The Lady and the Legacy [DaF Caffrey #1]
Feb 16, 2019 0:17:27 GMT -5
Jack Diamond, Bobby Barratt, and 2 more like this
Post by anthonycaffrey on Feb 16, 2019 0:17:27 GMT -5
The camera opens on the AXW Undisputed Champion tanning next to a pool on a yacht. His championship is on a table next to him. A fruity margarita and an unlit cigar accompany the gold, and the towel on the back of Anthony Caffrey’s chair is personally monogrammed. He reaches for the margarita and takes a sip, acknowledging the waitress before taking off his sunglasses.
ANTHONY CAFFREY
We both may be cold bastards, Christopher, but there’s no reason to spend time freezing your ass off up north. Of course, you are Canadian, so I guess your decision making abilities might be a little… eh.
Caffrey’s smug, arrogant smile is on full display as he takes off his sunglasses and sets them on the table. He reaches for his trademark frames and slips them on instead.
CAFFREY
Was the insecurity that obvious? Damn. I’m going to have to invest in more expensive drinks and monogrammed household wares to hide it better. Can you give the number of your guy? Do you think he could personalize my dictionary? I figure it might be nice to keep handy while you try to present your ostentatious vocabulary as a sign of intelligence.
Caffrey rolls his eyes before enjoying a large sip of his margarita. He sits up and laughs to himself about Card.
CAFFREY
It’s Technical Perfection vs. the Perfect Asshole, and you’ve decided to come at me in this very Freudian way about my insecurity and being a braggart. Really? Christopher, take a step back. You and I are about to go steal a show that should’ve already had us at top billing. People all over the world will watch two great technical artists clash in a XHF Match of the Year candidate. Well, one artist… and you. I’m dynamic with my brush and can paint anything I’d like. You have to stick to the same two or three strokes. Don’t lie us to us and claim superiority there, Christopher. We both know you can’t apply twenty different holds in that ring because your body simply won’t allow it anymore.
Caffrey puts a hand up to the camera.
CAFFREY
I’m sorry, am I already doing your shtick better than you ever could? We haven’t even scratched the service of your psychological bullshit routine. You’re so delusional that you tried to paint the picture that all I do is brag, that I won’t study every single piece of your nature. Go back and actually watch me talk. You can see me park myself in front of televisions with stacks of notebooks full of notes. You don’t get to be The Best by sitting around and coasting on your talent. Go ask Anomoly what happens when you don’t put the work in, or let me just tell you: Anthony Caffrey embarrasses you, makes you tap, and then holds up this piece of glory that shows he’s the best wrestler in the XHF today.
Caffrey grabs his AXW Undisputed Championship and holds it up close to the camera as he proudly bangs on it.
CAFFREY
Yes, Christopher. You, Bobby, and I all know that I am the best wrestler in the XHF today. I don’t need the X*Crown to prove it, but the Rumble’s only a short time away and there’s no man burning hotter and brighter. I haven’t won the crown yet because I haven’t competed for it. What’s your excuse? It slipped through your hands because of a disqualification? God, for someone who portrays themselves to be such a mentalist, maybe you should have planned for that one, huh?
Caffrey sets down the championship and reaches back for his margarita, looking down into the drink that is quickly begin to run out. He signals to someone off camera for another.
CAFFREY
For crying out loud, Christopher, there’s a reason Bobby is suddenly trying to jack my ankle lock. There’s a reason that he doesn’t show up to AXW and try to cash in on me and my championship. Nobody wants to be my personal stepping stone, and nobody wants to become another reason I can brag so openly about being The Best. They'd rather just whine and moan in the back instead.
Caffrey shakes his head to express his disapproval.
CAFFREY
I’m aware of the optics of claiming to be the best while only holding the second biggest prize, but unlike you I haven’t had the opportunity to blow an X*Crown match. Seeing as how V and whichever AXW officials left to run the show in his absence haven’t rang the phone of a man who’s beaten every single competitor he’s ever faced since he debuted in OCTOBER, I think you’ll understand why the X*Crown hasn’t left the AWF in six months. Hell, you can extend that out to cross company matches: I can’t even remember the last time AXW won one of those. That tends to happen when you leave your biggest star on the bench in favor of people who cling to history as if that adds to their legitimacy. That last bit --- does that sound like anyone we know?
Caffrey scratches his chin and pretends to ponder the thought.
