Post by The Ace on Apr 24, 2009 11:54:46 GMT -6
*The scene opens in Tiffany's hotel room. Night had just barely but reluctantly given way to daybreak. This was the dawn of the day of regret. The camera focuses on Tiffany as she is forced to snap out of her slumber by the unrelenting daylight as it shoots into her eyes, blinding her to the light of realisation.
Tiffany cursed silently under her breath, the sunlight that shone through her window early this morning, and she turned away from it into the waiting arms of...
Damn!
The Ace wasn't there, he wasn't where he was supposed to be, but more importantly he wasn't where he was expected to be. As a man driven by ego and his dick, as a man not content with his family, he should have been here this morning. He wasn't. What a disappointment.
No. She knew now that The Ace was not a man driven by his ego and his dick. She had been wrong about him. The Ace was a man driven simply by his ego and a fear. A fear of the Knite. A fear of last night. The night that was now lost, and lost forever to the day.
The night was silent, it had left her cold and alone. Yet the day was the real bastard. It begged for attention, it screamed to be noticed. It hated to be ignored, and the more you tried to ignore it and return to the night, the brighter and more determined it seemed to wake you from your slumber and blind you with its brilliance.
That was the real reason everybody hated daylight and adored nightfall, yet Tiffany knew without one, the other had no meaning, without one the other had no reason to exist.
Her bed was empty. Tiffany Jones was alone, and she sighed, mourning the night she had lost. Kathleen was a very lucky woman. She was ready to betray her sister last night, she wanted to, but in the end had decided it was not worth taking advantage of an already beaten man.
Tiffany had been his vice once upon a time, and she now recalled how much he had hated her for it. She was not Solitaire's mother, maybe she should have been. Maybe then things would have been different. Maybe then The Ace would have been happy, maybe then he would have been content. Maybe - just maybe - then The Ace would realise just how lucky he was.
She wished that now she had sacrificed her happiness for the happiness of her sister and her brother in law that they both found happiness in each other. A happiness more definite than any title, a happiness that actually mattered. That is all she had ever wanted for The Ace. She knew she wasn't the one to provide it, not after the way Tiffany had already betrayed him once. Tiffany Jones had hurt him by lying about being Solitaire's mother, she could not risk it again.
She could not hurt him again by admitting that she lusted after The Ace and did not love Jake Conway. Not like her sister did. Not like his wife did. Not like Kathleen Conway did. No, Tiffany Jones was not Kat Conway, she just wished that she was. In another place, and in another time, perhaps things could have been different.
Perhaps in another life, on another night, she could have been. But not last night. Last night was the night she lost. She lost it all. She had gambled it all away for her sister. Her family. She had sent The Ace back to his wife, dejected, not because she wanted to, but rather because she knew it was the right thing to do.
If there was one thing, Tiffany could salvage from last night, it was that one brief moment where nothing else seemed to matter. That one brief moment that their lips had locked. That one brief moment they kissed. One fleeting moment in Heaven sure beat a thousand moments in Hell.
The night was lost now, Heaven held no place for her but Hell tortured her. This was the dawn of the day of regret, the day of regret that always followed what should have been A Night To Remember.
*The scene cuts to The Ace as he stood infront of the mirror in the ensuite shower room of his hotel room. That's right, The Ace was here. This was where he was supposed to be. This was where he expected to be.
The Ace cursed himself as he stood infront of the mirror and looked at his sorry reflection in the mirror. The sorry reflection of an already beaten man.
Damn! I almost cheated on my wife!
His head pounded with the thought. He felt nauseous and disorientated, although he wasn't sure how much of that was actually a genuine feeling and how much of it was just the hangover...*
Damn, I almost cheated on my wife! I almost lost it all last night. I almost lost Kathy. I almost lost my little Soli. What was I thinking? One night was all it took to almost break me down, to almost corrupt me against my own morality and values and beliefs. One night would have been all it would have taken for Adam to be proven right. This is how he got into the heads of the other Revolutionaries, I understand it now.
But just because I understand it, doesn't mean that I'm prepared to fight it.
Just because I understand it, doesn't mean I'm prepared to lose it all Sunday night. Last night I mentioned how having the title around your waist changes people. How it makes people give up the things they think that they care about most, like I almost did last night...
The night I almost lost it all.
*The Ace sighs as that thought occurs to him*
Last night I was not who I really am...
But it is who The Ace really is.
Jake Conway loves his wife...
The Ace uses his wife.
Jake Conway would never betray her...
The Ace betrays everybody, so why should Kathy be any exception?
Jake Conway loves his daughter...
