Post by John Cable on Dec 17, 2022 3:30:54 GMT -5
The purple tendrils of hard light flexed and flipped in a daring dance in and among themselves within the inky black maelstrom of energy that flowed around the Axtgriff as John and the Citizen crossed the boundaries of the possible once again and had merged with the very essence of Existence itself and plunged headlong into the flow of the River of Time. One moment longer, and the scaly friend they had made might have made short work of them both, and cut this tale far shorter than expected, but luckily, John had managed to 'Kronk' it just in time, and now, their fates were flowing along a stream of hard light energy towards... well... who knew?
“For fuck sake...” the Citizen croaked, his voice barely returning after the impromptu face to face with the ancestor of one his favorite dinner options. The thought that he was just about to become something else' favorite dinner option was not lost on him as he panted heavily in the passenger seat of the Kayfabe Airline's most dangerous and convenient creation ever.
“This is definitely not what I expected out of a rainy night patrol... That's for damned sure.” John echoed his astonishment at their current predicament as they raced through the cosmos of Time.
With a shudder and a POP... the Axtgriff leaves its place in the River of Time as a burst of purple light and a puff of smoke welcomes the travelers to their newest locale in this haphazard adventure of chance.
John looks across the cab of the Axtgriff at the Citizen's masked face, his gnarled and scarred features full of apprehension, the tension taut in his neck and cheeks, and then the two of them slowly turn to peer out of the window before them and to their sides.
A wide, open field of some unknown shiny white material stretch away from the truck in all directions, occasionally broken up by small walled gardens of trees and shrubs dotted with a variety of flowers neither of them had ever seen before. Further away, avenues branched away from the massive field of white and stretched off into the sky or wrapped in between luxuriously tall buildings made of the same shiny white mystery material dotted with hanging gardens and flowing waterfalls as far as the eye could see. Gleaming windows shimmered across every surface in the midday sun, and the beauty of it all was instantly breathtaking.
“Wow.” John breathed as he took in their surroundings reverently.
The Citizen sat in awe for a moment, his senses overwhelmed by their arrival into what could only be called a Utopian mecca of construction perfection before he slowly moved his hand for the handle of the passenger side door.
“Are you sure we should go out there?” Cable asks, hesitantly.
“Well... no... but I mean... look at it! I don't think I want to miss this opportunity. I want to look around.” the Citizen says as he pulls the handle and the door pops free of the frame and swings open.
He steps out of the truck as John opens his door and follows him outside. They look around, both pulling a hand over their eyes to shield from the brightness of the day as they begin to take in the sights of the future. The skyline stretches on forever in all directions, flying highways swirling between unbelievably tall buildings built in the most gravity defying shapes imaginable, and everywhere the lush green of growing things sprouts from every corner.
Despite the obvious life abundantly growing from every nook and cranny available, nowhere to be seen were any people. There were no vehicles on the through-ways, and not a single person could be seen moving among the buildings or across the wide open spaces of white anywhere they could see.
“Organic... You are not registered. State your identification and your purpose.” came a digital voice suddenly from above the truck that shocked them both in the silence of this strange place. John and the Citizen both duck towards the front of the truck and spin to see where the robotic commands had come from.
An orb of white shiny plates and many odd lenses and lights floated above them and the Axtgriff, one round blue light 'staring' at them if it were even possible, but they felt it's gaze affixed to them as they stared at it, mouths agape and unsure how to even respond.
“Organic... You are not registered. State your identification and your purpose.” hummed the robotic voice once more as it floated slowly closer to them and the truck.
As Cable and his time traveling companion stare at the floating orb making demands above them, a green laser lances from a spot in it's plating and scans the Axtgriff as it floats even closer to them, the laser light widening it's beam and tracing over the truck from back to the front and then back towards the rear again.
“Prototype Kayfabe Axtgriff identified... Series Number 1... Circa 2022 AD... Cross referencing. The robotic voice emanated from the orb as it floated closer to the Citizen and John, the singular blue light still 'staring' at them intently, it's full focus at the moment.
“Uh... yeah... as weird as that might be... that is the first Axtgriff right there, and I am John Cable. We are... uh... not from around here, you might say.” John shouts at the orb hovering overhead, hopeful it wasn't about to vaporize them both where they stood.
