Infinity #4 - 23rd September 2013
Adrian Flynn vs. The Copycat Kid
The
Copycat Kid / ‘Adrian’ – The Infinity COO & King of
Character, who debates the very meaning of what a hero is, and to find the
answer to his questions takes on the role of Adrian Flynn to find them.
Alexis
Flynn – The wife of Adrian Flynn who is also
a teacher at Infinity Elementary School.
The
Jaden Kid – A child in the Infinity Elementary
school that appears to assist ‘Adrian’ in speaking with Alexis Flynn.
The
Jameson Kid – During TCK’s monologue he briefly slips
into the persona of Mr Television, James Jameson.
____________
And then there was one.
That is what many people expect with me: the bald, gold tight
wearing, son of a gun blabbering on about fate, misfortune, and the darkness
that consumed him. It has been many years since I have surfaced my head above
the water…the original form of what I am. Aaron Destiny was a fragment of me,
it broke away…we became separate; it was no longer a part of who I was. Now, he
wanders this earth having fulfilled his purpose. I came to Infinity City, lured
out of retirement by Roderick Blackmore to head up the new Infinity wrestling
promotion that the City was built around. A fortress of imagination for all to
prosper.
A hero’s paradise. Adrian Flynn might
call it that, with infinite possibilities he can do just about anything he
wants to do and the choice he made was to pursue the noble cause.
Hero,
I here that word thrown about a lot nowadays. People with courage, honour,
integrity, and so on. Thousands take up this mantle, millions more believe in
it, and I ask myself why we do such a thing? Has hope in our humanity rested
among the many to rely on the few to protect them. There are many other
questions that plague my mind, after all…what does it take to become the hero
anyway? More, many more questions piling up.
Are people lying to themselves in
‘accepting’ this responsibility?
Is every hero the same?
What are hero’s trying to save us from
in the first place?
Look at me, I’m overthinking this. That
isn’t why I am concerned, I am for different reasons. My term so far as the
Infinity COO has been fraught with controversy, I have been perceived as
senseless and delusion…some might even say crazed with power. I am in direct
charge of the Harmony Division, I develop the talent, and I run the show from
Infinity Tower.
This is my job. My employees have
trouble remembering that.
Men like Murray Muir, John Charismatic,
Blair Holmes, Jordan Casanova; they all have one thing in common. The illusion
of free will and control. These are only a few names that applies to, lest we
forget the reason why I mention this is that a crazed psychopath is a slave to
their routines, methodical, ‘free thinking’, self-secure. We all delusional,
the measurement only changes between the people pointing fingers point away
from themselves.
Is that what we need saving from?
There is one man on the Infinity roster,
everyone knows who he is, but few people actually know him for the man he is.
This man I speak of is Adrian Flynn. On a crusade to become a hero in the Infinity
City he is one of two finalists for the IWF World Championship at Immortalis, a
journey larger than life for Mr Flynn as he attempts to place the grand prize
to show that heroes can arise amidst animosity.
And now there were two. Me and Flynn,
two veterans of the circuit, two household names within the City. The questions
in my head are because I am fascinated by Adrian’s mind-set, the mechanism that
controls him is compelled by something much greater than purpose of self, and
it is unexplainable. I have crawled into the minds of lesser men time and time
again; little insight comes from the weak of mind or the feeble and foolish. We
are accustomed to seeing heroes in action movies, comic books, video games, all
media of any kind.
A person rises up to a challenge.
A person rises up against a villain.
My ranting and rambling may have so far
left you questioning my mental state, but my passion and obsession over the
title of hero is born out of the
desire to absorb that power for myself…I am use to the imitation of pathetic
and shallow men, as dark and dastardly as they come. I have every quality to
play the part of an oversized antagonist with perfection, but not the
protagonist. Strength in my ability comes from not just imitating, but seizing
the strengths and weaknesses of the human condition. What makes us, who we are,
the essence that gives us the empathy to make choices that dictate our
labelling in society. I want to know what it takes to play the hero in this
living story that is the Infinity City.
I booked this match against Adrian Flynn
for a more disturbing reason.
This Copycat rose up to the challenge.
This Copycat rose up to a villain.
Notice how I shied away from actually
labelling Adrian a hero, I only talk about the perception of him being the
hero. His character is as I said; compelled to do what is right. But reach down
further and you still find the abyss that lurks in the soul of every man on a
journey of enlightenment. As you look into the abyss it in turn will look back,
and that is where a man is found. I never said I believed in heroes or
villains, they are a great figurative metaphor for what I am trying to achieve.
