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"Nothing Personal"
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Topic Started: Jan 5 2012, 09:22 AM (225 Views)
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Deleted User
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Jan 5 2012, 09:22 AM
Post #1
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Deleted User
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WHAM!
Ross Raines's fist smashed into the heavy bag. The shot was heavy, turned in wickedly from his hip with everything he could drive behind it. It was four in the morning. Everyone else in Jarvis Tower was out like a light. He couldn't. He was angry. Three more punches followed, low on the bag. Then two more to the top. Then, he stepped back and gave a frustrated snarl as he hammered a finally blow that sent the bag swinging back a bit on it's chain.
He stepped back and took a deep breath. He'd snuck out of the apartment a few hours ago after watching Christian York's statements on the match. Most of what York said hadn't affected him that much. It wasn't anything new. The usual I'm-the-greatest posturing that even the best wrestlers felt the need to put out there. Ross knew that was part of the reason he didn't have as much fans as others. He wasn't much for the promos. Wasn't much for the cameras or the bombast o it all. He just wanted to wrestle. Since he arrived in New Era Wrestling, he could count the number of on camera interviews he'd done on one hand. Hell, even the interviewer approaching him to thank him for saving her from Romeo had been more than a little awkward. He tried to put on the happy face, but he couldn't wait to get away from the camera.
He knew wrestlers had to hype themselves. That was the game. Say the right things about your opponent and the fans would want to see you fight him whether they were on your side or not. That would make promoters want to put you in matches. That would make people pay you more. That was the game.
That was the game and Ross Raines had no interest in it.
When he'd signed up for this whole thing, he never wanted to be champion. He just wanted to inspire people. That came with some heavy weight. People always watching him, people always waiting for a chance to call him a hypocrite. That was what Frankie Romeo had done. He sighed as he thought over the things the spaniard had said. Ross had gone to the ring to stop him from hurting Isabelle Marie. He'd been yelling something about “his vision”. What was he supposed to do? Just let him hurt her? There had been no choice but to head to the ring. Romeo called him a hypocrite for striking from behind. He didn't have time to face him face to face. He had to take him down. To take him down with the quickest, most devastating thing he could. That cross body from behind had been a spur of the moment decision.
Ah. The cross body. He smiled as he thought about it. This would be his first match back since the downtime, and he was really hoping he'd have a chance to bust that bad boy out. Sure, it was less flashy than a lot of the other moves some of his cohorts could bust out. That 630 of Doc Holidays was one of the most amazing things he'd ever seen. It was certainly more old school than many. It was less inventive than that amazing Kastration move of Outkast's. Still, gosh darn it, he could fly! Oh, not really of course. When he jumped off that buckle though? He flew. He flew through the air and for those couple of seconds he felt like the hero he was supposed to be.
He certainly didn't feel like that right now. Even that brief bit of happiness couldn't take away the frustration welling up in his gut. York had tossed him aside so casually. To him? It was a given that he'd win. What he'd said about Amelia....that was too far.
”Good morning, Mr. Raines.” Speak of the devil. The english voice sounded chipper, cheerful as she walked off the elevator and into the gym buried in the subbasement of the tower. He turned to face her. She hadn't bothered to get fully dressed, still wearing the same nightgown she'd been wearing when they finally headed to bed. She looked sleepy as could be. There was a gym bag thrown over her shoulder that she dropped to the ground as she walked over to him. With all that against her, she was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen ”What's wrong?”
”You know, there doesn't have to be anything wrong.” He said with a tiny smile ”I might just feel like working out.”
She raised an eyebrow ”You're smashing a heavy bag at four in the morning, sweating like a pig. You don't punch that hard. You don't like to hurt people. Certainly not enough to sweat that bad this late. Once again: What's wrong boyscout?”
There was no point in trying to get anything past her. He crossed his arms in front of him and sighed ”Something one of my opponents said about you.”
Amelia opened her mouth to speak, then fell silent. She walked away from him and over toward the large wrestling ring that served as the centerpiece to the fitness center. She hopped up and sat on the apron before she spoke again ”What did he say?”
Ross gritted his teeth. He didn't particularly enjoy repeating what the other man had said, but she'd poke at him until he did ”He said you were 'Some piece of ass.'”
”Oh.”
Just like that. “Oh.” A soft little sound. Ross's eyes narrowed and his fist clenched shut. She sounded disgusted. He walked up to the ring and shook his head ”I know. I know, believe me. This is what you thought would happen if we got together. People objectifying you. People making comments about your looks...I know you...I-”
He was babbling. She took his hand and sighed ”Believe me, I knew it was going to happen. I just didn't think it'd be this fast. I work so hard to do my job, you know? I don't want people to think of me as just...as just your girlfriend.”
”I don't want people using you as a way to get to me. Maybe this was a mistake.”
