Post by Dave D-Flipz on Apr 13, 2023 9:46:53 GMT -5
"The world doesn’t owe you anything. And how foolish of a man to expect it."
Death Trap steps into the camera’s eye. He stands in a soon to be familiar arena. He is surrounded by empty bleachers. Patriots and Revolution paraphernalia abound in the peripheries of the camera’s vision. Clearly we are in Gilette Stadium, the site of the upcoming XHF Rumble. One of the smallest in XHF history, but one clearly stacked to the rafters with top tier talent … and others.
Death Trap: Let me regale you with the tale of adversity and strife. Disclaimer: This story is not meant to be a pity party or a way to out-victim anyone else in the match. This is simply me setting the scene for all you watchers at home. Let me take you back to the year 2000. A young, twenty-one year old man struggles with being unable to succeed in his chosen profession, his passion does not supply him the necessary level of commitment or ability.
DT begins to pace through the aisle he has chosen to stand in. He looks all around him at the open sky on this unusually warm April morning in Foxborough.
Death Trap: The end of the baseball season and the man is no closer to rising from AA. His star quickly fading. His coaches give up hope, threaten to have him demoted or traded. And this is pre-union, minor leaguers make no money. His family does their best to be supportive, but in their voices he can hear the sorrow, the doubt. His father casually suggesting he try the independent baseball league, to build his stock and show everyone the talent he has. His mother just trying to be supportive of her oldest child. The man hangs his head in shame. He walks through his offseason workouts in a fugue state, like a mad zombie. Pushing harder, bulking up, putting on muscle, building his cardio.
He stops pacing and leaps forward over the bench in front of him into a sitting position on the bleacher.
Death Trap: Coach sees the man and pulls him aside. “Dave, you put on some muscle. You look good. … Look kid, I’m sorry. The team has decided to release you in order to put their efforts into developing the new draft class. But you got some muscle on you, you are quick, why not try another profession? I know a guy who works with a Mr. Harold Campbell, let me put you in touch.”
A reasonable suggestion but one borne of pity and not a genuine desire to support this broken man. He put me on the path I walk now, but only to get me out of the game of baseball, to avoid becoming a stain on their record.
DT holds his head in his hands. Clearly this is still a rough memory. He bounces his leg in a distracted fidget against the cement floor of the bleacher seats. He lifts his eyes to look over his fingertips and down to the soccer pitch currently placed on the stadium playing field. He speaks through clasped fingers and gritted teeth.
Death Trap: 2002. I am now a bona fide main event wrestler. Star, really. Still playing the old baseball player gimmick. Bleeding my real life trauma and failure into my new successful career. I’m not the top guy, but I’m a steady hand, in the main event scene. Until Harry decided to try and kill his own creation. Clearly he watched a certain business mogul on TNN and decided to copy the strategy of injecting a lethal dose of poison.
Harry was a great fighter but a horrific businessman. Him and Paul E. Bishoff can go walk a long distance off a short pier…
DT clicks his tongue and shakes his head, pulling his head from his hands. Old wounds and all that.
Death Trap: My world crashing down on me again. At first, it all seemed so familiar. Me, alone against the world. Two people decided to step up and help me. My first taste of leadership. Gravedigger and Dagger, supporting Death Trap, overwhelming the EWF invasion. What do you know? A success! I saved the fed. I won the deciding match for control! The fans celebrated me. And then Harry sold the company to the personification of the business fat cat, emphasis on fat. So much for the vaunted leader of the ECF locker room. I wasn’t even given the push coming into XHF, GD was. The world owed me nothing and it gave me less than that. Instead of leading the charge, here I was shunted to the bottom of the card. I wasn’t even the one who kicked Mongo in the dick.
He involuntarily chuckles at this memory. Ah, good times.
Death Trap: I fought again, trying to lead the charge of the ECF rejects. And the fans … they … turned on me. Just me. They rejected me. GD was out for his own benefit, Dagger began to fade from the public eye, Magnus was … well Magnus. And I fought for the people, tried to make sure Mongo didn’t rob them of the entertainment they deserved, they PAID for. And I didn’t handle the adversity well. I became obsessed with ruining Mongo Corp. And hell, I almost succeeded on pure grit and rage. And the fans … went mild. And Magnus … got a world title shot. And … won? Yeah think about that, Magnus was an XHF World champion before me.
And he beat the fat ass before I could to do it. It STILL baffles me how Mongo could lose to Magnus, he’s as far from a GOAT as you can get…/i]
DT stands up and begins to walk down the steps of the stands towards the field, but he has a ways to go to get there.
