Post by Zane on Dec 6, 2013 23:51:31 GMT -5
PART 1: MORNING
Chicago, Illinois
10:50 am
"What the fuck are you doing here, Ingalls ?" Zane practically spits, his face contorted by a look of overt hatred.
Eden Morgan and Jason Ingalls stop a few feet from the plane, with Ingalls putting his hand on Eden’s arm and pushing her behind him protectively. She responds with a squeal of protest but doesn’t get a chance to do anything else. Zane takes a few menacing steps down the stairs of the private plane, stopping in the middle. Ingalls smirks obnoxiously at Zane, trying to provoke him to a rash reaction through his body language so that Eden can’t see him.
"Be calm, Zane." The smooth voice of David Damarest interjects as he steps from the plane.
"Yeah, Zane." Jason responds. "Be a good boy and go back inside."
"Jase !" Eden responds, chastising him for mocking and possibly provoking the UGWC World Champion.
Damarest walks down the stairs and steps in front of Zane, smiling politely and somehow still very chillingly at Ingalls.
"Mr. Ingalls, it is bad form to begin a journey in so impolite of a manner." He says. "The customary greeting is "hello"."
Jason smiles at Damarest, affecting a polite manner. His voice is anything but polite however. It drips with sarcasm.
"Maybe you should train your ogre there to greet guests more politely then." He replies snidely. "He doesn't appear to be fully housebroken yet. It reflects poorly on his owner and his trainer."
"JASE !!" Eden yells from behind him.
Damarest chuckles at the attempted barb.
"Perhaps so. Mr. Ingalls." He responds calmly. "Regardless, Zane has every right to demand why you choose to darken our respective doorstep. Miss Morgan is welcome here. You, young man, are not."
"What are you going to do, old man, take out your scalpel and cut my throat ?" Jase snaps back.
A slow grin spreads itself across the controlled face of Damarest and is accompanied by an ominous chuckle of amusement.
"Of course not." He replies calmly, looking at Jason as if he's an utter fool. "I admit that I would gladly give you a new breathing hole in your neck. I would not do it here, however. We are in public and I don’t feel like getting blood all over this plane and myself. Dirge would be rather displeased with me if I did."
Jase holds his hands out in the mocking “ooooo” gesture that people do when they’re making light of a threat.
"We wouldn't want to upset the big, smelly prick now would we ?" He retorts snidely.
Damarest responds to the remark with by raising an eyebrow. Zane takes a couple of more steps down the stairs but stops when Damarest holds his arm up and tells him to stop. Jase smirks and looks at the World Champion.
"That's a good boy." He says. "Stay. Heel."
"Jase, stop it !" Eden snaps, stepping out from behind him.
"Why ?" He replies. "They're not going to do anything. Damarest already said so."
Damarest shakes his head in amusement and chuckles again.
"Make no mistake, Mr. Ingalls." He replies. "Just because I would prefer not to do something overt to you out here, does not mean that I won't. Regardless of that, you are being terribly rude and thoroughly antagonistic and you are doing it because you think that the presence of Miss. Morgan will prevent any of us from responding to it. You are quite mistaken in that regard."
Jase responds to the remark with a look of confusion before looking up the stairs of the plane. Seeing no one, he returns his hostile stare to Damarest.
"Us ?" He responds. "All I can see in front of me are you and UGWC's resident knuckle-dragger."
It is at that moment that Colin Zale and James Spyder emerge from the plane. Both men affix cold glares on Ingalls, but say nothing. He looks back at them with a crooked smirk on his face.
"Well, if it isn't “Ace and Gary”." He quips.
Colin and Spyder look at each other before Colin turns back towards Jase with a crooked smirk on his face.
"At least they were entertaining." He replies, shrugging.
"Maybe they're not an accurate comparison to you two then." Jase replies.
Damarest interrupts by holding his hand up and bringing the banter to a dead stop.
"Enough of this nonsensical repartee." He replies. "Miss Morgan, you are welcome to stay and enter the plane. Mr. Ingalls, you may do so if you are so inclined. I must advice you that it is not in your best interests to do so. You have no friends on board."
Ingalls takes a step forward until he is on the step directly below Damarest. He looks up into the face of Dirge’s chief negotiator, personal assassin and scalpel wielding "left hand".
"You don't own this plane." He replies with a cocky smirk. "It's chartered by UGWC. You can't keep me from boarding it. It would be a breach of contract and Zane would have to surrender the Championship that Eden is going to take from him on Monday."
Damarest replies with a chuckle as Zane turns and walks back into the plane, disappearing from sight. Colin remains at the top of the boarding steps while Spyder remains in the door with his cold and analytical gaze affixed onto the mouthy UGWC Head Trainer.
"Quite the contrary, Mr. Ingalls." Damarest replies cheerfully. "If you would care to look at the tail of the plane, you will find the corporate logo of “Elite Enterprises” on it. This is indeed a private jet and is owned by my Master. Were you to be impudent enough to board and follow said action up with further exacerbating stupidity, you would have no legal recourse were something bad to occur. This plane is private property and you have no rights once to enter it."
He lets the warning sink in, smiling as Jason stands and processes the information. Once it does, his confident smirk evaporates quickly.
"You're a bastard." He replies hotly. "Fine. We'll find another way. We'll see you in LA."
Damarest responds to his comment with an indifferent shrug.
"As I said, Miss. Morgan can come with us if she wishes." Damarest reiterates.
Eden looks at Damarest, her expression betraying her obvious internal conflict. Colin and Spyder watch her from the top of the ramp, their expressions both unreadable. Jase puts a hand on her wrist, causing her to flinch before looking back at him. She looks from Jase to Damarest, to Spyder and finally to Colin. Colin replies with a reassuring smile.
"Come on Eden." Jase prods gently. "We're a team. They'll be in LA when we get there. We're not welcome here."
She looks at him, her face looking like she's near tears before she looks back at Damarest. He smiles at her and it looks sincere, rather than like a serial killer measuring a victim for a casket.
"You're welcome here if you desire, child." He replies. "I know that you and Mr. Ingalls crossed a very personal threshold recently. That can confuse your objectivity. If you choose to go with him, I will understand."
Eden recoils from the remark as if she's been smacked.
"You...you know ?" She stammers.
"I do." He replies. "I can't say that it surprises me coming from him and given the emotional strain that you've been under, it makes sense that you would succumb to his disarming charm. It causes me even less surprise that he took advantage of it, and you."
She looks at Jase, who is glaring up the ramp at Colin, who just shrugs at him indifferently in return. He growls something to himself and looks back at Damarest.
"That doesn't change anything." He sneers. "You're all bad for her. I'm protecting her from you."
Damarest replies with a shrug at the attempted barb.
"See it however you like, Mr. Ingalls." He replies. "Your opinion of me is of absolutely no consequence to me whatsoever."
He looks back at Eden.
"As I said, Eden, you are welcome to come with us."
Eden looks from Damarest to Jase and back to Damarest before finally looking down and mumbling her reply.
"I'm going with Jase." She replies meekly.
Damarest replies calmly with an even tone and a simple nod of his head.
"As you wish, Eden." He replies. "If you wish to speak to me or any of us before the press-conference, you know how to reach me."
Jase steps between them, sneering up at Damarest.
"She won't." He replies.
Damarest replies with an indifferent shrug.
"We shall see." He answers, turning and walking back up the stairs to the plane, leaving the seething Jason Ingalls and the very upset Eden Morgan behind him. Jason takes a threatening step towards him when he’s brought up short by Colin's calm, yet stern warning.
"I wouldn't." He says.
Jason stops dead in his tracks and Eden looks up at Colin. She smiles at him meekly. He responds by closing his eyes and shaking his head before he turns and walks back into the plane. Spyder's expressionless face but clearly disappointed eyes are the last thing that Eden sees before the door to the plane is pulled up and clicks closed.
