Post by Gemini Battle on Feb 6, 2016 1:45:52 GMT -5
How to Tame a Rabid Beast
Basic Requirements
- Be a former or current Champion in the WCF (Check)
- Know where to get the best cocaine (check)
- If the time comes, do not be afraid to slay the beast (oh hell motherfucking yea, check!)
Step One: Understand the Beast
Livewire
Johnny Rabid is truly an interesting creature. Coming from the famed land of England where wrestling is flips and dips, more showmanship that violence he, like Kyle Kemp, does not know the meaning of slumming it. But if you think that’s all there is to this manipulative and egotistical son of a bitch you’re far away from even scratching the surface.
Like all members of #BeachKrew there’s so much more to them then what they let you in on during Slams. They play two parts in the same play. It’s not as simple as a yin and a yang. It’s not like they’re a bunch of assholes on screen yet behind the scenes they’re really heartfelt and caring individuals.
Hell fucking no. They’re even worse off screen. In fact I would go as far as saying that they treat each other worse than they treat everyone else. The very worst part is that it’s masked in comradery and uniformity but deep down everyone in #BeachKrew truly despise one another, and their only true focus is doing whatever it takes to make them happy for the moment.
If you want to understand Johnny Rabid you need to understand one thing on how he thinks.
Momentary joy supersedes longevity.
He will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He will step on toes, he will hurt maim and torture people he cares deeply for as long as his moment of joy is achieved. He will cut his own arm off if it means for even the slightest of moments, despite the fact that he will be living the rest of his life with only one limb, that he would feel the joy of not having an arm.
Living in the moment is a desired trait in most people. Personally, I can’t stop thinking about the future. I can’t stop worrying about what I’m going to do to support my family, and what I can do to make their lives better. I think about the present, but I think about it in how it will affect my future.
This week I step into the ring with Johnny Rabid and Kyle Kemp alongside my partner Andre Holmes. If we win we will have dethroned #BeachKrew and won the WCF Tag Team Titles. This will achieve a few things. It will give me a bonus in pay, giving me just what I need to get over this current hump as I await that god forsaken ‘One’ Paycheck which, now with the new regime, hopefully will get cut sooner than later. This will also take away the final piece of gold that #BeachKrew holds on to, not completely undermining their dominance, but certainly putting a hole in it deep enough for a team like Rebellution to pound through and have our way with.
You see, I think about the effects of my actions in as many ways as possible. I would love to be able to just worry about myself, and worry about now. But I’m human. I’m a man, and a husband. I’m a father, whether my son breathes or not I will never stop being a father. I will never stop doing the right thing to make him proud. I don’t fight just for me and I don’t win for egocentric reasons.
I have a team and a family to take care of. They look to me for guidance, despite the fact that I may not be the best one to give it, but I will step into the role of patriarch if it helps even in the slightest bit. If we win I will be the proud father figure of this team and in each defeat I will pick up the pieces and ensure that we exit it stronger than ever.
The most important thing for me to understand about Johnny Rabid is that he is different than me. It doesn’t make him right, and it doesn’t make him wrong. It only means that he is different, and it’s those differences, your self-serving nature, your manipulative past, and your egotistical tendencies, that we will use to ensure our victory this week.
Step Two: Play to the Ego
Livewire
Understanding the beast isn’t enough. Because understanding him would make you think that he is not dangerous, and that the team is not dangerous. They are all self-serving, but they serve the same self. When the time comes they know how to unite and fight as one, because they have only one goal in mind.
#BeachKrew is a very efficient and well-oiled machine. The pieces that fight against each other know when it’s time to fight against and when it’s time to fight with one another. They understand the importance and the magnitude of the decisions that they make and they are smart enough to make the right choices most of the time.
They are dangerous. Hands down, no doubt about it. They don’t care about the well-being of others as much as they don’t care for the well-being of one another, or themselves. They also love that gold that adorns their waist. They crave it, they need it.
It’s almost as though that it gives them power… gives them strength. It gives them the ability to do supernatural things far beyond the scope of preternatural human beings. It’s almost as though there’s an alien hovering over them, giving them the power they need to do the things needed to succeed.
Yea, I’m selling the Alien Angle.
Step Three: Find the Effigy
Livewire
What is the effigy?
What is the sole purpose of #BeachKrew’s existence, but more importantly what is the driving force behind the presence of Johnny Rabid? They believe in gods… 6? Not sure. As much as I understand the driving force behind what they do, the actual concept of what they do is still beyond most normal people’s recognition.
