Post by Mark Hunter on Apr 7, 2021 13:40:33 GMT -5
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FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES
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“Fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man.” - Frank Pittman
Unaired Footage
San Jose, California
April 2nd, 2021 - 17:19
Two months. Two months without much contact, no loving words spoken. Jelena, and Mark now separated for that long. Four months pregnant as a bigger shock, and damn sure still no loving words spoken between the two. It was time to be an adult, time to mend things, and time to risk everything. There may never be a perfect opportunity to strike but Mark can't wait any longer. He misses his girlfriend, and wants to be there for his unborn child; and family as a whole.
Already in the neighborhood, the hired black Dodge Charger was parked outside right next to the pavement approaching the garage. He sat down in the driver's seat, listening to the calm music playing from the dashboard of the interior. Hands sweating around the driver's wheel, arms shaking, sweat dripping down the side of his head. Mark could barely even look at the front door without turning away every second. He was finally here; really really here, back on American soil for the first time in two months, outside the house he owned for the first time in two months too. He couldn't believe it but it was happening. One chance of a million negatives all being shattered with a yes but now it was show time. He got out of the car after pressing the start button to shut it down, locked it with the click of a key, and each step was slow, and light. Pacing himself to try, and persuade his strong spirit not to do this but his subconscious wouldn't allow that shit.
Knees weak, throat becoming dry. Stood under the light, finger gently pressed against the button to ring the bell. Mark took one giant deep breath, and rang the door. He waited a few seconds until hearing the clicking, and churning of metal in the door knob. It's not long until he saw Jelena open the door, surprised. Short blonde hair undone, green eyes narrowed, and mouth in awe as she couldn't actually believe Mark had turned up, just like her brother Steve had said he would. Was this a dream? Was this a hologram? She certainly wasn't even dressed for this perfect reunion. A long black grey top with the still small baby bump, short green pants, and nothing covering her legs. Mark was in his usual casual black jeans, and red t-shirt as the two stared into each other's eyes without any words being formed to ease the thick tension between them for a while.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
“May I come in?”
“Yeah.”
He walks inside; one small step for boyfriend/ex-boyfriend, one giant step for future father. Returning back to his home, his planet, domain. All sorts of territory. That atmosphere of the air conditioning breezing down his spine, releasing that cold chill down the flesh of his back. It felt beautiful, it felt homesick. He was finally back. Jelena closed the door, and locked it afterwards before following him into the kitchen. He sat down behind the counter in the middle of the kitchen pouring himself a glass of water. Jelena came at the side, and looked at him. Some really thick tension needed to be cut but before they did, they both spoke at the same time.
“I wanted to sa-”
Mark sighed, and went first.
“I'm sorry. I really am. I really am sorry about everything. I don't deserve your forgiveness nor your love but I need it. I really do, and I miss you, and my unborn child. I'm so sorry.”
She nodded her head, and gently slid her right hand across the cold counter top to hold onto his. Mark smiled, and the two latched with their arms around the other. It took a lot out of Jelena to forgive him but she had to. She's with his child, and she finally has the chance of the family she's dreamed of. Not many really have this luxury so it's best to fix it, and nurture it for the better. Without a doubt these two still loved each other, and nothing would change that. There's a time, and place for everything but now it was the time to mend broken promises, and damaged relationships. Once they let go, Jelena leaned herself back against the edge of the counter top while Mark gently caressed the small baby bump.
“How far are you?”
“Four months, and counting. It hasn't been easy but I'm managing.”
“No cravings this early, right?”
“No, none at all.”
Riiiight. Let's just ignore the ripped up bags of snacks, half eaten cake, and ice cream stuffed in the fridge. Mark tilted his head down. Jelena rubbed his back, she can easily tell when his life is being made into hell. After all, she's seen it first hand, and been up close to it as well.
“I'm so glad I'm here right now. My work is driving me insane.”
“Is it because of that Dickie douche? Or Indy Darling? As champ you should be living it large.”
He snapped his head up, and quickly glanced into her eyes. Jelena shrugged.
“How do you know about all that?”
“I have Youtube. I have the Internet? This is 2021? I can access stuff, remember? You shouldn't let this shit get to you. Aren't you facing Lance next time out? You know you’ll get no shit from him. Just don't lose your temper, and don't fall into any traps. Be patient, and wait for your chance. I know Lance will do the same on facing you. He respects you as an opponent so you owe that same respect and full attention too. Plus he’s still the only man to ever beat you one on one, you need to get him back for that.”
She was right. Win or lose, not giving it everything would be the ultimate failure but Mark's temper, and ego are blinding him from seeing that. After so much harassment, and pushing his buttons, you can't really blame him for being the ultimate ass everyone in the Professional Wrestling universe knows him to be.
