AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turner Jr
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fugginVOSS
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Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
[FADE-IN: on the Empire Pro backdrop. Standing in its way of a full, clean shot is the Brutalitarian himself, TEDDY ALEXANDER. His neck brace has “TOONS” scrawled across the front. He wears an ANIMEZING DRAGON’s t-shirt with the sleeves crudely cut off. He stares down the barrel of the camera with a look of sheer determination.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Those belts?”
[Makes a gesture to his waist before pointing in his own face.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“They’re mine. Mine and Sammy’s. See, dis tournament kicked off and me and Sammy got bumshuffled by a pair of assholes who couldn’t come to da party.
“No... WOULDN’T come to da party.”
[Snicker.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Sammy managed to scrape by. I showed Oblivion what it’s like to leave me high and dry. Then I gave Sammy da option, when Dan Ryan pushed us together, to get on da same page or expect dat same treatment I gave to Oblivion.”
[Smirk.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“And he got on it. He got on da same page and we took two veterans out of dis tournament. We took down Steven Shane and Larry Tact. We took them down, man, and it felt good. It felt good to take another step in dis tournament. It felt good to take another step toward our goal.
“Bein’ da King of da Cage winners of 2012.”
[Nods.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“So we take dat next rung. Climb da ladder. Come FACE-TO-FACE... with da EPW World Tag Team Champions.
“Karl da Dragon Brown and Otaku.”
[He whistles the whistle of an impressed man.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“It’s hard not to stand in awe of you both. You’ve held them belts for near on a year. You’ve taken on challengers left right and centre. Hell... gettin’ to dis point of da King of da Cage tournament you had to already defend them belts twice.”
[Grins.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“And now ya gotta get ‘em on da line again.
“Against me and Sammy Turner Junior.
“Two men put together despite all odds. Both of us on our second partner in this tournament. Fresh off provin’ to all of you dat we weren’t just a couple of schmucks tossed together.
“When we went out there, against Tact and Shane, we proved dat we can work together as one. As one well-oiled machine. A wreckin’ crew. Workin’ in tandem to tear apart our adversaries and leave destruction in our wake.
“Yeah. I can stand here and be impressed by your pedigree. I can stand in awe of all da men you’ve defeated to keep them belts wrapped around your waist.
"I NEED to respect dat.
"I NEED to respect dat what I’m goin’ up against.
“Because to pull somethin’ apart you need to understand how it works. To destroy somethin’ you need to know somethin’.
“Karl. Otaku. When we get inside dat ring in I might stand there in awe of what you’ve accomplished. I might stand there with respect to what you’ve achieved.
[Begins shaking his head.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“But I won’t let it scare me. I won’t let it get to me.
“What I WILL let it do is inspire me. Inspire da beast within. You know da beast I’m talkin’ about. You’ve been watchin’.
"You ALL know dat beast by now.
“I will let it inspire me to pull you both apart limb-from-limb until Sammy and I walk out of dat cage with your Goddamn belts wrapped right around our waists.
“I don’t fear you.
"I respect you. What you’ve accomplished. I respect all of dat so much dat it will be an honour to leave you lyin’ in a puddle of yer own piss in da centre of dat ring callin' for ya mama.
“You mightn’t respect me...
[Shrugs.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"So FEAR me.”
[Makes a snapping gesture with his hands.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Sammy. I need you in on this, man. I need you on your A-game. We walk away with those belts. Me and you. Walk away with dat gold.
“Let’s turn da next page in our wrestlin’ legacies, Sammy. Let’s take da ten months Animezin’ Dragons have been cartin’ those belts around to da next level.
“Together...”
[Points between himself and the camera.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Let da bodies hit da floor.”
[FADE to BLACK!]
[FADE-IN: on the Empire Pro backdrop. Standing in its way of a full, clean shot is the Brutalitarian himself, TEDDY ALEXANDER. His neck brace has “TOONS” scrawled across the front. He wears an ANIMEZING DRAGON’s t-shirt with the sleeves crudely cut off. He stares down the barrel of the camera with a look of sheer determination.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Those belts?”
[Makes a gesture to his waist before pointing in his own face.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“They’re mine. Mine and Sammy’s. See, dis tournament kicked off and me and Sammy got bumshuffled by a pair of assholes who couldn’t come to da party.
“No... WOULDN’T come to da party.”
[Snicker.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Sammy managed to scrape by. I showed Oblivion what it’s like to leave me high and dry. Then I gave Sammy da option, when Dan Ryan pushed us together, to get on da same page or expect dat same treatment I gave to Oblivion.”
[Smirk.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“And he got on it. He got on da same page and we took two veterans out of dis tournament. We took down Steven Shane and Larry Tact. We took them down, man, and it felt good. It felt good to take another step in dis tournament. It felt good to take another step toward our goal.
“Bein’ da King of da Cage winners of 2012.”
[Nods.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“So we take dat next rung. Climb da ladder. Come FACE-TO-FACE... with da EPW World Tag Team Champions.
“Karl da Dragon Brown and Otaku.”
[He whistles the whistle of an impressed man.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“It’s hard not to stand in awe of you both. You’ve held them belts for near on a year. You’ve taken on challengers left right and centre. Hell... gettin’ to dis point of da King of da Cage tournament you had to already defend them belts twice.”
[Grins.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“And now ya gotta get ‘em on da line again.
“Against me and Sammy Turner Junior.
“Two men put together despite all odds. Both of us on our second partner in this tournament. Fresh off provin’ to all of you dat we weren’t just a couple of schmucks tossed together.
“When we went out there, against Tact and Shane, we proved dat we can work together as one. As one well-oiled machine. A wreckin’ crew. Workin’ in tandem to tear apart our adversaries and leave destruction in our wake.
“Yeah. I can stand here and be impressed by your pedigree. I can stand in awe of all da men you’ve defeated to keep them belts wrapped around your waist.
"I NEED to respect dat.
"I NEED to respect dat what I’m goin’ up against.
“Because to pull somethin’ apart you need to understand how it works. To destroy somethin’ you need to know somethin’.
“Karl. Otaku. When we get inside dat ring in I might stand there in awe of what you’ve accomplished. I might stand there with respect to what you’ve achieved.
[Begins shaking his head.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“But I won’t let it scare me. I won’t let it get to me.
“What I WILL let it do is inspire me. Inspire da beast within. You know da beast I’m talkin’ about. You’ve been watchin’.
"You ALL know dat beast by now.
“I will let it inspire me to pull you both apart limb-from-limb until Sammy and I walk out of dat cage with your Goddamn belts wrapped right around our waists.
“I don’t fear you.
"I respect you. What you’ve accomplished. I respect all of dat so much dat it will be an honour to leave you lyin’ in a puddle of yer own piss in da centre of dat ring callin' for ya mama.
“You mightn’t respect me...
[Shrugs.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"So FEAR me.”
[Makes a snapping gesture with his hands.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Sammy. I need you in on this, man. I need you on your A-game. We walk away with those belts. Me and you. Walk away with dat gold.
“Let’s turn da next page in our wrestlin’ legacies, Sammy. Let’s take da ten months Animezin’ Dragons have been cartin’ those belts around to da next level.
“Together...”
[Points between himself and the camera.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Let da bodies hit da floor.”
[FADE to BLACK!]
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Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
[FADE IN to “The Dragon” stood in front of a “Kings of the Cage” backdrop]
Karl: I asked for a fight, and that’s what we got. Syd and Jameson would probably be tag team champions by now if the rules had let them win the titles by leaving the cage. I’m not too proud to admit that. But the rules being what they were gave Otaku and I the advantage we needed. It kept them from escaping, and allowed us that one opportunity we needed to isolate them from each other and take one of them out completely.
I expect to see great things from those two as the months and years roll by. I hope they’re not another disappointment who does well, and leaves.
But let’s not dwell on that. It’s time for the semi finals of the Kings of the Cage tournament. We’re two matches away from being crowned Kings of the Cage. Two more successful tag team title defences. Two more defences and we’ll be damn close to being known as one of the greatest tag teams in Empire Pro Wrestling history, statistically speaking.
Of course, it looks easy on paper. People are talking about the “Bracket of Death” where to get to the final you have to beat recognised names. Teams like Impulse and Stevens, Rezin and Anarky, Cruise and First. No disrespect intended, but I’d have rather been in that bracket, because it would have been a known challenge rather than what we’ve faced.
You see, when you have teams like Impulse and Stevens or Rezin and Anarky, they’re known entities in Empire Pro. Each of those four men has a history here, a long one, and you can more easily prepare for them. What we’ve seen in this bracket – our bracket – is teams which have no history here, no real experience in Empire Pro, and that makes for one of two scenarios. Either, like Dreamstealers, they become all hype with no bite. Or, like Wolves of the Sea and The Heatskeakers, teams that give as good as they get. The unknown quantity where you have to guard against complacency or you’re on the end of a defeat.
It’s a bigger risk. And that’s why I’m not bothered that the likes of Stevens and Impulse or Rezin and Anarky are making the headlines. It’s one less pressure on us.
The unknown. It’s the biggest fear there is for most people. If you ask me, and you didn’t, I’d tell you that’s one of the reasons for belief in God and the afterlife. People fear what comes next, they don’t know what’s next so they invent a comforting tale to tell themselves.
Which brings me to Teddy. You respect Otaku and I, which as champions we’re used to hearing. You then say we should fear you. I guess you’re part right. You’re…
No longer unknown.
You see, Teddy, this bracket we’re in started as the trickier in my view. So many unknown quantities. But as time’s gone by, I’ve kept a very, very close eye on everyone. You need to in order to prepare.
What I’ve seen from you is impressive, certainly. You’ve taken the advantage when you can. The difficulty you’re going to have at Aggression, though…
Is neither Otaku nor I are going to fake an injury, and we’re also the most adaptable team in this tournament.
Look at how we won the right to challenge for the titles the first time. By defeating two teams in one night, our first two matches. I’ve had matches changed on me seconds before the bell, where I’ve not known who I’m facing, and I’ve thrived.
There’s a reason you should probably respect Otaku and I, but it’s not for what we’ve done in this tournament. The reasons go back far further.
But, now I’m starting to sound egotistical like you. Causing destruction? Granted against Tact and Shane you won, but I’d hardly say it was destructive. If it were it wouldn’t’ve taken as long as it did – I’ve seen some really short matches here, and that one doesn’t register in that list.
No, Teddy. You’re not destructive. You’re talented, sure. You don’t beat Tact and Shane without having some talent. But from everything I’ve seen, you’re going to be in for a bad time if you think you’re going to be a beast in the ring.
The Wolves couldn’t beat us. The Colossal Connection couldn’t beat us. The Heatseakers said the same things you’ve said.
You’re not facing a dysfunctional team this time. You’re facing the World Tag Team Champions, two people who’ve travelled the road together and formed a team that’s done what very, very few others have ever done. The first team that will be the World Tag Team Champions, and Kings of the Cage, and will break the record for longest reigning champions.
And we’ll do it by being the best. By defending the titles each and every match. Because it gives people like you, Teddy, the opportunity and the reason to show what you can do.
You need the titles to push yourselves. We don’t. We just go out and give it our best time after time. It wouldn’t matter if it was, I don’t know, Aaron Jones teaming with Kenny Lombardo, we’d give them a title match and we’d give it our best.
Don’t worry, Kenny, I don’t think Dan’s going to give you a match. Yet.
Teddy. I’m looking forward to seeing what challenge you two bring. But I’m not going to fear you.
Dragons have nothing to fear.
[FADE OUT]
[FADE IN to “The Dragon” stood in front of a “Kings of the Cage” backdrop]
Karl: I asked for a fight, and that’s what we got. Syd and Jameson would probably be tag team champions by now if the rules had let them win the titles by leaving the cage. I’m not too proud to admit that. But the rules being what they were gave Otaku and I the advantage we needed. It kept them from escaping, and allowed us that one opportunity we needed to isolate them from each other and take one of them out completely.
I expect to see great things from those two as the months and years roll by. I hope they’re not another disappointment who does well, and leaves.
But let’s not dwell on that. It’s time for the semi finals of the Kings of the Cage tournament. We’re two matches away from being crowned Kings of the Cage. Two more successful tag team title defences. Two more defences and we’ll be damn close to being known as one of the greatest tag teams in Empire Pro Wrestling history, statistically speaking.
Of course, it looks easy on paper. People are talking about the “Bracket of Death” where to get to the final you have to beat recognised names. Teams like Impulse and Stevens, Rezin and Anarky, Cruise and First. No disrespect intended, but I’d have rather been in that bracket, because it would have been a known challenge rather than what we’ve faced.
You see, when you have teams like Impulse and Stevens or Rezin and Anarky, they’re known entities in Empire Pro. Each of those four men has a history here, a long one, and you can more easily prepare for them. What we’ve seen in this bracket – our bracket – is teams which have no history here, no real experience in Empire Pro, and that makes for one of two scenarios. Either, like Dreamstealers, they become all hype with no bite. Or, like Wolves of the Sea and The Heatskeakers, teams that give as good as they get. The unknown quantity where you have to guard against complacency or you’re on the end of a defeat.
It’s a bigger risk. And that’s why I’m not bothered that the likes of Stevens and Impulse or Rezin and Anarky are making the headlines. It’s one less pressure on us.
The unknown. It’s the biggest fear there is for most people. If you ask me, and you didn’t, I’d tell you that’s one of the reasons for belief in God and the afterlife. People fear what comes next, they don’t know what’s next so they invent a comforting tale to tell themselves.
Which brings me to Teddy. You respect Otaku and I, which as champions we’re used to hearing. You then say we should fear you. I guess you’re part right. You’re…
No longer unknown.
You see, Teddy, this bracket we’re in started as the trickier in my view. So many unknown quantities. But as time’s gone by, I’ve kept a very, very close eye on everyone. You need to in order to prepare.
What I’ve seen from you is impressive, certainly. You’ve taken the advantage when you can. The difficulty you’re going to have at Aggression, though…
Is neither Otaku nor I are going to fake an injury, and we’re also the most adaptable team in this tournament.
Look at how we won the right to challenge for the titles the first time. By defeating two teams in one night, our first two matches. I’ve had matches changed on me seconds before the bell, where I’ve not known who I’m facing, and I’ve thrived.
There’s a reason you should probably respect Otaku and I, but it’s not for what we’ve done in this tournament. The reasons go back far further.
But, now I’m starting to sound egotistical like you. Causing destruction? Granted against Tact and Shane you won, but I’d hardly say it was destructive. If it were it wouldn’t’ve taken as long as it did – I’ve seen some really short matches here, and that one doesn’t register in that list.
No, Teddy. You’re not destructive. You’re talented, sure. You don’t beat Tact and Shane without having some talent. But from everything I’ve seen, you’re going to be in for a bad time if you think you’re going to be a beast in the ring.
The Wolves couldn’t beat us. The Colossal Connection couldn’t beat us. The Heatseakers said the same things you’ve said.
You’re not facing a dysfunctional team this time. You’re facing the World Tag Team Champions, two people who’ve travelled the road together and formed a team that’s done what very, very few others have ever done. The first team that will be the World Tag Team Champions, and Kings of the Cage, and will break the record for longest reigning champions.
And we’ll do it by being the best. By defending the titles each and every match. Because it gives people like you, Teddy, the opportunity and the reason to show what you can do.
You need the titles to push yourselves. We don’t. We just go out and give it our best time after time. It wouldn’t matter if it was, I don’t know, Aaron Jones teaming with Kenny Lombardo, we’d give them a title match and we’d give it our best.
Don’t worry, Kenny, I don’t think Dan’s going to give you a match. Yet.
Teddy. I’m looking forward to seeing what challenge you two bring. But I’m not going to fear you.
Dragons have nothing to fear.
