Post by The Brothers Holland on Oct 21, 2010 13:14:47 GMT -6
You think I'm done?
Do any of you think I'm even close to finished?
Think again.
The Road to the Gold tournament was just the beginning...
of the beginning.
Sunday, the beginning ends
And the future
My new future
Begins.
*We open up on a gym. It's not a new sparkly clean gym like you'll often see people training in, no this one is much more run down than that. The sound of rain can be heard pattering on the roof, and can be seen on a clear section of roof that seems to have been built purely to cover a hole where the roof has fallen in.*
*The letters fade away as we look around the walls. There are posters shown. Some of them are for classic matches across various disciplines. A couple are even for fictional matches including Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed. After a little while we turn away from the posters and we see a man stood in front of a display case. The man is Dave Holland, but you probably already knew that.*
Dave: I hope you don't mind if I take a moment away from our showdown, Curtis. I'm a man who prides himself on giving credit where it's due and there is some credit that really needs giving right now.
Charlie... I can understand your anger. Your frustration, the feeling of being robbed. I've been there, like I told you last week, I've been there on three separate occasions. I don't condone what you did to Davey but again, I can understand it. Wrong place, wrong time. No... it's more than that. This unbridled anger... this boundless rage... you wouldn't have cared who it was. If I'd been celebrating alone in that ring it would have been me. If it had been my wife, you'd have given me cause to do more than lay your ass down for 3 seconds. You threaten anything like that on me come Sunday I will not hesitate to stop you. No second chances, no reprisals, just my foot in your face for a third time. Regardless I want to draw your attention to two things.
Lucky? Maybe. No, that's not fair, I was lucky and I know I was. After that second Closure if I hadn't been as near the ropes as I was I might not be here about to challenge for the world championship. But I did say luck had a place in anything we do didn't I? You tempted fate by casting it away and look what happened. One moment of luck and my own awesome ability took over from there.
The other thing is... you kicked out. You're only the second man who has ever kicked out of The Magic Touch. It might not sound like much to you but to me, that's testament to your doggedness. Your endurance and passion. So if nothing else about Sunday night, be proud of that. Be proud that you fought well and on any other night you might have won. Against any other man you almost certainly would have won.
*Dave is holding a black and white photograph in his hand. It shows Charlie rolling over and beginning to get up as Dave is on his knees looking at the ref's two count from The Magic Touch. A plaque attached to it reads "Charlie Velez, Collision 17th October 2010 - Road to the Gold Final".
He puts the picture in the display case next to the other. The first shows a similar scene with Lance Ryan, the plaque reads "Lance Ryan, A Night to Remember 2008 - World Title Match". There is a third picture but this one is different. It shows Dave in mid-Diamond Flight over Milo Holland. Until a fan recently messaged Dave and corrected him Dave believed his brother had kicked out of the Magic Touch when in fact Dave hadn't pinned Milo until nailing a Diamond Flight first. He leaves the picture on a lower shelf as a question mark over whether he would have or not. The plaque reads "Milo Holland, Last Stand 2008".*
Dave: You'll be an example to me in times to come, Charlie. When I face my future and feel I can't live up to the hype, that I can't cope with a particularly difficult opponent I come back here. I come and I look over the times in this cabinet. I remember my toughest matches... I remember the toughest times... I remember that not only did they fight well... but I fought better. That I won. And with that, I must turn my attention back to Curtis. But not from here. I don't need reminding of how formidable or dangerous I can be... I still have my memories of this entire tournament to tell me that. I need somewhere more befitting and representative of how I'm feeling right now.
*We fade away from the gym as the camera slowly zooms in on the picture of Charlie Velez, a pained expression on his face. The scene turns black*
*A few moments later we come up on a scene of some mountains. We pull back a little to see a snowman holding a flag. The flag reads 'Alex's Mountain'. Pulling back a little more we find the head of Dave Holland. Don't worry, it's still attached to his shoulders, they're just out of frame is all. Mist hangs in the air as Dave breathes. He talks to the camera behind him without turning.*
Dave: Y'know Curtis... I'm not angry. Truth be told I'm not even surprised. Part of me knew you'd be sat commenting on the match and all of me knew exactly why. Knew exactly what you were going to do to me after the match. I was ready for it, but damn that Velez guy takes some beating. I'm not really all that disappointed at what you did either. To be disappointed would mean I thought any higher of you and honestly, I didn't. I still don't. You did exactly what everyone expected you to do at precisely the moment they expected you to do it. Just the same as you have always done. When you faced Burns did they expect you to win? No. Not at first. When you faced him again and again, nothing changed. Not until you seemed to find focus and he lost it. Did expectations change? Yes. When Milo and I came back to nCw everyone expected you and Ron to get back together and you did. Expected you to win though? Some did, fairly even split. But you failed... you and Ron brought back the name Dirty Deal just to see it fall the way it should.
