Subject: "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe." — Inception. Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:04 pm
“I can feel the changes I can feel the new people 'round me just want to be famous You can see that my city found me put me on stages To me that's amazing To you that's a quick check, with all disrespect let me say this” — “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” by Kendrick Lamar
— — —
The big leagues was always something that Jack sought after being in when he first became a professional wrestler, it was always a dream of his to become a major star in the making – but there was always just something that held him back; whether it would’ve been his own self-doubt or even his own lack of knowledge in the professional business that always stopped him in his tracks with each attempt he made to make the jump.
But with the creation of Apex Wrestling, he sought this to be the first step into making that dream of his become a reality, to make his goal become an accomplishment just as he becomes twenty-two. The first ever show for the company is a major pay-per-view of theirs, and whilst the days are counting down, the nervousness is slowly beginning to take over within Jack.
“Yo, Jack!”
A voice began to call out to him within the local gymnasium in Sacramento, it was a very familiar voice as he shook off the trance-like state that he was in and looked around him, finally seeing a close friend of his – Jon – waving in his face to see if he was still alive and kicking.
“Man, are you good? You ain’t said a word for like five minutes and you’ve been just looking at the ground since then. There gotta be something on your mind to be acting like that, man—”
Jon raises an eyebrow, questioning the comment with a glance. “I don’t believe that you’re just ‘thinking’ like that.”
Jack simply sighed as he looked away from Jon’s direction, but Jon takes a seat right beside Jack and bumps his shoulders into Jack’s, trying to grab his attention and – at least – bring a smile to his face.
“You thinking about that whole gig you got, eh? With that Chelsea chick at Apex, yeah?” Jon shakes his head, smiling. “Man, why are you stressing about that? You know better than anyone you got that shit in the bag. You keep letting it get into your head and you’ll be holding an ‘L’ over your head for however long it takes to wipe it off.”
“This chick is serious stuff, man. I can’t just think I got it in the bag and then go into the ring and probably get my ass handed to me by her, you know? She’s been studying this kind of stuff, been watching everyone that’s come and gone in this whole sport, she’s seen stuff that I ain’t probably have seen.”
“You keep thinking like that then you will be.” Jack shook his head, bringing his hand along his forehead. “What’s that look for? You know damn well that I’m right too, so don’t blame me when it comes to me just giving you some advice. This chick wants to make a name for herself – much like you’d wanna do the same thing – so why let her get the head start on you? Why let her become the new face of the next generation of wrestlers when you can be that face?”
Jon tapped Jack’s shoulder with the back of his hand, grabbing his attention once more as Jack brought his hand away from his face and looked at Jon. “Tell me, you want to start a new era of generational wrestlers or do you want to watch a wasted generation be shot down because they let the wrong person lead by example?”
Jack stayed silent, continuing to look to the floor.
“Shit ain’t a fucking rhetorical question, Jack. Do you want to start or do you want to watch? Because – knowing you – you can very well do both, if you’d like, but I know you want to do one of them. I know deep inside of your heart, you wanna be the start. You wanna be the person who leads by example, don’t you?”
Jack shook his head and sighed. “Yeah, I do.”
“And are you gonna let this Chelsea chick stand in your way?”
This time, he simply shrugged his shoulders. “Nah, I won’t.”
“Then man the fuck up, breh. This is your game, this is your shot, and you better shoot that fucking shot and pray you don’t miss.”
Jon was right, this was Jack’s shot to take and he couldn’t afford to miss – and failure just wasn’t an option – but the risk was high and going against someone with some kind of experience under her belt and knowledge of the sport on her side. If there was anything that Jack had going for him, it was his unpredictableness. The one trait that he had going against Chelsea Creed, and something that he’s got to adapt more and more, and this was going to be something he won’t let slip from his fingers.
“Ight, yeah… Let’s fucking do this.”
— — —
“This is how we’re beginning, huh?”
A voice is heard – the voice of Jack Cole – as our visual is painted right in the middle of a skate park, the darkness took over the sky and the cool air of the night sent a shiver down the spine of Jack. But, as he took a seat at the top of a ramp, he brought his right leg up onto the ledge and let the other leg hang off of the ledge, leaning himself into his leg.
