Post by silence on Oct 19, 2006 10:30:55 GMT -5
’Ralph, tell me about my parents.’ As he thought about it, he knew it would not be that hard to say. He would just have to sit down at the table while Ralph was reading his book and drinking his tea, and ask him. As he continued to think about it, the doubt substantially grew. Was he ready to know? Would Ralph even have the answers? Maybe it would be a waste.
He was older. His calendar almost drew the little red x’s on itself, the days flying by, filled with hard work and dedication. He had reached seven-two, at least he was the last time they had measured him, but he did not feel much taller. Just nineteen years young, and the nightmares had yet to suppress. If you were to peer into his mind, every night, for the last nine years, you would be amazed by what you found. The nightmares were always different, but the feeling they brought on were always the same. Cold. Terror. Anguish. How he had turned it into a driving force was beyond comprehension, but he had and he was looking better in the ring every day.
As much as he was improving, it still wasn’t good enough for Ralph. It was never good enough for Ralph. That also could have attributed to Silence’s tireless dedication, but it was overlooked by everyone, including Ralph. He may have felt in his own heart how much Silence cared for him, but sometimes he forgot. Ralph knew Silence still had more potential, and so he continually pushed him harder. Silence would respond positively, every time.
Ralph feared that soon he would Silence too much, and he would crumble. Retreat into nothing. No, nothing is what he used to be. Now he is much more than that...so much more...
Finally it grew to be too much. Ralph wanted to see Silence’s progress in action. A few phone calls by Mark later, and Silence had his first match. Closed-doors, but a match nonetheless. The only people to be in attendance, Mark and Ralph. That was all Silence cared for, or needed. How his skills matched up against another in an actual match was left to be seen. He had done a lot of work with training partners, mostly people who Mark had trained years before. They were all baffled by Silence’s size, but at the time none of them felt he was ready for a real match. There was such a distinguishable difference, they felt it would be too much for the youngster. Or they were all scared. The real answer hung in the balance.
It may have put a damper on his skills, not wrestling a bonafide match until age nineteen, but Ralph didn’t care. He wanted Silence to have the fundamentals down pat before he jumped into it. Which he did. Even at seven-two, he could still apply the submissions with the best of them, and do all of the technical junk. His gigantic frame made it difficult for him to be counter-acted by the six foot speedsters Mark had trained. That would change in the professional ranks, where every guy and his brother were six-seven two hundred fifty pounds. Silence needed to work on his power game. Yet to do that, he needed to bulk up! He might be stuck at two forty forever.. Ralph often thought to himself, yet cursed himself every time he did. All of the hard weight training Silence was doing, and he would hardly gain a pound. Most of the weight he did gain, was because of his height increase.
What Ralph didn’t realize, was Silence’s conditioning was excellent. He could jog a country mile and hardly huff when finished, a feat near unprecedented by a man with a body the size of Silence’s. The boy sweats more when he dreams... Which was true, oh so true.
Silence lifted his head, as he had been gazing at his shoes, only not really looking at them at all. His mind was lost in a different place, a different time. He saw the man who he was supposed to face walk into the room. He stood at about six feet, nine inches. Silence noted his muscular physique.
“Let’s see how ready you are for the big boys, Silence,” Mark spoke in a voice filled with great anticipation.
Ralph piped up, “you can do it, son.” Silence stood from his seat, and moved toward the ring with a bit of reluctance. Then it left him. He felt a new feeling welling up inside of him, starting in his stomach, and up into his chest, causing his heart to pound rapidly. He wanted this, and he wanted it bad.
So dark, the con of man... and one man, knows con all too well.
The Voice and Silence are standing in front of the calm ocean water, the moon shining down on it, stretched across in reflection. An ambiance as creepy as Silence himself, The Voice begins to speak once more.
The Voice: For the first time in two weeks, Silence isn’t in a match where he faces Gravedigger. But for three consecutive weeks, he is facing a man that is in the Main Event at Deadly Intentions. If they think putting Silence in against them will give these men easy wins, they are mistaken. Silence has more than held his own, and without the distraction of Gravedigger, he is sure to step it up a notch.
