Matt chews on a the end of a pencil as he fixates on the match replaying before him. Footage plays in slow motion then regular speed and repeat as Matt analyzes what happened at Havoc. Matt holds his head as if he were having flashbacks before returning to focusing intently again. He reaches up tentatively touch his stapled wound. It’s not as sore anymore and he’ll soon be getting the staples removed now that the gash has began to close up.
Deep in concentration, he barely notices Head Coach Red Dragon walking into the room, standing behind him, arms folded across his chest. He watches Matt pause and rewind, slow down and speed up the footage of the match from Havoc and then switch his focus to the recent recorded promo from Maniac.
Red Dragon clears his throat and says firmly, "Tell me, what precisely are you hoping to gain by reviewing these clips?"
Startled, Matt quickly turns around, "Just trying to figure out where I went wrong, Sensei,” he says apologetically.
Scratching his chin thoughtfully, Red Dragon peers at Matt for a moment longer before asking pointedly, "Why did I send you down here?”
Caught off guard, Matt hesitates, searching for words that wouldn't incense Sensei Matthew. "To study, Sensei, to get better, to focus.”
Sighing heavily, Red Dragon takes a step closer, lowering his voice so only Matt could hear. "Your focus has been slipping lately."
Tapping a finger against Matt's forehead, he added, "This... or should I say, what's missing here, is why you came to us in the first place."
Red Dragon placed a DVD onto the table next to Matt. Scrawled across the disc inscribed with a black sharpie it reads BOSJ XX - Devitt vs. Miller.
“Even now, you let fear of the past block your potential. Learn from yourself rather than from him.”
Red Dragon points a finger at the image of Maniac frozen in time on one of the monitors. He then nods to the DVD he placed on the table next to Matt before.
“Watch how much better you used to perform when the lights weren’t on you and remember, courage won't find its way back into you."
Matt picked up the disc, his index finger poking through the hole in the centre and his thumb cradling the outside. He read the writing on it.
“I don’t understand, Sensei,” Matt confessed. “I lost that match, so I did”.
Red Dragon rolled his eyes.
“Yes, you did but you did so without fear.”
“I’m not scared of Maniac, Sensei.”
Red Dragon points at Matt in warning.
“Matt-Kun, there is a difference between fear of an opponent and fear of failure. I watched you at face off against Prince Devitt in Korakuen Hall, the man who trained you way before you entered my dojo. He taught you not to fear what might happen and embrace the moment, to embrace your darker side. When you came into my dojo, I taught you to hone your skills, to sharpen them like a katana. Maybe I lost sight of what Devitt had instilled in you all those years ago.”
“But this Asylum Match, Sensei…” Matt starts
“What about it?”
“It’s different than any match I’ve been in before. I’ll be completely outside my comfort zone, so I will.”
Red Dragon kneels down in front of Matt and places a hand on the back his head pulling him close.
“Then you bring something to the table that puts him outside his comfort zone. He thinks he’s at home in the Asylum. Well, you go in there and make it like a home invasion, Matt-Kun. Embrace the Demon that Devitt bestowed upon you. And I’ll also show you a few tricks of my own I have for such occasions.”
Matt looks puzzled but intrigued at the same time.
“What’re you suggesting, Sensei?” Matt asks, his voice laced with wonder and curiosity.
Red Dragon pulls his hand away and stands back up. He points back to the DVD in Matt’s hand.
“Watch that back and I want an essay written on the difference between your mindset, your body language, your attitude. If I deem it worthy enough, I will show you what I’ve not shown any other student, am I understood?”
“Yes, Sensei!” Matt replies instantly. As Red Dragon turns to leave, Matt calls back to him. “Sensei?”
Red Dragon turns around. “Hai, Matt-Kun?”
A brief moment of silence occurs before Matt speaks again. “Thank you…for coming out at Havoc to help me.”
Red Dragon doesn’t verbally respond. The subtlest of smiles pulls at the corners of his lips and he nods to Matt before taking his leave of the room. Matt turns back round, ejecting the DVD from Havoc and replaces it with the one Red Dragon left for him. He sits back down, ripping up the piece of paper he had been writing on before and throwing it aside. Pencil at the ready, he begins to watch the monitor, looking back once more at the image of Maniac as the scene fades to black.
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