[FADE OUT]
fugginVOSS
The REAL Funk U. T-shirt
Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
[FADE-IN: on TEDDY ALEXANDER sitting in his hotel room in front of his laptop, like we’ve seen so many times before. The only thing that changes is the background. The hotel is clearly cheap. Cheap in the way of a man still coming up the ranks in the wrestling industry. He wears a white ANIMEZING DRAGONS t-shirt with the sleeves crudely cut off. Neck brace nowhere in sight.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Karl. There’s a difference between egotistical and confidence. Dictionary’s aside... ego’s da gap you need when you don’t have da confidence to be what you gotta be.
“I guess I could sit here and break it down line-by-line, Karl, but I don’t gotta do dat. I don’t need to. Facts are facts.
(counts out one finger on his right hand) “Animezin’ Dragons are lookin’ to break da title reign records for da tag belts. I get dat.
(counts out another) “Animezin’ Dragons are da most adaptable team in wrestlin’ industry. Probably. You don’t hold belts like dat for bein’ predictable, right?
(and another) “Animezin’ Dragons are no dysfunctional slap together tag team. Again. More truths. You’re like some sort’f EPW prophet, Karl.
(one more finger) “Animezin’ Dragons are goin’ to win da King of da Cage.”
[Snickers. Turns down all the counted out fingers except his index and waggles it at the monitor.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Unfortunately, Karl, dat’s where your revelations end. Coz dat shit ain’t gonna happen. Coz for DAT to happen, Karl...
“You’ve got to get through me. “ (thumbs himself in the chest)
“And you’ve got to get through Sammy Turner Junior.” (points off into the horizon, like he were giving directions to STJ’s place.)
“And neither of those things are gonna happen.
“Yeah. You dust us off your shoulder like you’ve got nothin’ to lose, Karl, but dat’s not altogether true. There is dat record you’re tryin’ to break. Bein’ da longest reignin’ tag team champs and all. Coz let’s face it, Karl, nobody EVER remembers second place.”
[Snickers.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Also, Karl, it’s downright insultin’ dat you’re singin’ your love songs to Impulse and Triple X. Pinin’ over facin’ Anarky and Rezin. It’s like...
“It’s like we’re...” (spitefully spits the words out like they were venomous) “...not GOOD enough for you.”
[TEDDY’s breathing begins to speed up. Shoulders rising and falling and you can see his eyes narrowing. Mouth twisting into a snarl.]
[And he snaps.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“YOU WANNA FACE THOSE GUYS, KARL? GET THROUGH ME!” (beats his chest with a fist) “GET THROUGH ME, MAN!
“Da thing about respect, Karl, is it’s a two way street. See... days ago, before you went and opened your fat mouth, I respected you. I respected what you brought to dis match. Your legacy. Your record. You and Otaku carryin’ those belts for all dis time. Yeah, I respected dat.
“Then you come out and disrespect me altogether. Disrespectin’ what Sammy and I can do.”
[Snarls. Shakes his head.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“We mightn’t have been saddled on dis horse as long as you and Otaku, Karl, but it doesn’t mean we can’t kick both your asses. In case you never realised... dis shit’s in a cage, man.
“IN – A – CAGE!
“Dat means you don’t get to crawl your worthless meatsacks outta dat cage until me and Sammy say you can. Or until EMTs drag your caved skulls outta there.
“Da ONLY way out, Karl...” (fingers himself in the chest) “...is through ME!”
[His breathing has become completely erratic. Shoulders rising and falling with the breathing of a mad man. His face is beet red and a vein has developed on his forehead.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“I’m SICK and damn TIRED of hearin’ da same old crap comin’ outta you tired, old, Empire windbags. It’s all piss and wind to me, Karl. It’s like dis next generation ain’t worthy of lacin’ your boots let alone standin’ opposite you in da ring. You. Larry Tact. All of you. You’re all da same.
“You know what? Fuck you.” {points down the monitor at BROWN himself)
“Fuck your legacy.
“Fuck your championships.
“And fuck your near record breakin’ title reign.
“Da only sounds of breakin’ dat will be heard all throughout Atlanta, Georgia, is da sounds of yours and Otaku’s necks snappin’ beneath my boot heel. If you think when I come out there I ain’t gonna be anythin’ but a beast you better think again. You’re gonna have a bad time. Don’t worry, Karl...
“You won’t have to fake an injury.”
[ALEXANDER’s breathing begins to soothe as the thoughts of destroying his opponent’s rests on his mind. A sick grin begins to spread across his face.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“See, Karl... I’m lookin’ forward to dis match. Not just coz’ve your belts.
“Not coz it takes me one step closer to da King of da Cage.
“Not just to shut you and all them other old has-beens up.
“I’m lookin’ forward to dis, Karl, because it brings me closer to tearin’ another page out of Empire Pro’s history books and write my own damn legacy. I’m gonna tear out dat whole section of Animezin’ Dragons, wipe my ass on it, spit on it, set fire to it and watch it all burn as I rise up out of its ashes and take dis promotion to another level.
“Dis isn’t about who’s been doin’ it longer. Dis ain’t about da laundry list of assholes you’ve beat to get to where you are now.
“Dis is, and always will be, about tomorrow.
“And will you see tomorrow, Karl? Will you and Otaku see tomorrow?”
[Snicker.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“When da bodies hit da floor?”
[TEDDY reaches forward and slams the laptop shut.]
[CUT to BLACK!]
[FADE-IN: on TEDDY ALEXANDER sitting in his hotel room in front of his laptop, like we’ve seen so many times before. The only thing that changes is the background. The hotel is clearly cheap. Cheap in the way of a man still coming up the ranks in the wrestling industry. He wears a white ANIMEZING DRAGONS t-shirt with the sleeves crudely cut off. Neck brace nowhere in sight.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Karl. There’s a difference between egotistical and confidence. Dictionary’s aside... ego’s da gap you need when you don’t have da confidence to be what you gotta be.
“I guess I could sit here and break it down line-by-line, Karl, but I don’t gotta do dat. I don’t need to. Facts are facts.
(counts out one finger on his right hand) “Animezin’ Dragons are lookin’ to break da title reign records for da tag belts. I get dat.
(counts out another) “Animezin’ Dragons are da most adaptable team in wrestlin’ industry. Probably. You don’t hold belts like dat for bein’ predictable, right?
(and another) “Animezin’ Dragons are no dysfunctional slap together tag team. Again. More truths. You’re like some sort’f EPW prophet, Karl.
(one more finger) “Animezin’ Dragons are goin’ to win da King of da Cage.”
[Snickers. Turns down all the counted out fingers except his index and waggles it at the monitor.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Unfortunately, Karl, dat’s where your revelations end. Coz dat shit ain’t gonna happen. Coz for DAT to happen, Karl...
“You’ve got to get through me. “ (thumbs himself in the chest)
“And you’ve got to get through Sammy Turner Junior.” (points off into the horizon, like he were giving directions to STJ’s place.)
“And neither of those things are gonna happen.
“Yeah. You dust us off your shoulder like you’ve got nothin’ to lose, Karl, but dat’s not altogether true. There is dat record you’re tryin’ to break. Bein’ da longest reignin’ tag team champs and all. Coz let’s face it, Karl, nobody EVER remembers second place.”
[Snickers.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Also, Karl, it’s downright insultin’ dat you’re singin’ your love songs to Impulse and Triple X. Pinin’ over facin’ Anarky and Rezin. It’s like...
“It’s like we’re...” (spitefully spits the words out like they were venomous) “...not GOOD enough for you.”
[TEDDY’s breathing begins to speed up. Shoulders rising and falling and you can see his eyes narrowing. Mouth twisting into a snarl.]
[And he snaps.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“YOU WANNA FACE THOSE GUYS, KARL? GET THROUGH ME!” (beats his chest with a fist) “GET THROUGH ME, MAN!
“Da thing about respect, Karl, is it’s a two way street. See... days ago, before you went and opened your fat mouth, I respected you. I respected what you brought to dis match. Your legacy. Your record. You and Otaku carryin’ those belts for all dis time. Yeah, I respected dat.
“Then you come out and disrespect me altogether. Disrespectin’ what Sammy and I can do.”
[Snarls. Shakes his head.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“We mightn’t have been saddled on dis horse as long as you and Otaku, Karl, but it doesn’t mean we can’t kick both your asses. In case you never realised... dis shit’s in a cage, man.
“IN – A – CAGE!
“Dat means you don’t get to crawl your worthless meatsacks outta dat cage until me and Sammy say you can. Or until EMTs drag your caved skulls outta there.
“Da ONLY way out, Karl...” (fingers himself in the chest) “...is through ME!”
[His breathing has become completely erratic. Shoulders rising and falling with the breathing of a mad man. His face is beet red and a vein has developed on his forehead.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“I’m SICK and damn TIRED of hearin’ da same old crap comin’ outta you tired, old, Empire windbags. It’s all piss and wind to me, Karl. It’s like dis next generation ain’t worthy of lacin’ your boots let alone standin’ opposite you in da ring. You. Larry Tact. All of you. You’re all da same.
“You know what? Fuck you.” {points down the monitor at BROWN himself)
“Fuck your legacy.
“Fuck your championships.
“And fuck your near record breakin’ title reign.
“Da only sounds of breakin’ dat will be heard all throughout Atlanta, Georgia, is da sounds of yours and Otaku’s necks snappin’ beneath my boot heel. If you think when I come out there I ain’t gonna be anythin’ but a beast you better think again. You’re gonna have a bad time. Don’t worry, Karl...
“You won’t have to fake an injury.”
[ALEXANDER’s breathing begins to soothe as the thoughts of destroying his opponent’s rests on his mind. A sick grin begins to spread across his face.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“See, Karl... I’m lookin’ forward to dis match. Not just coz’ve your belts.
“Not coz it takes me one step closer to da King of da Cage.
“Not just to shut you and all them other old has-beens up.
“I’m lookin’ forward to dis, Karl, because it brings me closer to tearin’ another page out of Empire Pro’s history books and write my own damn legacy. I’m gonna tear out dat whole section of Animezin’ Dragons, wipe my ass on it, spit on it, set fire to it and watch it all burn as I rise up out of its ashes and take dis promotion to another level.
“Dis isn’t about who’s been doin’ it longer. Dis ain’t about da laundry list of assholes you’ve beat to get to where you are now.
“Dis is, and always will be, about tomorrow.
“And will you see tomorrow, Karl? Will you and Otaku see tomorrow?”
[Snicker.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“When da bodies hit da floor?”
[TEDDY reaches forward and slams the laptop shut.]
[CUT to BLACK!]
Chris King
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Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
I's gunna have me a busee week perty soon. I's gunna be in ole EPW wiff Teddy Al'xand'r goin atter them tag team titles from tha Amazin Drag'ns.
Now ole Teddy's jus like me. He's a big ole fella'at could pick up a truck but he's a mite crazy'r an me. He likes ta not let nary a soul get ta him. He jus a big ole bad man from'a Philly.
Now'em Amazin Drag'ns they must be sumptin spec'al. They tha EPW tag team champ'ons an won perty easy on tha last event. I ain't too worried bout'em thou, cause I dun beat a drag'n befer, he was a mite crazy though, an it ain't ta hard ta do I don rekon.
Then I gots me a fight wiff ole Cla'ra St. Sure. She gots sum tha pertiest skin I ever saw'd. I dunna if'n I really wanna rassle'er er if'n I'll jus lay down an give'er tha pin.
Who knows what I'll wind up'a doin.
~
Now Mr. Ellis sure dun ruin'd our Thanksginin dinner. We was havin a good ole time an all tha sudden he dun throwed'em biscuits at me. He sure weren't nice bout it.
If'n he'd let me be ma own man an do thangs ma way it would all work out jus fine. Then ge wont'd me ta be fr'ends wiff'em ole Untouch'bles. I ain't like'em. I like bein ma own fellar.
I'd rath'r be fr'ends wiff ole Tom Sawy'r an rush tha ring when'er its needed. Nah whah I meen?
But ole Mr. Ellis gots it in his ole mind'at I wanna be assoc'ated wiff Jeffy Andrews an ole Heidi Christ'nson. Howev'r'at ain't me. They's mean an disrespec'ful. They's like'at ole chewin gum ya gets on tha bottom of ya shoe when ya out on'a date er sumt'in like'at.
Mr. Ellis jus dunno anythin bout anythin. He thanks ole Tom is'a cult leader an I'm gunna be his ole sacr'ficial lamb bein led ta tha slaught'r. That jus ain't right. He jus don like Tom cause he thanks he's gunna make me lose money somehow. I jus don thank he's gunna make me lose nuttin. I thank ole Tom'll help me make sum money.
I rekon Tom'll help me out in Def'ance jus like ole Teddy Al'xand'r has dun in ole EPW in tha King of tha Cage, which we might be able ta win er at least tha EPW world tag team belts.
Thet'd be ma first title belt ev'r. I always wonted one but nev'r had'a chance ta really get at it. Howev'r I was perty close in tha tournament we had in Def'ance.
So ma tractor record ain't ta good in'ese tournaments.
~
So here we is, in'a few day I gots tha Amazin Drag'ns verse me an ole Teddy. Then atter'at I gots Cla'ra St. Sure. I dunno if'n its good er bad. It's one'em thangs that'll either kill me er make me into a big bad man.
Before all'at starts ta happen I'm gunna have ta try an see ole Kim before she break up wiff me. I dunno if'n I could take'at er not. That one fellar at tha rasslin show las week dun told me I had ma nose wide open. I tried wippin it but he said they weren't nary thang'ere an'at he meant I's in love wiff'er. I still don und'rstan but its whatev'r.
I hope Kim ain't ta mad'at me when she hears I'll be rasslin a woman as perty an fit as ole Cla'ra St. Sure. Kim's tha jel'us type an she ain't scared ta woman up at any time. As she said she'd smoth'r a ho wiff'er boobies. I really liked'at, she tried it on me a few times, it weren't nuttin but'at ole sex play, I perty was happy.
Anyway, I'mma jus hope I can win ma rasslin match's an keep Kim on tha un-jel'us side of thangs. If'n I cain't I could lose'er wiff'at Cla'ra match.
What's a good ole county boy ta do?
I's gunna have me a busee week perty soon. I's gunna be in ole EPW wiff Teddy Al'xand'r goin atter them tag team titles from tha Amazin Drag'ns.
Now ole Teddy's jus like me. He's a big ole fella'at could pick up a truck but he's a mite crazy'r an me. He likes ta not let nary a soul get ta him. He jus a big ole bad man from'a Philly.
Now'em Amazin Drag'ns they must be sumptin spec'al. They tha EPW tag team champ'ons an won perty easy on tha last event. I ain't too worried bout'em thou, cause I dun beat a drag'n befer, he was a mite crazy though, an it ain't ta hard ta do I don rekon.
Then I gots me a fight wiff ole Cla'ra St. Sure. She gots sum tha pertiest skin I ever saw'd. I dunna if'n I really wanna rassle'er er if'n I'll jus lay down an give'er tha pin.
Who knows what I'll wind up'a doin.
~
Now Mr. Ellis sure dun ruin'd our Thanksginin dinner. We was havin a good ole time an all tha sudden he dun throwed'em biscuits at me. He sure weren't nice bout it.
If'n he'd let me be ma own man an do thangs ma way it would all work out jus fine. Then ge wont'd me ta be fr'ends wiff'em ole Untouch'bles. I ain't like'em. I like bein ma own fellar.
I'd rath'r be fr'ends wiff ole Tom Sawy'r an rush tha ring when'er its needed. Nah whah I meen?
But ole Mr. Ellis gots it in his ole mind'at I wanna be assoc'ated wiff Jeffy Andrews an ole Heidi Christ'nson. Howev'r'at ain't me. They's mean an disrespec'ful. They's like'at ole chewin gum ya gets on tha bottom of ya shoe when ya out on'a date er sumt'in like'at.
Mr. Ellis jus dunno anythin bout anythin. He thanks ole Tom is'a cult leader an I'm gunna be his ole sacr'ficial lamb bein led ta tha slaught'r. That jus ain't right. He jus don like Tom cause he thanks he's gunna make me lose money somehow. I jus don thank he's gunna make me lose nuttin. I thank ole Tom'll help me make sum money.