*Dave takes out a hip flask. It's a simple leather bound thing with silver top. He just holds it for a bit, enjoying the expansive view in front of him.*
Dave: You're starting to get predictable, Kanyon. There was a time when your madness made you hard to read, difficult to predict. Maybe DDK the man still is... but DDK the wrestler? I don't think so. Not anymore.
But being predictable doesn't make this task set before me any easier, I know that. We've fought in the same circles for a while now, so long that you've started blending bits of the past together into things that didn't happen. Like sending Milo into a coma, last I checked that was Ron and Matt Hicks, not you. But regardless of memory right now, right here... this is the best I have ever seen Curtis Kanyon. I could go ahead and list the times we've faced each other. I could regale nCw with the tale of the one and only time we've gone toe to toe one on one, a similar tournament to the one I just fought through, where I, like now, won which included laying you down for the three count. I could go into great detail of the whole saga but for what? What would be the point? That match... wasn't this. That wasn't the Curtis Kanyon who relentlessly pursued his path to the World Championship. That wasn't the Dave Holland who became nCw Gladiator, let alone Mr Road to the Gold 2010. That Dave Holland could never have pushed Charlie Velez to his limit and surpass it. We've both evolved.
Like you said, the fact we both started out as two of the best tag wrestlers in the world to become legitimate world title challengers.. well... I guess it all speaks for itself.
*Dave unscrews the lid of the hip flask and gestures with it into the air to toast as he turns to face the camera.*
Dave: So here's to evolution. To exceeding what we were to become what we are. Exceeding what we are to become that which we are yet to be.
*Dave takes a drink*
Dave: And now, something that may well be considered a little untoward. To you Curtis. To your fine, if still somewhat short, reign. You've done all that could have been asked of a champion... except maybe congratulating the number one contender rather than BANG!ing him... but that aside... I salute your efforts.
*Dave takes another drink and then puts away the flask.*
Dave: So the question that needs asking, the one that needs answering is who has evolved the more of us? Who has become the greater, the stronger, the more enduring? If this were a contest of strength I have no doubt you would win overall, though I would happily wager my Magic Touch against your BANG! any day. But this no mere game of strength alone. As is written in Watership Down, "Wherever they may find you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you." For the first time since Maniac I can aptly use my speed again. I'm not arrogant enough to think I'll evade you forever, or that said evasion is anything more than a metaphor. However, Curtis, if you don't capitalise properly this night is never going to end well for you.
You know what your facing, you know who you're facing. You know as much about my in ring abilities as anyone I've faced but I'll tell you something...You could never understand how i've become who and what I am today.
*Dave gestures out to the world without.*
Dave: Look out there. That's the whole damn world out there and here I am stood on top of it. This is how I feel, this is how I'm expected to feel. But then I look to the side and I see that over there.
*Dave points off camera. The camera turns to show another mountain top. It's higher up than the one we're on right now though it's not much higher and isn't casting a shadow or anything on us.*
Dave: A spot even higher in the world. It doesn't overshadow me, some people actually prefer to come to me than go over there... but still it's obviously higher than I am. And because it has that title, I need to go there and claim it. Not just for me, but for everyone I had to get through to even gain this opportunity.
So many men in Road to the Gold said they had a dream, a destiny. That they would finally, or once again be crowned world champion. Charlie's huge irrevocable destiny, Evans great shining path, Ricky's solitary empty display case... pick one. Because in the face of them all I was still going. Even though I started without even knowing or understanding my destiny, I defied them. I too their destinies and I outshone them utterly because mine was the stronger, was the greater. One of them was anyway.