Before he could get an answer in, Jelena’s phone started ringing. It was her brother Steve Martyn’s number, she quickly answered on loud speaker, leaving the phone on the counter.
“Hello?”
"SIS! The bar's on fucking fire, and local authorities are on the way. They already think it’s arson!"
Mark jumps up.
“What?! SHIT! Tell Steve I’m on the way!!”
Mark instinctively and quickly kisses Jelena before rushing out of the house, whilst she stays on the call. He shot out into the Dodge Charger, violently opening the car door before jumping into the driver's seat. Mark presses the power button and almost on queue his own phone rings, unknown number is seen on the dash. A distorted voice came from the phone. Mark could barely understand it as he listened into it very closely.
“What was that? What did you just fucking say?!”
“The bar fire is just the start of the pain you’ll feel, I will ruin you piece by damn piece for everything you have done.”
“Wha-”
Black-Out!
Unaired Footage
The Mind Of Mark Hunter
Could Be Anytime
“Uhh. What is this? Where am I? What happened? I can't see anything. It's dark, silent. Hello? Hellooooo? Anyone there? Anyone can hear me? HELLO?! HELLO?!?!?!!!”
‘Hello Mark.’
“Who is that?”
‘I am you.’
“What?”
‘I am you. The real you. The evil within you.’
“Why do you sound so...?”
‘Feminine? Poetic? Spontaneous?’
“Weak. You sound weak. It's like you're dying with your last breath. You can't be me.”
‘Oh, typical. Your natural reaction to the true you. I am not weak Mark, I am actually the representation of what you hate the most. The representation of the culmination of accusations, and slander thrown in your direction. You know? All the terrible, and horrible things said about you in your past, and now. It's all true Mark. You're just being a coward. Frantically denying the facts that are right in front of your eyes because you're so easily blinded by your own ego, arrogance, and ignorance. There hasn't been a minute I wanted to break out from this shell in your mind, the deepest corner in your mind so I can finally give my peace, and watch you plead the fifth to your shortcomings.’
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
‘Why do you hate him?’
“Who?”
‘You know who exactly I'm talking about. Lance Williams. The one who says he has your back but hasn't even lifted a finger to come to your aid when needed. It was the same thing all those years ago. You carried that weak motherfucker into the spotlight, and ignited the fire under his ass for him to soar. It was YOU who treated him as equal, and forced him to regain his confidence to become a better version of himself and he hasn’t had the common decency to thank you for showing him the way because he’s too fuckin' jealous, and scared to admit you were ALWAYS the better man.’
“You're wrong. Lance is my friend, one of the only friends I have. I would never be like that to him and visa versa.”
‘Oh really? Remember when you were beating the likes of Indy Darling and Dickie Watson? Remember that? While you were doing that Lance was doing a load of nothing, I certainly remember. I'm the one who subconsciously told you. You're too good for him. He can't even solve his own damn problems in life or wrestling. When Lance needed his career saving, you had to deal with fixing it, you were the one to put things right. Now Lance needs to feel relevant so he has to be in a match against you. He has become a freeloader. You're no hero Mark, you're no villain. You're a fuckin' sorry pussy of a human being. Unable to just drop his balls, and get with the fuckin' program. News Flash Mark. You see yourself as something else but I see you as a fuckin' mirror image of all those you are so quick to mock.’
“You are fucking wrong! Stop talking to me like you know exactly who I am you sick fuck!”
‘Oh, I'm the sick fuck?!’
“I know who I am, what I represent and what I mean to this world. Nice try dipshit.”
‘Wow. Don't make me laugh Mark. Stop kidding yourself. The entire world has seen the monster you are to the people you even care about, and that's because you have no regards for anyone but yourself in this business or life. As it should be, it's why you should be one of the most feared talents on the roster, and you should be Grand Champion forever but you continue to hold yourself back. Who holds themselves back? Why do it? All that power held in this body just because of what others might think. You think Lance cares about you more than the chance to knock off a champion after his pile of nothing so far in Project Honor? Hell no. He wants to use you.’
“You are so fucking wrong!”
‘Who are you trying to convince? Don’t trust Lance Williams. Let me, the evil within you control this week's war, you know you love ending wars, it sits so well with the bad guy you are.’
“Just because I like to end my wars that makes me the bad guy? But this time it’s different anyway, Lance Williams is a match, no more.”
‘The squared circle is our dome of war. Our home of war, and yes. You end it. You end it in the worst case scenario possible. Remove the problem that could be Lance Williams. Just move on from one war to the other, Treat Lance the same, he doesn’t care; gallivant in your victory; relish in your glory. Get that chunky shit eating grin plastered from ear to ear as you watch him collapse into dust and be blown away by the winds of change, just like the rest before and after. A beautiful scenery, and poetic song to be sung all around your career for as long as you live. Ultimately I'm The Evil Within… and I need to be set free!!’
