Post by TactilizingOne on Sept 25, 2022 22:59:10 GMT -5
In the weeks since Combat Evolved, Larry’s celebration was short-lived. Yes, he was still the Power Champion after another grueling defense, this one had staved off Sloane Taylor and her ‘presents’ from dismantling his reign and path towards Triforce Heroes. With each box that was opened during the match, he reminded himself that this was her way of tampering with his plan. That is, until he had enough and decided to open one of the boxes himself. Almost predictably, he suffered the fate of a curious cat – a big cat, but a cat nonetheless.
When the eruption of glitter splashed his face and blinded him, Larry had a moment. It was brief, but he saw an image of his wife, Cindy, with a forlorn expression and crossed arms. “I warned you this would happen!” she admonished him. “I told you not to get involved in these matches. Look at you now, comically humiliated and without the title that you fought all year to keep, to symbolize your rise. You bet everything on this supposed conquest of the Power division, and you lost that bet. You don’t deserve gold, including this,” as he held up the wedding band she wrested from him. Despite his desire to respond, Cindy gave him no chance, and left him, his kids shaking their heads and following her. The last thing she gave Larry was a manila folder to stare at, divorce papers inside, and a card for her attorney.
In his mind, Larry fell to his knees from the torturous gut punch. In reality, he was down on the mat as Sloane held up The Wand, a sigil covered sledgehammer he had made his own signature. As Larry tried to dust off the glitter and focus, he saw Sloane, but in an entirely different context.
It was of Sloane, and SEB standing beside her – a duo Larry had detested for some time. They laughed at him, and Sloane held the Power Championship over her head. “You should have taken me more seriously, Larry Berry,” she playfully taunted. SEB made no effort to hide his bumptious attitude, nor a grin full of hubris as he snaked an arm around Sloane, who leaned her head against his shoulder. “What’s the matter, Lar-Bear?” she asked in a sympathetic tone. “Aren’t you grateful for all the gifts I got?”
Larry struggled to finally shake off the shock of the glitter bomb. That’s when it struck him, though. He had taken Sloane seriously. He hadn’t played into her efforts, but he acknowledged she saw it all from a completely alternate viewpoint. For her, it wasn’t a game, it was her way of preparing and focusing. They were about as diametrically opposed as could be, but the boxes with various harmful items in them had been her way of doing all this. It was her vision of the Power division, and how she competed with his own vision. As Larry heard Sloane urge him to rise, he understood what was happening. All the title defenses, all the efforts he had made to shape the Power division had led to this moment, when someone decided they would lean into the aggression and violence that he had crafted this division to be. She had respected his terms of engagement.
At that moment, Larry realized it was time to let go.
Not of the Power Championship, but of the need to take a hardline stance of how he needed to represent the division. He had always ‘zagged’ when other people ‘zigged’ – no pun intended, Ziggy – and Sloane’s effort showed him it was time for another shift. As Larry blinked more glitter out of his vision, it cleared up. He managed to evade Sloane’s attempt to blast him and disarmed her.
“Time to get different,” he thought, and looked to the corner. He decided to do something that had rarely worked since his return, and would be unexpected. Larry headed to the high risk district and leaped off with the Dive to Blue elbow drop. He connected but failed to score the pinfall, and growled in agitation. He momentarily defaulted and grabbed The Wand. He placed it across the top turnbuckle, intent on smashing Sloane into it. When she tagged him in the face with the sledgehammer, however, they both crashed and the next thing he knew, Larry saw a scene of when he fought alongside the Watcher. An artificial being, and one who had understood what Larry needed to get on track. They had given everything to help guide Larry, including when they made the ultimate sacrifice to allow Larry to move forward in their mission. Was he going to allow that sacrifice to go to waste, so close to the finish line?
As he snapped back to the moment, he heard the cheers of the pissant Level UpDogs, then the heat of Sloane’s taxed body covering him. It was true, he had made the Power division what it was meant to be. For his part, though, Larry was not where he intended on nesting and resting.
“Get. Different.” He heard the Watcher’s instructions, as referee Crash Cortex dropped down to slap the mat with a count.
Then Larry shot a shoulder up.
Because he still needed to take the Power Championship to one more destination. He had stewarded it to renown and prestige it had not seen before. Now, it was time he ushered it to where he could set it free. He still required the title to serve him one final act: To cash in an opportunity at becoming Triforce Champion.
With a shake of his head, Larry lurched over towards the ropes and caught a glimpse of Sloane suddenly on the top turnbuckle, waiting for him to stand.
“Get! Different!” he shouted from within, and springed up at the top rope to disrupt his challenger. As Sloane jounced off the mat, Larry saw the Wand laying next to her and snatched it. He stood and looked at it, and the image of James ‘The Wizard’ Wilcox appeared, “GIVE ME THE WAND!” he screamed. “IT IS NOT YOURS TO WIELD!!!”
It wasn’t his property, but he had certainly earned it through his meticulous machinations that rid Level Up of the former Faction leader. It had allowed Larry to cement his alliance with ISAAC and Drake, additions which truly breathed life into the Game Changers. He had used it with purpose, and meaning, but…
“GET. DIFFERENT.”
Larry tossed the Wand aside. He had evolved. He was viewed by most as the peak of the Power division. As he stood in the ring, In that moment? Larry was determined to be more. He was determined to surpass being the Power Champion. For that to hold meaning, he needed to finish this himself.
As he sought to do so, Sloane validated his theory that she embraced Tact’s Power division. She dropped him to the mat with a low blow. As the signal of testicular trauma shocked his system, he knew he had to surpass this, too. He had felled opponents with low blows. This time, he needed to demonstrate he was beyond losing to it.
Larry grappled the anguish and choked it off from his receptors. He looked upwards and saw Cindy, perched on the top turnbuckle. “I can’t accept your butchering yourself, and passing that pain onto our family. If you won’t understand with words, I’ll show you how serious I am!” Larry pushed off the mat and when he straightened, his wife leapt off! On instinct, he caught her on his shoulders, his arms supporting her underneath.
As she fell back, though, he saw a flourish of blonde hair and realized where he was.
He understood who he was, in fact, holding.
Sloane Taylor, trying to land High Hopes.
