Post by Maggie Lockheart on Sept 19, 2021 22:01:43 GMT -5
Continued from: Heaven in our Memory (Part 1)
- Prologue -
Sometimes, we even wish that we could turn back time if we could.
The time is now for the Remembrance Battle Royale, to take place at the historic Madison Square Garden in downtown New York City. The place is sacred and almost feels like hallowed ground. New York means so much to so many, especially those in the wrestling industry, of which Magdalena Lockheart is no exception.
Personal memories... of both triumph and tragedy... emanate from the boroughs that she once called home. It's almost as if it was the echoes from these streets that helped mold her into what she is today.
But all of that, the Black Dawn promises and the bleak outlook of what Revolution1 Wrestling is as compared to what it might be are all taking a backseat right now. Everyone who has their hopes up that they might finally come in contact with that devilish demon that they've heard so much about are going to have to wait while Maggie ponders even bigger things.
Remembrance is one of Revo's biggest shows, and while it's always an honor and a privilege to take center stage and get paid to showcase one's talents... it doesn't always do well not to pause and reflect a bit. Hell, it is Remembrance, after all, and yet it doesn't feel right to walk through the front doors of MSG and not see the ring crew guys Tommy and Eddie cracking on one another as they go about their work.
And there's no shortage of banners, posters, flyers, and marquees everywhere, either. Somebody had to put them up there. Tommy, as we all know, had a tragic accident a few weeks back and as things turned out, Eddie needed someone not named Tommy to blame.
See, that's what makes time so precious and also the reason why all of us have those moments we could go back to if we could.
Eddie's gone now. Word reached back to her that the pain was simply too much for him to bear. That every time Ed looked around and saw a poster with Maggie's face on it... all he could think about was Tommy slipping from that height near the ceiling.
It made her feel nauseous.
All of this. The pain and the change. Why do we always have to fight for something better? Why does it always feel like a losing battle? Maggie knew in her heart of hearts that she signed a Revo contract so that she could see the world from the perspective of cruising down the interstates one at a time. She knew that she wanted to meet new people... hopefully make new friends... possibly trigger a few new rivalries... and hell, not all of that was a waste nor a total wash. Maggie can walk into Remembrance remembering what it felt like to smack Jessie Lee in the mouth not once, but twice... and remember what it felt like to beat one of the best Horrorcore champions at her own game. But we always end up back at the caveat.
Maggie knows this.
Much like has become a custom in Revo1, it isn't long after her arrival that she's whisked away by someone in a Revo1 polo shirt to go stand in front of a backdrop while a backstage interviewer helps her try to sell those last few remaining tickets for the show. Everyone's a little bit more pumped, a little bit more hyped, a little bit more excited... except maybe Maggie herself, of course. She's still in shock that Tommy's gone, Eddie left, and Revolution1 rolls on along as if nothing ever changed.
But if nothing ever changes...
...then what's the point?
::: 6/10 Studios Presents :::
MML.2021.018b -
Heaven in our Memory (Part 2)
...I'm afraid I've been just a little bit disingenuous with you...
...and for that I apologize...
...Show 'em how it's done...
Heaven in our Memory (Part 2)
...I'm afraid I've been just a little bit disingenuous with you...
...and for that I apologize...
"Maggie?"
Startled, Maggie shakes her head as though she's clearing out the cobwebs... as though she was summoned back from her dreams.
Revolution1 Interviewer Jerika Mason has been put to task for the second time in a row to try to gather the thoughts of the silver-haired woman who has grown much darker in her demeanor and personality ever since, well, Jin and Tommy. Tommy and Jin.
"Are you okay?" She asks. "You look like you was sleepin'."
It's no lie. Maggie gets around a lot these days. Three federations. World Champion in one of 'em. If she had her way, soon she'd be the World champion in at least two of the three.
"No," Magdalena shook her head. "I wasn't asleep... I was just... thinking... about something."
"Oooh girl, whatchu thinkin' bout?" Jerika replied, the microphone already in her hand.
Maggie looks up and looks around at Madison Square Garden. This is it. This is where so many people made so many memories. Wouldn't it be something if she could add to that list, she thought.
"You know, this isn't my first time being in a Battle Royale this year. 27 competitors named so far... I fucking hate them."
Jerika glances over at the lens and flashes her teeth. She wasn't expecting that this interview would have to be edited within the first ten seconds.
"I've won 64 person hardcore tournaments in the past, I've won a 26 competitor gauntlet earlier in the year. At least with the tournament, every opponent I had the pleasure and the opportunity to face was all one at a time. Each match, each contest, each scramble to see which one of us was going to move on and which of us was going to leave disappointed was all such a personal affair. You stick 27 plus people in any one ring and no one ever knows what's going to happen."
Maggie wipes the corner of her mouth off with her wrist, checking for blood for some odd reason.
"And I get it. We're in the business for the fans, and the fans love it. So I damn sure want to go out there with the attitude that I'm here to give the people what they want every time. But herein lies my problem with matches like these... and it's not so much the match itself but the people that are in it. Jerika, you damn sure know that there are 26, 27, maybe even more interviews that are gonna go up... maybe even 30 where everyone in this match is going to promise to win it."