The Voice pauses as an owl’s hoot is heard, causing him to look around. Silence is still, as though he didn’t hear it, or he couldn’t care less. The Voice continues.
The Voice: This week, it is Marcus Murdoc that Silence must face. Pure Class Wrestling’s king of cons. I know of the past, Murdoc. In the past, you have done whatever it takes to get an edge on your opponents. However, it seems like last week before the match, you completely overlooked the fact that Silence was involved. You may have been extremely focused on Lantlas, but forgetting about the Reticent Raider could have been your downfall. Now, you have no choice but to concentrate on my monster...so tell me, Murdoc. What do you see? Think about it, long and hard. I’ll be waiting for your response.
In an instant, it appears as though a cloud or something of that nature has moved in front of the moon, causing the entire area to go dark. When it passes, and the light of the moon returns to the spot that The Voice and Silence were standing, they are gone.
As Silence peered across the ring at the man he was to engage in warfare with, he thought over his strategy. Thought about his training. What he was supposed to do in what situations, what moves he was going to use to try to get an advantage on this man. Silence did have a height advantage, which he would try to take advantage of as well.
When Mark rang the bell, it was as though Silence was snapped out of a trance. The man stalked across the ring, and held out his hand. Silence slapped it, and they began to circle each other. Sizing each other up, looking for any sort of weakness, and then they locked up. The man’s strength brought a concerned look to Silence’s face, as Silence found himself back-peddling almost immediately after the tie-up. The man had him in the corner before Silence knew it was approaching, and it caused a bit of wind to be knocked out of him. Not much, though. Silence’s opponent shifted position, and began to deliver chops to Silence’s chest. Kicks to his thighs. Punches to Silence’s stomach. Anything to wind the big kid with the long dreadlocks.
Silence thought over what he should do in his head, while absorbing the blows as best he could. He made his decision, and with great efficiency, shoved the man backward. He stumbled, rolled, and popped back up to his feet. Silence mentally shrugged, and then charged the man. A quick clothesline from Silence brought the guy to his back. Silence quickly got down on hooked him in a chin lock. His opponent grasped at Silence’s hands for a few seconds, before reaching up and raking Silence’s eyes. Silence let go of his chin lock, and backed away.
He felt a set of hands on his head, and then he was staring at the ceiling. He had been slammed to the mat by his head, it seemed. His arm was lifted, and placed into an arm bar. Silence tried to resist, but it was difficult. His opponent began to pull harder and harder. Silence would be unable to get out. Then he remembered, ring location. He looked to his left, and the ropes were right there. He reached out and grabbed them. His opponent broke his hold. Before Silence could stand, he was being dragged by his legs, into the middle of the ring. He found himself in a spinning toe hold. Silence began to rack his brain, think of what he was supposed to do in this situation. He had nothing. Without thinking, he brought up his other leg, and kicked his opponent away.
Silence managed to get to his feet, just as his opponent was bouncing off of the ropes across the ring. Silence once again had no idea what he should do here, but as his opponent approached him, growing nearer, Silence scooped him up and delivered a big backbreaker. He dropped his opponent to the mat, and the man rolled onto his stomach. Silence quickly grabbed him by his foot, and bent his leg. He hoisted him up and dropped him, right onto his knee. The man cried out in pain. Silence did this once more.
Silence grabbed his opponent by his head, and lifted him up. Once to his vertical base, the man was having slight trouble standing on his leg. Silence ran off of the ropes, and tried to knock his opponent down, yet he felt like he was running into a brick wall. Silence got to his feet, and tried again, but once again, he ran into that brick wall. Silence got to his feet, and tried for a kick, but his foot was caught. A dragon screw later, and Silence was on his stomach.