PART 2: WHIRLWIND
LOS ANGELES- PMN HEADQUARTERS
4:30 pm
Zane sits at the table, flanked to his right by David Damarest, with Colin and Spyder at his other side. They’d bee in the new PMN building for about an hour and as much as Zane hated them, he had to admit that they’d done a nice job coming back from watching their home get turned into a smoking rubble pile. The thought of it makes him laugh, drawing an odd look from Pepper Parks. Not that he cares. Pepper always struck him as the typical PMN flunky, a gutless douche…someone with zero spine and zero dignity. He looks over to say something to Damarest when Colin gestures towards the other side of the stage. Zane turns around just in time to catch the buzz in the room that comes when Eden and Jason Ingalls walk into the room. What they don’t see is the moment of tension between Jet and Jase. Zane turns back to Damarest.
"That asshole just makes friends wherever he goes." He growls. "He had to show up here. He claims to be all about Eden, but is nothing more than a parasitic attention whore. I really want to stick one of the metal folding chairs up his ass...sideways...and see how smarmy that smirk is."
Damarest smirks, as does Colin. Spyder sits silently, analyzing something. Knowing him, he was taking in the entire room and doing his typical mental calculations, prioritizing everyone in the room as either a “threat”, a “non threat” or a “potential threat”. It was scary how the man’s mind seemed to work. Damarest breaks his train of thought by tapping on the table next to his hand. Zane blinks his eyes and looks at his teacher.
"Be calm." Damarest says. "We all know that Jase's game plan will be to provoke us as much as he possibly can. Our best plan is to let him hang himself, which he will do if given enough time and opportunity to do so."
Zane smiles and shakes his head in gleeful agreement. Colin smirks and Spyder continues to size up the room, settling his gaze on Ingalls. Zane goes to follow it when he notices Eden smiling at them. He returns the smile while Damarest and Colin both nod their heads politely.
"And let's get down to business," Pepper Phoenix intones, looking between Eden and Zane. "Do either of you have a preference as to who goes first?"
"Champion's first," Eden replies graciously at the same time as Zane leans forward into the mic.
"Ladies first. I insist." He smiles over at Eden and she gives a halfhearted smile in return, looking incredibly queasy all of a sudden.
Pepper turns to her with a snide grin on his face.
"Very well, Eden, we'll be starting with you first. Let's get right down to it, for those of you who are not aware, these questions were provided by the colleagues of Miss Morgan and Mr. Scott, the entertainment professionals we see week in and week out. They are completely anonymous. Eden- first question. Are you ready?"
Pepper Phoenix grins over at her, Eden looking like a rabbit about to run. She nods.
"As ready as I'm gonna be," she half-jokes.
"What would you do...for a Klondike bar?"
Eden looks askance at him. "What?"
"That's the first question, dear. What would you do for a Klondike bar?"
Jason chuckles beside her, the men on the other side a varying degree of eye rolls and head shaking.
"I—wouldn't do anything for one. Not a fan of chocolate and mint. Sorry," Eden shrugs, laughing a little at the silliness of the question. Phoenix tosses the card to the side, moving on to the next.
"Do you like me? Check yes or no." Pepper Phoenix looks at her expectantly. Eden looks gives a short, burst of laughter, looking around as if to say "is he serious?"
"Of course I like you, Pepper. As for the person who asked that...I have no idea, it's anonymous," she shrugs again, flashing the audience a cute smile, which they laugh at. Phoenix tosses another card to the side, moving on.
"Before I ask this next series of questions, I apologize. Remember, this is from your colleagues, not me, but the world wants to know what the world wants to know," Pepper Phoenix gives Eden a smile before clearing his throat. "Over the past year you've been passed around more than a common harlot. Does it burn when you urinate?"
Eden's jaw drops at the question, vaguely conscious of Jason putting his arm around her and giving her shoulder a little squeeze. "Wha—what—eww. Who asks that?"
"Shaved, trimmed, or au natural?"
Eden raises an eyebrow.
"I'm not answering that, Pepper. Sorry," she shakes her head, taking a drink of water from a glass before her.
"Well then maybe Jason Ingalls can answer for us. I hear he would be in a position to know," Pepper says conversationally, many in the crowd gasping in shock. Jason’s hand stills on her shoulder, Eden almost choking on her drink of water.
Pepper looks around in surprise. "Was it something I said? Oh, nevermind. What about you, Zane ? For some reason, someone wanted to ask you too."
Zane glares at Pepper and doesn't immediately respond. Pepper sits there looking at him with the same smirk on his face that he’d directed at Eden. Zane finally answers.
"I'm not answering that either." He growls. "This is a press-conference for a World Title match at the biggest, or at the least the second biggest Pay-Per-View of the year. We shouldn't be wasting our time with stupid nonsense like that. As far as your remark about Ingalls and Eden goes, the next time that you disrespect Eden like that, you’re going to eat the podium for lunch. Understood ?"
Pepper Phoenix stammers for a moment, tugging at his tie as Eden leans around to look at Zane, mouthing a “thank you” at him.
"Ok then." Pepper replies. "How about a question for you then, Zane ?"
"Fine." He says curtly. "As long as it's not stupid."
"Sure." Pepper responds. "Boxers or briefs ?"
Zane raises an eyebrow, less than amused by the question.
"I said; "nothing stupid"." He replies. "THAT was stupid. Next."
Pepper swallows hard at the threat but looks down at his card. He momentarily blanches in response to the next question and quickly looks at Zane.
"I don't know if I should ask this one or not." He stammers.
"Why not ?" Zane replies in annoyance. "It's not like journalistic credibility is of any importance to you. This is just a PMN media shit-show. Why are you suddenly so gun shy ?"
"Because you might kill me if I ask this." Parks stammers in response.
A small smirk forms at the corner of Zane’s mouth, causing Pepper to swallow really hard again. He also appears to be sweating. Ingalls looks at Zane from across the table.
"Who's being a bully now ?" He calls.
Zane glowers at him from across the table and Jet and Travis both shake their heads in the back of the room. Damarest smirks at the question as his scalpel suddenly appears in his hand. Zane looks at it out of the corner of his eye and smirks.
"Keep talking out of turn and find out." He replies.
"You won't do anything." Jase retorts. "You wouldn't want to upset Eden."
Zane shakes his head and looks back up at Pepper.
"I'd like to answer the next question." He says calmly. "Someone won't allow it. He has to be the center of attention or he pouts like an angry child. Someone get him a binky and a teddy bear and maybe he’ll shut up for five seconds and let the adults talk."
Jase's face flashes read in instant anger as a chorus of laughter reverberates through the room. He goes to stand up when Eden puts a hand on his arm, pushing him back down. He looks at her and then glares at Zane before fixing his eyes straight-ahead...right into the amused smirks of both Jet and Travis. It does nothing to improve his mood. Zane looks up at Pepper and gestures for him to continue.
"Ok." He says somewhat fearfully. "Promise that you won't kill me."
"Whatever, Parks." Zane replies in irritation, rolling his eyes at the PMN "Moderator".
"Rumors abound that Carnival the Clown may be posing for Playgirl. Thoughts?"
The question causes everyone at the table to look at Parks in confusion. Zane looks from him to Jet and back again.
"Are you fucking serious ?" He replies. "Give me that damned card."
He stands up and yanks the card out of Parks hand, quickly scanning it. His eyes settle on a question on the card and he mutters “You gotta be shitting me” just loud enough for the mic to hear it. He looks at it one more time before shoving it back into Pepper's violently shaking hands and sitting down.
"Dial it down, Ali." Zane quips with a snide grin, causing a few gasps in the room. "To answer that idiotic question...I don't care. I don't know the guy and couldn’t care less. Besides, if UGWC wanted cheap publicity like that, shouldn't they have asked Allan Wallace ? He'd be happy to do that for cheap publicity. Hell, at worst you could get Reznik to do it. At least he could say that someone gave a shit about him during his career. Next."
Pepper looks down at the card and his knees actually buckle this time.
"Jesus Christ, I'm going to die." He says, forgetting about the live mic. "Someone is trying to get me killed."
Zane and Eden both look at him to continue. He looks from one to the other and swallows again.
