- The Fire Still Burns -
Keeping Things In Perspective
-[ Visions of being pinned by Big Poppa continue to replay through Cody�s mind as he looks out his hotel room window at the darkening Arab blue sky. Losing is not a pleasant thought to be on your mind, but with Cody, he takes losing a little more personal. Nobody likes to lose, especially Cody, and when you survive through such a long and punishing match as he did, falling just a step short hurts even more. Sure he and Tomorrow Man were one of the first teams inside the ring during the main event and he was the second last to leave, but that thought just doesn�t make things any better. He wanted to be the last to leave, he wanted to be the one holding those Advantage Wrestling Tag Team Titles above his head in victory. But it must not have been his time. ]-
-[ Out in the distance, a loony Saudi Arabian yells out as if he�s some sort of animal and the strange noise wakens Cody from his deep depressing thoughts momentarily. He looks out at the Arab architecture from the window and sees the man that made the noise roaming the streets near a mosque. The man is dressed in a dirty robe and his short black beard and hair are disheveled from not having a decent brush or razor to clean himself up. He starts beating on the mosque doors and continues to yell like the lunatic that he is. ]-
-[ His antics end abruptly, though, as a man comes up from behind him and punches him in the head. As the man lays on the dirty ground, stunned, a group of teenagers begins to throw rocks at him. The brief stoning comes to an end once police officers arrive and start shooting into the cool night air. The police then throw the man into the back of their car and quickly drive away as the teenagers start throwing stones at the squad cars. ]-
Cody: This is not my world.
-[ Cody then closes the blinds of the window and makes his way towards the bed, disgusted by what he just saw. As he lies in bed, he reaches for the remote control for the television. He knows there won�t be anything on that he understands but for grins and giggles he turns the set on. As he flips through the channels, he stops on what appears to be an Arab version of MTV. The music of the current video does not appeal to him though, but the images are what catches his eye. ]-
-[ Footage of U.S. Marines storming across the Iraqi dessert is shown, followed by an image of a blown up Israeli bus. Then the people of Manhattan fleeing for their lives as two airliners collide into the World Trade Center. Then the buildings fall. Next there is an image of an Arab man strapping what appears to be a bomb to himself. Then at last, there is a still picture of the Statue of Liberty. Over it is a transparent U.S. flag flapping in the breeze, burning. ]-
-[ He shuts the television off in a fit of anger and just lays there in bed, silent. After a brief moment of silence, there is a slight knock at his door. He gets up off the bed and walks to the door, wondering who it could be. As he reaches for the door handle, there is another knock at the door. He opens it and finds his tag team partner, Tomorrow Man, standing behind the door. ]-
Tomorrow Man: What�s going on?
Cody: Just watching some terrorist TV.
-[ Cody invites his friend in and Tomorrow Man comes in. Cody goes back to his bed and takes a seat while Tomorrow Man grabs the only chair in the room. ]-
Tomorrow Man: So, what do you want to do while we�re still here?
Cody: Nothing really.
Tomorrow Man: All right.
-[ Both Cody and Tomorrow Man sit there silently and then Cody breaks the silence. ]-
Cody: You know, this is the first time I�ve ever been to the Middle East and I hope it�s the last time too.
Tomorrow Man: Why?
Cody: It amazes me how much hate is in this region. Everybody hates everybody and they can�t agree on much. The only thing most of these people agree on is hating us Americans. And I don�t know why.
Tomorrow Man: That�s understandable. I�ve meet some hospitable people here though. It isn�t all hate.
Cody: Don�t get me wrong, I�m sure there are people here that don�t mind us being here but the majority is what I don�t like. I don�t like the fact that if I walk out onto the street I run the risk of getting beaten or shot just because I was born in a fortunate country.
Tomorrow Man: Well that�s why we�re in Iraq right now, Cody. To free the innocent people from decades of oppression and maybe change some people�s minds that we aren�t as bad as they think we are.
Cody: I doubt anything will change. They hate us because we simply exist. And the night before when we were wrestling in front of all those troops was really the only time I felt safe here. When I looked out at all their faces I could see it in their expressions�they want to make a difference. And me, I�m fortunate to be skilled enough to make it in this wrestling business and I�m grateful for what those troops are doing and trying to accomplish. It made me feel like I wanted to help them because their cause is so great. Then I look at how I got pinned and it made me feel like crap. Here they are putting their lives on the line to protect my ass and I couldn�t do my job.
-[ Tomorrow Man starts rubbing his left shoulder and the shakes his head at what Cody just said. ]-
Tomorrow Man: You did your job. You went out there and put on a hell of a show and took those soldiers away from the battlefield for a moment mentally. We can�t all pick up a gun and go fight a war. If we all did, then there wouldn�t be anybody back home to fight for. Trust me, you did something only a few people were lucky to do. Those soldiers really don�t care if you win or lose. They were just there to have a good time.
-[ Tomorrow Man stops talking and Cody sits there and lets what his friend just said sink in. ]-
Cody: Yeah, I guess you�re right.
Tomorrow Man: And as far as being here in the Middle East, we won�t be here much longer. We leave early tomorrow to go to Australia.
Cody: Yeah, I wish we could leave here a few pounds heavier though. We were so damn close to winning those titles.
Tomorrow Man: Yeah, you did a good job lasting so long. But we�ll get another shot sooner or later.
Cody: Yep. All we�ve got to do is beat Devine Mortality at the next event and we�re the #1 Contenders.
Tomorrow Man: That�s easier said than done.
-[ Tomorrow Man bends his left shoulder back so to stretch it out. He winces in pain and starts to rub it again. Meanwhile, Cody saw the whole thing. ]-
Cody: You all right there?
Tomorrow Man: Yeah. I think I wrenched my shoulder when I dove at X-Rated. I�ll be fine.
Cody: Maybe we should go back to San Fran and get it checked out.
Tomorrow Man: No, it isn�t worth it seeing as we�ve got to pay all of our expenses with the $1000 check we get at the end of the week. I�m pretty sure the pain will be gone by tomorrow anyway.
Cody: Whatever you say, bro. And by the way, don�t remind me about the fact that we�re basically paying to wrestle in Advantage Wrestling. A thousand dollars a week doesn�t go far for two people traveling the world. We�ve got to dig into our own pockets half the time.
Tomorrow Man: Yeah, Blade really screwed us in the contracts.
Cody: Atkins screwed us more. But you know what? We�re going to get ourselves back in position for another shot at those Tag Team Titles and we won�t fail in a legit tag team match.
-[ Tomorrow Man stands up from his chair, still holding his shoulder a bit. He then looks at his watch to see what time it is. He wants to leave before it gets too dark. ]-
Tomorrow Man: All right, well are you sure you don�t want to go anywhere before we leave tomorrow?
Cody: Positive. I�ll just hang out here some and get some rest.
Tomorrow Man: Okay, well I�m going to go out and wander the streets some. See you again early tomorrow.
Cody: Later.
-[ Tomorrow Man walks out the door and closes it behind him, leaving Cody only to his thoughts of redeeming himself for losing. The only way he�ll be happy now is if he wins those titles and he makes a silent promise to himself that he won�t sell himself nor his partner short the next time they get a chance to win those straps. And that promise he intends to keep. ]-
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