PEOPLE U/M: Lyle, Edgar, Patty // ROM RECORD: 01/01/00 OOC: I'm not sure how this one turned out quality wise. I started out as two seperate rps, and two seperate ideas, but I decided to put it together in one rp, and try to mix it.

The chances are slim that you will ever be truley successful in your life. As much as everybody life to believe that one day they will make a million dollars, and be the most successful person in the world, it doesn't really happen that way. Anybody who says that more than likely ends up cooking burgers or fries at the local McDonalds, or Burger King. When we're kids, we promise ourselves that we are going to conquer the world. I'm going to write a book, I'm going to go to outerspace, and I'm going to be the richest person in the world. The only things we end up writting are other people's orders, the closests we get to outerspace is the cheap imitations of Neil Armstrong on the moon, and the most money we ever have is a few hundred to a thousand dollars on our paychecks before it's spent on living. This is the mind set I am in entering Hellfire this week. The arena is close to empty when I walk through the doors. The only people that occupy it are the same people that never seem to go home. Setting up interviews, getting ready for the next house show, and other miscellaneous deeds is how they make their living. The backstage crew of DW is all the remained after hours, but who could blame them? They basically lived here. So, if I wasn't part of this unseen crew, then why was I here? Nerves I suppose. Just a time to reflect I'm guessing. "So how long have you been working today?" I asked a man that seemed her was a bit tired. He was hamering a set together, one of those fake ones that were sometimes in the back of the interviews. I felt a bit bad for him, did this guy have a family? Did he ever see them? I suppose it was just was concern for people that came out. "About 26 hours I suppose. There's a lot to be done in one day, or technically, I'm on my second day. There's still a lot more to be done. What are you doing here so late, ...or early. I don't really know what time it is" Good question. Why of all places did I come here to think about things. I could have found a more peaceful place than an arena with a million things going on at once. I guess it's because the closest thing I have to a real home anymore. "Nothing really. I just decided to come in a few hours to just think about everything that has been going on lately. This whole thing with Orrin Stranger, and ROM. Now I have this big match on Hellfire for the Pit Championship. It's not exactly a breeze match or anything of the sort." Well the first step is admitting you have a problem, and to be honest, I have a big problem, and he is a big computer geek named Ralph O. Morris, also known as, ROM. I had admitted that this wasn't going to be an easy match, and anybody who says it will be, is lying. I'm not going to lie to myself and say it'll be easy, cause it won't. "I know what you mean, that Ralph O. Morris, isn't the DW Pit Champion for nothing. He obviously had to do something good to get that championship around his waist. But if anybody can take the golden hamer from ROM, it's you, kid" Maybe, but I guess we'll have to wait and see if this guy is right. Of course, he does basically live behind the scenes of DW, who would know more about what each superstar is capable, better than this guy? Well, my pathetic attempt to make myself feel better, didn't work. "Yeah I guess so, but that's not exactly what everybody thinks, do they? Some people underestimate me, and expect me to chock in this match. Obviously some people don't exactly like me, and want ROM to keep his throne. Although I do have to admit there are just as much people cheering for as him, mayeb even more. It's just that select few people that want me to fail, that gets to me. It's hard walking down the hall and everyone glares at you, like if they stare at me long enough, maybe I will actually lose this match" To be honest, that was my greatest fear. Proving these people to be right, that I was a failure. I wanted nothing more than to prove these people that I did belong here, and I deserve that title, but it's easier said than done. People always lie. I could sit here and say that I am going to beat the hell out of ROM, and I am going to take home that title for sure, but I would be lying to you. The truth is, I have no idea what is going to happen again, and as I said before, I'm not going to lie about it like everyone else. "Don't think about it as much, kid. I'm sure you'll do fine. Just do exactly what you did last Hellfire to Orrin Stranger, and you will be fine. Besides, ROM's computer viruses can't help him in the real world, the way I see it, you have a pretty good chance" That didn't make me feel very confident, but thanks anyway. "You bring up a good point. What is up with this computer dude anyway? I almost feel sorry for ROM. He's obviously one of those guys that stays home all day and night playing computer games because he can't get a date. I bet he still lives with his mother aswell. Priceless. You know, most peoeple just sit here and insult their opponent, and somehow it makes them feel better. I could sit here and tell you how pathetic ROM is, but it doesn't make it feel better. It's not going to stop him from attempting to stop my endevour of the Pit Championship. It's not going to stop him from kicking my ass if he has the power to do so. So why does everybody think it will help?" I brought up a good question, that even I couldn't believe I thought of. Why did everybody believe that sitting there and insulting your opponent will do any good? Cause in the end, the only thing that it is probably doing is just making your opponent even mader. Do you think insulting them will make them run away from a fight or something? News flash for everyone. Your plan never nor is it ever going to work. "I'm not really sure, but what I have noticed that is it gives them some sort of confidence. It could possibly be, that by pointing out others errors, it makes themselves feel better than that person. If you pick out your opponents weaknesses, it makes yours seem less noticeable" Very clever, very clever. Hididng