NeXuS - Cage 4

[Matt Oliveira]

It's time. The biggest match of the calendar has arrived. You have been assigned a steel cell at random at the start of the show, and you now climb the steel steps that lead you into one of four rings which are placed side-by-side to form essentially a much larger square. Chain-link surrounds the standard ring you enter into, swiftly removing you from an atmosphere that, for the most part, you have never gotten accustomed to. This is The NeXuS...

You move to one of the corners, your back resting against the turnbuckles as you glance across the center of the ring to one of the competitors who've also signed their name on a dotted line a week previous -for the same goal you wish to achieve by the time the night ends. In the center of your ring sits two trash cans, inside of those is a various assortment of weaponry to aid you in your mission...and the trash cans themselves. Hopefully, the random street sign, hockey stick, or steel chair can help you over the next most life-changing ten minutes of your career...you think about why you're in here, and that's when you look up...

Above you, fifteen feet above the ring you stand in, is the cell roof. In one corner, above the turnbuckle to which all four rings meet is installed a trap door which is locked by remote. This door will not be unlocked until the time is up, and upon it's unlocking, only two of you can enter through it. How do you decide who stays and who advances? Simple, the same way you've solved it throughout your career.

And finally, you turn your attention to the rings next to you. One side is a cage the exact same as the one you stand in with three others. Across from that is another. Adjacent to that, another. Including you, there's twelve men amongst these four cages. If you're lucky, you'll get to fight seven of them off when the time comes...but for now, you face off with two of your own to handle. You find yourself spacing-out as you stare at the shine of one of the weapons, until the voice of Charlie Coors booms from the audio system -the hair on the back of your neck going on end as the few thousand in attendance begin to cheer. This could be the day.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...IT IS TIME FOR THE 2010 NEXUS DEATHMATCH!"

An uproar of support rattles your eardrums...

"As per GHW ruling, Round One will commence at the start of the bell. In which the participants will fight until the doors situated in each cell roof will open. Four men, one from each cage, will be eliminated and eight will advance onto Round Two. There will be NO disqualifications. There will be NO countouts. Every cell door is locked, and there will be NO possibility of interference. G-H-W...LET THEM HEAR IT!"

Another cheer, you look out into the sea of fans...some of those signs are for you.

'ding, ding, ding!'

TBCB Chris Pederoso, Skull, and Desperado

[Desperado]

The bell was rung; the fourth and final cage of the setup was underway and Desperado was at the stage he loved best, the nexus Death-Match, otherwise known as Hell. Joining him in this Hell-hole today was Chris Pederoso and Skull. Now both of these men were not as experienced as the three time finalist Desperado, however they were non-the-less dangerous. Two of these men would move on to the next round and they all knew it. The crowd, the backstage staff and the three that were standing there, trying to look intimidating as possible. They all knew only two would go through. That was how it was down but what they couldn’t figure out was which two.

Desperado was the first to set things off, running across the length of the ring and hammering his right fist straight down an un-expecting Chris Pederoso’s throat. Before the Brooklyn Brawler could take advantage of his floored opponent, Skull struck a sensibly placed knee into the back of Desperado’s own, sending him off balance and down to Pederoso’s level. The Spaniard, a little upset by the previous shot, took his own back on his Yankee counterpart, striking the soles of his boot into Desperado’s face.

The Fuzz: “Oooh, Despy gets a double dose of pain. First Skull takes the experienced Desperado down with a knee attack and Pederoso adds insult to injury with a shot to the face. He just dished out the perfect payback right there.”

Big Al: “And it all went down in the first minute of this match. Now it seems with Desperado down so early, Skull and Pederoso are turning their attentions to each another.”

Skull, having allowed Pederoso to get to his own feet squared up to his younger opponent before going for a traditional lock up at the centre of the squared-circle. Skull’s experience shines through as he immediately takes the upper hand, wrenching Pederoso’s arm into submission. Pederoso however, wasn’t planning on letting his youth be taken advantage of, slipping his head beneath his own arm whilst performing a twisting manoeuvre, the Spanish Star managed to slip out of the wrench with ease. Now placing his hand around Skull’s wrist, Pederoso pulled the Pure-Blood into the path of his outstretched arm knocking him head first into the canvas. Skull felt the shock of the fall rattle the inside of his brain but managed to help himself up before Pederoso could take advantage, but that was thanks to Desperado who came rushing in. Although not planning to help the veteran out, the pull back on Pederoso’s shoulder just happened to stop the kick he was planning to plant into Skull.

