Post by Angel Blake on Sept 3, 2023 18:21:02 GMT
We find our Lord, Angel Blake not within his grand cathedral at his illustrious compound, not seated upon the fabled throne of bones, instead he is deep within the bowels of the home he shares with Tara and their kids.
We’ve seen the room he is sat in before, the trophy room. The walls are adorned with more gold than actual paint. Pictures spanning decades with familiar faces and ones we wouldn’t recognize and in the middle of all this? Angel himself, sat in a somewhat fancy leather recliner with little Lilith bobbing up and down on his left leg.
Angel is without his face paint or his horrible glory, choosing to instead wear something more normal within the comfort of his own home. Black jeans, boots and a t-shirt with his pale painted visage on it. He looks around for several long moments, taking in all the memories as before he eyes settle back on you.
”I’ve been doing this for a long time…”
He gestures to the many accolades of his on the wall as well as Tara’s, their children have a wall dedicated to just themselves.
”I’ve done a lot of awful things to acquire all the trinkets you see before you…”
He takes in a long breath before continuing.
”Things a normal man with a normal mind would truly regret. Things so deplorable that a man with any real honor would probably take the cowards way out at the end of a rope. But I’m not a normal man…”
This admission seems to pain him a little bit.
”I’m far from it. As a child I was diagnosed with ADD and later with depression and anxiety. People younger than me may not know this but there wasn’t a little pill you could take to make it better back then. You were forced to see the school counselor every single day and point at a picture on the wall that described how you feel. Needless to say I always picked the angry face…”
He rolls his eyes at the almost caveman-like approach to mental health from his childhood.
”Of course this would cause the counselor to ask me what was making me angry. The answer was always my father…”
He pauses, old memories flooding in.
”He didn’t like the attention I was bringing him. He didn’t like the stories I was telling of my bloodied mother using me like a human shield while his fists sought to cave in a skull. He didn’t like that I was running my mouth…”
Lilith makes a little noise that gets Angel’s attention for a moment. He helps her to reposition and she continues her bouncing ways.
”I didn’t have a happy home life. I didn’t have a caring father figure to look up. I didn’t have a nurturing mother. I was an object in their abusive relationship only useful as a weapon to hurt the other. And more often than not I was the one taking the hits for my mother who was too frightened to stand up and just walk away…”
He looks down for a moment before looking up again.
”I blamed her for a long time. I blamed her for not being strong enough, for not caring enough, for not doing more to provide me with a decent childhood. As an adult I asked her why she stayed through everything and her answer was so simple that it made me even madder…”
“She loved him…”
“I hated that answer. I hated him even more for making her feel that way. How could someone so awful be deserving of another person's love? It drove me mad for a very long time. That thought kept me up at night. It haunted my dreams. It turned me into a very cruel person for a very long time…”
He lets out a long sigh.
”I tell you all this not for sympathy and not as an excuse. I tell you so that you will understand better. So that when I say this next part you will know it is coming from a place of honesty within me…”
“I want to be better…”
“I want to be better than him, than her, I want to raise my children better. I used to think the only way to survive in this world was by being the strongest. That’s how my father raised me. If you were going to survive you had to be better than everyone else around you. He taught me the weak were food meant to be eaten…”
He sort of smiles as Lilith turns to grab at him.
”But Pax showed me something last week. He taught me a lesson. A lesson I was ready to finally learn. I don’t have to be cruel. I don’t have to be vicious. I don’t have to be the villain…”
“I don’t have to be my father…”
“There are more ways to the top of our profession than the way I went. Pax showed me that when he defeated me clean in the middle of the ring. I have been doing things the wrong way for a very long time and now? Now I’m ready to let go of all the anger, the hatred, the rage ball I’ve buried deep down inside of myself…”
“I’m ready to be the person my children deserve. The one I desired…”
He looks at Lilith again who is just overjoyed by the one on one time.
”I don’t expect any of you to forgive me. Especially not Nick Knight or Nick Danger. I’ve made both of your lives a living hell in the recent and distant past. I went out of my way to torture you, maim you and treat you like otherwise worthless objects deserving of my fury…”
“I’d apologize but I know you wouldn’t believe me…”
“So instead I will say this. Tuesday night you’re going to see a different Angel Blake than you’ve ever seen before. There will be no malice behind my eyes, there will be no evil intent with my actions. I will step into that ring as determined as ever to win but once that closing bell is rung there will be no further action on my part…”
He sighs with resolution.
”Nick Knight. I know you see me as some corrupt God looking to run this business into the ground. I am not. I will prove it to you. I will earn your respect as a partner in this match and as a comrade in this profession. I have done truly awful things to you in the past and I wish I could take them back. I wish some sense had been knocked into me sooner. I wish we could have done things differently…”
“Nick Danger. I attacked you on more than one occasion. I tried to use you as a pawn in a war that was ultimately for nothing. I never gave you a second to give me the receipt I so rightly deserve. So Tuesday night? You get a free shot. Give me the biggest, baddest receipt the wrestling world has ever seen and I will take it on the chin before carrying on with the rest of the match. It’s the least I can do…”
“James Gilmore. Our history is storied. We’ve never been allies, we’ve never been friends, I don’t think we’ve ever even shared a room together without it ending in a fist fight. That being said, you’ve always respected me and my accomplishments. While you denounced my actions you would acknowledge my accomplishments. For that I thank you. When we step into the ring Tuesday on Odyssey I will give you the match against me you’ve always deserved…”
Angel looks at his daughter again. Her cute little face and button nose.
”Like I said I don’t expect you to believe me. I plan to show you on Tuesday night. I’m a different man. A changed man. And whatever that mystery prize is, if I am lucky enough to win it with Nick Knight? I will cherish it like I should have cherished all the accomplishments of my past…”
“Today is a new day for me…”
“A day when I will chose to walk a different path…”
“I hope you all will eventually join me…”
End.
