|
Welcome to NEWera Wrestling. We hope you enjoy your visit.
You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.
Join our community!
If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:
|
|
While Only Sparks Linger; vs. Romeo Stylez (01/13/13)
|
|
Topic Started: Jan 13 2013, 01:52 AM (95 Views)
|
|
Eric Donavan
|
Jan 13 2013, 01:52 AM
Post #1
|
- Posts:
- 346
- Group:
- Members
- Member
- #439
- Joined:
- July 24, 2012
|
"A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open." – Francis Bacon
FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2013, 11:26PM THE SANCTUARY ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
Night had fallen organically, descending quite without warning upon the seldom-viewed Sanctuary of Eric Donavan, the small retreat erected farther up the mountain than his Asheville home. Set off along the side of the battered dirt-and-gravel path, it is the place where the Irish Dragon finds himself when his mind is in need of serious clearing or where he simply requires peace. And the latter does seem to have found him effectively this evening as he sits on the sofa in the ‘lounge corner’ of the Sanctuary, his eyes staring out the multi-paned window across from him. A clear sky lays without save for the stars, dark and oddly inviting…not unlike Eric’s own eyes when he’s in a serene mood.
The television, an odd thing to have in a place of peace as some have noted previously, has long since turned itself off due to inactivity. It had only been turned on so that Eric might see the promo from Romeo Stylez and it is from that that his quiet mood descends. Perhaps the lady in his lap plays her own part in this, though. Aurelei lays length-wise on the sofa, her head perched upon a pillow in Eric’s lap as she slept with fire-colored hair having fallen across her face. It is only presently that Eric notes this ‘intruder’ and moves his hand to sweep the colored strands from her face. She shifts slightly at the gesture, curling closer against herself and Eric but does not wake. His nearly-black eyes avert toward her and then quickly turn toward the Japanese-style sliding doors on the far wall.
A slight amount of night air is filtering in, cool and refreshing to him but perhaps a bit cold for the slumbering beauty. Eric turns at the waist ever so carefully and retrieves the blanket draped over the back of the sofa. Shaking it out of its folded state, he drapes it evenly across Aura who shifts again slightly as a trace smile upturns her lips briefly before she’s back fully to her restful state. Eric’s hand again alights on her hair and starts to stroke through it slowly while his attention returns to the window and he starts to address Romeo.
Eric Donavan “I must admit that you surprised me, Romeo. Your…retort…was unexpected, at least as far as content goes.”
There’s only dim light to show the forms of the couple on that sofa, most of it coming from lit candles on the simple coffee table between them and the television. Judging from the metal bucket with the neck of a wine bottle protruding from the table and a pair of empty plates and covers near it, they must have had a quiet dinner together here, a bit of a retreat from the norm. Eric smiles as he speaks, not yet looking toward us.
Eric Donavan “Don’t let that come off as a shot, though. I knew you’d eventually get around to responding. It was how you responded that caught me off guard. For a few moments there it sounded like you were channeling Bombtrack when he and I had our match. Concern for your rookie opponent etched into every statement. The difference is that…how to put this properly…”
Aurelei mumbles something in her sleep, something we can’t quite make out. Eric pauses in his thinking to look down at her, his hand stilled briefly. He doesn’t look up at he finishes his thought.
Eric Donavan “…you set things into perspective more powerfully than he did.”
Whether that is a good or bad thing, the Irish Dragon doesn’t say. His impassive expression renders such assumption impossible on either end. His jaw sets for a moment, indicating consternation along with his eyes narrowing a bit. Then he exhales and goes all neutral on us again, shaking his head a bit.
Eric Donavan “Maybe it hasn’t gotten hammered into my head enough yet that I’m still the rookie here. Despite several lauded matches and a few psychotic spots, regardless of title matches both previous and soon to come, I’m still the new fish. Even after six months or so, people aren’t quite sure what to make of me. After I inked my contract here I knew it’d mean starting fresh because I’d been out of the game for sixteen months. Add that to how the wrestling business likes to chew up your past and spit it out as though it never existed and it can be daunting. But you wouldn’t know it to see me act and hear me speak, would you?”
Eric smiles wanly, recalling a recent match.
