Post by Kenzie Rydell on Apr 30, 2017 22:46:21 GMT
DATE: 04/28/17
SCENE NUMBER: 01
CAMERA STATUS: ON
As the YouTube video began, you saw a young woman with long beautiful chestnut hair sitting in an old rickety wooden chair in a well-lit living room. With crossed legs, she held a large book on her lap with a nondescript cover on the front. Opening it up, she read the words on the page with her finger sliding across the paper like she was back in school.
"Once upon a time, there was a man named Blake."
You listened intently to the words the young woman spoke, noticing as she turned the page. Behind her in the video stood a large wooden wall, nothing too fancy or intricate about it. You imagined that it wasn't a set but that was just a guess.
"Hearing valiant stories of courage and determination growing up, Blake looked up to the uncle he never met as the beacon of hope who fought against communism in the Vietnam War."
Looking up with bright hazel eyes etched in a shred of innocence and hope, Kenzie Rydell smiled softly until her expression softened. With the book still on her lap, she looked right into your eyes as you watched her from the other side of the screen. Whether you were watching on a tablet, a phone, a computer monitor or what have you, Kenzie still gave you just as much attention.
She glanced back at the aging book and turned the page.
"With those stories in mind and eyes set on the television as the twin towers fell, he enlisted in the army while a pregnant wife and a 5-year-old daughter waited for him back home."
As she said those words, the reality of the situation hit you hard. You understood immediately what that meant, even if you had never seen the woman before in your life. She looked young enough that the math all checked out. Biting her lip as she started talking about the subject, you noticed the sadness washing over her even though she might have tried to hide it. Ignoring the book, she looked at you instead.
"I hugged my dad so tight that day. I don't think I fully understood the fact that there was a chance my father wouldn't come home. I hardly remember much except for the stories my parents told me since then, but I have this feeling that even at five years old, I knew he wanted to be a hero. I have a feeling that I somehow knew he wanted to be a beacon of light to me and everyone else who stayed in the states while he fought for our freedom. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. My mom couldn't read my mind so she never said it in the stories, but it's just this feeling I have in my gut whenever I try to think back to that moment, you know? Does that make sense to you?"
Asking the rhetorical question, you answered her in your mind. It made sense to you. Still, she continued with stars in her eyes and emotion in her voice.
"If it wasn't for those 19 terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Centre, demolished a wing of the Pentagon and killed 2,996 people... I probably wouldn't be who I am today, right?"
The fact that she remembered the amount of people who died in 9/11 was more telling than words could ever describe. Whether it was a twinge of guilt or she overheard the words spoken so many times in the army bases where she grew up, it was anybody's guess.
"I've never told anybody that story publically. Did you know that? I don't even think I've really told my boyfriend Adam that story. I guess it just never really came up. Still. I just thought you deserved to know. I thought you guys deserved to understand that I owe my entire life since I was five years old to one catastrophic day on the calendar and the choices made by other people. It's hard to grasp, I know. It's big. It's something I try not to think about all the time, but... I think it's probably true."
Her eyes drifted down towards the rug underneath her, the leg draped over the other slowly bouncing up and down mindlessly as Kenzie spoke.
"If my dad's uncle hadn't sacrificed himself in the Vietnam War and my father hadn't decided to do something in a response to the attack that killed thousands of people, I wouldn't be here.
There's no deep thinking involved, I'm not searching for pity, it's just the truth. I mean, what do you want me to say?"
She laughed nervously at her own words while a sense of generosity coated every word in a way that didn't often happen in promotional videos like this.
"My father instilled in me a sense of honor, a sense of standing up for the people who deserved it. Living in a military base taught me the meaning of hard work and constant training. Heck, that specialized training alone accounts for a lot of the successes I've found in wrestling. I've been training for as long as I can remember, even if that training just amounted to walking a few laps every morning, and that mentality continues to impact me to this day! Now it's weird when I don't train vigorously for a couple hours once I've eaten breakfast. It's a routine, a routine I would have never had if it wasn't for being an army brat."
She smiled softly on the subject.
"This is gonna sound corny, I know, but... I didn't sign up to fight on the battlefield like my father or his uncle. No. I signed up to battle in a wrestling ring on a consistent basis so I could be a small beacon of light to everyone watching in the stands and in their homes. I have the blood of soldiers in my veins and I don't just give up when things get tough!"
Kenzie paused, likely replaying what she just said in her head.
"Okay. Yeah. That was even cornier out loud, wasn't it?"
She laughed.
