Post by Kaji Fireson on May 19, 2012 20:50:16 GMT -4
NOTE: ALL DIALOGUE SPOKEN IN JAPANESE, PROVIDED IN TRANSLATION FOR ENGLISH SUBTITLES
May 7th, 2012
Front Lawn
Suzuki Residence
Utashinai, Hokkaido, Japan
Noriko Suzuki
(off-screen; annoyed)
What are you three doing here?
The scene opens on an image of an elderly Japanese woman in a drab gray, multi-layered kimono. She is holding a broom in her hands; judging from the way she is holding it high and low along the shaft, the shaft itself not quite perpendicular to the ground, it's probable that she had been sweeping the sidewalk leading up to her door before being interrupted.
The camera swings around to show the source of the interruption: two rather worried looking younger Japanese people, one man (Isamu) and one woman (sister Kimiko). Isamu looks like he left the arena in Puerto Rico after Asylum and jumped right on a plane, dressed to match David in black tracksuit, windbreaker partially zipped to reveal a blue shirt.
Kimiko is a bit more composed, long black hair left down today (though she has a green headband to keep it out of her face) and draping over the shoulders of a black lined blazer, neckline of a dressy green blouse visible beneath, with a straight black dress pant and white heels completing her outfit.
Behind Kimiko is David, dressed as Isamu is (though his shirt peeking through is orange), and Allison, who is prepared against the Hokkaido chill with her full length black trenchcoat, though she wears it open and seems to have foregone her usual long-sleeved button-down shirt, opting for just her black tank top and jeans.
Allison doesn't seem too interested in the proceedings, arms crossed over her chest as she stands a few yards away from the cluster of Kimiko, Isamu, and David. She appears to be studying the construction of the faux alpine home as its occupant and her visitors converse.
Isamu Suzuki
We came to make sure you were, alright!
Noriko Suzuki
(dryly)
What do you care if I'm alright? If I mattered at all to you, you would not have fled from me the moment you tasted a bit of freedom.
Isamu falters at this, eyes darkening, but Kimiko fills the gap.
Kimiko Suzuki
No matter what happened in the past, you're still our mother, you still matter, and you still don't deserve to have an insane religious zealot break into your house and do god knows what--
Noriko Suzuki
Donovan Caine did nothing to me.
This causes confusion in the Suzuki siblings. David raises an eyebrow as well.
David Fireson
Are you sure? He's got some nasty smoke and mirrors tricks, and he spent the last six weeks tormenting your son and then trying to goad him into a brawl when he knew he wasn't a hundred percent. Did he steal anything, destroy anything of value?
Noriko Suzuki
He entered my home without crossing the threshold, but once inside he committed no crimes, and he left peacefully when we were finished.
Isamu takes a deep breath, steeling himself against what he's about to hear.
Isamu Suzuki
So what he said...about what you talked about...he wasn't lying?
Noriko Suzuki
(quietly)
No.
Isamu can't keep himself from gasping, then has to fight back tears.
Noriko Suzuki
Some things are best left unheard, unseen, unknown.
Noriko seems almost sad, but her daughter is anything but.
Kimiko Suzuki
(angrily)
The one thing he liked about our culture, the one thing he could take pride in and point at and say "Yes, I am Japanese and proud" and you ruin it for him?
Noriko Suzuki
Would you rather I lie to him some more? If I recall correctly, that's the thing that got me disowned in the first place, by the lot of you!
Kimiko backs down a bit at this, but Noriko is far from finished, tears welling up in her own eyes.
Noriko Suzuki
(hysterical)
Was I dishonest to you? Perhaps, but I was just trying to provide an environment where you could grow up to love your country and your predecessors as much as I did!
Kimiko Suzuki
At the cost of thinking for ourselves and the freedom to make our own decisions?
Noriko casts her gaze to the recently swept concrete beneath her feet.
Noriko Suzuki
(sadly)
I did the best I could. It's hard enough providing for three children when you have a husband to go out and work for the money. Without a husband and with the only jobs in a dead mining town are to debase yourself playing the role of a cheap imitation of a European resort town and throw away your cultural identity while badly fulfilling a foreign role...
(sighing)
Can you not understand why I might be a little desperate to raise Japanese children and not European ones?
