Post by Kaz on Jun 20, 2014 20:20:04 GMT -5
[Segment 1 – The Price We Pay]
Colin Marshall: Does everybody have a price? I mean, we all have a limit…but do we know when we’ve truly reached the end of that rope? Or are we just blindly following, without reason or rhyme?
I look around the room, trying to avoid Rabuele’s gaze. He had been staring at me…that disappointed look, that fucking look…ever since I arrived at his lavish penthouse in Sydney. He chatted with his group and every so often averted his stare to me. I instead looked out the penthouse window with my hands folded behind my back. I was staring at the Sydney harbor, the clear blue surf splashing against the yacht docks. The ocean offered a certain serenity that you couldn’t obtain with other means. With newfound tranquility, my mind began to wander, until I found myself in the coastal park I had become so accustomed to visiting.
Robert: It’s been a while since you visited your humble abode.
Colin Marshall: I need…advice…
Robert: That’s what I’m here for, idiot.
I laughed…the first time in a couple of days.
Colin Marshall: Do you think I’ve got myself in too deep here? I mean, Rabuele and his friends mean business. If something doesn’t turn in my match with Trinity against Sequitus…I don’t know what’s going to happen.
Robert: I have a hunch.
Colin Marshall: That’s reassuring.
Robert: It should be. I am your subconscious.
Colin Marshall: Not every subconscious thought is a good one. Sometimes I just wish I could rip this part of my brain out.
Robert: That…wouldn’t be good…for either of us.
Colin Marshall: Back on track, Robert. What the hell should I do?
Robert: You can win. Go out to that ring and give Sequitus a little taste of The Real Deal “Sex Appeal” ass whooping! You went out there and went to the limit with Diablo Calzone. He had to cheat to beat you. You can do this Colin. I have the utmost faith in you. You have grown so much in these last few months, both as a wrestler and a person. Don’t be afraid to accept help from Stacy Jones and Marinia Valdivia…speaking of…
My cheeks flared red. I avoided Robert’s soul piercing gaze. Like it mattered, he could read in to my every thought.
Colin Marshall: Please…don’t bring it up. I can’t afford to focus on that right now. I have to keep my head clear and concentrate on my match against Sequitus.
Robert smiled. Something so sincere I couldn’t help but smile back. He knew what…or should I say who…was on my mind.
Robert: Well, if you don’t want to talk about it…we won’t. What do you know about these guys in Sequitus?
I leaned against the tree and began messing around with leaves from a low hanging branch; crumpling them and tossing them to the side.
Colin Marshall: I feel like I know everything there is to know about Caliban, young, athletic, loud mouth…and drunk with power. He’s got these guys in Sequitus wrapped around his finger. Jordan Ciserano and “The Vine” Brent Alpine are his tag team partners in this match…but there are others who have fallen victim to his madmen conspiracy theories. He believes that the upper echelon in this business, Pantheon, control every move and action. He believes they hold the power to decide who moves forward in this business. He believes himself to be the one true victim of this machination. I guess he hasn’t accepted the fact that he’s just stuck in time.
Robert snorted a laugh back. I threw another leaf to the ground.
Colin Marshall: I mean, he can’t see the forest for the trees. If he could, just for once, pull his head out of his own ass, he would realize this. He would push himself to become better instead of screaming and crying about being held back. I came in and took Caliban to the brink. That was my first singles match against him in my two months as a wrestler in the WCF. He’s been here nearly a year and that was the best he could surmise. The Artful Dodger needs to seriously up his game, because this time around, I know what to expect from him this time around. He only saw half of my game.
Robert: But what about the other two, Jordan Ciserano and Brent Alpine?
Colin Marshall: Ciserano is a good kid. I had no quarrel with him going in to our People’s Championship contendership match, but he fired the first shot. I had to show him where he went wrong and I did just that. He learned what the bottom of a boot tasted like that evening, courtesy of The Real Deal. I beat the brakes off of him and it’s something I’m willing to do again and again and again…you get the point. That’s what The Real Deal does. That’s what The Real Deal will continue to do.
Robert: And Alpine?
Colin Marshall: I’ve never faced him personally, something I am very much looking forward to. He is the only one in Sequitus who might have hope, yet. I wouldn’t hold my breath though as he’s king of been going through an identity crisis lately and his pig pal was slaughtered before his very eyes, so he might be an emotional wreck going in to this one. Oh well, if he slips up, the people will realize why he changed his name from “The Shine” to “The Vine”. He knew when Colin Marshall walked in the doors that my Shine was just too bright. It blew his mind and he had to fake his own death just to hide that shame. When he came back, he was just a husk of his former self. He didn’t know which way was up and has yet to dig himself out of that hole. He might have just slipped in to his coffin with his decision to pledge allegiance to the Sequitus flag. The banner will be his undoing.
I held one last leaf in my hand. I looked at the beautiful figment of my imagination. My mind drifted…
Robert: Thinking about her?
I shot a furtive glance at Robert.
Colin Marshall: Get out of my head.
Robert: Can’t. It’s where I live.
Colin Marshall: I’ll get out my head, then. See you later, dick.
Robert: Mmmhmm…
[Segment 2 – Punk]
I was brought back in to reality as a firm, yet gentle, hand gripped my shoulder. I jolt but Rabuele’s reassuring voice coached me down.
Rabuele Picardos: Daydreaming, Colin?
Colin Marshall: Yeah…sorry.
