A Question of Honor

[Ameronth]

***RONNIE LASSITER storms into DAMION BLACK'S office. Black stands at his office window with a glass of bourbon, unperturbed at the sudden invasion. Lassiter stalks across the room, stopping about two paces away from Black.***

DAMION BLACK: "You wanted to see me?"

RONNIE LASSITER: "What the Hell, boss?"

DB: "Perhaps if you narrow it down a bit?"

RL: "The title match, that's what! Tiger Gold all but called me a coward in front of God and everyone, I challenge him as a fighting champ, and you call it off? How am I supposed to represent the company and the title with honor of you don't let me!?"

DB: "Slow down, Ronnie. Tiger Gold has not earned a title match. Don't let your pride run away with your head or the title will follow it. Now look, I'm not opposed to you defending your title against Tiger Gold, but you must remember that YOU are the champion. You have nothing to prove to anyone. It is Gold who must prove himself. Let him come to you."

RL: "But he did come at me ... didn't he? Boss, if I don't answer these challenges when they come along, how does that show any integrity? How do I show I'm a fighting champion if I don't fight?"

DB: "Hm. Yes, I understand the desire to rise to every occasion and constantly put down any man who dares challenge your status. I can't tell you how many times I have exploited a champion's pride to run him ragged and weaken him, and then take what was his for my own. Tiger Gold is trying to get into your head, gain an advantage and get you so focused on beating him into submission that you can't see straight, and then you'll make that one critical error that ends your championship reign. I won't allow that to happen. Ronnie, I am doing this for your sake. I am protecting you."

RL: "I don't need protection!"

**Damion smirks and points at Lassiter's PWA Heavyweight championship.**

DB: "That does."

RL: ** a look of confusion on his face*** "Are you saying ... you don't think I can do the job?"

DB: "Certainly not. I am saying that you can be defeated physically if you are first defeated psychologically, which is what Tiger Gold is attempting with you. Make no mistake, Gold is a crafty with decades of experience. His pristine reputation disguises any tricks he, like others of his ilk, will use to attain success. As a champion, you need to be aware of these tactics so that you do not fall prey to them."

RL: "I ... boss, that don't seem right. What about ... what about honor?"

DB: "Elaborate your concern."

RL: "Well ... I'd always been taught to face all challenges directly, to prove my integrity. I always heard that ... THAT what makes a proper champion."

DB: "That all depends upon your definition of 'honor'. Tiger Gold would have you believe that honor is a philosophy or a way of life, too rigid in it's strictures to be of any real value. By his way of thinking, you approach every obstacle from one direction and in one fashion, deceiving yourself when you fail that it was a 'learning experience'. How can you accept an explanation that values failure as having merit? There is, of course, another definition of 'honor' and that is the accolades and praise that are bestowed upon the victor, who overcame all challenges at any cost. That is why we tell our Olympic gold medal champions that we HONOR them. As goes the gold, so goes the honor. That is the hard truth of being a champion.

"I can see we still have some things to correct from your prior mentorship. Therefore, this next Assault you will face not Tiger Gold, but your old mentor, Aldo Wyld, one more time. And when you defeat him again, and you will defeat him, YOU will prove that his way does not work and mine does."