Post by EmbodimentOfFear on Dec 2, 2010 17:45:50 GMT -5
~2001 - November~
Alan Fernandez creeped backstage in the LWF arena, holding a small bag of cookies, tossing one to the floor every few feet.
“Here, Fear…here, boy…”
~:~
The words of play-by-play commentator Mister Mav and color analyst Joshman rang in Alan’s ears.
“A striped bass! OH MY GOD!”
“That’s not a legal weapon!”
“Not in this herring match, it isn’t!”
Except with the Havok Championship on the line, small details such as legality are of little help to the Talk of the Town. Regardless, Fear throws the evidence into the crowd before attempting a cover, which the Talk is narrowly able to escape.
It isn’t long before he turns the tide, and after dumping a bucket of fish on his challenger, a frog splash from the turnbuckle to ringside ends it, and Alan keeps his championship. He stands with the title and looks down with pity at the wretch that lies at his feet, and does not notice the fish being swung at his head until it’s too late.
“It’s Ruff Rabbi!”
“He’s got a KOSHER fish!”
“And now he’s going for the Circumciser!”
The psychotic man of Jehova puts Alan into the submission hold, tearing away at the Havok Champion, but it is his defeated challenger that comes to his aid, smacking Ruff Rabbi with another fish and raining blow after blow upon him. Alan makes it too his feet, and he and Fear eye each other cautiously. After a moment, the Talk raises Fear’s arm.
“What can this mean for the paranoid Fear, friend or foe?”
“We’ll find out soon enough!”
~2002 - April~
Morning. Nature’s way of saying “Here’s a brand new canvas to write the story of your life on. Good luck and godspeed.” Unless, of course, you’re “The Talk Of The Town” Alan Fernandez, unofficial leader of Freak Show Central. Then, morning is nature’s way of saying “Wake the fuck up, you lazy ass!”
It is a sentiment that was echoed by his younger sibling, Arcadia Maria Fernandez, better known as Firestar. “Wake the fuck up, you lazy ass!” she exclaimed as she burst into his room, making as much noise as she could.
“Oh, hey ‘star…” he mumbled, half asleep still. “What time is it?”
“8 in the morning. Now c’mon, Fear and I are hungry!”
“And you couldn’t make your own food, I take it?”
“Nah…we’re out of Cocoa Puffs, and Fear ate all his microwave fishsticks already. I would’ve made eggs or something, but the last time I did…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know…I spent a week and a half scraping egg off of the ceiling,” Alan interrupted, now fully awake. “I hope you at least made a pot of coffee?”
“Sure! I know how you get without your caffeine in the morning. Now come on! Hawken High’s playing an early game today, and I don’t feel like ballpark dogs today.”
“Right. And how the hell did you get Fear out of bed this early? He’s even worse than me when it comes to waking up.”
Firestar grinned like the proverbial Cheshire Cat. “I’d tell you, but you stopped me last time I tried telling you what happens in our bedroom.”
Alan shook his head. “You two….”
Seated around a fairly normal kitchen table at 13 Boulevard East, Weehawken, NJ, was a very unusual family.
Talking around a mouthful of bagel and lox, Fear asked, “So where are we going today?”
“Well, we don’t have to be at the arena until like 6 or so,” replied Alan, sipping on a giant mug of coffee, “and “Star and I wanted to check out the ballgame at Weehawken Stadium. Wanna come?”
“Eh, sure. Not like there’s anything to do around here, what with the Playstation broken.”
Firestar turned a critical eye on her boyfriend. “And who’s fault is that? I mean, ‘they’, whoever ‘they’ are, ARE NOT IN THE DAMNED PLAYSTATION!!!!”
“But but but…I heard noises coming from it!”
Alan, calm as Keanu, said, “That’s just the laser reading the disc, dude.”
“Well I didn’t know that at the time!”
Sighing, Firestar calmed down somewhat and said, “It’s alright, Boo Boo Kitty Fuck, I’m just a bit upset I can’t finish Xenogears now…”
“Y’know, I STILL can’t believe you call Fear that. Couldn’t you find a better term of endearment?”
“Um, no…he just is my widdle Boo Boo Kitty Fuck!”
Alan shook his head. “And they say I’m weird…”
~:~
It’s not everyday a group of famous wrestlers go to watch a high school baseball game. So, you’d think everyone would be flocking around them, asking for autographs, right?
Wrong.
