Post by Sam Kidsgrove on Feb 14, 2021 13:41:52 GMT -5
Mentorship
By: S Kidsgrove
Written by: S Kidsgrove
FADE IN
INT - SAM KIDSGROVE’S HOME GYM - DAY
SAM KIDSGROVE, Internationally recognised icon with a heart of gold has just finished practice sparring in his ring with his PT. ZOOEY DESCHANEL, cute as a button dreamgirl is coming through the room with a smoothie.
DESCHANEL
Made you a protein smoothie. How’s it goin’ in here?
Kidsgrove nods at his PT and they silently agree to take a rest, he sits on the apron of the ring and takes the smoothie as Zooey hops up to sit on the apron with him. They briefly kiss and Zooey smiles at Kidsgrove.
DESCHANEL
Hey, you know how last year I said I didn’t want to be trained?
KIDSGROVE
Yeah. You said it after the Emily match, that fighting wasn’t for you and you should stick to more the strategy and support.
Deschanel grins.
DESCHANEL
You do listen to me!
Kidsgrove laughs at this inside joke.
KIDSGROVE
I have my moments of weakness. Yeah.
DESCHANEL
Well, I wanna learn how to fight. Properly this time.
KIDSGROVE
This because of Emily?
DESCHANEL
Nah, well, partly. Emily isn’t gonna be a problem, she’s not spoken to anyone in 4 months. Every time I go near her to help her dress or brush her hair she flinches and if it’s anyone else she still hides in a corner somewhere like a frightened dog. When she gets out of her room she just wanders around with a thousand yard stare.
KIDSGROVE
Still bad huh?
DESCHANEL
Not as bad as it was. At least she doesn’t attack me now. But no it’s not strictly because Emily is living here now, I need to be prepared for the next time you get into a fight with someone and they come after me, sure, but I’m more concerned about the next time a sociopath becomes President. The vote has guaranteed another Trump run, and, well when he loses the next one they just got permission to do it again with no repercussions. So I want to learn how to defend myself for the next insurrection.
KIDSGROVE
You don’t have to do this you know. We can resign our posts, move to Europe somewhere. Get away from all the crazy.
DESCHANEL
You’re not suggesting we give up? You, of all people?
KIDSGROVE
No. I’m just saying that for you, I’ll give up all of this.
DESCHANEL
I know you would, but we’ve got way too much to do.
KIDSGROVE
Yeah, that’s true.
Kidsgrove sighs
KIDSGROVE
At least Bull hasn’t turned on us yet.
DESCHANEL
You think he’s gonna?
KIDSGROVE
He won’t want to, if anything Bull is a professional, he does what he says he’s gonna do and is straight with us. The only little doubt I have in my mind is if this Lowe situation starts to show. Bull doesn’t like Lowe, but now he’s “officially” a hangman due to that match stip? Who knows? Lowe and I have never crossed paths so it’s unlikely I’m in his crosshairs or anything, but then again the situation was the same with Harrison.
DESCHANEL
Yeah but that was different right? He’s unhinged and came after me.
KIDSGROVE
Is it? We’re coming up to Evolution season. Everyone knows by now if you can beat me at Evolution you get a chance to be world champion. Now is the time to be most cautious. Bull will be straight with us, we’ll have known by now if Bull wanted to take us on. Lowe? Well this is the sort of opportunity he’ll be tempted by. So we gotta stay vigilant.
DESCHANEL
So it’s good that you’ll train me, right?!
Kidsgrove chuckles and drains his smoothie.
KIDSGROVE
Yeah I guess it is! So, let’s begin with attitude.
DESCHANEL
Attitude?
KIDSGROVE
Yeah, attitude. You see, when you go into a fight, you gotta want it more than the other people in the ring. You gotta be laser focussed and you gotta put your mind into a certain state. You gotta be prepared to be hurt, hell in AW you gotta prepare to even die to win that match. A lot of the time matches come down to which one of you wants to survive. I gotta be honest, that takes a lot of work and a lot of time to get into, so what we’re gonna do is some exercises to get yourself in that state, right?
DESCHANEL
OK
Kidsgrove rolls into the ring, then motions Zooey to follow him. His PT sits on the outside, looking on in mild amusement. Zooey follows and they both stand, facing each other.
KIDSGROVE
OK, tell me how much you wanna beat me.
DESCHANEL
But I don’t wanna beat you.
KIDSGROVE
I know, but we’re gonna fight and you want to eviscerate me.
DESCHANEL
But we live together, I…
KIDSGROVE
OK, that’s not gonna work, my fault, I wouldn’t be able to stand and tell you how much I’m going to kill you either.
DESCHANEL
That’s good to hear!
KIDSGROVE
OK, well, talk as if you’re facing my opponents this Monday.
DESCHANEL
Claire and Soldado?
KIDSGROVE
Yeah.
DESCHANEL
Claire’s lovely, I.
KIDSGROVE
Nope.
DESCHANEL
I hadn’t even started! Give me an example, let’s see what you do.