"See, I'm not perfect. Most people in this sport act like these perfect superheroes, confident in everything they do and flawless in every way. Some act like assholes, blatantly touting that they're better than everyone else like kings and gods. You know the truth, right? We're all people. We all put our pants on the same way. Behind all the pomp and circumstance, each and every person who steps into a wrestling ring loves the sport on some level, whether they'll admit it or not. Even the most cynical fighters who claim wrestling needs to change still love the sport enough to fight for it and for the people who claim it's just for the money? Here's a little secret for you guys..."
Playfully cupping the side of her mouth like she was whispering something she didn't want anyone else to know, Kenzie spoke in a hushed voice directly to you.
"Most federations don't really pay too well."
Chuckling, she plopped her arm back down.
"Unless you work for a national or an international federation that's been going on for years or unless you're an 18-time champion with a generous employer, you're not gonna make a whole lot in this sport. I mean I usually just get enough to pay rent in my San Jose apartment and use the rest to pay for groceries."
"What I'm trying to say is, no one voluntarily plans to set out to make beating people up their job without loving the sport just like I do. Hell, I started as a waitress just so I could save up enough money to sign up for wrestling school once I graduated and wrestling school wasn't exactly a piece of cake!"
She stopped herself again, mauling it over.
"I know, I know. You've heard this story a thousand times before. There's plenty of people like me — even some in this Super Falcon Cup tournament — who act like they're just happy to be here. They toss around phrases. 'Oh, I came here to do what I love!' 'It's so great to be in front of that crowd, oh my god! The feeling I get when I walk out of that curtain and—'"
Kenzie's feigned excitement stopped with an innocent laugh.
"C'mon! All that is a given, isn't it? It's like I said. Whether people want to act all macho or not, practically everyone in this sport loves wrestling no matter what bullshit excuse they decide to rub in your face. And see, while that complacent attitude is okay for some people, it's not okay for me."
Now, you noticed she wasn't kidding anymore.
"Avery Miles III won the Super Falcon Cup. Now he's a shell of himself - whining and complaining over in Redemption Wrestling to the point where now he won't even resign his contract that's expiring soon. I've beaten him. Gavin Grimes will likely beat him in the match that spits him out of Redemption and allows Avery to solely pay attention to GOL. I'm pretty sure that says a lot, yeah?"
Grinning, she didn't stop for a moment.
"I entered the Super Falcon Cup to win the same prize a man I once called a friend earned in the exact same tournament last year. I entered the Super Falcon Cup to prove a point and if you think I'm going to let Kendall Conners stop me in the first round, you've got another thing coming!"
"I've defeated Chuck Matthews and Aurora Graves — multi-time world champions and bonafide legends in their own right — all in the same night! I kicked out of Adrien Cochrane's Adrien Cutter and showed that I'm just as good as the man who once stood at the top of #FSociety Wrestling! I defeated Chris Night - a legend in the sport who helmed Inferno Wrestling itself and pioneered #FSociety Wrestling into one of the hottest wrestling companies going for the last nine months!"
"I'm not just some optimistic rookie happy to be here anymore. I'm not some naive little kid. I've been wrestling professionally for a year and a half so I think everything I've accomplished speaks for itself. Meanwhile, the last time we've seen my round one opponent was when she was being taken away into an ambulance after getting brutally thrown off the stage by Gabriel Laroux back in FAW."
Shaking her head back and forth with disappointment written on her face, Kenzie kept going.
"I'm sure she'll be alright enough to fight me in round one. I wish her well. I just wanted you guys to understand that while Kendall might be a part of a team that remains undefeated in FAW as a team along with her husband by her side, alone... alone, Kendall gets thrown off of ramps and sent to hospitals."
"The last time you saw me was when I stood victorious against a legend on #FSociety Revelation - the last episode of #FSociety - in the toughest match I've ever faced! The last you've seen of Kendall? She was unconscious, tangled up in wires until the EMTs fished her up and had to take care of her. Without her husband to stand beside her in a team called Dropkicks & Donuts, that's the kind of thing that happens to her."
"I don't underestimate Kendall, though. Don't get me wrong. I know she's a great performer and I know that like I said, along with her husband, she could arguably be one-half of the best tag team in FAW. I'm going to fight just as hard as I've fought Chris Night and I'm going to show all of GOF what I can do out there! I'm going to win fair and square and then I'll be one step closer to doing exactly what Avery Miles III did so many months ago. You know, before Avery turned into an arrogant douche like practically everyone else these days."
