Post by Icon Lord Leon Corbin on Jul 5, 2015 14:55:55 GMT -6
Icon Corbin: ...2...3...4...
Kowloon Park. The place known to the GZW universe as a place of battle, where wars were won and lost between Globalstars and even between GZW and HKWF but today was different. Today it was just a park, green and flourishing while the World heavyweight champion was performing one of his every day routines of an outdoor workout. Dressed in a black vest and shorts, sweat dripped from his body, glistening in the Hong Kong beating sun. His rhythm was kept to the sound of whatever he had blaring through his MP3 player attached to his upper arm. He stops running, dropping for a set of burpees then keeps running again. Through the beat came a muffled voice.
: Mmmmmmrrrmmmrrmmmmrrrr.
Leon paused and looked around, to where Jon Kellar stood atop one of the many benches that littered the path through the park. He was dressed in a bright red lightweight sleeveless shirt and the bottom half of his judoji, the gold bands on his black belt shining against the bright summer sun. Leon removed one of his earbuds.
Icon Kellar: I said "your wife has a stick up her arse".
Icon Corbin: What?! Who put it there?!!
Kellar finished his stance and jumped down from the bench. He reached into a nearby bag and pulled out a bottle of water. Taking a sip, he sat down.
Icon Kellar: I dunno, but I get the feeling playing second fiddle to her World Champion husband is starting to get to her. You know, I remember when holding the Intercontinental Championship was a privilege, and people acknowledged it as such. Why's she so bitter?
Icon Corbin: She remembers it too, Jon. It's just a shame no one else has. Until now, not a single person has shown an interest. Pretty much the general mindset of this shite roster though. No one gives a shit and coming from a background where it all mattered more than life itself, it's a hard pill to swallow to see this ungrateful bunch squandering opportunity. You got another?
Wiping his forehead with his wristband, the 2007 Lord pointed at Kellar's bottle.
The 2006 Lord reached into his bag and produced another bottle, throwing it to Leon.
Icon Kellar: Did things really get so bad while I was away?
Icon Corbin: While you were away and while everyone else has taken the piss using the place as a half-way house when they need a buck or two. No one needs to work for anything anymore. Locke is a shining example of that. And yet the company will bend over backwards for these ingrates while their staples go ignored and mistreated.
The bottle top was already being twisted off with Leon necking several mouthfuls. He lets out a coarse grunt and wipes his mouth.
Icon Corbin: Any honest, hardworking Globalstar would be feeling bitter right now.
Kellar sighed while Leon took his other headphone out and hung the cord around his neck.
Icon Kellar: I guess I can't cast stones on that front. It's no secret why I'm here. Someone offered me $30,000 for one night's work and I threw myself at them. Never thought I'd see the day...
Icon Corbin: I heard. To say I was shocked to see the one time billionaire, partial shareholder of GZW in this position is no understatement...What the fuck happened?!
Icon Kellar: You want the abridged version or the six volumes with appendices?
Icon Corbin: Do I look like I have anywhere to be on a Sunday in the park?
The 2006 Lord smiled and shifted up the bench, leaving space for his former stable mate to take a seat. Leon sat down.
Icon Kellar: It started when Dyna got sick. You remember I told you about the nosebleeds?
Kellar takes a deep breath, and exhales heavily before continuing.
Icon Kellar: Well, as soon as her father got word of it he whisked her away to hospital for every test you can imagine. Nasal melanoma. Affects one in fifty million people if not less... she never did like being normal. Anyway, turns out when he transferred the company over to her there was some kind of relief system whereby the shares go back to him. Basically, they were on a really complicated loan to transfer to Dyna properly after his death, only she beat him to it.
He never liked me and he didn't want me inheriting his money, so he made sure everything was in her name. So, when she died, I lost everything. I didn't prepare, I didn't plan... I was too focussed on losing her. I didn't think about me, or M.
Icon Corbin: Bloody hell...
Swirling the water in the bottle he just watched it. He’d known Dyna a long time as well by now and a death in the business, although sometimes expected, was still hard to take.
Icon Corbin: None of those assets were yours? None at all? What about the dojo? Is that not making any money?
Kellar shook his head.
