*Two nights before Precision, a video entitled "A Fateful Meeting" is uploaded to the Precision YouTube channel. It begins with Jack Rogue in a hotel room, sat on the edge of his bed, facing the camera which is visibly set on a desk or side table, as the edge of the surface is visible at the bottom of the shot. The Precision Champion, in navy jeans and a black hoodie, has his title draped over his legs, a glinting light visibly reflected on its surface. He's holding a torn, discoloured piece of paper in his right hand, which he stares at as he speaks*
Jack: Ivy Hale. You'll have been displeased to see that your little message last week didn't distract me from my objective. Beating Buster Gates and Joseph Diamond, Precision's other two champions, at the same time, was perhaps the greatest possible proof of my abilities, of my drive, my focus. Last week I proved indisputably that I'm exactly what I said I was before Bad Blood. Despite, and partly due to, everything I've been through physically and emotionally, I am the most skilled professional wrestler in the world today. But since that match finished, I've paid a price for putting your invitation to the back of my mind, because I've thought of little else. After that match, I returned to my hotel room, euphoric but exhausted, to find this.
*Rogue waves the piece of paper in his hand, without taking his eyes off it*
Jack: It had been pushed under the door. A set of directions and a surprisingly plain and matter-of-fact one at that, but I know it's yours, Ivy. I've never seen your handwriting but this is about how I'd have imagined it. And the location is suitably, and predictably, dramatic. For the last week, I've debated and considered whether or not to go. And tonight is the night, the time that's on here is in an hour. I know for a fact that she wants me to be there, for whatever reason. And I'm not stupid, I know exactly how dangerous she is. She's as dangerous a fighter as any man, and made more so by her complete insanity. She's clever, ruthless and remorseless, a danger to anyone walking this Earth physically and emotionally. I may well be going for a fight tonight, and I'm ready for one. But that's not the only way I have to be prepared. She has said she'll "forgive me" if I go back to her but, let me make clear, I have no intention of doing that. I'm not in that state anymore, I can see that she is an evil woman and I will not betray my principles while I have my inhibitions. She can probably guess that, but it may not stop her trying to manipulate me mentally, emotionally. I'm not going there to take her out, though, or to get her off my back by force - unless I'm left with no other choice. I refuse to be vengeful, and to attack her unprovoked would still be letting her in. Plus, she's a tormented soul, made vicious by the way the world turned its back on her. In there somewhere is a woman crying for help. I'm in no position to give her that and I know it, but I'm not going to send her further away from it. So I'm not going to kick Ivy Hale's ass tonight, I hope.
Jack: But one way or another, I have to dispel her, she is the last haunting element of the darkness I'm trying to leave behind. Had she never sought me out, tried to bend me to her ends, use me as a tool for her to ruin Precision, I'd have escaped my psychosis months earlier. Through me, she caused horrific pain to many. I can't leave behind me all of my responsibility for that and lay it on her, but I am trying to pay my debts while she wants to use me for that purpose again. She'll try and break down my resistance, but I will not give in. I know who I am, what I'm fighting for, why I can't let myself be taken in by her. I have to, with subtlety or with force, leave her behind me. I don't really know exactly what I'm getting myself in for, which is why I don't have a cameraman today, since I'm not risking anyone but me. But I do know what I'm going to leave with, or rather without. And that's the menace of her malicious manipulation hanging over my head. Maybe it'll send her further off the edge than she already is, but that's a price I'll pay if I have to. What I'm doing, to serve Precision, to right my wrongs, is more important.
*Jack stands up with his championship, then pauses. He stares down at the belt, as if conflicted, then lifts the bottom of his hoodie to strap it around his waist. He then folds the paper carefully and puts it in his front pocket, then lifts the camera from the table*
Jack: A good champion goes nowhere without his title, and that's not changing just because of what I'm doing tonight. Here we go.
*The video cuts to Rogue still holding the camera on himself, but now shrouded in the darkness of the night. His face is illuminated by the small light next to the lens, bright white against the pitch darkness behind, and the champion speaks in a whisper just audible over the nighttime breeze and his footsteps crunching on grass*
Jack: Here we are. I'm going to try and keep filming as much as I can, so whatever happens here will be documented, perhaps remembered by the history of Precision.
*Jack pauses, and his footsteps slow* And if I don't come out the same... I love you all. And whatever happens to me, ever, just know that the real Jack will never, ever stop fighting.
I will never kneel to a self-styled Empress.
