Total Karmage
Feb 17, 2016 18:57:41 GMT -5
Post by Johnny Karma on Feb 17, 2016 18:57:41 GMT -5
23th December 2015, New York City
Although the Vertigo taping has finished and most of the FWA roster are either leaving the building or have already left, inside the Manhattan Center’s medical facility two members of the roster don’t look like they’ll be going anywhere for a while. In one corner of the room Cherry Baum is being checked over by one of the arena’s medical team and she looks as if she had no idea where she is, while on the other side of the room Johnny Karma is pacing back and forth and, judging by the look on his face
Doctor: Okay, Cherry, can you hold this ice pack in place for me?
Cherry woozily reaches her hand towards her face, eventually finding where the ice pack is and she looks to hold it in place – although at first she doesn’t apply enough pressure and it slips off her face, but the doctor catches it
Doctor: You’re doing very well, Cherry. Just be sure to hold that in place.
Cherry gives off a low groan in agreement
Is…J-K here?
Upon hearing this, Karma stops pacing around and makes his way across the room, where he crouches down next to Cherry and takes her free hand in his
I’m here, Cherry. I’m here.
Upon hearing this, a weary hint of a smile crosses Cherry’s lips
23rd January 2016, Queens NYC
Several members of Carnesecca Arena security bundle Karma through the door of his locker room and slam the door behind him, and we can just about overhear a few of them standing the hallway talking amongst themselves to let Karma know that he won’t be walking out of the locker room until they say so.
However it appears that the storm is not over by any means, because the second the door slams shut behind Karma he’s face to face with a mightily displeased Cherry Baum
What the hell was that?
What wa…?
You know what I’m talking about, John. Marching out there with your fists flailing like some mad drunk in a bar parking lot brawl. That’s not like you, and you know it’s not like you. You’ve been saying for months, years even, that you want to succeed the right way – but the way you were acting tonight it’s hard to tell you apart from any of them.
At first Karma doesn’t answer, even though it’s clear that the last comment stung him. After a moment thought, Karma tries to calm the maelstrom of adrenaline surging through his body and lets out a deep sigh
Look, Cherry, I know what I’ve said, but Cannon crossed one hell of a line when he laid his hands on you it’s time somebody took a stand and took him down.
But I don’t get it, J-K, you weren’t charging around the arena trying to knock Cyncity’s lights out last year. What’s changed since then?
It’s because I…
Just as Karma starts to blurt out what he was going to say, his head reasserts its authority over his heart in the ongoing battle to control Karma’s actions and there’s a minuscule pause before Karma tries to steer what he was saying into safer waters
…it’s because I am not going stand by and let Cannon act like a big shot just because he sucker punches one person after another onto the injury list and laugh in the faces of everyone else as he thinks he’s getting away with it.
Now...
Once more we are on the Karmic TV set, but as before there is no intro video, there is no Tryouts for the Human Race, there is no enthusiastic yet friendly wave from Cherry nor is Karma coolly sprawled on his couch. As before, Karma is leaning forward as he perches on the edge of the couch, looking anything but Karmic
I hope that Johnny Cannon has a calendar to hand, because if he does he’s going to notice something: it’s going to be a matter of days before he walks into a long-overdue beating, but this time arena security won’t be rushing the ring to try and break up the fight and he’s going to have to stand his ground and realise that his actions have consequences. The fact I actually have to get into the ring with him to point this out and stop the backstage area looking like I walked into The Hunger Games is obviously a problem, but I’ve been saying for long enough that somebody has to take a stand against people who think the only way to succeed is to scrape the bottom of the barrel so hard that the barrel doesn’t even have a bottom left and this is what it’s come to. Of course, the last time I was on a show I made sure that Cannon knew there wasn’t a corner of Queens he could hide in without me finding him and letting him know what’s in store, and no doubt there’s people thinking I sunk to his level by deciding it was my time to see if there was anybody left to dump on the sidelines.
Rather than continue, Karma is strangely silent for a moment as he thinks of what he’s about to say
If you think that, you clearly don’t know me.
