SUMMARY

SETTING: DATES - FEBRUARY 24, 2023 - FEBRUARY 25, 2023 ; ZURICH, SWITZERLAND//HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

DATE: FEBRUARY 24, 2023, TIME: 13:15 CET ; ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

SIMON HIU
My time to catch up with Scooper and spend more time with him was cut a bit short. He got a message from his promoter that he has to head out, so I saw it as my time to head out of Zurich as well. I feel a pit in my stomach, as I know what I have to do, where I have to go next. I realized after reuniting with Tua I could have said something before I decided to go to China, but I didn't. After taking a deep breath and pacing around my hotel room for a few, I decide to book the next flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where, if my memory from three years ago served me correctly, is where Zay lives. I hop onto my phone, open the app, and see that the earliest flight is for 16:00 CET, with only one stop before making it to Halifax, making this an 11 hour flight. Perfect. I book the flight and with some time to kill, I just try to take it slow, pack my stuff, and head to the local park to get some fresh air in before having to hop on the plane.

TIME: 15:30 CET

SIMON HIU
I make my way to the airport and not a moment too soon. I begin checking in and get myself some food for a late lunch so I wouldn't get hungry later. After, I sit myself down and dig in before I hear the frequent chimes and pings of flights getting ready to take off, flights getting ready to open their gates... I finish my food, toss the box, and begin pacing around near the gates of my plane. Sooner or later, the clock hits 15:45 and the gates open, so I rush over to check myself in through there. Not a moment too soon, the clock hits 16:00, and the plane begins to take off. I can't shake the nerves and other uneasy feelings I have, I don't know what it is, so I decide to try to meditate. Around fifteen minutes in, I fall into a deep sleep.

A flash of light. A fogginess. Feet feeling autumn leaves. Running. Being chased. Figures in cloaks. Screaming. Echoing. Red. Shivering. A flash of light.

TIME: 17:30 CET//16:30 GMT ; HEATHROW AIRPORT, UNITED KINGDOM

SIMON HIU
The plane lands at its first stop and my eyes snap awake, hearing the staff say that we will be here for another 2 hours. I can't stop shivering and sweating. At this time, we're allowed to leave the plane, but just be sure we return 15 minutes before departure time. I take the opportunity to try to walk my uneasiness off.

TIME: 18:15 GMT

SIMON HIU
I head back to the plane and to my seat. I still can't shake these feelings. This strange nightmare I've had only made it worse. Soon enough, the plane gets ready for take off again, so I try to meditate again, which fades into sleep ten minutes in.

A flash of light. A blurriness. Feet feeling snow. Running. Being chased. Figures in cloaks. Screaming. Echoing. Blue. Shivering. A flash of light.

SEVEN HOURS LATER - TIME: 01:30 GMT//21:30 AST ; HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

SIMON HIU
What felt like the longest and shortest flight ever has now brought me to where I need to be. My eyes snap awake again and we've reached the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. I had the same nightmare, but it was as if the only difference was a season shift. With it being night-time here, I find a hotel and check myself in. Suddenly, it's as if I can't feel anything, like I don't feel connected to anything. I feel out-of-sorts, agitated. I'm hoping that finally sleeping in a bed will soothe me a bit.

A flash of light. A fogginess. Feet feeling autumn leaves. Running. Being chased. Figures in cloaks. Screaming. Echoing. Red. Shivering. A blurriness. Feet feeling snow. Running. Being chased. Figures in cloaks. Crying. Whimpering. Blue. Shivering. A flash of light.

DATE: FEBRUARY 25, 2023 ; TIME: 07:15 AM AST

SIMON HIU
I gasp myself awake in a cold sweat. I slept through the night, but it was not a restful slumber. I feel more out of sorts and more disconnected than ever. I don't know what's happening. I just try to relax my body with some Tai Chi forms before getting dressed and heading down to the hotel lobby for breakfast.

