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Roleplay Boards => Climax Control Roleplays => Topic started by: Alexander Raven on July 24, 2026, 06:56:28 PM
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The slap and smack of fist against punching bag echoed through the empty gym. Smack, bang, smack, bang, thwap. The grunting exhales with each measured strike, the ragged inhales as lungs struggle to retain enough oxygen to fuel the body. Smack, bang, smack, bang, thwap. There was a beat to it, a rhythm.
Alex was working over the punching bag, his knuckles raw and bruised. The lack of gloves was a choice he’d made to keep himself grounded. To remind him of the pain that he was attempting to overcome. To remind him that not all pain was bad, that sometimes it truly was the body attempting to shed some kind of weakness.
He’d never really been one to try and keep up his cardio, to work on his form. For all intents and purposes, Alex was a wrestler far out of his depth. He wasn’t an athlete, but that didn’t matter when it came to being in that ring. He’d tortured his body for years and years, and somehow it kept on ticking. Both inside and outside of the ring, his treatment of himself wasn’t one for the storybooks on how to become World Champion.
Alcohol abuse, chain smoking, a history of drug abuse and loose morals. For a man who’d spent as much time married as he was, he’d done some horrible yardage in a plethora of beds not his own. For a long time, that was probably his only cardio.
Things get brought into perspective when your own mortality is brought to light. He wasn’t an athlete, but he needed to be better than he once was if he was going to keep on going. The truth of it was that no matter how much he said otherwise, he wasn’t healthy. His body was still screaming at him, his bones ached and his muscles screamed at him for the most simple of tasks. He was thirty-six going on eighty and he didn’t have anyone but himself to blame.
So, back in the gym for the first time in who knows how long. A younger him had kept a dingy little warehouse filled with crappy gear and an even worse boxing ring to work out and train in. Something of a carry over from the few short years that he and his father had actually worked together. They never really closed the door on that pain, but the time together was as close to closure as he was going to get.
Ever since he’d opened that door in his mind, allowed himself to face the decades of grief and agony he’d been bottling up, things had been quiet. No more torture from himself, no more ghosts of a past that was screaming at him to face it. The silence had become deafening and that in itself was beginning to drive him crazy. So he had been trying to find ways to keep his mind busy. Keep it full of noise.
The emptiness of the gym had felt disturbed though. Alex could feel someone looking at him. His rhythm slowed and he came to a stop, the echo of footsteps bouncing through the empty hallowed halls of this dilapidated gym. Some things never really change. The grungier the better it seemed. Alex reached down to grab his towel, but the hairs on the back of his neck were all standing up now. He’d been on edge ever since the encounter with Harrison.
A sharp dressed man came into his purview, a tailored three piece suit, pocket square and a chain that indicated a pizzazz for an old school feeling. Pocket watches were truly something he never really understood, but this man that was making his way toward him slowly seemed to have total understanding of being a wanker.
“Not sure if you’re dressed for it, but I’m done with the bag if that is what you want.” Alex said softly as he ran the towel over his hands, wiping the starting beads of blood from them. He’d overdone it just a bit.
“No, no. I’m not here to get some hard work in, not today. No, Mr Alexander Rabenschwarz, I’m here to see you. I believe you had a run-in with some over eager colleagues of mine.” The man spoke straight as he came to a stop not too far away. He was handsome, square jawed, clean shaven. A nose that had been broken one too many times and betrayed his face with it being crooked.
American, by the sounds of the accent. That didn’t really relieve his nerves, but it wasn’t quite as blood pounding as the Irish accents of his would-be assailants. He could make a good guess of who the colleagues in question were.
“My apologies for their behaviour, though I suppose that they paid in due for it. Harrison never was one for loose ends or forgiveness. Unfortunate, really, he was a good little soldier. It pains me to think he would betray us, again.” The man spoke with just a touch of venom in his words, but he hid it with a faux smile. It reminded him of Sullivan’s Cheshire grin.
