Post by Teo Blaze on Nov 13, 2022 13:50:29 GMT -5
“Funny how these things work out, isn’t it?”
The wry, jovial voice of the Cruiserweight Champion is instantly recognizable even among the loud noise of the busy city street he now finds himself in, and with every word there is a feeling, an almost barely-contained excitement that tinges each syllable with a certain sense of eagerness.
“Just a few months back, I was sitting in a diner, looking Downfall in the eye, a perennial odd couple forced together in the name of foolish pride…or at least that’s what it may have looked like on the surface.
You know, it’s funny, just last year, Downfall and I were in the final four of this same tournament. And while he would go on to hold the crown high, it seemed that our paths were destined to cross.
In fact, here’s a little tidbit- January 3rd, 2022, Downfall wins the Action Wrestling World Championship- on the same day that I won the Cruiserweight Championship for a second time.
Like I said, funny how these things work out.”
Teo turns suddenly, the camera barely keeping up as he kicks open the swinging door of a local pub, whirling in with a flourish as he walks up to the counter.
“From that moment, January 3rd, 2022, it was inevitable, destiny even! That our paths would cross one day. And now, nearly a year later? Teo Blaze vs. Downfall. Your erstwhile tag partner Dion might call this synchronicity.”
Teo walks across the bar without hesitation, drawing the eyes of the customers, intrigued by this man who has just kicked in the door of their watering hole, but Teo, with a glint in his eye, simply walks towards the back of the room.
“And after all this time, all this waiting, I have to say Downfall…
I am truly, utterly, and unrelentingly disappointed.
Not because you had the whole world in your hands at the beginning of the year, only to let it slip through your fingers like grains of sand in an hourglass, continually and repeatedly failed to deliver on the promise that your wrestler of the year win seemed to offer each and every fan, no!
I am disappointed because frankly, Downfall, you are just so God. Damned. Dull!”
Teo waves at the bartender, signaling for a drink as he walks to a small corner of the bar with various games and attractions set up, leaning over a pool table as he continues.
“Every time you open your mouth, every word that pours from it is just dull, repetitious dreck! You carry yourself like a 14-year old’s idea of what it means to be cool, slicked back hair and take-no-crap from nobody attitude. Utterly and absolutely convinced that he is the genius, the lady-killer, the guy who men wanna be and women wanna be with. It’s a one-man circlejerk of a personality who only manages to be interesting when he’s talking about someone else!
I mean come on, man! Anyone over the age of 12 listens to you speak for more than a minute and they’ll roll their eyes so far back in their heads they’ll be able to see their brains shutting down! Having to process the words that come out of your mouth each and every week is like listening to your nephew explain why the Punisher is the coolest Marvel Hero! Have a little bit of spice to your life, I’m begging you, man!”
Teo shakes his head, croaking out a laugh that is somewhere between humor and pity, as though he is at once amused and frustrated with the man he is discussing.
“Here, let me show you what I mean.”
Teo looks around the bar, grinning, and slowly holds up one hand. After looking at the camera for a few moments, he snaps his fingers. All at once, the bar is completely gone, and he is now standing in an entirely new location! A small arena, with an MMA cage set up in the middle of it. Not only that, but a bag of popcorn has appeared in his hands as he leans against the cage.
“Change it up, man! Have a little fun! This whole edgy, too-cool-for-the-room, look at my dark and brooding past? That’s not what this industry is about. Believe you me, I’ve been down that road. Every opponent I’ve ever had has ridiculed me about not taking this business seriously, or of manipulating the fans into liking me. They’ve tried to twist the narrative that because I happen to give a damn about whether or not I entertain the very people who put money in our pockets, that it makes me lesser.
But if the alternative is to become just another Downfall? Then hell, I’ll double down on every criticism. I’ll shove sunshine up their candy asses to the sound of uproarious applause!
That, Downfall, is something you will never, ever have. No matter how many titles you win, no matter how many accolades you chase, you’ll never know what it means for people to give a damn about you.”
Behind Teo, inside the cage, one of the fighters connects with a loud headkick, Teo winces and looks at the camera with a smile as the crowd erupts around him.
“Any lucky bastard can win a fight, Downfall. Hell, sports history is littered with happy accidents. That 27 day title reign of yours? That moment that you managed to shock the world and win the world title?
Teo snickers as a tooth goes flying past his shoulder.
"That was the peak of your career. So I guess everything since then has been your fall."
Behind Teo, one of the fighters hands is raised as a shiny golden belt is placed around his waist. Teo looks at the camera and grins, holding up his free hand for another snap.