But there is an effigy, be it physical or metaphysical. They do follow blindly into light and darkness, and Johnny Rabid, despite his ability is no different. He follows blindly the beliefs of #BeachKrew, the teaching of 6ix God. Jared Holmes went from the potential hesitant leader of the group to the definite one.
He did what Johnny Rabid was unable to do. Even in a weakened state Holmes carried #BeachKrew through their time as Fed Heads and even though his present wasn’t physically felt the rest of #BeachKrew kept him alive thus making any authority that Johnny Rabid tried to assert obsolete. For the record Johnny, I think you would have made a better leader than Holmes.
But you didn’t have the backing of the team. When Holmes was out everyone spoke dearly of him and missed him thoroughly. If you were to step away they wouldn’t speak of you at all. They would hope that your absence would become permanent and that you would fade away into oblivion.
Talking about Oblivion, the way you guys speak about him on Twitter. You praise him for being an honored member of the clan, yet you mistreated and disrespected him whenever you got the opportunity. He was the lower than did to you all, and now that he’s gone…
You’re at the bottom of the pile now, Rabid. You’re the one that they have the least amount of respect for. You’re the one that they look upon as the next one to go. They see Dustin Beaver and see a man who held the TV Title with pride… they look at Kemp and see someone who can at least draw the ladies to their parties. Aquarius has the coke, and Wade and Jared are the brains of the operation (ugh, did I just call them the brains?)
You, Johnny, what do you bring to the table? I honestly, and truly think that you’re the most talented one in your little roster. But you don’t have the confidence or the strength internally to split from the faction and become successful on your own. It’s because you’re scared. You’re scared that you will become irrelevant without #BeachKrew and know that as long as the stable is strong you, by default, will be perceived as strong too.
I’m not telling you to dump your friends. I’m telling you to understand yourself, understand what your capabilities are and to use them to your advantage, because of all of this nonsense that I’m spewing. Of all the shit that is coming out of my mouth that is being shot towards you, if you haven’t realized what I’m trying to say, perhaps I’m wrong about the whole thing.
The effigy isn’t a figurine that you pray to, and it’s nothing of value… unless…
You consider the value of yourself.
Step Four: Using the Effigy
Livewire
YOU are the effigy, Rabid. You are the thing truly keeping the group together. You are using your skill, and your knowhow to keep the team relevant. When everyone lost their titles, you retained. And when everyone gets shit on, people seem to leave you out of it.
Because people, even the dumb ones, know that you’re not the enemy. You are a victim of circumstance, and you are a token of what they believe in. You are a symbol of everything that they wish they can be and can’t. That’s why they hate you so much. They don’t think too little of you, they in fact think so much of you that it’s threatening.
Did you ever think of that?
Probably, because you’re a self-serving and narcissistic asshole.
But what have you done about it. You’ve sat back and played 7th fiddle in a 6 man group. You’re taking a step back, and when your opportunity finally came to make a name for yourself and earn your spot at the top of the mountain and win that briefcase… you lost. You lost to a man that time forgot and you looked like shit doing it.
Sure, I lost at Fifteen too. I’ve lost a lot in my past, but when I fight I do so against the greatest competition in the WCF and I do so with pride, honor and dignity. You had an opportunity to step out of that ladder match with a briefcase, but at the very least with some respect.
Spencer Adams left that match looking like a main eventer.
Bonnie Blue left that match looking stronger than when she went in.
Fucking Gravedigger left that match looking amazing.
You left that match a crumbled mass of humanity. You came out of that match looking like everyone had their way with you and that you weren’t worthy the Birkenstocks that you walked out in.
You are the Effigy, Johnny, and using you is the only way to tame the beast inside. The beast is Rabid. It’s uncontrollable and it’s useless at the moment. It needs to be controlled and it needs to be nurtured. It needs to be set free.
I, Johnny Rabid… will set you free.
Andre Holmes and I will take those Tag Team Titles away from you so there is nothing holding you back. There will be nothing tying you down any longer and you can finally go off and be the man you deserve to be. And you can fight to say otherwise but resistance is futile, because you will hear the words I’m saying and realize that I’m right.
You will realize that your skills will be better served elsewhere and you will succeed. But you need room to flourish. Like the DIllmoor currently assisted by four unions of vile plants you need space, and only then can you truly grow.
