Post by Adrien on Jun 30, 2021 22:42:02 GMT -5
The place I used to live made me feel like a tourist
I couldn't coexist with the cold and suspicious
When the last remaining light was starting to filter
It seemed the perfect time to step into the future
Your heart is a grave to be perfectly honest
Your mouth's a smoking gun
And you smile while you're twisting the knife in my stomach
Until everything is gone
Take all you can from me, I've got weak constitution
I'm led so easily, so easily
“Well, that was unexpected.”
Eddie Walker twiddles with the purple USB drive in his hand. He takes another swig of the coffee Adrien made him about an hour ago. Adrien Cochrane picks up the remote for his television and turns it off.
Adrien: “Yeah. I’d call it unexpected. Isn’t she supposed to be here in a couple of hours for me to give you two a hand with your tag team stuff to face off against the BANG Bros?”
Adrien’s question was directed at the AWF Prestige Champion, but Adam Sanders was still stunned at the words that came from his best friend. As a result, Eddie Walker was the one who answered the Dropkick King’s question.
Eddie: “She’s due to get here in…”
Walker glances at his watch.
Eddie: “Two hours and forty-two minutes. The plan was to leave here in about an hour and a half, pick her up, and give her this. But you know what… I’m not taking the bait. Still going to give her this. If she thinks I’m not being as neutral as I possibly can, I’m going to prove her wrong.”
Adam: “You guys don’t… unfairly favor me over her, do you?”
Adrien: “Adam, YOU are my student. She is someone who occasionally asks for my help. I have no direct ties to her like I do you. Heather and Andreas Lasiewicz are her mentors, not me. Meanwhile, I’ve had three students, and you’re the only one of them who hasn’t smashed a steel chair into my skull. But let me tell you something, I am ALWAYS willing to be there for her when she needs me because I am very fond of Betsy. Her recent comments notwithstanding…”
Eddie: “Hey, I’ve been managing you longer, but she’s still my client. I am giving you both the same amount of support I can possibly can. If you win, I celebrate with you and make sure she’s still in good spirits. If she wins, I’m doing the vice versa. I make sure I take lots of pictures with the new champion and her belt, make sure we get the nameplate remade before they stop …”
As Eddie continues going over his itinerary for a Betsy victory that was making Adam slightly uncomfortable, Adrien cuts him off.
Adrien: “Eddie, he gets the point.”
Eddie: “Right!”
Adam: “I just don’t know why… why would she think that?”
Adrien: “Well, she is Heather’s student. This is what Heather did. She takes every single thing she could find as a slight and magnifies it. If she can’t find one, in a scenario where her opponent is her best friend who could never slight her in any way possible, she will make one up and play up whatever she has to do to motivate herself. I think once the bell rings, she will let it all go. But short-term it’s a… well, it’s less than pleasant, but I’m not exactly sure she wants pleasant right now. She wants to prove a point, but it’s not to you. It’s not even to me or Eddie either.”
Eddie: “She wants to prove she is a dangerous competitor. When Call to Arms was going on, everyone who felt like dropping names only mentioned three… you two and Anthony Caffrey. Which is funny because Steve Awesome is more worried about her than you, but he’s in the minority. She doesn’t want to feel like she is just another wrestler. Which she isn’t.”
Adam: “She absolutely isn’t!”
Adrien: “Agreed. She is insanely gifted. Her technical skills are off the charts for someone who has been doing this as long as she has. It disgusts me that people have that perception. But it is on her to change that. And I hate to say it, Adam… beating you is a huge step in that direction.”
Adam: “I… I want her to change that perception, I do. I want her to be successful and win lots of championships…”
The Awkward One pauses for a moment, trying to choose his next words carefully.
Adam: “I still want opportunities too, though. Is that selfish of me?”
Eddie: “Absolutely not. Nor is it selfish for her.”
The manager’s response catches Adam off guard.
Eddie: “Both of you want each other to succeed. I know that to be true. Betsy, despite what the video says right there, will be thoroughly proud of you if you walk out the winner. But Betsy has to also take care of Betsy. She has to do what is best for her career, just like you have to do what is best for yours. And while the XHF Tag Team Titles is good for both of you… the Prestige is good for whoever leaves with it.”
Adam: “And… I don’t know…”
The AWF Prestige Champion runs both his hands through his hair, his head still spinning over this whole match.
Adam: “Finding a balance of what’s best for me and Betsy at the same times is not an easy task.”
Adrien: “Yeah… welcome to wrestling.”
Eddie: “Exactly. Wrestling 101 right there. So many people will turn on a dime when a championship gets involved. But you two are stronger than that.”
Adam: “Right. She’s my best friend. We said we wouldn’t let this match change any of that.”
Adrien: “And it won’t unless you let it.”
Adam: “I won’t. And I don’t think she will either. Our friendship is more important than this title. Other titles will come. Other shots at the X*Crown will come. One of us will get to be the final AWF Prestige Champion. This will be a grand opportunity for one of us and that is guaranteed to happen. I want it to be me. I really, really do.”
Brief pause.
Adam: “But I know it won’t be the end of the world if it ends up being her.”
I left it all behind in the dead of last winter
I left it all behind but the question still lingers
So long, forgotten friends, no, you don't know the difference
Between love and submission, and I'm not that obedient
Your heart is a grave to be perfectly honest
Your mouth's a smoking gun
And you smile while you're twisting the knife in my stomach
Until everything is gone
Take all you can from me, I've got weak constitution
I'm led so easily, so easily
“So, you have some frustrations. I get that. I do because I’ve been in your shoes so many times, Betsy. I have.
