I Ain't Yo' Bruh, Bro.
ICE TRE: I put my hand up on yo' hip. When I dip, you dip -- WE dip.
FADEIN: Your Boy stands strong. Head down, arms held behind his back -- a light shines upon him from above. If the budget covered a smoke machine? You can bet there would be smoke rolling around him, ominous and heavy. In the distance behind him stood an inviting resort hotel full of pitched roofs, flowers, and affluent guests. The Soldier Called Tre stood motionless, eyes and face obscured still.
ICE TRE: No question. No doubt. Ice Tre must be the most misunderstood player in the game. Fo' real. I mean .... err'body CASTIN' ASPERSIONS, an' ****. Thinking they know THANG ONE 'bout a player. But, trutf be told, they'z be fakers and perpetrators.
Slowly, and behind the thick tint of his trademark blocky sunglasses, Ice Tre looked up and met the gaze of the curious camera.
ICE TRE: Misunderstood ... 'cause SOME people just can't SEE how I roll.
Or see that Ice Tre communicates through a series of ironic boasts, claims, or assertions and intermittent "street jive".
ICE TRE: I've been AROUND, ya dig? Damn near been 'round the world. Damn near TWICE. I knowz people, G. I can look into a man's eyes and read his SOUL.
Tre allows a moment to let that to sink in.
ICE TRE: Gon' ahead ... THINK 'bout dat!
(*Sigh*) Allowing another moment.
ICE TRE: I read SOULZ, G! ...on the REGULAR!
I get it, does everyone else get it?
ICE TRE: Ya FEEL me? I can spot a Soldier, if a Soldier presents ones-self. I can sniff out a Fake. I can read a Perpetrator. And y'all can best b'lieve that Ice Tre knows a HATER when he see's one in action. And guess what? Bryan Dawkins?
Tre uses his right hand as a sun-visor, sheilding his already shaded eyes. He hunches his shoulders.
ICE TRE: I see you, *****. You'z a PLAYER HATER of the HIGHEST order.
Oh, No He Didn't!
ICE TRE: Dat's RIGHT! I SAID it! And I'mma break it DOWN fo' yo' stupid ass!
Tre holds up ONE of four bling-encrusted fingers (his Four Finger Ring (with thumb attachment, of course, doing it's proverbial thang).
ICE TRE: Point ONE ... you runnin' the old "You Talk Bad" gimmick at me like it *EVER* stuck to me. Sh_t, man ... you think you the FIRST maw'fugga to come at me wit' dat noise? You CRAZY, boy. Ain't no secret that Ice Tre is the Most Unique and Most Influential Superstar to Step Between the Ropes! Ain't NO DIGGITY that the T, the R, and the E are 3 of the MOST feared letters in the American Alphabet! And there ain't no denying that the WAY that I talkz .. the GAME dat I SPIT ... can'tsts be PROPA'LY PROCESSED by REGRESSIFIED INDIVIDUALS! You RIGHT, homie. I don't TALK like you. I don't crowbar the word "bruh" into every other sentence.
That's true.
ICE TRE: You'z a HATER, G. Gon' ahead and make fun of the way I talk ... won't mean a THANG in the R'ANG, ya heard? The language of war translates JUST fine, in ANY dialect, ya dig? And war is what I'm bringin'. The STREETZ is what I'm bringin'. The struggle -- something you probably had never seen until you got in the ring.
Tre smirked, remembering something.
ICE TRE: You know struggle NOW, don't you, Dawkins? Not so easy when daddy's not around to make sure you get pushed "just right". You headlined a promotion WITHOUT your daddy lookin' out for you ... and it went belly-up in a MONTH. Say's a LOT abut what YOU be bringin' to the ring, Dawkins. ME? My accolades be OUT there. If you never heard of Ice Tre, by NOW Then you ain't nobody dat MATTERS. PERIOD. Err'body knows my story. I had to TELL everyone yours. And guess what? They STILL don't care about you. ME? I'm a certified, pedigreed EARNER on the TEAM circuit. B'LIEVE that I will bring a RUCKAS to that ring. There ain't ONE RING that Ice Tre has stepped into that has not BLAZED, nah'mean? Ain't never been ONE CROWD that didn't ERUPT at my STUNNING appearance! Ain't never been ONE boo, ONE cat-call! You are lookin' at The Most Beloved Wrestler Since Hornet.