Even now my future is unclear to me. Still my future is haunted by the future I envisioned. One path, the one I hope and am driven to pursue is unknown. Is unwritten, unseen. That one could be as bright or dark as any path laid before any of us. The other is the future I'm fighting against. The one I have seen... that I've suffered. The future where all that I am falls apart, piece by piece my life and soul cast down and left to burn.
So you see, Curtis, I'm not fighting like anyone else. I'm not after fame or glory. I don't care about the money or the prestige... I don't even feel a desperate need to replace you as champion to ive the title any honour or nobility. I don't pretend to be fighting to replace the joke of a champion everyone else sees,.. that I fail to see. I'm not fighting for some sense of vengeance or seeking some aspect of vindication... I have so much more riding on this than that.
The truth is that while you say you're a man without fear, I am. While I fear no man, while I fear no real, tangible thing that can be put in front of me I have witnessed my true fear made real... and that's what I'm fighting to avoid, to never face it again.
Once my future is assured and my hand raise in triumph, then everything changes. Then I will begin carrying on the path you have started walking with this belt, though in a manner quite different to yourself. After you've, naturally, had your rematch, I will start bringing some honour to this belt. But first, first I must prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that I truly am the man who should be wearing your gold and leather belt. As of right now you are fighting against a righteous force of nature who will never stop, never give up, never relent.
*The sound of a helicopter can be heard in the middle distance. Dave looks up to confirm that it's there.*
Dave: Not because I want something from you, Curtis. Nor because I don't want to lose something to you. But simply, because I must. Not because I must succeed...
But because I Must Not Fail.
*A rope ladder drops down beside Dave and he takes a hold of it while remaining on the ground.*
Dave: A man with Desire is motivated. A man with Demands is dangerous. A man with Destiny is nigh unstoppable. And I have all three so if I have any say on the matter, your reign has come to an end. Mine?... Mine's just warming up.
*Dave starts lifting off the ground as the Helicopter lifts him and the ladder into the sky and the scene starts fading to black.*
I'm Sorry.
But I Must Not Fail.
Do any of you think I'm even close to finished?
Think again.
The Road to the Gold tournament was just the beginning...
of the beginning.
Sunday, the beginning ends
And the future
My new future
Begins.
*We open up on a gym. It's not a new sparkly clean gym like you'll often see people training in, no this one is much more run down than that. The sound of rain can be heard pattering on the roof, and can be seen on a clear section of roof that seems to have been built purely to cover a hole where the roof has fallen in.*
Fighting the Future - Part 7
Salvation - Part 1: Must Not Fail
"Failure is not an option"
-Gene Kranz, Flight Director - Apollo 13
Salvation - Part 1: Must Not Fail
"Failure is not an option"
-Gene Kranz, Flight Director - Apollo 13
*The letters fade away as we look around the walls. There are posters shown. Some of them are for classic matches across various disciplines. A couple are even for fictional matches including Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed. After a little while we turn away from the posters and we see a man stood in front of a display case. The man is Dave Holland, but you probably already knew that.*
Dave: I hope you don't mind if I take a moment away from our showdown, Curtis. I'm a man who prides himself on giving credit where it's due and there is some credit that really needs giving right now.
Charlie... I can understand your anger. Your frustration, the feeling of being robbed. I've been there, like I told you last week, I've been there on three separate occasions. I don't condone what you did to Davey but again, I can understand it. Wrong place, wrong time. No... it's more than that. This unbridled anger... this boundless rage... you wouldn't have cared who it was. If I'd been celebrating alone in that ring it would have been me. If it had been my wife, you'd have given me cause to do more than lay your ass down for 3 seconds. You threaten anything like that on me come Sunday I will not hesitate to stop you. No second chances, no reprisals, just my foot in your face for a third time. Regardless I want to draw your attention to two things.
Lucky? Maybe. No, that's not fair, I was lucky and I know I was. After that second Closure if I hadn't been as near the ropes as I was I might not be here about to challenge for the world championship. But I did say luck had a place in anything we do didn't I? You tempted fate by casting it away and look what happened. One moment of luck and my own awesome ability took over from there.
