Post by James Raymond on Mar 21, 2022 12:30:04 GMT -5
— — — — —
Standing before a judge and facing prison time is not how James planned to live out his fifteenth year on this earth, but judging by how things have turned out for him, it looks to be more than just that. All he could think about was the wasted childhood he lived in and knowing that he’s only a few seconds away from seeing the rest of his childhood being swept away from him and about to be spent behind bars. But, that's what he was looking to be facing.
And concerning his actions——he deserves this punishment.
A few months prior, James went for the biggest risk of his entire life–the biggest risk he’s ever taken that backfired within an instant. From robbing a store to assaulting an elderly man to even getting involved in a hit and run. The charges were looking major for him. But with him being only fifteen years old, the uncertainty was playing a factor in everyone’s mind.
As he looked around the courtroom, eyeing up every single member of the jury that was there for the sentencing today, there was a clear look of fear on his face. All he could do at this moment was fear the worst to come. Their decision was in their hands. He could do anything to plead and hope that he could walk out of this a free man—but even he knows he’s gone too far in. James even looked behind him, to glance back at his mother and his father watching on, seeing his mother on the verge of tears was heartbreaking to even see.
A cough broke the silence in the room as James adjusted himself in his seat, seeing the judge of the case sitting within her seat and handling all of the papers right in front of her. James could only watch as the judge stared daggers down at the young boy. He gulped, feeling a chill run down his spine, his eyes locked onto hers in a moment of fear. But the two’s eye contact broke apart once the judge went reading through the papers in her hands.
“Well, James—these are some really serious charges you’ve got on your case. You know that, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. And I... do regret my actions, yes.”
The judge glanced back down at James upon his response.
“I think we’re a bit too far gone to be regretful now, James.”
A pause from the judge.
“The elderly man you’ve assaulted in the shop was left in a wheelchair, concussed, and with some serious internal bleeding in the lower torso. The young schoolgirl that you hit and ran trying to get away from the scene of the crime? She almost lost her life but is miraculously making a comeback and is now finally able to move around only carefully to this day.”
James could only hang his head low in shame—the terrible feeling within his stomach was making him sick.
“This isn’t the kind of behaviour I expect from a fifteen year old, James.”
“I’m... aware of that and... I’m just really sorry.”
His tone was quiet, almost like a whisper. The regret was sinking in.
“Being sorry isn’t going to fix all of this, James. You’ve caused quite enough chaos to hospitalise two innocent people who were just going about their day, and those two people couldn’t even come here today to see you because they are disgusted and they are scarred knowing that their lives have changed completely because of some silly little fifteen year old boy trying to play the things he’s seeing on his television screen.”
The tension within the room was tight. James kept his head lowered but he soon brought it back up again to glance up at the judge up on her pedestal before standing right up and out of his seat. The lawyer sitting right beside him is quietly asking him to sit down but James is not budging at all, he’s pushing the lawyer’s hand off of his arm and then bringing his focus back up to the judge.
“Look, I know saying sorry isn’t going to fix any of this but I just want to put it out there that I never meant for any of this to have happened—hell, I wasn’t even the one who struck the elderly man! There were three of us that went into that shop and three of us that got into that car. I was behind the wheel but I did not assault that man. I didn’t even want to hit that young girl, I tried to swerve out of the way but she kept running and I just—”
The judge banged down her gavel and cut off from what James was speaking about, the young man took a deep breath before taking a seat again where he sat. The lawyer beside him did his best to try and keep his head cooled. The judge was soon then given a small sheet of paper from the jury.
“James, we are aware of the other two that were with you that day—and we’ve asked you time and time again to confess as to who they might have been, but your lack of cooperation has led to all of the charges to be put down onto you. But, I’m giving you one last chance to confess. If you do decide to cooperate and tell me right now who the other two were, the assault charge and the robbery charge will be taken off of your case.”
Those words caught the attention of James, knowing that the charges could be taken off of him right now seems like a miracle at work.
“Sadly, the hit and run charge will remain– but, I can work a way around it to make sure it’s six months on house arrest—if you do choose to help us in tracking down these two boys that you were with on that day.”
A choice. One he’s now afraid to even make. Those that were there on the day of the incident within the city are his closest friends, the only friends that he had, and to even think of snitching them out—well, he knows the dangers of doing so.
