Post by Zane on Aug 22, 2015 18:39:12 GMT -5
Wednesday night.
The music blares from the stage and fills the room in the small venue. The five men on the stage all play their roles as they construct and execute the deafening sonic assault that has the mosh pit in the middle of the small venue raging. Bodies fly back and forth, with people of all sizes, shapes and ages pummeling each other as violently as the music is doing to them. Some shove, others thrash, there are elbows thrown, kicks launched and the non-stop impact of multiple bodies as they repeatedly slam into and off of each other before moving on to someone else. In the midst of this both sweat and blood fly as the people in the small, tight tornado of apparent self-destruction let out their anger and aggressions on each other in a ritual of brotherhood that strikes most as being pointlessly violent, but to them was a bonding ritual of pain set to music.
UGWC Creative Director Travis Pierce steps through the double doors into the small, hot and extremely cramped room and scans it to be best of his ability considering the almost nonexistent lighting. He turns to his left and winces at the sound of the music and shakes his head in disgust. He stands and watches it for a few moments as the long haired giant on the stage growls into the microphone in a tone that alternates from guttural to screeching and back again while his black hair flails back and forth with each violent shake of his head. The four men around him spasm in jerk in similar ways as they let the music that they play talk to and direct them.
Pierce shakes his head again and looks around the room.
“I can’t believe that I accepted this.” He says to himself. “He’s doing this just to screw with me.”
He finally spots the person he was looking for and begins to walk towards him. Zane Scott stands in front of a railing with an open beer in his hand and headbangs along with the music. (Yes, people without hair can headbang. The action is about the music, not the hair). He begins to walk towards him, moving his way through the crowd of those who are watching and drinking but are not interested in getting their faces smashed in inside the pit. He pushes past a few people unnoticed before he bumps into the side of a large man with spiky hair while he tries to pass him. The man stops moving along with the music and looks down at him. He stares stupidly at him for a moment and then rubs his eyes.
“I must be drunker than I think I am.” He rumbles in a deep voice. “You can’t be here in a white button down shirt and khakis.”
Pierce looks down at his outfit and up at the slightly larger man.
“What ?” He says. “I was told to meet someone at a concert. This is acceptable attire for a concert.”
The man raises an eyebrow at him and then throws back his head and laughs. He slaps a frying pain sized hand down onto Pierce’s shoulder, which almost drives him to one knee before he gets his balance back.
“A word of advice.” The man says. “Go to the merch table and get yourself a shirt. Some of the less...mature...in this audience might take exception to your clothes and try to kick your ass for it.”
Pierce looks at the man and nods.
“Thanks.” He replies. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“No problem.” The man replies with a smile. “And try to have fun. You look like you’re being tortured.”
“Something like that.” Pierce replies. “I’ll try to enjoy it though. The person that invited me didn’t tell me that it was a metal show.”
The man chuckles again and takes a drink from his beer.
“You’ve been had, my friend.” He replies. “You’re dressed for jazz and got Cannibal Corpse instead”.
“Cannibal what ?” Pierce replies with a confused look.
“Cannibal Corpse.” The man replies.
Pierce raises a slightly irked eyebrow.
“Riiiiight.” He replies. “Cannibal...”
“Corpse.” The man replies.
“Yeah.” Pierce answers. “That.”
The man slaps his massive hand down onto Pierce’s shoulder again.
“Well man,” He says with a smile. “Have a good time !”
Pierce nods his head and turns from the man. He takes a couple of steps past him and shakes his head.
“It’s amazing what passes for music these days.” He mutters to himself.
He weaves his way through a few other people and finally gets to Zane, who is headbanging with great enthusiasm. He stops and shakes his head.
“That explains a lot.” He says to himself.
Zane raises his left hand and promptly extends his middle finger into Pierce’s face.
“I heard that.” He says without stopping.
Pierce raises a doubtful eyebrow at him.
“How is that even possible ?” He asks. “How could you possibly hear me above this...noise.”
Zane stops headbanging, turns his head and looks at Pierce with a cold glare.
“It’s not ‘noise’.” He replies. “It’s Metal. If you’re that much of a pussy, go get some earplugs from the merch table.”
Pierce turns and looks past him towards the far side of the room where he sees a small group of people bunched together in front of a folding table. Zane looks him up and down and smiles.
“You’re a little overdressed.” He says. “This is ‘Cannibal Corpse’, not ‘Brubeck in the Park’.”
Pierce smiles snidely at him.
“You said to meet you at a concert.” He replies. “You didn’t say that it was...this.”
He gestures towards the stage while George “Corpsgrinder” Fisher continues to growl and howl into the mic along with the thunderous and punishing music that accompanies him courtesy of drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, bassist Alex Webster and guitarists Rob Barrett and Pat O’Brien. Zane’s cold grin changes into a genuine smile.
“It’s good to expand your horizons now and then, Pierce.” He reples.
“Yes...but this ?” He replies disgustedly.
Zane shakes his head and rolls his eyes before his gaze settles on Pierce again.
“You can’t listen to ‘Nickleback’ and ‘The Backstreet Boys’ for your entire life.” He replies. “You need to grow a set at some point, since Eden still has yours. This’ll help. Besides, ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ is a classic.”
Pierce glares at Zane for the ‘Eden’ remark but doesn’t say anything in response.
“Why did you invite me here, Zane ?” He asks.
Zane takes a drink from his beer and looks at Pierce.
“We’re on the same team at ‘Outlast’.” He replies. “As team captain I figured that this would be a good way to bond a little.”
Pierce replies to Zane’s remark with a skeptical expression.
“You hate me.” He replies.
“Yup.” Zane answers without pause. “You’re a pretentious, arrogant, manipulative and holier than thou prick. You’re also a good wrestler and if our team is going to win, we need to make some effort to get along.”
Pierce answers Zane’s reply as if he’s been slapped, his expression is completely dumbfounded.
“Who are you ?” He replies. “And what did you do with Zane ?”
Zane rolls his eyes again.
“Yes Pierce.” He says tiredly. “I’m a big, stupid oaf who is incapable of thinking. I get the line. It’s old and tired, much like your ‘Piercing Truth’ shit.”
This time Pierce laughs.
“Well, the truth hurts, Zane.” He replies.
Zane replies with another eye roll.
“How droll.” He replies. “Please, for once in your life try to be creative. Sometimes I think you have someone feeding you ideas. It’s hard to believe that anyone is as bland as you are.”
Pierce shrugs.
“David Damarest.” He replies.
Zane looks slightly towards the ceiling, considers the response and then looks back at Pierce.
“Touché.”
The two stand in silence for a moment as “Cannibal Corpse” concludes “Hammer Smashed Face”. Pierce’s face takes on a look of relief.
“Momentary silence.” He says with a smile.
It's short lived as “Cannibal Corpse” moves into their next song.
Pierce responds to the new song with a wince, which gets a smile from Zane.
“Cheer up, sally.” He says.
Pierce closes his eyes and rubs his temple.
“I can’t believe that people listen to this.” He says. “Can we get this over with so that I can go home and take a half a bottle of aspirin ?”
“Aspirin ?” He replies. “Just go to the bar and get a drink. I’ll pay for it.”
Pierce rolls his eyes.
“Fine.” He says. “Get me a ‘Mad Elf Ale’.”
Zane responds to the request with a blank stare.
“A what ?” He asks.
“Mad Elf Ale.” He says.
“Try again.” Zane says.
Pierce shakes his head.
“Ok.” He says. “How about a ‘Great Divide Espresso Oak-Aged Yeti’.”
Zane gives him the blank stare again. Pierce shakes his head in annoyance.
“No ?” He says. “What kind of beer do they serve here ?”
“The usual.” Zane says. “Although they do have a couple of specialty ones. There’s the ‘Heady Topper’ from Vermont and the ‘Ommegang’ from western New York.”
“Whichever.” Pierce replies.
“Ok.” Zane answers. “Bud it is.”
Pierce opens his mouth to answer back, but Zane has already walked away to the bar. He shakes his head in resignation.
“Fine.” Pierce says to no one.
Pierce watches and winces as “Cannibal Corpse” launches into “Disposal of the Body”. He only has a couple of minutes to stand and suffer when Zane walks back over and holds out a can to him. Pierce takes it suspiciously. He goes to look at it but Zane stops him.
“Drink first.” He says.
“What ?” Pierce asks.
“Drink...first.” Zane says slowly..”
“I know what Bud tastes like.”
Zane shakes his head.
