Ezekiel 9: The Slaughter of the Guilty

1 He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.
3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
6 slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

The date is 29 January 2011. The place is Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Disneyland Resort is houses two theme parks, three hotels, and a shopping, dining, and entertainment area.

Josh Konnely kneels outside one of the hotels, positioned next to the front door. He is wearing a New Beginnings promotional t-shirt and black Adidas pants with three red stripes down the side seam with along with red Reebok sneakers.

"The word of the Lord came to me:

'Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. The end is now upon you and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity or spare you: I will surely repay you for your conduct and the detestable practicees among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. It has come! Doom has come upon you--you who dwell in the land. I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices.

The day is here! It has come! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! The violent one has grown into a rod to punish wickedness; none of the people will be left, none of that crowd--no wealth, nothing of value. The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for wrath is upon the whole crowd. Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve his life. Though they blow the trumpet and get everything ready, no one will go into battle, for my wrath is upon the whole crowd.

Outside is the sword, inside are plague and famine; those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. All who survive and escape will be in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valleys, each because of his sins. Every hand will go limp, and every knee will become as weak as water. They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Their faces will be covered with shame and their heads will be shaved. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the LORD’s wrath. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, for it has made them stumble into sin. They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols and vile images.

Prepare chains, because the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of violence. I will bring the most wicked of the nations to take possession of their houses; I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. When terror comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none.'"

Josh Konnely rises up to his feet and leans against the wall.

"This was the word of the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 7 of the Old Testament's Book of Ezekiel.

You may have noticed one particularly intriguing line. Ezekiel 7:15 says that 'Outside is the sword, inside are plague and famine; those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.' This verse seems to foretell the appearance in Revelation of the four horsemen or "beasts." Outside is the sword, and those who are in the country will die by the sword. This would be the Red Horse of War, to whom is given a 'massive sword.' Inside are plague and famine, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. These would be the White Horse of Pestilence, and the Black Horse of Famine. It has been prophesied, and indeed the day has come.

Chapter nine of Ezekiel tells of a slaughter of the guilty. At New Beginnings when War & Famine- myself and Kyle Murphy- enter the Body Count Rumble, we will indeed oversee a SLAUGHTER OF THE GUILTY within Strike Towers.

As the reigning National Champion, I have to confess that I am not overly concerned with obtaining my third SFT World Heavyweight Championship on Sunday. Many men would willingly or even intentionally give up the National Championship to improve their chances at the World Championship. But my concern is for the good of Revelation, and what's good for Revelation is making sure that BOTH myself and Kyle Murphy leave New Beginnings with championship gold. In other words, I need to make sure I handle my business, then see to it- if I can- that Kyle Murphy wins the Body Count Rumble.

Still, it would be pretty cool if I could win both matches...

So let's take a look at the FIFTEEN people standing between Revelation and the World Championship, shall we? Thirteen men, and two women. Counting Rene Soge as a woman, of course.

First there is the Mystery Man. Well, I've already stated my goals for him. In the National Championship match, I will lock this mystery man in the Consuming Fire, and with it I will make sure that he gets CARRIED OUT of the Honda Center. So he should be a non-factor in the Body Count. That little lamb isn't even going to make it to the slaughter.

Next there is the Ambiguously Gay Duo known as the GSA, Rene Soge and Barry Straight. If they can stop blowing each other long enough to come out for the match- pardon the pun- they could actually be a threat. Although not many people will acknowledge it, Rene and Barry are quite talented individually. Add onto that fact the potential that- if Rene can last long enough- they can work together to save each other from eliminations and to clear out some of the competition, anything could happen. Maybe they could even be the last two standing.

Then there is Big T. The Icon. The Legend. The Hall of Famer. The Hardcore Champion. And the Owner's brother. Depending on when he gets to enter- and on how badly he and Chambers beat the tar out of each other in the Hardcore Championship match- he could very well be the odd's on favorite. He and SwitchBlade have been pounding each other's heads in over that World Championship for months. For a time, they were even co-Champions, with Big T stealing possession of the belt. It stands to reason that those two are strong candidates to win it all again at New Beginnings.

Next comes Alexander Hayes. Alexander Who? Any relation to Isaac? If not, nobody cares. To Hell with him.

After Alex is Jack Jones. The Cowboy. Enough said.

Then there is Josh Konnely. He's pretty good. He's got a mean streak a mile long. My money's on that guy. He's just nasty.

Alas, we come to Kris Chambers. The butt of every joke in Strike Towers for the last six months to a year. Nobody has ever taken this guy seriously. In my eyes, that only means that he is a natural threat. Here is an ultimate opportunity for him to make people stand up and take notice that he isn't just a joke; especially if he can win both his matches and leave New Beginnings with both the Hardcore and World Championships.

Skipping the final entrant, Kyle Murphy, we come to the second to last entrant. SwitchBlade won himself that right- with a little help from The Lion- in a fatal four way match last week. As I mentioned with Big T, SwitchBlade was on a major role with the World Heavyweight Championship before finally succumbing to The Dark Wolf. He took everything Big T could throw at him for months, and never faltered from the top. I wouldn't be surprised to see him come out and regain his World Championship. Perhaps that recent string of domination will also make him a target? We'll see tomorrow night.

Continuing on through the list in order, you've got the Blood Money tandem of T.K. Money and Twilight, the reigning Tag Team Champions. They are trash. Normally, they succeed on playing the numbers game to overwhelm a single opponent. That is how they win three-quarters of their singles matches. They will have no such advantage when it is their two against fifteen of Strike Towers' best.

Then there comes a major threat. Not a single person, but the combined efforts of Jacob Connely, Dawn Lenore Artemisk, and Nirvana. The Outer Circle has the biggest number advantage of any team or faction. If you count T.K., The Wall can match their numbers with three participants, but The Wall's three pale in comparison to the skills of The Outer Circle 'trinity.'

And how about Erik Dean? Apparently, Mister Dean has stood up for Strike Towers against The Outer Circle. The question is whether or not he can be trusted. Erik has never been known as the most forthright or reliable person in SFT. Quite the opposite in fact. Even so, I am sure no one will underestimate or disrespect the talent which Dean possesses. If he brings it to the best of his abilities, he could very well be the next SFT Champion.

Last but not least comes the artist formerly known as The Suicide Kidd, now simply Keith Park. He and I are already becoming pretty well acquainted. While I respect this young new talent of Keith Park, I strongly doubt he is ready to step up and compete at such a level as to elevate himself to a World Heavyweight Championship win at New Beginnings. That time may come at some point in 2011, but I cannot see him being the first champion of the new year. Not with the entire SFT locker room standing in his way.

Strike Towers, the end IS come. It has AWAKENED on YOU! At New Beginnings, Josh Konnely and Kyle Murphy will see to it that each and every one of you gets DESTROYED. You shall be judged according to your conduct, and we will punish you for your despicable acts.

At New Beginnings the world will see that Strike Towers BELONGS to REVELATION! SFT, WE are YOUR Lord and Master. Bow down at our feet, or be crushed under them! We WILL slaughter the GUILTY!"

With that said, Josh Konnely turns and enters the hotel. The scene fades once more to RED.