Post by Kaz on Jun 24, 2014 21:11:01 GMT -5
[Segment 1 – Mark My Words, or I’ll Take Over This World]
I sat alone with my thoughts, my hands shaking uncontrollably. I held them up in front of my face to try and maintain some form of poise. Sykes had picked me up outside of my apartment in Texas at about eight. I didn’t know what this meet was about but judging from how my meeting with Rabuele and Miguel ended in Sydney, I didn’t have a good feeling about it. I gaze out of the moving vehicle at the passing surroundings, enveloping them all in to my brain. The clear blue Texas sky was serene today…fucking Texas weather. Would be beautiful on what could be my last day of my life. The trees swayed kindly with the breeze, like the beach giving way for the surf.
Sykes: So…what are your plans for your match against Waylon Cash and Marina Valdivia at Blast?
I looked at Sykes with a cocked eyebrow, to which he shook his head in disbelief.
Sykes: So you don’t have a plan?
Colin Marshall: I thought I was about to get executed, so excuse the fuck out of me for not looking forward to the immediate future.
Sykes chuckled in his own way, which was just kind of a low guttural throat laugh.
Sykes: If I was going to kill you, you would already be dead, kid.
My vision wandered back out the window, staring at the sun setting in the rear view mirror. We had been driving for nearly an hour now and the destination still wasn’t clear to me. I began to think about my opponents for my upcoming Wildcard Title Contendership match at Blast against SPAC’s Waylon Cash and Trinity’s Marina Valdivia.
Marina Valdivia was a tough competitor in herself, already defeating me in both of the matches we’ve had against each other…but to have Waylon Cash in this one as well? He was in the running for the World Championship just a few months ago. He took Orbit to the limit in those matches and got inside of his head on multiple occasions, even going so far as to hack in to the WCF.com archives and declare himself WCF Heavyweight Champion. After being on hiatus for the past few weeks, he would be looking to come back hungry for glory.
I couldn’t forget about Marina either…no matter how hard I’ve been trying for the past few days. We were, in all sense of the word, kindred spirits. She helped me realize what errors could cloud my judgment before it was too late. She had already been down this dark path and wanted to save others from themselves too. Luckily, her cries didn’t fall on deaf ears. I took the message in, drinking it up like a potion that would cure the disease in the mind of a sick man. She gave me newfound life in the WCF, a new challenge to rise up and meet each day, something that I intended to do.
I come back to as the SUV starts slowing down a dirt path. At the end was a double wide trailer illuminated with two neon lights outside. One read Miller Lite and the other was Budweiser. Sykes turns the key in the ignition and the engine dies out. The door to the double wide flew open and two men come stumbling out, both holding bottles in their hands. They stand there for a second before the strike of a lighter flash and the cherries on their cigarettes burn bright in the darkness. Sykes opens his door and steps out of the car. I followed suit quickly but still not really knowing the purpose of this backwoods visit. Sykes brushed past the two men standing on the extended deck and flung the door open. A cloud of smoke billowed out; dingy with just a tinge of regret.
Sykes: Be cool.
I shuddered when my mind wandered to what “Be Cool” meant when you were about to order a drink at midnight in the middle of the woods. We sat at the “bar” which was just a high table with tall stools that had all the upholstery long since torn away. Sykes ordered a Maker’s tall and I asked the barman what beer they had.
Bartender: We got Miller and we got Budweiser…
I shrugged, passing on the beer and going straight for the double whiskey as well. The bartender poured us two glasses of warm whiskey and went back to his conversation with a patron on the other end of the table. I began to look around at the other inhabitants of the bar. Six men sat around a card table playing a hand of poker. Two of them had cigarettes hanging from their lips and they all laughed like a group of hyenas. Sykes tapped my shoulder and began speaking under his breath to me.
Sykes: Those of some of Waylon Cash’s followers…men who fly his and Scott Savage’s SPAC flag. They believe they hold the power to reserve judgment, avenging things they deem wrong in a manner least fitting. They have gone to terroristic levels to follow in Waylon Cash’s footsteps. Now, Rabuele has contacts and these people told Rabuele that these six men all robbed a bank together. They blew the side of the building off with C4 explosives, killing nine people. Three of them were children, Colin! All in the name of the Savage Political Action Committee! What justice is that? Why did those children deserve to die? Now look at these guys, spending that blood money on here on meth and hooch!