CAFFREY
Is it me? Hmm… couldn’t be me, I step up all the time and probably ended Jackson Steele’s career. Hmmm… who could it be... could it be the forty year old who would rather look at this trophy case instead of his wife while having sex?
Caffrey pretends to have his mind blown by the answer.
CAFFREY
It’s you, Christopher! You’re the one who pretends your history makes you better than me! Funny how literally everyone I’ve faced since coming to the XHF has done the same and then ended up tapping out, walking out of the arena on crutches, or both. It’s almost a pattern.
Caffrey laughs his smug, arrogant laugh as he looks down at something for a moment. He smirks and then looks back up, knowing what he’s about to do, and seemingly knowing that he can’t take back what he's about to say.
CAFFREY
While it’s on my mind though Christopher, if you want to brag about an achievement that matters, feel free to bring up that pretty wife of yours. You absolutely scored there man, good job. Just look at her! A beautiful woman like that who will pretend to love you? Where’d you even find her? Man, I know we’re a day or two removed from Valentine’s Day, but do you think if I asked real nice, that she would be my valentine? I figure she could then give her love to a man with more to his personality than just big words and a stack of memories that only he cares about. Lord knows I would give that woman my love all night long.
Caffrey swoons with a sinister smile as he continues talking about Card’s wife.
CAFFREY
If it’s like I fear, and she’s the type of woman who’s hanging around because you let her to buy whatever she wants, then you can keep her. But if she likes a little bit of that old conquering caveman spirit, she’s going to get a kick out of me when I cripple you as the next step on my neverending quest to be The Best. I may not look like a six-pack meathead like you, but over my time on this Earth I’ve come to learn that most women appreciate a man who can use every single tool in their arsenal. They don’t call me the Sixty Minute Man just because of my in-ring stamina.
Caffrey winks.
CAFFREY
You should be glad this match is non-title, Card, because otherwise you’d be in danger of losing your gold and your girl. If I hadn’t replaced all of the compassion in my body with pure talent, I would feel bad for you. I’m not going out to Minnesota to just win, I’m going out there to make a statement. In fact, I’m going to take a page out of Allen Iverson’s playbook: I will sink my shot and then step over the AWF Prestige Champion on my way to the Rumble.
Caffrey mimes taking his shot and smiles his sinister smile. Swish. He picks up the unlit cigar from the table next to him.and waves it towards the camera.
CAFFREY
This shit’s so bad for you Christopher, but on the 24th, you’re going to discover that I’m much worse. You know, I may actually feel bad for you after our match, because when I lock you in the CAL, I can make your life come crashing down with one simple snap.
Caffrey snaps the cigar in half. Strangely, the world suddenly goes completely dark around him, as if a great darkness has swept over the yacht. It quickly becomes clear that not everything is as it seems.
A few lights in the room come back on, revealing that Caffrey has been sitting in front of green screens this entire time as the yacht has completely disappeared. He gestures for the camera to come closer. He speaks much more quietly and is barely lit in front of the blank screens.
CAFFREY
You see, Christopher, you were right. I am insecure. I am wildly insecure.
Caffrey sighs.
CAFFREY
I just turned 30 and my self doubts are higher than they’ve been in some time. I took a few years off from all of this, I’ve only been fully back in the ring for a little less than a year. It’s not about the rust. If that fourway doesn’t prove I’m a well-oiled machine, I don’t know what does. I’ve already sustained a handful of injuries, but as someone who also prides themselves on their mind, when I really learned about concussions… that frightened me. So I left.
Caffrey looks down for a few moments before looking back up to the camera.
CAFFREY
When I realized this is what I’m destined to do forever, I made peace with the concussions and what that’s going to mean in the future. But now, now I’m worried for a whole different reason. I’m insecure because I worry I’m going to end up like you, Card.
Caffrey doesn’t smirk. He runs his hands through his hair and lets out another sigh.
CAFFREY
You are everything I hope not to become. You can surround yourself with every goddamn monogrammed knickknack you want. You can wear designer suits and sail around the world on a giant yacht for all I care. Hell, you can even have a beautiful woman lie pretend to love you while you lie in bed awake at night staring at the ceiling. But you and I both know why you can’t fall asleep.
Caffrey points at the camera.
