Post by Vladimir Strife on Sept 20, 2015 22:20:28 GMT -4
In the halls of EVPW's makeshift headquarters in Manila, an eager Jeff Young paces back and forth along the tile, the patter of his feet nearly in tune with the clock on the wall as he holds the microphone up to his chin. The reason for his anxiety soon becomes apparent as the door opens and he turns toward it, eyelids peeled back as far as they can go. Some distant chatter can be heard from within the office as possibly the biggest star in the history of EVPW and it's co-founder, Vladimir Strife, steps out into the corridor. Jeff takes a step toward him and opens his mouth, stammering.
"V-V-Vl-V-V-Vla-..."
The GodKing stares as the former star a moment, bewildered, as he continues to try to form the words.
"V.. GahdK... Str..."
"Okay.."
With that, the Barbarian Lord begins to step away from the interviewer, but Jeff suddenly pulls himself together and rushes the legend with a barrage of words.
"NO! Please no, Mr. The Vladimir Strife! I must do the interview to you!"
Strife turns back toward him, eyebrows raised in confusion.
"The fuck?"
"You are the big star, Vladimir! If I lose this interview, I am failed as interviewer! What is it like to be in Manila?"
Vladimir shakes his head and considers continuing on, but quickly sees in the younger man's eyes that he won't relent without getting something from him. He shrugs.
"I don't know... it's pretty much the same as anywhere else, except the envelopes are bigger.."
Jeff blinks a few times, the pun clearly lost upon his poor understanding of the English language.
"Fuck, you tell me, man. You're here too.."
The interviewer turns red at this, realizing his mistake. The disappointment in his eyes seems to imply a great deal of shame.
"I am so sorry, Mr. the Vladimir Strife. I am failure.. I must return honor to my people. I will commit sudoku if this pleases you?"
"What? Jesus, calm the fuck down. Look, it's great. The people like me, I'm signing autographs left and right, getting all my meals comped despite probably having more in the bank than the entire GDP of this country, and I'm getting pussy of so many different colors that it's like a fish market at the end of the rainbow."
Jeff perks up at this final line, obviously knowing just where to go from there.
"Oh! You have pussy! What is name?"
"What?"
"You named pussy kittens?"
"Fuck me... seriously?"
"I am of great curiosity!"
"Look, I didn't.... Fuck... I don't know.."
"You have not given name to them? But why would you do this?"
"Well, in my defense, I don't plan on calling any of them.."
The confusion strikes back up in Young's features and he stumbles along to his next question.
"Mr. The Vladimir Strife, whole world is of want to know - Desperado says he wanted you first, but Skull instead. Why? How do you say to this?"
Vladimir squeezes the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath, willing himself to power through the rest of the interview.
"Look, I didn't have any say in who faces who in this thing. Would I have liked to face Desperado in the first round? Sure. Who the fuck WOULDN'T want to see Vladimir Strife vs. Desperado once more. We've given one another some of the fiercest matches of our careers. The thing about it though is... and I really hope Desperado is out there watching this.. Four men have beaten me in my career."
Vlad holds up his fingers for emphasis and counts upon them.
"KingBear, Desperado, Rhaps and Akira Kobayashi. And all four of those matches have one thing in common.... distraction. When I fought KingBear, I was so intent upon revenge that I lost sight of the actual contest at hand. When I lost to Rhaps, I had my attention divided between three of the fiercest stars to grace this company. And when I lost to Desperado and to Akira, it was in the middle of tournaments... not entirely unlike this one.. and I got so focused on the prize and other competitors that I got ahead of myself and I didn't give my attention to the tasks at hand. And I hope Desperado will keep that in mind as we go into this first round.."
"What is this you are pointing in say?"
Vlad's eyes roll hard enough to nearly disappear into his skull.
"What I'm saying is that you can't allow yourself to lose focus in this sort of a thing. I've done that in the past and I'm not going to make that mistake this time. Garrett, you have my full, undivided attention, you poor son of a bitch. And I hope Desperado will get his shot against me, but it's not going to happen if he underestimates Skull. See, when I step into that ring, that other guy is only a fraction of the equation at hand. The question there is never 'Can I beat this guy?' or 'Can this guy beat me?' because the answer to both is an unequivocal 'Yes'. Robert Garrett absolutely CAN beat me. Just as Desperado CAN beat me. Any man can beat anyone else on any given night given the right circumstances. The key is whether or not I can use my skills to figure out HOW I can beat them. When I'm in that ring and I hear that bell, what happens from there is as much up to me as it is the other guy and I can't choose what he does with his skills but if I handle my end of things, that's already 50% of the equation moving in my direction.. MYSELF, not the opponent, is the biggest factor deciding whether or not I'm victorious. Robert Garrett may be my opponent, but I am my obstacle."