your weaknesses with others weaknesses was actually pretty smart, but it would never work for me. I was always one to somewhat write out my srengths, weaknesses, and emotions out of a billboard for everyone to say. I suppose that was one of my weaknesses entirely, possibly my biggest one. People always know what I'm thinking "Sounds kind of pathetic to me. Having to insult someone else to make themselves feel better? Doesn't it sound like that person has some serious issues. Well, you look at how ROM opperates, and then you look at how he dresses and how he acts, you know he has problems. So I guess it is some bizzaire way to contain their own insecurities, and expose somebody elses. That's pretty sad if I do say so myself." Just as I finished with my short speech, a woman walked up and stood next to the man I was currently having a conversation with. She gazed at me funny and looked a little taken aback. I couldn't understand wether she was surprised I was in the pit that early, or there at all. I've always considered myself an expert on people, and body language. I was always able to interpret a persons thoughts by how they present themselves, speak, or even look at you. It was something I picked up when I lived with my dad. Before I would walk in the door after a late night, I would have to look into the window, attempting to figure out if he was mad, or okay with it. Eventually, I succeeded and it worked to my advantage. It was quite interesting to see the little things people did when they enjoy your company, don't really care for you, or just plain dispise you. True, some people show it more than others, and anybody can see that. But it's the little details that are so interesting. For instance, sometimes when a certain person is telling a lie, their nostrils will flare, or when someone is looking at you for the last time, they have this certain glare in their eye. In the end, they give themselves away. At this moment, this woman is looking at me a certain way, and I am not really enjoying this look. I know exactly what it means, but I deny it. It's the look I've been getting my whole career. Hell, it's the look I've been getting my whole life. When this woman looked at me, she had a look of failure in my mind. She knew my endevour, anybody who worked for DW knew, and she figured I was going to fail. She could be right, but I'd rather find out for myself than have a woman I don't even know tell it to me. "Excuse me for asking, but what are you doing here? Edgar needs to get back to work, so stop bothering him" I can tell I am already not going to like this girl. "Oh no, it's okay Patty, I'm a multy tasker. See I've been working and talking at the same time. So It's alright." She looked at him, and then at me, like she had been defeated but she'd get us next time. I brushed her aside and she walked off. "Eugh! A Patty! In my experience I have found that all Patty's are pretty much never going to like anybody. I have never met a Patty that I had liked. Well, besides Peppermint Patty, but you get the picture. It pretty much means 'of noble descent', but we all that there is not a noble in the world, that hasn't got their nose in the air. But you see, Edgar's a tranquil, and easy to talk too. It means 'Great Spearman' which I dont know how it pertains to this conversation, but yeah." He laughed at my name analysis, and then I realized that I had left out my own name in the situation "But you see, Zarek's are specil. They're pretty much spontanious and unpredictable in anything they do. One second they will be on top of their game and then suddenly be at the bottom of their game. Zarek means 'May God Protect the King'. Which pretty much says the king is greater than god, so god must protect him. But then again, that doesn't really concern what's going on either." Right about now I was just sort of rambling, attempting to get that look out of my mind. The reason why I liked this guy, is because he never gave me that look. The look as if he knew I was going to fail. He really didn't show any expressions at all, so for all I know, he could really be rooting against me, but I liked it, because he didn't show it. "I think you care to much about what everybody thinks of you. You said yourself that it's that group of people that want you to fail, that gets to you. So why do you listen to them? Why not listen to the group of people that are rooting for you?" Hmmm...I can't say he didn't have a point, and I can't say that what he was saying was a lie. It kind of got on my nerves. I was trying to play the poor soul here, but he was making it quite hard to do so. "And if you do end up failing. Well, failures are the road to success." Why was it that I always ended up running into some philospher? Every person I run into seems to have some idea of some sort of grande world scale and some crap like that. I looked at the man, and I saw something that I thought I would never see from this man. I saw the look. It wasn't for very long, as if he was trying to hold back, and just let it slip. I can't say I wasn't a little let down, because I was. "Alright, I better be going now, thanks" The man nodded at me and I walked away. But he knew he had slipped up, and I knew it too. As I walked through the halls, people ignored I was there. Just another worker maybe. I walked past a security guard, and there was the look again. Damn. Although the man had turned out to be against me in the end, with his false personality, he had helped me. Some of the things he said actually made snse, even though he himself wanted me to fail. So, I suppose his mission had failed. But was that his mission? I was beginning to feel confused myself, now. I cast it aside, because it was just another one of those random meetings that I had with a random person I had never met before. That's all. Nothing more. But for some reason, his words still rang in my head. Not really his words, but somebody elses words, telling me the almost exact thing. I heard the voice of my older brother, who I hadn't seen in almost six years. Something he had always said to me when I felt like quitting. Something that told me, failure wasn't something to fear. He told me... Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game.