CAFFREY
It’s your legacy. It’s the only reason I can imagine that you’re still wrestling at 40. You’re not as great as you once were, but you still stand there and try to talk a big game because you’re obsessed with how people will remember you. I will actually give you a little lick of credit: you don’t have it in you anymore to win the big one, but this is a Champion vs. Champion match. I think that’s more a testament to the lack of talent in your company, but as I’m coming to learn, it takes tenacity to stick around on top. But you have reason to worry. Tenacity will only keep you up top until you run into talent.
Caffrey begins to speak at an accelerated pace. This is clearly something that has been weighing on him lately.
CAFFREY
Then you will come crashing down, and then… then what will people think of you? What will be your legacy? It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. You have to keep doing this to secure your legacy, but your skills have already begun to erode, Card. You already even admitted right out the gate that you’re not the best wrestler in the world. You’ll fight to claw towards the top to cement yourself in the history books as a chapter rather than a footnote. There’s nothing else going on in your life, there’s nothing else to be proud of except for this. You’re at least ten years into a question I’ve just started asking: is this it? Are we really going to keep waging war with our bodies and minds and giving up everything else in our lives in exchange for some subjective opinion on who’s The Best?
Caffrey pauses. He shudders as his last line has clearly struck a chord. He reaches back for his margarita and slams the rest of his drink back before moving on.
CAFFREY
You’ve noticed the challenge in front of you. I can tell you understand my ability. You know I’ve got you beat by ability, so you’re going to try to beat me with mind games. You decided to come out and try to play psychological warfare with a unicorn: a man who is fully in touch with his emotions.
Caffrey smirks.
CAFFREY
Christopher, I thought you were giving me special treatment with your psychological evaluation, but after watching you talk before your match with Reece, I can tell that words are the biggest weapon left in your arsenal. You have to do this for every guy who comes up and poses a threat to you, and these days, that might be everybody. At Diamonds, I won’t be the first younger guy to outwrestle you, and I damn sure won’t be the last. After you lose to me, you will lose that AWF Prestige Championship soon enough, definitely before I lose my gold. But then what happens, Christopher? Do you keep fighting to try to get it back? Do you try to fill up the rest of your trophy case? At what point, if ever, can you walk away satisfied, knowing your page in the history books is secure?
Caffrey calms himself as he reaches back for his AXW Undisputed Championship. He lets out a huge sigh of relief and begins laughing to himself as he begins to make peace of everything.
CAFFREY
Also, yes, I am a braggart. But that’s just because I’m fucking better than you at everything I do.
Caffrey reaches back for his margarita one last time. He realizes that it’s empty and slams the glass down in frustration, immediately cutting his hand on a shard of glass. He mutters.
CAFFREY
Goddamnit…
The lights fades to black.
ANTHONY CAFFREY
We both may be cold bastards, Christopher, but there’s no reason to spend time freezing your ass off up north. Of course, you are Canadian, so I guess your decision making abilities might be a little… eh.
Caffrey’s smug, arrogant smile is on full display as he takes off his sunglasses and sets them on the table. He reaches for his trademark frames and slips them on instead.
CAFFREY
Was the insecurity that obvious? Damn. I’m going to have to invest in more expensive drinks and monogrammed household wares to hide it better. Can you give the number of your guy? Do you think he could personalize my dictionary? I figure it might be nice to keep handy while you try to present your ostentatious vocabulary as a sign of intelligence.
Caffrey rolls his eyes before enjoying a large sip of his margarita. He sits up and laughs to himself about Card.
CAFFREY
It’s Technical Perfection vs. the Perfect Asshole, and you’ve decided to come at me in this very Freudian way about my insecurity and being a braggart. Really? Christopher, take a step back. You and I are about to go steal a show that should’ve already had us at top billing. People all over the world will watch two great technical artists clash in a XHF Match of the Year candidate. Well, one artist… and you. I’m dynamic with my brush and can paint anything I’d like. You have to stick to the same two or three strokes. Don’t lie us to us and claim superiority there, Christopher. We both know you can’t apply twenty different holds in that ring because your body simply won’t allow it anymore.
Caffrey puts a hand up to the camera.
CAFFREY
I’m sorry, am I already doing your shtick better than you ever could? We haven’t even scratched the service of your psychological bullshit routine. You’re so delusional that you tried to paint the picture that all I do is brag, that I won’t study every single piece of your nature. Go back and actually watch me talk. You can see me park myself in front of televisions with stacks of notebooks full of notes. You don’t get to be The Best by sitting around and coasting on your talent. Go ask Anomoly what happens when you don’t put the work in, or let me just tell you: Anthony Caffrey embarrasses you, makes you tap, and then holds up this piece of glory that shows he’s the best wrestler in the XHF today.