Eric Donavan “I’ve made a conscious effort to be less of an ass, to watch how and to whom I speak…but old habits die hard. Facets of the old Eric still creep up now and again, like during my match with Tombstone and the aftermath of Secret Santa 2’s main event. Can’t say I’m proud of either of those occurrences, either. What right did I have to take it that far with Tombstone? What purpose was served calling out Stall after he’d already made an example out of me? Even now almost two weeks later I don’t have answers for those questions.
None, at least, beyond that simply being how I’m wired. After having Tombstone defeat me upwards of three times and having more on the line that ever has been for me in NEW, I slipped into a…desperate state. I had to win. The means started to not matter to me and I should be thankful I took it no further than wielding a chair against him. As for retorting against Stall, that’s a bit more easily explained. You never, ever let someone keep you down in this business, Romeo. No matter how powerful or dangerous they are, if defiance is your only available weapon, you wield it with all the strength you can muster. If Stall wants to try and take me to task for my words, I’m not hard to find…only to handle.”
For a moment, his eyes flare with intensity but it passes. He forces it down as if he knows that it will serve him no purpose here. Part of the reason may be that he doesn’t want to wake the hellcat in his lap, though. His hand starts to slide through her hair again as he resumes a calmer state.
Eric Donavan “I’ve said it before myself: respect is earned. In the wrestling business it’s become little more than a buzzword to most of the boys and girls. We toss it around with very little care for the depths of its meaning. In the midst of my go-rounds with Tombstone, I made it a point to say that that word would not be tossed about so cavalierly from the Irish Dragon. If I say I respect someone, then I mean it. I’m not saying it to sound deep or cool but because the power and meaning of the word and the concept behind it aren’t lost on me. Like your own father, Romeo, mine taught me the same in his own way…mostly through making me work my ass off and through example by the way he treated others. Lesson learned for both of us.”
Eric smiles again, genuinely, as the memory is a fond one for once.
Eric Donavan “But we differ when it comes to James Stall, Romeo. Maybe it’s because your experience with him is much broader than mine. You two have certainly had some intense altercations about everything from women to championships and when you add in the fact that Outkast played a part in it all…”
For some reason, Eric stops himself. Not in a sudden cessation of his words but a trailing off beginning right about the moment that he mentions the name of NEW’s dearly departed Outkast. He stares off into space for a moment, then shakes his head.
Eric Donavan “…no. I don’t have the right to speak that name, I don’t think. Not yet.”
Aura stirs in his lap as Eric raises a hand to undo the top two buttons of the white silk shirt he has on this evening. The Irish Dragon’s eyes are a bit harder when their focus returns to Romeo.
Eric Donavan “The point is, you have a more experienced and critical eye when it comes to the World Heavyweight Champion and he has earned your respect through all the hell you’ve went through. That’s all well and good for you, Romeo, but I have no such personal respect for the man. If one speaks solely of his championship pedigree and his in-ring ability then a case can be made. Having felt it first-hand, I have learned to respect that much. But as a man, he’s slime. The way he treats opponents, friends, his woman, his family…real men don’t act like that where I come from. And those that dare to don’t last long. Respect is more complicated than people think it is, which is why it’s so much more irritating when they toss it around so. Again, for some of his traits and certainly his ability, I do have some respect for James Stall. But this…isn’t about him, is it? It’s about me and you.”
The nod Eric gives is mainly to himself, a firm stand that the World Heavyweight Champion has stolen enough air from this long-distance conversation.
Eric Donavan “We come from different worlds, Romeo, but to answer your question…”
With that said, Eric maneuvered his left arm beneath the legs of Aurelei and his right behind her shoulders. She shifted again, blue eyes blinking a bit as he rose from the sofa with her cradled in his arms, still half-wrapped in the blanket. Her smile was slight yet obvious as she wrapped her arms around his neck while he carried her to another part of the Sanctuary, the small bedroom to be precise. Eric took a few moments to lay her on the simple bed and whisper something into her ear.
She nodded silently and turned onto her side under the new layers of blankets, slipping easily back into slumber as Eric left that room, sliding the door shut and looking to the camera once more. Reaching behind his head, he removed the black band that held his hair in a tight ponytail, letting the fine, dark brown locks spread behind his shoulders down to mid-back. The soft breeze blew a few strands into the Irish Dragon’s face but he swept them away gently and walked back over to the window, gazing out as he finally completed his thought.
Eric Donavan “…I do see what you’re getting at.”
