Post by The Brothers Holland on Apr 2, 2008 16:34:43 GMT -6
(OOC: Two Parter again..... sorry.)
*The sound of static can be heard. The scene is dark but a square of light can be seen in the background. A television has been left on the sole source of light in the entire room, whatever room this is. The camera slowly approaches the television set but it always remains a fair distance away. The static starts to clear as the television tries to play some kind of message. A moment later and it returns to static. It keeps on trying, occasionally letting out a moments speech but the signal always passes so quickly that the word is indecipherable. One thing can be recognised however. The voice. The voice is always the same... always the same man talking.
Lance Ryan.*
"Lance Ryan...
I didn't want to answer to you last week. I hardly said a damn thing to you and some people might have been starting to question why. Why was I not addressing my biggest competitor in that match? Why wouldn't I tell you all that I'm about to tell you now? Why, when I could have started working my way deep into that skull of yours would I pass on the opportunity to begin the mind games one week early? Like you tried to and I'll honestly say.. you failed. I may not have made a great impact upon the match but my aim was never an impact. My aim was to act as a tank. In what way, you ask? Well in the world of role playing games, 'tank' is the name associated with any character whose sole aim is to absorb all damage possible and survive so that the rest of the characters can play their parts, healing, and dealing damage. It was tactical and I did it because I know that there's one thing that I am better at than everyone. I'm not the fastest, I'm not the most technically skilled.. I may not even be the smartest.. but I am the toughest son of a bitch on this planet and any other. And that's how I'm going to take that belt from your shoulder. I'll take that belt with attrition if I have to..."
*The television clears for a second.. It cuts to a promo of Lance Ryan's from the last couple of months.*
"Sometimes, it's not all about winning or losing, it's what you're able to accomplish."
*The screen begins playing white noise again as the picture stutters frozen on the very last frame of that one line. The picture slowly starts to fade back to static.*
"You've said a lot of things in the last month and a half, Lance. Most of the things you've said you've been right. Simple things like if you were to say breathing air is good for you. Most of those you've gotten right. Some of the more complicated and less obvious things you've gotten right too. Things like saying the square root of a hundred and twenty one is eleven... that kind of thing. But then.. more often than not, you got a little too cocky. You started making up facts or repeating facts that the stereotyping bastard you are would assume to be true. Every single *** damn time you have been dead wrong. Everything you've said about me is false and you are very lucky I don't take you to court for slander. Instead I noticed the trend and decided I'd save the big exposée for tonight... for this film. That's why I didn't address you very much last week.. that's why I did everything I could to not give two ****s about you until that match was all but done. Everything you said about my past and how I came to be the success I am.. wrong... your reads on the present.. wrong... and even when you tried your hand at predicting the future.. you got it wrong."
*As if on cue the TV regains the picture. This time showing Lance from a different promo he made with the rest of Age of the Revolution.*
"Dave Holland. A man that I have defeated in a tag match, and in a singles match, so we may as well add a six man tag match to that list as well. What do you think boys? I’ll celebrate to that match as well!"
*Again the white noise returns and the picture flickers as it freezes on Lance celebrating.*
"That celebration didn't last long though. You remember what happened that week? Do you remember poor little Xavier? Do you remember being completely powerless to stop me? I proved you were wrong... I proved for the first time that Age of the Revolution could be halted.. I proved that YOU could be halted. That Spike turned on common sense and common decency is a travesty but that travesty was his choice. Siding with you boys would be the last thing I'd have done but Spike.. well he's just about crazy enough for that to make sense. And then we went on to yet another weak of Dave Holland versus the Revolution. A sad week for me... Milo left me behind for the second time in my career. But for the second time he was right about me not needing him. He left me for my own good.. and for his. Your little Trojan horse was happy to see him go... thought I'd be weaker on my own. Thought that he could do as his daddy had done a few weeks previous. But he forgot the same fact that you've been forgetting all month. This isn't Dave Holland that you're fighting anymore... 'Diamond' Dave Holland is gone from nCw. Truth be told I've not gone by that name for some time now but officially that was my contracted wrestling alias. You're up against Dave Holland the Gladiator. Dave Holland the conqueror.. Dave Holland the Destroyer."
*The television flickers but this time we can't see Lance Ryan, despite the fact we can tell it's him talking. The screen instead shows the slow motion replay of Dave Holland nailing Jamie Ryan with The Magic Touch*
"Know that Jamie will defeat Holland and tell Holland that I will be watching him closely and that if you mess with family, you mess with me."
