Stories.

[Sabin / Madjinn]

You hear the faint whispers in the air…mere murmurs of hundreds of overlapping voices, each one attempting to share their story with whoever will listen. The imagery fades into place. The path is covered with decaying leaves and broken branches and twigs, the leaves on the trees so thick that the light cannot fully penetrate…the roots dig beneath the ground, stretching for miles for however long the forest should choose. The Aokigahara Forest.

The murmuring continues even as the leaves littered on the path crunch beneath the feet of a lone soul willing to enter the realm of the dead; he ventures further and further into the forest, his hands tucked into his jacket pockets and his pants tucked into his hiking boots – a pink beanie adorning the top of his head, and he pivots on his heels to glance back at the camera behind him with a smirk on his face and his golden eyes, despite the lack of sunlight, still glimmering…he takes a couple of steps backward, before cupping one hand around his ear and closing his eyes to listen to the whispers. Drawing in a deep breath, he gives a subtle nod as if understanding what one, or even several of the voices were saying, and re-opens his eyes before finally breaking his own silence, and the sound of his voice silences the spirits.

“The traitor…” Madjinn says with a wicked smile.

“There are many reasons that people may have found themselves within this–” he holds his arms out, gesturing to the forest he stands in, “–hallowed ground. Every single person that has come to become a part of the legend has had a story to share, and there are a great many who could tell you the story of…betrayal…” He says whilst narrowing his eyes on the camera.

The piercing gaze remains whilst he tilts his head from one side to the other; he opens his mouth as if to speak, but holds his tongue for a moment longer before finally resuming his speech, “I could share with these spirits the story of your betrayal. The story about how you became so– consumed, and so desperate with your obsession to prove… to prove that you could stand on your own, that you betrayed every single person that has had your back! Y’see, this is a story that we’re going to tell time after time after time, and people are going to get sick of it. We–” he presses his hand to his chest, “–are going to get sick of it, and we are never going to forget… Even when I still stand as your brother, and you stand as mine, there is going to be that glint at the corner of my eye every fucking time I look at you, and I’m going to remember how you were willing to throw it all way all for a chance to prove yourself.” He sneers.

Taking in a deep breath, Madjinn’s gaze finally falters away from the audience and looks in no particular direction, just away, while pondering the situation and dilemma.

“But it’s fair to say that our family has always had this obsession, this necessity to be the best that the industry has to offer…even before you knew who your father was, you had to know it was eating away at you, that it was calling to you: you needed to be better than everyone else! Just like me…” his gaze falters to the ground, and his lips curl into a grin knowing that he could not deny it to himself that he knew he had the same need.

“I had to be better than everybody else! I had to put myself above everybody else, and– the betrayer…” Madjinn turns his head slightly back toward the audience, “I don’t blame you at all.”

Licking his lips, he takes a step forward, “How many of the spirits residing in this forest can admit that to themselves? How many of them have felt the sting of betrayal, and are too ashamed to admit that the only reason they are here, and the other is not, is because the other was just quicker on the draw?! Y’see, brother, I told you last week, and I’m going to tell you again: THIS IS MY STORY! This is MY TIME! I’ve been saying for a while now that I was going to do anything… I was going to do everything to take my place back at the top of this company, and I was going to do everything to stand back as the IWF Men’s World Champion, and if that means that I have to stab you in the back… Then I damn well am going to do it.” He states boldly.

“I’m going to get into the ring with you, and I’m going to love you in the same way that you share your love with me… In the only way that our family knows how. I am going to beat you to a bloody pulp! I am going to inflict as much pain and punishment as I can on you, until you are lying in the center of the ring, in a pool of your own blood, and you just see those lights overhead–” he raises a hand up as if to put the lights on display, “–and you are going to know deep down in your soul that there is nothing you can do this week to stop me from doing everything I have to do to walk out as the winner of this match! To walk into the finals of Heir to the Throne for the third year in a row, and this time? WIN THE WHOLE GODDAMN THING! But…” he holds a finger up in protest to himself, and licks his lips before continuing.