I began to feel my blood boil over. The anger inside of me was beginning to whet my appetite.
Sykes: In about twenty seconds, they’re going to come over here wanting to fight. We’re going to kick the living shit out of them. Are you in?
Colin Marshall: Yeah, I’m in. How can you guarantee twenty seconds?
As I said that, Sykes lifted both my glass and his off the table and threw at the guys sitting around the card table. One shattered against the back of one of the guy’s head. He stood, instantly enraged and the six men crossed the room. One of them, wearing a straw cowboy hat and a button up shirt with the sleeves cut off, stood in the forefront. I was face to face with him as he stood at about my height. A pungent waft of dip and Jack Daniel’s forces me to crinkle my nose and edge away from the guy.
(SPAC Follower’s) Leader: Which the fuck one of ya’ threw that shit?
Colin and Sykes: I did!
The simultaneous answer pissed the guys off more. One man lunged but the short one in the straw hat stopped him with one arm gently placed upon his chest. The hold he had over these other five guys was clear.
(SPAC Follower’s) Leader: An’ what’s to stop me from lettin’ go of Dread Tiny here and lettin’ him fuckin’ kill ya’?
Colin Marshall: It’s because you’re afraid.
The leader clinched his jaw, clearly showing more signs of anger. He kept his arm on Dread Tiny’s chest, holding the beast at bay.
(SPAC Follower’s) Leader: How do ya’ figure, bud?
Colin Marshall: I figure guys like you and Waylon Cash are a dime a dozen…I’m counting six of you right now. You’re all bark and no bite, a venomless snake. You coil to attack, but you won’t pull the trigger because the truth is…you’re more afraid of me than we are of you. You’re prey pretending to be a predator, picking on those you deem weaker than yourself. I’m not weaker than you. I’m stronger in every avenue. You all want to stand back, waiting to unleash the beast outside or the monster inside but you’re too afraid to stand up and do what needs to be done. Waylon proved this when he tried to get inside of Steve Orbit’s head. He scratched the surface but he couldn’t finish the job, proving he was barely ready for that kind of success again. The only thing that held Waylon Cash back was Waylon Cash. Now you all fight for him and you have no idea why.
The leader’s hand slowly lowered off of Dread Tiny’s chest. He smirked, showing half a mouth full of missing teeth. He pointed his grimy hands at us, signaling the other five to attack. Dread Tiny pushed ahead first but Sykes put him out quickly with one hard right hook to the Dread’s face. He fell over, crushing a table under his weight. Two of them charged me and I ducked underneath their arm. I rolled through the gap and came up behind the leader. I saw Sykes’ grab the warm bottle of Maker’s Mark off the table and smash it over one of their heads, leaving him with two more to handle. The leader and the last lackey stood close by to me. The lackey charged first and took a swing. I grabbed his hand by the wrist and ducked forward, oscillating my leg. It connected with his face and knocked him to his ass as he bled from his face and mouth. He put a hand to his face and I rounded on the leader, who stared at me with a knife in his hand. He smiled, waving it back and forth like a madman. He whistled as he closed the distance between the two of us. He charged one last time and I took a huge stride to the right, side stepping the attack and ending up behind him yet again. I lunged and my foot connected hard to his back. He hit the wall and crashed through the cheap materials, ending up outside of the building in the tall brush and gravel.
Colin Marshall: (Voiceover) Just like I thought, a dime a dozen. Not to downplay my opponent, Waylon Cash. I’ll be taking on an established badass in Waylon being a three time tag team champion, one time Television Champion, and former WCF Heavyweight Champion. He has an impeccably hand-picked brigade of friends including Seifer Black Armstrong, People’s Champion Chelsea Black Armstrong, Television Champion John Gable, and manager Scott Savage all with star-studded backgrounds of their own. But that will just make this win over him so much sweeter. Sure, I have friends…but I don’t need them to be my safety net. I don’t need someone to nurture me, to tell me everything is ok. I just need to win. To prove to myself that I have what it takes to accomplish the goal I set for my life. I have to be a champion.
I jumped through the gap in the wall, picking the man up by the scruff of his shirt. I pressed him up against the wall and got extremely close to his face.