We’ve seen the room he is sat in before, the trophy room. The walls are adorned with more gold than actual paint. Pictures spanning decades with familiar faces and ones we wouldn’t recognize and in the middle of all this? Angel himself, sat in a somewhat fancy leather recliner with little Lilith bobbing up and down on his left leg.
Angel is without his face paint or his horrible glory, choosing to instead wear something more normal within the comfort of his own home. Black jeans, boots and a t-shirt with his pale painted visage on it. He looks around for several long moments, taking in all the memories as before he eyes settle back on you.
”I’ve been doing this for a long time…”
He gestures to the many accolades of his on the wall as well as Tara’s, their children have a wall dedicated to just themselves.
”I’ve done a lot of awful things to acquire all the trinkets you see before you…”
He takes in a long breath before continuing.
”Things a normal man with a normal mind would truly regret. Things so deplorable that a man with any real honor would probably take the cowards way out at the end of a rope. But I’m not a normal man…”
This admission seems to pain him a little bit.
”I’m far from it. As a child I was diagnosed with ADD and later with depression and anxiety. People younger than me may not know this but there wasn’t a little pill you could take to make it better back then. You were forced to see the school counselor every single day and point at a picture on the wall that described how you feel. Needless to say I always picked the angry face…”
He rolls his eyes at the almost caveman-like approach to mental health from his childhood.
”Of course this would cause the counselor to ask me what was making me angry. The answer was always my father…”
He pauses, old memories flooding in.
”He didn’t like the attention I was bringing him. He didn’t like the stories I was telling of my bloodied mother using me like a human shield while his fists sought to cave in a skull. He didn’t like that I was running my mouth…”
Lilith makes a little noise that gets Angel’s attention for a moment. He helps her to reposition and she continues her bouncing ways.
”I didn’t have a happy home life. I didn’t have a caring father figure to look up. I didn’t have a nurturing mother. I was an object in their abusive relationship only useful as a weapon to hurt the other. And more often than not I was the one taking the hits for my mother who was too frightened to stand up and just walk away…”
He looks down for a moment before looking up again.
”I blamed her for a long time. I blamed her for not being strong enough, for not caring enough, for not doing more to provide me with a decent childhood. As an adult I asked her why she stayed through everything and her answer was so simple that it made me even madder…”
“She loved him…”
“I hated that answer. I hated him even more for making her feel that way. How could someone so awful be deserving of another person's love? It drove me mad for a very long time. That thought kept me up at night. It haunted my dreams. It turned me into a very cruel person for a very long time…”
He lets out a long sigh.
”I tell you all this not for sympathy and not as an excuse. I tell you so that you will understand better. So that when I say this next part you will know it is coming from a place of honesty within me…”
“I want to be better…”
“I want to be better than him, than her, I want to raise my children better. I used to think the only way to survive in this world was by being the strongest. That’s how my father raised me. If you were going to survive you had to be better than everyone else around you. He taught me the weak were food meant to be eaten…”
He sort of smiles as Lilith turns to grab at him.
”But Pax showed me something last week. He taught me a lesson. A lesson I was ready to finally learn. I don’t have to be cruel. I don’t have to be vicious. I don’t have to be the villain…”
“I don’t have to be my father…”
“There are more ways to the top of our profession than the way I went. Pax showed me that when he defeated me clean in the middle of the ring. I have been doing things the wrong way for a very long time and now? Now I’m ready to let go of all the anger, the hatred, the rage ball I’ve buried deep down inside of myself…”
“I’m ready to be the person my children deserve. The one I desired…”
He looks at Lilith again who is just overjoyed by the one on one time.
”I don’t expect any of you to forgive me. Especially not Nick Knight or Nick Danger. I’ve made both of your lives a living hell in the recent and distant past. I went out of my way to torture you, maim you and treat you like otherwise worthless objects deserving of my fury…”
“I’d apologize but I know you wouldn’t believe me…”
“So instead I will say this. Tuesday night you’re going to see a different Angel Blake than you’ve ever seen before. There will be no malice behind my eyes, there will be no evil intent with my actions. I will step into that ring as determined as ever to win but once that closing bell is rung there will be no further action on my part…”
He sighs with resolution.
”Nick Knight. I know you see me as some corrupt God looking to run this business into the ground. I am not. I will prove it to you. I will earn your respect as a partner in this match and as a comrade in this profession. I have done truly awful things to you in the past and I wish I could take them back. I wish some sense had been knocked into me sooner. I wish we could have done things differently…”
“Nick Danger. I attacked you on more than one occasion. I tried to use you as a pawn in a war that was ultimately for nothing. I never gave you a second to give me the receipt I so rightly deserve. So Tuesday night? You get a free shot. Give me the biggest, baddest receipt the wrestling world has ever seen and I will take it on the chin before carrying on with the rest of the match. It’s the least I can do…”
“James Gilmore. Our history is storied. We’ve never been allies, we’ve never been friends, I don’t think we’ve ever even shared a room together without it ending in a fist fight. That being said, you’ve always respected me and my accomplishments. While you denounced my actions you would acknowledge my accomplishments. For that I thank you. When we step into the ring Tuesday on Odyssey I will give you the match against me you’ve always deserved…”
Angel looks at his daughter again. Her cute little face and button nose.
”Like I said I don’t expect you to believe me. I plan to show you on Tuesday night. I’m a different man. A changed man. And whatever that mystery prize is, if I am lucky enough to win it with Nick Knight? I will cherish it like I should have cherished all the accomplishments of my past…”
“Today is a new day for me…”
“A day when I will chose to walk a different path…”
“I hope you all will eventually join me…”
End.
Well howdy there pardner.