Story Time with Marie: Outlaw Land
Sept 13, 2020 20:16:49 GMT -5
stratford and Vhodka Marie like this
Post by Roger Wright on Sept 13, 2020 20:16:49 GMT -5
“I wanted to be a perfect man, in an imperfect world”
Someone once said all the greatest stories are love stories. Maybe they were right. Love does seem to be the one thing a good story does always come down too. It motivates us to be great, achieve beyond our wildest thoughts, or it brings us down, turning us into the thing we swore we would never be. We usually think of love as between two people, but love of yourself can make for a good story too. Maybe it’s love for an object, or of the adventure, the pain, and even the failure. All of it is love, and all of it is the root of a great story.
“Ani said this one is called a conch daddy. If you hold it up to your ear you can hear the ocean!” Marie held it to her ear, smiled and then handed it over to Roger.
With a smile on his face he took it and placed the open end to his ear. “You sure can Peanut!” Roger gave the shell back to Marie and stood up off the foot of her bed, taking the covers in his hands and pulling them to cover her up. “You can tell me all about the trip tomorrow Peanut, it’s bedtime tonight.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Are you and Ani fighting like you and Blair did?” Marie asked.
Roger let out a soft sigh and sat back down on the edge of the bed. “No Peanut, things will be back to the way they were very soon. I promise.” He kissed her forehead again.
“Ok daddy. Can you tell me a story?” Marie batted her eyes, laying on the charm that nearly always got her what she wanted.
“What kind of story Peanut?” Roger asked.
“I want a story with adventure and fantastical creatures daddy.” She batted her eyes some more.
Roger was hooked, he had the hardest time ever saying no to his little girl. For a moment he thought, pondered what kind of story he could tell his little girl, and then it dawned on him. “Alright Peanut, prepare yourself for a tale of intrigue, adventure, and love.” Marie smiled and her eyes went wide.
ROGER WRIGHT PRESENTS
OUTLAWLAND!
For years Outlawland had been run by the Rat Pack. Their family lineage had produced king after king, the last of which many considered the greatest king of them all, Benvolent Rat. Many feared the day that Benvolent would pass away, for it would mean that Xapier Rat would become king. No one feared that day more than Robert Might. It was no secret to the people of Outlawland that Xapier had a fondness for Anitta, the love of Robert’s life. Even though Xapier was married, his fondness for Anitta was ever present.
When the fateful day came, and the messenger road onto the Might farm, Robert hung his head knowing what was to follow. An errand at the request of Xapier, one that would remove him from the equation, allowing the great Xapier to finally have the prize he always wanted. That fateful day Robert heard the tale of a great horse to the North, one that Xapier thought could change the course of wars for Outlawland, and so Robert with his knowledge of animals would be sent to evaluate the horse, a long journey that would last months, but Xapier trusted no one more than Robert with this task.
The next day Robert departed at the behest of Xapier, his love left to watch as what would be a two month trip, turned into a year, then two, then five. After five years, Xapier declared that Robert and the crew of the ship he had sent must have perished at the hands of pirates. His own wife aboard the same ship, Xapier grieved to the public, and courted Anitta in the background. Five more years passed, and so it became that Xapier would marry Anitta, and this is where the tale begins.
Adam Scotty stepped off of the small boat onto the shore. With a long pause he raised his head and pulled in a deep breath of air and turned to the man who ushered him across the river. “Thank you good sir!” He said with a smile and stepped forward and made his way up the dirt path leading to the top of the nearby plateau.
Upon reaching the top of the plateau, Adam Scotty came across a rather surly looking man leaning against a dead tree. “Well now there is a new face.” The man said, hand curling around the hilt of the sword he had sheathed.
