Post by Cable Arcane on Jun 14, 2013 12:44:28 GMT
My brother is a lot of things to a lot of people...
A man...
A myth...
A monster...
One thing he isn't is hard to find...
Today he's at his school, he and Falcon, working over the newest batch of students to hand over their life savings for a snowball's chance in hell of making it to a company like IWF. Normally I try to stay reserved, keep my ego in check, but today?
Not today.
I throw the door of the school wide open, it slams against the wall. Everyone turns to look at me, to see the fire in my eyes, everyone but my brother. He simply stands there, his arms crossed, his face barely covered by his hair as he stands in the ring, a small smirk on his face. I storm across the school, brushing past any who get between him and me. I roll in under the bottom rope and grab him by the shoulder.
"You son of a bitch!"
I spin him around and with every thing I've got a drive my right hand into his face and send the devil, the monster, the man down onto his ass.
"YOU LIED TO ME!"
His only response is a grin, a grin I'd love to tear off his face.
"You told me you were my brother. You told me we were family. YOU LIED!"
Angel begins to get up but I push him back down.
"NO! You stay down there or so help me-"
"So help you what?"
"I'll end you."
"I find that hard to believe."
He nods his head slightly and before I know it I'm surrounded by a group of his students, each of them ready to die for their teacher. Angel stands up behind them, grinning.
"I am retired, brother, so if it is a fight you want there are plenty here who would love to fight."
"You're not my brother."
"Really now and what makes you say that?"
"Abby..."
He laughs.
"Abby... I always hated that girl. Listen to me, brother."
"I am not your brother."
"I am afraid you are, Cable, whether you care to believe it or not. If you were not my brother could you have done all those terrible things you did in RPW?"
"Shut up."
"You, me, our family. We are all monsters, Cable. Each one of us. I have done some things I am not proud of in the name of this business, but I did them without regret, just like you. Just like when you burned a man's business to the ground. Stalked a man's family. Did everything you could to ruin someones life."
"Shut up!"
"We are the same."
"You made me do those things!"
"We are monsters!"
"NO!!!!"
I turn and level one of the students, then another and another. They become a blur of flesh and blood as I drop one after the other on their asses until there is only him. Us. Staring at each other in the center of this ring. His grin hasn't left his face.
"You made me a monster!"
His sick laugh is his only response.
"You tried to make me like you!"
"No Cable, I am afraid you are wrong. I did not hold your hand as you struck the match. I did nothing but guide the loaded gun, you pulled the trigger."
I'm not like you... I'm not a monster..."
"Face it brother."
He reaches for me with his talon, his claw, his hoof and puts it on my shoulder.
"We are the same."
I look him right in his black eyes.
"No... We aren't."
Slowly I back up, only now do I realize what I've done. Bodies lay all around me, small pools of blood trickling from wounds on their faces. I did this. I lost control. I did something... Monstrous... I see Falcon in the corner of the room, his jaw dropped, horrified by what he sees. I stumble as I back out of the ring... Out of the school... Just out...
I have to get out...
"I am not a monster..."
I say to myself for probably the hundredth time today.
"I am not like my brother..."
Is he my brother?
"I am a man with honor..."
I wasn't always.
"A man fighting to retain his honor..."
Am I winning?
"Fighting for redemption..."
Can I be saved?
"When I think about wrestling, the match, the opponents, I feel my heart pump, my blood rush. I feel my mouth water at the thought of taking another living being and breaking them down to the point of being unable to even breath without the aid of a machine..."
What's wrong with me?
"I think about how easy it would be to let myself go. To give up control over my destiny and just be...
A man...
A myth...
A monster...
One thing he isn't is hard to find...
Today he's at his school, he and Falcon, working over the newest batch of students to hand over their life savings for a snowball's chance in hell of making it to a company like IWF. Normally I try to stay reserved, keep my ego in check, but today?
Not today.
I throw the door of the school wide open, it slams against the wall. Everyone turns to look at me, to see the fire in my eyes, everyone but my brother. He simply stands there, his arms crossed, his face barely covered by his hair as he stands in the ring, a small smirk on his face. I storm across the school, brushing past any who get between him and me. I roll in under the bottom rope and grab him by the shoulder.
"You son of a bitch!"
I spin him around and with every thing I've got a drive my right hand into his face and send the devil, the monster, the man down onto his ass.
"YOU LIED TO ME!"
His only response is a grin, a grin I'd love to tear off his face.
"You told me you were my brother. You told me we were family. YOU LIED!"
Angel begins to get up but I push him back down.
"NO! You stay down there or so help me-"
"So help you what?"
