Post by Lord Hastings on Apr 13, 2024 19:19:08 GMT -5
The Office of the Creative Director of UGWC.
Phrixus Deimos sits at his desk, making a note in his journal. While no audible noise is heard, he stops in mid-sentence, placing his pen on the desk without looking up.
Deimos: Your arrival is later than I had anticipated.
Donovan glares at him from the doorway, the Cross-Hemisphere Championship around his waist. Phrixus closes the journal as Donovan crosses the room. Donovan unlatches the title and removes it, laying it on the desk in front of Phrixus, who studies it for a moment before looking up.
Deimos: Relinquishing it already, are you?
Hastings: You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You can’t get this off me fast enough.
Deimos: And what path of flawed logic might have led you to that conclusion?
Hastings: You’ve put me in a match for the Conquest Title.
Deimos: So it would seem.
Hastings: What happened to my legacy here coming to a close? I thought we were moving forwards and not backwards?
Deimos: You are coming off one of the most significant victories of your career against one of your fiercest rivals. Are you suggesting that a victory of such a nature is not worthy of reward?
Hastings: ...no.
Deimos: Do you mean to suggest that you should not be given opportunities to once again become the World Champion?
Hastings: Of course not.
Deimos: You intend to decline placement in Conquest Title matches going forward?
Donovan glares at Phrixus with gritted teeth.
Hastings: No.
Deimos: You leave me uncertain as to what you have come here to dispute.
Hastings: You know exactly what you’re doing, you pretentious ass. I did exactly what I said I was going to do, I went to Alchemy and won your precious Cross-Hemisphere Title. Now you want to distract me.
Deimos: Interesting.
Hastings: You don’t think I see where this goes? I win the Conquest TItle and go on the run, I earn the rematch against Vain that you refused me, and when I beat him and reclaim my World Heavyweight Championship, I have to vacate this-
Donovan points at the Cross-Hemisphere Title.
Hastings: -which is what this is all really about!
Deimos: I am pleased to see you maintain so much faith in your own capacities.
Hastings: I do, but you don’t. Of course you don’t, you’ve made that clear. You don’t think I’d make it, and you know I’d realize that, which is the bait. You want me to rise to this challenge instead of the one I set for myself to better you. And when I win the Conquest Title, you think the weekly defenses will grind me down, leave me vulnerable for when you set someone to challenge me for this.
Donovan points again at the Cross-Hemisphere TItle.
Deimos: Perhaps I simply felt that the final challenge that Larry Tact should face before he earns a shot at the World Heavyweight Champion is to face two of the greatest that have ever held that title.
Hastings: No. That’s too simple, too straightforward for you. It’s no accident, you putting both me and Zane in a match where we have to face each other again so soon. You know the rage that Zane likely feels after losing, the vengeance that he intends to take. You think my victory at Alchemy wasn’t convincing enough, that I still have something left to prove.
Deimos: Do you feel your victory is lessened by the circumstances under which it happened?
Hastings: I won the match under the parameters you set! It’s not my fault that it was a Table Match!
Donovan turns and steps away, running both of his hands through his hair and interlocking his fingers behind his own neck.
Deimos: I see. So to truly defeat Zane Scott, you would need to pin or submit him directly, inadvertently putting him through a table proves nothing.
Donovan spins to face him again, pointing at Phrixus.
Hastings: There it is. You don’t feel I earned it, you think I lucked into that victory.
Deimos: I have not expressed any opinions at all, I have merely reflected what you have expressed back at you. Perhaps it is you that feels you lucked into a victory, and questions whether it would be possible to repeat it.
Donovan glares at him for a moment, but as he opens his mouth to respond Phrixus puts up a hand to give him pause.
Deimos: Allow me to suggest the following to you. I have observed you take yourself down dangerous paths before, consumed by your obsessions. When you wanted to prove you were better than Alex Kiseragi, you opened your own training gym. When you wanted to prove you were better than Ezekiel Pax, you took control of his church. Your match on Synergy is not a distraction. You’re not undone by distraction. If you were, your misadventures as a quasi-investigator at the Laconia would have rendered you ineffective at Alchemy. You’re undone by obsession.
Hastings: You think I’m obsessed with you.
Deimos: Please. You told me yourself that you intend to use the Cross-Hemisphere Title to prove you are my better. Assuming you hold true to form, before long you will be keeping your own journal and hiding in shrubbery.
Donovan thinks a moment before nodding his head.
Hastings: You’re right. You’re not doing this as a distraction. It’s not a distraction. It’s a temptation.
Donovan picks up the title off the desk and secures it back around his waist.
Hastings: But here’s where you're wrong. I’m not going to go out and be a better version of Phrixus Deimos. I’m going to be better than you ever were by doing it differently than you ever did, doing it differently than anybody ever did.
Deimos: And how will you do that?
Donovan’s eye twitches.
Hastings: You’ll see.
Deimos: Do let me know once you have figured it out.
Hastings: I’ll do what I have to do, and on Monday that’s going to be this triple threat that you’ve put us in. No matter the outcome, I’ll make the most of it, but this?
Donovan holds the title.
Hastings: It isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Let me know when you figure out how to cope with that.
Donovan takes a step back, tapping the title with his finger, before turning and leaving the office. Phrixus watches him leave, before reopening his journal and resuming his writing.