“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” - Ferdinand Foch
Aired Footage
San Jose, California
April 5th, 2021 - 21:03
"I understand that when things don't go your way for some time and you know deep in your heart, you're the next great thing to happen to mankind, the psychological damage of being shoved to the side can really hurt. Trust me, I know how that felt for a long time in my career. We're given opportunities when we push ourselves and put it all on the line thus in the end, our stock in the market rises so much that everyone wants a piece. Everyone wants to be a shareholder but little do they know they can never be chairman of the board due to a strong individual with the right mindset for this business. What happened to you Lance? You're growing into something my friend and you're finally in a position to take matters into your own hands which I one hundred percent applaud. As the old saying goes, if you want something done right, you do it yourself though. But now that applies to me Lance. It applies to me because you have an opportunity awarded to you to compete in the main event against yours truly, as a friend I think that’s great… but you know as well as I do, this is business and it has to be my business to squash that opportunity."
The scene begins after the short monologue echoes around what could be seen as a burnt building in the middle of San Jose. Steve Martyn’s bar, which was only a couple of days ago a thriving business, now looks fire damaged, grimy, beaten down, walls cracked and dusty air taking plague. The camera shows Mark Hunter standing under the moonlight beams seeping through the open cracks in the wall reflecting off his silver suit, silver tie, Grand Championship Belt, and even his polished black dress shoes. Not the typical attire he would wear outside the ring. His hazel eyes stare into the camera lens and demands all who watch to feel the intense stare breaking through their souls.
"See Lance. In your career you've been sidelined and misjudged. Misunderstood. The great Lance Williams is now on the verge of blowing steam through his nostrils and burning everything down to see his lands uprooted in pure glory, however only one person has ever believed in you right? ME!! That's the issue you've been having lately, no? You want to be a star and a champion just as much as I do but you need an opportunity to come you're way, you haven't been a man to force it and make it something more like I've done with the Grand Championship. The career of Lance Williams has proved one thing. Always so close to the end of the line but can't scrape your fingertips across the finish to earn the gold around your waist. It's a condition which drives you crazy, forcing you to enter a world of madness which influences your decisions and actions into a path you yourself would never believe would happen in your lifetime. As your friend I can see all that in you. It's okay. We make decisions, we do things, our actions reflect our emphatic role in society. The only thing that really makes us different is the fact I am better than you and get results."
He nodded his head. Eyes let down, head tilted down. The sigh of disappointment escaping through his lips. Mark lifted his head and replaced that pitiful demeanor with a more cocky smirk reaching from cheekbone to right ear.
“Does it burn you to know that when the world looks at you, you're always going to be seen as Mark Hunter’s friend, seen as not as good, seen as that solid B plus player? It must plague your mind. Again as a friend I beg of you to be more, we need to see a beast arise from the forgotten sands and demand retribution on everyone who cast him aside. I pray you can be more than an outcast from the main event scene and bring every bit of destruction and enforced pain to this fight, please bring wrath and hatred until all who said you would be nothing are silenced. Business wise it would be shit for me, but as a friend, I would be over the fucking moon. There was a time I never thought I would come face to face with Lance Williams in a wrestling ring again and in fact, I'm glad I am. It’s a special moment. It’s time for you to take the stage I create by being your opponent and stick a middle finger up to the critics who have always denounced your true talent inside the ring Lance, it’s time to force a brand new judgment, time to show that maybe you are not lacking the tools to complete your career goals.”
“This is what I've always wanted from you Lance. Please do it! Please bring out the true man buried behind your conscience, please find the fire that fought back after six whole years of recovery. This is it, this is the golden key for you, the golden ticket to your last ride all the way to the top of the mountain, my coat tails are waiting for you. This is your one true stairway to heaven because the highway to hell was always your road.”
“It could be the perfect story. Lance. The one man denied everything has his final chance to be a winner and relevant, but every story comes to a pivotal moment in the plot to sway the readers, it’s the moment you find out if he even has it in him. The turning point in the story making the readers question the expected happy ending. I am that pivotal plot because you are in a harsh circumstance due to having a match against me on MY SHOW!! In other words Lance, it's time I introduce you to my world of pain all over again, it’s time I right the wrong of many years ago. My birthday present to myself on the ninth of April in Egypt has to be no less than that,”
“This version of Mark Hunter respects the current version of Lance Williams more than he did the old one… this Mark Hunter will not take you lightly… this Mark Hunter will not make the mistake of taking his only ever one on one defeat in a throwaway mid card match due to ego… this Mark Hunter will win because it’s the main event, it’s my time, it fucking matters to me damn it!! Seventeen fucking years in this business and I have just one singles match defeat to my name… that fucking burns at me dammit!!"