Post by Lord Hastings on Mar 30, 2024 20:31:17 GMT -5
Midweek. A local softball field.
Donovan sits on the top row of the bleachers and watches as his daughters participate in practice for their team. His hoodie is pulled up over his head, ostensibly to keep him warm in the chill of the March wind.
His visitor, however, knows better.
Voice: Things certainly change, don’t they?
Donovan turns his head to see the man known as the Momentum Killer, Dirge, standing at the bottom of the bleachers with his hands in his pockets, looking up at Donovan with a smile.
Hastings: That’s what I’ve been saying.
Dirge ascends the bleachers, taking a seat next to his former ally and rival.
Hastings: I guess I always knew they’d get bigger one day.
Dirge: Not what I meant.
Hastings: You never took me for a family man.
Dirge: Actually, I’ve always looked at your embrace of your role as a father with a sense of pride. In fact, I might admit that I view the balance you’ve achieved between the personal and the professional with a bit of envy.
Donovan turns his head to look at him.
Hastings: Then what do you mean?
Dirge: This.
Dirge gestures to the hood pulled over Donovan’s head.
Dirge: I never thought I’d see the day that you’d want to escape attention in public.
Hastings: I don’t always need the spotlight.
Dirge: As I said, sometimes things do really change.
Hastings: I’m not here to be a UGWC Entertainment Professional. I’m here as a father to watch my daughters.
Dirge: I find it curious that you don’t seem to think you can continue to be both.
Hastings: I can and I do, but not in moments like these. In our world we’re larger than life, members of a Pantheon. The Lord of Pain. The Blessed One. The Momentum Killer. Vanity at its Finest. The Personification of Hate. We’re icons, gods among men. There are times in my life when I need to not be that, for the sake of the people that matter the most.
Dirge: Fair enough. But if you’ll indulge me a moment, allow me to be the Mercury in your little analogy.
Hastings: You have a message for me, I take it?
Dirge: Of a kind. More like a reminder of a past conversation of ours, and what happened when you failed to heed my warning.
Hastings: Because I’m facing Zane again.
Dirge: I thought for certain that Captain Ahab had abandoned this particular whale after the last hunt ended so badly.
Hastings: I made the mistake in the past of making things personal with Zane, and I paid the price for that.
Dirge: Repeatedly, as I recall. It was cyclical for a time. You develop a personal vendetta against Zane, you torment Zane, you lose to Zane, you lick your wounds and regroup for a repeat performance. You might as well call him the Personification of Saturn.
Hastings: ...seriously?
Dirge: It was your analogy.
Hastings: This isn’t the cyclical nature of life playing out again, as you put it. The headliner here isn’t Hastings vs Scott, Chapter Eleventeen. This is different.
Dirge: Enlighten me, Apollo.
Donovan glares at Dirge, who snickers briefly. Donovan rolls his eyes before continuing.
Hastings: This isn’t about pursuing an elusive win. I’m not stepping outside my realm of expertise just to find a way to add a name to the List of Hastings, I made that mistake with Seb last year. Zane isn’t the enemy here, I’m not trying to stick it to him.
Dirge: You’re telling me you genuinely want to win the Cross-Hemisphere Title?
Hastings: To stick it to Deimos, yes.
Dirge: Well, there it is.
Hastings: There what is?
Dirge: The patented Hastings motivation of spite. I knew it was still in there somewhere.
Donovan starts to retort, but Dirge puts his hands up defensively with a wry smile.
Dirge: Not a criticism. It’s served you well, and it’s who you are. Never forget who you are.
Donovan sighs, and after a moment he pulls back the hood.
Hastings: Winning at Alchemy isn’t enough. I need to go on to be better at being the Cross-Hemisphere Champion than anybody else ever has.
Dirge: Don’t get ahead of yourself.
Hastings: I don’t intend to. The truth is, I used to think that winning the Cross-Hemisphere Title in UGWC was beneath me.
Dirge: You know I was a Cross-Hemisphere Champion.
