Post by Shelly Diamond on Mar 6, 2017 3:16:07 GMT
Two weeks ago.
Zasshu comes bursting through the curtain backstage only moments after walking out on his match against El Grande Malo. Laura Howlett is not far behind and she looks ready for a fight.
”AKIHIRO!”
She growls catching the attention of everyone backstage, most never having heard Zasshu’s real name before. The masked man stops but doesn’t turn, instead he takes a deep breath in preparation for this fight.
”WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?”
”That was me refusing to do your dirty work.”
She storms around him now defiantly stands in front of him, her eyes raging.
”Since when do you have a choice!?”
”SINCE TODAY!”
Everyone is stunned by the sudden out burst of the normally extremely reserved Zasshu, even Laura is taken back as she looks up into the burning eyes of her first client.
”I am DONE doing as I am told! You have Noah! You have Cable! You have your precious little money makers! You do not need me!”
He bends down to get right in her face.
”And I do not need you.”
With a firm hand placed on her shoulder he pushes her out of his path and toward the wall but Laura isn’t about to just sit back and let him speak to her that way as she blurts out.
”Who ever said I needed you!? I never needed you! You were just a means to an end! You’re nothing to me!”
Her face goes red as an apple she is so angry as he walks away.
”And Snart!? Without me you’ll never get your hands on Snart! Do you hear me Akihiro!? You’re NOTHING WITHOUT ME!!!”
He continues on his path, injured by the words but moving forward. He had stayed by her side for far too long. It was time to forge his own future.
”Dammit! Get back here! Do you hear me!? If you don’t get your ass back here right now then you’re done!!! GET BACK HERE!!!”
He doesn’t stop, he can’t stop and Laura knows this is the end and something about that thought frightens her. He helped get her to where she is just as much as she helped him and she knew that and now for the first time in a year she was looking at a future without the one person she could trust.
”Ahem…”
Laura jumps at the sound of a man clearing his throat and turns to see Malo standing there almost sad as he had witnessed the whole fight.
”It does not look to me like mi amigo is doing the listening to you, senorita.”
She just glares at him for several moments before just letting out a guttural scream.
”AHHHHH!!!!”
She storms past him purposefully hitting against Malo’s shoulder as she goes. He just watches still a little confused by everything that just happened but after a moment he runs off in the direction of his amigo, the masked man who refused to fight him.
Now.
Zasshu stands in the middle of a run down ring in the heart of Mexico City, to him this is a special place, it is where his training as a professional wrestler began. It seems like a life time ago. He wears a new mask and pants, the black replaced with white but still trimmed in gold.
”Two weeks ago I was tasked with ending the career of a good man.”
He pauses, reflecting on so many questionable actions he carried out in the name of Howlett.
”For the first time since I arrived in Imperial Wrestling I refused to carry out those orders. I looked across the ring and I saw a man who did not deserve what I was being asked to do. When we attacked Nighthawk I was able to rationalize it, when we attacked Steve Awesome I could justify it, there are many men we have attacked for Ms. Howlett and each one I was able to conjure an excuse for.”
“Save Malo.”
“He is a truly pure soul in an unpure world. A man not driven by selfish pride or egotism, he simply wishes to entertain the people who pay to see us. I remember a time when professional wrestling was a simple dream to me. I dreamed of stepping into a ring in front of any number of people and performing to my best ability with the hopes of earning their cheers.”
“Malo does this and he succeeds.”
“This sport means more to him than wins or championships, this sport means he gets to step into a ring and do what he loves in front of people who love it just as much as he does. When I look at him I don’t see a blind rookie who will do anything to make it or a jaded veteran striving to stay relevant. I see a man who is living his dream exactly the way I wished I could.”
“And I could not bring myself to end that dream.”
For a moment he looks regretful as he stares down at the mat but eventually his eyes turn back up to the camera.
”Simple regret will not make up for the things I have done and I will no longer make an excuse for them. I will simply issue an apology to the likes of Nighthawk, Steve Awesome, Jayson Matthews and the countless others I attacked in ignorance and hope that my future actions are enough to earn their respect.”
“There is another way and it is my hope to find that other way once again.”
“When I started out I was refused training in my home land, I traveled all the way to Mexico City from Tokyo and this ring I stand in today was the first ring I ever stood in. This ring is where I learned to run the ropes, where I learned the different variations of a wrist lock, where I learned to wrestle like the men I idolized as a child. The first time I stood in this ring it was with a blissful ignorance of the politics of this business. I stand once again in this ring hoping to attain a new awareness.”
“One does not need to be overly violent or dastardly to make it, one does not need to play the game to see success, one does not need to live the life Laura Howlett preaches to find satisfaction. I have watched good men break bad because of her machinations. I have seen those who have atoned give it all up for just another moment of glory. I have seen honorable men break their code just to be a champion.”
“I do not want to be one of those men.”
“I do not want to Spike Kane, Cable Arcane or Noah Field.”
“I do not want to lose my sense of self in order to quench a never ending thirst for glory. I simply wish to enjoy what it is I do, I simply wish to be the man I was raised to be and wrestle the best matches of my life every time I get into a ring.”
“I wish to be a good man.”
“Like Malo.”
There is another moment of regret but Zasshu pushes through it.
”I say all this because I want our opponents to know my mind set coming into this match. In the past I would be looking to hurt the Renegades or embarrass the Lost Boys but Monday Night I will not be looking to do either. I simply want to have a good match with a good man standing in my corner. I will do my absolute best to put on an excellent show and exceed the expectations of Malo. He sees us as the team to beat in Imperial Wrestling and I will strive to make his dream a reality.”
“We will be the Bueno Club and we will put on the match of our lives.”
“Renegades, Lost Boys, good luck.”
“The Future is Now.”
Fade to black.
Well howdy there pardner.