(OOC: I meant to make this look pretty but family emergency has made that pretty hard. But here it is.)
The scene opens in a den of sorts, luxurious and exotic. For those that know travelers one word quickly comes to mind, vardo. The walls and ceilings are covered in scarves, fabric and other materials all in dark jewel tones, grays and black. The cabinets are all dark wood and in the background a lush bed can be seen, filled with golden cushions. Candles are lit on the tables even though sunlight slips out from the small windows and strange, cheap artifacts from around the world can be seen in every nook and cranny.
In the middle of the room that might look familiar to fans of a certain Horde that likes to party, is a circle of people seated in wooden chairs passing around a bottle of rum. The bottle of Kraken reaches Karina Koji, the new leader of the Party Horde, that is dressed in a flowy purple dress. The Romanian fighter takes a long sip of the bottle before she speaks.
Karina: Da, it is now time to call the first gathering of this new clan. I know it is small, not much of a start but in years time when we gather around a group of hundreds we will smile at our humble beginnings, ya? So lets pass the bottle around and say our piece.
Karina hands the bottle to the rather large woman sitting next to her. She is built like a giant, a giant from some mythical north land with pale skin and red hair. However, she is dressed like a professor, with comfortable studious clothes and a pair of horn rimmed glasses on her face. She takes the bottle, inspects it and has a much smaller sip. Her name is Gloria but lately she has been going by Glory.
Glory: Oh well thank you dear. Most of you here know me, my name is Gloria or Glory depending. I met Karina in Romania recently, I was doing some fieldwork on the Romani culture. I had met one of her brothers and had started to become fascinated with the modern fight cultures...and well long story short I am now studying Karina.
Karina: And she is the nicest giant I have ever messed and a damn good fighter if you can get her drink.
Glory: Which is why I don’t drink….
Glory hands the bottle to a man that looks painfully ordinary in this group. He is dressed like a vast majority of Americans, t-shirt with jeans and a baseball cap. The man looks fairly confused and doesn’t know which unusual lady to look at. He holds the bottle and focuses on Karina.
Guy: Why am I here?
Karina: That is a fairly heavy question for so early in the evening. Lets get some drinks in us first.
Guy: No...I mean why am I here with you all. I just got hired to be a driver...I have no idea what you guys are talking about. This is not some cult is it?
Karina laughs looking at the man with a look that is intense for the smile she has on her face. She throws up her hands.
Karina: Don’t be silly. I hate cults, I have been in far too many. But give yourself credit...you are more than just a driver. You are THE driver for the Party Horde bus. We are starting a movement….and you..YOU..what is your name?
Guy: My name..uh is Ben.
Karina: Right well you, Ben, are the driver for that movement. It is a very important job. Very important!
Ben looks even more uneasy now and even more confused. He looks at the bottle unsure if he should drink it and instead hands it to the woman next to him dressed in contrasting Ganguro street fashion. She looks like something out of Tokyo in the nineties except for her hat and gloves that are clearly Victorian. To sum it up, the girl looks odd and out of place with her delicate features and messy brown hair. The girl takes the bottle and takes a huge drink that is surprising for someone so small. She wipes her mouth with a smile. This strange creature is named Dea Jaa.
Dea: Thanks for the booze. I am happy to be here, this is a historic moment whether you believe it or not. I should know, I am from the future. They talk about the first gathering in the future, of course many of the details have been exaggerated. I am disappointed, I was told there would be random goat roaming the vardo.
She happily hands off the booze to the final man in the circle, a large Samoan looking about as confused as Ben the driver. Those Party Horde historians might remember him as the burger flipping cook for Aleksei back when he had his adventures. The Samoan takes a drink like a man who needs one. His name is Pete for those that remember.
Pete: Yo..I thought Aleksei would be here, I mean not that I mind the job. I dug feeding the horde the last time but...man don’t take this the wrong way but aren’t you kind of crazy?
Karina: oh yes very much so, but it is the good kind of crazy now. It is a productive kind of crazy, does that make sense.