"Yeah?"
"But I don't make promises like that," Maggie said, shaking her head. "I don't... because I want what I say to mean something."
Time ticks by like it always does. Sometimes it feels faster and sometimes it drags painfully slow. The latter is in play as the hour to Remembrance draws ever closer. New York City. The Big Apple. The place where the Statue of Liberty still welcomes the tired, poor, hungry masses and yet it's also the place where the twin towers fell twenty years ago.
...It's about time you stop playing games with these people...
...you belong here, Revo is just as much yours as it is theirs...
"Maggie?"
Once again, Maggie is startled awake by someone else's voice.
She doesn't recognize the man, only the Revo1 polo and the tan khakis that he wears. He looks like a kid straight out of high school... can't be much older than 18. He reminds her a lot of...
"Tommy?"
"No, my names Mike-" He extends a shaky hand. "I'm new here, I-I started on the ring crew yesterday. Miss Mason told me to bring these to you, said you dropped them out there by her station."
He nervously hands over a pair of mirrored aviator-style sunglasses. Maggie tends to wear them everywhere. There's a certain art in making people look at themselves while they're talking to you.
"Thanks," she replied a bit groggly. The kid went to leave before she stops him. "Hey-"
Mike turns in the doorway. "Yeah?"
"You uhm... you hang any of the banners this morning?" She asks.
"No no..." He chuckles, "Most of them have been up all week. I was just tying down the canvas, tightening the turnbuckles-"
"Well do me a favor, then."
"Yeah?" The kid asks.
"Be careful."
...Don't you think it's time they saw the real you?...
...Aren't you tired of taking a 'Shot of Jin' every week?...
"Maggie - there you are!"
It's Jerika again. You know, the interviewer?
Maggie's fully dressed now in her ring gear... ready to compete. She looks down to realize that she's got a cup of coffee in her hand. She doesn't typically drink coffee, especially right before a match.
"Wh-what's up?" Maggie asks.
"Augh... it's the bosses." Jerika groans. "They said they need a little more."
"Who... Kylie?"
"You do realize that there are quite a few people above my head between the president of the company and myself."
Maggie shrugs.
"I don't know anything. I just show up ready to go to work. I fight who they tell me to fight, do what they tell me to do."
"Well they're asking me if you could say a little more about your opponents in the upcoming Battle Royale?"
"Why?" Maggie shoots back, "Isn't the damn thing about to start?"
"Replays? Blurays? I dunno." Jerika seems confused as well. "But hey, look, if you could like run down the list a little bit... maybe say one or two things about each one..."
Maggie sighs.
...It doesn't hurt to tell them how it is...
...Just tell 'em how you feel...
"Maggie?"
Jerika looks confused as Maggie nods back into the moment.
"Are you okay?"
There's coffee all over the floor. Her hands are shaking, not too much unlike that kid she met earlier. Her head is pounding with a splitting migraine, right beneath the surgical plate that holds her skull together. So many memories wasted... so many moments in time that may never be recalled ever since that steel met the flesh, met the bone, met the gray matter of the left side of her frontal and temporal lobes.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine."
...Just tell 'em Remembrance and their fucking battle royale doesn't matter...
...sooner or later, you're gonna make your way to the top...
...just like we always do...
"I-It's just.." Maggie gulps as she works to pull herself back again, "I didn't lie to you before. Let everyone else tell you that they're going to win. I might... and I might not. Doesn't change anything either way."
"Oh no, I disagree girlie," Jerkia replies, taking Maggie's hand to help her along back to the backdrop where she records most of her interviews. "You win Remembrance tonight and everyone here is gonna remember your name. If you want change, that's how you do it."
"But I don't want change," Maggie responds, her free hand clutching the side of her head where it feels like someone is trying to jam an icepick through it.
...I am change...
"Jerika Mason here with Magdalena Marie Lockheart yet again!"
Maggie's clutching the side of her head tightly now.
...is that really my name?...
"...and we want to talk about a few of her competitors in the match this evening... starting with..."
"Starting with who? The who the fuck are you crew? The also-rans and the never-wases? The "not Richard Dwecks" and the Brandon Riveras? The people who have been around for a while and haven't done a damn thing and the people who just showed up yesterday looking for a free handout? Am I supposed to pretend to respect a guy like Sebastian Eliades who can't even show up for work? Am I supposed to sing the praises of the fucking Overbaker or give my two cents on Cerise and Sora Weaver? And what about that dumb-as-shit 'Left Hand' stuff? Am I supposed to feign how impressed I won't be if someone wins their first match in Revo simply because they weren't thrown over the top rope?"
...look at me...
"LOOK AT ME, JERIKA-"
A hushed silence falls over the backstage area as Maggie's voice echoes throughout the hallowed halls.
"I'M NOT FUCKING IMPRESSED. I'm five-foot-three, I'm one-hundred and eleven pounds. And to half of the people in this match I'm a FUCKING LAWN DART and this is the CLOSEST THEY WILL EVER GET to EVER scoring a VICTORY OVER ME. So I honestly hope they don't waste it. Angelo? Beat him. Aphrodite IX, beat her. Jessie Lee? Do I even need to say it anymore? In my short time here I've gone toe to toe with the Khaoses and the Jin Min-Juns and the Anya Coyles of our world. And do you know what they all have in common?"