The wave of pain that came over him was enormous, as his opponent had Silence’s ankle in an ankle lock. Silence was in the middle of the ring. He had to get to the ropes. He wouldn’t tap out, giving up was something he would never do, but they couldn’t stay in the ring forever. He tried to crawl across the ring, but every time he gained some ground, he would get pulled back toward the middle.
When Silence thought it could get no worse, it did. The man holding him in the ankle lock dropped down, making it impossible for Silence to move. He wrenched the ankle lock harder and harder, but Silence would not give up. He’ll give up before his ankle snaps...[/b But he didn’t.
As the ankle was twisted harder and harder in an attempt to make Silence give up, the breaking of bone could be heard. ‘AAAHHHHH!!’ Silence cried out in pain, for the first time. The man quickly let go of Silence’s ankle, and moved up to Silence’s head, to look at him.
‘Stupid kid, why didn’t you tap when you knew it was going to break?’ but Silence didn’t know that it was going to break. He wasn’t thinking about his ankle at all. He was thinking about how he was supposed to get out. He was thinking that he would not tap no matter how intense the pain became. At the end, his mind wandered to his dreams, and he didn’t even realize his ankle was being twisted.
Ralph and Mark helped him to Ralph’s car, and they took him to the hospital. Ralph was concerned, yet disappointed, ‘this injury means that you will be off your feet for a while. Which is for the best. I don’t want you to re-injure it.’
Silence was upset with himself then, and as they put the cast on his ankle, he wondered what he would do. During the ride home, Ralph spoke to him about the match.
‘You were thinking too much,’ Ralph said to him, trying to explain, ‘you should have been acting on instinct. Wrestling scientifically doesn’t always help. Sometimes, you just gotta act. Like when you pushed him back, or when you kicked him away. Even when you gave him that backbreaker, you weren’t thinking, you were just acting. I know that. You have to act, all the time. Well, now you can’t act for a while, because of your ankle. Although I am proud of your resilience.’ Ralph turned back to him and smiled, and Silence smiled back. The rest of the way, they were both silent. Which was normal for Silence anyway.
Silence wondered how this would affect his performance in the ring, how it would put a damper on his training, and what he would do while he was unable to get into the ring... would he be lost? He felt lost, that was for certain. Although it was not the first time he felt that way.
He was older. His calendar almost drew the little red x’s on itself, the days flying by, filled with hard work and dedication. He had reached seven-two, at least he was the last time they had measured him, but he did not feel much taller. Just nineteen years young, and the nightmares had yet to suppress. If you were to peer into his mind, every night, for the last nine years, you would be amazed by what you found. The nightmares were always different, but the feeling they brought on were always the same. Cold. Terror. Anguish. How he had turned it into a driving force was beyond comprehension, but he had and he was looking better in the ring every day.
As much as he was improving, it still wasn’t good enough for Ralph. It was never good enough for Ralph. That also could have attributed to Silence’s tireless dedication, but it was overlooked by everyone, including Ralph. He may have felt in his own heart how much Silence cared for him, but sometimes he forgot. Ralph knew Silence still had more potential, and so he continually pushed him harder. Silence would respond positively, every time.
Ralph feared that soon he would Silence too much, and he would crumble. Retreat into nothing. No, nothing is what he used to be. Now he is much more than that...so much more...
Finally it grew to be too much. Ralph wanted to see Silence’s progress in action. A few phone calls by Mark later, and Silence had his first match. Closed-doors, but a match nonetheless. The only people to be in attendance, Mark and Ralph. That was all Silence cared for, or needed. How his skills matched up against another in an actual match was left to be seen. He had done a lot of work with training partners, mostly people who Mark had trained years before. They were all baffled by Silence’s size, but at the time none of them felt he was ready for a real match. There was such a distinguishable difference, they felt it would be too much for the youngster. Or they were all scared. The real answer hung in the balance.
