Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2012 1:11:34 GMT -6
Tell me, is something eluding you, sunshine?
The after party was in full swing. There was a buzz in there highlighted by drugs and debauchery taken casually under the venue. The people were alive and hanging on the excuse that it was a party and they could live a little of what they'll only live once. It was an electrical storm of youthful ignorance, questionable ethics, and moments some would wish to regret.
And like a stone, stationary in the storm of youth sat a man who'd feel as if he was old as time itself. A man who merely looked on at the delightful folly with a tired bitterness. Tired, for they never slept. Bitter, that his youth had been sucked out of him and he could only look on.
Though he felt countless times each person's age here his form was as equally youthful. But cursed by knowledge, wisdom, and a clear mind. None he tried to talk to would engage at his level since they were all in a stupor. And none seemed interested in the old, bitter shroud of an aura he'd cast around himself. Kliff Ulysses spent his time at the party simply biding.
"Hey!" Chris Streetman, Kliff's newest and rudest guitarist kicked the back of his seat in the middle of the crowded room. "Who's this twink?" He said, gesturing to Itsumo Ichi once Kliff had made eye contact. Ichi looked almost like a sick puppy, marred with shame over something.
"That's Ichi... Daisuke gave him to me." Kliff stared up to him. "Why?"
"The little bitch keeps geeking out at me- What the fuck you mean he gave him to you?" Chris did a double take.
"We were talking about some business, and he implored me to take his cousin. Said he'd be doing them both a favor by having him hang around with his all time favorite band. So yeah... I somehow ended up with him." Kliff explained.
"Does he do tricks?" Chris eyed Ichi. "Play dead-"
"Don't." Kliff glared at Chris, though Ichi seemed readily compliant.
"I'm just having some fun." Chris rolled his eyes, tugging around Ichi's shoulder.
"Well have some fun away from me." Kliff said, standing up.
"Then why don't you take your boring ass somewhere else?" He sneered at Kliff, who looked around and smiled.
"I really don't have much reason to be here now. I do have better things to do." Kliff let out a pompous sigh, patting Chris' shoulder. "Make sure you don't rough the kid up too much." He nodded to Ichi, leaving him in the care of possibly the least qualified individual as he departed from the party.
"...Is he... Always this cold?" Ichi asked Chris as he watch Kliff make a retreat from the building, presumably to his apartment.
"He's a sore loser." Chris nodded, heading back to the bar.
"A sore loser?" Ichi pursued. "Over what?"
"Kliff's a complicated guy. Don't ask me." Chris chuckled, stationing himself beside a fine looking young blond lady, clearly as interested in him as he was in talking anymore about anyone else in his band but himself as he began an attempt to woo her.
"Get over yourself, Chris." Meryl rolled her eyes, by now sickened by his boyish advances. She glanced over to Ichi, who seemed to be a bit lost in his obvious gawking at her. "Who's the pretty boy following you around?" Chris grimmaced, looking back to Ichi.
"He's some kid who's... I guess like a protege for Kliff now or something." Chris tried to seem like it wasn't a big deal, but Meryl was already invested.
"So you gonna be following Kliff around?" She smiled, only getting an intimidated nod in reply. "Cool. What have you learned about him so far?" Meryl leaned forward, letting her cleavage show a bit more which shook the largely innocent Ichi.
"I-.... I've not learned much. He's been very distant." He uttered, trying to be polite and not as brazen as Chris was about staring down her shirt.
"Yeah. Kliff's gotten pretty low lately. Hasn't had much to brighten his spirits." She shook her head, moving between the two boys. "So if you're going to be his little understudy... Then good." She nodded. "He needs some positivity in his life. Which he sorely lacks from other people around him." She stared over to Chris. She looked at her phone to check the time; 11:48pm. "Why don't you hang around a bit, then go see him? Despite how closed off he wants to be, I'm sure he needs someone to break through." She gestured for him to follow as she went to dance. "Stay close to me, and the boys won't rough you up too much." She smiled warmly to him, which made his heart skip a beat.
Is this not what you expected to see?