Allison Detorre
(flippantly)
Frankly, I'm surprised you managed to raise honest children.
This stops the tearful fight dead in its tracks, as Noriko looks stunned that the woman currently surveying her rock garden has been listening to (and, perhaps more to the point, understanding) the whole confrontation. However, one look from her to David, who can't help but grin, back to Allison eases her shock.
Noriko Suzuki
(sardonically)
Let me guess, you took lessons from the other foreigner.
Allison Detorre
(still flippant)
His son, actually, who is even more amazing a case of parent begetting child than this.
David's grin vanishes at this point, but Allison seems to be having fun. Noriko is not.
Noriko Suzuki
(angrily)
Do you think my life of torment is a joke?
Allison Detorre
(still looking away)
I think it's your sob story that's the joke. You wanted to raise a horde of mindless soldiers that would fight for you, then come home and care for you when you got too old and feeble to do it yourself. Considerin' how I offed the guy that tried to do it to me, I think you're getting off light.
This statement shocks Isamu, Kimiko, and Noriko as Allison walks over to the group to converse properly. David, on the other hand, has only a wry smile to offer as she approaches him.
David Fireson
(whispers below breath)
Just glad he didn't off me.
Allison Detorre
(matching David)
Or that I didn't.
David just glares sidelong at Allison while the Suzuki clan looks at them, eyebrows raised.
Kimiko Suzuki
Hm?
Allison shakes her head, falling silent. David also shakes his, but he responds.
David Fireson
Something between us. It's beside the point.
Noriko Suzuki
And what IS the point?
David Fireson
The point is that your children would be well within their rights to never worry about you ever again after you tried to brainwash and manipulate them, and they'd get no opposition if they never believed another word you ever said or gave one fuck about what happens to you, but they do, because for some reason, they turned out like my son and grew up into decent human beings, in spite of all that was placed before them.
Noriko Suzuki
(narrows eyes)
Are you calling me a bad parent?
David Fireson
(sadly)
Don't feel bad, you're not the only one standing here.
Well apparently telling someone not to feel bad is a really bad idea, because Noriko screams a battle cry before winding up for a wicked slap. David does nothing to move out of the way, but before her hand makes contact, Isamu springs forward and tries to block it.
He gets his arms up and blocks it, though he grimaces in pain as her arm strikes his forearms at a bad angle. Then Noriko, infuriated by her son's insolence, winds up for one on Isamu. Isamu is too stunned to move out of the way, and David looks like he's trying to get around to repay him, but Allison reaches up and plucks Noriko's arm out of the air, clutching her by the wrist. Noriko, all but blinded by tears, growls and tries to get free, but Allison holds fast.
Allison Detorre
(coldly)
Isamu has chosen his fate. Do not make this worse for yourself.
Noriko struggles for a few more seconds in her grip, guttural sounds of sorrow and anger mingling before they emerge from her lips as strangled cries. Allison narrows her eyes, sapphire depths darkening with bad intentions, but before anything else can happen, Isamu reaches out and puts his hands on Allison's shoulders.
Isamu Suzuki
(shakily)
Enough...she's not going to do anything. Let her go...
Allison snorts, mutters in a language no one present understands, and releases Noriko's wrist. True to Isamu's word, Noriko does not press the issue, instead simply backing up to her front door, features contorted into one of intense fury as she surveys her intruders.
Noriko Suzuki
(savagely)
He chose his fate? Well then I choose mine. I would rather die alone than be attended by such ungrateful wretches!
Kimiko is the one stunned this time, while Isamu seems either too hyped up on adrenaline or too far gone to be surprised by what is about to happen.
Noriko Suzuki
(hysterically)
You are all banished from this property! You will never set foot on this path again so long as I am alive!
(to Kimiko)
Tell your worthless brother the same goes for him!
Kimiko Suzuki
(startled)
Why? Katsuro did nothing wrong!
Noriko only laughs, haughty expression on her face and in her voice.
Noriko Suzuki
You can't tell me he wouldn't side with you.
Kimiko falls silent. Isamu takes a deep breath to compose himself.
Isamu Suzuki
If this is your will, then I will abide by it.
Everyone else raises eyebrows and looks at Isamu funny, but he is undaunted as he turns his back and takes his first steps toward the street.