Since the day I walked through the door in FWA everything I have done has been by all manner of books by all manner of State Athletic Associations, even the stuff in one state that contradicts stuff in another. I’ve never felt the need to hand out concussions like the guy in an ice cream truck hands out snow cones just like I’ve never even tried to break somebody’s bones and act like that decision was about as complicated as choosing what toppings you want when calling Papa John’s. That. Isn’t. Me.
But there comes a point where knowing who you are isn’t enough because, Cannon, I know what you are. I’ve known what you are since you took out Evangelista and gave her a concussion. I’ve known who you are ever since you concussed Chris Bond into retirement. I’ve known what you are ever since the last time we faced off and you had to resort to a sucker punch because you wouldn’t know what fighting like a man was if you studied what being a man was at Columbia. Yet despite knowing this that wasn’t enough to light a fire under me and push back, but the second you laid one of those sidewalk-scraping knuckles of yours on Cherry…
Taking a deep breath, Karma closes his eyes and bunches his hands into a pair of fists
…that was the moment I said “baren es” and checked my morals at the door, because the gloves are off and now it is you that is being headhunted.
Karma once again exhales deeply, as if he’s relieved to get that off of his chest
But here’s the thing about knowing who I am: I know that when I step into the ring I can wrestle circles around any opponent that’s put in front of me, but the fact is I have no intention of wrestling Johnny Cannon when I finally get him where I want him. When I step into the ring I intend to fight, because a wristlock won’t be anywhere near as satisfying as landing my fist in the centre of Johnny Cannon’s face and see him stagger back while checking his nose is in the same place as when he left the locker room. That might not be me but I don’t care, because there comes a point in a man’s life where he has to make a choice: does he act like a man and do what needs to be done, or does he turn around and walk away because he’s happy with the comfortable life. For me this isn’t even a question, because I am manning up.
Once Karma has reached a natural pause, Cherry leans towards him to get his attention
Listen, J-K, I think we should talk about this.
With his attention caught, Karma turns towards Cherry
I’ve made up my mind, Cherry, and this is something that needs to be done. Because if I don’t step up, then you and I are just going to be a couple more heads mounted on his wall as he brags to nobody in particular that he knocked off a couple more of the FWA roster.
I get that, you have to believe me when I say that I get that, but you’re firing yourself up to go flying into the ring and throw fists at anything that gets in your way, and that’s what Cannon wants. He’s a trained fighter, J-K, and he knows what he’s doing in a brawl – and I’m pretty freakin’ sure that he knows that if he gets in your head and takes you off your game, he might take a few wild punches but he’s going to hit you with a few that he knows will take you down.
Hearing this, Karma runs a hand down the lower half of his face, and for the first time he realises what he’s been saying
So what are you suggesting?
I’m suggesting that, while I want to see you knock Cannon on his ass as much as you do, but this isn’t Hotline Miami and you don’t get an immediate respawn if you make one mistake and get KO’d for it.
For a moment it looks as if Karma is going to respond, but instead he holds his tongue and there’s the slightest hint of him looking towards the camera…
…before an obvious piece of cut editing, and the first thing that’s obvious is Karma seems a lot calmer than he was a moment or two before – probably because there was a gap between when filming stopped and when filming began once more
It’s been pointed out to me that I’ve been going off half-cocked in Johnny Cannon’s general direction, looking to mow him down like a runaway freight train that has come off the tracks and is destroying everything in its path until it finally comes to a complete halt with a trail of devastation in its wake. Thinking about it like that, one thing worried me: the fact I seemed to like it.