Even hobbled by the low blow, and wobbled by Sloane’s leap onto him, he refused to allow her to execute. Doing so would mean he allowed Cindy to leap off the top to her own harm. “The hell I’ll let you take me down!”
For months, Larry fought to hold his position as Power Champion, and with each victory, his resolve hardened. That confidence rooted him in his position, even as Sloane’s momentum welcomed him to be carried over. Instead, he lifted her back up onto his shoulders. He didn’t have the Wand, nor another weapon. He no longer needed those tools because his work had been all but completed, save for one piece.
As he fully snapped back into the moment, the Tactilizing One showed the former UGWC World Heavyweight Champion that she was that final piece to his tapestry of the Power division.
The Sky Queen learned that #TactFact the hard way.
Days later at a café, Cindy Winstead sat at an outdoor table, wearing a white pantsuit – Labor Day ‘rules’ be damned. She hooked a cup of coffee with a finger and drew it to her lips for a measured sip. All the while staring at the man who sat across from her.
Lazarus Tact, brother of her estranged husband, and an enigmatic personality to be sure.
“I’m glad to hear that Larry’s alright,” she said in a plain tone, “But my terms are still in place. I can’t have him making irrational and reckless decisions with his body, as a father, without understanding how unacceptable it is to his family.”
Lazarus, who wore a deep blue button down shirt and grey slacks, nodded at her. “I understand this year has been a difficult one. From what I’ve heard of your side these past couple weeks, it’s clear that Larry has found himself in a tunnel, of sorts. He has become transfixed on his road to the top, and while I cannot say I would do it differently… I do not have the same responsibilities he does to family, as you rightfully have stressed.”
“We’ve met quite a few times recently, and I’m glad for it,” Cindy took another sip from her cup. “It’s been refreshing to have someone to express my feelings to, who can understand the context of it. You’re familiar with wrestling, scarily so, given you were only a teenager when you suffered that… incident with Larry’s enemies,” she noted.
“Like my brother, your husband, when I pursue a passionate hobby, I do delve quite deeply into it,” Lazarus picked up a lemon bar he had ordered off the menu and observed it. “I try to find the nuance and details so that I may understand not only what needs to be done, but how it can be part of something greater. A better version of itself. Wrestling has many areas where it can be improved upon, of course. That’s partly why I admire what Larry is attempting to do in elevating Level Up. On top of that, he’s backed up his claim to doing so by defeating someone who arrived to that company after Larry’s influence has taken hold. As you know, Sloane Taylor is a formidable foe, yet Larry showed he was up to the task of holding superiority, thanks to the foundation he established.”
As Lazarus takes a delicate bite of the lemon bar, Cindy raised an eyebrow. “He may have given too much to that place, seeing as he’s losing his family over it.”
“Larry has made a calculated decision, Cindy. He believes that his success will take him away from what appalls you. He wants his actions to speak loudest, and show you he’s heading to a place that will satisfy your needs for his safety, while opening the door for him to compete at the highest tier of Level Up.”
Cindy waited a beat. “That’s where we’re still at a loggerheads because I’ve seen him continue to endanger himself. If anything, I admire your standing by him, even sitting here with me. I don’t intend on budging, and you’re going to need to relay that to Larry.”
Lazarus gave a small grin. “I would never ask you to compromise your own standards and beliefs, Cindy. I firmly believe it’s what attracts Larry to you. I can say that with confidence, in fact.”
“Why is that? You don’t know me the way Larry does.”
“True, but call it an intuition,” Lazarus took another nib of the lemon bar. “I can hear it, feel it. People who are truly committed to what they determine is the correct course of action are filled with it. They’re bursting with that belief, to the point where it’s almost palpable. I find that to be quite an attractive quality, when someone can represent themselves with passion.”
“I… appreciate that,” Cindy looked down as her cheeks warmed. She then remembered the Danish she had ordered, and took it in hand as she looked back at him. “You know, I feel something about you, too. It’s a vague sense of… familiarity. I don’t know why, truth be told, since we’ve never met,” she gave a small chuckle before biting into the Danish.
She hadn’t eaten breakfast, after the kids were sent off to school, and then she had to leave for this meeting. She had taken up realty after a long period of dormancy, and one of the firsts properties she found ended up being an apartment she currently used to move with the kids back to New York City. Logan was starting his senior year and living in Long Island with her parents was not going to do. He needed to be back in the city, but with Larry holding stubbornly to his decision, Cindy needed to find an alternative. It was a fine place, but she missed her real home. The one she and Larry had made together, and that he was tearing down each time he went out to commit acts, and have them done to him, that she would not allow Logan to indulge. Her son was pitching fits over it, wanting to support his father, but her word was gospel and he would live by it.
She noticed Lazarus had not responded to her, simply watching her with his cute, sheepish grin. “We haven’t met, right?” she prompted.
“Not in this lifetime, anyway,” Lazarus laughed.
“You know what’s funny? You and Larry share this ability to deflect at times. I can tell you’re brothers,” she gave a wry smile. “Larry is great at point-counterpoint, and I’m sure it irritates the hell out of people. Sometimes it drives me up a wall, the way he has an answer for everything. When it comes to you, though, there’s a fluidity to the way you behave. It’s not something I’ve seen in others very often. You have a way of making people comfortable around you, from the get-go.”
“I’m most grateful for your being comfortable,” Lazarus finishes the lemon bar. “It’s a privilege to even be able to meet you, Cindy. I must admit that I did take the liberty of looking up your background, so I could be more familiar. You were a marketing executive for a Fortune 500 company for a decade, and you met Larry there, didn’t you?”
“I was about to say that was highly Googleable, as far as my career. Knowing I met Larry on an assignment? That’s more impressive. How did you find that?”
“Like I said, Cindy, I dig deeply into what captures my interests,” he took a sip from a mint tea that he ordered. “That goes for people, as well,” he added.
“There’s that deflection I was talking about,” Cindy quipped. “Be that as it may, I don’t know a whole lot about you. It sounds like you aren’t married or have a family of your own? From what Larry told me, you’ve been very hands-on with your own business. What is it to do with again?”
“Augmented reality, and we aspire to add a full virtual experience, at some point,” Lazarus answered.
