Post by Dave D-Flipz on Jun 19, 2023 21:09:51 GMT -5
"I always thought the phrase implied that a person was only crazy in appearance, but was actually quite cunning and intelligent! Like me!"
"Yes, well in this case, Chaos, the dear formerly beloved vulpine is very much crazy."
"Crazy?"
"Yes Sarah, Death Trap believes something is wrong with him. Some kind of trauma or brainwashing. I do not subscribe to that possibility, this is not a fictional world like a book or anime after all."
"NARUTO!"
"I mean, he is about as ornery as the nine tails but I doubt he can do real ninja stuff, honey."
*Death Trap somberly walks into the hotel room in Atlanta where his team has been staying while he dealt with round one of a certain tournament in Vegas. Spoiler: It didn’t go according to plan.*
"Death Trap, I understand why you are doing this. But are you certain you wish to do this alone?"
"Between the ever present threat of Zoran popping up, the GUNS rivalry with CAR, and the heavy and puppet master by Fox’s side? No. But I won’t risk you guys being collateral damage."
"I am more than capable of defending myself."
"Sure … but could you defend yourself from an entire jobber army, a seven foot wall of meat, a man who would be INCREDIBLY out of place after labor day, and a murderous Serbian psychopath … at the same time?"
"Yes."
*Chaos holds up her tranq rifle.*
"Touché… "
*DT laughs and shakes his head.*
"I know this is less than ideal. But this is something I need to do. I’ve been riding high for almost a year, now we lost the titles and I’ve lose the first round of this tournament. If I’m not at my best … I can’t risk you being in his way. He’s lost right now, he’s in deep."
"Cool story, bro."
*They all snap up and look at Chaos. DT looks quizzically at her. He cocks an eyebrow.*
"I know you’re my client and my best friend’s husband. But you are not fooling anybody sir. You are many things, most of them great. But you have one character trait that pops up every time that you KNOW is playing a part here."
"I’m sorry … am … am I on Punk’d right now? What is this about?"
"You didn’t give a damn about him until you had to face him. You didn’t go out seeking Fox out when he started to falter. You didn’t offer him advice when he was pushing his family away to hunt that monster, Zoran. You didn’t want to offer help … but now you want to SAVE him. How did that go when you tried to save SWAT? How did that go when you tried to save Zoran from Fox in the rumble? And let’s not forget the elephant in the room, mister. Now you are in his business … because he has that title."
*DT looks aghast … but takes it in … he lowers his head and thinks.*
"… shit."
"LANGUAGE!"
*The scene opens with DT sitting on a bench in a dark room, lit by the lights in the hallway streaming through the half open door, casting stretched and deformed shadows on the surfaces of the room. DT himself is half hidden in the darkness and his shadow cast on the floor is warped and monstrous.*
"I’ve had to confront some deep truths in my career. Usually at the hands of Ishnari or Venom. Occasionally Jason Justice. Sometimes it’s myself or my loved ones that see it. Sometimes I have to take a deep look in the mirror, study the age lines on my face, stare at the scars from a twenty plus year career, and be fucking honest with myself. At heart … I am a good man. But in practice, well I’m still human. Peter … no, Peter isn’t here right now … Bloodied Fox … I was going to tell you I’d failed you. As a possible mentor, as a colleague, as a fellow wrestler who has gone through some shit. I was going to sit here and tell you all about how I failed you. How I was partly responsible for what you are right now. That if only I was there to be a voice or an ear, you might still be the best among us."
*DT shifts his body so he is now looking though his tented fingers, shadows now dancing over his face making him look a bit demonic.*
"But I’ve never been a good liar."
*He lowers his hands as his face illuminates, his body still hides in shadow but his beard and hair now glisten in the hallway light, sweat beaded on his head from what must have been an intense workout. He crinkles his nose up and looks deep into the camera, as if staring into its very heart.*
"Fox, you chose this for yourself. You did this to yourself. We are all responsible for our own choices in life. We all choose our own path. We all have those days where we stare into the abyss, and the abyss stares back. Sometimes we overcome it … sometimes we blink … and sometimes we fucking launch ourselves into the very maw of the void … how very Donzig of you."
*There’s that comparison again. It poked the bear on Zoran … and now it’s surely rankling the Fox.*
"How very proud of your accomplishment all of your friends must be. All zero of them. What was the quote? You finally accomplished what you originally set out to prove. But what id it cost you?"
