Under the dim, flickering lights of Arcadia’s endless staircase, C.J. Thorpe’s silhouette cuts through the darkness like a sharp blade.
Each step resonates with the sound of a man determined.
“I’ve been climbing these steps my whole life.”
His voice breaks the eerie silence.
“Every legend, every goddamned myth whispered in the dead of night, they all speak of a journey. A climb,” C.J. begins, his voice raw. ” Down in Death Row, where hope dies and fear takes root, I learned that every step up might be the last. For too many people, they reach a step, and whether it by fear, ignorance, or contentedness, they don’t take another one. But it ain’t about your last step; it’s about the next one. It’s about taking one more step.”
The camera pans up, tracing the infinite staircase.
“Tombstone, you were ever-present on Death Row. We were terminal, and you couldn’t fathom how we could live with that. Just like in life, on these steps death is a companion, not an endpoint. That’s what you could never accept, isn’t it? Your fear of death, of your terminal diagnosis, led you to your last step; an endless parade of the dead.”
His pace quickens as he ascends one more step.
“And then there’s Harold… While you dwell on the past—like the truth about Michaela—I am trying to protect your future. From yourself. Because you don’t want the real truth, you want the one you constructed in your mind. Your willful ignorance to the truth I hold has caused you to mentally freeze. So while you sit on the same step you’ve been on for years, I’m already leagues ahead.”
C.J. looks up toward an unseen peak, taking one more step.
“Narcissa, you stand at what you think is the summit as World Champion. You pulled me from the depths, showed me the heights, and then pushed me back down in defeat. But every setback was just another step. While you think you’ve seen the top, I know better. There’s no top to these steps, Narcissa. Zeus sat you on one below him, and you’ve made it your last. As long as you’re content to rest in the shadows of greater men, I’ll be casting mine.”
C.J. clenches his fists, taking one more step.
“That’s the difference between me and y’all. I don’t look down; I don’t look back. I look up, always up, to the steps you’re too afraid to see. Every step I take is a declaration of war against the status quo, against you motherfuckers who would keep me down. Every step a rebellion, a defiance, a refusal to submit.”
One more step.
“Cause I ain’t climbing for power, or for truth. I ain’t even climbing for redemption. I’m climbing because that’s who I am. A climber. A fighter. A survivor. A fucking Coyote who won’t be chained, won’t be broken, won’t be stopped.”
One more step.
“While you’re all trapped on your last step, I will take not only take the World Championship, but I’ll take something you all will never see.”
A smile.
“One more step.”
Cut.