Isamu Suzuki
Come on, everyone. Let us trouble this old woman no further.
Isamu walks steadily away from his ancestral home. Allison is the first to come around and follows after him, with David and Kimiko coming along a few moments later.
NOTE: DIALOGUE RETURNS TO SPOKEN ENGLISH, NO SUBTITLES
May 19th, 2012
Promo Studio
American Branch
Golden Phoenix Institute
San Antonio, Texas
Isamu Suzuki
Donovan Caine, after our altercations over the last six weeks, after all the things you have said to me, and after all that you will have just watched, you may be wondering if I will acquiesce to your pressure that I conform to your idea of what a good man is.
Well, as you might guess, even if you hadn't retracted your offer for me to be "saved," claiming it is too late for me, my answer would still me no, as there is nothing for me to be rescued from.
After learning that, you might be wondering if I still intend to live my life according to the principles of honor and respect as outlined in the code of bushido that is all but synonymous with my culture and the identity of my race.
Well, as I have been reminded almost constantly by both David-san and Allison-san, it is impossible for a human being to perfectly adhere to such a lofty ideal, but I will still pursue that goal as best as I am able, and I will do my best to be forgiving, both of myself when I fail to meet those expectations, and of others when they do not live up to that expectation but seem apologetic or generally a good person in spite of this failing, for which I cannot fault them, as I will fail as well.
You may then wonder how I could be so foolish as to continue to pursue the ideal of honor in all I do when it is based on a contrived myth concocted by a power-hungry warlord in feudal times to ensure he kept his position until he fell honorably in battle, or by natural causes in his own bed, and preserved, at the very least by my mother, as a convenient myth and legend to cite while keeping her children loyal and obedient to her.
That's the tricky question, but I think I've got the answer.
May 8th, 2012
Isamu's Room
American Branch
Golden Phoenix Institute
San Antonio, Texas
Isamu is sprawled out on his bed, still dressed in his track suit and blue shirt, when someone knocks on his door. Isamu stays sprawled on the bed, but answers, voice full of exhaustion.
Isamu Suzuki
It's unlocked.
His door opens and David, now out of his track suit but still wearing the orange shirt (now with khaki cargo shorts), enters. He clears his throat, prompting Isamu to pull himself laboriously to an upright position. The exhaustion is all over his face as well, with bloodshot eyes and paler than usual face. David plops down into his desk chair and turns it to face him.
David Fireson
You doin' okay?
Isamu Suzuki
Yeah. Did my crying on the flight back.
David Fireson
I can tell.
(awkwardly chuckles)
I guess you handled it about as well as anybody could expect...
Isamu nods in response. David can't find a good way to break the awkward silence, so he just pushes through.
David Fireson
So, uh...I wanted to ask you something?
Isamu Suzuki
Yes?
David Fireson
Well...your mother just got done disowning you and calling you as bad, if not worse than Caine's been calling you. So...
(scratches head)
Well...why did you still obey her? The entire mythology your childhood was based on was shattered yesterday.
Isamu Suzuki
I disagree.
David raises an eyebrow.
David Fireson
How do you figure?
May 19th, 2012
Promo Studio
American Branch
Golden Phoenix Institute
San Antonio, Texas
Isamu Suzuki
(quoting himself)
"Bushido may have begun as a myth or a principle designed for military and political gain, but that was hundreds of years ago, and in the time between then and now, Bushido and the concept of a samurai and honor have evolved far beyond what could have been imagined in feudal Japan. Rather than simply a military chain of command and law to keep men loyal, if not necessarily honest, it has become a hugely romanticized idea, and the concept of a man able to embody such a strenuous code of honor, and that there are men that might strive for this lofty goal, is one that instills hope in many people that mankind as a race is not yet doomed to be conquered by greed and base desires."
Is that not what religion does as well, Donovan? Is not the history of religion very similar?
The order may be different, but it is hard for you to deny that religion is not a tool used by parents or people in positions of power to keep them loyal and supposedly honest. The idea that there is an omnipotent being watching everyone at all times that will judge them at the end of all life for their adherence to a code of ethics and morality that all men and women are destined to break at some point in their lives is enough to keep those loyal to the powerful, or those that believe in the omnipotent being and that version of an afterlife, loyal or obedient in the believe that as long as they do their best to fulfill God's wishes, they will have eternal life and riches at the end of all things.