"These aren't my words Zane, just keep that in mind." He looks down at the card, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. "Nigga, why you lettin' that sheep fuckin' Viking take Eden's panties off, now that you got her?"
Eden's jaw drops at the asking of the question while Jase’s eyes go wide. Zane visibly face palms at the question while Damarest blinks once before regaining his normal and placid expression. Colin chuckles a little. Spyder remains expressionless; his eyes cold and detached.
"Alright soooo...back to Eden. Next question: Any truth to your nude leaked cell phone pics?"
Eden gasps, somewhat offended. "None at all, do these questions ever get any better?"
Pepper shrugs. "Well I guess that depends on your viewpoint. Sorry, I don't make the questions, I just read what I'm given. Next question: How often do you ‘click the mouse?’"
Eden's brow furrows in confusion. "Click the mouse? Well I guess twice, isn’t that how many times you're supposed to do it to actually make it work? Though sometimes it freezes up and I have to click it a lot—" she cuts off as Jason leans over, whispering in her ear. Her face goes completely crimson and her eyes close. "Just...no. I can't even...can we move on to something else, please?" she groans audibly as numerous chuckles sound around her. Pepper clears his throat.
"Alright, next: Any truth to the rumor you're going to do Playboy over the break? Lot of publicity in that."
Eden shakes her head, an offended look on her face. "Absolutely not."
Pepper looks down to Zane and shuffles through his cards.
"Here's one." He says. "What are your thoughts or feelings regarding the latest gossip relating to Eden and Jason Ingalls?"
Zane’s brow furrows angrily and he sits silently for a moment. Jase pokes his head around the table with a big shit-eating smile on his face.
"Yeah, "Champ"." He says mockingly. "How DO you feel about it ?"
Zane opens his eyes and fixes a death stare on Jase, whose smile momentarily fades before it reasserts itself on his face. It is interrupted again when Eden elbows him in the ribs. He looks down at her and his “What ? It’s a fair question” is vaguely heard. Damarest puts his hand over Zane's microphone and leans forward.
"Come now, Mr. Ingalls." He chides. "I realize that you have the emotional and sexual maturity of a twelve year old boy who is looking at his first pornographic magazine because he has a crush on his teacher and doesn’t know how to deal with the tingly feelings that it’s causing him, but could you act with at least a modicum of dignity for once ?"
The room once again erupts into laughter, including Zane and Colin. Even Spyder manages a mirthless looking smirk at the barb. Jase flushes red with fury and starts to walk around Eden to come at Damarest when Eden stands up and puts a hand on his chest.
"Sit down Jase." She says.
Jase shoots another glare at Damarest and gets a mocking smile in return. Pepper waits for him to sit down and then looks at his cards before breaking into a wide grin.
"Now seems like the prefect time to ask this." He says. "Where do you come off acting like the egotistical dickwad you are?"
The room breaks into laughter at the question, including Jase. Zane sits there silently for a moment and smirks before shrugging.
"Where do I "come off" acting like that ?" He asks. "As the person said, it's who I am."
He punctuates the response with a shrug. Pepper Phoenix swivels to Eden with a smile.
"Which brings us to our next question. Eden...How can you believe a single word that fucker Zane says? He's a manipulative asshole! Apologies, Zane, those are, again, not my words."
Zane replies with an indifferent shrug and an amused smirk.
Eden closes her eyes and breathes heavily, shaking her head. "I haven't found him to be so. How does that satisfy the hungry masses?" she asks, answering her question with a question. Jason snorts beside her, giving her a disbelieving look as Pepper Phoenix grins at her.
"Well I'd say that sets you up for another question, considering many people would think you naïve with that answer. This one hits a little close to home, PMN fans: Care to elaborate on the fact that while you were living under their roof, Jet Somers and Travis Pierce recorded your every move?"
Eden blinks, automatically looking back to the back wall where Jet and Travis had stood just moments before, noticing emptiness. She rolls her eyes. "I don't buy that for a second. Can we please get to some serious questions here?"
Pepper Phoenix shuffles his cards, "Okay, okay...how about this: Do you think a romantic relationship with Jason will complicate other relationships for you?"
Eden stiffens at the question, Jason reaching over to clutch at her hand that rests on top of the table. She looks around, as if struggling with the answer.
"In some ways, it already has. As anyone can plainly see, so I'm not sure that question was really necessary."
She swallows hard, Jason squeezing her hand until she looks at him. He gives her a reassuring smile and she smiles back at him.
Pepper rolls his eyes at the response and looks at Zane.
"Isn't that sweet ?" He says snidely.
Zane glares at him and looks down at his microphone. When he speaks, his tone is icy.
"It's a regular Hallmark Moment." He growls. "Ask the next question."
Pepper looks back at Eden, who nods her head in agreement. Jase sits at her side, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"Okay." Pepper says. "This one asks; "Have you been completely and utterly truthful to Eden ?"
Zane leans forward to answer when Jase interrupts. He leans forward and interjects, staring at Zane in an antagonistic manner for the entire time.
"Let me answer that for him. No. He hasn't been."
Pepper smiles at the response and looks at Jase.
"Ok." He replies. "This press conference isn't for you. I'm intrigued by what you have to say though. It could make this a lot more interesting.'
"No, please. Let's see what the Champ has to say for himself. Let's see how truthful he really is, eh Zane? Think you can do that? Be truthful for once?" Jason gives a faux friendly smile, Eden burying her face in her hands.
Zane breaks into a wide smile, as if it's the opening that he's been waiting for.
"Sure Jase." He replies. "I can be "honest". Here we go."
Jase looks at Zane suspiciously while Eden looks like she wishes that she could be anywhere else. Damarest has a look of curiosity leveled at Zane while both Colin and Spyder look generally indifferent about the exchange.
"Eden, before you lost your memory, you hated my guts. We beat the living hell out of each other, including you going out of your way to break my nose with repeated superkicks. After you lost your memory, I spoke to David and decided to turn a negative into a positive. Sure, I took advantage of your loss of memory. I'm not as stupid as everyone wants to think that I am. You're one hell of an enemy and someone who I'd much rather have as an ally. We make a good team Eden and I see no reason to ruin that. There are, after all, so many times that one can take being kicked in the nose. Since then, I've been completely up front with you about everything. Jason can't say that. Can you, Jase ?"
Zane looks at Jase and grins. Damarest and Colin are both smiling as well and even Spyder has a slight smirk on his face.
Jason's jaw flexes as he stares daggers at Zane, his tone, when it comes, almost syrupy in its sweetness. "Of course I can. I've been nothing if not completely honest with Edie. She deserves only that."
Eden closes her eyes and then opens them, looking back and forth between Zane and Jason.
"Can this not always be about me? Because it's getting tiring."
"Sure Eden." Zane replies. "I'm happy to talk about our upcoming match. We could keep this about our match if "Captain Sincerity" over there could keep his mouth shut for a few minutes and stop interrupting. Can you do that, "Mr. Honesty, Paragon of Selflessness" ?"
Jason leans up, a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Of course I can. I would do anything to ensure Eden’s happiness," he finishes pointedly, squeezing Eden's hand reassuringly.
Zane grins and looks at Pepper.
"That's sweet, Pepper." He says. "Isn't that sweet ? Now, please continue with the questions."
Pepper looks at him and shakes his head and then looks down at his cards. A genuine smile spreads across his face.
"I have two questions for both of you." He says. "Zane, you will answer, then Eden. Handle the second question the same way."
Jase interjects from the other end of the table.
"Do you think that you can handle that Champ, or do you need Damarest and those two overrated has been's to explain it to you in crayon or with an Etch-A-Sketch ?"
A collective gasp goes up across the room. Eden reacts by elbowing him in the ribs and Pepper looks at Zane like he's expecting him to come across the table and kill the mouthy UGWC Trainer. Both Colin and Damarest shake their heads at the insult. For his part Zane just shakes his head and smiles.
"I can handle it, Jase." He says. "Thanks for pitching in though. I'm going to make a couple of requests of you though, just so we can get through this without you ending up in traction."