”No, it wasn't.” Amelia said softly ”I remember when I found you. When you were just a football player in Ohio...I knew you'd be something special. I knew it. More than that? I knew I had to be there. I just knew you were going to do some good. Knew I needed to be there. I fought accepting that, but I know the risks. I'm not giving up. There's a simple solution to this, you know.”
”What's that?”
”Uh, hurt him?” She said incredulously, like it was the easiest thing on earth ”Teach him a lesson.”
He shook his head ”No. Look, I'm annoyed with him too but he hasn't done anything to hurt us.” Ross explained grimly ”He's an opponent. Another one. There's going to be a lot of them who say things like this. Allowing myself to get angry isn't going to solve anything. If anything, it's just going to make things worse. If he beats me, he beats me. Christian's a good wrestler. He's more than capable of beating me. If he makes me cheat though? If he makes me angry? He wins a small battle. There's going to be a lot more like him. It's just...It's kind of what wrestling is, you know? I'll take the anger out here and be fine in the ring.”
She smirked and slid off the apron. She walked toward the bag on the floor and picked it up. He'd forgotten about it. She walked back over to him and put it on the apron. She unzipped it and nodded ”You never change. Honestly. I've got something to show you. Might cheer you up a little.”
Amelia pulled something out of the bag. A rolled up white thing he couldn't make out. Then, she let it fall. It unfurled in her hands and rolled out to full size. A pair of tights. A white pair of tights with a golden line across the top. On the side, there was another gold logo sewn into the right leg. A diamond. He whistled, impressed, and stepped forward to take them from her ”New gear huh? Amazing stuff. Marketing boys put this together?”
She chuckled and shook her head ”Sort of. They sewed it together, sure. Tweaked it. Put it on some posters already but....I designed it. The diamond thing is my idea.”
He raised an eyebrow ”Why a diamond?”
She looked away for a minute and tried to collect her words, and Ross smiled. It was the first time he'd ever seen her nervous. ”Do you know what a paragon is?”
”Afraid not.”
”It's a diamond. A perfect diamond.”
Ross nodded ”Ah. Well. Yes. You chose a diamond because it's a diamond. Brilliant marketing Miss Terrence.”
”Oh shut up.” Amelia rolled her eyes and slugged him in the arm ”It's not JUST a diamond. It's a phrase too. It's the height of perfection. The perfect model of something. It's absolute potential. You keep talking about...about how you want to be a model for people to reach greater heights you know? You want to be a symbol. That's what you can be. A paragon. The model of human potential.”
”You want me to go around saying I'm perfect? That I'm the model of human potential? That might make me come across as a little cocky.”
”You think Superman worries about Superman sounding cocky?”
”Uh...yeah. Yeah, he does. All the time.”
”It was just an idea.” Amelia said, taking the tights from him and starting to stuff them back in the bag ”I'm sorry...I thought that you'd-”
Ross's expression softened as he thought it over ”No, wait. Paragon....I kind of like it. It's not bad. The Paragon, Ross Raines? Or just Paragon? Hmm...”
”See, now that sounds cocky.” She laughed.
*~*~*~*~*~
The camera opens on a view of the New York City skyline in the middle of the day. It's a side of the Empire City people don't often see. Any time someone wants to get a shot of the majesty of the city skyline, they take it at night where the lights twinkle far below. They certainly don't stand in early January on a freezing rooftop looking down over the metal structures. Yet, that's where Ross Raines is. He's standing on the edge of the roof of Jarvis Tower, looking down over the city. He's wearing his ring gear. A pair of long, white tights with a diamond logo up the side. A long pair of wrist bands adorned with the same logo sits on his arms. It's a strange sight. Wrestling gear might look normal on a wrestling show, but out in the real world in the middle of the city it's the most foreign thing going.
He steps back from the edge of the building and turns to face the camera ”Here I am. Here I am, where everyone thinks I spend all of my time: On top of the world. On top of the world looking down at people. That's certainly what Frankie Romeo's been saying about me. That I lie to my fans. That I'm manipulating people to make myself rich. I've heard it all before Mr. Romeo. From men better and stronger than you.”
He crosses his arms and shakes his head ”I saw your little promo piece earlier in the week. With that cameraman, Jacob. You frightened an innocent man and threatened his family just to take a few jabs at me...” He licks the inside of his lips and his eyes narrow. He's annoyed, but not angry ”I saw what Jacob told you. About how his little girl is a big fan of mine. About how he brought her in to work and I signed an autograph for her. How I told her to always be a good kid, and to listen to her parents.”