KIDSGROVE
OK, well you know what I think of Claire, right? I have sympathy for her because she got dumped off a bridge by the Lost Breed, figuratively and literally. She was naive going to those snakes, paid the price and now she’s a new woman, doing her own thing again. So I have to give her credit for that, yeah.
DESCHANEL
OK, so you just complimented her. Why did you say no? What did I do wrong?
KIDSGROVE
Difference between saying she’s lovely and saying she has to be given some credit. At the end of the day she’s still the enemy, Claire still voluntarily worked with Harrison and the lost breed, Claire still went and made a conscious decision to align herself with the worst kind of people possible. So yeah she was naive, but also it takes a certain sort of person to do what she did.
So she’s also ruthless, when she wants to be, dangerous at most times and more vicious than a cat in a sack of snakes. So Claire isn’t “lovely” she’s a cold hearted creature that will stamp on me, she’ll stamp on you and stamp on Soldado just to get ahead. She wants to get to BattleBowl, she wants to win that because it gives her the accolades she wants. It gives her the validation and vindication that she craves. If she can win BattleBowl then she, quite rightly proves to the world, and more importantly to herself that she doesn’t need the Lost Breed. That her good form since she was unceremoniously dumped is actually real and not just the by-product of being on a high because she simultaneously feels free and vengeful.
DESCHANEL
OK, so you flipped it? You were saying good things, but then turned them? Right!
KIDSGROVE
Kinda, it’s important you do it in your own voice though, if you do this sounding like me, then well, your brain’s not gonna believe it. You need to find your own way of getting yourself in the zone.
DESCHANEL
Right. I think I got it.
KIDSGROVE
You think you got it?
Zooey flashes a grin
DESCHANEL
Yeah I think I got it.
KIDSGROVE
OK, show me Soldado.
DESCHANEL
Well for a guy who debuted like a couple of months ago he sure seems full of himself.
KIDSGROVE
Good start.
DESCHANEL
It seems in record time he came to Action Wrestling, quickly made a bit of a splash and then, like, um, lost it?
KIDSGROVE
Yeah, I liked where you were going with that, until you, too kinda lost it.
DESCHANEL
Yeah, sorry, I thought I had it then it just slipped through my fingers.
KIDSGROVE
What you were going to say was something like this, yeah?
Soldado, well he came into AW with a rocket strapped to his back. He’s a survivor, he’s a competitor. Hell he entered number 5 in the Havoc Rumble and came so close to winning the damn thing. The guy looked like he had a promising career ahead of him.
Then, well, he realised something. That he wasn’t the best luchador on CruiserClash. He got absolutely destroyed by a newcomer in Reo. He lost his crown as THE lucha, he lost his spot as the most exciting, entertaining mask guy in the whole organisation.
Then? Well, he lost his head. Literally, got himself knocked the crap out and a bad concussion to boot. Soldado is a lesson in how to not shine too quickly and too brightly, because you can make a splash early on, hell, anyone can make a splash, cause a few ripples here and there and mildly shake the surface of AW.
The next step is turning those ripples into a wave, into a tsunami, into something tangible that will change the very foundation of AW and make it so you are indispensable, make it so you are the go to guy, make it so you matter.
Can Soldado do that? I don’t know. I mean his body is already failing him, his light is already diminished. So it’s a tough gig to crack when this happens. Take it from a guy who was 1 thousandth of a second from being World Champion before my body decided “know what, you can’t process glucose any more you fuck”. It’s a hard fight back from your body failing you, and, well, I’m not sure he’s got the guts to pull that one off. Hell, he’s already getting his manager to call all his shots for him, health be damned, so that’s already a bad start for the guy. Now having to get in the ring with two of the Action Wrestling Stalwarts, two mean old veteral grizzly bastards who won’t take a second thought about concussing his ass one more time.
Add to that he’s getting in the ring with a partner who he had to psyche himself up to defeat just last week. Will there be resentment there between the two of them? I get they had partners who were just pretty much the worst, but they were on different sides of the fence from the get go, now they have to trust one another? I can’t see that working. I can’t see the two of them being anywhere near as in sync as myself and Bull. I can’t see them watching each other's backs and laying it all on the line for one another. It’s just, well, it’s not happening is it?
Zooey lets out a sigh in frustration.
DESCHANEL
I’ve got a lot to learn, haven’t I?
KIDSGROVE
Yeah, you need to find a way to put yourself in that state of mind. You tapped into it when I went missing, for a time, but you need to find a way of doing it when it’s you. Remember, we’re here representing millions of people, we’re here shining a beacon of hope across the cosmos, inviting anyone who’s lost to look up and find their path in life. Remember that and remember who you actually are, then you’ll find your voice, you’ll find the way to get into that zone where you look across the ring to your enemy and realise you’re ready to fight for them. Ready to die for them. Once we’ve mastered that, then we can start the easy bit. Karl over there is great with strength and conditioning, if there’s anything to know about making your body better - he knows.
Karl, the PT waves.
KIDSGROVE
But to train you in how to debilitate your opponent, when in that mindset?
Kidsgrove pauses, mulling it over. He sighs in resignation, knowing that this is his only option and one he doesn’t want.
KIDSGROVE
We’re gonna have to call someone.
FADE OUT
END