The streets of Coventry aren’t the cleanest of them all, filled to the brim of people like James and his two close friends, but they come in different forms and much aggravated behaviours. If word had gotten out that James snitched on his two close friends, then the consequences would be disastrous—not only for him but for his family too.
His mother, his father, and even his two sisters as well.
The decision would mean life or death.
A harsher sentence or six months of house arrest.
“Mikey Powell and Adam Henderson.”
A deep breath taken. The feeling is eating him up inside but the truth is—it had to have been done.
“Those are the two that were with me that day.”
For the sake of not being put into detention for public protection, it had to have been done. For the sake of his own family feeling shameful and to not be locked up for two whole years or even more—he had to have done the right thing. His closest friends will not look back at James for the friend they thought of him to be but the snake, the snitch, and the rat bastard that he is.
“Thank you, James. Police will bring them in for questioning as we speak——but for you, James, you still have that one charge left to your name. And, as promised, I sentence you to six months of house arrest. You may not leave your house at all until the six months are up, do you understand that?”
James kept his head down, silent.
“Yes, ma’am.”
The court case was finally over, and now, James walked out with a heavy weight lifted off of his shoulders. Whether he made the right choice or not was all depending on how things would play out within the future, but as of right now, this felt like getting away with murder.
In the arms of his parents he went, comforting their son and his brave act of finally telling the police about the two friends that left him for dead all of those months ago. They knew themselves how dangerous things would be from now on but they will defend their son and stand their ground no matter what.
For him, this was just the beginning.
A fresh start, a new beginning, a restart to life.
Something he’s been wishing for since this all began.
— — — — —
Night had fallen on the city of Tokyo.
In the mind of James, all he could think about was what happened all of those years ago——the months that he spent on bail, the months he spent in fear after the court case ended, all of those years of being avoided by just about everyone in Coventry City for being the supposed ‘snitch’ of the city. It all came to his dreams, or even, his nightmares.
All he could imagine in his head was the fear. The fear that trembled up and down his body for days, weeks, months, and even years before he even decided to take the route of becoming the professional wrestler that he is today. All he could imagine was that trembling fear.
And then, the remembrance of that day in particular.
The day of his younger sister’s death.
In his dream, it was like he was there in person at the exact moment that she was there, crossing a street, and someone began speeding down the street and looking to hit the young girl that was crossing the street. A targeted attack. James did everything he could to jump out in front of the speeding car and push his sister out of the way—but it felt like he was running on the spot. He wasn’t moving at all.
He watched the impact, but no sooner after the impact of the car and his younger sister, he had woken up all of a sudden. Sweating profusely, he jumped out of his bed and began to pace back and forth to try and clear his mind. Though, his partner — Natsumi — had awoken from the sudden movements of James jumping out of the bed. She turned over and covered herself up, looking up and seeing James continuing to pace back and forth.
“大丈夫ですか。 (Are you alright?)”
James stops in his tracks and turns to see Natsumi awoken.
“元気です。私はただ悪夢を見ました。 (I’m fine. I just had a nightmare.)”
Natsumi can see the discomfort on James’ face once he had spoken, watching him turn his back to her so she couldn’t see the tears beginning to fall down his face.
“それについて話してみませんか? (Would you like to talk about it?)”
Those chills continued to run up his back as he looked out the window and into the nightlife of Tokyo. Lights shining brightly through and reflecting right to his face, those tears were more visible than before and Natsumi could see them crystal clear.
“私はむしろしたくない。それは...あまりにも個人的です。 (I’d rather not. It’s... too personal.)”
Natsumi felt a cloud of sadness hovering over her, knowing that James isn’t opening up to his problems. Soon, she stands up and wraps the duvet sheet around her clothless body, taking a few gentle steps forward to lean her head onto James’ back.
“誰かに話せるのに、胸の近くに物事を近づけるのは良くないと思うのが好きです。 (I like to think it's not a good thing to keep things close to your chest when you could speak to someone about it.)”
James stayed silent hearing her words of wisdom, turning around and looking down at Natsumi’s puppy-like eyes before wrapping his arms around her.
“時には、物事をあなたの胸に個人的なものにしておくのが最善です。たとえそれがあなたがちょうど開く準備ができていないものであっても。 (Sometimes, it's best to keep things personal to your chest. Even if it's something that you're just not ready to open up to.)”
“私がいつもあなたのためにここにいるのはご存じでしょう、ジェームズ。 (You know I'm always here for you, James.)”
