Parker Wayde [vs] Megan Andrews

The study, now shining and clean, looks like the antithesis of a month ago. The shelves are full. The desk appears to be a solid working space with a flat panel monitor and a fit in the center with what appears to be a giant calendar. Overhead, a newly replaced chandelier. It's the piece of the puzzle that Parker always promised would come last. It would be the the one thing that would signify his return to his previous success, despite whatever condition the room around him would look like. It has four arms, each holding a bright white bulb roughly the size of a softball. However, the arms also cast a shadow. From each arm hangs a championship belt. They are well above Parker's head, but one of each the High Impact, The IWF Champsionship, the old Full Throttle title, and one half of the tag team titles that he held with Steel Angel hang from the chandelier. Parker can literally look up and remember all of his accomplishments in IWF. None of the bad memories of the six month losing streak remain, only the four things that took him to the top of his career. The man himself is sitting in the chair, with a keyboard in his lap, looks like he has regained some of his sanity. He looks up at the camera and then places the keyboard its place, a shelf just below the table.

-Parker-
I know what you are thinking. "This place looks beautiful." "Parker has finally taken back his balls." "If this is supposed to be a metaphor for his career, this kid is cocky as fuck." I am here to tell you that none of that is the case. To be honest, over the last couple weeks, this place has been irritating the shit out of me. The mess, the disorder, it isn't anything like me. No matter where my career is, that pile of shit that sat in this room, and the disaster that came through this place was not me. "The Impact Player" is supposed to be cold and calculated. He isn't supposed to be one that can snap when the pressure gets put on his shoulders. That feeling, I lost it. When I lost it, I started losing everything. Now, here I stand, four steps from the bottom, four wins after a six month losing streak, and I have found some kind of balance within myself. I ain't wanting you people to think that I have a big head. Then again, I ain't wanting you people to think that Parker is still a guy that is down there at rock bottom. See, Parker falls somewhere in the middle of things. If you really think about it, that is where Parker has always been: right in the middle of things.

Parker admires his surroundings, and finally looks up to address the elephant, or rather, elephants in the room. The air conditioning kicks on in the room, and the belts sway a little as the air from the top of the room is forced down on them. He looks down and backs away from the desk in his rolling chair. Parker turns his chair to the side, and shows that behind him sits another title. The only other one that he has held in his career. On the first shelf that is visible over the desk, enclosed in glass, is the Platinum Dynasty Wrestling Bloodshed Championship. The only belt that Parker never lost.

-Parker-
Call it an attitude adjustment of sorts. Instead of reminding myself of my failures, in order to make sure that I don't repeat them, I find myself looking up at the things that I cannot reach. If I stand, those titles are all still above my grasp. The brass rings, so to speak, are still well above my current situation. Although, I have rewarded myself with the one that I feel like I have a right to carry around. This Bloodshed title, with my name on the face plate, is the only one of these titles that I never lost. It carries the same weight as all the others, as I didn't have the ability to defend it. However, nobody was man enough to take it from me either. It took an injury and some diplomatic bullshit to strip me of this title. Nobody ever had the balls to pick it up though. Not a soul has tried to enter this household to take it from me. I call them, to ask for my right to defend my belt against their fake champion, and nobody returns those calls. I ask where they are scheduled to go, nobody gives me any information until after the shows. I can't blame them for avoiding me. I made them look bad. The same Parker that couldn't buy himself a win for six months in IWF beat one of their stars, one of their legends even, and took this title when nobody thought it could happen. Suddenly, their doctors wouldn't let me compete anymore. Suddenly the phone stopped ringing. The tweets between Parker and those that are under contract with PDW, became fewer and fewer. Parker finally got the message. The message was that he was a drain on their system. The message was that Parker made PDW look like child's play when it came to IWF. That is why it sits on a shelf. That is why it isn't above my head and out of my reach. To me, I don't have the right, and I am not recovered enough to reach up and take any of those titles. This scrap of metal behind me, is a different case. This reminds me that sometimes, my worst, is better than the best shot someone can throw at me. This championship is the one that tells me that being four steps from the very bottom of my potential is above the glass ceiling in other companies. Through hanging these belts above my head I have only thought of one thing, and that is making sure I can take them, one step at a time.

A smile comes across his lips, as he positions his chair back to the front of his desk. He doesn't pull forward to actually sit near it though, instead he chooses to kick back, as he is known for doing while recording his little vignettes.