“Right, you’re working with dreams, Larry said. I think that’s fascinating, and a highly untapped source of knowledge. Who wouldn’t want to know about their subconscious, and how it could help us understand human nature.”
“Oh yes, it’s a topic I’m extremely invested in. It sounds like science fiction to some, but I envision a world that understands each other more than ever before. We need to unlock the mind if we are to address such macro topics as world peace, which I believe to be wholly a matter of the mind,” he runs a hand through his golden blonde hair. “As for family? It’s not that I don’t want to have that component of life. In truth, Cindy,” he paused and looked down at the empty plate, “I once believed I would have a partner, and child. I was quite certain of it. The feeling of love is powerful, and it’s something everyone should have a chance to experience. Raising a child, I feel, opens a part of one’s self that is otherwise kept hidden from us. That type of event changes a person. For me, I thought that was my destiny, but it was not to be,” he looked back up at her, solemn. “Sadly, the child was lost, and my partner vanished. I did not have a chance to experience that miracle. From then on, I dedicated myself to my work, and I haven’t had the inclination to prioritize those feelings and experiences again. As a mother, yourself, I’m sure you can understand how painful it would be to lose a child.”
“Of course, and I’m so very sorry to hear that you did,” Cindy realized she had touched the top of his hand on the table, and quickly removed it. “I don’t mean to step into a painful conversation.”
“No, no, you have every right to inquire. I’m a private person, and unless I’m prompted, I allow myself to remain in a shell. I find it easier to hone in on my present, rather than swim in the dark waters of the past,” Lazarus explained.
“I know we’re here because Larry wanted to introduce you to me, and then we got to talking these past few times about all the drama that he’s caused. If you need to talk, though, please know I’m here to do so. As far as I’m concerned, you’re family now.”
This time, Lazarus reached over and took hold of Cindy’s hand. “You don’t know how much that means. As someone who has drifted in the shadows, uncertain if there would ever be a time when I could reconnect with the family I have, in Larry, and the family I could never find. Thank you.”
Cindy felt the red deepen in her cheeks, and spread down the back of her neck. “It’s my pleasure, and you should know Larry feels the same way, whether he said so or not. Sometimes he’s too wrapped up in his own feelings to express them to those who matter most. He has always talked about you, and never forgot the bond you share.”
“I know, and he’s not to be faulted. I feel that he tends to have his own shell, after the trauma I’m positive he had to deal with, due to what happened with myself. Getting close to others is probably not his forte, but when he genuinely bonds with someone, he’s able to reach his true feelings. It’s why you’re so important to him, and the last thing he wants to do is lose you, or his children. It’s that genuine feeling I mentioned, one you exude and draw out the same from him. It’s intoxicating.”
“I… I think you know something about that, too,” Cindy expressed in a throaty tone, staring at him. In the next moment, she broke contact with his hand and brought it to her mouth, clearing her throat. “Sorry, I must have gotten a little too into my head,” she chuckled nervously.
“No need to apologize. I’m enjoying our little rendezvous. Unfortunately, I do think our time is fleeting. I have a meeting to get to.”
“Oh my gosh,” Cindy checked her phone. “I can’t believe we’ve been here this long. I need to meet a potential client for an apartment. I need to catch the train!”
“It’s quite alright, and I do hope we can meet again. Say, dinner on Friday night?” Lazarus proposed.
“Friday? I was going to meet with… you know what? I’ll move it. Logan has a date, anyway, and I need something to take my mind off of my son growing up.”
“Splendid,” Lazarus grins.
“Yeah, you remember Tiffany, right?”
“Am I about to be told how I should have let you go to Hawaii, again?”
Larry stood in the gym of his son’s high school, a basketball palmed at his hip. Logan Tact, meanwhile, took a baseline jump shot that swished through the hoop.
“No, actually it worked out perfectly that I didn’t go!” Logan exclaimed. “She was like, ‘I hated Hawaii, it was so boring. If you were there, I would have killed my parents.’ They didn’t even let her go to the beach on her own because her dad thought she’d go to the beach b…ar…”
“Oh, really? It sounds like her father knew what he was talking about,” Larry walked over to the baseline and took his shot. It clanged off the rim.
“That’s an ‘S’ for you!” Logan enthusiastically confirmed.
“Yes, thanks, I understand how this game works,” Larry muttered. “I’m glad you’re alright with having a date in drab old New York City. I mean, it’s no Hawaii, right?”
“You know, I’m allowed to complain. I live here. But I could have made Hawaii the best vacation of her life, no doubt,” Logan strode over to the furthest point of the three point arc and took a shot, hitting it through cleanly.
“I bet you would, but if you’re still thinking of ‘blowing her mind,’ Logan, make sure you take protection.”
“Dad! I’m not… I didn’t mean it like that!” Logan turned beet red.
“I should have saved that for when you took that three pointer,” Larry mused, meeting him at the spot. He hoisted a shot and it bounced off the rim, then the backboard… and went through.
“You’re full of yourself,” Logan joked.
“No, I simply have all the confidence I deserve. Someday, you will, too. Don’t hold back on anything,” he faced Logan, “Even if it’s not what your parents think it’s too much for you to handle,” he winked.
“I don’t get it,” Logan scratched his head.
“Consider it something to chew on while you’re under the thumb of your mother. Speaking of which, she’s really barred you from watching my matches?”
“Yeah, it rots,” Logan bounced the basketball and walked towards the free throw line. “I have to study for the entire time Level Up is on. I hate it,” he scoffed and took a free throw, still nailed it.
Larry walked up to the line. “I guess she thinks I’m not setting a good example for you, or some crap. Although you need to keep studying, anyway. Senior year is no joke. You’ve got colleges looking at you.”
“Alright, alright! Mom already gave me this talk, I don’t need another from you. We don’t even get to spend that much time together, so I don’t wanna hear this again.”
“Fair enough, and anyway, your mother is more than capabe of handling that side of things. You should really be grateful to her, especially when she brought you back from your grandparents’ place.”
“Oh my god, they’re so dull! I had to play three games of Monopoly in a week. I thought my brain was going to leak out,” Logan complained, and Larry laughed at that.