“Can’t say too many people have greeted me with a gun to the head. A maliciously aggressive approach in a gym is more my style.” Alex said as he turned to face this man front on. He was still wiping his hands, attempting to stem the flow of blood that was beginning to come from his burst knuckles.
“Oh, no, please. I come in good faith, a parley of sorts. I truly did like Harrison, did being the operative word here. He took something special from me, a sweet little girl. Saoirse, like my very own flesh and blood. I can understand his actions, he really did decide we were scum when he left us. I cannot blame him for trying to take what he feels is his own daughter.” The man dusted his knee off a little as he hitched his pant legs as he sat himself down on a nearby bench. He threw his left leg up and over his right, never breaking eye contact.
Alex shifted his weight onto his left leg and leaned a little, keeping his eyes locked with the man.
“Where are my manners, I know your name, and I have yet to introduce myself.” The man kept smiling, as he dusted his knee off again. Seemed like a compulsive tick more than an actual desire to clear any dust from it. Maybe an old injury that bothered him.
“I have a feeling I’ll learn it whether I want to or not. Thought you guys were all about keeping innocent persons out of your own little battles.” Alex said sharply, taking a few steps forward, to sit himself down on another bench nearby.
“Innocent in this context is a strange little thing. While I would love to say that I thought you were an innocent bystander in this whole affair, I just cannot bring myself to believe the truth of that. While I don’t think you truly have anything to do with the whole affair, I also know about your loyalty. Your loyalty betrays your innocence, and so, an enemy of mine you become.” He said, the smile now slipping from his face. A sharpness to him that was hidden only moments earlier.
“People aren’t property to own. Saoirse wanted away, Harrison helped her. I’m happy to see my friend with some happiness back in his life. That’s the end of it, leave us out of your little war.” Alex said sharply, the irritation in his eyes. There was a confidence in his voice that betrayed his growing anxiety.
“Ronan, is my name. Ronan O’Loughlan, tell Harrison I came to say hello. He’ll understand the gravity of his wrong doing and the gravity of his mistakes in this situation. People aren’t property, you are right. But Saoirse is not his to take. She is like my own daughter, and like all teen girls. She is merely rebelling in a way that makes sense to her right now. She’ll see clarity in time.” Ronan said quite icily, uncrossing his legs as he pushed himself back to his feet. Definitely a knee injury with how he favoured his other leg.
“Not my problem, not my business. I don’t want to see you again, Ronan. I don’t want to be involved, I don’t want my family involved. Leave me out of it.” Alex said firmly, standing up in turn, staring down the sharply dressed man.
“Unfortunately, for you to have what you want, I’ll need what I want. It has been illuminating meeting you, Mr Alexander Rabenschwarz. At the very least, you have my word that your lovely Luna shall be spared my ire. I’m not an evil man, just one with certain requirements to a deal. You tell them I came and said hello, good man.” Ronan said gently, the smile returning to his face.
A mask he had grown to wear too well it would seem. It betrayed the clear violence and anger that bubbled within him. He dusted his knee off once more, before turning on his heel and making his way out of the gym. As quickly and as quietly as he came. Alex took a deep breath in and turned around slowly.
There was a loud bang, he felt himself leave his feet involuntarily. Thrown across the floor. His ears ringing, the world around him seemingly ripped apart. Smoke and fire. Everything was coming in snapshots. Sirens in the distance.
The fucker had tried to blow him and the gym up.
“Funny how things really come full circle. It wasn’t all that long ago, I stood as World Champion, facing down the Internet champion. I stood across the ring, thinking the world was mine to have. That it all belonged to me. I stood there, across from Miles Kasey, and lost. I lost the World Heavyweight Championship, I lost my fire. I lost my confidence.”
“Miles was a deserved winner that night in Japan. Miles could have been the deserved winner on the cruise, and he definitely was just a step closer to being the best man just a few short weeks ago. Someone decided to stick their nose in my business again however. Someone decided to make themselves a thorn in my bruised side, and stick their nose where it was not wanted.”
