The Marine Biologist/Sayanora

January 17th, 2025

The cheers died down, as Steve Harrison triumphantly got backstage after his victory over Jackson Cooley.

“What are you so happy about?”

Well, that didn’t last long.

Just as Steve got backstage the sharp annoying tongue of Ellis Jackson went to work. Harrison sighed and stopped in his tracks. He looked at Ellis irritably, but instead lowered his head and brushed by Ellis.

Ellis turned swiftly and grabbed Steve’s shoulder, spinning him around, “I asked you a question.”

The Miracle Man raised his head, “oh…am I allowed to talk now?”

Ellis pointed to the floor which looked like it hadn’t been mopped in days, “drop and give me fifty.”

Harrison chuckled softly, but his eyes showed that it isn’t because he thought something was funny. He took his left index finger and poked Ellis in the chest, “Fuck. You.”

Ellis looked down at the finger which Steve hadn’t taken off his chest. He moved his right hand down and smacked the finger away. He looked back up at Harrison and smiled, “I like that look in your eyes.”

Harrison shook his head dumbfounded at what Ellis had just said. He turned his back to him, “ok, I am going to go take a shower.”

“Before you leave,” Jackson paused his comment as his smile became a Max Kaelish grin, “does your opponent laughing after losing to you make you feel like you accomplished something?”

Steve’s body tightened up and both of his arms dropped to his sides. “I cannot control how others react to losing.”

Ellis walked towards Steve and stopped next to him. He pat Harrison on the back, “yes, I’m sure that being one upped by someone you had just beaten will make you look real good going forward. Nobody will care about you. Nobody will be intimated you. You will threaten nobody in PRIME with such lackluster resolve. You may as well just get a mop and go join Doozer cleaning up that stupid battleship.”

Harrisons hands became fists and became redder and redder after every word that came out of Ellis’s mouth as he clenched them harder. “You done?”

Ellis stands at 6’ 2” so he got on his tippy toes and leaned over to Steve’s left ear, “DO. THE. GODDAMN. PUSHUPS!”

Steve covered his ears and doubled over and landed his knee on the sticky floor of the arena. He quickly got back to his feet, his face twisted in fury, and his teeth grit. He didn’t hesitate and balled his fist again and wound up to throw a punch. From where out of no where Jack Marley stepped between them and handed Harrison a bottle of water.

“What the hell?” Steve remarked as he looked down at the water in his hand.

“I told him to go get you some water because of your match. I am a true man of the people, Steve,” Ellis said as he took a few steps to the left of Steve to stay out of his punch radius.

“Sure…and no, where did he come from?” Steve looked up and Jack had disappeared, “and where did he go?”

Ellis waved the question away and snorted, “sigh, always changing the subject. I am curious, Steve, did you forget your promise?”

--

January 1st, 2025

Click

My eyes fluttered.

Click click click

I rolled over and tried to squeeze my eyes, as hard as I could to keep them shut. I was in no mood to wake up.

Click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click.

I let out a long sigh and rolled over onto my back. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I laid there and realized this ceiling was a mystery to me. I didn’t recognize it and then began to remember the night before. “Happy new year’s,” I whispered to myself.

“Oh, are you finally awake?”

The voice made me roll over on to my side. I rubbed my eyes and then I remembered. The woman sitting in a chair five feet away from me was my supposed mom. A woman I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. Through all the trials in my life: from the aneurysm to the coma, to all the physical and emotional damage I have incurred there was only a vague recollection that I knew this person.

She held a pen in her hand that she continued to click it open and shut. She gave me the coldest smile that I ever seen from a woman and then looked at her pen, “did this wake you up? Sorry, it’s a bad habit I have when I am thinking hard about something.”

“No…well yea…but its not a big deal. I was more having a hard time adjusting to the memories from last night. What were you thinking so hard about?” I wasn’t sure why I even asked that. There had to be more important things that I should have started with, but I had absolutely no read on her. I had a fleeting thought that I would never get a good read on her.

Maybe…that’s what really makes us family?

She placed the pen on a small desk that was situated in front of her. It was old and was probably an antique made of oak from the Victorian House days of New England. “I have thought about this moment for a long time, but I never thought about the emotional aspect. Not from me of course…but from how you might feel.”

My eyebrow raised, “what?”

She turned her chair and looked straight at me. She placed her hands on top of each other on her lap. “I know the difficulty you have had the past few years in understanding your emotions and what it means to be a good person. I gave up those aspirations when I first married your father. Does that answer your question?”

That didn’t help at all, I thought to myself. It was like talking to a robot that was designed to be a mother but was never given the software to act like one. I sat up in the bed and took my eyes from her. It was hard…almost near impossible for me to look at her in that moment. “I…well, um…decided that I wanted to understand them because whatever I had been doing had left me an empty person.”

She laughed. It seemed the only genuine thing she had done since I woke up. It was a real laugh but even in my shaken state I understood it wasn’t a time to laugh. “Let me ask you a question, son. Do you remember when you proudly called yourself a failure when you began your wrestling career in HOSTILITY?”

