Post by Mark Hunter on Feb 26, 2022 18:59:51 GMT -5
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
“My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step, they are grey faces that peer over my shoulder.” - William Golding
Unaired Footage
San Jose, California - Unknown Doctors Office
21st February, 2022 - 10:32
Mark’s blue eyes slowly gaze over at the middle aged Dr Dick Bennett, the docs wearing a red suit, pin striped shirt and illuminous green bow tie. The tie Mark seemed to find fascinating. His mouth cracks a smile, wearing almost unbelievably a white Swindle Shelldrake t-shirt, black shorts, and white sneakers..
“What’s so funny Markus?”
“Oh I’m not finding humor in your bow tie at all Dr. Bennett, I see it as a fashion statement, one that you should be extremely proud of. I have to admit, I admire a man who has enough confidence to wear something like that and think it looks good.”
“Well, thank you for your honesty, it’s an acquired taste but I doubt that you came here to talk about my bow tie.”
“No, you’re right Dr. Bennett, I came here to talk about what you want to ask me and what I will either answer with truth or bullshit. Do you mind if I get comfortable?”
“Of course not.”
Mark cracks a smirk and kicks off his sneakers, Mark gets comfortable on the couch catching the Doctor watching him closely…..
“Do you see something you like?”
“Markus, I will ask the questions please, this session is simply a chance for me to evaluate you. There are many concerned including your employers and those that are hosting this event in Hartford that you could be a bit unstable due to the traumatic experience a few months ago regarding the injuries you suffered.”
“Ah yes, poor me I’m sure. Please continue.”
“You’re here because this is your first match back since the day you were injured, a lot of people suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder when coming back for the first time from doing something. In your case you have high expectations, that can be quite the burden mounted on top of everything else that you have going for yourself. Being a celebrity with many businesses on the go, with lofty goals and pressures it all means that someone like you could easily find himself doing more harm than good without even stepping into a ring to wrestle again. Many athletes go through this but for you Markus the most important thing right now is that you are in the right mental state so that you don’t hurt yourself.”
“I completely understand, but when I decided to return and compete I did so not only wanting to do it but ready to do so as well. You see Doc, this for me is not a one shot, this is the beginning of my career, the career that was derailed by people like Swindle, Arata, and most certainly… Matt Knox.”
“Does it bother you that Matt Knox is gone? He’s gone and you may never get your chance for revenge?”
Mark cracks a smile, brushing a hand through his short hair.
“What exactly is revenge Doctor? An act in order to make one feel better about themselves, yes? Well allow me to enlighten you on my feelings about revenge, what can I do to Matt Knox now? Why would I even waste my time? He’s not relevant, wrestling for much smaller companies, probably making ends meet in some street side gas station in the middle of the New Mexico desert. He’s old news, he became his own worst nightmare, irrelevant. Now what does that say about me if I go after someone so unimportant right now without a stage or a captive audience for no one to see? It makes me petty and pathetic. Look at me now, I’m about to be in the Proving Ground main event, he’s probably toking the crack pipe, fighting his demons hoping one-day life brings him some semblance of hope, by then it’ll be too late. No, I don't want revenge, it’s a waste of my time, my success will be enough and looking good doing it with a smile. Wouldn’t you agree Dr. Bennett? You keep staring at me…”
“No Markus, again we are here to talk about you, not me. So you don’t have any resentment toward Matthew then? Tell me about that….”
“Now hold on, I never said I didn’t hate his guts, that I wouldn’t grab a led pipe and crush his skull with it. You mistake revenge with pure animosity. I’ll not go looking for him, I will not seek to do what he did to me but you’re human Doctor and so am I, if he so happened to show up wherever I am? Well that’s a different story, I’m not going to buy him breakfast so to speak.”
“So you would hurt him?”
“Oh I’d do much worse, so it’s best he stays gone.”
“Fair enough. Now, tell me about your childhood. Do you know your real parents?”
“Yes.”
“What do you remember?”
“A lot, I'd say that I had quite a shitty childhood, one that is supposed to make me a bad seed in the eyes of many, a high alert youngster that fits the profile, so with the world the way it is now. I understand why I’m here. Everyone is on edge, always so careful, not trusting their gut instinct anymore. Do you think I’m dangerous Dr. Bennett?”
There is a slight pause, Mark adjusts in his chair and smirks.
“That is why you are here. Some may think that your injuries could have psychologically affected you Markus and that is what we are going to find out.”