Death Trap: Something snapped. I didn’t handle the failure well. And my early results were troubling. Instead of being the leader the locker room needed, I became a scourge. Was I the best to ever hold THAT title? No. Was I better than the current ScourgeTM walking around XHF? Miles.
Fuck Donzig, I’ll take care of him too…
Death Trap: SO what’s the point of this stroll down memory back alley? Early success with the wrong attitude can stifle the growth of a legend. I never recovered from that veer into the dark. Sure, I tried to win the fans back. But my current nickname was borne out of my rage and a desire to show I was better than Venom.
Spoiler Warning: I wasn’t. Still don’t know if I am now…
DT slows his jaunt down the stairs and grabs the railing, a tear forming in his eye.
Death Trap: I was in that dark place for years. And when I finally got the support I needed, it was either mocking or too late. James Mueller and Magnus pitied me and got me my job back. But they made me a punch line. Mongo didn’t even invite me to the attempted relaunch of the XHF. Or the first Network attempt. I had alienated anyone who COULD have helped me, not that anyone would. My support system was barren. I never had a significant other to help me.
She left me pretty soon after the whole XHF debut for Jimmy… Still probably dodged that bullet, think she’s sitting in prison for domestic abuse.
Hitting people with frying pans to get what you want will do that…
Death Trap: It took Aleister Mayfield to see the man inside and nurture the real DT to the surface. And I’ve been leading the locker room and the fans ever since. Being an example of how to do things, the way to look at the world and life. Stepping into try and help where I can. Nurturing the next generation of stars. Being… happy. Finding the best success of my career, a career the universe tried to pry from me with concussions. Which brings me to my point. Let me talk to you one to one…
He sits in a seat as he has hit the more expensive seating area of the stadium. He leans forward in a fatherly way as if about to have a teaching moment with his target.
Death Trap: Peter. Hey. How’s it going? Don’t bother responding, we all know the story of Bloodied fucking Fox man. Inspirational, really. Look, I know things are dark. I know you are hurt inside. I know you see the world being unfair and you want to take what you feel you have earned, what is rightfully yours. But I want you to really take a look at yourself in the mirror man. Look at what you are becoming. You are listening to the wrong people. You want to know how I know you are going down the wrong path? Because you are doing something similar to me in 2004. And yes, I won 2 titles after that, but then my career and life fell apart. You are going down the path of short term self-gratification at the expense of everything you ACTUALLY care about!
DT slams his hands on the bench.
Death Trap: Hell, Donzig looks at the current Fox and says, “Hrm.” THAT IS AS CLOSE TO TACIT APPROVAL AND SUPPORT FROM DONZIG AS ANYONE WILL EVER GET! Nobody should be trying to out-Donzig Donzig! The man is insane! Unstable!
Calm down, don’t let the man who tried to kill you get under your skin. Focus, back on topic.
Death Trap: You know what really irks me? What makes me want to speak out? Because I like you, man. Or I liked the old you. I liked the scrappy fighter who never gives up and strives to be excellent. I liked the man who took the slings and arrows that come with being a member of a repressed minority and uses it to become better than the people throwing the mud. I liked the guy who kept fighting the good fight no matter who hurt him. I liked the guy who became all the champions in AWF, the guy who was about to be champ in NLW, the guy who has been consistently in the X*Crown picture while others who fail fall out of contention. Hell even those who succeed fall away! If your name isn’t Zoran or Dylan you get one shot and then fade. For me it was 15 years to get there, a month to lose it and I haven’t been back since.
DT hops to his feet and begins to animatedly move around the aisle he is sitting in. He gesticulates wildly while he does.
Death Trap: What REALLY irks me, Peter … Fox … is that you have turned to this tactic … for no good reason. You let that albino weasel worm his way into your brain. You twisted things so hard that you can’t even see the knots. And yet … YOU HAVE A SUPPORT SYSTEM! You have ALWAYS had people who have been there to talk it through, people to fight for you, beside you. You have all the resources and you just blindly shoved them away. You took the world … GIVING YOU SOMETHING … and pushed it away to then spit in its face and say, “Why has the world DONE this?”