The answer causes an uncomfortable chuckle to reverberate through the room and draws amused smirks from Damarest, Colin and even Spyder while earning a face palm and a groan from Eden. Jase smirks at Zane and responds in as sarcastic a voice as he can manage.
"Sure Champ." He retorts. "If it hurts your feelings that badly to hear what everyone thinks of you, I can stop before you start crying."
Zane rolls his eyes at the response and looks out at the audience.
"I'm sorry for his behavior, folks. Does anyone have a diaper handy ? Baby needs a change." He says, showing more control and savvy than anyone thinks that he’s capable of. "Jase, could you kindly keep the interruptions to a dull roar ? I know that you don't want to believe this, but this isn't about you. It's about Eden, who you claim to care about. Do us all a favor for her and shut that cesspool that's attached to your face. Let the adults have their time. We can get the crayons out for you when we’re done."
Jase starts to open his mouth again, Eden whipping around in her chair furiously to face him. She covers her mic and scoots her chair back somewhat, the audience unable to hear her words as she hisses furiously at him, the look on her face leaving little doubt as to her feelings on the matter. Jase appears to try to say something, but each time he opens his mouth, she holds up a hand, her face completely serious. Finally, Jase closes his mouth, turning in his chair and scooting back up to the table. Eden watches him warily as he leans into the mic, his voice gruff.
"Fine," he utters the one word, his voice clipped, before moving away from the mic.
"This is going to be a long afternoon." He thinks to himself. "I'm sure that I'll get hit with more stupid questions as I go, too. That's ok though. This is as much about what I present them with as it is about what I say. I need to get everyone in this room, Eden included to see what I want them to see going into Horizons. If I can do that, I'll go into the World Title match with an advantage that they don't even know that I have. I can also keep turning the screws on Jase, which is enough reason to bear with this bullshit for however long it goes."
PART 3: HUBRIS
Later On: PMN HQ
8:00 pm
He walked the hall of OMN Headquarters, running through the interview in his mind. It wasn't his first rodeo by any means, he'd been through a lot of them in his time and some of them had been a lot more contentious than that one. All of the players had played their parts well, trying to present their adversaries with the idea of them that worked the most to their benefit. The idea of that made him smile a little. The business had changed a lot in some ways, but that was not one of them. Pomposity and arrogance still reigned, petty politics and how one navigated them were still an integral part of the business and there were people involved in it that was in way over their heads. Plus, just like the old days, they couldn’t see that fact. Or chose not to.
It was a minor distinction in the long term.
He turned the corner, still lost in thought and felt something smack into his chest, jarring him out of his thoughts. He looked down to see who or what it was.
"Watch where you're going." Jason Ingalls spits angrily before noticing who it is, at which point a big smile spreads across his face.
"Well, if it isn't not the overrated old man that helps clean up after Zane." He says snidely.
Colin Zale looks down at the mouthy UGWC Head Trainer with an expression of mild amusement on his face. The man barely rated as an annoyance, no matter how hard he tried to be. Raine Austin had been more annoying during the PPW days and he was barely more than the punch line to a very poorly written booking joke. Ingalls would be lucky to be given the honor of being placed in even that exulted a category. He noted with great amusement that the man’s pupils were expanded and his face looked rather florid. The two legged “drop kick” dog was trying to be tough.
How novel.
"Good evening Jase." He responds with mild amusement in his voice.
The depth of red in Jason Ingalls’ face deepens and a vein throbs in his forehead.
"How amusing" the PPW Legend thinks to himself.
"You don't get to call my by my first name !" He practically spits with anger thick in his voice as he thrusts a finger into Colin’s face. "Only my friends get to call me by that name !!"
A crooked smirk forms on the corner of Colin's mouth at the opening.
"You must not hear it that often then." He replies. "Only from gullible girls after you con your way into their pants."
Ingalls responds to the remark by clenching his teeth as his face turns purple with rage. He stands there for a moment fuming before responding.
"Listen to me you arrogant ass," Ingalls fumes. "I don't care what you did back in the Paleolithic era of wrestling. You're nothing more than a glorified dog trainer now and you’re pretty lousy at it if you ask me."
"It's a pity for you that I didn't ask you." Colin replies calmly. "I understand that you think that the world revolves around you, in spite of the fact that you are nothing more than a glorified masseur. Allow me to give you a little bit of advice, kid."
He watches as Ingalls’ hand balls up into a fist and then thrusts down to his side. His teeth stay clenched together.
"What the hell could an old prick like you possibly teach me ?" He demands angrily.
Colin stands silently for a moment, his posture completely relaxed. He angles his head slightly to the right before looking down so that the two of them are nose to nose and he is looking directly into Jason's eyes.
"Think about that wording." He replies calmly. "I didn't get to be an "old prick" by not surviving being what you currently are, a "young prick". In that time I learned that there are times that it is wise to check my ego at the door and learn from those who have more experience than I do. It is a lesson that you would do well to learn before some "old prick" disavows you of the chance to be one of us some day."
Jase gives a little laugh, some of his anger leaving him. He turns away and then turns back to Colin, waving a hand at him.
"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. Let me save you some time: it won't work. Eden told me all about you and your better half's "intervention" the other day. And now you want to act like you can give me advice or just help me out? Bullshit! Now fuck off back to your owners, I have shit to do. Like get Eden away from those pricks in that room before they brainwash her even more."
Colin smiles in response to the remark of the impudent young trainer.
"Make no mistake Ingalls." He replies. "I like you, and neither does Jim. We would both be happy to see you get your face kicked in. You have a lot more bravado than you have any right to have and don’t know when to shut up. The only thing that we like even less than that is that you continually pretend to be such a good hearted guy. You’re a lie, Ingalls. You’re no better than Jet Somers. Eventually Eden will figure that out. In the meantime, be careful how often you open your mouth around me. Eventually the outcome might be rather unpleasant for you."
He pauses for a moment.
"That advice is better than you deserve." He states plainly. "Even though you are too stupid and self righteous to take it."
Ingalls lashes out before he can control his reflexes, his anger momentarily overcoming him. Fortunately for him the punch never had any chance of landing, as Colin had started moving as soon as Ingalls went into motion. The punch misses by an embarrassing margin, causing him to spin around and slam face first into another chest as the punch goes flying past the arm that is attached to that body. He looks up and notices the person that he just came perilously close to striking. The look that he gets in return is icy at best and menacing at worst.
It belongs to "The Mountain", the "Silent Destroyer" known as James Spyder.
He looks down at Ingalls with icy loathing and speaks in a tone that while quiet also expresses just as much loathing for Ingalls.
"It's easier to be tough with, intimidate and bully teenage girls." He states in a quiet voice. "You seem to lose your balls when you come up against someone who will hit back."
He looks up into Spyder's face with a hateful sneer on his.
"I took a swing at your boyfriend, didn't I ?" He retorts.
"Your bravado momentarily over powered what little intelligence you possess." The silent killer replies emotionlessly. "And then follow it up with a homophobic joke. How classy."
"What are you going to do now ?" Ingalls retorts hotly. "Act like tough guys and take advantage of your numerical superiority ?"
Spyder responds with a cold and chilling smile, following it with a laugh that is equally chilling.
"No." He replies. "We don’t need to pick on those the vulnerable to feel like men. Run along boy. Your time will come. There’s no need to hasten the inevitable."
Ingalls glares as Spyder for a moment before the walking colossus just steps to the side and gestures down the hallway. Colin lets out a short chuckle but does nothing. Ingalls looks at the two suspiciously before stepping past Spyder and beginning his walk down the hall.
"We'll be watching you." Colin tells him.
"Sooner or later Ingalls." Spyder follows. "Everyone will see what we do."
Ingalls responds by lifting up his left hand and giving both men the finger. Both men respond with a smile before Colin looks at Spyder.
"He's going to be trouble at Horizons." He says.
Spyder responds with a dangerous laugh and a look of vicious pleasure in his eyes.