TIME: 10:15 AM AST

SIMON HIU
After breakfast, I had explored the city a little bit. When the clock hit 10:15 AM, I figured Zay must be awake by now. From three years ago, I still remember which roads to take to his place. I spent a lot of the Summer of 2019 there, so I begin to hike there, hoping that just walking the distance will help ease my erratic nerves. In about 45 minutes, I'm able to make it to Zay's place.

TIME: 11:00 AM AST

SIMON HIU
I nervously approach your front door. With hesitation and shaking hands, I knock three times and see you casually open the door. Unsure of who I am at first, you go to close the door, but I try to stop you "Hey, uh, don't close the door, my name is Simon, but you knew me as--".

ZAY RYCERZ
I just finished my morning fencing practice for the day when i hear knocking on the door. "Weird i wasn't expecting anyone" so i go to the door and open it to see you standing there and I'm so mad and angry that i know who you are and i try to slam the door shut but you stop me and try to explain that i known you as someone else "Why are you here now Jackson! Your 3 years too late! Now what do you want cause I'm busy not like you would know any of that." As i look at you heated and enraged cause not a single text or message to check in with me and it felt like everything we did together was nothing and you were just toying with me.

SIMON HIU
"Zay, please don't turn away. I know I have a lot to explain, so please, hear me out," I say trying to keep calm. "Look, I'm so sorry we fell out of touch, but after we bumped into each other in Paris, so much happened. Mysteries. You are one of the few that knows my situation more than anyone. You knew I had to get to the bottom of whatever was causing these mysteries. So please, don't turn away," I say and I begin to explain everything that happened in Paris after you left, and everything that happened after. From the second run-in with Havoc to having a mystical surge in Dusseldorf, where I went after my training in Berlin, going to the monastery in China, the mystical forces that surround and protect the monastery, how it cut me off from being able to contact anyone. "Look, I'm sorry bro, but so much has happened... for the both of us," I say averting my gaze from you.

ZAY RYCERZ
"Start explaining then!" As I'm so pissed at you but i want answers and i want them now. "Wow can't even look me in the eyes, what a coward you turned out to be" tapping my foot on my doorstep with crossed arms hearing your explanation. "The moment you could of text or message you didn't and kept me in the dark! How do you think i feel you could have died or something and i would have never known, some friend you turned out to be" as i turn away and try to slam the door shut in a fury of rage.

SIMON HIU
I hold out my left arm to keep the door open. "I realize that now, but at that time three years ago, my headspace wasn't there. I was broken! I'm sorry I didn't send out a message, but too much happened all at once." I see you stop from walking away as I keep myself on the door. "...Can you find some way to forgive me? I had no intention to cut people off, to drop contact, it was circumstances and I wasn't thinking clearly!" I look up at you now as you stand with your back facing me.

ZAY RYCERZ
I turn and face you with a annoyed and pissed off expression "i don't think i can, headspace or not if you actually cared about me you would of sent a message seeing how i was doing but you didn't so no i can't forgive you."

SIMON HIU
I shift my throat, tears forming in my eyes. I close my eyes and begin to back up a bit. Suddenly, my head shoots up as you're turning away. "Fight me for it! 5:00 PM tonight. If I can beat you, then you have to work with me, understand me, and let these old wounds heal," I beckon to you.

ZAY RYCERZ
"Really? Your still want to fight me after all of this? Fine! But i won't be the one losing, we'll do it at Huskies Stadium tonight then unless you want to run away like the coward you are" as i can't shake this anger i feel, like it's a raging inferno inside me.

SIMON HIU
"Fine. Tonight in the Huskies Stadium. 5:00 PM," I say repeating the final details. "I'll be there... I just.. I just wish it didn't have to come to this." I say with a slight sadness, and then as I turn to leave your place, I close your door behind me and begin walking back to my hotel. As soon as I am out of your sight, I begin picking up the pace to jog back. As I run, I let out some final tears before getting back to the hotel. Once I get back to the hotel, I begin packing a sling bag with my gear, water, and first aid kit. I practice a few more martial arts forms in my hotel room as the time passes. The confrontation took a lot out of me, so I decide to just take a vitamin supplement and skip a meal again. I continue warming myself up for the big match tonight.