Hastings: I’m not taking anything away from that. So was I, once. The title traces its origin and lineage to the old LWF. That’s where I won it, all those years ago. I lost it not long before you and I fought our war over the GIW Global Championship. Everybody in UGWC knows the affinity that Phrixus Deimos has for the Cross-Hemisphere Championship, but none of his six reigns are all that individually impressive. The reality is that it was his original dominant reign with the title back in LWF that made that connection for him.
Dirge: And how does this make the title no longer beneath you?
Hastings: Because I used to believe that we were defined by our accomplishments. Once I made it to the top of the mountain, I had to stay at the top of the mountain, or else I’d fade away or otherwise become less relevant. Donovan Hastings is the World Heavyweight Champion, he could never be anything less than that. But Mil Vidas was the UGWC World Heavyweight Champion. Klaus vonKnorre was the World Heavyweight Champion. Montague Cervantes. Nobody’s running to put these people into the Hall of Fame. Being the World Heavyweight Champion in UGWC means something because of the dominant reigns of people like Alan Wallace and Travis Roberts, or the epic rivalry a couple years back between Lucy Wylde and Tempest. And, of course, everything that I did with it.
Dirge: I wouldn’t disagree with any of that. The rivalry between you and Jet Somers is synonymous with the title.
Hastings: Yeah, sure, Jet was there too. The point is that I’ve come to realize that we aren’t defined by the championships that we’ve won, but rather these championships accrue value and significance because of the people that hold them and what they do with them. The Cross-Hemisphere Championship isn’t a second-tier championship. It’s an accomplishment of its own significant merit because of what Moss Edwards did a decade ago, what Tempest did a couple years ago, and what Zane is doing now. And yes, what Phrixus did in a bygone era, but also what I’m about to do next.
Dirge: Sounds like you’ve had a transformative experience.
Hastings: Something like that, sure. I have the opportunity to redefine what it means to be the Cross-Hemisphere Champion in ways that none of these people ever did.
Dirge: And thus the legendary Donovan Hastings, having successfully pursued this previously hidden knowledge, descends from above, establishing the connection between the earthly and celestial realms.
Hastings: You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you.
Dirge: Indubitably. But I tracked you down out of concern, and as encouraging as this enlightened attitude of yours is, it doesn’t change the fact that in a few short days you’re stepping in the ring against Zane Scott once again, and that’s never ended well for you under any circumstances.
Hastings: This is a new set of circumstances.
Dirge: Because it’s a Table Match?
Hastings: Because it isn’t personal. When I’ve faced Zane in the past, it was about vengeance and violence. This time it is just two of the best of all time in competition for a championship.
Dirge: In a match where one of you has to drive the other through a table. Nothing violent about that at all.
Hastings: It’s our Creative Director’s twisted sense of irony more than anything else. My first ever championship match in my career? LWF Tag Titles, partnered with my “mentor,” the Embodiment of Fear, himself. Table Match. One of the pinnacle moments of his original Cross-Hemisphere Title reign, when he unified it with the UWF Global Title? Table Match. This is his response to my throwing down of the gauntlet. He’s challenging me to match his own success. I don’t intend to simply repeat what others have done before me, be it Phrixus, Zane, or anyone else. I’m doing this my own way.
Dirge: As you should.
There is a loud TING sound, and both look towards the field as Katie is taking batting practice and has just ripped a line drive into the outfield.
Dirge: Nice swing.
Hastings: Thank you.
Dirge: Probably well into the gap in a game.
Hastings: Probably a home run at this level.
Dirge: Chip off the old block.
He rests his hand on Donovan’s shoulder.
Dirge: Perhaps there’s hope for all of you, after all.
Hastings: Thanks.
Dirge: Well, I never had any doubt about your daughters. The jury will always be out on you.
He stands as Donovan smiles.
Hastings: I’ll see you around.
Dirge: Oh, I’m sure our paths will cross sooner or later. It’s…inevitable.
He pats Donovan on the back before descending the bleachers and walking away from the field. As he does, a young teen rushes up to him to ask for an autograph, under the direction of a parent that wears an old school UGWC shirt and a gleeful smile.
