Post by Ulf Hednir on Jul 20, 2021 11:47:53 GMT -5
Las Vegas, NV
Fitness Center
Ulf did not get many days of being able to relax even at his home away from home; he longed to be in Odda. There was no denying the aspiration in his mind that he had wanted to return to Norway for a week or two to completely unwind; let Thea see her friends, and her mother… especially since she was returned. He knew that Thea was safe upstairs, safe with Rori, and Ulf had to focus. He wore a stern look on his face, as he wore knee-length black shorts with “BERSERKER” written boldly on the front of one leg, and a bear emblem on the other. He had his wireless earbuds in as he was playing music off of his phone to motivate himself. He wore a full-body resistance band suit. He threw each punch, elbow, knee, and kick with ferocity as if he were striking someone standing in front of him, and despite the resistance, was able to strike fast. It would be different with someone standing in front of him, and it would not be easy with five people standing against him. The imagination ran wild: as if a child were fighting fiercely against his foe, Ulf fought against the shadows that surrounded him.
Hold deg stående. Ulf thought to himself. He knew that standing was going to be the key to victory; he could not afford to go to the ground unless it was to go for an elimination. His face scrunched with each strike he made, and just then he brought an elbow back to strike the imaginative shadow that tried to attack him. His face would also scrunch with each thought that infiltrated his mind.
You think we’re done!
Despite his music playing, he could hear the voice as clear as day… as if someone had been standing over his shoulder, and it caused him to pause his training. He took a few heaving breaths, and took a towel that laid across one of the benches and patted it against his forehead and then his chest before finally taking his earbuds out. He looked uneasy-- on edge-- while glancing around. There was no one else in the fitness center. The disruption would not be in vain, though, and he figured it was as good a time as any to address the match… He already had the equipment setup. A tripod designed to hold his phone, and he placed the phone in its holder before ensuring that it was at a good angle. He took a remote connected via bluetooth to his phone before taking his seat at the bench, and he finally went live over all of his social media accounts, with a message that tagged Project: Honor with the notification. The numbers shot up rapidly; one-thousand, two-thousand, three, and it didn’t take him long to hit five digits, and eventually six digits, before he could even greet the fans that were tuning in.
Ulf sat with a slight hunch to his back, and his elbows against his knees with his hands folded together. He had a sincere smile, and raised one hand into the infamous “devil horn” symbol to the camera for a brief moment, while giving a brief introduction.
“Takk, everyone! Takk for tuning in, og jeg hope det all of dere er having a great-- great dag! Og jeg--” Ulf’s eyes faltered from the phone staring down toward his feet before clapping his hands together one time, and rubbing his palms together; he tilts his head to the side for a brief moment, as if to shrug, and resumes, “--jeg did not do hva jeg thought jeg could.” He fixed his gaze back on the camera, and despite knowing that he had come up short in the rumble event on the latest Proving Ground, he was still excruciating confidence.
“Jeg did not vinne de rumble, og jeg did not earn de chance to face Ozymandias for de Grand Championship, but det--” there is a brief moment in which you can hear the disappointment in his voice, but his face still tells a different story, “--is fine. Jeg do not look at de past og think hva jeg kan ha done differently, but-- Norns-- jeg do not fight against fate.” He said with a shake of his head, “Jeg simply move forward. Og det is why jeg er looking for de next challenge-- at de beginning of de month, jeg teamed up with Will Riley to face min friend, Robi, og Cadillac… vi were successful, but in de process--” Ulf sneered, “--Will broke Robi’s wrist.”
Ulf took a moment to re-gather his thoughts; there was still some resentment and anger that he felt toward Will for going to that length. He shook his head again, and let out a heavy sigh before finally resuming.
“Jeg ha mentioned it before, og jeg-- er not usually one to hold a grudge, but jeg still cannot help but feel anger with hva du did. Anger with de lengths det du were willing to go to! Eliminating du--” Ulf said with a snarl, “--it was a start. But now disse week, vi er still not having to repeat as allies! Rather, vi er enemies. Og jeg ha another chance to eliminate du. Jeg ha another chance to keep du from capturing a championship. Perhaps-- perhaps jeg vil bend your wrist in de same fashion og make du understand hva du did!” Ulf bit down on his lip in an attempt to contain his anger, “Du did hva du had to do.” He said, almost trying to convince himself. This has been something he had been trying to convince himself of ever since it happened: he was only doing what he had to do to win, and it did its purpose… he won. They won. It was what entered them into this match. “Jeg do not want to go into de ringe with a mindset det jeg want to-- hurt-- someone. Jeg simply want to go ute der with de mindset to… vinne. But de thought is der. De imagination--” he says while tapping his finger against his head, “--is der.”
