Resurgence

[STORM]

"Resurgence"

The King of Kings

August 21st, 1994
Mark Storm, Eddie Storm
New York, Brooklyn

"You're the king of the world, Mark. The king of kings! Don't let anybody tell you otherwise!" 

He looked up at his father with a look of excitement and in return, Eddie looked back down at him and smiled at him; his teeth glistening as his boy glared at him with admiration. Both Eddie and Mark with an ice cream cone in one hand whilst sitting on the edge of the balcony, allowing their feet to dangle as the sunset. 

"You mean that, Dad?" Mark asked wonderingly, licking his ice cream cone before diverting his attention away from his father and focusing on the sunset. 

It was one of those evenings. You know, the sort of evenings that any son would dream of. You'd spend the day with your Dad going down to the park, playing catch, watching football and talking about your secret crush at school and how your best friend also has a crush on her. And after a long day, you'd go out to the balcony and watch the sunset. It was a perfect evening with the sun gradually diminishing and father and son bonding over an ice cream cone. Eddie draped his arm over his son and brought him closer to his side, a slight chuckle ensuing as he looked out at the view. Eddie was in his late thirties around this time, his hair already turning grey however his face was another story, he didn't look like the age he was but that was due to the fact that Eddie Storm took good care of himself. 

"Of course I mean that, kid." Eddie replied with conviction, nodding his head as he looked down at his son once more. "You're the best thing that could've happened to me. Me and your mom both, you saved us from a very hard and sticky situation we had ourselves in. Me and your mom, we love you very much. And we both know that one day, you're going to grow up to be someone very important." 

And almost instantly with a hint of enthusiasm, Mark replied. 

"I just wanna be like you Dad!" 

A laugh was forced out of Eddie who shook his head, managing to maintain a smile that plastered across his mouth. He looked at Mark before once again returning his attention to the sunset, thinking long and hard about what he was going to say whilst Mark looked up at him, wondering what exactly his father would say. 

"You don't wanna be like me." Eddie stated before continuing: "Look at me.. I'm alone, I live so far away from my only child and I've got no ambition. No real goal, no real drive or aspiration. And you don't want that, Mark. Believe me, being me isn't what you want."

Scrambling into his pockets, Eddie pulled out a packet of cigarette's and realized that he had come down to his last one. Shaking his head in disapproval, he got rid of the packet by throwing it down the edge of the balcony and clenched the last remaining cigarette between his lips, whilst lighting the cigarette with his lighter. Inhale and exhale. A cloud of smoke appearing above him as he exhaled and Mark watched on, trying not to cough. 

"What you want.." taking the cigarette away from his mouth and resting it between his fingers, "is to be able to provide. What you want is to have a goal and an ambition, and an aspiration and it doesn't matter what anybody says, you're going to get there, you're going to do it. What you wanna do is be able to say that you've made it by the end of it. What you want is a stable relationship with a wife, and have some kids, and maybe a white picket fence with some really cool gardening shit on the front law, and a dog called Bronx. I don't want you to be average. I don't want you to be me. I want you to be as successful and as happy as you possibly can! You're gonna be the king of the world someday!"

"We don't even have a mon-archy.."

Eddie looked at Mark with surprise, his vocabulary was already picking up. 

"Look at you, Einstein, "we don't even have a monarchy", who taught you how to say big words like that?"

"History class with Ms Crinkle."

"Well you make sure you tell Ms Crinkle your Pa said she's doing a damn good job!" He laughed, taking another puff of his cigarette before: "But you're always gonna be the king of the world to me. Alright! It doesn't matter that we haven't got a monarchy or any of that shit..."

Mark interrupted abruptly: "Dad!"

"Sorry for cursing! Alright, but it's true.. you're going to be the king of the world one day dammit it! I'll scream it from the rooftop if I have to!" Getting up to his feet, Eddie threw his cigarette aside and proceeded to announce to the world: "Ladies and Gentlemen of New York, Brooklyn! My name is EDDIE STORM! And MY SON, MARK STORM IS GOING TO BE THE KING OF THE DAMN WORLD! YOU HEAR ME NEW YORK!" He screamed from the top of his lungs like a mad man whilst Mark laughed and also rose to his feet, fighting his Dad to make him stop. 

"Dad!" Mark chuckled and fought Eddie away from the balcony.

Picking him up and spinning him round, Eddie brought Mark back to the balcony and held him up for the nearby street walkers to see, holding his son up with great pride as Mark kicked and laughed. 

"THE KING OF THE WORLD I SAY!" He repeated, as bystanders watched awkwardly and looked at one another, wondering what on Gods green earth was going on. 

---

"I'm the King of Kings. 

The King of the world. 

That's what my dad used to call me anyway. 

And he called me that even through times where I behaved like an idiot. 

He'd call me that when I was far from being any sort of king, but he always believed I was. 

He always believed that one day, I'd reach the heights of the greats and make something of my life. 

And make something of my life is exactly what I did."