Colin Marshall: You’re just a coward. You hide behind your friends and try to take what doesn’t belong to you. You’re just a terrorist, hiding behind bombs to drive the masses in to fear. I’m not scared of people like you! In fact, this fight came out of nowhere, but I stepped up to the challenge almost immediately. You want to know why?
The man didn’t answer but instead gasped for air and tried not to vomit every ounce of liquor he consumed.
Colin Marshall: It’s because guys like you and Cash will always exist; the kind of guys who will try to use fear to combat their own fear. The fear they hold deep down, the fear of losing themselves. You might have never known who you were to begin with.
I smashed my fist in to his face, knocking him back down to the ground. He lied on the ground, his awkward breaths shooting dirt mixed with spit flying in front of his face. I walked around the trailer as Sykes came walking out the front door, nursing what looked like injured ribs. The two men standing out front had just lit fresh smokes and it looked like they were too wasted to even know what happened inside and out of this fucking dirty trailer park bar. Sykes reached up and grabbed both of the guy’s cigarettes directly from their mouths. Whenever I closed the distance between Sykes and myself, he handed me one of the cigs.
Colin Marshall: I don’t smoke.
Sykes spat out a mouthful of blood and took a drag from his cigarette.
Sykes: Me neither.
Sykes exhaled the drag as he spoke the words.
Sykes: You good?
I felt around, forgetting that I hadn’t actually been touched during that brawl.
Colin Marshall: Yeah man…not a scratch,
Sykes: No shit? There may be hope for you yet, young Padiwan.
Colin Marshall: Man, shut up…nerd references don’t suit you.
Sykes: And getting in bar fights in the middle of the woods is Colin Marshall standard?
Colin Marshall: Fair enough.
I sat there, inhaling this garbage excuse for an addiction, sucking in every sweet second of it.
[Segment 2 – No Fear No Negativity Worldwide]
My phone buzzed constantly, the texts between Patrick and I flowing furiously.
Patrick McCoy: So, Wildcard Title Contendership match at Blast?
Colin Marshall: You know it! Marina Valdivia and Waylon Cash are my opponents this week.
Patrick McCoy: Dude, weren’t you just teaming with Marina last week?
Colin Marshall: You know how it is. We’re both hungry. This match, if anything, will just strengthen our bond as friends…if she even considers me that. I don’t know. I have some ground to make up in that relationship.
Patrick McCoy: Yeah…you were kind of an asshole too her after your first match. You’re lucky she didn’t just ignore you in to obscurity.
Colin Marshall: She wouldn’t do that. She has this way about her…I don’t know, this unrelenting ability to stay positive in the most adverse situations. When I was stalking her Twitter feed after our first match, I sat there like an angry kid thinking about just what in the hell I was going to write to her.
Patrick McCoy: You never told me that…
Colin Marshall: I don’t normally talk about these kinds of things, man, you know that. But…like I was saying, I just sat there and pondered and the best I could surmise was “You better watch your back girl. I’m better than you and I just slipped up”. At first, I was just so angry at her you know? It was all her fault and I had nothing to do with my own failures. It’s so much easier to blame somebody else for your shortcomings…but I can’t just see it that way, no matter how much I wanted to. But in our second match…something changed. After she cut her promo that week, she had my questioning my own self. She had me questioning if I really was The Real Deal or if I was the only one buying what I was selling.
Patrick McCoy: Calm down, that’s like 2 pages of texts. I think that’s called “Delusions of Grandeur” dude.
Colin Marshall: Well, what I’m trying to say is I know that I had a lot of my own problems to work out with that. Marina is a tough competitor and she deserves every last ounce of respect that she’s earned. I know that I have my work cut out for me again with her and I know the fact that we were teammates last week won’t be a distraction for her. I can’t let it be a distraction for me either. We’re both hungry…But I want it more. She wants #JustOneShot but I need it!
A group of girls pass by. Being in the area that Blast would be taking place in the next few days, the WCF Galaxy was moving around town. These girls all had one thing in common and that was that they were all wearing Trinity shirts; Marina and Stacy in the forefront and a smaller capture of Tayla in the background. On the back, their mantra #NoFearNoNegativity was plastered with a smaller Trinity logo underneath. I stood up and walked over to the group, hailing them as they walked by.
Colin Marshall: HEY!