*He leans even closer to the camera. His chest and abs now enter the light and glisten. His face again partially obscures in darkness, his eyes the only pin pricks of light as they reflect what few photons bounce around that portion of the room.*
"Everything. But in this business we don’t get to sit back and gloat in our successes and ride off into the sunset. No in this business, our handiwork always comes back around. And the question becomes … can you bear the weight? How will you shoulder it? The world on your shoulders. Fox, at some point this whole thing you’ve got going on with the Bleached Avenger and Meat Mountain is going to crash around you. People like that don’t care for anything. They use you. And if you think they won’t cast you aside … *he pauses* or if you think you will beat them when the knife is eventually buried in your back … well we all see the effects that very first knife has had on you. Safe to say you crumbled."
*He sits back*
"I’m sure you are thinking, ‘what do you know about me, old man?’ And that’s fair. Point blank I don’t know you. I wasn’t in AWF to learn about you, I wasn’t in NLW to see you as you grew to this point. I wasn’t there. And you may ask yourself, if I’m so dead set on ‘saving’ you … why wouldn’t I have stepped in with Legion? Or the Revenants? Or Seth Dillinger? Or Zoran? You want to know the honest truth?"
*He stands up and now his entire upper half is in shadow and we see only the shadow of his legs cast on the ground as he reaches forward and grabs his camera phone. He pulls it close and looks into the lens with bloodshot, teary eyes.*
"You … didn’t … need me. You … were the best of us. You overcame everything and were a beacon of hope and light to the fans and the network. You took everything thrown at you and came out on top. What could I have offered you that wouldn’t seem like talking down? Or a slap in the face? YOU HANDLED YOUR SHIT! You are every bit as good as I was. You … didn’t … fucking … need … an old man on the downswing of his career trying to mentor new talent and scrape out a bit of spotlight. What would an old narcissist with a hero complex and history of concussions offer to the fastest rising star in the network? Maybe I was wrong, maybe an experienced veteran presence could have staved off this horrible turn of personality. Instead I walked into your life after the betrayals began, after the cults, after the drama. And all I could think was, “You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?”"
*DT sits back down on the end of the bench in the light, his full body illuminated, his shadow normalized.*
"But I’m here now, Foxy. And I’m still the same insane motherfucker who wants to do what’s best for this business … while promoting the shit out of myself. I’m going to do my best to do the impossible and ‘save’ you from yourself and your new bosom buddies. I’m going to knock some sense into you before you do some things you can never recover from, never be forgiven for. Because in everything we do, the consequences and results are etched onto our very being. Every deed. They weigh on us for life. And when all is said and done? You’re gonna carry that weight. If you uplift people? If you put energy into making things better? It spreads the weight of life around. It allows others to help. But when you take it all onto yourself, and pile on with horrible actions that violate the basic tenets of good nature? When you pile on with angry thoughts, and malicious actions? Well, you’re gonna carry that weight. And being the benevolent man I am? I want to take some of that weight from you."
*He wipes the smile from his face as he leans in again and frowns, as if disappointed in his own nature.*
"And being the vainglorious bastard that I am … I am going to also take the weight of your title from you. It’s the dichotomy I deal with every day. I try to be good. I try to be reasonable. And I also have to feed the insatiable desire within me to be in the spotlight, to be the best, to be the beacon of light the people need. I’m not strong enough to fight that part of myself off. But … I can carry that weight. When all is said and done Fox, you did all of this twisting and turning into the monster you think you needed to be to accomplish something you already were on track to accomplish. You broke before you could break through. And now the timing makes you think you’ve risen and overcome, that this is the you that has to be for you to be champion, to be the best. But you were the best of us. Now you’re just that asshole at the top that we all want to take down. And I am here to be a reality check. They call me a legend. They call me a master. They call me the main attraction. And soon they will call me 3 time X*Crown champion. And Fox? Where will you be when that happens?"
*DT cocks his eyebrow again at the camera. He looks around as if waiting for an answer. He shrugs and begins walking towards the door*
"You will be left in the ring, having lost what you worked so hard for, having lost your usefulness to your ‘buddies’, and having to bear the burden of everything you did to get to the top … crashing down on you. And I’m sure you will come back at me at NOC with the other representatives. Because it’s all you’ll be able to do while carrying the mass of the demon you became. And Fox? You have no choice but to … bear it. As in all things, when everything crumbles around you? And the decisions and actions you took are placed on the balance of your soul? Well …"
*The camera fades as DT shakes his head and reveals …
See you space cowboy.*
"Yes, well in this case, Chaos, the dear formerly beloved vulpine is very much crazy."
