Deconstructing Jonathan Storm
(Handler's Note. This is indirectly a Jonathan Storm rp. It's not from the pov of Storm, but rather someone close to him. As I've been taking inventory of myself lately, I thought it would be fair to do the same for Storm. Please e-mail me some feedback to this rp. JDM)
*She pulls out a book from the bookcase. Happily, she turns to one of the first pages to see his smiling face. In his happier days, he had long blond hair. He was smiling, placing a kid-like headlock on his old friend, Davey Bowie. The two shined brightly as a tag team....then she turned the page. Indented into the book was a video. Never seeing this, she goes to her VCR and places it in. Fast forwarding a bit until pieces of an old NxWO TV Taping appear. And when she heard "6 Underground" from Sneaker Pimps, she knew she found history.
"I've watched a change in you. It's like you've never had wings. Now you feel so alive, I've watched you change."*
For eight weeks, Davey and I have held these belts, plowing down every tag team that's ever stood in our way. Do you know why? Because I am the one who's just that good! I'm the one setting everyone up for the Terminator 2000! I'm the one who makes the pin! I'm the one who works, and gets have the credit. Well, the critics can kiss my nutsack now. F*ck Davey, and f*ck the naysayers. I've got no cause but myself. I've only got the instinct to propel myself now, not some jerky with a Flock of Seagulls haircut. Screw that, I'm done. You can take these tag team titles, Davey, and you can kiss my ass. And you're wondering where "The Thrill" is tonight? He's right here, and he's not your everyday, run of the mill ass anymore. He's better than that. He's....The Edge.
*A tear trickles down her face. Was that when he became so bitter? Was that the moment where things went sour? She turns the page. Again, it's more pictures. With a haircut, she sees what he's become.
"There's petals in the lake, and red upon her face, she's crying as we pray, and it all comes down to money again. How could you forsake the love of God that way? Don't fade."
This isn't the guy she watched blossom in the Dungeon. This is definitely not the boy she fell in love with in High School. The pictures show him in the back, hanging with Cyrus Vaughn. The pictures show him all smiles, working a finish with Bad MoFo. Then again, you see him. Another pal. Kyle Pallas. There's the three of them. She's the leggy brunette in the center, holding Jon's waist tightly. At one point they were married. Ashlee Reeves and Jonathan Glaus.
"I can't love you anymore....I'm scared of the sound of it. And woman, I just wanted more."
Now she glances to see Kyle laying on the couch, as she looks over a scrapbook of days gone by. The next photo is of him and CWF president Steve Myers. She was there that day...she remembers.*
I just got off the phone with Steve, sweetie! He's gonna make us huge! He's wanting us to go to Missouri and headline his fed. He's going to build around me, Ash! We're gonna be HUGE! All we need to do is leave tonight....
*And leave they did. They packed up the car, and left. Four weeks later, he was given gold. The CWF World Title. Showing the world what a pair they made was only the beginning. They had chemistry, and now the world in their palms. She became a local icon. The object of every boy's attention. He became a star. Larger than life, and a man every person wanted to be. They WERE Jonathan Storm and Casey "SunShine" Band. Sitting on top of the world they were....then back at the MWA, something happened.*
We think it's best that you just find elsewhere to work, Jon. This isn't about you. It's about locker room chemistry, and it's something that's not working. Good luck, bro. Take care.
*She saw him cry. For the first time since she met him five years ago, she saw tears escape his face, and instantly he looked older.
"All my life, I'll be haunted by, all my life, just one moment in time, all my life, until the day I day, it will live inside of me."
The change happened almost instantaneous. He continued to work indy dates across the country, and even picked up a few more pieces of gold along the way. He was never the same though. He even lost the CWF World Title, and then took a sabbatical. Finally, someone came calling.*
The MWA said I could come back! They've given me a base contract, and I'm ready to redebut! They've given me a good idea though. I'm going to prepare a new gimmick. One that's going to make people stand up and notice me again. It's time to get my career back in order....
What is it that I do best? What makes me the self-proclaimed One Man Ratings Machine? It is merely what I do. I step into a franchise, and I immediately make, an IMPACT. It's what I do best. And that, my friends, is why I am Jonathan "The IMPACT" Storm, and you are nothing but a bunch of idiotic fans, who raise your filthy hands in the air, and worship me like the teenage idol I am. At the ripe old age of 23, I have accomplished what the so called "greats" of our sport have done their entire careers. Can you really say that I am not that much better? No. That, my friends, is the truth, and that's why people will try to be me, every single time....