“Hello friend.” Adam Scotty said. “How are you today? I am Adam, Adam Scotty, friends call me Adam, guess that makes sense though huh. Man what a beautiful place this is, I come from across the river there, we don’t have anything like this over there. Oh geez listen to me just ramble on about nothing, people who know me say I have the cure for insomnia, I don’t know what that means, but it must be good right?” Adam turned to the man who was slumped down now in a seated position with his eyes closed and snoring. “Oh dear, the poor chap must be all tuckered out, I shall let him sleep.”
Adam began to half walk, half skip along the plateau and down a hill that revealed a small town a mile away. “Halt!” Yelled a voice from behind him. Adam turned to see the man from the tree standing behind him and shaking the tired from his head. “There is a toll to pass me along this road, you did not pay.” The man announced as he stepped forward, sword still drawn.
“My good sir, why does though feel the need to put a toll upon the road. Surely one can travel free of fear that they will be taken for all the money they have, or should they have no money, fear of being attacked and hurt for lack of such money.” As Adam spoke the man before him began to wobble on his feet, his eyes fluttered and for the briefest of moments Adam thought he might actually pass out.
“ENOUGH SORCERER.” The man yelled and stepped forward. “You will not hex me with your whimsical words of tiredness today, I will have my toll in coin, or blood!” Another step forward and now the sword was only inches from the chest of Adam, and a sweat had broken across his brow.
“But good sir…” Adam said but found himself interrupted as the man began to lunge forward. Yet the sword did not strike, and Adam didn’t know why, for he at the last moment had closed his eyes. Upon opening them he saw a new man with a sword drawn now fighting the surly man. Their swords clanked repeatedly, and finally this new man bested the surly man with a strike that seemingly came from out of nowhere.
“My fine sir…” Adam began to speak but the rise of a hand from the new man stopped him. Adam stared at the man as he checked the pockets of the downed man, then tossed Adam a bag of coins. “Wait, might you be the infamous Lord Graves?”
“I suppose no one has told you that you are quite possibly the most boring person on the planet.” Lord Graves said as he sheathed his sword and began to walk away.
“I am not boring!” Adam yelled. “Is that why people keep falling asleep when I talk? Am I in fact just boring, no I can’t possibly be boring. Clearly the people of this land are simply not accustomed to being around someone who speaks as eloquently as…” Adam fell forward, eyes closed and completely utterly unconscious from the sound of his own voice.
Lord Graves felt the thump of Adam’s body hitting the ground and removed the earplugs from his ears. He shook his head and began making his way into the woods. Many had heard his name, most didn’t dare to speak it, he was a myth, a legend to the world, tales were told of his deeds, good and bad. The evil ones feared him, the poor ones cheered him, but he only had one desire, to get home. A voyage that was taking too long, always pulled off track by the needs of someone else, the desire to help all that he could along the way, but now he was determined to make it home, to no longer be distracted, of course that was not going too well.
Graves worked his way through the forest, he would have to cross the river at some point, the hardest part of his journey no doubt, or so he thought. Not an hour after entering the forest he came upon a small hut, small fire burning in front of it, and a pot of what could only be assumed was a stew cooking above it. With a slow and deliberate walk Graves tried to creep pass the small camp, only to be stopped.
“Who dare encroach upon the home of the Grand Leopard!” A voice boomed from within the small hovel. Graves turned to find a large man with a cotton leopard printed mask emerging from the hovel. “I am the Grand Leopard of the forest, and I am not a man, nope not a man at all. I am a cat here to prey upon all the weak around me.”
“I am Lord Graves, and only seek to move past upon my journey.” Graves announced.
“Lord Graves, bro you are still...I mean The Grand Leopard does not care who you are!!!!!” The Grand Leopard stepped forward, sniffed his pot and smiled. “I could use the meat of an adventurer for my stew!” He announced.
“There are two no doubt awaiting you should you head that way for about an hour!” Graves pointed back the way he had come. As the Grand Leopard turned to look the direction he pointed, Graves leapt forward and ripped the mask from the head of the Leopard.
“Hey what the heck man.” The Grand Leopard said as the mask pulled away to reveal the mask of a lemur now upon the man's head.