The Ace loves his daughter.
*The Ace smiled at the thought and his reflection smiled back at him. Just like that, The Ace had found the point within himself where the superstar and the man stopped being two distinctly separate entities and merged to become one. The two faced coin of his conscience stopped flipping, and started revolving. The heads and tails of who he was in his heart became indistinguishable.*
It has been four years since I allowed myself to get wasted like I did last night. I had given up getting plastered the last time I had let someone with your initials Adam, into my life. She fell pregnant with my babies, twin daughters that never saw the light of day, but instead were ripped away from me by the darkness of the night. On their conception, I vowed not to let the bottle again dominate my life, I wanted my children to see their father, but that wasn't my only motivation for giving up alcohol. No, there was an even more fundamental reason. My mother...
*The Ace has a flashback at this point*
Snowy: Jake...please don't do this, don't drink yourself into an early grave, its just a loss...
Growing up he had never seen his grandfather who had drank himself into an early grave leaving his grandmother to raise seven children, including his mother alone, he had heard the story many a time growing up and his mother's words rang deep in his consciousness...
'Jake, if you ever have children, promise me your drinking wont deprive them of a father...'
Then he remembered his teary mother recollect watching him die on a hospital bed.
'Liver failure due to vast alcoholic consumption, they said...I knew then that he had drank himself into an early grave, a long time before I got married, a long time before you were born Jake, that's why you never got to see him...'
Jake breaks from his memory and tosses the can across the room where it splatters its content across the wall, before falling into a waste-basket below it. He knew then that he wanted to see his child and have the child see its father. He turns to face a teary Snowy...*
Are you happy now, Alena?
*The Ace comes out of the flashback with a pang of regret as it welled up inside him, trigged by the memory of the Knight he had lost half a decade earlier, and what made it harder to face was the fact that when he thought he had changed, in reality he had not changed at all...*
My mother lost her father to drink before I was born, but you don't care about that do you Adam? You only care about nCw right? Why should you care about the hardships my family and I have endured, why should you pay any attention to the incidents in my life that have made me the man I am today? It has nothing to do with the match, right? It has nothing to do with nCw, so half the audience are probably falling asleep now. They probably think I'm just drudging up the past to extend my airtime, they don't care whether it has relevance or not. All they care about is the obligatory smack talk I used to give them.
*The Ace sighs*
I bet they wonder what happened to the days when The Ace was a simple grinning idiot, full of smack talk and barely capable of more than three facial expressions for the entire duration of all of his promos. Things were simpler then, without the Revolution. Now you've changed things forever, there's no going back for any of us. Least of all me. I refuse to be that man again, just like I refuse to fall back into the shadow of Steve Awesome. I was and always have been so much more than just his partner. I don't care if you think he is better than I could ever be, that is all behind me now. This is what you want me to do isn't it Adam? To give up being cuddled by the blanket of a past that no longer matters, just like The Smokin' Aces no longer matter. It no longer matters that Steve Awesome is better than me. It no longer matters that Adam Knite is better than me, and has proven it on the past two occassions where he has taken titles frrom me. That is all behind me. It is all in the past, a past that I must let go of, isn't that right, Adam?
*The Ace sighs, and shakes his head. The hypocrisy of the Revolution's self righteous leader was giving him a bigger headache than even this hangover. No matter he had two days to sober up so that he could kick Knite's piddly ass, not just to successfully defend, but also now because he really wanted to...*
It's alright Adam, I'll gloss nice and neatly over the fact that you are a hypocrite who thinks that just because you've beaten me before that you can do so again. That is the past which you cling to, yet criticise me for. That is the past you want me to forget and yet you can't stop deriving teachings from it. You mention it any given opportunity. You endeavour to repeat it this Sunday. The fact is I'd rather be hated for being a moronic ass than attempt to be loved for being an ignorant hypocrite. Hate me because I am the bad guy, but don't try and pass yourself off as the good guy. You say that you're surprised that I actually took your words to heart and acted on them. Why? As the leader of the Revolution, surely you must be aware of the gift you possess as an inspiring motivational speaker. You get people behind you by convincing them to share in your beliefs. It worked on Kelly. It worked on all those men who are fighting for your cause in that elimination match this Sunday. Men, who in your eyes at least, are far greater men than I could ever hope to be, so why shouldn't the words of your ideals finally rub off on me? Why shouldn't my eyes be opened to your Revolution? In fact I may be so blinded by the light of the Revolution that I'm forced to fight blind for the Resistance...