The act of sighing causes Eric’s broad shoulders to rise and fall. He puts his hands on the walls bordering the window as his head lowers, shaking back and forth again.
Eric Donavan “And before I go any further, let me impart upon you the fact that I appreciate your advice, especially because you’re speaking from experience and that you seem to think enough of me to make the effort. Few have been as kind to me thus far, Romeo, and as squishy as it sounds that means a lot.”
Fingernails scrape against the wall as flat palms and fingers curl into tight fists. They tighten as though Eric means to pound them against the wood but…he engages in no such expression of useless aggression. Instead he takes a breath and continues.
Eric Donavan “But I’m not afraid of the World Heavyweight Champion or what he can do. I know I’m committing a snafu here by daring to bring up my past in other federations. It’s always about ‘what have you done for me lately?’ in just about any company you ply your trade in these days and I’ve fought hard not to rely on these experiences. Thus, not to build myself up but just to make sure you understand where I’m coming from, I’m going to break that rule and give you a little background.”
Eric turns back around now, arms at his sides, the camera only viewing him from the chest up. Parts of his chest tattoos are visible behind the open sides of the silk shirt and from the looks of him his muscles are tensing and releasing rapidly.
Eric Donavan “I’ve been tortured in the ring and out of it during my time in this business. Raked across razor wire cages, put through glass tables, locked in a burning car and had my neck broken. And the latter wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a botch. It was because the person meant to do it and was urged to do it again by a woman who he’d taken from me. And in response to acts like those I crucified that man on a cage after beating him to within an inch of his life and made him watch as Aurelei decimated his former love interest with pleasure and then took his World Heavyweight Championship from him. I destroyed his allies and made him, the monster feared by every single soul who ever encountered him directly or even peripherally, look vulnerable. Human.
We went to war with one another time and time again and several times fought wars on the same side. We were the yin and yang of that company, the light and the darkness, so perfectly opposed in our ways, our beliefs…hell, even our wrestling style…that to this day our record against one another is dead even. He had years of experience on me before our first battle yet I took him to limits that will never be matched anywhere, by anyone. I’ve called him enemy, I’ve called him friend…but these days I just call him brother. What he’s done here in New Era isn’t up to par with his past accomplishments and he’d be the first to admit that. It’s hard to make anyone understand just what a monster he was back then.
But…I suppose you’re waiting for a point from all this, no? I apologize for rambling.”
Though the smile is small and genuine, the restrained fury is still apparent in his body language. We can see that it isn’t directed at Romeo, though. It’s a reaction to what he’s thinking and remembering.
Eric Donavan “The point…is that James Stall, and here I thought I was done discussing him, is going to have to go a lot further before stops me or even slows me down. If you’ve been following me at all, Romeo, you know enough about my past that I don’t have to rehash it. Pain is a part of my life. I wear that fact with honor, drawing power from it. It is part of why I’ve had the success I’ve had up to this point.”
The smile fades naturally, not resulting in a harsh expression but one of cold calm.
Eric Donavan “Stall will do what Stall will do and I will respond accordingly. The World Heavyweight Champion is a dangerous man, no question. Only a fool would think otherwise after seeing him in action. If he seeks to strike at me through my friends and family, he won’t be trying anything new. But he should be made aware that the last two people who tried to bring my family and friends into their wars with me are no longer in the business and I’m the reason why. I have a dark side, Romeo. I fight at times to keep it contained because I want to be better. I know I can be. Eric Donavan will never again be a hero. His hands are dirty and he’s stained with the blood of innocent people. But he can at least fight for the right reasons and accomplish his goals with honor. The right push in the wrong direction has led to my ending more than one career, sometimes for little reason at all. If Stall goes that far, he’ll find out just how high I can turn up the heat.
As for your statement that I’m not ready to become the champion, I would take offense if I didn’t agree. I wasn’t ready to win my first World Heavyweight Championship and probably not the second one for that matter. But I still won them and I still carried both with honor and prestige, doing everything in my power to hold a dying company together until it could stand on its own. You’re not hurting my feelings saying that. You’re just…stating the obvious, harsh as it may be to have to hear from another. And I applaud you for having the gumption to do so.”
Of course, he doesn’t really clap…but Romeo will get the point.
Eric Donavan “I said at the start that I was looking forward to my match and you’ve exemplified why. Watching your promo earlier this evening, I could see the fire in your own eyes, the knowledge of what you can do, forgive me, having been slapped into you by a lovely and talented young woman recently.”