"What?" Jerika asks, nervously.
Maggie shrugs.
"They're not in this match. They're fighting for bigger prizes. They're fighting for what I should be fighting for."
"...and why do you say that?"
...why do I say that?...
Maggie chuckles sardonically as she shakes her head.
"I really despise explaining myself but it's not your fault that you don't get it. It's mine. See, when I stood up to Jessie Lee a few months back and sent her off for a brief stint I know just as well as you do that the Revo1 world was shocked at what happened."
Lockheart shrugs.
"I don't blame you. I don't blame anyone. Everywhere I've been, I've been the perpetual underdog. Everywhere I go, it doesn't matter what I've accomplished in the past. And I'm okay with that... the past IS in the past. But let me tell you something real quick, just because I don't make promises I cannot guarantee I will keep doesn't mean that I don't have what it takes to walk out there and hand Alex Kincaid, Kai Morgan, Sylk Michaels their asses. I'm not even saying that it's wrong for everyone else to bet on themselves, either. It's a hell of a bragging right to say that you're going to do something... and then actually do it."
"But that's how we see the world differently, I guess. And that's what I want to change. I BUST my ASS to be an example to the kids watching at home... to the young men and women in the back. I was cocky once, I was arrogant. I used abilities that someone taught me to win title matches and brag on myself back in the day. But then one day came where I got tied up in the ropes and BAM... some other dumb bitch smacked me in the side of the head with a ring bell."
"...I woke up in the ICU days later..."
"THAT'S ALL IT TAKES... is one little slip-up. One tiny mistake. So why promise to win a match when you can just as easily leave the arena on a stretcher tonight? I don't just see it as arrogance. I see it as downright fucking ignorance and stupidity from every single one of them."
"Must suck to rely so heavily on blind ambition and dumb luck... but I seriously can't relate to their childish behavior. Since waking up from my unfortunate injury then I've tried not to waste time thinking about yesterday when I KNOW not all of us are going to be here to worry about tomorrow anyway. Like Sara Pettis, this event's grand little return. Nostalgia is a bitch, ain't she? Everyone's so happy that she's back that everyone chooses to forget the how and why she left in the first place."
"Must suck to rely so heavily on blind ambition and dumb luck... but I seriously can't relate to their childish behavior. Since waking up from my unfortunate injury then I've tried not to waste time thinking about yesterday when I KNOW not all of us are going to be here to worry about tomorrow anyway. Like Sara Pettis, this event's grand little return. Nostalgia is a bitch, ain't she? Everyone's so happy that she's back that everyone chooses to forget the how and why she left in the first place."
Maggie once again shrugs.
"Not that I care. But she's coming back to try to recapture past glory. She's coming back because the memories of Revo-past taste just a little bit sweeter than the ones she was making sitting on her couch at home... and I don't wish to begrudge her of that... but I will."
"Maybe not tonight, and maybe not next week... but I ain't gonna go down the long list of people in this match that NEED THIS MATCH to be RELEVANT in REVOLUTION1."
"No no... MY promise... whether I WIN the Remembrance Battle Royale tonight or not, is that I'M DONE PLAYING GAMES. I do apologize, but it seems as though I've been just a tad bit disingenuous when I came to Revolution1 trying to be the nice girl, trying to pay my dues and trying to earn this locker room's respect."
"...that was my mistake..."
"...emphasis on was..."
"My promise to you, Jerika, and to ALL that are watching and listening here tonight is that Revolution1 already has the answer to who can carry their banner into 2022 and beyond. And I was here the whole time... sweeping up the floors and help setting up chairs... but I think I'm just about done with my little Interstate Lovesong experiment."
"The Heaven in our Memories always feels like it's slipping away. That's because it is. All of the times we look back at all the loved ones that we've lost or the great times we wish we could live again... they're all gone. I promise that I will no longer look toward my future as a means to re-live or re-shape my past. What's dead and buried is done and over with. I'm here to make new memories... to make the present something worth living in and something truly worth fighting for."
"The Heaven in our Memories always feels like it's slipping away. That's because it is. All of the times we look back at all the loved ones that we've lost or the great times we wish we could live again... they're all gone. I promise that I will no longer look toward my future as a means to re-live or re-shape my past. What's dead and buried is done and over with. I'm here to make new memories... to make the present something worth living in and something truly worth fighting for."
"The world wants to see the REAL me... I think the boys and girls in the back have heard the name of the new Goddess being whispered throughout these halls..."
"And who am I to deny the people what they want?"
...they want Jenova...
"...If they want Jenova..."
...they'll fucking get Jenova...
"Then I'll FUCKING GIVE THEM JENOVA!"
...be careful what you wish for...
"But remember... it wasn't my choice. REVOLUTION ONE..."
The darkness in the centers of Maggie's mako-green eyes peers into the lens of the camera with a sinister smirk.
"Look at what you just made me do."