*The Ace turns the tap and splashes some cold water on his face, before continuing, it was refreshing. Rejuvenating. The Ace stares at his reflection in the mirror...*
Adam, tell me that I am ugly...
For I already know that my reflection is.
Adam, tell me to go jump off a bridge...
And I'll whisper back: 'You First!'
Adam, please tell me that I am a good World Champion...
And I'll vow to show you that I am a great World Champion.
*The Ace laughs a little as that thought occurs to him*
Adam, tell me I am nothing more than a pathetic a worthless piece of s**t...
You wouldn't be the first, nor will you be the last.
*The Ace turns off the tap, snd dries his face with the hand towel nearby*
I have already proven you right, I have already lived up to the truth you saw in my soul from the start. I am selfish, or am I? I don't give a damn about my family because I only care about myself, or do I? It's amazing what a few moments at the end of a promo can suggest, isn't it? You assume that I just proved myself to be the joke and the laughing stock who cheated on my wife because you saw me kiss my sister in law in my moment of inebriation and weakness, but you have not beaten me yet Knite! The Resistance lives! Now I won't deny that I enjoyed the kiss last night, and in some people's eyes that may still be cheating, but the fact is that the cameras didn't catch what happened when the kiss was broken. Tiffany saved me from myself. Tiffany saved me from what would have been the single greatest mistake of my life. She kicked me out of her room, knowing that I was suggestible and ready to do something stupid. I was ready to be someone that ultimately wasn't who I am now...
The past is behind me. I am not who I once was.
But in the end, I just couldn't walk that road again, so you see I am not so defined by my past as you seem to think I am. There are occassions that I look ahead. I look to the future and I look forward to growing old with my wife. I look forward to watching my daughter grow up to be the remarkable young woman that I know she will be. Long after I'm done, long after I'm retired and long after I've hung up my boots, she will be the one to carry on what little legacy I leave behind. Not the legacy of a cheat and a womanizer, not even the legacy of a Superstar. The legacy I leave behind will be that of a simple man who held onto gold like the eternal flame that struggles to burn against the wind of change that threatens to extinguish it. The struggle doesn't last long and ultimately the wind snuffs it out, but for as long as that little flame continues to burn, the people have hope. They have some light and some warmth in their lives to be thankful for...
At least that's how I hope the World remembers me.
This isn't about me throwing a hissy fit Adam, if it is my hate and loathing that drives me, then at least I can say that I do my job in the ring with some degree of passion. Even if nobody cares, even if you don't care. The fact is I have changed. The Revolution forced that of me, but it wasn't because of you Adam. It was because of Falcon. For months he implored me to change, and when I finally listened, I earned the nCw World Heavyweight Championship. Your Revolution did its job a little too well Adam, and now you hate us. Your cause forced us to better ourselves, that much is true, but you did not create us. Hence you can not kill us. If we go down...
If I go down.
We will take you with us.
I will take you with me.
The Resistance will never die...
I will never die.
As long as the Revolution exists...
As long as you breathe.
We will be there to kill you...
I will be there to kill you.
Now I know what you're thinking Adam. Your thoughts are as transparent as they are contrived. You think that I'm just lying, and that these lies are ones that only I, as a middle aged shell of a man, believe. If they are lies, then at least they are damn good ones, though by no means as good as the ones imparted amongst Revolutionaries, or even lovers.
*The Ace laughs*
Lies like, 'Oh honey, don't worry, you can use our time together to cut a promo. I was gonna **** you, tonight, but sure you can cut a promo with the lights out...'
*The Ace shakes his head*
To think, people in your precious Revolution mocked me for cutting promos on dates, but once again, you have bested me Adam. I could never get away with cutting a promo whilst Kathy wanted to get freaky. I guess I really am not as dedicated to this business as you are Adam. Congratulations, you were right, feel good now does it? Jackass. Concern yourself not with me, care not for me, I don't care. Pity me, do whatever you must. Think whatever you will of me, I don't care...
I do really. All I've ever wanted is the respect of my peers.
Mock me, bully me, intimidate me if it makes you feel big...
They all do.
I will rise above it all...
Hopefully.
You want me to grow up...
But I don't want to.
And be a man...
I am the man.
But I won't. I don't need to. All I need to be is a fighting Champion...
And I need to kick your piddly ass.
For me, if I can be a fighting Champion, it will be enough...
For now.
Then none of this pointless civil war will matter. None of what the Revolution stood for will matter. It will not matter who won and who lost, and it will not matter who failed to be the light and who got lost in the darkness. At least not to me, because I'm not the grazing sheep whose existence is threatened.
No. I'm just the baaaad guy.