*A camera flash has illuminated Jamie's face to almost pure white. His face is splattered with blood from his nose, his head at a very unnatural angle being hit over the turnbuckle. Slowly the picture returns to static as the white noise returns once more*
"Oops.. Did I do that? Yes.. yes I did. I heard your warning Lance and I listened to it well. And then I disregarded it completely because of two things. Firstly I knew we had this match booked already so I'd be dealing with you eventually regardless... kinda made your threat a bit empty really, just like the rest of your threats. But secondly... I disregarded it because I wanted to mess with you. You have a lot of payment coming to you, Lance. For all of your crimes. I witnessed one and that was enough. You kidnapped a child. Regardless as to whether it was your child or not, the fact remains you did it. You then escaped the law despite the fact I laid it out for them. You escaped because of the system not working, precisely the same thing you are campaigning against. Well, part of what you're campaigning against. If they won't play justice of the peace, then I guess that falls on my shoulders. No one else will... not while I have my sights set on you. So, what now Lance? Now I've slapped your son something rotten does that make me even more of a target? Or are you writing it off as a casualty of war like you and Jack said to each other a short while before that match? What's more important, Lance? Your family.. the weakest of bonds according once again to you... or your war against capitalism? Your group that Nothing Saves from?
I don't know the answer, and truth be told I'm almost certain that you don't either. This simple question is the core of what's wrong with you. You are a hypocrite. Not on everything but on the family thing you are for definite... on the rest of it.. well.. let's just leave it as you still being completely wrong, yeah?"
*The television flickers back to an image. This time of Dave Holland stood with Davey Ortega and Smokin' Aces. After their names have been said by Lance Ryan the image fades back to Lance speaking again*
"There. Those are two things that people like Dave Holland, Davey Ortega, The Ace, and Steve Awesome will never understand. Charity, and the struggle of life."
*The camera this time focusses on the boy who Lance was charitable to. Frozen once again for a moment before fading again to static, white noise taking over yet again.*
"Charity... Charity is not what you say it is. It's not giving to everyone who asks for it. It's not always that easy. You have to give people what they deserve. If they don't feel like they earned it they'll never appreciate it and soon enough they'll be right back where they started, asking once more for your charity. That child probably deserved a second chance and that second hundred dollars was probably the right thing to do. But the rest of it.. well people don't lose their job for no reason. Not anymore. He probably gave most of that to his Dad who blew it on whatever he did in the first palce that got him fired. Charity in it's truest form isn't giving. It's doing. You do something for someone, you teach them something, anything to help them work themselves from the bottom. Otherwise what makes them any different from the image you paint of I? It all comes to them without them having to work. I'm not evil, I'm not heartless but at the same time I have to be realistic. I give my money to charities that do.. charities that can make a real difference to the lives of thousands, millions... Charities that I hold dear because they do for children all that was not done for me.
Yes.. for me.."
*The camera does a half and half cut. As in the television, now close up is shown overlaid on shots of people in a mall. Kids mingling about in high quality outfits. Their parents drive up in top quality vehicles to collect them before driving away, while on the TV Lance is talking once more.*
"Everywhere around me kids were wearing the newest fashions, they were buying cars, or driving mommy and daddy’s car…I was shopping at second hand stores and eating television dinners to scrape by at life. You need to understand that I lived every day hoping that I could die."
*On the word 'Die' The camera returns to the room. There is slightly more light in the room now and we can see Dave Holland leaning on the top of the Television set.*
Dave: Because now... now we're starting to get to my real point. The point that makes this quite an unfortunate happenstance for you Lance Ryan. That one line has shown me two things about you. Both of which will be explained in their entirety in due course. Firstly that I'm stronger than you... and secondly that you, ironically, had the better life growing up. You heard me. If you had done as much homework on me as you think you have you'd know this by now. If you'd kept an eye on me like you said you would you would know this by now. Hell, if you'd just sat down and spoken for five minutes with Spike or Jack about me, you would know this. Jack knows my past.. and Spike.. well he was there. He'll probably be telling this story soon too but that's ok. We both had very different experiences of the whole thing. Hell has several circles after all. I told everyone in the Collosseum what happened to me in my youth... what it was that escalated me into becoming the man I am today.. not every facet but the ones that you should care about at any rate. This could take a while, but don't worry. I know you like listening to the sound of your own voice so I've thrown plenty more of your mistakes in there with it. Get comfortable, Lance. I'd hate for you to miss this a second time.
*The static remains as Lance's voice can be heard uttering some immortal words. The camera closes on on the screen before it becomes the sole feed of the scene.*
"Without the story behind the boy, you will never understand the man."
*The static clears. On the screen can be seen two people, one man and one woman. Both have been shown on nCw television before but not for a while. The camerawork isn't great and it's all like some kind of home movie. Old footage, later seventies maybe.*
"My parents. Castor and Megan Holland. They look happy right? Right. They were happy. No threat of divorce or this becoming a broken home. Hell this is even before my time so obviously they're not going to split until then.. or Milo in fact. No, as far as marriages go this was right up there with the best of them. They lived, they worked, they loved, they grew. If you're wonderig where the tragedy is, just wait. Because it all starts around this man. Castor Holland is the man indirectly responsible for what we became and what happened to us all. So what was he? A child beater? A drunk? A paedophile? No. None of these. He was a loving father and a loving husband first and foremost. But he was also a soldier of sorts. He fought for his country ina time when fighting had to be done covertly. He was an assassin. A sniper... a hitman if you want. He was damn good at it too. He never got caught on regular jobs. Before you go after his memory with a pick axe though, he never took civilian targets. Only military. He specialised in IRA terrorists. In fact it was one such terrorist that led to the real truth of our past."