“No way.” Graves could not believe that the man was wearing a second mask.
“All behold the Grand Lemur!!” The Grand Lemur raised both hands above his head in triumph.
“You seem extremely caught up in trying to be someone else.” Graves waved at him. “I don’t have time for this, something much more important is on the line. Enjoy your stew, but I need to be going.”
“You shall not pass! Wait, I mean, damn that line does kind of work doesn’t it?” The Grand Lemur paused to consider things then continued. “You shall not pass, so say the Grand Lemur!”
Graves raised a hand and waved the Grand Lemur close, he knelt his head down and whispered into his ear. “I know who you really are, and if you don’t want me telling anyone, well then you should let me pass.” As Lemur stood up, his eyes wide, Graves gave him a wink.
“The Grand Lemur has decided that, YOU SHALL PASS!!!!” His arms waived around as he made the announcement, as if someone were watching and trying to enjoy the spectacle.
“Very well, your secret is safe with me.” Graves nodded, turned on his heel and continued on through the forest. Another hour passed, and Graves reached the end of the forest, emerging into a clearing, the river before him, and a woman on a boat.
“Are you my fair?” The woman asked. Graves gave her a nod and she waved him over. “I am Ataphy, captain of the noone cares here.” She pointed at the small boat behind her.
“Quite the ship you have there.” Graves said trying to mask the sarcasm in his voice.
“I know, it isn’t much, but it gets the job done.” Ataphy smiles as Graves steps forward and boards the boat. “So mystery man, what is your desire today? Just a ride or do you prefer some company and comfort?” She asked.
“Just a ride.” Graves said as he took a seat on the small boat. No more than two feet in front of him, Ataphy began the process of rowing the boat across the river.
“Got a special lady at home?” Ataphy asked as she rowed the boat.
“So you don’t listen? Just kinda do what you want?” Graves asked.
“Nothing wrong with a little small talk, as I was saying. Got a lady at home?” She asked again.
“That doesn’t matter, now does it?” Graves shot back.
“I guess not, but then why would we talk about anything that matters? I only like to ramble on about things that are useless, or that everyone in the world knows. Nothing new or interesting ever comes from me.” Ataphy said as she continued to row the boat across the river.
“I get it now.” Graves said as he dove from the boat.
“Why does everyone do that? Why do they always jump out of the boat halfway across the river, and they never pay me the fare.” Ataphy swatted at the water with her ore, but Graves swam faster than she had expected and before long was gone and out of sight.
Graves reached the shore and strode up out of the water. Home sweet home, Outlawland he thought to himself. From this point on the shore nothing had changed, but then he would be wrong. From out of the forest a man walked with a strut that would drive even the most normal of man crazy. Something about the way he walked told Graves immediately that he was a self righteous jerk.
“I am Sherman Stepford!” The man announced with a half smile on his face. “Keeper of the lands of Outlawland, and protector of the realms. See me for who I really am!” The man morphed into a giant Dragon right before the eyes of Graves, a twisted smile upon his face.
“Well now isn’t that interesting.” Graves said as he took a rock and threw it at the might dragon before him, striking it between the eyes.
“Ow, what the hell was that for?” The dragon asked.
“Wait, did you say ow? That was just a tiny rock.” Graves replied.
“I am but just the look of a Dragon, big and scary looking, but deep down inside I am a sensitive being that has feelings. Why would you throw a rock at me in the first place, don’t you know you put an eye out with rocks? You nearly hit me in the eye.” The dragon sulked in response.
“I am not going to lie, that was a lot of build up, I mean I got all excited to take on a dragon and let’s be honest, you are kind of a big let down.” Graves replied.
“A let down?” The dragon asked.
“Yeah I mean think about it, it’s like you get all worked up for this big thing that is supposed to happen, you hear all the hype, the wonder, then it happens and you are just disappointed by it. No offense, but that is you in a nutshell.” graves replied.
