Post by Cable Arcane on Jun 27, 2013 19:54:31 GMT
I know what's expected of me. I know I'm supposed to hang my head in shame and swear up and down that next time I step into the ring with Lex Sense it will be different. I know I'm supposed to be disappointed in myself...
But I learned a long time ago you don't win every match...
You can't beat every opponent...
Tonight Lex Sense got the better of both of us and took home some extremely valuable points in the Heir the the Throne Tournament...
I'd congratulate him but I'm sure he could care less...
Fact is I've gotta keep my head, keep trying. Losses are going to happen and the only thing I can do is work harder next time. As long as I'm still breathing I'll always have a second chance to do better...
So that's what I'm going to do...
Get Better.
{ Gjenrei and Cable are backstage after the show has wrapped up. Gjenrei is wearing black running pants and a hoodie along with his trade mark mask, Cable has on a pair of jeans and a white shirt. The two of them start heading out of the arena, the awkward silence between them is obvious. They haven't really talked much since Falcon began prying into Gjenrei's personal life. }
"May I ask what's bothering you Cable?"
"Yeah, you can but you gotta answer me a question too."
{ Gjenrei stops, he'd not been looking forward to this day. The two men who are Honorbound face each other. }
"Who are you under that mask?"
"Who I was no longer matters."
"And that's what bothers me, Rei. I know absolutely nothing about you. We're supposed to be partners, Honorbound, like family and what do I know about you that the general public doesn't?"
{ Subtly Gjenrei looks away. }
"I know what you call yourself, that you wear that mask and why you fight but I know NOTHING else about you. Who you are? Where you come from? Nothing and it kind of bothers me, man. I just spent the last year of my life getting lead around by a man claiming to be my brother. You're kind of all I got..."
{ Cable hadn't really though of that last part until just now and it shows. }
"What about Abby?"
"... Her and I have been through a lot and it's going to take more than an apology to fix us."
{ Cable reaches out and touches Gjenrei on the shoulder, the masked man meets his gaze. }
"Look man, I need a brother right now more than I need a partner."
{ Gjenrei looks away again as Cable just shakes his head. He's frustrated but he knows no amount of pushing will make Gjenrei talk if he doesn't want to. Cable pulls his hand back and begins to walk away. Gjenrei looks up. }
".. I..."
{ Cable stops, slowly turning his head as Gjenrei sighs. }
"... What do you want to know?"
"Who was that women that gave you an envelope full of money for starters?"
{ Gjenrei looks down. }
"She's my mother..."
"But... She's... Well, she's white?"
{ Cable walks up to Gjenrei who just sighs again as he looks up at Cable. }
"I'm adopted... Like you..."
{ He doesn't say it but you can tell Cable is sorry he pushed so hard. Sorry that he forced this information from Gjenrei, but he had to. Falcon told them that they needed each other, that each of them had something the other lacked. At the time it didn't make any sense, but now? Cable was starting to understand. The two headed off down the hall way, another word was not spoken... }
There's a lot on the line this week when I step in the ring with Deathtrain, Mike Laszlo and Mike Machado. There's points to be earned, respect to be gained, each of us fighting to play catch up to the remarkably dominant monster that is Lex Sense...
All four of us are obviously looking to win...
All four of us want the points...
The Imperial Championship...
It's be stupid to say otherwise...
Thing is, none of us know who's going to win. Who has the best chance? Though I'm sure each of us will tell the people watching why we think we are the one who is good enough to go all the way and why each of our opponents isn't...
Honestly, we're all here for a reason...
The four of us earned our spots in this match by surviving the battle royal...
In a way we have already won...
We've got an opportunity that no one else in the company has. The four of us, all eight of us, we're fighting for a chance to become the first Imperial Champion. Regardless of what happens after ward, no one ever forgets the first...
A legacy we are all fighting for...
And only us...
That reason alone is why I can't stand here and tell you why I'm going to beat the men I'm facing. Each one is good in their own right...
