Post by masondestruction on Jun 14, 2021 21:43:33 GMT -5
“ You know I kept thinking about what I wanted to say here, how I would come at this. Because from the way I see it? The Ascension championship has just been throw at me on a silver platter, and all I have to do is reach out and grasp it.
But that’s easier said than done. “
From the fading sunlight and into the nocturnal, I find myself walking down the Atacama shore, the sand slipping through my bare feet as the cooling breeze of the ocean washes over my chest. I had left Brazil without seeing any of the beaches, and I wasn’t going to make the same mistake here in Ecuador, something about the water reminded me of home. Although this water was much more clear than the shores of Indiana Beach, and a lot less man-made.
Turning to the water, I let the tide catch the tip of my nose as I let out an exhale, before breathing deeply into the salty brine-filled air.
“Not from a physical perspective. When I see the men I’m supposed to face I don’t feel any fear. It’s the girl who’s gone that leaves me stuttering. It’s the champion that I’ll never get to defeat, a title I’ll never truly earn. Because once I pick up that belt, I can already hear what they’ll say…They’ll say Mason is good, but he would of never beat Kasey… Mason is a dominant champion, but could you imagine if Winterborn came back? Now that would be a match! “
I don’t know if my frustration breaks through my calm demeanor, but I continue anyway - shoving my hands into my black and white swim trunks.
“ You screwed me, Kasey, you screwed me because you were too afraid to go out on your back. To be defeated, to let me have my fucking moment in the sun. “
As my eyes wander the vast empty sea, they settle on the moon which hovers above it.
“ But that just motivates me. It motivates me to be even bigger than you were - to take your throne and make it my own. I won’t stop until the name Mason Destruction is the only name you think of when you hear the words Ascension Champion, when you hear the name Fallout. If you don’t want to be a part of my rise Kasey, then that’s fine. There’s plenty of others who would break their back to have the opportunity I have now, the one you gave up.
That’s where people like Daniel Horror, Arik Holt, Lesley Adora, and Las Sombras come in. Four men who want that championship just as much as I do. And It’ll take all I have to put them down, and take what’s rightfully mine. What’s been mine from the start. Because once again I look around the ring and see people who haven’t earned it the way I have. They haven’t earned the right to face for that championship. “
Looking into the camera for the first time, I give it a half-hearted shrug as I take a seat in the sand, burying my feet underneath the wet stuff.
“ I guess that doesn’t really matter, does it? Who cares that I earned a match for that championship? Who cares the only reason I’m not champion now is because I decided to clothesline Adora over the ropes, because I put my faith in my partner. Who cares? When people like Daniel Horror just get another shot like that, or when all Rey has to do is show up and turn out the lights? “
I chuckle, but it’s not friendly - it’s a disappointed chuckle one that hangs from my lips as I talk about The Shadow King.
“ You talk about Shadows, you talk about darkness Sombras… But what do you really know about it? You hide behind a mask because your face isn’t intimidating enough? You put up an act because if you were to reveal who you actually are… Would we all be bored?
Darkness is the taste of steel in your mouth when you can’t pay the rent, and your baby is crying in the next room. Darkness is working 60 hours a week and still be starving at the end. Darkness is living in your truck because you can’t afford a hotel room even though you’re on a major network. It’s pushing your child aside, just to kill yourself in that ring.
JUST TO BE DENIED WHAT YOU’VE EARNED. “
I was yelling, but I didn’t really care as there was no one around. I could scream all I want and the only people who would hear me are those watching now. Which in hindsight is the entire world, but at this moment? I was just a man letting out his frustration.
“ I beat down Lesley Adora, I shoved that stupid fucking glove right in his mouth and booted it down his throat. I’ve pinned him in the middle of the ring… Yet for some reason he still gets another shot, another chance, another opportunity to fuck up what I’ve had my eyes on since walking into Project Honor. But unlike before, this won’t end if I take him out… “
My breathing was heavy, as I keep in the flow of my words, but try and pace myself. I was getting excited, I was getting rowdy, I felt the anxiety and the adrenaline hit each other as I continue speaking from the heart.
