Post by Tempestad on Aug 13, 2010 3:14:39 GMT -6
We open on Tempestad walking into a Catholic church. Three words are inscribed over the door: DIOS. VERDAD. AMOR. He looks up at the motto, smirking briefly before walking inside. He crosses himself as he enters the main space of the building, looking around at the beautiful stained glass murals. His eyes track around before focusing on the figure at the altar/podium at the head of the rows of pews. He grins as he sees Father Sapienza writing out a sermon, joined by Alicia Vasquez. Alicia's wearing much more clean and almost dress clothing. He smiles as he walks down the aisle, Sapienza looking up and gaining a broad grin of his own.
“My son, so good to see you. I'm glad you received my message. Both Alicia and I wanted to speak to you about this match you have Sunday. Are you sure you made the right decision walking into such a hellacious situation with so much on the line? I know you, Memo. That mask is who you are. You're really willing to put your identity, your very being up just to get him out of your life? You saw what he did to that model! You could die out there, Memo! The flames and the wire...he'll rip you apart!”
Temp's hand flashes up, his eyes burning like twin suns under his mask. Sapienza stops, words dying in his throat as he sees the visible demeanor change in nCw's masked man. He's lost every ounce of the light-heartedness and good nature he had. All that the Father sees is the street fighter his charge became after he left. He sees the man who he feared would resurface when the match was announced. Alicia looks between the two, about to speak when Tempestad cuts her off.
“Let him try. Let the hijo de puta try all he wants. Come on, throw me into the fire! Into the barbs! Make me cut and bleed! I don't care WHAT you have for me! I'll take it all! Mist? HAH! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Three times? NOT. GOING. TO HAPPEN. Let all the demons of Hell itself descend on that cage. Let them try to pull me limb from limb. I want him to give me all he has. I want nothing less. And if I lose? I lose. If I lose, I will pull myself to my feet, look that bastard in the eye, and tell him he was the better man. That's WHY I asked for this match. I know it's his match. We're on his ground, with his rules. That way, when I win...and I will give everything I am to win...he has NO excuses. And I swear to all that is holy, in the sight of the Lord our God, if he so much as breathes in my direction after that, I will end him once and for all. He might walk out of Ascension. MIGHT. But if he tries to hurt either of you? He'll be lucky to be COMATOSE!”
Alicia roughly grabs him by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth. She stops after a few seconds of this before delivering a wicked slap that, surprisingly, Temp barely reacts to. She shakes her hand, wincing before looking at him with an annoyed expression as usual.
“Come on, man. Nothing is worth this. You can still walk away. We'll find some way out of this. Look, he's a monster. He's bloodthirsty. If you give him that clawhold, he is NOT going to let you go. He's going to pummel you senseless, and then, once you're dead flat on the canvas, he's going to reach down and rip away that mask. He's going to hold it high and spit on you. You're going to be humiliated. Look, I'm a clever girl. I can find some loophole. Maybe some sort of state athletic stipulation that forbids ****ing FLAMETHROWERS in a match. I don't know, I'm—”
He cuts her off again, shoving her away from him. She takes a few steps back, amazed at the fury that's been released in Tempestad. He stares her down, shaking his head and pulling his gloves off.
“You don't get it, Alicia. You don't know what he's done to me. You haven't had your only ***damn family on the planet corrupted and turned against you. He took her! He took her and warped her and made her a sick mockery of what she was! I'm not going to stand by and have that pleasure! No chance in hell! I want to be able to get my hands on him and rend my pound of flesh from his bones! He thinks he's a monster? Bull****! He sees himself as this noble demon, some tortured poet's soul cursed to an eternity of bloodlust and losing the ones he loves. He's deluding himself and all of those SHEEP that turned up to his press conference! He's nothing more than a bastard who loves sticking a dagger in your side and twisting it deep! My sister's gone! MY FAMILY IS NONEXISTENT! I'VE LOST IT ALL! I HAVE NOBODY LEFT! DO YOU NOT GET THAT, YOU STUPID ****ING WOMAN?!”