With the distraction in place, Pederoso was unable to stop the shoulder that struck against his chest. Although he managed to keep his balance in place, he could not however do enough to get out of Desperado’s way as the former Imperial Champion striking his opponent down with a well struck uppercut to the jaw. This time Desperado wasted no time, dragging the 21 year old by the scruff of his hair and throwing him against the weapon filled trash can that resided in the centre. “Tell me little Peddy-boy? What should I use to carve your pretty face up? ... How about this nice base-ball bat wrapped in barbed wire? Eh? I think that looks kinda appealing wouldn’t you agree? Or do I have to repeat that in Spanish, you foreign son-of-a-bitch.” Desperado gathered a throat full of phlegm before launching it into the visage of Pederoso before releasing his hair.

The Fuzz: “That was uncalled for. That was just wrong from Desperado. He should be a role model to younger Fighty fighty persons like Pederoso, having been in a similar spot himself just four years ago when he made his debut in this field of professional sport.”

Big Al: “Well that’s Desperado for you. You can love him, you can hate but his arrogance will never get any lower.”

As Desperado gathered the baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire from the trashcan, Pederoso managed to wipe the spit from his face and prepared himself for the counter. Desperado heaved the customized weapon above his head, with the intention of bringing it down heavily upon the back of Pederoso however, as the weapon looked destined to strike against the bare back of the Spaniard, Pederoso rolled out of the way, anticipating the blow perfectly before knocking his shoulder into Desperado’s pelvic region and slamming him into the ground with a tackle. Mounting the American immediately, the insulted Spanish Fighty fighty person responded with a fury of punches, his knuckles digging deep into the skull of his opponent. Left, right, left, right as Desperado tried his utmost to minimize damage through the blockage of his hands. Pederoso had something else in mind. Using both his hands to pin Despy’s arms to the sides, he stared down upon the technically gifted superstar’s face, giving him a smirk that had payback written all over it as Pederoso cleared his own throat for some phlegm filled, mouthful of spit of his own.

The Fuzz: “And a taste of his own medicine, nothing is sweeter than revenge, wouldn’t you agree Al?”

Big Al: “Revenge is the sweetest joy as they say, but I wouldn’t mind a nice, cream covered cake.”

A humiliated Desperado shook in anger under the force of his opponent and almost broke free of Pederoso’s hold was it not for his younger opponent to knock his head forward and drive into the face of Desperado, knocking him out for a moment. Just in time for Skull to run in with a knee to the side of Pederoso’s head.

TBCB ...

(Haven't RPed for ages but I thought I'd start things off. This was a lot harder to write than I thought it would be.)

[Skull]

The force of the knee strike to the head knocks Pederoso onto back where he remains, clutching the side of his head. He doesn’t have long to contemplate his situation as Skull continues his assault by planting his boot repeatedly in any exposed area of the Spaniard’s downed body. Once he is satisfied with the damage he has done, The Pureblood pulls his agonized opponent up to his feet then whips him into the nearest turnbuckle.
Skull then turns to Desperado, who is still in a state of semi-consciousness, but instead of attacking him, he holds out his hand to the NeXuS veteran. The arrogant Brooklyn native stares up at Skull, wondering whether he can trust him and contemplating whether he even needs his help at all. Seeing that it is in his best interests at this point due to the fact that he on his back with Skull standing over him, Desperado reluctantly agrees to the partnership and allows Skull to help him up.

Big Al: This is smart tactics by Skull. From the very beginning of this match, Pederoso and Desperado have taken an instant dislike to eachother, so by teaming with one of them Skull can form a coalition to double team the other for the next 10 minutes then both climb out of the cage.

Colin: Yes, but will this alliance be able to survive for 10 minutes? Desperado is so arrogant he probably thinks he doesn’t need Skull’s help and could turn on him any second. And I wouldn’t put it past Skull either.

Both now up to a vertical base, the unlikely alliance turn their attention to Chris Pederoso, who is slowly recovering his faculties in the corner. Skull is the first to attack, sprinting across the ring like Usain Bolt with Desperado a few paces behind him. Pederoso is ready for Skull, though, and raises his leg just in time for The Pureblood to charge headlong into the sole of his boot. Desperado’s attack doesn’t miss, however, and as Skull stumbles to the ropes holding his jaw, the American extends his arm and clobbers the Ped-man across the throat with a stiff clothesline. With his back to the buckle and nowhere to go, he absorbs the full force of the blow which takes his off his feet for a moment but his shoulders remain pinned to the turnbuckle by Desperado’s arm. The Brooklyn boy continues the beat down, exerting all off his rage at being spat at by the young Spaniard with a series of fists to Chris’ cranium laced with a steam of abuse. “Wanna spit in my face, huh, immigrant? ... We’ll see whose laughing when I bust your face open, pretty boy!”
He is soon joined by Skull who elects not to remind his partner of the irony that he brought it on himself and instead supplies a series of boots Pederoso’s ribcage. After a few more rounds, Skull calls Desperado off and tells him to let Pederoso out of the turnbuckle. They both back up and allow their prey to stumble forward a few paces them catch him just before he falls flat on his face. They each take one of his limp arms and throw it over their necks then grab a piece of tights in preparation for a double suplex. They both lift Pederoso up into the air and leave him hanging upside down, smirking as the blood rushes to his head. After a while, the two get bored but rather than falling backward and delivering a double suplex, they charge forward and slam their opponent against the side of the cage, then let him go, dropping him on his head to add insult to injury.