*Rogue breathes heavily, then takes a few more steps. He looks around to see trees surrounding him, their leaves obscuring the stars of the night sky from view. He looks around to see a small building made of mossy stone brick, and a campfire, burning bright near it. There is a silent chill in the air as Jack looks around for his former ally. Rogue looks off to his right, then steps in that direction, bending down and placing the camera, its torch still on, on a tree stump. The lens is now looking across the clearing, the building, campfire and surrounding trees all in clear view. The champion steps a few metres forward and left from the stump, then spreads his arms wide and shouts into the night air*
Jack: Here we are, then! Make your move, Hale!
*His voice echoes, and nobody seems to be there to hear it. Jack takes a deep but quiet breath and waits, looking around for any sign of Ivy. Ten seconds pass and his patience is being tested. He is left to wonder whether or not the Empress of Fear had led him to a dead end. He soon gets his answer as, just as he looks to be about to leave, her familiar voice sounds*
Ivy: So, you actually came?
*Ivy walks around the stone brick building to show herself to Jack. She is wearing long black leggings with her knee brace over it, black boots, and a red top. She walks slowly towards him before she finally speaks*
Ivy: So... you're here for forgiveness, aren't you?
*She smirks towards Jack, but this supposedly kind gesture doesn't seem to please Rogue*
Jack: I'm here for no such thing. I'm here because, one way or another, I need you gone. I'm past the reach of your manipulation now, I'm over the problems you tried to exploit in me. You caused monstrous pain through me, and I want nothing to do with you. In fact, as its champion, I want you out of Precision.
Ivy: Oh really?
*Ivy raises an eyebrow* Perhaps I can convince you otherwise? Because I have a little story to tell you.
*Walking around the Precision Champion, Ivy speaks*
Ivy: Mere months ago, I was a weakened girl. I was hurt, lost, without a purpose. I had a mission to build an empire and no means to do so. I mean, did you really think I could have waited out my injury and returned to the place I was before? It was a lost cause. But, when I was forced - that's right, forced, against my will - to see this so-called "specialist" to help me with my condition, I discovered someone who also shared my gift...
*Ivy stops and grabs Jack's hand gently*
Ivy: You...
*Jack shakes his head, and twists his hand quickly from her grasp. Hale doesn't seem phased by this and continues*
Ivy: For a long time you have been dealing with these two duelling sides of you. One tells you to listen... to be obedient to the norms and values that this world has cast upon you, making you live in fear. The other... the other voice is liberating, letting you use your fears to your advantage, unshackling you from what the world has done to you. Perhaps you've also had little voice in your head, ghosts from your past, trying to push you one way or the other. Whether or not you bought into the lies everyone has told you about me "manipulating you", all I was trying to do was help you not make the same mistakes I did. Whether or not you beg for my forgiveness, we will always have that connection...
*Annoyed, Rogue doesn't respond and instead tries to ignore Ivy. She notices his lack of response and snaps*
Ivy: Pay attention! Because this is something you need to understand... for the past number of months, while I was, yes, grooming you as a soldier, my main goal was liberating you! Liberating you from the trap of those fans who helped cause your pain in the first place! I was going to help you not just be free from your inhibitions, but allow you to annihilate anyone who has ever hurt you, and I was going to let the "madness" in your head be a tool for you to do the things you have always wanted to. I mean, you may be Precision Champion now, but your days are numbered. Every championship reign has its end, and all it will be is a statistic. "Jack Rogue has one championship reign, with this number of days as champion." With me, that will become more than just a statistic... you will leave a lasting impression beyond just a title reign or some phoney accomplishments. Instead of you helping the place that hurt you... you can kill it.
*Ivy looks towards Jack and gets close to him, trying to look as sweet and caring as she can, but her mischievous, conniving nature still shines through*
Ivy: So go ahead, Jack, ask for forgiveness... I don't do this often, take it while you still can. Kneel before me and come back to your Empress. I can help you, give you a cause worth fighting for... I can help. I'm what you can live for. Everything will be good once you listen to me again. No need to worry... I'll remove these chains once and for all.
*Jack looks towards Ivy and looks as though he is considering the option. He looks to be lost, uneasy. He starts to crouch down, but, at the same time, his hands are balled into fists. He looks to be struggling, the two sides of him duelling once more. Ivy smirks as she watches Jack struggle*
Ivy: Don't be scared....