Sapienza stands up, voice booming like we've never heard it before. His glare matches the intensity of Tempestad's own, and even the fired-up luchador has to yield a bit to the gaze of the man of God.
“ENOUGH! Tempestad, I'm tired of it. I...I didn't want to tell you for fear it might affect you negatively, but...when you say that Maria was your last family on the Lord's planet, you're wrong. You forgot one member. One that you never remembered...but always remembered not having. Tempestad, you still have your father.”
A tear comes to the old man's eye, and he chokes out his words through clenched teeth and clenched fists.
“And he'll be damned if he sees his son go out and waste his life senselessly. So snap out of it, Guillermo. That isn't a request. That is an order. Do you understand me?”
Tempestad takes a step back in shock, shaking his head and trying to process what he just heard. He shakes his head again in disbelief, slowly managing to put words to his thoughts.
“Wait...you're telling me....that....my father...”
Sapienza nods, face showing identical determination and resolve to the visible face of the Masked Warrior. He takes a step forward, extending his hand. He cracks a slight grin at Tempestad, who shakes his head before leaping forward and enveloping the Father in a hug. Sapienza laughs, patting him on his back as he spins around with him in his grasp. Temp smiles, tears rolling from his eyes. Alicia looks on, smiling brilliantly at the reunited family. Sapienza sets Tempestad down, smiling at him.
“I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, son. I...your mother...you know the vows I must take as a priest of the Church. But...I was younger, much younger...and she was so beautiful...to see her go crushed me...but I knew I had to watch over you two. Make sure you grew up right. For at least one of you, I was successful. And to finally be able to hold you in my arms and know that my work wasn't in vain...Tempestad, your father never left you. I just never let you know. And I am so sorry.”
Temp nods back at Sapienza, smiling through the tears of joy streaming down his face like a flash flood on the Rio Bravo. He clears his throat, managing to get words to form properly. He laughs a bit to himself before he can actually speak, overcome with emotion as he is.
“Oh my God...I understand...you had duties to uphold, and you had a commitment to honor. I...I'm just glad that I have you. I'm glad that I know that I have you. I know how much it must have killed you to not be able to tell us...oh god, Maria...how will you tell her? She has to know, Father. Even after everything, even with what she's become...we have to tell her that she isn't alone anymore. Please, somehow we have to let her know!”
Sapienza shakes his head, resting his hand on Tempestad's shoulder. He bites his lip, trying to figure the right way to tell Tempestad. After a second of deliberation, he just gives up and speaks to him in plain English.
“We can't. She's become too dangerous. It kills me to do that, but...I just don't know how she'll react. I can only hope favorably...I don't want to make her mad. Memo, she loves Sephiroth. You haven't exactly been anything but hostile towards the man she decided to marry. And she DID decide herself. No warping necessary. Sometimes love is love. I know that more than many others....and I'm telling you, she loves him with all her heart. And he loves her. As much as the concept of Sephiroth showing genuine emotion is surprising to you, he loves her. And Malice. He cares for his servants, Executioner and Abel. He does have feelings, he just doesn't always...wear them as boldly as you.”
Temp nods slowly, conflict barely masked by his...well, mask. Alicia walks over, putting an arm around Tempestad's shoulder. She smiles at him reassuringly, patting his head and pulling him in closer.
“The man makes sense. The way she talked about him...I've seen abusive relationships. I've seen people get drugged up into thinking one way when they normally think the other. She's the real deal. You gotta accept that and move on...but don't you for a heartbeat think that means you shouldn't kick his ass. He's still wrenched you around like a chew toy mentally and emotionally. You've got a receipt for him for screwing you out of the Xtreme Title, and you better cash it in come Sunday. You hear me? You had better be kicking ass and taking names out there, or you won't have to worry about him, you're gonna have to worry 'bout ME!”
