Post by Mark Hunter on Aug 11, 2021 21:15:52 GMT -5
TRUTH, PAIN, AND CONTROL
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” - Oscar Wilde
Unaired Footage
San Jose, California
8th August, 2021
Struggling to keep up with the punching bag, the flurry of strikes were slowing down dramatically. The sweat running down his exposed body and dripping from his drenched TapOut gloves. A final right cross struck the middle of the bag only swaying it back and forth a little less than usual. He stepped backwards and released a primal scream. The frustration getting to his head, his large hands shaking and eyes turning away from the bag. One last try and he spun on the sole of his right foot. Leaped high in the air releasing a Tornado Kick in the same spot he punched which did a great deal of damage. However, the impact also put stress on his right leg due to not controlling his breathing, firing off on anger alone. He started limping around on his right foot before sitting down on the black mats of the small training room staring at his reflection in the mirror panels across the wall. He lay down on the mats, hands behind his head, his vision becoming blurry as he stared hard into the bright led lights above him.
What should I do? I have to get stronger, I have to. What the fuck am I supposed to do God? Give me a fucking sign, please! Any sign please!
KNOCK! KNOCK!
He sat up instantly and looked over his shoulder. Sophie, his fourteen year old step daughter, stood in the doorway leaning against the wall on her right. Her red long hair tied in a ponytail, a green plain shirt supplemented by tight blue jeans and green jays to complement the look. She walked on the black mats dropping her black purse near the wall to the door then stood on her knees beside the only male figure she has ever had to look up to in a fatherly way, Mark though was concerned how she got here. Sophie had her mother's green eyes and she looked at the mirror ahead of her. Mark sat up removing the straps around his gloves then threw him across the room.
“What are you doing here Soph? You know what time it is? You should be home with Jelena, and your sister. I told you not to go anywhere by yourself.”
“Da… errr… Markus, I'm sorry. I just needed to talk to you. It hasn't been easy but how are you?”
“I'm fine. I'm just training for my match. That's what I gotta do as a fighter. I continue to fight and I want to be the best in the world. More importantly, I know it wasn't easy for you to be there and be old enough to understand what was going on with your mother but I'm proud of you Sophie. You were strong for us and your sister. That's a quality I want you to have for the rest of your life. Keep that fighting spirit and don't ever let go. You understand me? We have to keep fighting no matter what ever happens.”
“At mum’s funeral… Was it easy for you to say what you did at the church?"
“Well...?”
He couldn't answer that question. On that day, Markus didn't know what to do. He was frozen like a deer seeing headlights. They all wanted him to say good things to fulfill their judgement of him. They wanted to hear how great the marriage was to confirm their accusations of Markus being a terrible husband. He knew the truth would break their hearts and fuel their anger. It's the equivalent of what he's coming to face. He looked back at Sophie and sighed under his breath.
“No. If I told them the truth, it would make things worse.”
“So why lie? Isn't the truth, being who you are better than being fake? You taught me that.”
Damn. That stung him inside. She had every right to bring up a message he's forgotten in a while. A message he needed to hear before facing Cadillac Jackson.
“It is always by way of pain one arrives at pleasure.” - Marquis de Sade
Aired Footage
Birmingham, England
10th August, 2021
In the city center of Birmingham in beautiful Victoria Square where the fountain resonates the structural perfection and masterpiece of the design. Mistry's fountain “The River” is the largest sculptural piece in the square. Due to the recurring irreparable leaks the fountain was turned off in 2013 in order to save money. On 6 July 2015 the fountain was filled with plants and flowers and no longer functioned as a fountain but still a beauty to see. It is home to both the Town Hall and the Council House, and directly adjacent to Chamberlain. The square is often considered to be the center of Birmingham, and is the point from where local road sign distances are measured. Here we find Mark Hunter, the former Grand Champion. Wearing black trousers, matching black dress shoes and a white smart shirt.
““It is by the way of pain; one arrives at pleasure.” What exactly was the message that Marquis de Sade was trying to send? I want you to remember those words because by the time I finish speaking to all of you not in some boring rant of monotonous humdrum or in some sort of braggadocios diatribe fit for a self-serving narcissistic fool like Cadillac Jackson, no instead I’m going to be as honest as I can with each and every single one of you in PH. What you have witnessed in the last few weeks is not someone bitching about dropping the Grand Title after months at the top, you haven’t witnessed someone moaning about coming up short against Elena DeDraca, you haven’t seen me bitching about my spot or booking, that type of shit is a stain on the business, I’m much better than that. I’ll turn up, do my job, and continue to push all Proving Grounds superstars to the limit.”
“Proving Ground, a brand that I vowed to change, to bring forth a new era with the stars that sit at the top.”
“Can you feel the winds of change, Caddy?”
“That little tingling sensation at the tip of your spine is fear.”
“Oh I don’t expect you to actually know what that means and even understand you fear me, you’d actually have to possess some semblance of intelligence for that.”
“I want to be in your spot Caddy, I wanted to be in that Rumble, I wanted to be the one to EARN a shot at the Grand Championship, but I wasn’t and I’m not here to start bitching now. That’s life, hell I was about to get beaten by Elena whilst you played the game rather well and embarrassed Dickie Watson. Booking isn’t the problem. I’ve lost a couple of times… that's the problem. I want to prove myself as the best again.”