"I'm looking forward to it." He replies.
Chicago, Illinois
10:50 am
"What the fuck are you doing here, Ingalls ?" Zane practically spits, his face contorted by a look of overt hatred.
Eden Morgan and Jason Ingalls stop a few feet from the plane, with Ingalls putting his hand on Eden’s arm and pushing her behind him protectively. She responds with a squeal of protest but doesn’t get a chance to do anything else. Zane takes a few menacing steps down the stairs of the private plane, stopping in the middle. Ingalls smirks obnoxiously at Zane, trying to provoke him to a rash reaction through his body language so that Eden can’t see him.
"Be calm, Zane." The smooth voice of David Damarest interjects as he steps from the plane.
"Yeah, Zane." Jason responds. "Be a good boy and go back inside."
"Jase !" Eden responds, chastising him for mocking and possibly provoking the UGWC World Champion.
Damarest walks down the stairs and steps in front of Zane, smiling politely and somehow still very chillingly at Ingalls.
"Mr. Ingalls, it is bad form to begin a journey in so impolite of a manner." He says. "The customary greeting is "hello"."
Jason smiles at Damarest, affecting a polite manner. His voice is anything but polite however. It drips with sarcasm.
"Maybe you should train your ogre there to greet guests more politely then." He replies snidely. "He doesn't appear to be fully housebroken yet. It reflects poorly on his owner and his trainer."
"JASE !!" Eden yells from behind him.
Damarest chuckles at the attempted barb.
"Perhaps so. Mr. Ingalls." He responds calmly. "Regardless, Zane has every right to demand why you choose to darken our respective doorstep. Miss Morgan is welcome here. You, young man, are not."
"What are you going to do, old man, take out your scalpel and cut my throat ?" Jase snaps back.
A slow grin spreads itself across the controlled face of Damarest and is accompanied by an ominous chuckle of amusement.
"Of course not." He replies calmly, looking at Jason as if he's an utter fool. "I admit that I would gladly give you a new breathing hole in your neck. I would not do it here, however. We are in public and I don’t feel like getting blood all over this plane and myself. Dirge would be rather displeased with me if I did."
Jase holds his hands out in the mocking “ooooo” gesture that people do when they’re making light of a threat.
"We wouldn't want to upset the big, smelly prick now would we ?" He retorts snidely.
Damarest responds to the remark with by raising an eyebrow. Zane takes a couple of more steps down the stairs but stops when Damarest holds his arm up and tells him to stop. Jase smirks and looks at the World Champion.
"That's a good boy." He says. "Stay. Heel."
"Jase, stop it !" Eden snaps, stepping out from behind him.
"Why ?" He replies. "They're not going to do anything. Damarest already said so."
Damarest shakes his head in amusement and chuckles again.
"Make no mistake, Mr. Ingalls." He replies. "Just because I would prefer not to do something overt to you out here, does not mean that I won't. Regardless of that, you are being terribly rude and thoroughly antagonistic and you are doing it because you think that the presence of Miss. Morgan will prevent any of us from responding to it. You are quite mistaken in that regard."
Jase responds to the remark with a look of confusion before looking up the stairs of the plane. Seeing no one, he returns his hostile stare to Damarest.
"Us ?" He responds. "All I can see in front of me are you and UGWC's resident knuckle-dragger."
It is at that moment that Colin Zale and James Spyder emerge from the plane. Both men affix cold glares on Ingalls, but say nothing. He looks back at them with a crooked smirk on his face.
"Well, if it isn't “Ace and Gary”." He quips.
Colin and Spyder look at each other before Colin turns back towards Jase with a crooked smirk on his face.
"At least they were entertaining." He replies, shrugging.
"Maybe they're not an accurate comparison to you two then." Jase replies.
Damarest interrupts by holding his hand up and bringing the banter to a dead stop.
"Enough of this nonsensical repartee." He replies. "Miss Morgan, you are welcome to stay and enter the plane. Mr. Ingalls, you may do so if you are so inclined. I must advice you that it is not in your best interests to do so. You have no friends on board."
Ingalls takes a step forward until he is on the step directly below Damarest. He looks up into the face of Dirge’s chief negotiator, personal assassin and scalpel wielding "left hand".
"You don't own this plane." He replies with a cocky smirk. "It's chartered by UGWC. You can't keep me from boarding it. It would be a breach of contract and Zane would have to surrender the Championship that Eden is going to take from him on Monday."
Damarest replies with a chuckle as Zane turns and walks back into the plane, disappearing from sight. Colin remains at the top of the boarding steps while Spyder remains in the door with his cold and analytical gaze affixed onto the mouthy UGWC Head Trainer.
"Quite the contrary, Mr. Ingalls." Damarest replies cheerfully. "If you would care to look at the tail of the plane, you will find the corporate logo of “Elite Enterprises” on it. This is indeed a private jet and is owned by my Master. Were you to be impudent enough to board and follow said action up with further exacerbating stupidity, you would have no legal recourse were something bad to occur. This plane is private property and you have no rights once to enter it."
He lets the warning sink in, smiling as Jason stands and processes the information. Once it does, his confident smirk evaporates quickly.
"You're a bastard." He replies hotly. "Fine. We'll find another way. We'll see you in LA."
Damarest responds to his comment with an indifferent shrug.
"As I said, Miss. Morgan can come with us if she wishes." Damarest reiterates.
Eden looks at Damarest, her expression betraying her obvious internal conflict. Colin and Spyder watch her from the top of the ramp, their expressions both unreadable. Jase puts a hand on her wrist, causing her to flinch before looking back at him. She looks from Jase to Damarest, to Spyder and finally to Colin. Colin replies with a reassuring smile.
"Come on Eden." Jase prods gently. "We're a team. They'll be in LA when we get there. We're not welcome here."
She looks at him, her face looking like she's near tears before she looks back at Damarest. He smiles at her and it looks sincere, rather than like a serial killer measuring a victim for a casket.
"You're welcome here if you desire, child." He replies. "I know that you and Mr. Ingalls crossed a very personal threshold recently. That can confuse your objectivity. If you choose to go with him, I will understand."
Eden recoils from the remark as if she's been smacked.
"You...you know ?" She stammers.
"I do." He replies. "I can't say that it surprises me coming from him and given the emotional strain that you've been under, it makes sense that you would succumb to his disarming charm. It causes me even less surprise that he took advantage of it, and you."
She looks at Jase, who is glaring up the ramp at Colin, who just shrugs at him indifferently in return. He growls something to himself and looks back at Damarest.
"That doesn't change anything." He sneers. "You're all bad for her. I'm protecting her from you."
Damarest replies with a shrug at the attempted barb.
"See it however you like, Mr. Ingalls." He replies. "Your opinion of me is of absolutely no consequence to me whatsoever."
He looks back at Eden.
"As I said, Eden, you are welcome to come with us."
Eden looks from Damarest to Jase and back to Damarest before finally looking down and mumbling her reply.
"I'm going with Jase." She replies meekly.
Damarest replies calmly with an even tone and a simple nod of his head.
"As you wish, Eden." He replies. "If you wish to speak to me or any of us before the press-conference, you know how to reach me."
Jase steps between them, sneering up at Damarest.
"She won't." He replies.
Damarest replies with an indifferent shrug.
"We shall see." He answers, turning and walking back up the stairs to the plane, leaving the seething Jason Ingalls and the very upset Eden Morgan behind him. Jason takes a threatening step towards him when he’s brought up short by Colin's calm, yet stern warning.
"I wouldn't." He says.
Jason stops dead in his tracks and Eden looks up at Colin. She smiles at him meekly. He responds by closing his eyes and shaking his head before he turns and walks back into the plane. Spyder's expressionless face but clearly disappointed eyes are the last thing that Eden sees before the door to the plane is pulled up and clicks closed.
