Post by Alyssa Daniels on Nov 5, 2017 19:28:29 GMT -8
The skyline of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania shone in the dim early morning. The street lights on the Ben Franklin Bridge were still lit, illuminating the road for morning commuters. On the bridge’s walkway, however, a heather gray hooded sweatshirt saturated with sweat moved swiftly. Though the hood was up, strands of magenta-colored hair slipped out and swayed with the wind and movement. The jogger’s face expressed both exhaustion and determination. A woman’s voice then began to narrate the scene.
“I guess this is my best Rocky impersonation. And yes, of course I’ve ran the steps.”
Another figure appeared in the frame, a very large figure. The man did not have a hood up and appeared to be struggling to keep up.
“Hey, would ya wait up? What’s the hurry?”
Cue more narration.
“I guess retirement catches up with the body fast. In his defense, he’s pushing forty. All the more reason to stay active, I say!”
“C’mon, old man! You lose a step?”
“Never! I’m just,” he said through labored breathing, “I’m just taking in the view of the skyline!”
“Catch me, superstar!”
The man picked up the pace, determination on his face. The girl took notice and giggled playfully as she too sped up. The narration picked back up.
“Oh, right! This would probably make more sense to you if I introduced myself. My name’s Alyssa and that mountain that’s chasing me is my dad, Keith. It’s quite the story that led to this morning’s exercise. Over time, that is. Remember those towers in New York, the World Trade Center? My mom worked there. It was ‘take your daughter to work’ day for her office. I was really young so I don’t remember too much about that day. What I do remember was my mom got me out of the building and told me to run. So I did. She went back in to try and get more people out. Who says only men are heroes? She didn’t get to be that hero. It’s…”
Alyssa’s voice began to quiver.
“It’s still a little difficult to talk about. Not long after she went back in, the gray cloud of dust covered everything. I didn’t even see the tower collapse. I was scared, then… I didn’t feel anything. I knew my mom wasn’t coming back. It was like the real world just stopped existing that day. I remember policemen, firemen, so many people asking me my name, asking who I was. I didn’t have an answer for them. I didn’t know who I was anymore.”
The scene changes to show the labored expression on the man’s face as he ran, sweat pouring from his face.
“I didn’t tell them who my father was. I don’t know why. My entire world changed that day and I just couldn’t go back and act like everything was normal. A lot of people’s worlds changed that day. I was just a kid, making stupid kid mistakes. As a result, my dad thought I was gone too. I was, in a sense. I didn’t want him to have to deal with all my emotional issues stemming from that morning. His dreams were just starting to become a reality. He had won his first World Championship that year. I didn’t think I’d ever go back. Felt like it might hurt us both too much.”
The man smiled a little, out of view of the woman he was chasing. Keith was enjoying the morning with his daughter, even if she was far more fit than he now.
“But I did. I never lost sight of who my real father was. My adoptive parents thought it was strange that this little girl who didn’t talk much wanted to watch professional wrestling so badly. And how would they know to put it together? So many links would have to be made, links only I knew existed. But bless their hearts, they indulged me. They let me watch every time he was on. I even had a bunch of T-shirts. But at some point, I think it all got to be too much for him and he changed. He wasn’t a family man anymore and he was involved in the dirty underworld of wrestling. He began doing things, terrible things, to people. Gone were the days where he was on a normal television channel. There’s no way standard television could broadcast the things he did. It hurt. It made me think I’d made the wrong decision in setting him free. But it was too late to go back, I thought. The years passed and I kept tabs on him. Even if I hadn’t gotten to hug him in a decade, he was still my dad.”
Cut to Alyssa, a smirk on her face as she slowed down to let Keith catch up a little before taking off again.
“Too much rambling. Long story short, I tracked him down, we worked it out, and we’ve been trying to catch up ever since. So you could say wrestling has sort of been my life since I was young. As a kid, I did what every kid does and emulated the wrestling moves on TV with stuffed animals. I broke a friend’s arm once with a kimura lock and let me tell you, that was awkward. His mom thought it was the funniest thing ever. ‘That’s what you get for fighting with a girl,’ she told him. He didn’t say anything. Technically, it was me who fought with him but I’m sure that wouldn’t have made things better. He probably would’ve gotten made fun of at school for it but, well, the other kids didn’t want broken arms so they just talked about it in secret.”
The scene of father chasing daughter slowly faded. Replacing it was the pure and raw image of a girl sitting in a chair. This was Alyssa. She wore a simple pair of light blue jeans and a black tanktop. The room she was in was largely unremarkable. The chair was back against a wall not revealing much about her surroundings. She leaned forward slightly, her forearms resting on her knees and her fingers interlocked. She seemed pensive, her gaze slightly lowered and her brow furrowed. Without changing her focal point, she began to speak.
