06-22-2019, 04:13 AM
06-24-2019, 09:46 AM
ORIGINS – EPISODE 6
Not gonna lie, I was bummed. No, not like that, I mean I was annoyed. Mainly because my first chance to be the hero had fallen flat, and Amberstone had needed to bail me out. There I was, looking every inch the superhero, ready to take down the bad guys, and when it came to the crunch I couldn’t perform. Now believe me, Elijah has never had a problem with performing, in fact my erection was legendary around these parts, but after all the buildup, to fail so miserably… it had left me questioning if I was the right person for the job.
Amberstone: Hmm, I see.
Amberstone was busy poking and prodding the suit as I read the local newspaper. Nothing in there about my exploits… probably a good thing seeing as the only real picture they could have got was me having my ass handed to me.
Amberstone: I think I see the problem Elijah
I don’t correct him… as long as I wasn’t in the suit it was all good.
Elijah: Yeah?
Amberstone: Indeed, it seems that the suit rejected you.
High school flashback… rejection seemed to be the buzz word around that time
Elijah: Rejected me? How?
Amberstone: Yes, I can understand why you would ask that question.
But apparently doesn’t feel the need to answer it.
Elijah: So?
Amberstone: Ah yes, of course. Elijah, it might be a stupid question, seeing as your grades at school were very little to shout out about.
Usually I would have been surprised he knew what my grades were, but this was Amberstone and nothing shocked me these days.
Amberstone: But, have you ever heard of Metamorphezine?
Elijah: Of course
Amberstone: Splendid, that saves a lot of explaining.
Elijah: I don’t really
Amberstone sighs, the type of sigh that would have earned him a smack in the mouth, but I was after answers
Amberstone: Metamorphezine is a living, breathing organism that is as much alive as you and me.
Elijah: OK, thanks for the Science lesson (I failed Science, just in case you were wondering), but what does that have to do with anything.
Amberstone: The suit Elijah, it is made from that very same material. And it doesn’t believe you are worthy of wearing it.
Elijah: Fuck off, you’re shitting me
Amberstone: True story homeslice…
I ignore his attempt at street speak, we would never talk about it again.
Elijah: What, so like Mjolnir? Thor’s Hammer?
Amberstone: Yes, exactly the same. The suit won’t let you use it, because it doesn’t feel like you have earned it.
Elijah: So let me get this street, stop me if I’m mistaken. You give me a super power that’s only ever any good if we are in the middle of a thunder storm, and then in an effort to assist me, you make a suit with ‘feelings’.
Amberstone: Yes, that about sums it up
Elijah: Seriously dude, you are the worst genius ever
Honestly, I knew that was bullshit. I mean off the top of my head Dr Evil was a lot worse than Amberstone, and what about Dr Doofenshmirtz. That aside, it was certainly starting to look like Amberstone hadn’t given this a great deal of though.
Amberstone: You have to understand Elijah, for us to take down G.U.A.R.D the wearer and the suit HAVE to be one entity. The slightest doubt in either and we are doomed to failure.
Elijah: So what are you saying?
Amberstone: I’m saying that we have to find a way for the suit to believe in you.
Now, I don’t know if you’re all thinking the same as me, but that sounds ridiculous right? As far as I’m aware Superman never had these issues with his super suit, and neither did Captain Marvel unless you count the fairly obvious camel toe. But, taking this ridiculous notion as truth, how the heck was I supposed to get a suit to ‘believe’ in me?
Elijah: So how do I do that then? Take it to dinner or something?
Amberstone raises his eyebrows
Elijah: I was joking dude… and what does a suit eat anyways?
Amberstone: I honestly don’t know…
Three months ago, if you had told me that I was going to have super powers and have the fate of the world resting on my shoulders, I would have told you to bring it on. Now however, it just seemed to be an inconvenience to a ‘normal’ life, and one obstacle after another.
THREE DAYS LATER
Ok, so I’ll be honest, we couldn’t come to a conclusion. I mean, a living, breathing suit that had a chip on its shoulder wasn’t the easiest situation to deal with, making it like a piece of shit like me, and that was something else. Truth be told, I was impressed, after all to figure out that I’d been a bit of a knob in my life just from me wearing it twice, the AI on this thing must have been top spec. The only thing we could think of was to give it another trial run, and hence Amberstone and I were stood on top of a high rise building with a few more storeys than I cared for. That’s storeys, floors… not a story like this one. I was once again wearing the suit, and it may have been my brain playing tricks, but I was sure it was digging me in the ribs at every opportunity.
Zero (because he’s got the suit on… durr): OK, so what are we doing up here?
I look over the edge at Joe Public going about their business below.
Amberstone: I have a theory…
Zero: About time
Amberstone: See, has we have calculated, the suit doesn’t like you
Zero: Alright dude, don’t rub it in.
Amberstone: So, it needs to know that you are willing to sacrifice everything for the cause.
Zero: Err, hold on… I hope that you’re not suggesting what I think you are.
Amberstone: Hear me out Zero…
He was lucky I was actually still on the roof, but I had to admit I got a kick out of being called by my hero name.
Zero: I’m not throwing myself off a building Amberstone. Committing suicide just to pacify the emo suit? I don’t think so.
Amberstone: But think about it Zero… the suit doesn’t trust you to use its capabilities, but I reiterate it is living, and it is breathing.
Zero: So what you saying?
Amberstone: The suit feels everything you do… I’m of the belief that the suit will engage self-preservation mode.
Zero: Belief? Well that’s encouraging. And if not?
Amberstone: Then I’ll be looking for a new subject.
He says it very ‘matter of fact’, so much so I nearly throw him from the top just to see how high he bounces. But there is something about his words than make me realize that this could be the only way. And no matter the frustrations, I ‘liked’ being Zero. All my life I had been a no-one, and irrelevance. This suit could make me into somebody, and that was something I craved more than anything else… except maybe a blowjob from Ariana Grande.
Zero: And you reckon this will work?
Amberstone nods, but not very encouragingly, and I step up onto the ledge
Zero: Jesus, that’s a long way down
Amberstone: Trust the suit Elijah… trust the suit
I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, but I step off the ledge and into the void, plummeting towards the concrete below. I’d love to tell you that my life flashed before my eyes or some other near death cliché that would fit in with this bullshit, but it doesn’t, all I feel is the suit suddenly starting to tighten, making it difficult for me to breathe, the equivalent I guess of the human butt clench. The suit then starts to right itself, and amazingly and with very little effort I land on my feet, not quite believing the lack of impact, literally as if I’d floated. I look up, at Amberstone high above, who puts up a thumbs up.
“See, I told you…”
He had told me… that the suit wouldn’t let me die, and ignoring the fact that this was probably the happiest relationship I’d ever been in, I notice a crowd starting to build, wondering who the heck it was who’d just jumped off a building and lived. Now wasn’t the time to answer those questions…
“Go back to base… I’ll see you there.”
I didn’t know if it had made a difference, I didn’t know if me and the suit were now having a love affair for the ages. What I did know was that knowing Amberstone, it wouldn’t be long till I found out.
“How did you do that?”
“Where did you come from?”
“Who are you?”
The questions come thick and fast from my gathering fans… yeah, I’m calling it, my group of ‘Zeroes’. I put my hands on my waist, and look at them all, and if it wasn’t for the mask they would see the goofy smile growing on my face
Zero: Me? I’m the Savior of this City.
I lower my head and put my forefingers and thumbs together, totally off the cuff and in a diamond shape
Zero: I… AM… ZERO!!!
I turn and make my way through the alleys, eventually losing the last of my ‘Zeroes’, feeling every inch the hero that they needed.
EVEN LATER
OK, so none of you have super powers, so I don’t expect you to understand. But right now I was on top of the world. Imagine that first time that you get with a girl, and she’s down on you and swallows… well, that was nowhere near close to how I was feeling. Honestly, I reckon I could have taken on the world without the super suit, but considering the lengths I’d gone to gains its trust I may as well use the damn thing. Maybe the next time it would listen, we would have to wait and see. Anyway, when I got home, Deborah was waiting for me in the corridor. Deborah’s the clingy woman who lives next door and wants some stuff remember? Cool. She’d baked me some muffins, and me being the kind of guy who can’t resist a good muffin, I’d invited her in for a couple of minutes, just to be polite. That was three hours ago. The only saving grace? Her magnificent mammaries that as usual were bursting out of her low cut top, and had distracted me from her tedious dialogue.
Deborah: So, how do you like the Muffins?
It was the first question she’d asked in the three hours and it caught me a bit off guard.
Elijah: Yeah, they are great. Thanks, but you didn’t have to.
Deborah: Did you know, they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?
Elijah: Is that right?
Deborah nods, her breasts jigging wonderfully.
Deborah: Elijah?
Elijah: Yeah?
Deborah: You do know how I feel about you don’t you?
Yeah, I did… the snail trail of moistness from the door and on the chair had given me a clue.
Elijah: No…
I stall, a certain sense of inevitability falling over this conversation.
Deborah: I think I’ve made it pretty clear over the last few months.