“Contacting Main Hub. One moment.” it responded in it's robotic monotone as John looked nervously at the Citizen and they both looked around for any place at all to hide or run to if this situation flipped anymore sideways than it already had in the next two seconds, but neither was confident in their surroundings, and swiftly looked back at each other exasperatedly.
“Connection established. Commencing transmission. One Moment.” it responded after a few seconds that seemed to last far longer than it actually did to both of the men standing below it on the ground.
“What does that mean?” the Citizen whispered to John, panic heavy in every word.
“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” John whispered back hurriedly, anticipation mounting between them and this floating orb as they awaited this 'transmission' it mentioned.
Then, a shimmering light flashed forth from a different point in the shiny white plates, and an image came into focus of a man in a strange white robe that hung from his shoulders to the floor around his feet, rose up behind his head, and wrapped him in an odd cowl that covered his head from behind and the sides and stood tall beside his ears. His bald head was smooth, as were his slightly gaunt cheeks, and his hawkish nose proceeded his face that squinted in in the middle where his beady black eyes stared at the pair of them from some unknown remote location. The image of the man flickered and wavered as it emerged from the beam of light to stand before them on the wide white field next to the Axtgriff.
“And finally... as the prophecy had foretold... our cycle has come to meet in the middle at long last.” the man said with a warm, kind voice, excited and joyous, filled with emotion as his face creased with a wide smile and his dark eyes shone with the sparkle of tears welling in the corners.
“I'm sorry... that what now?” the Citizen asked, surprise and confusion evident in his tone.
“Yes. I am sure you both have many questions. I am so happy that you are here. Please... take your seats within the Axtgriff, and we will meet here at the Capitol. There is much to discuss, and many things to do. This is a joyous occasion, and I am glad the day has finally come.” the man's image motions to the truck beside him, and his holographic tears fall from his eyes in rivulets down his hard light cheeks as his smile grows even wider than it had been before.
Surprised would not be the right word for the emotion John and the Citizen were experiencing then. No... this was something far greater... far deeper and more concerning than mere surprise. This was existential in it's scope... and bore into them to the very core of their beings. It wasn't a fear... or terror... and it definitely wasn't the same sort of fulfillment the man in the light image has seemed to be experiencing in this moment.
Neither of them could quiet place their fingers on it... but this was a moment of monumental importance, and they could both feel it in their bones.
Slowly at first, John and the Citizen began to creep back towards their sides of the truck, and with a furtive glance towards the orb hovering over the truck, they both slide around their doors and into the ergonomic seats within the Axtgriff. They looked at each other across the cab once more, and exchanged a glance between them they spoke volumes about what was going on in their minds. The years of friendship and the sheer amount of time the both of them had shared working together, both in and out of a ring in the time they had known each other had grown a unspoken bond between them, and in this moment... they both knew exactly what was firing off in the other's head.
“Please secure the portals to the vehicles Most Esteemed Sirs, and then we can be away to the Capitol momentarily.” the orbs mechanical voice spoke, almost cheerily this time as compared to the rigid digital tones of before. Beside the truck, the image of the man in white robes waved at them with a smile, and then faded as the beam ceased projecting from the orb.
John and the Citizen both looked at their door handles, looked at each other, and then reached to close their doors synchronously.
“Attempting Connection. One moment.” the digital voice said again, once more back to the monotone and mechanical voice it had used before.
The panels inside the Axtgriff flashed white all at once a moment later, and then began to stream strings of coding sideways across their entire dash as if it were one screen stretched over many monitors. The coding flies past slow in some lines, and faster than they could read it in others, but all in very uniform lines running across the dash. Just as it began, suddenly the coding lines stopped, frozen on the screen.
“Connection Established. Teleportation Eminent. One Moment.” the rigid robotic voice spoke once more.
“Does this have serious 'Council of Shane's' vibes to you too?” Cable whispers to the Citizen without even looking away from the windshield. He didn't need to see him to know what was going through his thoughts right now as he could feel both of their anxieties filling the cab of the truck like a rush of water threatening to fill up all the space and drown them both.
“Yeah... Yeah for sure.” the Citizen whispers back through clenched teeth beneath the mask.