I rekon Tom'll help me out in Def'ance jus like ole Teddy Al'xand'r has dun in ole EPW in tha King of tha Cage, which we might be able ta win er at least tha EPW world tag team belts.
Thet'd be ma first title belt ev'r. I always wonted one but nev'r had'a chance ta really get at it. Howev'r I was perty close in tha tournament we had in Def'ance.
So ma tractor record ain't ta good in'ese tournaments.
~
So here we is, in'a few day I gots tha Amazin Drag'ns verse me an ole Teddy. Then atter'at I gots Cla'ra St. Sure. I dunno if'n its good er bad. It's one'em thangs that'll either kill me er make me into a big bad man.
Before all'at starts ta happen I'm gunna have ta try an see ole Kim before she break up wiff me. I dunno if'n I could take'at er not. That one fellar at tha rasslin show las week dun told me I had ma nose wide open. I tried wippin it but he said they weren't nary thang'ere an'at he meant I's in love wiff'er. I still don und'rstan but its whatev'r.
I hope Kim ain't ta mad'at me when she hears I'll be rasslin a woman as perty an fit as ole Cla'ra St. Sure. Kim's tha jel'us type an she ain't scared ta woman up at any time. As she said she'd smoth'r a ho wiff'er boobies. I really liked'at, she tried it on me a few times, it weren't nuttin but'at ole sex play, I perty was happy.
Anyway, I'mma jus hope I can win ma rasslin match's an keep Kim on tha un-jel'us side of thangs. If'n I cain't I could lose'er wiff'at Cla'ra match.
What's a good ole county boy ta do?
EpyonMarx
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- Nov 16, 2003
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- Website
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Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
[FADE IN to “The Dragon” and Otaku looking out from the western tower of a Medieval castle somewhere in England. Otaku is dressed casually, meaning full cosplay. “The Dragon” is in jeans and his full length green leather coat, with a scarf protecting his neck from the crisp, chill air]
Karl: Time’s a wonderful thing. It twists and distorts, rewriting history until it fits the world the person speaking wants to inhabit.
Otaku: Are you talking about Cameron Cruise (no honorific), First-baka, or Alexander-san?
Karl: The world, generally. Everyone’s guilty of it. People are so wrapped up in their own little worlds that they don’t realise that what they remember isn’t actually reality, but only their perception of it.
I guess you can look at Cameron, for one. I can’t remember him earning much on his own here. I remember him complaining his way into a couple of title matches. I can remember him talking a lot. I remember him going on and on about things that happened eight years ago – before most fans who watch Aggression today tuned in – as if it’s somehow relevant to now. I remember First talking big, lying, walking away and coming back. But then, I’m talking about myself. I’ve hardly been a poster-boy for remembering everything exactly as it happened, or for sticking to the here and now, the only thing that’s actually relevant.
Sorry, castles have this effect on me.
Otaku: I noticed.
Karl: Then you may have also noticed history has a habit of repeating itself.
Otaku: Oh, I’ve definitely noticed! I thought Raptor was talking when I heard Alexander-san talking!
Karl: Or X. Or Cameron Cruise. Or any one of dozens of people I could name. I’m glad you noticed.
Teddy, lose the shouting, angry-man method. It makes it easier to beat you.
Now, don’t take that the wrong way, because I know you will otherwise. You’ve taken pretty much everything the wrong way so far, so let me guide you through the pages of history.
[“The Dragon” reaches out his hand as he steps onto the battlements]
Karl: Take my hand, Teddy, Sam. Let me be your guide. You won’t find a more open, honest guide than I.
Are you ready?
[He takes a step backwards, off the battlements, and seems to plummet through the air as the camera SWITCHES to follow him. He falls through the air, crashing through an invisible window which shatters into millions of black and silver fragments, the light becoming tinged with reds and greens and blues, the air becoming thick and heavy through the screen.
After falling several more seconds, “The Dragon” flickers, disappearing, before reappearing atop a vast stone tower, Otaku nowhere to be seen. On a pillar atop the tower there’s a picture of a young “Dragon”, in a match against Christian Sands]
Karl: Look at this man, Teddy. It’s the person that a lot of people in this business, a lot of the fans, respect. The young gun who gave it his all, each and every match. Never complained when things went against him. Never whined about losing a match. Pointed out the truth, no matter how much it might offend other people.
The one thing about him, Teddy, is he never asked for respect. He never cared. Respect for himself is all that mattered to him.
And he didn’t give respect out freely, either.
[The picture changes, to a match between Brown and JA]
Karl: He was a man who took on all comers, in all matches. A man who’d have opponents named seconds before the opening bell. And do you know who he did it for? The fans? The boss?
No. Just himself. It was he, himself, for himself, who took on JA. He himself for himself who has such an impressive record against the pantheon of World Champions.
[As he speaks the next few lines, his body becomes warped, twisted, his voice distorted and lowered, almost satanic in tone]
Karl: I’m sounding egotistical, talking about him. The people he beat. How easily he beat some of them. How humbled he made them. And he didn’t do it for the fans, he never actually cared if the fans cheered or respected him. He didn’t care if his opponents respected him afterwards. He didn’t care if he put the FEAR OF GOD IN HIS OPPONENTS BEFORE THE OPENING BELL!
[He’s fully twisted, fangs sticking out from his jaw, his whole body contorted, covered in hair, bestial]
Karl: HE DIDN’T GIVE A DAMN IF ANYONE LIKED HIM, HE DID IT ALL FOR HIMSELF!! HE DIDN’T FACE OTHER PEOPLE, HE FACED HIMSELF!!
[With a roar of thunder in the distance and a flash of brilliant light, the scene changes to a totally white background, “The Dragon” standing in his ring gear, his leather coat on, no vestige of the animal we saw moments ago]
Karl: He hasn’t changed, Teddy.
I don’t disrespect you, but I don’t respect you either, for the same reason you shouldn’t respect me. You’ve given me no reason to respect you. You beat Larry and Shane, congratulations. Does that merit respect?
No.
Does my record against world champions merit respect?
Let’s a take a look before I emphasise, no.
Christian Sands, the lights went down when I had his shoulders pinned.
Beast, I pinned.
Lindsay Troy, shoulders down at the time limit draw.
Joey Melton, I’ve beaten.
Sean Stevens, was so unsure he could pin me in the moment he used the ropes for additional leverage.
Rocko Daymon, I’ve beaten.
JA, I’ve pinned.
The First, I’ve beaten.
Anarky – I can’t claim anything.
Cameron Cruise, I’ve pinned.
And I’ve never had a one on one match for the World Title.
You shouldn’t respect me for any of that, Teddy. Nor the almost two years as Intercontinental Champion, or the TV title reign, or the tag team championship reigns. Or anything else I’ve done before.
Because none of it has any relationship, in any way shape or form, to you. The same way as nothing you’ve done has any relation to me. You and I haven’t even spoken backstage yet, so neither of us has done anything to earn the true respect from the other.
I don’t count the polite “Oh, well done, very impressive career” respect that periodically does the rounds before someone, usually Cameron or Sean, belittles all previous accomplishments. All that matters is there here and now, this single moment.
[“The Dragon” takes two steps forward and three to the right, showing Otaku standing where Brown previously was. The anime fan is dressed like the lead character in “Catherine” the video game]
Karl: You said one thing that’s right, Teddy. My “legacy”, my “championships” – should mean nothing to you. If anything they would be a distraction to you.
Otaku: Neither Dragon-domo or I think of ourselves as tag team champions when the bell rings. You saw that when Dragon-domo pulled me back into the match against the Wolves of the Sea. I wanted to win the match to win the match, and Dragon-domo reminded me that it would have left him on his own against two people. What mattered to me was winning the match and we did that.
I could have climbed the tower and reached the Goal at the top but we found another way to it.
Dragon-domo’s taught me a lot. And when the bell sounds I’m no longer one of the tag team champions.
Karl: That’s right. From the first bell until the last, the titles are in a state of flux, especially in a match like this. Yes, there are rules that Dan’s added – we can’t “lose” the titles except by pinfall or submission in this tournament. We can’t “lose” the titles by disqualification or count out usually. But that doesn’t mean we’re the champions during the match – three seconds or an Irish whip into Marxism and it’s over.
Otaku: Huh?
Karl: Sorry, Jonathan Marx flashback.
Otaku: Oh, yeah, shortest match I’ve seen here.
Karl: Now, before we talk about that – back to respect.
I said there’s a reason you should respect us, Teddy, and it’s not the reason you think. It’s a very simple reason, actually, and you gave me a demonstration of it.
You got angry with me, didn’t you?
That’s why you should respect us. Because if you have a certain level of respect, people like you, that is, then you’ll make fewer mistakes and be harder to beat.
I don’t lose my cool. I see the big picture. I see things that others miss. It’s something very few people have naturally, but it’s something you can learn.
I don’t need to respect you to be able to do that. Hell, I’ve wrestled long enough to know that one lapse, one flash of anger clouding my judgement, and the match is over.
[A flash of flame bursts from the ground, shattering the brilliant white scene, causing it to crumble into a desolate desert apocalyptic wasteland]
Otaku: I know it sounds like an awful Star Wars thing to say, but get angry, you lose. And go in there with thoughts of destruction, you lose.
Dragon-domo’s right to not fear you because hey, there’s nothing you can do that someone else hasn’t done. It’s not like you can use a succubus to invade our nightmares and turn us into sheep who have to climb a tower or die.
And he doesn’t need to respect you because he knows you’re nothing to fear, and because he knows he can keep his mind clear enough. He’s taught me to do that, too.
Karl: Fear. That’s an interesting thing to bring up again. Teddy hasn’t yet told me what I need to fear. Him?
Please. I heard the same meat-bag, the same “EMTs drag your caved skulls” bit, so many times it lost all meaning.
If you’re going into this match to do anything other than win, you’ve lost. If you’re going into the ring to hurt us, injure us, you’ve lost. The point of professional wrestling is to challenge yourself, to face opponents. The aim of a match is to win. Going back to Jonathan Marx, or a match I had a few years ago against, I think it was Derek Stolz – you win as quickly as you can. If you take your time to try and win a certain way or to injure an opponent… well, you leave the window open to a defeat. I’ve won more than enough matches because opponents wanted to hurt me. Destroy me.
They’ve all failed, Teddy.
Or go one further. You want to destroy me?
I’ll be back the next Aggression, in the ring, wrestling again, no matter what you do to me unless Dan decides to give me the night off. It really doesn’t frighten me to hear someone go on about how much of a beast they are, how much they want to hurt me, how they want to destroy Empire Pro’s history or whatever bull(FCC) you want to come up with.
[Otaku is shocked by Brown’s swearing, but quickly regains his composure]
Karl: You can claim to be the biggest, the best, the sickest, and you’ll be saying nothing I haven’t heard in the 9 years since I started wrestling professionally, the 12 years since I first got into this business, or since I first went to school. You’re a common or garden bully, saying the same things, and when you’ve experienced all I have in my life, in my career, there’s nothing left to fear.
Sorry if that upsets you.
Otaku: And Alexander-san, you said something that I kinda thought about, and well, you seem to think you have the only say in this match and you’re wrong. It’s not up to you and Sam if we walk out of the cage. We only need to have one chance and we’ve won the match regardless of what you say, regardless of what Alexander-san or Turner-san want. Right?
Karl: Precisely.
[The scene FADES into a wooden cabin]
Otaku: See, you seem to think that we’re not gonna put up a fight. We are. We give it everything we have every match. That’s what makes us us and you not us. We know we’re in for a fight but like Dragon-domo’s said we’re used to fighting, we’ve fought before will fight again and will always give it our best. Dragon-domo and me, we’ve watched you two both and you’re talented but we can tell what we’re up against and we’ve fought stronger, bigger, quicker, less comedic.
Karl: In short, Teddy, the only way out – isn’t through you. It isn’t even the only way out. Isolate you from Sam, one of you can be pinned. Or made to submit. That’s 4 ways out. Then there’s escaping the cage by going over the top – or leaving the door.
Otaku: Or the cage breaking.
Karl: That’s 7 ways out. And we only need the one.
Be as big a beast as you want, Teddy. I’ve beaten beasts before. I’ve beaten bigger. Better, Stronger. I’ve lost before, I’ll lose again – and I’ll always get up, dust myself off, and go again.
Tomorrow, Teddy, is always just over the horizon.
[Brown opens the door to the cabin and we see we’re in a forest clearing, the sun filtering through the trees in a beautiful sunrise]
Otaku: Which leaves Sam, I guess.
Karl: To be honest I’m not worried about him. He’s big. He’ll prove a stronger fight than Teddy. But – Sam, I don’t see it being your night. You’ve got a partner who’s already leading you down the wrong path, and when that happens in tag team wrestling, the whole falls apart.
I look forward to seeing what you do when you’re split from him. Because with that weak link as your partner?
Otaku and I will be leaving as champions.
[FADE…]
Voice: Next time on Animezing Dragon…
Otaku: Hey Dragonites! Otaku here! Next time, Dragon-domo and I go on a perilous quest to save the village from a vicious beast! Along the way we meet a kind hunter, but has he got a dark secret? And what about the beast? Is that a costume?
Next time, things ain’t all they appear! Episode 52!
See you then!
[END]
[FADE IN to “The Dragon” and Otaku looking out from the western tower of a Medieval castle somewhere in England. Otaku is dressed casually, meaning full cosplay. “The Dragon” is in jeans and his full length green leather coat, with a scarf protecting his neck from the crisp, chill air]
Karl: Time’s a wonderful thing. It twists and distorts, rewriting history until it fits the world the person speaking wants to inhabit.
Otaku: Are you talking about Cameron Cruise (no honorific), First-baka, or Alexander-san?
Karl: The world, generally. Everyone’s guilty of it. People are so wrapped up in their own little worlds that they don’t realise that what they remember isn’t actually reality, but only their perception of it.
I guess you can look at Cameron, for one. I can’t remember him earning much on his own here. I remember him complaining his way into a couple of title matches. I can remember him talking a lot. I remember him going on and on about things that happened eight years ago – before most fans who watch Aggression today tuned in – as if it’s somehow relevant to now. I remember First talking big, lying, walking away and coming back. But then, I’m talking about myself. I’ve hardly been a poster-boy for remembering everything exactly as it happened, or for sticking to the here and now, the only thing that’s actually relevant.
Sorry, castles have this effect on me.
Otaku: I noticed.
Karl: Then you may have also noticed history has a habit of repeating itself.
Otaku: Oh, I’ve definitely noticed! I thought Raptor was talking when I heard Alexander-san talking!
Karl: Or X. Or Cameron Cruise. Or any one of dozens of people I could name. I’m glad you noticed.
Teddy, lose the shouting, angry-man method. It makes it easier to beat you.
Now, don’t take that the wrong way, because I know you will otherwise. You’ve taken pretty much everything the wrong way so far, so let me guide you through the pages of history.
[“The Dragon” reaches out his hand as he steps onto the battlements]
Karl: Take my hand, Teddy, Sam. Let me be your guide. You won’t find a more open, honest guide than I.
Are you ready?
[He takes a step backwards, off the battlements, and seems to plummet through the air as the camera SWITCHES to follow him. He falls through the air, crashing through an invisible window which shatters into millions of black and silver fragments, the light becoming tinged with reds and greens and blues, the air becoming thick and heavy through the screen.
After falling several more seconds, “The Dragon” flickers, disappearing, before reappearing atop a vast stone tower, Otaku nowhere to be seen. On a pillar atop the tower there’s a picture of a young “Dragon”, in a match against Christian Sands]
Karl: Look at this man, Teddy. It’s the person that a lot of people in this business, a lot of the fans, respect. The young gun who gave it his all, each and every match. Never complained when things went against him. Never whined about losing a match. Pointed out the truth, no matter how much it might offend other people.
The one thing about him, Teddy, is he never asked for respect. He never cared. Respect for himself is all that mattered to him.
