Nogrick's Story

[Nogrick]

Just for future reference, as much as I can I'm gonna put in some commentary. So there's no confusion between story text and this flavor text, the flavor text will be in red and green text.

Capiz? Let's Rock!
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4. The New Blood

The sun slowly crept through the window, finding its way to Nog's face. He tried as hard as he could to shut the light out, but eventually he submitted to it and sat up in his bed. He looked around the unfamiliar room in a daze. Then he remembered. He was at the POWA Academy, the training center for all future POWA stars. Suddenly, Nog popped out of bed. Training! He only had one week to prepare for his match. He had to hurry before the day passed him by, only he didn't have a clue to where anything was. Nogrick quickly threw on some pads and boots and set out to explore the facility.

It wasn't too long before Nog found a ring. It didn't seem like anyone was using it at the time, so he hopped in. "It's nice to be in a real ring for a change," he thought to himself. It sure wasn't any comparison to the splinters and burns he got at Swabby's. Nog immediately ran to the ropes, bouncing for side to side. He practiced a few dodges and rolls before taking some bumps, remembering what Swabby had said, "Ye gotta know how to fall, so ye can get back up in their faces." Nog paused for a rest and leaned on the turnbuckle.

"You gonna be in there all day?" a voice boomed out.

Nogrick turned around to see two men enter the room. The one who spoke came closer to the ring. He had white hair and was wearing a black shirt and some loose jeans. The other stood back against the wall, his tan hat covering his eyes. The one with white hair then climbed onto the apron. "We got some training to do too, ya know? I gotta practice my finishing maneuver."

"Come on, Terin," the other said. "The term Missle Dropkick is different for you." Terin hung his head in embarrassment. The other man nodded to Nogrick. "Haven't seen you here before. You new?"

"Yeah. My name's Nogrick." He said. The man with the tan hat stared at him for a brief moment.

"Never heard of ya," Terin interrupted as he jumped into the ring, "But that's ok. As you may have guessed, I'm Terin. That guy is Tobias."

Again, Tobias nodded, which Nog returned. "So then," Tobias began, "When did you start at the Academy?"

Nog replied, "Well, I didn't."

"Are you some sort of talent trade then?" Terin inquired as he ascended the turnbuckle, "I sure wish they'd get rid of some of these yahoos."

"Nope." Nog said. "I was just invited, sort of, and I have my first match next week."

"You haven't been though the Academy, and you already have a match?" Tobias clutched his chin in thought. "Either you're really good, or somebody really dislikes you."

"I hope it's the first on then." Nog replied.

Terin sat perched on the top rope. "No kidding, we got our first matches next week too. I just hope I don't have to go up against Jolly Roger. That guy is a ..."

Nogrick phased out. Jolly Roger. That name brought back a lot of memories for Nog, but not good ones. Jolly Roger was the man who retired his father with that vicious submission. Nog didn't plan on facing him anytime soon. He wouldn't know what to do if he did. Nogrick began to come back to the conversation.

"Nah," Tobias said, "We won't be fighting those guys. Well probably fight others who just got pushed through. No need to throw us to the wolves yet." Tobias took off the trenchcoat he was wearing and rolled into the ring. Just then Nog turned to climb out. "Leaving already?"

"Yeah," Nog said. "If I have to face one of you guys, I don't want you to have any advantages." He said with a smile as he walked away.

"Sure thing," Tobias answered, "But if you ever need anything, you can count on us." Nogrick just gave him a thumbs up as he left the room. Tobias then turned to Terin and motioned to him. "Bring it on." Terin leapt from to turnbuckle for his missle dropkick, but fell a foot short of where Tobias was standing. "You see?" Terin rolled over with a painful expression on his face.

The week passes...

In a few minutes, Nogrick would pass though the curtains and into the ring for his first match. He had seen Tobias and Terin earlier and wished them both luck. He had also been on the look out for the dancing girl he had seen that first night, but couldn't seem to find her. Time flew by in the locker room and he had to get ready to go. Nog grabbed the package he got from Swabby when he left Puerto Pequeno and opened it. Inside was a new pair of black and white boots, new pads, and a bright white singlet. When he unfolded the singlet, he saw that Swabby added something to it. It was a black thumbs up inside a black circle. A small note fell out and opened on the floor. Nog peered down-

Good Luck, Kid. Ye'll be needin' it.

-Swabby

Nogrick smiled as he put on his new gear and looked in the mirror. Something didn't feel quite right. He grabbed a pair of his "grapple quality" cargo shorts and put them on over his singlet. Next he wrapped his hands up, as he did to keep from getting splinters. He felt more relaxed and ready to go. Lastly he fixed his blue cap on his head and pulled the mask out of his bag, clutching it tightly. "This is for you, Dad." He put the mask down, turned around his cap and headed for the stage...

"Welcome back to Rock n' Rule Wrestling Miniopia! This is Sonny Calzone along with my broadcast partner and former POWA Tag Champion, C. Yoolader. In case you just tuned in, we just saw the newcomer Terin get pinned by fan favorite, Reverend."

"Yeah Sonny, it just seems like the new guy got a little too courageous with that missle dropkick and hit the mat like a sack of potatoes. Rev just rolled him up for the 1, 2, 3."

"We may not have gotten to see the Mod Thwack tonight, but we sure do have a great match up next."

"We sure do. Two new faces are gonna square off for the first time. One is the Wanderer Tobias. He is a little mysterious, but I hear from my contacts at the Academy that Tobias could explode here tonight."

"Let's not forget about his opponent. Nogrick is a second generation wrestler, son of the late great Zanzibarbarian. And if genetics are anything this kid may have some good moves up his sleeves."