After a few hours of being mesmerized by Meryl's dancing ability, Ichi finally got shoved off to a gym where she guaranteed Kliff would be. Though she was indeed right, the question of why Kliff was up at this hour doing pullups was a strange mystery to him.
"Why are you up at this hour?" Ichi asked, arms tucked deep into his pockets.
"I'm always up at this hour." Kliff said, making a slow descent. "Why are you up?" He questioned, turning around to face Ichi.
"Meryl said you needed some company." He said, adjusting his stance nervously.
"I don't need company." Kliff said, heading over to a treadmill to start his cool down process. "And you don't need to be awake right now." He said as he began to Run.
"What about you? Don't you need to sleep?" Ichi eyed him strangely.
"I already slept before I got here." Kliff told him.
".....When?"
"Just after I left the party." Kliff explained. "I took a nap. Then made my way here, and have been working out since." He breathed evenly and carefully.
"So... You have trouble sleeping?" Ichi leaned back on an unused treadmill. "I know how I could help you with that."
"I don't need help sleeping. I'm completely under control." Kliff assured him.
"Well when do you sleep?" Ichi crossed his arms.
"In about an hour." Kliff huffed.
"I can wait an hour." Ichi smiled, watching him. "So is this you're training regimen?"
"Yes. And you're interfering with it." Kliff said, trying to drive him away.
"How long have you been doing this?"
"For around five months."
"Why do you do it so late?" With Ichi's prodding Kliff sighed, sliding back off the treadmill and approaching him, upon doing so Ichi took a flinching stance.
"....Why are you doing that?" Kliff eyed him.
"Usually when I'm being annoying, Iwa-San strikes me up on the head." Ichi explained. "I figured you were out to the same."
"....No. I was just about to say you're nosy as hell and get a drink." He gestured to his water bottle beside Ichi's feet.
"So..." Ichi stared around, a bit off guard. "....Are you training extra hard for your match?"
"No.... I'm training about the usual pace I always do." Kliff eyed him, breathing even and steady pants as he leaned on hand on the machine.
"You seem to be going at it pretty hard... And pretty late." Ichi looked around, the place was practically dead, except for the odd person down the way, or someone leaving just now.
"I go for as long as I possibly can." Kliff nodded. "Not many people can go at my level while having as much time in a day as I do." Kliff told him.
"Really?" Ichi curiously turned his attention back on Kliff. "What makes you special then, Mister Ulysses?"
"I'm a Rock Star, and a Pro Wrestler. That takes a lot of endurance. So I spend my nights down here, working on just that so I don't burn out." Kliff said as he began to walk off in a random path. Ichi kept close to him.
"So how do you get enough sleep?" Ichi still couldn't understand.
"20 minutes every 4 hours." Kliff explained openly. "It does wonders."
"....Weird." Ichi said, Kliff caught the tone of disbelief.
"Da Vinci did something like it, so he could have more time to do everything he pleased. I do it so I can do everything I please."
"So you stay up all night working out, take a bunch of naps and sit around by yourself. You have a strange way of living. Not something I'd expect from a Rock Star." This comment made Kliff smile a bit.
"I'm not very typical. But you'd be surprised how many Rock Stars want to keep to themselves... And even then that's not me. At least not always." He told him, though he doubted that Ichi would believe that either.
"....What do you do for wrestling?" Ichi asked to change the subject.
"I usually go home, watch some videos of whoever I'm dealing with that week and stuff, then plan things out accordingly. It's a snap." Kliff told him.
"So you're going to go back and study Alex Brooks after this?"
"What I can." Kliff nodded. "I'm also going to be working on touching up my act a bit. Making everything a bit more seamless." He looked at Ichi. "What's your plan when you go out there?"
"I just sort of go out there... And then try to do my best." Ichi said, admittedly it hadn't served him the best so far.
"....Well, that's a great start." Kliff nodded. "But a stupid finish. You can never just fully wing it, you have to think about what you're up against and know how to take it down. You can't just go in and hope for the best."
"I know." Ichi mumbled evasively.
"Then let's work on it." Kliff gestured to a sparring ring and marching Ichi over to it. "I'm going to put some Cunning into you." He said, deciding to spent what was left of the remaining hour beating some of his skill into the young man.