And he didn’t give respect out freely, either.
[The picture changes, to a match between Brown and JA]
Karl: He was a man who took on all comers, in all matches. A man who’d have opponents named seconds before the opening bell. And do you know who he did it for? The fans? The boss?
No. Just himself. It was he, himself, for himself, who took on JA. He himself for himself who has such an impressive record against the pantheon of World Champions.
[As he speaks the next few lines, his body becomes warped, twisted, his voice distorted and lowered, almost satanic in tone]
Karl: I’m sounding egotistical, talking about him. The people he beat. How easily he beat some of them. How humbled he made them. And he didn’t do it for the fans, he never actually cared if the fans cheered or respected him. He didn’t care if his opponents respected him afterwards. He didn’t care if he put the FEAR OF GOD IN HIS OPPONENTS BEFORE THE OPENING BELL!
[He’s fully twisted, fangs sticking out from his jaw, his whole body contorted, covered in hair, bestial]
Karl: HE DIDN’T GIVE A DAMN IF ANYONE LIKED HIM, HE DID IT ALL FOR HIMSELF!! HE DIDN’T FACE OTHER PEOPLE, HE FACED HIMSELF!!
[With a roar of thunder in the distance and a flash of brilliant light, the scene changes to a totally white background, “The Dragon” standing in his ring gear, his leather coat on, no vestige of the animal we saw moments ago]
Karl: He hasn’t changed, Teddy.
I don’t disrespect you, but I don’t respect you either, for the same reason you shouldn’t respect me. You’ve given me no reason to respect you. You beat Larry and Shane, congratulations. Does that merit respect?
No.
Does my record against world champions merit respect?
Let’s a take a look before I emphasise, no.
Christian Sands, the lights went down when I had his shoulders pinned.
Beast, I pinned.
Lindsay Troy, shoulders down at the time limit draw.
Joey Melton, I’ve beaten.
Sean Stevens, was so unsure he could pin me in the moment he used the ropes for additional leverage.
Rocko Daymon, I’ve beaten.
JA, I’ve pinned.
The First, I’ve beaten.
Anarky – I can’t claim anything.
Cameron Cruise, I’ve pinned.
And I’ve never had a one on one match for the World Title.
You shouldn’t respect me for any of that, Teddy. Nor the almost two years as Intercontinental Champion, or the TV title reign, or the tag team championship reigns. Or anything else I’ve done before.
Because none of it has any relationship, in any way shape or form, to you. The same way as nothing you’ve done has any relation to me. You and I haven’t even spoken backstage yet, so neither of us has done anything to earn the true respect from the other.
I don’t count the polite “Oh, well done, very impressive career” respect that periodically does the rounds before someone, usually Cameron or Sean, belittles all previous accomplishments. All that matters is there here and now, this single moment.
[“The Dragon” takes two steps forward and three to the right, showing Otaku standing where Brown previously was. The anime fan is dressed like the lead character in “Catherine” the video game]
Karl: You said one thing that’s right, Teddy. My “legacy”, my “championships” – should mean nothing to you. If anything they would be a distraction to you.
Otaku: Neither Dragon-domo or I think of ourselves as tag team champions when the bell rings. You saw that when Dragon-domo pulled me back into the match against the Wolves of the Sea. I wanted to win the match to win the match, and Dragon-domo reminded me that it would have left him on his own against two people. What mattered to me was winning the match and we did that.
I could have climbed the tower and reached the Goal at the top but we found another way to it.
Dragon-domo’s taught me a lot. And when the bell sounds I’m no longer one of the tag team champions.
Karl: That’s right. From the first bell until the last, the titles are in a state of flux, especially in a match like this. Yes, there are rules that Dan’s added – we can’t “lose” the titles except by pinfall or submission in this tournament. We can’t “lose” the titles by disqualification or count out usually. But that doesn’t mean we’re the champions during the match – three seconds or an Irish whip into Marxism and it’s over.
Otaku: Huh?
Karl: Sorry, Jonathan Marx flashback.
Otaku: Oh, yeah, shortest match I’ve seen here.
Karl: Now, before we talk about that – back to respect.
I said there’s a reason you should respect us, Teddy, and it’s not the reason you think. It’s a very simple reason, actually, and you gave me a demonstration of it.
You got angry with me, didn’t you?
That’s why you should respect us. Because if you have a certain level of respect, people like you, that is, then you’ll make fewer mistakes and be harder to beat.
I don’t lose my cool. I see the big picture. I see things that others miss. It’s something very few people have naturally, but it’s something you can learn.
I don’t need to respect you to be able to do that. Hell, I’ve wrestled long enough to know that one lapse, one flash of anger clouding my judgement, and the match is over.
[A flash of flame bursts from the ground, shattering the brilliant white scene, causing it to crumble into a desolate desert apocalyptic wasteland]
Otaku: I know it sounds like an awful Star Wars thing to say, but get angry, you lose. And go in there with thoughts of destruction, you lose.
Dragon-domo’s right to not fear you because hey, there’s nothing you can do that someone else hasn’t done. It’s not like you can use a succubus to invade our nightmares and turn us into sheep who have to climb a tower or die.
And he doesn’t need to respect you because he knows you’re nothing to fear, and because he knows he can keep his mind clear enough. He’s taught me to do that, too.
Karl: Fear. That’s an interesting thing to bring up again. Teddy hasn’t yet told me what I need to fear. Him?
Please. I heard the same meat-bag, the same “EMTs drag your caved skulls” bit, so many times it lost all meaning.
If you’re going into this match to do anything other than win, you’ve lost. If you’re going into the ring to hurt us, injure us, you’ve lost. The point of professional wrestling is to challenge yourself, to face opponents. The aim of a match is to win. Going back to Jonathan Marx, or a match I had a few years ago against, I think it was Derek Stolz – you win as quickly as you can. If you take your time to try and win a certain way or to injure an opponent… well, you leave the window open to a defeat. I’ve won more than enough matches because opponents wanted to hurt me. Destroy me.
They’ve all failed, Teddy.
Or go one further. You want to destroy me?
I’ll be back the next Aggression, in the ring, wrestling again, no matter what you do to me unless Dan decides to give me the night off. It really doesn’t frighten me to hear someone go on about how much of a beast they are, how much they want to hurt me, how they want to destroy Empire Pro’s history or whatever bull(FCC) you want to come up with.
[Otaku is shocked by Brown’s swearing, but quickly regains his composure]
Karl: You can claim to be the biggest, the best, the sickest, and you’ll be saying nothing I haven’t heard in the 9 years since I started wrestling professionally, the 12 years since I first got into this business, or since I first went to school. You’re a common or garden bully, saying the same things, and when you’ve experienced all I have in my life, in my career, there’s nothing left to fear.
Sorry if that upsets you.
Otaku: And Alexander-san, you said something that I kinda thought about, and well, you seem to think you have the only say in this match and you’re wrong. It’s not up to you and Sam if we walk out of the cage. We only need to have one chance and we’ve won the match regardless of what you say, regardless of what Alexander-san or Turner-san want. Right?
Karl: Precisely.
[The scene FADES into a wooden cabin]
Otaku: See, you seem to think that we’re not gonna put up a fight. We are. We give it everything we have every match. That’s what makes us us and you not us. We know we’re in for a fight but like Dragon-domo’s said we’re used to fighting, we’ve fought before will fight again and will always give it our best. Dragon-domo and me, we’ve watched you two both and you’re talented but we can tell what we’re up against and we’ve fought stronger, bigger, quicker, less comedic.
Karl: In short, Teddy, the only way out – isn’t through you. It isn’t even the only way out. Isolate you from Sam, one of you can be pinned. Or made to submit. That’s 4 ways out. Then there’s escaping the cage by going over the top – or leaving the door.
Otaku: Or the cage breaking.
Karl: That’s 7 ways out. And we only need the one.
Be as big a beast as you want, Teddy. I’ve beaten beasts before. I’ve beaten bigger. Better, Stronger. I’ve lost before, I’ll lose again – and I’ll always get up, dust myself off, and go again.
Tomorrow, Teddy, is always just over the horizon.
[Brown opens the door to the cabin and we see we’re in a forest clearing, the sun filtering through the trees in a beautiful sunrise]
Otaku: Which leaves Sam, I guess.
Karl: To be honest I’m not worried about him. He’s big. He’ll prove a stronger fight than Teddy. But – Sam, I don’t see it being your night. You’ve got a partner who’s already leading you down the wrong path, and when that happens in tag team wrestling, the whole falls apart.
I look forward to seeing what you do when you’re split from him. Because with that weak link as your partner?
Otaku and I will be leaving as champions.
[FADE…]
Voice: Next time on Animezing Dragon…
Otaku: Hey Dragonites! Otaku here! Next time, Dragon-domo and I go on a perilous quest to save the village from a vicious beast! Along the way we meet a kind hunter, but has he got a dark secret? And what about the beast? Is that a costume?
Next time, things ain’t all they appear! Episode 52!
See you then!
[END]
Chris King
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- Apr 17, 2012
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Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
[*FADE IN: *on *Teddy Alexander*sitting in the back of a cab, staring out the windows as the countryside passes by. Camera crew is sitting beside him in the backseat as Teddy turns to speak with the camera.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“I didn’t think you could catch a Greyhound to the middle of nowhere but turns out they service most of this country.”
[Snickers.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“I’m headin’ out to Sam Turner Junior’s parents’ farm. He doesn’t know I’m comin’. Luckily for him, I can find enough information about him I wanna find out. Unlike dat idiot Oblivion, people actually HEARD of Sammy Turner Junior.
“And by da time we’re done in Atlanta... Animezin’ Dragons would’ve heard of him, too.”
[Turns and stares out the window before poking his head into the front to talk to his cabby.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“You sure you know where you’re headed?”
CABBY:
“Feller... almost e’erybody round these parts knows them Turners. Jus’ sit yerself down an’ be a li’l patient like. We’ll get there in plenty’f time, y’hear?”
[Falling back in his chair.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“I hear fine.”
[The car rolls on in silence as the countryside continues to whizz by. The camera pans to the front of the vehicle and a farm can be seen coming up on the horizon.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Dis it?”
CABBY:
“Sure is, man.”
[Teddy watches the house coming closer as the cab makes its way toward the farmhouse. A body emerges from the house, ready to greet the vehicle as it rolls to the house. The cabby rolling his window down to greet the large man: *Sam Turner Jr.*]
CABBY:
“Hey, Sammy. Got me a right fat fare here. Come out here all the way out from the guts’f town. I knock off ‘til tomorra mornin’ and come back an’ git him before the Greyhound rolls back in. Unless you wanna take yer friends back inta town?”
[Sam tries to look past the cabby into the back as the backdoor opens. Teddy steps out and smiles at Sam, almost sadistically. Like a man checking in on his investment understanding the surprise in their eyes.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Hey there, Sammy. Thought we better catch up. Y’know... get on the same page.”
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Page, whatcha mean tha same page? I ain't been readin nary books lately."
[Teddy rolls his eyes and wonders id Sam really is that dumb.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Man, I'm talkin’ ‘bout the 'rasslin page' as you'd say. We've gotta beat the Animezing Dragons and take them Empire World Tag Team Titles."
[Sam was dumbfounded.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Uh, rasslin ain't script'd is it?"
[Silence.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Yeah, well...so whaddaya do ‘round this [motions his hand around Sam's land] farmland?"
[Sam just looks at Teddy like he just fell off the turnip truck.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Welp, uh, we farm."
[Silence again as Teddy tries not to bust out his somewhat brash and harsh words.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Yeah. I figured that. I just wondered what you all did exactly."
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Welp we raise..."
[The front door opens and Sam Turner Sr. comes out of the house holding his shotgun in his right hand and his package of King B Sweet Twist tobacco in the left.]
SAM TURNER SR.:
"Junior, who is it?"
[Sam turned towards Big Sam.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"It's Teddy Al'xander, he's ma tag team partner in'at EPW King of tha Cage."
SAM TURNER SR.:
"Well good. Tell'em ta change an we'll work on tha field posts ta make sure they stay strong this winter."
[Teddy looked to the left and to the right noticing all the land and the many rows of fences that may need to be fixed.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Uh yeah, I guess I could give you a hand."
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Ok'en, foller me an I'll show ya where ya can change up."
[Teddy follows Sam Jr. into the barn and shows him his summertime bedroom so he can change.]
~
[After Teddy finishes changing he meets the Sam's at the barn door unknowing whether he'll like what he's gotten himself into or not.]
SAM TURNER SR.:
"Well Teddy do ya know anythang about farmin er buildin er construction?"
[Teddy just stares at him.]
"Well, I'll letcha dig then, that's tha easiest part."
[Sam Jr. nods his head yes as he tried to convince Teddy that he has the easiest job on the farm.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"If ya say so."
[The three left out around 1pm and returned back to the house around 6pm just as the sun was setting. Teddy was sweat soaked and looked tired and worn out while the two Sam's followed with grins on their faces.]
SAM TURNER SR.:
"I told ya Teddy, ya had tha easiest job out'ere today. [He laughs.] Ya gonna be here tamaree er ya headin back home?"
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"I'm not exactly sure yet."
SAM TURNER SR.:
"Well if'n ta here come on back an I'll putcha ta work again." [With a huge grin on his face.]
[Sam Sr. goes inside to get washed up leaving Sam and Teddy sitting on the front porch.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Sammy... I got no problem with you as a wrestler. I think you can handle yourself just fine. You proved dat when we took on Tact and Shane. But we NEED to be working as a team, Sammy. We need to be on da level.
“Are you picking up what I’m putting down? Does this make sense to you?
“To win da King of da Cage, ‘specially against da likes of da Animezin’ Dragons, we need to be cohesive. We need to function as one. We need to build on our team skills to do dat. Do you follow?”
[Sammy smiles at Teddy.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Okay... if there’s some sort’f joke goin’ on here, Sammy, da time to speak up is now.”
SAM TURNER JR.:
“Teddy, whatcha thank all’is is we’s doin’?”
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“We’ll we’ve been workin’ together on your farm, Sam. You’re not gettin’ it.”
SAM TURNER JR.:
“I’m total'y gettin it, Teddy. We’s workin together.”
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Right. So we dug out some posts and put in some new ones, Sammy. I’ve been bustin’ my ass workin’ right alongside’f you ALL - DAY - LONG. I came out here so we could bond and get on the same page, Sam.
“Diggin’ holes wasn’t what I come for. I came here so you now I got your back and you got mine. Does that make ANY sense to you?”
[Sammy smiled at Teddy again, whose frustration levels were growing with every word.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
“But we's bondin, Teddy. We's been workin as a team all day long.”
[The door swung open and out strolled Susan, Sam’s mother, with a tray of lemonade and two glasses with ice already in them.]
SUSAN TURNER:
“There’s ma hard workin little team. Y’all gonna stay tha night, Teddy? It’s no trouble ta make ya up a bed. Oh... are you stickin around ta help out tomorrow?”
[A grin began to spread across Teddy’s face as he sat back in his chair. He looked out over the farmland and then back across to his tag team partner.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Yes, ma’am. If you’ll have me. I plan on stayin’ ‘til we head off to win those Empire belts.”
[He claps a hand on Sammy’s shoulder.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“After all.... we ARE a team.”
[FADE to BLACK!]
[*FADE IN: *on *Teddy Alexander*sitting in the back of a cab, staring out the windows as the countryside passes by. Camera crew is sitting beside him in the backseat as Teddy turns to speak with the camera.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“I didn’t think you could catch a Greyhound to the middle of nowhere but turns out they service most of this country.”
[Snickers.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“I’m headin’ out to Sam Turner Junior’s parents’ farm. He doesn’t know I’m comin’. Luckily for him, I can find enough information about him I wanna find out. Unlike dat idiot Oblivion, people actually HEARD of Sammy Turner Junior.
“And by da time we’re done in Atlanta... Animezin’ Dragons would’ve heard of him, too.”
