My Path To Honor, Part 7 - Colorless

[Joe Everyman]

And it's one last round of petty conversation
You hold on boy 'cuz
You won't go down like this?
Just roll over
Lay down till it's more than you can take

The scene opens up in the back of the Breaking Away arena, specifically inside of Joe Everyman's locker room. There is no color, only strains of black and white. Joe is sitting, hunched over in a chair sitting in the middle of the room. After a few moments, Joe raises his head and looks up into the camera; his eyes shining with a brilliant blue, the only color in the room. Joe then steadies his head and looks deeply into the camera.

Joe Everyman: Is this the truth, Ander? Do you and I truly live in a world of black and white? Everything you said this week seems to lead to that. For every comment you made about me being bland, you said the exact same about yourself. Every breath you took would mean nothing as you only cast a shadow over yourself in your attempt. When will you learn, Ander? Your defense system failed, and now you are vulnerable to attack. You seemed so confident, maybe that was your strategy the whole time. You see, my strategy this whole time was to make you look bad. And so far, that's what I've done. In this world of black and white, I still shine bright with color. In this world of black and white, you just blend in with the background. In this world of black and white, you are just that... black and white.

Joe stands up and looks around the room, still no color showing besides his eyes.

Joe Everyman: Allow me to show you something, Ander.

The scene fades out and slowly fades back in with a colorless battlefield. Dead bodies litter the ground. Guns and ammunition are scattered everywhere. A lone purple flower sits in the middle of all the carnage. It blows in the wind, but does not buckle.

This, Ander, symbolizes hope. Hope, in all of this destruction. I still hold hope that I will win, in the lifelessness that is my career. My hope will one day grow strong and flourish once again. But for now, it is the only color seen in all of the heartbreak. Do you have any hope? Do you have any feelings left? Or did you lose them when you tried to act like a tough guy instead of thinking? Did you lose them when you failed to realize your faults were true and hurtful still? Everything you have ever accomplished, everything you have ever lost; none of it holds any hope for you in this hour.

Do you hold any hope for a victory, or are your words really that empty? From what I heard, even if I wasn't in this match, I would say you're desperately trying to cling to hope, but you can't get a grip on it. After each loss, I still have the hope of having a match the next week. After each win, I still have the hope of knowing bigger things will soon come. Unlike you, Ander, I can say these things without lying. You say you have the same heart as me, that you still hold the same standing in your career. Anybody can see how much of a lie that is. You do not see the color. You are blind to it.

The scene then fades out and back into the locker room. Joe remains standing where he was before, his eyes still shinning bright.

Joe Everyman: For as much as I say to you Ander, I will admit that I am black and white too. But you see, I still have the ability to have rage. Red rage! I didn't want to hate you this week, but I seem to have no choice anymore. Your comments this week in their own right didn't anger me, but the overall thought of you walking out as the Honor Champion has. I have not seen you angry in a long time, Ander. You are so passive, it hurts. But you will see, regardless of the rules in this match, I will bring out all pain and anguish inside of me and hit you with them at full force.

Have you ever lose a loved one? Have you ever been cheated on? Have you ever had to get a divorce? Have you had to tell your children? After all of these things happen to a man, he cannot even feel somberly about it anymore. The way a man works is only rage... only pain... only suffering.

I hope you die, Ander. I want to see your blood run out of the ring as the paramedics make their desperate and futile attempts to make it so you are still breathing. You hear me, you son of a bitch?! I hope you burn! I hope you rot! I hope you pay for your sins. I will see you one day in hell...

And your comments Ander... even for the things that you are proud of, I see now joy. I see nothing that could be seen as... happy. Are you so emotionless? Are you really that shallow? Even if you had been cheated on, even if you had been lied to, even if you have had your heart ripped out, you wouldn't have felt it. Vulcans show more emotion than you! The simple joy can sometimes make everything worth it...

Winning championships, as they say, is a physical way of showing that you're the best. I have done this before! I have been on the top! I was belated to be a three time National Champion. I am, still to this day, the greatest one in nCw. And no matter what people might say to me, I will still always have that. I have proven time and time again that I am one hell of a wrestler. Even if people don't want to believe me, I still hold that in me. I still find a way to smile every day looking back at this moments. And this Sunday, I will have that joy again when I win the Honor Championship and restore it as a legitimate title.