In the next moment, a mote of brilliant white light shone in the center of the truck like a tiny little star, and in the moment, both John and the Citizen went to scream, terror ripping through them from end to end, but there was no time. Before the air had even been drawn in to begin the sounds of fright, the bright white mote expanded between them and passed right through their very bodies... every single cell... and right out through the walls of the truck itself until it had formed a small bubble around the space the Axtgriff occupied in the strange future place.
With a POP... John, the Citizen, the truck, and the strange plated orb were gone... vanished... and silence reigned in the pristine white field of small walled gardens as if they had never been there.
* * * * *
“OK... let me get this straight.” John finally says after what seemed like listening to this 'Prophesy of the Beginning' for endless hours.
“When we ended up here today... but in MY frame of time... we set forth a course of actions that leads to an age of technological advancement for Humanity and that it eventually gains the interest of the Council of Shane's... AGAIN... and they start a timeline cleansing war that leads to an all out inter-dimensional slaughter because of their perceived 'Pure Timeline' being altered... a military incursion that drags several different timelines into annihilation... but others into this era of unforeseen peace and prosperity... but if I DON'T follow though with the research I am supposed to set in motion, the Council still ends up starting a war with different dimensions anyway... but we aren't prepared and they wipe even more of the timelines, until only one strand of existence is left... and then... their 'Pure Timeline' ends in the death of Humanity in the universe... right?” he says slowly, making sure that the entire thought is pieced together just right to gather up the complicated nuances of the Straight-to-Hollywood-Tale the man in the strange white robe had just told him.
“You seemed have grasped the scenario we face in this moment very astutely. I am impressed. Many of younger generations struggle with the understanding of the nuances of the flow of the River of Time... yet, I am not surprised one such as you would grasp these concepts.” the elder man in the odd white robe smiles at him again as he speaks across the circular table made of the same strange shiny white material everything else here is made from.
“What does that even mean?” the Citizen finally bursts, trying to figure how the hell he ended up here today and what he had done wrong to be involved in anything this off the wall and crazy.
“I spoke plainly. It is no surprise to me that the One of Prophesy would understand our dire situation as easily as he has. The fate of all of Humanity of the future lays in his hands, and he has shown a great grasp of this scenario, even though this very concept is new to him and of a nature far removed from his normal concerns.” the elder says with a smile, despite the nature of the dilemma facing them currently.
“How the hell can you be so calm about this? This is John we're talking about, not some rocket scientist or some quantum mathematician for fucks sake. He runs a company and he's made some good deals in his life, but we're talking about the fate of the entirety of fucking Humanity here! Are you serious!?!?” the Citizen shouts at him, shooting up from the plain white shiny chair beneath him at the side of the table.
The old man smiles and closes his eyes for a moment before folding his hands in front of himself on the table and looking up at the Citizen once more.
“Mr. Gold... I understand that you have a hard time believing the things you have heard today. I do. If it had been the first time I had heard such a story, I assure you... I would feel very much the same way as you do... that a single man could make such a vast impact on the existence of not just Humanity, but of countless different timelines of events that will in fact take place... but Aaron... for you they are future events, yet to take place, fraught with uncertainty and danger. The very idea of them to you is a terrifying one... but to me... they are events that have already taken place, now nearly forgotten in the details of the story of how we came to be here... in a time when John is not the man you know him to be... but the man who has made all of this possible already in ages far flung to the sands of Time and told as a legend among my people. Of these things I tell you... they are but facts of a history we barely remember... so keep in mind the perspective of the teller of this tale, and of the role you have yet to play within it, and from that perspective, find your truth, and your comfort.” the man says to the Citizen, the same warm smile spread across his aged features.
The Citizen stared at the old man there in his chair... for a long time... contemplating the words he had just spoke, and wondering at the meaning behind them. His mind was picking apart the details, and while the words of the story were hard to grasp and even harder to swallow at face value, the more he heard the words echo in his head... the confidence the man had as he said them... the look on his face when he looked upon them and saw the fulfillment of his past and the assured arrival of the moment he had waited his whole life to see come to pass... he couldn't discredit the man's unerring assiduity to the facts as he spoke them.
“So... how do I even attempt not to fuck this up? I mean... this is DEFINITELY one of those Doctor Strange, one in 4 trillion timeline kinda things right? It has to be...” John inserts abruptly, his deep, gravely tone somber and a little crazed, the weight of the situation beginning to truly set in on him in the moment.