If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes...
Kliff sat in his chair in his lonely spartan loft. Dressed in a comfy robe and sleep pants several hours older, and two naps more rested. He pressed stop on the video, which featured his opponent Alex Brooks speaking of him.
"Well this is a pleasant surprise." Kliff said, looking to the camera. "I have to admit, it's kind of pleasant. The very first match I have going into Exodus- My first real match. And I'm not met with petty derision. That's what I call a welcomed change of pace. To see an opponent who looks at me and understands immediately that just because I literally walked my way into a victory here that doesn't mean I'm anything to scoff at." Kliff turned himself completely forward, leaning toward the camera.
"Salutations, Alex Brooks. It's nice to see a face in the wrestling world that isn't surly. I doubt that same gratification will be met by the seemingly ever belligerent Omar Wise, and the always smug and former white whale of mine Justin Brooks. But at least we can both agree we're off to a good and significant start here on our Winter Road."
"And that is very right it is a very eventful block ahead of us and each win will be absolutely critical. But I hope you're not confusing intent with certainty. Because I can tell you that everyone intends to win, except maybe Ichi last week. Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to rule the world. Facts of life."
"The matter of it though is if you can give me a reason you can win. We're both young, in the prime of our lives. But you think I'm burning the candle at both ends. That's not true at all. What is true is that I'm just a polymathic performer. I'm burning two candle simultaneously with more time and energy than most men can dream to have."
"It's a foolish thing to assume that my mind, body or spirit will be distracted one way or the other when I'm set out on performing either task on stage or in ring. And it's a foolish thing to hope that you can fight your way through me. You have so much to learn, and it's going to be a learning experience this coming week. For the both of us." Kliff placed his hands forward, fixing on them.
"I imagine that what we're going to have is a very slow and methodical feeling out process. And it's going to be exciting sizing you up, and seeing you doing the same. It's going to be exhilarating watching the tension build up. Until you and I are studied up enough where we just let things fly out. And we'll tear into each other and with all of my cunning, all of my endurance, and all of my ruthlessness I will take you down for a pin and be the one standing when the bell rings. And it's going to be a great pleasure going through it with you." Kliff gave a hollow, callous grin.
"You've got a bright future ahead, and I don't want to snuff that out. Because I have other things I'm looking forward to smothering out there. I look forward to taking that belt and smothering Jon Collins' face into it. For example. And I will break through anything that intends to get in the way of that. And that includes you, as you've carefully pointed out. Alex, you're in my way. And I will tear you down if you stay that way." Kliff sharply pointed into the camera.
"You aren't going to be wearing me down, you aren't going to be putting me out. Because right now I'm completely, and utterly implacable. And I won't steer from my course until I have conquered the beast at the head of this business and have his head on a pike. And if you want you're going to feel it, and it's going to hit you like a bullet train. But that's only if you want it to be. Your other option is that you can take my phrase to heart and you can Run Like Hell. But either way I'm going to blow through you. And I'm going to walk my way right through Brooks, Omar, and anyone else who wants to step up and face me." He sat up straight, his face completely deadpan.
"But you'll be the first stop, Alex Brooks. You're the first to be met by a Legionary force and if you don't let me go through you I will burn you down as an example to those that come after. And your name will be remembered in infamy when people recall how brutally and spectacularly I was able to conquer you and they will look on to what that spells out for everyone who comes after you and they will pray to every god in the sky that they Run. And I will go through you and them likewise in a glorious fashion. Because no one Runs when a disaster comes. They just stand there and get hit by it. "
"But I'm not just any natural disaster. Here in Exodus you'll be calling me the Humanoid Typhoon when the magnitude of just how extensively I've razed this place is recognized. I hope you'll admire it. Because I'm ready to give it. I'm ready to unleash my own personal maelstrom on you. And you will be pulled in and torn apart as you, like all the others will not know how to escape this Charybdis like tide you've set yourself into. Only Kliff Ulysses holds that secret for now. And unfortunately for you and everyone who successively follows that only spells Disaster." Kliff finally leaned back comfortably, giving another coy smile before notching off a wave.
