I Used to Be a Normal Man

I was a normal guy…



A video, obviously a video to make home movies, shows a man, maybe 18 in age, waking up from his bed. He looks around to see the room, and he sits up and stretches. He yawns, and then gets up out of the bedroom and makes his way down the stairs. “What are you doing Mom?” Is heard from him, and an older woman’s giggle is heard. “Just wait and see Dear, I promise you, you’ll enjoy it.” The man just keeps on walking, and he walks past the living room into the kitchen. He’s too tired to see the item on the table, which the camera can’t make out yet. He gets his bowl of generic brand cereal and a “glass” (a plastic cup) or Orange Juice, and he sits down. He starts eating the cereal, which appears to be some cheap version of Fruit Loops, and then his eyes suddenly go wide. He stares at the package across the table. “Mom… Mom” “Yes Dearest” “Is that….. Is that….” The man suddenly grabs the package, tearing it open quickly. He pulls out the game, Mortal Kombat for his PS3. He jumped up and waved it in the air. “I GOT IT! I HAVE IT!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU MOM SO MUCH!!!!” He shouted in enjoyment, and he left his cereal on the table, and he ran upstairs to play the game. The person behind the camera (which we can assume to be the man’s mother) exhales with a sigh. A grown man is excited over a game.



Maybe less than normal, but hey, I had a job, I had a few friends, give or take most of them were from online game play, and I had a pet. I just needed a new home, and maybe that extra education to give me the “push” I need out of the house, but my mother and I both knew this wasn’t coming to me anytime soon. I was looking for opportunities in work, trying to push myself away from “GameStop clerk”, but it didn’t move. I was stuck there. I lived in a rut. When there was a new game, I’d buy it. When there was a new DLC, I’d buy it. When there was a new action figure, or even just a poster or a shirt to go out with a game, I’d buy it. My mother hounded me a few times, but since my dad died, she hasn’t been really harsh on me. He was the one who introduced me to my first Mortal Kombat game, which happened to be the FIRST Mortal Kombat. He smiled and said “Marshall, I love you, and one day, you’ll do me proud, I know it. Believe it or not, you’re a shooting star, and you can do anything you put your mind to.” Those were the last words I heard from him. At the time, I was 8, scrawny and tall, and a complete social outcast. Yeah, I was that kid who got bullied and picked on a lot. Am I proud of it? No, of course not, who would be? I wanted things to changed, but I mainly just hid behind Mortal Kombat. You know? Even today, I STILL return to that game. Even when there are newer games, and even Mortal Kombat games 8 games past that one in the series, I still return to the original. It has sentimental value, you know what I mean? Anyway, back to that day. It was 3 days after the last Mortal Kombat game came out. I wanted it, SO much, like I always did, but after all, money was tight. We were pretty poor, and I understood I couldn’t get it, as most of my money went straight to getting food and helping pay for the rent of the house. It took my mother and I’s pay to afford living, and we’ve been living like that for about 7 months now. We kept our heads up though. I hate admitting it, but sometimes, I’d even get her to sing to me, because I couldn’t sleep, I was afraid if one of us got hurt and injured and couldn’t work, what would happen? If I couldn’t work, what would happen to my mother? What about vice versa? Things were so tough; we almost didn’t make it out. But I’d play my games, she’d do her reading (She loved to read, mainly love stories), and on Mondays and Wednesdays, we sat down together and watched good ole wrestling! We loved it! And one day, my entire life changed because of wrestling. It was a normal day at work, and one of the normal customers, who I played with online, came in to buy the new Mortal Kombat game. We exchanged some conversation, and he snapped his fingers. “Hey, you’re a wrestling fan, right?” I shook my head. “Well, there’s some competition of sorts over at the High School happening, I heard that all these locals are fighting it out to see who can get an XWF contract. It’s a bunch of no holds barred matches in a tournament styled frenzy. It’s going to be AWESOME! You should check it out sometime, it takes place in a few months. So, of course, I knew what I had to do. I didn’t tell him, but I was going to enter it. This was going to be my push. I ran home that day. “Mom” I said. “Yes?” She replied, in the kitchen making something. “I found the solution to all our problems.” I had picked up a flyer on the way home from work near the school. I showed her the “solution” and she just looked at me. She looked deeply into my eyes, as if checking if I was actually serious or not. She nodded. “Do it.” She answered. I smiled.