[Turns and stares out the window before poking his head into the front to talk to his cabby.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“You sure you know where you’re headed?”
CABBY:
“Feller... almost e’erybody round these parts knows them Turners. Jus’ sit yerself down an’ be a li’l patient like. We’ll get there in plenty’f time, y’hear?”
[Falling back in his chair.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“I hear fine.”
[The car rolls on in silence as the countryside continues to whizz by. The camera pans to the front of the vehicle and a farm can be seen coming up on the horizon.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Dis it?”
CABBY:
“Sure is, man.”
[Teddy watches the house coming closer as the cab makes its way toward the farmhouse. A body emerges from the house, ready to greet the vehicle as it rolls to the house. The cabby rolling his window down to greet the large man: *Sam Turner Jr.*]
CABBY:
“Hey, Sammy. Got me a right fat fare here. Come out here all the way out from the guts’f town. I knock off ‘til tomorra mornin’ and come back an’ git him before the Greyhound rolls back in. Unless you wanna take yer friends back inta town?”
[Sam tries to look past the cabby into the back as the backdoor opens. Teddy steps out and smiles at Sam, almost sadistically. Like a man checking in on his investment understanding the surprise in their eyes.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Hey there, Sammy. Thought we better catch up. Y’know... get on the same page.”
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Page, whatcha mean tha same page? I ain't been readin nary books lately."
[Teddy rolls his eyes and wonders id Sam really is that dumb.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Man, I'm talkin’ ‘bout the 'rasslin page' as you'd say. We've gotta beat the Animezing Dragons and take them Empire World Tag Team Titles."
[Sam was dumbfounded.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Uh, rasslin ain't script'd is it?"
[Silence.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Yeah, well...so whaddaya do ‘round this [motions his hand around Sam's land] farmland?"
[Sam just looks at Teddy like he just fell off the turnip truck.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Welp, uh, we farm."
[Silence again as Teddy tries not to bust out his somewhat brash and harsh words.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Yeah. I figured that. I just wondered what you all did exactly."
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Welp we raise..."
[The front door opens and Sam Turner Sr. comes out of the house holding his shotgun in his right hand and his package of King B Sweet Twist tobacco in the left.]
SAM TURNER SR.:
"Junior, who is it?"
[Sam turned towards Big Sam.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"It's Teddy Al'xander, he's ma tag team partner in'at EPW King of tha Cage."
SAM TURNER SR.:
"Well good. Tell'em ta change an we'll work on tha field posts ta make sure they stay strong this winter."
[Teddy looked to the left and to the right noticing all the land and the many rows of fences that may need to be fixed.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Uh yeah, I guess I could give you a hand."
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Ok'en, foller me an I'll show ya where ya can change up."
[Teddy follows Sam Jr. into the barn and shows him his summertime bedroom so he can change.]
~
[After Teddy finishes changing he meets the Sam's at the barn door unknowing whether he'll like what he's gotten himself into or not.]
SAM TURNER SR.:
"Well Teddy do ya know anythang about farmin er buildin er construction?"
[Teddy just stares at him.]
"Well, I'll letcha dig then, that's tha easiest part."
[Sam Jr. nods his head yes as he tried to convince Teddy that he has the easiest job on the farm.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"If ya say so."
[The three left out around 1pm and returned back to the house around 6pm just as the sun was setting. Teddy was sweat soaked and looked tired and worn out while the two Sam's followed with grins on their faces.]
SAM TURNER SR.:
"I told ya Teddy, ya had tha easiest job out'ere today. [He laughs.] Ya gonna be here tamaree er ya headin back home?"
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"I'm not exactly sure yet."
SAM TURNER SR.:
"Well if'n ta here come on back an I'll putcha ta work again." [With a huge grin on his face.]
[Sam Sr. goes inside to get washed up leaving Sam and Teddy sitting on the front porch.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Sammy... I got no problem with you as a wrestler. I think you can handle yourself just fine. You proved dat when we took on Tact and Shane. But we NEED to be working as a team, Sammy. We need to be on da level.
“Are you picking up what I’m putting down? Does this make sense to you?
“To win da King of da Cage, ‘specially against da likes of da Animezin’ Dragons, we need to be cohesive. We need to function as one. We need to build on our team skills to do dat. Do you follow?”
[Sammy smiles at Teddy.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Okay... if there’s some sort’f joke goin’ on here, Sammy, da time to speak up is now.”
SAM TURNER JR.:
“Teddy, whatcha thank all’is is we’s doin’?”
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“We’ll we’ve been workin’ together on your farm, Sam. You’re not gettin’ it.”
SAM TURNER JR.:
“I’m total'y gettin it, Teddy. We’s workin together.”
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Right. So we dug out some posts and put in some new ones, Sammy. I’ve been bustin’ my ass workin’ right alongside’f you ALL - DAY - LONG. I came out here so we could bond and get on the same page, Sam.
“Diggin’ holes wasn’t what I come for. I came here so you now I got your back and you got mine. Does that make ANY sense to you?”
[Sammy smiled at Teddy again, whose frustration levels were growing with every word.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
“But we's bondin, Teddy. We's been workin as a team all day long.”
[The door swung open and out strolled Susan, Sam’s mother, with a tray of lemonade and two glasses with ice already in them.]
SUSAN TURNER:
“There’s ma hard workin little team. Y’all gonna stay tha night, Teddy? It’s no trouble ta make ya up a bed. Oh... are you stickin around ta help out tomorrow?”
[A grin began to spread across Teddy’s face as he sat back in his chair. He looked out over the farmland and then back across to his tag team partner.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“Yes, ma’am. If you’ll have me. I plan on stayin’ ‘til we head off to win those Empire belts.”
[He claps a hand on Sammy’s shoulder.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“After all.... we ARE a team.”
[FADE to BLACK!]
EpyonMarx
New member
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2003
- Messages
- 1,004
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Nottingham, England
- Website
- www.karl-brown.co.uk
Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
[FADE IN to Otaku, perched on the top rope of a wrestling ring set up in a very nice gym that looks vaguely familiar to long-time EPW fans. Around the ring are some sparring mats where a number of trainees are working out, grappling, as Otaku sits perched. He’s dressed as Yuffie Kisaragi from Final Fantasy VII, complete with an oversized shuriken he’s left leaning against the middle turnbuckle]
Otaku: You know, Dragon-domo’s one of the best people I know. I say that a lot. But it’s true. He’s one of the best thinkers in the business and it’s thinkers that go the furthest. I mean, look at all the world champions in Empire Pro history and they all had good minds or could plan something. Except Cameron Cruise (no honorific). And Dragon-domo’s given me a really good piece of advice.
See, after Alexander-san said some of those things, they riled me up and I was ready to go all Limit Break on him, but Dragon-domo reminded me that being angry will just make things harder for me. So, do you know what his big advice was? Something he’s told me he’s done loads of times.
Don’t watch what my opponent says. Stick it on as background noise maybe so I can listen to it. But don’t give it any real attention, because it isn’t worth it and they don’t deserve it. If they say something interesting, go back and watch it, but otherwise I have better things to watch. Like anime. Now, if someone wanted to get my attention, making an anime would be that way.
But they didn’t.
Plus, like Dragon-domo said, if you just listen, you can do something else at the same time. It’s kind of like TV versus radio. He likes radio because he can have it on while he’s driving. He likes listening to podcasts because he can be doing something else at the same time as listening to it. If you’ve gotta watch something you have to give it your attention, actually watch it, and really, in today’s fast paced, 24/7 world with smartphones and apps and internet being streamed directly into our brains unless we enter Autistic mode…
Wait… that’s the wrong costume… you get the point though! There’s so much going on that if you spend time watching everything you never get anything done, so you gotta do what’s important and really think what’s important.
Take this match. This match is important to me, training for it is, but giving Alexander-san a chance to rattle me? Not important. So, sorry, Alexander-san, but I didn’t really pay much attention to what you’ve been saying the past day or two.
It’s given me more time to train. I mean, I can’t always work out with Dragon-domo, he travels a lot with everything he does and he lives in Britain, so I’ve had time to focus on myself. We’ve developed great teamwork but Dragon-domo’s been telling me a while I needed to work on my own skills. We each have our strengths and before this tournament I’d kinda let mine slack a bit. I started to rely on him. I know he has my back, you saw that against the Wolves of the Sea, but I was…
I was starting to think I wasn’t good enough. Because I felt him getting better and better but I couldn’t keep up.
So, I’ve been spending down time, listening to what Alexander-san and Turner-san have been doing, and training hard to build myself back to being the best I can be.
Karl: [from out of shot] Teamwork’s great, but being able to take care of yourself is just as important in tag team wrestling.
[“The Dragon” walks into the shot, rolling under the bottom rope]
Karl: I know you can handle it. Watching the last match back you handled the Wolves brilliantly.
Otaku: Yeah, but I still didn’t feel… you know.
Karl: You’ll get there. We’ve been teaming together a while now. Who knows, maybe you just need a couple of one on one matches. I can let you take care of Teddy and Sam on your own if you want.
Otaku: You think I could?
Karl: It’s possible. I mean, you’d just need to avoid them, climb up the cage and leave, then we’ve won.
Or… and this is preferable… we could beat them as soon as possible, get the belts back, and then you can do a tour of a few towns before we get our next match.
Otaku: That could work!
Karl: What do you think I do with my time? I wrestle tours.
Otaku: I thought
Karl: [interrupting] Yes, I’m naturally talented, but yes, I do have to work at it as well. If you don’t train, you stagnate. If you don’t keep your skills sharp, they dull. That’s why I didn’t just build our teamwork in those early days. I wrestled, just as hard as always. It’s part of making sure I beat the one opponent that matters most to me. My own limits.
Otaku: Oooh…
Karl: Seriously. I’m less worried about Sam and Teddy than I was before. Because I’ve seen how hard you’ve been training. I know how hard I’ve been training, how hard we always train.
And I know that no matter what they do, they won’t have the teamwork we have. They won’t have the speed we possess. Do you think they could suplex Dalkichev? No.
[Otaku lifts his head, his spirits being fed by the corny, deliberately confidence-boosting tone of the ring veteran]
Karl: Could they come back from a fireball to the face to recapture the tag team titles? Could they be ready to change their plans if things go wrong, to be fluid like a river and overcome any obstacle?
Sam, maybe. Teddy? He’s a fire burning all in it’s path, but when a fire comes to a body of water, the water wins. It cuts off the supply of fuel or heat, and starves the fire out. That’s what you’re going to do to Teddy, leaving Sam, as good as he looks, in a situation he can’t handle.
Otaku: Aren’t you getting arrogant, Dragon-domo?
Karl: You didn’t like the cheesy lines?
Otaku: Not really.
Karl: Over-inflated egos aren’t really my thing, are they.
Otaku: You could take lessons!
Karl: Thanks, but in the same way I never developed a Nottingham accent despite living there most of my life, I don’t think I’ll develop the overblown ego that thinks I can roll right over people just by being me, that thinks opponents won’t fight back, and that thinks the world owes me something. The past is past, the future is never, all that matters is the now.
And at Aggression, that now means us advancing and defending the titles. Again.
[FADE…]
Otaku: Next time on Animezing Dragon!
Hey folks! Next time, I head up to the highest mountain and stare into the valley! Dragon-domo’s gone on a quest and I have to find something to do. But wait, there’s a fire in the village in the valley! Will I make it in time to save the townsfolk?
Next time, Otaku to the Rescue! See you soon!
[END]
[FADE IN to Otaku, perched on the top rope of a wrestling ring set up in a very nice gym that looks vaguely familiar to long-time EPW fans. Around the ring are some sparring mats where a number of trainees are working out, grappling, as Otaku sits perched. He’s dressed as Yuffie Kisaragi from Final Fantasy VII, complete with an oversized shuriken he’s left leaning against the middle turnbuckle]
Otaku: You know, Dragon-domo’s one of the best people I know. I say that a lot. But it’s true. He’s one of the best thinkers in the business and it’s thinkers that go the furthest. I mean, look at all the world champions in Empire Pro history and they all had good minds or could plan something. Except Cameron Cruise (no honorific). And Dragon-domo’s given me a really good piece of advice.
See, after Alexander-san said some of those things, they riled me up and I was ready to go all Limit Break on him, but Dragon-domo reminded me that being angry will just make things harder for me. So, do you know what his big advice was? Something he’s told me he’s done loads of times.
Don’t watch what my opponent says. Stick it on as background noise maybe so I can listen to it. But don’t give it any real attention, because it isn’t worth it and they don’t deserve it. If they say something interesting, go back and watch it, but otherwise I have better things to watch. Like anime. Now, if someone wanted to get my attention, making an anime would be that way.
But they didn’t.
Plus, like Dragon-domo said, if you just listen, you can do something else at the same time. It’s kind of like TV versus radio. He likes radio because he can have it on while he’s driving. He likes listening to podcasts because he can be doing something else at the same time as listening to it. If you’ve gotta watch something you have to give it your attention, actually watch it, and really, in today’s fast paced, 24/7 world with smartphones and apps and internet being streamed directly into our brains unless we enter Autistic mode…
Wait… that’s the wrong costume… you get the point though! There’s so much going on that if you spend time watching everything you never get anything done, so you gotta do what’s important and really think what’s important.
Take this match. This match is important to me, training for it is, but giving Alexander-san a chance to rattle me? Not important. So, sorry, Alexander-san, but I didn’t really pay much attention to what you’ve been saying the past day or two.
It’s given me more time to train. I mean, I can’t always work out with Dragon-domo, he travels a lot with everything he does and he lives in Britain, so I’ve had time to focus on myself. We’ve developed great teamwork but Dragon-domo’s been telling me a while I needed to work on my own skills. We each have our strengths and before this tournament I’d kinda let mine slack a bit. I started to rely on him. I know he has my back, you saw that against the Wolves of the Sea, but I was…
I was starting to think I wasn’t good enough. Because I felt him getting better and better but I couldn’t keep up.
So, I’ve been spending down time, listening to what Alexander-san and Turner-san have been doing, and training hard to build myself back to being the best I can be.
Karl: [from out of shot] Teamwork’s great, but being able to take care of yourself is just as important in tag team wrestling.
[“The Dragon” walks into the shot, rolling under the bottom rope]
Karl: I know you can handle it. Watching the last match back you handled the Wolves brilliantly.
Otaku: Yeah, but I still didn’t feel… you know.
Karl: You’ll get there. We’ve been teaming together a while now. Who knows, maybe you just need a couple of one on one matches. I can let you take care of Teddy and Sam on your own if you want.
Otaku: You think I could?
Karl: It’s possible. I mean, you’d just need to avoid them, climb up the cage and leave, then we’ve won.
Or… and this is preferable… we could beat them as soon as possible, get the belts back, and then you can do a tour of a few towns before we get our next match.
Otaku: That could work!
Karl: What do you think I do with my time? I wrestle tours.
Otaku: I thought
Karl: [interrupting] Yes, I’m naturally talented, but yes, I do have to work at it as well. If you don’t train, you stagnate. If you don’t keep your skills sharp, they dull. That’s why I didn’t just build our teamwork in those early days. I wrestled, just as hard as always. It’s part of making sure I beat the one opponent that matters most to me. My own limits.
Otaku: Oooh…
Karl: Seriously. I’m less worried about Sam and Teddy than I was before. Because I’ve seen how hard you’ve been training. I know how hard I’ve been training, how hard we always train.
And I know that no matter what they do, they won’t have the teamwork we have. They won’t have the speed we possess. Do you think they could suplex Dalkichev? No.
[Otaku lifts his head, his spirits being fed by the corny, deliberately confidence-boosting tone of the ring veteran]
Karl: Could they come back from a fireball to the face to recapture the tag team titles? Could they be ready to change their plans if things go wrong, to be fluid like a river and overcome any obstacle?