“I think you know that. I think you know that there isn’t anything you can do to stop me, ‘cause the last couple of times that we were in the ring with each other…” he chuckles, “Let’s be honest: YOU COULDN’T STOP ME! I– stopped– you. I saved Father from you, and stopped you and that sack of shit from beating us on the grandest stage of them all. Y’see, we can talk all we want about our back and forth– we can talk about how you handed me my first loss, we can talk about how you have beaten me the majority of the times that we’ve been in the ring with each other, but the last time that we were in the ring with each other– truly– in the ring with each other… you couldn’t stop me! Not when I teamed with Father, not when I teamed with Brandy! You couldn’t stop me! And now you just… can’t.” He exclaims with a confident and arrogant smirk on his face.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time… Or at least, I have been waiting for this for a long time, and I’m sure there’s that part of you that wants to get in the ring with me this week and dig deep… tell yourself that you have something to prove! Because it’s going to be something to prove to be what carries you…it’s going to be something to prove to give you that fighting chance. But you fight, Dean, you fight as hard as you can every single time that we get into the ring with each other… and more often than not, you walk out with your arm raised. More often than not, the books recognize you as– the winner, but the truth is that you are much closer to the rest of the people who have given everything they could to walk out with their arm raised, and now, Dean… you know what you have to do to beat me.”

He takes a momentary pause, flashing a smirk at the camera whilst allowing ample time for Dean Harper, who he was sure was watching, to think about what he has to do. A low chuckle escapes from under his lips, and he continues, “You have to do everything– you have to break your body to put me out for a three count. You have to take every part of your spirit to put me down! You have to give absolutely everything you can muster… everything that has taken you to the world championship, everything that allowed you to defeat Father, everything– and more… Y’see, it was my goal, Dean, to be the first person to ever make you tap out. To be the first person to ever make you admit that you were not going to win… But you bestowed that to Warren, and not simply as a gift, but because you just– were not good enough to win that night, and you aren’t good enough to win. You don’t have it in you!” He sucks in air through his teeth, hissing it back out as he shakes his head in disgust.

“Y’see, I saw your eyes, Dean. I mean, I truly saw your eyes a couple weeks ago when it was revealed what you did to The Murder, and more specifically, what you did to Rowan… Tláa would be proud of you,” he says with a quick smile, “but I saw that little hesitation… That little spark where you felt the need to explain your actions, and do you know what that makes me think, Dean? It makes me think–” he scoffs, “No… It makes me KNOW that you are not the monster you claim to be! You are not the bloodthirsty, violent motherfucker who is going to be able to take me to the limits inside of the ring because you are going to do what I will never do, and that’s HESITATE! DEAN! When we get into the ring this Tuesday, look– in– my– eyes…” He says while pointing two of his fingers to his eyes.

“I am not holding back. I am not giving you mercy. I am going to get into the ring with you with one thing in mind: taking your blood! Winning Heir to the Throne! But– unlike you, Dean– I’m not going to betray you. I’m not going to stab you in the back, Dean. Now– don’t get me wrong… If you were standing between me and that title, and the only choice I had was to stab you in the back, there won’t be any hesitation… but it’s not what I have to do this week.”

He bites down on his bottom lip, and cocks his head to the side, “I get to look you in the eyes… I get to stand across from you in front of all of these people, and I get to finally– FINALLY– show everyone that I am just that much better than you. That– when it comes to this whole little sibling rivalry we have going on, there was never any true competition. The reason you held what you did for as long as you did was because THEY allowed it! THEY told me not to! But now THEY are not telling me what to do, and that’s exactly what you wanted, right? You wanted me to– stop listening to them… You wanted to rebel. You wanted me to rebel with you.”

He hunches forward, and claps his hands together a single time, then rubs his palms together, “Brother– Dean– you are good. You have given many people in this company reason to remember your name. You have done what few other people have been able to do! You have been– tremendous… But everything you are. Everything you do. I’m better. I always have been. I always will be. And come this Tuesday, I think you just need to admit that to yourself– and step the fuck aside to let me do what you will never be able to do. Snuff out the Kane bloodline. Forever.”

He snickers, and looks away as the scenery fades to black.