Post by Coda on Feb 9, 2017 1:35:22 GMT -5
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DATE: 02.08.17
LOCATION: Yokohama, Japan
CAMERA STATUS: ON / OFF
Once the YouTube video begins to play, the first thing you see is an overcast sky with dark foreboding clouds and pedestrians walking along the sidewalk in heavy winter jackets. The bright colors of the moving jackets, stitched with neon green and reds, contrasted heavily with the nearly grayscale look of the rest of the street corner. Some graffiti gripped to the walls to the side, pale tans and deep blues making up the picture of a cartoony drawn face with spiky blonde hair and an almost sinister grin.
Amongst the people walked one of Redemption Wrestling's newest stars with her hands in her jacket pockets and her eyes glued to the concrete below. She clearly looked a little uncomfortable, tucked between a serious Japanese man in a black suit from head to toe and a bright-eyed woman looking happy as she's ever been. Once she reached the corner, she stopped in front of the camera and let the crowd of jackets walk by her, giving way to a new group of civilians as they eagerly walked towards work.
Now that you finally got a good look at the woman, you notice something striking. A garish paper crown similar to the kind you would find in Burger King sits lopsided atop Coda's head, and as she begins to speak, you start to understand why.
"I have seen countless men and women masquerading as gods and demons in the sport of wrestling. I have seen many self-proclaimed kings and queens of mediocrity who stand on their soap box and spin you a tale about how they will succeed despite everyone saying the contrary. Men dressed as monsters, women bred to complain like whiny spoilt children while others mock their very existence. It has become commonplace these days, has it not?"
She doesn't smile. Her quiet, methodical voice gets picked up clearly through the microphone attached to the camera, and as she fixes the cheap crown on her head, making sure it was straight, she continued to speak.
"Would it truly make me a different person if I dubbed myself a queen? Would it be worthy to water down everything I am and compare myself to every other person in wrestling who has called themselves a monster? It is what most everyone else has done. They need some self-aggrandizing nickname to keep themselves relevant while I look at all the kings and all the queens as far as the eye can see, and I start to wonder... Do these nicknames, these self-branded archetypes we categorize ourselves into, really mean anything when everybody else is doing the same thing?"
"Before you go and do something stupid, the answer is no."
"The name 'Coda' is an alias. It is a ring name I have been using for a multitude of reasons, none of which I will state for you today. I do not call myself a queen, I do not call myself a monster, and I certainly do not call myself a goddess. If you so choose, you may call me whatever you wish, but I will not put such a label on myself. That would make it a lot like this crown atop my head."
Finally, she mentions the elephant in the room. Gently pulling the plastic paper crown off her head, a perfect circle tucked together like a puzzle piece. It looked goofy, childish yellow instead of gold with fake gemstones drawn into the picture right at every arch.
"Cheap... Ridiculous... Artificial..."
She dropped it to the floor, nonchalantly crushing it underneath her sensible shoe.
"For those fellow wrestlers watching, I understand I do not control you. You may do as you please, but surely you will give my words some thought, yes?"
A hint of concern washed over her expression until the emotion suddenly escaped her.
"Do you know what else is ridiculous? The lack of success Avery Miles III has accumulated ever since the man lost against Karin James for the NGW Five Lakes Championship. I am sure even he can agree with that sentiment."
Her words were soft and precise, walking among the people as the camera followed in front of her. The road was clear, and as they all made it to the other side, Coda continued her promotional video.
"He may have found a fair bit of success elsewhere in a federation I do not care to watch, but between Redemption Wrestling and New Generation Wrestling, his stock plummeted ever since he decided to punish himself when he could not win the big one. Whether it was an honorable penance or a decision that would live on in the halls of stupidity for years to come, I have not decided."
Her apathy on full display, you spotted large buildings in the background. Skyscrapers, almost. For Japan, you realized that it didn't look too much different from New York, or an equally busy city you were more familiar with. The word Yokohama sounded so foreign, but maybe Japan wasn't so different after all.
"Avery Miles III stands as the undisputed king of mediocrity. Maybe that could be his idiotic nickname? Regardless, he let complacency enfold him, and now he stands a shell of his former self, shambling along like a mindless victim of tragedy like that is the only thing that defines him."
You couldn't deny that at least a kernel of truth hid behind those scornful words.
"The potential was clear to see, Avery. You were meant to be the Five Lakes Champion the fans wanted you to become. You were meant to be the shining beacon that would stand at the top of the division, but instead of trying again, you gave up. You fell to your knees and accepted your fate in the Marquee division, and now you still stand in the remnants, crying to yourself like a lost little boy who cannot take the next step without someone holding your hand and showing you the way."
"No longer do you attempt to achieve anything greater after you acquired the Marquee Championship. No longer do you seek to rise through the ranks and live up to the potential you have since squandered. Now you blame yourself. Now you attempt to cheat to win matches in an attempt to grab hold of something you will never get back. Now you throw pity parties and wonder why nobody feels bad for the man who lost everything."
Now Coda was serious as ever, and you could plainly tell.
"It is because you no longer matter. Zach Knight is here to take your place. Jeremy Starling is here to take your place. Daughterty is here to take your place. Yujiro Fujiwara, Courtney Leinart, Mason Moore, Caroline O'Hara Burchill, Matt Shields, Honey, Lilly—"
She paused as a devious smirk crossed her lips.
