The sun shone brightly overhead in the cloudless sky. Beneath it, a surprisingly well kept lake. A cool breeze blew off of that water, helping out with the totally hotter than hell weather that was going around. 

Ricky Rodriguez, the usually energetic and hyper active young man was actually anything but this time around. The bouncy ball of a man actually sat still, relaxing back in his chair at the end of a dock, holding his fishing pool. His eyes half closed, clearly as high as a kite, Ricky sat completely still, almost melted into that chair.

The weather was totally agreeable for once and Ricky dressed just for that. A pair of khaki colored cargo shorts hung securely from his waist, keeping his upper body bare. Ricky kept his half closed eyes focused in on the tip of that fishing pole as he began to speak in a slightly hushed tone.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘I remember..growin up..my dad fuckin loved fishin. And I mean, I wasn't the biggest fan of it, nottabit at all..still ain't really. But I still went with him every single weekend. Up before the sun even. And sure, sometimes..it sucked. Like..it’d be fuckin rainin or really cold. But, I wouldn't have traded it for nothin. 

The main he taught me bout all this tho? Patience. You hafta be able to bide your time..bein alottabit patient..and then when the time was right? You strike!’

Ricky jerked that pole back as he began to reel it in. He pulled that decently sized fish up, pulling the hook from its mouth and dropping it into his bucket of water with the others. He set the pole down onto the dock. Ricky looked down into his bucket, a look of pride growing across his face as he was clearly pleased with the number he caught.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘That’s more than just a fishin thing tho. It goes for life as a whole but more specifically? It goes for wrestlin.

For those of you who don't know, my name is Ricky Rodriguez. You can find me absolutely tearin it allll the way down in spots like Valiant, Zion, MWCW, the Deathwish Academy, Empire Wrestlin. I am all over the place~. Not just that tho, I'm the Valiant Chaos Champion and Empire’s Spartan Champion.

Every so often, I like to drift away, see what I can do by branchin out into different pools and shit like that. Which is why I'm grateful for this opportunity. It is an absolute honor to be able to have a match on this show. First and foremost, I swear I'm going to leave everythin out there. I'll hold nothin back. And you'll see the best Ricky Rodriguez there is.’

That hint of determination was heard clearly as he spoke.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘It's an Elimination Match. Triple Threat. And it's against John Black..and Serena Riot. John..I’ll get to in a minute. But Serena? That's..a whole fuckin story by itself.

There's few people in life that know me as well as Serena..and there's just as few people I know as well as I do her. She's been my employer. My opponent. My trainer. My friend. And it looks like we're revisitin that whole opponent thing.’

Ricky laughed as he took a hit off of his pen.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘But Serena..you gottalottabit more goin on than I do right now. I mean..you’re gonna have that lilextra pep in your step, still feelin it from that loss against Lemon chick. And that's okay, comin up on someone with that extra motivation..that extra desire to succeed? That's the kinda opponent I want.

But at the same..there’s somethin else.’

He sighed softly, his expression dropping a bit.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘You ain't comin in with the clear head. And don't even tryta bullshit me. Comin into a separation damn near right before a match like this..your head ain't gonna be right. It's easy..to say you won't let it get in your head. It's easy..to act like you won't let it get in your head. 

But I know you. You feel so strongly, in general. This is somethin that's gonna weigh heavy on your head and heart both. And that's not a bad thing. You're human. Shit just works like that sometimes, y’know? I've been there..not on that high of a level..but I know how much it fuckin sucks.

And y’know the worst part of it? It ain't even gonna give no damn advantage.’ 

Ricky laughed out, his almost childlike smile lightening up the mood.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘Cause even without her head right, Serena fuckin Riot can go to levels high and above so fuckin many, it's insane. When she gets goin, she fuckin goes. 

So..I know. Ima hafta be ready. I know you're gonna push and I'm gonna hafta buckle down and push that much harder. Cause yeah, I know exactly how fuckin good you are. But at the same time? You know how good I am.

You know that, once I get goin, it's like a fuckin boulder. I'm just gonna keep comin more and more, takin everythin you got to throw at me and still not stoppin till that bell rings.

Serena, it's always alottabit intense to get in there with you. But this time, it's gonna be diff. It's been a while and I wanna show you just how much I've grown and gotten better. I wanna show you just how far I've really come.’

Slowly, Ricky got up out of his seat as he began packing his things up.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘But it's not just Serena either, nah. We got John Black too. Someone who's honestly the total opposite, to me, of Serena. Mostly speakin that I honestly don't know much of him. I don't even think he gotta Twitter so can't even check that out for dirt. But you see..I like that.

I like the unknown. The feelin of excitement as I'm bouta bullrush in, head down, and just on the attack as I'm comin up on someone that I don’t know what to expect from. This the kinda thing Elsa sung bout, baby.

Into the unknownnn~.’

Ricky sang those words, getting the last bit of his stuff up, slowly walking back down that dock.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘But seriously tho, I'm comin in blind against you, John. And sure it might be a stupid decision but let's be alottabit honest here. I make alotta them. But at the same time, I learn from them. I adapt and I thrive when I'm swingin up from the bottom.

