Post by Shelly Diamond on Mar 24, 2016 15:14:44 GMT
It has been many years since I saw home and now I find myself on Roberto Verona’s private jet just minutes from landing in Tokyo. Laura Howlett sat smugly besides me sipping on a dry martini with a look of utter satisfaction spread across her immaculate face, myself? I simply sat in the overly large red leather chair looking straight ahead, focusing on my next opponent…
”Tell me again what we are doing here the week of High Stakes? I have training I need to be doing.”
She sighs and places the glass down on the table between us.
”For the tenth time, Mr. Verona has chosen us as his international ambassadors to Japan, he’d like to hold one of our major pay per view events in the Tokyo Dome, that requires smoothing some palms and kissing some asses.”
”I have better things to be doing than sucking up to stuck old business men.”
”As do I but if you want to be the face of the company someday then you have to take the good days with the bad.”
Contented with her response, she took up her drink again, I only sighed.
”Tell me, Akhiro, what’s really bothering you?”
She grinned from ear to ear waiting for me to pour my heart out to her but Laura is nothing more than a predator, albeit, a useful one but you never show a predator your weaknesses.
”Tell me again what we are doing here the week of High Stakes? I have training I need to be doing.”
She sighs and places the glass down on the table between us.
”For the tenth time, Mr. Verona has chosen us as his international ambassadors to Japan, he’d like to hold one of our major pay per view events in the Tokyo Dome, that requires smoothing some palms and kissing some asses.”
”I have better things to be doing than sucking up to stuck old business men.”
”As do I but if you want to be the face of the company someday then you have to take the good days with the bad.”
Contented with her response, she took up her drink again, I only sighed.
”Tell me, Akhiro, what’s really bothering you?”
She grinned from ear to ear waiting for me to pour my heart out to her but Laura is nothing more than a predator, albeit, a useful one but you never show a predator your weaknesses.
”I simply wish to be training.”
”Soon enough, this meeting will only take a few hours, you’ll do a meet and greet with some fans and then we are right back on the jet and on our way to High Stakes.”
”Not soon enough.”
The seconds passed like minutes, the minutes passed like hours, the hours passed like days but eventually this little lesson in corporate futility came to an end and we found ourselves once more in the air port on our way to Mr. Verona’s private jet but a voice caught my attention bringing me to a full stop.
”Akhiro.”
”Father.”
I slowly turned to face my father, his face more wrinkled than I remember and his dark hair now thinning and fading grey.
”Ah, Akhiro’s father, I’m so pleased to meet you, my name is-“
”Silence.”
Laura shot me a glare powerful enough to bring down a lion but I kept my eyes on my Father’s.
”My son, when you left us it was with honor, dignity, you stuck out on your own to become a man.”
”Yes Father and-“
”But I have watched you my son and what I have seen is a man without honor, without dignity, a man willing to hurt his co workers.”
”Father-“
His hand came sharp against my face, the leather of my mask offering little protection.
”I raised my boy to be a man. Whatever you are I do not know but you are not the boy I raised. You are not my son.”
He turned from me coldly, his shoes clacking against the tiled floor as he marched away.
”I see now why you didn’t want to come home…”
”Come, we are done here.”
I turned back toward the terminal, the sting still present on my face but it did not compare to the one I felt in my chest…
”Derek Brooks.”
Laura spoke with a sarcastic tone in her voice, her arms crossed over her baby blue business suit with a smile on her ruby red lips.
”Greatness? I don’t think so.”
She almost laughed at the implication of this man’s self given nickname.
”No because Greatness would mean you’ve done something, been someone, stepped into the ring with some of the best the industry has ever seen and defeated them but that doesn’t fit the bill at all with you, Brooks. No, you’re not Greatness as you like to proclaim, you’re not even great. You’re an over grown child spewing immature insults at your opponents, I’m just waiting for you to cut an entire promo on a twenty year old ‘Your Mama’ joke.”
She looks to me, my Man of Steel Championship and then back to the camera with a grin.
”This man, MY CLIENT, the Man of Steel Champion, he’s GREATNESS. He’s the future of this industry. He’s defeated Warren Kane, the only two time Invictus Champion, son of a legend, he’s defeated Rob Diamond, the former Man of Steel Champion, undefeated tag team champion and constant thorn in the side of Roberto Verona. He’s stepped into the ring with some of the best in the business today and defeated them.”
“He’s GREATNESS”
“And you would do well to take a lesson or two from him because this week you step into the ring with what you claim to be and no amount of living out one of your disgusting womanizing fantasies is going to change what’s going to happen inside of that steel cage.”
“My client will be victorious.”