“For once shut your mouth and do something other than run your piss flaps.” He says. “You might be surprised what can happen.”
Pierce raises a suspicious eyebrow at Zane, who holds his own beer up.
“Cheers, asshole.” He says with a grin.
The two men knock their beer cans together and take long drinks. Pierce lowers his head after taking his and looks at Zane with a surprised smile.
“This isn’t Bud.” He says. “What is this ? It’s good.”
“It’s ‘Headdy Topper’.” Zane replies.
Pierce takes another drink.
“I was expecting you to pull a fast one on me.” He explains.
Zane shrugs in response.
“No.” He says. “Although I do think that you’re pulling a ‘fast one’ on everyone else by entering yourself into ‘Outlast’. You’re the ‘Creative Director’…an office goof. Did you do this because Jet laughed at you when you talked about being in the ring again, or are you doing this because you want to back door your way to a World Championship that you have to right to ?”
Pierce almost spits out his mouthful of beer and very audibly coughs. Zane takes the opening for the free shot and smacks him on the back really hard, which causes him to momentarily lose his balance and spill some of his beer onto the back of a very large and very unfriendly looking man in a sleeveless ‘Deicide’ shirt. The man stiffens up at the feeling of the cold beer down his back and turns around. He looks at Zane, who shakes his head and then looks at Pierce. The man looks Zane up and down and apparently decides that it wasn’t him then turns to Pierce.
“Why’d you spill beer on me ?” He grunts.
“It was an accident.” Pierce replies. “He slapped me on the back when I was choking and I lost my balance.”
The man looks at him suspiciously.
“That doesn’t mean that you had to spill beer on me.” He replies, drawing a snicker from Zane.
Pierce shoots Zane a dirty look and then looks back at the angry and inebriated wall of muscle that’s standing in front him. The man looks down at Pierce and speaks again.
“We can settle this two way.” He says, causing Pierce to blink at the smell of his breath.
Zane takes a half step back and sips his beer with a smirk on his face.
“What are they ?” Pierce asks. “Not that I really want to know.”
The man holds up a finger.
“One.” He says, with a slight forward sway. “I can drag your skinny ass outside and beat it into the parking lot.”
“Or.” Pierce says.
“Or.” He says, as he holds up three more fingers. “Two.”
Pierce holds up a hand to correct him before thinking better of it.
“Never mind.”
“What’s option two, sir ?” Zane prods from behind Pierce.
Pierce turns and shoots him a dirty look over his shoulder. The drunken mountain sways forward again and nearly falls over onto Pierce before somehow regaining his footing.
“Two.” He says, while still holding up four fingers. “Is that we can both go into the mosh pit.”
“How about three ?” Pierce asks, snidely holding up two fingers.
The drunk man tried to count them after squinting at Pierce’s fingers with great difficulty.
“Are you sure that’s three ?” He asks.
“I’m positive.” Pierce replies as Zane stifles a laugh from behind him.
“Ok.” The man replies with a loud and drunken belch.
Pierce’s eyes nearly cross at the odor of it before he waves his hand in front of his face.
“What’s option three, Trav ?” Zane prompts from behind, putting extra stress on “Trav”.
The man stares at him in confusion for a moment.
“Yeah.” He says. “You never told me number three.”
“That’s easy.” Pierce says. “You can finish your beer, I can buy you another one and we can just enjoy the...music.”
The man squints his eyes again as if he’s staring into the sun.
“Ok.” He finally says with a rather pronounced sway. “You can buy me another one, but we’re going into the pit afterward.”
Pierce closes his eyes.
“I’d rather not.” He says.
Zane puts a hand on his middle of his back.
“Come on Trav.” He says, yet again putting extra emphasis on the first part of Pierce’s name. “It’ll be fun. You can’t go to your first metal show without moshing. It’s just not right.”
Pierce looks at Zane over his shoulder.
“Zane, I really don’t think...”
He doesn’t get the chance to finish as Zane gives him a good shove and sends him stumbling forward. He bounces off of a few people, who shove him into the pit as the drunken mountain follows him and wades in with fists and arms flying. Zane leans back and takes another drink from his beer.
“Have fun, asshole.” He says with a smile as “Pounded into Dust” begins to blare throughout the venue.
Thursday afternoon
Syndicate HQ
“You took him to a ‘Cannibal Corpse’ show ?” Bryson says with a sideways grin as he looks at Zane.
Zane replies with a smile.
“Yup.”
Bryson, Killian and “Vain” all laugh at his response. Eden just sits in her chair, a smugly amused expression aimed at Zane. He catches her eye, turns his head slightly and smiles.
“Yes Eden ?” He asks.
She shrugs.
“I was just thinking that if I’d done it that I'd have done something more direct." She explains with a smirk. "He’d have known his place by the end of the night.”
Zane shrugs in response to her as Bryson, Killian and “Vain” all shake their heads.
“Let it go, Eden.” Bryson warns her.
“Or what ?” She challenges. “You both backed me into a corner and look what happened.”
Killian looks at her.
“Aye lass.” He responds. “You made your point at the expense of both Zane and ‘The Syndicate’.”
She shrugs indifferently.
“I only had one use for the Co-Operative Championships, and that was to get my one step closer to "Grand Slam" status. Their loss is no real pain.” She answers.
This time “Vain” smiles.
“Ah the shallowness of the inexperienced.” He replies. “You’re worried about the “Grand Slam” when the Greatest World Champion in UGWC history sits before you.”
He pauses for a moment and looks at Zane.
“No offense, Zane.” He says.
“None taken.” Zane replies with a shrug.
Eden grins and nods her head.
“We'll see, Alan." She answers. “For now I want to help you keep the Championship. Zane wants to take it from you."
"Vain" shrugs.
"Arrogance Personified" welcomes all challenges." He replies with a shrug. "He wouldn't have teamed with 'The Personification of Pain' if he'd felt that his desire for greatness was any weaker than the World Champion's. It is no more personal to "The Vain Lord" than it is to Mr. Scott."
Zane nods his head and smiles at "Vain".
"Alan gets it, Eden." He replies. "If you're going to take the Championship, it should be taken from the greatest Champion that this company has seen. Besides, we all know that your desire to keep the belt on Alan is completely selfish, and that's fine. Just stop acting like you're somehow better than me because of it, because that's bullshit and we all know it."
He grins mockingly at her.
"Besides, you're still two championships behind me if the "Grand Slam" is so important to you." He says. "If you did it, you'd join illustrious company with JK. It's a match made in heaven."
Eden rolls her eyes and looks back at Zane.
“Your desire for 'redemption' is childish. Besides, Alan hasn’t even matched my reigns yet." She says to him, then smiles snidely. "I’ll make you a friendly bet.”
Zane looks at her with an amused grin.
“What is that Eden ?” He asks.
She stands up and walks over to him and bends over at him in front of his seat. She runs a finger across his chin and smiles arrogantly at him.
“My reign will last longer than a week.” She says snidely.
The smile stays on Zane’s face but his eyes darken. His hand shoots up and grabs Eden by the throat. She struggles against him as he puts her face to face with him. Killian and “Vain” leap up to intercede when Bryson holds a hand up to stop them.
“Hold on for a moment, gentlemen.” He says. “She’s had this coming for a while.”
Both men freeze but keep their eyes on the tense situation. Eden struggles against Zane but can’t break his grip. As she does so a cold, merciless smile spreads across his face.
“You’re right Eden.” He says. “I lost the World Heavyweight Championship in a week. That’s a statement of historical fact. It’s nice that everyone likes to remind me of it as if it’s something that I’d forget. The thing about it is that I won’t forget it. Not ever. It’s always front and center in my mind. It’s there every day, every hour and every minute of my life. It’s bad enough that I have to take that hypocritical shit from morons like vonKnorre, who held the title for longer than I did but never defended it and then quit like a bitch when he lost it to Alan in his first and only defense.”
Zane pauses but doesn’t relinquish his grip.
“It’s bad enough that I have to take it from failures like Martin Graber, a man that hasn’t done shit of any merit since getting here.” He continues. “Sure, he carried Rydell to the Co-Operative Championships and an uninspiring reign, but hasn’t done shit otherwise. He spent the last decade of his life pretending to be someone else because he hates the fact that he’s a failure and then when he finally got a chance to face down his personal Achilles heel, Alan Wallace do you know what he did.”
His smile widens.
“He did the same thing that you’re doing now.” He says.
Eden continues to struggle against him as her face starts to turn slightly purple.