Ross uncrosses his arms and smiles a little, thinking of his meeting with the little girl ”You know about all that. Do you know what a huge Bieber fan she is? Do you know she plays absolutely ridiculous amounts of pokemon on her DSI? She was so proud of it. Her...collection I guess? I don't know. I've never understood the pokemon phenomenon.” He chuckles a little ”She's just a name to you. A few facts that you can use to take shots at me. To me? She's a fan. I see so many of you throw that term around. Fan. 'The fans' like they're this...blob. This big blob of personhood who doesn't matter except that they cheer for us. Did I appreciate that she cheered for me? Yeah. I love that Claudia sits down every weekend in a Ross Raines t-shirt. Weird thing though? I cared a lot more that this kid could spend twenty minutes telling me why Pikachu had never really been that cool. Pretty serious business, that.”
He looks into the camera and winks ”Hi Claudia.”
Back to business. ”She's this...amazing little kid. Like so many of my fans are amazing people. All of them with everyday stories. Incredible, uncommon everyday stories. It's funny...that's how everyday stories are. Completely individual. Everyday doesn't mean what people think it does.” He looks out over the city and shivers against the cold for a minute ”I come up here all the time. To look over this celebrated city. New York's like anywhere else, you know? Full of these amazing people and these amazing stories. I stand on the top of the world. You know why I do it Romeo? Because from here you have the best view.”
He smirks a little and shakes his head, seemingly amazed ”Yeah. Yeah, Romeo. I do a lot of these media things. I talk to everybody. I try to get out there and see everybody. It's not because I want everyone to know my name. It's not because I want to make money. It's because I want to know them. I want to hear their stories...and I want to tell them mine.” He walks back to the edge of the roof and shrugs ”I'm not special. I just work hard. Hard as I can. Anybody out there could be in this position. That's what I want to show people: We can all do great things if we work hard and just help each other out. I want to do some good, and no matter how many guys like you tell me I'm a fraud for doing it? I'm going to keep doing it. Because that's who I am. I'm a symbol. I'm...I'm a Paragon. Just like anyone else can be.”
”Of course, you aren't the only person who's been talking about me Romeo.” Ross continues ”Christian York's been talking trash too, in the leadup to our match. Honestly? It's a little bit upsetting. I was excited to go out there and have a match with him. I remember watching him in ECW and Maryland Championship Wrestling. I loved that team man, Christian York and Joey Matthews? Two amazing wrestlers who never really got their due. This was a chance to go out and see how I could do against someone at the tail end of their career and not the start. I was a bit surprised when he started talking trash about me.”
He holds up a finger and then turns to face the camera again ”Oh, wait. Sorry. You're not that Christian York are you? Sorry. I get confused. Maybe you should of done ten seconds of googling before you decided on a ring name.” He smirks ”Swiping someone else's name isn't the only thing unoriginal about you, York. I've seen dozens of you. Dozens of rich guys with hollywood connections who come rolling through expecting us to be impressed. Hey, I'm one myself. You'll see me on the TV a fair bit. That's why I don't rock the boat. I go out there, I'm as nice as I can be and I make sure not to put myself on a pedestal. I try to stay humble. I admit, half of that's because if I start acting like a tough guy my mom will give me a call and ream me out over the phone but mostly because...it's tough to live up to your own hype. You've positioned me as just another wrestler in your path. Just another cog in the machine. You said it was...'nothing personal'.”
His expression darkens. His blue eyes narrow and his jaw tightens ”There might not be an expression I dislike more than 'nothing persona' Christian. Because, see, good people never say that. Wrestlers who know what they're doing never say it's 'nothing personal'. There's nothing in the world more personal than what we do. I'd say trying to knock me out for three seconds is pretty damn personal. I'd say you saying you had to 'drain me of life' is pretty personal. Most of all? I'd say you saying my girlfriend is 'some piece of ass' is pretty personal. Man...I...” He puts a hand over his face and takes a minute to collect himself ”Do you watch the shows? Seriously? I'm sorry. I know this sounds cocky but...objectifying women to me? It's NEVER worked out well. Ever. I've laid major league lessons down on people for doing that to people I was just friends with. This? This is even worse.”
He walks closer to the camera ”I'm not angry, York. I'm annoyed, sure, but I'm not angry. You're not worth my anger. Please, don't take that as a sign of disrespect. You're a hell of a wrestler but....I know what you're doing. You're trying to get me mad. You're trying to throw me off my game. You're doing the same thing everyone does who's afraid they can't back it up in the ring.” He cracks into a smile, that disarming corn fed grin of his ”So. Here's what I'm going to do: I'm gonna go in there and wrestle. Cause for me? This is just another match. It's just as personal as the rest of them are. You? I want to see if you can live up to your own hype. Put it all aside. Put aside your frustration, your conspiracy talk, your anger and just wrestle. Let's just go have some fun for once and stop pretending like every damn match has to be the end of the world. I'll see you out there, Mr. York. Looking forward to it.”
With that, he walks behind the camera and out of the shot. The camera moves up and our last shot is of the sun hanging high in the air....
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