“I guess the big question is why. Why Elysium? Why me? When I watched my dad brutalize others - and taking his fair share of hits - I wanted him to stop. I wanted him to retire. I got involved in the daily goings on of the business and learned it first hand. I thought I despised it but I realized that, all my life, I was building toward something. I guess we all feel that way, right? At first, I thought I wanted to be by his side to, I don’t know, protect him? Yeah, all hundred and thirty-five pounds of me is going to protect a behemoth like him. It sounds silly but it made sense in my head on some fundamental level. I thought I wanted him out but I just wanted in. Without realizing it, I’ve been training for this since I was young. I needed outlets and all the sports teams and athletic events in the world just couldn’t sate me. When I went on the road with him, I realized that I wanted to fight. I’d been training with him to keep him sharp but I’d been training to fight myself. It was time to make the decision to either go for it or…”
She trailed off. Her lips tightened for a moment before curling into a smile. Her eyes seemed to slip out of focus, her look changing into something resembling admiration.
“It wasn’t until I went up to Boston back in early October that I knew I needed to do this, to get into this business myself. I bought a ticket to Elysium’s Frontline and watched. It was one of the best wrestling events I’ve ever been to in my life! More specifically, I watched the Hybrid Championship match between Ashe Corvin and Elina Cartel. I watched as Elina through those lightning fast strikes and seemed to move to the top rope with as much ease as one uses to walk. She bounced off of the ropes to land strikes on Corvin and used her speed to…”
Alyssa brushed away a few strands of her bright magenta hair and shook her head, smile still prominent.
“Watching her move was like hearing beautifully written poetry delivered perfectly, you know? I mean, sure, there were shenanigans and plenty of room for excuses, but she did everything she was supposed to and won. I saw what she did and realized that I was seeing myself in her shoes. Granted, I might not end up looking as elegant as she did, but that’s what I’m capable of doing. That’s what I could become. Elina, and Elysium through her, inspired me that I can… No, I should be doing this. I knew I had to be here. This is the place where talent, not just a bunch of swinging egos, truly shines. This is where I will shine.”
Her face twisted in sudden disgust.
“That doesn’t mean that there aren’t egos here. Take someone like Vitoly Volkov. He’s a war machine, a destroyer, but God Tier? C’mon. That’s overcompensating a bit, even for him. That’s exactly the type of person whose nose I can’t wait to bloody.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head, as if to shake the thought from her mind.
“But that’s for another time. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to silence the prideful. Or make them cry. Either works for me. Until then, well… I can’t wait to get started! Bye!”
She waved to the camera as a large excited grin stretched her lips. The scene slowly faded.
“I guess this is my best Rocky impersonation. And yes, of course I’ve ran the steps.”
Another figure appeared in the frame, a very large figure. The man did not have a hood up and appeared to be struggling to keep up.
“Hey, would ya wait up? What’s the hurry?”
Cue more narration.
“I guess retirement catches up with the body fast. In his defense, he’s pushing forty. All the more reason to stay active, I say!”
“C’mon, old man! You lose a step?”
“Never! I’m just,” he said through labored breathing, “I’m just taking in the view of the skyline!”
“Catch me, superstar!”
The man picked up the pace, determination on his face. The girl took notice and giggled playfully as she too sped up. The narration picked back up.
“Oh, right! This would probably make more sense to you if I introduced myself. My name’s Alyssa and that mountain that’s chasing me is my dad, Keith. It’s quite the story that led to this morning’s exercise. Over time, that is. Remember those towers in New York, the World Trade Center? My mom worked there. It was ‘take your daughter to work’ day for her office. I was really young so I don’t remember too much about that day. What I do remember was my mom got me out of the building and told me to run. So I did. She went back in to try and get more people out. Who says only men are heroes? She didn’t get to be that hero. It’s…”
Alyssa’s voice began to quiver.
“It’s still a little difficult to talk about. Not long after she went back in, the gray cloud of dust covered everything. I didn’t even see the tower collapse. I was scared, then… I didn’t feel anything. I knew my mom wasn’t coming back. It was like the real world just stopped existing that day. I remember policemen, firemen, so many people asking me my name, asking who I was. I didn’t have an answer for them. I didn’t know who I was anymore.”
The scene changes to show the labored expression on the man’s face as he ran, sweat pouring from his face.
“I didn’t tell them who my father was. I don’t know why. My entire world changed that day and I just couldn’t go back and act like everything was normal. A lot of people’s worlds changed that day. I was just a kid, making stupid kid mistakes. As a result, my dad thought I was gone too. I was, in a sense. I didn’t want him to have to deal with all my emotional issues stemming from that morning. His dreams were just starting to become a reality. He had won his first World Championship that year. I didn’t think I’d ever go back. Felt like it might hurt us both too much.”