"I look forward to seeing it." He said, cutting out.
...You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise!
The after party was in full swing. There was a buzz in there highlighted by drugs and debauchery taken casually under the venue. The people were alive and hanging on the excuse that it was a party and they could live a little of what they'll only live once. It was an electrical storm of youthful ignorance, questionable ethics, and moments some would wish to regret.
And like a stone, stationary in the storm of youth sat a man who'd feel as if he was old as time itself. A man who merely looked on at the delightful folly with a tired bitterness. Tired, for they never slept. Bitter, that his youth had been sucked out of him and he could only look on.
Though he felt countless times each person's age here his form was as equally youthful. But cursed by knowledge, wisdom, and a clear mind. None he tried to talk to would engage at his level since they were all in a stupor. And none seemed interested in the old, bitter shroud of an aura he'd cast around himself. Kliff Ulysses spent his time at the party simply biding.
"Hey!" Chris Streetman, Kliff's newest and rudest guitarist kicked the back of his seat in the middle of the crowded room. "Who's this twink?" He said, gesturing to Itsumo Ichi once Kliff had made eye contact. Ichi looked almost like a sick puppy, marred with shame over something.
"That's Ichi... Daisuke gave him to me." Kliff stared up to him. "Why?"
"The little bitch keeps geeking out at me- What the fuck you mean he gave him to you?" Chris did a double take.
"We were talking about some business, and he implored me to take his cousin. Said he'd be doing them both a favor by having him hang around with his all time favorite band. So yeah... I somehow ended up with him." Kliff explained.
"Does he do tricks?" Chris eyed Ichi. "Play dead-"
"Don't." Kliff glared at Chris, though Ichi seemed readily compliant.
"I'm just having some fun." Chris rolled his eyes, tugging around Ichi's shoulder.
"Well have some fun away from me." Kliff said, standing up.
"Then why don't you take your boring ass somewhere else?" He sneered at Kliff, who looked around and smiled.
"I really don't have much reason to be here now. I do have better things to do." Kliff let out a pompous sigh, patting Chris' shoulder. "Make sure you don't rough the kid up too much." He nodded to Ichi, leaving him in the care of possibly the least qualified individual as he departed from the party.
"...Is he... Always this cold?" Ichi asked Chris as he watch Kliff make a retreat from the building, presumably to his apartment.
"He's a sore loser." Chris nodded, heading back to the bar.
"A sore loser?" Ichi pursued. "Over what?"
"Kliff's a complicated guy. Don't ask me." Chris chuckled, stationing himself beside a fine looking young blond lady, clearly as interested in him as he was in talking anymore about anyone else in his band but himself as he began an attempt to woo her.
"Get over yourself, Chris." Meryl rolled her eyes, by now sickened by his boyish advances. She glanced over to Ichi, who seemed to be a bit lost in his obvious gawking at her. "Who's the pretty boy following you around?" Chris grimmaced, looking back to Ichi.
"He's some kid who's... I guess like a protege for Kliff now or something." Chris tried to seem like it wasn't a big deal, but Meryl was already invested.
"So you gonna be following Kliff around?" She smiled, only getting an intimidated nod in reply. "Cool. What have you learned about him so far?" Meryl leaned forward, letting her cleavage show a bit more which shook the largely innocent Ichi.
"I-.... I've not learned much. He's been very distant." He uttered, trying to be polite and not as brazen as Chris was about staring down her shirt.
"Yeah. Kliff's gotten pretty low lately. Hasn't had much to brighten his spirits." She shook her head, moving between the two boys. "So if you're going to be his little understudy... Then good." She nodded. "He needs some positivity in his life. Which he sorely lacks from other people around him." She stared over to Chris. She looked at her phone to check the time; 11:48pm. "Why don't you hang around a bit, then go see him? Despite how closed off he wants to be, I'm sure he needs someone to break through." She gestured for him to follow as she went to dance. "Stay close to me, and the boys won't rough you up too much." She smiled warmly to him, which made his heart skip a beat.
Is this not what you expected to see?
After a few hours of being mesmerized by Meryl's dancing ability, Ichi finally got shoved off to a gym where she guaranteed Kliff would be. Though she was indeed right, the question of why Kliff was up at this hour doing pullups was a strange mystery to him.