Cue Eric Andre meme of Fox shooting his own support and then asking why would the world do this…
Death Trap: You have a partner … who has fought through all the craziness of JRoK to become part of YOUR world, wrestling. A partner who chose to join with you despite the insanity of Mad Seth Dillinger and Final Boss Zoran Sainovic. You have friends. Hell even Seth TRIED to make amends after He got the support HE needed to stop being a batshit lunatic! SHIT HAPPENS! And you had the tools to get through it. You HAD gotten through it! But you let one man control your whole outlook. YOU let Zoran do this to you. He didn’t even know who you were, he just stabbed your hand because that’s what he fucking does. He stabbed SO many people. Hell, Steve Awesome didn’t change and he got fucking eviscerated!
The fact that a change would have done Steve good notwithstanding.
Death Trap: You … had everything I wish I knew I needed. You had friends, you had a partner, you had the SUPPORT of the AWF and NLW. You had people on your side, fighting with you. I never had that. I had to suffer in silence for so long before someone reached out to help me.
He sighs. He sits back down with a thump on the stair of the current level of the arena he stands in.
Death Trap: So Fox. You let that one moment control you. Many of us let Zoran under our skin. But we all took our bit of revenge that one pay-per-view in the locker room. And no, nobody is buying the Pepe Morales thing. We aren’t idiots.
Steve and Donzig not withstanding.
Death Trap: And then we let things go, or we took steps to neutralize the threat to our health. Hell, even Marty Donovan handled Zoran better than you did. You were DONE with him, he was out of your way, and you stepped back in. You put yourself on his list and chased him for more revenge. You let that quest for revenge consume you. You BROKE yourself. And Zoran just pushed you over the edge. I’m not here trying to defend the devil, he still has MILES to go before people actually believe he is reformed. But he deserves a CHANCE.
DT claps his hands in front of him and places them on his knees as he leans forward again.
Death Trap: So Fox, here’s what we’re gonna do. Your husband just took my global tag team championship from me and my partner. Where were you? I didn’t see you as his partner. I didn’t see you there to celebrate. You were in GUNS shitstomping the local talent for no good reason. Doing everything that glorified Mr. Mime directed you to do. How the fuck dare you turn your back on your loved ones. How can you be so callous as to be blind to their plight, their successes. Brandon and Jack just dethroned the most successful tag team in XHF history. And you are so broken you don’t even see you are the one in the wrong. You are doing far worse than 2004 DT ever did. And I will not … let you become someone else’s Zoran Sainovic. I will not allow someone I respected, to degrade themselves and sink to that level. And I know what a quick success with this attitude can do. I cannot allow you to claim the X*Crown in this state. Because it will poison your perception. You will believe that this has actually worked. That turning on everything you were was the right choice.
DT stands up and walks to the camera. He leans in close.
Death Trap: Peter … I will be the roadblock in your way. I will win this rumble. I will become a three time X*Crown Champion. And I will do this for many reasons. Oh, for sure most are selfish. I haven’t fundamentally changed who I am. I am still the glory hog, main attraction. The man who needs the spotlight. But see I have also ALWAYS been … at heart … a good man. A man who wants to help others. And I see you shunning the very fans who cheered you on throughout all this shit with Zoran, throughout all the craziness with Misha, throughout all the pain and sorrow of Seth Dillinger destroying LGBTKO. You are fundamentally changing who you are. And I’m here to tell you, in the long run, it won’t work. I will do whatever I need to, to make sure you do NOT taste that short term success like I did. I will not allow you to fall deeper into this rabbit hole. If you don’t want the support system of the fans, the support from your husband, then I will be your support system. The only way you seem to be ready to listen to. I will not let you devolve into someone else’s bogeyman.
DT backs away from the camera. He turns his back and begins to walk up the steps as the camera follows, the boom mic now being held out into view to catch what DT is saying as he retreats
Death Trap: You should have been a leader. You were a role model. You showed others how not to let adversity define you. You proved that with determination and the right support, anyone could overcome anything. I’ll be damned if I allow you to squander that legacy. As a leader myself … let me tell you … I can’t abide by that tragedy. You were the best of us, better than me. Better than Donzig, better than Caffrey, better than Seth, better than Mongo. You were the constant in XHF. And you are turning down a path from which there is no chance for recovery. So, Fox, the living legend, locker room leader, Main Attraction … stands between you and success. If you know my history … then you know I am not so easily brushed aside. I couldn’t save SWAT from the cancer that had grown within it. I couldn’t save ECF from the corporate machinations that destroyed it. I couldn’t save XHF from Mongo’s tremendous appetite for power … and food. And maybe … maybe I can’t save you. But I can certainly stand in your way. And make an attempt. Your husband showed amazing resilience and grit in our match. I owe him this. So I implore you, don’t make me do something … that YOU will regret.
