The Fourth Battle of Seoul
The dank air, heavy with moisture, attracted the widespread flickering of mosquito wings. The irritating insects, each clamouring for just a taste of blood, pestered the already irked Alexei Rykov. It was his first time in the Korean metropolis known as Seoul. So far, his strained expression suggested that he was not impressed. Absent-mindedly swatting at all manners of airbourne assailants, Alexei trudged on through the scores of people populating the busy streets. Alexei’s strong, muscular physique made him an imposing sight among the more sleight locals of the city. Children pulled away from their parent’s grasps to marvel at his size, market vendors became distracted from their bartering as he walked past and more than one local woman took note of his chiselled facial structure.
Alexei’s eyes sunk in his head slightly, testament to the long flight he has just endured. Krasnodar, laying on the western border of the Russian Federation, was a monumental distance from the far eastern Asian state of South Korea. But Alexei considered this a necessary detour on his tour to the United States. It’s necessity lay in it’s history. The conflicts which engulfed the Korean landscape during the early stages of the Cold War were said to be the beginnings of the demise of the USSR. Of communism. Determined to see this system implemented all over the globe, Alexei felt the need to explore why it failed here. So that the same mistake won’t happen again.
The stern look on Alexei’s face softened slightly as he spied the first glimpse at his destination. The Seoul War Museum was just across the courtyard that Alexei stepped out on. But more immediately in his sight line was a great marble pillar erecting from the centre of the bustling square. Atop the monument was a soldier, set in bronze, of a United Nations soldier holding the UN flag aloft of his head. A plaque was affixed halfway up the pillar, with Korean text explaining it’s purpose. Visibly frustrated by his inability to decipher the plaque’s meaning, Alexei grabbed multiple locals roughly by the collar.
“Do any of you puny men speak English?”
After a few awkwardly long moments of hesitance, one man gingerly rose his hand. The rest of the worried looking men were released from Alexei’s grasp and scampered off into the crowd. Gesturing toward the writing, Alexei spoke up.
“What does this writing say?”
“Ah… Um… It says ‘In honor of the men and women… Ah... from the United Nations who… Ah.. Aided South Korea in her struggle for freedom.”
Alexei, disgusted by the sentiment, spat on the foot of the monument.
“Capitalism is not freedom! It is slavery to money and banks! Typical American influence!”
Sensing the resentment and clear accent in Alexei’s voice, the local translator refrained from response. Instead he floated back into the crowd and fled, leaving Alexei seething at the plaque’s pro-American message. Left sweaty under his leather jacket in the humid air, Alexei began unzipping it, revealing a red shirt bearing a yellow hammer and sickle underneath. Lifting the jacket off his back, Alexei continued toward the museum door. A few steps away from the edge of the courtyard, a noise halted Alexei in his path. A shouting voice.
“Communist swine!”
Alexei turned to view the source. A man, above average height and build for a member of his ethnicity, was spouting Korean profanities at him. The balding dark haired man was advancing toward Alexei, his voice raised. The crowd began to part around the man, leaving him in the centre of a circle of onlookers. Rage began to build behind Alexei’s eyes. His nostrils flared. Alexei hated nothing more than the ignorance shown to his beliefs.
“What did you call me little man?!”
Alexei rushed to the centre of the circle, squaring himself to his aggressor.
“I called you a communist swine, how dare you wear that rag in my country!”
“I wear what I want, when I want, and nobody will stop me! Especially not a tiny man from this miniscule country!”
Shaken by Alexei’s comments, the man stepped back before putting all his weight behind a thundering punch to Alexei’s jaw. Alexei turned back and stared the man in the eye.
“Vy ne dolzhny byli etogo delat!!!” (You shouldn’t have done that)
With a ferocious stretch of his arms, Alexei grabbed the man and pulled him in. Clutching him and hoisting him high above his head in a suplex position, he displays his strength by turning around the crowd circle.
“Behold!!! The might of the Union!!! The Hammer and Sickle!!!”
In a flurry of movement, Alexei dropped the man into a sit-down powerbomb, his head cracking off the stony ground of the courtyard. He shoved the man’s limp body off him and curses at him in Russian before lifting himself to his feet. The spectators rushed to check on the man’s condition. Aware of the commotion this incident could cause, Alexei pulled back on his jacket and made for the museum. Quietly satisfied he had shown the people what they had been missing by rejecting Soviet dominance.
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Letters to Sofia - I
06/07/2014
Seoul, South Korea
Dear Sofia,
My love, I am not one day removed from your beautiful presence and already I am counting the days to which I may return. I’m afraid that day may not soon come though, the plight of America has spread further than I first feared. The locals here have been poisoned against our cause. They think we are evil, that we want to enslave them. They do not know they are already enslaved by their filthy western culture. The streets are thronged with lavish advertising and overpriced trinkets. It sickens me, my darling. Not only are they scared of me, they are scared of their own brothers to the north. They should be able to see how happy their brethren are under the warm embrace of communism. But they have been brainwashed by the Americans, and they are lost. I visited a museum today, a war museum. It had many accounts from the South Korean soldiers. It has made me more sure than ever. More sure that the only way to end the plight of capitalism is to end it at the source.
I have made the correct decision, darling, joining this Missouri Wrestling Experience. It is there that I will begin my stand against the Americans. When I show them all my dominance against the best fighters they can throw at me, they will be forced to listen to my message. And then they will follow me. And more will follow them. And then, finally, the corruption in this world may end and the Union will once again reign supreme.
I have been given a chance Sofia, I have a match this week. I leave for the United States tomorrow. They have named the first obstacle in my crusade, and his name is Claudio Mancini. I had hoped that he too was seeking to dismantle the American system, but this is not the case. He is nothing more than another indoctrinated dog of western civilisation like the Korean man I had a disagreement earlier today. His puny body will not survive the Hammer and Sickle. The might of the Soviet Soldier. This distraction will only make me hunger more to lay my hands on a true American pig.
I will keep you updated on my crusade until I may see you again, my darling.
Yours in love,
Alexei.