It may have put a damper on his skills, not wrestling a bonafide match until age nineteen, but Ralph didn’t care. He wanted Silence to have the fundamentals down pat before he jumped into it. Which he did. Even at seven-two, he could still apply the submissions with the best of them, and do all of the technical junk. His gigantic frame made it difficult for him to be counter-acted by the six foot speedsters Mark had trained. That would change in the professional ranks, where every guy and his brother were six-seven two hundred fifty pounds. Silence needed to work on his power game. Yet to do that, he needed to bulk up! He might be stuck at two forty forever.. Ralph often thought to himself, yet cursed himself every time he did. All of the hard weight training Silence was doing, and he would hardly gain a pound. Most of the weight he did gain, was because of his height increase.
What Ralph didn’t realize, was Silence’s conditioning was excellent. He could jog a country mile and hardly huff when finished, a feat near unprecedented by a man with a body the size of Silence’s. The boy sweats more when he dreams... Which was true, oh so true.
Silence lifted his head, as he had been gazing at his shoes, only not really looking at them at all. His mind was lost in a different place, a different time. He saw the man who he was supposed to face walk into the room. He stood at about six feet, nine inches. Silence noted his muscular physique.
“Let’s see how ready you are for the big boys, Silence,” Mark spoke in a voice filled with great anticipation.
Ralph piped up, “you can do it, son.” Silence stood from his seat, and moved toward the ring with a bit of reluctance. Then it left him. He felt a new feeling welling up inside of him, starting in his stomach, and up into his chest, causing his heart to pound rapidly. He wanted this, and he wanted it bad.
~~~~~
So dark, the con of man... and one man, knows con all too well.
The Voice and Silence are standing in front of the calm ocean water, the moon shining down on it, stretched across in reflection. An ambiance as creepy as Silence himself, The Voice begins to speak once more.
The Voice: For the first time in two weeks, Silence isn’t in a match where he faces Gravedigger. But for three consecutive weeks, he is facing a man that is in the Main Event at Deadly Intentions. If they think putting Silence in against them will give these men easy wins, they are mistaken. Silence has more than held his own, and without the distraction of Gravedigger, he is sure to step it up a notch.
The Voice pauses as an owl’s hoot is heard, causing him to look around. Silence is still, as though he didn’t hear it, or he couldn’t care less. The Voice continues.
The Voice: This week, it is Marcus Murdoc that Silence must face. Pure Class Wrestling’s king of cons. I know of the past, Murdoc. In the past, you have done whatever it takes to get an edge on your opponents. However, it seems like last week before the match, you completely overlooked the fact that Silence was involved. You may have been extremely focused on Lantlas, but forgetting about the Reticent Raider could have been your downfall. Now, you have no choice but to concentrate on my monster...so tell me, Murdoc. What do you see? Think about it, long and hard. I’ll be waiting for your response.
In an instant, it appears as though a cloud or something of that nature has moved in front of the moon, causing the entire area to go dark. When it passes, and the light of the moon returns to the spot that The Voice and Silence were standing, they are gone.
~~~~~
As Silence peered across the ring at the man he was to engage in warfare with, he thought over his strategy. Thought about his training. What he was supposed to do in what situations, what moves he was going to use to try to get an advantage on this man. Silence did have a height advantage, which he would try to take advantage of as well.
When Mark rang the bell, it was as though Silence was snapped out of a trance. The man stalked across the ring, and held out his hand. Silence slapped it, and they began to circle each other. Sizing each other up, looking for any sort of weakness, and then they locked up. The man’s strength brought a concerned look to Silence’s face, as Silence found himself back-peddling almost immediately after the tie-up. The man had him in the corner before Silence knew it was approaching, and it caused a bit of wind to be knocked out of him. Not much, though. Silence’s opponent shifted position, and began to deliver chops to Silence’s chest. Kicks to his thighs. Punches to Silence’s stomach. Anything to wind the big kid with the long dreadlocks.
Silence thought over what he should do in his head, while absorbing the blows as best he could. He made his decision, and with great efficiency, shoved the man backward. He stumbled, rolled, and popped back up to his feet. Silence mentally shrugged, and then charged the man. A quick clothesline from Silence brought the guy to his back. Silence quickly got down on hooked him in a chin lock. His opponent grasped at Silence’s hands for a few seconds, before reaching up and raking Silence’s eyes. Silence let go of his chin lock, and backed away.
