Post by Tyrant Warstein on Apr 7, 2021 22:24:04 GMT -5
Presents:
Chapter 10: The Boy Will Be Alright
Chapter 10: The Boy Will Be Alright
There I was sitting on the curb of the street. A small trickle of blood coming out of the corner of my mouth. The iridescent glow of my phone lighting my face as I scroll through my contacts. I use my free hand to wipe the blood from my lip. Several people walking down the street stare as they talk in hushed tones. I simply close my eyes and take a deep breath. Lost in my own thoughts for just a brief moment.
“Well what is there to say? James and I walked out of Wired Consequences still Tag Team Champions, as if that was the shock of the century. It’s everything that happened after that. See I’m not stupid enough to think everyone follows every thing I do, or to follow my day to day life. So I guess I’ll give you all the cliffsnotes and get you up to speed. Well let’s see over in the XWF and their March Madness tournament, I faced off with Atara in the Elite Eight. That led to us breaking up after I asked her to marry me, then I made it all the way to the finals, only to come up just a bit short. Also the L.I.E. bot turned out to be run by my half brother Derek McCallum. A brother I didn’t even know that I had, and he’s kind of a dick. Like I know I’m a dick, so me saying that must carry some weight. Oh did you gloss over that fact? Yeah. She left. Am I happy? No. Will I deal with it? Yeah.”
“Well in my own way I will… let’s go back to earlier in the evening then.”
Taxim Bar and Restaurant
Chicago, Illinois
9:47 PM
The sound of my empty glass rattling on the bar top gathers the attention of the barkeep. He walks over, bottle in his hand and a slight smirk on his face. “Never seen you here before.”
“Yeah.” I responded. “Just closing a chapter.”
“Well we’ve all been there.” He raises the bottle and refills my drink. “I don’t usually get many people in here asking for the high end stuff. It’s a nice change of pace.”
“Mmhmm.” I didn’t mean to be rude but my mind weighs heavy. The amber liquid fills my glass as I raise it up. “To new beginnings.”
“Opa!” The barkeep raises his glass. The sound of glass resonates. “So what are we celebrating?” A warm smile from him.
I sigh loudly and take a sip from my drink. “Celebrating isn’t the word I’d use.” I quickly down the last of the drink and tap my finger on the side. He grabs the bottle and once again fills the glass. “More like beating myself up. Trying to determine what happened. One day everything was seemingly going good, and the next…” I snap my fingers loud enough to catch the attention of some of the other patrons at the bar. “Gone. As if it was nothing. As if I was nothing. It’s kinda why I’m here, hoping something shakes loose.”
The barkeep nods his head, and begins to mindlessly wipe the countertop. “You know all you could do is put yourself out there, what happens next isn’t your decision.” I lift my glass and inspect the contents for a brief moment, before swallowing the entire payload.
“Yeah. Just like at work.” I shake the glass towards him, as he nods and grabs the bottle. “Like there is so much I should be doing. I’m seen as a…” I begin to roll my wrist. “As a bit of an asshole. Like I put my foot in my mouth way before I think about the repercussions. It’s a flaw, and I deal with it constantly. And that’s my burden. Yet here I am down on my luck, and who’s here? You…..” I said nonchalantly as I looked up and the man shrugs. “No offense. Yet I could scroll through my phone and see hundreds of names…” As I said that I pulled out my phone and began to swipe through my contacts. “Not a single one of them reached out to me. Not one fucking person asked HOW I WAS DOING….”
“I wouldn’t say that….”
A voice bellows from the front of the establishment. It took a second before I looked over to see who was there. Derek McCallum, my younger half brother, strides in and takes a seat next to me. Patting me on the shoulder as he sits. “I told you how it was going to end well before it all happened. You chose not to listen.”
I feel my blood begin to boil. “Now isn’t the time Derek.”
“Well when would be a good time, Mr. Tyrant.” The snideness of the comment was thick. “Shall I come back when it’s more convenient for you? Or shall I just say I told you so and we can move on?”
“Just go away Derek.” I shoo him away with the back of my hand. “You’ve done enough already, just go back under whatever rock you climbed out from and leave me alone.”
Derek smirks and pulls out a wad of cash and sets in on the counter. “I’ll come back when it’s easier for you to understand.” Derek looks at the barkeep. “His tab is on me.”
Derek smiles and walks out of the bar. It’s far more unassuming than I would’ve expected. I shake my head and chuckle to myself. “What a dick.”
“Seems okay to me.” The barkeep said as he refilled my drink.
“Let me tell you exactly what he’s done and you’ll think otherwise Maalik.” As I raise my glass and lean forward on the second top, and begin the tale of my past three weeks.
A Scene Transition so Sick, you’re like a tween getting off of the spinning cups as Disney after gorging on cotton candy and fish sticks all day.
Well hello again Proving Ground.
Tis I, your Tyrant.
Shawn Warstein. I am back from the dredges of Fallout and have come back victorious. For I have laid waste to the tag team known as The Big Drip. They put up an admirable fight…..
*Slight Chuckle from Shawn*
Ok well they fought valiantly…..