There’s a reason Alan chose Freak Show Central as the name of his team. That’s what his house used to be called by everyone he went to school with. Firestar and Alan weren’t exactly running with the popular crowd during their youth. Hence, they sat alone in the bleachers, Firestar in a flame patterned bikini and her ever present red Oakley with yellow mirrored lenses, Alan leaning back against the stone bleachers, his mallet next to him, and Fear seated between, nervously looking around.
“Man, do they suck,” Alan commented. “To think, we used to have major-league caliber players when I played. Now, I think a Babe Ruth team could beat them.”
“Yeah, they do make many soft sucking noises,” Firestar agreed.
“Remind me why this is better than curling?” asked Fear. “I can’t even tell who is who.”
“We’re in the home whites. At least they have cool new unis.”
Firestar raised her shades. “Hey Al, why did you bring your mallet with you?”
Alan glanced over, responded with a cursory “Why not?” and went back to the game.
“Man, is that catcher a moron…calling an 0-2 fastball inside to the cleanup hitter. I mean, really,” he said while watching the batter for the opposing team launch a ball to the deepest part of the park, well over the fence.
Firestar put her shades down, rested her head back, and mumbled loud enough for Alan to hear, “And he says I’m weird….”
Fear just stared. “Why’s he walking around the bases again?”
~:~
In the Freak Show Central locker room, dubbed The Asylum by the other wrestlers, Alan, Fear, and Firestar did their best to amp themselves up for their match against the Black Rose, Evildeathro, and Anarchist, who Alan loving refers to as “The Fallen’s B-team”.
“Oh, am I gonna get that damn botanical bitch tonight!”
“Evildeathro is gonna get multiple twattings!”
“Anarchist, time to Shut Your Mouth, you refried nimrod!”
Alan grabbing his Mallet Of Doom, Fear grabbing his striped bass, and Firestar putting on her shades, they walk towards the entrance to the ring. Just as they get near the curtain, they hear the Fallen’s music end, and “Push It” begin.
“That’s our cue, guys…it’s go time!” Alan exclaimed.
~June~
Alan has climbed the mountain and neared the top. Having won the Lord of the Ring tournament the night before, he now faces the World Champion, Arelas, with the championship on the line. But this is not his night.
The match is interrupted by a man who calls himself Emperor, for whom Freak Show Central had been a thorn in his side for months. Despite his efforts, they have outwitted and outdone him at every turn, most recently at Lord of the Ring, where Alan beat him in the finals to win the tournament. But this time, Emperor is not alone.
Emperor rushes the ring with new allies and the match ends in a no contest. Emperor announces to the world that he has brought the roster of his own company, the Empire Wrestling Federation, and they beat down both Fernandez and Arelas. Emperor introduces each of his champions in turn, until LWF’s owner himself interrupts the proceedings.
The guitar riff for For Whom The Bell Tolls starts up, cutting Emperor off as Lock steps out to the stage to possibly the most positive crowd reaction he has ever received. Lock paces the stage, mic in hand and his trenchcoat billowing behind him.
“What the hell is going on here?” demands Lock. “Emperor, I don’t know who you think you are, but you do NOT interfere in a LWF Title Match, especially not with this crap! Take yourself, your talentless cohorts, and your worthless titles and get the hell out of my ring!”
“I don’t think so,” says Emperor. “We’re here to stay, and we’re going to do anything we want to, and destroy anybody we want to, starting right now.” Emperor nods to Downfall, and the EWF Champion pulls Alan Fernandez to his feet and sets him up for the Fatal Mistake, and suddenly Frayed Ends of Sanity hits to a strong pop! Fear explodes out from backstage, but Lock cuts him off. Downfall shoves Alan away, watching the stage.
“Whoa whoa whoa,” says Lock. “Chill out. I know you want to protect your partner, but now isn’t the time. Let me take care of this.” Fear struggles to get past Lock, but the LWF Owner shoves him back. “Let me take care of this!” Fear stares at Lock, then slowly nods his head and steps back. Lock turns back to Emperor. “Now, Emperor, what we’re going to do is—”
Fear suddenly grabs Lock and hits the Blue Fish! Fear walks down the ramp, staring at the EWF members in the ring. He climbs into the ring, and the EWFers move out of his way as he stands in front of Emperor. Fear stares at Emperor, then takes the title belt from Emperor and puts it over his own shoulder.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” says Emperor, “the EWF Imperial Champion, Fear!” Fear turns around and holds up the title to heat from the crowd. “So you see, Lock,” says Emperor, “and all of LWF, we’re already one up on you. We will defend our titles against you, and we will win YOUR titles.”
Alan struggles to get up and stares right at Fear, shouting, “how could you!” at him.