*A past promo can be seen. Second Wind: Part One - Repeat of History. A shot from above a white van that seems to have crashed. As the camera circles closer to the van Lance can be heard speaking yet again.*
"Dave, understand something that may be hard for you to comprehend…not everyone has life easy. My parents abused me as a child, I moved out at 16 and I have worked my ass off every damn day to get to where I am right now."
*Dave doesn't speak just yet. He lets the scene continue itself. The camera blends to a shot inside the van. The scene is entirely black and white. The camera is close up on a face devoid of emotion. The eyes are closed and the sound of tears can be heard. Very occasionally a spot drops on this face. Zooming out we see Castor Holland cradling the head of his wife. She's slumped over into his lap. On the side of her forehead there is a circular red mark... a trail of blood running down from the wound.*
Castor: This wasn't supposed to happen. THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!! You should be back at home with our boys... our poor boys... It should've been me.. it would've ended with me... Our boys'll be next on the list... gotta keep them safe.. gotta... Sis... she's gotta be warned...
*Castor takes up the car phone fitted to the vehicle. He has no family left except his two sons and his sister. He knows for what he's done they'll all be in danger. He dials a number and soon a voice answers, a female voice that's vaguely familiar as that of Ma Holland.*
Castor: Sis... yeah it's me. Listen there's not much time. The job's gone south. They'll be coming for you you have to go underground... a long way underground.... Yeah I know, I'm sorry.... The boys?...... They'll be fine. They're with friends that no one knows. They know what to do...... Yeah... I love you too.... I'm sorry... Goodbye.
*Castor hangs up the phone and replaces the handset.*
"The boys are safe... My sister should be safe... All that's left to lead them to them is me... and that just won't do. I'm coming Megan... I'm with you until the end... all the way..."
*The camera zooms out through the roof of the van. There is a large squad of men carrying AR-18 semi-automatic rifles approaching the van from all directions except straight ahead. They're all ready to fire on Castor should he offer any resistance but are looking to capture rather than kill.
They don't have to... there's a gunshot from inside the van and then silence. The scene fades to black. It's now that Dave speaks again.*
"Sometimes bad parents are better than no parents. I lost my parents at age 8. I then didn't find out the truth of how for another twenty plus years. And then do you know what happened to us, Lance? Do you know what happened to Dave and Milo Holland, sons of Castor and Megan then? Well no... I guess you don't."
*Sure enough, More of Lance Ryan. The camera shows static flickering over the blackness before changing for the image of Lance Ryan speaking the words.*
"I wouldn’t expect you to see it. I wouldn’t even expect you to understand it. Dave Holland, your life is like something out of a fairy tale. You have this perfect little life. ..... Dave, don’t you get it? You have been handed everything in life, it’s as though you can do no wrong."
*Freeze Frame*
"As if I can do no wrong, maybe. Maybe right now in this era it seems like that but it wasn't always so. Back in the day I was eprsecuted for who I was and how I acted just as I am today, despite the fact that neither of these times are my acts in the wrong and frankly, they're for the good of others at my cost rather than for the good of myself at the cost of others as some might think. Well.. as two people might think. One of them's you lance... the other will be introduced shortly. Keep watching, there might be a few names you recognise."
*The picture fades away to static once again before fading back in on another old scene. This one is also in black and white. A large room with beds lining the walls. Beside each bed is a nightstand, at the end of each bed a footlocker. On one of the beds is sat a small boy, can't be any older than 10. Sat on the floor beside him is another boy. A little larger than the first but somehow he seems younger. The boy on the bed is reading a book. From the door at the end of the hall can be heard a lot of noise, shouting and fighting.*
"See the boy on the floor? That's Milo Holland aged 6. He never left me alone. Especially not in that place. He knew there was something bad about it though there was never any reason for us to suspect it until now. The other boy is me, aged 10. This is the day I was introduced to violence. This was the day when my life turned down this road I've been walking along ever since. this was the day that everything I was.. and everything I was going to be in my former life, was utterly destroyed."
*The door slams open. Stood in the doorway we can see a man, muscular build and long hair. He turns his attention immediately to the two boys.*
: Holland! Get your ass outside, it's your turn! What the hell you readin' for!?
Dave: My Dad always said that rich people were all smart.. and smart people all read. He taught me to read so I'd be rich... and I want to do what he told me.
: Well your Dad's dead now, Holland. I tell you what to do and what not to do now, and I'm telling you to stop reading and get your ass outside. Time to start your way to being a man... Unless you want little Milo to do it?
