野生

Yasei.
Wild.

“Even the smallest of lapdogs, still thinks it is wild… mmhmm…” Though that seedy, croaked voice of Sensei Abe Lincoln can be heard, he cannot be seen. The view is dominated by that same vision that haunts the dreams of Freddy Kilgore: Shujin Yama. Or at least the back of him.

A low, rumbling growl trembles across the dark room from somewhere out of sight.

“That is Freddy-San no?” the voice of Lincoln continues, with his semi-broken English. “A lapdog, pleading to be petted by miserable Classic fans; thinking he is bigger than he really is and yapping at the truly bigger animals that pass by his yard. Safe, he is… mmhmm… when his fate is not in the building. But Shujin Yama is that fate. Shujin Yama is that bigger animal. Freddy-San can bark to his feral heart’s content, but the moment the puppy tries to strike – Shujin Yama will bite. That is promise. Freddy-San thinks he is ‘wild thing’, but Shujin Yama is apex predator. He showed this when he took Premier American Championship from Freddy-San. And he will show it again In Your Haunted House.”

The camera rotates, circling the massive Yama. Settling on his side profile, Yama’s face is shown to be focused. Tense. He lets out a conquering bellow, as he raises his far leg into the air and slams it down upon the ground in a shiko. He repeats the process with his near leg, chasing away the demons of All Hallow’s Eve with each thundering stomp of his foot. Only one Oni of Oblivion that shall haunt the Gund Arena.

“Shujin Yama is no mere monster, Freddy-San. He is more than that.” Movement shifts in the darkness beyond. Yama stares, unflinching, directly into it. “Shujin Yama is the reason the sun rises. Shujin Yama is the reason the world turns. Shujin Yama is the reason your old gods are just that. Old. Gone. Forgotten. You have felt it. You know it to be true. Shujin Yama is today. Shujin Yama is tomorrow. Shujin Yama is eternal.”

From the darkness, a true monster emerges. A wild creature, with pitch black fur that helps it blend, nay bleed, into the surroundings, given away only by the wrathful eyes that catch the light shining from a solitary, hanging bulb above Yama’s head. Off-white fangs, stained with hell, gnash at Yama as the sumo grabs ahold of the malevolent beast’s savage form and begins to do what he does best – exert his will.

“And you, Freddy-San? You are just broken little man.” The war continues upon the screen in a blurred mess of violence. Not man against beast, but resolve against savagery. “You are still suffering from the pain that Shujin Yama inflicted upon you. Better? No. Shujin Yama doesn’t believe you. I don’t either. The Classic fans don’t believe you. Even Wild Kat doesn’t believe you. Still broken, mmhmm.”

The battle rages. A wayward paw collects the bulb and sends it swinging from one side to another. As it sways on a pendulum, Yama and the beast are plucked from the light and plunged into darkness, then out again. Flurries of flesh and fur. A mashed ping rattles out, as though meat were bouncing against a steel mesh. The horror.

“Don’t you see, Freddy-San?” In darkness, Lincoln’s voice carries an eerie tone. “You want to slam Shujin Yama? That is not your choice! Mother Nature herself recedes before Him, and only He decides when He leaves his feet! Shujin Yama is life.”

A slam. Violent and emphatic. Enough so that the steel mesh heard before quivers as it comes into view upon a slow zoom back. The light above jerks into place, swinging from only the lower half of the cord it perilously clings to. It illuminates Yama, caged as he is. The primordial force of that black ball of fur has fallen at his feet.

Shujin Yama places his foot upon the body of a great bear.

Fallen.

Like all wild things that come before him.

“Slam him? No.” Lincoln tuts. “Shujin Yama slams YOU, Freddy-San. Shujin Yama has taken your championship. Whether you admit it or not, Shujin Yama has already taken your career too. In Your Haunted House, Shujin Yama takes what little you have left. Shujin Yama takes your entire existence and squashes it.

And then… Sensei Abe Lincoln takes your girl.

Konichiwa Wild Kat.”

山

Yama.
Mountain.