“A draw is not the capstone I wish to put on our story. A draw is not an outcome that makes me feel like I earned that which I still hold. The simple fact of it is that to be the king, you need to beat the one sitting on the throne. I asked Miles to be better than he ever had been. I asked Miles to be the best version of himself, and he was. He was just that good, but even at his best. Even being better than he had been the day before, the week before, the month before. He still came up short.”
“I could put asterisks on it all. That my mind still struggles with the path that I’ve put myself on. That once upon a time, there would be no hesitation in taking the easy path. That once I wouldn’t have wavered to pull the trigger and ensure that I took the win by any means. I could put that on the situation, but I won’t. The truth is, I am still struggling, but that is not why it came down to the wire. No, it came down to the wire because Miles was just that good.”
“I’ve got some things to say. I’ve got plenty to address in regards to that man. To Brandon Hendrix. Torturous as it is, the man seems to think that he belongs in the spot that Miles holds. That Carter holds. That men like Finn Whelan, Fenris, Alex Jones, Austin James Mercer hold. Brandon, I respect what you’re trying to do. I respect the path you are walking because I walked it for two fucking decades.”
“But you’re not endearing yourself to me. You’re just continuing to put yourself in a spot that you truly aren’t ready for. I may be a little less erratic. A little less violent than I once was. What you need to ask yourself Brandon, is do you really want to be the reason that I go backwards? Do you really want to be the man who makes me want to be that guy again? I don’t think you do. I really don’t think you’re thinking about what exists at the end of the path you’re treading.”
“It's not about you though, is it? No, this time, it is about Ryan Keys. I can respect the journey that you are taking Ryan. I’ve made the claims for a long time that I was the most important Internet Champion this company had seen in years. I stand by that claim, even now. Despite my shortcomings against Miles back in Japan. Despite my shortcomings against Kevin Carter. I have made a career out of making that Internet Championship the most important thing in the world.”
“In a small twist of fate, you’d at least be familiar with a man that I hold as one of the most important victories of my career. As Internet Champion, I made a point about elevating it. About making it just as important as what I now hold. I challenged the likes of Austin James Mercer, Ken Davison and the aforementioned man, Fenris. I didn’t beat Fenris through raw strength. I didn’t beat Fenris through out wrestling him, or by being smarter. I beat Fenris by doing just the right thing, just when it mattered most. A twist of the shoulders, the slightest of elevations, and his shoulders were counted down.”
“That match means a lot to me, because it showed even when the world is against me. Even when I think I’m far out of my depth, I can still win. I can still be the man who has just the right amount of ring understanding to play to my strengths when I need it most. This is something that has played out over and over. I won the world championship, by a breath. By being smarter enough for just three seconds, to take advantage of the situation. I drew with Miles in our recent encounter, because even in the depths of it all, I had enough wherewithal. I had enough of a spark left to ensure that my shoulders weren’t the only ones pinned.”
“There’s an irony in it all right now. Twenty years of tapes won’t help you. The knowledge that Aron Baltasarsson has on me, is just not quite as useful as it would have been only months ago. I might be trying to be a better man, but there are some things that do not change, Ryan. I am the measuring stick right now, and truthfully, I’ve been that since I stepped between the ropes here in Sin City.”
“People have spent years talking me down, but only because they were trying to play my game and beat me at it. Confidence is a strange little motivator, because confidence leads to thoughts that we believe to be true. I believed myself indestructible. I believed the world against me. I believed that I deserved to be World Champion, not that I needed to earn it.”
“I did need to earn it, Ryan. I have earned it. I have earned the right to stand here as the World's Champion and stare down the barrel of whoever is across the ring and ask them to step up. It is a simple request but a poignant one. You need to be better than you have ever been if you’re going to step into that ring with me. You can’t have doubts, you can’t think about what I may or may not do. You need to be focused, you need to be set.”