Icon Kellar: All bought and held by UltiMight Media for tax purposes, even COMPETE. Not that he ever told me of course, so I'm saddled with debt from a lifestyle it turns out I could never afford. Wilson took everything almost overnight. I don't think Dyna's ashes were even cool when he came round to the apartment to throw me out.
All I had was the Dojo and Sensei Macheda was always clear that it was to remain a community building first. I charged for what classes I could but most of my students left once I struggled to keep the lights on. I took underground fights, I mortgaged the Dojo to pay the rent on the only apartment I could afford but it wasn't enough. In the end I took a minimum wage job as a security guard to put food on the table and moved into the Dojo to stop paying rent. And now... I don't even have that...
Kellar pointed with his water bottle towards the wrestling area, where the staging was close to being finished.
Icon Kellar: What I have is a trailer that stinks of fish and turns into a hotbox every morning at 7am without fail.
Icon Corbin: That's...such a step backwards. We do that shit on our way up not on the way down. And what about the kiddie? She can't live in those conditions. You're big and ugly enough to rough it but she can't, Jon...
Kellar took a drink.
Icon Kellar: She's.... She's not here...
Icon Corbin: Then who has her? Don't tell me it's Wilson. He really took everything you shared with Dyna? Even your child?
Kellar shook his head.
Icon Kellar: I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but Wilson wants her so badly he's going through the courts. He never counted on Dyna and I having a child and I guess he thought so little of me that he thought I’d just give her up when she died and go back to this life. Now he's suing me for custody, and the only way I can win is to sell my Dojo, buy a house I can't afford for her to live in, and then leave her with Sean and travel to the other side of the world and never see her. To keep her, I have to never see her.
Kellar crushed the water bottle in his hand.
Icon Kellar: Ain't life hilarious...
He slammed the bottle into the ground and buried his head in his hands.
Icon Corbin: She's either with an old bastard who doesn't want her anyway or a pisshead...Jesus...
Icon Kellar: Maybe I should give her up Leon... I mean Wilson's a prick but he's got money and brains. It's a better life than I can give her, and it's not like she'll ever see me either way...
Icon Corbin: There has to be another way. You're her father and he is only the grandparent. On what grounds can he really keep her from you? Spite? Or is there something he has over you?
Icon Kellar: Money talks Leon, especially with the current government. The courts don't exactly look favourably on people who live in a public gym with a three year old when granddad is offering her a mansion and a private education. They can talk about visitation and all this nonsense but he'll find a way to cheat it, and before you know it he'll twist M into hating me... or worse, forgetting me.
Icon Corbin: I faced similar issues once... Real sticky shit. And they need to see that she will have stability. You have to find a place, Jon. Travelling is one thing but you need a proper home...
Icon Kellar: She has to come first Leon. She has a home, and like you said, I can take it.
Icon Corbin: And that might be tolerable in the interim but as the years go by? What then, Jon? What when you've missed out on everything? Her first day at school. Her first crush. Watching her grow into a young woman. And what when she comes knocking on your door, presuming you even have one and demands to know where the hell you've been all these years? She will want to know why you didn't fight harder and you will have no answer for her. And how old is Wilson now anyway? How long before he pops his clogs? Then where is her family? You're her family, Jon. You cannot afford to just give in and roll over.
Icon Kellar: Jesus Christ!
Kellar stands up and grabs his bag.
Icon Kellar: Nothing I do is good enough for anyone is it? You think I want to be here roasting my nuts off in this Godforsaken country? I'm doing what I have to and if it's not Wilson belittling me as a father, or Eva belittling me as a wrestler, or Sean judging me for not going back, it's you judging me for going back.
Icon Kellar turned his back on Leon, seething as he walked off down the path.
Icon Kellar: Would it kill someone to tell me, just once, that I'm doing the right thing...
Watching him walk away, Leon rests a hand on his waist, necking more of his bottled water before tossing the bottle into the bin beside the bench. Wiping his mouth with his thumb and index finger he then pulls his phone from his arm and swipes the screen before he presses the set against his ear.
Icon Corbin: Bloody voicemail…Oh! Evalyn…we need to talk. It’s about Kellar…
With that, he drops the call and replaces the phone back on his arm, fiddling with the wires from his headphones before he looks ahead again to see Kellar as nothing more than a nondescript shape in the distance.
Icon Corbin: How the Ultimighty have fallen…Bollocks…Evalyn would have loved that one. I know she would…
With a heavy sigh, he replaces his earbuds and continues his morning routine.