*From outside a scream of 'I am XCon, Hear me roar' can be heard.*
"Conrad Jones. This is the other guy I was talking about. I don't know what made me stand up to him like I did."
*Dave stands between Milo and Conrad. He stands as tall as he can and glares at Conrad viciously, despite the fact Conrad's a good two or three feet taller than him.*
Dave: You leave him alone.
*Conrad smacks Dave across the face knocking him onto the bed again. Milo leaps up and tries to punch Conrad as hard as a 6 year old can but is met with a similar blow in the opposite direction. Dave reacts by leaping as high as he can and kicking Conrad square in the jaw.*
Conrad: Heh... that's a good boot you have there. Let's see what else you have.
*Conrad begins to lay into Dave with no mercy. He only punches but he doesn't pull a single one of them. The static slowly returns as we hear the tears of Milo forced to watch his brother beaten to a pulp. Lance's voice can be heard as the scene fades out.*
"I truly believe that you have no idea what it was like for me to live that life, to go on knowing that I may never become anything but a bottom dweller."
"Really? I have no idea what it was like to be on the bottom rung of the ladder? Lance, your ladder was on a whole other elevated platform to the one I was forced to live on for the next 8 years of life. I learned quickly that if I was to survive I would have to fight. I fought as much as I could so Milo never had to. I had already lost my life to this bloodsport, I didn't want the same to happen to Milo. But I was no match for Conrad. In the end he forced us into a situation where we both had to fight. Not each other, obviously, but pretty much everyone else. You starting to see the real me now? Starting to see the self sacrificing brother, the gladiator that I really am? Are you starting to understand that there are more things in this world that scare me more than you, many more. That there are things in this world that I hate, that I despise.. that have some kind of power over me.. and you're not one of them. Are you starting to understand that no matter the sob story you spin about your past that it can;t hold a candle to my own? That I earned every single cent I ever made. Not with my business decisions, I admit sometimes I got lucky. But I earned them all with the blood and sweat, the tears, the pain, the suffering I endured in that hell hole. Are you beginning to understand what we all went through there? What my family went through?"
*The camera shows the orphanage basement. The pit shown in 'Survivor' broadcast for Sovereign. This time though the pit has people fighting inside. A younger Milo Holland fighting two men at the same time. He's doing reasonably well considering. Above the pit we can see Dave trying desperately to get involved but there are four others holding him back. Lance Ryan's voice echoes again.*
"Dave, what would you do if you were handcuffed to the ropes and forced to watch us annihilate Milo in front of you? Milo, how would you feel if you watched us end the career of Dave?"
"I already saw it. Milo being forced to fight endlessly until he was destroyed. I'd refused to fight again, I was always looking for a way out of fighting. The violence, the bloodshed.. it was always too much for me to bear spiritually. It was soul crushing. But how I reacted... that's a different story. Held back by four of the strongest boys under Conrad's care.. no one thought I'd ever be able to get in there. They were holding my hands and my body.. but they forgot to hold on to one thing. My right foot. That was their mistake."
*Dave swings his leg backwards catching one of the boys in the crotch. He uses the momentum to sweep the legs of the other boy on his right, sending his face to the stone floor. Dave then uses his right hand to punch one of the boys away before Superkicking the final one. Dave then leaps into the pit to the side of his fatigued brother. The camera fades to black and shows no more of that match.*
"We were decimated. Milo was already beaten and all I was doing was distracting the rest of them from flogging his fallen self.Some might call that my mistake. I don't. But like you said Lance, it's not always about the winning or losing.. it's about what you accomplish. It wasn't long after when we got out of that place. Conrad had no hold on us any longer once I'd turned 18. Technically he could have fought to keep Milo for another two years but I'd be damned if I was going to let him do that. Everything I did back then, I did for Milo. Every fight, every beating, every punishment. Conrad Jones is the second man I was referring to earlier. The man who persecuted me for who I was. A guardian... a saviour. And once again, I'm threatened for those same traits. No one person do I guard any longer.. but all people. I gues their right to society as it is. Born out of love... fired by fate and misfortune... tempered by hell itself."
*The camera zooms out to show the television again with Dave stood over it.*
Dave: And that's a brief history of me. Once I was out of the orphanage, I got some money together from Ma... that's my Aunt before you get confused... who had recieved the assets of my parents. It wasn't a lot but it was enough to start a small business that sky-rocketed and now.. here we all are. With me happy and healthy with a loving wife, a child on the way, a globetrotting brother and a fan base larger than the whole of the swiss army. And you... with your hating me because it all came too easy for me.
*Dave shoots the camera a sarcastic / confused glance.*
Dave: Now let's see if there's any more you want to say, we might as well hear it. now.
*Dave presses play on a remote and another piece plays. This one is actually Brad Kane, a.k.a. Reckless Jack.*
"Then honestly, why do you wrestle Dave? I can't imagine someone like you wrestling for any other reason the then cash that's involved. I know you Dave, I know the lengths you're willing to go in order to lie about something trivial as to why you wrestle."
