"Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does, love is a battle, love is a war...." - James A. Baldwin.
Fuck.......what happened?
I wake with a thousand words running through my mind, none of them at all comprehensible. That it, until they all come back with a bang. I remember a knocking at my door, i remember the way she stormed in and let it all out, without any control, without being able to have power through the anger.
I remember her eyes as i looked cold into them with that smile spread across my face as i finally wrapped my hand inside her mind and kept playing, and playing, and playing with it. It was nice to have such power of somebody without even laying a finger on them, just playing with their mind, toying with it until i see it bend the way i want it to bend, twist it like i want to, and see them wriggle and squirm under the pressure i'm putting on them as i lay my foot across their throat and simply laugh as they try to struggle free. But inevitably, there is no escape.
And it was then that i looked into those eyes and i saw something in them, something that i knew was there and wanted to squeeze out of her, that small thought inside of her that knew she was attracted to me, that knew beneath all the fake resentment and the hatred towards me, she had feelings for me that far surpassed simple liking.
And it was when i saw that look in her eyes that something inside of me kicked in, possibly the same feeling that she had, and before my mind could process anything the primal being inside me had my lips pressed against mine, and her jacket was off, as was mine, and the rest of our clothes as we sprawled onto the bed.
The rest was just a blur.
I think about what this means, what it could mean. Once more the thoughts flooding through my head about what this could mean inside that ring, for the revolution, and what it meant for us. One thing was for sure - it was certainly an incredible night.
I grin - my eyes still closed - as i think of all of what happened last night. I guess you could classify this as a success, because it's exactly what i wanted. Of course i wanted her in bed - who wouldn't - but this, having her wrapped around my finger, toying with her mind to the point where my words start making sense. I am a fucking genius. No doubt about it.
A crazy genius, but a genius nonetheless.
I finally open my eyes and turn to see the gorgeous body of the Goddess lying next to me, and i grin once more. It's going to be interesting to see what will occur when she wakes up. If i had to hazard a guess it would be first off confusion, then recollection, and then the massive force of regret as it hits hard what happened. And then there would be a mixture of acceptance and uncertainty as to what to do next. I should know.
I'm pretty much feeling the exact same thing.
She turns over and i smile as i see her face, so peaceful, so serene, gorgeous and innocent - as if she wouldn't even hurt a fly. How wrong anybody would be if they suspected that. In fact she'd probably try to prove to anybody that said such a thing that they were completely and totally wrong.
I slowly pry the covers off my naked body as i hop out of the king sized bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping 'Goddess.' I put on my wrestling gear and grab the camera from the couch, setting it up on my computer table as i stand up and press the button, starting the promo to record.
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--PROMO BEGIN--
'I began revolution with 82 men. If i had to do it again, i'd do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action.' - Fidel Castro
Revolution does not occur just out of thin air.
Revolution is an ideal, a complete and totally absorbing fact that weasels it's way into everybody's mind eventually - even those close to those in power. Because in the end the point of a revolutionary is that he sees things completely clearly, he or she sees what other people can't, and they are able to act on what they see. Rationality, sense, reason. These are all attributes to a revolutionary, because in the end, revolutionaries are the bringers of a new era, a more successful era, and an era that is able to prosper, where the former had not.
Revolution is a time of conflict, there's no doubt about that. Revolution is inevitable eventually, when there is a power that needs to be quashed, then revolution is the answer. Especially when the power doesn't believe it's in the wrong, like all dictatorships do.
That's all this place is right now, a dictatorship. With an immense emphasis on the 'dic'. Because those people in corporate, all those people in control, they are nothing but gigantic, incredible dicks all part of the one dick-tatorship. But this revolution, this new era of change and this time of Arrogance, is coming, and it's inevitable.
So far this week all i've had is questions, people always asking me questions relating to wrestling, relating to Bliss, to Ash, to Johnny, and to the Revolution - the Age of Arrogance. But so far nobody has asked the real question, because people keep asking me why, how, when, if. The real question you should be asking, is why not?
*Drake grins at the screen and brings his legs up to the chair beside him as he leans back, spreading his arms wide in a motion that is attempting to represent the entire world.
