The Road Back Part 4 (Family Reunion)

The scene opens as we see Mattaki alone inside of a gym with the first rays of light from the mourning sunrise streaming through the windows. It was a sight that Mattaki enjoyed and it was one that he always tried to share with Neptune but was usually greeted with "Go away", "UGHHH", or "No human gets up this early". So he didn't even try anymore, most of the time Mattaki would train alone early and then work on different things with Neptune later on in the day. A shirtless Mattaki circles the heavy bag in front of him, every inch of him that isn't covered by his black shorts is drenched in sweat. His body glistens as he continues to circle the heavy bag, ducking, bobbing, and weaving after his strikes thunder off of the bag. High kick with his right leg, left punch to the middle of the bag, low kick with his left leg, and palm thrust with his right hand. Each strike lands with surgical precision and yet each strike also hits the bag with the same power as the one before. It's a thing of beauty, almost as if we're watching a machine instead of a man but Mattaki's training session is brought to a halt as a loud ringing fills the gym. Mattaki strolls over to a nearby bench where he wipes himself down with a blue towel as he answers the phone.


Mattaki: What do you want Tanaka?


Tanaka: Is that any way to answer phone calls from your agent?


Mattaki: When that agent is you, yes.


Tanaka: Come on, what have I done that's so bad?


Mattaki: You had us move into a murder house.


Tanaka: FOR FREE! What do you want for free? A couple million dollar mansion?


Mattaki: Sounds good, make that happen.


Tanaka: Don't worry, you'll be able to buy all the mansions you want when I'm finished with you. I'm going to have you back to your old ways of spending money like it's going out of style. Minus my cut of course.


Mattaki: Eggs and promises are easily broken.


Tanaka: Did you really just proverb me?


Mattaki: Well here let me modernize it for you then, talk is cheap motherfucker.


Tanaka: Come on, what about those Project Snakehead t-shirts? I worked my ass off and got them done exactly how you wanted them. I even kept Neptune in the dark about the Lightning Monkey shirt. Good call on that by the way, he may not like it but that thing sells, mostly because kids like the monkey but still.


Mattaki: So being able to do things that I ask you to do is what you're basing your usefulness off of?


Tanaka: Tough crowd, tough crowd. Well how about this, I do have some ideas to run by you for even more merchandise, I mean there's no such thing as too much merchandise.


Mattaki: I'm listening.


Tanaka: Tell me this Mattaki, do you even know who your biggest fan demographic is?


Mattaki: If I had to guess, males between 18 and 35?


Tanaka: Women under the age of 30.


Mattaki: WHAT!?!?!?


Tanaka: That's right Fukushuu-san, I didn't even realize it at first but you two are an agent's dream, young women love you. Haven't you noticed how it's mostly women who have wanted to stop and get a picture taken with you?


Mattaki: Well women have always flocked to me, not that I can blame them.


Tanaka: Well it's a little of that, I guess, but I can sum up the main reason in one word, Yaoi. Its....


Mattaki cuts him off.


Mattaki: I know what it is.


Tanaka: Right, well, word of mouth is starting to slowly spread and even non-wrestling fans are becoming interested in you two.  I did some googling and already found a few fan fictions involving you, Neptune, and some other guys. This is great!


Mattaki: Okay..... I'm not sure how I'm supposed to respond to that.


Tanaka: Oh no, NO! Not like that. What I meant was the fact that they're this interested in you is great, it opens up so many opportunities. If you keep winning and getting your name out there this small following could explode into  a massive fan base in no time. That's where one my ideas comes in, I'm pretty sure it would be quite easy to get the investors to back a manga based on Project Snakehead. However, it would be a whole lot easier to convince them if you were, oh, I don't know, become champions.


Mattaki: Consider it done, anything else?


Tanaka: Well, actually, none of this is the real reason I called. The real reason I called is because I've been calling around finding people who are willing to do business with us in spite of your father declaring you persona non grata. It was a challenge I must say but not impossible, what I didn't expect however is that I would get a call from Mr. Fukushuu.


Mattaki: Let me guess, he's offering you a mountain of money to drop us right?


Tanaka: No actually, he just wants to meet with you.


Silence.


