They once thought Everest unclimbable.
The great mountain stands tall, unmissable. It carries a mystique and gravitas that lures climbers to be the next on a very short list of people to conquer its slopes.
Climbers that believe themselves capable and climb with confidence. But every year, they falter. They fall, like lambs to the slaughter and the mountain claims them.
The circle of life continues.
Again, the call of the mountain beckons and the lambs flock to the climb.
Some have battled the mountain before, and climb with experience. Luke Storm ascends with the confidence of a man who has already planted his flag atop the peak. His victor’s swagger can only carry him so far before he realises that no two journeys on these slopes are the same.
Some climbers scale the mountain in their own strength. Sigil, Deathnote and Viper Roberts each approach the mountain eager to further their own agenda, to spread the strength of their own message and find their own answers. They carry their baggage like a pack, upon the strength of their own back. Until their body eventually exhausts itself and they falter.
Others climb with their own cunning. Simon’s journey up the mountain is meticulously laid out, planned. Planners find the best paths to climb, and endeavour to constantly stay two steps ahead. But journeys upon the mountain’s slopes change in the blink of an eye. Even the best laid plans will always need to be adapted or you fall.
Others rely on their own grit and determination. It is this that sees Corvus, the Generation Kid scale so far up the mountain. They have each experienced their share of success but no matter what heights they scale, the mountain’s peak always seems just out of reach.
Climbing the mountain is a mental game. It requires balance and a sound mind, where SeeSaw climbs with an unhinged mind that sees many a man lost to the slopes.
Some climb as a team. Vayikra, Jet Set Radio, The Rainbow Party climb with combined strength. But the mountain is a friendship killer, a bond breaker. And ultimately, there are no partnerships on these slopes when only one may stand upon the peak.
Everyone approaches the mountain’s climb in their own way. But one fact remains. They must all climb the mountain to reach its peak.
I’m not trying to climb mountains like the rest of the lambs led to slaughter.
I am the mountain.
I am the force to be reckoned with.
For to stand victorious at Lambs to the Slaughter, those that climb must come through me. This mountain crumbles for no man and backs down for nothing.
When you stand face to face with Banzan, you stand face to face with Everest.
All the confidence in the world cannot change the fact that you’re still climbing.
Storms, gameplans, betrayal. Desperate actions of men who are busy climbing mountains.
This mountain has seen them all… And it still stands.
When the lambs come to climb at Pandemonium, this mountain will still be standing tall.
And it always will.