“But he didn’t do it once.” He continues. “He didn’t do it twice…he did it three times and every time he got another chance and he’s getting another one now. So if you want to stand here and mock me because I lost the title in a week and then never got another shot at it, go ahead and do it. Get something straight though, I’m going to win it again and I’m going to hold it for longer than anyone else ever has.”
He suddenly relinquishes his grip on her, Eden stumbling. Her eyes narrow at him as she rubs her throat.
“Now, if you’re ready to act like an adult instead of a selfish brat, we have to plan for ‘Outlast’.” He says. "My desire to 'redeem' myself may be 'childish' to you, but at least I can see my faults. You never hold yourself responsible for anything Eden. Which of those behaviors is the more 'childish' one ?"
He pauses for a moment.
“And for the historical record, what Alan has done in one reign.” He says with a grin. “It took you three to do...combined. Besides, he only needs another seven days to match you and eight to surpass you. If I were you, I wouldn’t be so quick to throw that barb out.”
Eden goes to speak, but Bryson holds his hand up and glares at her, silencing her impending response.
"Save it, Eden." He replies sternly. "You always have a flippant answer for everything. For once in your young life, just shut up."
She stands up and evens her expensive outfit and actually smiles, not outwardly acknowledging Bryson's admonishment.
“It’s about time that you show that fight again.” She says. “You’ve gotten a bit indolent lately.”
Killian and “Vain” watch them carefully as they sit back down. Zane looks at her.
“Yes.” He replies. “And thank you very much for waking me up by leaving me high and dry last week.”
She nods her head and smiles.
“You’re welcome.” She replies. “You put me in a bad spot and I needed to make a point. It seems that my point got your attention in more than just one way.”
Zane nods his head.
“It did.” He replies. “Thank you. I appreciate you waking me back up. I’m sure that Chaos and Jet would like to thank you, too. From what I was told, Chaos threw quite the hissy fit when he got backstage afterward. Maybe someone should have kept that disgusting cat he had in Brazil. He could pet it and feel better. He’s certainly not getting pussy any other way.”
Bryson interjects while Killian and “Vain” applaud Zane’s reference to laying out Chaos and Jet.
“How did it ‘wake you up’, Zane ?” He asks.
Zane turns and looks at Bryson.
“It’s really simple.” He replies. “When I was in there getting my teeth kicked in after Eden left me, a funny thing happened. They kept knocking me down, ganging up on me and singling me out because I was alone. I took a vicious beating from ten other men at various points in the night and I kept getting back up again and in the process of that something in me clicked.”
Bryson nods his head.
“That something was ?” He asks.
“I remembered how much I fucking enjoy pain.” He replies. “I’ve made so much effort in controlling my violent side and its cost me. I’ve become too predictable.”
Killian, “Vain” and Bryson all smile at the remark. Eden nods her head.
“So what does that mean for ‘Outlast’ ?” Eden asks.
Zane turns his head and looks at her.
“Remember what happened when you superkicked me seven times in one match ?” He replies with a sick grin.
Eden involuntarily shudders in response to the question. "Vain", Killian and Bryson all smile.
"Gotcha." She replies.
Killian grins at her and then looks at Zane.
“What about Graber, lad ?” Killian asks.
Zane turns and looks at him.
“Since Graber chose to align himself with Klaus in an exclusive club of people that can’t beat Alan, I figured that he’ll have plenty of time on his hands. It’s obvious that Alan has grown tired of beating the two of them and has moved on, and who can blame him ?”
“Vain” smiles and nods his head.
“Yes.” He replies. “The Vain One” needs new competition. Graber and Klaus are dull.”
“Truer words may never have been spoken.” Zane replies.
Bryson nods.
“That doesn’t mean that they’ll go away.” Killian adds. “We know better than that. Klaus left and came back once.”
Zane laughs in response.
“I have something special for Graber with that in mind. We know that Klaus will leave him high and dry eventually.” He explains. “Until that time, or until Klaus throws another hissy fit and quits again, I have a special delivery for Graber at ‘Outlast’.”
The four other members of “The Syndicate” look at him curiously.
“Care to share?" Eden asks simply.
Zane looks at her.
“You’ll see.” He replies with a wicked smile.
Eden nods again.
“What about his godson ?” Bryson asks. “And why is your vandalized car out in my parking lot ?”
Zane smirks mischievously.
“I have my reasons.” He replies. “Beyond the police report and the insurance claim.”
Bryson’s face takes on a curious expression but nods his head.
“Very well.” He says. “I look forward to seeing what you have in mind.”
“You will.” Zane replies. “And Larry is going to find out that he needs to consider his actions more carefully.”
“Vain” smiles and laughs a deep and mocking laugh.
“That child made a mistake by vandalizing your car.” He replies. “The Sexiest Man Alive’ has a feeling that he’s going to be painfully made to regret it…beyond making him your personal bitch last week.”
Zane laughs in response.
“That was fun.” He replies. “That point aside, there’s no hard feelings towards the kid. I did what I did to Larry to teach Graber and his worthless godson that their shenanigans will have consequences. It’s not so much fun for Larry when I’m handing him his head or for Graber when he has to watch me do it and knows that it’s entirely his fault.”
Killian stands up and walks to the mini-bar. Nottingham waves him back to his chair and rolls his eyes.
“Sit down so we can this over with. I'll get the damned drink.” He says.
“Fix one for yourself.” Killian replies to which he receives another eyeroll.
"Yes, because that thought never crossed my bloody mind." the recalcitrant man replies as he begins preparing two drinks.
“Vain” casts a thoughtful gaze at Zane.
“What if Graber, or Graber and his new best friend come after you.” He asks.
Zane shrugs indifferently.
“Two can play at their “childish barb” games.” Zane answers. “I consider the issue dead though. If they want to continue it, that’s on them.”
Bryson stands up from behind his desk and presses a button on it. An expensive wall flat panel television is revealed and it comes glowing to life. Bryson hits a button and the faces of Seito Risa, Barnes, Dirge and Forewell Boding appear on the screen. All three “Syndicate” members face the TV.
“They are the first concern for you.” Bryson says. “If you don’t get past them, the rest is academic.”
All three team members nod their heads. Bryson continues.
“Alan, Zane, you two know Dirge extremely well.” He says. “Even in his current state, which is somewhat thanks to you, Eden, you’ll still have some idea of what he’ll do. Plan accordingly. I expect that he’ll try to beat you two into submission with naked violence before he turns on you, Eden and tries to choke you out. I don’t think that he’s ever forgotten that tap out that you liked to remind him of so often.”
“I don’t think he has either.” Eden practically purrs. “I’ll be sure to keep that in the front of his mind.”
“Vain” looks at the screen and smiles.
“Having worked with Robert in ‘The Puppet Masters’, he is far cry from that man.” He says. “He’s said himself that he doesn’t know when he’s going to snap. You should do everything possible to help that happen.”
Bryson nods his head approvingly.
“Excellent observation.” He says with an appreciative nod.
Eden suddenly reaches into her pocket and pulls her phone out. She listens to the voicemail on it and then puts it away.
“Can we make this quick ?” She says. “I have an appointment with Hugh.”
Killian, “Vain” and Zane all cast irritated looks at her while Bryson smiles dangerously.
“You’ll leave when we’re finished.” He replies. “You boy toy can and will wait.”
Eden glares at him in reply before smiling at her teammates.
“As long as it doesn’t take too long.”
The second the phrase is out of her mouth she knows that she’s misspoken by the wicked grin on Killian’s face.
“I bet Hugh hears that a lot.” He remarks. “Right along with ‘is it in yet’.”
“Vain” and Zane both laugh at the joke as Bryson shakes his head and tries badly to hide a smile. Eden replies by flipping Killian the bird. He nods in return.
“You’re welcome, love.” He replies.
Bryson clears his throat.
“Back on task.” He says. “Alan’s idea about pushing Dirge to snap has merit. We should use that.”
Zane looks at him and smiles.
“We could kill two birds with one stone that way.” He replies with a devilish smile.
Bryson looks at him and gestures for him to continue. Killian looks at Zane and smiles.
“I think I know where you’re going with this, lad.” He says. “Mind if I step in ?”
Zane gestures for him to continue.
“Thank you. You’re a gentleman and a scholar.”
Zane does a seated bow while Eden chokes back a laugh. “Vain” just shakes his head at her. Killian and Zane both ignore her as Killian continues.