*Uncontrollable Laughter bordering on knee slapping*
Well they showed up to the arena.
*Shawn Gains composure*
Okay. If the best thing that can be said is at least they showed up, then what in the ever loving fuck am I even doing here? Why did I even bother going one hundred percent against them? Why did I even waste my breath on them?
Well I’m glad you asked Blair .
Simply because I don’t know any other way. I don’t sit back and wait for opportunities to fall in my lap. I go out there and I fucking make it happen. By Hook, or by Crook. Not a single person on this planet can say I never earned anything. Sure there are those out there that can say I backstage politic’d my way to the top.
Guess what?
You’re goddamn right! It’s called putting yourself in a position to come out ahead. If you aren’t behind the scenes fighting for yourself to get the recognition you deserve, and are waiting for it to be handed to you…
Then you’re doing it all wrong.
I have never been one to shy away from my ego. I put it out there for the fucking world to see. And everyone sits there talking about it.
“Man does he ever shut up?” Or my personal favorite. “Someone should teach him a lesson.”
Do you know what the major flaw in all of that is? It’s the fact that no matter what they say behind my back or , on the rare occasion, to my face; not a single one of them will step up when I say let’s go.
Sure I could easily say, hey Elena I want a shot, and it would be given to me. Would you like to know why? Blair ? Would you like to know the truth of this company?
Without James and myself, there would be no Project Honor. While all of you out there scrounge for Retweets, Legacy brings eyes to the company. There’s a reason why we were featured on a FALLOUT Pay Per View, against unfortunately another Proving Ground team. What does that tell you?
People aren’t buying Project Honor…. they are buying Legacy. They see us and they flock. Why do you think I get begged to be on every show. Why do you think James Edgebrook creams in his pants every time I mention The Edge? It’s because he knows that we bring value to a sinking ship.
That’s where everyone not named James comes into play.
You all know you’re lesser right? You know that at any moment we decide to, this whole place goes belly up by summer.
So after saying all of that, I can finally get to you Blair . You see I didn’t get a chance to ever actually respond to anything you said in the Tyrant match…. mostly because I couldn’t care less about what you had to say, however a little Birdy told me that I should at least attempt to make it seem like I care. So I guess I’ll do just that.
It’s clear to me and anyone else who the half a brain, that I am not what you would call a “Tag Team Specialist”, actually for the majority of my career that would be one of the biggest lies on the planet. It wasn’t until late January 2020 that I won my first tag team title… let that sink in….
Twenty years….
One reign.
And now here I’ve added the second.
Do you know why it’s just the two? Because I was a miserable human at the time. No one wanted to be partnered with me. I’d turn on them quicker you going down on some dude in a UCLA frat house.
So the pure fact that you think I’m a Tag Team wrestler is laughable. Yes, James and I are the Tag Team Champions…. However, No that’s not all we are. If you decided to do just a bit of research, you’d know that. However everyone is just going to plead ignorance on that front.
“But Shawn, how would we know?!?”
It’s everyone’s fault that they need to paint someone into a small nice little bucket. So they can say…. yup you go here, and you go there, and everything is lined up nice and pretty.
But I break barriers. I smash opinions. I am better than you.
Sorry Blair that’s just the truth. Even with my one loss, you can see that right? Since the day I walked in the doors, it’s always been about ME.
You can see that right?
I know you’re going to be hungry to avenge the loss in the War Games… but you just don’t have it in you. You want to call yourself one of the best and brightest, but that’s just not the case. Hell even with Raven not being booked, and Betsy leaving the company…
I’m still here. More of my victories have come in singles competition than in tag team. More of my victories have gone against ‘giants’ in this company. More of my victories have come at the expense of people running their mouths when they shouldn’t have.
Yes Blair, I talk.
I talk a lot of shit.
The difference between myself and everyone else is that I back it up. Week in and week out. When the most notable thing about you is a victory over Pat The Postman, it really makes me second guess being here. Like what did you do to deserve a court with the Tyrant?
Who on god’s green earth did you piss off to get put into such a no win situation?
Who in the back thought this would be a good idea?
Who thought this was going to open eyes?
Blair I really do wish you nothing but the best. You seem like an alright kid, however the second you step between those ropes, and the bell rings…
All bets are off. I’ve destroyed people I loved in the middle of the ring. I’ve made people that had my back beg for my mercy. In that ring I am at home. I am at peace. Inside those ropes my empathy, what little I do have, disappears. I’ve taken the fight to Family. I’ve held nothing back because this is what I do! This is who I am.
In that ring, I am The Tyrant.
And you’re nothing more than a peasant.
A Gentle, yet still sick transition back to the Bar.
The bar had filled up with many more patrons while I was regaling the barkeep with the tale of my last three weeks. At first the low hum of the house music didn’t bother me. “And that gets us to right now.”
“Yeah I can see why you’ve taken down this bottle.” The barkeep shakes the empty bottle. “Now when we reorder, I’ll have a reason to get the good stuff again.”
I give him a slight nod. “Yeah, don’t think I’ll be coming back to this establishment again.”
A dour expression comes across the bartenders face. “Why is that?”