A video with the same quality as earlier is shown. It shows that man from earlier in the gym, and he smiles and waves at the camera. He’s in a generic “XWF” shirt, and he sits down on a weight bench, with 20 pounds on the bar, and he lies down. He starts to lift it, and he does it with easy, so he stands up and doubles the weight. He lies down and starts to lift again, and he goes slower, but he’s still lifting it with ease. He smiles, and then doubles it again to 80. He tries lifting, but can’t get it completely up, and he stops. 80. Tomorrow he’ll try again with 80. He stands up, sweating a bit now, and he turns the camera off. The camera turns back on, and it shows him sitting at home, whispering. “Hello, this is the Marshall Cage Journey to XWF Day 1, and today, I’m going to be working out, and drinking this protein shake I’ve been hearing about. I have to be quiet because mom’s in bed.” He takes a quick swig from a bottle, and he makes a sour face, but then he just looks at it and takes another drink, drinking it all down by forcing it. He nods his head and lies down and starts doing sit ups, and he reaches 40 before he has to stop. Only 3 more months, and he had to get in some of the best shape in his life, and he had to get ready to fight. Videos are quickly fast forwarded through, with the beginning words being heard. “Day 2” “Day 3” “Day 4” and it starts going so fast, only a few can be understood. “Day 20” “Day 34” “Day 45” and it shows the more muscular version of the man. 45 he has sadness in his eyes. “Day 45 and I’m here at the gym. Uh my mom’s in the hospital; getting tested for something, all we know is she’s not healthy. I don’t know, let’s just get to it.” He starts benching around 200, and you’d think he wouldn’t be able to do it, but after a while, he forces himself to, and he pulls it off! What a miracle!



As you could guess, this was the end of my mother’s road. After a while, it was over. I didn’t even get to talk to her on the day before she died, my car shut down and by the time I got there, it was over. I wasn’t even expecting it. I had to expect it sometime, but not then! Docs were saying she was healthy damn it! Sorry for my cursing. It just… It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. And then, after day 45, I almost stopped. Money was REALLY low now. I didn’t have enough money to go to the gym. I was selling my games, something I NEVER wanted to do. I looked at that Mortal Kombat game, the original, and I said to myself. “Make him proud.” I put it in the Playstation, and I turned it on. I looked at the characters in it, and I allowed myself to devour myself into it. If I was going to fight, I would need to be a warrior. I would need to be a warrior in the pawn of Mortal Kombat; I would need to force myself to be a real life member of Mortal Kombat. I played some more of the Mortal Kombat games, and I looked at Kung Lao, someone who was honorable. He didn’t want the troubles of doing something; he didn’t want the fame for it. He only won the tournament because if he didn’t, all hope would’ve been lost in the Earth Realm and Shao Stung would’ve been the winner of the new Mortal Kombat Tournament, which couldn’t happen. In the end, it didn’t turn out right for him, but it wasn’t his fault. Anyway, OH! YEAH! SPOILER ALERT! Sorry guys!!! Well, it’s not even a BIG spoiler, so, oh well. Anyway! I looked for my old Comic-Con costume; I dressed up as Kung Lao once. I put on the hat, and I felt a new strength in me. I stopped recording the days, but I pushed myself, and I always wore that hat. When I wasn’t at work, I was running or doing pushups and sit-ups for hours at a time, and when I wasn’t doing that, I spent my time either sleeping or playing Mortal Kombat. Eventually, I looked at someone else who didn’t let difficulties get in their way, Jin, from Tekken. Jin had to face with his own self, his devil gene, and he didn’t let that stop him, instead, he continued to fight it, and in the end, well, the fight still goes on, but it looks like he’s on top. He’s not a terrible person because of it; he’s not letting Devil completely control him. He’s not evil… Most of the time… ANYWAY! Him, he was cool, and I let him inspire me too. I let him prove that the people around me, the Devil in my life, he doesn’t have to change who I am, what I’m destined for. Why? Because I’m destined for greatness! Now that my life was on track, it was almost time for the tournament. I didn’t have enough money for the gym memberships, so I mainly just fought walls and pillows, or tried move attacks on mattresses leaned up against walls. I had about 2 weeks from this point on, less than that, actually, and now it was my time. My time to SHINE!