Sam, maybe. Teddy? He’s a fire burning all in it’s path, but when a fire comes to a body of water, the water wins. It cuts off the supply of fuel or heat, and starves the fire out. That’s what you’re going to do to Teddy, leaving Sam, as good as he looks, in a situation he can’t handle.
Otaku: Aren’t you getting arrogant, Dragon-domo?
Karl: You didn’t like the cheesy lines?
Otaku: Not really.
Karl: Over-inflated egos aren’t really my thing, are they.
Otaku: You could take lessons!
Karl: Thanks, but in the same way I never developed a Nottingham accent despite living there most of my life, I don’t think I’ll develop the overblown ego that thinks I can roll right over people just by being me, that thinks opponents won’t fight back, and that thinks the world owes me something. The past is past, the future is never, all that matters is the now.
And at Aggression, that now means us advancing and defending the titles. Again.
[FADE…]
Otaku: Next time on Animezing Dragon!
Hey folks! Next time, I head up to the highest mountain and stare into the valley! Dragon-domo’s gone on a quest and I have to find something to do. But wait, there’s a fire in the village in the valley! Will I make it in time to save the townsfolk?
Next time, Otaku to the Rescue! See you soon!
[END]
EpyonMarx
New member
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- Nov 16, 2003
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- Website
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Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
[FADE IN to “The Dragon” watching the grey waves of the Atlantic Ocean from a non-descript coastline. He’s dressed warm, a dark brown ¾ length leather coat on with a scarf visible, and he’s gone for jeans and walking boots. Nearby, we soon see Otaku dressed in something similarly warm, although why he’s gone for the female anime Santa look only he can answer. He’s crouched down and looks to be talking to a soft toy rabbit as Brown keeps his eyes out to sea]
Karl: The sea doesn’t care that it’s winter. It doesn’t acknowledge the cold, or humanity, or what we do. It just is. Nature always finds a way to put everything in perspective. Remind us how there’s only the current moment. I doubt the oceans care about history, the millions upon millions of species that have come and gone in the blink of a cosmic eye. The waters only care about the moment.
While I try to live in the moment and focus on me, it’s not always easy, especially when fans and journalists want comments on what other people are saying about me.
So, to Anarky, Impulse, Sean, Rezin, I say – focus on your own match. Whether either of your teams are better than Otaku and I will be determined if we face each other. Not based on things that have gone before, or what will come after, but in that moment. Other than that, I’d be more worried about the people across the ring from you on that night, because focusing on Animezing Dragon when other people want to hurt you is just wishing for trouble.
Now, back to the matter at hand. Teddy, and Sam.
I hope they’re ready and they’ve gelled as a team on their bonding expedition. I hope they’ve trained harder and harder each day to get ready for this. Because if either of those things hasn’t happened, this is their last chance, their only opportunity to wrestle for the Empire Pro Wrestling tag team championships.
Confident? Clairvoyant? No. I’m speaking from experience. Do you think if Otaku and I had lost the title match we won from that night-long tournament that we’d’ve stayed together? As nice a person as he is, I know his heart of hearts was set on building a single’s career in the States, and before teaming with him I’d never thought of myself as a tag team wrestler. I left that to others, teaming up occasionally against a common foe or to boost sales right before a Pay Per View with the obligatory “Two sets of matches in one!” contest.
Otaku: I heard that!
[Suddenly, Otaku is next to “The Dragon”, clutching the toy rabbit to his chest]
Karl: It’s true, though.
Otaku: Yeah, but you didn’t have to say it like that! I mean sure I wanted to win the TV title, still do, but come on, we’d still have tagged, right?
Karl: If Dan had booked it.
Voice: [voice over] Are these the first signs of cracks in Animezing Dragon?
Otaku: [in response to the voice over] NO! I guess Dragon-domo’s right. When I came back I wanted to win the TV title! If we’d not been teamed up I’d’ve gone after that.
But Dragon-domo, meanie, isn’t that a what if? What about the moment?
Karl: I was making a different point entirely. Of course it’s silly to go on about what if we’d not won the titles. We did. But it’s interesting that Teddy and Sam are trying all they can to bond as a team, when they’ve likely only got one more match together as partners. I hope I’m wrong because we need more teams, more opposition, but in all honesty given Teddy’s rants about wanting to tear down the history of this company, I doubt Sam and he will be teaming much longer here.
Otaku: Why?
Karl: Because Teddy doesn’t realise that you build a legacy on what’s come before. He can’t build his legacy without the foundation that’s already been built by others. Without those legacies, then his own in Empire Pro would be very, very different. It would be seen differently.
He also fails to realise that a legacy is made up of now. Tens, hundreds, thousands of individual moments go into each legacy. Take mine. It was built on the now that was facing Mike Diamond. The now that was Christian Sands. The now that was the triple threat with Rocko and Troy Douglas, the nows that were Adam Benjamin, JA, Foxx, Lindsay, dozens of others, great and small. The one followed the other, until we get to the person that is me, and the legacy that people say I have.
Otaku: Mine’s not that impressive…
Karl: A legacy is all in the eye of the beholder.
Otaku: Mine’s not that impressive, is it, Mister Bunny?
Karl: I’ll stick to what makes mine impressive. The fact that when things challenged me to go further, to go beyond myself, I’ve done it consistently. Without once saying I was going to carry the company, or that I had to destroy it like Teddy or Anarky or Rezin or anyone else.
Just keeping my head down, getting on with the match, and doing what I do best.
That’s the legacy I have, that I want, and that can never be torn down. Because it’s all that matters to me. So going back to my point about Teddy and his quest for a legacy of his own, this one match won’t make or break it, and if he forgets that each moment builds on the last and can only be shaped in the individual now… well, he’s going to be distracted, disappointed, and beaten. Nobody can choose their legacy, only how they deal with it.
Otaku: How does that translate as Sam and Teddy not teaming when we beat them?
Karl: Because I reckon Sam will have other things he wants to do rather than play second fiddle to Teddy. He’ll want his own legacy. A tag team has to, ultimately, want to go down the same path. Remember when we had our title match?
Otaku: Yeah.
Karl: I made the decision before it that I wanted to make this team a success. I wanted to give it everything I had so we could reach your goal. You wanted the titles, I wanted to challenge myself. I made sure that my mind was focused on achieving what you wanted us to achieve. That meant I was pushing myself further, and we’ve come a long way since. If Teddy wants to build the legacy he’s spoken of, he needs to do it alone.
So, I’m wondering, are they wasting their time, since they won’t beat us?
Otaku: Because we’re going to win for certain?
Karl: Yup. I’m more confident in this match than I’ve been in the other two. This 30 year old “has been” teaming with someone who’s forever growing as a wrestler and a person and who’ll one day leave me in the dust, these two people who have clear minds, are focused on victory and walking away with the titles every single match, who are willing to defend the titles at every opportunity, who hunger for bigger and bigger challenges to push us beyond our limits…
The bigger the challenge, the further we push ourselves, so if Teddy’s thinking that he and Sam are going to be challenges we can’t overcome, he’s in for a very, very rude awakening.
And I don’t mean a neckbreaker.
[Otaku holds out his rabbit, turns it around, and looks straight in its eyes]
Otaku: I guess it is nearly Christmas. Hey, do you think we should get them a present?
Karl: Nah. I wouldn’t know what to get them.
Otaku: I guess.
[FADE… END]
[FADE IN to “The Dragon” watching the grey waves of the Atlantic Ocean from a non-descript coastline. He’s dressed warm, a dark brown ¾ length leather coat on with a scarf visible, and he’s gone for jeans and walking boots. Nearby, we soon see Otaku dressed in something similarly warm, although why he’s gone for the female anime Santa look only he can answer. He’s crouched down and looks to be talking to a soft toy rabbit as Brown keeps his eyes out to sea]
Karl: The sea doesn’t care that it’s winter. It doesn’t acknowledge the cold, or humanity, or what we do. It just is. Nature always finds a way to put everything in perspective. Remind us how there’s only the current moment. I doubt the oceans care about history, the millions upon millions of species that have come and gone in the blink of a cosmic eye. The waters only care about the moment.
While I try to live in the moment and focus on me, it’s not always easy, especially when fans and journalists want comments on what other people are saying about me.
So, to Anarky, Impulse, Sean, Rezin, I say – focus on your own match. Whether either of your teams are better than Otaku and I will be determined if we face each other. Not based on things that have gone before, or what will come after, but in that moment. Other than that, I’d be more worried about the people across the ring from you on that night, because focusing on Animezing Dragon when other people want to hurt you is just wishing for trouble.
Now, back to the matter at hand. Teddy, and Sam.
I hope they’re ready and they’ve gelled as a team on their bonding expedition. I hope they’ve trained harder and harder each day to get ready for this. Because if either of those things hasn’t happened, this is their last chance, their only opportunity to wrestle for the Empire Pro Wrestling tag team championships.
Confident? Clairvoyant? No. I’m speaking from experience. Do you think if Otaku and I had lost the title match we won from that night-long tournament that we’d’ve stayed together? As nice a person as he is, I know his heart of hearts was set on building a single’s career in the States, and before teaming with him I’d never thought of myself as a tag team wrestler. I left that to others, teaming up occasionally against a common foe or to boost sales right before a Pay Per View with the obligatory “Two sets of matches in one!” contest.
Otaku: I heard that!
[Suddenly, Otaku is next to “The Dragon”, clutching the toy rabbit to his chest]
Karl: It’s true, though.
Otaku: Yeah, but you didn’t have to say it like that! I mean sure I wanted to win the TV title, still do, but come on, we’d still have tagged, right?
Karl: If Dan had booked it.
Voice: [voice over] Are these the first signs of cracks in Animezing Dragon?
Otaku: [in response to the voice over] NO! I guess Dragon-domo’s right. When I came back I wanted to win the TV title! If we’d not been teamed up I’d’ve gone after that.
But Dragon-domo, meanie, isn’t that a what if? What about the moment?
Karl: I was making a different point entirely. Of course it’s silly to go on about what if we’d not won the titles. We did. But it’s interesting that Teddy and Sam are trying all they can to bond as a team, when they’ve likely only got one more match together as partners. I hope I’m wrong because we need more teams, more opposition, but in all honesty given Teddy’s rants about wanting to tear down the history of this company, I doubt Sam and he will be teaming much longer here.
Otaku: Why?
Karl: Because Teddy doesn’t realise that you build a legacy on what’s come before. He can’t build his legacy without the foundation that’s already been built by others. Without those legacies, then his own in Empire Pro would be very, very different. It would be seen differently.
He also fails to realise that a legacy is made up of now. Tens, hundreds, thousands of individual moments go into each legacy. Take mine. It was built on the now that was facing Mike Diamond. The now that was Christian Sands. The now that was the triple threat with Rocko and Troy Douglas, the nows that were Adam Benjamin, JA, Foxx, Lindsay, dozens of others, great and small. The one followed the other, until we get to the person that is me, and the legacy that people say I have.
Otaku: Mine’s not that impressive…
Karl: A legacy is all in the eye of the beholder.
Otaku: Mine’s not that impressive, is it, Mister Bunny?
Karl: I’ll stick to what makes mine impressive. The fact that when things challenged me to go further, to go beyond myself, I’ve done it consistently. Without once saying I was going to carry the company, or that I had to destroy it like Teddy or Anarky or Rezin or anyone else.
Just keeping my head down, getting on with the match, and doing what I do best.
That’s the legacy I have, that I want, and that can never be torn down. Because it’s all that matters to me. So going back to my point about Teddy and his quest for a legacy of his own, this one match won’t make or break it, and if he forgets that each moment builds on the last and can only be shaped in the individual now… well, he’s going to be distracted, disappointed, and beaten. Nobody can choose their legacy, only how they deal with it.
Otaku: How does that translate as Sam and Teddy not teaming when we beat them?
Karl: Because I reckon Sam will have other things he wants to do rather than play second fiddle to Teddy. He’ll want his own legacy. A tag team has to, ultimately, want to go down the same path. Remember when we had our title match?
Otaku: Yeah.
Karl: I made the decision before it that I wanted to make this team a success. I wanted to give it everything I had so we could reach your goal. You wanted the titles, I wanted to challenge myself. I made sure that my mind was focused on achieving what you wanted us to achieve. That meant I was pushing myself further, and we’ve come a long way since. If Teddy wants to build the legacy he’s spoken of, he needs to do it alone.
So, I’m wondering, are they wasting their time, since they won’t beat us?
Otaku: Because we’re going to win for certain?
Karl: Yup. I’m more confident in this match than I’ve been in the other two. This 30 year old “has been” teaming with someone who’s forever growing as a wrestler and a person and who’ll one day leave me in the dust, these two people who have clear minds, are focused on victory and walking away with the titles every single match, who are willing to defend the titles at every opportunity, who hunger for bigger and bigger challenges to push us beyond our limits…
The bigger the challenge, the further we push ourselves, so if Teddy’s thinking that he and Sam are going to be challenges we can’t overcome, he’s in for a very, very rude awakening.
And I don’t mean a neckbreaker.
[Otaku holds out his rabbit, turns it around, and looks straight in its eyes]
Otaku: I guess it is nearly Christmas. Hey, do you think we should get them a present?
Karl: Nah. I wouldn’t know what to get them.
Otaku: I guess.
[FADE… END]
fugginVOSS
The REAL Funk U. T-shirt
Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
****The following is a Chris King & VossMan presentation****
[FADE IN: on a pair of likely candidates standing before an open barn. The doors are wide open and sitting centrally within the building is a John Deere tractor. The duo? Empire Pro’s dark horse slap together tag team, SAM TURNER JUNIOR and TEDDY ALEXANDER. SAM leans against the barn, leg up resting against the building stabilising himself. TEDDY is standing a few feet before him, ready to address the camera.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“These last few days I’ve been workin’ alongside my partner here, Sammy Turner Junior, gettin’ to understand what makes my main man tick."
“See, contrary to da popular belief of da Imaginazin’ Dragons, I DO understand dat to operate as a team you need to work together. They clearly overestimate their intelligence since tag team wrestlin’ ain’t no difficult concept to grasp."
“Me and him get inside dat cage and kick your ass. And to do dat we gotta work together."
“Simple. It ain’t rocket surgery. I GET that.”
[Snicker.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“It’s what I’ve been sayin’ since day ONE of this tournament, Karl. That me and Sammy need ta be on the same page to do anythin’ big in this tournament, let alone take the titles away."
“Yeah, you can hear me but you ain’t LISTENIN’."
“Oh, by da way... thanks for explainin’ me ALL da rules of how we can advance through dis tournament. Dat was really helpful."
“Regardless, you still gotta go through me. You still gotta go through Sammy. You still gotta get through us both."
“Single me out? Isolate me? Bring it, Karl. I welcome it. I YEARN for it, Karl."
“I ain’t scared of no dragons. Shit ain’t even real. It’s mythological. Like you will be once I’m done removin’ ya heads from ya spines non-surgically."
“I’m not called da Spinal Smash Monger coz I dish out cuddles and talk about cartoons, Otaku. Go ask Larry Tact. Go ask Eddie Burns. I’m legit fucking beast mode.”
[Shrugs.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“It’s funny how you’re not worried about me. About us. Me and Sam. It’s funny how you keep sayin’ we don’t bother you and dat you think dis is gonna be a walk in the park. Dat amuses me."
“It’s funny how you keep comin’ back to tell us you’re not afraid. It’s almost like..."
“It’s almost like you just need to keep tellin’ YOURSELVES dat.”
[Snicker.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“So KEEP tellin’ yaselves dat. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
“You’re right, Otaku. I am a fire. I’m a wildfire. I will keep burnin’ everythin’ in my path ‘til it’s nothin’ but smolderin’ ashes."
“Listenin’ to your little analogy, I guess you two are s’posed t’be dat body of water, right? Dat you think all my ferocity will fizzle out when I come to meet you? What’re you s’posed to be? A fuckin’ ocean? Da God damn Atlantic?"
“See, if you knew anythin’ at all ‘bout wildfires, Otaku, you’d know dat not just any ol’ body of water don’t stop it. Needs to be a pretty big body of water to kill da flame. And you ain’t no big body of water. You sure as shit ain’t no God damn ocean."