The smile returns for a moment, good-naturedly, before fading again. Eric walks over to the sofa again and leans down toward the coffee table, picking up his half-full glass of wine left over from dinner. He swirls it a bit and takes a sip, exhaling contently.
Eric Donavan “Romeo Stylez, to me and the rest of your fans of which I am certainly one, is officially back. You never went anywhere but with, by your own admission, 2012 being one of your most difficult years, people were probably starting to wonder. Wonder no longer, because The Sensational One is going to Razzle one side of the arena and Dazzle the other once again. I’ll toast to that.”
And he does so, taking another sip of the dark merlot before refocusing on the matter at hand.
Eric Donavan “But just make sure you’re doing what you’re planning on doing for the right reasons, my friend. You’re of the mind that I need to learn some humility but coming from a man who is just now finding himself again, that might be hard for some to swallow. I haven’t looked down on anyone in New Era, from Killjoy and Kendrick Gates to James Stall himself. Other people might have thought my opponents to be jokes, thrown at me just as living, breathing litmus tests to see what I was capable of but I never did. I talked down to them, got a little insulting at times even but when that bell rang I stepped up and fought them like a man. Slowly I am evolving my approach thanks to encouragement from people close to me as well as men like yourself and Bombtrack and, yes, I have a ways to go. But the only lesson getting taught at NEW TV this Sunday is that the Irish Dragon is for real.
It won’t be a case of ‘this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you’. It won’t be you utilizing me to get your foot back in the door as far as title contention is concerned though that isn’t your stated purpose here. It will be the most popular and beloved wrestler in New Era taking on the fire-breathing newcomer looking to make a statement. A man breaking free of his figurative chrysalis and spreading his wings to reach heights he once held…battling a scarred warrior who wears his wounds like badges of honor. Yet another match to put on yet another ‘Best of’ DVD which sends the fans home happy and wanting more.”
Setting the glass back down on the table, Eric strips off the shirt, leaving the black trousers and dress shoes where they are on his person, tossing it over the back of the sofa. The fire-bordered dragon wings on his chest stand out even in the low light just as the sword running the length of his spine does when he turns and walks over to the circle of candles in the center of the Sanctuary floor. He draws the gold Zippo from his pocket and lights one of those candles, then uses it to light the rest until the even dozen all flicker, giving a warm, fiery light to the scene. Eric goes to his knees gracefully within the circle, setting his hands palms down on his thighs, the letters spelling ‘GUARDIAN’ easily visible, inked into his fingers.
Eric Donavan “You’re ready to give me what I asked for, Romeo, and I thank you for that. But the only humility to be found won’t be doled out by your hand. I know who I am and where I belong in this business, in this life. That has never been in question in my mind. I stand within sight of the pinnacle, the light reflecting off the gold and leather around the waist of James Stall. It is a place I have been many times before and it is only a prelude. Whether I am ready or not, I will fight to the end with every drop of blood and sweat in my body to make that title mine.
But you, sir…you are the one who is again seeking his proper place. In your absence I have risen to a spot that you should have been in already. The wars I’ve been through to get to this point have improved me. Every inch of pain that men like Tombstone have driven through me have become strength in their passing. Can you reach this point again? Without question. Will you do so at my expense? I will personally endeavor to see that you do not. Your time will come, Romeo. Whether Stall remains champion or whether I take that title from him, your time will come. He and I would likely agree that you would be a fine challenger for the strap. Your time will come…but not this Sunday. Not against the Irish Dragon.”
Eric’s eyes close and his head lowers, his physical form finally at a kind of peace. His posture is relaxed and the fury that had been burning through remembrance and other outside factors has been wrangled into control. As a result, the smile once again appears…but it has taken on a predatory tilt.
Eric Donavan “This will be the first step toward the top of the mountain. You will be the first opponent left lying in my wake. Respectfully speaking, Romeo…this Sunday, you’re going to burn.”
Coming to a state of complete stillness, Eric’s eyes close and the scene fades to black.
|

Eric Donavan's Wikia Page Twitter: @NEWIrishDragon
NEW Record: 28-11-2 All-Time Record: 73-24-6
1x NEWEra World Heavyweight Champion: 11/03/13-12/15/13
|
| |
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
|
 Create a free forum in seconds.
|
|