It is equally difficult to deny that religious excellence is not heavily romanticized. Is not a "pious man" one held to be unnaturally pure and mindful, both of God's will and the needs of his fellow man? And would you not agree that it is just as ridiculous to believe a mortal man could be unfailingly pious at all times, in all arenas and aspects of his life, just as we who admire samurai know that a real, live human could never be so unfailingly honorable or couragous?
Yet you are trying to convince the world that you are this perfectly pious man, while simultaneously assaulting an innocent, if imperfect, man while he was exhausted from a match, then tormenting him because you seek revenge for what you feel as a slight you suffered at Rasslemania.
Is Envy not one of the deadly sins?
Is bearing false witness not breaking one of your most sacred Commandments?
Donovan, let's face facts. Your four disciples are more lost now with you than they ever were without you, while Isamu Suzuki, the man you have been spending two months trying to break down and convince that he needs to see the light of God's grace, is more sure of himself than he has ever been.
There is more than one path to redemption, Donovan Caine. I may not be close to my destination, but I am at least on the right track, and as long as I stand up for what is right and good in the world, and in myself, I will continue to search for, and eventually tread this path.
I only wish I could say the same for you.
Isamu looks like he's about to continue, but someone bangs on the door of the studio.
Allison Detorre
(muffled)
Come on, kid, we gotta' catch our flight.
Isamu looks to the direction of Allison's voice.
Isamu Suzuki
It's alright, I'm done anyhow.
Isamu stands up and walks out of the studio, seeing Allison, dressed as normal in button-down, black tank, and jeans. With furrowed brow, he walks up to her.
Isamu Suzuki
Can I ask you something?
Allison Detorre
...sure.
Isamu Suzuki
Well...you came in to help me find myself, and I seem to have done that. You really don't like David-san, so...why do you stay?
Allison raises an eyebrow, taken aback by the sudden question.Then she laughs.
Allison Detorre
What can I say? You remind me of my husband. Sue me.
Isamu is the one taken aback now. Before he can ask whether that's a good thing or not, Allison walks off and he rushes off to follow her as the scene fades.
May 7th, 2012
Front Lawn
Suzuki Residence
Utashinai, Hokkaido, Japan
Noriko Suzuki
(off-screen; annoyed)
What are you three doing here?
The scene opens on an image of an elderly Japanese woman in a drab gray, multi-layered kimono. She is holding a broom in her hands; judging from the way she is holding it high and low along the shaft, the shaft itself not quite perpendicular to the ground, it's probable that she had been sweeping the sidewalk leading up to her door before being interrupted.
The camera swings around to show the source of the interruption: two rather worried looking younger Japanese people, one man (Isamu) and one woman (sister Kimiko). Isamu looks like he left the arena in Puerto Rico after Asylum and jumped right on a plane, dressed to match David in black tracksuit, windbreaker partially zipped to reveal a blue shirt.
Kimiko is a bit more composed, long black hair left down today (though she has a green headband to keep it out of her face) and draping over the shoulders of a black lined blazer, neckline of a dressy green blouse visible beneath, with a straight black dress pant and white heels completing her outfit.
Behind Kimiko is David, dressed as Isamu is (though his shirt peeking through is orange), and Allison, who is prepared against the Hokkaido chill with her full length black trenchcoat, though she wears it open and seems to have foregone her usual long-sleeved button-down shirt, opting for just her black tank top and jeans.
Allison doesn't seem too interested in the proceedings, arms crossed over her chest as she stands a few yards away from the cluster of Kimiko, Isamu, and David. She appears to be studying the construction of the faux alpine home as its occupant and her visitors converse.
Isamu Suzuki
We came to make sure you were, alright!
Noriko Suzuki
(dryly)
What do you care if I'm alright? If I mattered at all to you, you would not have fled from me the moment you tasted a bit of freedom.
Isamu falters at this, eyes darkening, but Kimiko fills the gap.
Kimiko Suzuki
No matter what happened in the past, you're still our mother, you still matter, and you still don't deserve to have an insane religious zealot break into your house and do god knows what--
Noriko Suzuki
Donovan Caine did nothing to me.
