked ridiculous. I was still in my ring attire. My hair was a mess.

“Hey, so I understand if you want to be alone. I can go find a bar. Maybe—“

“No, no. Please stay with me.” Please again? He didn’t protest while we walked through the lobby, and to the elevator. The elevator didn’t take too long to reach our floor… We were near the top. It was a good view. You could see the dome from our room, but I had no desire to see any of that…

As soon as he unlocked the door and swung the door open, I felt my body take over, wanting to get all of the frustration out. I pressed myself against Dio before he could close the door, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a deep kiss. He resisted at first but just as the door clicked close, he was kissing me back. I needed this.

---

“For the short time that I held the Warrior Rising Championship, it still made my representation… great. It embodied what is going to become of my career; it embodied what I am going to do with my time! I am going to look for each and every challenge, I am going to rise for each and every challenge, and I am going to conquer each and every challenge… There is absolutely no denying, as great as that belt became in the hands of Emmanuelle, that was not where my eyes were set! That was not the roadstop that I had in mind. It was one of those roadside attractions that just catches your eyes, and make no mistake, I am proud that it caught my eye and I did make that pitstop. I would not have had the match with Emmanuelle had I not made that stop, but it’s time to hit that road. It’s time to continue on the path that I saw from the beginning.” The smirk returned to her face. She paused briefly to let her mind linger on her goal. The obstacles that were in her way to get where she wanted to be.

“The Grand Championship. The Legacy Championship. Held by Ozymandias and the one woman who seems to be… untouchable… Elena DeDraca. Now, I know what you all must be thinking; I know what my dear opponent may be thinking: don’t get ahead of yourself! Focus on the ‘here’! Focus on the ‘now’! And make no mistake, that’s exactly what I am doing because those two… this week… do not matter. Those two… this week… are nobody to me. They are nothing to me! Who does matter. Who does have my full attention. Is a man who was already somebody within the confines of Project: Honor from the moment I signed; a man that held the Grand Championship when I signed, only to lose it to Ozymandias… and go on to become the number one contender for Elena DeDraca. This is a man that has waged war with both Ozymandias and Elena DeDraca and lived to tell the tale! And what an experience he can share with me when I step into the ring with him at Proving Ground this Friday!”

Tara pushed herself away from the railing and rubbed her hands together in excitement. She still wore that smirk on her face, and took a couple steps toward the camera while the name of her opponent danced off her tongue.

“Mark Hunter--” she said, “--there is no denying how great you are as a competitor. How opportunistic you are. You are the man, as I said, who waged war with two of the top people in Project: Honor to this day! You are the man who went out at Night of Honor and won the night for Proving Ground… by eliminating not one, but two people. But how did you acquire those two pin falls? One, by kicking someone in the unmentionables. The other, the same way people know you for even winning the Grand Championship. By using the ropes to your advantage…” Tara clicked her tongue a few times, “Tsk tsk, Mark, tsk tsk. That’s not something that I want to be remembered for; that’s not a reputation I want to build… And I have a long history, and a long reputation, a reputation for some things that people have tried to throw in my face many times as it comes to no surprise that some of my tactics have worked; some of my mind games… have worked. That is what we do, isn’t it? This sport isn’t just about physical prowess, but mental prowess, right? It’s about getting in your opponents heads before the match even begins and setting the tone… sending the message that they made the mistake of showing up. That they’re in over their head. That’s something that I know neither one of us will have the delusion of… You know that you can’t intimidate me, and I know that you’re not going to back down. But there’s something about you… the constant bending of rules, or cheating in a match, that’s not a reputation I long to ever have. Don’t get me wrong: there’s a time and a place where you need to take every opportunity that comes to you, even if that means hitting a low blow on Petey when he thinks he’s going to get lucky, but it’s few and far between for me. But who am I to argue with your results? They got you where you are. To be one of the people to beat. To be one of the people that is going to determine whether I belong here… or am just another flake like everyone else seemed to be after a demoralizing loss.”

Tara shook her head and appeared visibly disgusted at the mere thought of retreating; tucking tail and running away.

“I do watch you, Mark. I do know what you are capable of. I do know that you do not need to use those ropes to gain an unfair leverage over your opponents… I know that you are fully capable of standing in that ring and going back and forth with anybody on the roster! I think that’s why-- when I looked at who I was going up against, I’m not going to lie, Mark,” Tara had a genuine smile on her face, “I was excited. Not only was I going to be a headliner, but it was going to be against you? I was thrilled! And believe me when I tell you, I’m not one of those people that looks at my opponent and then says something ridiculous like: oh, dear, how am I going to be able to compete against someone the likes of Mark Hunter! Your reputation doesn’t frighten me. You don’t frighten me. Your in-ring ability is impressive. Your ring awareness is up there with some of the best in the sport. And I know that you are also… trying… to change your own reputation. You want to bring respect to your game, and I could be the person to do that for you. I think you know it as well as I do. You are the man to beat, you are… what we’ve recently called Earl Boyde with his newly acquired championship: the gatekeeper.”

A moment of silence followed as Tara allowed the term intended as a compliment for Mark Hunter to escape her lips. She turned her side to the camera for a brief moment and began just taking a few slow steps, as if she were strolling through a park, before finally continuing.

“The gatekeeper--” Tara repeated the phrase with a short, snorting laughter, “--it has a nice ring to it. How does it make you feel to have earned such a compliment from me? To be called the gatekeeper? Because I mean that…” Tara places a hand over her heart, “With all of my heart. I mean it. You are the perfect person for me to face… You are the perfect person for me to prove that one loss will not define me, but this match… this match might.”

