Conviction
May 11, 2022 4:38:21 GMT -5
Post by OrochiGeese on May 11, 2022 4:38:21 GMT -5
(Note: This RP follows the APHELION event from Galastream. It specifically follows the main event which saw RYOMA defending his SNGW Universal Championship against Zachariah Zealot. You can watch the match here and really should before reading this RP. It's an awesome match and will have a direct impact on RYOMA's career here as well.)
*Two hours after APHELION, we see RYOMA leaving the arena and walking into the parking lot. He spots the Matsuki Holdings limousine and begins to approach. However, he stops in his tracks when he sees the man who is talking with Miss Asako Matsuki. The man sees him and takes a step back, anticipating this reaction.*
[Asako:] "HE HAS NO SAKE BUT HE MEANS NO HARM. HEAR HIM OUT!"
*Geese looks confused at the sake remark but nods at everything else.*
[RYOMA:] "It has been a long night."
[Geese:] "Then there is no harm in making it a little longer to get the full value out of it."
*Either convinced or too tired to argue, RYOMA lets out a sigh and nods his head. Miss Matsuki hands him a bottle of water and goes into the limousine as Geese gets into an aggressive talking stance.*
[Geese:] "I won't coddle you, even after what you've just been through. I have too much respect for you to sugarcoat this. Your brief SNGW Universal Championship title reign ended in disaster. Seeds have grown that can end your career if I do not shine the proper light on them for removal. This is a turning point. Whatever road forward that you choose is up to you, but what brought you to this point is not up for interpretation."
[RYOMA:] "There are few people who could talk to me that way and still get my attention. I am not convinced that you are one of them."
[Geese:] "Answer me this question to your satisfaction then. Why did Zealot beat you?"
*RYOMA takes a second to answer but that is a second too long for Geese.*
[Geese:] "Foolish. You mean to tell me that you took two hours after the match just absent-mindedly showering? No, you spent every second since losing your Title attempting to answer that question. If you had come to a satisfying answer, you wouldn't even be talking to me right now. But we both know you are at a loss for a rational explanation. At best, you are in the self-pity phase. Perhaps you have even bought into the propaganda fed to the Galastream from the Sacrament."
[RYOMA:] "Propaganda?"
[Geese:] "They said you lost the will to fight. Bull-"
*Geese slaps RYOMA hard across the face with a shotei*
[Geese:] "Shit."
*A rare look of anger appears on RYOMA's face and he goes to chop Geese across the chest. Geese immediately catches RYOMA's hand before any contact is made and lightly pushes him back against the limousine with a smile. RYOMA is shocked at Geese's defense but put strangely at ease by the smile in return.*
[Geese:] "Exactly. You remain the walking spirit of toukon. I suspect there is not one single match in your career where you lost due to possessing inadequate fighting spirit. That leaves one inescapable conclusion.You lost to Zealot because you were predictabo- *Geese coughs* that is, predictable."
[RYOMA:] "Even if Zealot knew my moves, I was still able to connect with them."
[Geese:] "Yes, but their impact can be reduced if they are planned for in advance. You have been doing your ECHO Lariat for five years, RYOMA. In that time, enough people have seen it, and been hit by it, to know how to optimally absorb it. As long as you can see it coming, even if dazed, there are still ways to mitigate the damage."
[RYOMA:] "Then what is your suggestion?"
[Geese:] "Zealot didn't beat you because you gave up. Rather, he surprised you by doing something unexpected. After he easily read and evaded your lariat attempt, he suddenly applied a submission rather than picking you up for more attempted humiliation. It's time that you consider a similar approach to your arsenal."
[RYOMA:] "I never try to humiliate my opponent."
[Geese:] "You are hearing the wrong lesson here. Focus. Professional wrestling isn't kendo - you do not need to announce your moves to your opponents in advance. And yet, everyone already knows what you are going to do. It's one of the reasons I defeated you a few years ago. I knew all of your moves since you had been doing them for years. However, you did not know any of the new ones I was using upon my return to the ring. Even if all else was equal, and it was not, I still had the clear advantage. Competition runs on "yomi" - the art of reading your opponent. Therefore, it is up to you to start doing things in that ring that they could not expect. You need to evolve to thrive and become even stronger."
[RYOMA:] "And this...this is why I lost? This is why my career is in danger?"
[Geese:] "Let me complete this. Your predictability is your ceiling but your lack of conviction is your falling floor."
[RYOMA:] "But you just said my fighting spirit is invincible!"
