“There seems to be some level of confusion in regards to my relationship with Claira St. Sure.”

[Enter Kai Scott, screen right.]

[In his wheelchair.]

[For a guy who’s been dealing with a severe back injury, Kai Scott looks pretty good.  The crimson red muscle shirt indicates little sign of muscle sag.  His usual trench coat is spread across his lap rather than over his shoulders.]

Kai Scott:
The relationship between a wrestler and a manager is as follows.  The wrestler does in the ring for the manager what the manager cannot do, or does not want to do, him or herself.  In exchange, the manager handles the business that the wrestler may not wish to deal with.  He argues for beneficial contracts, favorable match scheduling, handles auditory promotion when necessary, and in my case, designs training regimens and wrestling strategies.  Not that Claira needs the former.

He also does what he can handle the contemptible little distractions that could keep his clients from focusing on important things.

I’m speaking, of course, about Alceo Dentari, so allow me to drop the pretense that this is for the sake of general audiences.  I’m not saying the general audience shouldn’t listen, they might learn something, but the following is intended specifically for Dentari.

[Nod.  Smile.]

Kai Scott:
Have you ever seen The Godfather, Alceo?  I know you made types have varying opinions on mafia movies and their worth, so I presume nothing.  But it’s a famous movie, you surely should have heard of it even if you had no interest in watching it.

The logo for The Godfather contains a hand holding a set of puppets’ wires.

I’ve… associated… with your people, Alceo.  It’s been years, I’ll admit to that, but I’ve participated enough.  As it turns out, when a family runs a little game of wagers, they’re willing to cooperate with someone at the street level.   What I’m saying is, I wasn’t 20 years old when I first felt those wires, and I learned what a fine touch they took to manipulate without losing control.

Losing control.

That’s why I felt this was all worth mentioning, Alceo.

If you want to go with the puppets dancing routine, let’s compare Claira St. Sure to Yoshikazu YAZ, shall we?

[Smile.]

Kai Scott:
Even putting the most selfish, ruthless twist I can on my relationship with Claira, that being that I’m only investing in her because I’m a bitter old would-be-lifer who can’t let go and needs to live vicariously through someone who can still wrestle, and she’s a kid who’s either blind or willing, in the long run, I only have her best interests at heart.  No matter how you look at it, the better things are for her, the better things are for me.

If you’re trying to insinuate I’d dispose of her, what point would that possibly serve?

I can’t wrestle for myself, idiot.  Even without my bad back, I’ve got a right knee as fragile as a lightbulb and a constantly painful shoulder.  All I did was dislocate it, but it still hurts, all the time.

I need Claira.

Now the truth, which I expect you to disbelieve, mock me for, or both, is that I like her on a personal level, and that I would be glad to see her win the Grand Champions League more for her sake than my own. 

But, enough about Claira – let’s talk about YAZ, shall we?

[Nod.  It’s difficult to be animated when you’re in a wheelchair, and Kai’s not the howl with laughter type.  Joe Biden he ain’t, nor would he want to be.]

Kai Scott:
You thought having a backup would be great, so you got him on your side.  Or made use of a pre-existing relationship, I’m sure Lisa Loeh had more to do with convincing YAZ to do things than you did.  And with Yoshikazu YAZ backing you up and staring at people all spooky, you intimidated the hell out of everyone in Evolution League.

Except for Yoshikazu YAZ himself.

Then you realized that, and you tried to throw him to the wolves.

You want to go back to the puppet analogies, how bout this.  You threw a tantrum and threw the controls to the puppet wires down on the floor.

And then suddenly you were in fourth place, not first.

That is not a good way to be productive, Mr. Dentari.

[Smile, shake of the head.]

Kai Scott:
Now your puppet’s had his strings cut, and he’s decided to come to life.

D’you ever read Goosebumps as a kid, Alceo?  How about The Night of the Living Dummy?  I don’t care what YAZ said, anyone posturing and ranting like that’s a supervillain.

And you unleashed him, cos you had to be an insecure coward desperate to avoid getting flattened by the guy who made what success you’ve had possible.  There is a time to fight, Alceo, and there is a time not to fight, and I suggest to you that as soon as the last show starts, you go find YAZ, and you get right down on your…

Well, in your case I guess standing’s better, any lower than that and he might not see you.

But you should really start begging for forgiveness.

I believe Tom Sawyer, Dentari.  I believe him when he says a storm’s coming.  Don’t stand on a hill and sass-mouth the lightning.

[Sincere nod.]

Kai Scott:
Christian Light.

I don’t know how well you remember NWCal A Newer Era, and I don’t know what you thought of me back on that card, if you even noticed that I was there.  After all, I was just a lowly tag wrestler in a battle royal back then, and playing the goofball to boot.

But I remember those days.

I remember how impossibly good everyone in the NWCal seemed to me.  And I remember the triumph I felt when I watched Heidi, Freddy Phoenix and Neo-Nichiren grow to be the ones that made that entire pack of assholes take us seriously and treat us with respect.

Though I always have this strange feeling like I should be holding making the WfWA your place instead of the CAL against you.  Inaugural CAL champion and you just left? I can’t quite do it, though, and what reason would I have to play the CAL Pride card anyway?

At any rate I envy Claira the chance for this match, just like I did the last time she stepped up to you.

[Smile.]

Kai Scott:
And Heidi?

Claira is not Gemma Lockhart or Wendy Briese.

Any sins she committed against you back in OLW rest on my shoulders.

If you cannot let those days and those acts lie, take your payment from me, not from her.

You’ll survive the coming storm if any of us do.  You have true heart.   You’ve yet to do anything so wrong that you couldn’t redeem it when you chose to.

[Nod.]

Kai Scott:
To Christian and Heidi, good luck.

To Claira, make me proud of you again.

[End.]

More Propaganda | View Claira St. Sure's Biography