“Really, showing that I am a dragon wasn’t cool?” Sherman asked as he morphed back down into a man.
“I mean yeah sure it looked cool, but knowing that you are a weak sensitive dragon kind of ruined it. Just saying, maybe next time try harder or something, anything, because this was just super lame.” Graves patted the downtrodden man on the shoulder and walked past him.
Hours passed, not a soul was found by Graves as he walked along an old familiar dirt road, and came to the king's town. Out front he came upon a statue of Xapier, located where his father's statue had once stood. Graves shook his head and strode through the gigantic gateway into the town to find it nearly empty, those that were outside of homes were downtrodden, beaten by the world.
“Excuse me, what is going on?” Graves asked a female that lay on the ground.
“Wedding day.” She announced.
“Whose?” He asked.
“Xapier and Anitta.” The woman said, and Grave’s head and face sank.
“Maybe she can talk some sense into him. The last 10 years have been terrible, since Xapier took over he has treated us as garbage to be discarded at his whim. Many have fled the once great empire.” The woman looked to the ground with sadness. “Many have lost their homes, or been taken from them by force.”
Graves took a deep breath and pushed on up the road for the castle, the armed guards outside watching the man approach. They took their guard and crossed their axes before he could pass. “No one is to enter, especially those not of this land.” The man on the right stated.
“Let him pass!” Boomed the voice of Xapier. “Thought you were dead.” Xapier announced with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
“Sorry to disappoint.” Graves said.
“So Robert, it took you ten years to return, ten years to come for your girl. All the obstacles I put before you, and here you stand before me. I would say that I am impressed, but then I really am not…”
****POP****
Robert socked Xapier in the chin, the man’s eyes rolled up into his head and he fell backwards to the ground. “You talk too much, always obsessed with your superiority and your plan.” Graves said as he knelt over the man, and the guards laughed behind him. Graves gave the man a kick and rolled him away and moved down into the castle where Anitta greeted him.
“Anitta can’t believe you are alive!” She raced forward and leapt into his arms, the pair embracing with a kiss, and they lived happily ever after!
Roger looked down at Marie smiling, he bent over, kissed her forehead and watched as she pulled the covers up and rolled over. “It was a good story daddy.” She said as Roger shut the lights off and closed the door to her room. As he made his way through the hall, Roger stopped, ducked into a bedroom and reappeared with a small box in hand. His next stop was the kitchen where he grabbed two beers, and then headed for the balcony, where he took a seat, popped the top of a beer and tipped it back, exhaling as he savored the taste.
This is the point when I am supposed to tell the world how terrible everyone getting into the ring with me is. Where I should expose all of their flaws, as if the world didn’t already know them. It would be easy, I could make up some shit, talk about their failures in the past, or how I am going to overcome them, but today we should do something different.
Every single man or woman stepping into that ring has a claim to be there. They have laid everything down week in and week out, have achieved things that show they have what it takes to carry the title. Sure I could shit on their claims, be that guy, but let’s just start at the beginning, or for me where it all starts. Anicka is the current champion, there is no better reason to be in this match for the title than you actually are the one who possesses it. She is the first immortal champion in the history of the company. She has carried that title, defended and held onto it for months, all say one hiccup along the way.
Who in their right mind would believe me if I told you she didn’t deserve to be in the match? She has done nothing to this point that makes you think she is a weak link in this industry. Her loss to Xavier isn’t even her fault. Had there not been interference from an outside source who knows how it would have actually turned out. But that is the past, we are talking about what is to come, and that is a match with a woman who is willing to do anything to hang onto that title, not because it defines her, but because everyone out there has done nothing but try and take her title and reign away. Yet she has overcome them, and shown them just how deserving she is.
Which brings me to Xavier. How can we even begin to say that this man doesn’t deserve to be in the match. There is no one in the OPW right now that has more heat than this guy. Every move he makes is calculated, he has plans for the next ten moves, and while you are trying to figure out what he is doing right now, he is thinking about what he is doing 20 days from now. He doesn’t just fight the battle in the ring, he fights it in your head, believe me I know better than anyone at this point how much he can mess with you.