“ It only ends when I take all of you out… Horror, Holt, Adora, and Sombras. See this is the kind of match that made me a legend back in Indiana, a dumpster fire match - it’s something that makes me feel at home even thousands of miles away. Because it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, bleeding, making other people bleed, throwing motherfuckers into dumpsters… That’s the same in any language, and I guess you could say I’m pretty fluent. “
Pushing my tuft of hair back, I let my eyes graze back over to the ocean, placing an off-brand cigarette into my lips and lighting it up. I watch as the burning cherry from my smoke illuminates through the darkness, aiding the moonlight. Rolling it around my lips as smoke seeps through my nostrils, my mind still wandering from thought to thought.
“ That’s why I said I feel like I’ve been handed this championship on a silver platter. Not because I’m underselling my opponents, but because I’ve been here before. I know what it’s like to be set on fire, I can fight through a chair shot - when things get violent, I go back to my roots, my instincts. I molded myself in violence, and I adapted it to wrestling because I fucking love this shit.
I’m not someone’s lackey like Holt, I don’t need to convince you all to follow my light, like Lesley…And that shadows don’t scare me. The only Horror you all are going to see is me sending four other men to their doom, to their… Dare I say it?
Destruction. “
Couldn’t help but laugh, I love a good play on words. And at this moment I truly did feel like Mason Destruction, I felt as if I could take on the world. Pushing everything aside, I wasn’t going to let another chance at this championship slip through my fingers, even if I had to put everything else in the back of my mind to do so.
“ Maybe I sound overconfident, maybe I’m not looking at the bigger picture, at the fact that with Kasey gone this is anyone’s match to take. I can’t control what everyone is doing, what’s on their mind. I can only focus on myself, and what this means to me. This will make it all worth it, this will make being away from my kid worth it…”
And just like that, a look of panic washes over my face as I realize what has happened. I struggle to get my phone out of my pocket and looking at the time. That panic turns into full anxiety as I swipe up and make the call. It rings, it rings for what sounds like forever before she picks up.
“ Where in the fuck where you Mason? “ She asks, I can tell by the sound of her voice she’s fucking livid.
“ My bad, I… I lost track of time. Is he still up? “
A huff of anger on the other line followed by words dripping with attitude, like claws in my chest.
“ I just got him to sleep after a full night of balling his god damn eyes out waiting for daddy to call! Where were you?”
Where was I? I was focusing on the biggest opportunity of my life… But that seemed so minuscule compared to how I felt now.
“ I drove out to the beach… Get my head clear coming into this match. I’m sorry, I lost track of the time. It got away from me. “
Even I didn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth, the excuses, not admitting to the fact that I forgot. How could I?
“ You don’t get to “ lose track of time. “ Mason ”
She was mocking me, I deserve it.
“ You don’t get to not call your SON! When you’re supposed to call YOUR son! That’s not how this works. You want to be a wrestler and a father? That’s fine. You know I’ll support you. But the second that job, that lifestyle, the traveling? When that becomes more important to you, I swear there won’t be a place here for you when you come home. “
I didn’t deserve that, I was a good father, I just forgot. That happens, my face scrunches up as I bite down on my lower lip - wanting so badly to lose my temper and tell this bitch exactly what would happen if she tried that. But now wasn’t the time, and she was right. I shouldn’t have forgotten.
“ Look, Clarissa… I’m sorry. “
“ Sorry isn’t good enough”
Biting down on my lip harder. “ WELL IT’S ALL I FUCKING GOT!”
I yelled, I didn’t mean to but it just slipped out and there was a long silence on the phone, one that became so uncomfortable I had no choice but to keep talking.
“ This shit… Traveling all around the world, being away from K. It’s new to me alright? It’s fucking hard! I’m busting my ass over here, trying to give him the father he deserves, one that he can be proud of. I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I gotta’ go. Tell Kadence I love him, and that I’ll call him as soon as I wake up. “
I hung up the phone, not giving her a chance to respond. Because I didn’t need to hear it, not now, not with everything on the line. I knew that I had made a mistake, I knew that I had let my son down. So I sat there on the beach, wallowing in my self-pity - once again trying to push those feelings to the back of my head.