“You’re barely a TEAR DROP in da ocean."
“A tear drop dat’ll sizzle away into nothin’ness in da wake of da wildfire dat IS Sam Turner Junior and Teddy Alexander.”
[Shrugs.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“You think me bein’ angry will undo me? I’ve been angry my whole damn life. And it hasn’t stopped me before."
“Just like it won’t stop me against either of you."
“Clear headed? Focused? My anger just distills my focus. DRIVES my focus. And my focus is entirely on snatchin’ those Empire Tag belts from your ignorant clutches."
[SAM grins widly and starts to chuckle at TEDDY's huge rant and rave. SAM looks at TEDDY who's confused to why SAM is laughing.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"What's your deal, man?"
[Still laughing.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"That'ere fellar thanks he's water. He's kindly right but he ain't made up of enough water ta do anythin ta ya. If'n you's fire an he's water tha fire will evap'rate him. See funny ain't it."
[TEDDY looks at SAM with a serious yet confused look then cracks a smile himself.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"You really ain't as dumb as people try to say you are. I think dat's da best way to describe it."
SAM TURNER JR.:
[With a huge smile on his face.] "Yup, yup, prolly so."
[While the duo was by the barn SAM's dog JACK, a Jack Russell Terrier (Yes, SAM named his Jack Russell, JACK. Was there really any doubt about it?). JACK came to SAM and stood up on his hind legs and scratched the leg of SAM's overalls to get his attention.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Theres ma good ole boy."
[SAM pets JACK on the head and he runs off to play with some of the other farm animals.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"See y'all Amazin Drag'ns thanks'at I's jus a dumb ole hick from tha backwaters of Kentucky er tha sticks as some would say. We'll I may not have all tha educat'n as y'all an'me geeks but I's smarter than y'all cause I knows'at an'me ain't real but it is real dumb."
[SAM sits down on a stack of old wooden pallets.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"My maw taught me'at if'n it weren't real people on tha pitcher box than it ain't matter in tha real world. Which means its perty much usless, kindly like y'alls title reign. It's'at fact'at makes y'all scarred of me an Teddy."
"Y'all know that we's tha ones'at matter in'is world'at we call rasslin. We's bigger, we's stronger and we we's just'at much better'an y'all."
[TEDDY smirks to himself and claps a hand down on SAM's shoulder proudly.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Karl... Otaku... Animezin' Dragons... When we collide in dat cage you can kiss your belts goodbye. Coz they're leavin' with US." (Points between SAM and himself.)
"You'll be wishin' you faced one'f them has-beens you keep mopin’ about.
"All'f Atlanta will be on their feet astounded by how da Empire's legacy unfolds before their eyes with their FORMER World Tag team champions lyin' in crumpled heaps beneath our boot heels as we grind you into da canvas like you was nothin'.
"Coz you ARE nothin'.
"And unfortunately for YOU...
"Somethin's comin' for ya both. And WE'RE dat somethin'."
[TEDDY leans right into the camera shot. SAM stands over his left shoulder, now standing, beaming proudly.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"And dat's when da bodies hit da floor."
[TEDDY turns and claps a handshake with SAM before making belt gestures to the camera.]
[FADE to BLACK!]
****The following is a Chris King & VossMan presentation****
[FADE IN: on a pair of likely candidates standing before an open barn. The doors are wide open and sitting centrally within the building is a John Deere tractor. The duo? Empire Pro’s dark horse slap together tag team, SAM TURNER JUNIOR and TEDDY ALEXANDER. SAM leans against the barn, leg up resting against the building stabilising himself. TEDDY is standing a few feet before him, ready to address the camera.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“These last few days I’ve been workin’ alongside my partner here, Sammy Turner Junior, gettin’ to understand what makes my main man tick."
“See, contrary to da popular belief of da Imaginazin’ Dragons, I DO understand dat to operate as a team you need to work together. They clearly overestimate their intelligence since tag team wrestlin’ ain’t no difficult concept to grasp."
“Me and him get inside dat cage and kick your ass. And to do dat we gotta work together."
“Simple. It ain’t rocket surgery. I GET that.”
[Snicker.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“It’s what I’ve been sayin’ since day ONE of this tournament, Karl. That me and Sammy need ta be on the same page to do anythin’ big in this tournament, let alone take the titles away."
“Yeah, you can hear me but you ain’t LISTENIN’."
“Oh, by da way... thanks for explainin’ me ALL da rules of how we can advance through dis tournament. Dat was really helpful."
“Regardless, you still gotta go through me. You still gotta go through Sammy. You still gotta get through us both."
“Single me out? Isolate me? Bring it, Karl. I welcome it. I YEARN for it, Karl."
“I ain’t scared of no dragons. Shit ain’t even real. It’s mythological. Like you will be once I’m done removin’ ya heads from ya spines non-surgically."
“I’m not called da Spinal Smash Monger coz I dish out cuddles and talk about cartoons, Otaku. Go ask Larry Tact. Go ask Eddie Burns. I’m legit fucking beast mode.”
[Shrugs.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“It’s funny how you’re not worried about me. About us. Me and Sam. It’s funny how you keep sayin’ we don’t bother you and dat you think dis is gonna be a walk in the park. Dat amuses me."
“It’s funny how you keep comin’ back to tell us you’re not afraid. It’s almost like..."
“It’s almost like you just need to keep tellin’ YOURSELVES dat.”
[Snicker.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“So KEEP tellin’ yaselves dat. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
“You’re right, Otaku. I am a fire. I’m a wildfire. I will keep burnin’ everythin’ in my path ‘til it’s nothin’ but smolderin’ ashes."
“Listenin’ to your little analogy, I guess you two are s’posed t’be dat body of water, right? Dat you think all my ferocity will fizzle out when I come to meet you? What’re you s’posed to be? A fuckin’ ocean? Da God damn Atlantic?"
“See, if you knew anythin’ at all ‘bout wildfires, Otaku, you’d know dat not just any ol’ body of water don’t stop it. Needs to be a pretty big body of water to kill da flame. And you ain’t no big body of water. You sure as shit ain’t no God damn ocean."
“You’re barely a TEAR DROP in da ocean."
“A tear drop dat’ll sizzle away into nothin’ness in da wake of da wildfire dat IS Sam Turner Junior and Teddy Alexander.”
[Shrugs.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
“You think me bein’ angry will undo me? I’ve been angry my whole damn life. And it hasn’t stopped me before."
“Just like it won’t stop me against either of you."
“Clear headed? Focused? My anger just distills my focus. DRIVES my focus. And my focus is entirely on snatchin’ those Empire Tag belts from your ignorant clutches."
[SAM grins widly and starts to chuckle at TEDDY's huge rant and rave. SAM looks at TEDDY who's confused to why SAM is laughing.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"What's your deal, man?"
[Still laughing.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"That'ere fellar thanks he's water. He's kindly right but he ain't made up of enough water ta do anythin ta ya. If'n you's fire an he's water tha fire will evap'rate him. See funny ain't it."
[TEDDY looks at SAM with a serious yet confused look then cracks a smile himself.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"You really ain't as dumb as people try to say you are. I think dat's da best way to describe it."
SAM TURNER JR.:
[With a huge smile on his face.] "Yup, yup, prolly so."
[While the duo was by the barn SAM's dog JACK, a Jack Russell Terrier (Yes, SAM named his Jack Russell, JACK. Was there really any doubt about it?). JACK came to SAM and stood up on his hind legs and scratched the leg of SAM's overalls to get his attention.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"Theres ma good ole boy."
[SAM pets JACK on the head and he runs off to play with some of the other farm animals.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"See y'all Amazin Drag'ns thanks'at I's jus a dumb ole hick from tha backwaters of Kentucky er tha sticks as some would say. We'll I may not have all tha educat'n as y'all an'me geeks but I's smarter than y'all cause I knows'at an'me ain't real but it is real dumb."
[SAM sits down on a stack of old wooden pallets.]
SAM TURNER JR.:
"My maw taught me'at if'n it weren't real people on tha pitcher box than it ain't matter in tha real world. Which means its perty much usless, kindly like y'alls title reign. It's'at fact'at makes y'all scarred of me an Teddy."
"Y'all know that we's tha ones'at matter in'is world'at we call rasslin. We's bigger, we's stronger and we we's just'at much better'an y'all."
[TEDDY smirks to himself and claps a hand down on SAM's shoulder proudly.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Karl... Otaku... Animezin' Dragons... When we collide in dat cage you can kiss your belts goodbye. Coz they're leavin' with US." (Points between SAM and himself.)
"You'll be wishin' you faced one'f them has-beens you keep mopin’ about.
"All'f Atlanta will be on their feet astounded by how da Empire's legacy unfolds before their eyes with their FORMER World Tag team champions lyin' in crumpled heaps beneath our boot heels as we grind you into da canvas like you was nothin'.
"Coz you ARE nothin'.
"And unfortunately for YOU...
"Somethin's comin' for ya both. And WE'RE dat somethin'."
[TEDDY leans right into the camera shot. SAM stands over his left shoulder, now standing, beaming proudly.]
TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"And dat's when da bodies hit da floor."
[TEDDY turns and claps a handshake with SAM before making belt gestures to the camera.]
[FADE to BLACK!]
EpyonMarx
New member
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2003
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- Website
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Re: AGGRESSION 71:KOTC Round 3: Animezing Dragons (cc) v. Teddy Alexander & Sam Turne
[FADE IN to a scene of pennies from various nations falling into an incinerator]
Karl: [as voice over] Talk is cheap, Teddy.
[CUT TO: a shot of the inside of the incinerator, the coins effectively being vaporised]
Karl: You say I’ve not been listening, but I’ve heard every word you’ve said all week. I may not have always given it my full attention, but I’ve heard every word, and trust me, I understand everything you’ve said.
Not just the words. But the way you’ve said it. The way your voice has that faintest quiver of uncertainty.
The voice I’ve heard hundreds of times before from men greater than either of us when they don’t believe what’s coming out of their mouths.
[CUT TO: A small boy chained in a dungeon, crying]
[CUT TO: The exterior shot of a castle, fast-framed to show it in all its glory, and decaying in seconds]
[CUT TO: the same area, the castle a shell of its former self, as we still hear the crying of the small boy, louder and clearer]
Karl: [as voice over] Have you understood, Teddy? Do you fathom the meaning of what you’re seeing, what you’ve heard?
Do I need to spell it out again, how your world view is so different to Sam’s that I sorely doubt you’ve gelled as well as you think you have? How difficult you’ve made the match for yourself by overestimating yourself and underestimating us?
[CUT TO: “The Dragon” leaning back against a massive oak in a forest clearing]
Karl: I think you already know. That’s why there’s the quiver in your voice. The rage of becoming a beast.
You see, Teddy, I’ve never said that Otaku and I are going to hurt you, that the only way you’d leave the cage is if we let you. That was you. I simply pointed out a few truths:
One, that your advantage at the start of the tournament was that we didn’t know you, and now we do.
Two, that you’re not destructive and there’s no reason for us to, as you asked, fear you.
Three, that you’ve done nothing to earn my respect, and I’ve done nothing to earn yours.
Four, that I’ve never underestimated anyone in the ring. I’ve overestimated and gone further than I needed but that’s better than what you’re doing.
Five, that you’re a common bully.
You’ve not liked it, because it’s shone a light on your insecurities. That’s why you’ve fallen back on idle threats. Threats to “remove heads from spines non-surgically”.
I’ve heard it from people better than you. I’ve heard it from people bigger than you. I’ve said each time after the third one that I was tired of repeating myself. That I was bored of hearing it.
Why do I need to be worried about someone who talks bigger than they can physically or legally deliver, hm?
[“The Dragon” closes his eyes]
Karl: You’re so focused on trying to prove to me with words that you can tear a path of destruction that you’re almost laughable. Getting increasingly desperate, you’re falling back on the only thing you know. Meaningless, mindless threats.
Congratulations, you’ve managed to undo any positive step you’ve taken. In your rage, in your vein attempt to intimidate me, you’ve made it certain that you’re going to be too focused on a goal that’s nothing more than a distraction.
I’ve not once said I’m going to hurt you physically. I don’t have to. I’ll hurt your ego as a by-product of beating you, because you’ve put yourself on such a high pedestal anything other than a quick, destructive win in seconds is going to be nothing more than proof you’re a fraud.
I don’t have to hurt you, physically. I don’t have to prove by leaving you a beaten and bloodied mess than I’m better than you. I just have to either pin you, or Sam, or have Otaku do that, or one of us makes one of you quit, or we both leave the cage.
In short, we only need to win. That’s the goal to be focused on. That’s the goal to head for and at the nearest opportunity, take it.
Remember what I said at the beginning of the week? That if the rules allowed, the Wolves of the Sea could very well have become World Champions last time? Had they been able to take the titles by leaving the cage they could’ve beaten us. I doubt we could have caught them. But so focused on a distraction were they, that they didn’t take the chance to win.
And from listening to you, you want the titles, and to hurt us.
Those are two distractions that are going to cost you, because while you’re trying to hurt one of us – the other can steal the win. While you’re busy trying to hurt me – like so many before – you’re going to make a mistake, and then it’s all over.
One mistake, Teddy, is all I need you to make. All your rage, all your bravado, all that aggression you’re using like a comfort blanket is going to leave you swinging wide, giving me chance after chance to beat you.
Since you were so fond of the water metaphor, I’ll expand on it.
Calmer surfaces are far, far more deadly than violent ones. Because you see the calm surface, you misjudge the depth, the currents, the rocks beneath. With raging rivers, torrents of water, violent squalls, you prepare yourself differently. You’re ready for anything, but against the calm water, it’s so easy to relax, thinking nothing could go wrong.
[Just then, in a puff of smoke, appears Otaku to the right of shot. He’s dressed in ninja gear – if that ninja is Sakura from Naruto]
Otaku: I feel sorry for Turner-san, Dragon-domo.
Karl: So do I.
Otaku: I think Alexander-baka’s been telling Turner-san we think he’s dumb. We don’t. We’re the first to admit you can’t judge people by how they look or talk. I know there’s different kinds of smarts. There’s book smarts, there’s life smarts, there’s wrestling smarts, anime smarts, manga smarts, culture smarts, and just smart smarts. I think Turner-san seems like one of the nicest people there is and is going to be the real challenge in this match but somehow he thinks we think he’s dumb? That doesn’t make any sense!
Karl: How about him saying anime isn’t real?
Otaku: He thinks I think it’s real?! Next he’s going to tell me that Dallas wasn’t a documentary!!
But he’s made one big mistake
Karl: [interrupting] Don’t let him rile you with saying that he think’s anime is dumb. Personally I think using the word “Junior” as part of your name is moronic, as if you’re trying to measure yourself to someone else, but each to their own.
Otaku: [taking a calming breath] I suppose. I mean, I find most US TV dumb because it’s so predictably written. I find First-baka dumb for underestimating Jones-san.
And I find Turner-san a baka for being taken in by Alexander-baka.
Karl: I can see why you’d say that. I reckon Sam’s trying to get inside our heads. It’s always the unlikely ones, the ones who through their personality aren’t what society calls sophisticated. They’re the ones I’m always more interested in, more worried about, because they can use society’s preconceived notions to mask how good they actually are.
Not that I’m worried about Sam, any more than I’m worried about the world ending in a few days.
Whatever happens, happens. There’s nothing to worry about ultimately, we’re all nothing in the grand scheme of things. Each fire burns, some brightly, some not so, but they’re all extinguished. That’s why I like the water metaphor.
Otaku: Because water puts out flames?
Karl: Partly. But mostly because no matter how strong a fire is, water will win in the end. A raging forest fire gets to the sea, it can’t go any further without fuel. And the fire will be put out.
Water, meanwhile, has been on this planet for billions of years. Latest scientific estimates say there’s been no substantial rise or fall in the amount of water on this planet, in all its forms, since the seas were born.
