Post by Tempestad on Jul 10, 2010 23:23:42 GMT -6
“No...NO!”
Tempestad pounds his fists against the back of a pew in an empty St. Cecilia's, shaking his head. He clenches his teeth together, fighting back tears. His coat's laying in a pile on the floor, and he shakes in his seat, hands wrapping around the wood with a grip that could crush a man's hand. The masked man looks to the ceiling of the cathedral, trying to find some comfort in the images above him but finding nothing. He looks back down, sobbing.
“No...you did it, you son of a bitch...you finally did it...you took away her humanity, you ***damn MONSTER! And you have the sheer temerity to say that I did this to her? Me? Whose blood was she drinking, Sephiroth? Whose f***ing blood? Who made the choice to do that to her? YOU! I wasn't the one who opened my veins and started pouring BLOOD into her mouth!”
He angrily pulls off his crucifix, throwing it to the other side of the bench. It clatters to a stop in the corner, and Tempestad lets loose an incoherent scream of rage, echoing throughout the building. He jumps to his feet, overturning the nearest pew. Temp's breath comes faster now, as he seems to have lost his usual rationality and self-control. He shouts to his absent nemesis...and brother-in-law.
“WELL?! DO YOU HAVE ANY WAY TO DEFEND YOURSELF, YOU F***ING COWARD?! NO!! YOU HIDE BEHIND ME! YOU USE ME AS AN EXCUSE! WELL NO MORE, YOU BASTARD! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO HIDE! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU GET ELIMINATED, I'M JUST GOING TO BEAT YOUR ASS TO A BLOODY PULP! HEAR ME, HIJO DE PUTA?! ¡SU SANGRE ES MIA! ¡SU VIDA ES MIA! ¡Y TU! ¡SU VIDA VA A ESTAR INFIERNO! ¿USTED DICE QUE USTED TOMARÁ TODO DE MÍ? ¡PUEDO JUGAR ESE JUEGO, SEPHIROTH! ¡PUEDO JUGAR ESE JUEGO!”
He roars in defiance, knocking another bench over. The sound of footsteps comes from behind him, and he whirls around to see Alicia Vasquez, the woman he saw wrestling with Emma weeks ago, with his old friend and mentor Father Sapienza right behind her. She looks around at the wreckage he has left, and Sapienza blinks in shock at the damage that's been done.
“Dios mio...ay, mi'jo, what has gotten into you? Why do you do this damage to a house of God? I raised you better than this...Memo, hablamos con mi. Por favor...¿para ti?”
Tempestad shakes his head, confused at not only the presence of the man he considers his father but also Miss Vasquez, someone he barely knows...but who knows his sister all too well. Tempestad sighs, running over and enveloping Sapienza in a tearful hug. Alicia looks on at the two, immediately understanding that she needs to step back for the moment. The Father grins, patting him on the back.
“Everything will be okay, Memo. Everything will be alright...I saw what happened to Maria. It is terrible...but we can't do anything. What's done is done. All we can do now is pray for her soul and hope that she will see the light one day...if it is any consolation, my son, I saw Sephiroth's eyes...when he said his vows, he was either sincere or the best liar on the face of God's Earth. He loves her. At least she's with someone who loves her...”
Tempestad pulls back, grabbing Father Sapienza's lapels. He looks at him with the look of a desperate madman, a man who needs to be told he's right or else he'll go flying off the deep end like a bat out of hell.
“But it's HIM! Of the billions on this planet, HIM! He hates me! I hate him! How in the hell does that end up being fair? Tell me that, Father! Tell me how he can take her from me and that's fair! Tell me where God's love is in that, Father! Just...TELL ME!”
Alicia's had enough, and she strides over, delivering a big ol' smack to Tempestad's face. He looks over to her, shocked into silence, and she lets him have it.
“Shut up! You want to act like this is some big loss? You weren't there every day! You didn't have to see a girl you considered a friend—maybe your BEST friend—slowly go from a feisty and fun firecracker into this half-crazed animal! She put on the nicey-nice act around you, but it was an act! Girl was vicious! She was looong gone, and wasn't anything you could do to change that!”
She turns around for a moment like she's done, but instead turns back around and gets in Tempestad's face, prompting even the enraged luchador to back up.
“And you gotta accept that life ain't fair. You think life's been fair to me? I've been carjacking since I was ten, big boy. I know the streets like you do. I've lived D-Town for fifteen years now, and it ain't gotten a bit better. I've had people come and go. People I loved, people who were my family. Three homies I called brothers got shot up on Twelve Mile Road three years ago. I cried, yeah. But I got over it. Why? Because life goes on. So pull yourself together, man. You got this match, and you gotta win.”
Tempestad looks to Father Sapienza, then back to an unyielding Alicia. He sighs, walking towards the altar at the back of the church. They watch him walk slowly, his voice cracking with emotion.
“I want to let go...I want to be able to accept it...but when she comes walking down that ramp with him, with that unholy grin on her face...”
Alicia groans again, shouting at his back.