From Deathrtain's brutality...
To Laszlo's anything goes drive to succeed...
To Machado's refusal to stay down no matter how much it hurts...
Each of us has something that put us head and shoulders above the rest. Each of us has already proved our worth inside that ring. Now each of us has to test our metal against each other until only one remains...
Something I'm looking forward too...
Unlike most people in IWF I can admit when I see talent...
I can admit when I see a challenge...
Each of you presents a challenge I'd love to try and overcome...
Deathtrain, while you cling to your inner darkness, we all know your heart is set firmly on beating the rest of us to near death while hoisting the Imperial Championship above your head. You're a sick, dangerous man. Someone with a lot in common with Lex Sense, the man who pinned me last week...
I'm not afraid of monsters, no matter how big or scary they may be. What I am afraid of, if you want me to be honest, is not moving forward. I push myself every single day of my life to get better and better and the day I can't do that, the day I am unable to better myself...
It's a day I don't want to live to see...
Something I'm sure Deathtrain would like to be the cause of. But here's the thing, DT, short of snapping my neck and killing me in the middle of that ring, I'm not going anywhere. You can beat me, bloody me, hurt me, I WILL keep getting back up and coming at you...
Thing is, as much as you'd like to have us believe you're capable of doing all these horrible things...
I'm not buying it...
I've looked into the cold black eyes of a devil capable of ending lives for the sake of his career, and you?
Aren't him...
Macahdo, I'm gonna admit, I made a pretty idiot mistake last week when I got you confused with Freakke...
Sorry about that...
Here's the thing, you are one of the most resilient son of a guns I have ever seen inside that ring. The amount of punishment you can withstand and still get up is amazing. It's almost not human...
Almost...
Thing is, you are human. You have limits. My job is figuring out what they are, exploiting them and doing what most people have had a hard time doing, laying you out and pinning your shoulders to the mat...
Sorry if that's anti climactic, I'm not into the whole maim and murder for fun thing...
I'm more of traditionalist...
I like to step inside that ring and see what I'm capable...
See how much I can handle...
Find my own limits and surpass them...
That's what I'm asking you to do this week, Mike. Because you're good, but good will only get you so far and I can tell by listening to you talk that you don't want to just be good. You want to be great. And to be great, truly great in a business dominated by Gods and Monsters, you need to be able to beat them...
Convincingly...
You have to be better than them...
That's why I'm here...
That's what I train for...
So when I hold that Imperial Championship people will know that I am the best the company has to offer. I didn't luck my way there. I didn't cheat my way to the top. I will have faced the best and beaten the best and I will have earned the title...
All I'm asking from you Mike is to dig down deep and give the greatest performance of your life...
You won't be getting anything less than that from me...
A lot of people around here don't like Mike Laszlo...
I can understand why...
You've got a chip on your shoulder, a well deserved chip...
Thing is, I'm not here to judge you on your past, the things you've done...
I'm here to wrestle you...
I've seen you in the ring, Mike, I can see the raw ability shining through the bravado and show boating. I see the damn talented wrestler underneath all the glitz and glamour. In my opinion, if you focused as much on your wrestling as you did on getting people to hate you, you'd probably be a little further along in your career...
But I'm not here to discuss that. I'm here to tell you why you're not going to beat me this Monday night. Why you don't have what it takes to pin Cable Arcane to the mat. Why you don't deserve that Imperial Championship as much as I do. That's what management wants me to talk about, it's what gets the ratings. And as fun as it'd be to spout off all the same tired tripe as everyone else is going to...
It wouldn't be the truth...
You deserve that belt as much as anyone, Mike...
Question is do you want as much as everyone?
Are you even capable of removing your hand from your own back long enough to stop stroking that ego and actually do everything in your power to win this match?
I don't know...
I'd like to think so...
I'm sure you would to...
So why not save me the tired cliches about what you will and won't do to be the best and actually BE the best...