She had, she was… her boobs seemed to be speaking to me. Inviting me to sample their pleasures. Her face though, it was telling me a different story. I guess I could always bag it up if necessary.
Elijah: Deborah… I’m flattered, seriously I am
Christ, I may has well gone full cliché and say it wasn’t her…
Elijah: It’s not you, it’s me…
Yeah… maybe I should be Captain Cliché instead
Elijah: But, I can’t be with you… or anyone for that matter
Deborah: Why not, are you a monk?
I wasn’t… and why didn’t I think of that excuse.
Elijah: No, I’m not a monk. It’s just, with certain power comes certainly responsibility…
I’m not ashamed I used that line. It was a good line.
Elijah: And I just can’t be in a relationship right now
Deborah: Why not, I’d be good to you, I’d take care of you. And you’d want for nothing… I’m even talking bum sex
God I wish I could get past the face
Elijah: It’s easier for me to show you…
I lift the laptop lid, and bring up YouTube, and the clip someone had filmed of me, sorry Zero, leaping from the top of the building and landing on my feet.
Deborah: Yeah, it’s the new superhero guy that people are talking about, the lightening guy.
Elijah: Yeah, well that guy… it’s me.
Deborah looks at me for a moment, and I shit you not, even her breasts look at me dismissively.
Deborah: I get it Elijah, you don’t want to be with me. Just say, you don’t need to lie to me.
She looked really hurt, which wasn’t my intention. Maybe I should have just given her one, in the interests of more muffins.
Elijah: No, seriously… that’s me. The guy who can conduct electricity.
He points his thumbs towards him
Elijah: Me!
Deborah: Seriously?
Elijah: I promise you… and what more…
The words come out my mouth before I can stop them
Elijah: I can prove it… I’m going to take you to my secret lair.
It wasn’t a lair, tbf it wasn’t even mine. But only now do I think of the consequences of going there and how pissed Amberstone was going to be with me, and the fact it would cease to be a secret.
Deborah: OK, if this is true… show me.
Elijah: Really?
Deborah: Look at me, how could any man resist? I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out what was wrong with you…
Wrong with me???
Deborah: …this would explain everything.
Now, at this point I had a choice. I could either take her to the lair, and explain everything and hope that the dam didn’t burst and flood the eastern seaboard when she saw me in the tight fitting suit. Or, I could tell her that although her body was banging, her face was like a bag of spanners, and therefore run the risk of me being stabbed in my sleep. It was a conundrum no doubt. I chose the former… Amberstone being the lesser of two evils, or at least that was how I thought it would pan out.
I was wrong.
…TO BE CONTINUED
/ZERO HOUR
TARGET: CRISSY GARDNER
CRIME: HUBRIS
MISSION: SAVE THE SCW
The words pass across the screen, before we see Zero, the colors popping from his red tight fitting suit that bears no resemblance to any current super hero living or dead. He sits cross-legged, motioning for the camera to come closer, then putting a hand up, pushing it back
“Not that close fella…”
He puts a thumbs up when satisfied, and starts to speak.
“Welcome Citizens of SCW… by now you all know who I am, so I shall spare you the introductions.”
Nobody has a clue who he is, but he is oblivious to that.
“Two weeks ago, I had a purpose, a mission if you will. It wasn’t to claim an imaginary Flame like most, during the annual meeting of super villains. It wasn’t even to throw said villains out of the ring and to the outside, sending them to oblivion. Oh no, that would have been too easy for someone with my powers. My primary purpose was to put the Kingdom on notice. And ensure that they knew that I will not allow your savior, Giovanni Aries, to be victimized any longer, whilst your ‘false God’s’ run riot. That mission was accomplished, regardless of my message being ended abruptly by the future ‘Kingpin’ Owen Cruze. And how do I know my message was received loud and clear? Quite simply two names…”
He pauses for a few moments, for dramatic effect.
“Ricky Octavius and Kelcey Wallace.”
Zero nods his head very matter of fact.
“At this very moment Kelcey Wallace lies in a hospital bed, the official line being ‘complications whilst giving birth’. Only recently, it was revealed the Ricky Octavius’ body had been found, a young life snuffed out prematurely. These two ‘events’ are not coincidence my friends. They are linked by one person, or should I say one entity, that being the criminal majority of this company and its followers. Why is Kelcey really in hospital? Because her husband couldn’t resist the allure of the Dark Side, nor the sweet cinnamon scent of an Angelic Vagina that’s why. And why is Ricky Octavius now deceased having apparently plummeted to his death? Because one of your ‘bright new hopes’ Peyton Rice broke his heart to raise her banner in support of those that seek to seize our beautiful city. Harsh, yes it might be, but the truth always is. And though he may speak in metaphors it seems to me that in SCW the only truth teller is Giovanni.”
Zero gets to his feet and walks over to a board. On said board there are a series of pictures pinned to it. We see Regan Street, Selena Frost, and Owen Cruze, joined by Aaron Blackbourne, Kennedy Street and Peyton Rice. Zero jabs at the board, specifically at Regan’s picture.
“These people, the feed lies and, one day… those lies will be revealed. These, are my primary targets, the people who spread nothing but ‘fake news’.”
He scrolls down the board, past a whole raft of picture before arriving at the bottom, where we see Crissy Gardner.
“And then Citizens, you have the foot soldiers… those that walk the front lines whilst those at the top peddle their untruths. Busting a gut each week in a battle to be noticed by the Criminal Masterminds of the Kingdom. Some people, they call them ‘irrelevant’ but not Zero.”
A shake of the head confirms this.
“I call them ‘Hope’, but only if their eyes are opened to who are the true heroes of SCW.”
He pulls down a canvas that he attaches in front of the board. On that canvas are several pictures. One of them shows a couple sleeping in their bed. Another shows a dog sleeping on its back, its legs akimbo. A third shows a student nodding off at a lecture.
“The common denominator in all of these pictures… moments prior to this they had been listening to one of Crissy Gardner’s rhetoric’s.
He pulls down the canvas and it flips back, Zero going back to his seat.
“Do you want to know Crissy, why you are constantly ignored, when the ‘trinkets’ as Giovanni calls them are handed out? Oh, don’t think this is going to be me telling you how weak you are, or how your abilities could never stack up to mine, because I know you will be a more than capable opponent, but your quite simply not powered like I am.
No, the reason you are ignored, is quite simply, NO ONE hears you and those that do fall to sleep after approximately 4.2 seconds.
Take Regan… you can’t help but hear her whine constantly, and boy does she whine. Take Selena, she’s there constantly in your face, like a pit-bull with a bone. But you… no one hears, and honestly sweet cheeks no one cares.
You want the truth Crissy… I didn’t even realize you’d competed in the Battle Royal until I googled it. And that’s your problem, you’ll never be noticed, the criminal element will never allow you to rise through its ranks until you have something of substance to say or indeed give. THIS, facing me on Breakdown will come at a cost, and excruciating pain, that’s a given. However, you WILL be noticed because you’re up against me… it’s up to you what attention that brings. But once you are noticed Crissy, what then? What is it that you desire? There has to be some reason why you returned right?”
He’d watched a TV show, ‘Lucifer’, and promised himself he would use that line. And he felt accomplished that he’d managed to squeeze it in.
“And that reason, is my biggest problem. Because although you give me hope that SCW will one day be free of the binds that hold it, those like Regan, and like Selena, you want to be like them. You want to have held the term ‘Champion’ like they have before you, and that is the most important thing to you, you’ve already made that clear that your hubris clouds your judgement to reality. The corruption that currently makes this company smell of stale urine, you don’t care about that as long as you hold a title, as long as you feel that glory. People choosing their sexual partners like sweets, you prefer to let that slide, not your place to comment. Those that have been given power, giving out ‘favors’ but only to those that ‘toe the line’ but that’s not your business right? Jesus Christ, why can’t you see that of course it’s our business, because it effects the reputation of OUR city? A reputation that right now is in the gutter. That’s the message the Giovanni is preaching, that only the few won’t ignore.”
He punches his right hand into the palm of his life, clearly frustrated.
“But, what they and maybe you don’t realize is one day very soon, people will come to realize that the false idols that dominate social media are full of nothing more than propaganda for those much higher up the chain. They WILL fall, there is no greater certainty than that, and then there will be nothing to protect those that hold power over SCW and indeed EMERGE.
But Giovanni won’t rule… that’s not what he wants, we will ALL have our city back, once the criminal element of the Kingdom has been purged. The question is Crissy, quite simply, will you be a well-respected member of the community, or one of those eliminated?
As I said previously, for you I have hope, but unlike the uneducated, I am under no illusions as to your possible unbreakable allegiances and ambitions.”
He scoffs, truthfully, he felt that Crissy was probably one of those that would never escape the attraction of accolades and prizes, and that her ‘hero worship’ would forever be displaced. But, that wasn’t what was important, not this Wednesday.
“Crissy, on Wednesday in Des Moines, just like in Montreal, I am going to deliver a message. That message being that whatever side you stand on now, there is still time for you to follow the Dragon, all the way to Giovanni’s fabled Wonderland. You DO have a choice, and now is the time to make it, or forever be lost to the Kingdom.”
