"Thinking back. I don't know why I started training martial arts. was it because my friends were being bullied and I wanted to be able to help? was it because I wanted exercise? maybe I just thought it would be cool to do? but looking back I think "Oh damn I have wasted my life" for one main reason. its boring. I am bored. when I fight the world around me grinds to a halt and my opponents are down before I get any fun. many have challenged me. some at the Grand Master level were able to give me a fight worth remembering. trading blow for blow counter for counter. a true fight. with instincts sharpened from countless training sessions and forcing our bodies over the edge we stood at the perfection of the physical body. yet it wasn't enough. I had the bright idea of becoming so strong that I didn't need to be worried about anything. When I was a white belt I studied what I was given until I had mastered it. I repeated the basic patterns over and over again until I was satisfied that it was to the standard of black belts. I mastered Saju Jirugi and saju makgi to the point of being purfect. I could do it perfectly. only then did I progress. I was not satisfied until it was purfect. the technique had to be exact and I added the purfect amount of power." I said with a calm smile from the soft chair I was sitting
"So why did you continue to train if you were bored and why did you continue to fight if you say you can't lose?" the reporter asked me with a full camera crew behind her.
"I still train to keep my self strong. a goal for someone to reach. if I can make it I believed someone else could to. I had only the strength of mind to do what I did. I never truly put my heart into it since at first it was just a hobby but I put my heart into it after my first fight. it was against Rebecca Yin. she beat me into the ground because I flipped her skirt. she asked me while I was in a pool of my own blood. "Are you sorry yet?" in an angry voice. she must have lost her under pants and she was furious. I laughed lightly. "You hit like a girl" I said with a smile before she left me in hospital. I never got a chance to react. I had trained so hard and someone had shown me that even with what I had done there was still a way to grow stronger. still more to learn. she had thought me 2 things. the first was never to flip a girls skirt or they will beat you into the ground and the second was that I could still grow. forget being a gifted child I was frail and the doctors said I would die at birth. but I just said screw that and still grew up nicely. that is why I still train and as for your second question. I never said I can't lose. I have never lost however I hope and pray someone out there is stronger then me. it will do 2 things. show that even I have room to grow. show me where I am lacking. and it will give me the spark I need to continue. I stand strong so people can use me as a goal. aim for me and say to yourself. if he can do it then I can to. train and train and train some more. I will wait any and all challengers and I will mop the floor with you. if you manage to beat me then you have came far but martial arts has a lot more you can progress through then just me. but for now I will wait with hope that I get a good fight once more before I die" I said with a smile.
"you say before you die. Is it true that you are at the 4th stage of cancer and you still refuse treatment?" the reporter asked and I smiled even more
"Yes. I am an old man now. in my prime I was much stronger and faster then I am now. but I still have a death clock on myself to remind myself that even I with all my strength technique can still die. I am only human. in my prime I joked with the people I lost with about not worrying since it was I who challenged a mortal. like I was any different but it made good humour to make my opponents angry at me. if you can beat an opponent and make them happy they will just stop and say I lost and I except you are stronger but if you annoy someone to the point of true anger they will train and train and will never except that I could be at the top when I act like such a clown. I could extend my life a bit more but what would the point of that be. I have very little to do with my life any more and I have already revolutionised martial arts as we know it. however when someone is happy with their life they should have the right to say I am happy and have nothing more to do with my life" I said with a wise tone.
"Nothing more to do, but Liam you have never had any friends or any girlfriends. is this true?" the reporter asked a bit confused. I have many times said I have never had them so I guess I should explain myself.
"Friends. people who are close and you can talk to and share a drink with and generally have fun with. I have tried to have friends however they end up pushing themselves away before they get to close since I am way above them in martial ability and apart from martial arts I have nothing going for me. maybe my devilishly handsome looks but apart from that not much. so people see me as someone that can't become a friend and more of a goal. and as for a girlfriend. the only women I have ever known closely have kicked the shit out of me or have lost to me. I knew them well only by the way they fought. so no that has never crossed my mind. I wish I could have friends and maybe a girlfriend but I am to old now." I said with a bit of a sadder voice.
"Oh. that is all we have time for. there is more coming up after the break on Martial Artist World Champion Liam as we look back into the history of his martial art ITF TKD" the news reporter said while looking at the camera.
I walked out of the studio and went home to my apartment. I walked into my bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. for a second I saw a flash of someone who had a joyful face yet it was one who had seen many fights. his eyes glew with the fire that burned brightly. his muscles were well toned and his hands were rough from training and his body only had a few marks on. but then the reality of time set in and there I was. I was an old man now, my eyes were empty even though my face would say I was happy. my muscles were wrinkled and torn but still strong. my techniques were better then they had ever been however a few old injuries were acting up leaving me sore. I felt slightly tired so I left the bathroom and went to my bed. I never made it all the way....
*BANG*
Everything went out. my consciousness was gone my body fell limp and it was pure nothingness. the next thing I knew I was watching my own death on a tv on repeat showing it from multiple angles. the person who shot me was unfamiliar. he looked like he was just robbing my apartment but that must be wrong since my apartment is the worst place to rob. I may make a lot of money from winning martial arts tournaments but I only spend what I need and give the rest to charity. I see myself as good however I guess I was going to die eventually. but seriously. shot in the back of the head while getting into bed.
