Post by Jet Somers on Sept 1, 2010 2:27:56 GMT -5
“Thanks guys. I owe you one.” Alex says as he gets up. The group returns from their positions and regroup near the middle of the set. “Good job everyone. That was awesome.”
“He’s not going to believe it.” Marek adds.
“Shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” Paul asks.
“Yeah let’s roll.” Alex replies. “Katie.”
“It’s clear.” she calls back.
“Get the lights. Let’s go.”
The lights go out and the members of Team Hero file out, leaving the studio as if they’ve never been there.
Melanie watches as the members of the recently completed Team Hero congratulate one another on their prank. Finally she focuses on her prize. She can see that it tears at him knowing what he's going to eventually have to do to them to finish his mission. These were good men. Marek he was only recently getting to know, but already his style and nature had won Jet over. If anyone from the former team of War & Peace could help carry Team Hero to the final gate, Phrixus Deimos, it's the Human Missile, the one who can do his in ring feats of athleticism without the aid of special effects. This guy has decided to trust Jet, knowing almost nothing about him, to hold together what should be the most respected and wholesome team at Outlast. Paul Cockatoo, or really all the Aussie Rebels, are people anyone could count on in a pinch. These aren't the type of guys to abandon someone, screw them over, or break up alliances without a damn good reason. Not to mention, JK, the most well known member, is counting on Jet's testimony to basically save his freedom. What is going to happen when he stomps the all around good guy flat on his way to capturing Fear? And Alex Kiseragi... wow. Jet and Alex have only been working together a little under a year, but everyone knows their respect for one another runs deep. She is a little surprised that Kiseragi has chosen Jet. His recent run of insanity has been exactly what she expected... she knows this is what it takes for The Wild Card to achieve the unbelievable heights The Covenant had tried to push him to. But everyone's reaction to it, that Deimos has pushed him over the competitive edge? It seems that only she and Kiseragi see past this common rumor. She, because she knows he wants her blood as much as she wants his. Kiseragi, who knew? Could it be that Kiseragi is so past the facades and character gimmicks that define this business that he knows Jet is dealing with something real, and he believes Jet's essential goodness and ability will eventually shine through?
If Kiseragi is that honest, he could be a problem. The whole point of this is for Jet to torpedo in a rage against Deimos, crushing his short reign in such an uncontrollable avalanche that his spectacular legacy is sealed in UGWC--hell in wrestling--history forever. Moments before she snatches it away from him. Without all the flair and spectacle, without the pure distilled victory, he won't experience the fall as soul crushingly as she craves for him to feel it. If Kiseragi is such a clear voice of reason, could his voice sooth the waking beast that is stirring in Jet? Could he soothe it enough to snatch Jet's victory, and worse, cause Jet to respect and accept Kiseragi as the reigning monarch in this company, reducing his craving for the prize to a cool simmer? That won't do, but how much effect could she have on The Dragon? Jet has already decided that Kiseragi and The Rebels are in danger from her, and likely his protection now extends to this Ishikawa native. How then to distract Kiseragi?
Her eyes roam past Katie Piper, the obvious target, and settle on the building which houses the studio where The Piercing Truth is filmed. That's when those eyes light up. Kiseragi's most recent mishap, his defeat at the hands of Travis Pierce, came when his emotions were at their boiling point. Time was short, though. How could she get his anger cooking? She casts her mind over the history of Jet's most often cited ally, and it finally comes to her. She flips open a laptop and performs a quick scan while mentally tallying the amount of cash she still has available. Would it be enough? From one whore to another, as she wrote on the bathroom wall of Jet's dead trainer, she assured herself it would be.
----------
The Prius looks like shit. There's no better what to say it. You can tell Jet has been living in it for the last week. It reeks of the sweat smell that pulled the vermin from the water to infest the Dragon's Cave. The driver's side window isn't the only one that has suffered damage this time. Apparantly, when he crawled into the backseat, he slammed the passenger side rear door too hard, sending a starburst across it's surface like a brilliant supernova of light. If you were omniscient you'd know the truth, that he'd left The Piercing Truth studio early Tuesday morning and started across country, barely stopping for food, and even less for sleep. It is unclear whether he has been sleeping in the car, but the sun isn't even up yet, and the light of dawn behind him only illuminates enough for us to know he is breathing. And smiling. Now, dressed in a sleeveless hoodie that covers his eyes and only reveals the unshaven jaw of the lower half of his face, he broods quietly in the backseat of his trusty hybrid, meditating on the event before him.