If it wasn’t bad enough though, you know that he is coming for a fight. He tells you from the get go that he is coming for a fight. The whole time though you know that fight is coming, but it isn’t enough for him, nope he is going to get in your head too, going to push buttons that you didn’t know existed and take you away from your game, make you step out of your comfort zone, not to make it easier for him to win, no that isn’t the point, it’s to make the win that much more fun for him. Because that is what Xavier does, he doesn’t want to just beat you in the ring, he wasn’t to beat you so utterly bad that you don’t even want to get into that ring with him ever again. It’s a great way to go at it, a great way to become the force that he has become, but it does have limits.
Having just those two in this match would make it a main event, but this is OPW and we had to take it even further, had to really bring the spectacle. We added Stephen Stratford to the mix, and what can you say about this guy other than he just cruises. There is something about him, the way he seems to understand a situation before him, how he can analyze it and understand what exactly is going on. Not to mention when he steps into the ring he shows you that it isn’t just his mind you have to worry about, but his skill and ability to move.
That wasn’t enough though, no we had to keep the party going, had to really kick things up a notch and bring some more fun to the match. We added El Gran Luchadore to the mix. Why you might ask, why the hell not. Man has a talent in that ring that is damn near unmatched. When was the last time you saw someone with his size move the way he does? Reminds you of the good ole days when it wasn’t just about being fast, or just about being big, but about being both and having the brains to do something with it. That is what El Gran brings to the table, a speed and size that on any day can put anyone in a bad position and ruin their night.
That still wasn’t enough. Apathy had to be a part of this mix. Let’s be honest, she brought the fight to Anicka like no one had before, and proved that she had what it took to carry the title. She has a passion and desire that is unmatched by anyone in that ring. Time and time again she gets on the big stage and shows the world why you can’t overlook her, no matter how much you want to dismiss her.
Even still we had to add more, couldn’t just let the match settle right there. Scotty Adams had to be a part of this match. When it comes to underdogs showing what they are made of, no one has done it more than Scotty. Match after match he has entered as the guy that no one thought had a chance, or the guy that had everything to prove, and he has proven it. If that isn’t enough reason for you to believe that he deserves to be in the match then you don’t understand just what he brings to table, and will be that guy crying if he wins.
Finally there is one last competitor in the match, one last man that will step into that ring, that man is me. Now I could tell you about all my accomplishments, but let me tell you what others will feel the need to tell you. Since I announced my entry, I have read the comments, seen the people talk, and heard what they have to say. Roger hasn’t been able to beat Xavier in two matches, he hasn’t been able to beat Anicka in two matches. What has Roger Wright done that even warrants him being in this match?
All good questions, and I would love to tell you that none of that matters, but in a way it probably does. Truth is part of this is personal for me, part of it...who am I kidding, this whole damn thing is personal for me. YES I WANT TO BEAT XAVIER! But it’s so much more than that, I want to do what Johnny has wanted to do since he opened this company, I want to win the Immortal title just so I can hold it up and make him watch. This match isn’t about my hatred of anyone in it, truth is I respect what all of them bring to the ring.
I am in this match to beat six of the best this company has to offer, and then walk away with the biggest prize this company has. I know what all of them bring to the table, I know the situation is stacked and the odds of winning are low, but that has never stopped me before, and it isn’t going to stop me right now. I am going to give this match everything I have, lay all of it on the line and when the dust settles, the smoke clears and the bell rings, I will be the one holding the Immortal title up in triumph.
Roger finishes off the first beer, pops the top on the second and tips it back before opening the box and pulling out a phone. He smiles as he sifts through the pictures from Marie and Anicka’s trip to see Andi. Roger looked up, and gave a wink.
I guess some things are not always what they seem.