“You gotta stop appealing to God. Not everything you do has to be 'sacred', not every act you make has to be 'holy.' Sometimes, people gotta be people. You want to f*** Seph and Gabe up? Don't gotta be for the Lord. Just do it for you. Do it because you want to. I've been watching, man. I saw that stuff you said back in March about that girl you had. Are you still angsting over that s***? You chasin' Angelo down? No. Now let her go, and go back to being what you are: a warrior.”
Temp keeps walking, seemingly unfazed by her remarks. His hands continually clench and unclench, his voice wavering even more. A strange mix of sadness and anger permeates his words.
“Gabriel...that's right...he's still in this. I forgot, since he's not the one actively making my life hell. No, he's just content to torture others because they aren't pure enough for him. I'll hurt him too. For all the pain he's caused, for all the lies he's spoken. He's as much responsible for this as me or Sephiroth. He drove the wedge between us even deeper, and it was my misplaced loyalty to him that got him involved in the first place. So he gets to bleed too. Both of them get to bleed...to share my pain.”
Father Sapienza takes a step forward, holding out his hand as if to offer a link back to reality for the unhinged Tempestad.
“Mi'jo, please. You don't have to suffer alone. We're here. Andrew and Emma are here. You have people. We all will miss Maria, but we won't miss her individually. I watched her grow up with you. I saw her as such a bright, loving, intelligent young woman...it makes me wonder where I went wrong...come on, my son. You need to relax before your match. No use going in with bad thoughts cluttering your head.”
Tempestad reaches the altar, pausing. He looks down on it, recalling the end to his battle with Sephiroth in the Asylum Match...and then seeing his sister wed to the monster at that same altar, rebuilt. He reaches up in a fury and, without any warning, rips his mask from his head, tossing it to the floor. His face is hidden from the viewers, but Father Sapienza mutters another prayer and Alicia looks at the mask with an expression of utter shock. Tempestad growls at both of his companions, seeming a man possessed.
“Father, Alicia...this isn't a match for civility. I don't WANT to be humane here. I can't. I have to make them pay...I know I might feel remorse, but...I can't always be a hero. Sometimes...sometimes I just need to be me. As you said, Alicia...I just need to do it for me. Give me a moment, you two. I just...I just need a moment alone. I'll be right outside.”
He kneels down, grasping the mask in one hand. Alicia and Father Sapienza look to each other uncomfortably before turning and walking towards the exit. The camera focuses on Tempestad knelt down, and the mic catches him speaking.
“Perdóneme, dios, porque yo sé lo que voy a hacer...”
Fade out on the luchador kneeling among the wreckage, mask off and tears flowing freely.
Tempestad pounds his fists against the back of a pew in an empty St. Cecilia's, shaking his head. He clenches his teeth together, fighting back tears. His coat's laying in a pile on the floor, and he shakes in his seat, hands wrapping around the wood with a grip that could crush a man's hand. The masked man looks to the ceiling of the cathedral, trying to find some comfort in the images above him but finding nothing. He looks back down, sobbing.
“No...you did it, you son of a bitch...you finally did it...you took away her humanity, you ***damn MONSTER! And you have the sheer temerity to say that I did this to her? Me? Whose blood was she drinking, Sephiroth? Whose f***ing blood? Who made the choice to do that to her? YOU! I wasn't the one who opened my veins and started pouring BLOOD into her mouth!”
He angrily pulls off his crucifix, throwing it to the other side of the bench. It clatters to a stop in the corner, and Tempestad lets loose an incoherent scream of rage, echoing throughout the building. He jumps to his feet, overturning the nearest pew. Temp's breath comes faster now, as he seems to have lost his usual rationality and self-control. He shouts to his absent nemesis...and brother-in-law.
“WELL?! DO YOU HAVE ANY WAY TO DEFEND YOURSELF, YOU F***ING COWARD?! NO!! YOU HIDE BEHIND ME! YOU USE ME AS AN EXCUSE! WELL NO MORE, YOU BASTARD! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO HIDE! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU GET ELIMINATED, I'M JUST GOING TO BEAT YOUR ASS TO A BLOODY PULP! HEAR ME, HIJO DE PUTA?! ¡SU SANGRE ES MIA! ¡SU VIDA ES MIA! ¡Y TU! ¡SU VIDA VA A ESTAR INFIERNO! ¿USTED DICE QUE USTED TOMARÁ TODO DE MÍ? ¡PUEDO JUGAR ESE JUEGO, SEPHIROTH! ¡PUEDO JUGAR ESE JUEGO!”
He roars in defiance, knocking another bench over. The sound of footsteps comes from behind him, and he whirls around to see Alicia Vasquez, the woman he saw wrestling with Emma weeks ago, with his old friend and mentor Father Sapienza right behind her. She looks around at the wreckage he has left, and Sapienza blinks in shock at the damage that's been done.
“Dios mio...ay, mi'jo, what has gotten into you? Why do you do this damage to a house of God? I raised you better than this...Memo, hablamos con mi. Por favor...¿para ti?”