*She stood next to him when he delivered that powerful monologue, thrusting him into the third stage of his evolution. She clapped like nothing else mattered at the end of it, upon delivering his now famous catchphrase, "You Might Think You're Something, But You'll Never Make An IMPACT!". The minute he uttered those words, his career was reborn. People wanted Jonathan Storm around again. Apparently, Corey Collins did too. And things went down hill for the young couple again.*
Baby! We're going to New York! Pack up everything! We're going....YOU'RE WHAT?
*Okay. She's pregnant. A kid was on the way for the two of them, which meant she would stay behind in California. And she did. The phone calls from Kyle got more frequent, but she knew that the friendship between Jon and him was torn because of his leaving the fed. That, and Kyle was stripped of his half of the tag titles, in favor of Jon's new partner. Things weren't the same, but with the miles between her and Jonathan, would he care?
And even if I could, it would all be great, put your picture on my wall. It reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad...
He cared enough to devote his life to her. She cared enough to sleep with Kyle. Was it a mistake? Yes. Did she care? Not even she knows. His career began to skyrocket, and instead of being his "head cheerleader", she was sleeping in the bed of his former best friend. Angels fall, and so did she.
"Come on baby, and throw me a right to the chin. Just one sign to show me that you give a shit. But you just smiled, politely, like a bank teller, telling me have a nice life."
And with a baby on the way! He would be none the wiser, but he would stay. The baby would keep him there. Would it?*
YOU DID WHAT??!!!!!!!!!!!! I gave you my heart and soul! You cheap floozy! You know what? This really isn't worth it. I've sacrificed myself just to make you happy. Now you can live without me. I'm leaving. You and Kyle can be happier without me.
*"Whatever happened to the woman? Whatever happened to the girl I thought I knew? I guess it must be true, I guess I'm losing you."
She was in shock. The moment replayed over and over again like a skipping record. Jonathan had walked out without a shred of remorse. That was almost three months ago. Since then, a parade of women have been around him in every promo he's cut. In every interview, another cheap floozy fondles his chest, and she sits there, not letting her new beau watch her watch him. The next page is Jon in action. Clips from various wrestling magazines. The one she remembers most vividly was the one where he crawled out from under the stage of the BJBWF when she watched him take a dive from thirty feet up. She held him for dramatic effect. He was lightly kissing her breast which she held him to. She could barely contain her laughter. Afterwards, Daniel Madrox shook her hand, and the two hugged. She hasn't seen D-Loc since that match. She knows Jon and Dan teamed up about a month or two ago, but that was then. All these things seem to have passed and faded.
"Everywhere I look, I see your face. Every sound I hear is the sound of your voice. Why are you haunting me? Why are you haunting me, why can't I let you go?"
He was all over the TV now. The NYSWF got him national exposure. She couldn't spend a moment of the weekend without watching him plug "Everybody Loves Raymond" or his guest appearance on "The King of Queens". He's a star now, and she's just another chapter in the scrapbook now. She turns to the next to last page, and there's her publicity shot from the MWA. Divinely dressed in her long black gown, she sheds a small tear. The last page is a long note he wrote her...the one where it sums it up for her, dated 9/11/00.*
Dear Ash--
I hope you know why I left. I had to. You picked me over someone else, and I hope he sets you free. You're free to love someone, and you know you truely love them if you can let them go to allow them to wander freely. I will always love you. From my days as a younger man, and probably until I'm old and gray. You're happier now and I know it. Think of me when you're lonely though. Think of me when you need a pal, because I'm always there. I've been your champion as Storm, and as Jonathan. I always will be. There's darkness and light in the world, kitten....I just hope the darkness never conquers you.
*And she weeps. She closes the book and holds it against her tightly. She can't stop thinking she let him down. And the radio plays on...
"And I wanted, but you turned away...you don't remember, but I do. You never even tried."
And she runs up the stairs....knowing that she built the perfect beast 5 years ago, and deconstructed it and tore it apart in less than one fleeting moment. When she sees him, she sees unbridled anger and hatred inside of him. A man soundly trained by the best is blinded only by what's inside of him. Not a scientific wrestler, but a savage man, lost only in the primal instincts of just letting loose. The heart is always there, and in the right place...but the heart is gone....long, long gone.
"Beautiful is empty. Beautiful is free. Beautiful loves no one. Beautiful stripped me."
Songs used in this story (in order): "Change" by Deftones, "Don't Fade" by Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Why I'm Here" by Oleander, "Dreaming While You Sleep" by Genesis, "Stan" by Eminem, "Selfless, Cold, and Composed" by Ben Folds Five, "Stranger By The Day" by Shades Apart, "Haunting Me" by Stabbing Westward, "Hemmorhage" by Fuel, and "Beautiful" by Creed.