He stands
“With 39 enemies, it was always going to be a task even for me. Though one of those with the biggest mouths now knows my power don’t you Mr Raynes? But one on one Crissy, I’m going to give an example of what I can do, and ensure that unlike you, my message rings loud and clear. However capable you are, I’m stronger, faster, fitter… just simply better. And I’m afraid there is nothing you can do about your present, that is I am afraid set in stone. You can however do something about your future, and unlike Marty Mcfly, there will be no need for you to go back in time. Buck the trend Crissy, don’t be like THEM. And maybe, just maybe, when the final act arrives… you’ll be sitting on the right side of the fence. You have till Wednesday Ms Gardner… choose wisely.”
He puts up his hands, forming the now familiar diamond with his thumbs and forefingers as the scene fades.
Not gonna lie, I was bummed. No, not like that, I mean I was annoyed. Mainly because my first chance to be the hero had fallen flat, and Amberstone had needed to bail me out. There I was, looking every inch the superhero, ready to take down the bad guys, and when it came to the crunch I couldn’t perform. Now believe me, Elijah has never had a problem with performing, in fact my erection was legendary around these parts, but after all the buildup, to fail so miserably… it had left me questioning if I was the right person for the job.
Amberstone: Hmm, I see.
Amberstone was busy poking and prodding the suit as I read the local newspaper. Nothing in there about my exploits… probably a good thing seeing as the only real picture they could have got was me having my ass handed to me.
Amberstone: I think I see the problem Elijah
I don’t correct him… as long as I wasn’t in the suit it was all good.
Elijah: Yeah?
Amberstone: Indeed, it seems that the suit rejected you.
High school flashback… rejection seemed to be the buzz word around that time
Elijah: Rejected me? How?
Amberstone: Yes, I can understand why you would ask that question.
But apparently doesn’t feel the need to answer it.
Elijah: So?
Amberstone: Ah yes, of course. Elijah, it might be a stupid question, seeing as your grades at school were very little to shout out about.
Usually I would have been surprised he knew what my grades were, but this was Amberstone and nothing shocked me these days.
Amberstone: But, have you ever heard of Metamorphezine?
Elijah: Of course
Amberstone: Splendid, that saves a lot of explaining.
Elijah: I don’t really
Amberstone sighs, the type of sigh that would have earned him a smack in the mouth, but I was after answers
Amberstone: Metamorphezine is a living, breathing organism that is as much alive as you and me.
Elijah: OK, thanks for the Science lesson (I failed Science, just in case you were wondering), but what does that have to do with anything.
Amberstone: The suit Elijah, it is made from that very same material. And it doesn’t believe you are worthy of wearing it.
Elijah: Fuck off, you’re shitting me
Amberstone: True story homeslice…
I ignore his attempt at street speak, we would never talk about it again.
Elijah: What, so like Mjolnir? Thor’s Hammer?
Amberstone: Yes, exactly the same. The suit won’t let you use it, because it doesn’t feel like you have earned it.
Elijah: So let me get this street, stop me if I’m mistaken. You give me a super power that’s only ever any good if we are in the middle of a thunder storm, and then in an effort to assist me, you make a suit with ‘feelings’.
Amberstone: Yes, that about sums it up
Elijah: Seriously dude, you are the worst genius ever
Honestly, I knew that was bullshit. I mean off the top of my head Dr Evil was a lot worse than Amberstone, and what about Dr Doofenshmirtz. That aside, it was certainly starting to look like Amberstone hadn’t given this a great deal of though.
Amberstone: You have to understand Elijah, for us to take down G.U.A.R.D the wearer and the suit HAVE to be one entity. The slightest doubt in either and we are doomed to failure.
Elijah: So what are you saying?
Amberstone: I’m saying that we have to find a way for the suit to believe in you.
Now, I don’t know if you’re all thinking the same as me, but that sounds ridiculous right? As far as I’m aware Superman never had these issues with his super suit, and neither did Captain Marvel unless you count the fairly obvious camel toe. But, taking this ridiculous notion as truth, how the heck was I supposed to get a suit to ‘believe’ in me?
Elijah: So how do I do that then? Take it to dinner or something?
Amberstone raises his eyebrows
Elijah: I was joking dude… and what does a suit eat anyways?
Amberstone: I honestly don’t know…
Three months ago, if you had told me that I was going to have super powers and have the fate of the world resting on my shoulders, I would have told you to bring it on. Now however, it just seemed to be an inconvenience to a ‘normal’ life, and one obstacle after another.
THREE DAYS LATER
Ok, so I’ll be honest, we couldn’t come to a conclusion. I mean, a living, breathing suit that had a chip on its shoulder wasn’t the easiest situation to deal with, making it like a piece of shit like me, and that was something else. Truth be told, I was impressed, after all to figure out that I’d been a bit of a knob in my life just from me wearing it twice, the AI on this thing must have been top spec. The only thing we could think of was to give it another trial run, and hence Amberstone and I were stood on top of a high rise building with a few more storeys than I cared for. That’s storeys, floors… not a story like this one. I was once again wearing the suit, and it may have been my brain playing tricks, but I was sure it was digging me in the ribs at every opportunity.
Zero (because he’s got the suit on… durr): OK, so what are we doing up here?
I look over the edge at Joe Public going about their business below.
Amberstone: I have a theory…
Zero: About time
Amberstone: See, has we have calculated, the suit doesn’t like you
Zero: Alright dude, don’t rub it in.
Amberstone: So, it needs to know that you are willing to sacrifice everything for the cause.
Zero: Err, hold on… I hope that you’re not suggesting what I think you are.
Amberstone: Hear me out Zero…
He was lucky I was actually still on the roof, but I had to admit I got a kick out of being called by my hero name.
Zero: I’m not throwing myself off a building Amberstone. Committing suicide just to pacify the emo suit? I don’t think so.
Amberstone: But think about it Zero… the suit doesn’t trust you to use its capabilities, but I reiterate it is living, and it is breathing.
Zero: So what you saying?
Amberstone: The suit feels everything you do… I’m of the belief that the suit will engage self-preservation mode.
Zero: Belief? Well that’s encouraging. And if not?
Amberstone: Then I’ll be looking for a new subject.
He says it very ‘matter of fact’, so much so I nearly throw him from the top just to see how high he bounces. But there is something about his words than make me realize that this could be the only way. And no matter the frustrations, I ‘liked’ being Zero. All my life I had been a no-one, and irrelevance. This suit could make me into somebody, and that was something I craved more than anything else… except maybe a blowjob from Ariana Grande.
Zero: And you reckon this will work?
Amberstone nods, but not very encouragingly, and I step up onto the ledge
Zero: Jesus, that’s a long way down
Amberstone: Trust the suit Elijah… trust the suit
I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, but I step off the ledge and into the void, plummeting towards the concrete below. I’d love to tell you that my life flashed before my eyes or some other near death cliché that would fit in with this bullshit, but it doesn’t, all I feel is the suit suddenly starting to tighten, making it difficult for me to breathe, the equivalent I guess of the human butt clench. The suit then starts to right itself, and amazingly and with very little effort I land on my feet, not quite believing the lack of impact, literally as if I’d floated. I look up, at Amberstone high above, who puts up a thumbs up.
“See, I told you…”
He had told me… that the suit wouldn’t let me die, and ignoring the fact that this was probably the happiest relationship I’d ever been in, I notice a crowd starting to build, wondering who the heck it was who’d just jumped off a building and lived. Now wasn’t the time to answer those questions…
“Go back to base… I’ll see you there.”
I didn’t know if it had made a difference, I didn’t know if me and the suit were now having a love affair for the ages. What I did know was that knowing Amberstone, it wouldn’t be long till I found out.
“How did you do that?”
“Where did you come from?”
“Who are you?”
The questions come thick and fast from my gathering fans… yeah, I’m calling it, my group of ‘Zeroes’. I put my hands on my waist, and look at them all, and if it wasn’t for the mask they would see the goofy smile growing on my face
Zero: Me? I’m the Savior of this City.
I lower my head and put my forefingers and thumbs together, totally off the cuff and in a diamond shape
Zero: I… AM… ZERO!!!
I turn and make my way through the alleys, eventually losing the last of my ‘Zeroes’, feeling every inch the hero that they needed.
EVEN LATER
OK, so none of you have super powers, so I don’t expect you to understand. But right now I was on top of the world. Imagine that first time that you get with a girl, and she’s down on you and swallows… well, that was nowhere near close to how I was feeling. Honestly, I reckon I could have taken on the world without the super suit, but considering the lengths I’d gone to gains its trust I may as well use the damn thing. Maybe the next time it would listen, we would have to wait and see. Anyway, when I got home, Deborah was waiting for me in the corridor. Deborah’s the clingy woman who lives next door and wants some stuff remember? Cool. She’d baked me some muffins, and me being the kind of guy who can’t resist a good muffin, I’d invited her in for a couple of minutes, just to be polite. That was three hours ago. The only saving grace? Her magnificent mammaries that as usual were bursting out of her low cut top, and had distracted me from her tedious dialogue.
