RISE OR FALL, NICK?

ROLEPLAY: #01
NEXT MATCH: vs 'Sick' Nick Mondo
EVENT: Barely Legal
WINS 0 || LOSES: 0 || DRAWS: 0
ECW ACCOLADES:
SIGNED

The camera opens in a decrepit skate park, its cracked concrete echoing faint whispers of a forgotten past. Graffiti sprawled across the walls tells stories of hopelessness and rebellion, while broken skateboards litter the ground like discarded dreams. Lucien Kross stands at the base of a rusted halfpipe, his silhouette framed by the dim, fading sunlight in the shot. He’s cladded in a long, dark trench coat, his round sunglasses reflecting the desolate surroundings. Lilith leans against a crumbling wall nearby, her presence ethereal yet commanding in a dark lace outfit. Her piercing eyes never leave the lens as Kross begins to speak. His voice is smooth, and deliberate, with a faint hint of pity.

LUCIEN KROSS "Nick, this place, it reeks of desperation. A shrine to dreams flimsy founded on chaos, built by those who wanted so badly to matter. They broke themselves, over and over, hoping that someone – anyone – would give them mercy and see them. Sound familiar?"

He steps forward, his boots crunching against broken glass. The camera cuts harshly as it zooms in, his tone dropping lower as if he were relaying a dark secret. As Lucien speaks, footage of Mondo’s highlights plays giving background to Kross’s message.

LUCIEN KROSS "You call yourself 'sick,' like a badge of honor. But let’s not lie to ourselves. Not anymore. You weren’t achieving glory. You were running. From the silence. From when Nick Mondo was just a plain guy in Pennsylvania rolling around a ring. Most importantly, running from the truth. From the question that keeps you awake at night: ‘Did any of it mean anything?’"

Lilith pushes off the wall gracefully with ease, her voice is soft, almost comforting, like a serpent offering solace as a grayscale tint begins wrapping over the footage. The gray overlay mixes with color at the high points of the message.

LILITH "Poor Nick. They all told you that the pain would make you matter. Every cut, every broken bone, every fall from the heavens would write your name on the stars above the gods. And you believed them, didn’t you? You sacrificed your body, your soul, for fleeting applause."

She smiles faintly, tilting her head with mock sympathy.

LILITH "But what happens when the applause stops, Nick? When the echoes of those cheers fade into the everlasting silence? When no one remembers or appreciates who you were. What happens when the lights go out, and you’re left alone with nothing but the battle against that ghost of who you used to be?"

Her gaze sharpens, her voice taking on a sinister edge.

LILITH "They don’t care about you. They never did. They cared only about one thing. They cared about the spectacle. About the blood. About the rise to watch you fall. But you? You were just the puppet, the marionette, dancing eternally for their amusement. That is until your body broke one last time."

Lucien speaks up again as it cuts from static no longer showing Mondo’s highlights. His voice grows quieter, pulling the listener in, every word deliberately chosen to clarify his message.

LUCIEN KROSS "Now, you stand thinking you’ve done it all. That you’ve seen the edge of chaos and survived to return. But you and I know, survival isn’t living. It’s clinging desperately. And you’ve been clinging so hard to a past that doesn’t care if you let go and decay in the abyss below. But I care."

He removes his sunglasses, his piercing eyes locking onto the camera. His expression is calm and inviting.

LUCIEN KROSS "There’s another way, Nick. You don’t have to keep pretending. You don’t have to keep destroying yourself to prove you exist. All you must do is stop climbing back up. It is time to release your tightly gripped fingers around the hope. Let go. Let go of the noise. Let go of the lies they fed you. Let go and fall into that abyss below willingly. Fall into the battleground for actual truth and let that be your fight at Barely Legal."

Lilith moves beside him, her voice seductive and persuasive, as she wraps her arms around Kross’s shoulders and chest.

LILITH "You’ve always wanted to be more, haven’t you, Nick? More than just the bloodied man falling from the scaffolds. More than the decaying corpse thrown 40 feet. You want to be more than the ‘sick’ little legend. You want purpose. Meaning. You want freedom that achieves the glory and recognition you starve for, so you can finally exist with pride."

Her smirk grows wider, her tone softening as she’s offering unforeseen salvation.

LILITH "We offer this all to you! All you must do is trust us. Stop running. Stop rising for their lies. Fall into the abyss, and we’ll show you what freedom feels like. No more pain. No more noise. Just every moment with a clarity you have never experienced."

Lucien Kross takes a step closer, leaning toward the camera, his expression warm and inviting. The camera again begins to cut as Nick Mondo's footage plays but now edits in and out with full cigarette burns and Mondo often getting hurt.

LUCIEN KROSS "But if you’re not ready, I will not judge that weakness. If you’d rather whiten your knuckles to cling to the chaos, the endless pain, the emptiness of your long-forgotten applause – then rise one more time at Barely Legal, Nick. Rise one last time, only to be dropped neck-first to the lies you would not relent. Let your blood be what fuels the people that night. Because I am not a Saint of lies. If you choose this, you will still help our message, and I will help you find meaning from my sincerity. You would become a martyr for a cause that matters. You would be the lasting head on the spike representing lies and deceit, and I would give you that gracefully. So, you can rise… and pray that you survive the landing."

His voice sharpens again, cutting through the stillness like a blade, as the footage of Mondo stops.

LUCIEN KROSS "Tick tock, Nick. Time is running out with each passing moment. But this isn’t just heading full throttle to your moment of truth – it is the first step for everyone’s awakening. You always had this choice, Nick. But you have spent so long through your career running from it. At Barely Legal, there isn’t anywhere left to run. Will you rise again for their lies, or fall into freedom? Either way, the abyss below will claim you. And when it does, the world will finally understand what it means to stand against the Forsaken Saint. The messenger of the silence."

Lilith laughs softly, almost musical in rhythm, but carries a sinister undercurrent. She brushes a hand through her hair, her tone dripping with venom.

LILITH "Let’s see, Nick! Will you fall achieving grace, or must we drag you to the edge? Tick-tock!"

Lucien and Lilith exchange a glance – his calm and foreboding, hers cold and knowing – before turning and walking up the halfpipe. The camera lingers on the graffiti-covered wall behind them, where the words “FALL AND BE FREE” are painted in bold, jagged letters. The screen turns static.