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]