Thing is boys, I don't want any shortcuts. I was trained by two of the most tested individuals on the entire planet. The hell each of them went through to build their legends is absolutely awe inspiring. My career, it's only just getting started, but my goal is to one day be remembered like Falcon, like Angel. To have earned the respect of the men who came before and the ones who will come after...
I want to wrestle the best, to beat the best, I want to know at the end of the day I gave every single ounce of my heart and soul to this business. I know it's an unforgiving mistress, I know it'll chew you up and spit you out, I know most men end up empty shells of their former selves...
Some men are weak and they give in to the fear that they will not be remembered...
Fear exists to be overcome...
Through willpower...
With honor...
I will overcome everything, anything and anyone IWF puts between me and the Imperial Championship...
With...
No mercy.
{ Cable sits across a table from Abby, her black hair pulled back into a pony tail, her eyes locked on the coffee cup before her. Cable nervously looks at her and then out the window. There are other patrons around them but most of the rest of scene is blurry, as if they are the only two people who exist on this plain. }
"Abby..."
"Look Cable, I told you about Angel because I still care about you. You were a big part of my life."
"You're a big part of mine..."
"But I don't think I could date you again."
"I'm not asking you too, I'm asking for a chance to earn your trust back. I'm asking you to not close the door on us completely..."
"Cable... You hurt me... Worse than anyone ever has before. I care about you, I do... I just don't know if I could ever give you another chance..."
{ Cable's head drops, Abby still hasn't met his gaze. Suddenly the scene around them comes abruptly into focus, the voices of the other patrons in the coffee shop flood your ears with commotion. Abby stands up, Cable looks at her pleadingly but she doesn't met his gaze. }
"Take care of yourself."
"Abby, wait..."
{ But she doesn't. She leaves him like he left her not so long ago. He sits there for a long time, his head in his hands as people come and go. Eventually someone sits down across from him. Cable doesn't need to look up to know who it is. }
"Let's get out of here."
{ A hand keeps the camera focused on the floor so that the face of the masked man known as Gjenrei is only known to Cable, who simply looks up and nods as our scene fades to black. }
But I learned a long time ago you don't win every match...
You can't beat every opponent...
Tonight Lex Sense got the better of both of us and took home some extremely valuable points in the Heir the the Throne Tournament...
I'd congratulate him but I'm sure he could care less...
Fact is I've gotta keep my head, keep trying. Losses are going to happen and the only thing I can do is work harder next time. As long as I'm still breathing I'll always have a second chance to do better...
So that's what I'm going to do...
Get Better.
{ Gjenrei and Cable are backstage after the show has wrapped up. Gjenrei is wearing black running pants and a hoodie along with his trade mark mask, Cable has on a pair of jeans and a white shirt. The two of them start heading out of the arena, the awkward silence between them is obvious. They haven't really talked much since Falcon began prying into Gjenrei's personal life. }
"May I ask what's bothering you Cable?"
"Yeah, you can but you gotta answer me a question too."
{ Gjenrei stops, he'd not been looking forward to this day. The two men who are Honorbound face each other. }
"Who are you under that mask?"
"Who I was no longer matters."
"And that's what bothers me, Rei. I know absolutely nothing about you. We're supposed to be partners, Honorbound, like family and what do I know about you that the general public doesn't?"
{ Subtly Gjenrei looks away. }
"I know what you call yourself, that you wear that mask and why you fight but I know NOTHING else about you. Who you are? Where you come from? Nothing and it kind of bothers me, man. I just spent the last year of my life getting lead around by a man claiming to be my brother. You're kind of all I got..."
{ Cable hadn't really though of that last part until just now and it shows. }
"What about Abby?"
"... Her and I have been through a lot and it's going to take more than an apology to fix us."
{ Cable reaches out and touches Gjenrei on the shoulder, the masked man meets his gaze. }
"Look man, I need a brother right now more than I need a partner."