The Rock on his TV show, ironically called ‘The
Hero’, said that becoming a hero was the ability to change in the face of
adversity and accept the consequences. As I began creeping into Adrian’s life I
began noticing consequences to all of his actions. Many of them in Infinity,
many of them his personally.
Chris
Michaels. Adrian’s tenacity in the ring overcome
the power of the Master of Execution, this left him crushed and asking himself
‘what if’.
Murray
Muir. Adrian drove this man further off the
edge than he already was, where was he to help when Murray needed the real help
he needed.
Alexis.
Adrian’s decision to pursue wrestling caused a rift in their marriage, forcing
her to walk away from her life; she
was trying to save him. As to date Adrian has not returned the courtesy.
Sure, Adrian is a wrestler and it is his
duty to win the matches he is booked in. But sole domination of an entire
collection of people might also be perceived as tyrannical and hypocritical of
his belief system. Let me turn into James Jameson, Mr Television, to explain to
you all the truth behind his actions.
“Adrian
is the helpless parent in Star Trek Into Darkness who helps Khan destroy an
entire facility to save the life of just his child…Adrian is the Heisenberg who
is saving money for his four person family but will do it at the expanse of the
collapse of an increasing amount of methamphetamine addicts…Adrian is Trevor in
Grand Theft Auto who is willing to steal and sell a nuclear weapon to the
Chinese for profit for him and his crew…He is the Tony Stark, unwilling to
fight in the Iron Man suit because of Pepper Potts…Adrian is the Sandman in
Spiderman 3 who is willing to do anything to secure money for his child’s
medical bills. There are many ways to compare Adrian, but one more wouldn’t
hurt…Adrian is the Ozymandias in Watchmen, who sacrifices New York for world
peace, and allowing Manhattan to take the fall for it. Okay one more, I
promise…Adrian is the Dexter willing to kill anyone who endangers his family
and friends, a man who has ruined many lives to preserve his own way of life.”
Call it any way that you like, there is
no saint inside the heart of Adrian. He is as good as a Copycat myself,
masquerading around with a disguise, a purpose, in turn using the get-up as a
means to achieve the selfish ambition which fuels his centred
self-actualisation. Jaden is the perfect cover story, a mask to wear in order
to conceal what is hidden beneath the first layer.
Adrian has the heart and motives of a
man. There is nothing to be ashamed in that, it is still the mind-set I seek to
acquire for myself. Infinity needs a leader, and that man could or couldn’t be
Adrian after Immortalis. Either way I’ll discover his secret.
And then, Infinity City will be able to
call upon me as its rightful leader.
I became obsessed in my search for my
answer, after many years of imitating the villain I must now find the space in
my heart to finally capture the essence of what is just and right in our world.
I went straight to the well of Adrian’s most heartfelt compassions, here his
strongest empathy exists.
____________
Infinity
Elementary School
Friday
20th September
Three
days before Infinity Mondays #4
The classrooms were empty; the children
had been dismissed to go home to their suburban and downtown homes to enjoy
their weekend. Alexis Flynn walked into her classroom to retrieve her things
for the weekend of her own, picking up the items from her desk she felt
something different in the room. Sitting at the back of the room was a figure,
clearly a man, oversized in a child’s seat. The man was instantly recognizable
to Alexis; the dark brown hair with some pushed back bangs, the five o’ clock
shadow, athletic build, and lastly the one giveaway…the exposed lower part of a
Superman tattoo on his arms. She shut the door to her classroom, her reaction
one of surprise and curiosity, she wasn’t startled at all.
“Adrian,” she said inquisitively. “What
are you doing here; I thought we talked about this. We would keep up
appearances around the school, but until you give up this fantasy of yours we
were through.”
Both Alexis and Adrian worked in the
same school; it added an extra and complicated dimension to the breakdown of
their individual lives. Everyone in Infinity had heard about her pleas for
Adrian to sign for a divorce, she wanted to keep working as she loved teaching
and didn’t want to be the one not showing up for work every morning.
Adrian had his head down; his hand was
covering his mouth and chin. He was inert and appeared to be paying no
attention to his estranged wife. Breathing in heavily he held his breathe and
exiled, exhibiting no signs of motion Adrian allowed her to approach him until
she stopped about three desks away.
“Listen to me Adrian, you can’t just
show up like this. Ever since the news circulated the news of our separation
all they have done is plague me, I don’t want this to be another headline story.”
