The More Things Change...
Nov 12, 2020 10:33:47 GMT -5
David Sanchez, Carter Shaw, and 1 more like this
Post by Teo Blaze on Nov 12, 2020 10:33:47 GMT -5
“I’m just saying it’s like Deja vu, is all.”
“I love this place! So...rustic!”
“You know, you could have called me before making this deal, Andre. I appreciate it, don’t get me wrong, but a little warning could have been nice.”
“Warning? Come on, since when do friends need to warn their friends about an act of kindness? It would have ruined the surprise! Say, does that vending machine still work?”
“Look at that guy, Andre. Smiling, carefree. Nothing in the world to worry about. A whole future ahead of him.”
“Well what would he have to care about? All he does is distribute soda and eat coins, Teo.”
“God, it’s 2016 all over again, isn’t it? You and me, standing here, and David Sanchez waiting in the wings, no doubt to tear my head off.”
“Decapitation, eh? What did you do to him?”
“You know, sometimes I ask myself that very question. Oh I could go into the specifics- we started at roughly the same time, and our paths crossed. He hit me with a pipe, I bashed him with a painting...god, it all seems so long ago.
But there’s something more to it than that. Something…inexplicable. Something about our personalities that just...clashes.”
“I guess if I had to put my finger on it, David Sanchez and I became enemies because we see the world in different ways. He’s the plague, after all, the man whose negativity and penchant for violence is as infectious as it is harmful.
He sees the world as fundamentally broken, rotten to its very core. People are greedy, corrupt bastards and anyone who thinks otherwise is just too blind to their own arrogance. Look at who he associates, look at his mission statement. The Lost Breed are overlooked, forgotten, the dregs of a society not made in their image who have banded together to take what they were never allowed to have.
But me? I’m an optimist. Always have been. Oh sure, I tear people down who have it coming, but I never for a second believed that there’s a single person on this planet who is irredeemable. The things I’ve stood for, no matter what mask I wear, they’ve never changed. Success comes through hard work and perseverance, and anything else you try to blame it on is just refusing to accept responsibility for your own actions.
I think that David always wanted a boogeyman out there. He needs to believe that he’s living in, that he’s fighting against a world that doesn’t want him. He wants to believe that everyone around him has the same sick, twisted views that he holds so sacred...although sacred may be the wrong word.
And that’s why we’ve always been enemies. That’s why every time we so much as see the other guy’s picture, we can’t help but feel this deep knot in our stomachs. Because we cannot coexist in the same world. The way I see the world and the way David Sanchez sees the world? We will always be on a fundamentally opposite wavelength. He cannot fathom that I could exist in his world, and he has spent years trying to either make me see things his way...or remove me from it.”
“Found it!”
===
“Gotta love that Nostalgia, eh David?
Even as he said the words, Teo couldn’t quite believe the sound of his own voice. He had prided himself on always being able to be in control of any situation, yet there were some times that still managed to catch him off guard.
“What do ya mean, Teo?” Case in point, Teo now found himself standing in a gymnasium, a building that at one point he used to own, with a man who he hadn’t seen since UCI.
As if to accentuate Jenson’s point, a very large brown rat skittered across the floor with a noise that echoed throughout the mostly empty building. Teo slowly placed a hand on his forehead as his newfound ally began to tap on the long since emptied lockers near one wall.
“Warning? Come on, since when do friends need to warn their friends about an act of kindness? It would have ruined the surprise! Say, does that vending machine still work?”
Jenson happily stepped over to an old Pepsi machine. Teo couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend’s manic energy. There was a genuine enthusiasm to his step, as though he was overjoyed at every action, like a kid in a candy shop.
“I think they took the soda out when the bank foreclosed. Of course that machine’s refurbished, so they didn’t think they could get much for it.”The soda machine in question was a large metal box, the kind one might expect to see anywhere, but what made it distinct was the design on the front. There was a bright and smiling cartoon of a Luchador, adorned in a white and gold mask giving a thumbs up. The machine had been customized to only take special tokens, which he had kept behind a reception desk.
“Well what would he have to care about? All he does is distribute soda and eat coins, Teo.”
He couldn’t help himself, he let out a chuckle at Jenson’s assertion.
“Decapitation, eh? What did you do to him?”
Teo opened his mouth to respond, but hesitated, placing his hand on his chin as he gave it a moment’s thought.
But there’s something more to it than that. Something…inexplicable. Something about our personalities that just...clashes.”
Jenson was fiddling with the lock on the side of the machine, distracted, so Teo turned and continued, speaking out loud as the thoughts came to him.
He sees the world as fundamentally broken, rotten to its very core. People are greedy, corrupt bastards and anyone who thinks otherwise is just too blind to their own arrogance. Look at who he associates, look at his mission statement. The Lost Breed are overlooked, forgotten, the dregs of a society not made in their image who have banded together to take what they were never allowed to have.
But me? I’m an optimist. Always have been. Oh sure, I tear people down who have it coming, but I never for a second believed that there’s a single person on this planet who is irredeemable. The things I’ve stood for, no matter what mask I wear, they’ve never changed. Success comes through hard work and perseverance, and anything else you try to blame it on is just refusing to accept responsibility for your own actions.
I think that David always wanted a boogeyman out there. He needs to believe that he’s living in, that he’s fighting against a world that doesn’t want him. He wants to believe that everyone around him has the same sick, twisted views that he holds so sacred...although sacred may be the wrong word.