*Geese almost laughs but catches himself and turns serious again.*
[Geese:] "I'm not sure I used those exact words. But there is a difference between conviction and fighting spirit. Fighting spirit is not something one thinks about. It either exists in someone or it does not. But conviction requires belief that one's actions are righteous. That is why Zealot controlled the match and ultimately won. Your fighting spirit kept you in the match defensively but you weren't able to take control of the situation consistently and when it mattered most. You weren't able to forge a path to victory because you didn't know what that victory would represent. Therefore, you couldn't truly reach it with conviction. To Zealot, his victory was inevitable because it was necessary."
[RYOMA:] "And you agree with him?"
[Geese:] "No more than the Enlightenment agreed with the Dark Ages. But I see in him a man who refuses to fail. I see a conviction that has latched onto a higher meaning for himself. What was your higher meaning? To stop Zealot? To remain Champion? For what reasons? You had no grand vision for your reign and so you could not provide a motivation that equaled or exceeded Zealot's. It's time to move beyond embodying your spirit alone and ask yourself what being Champion truly means to you. Do you want to use a Title as a means to an end to fight everyone you can like THRASH Ogawa does? Do you want to forge a legacy and demonstrate mastery over yourself and others like I do? Zealot has his own goals and the conviction to match. If you ever expect to become Champion again and make it to the next level of your career, you need more than just stronger, unpredictable moves. You need a level of conviction to match your fighting spirit. And to do that, you need to ask yourself what you truly wish to accomplish with your entire career from this point onward."
*Geese nods and begins to walk away.*
[RYOMA:] "Wait - why are you telling me this? If I take your advice, we will definitely be opponents soon."
[Geese:] "My Infinite Continuum Championship victory will be grander if my opponents are at their best. And part of my legacy is trying to make this world of professional wrestling even better to compensate for all the ways I once made it worse. One day I suspect that Zealot will want to do the same after realizing what a fool's errand he is on. If one is truly inquisitive *Geese smirks*, they realize that you can't cleanse your own home with violence."
[RYOMA:] "I will consider all you said, Geese. And I appreciate the intentions."
[Geese:] "No one changes over night. But I suspect this period of sundown will last a little longer for you than it has in the past. Use it to your advantage so that the next perihelion is blinding to your opponents."
*The two nod to each other and Geese walks away as RYOMA gets into his limousine. A few seconds later, we hear a shocked female voice off screen*
[Robin Walker:] "Whoa, did you just say perineum?"
[Geese:] "You can't let me have any serious moments, can you?"
[Robin:] "T'aint my fault I'm fun!"
*Robin erupts in laughter aaaaaand we're done here!*
*Two hours after APHELION, we see RYOMA leaving the arena and walking into the parking lot. He spots the Matsuki Holdings limousine and begins to approach. However, he stops in his tracks when he sees the man who is talking with Miss Asako Matsuki. The man sees him and takes a step back, anticipating this reaction.*
[Asako:] "HE HAS NO SAKE BUT HE MEANS NO HARM. HEAR HIM OUT!"
*Geese looks confused at the sake remark but nods at everything else.*
[RYOMA:] "It has been a long night."
[Geese:] "Then there is no harm in making it a little longer to get the full value out of it."
*Either convinced or too tired to argue, RYOMA lets out a sigh and nods his head. Miss Matsuki hands him a bottle of water and goes into the limousine as Geese gets into an aggressive talking stance.*
[Geese:] "I won't coddle you, even after what you've just been through. I have too much respect for you to sugarcoat this. Your brief SNGW Universal Championship title reign ended in disaster. Seeds have grown that can end your career if I do not shine the proper light on them for removal. This is a turning point. Whatever road forward that you choose is up to you, but what brought you to this point is not up for interpretation."
[RYOMA:] "There are few people who could talk to me that way and still get my attention. I am not convinced that you are one of them."
[Geese:] "Answer me this question to your satisfaction then. Why did Zealot beat you?"
*RYOMA takes a second to answer but that is a second too long for Geese.*
[Geese:] "Foolish. You mean to tell me that you took two hours after the match just absent-mindedly showering? No, you spent every second since losing your Title attempting to answer that question. If you had come to a satisfying answer, you wouldn't even be talking to me right now. But we both know you are at a loss for a rational explanation. At best, you are in the self-pity phase. Perhaps you have even bought into the propaganda fed to the Galastream from the Sacrament."
[RYOMA:] "Propaganda?"
[Geese:] "They said you lost the will to fight. Bull-"
*Geese slaps RYOMA hard across the face with a shotei*
[Geese:] "Shit."