“Dirge has said that he never knows when he’s going to snap.” He explains. “We got saddled with Pierce for this show.”
“Nice one, Zane.” Eden interrupts.
Bryson glares down at her and she smiles back at him.
“Silence.” He says before looking back at Killian. “Please continue.”
Killian bows in response.
“Thank you.” He continues. “As I was saying, before the young lass interrupted me, Dirge is unhinged and Pierce is an unwelcome intrusion into our team. We could remove two birds with one stone and weaken an already fractious team by setting Dirge off so that he goes after his own team. He could eliminate a couple of them and we could sacrifice Pierce at the same time.”
Eden jumps in, smelling blood.
“How do you propose to do that ?” She interjects rudely.
Zane looks at her with a positively evil smile.
“You’re going to do it more than we are.” He says.
“The hell I am.” She replies.
All four men smile at her.
“All of a sudden I hate all of you a lot more than I already did.”
Killian stands up and walks over towards her. He walks behind her chair and puts his hands on her shoulders.
“It’s very simple, love.” He says. “You’re going to play up what little affection that you may have left for Pierce. If there isn’t any, fake it. It’ll stir something in him, we can use that to set Dirge off and then when the time is right we’ll make sure that Pierce is standing in front of him.”
Zane nods his head while “Vain” and Bryson both smile.
“Exactly.” Zane says as he rubs his hands together fiendishly.
Bryson nods his head appreciatively.
“Good.” He replies. “We have a plan for that. What about Barnes ?”
All four members of ‘The Syndicate’ shrug at him.
“I don’t know the ‘Barnes’ guy.” Zane says. “But he looks to me like he’s similar to Dirge. He’s not nuts like Dirge is, but he’s angry and obsessive. We can certainly use that against him. He wants redemption for something that happened years ago. If we team up on him enough, he could also lose it. We could direct him and Dirge on each other. I’ve heard rumors that the two of them have an unpleasant history that focuses around Colin Zale. We should find some way to use that.”
Bryson nods.
“Noted.” He replies with a smile. “I’ll have my people look into it.”
“We can also use the fact that this team has no real cohesion to it. They’ve never teamed before.” Killain adds. “Our history speaks for itself, even with this past week’s unpleasantness.”
“Vain” nods and smiles.
“Everyone is expecting that to be an issue.” He says. “We can use that too.”
“Aye.” Killian replies, accepting his drink from Nottingham. “We can certainly play it up a little bit. Misdirection is a great weapon.”
Bryson puts a hand to his mouth in thought.
“Zane, I think you need to consider that Miss Risa is going to become a thorn in your side.” He says. “Not that I don’t think that you can handle her, but after last week it’s clear to me that she has a desire to oppose you at every opportunity. I expect her to be more of a problem for you as well, Eden.”
Zane smiles a cruel smile.
“That happens when you can’t beat someone.” He replies.
“She beat you a couple of weeks ago.” Eden interjects with a grin.
Killian and Vain both wince at the remark and look at Zane as if they’re expecting him to leap out of his seat and come after her again. Bryson doesn’t outwardly react, he just shifts his gaze from Zane to Eden and back again. Zane shrugs and chuckles.
“I beat myself in that match.” He replies. “You know it, I know it and most importantly...Risa knows it. Even if she wants to hide behind that weak "survival" excuse. She’s not going to be that lucky next time. Besides, she’s distracting herself by focusing too much on Alan and redeeming Dirge. I can use those against her.”
Eden shrugs but the smile stays in place.
“We’ll see.” She replies with mock sweetness.
Zane nods his head.
“Indeed we will.” He replies with a sick grin.
“Vain” and Killian sit back down. “Vain” speaks first.
“Vain” isn’t concerned about your abilities to beat that team, or any team on the merits of your own talents both individually and as a team.” He says. “Vain” wonders what has been considered about the other teams.”
Bryson nods in agreement.
“I don’t know if anyone has noticed this.” Zane says. “But all of our teams have a common theme to them, with some minor variations.”
Bryson, Killian, “Vain” and Eden all look at him quizzically.
“What is that ?” Bryson asks.
“Weakness.” Zane replies.
“Weakness ?” Eden asks. “What the hell does that mean ? Did that beating soften your brain further ?”
Zane lets the dig pass and smirks.
“Think about it.” He says. “Each team was forced to pick a “mystery opponent”. Each of those people was someone who either doesn’t wrestle often, hasn’t wrestled much or is at odds with someone else on his or her team. It causes each team to have a potentially fatal weakness in its construction that has to be overcome.”
“Vain” and Killian both nod.
“The Vain One” follows.” “Vain” adds. “We got Pierce, Risa got Boding, in addition to having Barnes and Dirge who are both unstable.”
“Right.” Killian says with a smile. “Jesse Williams got El Blanco Leo, who is a rookie on the big stage and PKA, who is extremely experienced and talented but also a complete wild card. Chaos got his estranged friend and President Cypress Morgan and Deimos, who has no friends. Ichabod got vonKnorre, who he just went off on and attacked, Cynric, who we haven’t seen in a month or so and Ooley.”
Zane and “Vain” both laugh at the mention of the name of the belligerent HR Director.
“I’m surprised he can still walk, Zane.” “Vain” says with a joking smile. “You didn’t cripple him.”
Zane shrugs in response.
“I’ll just have to try harder next time.” He says with mock sorrow.
“Vain” reaches over and puts a conciliatory hand on his shoulder.
“We know you will.” He replies. “And we’re proud of you.”
Zane nods his head and smiles in appreciation. Killian bends over Eden’s shoulder.
“Just think, love.” He says. “You could get a chance to spend some quality time with your new friend, Ichabod.”
Eden irritably shrugs his hands off.
“Screw you.” She says. “I have my reasons.”
Bryson walks around his desk so that he’s standing between the seated members of “The Syndicate”.
“We all see that pattern and work here.” He says. “We have two more items to discuss.”
The four members of the team look at him with slight confusion.
“The first is your brother Cypress.” He says, then turns when Zane lets an irritable growl out.
“Easy, Zane.” He says.
“What’s the other ?” Eden asks. “Remember, I’m having lunch with Hugh soon and I don’t want to be late.”
Bryson turns to Eden with a slight frown on his face.
“Your social calendar can wait.” He says, much to Eden’s annoyance. “Your new boy-toy will sit there all day and wait for you. You’ve housebroken him well.”
Zane, Killian and “Vain” all respond with slight laughs at the dig, which earns all of them a glare from Eden. Zane flashes her an all tooth smile before he looks back at Bryson, who continues as if Eden’s ire is of no importance to him.
“As I was saying,” He continues. “We have Cypress to consider. We need to distract him as well. We know that he’s been drafted by Chaos, but we can certainly play up how Cypress abandoned him when he had his breakdown. Cypress will try to make up with him by cajoling or brute force, but Chaos is unstable and Cypress is prideful, so it will probably fail to some degree. We can use those traits against them.”
“Yes.” “Vain” replies. “It’s entirely possible that Jet will be so distracted by watching them that it effects his focus. Then there’s Deimos. He’s out for himself, which we can also use.”
All five people nod.
“That sounds like a plan.” Bryson says.
“What’s the other thing, Bryson ?” Eden says irritably.
Bryson looks down at her with a sneaky grin.
“Your returned mentor.” He replies. “Can we be sure that he won’t get involved somehow ?
“He might.” Zane responds, cutting Eden off. “I don’t think he will though. He knows that he has her attention already. He could interfere just to turn her screws a little more, but I doubt that he will. He’ll wait for a better time, something that will piss Eden off more than losing at ‘Outlast’ could.”
“Ok.” Bryson replies. “He knows that he can cost her a shot at the World Championship at ‘Outlast’. He won’t take it ?”
Bryson looks between Eden and Zane. Zane answers first.
“No.” He replies. “It’s not a guaranteed title shot. There are too many variables. If he interferes with a World Championship as a way to get at Eden, he’ll wait until he knows that she’ll be challenging for it.”
Bryson looks back at Eden, who is glaring with her jaw clenched.
“As much as I hate to admit it, Zane’s right.” She replies. “Colin will want to make a statement that I can’t ignore, something that will really anger me. ‘Outlast’ has too many variables involved.”
“Very well.” Bryson says, looking down at his watch. “I’m afraid that I have to conclude this meeting as I have another one to go to. All of you have a good day. I’ll be in touch later.”
The four members of “The Syndicate” stand up and file out of Bryson’s office. Eden departs immediately without saying anything further to her teammates. The three men leave together in conversation with each other.
