“Be very selective when it comes to choosing your friends. People nowadays don’t know the true meaning of friendship and loyalty.” “Any friend that turned into an enemy has been hating you since day one.” “The worst enemies are the ones that us to be friends.” “If possible, leave room for your enemy to become your friend.” - Robert A. Heinlen “I have no friends and no enemies - only competitors.” - Aristotle Onassis
Eli’s Apartment Baltimore, MD August 9, 2020 6:30 pm
Eli Goode stares in the mirror. He sees his reflection and sighs. He rubs his hands through his hair and turns to looks at Jude. He holds his hands up trying to think of what to say to Jude, but he blanks and shrugs. Jude walks over to Eli and scratches at Eli’s leg. Eli looks down and slightly smiles.
“I know buddy. A lot is happening soon. I need to get everything together. I need to try to call out to someone. I need Kyra to understand that there is a way of peace and not war, but it’s difficult to do that at a pay-per-view event called ‘WAR.’”
Eli rubs the back of Jude’s neck. Jude leans his head back enjoying the scratches.
“Yeah, you’re my buddy, and you’re never going want to hurt me.”
“I’m glad someone agrees with me.”
Eli turns back to the mirror and sees Joker standing there. Joker smiles and waves at Eli. Eli sighs and turns to look at the mirror. He sits down and crosses his legs.
“Yes, Joker?”
“Wow, this is how you treat me after all this time. Not even a thought bubble of me. That’s disappointing.”
“Well, I’ve been a little busy recently.”
Joker sits down to be eye-level with Eli.
“I know, trying your hardest to get Kyra to understand that you two should be enemies, but you should be friends, best buddies maybe.”
“No, I’m not going to follow any advice that you may have about how much I could hurt her. I don’t want that. I want to help her. Too many people in Carnage care about themselves. I want to be the opposite of that. I want people to know that they can come to me for help.”
“I know… And I’m proud of you.”
Eli looks over at Joker with his eyebrow raised. He looks over to Jude who just breaths heavily with his tongue out. Eli looks back at Joker.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
“I said, ‘I’m proud of you.’ I’ve finally realized that my way of doing things isn’t going to help you. It’s hurt you. It’s caused you to lose your mind quite a bit. So, I think it’s time that you try a different approach as well. Maybe, talking to her could be useful. Maybe, she could listen to reason.”
Eli sighs and looks down. He pats his fingers against his knees.
“I honestly wish it were that simple. She constantly pushes me away. It’s probably because I was the only person still trying to keep Paragon connected after Jack left. I wanted everything to remain the way things were, but they can’t and shouldn’t. Things needed to change, but I tried to ignore that.”
“Eli, you wanted things to be easy. There isn’t anything wrong with that. Easy is nice, but things have to be harder than that. Your plea to Kyra is going to be hard, but I know that you’ll be able to get her to listen to you. Even if she decides to be a bitch about it.”
“Joker, we shouldn’t call her that. She’s just gone through a lot, and we shouldn’t just call her a bitch.”
“Even if it’s true?”
“Even if it’s true.”
“Fuck.”
Eli sighs and stands up. He looks around the room trying to think of some sort of idea. He looks at his phone and notices something. He picks up his phone and unlocks it. He sees that the Hamilton album is pulled up on his Spotify. He smiles and looks back at Joker.
“Ok, I’ve got an idea. It’s a crazy, and possibly, stupid idea, but it’s something.”
“I like crazy and stupid. What do you got?”
“I’ll try to appeal to her… through song.”
He shows his phone to Joker. For the first time in a while, Joker’s smile turns into a frown.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Again, it’s a crazy idea, but music is the pathway to so many things. She could listen to the music and think, ‘You know what, maybe I should listen to Eli. I like his singing too.’”
Joker face palms and looks at Jude.
“And he’s your owner?”
Jude looks over at Eli. Eli looks at Jude with a smile on his face. Jude looks to Joker and nods. Joker sighs and shrugs his shoulders.
“Well, it’s better than nothing. I’ll try to help as best I can, but I don’t know that many songs to play.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve got a few that I think will work perfectly for what I have planned. Oooh, this is going to work perfectly.”
“Whatever you say, pal.”
Eli walks into his bed with his phone in hand. Joker’s weak smile disappears. He looks over at a smug photo of Kyra. He releases a deep sigh.
“He’s doomed.”
Eli shouts from the bedroom.
“Nope, this is going to work perfectly.”
“How did you know what I said?”
“You’re my subconscious remember? I know what you’re thinking because I’m thinking about it too. And yes, I’ll be playing the piano.”
