Post by Cassidy Adler on Feb 5, 2022 11:12:14 GMT -5
4th of February, 2014.
The bathroom of the Richardson household was a mess, the marble tiles which typically gleamed and reflected the light from above, where instead reduced to a shell of themselves, covered in thick globs of greenish-yellow vomit. The stench was overwhelming as Justin’s insides continued to steadily trickle out the corner of his mouth, his body beginning to pale as the shaking of his body intensified.
Cassidy stared down at him, hands trembling. He turned to the doorway where Francesca and Tanner stood, the former with her hand cast over her mouth in horror while the latter sprang forward, hunching over his fallen friend.
‘Dude, what the fuck do we do?’
Cass’ eyes darted between Justin’s prone body and Tanner’s panicked expression, and felt himself tighten up, his projected voice cracking noticeably.
‘CALL A FUCKIN’ AMBULANCE GODDAMNIT,” he said, voice echoing through the bathroom. He swung his head back toward Francesca, eyes wide, 'Where the fuck is Vinnie?’
‘I-I don’t know, no-ones seen him."
Cassidy shook his head in dismay, as he clutched at Justin’s shoulders and turned him to his side, still convulsing. Although his eyes were locked on Cass’, it was though he weren’t there at all, the pupils dilated and unable to register the concerned look on his friends face, which was stained by streaming tears.
The shouting from outside the bathroom, Francesca’s sobbing, and Tanner’s jumbled conversation with the 911 operator were drowned out as his eyes focused on the pale, shuddering form beneath him.
Justin’s body, the tiles beneath him fresh on his skin, and the chill that ran through his body.
Everything was cold.
‘You know, Lissie, I think I figured out what irked you the most about me.
‘Not that I didn’t care about you, because we already know nobody actually cares for you. Not in the way that you want, anyway.
‘Nah, you’re an idiot, but you’re not THAT stupid. You didn’t have those lofty expectations for me.
‘It wasn’t even that I cheated on you. You knew I was. Everyone knew, but again, you knew what to expect.
‘Nope.
“It’s that through everything that “happened” to you, that for every moment where you were at your lowest, where you wanted to cry or were hurting deep down inside…
“I didn’t feel sorry for you.
“Because that’s what you thrive off of. Funnily enough, Lissie Hope doesn’t live off of Hope, or justice, or whatever she’d want you to believe as she tries to make the run back through to being a good guy even after all the people she fucked over and put down during her little mean streak with the big baddies of Action Wrestling.
“She lives off of pity, and when it isn’t given to her? She fuckin’ crumbles.
‘That’s why of all people, it fell on me to be your support pillar. Because even you know that anybody who is viewed by the public as having a backbone, of being an honorable character, wouldn’t dare associate themselves with a parasite who feeds off of negativity. Because for every high with you, there’s a dozen lows.
‘The first time we faced off when I was a rookie, this shit was all jokes. Nothing for realsies, you know? That’s why I still dicked you down after I gave you the consolation win, not that somebody of your stature at the time needed it.
‘Now?
“Heh, it’s still jokes. Because for you, this shit is payback for something that never concerned me. I was just meant to be some random fling, a passing moment as Lissie rose up and took her rightful place in her career, and in her own mental space.
‘Of course, that never happened, because when does it for you, Lis? It was only natural that I’d be in the spotlight the entire time I decided to give you my attention. Because that’s how it goes between us. You get given the world and still find a way to fuck it up. Company advantages, the blessings of World Champions, the cocks of World Champs, and hey, here we are and you’re still in the same place we were in the last time we squared off, right?
‘Still looking for redemption after your fuck-ups, still unable to reach that pinnacle. It’s almost like everything you said to me back then meant fuck all, huh? Funny how that works.
“And yet here I am still kicking, just with a slightly different swagger than what everyone is used to. Your girl Ash seemed to notice it. It probably eats at you that I had her beat “fair and square” as they’d put it, while you got domed by her and put in your place… again.
‘Because that’s just the Lissie Hope experience, ain’t it?
‘A cycle of degrading yourself and being the awkward person in the room whose only jokes are those of the self-deprecating kind, followed by a shock of random confidence that usually coincides with when you’re trying to be some hotshot villain.
“But you’re not a villain, you’re just an annoying fly who comes on TV once a week to bitch about her insecurities and inabilities. Associating yourself with people who are actually capable of being loathed doesn’t make you someone that’ll suddenly becoming interesting, babe. Sorry to say.
“So then comes the next part of the cycle, the redemption. I guess that’s where supposed to be now, right? And then that little bit of overzealousness kicks in again, we get a glimpse of the rookie Lissie that actually had a mouth on her and backed that shit up. The heated fan favorite… except now she’s been fazed out and the spark is all but gone.
‘You had the magic once, baby. That’s why you kinda turned me on.