*The sound of static can be heard. The scene is dark but a square of light can be seen in the background. A television has been left on the sole source of light in the entire room, whatever room this is. The camera slowly approaches the television set but it always remains a fair distance away. The static starts to clear as the television tries to play some kind of message. A moment later and it returns to static. It keeps on trying, occasionally letting out a moments speech but the signal always passes so quickly that the word is indecipherable. One thing can be recognised however. The voice. The voice is always the same... always the same man talking.
Lance Ryan.*
"Lance Ryan...
I didn't want to answer to you last week. I hardly said a damn thing to you and some people might have been starting to question why. Why was I not addressing my biggest competitor in that match? Why wouldn't I tell you all that I'm about to tell you now? Why, when I could have started working my way deep into that skull of yours would I pass on the opportunity to begin the mind games one week early? Like you tried to and I'll honestly say.. you failed. I may not have made a great impact upon the match but my aim was never an impact. My aim was to act as a tank. In what way, you ask? Well in the world of role playing games, 'tank' is the name associated with any character whose sole aim is to absorb all damage possible and survive so that the rest of the characters can play their parts, healing, and dealing damage. It was tactical and I did it because I know that there's one thing that I am better at than everyone. I'm not the fastest, I'm not the most technically skilled.. I may not even be the smartest.. but I am the toughest son of a bitch on this planet and any other. And that's how I'm going to take that belt from your shoulder. I'll take that belt with attrition if I have to..."
*The television clears for a second.. It cuts to a promo of Lance Ryan's from the last couple of months.*
"Sometimes, it's not all about winning or losing, it's what you're able to accomplish."
*The screen begins playing white noise again as the picture stutters frozen on the very last frame of that one line. The picture slowly starts to fade back to static.*
"You've said a lot of things in the last month and a half, Lance. Most of the things you've said you've been right. Simple things like if you were to say breathing air is good for you. Most of those you've gotten right. Some of the more complicated and less obvious things you've gotten right too. Things like saying the square root of a hundred and twenty one is eleven... that kind of thing. But then.. more often than not, you got a little too cocky. You started making up facts or repeating facts that the stereotyping bastard you are would assume to be true. Every single *** damn time you have been dead wrong. Everything you've said about me is false and you are very lucky I don't take you to court for slander. Instead I noticed the trend and decided I'd save the big exposée for tonight... for this film. That's why I didn't address you very much last week.. that's why I did everything I could to not give two ****s about you until that match was all but done. Everything you said about my past and how I came to be the success I am.. wrong... your reads on the present.. wrong... and even when you tried your hand at predicting the future.. you got it wrong."
*As if on cue the TV regains the picture. This time showing Lance from a different promo he made with the rest of Age of the Revolution.*
"Dave Holland. A man that I have defeated in a tag match, and in a singles match, so we may as well add a six man tag match to that list as well. What do you think boys? I’ll celebrate to that match as well!"
*Again the white noise returns and the picture flickers as it freezes on Lance celebrating.*
"That celebration didn't last long though. You remember what happened that week? Do you remember poor little Xavier? Do you remember being completely powerless to stop me? I proved you were wrong... I proved for the first time that Age of the Revolution could be halted.. I proved that YOU could be halted. That Spike turned on common sense and common decency is a travesty but that travesty was his choice. Siding with you boys would be the last thing I'd have done but Spike.. well he's just about crazy enough for that to make sense. And then we went on to yet another weak of Dave Holland versus the Revolution. A sad week for me... Milo left me behind for the second time in my career. But for the second time he was right about me not needing him. He left me for my own good.. and for his. Your little Trojan horse was happy to see him go... thought I'd be weaker on my own. Thought that he could do as his daddy had done a few weeks previous. But he forgot the same fact that you've been forgetting all month. This isn't Dave Holland that you're fighting anymore... 'Diamond' Dave Holland is gone from nCw. Truth be told I've not gone by that name for some time now but officially that was my contracted wrestling alias. You're up against Dave Holland the Gladiator. Dave Holland the conqueror.. Dave Holland the Destroyer."
*The television flickers but this time we can't see Lance Ryan, despite the fact we can tell it's him talking. The screen instead shows the slow motion replay of Dave Holland nailing Jamie Ryan with The Magic Touch*
"Know that Jamie will defeat Holland and tell Holland that I will be watching him closely and that if you mess with family, you mess with me."
