TheOriginalSE
Moderator
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- Messages
- 2,379
- Points
- 36
- Age
- 40
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- Website
- newera.fwrestling.com
* Fanatic character development RP.
We see a full moon shining outside of a large wall-sized window, the sky only occupied by a scant cloud creeping across here or there. The moonlight shining through is the only light we are provided, leaving many shadows creeping around the room, and mostly darkness renting space in the scene.
There is a stillness and quiet to the room, almost unnervingly so, until we hear a door 'click' open and closed, Someone is heard in the room, perhaps shifting some things, off-screen. Then we see a figure approach our view, and revealing that we are looking not at a window, but a reflection in a mirror, of a window on the other side. The muscular physique of a shirtless man takes up most of the mirror's view, with the moonlight playing off and casting enough light to see some of his toned and worked musculature. There may be some sweat, or water, covering his body, as well-- perhaps he just returned from a workout, or came out of the shower.
The man stands looking in the mirror, and speaks in a calm basso.
"Where is Larry Tact?"
"Is he here for himself, for his brother... for New ERA of Wrestling?"
"What is his objective, going forward?"
"Does he still have that fire?"
Empty silence resumes dominance over the scene for a few tense seconds.
"These are the questions I've heard repeatedly since returning to New ERA. I've been the New ERA Champion, and I've risen back from the bottom again to reclaim it, as well. I wanted to change the game up for myself, guide my brother to becoming the New ERA Champion, since Season One. It was a new challenge, and I'm always up for those. Yet in the wake of that decision, there has been nothing but criticism... ridicule... and most of all, dissatisfaction."
"Dissatisfaction that I would seemingly set aside my own ambitions and career for another's. Dissatisfaction in the belief that I could be guiding my brother to heights that I have known, without having a different outcome in mind. Dissatisfaction, somehow, that I have willingly taken a step aside to manage a new star for New ERA of Wrestling to see shine."
"Dissatisfaction that I accomplished the goal, managing the 'Elite Enigma' to the New ERA Championship."
"What people fail to realize is that this has done nothing but benefit me. I stand now as the only person in New ERA history to both win the New ERA Championship, and manage someone to become New ERA Champion. While you all have criticized my choices and questioned my intentions, I've made history, yet again."
"Jonathan Marx doesn't get the message, but I don't hold it against him. He's an accomplished wrestler the world over, been a New ERA mainstay, has always given me a match worth wrestling. He also hasn't managed to find a way of overcoming the challenge of Larry Tact, dating back to BattleBowl and the initial New ERA Championship tournament, so maybe he shouldn't be so concerned with where my attention is at. It may be that Jonathan Marx is just losing his own focus-- setting himself up for another fall to Larry Tact."
"It's no secret you were taken out to the woodshed at PrimeTime, Marx. If LaRoque hadn't understood that you were too stubborn or too ignorant to know what was good for you... well, you wouldn't be here preparing to wrestle me. You'd be in a forced retirement, from being incapacitated by First. And that's the optimistic view of what could have been."
"Don't get me wrong, though-- I'm not going to try ending your career, Jonathan. I don't need that. I'm not like First, needing to validate myself by taking advantage of some dumb stipulation. "I Quit" matches are irrelevant, in any case. You and I both know, Jonathan, that we don't need a stipulation in a match to make someone quit. We can do it right in the confines of a ring, without weapons or any tricks. We can do it with our wrestling. And that I can respect about you."
"One thing that always seems to bother me, though, is that it seems I always take a certain approach around you. I don't know what it is... maybe you just seem like the innocent, pure, old school veteran to me... but I don't get that impulse. You know the one, Jonathan... you felt it towards First, I'm sure. Even when DREDD was running around here, it seemed as if I would just face you and take care of business. Very clean and tidy, no need to do more than was necessary. I would walk in, take you out, and go."
"Maybe that's just respect talking... or is it something else? Maybe Larry Tact is, in fact, making a more significant change in direction. Maybe it's not being in the ring more often, affecting me? I don't know. PrimeTime wasn't an indicator, because I brought the fight without a doubt. It just wasn't my night, and that's fair enough."
"But this week isn't about taking a step towards the New ERA Championship for me, Jonathan. I'm helping it in a whole new way, these days, which is all well and good at the moment. No, this week, it's more personal. This week, I need to look inside and see where the wrestler has gone off to. Is he really being stifled, or is he just being a good soldier, waiting for his chance?"
"Can I step back into the ring, after weeks out of action, and topple the former New ERA World Heavyweight Champion, just like that? Of course. There's no doubt about that. It's not like I haven't accomplished similar feats before. But it isn't so much about the result as the process... how much will it take to achieve that victory?"
"Where is Larry Tact at?"
"It's an interesting time for me. The dirtsheets want to call it, "The Humbling of Larry Tact," as if this has been a negative experience for me. Let the speculation run wild, but I wouldn't call it that at all. Like I said, I'm just continuing to make history, as Fanatic and I write new chapters to our careers, and the collective Tact Legacy. It's a period of recreation-- I'm testing myself in ways that most don't have the guts or the humility to go through with. And I'm going to emerge stronger for it, because I do have the ability to recreate myself."
"But if New ERA is pining for its icon.... the man who is "Mr. NEW"... the one who embodies this company's true in-ring ideals to its core... well, I aim to please."
"So Marx, if you still remember the way to Agganis, after having your bell rung at PrimeTime, we'll do our dance again. And I'll even show you that thing I do, that real impressive move..."