"I'll end you."
"I find that hard to believe."
He nods his head slightly and before I know it I'm surrounded by a group of his students, each of them ready to die for their teacher. Angel stands up behind them, grinning.
"I am retired, brother, so if it is a fight you want there are plenty here who would love to fight."
"You're not my brother."
"Really now and what makes you say that?"
"Abby..."
He laughs.
"Abby... I always hated that girl. Listen to me, brother."
"I am not your brother."
"I am afraid you are, Cable, whether you care to believe it or not. If you were not my brother could you have done all those terrible things you did in RPW?"
"Shut up."
"You, me, our family. We are all monsters, Cable. Each one of us. I have done some things I am not proud of in the name of this business, but I did them without regret, just like you. Just like when you burned a man's business to the ground. Stalked a man's family. Did everything you could to ruin someones life."
"Shut up!"
"We are the same."
"You made me do those things!"
"We are monsters!"
"NO!!!!"
I turn and level one of the students, then another and another. They become a blur of flesh and blood as I drop one after the other on their asses until there is only him. Us. Staring at each other in the center of this ring. His grin hasn't left his face.
"You made me a monster!"
His sick laugh is his only response.
"You tried to make me like you!"
"No Cable, I am afraid you are wrong. I did not hold your hand as you struck the match. I did nothing but guide the loaded gun, you pulled the trigger."
I'm not like you... I'm not a monster..."
"Face it brother."
He reaches for me with his talon, his claw, his hoof and puts it on my shoulder.
"We are the same."
I look him right in his black eyes.
"No... We aren't."
Slowly I back up, only now do I realize what I've done. Bodies lay all around me, small pools of blood trickling from wounds on their faces. I did this. I lost control. I did something... Monstrous... I see Falcon in the corner of the room, his jaw dropped, horrified by what he sees. I stumble as I back out of the ring... Out of the school... Just out...
I have to get out...
"I am not a monster..."
I say to myself for probably the hundredth time today.
"I am not like my brother..."
Is he my brother?
"I am a man with honor..."
I wasn't always.
"A man fighting to retain his honor..."
Am I winning?
"Fighting for redemption..."
Can I be saved?
"When I think about wrestling, the match, the opponents, I feel my heart pump, my blood rush. I feel my mouth water at the thought of taking another living being and breaking them down to the point of being unable to even breath without the aid of a machine..."
What's wrong with me?
"I think about how easy it would be to let myself go. To give up control over my destiny and just be...
Am I evil?
"A monster."
Is my brother the devil?
"But that would be too easy. There would be no honor, no respect in that. People do not respect what they fear, they only fear it and that isn't good enough for me. I don't want a legacy built on top of the corpses of my falling victims. I want a legend built on top of my perseverance, determination, on top of my honor. I want people to look back on my time in wrestling and see something truly great..."
If he is, what does that make me?
"I don't want them to see a nightmare."
I'm stronger than this...
"My life has been filled with two things, mistakes and second chances. When I came into this business I made a mistake. I allowed myself to become a monster. I allowed my mind to get all twisted around and believe in something I'm not. I failed... IWF is my second chance. HonorBound is my second chance. I don't want to be hated, disrespected, feared. I don't want to have to absolutely kill myself with barbed wire and steel chairs and blood to get to the top of this company. I want to wrestle. I want to take the hard road and earn each victory, each loss, I want to push myself above and beyond everything I ever was and become everything I ever hoped to be..."
I'm not a monster...
"I've got two chances this Sunday. Two shots at redemption. The first comes in the way of the tag team title match, I've already talked about that. The second is the Battle Royale for a chance to fight for the Imperial Title. I can't sit here and say I'm going to tear through the competition and become the first Imperial Champion. No one can honestly say that. What I will say is you don't have to fear me. You don't have to worry about me trying to end your stories while I write my own. You don't have to worry about Angel's little brother becoming a monster just like him..."
I'm not Angel...
"Because in the end, monsters always lose... Always... Monsters take the easy road, forsaking everything that makes them human, vulnerable, and they end their stories sad, alone and defeated. Monsters never have a happy ending. They never have legacies. They are always, ALWAYS a part of someone else's legacy. The monster at the end of the story who the hero has to overcome and always does... Because good... Because fighting for what you believe in... Fighting with honor... I stronger than fear. Man has evolved to adapt, built by god or whomever to overcome the horrors that this life can throw at him. Monsters aren't an exception..."
I'm Cable Arcane.
"So no, you don't have to fear me this Sunday...
And that will mean something after Sunday.
"But you will come to respect me."
No Mercy.
Well howdy there pardner.