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X-treme Wrestling Federation » Warfare Boards » Warfare RP Board
All The Men and Women
Author Message
Steven Cooper Offline
Registered but either hasn't added self to a roster yet or doesn't RP



XWF FanBase:
Traditionalists

(has an old school wrestling mentality; no nonsense; less appealing to some younger fans)


#1
04-20-2021, 08:55 PM

OOC: Unformatted currently. Will format later tonight.

The city streets are empty now.
The lights don't shine no more.


April 6th, 1986
Boston Garden
Boston, MA

The match was long and tumultuous for the two gladiators in the Boston Garden. Steven Cooper faced his opponent with the most intensity he could find within himself, pushing every limit to the best of his abilities. The man who had been beating on him and received equal punishment in kind was one Teddy Malchom, a beastly man with a tan that glittered in the arena's harsh glow. Teddy was built like a tank and swiped like a bear, his nails scraping at Steve's skin like opaque little claws. At some point during their war, Malchom forearm collided with Cooper's jaw, knocking the taste clean out of his mouth. Steve never really understood the expression until he felt the numbness in his cheek and the dripping blood on his chin. Sure, his father had threatened to grace young Steven with the experience and his mother had even gotten a little close with a few of her slaps, but this was another sensation entirely to his experiences with his parents. His ears rang louder and louder as the damage accumulated. It was the most tired and sore Steve had ever felt, the fatigue in his muscles narrowly surpassed by the adrenaline coursing through him. Every meeting with the canvas grew a little lengthier for each of them as they continued their explosive slugfest. It was at some point in the whole affair that the noise filling Cooper's ears drowned out the applause he lived to bathe in. The brightness of the surrounding world swallowed in a void of shape without form and noise lacking distinction.

It was merely himself and Teddy. That's all he could see. All he was certain was real at that moment.

An instinctual sense of self-preservation began to build within Steven's gut. Wrestling was his world. His future. He didn't have anything to go back to, unlike the countless challengers he had faced before tonight, there wasn't an exit door for Steve. Tonight wasn't just a fight his NEPW Championship, but for his very life. Finding a slim opportunity, Steve acted on pure reflex to hit his famous Tornado DDT on ol' Teddy, feeling the reverberations of the impact on the man's head in his own arm. It was a struggle to roll the larger man over for a pin attempt, but he managed to make it happen, limply falling over the brute who had brought him to this point. The challenge of his life, but it wasn't enough to take down Steve. His eyes drifted to the referee who slapped the mat with a force he could feel the vibrations of. The hand came down a second time as Steven's eyes closed, anticipating the third rumble beneath his back.

That's when he felt Teddy's arm leap off of the mat, sending Cooper rolling over, completely spent without the pin for his efforts. He attempted to pull himself up when the exhaustion began to set in. Even raising a finger felt as if it was being held towards the Earth by a hundred pound weight. And with the desperate fight against his own body underway, Steven didn't notice Teddy had risen to the top rope until he already headed back down. It was a leg drop square to the neck that connected with Steve, robbing him of his light few breaths he had stored. Steven began to hear the crowd again, chanting his name, offering their hope as strength for The Trooper. But there was no force on Earth capable of lifting Steven Cooper that night outside of Teddy Malchom, who had other plans entirely. And in Steve's eyes as he lost that prize so precious to him were the lights above, overpowering his senses and blotting out his vision with a flat white void. He wondered if this was what dying felt like, the chorus calling his named becoming increasingly unrecognizable. And then everything went black.

*BEEP*
*BEEP*
*BEEP*





September 24th, 2018

Cooper swatted at the alarm clock, his hand missing its target due to his recent plunge into the waking world. With a second attempt, he found his target and silenced the infernal machine, rolling over to his bed's edge and sitting up. A beam of light that snuck its way through his blinds had decided to rest upon the bridge of his nose, irritating his sight immediately. He scratched an itch on his shoulder, yawning as he took in the vision of his apartment, many clothes and DVD cases strewn about the furniture and floors, albeit for a single cabinet he kept dedicated to the many remnants of his short period on top of the world. His mind already fixated on the dream he had recalling his title loss, Steven stepped towards the cabinet and pulled out a manila folder, thumbing through its contents. They were newspaper clippings he collected at the time of after the fact. A small remnant of that long abandoned era he called home. He lifted one clipping out based on the included image and its headline: "Cooper fired following backstage outburst!" He attempted to read the smaller text, but found his eyes straining at the prospect. His stubbornness kept him there for a good four or five minutes before he conceded to his age and grabbed his par of reading glasses. They were wirey with wider lenses than he liked and sat on his ears like guillotines. He read over the event rolling his eyes at the words.