Caffrey grabs his AXW Undisputed Championship and holds it up close to the camera as he proudly bangs on it.
CAFFREY
Yes, Christopher. You, Bobby, and I all know that I am the best wrestler in the XHF today. I don’t need the X*Crown to prove it, but the Rumble’s only a short time away and there’s no man burning hotter and brighter. I haven’t won the crown yet because I haven’t competed for it. What’s your excuse? It slipped through your hands because of a disqualification? God, for someone who portrays themselves to be such a mentalist, maybe you should have planned for that one, huh?
Caffrey sets down the championship and reaches back for his margarita, looking down into the drink that is quickly begin to run out. He signals to someone off camera for another.
CAFFREY
For crying out loud, Christopher, there’s a reason Bobby is suddenly trying to jack my ankle lock. There’s a reason that he doesn’t show up to AXW and try to cash in on me and my championship. Nobody wants to be my personal stepping stone, and nobody wants to become another reason I can brag so openly about being The Best. They'd rather just whine and moan in the back instead.
Caffrey shakes his head to express his disapproval.
CAFFREY
I’m aware of the optics of claiming to be the best while only holding the second biggest prize, but unlike you I haven’t had the opportunity to blow an X*Crown match. Seeing as how V and whichever AXW officials left to run the show in his absence haven’t rang the phone of a man who’s beaten every single competitor he’s ever faced since he debuted in OCTOBER, I think you’ll understand why the X*Crown hasn’t left the AWF in six months. Hell, you can extend that out to cross company matches: I can’t even remember the last time AXW won one of those. That tends to happen when you leave your biggest star on the bench in favor of people who cling to history as if that adds to their legitimacy. That last bit --- does that sound like anyone we know?
Caffrey scratches his chin and pretends to ponder the thought.
CAFFREY
Is it me? Hmm… couldn’t be me, I step up all the time and probably ended Jackson Steele’s career. Hmmm… who could it be... could it be the forty year old who would rather look at this trophy case instead of his wife while having sex?
Caffrey pretends to have his mind blown by the answer.
CAFFREY
It’s you, Christopher! You’re the one who pretends your history makes you better than me! Funny how literally everyone I’ve faced since coming to the XHF has done the same and then ended up tapping out, walking out of the arena on crutches, or both. It’s almost a pattern.
Caffrey laughs his smug, arrogant laugh as he looks down at something for a moment. He smirks and then looks back up, knowing what he’s about to do, and seemingly knowing that he can’t take back what he's about to say.
CAFFREY
While it’s on my mind though Christopher, if you want to brag about an achievement that matters, feel free to bring up that pretty wife of yours. You absolutely scored there man, good job. Just look at her! A beautiful woman like that who will pretend to love you? Where’d you even find her? Man, I know we’re a day or two removed from Valentine’s Day, but do you think if I asked real nice, that she would be my valentine? I figure she could then give her love to a man with more to his personality than just big words and a stack of memories that only he cares about. Lord knows I would give that woman my love all night long.
Caffrey swoons with a sinister smile as he continues talking about Card’s wife.
CAFFREY
If it’s like I fear, and she’s the type of woman who’s hanging around because you let her to buy whatever she wants, then you can keep her. But if she likes a little bit of that old conquering caveman spirit, she’s going to get a kick out of me when I cripple you as the next step on my neverending quest to be The Best. I may not look like a six-pack meathead like you, but over my time on this Earth I’ve come to learn that most women appreciate a man who can use every single tool in their arsenal. They don’t call me the Sixty Minute Man just because of my in-ring stamina.
Caffrey winks.
CAFFREY
You should be glad this match is non-title, Card, because otherwise you’d be in danger of losing your gold and your girl. If I hadn’t replaced all of the compassion in my body with pure talent, I would feel bad for you. I’m not going out to Minnesota to just win, I’m going out there to make a statement. In fact, I’m going to take a page out of Allen Iverson’s playbook: I will sink my shot and then step over the AWF Prestige Champion on my way to the Rumble.
Caffrey mimes taking his shot and smiles his sinister smile. Swish. He picks up the unlit cigar from the table next to him.and waves it towards the camera.
CAFFREY
This shit’s so bad for you Christopher, but on the 24th, you’re going to discover that I’m much worse. You know, I may actually feel bad for you after our match, because when I lock you in the CAL, I can make your life come crashing down with one simple snap.