The music blares from the stage and fills the room in the small venue. The five men on the stage all play their roles as they construct and execute the deafening sonic assault that has the mosh pit in the middle of the small venue raging. Bodies fly back and forth, with people of all sizes, shapes and ages pummeling each other as violently as the music is doing to them. Some shove, others thrash, there are elbows thrown, kicks launched and the non-stop impact of multiple bodies as they repeatedly slam into and off of each other before moving on to someone else. In the midst of this both sweat and blood fly as the people in the small, tight tornado of apparent self-destruction let out their anger and aggressions on each other in a ritual of brotherhood that strikes most as being pointlessly violent, but to them was a bonding ritual of pain set to music.
UGWC Creative Director Travis Pierce steps through the double doors into the small, hot and extremely cramped room and scans it to be best of his ability considering the almost nonexistent lighting. He turns to his left and winces at the sound of the music and shakes his head in disgust. He stands and watches it for a few moments as the long haired giant on the stage growls into the microphone in a tone that alternates from guttural to screeching and back again while his black hair flails back and forth with each violent shake of his head. The four men around him spasm in jerk in similar ways as they let the music that they play talk to and direct them.
Pierce shakes his head again and looks around the room.
“I can’t believe that I accepted this.” He says to himself. “He’s doing this just to screw with me.”
He finally spots the person he was looking for and begins to walk towards him. Zane Scott stands in front of a railing with an open beer in his hand and headbangs along with the music. (Yes, people without hair can headbang. The action is about the music, not the hair). He begins to walk towards him, moving his way through the crowd of those who are watching and drinking but are not interested in getting their faces smashed in inside the pit. He pushes past a few people unnoticed before he bumps into the side of a large man with spiky hair while he tries to pass him. The man stops moving along with the music and looks down at him. He stares stupidly at him for a moment and then rubs his eyes.
“I must be drunker than I think I am.” He rumbles in a deep voice. “You can’t be here in a white button down shirt and khakis.”
Pierce looks down at his outfit and up at the slightly larger man.
“What ?” He says. “I was told to meet someone at a concert. This is acceptable attire for a concert.”
The man raises an eyebrow at him and then throws back his head and laughs. He slaps a frying pain sized hand down onto Pierce’s shoulder, which almost drives him to one knee before he gets his balance back.
“A word of advice.” The man says. “Go to the merch table and get yourself a shirt. Some of the less...mature...in this audience might take exception to your clothes and try to kick your ass for it.”
Pierce looks at the man and nods.
“Thanks.” He replies. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“No problem.” The man replies with a smile. “And try to have fun. You look like you’re being tortured.”
“Something like that.” Pierce replies. “I’ll try to enjoy it though. The person that invited me didn’t tell me that it was a metal show.”
The man chuckles again and takes a drink from his beer.
“You’ve been had, my friend.” He replies. “You’re dressed for jazz and got Cannibal Corpse instead”.
“Cannibal what ?” Pierce replies with a confused look.
“Cannibal Corpse.” The man replies.
Pierce raises a slightly irked eyebrow.
“Riiiiight.” He replies. “Cannibal...”
“Corpse.” The man replies.
“Yeah.” Pierce answers. “That.”
The man slaps his massive hand down onto Pierce’s shoulder again.
“Well man,” He says with a smile. “Have a good time !”
Pierce nods his head and turns from the man. He takes a couple of steps past him and shakes his head.
“It’s amazing what passes for music these days.” He mutters to himself.
He weaves his way through a few other people and finally gets to Zane, who is headbanging with great enthusiasm. He stops and shakes his head.
“That explains a lot.” He says to himself.
Zane raises his left hand and promptly extends his middle finger into Pierce’s face.
“I heard that.” He says without stopping.
Pierce raises a doubtful eyebrow at him.
“How is that even possible ?” He asks. “How could you possibly hear me above this...noise.”
Zane stops headbanging, turns his head and looks at Pierce with a cold glare.
“It’s not ‘noise’.” He replies. “It’s Metal. If you’re that much of a pussy, go get some earplugs from the merch table.”
Pierce turns and looks past him towards the far side of the room where he sees a small group of people bunched together in front of a folding table. Zane looks him up and down and smiles.
“You’re a little overdressed.” He says. “This is ‘Cannibal Corpse’, not ‘Brubeck in the Park’.”
Pierce smiles snidely at him.
“You said to meet you at a concert.” He replies. “You didn’t say that it was...this.”
He gestures towards the stage while George “Corpsgrinder” Fisher continues to growl and howl into the mic along with the thunderous and punishing music that accompanies him courtesy of drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, bassist Alex Webster and guitarists Rob Barrett and Pat O’Brien. Zane’s cold grin changes into a genuine smile.
“It’s good to expand your horizons now and then, Pierce.” He reples.
“Yes...but this ?” He replies disgustedly.
Zane shakes his head and rolls his eyes before his gaze settles on Pierce again.
“You can’t listen to ‘Nickleback’ and ‘The Backstreet Boys’ for your entire life.” He replies. “You need to grow a set at some point, since Eden still has yours. This’ll help. Besides, ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ is a classic.”
Pierce glares at Zane for the ‘Eden’ remark but doesn’t say anything in response.
“Why did you invite me here, Zane ?” He asks.
Zane takes a drink from his beer and looks at Pierce.
“We’re on the same team at ‘Outlast’.” He replies. “As team captain I figured that this would be a good way to bond a little.”
Pierce replies to Zane’s remark with a skeptical expression.
“You hate me.” He replies.
“Yup.” Zane answers without pause. “You’re a pretentious, arrogant, manipulative and holier than thou prick. You’re also a good wrestler and if our team is going to win, we need to make some effort to get along.”
Pierce answers Zane’s reply as if he’s been slapped, his expression is completely dumbfounded.
“Who are you ?” He replies. “And what did you do with Zane ?”
Zane rolls his eyes again.
“Yes Pierce.” He says tiredly. “I’m a big, stupid oaf who is incapable of thinking. I get the line. It’s old and tired, much like your ‘Piercing Truth’ shit.”
This time Pierce laughs.
“Well, the truth hurts, Zane.” He replies.
Zane replies with another eye roll.
“How droll.” He replies. “Please, for once in your life try to be creative. Sometimes I think you have someone feeding you ideas. It’s hard to believe that anyone is as bland as you are.”
Pierce shrugs.
“David Damarest.” He replies.
Zane looks slightly towards the ceiling, considers the response and then looks back at Pierce.
“Touché.”
The two stand in silence for a moment as “Cannibal Corpse” concludes “Hammer Smashed Face”. Pierce’s face takes on a look of relief.
“Momentary silence.” He says with a smile.
It's short lived as “Cannibal Corpse” moves into their next song.
Pierce responds to the new song with a wince, which gets a smile from Zane.
“Cheer up, sally.” He says.
Pierce closes his eyes and rubs his temple.
“I can’t believe that people listen to this.” He says. “Can we get this over with so that I can go home and take a half a bottle of aspirin ?”
“Aspirin ?” He replies. “Just go to the bar and get a drink. I’ll pay for it.”
Pierce rolls his eyes.
“Fine.” He says. “Get me a ‘Mad Elf Ale’.”
Zane responds to the request with a blank stare.
“A what ?” He asks.
“Mad Elf Ale.” He says.
“Try again.” Zane says.
Pierce shakes his head.
“Ok.” He says. “How about a ‘Great Divide Espresso Oak-Aged Yeti’.”
Zane gives him the blank stare again. Pierce shakes his head in annoyance.
“No ?” He says. “What kind of beer do they serve here ?”
“The usual.” Zane says. “Although they do have a couple of specialty ones. There’s the ‘Heady Topper’ from Vermont and the ‘Ommegang’ from western New York.”
“Whichever.” Pierce replies.
“Ok.” Zane answers. “Bud it is.”
Pierce opens his mouth to answer back, but Zane has already walked away to the bar. He shakes his head in resignation.
“Fine.” Pierce says to no one.
Pierce watches and winces as “Cannibal Corpse” launches into “Disposal of the Body”. He only has a couple of minutes to stand and suffer when Zane walks back over and holds out a can to him. Pierce takes it suspiciously. He goes to look at it but Zane stops him.
“Drink first.” He says.
“What ?” Pierce asks.
“Drink...first.” Zane says slowly..”
“I know what Bud tastes like.”
Zane shakes his head.