Tempestad grins, pulling her into a full hug. He rubs her back with one hand, looking over to his father, beaming with pride. Sapienza just chuckles and shakes his head at the two.
“You remind me of myself at your age. Impulsive. Adventurous. Ready to fight for what you think is right. Well then, Memo. If you really want to do this, I say you go out there on Sunday and you win that title. For your mask. For yourself. For everything you believe in. You are the hope of the lost everywhere. You can be someone that people look up to. You came from nothing, Memo. WE came from nothing. You were lost and frightened, but you took what you had and became great. I knew you could. I always knew you were going to be incredible. You've made me proud, son. I love you.”
Tempestad extends his other arm, drawing Sapienza into the hug. He looks between his new flame and his old friend, grinning wider than we've seen since early this year, before Sephiroth entered his life. Temp pulls them in closer, chuckling at them.
“I wouldn't be half the man I am now without people like you two there with me. You're always there for me. Now let me be there for you. Let's go relax. As a family. The three of us. What do you say? We can talk strategy, trash...or whatever you like. What do you say...Dad?”
Sapienza smiles at his son, patting his back and taking a step back towards the altar. He shakes his head, leaning over the sermon he was preparing.
“I would love to, but I have to have this ready as soon as possible. Tell you what. You two go and have fun. I'll catch up if I can. Besides, wouldn't having your father with you on a date kill the mood? I know if your grandfather came with me in my time with your mother, I would have been mortified with embarrassment.”
Temp chuckles, nodding at him and waving. He interlocks arms with Alicia as the two walk back down the aisle towards the doors of the church. He calls back to Sapienza, who's still at the altar.
“Sounds fine to me. We'll be over at La Fogata if you get your work done. Talk to you later, Dad?”
Sapienza nods to him, grinning at the young man that stands by the door. He chokes back another tear, this one of pride at the fine person his child has turned out to be.
“Of course. Good night if I don't see you again. Remember, son. I love you, and I always will.”
Temp grins and waves, walking out the door with Alicia in tow. Sapienza resumes writing, sighing and smiling to himself. He scratches away at the paper with his pencil...while a pair of eyes watch from the shadows. The bloodred pair narrows, watching him work on his sermon. A slight noise echoes throughout the vaulted arches and Sapienza looks up and around in confusion. We fade out on him calling out to the night in vain.
“Who's there?”
“My son, so good to see you. I'm glad you received my message. Both Alicia and I wanted to speak to you about this match you have Sunday. Are you sure you made the right decision walking into such a hellacious situation with so much on the line? I know you, Memo. That mask is who you are. You're really willing to put your identity, your very being up just to get him out of your life? You saw what he did to that model! You could die out there, Memo! The flames and the wire...he'll rip you apart!”
Temp's hand flashes up, his eyes burning like twin suns under his mask. Sapienza stops, words dying in his throat as he sees the visible demeanor change in nCw's masked man. He's lost every ounce of the light-heartedness and good nature he had. All that the Father sees is the street fighter his charge became after he left. He sees the man who he feared would resurface when the match was announced. Alicia looks between the two, about to speak when Tempestad cuts her off.
“Let him try. Let the hijo de puta try all he wants. Come on, throw me into the fire! Into the barbs! Make me cut and bleed! I don't care WHAT you have for me! I'll take it all! Mist? HAH! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Three times? NOT. GOING. TO HAPPEN. Let all the demons of Hell itself descend on that cage. Let them try to pull me limb from limb. I want him to give me all he has. I want nothing less. And if I lose? I lose. If I lose, I will pull myself to my feet, look that bastard in the eye, and tell him he was the better man. That's WHY I asked for this match. I know it's his match. We're on his ground, with his rules. That way, when I win...and I will give everything I am to win...he has NO excuses. And I swear to all that is holy, in the sight of the Lord our God, if he so much as breathes in my direction after that, I will end him once and for all. He might walk out of Ascension. MIGHT. But if he tries to hurt either of you? He'll be lucky to be COMATOSE!”