Colin: Ouch. They just slammed him chest and face first, right into that unforgiving steel.

Big Al: It seems like this coalition is quite fruitful for Skull and Desperado.

As Chris Pederoso lies in a crumbled heap at the edge of the cage, apparently out of commission, Skull sarcastically stretches then smirks at Desperado and mimes pointing to his watch. He goes to walk into the corner to catch a breather but Desperado grabs hold of his arm and stops him in his tracks. Skull turns around to face his co-conspirator and they begin a hushed conversation of which only parts are audible above the volume of the crowd. “You expect me to do nothing for the next 5 minutes? ... Take a rest, Desp. The worst is yet to come. ... If I can’t fight him I’ll fight you.”
The last words out of Desperado’s mouth, significantly louder than the rest of the conversation, grab the fans’ and Skull’s attention and leave The Pureblood at a loss for words. Luckily, he is spared the wrath of Desperado when, against all odds, Chris Pederoso begins to show some signs of life. When they see this, the fans cheer him on and he gets up to his feet even quicker.
Seeing this, Skull and Desperado quickly make their way to the trash cans and each take out a Singapore cane. As Pederoso crawls into the centre of the ring on his hands and knees, his opponents flank him, standing either side of him and waiting for him to get up. Chris eventually makes it back up to his feet and just as he does, Skull and Desperado both swing. The canes come flying towards the Spaniard’s head from both directions but miraculously, he manages to duck just in time, causing the con-cane-to to miss and leaving the canes to collide with each other hard. The assailants both drop their weapons as the shockwave ricochets up their arms then begin to bicker with each other. Their argue argument doesn’t last long, though, as Pederoso soon bounces off the ropes and takes both of them out with a cross body.

Colin: And Chris Pederoso is back in the match at last.

Big Al: But is it too little to late? He took a lot of damage from Skull and Desperado.

TBC?

[Matt Oliveira]

*BZZZZZT*

After minutes pass the buzzer sounds, unlocking the cell trapdoor. For two of these men, it served like that of a siren's song -promising, foretelling of what glory could await them...or they too could end up crashing into rocks, their dreams sunk.

Desperado stands over Chris Pederoso after grounding the former VWE athlete with a snap suplex, the sound of the round's completion drawing near leads for his stare at the supine Chris to shift over to where Skull returns to his feet. The two men lock eyes, realizing that their chance has fallen into their hands through the way of luck..whoever was still standing had an advantage. Skull nods coldly and casually walks over to the escape corner, expecting Desperado to follow without much hesitation. Rather, he stops in his tracks as a hand tugs at his arm, his experience knowing full well that the moment he turns around, a DKO was waiting for him. The Pureblood wrenches himself away from Desperado and plants a boot on the second turnbuckle, yet the Brooklyn-born participant stops him again...with a proposition.

Skull diverts his attention, stepping down from the corner as Desperado jaunts across the ring to retrieve two steel chairs, then moving to the center of the squared circle. With a small grin to The Pureblood, he unfolds both chairs, placing them that they face one another with the edge of the seat itself touching. Meanwhile, Chris begins to stir, wobbling to his knees and groggily holding himself up by the ropes. Skull looks on, amused to what Desperado has in mind, watching on as his adversary takes Pederoso by the neck and lifts him to his feet. Leading Chris over to the center of the ring, Desp drives a boot into the youngster's gut yet again and tucks Ped's head between his own legs. Now revealing his plan, he turns to Skull and motions for him to join in...which he obliges.

Skull wraps his arms around the waist of Pederoso, and the two men simultaneously lift him into the air -sitting on Desperado's shoulders, before whipping his frame back down, across the seats of the chairs with a harsh clash of bone on metal. The chairs buckle from the force, the seats bending down and giving way to Chris' body as he now lays in a wreck. This time, neither Skull nor Desperado were taking any chances. Both men, finished, claim their prize and climb the corner of the cage -escaping through the door and moving onto the next round.

End of Stage 1.