Caffrey snaps the cigar in half. Strangely, the world suddenly goes completely dark around him, as if a great darkness has swept over the yacht. It quickly becomes clear that not everything is as it seems.
A few lights in the room come back on, revealing that Caffrey has been sitting in front of green screens this entire time as the yacht has completely disappeared. He gestures for the camera to come closer. He speaks much more quietly and is barely lit in front of the blank screens.
CAFFREY
You see, Christopher, you were right. I am insecure. I am wildly insecure.
Caffrey sighs.
CAFFREY
I just turned 30 and my self doubts are higher than they’ve been in some time. I took a few years off from all of this, I’ve only been fully back in the ring for a little less than a year. It’s not about the rust. If that fourway doesn’t prove I’m a well-oiled machine, I don’t know what does. I’ve already sustained a handful of injuries, but as someone who also prides themselves on their mind, when I really learned about concussions… that frightened me. So I left.
Caffrey looks down for a few moments before looking back up to the camera.
CAFFREY
When I realized this is what I’m destined to do forever, I made peace with the concussions and what that’s going to mean in the future. But now, now I’m worried for a whole different reason. I’m insecure because I worry I’m going to end up like you, Card.
Caffrey doesn’t smirk. He runs his hands through his hair and lets out another sigh.
CAFFREY
You are everything I hope not to become. You can surround yourself with every goddamn monogrammed knickknack you want. You can wear designer suits and sail around the world on a giant yacht for all I care. Hell, you can even have a beautiful woman lie pretend to love you while you lie in bed awake at night staring at the ceiling. But you and I both know why you can’t fall asleep.
Caffrey points at the camera.
CAFFREY
It’s your legacy. It’s the only reason I can imagine that you’re still wrestling at 40. You’re not as great as you once were, but you still stand there and try to talk a big game because you’re obsessed with how people will remember you. I will actually give you a little lick of credit: you don’t have it in you anymore to win the big one, but this is a Champion vs. Champion match. I think that’s more a testament to the lack of talent in your company, but as I’m coming to learn, it takes tenacity to stick around on top. But you have reason to worry. Tenacity will only keep you up top until you run into talent.
Caffrey begins to speak at an accelerated pace. This is clearly something that has been weighing on him lately.
CAFFREY
Then you will come crashing down, and then… then what will people think of you? What will be your legacy? It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. You have to keep doing this to secure your legacy, but your skills have already begun to erode, Card. You already even admitted right out the gate that you’re not the best wrestler in the world. You’ll fight to claw towards the top to cement yourself in the history books as a chapter rather than a footnote. There’s nothing else going on in your life, there’s nothing else to be proud of except for this. You’re at least ten years into a question I’ve just started asking: is this it? Are we really going to keep waging war with our bodies and minds and giving up everything else in our lives in exchange for some subjective opinion on who’s The Best?
Caffrey pauses. He shudders as his last line has clearly struck a chord. He reaches back for his margarita and slams the rest of his drink back before moving on.
CAFFREY
You’ve noticed the challenge in front of you. I can tell you understand my ability. You know I’ve got you beat by ability, so you’re going to try to beat me with mind games. You decided to come out and try to play psychological warfare with a unicorn: a man who is fully in touch with his emotions.
Caffrey smirks.
CAFFREY
Christopher, I thought you were giving me special treatment with your psychological evaluation, but after watching you talk before your match with Reece, I can tell that words are the biggest weapon left in your arsenal. You have to do this for every guy who comes up and poses a threat to you, and these days, that might be everybody. At Diamonds, I won’t be the first younger guy to outwrestle you, and I damn sure won’t be the last. After you lose to me, you will lose that AWF Prestige Championship soon enough, definitely before I lose my gold. But then what happens, Christopher? Do you keep fighting to try to get it back? Do you try to fill up the rest of your trophy case? At what point, if ever, can you walk away satisfied, knowing your page in the history books is secure?
Caffrey calms himself as he reaches back for his AXW Undisputed Championship. He lets out a huge sigh of relief and begins laughing to himself as he begins to make peace of everything.
CAFFREY
Also, yes, I am a braggart. But that’s just because I’m fucking better than you at everything I do.
Caffrey reaches back for his margarita one last time. He realizes that it’s empty and slams the glass down in frustration, immediately cutting his hand on a shard of glass. He mutters.
CAFFREY
Goddamnit…
The lights fades to black.