Hurt
(My Empire of Dirt)
It’s uncharacteristically warm for the final day in January. Grayson Pierce wears simply a long sleeve t-shirt with his jeans as he walks a few blocks from the arena to this small hole in the wall bar called Paddy’s Pub. He looks up at the green façade and looks in. The bar looks eerily empty; it makes him glad to be out of a group of people and into some solitude finally. He enters and sees a bird like blonde woman standing behind the bar wiping the same spot over and over looking off into the distance.
He sits around where she is, and she completely ignores the fact that he’s there. He looks at the beers on tap. Nothing good. Bud, Coors, Bud Light, Amstel Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Grayson
What do you have in bottles?
He asks the bird woman who continues staring off into space, presumably thinking about the next she has to build in the morning.
Grayson
Excuse me?
The woman turns to him and groans.
Bird Woman
*Tweet Tweet*
He assumed she meant to ask him what he needed and decides to forget about worrying about what bottles they have and just get a draught.
Grayson
Bud Draught, please.
She doesn’t even answer. She grabs a spotty looking glass from god knows where and pours the beer until it overflows leaving no head whatsoever on the glass. He throws a five dollar bill down and she takes it, giving back a single and returning to wiping down the same space, disregarding the mess she made at the taps.
Suddenly a scruffy looking man emerges from the bathroom with a more dapper looking dude. They’re having a peculiar conversation.
Dapper
So you’re saying you eat a can of cat food every night?
Scruffy
Then I huff glue to fall asleep? I gotta do it before 11PM because then the cats come out and start meowing and I can’t fall asleep.
Dapper
Well of course you have a thousand cats in your alley; you have open cans of cat food all over your apartment!
Scruffy
I have a thousand cats in the alley because there are ten thousand RATS in my apartment building! Don’t act like you understand why I have to do the things that I do!
Pierce shakes his head and takes a sip of the beer, trying to forget that night. He swallows and rubs his ribs, the welts form the Louisville Slugger still there and the pain resonated in his chest. Every breath hurt, but every sip of warm lager soothed the pain a little bit.
The pain of losing yet another match hurt the most, especially to Flash who proved that all the awful things he said was correct. He put everything he had into that match. He knew that he had earned respect, but he was getting sick and tired of these moral victories… an actual victory would be nice once in a while.
And it hurt that some stranger came into the infirmary as he was getting wrapped up to boast about Gemini Battle. Just when he thought that he was gone somebody had to bring him up. In the past just hearing the name would spark these emotions and thoughts of grandeur, the memory of Gemini Battle creeping up yet again. This time he felt nothing. He felt apathy at the name. It no longer affected him and it felt good to finally admit that.
He finished the glass and pointed at it for another one. The bartender didn’t notice until he coughed to get her attention. She blindly took the glass and refilled it. He left a five, she replaced it with a single and he continued drinking as she continued staring off into space.
He heard the familiar ringing of the bell behind him. It caused him to turn around and look and he saw Andre Holmes walking in. He moved aside, making room for his partner in Rebellution.
Andre Holmes
This seat taken?
Grayson Pierce
It is now.
Holmes sits down, smiles and stares at the brew before taking a moment.
Grayson
What’ll you have? It’s on me
Holmes pauses for a moment, the smell of the beer enticing him but the memories of his last taste haunting.
Grayson
Listen… I kinda know what you’re going through. My problems have been well documented. There was a time where I couldn’t get off pain meds. That, combined with booze led to dangerous situations. I even missed a match because of it. But you know what got me through it?
Holmes stares at Pierce, rage in his eyes, but peace in his heart. He was unaware of what Pierce had gone through and though he knew he was not alone in his affliction it was nice to know that someone so close to him had experience in the manner.
Andre
What?
Grayson
Friends. And it came from the most unexpected places. You know Gonzo Murdock? He sent me a letter… maybe the last letter he ever wrote anyone before his life was unfairly taken from him. He wrote about what he saw in me, and what he felt about me, when we met, how I grew and what I became.
His brother played the part of his surrogate, and he and I did NOT get along. I thought he was a brash and cocky asshole and he thought I was an uncaring and overbearing control freak. But when push came to shove he put his feeling for me aside because we had to go out there and defend our Trio’s Belts, and in doing so we realized that it was our differences that truly made us connect. I wouldn’t dare say that I felt the same way about the two men but the fact that Doug pulled me out of my grave that I dug for myself and helped me right the ship that I had veered off course is a memory that I will never forget.
Andre
I’ll have a water.
Grayson
Listen, man. I’m not telling you not to drink. I’m saying that if you’re with me I won’t let it drag you down to that place. The meetings will tell you that you have to stop completely, but acting in extremities is what got you in that situation in the first place. The ability to moderate yourself is what really proves what kind of man you are.