The other thing is... you kicked out. You're only the second man who has ever kicked out of The Magic Touch. It might not sound like much to you but to me, that's testament to your doggedness. Your endurance and passion. So if nothing else about Sunday night, be proud of that. Be proud that you fought well and on any other night you might have won. Against any other man you almost certainly would have won.
*Dave is holding a black and white photograph in his hand. It shows Charlie rolling over and beginning to get up as Dave is on his knees looking at the ref's two count from The Magic Touch. A plaque attached to it reads "Charlie Velez, Collision 17th October 2010 - Road to the Gold Final".
He puts the picture in the display case next to the other. The first shows a similar scene with Lance Ryan, the plaque reads "Lance Ryan, A Night to Remember 2008 - World Title Match". There is a third picture but this one is different. It shows Dave in mid-Diamond Flight over Milo Holland. Until a fan recently messaged Dave and corrected him Dave believed his brother had kicked out of the Magic Touch when in fact Dave hadn't pinned Milo until nailing a Diamond Flight first. He leaves the picture on a lower shelf as a question mark over whether he would have or not. The plaque reads "Milo Holland, Last Stand 2008".*
Dave: You'll be an example to me in times to come, Charlie. When I face my future and feel I can't live up to the hype, that I can't cope with a particularly difficult opponent I come back here. I come and I look over the times in this cabinet. I remember my toughest matches... I remember the toughest times... I remember that not only did they fight well... but I fought better. That I won. And with that, I must turn my attention back to Curtis. But not from here. I don't need reminding of how formidable or dangerous I can be... I still have my memories of this entire tournament to tell me that. I need somewhere more befitting and representative of how I'm feeling right now.
*We fade away from the gym as the camera slowly zooms in on the picture of Charlie Velez, a pained expression on his face. The scene turns black*
*A few moments later we come up on a scene of some mountains. We pull back a little to see a snowman holding a flag. The flag reads 'Alex's Mountain'. Pulling back a little more we find the head of Dave Holland. Don't worry, it's still attached to his shoulders, they're just out of frame is all. Mist hangs in the air as Dave breathes. He talks to the camera behind him without turning.*
Dave: Y'know Curtis... I'm not angry. Truth be told I'm not even surprised. Part of me knew you'd be sat commenting on the match and all of me knew exactly why. Knew exactly what you were going to do to me after the match. I was ready for it, but damn that Velez guy takes some beating. I'm not really all that disappointed at what you did either. To be disappointed would mean I thought any higher of you and honestly, I didn't. I still don't. You did exactly what everyone expected you to do at precisely the moment they expected you to do it. Just the same as you have always done. When you faced Burns did they expect you to win? No. Not at first. When you faced him again and again, nothing changed. Not until you seemed to find focus and he lost it. Did expectations change? Yes. When Milo and I came back to nCw everyone expected you and Ron to get back together and you did. Expected you to win though? Some did, fairly even split. But you failed... you and Ron brought back the name Dirty Deal just to see it fall the way it should.
*Dave takes out a hip flask. It's a simple leather bound thing with silver top. He just holds it for a bit, enjoying the expansive view in front of him.*
Dave: You're starting to get predictable, Kanyon. There was a time when your madness made you hard to read, difficult to predict. Maybe DDK the man still is... but DDK the wrestler? I don't think so. Not anymore.
But being predictable doesn't make this task set before me any easier, I know that. We've fought in the same circles for a while now, so long that you've started blending bits of the past together into things that didn't happen. Like sending Milo into a coma, last I checked that was Ron and Matt Hicks, not you. But regardless of memory right now, right here... this is the best I have ever seen Curtis Kanyon. I could go ahead and list the times we've faced each other. I could regale nCw with the tale of the one and only time we've gone toe to toe one on one, a similar tournament to the one I just fought through, where I, like now, won which included laying you down for the three count. I could go into great detail of the whole saga but for what? What would be the point? That match... wasn't this. That wasn't the Curtis Kanyon who relentlessly pursued his path to the World Championship. That wasn't the Dave Holland who became nCw Gladiator, let alone Mr Road to the Gold 2010. That Dave Holland could never have pushed Charlie Velez to his limit and surpass it. We've both evolved.
Like you said, the fact we both started out as two of the best tag wrestlers in the world to become legitimate world title challengers.. well... I guess it all speaks for itself.