She couldn't help throwing another cheap shot at Avery. It was justified since Avery was usually throwing similar cheap shots Kenzie's way.
"So good luck, Kendall. I hope you're all healed because I'm ready for the first fight since #FSociety closed down."
Looking down to the book on her lap, she hesitated before turning the page slowly. While her leg still bounced up and down to the rhythm of a song you couldn't hear, she read the words of the new chapter.
"Once upon a time, there was a girl named Kenzie. She was competitive and brave, headstrong and lionhearted. She had her fears, her shortcomings, and even succumbed to the occasional vice. Despite all that, she accepted her flaws instead of hiding them like almost everyone else and relied on friends to make her a better fighter as well as a better person. She started to become known far and wide — some even referring to her as 'The Paragon' — and when she entered the Super Falcon Cup 2017..."
She shut the book with a thud before she could finish reading the rest aloud.
"Well, you'll have to tune in to see what happens next, won't you?"
With a final smile, Kenzie faded to darkness as the YouTube video came to a conclusion.
DATE: 04/30/17
SCENE NUMBER: 02
CAMERA STATUS: OFF
"So, Super Falcon Cup is coming up soon," Spencer Walsh brought up in the middle of training, watching as Kenzie Rydell stopped in her tracks and gave him attention. "What did you say the name of the Pay-Per-View was?"
"I, uh. I can't repeat it," Kenzie admitted, standing on the side of the road to take a break after all the laps she ran. "Hey. How come you got to take the hoverboard and I always have to to do the running?"
"A) Quit trying to change the subject. And B) You're the one who needs the training, not me. I'm not the wrestler here. I'm yet a humble friend offering you my assistance," he nodded, speaking with professionalism for a while. That changed fast. "Besides, I paid for this dumb thing. I figured, fuck. It hasn't lit on fire yet. Might as well keep using it, right?"
"It's called, uhm..."
"Kenzie. Do you even remember?"
"It's called Thunder— Something."
"Thunder Something? C'mon! You were in a fed called #FSociety Wrestling and that didn't bother you."
"It sorta did. I mean, I just kept my mouth shut. And besides, people always just called it #FSociety. It didn't really need to be expanded into 'fuck society wrestling' every single time, but this? This might be even harder to say," Kenzie murmured, beginning to walk forward again while Spencer followed.
"Can you spell it?" Spencer retorted, not too far behind.
"Thunder..." She paused, feeling shame as she gulped down a slickness of saliva before she continued. "C-U-N-T... 2."
"You can't be serious," Spencer rolled his eyes, pretending like he wasn't the least bit amused by the absurdity of the whole thing.
"I am serious! I thought you said you've done the research on GOL before I signed up to the Super Falcon Cup tournament."
"I did. The tournament itself is one of the biggest multi-federation wide tournaments in the world, and with #FSociety closed now, it'll be good for you to get your feet wet against some strong opponents, yeah?"
"Yeah. I just wish I didn't have to do it during a Pay-Per-View called... ThunderC. I'm just going to call it ThunderC now, okay? It's like #FSociety. If we call it ThunderC enough, it'll lose its real meaning, see? Just like when you say bowl over and over again. Eventually, it just sounds funny and bowl loses all its meaning."
"Semantic satiation," Spencer pointed out like it was common knowledge.
"Right. Whatever. That," Kenzie chuckled, turning the corner and speeding up a little.
"The name of the Pay-Per-View doesn't matter. What matters is that it's round one of the Super Falcon Cup tournament and you've already got the upper hand. You've got the momentum since beating Chris Night, you've got the fact that we know what Kendall Conners is capable of doing in the ring since FAW and #FSociety were sister companies we've always had our eyes on and you've got the fact that Kendall's hurt after the beating she got from Gabe. This should be a walk in the park for you," Spencer grinned, casually following the friend he met back in high school without breaking a sweat. Of course, Kenzie's shirt was soaked.
"You make it sound like I can take this match lightly, though. I can't get cocky. Cocky loses matches."
"But confidence wins matches," Spencer easily countered.
"I guess so."
"So be confident! If Sarah Lacklan wants to mockingly call you The Paragon, you adopt that nickname and make it your own. If Avery Miles III thinks you won't get anywhere near the finals of the Super Falcon Cup, you tell 'em to shove it and do it just to spite him. If Kendall Conners thinks she can beat you in the first round..."
"Then I beat her with a swift Jackknife Kick to the jaw and head straight to round two to prove I belong in this tournament..." Kenzie smirked, feeling a lot more confident the more Spencer spoke.