“For once shut your mouth and do something other than run your piss flaps.” He says. “You might be surprised what can happen.”
Pierce raises a suspicious eyebrow at Zane, who holds his own beer up.
“Cheers, asshole.” He says with a grin.
The two men knock their beer cans together and take long drinks. Pierce lowers his head after taking his and looks at Zane with a surprised smile.
“This isn’t Bud.” He says. “What is this ? It’s good.”
“It’s ‘Headdy Topper’.” Zane replies.
Pierce takes another drink.
“I was expecting you to pull a fast one on me.” He explains.
Zane shrugs in response.
“No.” He says. “Although I do think that you’re pulling a ‘fast one’ on everyone else by entering yourself into ‘Outlast’. You’re the ‘Creative Director’…an office goof. Did you do this because Jet laughed at you when you talked about being in the ring again, or are you doing this because you want to back door your way to a World Championship that you have to right to ?”
Pierce almost spits out his mouthful of beer and very audibly coughs. Zane takes the opening for the free shot and smacks him on the back really hard, which causes him to momentarily lose his balance and spill some of his beer onto the back of a very large and very unfriendly looking man in a sleeveless ‘Deicide’ shirt. The man stiffens up at the feeling of the cold beer down his back and turns around. He looks at Zane, who shakes his head and then looks at Pierce. The man looks Zane up and down and apparently decides that it wasn’t him then turns to Pierce.
“Why’d you spill beer on me ?” He grunts.
“It was an accident.” Pierce replies. “He slapped me on the back when I was choking and I lost my balance.”
The man looks at him suspiciously.
“That doesn’t mean that you had to spill beer on me.” He replies, drawing a snicker from Zane.
Pierce shoots Zane a dirty look and then looks back at the angry and inebriated wall of muscle that’s standing in front him. The man looks down at Pierce and speaks again.
“We can settle this two way.” He says, causing Pierce to blink at the smell of his breath.
Zane takes a half step back and sips his beer with a smirk on his face.
“What are they ?” Pierce asks. “Not that I really want to know.”
The man holds up a finger.
“One.” He says, with a slight forward sway. “I can drag your skinny ass outside and beat it into the parking lot.”
“Or.” Pierce says.
“Or.” He says, as he holds up three more fingers. “Two.”
Pierce holds up a hand to correct him before thinking better of it.
“Never mind.”
“What’s option two, sir ?” Zane prods from behind Pierce.
Pierce turns and shoots him a dirty look over his shoulder. The drunken mountain sways forward again and nearly falls over onto Pierce before somehow regaining his footing.
“Two.” He says, while still holding up four fingers. “Is that we can both go into the mosh pit.”
“How about three ?” Pierce asks, snidely holding up two fingers.
The drunk man tried to count them after squinting at Pierce’s fingers with great difficulty.
“Are you sure that’s three ?” He asks.
“I’m positive.” Pierce replies as Zane stifles a laugh from behind him.
“Ok.” The man replies with a loud and drunken belch.
Pierce’s eyes nearly cross at the odor of it before he waves his hand in front of his face.
“What’s option three, Trav ?” Zane prompts from behind, putting extra stress on “Trav”.
The man stares at him in confusion for a moment.
“Yeah.” He says. “You never told me number three.”
“That’s easy.” Pierce says. “You can finish your beer, I can buy you another one and we can just enjoy the...music.”
The man squints his eyes again as if he’s staring into the sun.
“Ok.” He finally says with a rather pronounced sway. “You can buy me another one, but we’re going into the pit afterward.”
Pierce closes his eyes.
“I’d rather not.” He says.
Zane puts a hand on his middle of his back.
“Come on Trav.” He says, yet again putting extra emphasis on the first part of Pierce’s name. “It’ll be fun. You can’t go to your first metal show without moshing. It’s just not right.”
Pierce looks at Zane over his shoulder.
“Zane, I really don’t think...”
He doesn’t get the chance to finish as Zane gives him a good shove and sends him stumbling forward. He bounces off of a few people, who shove him into the pit as the drunken mountain follows him and wades in with fists and arms flying. Zane leans back and takes another drink from his beer.
“Have fun, asshole.” He says with a smile as “Pounded into Dust” begins to blare throughout the venue.
Thursday afternoon
Syndicate HQ
“You took him to a ‘Cannibal Corpse’ show ?” Bryson says with a sideways grin as he looks at Zane.
Zane replies with a smile.
“Yup.”
Bryson, Killian and “Vain” all laugh at his response. Eden just sits in her chair, a smugly amused expression aimed at Zane. He catches her eye, turns his head slightly and smiles.
“Yes Eden ?” He asks.
She shrugs.
“I was just thinking that if I’d done it that I'd have done something more direct." She explains with a smirk. "He’d have known his place by the end of the night.”
Zane shrugs in response to her as Bryson, Killian and “Vain” all shake their heads.
“Let it go, Eden.” Bryson warns her.
“Or what ?” She challenges. “You both backed me into a corner and look what happened.”
Killian looks at her.
“Aye lass.” He responds. “You made your point at the expense of both Zane and ‘The Syndicate’.”
She shrugs indifferently.
“I only had one use for the Co-Operative Championships, and that was to get my one step closer to "Grand Slam" status. Their loss is no real pain.” She answers.
This time “Vain” smiles.
“Ah the shallowness of the inexperienced.” He replies. “You’re worried about the “Grand Slam” when the Greatest World Champion in UGWC history sits before you.”
He pauses for a moment and looks at Zane.
“No offense, Zane.” He says.
“None taken.” Zane replies with a shrug.
Eden grins and nods her head.
“We'll see, Alan." She answers. “For now I want to help you keep the Championship. Zane wants to take it from you."
"Vain" shrugs.
"Arrogance Personified" welcomes all challenges." He replies with a shrug. "He wouldn't have teamed with 'The Personification of Pain' if he'd felt that his desire for greatness was any weaker than the World Champion's. It is no more personal to "The Vain Lord" than it is to Mr. Scott."
Zane nods his head and smiles at "Vain".
"Alan gets it, Eden." He replies. "If you're going to take the Championship, it should be taken from the greatest Champion that this company has seen. Besides, we all know that your desire to keep the belt on Alan is completely selfish, and that's fine. Just stop acting like you're somehow better than me because of it, because that's bullshit and we all know it."
He grins mockingly at her.
"Besides, you're still two championships behind me if the "Grand Slam" is so important to you." He says. "If you did it, you'd join illustrious company with JK. It's a match made in heaven."
Eden rolls her eyes and looks back at Zane.
“Your desire for 'redemption' is childish. Besides, Alan hasn’t even matched my reigns yet." She says to him, then smiles snidely. "I’ll make you a friendly bet.”
Zane looks at her with an amused grin.
“What is that Eden ?” He asks.
She stands up and walks over to him and bends over at him in front of his seat. She runs a finger across his chin and smiles arrogantly at him.
“My reign will last longer than a week.” She says snidely.
The smile stays on Zane’s face but his eyes darken. His hand shoots up and grabs Eden by the throat. She struggles against him as he puts her face to face with him. Killian and “Vain” leap up to intercede when Bryson holds a hand up to stop them.
“Hold on for a moment, gentlemen.” He says. “She’s had this coming for a while.”
Both men freeze but keep their eyes on the tense situation. Eden struggles against Zane but can’t break his grip. As she does so a cold, merciless smile spreads across his face.
“You’re right Eden.” He says. “I lost the World Heavyweight Championship in a week. That’s a statement of historical fact. It’s nice that everyone likes to remind me of it as if it’s something that I’d forget. The thing about it is that I won’t forget it. Not ever. It’s always front and center in my mind. It’s there every day, every hour and every minute of my life. It’s bad enough that I have to take that hypocritical shit from morons like vonKnorre, who held the title for longer than I did but never defended it and then quit like a bitch when he lost it to Alan in his first and only defense.”
Zane pauses but doesn’t relinquish his grip.
“It’s bad enough that I have to take it from failures like Martin Graber, a man that hasn’t done shit of any merit since getting here.” He continues. “Sure, he carried Rydell to the Co-Operative Championships and an uninspiring reign, but hasn’t done shit otherwise. He spent the last decade of his life pretending to be someone else because he hates the fact that he’s a failure and then when he finally got a chance to face down his personal Achilles heel, Alan Wallace do you know what he did.”
His smile widens.
“He did the same thing that you’re doing now.” He says.
Eden continues to struggle against him as her face starts to turn slightly purple.