“Then cut to the chase and just ask me. Do you want to know what it felt like after I took brutal shots to the head and neck several times? The first time it hurt, the second time hurt a lot and shit became blurry, the third serious time knocked me out. I remember nothing after that until I woke up in a hospital some time later, yes it looked like my face went through a windshield on it’s way into a brick wall. I felt broken because let’s face it, no matter what ANY person on God’s Green Earth says, no one wants to be told the dream is dead.”
Mark continues to tell the story, he sits back on the couch and bends his leg behind comfortably.
“…and after a few months of being broken, hard work after hard fucking work, I am now this. It took a while but I never doubted myself. You see Dick, until you experience this and only a few have in their careers or life, people will never comprehend loss, I do, I get it when something you cherish is taken from you so quickly, that’s when things suddenly become far more understandable. I lost my dream, my ability to wrestle thanks to some punks that couldn’t take the fact I was better than them. So now I’m here. I had a boo-boo to my head, hardly grounds to become a psychopath.”
“No one is saying that Markus, but people do deal with things differently. A lot of what happens to many after a traumatic experience is subconscious. You don’t even know it’s happening until it’s too late and then what? That’s why many times you have to really know the warning signs. You say you don’t want revenge yet you told me that if he showed up you would hurt him.”
“No, I said I do not seek revenge, I will not look for the bastard if that’s what you’re saying.”
“Yes of course. For months you had to deal with a very real life situation, that’s why you’re here. For a man to have to go through that is a lot to take in and hold onto without talking about it.”
Mark’s eyebrow arches a little, then he cracks a smirk….
“What’s so funny? Why do you find humor in this?”
“You act like you care Doc.”
“I do care, I care about doing my job and helping you out anyway I possibly can. That is why you are here Markus and when you can finally come to peace with that, we can progress.”
“Is that what I’m supposed to believe? That’s the problem with Society today, Dr. Bennett, the social networks are not interested in what you say but what you post, they would rather see me topless, sweating and working out, a carnal act of sexploitation so they can rock their jollies off. There are so few sincere people these days, everyone that interacts in this business or just in general wants that edge, they need to feed their own megalomaniacal egos in order to survive. Do you think Project Honor’s current champions care about most of the people they interact with? Absolutely not, they help their overall persona so they can stay relevant. Or what about all those on social media, trying so hard to send a message of positivity through memes and quotes, yet do they really believe in what is being said? No they don’t. Doc, it corrupts you, look at wrestling families and dynasties. Most of them are broken, all because of one thing, power. That’s the joke, power is fake, a façade created by the same individuals who post every single day on the networks in order to get attention.”
“You’ve done it.”
“I did. I stayed off the grid for a long time because I had nothing to offer and just that quickly no one cared that I had disappeared. Don’t you see that this is all momentary? Each and every single one of us have our time in the spotlight, we stand here looking for a place in this world, fit in as best we can to feel good about ourselves. I give them what they want because in return I get what I want. I don’t ask for much good Doctor; all I need is for them to recognize, all that attention everyone else had while I was gone now goes to me, it’s not hard to remind them, that’s the punchline Dr. Bennett.”
He nods and writes a few things down on his notepad before looking back at Mark. He can see that he’s a very intelligent but troubled man, he just doesn’t know the extent of it, he is being drawn in by him though. He looks back, Mark’s enchanting blue eyes stare at him…..
“She died when you were nine, tell me about your relationship with your mother.”
“Great until I killed her.”
His eyes widen……
“Funny what happens when you play with matches.”
“Markus…….”
“SOOOO, now tell me your secret Dr. Bennett? You’ve been giving me the look all morning. Have you been having inappropriate thoughts about me?”
“Markus……this session is….ov…”
Mark lets out a chuckle at clearly making the doctor uncomfortable, he slips his sneakers back on before starting to walk out….
“Am I clear Dr. Bennett?”
“Markus…..”
“AM I CLEAR?”
The doctor puts his head down and sighs…
“Yes.”
“Good, just so you know, you got a mixture of truth and bullshit!!”
Mark walks away chuckling to himself as the Doctor shakes his head.
“My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me, or defeated me; it has only strengthened me.” - Steve Maraboli
Aired Footage
Hartford, Connecticut
25th February, 2022 - 22:04
Mark Hunter walks into his hotel room and kicks off the black shoes. Wearing a three piece black suit with his short dark hair holding position, obviously gelled. He slowly makes his way to the couch of the small suite. His belongings are clear in the background, the Legacy Championship Belt can be seen among them. He pours himself a glass of whiskey and sits down comfortably tucking his feet into the cushions before nodding to the person behind the camera to record his words in the return Project Honor has been waiting for. The confident smirk we’re all used to is back.
