X Factor
Jun 10, 2020 5:59:30 GMT -5
Post by OrochiGeese on Jun 10, 2020 5:59:30 GMT -5
*We fade into the alcove outside of Dr. Gabriel Holt's office in the Peter Venkman Memorial Arena. A few new flower pots have been placed in front in the area along with three chairs and a sign-in sheet on the door. In one of the chairs sits an impatient THRASH Ogawa wearing an over-sized Wolverine shirt that looks like it's from the 80's and faded blue jeans. He checks his watch and finally gets down on the floor and starts doing sit-ups. A smile comes onto his face upon lifting his head for the fifth sit-up, as he sees that there is company approaching. From down the hall stroll Robin and Geese Walker. As they get closer to THRASH, Geese puts his hand in front of Robin to stop her. He whispers in her ear: "let him get up or else he'll feel vulnerable and do something foolish." She nods and they stand still for a few moments, allowing THRASH to get on his feet and stand up with his right leg leaning against the wall. Geese takes his hand away and the two approach.*
[Robin:] "Soooo uh, I'm going to drop Geese off now. You two play nicely or else I'm calling the Principal."
*THRASH cocks his head up and lets out a quick laugh*
[THRASH:] "Wingate's out but I think Drake's going through the slingshots he confiscated."
[Robin:] "I hear that comes out of all your allowances, tough break."
*Robin kisses Geese and walks off toward the OG-Joshi wing of the building. Geese slowly walks over to the door and signs his name on the sheet. Then he sits on the chair furthest from where THRASH is standing and motions toward his shirt.*
[Geese:] "I was always partial toward Magneto."
*THRASH briefly laughs again then looks surprised.*
[THRASH:] "I get the preference but not the opportunity. When did you read comics?"
[Geese:] "Thunder Strike and I spent a lot of time together in Japan and he was a rather avid fan of the medium. Three guesses as to his favorite book."
[THRASH:] "Gotta be GI Joe or Captain America."
[Geese:] "Yeah, depended on the day."
[THRASH:] "So you got into it?"
[Geese:] "Necessity breeds intention too. I did not have a wealth of material and this was mostly before the internet."
[THRASH:] "Come on, you weren't like reading Machiavelli or Hobbes 24/7?"
[Geese:] "You learned pretty quickly when wrestling in Japan to use your free time to vent frustrations rather than to feed into existing ones. And there was something heroic about the stories he shared with me."
[THRASH:] "So why did you like Magneto then?"
[Geese:] "He had values that come from experience, the poise to enact his goals, and the integrity to defy conventions. Although he sometimes did terrible things, he never truly lost his desire to do them for the right reasons."
[THRASH:] "If you put it like that, he sounds a little like Logan at times."
[Geese:] "That's certainly one reason why they clashed so often."
*THRASH nods and pulls out a cigarette. First he offers one to Geese, who shakes his head no, then he holds it up.*
[THRASH:] "Think Doc will mind if I smoke?"
[Geese:] "Do you mind if he minds?"
[THRASH:] "Not really, but Carter kind of freaked out when she saw me doing it inside then tattled to Kisiera."
[Geese:] "She once caught Kyle smoking and made him watch a one hour after school special on peer pressure."
*THRASH shakes his head dismissively with a smile then lights up. A few minutes ago by.*
[THRASH:] "So...where do I stand?"
*Geese looks up with a quizzical expression and points to THRASH's position."
[Geese:] "I believe a smartphone GPS can assist in more precise coordinates than I could provide."
[THRASH:] "No, I mean in the league. Am I an 'aspirational failure' or an 'antagonistic feuder?'"
*Geese starts to laugh but sees that THRASH isn't joining in. The smile on Geese's face grows even bigger as a result.*
[Geese:] "Neither category seem to fit. You're clearly not antagonistic for its own reward. Nothing I've seen suggests your raison d'etre is making other people's lives miserable. You also don't attack at the cost of your own opportunities.
But you are also, refreshingly, not an aspirational failure. You aren't going in with low expectations or banking on the idea that even middling success in this league will lead to some incremental rise in your rankings or popularity. In fact, it takes a certain amount of courage to effectively put the legitimacy of an already held Title on the line to compete for another. Most wrestlers holding a Championship would protect their status at all cost and not risk weakening it by entering this league."
[THRASH:] "So neither one, huh?"