"It comes to this," a scratchy, exhausted voice issues from the depths of the hoodie. The lips barely move, so the perception is that the voice isn't Jet's.
"In six hours, twenty four men and women will approach their destiny, heedless of the cruel twist of fate that will bring them all to their knees before me," he rasps out this decree with full confidence. "The tournament is called Outlast, and that's exactly what the other twenty three competitors cannot do. Team Underdog, lead by the new Chaos Champion, is comprised primarily of red shirt upstarts, and will more than likely be sadly trampled underfoot by the thugs that are Riot and Tacker and The Brick City Boys. Brick City, whereever the hell that is, probably sent up a mighty cheer at the return of their heroes, a cheer that will reverb as a cry of horror should they and their team end up at the opposite side of the ring from my team."
"How did glorious returns end up the theme of this contest? Ezekiel Pax, there's a name from the sealed vaults no one ever thought they'd hear again. One thing I thought UGWC represented was progressive programming, but here's a step back in the FX department. His entire match is about returns, from the return of the Royal 1st Battalion to active duty, to the return of the only staff member pathetic enough to be fired by the new company. Where to begin with that group, honestly? Should I point out that the Brits are the very parody of bad gimmicks, and that they buy into it enough to embarass themselves more than their multiple defeats at my hands alone could ever embarass them? What is the Twisted Camp playing at accepting them? If I had to put a name to it, I'd say Hastings and Roberts' plan is simply to prove The Lord Chief can reclaim the championship no matter his circumstances. I wouldn't mind bragging that I achieved something that huge despite having the worst joke on the roster backing me. It fits their, ahem, Twisted theme."
The throat clearing turns into a dry chuckle that resembles a cough more than laughter.
"But then again, if my opponents were The Saints of Los Angeles, I might not mind who was on my team either. I can't even pretend to understand what they've got going on. Andy Savana is worse than Tim Kingsley when it comes to insanity. And they call me crazy. But together, apparantly they are formidable, and there's enough bad blood between those teams to make it personal, and that could spell distraction. A distracted mind isn't going to beat Deimos, and not a single person in the pre-main event is as focused as those of us who haven't been hovering around the top prize for the last year anyway. This is our chance, and not a single one of us is going in with anything weighing more heavily on us than the eventual hurdle that is Fear."
"Well, no one except Travis Pierce."
"Alex's joke was hilarious, and a great follow up to my infiltration of Pierce's ridiculous syndicated soapbox. For Alex, though, that's all it was. I've seen that man teased, insulted, and beaten. His subtle grace means to me that when it comes time to Outlast his biggest rival, he'll approach it with the calm nature he is known for, predisposed to move past the silly sandbox scuffle and on to the real fight. Pierce, on the other hand, has spent the entire past month... and really the past year... reflecting on Alex Kiseragi and Alex Kiseragi alone. Any match he has, any interview he does, he finds a way to reflect it upon his favorite obsession, just as he can twist any news article to fit current events in UGWC. It's a sweet gimmick that can never get old as long as news keeps happening, but it's primary focus of Kiseragi is wearing thin, and more than a little telling. I won't say more, for fear of Pierce taking a page from his target's book and Daniel Hansoning me. But The Piercing Truth is clear... Outlast isn't about the UGWC Championship for Pierce, it's about yet another battle with The Dragon."
The first rays of morning finally break the horizon, and the inside of the Prius is bathed in a surreal golden glow. The dark blue blot of the hoodie over the six-day-shadowed face is almost lost in the haze created by the effect of the light through the filmy rear windshield. Jet's form is almost ethereal, his soliloquy now taking a new turn.
"Pierce's team is a mystery. Medos' short run here before his disappearance was up and down, and while he beat Deimos in one match, he lost a few easy ones before that. He's as much of an opportunist as anyone else in the contest, and I'm as wary of him as I am of Bauer and especially Alan Fernandez."
"Fernandez is the only true worry. From the little I've heard of him, and that is mostly rumor and hearsay, watercooler talk, he is a force to be reckoned with. I have a sneaking suspicion his past with Deimos may somehow come into play. If it does, he's no better than the rest of the shit in this cesspool. It sickens me to know an event which has taken such a serious and meaningful turn for me is still just a game to the majority of the players."
He negates this emotion so slightly it's as if he didn't move at all.
"I can't allow myself to be shaken by the emotions created by my disgust with ninety percent of the people employed by this company. None of their actions, words, or motivations will matter eventually."