*The Ace smirks as that childish joke occured to him*
I'm not oblivious to the danger your Revolution placed infront of us. I never have been. I just didn't care...
And I still don't.
You were the evil that I failed to rise up against...
Funny, I don't normally have that problem.
You were the traitors and the scum, and by coincidence or design, we became the matyrs, I understand that. I understand what it was you tried to do, it doesn't mean I agree with it or cared enough to stop it. I guess you were right again, Adam. All I care about is the end, and not necessarily who emerges victorious in this little war. If it is the Revolution, its quite frankly a win for both of us. I hit the unemployment line after Kelly boots me out, and it saves me from jumping off a bridge to make you all finally happy. But if the Resistance win, you lose - even if I lose to you Adam - because I'll still be here in nCw waiting for my next shot at the top...
Because that's all I've ever cared about.
You may be content with just making a difference, but I am not. I want more. I always have, there's nothing wrong with wanting it all and never being happy just to settle for second best. Yes, I won this title, and by all accounts I should be happy...
Who says I'm not?
But for me, winning the title will never be enough if I can never be trusted to defend it successfully for a significant amount of time, like any real Champion worth his salt should. I'm not looking to eclipse Lance Ryan but anything beyond a mere five weeks is my aim at the very least. Maybe I do need to loosen up, but not right now. Not without my first real title defense under my belt. I need this. I need to be better than Xavier Williams and Trent Helms. Those are the greener pastures that matter to me. I will not be forced to be the curtain jerking afterthought that I once was. I refuse to give up the rush that comes with being able to call yourself the best - and have the irrefutable proof to back it up. I don't expect you to understand, Adam. You haven't been there yet, but when you do get there, you'll understand...
*The Ace sighs*
You'll understand that being content with your life simply isn't as euphoric as holding the nCw World Heavyweight Championship, maybe for you that moment will come this Sunday. I am consumed with being the absolute best, and if I can no longer be the best at what I do, then I don't deserve all that I now have...
*The Ace turns away from the mirror and his reflection. He leaves the shower room, and steps out into the hotel room. Kathy and Solitaire were still asleep. He continues talking as he goes over to Kathy...*
The last time I felt this consumed with victory, I was Hardcore Champion in another place, I had lost a tournament in that company, and I could not handle it. It was not enough for me to be a Champion with a pregnant fiance even then. Now the places and the faces have changed, but the story of my life remains the same. Neither time nor alcohol have yet managed to numb the pain of my past. I cannot move forward and I cannot go back...
*The Ace spots two playing cards separated from the deck, laying face up on the bedside table.. The Ace Of Spades lay underpinned by the King of Diamonds. A sign that he had been trumped, perhaps.
Blackjack. A winning hand.
*The Ace scoops up the two cards, and looks at them in his hand*
I truly hope that you don't let the title consume you when you take it from me Adam...
*The Ace became fixated on the two letters in his winning hand. Two letters that had begun to torment him four years ago and still haunted him now.
A. K.
Alena Knight.
~The Knight he had lost~
Adam Knite.
~The Knite he now faced~
Adam and Kelly.
~The power couple that he and his wife would never be~
Because my ghosts still haunt me. They still lurk in the shadows, driving me forward, I want to be set free. The deck is against me and stacked in your favour again - as it always has been. I want to be like you, I want to be happy. I want something that I can cherish besides the World Championship, but I have nothing. I want to be in Heaven, yet I get no further than Hell...
*The Ace looks down at the woman he almost betrayed last night as she slept. He raised a hand to stroke her cheek, but withdrew, feeling he no longer deserved her. She could do so much better, she didn't belong with him. He would burn in Hell for enjoying that kiss. He would not tell her, he had to protect her. His guilty little secret would mean that he never got to where Adam Knite was right now - Heaven.
The Ace places the cards back as he found them and leaves his hotel room, closing the door behind him. As he left, Kathy awoke. She sat up in the bed, looked over and saw the two cards still where she had left them last night.
Tiffany had told her that they had almost kissed after she had helped The Ace back to their room. He had passed out before he heard the younger sister confess, but Kathy did not care. She forgave her husband for almost falling off the wagon last night and she was happy that her sister had confessed.
They were still all a family and Jake needed Kathy to be at his side now more than ever. This Sunday was important to both of them, albeit for different reasons. Kathy knew their marriage was stronger than one fleeting kiss.
She wanted Jake to know that she forgave him, and as a symbol of her trust, she had left out two cards from the deck that to her symbolised that they'd always be together. She hoped Jake had got the message and that he had interpreted them as she had. Kathy scoops up the cards in her hand and smiles upon their hidden meaning as she looks at them.