*Dave unscrews the lid of the hip flask and gestures with it into the air to toast as he turns to face the camera.*
Dave: So here's to evolution. To exceeding what we were to become what we are. Exceeding what we are to become that which we are yet to be.
*Dave takes a drink*
Dave: And now, something that may well be considered a little untoward. To you Curtis. To your fine, if still somewhat short, reign. You've done all that could have been asked of a champion... except maybe congratulating the number one contender rather than BANG!ing him... but that aside... I salute your efforts.
*Dave takes another drink and then puts away the flask.*
Dave: So the question that needs asking, the one that needs answering is who has evolved the more of us? Who has become the greater, the stronger, the more enduring? If this were a contest of strength I have no doubt you would win overall, though I would happily wager my Magic Touch against your BANG! any day. But this no mere game of strength alone. As is written in Watership Down, "Wherever they may find you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you." For the first time since Maniac I can aptly use my speed again. I'm not arrogant enough to think I'll evade you forever, or that said evasion is anything more than a metaphor. However, Curtis, if you don't capitalise properly this night is never going to end well for you.
You know what your facing, you know who you're facing. You know as much about my in ring abilities as anyone I've faced but I'll tell you something...You could never understand how i've become who and what I am today.
*Dave gestures out to the world without.*
Dave: Look out there. That's the whole damn world out there and here I am stood on top of it. This is how I feel, this is how I'm expected to feel. But then I look to the side and I see that over there.
*Dave points off camera. The camera turns to show another mountain top. It's higher up than the one we're on right now though it's not much higher and isn't casting a shadow or anything on us.*
Dave: A spot even higher in the world. It doesn't overshadow me, some people actually prefer to come to me than go over there... but still it's obviously higher than I am. And because it has that title, I need to go there and claim it. Not just for me, but for everyone I had to get through to even gain this opportunity.
So many men in Road to the Gold said they had a dream, a destiny. That they would finally, or once again be crowned world champion. Charlie's huge irrevocable destiny, Evans great shining path, Ricky's solitary empty display case... pick one. Because in the face of them all I was still going. Even though I started without even knowing or understanding my destiny, I defied them. I too their destinies and I outshone them utterly because mine was the stronger, was the greater. One of them was anyway.
Even now my future is unclear to me. Still my future is haunted by the future I envisioned. One path, the one I hope and am driven to pursue is unknown. Is unwritten, unseen. That one could be as bright or dark as any path laid before any of us. The other is the future I'm fighting against. The one I have seen... that I've suffered. The future where all that I am falls apart, piece by piece my life and soul cast down and left to burn.
So you see, Curtis, I'm not fighting like anyone else. I'm not after fame or glory. I don't care about the money or the prestige... I don't even feel a desperate need to replace you as champion to ive the title any honour or nobility. I don't pretend to be fighting to replace the joke of a champion everyone else sees,.. that I fail to see. I'm not fighting for some sense of vengeance or seeking some aspect of vindication... I have so much more riding on this than that.
The truth is that while you say you're a man without fear, I am. While I fear no man, while I fear no real, tangible thing that can be put in front of me I have witnessed my true fear made real... and that's what I'm fighting to avoid, to never face it again.
Once my future is assured and my hand raise in triumph, then everything changes. Then I will begin carrying on the path you have started walking with this belt, though in a manner quite different to yourself. After you've, naturally, had your rematch, I will start bringing some honour to this belt. But first, first I must prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that I truly am the man who should be wearing your gold and leather belt. As of right now you are fighting against a righteous force of nature who will never stop, never give up, never relent.
*The sound of a helicopter can be heard in the middle distance. Dave looks up to confirm that it's there.*
Dave: Not because I want something from you, Curtis. Nor because I don't want to lose something to you. But simply, because I must. Not because I must succeed...
But because I Must Not Fail.
*A rope ladder drops down beside Dave and he takes a hold of it while remaining on the ground.*
Dave: A man with Desire is motivated. A man with Demands is dangerous. A man with Destiny is nigh unstoppable. And I have all three so if I have any say on the matter, your reign has come to an end. Mine?... Mine's just warming up.
*Dave starts lifting off the ground as the Helicopter lifts him and the ladder into the sky and the scene starts fading to black.*
I'm Sorry.
But I Must Not Fail.