Andre
After Henson screwed the pooch at Fifteen, I'm seriously pissed off. I just don't wanna drink after...a few things happened last week.
Grayson
Water it is. I’m not telling you TO drink either… just saying that you and me, bro. We’re brothers now. You hurt, then I hurt. I got your back… I just hope you got mine.
Andre
You know it, bro.
The bell rings again and they turn around. They see DeMarcus Jordan entering with a big smile on his face, the only one in the group happy with his outcome at Fifteen. Both men move aside as Jordan steps in between the guys, putting one hand on each of their shoulders. He points at the blonde bartender.
DeMarcus
I’ll have a Hennessey.
Grayson
A bit stereotypical, don’t ya think?
DeMarcus
I love that shit. That’s the drink I give to the honeys and once I do the panties drop, y’na mean?!
The three men laugh.
Andre
At least it’s not purple drank, right?
DeMarcus
*shifts his eyes* Yea… Who would want that?
He says before letting off a knowing smile as the three clicks their glasses together. The clinking of the glasses is met at the same time with the familiar ringing of the bell. All three men turn around and see the fair skinned face of Bonnie Blue enter… smiling at her brothers, but still down about her performance. She walks up to the boys and stands next to DeMarcus.
DeMarcus
Want a Hennessey?
Grayson punches Jordan in the arm and they all laugh except Bonnie.
Bonnie
What’s so funny?
DeMarcus
Never mind. What are ya havin?
Bonnie orders her drink and the four members of Rebellution, for the first time since their formation talk about things other than wrestling. They learned about DeMarcus growing up. They learned the crazy story of Johnny Reb and how Bonnie Blue came to existence. Pierce and Holmes discuss their similar yet intrinsically different paths in life. How they seem to be mirror images yet polar opposites.
For the first time in the four people’s relationships they aren’t wrestlers with a common focus. They aren’t warriors fighting for good. They are simply people. Good, stand-up people with good heads on their shoulders and loving hearts beating within their chests. But most importantly, for the first time since the DRG split, Grayson Pierce had friends again in the WCF.
The solemn feel in the room was warmed up with a few drinks, and a few laughs. This loving moment was not-so-rudely interrupted by the unison buzzing of four cell phones as all of them reach into their respective pockets and pull out their devices. It was an email of next week’s card at Slam.
Bonnie
Who the fuck is Scathe?
DeMarcus
TV TITLE BITCHES!
Grayson
Check it out, Holmes…
Andre and Pierce smile.
Andre
Looks like hard work pays off. Tag Titles, boyeee!
Holmes puts out a fist to bump but Pierce looks at him cross eyed.
Grayson
Boyeee? What are you, Flavor Flave?
Andre
And it’s 1992… Just bump it…
Grayson
No!
Andre
Come on!
Grayson
NO!
Bonnie
WHO THE FUCK IS SCATHE!
DeMarcus
I’ll bump it!
Andre
That’ll work.
They bump fists.
Andre
Ok, DeMarcus. You take the title I should have won, and me and Pierce will take the titles that Bonnie should have… but my suspension…
Grayson
Don’t worry about the suspension. You’re on the card, you’re in a title match. Just enjoy the moment… BOYEEE!
Holmes puts out a fist, laughing.
Andre
BUMP IT!
Grayson
NO!
Bonnie
Really… WHO IS SCATHE!
*fade to black*
A Kemp Too Far
(A Tragedy)
Livewire
Once upon a time there was a man. His name… Kyle Kemp. His problem… gay as the day is long.
This isn’t a problem. In fact it’s perfectly normal, but for this man it’s a problem.
Grayson Pierce steps around the base path of and old baseball field…
Because Kyle Kemp is a failed Baseball player…
Get it?
It’s match relevance people!
Isn’t it?
But more importantly, and perhaps more abstractly it’s the field that he learned how to hit a baseball. It’s where he learned how to catch and throw. There’s a wall where kids would play hand ball just about a hundred yards away, but because he had no dad to teach him he would throw a handball at the wall and run around and try to catch it himself.
It’s his old Elementary school right down the block from his Friend Cliff’s house where he was headed shortly. He was trying to revisit his old stomping grounds, trying to reconnect with his past. For some reason he felt this was important. He didn’t know why… he didn’t know why a lot of things were crossing his minds these days but he knew he had to be here. He knew it was important.
