The Rising Fire

[Joe Everyman]

What if all you understand
Could fit into the center of our hand?
Then you found it wasn't you
Who held the sum of everything you knew

Lex... you are a lot of things. So many words describe you to perfection.

Greedy.

Frightening.

Childish.

Stubborn.

Weak.

And my personal favorite, jealous.

You talk of jealous as if I am suppose to be jealous of you. I have never been jealous of you, Lex. We are vastly different, and seek different riches. I seeked... validation. I seek the ability to make my family safe. I seek the power to help every single fan, young and old, through whatever harms them. I seek the wisdom to know when to fight, and when to flee.

I've learned that over my many long nights. When my career was in shambles, I thought long and hard at night about what I truly wanted in my life. I always thought it was about the championships. A simple of being better than everyone else. And while that is indeed a nice feeling, it will pass quicker than you think. In the end, it isn't about you. It's about those who care about you.

Without love, without family, what are we? We are nothing. That is why we crave for love and acceptance more than anything in our lives. We need it like a drug. Without it, we feel lost and broken. But when we have it... we feel like we could accomplish anything.

Lex... do you have a family? And I mean a real family. If you do, do you care for them? Do you love them? And most importantly, do you fight for them? Or do you only fight for yourself?

Your life is nothing to be jealous of, and neither is your career. It is nothing more than the year long definition of a one night stand. You may feel great for a couple hours, but when it's all over, what do you have to go home to? What do you feel in your heart?

Do you actually feel the joy of being close to someone or something, or is it just emptiness, black and limitless? I know the answer already, Lex. And I know it's going to be a difficult realization, but I hope you come to it one day. I've had many, countless sleepless nights during my career where I thought my life and my career was going nowhere, because I had nobody to fight for.

The only thing you have to fight for is yourself, and in the end, you will fail to be you any longer. You will just be a husk of a broken man, searching desperately for a real life, with real love and real friends. A championship will not save you for that, old friend. In the end, you will be lost in the nights, broken, cold and alone. In the end, you will end up where I once was.

No championship, no amount of gold can save you from that. I hope this Sunday is wake up call for you, because you need it. Soon enough, you will see the truth in my words. Soon enough... one of us will rise.

The scene slowly opens up inside of the Joe Everyman household on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Joe is sitting on the couch with his daughter on the couch as well. Joe looks to be nervously looking around as Aurora seems as calm as could be. After a few moments, Joe lets out a huge exhale, as he was holding his breath. Aurora lets out a little breath and throws her arms into the air.

Aurora Everyman: I win!

Joe Everyman: I don't see how. Your lungs are tiny!

Aurora Everyman: Doesn't matter, I won!

Joe Everyman: How... you must have cheated...

Aurora Everyman: Nope!

Aurora then hops off the couch before Joe can say anything else. She goes a couple feet in front of the entertainment center and starts picking up a few toys to play with. Joe watches on as Melanie walks in from the kitchen. She has an extremely concerned look on her face.

Melanie Brooks: Joe, can you come here for a moment?

Joe looks at her and sees her face and quickly stands up.

Joe Everyman: Yes, of course.

Melanie turns around and walks into the kitchen as Joe trails after her. Melanie's laptop is set up on the kitchen island and is sitting on the IWF homepage. Joe sees and closes his eyes for a moment, knowing what she wanted.

Melanie Brooks: I saw the headline on their website about your accident. I know you said you told me everything, but it said on there that they were investigating if you had been drinking too. Joe... that can't be true can it?

Joe pauses for a second, a second too long for Melanie.

Melanie Brooks: Joe, I swear to god! You can't drink and drive! Are you insane?!

Joe Everyman: Melanie.

Melanie Brooks: No, you listen to me! You can't be doing that shit! What if Aurora or the twins heard about this? They would be devastated! What if you had been killed!?

Joe Everyman: Melanie!

Melanie Brooks: What?!

Joe Everyman: Please calm down, Aurora can hear you. Listen...

Melanie is still fuming, but manages to settle her breathing for a moment.

Melanie Brooks: Ok... what is it?

Joe grabs both of Melanie's hands in his and looks right into her eyes from no more than a foot away.

Joe Everyman: I wasn't drinking that night. I had thought about it, but no alcohol was in my system at all. Call the cops if you want to find out for sure, they will tell you.

Melanie Brooks: I don't want to hear it from them, just from you... do you promise? Do you mean it?

Joe Everyman: I would never lie to you, especially something like this. I promise, I wasn't drinking that night. And I made it out fine, so please... don't worry.

Melanie Brooks: Well... ok. I'm sorry.

Joe Everyman: Don't be sorry. I knew you would see that eventually. And you know, that was the first time you've yelled at anybody in well... a long time.

Melanie Brooks: I try to never get angry...

Joe Everyman: I know, dear. But it's something you have to get out sometimes. Now, come on. We should try to coax Aurora into taking a nap soon.