I already mentioned a short while ago how I’ve been “that guy”, the one who condemns various members of the roster for taking the easiest, the sneakiest or the downright dirtiest ways to get ahead one minute, and the next minute there I am charging down the ramp looking to break Johnny Cannon’s face every chance I get and that made me look like the biggest hypocrite that isn’t currently vying for the Republican nomination, and that got me thinking: does this mean Cannon thinks he’s already won? I wouldn’t doubt that, after Quinn Goodrich tucks him into bed and reads him a bedtime story about the time that brave Johnny Cannon punked out a wrestler who was looking the other way like all heroes do, Cannon closes his eyes and dreams about how he’s gotten inside my head and made sure I can’t think straight. The second he thinks he’s taken me off of my game and out of my comfort zone, that nice comfortable place where I make Aries Reed’s threats look as idle as a three-toed sloth with a motivation problem, that’s how he finagles a situation where I look the wrong way or let my concentration slip just long enough for him to aim a roundhouse at my head and steal a win he doesn’t deserve. I know that’s what he’s hoping for, because I already danced that particular waltz.
Karma pauses, tapping the side of his head with his middle and index finger a couple of times in rapid succession
You probably should’ve put a little bit more behind that kick, Cannon, because I remember it clear as day. So that asks an obvious question, what’s the plan this time? You can’t make like you’re walking out of the match because I’ve already seen that trick, while having Goodrich jump on the ring apron to get my attention when I have the match as good as won…come on, Cannon, when was the last time a professional wrestler lost a match because they lacked the sechel to see through such an obvious ruse? Even though the pair of you aren’t exactly the Wright Brothers over there, I’m going to give you at least a little credit and think you can come up with something a little better than that. Not much, but at least a little. But let’s get back to talking about my comfort zone, shall we? The thing about a comfort zone is that it’s just that, comfortable. It’s a place of no stress, no hassle, where you don’t have to push yourself that extra little bit while achieving the bare minimum. So for me that would be…what? Winning a bunch of matches but being lost in the shuffle when it comes to title opportunities? That’s the bare minimum – and it’s also where Cannon’s plan starts to unravel.
Because of what Cannon did, I kissed my comfort zone goodbye a few weeks back and I have no idea how to get back there, so where I used to stroll through my matches knowing I’d probably come out on top anyway now I’ve got a reason to go that bit further, to push myself that little bit harder, to make damn sure I am coming out of the match not just with my hand raised, but knowing that the closest Johnny Cannon will come to having his hand raised is when Goodrich is having to help him up the ramp because there’s no way that Cannon’s going to be walking out of there under his own power.
There’s a tiny pause after Karma says the last part
I said I’d left my comfort zone, Cannon. I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to beat the living genem out of you.
That’s the whole point with you and me Cannon. When you decide to cross a line you treat it like you’re on the starting blocks and it doesn’t matter what depths you sink to before you reach whatever you think your finish line is. When I see a line, I know that’s as far as I’m going to push something because once you go that little bit beyond it, you become a monster – and the thing with monsters is somebody’s going to come and put them down sooner or later, be it exposing them to sunlight or shooting them in the head or blowing them out of the airlock, but it’s going to happen…and that’s another way that Cannon’s plan unravels, because to beat a monster there are no lines to step over or step away from as the only thing that matters is that only one will be left standing at the end of it all. Looking at it that way, you see the flaw in Cannon’s plan: he’s going to be doing what he always does, while I’ll be going above and beyond to make sure he won’t be doing anything to anyone for a long time. In other words, Cannon’s going to find he’s walked into his comfort zone at the worst possible time, because just as he starts to feel comfortable the door’s going to be kicked down and he’ll be face-to-face with a home invasion, yet all the while there’s going to be that voice at the back of his mind telling him that he should’ve expected it.
So when Cannon is staring defeat in the face and he knows it’s only going to take a second before it’s over, when there’s nothing Goodrich can do to save him and images of everything he has done that brought him to this moment come back to haunt him as they flash before his eyes, that is the moment that Cannon needs to remember for the rest of his career because regardless of how it comes about, be it with him blacking out as his body is telling him to tap out, be it getting spun around as an elbow flies towards his cranium, or be it feeling the canvas rush towards the top of his head with alarming speed that is the moment he will know he isn’t the bad guy, he’s the guy who made one bad choice too many - and that last one is the choice that cost him dearest.