She pleaded with him to listen, but he thought she came off selfish in her
attitude. Adrian didn’t move an inch. She lowered the pitch of her tone, not to
shout to be asserting a calm aggression upon her estranged husband.
“Adrian…I have no idea what kind of a
game this is, but it needs to stop. Me and you are through, you have
embarrassed me, I can’t get a moment to myself anymore with journalists
clambering for our story. Whilst you’re off in the Infinity Arena living your
dream I am at home, worried and scared for your life. The problems with your
knee, the problems of self-doubt, everything…and that don’t even amount to how
much I miss you. Please leave, Adrian, I won’t ask it again.”
This time Adrian reacted, he took his
time in standing up, but was careful not to reveal his face to her, his hair
covered his forehead but for all she knew this was the Adrian that she was
still technically married too. Adrian stood at an impressive 6’3 he dominated
the room with his size, any other day she would have liked it, who knows, she
could have secretly wanted it right there and then if it meant persuading her
husband to return to their life.
And then the penny dropped.
Adrian raised his head, the piercing
blue eyes connected with hers and the face of the man before her had been
exposed. Having been married to Adrian for a number of years she felt repulsed
and took many cautious steps backwards knowing the identity of the imposter. Hitting
one of the desks she fell backwards and hastily rose to her feet, this time
with quick acceleration for the door.
“Where do you think you are going,
Alexis?” ‘Adrian’ replied.
She got to the door and opened it,
behind the door was a student about 5’6 tall, he nodded towards ‘Adrian’, and
slammed the door in Alexis’s face, locking it with a key.
Alexis tried to pry the door open, but
it failed to budge for her. She was locked in the room with ‘Adrian’. On paper
the real Adrian and ‘Adrian’ were nearly pitch perfect. She felt foolish for
opening her heart up to him; she had never felt as helpless or intimidated as
she did that moment. For a brief second all the dread of the upcoming divorce
slipped from her mind as she switched a state of self-preservation.
“That child looked like Jaden; I was
right…what kind of sick game is this?” She said angered. What she actually
meant to say was that it resembled Jaden, but it was not.
“Please, do not be intimidated,
darling.” ‘Adrian’ said, sending a sharp tingling sensation down her spine, it
was awkward and repulsive. The voice she heard was put on and bizarrely very
in-character of the Adrian Flynn she knew and loved. Calm and reserved with a
mild hint of his accent, but far from the real thing, an imitation version.
“Get away from me, I’m calling the
police!” She warned ‘Adrian’. Going over to her bag and looking into her bag
she was alarmed to not find it, she then was caught by the copy of her husband
talking to her in his voice.
“You mean you hope to, with this phone.”
‘Adrian’ gestured by waving her phone that he had on him the entire time,
Alexis dropped the bag on her main desk fretfully as she realised her phone was
one of many things she came to pick up before going home for the weekend.
“You’re sick, you know that right.
Something isn’t clearly ticking in your head, I’m not a psychiatrist but I know
enough to know when I see it.” Alexis attempted to ward him off.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Alexis. You’re
too important to me to harm, why would I want to wrong the most important piece
of the puzzle.” He replied soothingly.
“Now that’s just plain creepy,” she said
terrified. “Help!” She then repeatedly screamed, hoping for other teachers to
come to her aid.
“Nobody is here to help you. This is
just you, and me, accept that my sweet Alexis.”
“I’m you’re nothing!” She yelled.
‘Adrian’ stepped closer towards her, far
enough that she was pressed against the writing board behind her; he put out
both hands to show he was no threat. This time he pleaded with her, taking on
the role of the miserable husband.
“Alexis, I know I have made my mistakes,
and to hell with the news we know the real reason why this happening between
us. I would come here to forgive you, but you are not sorry.”
Alexis pushed the blonde hair away from
her eyes to realise that ‘Adrian’ was taking his method full measures. She took
a chance on that very fact, that if this was truly the personality of the
Adrian Flynn she knew then she was in a safe place. ‘Adrian’ was after
something, Alexis could feel it in the way he spoke, and this ‘Adrian’ was in
search of answers. For now, she played along in this back and forth rendition
of her own life.
“Then what did you come here for?” She
stopped leaning against the writing board to compose herself in acting
naturally around ‘Adrian’.
“I know I am out of bounds in even
talking about the promise I made to Jaden, the one that sketched a line between
us, but I am afraid that I may soon break that promise.” He said to her
worryingly.
