Sword of Damocles

The Sword of Damocles is a legendary sword attributed with special powers that can cut through altering dimensions. It was first featured in a single moral anecdote concerning the story of King Dionysius and Damocles, which became Greek myth and passed into European cultural mainstream. In Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW), the Sword was found hanging in Bloodrose Manor and became an integral object in the feud between Bloodrose, Krimson Mask, and cYnical against the vampire wizard, Giancarlo Giovanni.

Origin
Once upon a time, in A Land Far, Far Away during a time long, long ago, there lived King Dionysius and Queen Gloriana. They reigned over a rich and beautiful country with the recent joy of a newborn in their lives. In celebration of their newborn heir, the King and Queen held a great feast which would last several days. On the first day of the feast, a toadying misfit named Damocles came to the court, and, after having eaten the fruits of the kingdom’s labor, prosecuted the King in front of his subjects. Looking upon the riches that the kingdom had measured since his reign to power, the misfit continued to state that the rule of Dionysius was unjust and desired selfish interests at heart.

The King was furious at such uneducated accusations, and said, "So, Damocles, if you believe you would do better, take heed, you may taste it yourself and make trial of our Kingdom’s authority?"

When Damocles said that he desired this, Dionysius gave orders that the man be placed on a couch covered in riches, accompanied by beautiful women, and tables that were piled with the desirable foods. Damocles was given a small authority of the kingdom with one caveat included:

In the middle of Damocles’ luxury, the King ordered that a sword, fastened from the ceiling by a horse-hair, be suspended over the neck of the sycophantic misfit. And so, Damocles looked neither at his beautiful waitresses nor the wonderful couch, nor did he stretch his arm to the glorious fruits, nor did he change any decrees that Dionysius had constituted. He begged the King that he should be allowed to depart because he no longer wanted to deal with the fear that always looms over those who rule.

Damocles was escorted out of the kingdom by the chief knights of the King, and threw out to the land to preach what he had learned. Dionysius ordered the sword be taken down, and was placed along the side of his throne.

Warning
The next day, per the tradition of the kingdom, villagers from far and wide brought forth their finest gifts to the newborn heir, so they could find favor with the Queen. It was always the custom at these feasts that the Queen should accept the gift given to her child and listen to the villager’s wish. The greatest gift of note came from a one-eyed old man who looked very wise and good.

Behind the old man was a magnificent black horse, which pulled a carriage carrying a mysterious Looking Glass. The mirror was brought forth in front of the King and Queen, and were astonished to see it was unlike any other. The Queen was pleased with the gift, and asked what the one-eyed old man’s wish may be. The old man, ever so pleasing with his words, replied with a warning that a new evil would set foot in the realm, and the child could restore the kingdom as it was with the Looking Glass. Although the court ridiculed the old man for his warning, a horror transfixed over the King at the sight of the old man's steed steed, who's mane hair fell out, the same hair that was used to allude Damocles.

Bloodrose Manor
On August 8, 2006, Gavin Moss and Juan Pedro de la Rossa were not hired by the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA) for falsifying legal documents, for testing positive for crack, and for being too damn annoying. As a parting gift, the two banned rookies were invited by Bloodrose to his Manor for an exclusive party.

The next day, Moss attended the party while de la Rossa was noticably absent. Invited by Bloodrose's vixens, Moss sat underneath the Sword of Damocles, the first time the sword had reemerged from so many years ago. He was joined by the PWA's newest signees, Krimson Mask and Little Red Riding Hood. After Moss wouldn't eat, the server carted out a large, human-sized platter on the cart, revealing de la Rossa gagged inside. As Moss tried to escape, Krimson Mask slinged his axe at the rookie's head to instant slice it off. Meanwhile, Bloodrose and his vixens feasted on de la Rossa.

Bloodrose and Krimson Mask formed a mutual respect for each other, but the hanging Sword of Damocles was something that Mask and Little Red wouldn't forget.