Having finished saying everything he wanted to say Karma leans back on his couch, but then he looks at the watch on his wrist and looks back to the camera one last time to let everyone know the match is ticking ever closer
Although the Vertigo taping has finished and most of the FWA roster are either leaving the building or have already left, inside the Manhattan Center’s medical facility two members of the roster don’t look like they’ll be going anywhere for a while. In one corner of the room Cherry Baum is being checked over by one of the arena’s medical team and she looks as if she had no idea where she is, while on the other side of the room Johnny Karma is pacing back and forth and, judging by the look on his face
Doctor: Okay, Cherry, can you hold this ice pack in place for me?
Cherry woozily reaches her hand towards her face, eventually finding where the ice pack is and she looks to hold it in place – although at first she doesn’t apply enough pressure and it slips off her face, but the doctor catches it
Doctor: You’re doing very well, Cherry. Just be sure to hold that in place.
Cherry gives off a low groan in agreement
Is…J-K here?
Upon hearing this, Karma stops pacing around and makes his way across the room, where he crouches down next to Cherry and takes her free hand in his
I’m here, Cherry. I’m here.
Upon hearing this, a weary hint of a smile crosses Cherry’s lips
23rd January 2016, Queens NYC
Several members of Carnesecca Arena security bundle Karma through the door of his locker room and slam the door behind him, and we can just about overhear a few of them standing the hallway talking amongst themselves to let Karma know that he won’t be walking out of the locker room until they say so.
However it appears that the storm is not over by any means, because the second the door slams shut behind Karma he’s face to face with a mightily displeased Cherry Baum
What the hell was that?
What wa…?
You know what I’m talking about, John. Marching out there with your fists flailing like some mad drunk in a bar parking lot brawl. That’s not like you, and you know it’s not like you. You’ve been saying for months, years even, that you want to succeed the right way – but the way you were acting tonight it’s hard to tell you apart from any of them.
At first Karma doesn’t answer, even though it’s clear that the last comment stung him. After a moment thought, Karma tries to calm the maelstrom of adrenaline surging through his body and lets out a deep sigh
Look, Cherry, I know what I’ve said, but Cannon crossed one hell of a line when he laid his hands on you it’s time somebody took a stand and took him down.
But I don’t get it, J-K, you weren’t charging around the arena trying to knock Cyncity’s lights out last year. What’s changed since then?
It’s because I…
Just as Karma starts to blurt out what he was going to say, his head reasserts its authority over his heart in the ongoing battle to control Karma’s actions and there’s a minuscule pause before Karma tries to steer what he was saying into safer waters
…it’s because I am not going stand by and let Cannon act like a big shot just because he sucker punches one person after another onto the injury list and laugh in the faces of everyone else as he thinks he’s getting away with it.
Now...
Once more we are on the Karmic TV set, but as before there is no intro video, there is no Tryouts for the Human Race, there is no enthusiastic yet friendly wave from Cherry nor is Karma coolly sprawled on his couch. As before, Karma is leaning forward as he perches on the edge of the couch, looking anything but Karmic
I hope that Johnny Cannon has a calendar to hand, because if he does he’s going to notice something: it’s going to be a matter of days before he walks into a long-overdue beating, but this time arena security won’t be rushing the ring to try and break up the fight and he’s going to have to stand his ground and realise that his actions have consequences. The fact I actually have to get into the ring with him to point this out and stop the backstage area looking like I walked into The Hunger Games is obviously a problem, but I’ve been saying for long enough that somebody has to take a stand against people who think the only way to succeed is to scrape the bottom of the barrel so hard that the barrel doesn’t even have a bottom left and this is what it’s come to. Of course, the last time I was on a show I made sure that Cannon knew there wasn’t a corner of Queens he could hide in without me finding him and letting him know what’s in store, and no doubt there’s people thinking I sunk to his level by deciding it was my time to see if there was anybody left to dump on the sidelines.
Rather than continue, Karma is strangely silent for a moment as he thinks of what he’s about to say
If you think that, you clearly don’t know me.