James plants a kiss right onto the forehead of Natsumi.
“わかってるよ、夏美。 (I know, Natsumi.)”
As he brought Natsumi back to the bed, he planted another kiss right down onto her forehead before taking a few steps back and letting her fall back to sleep, but then, he stepped out onto the balcony. Taking in the fresh air that passed through, it was calming to his mind. The thought of the contents of his dream still scared him a little but he knows that it’s something he’ll never be able to shake off.
James’ younger sister – Cassidy Raymond – was someone that he cherished. She was only four years younger than James, dying at the age of thirteen when she was run over by someone looking to take their anger out on James for what he did all of those years ago, and it’s haunted him ever since.
He always blamed himself for her death.
He always told himself that he was the reason that she’s dead.
Always told himself that he caused this after the court case ended and he knew this would’ve happened.
And there’s not a day that went by that he wished that he was the one who was hit and killed.
James pulled his phone out and looked at the lock screen on his phone, seeing the picture of him and Cassidy from a few years before the accident that caused her death, which gave him a chance to smile seeing the two happy together. Reminding him that there was never a dull moment between the two, never a moment where the two siblings were sad together, always had a smile on their faces when together.
He unlocked his phone and began scrolling through the gallery on his phone, swiping past all of the old photos of the two of them and even some videos that they had together, eventually playing one of them as the sound of Cassidy’s voice is heard through the speaker of the phone.
“I’m telling you right now— this is the best brother that anyone could’ve asked for!”
“And this is the best fuckin’ sister that anyone could’ve asked for!”
Moments like these make James smile, reminding himself of the good times. The simpler times. A tear began to run down the face of James but he was quick to wipe it away as he continued to scroll through and stopped at the same image as his lock screen was. The smile stayed on his face as he looked at the image one more time before putting the phone back into his pocket and whispering something to himself.
“I miss you, sis.”
A final deep breath was taken before he finally decided to head back inside and join Natsumi back in bed.
— — — — —
“Beginnings.”
“We’ve all had our own beginnings, we’ve all had our chances of making that first impression, making sure that the mark is left right where we need it to be. For the past four years, I’ve been holding onto this one impression that was made with me since the very beginning of my career. A young star, a prodigy in the making, a man with potential that he’s gotta dig deep to find.”
“And for the past four years, I did everything I could to find that potential within me. I thought I had it when I became a World Champion only a few months into my career and had the biggest win I’ve ever had in my whole time as a professional wrestler. I thought I had it. I really, really thought I had it in the palm of my hands.”
“I was wrong.”
He pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath that’s clearly heard.
“I was wrong because I soon lost that title, and I did everything that I could to gain it back, but I just— I couldn’t. And since then, I haven't been the same since. All of that potential that I thought I had? Down the fuckin’ drain with it. Never to be seen again. I have had my chances to become a champion since then, to become a real prizefighter, to become a true potential singles star and out of the shadows of others. But I just couldn’t find that thing that I was missing.”
“And recently, it clicked.”
“I was keeping myself to the shadows.”
“Being kept in the dark and not putting myself out there into the light.”
“And that light— it became a bright star, going by the name of Proving Ground.”
“I realised that what made me that person back in 2018 was me making sure that I stood my ground and I kept my head up, I wasn’t going to let anyone take me down a notch even in defeat, and I ain’t been keeping myself to that standard in the last four years. If I gotta get back to that mindset then I am damned, and so will everyone else, because that old me was a mentally unstable silent killer. And a dangerous one at that too. I ain’t had much respect for anyone back then. I ain’t had much respect for anyone today either.”
“I need to tap back into that mindset.”
“That mindset helped me win championships, made me the known star that I am to some today. Created the person that you see before you today. That mindset helped shape what James Raymond is, and if anything, it could help reshape me to be what I once was.”
“And that begins at Proving Ground.”
“So tell me, Rich.”
“What makes you think you can stand toe to toe with me, eh?”
“There ain’t a single thing I can find out about you, there ain’t shit about you anywhere that I’ve looked, and all I’m going with is a name.”
“Rich Mahogany.”
James laughed to himself.
“Am I a joke to some of you?”
“I should’ve expected this — I really should’ve — but I never thought I’d have to go through with this, you know? I should’ve known that the first person you give me is some joke, some wasteman that you pulled off of the fuckin’ streets to give them a chance. But, I thought you’d know better. I thought you’d give me the chance and give me someone on your roster to just...”