Fear looks away, staring straight into the ground, and his cohorts resume the beat down.
“Lock Wrestling Federation,” says Emperor, “behold the EWF Revolution.”
~July~
As if one betrayal was not enough, Alan felt the knife twist as Firestar stood by her man, and the family was torn apart. The war between the two companies came to a head at Revolution, and Fear put his Imperial Title on the line against his former friend, in an “I Quit” Match, which looked ready to come to a finish after Fear drilled the Talk with his own mallet, and thrust a microphone into his face.
“Give it up,” says Fear calmly. He goes down to one knee and puts the mic near Alan’s mouth.
“Go to hell,” mutters Alan after a few seconds.
Fear stares at Alan for several seconds. He picks the mallet back up and drives it directly into Alan’s chest, and the Talk of the Town cries out in pain. Fear drops the mallet and raises the mic back to his lips.
“Let’s try this again.”
But all he got in response was spit to the face. Alan would never give up, he didn’t know how. He battled back, but a turning point came when Firestar herself arrived on the scene, bringing more EWF goons with her. Anarchist and Ruff Rabbi, turncoats who had joined the other side, beat Fernandez down and held him to the mat, as Firestar gave them their marching orders. Firestar pranced over to the mallet, and she held it up with an evil grin, before driving it into her brother’s chest herself. She turned to Fear and ordered him to hit the press and finish Alan off.
Yet Fear hesitated, and to his lover’s surprise he instead attacked her minions, driving them from the ring. Fernandez stared at him hesitantly as Fear spoke again.
“A month ago,” said Fear, “I made a choice. I was a member of a very good tag team, a team that had been champions together. I had a partner I was proud of. I loved it, but then there was a voice. It got inside my head, and it told me about my partner’s jealousy of me. It told me of hatred, and urged my to take necessary measures. Another voice told me of a plan for domination. It told me of a plan for domination, and it told me how it needed my help. That voice was Emperor, but the first,” Fear pointed at Firestar, “was you.” She backed completely into the corner as Fear stepped towards her. “You’re the reason I turned on Alan and joined EWF. You used me because of your own hatred for your brother, and I listened to you. And it was the worst mistake of my life! So this match tonight was supposed to be an I Quit Match, and you know what…I do quit. I quit EWF!” The crowd roared its approval as Firestar stares eyes-widened at Fear. Fear stares back at her, then turns back to Alan. “Alan, partner, brother…I made a mistake once, but I’m ready to make it right. I promise you, I vow to you, it will never, ever…happen again.”
Fear extended his hand to Alan, and Alan stared at it for several seconds. He looked up at Fear, then grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug to a tremendous cheer from the crowd. Fear helped Alan out of the ring and they walked together up the ramp, leaving an angry Firestar screaming at them and throwing a fit in the ring.
~September~
The reunited Freak Show Central competed in a four team Ladder Match at Meltdown for the Tag Team Championship, but lost when Firestar, obsessed with punishing the pair she felt betrayed her, helped the Puppet Masters to win the championship. Yet two weeks later, she saw footage of a conversation between Alan and Fear, a conversation that haunted her.
The Talk stood in a cemetary, kneeling 5 feet away from a tombstone. On the tombstone, it reads, "Ela Fernandez, 1952-1988. We all feel like lesser beings by losing you". Fear walked up behind Alan and puts a hand on his shoulder, just as Alan begins to speak, a tear rolling down his cheek.
“14 years. 14 years ago, our mother passed away, Arcadia. She loved you very much, you know. She made me promise on her deathbed that I'd take care of you. I gladly accepted, because I loved you so much. ::sniffles:: You know I asked for a sister, right? I always wanted one. I wanted a sister I could watch over, a sister I could teach....most of all, though, I wanted a best friend. You were that, 'Cadia. You always were....I always went to you with my problems, I gave you advice on yours. I never, NEVER, wondered whether you loved me. I just knew. Even after the shit that passed himself off as our father left, and I knew it would just be me to take care of the two of us, I didn't flinch. I just tightened my belt, and I did my absolute best to watch over you and care for you. This is why watching you now, and all this shit you're doing, hurts. You've basically taken all the hard work, all the suffering, all the sacrifice I gladly did for you. Your taking all that and digging a hole, pissing it in, spitting it in, and throwing all of it in. That hurts, Arcadia. In my worst moments, those private moments you don't wanna talk about at parties, I wish for you to have kids one day, and for those kids to spit in your face and totally reject you, just so you know how painful it is. For you're more than just my sister. You're my best friend. Hell, I've raised you from such a young age that you almost feel like a daughter! Do you know, do you have any inkling, how much this hurts?!?! I HATE THIS!!!!”