Her smug smirk becomes a sneer.
”You see Brooks, my client has made a career on being cold, calculated and dangerous. He never takes a risk without first determining it’s benefits. He moves inside that cage with a fluidity and a poise unlike anyone who has come before him. He is a true professional wrestler where as you are just a hulking mass of dick jokes and shattered dreams.”
“It was football that you failed at, am I correct?”
“Ah yes, your passion, your life’s dreams, all ripped away from you in a single injury. Bashed against the rocks like the skulls of so many Native American children during this countries ‘Wild West.’ So now you’re a professional wrestler, or at least you’re playing the part of one. Doing your best to cling to some glimmer of the fame you believe you were robbed of but the problem is you’re stepping inside a steel cage with my client and all your dreams of glory are about to become nightmares.”
She presents me proudly again, the title glistening around my waist.
”My client doesn’t care about your past or your future, he doesn’t care about your hopes and dreams, he doesn’t care about whatever childish insult you’re going to sling his way. He cares only about the championship wrapped proudly around his waist. He cares about the ring, the cage surrounding it and the business he grew up loving and respecting. He cares about stepping in the ring and hurting the people who would try to take what it is his.”
“That’s you, Brooks.”
“You’re not stepping into the ring with an abortion of professional wrestling like Alex Jones or an embarrassment like Ryan Shane, you’re stepping in there with a man who has made his career on hurting people. A man who has lived up to every word he has ever uttered and surpassed every expectation of him. I’m sure when you look at my client you see a man half your size and weight that you’ll be able to just throw around as you see fit but you’d be mistaken, Brooks. My client won’t even so much as break a sweet tearing you apart.”
She looks to me now as I unstrap the Man of Steel Championship and sling it over my bare shoulder.
”Mr. Brooks, this not the sport you love, nor is it the passion that burns inside of you. This sport is merely a distraction for you. A distraction from the painful reminder of your failed football career. I almost feel sorry for you Mr. Brooks, sorry that instead of living out your dream on the grid iron you have to step into the ring with me where you will discover just how out matched you are.”
With cold eyes I look into the lens, knowing he is eating up every word, planning his kindergarten response with glee.
”I did not chose this profession as a back up plan, this was not a job I pulled from a hat nor is it something I just fell into. Professional wrestling is something I have worked for my entire life, across the entire planet. I have worked for little more than a meal in front of a half dozen fans to working for a six figure deal in front of millions. I did not get here on based on luck or look, I got her based on my raw talent and ability.”
“I fought my way here.”
“I broke and disposed of all those who have stepped before me. Everyone who has tried to fell me has themselves fallen and everyone who has stepped into the ring with me will live the rest of their lives with a slight ringing in their ear, a reminder of the pain that I can cause. So ask yourself, Mr. Brooks, before you carefully construct another one liner, if this sport is something you actually want to be doing?”
“Is it worth dying for?”
“I know when I look in your eyes that you long for the field of green, basking in the memory of your better days, hoping that one day you will wake up and feel for the wrestling ring what you felt for the football field but the day will never come. You were not made for this business, you were not made for this sport and while your size and wit will get you passed most it will get you nowhere with me.”
“I would die for professional wrestling.”
“She is my love, my passion, my mistress. She is the only thing in this world that truly matters to me anymore so when I say I will die for her then you must also know that I would kill for her. Kill to protect her from the grubby little fingers of petulant children who only care about the Greatness she offers.”
Anger rises in my voice as I continue.
”Men like you do not care about the grimy under belly of professional wrestling, her dark side, where the weak are fed to the strong. You do not love her wrinkles, her foibles, all the coy little things that make this business the only thing I ever want to do for the rest of my life. You crave her spot light, her warmth but you are not willing to crawl through the muck with the rest of us to earn it and that is why when we step inside of the steel cage I will rip her from you just as football was ripped from you.”
“I will leave you another broken man in my wake.”
Laura steps forward again, beautiful as ever.
”My client isn’t just going to beat you, Brooks, he’s going to hurt, he’s going to break you. He’s going to absolutely destroy you because that’s what he does. That’s who he is. He’s the Future of Professional Wrestling, the Future of Imperial Wrestling, he is everything you could never be and he is going to teach you that one deliciously painful kick to the head at a time.”
“So please, ‘entertain’ us with some sexist remarks about me, ‘wow’ us with racist remarks about my client, ‘dazzle’ us with your verbal immaturity and know that once you’re inside the cage with Zasshu he is going to shut you up.”
“Permanently”
“And painfully.”
She snorts with a condescending laugh as I speak for the last time.
”Fear the Future.”
Our scene fades away as I prepare myself to kill another dream.