“Dissect.”
“A chance to really just prove myself and where I belong.”
“After all, this is Proving Ground, correct?”
“So why not have given me the chance to prove myself by dismembering a member of your precious roster, my friends? Maybe you’ve read up about me, maybe you’ve seen the dismemberments of others within Europe and Japan and know just how dangerous I can be. Maybe you have done your research – to which I do applaud, if you have done so – but I just know that you’re protecting them.”
“Even then, you know you can’t protect them any longer.”
“But, if you want to be shown what someone like me can do on a good day?”
“Then I’ll show you.”
“Rich Mahogany will be the first, there’ll be no protecting him from what I’m about to do to him. You’ve fed the wolf a large chunk of meat and that wolf——oh, he’s been hungry for quite some time, he’s gone years without a true appetite in his stomach. And now, he’s found that hunger again. He’s found that appetite again. And all he wants to do is feast on the meat that’s fed to him on a silver platter.”
“And once the first meal is completed, then all eyes will be on the wolf.”
“Y’all will see why they call me ‘the killer’, and y’all will see why they call me ‘the ruthless’.”
A smile soon grew on James’ face.
“Proving Ground, allow me to introduce you to myself.”
“My name is James Raymond.”
“Four years I’ve been doing this and for four years, I’ve been waiting for a fresh start to things, a breath of fresh air to inhale and to take in. And finally, after four long years, I’ve found just that and that is within the brand of Proving Ground. In your home, you’ve let the worst thing to ever step foot onto your brand walk right in the front door and you let them walk in with your arms open wide.”
“Unbeknownst to any of you, all I plan on doing is sinking my teeth into all of you.”
“Ripping each and every single one of your limbs right off of your bodies. One by fuckin’ one.”
“And I plan on becoming the star that I once was.”
A pause.
“A once platinum star.”
“Now, a man holding onto the remnants of a broken crown he once held.”
“Let’s dance, Rich.”
“I’ve got so much planned for you.”
“And just so little time.”
— — — — —
NOVEMBER 25TH, 2015
COVENTRY MAGISTRATES COURT — COVENTRY, ENGLAND
Standing before a judge and facing prison time is not how James planned to live out his fifteenth year on this earth, but judging by how things have turned out for him, it looks to be more than just that. All he could think about was the wasted childhood he lived in and knowing that he’s only a few seconds away from seeing the rest of his childhood being swept away from him and about to be spent behind bars. But, that's what he was looking to be facing.
And concerning his actions——he deserves this punishment.
A few months prior, James went for the biggest risk of his entire life–the biggest risk he’s ever taken that backfired within an instant. From robbing a store to assaulting an elderly man to even getting involved in a hit and run. The charges were looking major for him. But with him being only fifteen years old, the uncertainty was playing a factor in everyone’s mind.
As he looked around the courtroom, eyeing up every single member of the jury that was there for the sentencing today, there was a clear look of fear on his face. All he could do at this moment was fear the worst to come. Their decision was in their hands. He could do anything to plead and hope that he could walk out of this a free man—but even he knows he’s gone too far in. James even looked behind him, to glance back at his mother and his father watching on, seeing his mother on the verge of tears was heartbreaking to even see.
A cough broke the silence in the room as James adjusted himself in his seat, seeing the judge of the case sitting within her seat and handling all of the papers right in front of her. James could only watch as the judge stared daggers down at the young boy. He gulped, feeling a chill run down his spine, his eyes locked onto hers in a moment of fear. But the two’s eye contact broke apart once the judge went reading through the papers in her hands.
“Well, James—these are some really serious charges you’ve got on your case. You know that, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. And I... do regret my actions, yes.”
The judge glanced back down at James upon his response.
“I think we’re a bit too far gone to be regretful now, James.”
A pause from the judge.
“The elderly man you’ve assaulted in the shop was left in a wheelchair, concussed, and with some serious internal bleeding in the lower torso. The young schoolgirl that you hit and ran trying to get away from the scene of the crime? She almost lost her life but is miraculously making a comeback and is now finally able to move around only carefully to this day.”
James could only hang his head low in shame—the terrible feeling within his stomach was making him sick.
“This isn’t the kind of behaviour I expect from a fifteen year old, James.”
“I’m... aware of that and... I’m just really sorry.”