On the bleacher, Donovan pulls the hood up over his head and turns his attention back to the field.
Donovan sits on the top row of the bleachers and watches as his daughters participate in practice for their team. His hoodie is pulled up over his head, ostensibly to keep him warm in the chill of the March wind.
His visitor, however, knows better.
Voice: Things certainly change, don’t they?
Donovan turns his head to see the man known as the Momentum Killer, Dirge, standing at the bottom of the bleachers with his hands in his pockets, looking up at Donovan with a smile.
Hastings: That’s what I’ve been saying.
Dirge ascends the bleachers, taking a seat next to his former ally and rival.
Hastings: I guess I always knew they’d get bigger one day.
Dirge: Not what I meant.
Hastings: You never took me for a family man.
Dirge: Actually, I’ve always looked at your embrace of your role as a father with a sense of pride. In fact, I might admit that I view the balance you’ve achieved between the personal and the professional with a bit of envy.
Donovan turns his head to look at him.
Hastings: Then what do you mean?
Dirge: This.
Dirge gestures to the hood pulled over Donovan’s head.
Dirge: I never thought I’d see the day that you’d want to escape attention in public.
Hastings: I don’t always need the spotlight.
Dirge: As I said, sometimes things do really change.
Hastings: I’m not here to be a UGWC Entertainment Professional. I’m here as a father to watch my daughters.
Dirge: I find it curious that you don’t seem to think you can continue to be both.
Hastings: I can and I do, but not in moments like these. In our world we’re larger than life, members of a Pantheon. The Lord of Pain. The Blessed One. The Momentum Killer. Vanity at its Finest. The Personification of Hate. We’re icons, gods among men. There are times in my life when I need to not be that, for the sake of the people that matter the most.
Dirge: Fair enough. But if you’ll indulge me a moment, allow me to be the Mercury in your little analogy.
Hastings: You have a message for me, I take it?
Dirge: Of a kind. More like a reminder of a past conversation of ours, and what happened when you failed to heed my warning.
Hastings: Because I’m facing Zane again.
Dirge: I thought for certain that Captain Ahab had abandoned this particular whale after the last hunt ended so badly.
Hastings: I made the mistake in the past of making things personal with Zane, and I paid the price for that.
Dirge: Repeatedly, as I recall. It was cyclical for a time. You develop a personal vendetta against Zane, you torment Zane, you lose to Zane, you lick your wounds and regroup for a repeat performance. You might as well call him the Personification of Saturn.
Hastings: ...seriously?
Dirge: It was your analogy.
Hastings: This isn’t the cyclical nature of life playing out again, as you put it. The headliner here isn’t Hastings vs Scott, Chapter Eleventeen. This is different.
Dirge: Enlighten me, Apollo.
Donovan glares at Dirge, who snickers briefly. Donovan rolls his eyes before continuing.
Hastings: This isn’t about pursuing an elusive win. I’m not stepping outside my realm of expertise just to find a way to add a name to the List of Hastings, I made that mistake with Seb last year. Zane isn’t the enemy here, I’m not trying to stick it to him.
Dirge: You’re telling me you genuinely want to win the Cross-Hemisphere Title?
Hastings: To stick it to Deimos, yes.
Dirge: Well, there it is.
Hastings: There what is?
Dirge: The patented Hastings motivation of spite. I knew it was still in there somewhere.
Donovan starts to retort, but Dirge puts his hands up defensively with a wry smile.
Dirge: Not a criticism. It’s served you well, and it’s who you are. Never forget who you are.
Donovan sighs, and after a moment he pulls back the hood.
Hastings: Winning at Alchemy isn’t enough. I need to go on to be better at being the Cross-Hemisphere Champion than anybody else ever has.
Dirge: Don’t get ahead of yourself.
Hastings: I don’t intend to. The truth is, I used to think that winning the Cross-Hemisphere Title in UGWC was beneath me.
Dirge: You know I was a Cross-Hemisphere Champion.
