It's… crazy how things change. It feels just yesterday that the world was much more peaceful, much more quiet. I was able to live my life without thinking much, just focusing on my life in the spotlight, this life I had built for myself, free from influence of people like you. Yet now as quick as flash, everything changed. Things got scarier, things got more complicated. I can’t just grin and bear it anymore, these issues are things I’m going to have to face whether I want to or not. Honestly, I long for the days where I didn’t have to focus on it, where I could just keep being the Blazing Heel people loved to hate… but no, I’m just in denial. These things were happening in the background for years, I just chose to ignore what was happening outside of the spotlight. Was that wrong of me? Maybe. I just wanted to be happy for just a little while longer, let things ride out. Enjoy the life I made for myself.

And yet that time is finally over, and it’s time to take things seriously. Perhaps it’s complacency that got me weak, or maybe I just got cocky.

…I probably got cocky.

Which is why, it’s time for a change. It’s funny, it’s been so long since I’ve done something like this, wearing these new clothes, saying these new things, I feel like a different man altogether. It’s similar yet, my identity, my being, my raison d'être, it’s all changed. Gone are the flames that clad the Blazing Heel that left his enemies burnt and bare. Now a new Fuerte surges fourth. One who’s traded his flames for galvanisation. One who will ensure his opponents are left with a shock to their systems, their faults exposed as they’re left stunned and paralysed to the crowd that once cheered for their victory.

Raami was surprised I made this change, it made sense, after all we’ve known each other for years and he’s always known me as the Blazing Heel. Now we’re more alike, an intentional act, he was the one that inspired this change after all. Two men bathed in the power of electricity, one drenched in the history and culture of the past, and the other surging forward towards the future.

When I explain it all like this it sounds rather corny. In reality a new outfit and a change of looks shouldn’t usually come with such complex thoughts and motivations, but that’s just the state of affairs right now. Everywhere I look more and more players are entering the field, making this city we live in more complicated. Each new relationship I learn about spinning into a weaving web of bonds and connections, these links between person, and even the land itself, being a fuel for our lifeblood, our very being.

Resonance.

When I was young my mother explained to me this belief. The invisible power source that appears thanks to the connections between people and the land. The power I allegedly inherited control over. Honestly I wish I learned more about it from her, would make some of the issues I'm dealing with easier to handle, unfortunately you denied me that right. It’s just one of the many things I’ll never forgive you for.

I wonder how you’d feel about me now. You called this all barbaric, a savage display that refined people need not engage in. Yet here I am doing just that, engaging in such brutality for a roaring crowd, and achieving success for every single act. Perhaps one might argue I may even be more successful than you. I can only imagine the disgusted face you’d make at the mere thought of it.

Royce Torres.

I always hated that name you gave me, you know. It was proof of your vanity and self-obession. Honestly I should change it, but the world knows me as El Fuerte now, that’s as good enough as a name change. The only people who know me as Royce are probably the closest people to me. To everyone else I’m just Fuerte.

But there’s one thing I’ll never be able to change, that damn face. Every time I look in the mirror I’m reminded of you. Reminded of what you did to me… to us. That’s why I wore this mask in the first place, to make sure no one knew who I am, of my past, and more importantly to stop me from seeing that damn face I despise so much. In the end it worked though, the mask might have become a part of me, almost like a second self, but that doesn’t matter. With it I’m living my best life, a life without you.

A life where I’m happy.

But that happiness is under threat. These players are more powerful than I thought, going to places as high as the city elite, places where you’d normally inhabit. I know what you’re thinking. “You could have been up there too.” I know. If only I wasn’t gay.

I cry myself to sleep thinking of the missed opportunities. At least you probaby think that.

Regardless though, I will have to face these threats if I am to defend that happiness I spent years trying to earn and trying to convince myself I deserved. These threats I’ll have to bare as both sides of me, Fuerte and Royce, both as the newly formed Resonant Striker and the other as the man I wanted to bury and forget. But you can’t just bury things forever. I know that, and now it’s finally time to pay my dues. See the true world with the eyes you unfortunately gave me.

Yes… Those yellow eyes of mine, a sclera painted in a golden sheen . The ones that only appear when things get too much. You’d always call them Diablo Eyes. It’s funny I feel I’m going to see them a lot more now. That moment I saw them after dealing with that panda is what clued me into all this. When I saw them again after so long, I knew how intense things they were going to get.

Resonance Overload. I still don’t know what my mother meant by that, yet I think that’s the cause of those eyes whenever they appear.

Then how and why did this happen? Questions keep piling up. Questions I’ll have to answer.

All these complicated thoughts, feelings and affairs, this is what inspired this new step in my journey.

Gone is the Blazing Heel, and in its wake steps forward the Resonant Striker.

Is this the same Fuerte people always knew? In a lot of ways, yes. But no, this Fuerte is going to be more than that. A Fuerte who’s no longer going to look away from everything going on. A Fuerte that’s embracing more of himself than ever, a heel ready to shock and daze, leave their opponents exposed and paralysed, one that’s no longer disconnected.

And all of it happened without your help.

Funny, you always said I’d be nothing without you.

And this outfit, it’s meant to represent everything. Everything I achieved without you. The connections I’ve made, the fans who look up to me, the friends I care about. It all culminates into this. The new me.

It’s funny, here I am thinking about you, perhaps this outfit has left me feeling retrospective. Or maybe it’s spending more than 5 minutes without my mask. How long has it even been since your existence last appeared into my head? Not days, not months, no, it’s been years. You’re also on the TV so often and yet to me you’re nothing more than a stranger whenever I see your face.

My dear father, the man I despise more than anyone else. The reason I am as strong as I am to this day is because of my own actions. That strength wasn’t something you gave me, it’s something I earned braving everything you did to me, something that caused me to become a much better person ever since I left your miserable existence in the dust. A much better person than you’ll ever be.

Will this be the last time I ever think about you? Probably not. You have a way of being annoyingly consistent in our lives. But I don’t care. I’m happy, happier than I’ve ever been without you. I’ve found new people who're messing with me, and these new foes? They’re nothing. I dealt with you. I can deal with anyone.

I’ve earned this happiness, and it’s finally come time to defend it.

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The legacy of the Blazing Heel has finished and now begins the tale of the Resonance Striker. A new El Fuerte surges fourth, ready to strike down his opponents.

Meet the brand new Fuerte baby. Something I've been working on for the past 5 months and I can finally show off. Hope you all enjoy.

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Reference Sheet by  HeyFizzyJay

Story by:  machupichu18