"Why are you up at this hour?" Ichi asked, arms tucked deep into his pockets.
"I'm always up at this hour." Kliff said, making a slow descent. "Why are you up?" He questioned, turning around to face Ichi.
"Meryl said you needed some company." He said, adjusting his stance nervously.
"I don't need company." Kliff said, heading over to a treadmill to start his cool down process. "And you don't need to be awake right now." He said as he began to Run.
"What about you? Don't you need to sleep?" Ichi eyed him strangely.
"I already slept before I got here." Kliff told him.
".....When?"
"Just after I left the party." Kliff explained. "I took a nap. Then made my way here, and have been working out since." He breathed evenly and carefully.
"So... You have trouble sleeping?" Ichi leaned back on an unused treadmill. "I know how I could help you with that."
"I don't need help sleeping. I'm completely under control." Kliff assured him.
"Well when do you sleep?" Ichi crossed his arms.
"In about an hour." Kliff huffed.
"I can wait an hour." Ichi smiled, watching him. "So is this you're training regimen?"
"Yes. And you're interfering with it." Kliff said, trying to drive him away.
"How long have you been doing this?"
"For around five months."
"Why do you do it so late?" With Ichi's prodding Kliff sighed, sliding back off the treadmill and approaching him, upon doing so Ichi took a flinching stance.
"....Why are you doing that?" Kliff eyed him.
"Usually when I'm being annoying, Iwa-San strikes me up on the head." Ichi explained. "I figured you were out to the same."
"....No. I was just about to say you're nosy as hell and get a drink." He gestured to his water bottle beside Ichi's feet.
"So..." Ichi stared around, a bit off guard. "....Are you training extra hard for your match?"
"No.... I'm training about the usual pace I always do." Kliff eyed him, breathing even and steady pants as he leaned on hand on the machine.
"You seem to be going at it pretty hard... And pretty late." Ichi looked around, the place was practically dead, except for the odd person down the way, or someone leaving just now.
"I go for as long as I possibly can." Kliff nodded. "Not many people can go at my level while having as much time in a day as I do." Kliff told him.
"Really?" Ichi curiously turned his attention back on Kliff. "What makes you special then, Mister Ulysses?"
"I'm a Rock Star, and a Pro Wrestler. That takes a lot of endurance. So I spend my nights down here, working on just that so I don't burn out." Kliff said as he began to walk off in a random path. Ichi kept close to him.
"So how do you get enough sleep?" Ichi still couldn't understand.
"20 minutes every 4 hours." Kliff explained openly. "It does wonders."
"....Weird." Ichi said, Kliff caught the tone of disbelief.
"Da Vinci did something like it, so he could have more time to do everything he pleased. I do it so I can do everything I please."
"So you stay up all night working out, take a bunch of naps and sit around by yourself. You have a strange way of living. Not something I'd expect from a Rock Star." This comment made Kliff smile a bit.
"I'm not very typical. But you'd be surprised how many Rock Stars want to keep to themselves... And even then that's not me. At least not always." He told him, though he doubted that Ichi would believe that either.
"....What do you do for wrestling?" Ichi asked to change the subject.
"I usually go home, watch some videos of whoever I'm dealing with that week and stuff, then plan things out accordingly. It's a snap." Kliff told him.
"So you're going to go back and study Alex Brooks after this?"
"What I can." Kliff nodded. "I'm also going to be working on touching up my act a bit. Making everything a bit more seamless." He looked at Ichi. "What's your plan when you go out there?"
"I just sort of go out there... And then try to do my best." Ichi said, admittedly it hadn't served him the best so far.
"....Well, that's a great start." Kliff nodded. "But a stupid finish. You can never just fully wing it, you have to think about what you're up against and know how to take it down. You can't just go in and hope for the best."
"I know." Ichi mumbled evasively.
"Then let's work on it." Kliff gestured to a sparring ring and marching Ichi over to it. "I'm going to put some Cunning into you." He said, deciding to spent what was left of the remaining hour beating some of his skill into the young man.
If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes...