This is a place where change is constant, where we are completely built on a moral society that knows when something is right, and something is wrong. But here's the thing, because people try to avoid this ethical way of thinking, when people become too obsessed with their own personal gain that the foundations of their own brain are so fucked up that they can't see when they're destroying their own business, and that's exactly what's happening.
These people are so blind in their own greed, their own egos - and i know what the likes of Ash will say - i'm one to talk about egos. Well guess what, compared to these lackies in the suits sitting in their desks on the fiftieth floor of some prestigious building and focusing on how they can make more money, how they can utilize the lives of their employees to simply squeeze more popularity and more money out of them, and for who's gain? We all like money right, we all want to be rich, we all want to feed our families and give ourselves nice things.
But what would you do for money? What ends will people go to just for their next paycheck? Well for these suits that run this company - MY company - it seems that money is the only thing they care about - certainly more than this business, the business they're supposed to represent, supposed to control, and supposed to improve.
But no, instead, we're left with the likes of Roxi Johnson and we're left with people like TJ Pain, we're left with mediocrity in the forms of people like Brandon Nytrus and Trey Baxter. Is this what you want, is this the people you want leading your business? You want a batch of useless fools who don't know they're way around a promo to save their lives.
Ash may be different, but to be honest, most of what he says could be used as torture to extract secrets from high valued individuals, because after listening him drone on....and on....and on.....and on....and on....i think i'd be willing to risk the possibility of death just as long as i could stop listening to that meaningless, waste of time that comes out of his mouth.
But Ash is something i will deal with later, because first we have this criminal act that is occurring within our own ranks, because of the people who look down on us from their wonderfully crafted tables and they're incredibly shaped vases filled with only the best flowers from around the world.
We're left with these people, these criminals to wrestling, criminals to the entire business as they turn the very thing we compete in, the thing we dedicate our lives to nothing more than a simple popularity contest to see who could get the biggest cheer or boo.
Money. That's what this is all about.
But me? I couldn't care less about money, i've got enough of it, and i also couldn't care less if the money stopped coming. I had a very wealthy family, with a wealthy heritage - i don't do this for the next paycheck. But guess what? Others do, and they're forced to be something that they're not simply because of those fat, greedy bastards up in the office try and continue to fill they're oversized g-strings with more and more cash, until it's completely covering the tiny objects inside, and spilling out everywhere.
These people only care about surrounding themselves with cash, with popularity. They want to be on top of their trade, just like we do. But we don't manipulate, we don't make people be something that they're clearly not, and we don't have to resort to having other people reel in the money for us. We go out there every single day and night and fight, and survive, and leave it all in that ring until we're standing on top of the mountain, not just for the next paycheck that's coming to our doorstep, but because this is what we live for, it's what we strive for in this world.
And you blokes up in corporate are threatening to flush all that down the fucking toilet.
You think this is just in MPW either? No, MPW is just one case in a massive list, this is the entire business. And what are we? We're revolutionaries, we're prepared to do what other people are too scared to do, what everybody else can't do because they're afraid they'll get fired, or they'll be forced to face Rye Payne in the jobber matches. And even then all that happens is some clapping and booing.
But me? Us? The Age of Arrogance? We're ushering in the revolution, we're ushering in the new age, the new power, where people wrestle because it's what they believe in, where people are free, free to be whoever the fuck they feel like being, where people can get in somebody's face and tell them exactly what they think of them, and tell the goddamned fans exactly what they think of them, without having to resort to a script that they're forced to wire into their brains so the fans will cheer them, or boo them.
And that's part of it too, those godforsaken fans that we have here, in our business, those people are what dictate this company, they have corporates wrapped around their tiny little dicks, just like corporates have wrestlers wrapped around their plastic little junkies. These are the people who probably own precious family rocks bigger than they're actual family jewels, people who don't care what happens to the lives of others as long as their own life is properly satisfied. These people are the scourge of the world - completely self-centered with no respect for other human beings.
People note me as being just like these people. And they may be right in a couple of ways. I am self-centered, that's for sure. I sure as hell don't care about what anybody thinks of me, and i sure as hell don't care about anybody BUT me. But i am doing this for me, and in turn, for the rest of this wrestling world, so that I can benefit. Sure, others will too, but at the end of the day, i am saving the world, and i am saving myself, from the people that inhabit this world.
