Contest of Cousins - Prologue RyanCarrWeber

(Will and Luke had grown up fighting each other, just as their fathers had. The sibling rivalry of their fathers, however, which was rarely nice and frequently painful, did not pass to the cousins along with the pleasure taken in wrestling. Will rarely won against his year-older, more muscular (by 40 pounds) cousin, though occasionally he got lucky or Luke gave in more easily than he would have for someone who wasn't family. When TW opened, Luke heard about it a few weeks late from several of his friends, mainly juniors at the high school, and the cousins decided to join, though they knew they'd be sorted into different weight classes. Neither had much experience wrestling with any type of formality, so they decided that their best debut would be against each other. The lightweight division manager asked Will if he was sure, but the teens were unshakable in their resolve to fight each other, so the match was signed.

Will had heard of Chaz's match at the first event against his older brother Frank, and that the younger teen had managed to go toe-to-toe with the middleweight. He hoped he'd be able to do the same, and at least offer his more athletic cousin a challenge in the ring.

The week between challenge and match approached quickly, and the two waited nervously in the changing area, standing together before being announced. Will was announced first, and before he entered, the cousins embraced, slapping each other on their bare backs as men do. The announcer was done listing Will's stats of 5'9" and 145 pounds by the time the lightweight walked down the aisle and got into the ring.

As the announcer politely waited for Will to recieve his share of welcome, Chaz, who knew nothing of the cousins except through Frank, who was a friend of the older one, approached Luke. The first he had seen of either of them was their embrace as he entered the arena for the day, and he snidely remarked to Luke without knowing who he was, "have fun beating up on your boyfriend." Luke was going to beat Chaz to pieces when Frank entered and walked over to the two of them, greeting Luke and introducing his little brother; the older cousin bit his tongue till after the match.

"And his opponent," began the announcer as Luke started walking to the ring, "standing five feet, eleven inches, and weighing in at 183 pounds, Luke!" The middleweight walked to the ring and entered as a hundred thoughts swirled around his head. 'what if i'm thought soft cause he's my cousin - or what if people think i'm soft on him because they think he's my boyfriend?' Luke was mad, more at the situation than anything, but as he entered, he couldn't help but glower at his smiling cousin.

The ref checked each for weapons, and the bell rang.

  The cousins approached, and in leiu of a lock-up, an angry Luke took control with a kick up into his younger relative's gut. Will caught it just in time, flexing his abs to divert most of the pain, and as he doubled over, he speared Luke, driving the older boy into the ropes. The ref called for a break from Will, and he gave a clean one, but Luke took advantage with a clothesline which took the lightweight by surprise. Will's back connected hard with the mat, and he was slow enough getting up that Luke was able to pull him most of the way against his volition and toss him into the ropes. Rebounding, Will had the where-withal to duck an attempted clothesline, but when he tried the same on his cousin, Luke tripped him to the mat, and twisted his leg up behind him. Luke's calf was in the crook of Will's right knee as he bent the boy's leg, painfully stretching the joint. As Will grimaced quietly in pain, Luke maneuvered his cousin's leg so that his foot rested in the older boy's crotch, and Luke used his free hands to reach forward and grasp Will's chin, pulling him back into a partial camel clutch. Now Will's cries were audible as he wailed in the pain of the combo hold. The ref asked immediately whether he gave, and Will wanted to, but felt he could hold on. So he shook his head as much as he could in refusal of a submission. Luke only persisted, though, pulling harder to stretch his cousin's back with a ferocity he had never displayed in either of their backyards. He was thinking to himself, "would I ever do THIS to a lover?" and jerking back on Will's head with each furious word. When usually-gentle Luke finally let go, shortly before Will would have submitted, the lightweight contracted into a ball on the mat. Luke pushed all pity from his mind as he decided what next to do to finish off his cousin.

Frank and Chaz walked out of the changing area to watch the match, and their presence hurried Luke's decision to continue. He pulled a much-weakened Will to his feet and threw him at the corner. The boy hit with such impact that he bounced back out and fell face-first on the mat, but Luke soon corrected that. He pressed Will into the corner, and bent over, pulling himself by the middle rope shoulder-first into his cousin's gut. Will tried flexing his abs again, but as Luke drove his shoulder in again and again, to a total of six blows, he lost the defense and pain took over. Luke picked Will up cross-body, and power-slammed him in the center of the canvas. He sat on his beaten cousin's chest, holding his head with one hand as with the other he pounded the kid's forehead. The ref counted the blows, and after seven Luke let up lest he be disqualified. The ref wanted to start the match right then, but saw that the younger cousin was trying to get up despite the beating he'd taken, and took this as a sign that he was still in the fight. Luke saw it too, and pulle Will the rest of the way to his feet. A slam was followed by a succession of stomps, and then a powerbomb laid the kid out for what had long been his older cousin's painful finisher. Luke ascended to the top turnbuckle, and with more force than ever, he smashed down accross his cousin's chest with a vertical splash, landing sitting on Will's already aching chest. Luke just sat there as the ref counted the pin, and remained even as his arm was raised in victory. The expression on Will's face was one not only of pain, but of disgust as he looked up at the pointless anger in his brother's eyes.

  Luke got up off his defeated cousin's chest, and as he looked at Will, his anger began to soften. He bent over and offered Will a hand to help him up. Will, angry at the turn of events, swatted it away, and remained down, still aching from the heavier teen's abuse. As Luke began to leave the ring, Frank and Chaz walked to it and entered. Frank patted Luke on the back, "nicely done man, nicely done.... gotta keep these little ones in check, yaknow?" Luke just nodded, watching Will out of the corner of his eye, and Chaz added, "man, what a pussy... he didn't even put up a fight. I at least held you off, Frank." Frank laughed, and Luke felt pressed to join in.

He was faced with a decision he didn't want to make. His cousin, who he himself had just turned into a loser, much to the pleasure of the crowd, or his friends and the level of praise he had just earned. He failed to realize that a middle road existed, and chose victory over family.

"Seriously," he responded, "but I never expected a challenge. I always kick the little wimp's ass." Luke faltered once more when Chaz retorted, "show us your favorite hold to do to him," but reluctantly did. He approached Will, who was just getting to a sitting position, and kicked him in the gut. Will grunted, "match is over, man, leamme alone," but Luke paid no heed as he pulled the lightweight to his feet. The ref was gone by now and Will was helpless as Luke explained, "I love the powerbomb," and proceeded to perform one such maneuver on his cousin. Will bounced as he hit the mat yet again, and was helpless to stop Chaz's onslaught. As the two older teens returned to the changing area, the second lightweight decided to take advantage. Chaz enjoyed the boo's he garnered as he pulled Will to his feet and backed him into a corner. Kneelift after kneelift pummelled the boy's gut as Chaz continued without mercy, before lifting Will as if to suplex him, but then falling forward so his frontside connected harshly with the mat. Chaz pulled Will out of his fetal position by taking each of his ankles, and then three times stomped between them down into Will's crotch before letting go. Several stomps later, a satisfied Chaz walked back to his brother and Luke where they were changing and uttered just one word, "pathetic."