“How so?” She asked, pretending to be
concerned.
“Every new challenge I face is a test,
and it comes no bigger than my next opponent on Infinity Mondays. The COO has
booked himself in a match against me, I don’t like the sounds of it…he’s
definitely up to something, but I don’t know what. Alexis, the Copycat is one
of the most shadowed and versatile competitors ever to grace the ring. If anyone can break my promise to Jaden it
is him.” ‘Adrian’ spoke assured of
his fears, but the last line was spoken suggestively, a break of the fourth
wall and the message he was sending straight to Alexis.
“And this ‘Copycat’, what makes him so
great?” She mocked the Infinity COO, at her own risk, but she felt confident
the persona of ‘Adrian’ would not break if he was as versatile as he was
renowned to be.
“He does not imitate, he becomes you. My strengths, and every
weakness, all torn to sunder and exposed in the unforgiving sun…my promise will
become his; I have seen him destroy men from within, a mysterious Trojan horse
that uses brain over brawn to conquer. If he obtains my will, then perhaps he
can do as he pleases with my promise.” ‘Adrian’ continued persuading Alexis,
the tone of this conversation had gone from an alarming rollercoaster of
emotions for Alexis into a smart opportunity.
“But you are a ‘hero’ now, remember.
Standing up for whatever it is you believe in, a hero keeps their promises.”
She continued the flow of the conversation to give herself some more time to
think about what exactly ‘Adrian’ was after.
“There is still time that I could become
your hero, there must be a way that I can restore the balance to our marriage.
I know we can’t start anew, but there must be anything that needs to happen
to make us both happy.” He said.
This time, ‘Adrian’ was speaking again
more suggestively with each word. He spoke of finding a solution to her
problem. Alexis pondered the thought in her head for a moment, it sounded dark
and devious but ‘Adrian’ was offering a trade.
‘He
wants me to tell him how to defeat Adrian!’
Another penny dropped. Alexis had been
given the opportunity to expose the inner most secrets of her estranged husband
to a man that could potentially tumble his momentum in Infinity, and with that came
the chance of Adrian coming to his senses. She had already said about Adrian’s
weakened knee, and her love for him, so ‘Adrian’ had some seeds to work with
already. For the smallest of moments she was glad that this ‘Adrian’ had
entered her life.
“Perhaps that is your problem Adrian,”
she addressed his point, choosing her words carefully.
“You spend so much time trying to become
the hero that is clouds your priorities, you are meant to be here with me, as
you promised on the alter on our wedding day. Chasing the right promise is what you’ll need to do.” Alexis said truthfully,
and then she realised that this ‘Adrian’ gave her the chance to vent some of
her own frustrations, she didn’t care at all.
“Sometimes your problem is that you
confuse being stubborn with your resilience, you have worked yourself up over
something small and it hurts because I don’t know where it went wrong with us,
and why you chase dreams so far afield. You’ve lost touch Adrian, you care too
much! I find it unbearable to watch your matches because you’re not fighting
for victory, or that one match, you’re fighting for misplaced honour.” She said
without breathe, ‘Adrian’ only listened as she expected him too. After all he
was only there to mine for information.
“I never knew that is how you felt.” He
replied lovingly, Alexis had to remind herself that this was not the man she
married because he played the role so convincingly.
“Not once you asked. The truth is Adrian
is that you are not my hero, you once were. After you abandoned me you become
the very thing you most hate in yourself, and that is a liar. We keep the
promises we make, Adrian, you’re problem is that you don’t know how to keep
one.” Alexis said, finally able to release all the pent up emotion a tear
rolled from her eye.
All fell quiet in the classroom, and
Alexis had laid bare her feelings towards Adrian. The other ‘Adrian’ walked up
to her and from her desk picked up a tissue from a box and handed it to her,
extending a subtle olive branch to her.
“I’m sorry.” He said lightly, kissing
her on the forehead softly and leaving the classroom, he knocked on the door
and the Jaden imposter opened it for him, both departed side by side as Alexis
was left alone in her own thoughts. She only came in to get her things.
The kiss on the forehead wasn’t strange
at all, that ‘Adrian’ was more alike her husband of recent than the real thing.
Oddly, she had found an ally today. Alexis may have sold Adrian down the river
but in her mind it was for the best. All she wanted was her husband back, it
wasn’t so much to ask for when you devoted your entire life to one person…to do
right by them, for better or worse, till death do us part. Alexis hoped that
the price of defeat was enough for Adrian to come to his senses once and for
all. In the end she smiled, and found comfort in knowing that when she would
watch the upcoming match there was finally a glimmer of hope that was not there
before for their marriage.