"A lot of reflecting has been done as of late and a lot of that thinking has been about my father. My father Eddie was the first person to ever believe in me. He believed in me when no one else would and because of that, maybe I wouldn't be here right now. His strength and his conviction, his belief that one day I was going to do something great, it's what kept me going even through the bad times. He used to tell me that I wasn't born in this world to be like everybody else, with a nine to five job that I hate, barely managing to pay the mortgage but eventually I'll get there. No. I'm not here to be average. I do not accept mediocrity. I do not accept average. What I will always strive for is the best and that's something I've always been an advocate of but you already know that because of the amount of times I preach it. And I preach it a lot, to be the best, you've got to beat the best and compete with the best. I gotta thank my Dad for everything that he taught me in life when he was around. Heck, somehow he's still teaching me from his grave. His belief in me, it's what's made me the man I am today. But it's time I stop clinging onto his belief and it's time I start believing a little more in myself."

"And I believe that I can win the Frontiers Lions Cup. 

I believe that I can compete with Yun Goeun, Dom Harter, Dupree, and Chandler Scott.

I believe that I have what it takes to be heralded with the tournament trophy. 

I believe that I am the future of this promotion.

But does that make me crazy?

Does that make me egotistical and cocky?

Maybe it does but to be honest, I don't really care what it makes me. 

The first page of any success story is belief in yourself."

"I'm not scared to voice it. I'm not scared of failure either. And I'm certainly not scared of the trials and tribulations that will be stacked against me on my way to what I want, and ultimately, what I want is a crack at that FGA World Championship, just like everybody else in this tournament. Everybody wants to get near the holy grail of this promotion. Everybody wants a taste and a feel and because of that, the stakes are high and everybody will be bringing everything they've got to the table. And I expect that from Sara Cochran, who happens to be my opening round opponent. We've been here for around the same amount of time Sara and we both know that this place, this is the place to go when you want to be the best. We both know that this is the place to cement your legacy. And we've both dabbled our feet in some high profile matches and from front row experience, I've got to admit you're one of the most under rated wrestlers we have in the back. We've never spoke on a personal level, nor do I know whether we've actually made eye to eye contact with each other but what I do know, that you're going to be very, very trick to beat. You'll want this as much as everybody else because just like everybody else, you've got something to prove! You and I, we've passed the stage of proving that we belong, we've proved it, that's in the past and it's set in stone. I don't need to prove to anybody that I belong because I've been proving that the last few weeks with some of the best rated matches on Vertigo and at All Star Showdown! I just need to maintain this level and if anything, propel because I can't lie to you, at the moment, I'm in a very good place with a very good mind set when I go into every match. I'm putting on some of the best matches of my career to date thus far every other week and this one, is going to be no different Sara! We're going to tear this shit up and steal the show despite the fact that we're opening."

"We will steal the show..

We will get the people talking..

We will progress up the ranks..

But something that isn't concerning "we" is the outcome of this match. 

And I, will be the one who walks out of our match the winner. 

I will be the one who progresses to the next round,

And I will be the one who eventually wins this tournament."

"Wow, all this talk about me winning this whole thing is really starting to make me look like a bad guy. But what if I am? Does that change anything? If there's one thing I've always been truthful with, is that I'm not a good person. I'm not. I accepted that fact a long time ago. I will break the rules. I will cross the boundaries. And I will turn on anyone if that means that my arm is raised at the end of the match. And if I have to, I'll do that to you Sara. The fact that I'm honest with it is why people gravitate to me. Honesty is the best policy and honestly, I am not a good guy. I am not the hero that you were promised when I was hyped to join. What I am, is the reckoning of professional wrestling and as the reckoning it is my duty to be the best, beat the best and go out in the blaze of glory as the best there ever was. And I'm not gonna get there by holding someone's hand and pretending to be a real nice guy because being the nice guy means you win matches. No. I'll get there on my own! I'll get there being one hundred percent authentic, and I will get there! YOU Sara, you're just in the way of where I want to be but come Saturday night, you won't be."

"We all make mistakes but one mistake everyone has made time after time is underestimating me. People have repeatedly underestimated me, they've repeatedly wrote me off and called me a one year wonder. But time after time I prove them wrong. I hope that you're not one of those doubters Sara. You claim to be one of the only good people in this industry which is such a rarity. Even the nicest of people eventually break bad, Sara. It's an inevitability that I never wanted to acknowledge but it happens, shit happens but you've got to deal with it. You're right though, this industry is full of corruptness and injustice but I don't see anybody stepping up to the plate to try and fight that. Do you? All I see is a bunch of guys and gals who see what they want, and they've got a plan on how they're going to attain it. And then you've got another group of guys and gals, who see what they want but because of their moral codes, because of their beliefs and their pride, they're not going to do whatever it takes, they'll allow others to cheat their way to the stop because they've got too much pride to do so. And I used to be apart of that crop until it finally dawned on me... if you can't beat them, join them. So that's what I did and I became a world heavyweight champion in the space of three months. Don't mistake how I am with my fans as a level of weakness. I am prepared to play dirty and I am prepared to put it all on the line. And I know you are too."

"Frontier Lions Cup, I never would of thought I'd be competing in this. 

Sara Cochran versus Mark Storm, it's a match that can steal the show. 

And Mark Storm will be the one who steals the victory."