Tempestad shakes his head, confused at not only the presence of the man he considers his father but also Miss Vasquez, someone he barely knows...but who knows his sister all too well. Tempestad sighs, running over and enveloping Sapienza in a tearful hug. Alicia looks on at the two, immediately understanding that she needs to step back for the moment. The Father grins, patting him on the back.
“Everything will be okay, Memo. Everything will be alright...I saw what happened to Maria. It is terrible...but we can't do anything. What's done is done. All we can do now is pray for her soul and hope that she will see the light one day...if it is any consolation, my son, I saw Sephiroth's eyes...when he said his vows, he was either sincere or the best liar on the face of God's Earth. He loves her. At least she's with someone who loves her...”
Tempestad pulls back, grabbing Father Sapienza's lapels. He looks at him with the look of a desperate madman, a man who needs to be told he's right or else he'll go flying off the deep end like a bat out of hell.
“But it's HIM! Of the billions on this planet, HIM! He hates me! I hate him! How in the hell does that end up being fair? Tell me that, Father! Tell me how he can take her from me and that's fair! Tell me where God's love is in that, Father! Just...TELL ME!”
Alicia's had enough, and she strides over, delivering a big ol' smack to Tempestad's face. He looks over to her, shocked into silence, and she lets him have it.
“Shut up! You want to act like this is some big loss? You weren't there every day! You didn't have to see a girl you considered a friend—maybe your BEST friend—slowly go from a feisty and fun firecracker into this half-crazed animal! She put on the nicey-nice act around you, but it was an act! Girl was vicious! She was looong gone, and wasn't anything you could do to change that!”
She turns around for a moment like she's done, but instead turns back around and gets in Tempestad's face, prompting even the enraged luchador to back up.
“And you gotta accept that life ain't fair. You think life's been fair to me? I've been carjacking since I was ten, big boy. I know the streets like you do. I've lived D-Town for fifteen years now, and it ain't gotten a bit better. I've had people come and go. People I loved, people who were my family. Three homies I called brothers got shot up on Twelve Mile Road three years ago. I cried, yeah. But I got over it. Why? Because life goes on. So pull yourself together, man. You got this match, and you gotta win.”
Tempestad looks to Father Sapienza, then back to an unyielding Alicia. He sighs, walking towards the altar at the back of the church. They watch him walk slowly, his voice cracking with emotion.
“I want to let go...I want to be able to accept it...but when she comes walking down that ramp with him, with that unholy grin on her face...”
Alicia groans again, shouting at his back.
“You gotta stop appealing to God. Not everything you do has to be 'sacred', not every act you make has to be 'holy.' Sometimes, people gotta be people. You want to f*** Seph and Gabe up? Don't gotta be for the Lord. Just do it for you. Do it because you want to. I've been watching, man. I saw that stuff you said back in March about that girl you had. Are you still angsting over that s***? You chasin' Angelo down? No. Now let her go, and go back to being what you are: a warrior.”
Temp keeps walking, seemingly unfazed by her remarks. His hands continually clench and unclench, his voice wavering even more. A strange mix of sadness and anger permeates his words.
“Gabriel...that's right...he's still in this. I forgot, since he's not the one actively making my life hell. No, he's just content to torture others because they aren't pure enough for him. I'll hurt him too. For all the pain he's caused, for all the lies he's spoken. He's as much responsible for this as me or Sephiroth. He drove the wedge between us even deeper, and it was my misplaced loyalty to him that got him involved in the first place. So he gets to bleed too. Both of them get to bleed...to share my pain.”
Father Sapienza takes a step forward, holding out his hand as if to offer a link back to reality for the unhinged Tempestad.
“Mi'jo, please. You don't have to suffer alone. We're here. Andrew and Emma are here. You have people. We all will miss Maria, but we won't miss her individually. I watched her grow up with you. I saw her as such a bright, loving, intelligent young woman...it makes me wonder where I went wrong...come on, my son. You need to relax before your match. No use going in with bad thoughts cluttering your head.”
Tempestad reaches the altar, pausing. He looks down on it, recalling the end to his battle with Sephiroth in the Asylum Match...and then seeing his sister wed to the monster at that same altar, rebuilt. He reaches up in a fury and, without any warning, rips his mask from his head, tossing it to the floor. His face is hidden from the viewers, but Father Sapienza mutters another prayer and Alicia looks at the mask with an expression of utter shock. Tempestad growls at both of his companions, seeming a man possessed.
“Father, Alicia...this isn't a match for civility. I don't WANT to be humane here. I can't. I have to make them pay...I know I might feel remorse, but...I can't always be a hero. Sometimes...sometimes I just need to be me. As you said, Alicia...I just need to do it for me. Give me a moment, you two. I just...I just need a moment alone. I'll be right outside.”
He kneels down, grasping the mask in one hand. Alicia and Father Sapienza look to each other uncomfortably before turning and walking towards the exit. The camera focuses on Tempestad knelt down, and the mic catches him speaking.
“Perdóneme, dios, porque yo sé lo que voy a hacer...”
Fade out on the luchador kneeling among the wreckage, mask off and tears flowing freely.