[NGW] Nerd Paladin, Level Up! | File 001 [Lv. Remix]: Sanctu

“New Generation Wrestling… I’m home.”

A deep breath is drawn and released slowly. The night sky is illuminated by bright and shining stars. The camera begins to zoom out to reveal Jessica Nitoh sitting on a wooden park bench, one leg crossed over the other. Over her purple dress she wears a decorative blue jacket with silver zippers that’s nearly twice her size…

“It took a while to find my way. The last year and a half have been life-changing. My mother has her good and bad days. My careers have been leveling up and down. I was married… Can you believe that?”

She chuckles weakly, her hands moving slightly to clutch the jacket she’s wearing. Slowly the camera zooms in to examine the article of clothing.

The jacket once belonged to Gekiryu Nitoh.

Upon closer inspection, she’s still wearing the wedding ring on her left ring finger.

“...But I’m here now. I’m glad to be back. It’s time to make a difference, it’s time for a change. Change can be a wonderful thing… but it can also be terrible. Every real wrestler has experienced defeat in their careers. We know what it feels like to lose an important match. When I lost the IPW Heavyweight championship to Xavier Laroux, it was more bittersweet than anything else. My friend was finally successful in obtaining the top-tier title… He won it from me and I was left without the gold. Suffice to say, I was devastated… Literally.”

There’s a brief rolling of her eyes before she shakes her head.

“I believe the Jew Blazer is suffering the same fate. He may not refer to himself as the witty superhero, but deep down he’s still in there. It sucks that he’s my first opponent because I like Josh. I think he’s a good guy. A little weird, but who isn’t? Better than being “normal”. Honestly, Josh, I know losing the title sucks. It’s a horrible feeling that keeps digging into your soul. I could have done better. If I had done this… If I had done that… As someone with chronic depression, I know this consequence amplifies negative feelings. When I was in the hospital after a grueling bloody match, I wanted to give up. I wanted to hang up my wrestling boots, so to speak, and walk away. I decided not to react on pure emotion. Instead, I gave myself a break. I took a moment to simply breathe… and I realized that I do belong in the wrestling industry, just like you do. We’re not fluke champions. We’re not amateurs or part-timers. This sport is in our hearts. Wrestling has become a career that we love. We can’t let anyone or anything change that. It gets better. It always does.”

She looks away from the camera for a moment to gaze upon the stars in the night.

“This… is our sanctuary, Josh. We belong with the stars and we shine bright. To some people, the stars look the same, but we know that every single star is unique. We’re unique, you and I, and we know we are here to stay. I didn’t let Jacob Daniels keep me down. You can’t let Jack Tillman force you down. You’re better than that. We are better than that. It’s not easy to wrestle a friend, but I know we can rise to the occasion, level up, and give everyone a show. This is a new dawn, a new era… Let’s show them what we can do.

Dissension in New Orleans is this Sunday night. Roll initiative and game on.”