Alicia roughly grabs him by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth. She stops after a few seconds of this before delivering a wicked slap that, surprisingly, Temp barely reacts to. She shakes her hand, wincing before looking at him with an annoyed expression as usual.
“Come on, man. Nothing is worth this. You can still walk away. We'll find some way out of this. Look, he's a monster. He's bloodthirsty. If you give him that clawhold, he is NOT going to let you go. He's going to pummel you senseless, and then, once you're dead flat on the canvas, he's going to reach down and rip away that mask. He's going to hold it high and spit on you. You're going to be humiliated. Look, I'm a clever girl. I can find some loophole. Maybe some sort of state athletic stipulation that forbids ****ing FLAMETHROWERS in a match. I don't know, I'm—”
He cuts her off again, shoving her away from him. She takes a few steps back, amazed at the fury that's been released in Tempestad. He stares her down, shaking his head and pulling his gloves off.
“You don't get it, Alicia. You don't know what he's done to me. You haven't had your only ***damn family on the planet corrupted and turned against you. He took her! He took her and warped her and made her a sick mockery of what she was! I'm not going to stand by and have that pleasure! No chance in hell! I want to be able to get my hands on him and rend my pound of flesh from his bones! He thinks he's a monster? Bull****! He sees himself as this noble demon, some tortured poet's soul cursed to an eternity of bloodlust and losing the ones he loves. He's deluding himself and all of those SHEEP that turned up to his press conference! He's nothing more than a bastard who loves sticking a dagger in your side and twisting it deep! My sister's gone! MY FAMILY IS NONEXISTENT! I'VE LOST IT ALL! I HAVE NOBODY LEFT! DO YOU NOT GET THAT, YOU STUPID ****ING WOMAN?!”
Sapienza stands up, voice booming like we've never heard it before. His glare matches the intensity of Tempestad's own, and even the fired-up luchador has to yield a bit to the gaze of the man of God.
“ENOUGH! Tempestad, I'm tired of it. I...I didn't want to tell you for fear it might affect you negatively, but...when you say that Maria was your last family on the Lord's planet, you're wrong. You forgot one member. One that you never remembered...but always remembered not having. Tempestad, you still have your father.”
A tear comes to the old man's eye, and he chokes out his words through clenched teeth and clenched fists.
“And he'll be damned if he sees his son go out and waste his life senselessly. So snap out of it, Guillermo. That isn't a request. That is an order. Do you understand me?”
Tempestad takes a step back in shock, shaking his head and trying to process what he just heard. He shakes his head again in disbelief, slowly managing to put words to his thoughts.
“Wait...you're telling me....that....my father...”
Sapienza nods, face showing identical determination and resolve to the visible face of the Masked Warrior. He takes a step forward, extending his hand. He cracks a slight grin at Tempestad, who shakes his head before leaping forward and enveloping the Father in a hug. Sapienza laughs, patting him on his back as he spins around with him in his grasp. Temp smiles, tears rolling from his eyes. Alicia looks on, smiling brilliantly at the reunited family. Sapienza sets Tempestad down, smiling at him.
“I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, son. I...your mother...you know the vows I must take as a priest of the Church. But...I was younger, much younger...and she was so beautiful...to see her go crushed me...but I knew I had to watch over you two. Make sure you grew up right. For at least one of you, I was successful. And to finally be able to hold you in my arms and know that my work wasn't in vain...Tempestad, your father never left you. I just never let you know. And I am so sorry.”
Temp nods back at Sapienza, smiling through the tears of joy streaming down his face like a flash flood on the Rio Bravo. He clears his throat, managing to get words to form properly. He laughs a bit to himself before he can actually speak, overcome with emotion as he is.
“Oh my God...I understand...you had duties to uphold, and you had a commitment to honor. I...I'm just glad that I have you. I'm glad that I know that I have you. I know how much it must have killed you to not be able to tell us...oh god, Maria...how will you tell her? She has to know, Father. Even after everything, even with what she's become...we have to tell her that she isn't alone anymore. Please, somehow we have to let her know!”