Kliff sat in his chair in his lonely spartan loft. Dressed in a comfy robe and sleep pants several hours older, and two naps more rested. He pressed stop on the video, which featured his opponent Alex Brooks speaking of him.
"Well this is a pleasant surprise." Kliff said, looking to the camera. "I have to admit, it's kind of pleasant. The very first match I have going into Exodus- My first real match. And I'm not met with petty derision. That's what I call a welcomed change of pace. To see an opponent who looks at me and understands immediately that just because I literally walked my way into a victory here that doesn't mean I'm anything to scoff at." Kliff turned himself completely forward, leaning toward the camera.
"Salutations, Alex Brooks. It's nice to see a face in the wrestling world that isn't surly. I doubt that same gratification will be met by the seemingly ever belligerent Omar Wise, and the always smug and former white whale of mine Justin Brooks. But at least we can both agree we're off to a good and significant start here on our Winter Road."
"And that is very right it is a very eventful block ahead of us and each win will be absolutely critical. But I hope you're not confusing intent with certainty. Because I can tell you that everyone intends to win, except maybe Ichi last week. Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to rule the world. Facts of life."
"The matter of it though is if you can give me a reason you can win. We're both young, in the prime of our lives. But you think I'm burning the candle at both ends. That's not true at all. What is true is that I'm just a polymathic performer. I'm burning two candle simultaneously with more time and energy than most men can dream to have."
"It's a foolish thing to assume that my mind, body or spirit will be distracted one way or the other when I'm set out on performing either task on stage or in ring. And it's a foolish thing to hope that you can fight your way through me. You have so much to learn, and it's going to be a learning experience this coming week. For the both of us." Kliff placed his hands forward, fixing on them.
"I imagine that what we're going to have is a very slow and methodical feeling out process. And it's going to be exciting sizing you up, and seeing you doing the same. It's going to be exhilarating watching the tension build up. Until you and I are studied up enough where we just let things fly out. And we'll tear into each other and with all of my cunning, all of my endurance, and all of my ruthlessness I will take you down for a pin and be the one standing when the bell rings. And it's going to be a great pleasure going through it with you." Kliff gave a hollow, callous grin.
"You've got a bright future ahead, and I don't want to snuff that out. Because I have other things I'm looking forward to smothering out there. I look forward to taking that belt and smothering Jon Collins' face into it. For example. And I will break through anything that intends to get in the way of that. And that includes you, as you've carefully pointed out. Alex, you're in my way. And I will tear you down if you stay that way." Kliff sharply pointed into the camera.
"You aren't going to be wearing me down, you aren't going to be putting me out. Because right now I'm completely, and utterly implacable. And I won't steer from my course until I have conquered the beast at the head of this business and have his head on a pike. And if you want you're going to feel it, and it's going to hit you like a bullet train. But that's only if you want it to be. Your other option is that you can take my phrase to heart and you can Run Like Hell. But either way I'm going to blow through you. And I'm going to walk my way right through Brooks, Omar, and anyone else who wants to step up and face me." He sat up straight, his face completely deadpan.
"But you'll be the first stop, Alex Brooks. You're the first to be met by a Legionary force and if you don't let me go through you I will burn you down as an example to those that come after. And your name will be remembered in infamy when people recall how brutally and spectacularly I was able to conquer you and they will look on to what that spells out for everyone who comes after you and they will pray to every god in the sky that they Run. And I will go through you and them likewise in a glorious fashion. Because no one Runs when a disaster comes. They just stand there and get hit by it. "
"But I'm not just any natural disaster. Here in Exodus you'll be calling me the Humanoid Typhoon when the magnitude of just how extensively I've razed this place is recognized. I hope you'll admire it. Because I'm ready to give it. I'm ready to unleash my own personal maelstrom on you. And you will be pulled in and torn apart as you, like all the others will not know how to escape this Charybdis like tide you've set yourself into. Only Kliff Ulysses holds that secret for now. And unfortunately for you and everyone who successively follows that only spells Disaster." Kliff finally leaned back comfortably, giving another coy smile before notching off a wave.
"I look forward to seeing it." He said, cutting out.
...You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise!