Finding Peace in the Midst of Chaos

(Our scene begins as Teddy Mac is climbing up a ladder, going rung by rung as he is sweating profusely. He’s shaking with nerves, the hairs on his neck and arms are standing up, and a shiver goes up his spine which intensifies with each step he takes. Teddy is gritting his teeth, tightening his expression to hold back any fear he’s holding within. He pauses for a moment, taking a look off screen, perhaps surveying the scene and realizing how high up he is. A sweat bead falls off his forehead to the ground. He looks away from the ground and then takes his eyes to up above. He reaffirms his confidence. He climbs up with a burst of energy! His face is lighting up! He can see he’s almost at the top of this twenty foot ladder! He makes it to the end as his hands touch the top of the ladder! He climbs further so he can stand himself on that top rung!)

Teddy Mac: I made it!

“There you go, Teddy.”

(We expand from the scene, showing there is a ladder opposite to Teddy Mac, one occupied by his partner Jungle Jaguar who sits crossed leg on top of his ladder with ease. He seems to have been waiting for Teddy to get over his fear throughout the entirety of Teddy’s trek.)

Jungle Jaguar: ...Perhaps you can try for a bit more hustle next time, friend.

(The pairing appear to be in the middle of an emptied out performance center, the ladder being placed in a ring set up for their practice. Teddy raises his fist triumphantly but falters on his posing when he feels the ladder move about. He balances himself on the ladder again and then seats himself on the ladder in the same way that Jaguar has, though he is much more uncertain about his safety.)

Teddy Mac: Haha! I’m trying my best here, Jag!

Jungle Jaguar: I see that. You’re getting better with each drill. I understand that it’s a high climb but you need to learn to let your fears go. I’ve told you before, you need to accept the danger of a situation. The risks of an environment are just part of the life we’ve chosen. There’s a chance you might fall. There’s a chance you might come crashing down to the floor at the hands of an opponent. But that all comes with the territory when you’re chasing after the prestigious gold that is the Campeonatos de Parejas.

Teddy Mac: You’re right. You’re absolutely right.

(Teddy Mac focuses, calming himself down as he begins to become more at ease on the ladder.)

Teddy Mac: These ladder matches can be unpredictable. The very basis of the match is ill intentions for whoever is involved. The reward for these bouts are great, yes, but the ladders can be taken out from under us at any moment. We can be pushed away from our victory when we’re only a close second away. Twenty feet below us is that hard, unforgiving, sterile canvas just waiting for us to go splat and leave our bodies looking like wrecks. Right past those ropes, nine, ten feet further down….that’s concrete. That’s a hospital bill waiting to happen. That’s a career in question. That’s a possible death sentence ready to be placed on an unsuspecting victim.

(Teddy Mac begins to lean in his seated position, pointing at Jag on his ladder and then himself.)

Teddy Mac: This match is designed in a way that would scare off a lot of dreamers like you and I. It’s designed to act as a trade off of sorts. Enter a human demolition derby and MAYBE you’ll come away with your aspirations. How much will you put on the line to get what you’re after? How much can you suffer? How comfortable are you with potentially throwing your health away? It’s a horrifying scenario. It had me spending several nights without sleep these past few weeks. It killed my appetite whenever I was sitting at the table with my wife and kids….Nicole...Leslie….Lana….pondering about if I’d even be sitting with them after the match or be eating ANYTHING without sipping it through a straw. Over these last couple days I’ve begun to shake it. I’ve begun to be at peace with what’s ahead. I signed up for this. WE signed up for this. We signed up for this because we know that if we survive - THAT WHEN WE WIN -  we will become everything we’ve ever wanted to be! That you and I could celebrate knowing that all of our trials and tribulations in life, all of the growing pains we went through as a team, it would be all worth it! Our inner struggles, our personal demons, what has been eating us up on the inside would finally be able to subside! You, Jag, you would reaffirm yourself as the pillar of strength you’ve shown yourself to be. You’d have proof of your strides toward self discipline, you would have undeniable evidence of your spot at the top of the food chain. And me…

(Teddy Mac looks down from the ladder, trailing off.)