Fear knelt next to Alan, and stared intently while keeping a hand on his shoulder as Alan sobbed. Gradually, the tears stopped, and Alan composed himself. He continued.
“Yeah, I absolutely hate this.“
Alan stared at his mother's tombstone for a second before continuing.
“What did I do wrong, Mom? What have I done to forsake her?”
There is no answer but the wind, blowing coldly, causing both Fear and Alan to shiver involuntarily.
“Y'know, it's funny....I love Fear to death, too. He's like the brother I never had. Even with all the Invasion hullaballoo, he never forgot about me, and it hurt him almost as much as it hurt me to fight. We got over that, and now we're closer than ever. But could that be because one of us is missing? Arcadia. No nicknames, no nom de guerres here. Just you and me.“
Alan reaches into the cargo pocket of his UFO's, to pull out the mysterious letter, one that he has taunted Firestar with for weeks.
“You've wanted to know what this letter is, right? Well, here's your wish.“
Alan opens the letter, and begins to read it.
"Dear Arcadia Fernandez, here are the adoption papers you requested, documenting your adoption by the Fernandez family at the age of 1 month....Do you need me to go on, sister? Or do you have a good jist of what I haven't told you for the 22 years of your existence is? See, there's a very good reason that I never told you this. For about 15 of those 22 years, I never knew myself. No one ever told me you were an adopted sister. But, just before dear old Dad left our lives for good, he dropped that little bombshell on me. So, I went and thought about it. I thought about whether or not I should tell you, or if I should just keep it to myself. In the end I kept it to myself....because I realized I didn't really care whether you were my flesh and blood or not. I loved you too much, and I couldn't take the thought of you thinking we weren't really brother and sister. So, I never told you. Flash forward to the Invasion. You went with Fear to the EWF, and I suddenly remembered that you were my adopted sister, not even really my flesh and blood. You were just another person, technically. Do you know how tempted I was to tell you this, just to break your little world apart? Well, I didn't. I've kept it all this time, but now, I'm telling you. I'm telling you because I want you to realize one very important thing: even after I found out you weren't my flesh and blood, even after I found out you weren't my biological sister...I still didn't care.”
Alan starts crying again, this time a slow trickle from both eyes.
“You know that old saying, the one that goes, "You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family"? Well, I did. I chose you.”
Alan sighs deeply, still dripping tears.
“And in the midst of all this, Ooley, you point and laugh at me, and challenge me to a tag match? You better fuckin' believe Fear and I accept. Monday, I'm wrestling in the memory of my mother...I'm wrestling for the memory of the sister I used to have...but most of all, I'm wrestling for myself, and to kick the ever loving shit out of you and Lock. You two pathetic nimrods will pay, and dearly. This, I vow. And here's to hoping that Arcadia will watch this, and listen.”
Alan stands up, pulls a single carnation and a single rose from his other cargo pocket, lays them in front of the tombstone, and then lays the letter on top of them both. He crosses himself, and then walks away, in the same direction as the cold wind is blowing, followed by Fear.
~:~
Freak Show Central faced the Puppet Masters for the Tag Team Championship, just as the commissioner had challenged, and they were victorious. Firestar was nowhere to be seen.
It was a week later when the fans sat buzzing in the arena, and Evanescence’s Haunted hit the PA system, the familiar music of the MIA vixen, and Firestar walked down the ramp to the ring. She got herself a microphone, but was unable to find the words.
She walks around the ring and hangs her head for a few moments before regaining her composure. Firestar again starts to speak, but Master of Puppets hits to jeers from the crowd, cutting her off. Lock and Ooley walk down the ramp and into the ring, and Lock snatches the mic from her.
“What happened last Monday?” asks Lock. “We had a match. A title match. A match that you were supposed to be at ringside for. You never showed up. What the hell happened?”
Firestar backs away. Lock steps towards her, and she backs into Ooley. Lock again approaches, but Alan and Fear rush down the ramp and slide into the ring. They take out Lock and Ooley respectively with the mallet and bass combo, and Firestar takes off up the ramp, with the Tag Team Champions Freak Show Central in hot pursuit, but she stopped at the top of the ramp.
Fear went to approach her, but Alan held him back with one arm. Firestar turned slowly to face them, the tears in her eyes. She began to fall to her knees, but the Talk was there to catch her. Her brother was there to catch her. A moment later, Fear was there as well, and the trio embraced.
Family is forever.