"Blacklisted from the industry for his unprovoked and violent attack." A short statement from his boss from FEPW who had been his biggest supporter only a month prior, only for that advocacy to shift with the winds of profit. It was a matter worth forgetting, yet it was fresh on his mind for some reason. Looking to avoid any more focus on it, he put the folder back in and pulled out one labelled "90s." His hand was unsteady, however, bumping the folder into the cabinet's door and spilling its contents on his already messy floor. He chased after the memories and snippets, carefully recollecting them, trying to ensure none were damaged until his attention turned to a photograph of himself and Tracy in the hospital. She was delirious from childbirth, her hair frazzled in ways she rarely allowed it to get. In Steve's arms was a tiny baby, one of his miniscule hands wrapped around Cooper's big finger. And on Steve's face was the widest smile he had ever had.

Steven placed the picture back in it's proper place, next to the one of Vanessa's birth. Returning the folder to the cabinet, he turned to the alarm clock, seeing the time nearing 1:00 PM rapidly. It was only after a few seconds when he realized why that night was on his mind in the first place: He was supposed to meet Diane at 1:00 today. He brought his palm to his forehead and began to scramble to get dressed and make it in time.



As Steven entered the coffee shop, he checked his watch, only to find it uselessly motionless at 4:00 like it had been for weeks. Making a mental note to fix it soon, he frantically looked to see where Diane happened to be seated, only to recognize her big poofy hair as her bright, silvery eyes shined towards him with an accompanying smile. Approaching her, Steve took a seat beside her and motioned for a waitress, but was clearly ignored. Diane wasn't too concerned, though, seemingly more enthusiastic that he actually showed.

"Steve! God, it's been ages hasn't it?"

"Ain't that the truth. I didn't think you'd actually stop by, so I dragged my feet a little. It ain't too often you get to see someone from the old days. How's the kids?"

Diane rolled her eyes in an over-the-top fashion, replying, "Oh, you know. They're enjoying all the splendors still despite having lived the good life for forever. Yours?"

"Ehn. They swing by sometimes, but you know how it goes. It's not too often they want to slow down their lives to talk to some slow old man. My son and his wife just had a baby boy, though."

"Oh my God! Grandpa Cooper!" She began to chuckle, blown away by the prospect. "What's the little bundle of joy's name?"

"I don't know."

Diane's chuckles faded as the reality of the situation reared its head again. Steve was convinced all of these scarce meetings she'd arranged were fueled out of some sort of pity or guilt. And he was preparing to hear another version of a spiel he had been the sole audience to for ages.

"I'm sorry. About how everything shook out."

"You don't gotta be sorry about a damn thing. Just worked out that way."

He continued after a brief silence, not believing a word he uttered.

"You can never be sure about if anything would've changed if you had said something. We'd probably still be here either way."

"I guess you're right."

The two continued their conversation until Cooper was forced to depart, getting a call from the gym. It was the walk to work that brought him back to that night years ago one more time, his mind lingering on that singular moment that would define his career. A moment that taught him what spoils noble deeds award.



Steven was still reeling from getting his ass kicked earlier in the night. It was the kind of embarrassment that sticks with you for a lifetime and haunts you for longer. But Cooper wasn't about to be some miserable spoil sport who cried and bitched about unfairness or getting a rematch. He lost that title fair and square and the least he could do is keep his dignity about him. The halls walking up to Teddy's dressing room all felt longer on this trek, though he knew it wasn't the case. From hallways away, he could hear Malchom and his ilk celebrating, drunkenly singing in a monument to the new champion's accomplishment. Finally meeting with Teddy, Steve gave a slight wave, clearly uncertain about the whole interaction, but doing his best to remain professional. Teddy's entourage scattered a bit, allowing the two best in the business a little bit of time below. Diane, Teddy's wife, was a little tipsy herself, favoring a bottle of wine near the minifridge.