...wow. Tre nods his head, camera zooms in for a moment to catch his "told-ya-so" smirk.
ICE TRE: Mmmm-hmmm.
Cutting back to a wide shot, Tre finally relaxes his stance, each hand FIXED in a 'W'.
ICE TRE: POINT B ... you got NO play with the womenz. No flow. You got ZERO game. What you DOIN'? Whistlin' at *****es like you was twelve years old. You GROWN, son!
Now Tre was angry, as if he was disappointed with non-lady-savvy men EVERYWHERE.
ICE TRE: When you get to the endzone, G ... ACT LIKE YOU BEEN THERE!
Shakes his head with disgust.
ICE TRE: You got NO concept of what it takes to develop a QUALITY STABLE of hoes .... DO you? T'be honest wit'chu? I feel BAD for you Dawkins. I do. You just ain't got a CLUE on how to OWN that #####, DO you? ME? Sheeeeeee-iiiiit. You KNOW Ice Tre is one of The Most Celebrated Macks in History! You just gotsts to KNOW that Your Boy is Poon Hound Prime, up in this piece. Your whole HOME COUNTRY be like ... like ... like a poon PARADISE, an' sh_t. And I'm takin' LIBERTIES, G. I'm takin' LIBERTIES!
Tre wipes his face with his hand, mock-exhausted by his tirade ... and the horror of it all.
ICE TRE: You MAD 'cause you don't got the GAME I got. The Stee-Lo. The Undeniable SWAGGER. I don't blame you. You can gon' ahead and HATE on me fo' dat.
What a guy.
ICE TRE: And finally, POINT THREE ... You think you stand a CHANCE? Clearly a blind-ass HATER. What have you accomplished? Ever? You may say that I know nuttin' 'bout you, but you ain't goin' to say what I got wrong? I read you like a "bruh"-filled book, Dawkins. ME? I am (maybe?) the Only Man in this Bracket Who Can Say He Has Beaten It's Number One Seed. Sean Stevens, to me, is Yesterday's News. Somebody I already BESTED in Empire Pro ... but here .... he's Number One? Somethin' wrong wit' dat picture, Dawkins ... somethin' Ice Tre plans to rectify, nah'm'sayin'? You might say I gotsts somethin' to PROVE. I, unlike you, I actually have TALENT. I have somewhere I can go in this business.
He points skyward.
ICE TRE: And, as high as I am, Ice Tre can still ... only go UP from here.
I get it. He said "high". Get it?
ICE TRE: Unnghh.
It's funny because he likely is currently under the influence of marijuana. That's why he said he was "high". Get it?
ICE TRE: Haters get DEALT WIT', Dawkins. They get dealt wit' an' forgotten. So gon' ahead an' hate on The T. Despise the R. Ignore the E.
If you can. That E is pretty apparent.
ICE TRE: When all is said and dizz-un... to the millions of wrestling fans that follow TEAM events, and to the WORLD, you gon' 'ventually be just a footnote in The Ice Tre Story. Get comfortable wit' the idea you'll be remembered as the FIRST to fall to the Ice Age in the 2008 TEAM Invitational. Settle in wit' dat. Snuggle up to it. It's gon' be yo' REALITY.
Tre glances over his shoulder, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort behind him.
ICE TRE: You want me to roll in there ... demand yo' room number, and BUST down yo' sh_t. Maybe you expectin' a DRIVE-BY? Nah ... you ain't THAT special Dawkins. Matter of fact? When I got to this island, learned yo' story, and found out you was just a lesser, SOFTER version of your old man? I decided you couldn't HANDLE none of that. I'm doin' you a solid, Bry. I'mma save ALL of what I GOT for L.A. ... MY stompin' groundz! Bring what you GOT, Dawkins. I'll be bringin' MO'!
Believe that.
ICE TRE: B'lieve dat!
The camera panned back as Tre stomped off. And, yes, we FADEOUT.