A Leg Up

The camera cuts to the backstage area, opening on Simon Tillier and Cyrus O’Haire standing in the corner of a locker room. Cyrus’ right leg looks gruesome with the scars and discoloration from surgeries of days past. Simon wears a nice suit, freshly pressed for his first spot on the ACE Network, and carries a microphone. Cyrus wears a pair of black shorts-style trunks with a red stripe down the outside of each leg. Cyrus looks at the camera as it zooms in on him and runs his hands through his graying hair one last time. 

Simon Tillier: Good evening everyone! My name is Simon Tillier and I am proud to be one of your backstage reporters here in PRIME. I’m standing next to one of another of PRIME’s newcomers, Cyrus O’Haire, as he prepares for his match against Ria Nightshade at ReVival 2! Cyrus, what was it about PRIME that drew you in?

Cyrus rips the microphone from Simon’s hand, shoving him out of the way. Cyrus looks down at his scarred leg, then up to the camera, speaking roughly into the microphone. 

Cyrus O’Haire: My leg was destroyed in the ring ten years ago. The doctors said I was lucky I didn’t lose it. The inside of my leg looks like a God damned hardware store exploded. There’s plates and rods and pins and screws, it took four surgeries just to be able to walk on it again. 

Cyrus pauses, his Adam’s Apple bobbing in his throat.

Cyrus O’Haire: So, I ask myself, why am I back in the ring after ten long years? Especially with such an obvious target on my back, or in this case, my leg. Especially when I’m pushing 45 years old in four months.

Again he pauses. A deep breath in through his nose is slowly exhaled through his mouth.

Cyrus O’Haire: Ten years ago, when my leg was destroyed, I was laughed at. They said I was a “Never Was.” I watched as my career passed me by. I watched my kid cousin’s career skyrocket, culminating in a Hall of Fame spot. I watched, and I watched, and I watched, week after week after week. It was all I could do from the sidelines while I rehabilitated my leg. So when my kid cousin decided to tell me about this re-emerging company coming back from the dead after so long, I felt a sense of fate wash over me. When the doctors, after ten long years, decided to clear me to get back in the ring, I felt that same sense of fate wash over me again.

Cyrus steps forward, still looking at the camera.

Cyrus O’Haire: I hate it here. I hate Jabber. I hate the PRIMEates, or whatever the hell they call themselves. I can feel them judging me. It doesn’t matter, because I’m going to win the Almasy Invitational, and I’m going to be the first Universal Champion of the ReVival era. Simon, you said I was ‘preparing for Ria Nightshade’. I am. Every day, every hour, I’m preparing for Ria Nightshade because I don’t want my first match back in the ring to end up as my last match. So, Ria, I suggest you put down your phone, stop with the Jabber, and get yourself ready for a match with Cyrus O’Haire, or your first match in PRIME? It’s going to be your last.

Cyrus looks back at Simon.

Cyrus O’Haire: Now, Simon? Get out of here, before your first interview is your last.

Cyrus slams the microphone into Simon’s chest and shoves him out of the view of the camera. Cyrus stands alone in front of the camera as it quickly fades.