Fade
Death Trap steps into the camera’s eye. He stands in a soon to be familiar arena. He is surrounded by empty bleachers. Patriots and Revolution paraphernalia abound in the peripheries of the camera’s vision. Clearly we are in Gilette Stadium, the site of the upcoming XHF Rumble. One of the smallest in XHF history, but one clearly stacked to the rafters with top tier talent … and others.
Death Trap: Let me regale you with the tale of adversity and strife. Disclaimer: This story is not meant to be a pity party or a way to out-victim anyone else in the match. This is simply me setting the scene for all you watchers at home. Let me take you back to the year 2000. A young, twenty-one year old man struggles with being unable to succeed in his chosen profession, his passion does not supply him the necessary level of commitment or ability.
DT begins to pace through the aisle he has chosen to stand in. He looks all around him at the open sky on this unusually warm April morning in Foxborough.
Death Trap: The end of the baseball season and the man is no closer to rising from AA. His star quickly fading. His coaches give up hope, threaten to have him demoted or traded. And this is pre-union, minor leaguers make no money. His family does their best to be supportive, but in their voices he can hear the sorrow, the doubt. His father casually suggesting he try the independent baseball league, to build his stock and show everyone the talent he has. His mother just trying to be supportive of her oldest child. The man hangs his head in shame. He walks through his offseason workouts in a fugue state, like a mad zombie. Pushing harder, bulking up, putting on muscle, building his cardio.
He stops pacing and leaps forward over the bench in front of him into a sitting position on the bleacher.
Death Trap: Coach sees the man and pulls him aside. “Dave, you put on some muscle. You look good. … Look kid, I’m sorry. The team has decided to release you in order to put their efforts into developing the new draft class. But you got some muscle on you, you are quick, why not try another profession? I know a guy who works with a Mr. Harold Campbell, let me put you in touch.”
A reasonable suggestion but one borne of pity and not a genuine desire to support this broken man. He put me on the path I walk now, but only to get me out of the game of baseball, to avoid becoming a stain on their record.
DT holds his head in his hands. Clearly this is still a rough memory. He bounces his leg in a distracted fidget against the cement floor of the bleacher seats. He lifts his eyes to look over his fingertips and down to the soccer pitch currently placed on the stadium playing field. He speaks through clasped fingers and gritted teeth.
Death Trap: 2002. I am now a bona fide main event wrestler. Star, really. Still playing the old baseball player gimmick. Bleeding my real life trauma and failure into my new successful career. I’m not the top guy, but I’m a steady hand, in the main event scene. Until Harry decided to try and kill his own creation. Clearly he watched a certain business mogul on TNN and decided to copy the strategy of injecting a lethal dose of poison.
Harry was a great fighter but a horrific businessman. Him and Paul E. Bishoff can go walk a long distance off a short pier…
DT clicks his tongue and shakes his head, pulling his head from his hands. Old wounds and all that.
Death Trap: My world crashing down on me again. At first, it all seemed so familiar. Me, alone against the world. Two people decided to step up and help me. My first taste of leadership. Gravedigger and Dagger, supporting Death Trap, overwhelming the EWF invasion. What do you know? A success! I saved the fed. I won the deciding match for control! The fans celebrated me. And then Harry sold the company to the personification of the business fat cat, emphasis on fat. So much for the vaunted leader of the ECF locker room. I wasn’t even given the push coming into XHF, GD was. The world owed me nothing and it gave me less than that. Instead of leading the charge, here I was shunted to the bottom of the card. I wasn’t even the one who kicked Mongo in the dick.
He involuntarily chuckles at this memory. Ah, good times.
Death Trap: I fought again, trying to lead the charge of the ECF rejects. And the fans … they … turned on me. Just me. They rejected me. GD was out for his own benefit, Dagger began to fade from the public eye, Magnus was … well Magnus. And I fought for the people, tried to make sure Mongo didn’t rob them of the entertainment they deserved, they PAID for. And I didn’t handle the adversity well. I became obsessed with ruining Mongo Corp. And hell, I almost succeeded on pure grit and rage. And the fans … went mild. And Magnus … got a world title shot. And … won? Yeah think about that, Magnus was an XHF World champion before me.
And he beat the fat ass before I could to do it. It STILL baffles me how Mongo could lose to Magnus, he’s as far from a GOAT as you can get…/i]
DT stands up and begins to walk down the steps of the stands towards the field, but he has a ways to go to get there.