Since the day I walked through the door in FWA everything I have done has been by all manner of books by all manner of State Athletic Associations, even the stuff in one state that contradicts stuff in another. I’ve never felt the need to hand out concussions like the guy in an ice cream truck hands out snow cones just like I’ve never even tried to break somebody’s bones and act like that decision was about as complicated as choosing what toppings you want when calling Papa John’s. That. Isn’t. Me.
But there comes a point where knowing who you are isn’t enough because, Cannon, I know what you are. I’ve known what you are since you took out Evangelista and gave her a concussion. I’ve known who you are ever since you concussed Chris Bond into retirement. I’ve known what you are ever since the last time we faced off and you had to resort to a sucker punch because you wouldn’t know what fighting like a man was if you studied what being a man was at Columbia. Yet despite knowing this that wasn’t enough to light a fire under me and push back, but the second you laid one of those sidewalk-scraping knuckles of yours on Cherry…
Taking a deep breath, Karma closes his eyes and bunches his hands into a pair of fists
…that was the moment I said “baren es” and checked my morals at the door, because the gloves are off and now it is you that is being headhunted.
Karma once again exhales deeply, as if he’s relieved to get that off of his chest
But here’s the thing about knowing who I am: I know that when I step into the ring I can wrestle circles around any opponent that’s put in front of me, but the fact is I have no intention of wrestling Johnny Cannon when I finally get him where I want him. When I step into the ring I intend to fight, because a wristlock won’t be anywhere near as satisfying as landing my fist in the centre of Johnny Cannon’s face and see him stagger back while checking his nose is in the same place as when he left the locker room. That might not be me but I don’t care, because there comes a point in a man’s life where he has to make a choice: does he act like a man and do what needs to be done, or does he turn around and walk away because he’s happy with the comfortable life. For me this isn’t even a question, because I am manning up.
Once Karma has reached a natural pause, Cherry leans towards him to get his attention
Listen, J-K, I think we should talk about this.
With his attention caught, Karma turns towards Cherry
I’ve made up my mind, Cherry, and this is something that needs to be done. Because if I don’t step up, then you and I are just going to be a couple more heads mounted on his wall as he brags to nobody in particular that he knocked off a couple more of the FWA roster.
I get that, you have to believe me when I say that I get that, but you’re firing yourself up to go flying into the ring and throw fists at anything that gets in your way, and that’s what Cannon wants. He’s a trained fighter, J-K, and he knows what he’s doing in a brawl – and I’m pretty freakin’ sure that he knows that if he gets in your head and takes you off your game, he might take a few wild punches but he’s going to hit you with a few that he knows will take you down.
Hearing this, Karma runs a hand down the lower half of his face, and for the first time he realises what he’s been saying
So what are you suggesting?
I’m suggesting that, while I want to see you knock Cannon on his ass as much as you do, but this isn’t Hotline Miami and you don’t get an immediate respawn if you make one mistake and get KO’d for it.
For a moment it looks as if Karma is going to respond, but instead he holds his tongue and there’s the slightest hint of him looking towards the camera…
...
…before an obvious piece of cut editing, and the first thing that’s obvious is Karma seems a lot calmer than he was a moment or two before – probably because there was a gap between when filming stopped and when filming began once more
It’s been pointed out to me that I’ve been going off half-cocked in Johnny Cannon’s general direction, looking to mow him down like a runaway freight train that has come off the tracks and is destroying everything in its path until it finally comes to a complete halt with a trail of devastation in its wake. Thinking about it like that, one thing worried me: the fact I seemed to like it.
