Not who you wanted, but still a threat...
* Barcelona, Spain. A GXW camera crew stands ready at the corner of Rambia Deis Estudis and Placa de Catalunya. A few small buildings adorn the area, but a large chapel stretches heavenward. The doors slowly swing open, and the church’s resident pastor exists. *
PASTOR: “You must excuse me English, por favor. Are you the G-X-W, um, ‘camera crew’?”
* The crewmen nod, and the father lets them in. As the sound man passes through the doorway, a small black car pulls up. Kin Hiroshi steps out of the back and looks up. A sheer look of horror crosses his face as he stands before the monument to God. He whips out his cell phone, and speed dials a number. *
HIROSHI: “It’s me, you never told me we were doing this here. We can’t do this here, don’t you realize…yeah, I know. Yes, that IS my signature. No, it won’t be a problem. Whatever…
* A frustrated Kin hangs up the phone and walks up to the door. He lets out a heavy sigh before opening the gateway into “faith.” The smell of old hymn books overwhelms Kin as he walks down the aisle past row after row of pews. He kneels, respectfully, before the alter, and makes his way towards the priest’s chambers. A few quick knocks on the door and he’s let in to accompany the GXW crew. *
HIROSHI: “Hey guys, first of all, this wasn’t my idea to have this here. So if HellFighter comes after you, send him looking for me. Of course, I’ll tell him to save it for the ring, but either way, I’ll let him get a few shots in for all of…
* Kin ambiguously gestures to the groups surroundings. *
HIROSHI: …this. Now, where is the father?”
* The pastor makes his way out from behind the camera crew, and smiles. After quick introductions, business is commenced. *
PASTOR: “Everything is the back room, Snr. Hir…sorry, Kin.”
HIROSHI: “Everything?”
PASTOR: “Si, the ‘wardrobe’.”
* Again, Hiroshi’s face locks up in fear at what could be awaiting him, but he solemnly lowers his head, and makes his way into another room. He reappears, a few moments later, dressed in a priest’s robe. *
HIROSHI: “I think this is going too far…”
PASTOR: “It will be perfect for your grande movie scene.”
* Hiroshi shakes his head and sighs. *
HIROSHI: “Movie scene. That’s it…
* The camera crew snickers, and move with Hiroshi towards the alter. Hiroshi stands behind it, and the crew takes positions. The pastor moves towards the main doors, and opens them, floods of people rush in and take seats in pews. A few older women are escorted towards the first pew, and kneel, waiting for the “service” to begin. Hiroshi shudders as he thinks to himself, “Now people?!? I don’t think we are getting out of here alive…”
The camera men signal to Hiroshi… *
HIROSHI: “First, let me apologize for not being fluent with your native tongue, Father Julio will do his best to translate for me.
“The Holy teachings tell us in Proverbs 20:11, ‘Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.’ I was recently told of Rosalie Elliot, an eleven-year old young girl from South Carolina who competed in America’s National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. In the fourth round of competition she was asked to spell the word avowal. Her soft Southern accent made it difficult for the judges to determine if she had used an ‘a’ or an ‘e’ as the next to last letter of the word. They deliberated for several minutes and also listened to tape recording playbacks, but still the couldn’t determine which letter had been pronounced. Finally the chief judge, John Lloyd, put the question to the only person who knew the answer. He asked Rosalie, ‘Was the letter an ‘a’ or an ‘e’?’
“Rosalie, surrounded by whispering young spellers, knew by now the correct spelling of the word. But without hesitation, she replied that she had misspelled the word and had used n ‘e’.
“As she walked from the stage, the entire audience stood and applauded her honesty and integrity, including dozens of newspaper reporters covering the event. While Rosalie had not won the contest, she had definitely emerged a winner that day.
“We often think that who we are determines what we do. Equally true, what you do today will determine, in part who you are tomorrow.
“Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds. Now, I’m not here to bullshi…err…lie to you fine people. I am a professional…I am a professionally wrestling professional. In fact, a few days from now I will wrestle with a man named HellFighter in a steel cage. After which, I will advance to face another man in a cage, and another, until I receive my rightfully earned World Title Shot. Not because of who I am, but because of what I do. My deeds in the ring, will determine my RIGHTFULLY EARNED championship tomorrow.