“Doubt or otherwise, I am the best that there is right now. I have been one of the best for years, and I have earned my way to being on top. You hold something that I see as more important than anything else I have ever done. Multiple World championships, multiple journeys to the top with ever growing resentment building as I built my legacy upon bloodied bones and shallow graves. In flames of rebirth, under the watchful eyes of all those who bayed for more violence.”
“Simply said, you don’t get to be known as a violent offender without having an ability to back it up. You don’t get to be seen as a ring general, unless the people that lock up with you can feel you thinking five moves ahead at every moment. You don’t get to be World Champion five times over, without proving you are better than every other person that has come before you. I’ve done my yards, and I’ll keep on doing them. All I ask is that you be better on the night, than you have ever been.”
“You need to take this seriously Ryan, because you hold something that I love. The Internet Championship was truly my vindication. It was through my reign that I felt like I had finally found myself. It is in my wars to try and take it back, that I have seen where I needed to be better. To be stronger, to be smarter. To be in the depths of it all, fading out of consciousness and instinctually know what is needed to be the winner. It doesn’t matter if it is a nothing match in the middle of a nothing show, in a nothing town in front of nobody. It doesn’t matter if it is the main event of the biggest show of the year, in front of a crowd larger than you have ever stood in front of.”
“Shut it all out. Shut out the noise, shut out the people. Shut it all out and focus. See what is in front of you and know that if you cannot, if you fail to be entirely present. I might not hurt you, but I sure as hell will walk all over you. Don’t mistake my kindness for complacency. Don’t mistake my renewed mentality and focus as a weakness. I respect what you’ve done, what you do and everything I expect you to go on to do. I want you to treat this like it is the most important match of your career.”
“I want you to think this is the main event of Violent Conduct, or High Stakes, or any other major event that tickles your fancy. I don’t want you to think of this as an exhibition match between two champions without risk. I need you to see this as the highest of stakes. That a loss means the loss of that Internet Championship. A loss means that when it comes time, you won’t even be in the conversation for who is next to challenge Alexander Raven. I want you to beat me, Ryan.”
“I just don’t know if you can.”
“That might be hard to hear. That probably boils your blood. It is going to upset people that I could say such a thing, but sometimes the truth hurts. The truth is that I don’t think you can focus. I don’t think you can shut it all out. I don’t think you can do any of it, because if you could, it wouldn’t be Brandon Hendrix waiting at the end of this path. It wouldn’t be Miles who I was expecting to be back in my purview.”
“It would be you, Ryan. You wouldn’t just be holding that which I held so dear, and with such pride. You’d be elevating it. You’d be raising the stakes to bring it to the next level, and showing everyone around you that you are the next one in line. I want you to beat me Ryan, I just don’t think you can.”
“Don’t mistake my kindness for something less than I once was. I’m not the World’s Champion for no reason, Ryan. I’m not the World’s Champion because I was the only one left. I’m World’s Champion because I’ve spent two decades getting to this point. To be on the latter end of my 30’s and be seen world over as one of the best to ever do this.”
“Don’t listen to the likes of Brandon Hendrix who’ll tell you I have lost the drive. I’m more focused than I have ever been. I’ve got more desire than I have ever had. I may be the quiet one, I may be the one that lets others have their time in the sun. But I am the one that matters at the end of the day, and you need to understand that. You need to realise that.”
“I’m not just any other man you’re stepping in the ring with. If you can’t keep up, can’t keep pace. If you can’t keep focus, and you can’t make every person sitting in that crowd think you can win, then I have to ask the poignant question. Do you actually deserve this? There’s hundreds of others who would do anything to even have a chance to be in the ring with me, at this moment, at this time. So you need to prove you can do it.”
“I’ll look forward to Sunday, Ryan. I hope you can prove me wrong, but truthfully. You’re just not ready for it.”
“Prove me wrong and be better than you have ever been.”