Tanaka: Mattaki, hello.


Silence.


Tanaka: Mattaki, are you there?


Click.

It seemed like an eternity since Mattaki had spoken with his father. The last conversation they had ended in disaster with neither willing to concede anything. Mr. Fukushuu who already had little to no patience for Mattaki’s antics in the wrestling business, couldn’t accept Mattaki’s relationship with Neptune. That caused a rift between them, Mr. Fukushuu had groomed Mattaki from birth to take over his company which Mattaki would have no problem doing. The deal breaker was Neptune, Mr. Fukushuu did not want him associated with his son, his company, or his legacy. What Mr. Fukushuu didn't bargain on was Mattaki just walking away, giving up his fortune and connections. Even when it happened Mr. Fukushuu believed Mattaki would have come back to him in a matter of months, it had been years.


Mattaki often wondered if his father would ever try to reconnect with him. Would the old man come back to his senses and mend fences with his son? Mattaki claimed that he no longer cared about his father. But the truth was, Mattaki did still care. At least a small part of him did. It was his father, after all. Before Mattaki became a wrestler, they did have a good relationship and Mattaki did owe a lot to him. When Mattaki wanted to play baseball it was his father who paid the best trainers money could buy to work with him, the same with football, the same with wrestling, and the same with just about any sport you can think of. Mattaki had always been a sports fanatic and his father was the one who made his dreams into reality. He even allowed Mattaki to study Wudang Kung Fu for a year at a temple in the mountains of China. Although Mr. Fukushuu was probably hoping Mattaki would return as a young man full of respect and discipline instead of one who would only say one thing about his time in China. "The Wudang Clan Ain't Nothin To Fuck With". Mattaki was still Mattaki after all....


After the initial shock wore off and Mattaki had time to process things, he couldn’t help but crack a smile. He realized that the only reason his father would call him would be to fix what had been broken. So using Tanaka as a go between, Mattaki agreed  to meet with Mr. Fukushuu at a Japanese tea room. Mattaki had planned to give his father a bit of a hard time first, but he actually was somewhat interested in repairing their relationship.


Mr. Fukushuu: I think enough time has passed now, child.


Mr. Fukushuu’s tone was dry and cold. Mattaki’s response was carried with a smile.


Mattaki: And you’re still just as patronizing.


Mr. Fukushuu: I have been very lenient with you, Mattaki. Most fathers in my position would have given up on you a long time ago.


Mattaki could see that the meeting was not going down a good road. He thought of trying to be civil, or even polite, but that wasn’t Mattaki. He had never been the civil or polite type.


Mattaki: You cutting me off,  making all kinds of threats to me, and making it practically impossible for me to even go to Japan is you NOT giving up on me? You should really consider applying for a father of the year award with that kind of reasoning.


Mr. Fukushuu: I see you haven’t lost your very… American sense of humor.


Mattaki: Did you come all this way to belittle me? You really shouldn’t have.


Mr. Fukushuu: I have come here to hear your decision, Mattaki.


Mattaki: About what? I think I've made myself pretty clear, I am not going to be dedicating my life to to your company. At least not under the conditions you told me about the last time we spoke.


To that, Mr. Fukushuu responded with a snap.


Mr. Fukushuu: Enough, Mattaki.


The old man’s voice was stern, full of reprimand. His eyes burned a hole into Mattaki, enough to make the younger Fukushuu feel like a scolded child but only for a fleeting moment.


Mr. Fukushuu: You are not only disrespecting me, your own father, but also MY father. If you don't have any honor and respect for yourself, at least show some to your elders, your family. Have you decided to forgo everything you have ever learned from your homeland?


Mattaki: "Absorb what is useful,  discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own". I remember plenty but I'm definitely not a slave to teachings that I don't agree with. 


Mr. Fukushuu sighed, he didn’t want the conversation to keep going the way it had been so far.


Mr. Fukushuu: I did not come here to pick another fight with you. We are now beyond that. I have come here to hear from your own lips, the decision you have made.


Mattaki: Not to sound like a broken record but I think I've already answered that.