Death Trap: Something snapped. I didn’t handle the failure well. And my early results were troubling. Instead of being the leader the locker room needed, I became a scourge. Was I the best to ever hold THAT title? No. Was I better than the current ScourgeTM walking around XHF? Miles.
Fuck Donzig, I’ll take care of him too…
Death Trap: SO what’s the point of this stroll down memory back alley? Early success with the wrong attitude can stifle the growth of a legend. I never recovered from that veer into the dark. Sure, I tried to win the fans back. But my current nickname was borne out of my rage and a desire to show I was better than Venom.
Spoiler Warning: I wasn’t. Still don’t know if I am now…
DT slows his jaunt down the stairs and grabs the railing, a tear forming in his eye.
Death Trap: I was in that dark place for years. And when I finally got the support I needed, it was either mocking or too late. James Mueller and Magnus pitied me and got me my job back. But they made me a punch line. Mongo didn’t even invite me to the attempted relaunch of the XHF. Or the first Network attempt. I had alienated anyone who COULD have helped me, not that anyone would. My support system was barren. I never had a significant other to help me.
She left me pretty soon after the whole XHF debut for Jimmy… Still probably dodged that bullet, think she’s sitting in prison for domestic abuse.
Hitting people with frying pans to get what you want will do that…
Death Trap: It took Aleister Mayfield to see the man inside and nurture the real DT to the surface. And I’ve been leading the locker room and the fans ever since. Being an example of how to do things, the way to look at the world and life. Stepping into try and help where I can. Nurturing the next generation of stars. Being… happy. Finding the best success of my career, a career the universe tried to pry from me with concussions. Which brings me to my point. Let me talk to you one to one…
He sits in a seat as he has hit the more expensive seating area of the stadium. He leans forward in a fatherly way as if about to have a teaching moment with his target.
Death Trap: Peter. Hey. How’s it going? Don’t bother responding, we all know the story of Bloodied fucking Fox man. Inspirational, really. Look, I know things are dark. I know you are hurt inside. I know you see the world being unfair and you want to take what you feel you have earned, what is rightfully yours. But I want you to really take a look at yourself in the mirror man. Look at what you are becoming. You are listening to the wrong people. You want to know how I know you are going down the wrong path? Because you are doing something similar to me in 2004. And yes, I won 2 titles after that, but then my career and life fell apart. You are going down the path of short term self-gratification at the expense of everything you ACTUALLY care about!
DT slams his hands on the bench.
Death Trap: Hell, Donzig looks at the current Fox and says, “Hrm.” THAT IS AS CLOSE TO TACIT APPROVAL AND SUPPORT FROM DONZIG AS ANYONE WILL EVER GET! Nobody should be trying to out-Donzig Donzig! The man is insane! Unstable!
Calm down, don’t let the man who tried to kill you get under your skin. Focus, back on topic.
Death Trap: You know what really irks me? What makes me want to speak out? Because I like you, man. Or I liked the old you. I liked the scrappy fighter who never gives up and strives to be excellent. I liked the man who took the slings and arrows that come with being a member of a repressed minority and uses it to become better than the people throwing the mud. I liked the guy who kept fighting the good fight no matter who hurt him. I liked the guy who became all the champions in AWF, the guy who was about to be champ in NLW, the guy who has been consistently in the X*Crown picture while others who fail fall out of contention. Hell even those who succeed fall away! If your name isn’t Zoran or Dylan you get one shot and then fade. For me it was 15 years to get there, a month to lose it and I haven’t been back since.
DT hops to his feet and begins to animatedly move around the aisle he is sitting in. He gesticulates wildly while he does.
Death Trap: What REALLY irks me, Peter … Fox … is that you have turned to this tactic … for no good reason. You let that albino weasel worm his way into your brain. You twisted things so hard that you can’t even see the knots. And yet … YOU HAVE A SUPPORT SYSTEM! You have ALWAYS had people who have been there to talk it through, people to fight for you, beside you. You have all the resources and you just blindly shoved them away. You took the world … GIVING YOU SOMETHING … and pushed it away to then spit in its face and say, “Why has the world DONE this?”