Rabuele Picardos: Don’t apologize. Look, Colin, the others…they’re not too happy. I assured them that everything was going to be just fine this week. I can count on that right? You’re teaming with Trinity this week so you have two bona fide winners backing you up this week.
Colin Marshall: I’m happy to be teaming with them this week…but I don’t NEED them to win. I can prove myself on my own.
I heard laughter coming from behind Rabuele and myself. I turned my head and spotted Miguel Vibaros sitting with one leg cocked up on the edge of a fine oak desk. He continued laughing, until the sound of his voice began to annoy me.
Colin Marshall: You have something you want to tell me, Miguel?
He lifted himself up, using his arms to balance for a second before jumping off of the desk. He walked up to Rabuele and me, his arms crossed and his eyebrow cocked.
Miguel Vibaros: Yeah, I got something to say. I think you’re a puta que no puede ganar.
Rabuele Picardos: Cuide su boca, Miguel.
Colin Marshall: I don’t know what you’re saying, Miguel, but why don’t you be a man and say it to my face?
Miguel Vibaros: You’ve wasted a lot of my fucking money, kid. The only reason you’re not in a hole right now is because Rabuele has consistently saved your ass. You better treat this next match like it’s your last…because it very well could be.
Rabuele Picardos: Miguel, shut up!
Miguel turned red with anger. He turned quickly on the spot and headed towards the door. Before he left the room, he lashed out one last time.
Miguel Vibaros: Pedazo de mierda!
Colin Marshall: That one I knew!
He slammed the door shut, the walls shaking a little from the collusion.
Colin Marshall: He’s mad, huh?
If he wants to do something about it, I'll show him a thing or two.
Rabuele Picardos: I would be very careful with Miguel, Colin. He has a very short temper…you just witnessed firsthand.
Colin Marshall: I’m not scared of him.
Rabuele Picardos: It doesn’t matter if you’re scared. You’ll be careful with him, right son?
I looked at Rabuele, who beamed me a smile. I couldn’t help but smile back.
[Segment 3 – Sequiteers Unite Under False Flags]
The light barely illuminated this poor excuse of a room. I sat, thinking to myself, with Patrick sitting nearby. We had arrived at the Acer arena a few hours ago, but I hadn’t been able to open up and talk yet. The butterflies in my stomach were intense; fluttering around at a million miles an hour. I was beginning to the think about the consequences of my own actions. Here I am, blinded by dollar signs and living at the end of a short rope. I was thinking about what would happen if I didn’t win this match…but most importantly, I was thinking about her.
Patrick McCoy: You ok Colin?
Colin Marshall: No…no I’m not.
Patrick McCoy: What’s on your mind?
I hesitated, not really wanting to tell Patrick exactly what I was thinking about. Sequitus would now be my primary target.
Colin Marshall: It’s this match. I can’t stop thinking about the last time Caliban and I stepped in to the ring with each other. I took him to the limit. Me. The rookie. Caliban didn’t know what hit him that night. I maxed out Ciserano’s threshold too. He came in to that fight for blood…more specifically, mine. Everyone else was just a spoke on the wheel to that kid. I was the target for these guys.
Patrick McCoy: Why do you think that is?
Colin Marshall: It’s because, deep down, they know. They know what I’m capable of before I even step in to that ring with them. They didn’t realize that they were pushing themselves to the edge like that until the match was over. It’s because they knew they would have to step up to an even higher level than the one they’ve been performing at to even have a semblance of a chance at victory against me. Neither of them prevailed of course as my match with Caliban ended in a double count-out and Chelsea Black Armstrong retained her People’s Championship at Asesinato de Mayo in that five way ladder match.
Patrick McCoy: You didn’t win the People’s Championship either…
Colin Marshall: It’s because everyone was so focused on defeating The Real Deal that Chelsea Black Armstrong slipped through the cracks in that match. My hand was inches from the belt before she snuck up the ladder and tossed me to the side. You see, every once in a while, somebody walks through these doors and gives off a particular shine. That Shine puts a target on your back and everybody wants to be the one to shut the new blood down before time gets the best of them. They saw my shine and they knew that I was destined to be one of the greats. They knew that The Real Deal Colin Marshall was the future of this company. The sharks smelled the blood in the water and they just can’t wait to have a taste.
I think about the last few weeks, from my win against Terry Roberts, to my series of losses against Marina, to my most recent loss to Diablo Calzone. I was done being the whipping boy.
Colin Marshall: But, you know, eventually that Shine will illume. It will brighten these dark halls. Nobody wants to be the shadow cast in the corner. You see, Sequitus, this week when you step in to the ring with Colin Marshall, you step in to the ring with pure Shine. The WCF Galaxy has been waiting for somebody to come in and revitalize that warrior spirit that this company once held. It’s been slipping ever since the likes of Caliban, Jordan Ciserano, and “The Vine” Brent Alpine’s entrance music started blaring through the arena speakers. But don’t worry, The Trinity and I will put an end to this come Sunday. The fans in attendance, the ones at home, and every man and woman back stage will stand up and take notice. We will put an end to the heartache they have all but not felt. The Sequitus ship is sinking and Alpine jumped on it like a life raft in hopes it would carry him home.
Patrick McCoy: That’s what those who follow Caliban so blindly do. They flail until they can’t help but drown.
Colin Marshall: Exactly. And if they need a little push overboard, I’ll be right there to kick them over.
I leaned against the wall, reflecting on everything I had just said. Caliban, Ciserano, and Alpine will all have to be extremely careful this week and just lie in the bed they made for themselves.