"Don't forget he also trained at Puerto Pequeno, much like some other great POWA stars, myself included. If he trained with Swabs, he should be a submission machine."

"Well, C., Let's go down to the ring to see how this one will unfold."

The two men stared at each other from across the ring, quivering with anticipation. Tobias took his trenchcoat off slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on Nogrick. Nog stared back and cracked a smile. Tobias draped his coat over the ring post and shook his hands out. Nog rubbed his hands together, then adjusted his cap. Then, almost simultaneously, both men nodded.

"My Mod, Calzone! You can cut the tension with a knife!"

The two men slowly made their way to center ring and began to lock up. It seemed that neither could gain an advantage, so they broke loose. They paced around the ring before locking up a second time, only to produce similar results. Tobias then raised his right hand up.

"It looks like Tobias is calling for a test of strength. I'm not so sure this is a good move."

"Yeah, these two size up pretty evenly, but it looks like Nogrick may be packin' a little more muscle."

Nogrick took the offer and interlocked his hands with Tobias'. They started off evenly, but soon Tobias began to give. Nogrick pressed on, forcing Tobias to take a knee. Without warning, Tobias, in a burst of energy, bounced up, cracking Nogrick's chin with his head. Nogrick broke away and backed off as Tobias took a knee again.

"Wow! What a way to trip up the bigger guy! This kid may have a few tricks in his hat."

Tobias recovered first and began to assault Nogrick with a few forearm blows. The he snapmare Nog once, the again before throwing him to the ropes. Tobias went for a dropkick, but the only connection he made was with his back and the mat. Nogrick held onto the ropes. Nog raised Tobias up, grabbed his head, and delivered his own headbutt, knocking Tobias back down.

"I guess we know who's got the harder head. Now we just need to see who's got the bigger brains."

Nogrick followed up with a legdrop and a quick cover, but Tobias kicked out before the count started. The two got back to base and Nogrick tried to move in on Tobias, but found himself victim to a hip toss. Tobias dropped an elbow, then picked Nogrick up for a gutwrench suplex. Nogrick sat up and clenched his back, but Tobias wouldn't give him any recovery time and delivered a dropkick to his back.

"Tobias may have made some rookie mistakes, but now he's working that back like a vet."

"Right, put the pressure on where it hurts. Let's just hope he keeps it up."

Nog rolled around in pain, but Tobias covered him shortly after. After one Nog rolled out. He then grabbed the ropes to pull himself up and turned back to center only to be greeted by a kick to the stomach. Tobias ran to the ropes hoping to score a knee lift, but on his return found a big boot in his face.

"Holy Cow! That big boot nearly took Tobias' head off! Looks like this match has taken a U-Turn"

Nogrick bodyslammed Tobias, dropped an elbow, and clamped on a headlock. They struggled around for a while before coming back to base. Tobias landed a few elbow to Nog's stomach in attempt to break free, but Nogrick quickly reverted to a bulldog. Nog then lifted Tobias onto his shoulders.

"If I'm not mistaken, Calzone, it looks like the Nogster is looking to end this night a little early."

"And the crowd has never seemed wilder."

The audience was riled up, but not by the action in the ring. Nogrick was to pumped to notice, and Tobias was too worried about reversing. Tobias wriggled off of Nogrick's shoulders and turned it into a backslide pin. Nog easily rolled out, but got dropkicked into the turnbuckle. Tobias recovered and walking tauntingly over to the opposite side.

"Looks like Tobias may be getting ready to explode!"

"Wait, Calzone! What's this!?

Two figures hopped the guard rail. One of them, wearing a purple coat and what seemed to be a mask, slid into the ring along with a steel chair. Tobias, clueless to the intruder, thought the crowd was cheering him. He turned around and pushed his momentum to Nog's turnbckle. The intruder didn't have to do much but hold the chair out and Tobias ran right into it.

"It's Jolly Roger! Why in all Miniopia is he out here? This isn't his fight for Mod's sake!"

Nogrick regained his composure and saw Tobias laid out on the mat. When he saw the attacker, he flew into a rage and charged at Jolly Roger. But the corsair took action and planted the chair into Nog's gut before cracking the youth in the head. The blue cap flew across the ring as crimson began to paint the mat.

Jolly Roger laughed wildly in the ring. "Yar Har Har! It looks like the new blood's got what the deserve. This be ME ring, and don't ye ferget it." Jolly Roger then picked Nogrick up on his shoulder to deliver his infamous Skull Spike onto the steel chair when another commotion came from the crowd and another masked wrestler came running to the ring.

"Look, here comes the champ!"

Una-X climbed onto the apron and jumped onto the turnbuckle, waiting to strike. Jolly Roger turned around and threw off the youth to try and defend, but Una's Flying Burrito connected. Before anything else could happen, Jolly Roger's companion dragged the pirate from the ring. The two retreated up the ramp as the champ tended to the rookies.

"It's a good thing Dirty Rose pulled Jolly Roger out of there, cause I think the champ may have taught him a lesson or two."

"Maybe Sonny, but that Jolly Roger is a crafty one. There's no telling what other tricks he had planned for tonight.

"In any case, it's a shame this match had to end this way. I want to see these guys duke it out again. There's always next week."

"Sure thing, but we got more Rock n' Rule action coming up!"

...

Nogrick held his hands to his head. It was pounding so hard, he couldn't concentrate on anything else. He pulled his hands away and looked at them, drenched in his own blood. He laid down on the mat and stared into the lights. All he saw was a sillouette hovering above him. It seemed to speak to him, but all he heard was "ok?" before he blacked out.
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Tune in next time, which will hopefully be soon!