Jet purses his lips and blows out a sigh, letting out some stress. Dust motes dance wildly in the increasing haze of light.
"Finally, the last hurdle, Deimos himself. If I had been the one to steal his journal, I wonder how many times I'd read my own name? Not very often is my guess. The simple truth of the matter is that I haven't sat on my haunches and waited until tonight to get at him. I've spent the last four weeks constantly waging psychological warfare against Fear. And while in the past we've pretty much evened out on our bouts, this time around I'm afraid he isn't ready for me. Like nearly everyone else, he is distracted. The return of his past has got him fearing for a repeat of past events, and a fear of the unknown for what's in store. His past has carried his thoughts away from the clear and present danger I've never stopped trying to remind him of, while my past is what is motivating me to punch through him to get at it. He has brought nothing to our war but an immature fear of an STD when I first sank my teeth into him, but although he thinks he's shaken me off with a negative test result, I've only clamped on tighter and tighter, tearing at him and worrying at him like a dog with a chew toy. Tonight will end with some twist, some shock involving Firestar. Joining with Fear? Attacking Fear? I don't know or care. But it will also end with an ending that everyone but me will find as shocking, and that's the crowning of a new UGWC Champion, the man who Outlasted every other competitor on the roster, carried an already promising team to the final showdown, and put the legend Lock down for good."
He reaches for the car door handle.
"And after that? I raise the bait above my head, listen as my fans cheer my victory, and wait for the hunter to take her shot. That's when I really throw it all away. The UGWC ratings will shoot through the roof or collapse under the weight of censors, either way I don't care, as the entire exciting broadcast of the fourth Pay Per View in UGWC history starts to resemble a snuff film ciruclated on only the most secure servers. Tonight I throw away Jet Somers and all that he used to stand for. Tonight I throw away the prestige and honor that comes with representing a team of Heroes, and winning a prize that represents the top competitors in our business. Tonight I throw away two lives and damn myself, joining the other trash in this place, which is just like the last place before it. Hell."
Jet gets out of the backseat and stuffs his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders against the somewhat cooler temperature of this New England city, and makes his way in to scout the Prudential Center.
----------
She can't believe how cheap she got off. Apparantly for a chance to get at Alex Kiseragi, this slut would do almost any vile thing Melanie could come up with. She could come to respect that.
She snickers as she leaves Team Hero's locker room.
“He’s not going to believe it.” Marek adds.
“Shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” Paul asks.
“Yeah let’s roll.” Alex replies. “Katie.”
“It’s clear.” she calls back.
“Get the lights. Let’s go.”
The lights go out and the members of Team Hero file out, leaving the studio as if they’ve never been there.
Melanie watches as the members of the recently completed Team Hero congratulate one another on their prank. Finally she focuses on her prize. She can see that it tears at him knowing what he's going to eventually have to do to them to finish his mission. These were good men. Marek he was only recently getting to know, but already his style and nature had won Jet over. If anyone from the former team of War & Peace could help carry Team Hero to the final gate, Phrixus Deimos, it's the Human Missile, the one who can do his in ring feats of athleticism without the aid of special effects. This guy has decided to trust Jet, knowing almost nothing about him, to hold together what should be the most respected and wholesome team at Outlast. Paul Cockatoo, or really all the Aussie Rebels, are people anyone could count on in a pinch. These aren't the type of guys to abandon someone, screw them over, or break up alliances without a damn good reason. Not to mention, JK, the most well known member, is counting on Jet's testimony to basically save his freedom. What is going to happen when he stomps the all around good guy flat on his way to capturing Fear? And Alex Kiseragi... wow. Jet and Alex have only been working together a little under a year, but everyone knows their respect for one another runs deep. She is a little surprised that Kiseragi has chosen Jet. His recent run of insanity has been exactly what she expected... she knows this is what it takes for The Wild Card to achieve the unbelievable heights The Covenant had tried to push him to. But everyone's reaction to it, that Deimos has pushed him over the competitive edge? It seems that only she and Kiseragi see past this common rumor. She, because she knows he wants her blood as much as she wants his. Kiseragi, who knew? Could it be that Kiseragi is so past the facades and character gimmicks that define this business that he knows Jet is dealing with something real, and he believes Jet's essential goodness and ability will eventually shine through?
If Kiseragi is that honest, he could be a problem. The whole point of this is for Jet to torpedo in a rage against Deimos, crushing his short reign in such an uncontrollable avalanche that his spectacular legacy is sealed in UGWC--hell in wrestling--history forever. Moments before she snatches it away from him. Without all the flair and spectacle, without the pure distilled victory, he won't experience the fall as soul crushingly as she craves for him to feel it. If Kiseragi is such a clear voice of reason, could his voice sooth the waking beast that is stirring in Jet? Could he soothe it enough to snatch Jet's victory, and worse, cause Jet to respect and accept Kiseragi as the reigning monarch in this company, reducing his craving for the prize to a cool simmer? That won't do, but how much effect could she have on The Dragon? Jet has already decided that Kiseragi and The Rebels are in danger from her, and likely his protection now extends to this Ishikawa native. How then to distract Kiseragi?
Her eyes roam past Katie Piper, the obvious target, and settle on the building which houses the studio where The Piercing Truth is filmed. That's when those eyes light up. Kiseragi's most recent mishap, his defeat at the hands of Travis Pierce, came when his emotions were at their boiling point. Time was short, though. How could she get his anger cooking? She casts her mind over the history of Jet's most often cited ally, and it finally comes to her. She flips open a laptop and performs a quick scan while mentally tallying the amount of cash she still has available. Would it be enough? From one whore to another, as she wrote on the bathroom wall of Jet's dead trainer, she assured herself it would be.
----------
The Prius looks like shit. There's no better what to say it. You can tell Jet has been living in it for the last week. It reeks of the sweat smell that pulled the vermin from the water to infest the Dragon's Cave. The driver's side window isn't the only one that has suffered damage this time. Apparantly, when he crawled into the backseat, he slammed the passenger side rear door too hard, sending a starburst across it's surface like a brilliant supernova of light. If you were omniscient you'd know the truth, that he'd left The Piercing Truth studio early Tuesday morning and started across country, barely stopping for food, and even less for sleep. It is unclear whether he has been sleeping in the car, but the sun isn't even up yet, and the light of dawn behind him only illuminates enough for us to know he is breathing. And smiling. Now, dressed in a sleeveless hoodie that covers his eyes and only reveals the unshaven jaw of the lower half of his face, he broods quietly in the backseat of his trusty hybrid, meditating on the event before him.
"It comes to this," a scratchy, exhausted voice issues from the depths of the hoodie. The lips barely move, so the perception is that the voice isn't Jet's.
"In six hours, twenty four men and women will approach their destiny, heedless of the cruel twist of fate that will bring them all to their knees before me," he rasps out this decree with full confidence. "The tournament is called Outlast, and that's exactly what the other twenty three competitors cannot do. Team Underdog, lead by the new Chaos Champion, is comprised primarily of red shirt upstarts, and will more than likely be sadly trampled underfoot by the thugs that are Riot and Tacker and The Brick City Boys. Brick City, whereever the hell that is, probably sent up a mighty cheer at the return of their heroes, a cheer that will reverb as a cry of horror should they and their team end up at the opposite side of the ring from my team."
"How did glorious returns end up the theme of this contest? Ezekiel Pax, there's a name from the sealed vaults no one ever thought they'd hear again. One thing I thought UGWC represented was progressive programming, but here's a step back in the FX department. His entire match is about returns, from the return of the Royal 1st Battalion to active duty, to the return of the only staff member pathetic enough to be fired by the new company. Where to begin with that group, honestly? Should I point out that the Brits are the very parody of bad gimmicks, and that they buy into it enough to embarass themselves more than their multiple defeats at my hands alone could ever embarass them? What is the Twisted Camp playing at accepting them? If I had to put a name to it, I'd say Hastings and Roberts' plan is simply to prove The Lord Chief can reclaim the championship no matter his circumstances. I wouldn't mind bragging that I achieved something that huge despite having the worst joke on the roster backing me. It fits their, ahem, Twisted theme."
The throat clearing turns into a dry chuckle that resembles a cough more than laughter.
"But then again, if my opponents were The Saints of Los Angeles, I might not mind who was on my team either. I can't even pretend to understand what they've got going on. Andy Savana is worse than Tim Kingsley when it comes to insanity. And they call me crazy. But together, apparantly they are formidable, and there's enough bad blood between those teams to make it personal, and that could spell distraction. A distracted mind isn't going to beat Deimos, and not a single person in the pre-main event is as focused as those of us who haven't been hovering around the top prize for the last year anyway. This is our chance, and not a single one of us is going in with anything weighing more heavily on us than the eventual hurdle that is Fear."
"Well, no one except Travis Pierce."