Livewire
Beach Krew… or #BeachKrew has had a habit of using terms that most find derogatory to their advantage. Claiming that it’s for dramatic effect, or saying that they only say it because they know it’s gets people ire up. But if you look back through all the promos by Kyle Kemp, whether you’re listening to them, or reading them transcribed by a monkey on a keyboard full of typing errors and misspelling, (spoiler alert: they transcriptions are correct, he just sounds like a lunatic when he talks) though horribly insulting to many people including the people he’s shooting against.
But not to the gays… does anyone else find that odd? You listen to Johnny Rabid, and Jared Holmes, and Wade Moor speak and it’s all ‘faggot that’ and ‘fuccboi this’… but Kyle Kemp has a special place in his heart for people who feel strongly about the same gender.
Just saying.
(Cue him calling me a faggot. In 3…2…)
Pierce steps off the field and towards the afore-mentioned wall. It’s fenced in with a rusted steel chain link fence that elementary school students should not be near, yet alone have as a central focus point on their playground. Low socio-economic is a world tossed around by Long Island elite when talking about the ‘Centericans.’
Livewire
Hell, if I had a nickel for every time Joey Flash called me a faggot I’d be out of debt. But I digress, because the sexuality of Kyle Kemp isn’t in question… He wasn’t a switch hitter in the big leagues because he could swing lefty and righty.
For all of the terrible things that exist about Kyle Kemp, there is one thing I can say about him. The guy knows how to spot talent. He joined #BeachKrew, a team of up and coming superstars, and despite what has been said about BK they had the World Title, TV Title and Tag Titles on lock for some time now. Fifteen marked the hardest hit to the stable as of yet, but if you think that they’re out of it you’re sorely mistaken. They’re they type of assholes that suffer adversity and fight through it through hook or more likely crook.
But that’s not where I’m going with this. Sure #BeachKrew is successful, but this tag team that was formed could have been anybody. Kyle Kemp was an obvious choice because he was the least impressive active member of #BeachKrew but his partner was quite an interesting choice.
He could have chosen anybody. He could have Chosen Andre Aquarius, if he did this then he could have been the star of the team. But the thing about Kyle Kemp is that he doesn’t want to be a star, he just wants to be on the winning team. You knew that Andre Aquarius couldn’t get his head out of the nose candy long enough to help you be successful… yet you saw a faction building momentum and building steam and hopped on their bandwagon. You saw a team that could help make you relevant and you used their perceived dominance to become the People’s Champion.
That lasted a while, didn’t it?
But all good things come to an end. The bane of your existence Spencer Adams took that away from you just like he took away the win to your first big feud in the WCF.
You could have chosen Jared Holmes or Wade Moor… but they were too busy doing more important things to notice you, like washing their beards or painting each other’s toenails… trying to figure out which Hawaiian shirt best matched their Birkenstocks. Nothing you could do would make them think that they would lower themselves to your status. They aren’t above being the tag team champions… they’re simply above teaming with you for their own selfish reasons.
It’s because you’re not good enough, Kemp. You say that you’re better than everyone else, but the only people you’re better than are the people you put yourself against. You don’t test yourself, you don’t challenge yourself. The last time we met in a ring it was me who had you in the victory march, and your hand raised, ready to come pounding hard on the mat to tap out because you’re unable to take the pain…
But then Johnny Rabid came for the save…
Johnny Rabid. And I gotta say, you made the right choice. The man has a wrestling pedigree, and is the best and most underrated guy in your stable. He’s good enough to carry your team to victory but still irrelevant enough, and selfless enough to stay under the radar while you consume all the glory.
He does the work, you reap the benefits…
Win/win for you, no?
He finally gets to the fenced in wall. The graffiti on it looks fresh, and surprisingly tame for the neighborhood. It seems that even the thugs in the neighborhood have respect for children as the usual pictures of dicks and curse words are replaced by pictures of SpongeBob and Ninja Turtles. Pierce reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tennis ball. He bounces it a few times on the ground before throwing at the wall, aiming for Rafael’s head each time, and catching it as it returns to him.
Livewire
You and I couldn’t be more different, Kemp. In High School you were the best player on the team. You reaped the rewards, banged the chicks, watched all the best looking dudes in the locker room get changed and sadly compared your junk to theirs.
But guess what? I was the best athlete in my school too. I was the captain of the Football Team (voted the team that everyone wanted to face on their homecoming, so really not that impressive.) I was All-County in Lacrosse and All-State in fencing… yea, I was a sword fighter. But unlike the LARPing opponent you had at Fifteen I know my way around a wrestling ring far more than I know my way around a fencing strip.