Deborah: So, how do you like the Muffins?
It was the first question she’d asked in the three hours and it caught me a bit off guard.
Elijah: Yeah, they are great. Thanks, but you didn’t have to.
Deborah: Did you know, they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?
Elijah: Is that right?
Deborah nods, her breasts jigging wonderfully.
Deborah: Elijah?
Elijah: Yeah?
Deborah: You do know how I feel about you don’t you?
Yeah, I did… the snail trail of moistness from the door and on the chair had given me a clue.
Elijah: No…
I stall, a certain sense of inevitability falling over this conversation.
Deborah: I think I’ve made it pretty clear over the last few months.
She had, she was… her boobs seemed to be speaking to me. Inviting me to sample their pleasures. Her face though, it was telling me a different story. I guess I could always bag it up if necessary.
Elijah: Deborah… I’m flattered, seriously I am
Christ, I may has well gone full cliché and say it wasn’t her…
Elijah: It’s not you, it’s me…
Yeah… maybe I should be Captain Cliché instead
Elijah: But, I can’t be with you… or anyone for that matter
Deborah: Why not, are you a monk?
I wasn’t… and why didn’t I think of that excuse.
Elijah: No, I’m not a monk. It’s just, with certain power comes certainly responsibility…
I’m not ashamed I used that line. It was a good line.
Elijah: And I just can’t be in a relationship right now
Deborah: Why not, I’d be good to you, I’d take care of you. And you’d want for nothing… I’m even talking bum sex
God I wish I could get past the face
Elijah: It’s easier for me to show you…
I lift the laptop lid, and bring up YouTube, and the clip someone had filmed of me, sorry Zero, leaping from the top of the building and landing on my feet.
Deborah: Yeah, it’s the new superhero guy that people are talking about, the lightening guy.
Elijah: Yeah, well that guy… it’s me.
Deborah looks at me for a moment, and I shit you not, even her breasts look at me dismissively.
Deborah: I get it Elijah, you don’t want to be with me. Just say, you don’t need to lie to me.
She looked really hurt, which wasn’t my intention. Maybe I should have just given her one, in the interests of more muffins.
Elijah: No, seriously… that’s me. The guy who can conduct electricity.
He points his thumbs towards him
Elijah: Me!
Deborah: Seriously?
Elijah: I promise you… and what more…
The words come out my mouth before I can stop them
Elijah: I can prove it… I’m going to take you to my secret lair.
It wasn’t a lair, tbf it wasn’t even mine. But only now do I think of the consequences of going there and how pissed Amberstone was going to be with me, and the fact it would cease to be a secret.
Deborah: OK, if this is true… show me.
Elijah: Really?
Deborah: Look at me, how could any man resist? I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out what was wrong with you…
Wrong with me???
Deborah: …this would explain everything.
Now, at this point I had a choice. I could either take her to the lair, and explain everything and hope that the dam didn’t burst and flood the eastern seaboard when she saw me in the tight fitting suit. Or, I could tell her that although her body was banging, her face was like a bag of spanners, and therefore run the risk of me being stabbed in my sleep. It was a conundrum no doubt. I chose the former… Amberstone being the lesser of two evils, or at least that was how I thought it would pan out.
I was wrong.
…TO BE CONTINUED
/ZERO HOUR
TARGET: CRISSY GARDNER
CRIME: HUBRIS
MISSION: SAVE THE SCW
The words pass across the screen, before we see Zero, the colors popping from his red tight fitting suit that bears no resemblance to any current super hero living or dead. He sits cross-legged, motioning for the camera to come closer, then putting a hand up, pushing it back
“Not that close fella…”
He puts a thumbs up when satisfied, and starts to speak.
“Welcome Citizens of SCW… by now you all know who I am, so I shall spare you the introductions.”
Nobody has a clue who he is, but he is oblivious to that.
“Two weeks ago, I had a purpose, a mission if you will. It wasn’t to claim an imaginary Flame like most, during the annual meeting of super villains. It wasn’t even to throw said villains out of the ring and to the outside, sending them to oblivion. Oh no, that would have been too easy for someone with my powers. My primary purpose was to put the Kingdom on notice. And ensure that they knew that I will not allow your savior, Giovanni Aries, to be victimized any longer, whilst your ‘false God’s’ run riot. That mission was accomplished, regardless of my message being ended abruptly by the future ‘Kingpin’ Owen Cruze. And how do I know my message was received loud and clear? Quite simply two names…”
He pauses for a few moments, for dramatic effect.
“Ricky Octavius and Kelcey Wallace.”
Zero nods his head very matter of fact.
“At this very moment Kelcey Wallace lies in a hospital bed, the official line being ‘complications whilst giving birth’. Only recently, it was revealed the Ricky Octavius’ body had been found, a young life snuffed out prematurely. These two ‘events’ are not coincidence my friends. They are linked by one person, or should I say one entity, that being the criminal majority of this company and its followers. Why is Kelcey really in hospital? Because her husband couldn’t resist the allure of the Dark Side, nor the sweet cinnamon scent of an Angelic Vagina that’s why. And why is Ricky Octavius now deceased having apparently plummeted to his death? Because one of your ‘bright new hopes’ Peyton Rice broke his heart to raise her banner in support of those that seek to seize our beautiful city. Harsh, yes it might be, but the truth always is. And though he may speak in metaphors it seems to me that in SCW the only truth teller is Giovanni.”
Zero gets to his feet and walks over to a board. On said board there are a series of pictures pinned to it. We see Regan Street, Selena Frost, and Owen Cruze, joined by Aaron Blackbourne, Kennedy Street and Peyton Rice. Zero jabs at the board, specifically at Regan’s picture.
“These people, the feed lies and, one day… those lies will be revealed. These, are my primary targets, the people who spread nothing but ‘fake news’.”
He scrolls down the board, past a whole raft of picture before arriving at the bottom, where we see Crissy Gardner.
“And then Citizens, you have the foot soldiers… those that walk the front lines whilst those at the top peddle their untruths. Busting a gut each week in a battle to be noticed by the Criminal Masterminds of the Kingdom. Some people, they call them ‘irrelevant’ but not Zero.”
A shake of the head confirms this.
“I call them ‘Hope’, but only if their eyes are opened to who are the true heroes of SCW.”
He pulls down a canvas that he attaches in front of the board. On that canvas are several pictures. One of them shows a couple sleeping in their bed. Another shows a dog sleeping on its back, its legs akimbo. A third shows a student nodding off at a lecture.
“The common denominator in all of these pictures… moments prior to this they had been listening to one of Crissy Gardner’s rhetoric’s.
He pulls down the canvas and it flips back, Zero going back to his seat.
“Do you want to know Crissy, why you are constantly ignored, when the ‘trinkets’ as Giovanni calls them are handed out? Oh, don’t think this is going to be me telling you how weak you are, or how your abilities could never stack up to mine, because I know you will be a more than capable opponent, but your quite simply not powered like I am.
No, the reason you are ignored, is quite simply, NO ONE hears you and those that do fall to sleep after approximately 4.2 seconds.
Take Regan… you can’t help but hear her whine constantly, and boy does she whine. Take Selena, she’s there constantly in your face, like a pit-bull with a bone. But you… no one hears, and honestly sweet cheeks no one cares.
You want the truth Crissy… I didn’t even realize you’d competed in the Battle Royal until I googled it. And that’s your problem, you’ll never be noticed, the criminal element will never allow you to rise through its ranks until you have something of substance to say or indeed give. THIS, facing me on Breakdown will come at a cost, and excruciating pain, that’s a given. However, you WILL be noticed because you’re up against me… it’s up to you what attention that brings. But once you are noticed Crissy, what then? What is it that you desire? There has to be some reason why you returned right?”
He’d watched a TV show, ‘Lucifer’, and promised himself he would use that line. And he felt accomplished that he’d managed to squeeze it in.
“And that reason, is my biggest problem. Because although you give me hope that SCW will one day be free of the binds that hold it, those like Regan, and like Selena, you want to be like them. You want to have held the term ‘Champion’ like they have before you, and that is the most important thing to you, you’ve already made that clear that your hubris clouds your judgement to reality. The corruption that currently makes this company smell of stale urine, you don’t care about that as long as you hold a title, as long as you feel that glory. People choosing their sexual partners like sweets, you prefer to let that slide, not your place to comment. Those that have been given power, giving out ‘favors’ but only to those that ‘toe the line’ but that’s not your business right? Jesus Christ, why can’t you see that of course it’s our business, because it effects the reputation of OUR city? A reputation that right now is in the gutter. That’s the message the Giovanni is preaching, that only the few won’t ignore.”
He punches his right hand into the palm of his life, clearly frustrated.
“But, what they and maybe you don’t realize is one day very soon, people will come to realize that the false idols that dominate social media are full of nothing more than propaganda for those much higher up the chain. They WILL fall, there is no greater certainty than that, and then there will be nothing to protect those that hold power over SCW and indeed EMERGE.