“William Shakespeare once said, “Hell is empty, all the Devils are here.” The misconception society has these days is there is good in everyone. I would have to disagree, no I’m not trying to play myself up as some demon or a monster of any kind, I’ll leave the self-entitlement, mockery of what a monster is to those who want to strike “fear” in the hearts of many. It’s apparent that we have a cast of characters here in Project Honor that stake their rightful claim to their “spot”. Some are “heroes” while others “Villains”. They scream and shout from whichever media outlet they can. It’s feeble, it’s as impressive as stooping down like a child screaming “Look Mom, I’m a Professional Wrassler”.”
“As I enjoy this relaxing moment, I’m here to enrich your minds and give you hope in what can only be described as a cynical existence in which you have become despondent to your surroundings. I am here to help, I am here to lift your spirits and show you like I have by my actions in the past that there is a light at the end of that long and dark tunnel….. I’m talking very much to both Arata and Swindle.”
“My life is not despairing.”
“Your life is not forlorn.”
“Life is not irrevocable.”
“That’s why I’m here, why I’ve taken the position of bringing you the truth, the horrors that exist in this world one blind and naïve fool at a time. Have you not observed or perceived that much like the Fountain of Youth in the beginnings of Herodotus, to the search embarked by Juan Ponce De Leon in 1513 that even though this Fountain was never historically found as only rumors point to its existence, in which one drink of its waters will give you eternal youth….”
“A myth?”
“A Legend?”
“A Folklore?”
“Yes, the question is does the Fountain exist? Absolution is that Fountain of Youth and just as deceiving it only appears to those that believe. Ponce de Leon believed that this Fountain was a means of eternity, everlasting pure in its own form but what poor Ponce did not realize was that this symbol did not come in the form of a Fountain…..”
“It came in the form of his demise while searching and never finding.”
He shrugs his shoulders and takes a sip of whiskey, enjoying the complex flavors in the mouth for a moment or two before turning back to the camera and continuing to speak.
“Some seek, always searching for a means to an end yet never truly finding it, so I ask of both Arata and Shelldrake, is this how you want to live your lives? Is this how you want to be known when they throw that last mound of dirt on top of your coffin? Do you want to live your lives always searching and never finding what you so truly desire or what you were meant to be in this society, preaching of change but never delivering it?”
“I can help you figure that one out… but it may hurt.”
“Why become a Tragedy? Why end up like more than half of the Project Honor roster? Always searching for that piece of their proverbial puzzle only to fall short, fail and disappear into the same mediocre shadow they arose from in the first place? Is that what you’re all about?”
“I ask you.”
“Why? Epiphany's influenced by social media or uncaring friends could be the case. You’ll end up aborting or capitulating in your attempts to accomplish these searches for puzzle pieces because you are not different.”
“That’s both alarming and sad.”
“Sad, it brings me to the topic at hand, opportunity. Look at the Proving Ground main event, Arata and Swindle will wear you down with diatribes on how great and successful they will be yet failing at this turn and why? Because much like Ponce de Leon they search for their Fountain of Youth but not finding it, they can’t because I’m back. The problem is that most of these mindless troglodytes do not believe in what they seek, they think they have a grasp but their grip loosens every single moment they step through those curtains and into the ring with a wrestler like me. Resolutions and goals are merely fabricated to make them feel better about their average, common and ordinary lives. They are supposed to give you false hope to create a path for you to reach, a goal to attain and for what?”
“To fail and have to once again make another resolution or goal?”
“That's why I laugh at Arata and Swindle. I was Ponce De Leon but I found MY Fountain of Youth. I embraced what I set to accomplish, I grasped it, never doubting and never looking back. Horror gazed upon me before it temporarily took my career, I extended my arms with a smile knowing that I found my place in this world and I’ve returned to share it with everyone…”
“Believe….”
“Did the Knights of the Round Table believe in the quest of the Holy Grail? Yes, they died for King Arthur searching for that cup that runneth over.”
“Did Amelia Earhart believe she could fly around the globe? Of course she did, only to disappear and perish near Howland Island.”
“Did Albert Einstein give in to the mockery of his teachers when he couldn’t speak at the age of 4 or read at the age of 7, being expelled from school, refused admittance into Zurich Polytechnic, and when he couldn’t get a job but as a lowly patent worker? No… instead he became one of the greatest minds in history.”
“What do they all have in common? They believed in their own Fountain of Youth. Now of course I’d never allow failure and though some of these instances can be looked upon as a failure, their names became etched in the annals of history. They were not run of the mill cookie cutter imbeciles who bought nothing newsworthy to our lives or even entertained in their boring and gratuitous rants, these aforementioned historical figures made an impact. They were not just another face in the crowd, I’m not another face in the crowd, I refuse to be blended into this substandard roster representing Project Honor today.”