“Vaguely…everything is vague, since the coma.” It wasn’t a lie but even I still cringe at the first few months of my wrestling career. I paused for a second as the gears finally started moving in my mind. “Uh…how do you know about that?”

“There was always someone there, Steve,” she said so nonchalantly that I felt stupid for even asking. “It was an embarrassing time for the family to watch you walk around like winning didn’t matter. Just happy to be there…weren’t you?”

“Well…”

“I wasn’t done,” the interruption had me staring with my mouth opened. She continued like the only space in this conversation was for her to talk and for me to nod my head in agreement. “That is when it was decided Jack would work for you. Did you think he came out of the goodness of his heart? He does what is asked of him, but it seems spending so much time with you has made him bold in making his own…stupid…utterly stupid decisions. Who should we blame for that?”

I didn’t move a muscle, but I had finally shut my mouth. She shook her head at me, “you can answer now.”

“I am fairly certain you are going to blame me,” I said softly and following up with a deep breath as I braced for her response.

With her right hand still lying on top of her left she began tapping her index finger to the top of her left hand. “If you truly understand your mistakes then it’s a good step forward. I have spent too much time watching from afar though. I let Jack and Sandy dictate to you what I expected but it always seemed to fall flat. Sandy thought Rebecca would be a good person to keep you in line but as a nonmember I never genuinely trusted her. It took some time but the last few years I have been unfortunately proven right.”

“Where is she?”

It had been my turn to interrupt as soon as I heard her mention, Rebecca. The scowl on her face when I finished asking, told me everything I needed to know, but that didn’t stop her from telling me, “Sometimes, we have to cut things out of our lives to make our lives…well…healthier.”

I raised my left eyebrow in confusion, “sorry, what?”

“She isn’t part of the family,” she responded bluntly, as she attempted to move on from talking about Rebecca.

It was obvious Rebecca was going to be kept away from me going forward and it definitely brought up a few questions I knew I could not bring up to this woma---my mom. “What does my wrestling career have to do with The Family anyway?”

She tapped her nose with her right index finger, “wrestling is your vehicle to other avenues in life. It has worked for JD and Ellis and that was the idea for you when we first discovered how much you loved the sport. Your career was something we kept an eye on, because it not only will help you, but your success and integration into The Octopus will help in advancing our efforts.”

Not one actual answer was said.

What avenues?

What efforts?

It all felt like a speech to make you think you are learning something but more likely, you have been told nothing but the bare minimum.

Still being confused and my mind racing I let it slide because maybe I was missing something. Maybe it was me?

I am the failure.

I am the one to blame.

RIGHT?

She wasn’t and isn’t dumb and recognized my confusion, “efforts against people like your father, Steve. We fight against the dying of the light but before it goes out, we will get that light to shine upon us and like-minded people.”

It sounded like something a comic book villain would say to justify what it has and will do in the future. I had no knowledge of what she had done or who she was, at all. I don’t even remember the actual year she had left or who old I was. She may as well had been a stranger, and no amount of blood could change that right now. But, at the same time other members of The Octopus were known to me and I held them in high esteem. They were good people in my opinion and truly…who am I to say who is a good person anyway?

People still think I am a demon in human clothing. Lindsay Troy has just had the courage to say it. If someone who considers themselves an understanding person can never see past who I once was, then who am I to judge, what someone else does to survive?

The world doesn’t care.

The world doesn’t forget.

“This is all very confusing, what do you even do?”

She stood up and walked over to me and looked down. She clasped my face in her hands again like she had the night before and smiled at me. “You are still in your initiation phase. Time will tell if you can find the fire again that is required to walk hand in hand with your REAL family…” She let go of my face and then looked at the ceiling and extended her arms out, “…The Octopus!”

I watched in disbelief. I was watching someone who I knew in that moment was who I wanted to be years ago. I wasn’t sure about now. I still had that throbbing in the back of my head, and it still only wanted one thing.

It wanted Rebecca.

I gulped, “should I call you mom or…uh something else?”

She looked back down, her eyes shining with what had to be manic energy. They darted back and forth and then finally slowed after she let out a long breath. “In private, I suppose, even though the sound of it makes me cringe but call me by my code name in public, it is… The Marine Biologist.”

I shook my head in suspicion, “huh…code name?” I didn’t want to broach the subject of her hating being called mom. Honestly, it felt wrong to even call her…well, this person mom anyway.

She turned her back and walked towards the door, “you already gave yourself one, Immortal Jellyfish. We all have one, you will learn shortly. In the meantime, I want you to promise me you will do whatever Ellis asks of you, as your immediate mentor.” She grabbed the knob of the door and turned it and before opening the door turned back and looked at me. “I expect only excellence, do not let me down.”

“I…ugh, promise,” I replied to her, my voice quivering at the thought of having to do whatever that asshole Ellis Jackson says,

She walked out of the door and shut it behind her. I heard the door lock from the outside and realized I was not able to leave the room.

I slammed both of my fists into the pillow I had been resting my head on just minutes ago and then yelled into them.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

--

February 4th, 2025

Ichihara, Japan.