[Geese:] "Clearly not. But why limit yourself to the loser groups? What about the first category that I spoke of? As a current Champion, are you not of the same mindset as O'Brian, Gordon, RYOMA, and myself?"
[THRASH:] "Your mindset, huh? Well, tell me if I get this right. Theater was never my strength."
*THRASH clears his throat and tries to start speaking like Geese but with a touch of parody.*
[THRASH:] "As a man of great ambition, I am not talking about trying my best. I am talking about winning the reward that I set out to achieve. Results define my career and my ambition.”
*Geese smiles and claps his hands.*
[Geese:] "A touch high on the villain speech factor but still believable."
[THRASH:] "So you believed it when you spoke it? For a man of integrity, sometimes even Magneto was an expert in propaganda."
[Geese:] "Sometimes the world, or Xavier, wasn't ready to hear the painful truth of what he had to say. Better to demonstrate the merit of one's ideas to convert an unwilling audience then languish away by winning impossible sanction."
[THRASH:] "Well, we can certainly wait until the end of the league for me to prove my mindset to you. But that'll be another ten years, right? In the meantime, are you ready to hear why I don't fit into the same category as you?"
[Geese:] "Enlighten me."
[THRASH:] "If I win every match in this league, I'm quitting the UBL."
*An expression of complete shock is slapped across Geese's face.*
[Geese:] "Why? Why would you?"
[THRASH:] "What's the f*cking point wearing two Championships of a promotion that I can dominate?"
[Geese:] "Winning every match doesn't, in of itself, mean you dominated each one."
[THRASH:] "Fine, but let's say I do. Let's say I achieve, what's the term, decisive victory?"
*Geese smirks.*
[THRASH:] "What's the point then? I'd win the reward of the league, right? Not only that, but such a feat would certainly guarantee a legacy dwarfing anyone else's in the UBL. By your measure, I should be ecstatic with such results. But, why would I even bother continuing to play around here? And why wouldn't I be livid for having wasted my time?"
[Geese:] "I get your point, but if you do face competition that tests you, wouldn't that make the reward worthy? Isn't that what you are really after? An end result made attractive enough by the path you take to get it?"
[THRASH:] "The ends don't define my career, the means do. And the reward of a great fight is the great fight. That's all that matters to me, Geese. If the fight is great, the trophy doesn't matter. If the fight is sh*tty, then nothing else matters. The only reason I carry around the Circuit Title is because it attracts better fighters and more fights. That's why I'm in the Champions League too. Hell, if I win that, I'll defend both Titles.
And, by the way, saying 'if' I win and not 'when' doesn't make me a loser. Maybe it means a guy like Mills is a loser but he wants to win and not just fight. So him going into each match lacking confidence just looks sad. But if I go into a match not knowing if I'm going to win, that means I put myself in exactly the situation that I'm looking for - where there's enough uncertainty that it can produce a great fight. Walking in knowing I'm going to curb stomp a bug is a waste of time.
That's why I don't fit so neatly into your categories, Geese."
*Geese stands up and looks THRASH in the eye.*
[Geese:] "One who defies conventions, or characterization, is the type of person who crafts the future. He is one that is not truly borne of the time that he lives in but rather of the era that he creates. As a result, he is not originally recognized or accepted by his contemporaries for who he is or the values and goals he has. True visionaries and innovators were all misunderstood until people from the future generation that they helped forge understood their purpose with hindsight.
Maybe you are of this dynamic group, Ogawa. Maybe your nature is an 'X factor' I had not considered that repulses the labels I neatly affixed on everyone else in this league. But I am not sold yet. I have seen many that claim they only crave the fight because, secretly, they do not yet have the confidence in themselves to admit they actually seek the victory. Declaring that you seek to master the art of war shields you from failing to gain the spoils of it."
[THRASH:] "And maybe Magneto cared more about hurting humans than protecting mutants. Maybe you are just using a vague and subjective 'threshold' concept to hide your desire to continue spreading a legacy of pain. Sure, Geese, people can hide behind a noble goal while possessing weakness or evil but there's gotta be some who actually live it legit."
[Geese:] "I would certainly hope there are. And I guess we will both one day stand in judgment over that question. But until then, I have one final question to ask you. If the rush of battle is your goal, who do you wish to fight most?"
[THRASH:] "You know, it's real funny you ask that."
*Just then, the door opens and a dapper looking Jasper Woodruff walks out.*
[Jasper:] "Evening, gents!"