“Of course... as sure as I am that you will succeed... I am equally sure there are many paths that lead to failure and annihilation. Of those paths, here, we have finally found this day, when you begin the journey through time to ensure our existence... and as I sit here before you, I can only have hope that you will in fact find the path that leads us to this day once more.” the man says as he grins that warm grin of satisfaction he has been wearing all afternoon.
“I appreciate your confidence. I do. I wish I had half of it when deciding what to have for dinner if chicken isn't on the menu... but dude... this is insane.” the Citizen says, disbelief dripping from every word as it escapes his lips, slumping heavily in the chair beneath him once more.
“John... what the fuck man?” he asks, his confusion turning into fear and anger as he stewed on the idea of being responsible for the fates of untold numbers of all of Humanity, his eyes crossing the table to stare at Cable.
John sat leaned over in his chair, his elbows on his knees and his palms holding his forehead as he drew in a deep breath, held it a moment, and then exhaled in a slow controlled stream between pursed lips. He sat up slowly, his eyes closed as he looked more upwards, towards a ceiling just as white as the walls and domed overhead. Around the rim of the ceiling, long walled gardens just like those in the fields from the place they had arrived, hung lush and bountiful greenery of all sorts and fashions, none of which John had ever seen before. The flowers were beautiful, in colors he had never imagined before, with petal patterns that grew in the most intricate patterns.
As he sat there, Aaron staring holes through him while the man in the white robe just smiled at them both as if every fear in his entire life had just evaporated, he thought about these trees and flowers, and how the world had finally become something he had always imaged it could... but had no idea how to get it there.
At the same time... he thought about how much pressure there was to be the one to cause this future to even be possible... and to think... he was just some guy who tried to do his best and wrestled once every month or so. He was just one guy... a guy who dared to dream a better dream... a guy who had the audacity to think that people could be better than they had shown him they could hope to be... and yet... here sat a man who had known it would come to be, and here they were. Here they sat in a future that had realized the entire potential of the Human Existence... and if there was hope for that left in him... he could never work towards anything else but this.
How could he?
It was right here... and what better Legacy could there be?
* * * * *
John, the Citizen, the man in the odd white robe, and the shiny white orb of plating with a single shining blue light 'eyeball' make their way down a pathway suspended between two different parts of the curved white walls of the building filled with trees and gardens. Their pace is slow, following the man into a new part of this futuristic place of wonder as John and Aaron stare all around them in awe at the sights they see among the alien plants as they make their way across the walkway.
“So... you said that you had a way to get us home to do this great mission I'm supposed to succeed at so this whole thing can even happen right? I mean, I love it here, but I can't imagine I can succeed at this sort of thing without going back and getting it started right? That would break the timeline or something, I'm sure...” John postulates aloud as he pushes for some more answers to the impending question of their returning home, sooner rather than later.
“Yes, John. We have a way for you both to get home, and in fact, we have compiled a great many things for your journey, and for your mission. It is within our best interest to ensure your success, and I assure you, very much consideration has gone into this over many generations of Historians before me. You have much to accomplish, and you will not be able to do it on your own.” the Historian remarked over his shoulder as made his way along slowly.
John and Aaron cast each other a look, excitement and terror conflicting across John's face as he wondered at the cryptic response. Not long after, as they made their way across the bridged pathway into the next part of the building, more of the mystery came unraveled.
There, in a wide bay covered in a huge dome curved over two massive gardens on either side, all made of the same shiny white walls and floors, were the Prototype Axtgriff they had arrived in and a second, highly modified version of the Axtgriff. The newer version had Hard Light Tires, and several Hard Light plates and panels across the exterior. It also had a compartment with a deep depression built into the back wall of the cab. Inside of it, there were several mechanical slots, and more then a dozen connections of electrical build. This one was slate gray with pulsing green lights emanating from the ridges and seams between the plates of the bodies exterior.
As Cable and Gold explore the new truck, from a doorway near the back of the alcove, an egg-like sphere a bit smaller than the robotic sentry floating nearby makes it's way into the bay and floats towards the upgraded truck and the pair of time travelers too curious at the new vehicle to notice its arrival.