-Parker-
Blyss Lockhart, Flex Johnson, and Ethan Cage have nothing to worry about when it comes to their titles. Parker is not coming after them to take their belts. However, one by one, each of them is going to fall, by my hands. No titles will be on the line, because Parker has not earned the right to throw his name into the mix for those belts. Parker is in the same place now that he was this time last year. He has the talent. He has the ability. He has to wait his turn in line. Last year it took 8 wins, and two months for Parker to claw his way into contention for the Full Throttle title. You may recall that Parker was the last man to ever hold that title, as well. In less than one year, it has gone through many changes. At this moment, Blyss Lockhart holds it and calls it the Rising Phoenix championship. Parker remembers the first time that he held that belt. He remembers thinking to himself that he had finally made it, and had emerged as a legitimate contender. It was step one in what should have made Parker the rookie of the year. Although that, is something that he was robbed of as well, and is another story, for another time. Blyss is going to be first on my list though, and it isn't just because of the fact that she carries that title. There is a short history between the two of us. She is one of two women to draw in a match against Parker. A match that both of us should be able to lay claim to as a victory. She dominated my partner in the same fashion that I crushed hers under my foot. However, when we got each other one on one.... well you all know the story. Parker was firing an unloaded gun for six months. She beat Parker and proved to the world that she should have been the one to beat Grand Slam for the tag team titles. Blyss Lockhart was a champion that helped me tear apart this room. It is all of those reasons together, that makes her the first target. It isn't going to be this week, or the next, or even the one after, but one day soon, we are going to be in that ring, at the same time, and it isn't going to be me who falls when the bell rings.

Parker reaches his open hand up towards the High Impact Championship. Even if he was standing, he wouldn't even be able to put his fingertips on it, but the desperation on his face tells of how much that belt means to him. It was the second belt that he ever held. It was what put him into The Empire. It was what made him break through the glass ceiling that was holding him back.

-Parker-
I was thrown towards my second championship as hard as anyone could throw me. If I would have been a baseball at the time, it would have been one that broke the hand of whoever was catching it. I was a dart at a bar, with a well experienced man throwing it. The speed was too much for a rookie to handle, yet two legends fell when the smoke was cleared. Parker was a bulls eye. Parker was fast, and he was accurate. Corey Casey didn't push me, he shoved me as hard as he could. The High Impact belt couldn't help but be swept up in the storm. It couldn't help but fall into the hands of the man who raced harder, and faster than anyone else in the match. I can't remember the show that it was on, but I can remember it was one of the most brutal matches that I have ever been in. Cody Taylor was the favorite going in. He was the biggest clown coming out. There would have been no point in getting the victory over him. The unsung hero of that match, Silas Romero, fell short by only a breath. He should have been the one to win that match, but the wind was at my back, so much so that he could barely stand to look in my direction. I took that title that I didn't deserve and I trashed its history. I took a shit, and then wiped my ass with something that I shouldn't have even had handed to me. I was a rookie, and I didn't understand it back then, but I know that people were booing me not because my character made them boo me, but more because it was too much, too fast for Parker. One month he is holding the undercard belt, the next, not even thirty days later, he is holding the middle one. Then, he unceremoniously dumped it into the garbage and brought in the one that Flex Johnson currently has draped over his shoulder. That belt was created by me, and in my own image. It means more to me than any of the others, and Steel Angel was the one that took it from me, and then slapped me in the face with it. Once more, that is a story for another time. Flex Johnson is the one that my focus is on now. It will be a while sir, but I have been in the ring with you once before. At the time, I had been losing for five straight months in IWF. You teamed with my ex-partner. For once, he actually showed up to the match too. Flex, on that night, you were the better man, with the better partner. If you hang on to that belt long enough for me to prove I am capable of beating the first champ in line, I can tell you that you aren't going to like the man that you step into the ring with. If I make it to you, I fear for you. If you stand across from the ring from me, in what will be more than two months from now, I will smite you in front of the world, because I have something that I need to prove to you and everyone that has seen me in the ring. That title was mine. When it is on the shoulder of someone against me, it is only a 14 pound weight that you carry on your back from the time the referee starts the match, to the time that I make you tap the fuck out. I want you to hang on to that title. I want to prove it to you. I want to earn your respect in the only way that I know how. If I make it to you, I hope that you bring your best.

The smile has long since disappeared, but Parker turns his attention to the tag team championships and seems legitimately sad at it's appearance. He put his faith in a man that was supposed to be a human highlight reel. Instead, that man isn't even good enough to have a spot on this roster at the moment.

-Parker-
A defunct championship shouldn't be hanging above my head at all. I have already told you that Blyss Lockhart will have her score settled with me first and foremost. So why would that title still be hanging there? Why would I want to talk about my teams of the past. This isn't about Steel Angel hanging me out to dry for a month. This isn't about the title being the only one that I have a defense with. This signifies everything about any team that Parker has been a part of since his first day on the job. Parker was invited to Natural Law, when he beat two members, in a match that he wasn't even supposed to be in. Parker took out half of a faction in one night, his first night. Eventually, he outshined that group, and because of that, and probably a multitude of other reasons that, to this day, Parker doesn't understand, it disbanded with a fizzle, and not a bang. Then Parker was shoved by Corey Casey before he was ready, and was sent to The Empire. That lasted until Parker couldn't hold on to the big title, but we will get to that soon enough. All the same, Parker was cast out. Another group, and another failure. Parker tried turning to an enemy. He thought to himself that maybe if he kept his enemies closer, that a game of one-upsmanship would take over and take them to the top. Instead, it seemed to weigh Steel Angel down like an anchor. The problem was Parker was attached to the other end. We both became Grand Slam Champions. Instead of this team going out with a fizzle, Parker made sure it ended with someone going through a table, twice in one night. Then it was on to eVolved. A group that Parker would form all by himself. A group that Parker hand picked to be the ones to help him get his game back under control. Parker put trust into a couple of rookies, in the hopes that we were all three cut from the same cloth. Instead, Parker got stuck with a pair of losers, and the faction was dropped just as Parker predicted. Anthony Dawkins took a fall just like Parker promised that he would. Skyla Vaughn, Parker personally played a role in getting that hot piece of ass thrown out the door. We loved watching her leave, especially Parker. From the moment eVolved started, that ass was just begging to get into Parker's pants. Once that was said and done, Parker had no more use for her losing ways. The first version of eVolved, and the third team that Parker tried to be a part of was a failure. As the saying goes, three strikes and you are out. Parker is not going to join another group, and that tag team title stands as a tribute to the fact that, at the end of the day, Parker is on his own. At the same time, eVolved lives on through Parker, and a psycho that Parker trained back into his peak condition. JHalc has done nothing but earn his right to be part of IWF, and to be part of eVolved. Hell, the man is practically a White Night incarnate. He is unpredictable inside the ring, and a legitimate madman outside of it. Parker can rely on him when it is time to get down to business, as long as Jay makes it to the shows alive. That is way out of Parker's hands though. Time will tell.