PART 2: WHIRLWIND
LOS ANGELES- PMN HEADQUARTERS
4:30 pm
Zane sits at the table, flanked to his right by David Damarest, with Colin and Spyder at his other side. They’d bee in the new PMN building for about an hour and as much as Zane hated them, he had to admit that they’d done a nice job coming back from watching their home get turned into a smoking rubble pile. The thought of it makes him laugh, drawing an odd look from Pepper Parks. Not that he cares. Pepper always struck him as the typical PMN flunky, a gutless douche…someone with zero spine and zero dignity. He looks over to say something to Damarest when Colin gestures towards the other side of the stage. Zane turns around just in time to catch the buzz in the room that comes when Eden and Jason Ingalls walk into the room. What they don’t see is the moment of tension between Jet and Jase. Zane turns back to Damarest.
"That asshole just makes friends wherever he goes." He growls. "He had to show up here. He claims to be all about Eden, but is nothing more than a parasitic attention whore. I really want to stick one of the metal folding chairs up his ass...sideways...and see how smarmy that smirk is."
Damarest smirks, as does Colin. Spyder sits silently, analyzing something. Knowing him, he was taking in the entire room and doing his typical mental calculations, prioritizing everyone in the room as either a “threat”, a “non threat” or a “potential threat”. It was scary how the man’s mind seemed to work. Damarest breaks his train of thought by tapping on the table next to his hand. Zane blinks his eyes and looks at his teacher.
"Be calm." Damarest says. "We all know that Jase's game plan will be to provoke us as much as he possibly can. Our best plan is to let him hang himself, which he will do if given enough time and opportunity to do so."
Zane smiles and shakes his head in gleeful agreement. Colin smirks and Spyder continues to size up the room, settling his gaze on Ingalls. Zane goes to follow it when he notices Eden smiling at them. He returns the smile while Damarest and Colin both nod their heads politely.
"And let's get down to business," Pepper Phoenix intones, looking between Eden and Zane. "Do either of you have a preference as to who goes first?"
"Champion's first," Eden replies graciously at the same time as Zane leans forward into the mic.
"Ladies first. I insist." He smiles over at Eden and she gives a halfhearted smile in return, looking incredibly queasy all of a sudden.
Pepper turns to her with a snide grin on his face.
"Very well, Eden, we'll be starting with you first. Let's get right down to it, for those of you who are not aware, these questions were provided by the colleagues of Miss Morgan and Mr. Scott, the entertainment professionals we see week in and week out. They are completely anonymous. Eden- first question. Are you ready?"
Pepper Phoenix grins over at her, Eden looking like a rabbit about to run. She nods.
"As ready as I'm gonna be," she half-jokes.
"What would you do...for a Klondike bar?"
Eden looks askance at him. "What?"
"That's the first question, dear. What would you do for a Klondike bar?"
Jason chuckles beside her, the men on the other side a varying degree of eye rolls and head shaking.
"I—wouldn't do anything for one. Not a fan of chocolate and mint. Sorry," Eden shrugs, laughing a little at the silliness of the question. Phoenix tosses the card to the side, moving on to the next.
"Do you like me? Check yes or no." Pepper Phoenix looks at her expectantly. Eden looks gives a short, burst of laughter, looking around as if to say "is he serious?"
"Of course I like you, Pepper. As for the person who asked that...I have no idea, it's anonymous," she shrugs again, flashing the audience a cute smile, which they laugh at. Phoenix tosses another card to the side, moving on.
"Before I ask this next series of questions, I apologize. Remember, this is from your colleagues, not me, but the world wants to know what the world wants to know," Pepper Phoenix gives Eden a smile before clearing his throat. "Over the past year you've been passed around more than a common harlot. Does it burn when you urinate?"
Eden's jaw drops at the question, vaguely conscious of Jason putting his arm around her and giving her shoulder a little squeeze. "Wha—what—eww. Who asks that?"
"Shaved, trimmed, or au natural?"
Eden raises an eyebrow.
"I'm not answering that, Pepper. Sorry," she shakes her head, taking a drink of water from a glass before her.
"Well then maybe Jason Ingalls can answer for us. I hear he would be in a position to know," Pepper says conversationally, many in the crowd gasping in shock. Jason’s hand stills on her shoulder, Eden almost choking on her drink of water.
Pepper looks around in surprise. "Was it something I said? Oh, nevermind. What about you, Zane ? For some reason, someone wanted to ask you too."
Zane glares at Pepper and doesn't immediately respond. Pepper sits there looking at him with the same smirk on his face that he’d directed at Eden. Zane finally answers.
"I'm not answering that either." He growls. "This is a press-conference for a World Title match at the biggest, or at the least the second biggest Pay-Per-View of the year. We shouldn't be wasting our time with stupid nonsense like that. As far as your remark about Ingalls and Eden goes, the next time that you disrespect Eden like that, you’re going to eat the podium for lunch. Understood ?"
Pepper Phoenix stammers for a moment, tugging at his tie as Eden leans around to look at Zane, mouthing a “thank you” at him.
"Ok then." Pepper replies. "How about a question for you then, Zane ?"
"Fine." He says curtly. "As long as it's not stupid."
"Sure." Pepper responds. "Boxers or briefs ?"
Zane raises an eyebrow, less than amused by the question.
"I said; "nothing stupid"." He replies. "THAT was stupid. Next."
Pepper swallows hard at the threat but looks down at his card. He momentarily blanches in response to the next question and quickly looks at Zane.
"I don't know if I should ask this one or not." He stammers.
"Why not ?" Zane replies in annoyance. "It's not like journalistic credibility is of any importance to you. This is just a PMN media shit-show. Why are you suddenly so gun shy ?"
"Because you might kill me if I ask this." Parks stammers in response.
A small smirk forms at the corner of Zane’s mouth, causing Pepper to swallow really hard again. He also appears to be sweating. Ingalls looks at Zane from across the table.
"Who's being a bully now ?" He calls.
Zane glowers at him from across the table and Jet and Travis both shake their heads in the back of the room. Damarest smirks at the question as his scalpel suddenly appears in his hand. Zane looks at it out of the corner of his eye and smirks.
"Keep talking out of turn and find out." He replies.
"You won't do anything." Jase retorts. "You wouldn't want to upset Eden."
Zane shakes his head and looks back up at Pepper.
"I'd like to answer the next question." He says calmly. "Someone won't allow it. He has to be the center of attention or he pouts like an angry child. Someone get him a binky and a teddy bear and maybe he’ll shut up for five seconds and let the adults talk."
Jase's face flashes read in instant anger as a chorus of laughter reverberates through the room. He goes to stand up when Eden puts a hand on his arm, pushing him back down. He looks at her and then glares at Zane before fixing his eyes straight-ahead...right into the amused smirks of both Jet and Travis. It does nothing to improve his mood. Zane looks up at Pepper and gestures for him to continue.
"Ok." He says somewhat fearfully. "Promise that you won't kill me."
"Whatever, Parks." Zane replies in irritation, rolling his eyes at the PMN "Moderator".
"Rumors abound that Carnival the Clown may be posing for Playgirl. Thoughts?"
The question causes everyone at the table to look at Parks in confusion. Zane looks from him to Jet and back again.
"Are you fucking serious ?" He replies. "Give me that damned card."
He stands up and yanks the card out of Parks hand, quickly scanning it. His eyes settle on a question on the card and he mutters “You gotta be shitting me” just loud enough for the mic to hear it. He looks at it one more time before shoving it back into Pepper's violently shaking hands and sitting down.
"Dial it down, Ali." Zane quips with a snide grin, causing a few gasps in the room. "To answer that idiotic question...I don't care. I don't know the guy and couldn’t care less. Besides, if UGWC wanted cheap publicity like that, shouldn't they have asked Allan Wallace ? He'd be happy to do that for cheap publicity. Hell, at worst you could get Reznik to do it. At least he could say that someone gave a shit about him during his career. Next."
Pepper looks down at the card and his knees actually buckle this time.
"Jesus Christ, I'm going to die." He says, forgetting about the live mic. "Someone is trying to get me killed."
Zane and Eden both look at him to continue. He looks from one to the other and swallows again.