I didn’t do any of those things for recognition. You don’t get friends for being the best player on the worst football team in the Country. You don’t get chicks even with countless gold medals for fencing adorning your bedroom wall. You don’t get…
Well I did get a cheerleader or 4 because of lacrosse.
But that’s not why I did it. I didn’t do it for the glory…I did them because I loved the sport. And that’s the same reason I got into professional wrestling. I could have been a successful musician. I didn’t get out of it because I wasn’t good enough. And I didn’t get out of it because scandal forced me out. I got out because it wasn’t my passion.
Wrestling is my passion.
Ever since I was a little Gray dot in my mama’s living room I watched it on TV, and watched VHS tapes of the old promotions. I had action figures… generic. But I named them the names of all the big stars. As I got older I went from watching VHS and playing with action figures I started watching DVDs on one TV and playing Play Station on another small TV… wrestling of course.
This was my childhood dream that I never thought would be a reality. I don’t do this for the thrill, I do this for my heart, and my pride. I don’t go out there and face off against anyone less than me I go out there and face off against the best that the WCF has to offer, and whether I win or lose I come out looking like a champion because each and every week I put everything I have on the line because this is all that I have.
The ball flies past him and hits the chain link fence behind him with a crashing of rubber on metal and drops to the ground, rolls into a crack on the ground filled with standing water. He leans over to lift the yellow fuzzed ball and watches as the muddy liquid drops from it, holding it away from him as to not fall victim to the offending object.
Livewire
I didn’t grow up with money, and that hasn’t changed. I could be doing something that would pay me amazingly and live a life of luxury. I had the grades and knowhow to be a successful business man. I had the chops to be a musician. I had the ability to be an Olympic gold medalist. I could have gone on to play professional lacrosse. But I made a choice.
And it was fucking easy. My choice was to drop everything I had; to live the life that I wanted to live; to be on the road every week; to fight for what’s right and basically to fight because it’s fucking fun. I live to fight and fight to live. I’m a wrecking ball mother fucker. I’m everything you’re not and the most important thing, Kemp… is that I…
Am better…
Than YOU!
Truth hurts, doesn’t it?
He opens up the gate to the fence and tosses the ball back into the caged area before heading out and down the block towards his missing friend’s sister’s house.
Baby I was Born This Way
The snow began to fall as Grayson Pierce got out of the police car his friend, and lead investigator in the ‘Mysterious Case of the Missing Compadre… Starring Two Best Buddies.’
Matt
Stop calling it that… this is a big deal case for me.
Grayson
For me too, we can bust this case wide open tonight!
Matt
Stop saying ‘we!’ It’s just me. I’m the only cop. You’re just a professional dancer!
Grayson
I’ll dance all over this city, bitch!
Grayson used humor as a defense mechanism to mask his real insecurities about his concerns of the whereabouts of his best friend Cliff. They still were unable to make contact with him and his family was getting worried. It was officially seven days since they officially ‘noticed’ that he was missing so the ‘Mysterious Case of the Missing Compadre- Starring Two Best Buddies’ was underway.
They walked up the snow covered gravel path leading up to the apartment in the side of a rustic looking old house. They open up the gate and walk up to the screen door where a portly looking woman stands by it, sitting on the ground and looking at the snow falling from the sky. She seems surprised to see the intruders at the house and jumped back before quickly regaining her composure and smiling at the people that she’s known nearly her whole life. She opened the door.
Kerry
Hey guys. Come on in. Sorry, I was just staring at the snowflakes. Did you know that each one is different?
She was the master of the obvious and she let the men in the house and closed the door behind her, taking one last glimpse at the frozen precipitation before removing it from view completely.
Kerry
Can I get you all a drink? I’ve got water or milk…
Grayson
I’m good.
Matt
We’re actually really busy, you called us here tonight?
Matt was never good with Cliff’s sister. They never got along as kids. Grayson didn’t care, he thought she was fine enough. He looked at her wearing her red flannel shirt and denim jeans. She looked like an overweight Eddie Vedder.
Kerry
I… I just wanted to talk to you guys about something. I didn’t know who else to tell since… you know… Cliff isn’t here.
Matt
This isn’t about Cliff?
He was disappointed and was getting ready to leave when Grayson put his arm out and held him down against his will. She was clearly wanting to get something off her chest… hopefully not the flannel shirt.
Kerry
No… sorry if that’s what you thought. I just… I don’t have many friends, and I think I can trust you guys with this. I need to tell you something about me that you probably don’t already know. How could you?
He looked at her, short haircut, flannel, glass of milk on the end table next to her. Grayson’s sister was a lesbian, and they had a similar conversation about 10 years earlier. She was crazy nervous to tell him, knowing that even though he’s younger, was the closest thing to a father she had since he always wanted to take care of her. He felt the same tension in the room, along with the same nervous excitement. This was a thing that people didn’t feel ashamed about, but felt like people were going to be ashamed of them. Grayson tried his best to give Matt a silent conversation telling him to be open minded and understanding about what she was about to say. They stared at each other and for some reason he knew that he understood.
Grayson
Alright, what’s up?
Kerry
Well, for a while now I’ve felt different, and I spoke to a psychiatrist…
She went on telling them about her experience with the shrink. Grayson knew that her father especially would not be understanding of this, and probably would drill into her head that this was wrong, and that it could be prayed away. He wasn’t a bad person, just ignorant about some things.
Kerry
… well, he told me that it’s normal and there’s plenty of people out there just like me, feeling the same way I do.
Grayson
My sister went through the same thing.
Kerry
You sister was born the wrong species too?
Grayson was glad he wasn’t drinking water as he would have certainly spit it in her face. That was not the conversation he was expecting. Matt clearly wasn’t expecting this either.
Matt
What the fuck?
Grayson hit him, quickly regaining his composure realizing that the topic of conversation wasn’t what he was expecting but the tone of it was the very same. This was clearly something she had been battling with and finally accepted. IT was important as friends that he accepted it too.
Grayson
Well, no… not the same thing. But when she came out of the closet she felt the same way.
Kerry
I don’t want to bang a cat… I just am a cat.
Matt was ready to get up and leave. If it wasn’t for the hard look of cold determination on Grayson’s face he would have gotten up and bolted out of there. Though he stayed, he couldn’t contain himself.
Matt
Like ‘meow, meow’ I’m a cat?
Kerry
It’s called species dysphoria. It takes several different forms. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like I was born the wrong species. I’m a cat trapped in a person’s body.
Grayson was speechless. He felt that his lack of commentary on the situation was somehow worse than Matt’s inappropriate one.
Matt
So you, like, lick yourself to clean yourself… and you like hide under tables and attack people as they walk by?
Kerry
No… don’t be silly. But I feel like I should. I’m engrained into human society because I have no choice, but when I’m home I live the life of a cat.
Grayson looked around and noticed bowls of milk on the ground and cat food, then looked around and noticed a lack of feline in the vicinity.
Matt
Don’t be silly, this whole fucking thing is silly? You’re fucking insane, you know that?
Grayson cut Matt a stern look as he saw tears form in the corner of the woman’s eyes. This was crazy, and a lot to take in. No one should be equipped to handle news like this, but Grayson know that this was not the way to handle it.
Matt begrudgingly apologized
Matt
Look I’m sorry… I just…
Kerry
It’s ok.
Again, Grayson let his defense mechanism set in.
Grayson
And to think all this time I thought you were kind of a bitch… but you weren't a dog... you were a cat all along.
They all laughed nervously, but it did seem to ease the tension in the room. The rest of the conversation went about as you would expect it. Everything Matt asked seemed horribly inappropriate. Things like
Matt
So you speak cat? How do you say, get me a can of soda?
To
Matt
How do you feel about dogs?
Which Kerry answered truthfully and happily each time. It made Grayson realize that part of accepting people involved questioning them as well. People want to be treated as normal, despite the fact that they feel different. Whether a person feels like they’re trapped in the wrong gender, or the wrong species, the feelings that they have are real, whether you can understand them or not.
Speaking to them doesn’t only help you understand more what they’re feeling, but can also help them. This isn’t a topic that should be considered taboo. It should be embraced and appreciated. People in this small community of transgendered shouldn’t be feared, and they shouldn’t be spoken to with kid gloves. They want to be treated just like everyone else.
Well, Grayson makes awkward jokes at their expense. And the fact that she knew that and saw that he was doing the same was the first step in a long series of steps of her coping with this new situation she finds herself in, as well as the ones he and Matt found themselves in.
Unfortunately the Mysterious Case of the Missing Compadre- Starring two Best Buddies, was no closer to being solved… but they got a good story out of it at least. Maybe this will come in handy eventually.
It probably won’t though
Introducing your NEW WCF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!