Kowloon Park. The place known to the GZW universe as a place of battle, where wars were won and lost between Globalstars and even between GZW and HKWF but today was different. Today it was just a park, green and flourishing while the World heavyweight champion was performing one of his every day routines of an outdoor workout. Dressed in a black vest and shorts, sweat dripped from his body, glistening in the Hong Kong beating sun. His rhythm was kept to the sound of whatever he had blaring through his MP3 player attached to his upper arm. He stops running, dropping for a set of burpees then keeps running again. Through the beat came a muffled voice.
: Mmmmmmrrrmmmrrmmmmrrrr.Leon paused and looked around, to where Jon Kellar stood atop one of the many benches that littered the path through the park. He was dressed in a bright red lightweight sleeveless shirt and the bottom half of his judoji, the gold bands on his black belt shining against the bright summer sun. Leon removed one of his earbuds.
Icon Kellar: I said "your wife has a stick up her arse".
Icon Corbin: What?! Who put it there?!!
Kellar finished his stance and jumped down from the bench. He reached into a nearby bag and pulled out a bottle of water. Taking a sip, he sat down.
Icon Kellar: I dunno, but I get the feeling playing second fiddle to her World Champion husband is starting to get to her. You know, I remember when holding the Intercontinental Championship was a privilege, and people acknowledged it as such. Why's she so bitter?
Icon Corbin: She remembers it too, Jon. It's just a shame no one else has. Until now, not a single person has shown an interest. Pretty much the general mindset of this shite roster though. No one gives a shit and coming from a background where it all mattered more than life itself, it's a hard pill to swallow to see this ungrateful bunch squandering opportunity. You got another?
Wiping his forehead with his wristband, the 2007 Lord pointed at Kellar's bottle.
The 2006 Lord reached into his bag and produced another bottle, throwing it to Leon.
Icon Kellar: Did things really get so bad while I was away?
Icon Corbin: While you were away and while everyone else has taken the piss using the place as a half-way house when they need a buck or two. No one needs to work for anything anymore. Locke is a shining example of that. And yet the company will bend over backwards for these ingrates while their staples go ignored and mistreated.
The bottle top was already being twisted off with Leon necking several mouthfuls. He lets out a coarse grunt and wipes his mouth.
Icon Corbin: Any honest, hardworking Globalstar would be feeling bitter right now.
Kellar sighed while Leon took his other headphone out and hung the cord around his neck.
Icon Kellar: I guess I can't cast stones on that front. It's no secret why I'm here. Someone offered me $30,000 for one night's work and I threw myself at them. Never thought I'd see the day...
Icon Corbin: I heard. To say I was shocked to see the one time billionaire, partial shareholder of GZW in this position is no understatement...What the fuck happened?!
Icon Kellar: You want the abridged version or the six volumes with appendices?
Icon Corbin: Do I look like I have anywhere to be on a Sunday in the park?
The 2006 Lord smiled and shifted up the bench, leaving space for his former stable mate to take a seat. Leon sat down.
Icon Kellar: It started when Dyna got sick. You remember I told you about the nosebleeds?
Kellar takes a deep breath, and exhales heavily before continuing.
Icon Kellar: Well, as soon as her father got word of it he whisked her away to hospital for every test you can imagine. Nasal melanoma. Affects one in fifty million people if not less... she never did like being normal. Anyway, turns out when he transferred the company over to her there was some kind of relief system whereby the shares go back to him. Basically, they were on a really complicated loan to transfer to Dyna properly after his death, only she beat him to it.
He never liked me and he didn't want me inheriting his money, so he made sure everything was in her name. So, when she died, I lost everything. I didn't prepare, I didn't plan... I was too focussed on losing her. I didn't think about me, or M.
Icon Corbin: Bloody hell...
Swirling the water in the bottle he just watched it. He’d known Dyna a long time as well by now and a death in the business, although sometimes expected, was still hard to take.
Icon Corbin: None of those assets were yours? None at all? What about the dojo? Is that not making any money?
Kellar shook his head.
Icon Kellar: All bought and held by UltiMight Media for tax purposes, even COMPETE. Not that he ever told me of course, so I'm saddled with debt from a lifestyle it turns out I could never afford. Wilson took everything almost overnight. I don't think Dyna's ashes were even cool when he came round to the apartment to throw me out.