This causes confusion in the Suzuki siblings. David raises an eyebrow as well.
David Fireson
Are you sure? He's got some nasty smoke and mirrors tricks, and he spent the last six weeks tormenting your son and then trying to goad him into a brawl when he knew he wasn't a hundred percent. Did he steal anything, destroy anything of value?
Noriko Suzuki
He entered my home without crossing the threshold, but once inside he committed no crimes, and he left peacefully when we were finished.
Isamu takes a deep breath, steeling himself against what he's about to hear.
Isamu Suzuki
So what he said...about what you talked about...he wasn't lying?
Noriko Suzuki
(quietly)
No.
Isamu can't keep himself from gasping, then has to fight back tears.
Noriko Suzuki
Some things are best left unheard, unseen, unknown.
Noriko seems almost sad, but her daughter is anything but.
Kimiko Suzuki
(angrily)
The one thing he liked about our culture, the one thing he could take pride in and point at and say "Yes, I am Japanese and proud" and you ruin it for him?
Noriko Suzuki
Would you rather I lie to him some more? If I recall correctly, that's the thing that got me disowned in the first place, by the lot of you!
Kimiko backs down a bit at this, but Noriko is far from finished, tears welling up in her own eyes.
Noriko Suzuki
(hysterical)
Was I dishonest to you? Perhaps, but I was just trying to provide an environment where you could grow up to love your country and your predecessors as much as I did!
Kimiko Suzuki
At the cost of thinking for ourselves and the freedom to make our own decisions?
Noriko casts her gaze to the recently swept concrete beneath her feet.
Noriko Suzuki
(sadly)
I did the best I could. It's hard enough providing for three children when you have a husband to go out and work for the money. Without a husband and with the only jobs in a dead mining town are to debase yourself playing the role of a cheap imitation of a European resort town and throw away your cultural identity while badly fulfilling a foreign role...
(sighing)
Can you not understand why I might be a little desperate to raise Japanese children and not European ones?
Allison Detorre
(flippantly)
Frankly, I'm surprised you managed to raise honest children.
This stops the tearful fight dead in its tracks, as Noriko looks stunned that the woman currently surveying her rock garden has been listening to (and, perhaps more to the point, understanding) the whole confrontation. However, one look from her to David, who can't help but grin, back to Allison eases her shock.
Noriko Suzuki
(sardonically)
Let me guess, you took lessons from the other foreigner.
Allison Detorre
(still flippant)
His son, actually, who is even more amazing a case of parent begetting child than this.
David's grin vanishes at this point, but Allison seems to be having fun. Noriko is not.
Noriko Suzuki
(angrily)
Do you think my life of torment is a joke?
Allison Detorre
(still looking away)
I think it's your sob story that's the joke. You wanted to raise a horde of mindless soldiers that would fight for you, then come home and care for you when you got too old and feeble to do it yourself. Considerin' how I offed the guy that tried to do it to me, I think you're getting off light.
This statement shocks Isamu, Kimiko, and Noriko as Allison walks over to the group to converse properly. David, on the other hand, has only a wry smile to offer as she approaches him.
David Fireson
(whispers below breath)
Just glad he didn't off me.
Allison Detorre
(matching David)
Or that I didn't.
David just glares sidelong at Allison while the Suzuki clan looks at them, eyebrows raised.
Kimiko Suzuki
Hm?
Allison shakes her head, falling silent. David also shakes his, but he responds.
David Fireson
Something between us. It's beside the point.
Noriko Suzuki
And what IS the point?
David Fireson
The point is that your children would be well within their rights to never worry about you ever again after you tried to brainwash and manipulate them, and they'd get no opposition if they never believed another word you ever said or gave one fuck about what happens to you, but they do, because for some reason, they turned out like my son and grew up into decent human beings, in spite of all that was placed before them.
Noriko Suzuki
(narrows eyes)
Are you calling me a bad parent?
David Fireson
(sadly)
Don't feel bad, you're not the only one standing here.
Well apparently telling someone not to feel bad is a really bad idea, because Noriko screams a battle cry before winding up for a wicked slap. David does nothing to move out of the way, but before her hand makes contact, Isamu springs forward and tries to block it.