His tone was quiet, almost like a whisper. The regret was sinking in.
“Being sorry isn’t going to fix all of this, James. You’ve caused quite enough chaos to hospitalise two innocent people who were just going about their day, and those two people couldn’t even come here today to see you because they are disgusted and they are scarred knowing that their lives have changed completely because of some silly little fifteen year old boy trying to play the things he’s seeing on his television screen.”
The tension within the room was tight. James kept his head lowered but he soon brought it back up again to glance up at the judge up on her pedestal before standing right up and out of his seat. The lawyer sitting right beside him is quietly asking him to sit down but James is not budging at all, he’s pushing the lawyer’s hand off of his arm and then bringing his focus back up to the judge.
“Look, I know saying sorry isn’t going to fix any of this but I just want to put it out there that I never meant for any of this to have happened—hell, I wasn’t even the one who struck the elderly man! There were three of us that went into that shop and three of us that got into that car. I was behind the wheel but I did not assault that man. I didn’t even want to hit that young girl, I tried to swerve out of the way but she kept running and I just—”
The judge banged down her gavel and cut off from what James was speaking about, the young man took a deep breath before taking a seat again where he sat. The lawyer beside him did his best to try and keep his head cooled. The judge was soon then given a small sheet of paper from the jury.
“James, we are aware of the other two that were with you that day—and we’ve asked you time and time again to confess as to who they might have been, but your lack of cooperation has led to all of the charges to be put down onto you. But, I’m giving you one last chance to confess. If you do decide to cooperate and tell me right now who the other two were, the assault charge and the robbery charge will be taken off of your case.”
Those words caught the attention of James, knowing that the charges could be taken off of him right now seems like a miracle at work.
“Sadly, the hit and run charge will remain– but, I can work a way around it to make sure it’s six months on house arrest—if you do choose to help us in tracking down these two boys that you were with on that day.”
A choice. One he’s now afraid to even make. Those that were there on the day of the incident within the city are his closest friends, the only friends that he had, and to even think of snitching them out—well, he knows the dangers of doing so.
The streets of Coventry aren’t the cleanest of them all, filled to the brim of people like James and his two close friends, but they come in different forms and much aggravated behaviours. If word had gotten out that James snitched on his two close friends, then the consequences would be disastrous—not only for him but for his family too.
His mother, his father, and even his two sisters as well.
The decision would mean life or death.
A harsher sentence or six months of house arrest.
“Mikey Powell and Adam Henderson.”
A deep breath taken. The feeling is eating him up inside but the truth is—it had to have been done.
“Those are the two that were with me that day.”
For the sake of not being put into detention for public protection, it had to have been done. For the sake of his own family feeling shameful and to not be locked up for two whole years or even more—he had to have done the right thing. His closest friends will not look back at James for the friend they thought of him to be but the snake, the snitch, and the rat bastard that he is.
“Thank you, James. Police will bring them in for questioning as we speak——but for you, James, you still have that one charge left to your name. And, as promised, I sentence you to six months of house arrest. You may not leave your house at all until the six months are up, do you understand that?”
James kept his head down, silent.
“Yes, ma’am.”
The court case was finally over, and now, James walked out with a heavy weight lifted off of his shoulders. Whether he made the right choice or not was all depending on how things would play out within the future, but as of right now, this felt like getting away with murder.
In the arms of his parents he went, comforting their son and his brave act of finally telling the police about the two friends that left him for dead all of those months ago. They knew themselves how dangerous things would be from now on but they will defend their son and stand their ground no matter what.
For him, this was just the beginning.
A fresh start, a new beginning, a restart to life.
Something he’s been wishing for since this all began.
— — — — —
JANUARY 7TH, 2020
PREMIER ROSSO APARTMENT COMPLEX — SHIBUYA CITY, TOKYO, JAPAN
Night had fallen on the city of Tokyo.
In the mind of James, all he could think about was what happened all of those years ago——the months that he spent on bail, the months he spent in fear after the court case ended, all of those years of being avoided by just about everyone in Coventry City for being the supposed ‘snitch’ of the city. It all came to his dreams, or even, his nightmares.
All he could imagine in his head was the fear. The fear that trembled up and down his body for days, weeks, months, and even years before he even decided to take the route of becoming the professional wrestler that he is today. All he could imagine was that trembling fear.
And then, the remembrance of that day in particular.
