A Quatraine by Marcelle T. Fabie
Realms of the Seer overlap inevitably
With the Bard's Domain, arbitrarily
Ohayoo gozaimasu! Ogenki desu ka?
Es geht, mein Freunde. Du bist frei, ja?
A hacking dreamer meets a dreamer hack
Much ado over nothing, or so it seems
The past, the future, then fade to black
The sole tie that binds: simply dreams
Brilliance, fair Brilliance, scarred Brilliance
‘Tis a cruel world for someone like you
Ein and Null have you so entranced
Brilliance rekindles, enkindles hope anew
Pariah, you wretch, accursed from the day
You were born to be a brooding shade
Brilliance has spurned and turned you away
Yet you persisted ‘til her fears were allayed
When laws and mores begin to collide
With rules and codes, one cannot hide
This Matrix of meaning has never lied
In spite of pain, Truth cannot be aside
Robbed of a chance because of the past
All that can be done is to make the now last
Hannah and Linus may seem in disharmony
Yet truth be told, they are good company
Realms of the Seer overlap inevitably
With the Bard's, Domain, arbitrarily
A Story Fragment by Marcelle T. Fabie
It's my first wrestling match tonight. Half a world away from Montreal, years of training in the infamous Dungeon with my late uncle Stu has put me into this packed arena in Osaka. I can barely hear my own name being announced as I make my way into the rings, amid the wild booing from the predominantly Japanese audience. It fazes me a bit, but I'm gaijin to them. Across the other corner, my opponent is all primed. Kobashi may not be a ring veteran, but he's had over a year's more of in-ring experience than I.
The bell rings, and Kobashi promptly gets into position and aims a sharp kick towards my kneecaps, which I block with my right arm. I reel back in pain: unlike the WWE, this bout is anything but scripted. Kobashi smells blood and pounces on me, grounding me with a double leg takedown. I try to get out of a submission predicament by making my way to the ropes, and the referee warns Kobashi against putting me into a Boston Crab, anyway. Kobashi sneers, and steps back.
"Gaijin sucks! You don't stand a chance!"
Someone makes an inexplicably audible exclamation from the crowd, in apparently the few English words he knows. It makes perfect sense: aside from the fact that I'm Canadian, Kobashi is well-loved in Osaka, as he's their hometown boy, and repeated chants begin to ring in my ear.
"Gaijin sucks! Gaijin sucks!"
Mildly amused that they don't chant in Japanese instead, I turn to face Kobashi, who was playing to the crowd. Kobashi puts up his guard again, and kicks my right leg again, this time connecting. He aims a turning sidekick at my solar plexus, and I feel the wind knocked out of me. As I crumple on the ground, I barely block an ax kick aimed right at my head, and then manage to sweep him off his other foot in a desperate attempt. I then do a bridge pinning combination, but he kicks out immediately and kips up.
The commentary team near ringside is animated. They seem to be bringing up my family history now, as I can distinctly hear the word "Dungeon" being said in their native language. Shrugging off the pain on my leg, I struggle to get up and do an arm drag the moment Kobashi got in range. He popped right back up, and I ducked his clothesline, then planted a deft enzugiri to the back of his head, which knocked him down. I have to start working on his head and back regions in order to soften him up for my finisher, the Clamps, a submission move that exerts pressure across his neck and back while holding one of his arms in place for leverage.
I pick Kobashi up, and attempt to deliver a piledriver, but he manages to counter with a back body drop. As soon as I was flat on my back, he then gripped my leg and delivered an elbow drop to my right shin, and I could've sworn I heard something give. I was writhing in pain as he wrapped my leg around his arm and put me into a submission predicament. I scrambled to the ropes, and he promptly broke the hold, but then picked me up and hit me with a knee breaker.
Kobashi's finisher is a top-rope dragon screw, and the way he's been working on my leg will ensure that I won't be able to so much as move by the time he hits me with it. I was fading fast, as I was having a hard time staying on my feet, and I was just lucky that I managed to sidestep a superkick aimed at my face by Kobashi. He's beginning to get flashy now and he's ignoring his psychology. I picked him right up and delivered a gut wrench and prepared to powerbomb him, but he countered with a hurricanrana. Kobashi plays to the crowd again, and I, dazed, look up while grasping for the ropes.
Then I see her. She's here!
Kobashi picks me up again and attempts a DDT, but I managed to whip him to the ropes. He bounces right back, and I drive my left knee into his gut. He keels over in pain, and I realize that I have to put this match away before he gets in position to do me in. From the side of my eye, I noticed her smiling at me. That silent confidence she has in me wills me on. Kobashi plants another kick to my right leg, but this time, I catch it with both hands, duck the expected enzugiri reversal, then executed a T-Bone suplex. I practically hurt myself as much as I did him with that move, as my right leg felt as though it would explode. Kobashi is no rag doll.
The crowd was beginning to get angry, but I fed off their energy, as if to spite them all. She was there. That's good enough reason. I picked up Kobashi once again and hit a double underhook stretch bomb with little resistance from him this time. I could go for the pin now, but it's a matter of pride. I take to the top rope, and execute a spinal tap across his neck, all the while still feeling the pain on my right leg. Kobashi got busted open with the stretch bomb, as he landed on his face. I then maneuvered him into the Clamps, and he tapped out a mere three seconds after I managed to apply the hold. The crowd's angry chants got louder, though a smattering of cheers could be heard. She was clapping at me, looking extremely pleased.
I amble to the crowd as the referee attended to Kobashi. She had ringside seats. I looked at her, and got close enough to her. She literally stepped on the bottom of the security railing just to be able to embrace me and congratulate me on my first match. I look at her and thank her. Then I turn to go to the locker room, all the while seeing her smile at me. I have to walk on. I have to ignore it.
After fixing myself up, I didn't bother to wait for the main event anymore and took a cab back home. I get down, and knock on the door. The door opens shortly thereafter.
"Hi, dearie! How was your match tonight? Did anything interesting happen?"
I look at the ring I wear with a mildly amused expression and smilingly reply...
"Oh nothing, love. Nothing at all."
END
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