But Giovanni won’t rule… that’s not what he wants, we will ALL have our city back, once the criminal element of the Kingdom has been purged. The question is Crissy, quite simply, will you be a well-respected member of the community, or one of those eliminated?
As I said previously, for you I have hope, but unlike the uneducated, I am under no illusions as to your possible unbreakable allegiances and ambitions.”
He scoffs, truthfully, he felt that Crissy was probably one of those that would never escape the attraction of accolades and prizes, and that her ‘hero worship’ would forever be displaced. But, that wasn’t what was important, not this Wednesday.
“Crissy, on Wednesday in Des Moines, just like in Montreal, I am going to deliver a message. That message being that whatever side you stand on now, there is still time for you to follow the Dragon, all the way to Giovanni’s fabled Wonderland. You DO have a choice, and now is the time to make it, or forever be lost to the Kingdom.”
He stands
“With 39 enemies, it was always going to be a task even for me. Though one of those with the biggest mouths now knows my power don’t you Mr Raynes? But one on one Crissy, I’m going to give an example of what I can do, and ensure that unlike you, my message rings loud and clear. However capable you are, I’m stronger, faster, fitter… just simply better. And I’m afraid there is nothing you can do about your present, that is I am afraid set in stone. You can however do something about your future, and unlike Marty Mcfly, there will be no need for you to go back in time. Buck the trend Crissy, don’t be like THEM. And maybe, just maybe, when the final act arrives… you’ll be sitting on the right side of the fence. You have till Wednesday Ms Gardner… choose wisely.”
He puts up his hands, forming the now familiar diamond with his thumbs and forefingers as the scene fades.
06-25-2019, 11:57 PM
Taking Hold of the Flame, didn’t go as Minka Pressler wanted it to go, but then again it didn’t go the way that thirty eight other people wanted it to go either. Needless to say she wasn’t too broken up by the fact that she was left off the last two shows, because it gave her some time to regroup her thoughts. However, when she got the tentative line up for the next show she was going to be on she had to take a spit take.
She could get over the fact that she was placed in match with a walking dildo, but she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The team of Kandis and Tommy Valentine, the very team that Chance of Pain beat in their last tag team match up. They were getting a tag team title match against Redemption before Chance of Pain. Normally, Minka wouldn’t get worked up over such a thing, but to her it seems that Kandis is getting “gifted” title shots she doesn’t deserve. Minka thinks back to the elimination chamber match… the last match that Chance of Pain has had to deal with the tag team titles. Since Taking Hold of the Flame saw the Truelove Twins (another team that was given more shots than one team deserved) go down in flames. Minka thought that maybe, just maybe that they would finally get their shot at the gold.
They were just coming off a victory in tag team action against Kandis and Valentine, but more importantly… they had history with one half of the tag team champions. There was a story to tell there, but out of the blue the losers of their match get a title shot before them. Something wasn’t right about that. Minka picked up her phone and feverishly texted Samantha who was probably sleeping at the moment given the fact that later tonight she was finally having her singles match against Andrew Raynes.
Sent: 06/19/19 7:30am.
Can you believe it? That whore and has been are getting a tag title shot before us. We beat them!
Minka knew that she was right, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it. As it’s been quite a while since the last time that she was in a title match. She’s had the tag contenders match up, but outside of that the only other chance she’s had was nearly a year ago when she took on AJ Helms for a chance at the Television title. She didn’t want to stop and think that maybe she was starting to care a little too much about becoming a champion, but at the same time it’s been more than good while that she held a championship. She just might be starting to develop a case of gold fever.
Sent: 06/19/19 7:33am.
I know.
Minka could only scoff at her friend’s reply, but she knew that she was right about the situation. Defeated she tossed her phone down on to the couch in her living room. She was more than likely end up tearing the house up later to find it, but for now that was a fine place for it. She walked in to the kitchen and poured her a cup of her freshly brewed tea. She had never been much of a tea drinker, because quite frankly it wasn’t her cup of tea. However, in the last couple of months since she’s started trying to ground herself more she’s taken to it with the help of Luke Dallas.
He’s done a fantastic job of remodeling the barn slash gym by himself to where Minka is almost certain that the job he was on when her grandfather passed away was either a construction or carpenter job, because he’s definitely get the skills to do either one of them. He’s also become a very close friend in the short time that they have known one another, but if you were to ask Ashe she’d swear up and down that the renter and a land lord were having very personal bank deposits between the two of them for the rent.
With the cup of tea in her hand, she exited the kitchen, walked down the hallway a little bit and found herself in the room that she’s turned into her personal study. It’s where she goes to unwind, but at the same time where she goes to research her opponents. Right now she just really wanted to forget about this week’s Breakdown for a little bit. So she sat down at her desk that held a brand new HP Pavilion Desktop Intent Core i5 with: custom 12 gigabytes of memory, a 1 terabyte hard drive plus a 128GB Solid State Drive. It was really something to marvel at, but more importantly it was one of the few luxuries that Minka has spoiled herself with since finally having a decent place to call home.
She just sits there for several moments sipping her tea trying to decide what to do. She despite the fact that it might remind her of her opponent decides she’s going to watch Spider-man: Far From Home on her computer. She places the cup of tea down on the desk and opens open FireFox on her computer after turning on the monitor. She then clicks on her favorites tab and finds the link to her favorite torrent site. Once the page is loaded she looks for and finds a link to one of the uploads for the movie claiming to have the best visual and audio quality.
She was going to be the judge of that, but after she clicked on the link she had to wait for the movie to download. As if someone upstairs was looking out for her a notification popped up on her screen that Mike OxBig had posted a new podcast. The Mike OxBig show wasn’t the most original name in the world nor was it the greatest podcast either. However, Minka listened to it from time to time, because OxBig was the color commentator partner to Dan “Heywood” Jablowme’s play by play for the XWL.
‘The Mike OxBig Show’ was a weekly pro wrestling podcast taped and then uploaded to the internet by… you guessed it, Mike OxBig. The description on the page reads: Mike OxBig is not only a legendary color commentator and former wrestling manager, but he is one of the business’ most outspoken minds and mouths, hitting you with his big Ox and blunt and uncensored take on Professional wrestling.
Minka just looked at the page for a few moments with the hundreds of previous shows listed in front of her. However, she was on a mission to find the latest one. After scrolling down the page a far bit she finally finds the newest addition to the site. After she picks up her cup of tea with her left hand she uses her right hand to click the mouse to click on the link. The page changed slightly to show a picture of a cartoon caricature of OxBig along with his co-host Ben Dover along with the show’s number and title of the episode which is “What the Hell?!”
“Hello again everybody and welcome to another edition of The Mike OxBig show. I’m Mike “The girl’s marvel at my size when I’m between their thighs” OxBig. With me as always my partner in the crime… Ben Dover!” Bellowed OxBig’s voice from the speakers of the computer. Minka reclined a little bit in her computer chair as she took another sip of her tea.
“Aloha Ox, and hello to everyone on this new insufferable episode of the Mike OxBig show. Where Howard Stern and Don Imus have nothing on this host that’s the grossest! What’cha eating tonight, Ox?” Ben Dover, once upon a time was a referee for the XWL, but due to a serious back injury he suffered while being brutalized by Michael and Josh Stevens he can no longer perform those duties.
“I’ve got myself a Oreo and M&M Blizzard from Dairy Queen.” Minka could only scowl at the screen, because now thanks to OxBig she wanted one. She placed her cup down on to the desk again and started to pat around her clothing trying to find her phone. She could text Luke to see if he could pick her up one before he comes back from the hardware store, but she can’t for the life of her find or remember where she left her phone.
“Dairy Queen, eh?” Ben wasn’t the biggest fan of anything that wasn’t healthy. So the fact that his boss was sitting in front of him eating something like that didn’t sit well with him. Minka was on the verge of tuning out of the podcast as she continued to look for her phone.
“I love plowing through her drive thru.” Hearing OxBig say something like that is more than every podcast thing. Minka knew that wasn’t the kind of man he is in real life thanks to her dad working with him in the XWL and AWA, but he loved playing the perverted outlaw character.
“Of course you do,” Minka could just see Ben rolling his eyes at the comment, because he’s always been straight laced. From there and in between bites of his Blizzard, OxBig would take the next few minutes to preview the episode before getting to the subject at hand. Which was the reason why Minka was particularly interested in this podcast compared to the others.
“-now, I’m sure you all know my feelings over years on the subject of Supreme Championship Wrestling and their particular brand of plain Jane wrestling.” Minka just had to shake her head a little bit at that board stroke that he was trying to paint the SCW in, because really SCW wasn’t as plain Jane as he was trying to make it. However, in terms of what he is comparing it to… she couldn’t argue too much about it. “Where’s Rick Young craving up some pregnant lady’s stomach? Or how about when he ripped that teen model with foot fetish toe nails with needle nose pliers? Where’s the pillaging and raping? And my favorite, when Chris Pressler was sucked off by a baby and he exploded…”
OxBig didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence before he was interrupted by Dover shocked and an octave higher voice clamoring: “Whoa, whoa, whoa. WHAT?” Dover had been a referee through most of the things that were mentioned, but that one… was before his time. Minka nearly spit her tea out over her computer upon hearing OxBig bring it up and she knew the whole story behind it. Not the controversial sound bite of click bait goodness that he was trying to make it in to. Minka was about to look for her phone again to call OxBig to give him a piece of her mind for doing that to her dad. She’s hoped that he was going to explain it before moving on. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that I quite heard that right.”