[Geese:] "It's 1:30 in the afternoon."
*Jasper tips his slightly unkempt tuxedo hat that he found in a dumpster.*
[THRASH:] "Session went kind of long, didn't it?"
[Jasper:] "Doc says that it's the gold in my heart that I really seek. Fine words, really fine."
*Geese looks at THRASH then motions over to Jasper who is walking away.*
[Geese:] "There's also got to be some who don't actually live it."
*THRASH grins then nods back as he walks into Dr. Holt's office. Geese sits back down and the scene fades.*
[Robin:] "Soooo uh, I'm going to drop Geese off now. You two play nicely or else I'm calling the Principal."
*THRASH cocks his head up and lets out a quick laugh*
[THRASH:] "Wingate's out but I think Drake's going through the slingshots he confiscated."
[Robin:] "I hear that comes out of all your allowances, tough break."
*Robin kisses Geese and walks off toward the OG-Joshi wing of the building. Geese slowly walks over to the door and signs his name on the sheet. Then he sits on the chair furthest from where THRASH is standing and motions toward his shirt.*
[Geese:] "I was always partial toward Magneto."
*THRASH briefly laughs again then looks surprised.*
[THRASH:] "I get the preference but not the opportunity. When did you read comics?"
[Geese:] "Thunder Strike and I spent a lot of time together in Japan and he was a rather avid fan of the medium. Three guesses as to his favorite book."
[THRASH:] "Gotta be GI Joe or Captain America."
[Geese:] "Yeah, depended on the day."
[THRASH:] "So you got into it?"
[Geese:] "Necessity breeds intention too. I did not have a wealth of material and this was mostly before the internet."
[THRASH:] "Come on, you weren't like reading Machiavelli or Hobbes 24/7?"
[Geese:] "You learned pretty quickly when wrestling in Japan to use your free time to vent frustrations rather than to feed into existing ones. And there was something heroic about the stories he shared with me."
[THRASH:] "So why did you like Magneto then?"
[Geese:] "He had values that come from experience, the poise to enact his goals, and the integrity to defy conventions. Although he sometimes did terrible things, he never truly lost his desire to do them for the right reasons."
[THRASH:] "If you put it like that, he sounds a little like Logan at times."
[Geese:] "That's certainly one reason why they clashed so often."
*THRASH nods and pulls out a cigarette. First he offers one to Geese, who shakes his head no, then he holds it up.*
[THRASH:] "Think Doc will mind if I smoke?"
[Geese:] "Do you mind if he minds?"
[THRASH:] "Not really, but Carter kind of freaked out when she saw me doing it inside then tattled to Kisiera."
[Geese:] "She once caught Kyle smoking and made him watch a one hour after school special on peer pressure."
*THRASH shakes his head dismissively with a smile then lights up. A few minutes ago by.*
[THRASH:] "So...where do I stand?"
*Geese looks up with a quizzical expression and points to THRASH's position."
[Geese:] "I believe a smartphone GPS can assist in more precise coordinates than I could provide."
[THRASH:] "No, I mean in the league. Am I an 'aspirational failure' or an 'antagonistic feuder?'"
*Geese starts to laugh but sees that THRASH isn't joining in. The smile on Geese's face grows even bigger as a result.*
[Geese:] "Neither category seem to fit. You're clearly not antagonistic for its own reward. Nothing I've seen suggests your raison d'etre is making other people's lives miserable. You also don't attack at the cost of your own opportunities.
But you are also, refreshingly, not an aspirational failure. You aren't going in with low expectations or banking on the idea that even middling success in this league will lead to some incremental rise in your rankings or popularity. In fact, it takes a certain amount of courage to effectively put the legitimacy of an already held Title on the line to compete for another. Most wrestlers holding a Championship would protect their status at all cost and not risk weakening it by entering this league."
[THRASH:] "So neither one, huh?"
[Geese:] "Clearly not. But why limit yourself to the loser groups? What about the first category that I spoke of? As a current Champion, are you not of the same mindset as O'Brian, Gordon, RYOMA, and myself?"
[THRASH:] "Your mindset, huh? Well, tell me if I get this right. Theater was never my strength."
*THRASH clears his throat and tries to start speaking like Geese but with a touch of parody.*
[THRASH:] "As a man of great ambition, I am not talking about trying my best. I am talking about winning the reward that I set out to achieve. Results define my career and my ambition.”