‘The second go round? Eh, that was more for the publicity of it all than anything. But hey, at least you can say you made great material for the Radler Adler Documentary coming out soon, right?
‘You may be incapable of winning those belts you’re so desperate for or defending them for any meaningful period of time. You may be incapable of getting the revenge you seek and feel you so rightfully deserve from those that have ‘wronged you”, while falling flat on your face and getting embarrassed week in and week out.
“But at least at the end of it all, you’ll be the co-star to the real main-event that’s gonna be surfacing over the next few months.
‘And won’t you fuckin’ dread to see it?
‘Because that’s the thing with all of you at the end of the day; I can take any approach I want and make it work. The jokester, the coward, the twin that got “carried”, the GOAT of the Jimmy Dean battle royale, the guy who gets video games made about him, the Philidor step-son who embarrassed the entire family by making a joke out of the head of the snake (something you tragically failed to do, by the way).
‘But for you guys? It’s one trick, and yours ran its course a long, long time ago.
‘Fucking half the roster and being sad girl gets boring once you got personality in the building.
‘And you didn’t have to worry about that while in a little group with poker-face TrAsh Blake and white bread Carter Shaw. Hell, you didn’t even have to really worry about it while I was pretending to be your little side-piece.
‘But now? You feel embarrassed, and it shows.
‘It kinda makes sense that out of all the people, it’d be lil Howie Brown that got you all rattled. In the end, the two of you are mirror images of each other.
“He had a fetish for making himself the underdog, and you? God, you live off that shit too. That’s why your false confidence always wavers and you choke harder than you did on my 8 inches when you’re the one in the “position of power”, that’s why you relegated yourself to a B-player on Philidor and threw away any shot you had at individual success when you signed the dotted line with the same people you previously would’ve seen as the devil.
‘Because as much as you’d like to think you’re good at heart or some corny shit, the fact of the matter is that you’re a survivalist whose fire is dimming, and goddamn is it starting to get cold.
‘You latch onto everyone and everything, and that’s why you get called a slut. Not just for people you think are hot or better than you. Nah, but for objects too. Maybe that’s why you looked so fuckin’ happy when you got that stupid gym. What, so you could pretend your little act of women empowerment and making others feel better about themselves?
‘Man, it’s almost like I’m the good guy here, calling you for what you are; a fuckin’ leech.
‘You’re the reverse of cheap heat. You’re Charlie D’Amelio making her profile picture black for a year to “support” the BLM movement. You’re Kendall Jenner in a Pepsi ad.
‘Instead of making a canned twitter comment or lifeless promo about the issues that concern you, how about actually making the change yourself?
“Because it’s women bringing up other women until it’s one that threatens you. Right, sister?
‘Man, you’re insufferable.
‘And that’s coming from me.
‘So with all that out of the way, let’s get the rundown for this week
‘I beat your ass.
‘Yeah, I said it. No games. I could let you slide with another cheeky little win that’ll give you that endorphin rush you so desperately crave that’ll last, what, 5 minutes? And then you’ll get all cocky and shit before gettin’ slapped the fuck down and repeat the cycle I mentioned earlier.
‘Or I could just end all your shit now and not have to cringe listening to you back on your fake shit.
‘So it’s a date. You and me. One last time. Thank fuck for that.
‘Because the sex was getting bad. Not the actual act of it, that was decent enough. But God, having to hear you cry afterwards about your life and how sad it was…
“Miss me with that shit.
‘If you see the boy Johnny around, say hi to him for me, yeah? I miss his little punk face.
‘Maybe ask him a thing or two about win streaks while you’re at it. You need it.”
‘You say a lot of hurtful things, Cassidy.’
He shrugged. This was his fourth ‘session’ with Dr. Alberts in as many months, a mandatory condition enforced upon him by his father in order to get his blessing for the coveted documentary. So far it had felt like nothing but interrogations for things he had no care to answer for.
‘It’s show business.’
‘As you continue to tell me,’ she said with the hint of a smile, which soon disappeared. 'But I’d like to know more about the real why, rather than the front. I’m told you had similar tendencies well before “show business” had anything to do with it.'
Another shrug.
“Perhaps this is a touchy question, but I’d like to know: what are some of the most traumatic things that have happened to you?”
He raised an eyebrow.
‘That’s a fastball coming from you, doc.’
‘I thought I’d try something that seemed more, how should I put it? Cassidy.’
That almost made him laugh.
‘You know the gist already, don’t you? Shitty dad, hardly there mom, brother faked his death, fell out with my twin, younger sister looked to me of all people as a role-model, and… yeah, that about covers it, right?’
‘Mm, I thought so too,” Dr. Alberts said, chin resting on her hand. 'But I did some digging and found out a little more.'
This time, both eyebrows rose. He leaned forward ever-so-slightly, but enough for her to notice.
‘Tell me a little about Justin Anderson.”
Back came the frost.
