Eighty Hours (Katherine Kensington RP v Butcher)

[British Body Shotz]

'Eighty hours.'

These words, spoken by an unusually grave Katherine Kensington, open the latest video for Lion's Den FC. The Brit then quickly goes on to elaborate:

'That is the amount of time I have spent at the Lion's Den Academy since the last Pride event. Eighty hours. Ten a day, every day barring Sunday. Without socialising. Without mingling. Without whiling away the hours on Twitter. Without so much as my boyfriend at home to distract me. With no other focus than my training. Consistently numbering among the first to arrive, and the last to leave. Working on my cardio. Lifting weights. Throwing practice mats around. Jumping off turnbuckles. Punching sandbags. Dodging sandbags. Doing everything one can conceivably do on the course of a training session.

And all for you, Mr. Butcher.'

The Brit nods curtly.

'Yes, Mr. Butcher. You heard correctly. Everything I just listed, I did for your sake. You should be flattered. I do not usually spend anywhere near that much time, energy or effort on lumbering, ill-mannered oafs who substitute aggression for assertiveness, volume for reasoned arguments and violence for compromise.'

Katie visibly bristles with anger as she continues:

'You, however, are an exception. You see, Mr. Butcher, when one is as proudly and unabashedly unsociable as you are, one tends to lose the respect of their peers. When, on top of that, one attacks those weaker than themselves under the flimsiest of pretexts – twice – that effect becomes all that much more pronounced. 

Such was the case here. You have lost what little respect you commanded from me. You no longer elicit any emotion within me, other than anger. I will still readily allow that becoming Number One Contender to a Championship takes no small amount of skill, which you do possess. From a human standpoint, however, you deserve no respect from me whatsoever. Other students at the Academy may respect you – or should I say fear you? - but Mr. Butcher...I do not.'

The Brit pauses.

'Now, I know what you may claim. You may claim you never wanted my respect to begin with. That, however, is patently untrue. Not only do you crave my respect, you crave everyone's. You desperately wish for others to validate your masculinity, so that you may assuage your own doubts. That is why you stomp and scream and threaten bodily harm – by-the-by, perhaps I ought to start doing likewise? It appears to be rather effective...'

Katherine grins sardonically.

'You may be wondering, however – if I do not respect you, why go to such lengths on your behalf? The answer is simple: I respect myself. I respect my worth as a human being, as well as an aspiring grappler. As such, it is my duty to do my best. To give my all. To demonstrate to people like you that someone like me may be smaller, weaker, and less experienced than they are...but they are not intimidated.'

Katie pauses again.

'Mr. Butcher, when we meet on Wednesday, there is a strong possibility I might end up on my back, in the canvas, as you stand victorious over me yet again. Know, however, that for such a situation to come about, you will have had to knock me down not once, not twice, but multiple times. Because Mr. Butcher...I am no longer the meek, frightened young girl you bullied and insulted to your heart's content not so long ago. You have made me angry. 

On Wednesday, you shall see just how angry.'

With this, Katherine strides off-screen, as the video ends.

Final Word Count: 592