Post by Teo Blaze on Feb 24, 2019 23:47:31 GMT -5
As the scene comes slowly into view, a peculiar sight is what greets the viewer. Rather than a wide shot of an entire room, the camera instead focuses on a single, plain wall. But what is unique is not the wall itself, but what rests upon it. Hanging by a single nail sits an incredibly ornate mirror, with interwoven designs layered intricately to create a chaotic yet beautiful weave of golden chaos, with each strand diving in between each other in a glorious mane.
And in silence, the mirror sits, its reflection almost completely empty. No camera is reflected, nor indeed the room behind. While it is clearly a mirror, the glass inside is completely and totally undisturbed.
At least for a moment.
For in an instant, and almost without motion, the inside of the mirror is suddenly...no longer empty. Inside of the mirror, appearing as if from out of nowhere, is the infinity man, the Television champion, and the man of the hour, Teo Blaze.
In the darkness of the room, his red lenses seem to flash with an unearthly light, reflecting as though he were standing in the noonday sun, even though everything else in the room is wreathed in relative darkness. And after a few moments, cocking his head to one side, the champion begins to speak.
Teo Blaze: Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that it is time for reflection.
As he speaks, the champion looks out to either side of the mirror, his face breaking into a smile as he considers either side of the mirror. He places his hands on the sides of the circle, resting upon it as if it represented an actual boundary.
Teo Blaze: I have always liked mirrors. They have a certain way about them, don’t they?
You can do whatever you want, can change any aspect of yourself, can cut your hair, put on a new set of clothes, a new pair of shades...but mirrors…
The champion lets out a small chuckle under his breath.
Teo Blaze: They always find a way to reflect the truth, don’t they? When a man looks in the mirror? He sees his true self. He can see his own flaws, his own faults, his imperfections…
See, that’s the thing about mirrors. They’re honest.
The champion leans in slowly, and reaches his hand forward, where it comes to rest against an invisible surface, the mirror’s edge keeping him from reaching completely through.
Teo Blaze: I would guarantee you that Samuel McPherson does not have a mirror in his house.
Teo’s face breaks into a crooked grin, revealing teeth slightly uneven, the scars of countless battles, giving his face a look that is unnatural...strange.
Teo Blaze: Ah yes, Samuel, it is that time again, is it not? How long has it been since we last locked horns? I believe it was at One, yes?
Teo’s smile grows more devilish, as though he is remembering a particularly cruel joke at the expense of McPherson, but he holds it in.
Teo Blaze: I hope you can remember, Samuel. How could you forget, after all? It was the night of my greatest triumph in the company after all...and your greatest failure. In front of the entire world, Samuel, with all the momentum in the world, did we battle.
And just like that, I took one more step into history, while you continued a slide into obscurity. I became the Infinity Man, and you..?
Teo slowly reaches from beyond the barrier of the mirror, after a moment he pulls both hands in. In one hand he holds the Infinity Championship, all six precious stones shining. In the other, he holds a battered and torn mask, identical in every way to Samuel McPherson’s.
Teo Blaze: I claimed your scalp, you dumb son of a bitch, and the entire planet saw me do it.
Teo drops the mask with a very audible clatter, and begins laughing, but the laugh is not one of amusement, it carries with it an edge, an audible sound of viciousness, as though the thought of the memory, of Teo’s blood-soaked face pinning down Samuel’s shoulders brings a pure and perverse joy to every syllable.
Teo Blaze: Oh Samuel...poor, poor Samuel. Let me explain the reality of this situation...I have nothing left to prove when it comes to you and me. I have taken your best shot, and I still walked out with everything that mattered to you in the world.
There is nothing you can do to me that I cannot take, Samuel!
As Teo speaks, he bangs his fist against the surface of the mirror, leading to a visible crack appearing in the glass. As his fist smacks against it, a small cut appears on the side of his hand, leading to a trickle of blood which curls its way along the glass. Blaze watches the small red droplet and immediately the crooked smile returns.
Teo Blaze: I’ve taken your best shot Samuel...but you cannot say the same about me. I was beaten, battered, barely able to stand in the center of that ring, but I managed to dig deep into that well, and slam my knee into that cinderblock you call a head...and that was it. Your dream was dead, and the prize you lusted for sat in my hands. I had done the impossible, and you..?
You were just another name on my resume.
Teo reaches with his bloody hand and taps his brow with his index finger, shooting a knowing expression over the rims of his red glasses, as though he is waiting to tell the punchline of a joke.
Teo Blaze: But you are not the only ghost of my past, Samuel. In this match as well is John McCarty, and let me tell you…
The Infinity Champion chuckles to himself at the comparison, as if comparing McCarthy to McPherson were utterly absurd.
Teo Blaze: Night and fuckin’ day. Samuel, when I defeated you, that was the worst night of your life. Your chance to walk into the ring and earn a World Title shot, to control your destiny, to grab the reigns of fate...gone in an instant.
And since then, well, it hasn’t been pretty. Loss after loss, Richards, Savage, Omega...every chance to prove yourself, every chance to step up and shock the world, and you fail time and time again.
John McCarty on the other hand? He lost to me in one of the hardest fought matches of his career, caused me a hell of a lot more trouble than I was expecting, if we’re being honest.
But when John McCarty lost to Teo Blaze in front of the world? He stuck his nose in the goddamned grindstone, and went on to become tag team champions with Matt Draven, coincidentally another young talent who I had the honor of breaking in.
Do you see the difference, Samuel? When you lost to me, your confidence shattered, and your response..? You know what you spent your last promo doing? Whining. Complaining. Bitching about WCF handing out title shots to Far Cry, Bonnie, or Richards.
Teo closes his eyes and his breathing suddenly becomes more measured, more deliberate, focusing as hard as he can on maintaining his temper, his eyes close, and with a slow, steely register, his voice escapes.
Teo Blaze: Where...the fuck...do you get off saying anything! About being handed title shots? Who did you beat to earn that Hardcore Title shot, Samuel?
Any semblance of calmness has now left Teo completely, he is on the verge of screaming as a passionate fire roars in his voice.
Teo Blaze: You were given the chance to go one on one with the World Champion, McPherson, the opportunity to legitimately earn a title shot, and you lost. One, two, three! And what do you do? You half-ass it like you always do! You take those natural, god-given gifts that you have and you spit them right back in the face of anyone who ever dared to give a damn about you!
You have been handed opportunity after opportunity to prove yourself, have been given chances that men and women around the world would kill for, and you have the nerve, the idiocy, the fucking gall! To complain about Far Cry being given a shot at the Television Title?
Teo bangs his fists against the glass again, causing both the cracks in the glass as well as the small streams of blood to grow larger.
Teo Blaze: News flash, motherfucker, the Television Title is all about opportunity! It is about turning away nobody! In allowing anybody! No matter how small, no matter what their record, no matter if they have had a thousand matches or just one, to test themselves in the forge of combat! To stand in the fire of a determined champion and let their weakness be burned away!
That is the domain of this belt! To preserve the honor of combat and to test those willing to submit themselves to its challenges!
Teo turns his face to the side with noticeable effort, his expression visibly straining, but after a few moments of labored breathing, his normal speaking register resumes.
Teo Blaze: But I have not forgotten that this is a triple threat match, and I would be remiss not to address the other man in the ring.
Teo’s expression turns noticeably softer. While his expression retains a serious demeanor, there is less contempt in his eyes.
Teo Blaze: How have you been, John? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad to see you start to realize some of that potential. Just like I said when we met, you have talent, you have ability, but you need to yet refine it.
As soon as Teo says the words, the devilish expression returns to his visage, his smiling teeth forming a vicious crescent as the shining red lenses almost glow in the darkness.
Teo Blaze: But John, you should not take my respect as a good thing. Oh no.
When we met before, you should have been scared that I might hurt you in that ring.
Teo’s head cocks eerily to the side, at an angle that doesn’t seem quite possible.
Teo Blaze: But this time, you know I’m going to hurt you, John.
You have done everything that I knew you were capable of, you can now stand proudly in that ring not only as a champion, but as the last man to hold the tag team championships. On top of that you have a victory over Singh and Scott Slayer under your belt. Quite a far cry from the rookie who was primarily known as a reliable jobber, eh?
But John, you see, you now find yourself in a bit of a pickle, dontcha? Because now I know just what you’re capable of. I know that you have it in you to give a good fight to people most would consider out of your league.
And that means that I know just how little I can hold back this week.
With every bit you improve, with every inch you push yourself beyond that threshold of tolerance, every time you show the world that you are capable of things that nobody would have considered from you…
You drive me to push myself that much harder. You drive me to make myself that much better.
I know that there are wolves out there, John. Hell, I know you have it in you to be an Alpha.
But here’s the thing John.
I’m a wolf too. But I’m no Alpha, John-
Suddenly and without warning, Teo slams his face into the glass, leading to a tremendous crack in the surface. He presses his forehead against the glass, leading to deep cuts along his face, causing long streaks of red to flow down across it, but the smile remains. Despite the crimson mask that quickly forms, Teo remains unflinching, the steely eyes constant above the crooked smile.
Teo Blaze: I’m an outcast.
I walk into that ring alone and I carry everything about myself singlehandedly.
Because you see John, you’re not quite there yet. As much as I will applaud the way you have elevated yourself, at the end of it all, despite your improvements, despite the praises I could heap...you have not done it alone.
You have combined your abilities with another, and you have turned it into something truly special, lit a spark in a tag team division that was once completely unheard of.
But you cannot claim to have done what I have done. You still falter when you try and walk on your own, especially against killers like Savage…
And John, even you aren’t dense enough to think of me as anything but a killer.
Teo’s crooked smile has seemed to grow, to change into something wicked, white chipped ivory shining behind rivulets of red.
Teo Blaze: You see, McPherson, McCarthy...my ghosts of victories past...I have always liked mirrors.
You can hide anything from those around you, with a change of clothes or a change of posture, you can decorate yourself like a store mannequin in finery and prestige, can tell the world that you are something greater than you are…
But when you look in the mirror..? The mirror knows.
The mirror can see through the facade.
Samuel McPherson, you are still the same entitled, arrogant asshole who I embarassed at One. You are so fucking obsessed with your own personal glory, so convinced that you are god’s gift to wrestling that you take your natural gifts and you squander them, time after time. In one moment you underestimate the likes of Richards, Savage, and Jay Omega, and in the next you bitch and moan about people getting opportunities they don’t deserve. Your neanderthal brain is incapable of processing the simple fact that it does not matter who “deserves” opportunity. Opportunity is what you make of it.
And you John...at best you’re a work in progress. You have accomplished more than anyone thought you could...but you have yet to truly walk on your own, yet to lift yourself up and force yourself to eliminate your weaknesses, yet to push yourself to the fantastic heights that you dream of simply because you still rely on others.
Teo’s eyes are red-hot behind the glasses, his pupils shining with an unearthly fire as his words leave his mouth.
Teo Blaze: You are two halves of a coin, gentlemen, opposite in stature...but neither of you is ready to face me. I am a man who has let himself be broken in the fire of combat, who the Television Championship and every single man who has fought and bled for it have made into a warrior…
So this week, I do you both a favor. I will keep you along your respective paths, whether to redemption or obscurity, and I will do it with the whole world watching.
Take a look in the mirror, boys…
You might learn something.
With that, Teo leans back and slams his forehead once more into the glass of the mirror. With an ear-piercing shatter, the shards of glass fall to the floor, small, barely visible flecks of blood on the broken glass.
The frame now sits completely empty...leaving only the image of a blank white wall.
And in silence, the mirror sits, its reflection almost completely empty. No camera is reflected, nor indeed the room behind. While it is clearly a mirror, the glass inside is completely and totally undisturbed.
At least for a moment.
For in an instant, and almost without motion, the inside of the mirror is suddenly...no longer empty. Inside of the mirror, appearing as if from out of nowhere, is the infinity man, the Television champion, and the man of the hour, Teo Blaze.
In the darkness of the room, his red lenses seem to flash with an unearthly light, reflecting as though he were standing in the noonday sun, even though everything else in the room is wreathed in relative darkness. And after a few moments, cocking his head to one side, the champion begins to speak.
Teo Blaze: Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that it is time for reflection.
As he speaks, the champion looks out to either side of the mirror, his face breaking into a smile as he considers either side of the mirror. He places his hands on the sides of the circle, resting upon it as if it represented an actual boundary.
Teo Blaze: I have always liked mirrors. They have a certain way about them, don’t they?
You can do whatever you want, can change any aspect of yourself, can cut your hair, put on a new set of clothes, a new pair of shades...but mirrors…
The champion lets out a small chuckle under his breath.
Teo Blaze: They always find a way to reflect the truth, don’t they? When a man looks in the mirror? He sees his true self. He can see his own flaws, his own faults, his imperfections…
See, that’s the thing about mirrors. They’re honest.
The champion leans in slowly, and reaches his hand forward, where it comes to rest against an invisible surface, the mirror’s edge keeping him from reaching completely through.
Teo Blaze: I would guarantee you that Samuel McPherson does not have a mirror in his house.
Teo’s face breaks into a crooked grin, revealing teeth slightly uneven, the scars of countless battles, giving his face a look that is unnatural...strange.
Teo Blaze: Ah yes, Samuel, it is that time again, is it not? How long has it been since we last locked horns? I believe it was at One, yes?
Teo’s smile grows more devilish, as though he is remembering a particularly cruel joke at the expense of McPherson, but he holds it in.
Teo Blaze: I hope you can remember, Samuel. How could you forget, after all? It was the night of my greatest triumph in the company after all...and your greatest failure. In front of the entire world, Samuel, with all the momentum in the world, did we battle.
And just like that, I took one more step into history, while you continued a slide into obscurity. I became the Infinity Man, and you..?
Teo slowly reaches from beyond the barrier of the mirror, after a moment he pulls both hands in. In one hand he holds the Infinity Championship, all six precious stones shining. In the other, he holds a battered and torn mask, identical in every way to Samuel McPherson’s.
Teo Blaze: I claimed your scalp, you dumb son of a bitch, and the entire planet saw me do it.
Teo drops the mask with a very audible clatter, and begins laughing, but the laugh is not one of amusement, it carries with it an edge, an audible sound of viciousness, as though the thought of the memory, of Teo’s blood-soaked face pinning down Samuel’s shoulders brings a pure and perverse joy to every syllable.
Teo Blaze: Oh Samuel...poor, poor Samuel. Let me explain the reality of this situation...I have nothing left to prove when it comes to you and me. I have taken your best shot, and I still walked out with everything that mattered to you in the world.
There is nothing you can do to me that I cannot take, Samuel!
As Teo speaks, he bangs his fist against the surface of the mirror, leading to a visible crack appearing in the glass. As his fist smacks against it, a small cut appears on the side of his hand, leading to a trickle of blood which curls its way along the glass. Blaze watches the small red droplet and immediately the crooked smile returns.
Teo Blaze: I’ve taken your best shot Samuel...but you cannot say the same about me. I was beaten, battered, barely able to stand in the center of that ring, but I managed to dig deep into that well, and slam my knee into that cinderblock you call a head...and that was it. Your dream was dead, and the prize you lusted for sat in my hands. I had done the impossible, and you..?
You were just another name on my resume.
Teo reaches with his bloody hand and taps his brow with his index finger, shooting a knowing expression over the rims of his red glasses, as though he is waiting to tell the punchline of a joke.
Teo Blaze: But you are not the only ghost of my past, Samuel. In this match as well is John McCarty, and let me tell you…
The Infinity Champion chuckles to himself at the comparison, as if comparing McCarthy to McPherson were utterly absurd.
Teo Blaze: Night and fuckin’ day. Samuel, when I defeated you, that was the worst night of your life. Your chance to walk into the ring and earn a World Title shot, to control your destiny, to grab the reigns of fate...gone in an instant.
And since then, well, it hasn’t been pretty. Loss after loss, Richards, Savage, Omega...every chance to prove yourself, every chance to step up and shock the world, and you fail time and time again.
John McCarty on the other hand? He lost to me in one of the hardest fought matches of his career, caused me a hell of a lot more trouble than I was expecting, if we’re being honest.
But when John McCarty lost to Teo Blaze in front of the world? He stuck his nose in the goddamned grindstone, and went on to become tag team champions with Matt Draven, coincidentally another young talent who I had the honor of breaking in.
Do you see the difference, Samuel? When you lost to me, your confidence shattered, and your response..? You know what you spent your last promo doing? Whining. Complaining. Bitching about WCF handing out title shots to Far Cry, Bonnie, or Richards.
Teo closes his eyes and his breathing suddenly becomes more measured, more deliberate, focusing as hard as he can on maintaining his temper, his eyes close, and with a slow, steely register, his voice escapes.
Teo Blaze: Where...the fuck...do you get off saying anything! About being handed title shots? Who did you beat to earn that Hardcore Title shot, Samuel?
Any semblance of calmness has now left Teo completely, he is on the verge of screaming as a passionate fire roars in his voice.
Teo Blaze: You were given the chance to go one on one with the World Champion, McPherson, the opportunity to legitimately earn a title shot, and you lost. One, two, three! And what do you do? You half-ass it like you always do! You take those natural, god-given gifts that you have and you spit them right back in the face of anyone who ever dared to give a damn about you!
You have been handed opportunity after opportunity to prove yourself, have been given chances that men and women around the world would kill for, and you have the nerve, the idiocy, the fucking gall! To complain about Far Cry being given a shot at the Television Title?
Teo bangs his fists against the glass again, causing both the cracks in the glass as well as the small streams of blood to grow larger.
Teo Blaze: News flash, motherfucker, the Television Title is all about opportunity! It is about turning away nobody! In allowing anybody! No matter how small, no matter what their record, no matter if they have had a thousand matches or just one, to test themselves in the forge of combat! To stand in the fire of a determined champion and let their weakness be burned away!
That is the domain of this belt! To preserve the honor of combat and to test those willing to submit themselves to its challenges!