Mr. Fukushuu: I have given you leniency with your choices, Mattaki. I allowed you to become a wrestler, I allowed you to spend more time in America, I even allowed you to become a deviant. Yes, I have cut off your funds, but it was not a permanent decision. It was only to allow you to live that life you craved so much, to let you see just how wrong your choice was.


Mattaki: What exactly are you saying?


Mr. Fukushuu: You can come back with me. You are my son. I will restore all that you have lost. We will start again and put you on the proper path. You can be great, Mattaki, I know you can. You are of my blood and you are meant for much more than this.


It was what Mattaki wanted, but there was something missing. Something rather important.


Mattaki: What about Neptune?


That cold snap appeared again. And this time, it was ugly.


Mr. Fukushuu: You forget about him. He is sick. Let the devil take care of him. You do not have to burden yourself with garbage.


Mr. Fukushuu had nothing but contempt for Neptune. To him, he was less than nothing. However, he empathized with his son. His son wanted something that every man sought.


Mr. Fukushuu: If it's companionship you seek, there are hundreds of young women who would love to meet you. You are a Fukushuu after all so you'll never be alone.


Those words were not comforting to Mattaki. To the contrary, they cut him deep.


Mattaki: You're wrong.


He looked at his father. A rare moment of vulnerability in his eyes.


Mattaki: I was alone, until I met Neptune.


Mr. Fukushuu could see that he was losing. He didn’t want to lose.


Mr. Fukushuu: Mattaki, Don't make the wrong decision.


His son looked at him, stared even.


Mattaki: To say that the idea of having everything back isn't appealing to me would be a lie, I hate being broke. I hate having to struggle every week to be able to afford the basic necessities. Not only that but I see cars I used to own passing me on the street as I cruise around in a piece of crap that could break down at any moment. I see the nice clothes I used to be able to afford in shop windows as I walk around in what  could be called rags by comparison. Last but not least the filth I currently have to shovel into my mouth could never compare to the gourmet cooking I used to enjoy. All of those things make me sick to my stomach.


Mr. Fukushuu: Then, come back with me, son. All this pain is unnecessary.


Mattaki: Perhaps.


Mr. Fukushuu smiled. Mattaki hadn’t seen his father smile at him for a very long time.


It almost pained him to break that smile.


Mattaki: But to come back with you… it would mean to live in a world without Neptune. And that… That is unacceptable.


His father’s face grew colder than ever before.


Mr. Fukushuu: That is your final decision, Mattaki?


His son responded with raw conviction.


Mattaki: Yes it is, final answer, no deal, you are the weakest link... I think you know the rest.


Mr. Fukushuu lowered his eyes, verdict announced, it was over. There was a long pause before Mr Fukushuu spoke again, and this time it was with a voice Mattaki had never heard before. Cold, distant, business-like… and yet… it had a brutal passion to it.


Mr. Fukushuu: As of this moment, you and I will never speak again. Should you and your sick friend part ways in the future, no matter how long or how soon, you are never welcome back. Do not ever show your face to me again.


The old man got up, and turned his gaze away from Mattaki.


Mr. Fukushuu: You have no need to worry about me blackballing you anymore, I did that out of love. So you may now do as you wish because as of this moment, you're dead to me.


It stung and It hurt like hell but it was what it was. Mattaki wasn't upset, he had his fill, he was pissed off, and he was ready to let it all out.


 Mattaki: Then I guess we're finished here.... But know this, though you may not wish to see my face, you will. Not only mine but his as well, I'll make sure of it. Billboards, the sides of buses, in the newspaper, on television and anywhere else they can put our faces, I'll make sure they do. You won't be able to take a shit in public without seeing our faces staring back at you from an ad on the bathroom stall door. That is my promise to you father, Project Snakehead will be the name on everyone's minds when they think of wrestling. Not only that but when they hear the name Fukushuu it will be me that the world remembers, not you, and not your father. I'll take the name that you gave me and use it to erase your very existence, without me your company will burn right along with your legacy. The only thing people will remember is what I build on your ashes. So father this is not goodbye, this is war, and I will not lose.


Without looking back, Mr Fukushuu walked away.


Mr Fukushuu: We'll see Mattaki, we'll see.


He exited the room.


It was done, Mattaki had a feeling that would be the last time he ever spoke to his father.