*Geese smiles and claps his hands.*
[Geese:] "A touch high on the villain speech factor but still believable."
[THRASH:] "So you believed it when you spoke it? For a man of integrity, sometimes even Magneto was an expert in propaganda."
[Geese:] "Sometimes the world, or Xavier, wasn't ready to hear the painful truth of what he had to say. Better to demonstrate the merit of one's ideas to convert an unwilling audience then languish away by winning impossible sanction."
[THRASH:] "Well, we can certainly wait until the end of the league for me to prove my mindset to you. But that'll be another ten years, right? In the meantime, are you ready to hear why I don't fit into the same category as you?"
[Geese:] "Enlighten me."
[THRASH:] "If I win every match in this league, I'm quitting the UBL."
*An expression of complete shock is slapped across Geese's face.*
[Geese:] "Why? Why would you?"
[THRASH:] "What's the f*cking point wearing two Championships of a promotion that I can dominate?"
[Geese:] "Winning every match doesn't, in of itself, mean you dominated each one."
[THRASH:] "Fine, but let's say I do. Let's say I achieve, what's the term, decisive victory?"
*Geese smirks.*
[THRASH:] "What's the point then? I'd win the reward of the league, right? Not only that, but such a feat would certainly guarantee a legacy dwarfing anyone else's in the UBL. By your measure, I should be ecstatic with such results. But, why would I even bother continuing to play around here? And why wouldn't I be livid for having wasted my time?"
[Geese:] "I get your point, but if you do face competition that tests you, wouldn't that make the reward worthy? Isn't that what you are really after? An end result made attractive enough by the path you take to get it?"
[THRASH:] "The ends don't define my career, the means do. And the reward of a great fight is the great fight. That's all that matters to me, Geese. If the fight is great, the trophy doesn't matter. If the fight is sh*tty, then nothing else matters. The only reason I carry around the Circuit Title is because it attracts better fighters and more fights. That's why I'm in the Champions League too. Hell, if I win that, I'll defend both Titles.
And, by the way, saying 'if' I win and not 'when' doesn't make me a loser. Maybe it means a guy like Mills is a loser but he wants to win and not just fight. So him going into each match lacking confidence just looks sad. But if I go into a match not knowing if I'm going to win, that means I put myself in exactly the situation that I'm looking for - where there's enough uncertainty that it can produce a great fight. Walking in knowing I'm going to curb stomp a bug is a waste of time.
That's why I don't fit so neatly into your categories, Geese."
*Geese stands up and looks THRASH in the eye.*
[Geese:] "One who defies conventions, or characterization, is the type of person who crafts the future. He is one that is not truly borne of the time that he lives in but rather of the era that he creates. As a result, he is not originally recognized or accepted by his contemporaries for who he is or the values and goals he has. True visionaries and innovators were all misunderstood until people from the future generation that they helped forge understood their purpose with hindsight.
Maybe you are of this dynamic group, Ogawa. Maybe your nature is an 'X factor' I had not considered that repulses the labels I neatly affixed on everyone else in this league. But I am not sold yet. I have seen many that claim they only crave the fight because, secretly, they do not yet have the confidence in themselves to admit they actually seek the victory. Declaring that you seek to master the art of war shields you from failing to gain the spoils of it."
[THRASH:] "And maybe Magneto cared more about hurting humans than protecting mutants. Maybe you are just using a vague and subjective 'threshold' concept to hide your desire to continue spreading a legacy of pain. Sure, Geese, people can hide behind a noble goal while possessing weakness or evil but there's gotta be some who actually live it legit."
[Geese:] "I would certainly hope there are. And I guess we will both one day stand in judgment over that question. But until then, I have one final question to ask you. If the rush of battle is your goal, who do you wish to fight most?"
[THRASH:] "You know, it's real funny you ask that."
*Just then, the door opens and a dapper looking Jasper Woodruff walks out.*
[Jasper:] "Evening, gents!"
[Geese:] "It's 1:30 in the afternoon."
*Jasper tips his slightly unkempt tuxedo hat that he found in a dumpster.*
[THRASH:] "Session went kind of long, didn't it?"
[Jasper:] "Doc says that it's the gold in my heart that I really seek. Fine words, really fine."
*Geese looks at THRASH then motions over to Jasper who is walking away.*
[Geese:] "There's also got to be some who don't actually live it."
*THRASH grins then nods back as he walks into Dr. Holt's office. Geese sits back down and the scene fades.*