...but not you Ander, you somehow suck the joy out of everything. I'm not sure of how you do it. Just the way you talk, the way you act, the way you move, you just seem... out of place. This company thrives on drama, and you bring nothing to it. I have had my share of some of the biggest moments in nCw history. I made it so Lance Ryan couldn't win his third nCw Championship. I was in the first Coliseum match. I was in countless stables of varying length. I'm in the record books as the only man to hold the National Championship three times. I am always on the promos for upcoming pay per views. Any time a new wrestler comes in, regardless of their standing, I still stand tall over them because of how long I have been here. I was here when nCw started, and I will for damn sure be here till it's dead. I find joy in these things. But you just seem like your career means nothing. You says your wins and losses shape your career, when you know deep down that it is another bold faced lie.

I want you to dive down deep and show some charisma. I want you to dig down deep and show some emotional. But most of all, and this is the most important, I want you to fail. I will make sure that last one comes true at least, because you need help with the first two. The Honor Championship will be mine. And even more than that, I can go on with my life knowing that the reason why you struggle from here on out, the reason why you are a failure, the reason why you can never quite put out your best effort, is because of me. Isn't it a great thing when you can know that about someone? I already have JFK and Lance for that short list, and this Sunday, I will add a third.

Ander, I will show you once and for all that I am just plain better than you. And please, for the love of God, don't come out and say exactly what I think you're going to say. I did a favor to you and came out here today and didn't pick apart everything you said. No, instead, I tried to be a different person this week. I decided to be nice, just to see if it will pay off. I don't need to tell you how I will win this match, and I don't need to show every inch of your promo in mine. Instead, all I have to do is win. All I have to do is restore honor. All I have to do is the impossible. Maybe not the impossible to me, but what the others will call impossible. They say I can never win the gold again. They say it's impossible for me to be on the top again. But I will shock the world when I start my conquest this Sunday. After I win the Honor Championship, the X-Division is next. Then the National Championship for the fourth time. And then, onto the World Championship. Hell, I'll win the Starlets Tag Team titles by myself if I have to! Just as long as I get some damn respect for what I have accomplished.

I give you no respect Ander, because you haven't earned it yet. People bad mouth you because you suck, but nobody tries to back you. When someone takes a shot at me, there is always someone to stand behind me. Is there anybody there for you? And no, the person you're f*cking doesn't count. Trust me, I got that one beat into me more than a few times. You need some real people behind you, and not for the sake of hype, but for the sake of real commitment to someone they believe in. I have a few of those left, and I will not let them down this Sunday.

The time for words is over, Ander. Anything you say from here on out is just useless. In a mere twenty four hours from now, I will be relaxing in my hotel room with my newly won Honor Championship laying next to me. While you will be sulking around backstage, trying to get anyone to listen to you that will. I have the confidence, I have the joy ready to appear after, and I have the rage ready to spring out at any given moment. My emotions are ready, where as yours are still lost forever. It's time, Ander. Do you hear the clock ticking down your final minutes as champion? Are you ready for your finale? Or are you still going to come out and talk out of your ass a little more. I am ready, just like I have been as soon as I won the right to be in this match. And I am more prepared than you wish you could ever be.

Whether is full of anger...

Full of joy...

Or the readiness to once again carry the gold. You will fall Ander. You will never be the same again, I can guarantee it. At Breaking Away, I finally break away from the pack and become the spotlight again. This Sunday, I prove all of my doubters wrong... again. This Sunday, I will become the nCw Honor Champion, and get one step closer to ascension. One step closer to finally breaking that damn glass ceiling.

It's going to happen one of these days.

Joe smirks as his eyes still glow in the black and white surrounding him. He closes his eyes as the scene slowly fades to black...

If it's just that you're weak
Can we talk about it
It's gettin' so damn creepy
Just nursing this ghost of chance
The fiction, the romance
And the Technicolor dreams
Of black and white people