“But he didn’t do it once.” He continues. “He didn’t do it twice…he did it three times and every time he got another chance and he’s getting another one now. So if you want to stand here and mock me because I lost the title in a week and then never got another shot at it, go ahead and do it. Get something straight though, I’m going to win it again and I’m going to hold it for longer than anyone else ever has.”
He suddenly relinquishes his grip on her, Eden stumbling. Her eyes narrow at him as she rubs her throat.
“Now, if you’re ready to act like an adult instead of a selfish brat, we have to plan for ‘Outlast’.” He says. "My desire to 'redeem' myself may be 'childish' to you, but at least I can see my faults. You never hold yourself responsible for anything Eden. Which of those behaviors is the more 'childish' one ?"
He pauses for a moment.
“And for the historical record, what Alan has done in one reign.” He says with a grin. “It took you three to do...combined. Besides, he only needs another seven days to match you and eight to surpass you. If I were you, I wouldn’t be so quick to throw that barb out.”
Eden goes to speak, but Bryson holds his hand up and glares at her, silencing her impending response.
"Save it, Eden." He replies sternly. "You always have a flippant answer for everything. For once in your young life, just shut up."
She stands up and evens her expensive outfit and actually smiles, not outwardly acknowledging Bryson's admonishment.
“It’s about time that you show that fight again.” She says. “You’ve gotten a bit indolent lately.”
Killian and “Vain” watch them carefully as they sit back down. Zane looks at her.
“Yes.” He replies. “And thank you very much for waking me up by leaving me high and dry last week.”
She nods her head and smiles.
“You’re welcome.” She replies. “You put me in a bad spot and I needed to make a point. It seems that my point got your attention in more than just one way.”
Zane nods his head.
“It did.” He replies. “Thank you. I appreciate you waking me back up. I’m sure that Chaos and Jet would like to thank you, too. From what I was told, Chaos threw quite the hissy fit when he got backstage afterward. Maybe someone should have kept that disgusting cat he had in Brazil. He could pet it and feel better. He’s certainly not getting pussy any other way.”
Bryson interjects while Killian and “Vain” applaud Zane’s reference to laying out Chaos and Jet.
“How did it ‘wake you up’, Zane ?” He asks.
Zane turns and looks at Bryson.
“It’s really simple.” He replies. “When I was in there getting my teeth kicked in after Eden left me, a funny thing happened. They kept knocking me down, ganging up on me and singling me out because I was alone. I took a vicious beating from ten other men at various points in the night and I kept getting back up again and in the process of that something in me clicked.”
Bryson nods his head.
“That something was ?” He asks.
“I remembered how much I fucking enjoy pain.” He replies. “I’ve made so much effort in controlling my violent side and its cost me. I’ve become too predictable.”
Killian, “Vain” and Bryson all smile at the remark. Eden nods her head.
“So what does that mean for ‘Outlast’ ?” Eden asks.
Zane turns his head and looks at her.
“Remember what happened when you superkicked me seven times in one match ?” He replies with a sick grin.
Eden involuntarily shudders in response to the question. "Vain", Killian and Bryson all smile.
"Gotcha." She replies.
Killian grins at her and then looks at Zane.
“What about Graber, lad ?” Killian asks.
Zane turns and looks at him.
“Since Graber chose to align himself with Klaus in an exclusive club of people that can’t beat Alan, I figured that he’ll have plenty of time on his hands. It’s obvious that Alan has grown tired of beating the two of them and has moved on, and who can blame him ?”
“Vain” smiles and nods his head.
“Yes.” He replies. “The Vain One” needs new competition. Graber and Klaus are dull.”
“Truer words may never have been spoken.” Zane replies.
Bryson nods.
“That doesn’t mean that they’ll go away.” Killian adds. “We know better than that. Klaus left and came back once.”
Zane laughs in response.
“I have something special for Graber with that in mind. We know that Klaus will leave him high and dry eventually.” He explains. “Until that time, or until Klaus throws another hissy fit and quits again, I have a special delivery for Graber at ‘Outlast’.”
The four other members of “The Syndicate” look at him curiously.
“Care to share?" Eden asks simply.
Zane looks at her.
“You’ll see.” He replies with a wicked smile.
Eden nods again.
“What about his godson ?” Bryson asks. “And why is your vandalized car out in my parking lot ?”
Zane smirks mischievously.
“I have my reasons.” He replies. “Beyond the police report and the insurance claim.”
Bryson’s face takes on a curious expression but nods his head.
“Very well.” He says. “I look forward to seeing what you have in mind.”
“You will.” Zane replies. “And Larry is going to find out that he needs to consider his actions more carefully.”
“Vain” smiles and laughs a deep and mocking laugh.
“That child made a mistake by vandalizing your car.” He replies. “The Sexiest Man Alive’ has a feeling that he’s going to be painfully made to regret it…beyond making him your personal bitch last week.”
Zane laughs in response.
“That was fun.” He replies. “That point aside, there’s no hard feelings towards the kid. I did what I did to Larry to teach Graber and his worthless godson that their shenanigans will have consequences. It’s not so much fun for Larry when I’m handing him his head or for Graber when he has to watch me do it and knows that it’s entirely his fault.”
Killian stands up and walks to the mini-bar. Nottingham waves him back to his chair and rolls his eyes.
“Sit down so we can this over with. I'll get the damned drink.” He says.
“Fix one for yourself.” Killian replies to which he receives another eyeroll.
"Yes, because that thought never crossed my bloody mind." the recalcitrant man replies as he begins preparing two drinks.
“Vain” casts a thoughtful gaze at Zane.
“What if Graber, or Graber and his new best friend come after you.” He asks.
Zane shrugs indifferently.
“Two can play at their “childish barb” games.” Zane answers. “I consider the issue dead though. If they want to continue it, that’s on them.”
Bryson stands up from behind his desk and presses a button on it. An expensive wall flat panel television is revealed and it comes glowing to life. Bryson hits a button and the faces of Seito Risa, Barnes, Dirge and Forewell Boding appear on the screen. All three “Syndicate” members face the TV.
“They are the first concern for you.” Bryson says. “If you don’t get past them, the rest is academic.”
All three team members nod their heads. Bryson continues.
“Alan, Zane, you two know Dirge extremely well.” He says. “Even in his current state, which is somewhat thanks to you, Eden, you’ll still have some idea of what he’ll do. Plan accordingly. I expect that he’ll try to beat you two into submission with naked violence before he turns on you, Eden and tries to choke you out. I don’t think that he’s ever forgotten that tap out that you liked to remind him of so often.”
“I don’t think he has either.” Eden practically purrs. “I’ll be sure to keep that in the front of his mind.”
“Vain” looks at the screen and smiles.
“Having worked with Robert in ‘The Puppet Masters’, he is far cry from that man.” He says. “He’s said himself that he doesn’t know when he’s going to snap. You should do everything possible to help that happen.”
Bryson nods his head approvingly.
“Excellent observation.” He says with an appreciative nod.
Eden suddenly reaches into her pocket and pulls her phone out. She listens to the voicemail on it and then puts it away.
“Can we make this quick ?” She says. “I have an appointment with Hugh.”
Killian, “Vain” and Zane all cast irritated looks at her while Bryson smiles dangerously.
“You’ll leave when we’re finished.” He replies. “You boy toy can and will wait.”
Eden glares at him in reply before smiling at her teammates.
“As long as it doesn’t take too long.”
The second the phrase is out of her mouth she knows that she’s misspoken by the wicked grin on Killian’s face.
“I bet Hugh hears that a lot.” He remarks. “Right along with ‘is it in yet’.”
“Vain” and Zane both laugh at the joke as Bryson shakes his head and tries badly to hide a smile. Eden replies by flipping Killian the bird. He nods in return.
“You’re welcome, love.” He replies.
Bryson clears his throat.
“Back on task.” He says. “Alan’s idea about pushing Dirge to snap has merit. We should use that.”
Zane looks at him and smiles.
“We could kill two birds with one stone that way.” He replies with a devilish smile.
Bryson looks at him and gestures for him to continue. Killian looks at Zane and smiles.
“I think I know where you’re going with this, lad.” He says. “Mind if I step in ?”
Zane gestures for him to continue.
“Thank you. You’re a gentleman and a scholar.”
Zane does a seated bow while Eden chokes back a laugh. “Vain” just shakes his head at her. Killian and Zane both ignore her as Killian continues.
“Dirge has said that he never knows when he’s going to snap.” He explains. “We got saddled with Pierce for this show.”