“You don’t want to know how many Monopoly games I’ve played with them. Next time, set up a clock to limit their ‘thinking’ time. I called it Swiss Rules, and they went along with it.”
“Dad, you’re a genius,” Logan said. He then darted towards the hoop with a couple dribbles and leaped up to make a reverse layup.
“You think that’s going to do me in?” Larry bragged. He drove to the hoop and went up for the reverse layup… only to bump his head on the ball as it was going through and sending it back out. “Argh! Sonuva—” Larry winced.
“That doesn’t count! It’s an ‘E!’ I win!” Logan crowed.
“Come on! That was in and bounced out!” Larry retorted, picking up the ball.
“No way! If it bounced to the floor, okay, but it went back through the hoop! That’s a letter! Flawless victory, too, I didn’t even get an ‘H’ this time.”
“What was that about being full of yourself?” Larry contested.
“Hell yeah, and I deserve to be,” Logan gave a cocky grin.
“You’re a little too quick to pick up on my lines,” Larry huffed, but Logan around the shoulder. “Just keep this little meeting between us. I don’t need your mother knowing you cut Economics class. She’ll literally cut my head off.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Logan nodded. “She would leave my college applications on my gutted body.”
“Right. We both fear a higher power in this family,” Larry smirked as they left the gym.
“Where to go from here?”
Inside of his Manhattan apartment, Larry has the drone cam setup to film him on the balcony, with a backdrop of Central Park at dusk. On the table he stands behind, he has the Power Championship stood up as he looks at us dead center, with a disgruntled look.
“After Combat Evolved, you would think the answer to that question was, ‘Triforce Heroes,’ but that’s not exactly correct. I certainly intend on going there to compete for the Triforce Championship. However, Trent Steel would like to do anything and everything to stop me, which means he’s got one more ace up his sleeve. Vhodka Black.”
His expression sours from disgruntled to disdain.
“Vhodka, you don’t know Level Up the way I do, but here’s the skinny. After defending the Power Championship at Combat Evolved, I should have my ticket stamped for that triple threat to earn a shot at the Final Boss. I should be able to focus on preparing for that and continuing to lead the Game Changers’ revolution of this company. I’ve reigned with this title for longer than the current Final Boss could handle it. He ran into me, of course, at last year’s Final Fantasy. What better way for his Final Boss run to end than at my hands, at the same exact event? It practically writes itself.”
Larry picks up the title belt and holds it up in front of him.
“But Trent doesn’t enjoy fairy tales. He’s a horror story kind of guy, as far as he’s demonstrated with his match making. He enjoys torn flesh, flowing blood, and victories that look anything but for the winner. He’s all about making people suffer the way he suffered, and I’ve become his go-to voodoo doll to carry around these days. He knows how much of a threat I am, and he knows he can manipulate the Power division to extract as much delight as possible. Problem is, I’ve been here for it every step of the way.”
He smirks and slings the title over his shoulder.
“It’s true, you earned a title shot at a piece of the Triforce, and I credit you for outlasting the field in that cheese vat match, or whatever it was called. We don’t need to revisit, it was an abject travesty that would have lost all of our viewers, had I not been still to come. Regardless, that’s a failing of Trent and not yourself. I have to credit you because you chose the most prestigious route to gain access to the Triforce, and the triple threat to become Triforce Champion. I regret to inform you, though, that this is where your own fairy tale story ends. A nightmare is about to begin, Vhodka.”
He strolls along the balcony, the drone cam following him, to one end, and rests his back against the railing.
“I didn’t jump through all the hoops that the Developer put me through, and in fact made them highlights of each show, to stop here. But understand this, Vhodka. I’m no longer fighting to keep the Power Championship. I’ve done that, and built the division exactly the way I wanted. It’s become a chaotic proving ground for those who believe they have what it takes to be a title holder in this company. The objective has been accomplished, on that front.”
He nods and looks out to Central Park briefly, then jerks a thumb back towards the scenery, lights beginning to dot the greenery as night looms.
“I didn’t build up my wealth and prestige to get where I am in life, only to give it all away like that owner of Patagonia. I’m not going to trust someone else with the status of Power Champion until I’ve allowed myself to enter that triple threat at Triforce Heroes. I may not be fighting to defend this championship, but I am fighting to step up and above the division itself and take my place beyond it. I want you to understand the difference here, because it’s what will make the difference of our encounter.”
He walks back over to the table and props the title belt back on it.
“I know you’ve had plenty of high stakes matches, and I don’t just mean with titles on the line. If I weren’t Power Champion, I could absolutely see you fitting right into what I’ve created. You live your life in chaos and indulge in it. You won’t be shocked by the intensity and graphic nature of Power rules, and I can point to the match you left with this title shot to back that up. I know you’re not going to have boundaries, either. In fact, I think you relish being in what I created, and you like that I’m not afraid of it, either. You want that violence, the risk, and to say you’re at the point of the spear by holding the title.”
He waves a finger, then, making a ‘tsk tsk’ sound.
“But I’ll tell you right now, Vhodka, that I’m not going to challenge you on any of that. I’m going to do something this match that bucks everything I’ve worked on this year, with the extreme nature of this division. I’m not going to go for all the weapons, and try to beat you into submission. I don’t think that’s in the cards with you. Rather than exhaust myself down that avenue, I’m going to show that I’ve still got the wrestler in me. All year, I’ve made a point of emphasizing brutality and overwhelming opponents. But in this match, that will take care of itself if I simply wrestle you.”
“Because this is a damn Bloodweb match, thanks to Trent Steel.”
He shakes his head and scowls.
“After going through a Power title defense, who the hell puts someone in a Bloodweb match?! Forcing me into that situation is heartless, at least, but I guess that’s not surprising. If you cut Trent open, I bet you’d find an empty chest cavity. It makes me appreciate… seeing his face busted against the glass. It was truly a work of art.”
He takes a second to laugh before settling back down.
“But he’s actually made this match more straightforward. Now I have a target to aim you at, Vhodka. One made of barbed wire. It won’t be a foregone conclusion, no way. I don’t anticipate you’re going to want to dive right into the barbed wire – at least not until the match is over. You can take it as a souvenir, though. A consolation prize. It’ll be more fun when I forcibly suplex and slam you into that bloodweb, and then take my title to Triforce Heroes.”