Alexis knew who she would thank, and it
was the most unlikely of people.
‘Adrian’ was the hero.
____________
The Reality of
Adrian Flynn
 |
____________
So…making a promise, is that his rouse?
Does he already accept that his promise is false?
My meet with Alexis put some things into
perspective, and I admit that I was quick to rush to a judgement at first but
now I have the blessing of Alexis, if she likes it or not.
None of you will realise the lengths of
my obsession, the journey behind entering Adrian’s complex mind was done so
with utmost caution. I avoid at best taking on the negative aspects of a
character as it taints my energy, incorporating these aspects can be
detrimental…but in times like these they are necessary in understanding the
depths of Mr Adrian Flynn. His story is saddening, with pinches of family dilemma
that persecute his soul.
Adrian is the quiet type, he may hold
lots of respect for this business and those around him…his stern backbone prevents
him from irrational violence. Would Murray Muir agree, probably not?
Don’t get me wrong; on my return to in
ring competition I would love to pick up a victory over Adrian Flynn, but if
you knew me what wouldn’t be enough. A ‘W’ on my record doesn’t mean squat
unless it came with the satisfaction that I had crawled into Flynn’s world and destroyed
it from the inside. When he looks up at me standing over him in the ring, dazed
from a well-earned Copyrighted I will know I have done enough to silence the
true villain of Infinity: Adrian Flynn.
Evil comes in many forms, on the face of
things what we see as demonic and evil is never as simple as it seems. People
imagine bad things to look like bad things, things like creepy animals, blood,
dead bodies, monsters, crazy eyes, dark outfits, menacing beards, the lot. I
asked myself many questions when I began my journey to insert myself into
Adrian’s shoes, over Saturday I was him…reeling from my talk with Alexis I became
him. I learned that a hero guise is only as good as their motivation, Adrian
may have true heart but even the best villains and anti-heroes have their
reasons. This experience has been thoroughly enlightening, but I don’t think I came
away with the exact answer I was looking for, and I am glad, because finding
the answer you want is taking the easy way out. The promise land of heroes
solace may forever be unanswered; nobody can be as true and pure as they appear
in media…fabrications of reality, desires and dreams. I live upon this earth in
the reality; I assume it as my own. I do not confuse what I see for visionary
hopes of a brighter tomorrow through the labels society hands to people, nor do
I see the hateful vengeance people wish upon others in retrospect. Any human
can be undone; it is how we are built. Any hero can be stopped, and villain can
be defeated. That is where the secret to Adrian rests, in the human condition.
He wants to be something greater, but refuses to accept the mantle of defeat. That
rule applies to us all. Take away the propaganda Infinity has shrouded him
within and the remnant of the unravelling will only show you his choice. The fall of Adrian Flynn will be
marred with his greatest choice of his career, to take from it the price of
defeat and build himself a better man, or to refuse acceptance of his flaws.
That is why I show people their true colours, because people cannot accept
themselves when it is staring them right in the face.
A hero’s demise is necessary, without
loss his struggle becomes irrelevant.
The Copycat Kid is no ordinary man; his
superpower is the ability to show others a mirror into their reality, he
obtains the power of acceptance against his opponents.
The night of September 23rd will
mark a date that the Infinity City will recount for generations, the day where
the Imitation Hero taught Adrian Flynn that real heroes never called themselves
a hero, which was a right he had to earn, a title bestowed upon him by anyone
but himself. I will introduce ‘Adrian’ to Adrian; this is my act of kindness.
TCK Twitter: @TheCopycatKid
Infinity Twitter: @infinityIWF
Infinity Website: www.infinitywrestling.net
__________
Disclaimer: This is a fictional piece of work that exists in the domain of 'online wrestling', a virtual environment for online wrestlers who create promos such as this in order to compete against their opponents. This piece of work was created for the Infinity Wrestling Federation, also just known as Infinity, in a match against Adrian Flynn. As a member of the 2.0 Initiative which manages Infinity we advocate these highly creative pieces of work as a form of creative expression. Please also note that due to the fictional basis of promos any likeness to any person, place, or character is either mentioned formally and all naming rights are preserved by respective companies, or fictionally in which case is a matter of coincidence. I hoped you enjoyed the promo, lastly.
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