Post by Cassius on May 23, 2017 22:56:55 GMT
?: “Nigga you still need to explain to me why the hell you dragged my ass all the way down here.”The man who’s speaking stops in his tracks, refusing to walk on any further. His associate continues walking a moment, before stopping and spinning on the ball of his foot. The first man, tall, broad, dressed all in black, seemingly in defiance of the hot Mexican sun, wipes his brow. The Reverend Lucius Reed squints down at his cousin, none other than Cassius Reed himself, as the young wrestler smiles broadly up at him.
CASSIUS REED: “We got a great opportunity here, and I ain’t about to let it go to waste.”
LUCIUS REED: “See, you keep on saying that, but it still ain’t an answer. It wasn’t an answer when you turned up in Santa Fe with tickets. It wasn’t an answer when the last 15 times I asked. And it sure ain’t no answer now. Now I’m not taking another step until you tell me what this is is all about.”
CASSIUS REED: “What is this about? It’s the spirit of adventure! The chance to do something different with your day other than telling Old Mrs Smith why she’s wrong to hate that little colored boy from down the street! That no matter what horrible, shitty things your parishioners get up to, as long as they promise God they didn’t mean it before they kick off this mortal coil, it’ll all be OK. It’s the chance to escape that brick prison you preach from. The chance to see the world!”
LUCIUS REED: “Cassius.”
CASSIUS REED: “This is your big chance, Lucius! Mexico has a long and proud history of taking lowly priests and turning them into legendary luchadores! Ain’t you ever played Tekken? Ain’t you ever seen Nacho Libre?”
LUCIUS REED: “Cassius.”
CASSIUS REED: “Now I remember you and Darius wrestling back home when I was a kid. Before Darius got into boxing and… all that. You were good, both of you. Tore through Atlanta… you remember any of that? Well you’ve got a chance to make history here! You can be, like “El Priesto Reedo” or whatever. I know people, we can get someone working on that translation.”
LUCIUS REED: “Cassius.”
CASSIUS REED: “I’ve still got contacts down here. We’ll get you intp a school, maybe Old Man Rodríguez’s place, get you polished up, and in no time you’ll be wrestling to keep that orphanage afloat!”
LUCIUS REED: “Cas-… wait, what orphanage?”
CASSIUS REED: “So come on, let’s get you enrolled, we’ll get you a mask, maybe I’ll even break out the old Funky Dragon gear and…”
LUCIUS REED: “CASSIUS!”
CASSIUS REED: “What?”
LUCIUS REED: “I know you didn’t drag my ass 800 miles to try and convince me to go along with some hare brained scheme to get me back into wrestling. Especially after what happened before. So tell me, right now, what gives, or else I’m turning around and going back now.”
Cassius looks indecisive… but ultimately says nothing. Lucius shakes his head, turns to walk away… only to be stopped by a single word from his cousin.
CASSIUS REED: “Bullshit.”
Lucius turns, eyebrow raised. Before he can respond, Cassius is already carrying on.
CASSIUS REED: “You’re as stubborn an ass as the rest of us are. That’s them Reed genetics at work. There ain’t no way in hell you’ve followed me all the way here from Santa Fe only to turn around and leave now.”
The two cousins look at one another, in silence, a few moments. It’s somewhat of a standoff, neither man seemingly willing to be seen as the one to break down first, until...
LUCIUS REED: “Fine.”
He moves to catch up with Cassius, getting into step with him as they continue walking along the Tijuana street.
LUCIUS REED: “As long as you know I ain’t going to drop this.”
Cassius nods as they continue to walk.
LUCIUS REED: “And I ain’t wearing no mask.”
-----
?? : “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, loyal subjects, welcome… to where it all began.”The camera fades up on a man, standing upon a rooftop, overlooking Tijuana… specifically the Coliseo Inmortal, the home arena of the lucha promotion known as HELL. The man himself is wearing a dark leather jacket, to keep out the cool evening air, over a Melody Lennox t-shirt… and a lucha mask, stylized as if to represent a dragon.
FUNKY DRAGON: “Tijuana! This is where the Funky Dragon got his start. After trainin’ in Toronto, of all places, the Funky Dragon flew his way down south, where he got his start wrestlin’ around this great nation. He met the right people, greased the right palms, beat the right suckas… and eventually, when Old Man Rodríguez was ready to set up shop in Tijuana, Funky was there, first in the line, work visa in hand, ready to make this promotion a success… and now look at it. One of the best known lucha promotions on the planet.”
He flashes a cheeky smile.