*A camera flash has illuminated Jamie's face to almost pure white. His face is splattered with blood from his nose, his head at a very unnatural angle being hit over the turnbuckle. Slowly the picture returns to static as the white noise returns once more*
"Oops.. Did I do that? Yes.. yes I did. I heard your warning Lance and I listened to it well. And then I disregarded it completely because of two things. Firstly I knew we had this match booked already so I'd be dealing with you eventually regardless... kinda made your threat a bit empty really, just like the rest of your threats. But secondly... I disregarded it because I wanted to mess with you. You have a lot of payment coming to you, Lance. For all of your crimes. I witnessed one and that was enough. You kidnapped a child. Regardless as to whether it was your child or not, the fact remains you did it. You then escaped the law despite the fact I laid it out for them. You escaped because of the system not working, precisely the same thing you are campaigning against. Well, part of what you're campaigning against. If they won't play justice of the peace, then I guess that falls on my shoulders. No one else will... not while I have my sights set on you. So, what now Lance? Now I've slapped your son something rotten does that make me even more of a target? Or are you writing it off as a casualty of war like you and Jack said to each other a short while before that match? What's more important, Lance? Your family.. the weakest of bonds according once again to you... or your war against capitalism? Your group that Nothing Saves from?
I don't know the answer, and truth be told I'm almost certain that you don't either. This simple question is the core of what's wrong with you. You are a hypocrite. Not on everything but on the family thing you are for definite... on the rest of it.. well.. let's just leave it as you still being completely wrong, yeah?"
*The television flickers back to an image. This time of Dave Holland stood with Davey Ortega and Smokin' Aces. After their names have been said by Lance Ryan the image fades back to Lance speaking again*
"There. Those are two things that people like Dave Holland, Davey Ortega, The Ace, and Steve Awesome will never understand. Charity, and the struggle of life."
*The camera this time focusses on the boy who Lance was charitable to. Frozen once again for a moment before fading again to static, white noise taking over yet again.*
"Charity... Charity is not what you say it is. It's not giving to everyone who asks for it. It's not always that easy. You have to give people what they deserve. If they don't feel like they earned it they'll never appreciate it and soon enough they'll be right back where they started, asking once more for your charity. That child probably deserved a second chance and that second hundred dollars was probably the right thing to do. But the rest of it.. well people don't lose their job for no reason. Not anymore. He probably gave most of that to his Dad who blew it on whatever he did in the first palce that got him fired. Charity in it's truest form isn't giving. It's doing. You do something for someone, you teach them something, anything to help them work themselves from the bottom. Otherwise what makes them any different from the image you paint of I? It all comes to them without them having to work. I'm not evil, I'm not heartless but at the same time I have to be realistic. I give my money to charities that do.. charities that can make a real difference to the lives of thousands, millions... Charities that I hold dear because they do for children all that was not done for me.
Yes.. for me.."
*The camera does a half and half cut. As in the television, now close up is shown overlaid on shots of people in a mall. Kids mingling about in high quality outfits. Their parents drive up in top quality vehicles to collect them before driving away, while on the TV Lance is talking once more.*
"Everywhere around me kids were wearing the newest fashions, they were buying cars, or driving mommy and daddy’s car…I was shopping at second hand stores and eating television dinners to scrape by at life. You need to understand that I lived every day hoping that I could die."
*On the word 'Die' The camera returns to the room. There is slightly more light in the room now and we can see Dave Holland leaning on the top of the Television set.*
Dave: Because now... now we're starting to get to my real point. The point that makes this quite an unfortunate happenstance for you Lance Ryan. That one line has shown me two things about you. Both of which will be explained in their entirety in due course. Firstly that I'm stronger than you... and secondly that you, ironically, had the better life growing up. You heard me. If you had done as much homework on me as you think you have you'd know this by now. If you'd kept an eye on me like you said you would you would know this by now. Hell, if you'd just sat down and spoken for five minutes with Spike or Jack about me, you would know this. Jack knows my past.. and Spike.. well he was there. He'll probably be telling this story soon too but that's ok. We both had very different experiences of the whole thing. Hell has several circles after all. I told everyone in the Collosseum what happened to me in my youth... what it was that escalated me into becoming the man I am today.. not every facet but the ones that you should care about at any rate. This could take a while, but don't worry. I know you like listening to the sound of your own voice so I've thrown plenty more of your mistakes in there with it. Get comfortable, Lance. I'd hate for you to miss this a second time.
*The static remains as Lance's voice can be heard uttering some immortal words. The camera closes on on the screen before it becomes the sole feed of the scene.*
"Without the story behind the boy, you will never understand the man."
*The static clears. On the screen can be seen two people, one man and one woman. Both have been shown on nCw television before but not for a while. The camerawork isn't great and it's all like some kind of home movie. Old footage, later seventies maybe.*
"My parents. Castor and Megan Holland. They look happy right? Right. They were happy. No threat of divorce or this becoming a broken home. Hell this is even before my time so obviously they're not going to split until then.. or Milo in fact. No, as far as marriages go this was right up there with the best of them. They lived, they worked, they loved, they grew. If you're wonderig where the tragedy is, just wait. Because it all starts around this man. Castor Holland is the man indirectly responsible for what we became and what happened to us all. So what was he? A child beater? A drunk? A paedophile? No. None of these. He was a loving father and a loving husband first and foremost. But he was also a soldier of sorts. He fought for his country ina time when fighting had to be done covertly. He was an assassin. A sniper... a hitman if you want. He was damn good at it too. He never got caught on regular jobs. Before you go after his memory with a pick axe though, he never took civilian targets. Only military. He specialised in IRA terrorists. In fact it was one such terrorist that led to the real truth of our past."