"The one that leaves you no choice... but a tactful surrender."
FADE OUT.
We see a full moon shining outside of a large wall-sized window, the sky only occupied by a scant cloud creeping across here or there. The moonlight shining through is the only light we are provided, leaving many shadows creeping around the room, and mostly darkness renting space in the scene.
There is a stillness and quiet to the room, almost unnervingly so, until we hear a door 'click' open and closed, Someone is heard in the room, perhaps shifting some things, off-screen. Then we see a figure approach our view, and revealing that we are looking not at a window, but a reflection in a mirror, of a window on the other side. The muscular physique of a shirtless man takes up most of the mirror's view, with the moonlight playing off and casting enough light to see some of his toned and worked musculature. There may be some sweat, or water, covering his body, as well-- perhaps he just returned from a workout, or came out of the shower.
The man stands looking in the mirror, and speaks in a calm basso.
"Where is Larry Tact?"
"Is he here for himself, for his brother... for New ERA of Wrestling?"
"What is his objective, going forward?"
"Does he still have that fire?"
Empty silence resumes dominance over the scene for a few tense seconds.
"These are the questions I've heard repeatedly since returning to New ERA. I've been the New ERA Champion, and I've risen back from the bottom again to reclaim it, as well. I wanted to change the game up for myself, guide my brother to becoming the New ERA Champion, since Season One. It was a new challenge, and I'm always up for those. Yet in the wake of that decision, there has been nothing but criticism... ridicule... and most of all, dissatisfaction."
"Dissatisfaction that I would seemingly set aside my own ambitions and career for another's. Dissatisfaction in the belief that I could be guiding my brother to heights that I have known, without having a different outcome in mind. Dissatisfaction, somehow, that I have willingly taken a step aside to manage a new star for New ERA of Wrestling to see shine."
"Dissatisfaction that I accomplished the goal, managing the 'Elite Enigma' to the New ERA Championship."
"What people fail to realize is that this has done nothing but benefit me. I stand now as the only person in New ERA history to both win the New ERA Championship, and manage someone to become New ERA Champion. While you all have criticized my choices and questioned my intentions, I've made history, yet again."
"Jonathan Marx doesn't get the message, but I don't hold it against him. He's an accomplished wrestler the world over, been a New ERA mainstay, has always given me a match worth wrestling. He also hasn't managed to find a way of overcoming the challenge of Larry Tact, dating back to BattleBowl and the initial New ERA Championship tournament, so maybe he shouldn't be so concerned with where my attention is at. It may be that Jonathan Marx is just losing his own focus-- setting himself up for another fall to Larry Tact."
"It's no secret you were taken out to the woodshed at PrimeTime, Marx. If LaRoque hadn't understood that you were too stubborn or too ignorant to know what was good for you... well, you wouldn't be here preparing to wrestle me. You'd be in a forced retirement, from being incapacitated by First. And that's the optimistic view of what could have been."
"Don't get me wrong, though-- I'm not going to try ending your career, Jonathan. I don't need that. I'm not like First, needing to validate myself by taking advantage of some dumb stipulation. "I Quit" matches are irrelevant, in any case. You and I both know, Jonathan, that we don't need a stipulation in a match to make someone quit. We can do it right in the confines of a ring, without weapons or any tricks. We can do it with our wrestling. And that I can respect about you."
"One thing that always seems to bother me, though, is that it seems I always take a certain approach around you. I don't know what it is... maybe you just seem like the innocent, pure, old school veteran to me... but I don't get that impulse. You know the one, Jonathan... you felt it towards First, I'm sure. Even when DREDD was running around here, it seemed as if I would just face you and take care of business. Very clean and tidy, no need to do more than was necessary. I would walk in, take you out, and go."
"Maybe that's just respect talking... or is it something else? Maybe Larry Tact is, in fact, making a more significant change in direction. Maybe it's not being in the ring more often, affecting me? I don't know. PrimeTime wasn't an indicator, because I brought the fight without a doubt. It just wasn't my night, and that's fair enough."
"But this week isn't about taking a step towards the New ERA Championship for me, Jonathan. I'm helping it in a whole new way, these days, which is all well and good at the moment. No, this week, it's more personal. This week, I need to look inside and see where the wrestler has gone off to. Is he really being stifled, or is he just being a good soldier, waiting for his chance?"
"Can I step back into the ring, after weeks out of action, and topple the former New ERA World Heavyweight Champion, just like that? Of course. There's no doubt about that. It's not like I haven't accomplished similar feats before. But it isn't so much about the result as the process... how much will it take to achieve that victory?"
"Where is Larry Tact at?"
"It's an interesting time for me. The dirtsheets want to call it, "The Humbling of Larry Tact," as if this has been a negative experience for me. Let the speculation run wild, but I wouldn't call it that at all. Like I said, I'm just continuing to make history, as Fanatic and I write new chapters to our careers, and the collective Tact Legacy. It's a period of recreation-- I'm testing myself in ways that most don't have the guts or the humility to go through with. And I'm going to emerge stronger for it, because I do have the ability to recreate myself."
"But if New ERA is pining for its icon.... the man who is "Mr. NEW"... the one who embodies this company's true in-ring ideals to its core... well, I aim to please."
"So Marx, if you still remember the way to Agganis, after having your bell rung at PrimeTime, we'll do our dance again. And I'll even show you that thing I do, that real impressive move..."
"The one that leaves you no choice... but a tactful surrender."
FADE OUT.