Do you seriously think that anything i do is for the 'greater good' as one of my opponents this week so intriguingly puts it. No, if i wouldn't benefit, why would I do it? But what's to say other people can't benefit from the same thing i do. At the end of the day, my goal is simple, and cannot be stopped.
Because in the words of Fidel Castro, a revolutionary in his own right - "I began revolution with 82 men. If i had to do it again, i'd do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action." And that's what i have. I have a plan of action, of course i do. I always have a plan, nothing i do is without calculation.
I have the men, i have the power of people behind me. I have the most formidable force anybody has ever seen in this business, because our goal is unmatched. We serve justice, we serve what is right in this business, and we eliminate what is wrong. And there is plenty to eliminate.
We have absolute faith, because nothing, nobody, and certain no object, can dissuade us form fulfilling our cause, and fulfill it we will. It doesn't matter how small we are in number, as long as we have the ideal behind us, and as long as we have this absolute faith implanted in our brains, there is nothing that will stop us.
And i have no doubt that more will come, more will see the light, more will finally be aware of the great evil we are trying to save this business from, and more will eventually see our side in trying to stop it. Because it's human nature to side with what is right, and we stand for what is right. Justice. Peace in this wrestling world, and to do that, we must eliminate a great deal of wrongs.
So that brings me to Johnny Clash.
Johnny, you seemed to think that you controlled us, that we were nothing more than your lackeys and that what you said was our gospel, was our orders, and that we must carry them out at all times. Well sorry to disappoint you, Mr. 'General Manager'. But we listen to nobody.
Do you really think that we, the faction that is trying to stop all of this power game, this control, this domination of the privileged over those who are simply pawns in the game of those in power, are going to do what they're told? I mean, how blind can you be? We stood there, in your office, and we pretended to get close to you, we pretended to be your lackeys, your little 'gang' that acted as a security force.
But how wrong you were to think that's all we were. You should've seen the cause, you should've been aware of your position and how it represents all that we're on about. Of course, you are ignoring those in corporate and simply taking control of the company, because you can, because you want to, but that's not the point. The point is, you're becoming exactly like them - so obsessed with power that you're blind, or going blind. You can't see the real threat. You can't see the incoming bringers of justice to this business.
And guess what, that's us.
Johnny you need to be aware of something. It's not your show anymore, it's MINE. You and your little whore of a wife can waltz into any place you want and act as if you own the place, but in truth all you are doing is claiming something that is not yours, claiming to take power of something to improve it, to push gain, when all you're really doing is burning it to the ground.
Millennium Punk Wrestling is my show. It is the show that belongs to the Age of Arrogance, no matter who seems to be calling the shots, no matter who is World champion it's not about what happens inside that ring when the bell sounds, it's about who is making the biggest impact, about who exactly is really calling the shots. And that, is us.
You gathered us into your little office the other day and you told us that if we didn't look out for your back you'd have us on the unemployment list. Do you seriously think firing us would make a difference? Do you think we'd stop this? Do you seriously believe that you could stop justice from carving it's path through whatever blocks you throw at it?
The answer is no Johnny, because no matter what we've been through, no matter what matches we've had in the past, in the end it all comes down to who's got the bigger resolve, who had the greater desire to obtain what they want. And you can't stop us. Nobody can.
I find it humorous that Ash Soulsfate, the very man who you are going to address this week, predicted exactly what would happen last week. Because Ash was completely dead on, you did put trust in me. And now you know better....
In the words of our "much beloved" World champion, "Your minions are men that have beaten you to a pulp and you act as if you're in charge of them." Now far be it from me to agree with one of the reasons that this business is on a free fall with no parachute, but i'm pretty sure he was completely and totally dead on about everything in that one sentence, and while he may be wrong about a vast majority of things, he did say something that happened to catch my eye.
You see a couple of months ago we had a match that is still regarded as the greatest singles match in this company's short history, we had a match that would etch itself into the record books as the last time the NYCCW World Heavyweight championship would be defended in a match, and you took that title. The title that i built from the ground up. Now, where is it huh? Where's that title Johnny, in the bag where you keep all those toys Laura likes to hook up when you're not around?