The Tales of Krimson Mask, Bloodrose, and cYnical
Krimson Mask eventually would win the LPW World Heavyweight Championship on May 7, 2007. Possessing the richest prize on LPW Insanity, Krimson Mask and Little Red vowed to use the title as a piece of bait to lure the mysterious man who vandalized their fairytale past.

Because of his unprecendented victory over Krimson Mask at Homecoming, cYnical demanded that he should be the first to receive a championship shot for Krimson Mask's title. But the vampire Bloodrose was quick to state otherwise, citing cYnical's illegal interference during At All Costs that cost him his tournament semifinal match against Al. Insanity GM Stanman eventually announced that the two would fight each other at the Annihilation pay-per-view, with the winner immediately facing Krimson Mask for the title as part of a two-stage Gauntlet match.

Bloodrose's ex-vixens Midnight and Violet, told Little Red about a mythical weapon named the Sword of Damocles. The myth was said that the Sword was so powerful that it could slash through different dimensions. Little Red had remembered that Bloodrose had the Sword of Damocles placed in his Manor when she had visited before. But the sisters continued that to wield the Sword of Damocles, the Sword's possessor must be trained in the art of The Flame, a power that only cYnical was trained in.

With Annihilation approaching, Bloodrose tried to resolve the situation himself by summoning Krimson Mask and Little Red's home-world Faerie Queen of Air and Darkness, requesting her to send the two back home without a conflict on Earth. But the Queen refused the wish, and instead hinted that the person Krimson Mask was searching for was in fact a vampire from Bloodrose's kin, who was bent on domination of all Realms. Curious as to who the vampire might be, Bloodrose investigated and soon found that the Stranger behind the mystery was his necromaner friend, Giancarlo Giovanni, a vampire wizard who had once helped resurrect the spirit of cYnical's deceased-wife, Jen (which caused her to re-kill herself in front of an emotionally-devastated cYnical). Using his black magic, Giancarlo had combinined the Sword and Flame to cut into a different dimension in order to dump Krimson Mask and Little Red to Earth while he resumed his plans of Realm domination.

Meanwhile, since losing Jen, cYnical had moved past his pain and had now attracted Little Red to fall in love with him. In previous weeks, cYnical had expressed to Little Red that their night together before Homecoming had meant something for him. In fact, cYnical even paid his final respects to Jen's graveyard while Little Red spied from a distance. Little Red was sure that cYnical was her true love, but the only thing separating them was Krimson Mask.

The night before Annihilation, The Faerie Queen of Air and Darkness appeared before Krimson Mask and Little Red to offer Little Red the chance to be reunited with Grandmother in their Faerie world, while Krimson Mask would help her deal with matters on Earth. But surprisingly, Little Red turned down the chance, opting to instead rendezvous with cYnical so that she could find out his true feelings, much to the displeasure of Krimson Mask.

After Little Red professed her love for cYnical, it became evident that Giancarlo was attempting to destroy several Realms. The Faerie Queen of Air and Darkness transported Krimson Mask, Little Red, cYnical, Bloodrose, and the Lost Prophets to stop Giancarlo. Already having recruited Midnight and Violet to join his cause, Giancarlo resurrected the dead souls of Bloodrose's former enemies. With the odds stacked against them, Krimson Mask, Bloodrose, and cYnical successfully thwarted the plans of Giancarlo, only to miss the chance to kill the mischievous vampire wizard who retreated to Morpheus' Dream Realm.

In the Annihilation main event, Krimson Mask successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship in the two-stage Gauntlet match. cYnical and Bloodrose started the match by wrestling each other in a Steel Cage match. During the match, Little Red tried to help cYnical escape through the cage door. But when Scarlet (Bloodrose's valet) pushed Little Red into the door, the door knocked cYnical cold, allowing Bloodrose to walk out the cage to advance. In the final stage of the Gauntlet, Krimson Mask and Bloodrose battled it out. The climax saw Krimson Mask hit The End on the vampire for the pinfall and successful defense.