“All will then be aligned, and Level Up will truly be humbled to see their Power Champion reign all damn year long!”
He grabs the title and begins walking off camera.
“While you pick barbs out from the artery of failure.”
When the eruption of glitter splashed his face and blinded him, Larry had a moment. It was brief, but he saw an image of his wife, Cindy, with a forlorn expression and crossed arms. “I warned you this would happen!” she admonished him. “I told you not to get involved in these matches. Look at you now, comically humiliated and without the title that you fought all year to keep, to symbolize your rise. You bet everything on this supposed conquest of the Power division, and you lost that bet. You don’t deserve gold, including this,” as he held up the wedding band she wrested from him. Despite his desire to respond, Cindy gave him no chance, and left him, his kids shaking their heads and following her. The last thing she gave Larry was a manila folder to stare at, divorce papers inside, and a card for her attorney.
In his mind, Larry fell to his knees from the torturous gut punch. In reality, he was down on the mat as Sloane held up The Wand, a sigil covered sledgehammer he had made his own signature. As Larry tried to dust off the glitter and focus, he saw Sloane, but in an entirely different context.
It was of Sloane, and SEB standing beside her – a duo Larry had detested for some time. They laughed at him, and Sloane held the Power Championship over her head. “You should have taken me more seriously, Larry Berry,” she playfully taunted. SEB made no effort to hide his bumptious attitude, nor a grin full of hubris as he snaked an arm around Sloane, who leaned her head against his shoulder. “What’s the matter, Lar-Bear?” she asked in a sympathetic tone. “Aren’t you grateful for all the gifts I got?”
Larry struggled to finally shake off the shock of the glitter bomb. That’s when it struck him, though. He had taken Sloane seriously. He hadn’t played into her efforts, but he acknowledged she saw it all from a completely alternate viewpoint. For her, it wasn’t a game, it was her way of preparing and focusing. They were about as diametrically opposed as could be, but the boxes with various harmful items in them had been her way of doing all this. It was her vision of the Power division, and how she competed with his own vision. As Larry heard Sloane urge him to rise, he understood what was happening. All the title defenses, all the efforts he had made to shape the Power division had led to this moment, when someone decided they would lean into the aggression and violence that he had crafted this division to be. She had respected his terms of engagement.
At that moment, Larry realized it was time to let go.
Not of the Power Championship, but of the need to take a hardline stance of how he needed to represent the division. He had always ‘zagged’ when other people ‘zigged’ – no pun intended, Ziggy – and Sloane’s effort showed him it was time for another shift. As Larry blinked more glitter out of his vision, it cleared up. He managed to evade Sloane’s attempt to blast him and disarmed her.
“Time to get different,” he thought, and looked to the corner. He decided to do something that had rarely worked since his return, and would be unexpected. Larry headed to the high risk district and leaped off with the Dive to Blue elbow drop. He connected but failed to score the pinfall, and growled in agitation. He momentarily defaulted and grabbed The Wand. He placed it across the top turnbuckle, intent on smashing Sloane into it. When she tagged him in the face with the sledgehammer, however, they both crashed and the next thing he knew, Larry saw a scene of when he fought alongside the Watcher. An artificial being, and one who had understood what Larry needed to get on track. They had given everything to help guide Larry, including when they made the ultimate sacrifice to allow Larry to move forward in their mission. Was he going to allow that sacrifice to go to waste, so close to the finish line?
As he snapped back to the moment, he heard the cheers of the pissant Level UpDogs, then the heat of Sloane’s taxed body covering him. It was true, he had made the Power division what it was meant to be. For his part, though, Larry was not where he intended on nesting and resting.
“Get. Different.” He heard the Watcher’s instructions, as referee Crash Cortex dropped down to slap the mat with a count.
Then Larry shot a shoulder up.
Because he still needed to take the Power Championship to one more destination. He had stewarded it to renown and prestige it had not seen before. Now, it was time he ushered it to where he could set it free. He still required the title to serve him one final act: To cash in an opportunity at becoming Triforce Champion.
With a shake of his head, Larry lurched over towards the ropes and caught a glimpse of Sloane suddenly on the top turnbuckle, waiting for him to stand.
“Get! Different!” he shouted from within, and springed up at the top rope to disrupt his challenger. As Sloane jounced off the mat, Larry saw the Wand laying next to her and snatched it. He stood and looked at it, and the image of James ‘The Wizard’ Wilcox appeared, “GIVE ME THE WAND!” he screamed. “IT IS NOT YOURS TO WIELD!!!”
It wasn’t his property, but he had certainly earned it through his meticulous machinations that rid Level Up of the former Faction leader. It had allowed Larry to cement his alliance with ISAAC and Drake, additions which truly breathed life into the Game Changers. He had used it with purpose, and meaning, but…
“GET. DIFFERENT.”
Larry tossed the Wand aside. He had evolved. He was viewed by most as the peak of the Power division. As he stood in the ring, In that moment? Larry was determined to be more. He was determined to surpass being the Power Champion. For that to hold meaning, he needed to finish this himself.
As he sought to do so, Sloane validated his theory that she embraced Tact’s Power division. She dropped him to the mat with a low blow. As the signal of testicular trauma shocked his system, he knew he had to surpass this, too. He had felled opponents with low blows. This time, he needed to demonstrate he was beyond losing to it.
Larry grappled the anguish and choked it off from his receptors. He looked upwards and saw Cindy, perched on the top turnbuckle. “I can’t accept your butchering yourself, and passing that pain onto our family. If you won’t understand with words, I’ll show you how serious I am!” Larry pushed off the mat and when he straightened, his wife leapt off! On instinct, he caught her on his shoulders, his arms supporting her underneath.
As she fell back, though, he saw a flourish of blonde hair and realized where he was.
He understood who he was, in fact, holding.
Sloane Taylor, trying to land High Hopes.
Even hobbled by the low blow, and wobbled by Sloane’s leap onto him, he refused to allow her to execute. Doing so would mean he allowed Cindy to leap off the top to her own harm. “The hell I’ll let you take me down!”