---

I blinked my eyes a few times… I couldn’t even tell if my eyes were open with how dark the room was, and couldn’t help but just lie still for what seemed like an eternity, but the truth was that it couldn’t have been more than two more minutes. I could see the figure of Jason lying beside me and bit my lip; we had to fly back to the States in a couple of hours… We had another show to attend. I let my hand graze his arm for a brief moment, and he stirred; he rolled onto his side facing away from me and continued to sleep. I rolled over in the other direction and pressed the button to turn the lamp on, giving a faint glow to the room… It already felt strange that I was without the belt. I took my phone in my hand and had seen that I had missed several calls, and several text messages. MYOJIN had tried to reach me several times with a few messages indicating that they had defeated Lance… and I missed it. I felt ashamed that I missed it, but I knew I needed to blow off some steam. It was too early to text back.

I carefully got out of the bed, pulling the sheets with me to wear more as if it were a robe while walking to the window overlooking the city. I pulled the curtain back, and just scoured over it… The lights were still bringing life to the city despite the early morning hours. The sun was starting to creep over the city and would soon make the lights pointless. A city that I had history with. Competing exclusively for a Japanese promotion with Masaru. The city that brought me my first belt for Project: Honor… and took it away. Despite the events that transpired, I did still love it. I heard a sudden fumbling, and before I could look behind me.

“Good morning,” Jason had called out. I finished looking over my shoulder to see him getting some clothes on before getting out of the bed.

“Good morning, JSun Yen.” I answered back to him in a bit more of a sarcastic tone; I had heard some of the fans throughout the city call him that and he had told me it was what Japan knew him as from his time of wrestling in the same city. It was hard to believe that we hadn’t crossed paths before. I couldn’t keep the flushed look off my face. I turned my attention back to the view in front of me, just wondering how long it would be before my life would bring me back here… Would it bring me back with a victory in my career?

“You picked up on that, huh? They love me here.” He said. I could hear the chuckle in his voice following and felt him put his arms around my waist and even laid his head on my shoulder. “I see you’re still ready for--” Before he could even finish that sentence, I slapped his arm.

“It’s too early for that.”

“Yeah, you are a bit of a screamer…” I could hear the sarcasm rolling off his tongue. I turned to him and just gave him a look, which seemed to give him the instinct of knowing he should not have said that. I still couldn’t stifle my own chuckle. I tried to be miserable. I tried to mope. But with him, I just couldn’t.

“We have to go soon… We literally have to be in Key West by evening so I can see Sabin debut, and you know they’re already asking you to be there.” I reached my hand back to his chin and drew him in for a kiss. Following the kiss, I let my eyes linger on his for a moment.

“I can be quick.” He muttered.

Totally ruining the moment! I smack his arm again, and now pull myself away this time. “I’m gonna get dressed.”

---

Following Tara’s most recent statement about how this match against Mark Hunter could very well define her career within Project: Honor; Mark Hunter, as she knew-- as we all knew-- was responsible for bringing some of the greatest matches to fruition. The likes of Dickie Watson, the likes of Ozymandias, of Indy Darling, of Lance Williams, and of course of Elena DeDraca. Could Tara stand as the next great combatant for Mark Hunter? She certainly thought so. She was pacing back and forth at a slow pace before resuming.

“As many instant classics that you’ve created with the widest range of competition, and as great as some of the people are, that you’ve fought… There is one truth that rings true, and one truth that matters above all else--” she said slowly, and coming to a stop in her pacing, “--you’ve never fought me. You’ve never shared the ring with me. This is going to be our first, but I know that it will not be our last! One of us will take that belt from Elena. One of us will take that belt from Ozy. And then our battle will resume after Proving Ground! But this is where it starts. This is where we set the tone! Who is going to walk out with the advantage in the future? Who is going to walk out with the momentum?” Tara cocked her head again to the side, “Of course, I’m going to tell you it’s going to be me. I’m going to tell you that I’m going to win over you so that I can march into my own cruise with the momentum on my side against our current X-Factor Champion, and my dear friend, MYOJIN! It’s why I need this win-- I need this momentum. I need to prove to the company that I am fully capable of standing where Cadillac stood… that I am fully capable of standing where Jason Long stood. That I am fully capable of standing where you stood.”

Her stance was everything at this exact moment. Her arms were down at her side, not shying away from the camera; her back was straight, her stance was tall… as tall as a woman at 5’6” could be perceived. Her stance represented her strength; her unwavering determination to bounce back from her crushing defeat. To catapult herself as a serious contender.

“I… can be there. I… should be there. I… will be there. Mark, who-- what-- you are stepping into the ring with is not just a mere challenger. What you are stepping into the ring with is someone-- something-- that feels out of place. A wolf that has been backed into a corner. A wolf that is wanting to thrive. That is wanting to eat. That is wanting to retain… alpha. A wolf that is clawing to be where she is most familiar with. And that’s among the elite. That’s among the best! That’s recognized as the best! And the only thing that is keeping me from that right now…” Tara pointed at the camera, “Is you.” The words lingered. “I’m sure you know how I feel… Every time that I suffer a loss, I find myself with my back against the wall… And I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure that it does not happen back-to-back! I am going to do everything in my power to bounce back… to stand tall… to stand with my arm raised as the winner.”

Tara took a step forward again and brought her arms out as if to put herself on display.

“This is it. This is where I prove everything… or I crumble away. This is the birth... this is the reign of the Age of the Phoenix.”