Blackjack. Their winning hand.
A. K.
Ace and Kathleen.
~Together Now. Together Always~
The scene fades to black...*
Tiffany cursed silently under her breath, the sunlight that shone through her window early this morning, and she turned away from it into the waiting arms of...
Damn!
The Ace wasn't there, he wasn't where he was supposed to be, but more importantly he wasn't where he was expected to be. As a man driven by ego and his dick, as a man not content with his family, he should have been here this morning. He wasn't. What a disappointment.
No. She knew now that The Ace was not a man driven by his ego and his dick. She had been wrong about him. The Ace was a man driven simply by his ego and a fear. A fear of the Knite. A fear of last night. The night that was now lost, and lost forever to the day.
The night was silent, it had left her cold and alone. Yet the day was the real bastard. It begged for attention, it screamed to be noticed. It hated to be ignored, and the more you tried to ignore it and return to the night, the brighter and more determined it seemed to wake you from your slumber and blind you with its brilliance.
That was the real reason everybody hated daylight and adored nightfall, yet Tiffany knew without one, the other had no meaning, without one the other had no reason to exist.
Her bed was empty. Tiffany Jones was alone, and she sighed, mourning the night she had lost. Kathleen was a very lucky woman. She was ready to betray her sister last night, she wanted to, but in the end had decided it was not worth taking advantage of an already beaten man.
Tiffany had been his vice once upon a time, and she now recalled how much he had hated her for it. She was not Solitaire's mother, maybe she should have been. Maybe then things would have been different. Maybe then The Ace would have been happy, maybe then he would have been content. Maybe - just maybe - then The Ace would realise just how lucky he was.
She wished that now she had sacrificed her happiness for the happiness of her sister and her brother in law that they both found happiness in each other. A happiness more definite than any title, a happiness that actually mattered. That is all she had ever wanted for The Ace. She knew she wasn't the one to provide it, not after the way Tiffany had already betrayed him once. Tiffany Jones had hurt him by lying about being Solitaire's mother, she could not risk it again.
She could not hurt him again by admitting that she lusted after The Ace and did not love Jake Conway. Not like her sister did. Not like his wife did. Not like Kathleen Conway did. No, Tiffany Jones was not Kat Conway, she just wished that she was. In another place, and in another time, perhaps things could have been different.
Perhaps in another life, on another night, she could have been. But not last night. Last night was the night she lost. She lost it all. She had gambled it all away for her sister. Her family. She had sent The Ace back to his wife, dejected, not because she wanted to, but rather because she knew it was the right thing to do.
If there was one thing, Tiffany could salvage from last night, it was that one brief moment where nothing else seemed to matter. That one brief moment that their lips had locked. That one brief moment they kissed. One fleeting moment in Heaven sure beat a thousand moments in Hell.
The night was lost now, Heaven held no place for her but Hell tortured her. This was the dawn of the day of regret, the day of regret that always followed what should have been A Night To Remember.
*The scene cuts to The Ace as he stood infront of the mirror in the ensuite shower room of his hotel room. That's right, The Ace was here. This was where he was supposed to be. This was where he expected to be.
The Ace cursed himself as he stood infront of the mirror and looked at his sorry reflection in the mirror. The sorry reflection of an already beaten man.
Damn! I almost cheated on my wife!
His head pounded with the thought. He felt nauseous and disorientated, although he wasn't sure how much of that was actually a genuine feeling and how much of it was just the hangover...*
Damn, I almost cheated on my wife! I almost lost it all last night. I almost lost Kathy. I almost lost my little Soli. What was I thinking? One night was all it took to almost break me down, to almost corrupt me against my own morality and values and beliefs. One night would have been all it would have taken for Adam to be proven right. This is how he got into the heads of the other Revolutionaries, I understand it now.
But just because I understand it, doesn't mean that I'm prepared to fight it.
Just because I understand it, doesn't mean I'm prepared to lose it all Sunday night. Last night I mentioned how having the title around your waist changes people. How it makes people give up the things they think that they care about most, like I almost did last night...
The night I almost lost it all.
*The Ace sighs as that thought occurs to him*
Last night I was not who I really am...
But it is who The Ace really is.
Jake Conway loves his wife...
The Ace uses his wife.
Jake Conway would never betray her...
The Ace betrays everybody, so why should Kathy be any exception?
Jake Conway loves his daughter...
The Ace loves his daughter.