For months, Larry fought to hold his position as Power Champion, and with each victory, his resolve hardened. That confidence rooted him in his position, even as Sloane’s momentum welcomed him to be carried over. Instead, he lifted her back up onto his shoulders. He didn’t have the Wand, nor another weapon. He no longer needed those tools because his work had been all but completed, save for one piece.
As he fully snapped back into the moment, the Tactilizing One showed the former UGWC World Heavyweight Champion that she was that final piece to his tapestry of the Power division.
The Sky Queen learned that #TactFact the hard way.
Days later at a café, Cindy Winstead sat at an outdoor table, wearing a white pantsuit – Labor Day ‘rules’ be damned. She hooked a cup of coffee with a finger and drew it to her lips for a measured sip. All the while staring at the man who sat across from her.
Lazarus Tact, brother of her estranged husband, and an enigmatic personality to be sure.
“I’m glad to hear that Larry’s alright,” she said in a plain tone, “But my terms are still in place. I can’t have him making irrational and reckless decisions with his body, as a father, without understanding how unacceptable it is to his family.”
Lazarus, who wore a deep blue button down shirt and grey slacks, nodded at her. “I understand this year has been a difficult one. From what I’ve heard of your side these past couple weeks, it’s clear that Larry has found himself in a tunnel, of sorts. He has become transfixed on his road to the top, and while I cannot say I would do it differently… I do not have the same responsibilities he does to family, as you rightfully have stressed.”
“We’ve met quite a few times recently, and I’m glad for it,” Cindy took another sip from her cup. “It’s been refreshing to have someone to express my feelings to, who can understand the context of it. You’re familiar with wrestling, scarily so, given you were only a teenager when you suffered that… incident with Larry’s enemies,” she noted.
“Like my brother, your husband, when I pursue a passionate hobby, I do delve quite deeply into it,” Lazarus picked up a lemon bar he had ordered off the menu and observed it. “I try to find the nuance and details so that I may understand not only what needs to be done, but how it can be part of something greater. A better version of itself. Wrestling has many areas where it can be improved upon, of course. That’s partly why I admire what Larry is attempting to do in elevating Level Up. On top of that, he’s backed up his claim to doing so by defeating someone who arrived to that company after Larry’s influence has taken hold. As you know, Sloane Taylor is a formidable foe, yet Larry showed he was up to the task of holding superiority, thanks to the foundation he established.”
As Lazarus takes a delicate bite of the lemon bar, Cindy raised an eyebrow. “He may have given too much to that place, seeing as he’s losing his family over it.”
“Larry has made a calculated decision, Cindy. He believes that his success will take him away from what appalls you. He wants his actions to speak loudest, and show you he’s heading to a place that will satisfy your needs for his safety, while opening the door for him to compete at the highest tier of Level Up.”
Cindy waited a beat. “That’s where we’re still at a loggerheads because I’ve seen him continue to endanger himself. If anything, I admire your standing by him, even sitting here with me. I don’t intend on budging, and you’re going to need to relay that to Larry.”
Lazarus gave a small grin. “I would never ask you to compromise your own standards and beliefs, Cindy. I firmly believe it’s what attracts Larry to you. I can say that with confidence, in fact.”
“Why is that? You don’t know me the way Larry does.”
“True, but call it an intuition,” Lazarus took another nib of the lemon bar. “I can hear it, feel it. People who are truly committed to what they determine is the correct course of action are filled with it. They’re bursting with that belief, to the point where it’s almost palpable. I find that to be quite an attractive quality, when someone can represent themselves with passion.”
“I… appreciate that,” Cindy looked down as her cheeks warmed. She then remembered the Danish she had ordered, and took it in hand as she looked back at him. “You know, I feel something about you, too. It’s a vague sense of… familiarity. I don’t know why, truth be told, since we’ve never met,” she gave a small chuckle before biting into the Danish.
She hadn’t eaten breakfast, after the kids were sent off to school, and then she had to leave for this meeting. She had taken up realty after a long period of dormancy, and one of the firsts properties she found ended up being an apartment she currently used to move with the kids back to New York City. Logan was starting his senior year and living in Long Island with her parents was not going to do. He needed to be back in the city, but with Larry holding stubbornly to his decision, Cindy needed to find an alternative. It was a fine place, but she missed her real home. The one she and Larry had made together, and that he was tearing down each time he went out to commit acts, and have them done to him, that she would not allow Logan to indulge. Her son was pitching fits over it, wanting to support his father, but her word was gospel and he would live by it.
She noticed Lazarus had not responded to her, simply watching her with his cute, sheepish grin. “We haven’t met, right?” she prompted.
“Not in this lifetime, anyway,” Lazarus laughed.
“You know what’s funny? You and Larry share this ability to deflect at times. I can tell you’re brothers,” she gave a wry smile. “Larry is great at point-counterpoint, and I’m sure it irritates the hell out of people. Sometimes it drives me up a wall, the way he has an answer for everything. When it comes to you, though, there’s a fluidity to the way you behave. It’s not something I’ve seen in others very often. You have a way of making people comfortable around you, from the get-go.”
“I’m most grateful for your being comfortable,” Lazarus finishes the lemon bar. “It’s a privilege to even be able to meet you, Cindy. I must admit that I did take the liberty of looking up your background, so I could be more familiar. You were a marketing executive for a Fortune 500 company for a decade, and you met Larry there, didn’t you?”
“I was about to say that was highly Googleable, as far as my career. Knowing I met Larry on an assignment? That’s more impressive. How did you find that?”
“Like I said, Cindy, I dig deeply into what captures my interests,” he took a sip from a mint tea that he ordered. “That goes for people, as well,” he added.
“There’s that deflection I was talking about,” Cindy quipped. “Be that as it may, I don’t know a whole lot about you. It sounds like you aren’t married or have a family of your own? From what Larry told me, you’ve been very hands-on with your own business. What is it to do with again?”
“Augmented reality, and we aspire to add a full virtual experience, at some point,” Lazarus answered.
“Right, you’re working with dreams, Larry said. I think that’s fascinating, and a highly untapped source of knowledge. Who wouldn’t want to know about their subconscious, and how it could help us understand human nature.”