{ Gjenrei looks away again as Cable just shakes his head. He's frustrated but he knows no amount of pushing will make Gjenrei talk if he doesn't want to. Cable pulls his hand back and begins to walk away. Gjenrei looks up. }
".. I..."
{ Cable stops, slowly turning his head as Gjenrei sighs. }
"... What do you want to know?"
"Who was that women that gave you an envelope full of money for starters?"
{ Gjenrei looks down. }
"She's my mother..."
"But... She's... Well, she's white?"
{ Cable walks up to Gjenrei who just sighs again as he looks up at Cable. }
"I'm adopted... Like you..."
{ He doesn't say it but you can tell Cable is sorry he pushed so hard. Sorry that he forced this information from Gjenrei, but he had to. Falcon told them that they needed each other, that each of them had something the other lacked. At the time it didn't make any sense, but now? Cable was starting to understand. The two headed off down the hall way, another word was not spoken... }
There's a lot on the line this week when I step in the ring with Deathtrain, Mike Laszlo and Mike Machado. There's points to be earned, respect to be gained, each of us fighting to play catch up to the remarkably dominant monster that is Lex Sense...
All four of us are obviously looking to win...
All four of us want the points...
The Imperial Championship...
It's be stupid to say otherwise...
Thing is, none of us know who's going to win. Who has the best chance? Though I'm sure each of us will tell the people watching why we think we are the one who is good enough to go all the way and why each of our opponents isn't...
Honestly, we're all here for a reason...
The four of us earned our spots in this match by surviving the battle royal...
In a way we have already won...
We've got an opportunity that no one else in the company has. The four of us, all eight of us, we're fighting for a chance to become the first Imperial Champion. Regardless of what happens after ward, no one ever forgets the first...
A legacy we are all fighting for...
And only us...
That reason alone is why I can't stand here and tell you why I'm going to beat the men I'm facing. Each one is good in their own right...
From Deathrtain's brutality...
To Laszlo's anything goes drive to succeed...
To Machado's refusal to stay down no matter how much it hurts...
Each of us has something that put us head and shoulders above the rest. Each of us has already proved our worth inside that ring. Now each of us has to test our metal against each other until only one remains...
Something I'm looking forward too...
Unlike most people in IWF I can admit when I see talent...
I can admit when I see a challenge...
Each of you presents a challenge I'd love to try and overcome...
Deathtrain, while you cling to your inner darkness, we all know your heart is set firmly on beating the rest of us to near death while hoisting the Imperial Championship above your head. You're a sick, dangerous man. Someone with a lot in common with Lex Sense, the man who pinned me last week...
I'm not afraid of monsters, no matter how big or scary they may be. What I am afraid of, if you want me to be honest, is not moving forward. I push myself every single day of my life to get better and better and the day I can't do that, the day I am unable to better myself...
It's a day I don't want to live to see...
Something I'm sure Deathtrain would like to be the cause of. But here's the thing, DT, short of snapping my neck and killing me in the middle of that ring, I'm not going anywhere. You can beat me, bloody me, hurt me, I WILL keep getting back up and coming at you...
Thing is, as much as you'd like to have us believe you're capable of doing all these horrible things...
I'm not buying it...
I've looked into the cold black eyes of a devil capable of ending lives for the sake of his career, and you?
Aren't him...
Macahdo, I'm gonna admit, I made a pretty idiot mistake last week when I got you confused with Freakke...
Sorry about that...
Here's the thing, you are one of the most resilient son of a guns I have ever seen inside that ring. The amount of punishment you can withstand and still get up is amazing. It's almost not human...
Almost...
Thing is, you are human. You have limits. My job is figuring out what they are, exploiting them and doing what most people have had a hard time doing, laying you out and pinning your shoulders to the mat...
Sorry if that's anti climactic, I'm not into the whole maim and murder for fun thing...
I'm more of traditionalist...
I like to step inside that ring and see what I'm capable...
See how much I can handle...
Find my own limits and surpass them...