The outside of the building was encircled with a fence that looked like it had seen better days. It had smalls holes and bent cross bars in multiple places but there were no footprints that could be seen. The ocean breeze carried the smell of salt into my nose as Ellis Jackson looked around the area to make sure there was nobody around. He walked around the fence, touching it in several areas until he stopped and then pushed his hand against the fence.

A piece folded down leaving enough room for him to walk into the area. He motioned for me to follow and as always, these days I followed him into the area. I walked slowly behind him and stared at the building. The closer I got I began to see small cameras. I couldn’t believe what I saw when we got to the entrance. The door looked like it had been made for a Bank Vault but had been made to look old and dirty by whoever installed it. Dents were visible, along with what looked like rust and on the door was a keyhole that seemed to have dirt inside it.

All an illusion.

“What is this?”

Ellis turned to me and smirked, “it has a very good view to the ocean when you get on to the roof.”

That didn’t answer anything. One thing I began to accept is that nobody will give me a real answer to anything. The next thing I knew the door began to open and we were inside. Ellis turned and pointed to me, “help me shut it, this thing is heavier than the cross to bear for Don Winters.”

I side eyed his comment about Don, it had become a daily occurrence where Ellis would comment on how Don had been nothing but a phony friend. It was beginning to sound true to me though, even if the person sharing this information, is a selfish annoying twat.

The door was finally closed, and he hadn’t been lying, that took both of our strength to close it. I turned to see an empty warehouse but with multiple closed rooms throughout the floor, all with their own cameras. Ellis didn’t seem to care about any of them though and we instead walked several stories up and onto the roof. Several chairs laid on the floor of the roof with cigarette butts scattered around the area which showed to me that Ellis wasn’t lying about enjoying the view.

Ellis pointed at a boat at sea, “is that it? Or maybe that? Oh…is that Hessian playing volleyball with Laser? Bobby and Doozer eating all the salty snacks? Cancer Jiles waxing the forehead of Coral Avalon?”

I rolled my eyes, “all of this so you could make some stupid eGG Bandit on the battleship joke?”

Ellis turned and looked angrily at me and shook his head, “No. None of this is a joke, Steve. If it had been, I would have mentioned Tony Gamble. This is about you letting that crumb dictate the facts of your partnership. He says his little smart-ass comments and you have never done anything about it. Now he has that monster Hessian doing his bidding. I am sure you remember him, right? The guy who beat you in the first round of the GTT7 tournament and yet doesn’t remember you at all.”

I snarled at that comment because it was true. Hessian didn’t remember me and even if he had, I had been nothing but a pebble in his way back then. Now he was a shell of his former self. He did the bidding of the yolkiest scumbag I once called an ally…never friend.

I paused as I attempted to produce a response. I took a deep breath and began, “he probably doesn’t remember me. I remember him though. I remember him beating me so thoroughly that it probably damaged my brain for the last aneurysm I had before the coma. He did it without breaking a sweat, but now he sweats just bending down to tie his shoes.”

Ellis laughed, “Oh, you really think you can beat the big man that Cancer Jiles picked over even talking to you again?”

I knew exactly who Hessian was. He was a legend. He was a giant. He was a PRIME Hall of Famer, but those legs weren’t getting any stronger. They have been carrying that strong frame for years but now he was being carried figuratively by Cancer Jiles, physically I was going to break him down to eye level.

“AND THEN POKE HIM IN THOSE CONDESCENDING EYES!” I yelled to the sky, as my thoughts became verbal assaults to the birds overhead.

“There you go,” Ellis said to me as he continued to look at the ocean. “This is a full circle moment for you and if you fail to grasp what needs to be done you will continue to be nothing but a joke.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you forgotten the last time you came to Japan?”

I had tried to forget. I had gotten to Japan on that damn ship with Cancer Jiles and right when we were about to get to shore my memories had started coming back to me. I tossed someone overboard after he claimed William Morris had been killed. Now…well…now I knew that was all a lie and that person I threw overboard is probably living it up somewhere laughing about what a gullible fool I am.

“I get it. This time is different though, even though I am not sure that is a good thing,” I finally answered as I stared out at the ocean now, watching as a Short-Tailed Albatross scared a small bird to drop its fish for him. It was reminiscent of people side stepping out of the way when a Murder Show gets in line to order Cancer Jiles his eGG McMuffin.

The mere thought of the past began to agitate me that I felt it proper to continue, “I am going to tear Hessian’s legs apart and then knee him so hard in the head that his bird’s nest of a beard will wither and die. Is that what you want to hear, Ellis?”

“It’s a start.”

“Great, because I want Hessian to understand that I have looked forward to facing him since I joined PRIME. This is about me remembering that helpless feeling back in Twenty-Ten when he crushed me. I have a chance to reverse course, and it would mean more to me to beat him then ever having a conversation with that salt shoed moron, Cancer Jiles. Oh…did you not know? I have never lost to an eGG Bandit, and I don’t plan on losing now.”

Ellis clapped his hands, “excellent…and do you remember the goons Sutler Kael hired for you to beat the hell out of during your training while you were here?”

“Uh…maybe?”

I jumped as I felt someone tap me on the shoulder…

“SAYANORA!”

It wasn’t me saying it this time.