“Yeah, you know… I knew my beginnings here in Apex Wrestling wasn’t always going to go well, and I had a feeling that we’d start off with some kind of newcomer showcase match, but y’all just wanna throw me into the wolves off the bat, don’t you?” He rhetorically questioned, smiling as he did so. “I see y’all. I know the game plan, tryna test me off the bat and see what I can do, let’s see what the newcomers to the sport can do before they move on to something bigger and better. I feel the vibe, but, ya just don’t make that decision about me, you feel? Whilst I might be new, I might be fresh, and this might be my first time touching the waters of being a quote-unquote ‘professional’ to this whole thing? I got experience. Might not be the same experience as the likes of… Jacob Senn, Arata Asakura, or even Emmanuelle might have… But I know when to throw a right hook, I know when to kick the shit outta someone, and I damn well know how to ‘wrestle’ someone.”
“And putting me in this whole newcomer showcase match, on the opening match of the very first show, is making me feel… disrespected, looked down upon, and that’s not ego showing or anything like that – because I’m aware that there’s bigger names on the roster compared to the likes of me – but I could’ve been given… more, if you get me. And, whilst I might show some respect when it comes to sharing the ring with Chelsea Creed, I’m not gonna let someone like her just stand there before me and think this’ll be easy or anything like that. Yeah, we’re kinda similar in this whole thing, and yeah, we both might know the risks and rewards of winning and losing in the first match — but Chelsea is someone that I look at and think that they ain’t gonna make it far here. They think they see the people who claim to be ‘different’ and want to move past that mindset and actually do something different but come on, y’all gonna believe that? Y’all think someone like her is gonna keep up the mindset of ‘I see what one narrative creates, and I’mma do the opposite of it’ like that’s ever worked before?”
Jack chuckled to himself, shaking his head. “Yeah, Chels. I seen some shit too, I seen what people claim to be, and I seen what people do to themselves when they keep mouthing about themselves being. I lived on the streets of fucking Inglewood, California compared to god damn Philadelphia. I watched fights, I watched violence, I watched it all.”
“And compared to what you’ve seen? Yeah, you’re not on my level.”
“But lemme give you a piece of advice, Chelsea. In this place, you don’t soften up to people and hope you stay on the good side of history – if you wanna get somewhere, you gotta push yourself in there even when people don’t want you there, and when they wanna knock you down a peg? Hit a home run and mark your fucking territory. This whole game you think you’re playing? Thinking you’re going to climb up the ranks of this whole place? Hoping that once you knock down all the pillars that you finally stake your claim at the top?” Jack leaned forward, a stern look resting on his face. “That won’t get you far. And at the beginning of your climb, I’mma show you how far it’s going to take you when we get into the middle of that ring, Chelsea. Whilst – to you – I might be a pillar that you wanna knock down so you can move onto the next step in the ranks? I’m someone that wants to improve, and in the process of it all, show anyone and everyone that I’m no slouch and I ain’t gonna take shortcuts. We both want to make it, you and I, but as it stands right now? One’s gotta move on. This is what this fight is for, between me and you, to see who’s gonna move on and see who’s next in line to make a stand against whoever that wants to seek glory in a prodigy.”
Jack brought his right leg down from the ledge of the ramp and hung it down with his other leg, now more leant forward and his hands hanging onto the ledge of the ramp, clicking his tongue as he stared down the camera. A cocky half-smile resting on his face.
“From one prodigy to another, let’s burn the fucking house down, yeah?” He paused for a moment, holding one finger up in the air. “But…”
“Let this be a reminder to you, Chels. This ain’t gonna be the beginning that you wanted, that you dreamt of, that you had made visions of when you signed on the dotted line for this company. And I’mma show you a brand new vision that you finally needed to see. Let’s call this… a wake up call, for you, and for anyone else that wants to make the same dreams as you.” Jack chuckled. “In this world, I run this shit. On the streets, I run this shit. And here in Apex? I am the one that runs this shit. Might not happen now, might not happen for a while, but inevitability is something that makes certain that what I say will come true. And the name Jack Cole being on top? Yeah, that’s inevitable.”
“This shit’s a Cole World, Chels. I’m just letting you – and the rest of y’all – live in it.”
With those final words spoken, Jack stands up from the ledge and walks out of the shot just as the camera cuts to black.
by MinaAizawa Thu Oct 13, 2022 3:46 am
Subject: "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe." — Inception. 