The only belt that he hasn't addressed, is the big one. The grand daddy of them all. The one that signifies who is the single best wrestler that IWF has under contract, is hanging above his head, with his name gleaming on the plate at the bottom. Parker was the champ for a short time. Again, that belt looks very different now, but its meaning has not changed to anyone, least of all Parker.

-Parker-
The very same wind that blew Parker into the High Impact Championship was the one that gave Parker the cockiness that should have been his undoing. To this day, people sometimes refer to me as "The DragonSlayer" because I took the biggest beating that I have ever taken in my life, regardless of if it took place in a ring. I took every blow that Stygian threw at me, and at the end of the night I was still able to stand. That match still haunts me to this day. I can sit here and tell you that Stygian knew what he was walking in to, and that somehow justifies what I did to him, but that is a fucking lie that you don't want to hear. When I stole that title, I felt something change. It was like cresting a hill before I even started to pedal up the side. Imagine working at Wal-Mart, and then waking up as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company the next day. I was six months in, and I thought that I was the biggest thing that the company had seen. Arguably, it was the fastest rise in this company's, and likely many other company's history. To go from never having stepped into the ring, to becoming a Triple Crown, and then a Grand Slam champion all in less than a year, is unheard of. Parker knows the reason why it is unheard of though. It is because people don't deserve to rise that fast. It is because when people do rise that fast, they lose sight of what it is that they are supposed to be doing. When that happens, and if we ever see it happen again, I predict the same outcome as this last time. Parker fumbled that title. He dropped it faster than he picked it up, and then continued to fall down the hill for six straight months. Through being healthy, getting hurt, taking a break, coming back, and then trying to rebuild my name and failing, until recently, I couldn't stop how hard I was falling. Rock bottom hurts when you smack into it with a straight drop from the very top. It can destroy a life, a career, and even a room such as this one. That is why, if Ethan Cage is still hanging on to it by the time I have run over the other two champs, I want a shot at him. Again, no titles, no bullshit. Just the two of us in a ring, with no time limit set. I want us to take each other to the limit so that maybe I can convince myself that I am ready to start moving towards holding one of these belts again. Whoever is holding it, is going to be the guy that I look to once I am ready. Whoever is holding it, is going to be the last step on my road to recovery. Who knows who Parker will be by the time that happens. Parker was never really good at looking into the future, and I promise, it is a pretty far off future that I am talking about.

He takes his legs off the table and scoots back into position at the desk. He looks down, like reliving his past has left him defeated. When he looks up, the only thing that he looks like, is tired. The memories clearly haunt him, but now he has goals to turn them against themselves. A month ago he sat and talked about his failures. Now he can talk about each failure, and has found a way to overcome them, one step at a time. No big pushes. The opportunities will come, when they are supposed to come.

-Parker-
I fixed this room because I didn't need any more reminders of how hard I fell. I didn't need to be the person that destroyed this room, and all that I have worked for in the last year. I can remember now, that I had a successful career before I had a fall full of failures and missed opportunities. That isn't the only reason though. This room, is always so quiet. So much so that no matter what it looks like, the ghosts of Parker's past are still so loud. I have enjoyed hurting people, for my own gain, for so long that I don't know what to do when there is nothing around me at all. I demand to have silence and solitude everywhere that I go because I torture myself with the lack of sound. I put sound deafening ear buds in my ears, and don't even turn on anything to listen to. I do it so that nobody approaches me, and I don't have to listen to the things that they are saying about me as I walk by. Hearing anything negative only adds to the weight that I already force myself to carry. That weight doesn't get any lighter when you hang it from a chandelier either. I honestly don't know how it can support the weight, because I am just now learning how to do so myself. I don't have to look at the damage, to know that it was done. All I have to do is sit here in the bittersweet and deafening sound of nothing. Nothing at all.

The video gets fuzzy, the frame starts to bleed and twist from the sides until Parker can't be seen anymore, and then goes black without another word. The last bit of what Parker said had hit their mark.

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