Or is it in one of your desk drawers, along with all the other crap you've got stored in there. You see Johnny here's the thing, when Ash said that you were a lousy champion, it was an understatement. Because the way you held that MPW World title, the way that you continue to try desperately and futilely to win back that title, is the same way you used nothing but trickery and deception to keep that title in the dying days of NYCCW.
You and your little boy toy Rage leapt around in your Armani suits prancing around like you owned the place, and now you're doing the exact same thing here, except you're one gorilla short. Actually is that even legal? Putting a gorilla in a suit? I suppose you can if you can a suit on a cow like your wife then anything is really legal.
Speaking of which? Where is she? Still hiding behind your desk as she tries to find a way to actually beat somebody in this company without your help Johnny boy? Or is that why you've been absent recently, are you hiding back there too and you're both trying to come up with a plan to retain that World title.
Because face it Johnny Clash, without your World title wrapped around your waist, you are nothing. Oh sure you've got a piece of paper with your name on it that says you're the General manager, but you know for god-fucking-sure that that power is completely and totally useless when it comes to us.
So go on then, tell us exactly what you're going to do to us now that you've finally seen exactly why you should never have trusted us, exactly who we are, the the punishment we can impose, not only on you, but on the World champion as well.
And that brings me to the World champion in question - soon to be former World champion - Ash Soulsfate. Now something you said in one of your extensive and suicide-inducing promos got my attention - ridiculous i know - but when i hear my name pop up in that Californian mouth of yours I can't help but listen to the drivel that comes out of your mouth.
You talked about how you set a bar higher than me because you go out there and "win" while i supposedly go out there and "survive". Unless you heard me wrong, and by the look of your girlfriend i imagine that you could obtain any number of diseases that could lead to deafness, but anyway, perhaps you didn't see the stipulations of the actual match known as the Rumble match.
As much as you want it to be, it's not simply one massive thirty person orgy inside that ring. No, the key is that you have to be the last man standing to win the match. So, to put it into the words of people who have similarly low IQ just like yours Ash, you have to survive to win the match. You have to survive twenty-nine others all going for that same opportunity, to headline the main event at Road to Glory and to have an opportunity at that World Heavyweight championship that you're currently in possession of. But not for much longer Ash.
You're going to go down in history as the champion that kept that title warm for six weeks, and the man that lost his World Heavyweight championship to the Punk, fully ushering in the revolution. So Ash, i gave you a mere taste last week of exactly what i am capable of, and exactly what it will feel like when i slam your head down so hard on the mat that you'll be seeing stars for a week, after i pin you to the mat and listen to the crowd scream and boo in complete and total disbelief as the one anti-Christ, the one person that they hate then most, that they dread holding the major title in this company, pins their favorite little face and i hoist that World title high in the air.
But before Road to Glory, we have another thrilling episode of Thursday Night Takedown. And who better to headline this week's main event than the Age of Arrogance for a second week in a row? After all, we are what is making this show one of the most popular wrestling programs in the world, we are what everybody's talking about.
I wonder what the Age of Arrogance will do next? How are they going to act on their promises to bring righteousness back to the business? What does Drake have planned for his faction this week? What's going on between Drake and Bliss?
Well don't worry, all your questions will be answered. All in good time. But this week i go face to face, alongside my comrade, best friend, and tag team partner Chris Cable - who is one half of the tag team champions - against a wannabe superhero and a blonde being held back by the fact that she's keeping all that anger stored inside, when what she should be doing is releasing it, letting it all out and using it to her advantage.
First off, let's start with Roxi. You claim to be fighting for the greater good, fighting baddies and using your awesome kung fu skills to knock off some psychotic motherfucker in spandex......
Yeeaaahhhh, sure.
You recently said that you didn't go to the ring in a superhero uniform. I believe the exact words were "Go home Drake, you're drunk." Really? I'M the one who's drunk? You believe you're a fucking superhero who thinks they can fight all the evil in the world and yet still has time to get inside that ring and wrestle those who are evil inside the ring.
Now far be it from me to do the job of a trained specialist, but i fear you may be quite crazy Roxi. The only other option i can possibly think of is that you have some weird friends who are into some weird roleplaying shit - not unlike Laura Tavares, although yours probably ends different to hers.
