Ichabod speeds away from the gym with his eyes blazing. It is nearly a mile down the road before he calms down and a rotten smile plays on his face. He lets out a long hideous laugh and turns into a hotel. As he gets out he looks around himself and breathes a deep draught of fresh air. His smile has turned to that of confidence. The last conversation with Jecht, no matter what was said, proved that Ichy still had him in the palm of his hand.
You talk a good game Jecht, but at the end of the day, I'm still the one in control. All you know so far is what I've said. What I haven't said is what you should worry about. I still hold a vast wealth of knowledge on you, and little by little I am letting it trickle out, like a cat slowly letting a mouse escape for an inch or two before pulling him back some more. The question you need to ponder is when will that cat snap the jaws shut on you?
And what are we doing if not playing cat and mouse? I, the cat, know what you will do, I know if I lift my paw high enough, or give you enough leeway you will run with it. I also know how much slack to cut you and still keep you in my power.
Ichabod's smile begins to seem loaded. His eyes no longer smile, but burn with determination.
But every cat eventually knows that the time for games is over. I'm still enjoying watching you grasp for straws right now... But on Friday, I'll stop playing. Friday its time for all my efforts of catching you in my web to finally show fruit. Thats when the jaws will snap shut forever, and I'll finally get to prove all of your botched memories wrong. Sure, I admired you, sure I looked up to you. Hell you were my hero, I'll admit that. But that cold shoulder got too icy for me to bear, and it was time for me to throw all that away.
The smile is gone now, and disgust is written all over Ichy's face in deep passionate red.
So I took the only logical step I could... Use my game to outdo yours. And oh, Jecht, how it has played out beautifully. You've all but lost your game. Hell you don't even know what your game was. You have a small idea, an inkling I'd even say. But all that time I got ignored, I had plenty of time to build my own little cache of ideas, forms, styles, mannerisms, and games. I made the wrestling game my game, I altered it and you will soon see that in MY game, you are but a minor player. The time came when I realized guys like you were a dime a dozen, and guys like me were like diamonds in the rough.
So no more admiration, no more heroism, no more cold shoulder. I've made it perfectly impossible for you to slam that cold shoulder in my face. You know yourself that you can no longer ignore me. I've risen up to the challenge of making you see me... and though you have no idea what you are looking at yet, you finally see me. You don't see all of me yet, without your memory, you can't grasp what I'm all about. But slowly it will mostly all come back... over two days actually. The rest I'll knock right into you with four impact explosives.
Yeah, I followed you to WOW, yeah you were like a leader to me. But now I am the leader, M... I mean Jecht... And I'm going to lead you down a path you have never been down before. When everyone sees your face, they aren't going to gasp because I've reopened the scars and added a few more, they won't cheer because their hero has returned. No, they will laugh and laugh. Because the little halfling who followed all those years will have moved ahead... the classic underdog has stolen the show.
Jecht, they say he who laughs last laughs best... and I will be laughing right along with those fans.
Ichabod goes to check in and the only sound is the Monster cooling in the evening air.
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