“Isn’t this why we’re here? To be the best? I’m not going to lie to you, I will stare right at you after you bring everything you have to the table, Caddy, then I’ll just chuckle knowing that you’re not gonna have the answers to any question I throw at you. That will create hesitation, that will be your downfall for I am ready to do whatever it takes to beat you…”
He cracks a smile before it slowly goes away. Right now Mark is trying to find his balance again and sees himself slowly falling into the trap of his own demons and he can’t have that. Luckily for him he has people that can keep him honest. Mark right now, wrestling is his outlet, he looks back at the camera and continues to speak…
“How much more do you think I will endure? Remember back to what Marquis de Sade said, so this has become my trials? Is this the moment I look into the face of authority and all of you vicariously living through the actions of others like me that you watch on TV? Now Cadillac Jackson suddenly finds himself in a bit of a quandary. A new name at the top of the card that’s looking to make a splash, an impact into the future of Proving Ground.”
“Too bad my name came out of the hat.”
“Now, your past experiences and accolades I am sure are pretty impressive. Your wrestling style and signature moves are devastating but like a bullet from a gun, it has to hit you in a certain way in order to be effective does it not? That’s a problem for you to deal with.”
“I will hurt you Cadillac. Oh don’t take that to heart, I do mean what I say by what I do. Caddy, may I call you Caddy? That was a rhetorical question so please do not answer that.”
He turns back and looks at the camera before sitting at the edge of the fountain.
“Look where I sit, Victoria Square in Birmingham, England. Isn’t it beautiful? Such a surrounding where I can feel at home, the beautiful fountains, the smell of the fresh outdoors and yet why do I feel so ugly? Caddy, you are a man who has never had to worry about missing out on anything. Do you want to know what the biggest lie in life is?”
“Control.”
“For most people think they possess it, they have a full grasp of it. That’s always been a deception. Caddy, right now you feel like you have complete control of your career, what you want from Project Honor and life in general. Have you even thought about the repercussions of this match? It is a chance to showcase your talent, show the suits, the governing board that the Main Event scene isn't beyond you. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and for me this is all a big…”
“Insult.”
“Don’t you see, I’m entering this match and I know that I have no control over my emotions and the impulses I will act upon when they call to me. As I look in a mirror every morning I seem to keep asking myself if this is going to be that day, the one when I finally let go of all inhibitions and do exactly what they, the sycophants, want, to see the actions carried right in front of their face. They want that violence, they NEED my evil within but only behind closed doors in the whisper in the ear of the many who crave it more and more like addicts to a drug. Caddy, I cannot and will not guarantee what may happen, I can’t tell you whether you’ll meet that evil, I can only warn you through my words that are not empty, the past matches I have wrestled in are proof of that and to know that there is more on the line than you know will tell the tale.”
“I don’t have control much like your delusional being has no control. I have accepted that already but how many times are you going to lie to yourselves and realize that this whole match, this situation you two are in is a cover to what Project Honor truly wants?”
“The evil unleashed.”
“I’m not going to apologize for what’s gonna happen, I would be a liar if I did. Instead I’m going to allow you to live the lie. Look at the fountain, do you see that?”
Mark points at the fountain, there are coins at the bottom even after the water was taken out, the coins still remain. He looks back at the camera slowly shaking his head in disgust yet cracking a small smirk in the process as he reaches down and picks up one of the coins.
“Caddy, do you believe in wishes? Someone did, they grabbed this little coin and threw it into this well. I believed in wishes once, I used to sit at the corner of my bed and pray that I could one day be a rock star. I wanted to live that lifestyle, but that wish never came true. How many of these wishes here are never granted? So many people throwing the little money they have in order to put hope and faith in something that may never happen…”
“Like your chances of winning.”
“These people didn’t deserve to be lied to. Hopes and dreams are always broken, the society we live in now wants you to think that every penny earned is a penny saved but that is not true, some of these were completely wasted on a wish that would never happen. Isn’t that wrong or is there some sort of macabre satisfaction that comes with people groveling at the chance of their lives changing with falsehood? That same impact is what you will have, control……manipulation and the complicity of whatever achievement you try to accomplish will be like this coin, lost in a fountain full of coins, yours won’t be unique….”
“It will be pathetic in loss and anguish.”
“I know exactly the lengths and limits of my mercy, they are not very long in stature. So I sit here looking down at the warped reflection of what was once a beautiful fountain, a distortion much like my life at the present moment, like a novel with no ending, wishing to be able to write the next chapter but finding myself staring at a blank piece of paper with no ink…”
“There is nothing to rewrite…”
“For I already know I lost control a long time ago of the wrestling version of myself.”
His eyes narrow, staring right into the camera. Mark drops the coin back into the well and takes a deep breath, he looks away for a moment before turning his attention right back. He has so many thoughts in his head and yet he can only think of one, not of victory but something much more sinister…
“Pain, you are going to feel it tenfold and in the process it will bring me pleasure, a euphoria like no other and no, that’s not sadistic at all, to each their own right? All of us like to feel different sensations. Look at it more as me being on stage and at Proving Ground in CONTROL of you. It’s my turn yet again to show just how far I will go…”
“For you Caddy, you will learn that wishes do not come true, there are no fairy tale endings and finally the hardest lesson of them all…”
“Mark Hunter will not fall for the same type of shit Dickie did in the rumble… Mark Hunter is a different breed and you simply don’t have the tools.”
Mark starts to laugh a little before turning and walking away.