*The Ace smiled at the thought and his reflection smiled back at him. Just like that, The Ace had found the point within himself where the superstar and the man stopped being two distinctly separate entities and merged to become one. The two faced coin of his conscience stopped flipping, and started revolving. The heads and tails of who he was in his heart became indistinguishable.*
It has been four years since I allowed myself to get wasted like I did last night. I had given up getting plastered the last time I had let someone with your initials Adam, into my life. She fell pregnant with my babies, twin daughters that never saw the light of day, but instead were ripped away from me by the darkness of the night. On their conception, I vowed not to let the bottle again dominate my life, I wanted my children to see their father, but that wasn't my only motivation for giving up alcohol. No, there was an even more fundamental reason. My mother...
*The Ace has a flashback at this point*
Snowy: Jake...please don't do this, don't drink yourself into an early grave, its just a loss...
Growing up he had never seen his grandfather who had drank himself into an early grave leaving his grandmother to raise seven children, including his mother alone, he had heard the story many a time growing up and his mother's words rang deep in his consciousness...
'Jake, if you ever have children, promise me your drinking wont deprive them of a father...'
Then he remembered his teary mother recollect watching him die on a hospital bed.
'Liver failure due to vast alcoholic consumption, they said...I knew then that he had drank himself into an early grave, a long time before I got married, a long time before you were born Jake, that's why you never got to see him...'
Jake breaks from his memory and tosses the can across the room where it splatters its content across the wall, before falling into a waste-basket below it. He knew then that he wanted to see his child and have the child see its father. He turns to face a teary Snowy...*
Are you happy now, Alena?
*The Ace comes out of the flashback with a pang of regret as it welled up inside him, trigged by the memory of the Knight he had lost half a decade earlier, and what made it harder to face was the fact that when he thought he had changed, in reality he had not changed at all...*
My mother lost her father to drink before I was born, but you don't care about that do you Adam? You only care about nCw right? Why should you care about the hardships my family and I have endured, why should you pay any attention to the incidents in my life that have made me the man I am today? It has nothing to do with the match, right? It has nothing to do with nCw, so half the audience are probably falling asleep now. They probably think I'm just drudging up the past to extend my airtime, they don't care whether it has relevance or not. All they care about is the obligatory smack talk I used to give them.
*The Ace sighs*
I bet they wonder what happened to the days when The Ace was a simple grinning idiot, full of smack talk and barely capable of more than three facial expressions for the entire duration of all of his promos. Things were simpler then, without the Revolution. Now you've changed things forever, there's no going back for any of us. Least of all me. I refuse to be that man again, just like I refuse to fall back into the shadow of Steve Awesome. I was and always have been so much more than just his partner. I don't care if you think he is better than I could ever be, that is all behind me now. This is what you want me to do isn't it Adam? To give up being cuddled by the blanket of a past that no longer matters, just like The Smokin' Aces no longer matter. It no longer matters that Steve Awesome is better than me. It no longer matters that Adam Knite is better than me, and has proven it on the past two occassions where he has taken titles frrom me. That is all behind me. It is all in the past, a past that I must let go of, isn't that right, Adam?
*The Ace sighs, and shakes his head. The hypocrisy of the Revolution's self righteous leader was giving him a bigger headache than even this hangover. No matter he had two days to sober up so that he could kick Knite's piddly ass, not just to successfully defend, but also now because he really wanted to...*
It's alright Adam, I'll gloss nice and neatly over the fact that you are a hypocrite who thinks that just because you've beaten me before that you can do so again. That is the past which you cling to, yet criticise me for. That is the past you want me to forget and yet you can't stop deriving teachings from it. You mention it any given opportunity. You endeavour to repeat it this Sunday. The fact is I'd rather be hated for being a moronic ass than attempt to be loved for being an ignorant hypocrite. Hate me because I am the bad guy, but don't try and pass yourself off as the good guy. You say that you're surprised that I actually took your words to heart and acted on them. Why? As the leader of the Revolution, surely you must be aware of the gift you possess as an inspiring motivational speaker. You get people behind you by convincing them to share in your beliefs. It worked on Kelly. It worked on all those men who are fighting for your cause in that elimination match this Sunday. Men, who in your eyes at least, are far greater men than I could ever hope to be, so why shouldn't the words of your ideals finally rub off on me? Why shouldn't my eyes be opened to your Revolution? In fact I may be so blinded by the light of the Revolution that I'm forced to fight blind for the Resistance...
*The Ace turns the tap and splashes some cold water on his face, before continuing, it was refreshing. Rejuvenating. The Ace stares at his reflection in the mirror...*
Adam, tell me that I am ugly...
For I already know that my reflection is.
Adam, tell me to go jump off a bridge...