Teo turns his face to the side with noticeable effort, his expression visibly straining, but after a few moments of labored breathing, his normal speaking register resumes.
Teo Blaze: But I have not forgotten that this is a triple threat match, and I would be remiss not to address the other man in the ring.
Teo’s expression turns noticeably softer. While his expression retains a serious demeanor, there is less contempt in his eyes.
Teo Blaze: How have you been, John? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad to see you start to realize some of that potential. Just like I said when we met, you have talent, you have ability, but you need to yet refine it.
As soon as Teo says the words, the devilish expression returns to his visage, his smiling teeth forming a vicious crescent as the shining red lenses almost glow in the darkness.
Teo Blaze: But John, you should not take my respect as a good thing. Oh no.
When we met before, you should have been scared that I might hurt you in that ring.
Teo’s head cocks eerily to the side, at an angle that doesn’t seem quite possible.
Teo Blaze: But this time, you know I’m going to hurt you, John.
You have done everything that I knew you were capable of, you can now stand proudly in that ring not only as a champion, but as the last man to hold the tag team championships. On top of that you have a victory over Singh and Scott Slayer under your belt. Quite a far cry from the rookie who was primarily known as a reliable jobber, eh?
But John, you see, you now find yourself in a bit of a pickle, dontcha? Because now I know just what you’re capable of. I know that you have it in you to give a good fight to people most would consider out of your league.
And that means that I know just how little I can hold back this week.
With every bit you improve, with every inch you push yourself beyond that threshold of tolerance, every time you show the world that you are capable of things that nobody would have considered from you…
You drive me to push myself that much harder. You drive me to make myself that much better.
I know that there are wolves out there, John. Hell, I know you have it in you to be an Alpha.
But here’s the thing John.
I’m a wolf too. But I’m no Alpha, John-
Suddenly and without warning, Teo slams his face into the glass, leading to a tremendous crack in the surface. He presses his forehead against the glass, leading to deep cuts along his face, causing long streaks of red to flow down across it, but the smile remains. Despite the crimson mask that quickly forms, Teo remains unflinching, the steely eyes constant above the crooked smile.
Teo Blaze: I’m an outcast.
I walk into that ring alone and I carry everything about myself singlehandedly.
Because you see John, you’re not quite there yet. As much as I will applaud the way you have elevated yourself, at the end of it all, despite your improvements, despite the praises I could heap...you have not done it alone.
You have combined your abilities with another, and you have turned it into something truly special, lit a spark in a tag team division that was once completely unheard of.
But you cannot claim to have done what I have done. You still falter when you try and walk on your own, especially against killers like Savage…
And John, even you aren’t dense enough to think of me as anything but a killer.
Teo’s crooked smile has seemed to grow, to change into something wicked, white chipped ivory shining behind rivulets of red.
Teo Blaze: You see, McPherson, McCarthy...my ghosts of victories past...I have always liked mirrors.
You can hide anything from those around you, with a change of clothes or a change of posture, you can decorate yourself like a store mannequin in finery and prestige, can tell the world that you are something greater than you are…
But when you look in the mirror..? The mirror knows.
The mirror can see through the facade.
Samuel McPherson, you are still the same entitled, arrogant asshole who I embarassed at One. You are so fucking obsessed with your own personal glory, so convinced that you are god’s gift to wrestling that you take your natural gifts and you squander them, time after time. In one moment you underestimate the likes of Richards, Savage, and Jay Omega, and in the next you bitch and moan about people getting opportunities they don’t deserve. Your neanderthal brain is incapable of processing the simple fact that it does not matter who “deserves” opportunity. Opportunity is what you make of it.
And you John...at best you’re a work in progress. You have accomplished more than anyone thought you could...but you have yet to truly walk on your own, yet to lift yourself up and force yourself to eliminate your weaknesses, yet to push yourself to the fantastic heights that you dream of simply because you still rely on others.
Teo’s eyes are red-hot behind the glasses, his pupils shining with an unearthly fire as his words leave his mouth.
Teo Blaze: You are two halves of a coin, gentlemen, opposite in stature...but neither of you is ready to face me. I am a man who has let himself be broken in the fire of combat, who the Television Championship and every single man who has fought and bled for it have made into a warrior…
So this week, I do you both a favor. I will keep you along your respective paths, whether to redemption or obscurity, and I will do it with the whole world watching.
Take a look in the mirror, boys…
You might learn something.
With that, Teo leans back and slams his forehead once more into the glass of the mirror. With an ear-piercing shatter, the shards of glass fall to the floor, small, barely visible flecks of blood on the broken glass.
The frame now sits completely empty...leaving only the image of a blank white wall.