“Oh yes, it’s a topic I’m extremely invested in. It sounds like science fiction to some, but I envision a world that understands each other more than ever before. We need to unlock the mind if we are to address such macro topics as world peace, which I believe to be wholly a matter of the mind,” he runs a hand through his golden blonde hair. “As for family? It’s not that I don’t want to have that component of life. In truth, Cindy,” he paused and looked down at the empty plate, “I once believed I would have a partner, and child. I was quite certain of it. The feeling of love is powerful, and it’s something everyone should have a chance to experience. Raising a child, I feel, opens a part of one’s self that is otherwise kept hidden from us. That type of event changes a person. For me, I thought that was my destiny, but it was not to be,” he looked back up at her, solemn. “Sadly, the child was lost, and my partner vanished. I did not have a chance to experience that miracle. From then on, I dedicated myself to my work, and I haven’t had the inclination to prioritize those feelings and experiences again. As a mother, yourself, I’m sure you can understand how painful it would be to lose a child.”
“Of course, and I’m so very sorry to hear that you did,” Cindy realized she had touched the top of his hand on the table, and quickly removed it. “I don’t mean to step into a painful conversation.”
“No, no, you have every right to inquire. I’m a private person, and unless I’m prompted, I allow myself to remain in a shell. I find it easier to hone in on my present, rather than swim in the dark waters of the past,” Lazarus explained.
“I know we’re here because Larry wanted to introduce you to me, and then we got to talking these past few times about all the drama that he’s caused. If you need to talk, though, please know I’m here to do so. As far as I’m concerned, you’re family now.”
This time, Lazarus reached over and took hold of Cindy’s hand. “You don’t know how much that means. As someone who has drifted in the shadows, uncertain if there would ever be a time when I could reconnect with the family I have, in Larry, and the family I could never find. Thank you.”
Cindy felt the red deepen in her cheeks, and spread down the back of her neck. “It’s my pleasure, and you should know Larry feels the same way, whether he said so or not. Sometimes he’s too wrapped up in his own feelings to express them to those who matter most. He has always talked about you, and never forgot the bond you share.”
“I know, and he’s not to be faulted. I feel that he tends to have his own shell, after the trauma I’m positive he had to deal with, due to what happened with myself. Getting close to others is probably not his forte, but when he genuinely bonds with someone, he’s able to reach his true feelings. It’s why you’re so important to him, and the last thing he wants to do is lose you, or his children. It’s that genuine feeling I mentioned, one you exude and draw out the same from him. It’s intoxicating.”
“I… I think you know something about that, too,” Cindy expressed in a throaty tone, staring at him. In the next moment, she broke contact with his hand and brought it to her mouth, clearing her throat. “Sorry, I must have gotten a little too into my head,” she chuckled nervously.
“No need to apologize. I’m enjoying our little rendezvous. Unfortunately, I do think our time is fleeting. I have a meeting to get to.”
“Oh my gosh,” Cindy checked her phone. “I can’t believe we’ve been here this long. I need to meet a potential client for an apartment. I need to catch the train!”
“It’s quite alright, and I do hope we can meet again. Say, dinner on Friday night?” Lazarus proposed.
“Friday? I was going to meet with… you know what? I’ll move it. Logan has a date, anyway, and I need something to take my mind off of my son growing up.”
“Splendid,” Lazarus grins.
“Yeah, you remember Tiffany, right?”
“Am I about to be told how I should have let you go to Hawaii, again?”
Larry stood in the gym of his son’s high school, a basketball palmed at his hip. Logan Tact, meanwhile, took a baseline jump shot that swished through the hoop.
“No, actually it worked out perfectly that I didn’t go!” Logan exclaimed. “She was like, ‘I hated Hawaii, it was so boring. If you were there, I would have killed my parents.’ They didn’t even let her go to the beach on her own because her dad thought she’d go to the beach b…ar…”
“Oh, really? It sounds like her father knew what he was talking about,” Larry walked over to the baseline and took his shot. It clanged off the rim.
“That’s an ‘S’ for you!” Logan enthusiastically confirmed.
“Yes, thanks, I understand how this game works,” Larry muttered. “I’m glad you’re alright with having a date in drab old New York City. I mean, it’s no Hawaii, right?”
“You know, I’m allowed to complain. I live here. But I could have made Hawaii the best vacation of her life, no doubt,” Logan strode over to the furthest point of the three point arc and took a shot, hitting it through cleanly.
“I bet you would, but if you’re still thinking of ‘blowing her mind,’ Logan, make sure you take protection.”
“Dad! I’m not… I didn’t mean it like that!” Logan turned beet red.
“I should have saved that for when you took that three pointer,” Larry mused, meeting him at the spot. He hoisted a shot and it bounced off the rim, then the backboard… and went through.
“You’re full of yourself,” Logan joked.
“No, I simply have all the confidence I deserve. Someday, you will, too. Don’t hold back on anything,” he faced Logan, “Even if it’s not what your parents think it’s too much for you to handle,” he winked.
“I don’t get it,” Logan scratched his head.
“Consider it something to chew on while you’re under the thumb of your mother. Speaking of which, she’s really barred you from watching my matches?”
“Yeah, it rots,” Logan bounced the basketball and walked towards the free throw line. “I have to study for the entire time Level Up is on. I hate it,” he scoffed and took a free throw, still nailed it.
Larry walked up to the line. “I guess she thinks I’m not setting a good example for you, or some crap. Although you need to keep studying, anyway. Senior year is no joke. You’ve got colleges looking at you.”
“Alright, alright! Mom already gave me this talk, I don’t need another from you. We don’t even get to spend that much time together, so I don’t wanna hear this again.”
“Fair enough, and anyway, your mother is more than capabe of handling that side of things. You should really be grateful to her, especially when she brought you back from your grandparents’ place.”
“Oh my god, they’re so dull! I had to play three games of Monopoly in a week. I thought my brain was going to leak out,” Logan complained, and Larry laughed at that.
“You don’t want to know how many Monopoly games I’ve played with them. Next time, set up a clock to limit their ‘thinking’ time. I called it Swiss Rules, and they went along with it.”
“Dad, you’re a genius,” Logan said. He then darted towards the hoop with a couple dribbles and leaped up to make a reverse layup.