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"HAHAHAAAHAAAAHAAAAAA. SO MUCH FOR STRONGEST. BLAM AND HE PAINTED THE WALLS A NEW SHADE OF RED. HAHAHAHAHAAAAA... oh your still here. I haven't laughed like that for a while. I was suposed to give you 1 gift for your next life before removing your memory however that was damn hilarious. so I will let you role the dice and choose your fate with your memories intact" he said before handing me what looked to be a round ball but I could feel it. like a dice it had flat faces but it had countless faces. I looked carefully but I couldn't see the words since they were so small. so this will decide my fate? I looked around and all I saw as a TV and a dice. everything else was a pure dark void. but I was standing on something so it had a floor. I rolled the dice with as much force as I could. it made no sound as it bounced across the abyss. when the dice stopped it had 1 word written on it. [Karma Scale]
"THE WHAT? A KARMA SCALE? WE HAD ONE OF THOSE?" the voice asked loudly making my non-existent insides rumble. is he a god? "HE? I AM THE GREAT GODDESS OF CREATION AND YOU CALL ME GOD? HOW WOULD YOU PREFER BEING A FEMALE IN YOUR NEXT LIFE HUH?" the voice said with a painful ear shatteringly loud voice.
"I am sorry I made a guess. your voice is so loud it is hard for me to hear and if I made a mistake I am truly sorry." I said really not wanting to be a female in my next life.
"WHA... what is so bad being a female. you were a female in your previous life and the life before that. your mind set is built from growth and socialisation of yourself as a guy but that was only ever because you were a mortal that you thought that. you were born a man and you grew up like a man. you never questioned any possibility other then you are a man. some men do and get a sex change but no you never questioned why you were born a man. it was because of your soul being cursed. a soul usually sticks to one gender unless it goes through a mutation it never changes gender or personality. but you are a rare occasion. a curse from your original universe banished you and forcing you into the universe you took residence in. making your physical structure and growth change drastically. I was actually offering to fix this" the goddess said in a much more normal voice. listening to it made my ears stop ringing and I felt calm. she felt like she was saying a bunch of BS so I decided it may be in my best interest to decline.
"No thank you. even if I was a woman originally I am a man now so it would be awkward..." I tried to put my point across but someone already knew my argument. she must have planed this entire thing out.
"Ok then. I will make you a man however...." damn bitch of a god who screwed me over why didn't you just make me a female since that would have been so much easier to deal with. "I will impose something else onto you. here is another dice and it is full of some things that will give you a huge head start in the universe you are going back to" the goddess said making me shiver.
the dice I had before was blue and relaxing. the one I am holding now feels like a time bomb waiting to go off and was glowing red.
"What is the difference between the dice earlier and the dice now?" I asked and I wish I never did.
"That dice is what we give people who piss us off" she said in a tone that could probably kill me if she wasn't careful. was it because I called her a god or because I didn't want to be a woman? she did kindly offer to go out of her way to help. maybe I should have just excepted? "Role the dice or I will do it for you." the goddess said and I without question rolled the dice. it went in a straight line just like last ...time ....wait what?
I stand corrected. the dice span around and moved impossibly to show a face clearly chosen by the goddess with a ominous face up. [2 faced face: you get a positive and a negative decided at random forced onto you when you are born. the negative can be turned into a positive and the positive can be turned into a negative so be very careful of what you say and do]
"Ahhh. I meant the other face... never mind that face is purfect I mean who needs [Torture In The 7th Layer Of Hell For All Eternity] anyway?" she said with a sarcastic almost saying 'shower me with your gratitude for I am your saviour who showed mercy'. hah.
"isn't that a little childish? I find it hard to believe the goddess of creation made a mistake like that so like hell I will believe you meant another face of the dice. I can't even see the faces of them since there is so many so you could have picked any face and sure enough I would have been equally as screwed. also..." I feel a disturbance in the force. the darkness I was stood in glew white as a little immature looking girl came out of nowhere. long blond hair small in a white dress that looks like it is greek. maybe? all I know is she looks pissed.
"I am childish?" the voice asked and I looked at her head to toe.
"yep. you even have the body of a 10 year old" I said ignoring the overwhelming sense of death hanging over me. she looked down and her long hair blocked my vision of her face but my soul telling me to run was a good sign that she was angry.
"are you a fool for trying to annoy me or are you just asking to die?" the goddess said confused. not all knowing then.
"I think it is that I just don't care about your power. and besides you are fun to annoy since it is like a game. you retaliate and I win" I said with a challenging smile.
"ok then. you win" she said with a bright smile while looking right at me. I felt pure fear crawl up my spine but I kept a smile on my face. a goddess had to admit defeat. I am truly happy now. little did I know why my fighter senses were screaming since it was sensing something I had long forgotten but I ignored it foolishly since I reap what I sow. it is my fault if it is bad or good...
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I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter of Black And White. if you have any personal ideas for the story let me know. also note the name is to represent the Karma and how it will measure any and all actions as either black or white. good or bad. no middle ground.