A momentary silence. Ulf nodded his head, while contemplating what was ahead of him.
“But du er not de only person det jeg ha to concern min selv with. Der is de great Tara Fenix, der is Petey-- og disse fans may just turn on me if jeg eliminate him,” Ulf chuckled, “But it is a risk det jeg ville ha to take. Scott Oasis. Og finally, de man det makes even de greatest fighters shake in der boots: John Blade!” Ulf began to imitate a trembling effect.
“Nei doubt, all of us ha made it to disse night… disse encounter… for a reason. Because all of us were able to put any differences we had with our partners aside in order to get de job done, og de job was as pure-- as simple-- as anyone could imagine. Vinne. Vinne your matches. Og det is hva all of us did! Der is nei en person det does not deserve to be in disse match. But now de name of de game has changed. It is nei longer friends like disse... It is now every person for dem selv! Der er people det er riding a high after de most recent event og de are looking to keep det momentum rolling forward. Der er people det had a more disappointing turnout in de rumble event, og er looking to rebound from it.”
“But de most important thing is… none of us er friends disse week. None of us are allies. All of us have one common goal: become de nummer en contender for de Warrior Rising Championship! EARN! A chance! To battle for de Warrior Rising Championship-- for most of us, disse ville be de first championship vi ha a chance to attain in Project: Honor. Petey was close to becoming de Grand Champion, but rightfully so-- Indy reversed de call. Du do not want to vinne det vei. Ja? Du want der to be nei doubt, nei outside interference so det nobody can mistake din claim for de championship!”
“De only person hvem has held a championship in Project: Honor… in fact, de former Warrior Rising Champion: Scott Oasis. Der is nei doubt det he ville like to recapture de championship det was taken from him by Emmanuelle. Before du could even prove din selv as a capable champion. A deserving champion. Nei doubt, du want to have a second opportunity to prove din selv. Jeg know det if jeg ha det kind of run as a champion, jeg ville not be happy with min selv!”
“Du see… when jeg did vinne min first championship in professional wrestling, jeg ha one goal: become de greatest person to hold det championship. Og det is exactly hva jeg did! For months-- MONTHS-- jeg marched ute to de ringe og fought any challenger det ville come min vei. Jeg did not deny any challenge! Jeg did not deny any fight! Jeg-- took de belt, og jeg defended it for four months. In de time span of four months, jeg racked up eleven successful defenses. Der er champions ute der hvem vinne a championship og in four months, only have two defenses to der name.”
“Der is not one person det jeg can take lightly for Proving Ground. Everybody has de ability to turn heads… everybody has de opportunity to shock de world. But jeg ville say en thing: jeg want to do it again. Jeg want to vinne another championship in professional wrestling, og jeg want to do hva nei en else has done! Jeg want to defend it against any-- og all-- comers… Jeg want to take de Warrior Rising Championship, hoist it over min head, og tell everyone…”
Ulf leaned forward in his chair, and extended a hand before slowly gesturing for people to come at him.
“Bring it. Bring de fight, bring de war, bring everything det du ha to take det championship away from me! Og jeg say to all of dere: BRING IT. Jeg er going to do everything to gå ute as de nummer en contender, og when jeg do take det belt… jeg ville ha de rematch. Jeg ville look at everybody in disse match, og jeg ville not turn anyone down! Scott Oasis, Petey, Tara, John Blade, Will Riley-- or anyone else sitting in de back… Jeg vil not turn down a challenge. Let me make history. Let me repeat history. De next step to doing det is to get through Proving Ground. Through all of dere. Ser dere alle. SKÅL!”
Camera feed cuts.
Following Ulf’s workout, he walked to the entryway to his penthouse. He unlocked the door before swinging it open. “Hallo!” he called out. Thea was sitting on the couch with a tablet in her hand as she tapped the screen a few times.
“Bye, Abby!” Thea said before setting the tablet down. Ulf took a quick gander at the screen to see a brief static before going black. Thea looked up at her father and had the most innocent smile on her face, “Hei, Pappa!” she called out.
“Everything okay, søtnos?” Ulf asked.
She nodded her head excitedly, “Ja, I was just talking with Abby.”
The mentioning of the name made Ulf still question who Abby was… but he paid little mind to it. He was still excited to have his little girl back. “Where is Rori?” he asked.
“In the bedroom.” Thea replied. Ulf nodded to his daughter as she seemed content on the couch for now, so he walked toward the room as Thea went back to playing on her tablet. A light growl could be heard from the other end of the tablet; not one that mimicked an animal, but rather one of heavy breathing from the monster.
END.