“You’ve never heard about that?” OxBig paused, as he was probably shoving more of the Blizzard down his mouth. Minka just sat there sipping her tea still hoping that he was going to give more context to what he is talking about. Minka was still really too young to really all the details of the edition of Sunday Night Extreme that they are talking about.
“Ah… no. You’re kidding right, right? Seriously no company would allow something like that to happen!” Which for the most part Minka had to agree with Ben on that. There probably will never be a company that will ever allow something like that in the way that has currently been hyped up as to have happened.
“No, I mean it… just not in the literal sense.” Minka could swear she could hear him smirking behind the microphone in the moment.
“You ass! You really had me thinking that a criminal act on a child had taken place.” Ben’s outrage was genuine from what Minka could hear in his voice as she knew that many of OxBig’s listeners were probably in the same boat. Minka wasn’t too happy about it, but she could appreciate it… a little bit, because at that point in her father’s career that was the biggest storyline he had been in at the moment.
“Let me explain before the pitchforks are brought out.” OxBig said, before he’s interrupted by a sound bite from one of the many monster movies that have had scene where the town’s villagers are hunting down the monster with their torches and pitchforks. Which it was obvious in the moment to Minka that Ben was one that played the bite, because when it quiet and OxBig could speak again he sounded a little pissed at his co-host. “At the times Vampires were the hot ticket item. Pressler along with Ryan Singer were ‘vampires’ along with a couple other douches, but more importantly along with Tyra Burke and Josh Stevens who was going as La Magra at the time.”
“Actually, that’s starting to sound familiar… maybe I have heard of it before.” Dover had to really stop and think about it in the moment. It was possible he had blocked it from his memory because of the connection to one of the men took his lively hood away from him. Not to mention the fact that after the incident that they are talking about… Minka’s father was the laughing stock of the locker room and was even fired from the company, because he ruined the illusion of the characters they were trying to bring to life.
“Burke and La Magra, had just given “magically” birth to their daughter after a week pregnancy. Already, you can see where this going…” He paused again to eat a couple more bites of his dessert. “So the idea was for this baby to “feed” off Pressler or suck his blood if you will and then by the next show be an eighteen year old indy wrestler who was to debut, because XWL was cheap stakes and couldn’t find “filler” fill ins to age the baby slower… they wanted it all in one go.”
“I have a feeling that this ended badly.” Ben said, and he didn’t have the foggiest clue of how it ended.
“Badly doesn’t do it justice… it was a shit storm.” OxBig bellowed, with a hearty laugh, but Minka didn’t find any of it funny, because for the longest time her father couldn’t find work as a serious wrestler. “We had the FCC on our backs over it, but the worse part was the storyline was ruined. Singer and Pressler were supposed to be the kid’s bodyguard and doing one of the skits the kid is to bite Pressler’s thumb to suck his blood. To make that happen without it seeming to be forced… Pressler dipped his finger in to some milk that was hidden in the crib to trick the baby into thinking that it was her mother’s tit.”
“That’s not too bad. I mean you made it seem a million times worse.” Dover was right it was like apple and oranges compared to how he was hyping it up as.
“HOWEVER, what we didn’t know at the time was that Pressler was suffering from diarrhea and had to go to the bath room when we were filming. We also didn’t know that the kid was teething at the time.” You could pause the podcast at that every moment and have a pretty good mental image of what happened. “So everything was going according to plan till all of the sudden the kid decides to actually bite Pressler. Pressler freaked out and how do you put it…”
“Shit hit the fan?” Dover interjected before he played another sound bite and the best way to put it. It sounded like shit hitting a fan. However, when the clip ended there was a ‘moment of silence’ on the podcast as OxBig had to catch his breath between laughing too hard and shoveling down another couple spoonful’s of his Blizzard while the taping continued. Minka took another sip from her tea as she was glad that he told a much truer account of the event, but she wished that he didn’t have to mock her father so much.
“That’s the kind of shit that I like, but that’s not SCW. They focus more on the competition than over the top gimmicks like that. So I’m a little shocked at their recent decision on who they want to be challenging for the tag titles.” Minka’s ears perked back up a little bit, because she couldn’t believe that he was having the same feelings about the tag team title match that she was.
“Really? I thought you would be all over it like white on rice.” Ben quipped, and Minka had to admit that she was wondering the same thing.
“Normally, I’d be all for the Mary Sues of all T.H.O.T.s or twitter hoe over there for you Simon Limens out there. They lost to Chance of Pain a team that has been in the tag team division for months. The Jackass and Big Ass Connection are barely infants in the tag team division… hell they are more akin to the swimmers I rubbed out looking at Kandis’ last twitter post.” There is a momentarily a pause as the sound effect of someone saying “EWWW” cuts in to the podcast. Minka definitely had to agree, because she didn’t like the visual that she was just given by OxBig. “However, that’s not the thing that I’m upset about. Crissy Gardner, the daughter of the man I just made revisit one of the shittiest times of his career. Along with her partner, Samantha Raine, who should be in the tag title match is getting wasted in a throw a way match.”
“How do you figure? She’s on the card for the show isn’t she?” By Dover’s logical Minka knew that she should be happy to have a match on the show. However, she just couldn’t help but side with OxBig that her talent is being wasted in the match that she was given.
“Normally I’d have no problem with her opponent because it’s the kind of shit that I like, but the SCW is about competition and I feel that he doesn’t belong on the roster.” Colored Minka a little impressed that OxBig is going against something he normally loves. “Crissy, has done some crazy shit in the past. I mean she murdered someone in selfdefense, but you can’t deny her talent. So who do you think her opponent is?”
“Giovanni Aries?” Minka raised an eyebrow at the thought of going one on one with The Savior of Wonderland. It be different… hell it would be better than her current opponent.
“Fuck no. Besides, I don’t know what the fuck Giovanni has done with himself, but he comes off as a Dr. Seuss Villain… if Dr. Seuss had villains.” Minka chuckled a little bit at that one.
“So okay, who is it?” The impatient of the co-host was palpable and probably for the fans that don’t actively follow the SCW. However, Minka didn’t need to know who her opponent is, because she already knew his name.
“It’s another one that debuted during Taking hold of the flame. I love the guy, but he probably has the worst fucking gimmick ever possible for a serious company like SCW. Some putz by the name of Zero.” The podcast is broken up by a little more silence as OxBig eats more of his frozen treat. “Just by looking at him… I say he’s an average wrestler, butt ugly because he hides behind a mask, that can’t make up his fucking mind if he’s Megaman’s sidekick, which ever Marvel hero he’s supposed to look like DareSpiderPoolman, or if he’s the main character from the video game INFAMOUS.”
“That’s harsh… even coming from you. I think you mean Daredevil, Spiderman, and Deadpool.” Minka had to agree.
“You can’t make this shit up.” Minka had to disagree, because someone made this shit up. “He’s a career mid-carder at best in EMERGE and is at best enhancement talent on the main roster.”
“Maybe that is why they have having him wrestle Crissy? Have you through of that?” Point noted to Ben on that one, because even she didn’t think of that as a possibility. However, having a match against someone to just make you look good when you could be a in a title match are two different things. Minka took another sip of her tea and then looked in to cup to see that it was just about empty. She’s down to the last couple sips as she could sear she could her the very disconcerting sound of OxBig cramming more of his Blizzard in to his mouth. However, her attention is taken away from the podcast as she hears the front door open and close.
“Minka, I’m back.” Luke’s voice carried through the house easily, because he just had one of those very masculine deep voices that traveled far. For a moment it caused Minka to sit up a little straighter to pause the podcast for a moment.
“I’m in the study.” As she then resumed the podcast. It was funny, after Blake she wasn’t looking for a new relationship, but Luke kind of just fell in her lap so to say and while they aren’t official by any sense of the word… it feels like it might be something.
“You better not be watching Far from Home! You promised we’d see it in the theaters.” Luke yelled, and Minka could only mentally cry out ‘shit’ as she swiveled around to check the room to make sure he wasn’t lurking behind her. Once she was sure that she was in the clear as she whistled casually and trying to be cool, she took the mouse to the right of the keyboard and moved the cursor over the FireFox tab for her torrent site and then to her download. Two windows appeared. She deftly ‘X’d out the window on the right and the box with the potentially offending website disappeared- just as Luke walked into the study. Luke was wearing a black t-shirt with Metallica written across the front of it, a pair of black running shorts, and his favorite pair of NIKEs.
“Get everything you need?” Luke just cast a skeptical, inquisitive glance towards Minka as if his intuition somehow knew she’d been up to something.