They turned and looked, confused at first but after a few seconds it caught their attention who I was and they came rushing over.
Fangirl: Oh, it’s Colin Marshall!
I began to blush. I haven’t had a big time fangirl rush like this since I started the WCF. It felt good to be recognized in public now; I felt less like just another spoke on the wheel.
Fangirl: Oh no! You and Marina have to fight each other this week with that nasty Waylon Cash! I think you and Marina are so cute together!
Colin Marshall: Hey, take it easy!
I laughed, showing the girls I didn’t mean to be hostile with the comment.
Colin Marshall: Marina and I are just friends! I hope…Anyways, are you girls psyched for this weekend? I know I’m ready to have another roof raising match with Marina Valdivia. Adding Waylon Cash in to the mix is just propulsion for me to the future! If I win this match, I’ll be on my way to the United States Championship or the Television Championship!
The girls all began to laugh, holding their programs and bags up to their faces to hide it. I must have looked confused because one of the girls spoke up.
Fangirl: No offense…but I don’t think you can pull this one off, Colin.
My heart sank like a stone.
Fangirl: We all think Marina will pull it out. She just has that fire, Colin. She has the momentum and the drive. You’re good…but you’re not that good. The Diamond Starlet is our favorite and she will definitely be our next Television or United States Champion!
The girls all squealed with joy. They then began to shove their programs in my face, asking for an autograph. Not really wanting to disappoint the fans, I began to sign away. I grabbed the first program and stared it down. There were captures featuring all the matches on the Blast card. In the forefront was Steve Orbit and Jayson Price in Pantheon Lumberjack Match. In the background was most of the WCF roster with matches taking place that night…but they had left out the Shine. They had left out The Real Deal. A river of doubt inside me began working my stone heart like a machine. I signed the programs, each one chipping away at the rock of self-confidence deep inside me. After I was finished, the girls all wished me good luck and turned off in the direction they were originally headed. I began to walk the opposite direction, letting my crippling fears and doubts take me away.
Colin Marshall: (Voiceover) These doubts always have a way to rear their ugly head. I mean…they were always there but I never usually let them get to me. It wasn’t until I heard it out loud just now that it really became tangible that I wasn’t meant for this shit…
Robert: (Voiceover) Colin…are you serious? You’re going to let some fourteen year old school girl crumble that wall you’ve been trying to rebuild?
Colin Marshall: (Voiceover) It’s not just her…there’s others too. The naysayers are real. They’re everywhere Robert.
Robert: (Voiceover) They’re always going to be there, Colin. It’s not about proving the naysayers right…it’s about constantly proving them wrong. You set out the challenges for yourself. Well, sometimes others come up with a way to challenge you, whether you know it or not. It’s about stepping up to the plate Colin. If you can take a triple teaming from some crusty rednecks in a dingy bar, you can go out there to that Blast ring and show them what The Real Deal “Sex Appeal” is all about.
With the words from my subconscious, my warrior spirit was revitalized. I began to walk down the street, my chest jutted and my head held high.
Colin Marshall: (Voiceover) You always have such a way with words, you know?
Robert: (Voiceover) Subconscious baaaaaaby.
Colin Marshall: (Voiceover) Marina, I’m sorry that I have to cut your championship dreams short. I know you want just one shot but I have to be the one to take that away from you. If this means you’ll hate me forever, then that’s just a risk I’ll have to take. Our friendship is important but I have dreams and ambitions, something that I know for a fact you understand. My dreams are large and in charge. I HAVE to win this match to prove everybody wrong. I don’t want to be the underdog but there are so many cynics and pessimists that don’t believe it will happen that it not only WILL happen, but it HAS to happen. I’ll come in like the dark horse in this Wildcard match and show the WCF Galaxy that to underestimate me would be unwise. That’s what being The Real Deal is all about.
I felt that river of doubt flowing yet. But each wave that crashed in to it polished the stone until it was Shining bright.
[Segment 3 – Shoot For The Stars]
I sat in my shared locker room, telling some of the other superstars good luck before their matches began. I had an interview scheduled with Hank Brown before the show started to be aired before my Wildcard Contendership Match but he seemed to be running a little late. I had already gotten dressed in to my ring gear and I began to lace up my boots.