“Remember when my career started off with ten straight losses in two different companies? I almost quit right then and there. But you stood beside me. You, Adrien, and Eddie. I hadn’t even met Tasmin yet, but I had you three. I’ve always had you three. And you three motivated me not to quit and keep working. And this was the result. The AWF Prestige Championship… you helped me get this, Betsy. I would not be standing here with this belt had it not been for you. I want you to know that. I want you to know how much I appreciate you and your overall existence, Betsy. You’re my best friend, and I love you. That will never change.
“I can’t go easy on you. You wouldn’t want me to, of course. But as much as I want to see you succeed, Betsy… I have to try to succeed myself.
“But make no mistake, Betsy. I want to see you win a World Championship, whether you win this one from me or it’s some future opportunity. I will not storm out of the ring if you win. I will not get upset and will not throw a fit. I will hug you. Congratulate you. Cry tears of joy with you. There is no greater person for me to pass this torch to on this final Ascension Wrestling Federation show. There is no greater ending to the lineage of this belt than your hands at Clash of the Icons. Eddie will do what he always does when one of his clients wins a championship, from photographs to announcing your arrival to literally every room you walk into to celebratory dinners. Even Adrien will congratulate you once you reach the backstage area and tell you how proud of you he is.
“Despite what you think, they want to see you reach your fullest potential. You think they aren’t your support system and exclusive to me, but that’s not true. And you see yourself as completely alone, but that’s not true either.
“When we first became friends, you didn’t just have me. You had Patrick Star. You had Elizabeth Lannister. They were your friends who just kinda tolerated that I was around. When I got Adrien as a trainer, you had Heather and Andreas. I haven’t seen Heather in years, and I don’t think Andreas knows I exist. And Eddie only started managing me because Adrien asked him to. He signed you without provocation just because he saw potential in you. Even now, you have James Raven, your sister, and your friends in your other wrestling company.
“But I’m not mad. Eddie has treated us like family. He’s happy to help me and happy to help you. He wants to see us celebrating our tag team titles and start helping the winner of our match win the X*Crown. Even if it’s Adrien. And speaking of Adrien, he didn’t have to pick you for the Call to Arms match. The only two people who were members of the Guardians before all of us joining the XHF Network were me and Johnny. And I know before he picked Caffrey for the last slot, he considered a lot of other people. Rob Arnold, Leon Chant, Bloodied Fox, Solomon Graham, Eli Dresden, Erin Gordon… all names floated to be a part of the team for Caffrey’s slot. He could have picked any combination of those guys with Anthony. But he wanted you on the team. You are someone he said he trusts and deserved to be on the team. He wanted to win that tournament and for you to be a part of it. Because he cares about you and believes in you.
“See, that’s the one thing I want to stress to you, Betsy, is that no matter what: YOU. ARE. LOVED. You hear me? Everyone, EVERYONE in our collective lives believes in you as a person and you as a competitor. Vent out all your anger. Find everything that you think you need to get out of your system. Take it out on me in the ring. Do what YOU have to do, Betsy…
“... but it won’t change anything. Nothing you say right now will matter a week from now. Nothing you do in the ring to me will matter a month from now, barring you snapping a bone of mine or giving me a concussion. The only thing that matters is one of us is getting an X*Crown shot. One of us will be in that ring, one-on-one with the grand champion of the whole XHF Network. Think about it, Betsy… it could be one of us on the top of the mountain in a few months!
“And that is what is important. Not some sort of perceptions in that conky little head of yours. Not who was mentored by who. Not who is more popular backstage, even though we both know it is the social butterfly Betsy and not the Awkward Adam. It’s that this is a huge opportunity for us, regardless of which of us it is.
“But this is where I have to be a little blunt with you. I didn’t get this championship by being soft-spoken and playing Pokémon backstage. I got this championship by fighting through every challenge put before me and that ends with you. I bled to reach this point. I was set on fire to get to this point. I went through everything this company could throw at me, some of which were things I could have never predicted… which includes wearing a wingsuit over a giant wind tunnel and fighting a guy who came to the ring with a longsword and was willing to use it.
“I worked too hard to roll over and not try to take this thing all the way, Betsy. You know that. And if this isn’t your time, it will come. You will be a world champion. You will have a shot at the X*Crown. And the entire time, I will be right there beside you, cheering you on. I have zero doubt about it: you are a future X*Crown Champion. And I am proud… PROUD to be your best friend.
“So come at me with everything you got. Only one of us can leave with the Prestige Championship. Only one of us can cash it in and make history. Will it be Granger Victorious? Or will it be little awkward Adam from Michigan?
“We’ll find out when the bell rings. Regardless of the result: I love you. I believe in you. You are great and talented and going places. But I’m not going down without the fight of my life.”
And she's trying to sleep it off with her head on my shoulder
And I'm trying to keep it out of my thoughts when I hold her
(Take all you can from me)
And she's trying to sleep it off with her head on my shoulder
(I'm led so easily)
And I'm trying to keep it out of my thoughts when I hold her
Your heart is a grave to be perfectly honest
Your mouth's a smoking gun
And you smile while you're twisting the knife in my stomach
Until everything is gone
Take all you can from me, I've got weak constitution
I'm led so easily, so easily