“Yeah I Did.” Luke just nodded, but the conversation was interrupted when the conversation on the podcast got a little more intense.
“If there is a God. If there is truly justice in this world. Crissy Gardner will knock this punk’s block off and send him back into the obscurity he deserves so SCW will never, EVER, have to talk about him and his WORST FUCKING GIMMICK EVER IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING EVER AG- AAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH!” Hearing OxBig scream in pain like that reminded of her Jablowmen’s heartache.
“Ox?” Dover called out as both Luke and Minka wondered what was going on.
“AW, FUCK!” The sound of someone banging his head on a counter could be heard through the speakers. “BRRRRRAIN FREEEEEEEZE! AARRRRRGGHHHHHH!
At that point Minka finally heard enough and clicked on the ‘X’ and the You Tube site disappeared from her computer screen.
She could get over the fact that she was placed in match with a walking dildo, but she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The team of Kandis and Tommy Valentine, the very team that Chance of Pain beat in their last tag team match up. They were getting a tag team title match against Redemption before Chance of Pain. Normally, Minka wouldn’t get worked up over such a thing, but to her it seems that Kandis is getting “gifted” title shots she doesn’t deserve. Minka thinks back to the elimination chamber match… the last match that Chance of Pain has had to deal with the tag team titles. Since Taking Hold of the Flame saw the Truelove Twins (another team that was given more shots than one team deserved) go down in flames. Minka thought that maybe, just maybe that they would finally get their shot at the gold.
They were just coming off a victory in tag team action against Kandis and Valentine, but more importantly… they had history with one half of the tag team champions. There was a story to tell there, but out of the blue the losers of their match get a title shot before them. Something wasn’t right about that. Minka picked up her phone and feverishly texted Samantha who was probably sleeping at the moment given the fact that later tonight she was finally having her singles match against Andrew Raynes.
Sent: 06/19/19 7:30am.
Can you believe it? That whore and has been are getting a tag title shot before us. We beat them!
Received: 06/19/19 7:32am.
Minka, calm down everything happens for a reason.
Minka, calm down everything happens for a reason.
Minka knew that she was right, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it. As it’s been quite a while since the last time that she was in a title match. She’s had the tag contenders match up, but outside of that the only other chance she’s had was nearly a year ago when she took on AJ Helms for a chance at the Television title. She didn’t want to stop and think that maybe she was starting to care a little too much about becoming a champion, but at the same time it’s been more than good while that she held a championship. She just might be starting to develop a case of gold fever.
Sent: 06/19/19 7:33am.
I know.
Received: 06/19/19 7:40am.
Everything is going to work out how it is intended to. Besides they are probably getting the shot to make up for Tommy getting taken out of the battle royal and because of Kandis’ performance in it.
Everything is going to work out how it is intended to. Besides they are probably getting the shot to make up for Tommy getting taken out of the battle royal and because of Kandis’ performance in it.
Minka could only scoff at her friend’s reply, but she knew that she was right about the situation. Defeated she tossed her phone down on to the couch in her living room. She was more than likely end up tearing the house up later to find it, but for now that was a fine place for it. She walked in to the kitchen and poured her a cup of her freshly brewed tea. She had never been much of a tea drinker, because quite frankly it wasn’t her cup of tea. However, in the last couple of months since she’s started trying to ground herself more she’s taken to it with the help of Luke Dallas.
He’s done a fantastic job of remodeling the barn slash gym by himself to where Minka is almost certain that the job he was on when her grandfather passed away was either a construction or carpenter job, because he’s definitely get the skills to do either one of them. He’s also become a very close friend in the short time that they have known one another, but if you were to ask Ashe she’d swear up and down that the renter and a land lord were having very personal bank deposits between the two of them for the rent.
With the cup of tea in her hand, she exited the kitchen, walked down the hallway a little bit and found herself in the room that she’s turned into her personal study. It’s where she goes to unwind, but at the same time where she goes to research her opponents. Right now she just really wanted to forget about this week’s Breakdown for a little bit. So she sat down at her desk that held a brand new HP Pavilion Desktop Intent Core i5 with: custom 12 gigabytes of memory, a 1 terabyte hard drive plus a 128GB Solid State Drive. It was really something to marvel at, but more importantly it was one of the few luxuries that Minka has spoiled herself with since finally having a decent place to call home.
She just sits there for several moments sipping her tea trying to decide what to do. She despite the fact that it might remind her of her opponent decides she’s going to watch Spider-man: Far From Home on her computer. She places the cup of tea down on the desk and opens open FireFox on her computer after turning on the monitor. She then clicks on her favorites tab and finds the link to her favorite torrent site. Once the page is loaded she looks for and finds a link to one of the uploads for the movie claiming to have the best visual and audio quality.
She was going to be the judge of that, but after she clicked on the link she had to wait for the movie to download. As if someone upstairs was looking out for her a notification popped up on her screen that Mike OxBig had posted a new podcast. The Mike OxBig show wasn’t the most original name in the world nor was it the greatest podcast either. However, Minka listened to it from time to time, because OxBig was the color commentator partner to Dan “Heywood” Jablowme’s play by play for the XWL.
‘The Mike OxBig Show’ was a weekly pro wrestling podcast taped and then uploaded to the internet by… you guessed it, Mike OxBig. The description on the page reads: Mike OxBig is not only a legendary color commentator and former wrestling manager, but he is one of the business’ most outspoken minds and mouths, hitting you with his big Ox and blunt and uncensored take on Professional wrestling.
Minka just looked at the page for a few moments with the hundreds of previous shows listed in front of her. However, she was on a mission to find the latest one. After scrolling down the page a far bit she finally finds the newest addition to the site. After she picks up her cup of tea with her left hand she uses her right hand to click the mouse to click on the link. The page changed slightly to show a picture of a cartoon caricature of OxBig along with his co-host Ben Dover along with the show’s number and title of the episode which is “What the Hell?!”
“Hello again everybody and welcome to another edition of The Mike OxBig show. I’m Mike “The girl’s marvel at my size when I’m between their thighs” OxBig. With me as always my partner in the crime… Ben Dover!” Bellowed OxBig’s voice from the speakers of the computer. Minka reclined a little bit in her computer chair as she took another sip of her tea.
“Aloha Ox, and hello to everyone on this new insufferable episode of the Mike OxBig show. Where Howard Stern and Don Imus have nothing on this host that’s the grossest! What’cha eating tonight, Ox?” Ben Dover, once upon a time was a referee for the XWL, but due to a serious back injury he suffered while being brutalized by Michael and Josh Stevens he can no longer perform those duties.
“I’ve got myself a Oreo and M&M Blizzard from Dairy Queen.” Minka could only scowl at the screen, because now thanks to OxBig she wanted one. She placed her cup down on to the desk again and started to pat around her clothing trying to find her phone. She could text Luke to see if he could pick her up one before he comes back from the hardware store, but she can’t for the life of her find or remember where she left her phone.
“Dairy Queen, eh?” Ben wasn’t the biggest fan of anything that wasn’t healthy. So the fact that his boss was sitting in front of him eating something like that didn’t sit well with him. Minka was on the verge of tuning out of the podcast as she continued to look for her phone.
“I love plowing through her drive thru.” Hearing OxBig say something like that is more than every podcast thing. Minka knew that wasn’t the kind of man he is in real life thanks to her dad working with him in the XWL and AWA, but he loved playing the perverted outlaw character.
“Of course you do,” Minka could just see Ben rolling his eyes at the comment, because he’s always been straight laced. From there and in between bites of his Blizzard, OxBig would take the next few minutes to preview the episode before getting to the subject at hand. Which was the reason why Minka was particularly interested in this podcast compared to the others.
“-now, I’m sure you all know my feelings over years on the subject of Supreme Championship Wrestling and their particular brand of plain Jane wrestling.” Minka just had to shake her head a little bit at that board stroke that he was trying to paint the SCW in, because really SCW wasn’t as plain Jane as he was trying to make it. However, in terms of what he is comparing it to… she couldn’t argue too much about it. “Where’s Rick Young craving up some pregnant lady’s stomach? Or how about when he ripped that teen model with foot fetish toe nails with needle nose pliers? Where’s the pillaging and raping? And my favorite, when Chris Pressler was sucked off by a baby and he exploded…”
OxBig didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence before he was interrupted by Dover shocked and an octave higher voice clamoring: “Whoa, whoa, whoa. WHAT?” Dover had been a referee through most of the things that were mentioned, but that one… was before his time. Minka nearly spit her tea out over her computer upon hearing OxBig bring it up and she knew the whole story behind it. Not the controversial sound bite of click bait goodness that he was trying to make it in to. Minka was about to look for her phone again to call OxBig to give him a piece of her mind for doing that to her dad. She’s hoped that he was going to explain it before moving on. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that I quite heard that right.”
“You’ve never heard about that?” OxBig paused, as he was probably shoving more of the Blizzard down his mouth. Minka just sat there sipping her tea still hoping that he was going to give more context to what he is talking about. Minka was still really too young to really all the details of the edition of Sunday Night Extreme that they are talking about.