"Crazy?"
"Yes Sarah, Death Trap believes something is wrong with him. Some kind of trauma or brainwashing. I do not subscribe to that possibility, this is not a fictional world like a book or anime after all."
"NARUTO!"
"I mean, he is about as ornery as the nine tails but I doubt he can do real ninja stuff, honey."
*Death Trap somberly walks into the hotel room in Atlanta where his team has been staying while he dealt with round one of a certain tournament in Vegas. Spoiler: It didn’t go according to plan.*
"Death Trap, I understand why you are doing this. But are you certain you wish to do this alone?"
"Between the ever present threat of Zoran popping up, the GUNS rivalry with CAR, and the heavy and puppet master by Fox’s side? No. But I won’t risk you guys being collateral damage."
"I am more than capable of defending myself."
"Sure … but could you defend yourself from an entire jobber army, a seven foot wall of meat, a man who would be INCREDIBLY out of place after labor day, and a murderous Serbian psychopath … at the same time?"
"Yes."
*Chaos holds up her tranq rifle.*
"Touché… "
*DT laughs and shakes his head.*
"I know this is less than ideal. But this is something I need to do. I’ve been riding high for almost a year, now we lost the titles and I’ve lose the first round of this tournament. If I’m not at my best … I can’t risk you being in his way. He’s lost right now, he’s in deep."
"Cool story, bro."
*They all snap up and look at Chaos. DT looks quizzically at her. He cocks an eyebrow.*
"I know you’re my client and my best friend’s husband. But you are not fooling anybody sir. You are many things, most of them great. But you have one character trait that pops up every time that you KNOW is playing a part here."
"I’m sorry … am … am I on Punk’d right now? What is this about?"
"You didn’t give a damn about him until you had to face him. You didn’t go out seeking Fox out when he started to falter. You didn’t offer him advice when he was pushing his family away to hunt that monster, Zoran. You didn’t want to offer help … but now you want to SAVE him. How did that go when you tried to save SWAT? How did that go when you tried to save Zoran from Fox in the rumble? And let’s not forget the elephant in the room, mister. Now you are in his business … because he has that title."
*DT looks aghast … but takes it in … he lowers his head and thinks.*
"… shit."
"LANGUAGE!"
*The scene opens with DT sitting on a bench in a dark room, lit by the lights in the hallway streaming through the half open door, casting stretched and deformed shadows on the surfaces of the room. DT himself is half hidden in the darkness and his shadow cast on the floor is warped and monstrous.*
"I’ve had to confront some deep truths in my career. Usually at the hands of Ishnari or Venom. Occasionally Jason Justice. Sometimes it’s myself or my loved ones that see it. Sometimes I have to take a deep look in the mirror, study the age lines on my face, stare at the scars from a twenty plus year career, and be fucking honest with myself. At heart … I am a good man. But in practice, well I’m still human. Peter … no, Peter isn’t here right now … Bloodied Fox … I was going to tell you I’d failed you. As a possible mentor, as a colleague, as a fellow wrestler who has gone through some shit. I was going to sit here and tell you all about how I failed you. How I was partly responsible for what you are right now. That if only I was there to be a voice or an ear, you might still be the best among us."
*DT shifts his body so he is now looking though his tented fingers, shadows now dancing over his face making him look a bit demonic.*
"But I’ve never been a good liar."
*He lowers his hands as his face illuminates, his body still hides in shadow but his beard and hair now glisten in the hallway light, sweat beaded on his head from what must have been an intense workout. He crinkles his nose up and looks deep into the camera, as if staring into its very heart.*
"Fox, you chose this for yourself. You did this to yourself. We are all responsible for our own choices in life. We all choose our own path. We all have those days where we stare into the abyss, and the abyss stares back. Sometimes we overcome it … sometimes we blink … and sometimes we fucking launch ourselves into the very maw of the void … how very Donzig of you."
*There’s that comparison again. It poked the bear on Zoran … and now it’s surely rankling the Fox.*
"How very proud of your accomplishment all of your friends must be. All zero of them. What was the quote? You finally accomplished what you originally set out to prove. But what id it cost you?"