TIME: 4:30 PM AST

SIMON HIU
It's about a half hour before the match, and it's a good thing the hotel is nearby. I take the sling bag I packed and begin making my way to the stadium. As I near the stadium, I see it is usually used for stuff like hockey or football, but there's a roof and wrestling ring setup in the center tonight. I take a deep breath and head to the entrance that leads to the locker room. I see that I get there just a little bit before you, so I already begin changing into my gear for tonight:

After I finish changing, I take a swig of water from the bottle in my bag, and then I head over to put in the details for the match.

ZAY RYCERZ
I start to think to myself as i pack my gear bag for this match "why! Why return back now of all times, what happened between us since Paris and my trip to Japan" then i just about finish packing my gear, my water bottle, and just when i was about to zipper it up i hear something fall and i look down and it was my necklace i always wear and then thinking about us "oh Jackson..... What happened between us we used to be friends; more than that brothers" but i stop myself thinking more about it and then run to my car and then driving to Huskies Stadium, and then walk into the locker room which you made it first and that anger and betrayal i felt came back and i don't even look at you as i get ready and do some stretches before changing into my gear, being my sapphire blue tights and black boots as i put my necklace on and grip it tight thinking to myself.

SIMON HIU
I see you enter and avert your gaze from me. I look down and bite my top lip. I go to a far side and let you go put in your details for the match.

TIME: 4:55 PM AST

SIMON HIU
We both hear a loud chime over the speakers, indicating it's time for us to get ready. You're first to be announced to the ring. We can't manage to look at each other or say anything at this time as you line up at the doors that lead to the ring.

ZAY RYCERZ
I walk to the doors for my announcement then i hear then call me out over the PA Speakers:

Introducing first, the master of strategy, the awakened tactician himself Zay!

Then i hear my song turn on, War by Jeff Williams, as I walk out and wave to everyone and take a bow before i jump onto the apron and then onto the top rope and jump off it into a spin and land in the center of the ring like a spy and the crowd is cheering out as i make it to my corner.

SIMON HIU
I take a deep breath and walk up to the doors as I hear a second chime. The crowd goes wild for you as you make your entrance. I can't help but smile a bit, but soon, the lights dim down again as you go to your corner. I hear my music fade in Where We Rise by Neoni.

AND INTRODUCING HIS OPPONENT, FOR THE FIRST GRUDGE MATCH HELD IN HUSKIES STADIUM, COMING IN FROM NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, AT 5'8" WEIGHING IN AT 167 LBS, THE GUARDIAN, SIMON HIU!

I walk out and take a pause, getting into the martial arts greeting position.

SIMON HIU
I make a slight bow and then try to walk as calmly as I can to the ring, the lights bouncing off from my white gear here and there. As I get to the ring, I hop up onto the canvas and open the top ropes to step through to the center. We meet each other at the center, staring down at each other while the ref explains the rules: A first to ten count, Last Man Standing Grudge Match. The ref has us shake hands, which I hold mine out to you and see you reluctantly do the same. After we are dismissed to our corners and wait for the bell to ring.

SIMON HIU
The bell rings and we depart our corners, circling each other very carefully, watching each other, waiting to see who will make the first move.

ZAY RYCERZ
I start to focus up while in the back of my head thinking "why Jackson why did you have to return like this" but i shake it off and study your movement and decide to make the first move as i cartwheel to your right and then swing my right leg to your side as hard as i can and then grab your trunks and suplex you over me.

SIMON HIU
I see you go in with some acrobatics. You cartwheel to my right and I shift my steps so my front continues to face you. You swing your right leg leg to my left side and I go to dodge it, but you use the momentum to continue advancing and then you grab my trunks from behind and suplex me over you . I land near your starting corner and I roll up into a three point stance before getting up, trying to circle you again waiting for the right moment to strike, a focused look in my eyes.

ZAY RYCERZ
"I'm not the same person you knew anymore Jackson" as i grab your right arm and shoulder tackle you into the ropes as you bounce off of them i jump and grab you in a hurricanrana.

