Post by Cable Arcane on Jun 3, 2013 18:54:07 GMT
I've always hated looking him in his cold black unnerving eyes. When he looks at you it's as if he's looking straight into your soul and judging what he sees there. However one cannot simply look away. There is something about his eyes, the way he looks at you that draws your gaze. You have no other choice but to look the devil right in his face...
Everyday after we finished training he would pull me aside as Gjenrei would take his leave. Everyday he would demand I give him whatever I had left to give. Everyday, as I lay almost lifeless on the mat he would ask me why I wanted to wear that mask...
Why did I want to be the next Gjenrei?
As I struggled to breath, looking for the best answer, the right answer, I would choke out...
Because I hate the monster you made me.
He would laugh right in my face at that statement. Laugh at the evil he made me do. Laugh at what he tried to turn me into. He would laugh until I wanted to snap his neck, had I the strength to stand I probably would have. His laughter would ring in my ears and he would pull me to my feet. He would pat me ever so delicately on the back and he would tell me...
A mask wouldn't change what I am.
And then he would leave me there in the ring. Alone I would think about his words, his actions, how everything he has done has pushed me further, harder, made me into something stronger than I was before. I hated him at the time, parts of me still do, but it's hard to ignore the good it has done...
What it has turned me into...
"Honor means a lot of things to a lot of people."
A man of honor. A man who knows what he fights for. A man who stands before you inside an old ring, ready to go to war.
"To some it simply means shaking hands before and a after match and giving a little bit of respect. To others it means something more, something deeper. A lot of you like to sit there on your self constructed pedestals of ego and judge my partner and I by what you think we stand for. I'm here to tell you that things aren't as easy as you'd like them to be, it's not just black and white, good and evil. Honor is more complicated than a hand shake."
My arms lean over the top of the rope as I scoff at all of the ridiculous statements that have been thrown our way, each more asinine than the last.
"Honor is what this sport, all sports, entire countries, empires and kingdoms were founded on. Whole cultures once based their entire way of life on honor. Honor isn't simply a word to be thrown around. HonorBound isn't just some gimmick to get us television time. If I simply wanted to be on television I'd cut promos from a circus or a candle lit basement or a grave yard. I'd dress in all black or flamboyant pink and talk about blood and guts and molesting dead bodies. If seeing my face everywhere I go was all I wanted I could think of a better way to accomplish that goal then having honor as my gimmick."
I feel my own cold gaze reflecting back at me from a mirror behind the man with the camera.
"Honor is a way of life."
A way of life several of my opponents claim to embrace. I laugh.
"It's more than a ridiculous suit of armor and a samurai sword. It's more than an "X" on your wrist tape. It's not just a name but who we are. HonorBound. We honor our ideals, our craft, our skill, some may call it pride but pride is to egotistical of a word. We honor what we do. We're not here for all the simple reasons, we are here for the simplest of reasons, for the honor of facing the best the world has to offer. Once, ncw was considered the best. IWF bought the best. So here we are to put our skills to the test against the best and see how far our honor takes us."
I pace the ring, not taking pride in my words but honoring the meaning behind them.
"I could stand here all day and speak to you about what honor means to me but I know full well it will fall on deaf ears. Most of you have made your decision already about who we are, the rest don't care enough to bother. For those careless enough to assume, men like Bushido, who think they know what true honor is, what it means to us, they will learn the hard way exactly how wrong they are. Bushido's known history alone speaks volumes about what he knows of honor. He was a part of a team most men considered a joke, he betrayed his partner for selfish reasons and in the end he couldn't even give his partner the honor of a true wrestling match. The disfigurement of his partner's face is the physical embodiment of the dishonor Bushido holds in his heart."
Finding the thought and words distasteful, I spit on the floor.
"It's fortunate for me that I'm not here to entertain you Bushido, otherwise your opinion on what Gjenrei and I stand for might actually matter to me. The simple fact is I'm not here to earn nor do I want or care for your respect. You are the kind of man whose moral code can be disposed of when it's no longer handy and then washed off once more when you see fit. You disgust me Bushido and nothing would bring me more pleasure this week then kicking your teeth straight into the back of your throat before choking you the hell out!"
Slightly frustrated, I crack my neck.
"As for the rest of you, Alex Jones, Ryan Shane, John Rherring, the expectation is for me to run each of your names through the mud. To stand here, a man only in his second IWF match whom none of you have even heard of before this company opened it's doors, and to tell you why I can and will overcome all three of you systematically and win this match. Heh."
I shake my head.