And I'll whisper back: 'You First!'
Adam, please tell me that I am a good World Champion...
And I'll vow to show you that I am a great World Champion.
*The Ace laughs a little as that thought occurs to him*
Adam, tell me I am nothing more than a pathetic a worthless piece of s**t...
You wouldn't be the first, nor will you be the last.
*The Ace turns off the tap, snd dries his face with the hand towel nearby*
I have already proven you right, I have already lived up to the truth you saw in my soul from the start. I am selfish, or am I? I don't give a damn about my family because I only care about myself, or do I? It's amazing what a few moments at the end of a promo can suggest, isn't it? You assume that I just proved myself to be the joke and the laughing stock who cheated on my wife because you saw me kiss my sister in law in my moment of inebriation and weakness, but you have not beaten me yet Knite! The Resistance lives! Now I won't deny that I enjoyed the kiss last night, and in some people's eyes that may still be cheating, but the fact is that the cameras didn't catch what happened when the kiss was broken. Tiffany saved me from myself. Tiffany saved me from what would have been the single greatest mistake of my life. She kicked me out of her room, knowing that I was suggestible and ready to do something stupid. I was ready to be someone that ultimately wasn't who I am now...
The past is behind me. I am not who I once was.
But in the end, I just couldn't walk that road again, so you see I am not so defined by my past as you seem to think I am. There are occassions that I look ahead. I look to the future and I look forward to growing old with my wife. I look forward to watching my daughter grow up to be the remarkable young woman that I know she will be. Long after I'm done, long after I'm retired and long after I've hung up my boots, she will be the one to carry on what little legacy I leave behind. Not the legacy of a cheat and a womanizer, not even the legacy of a Superstar. The legacy I leave behind will be that of a simple man who held onto gold like the eternal flame that struggles to burn against the wind of change that threatens to extinguish it. The struggle doesn't last long and ultimately the wind snuffs it out, but for as long as that little flame continues to burn, the people have hope. They have some light and some warmth in their lives to be thankful for...
At least that's how I hope the World remembers me.
This isn't about me throwing a hissy fit Adam, if it is my hate and loathing that drives me, then at least I can say that I do my job in the ring with some degree of passion. Even if nobody cares, even if you don't care. The fact is I have changed. The Revolution forced that of me, but it wasn't because of you Adam. It was because of Falcon. For months he implored me to change, and when I finally listened, I earned the nCw World Heavyweight Championship. Your Revolution did its job a little too well Adam, and now you hate us. Your cause forced us to better ourselves, that much is true, but you did not create us. Hence you can not kill us. If we go down...
If I go down.
We will take you with us.
I will take you with me.
The Resistance will never die...
I will never die.
As long as the Revolution exists...
As long as you breathe.
We will be there to kill you...
I will be there to kill you.
Now I know what you're thinking Adam. Your thoughts are as transparent as they are contrived. You think that I'm just lying, and that these lies are ones that only I, as a middle aged shell of a man, believe. If they are lies, then at least they are damn good ones, though by no means as good as the ones imparted amongst Revolutionaries, or even lovers.
*The Ace laughs*
Lies like, 'Oh honey, don't worry, you can use our time together to cut a promo. I was gonna **** you, tonight, but sure you can cut a promo with the lights out...'
*The Ace shakes his head*
To think, people in your precious Revolution mocked me for cutting promos on dates, but once again, you have bested me Adam. I could never get away with cutting a promo whilst Kathy wanted to get freaky. I guess I really am not as dedicated to this business as you are Adam. Congratulations, you were right, feel good now does it? Jackass. Concern yourself not with me, care not for me, I don't care. Pity me, do whatever you must. Think whatever you will of me, I don't care...
I do really. All I've ever wanted is the respect of my peers.
Mock me, bully me, intimidate me if it makes you feel big...
They all do.
I will rise above it all...
Hopefully.
You want me to grow up...
But I don't want to.
And be a man...
I am the man.
But I won't. I don't need to. All I need to be is a fighting Champion...
And I need to kick your piddly ass.
For me, if I can be a fighting Champion, it will be enough...
For now.
Then none of this pointless civil war will matter. None of what the Revolution stood for will matter. It will not matter who won and who lost, and it will not matter who failed to be the light and who got lost in the darkness. At least not to me, because I'm not the grazing sheep whose existence is threatened.
No. I'm just the baaaad guy.
*The Ace smirks as that childish joke occured to him*
I'm not oblivious to the danger your Revolution placed infront of us. I never have been. I just didn't care...
And I still don't.
You were the evil that I failed to rise up against...