Pete: Hell no, none of this makes sense. But very little made sense when your brother ran things either. As long as you need people to feed, I am your man.
Karina: Oh yes...we will have people to feed. This whole thing is going to get very huge. The last Horde is going to seem small compared to what is coming next. Dea has seen in the future and I know it in my bones. We are going to sweep across the country like a strange wind picking up all the lovely freaks and oddities as we go. Then we will go to Africa and do the exact same thing. It will build..and build until the chaos is so grand, even I will not know what to do with it. So drink up because today we ride to California and this whole crazy journey can start with victory, and a big crazy party!
Everyone seems pleased with this except for Ben who still seems confused. There is an awkward silence before people realize the meeting seems to be over. Pete and Glory get up to get to know eachother and Ben, still looking a little lost, heads to the front to get the camper going. Dea gets up and moves gracefully over to Karina.
Dea: Not bad.
Karina: You think? It feels kind of silly to speak about grand things when passing a bottle around with six people, two of whom don’t understand. I keep thinking I am crazy to try to make this happen.
Dea: You’re not crazy in that way. You are crazy in all the ways that are lovely and fun. Don’t worry about the Party Horde, it will take off. I have seen it. Just do what you do best, fight in that ring and win.
Karina nods staring ahead of her, thinking hard. She takes a sip of booze as the camper starts off. Time goes on in the camper but Karina hardly moves as people move around her watching television, chatting and resting. The blazing sun of midday fades to something softer as evening soon approaches. Karina suddenly stands up.
Karina: STOP THE CAMPER...I NEED TO CUT PROMO!
Ben, the driver looks over his shoulder and then looks out in front of him.
Ben: Where? Like at that truck stop.
Karina: Yes, perfect.
Karina grabs her patchwork hoodie made from all her favorite hoodies and mimicking the style of her brothers long jacket. She strides out of the camper just as Ben pulls it to a stop outside a large highway truck stop. It is late afternoon and there is a steady crowd of travelers filling up, getting snacks. No one is prepared for what happens next. Karina strides into the middle of the truck stop before she starts talking.
Karina: Does anyone here want to be entertained!!! Is anyone tired of the boring drag of the road? Tired of the boring direction there life has taken? Is anyone in here looking for a party!!
At first everyone looks either startled or confused, but a group of young things in the back raise their hands as does the stocky clerk behind the counter.
Karina: My name is Karina Koji and I stand at the dawn of a movement. A horde is brewing just outside these doors. A party horde that is going to sweep through California like a tornado. You can’t track a tornado...no NO! And you can’t track us. We will ride the winds of chaos all the way to Long Beach. Some will get passed over and some will be changed forever. I know you can feel it!
She runs over to the counter looking at the guy who raised his hand. His name tag says Brett and Karina looks him over. The young man looks excited and scared all at once.
Karina: Brett can feel it! Ben knows he stands right on the edge of history and this guy..this guy wants to dive right in. Because the Horde...the Horde is building and we are looking for a fight. You know we are, Brett and who are we looking to fight?
Brett: My manager…? I mean he is a big dickwad.
Karina thinks about it a moment and grabs some nearby jerky while she thinks. She takes a big bite and then shakes her head.
Karina: No Brett! But good try. The Horde is not big enough to take on every jerk in the world. We must have focus and at this moment our focus is a match. A fight inside a six sided ring with the grand prize of Blast from the Past hanging in the balance. It all starts this Sunday. One match will lead to another will lead to another and we will get stronger. It will build and build! Until me and Jordan Williams stand as victors and all of you...all of you! Even you, with the weird hair can be part of this.
There is an awkward pause before Brett cheers out of nowhere causing Karina to giggle. Karina rushes down an aisle to a tall woman in a hard rock t-shirt is looking through cheap sunglasses hoping to complete the look. Karina puts her arm around her.
Karina: It all starts with Amy Marshall. Do you know who Amy Marshall is?
The woman shakes her head and Karia throws her arms up backing her way back to the center of the store as she rants.