A high school’s gymnasium is shown, and inside a smaller wrestling ring is set up. An Announcer is in the ring, probably just some local radio station host. “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of ALL Ages, Are you all ready for the Fight to Win Tournament?” The crowd popped like mad crazy. “Now, the tournament will be local fighters, people you know and love, and you will witness them beating the living hell out of each other! Anything, and everything, will be used in this tournament. This will be a 16 Man Tournament, and the beginning match will be…” I didn’t listen to him. I knew I wasn’t in first; I was in as the third match in the first round against some guy named David Stark. I started to panic in the back, and so I took out my iPod, and I played some “Fight to Win”, by some YouTube band named Your Favorite Martian. It was a good song, and I thought about it. This was going to be my motivation. As the lyrics filled with Fighting Game references flowed through my head, I got my act together. I went to my bag, pulled out my Jin costume, which was worn for Halloween two years ago, and I put it in. I had it in their as motivation, but I stuffed up my boots and elbow sleeves with cardboard to make knee pads and kick pads, and I was ready now! “Ladies and Gentlemen, your next fight is scheduled for one fall. Making their way at this time, the competitors, David Stark and Marshall Cage” Slowly, both men walk out, getting in the ring and then David, who’s sporting jeans and a “Tap Out” T-shirt, offers a handshake to Cage, wearing his Jin outfit. Cage accepts and then backs up. This was it. This was everything I wished for. The bell rings! I ran at him and didn’t stop. I remembered something I used on my mattress once, a running punch Cage delivers a running uppercut to the face of David, and then he drops down and starts delivering mounted punches, but David quickly blocks one, pushes Cage off, and then runs and tackles him hard. I never practiced getting hit, but I’ve been hit and tackled enough all throughout school to know what to do. Cage protects his face, and then knees David in the gut. David holds his stomach while Cage quickly starts hitting blows to the head, and then he rolls him around and starts hitting the back of his head. Cage stands up and starts stomping on him and David quickly avoids one and stands up with a dropkick. Even such a simple move leaves the two untrained men down. The crowd starts to stomp, and then David gets up, and rolls out of the ring, grabbing a fan’s chair! He gets back in and runs at Cage, and hits him. I was busted open, and I must say, that first chair shot will always be remembered. It was the first time I couldn’t even handle the pain I had. I’ve never felt this much pain before, it was such a shock. Cage is busted open and David covers. The ref counts. “1…2….” Cage manages to get his shoulder up, not “kicking out”, but stopping the count. David stands off of him and grabs the chair. He gets ready to swing it, but Cage ducks a swinging chair shot, and he looks at the ropes. I was going to do something really amazing. Cage leaps up on the ropes onto the second ropes, but wait! He’s trying to keep his balance, and he flips to the outside as he’s not prepared! And I messed it up. Cage is down outside of the ring, and David laughs as he gets on the ring apron and has the chair, and he jumps down, going to smash it across Cage’s back, but Cage rolls out of the way, stands up using the apron, and then kicks the chin of David! David’s head almost snaps backwards, and Cage rolls David into the ring. “1…….2……..3” The ref counts, and Cage has his hand raised! It was amazing. That moment proved that I could do it. I walked to the back and sat down, just looking around, smiling like a fool. I awaited my next match, against some guy named Francis Carter. I beat him with a roll up, which I didn’t even try doing. I was out of my mind after he tossed me into the ropes, and I fell down, stumbling forward, tripping him, and my arm was on top of him! The ref counted, and I won. The Semi-Finals were against Joe Johnson, which ended with me leaping off a ladder into a running knee to the face of Johnson. The final match, it was against the local fatty, 293 pounds in 6’. It was going to be hard. I was in the ring, standing there, and he, won’t lie, was scary. It was like playing as Baraka in a handicapped 4 on 1 fight against Shang Tsung, Raiden, Kung Lao, and Sub-Zero. It was almost impossible. I stood there, waiting, and the bell rung. He was impossible to take down, and he was a menace. He took me down, shoulder block after slam after punch. I was hurt, but then I thought “Don’t let them get you down…” I stood up, enraged, and I took my fist and ran and punched him, feeling as mighty as Raiden did with the strength of the Elder Gods in him. I spun around and hit an elbow, with the force of Scorpion when he decapitated Sub-Zero. I leaped up for a kick to the gut, and then I kicked him with my other leg, then switched again, copying Kung Lao, and then I hit a spinning kick to the gut, which sent him backwards as if I were Jin myself. I looked at the ropes and ran against them, and I leaped up, and I imagined Liu Kang throwing his hat, and I hit a massive head butt right to the head of the standing giant. We both went down, with me on top of him. The ref counted it and called for it. It was later found out that he had a concussion. I stood there, bleeding like a stuffed pig with almost no idea where I was and a throbbing pain in my head, but I smiled. I won, and my life was about to change. After the show, I signed a few autographs, and someone asked me if I was going to go out and party and celebrate. I thought about it, I was thinking of just going home and playing Tekken 6 or something. I shook my head no, because that’s what I was going to do. The guy asked me to again, almost pleading, but again, I shook my head no. Some woman around my age asked what I was doing, so, embarrassed, I told them. The guy just laughed and said “Loser” and walked away, and the girl, well, she didn’t want to seem like that, so she asked if she could play, and I could tell it was awkward. I told her if she didn’t want to, she didn’t have to, but in my mind, I was like “THIS IS AWESOME!” Anyways, long story short, I got her addicted to Tekken and Mortal Kombat. The rest, they say… Well… Nothing else happened yet… But! The rest will soon be history! I Promise you all that! XWF, get ready to hear my roar, because I’m going to roar like King and pack a punch as if he was armored! I’m going to continue coming back, like Scorpion, and just like Scorpion, if I get sent to hell, I’ll still come back for more! I’m going to charge up a lightning strike like Raiden and send it out on XWF! Get ready to know my name people! Get ready for Marshall Cage! (And Christie Kitana)