That's what I'm asking you to do this week, Mike. Because you're good, but good will only get you so far and I can tell by listening to you talk that you don't want to just be good. You want to be great. And to be great, truly great in a business dominated by Gods and Monsters, you need to be able to beat them...
Convincingly...
You have to be better than them...
That's why I'm here...
That's what I train for...
So when I hold that Imperial Championship people will know that I am the best the company has to offer. I didn't luck my way there. I didn't cheat my way to the top. I will have faced the best and beaten the best and I will have earned the title...
All I'm asking from you Mike is to dig down deep and give the greatest performance of your life...
You won't be getting anything less than that from me...
A lot of people around here don't like Mike Laszlo...
I can understand why...
You've got a chip on your shoulder, a well deserved chip...
Thing is, I'm not here to judge you on your past, the things you've done...
I'm here to wrestle you...
I've seen you in the ring, Mike, I can see the raw ability shining through the bravado and show boating. I see the damn talented wrestler underneath all the glitz and glamour. In my opinion, if you focused as much on your wrestling as you did on getting people to hate you, you'd probably be a little further along in your career...
But I'm not here to discuss that. I'm here to tell you why you're not going to beat me this Monday night. Why you don't have what it takes to pin Cable Arcane to the mat. Why you don't deserve that Imperial Championship as much as I do. That's what management wants me to talk about, it's what gets the ratings. And as fun as it'd be to spout off all the same tired tripe as everyone else is going to...
It wouldn't be the truth...
You deserve that belt as much as anyone, Mike...
Question is do you want as much as everyone?
Are you even capable of removing your hand from your own back long enough to stop stroking that ego and actually do everything in your power to win this match?
I don't know...
I'd like to think so...
I'm sure you would to...
So why not save me the tired cliches about what you will and won't do to be the best and actually BE the best...
Thing is boys, I don't want any shortcuts. I was trained by two of the most tested individuals on the entire planet. The hell each of them went through to build their legends is absolutely awe inspiring. My career, it's only just getting started, but my goal is to one day be remembered like Falcon, like Angel. To have earned the respect of the men who came before and the ones who will come after...
I want to wrestle the best, to beat the best, I want to know at the end of the day I gave every single ounce of my heart and soul to this business. I know it's an unforgiving mistress, I know it'll chew you up and spit you out, I know most men end up empty shells of their former selves...
Some men are weak and they give in to the fear that they will not be remembered...
Fear exists to be overcome...
Through willpower...
With honor...
I will overcome everything, anything and anyone IWF puts between me and the Imperial Championship...
With...
No mercy.
{ Cable sits across a table from Abby, her black hair pulled back into a pony tail, her eyes locked on the coffee cup before her. Cable nervously looks at her and then out the window. There are other patrons around them but most of the rest of scene is blurry, as if they are the only two people who exist on this plain. }
"Abby..."
"Look Cable, I told you about Angel because I still care about you. You were a big part of my life."
"You're a big part of mine..."
"But I don't think I could date you again."
"I'm not asking you too, I'm asking for a chance to earn your trust back. I'm asking you to not close the door on us completely..."
"Cable... You hurt me... Worse than anyone ever has before. I care about you, I do... I just don't know if I could ever give you another chance..."
{ Cable's head drops, Abby still hasn't met his gaze. Suddenly the scene around them comes abruptly into focus, the voices of the other patrons in the coffee shop flood your ears with commotion. Abby stands up, Cable looks at her pleadingly but she doesn't met his gaze. }
"Take care of yourself."
"Abby, wait..."
{ But she doesn't. She leaves him like he left her not so long ago. He sits there for a long time, his head in his hands as people come and go. Eventually someone sits down across from him. Cable doesn't need to look up to know who it is. }
"Let's get out of here."
{ A hand keeps the camera focused on the floor so that the face of the masked man known as Gjenrei is only known to Cable, who simply looks up and nods as our scene fades to black. }
Well howdy there pardner.