“You think that’s going to do me in?” Larry bragged. He drove to the hoop and went up for the reverse layup… only to bump his head on the ball as it was going through and sending it back out. “Argh! Sonuva—” Larry winced.
“That doesn’t count! It’s an ‘E!’ I win!” Logan crowed.
“Come on! That was in and bounced out!” Larry retorted, picking up the ball.
“No way! If it bounced to the floor, okay, but it went back through the hoop! That’s a letter! Flawless victory, too, I didn’t even get an ‘H’ this time.”
“What was that about being full of yourself?” Larry contested.
“Hell yeah, and I deserve to be,” Logan gave a cocky grin.
“You’re a little too quick to pick up on my lines,” Larry huffed, but Logan around the shoulder. “Just keep this little meeting between us. I don’t need your mother knowing you cut Economics class. She’ll literally cut my head off.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Logan nodded. “She would leave my college applications on my gutted body.”
“Right. We both fear a higher power in this family,” Larry smirked as they left the gym.
“Where to go from here?”
Inside of his Manhattan apartment, Larry has the drone cam setup to film him on the balcony, with a backdrop of Central Park at dusk. On the table he stands behind, he has the Power Championship stood up as he looks at us dead center, with a disgruntled look.
“After Combat Evolved, you would think the answer to that question was, ‘Triforce Heroes,’ but that’s not exactly correct. I certainly intend on going there to compete for the Triforce Championship. However, Trent Steel would like to do anything and everything to stop me, which means he’s got one more ace up his sleeve. Vhodka Black.”
His expression sours from disgruntled to disdain.
“Vhodka, you don’t know Level Up the way I do, but here’s the skinny. After defending the Power Championship at Combat Evolved, I should have my ticket stamped for that triple threat to earn a shot at the Final Boss. I should be able to focus on preparing for that and continuing to lead the Game Changers’ revolution of this company. I’ve reigned with this title for longer than the current Final Boss could handle it. He ran into me, of course, at last year’s Final Fantasy. What better way for his Final Boss run to end than at my hands, at the same exact event? It practically writes itself.”
Larry picks up the title belt and holds it up in front of him.
“But Trent doesn’t enjoy fairy tales. He’s a horror story kind of guy, as far as he’s demonstrated with his match making. He enjoys torn flesh, flowing blood, and victories that look anything but for the winner. He’s all about making people suffer the way he suffered, and I’ve become his go-to voodoo doll to carry around these days. He knows how much of a threat I am, and he knows he can manipulate the Power division to extract as much delight as possible. Problem is, I’ve been here for it every step of the way.”
He smirks and slings the title over his shoulder.
“It’s true, you earned a title shot at a piece of the Triforce, and I credit you for outlasting the field in that cheese vat match, or whatever it was called. We don’t need to revisit, it was an abject travesty that would have lost all of our viewers, had I not been still to come. Regardless, that’s a failing of Trent and not yourself. I have to credit you because you chose the most prestigious route to gain access to the Triforce, and the triple threat to become Triforce Champion. I regret to inform you, though, that this is where your own fairy tale story ends. A nightmare is about to begin, Vhodka.”
He strolls along the balcony, the drone cam following him, to one end, and rests his back against the railing.
“I didn’t jump through all the hoops that the Developer put me through, and in fact made them highlights of each show, to stop here. But understand this, Vhodka. I’m no longer fighting to keep the Power Championship. I’ve done that, and built the division exactly the way I wanted. It’s become a chaotic proving ground for those who believe they have what it takes to be a title holder in this company. The objective has been accomplished, on that front.”
He nods and looks out to Central Park briefly, then jerks a thumb back towards the scenery, lights beginning to dot the greenery as night looms.
“I didn’t build up my wealth and prestige to get where I am in life, only to give it all away like that owner of Patagonia. I’m not going to trust someone else with the status of Power Champion until I’ve allowed myself to enter that triple threat at Triforce Heroes. I may not be fighting to defend this championship, but I am fighting to step up and above the division itself and take my place beyond it. I want you to understand the difference here, because it’s what will make the difference of our encounter.”
He walks back over to the table and props the title belt back on it.
“I know you’ve had plenty of high stakes matches, and I don’t just mean with titles on the line. If I weren’t Power Champion, I could absolutely see you fitting right into what I’ve created. You live your life in chaos and indulge in it. You won’t be shocked by the intensity and graphic nature of Power rules, and I can point to the match you left with this title shot to back that up. I know you’re not going to have boundaries, either. In fact, I think you relish being in what I created, and you like that I’m not afraid of it, either. You want that violence, the risk, and to say you’re at the point of the spear by holding the title.”
He waves a finger, then, making a ‘tsk tsk’ sound.
“But I’ll tell you right now, Vhodka, that I’m not going to challenge you on any of that. I’m going to do something this match that bucks everything I’ve worked on this year, with the extreme nature of this division. I’m not going to go for all the weapons, and try to beat you into submission. I don’t think that’s in the cards with you. Rather than exhaust myself down that avenue, I’m going to show that I’ve still got the wrestler in me. All year, I’ve made a point of emphasizing brutality and overwhelming opponents. But in this match, that will take care of itself if I simply wrestle you.”
“Because this is a damn Bloodweb match, thanks to Trent Steel.”
He shakes his head and scowls.
“After going through a Power title defense, who the hell puts someone in a Bloodweb match?! Forcing me into that situation is heartless, at least, but I guess that’s not surprising. If you cut Trent open, I bet you’d find an empty chest cavity. It makes me appreciate… seeing his face busted against the glass. It was truly a work of art.”
He takes a second to laugh before settling back down.
“But he’s actually made this match more straightforward. Now I have a target to aim you at, Vhodka. One made of barbed wire. It won’t be a foregone conclusion, no way. I don’t anticipate you’re going to want to dive right into the barbed wire – at least not until the match is over. You can take it as a souvenir, though. A consolation prize. It’ll be more fun when I forcibly suplex and slam you into that bloodweb, and then take my title to Triforce Heroes.”
“All will then be aligned, and Level Up will truly be humbled to see their Power Champion reign all damn year long!”
He grabs the title and begins walking off camera.
“While you pick barbs out from the artery of failure.”