*As soon as Ivy says this, something clicks with Jack and, instead of falling into Ivy's hands once more, he stands up and yells at her, letting go all his anger*
Jack: Never in my life! You're a facade, Ivy. You're no Empress, in any sense. You might rule fear in your own mind, it may never affect you again. But you've no intention of liberating me, or anyone, from fear. It's not your enemy, it's your weapon. You think you can make people scared of your madness, your ferocity, your calm genius. And maybe you can, but not me. I've been through too much pain, from my own
former inadequacies, from Vega and from you, to fall for your bullshit again. I'm too strong now. The road of my life may never be smooth again, urges to destroy may always claw at me from underneath. But I will never let them out. The road to hell might be an easier ride, but it's covered in blood and that's not my road anymore. I have no desire to destroy Precision. It took me in when Sony Storm died before I could help it, it fostered my growth into the wrestler I always knew I could be, and on my life I will right the wrongs I did to it. My reign will be more than a statistic because during it I will protect Precision from people like you, who destroy because they cannot create. You're my devil, Ivy, but my soul is not for sale.
*Jack undoes the strap behind his back and pulls out his championship, holding it in front of Ivy*
Jack: My name is Jack Rogue and I am a man of strength through principle, and I am a champion for the people, for anyone who needs one. Everyone who needs someone to look up to, to draw their strength from. They've given me their warmth, their love, and I will never let them down again. They're all the help I need on my road of honour, bumpy as it will be. I'll lose this title someday, but with their help I will never lose the integrity that makes me who I am. And until that day, I will protect it with everything I have, and that means I refuse to deal with you trying to throw a spanner into the works. Now - go! Walk away from here and understand that whatever you try, I will never be susceptible to your power again. Either that, or I will
prove that you don't have the dominion you think you do.
*Ivy is taken aback by his response and steps away from Rogue slightly, as she sees Jack with his fists up, ready to fight. She looks around her, then away for a moment. The Precision Champion yells at her again*
Jack: There's your choice! Go, forever, or damn it you'll wish you had!
*Ivy balls her hands into fists and tilts her head. She slowly starts to turn around, and, instead of striking Jack, spits a red mist directly into his eyes! The champion screams as the mist blinds and stings him, his title falling from his hands to the grass below, and Ivy jumps at the opportunity. She grabs him by his hair, pulls him towards the building, and throws him head first into it, his skull hitting the wall with a hard thud. There is a sickening smile on her face as she laughs at having attacked the champion. She grabs Jack by the head and tries to pull him closer to the campfire, trying to throw him into the blaze. Despite being blinded by the mist moments ago, Jack feels the heat from the flames, and, in an act of desperation, elbows Ivy multiple times in the ribs, forcing her to let go. He staggers around, trying frantically to rub the mist out of his eyes as Ivy looks around for an equalizer. She sees a shovel near the side of the building and she grins again as grabs it. She waits for her moment, and just as Rogue turns around, apparently sighted again, she swings it into his knees, hammering his kneecaps and sending him crashing into the ground. Rogue yells in pain as he starts to crawl in an effort to get away. Ivy, shovel in hand, swings it once more, hitting him across the back with the shaft of the shovel snapping it in two*
*Laying motionless, the Precision Champion is defenceless as Ivy starts to drag him across the clearing, still in good view of the camera, which adjusts its focus as the pair move further from the light of the fire. As the lighting of the scene changes, a strangely shaped stone of some kind is discernible near the camera on the right of the clearing. Rogue tries to get up, but Ivy is having none of it. She grabs his neck from behind and pulls him to the ground, locking in the dragon sleeper she calls "The Never Ending Nightmare." Jack's arms flail about as Ivy tries to squeeze the very life out of him, laughing maniacally as she does it. Attempting to shift his weight around, he tries to get Ivy off him, to very little success. His strength is diminishing, and eventually, he passes out from the pain. Ivy lets go of the hold and drags him so he is leaning against the rock and speaks to the hardly conscious champion*
Ivy: Well, I gave you a way out, but you clearly won't listen, and for that, it's time for your punishment. You see Jack, you didn't just betray me, you committed treason! A crime with a high price to pay. Because a beating won't be enough, taking your championship won't be enough. Instead, the price you pay is your very life. So, with that, I have an exciting proposition for you. Next week, I will step foot in a Precision ring for the first time. I will stand across it from you, and we will compete in a match that has never been seen in company history. One where pinning an opponent isn't what gets you out of it, making someone submit isn't enough, nor is rendering them as unconscious as you are. Instead, I will send you to your final resting place. Jack, next week we will compete in a buried alive match. And by the end of it, you will no longer need to live in fear...
*Ivy bends down and kisses the unconscious Rogue on the forehead, then gets up and goes to leave him. She pauses, reaches back and turns the camera to get a better view of the gravestone. Now, "Jack Rogue: 1993-2017. Rest In Peace." is visible, carved into the rock. Jack is left motionless against the headstone proclaiming his death, while Hale walks back across the clearing, stomping on the Precision Championship before leaving the frame*
-End of segment-
OOC: Credit to
@Beavee for all things Ivy here.
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