"Sounds pretty boring if you ask me. Look, I'm not here to do what's expected of me. Whether you love or hate me isn't something I'm going to lose any sleep over. And as for your respect? That's something I will either earn or take in the ring so I'm not going to waste my breathe demanding it. Unlike Bushido, none of you claim to live by a lie. Each of you stands on your own two feet, on your own legacies, ready to go to war for the things you believe in. Your ideals are more than leafs lost to the wind. You're men looking to do what each of you love and that is more than enough for me to look forward to facing you."
I hold up my index finger for a moment.
"But don't mistake my respect for fear. Fear is an emotion that one can choose to feel and fall victim to or one can choose to overcome it. I have dedicated my life to overcoming fear in all it's forms. So while I may respect you all, I do not fear a single one of you. Regardless of the demons you've faced or the monsters you've beaten because not a one of you has ever... Beaten... Me."
I only half laugh as I drop my hand back onto the rope. I lean forward, getting a closer look at the camera.
"There is one other man I would like to address directly, one other man who deserves my complete and total attention... Gjenrei."
Flashes of the only other time we've faced off against each other, truly fought each other come to mind like a twisted picture show... The night one of us attained their new identity...
"I want you to listen to me very closely my friend."
Slowly the camera approaches me as I look down.
"Good luck."
My words are coated with the slightest bit of malice. I can't help but feel resentful of the man who beat me to wear that mask...
My "brother" mocked my quest for redemption. A quest that I had convinced myself would end once I put on the mask and became the new Gjenrei. I fought with everything I had in me. Every single ounce of my heart, my soul and still my partner defeated me in the center of the ring...
My quest seemed over...
Lost...
Everything I had convinced myself I needed to survive had been taken from me and I had lost it all...
That's when he came. He sat down next to me, put his arm on my shoulder and told me redemption cannot be achieved, it has to be earned. I have to earn it. I have to look myself in the mirror and forgive what I had done. Let it go. And only then could I become the man I wanted to be...
As I stand in this ring toady, looking at the camera looking back at me, those words ring true in my ears... However I can't help but feel a need to see if the tables have turned... To see who is better.
"You're my partner. Your're my friend. Together we are HonorBound... But between those ropes, you know better than anyone that I will have No Mercy."
I drop down and roll out of the ring under the bottom rope, palming the camera as I go. I head toward the back of this old gym, ready to train when a familiar voice rings out and catches me off guard.
"Cable?"
It can't be... I turn around expecting to see nothing, a phantom of my past who lives only in my head... Expecting or hoping... Either way I was wrong. She stood there in the center of the Gym, Abigail Holland, the woman who's heart I've broken more than once.
"Abby?"
The camera turns to get a look at her but I grab the lens and point it to the ground.
"Turn that damn camera off!"
*Static*
Everyday after we finished training he would pull me aside as Gjenrei would take his leave. Everyday he would demand I give him whatever I had left to give. Everyday, as I lay almost lifeless on the mat he would ask me why I wanted to wear that mask...
Why did I want to be the next Gjenrei?
As I struggled to breath, looking for the best answer, the right answer, I would choke out...
Because I hate the monster you made me.
He would laugh right in my face at that statement. Laugh at the evil he made me do. Laugh at what he tried to turn me into. He would laugh until I wanted to snap his neck, had I the strength to stand I probably would have. His laughter would ring in my ears and he would pull me to my feet. He would pat me ever so delicately on the back and he would tell me...
A mask wouldn't change what I am.
And then he would leave me there in the ring. Alone I would think about his words, his actions, how everything he has done has pushed me further, harder, made me into something stronger than I was before. I hated him at the time, parts of me still do, but it's hard to ignore the good it has done...
What it has turned me into...
"Honor means a lot of things to a lot of people."
A man of honor. A man who knows what he fights for. A man who stands before you inside an old ring, ready to go to war.
"To some it simply means shaking hands before and a after match and giving a little bit of respect. To others it means something more, something deeper. A lot of you like to sit there on your self constructed pedestals of ego and judge my partner and I by what you think we stand for. I'm here to tell you that things aren't as easy as you'd like them to be, it's not just black and white, good and evil. Honor is more complicated than a hand shake."
My arms lean over the top of the rope as I scoff at all of the ridiculous statements that have been thrown our way, each more asinine than the last.
"Honor is what this sport, all sports, entire countries, empires and kingdoms were founded on. Whole cultures once based their entire way of life on honor. Honor isn't simply a word to be thrown around. HonorBound isn't just some gimmick to get us television time. If I simply wanted to be on television I'd cut promos from a circus or a candle lit basement or a grave yard. I'd dress in all black or flamboyant pink and talk about blood and guts and molesting dead bodies. If seeing my face everywhere I go was all I wanted I could think of a better way to accomplish that goal then having honor as my gimmick."
I feel my own cold gaze reflecting back at me from a mirror behind the man with the camera.
"Honor is a way of life."
A way of life several of my opponents claim to embrace. I laugh.
