Post by ajknight on Jun 4, 2019 20:45:57 GMT -5
AJ sits in a rather comfortable looking armchair, a book in hand before looking up at the camera, which zooms in catching a glimpse of the cover: El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha.
“Back in High School I had to read this book for Spanish class. It is the story of an old man by the name of Alonso Quijana, who became obsessed with the stories of knighthood, and heroes bravely overcoming the odds, and defeating all villains, and was maddened by the world he saw as opposed to the world that should be, and so he takes a new name: Don Quijote, and seeks to set the world right. Along the way he battles windmills, befriends a local whore, but one day it all comes to an end. For you see one day he encounters the Knight of the Mirrors, in reality his niece’s betrothed, who forces him to look into the mirror upon his shield and showing Don Quijote who he is for real. Not a knight, but a senile old fool with a shaving basin on his head. He collapsed to the ground, and Don Quijote was no more. ”
AJ slams the book shut.
“In spite of the tragic ending of the tale of Don Quijote, many people see the story as an inspiring tale of idealism and heroism in a cynical world. In high school I did too. But once you’ve lived the truth behind the tale, the inspiration of it wears thin, and it becomes a cautionary tale.”
He sets the book down on an end table before continuing.
“Once I freed myself from the Red Army I tried to be a hero for Lion’s Road. I tried to fight all villains that were. I fought the Midnight Horsemen. I defended her honor from the insults of the Demon Brigade. I tried to bring her to new heights, and when a WALL stood in my way I tried to rally the troops, to overcome it. And the world laughed in my face. They were too concerned with their own pride, and who was leading the charge to fight for what really mattered. But still that failure is mine to bear, and mine alone, because I was the only one willing to fight the good fight. The only one willing to try. Mocked, laughed at, and scorned, I soldiered on…
Until I met my own Knight of the Mirrors.”
AJ’s anger begins to flare.
“When Jacob Hammerstein became the Heavyweight Champion he showed me a mirror, reality was thrown back into my face. This man who was part of the Midnight Horsemen, and the WALL. That honorless scumbag was rewarded for doing everything wrong. And it taught me the hard reality: In a cynical world, honor is worth nothing. The only way you change this world, is to beat it at its own game.”
He chuckles bitterly.
“But unlike Don Quijote, that’s not the end of AJ Knight. What broke Don Quijote de La Mancha merely birthed me anew. Now my crusade starts again, with the same goal, and led by the same man, but now older and wiser, and willing to do whatever it takes to win in the end.”
AJ calmly exhales.
“In the J1 Summit, it will be historic. AJ Knight will begin his quest to claim justice. It will be the site of AJ’s reborn crusade. I’ve spent too long wondering if I belong here, and that self indulgence has been shameful, because the fact is that I don’t.”
AJ lets those words hang in the air.
“In the landscape as it stands there isn’t a place for me. But there needs to be a place for me, because for this sport to evolve it needs a man like me at the top. A man who sees the world as it is, but is unafraid to fight for the world as it should be.
So in the J1 Summit, I’m going to make a place for myself. I’ll tear through Chris Revenna, Hiro, and Kono Masaki, and it will all lead me to where I belong: Another duel with my own Knight of the Mirrors, this time for the world title. And this time I’ll take the reality he shows me, the world as it is, and I will smash it to pieces. I’ll do what Don Quijote couldn’t: I’ll burn down the world as it is, to create the world as it should be.”
Fade to black.
“Back in High School I had to read this book for Spanish class. It is the story of an old man by the name of Alonso Quijana, who became obsessed with the stories of knighthood, and heroes bravely overcoming the odds, and defeating all villains, and was maddened by the world he saw as opposed to the world that should be, and so he takes a new name: Don Quijote, and seeks to set the world right. Along the way he battles windmills, befriends a local whore, but one day it all comes to an end. For you see one day he encounters the Knight of the Mirrors, in reality his niece’s betrothed, who forces him to look into the mirror upon his shield and showing Don Quijote who he is for real. Not a knight, but a senile old fool with a shaving basin on his head. He collapsed to the ground, and Don Quijote was no more. ”
AJ slams the book shut.
“In spite of the tragic ending of the tale of Don Quijote, many people see the story as an inspiring tale of idealism and heroism in a cynical world. In high school I did too. But once you’ve lived the truth behind the tale, the inspiration of it wears thin, and it becomes a cautionary tale.”
He sets the book down on an end table before continuing.
“Once I freed myself from the Red Army I tried to be a hero for Lion’s Road. I tried to fight all villains that were. I fought the Midnight Horsemen. I defended her honor from the insults of the Demon Brigade. I tried to bring her to new heights, and when a WALL stood in my way I tried to rally the troops, to overcome it. And the world laughed in my face. They were too concerned with their own pride, and who was leading the charge to fight for what really mattered. But still that failure is mine to bear, and mine alone, because I was the only one willing to fight the good fight. The only one willing to try. Mocked, laughed at, and scorned, I soldiered on…
Until I met my own Knight of the Mirrors.”
AJ’s anger begins to flare.
“When Jacob Hammerstein became the Heavyweight Champion he showed me a mirror, reality was thrown back into my face. This man who was part of the Midnight Horsemen, and the WALL. That honorless scumbag was rewarded for doing everything wrong. And it taught me the hard reality: In a cynical world, honor is worth nothing. The only way you change this world, is to beat it at its own game.”
He chuckles bitterly.
“But unlike Don Quijote, that’s not the end of AJ Knight. What broke Don Quijote de La Mancha merely birthed me anew. Now my crusade starts again, with the same goal, and led by the same man, but now older and wiser, and willing to do whatever it takes to win in the end.”
AJ calmly exhales.
“In the J1 Summit, it will be historic. AJ Knight will begin his quest to claim justice. It will be the site of AJ’s reborn crusade. I’ve spent too long wondering if I belong here, and that self indulgence has been shameful, because the fact is that I don’t.”
AJ lets those words hang in the air.
“In the landscape as it stands there isn’t a place for me. But there needs to be a place for me, because for this sport to evolve it needs a man like me at the top. A man who sees the world as it is, but is unafraid to fight for the world as it should be.
So in the J1 Summit, I’m going to make a place for myself. I’ll tear through Chris Revenna, Hiro, and Kono Masaki, and it will all lead me to where I belong: Another duel with my own Knight of the Mirrors, this time for the world title. And this time I’ll take the reality he shows me, the world as it is, and I will smash it to pieces. I’ll do what Don Quijote couldn’t: I’ll burn down the world as it is, to create the world as it should be.”
Fade to black.