*A past promo can be seen. Second Wind: Part One - Repeat of History. A shot from above a white van that seems to have crashed. As the camera circles closer to the van Lance can be heard speaking yet again.*
"Dave, understand something that may be hard for you to comprehend…not everyone has life easy. My parents abused me as a child, I moved out at 16 and I have worked my ass off every damn day to get to where I am right now."
*Dave doesn't speak just yet. He lets the scene continue itself. The camera blends to a shot inside the van. The scene is entirely black and white. The camera is close up on a face devoid of emotion. The eyes are closed and the sound of tears can be heard. Very occasionally a spot drops on this face. Zooming out we see Castor Holland cradling the head of his wife. She's slumped over into his lap. On the side of her forehead there is a circular red mark... a trail of blood running down from the wound.*
Castor: This wasn't supposed to happen. THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!! You should be back at home with our boys... our poor boys... It should've been me.. it would've ended with me... Our boys'll be next on the list... gotta keep them safe.. gotta... Sis... she's gotta be warned...
*Castor takes up the car phone fitted to the vehicle. He has no family left except his two sons and his sister. He knows for what he's done they'll all be in danger. He dials a number and soon a voice answers, a female voice that's vaguely familiar as that of Ma Holland.*
Castor: Sis... yeah it's me. Listen there's not much time. The job's gone south. They'll be coming for you you have to go underground... a long way underground.... Yeah I know, I'm sorry.... The boys?...... They'll be fine. They're with friends that no one knows. They know what to do...... Yeah... I love you too.... I'm sorry... Goodbye.
*Castor hangs up the phone and replaces the handset.*
"The boys are safe... My sister should be safe... All that's left to lead them to them is me... and that just won't do. I'm coming Megan... I'm with you until the end... all the way..."
*The camera zooms out through the roof of the van. There is a large squad of men carrying AR-18 semi-automatic rifles approaching the van from all directions except straight ahead. They're all ready to fire on Castor should he offer any resistance but are looking to capture rather than kill.
They don't have to... there's a gunshot from inside the van and then silence. The scene fades to black. It's now that Dave speaks again.*
"Sometimes bad parents are better than no parents. I lost my parents at age 8. I then didn't find out the truth of how for another twenty plus years. And then do you know what happened to us, Lance? Do you know what happened to Dave and Milo Holland, sons of Castor and Megan then? Well no... I guess you don't."
*Sure enough, More of Lance Ryan. The camera shows static flickering over the blackness before changing for the image of Lance Ryan speaking the words.*
"I wouldn’t expect you to see it. I wouldn’t even expect you to understand it. Dave Holland, your life is like something out of a fairy tale. You have this perfect little life. ..... Dave, don’t you get it? You have been handed everything in life, it’s as though you can do no wrong."
*Freeze Frame*
"As if I can do no wrong, maybe. Maybe right now in this era it seems like that but it wasn't always so. Back in the day I was eprsecuted for who I was and how I acted just as I am today, despite the fact that neither of these times are my acts in the wrong and frankly, they're for the good of others at my cost rather than for the good of myself at the cost of others as some might think. Well.. as two people might think. One of them's you lance... the other will be introduced shortly. Keep watching, there might be a few names you recognise."
*The picture fades away to static once again before fading back in on another old scene. This one is also in black and white. A large room with beds lining the walls. Beside each bed is a nightstand, at the end of each bed a footlocker. On one of the beds is sat a small boy, can't be any older than 10. Sat on the floor beside him is another boy. A little larger than the first but somehow he seems younger. The boy on the bed is reading a book. From the door at the end of the hall can be heard a lot of noise, shouting and fighting.*
"See the boy on the floor? That's Milo Holland aged 6. He never left me alone. Especially not in that place. He knew there was something bad about it though there was never any reason for us to suspect it until now. The other boy is me, aged 10. This is the day I was introduced to violence. This was the day when my life turned down this road I've been walking along ever since. this was the day that everything I was.. and everything I was going to be in my former life, was utterly destroyed."
*The door slams open. Stood in the doorway we can see a man, muscular build and long hair. He turns his attention immediately to the two boys.*
: Holland! Get your ass outside, it's your turn! What the hell you readin' for!?
Dave: My Dad always said that rich people were all smart.. and smart people all read. He taught me to read so I'd be rich... and I want to do what he told me.
: Well your Dad's dead now, Holland. I tell you what to do and what not to do now, and I'm telling you to stop reading and get your ass outside. Time to start your way to being a man... Unless you want little Milo to do it?
*From outside a scream of 'I am XCon, Hear me roar' can be heard.*
"Conrad Jones. This is the other guy I was talking about. I don't know what made me stand up to him like I did."