The man smiled a little, out of view of the woman he was chasing. Keith was enjoying the morning with his daughter, even if she was far more fit than he now.
“But I did. I never lost sight of who my real father was. My adoptive parents thought it was strange that this little girl who didn’t talk much wanted to watch professional wrestling so badly. And how would they know to put it together? So many links would have to be made, links only I knew existed. But bless their hearts, they indulged me. They let me watch every time he was on. I even had a bunch of T-shirts. But at some point, I think it all got to be too much for him and he changed. He wasn’t a family man anymore and he was involved in the dirty underworld of wrestling. He began doing things, terrible things, to people. Gone were the days where he was on a normal television channel. There’s no way standard television could broadcast the things he did. It hurt. It made me think I’d made the wrong decision in setting him free. But it was too late to go back, I thought. The years passed and I kept tabs on him. Even if I hadn’t gotten to hug him in a decade, he was still my dad.”
Cut to Alyssa, a smirk on her face as she slowed down to let Keith catch up a little before taking off again.
“Too much rambling. Long story short, I tracked him down, we worked it out, and we’ve been trying to catch up ever since. So you could say wrestling has sort of been my life since I was young. As a kid, I did what every kid does and emulated the wrestling moves on TV with stuffed animals. I broke a friend’s arm once with a kimura lock and let me tell you, that was awkward. His mom thought it was the funniest thing ever. ‘That’s what you get for fighting with a girl,’ she told him. He didn’t say anything. Technically, it was me who fought with him but I’m sure that wouldn’t have made things better. He probably would’ve gotten made fun of at school for it but, well, the other kids didn’t want broken arms so they just talked about it in secret.”
The scene of father chasing daughter slowly faded. Replacing it was the pure and raw image of a girl sitting in a chair. This was Alyssa. She wore a simple pair of light blue jeans and a black tanktop. The room she was in was largely unremarkable. The chair was back against a wall not revealing much about her surroundings. She leaned forward slightly, her forearms resting on her knees and her fingers interlocked. She seemed pensive, her gaze slightly lowered and her brow furrowed. Without changing her focal point, she began to speak.
“I guess the big question is why. Why Elysium? Why me? When I watched my dad brutalize others - and taking his fair share of hits - I wanted him to stop. I wanted him to retire. I got involved in the daily goings on of the business and learned it first hand. I thought I despised it but I realized that, all my life, I was building toward something. I guess we all feel that way, right? At first, I thought I wanted to be by his side to, I don’t know, protect him? Yeah, all hundred and thirty-five pounds of me is going to protect a behemoth like him. It sounds silly but it made sense in my head on some fundamental level. I thought I wanted him out but I just wanted in. Without realizing it, I’ve been training for this since I was young. I needed outlets and all the sports teams and athletic events in the world just couldn’t sate me. When I went on the road with him, I realized that I wanted to fight. I’d been training with him to keep him sharp but I’d been training to fight myself. It was time to make the decision to either go for it or…”
She trailed off. Her lips tightened for a moment before curling into a smile. Her eyes seemed to slip out of focus, her look changing into something resembling admiration.
“It wasn’t until I went up to Boston back in early October that I knew I needed to do this, to get into this business myself. I bought a ticket to Elysium’s Frontline and watched. It was one of the best wrestling events I’ve ever been to in my life! More specifically, I watched the Hybrid Championship match between Ashe Corvin and Elina Cartel. I watched as Elina through those lightning fast strikes and seemed to move to the top rope with as much ease as one uses to walk. She bounced off of the ropes to land strikes on Corvin and used her speed to…”
Alyssa brushed away a few strands of her bright magenta hair and shook her head, smile still prominent.
“Watching her move was like hearing beautifully written poetry delivered perfectly, you know? I mean, sure, there were shenanigans and plenty of room for excuses, but she did everything she was supposed to and won. I saw what she did and realized that I was seeing myself in her shoes. Granted, I might not end up looking as elegant as she did, but that’s what I’m capable of doing. That’s what I could become. Elina, and Elysium through her, inspired me that I can… No, I should be doing this. I knew I had to be here. This is the place where talent, not just a bunch of swinging egos, truly shines. This is where I will shine.”
Her face twisted in sudden disgust.
“That doesn’t mean that there aren’t egos here. Take someone like Vitoly Volkov. He’s a war machine, a destroyer, but God Tier? C’mon. That’s overcompensating a bit, even for him. That’s exactly the type of person whose nose I can’t wait to bloody.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head, as if to shake the thought from her mind.
“But that’s for another time. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to silence the prideful. Or make them cry. Either works for me. Until then, well… I can’t wait to get started! Bye!”
She waved to the camera as a large excited grin stretched her lips. The scene slowly faded.