Everythin I needta learn bout you? I'm gonna learn when that bell rings. Gettin in there and fightin, rly fuckin scrappin with someone, that’s the best way to really get to know someone like that, y’know?

And by time this match is over, John? We both gonna know each other really well.’

Ricky flashed a smirk as he began walking up a path, headed towards the place they were renting for the weekend.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘Youre gonna learn my fight. Just how far I'm willin to push myself. How much I'm willin to put my body through in order to take that win. See, this match, it's hella important least to me it is. 

I wanna do them right for givin me this chance. I wanna give those fans somethin they'll never forget somethin they'll be talkin bout for a long ass time after this match. I'm gonna take everythin you have to offer and I'm gonna give it right back to you and then some, John.’

The further he went along that path, the more he could see the rather quaint looking lake house. Coming up on it, Ricky dropped his stuff off before stretching out, groaning a bit.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘It's really important, y’know..to do stuff like this every now and again. Specially when you got the kinda schedule I got. I'm wrestlin four..five times a week sometimes and damn, I love it..but it's exhaustin sometimes. That's why you gotta get out to places like this.

To really just..reset and recharge. After a couple days here? Ima come up, refreshed and feelin like I can take on the whole ass world.’

Ricky smiled brightly.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘See, I'm comin from here straight to the show. Fully charged and feelin on the absolute top of my game. And as ready as I'm gonna be to give y'all every bit of fight you can handle, it's that crowd..

Their smilin faces. The signs they make and merch they wear. The excitement they show night in and night out, no matter what town you're in, no matter what promotion it's for. That's the most addictive part of it all for me.

Sure, gettin to test myself against some of the best in the world is always fuckin amazin, but man. Those fans? Whether they like you or they don't, that's where the real thrill is. Hearin the breath sucked right outta them as you dive through the air, movin like a human body has no reason to be movin.’

He laughed, shaking his head.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘I get fuckin goosebumps just thinkin bout it. That's why I do what I do. Why I'm always tryinta out do myself. Why I'm always showin up early and leavin late. Always signin whatever they want signed. Listenin to their stories. Hearin just how much the whole experience means to them. 

For what they do for me, I owe them that much and then some, really. This business? Those fans? I owe them everythin. They've given me the opportunity to have the life that I was only able to dream of before.

Cause of this business, I've met some of my best and most closest friends. I met some of the people that I'd do absolutely anything for. The love of my life. 

And speakin of~’

Ricky caught sight of Madilyn McNamara walking out of that house, casually dressed as she made her way up to Ricky. The two shared a brief kiss as Madi spoke up.

Madilyn McNamara: ‘Did you have fun?’

Ricky nodded, seeing the warm smile on Madi’s face.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘Alottaaabit.’

She laughed, taking his hands as she started pulling him back towards the house.

Madilyn McNamara: ‘Good, now let's get you cleaned up. You smell like fish.’

Ricky laughed out, nodding his head.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘Yeahh, I know. Then we gotta go grab a few more things for tonight.’

Madilyn McNamara: ‘Yup! Got a list and everything.’

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘Perfect, let's go.’

And with that, the two of them disappeared inside. A quick cut would take things back to that front yard. Night had fallen, high energy music played while there was a strong fire going, Ricky Rodriguez sitting near it. 

A lit joint between his fingers, Ricky took a long drag off of it. Couple moments passed and he exhaled it upwards. Ricky relaxed back in his chair to the point where he almost melted into it. His gaze drifted over to Madilyn McNamara and Selena Galante dancing with one another to that music.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘Mm..it really doesn't get better than this.’

His body slowly swayed with that music, his eyes half closed and that bright smile plastered across his face.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘I honestly can't think of a better way to spend the last night here. The last night before that big Elimination Match against Serena and John. I'm alottabit ready for this, more ready than I can even put into words.

I got that whole antsy feeling you get before you're bout to do somethin big, y’know? Cause that's totally what this is, somethin big. Honestly the outcome doesn't really matter..not in the long run. But that's how I've always been, y’know? And sure, some people see it as a bad thing but it's totally not.

Goin out there and showin the world the very best me I can be. Givin those fans a reason to get up outta their chairs and scream at the tops of their lungs. That’s what's important to me, y’know? Everythin else is second place, at best.’

Ricky tapped the ash off of that joint, continuing on.

Ricky Rodriguez: ‘But don't think that means I'm not comin to win. I love Serena and hopefully John isn't a shitbag. But I ain't gonna hesitate takin either one of their heads off when it comes down to it. It wouldn't be deservin of either one of them to take it easy on them.

That's where alotta people get it wrong. They see how I act, how I talk, and they think I ain't givin it every damn thing I got in me. That couldn't be further from the truth. Winnin is fuckin awesome. Second best feelin I can think of.

And that's exactly what Ima try to do. It's simple really, it's either gonna work or it isn't. But I'm gonna have the best fuckin time possible doin it.

Ain't really much left to say so Ima leave it with this. Serena Riot, John Black. I'm bringin everythin I got in me. I know..I hope you two do the same. I'll see y'all out there and most importantly? We bouta do the whole damn thing.’

Ricky grinned brightly as he took in the last hit off of that joint. He snuffed it out, setting the roach off to the side. He got up out of his chair and walked towards the two while dancing to that music, the scene slowly fading out.[/b]