(FADEIN to a decently-sized, well manicured backyard. Anarky is standing next to a grill cooking with a beer in his hand. He has a Kiss the Chef apron on.)
ANARKY: “I ain’t a patriotic man, per se. I don’t own a flag pin for my blazer. I don’t buy American cause I don’t really give a sh*t.
“But a nice, sunny day, a smokin’ grill, and a cold beer? There are worse things.
“Like the disappointment of false promise, Larry. I’m sure you know all about it.
“After all, this is your legacy. A lifetime of wasted potential and missed opportunities. A career of almosts and just-barely’s.
“I had such high hopes for you, Larry. Thought maybe you could be one of us.
“But the truth is, Larry... this world is cruel. And I am an opportunist. I do not know or care for mercy.
“If you think you can bring this weak sh*t and walk away with that symbol around your waist, you’re going to learn very differently, my friend. You make a mistake... you will pay and pay again. I don’t give second chances.”
(He stops puts a burger on a bun and takes an enormous bite, washing it down with a swig of beer. He sits down on a lawn chair, seeming to enjoy himself.)
ANARKY: “You tell yourself that you deserve it, Larry. That you earned that belt around your waist. That the only thing separating you from me is chance... luck. The chaotic swirls of the universe crushing you beneath their weight.
“It’s easy to lay blame, Larry. But the truth is simpler than that.
“I breathe this business in and out of my soul. It consumes me.
“The breathtaking violence. The call to honor. The allegiances formed and broken. Betrayal and honor. Deception and deceit.
“The truths left out there on the canvas. They are lovely, Larry... can you not see?
“And I worship them. I am a testament... a monument to them. I am their result.
“While you rest at home with your family... while you live the life I show you now...
“... I wait... for the next moment... when I can stop going through the motions... when I can stop wasting my life in this bullsh*t half-existence outside of the ring.
“Outside of the ring... people like Impulse and First and Cameron Cruise can spill their lies... they can wander through life, spreading their half-truths and egomania out like billions of little seedlings, salting the Earth with the bile from their mouths.
“While I wait. And watch. And prepare.
“Because I am the equalizer... I am the one for whom all truths must eventually come to rest. It matters not what glories you have achieved, not your confidence or your talent...
“In the ring... I make all men the same. I show them their weakness. Their missteps. Their smallness.
“I remind them that they are me... and I am them.
“Most men... do not like what they see. So they put their bubble back up and they vanish back into the world they know and love... where they are the glorious center and all is meant to worship them.
“But they know. And I know.
“In that moment, we found truth.
“Do you want truth, Larry? Do you want to know my truth? Do you want to remember what you have forgotten? To feel my passion where you cannot?
“It matters not, my friend. What you want is irrelevant.
“Because I want what I want.
“And the funny thing is...
“... I usually get it.”
(FADEOUT as he raises his beer glass to the camera in a mock salute.)