And now he stands in a new location! In an instant the roar of the arena is gone, and Teo now stands at the very top floor of a tall skyscraper! The cameraman seems to shudder as Teo looks out over the balcony, below which is a drop so long that lethal would be an understatement. Teo seems to consider the height as he turns back towards the camera, his smile now turning crazed, almost wicked.
“It’s a long way down from the top isn’t it? We hear it all the time, but nobody really knows just how much it means until they experience it. When you spend years of your life, clawing, inching ever closer to that summit…it changes you. It changes the way you see the world.
Perhaps that’s the reason for the cockiness, the ego. Maybe it’s a byproduct of the fact that you have done so much that everything around you seems…insignificant. Lesser.”
Teo chuckles, looking out over the edge of the platform, so long that it seems to go on almost forever.
“You see Downfall, that’s what people seem not to realize about you. This version of yourself in Turmoil? This alleged reinvention? You’d have us believe it was who you were all along. That this no-nonsense, angry at the world man is the true Downfall that we’ve all overlooked. That you’re gonna eat thunder, crap lightning, and do it all again!
But come on, this is me you’re talking to, buddy.
Cut the bullshit, for once in your life.
Admit that you’ve failed again and again. That you’ve disappointed the people who believed in you. That 2022 hasn’t turned out the way that you’ve planned.
Be honest with yourself for once in your life instead of withdrawing back into this wanna be nihilistic bastard.
That’s a word you use, isn’t it? Nihlist.
That nothing matters. Life is meaningless.
A nihilist would tell me I could throw myself off this platform, and it wouldn’t even matter in the grand scheme of things.
Nihilists don’t care about anything, after all.”
Teo removes his glasses, rubbing them on his jacket as the wind blows through his hair. Although his words are thoughtful, they carry an air of contempt, each word leaving his mouth like a dagger.
“But you, Downfall? You care. You care a lot. Hell, you just might care too much. Every single week you come out and tell us, full of confidence, that you are a singleminded being of destruction, an utter force of nature who cannot be stopped!
But come the fuck on! Your human nature escapes with every other word out of your mouth! You are soft, Downfall! You are flawed! And You. Are. Scared! Scared you won’t be good enough, scared that you’ve peaked! That you will never be able to see the top of the mountain again! That fear has permeated every single action you’ve taken since you were knocked off the top of the mountain!
And the hell of it, Downfall? The punchline to the cruel joke that you’ve found yourself reliving over and over again?
Fear is not the problem!”
Teo stomps his foot as he emphasizes the last word, practically screaming into the camera over the wind!
“Fear does not defeat us unless we let it define us! Fear can motivate us! Make us stronger! The fact that we might fall is why we rise!
But you? You see the abyss staring at you, the clock winding down on your relevance, you look in the mirror and you know that this might be all that you will ever be remembered for! And what does Downfall do?
He ignores it. Pretends it doesn’t exist. Tells people they’re wrong when they call him out on his failings. And keeps doing what he’s always done.”
Teo manages to control himself, barely, steadying himself as he stands on the edge of the balcony, looking down to the street below.
“It’s a long way down when you’ve reached the top, isn’t it? You see Turmoil as a lifesaver. A rope tossed down from high to catch you, to slow your descent.
A chance to reach the mountain again, but this time on your own terms. A nostalgic do-over. A way to erase the 2022 that eroded the mystique, the momentum that put you up there in the first place.
But Downfall, I am not your savior.
I am not the one whose back you climb over to reach that peak again. The stepping stone to recapture something you squandered.
I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. An entire brand looking up to me. I represent the hopes and dreams of everyone on that Cruiserclash Roster. I am at the top of the Cruiserclash Mountain, and I will prove to the world just what that means!
And I will throw your pretender ass off of it if you so much as try to stop that ascent, and forget your name in the next two seconds, because you do not deserve to be remembered.
That is what Turmoil means.”
Teo raises his hand one final time, and after a few moments of pausing, snaps his fingers once more.
And now, he stands in the center of a new arena. In the wrestling ring where Turmoil will soon take place. He considers the empty stands for a moment, almost hearing the cacophonous applause that will soon fill the arena, and turns towards the camera.
“Let me be perfectly clear, Downfall. You are fighting for yourself. You are fighting because this tournament is the quickest way to fix everything you’ve broken over the last twelve months. A shortcut to the greatness you believe you deserve.
You’re fighting for Downfall. I’m fighting for everyone else.
And you are not as strong as we are. You do not have what it takes to stop us.
You’re a footnote. An asterisk. A lucky schmuck.
A cocky prick who’s too dumb to know any better.
And ultimately? That luck will also be your...heh...Downfall.”
With one final wicked grin, Teo turns back towards the entrance ramp, smiling to himself as the scene slowly fades.