An incredibly talented drifter strums on an acoustic guitar with his hard shelled case. His voice has that traditional southern twang that only a true Memphis troubadour could attain without much practice. Grayson Pierce tosses in the spare change in his pocket to an appreciative nod from the musician as he joins Andre Holmes standing in front of a graffiti stained brick wall in an alley near the Fed Ex Forum.
Grayson listens to the passion of the words of his tag team partner as he hypes both he and Pierce up for their Tag Team Title match against #BeachKrew’s Johnny Rabid and Kyle Kemp. He hears not only the words that he’s saying, but the intensity that he’s saying it.
Pierce was impressed with his partner’s tenacity during his Television Title match at F15teen but felt even more impressed with his emotion this week as he seems to have set into another gear that we have yet to see in a man.
Losing can do two things. It can defeat someone, or it can make them stronger. In Andre Holmes’ case he has taken the latter option as he seems stronger and more focused than ever. Pierce, the hesitant and unofficial leader of Rebellution feels motivated by his young partner and has the desire to do just the same as he finishes his rant and passes the forum over.
Livewire
This week is an amazing opportunity. And trust me that I do not take this lightly. Last week at F15teen I took my opponent to the limit and came out just short… too headstrong was the word used to explain my defeat. I don’t know what it was but I do know that I am proud of the effort I put in.
And the fact that it is rewarded with a Tag Team Title shot does not go unnoticed. Not by me and not by the people who cheer for me each and every week. It’s those people that help even the most ignorant of bosses realize that there’s more than just winning and losing. It’s not what you do it’s how you make people feel, and when people watch me and Holmes here wrestler people get that tingly feeling all over that can only be instigated by good sex and good wrestling.
This carnal response is the same feeling we get every time we step into the ring with people who are our equals. And in the WCF the list of people we can ‘squash’ is slim and the matches that we don’t have to put our all into is none. You see in the WCF you have to put everything into every week. You have to take what is given to you, and often times make filet mignon out of hamburger meat.
The good ones make a bad ass burger. The great ones make a meatloaf but the best ones turn that second grade meat into high quality steak and serve it with a side of passion.
I’ve been here in the WCF for a long time. It’s hard to not be repetitive at times. Especially when you have such a specific passion and focus. When your thoughts are pure and intentions true you reiterate to yourself every week to make sure that you keep on the right course. Because we’re only human. We have desires and mixt thoughts at moments. So you repeat important phrases, and vital locutions to assure that the path you take is the one you truly want to be on.
Pierce looks at his partner and he can tell in his eyes that the passion is flowing between both men now. They both stand tall in front of this brick wall feeling the same thing. They feel that glorious feeling when you just know that things are going your way. When for so long the world seemed to be crumbling but at the right moment it seems to be righting itself, and not out of pure coincidence but out of the work that you put into it. If you’ve ever fixed anything broken you know the feeling.
Livewire
At Slam an army floats in from the seas to the battle field of Tennessee. But the men we step into the ring with are not our only adversaries, because they have an even larger army waiting in the wings, willing to do whatever it takes to ensure their team’s victory.
Even with our team combined our numbers can’t match that of #BeachKrew. But I’d rather be here, with my brother Andre fighting for gold and fighting for what’s right than anywhere else in the WCF. I’d rather live in squalor among honorable men and women than live in luxury among thieves.
This is our first battle together, but we have been fighting the same fight for some time now. Andre and I have always been on the same page before we even knew we were. We fight the good fight and we win when it matters most. And it has never mattered more than it does now. For us Fifteen didn’t mark our moment, this does.
Slam, on Sunday at the Fed Ex Forum we will not be two men fighting the same fight separately, and we won’t be two men fighting the same fight side by side. This week at Slam we will be one team fighting for gold and fighting for glory. This week at Slam we will step into the ring as the challengers and leave the ring as champions.
Individually we’ve fought battles and won great victories. And maybe the WCF will never be rid of #BeachKrew as they may never be rid of Pantheon. But as long as we fight, and as long as we breathe we do so as brothers, and we do so knowing that we will not fall victim to them as long as we stay true to ourselves. This week at Slam is not only to beat #BeachKrew and to win those Tag Team Titles… It is to kill the legend of #BeachKrew and to begin the legend of the new greatest stable in the WCF.
This week at Slam… it’s not a war…
Holmes steps forth and the two men stare intently into the camera…
Both
It’s a Rebellution!
The men shake each other’s hands and leave with the camera facing the bare brick wall behind where they once stood.