Teddy Mac: ….I could go back to being a winner to my kids. I can let my family know that daddy isn’t just a flash in the pan. That the nice things they’ve been enjoying, that the squalor they were rescued from wasn’t a temporary reprieve, this is life for them now! This is what security is like! They get to rest their pretty little heads as the princesses they deserve to be…..And knowing I did that for them, I can go back to feeling like the man. I can pull down those belts with you and pull down any criticism of me along with it. I let the people know that I didn’t just catch lightning in a bottle, I AM the lightning. I’m here to stay and I’m as legit as they come. Being Campeonato de Pareja….that’s erasing the title of one hit wonder. That’s showing that wherever I go, I can work with the best of them. That’s establishing that I didn’t get lucky with any of this;  I got what I deserved. This match can do so much for me. For both of us. So I know I’m ready for what’s ahead. I am capable of climbing this ladder and feeling confident I can make it. I just have these brief flashes of uncertainty. Brief flashes of feeling worried like I did a couple of minutes ago.

(Teddy Mac swings his feet back and forth off the ladder, watching them absentmindedly.)

Teddy Mac: I’ve had those same flashes when I first entered the wrestling scene, though. When I was climbing up the proverbial ladder from fledgling to indy name to developmental talent to mainstream star. This career choice was as big a risk as this ladder match in terms of killing my esteem, killing my family’s image of me, killing my finances, killing my BODY, but whenever I was thrust into action and the reward was placed on the table I beat everyone else in grabbing it. I know there’s a catalog of bad things and injuries in store. I know I’m going to get chills when the night comes the same way I was here. No matter how many times I grip those rungs, I’ll still be asking myself If I’m going to get KO’d once we’re in the thick of things. That’s ok. All of that is ok. In the end it will work out. We’re the best team in the match. We might get some bumps and bruises along the way, but I know we’ll succeed in climbing that ladder again, the same way we climbed to get to where we are now.

(Teddy Mac adjusts himself on the ladder again, reseating himself very casually.)

Teddy Mac: Why does the plucky hero enter the dragon’s den? Because the spoils of slaying it, even with the chance of harm, is far more alluring than living life below the tower as a meaningless grunt. I’d much rather be in this match, practically pissing myself at the prospect of broken bones, than be off the card with no title shot in sight. Don’t worry about me, Jag. I’ll come through for this match. Chickening out is not an option. The rational part of my brain might be telling me this is a wild idea, but that instinct to be great, that inner motivator telling me to look at my family, to look at my past, to look at you and remember who I’m fighting for it….it will always come out on top. You don’t think rational when you’re fighting for your dreams, you simply do. You achieve. I’ve started to put together this line of thought over time but it was truly cemented thanks to your guidance. I’ve got plenty of hustle in me. More than the Kennedys who are too into their shtick to care for the titles, more than Alice Gamer and Steele who see this match as a battle of playground insults rather than a death defying contest, and more than Red Zone District who have definitely picked up a feeling of complacency. They’ll crash and burn and never get up due to being ill prepared or lacking the will, or they’ll freeze when the bell rings and the chaos gets real serious….but we’ll keep on going. We’ll keep getting up. We’ll force ourselves to wrestle through the anarchy; we’ll make ourselves at home. I struggled to get here….

(Teddy Mac looks around, examining the sights that come with being up bove.)

Teddy Mac: But my heart is beating the same here as it did on the ground. This...this feeling of being in the air, being high up enough to come down and have my whole life flash before me…..being in this space….is becoming second nature. Being in this space is something I’m more than fine with if it means we get those belts.

Jungle Jaguar: You’ve finally got a full understanding of my philosophy. I can guarantee you it’s a level of awareness that no other team will have. Their minds are scattered on so many other subjects like you said. They’re not weighing the gravity of this match. They haven’t taken the time to come to terms with what they’re about to experience. They haven’t processed the danger, they have tunnel vision on their own childish ideals...and when that tunnel vision leads them to the scene that is Dreamworld. I expect a breakdown.

(Jag and Teddy both nod to themselves, riding out a beat of silence before Jag clears his throat.)

Jungle Jaguar: Seeing as you’re now at home both on the ground and up above Teddy, does that mean you’re good with unseating yourself off that ladder and climbing down with me?

Teddy Mac: ….I might be a minute or two behind you.

(Jungle Jaguar shakes his head, leaping down the ladder as Teddy hypes himself up to follow, transitioning into the end of our scene.)