"Alex's joke was hilarious, and a great follow up to my infiltration of Pierce's ridiculous syndicated soapbox. For Alex, though, that's all it was. I've seen that man teased, insulted, and beaten. His subtle grace means to me that when it comes time to Outlast his biggest rival, he'll approach it with the calm nature he is known for, predisposed to move past the silly sandbox scuffle and on to the real fight. Pierce, on the other hand, has spent the entire past month... and really the past year... reflecting on Alex Kiseragi and Alex Kiseragi alone. Any match he has, any interview he does, he finds a way to reflect it upon his favorite obsession, just as he can twist any news article to fit current events in UGWC. It's a sweet gimmick that can never get old as long as news keeps happening, but it's primary focus of Kiseragi is wearing thin, and more than a little telling. I won't say more, for fear of Pierce taking a page from his target's book and Daniel Hansoning me. But The Piercing Truth is clear... Outlast isn't about the UGWC Championship for Pierce, it's about yet another battle with The Dragon."
The first rays of morning finally break the horizon, and the inside of the Prius is bathed in a surreal golden glow. The dark blue blot of the hoodie over the six-day-shadowed face is almost lost in the haze created by the effect of the light through the filmy rear windshield. Jet's form is almost ethereal, his soliloquy now taking a new turn.
"Pierce's team is a mystery. Medos' short run here before his disappearance was up and down, and while he beat Deimos in one match, he lost a few easy ones before that. He's as much of an opportunist as anyone else in the contest, and I'm as wary of him as I am of Bauer and especially Alan Fernandez."
"Fernandez is the only true worry. From the little I've heard of him, and that is mostly rumor and hearsay, watercooler talk, he is a force to be reckoned with. I have a sneaking suspicion his past with Deimos may somehow come into play. If it does, he's no better than the rest of the shit in this cesspool. It sickens me to know an event which has taken such a serious and meaningful turn for me is still just a game to the majority of the players."
He negates this emotion so slightly it's as if he didn't move at all.
"I can't allow myself to be shaken by the emotions created by my disgust with ninety percent of the people employed by this company. None of their actions, words, or motivations will matter eventually."
Jet purses his lips and blows out a sigh, letting out some stress. Dust motes dance wildly in the increasing haze of light.
"Finally, the last hurdle, Deimos himself. If I had been the one to steal his journal, I wonder how many times I'd read my own name? Not very often is my guess. The simple truth of the matter is that I haven't sat on my haunches and waited until tonight to get at him. I've spent the last four weeks constantly waging psychological warfare against Fear. And while in the past we've pretty much evened out on our bouts, this time around I'm afraid he isn't ready for me. Like nearly everyone else, he is distracted. The return of his past has got him fearing for a repeat of past events, and a fear of the unknown for what's in store. His past has carried his thoughts away from the clear and present danger I've never stopped trying to remind him of, while my past is what is motivating me to punch through him to get at it. He has brought nothing to our war but an immature fear of an STD when I first sank my teeth into him, but although he thinks he's shaken me off with a negative test result, I've only clamped on tighter and tighter, tearing at him and worrying at him like a dog with a chew toy. Tonight will end with some twist, some shock involving Firestar. Joining with Fear? Attacking Fear? I don't know or care. But it will also end with an ending that everyone but me will find as shocking, and that's the crowning of a new UGWC Champion, the man who Outlasted every other competitor on the roster, carried an already promising team to the final showdown, and put the legend Lock down for good."
He reaches for the car door handle.
"And after that? I raise the bait above my head, listen as my fans cheer my victory, and wait for the hunter to take her shot. That's when I really throw it all away. The UGWC ratings will shoot through the roof or collapse under the weight of censors, either way I don't care, as the entire exciting broadcast of the fourth Pay Per View in UGWC history starts to resemble a snuff film ciruclated on only the most secure servers. Tonight I throw away Jet Somers and all that he used to stand for. Tonight I throw away the prestige and honor that comes with representing a team of Heroes, and winning a prize that represents the top competitors in our business. Tonight I throw away two lives and damn myself, joining the other trash in this place, which is just like the last place before it. Hell."
Jet gets out of the backseat and stuffs his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders against the somewhat cooler temperature of this New England city, and makes his way in to scout the Prudential Center.
----------
She can't believe how cheap she got off. Apparantly for a chance to get at Alex Kiseragi, this slut would do almost any vile thing Melanie could come up with. She could come to respect that.
She snickers as she leaves Team Hero's locker room.
x2
