act nine: an issue of trust
Bucky... I don't know what to expect from you any longer. You're not the same guy I've faced in the past, you're not the same wrestler I've beaten before. You've changed, you're different... and I'm not sure how I feel about that, either. There's something far darker, far more negative about you than there ever was before, as if the viciousness you once held in the ring was corrupted by whatever motices you seem to have, and you've turned it into some bloodthirsty desire for success.
One moment, I see in you one of the best tag partners I could have asked for in that tournament, and the next moment I see you as one of the most serious threats to me in the NLCW today. With old and new friends surrounding me, and with old enemies seemingly gone away for a season... it's hard to believe that you and Durst remain as enemies of my past still around for the present, and it's even harder to believe that it's you, and not Durst, who I consider to be the more serious threat.
There was a time long ago where I couldn't take you nearly as seriously as certain others... but today? Today, you've came a long way... and you stand in front of me now a seasoned in-ring veteran who could very well make trouble for me and the future I have planned.
I've said it before... the hardest part about a tag team, for me, is planning out the variables. It's never been hard for me to do that in my own individual career, but when partnered up with someone, it gets difficult to accomplish. Yet here I am, debating what path would be best to follow next in the NLCW... and there you stand before me, cast a shadow of doubt over the plans that have gone so well for me up until this point.
You see, Bucky, this story of mine is coming to a close, even if the epilogue turns into the longest chapter yet it's still considered to be the epilogue, and that's how it's going to be for me. I won't be satisfied until I've done all I wanted to do here in the NLCW... yet I've put so many contingency plans into action that I'm essentially safe from all the harm that could befall me in the process.
With you, though... it's a concern of whether or not those plans are strong enough.
I'm certain they are, to be honest. A part of me still says that as much as you've changed, you're still the same person that can be scouted and prepared for as always, Bucky. Yet then, there's a part of me that warns of your very nature, this new form you've taken in the ring, the danger you bring to any challenger that comes before you. In the end, you have the top strap right now not because you lucked into it, but rather that you earned it through particularly violent methods.
Methods you'd not even hesitate to utilize against me, probably.
Then, to make matters worse... you've your partner, the ever-violent Stacy Jones. For me, your duo becomes particularly dangerous in that the both of you have no sense of relenting, no style to your madness... you simply attack and attack and attack as hard as you can until your opponent simply cannot fight back any longer. For you, it's a methodical and planned approach in this torrent of violence, but for Stacy... it's seemingly mindless, as though she's mechanical in her violence against others.
Yet I have a man I'm only now beginning to come to trust out there, a man I've never teamed up with before but will have to against the two of you if I hope to have a chance at victory here. Isaac Reynolds is a person I'm only just now beginning to get to know, but he's a person who I'm starting to believe I can count on, as the issue of trust starts to fade from sight because of it. In a way, the biggest contributing factor to that really is that we hold the tag straps... but it's worked out for me in the end as I may have been exposed to yet another person I'll be glad to call a friend of mine for a long time to come.
In my eyes, you and Stacy don't have that, Bucky. You and Stacy can't trust each other, because you and Stacy are not unlike violent dogs thrashing over the last bit of food in the back alley. You are both skilled individuals that have no hope of forming a coherent team, and for that... I pity you this Sunday. I pity you, because Isaac and I are more than ready for this now, and I know that you and Stacy likely will not reach that point.
Threats will be made, tensions will rise, and ratings will soar as people tune in to see if Bucky and Stacy kill each other before they even reach the tag champions... all the while Isaac and I will, in all likelihood, get along fairly well out there.
In any event, though, it's going to be fun to watch... I'll be sure to have Isaac bring a bag of popcorn to the ring for the special occassion.
You were a great partner, Bucky, you really were... and you're an even better rival in the end. Still, that won't stop the fact that, because of your partner and because of the fact that even when this future of mine seems blurry, I can still force a clear image in my head... I can tell you now that the two of you will not win. In fact, to be honest, you won't even come close... and when the time comes for me to step in and face you in a way that no-one else has been able to in ages now, I'll tell you the same thing then that I'm about to tell you now.
Oh yeah, and this applies to you too, Stacy, so pay close attention:
Not even the Messiah can save you now.
See you Sunday, kids.