SIMON HIU
I clench my jaw and you continue your offense. You're a lot faster than you were three years ago. You go to grab my right arm and then tackle me into the ropes, connecting the momentum from that to trap me and take me down in a hurricanrana "UGHHH!!" I let out as I'm flipped onto the ground. I quickly roll back away from you and onto my feet again. "I can see that," I say under my breath and as I begin to circle you again, you continue your advancing offense.

ZAY RYCERZ
I continue the offense and rush at you and elbow your gut and then spin and kick your gut again and then grab your trunks and snap suplex you this time "haha looks like your training only made you weaker Jackson 3 years of absolutely nothing and nothing to show to it, this will be over in a flash haha."

SIMON HIU
You come forward and elbow me in the gut, continuing with a back kick to my gut again, targeting the area. As I stumble back you come up and snap suplex me. "URRRGHHH!" I hit the canvas hard and roll and my back bumps a corner. I hear you taunt me. I'm breathing hard now, but not from exhaustion, from a boiling anger. You minimize my training, and beyond that, knowing you didn't fully understand the complexities of my journey, it's like you invalidate that too. I slowly rise up, glaring at you as you take a premature victory lap around the ring, and I rush at you. As you feel the canvas shake you turn around and I meet your face with a counterclockwise roundhouse kick to your face before continuing to get behind you to perform a counterclockwise low rear sweeping kick to really get you off your feet and on your back.

ZAY RYCERZ
I think to myself "he was gone 3 years and this training he took really didn't do anything to help him" as i know i have this in checkmate you charge at me i turn and face you and you nail me with a roundhouse kick to my face which makes me stumble over to my right a bit, and as i shake the cobwebs out you sweep my legs from under me knocking me to the mat which makes me more angry at you cause you won't just stay down and admit you've lost to me.

SIMON HIU
"YOU REALLY THINK I'VE LEARNED NOTHING?!" I shout with a boiling growl. I reach down and pull you up by your arms and make one full revolution with you before completing this amped up version of an irish whip to fake you out into thinking I'll whip you to the opposite corner, but I cling onto your left wrist. I whip you back into me, send an uppercut straight into your solar plexus, then as you double over I leap up a bit to send a knee to your face.

ZAY RYCERZ
"I do think you've learned nothing Jackson!" As you pull me up into what i think is a irish whip but you change it into a uppercut and then knee my face which make me even more mad "ugh! Argh! That all you got?"

SIMON HIU
I see the knee destabilize you and you're down on all fours. You still haven't acknowledged what I went through or even my new identity. As you're still vulnerable, I take your head in my right hand, picking you up. I send precision-strike, a middle knuckle uppercut, aimed right through your solar plexus again and lead that into a backflip kick right for your chin.

ZAY RYCERZ
"Ugh! " As you pull me up and then uppercut me again and then backflip kick my chin knocking me to a knee "nothing i haven't handled before" as i start to stand up rubbing my chin.

SIMON HIU
As you start to get up, I back up a bit and get into a dragon stance.

"Even after I explained to you everything, you still know NOTHING of what I went through." I say with a cold anger. From there as I see you fully stand up, I charge at you and send an uppercut with my right hand across the left side of your face, then a strong diagonal left hook down the right side of your face, before spinning counterclockwise to land a strong heel kick across your face from your left, hitting you harder than ever before.

ZAY RYCERZ
"Ugh! You know nothing of the hell i went through cause of you!" As i step back cause of your uppercut and heel kick but i spin and do a heel kick myself at the hardest i can back at you across the right side of your face.

SIMON HIU
"UGHHHH!!" I let out as you return my heel kick with your own. I breath out heavy as I fall to one knee, and I see you also falling to a knee too. All of a sudden, we both fall face down on the canvas. The ref begins counting.

REFEREE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
RING THE BELL, RING IT!

SIMON HIU
We're both knocked out and the bell rings.

TO BE CONTINUED

Published: 2023-02-26, viewed 29 times.