Jeff nods his head slowly, feigning understanding despite being wholly lost.
"So, if you'll excuse me, Jeff.. I have to go think long and hard about beating myself."
The Middle Eastern man nods solemnly while the GodKing bows dramatically and walks away.
"V-V-Vl-V-V-Vla-..."
The GodKing stares as the former star a moment, bewildered, as he continues to try to form the words.
"V.. GahdK... Str..."
"Okay.."
With that, the Barbarian Lord begins to step away from the interviewer, but Jeff suddenly pulls himself together and rushes the legend with a barrage of words.
"NO! Please no, Mr. The Vladimir Strife! I must do the interview to you!"
Strife turns back toward him, eyebrows raised in confusion.
"The fuck?"
"You are the big star, Vladimir! If I lose this interview, I am failed as interviewer! What is it like to be in Manila?"
Vladimir shakes his head and considers continuing on, but quickly sees in the younger man's eyes that he won't relent without getting something from him. He shrugs.
"I don't know... it's pretty much the same as anywhere else, except the envelopes are bigger.."
Jeff blinks a few times, the pun clearly lost upon his poor understanding of the English language.
"Fuck, you tell me, man. You're here too.."
The interviewer turns red at this, realizing his mistake. The disappointment in his eyes seems to imply a great deal of shame.
"I am so sorry, Mr. the Vladimir Strife. I am failure.. I must return honor to my people. I will commit sudoku if this pleases you?"
"What? Jesus, calm the fuck down. Look, it's great. The people like me, I'm signing autographs left and right, getting all my meals comped despite probably having more in the bank than the entire GDP of this country, and I'm getting pussy of so many different colors that it's like a fish market at the end of the rainbow."
Jeff perks up at this final line, obviously knowing just where to go from there.
"Oh! You have pussy! What is name?"
"What?"
"You named pussy kittens?"
"Fuck me... seriously?"
"I am of great curiosity!"
"Look, I didn't.... Fuck... I don't know.."
"You have not given name to them? But why would you do this?"
"Well, in my defense, I don't plan on calling any of them.."
The confusion strikes back up in Young's features and he stumbles along to his next question.
"Mr. The Vladimir Strife, whole world is of want to know - Desperado says he wanted you first, but Skull instead. Why? How do you say to this?"
Vladimir squeezes the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath, willing himself to power through the rest of the interview.
"Look, I didn't have any say in who faces who in this thing. Would I have liked to face Desperado in the first round? Sure. Who the fuck WOULDN'T want to see Vladimir Strife vs. Desperado once more. We've given one another some of the fiercest matches of our careers. The thing about it though is... and I really hope Desperado is out there watching this.. Four men have beaten me in my career."
Vlad holds up his fingers for emphasis and counts upon them.
"KingBear, Desperado, Rhaps and Akira Kobayashi. And all four of those matches have one thing in common.... distraction. When I fought KingBear, I was so intent upon revenge that I lost sight of the actual contest at hand. When I lost to Rhaps, I had my attention divided between three of the fiercest stars to grace this company. And when I lost to Desperado and to Akira, it was in the middle of tournaments... not entirely unlike this one.. and I got so focused on the prize and other competitors that I got ahead of myself and I didn't give my attention to the tasks at hand. And I hope Desperado will keep that in mind as we go into this first round.."
"What is this you are pointing in say?"
Vlad's eyes roll hard enough to nearly disappear into his skull.
"What I'm saying is that you can't allow yourself to lose focus in this sort of a thing. I've done that in the past and I'm not going to make that mistake this time. Garrett, you have my full, undivided attention, you poor son of a bitch. And I hope Desperado will get his shot against me, but it's not going to happen if he underestimates Skull. See, when I step into that ring, that other guy is only a fraction of the equation at hand. The question there is never 'Can I beat this guy?' or 'Can this guy beat me?' because the answer to both is an unequivocal 'Yes'. Robert Garrett absolutely CAN beat me. Just as Desperado CAN beat me. Any man can beat anyone else on any given night given the right circumstances. The key is whether or not I can use my skills to figure out HOW I can beat them. When I'm in that ring and I hear that bell, what happens from there is as much up to me as it is the other guy and I can't choose what he does with his skills but if I handle my end of things, that's already 50% of the equation moving in my direction.. MYSELF, not the opponent, is the biggest factor deciding whether or not I'm victorious. Robert Garrett may be my opponent, but I am my obstacle."
Jeff nods his head slowly, feigning understanding despite being wholly lost.
"So, if you'll excuse me, Jeff.. I have to go think long and hard about beating myself."
The Middle Eastern man nods solemnly while the GodKing bows dramatically and walks away.