Because they weren’t important right now.
The only thing that was?
The Ascension championship.
But that’s easier said than done. “
From the fading sunlight and into the nocturnal, I find myself walking down the Atacama shore, the sand slipping through my bare feet as the cooling breeze of the ocean washes over my chest. I had left Brazil without seeing any of the beaches, and I wasn’t going to make the same mistake here in Ecuador, something about the water reminded me of home. Although this water was much more clear than the shores of Indiana Beach, and a lot less man-made.
Turning to the water, I let the tide catch the tip of my nose as I let out an exhale, before breathing deeply into the salty brine-filled air.
“Not from a physical perspective. When I see the men I’m supposed to face I don’t feel any fear. It’s the girl who’s gone that leaves me stuttering. It’s the champion that I’ll never get to defeat, a title I’ll never truly earn. Because once I pick up that belt, I can already hear what they’ll say…They’ll say Mason is good, but he would of never beat Kasey… Mason is a dominant champion, but could you imagine if Winterborn came back? Now that would be a match! “
I don’t know if my frustration breaks through my calm demeanor, but I continue anyway - shoving my hands into my black and white swim trunks.
“ You screwed me, Kasey, you screwed me because you were too afraid to go out on your back. To be defeated, to let me have my fucking moment in the sun. “
As my eyes wander the vast empty sea, they settle on the moon which hovers above it.
“ But that just motivates me. It motivates me to be even bigger than you were - to take your throne and make it my own. I won’t stop until the name Mason Destruction is the only name you think of when you hear the words Ascension Champion, when you hear the name Fallout. If you don’t want to be a part of my rise Kasey, then that’s fine. There’s plenty of others who would break their back to have the opportunity I have now, the one you gave up.
That’s where people like Daniel Horror, Arik Holt, Lesley Adora, and Las Sombras come in. Four men who want that championship just as much as I do. And It’ll take all I have to put them down, and take what’s rightfully mine. What’s been mine from the start. Because once again I look around the ring and see people who haven’t earned it the way I have. They haven’t earned the right to face for that championship. “
Looking into the camera for the first time, I give it a half-hearted shrug as I take a seat in the sand, burying my feet underneath the wet stuff.
“ I guess that doesn’t really matter, does it? Who cares that I earned a match for that championship? Who cares the only reason I’m not champion now is because I decided to clothesline Adora over the ropes, because I put my faith in my partner. Who cares? When people like Daniel Horror just get another shot like that, or when all Rey has to do is show up and turn out the lights? “
I chuckle, but it’s not friendly - it’s a disappointed chuckle one that hangs from my lips as I talk about The Shadow King.
“ You talk about Shadows, you talk about darkness Sombras… But what do you really know about it? You hide behind a mask because your face isn’t intimidating enough? You put up an act because if you were to reveal who you actually are… Would we all be bored?
Darkness is the taste of steel in your mouth when you can’t pay the rent, and your baby is crying in the next room. Darkness is working 60 hours a week and still be starving at the end. Darkness is living in your truck because you can’t afford a hotel room even though you’re on a major network. It’s pushing your child aside, just to kill yourself in that ring.
JUST TO BE DENIED WHAT YOU’VE EARNED. “
I was yelling, but I didn’t really care as there was no one around. I could scream all I want and the only people who would hear me are those watching now. Which in hindsight is the entire world, but at this moment? I was just a man letting out his frustration.
“ I beat down Lesley Adora, I shoved that stupid fucking glove right in his mouth and booted it down his throat. I’ve pinned him in the middle of the ring… Yet for some reason he still gets another shot, another chance, another opportunity to fuck up what I’ve had my eyes on since walking into Project Honor. But unlike before, this won’t end if I take him out… “
My breathing was heavy, as I keep in the flow of my words, but try and pace myself. I was getting excited, I was getting rowdy, I felt the anxiety and the adrenaline hit each other as I continue speaking from the heart.