Hastings: I’m not taking anything away from that. So was I, once. The title traces its origin and lineage to the old LWF. That’s where I won it, all those years ago. I lost it not long before you and I fought our war over the GIW Global Championship. Everybody in UGWC knows the affinity that Phrixus Deimos has for the Cross-Hemisphere Championship, but none of his six reigns are all that individually impressive. The reality is that it was his original dominant reign with the title back in LWF that made that connection for him.
Dirge: And how does this make the title no longer beneath you?
Hastings: Because I used to believe that we were defined by our accomplishments. Once I made it to the top of the mountain, I had to stay at the top of the mountain, or else I’d fade away or otherwise become less relevant. Donovan Hastings is the World Heavyweight Champion, he could never be anything less than that. But Mil Vidas was the UGWC World Heavyweight Champion. Klaus vonKnorre was the World Heavyweight Champion. Montague Cervantes. Nobody’s running to put these people into the Hall of Fame. Being the World Heavyweight Champion in UGWC means something because of the dominant reigns of people like Alan Wallace and Travis Roberts, or the epic rivalry a couple years back between Lucy Wylde and Tempest. And, of course, everything that I did with it.
Dirge: I wouldn’t disagree with any of that. The rivalry between you and Jet Somers is synonymous with the title.
Hastings: Yeah, sure, Jet was there too. The point is that I’ve come to realize that we aren’t defined by the championships that we’ve won, but rather these championships accrue value and significance because of the people that hold them and what they do with them. The Cross-Hemisphere Championship isn’t a second-tier championship. It’s an accomplishment of its own significant merit because of what Moss Edwards did a decade ago, what Tempest did a couple years ago, and what Zane is doing now. And yes, what Phrixus did in a bygone era, but also what I’m about to do next.
Dirge: Sounds like you’ve had a transformative experience.
Hastings: Something like that, sure. I have the opportunity to redefine what it means to be the Cross-Hemisphere Champion in ways that none of these people ever did.
Dirge: And thus the legendary Donovan Hastings, having successfully pursued this previously hidden knowledge, descends from above, establishing the connection between the earthly and celestial realms.
Hastings: You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you.
Dirge: Indubitably. But I tracked you down out of concern, and as encouraging as this enlightened attitude of yours is, it doesn’t change the fact that in a few short days you’re stepping in the ring against Zane Scott once again, and that’s never ended well for you under any circumstances.
Hastings: This is a new set of circumstances.
Dirge: Because it’s a Table Match?
Hastings: Because it isn’t personal. When I’ve faced Zane in the past, it was about vengeance and violence. This time it is just two of the best of all time in competition for a championship.
Dirge: In a match where one of you has to drive the other through a table. Nothing violent about that at all.
Hastings: It’s our Creative Director’s twisted sense of irony more than anything else. My first ever championship match in my career? LWF Tag Titles, partnered with my “mentor,” the Embodiment of Fear, himself. Table Match. One of the pinnacle moments of his original Cross-Hemisphere Title reign, when he unified it with the UWF Global Title? Table Match. This is his response to my throwing down of the gauntlet. He’s challenging me to match his own success. I don’t intend to simply repeat what others have done before me, be it Phrixus, Zane, or anyone else. I’m doing this my own way.
Dirge: As you should.
There is a loud TING sound, and both look towards the field as Katie is taking batting practice and has just ripped a line drive into the outfield.
Dirge: Nice swing.
Hastings: Thank you.
Dirge: Probably well into the gap in a game.
Hastings: Probably a home run at this level.
Dirge: Chip off the old block.
He rests his hand on Donovan’s shoulder.
Dirge: Perhaps there’s hope for all of you, after all.
Hastings: Thanks.
Dirge: Well, I never had any doubt about your daughters. The jury will always be out on you.
He stands as Donovan smiles.
Hastings: I’ll see you around.
Dirge: Oh, I’m sure our paths will cross sooner or later. It’s…inevitable.
He pats Donovan on the back before descending the bleachers and walking away from the field. As he does, a young teen rushes up to him to ask for an autograph, under the direction of a parent that wears an old school UGWC shirt and a gleeful smile.
On the bleacher, Donovan pulls the hood up over his head and turns his attention back to the field.