Ultimately, water will be here longer than any individual fire, no matter how bright that earthly fire is.
Otaku: Deep. But how does that help us against Alexander-baka and Turner-san?
Karl: Alexander’s already beaten himself. I can hear it when he speaks, the look in his eyes. That puffed up chest, the over-congruence between his body language and his words. The fact that he’s under the impression that our “crumpled heaps” will be beneath their boots in Atlanta shows he’s vastly overestimated his own abilities, and that means he’s lost already.
Otaku: Because me and you, we’re not just lifeless sacks, are we? We fight back! And he doesn’t know if he can take what we give but we know we’re ready for anything he gives because people stronger, bigger, smarter, quicker, better, more focused have all given it to us before!!
And we’ve got the POWER OF YOUTH!!
Karl: Isn’t that the wrong costume for that line?
Otaku: Yup.
Karl: Anyways, I was thinking more along the lines of not only do we fight back, but we’re also open to the possibilities of what might happen. We’re flexible. We’ll alter our game plan if and when we need to. Teddy’s so focused on trying to prove himself a path of destruction that if we turn up at any future Aggression, or if we walk out of the ring, he’s a fraud.
He knows he can’t deliver what his words have suggested, so if he doesn’t want to his legacy to be that of a fraud he’ll have to push himself into injuring us, deliberately injuring us. Since the aim of the match is to win, taking longer than he needs to just so he can injure us accomplishes a few things.
First, it makes it easier for us to win.
Secondly, it increases the number of mistakes he’ll make
Thirdly, and most importantly, it’ll prove that he’s nothing to worry about.
Honestly, Teddy, if you have to take time to hurt us, then you’re a fraud. Look at a hunter in nature. A lion, a tiger, a crocodile. The aim is to kill quickly, efficiently, with the minimum of effort. In most cases, one bite, and it’s over.
You aren’t strong enough to beat us that quickly. So you’ll need to take time, and each passing second shows you to be a fraud.
That’s why I prefer Sam, actually. Because he’s not made the threats. He’s under the mistaken impression that being bigger and stronger is going to matter, when it doesn’t otherwise Lindsay would’ve never become World Champion. But he’s not making idle threats. He’s treating this match as a match. He’s confident he’ll win, he truly believes it, while you, Teddy…
Doubt, seeping into every word.
A small, crying little child is inside you, begging people to fear him because people don’t love him.
I don’t enjoy the temper tantrums people throw when their mask is proven a sham, I really don’t, so don’t start crying when you lose and we go on to the next match as champions.
Otaku: Sam thinks he’s stronger than you?
Karl: He probably is. Explosive strength is a different thing, a matter of knowing how to use your strength and a load of weights and balances instinctively to suplex people two, three times your own weight. Brute strength, Sam has me beaten. Technical ability, speed, agility, I’ve got him, but brute strength, Sam.
Otaku: But your kicks
Karl: Yup.
Otaku: So we really have nothing to worry about. I know I have Dragon-domo’s back in this match, I know I can take anything you give you and my will of fire will keep me getting back up. You will literally have to break me to beat me! And Dragon-domo’s the best. I mean it.
We’re a team, we’re tag team champions for a reason and we’re staying that way!
Karl: I don’t care who’s in the ring across from us. I’ve never cared. Despite what Teddy says, I’m happier it’s these two, not because they’re easier, but because I want to face different challenges. I want to have people push me to the limit and beyond, and at 30 years old, I want to give back to this business properly, by showing people they aren’t what they say they are.
Teddy is no beast. He’s no better than Larry, or Steven, or Sean, or Anarky, or Rezin, all of whom I’ve faced.
He’s a scared little boy ready for a temper tantrum, a fire that’s burning brightly… but is going to be extinguished all the same.
Sam? You’re going to go places in this company, maybe in future at my expense.
But it won’t be in Atlanta. No matter how strong you are, that’s only one piece you need. No matter how hungry you think you are, that’s only one piece you need.
[A chess board suddenly appears in front of Karl, as the camera TILTS over until the board and its pieces are all we can see. On the white side, we have all the pieces, while the black only has two pawns, no king]
Karl: There’s something Max of Blitz told me years ago. To ensure victory, you have to make sure you win first.
That’s the only goal in this match, and with only two pieces, Sam, Teddy…
You’re in for a struggle far greater than you realise.
Take heed. Take my advice. Be more prepared for the moment than you think you need. Because if you’re not…
[The two black pawns disappear. FADE…]
Voice: Next time on Animezing Dragon…
Otaku: It’s been a long journey, we’re bruised and battered, but finally Dragon-domo and me are out of the evil forest and up to the evil villain’s layer! He’s only got a few henchmen left but they’re all fresh – and who’s that pulling his strings?
Next time, the final episode, Let Battle Commence!!
[END]
[FADE IN to a scene of pennies from various nations falling into an incinerator]
Karl: [as voice over] Talk is cheap, Teddy.
[CUT TO: a shot of the inside of the incinerator, the coins effectively being vaporised]
Karl: You say I’ve not been listening, but I’ve heard every word you’ve said all week. I may not have always given it my full attention, but I’ve heard every word, and trust me, I understand everything you’ve said.
Not just the words. But the way you’ve said it. The way your voice has that faintest quiver of uncertainty.
The voice I’ve heard hundreds of times before from men greater than either of us when they don’t believe what’s coming out of their mouths.
[CUT TO: A small boy chained in a dungeon, crying]
[CUT TO: The exterior shot of a castle, fast-framed to show it in all its glory, and decaying in seconds]
[CUT TO: the same area, the castle a shell of its former self, as we still hear the crying of the small boy, louder and clearer]
Karl: [as voice over] Have you understood, Teddy? Do you fathom the meaning of what you’re seeing, what you’ve heard?
Do I need to spell it out again, how your world view is so different to Sam’s that I sorely doubt you’ve gelled as well as you think you have? How difficult you’ve made the match for yourself by overestimating yourself and underestimating us?
[CUT TO: “The Dragon” leaning back against a massive oak in a forest clearing]
Karl: I think you already know. That’s why there’s the quiver in your voice. The rage of becoming a beast.
You see, Teddy, I’ve never said that Otaku and I are going to hurt you, that the only way you’d leave the cage is if we let you. That was you. I simply pointed out a few truths:
One, that your advantage at the start of the tournament was that we didn’t know you, and now we do.
Two, that you’re not destructive and there’s no reason for us to, as you asked, fear you.
Three, that you’ve done nothing to earn my respect, and I’ve done nothing to earn yours.
Four, that I’ve never underestimated anyone in the ring. I’ve overestimated and gone further than I needed but that’s better than what you’re doing.
Five, that you’re a common bully.
You’ve not liked it, because it’s shone a light on your insecurities. That’s why you’ve fallen back on idle threats. Threats to “remove heads from spines non-surgically”.
I’ve heard it from people better than you. I’ve heard it from people bigger than you. I’ve said each time after the third one that I was tired of repeating myself. That I was bored of hearing it.
Why do I need to be worried about someone who talks bigger than they can physically or legally deliver, hm?
[“The Dragon” closes his eyes]
Karl: You’re so focused on trying to prove to me with words that you can tear a path of destruction that you’re almost laughable. Getting increasingly desperate, you’re falling back on the only thing you know. Meaningless, mindless threats.
Congratulations, you’ve managed to undo any positive step you’ve taken. In your rage, in your vein attempt to intimidate me, you’ve made it certain that you’re going to be too focused on a goal that’s nothing more than a distraction.
I’ve not once said I’m going to hurt you physically. I don’t have to. I’ll hurt your ego as a by-product of beating you, because you’ve put yourself on such a high pedestal anything other than a quick, destructive win in seconds is going to be nothing more than proof you’re a fraud.
I don’t have to hurt you, physically. I don’t have to prove by leaving you a beaten and bloodied mess than I’m better than you. I just have to either pin you, or Sam, or have Otaku do that, or one of us makes one of you quit, or we both leave the cage.
In short, we only need to win. That’s the goal to be focused on. That’s the goal to head for and at the nearest opportunity, take it.
Remember what I said at the beginning of the week? That if the rules allowed, the Wolves of the Sea could very well have become World Champions last time? Had they been able to take the titles by leaving the cage they could’ve beaten us. I doubt we could have caught them. But so focused on a distraction were they, that they didn’t take the chance to win.
And from listening to you, you want the titles, and to hurt us.
Those are two distractions that are going to cost you, because while you’re trying to hurt one of us – the other can steal the win. While you’re busy trying to hurt me – like so many before – you’re going to make a mistake, and then it’s all over.
One mistake, Teddy, is all I need you to make. All your rage, all your bravado, all that aggression you’re using like a comfort blanket is going to leave you swinging wide, giving me chance after chance to beat you.
Since you were so fond of the water metaphor, I’ll expand on it.
Calmer surfaces are far, far more deadly than violent ones. Because you see the calm surface, you misjudge the depth, the currents, the rocks beneath. With raging rivers, torrents of water, violent squalls, you prepare yourself differently. You’re ready for anything, but against the calm water, it’s so easy to relax, thinking nothing could go wrong.
[Just then, in a puff of smoke, appears Otaku to the right of shot. He’s dressed in ninja gear – if that ninja is Sakura from Naruto]
Otaku: I feel sorry for Turner-san, Dragon-domo.
Karl: So do I.
Otaku: I think Alexander-baka’s been telling Turner-san we think he’s dumb. We don’t. We’re the first to admit you can’t judge people by how they look or talk. I know there’s different kinds of smarts. There’s book smarts, there’s life smarts, there’s wrestling smarts, anime smarts, manga smarts, culture smarts, and just smart smarts. I think Turner-san seems like one of the nicest people there is and is going to be the real challenge in this match but somehow he thinks we think he’s dumb? That doesn’t make any sense!
Karl: How about him saying anime isn’t real?
Otaku: He thinks I think it’s real?! Next he’s going to tell me that Dallas wasn’t a documentary!!
But he’s made one big mistake
Karl: [interrupting] Don’t let him rile you with saying that he think’s anime is dumb. Personally I think using the word “Junior” as part of your name is moronic, as if you’re trying to measure yourself to someone else, but each to their own.
Otaku: [taking a calming breath] I suppose. I mean, I find most US TV dumb because it’s so predictably written. I find First-baka dumb for underestimating Jones-san.
And I find Turner-san a baka for being taken in by Alexander-baka.
Karl: I can see why you’d say that. I reckon Sam’s trying to get inside our heads. It’s always the unlikely ones, the ones who through their personality aren’t what society calls sophisticated. They’re the ones I’m always more interested in, more worried about, because they can use society’s preconceived notions to mask how good they actually are.
Not that I’m worried about Sam, any more than I’m worried about the world ending in a few days.
Whatever happens, happens. There’s nothing to worry about ultimately, we’re all nothing in the grand scheme of things. Each fire burns, some brightly, some not so, but they’re all extinguished. That’s why I like the water metaphor.
Otaku: Because water puts out flames?
Karl: Partly. But mostly because no matter how strong a fire is, water will win in the end. A raging forest fire gets to the sea, it can’t go any further without fuel. And the fire will be put out.
Water, meanwhile, has been on this planet for billions of years. Latest scientific estimates say there’s been no substantial rise or fall in the amount of water on this planet, in all its forms, since the seas were born.
Ultimately, water will be here longer than any individual fire, no matter how bright that earthly fire is.
Otaku: Deep. But how does that help us against Alexander-baka and Turner-san?
Karl: Alexander’s already beaten himself. I can hear it when he speaks, the look in his eyes. That puffed up chest, the over-congruence between his body language and his words. The fact that he’s under the impression that our “crumpled heaps” will be beneath their boots in Atlanta shows he’s vastly overestimated his own abilities, and that means he’s lost already.
Otaku: Because me and you, we’re not just lifeless sacks, are we? We fight back! And he doesn’t know if he can take what we give but we know we’re ready for anything he gives because people stronger, bigger, smarter, quicker, better, more focused have all given it to us before!!
And we’ve got the POWER OF YOUTH!!
Karl: Isn’t that the wrong costume for that line?
Otaku: Yup.
Karl: Anyways, I was thinking more along the lines of not only do we fight back, but we’re also open to the possibilities of what might happen. We’re flexible. We’ll alter our game plan if and when we need to. Teddy’s so focused on trying to prove himself a path of destruction that if we turn up at any future Aggression, or if we walk out of the ring, he’s a fraud.
He knows he can’t deliver what his words have suggested, so if he doesn’t want to his legacy to be that of a fraud he’ll have to push himself into injuring us, deliberately injuring us. Since the aim of the match is to win, taking longer than he needs to just so he can injure us accomplishes a few things.
First, it makes it easier for us to win.
Secondly, it increases the number of mistakes he’ll make
Thirdly, and most importantly, it’ll prove that he’s nothing to worry about.
Honestly, Teddy, if you have to take time to hurt us, then you’re a fraud. Look at a hunter in nature. A lion, a tiger, a crocodile. The aim is to kill quickly, efficiently, with the minimum of effort. In most cases, one bite, and it’s over.
You aren’t strong enough to beat us that quickly. So you’ll need to take time, and each passing second shows you to be a fraud.
That’s why I prefer Sam, actually. Because he’s not made the threats. He’s under the mistaken impression that being bigger and stronger is going to matter, when it doesn’t otherwise Lindsay would’ve never become World Champion. But he’s not making idle threats. He’s treating this match as a match. He’s confident he’ll win, he truly believes it, while you, Teddy…
Doubt, seeping into every word.
A small, crying little child is inside you, begging people to fear him because people don’t love him.
I don’t enjoy the temper tantrums people throw when their mask is proven a sham, I really don’t, so don’t start crying when you lose and we go on to the next match as champions.
Otaku: Sam thinks he’s stronger than you?
Karl: He probably is. Explosive strength is a different thing, a matter of knowing how to use your strength and a load of weights and balances instinctively to suplex people two, three times your own weight. Brute strength, Sam has me beaten. Technical ability, speed, agility, I’ve got him, but brute strength, Sam.
Otaku: But your kicks
Karl: Yup.
Otaku: So we really have nothing to worry about. I know I have Dragon-domo’s back in this match, I know I can take anything you give you and my will of fire will keep me getting back up. You will literally have to break me to beat me! And Dragon-domo’s the best. I mean it.
We’re a team, we’re tag team champions for a reason and we’re staying that way!
Karl: I don’t care who’s in the ring across from us. I’ve never cared. Despite what Teddy says, I’m happier it’s these two, not because they’re easier, but because I want to face different challenges. I want to have people push me to the limit and beyond, and at 30 years old, I want to give back to this business properly, by showing people they aren’t what they say they are.
Teddy is no beast. He’s no better than Larry, or Steven, or Sean, or Anarky, or Rezin, all of whom I’ve faced.
He’s a scared little boy ready for a temper tantrum, a fire that’s burning brightly… but is going to be extinguished all the same.
Sam? You’re going to go places in this company, maybe in future at my expense.
But it won’t be in Atlanta. No matter how strong you are, that’s only one piece you need. No matter how hungry you think you are, that’s only one piece you need.
[A chess board suddenly appears in front of Karl, as the camera TILTS over until the board and its pieces are all we can see. On the white side, we have all the pieces, while the black only has two pawns, no king]
Karl: There’s something Max of Blitz told me years ago. To ensure victory, you have to make sure you win first.
That’s the only goal in this match, and with only two pieces, Sam, Teddy…
You’re in for a struggle far greater than you realise.
Take heed. Take my advice. Be more prepared for the moment than you think you need. Because if you’re not…
[The two black pawns disappear. FADE…]
Voice: Next time on Animezing Dragon…
Otaku: It’s been a long journey, we’re bruised and battered, but finally Dragon-domo and me are out of the evil forest and up to the evil villain’s layer! He’s only got a few henchmen left but they’re all fresh – and who’s that pulling his strings?
Next time, the final episode, Let Battle Commence!!
[END]