“ It only ends when I take all of you out… Horror, Holt, Adora, and Sombras. See this is the kind of match that made me a legend back in Indiana, a dumpster fire match - it’s something that makes me feel at home even thousands of miles away. Because it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, bleeding, making other people bleed, throwing motherfuckers into dumpsters… That’s the same in any language, and I guess you could say I’m pretty fluent. “
Pushing my tuft of hair back, I let my eyes graze back over to the ocean, placing an off-brand cigarette into my lips and lighting it up. I watch as the burning cherry from my smoke illuminates through the darkness, aiding the moonlight. Rolling it around my lips as smoke seeps through my nostrils, my mind still wandering from thought to thought.
“ That’s why I said I feel like I’ve been handed this championship on a silver platter. Not because I’m underselling my opponents, but because I’ve been here before. I know what it’s like to be set on fire, I can fight through a chair shot - when things get violent, I go back to my roots, my instincts. I molded myself in violence, and I adapted it to wrestling because I fucking love this shit.
I’m not someone’s lackey like Holt, I don’t need to convince you all to follow my light, like Lesley…And that shadows don’t scare me. The only Horror you all are going to see is me sending four other men to their doom, to their… Dare I say it?
Destruction. “
Couldn’t help but laugh, I love a good play on words. And at this moment I truly did feel like Mason Destruction, I felt as if I could take on the world. Pushing everything aside, I wasn’t going to let another chance at this championship slip through my fingers, even if I had to put everything else in the back of my mind to do so.
“ Maybe I sound overconfident, maybe I’m not looking at the bigger picture, at the fact that with Kasey gone this is anyone’s match to take. I can’t control what everyone is doing, what’s on their mind. I can only focus on myself, and what this means to me. This will make it all worth it, this will make being away from my kid worth it…”
And just like that, a look of panic washes over my face as I realize what has happened. I struggle to get my phone out of my pocket and looking at the time. That panic turns into full anxiety as I swipe up and make the call. It rings, it rings for what sounds like forever before she picks up.
“ Where in the fuck where you Mason? “ She asks, I can tell by the sound of her voice she’s fucking livid.
“ My bad, I… I lost track of time. Is he still up? “
A huff of anger on the other line followed by words dripping with attitude, like claws in my chest.
“ I just got him to sleep after a full night of balling his god damn eyes out waiting for daddy to call! Where were you?”
Where was I? I was focusing on the biggest opportunity of my life… But that seemed so minuscule compared to how I felt now.
“ I drove out to the beach… Get my head clear coming into this match. I’m sorry, I lost track of the time. It got away from me. “
Even I didn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth, the excuses, not admitting to the fact that I forgot. How could I?
“ You don’t get to “ lose track of time. “ Mason ”
She was mocking me, I deserve it.
“ You don’t get to not call your SON! When you’re supposed to call YOUR son! That’s not how this works. You want to be a wrestler and a father? That’s fine. You know I’ll support you. But the second that job, that lifestyle, the traveling? When that becomes more important to you, I swear there won’t be a place here for you when you come home. “
I didn’t deserve that, I was a good father, I just forgot. That happens, my face scrunches up as I bite down on my lower lip - wanting so badly to lose my temper and tell this bitch exactly what would happen if she tried that. But now wasn’t the time, and she was right. I shouldn’t have forgotten.
“ Look, Clarissa… I’m sorry. “
“ Sorry isn’t good enough”
Biting down on my lip harder. “ WELL IT’S ALL I FUCKING GOT!”
I yelled, I didn’t mean to but it just slipped out and there was a long silence on the phone, one that became so uncomfortable I had no choice but to keep talking.
“ This shit… Traveling all around the world, being away from K. It’s new to me alright? It’s fucking hard! I’m busting my ass over here, trying to give him the father he deserves, one that he can be proud of. I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I gotta’ go. Tell Kadence I love him, and that I’ll call him as soon as I wake up. “
I hung up the phone, not giving her a chance to respond. Because I didn’t need to hear it, not now, not with everything on the line. I knew that I had made a mistake, I knew that I had let my son down. So I sat there on the beach, wallowing in my self-pity - once again trying to push those feelings to the back of my head.
Because they weren’t important right now.
The only thing that was?
The Ascension championship.