*Dave stands between Milo and Conrad. He stands as tall as he can and glares at Conrad viciously, despite the fact Conrad's a good two or three feet taller than him.*
Dave: You leave him alone.
*Conrad smacks Dave across the face knocking him onto the bed again. Milo leaps up and tries to punch Conrad as hard as a 6 year old can but is met with a similar blow in the opposite direction. Dave reacts by leaping as high as he can and kicking Conrad square in the jaw.*
Conrad: Heh... that's a good boot you have there. Let's see what else you have.
*Conrad begins to lay into Dave with no mercy. He only punches but he doesn't pull a single one of them. The static slowly returns as we hear the tears of Milo forced to watch his brother beaten to a pulp. Lance's voice can be heard as the scene fades out.*
"I truly believe that you have no idea what it was like for me to live that life, to go on knowing that I may never become anything but a bottom dweller."
"Really? I have no idea what it was like to be on the bottom rung of the ladder? Lance, your ladder was on a whole other elevated platform to the one I was forced to live on for the next 8 years of life. I learned quickly that if I was to survive I would have to fight. I fought as much as I could so Milo never had to. I had already lost my life to this bloodsport, I didn't want the same to happen to Milo. But I was no match for Conrad. In the end he forced us into a situation where we both had to fight. Not each other, obviously, but pretty much everyone else. You starting to see the real me now? Starting to see the self sacrificing brother, the gladiator that I really am? Are you starting to understand that there are more things in this world that scare me more than you, many more. That there are things in this world that I hate, that I despise.. that have some kind of power over me.. and you're not one of them. Are you starting to understand that no matter the sob story you spin about your past that it can;t hold a candle to my own? That I earned every single cent I ever made. Not with my business decisions, I admit sometimes I got lucky. But I earned them all with the blood and sweat, the tears, the pain, the suffering I endured in that hell hole. Are you beginning to understand what we all went through there? What my family went through?"
*The camera shows the orphanage basement. The pit shown in 'Survivor' broadcast for Sovereign. This time though the pit has people fighting inside. A younger Milo Holland fighting two men at the same time. He's doing reasonably well considering. Above the pit we can see Dave trying desperately to get involved but there are four others holding him back. Lance Ryan's voice echoes again.*
"Dave, what would you do if you were handcuffed to the ropes and forced to watch us annihilate Milo in front of you? Milo, how would you feel if you watched us end the career of Dave?"
"I already saw it. Milo being forced to fight endlessly until he was destroyed. I'd refused to fight again, I was always looking for a way out of fighting. The violence, the bloodshed.. it was always too much for me to bear spiritually. It was soul crushing. But how I reacted... that's a different story. Held back by four of the strongest boys under Conrad's care.. no one thought I'd ever be able to get in there. They were holding my hands and my body.. but they forgot to hold on to one thing. My right foot. That was their mistake."
*Dave swings his leg backwards catching one of the boys in the crotch. He uses the momentum to sweep the legs of the other boy on his right, sending his face to the stone floor. Dave then uses his right hand to punch one of the boys away before Superkicking the final one. Dave then leaps into the pit to the side of his fatigued brother. The camera fades to black and shows no more of that match.*
"We were decimated. Milo was already beaten and all I was doing was distracting the rest of them from flogging his fallen self.Some might call that my mistake. I don't. But like you said Lance, it's not always about the winning or losing.. it's about what you accomplish. It wasn't long after when we got out of that place. Conrad had no hold on us any longer once I'd turned 18. Technically he could have fought to keep Milo for another two years but I'd be damned if I was going to let him do that. Everything I did back then, I did for Milo. Every fight, every beating, every punishment. Conrad Jones is the second man I was referring to earlier. The man who persecuted me for who I was. A guardian... a saviour. And once again, I'm threatened for those same traits. No one person do I guard any longer.. but all people. I gues their right to society as it is. Born out of love... fired by fate and misfortune... tempered by hell itself."
*The camera zooms out to show the television again with Dave stood over it.*
Dave: And that's a brief history of me. Once I was out of the orphanage, I got some money together from Ma... that's my Aunt before you get confused... who had recieved the assets of my parents. It wasn't a lot but it was enough to start a small business that sky-rocketed and now.. here we all are. With me happy and healthy with a loving wife, a child on the way, a globetrotting brother and a fan base larger than the whole of the swiss army. And you... with your hating me because it all came too easy for me.
*Dave shoots the camera a sarcastic / confused glance.*
Dave: Now let's see if there's any more you want to say, we might as well hear it. now.
*Dave presses play on a remote and another piece plays. This one is actually Brad Kane, a.k.a. Reckless Jack.*
"Then honestly, why do you wrestle Dave? I can't imagine someone like you wrestling for any other reason the then cash that's involved. I know you Dave, I know the lengths you're willing to go in order to lie about something trivial as to why you wrestle."