“Well, this should be fun.”
Eli returns to the living room with Hamilton sheet music in his hand. Jude looks up and barks at Eli.
“That’s right Jude. It’s time for me to take my shot and get to the room where it happens.”
Joker groans in minor pain.
“Really? Two Hamilton puns?”
Eli looks a bit deflated.
“I thought they were fun.”
“Just go and practice. You’ll do the real deal tomorrow. Just remember, all of this is to help her see that anger is not the way. That she needs to see the light.”
“I know, I’m just trying to think about what I’m going to say after playing. This isn’t Star Wars. It’s not going to be that easy. Hmm, I’ll figure it out later. Thanks for giving me confidence.”
“That’s what friends are for Eli. Now, go be a friend for Kyra.”
Joker disappears from the mirror. Eli smiles and walks out of his apartment.
-----
Piano Studio Baltimore, MD August 10, 2020 7:20 pm
A piano sits alone in an empty room. The lights reflect off of the surface of the piano. The shine of the piano glistens. The black paint reveals the true beauty of it. The Steinway brand appears on the side of the piano. A few footsteps are heard as Eli Goode walks up to the piano. He pulls out the chair and sits in front of the piano. He places his fingers at the starting position with his middle fingers resting on the D key. He takes in a deep breath and begins playing the introduction of “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton. He takes in another deep breath and starts to sing.
“You say… the price of my love’s not a price that you’re willing to pay. You cry in your tea which you hurl in the sea when you see me go by. Why so sad? Remember we made an arraignment when you went away. Now you’re making me maaaaad. Remember despite our estrangement, I’m your maaaan.”
He stops playing for a second and looks in front of him. He stares at a picture of Kyra Johnson holding the UltraViolent Championship. Her smug smile looms over Eli’s thoughts. Her words from this past Chaos echo through his head. All he can hear is her dismissal of his help. He takes in another breath.
“You’ll be back, soon you’ll see. You’ll remember you belong to me. You’ll be back, time will tell. You’ll remember that I served you well. Oceans rise, empires faaaall. We have seen each other through it all. But when push comes to shove, I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love.”
He stops playing and removes his fingers from the keys. He rubs his hands against his face trying to clear his head. He moves his hands slowly through his hair. He thinks about the lyrics. He remembers that the song is meant to be a breakup song. He shakes his head trying to clear the cobwebs from his head.
“No, this isn’t a breakup moment. She just doesn’t understand that I’m trying to help her. That I’m not going to abandon her. She wants so much for me to just ignore her, but I can’t do that. I can’t have her think that I’m just going to give up on her. That’s not what friends do to each other, but she doesn’t want me to think of her as a friend. She wants me to think of her as an enemy. I can’t do that though. She’ll always be a friend to me.”
He places his fingers back on the keys of the piano. He starts playing the opening of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story. He smiles to himself as he gets closer to the beginning of the actual singing portion of the song.
“You’ve got a friend in me. You’ve got a friend in me. When the road looks rough ahead, and you’re miles and miles from your nice warm bed. You just remember what your old pal said. Girl, you’ve got a friend in me. Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me.”
He stops playing and smiles to himself. He looks back at the picture, and he only notices Kyra’s smug expression. This photo was made recently. She wants to get inside of his head. She wants to break his confidence in her. Or, at least, that is what he has been assuming. He knows that Kyra is a master at mind games, but he has to avoid any sort of mind game tactic.
“Stop this. You don’t have to bee this way. You don’t have to hate me. I know that this doesn’t have anything to do with Jack, but I know deep down there is a bitterness towards anything Jack Michaels related. I mean, how can it not be? You’re engaged to him. You must have some sort of connection with him still. You have to still have him on your mind, even if it’s the tiniest of thoughts. God, Kyra, this isn’t you. Or maybe it is. Maybe, I never truly knew you. Let’s be honest, when it came to our time in Paragon, you and I weren’t the closest of friends. I always closer to Jack and Amber. I just wanted them to see I was on their level. I wanted them to know I was World Championship material, but because of that, I ignored potentially having a friendship with you.”
He resumes playing the piano. He starts playing a song that may not truly be connected to the two of them but has some small connection. He starts playing “I Will Always Love You.” He smirks a bit only at the idea of this song representing the two of them. He plays a few measures into the song and starts singing at the right moment.
“Bittersweet memories. That is allI’m taking with me. So, goodbye, please, don’t cry. We both know I’m not what you, you need.”
He stops playing abruptly and looks back at the picture.