"It's more than a ridiculous suit of armor and a samurai sword. It's more than an "X" on your wrist tape. It's not just a name but who we are. HonorBound. We honor our ideals, our craft, our skill, some may call it pride but pride is to egotistical of a word. We honor what we do. We're not here for all the simple reasons, we are here for the simplest of reasons, for the honor of facing the best the world has to offer. Once, ncw was considered the best. IWF bought the best. So here we are to put our skills to the test against the best and see how far our honor takes us."
I pace the ring, not taking pride in my words but honoring the meaning behind them.
"I could stand here all day and speak to you about what honor means to me but I know full well it will fall on deaf ears. Most of you have made your decision already about who we are, the rest don't care enough to bother. For those careless enough to assume, men like Bushido, who think they know what true honor is, what it means to us, they will learn the hard way exactly how wrong they are. Bushido's known history alone speaks volumes about what he knows of honor. He was a part of a team most men considered a joke, he betrayed his partner for selfish reasons and in the end he couldn't even give his partner the honor of a true wrestling match. The disfigurement of his partner's face is the physical embodiment of the dishonor Bushido holds in his heart."
Finding the thought and words distasteful, I spit on the floor.
"It's fortunate for me that I'm not here to entertain you Bushido, otherwise your opinion on what Gjenrei and I stand for might actually matter to me. The simple fact is I'm not here to earn nor do I want or care for your respect. You are the kind of man whose moral code can be disposed of when it's no longer handy and then washed off once more when you see fit. You disgust me Bushido and nothing would bring me more pleasure this week then kicking your teeth straight into the back of your throat before choking you the hell out!"
Slightly frustrated, I crack my neck.
"As for the rest of you, Alex Jones, Ryan Shane, John Rherring, the expectation is for me to run each of your names through the mud. To stand here, a man only in his second IWF match whom none of you have even heard of before this company opened it's doors, and to tell you why I can and will overcome all three of you systematically and win this match. Heh."
I shake my head.
"Sounds pretty boring if you ask me. Look, I'm not here to do what's expected of me. Whether you love or hate me isn't something I'm going to lose any sleep over. And as for your respect? That's something I will either earn or take in the ring so I'm not going to waste my breathe demanding it. Unlike Bushido, none of you claim to live by a lie. Each of you stands on your own two feet, on your own legacies, ready to go to war for the things you believe in. Your ideals are more than leafs lost to the wind. You're men looking to do what each of you love and that is more than enough for me to look forward to facing you."
I hold up my index finger for a moment.
"But don't mistake my respect for fear. Fear is an emotion that one can choose to feel and fall victim to or one can choose to overcome it. I have dedicated my life to overcoming fear in all it's forms. So while I may respect you all, I do not fear a single one of you. Regardless of the demons you've faced or the monsters you've beaten because not a one of you has ever... Beaten... Me."
I only half laugh as I drop my hand back onto the rope. I lean forward, getting a closer look at the camera.
"There is one other man I would like to address directly, one other man who deserves my complete and total attention... Gjenrei."
Flashes of the only other time we've faced off against each other, truly fought each other come to mind like a twisted picture show... The night one of us attained their new identity...
"I want you to listen to me very closely my friend."
Slowly the camera approaches me as I look down.
"Good luck."
My words are coated with the slightest bit of malice. I can't help but feel resentful of the man who beat me to wear that mask...
My "brother" mocked my quest for redemption. A quest that I had convinced myself would end once I put on the mask and became the new Gjenrei. I fought with everything I had in me. Every single ounce of my heart, my soul and still my partner defeated me in the center of the ring...
My quest seemed over...
Lost...
Everything I had convinced myself I needed to survive had been taken from me and I had lost it all...
That's when he came. He sat down next to me, put his arm on my shoulder and told me redemption cannot be achieved, it has to be earned. I have to earn it. I have to look myself in the mirror and forgive what I had done. Let it go. And only then could I become the man I wanted to be...
As I stand in this ring toady, looking at the camera looking back at me, those words ring true in my ears... However I can't help but feel a need to see if the tables have turned... To see who is better.
"You're my partner. Your're my friend. Together we are HonorBound... But between those ropes, you know better than anyone that I will have No Mercy."
I drop down and roll out of the ring under the bottom rope, palming the camera as I go. I head toward the back of this old gym, ready to train when a familiar voice rings out and catches me off guard.
"Cable?"
It can't be... I turn around expecting to see nothing, a phantom of my past who lives only in my head... Expecting or hoping... Either way I was wrong. She stood there in the center of the Gym, Abigail Holland, the woman who's heart I've broken more than once.
"Abby?"
The camera turns to get a look at her but I grab the lens and point it to the ground.
"Turn that damn camera off!"
*Static*
Well howdy there pardner.