“Nice one, Zane.” Eden interrupts.
Bryson glares down at her and she smiles back at him.
“Silence.” He says before looking back at Killian. “Please continue.”
Killian bows in response.
“Thank you.” He continues. “As I was saying, before the young lass interrupted me, Dirge is unhinged and Pierce is an unwelcome intrusion into our team. We could remove two birds with one stone and weaken an already fractious team by setting Dirge off so that he goes after his own team. He could eliminate a couple of them and we could sacrifice Pierce at the same time.”
Eden jumps in, smelling blood.
“How do you propose to do that ?” She interjects rudely.
Zane looks at her with a positively evil smile.
“You’re going to do it more than we are.” He says.
“The hell I am.” She replies.
All four men smile at her.
“All of a sudden I hate all of you a lot more than I already did.”
Killian stands up and walks over towards her. He walks behind her chair and puts his hands on her shoulders.
“It’s very simple, love.” He says. “You’re going to play up what little affection that you may have left for Pierce. If there isn’t any, fake it. It’ll stir something in him, we can use that to set Dirge off and then when the time is right we’ll make sure that Pierce is standing in front of him.”
Zane nods his head while “Vain” and Bryson both smile.
“Exactly.” Zane says as he rubs his hands together fiendishly.
Bryson nods his head appreciatively.
“Good.” He replies. “We have a plan for that. What about Barnes ?”
All four members of ‘The Syndicate’ shrug at him.
“I don’t know the ‘Barnes’ guy.” Zane says. “But he looks to me like he’s similar to Dirge. He’s not nuts like Dirge is, but he’s angry and obsessive. We can certainly use that against him. He wants redemption for something that happened years ago. If we team up on him enough, he could also lose it. We could direct him and Dirge on each other. I’ve heard rumors that the two of them have an unpleasant history that focuses around Colin Zale. We should find some way to use that.”
Bryson nods.
“Noted.” He replies with a smile. “I’ll have my people look into it.”
“We can also use the fact that this team has no real cohesion to it. They’ve never teamed before.” Killain adds. “Our history speaks for itself, even with this past week’s unpleasantness.”
“Vain” nods and smiles.
“Everyone is expecting that to be an issue.” He says. “We can use that too.”
“Aye.” Killian replies, accepting his drink from Nottingham. “We can certainly play it up a little bit. Misdirection is a great weapon.”
Bryson puts a hand to his mouth in thought.
“Zane, I think you need to consider that Miss Risa is going to become a thorn in your side.” He says. “Not that I don’t think that you can handle her, but after last week it’s clear to me that she has a desire to oppose you at every opportunity. I expect her to be more of a problem for you as well, Eden.”
Zane smiles a cruel smile.
“That happens when you can’t beat someone.” He replies.
“She beat you a couple of weeks ago.” Eden interjects with a grin.
Killian and Vain both wince at the remark and look at Zane as if they’re expecting him to leap out of his seat and come after her again. Bryson doesn’t outwardly react, he just shifts his gaze from Zane to Eden and back again. Zane shrugs and chuckles.
“I beat myself in that match.” He replies. “You know it, I know it and most importantly...Risa knows it. Even if she wants to hide behind that weak "survival" excuse. She’s not going to be that lucky next time. Besides, she’s distracting herself by focusing too much on Alan and redeeming Dirge. I can use those against her.”
Eden shrugs but the smile stays in place.
“We’ll see.” She replies with mock sweetness.
Zane nods his head.
“Indeed we will.” He replies with a sick grin.
“Vain” and Killian sit back down. “Vain” speaks first.
“Vain” isn’t concerned about your abilities to beat that team, or any team on the merits of your own talents both individually and as a team.” He says. “Vain” wonders what has been considered about the other teams.”
Bryson nods in agreement.
“I don’t know if anyone has noticed this.” Zane says. “But all of our teams have a common theme to them, with some minor variations.”
Bryson, Killian, “Vain” and Eden all look at him quizzically.
“What is that ?” Bryson asks.
“Weakness.” Zane replies.
“Weakness ?” Eden asks. “What the hell does that mean ? Did that beating soften your brain further ?”
Zane lets the dig pass and smirks.
“Think about it.” He says. “Each team was forced to pick a “mystery opponent”. Each of those people was someone who either doesn’t wrestle often, hasn’t wrestled much or is at odds with someone else on his or her team. It causes each team to have a potentially fatal weakness in its construction that has to be overcome.”
“Vain” and Killian both nod.
“The Vain One” follows.” “Vain” adds. “We got Pierce, Risa got Boding, in addition to having Barnes and Dirge who are both unstable.”
“Right.” Killian says with a smile. “Jesse Williams got El Blanco Leo, who is a rookie on the big stage and PKA, who is extremely experienced and talented but also a complete wild card. Chaos got his estranged friend and President Cypress Morgan and Deimos, who has no friends. Ichabod got vonKnorre, who he just went off on and attacked, Cynric, who we haven’t seen in a month or so and Ooley.”
Zane and “Vain” both laugh at the mention of the name of the belligerent HR Director.
“I’m surprised he can still walk, Zane.” “Vain” says with a joking smile. “You didn’t cripple him.”
Zane shrugs in response.
“I’ll just have to try harder next time.” He says with mock sorrow.
“Vain” reaches over and puts a conciliatory hand on his shoulder.
“We know you will.” He replies. “And we’re proud of you.”
Zane nods his head and smiles in appreciation. Killian bends over Eden’s shoulder.
“Just think, love.” He says. “You could get a chance to spend some quality time with your new friend, Ichabod.”
Eden irritably shrugs his hands off.
“Screw you.” She says. “I have my reasons.”
Bryson walks around his desk so that he’s standing between the seated members of “The Syndicate”.
“We all see that pattern and work here.” He says. “We have two more items to discuss.”
The four members of the team look at him with slight confusion.
“The first is your brother Cypress.” He says, then turns when Zane lets an irritable growl out.
“Easy, Zane.” He says.
“What’s the other ?” Eden asks. “Remember, I’m having lunch with Hugh soon and I don’t want to be late.”
Bryson turns to Eden with a slight frown on his face.
“Your social calendar can wait.” He says, much to Eden’s annoyance. “Your new boy-toy will sit there all day and wait for you. You’ve housebroken him well.”
Zane, Killian and “Vain” all respond with slight laughs at the dig, which earns all of them a glare from Eden. Zane flashes her an all tooth smile before he looks back at Bryson, who continues as if Eden’s ire is of no importance to him.
“As I was saying,” He continues. “We have Cypress to consider. We need to distract him as well. We know that he’s been drafted by Chaos, but we can certainly play up how Cypress abandoned him when he had his breakdown. Cypress will try to make up with him by cajoling or brute force, but Chaos is unstable and Cypress is prideful, so it will probably fail to some degree. We can use those traits against them.”
“Yes.” “Vain” replies. “It’s entirely possible that Jet will be so distracted by watching them that it effects his focus. Then there’s Deimos. He’s out for himself, which we can also use.”
All five people nod.
“That sounds like a plan.” Bryson says.
“What’s the other thing, Bryson ?” Eden says irritably.
Bryson looks down at her with a sneaky grin.
“Your returned mentor.” He replies. “Can we be sure that he won’t get involved somehow ?
“He might.” Zane responds, cutting Eden off. “I don’t think he will though. He knows that he has her attention already. He could interfere just to turn her screws a little more, but I doubt that he will. He’ll wait for a better time, something that will piss Eden off more than losing at ‘Outlast’ could.”
“Ok.” Bryson replies. “He knows that he can cost her a shot at the World Championship at ‘Outlast’. He won’t take it ?”
Bryson looks between Eden and Zane. Zane answers first.
“No.” He replies. “It’s not a guaranteed title shot. There are too many variables. If he interferes with a World Championship as a way to get at Eden, he’ll wait until he knows that she’ll be challenging for it.”
Bryson looks back at Eden, who is glaring with her jaw clenched.
“As much as I hate to admit it, Zane’s right.” She replies. “Colin will want to make a statement that I can’t ignore, something that will really anger me. ‘Outlast’ has too many variables involved.”
“Very well.” Bryson says, looking down at his watch. “I’m afraid that I have to conclude this meeting as I have another one to go to. All of you have a good day. I’ll be in touch later.”
The four members of “The Syndicate” stand up and file out of Bryson’s office. Eden departs immediately without saying anything further to her teammates. The three men leave together in conversation with each other.