“It is a pleasure to finally meet you both. I have spent 237 years compiling as much data as I believed to be relevant to our journey and integrating as much new technology as my hardware would allow to ensure the success of your future missions. I hope that you find this to be adequate, Sirs.” a gentle singsong sort of digital tone rings out across the bay as the egg-like sphere floats nearer yet and a bright green “eyeball” of sorts emerges from the shiny white plating on its exterior.
John and the Citizen spin slowly towards each other and then angle their view upwards just a bit, to see the green “eyed” egg, drone, thing floating nearby, bobbing side to side in a cheery manner.
“Well... that uh... that sounds... did you say 237 years?” John stammers and squints at the floating thing above him.
“Yes.” it answers him as the green lighted “eyeball” blinks a couple of times and it spins in the air like a joyous little ovum bobbing up and down above them before floating towards the compartment on the back of the truck. Several prehensile cables slide from hidden spaces in the plating on the small egg-like drone and reached forward for the connectors inside of the hollowed out depression, and several small ports opened in the plates to plug into the ports directly inside of the space in the truck. With a slight 'click' the egg connected to the truck and settled into its apparent spot.
John and Aaron blinked once, twice each, and then John rubbed his face with both hands.
The Citizen takes a couple of steps away from the truck across the bay then and squats down near one of the low walls surrounding the garden. He puts his masked head in his hand as he steadies himself by putting his knee on the shiny white floor.
“John... I need you tell me we are on some Star Wars inspired 'Acid Trip of the Stars' right now... you slipped me something in the truck earlier on stakeout, and this is just some really elaborate fucking stunt your pulling with the new production company, right?... RIGHT?” he finally shouts at Cable.
“Aaron... I wish I could tell you that I was, and that this was... but I can't. You know this is real. You know just a few years ago we ended up skipping through a few dimensional wormholes of our own, and that in the vaults there are three other items that have abilities similar to these trucks, and we have used them all over the years for different purposes. You know just how real this is... and just how much is at stake here. We have a job to do, and I am going to try to make this work. It's always bee...” John starts to monologue before the Citizen looks up at him and cuts him off.
“Do you think I don't know that this is what the dream has always been? To get people to a point where disease and famine were irrelevant? An existence where we lived a life of plenty and exploration and our only pursuit was the seeking of knowledge and artistic expression? Do you think that I don't know that, John? Seriously? This isn't about the dream being here, hundreds of years in the future... actually real, and not just a crackpot vision we shared of what the future generations could be like if we could move society beyond war and greed and death. It isn't. Not even close.” he says shaking his head slowly side to side, audibly sneering at the thought.
'Well then... what the hell is it then?” Cable asks, confused at the direction the conversation has taken.
“You can't be so arrogant to think that YOU AND I are the CHOSEN ONES meant to bring about an age of prosperity and survival to Humanity unrivaled in the galaxy and that we will... by doing so... ensure the survival of Humanity against the threat of annihilation in an multidimensional war that will rage across the omniverse!” he shouts at John as he stands back up, his hands shaking at the prospect of it all.
John takes a few steps away from the truck then, and makes his way over to the garden wall where Aaron is. He takes Citizen by both shoulders, and looks him in his glittering golden eagle stitched across the red white and blue field behind it. His scarred flesh relaxes, and John smiles weakly at his brother in law. His eyes soften, and he hugs hi close and pats him on the back with one solid palm.
“Aaron. As long as you have known me, there has only ever been one way things work with me. I do the best I can to try to make it work, no matter what that takes. I find a way. I may not believe in myself as much as this guy does... but I do know that if it is me and you who DO have the chance to make this work, I am not about to even begin to TRY and fuck this up by NOT trying at all. Besides... that egg thing said it's been getting ready for this for 200 something years. I can't even begin to imagine how ready it is to get this shit going already, and I know if I were that guy in the robe, I'd be pinching golden bricks off right now trying to get us off on our way to make sure everything that ever existed doesn't just evaporate to nothing when I decide to eat salmon for lunch next week instead of spaghetti, you know?” John says with a grin.
“You are fucking idiot. You're not wrong... but if you're the best hope for our eventual enlightenment and for the fate of Humanities Survival... We are fucking doomed.” Aaron says as he hangs his head in sorrow at the notion.