He gets his arms up and blocks it, though he grimaces in pain as her arm strikes his forearms at a bad angle. Then Noriko, infuriated by her son's insolence, winds up for one on Isamu. Isamu is too stunned to move out of the way, and David looks like he's trying to get around to repay him, but Allison reaches up and plucks Noriko's arm out of the air, clutching her by the wrist. Noriko, all but blinded by tears, growls and tries to get free, but Allison holds fast.
Allison Detorre
(coldly)
Isamu has chosen his fate. Do not make this worse for yourself.
Noriko struggles for a few more seconds in her grip, guttural sounds of sorrow and anger mingling before they emerge from her lips as strangled cries. Allison narrows her eyes, sapphire depths darkening with bad intentions, but before anything else can happen, Isamu reaches out and puts his hands on Allison's shoulders.
Isamu Suzuki
(shakily)
Enough...she's not going to do anything. Let her go...
Allison snorts, mutters in a language no one present understands, and releases Noriko's wrist. True to Isamu's word, Noriko does not press the issue, instead simply backing up to her front door, features contorted into one of intense fury as she surveys her intruders.
Noriko Suzuki
(savagely)
He chose his fate? Well then I choose mine. I would rather die alone than be attended by such ungrateful wretches!
Kimiko is the one stunned this time, while Isamu seems either too hyped up on adrenaline or too far gone to be surprised by what is about to happen.
Noriko Suzuki
(hysterically)
You are all banished from this property! You will never set foot on this path again so long as I am alive!
(to Kimiko)
Tell your worthless brother the same goes for him!
Kimiko Suzuki
(startled)
Why? Katsuro did nothing wrong!
Noriko only laughs, haughty expression on her face and in her voice.
Noriko Suzuki
You can't tell me he wouldn't side with you.
Kimiko falls silent. Isamu takes a deep breath to compose himself.
Isamu Suzuki
If this is your will, then I will abide by it.
Everyone else raises eyebrows and looks at Isamu funny, but he is undaunted as he turns his back and takes his first steps toward the street.
Isamu Suzuki
Come on, everyone. Let us trouble this old woman no further.
Isamu walks steadily away from his ancestral home. Allison is the first to come around and follows after him, with David and Kimiko coming along a few moments later.
NOTE: DIALOGUE RETURNS TO SPOKEN ENGLISH, NO SUBTITLES
May 19th, 2012
Promo Studio
American Branch
Golden Phoenix Institute
San Antonio, Texas
Isamu Suzuki
Donovan Caine, after our altercations over the last six weeks, after all the things you have said to me, and after all that you will have just watched, you may be wondering if I will acquiesce to your pressure that I conform to your idea of what a good man is.
Well, as you might guess, even if you hadn't retracted your offer for me to be "saved," claiming it is too late for me, my answer would still me no, as there is nothing for me to be rescued from.
After learning that, you might be wondering if I still intend to live my life according to the principles of honor and respect as outlined in the code of bushido that is all but synonymous with my culture and the identity of my race.
Well, as I have been reminded almost constantly by both David-san and Allison-san, it is impossible for a human being to perfectly adhere to such a lofty ideal, but I will still pursue that goal as best as I am able, and I will do my best to be forgiving, both of myself when I fail to meet those expectations, and of others when they do not live up to that expectation but seem apologetic or generally a good person in spite of this failing, for which I cannot fault them, as I will fail as well.
You may then wonder how I could be so foolish as to continue to pursue the ideal of honor in all I do when it is based on a contrived myth concocted by a power-hungry warlord in feudal times to ensure he kept his position until he fell honorably in battle, or by natural causes in his own bed, and preserved, at the very least by my mother, as a convenient myth and legend to cite while keeping her children loyal and obedient to her.
That's the tricky question, but I think I've got the answer.
May 8th, 2012
Isamu's Room
American Branch
Golden Phoenix Institute
San Antonio, Texas
Isamu is sprawled out on his bed, still dressed in his track suit and blue shirt, when someone knocks on his door. Isamu stays sprawled on the bed, but answers, voice full of exhaustion.
Isamu Suzuki
It's unlocked.