“That’s why I’m returning.”
“To make a memorable IMPACT.”
The thoughtful Hunter turns away for a moment before once again taking a sip of his whiskey. He purposely takes some time before turning his blue eyes back to the camera.
“At Proving Ground I bring you something that will set the tone and separate it from the mundane it has become since I left…. I’ll bring something Arata has failed to do, I’ll bring something Swindle has failed to do… and I’m sorry but even my partner Emmanuelle, who I respect greatly, has failed to do… I’ll bring much needed change.”
“Change brings Hope.”
“Change brings Promise.”
“Change brings Reality.”
“Don’t Be Afraid of CHANGE.”
“Am I going to sit here and lecture you on why you should believe? No, I can only offer you my words as truth and if you do not take them for gospel…. then I’ll offer you my sympathy. I am not here to bring down pestilence, famine, barbaric acts or death. I do not want to see the world burn in front of my very eyes only to be recreated in the image of some false Prophet. Like Marquis de Sade once stated, "Destruction hence creation is one of nature’s mandates", isn’t it?”
“Am I that psychotic, lost in my own delusional makeshift world?”
“Of course not, that’s not me. I will prove that on Proving Ground. I’ll make my return, I’ll take that step and inject the reality of what this world has become for those that do not fear change, do not fear betterment, those that do not fear the unknown. I take nothing for granted in this world because you see we all live, we all die. That’s what they teach us when we are young, naïve, innocent and stupid. What we don’t know is how it will happen. It could be a freak accident, a terminal illness or simple bad luck. On the day we are born, happiness fills the air, on the day we die, sadness consumes us all. What separates us from mere animals? Survival. So why do we frown upon those that commit the ultimate sin according to your bible, your scriptures…..Thou Shall Not Kill?”
“Animals kill each other every day for survival. Animals hunt because they have an instinct to keep them alive. The food chain much like our social circles determine the apogee of the hunt while the bourgeoisie on their thrones look down at those same animals they control, feeding on the weak so that they can nourish themselves while smiling at the game they have imposed and fabricated amongst all of you like a marionette, some fantoccini on a string. What do we do? We are controlled, played for amusement and gratification until we too feed on those same animals for just like in the wild we are vying to be that “Apex Predator”. What about us? Survival of the fittest they say. I look at the stars, some cattle, others the swine of Project Honor grazing across their fields. Unbeknownst to them is the predator that stalks, that watches, that waits patiently for the time to strike. Do you know fear; I mean REAL unbridled fear? For some it’s dying, others it’s failure and what do the names Arata Asakura and Swindle Shelldrake have in common?”
“They’ll both fall.”
The confident smirk is unmistakable.
“We’re in a society today where everyone is looked upon as good guys and bad guys. The line between good and evil is a thick one that many don’t cross. Now what if those lines are blurred? What if there is no separation between good and evil? What if they both fall in the same category?”
“What side are you on?”
“Is there really good versus evil? It’s all perception these days or is it a fabrication and twisted design of the beliefs that we as individuals have? Who is right? Who is wrong? Ask yourself and ponder that simple question, I’ll show you so you can see first hand that NO ONE and I mean NO ONE will be excluded. Like the old saying goes, introduce a little Anarchy; Upset the established order and everything becomes Chaos……They question the sanity of people like me? “He’s a good guy.” “Oh he wouldn’t hurt a fly”. But I know me and I sit back on this couch without a care in the world.”
“What I am is a man that knows his limits, just how far I will go to get what I want, there is nothing wrong with that, some call it ambition, others call it greed and for a few they think it’s an act of apathy. Oh you see, I’ll never stab anyone in the back, I’ll do it in the front where you can see the smile on my face, that is honesty in its purest form, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Hold that thought, we’ll get back to it someday no doubt. What’s happened on this earth further solidifies my argument that there are two types of people in this world…”
“You’re either the Butcher or the Cattle….”
Hunter lets out a slight chuckle before finishing off this whiskey. Mark with a sparkle in the eye looks directly down the lens.
“I know which one I am….”
“Can you hear that? Seriously listen closely. That tiny whisper blowing its breath in your ear. That’s not the voices in your head ladies and gentlemen; it’s not your scarred conscience trying to talk you out of this, it’s not God if you are into that advising you to do the right or wrong thing. For in this day and age there are no good or bad guys, just choices.”
“My choices are about to affect Arata and Swindle in ways they can’t comprehend, Project Honor is getting a Mark Hunter they can’t comprehend!!”
Smirk and Static.