I already mentioned a short while ago how I’ve been “that guy”, the one who condemns various members of the roster for taking the easiest, the sneakiest or the downright dirtiest ways to get ahead one minute, and the next minute there I am charging down the ramp looking to break Johnny Cannon’s face every chance I get and that made me look like the biggest hypocrite that isn’t currently vying for the Republican nomination, and that got me thinking: does this mean Cannon thinks he’s already won? I wouldn’t doubt that, after Quinn Goodrich tucks him into bed and reads him a bedtime story about the time that brave Johnny Cannon punked out a wrestler who was looking the other way like all heroes do, Cannon closes his eyes and dreams about how he’s gotten inside my head and made sure I can’t think straight. The second he thinks he’s taken me off of my game and out of my comfort zone, that nice comfortable place where I make Aries Reed’s threats look as idle as a three-toed sloth with a motivation problem, that’s how he finagles a situation where I look the wrong way or let my concentration slip just long enough for him to aim a roundhouse at my head and steal a win he doesn’t deserve. I know that’s what he’s hoping for, because I already danced that particular waltz.
Karma pauses, tapping the side of his head with his middle and index finger a couple of times in rapid succession
You probably should’ve put a little bit more behind that kick, Cannon, because I remember it clear as day. So that asks an obvious question, what’s the plan this time? You can’t make like you’re walking out of the match because I’ve already seen that trick, while having Goodrich jump on the ring apron to get my attention when I have the match as good as won…come on, Cannon, when was the last time a professional wrestler lost a match because they lacked the sechel to see through such an obvious ruse? Even though the pair of you aren’t exactly the Wright Brothers over there, I’m going to give you at least a little credit and think you can come up with something a little better than that. Not much, but at least a little. But let’s get back to talking about my comfort zone, shall we? The thing about a comfort zone is that it’s just that, comfortable. It’s a place of no stress, no hassle, where you don’t have to push yourself that extra little bit while achieving the bare minimum. So for me that would be…what? Winning a bunch of matches but being lost in the shuffle when it comes to title opportunities? That’s the bare minimum – and it’s also where Cannon’s plan starts to unravel.
Because of what Cannon did, I kissed my comfort zone goodbye a few weeks back and I have no idea how to get back there, so where I used to stroll through my matches knowing I’d probably come out on top anyway now I’ve got a reason to go that bit further, to push myself that little bit harder, to make damn sure I am coming out of the match not just with my hand raised, but knowing that the closest Johnny Cannon will come to having his hand raised is when Goodrich is having to help him up the ramp because there’s no way that Cannon’s going to be walking out of there under his own power.
There’s a tiny pause after Karma says the last part
I said I’d left my comfort zone, Cannon. I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to beat the living genem out of you.
That’s the whole point with you and me Cannon. When you decide to cross a line you treat it like you’re on the starting blocks and it doesn’t matter what depths you sink to before you reach whatever you think your finish line is. When I see a line, I know that’s as far as I’m going to push something because once you go that little bit beyond it, you become a monster – and the thing with monsters is somebody’s going to come and put them down sooner or later, be it exposing them to sunlight or shooting them in the head or blowing them out of the airlock, but it’s going to happen…and that’s another way that Cannon’s plan unravels, because to beat a monster there are no lines to step over or step away from as the only thing that matters is that only one will be left standing at the end of it all. Looking at it that way, you see the flaw in Cannon’s plan: he’s going to be doing what he always does, while I’ll be going above and beyond to make sure he won’t be doing anything to anyone for a long time. In other words, Cannon’s going to find he’s walked into his comfort zone at the worst possible time, because just as he starts to feel comfortable the door’s going to be kicked down and he’ll be face-to-face with a home invasion, yet all the while there’s going to be that voice at the back of his mind telling him that he should’ve expected it.
So when Cannon is staring defeat in the face and he knows it’s only going to take a second before it’s over, when there’s nothing Goodrich can do to save him and images of everything he has done that brought him to this moment come back to haunt him as they flash before his eyes, that is the moment that Cannon needs to remember for the rest of his career because regardless of how it comes about, be it with him blacking out as his body is telling him to tap out, be it getting spun around as an elbow flies towards his cranium, or be it feeling the canvas rush towards the top of his head with alarming speed that is the moment he will know he isn’t the bad guy, he’s the guy who made one bad choice too many - and that last one is the choice that cost him dearest.
Having finished saying everything he wanted to say Karma leans back on his couch, but then he looks at the watch on his wrist and looks back to the camera one last time to let everyone know the match is ticking ever closer