All I had was the Dojo and Sensei Macheda was always clear that it was to remain a community building first. I charged for what classes I could but most of my students left once I struggled to keep the lights on. I took underground fights, I mortgaged the Dojo to pay the rent on the only apartment I could afford but it wasn't enough. In the end I took a minimum wage job as a security guard to put food on the table and moved into the Dojo to stop paying rent. And now... I don't even have that...
Kellar pointed with his water bottle towards the wrestling area, where the staging was close to being finished.
Icon Kellar: What I have is a trailer that stinks of fish and turns into a hotbox every morning at 7am without fail.
Icon Corbin: That's...such a step backwards. We do that shit on our way up not on the way down. And what about the kiddie? She can't live in those conditions. You're big and ugly enough to rough it but she can't, Jon...
Kellar took a drink.
Icon Kellar: She's.... She's not here...
Icon Corbin: Then who has her? Don't tell me it's Wilson. He really took everything you shared with Dyna? Even your child?
Kellar shook his head.
Icon Kellar: I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but Wilson wants her so badly he's going through the courts. He never counted on Dyna and I having a child and I guess he thought so little of me that he thought I’d just give her up when she died and go back to this life. Now he's suing me for custody, and the only way I can win is to sell my Dojo, buy a house I can't afford for her to live in, and then leave her with Sean and travel to the other side of the world and never see her. To keep her, I have to never see her.
Kellar crushed the water bottle in his hand.
Icon Kellar: Ain't life hilarious...
He slammed the bottle into the ground and buried his head in his hands.
Icon Corbin: She's either with an old bastard who doesn't want her anyway or a pisshead...Jesus...
Icon Kellar: Maybe I should give her up Leon... I mean Wilson's a prick but he's got money and brains. It's a better life than I can give her, and it's not like she'll ever see me either way...
Icon Corbin: There has to be another way. You're her father and he is only the grandparent. On what grounds can he really keep her from you? Spite? Or is there something he has over you?
Icon Kellar: Money talks Leon, especially with the current government. The courts don't exactly look favourably on people who live in a public gym with a three year old when granddad is offering her a mansion and a private education. They can talk about visitation and all this nonsense but he'll find a way to cheat it, and before you know it he'll twist M into hating me... or worse, forgetting me.
Icon Corbin: I faced similar issues once... Real sticky shit. And they need to see that she will have stability. You have to find a place, Jon. Travelling is one thing but you need a proper home...
Icon Kellar: She has to come first Leon. She has a home, and like you said, I can take it.
Icon Corbin: And that might be tolerable in the interim but as the years go by? What then, Jon? What when you've missed out on everything? Her first day at school. Her first crush. Watching her grow into a young woman. And what when she comes knocking on your door, presuming you even have one and demands to know where the hell you've been all these years? She will want to know why you didn't fight harder and you will have no answer for her. And how old is Wilson now anyway? How long before he pops his clogs? Then where is her family? You're her family, Jon. You cannot afford to just give in and roll over.
Icon Kellar: Jesus Christ!
Kellar stands up and grabs his bag.
Icon Kellar: Nothing I do is good enough for anyone is it? You think I want to be here roasting my nuts off in this Godforsaken country? I'm doing what I have to and if it's not Wilson belittling me as a father, or Eva belittling me as a wrestler, or Sean judging me for not going back, it's you judging me for going back.
Icon Kellar turned his back on Leon, seething as he walked off down the path.
Icon Kellar: Would it kill someone to tell me, just once, that I'm doing the right thing...
Watching him walk away, Leon rests a hand on his waist, necking more of his bottled water before tossing the bottle into the bin beside the bench. Wiping his mouth with his thumb and index finger he then pulls his phone from his arm and swipes the screen before he presses the set against his ear.
Icon Corbin: Bloody voicemail…Oh! Evalyn…we need to talk. It’s about Kellar…
With that, he drops the call and replaces the phone back on his arm, fiddling with the wires from his headphones before he looks ahead again to see Kellar as nothing more than a nondescript shape in the distance.
Icon Corbin: How the Ultimighty have fallen…Bollocks…Evalyn would have loved that one. I know she would…
With a heavy sigh, he replaces his earbuds and continues his morning routine.