Joe kisses Melanie on the cheek as he walks out of the kitchen into the living room. Melanie looks down at the computer screen again, looking concerned again for a moment. She looks up and into the living room, seeing Joe and Aurora. She smiles for a moment, but it fades quickly. The scene then slowly fades to black.

Are you happy now, Lex? I didn't forget shit. I didn't drink that night. And yet, I could have been killed. I could have died that night and never seen my girl or my kids again. When I swerved out of the way of the other car, my life flashed before my eyes. The biggest events of my life all flashed over just a few seconds. Do you know what I saw, Lex?

I saw Melanie. I saw her beautiful green eyes, bright as the day I met her.

I saw my children. I saw their beaming faces on a peaceful summer day.

I saw my friends and my mentors. I saw Curtis, Spike, Davey and countless others.

I saw the nights I won my championships, especially my Imperial Championship.

I saw the day that my brother left for Iraq, the last day I saw him.

I saw the day that my parents realized their marriage was worth saving.

I saw the day that I learned I had a sister.

But I didn't see you, Lex.

I saw the biggest days in my entire life, the largest pillars that keep it all up. You never fit into that. EverySense is dead and buried. And the only reason you were against me last month is because somebody has to lose to me in the tournament finals. Otherwise, you were completely replaceable. And in the end, the only part of this history that nobody will remember will be you.

But, if for some reason they do remember something about you, it will be your outrageous and outlandish claims and lies. You claim that I have just been coasting since I won the championship. I lost a match that YOU caused me to lose, and then I won a huge tag team match. And then last week, I lost to Xander. You go beat Xander and see how easy that is! I haven't been coasting. I've been preparing, or getting screwed by someone I thought cared about me.

I don't give a SINGLE fuck if you actually believe in me, Lex, because it's just another one of your lies. I am not minimalistic in the slightest, because I am living out my dream every single day. I dreamed of having a big house with a loving wife, healthy children and a job that I could be proud of. I have all of these things right now. I wake up next to the most beautiful woman on the planet, the three greatest kids a father could ask for and the World Championship of the best wrestling company in the world. I am living the dream.

It's no longer a nightmare, Lex. It's no longer shadowed by your hatred and lust for what I have. You may still scare the bajesus out of me, but when it comes to the things that actually matter in life, you aren't even close to me! Do you realize that, you silly fucking bastard? You ain't got shit on me. And I continue to prove that this Sunday night, where my legacy grows.

You only fight for yourself, Lex. I fight for myself too, but for so many more than that. I fight for the soldier who is surviving every single day to get closer to his family again. I fight for the kid at school who get bullied for being different in their eyes. I fight for the small business owner in a struggling economy. I fight for every single person in attendance, whether they are going through the good times or the bad. I fight for every single person out there, because EVERYBODY should be entitled to the American Dream!

And you, Lex. You... all you are is the American Nightmare. You idealize big business, hatred and the suck-ups in the world. You would cut down a friend to just get one step further than the pack. You would fire people to boost your stock one sliver of a percent. You would degrade someone of their rights to just make yourself feel better for a moment. Lex, you are all that is wrong with this world, and this Sunday, I will fight my heart out to make sure you never do that again. You plan on harming IWF, and as it's champion, I can not allow this to happen.

So many rely on this company, whether it's for a job, for being a fan or anything else you'd see in it. And as it's champion, I fight for every single voice out there. I fight to keep their dreams intact, because everybody is entitled to their dream. And through life, there will always be evil. There will always be someone or something standing in their way, trying to put a stop to their dreams for their own petty reasons. And Lex... you are the someone in my way.

I have so much to prove at Legacy. I have to prove that I am more than a one month World Champion. I have to prove to my family that I can do it more than once, and that their support in me is not in vain. I have to prove to every single voice out their that they can accomplish ANY dream they set out! But above all else, above every single one of these things... I have to prove to you Lex, that EVERY single thing you have EVER said about me was a LIE! At Legacy, I cement my truths and my dreams. I cement my legacy. And I will show the world what Lex Sense truly is.

A liar.

A cheat.

A jealous ball of hate.

A dream eater.

And I prove to the world what Lex truly is... a heartless bitch.

In the end, the people will remember my victory at Legacy as the continuation of the greatest part of my life. They will remember the biggest battles of my career, every single time I defended the Imperial Championship. They will remember this all and realize that if I can do it, they can do it too. And do you know what they will not remember?

You, Lex. They will forget about you as if you were nothing. And do you know why?

Because you are nothing. You will not be remembered. You will be lost and forgotten, in your own lust, hatred... and in your own dreams.

Lex... we end it this Sunday. We end what we started so long ago. We prove who's truly the best between us. We prove who is truly the rightful carrier of the Imperial Championship. We prove who's heart is stronger, and who's dreams are bigger.

We prove... that one will fall... and one will rise.

Like the sun we will live to rise
Like the sun we will live and die and then ignite again