“Just wanted one last…” I raise my hands nonchalantly. “Opa! Before that door is closed forever.”
“Well I wouldn’t say closed forever.” The barkeep smiles and nods.
“What is it with everyone?” I stand up from the bar and shove my glass over the edge. It shatters upon contact on the ground. “It’s done! There is no longer going to be an Us. It’s now going to be nothing but hatred and vitriol towards each other…..” I lower my head, while reaching into my pocket to pull out my wallet. “I just need to put all of that behind me. She’s going to do whatever it is she’s going to do, and I’m just going to keep moving forward like I always do.” A quick toss of some cash onto the counter.
“You’re paid up.” The barkeep slides the cash back towards me. “Remember?”
“Yeah I remember.” I shrug quickly. “That’s for what happens next.”
A few bar patrons caught my attention after the glass had broken. I could sense that they wanted to say something, but held back because the situation hadn’t called for it. I walked up towards the two men at the table.
“How’s it going……” I didn’t finish the sentence before I swung on the unknowing man. My fist landed flush to show cheek. “I’m sorry…” His friend quickly shoved the table to the side to lunge towards me. We are quickly rolling around on the ground.
A blind flurry of elbows and punches. Neither one of us giving an inch. His hand grazes my left eyebrow, causing me to cover up for a mere second, and in that time he had gotten a full mount. Raining punches in my direction. The bartender makes his way from behind the counter and drags the man off of me.
As I leap to my feet and rush towards the man, my collar is grabbed and I am halted in my tracks. “Come on man, you don’t want to do this…” The calming tones cause me to stop.
Yet before I could respond a chair was thrown towards me, as a man tackled me to the ground. My head bounced off the ground like a basketball, as my vision went blurry. I struggle to see anything, but at the last possible instant I see a fist flying down towards me. I roll to my left, and as his hand hits the tile floor, I quickly back elbow his arm. With a loud yelp of pain the man grabs his arm to keep it from dangling freely.
His friend pulls him up from the floor, and attempts to kick me while I lay on my back. I catch his foot, and with a swift kick to his groin he’s hunched over. I pull myself to a knee and am face to face with him.
I grab him by the back of the head, and lift his head up to face mine. As he winces in pain, I spit blood onto the floor and give him a quick smile.
“Fuck Greece.”
With my full force I shove the man’s face into the floor. His body goes completely limp as soon as it makes contact to the floor. The bartender picks me up from under the armpits and drags me towards the door. “Go on get out of here….”
“I swear….” I stumble past the threshold of the door. “I swear, I’m not a bad guy….”
“Bad moments happen to all of us.” He lowers his head and then quickly nods outside. “One bad moment can change everything, thankfully for you, this won’t be one of them…. now get out of here.”
I stumble out into the street, never to look back. All I can do now is move forward. As I lean up against a streetlight, I slide down. There I was sitting on the curb of the street. A small trickle of blood coming out of the corner of my mouth. As I pull out my phone. The iridescent glow lighting my face as I scroll through my contacts. I use my free hand to wipe the blood from my lip. I stopped at the only contact I knew would answer.
“Hey….” Clearly frustrated I hold the phone away from my face and then quickly put it back to my ear. “So… I’m not doing so hot right now. I just got into a fight in some Greek bar like five blocks from my house.”
I watch as several people walk by, paying no attention to the drunk man bleeding from his face, sitting on the curb. “I just need someone, anyone to tell me I’ll be alright…. I just need anyone…”
I hang up the phone and toss it into my lap. I lightly tap my head against the street lamp. When suddenly a large flash of light blinds me as I shield my face.
The subtle hum of Excellence rings in my ears, and when it finally stops the doors burst open. The silhouettes of two people walk towards me.
“Oh god….” The unmistakable voice of James Raven gets me to raise an eyebrow. “He looks like shit and smells like a goddamn bourbon distillery.”
“Just get him to his feet.” The calming tones of Betsy Granger cause me to turn my head in her direction. “Oh ‘Brother Mine’, what did you do this time?”
“Nothing…”
“Bullshit.” Raven tosses me over his shoulder like a toddler. “If you weren’t hammered and bleeding I might’ve believed you.” Raven follows Betsy into Excellence.
Through the many corridors and down the final hall the door to my room for the evening awaits. James tosses me onto the mattress and gives me a small pat on the head, before disappearing into the ship. Betsy walks over and sits down on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay?” She asks while grabbing my hand.
“Bets….” I slowly open my eyes and curl my bottom lip. “Am I a bad person?”
The slight hesitation from Betsy all but sealed my thoughts, but what she said next made me feel a bit better. “Yes, but you’re working on it. You’ve welcomed me into Legacy without a second thought. You fight for James, Noah, Jax, and most of all yourself. We all want what’s best for you Shawn.... However yes, you are a bad person, but you’re not a bad guy. Get some rest. We are taking a quick vacation, to relax.”
“But Egypt.” I stammered.
“Egypt and whatever other reject they put across from you can wait. That’s me putting my foot down.” Betsy smiled and exited the room, shutting the door behind her as the camera fades to black.