"These aren't my words Zane, just keep that in mind." He looks down at the card, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. "Nigga, why you lettin' that sheep fuckin' Viking take Eden's panties off, now that you got her?"
Eden's jaw drops at the asking of the question while Jase’s eyes go wide. Zane visibly face palms at the question while Damarest blinks once before regaining his normal and placid expression. Colin chuckles a little. Spyder remains expressionless; his eyes cold and detached.
"Alright soooo...back to Eden. Next question: Any truth to your nude leaked cell phone pics?"
Eden gasps, somewhat offended. "None at all, do these questions ever get any better?"
Pepper shrugs. "Well I guess that depends on your viewpoint. Sorry, I don't make the questions, I just read what I'm given. Next question: How often do you ‘click the mouse?’"
Eden's brow furrows in confusion. "Click the mouse? Well I guess twice, isn’t that how many times you're supposed to do it to actually make it work? Though sometimes it freezes up and I have to click it a lot—" she cuts off as Jason leans over, whispering in her ear. Her face goes completely crimson and her eyes close. "Just...no. I can't even...can we move on to something else, please?" she groans audibly as numerous chuckles sound around her. Pepper clears his throat.
"Alright, next: Any truth to the rumor you're going to do Playboy over the break? Lot of publicity in that."
Eden shakes her head, an offended look on her face. "Absolutely not."
Pepper looks down to Zane and shuffles through his cards.
"Here's one." He says. "What are your thoughts or feelings regarding the latest gossip relating to Eden and Jason Ingalls?"
Zane’s brow furrows angrily and he sits silently for a moment. Jase pokes his head around the table with a big shit-eating smile on his face.
"Yeah, "Champ"." He says mockingly. "How DO you feel about it ?"
Zane opens his eyes and fixes a death stare on Jase, whose smile momentarily fades before it reasserts itself on his face. It is interrupted again when Eden elbows him in the ribs. He looks down at her and his “What ? It’s a fair question” is vaguely heard. Damarest puts his hand over Zane's microphone and leans forward.
"Come now, Mr. Ingalls." He chides. "I realize that you have the emotional and sexual maturity of a twelve year old boy who is looking at his first pornographic magazine because he has a crush on his teacher and doesn’t know how to deal with the tingly feelings that it’s causing him, but could you act with at least a modicum of dignity for once ?"
The room once again erupts into laughter, including Zane and Colin. Even Spyder manages a mirthless looking smirk at the barb. Jase flushes red with fury and starts to walk around Eden to come at Damarest when Eden stands up and puts a hand on his chest.
"Sit down Jase." She says.
Jase shoots another glare at Damarest and gets a mocking smile in return. Pepper waits for him to sit down and then looks at his cards before breaking into a wide grin.
"Now seems like the prefect time to ask this." He says. "Where do you come off acting like the egotistical dickwad you are?"
The room breaks into laughter at the question, including Jase. Zane sits there silently for a moment and smirks before shrugging.
"Where do I "come off" acting like that ?" He asks. "As the person said, it's who I am."
He punctuates the response with a shrug. Pepper Phoenix swivels to Eden with a smile.
"Which brings us to our next question. Eden...How can you believe a single word that fucker Zane says? He's a manipulative asshole! Apologies, Zane, those are, again, not my words."
Zane replies with an indifferent shrug and an amused smirk.
Eden closes her eyes and breathes heavily, shaking her head. "I haven't found him to be so. How does that satisfy the hungry masses?" she asks, answering her question with a question. Jason snorts beside her, giving her a disbelieving look as Pepper Phoenix grins at her.
"Well I'd say that sets you up for another question, considering many people would think you naïve with that answer. This one hits a little close to home, PMN fans: Care to elaborate on the fact that while you were living under their roof, Jet Somers and Travis Pierce recorded your every move?"
Eden blinks, automatically looking back to the back wall where Jet and Travis had stood just moments before, noticing emptiness. She rolls her eyes. "I don't buy that for a second. Can we please get to some serious questions here?"
Pepper Phoenix shuffles his cards, "Okay, okay...how about this: Do you think a romantic relationship with Jason will complicate other relationships for you?"
Eden stiffens at the question, Jason reaching over to clutch at her hand that rests on top of the table. She looks around, as if struggling with the answer.
"In some ways, it already has. As anyone can plainly see, so I'm not sure that question was really necessary."
She swallows hard, Jason squeezing her hand until she looks at him. He gives her a reassuring smile and she smiles back at him.
Pepper rolls his eyes at the response and looks at Zane.
"Isn't that sweet ?" He says snidely.
Zane glares at him and looks down at his microphone. When he speaks, his tone is icy.
"It's a regular Hallmark Moment." He growls. "Ask the next question."
Pepper looks back at Eden, who nods her head in agreement. Jase sits at her side, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"Okay." Pepper says. "This one asks; "Have you been completely and utterly truthful to Eden ?"
Zane leans forward to answer when Jase interrupts. He leans forward and interjects, staring at Zane in an antagonistic manner for the entire time.
"Let me answer that for him. No. He hasn't been."
Pepper smiles at the response and looks at Jase.
"Ok." He replies. "This press conference isn't for you. I'm intrigued by what you have to say though. It could make this a lot more interesting.'
"No, please. Let's see what the Champ has to say for himself. Let's see how truthful he really is, eh Zane? Think you can do that? Be truthful for once?" Jason gives a faux friendly smile, Eden burying her face in her hands.
Zane breaks into a wide smile, as if it's the opening that he's been waiting for.
"Sure Jase." He replies. "I can be "honest". Here we go."
Jase looks at Zane suspiciously while Eden looks like she wishes that she could be anywhere else. Damarest has a look of curiosity leveled at Zane while both Colin and Spyder look generally indifferent about the exchange.
"Eden, before you lost your memory, you hated my guts. We beat the living hell out of each other, including you going out of your way to break my nose with repeated superkicks. After you lost your memory, I spoke to David and decided to turn a negative into a positive. Sure, I took advantage of your loss of memory. I'm not as stupid as everyone wants to think that I am. You're one hell of an enemy and someone who I'd much rather have as an ally. We make a good team Eden and I see no reason to ruin that. There are, after all, so many times that one can take being kicked in the nose. Since then, I've been completely up front with you about everything. Jason can't say that. Can you, Jase ?"
Zane looks at Jase and grins. Damarest and Colin are both smiling as well and even Spyder has a slight smirk on his face.
Jason's jaw flexes as he stares daggers at Zane, his tone, when it comes, almost syrupy in its sweetness. "Of course I can. I've been nothing if not completely honest with Edie. She deserves only that."
Eden closes her eyes and then opens them, looking back and forth between Zane and Jason.
"Can this not always be about me? Because it's getting tiring."
"Sure Eden." Zane replies. "I'm happy to talk about our upcoming match. We could keep this about our match if "Captain Sincerity" over there could keep his mouth shut for a few minutes and stop interrupting. Can you do that, "Mr. Honesty, Paragon of Selflessness" ?"
Jason leans up, a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Of course I can. I would do anything to ensure Eden’s happiness," he finishes pointedly, squeezing Eden's hand reassuringly.
Zane grins and looks at Pepper.
"That's sweet, Pepper." He says. "Isn't that sweet ? Now, please continue with the questions."
Pepper looks at him and shakes his head and then looks down at his cards. A genuine smile spreads across his face.
"I have two questions for both of you." He says. "Zane, you will answer, then Eden. Handle the second question the same way."
Jase interjects from the other end of the table.
"Do you think that you can handle that Champ, or do you need Damarest and those two overrated has been's to explain it to you in crayon or with an Etch-A-Sketch ?"
A collective gasp goes up across the room. Eden reacts by elbowing him in the ribs and Pepper looks at Zane like he's expecting him to come across the table and kill the mouthy UGWC Trainer. Both Colin and Damarest shake their heads at the insult. For his part Zane just shakes his head and smiles.
"I can handle it, Jase." He says. "Thanks for pitching in though. I'm going to make a couple of requests of you though, just so we can get through this without you ending up in traction."