Funny, I don't normally have that problem.
You were the traitors and the scum, and by coincidence or design, we became the matyrs, I understand that. I understand what it was you tried to do, it doesn't mean I agree with it or cared enough to stop it. I guess you were right again, Adam. All I care about is the end, and not necessarily who emerges victorious in this little war. If it is the Revolution, its quite frankly a win for both of us. I hit the unemployment line after Kelly boots me out, and it saves me from jumping off a bridge to make you all finally happy. But if the Resistance win, you lose - even if I lose to you Adam - because I'll still be here in nCw waiting for my next shot at the top...
Because that's all I've ever cared about.
You may be content with just making a difference, but I am not. I want more. I always have, there's nothing wrong with wanting it all and never being happy just to settle for second best. Yes, I won this title, and by all accounts I should be happy...
Who says I'm not?
But for me, winning the title will never be enough if I can never be trusted to defend it successfully for a significant amount of time, like any real Champion worth his salt should. I'm not looking to eclipse Lance Ryan but anything beyond a mere five weeks is my aim at the very least. Maybe I do need to loosen up, but not right now. Not without my first real title defense under my belt. I need this. I need to be better than Xavier Williams and Trent Helms. Those are the greener pastures that matter to me. I will not be forced to be the curtain jerking afterthought that I once was. I refuse to give up the rush that comes with being able to call yourself the best - and have the irrefutable proof to back it up. I don't expect you to understand, Adam. You haven't been there yet, but when you do get there, you'll understand...
*The Ace sighs*
You'll understand that being content with your life simply isn't as euphoric as holding the nCw World Heavyweight Championship, maybe for you that moment will come this Sunday. I am consumed with being the absolute best, and if I can no longer be the best at what I do, then I don't deserve all that I now have...
*The Ace turns away from the mirror and his reflection. He leaves the shower room, and steps out into the hotel room. Kathy and Solitaire were still asleep. He continues talking as he goes over to Kathy...*
The last time I felt this consumed with victory, I was Hardcore Champion in another place, I had lost a tournament in that company, and I could not handle it. It was not enough for me to be a Champion with a pregnant fiance even then. Now the places and the faces have changed, but the story of my life remains the same. Neither time nor alcohol have yet managed to numb the pain of my past. I cannot move forward and I cannot go back...
*The Ace spots two playing cards separated from the deck, laying face up on the bedside table.. The Ace Of Spades lay underpinned by the King of Diamonds. A sign that he had been trumped, perhaps.
Blackjack. A winning hand.
*The Ace scoops up the two cards, and looks at them in his hand*
I truly hope that you don't let the title consume you when you take it from me Adam...
*The Ace became fixated on the two letters in his winning hand. Two letters that had begun to torment him four years ago and still haunted him now.
A. K.
Alena Knight.
~The Knight he had lost~
Adam Knite.
~The Knite he now faced~
Adam and Kelly.
~The power couple that he and his wife would never be~
Because my ghosts still haunt me. They still lurk in the shadows, driving me forward, I want to be set free. The deck is against me and stacked in your favour again - as it always has been. I want to be like you, I want to be happy. I want something that I can cherish besides the World Championship, but I have nothing. I want to be in Heaven, yet I get no further than Hell...
*The Ace looks down at the woman he almost betrayed last night as she slept. He raised a hand to stroke her cheek, but withdrew, feeling he no longer deserved her. She could do so much better, she didn't belong with him. He would burn in Hell for enjoying that kiss. He would not tell her, he had to protect her. His guilty little secret would mean that he never got to where Adam Knite was right now - Heaven.
The Ace places the cards back as he found them and leaves his hotel room, closing the door behind him. As he left, Kathy awoke. She sat up in the bed, looked over and saw the two cards still where she had left them last night.
Tiffany had told her that they had almost kissed after she had helped The Ace back to their room. He had passed out before he heard the younger sister confess, but Kathy did not care. She forgave her husband for almost falling off the wagon last night and she was happy that her sister had confessed.
They were still all a family and Jake needed Kathy to be at his side now more than ever. This Sunday was important to both of them, albeit for different reasons. Kathy knew their marriage was stronger than one fleeting kiss.
She wanted Jake to know that she forgave him, and as a symbol of her trust, she had left out two cards from the deck that to her symbolised that they'd always be together. She hoped Jake had got the message and that he had interpreted them as she had. Kathy scoops up the cards in her hand and smiles upon their hidden meaning as she looks at them.
Blackjack. Their winning hand.
A. K.
Ace and Kathleen.
~Together Now. Together Always~
The scene fades to black...*