“Ah… no. You’re kidding right, right? Seriously no company would allow something like that to happen!” Which for the most part Minka had to agree with Ben on that. There probably will never be a company that will ever allow something like that in the way that has currently been hyped up as to have happened.
“No, I mean it… just not in the literal sense.” Minka could swear she could hear him smirking behind the microphone in the moment.
“You ass! You really had me thinking that a criminal act on a child had taken place.” Ben’s outrage was genuine from what Minka could hear in his voice as she knew that many of OxBig’s listeners were probably in the same boat. Minka wasn’t too happy about it, but she could appreciate it… a little bit, because at that point in her father’s career that was the biggest storyline he had been in at the moment.
“Let me explain before the pitchforks are brought out.” OxBig said, before he’s interrupted by a sound bite from one of the many monster movies that have had scene where the town’s villagers are hunting down the monster with their torches and pitchforks. Which it was obvious in the moment to Minka that Ben was one that played the bite, because when it quiet and OxBig could speak again he sounded a little pissed at his co-host. “At the times Vampires were the hot ticket item. Pressler along with Ryan Singer were ‘vampires’ along with a couple other douches, but more importantly along with Tyra Burke and Josh Stevens who was going as La Magra at the time.”
“Actually, that’s starting to sound familiar… maybe I have heard of it before.” Dover had to really stop and think about it in the moment. It was possible he had blocked it from his memory because of the connection to one of the men took his lively hood away from him. Not to mention the fact that after the incident that they are talking about… Minka’s father was the laughing stock of the locker room and was even fired from the company, because he ruined the illusion of the characters they were trying to bring to life.
“Burke and La Magra, had just given “magically” birth to their daughter after a week pregnancy. Already, you can see where this going…” He paused again to eat a couple more bites of his dessert. “So the idea was for this baby to “feed” off Pressler or suck his blood if you will and then by the next show be an eighteen year old indy wrestler who was to debut, because XWL was cheap stakes and couldn’t find “filler” fill ins to age the baby slower… they wanted it all in one go.”
“I have a feeling that this ended badly.” Ben said, and he didn’t have the foggiest clue of how it ended.
“Badly doesn’t do it justice… it was a shit storm.” OxBig bellowed, with a hearty laugh, but Minka didn’t find any of it funny, because for the longest time her father couldn’t find work as a serious wrestler. “We had the FCC on our backs over it, but the worse part was the storyline was ruined. Singer and Pressler were supposed to be the kid’s bodyguard and doing one of the skits the kid is to bite Pressler’s thumb to suck his blood. To make that happen without it seeming to be forced… Pressler dipped his finger in to some milk that was hidden in the crib to trick the baby into thinking that it was her mother’s tit.”
“That’s not too bad. I mean you made it seem a million times worse.” Dover was right it was like apple and oranges compared to how he was hyping it up as.
“HOWEVER, what we didn’t know at the time was that Pressler was suffering from diarrhea and had to go to the bath room when we were filming. We also didn’t know that the kid was teething at the time.” You could pause the podcast at that every moment and have a pretty good mental image of what happened. “So everything was going according to plan till all of the sudden the kid decides to actually bite Pressler. Pressler freaked out and how do you put it…”
“Shit hit the fan?” Dover interjected before he played another sound bite and the best way to put it. It sounded like shit hitting a fan. However, when the clip ended there was a ‘moment of silence’ on the podcast as OxBig had to catch his breath between laughing too hard and shoveling down another couple spoonful’s of his Blizzard while the taping continued. Minka took another sip from her tea as she was glad that he told a much truer account of the event, but she wished that he didn’t have to mock her father so much.
“That’s the kind of shit that I like, but that’s not SCW. They focus more on the competition than over the top gimmicks like that. So I’m a little shocked at their recent decision on who they want to be challenging for the tag titles.” Minka’s ears perked back up a little bit, because she couldn’t believe that he was having the same feelings about the tag team title match that she was.
“Really? I thought you would be all over it like white on rice.” Ben quipped, and Minka had to admit that she was wondering the same thing.
“Normally, I’d be all for the Mary Sues of all T.H.O.T.s or twitter hoe over there for you Simon Limens out there. They lost to Chance of Pain a team that has been in the tag team division for months. The Jackass and Big Ass Connection are barely infants in the tag team division… hell they are more akin to the swimmers I rubbed out looking at Kandis’ last twitter post.” There is a momentarily a pause as the sound effect of someone saying “EWWW” cuts in to the podcast. Minka definitely had to agree, because she didn’t like the visual that she was just given by OxBig. “However, that’s not the thing that I’m upset about. Crissy Gardner, the daughter of the man I just made revisit one of the shittiest times of his career. Along with her partner, Samantha Raine, who should be in the tag title match is getting wasted in a throw a way match.”
“How do you figure? She’s on the card for the show isn’t she?” By Dover’s logical Minka knew that she should be happy to have a match on the show. However, she just couldn’t help but side with OxBig that her talent is being wasted in the match that she was given.
“Normally I’d have no problem with her opponent because it’s the kind of shit that I like, but the SCW is about competition and I feel that he doesn’t belong on the roster.” Colored Minka a little impressed that OxBig is going against something he normally loves. “Crissy, has done some crazy shit in the past. I mean she murdered someone in selfdefense, but you can’t deny her talent. So who do you think her opponent is?”
“Giovanni Aries?” Minka raised an eyebrow at the thought of going one on one with The Savior of Wonderland. It be different… hell it would be better than her current opponent.
“Fuck no. Besides, I don’t know what the fuck Giovanni has done with himself, but he comes off as a Dr. Seuss Villain… if Dr. Seuss had villains.” Minka chuckled a little bit at that one.
“So okay, who is it?” The impatient of the co-host was palpable and probably for the fans that don’t actively follow the SCW. However, Minka didn’t need to know who her opponent is, because she already knew his name.
“It’s another one that debuted during Taking hold of the flame. I love the guy, but he probably has the worst fucking gimmick ever possible for a serious company like SCW. Some putz by the name of Zero.” The podcast is broken up by a little more silence as OxBig eats more of his frozen treat. “Just by looking at him… I say he’s an average wrestler, butt ugly because he hides behind a mask, that can’t make up his fucking mind if he’s Megaman’s sidekick, which ever Marvel hero he’s supposed to look like DareSpiderPoolman, or if he’s the main character from the video game INFAMOUS.”
“That’s harsh… even coming from you. I think you mean Daredevil, Spiderman, and Deadpool.” Minka had to agree.
“You can’t make this shit up.” Minka had to disagree, because someone made this shit up. “He’s a career mid-carder at best in EMERGE and is at best enhancement talent on the main roster.”
“Maybe that is why they have having him wrestle Crissy? Have you through of that?” Point noted to Ben on that one, because even she didn’t think of that as a possibility. However, having a match against someone to just make you look good when you could be a in a title match are two different things. Minka took another sip of her tea and then looked in to cup to see that it was just about empty. She’s down to the last couple sips as she could sear she could her the very disconcerting sound of OxBig cramming more of his Blizzard in to his mouth. However, her attention is taken away from the podcast as she hears the front door open and close.
“Minka, I’m back.” Luke’s voice carried through the house easily, because he just had one of those very masculine deep voices that traveled far. For a moment it caused Minka to sit up a little straighter to pause the podcast for a moment.
“I’m in the study.” As she then resumed the podcast. It was funny, after Blake she wasn’t looking for a new relationship, but Luke kind of just fell in her lap so to say and while they aren’t official by any sense of the word… it feels like it might be something.
“You better not be watching Far from Home! You promised we’d see it in the theaters.” Luke yelled, and Minka could only mentally cry out ‘shit’ as she swiveled around to check the room to make sure he wasn’t lurking behind her. Once she was sure that she was in the clear as she whistled casually and trying to be cool, she took the mouse to the right of the keyboard and moved the cursor over the FireFox tab for her torrent site and then to her download. Two windows appeared. She deftly ‘X’d out the window on the right and the box with the potentially offending website disappeared- just as Luke walked into the study. Luke was wearing a black t-shirt with Metallica written across the front of it, a pair of black running shorts, and his favorite pair of NIKEs.
“Get everything you need?” Luke just cast a skeptical, inquisitive glance towards Minka as if his intuition somehow knew she’d been up to something.
“Yeah I Did.” Luke just nodded, but the conversation was interrupted when the conversation on the podcast got a little more intense.
“If there is a God. If there is truly justice in this world. Crissy Gardner will knock this punk’s block off and send him back into the obscurity he deserves so SCW will never, EVER, have to talk about him and his WORST FUCKING GIMMICK EVER IN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING EVER AG- AAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH!” Hearing OxBig scream in pain like that reminded of her Jablowmen’s heartache.
“Ox?” Dover called out as both Luke and Minka wondered what was going on.
“AW, FUCK!” The sound of someone banging his head on a counter could be heard through the speakers. “BRRRRRAIN FREEEEEEEZE! AARRRRRGGHHHHHH!
At that point Minka finally heard enough and clicked on the ‘X’ and the You Tube site disappeared from her computer screen.