*He leans even closer to the camera. His chest and abs now enter the light and glisten. His face again partially obscures in darkness, his eyes the only pin pricks of light as they reflect what few photons bounce around that portion of the room.*
"Everything. But in this business we don’t get to sit back and gloat in our successes and ride off into the sunset. No in this business, our handiwork always comes back around. And the question becomes … can you bear the weight? How will you shoulder it? The world on your shoulders. Fox, at some point this whole thing you’ve got going on with the Bleached Avenger and Meat Mountain is going to crash around you. People like that don’t care for anything. They use you. And if you think they won’t cast you aside … *he pauses* or if you think you will beat them when the knife is eventually buried in your back … well we all see the effects that very first knife has had on you. Safe to say you crumbled."
*He sits back*
"I’m sure you are thinking, ‘what do you know about me, old man?’ And that’s fair. Point blank I don’t know you. I wasn’t in AWF to learn about you, I wasn’t in NLW to see you as you grew to this point. I wasn’t there. And you may ask yourself, if I’m so dead set on ‘saving’ you … why wouldn’t I have stepped in with Legion? Or the Revenants? Or Seth Dillinger? Or Zoran? You want to know the honest truth?"
*He stands up and now his entire upper half is in shadow and we see only the shadow of his legs cast on the ground as he reaches forward and grabs his camera phone. He pulls it close and looks into the lens with bloodshot, teary eyes.*
"You … didn’t … need me. You … were the best of us. You overcame everything and were a beacon of hope and light to the fans and the network. You took everything thrown at you and came out on top. What could I have offered you that wouldn’t seem like talking down? Or a slap in the face? YOU HANDLED YOUR SHIT! You are every bit as good as I was. You … didn’t … fucking … need … an old man on the downswing of his career trying to mentor new talent and scrape out a bit of spotlight. What would an old narcissist with a hero complex and history of concussions offer to the fastest rising star in the network? Maybe I was wrong, maybe an experienced veteran presence could have staved off this horrible turn of personality. Instead I walked into your life after the betrayals began, after the cults, after the drama. And all I could think was, “You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?”"
*DT sits back down on the end of the bench in the light, his full body illuminated, his shadow normalized.*
"But I’m here now, Foxy. And I’m still the same insane motherfucker who wants to do what’s best for this business … while promoting the shit out of myself. I’m going to do my best to do the impossible and ‘save’ you from yourself and your new bosom buddies. I’m going to knock some sense into you before you do some things you can never recover from, never be forgiven for. Because in everything we do, the consequences and results are etched onto our very being. Every deed. They weigh on us for life. And when all is said and done? You’re gonna carry that weight. If you uplift people? If you put energy into making things better? It spreads the weight of life around. It allows others to help. But when you take it all onto yourself, and pile on with horrible actions that violate the basic tenets of good nature? When you pile on with angry thoughts, and malicious actions? Well, you’re gonna carry that weight. And being the benevolent man I am? I want to take some of that weight from you."
*He wipes the smile from his face as he leans in again and frowns, as if disappointed in his own nature.*
"And being the vainglorious bastard that I am … I am going to also take the weight of your title from you. It’s the dichotomy I deal with every day. I try to be good. I try to be reasonable. And I also have to feed the insatiable desire within me to be in the spotlight, to be the best, to be the beacon of light the people need. I’m not strong enough to fight that part of myself off. But … I can carry that weight. When all is said and done Fox, you did all of this twisting and turning into the monster you think you needed to be to accomplish something you already were on track to accomplish. You broke before you could break through. And now the timing makes you think you’ve risen and overcome, that this is the you that has to be for you to be champion, to be the best. But you were the best of us. Now you’re just that asshole at the top that we all want to take down. And I am here to be a reality check. They call me a legend. They call me a master. They call me the main attraction. And soon they will call me 3 time X*Crown champion. And Fox? Where will you be when that happens?"
*DT cocks his eyebrow again at the camera. He looks around as if waiting for an answer. He shrugs and begins walking towards the door*
"You will be left in the ring, having lost what you worked so hard for, having lost your usefulness to your ‘buddies’, and having to bear the burden of everything you did to get to the top … crashing down on you. And I’m sure you will come back at me at NOC with the other representatives. Because it’s all you’ll be able to do while carrying the mass of the demon you became. And Fox? You have no choice but to … bear it. As in all things, when everything crumbles around you? And the decisions and actions you took are placed on the balance of your soul? Well …"
*The camera fades as DT shakes his head and reveals …
See you space cowboy.*
