The New Champ {Osiris, Kunk, Rugaku ment.}

[Deathie]

{The eleventeenth showing of an infomercial for the “Black Moon” line of fetish-wear (from AkademiksÒ) is interrupted by a blackened screen and a vaguely familiar funeral dirge played on an unseen pipe organ. A pale image fades onto the screen. The camera focuses in to reveal the features of Didi Teluete smiling icily into the screen. The cameraman realizes he’s too close and zooms out to reveal Scythe looming over Didi’s left side. Due to the lack of illumination in the room (and the dark clothing favored by the two subjects of this segment), all that can be seen is the exposed skin of the two hovering in blackness…and the glinting metal of the OCW World Championship draped over Scythe’s shoulder. Scythe grins and cuts his eyes from the belt to the camera a few times before…}

Didi: Please pardon the interruption, OCW loyal…It has been too long since Scythe and I have properly appeared outside of the ring in an OCW related capacity. We apologize for this, however; summer in the Northern Hemisphere of this sphere is an especially busy season for Scythe and myself…and with us not having any championships to represent at that time, politely allowed other talent to fill the void vacated in our absence...

{Didi’s smile gets a few degrees cooler as she fixes the camera with a hard stare}

Didi: …Recent developments at the latest OCW event…”The Ladder”…have altered these conditions…

{Scythe does his double take from the belt on his shoulder to the camera again…still grinning like jack o’lantern.}

Didi: …While we continue to experience an upswing in our…“existential” vocation…It is only fair to you, the OCW faithful, that your OCW World Championship be represented in the manner that befits it…And who better to do just that than my loyal “Pale Horse”, Scythe…

{Scythe removes the OCW World Title from his shoulder and dangles it casually in front of himself. After (yet another) grinning double take from belt to camera, Scythe lowers his arm and casually lets the belt hang from his hand to the floor.}

Scythe: That’s right kids…The greatest “Fifteen” champ of all time is now yer OCW World Champion…an' they tell me that’s a big deal…So the way I see it, all the big guns around OCW are gonna be gunnin’ fer this thing. Well, I say…WHO‘S FIRST?!? Is it gonna be Captain Clawful…ya know...the guy who had this belt before me…for about five minutes? Or is it gonna be the guy Osiris took it off of just before that? Yeah, I’m talkin’ about the guy who ended my “Fifteen” run…Rugaku!!! Or maybe the guy who came into the night as Champ…my nutty buddy, Kunk!?! Hell, maybe we get all of ‘em in a match together and sort it out…maybe we have ourselves some sorta fatal fourway…or maybe…

Didi: …Or perhaps we defer to OCW management on this matter…

Scythe: Yeah…RIGHT…Like we’d just let some arbitrary buncha suits come up with some sorta solution…

Didi: Actually, Scythe…that is usually how these things are dealt with…

Scythe: Well, I say…Piss on that and flush it away!! I see three guys with a claim at a title shot…and I wanna hear what they’ve got to say about it…

Didi: In fact…Osiris has already expressed his opinions as to who he feels should get a one on one challenge…

Scythe: Lemme guesss…he picked hisself? Well, I’m sure the other two might have conflicting opinions…(shakes his head)…Lissen…it doesn’t matter how we do this…I’m willing to represent this title just like I did that “Fifteen” belt…I’ll take on all comers…an come on all takers…

Didi: Scythe! Was that necessary?

Scythe: What? So I stole that line…It'll be alright...(grins at Didi)…Oh…congratulations on winnin’ the US Title, Mistress…so...[/font][/color]uh…where is it?[/size]

Didi: There was a...“goatsucker incident”…I lost my composure after The Chupacabra started chewing on my posterior…

Scythe: He bit yer ass?!!?[/color] heh heh That’s just funny…did he hit ya with that “Red Kung Party Neck Fu Chop Time” thing?[/size]

Didi: I believe it is called the “Redneck Party Time Kung Fu Chop”…and yes…The Chupacabra did utilize it on me…

{Scythe breaks out in gales of laughter…Didi is clearly not amused.}

Scythe: heh Sorry…heh…I laugh every time I see that move…That zoophile can really shake his ass around, huh?[/size]

Didi: Had I been aware of his gyrations, I would not have been on the receiving end of the elbow drop portion of his routine…(looks at Scythe with an obvious lack of patience)…I believe we have monopolized enough of OCW’s airtime, so to reiterate: Scythe and myself recognize THREE legitimate challengers for The OCW World Championship…any or all would be a worthy contender for Scythe’s first title defense. We await a formal decision and welcome any input from the OCW roster.

{The camera begins to lose focus again, transforming the visible portions of Scythe & Didi into pale blotches onscreen. As the screen fades to black…}

Scythe: Ya know…that other belt was a lot neater looking…

[Mizer]

When the feed returns to normal, it shows Rugaku standing in the middle of the ring. His face is focused as he had been watching the segment with Didi and Scythe on the OCWtron. While he held Scythe in the highest respect as a Legend in OCW, he could not help but feel angry tickle at the base of his neck as the saw the man known as the Pale Rider holding the OCW World Title that he had only held for a few minutes. But he wondered, where should his anger lie? At Scythe, who held the belt now, or at the man who had defeated him and took the title away from him in the first place, Osiris? Either way, he raised a microphone and spoke.

“Scythe. Didi. I hold the two of you in high respect, but that will not stop me from regaining the World Title. I will defeat Osiris, I will defeat Kunk, and I will ultimately defeat you, Scythe!!”

Rugaku’s fans, whom he affectionatly called his “Little Dragons” reached a fever pitch as they saw a fire in his eyes that burned as bright as the fires of dragon’s breath. He looked around the arena and lifted the microphone again.

“Ever since I lost at the Ladder, I’ve been having this feeling in my gut. It took me a while to figure out what this was, and when I did I knew exactly what I had to do to make it go away. That feeling in my gut…it was weakness. A weakness that comes from when you think you’re on top of the world and then it is all suddenly swiped out from under you. I know what I have to do to make this feeling of weakness go away. All I have to do is defeat you, Scythe, and reclaim the World Title!”