Sapienza shakes his head, resting his hand on Tempestad's shoulder. He bites his lip, trying to figure the right way to tell Tempestad. After a second of deliberation, he just gives up and speaks to him in plain English.
“We can't. She's become too dangerous. It kills me to do that, but...I just don't know how she'll react. I can only hope favorably...I don't want to make her mad. Memo, she loves Sephiroth. You haven't exactly been anything but hostile towards the man she decided to marry. And she DID decide herself. No warping necessary. Sometimes love is love. I know that more than many others....and I'm telling you, she loves him with all her heart. And he loves her. As much as the concept of Sephiroth showing genuine emotion is surprising to you, he loves her. And Malice. He cares for his servants, Executioner and Abel. He does have feelings, he just doesn't always...wear them as boldly as you.”
Temp nods slowly, conflict barely masked by his...well, mask. Alicia walks over, putting an arm around Tempestad's shoulder. She smiles at him reassuringly, patting his head and pulling him in closer.
“The man makes sense. The way she talked about him...I've seen abusive relationships. I've seen people get drugged up into thinking one way when they normally think the other. She's the real deal. You gotta accept that and move on...but don't you for a heartbeat think that means you shouldn't kick his ass. He's still wrenched you around like a chew toy mentally and emotionally. You've got a receipt for him for screwing you out of the Xtreme Title, and you better cash it in come Sunday. You hear me? You had better be kicking ass and taking names out there, or you won't have to worry about him, you're gonna have to worry 'bout ME!”
Tempestad grins, pulling her into a full hug. He rubs her back with one hand, looking over to his father, beaming with pride. Sapienza just chuckles and shakes his head at the two.
“You remind me of myself at your age. Impulsive. Adventurous. Ready to fight for what you think is right. Well then, Memo. If you really want to do this, I say you go out there on Sunday and you win that title. For your mask. For yourself. For everything you believe in. You are the hope of the lost everywhere. You can be someone that people look up to. You came from nothing, Memo. WE came from nothing. You were lost and frightened, but you took what you had and became great. I knew you could. I always knew you were going to be incredible. You've made me proud, son. I love you.”
Tempestad extends his other arm, drawing Sapienza into the hug. He looks between his new flame and his old friend, grinning wider than we've seen since early this year, before Sephiroth entered his life. Temp pulls them in closer, chuckling at them.
“I wouldn't be half the man I am now without people like you two there with me. You're always there for me. Now let me be there for you. Let's go relax. As a family. The three of us. What do you say? We can talk strategy, trash...or whatever you like. What do you say...Dad?”
Sapienza smiles at his son, patting his back and taking a step back towards the altar. He shakes his head, leaning over the sermon he was preparing.
“I would love to, but I have to have this ready as soon as possible. Tell you what. You two go and have fun. I'll catch up if I can. Besides, wouldn't having your father with you on a date kill the mood? I know if your grandfather came with me in my time with your mother, I would have been mortified with embarrassment.”
Temp chuckles, nodding at him and waving. He interlocks arms with Alicia as the two walk back down the aisle towards the doors of the church. He calls back to Sapienza, who's still at the altar.
“Sounds fine to me. We'll be over at La Fogata if you get your work done. Talk to you later, Dad?”
Sapienza nods to him, grinning at the young man that stands by the door. He chokes back another tear, this one of pride at the fine person his child has turned out to be.
“Of course. Good night if I don't see you again. Remember, son. I love you, and I always will.”
Temp grins and waves, walking out the door with Alicia in tow. Sapienza resumes writing, sighing and smiling to himself. He scratches away at the paper with his pencil...while a pair of eyes watch from the shadows. The bloodred pair narrows, watching him work on his sermon. A slight noise echoes throughout the vaulted arches and Sapienza looks up and around in confusion. We fade out on him calling out to the night in vain.
“Who's there?”