It's simple Roxi, right now you have nothing. You lost your worthless championship to a worthless competitor just like yourself, and by chance you now find yourself in the main event, dwarfed by much, much stronger competitors, and you'll be in the middle of that ring asking how you managed to be outclassed like you are, and guess what? It's because you'll never be as good as us, not me, not Cable, and hell, not even Bliss.
And that brings me on to the Goddess...
The Goddess who keeps thinking that she's got my number, that she's the one person who can defeat me and that she won that Sin City title because she is better than me. Well, Goddess, i'll tell you exactly what i've told the rest of the world many, many times. I am the Punk. I am never without a plan.
So you can dance around and prance around, making as many kidnapping accusations as you like while you're little friend Lucy keeps trying to get you to control that anger, but the fact of the matter is that deep down inside of you, in that little place where you've got it all kept under a lid and you're forever trying so, so hard to keep the anger suppressed, all you're doing is creating a bigger explosion when it's finally released.
You asked what exactly i have to gain from you being angry, well Bliss, anger is one of the things that you have that most others don't - not to mention good looks that don't include visiting a plastic surgeon after every meal - and when it's released, bad things happen for your opponents. There's no doubting that.
But you know what also happens when you release that anger? You don't care anymore. You don't care about your opponent, you don't care about the fans, and i would put money on the fact that you don't care about corporate. Because i know that when - not if - but when you release all of that anger, you will see things as i see them, as WE see them. I'm not saying you'll see things completely as we see them, but maybe then you'll be able to step into our shoes and see exactly how corrupt and disastrous this business has become.
You also talked about how certain people are leaders for a reason. What you don't seem to understand is this isn't simply another stable, this isn't simply another 'follow-the-leader' scenario. This is what we all believe in, this is saving the wrestling world from the people that turn it into a popularity contest week in and week out, and it looks like you're starting to see that.
I am a leader because i was born to lead, i was born to bring about change, bring about a revolution. I am born to do this because it's what i'm good at - i am a leader of change, i am the only one who is truly able to stop this madness that corporates are enforcing on this business.
You said that i would throw my best friend to the wolves if i had the chance at that Holy Grail. Well Kahlan, what you don't seem to realize is that for us, the Holy Grail is one united belief, that Holy Grail is finally ridding this world of this stupid popularity contest and just letting people wrestle because they were born to, the fans being nothing more than a sideshow, a statement that nobody really pays an attention to.
No, if i had a chance at our Holy Grail, i would pull Chris and Andre up with me, until we were all standing on the top of that mountain, where we could look down on what we'd done and finally see the revolution working it's progress, making it's mark. If i saw the Holy Grail, we would all take it together, because that's how we work. We are united.
You're right Kahlan, this is about unfinished business, this isn't about our tag team partners, because at the end of the day the AoA vs Bliss and Roxi is just another match where we can prove ourselves. No, this is about me and you, and the unfinished business we still have. Because you still have something that belongs to me, and i will make sure that the Sin City title comes to the Age of Arrogance eventually.
So this week, we step into the ring once more, but don't be fooled. I'm not simply going out there to fight you one on one and give it all, leaving it all there in the ring for the fans to see as they chant your name in hope that they're most hated villain can be quashed by the sexy blonde with the great ass.
No, of course not. Do you take me for a fool? I'm not so stupid that i wouldn't have a plan, so let's week let's just say i've got an........insurance policy. And if i need it, it will be there.
So i guess i'll see you in the ring, won't I Bliss? Oh sorry, since you seem to be intent on sticking on first names by calling me Alex - the name of my past, a past i will always try and forget - i'll see you in the ring......Kahlan.
*Drake stands up and goes in close to the camera, blowing a kiss as he pushes a button and the promo ends, cutting to black.
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I grin as i turn around, it was certainly much longer than i anticipated for it to be, but i needed to get a lot of things off my chest, and i did just that. I grin as i turn to my bedroom door and see it wide open, meaning that Bliss had obviously snuck out while i was cutting my promo.
"Well, i'm certainly looking forward to the next time i see her then...." I say, with a smug look on my face, and i push the bedroom door back open and fall on my bed, still grinning as i close my eyes and think of all that happened the previous night, and all that is still to happen.
The wheels are in motion.
A revolution is coming.