Phrixus Deimos sits at his desk, making a note in his journal. While no audible noise is heard, he stops in mid-sentence, placing his pen on the desk without looking up.
Deimos: Your arrival is later than I had anticipated.
Donovan glares at him from the doorway, the Cross-Hemisphere Championship around his waist. Phrixus closes the journal as Donovan crosses the room. Donovan unlatches the title and removes it, laying it on the desk in front of Phrixus, who studies it for a moment before looking up.
Deimos: Relinquishing it already, are you?
Hastings: You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You can’t get this off me fast enough.
Deimos: And what path of flawed logic might have led you to that conclusion?
Hastings: You’ve put me in a match for the Conquest Title.
Deimos: So it would seem.
Hastings: What happened to my legacy here coming to a close? I thought we were moving forwards and not backwards?
Deimos: You are coming off one of the most significant victories of your career against one of your fiercest rivals. Are you suggesting that a victory of such a nature is not worthy of reward?
Hastings: ...no.
Deimos: Do you mean to suggest that you should not be given opportunities to once again become the World Champion?
Hastings: Of course not.
Deimos: You intend to decline placement in Conquest Title matches going forward?
Donovan glares at Phrixus with gritted teeth.
Hastings: No.
Deimos: You leave me uncertain as to what you have come here to dispute.
Hastings: You know exactly what you’re doing, you pretentious ass. I did exactly what I said I was going to do, I went to Alchemy and won your precious Cross-Hemisphere Title. Now you want to distract me.
Deimos: Interesting.
Hastings: You don’t think I see where this goes? I win the Conquest TItle and go on the run, I earn the rematch against Vain that you refused me, and when I beat him and reclaim my World Heavyweight Championship, I have to vacate this-
Donovan points at the Cross-Hemisphere Title.
Hastings: -which is what this is all really about!
Deimos: I am pleased to see you maintain so much faith in your own capacities.
Hastings: I do, but you don’t. Of course you don’t, you’ve made that clear. You don’t think I’d make it, and you know I’d realize that, which is the bait. You want me to rise to this challenge instead of the one I set for myself to better you. And when I win the Conquest Title, you think the weekly defenses will grind me down, leave me vulnerable for when you set someone to challenge me for this.
Donovan points again at the Cross-Hemisphere TItle.
Deimos: Perhaps I simply felt that the final challenge that Larry Tact should face before he earns a shot at the World Heavyweight Champion is to face two of the greatest that have ever held that title.
Hastings: No. That’s too simple, too straightforward for you. It’s no accident, you putting both me and Zane in a match where we have to face each other again so soon. You know the rage that Zane likely feels after losing, the vengeance that he intends to take. You think my victory at Alchemy wasn’t convincing enough, that I still have something left to prove.
Deimos: Do you feel your victory is lessened by the circumstances under which it happened?
Hastings: I won the match under the parameters you set! It’s not my fault that it was a Table Match!
Donovan turns and steps away, running both of his hands through his hair and interlocking his fingers behind his own neck.
Deimos: I see. So to truly defeat Zane Scott, you would need to pin or submit him directly, inadvertently putting him through a table proves nothing.
Donovan spins to face him again, pointing at Phrixus.
Hastings: There it is. You don’t feel I earned it, you think I lucked into that victory.
Deimos: I have not expressed any opinions at all, I have merely reflected what you have expressed back at you. Perhaps it is you that feels you lucked into a victory, and questions whether it would be possible to repeat it.
Donovan glares at him for a moment, but as he opens his mouth to respond Phrixus puts up a hand to give him pause.
Deimos: Allow me to suggest the following to you. I have observed you take yourself down dangerous paths before, consumed by your obsessions. When you wanted to prove you were better than Alex Kiseragi, you opened your own training gym. When you wanted to prove you were better than Ezekiel Pax, you took control of his church. Your match on Synergy is not a distraction. You’re not undone by distraction. If you were, your misadventures as a quasi-investigator at the Laconia would have rendered you ineffective at Alchemy. You’re undone by obsession.
Hastings: You think I’m obsessed with you.
Deimos: Please. You told me yourself that you intend to use the Cross-Hemisphere Title to prove you are my better. Assuming you hold true to form, before long you will be keeping your own journal and hiding in shrubbery.
Donovan thinks a moment before nodding his head.
Hastings: You’re right. You’re not doing this as a distraction. It’s not a distraction. It’s a temptation.
Donovan picks up the title off the desk and secures it back around his waist.
Hastings: But here’s where you're wrong. I’m not going to go out and be a better version of Phrixus Deimos. I’m going to be better than you ever were by doing it differently than you ever did, doing it differently than anybody ever did.
Deimos: And how will you do that?
Donovan’s eye twitches.
Hastings: You’ll see.
Deimos: Do let me know once you have figured it out.
Hastings: I’ll do what I have to do, and on Monday that’s going to be this triple threat that you’ve put us in. No matter the outcome, I’ll make the most of it, but this?
Donovan holds the title.
Hastings: It isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Let me know when you figure out how to cope with that.
Donovan takes a step back, tapping the title with his finger, before turning and leaving the office. Phrixus watches him leave, before reopening his journal and resuming his writing.