And that’s why we’ve always been enemies. That’s why every time we so much as see the other guy’s picture, we can’t help but feel this deep knot in our stomachs. Because we cannot coexist in the same world. The way I see the world and the way David Sanchez sees the world? We will always be on a fundamentally opposite wavelength. He cannot fathom that I could exist in his world, and he has spent years trying to either make me see things his way...or remove me from it.”
“Found it!”
Lost in thought, Teo had temporarily lost track of his friend’s actions, and sure enough, Jenson had partially disappeared behind the vending machine. However, with a deliberate sound, Teo could hear him plug the vending machine into the wall. Then, with a small sound, a low hum that slowly reverberated into a dull vibration as the cooling motor kicked on for what must have been the first time in years. But what caught Teo’s eye the most was the bright neon light that was also humming to life behind the plate glass of the vending machine’s face. The gold and white smiling Luchador, giving a thumbs up, lit from behind...it made him feel content, like meeting up with an old friend for the first time in years.
“Now that’s a pretty picture. So, uh...do you have any quarters?”===
Bright.
That is the word that could be used to describe the scene that now greets the viewer. The dim lights of the gym, almost entirely burned out paled in comparison to the bright Mexico sun, shining off the polished concrete walls of the gymnasium. Although it had been years since Teo had washed them, the winds had served in the meantime to almost sandblast them as smooth as they had ever been.
Teo leans against the wall, a smile on his face- although anyone who has watched him recognizes that his pose is not one of relaxation. His eyes are narrowed and focused, his posture tense, like a trap ready to be sprung at any moment.
In his hand he holds a can of soda, no doubt retrieved from the vending machine, one of a long discontinued variety. He turns it over in his hand and looks at the label.
“Gotta love that Nostalgia, eh David?
When you look back at the past, things always seem so fresh, so much better the first time, don’t they?
Teo del Sol vs. David Sanchez, a feud that practically defined an entire wave of young talent. A gold standard that people still hold up to this day. The brave and conquering hero falling just short of toppling the conniving maniac. Tale as old as time, no?”
With that same wicked grin and a very deliberate motion, he turns and places his hand on the can, a hiss of carbonation escaping as he opens up the drink.
“A lot can happen in five years, David. New stars can climb mountains that people thought unscalable, and titans can be brought down and made human.
Tell me, what has five years done to David Sanchez?
Because I have to be honest David, no matter how many times I look at you, no matter how many suits you put on, no matter how many allies you recruit and then kick to the curb, I still see that same insecurity deep down inside. I see that fear hiding behind your eyes.
It’s a good facade, David. To anyone else you would seem to exude confidence, you string together long diatribes, practical thesis papers outlining the exact and precise reasons for your opponents failings. You zero in on their weaknesses like a sniper rifle and you do everything you can to twist that knife.
And yet for all of that meticulous planning, for all of that careful observation? You’re blind to the tragedy that is David Sanchez.
For as long as I’ve known you, David, for as long as we have interacted, I have seen one thing within you, and that is potential. I don’t deny your physical gifts.
But you do.
It’s not enough, is it? As hard as you train, as strong as you are, as good as you could be? You don’t believe it. You don’t believe in yourself. It’s why you always attack from behind, it’s why you surround yourself with allies, it’s why you always make sure that you have the advantage, no matter how many rules you have to break to get it.
Because David Sanchez needs to be the man in charge. David Sanchez needs to be sure. Because David Sanchez doesn’t want to find out what would happen in a fair fight.”
As Teo is speaking his fist begins to close around the can, noticeable bends appearing in the metal as the container is warped, his body tensing as emotion begins to seep into his words more clearly, a frustration that has been nurtured for years.
“Look at me in the eyes David Sanchez. I know I’ve made mistakes. I know I’ve failed. I know I’ve had my ass kicked by more reality checks than anyone in this company. Every man, woman, and child I have let down over and over again is a weight on my back that is only going to keep getting heavier, but goddamn it I will carry that weight before I ever stop trying to get better! Until I can stand across the ring from cowards like you, from manipulative bastards who only play when the game is rigged in their favor! From two-faced abusers who use up their allies until there’s nothing left and then kick them to the curb!
I keep fighting because I can’t wait for that day when I stand across the ring from you and beat you at your own effing game. When you look me in the eye, with all your physical gifts, with all your shortcuts, with all of your advantages, and realize that I still beat you.
That moment is what I live for.
This is a warning, David. My mistakes, my failings, my moments of weakness? I am defined by them as much as my successes. You always told me that the world would corrupt me, that I would eventually become just as bad as you, as corrupt as you, that I would see things the way you do.
But David? That day will never come. Because no matter how far I fall, no matter how many times I break, I will never stop believing. I will never stop believing that this world is fundamentally good. I will never stop believing that if you push yourself hard enough, that you can achieve the impossible, but above all, I will never stop believing that Teo Blaze, no, Teo del Sol can beat David Sanchez!”
As if to punctuate his statement, Teo’s grip closes around the soda can, sending a brief fountain of foam into the air. He takes a moment to compose himself as he tosses the crushed thing aside.
“Bottom line David...Nostalgia can be fun. But if you refuse to move on from the past? Then eventually reality will give you a kick in the ass. See you at XIII.”
Teo turns and walks out of frame with a determined gait as the scene slowly fades to black.