The day of his younger sister’s death.
In his dream, it was like he was there in person at the exact moment that she was there, crossing a street, and someone began speeding down the street and looking to hit the young girl that was crossing the street. A targeted attack. James did everything he could to jump out in front of the speeding car and push his sister out of the way—but it felt like he was running on the spot. He wasn’t moving at all.
He watched the impact, but no sooner after the impact of the car and his younger sister, he had woken up all of a sudden. Sweating profusely, he jumped out of his bed and began to pace back and forth to try and clear his mind. Though, his partner — Natsumi — had awoken from the sudden movements of James jumping out of the bed. She turned over and covered herself up, looking up and seeing James continuing to pace back and forth.
“大丈夫ですか。 (Are you alright?)”
James stops in his tracks and turns to see Natsumi awoken.
“元気です。私はただ悪夢を見ました。 (I’m fine. I just had a nightmare.)”
Natsumi can see the discomfort on James’ face once he had spoken, watching him turn his back to her so she couldn’t see the tears beginning to fall down his face.
“それについて話してみませんか? (Would you like to talk about it?)”
Those chills continued to run up his back as he looked out the window and into the nightlife of Tokyo. Lights shining brightly through and reflecting right to his face, those tears were more visible than before and Natsumi could see them crystal clear.
“私はむしろしたくない。それは...あまりにも個人的です。 (I’d rather not. It’s... too personal.)”
Natsumi felt a cloud of sadness hovering over her, knowing that James isn’t opening up to his problems. Soon, she stands up and wraps the duvet sheet around her clothless body, taking a few gentle steps forward to lean her head onto James’ back.
“誰かに話せるのに、胸の近くに物事を近づけるのは良くないと思うのが好きです。 (I like to think it's not a good thing to keep things close to your chest when you could speak to someone about it.)”
James stayed silent hearing her words of wisdom, turning around and looking down at Natsumi’s puppy-like eyes before wrapping his arms around her.
“時には、物事をあなたの胸に個人的なものにしておくのが最善です。たとえそれがあなたがちょうど開く準備ができていないものであっても。 (Sometimes, it's best to keep things personal to your chest. Even if it's something that you're just not ready to open up to.)”
“私がいつもあなたのためにここにいるのはご存じでしょう、ジェームズ。 (You know I'm always here for you, James.)”
James plants a kiss right onto the forehead of Natsumi.
“わかってるよ、夏美。 (I know, Natsumi.)”
As he brought Natsumi back to the bed, he planted another kiss right down onto her forehead before taking a few steps back and letting her fall back to sleep, but then, he stepped out onto the balcony. Taking in the fresh air that passed through, it was calming to his mind. The thought of the contents of his dream still scared him a little but he knows that it’s something he’ll never be able to shake off.
James’ younger sister – Cassidy Raymond – was someone that he cherished. She was only four years younger than James, dying at the age of thirteen when she was run over by someone looking to take their anger out on James for what he did all of those years ago, and it’s haunted him ever since.
He always blamed himself for her death.
He always told himself that he was the reason that she’s dead.
Always told himself that he caused this after the court case ended and he knew this would’ve happened.
And there’s not a day that went by that he wished that he was the one who was hit and killed.
James pulled his phone out and looked at the lock screen on his phone, seeing the picture of him and Cassidy from a few years before the accident that caused her death, which gave him a chance to smile seeing the two happy together. Reminding him that there was never a dull moment between the two, never a moment where the two siblings were sad together, always had a smile on their faces when together.
He unlocked his phone and began scrolling through the gallery on his phone, swiping past all of the old photos of the two of them and even some videos that they had together, eventually playing one of them as the sound of Cassidy’s voice is heard through the speaker of the phone.
“I’m telling you right now— this is the best brother that anyone could’ve asked for!”
“And this is the best fuckin’ sister that anyone could’ve asked for!”
Moments like these make James smile, reminding himself of the good times. The simpler times. A tear began to run down the face of James but he was quick to wipe it away as he continued to scroll through and stopped at the same image as his lock screen was. The smile stayed on his face as he looked at the image one more time before putting the phone back into his pocket and whispering something to himself.
“I miss you, sis.”
A final deep breath was taken before he finally decided to head back inside and join Natsumi back in bed.
— — — — —
“Beginnings.”