The answer causes an uncomfortable chuckle to reverberate through the room and draws amused smirks from Damarest, Colin and even Spyder while earning a face palm and a groan from Eden. Jase smirks at Zane and responds in as sarcastic a voice as he can manage.
"Sure Champ." He retorts. "If it hurts your feelings that badly to hear what everyone thinks of you, I can stop before you start crying."
Zane rolls his eyes at the response and looks out at the audience.
"I'm sorry for his behavior, folks. Does anyone have a diaper handy ? Baby needs a change." He says, showing more control and savvy than anyone thinks that he’s capable of. "Jase, could you kindly keep the interruptions to a dull roar ? I know that you don't want to believe this, but this isn't about you. It's about Eden, who you claim to care about. Do us all a favor for her and shut that cesspool that's attached to your face. Let the adults have their time. We can get the crayons out for you when we’re done."
Jase starts to open his mouth again, Eden whipping around in her chair furiously to face him. She covers her mic and scoots her chair back somewhat, the audience unable to hear her words as she hisses furiously at him, the look on her face leaving little doubt as to her feelings on the matter. Jase appears to try to say something, but each time he opens his mouth, she holds up a hand, her face completely serious. Finally, Jase closes his mouth, turning in his chair and scooting back up to the table. Eden watches him warily as he leans into the mic, his voice gruff.
"Fine," he utters the one word, his voice clipped, before moving away from the mic.
"This is going to be a long afternoon." He thinks to himself. "I'm sure that I'll get hit with more stupid questions as I go, too. That's ok though. This is as much about what I present them with as it is about what I say. I need to get everyone in this room, Eden included to see what I want them to see going into Horizons. If I can do that, I'll go into the World Title match with an advantage that they don't even know that I have. I can also keep turning the screws on Jase, which is enough reason to bear with this bullshit for however long it goes."
PART 3: HUBRIS
Later On: PMN HQ
8:00 pm
He walked the hall of OMN Headquarters, running through the interview in his mind. It wasn't his first rodeo by any means, he'd been through a lot of them in his time and some of them had been a lot more contentious than that one. All of the players had played their parts well, trying to present their adversaries with the idea of them that worked the most to their benefit. The idea of that made him smile a little. The business had changed a lot in some ways, but that was not one of them. Pomposity and arrogance still reigned, petty politics and how one navigated them were still an integral part of the business and there were people involved in it that was in way over their heads. Plus, just like the old days, they couldn’t see that fact. Or chose not to.
It was a minor distinction in the long term.
He turned the corner, still lost in thought and felt something smack into his chest, jarring him out of his thoughts. He looked down to see who or what it was.
"Watch where you're going." Jason Ingalls spits angrily before noticing who it is, at which point a big smile spreads across his face.
"Well, if it isn't not the overrated old man that helps clean up after Zane." He says snidely.
Colin Zale looks down at the mouthy UGWC Head Trainer with an expression of mild amusement on his face. The man barely rated as an annoyance, no matter how hard he tried to be. Raine Austin had been more annoying during the PPW days and he was barely more than the punch line to a very poorly written booking joke. Ingalls would be lucky to be given the honor of being placed in even that exulted a category. He noted with great amusement that the man’s pupils were expanded and his face looked rather florid. The two legged “drop kick” dog was trying to be tough.
How novel.
"Good evening Jase." He responds with mild amusement in his voice.
The depth of red in Jason Ingalls’ face deepens and a vein throbs in his forehead.
"How amusing" the PPW Legend thinks to himself.
"You don't get to call my by my first name !" He practically spits with anger thick in his voice as he thrusts a finger into Colin’s face. "Only my friends get to call me by that name !!"
A crooked smirk forms on the corner of Colin's mouth at the opening.
"You must not hear it that often then." He replies. "Only from gullible girls after you con your way into their pants."
Ingalls responds to the remark by clenching his teeth as his face turns purple with rage. He stands there for a moment fuming before responding.
"Listen to me you arrogant ass," Ingalls fumes. "I don't care what you did back in the Paleolithic era of wrestling. You're nothing more than a glorified dog trainer now and you’re pretty lousy at it if you ask me."
"It's a pity for you that I didn't ask you." Colin replies calmly. "I understand that you think that the world revolves around you, in spite of the fact that you are nothing more than a glorified masseur. Allow me to give you a little bit of advice, kid."
He watches as Ingalls’ hand balls up into a fist and then thrusts down to his side. His teeth stay clenched together.
"What the hell could an old prick like you possibly teach me ?" He demands angrily.
Colin stands silently for a moment, his posture completely relaxed. He angles his head slightly to the right before looking down so that the two of them are nose to nose and he is looking directly into Jason's eyes.
"Think about that wording." He replies calmly. "I didn't get to be an "old prick" by not surviving being what you currently are, a "young prick". In that time I learned that there are times that it is wise to check my ego at the door and learn from those who have more experience than I do. It is a lesson that you would do well to learn before some "old prick" disavows you of the chance to be one of us some day."
Jase gives a little laugh, some of his anger leaving him. He turns away and then turns back to Colin, waving a hand at him.
"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. Let me save you some time: it won't work. Eden told me all about you and your better half's "intervention" the other day. And now you want to act like you can give me advice or just help me out? Bullshit! Now fuck off back to your owners, I have shit to do. Like get Eden away from those pricks in that room before they brainwash her even more."
Colin smiles in response to the remark of the impudent young trainer.
"Make no mistake Ingalls." He replies. "I like you, and neither does Jim. We would both be happy to see you get your face kicked in. You have a lot more bravado than you have any right to have and don’t know when to shut up. The only thing that we like even less than that is that you continually pretend to be such a good hearted guy. You’re a lie, Ingalls. You’re no better than Jet Somers. Eventually Eden will figure that out. In the meantime, be careful how often you open your mouth around me. Eventually the outcome might be rather unpleasant for you."
He pauses for a moment.
"That advice is better than you deserve." He states plainly. "Even though you are too stupid and self righteous to take it."
Ingalls lashes out before he can control his reflexes, his anger momentarily overcoming him. Fortunately for him the punch never had any chance of landing, as Colin had started moving as soon as Ingalls went into motion. The punch misses by an embarrassing margin, causing him to spin around and slam face first into another chest as the punch goes flying past the arm that is attached to that body. He looks up and notices the person that he just came perilously close to striking. The look that he gets in return is icy at best and menacing at worst.
It belongs to "The Mountain", the "Silent Destroyer" known as James Spyder.
He looks down at Ingalls with icy loathing and speaks in a tone that while quiet also expresses just as much loathing for Ingalls.
"It's easier to be tough with, intimidate and bully teenage girls." He states in a quiet voice. "You seem to lose your balls when you come up against someone who will hit back."
He looks up into Spyder's face with a hateful sneer on his.
"I took a swing at your boyfriend, didn't I ?" He retorts.
"Your bravado momentarily over powered what little intelligence you possess." The silent killer replies emotionlessly. "And then follow it up with a homophobic joke. How classy."
"What are you going to do now ?" Ingalls retorts hotly. "Act like tough guys and take advantage of your numerical superiority ?"
Spyder responds with a cold and chilling smile, following it with a laugh that is equally chilling.
"No." He replies. "We don’t need to pick on those the vulnerable to feel like men. Run along boy. Your time will come. There’s no need to hasten the inevitable."
Ingalls glares as Spyder for a moment before the walking colossus just steps to the side and gestures down the hallway. Colin lets out a short chuckle but does nothing. Ingalls looks at the two suspiciously before stepping past Spyder and beginning his walk down the hall.
"We'll be watching you." Colin tells him.
"Sooner or later Ingalls." Spyder follows. "Everyone will see what we do."
Ingalls responds by lifting up his left hand and giving both men the finger. Both men respond with a smile before Colin looks at Spyder.
"He's going to be trouble at Horizons." He says.
Spyder responds with a dangerous laugh and a look of vicious pleasure in his eyes.
"I'm looking forward to it." He replies.
2013, '18, '23 
2013 