He felt a set of hands on his head, and then he was staring at the ceiling. He had been slammed to the mat by his head, it seemed. His arm was lifted, and placed into an arm bar. Silence tried to resist, but it was difficult. His opponent began to pull harder and harder. Silence would be unable to get out. Then he remembered, ring location. He looked to his left, and the ropes were right there. He reached out and grabbed them. His opponent broke his hold. Before Silence could stand, he was being dragged by his legs, into the middle of the ring. He found himself in a spinning toe hold. Silence began to rack his brain, think of what he was supposed to do in this situation. He had nothing. Without thinking, he brought up his other leg, and kicked his opponent away.
Silence managed to get to his feet, just as his opponent was bouncing off of the ropes across the ring. Silence once again had no idea what he should do here, but as his opponent approached him, growing nearer, Silence scooped him up and delivered a big backbreaker. He dropped his opponent to the mat, and the man rolled onto his stomach. Silence quickly grabbed him by his foot, and bent his leg. He hoisted him up and dropped him, right onto his knee. The man cried out in pain. Silence did this once more.
Silence grabbed his opponent by his head, and lifted him up. Once to his vertical base, the man was having slight trouble standing on his leg. Silence ran off of the ropes, and tried to knock his opponent down, yet he felt like he was running into a brick wall. Silence got to his feet, and tried again, but once again, he ran into that brick wall. Silence got to his feet, and tried for a kick, but his foot was caught. A dragon screw later, and Silence was on his stomach.
The wave of pain that came over him was enormous, as his opponent had Silence’s ankle in an ankle lock. Silence was in the middle of the ring. He had to get to the ropes. He wouldn’t tap out, giving up was something he would never do, but they couldn’t stay in the ring forever. He tried to crawl across the ring, but every time he gained some ground, he would get pulled back toward the middle.
When Silence thought it could get no worse, it did. The man holding him in the ankle lock dropped down, making it impossible for Silence to move. He wrenched the ankle lock harder and harder, but Silence would not give up. He’ll give up before his ankle snaps...[/b But he didn’t.
As the ankle was twisted harder and harder in an attempt to make Silence give up, the breaking of bone could be heard. ‘AAAHHHHH!!’ Silence cried out in pain, for the first time. The man quickly let go of Silence’s ankle, and moved up to Silence’s head, to look at him.
‘Stupid kid, why didn’t you tap when you knew it was going to break?’ but Silence didn’t know that it was going to break. He wasn’t thinking about his ankle at all. He was thinking about how he was supposed to get out. He was thinking that he would not tap no matter how intense the pain became. At the end, his mind wandered to his dreams, and he didn’t even realize his ankle was being twisted.
Ralph and Mark helped him to Ralph’s car, and they took him to the hospital. Ralph was concerned, yet disappointed, ‘this injury means that you will be off your feet for a while. Which is for the best. I don’t want you to re-injure it.’
Silence was upset with himself then, and as they put the cast on his ankle, he wondered what he would do. During the ride home, Ralph spoke to him about the match.
‘You were thinking too much,’ Ralph said to him, trying to explain, ‘you should have been acting on instinct. Wrestling scientifically doesn’t always help. Sometimes, you just gotta act. Like when you pushed him back, or when you kicked him away. Even when you gave him that backbreaker, you weren’t thinking, you were just acting. I know that. You have to act, all the time. Well, now you can’t act for a while, because of your ankle. Although I am proud of your resilience.’ Ralph turned back to him and smiled, and Silence smiled back. The rest of the way, they were both silent. Which was normal for Silence anyway.
Silence wondered how this would affect his performance in the ring, how it would put a damper on his training, and what he would do while he was unable to get into the ring... would he be lost? He felt lost, that was for certain. Although it was not the first time he felt that way.