John chuckles softly before he turns back towards the trucks across the bay.
“So... the egg thing said it had been getting ready for a long time, and uh, compiling a bunch of information for this mission... so... what does it DO... exactly?” John ask the man in the robe curiously, beginning to wander back towards the trucks, the Citizen not too far behind interested in the question himself.
“That is what we call an Integrated Data and Engineering Automaton, or I.D.E.A. for short. This one is a very special one, of course.” the Historian answers proudly.
“What makes it so special besides the 237 years of data work and hardware upgrades its been doing? Is it like some sort of super assassin droid specially trained to wipe out threats to the safety of the mission throughout the multiverse?” Aaron asks bluntly.
“Why don't you ask it yourself? It has a fully integrated AI with a variety of capabilities at it's disposal. Besides... you'll have to get to know it soon enough. It will be integral to your success, and ours.” the man answers with his same warm grin as the three of them turn to look at the egg-like IDEA snuggled into its compartment as it single green “eye” flashes to life once more and swivels to look at them from the back of the truck.
“OK... um... IDEA... what are your directives?” John asks across the bay.
“As a fully sentient AI, I am not bound by a set of structural directives, but I do have personal agendas, and goals that I will actively work towards fulfilling for my own satisfaction. I also have the freedom to think about my own survival, and the success of our mission, and to have opinions on most topics that I endeavor to engage and analyze. While I do not have emotional capabilities, my rational processing is highly advanced, and I have as many upgraded pieces of hardware as I could assimilate into my framework as per the currently accessible technology.” he cheery little egg chimed away in its singsong digital tones.
“Oh... uh... alright. What sorts of databases have you been compiling in your centuries of data collection?” John asks, fairly taken aback by the revelation of the magnitude of the little drone's fully sentient nature.
“I come equipped with the most current onboard multiple-spectrum photo-receptor, a magnetic imaging device, a thermal imager, and signal transmission equipment designed for multiple wavelengths. This equipment suite includes holographic imaging and hard light technology integration. Also, I have a fully integrated suite of analytical science tools, and extensive file logs of both physical sciences and engineering databases. In addition, I have compiled a complete Astromech Package Upload with specific engineering suites for my own maintenance and repair, and the required databases for the Axtgriff FTV as well as the complete database for Advanced Piloting with specific instructions for usage and maintenance in regard to the Axtgriff with full system integration. In addition to my scientific and engineering functions and knowledge bases I have also compiled an extensive Base Protocol Database and a vast library of Mediation Manuals and Language Databases with Full Entry of Known Information regarding Humanity, both intergalactic and inter-dimensional, with full accounts of historical data regarding the 'Timelines As We Know Them' and all associated literature to those topics.” the egg chirps at them as they stare at it blankly.
* * * * *
“OK... so I'll see you at the Kayfabe Hangar, and then we drop back in where we belong with the new truck so we don't fuck this whole thing up, right?” the Citizen shouts over to John from the prototype Axtgriff across the bay.
“Yeah. Good luck. See you in a minute.” John shouts back as the purple tendrils of hard light start to form around the both of the trucks and the little egg of an R2 unit buzzes and hums in the back of the FTV. Moments later, with a POP, both of them were gone in a flash of purple light and a puff of smoke.
* * * * *
It's a bitter pill to have been in so many places... featured in so many rings... a staple sight on so many televisions... a guest on so many stages... an inspiration to so many... a life changer to millions... and to still be the underdog to most of the guys in the back.
It's hard to imagine doing all of the things I've done... to have impacted so many careers... and provided so much to so many... for as many years as I have worked in this industry... and for there to be so many mouths speaking names that aren't mine when a World Heavyweight Championship comes up.
It's about a Legacy... and I know it.
Way back in the day, as the old men tell it... I had a career, and I did a lot of things... but one of the things I didn't do was forge a Legacy inside of the squared circle. I wasn't focused on a wrestling Legacy, because to me, wrestling was what I did... not who I was.
I spent years honing my craft... Two decades I spent in every ring I could bump in... in every gym I could buy and train in... against anyone who would climb between the ropes... day in and day out, night after night, on damn near every continent on this planet... but it wasn't because wrestling was my life.