"Well, well, well," Teddy slurred, "Look who's come ta' see the champ."

Steve readied himself, taking some needed mental steps towards humility.

"Look, I just wanted to stop by and say-"

"Hey, Diane, couldya get me a beer?" Teddy interrupted Cooper, turning to his wife for a split moment, but she didn't seem to notice his request.

"So, you wanted ta' bow down to the king, huh? Must feel bad after buying all of your own hype, kid. Hell, we can't all be me!"

As the man condescendingly laughed at Cooper, Steve balled up a fist before taking a deep breath and getting past it. Teddy shouted towards Diane again, seemingly getting her attention.

"It was an honor to hold that belt," Steve said through gritted teeth, "I only hope you feel-"

"Honor?! Psh, I'm a star, baby! This shits stepping stones! Floorboard shit! I'm the next big thing, Steve! And I don't have time to waste on pointless clumps o' metal like this junk!"

He tossed the belt to the side, unconcerned as it toppled to the floor.

"You're too sentimental, Coops. They're gonna eat you alive because anyone and everyone can walk all ova' you. I don't put up with that shit. I'm the alpha! Top dog, baby! You? You're the dribblin' shits! You're not a young vet, just a young has-been! And that's why you're gonna stand there and-"

"Honey," Diane stumbled into the ranting Malchom, cutting him off mid-sentence, "here's your beer."

"You cut me off while I was fucking talking, Diane."

His words were fierce as he turned to face his wife, becoming increasingly aggravated.

"Well, if you didn't want me to say something, you could've gotten your own fuckin' beer."

"You're gonna- you're gonna talk to me like that? Me?!" Teddy's voice boomed as he raised his hand and struck it across Diane's face, knocking her to the ground. It was an image Cooper was all too familiar with from back home. Sure, Steve had faced some tough women's wrestlers, but Diane wasn't an athlete like them. Teddy stood there, drowning in his own feeling of untouchable superiority. But not for long. A feeling hit Steven. An instinctual one. He rushed Teddy, smashing his face into the mirror and found strength he only wish he'd had earlier in the night. Whether he wanted to admit it or now, Teddy was the next big star. They all knew it. Later on, the decision was to stand with Cooper and miss out on a heist over the next few years or to leave Steve out in the cold. Diane did what she thought'd be best for her children before divorcing Malchom years later. Maybe she was right. None of it changed what Cooper went through. What he was left with.



Steve made it to Tim Fox's office, ready to get the book thrown at him and to hear all sorts of restrictions and expectations for his match. He held his breath, taking in the subtle smell of dust that filled the room. Fox turned around to face Coop, sighing.

"You're facing Arthur again on Saturday."

"And?"

"And that's it. Isn't that what you wanted, Steve? To beat up the kid a bit more? God knows he has some sights on you."

Steve stayed quiet, his tongue rolling over his teeth for a moment.

"That it?"

"No," Fox replied flatly, "I want you to do some serious thinking, Steve. You can't keep acting like this your whole damn life. Eventually, you gotta have some sort of legacy. Something more than old, bitter piece of shit."

"Maybe I could add millionaire to that?"

"You wish. But I'm serious. You're going nowhere like this except a shallow grave and an empty funeral. So, try and do something that's gonna make you stick around. We're not long for this world anymore, Coop. Maybe you should try and make an actual mark."

"Sure. I'll think about it."

Steven prepared to leave, clearly blowing the words off a little before being interrupted.

"Oh, by the way. As a reward for your stunt last show? You're in charge of making sure this next one goes smoothly."

"If it doesn't?"

"Then don't expect a plaque anywhere but on your tombstone."

Steven shrugged and left the room, the thought of legacy light on his mind. He was an old man with a young man's dreams. He didn't want to be some forgotten name in a list of thousands, but it was hard to tell how that would change with one show. Still, he had to do something. Taking a breath, grabbing a cig as he did, Steven walked out of the gym and back home to be surrounded by his memories. However, there was a feeling in the air he couldn't describe. A scent of a new pasture. A changing gust. The feeling lingered for a moment.

And then it passed.



TO BE CONTINUED


You will return again someday.
To my blue world.
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