Cue Eric Andre meme of Fox shooting his own support and then asking why would the world do this…
Death Trap: You have a partner … who has fought through all the craziness of JRoK to become part of YOUR world, wrestling. A partner who chose to join with you despite the insanity of Mad Seth Dillinger and Final Boss Zoran Sainovic. You have friends. Hell even Seth TRIED to make amends after He got the support HE needed to stop being a batshit lunatic! SHIT HAPPENS! And you had the tools to get through it. You HAD gotten through it! But you let one man control your whole outlook. YOU let Zoran do this to you. He didn’t even know who you were, he just stabbed your hand because that’s what he fucking does. He stabbed SO many people. Hell, Steve Awesome didn’t change and he got fucking eviscerated!
The fact that a change would have done Steve good notwithstanding.
Death Trap: You … had everything I wish I knew I needed. You had friends, you had a partner, you had the SUPPORT of the AWF and NLW. You had people on your side, fighting with you. I never had that. I had to suffer in silence for so long before someone reached out to help me.
He sighs. He sits back down with a thump on the stair of the current level of the arena he stands in.
Death Trap: So Fox. You let that one moment control you. Many of us let Zoran under our skin. But we all took our bit of revenge that one pay-per-view in the locker room. And no, nobody is buying the Pepe Morales thing. We aren’t idiots.
Steve and Donzig not withstanding.
Death Trap: And then we let things go, or we took steps to neutralize the threat to our health. Hell, even Marty Donovan handled Zoran better than you did. You were DONE with him, he was out of your way, and you stepped back in. You put yourself on his list and chased him for more revenge. You let that quest for revenge consume you. You BROKE yourself. And Zoran just pushed you over the edge. I’m not here trying to defend the devil, he still has MILES to go before people actually believe he is reformed. But he deserves a CHANCE.
DT claps his hands in front of him and places them on his knees as he leans forward again.
Death Trap: So Fox, here’s what we’re gonna do. Your husband just took my global tag team championship from me and my partner. Where were you? I didn’t see you as his partner. I didn’t see you there to celebrate. You were in GUNS shitstomping the local talent for no good reason. Doing everything that glorified Mr. Mime directed you to do. How the fuck dare you turn your back on your loved ones. How can you be so callous as to be blind to their plight, their successes. Brandon and Jack just dethroned the most successful tag team in XHF history. And you are so broken you don’t even see you are the one in the wrong. You are doing far worse than 2004 DT ever did. And I will not … let you become someone else’s Zoran Sainovic. I will not allow someone I respected, to degrade themselves and sink to that level. And I know what a quick success with this attitude can do. I cannot allow you to claim the X*Crown in this state. Because it will poison your perception. You will believe that this has actually worked. That turning on everything you were was the right choice.
DT stands up and walks to the camera. He leans in close.
Death Trap: Peter … I will be the roadblock in your way. I will win this rumble. I will become a three time X*Crown Champion. And I will do this for many reasons. Oh, for sure most are selfish. I haven’t fundamentally changed who I am. I am still the glory hog, main attraction. The man who needs the spotlight. But see I have also ALWAYS been … at heart … a good man. A man who wants to help others. And I see you shunning the very fans who cheered you on throughout all this shit with Zoran, throughout all the craziness with Misha, throughout all the pain and sorrow of Seth Dillinger destroying LGBTKO. You are fundamentally changing who you are. And I’m here to tell you, in the long run, it won’t work. I will do whatever I need to, to make sure you do NOT taste that short term success like I did. I will not allow you to fall deeper into this rabbit hole. If you don’t want the support system of the fans, the support from your husband, then I will be your support system. The only way you seem to be ready to listen to. I will not let you devolve into someone else’s bogeyman.
DT backs away from the camera. He turns his back and begins to walk up the steps as the camera follows, the boom mic now being held out into view to catch what DT is saying as he retreats
Death Trap: You should have been a leader. You were a role model. You showed others how not to let adversity define you. You proved that with determination and the right support, anyone could overcome anything. I’ll be damned if I allow you to squander that legacy. As a leader myself … let me tell you … I can’t abide by that tragedy. You were the best of us, better than me. Better than Donzig, better than Caffrey, better than Seth, better than Mongo. You were the constant in XHF. And you are turning down a path from which there is no chance for recovery. So, Fox, the living legend, locker room leader, Main Attraction … stands between you and success. If you know my history … then you know I am not so easily brushed aside. I couldn’t save SWAT from the cancer that had grown within it. I couldn’t save ECF from the corporate machinations that destroyed it. I couldn’t save XHF from Mongo’s tremendous appetite for power … and food. And maybe … maybe I can’t save you. But I can certainly stand in your way. And make an attempt. Your husband showed amazing resilience and grit in our match. I owe him this. So I implore you, don’t make me do something … that YOU will regret.
Fade