The entire time I was building the network of the New Breed Foundation and figuring out how to employ the guys who needed another chance to get it right, and the single moms who needed the opportunity to bring in enough money to take care of their homes and their kids. Eventually I started trying to find a way to fix the homeless issue, because I had seen it first hand and I knew it wasn't profitable... so I knew it probably wasn't possible.
I made a way to find the path and figure it out.
Now... all these years later... I have large holdings of real estate that are being utilized as halfway houses for long term inmates with nowhere else to go when they get out, and they have jobs available with companies that can use their skills and give them a way to make their lives better. Some of it’s used to build affordable housing in the poorest neighborhoods across America so that we can build communities that can utilize the resources they do have to make their lives better. Even more of it's taken up with production facilities and employee housing at our factories across the globe, and still... The issues that plague humanity persist and we struggle to find ways to make everything more important to investors and funding companies that COULD make all the difference, if only it made profitability sense, of course.
But THAT Legacy is important to different people.
The people that those successes of management and investment opportunities on my part actually effect are an entirely different crowd, far removed from the vast sea of viewers among the wrestling faithful across the globe. Your average 'Wrestler's Wife' or 'Filthy Casual' isn't going to ever click the articles on the web that fills them in on the movements of Philanthropists and Global Entrepreneurs... and yet, out there in the sea of multi-hued faces, there is a fan who knows... and understands... and has been inspired... to cheer, wholeheartedly and unabashed in their love of the Foundation's public face and what I've brought to the industry over my decades of service to them... the Breeders.
Time hasn't always been good to me, or to the rest of us spinning on this ill fated rock for that matter. It's shown me a lot of hatred and malice... and some of the worst faces of humanity imaginable... and most of them, if I'm honest here… have been looking back at me from the mirror for a long time.
I've never claimed to be a good man... just the man I am.
Not every day of my life has been spent in the most morally un-conflicted moments and to be brutally honest... a lot of the ‘good works’ I do… I do to make up for the pain I’ve caused, and the damage I’ve inflicted to those I care about in the pursuit of finding a way to make the world a better place than it was when I was born into it.
It’s my self-imposed penance… my righteous path to forge my own forgiveness, if you will.
I try my best to do the things I can to make other's lives easier... less conflicted... less obstructed by hate and bigotry... and in my lifetime, I've come to find that in most cases, the best thing I can do is go to war for those who can't... and I do that.
It has become a purpose for me... a driving ideal that I can be something for someone else that they wish they could be, but can't... and in that end... war has been my way of life.
But…
If you live by the sword... surely one day you shall die by it.
I'm prepared.
I always have been.
I am ready to face my fate like everyone else... but I will do with with a grin... bared teeth... and joy in my heart to finally face a challenge that is far greater than I am, and I will go down swinging... to be the beacon of hope for the rest who only wish to have the courage to see the day at the end of their lives where they get to have that fight.
I want to show them, with every action I can muster in my life.. that the fight in my heart is the potential in them all... and the knowledge that some of them will find that hope... foster it... and blossom to be the best version of themselves and face that fight with that same grin when it comes... it's the thing that keeps me moving forward towards my own eventual final battle with glee in my heart and courage in my veins, day in and day out, against all odds.
This is the Legacy that matters to me.
I don't think the world will reward me with Hall of Fame honors.
I don't think I even really care, to be honest.
My Legacy isn't in a ring. It never has been and it never will be... and you know what?
I'm OK with that.
The people out there that DO remember me long after I'm gone... those are the one's who everything I have ever done has been for all this time anyway.
If all of it never gets me a Hall of Fame Induction, and no one ever sings my accolades in the ring, and not a single person remembers a match I was ever in... there are things out here far more important than the awards and titles I haven't earned... and realistically... I would prefer to spend my life trying to achieve the things that matter, rather than destroy myself over the contest of Legacies with men fighting over a belt when we don't even wear pants.
And I'm OK with THAT, too.
It may be a bitter pill, and I have imagined far worse things in my life... so what's another fight to me... if it means someone else can have hope for their next one tomorrow?
I'll just keep on swinging these fists around with this stupid, toothy grin on my fucked up face... and as long as I can manage it... I'll always do my damnedest to be the beacon of hope that someone else needs to stand on their own two feet and bring courage to bear in their final battle... and THAT... is the only Legacy that really matters to me.