*A rare look of anger appears on RYOMA's face and he goes to chop Geese across the chest. Geese immediately catches RYOMA's hand before any contact is made and lightly pushes him back against the limousine with a smile. RYOMA is shocked at Geese's defense but put strangely at ease by the smile in return.*
[Geese:] "Exactly. You remain the walking spirit of toukon. I suspect there is not one single match in your career where you lost due to possessing inadequate fighting spirit. That leaves one inescapable conclusion.You lost to Zealot because you were predictabo- *Geese coughs* that is, predictable."
[RYOMA:] "Even if Zealot knew my moves, I was still able to connect with them."
[Geese:] "Yes, but their impact can be reduced if they are planned for in advance. You have been doing your ECHO Lariat for five years, RYOMA. In that time, enough people have seen it, and been hit by it, to know how to optimally absorb it. As long as you can see it coming, even if dazed, there are still ways to mitigate the damage."
[RYOMA:] "Then what is your suggestion?"
[Geese:] "Zealot didn't beat you because you gave up. Rather, he surprised you by doing something unexpected. After he easily read and evaded your lariat attempt, he suddenly applied a submission rather than picking you up for more attempted humiliation. It's time that you consider a similar approach to your arsenal."
[RYOMA:] "I never try to humiliate my opponent."
[Geese:] "You are hearing the wrong lesson here. Focus. Professional wrestling isn't kendo - you do not need to announce your moves to your opponents in advance. And yet, everyone already knows what you are going to do. It's one of the reasons I defeated you a few years ago. I knew all of your moves since you had been doing them for years. However, you did not know any of the new ones I was using upon my return to the ring. Even if all else was equal, and it was not, I still had the clear advantage. Competition runs on "yomi" - the art of reading your opponent. Therefore, it is up to you to start doing things in that ring that they could not expect. You need to evolve to thrive and become even stronger."
[RYOMA:] "And this...this is why I lost? This is why my career is in danger?"
[Geese:] "Let me complete this. Your predictability is your ceiling but your lack of conviction is your falling floor."
[RYOMA:] "But you just said my fighting spirit is invincible!"
*Geese almost laughs but catches himself and turns serious again.*
[Geese:] "I'm not sure I used those exact words. But there is a difference between conviction and fighting spirit. Fighting spirit is not something one thinks about. It either exists in someone or it does not. But conviction requires belief that one's actions are righteous. That is why Zealot controlled the match and ultimately won. Your fighting spirit kept you in the match defensively but you weren't able to take control of the situation consistently and when it mattered most. You weren't able to forge a path to victory because you didn't know what that victory would represent. Therefore, you couldn't truly reach it with conviction. To Zealot, his victory was inevitable because it was necessary."
[RYOMA:] "And you agree with him?"
[Geese:] "No more than the Enlightenment agreed with the Dark Ages. But I see in him a man who refuses to fail. I see a conviction that has latched onto a higher meaning for himself. What was your higher meaning? To stop Zealot? To remain Champion? For what reasons? You had no grand vision for your reign and so you could not provide a motivation that equaled or exceeded Zealot's. It's time to move beyond embodying your spirit alone and ask yourself what being Champion truly means to you. Do you want to use a Title as a means to an end to fight everyone you can like THRASH Ogawa does? Do you want to forge a legacy and demonstrate mastery over yourself and others like I do? Zealot has his own goals and the conviction to match. If you ever expect to become Champion again and make it to the next level of your career, you need more than just stronger, unpredictable moves. You need a level of conviction to match your fighting spirit. And to do that, you need to ask yourself what you truly wish to accomplish with your entire career from this point onward."
*Geese nods and begins to walk away.*
[RYOMA:] "Wait - why are you telling me this? If I take your advice, we will definitely be opponents soon."
[Geese:] "My Infinite Continuum Championship victory will be grander if my opponents are at their best. And part of my legacy is trying to make this world of professional wrestling even better to compensate for all the ways I once made it worse. One day I suspect that Zealot will want to do the same after realizing what a fool's errand he is on. If one is truly inquisitive *Geese smirks*, they realize that you can't cleanse your own home with violence."
[RYOMA:] "I will consider all you said, Geese. And I appreciate the intentions."
[Geese:] "No one changes over night. But I suspect this period of sundown will last a little longer for you than it has in the past. Use it to your advantage so that the next perihelion is blinding to your opponents."
*The two nod to each other and Geese walks away as RYOMA gets into his limousine. A few seconds later, we hear a shocked female voice off screen*
[Robin Walker:] "Whoa, did you just say perineum?"
[Geese:] "You can't let me have any serious moments, can you?"
[Robin:] "T'aint my fault I'm fun!"
*Robin erupts in laughter aaaaaand we're done here!*