FUNKY DRAGON: “Oh, and guess which sucka, as part of a trios with his brothers, was one of the inaugural Legión del HELL champions?”
Funky reaches up and yanks the mask off of his face revealing, to the surprise of absolutely no-one, the face of Cassius Reed, his hair tied back tightly, having been forced into the mask.
CASSIUS REED: “DAMN STRAIGHT, SUCKAS! These humble beginnings are where your Iron King, Cassius Reed, got his start in the wrestlin’ world. From these Tijuana streets, Cassius set off on his journey that today sees him recognised as not only your Iron King, but also your Rebirth champion…”
The camera angle suddenly changes to besides Cassius, as he turns and leans into this second camera, adopting an almost conspiratorial air.
CASSIUS REED: “You still all welcome for that, by the way.”
A sudden return to the main camera, catching Cassius as he turns back to face it.
CASSIUS REED: “On that journey Cassius has overcome hardship, fought impossible odds, and evolved into the Snake Eatin’, Puppet Masterin’, Devil Slayin’ IRON KING you see before you today. So it’s about time he leaned back, slapped some Funkadelic on the record deck, and took a nice long hard earned rest, right?”
A flash of that giant grin of his.
CASSIUS REED: “WRONG! You suckas think that Cassius is done yet? There are still numerous pastures left for the Iron King to conquer, and it starts right here, back where it all began. Because you suckas see, this match at Redemption, this is about Cassius provin’ points. It’s about Cassius provin’ for like the third time in a row that the Cougar of Wall Street ain’t worthy of takin’ this belt, let alone settin’ foot in a ring with the Iron King. It’s about Cassius provin’ to you all that he’s the only sucka here with comprehensive experience of Trios action: Cassius was part of the championship winnin’ Brothers Reed. Cassius was part of Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl with Rainbow Sprinkles, the most fabulous trios to ever set foot in the squared circle. Cassius one of the only suckas to have wrestled in both Torneo de las Legiones. And most of all, Cassius is out here provin’ you all he’s the most dominant champion in the whole of Phoenix Wrestling. Now this ain’t Cassius sayin’ he’s outright better than Hell Is Waiting, or even Anastasia Starling…”
Another quick switch to the side camera, Cassius’ head swinging around to look into the lens.
CASSIUS REED: “Although he totally is. That’s just a funky fresh matter of fact, you hear?”
A quick wink, and we’re back to the main camera.
CASSIUS REED: “But he is the only one out there who’s the Iron King. He is the only one out there to ever win the Passion of the Juniors cup. Hell, he bets he is the only one out there to spend any significant time wrestlin’ for a lucha promotion which, considerin’ we’re wrestlin’ in FUNKIN’ Mexico, is a big funkin’ deal. And this ain’t just any city in Mexico. This ain’t like Cassius steppin’ out into Guadalajara for Tempest. Funk no. This is Tijuana. This is Cassius’ city. These people here know Cassius’ name. These people here respect the Iron King. These people are Cassius’ people, and Cassius don’t give a funk how much you don’t think that matters, trust Cassius. It matters.”
A shrug.
CASSIUS REED: “So, for everythin’ Cassius is bringin’ to this team… Fath? Chris Andrew? You’re welcome. You suckas got the Iron King with you, and it don’t matter who the funk Seth Black or Slaine Roderick or even GOD HIMSELF puts in front of us, it ain’t gonna be enough. Just all you suckas have Faith in Plan C over that.”
Another glance to the side.
CASSIUS REED: “See what Cassius did there?”
And back to the front.
CASSIUS REED: “Because truth be told? When it comes down to it, there’s only one thing that matters. It don’t matter that Hell Is Waiting. It don’t matter that they teamed with a woman who’s losin’ streak’s almost as long as Cassius’ Iron Staff. It don’t even matter who Cassius is teamed with. Yeah, it’s good that it’s someone halfway decent like Faith, and this Chris Andrew sucka ain’t the worst sucka on the planet, but frankly Cassius could be teamed with Finn and Twin and you’d get the same result. It don’t matter, because this world, and everythin’ in it? This is King Cassius’ world now, and all you suckas are just livin’ in it. As long as Cassius reigns, he’s reignin’ with an iron fist, suckas, y’all best count on it.”
As if to emphasise this last statement, Cassius raises his left fist, responsible for so many knockout blows in his time. Balling it hard, he brings it slowly to his lips, before giving it a quick kiss, before turning to look at the camera one more time.
CASSIUS REED: “Long live the King.”
The camera abruptly cuts to black.