His door opens and David, now out of his track suit but still wearing the orange shirt (now with khaki cargo shorts), enters. He clears his throat, prompting Isamu to pull himself laboriously to an upright position. The exhaustion is all over his face as well, with bloodshot eyes and paler than usual face. David plops down into his desk chair and turns it to face him.
David Fireson
You doin' okay?
Isamu Suzuki
Yeah. Did my crying on the flight back.
David Fireson
I can tell.
(awkwardly chuckles)
I guess you handled it about as well as anybody could expect...
Isamu nods in response. David can't find a good way to break the awkward silence, so he just pushes through.
David Fireson
So, uh...I wanted to ask you something?
Isamu Suzuki
Yes?
David Fireson
Well...your mother just got done disowning you and calling you as bad, if not worse than Caine's been calling you. So...
(scratches head)
Well...why did you still obey her? The entire mythology your childhood was based on was shattered yesterday.
Isamu Suzuki
I disagree.
David raises an eyebrow.
David Fireson
How do you figure?
May 19th, 2012
Promo Studio
American Branch
Golden Phoenix Institute
San Antonio, Texas
Isamu Suzuki
(quoting himself)
"Bushido may have begun as a myth or a principle designed for military and political gain, but that was hundreds of years ago, and in the time between then and now, Bushido and the concept of a samurai and honor have evolved far beyond what could have been imagined in feudal Japan. Rather than simply a military chain of command and law to keep men loyal, if not necessarily honest, it has become a hugely romanticized idea, and the concept of a man able to embody such a strenuous code of honor, and that there are men that might strive for this lofty goal, is one that instills hope in many people that mankind as a race is not yet doomed to be conquered by greed and base desires."
Is that not what religion does as well, Donovan? Is not the history of religion very similar?
The order may be different, but it is hard for you to deny that religion is not a tool used by parents or people in positions of power to keep them loyal and supposedly honest. The idea that there is an omnipotent being watching everyone at all times that will judge them at the end of all life for their adherence to a code of ethics and morality that all men and women are destined to break at some point in their lives is enough to keep those loyal to the powerful, or those that believe in the omnipotent being and that version of an afterlife, loyal or obedient in the believe that as long as they do their best to fulfill God's wishes, they will have eternal life and riches at the end of all things.
It is equally difficult to deny that religious excellence is not heavily romanticized. Is not a "pious man" one held to be unnaturally pure and mindful, both of God's will and the needs of his fellow man? And would you not agree that it is just as ridiculous to believe a mortal man could be unfailingly pious at all times, in all arenas and aspects of his life, just as we who admire samurai know that a real, live human could never be so unfailingly honorable or couragous?
Yet you are trying to convince the world that you are this perfectly pious man, while simultaneously assaulting an innocent, if imperfect, man while he was exhausted from a match, then tormenting him because you seek revenge for what you feel as a slight you suffered at Rasslemania.
Is Envy not one of the deadly sins?
Is bearing false witness not breaking one of your most sacred Commandments?
Donovan, let's face facts. Your four disciples are more lost now with you than they ever were without you, while Isamu Suzuki, the man you have been spending two months trying to break down and convince that he needs to see the light of God's grace, is more sure of himself than he has ever been.
There is more than one path to redemption, Donovan Caine. I may not be close to my destination, but I am at least on the right track, and as long as I stand up for what is right and good in the world, and in myself, I will continue to search for, and eventually tread this path.
I only wish I could say the same for you.
Isamu looks like he's about to continue, but someone bangs on the door of the studio.
Allison Detorre
(muffled)
Come on, kid, we gotta' catch our flight.
Isamu looks to the direction of Allison's voice.
Isamu Suzuki
It's alright, I'm done anyhow.
Isamu stands up and walks out of the studio, seeing Allison, dressed as normal in button-down, black tank, and jeans. With furrowed brow, he walks up to her.
Isamu Suzuki
Can I ask you something?
Allison Detorre
...sure.
Isamu Suzuki
Well...you came in to help me find myself, and I seem to have done that. You really don't like David-san, so...why do you stay?
Allison raises an eyebrow, taken aback by the sudden question.Then she laughs.
Allison Detorre
What can I say? You remind me of my husband. Sue me.
Isamu is the one taken aback now. Before he can ask whether that's a good thing or not, Allison walks off and he rushes off to follow her as the scene fades.