Colin Marshall: (Voiceover) This is it. Tonight is the night that will separate me from the herd. The Shining Star that sticks out from the stock; the diamond in the rough (ALADDIN BITCH)! I reflected on my match strategy. I knew that this match will be a knockdown drag out fight and I would have to be prepared to give it my all tonight.
I had just finished pulling the kickpads over when Hank Brown came bumbling in to the locker room, cameraman in tow. He appeared to be out of breath but otherwise in good shape.
Hank Brown: Hey Colin! You ready to get this interview started? I have about thirty more interviews to do tonight.
I shook off the remaining doubts in my mind as Hank signaled for the cameras to start rolling.
Hank Brown: Hello WCF Galaxy! I’m here with “The Real Deal” Colin Marshall, a man who has had his share of heartache since he joined the WCF. Tonight, he takes place in what could possibly be the most deciding match of his career as he faces off against The Trinity’s Marina Valdivia and Waylon Cash of the Savage Political Action Committee for just a chance at a title. Colin, what are your thoughts on this match up?
Colin Marshall: Underdog. The dark horse. We’ve heard all the names…but they all mean the exact same thing; Colin Marshall is not going to win this match. Do you know how sweet these words are to my ears Hank? Do you know how hard you work when absolutely nobody believes in you? They just set the stage for the biggest upset of the year and the man taking center stage…is yours truly, The Real Deal Colin Marshall. I have literally tripled my training this week. I can’t afford to lose any more matches on a personal and professional level. My opponents this week, Marina and Waylon, will just have to get over the fact that this match will propel Colin Marshall to the title picture. My intention is not to shame them, no. My ambitions and goals just outweigh any personal feelings I have, good or bad, heading in to this match. Marina and I are friends. Waylon and I barely know each other. After this match, we’ll all know each other pretty fucking well.
Hank Brown: Waylon Cash was a former WCF Heavyweight Champion and Marina Valdivia is another star quickly ascending the ranks. If you score the win in this prolific match, you could just prove yourself as a serious competitor in this company. At most, you’ll certainly raise some eyebrows.
Colin Marshall: If I score a win over Waylon, I’ll have just put down one of the most dangerous men on this roster. If I pin Marina Valdivia, I put myself back on the map as someone not too be taken lightly. Either way, this match is a win-win for Colin Marshall. I know that these two have more people behind them, ready to cheer them to victory. I’ve seen the signs “If Marina loses, we riot” and “All Hail the HELLBILLLY!” But you see, it’s not about who’s got what behind them. It’s all about what you have inside yourself. Don’t mistake this for arrogance but I’m going to outshine both of my opponents this weekend and you can take that for fact! To recant what I said last week, Colin Marshall is sick of going through the motions! I’m ready to fight for what I deserve. Anybody that gets in the way, friend or foe, is going to have to taste the business end of my boot. By the end of this match, I’ll be the breakout star and there will be no doubt that The Real Deal is open for business.
Hank Brown: Some strong words from Colin Marshall, The Diamond in the Rough. If you win tonight, you’ll be in line for any non-world title shot of your choice. Any idea which championship you’ll want to go out for?
Colin Marshall: There are a lot of options, but I really think the two titles I have in mind are the United States Championship or the Television Championship. The one thing that all the greats in this business had in common was that they all held one of those two belts in their careers. One thing I’ve learned is that you have to learn to walk before you run in this company and one of these two belts will skyrocket my career to the places I want to be. There’s a lot of people getting in to the pecking order around here but if I win this match then it’s a guaranteed…GUARANTEED title shot of my choice. That’s the biggest advantage you can hold in this business. A guarantee doesn’t mean shit around here unless you have the merit to back it up. When this match is over tonight, whoever holds one of those two titles by the end of the night better have me on their radar! The Marshall will be coming for them and his judgment is swift!
Hank Brown: Well, that’s all the time we have right now. Stay tuned, we have so many great matches still to come tonig…
Hank begins to plug the main event for the evening as I walk out of view of the camera. I sit down on the locker room bench and fold my hands, thinking about all possible outcomes tonight could hold. Of all them, only one was truly possible; the one where Colin Marshall wins. Waylon Cash and Marina Valdivia will be so shocked when The End of Heartache starts to blare across the arena speakers. My music will signal the end for them and when I’m standing with MY title shot held high then they will know who The Real Deal is and what he is capable of doing in this business.