“We’ve all had our own beginnings, we’ve all had our chances of making that first impression, making sure that the mark is left right where we need it to be. For the past four years, I’ve been holding onto this one impression that was made with me since the very beginning of my career. A young star, a prodigy in the making, a man with potential that he’s gotta dig deep to find.”
“And for the past four years, I did everything I could to find that potential within me. I thought I had it when I became a World Champion only a few months into my career and had the biggest win I’ve ever had in my whole time as a professional wrestler. I thought I had it. I really, really thought I had it in the palm of my hands.”
“I was wrong.”
He pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath that’s clearly heard.
“I was wrong because I soon lost that title, and I did everything that I could to gain it back, but I just— I couldn’t. And since then, I haven't been the same since. All of that potential that I thought I had? Down the fuckin’ drain with it. Never to be seen again. I have had my chances to become a champion since then, to become a real prizefighter, to become a true potential singles star and out of the shadows of others. But I just couldn’t find that thing that I was missing.”
“And recently, it clicked.”
“I was keeping myself to the shadows.”
“Being kept in the dark and not putting myself out there into the light.”
“And that light— it became a bright star, going by the name of Proving Ground.”
“I realised that what made me that person back in 2018 was me making sure that I stood my ground and I kept my head up, I wasn’t going to let anyone take me down a notch even in defeat, and I ain’t been keeping myself to that standard in the last four years. If I gotta get back to that mindset then I am damned, and so will everyone else, because that old me was a mentally unstable silent killer. And a dangerous one at that too. I ain’t had much respect for anyone back then. I ain’t had much respect for anyone today either.”
“I need to tap back into that mindset.”
“That mindset helped me win championships, made me the known star that I am to some today. Created the person that you see before you today. That mindset helped shape what James Raymond is, and if anything, it could help reshape me to be what I once was.”
“And that begins at Proving Ground.”
“So tell me, Rich.”
“What makes you think you can stand toe to toe with me, eh?”
“There ain’t a single thing I can find out about you, there ain’t shit about you anywhere that I’ve looked, and all I’m going with is a name.”
“Rich Mahogany.”
James laughed to himself.
“Am I a joke to some of you?”
“I should’ve expected this — I really should’ve — but I never thought I’d have to go through with this, you know? I should’ve known that the first person you give me is some joke, some wasteman that you pulled off of the fuckin’ streets to give them a chance. But, I thought you’d know better. I thought you’d give me the chance and give me someone on your roster to just...”
“Dissect.”
“A chance to really just prove myself and where I belong.”
“After all, this is Proving Ground, correct?”
“So why not have given me the chance to prove myself by dismembering a member of your precious roster, my friends? Maybe you’ve read up about me, maybe you’ve seen the dismemberments of others within Europe and Japan and know just how dangerous I can be. Maybe you have done your research – to which I do applaud, if you have done so – but I just know that you’re protecting them.”
“Even then, you know you can’t protect them any longer.”
“But, if you want to be shown what someone like me can do on a good day?”
“Then I’ll show you.”
“Rich Mahogany will be the first, there’ll be no protecting him from what I’m about to do to him. You’ve fed the wolf a large chunk of meat and that wolf——oh, he’s been hungry for quite some time, he’s gone years without a true appetite in his stomach. And now, he’s found that hunger again. He’s found that appetite again. And all he wants to do is feast on the meat that’s fed to him on a silver platter.”
“And once the first meal is completed, then all eyes will be on the wolf.”
“Y’all will see why they call me ‘the killer’, and y’all will see why they call me ‘the ruthless’.”
A smile soon grew on James’ face.
“Proving Ground, allow me to introduce you to myself.”
“My name is James Raymond.”
“Four years I’ve been doing this and for four years, I’ve been waiting for a fresh start to things, a breath of fresh air to inhale and to take in. And finally, after four long years, I’ve found just that and that is within the brand of Proving Ground. In your home, you’ve let the worst thing to ever step foot onto your brand walk right in the front door and you let them walk in with your arms open wide.”
“Unbeknownst to any of you, all I plan on doing is sinking my teeth into all of you.”
“Ripping each and every single one of your limbs right off of your bodies. One by fuckin’ one.”
“And I plan on becoming the star that I once was.”
A pause.
“A once platinum star.”
“Now, a man holding onto the remnants of a broken crown he once held.”
“Let’s dance, Rich.”
“I’ve got so much planned for you.”
“And just so little time.”
— — — — —