“Yes, a friendship that is only surrounded by painful memories of our friends. You and Amber continue to be friends because she didn’t abandon you. She stuck by your side the entire way through. Even when she tried to play mind games with Jack, she never wanted to leave your side. She wanted you to know that she was always there for you, and I want you to know…”
He resumes playing, but he does not continue the previous song. This time he transitions to “I’ll Be There.”
“I’ll be there. I’ll reach out my hand to you. I’ll faith in all you do. Just call my name, and I’ll be there.”
He transitions his way out of the song and back to her photo. He places his hands on his lap and gently smiles at the photo.
“Look, Kyra, I’m not going to have any anger towards you. You’re never going to get me to that place of anger. You’re not going to push me to the point of absolute distress. Because I know that there is still good in you, and it’s worth fighting for. I hope you caught my Lord of the Rings reference there. You’re a lot like Frodo right now. You have to carry this weight alone. This idea that you need to be strong for people to take you seriously, but I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to. I could help you. You just have to accept my help. You just have to say, ‘Yes Eli, I understand that all you want to do is help, and I will accept it.’ That’s all you have to do.”
Eli stands up from the piano and walks over to the picture. He keeps his eyes on the photo. He takes it in his hand. He takes a deep breath and stares into the camera. He gently smiles.
“Kyra, at WAR, I’m going to have to fight you, and I’m going to hate it with all of my being. However, because of everything that has happened, I have to face you for the UltraViolent title. You see, I’ve noticed that the title has morphed you into something I know you’re not. You’re not a hateful person. You’re not someone that would abandon a friend. You’re not someone that would shut a friend out. I know these things about you. How do I know? Because of how you were to your daughter, to Jack, and Amber.”
He sighs and looks at the photo again.
“This darker side of you is just a facade that you place up for people to not hurt you anymore. I understand doing something like that. I’ve been hurt so many times in my life, and I know that this is something that will pass. All you need is someone to help you get past all of this. I’m willing to be that person for you. I’m willing to help you get past this, but unfortunately, the only way I can do that is by taking the belt off of you.”
He takes the photo over to the piano and places it on top of the piano.
“Kyra, I’ve been fighting in Carnage for a while now. I’ve been given so many opportunities and failed at actually doing something with them. This is an opportunity that I will not fail. I’m going to go up against you, one-on-one. I’m going to make sure that the title no longer belongs to you. The moment that you’re free of the title, you can begin healing. I know, I’m starting to sound like Ken Davison, but Ken has always been looking after himself. No, I’m looking out for you. If taking that title away from you is the key to saving you, I’ll do it. But, I’ll only do it when you’re ready.”
He sits back in the chair and looks at the camera.
“Kyra, I’m not going to lay going to fight you unless you’re willing to accept my help. During our match, I know you’re going to throw every punch, kick, chair shot, and baseball bat swing you can at me. However, I will not retaliate. I will not defend against any of your attacks. At Chaos, you told me to, ‘Be a man for one in your life.’ You implied that if I don’t fight you then I’m not a man. You implied that the only way to prove my manhood was by fighting one of the people I consider my friends. Well, to me, the way I prove my manhood is by showing that I can rise above that anger. That I can be more than just an instrument of destruction. Like this piano.”
He rubs his hand against the piano. He smiles as he touches the keys, and music begins to softly play.
“A piano is never an instrument of violence until it is necessary. In cartoon shows, they show pianos being dropped on people. In real life, a piano is an instrument for the soul of a person. When you hear the music of a piano, the heart beings to soften. It feels warm. It helps people understand the true nature of harmony. A person knows exactly how great life is like when you’re in serenity. I want to be that for you, Kyra. I want to be the piano that helps you get past your anger.”
He releases a sigh as he looks down at the ground.
“I know that it’s practically impossible to think I could do that, but I’m going to try. You’ll fight against it. You’ll try to force me to fight back, but I won’t. If making me feel pain helps you vent out your anger, I’ll let it happen. I just know who you are on the inside. You may want people to believe that it’s this hardened individual who will stop at nothing to keep her title, but I know that there is something deeper on the inside. You’re hiding the real you, and at We Are Relentless, I’m going to show her to you again. At WAR, I’m going to make sure that you see your true self again. It’s time for this facade to disappear. It’s time for you to see the light again. You’ve been in the darkness for too long. Let me help you.”
He turns back at the piano and starts playing “I’ll Be There For You.”
“I’ll be there for you. When the rain starts to pour, I’ll be there for you. Like I’ve been there before, I’ll be there for you. Cause you’re there for me too.”