How Do You Measure, Measure A Year
May 1, 2016 9:54:45 GMT -5
Post by Black Adder on May 1, 2016 9:54:45 GMT -5
Night has fallen on a warm spring evening with rain gently falling outside. The sound of the moisture dropping to the ground echoes even inside a dimly lit domicile. Hana Song, lit by overhead mood lighting, sits in an armchair with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. Were she not in the comfort of a residence, she would almost pass for someone heading a business meeting based on her currently wearing a formal looking gray pantsuit.
”Six months. Half a year. One hundred and eighty some days. No matter how I say it the fact remains that I’ve been waiting six months for this to happen. I should know. I’ve been counting them every single day since then, just to keep myself focused on what all of this, the assaults, the victories, the tactical retreats, all of it...has been for. Do you even remember six months ago, Nest? Or are you more of a live in the present sort of person? Me, I remember everything, every detail, every moment these past six months...and it’s all been leading up to this.”
“I’ll refresh your memory since I’m sure you don’t have the capacity in that thick head of yours to recall what you had for breakfast yesterday. Six months ago I stood against you and your now scorned ex Terrence in what was supposed to be the dawning of a new era. My era. I had used my cunning, my intellect, and my abilities to secure a spot in the match that would have otherwise just been a boring bout and proof that nepotism kills excitement. I gave both of you something you so desperately needed. A target. Without me you two would’ve danced around wondering if your friendship could weather the match; but the addition of an easily hateable person like me suddenly changed the game.”
“The two of you came out pals, you, Nest, came out with the Apex Title still molded to your waist, and I was the one getting pinned. I was angry. But I bide my time, taking the shots when I could, because I knew that if I could get under your skin once...I could do it again. And a lot has changed in those six months, hasn’t it? Terrence finally listened to me and realized that you’re not a friend but a user. You’ve not exactly become mister popular judging by some post match shenanigans of late. The once untouchable Nest is cracking, and I know I’ve played no small part in making that happen.”
“Before it was just about making you admit your part in my little victimless assaults. You never did, but silence is often more powerful than you think. Then it became me wanting to see the mighty fall from grace. It became something of an obsession. I had beaten so many. Broken others. The now forgotten sorts and the former favorites alike...and yet you’re the one that got away. At some point it became less about me wanting to expose you and wear you down and more about me wanting to pay you back and doing the one thing I’ve not yet done.”
“I just want to beat you.”
“I want to make up for what happened at Third Strike. No one gets away from me and yet...you have. For six long, agonizing months you’ve sat high and ugly while I’ve had to adapt and play long games with people not worth the foot I slammed in their pathetic faces. But in that scuffle weeks ago where you and our other opponent were on your ass and I felt the weight of the Apex Title in my hands...I knew that it was all going to be worth it. I knew that I could take my shot and not miss again. You’ve got no one on your side anymore, Nest. You’re already a broken man. Now I’ve just got to make you a beaten one.”
“Six months ago I said to you that I was a woman of my word and I promised that it wouldn’t be over quickly. I haven’t forgotten, and six months is far from quick, wouldn’t you say? At All Costs is where it all comes to an end for you, Nest. Your days as Apex champion. Your time at the top. You’ll leave with nothing and I...I will finally get what’s been coming to me since I put the entire Lion’s Den on notice.”
“However many kicks to your skull it takes. No matter how bloody I have to get you. It’s right there in the name, Nest, At All Costs. I’m not waiting another six months. That little fantasy in that selfie of mine? I’m turning that into the new reality. And there’s nothing you or a broken Prince can do about it.”
”Six months. Half a year. One hundred and eighty some days. No matter how I say it the fact remains that I’ve been waiting six months for this to happen. I should know. I’ve been counting them every single day since then, just to keep myself focused on what all of this, the assaults, the victories, the tactical retreats, all of it...has been for. Do you even remember six months ago, Nest? Or are you more of a live in the present sort of person? Me, I remember everything, every detail, every moment these past six months...and it’s all been leading up to this.”
“I’ll refresh your memory since I’m sure you don’t have the capacity in that thick head of yours to recall what you had for breakfast yesterday. Six months ago I stood against you and your now scorned ex Terrence in what was supposed to be the dawning of a new era. My era. I had used my cunning, my intellect, and my abilities to secure a spot in the match that would have otherwise just been a boring bout and proof that nepotism kills excitement. I gave both of you something you so desperately needed. A target. Without me you two would’ve danced around wondering if your friendship could weather the match; but the addition of an easily hateable person like me suddenly changed the game.”
“The two of you came out pals, you, Nest, came out with the Apex Title still molded to your waist, and I was the one getting pinned. I was angry. But I bide my time, taking the shots when I could, because I knew that if I could get under your skin once...I could do it again. And a lot has changed in those six months, hasn’t it? Terrence finally listened to me and realized that you’re not a friend but a user. You’ve not exactly become mister popular judging by some post match shenanigans of late. The once untouchable Nest is cracking, and I know I’ve played no small part in making that happen.”
“Before it was just about making you admit your part in my little victimless assaults. You never did, but silence is often more powerful than you think. Then it became me wanting to see the mighty fall from grace. It became something of an obsession. I had beaten so many. Broken others. The now forgotten sorts and the former favorites alike...and yet you’re the one that got away. At some point it became less about me wanting to expose you and wear you down and more about me wanting to pay you back and doing the one thing I’ve not yet done.”
“I just want to beat you.”
“I want to make up for what happened at Third Strike. No one gets away from me and yet...you have. For six long, agonizing months you’ve sat high and ugly while I’ve had to adapt and play long games with people not worth the foot I slammed in their pathetic faces. But in that scuffle weeks ago where you and our other opponent were on your ass and I felt the weight of the Apex Title in my hands...I knew that it was all going to be worth it. I knew that I could take my shot and not miss again. You’ve got no one on your side anymore, Nest. You’re already a broken man. Now I’ve just got to make you a beaten one.”
“Six months ago I said to you that I was a woman of my word and I promised that it wouldn’t be over quickly. I haven’t forgotten, and six months is far from quick, wouldn’t you say? At All Costs is where it all comes to an end for you, Nest. Your days as Apex champion. Your time at the top. You’ll leave with nothing and I...I will finally get what’s been coming to me since I put the entire Lion’s Den on notice.”
“However many kicks to your skull it takes. No matter how bloody I have to get you. It’s right there in the name, Nest, At All Costs. I’m not waiting another six months. That little fantasy in that selfie of mine? I’m turning that into the new reality. And there’s nothing you or a broken Prince can do about it.”