“I, however, have wrestled this HellFighter once before, and have heard the apologetic words that he has finally spoken.
“The Lord teaches us to let the past rest. Philippians 3:13, ‘…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.’ To HellFighter I say this:
“No matter what a man’s past may have been, his future is spotless. What happened, happened. I’m would not be in this business if injury and attacks were absent. It’s expected, and there are no hard feelings, Conan…err…HellFighter. A well-trained memory is one that permits you to forget everything that isn’t worth remembering. The attack on my body is one thing that isn’t worth remembering.
“But, playing on my psychological and mental abilities is another thing. We all can be humorous at one time or another. It just so happens that some, are funnier than others. Proverbs 15:13 tells us, ‘A merry heart maketh a cheerful countance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.’ I don’t step into the ring, or walk around backstage to make enemies.
“I work for GXW, I live for GXW. I live to make people happy. How I do that, by either putting myself over, or putting over my opponent, or putting someone backstage over might be done by humor. However, it has gotten to the point where I’m expected to make people laugh, to make people cheerful, but I can’t be like that all the time. I’m a man, I have flaws, and if I take a moment to care for another human being so be it.
“As with what happened to Chad Dupree a few weeks ago, I took time out from what has been dubbed my ‘performance’ to look after one of our bosses. How was I repaid? With words of kindness? Words of empathy? No, I was repaid with the harsh words of ‘suck up’ ‘brown-noser’ and, worst of all, ‘faker’. Did I fake what was shown on the television? No. I was sincere, and I was mistreated.
“Granted, no harsh words or actions have flown from HellFighter’s mouth of fist. Yet, HellFighter will be the first to feel the repercussions of the insults flung at me. I will fight for everything that I have earned that has been denied from me. I believe in greater powers, but the greatest power of all is within. Faith comes from within, not from above, and I intend to show that the faith I have in myself is greater than any faith I could place Above or Below. It will be a match for the fans, and a match for myself. Philippians 2:4 teaches that when you are laboring for others let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself: ‘Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.’
“HellFighter may outweigh me by nearly one hundred pounds. He might be almost a foot taller than me, and he might throw me through a gauntlet, but I resolve that I will defeat him for I fear no man who stands before me as an equal.
“Psalm 31:24, ‘Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.’ Do I hope in the Lord? Perhaps, perhaps not, but I back down from no one. HellFighter, you could be ten feet tall, and weigh a ton, and I would still find the means to beat you. Nothing you can throw at me will defeat me.
“I know that any educated man can stand in a priests robes and spout off biblical verse; blasphemy as it may be. But a truly great man can pull it off, and convince those come for prayer that he is in fact a preacher himself.
“As you can see…”
* Hiroshi motions over the stunned audience, including Father Julio, who stopped translating quite a long time ago. The camera crew pans across the silenced crowd. Hiroshi steps down from the alter and begins walking down the aisle, still addressing the mass. *
HIROSHI: “As you can see, I have convinced even the voice of your Father that I am a preacher. HellFighter, I have too long been denied my preordained destiny of the GXW World Championship. I have been cheated, robbed, and defiled in order to keep that title out of my hands. Yet, I have waited for the time for when I can step into the limelight. I will stand in no man’s shadow, and I will cast down my own for those to follow in.
“I’ll leave you with Galatians 6:10 in order to keep good intentions between the both of us, ‘So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men…’ I have never cheated on my place in line, but my number has been called, and yours has been disconnected.
“At X-Perience I believe that we will finally have some answers to quite a few questions, but the foremost on your mind, HellFighter, is…”
* Kin opens the churches door, looks sympathetically at the camera crew, and smiles. His car is waiting outside. The driver opens the door quickly, and runs back to the wheel. The engine revs, and Kin begins to step out into the daylight. *
HIROSHI: “The question is HellFighter: Do you know the muffin man?”
* Hiroshi turns and sprints and dives into the waiting car, as it speeds off. The crowd begins to stir after a moment, and closely chatter with their neighbors. Slowly, the chatter grows to yells, and the mob rises. The camera men all look towards the door, and begin to back away from the disgruntled mass. *
** FADE TO GOLD **