"I am here to take your place, Avery Miles III. I am here to earn my spoils of war, and I fully intend on sending you to the hospital if that is what it takes."
You could sense the honesty in her eyes as she spoke that powerful phrase.
"So go ahead and keep talking about heart. Keep talking about the fact that you have more experience on the professional wrestling circuit than all three of us put together. Now tell me: Why does RW corporate still consider you a young lion? For that matter, why do you feel the need to steal the spotlight from three fighters who frankly deserve it more than a down on his luck has-been?"
"You are no longer relevant, Avery. You are one of the last men from a bygone era still hobbling to find his spot amongst all the new talent, and I am sure it will not take long for you to realize that you do not belong here anymore. You have no potential. You have no hope. That heart of yours can only pump so much when you are losing blood by the second."
Just as she said the words, Coda finally stopped walking. The oblivious men and women kept their trek going, some walking across the street ahead and others traveling to the right side of your screen instead. Now that Coda stood with no one around, her body language was much calmer. No longer did she look uncomfortable in the crowd, and no longer did she have to wonder whether or not anyone else heard the words she spoke. Now, she was free to say whatever she wished.
With a small genuine smile, she chose one of her favorite ways to end a promo.
"So tell me, Avery. Why do you keep fighting? Why do you seek to stand face to face with the woman who could extinguish your career before it even reached a crescendo, just as I did to the local Japanese upstart Riko Takahashi?"
"Whether it is an honorable penance or a decision that will live on in the halls of stupidity for years to come, I have not decided."
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DATE: 01.15.17
LOCATION: Marine Messe Fukuoka @ Fukuoka, Japan
CAMERA STATUS: ON / OFF
Jackson: What-- What is she doing now?
Without a word, Coda picks up the pace and shoves several of the EMTs aside towards the barricade. As Riko's blood soaks into her wrestling attire, the crowd looks on with slack jaws as the sadist goes on a warpath. One after one, each of the four EMTs falls to the ground with a thunderous slam, and so does the stretcher. With a sinister grin, Coda drops to her knees. By reaching down and savagely tugging at the velcro, the unconscious Japanese local's leg is finally freed from its bindings. Without wasting a moment of time, she carefully hooks the man's leg and lifts it slightly, slapping the ground with the other arm to count the pin attempt.
ONE
TWO
THREE
West: She already won!
Barkley: By knockout, Michael. For whatever reason, she didn't want to win by knockout. She wanted a pinfall, and she got it.
Before the camera switched to a segment featuring The Radicalliance, something unexpected happened when nobody was paying attention. Coda stood up and slowly made her way to each of the EMTs she knocked out. One by one, she reached for their hand and pulled them back to their feet, silently gesturing towards Riko Takahashi with a slightly concerned look on her face.
Plain as day on live television, Coda urged them to take care of the local Japanese fighter, and as the camera flicked to something else, it did not stop there.
CAMERA STATUS: ON / OFF
Coda silently followed the men as they carried Riko Takahashi down the hall to see the physician. Her face like a mask, the woman earned herself a few disapproving looks from passersby, but as they grew nearer to the physician in the medical room, someone finally had something to say.
"What do you think you're doing?" His voice was accusatory, violent in a way.
"I want to see him," Coda answered softly, hands almost shyly cupping themselves at her waist. After such a violent match, the man in a polo shirt with the Redemption Wrestling logo on the front pocket was stunned. This was the person who did this to Riko? He sighed.
"If you try anything in there, I—"
"I know. You could get me fired," Coda answered, looking directly into the man's eyes with an intimidating stare. Just as the man in the polo was about to respond, he stopped himself. Stepping aside, he let Coda walk through the door.
Riko Takahashi was still unconscious. With his back against a hospital bed, he mindlessly let the physician stitch up his forehead before more of the blood had time to escape. Coda watched silently as the doctor focused on his work, expertly closing up the gash like he was crocheting for fun. With every dissolvable stitch, he inserted into Riko's bare skin, Coda had no reaction. She didn't wince, she didn't look away, she simply watched as the doctor fixed what she did.
"Joh-ajida," she mumbled with a small genuine smile, eyes focused on Riko's closed lids.
It translated to the Korean phrase 'get better.'
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DATE: 02.08.17
LOCATION: Yokohama, Japan
CAMERA STATUS: ON / OFF
No. You were wrong. The video was not over. It faded to black, but there was still some time left in the video. It took a few seconds for Coda to fade back onto the screen, and as she stood on the chilly corner by herself, she added one last final message for anyone still watching.
"Heed my words, Avery Miles III. The hand you have been dealt may seem bleak, but I assure you that everything happens for a reason. It is not faith. It is not mythology. It is just something I have learned from experience."
A small amount of remorse spread across her features for just a hairline fracture of a second.
"Let that be a small comfort once you find yourself without the Young Lions Championship after our next match at Glory. And please remember that when the new family you have recently acquired inevitably dies as well."
The video officially came to an end. Whether she was trying to help in her own cynical way or just wanted to add one more nail to the coffin was up to you.
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