Karina: OF COURSE YOU DON’T! Why would you? Why does she even matter? She is a nothing...a nobody. She was once a nobody known for getting naked, down and dirty on camera. Then she was a nobody who tried to be fighter in the ring. She was always a nobody, never very good at any of it...and don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind that she was a porn star...hell who doesn’t like porn.
An elderly lady pipes up that she doesn’t like porn and Karina rolls her eyes.
Karina: Okay...okay. Some people don’t like porn but that is hardly the point is it?! The point is that I have a lot less issues with a lady being a half ass porn girl than I do with someone being a half assed fighter. Stepping in the six sided ring should be about honor and skill. Amy has neither. This is a girl that couldn’t even beat Mercedes Vargas to hold on to the top prize in SCW. This is a girl that can’t even look cool with a mohawk! Who doesn’t look good with a mohawk!
Karina looks at the elderly lady, thinks about it a moment and then nods. She then hops onto the counter taking another bite out of her jerky. By this point the rest of the Party Horde has come in and seem pretty into it, except Ben who is trying to blend into the wall.
Karina: Now Amy is going to come out there and talk a lot of smack about me. But really, what can she say that is of any value. She will say that she can beat me! She will talk about my past as if that is a map to her future. She might even claim that I am crazy...guess WHAT...I am CRAZY and it is because of my lovely madness that she can’t hope to prepare for this fight. She doesn’t know who she is getting in the ring with.
You see...I use to just be a crazy person who loved to cause pain and knew a thousand different ways to break a person down. I use to be a lone wolf who would stalk my prey and destroy them..but now I have the HORDE. I have not lost any of my skills but I have gained a whole lot of motivation. I am getting in the ring not just for myself, but for everyone in the HORDE...everyone in this store. The bigger the horde gets the stronger I will get. This is not the past….right now, this Sunday I am a new fighter. I fight for the people and you better believe I am going to give this little girl everything I have got.
She hops off the counter now walking over the group of young adults who first raised their hands to join the movement. They are grinning still not sure what is happening but liking it.
Karina: Now you might tell me to beware of this tournament...maybe it doesn’t matter that I can outclass Amy. Maybe it doesn’t matter that I have the horde behind me and that I am a better fighter than she is...because I can tag in my partner and watch him lose it all. You might remind me of last year when that was the very thing that happened to me….but you would then forget that my partner is Jordan WIlliams. This is not some weak man I have to carry though this battle. This is the man who was part of the winning team. This is a man as skilled a fighter as I am, and I don’t say that about most of the men in Sin City. So...gather close Horde, let me tell you how this is going to go down.
The young fans gather close, as does Brett and those from the camper. Even the elderly lady moves in to hear what Karina has to say.
Karina: Amy is going to get in the ring with me filled with confidence. And soon enough she will learn just what kind of mess she has gotten into. She will feel pain in all new places. She will look out in the audience and see that the Horde is behind me. She will panic and she will run to her “partner.” So I will let her and I will tag in Jordan. This….is where things will get ugly, because Jordan Willams is going beat down this so called Goldenboy. Jordan is one of kind. The kind of brutality that looks so good you almost want to consider it art. So we will sit back and watch him go to work. Maybe he destroys Gene right away maybe not. Maybe golden boy runs to his corner and tags in his lady….
Watch for it...look at her eyes when this happens. Look at the desperation as she gets back into the ring with me. She can’t run away, her ego is too strong for that but she will want to. She won’t want to face me again. Every time she gets tagged in and survives, a little more of Amy will be broken. She will keep coming, and I will keep hurting her. I will put on a good show. You will all be entertained...and then I will lock in the Wolf Bite….it will all be over. Amy will fade away. Her greatest moment will be as a footnote in our history. She will have the honor of being the first fighter I defeat as the leader of the Horde.
But either way, no matter how it goes. We will win. Good and chaotic will win over the boring. Then Jordan and I can move on to more worthy opponents. Now...who is coming with me!
Karina strides through the crowd and makes her way out of the store. Brett and a couple of the younger folks follow her out. The rest of the Horde goes after with Ben trailing behind. Karina turns back.
Karina: Brett can you drive?
Brett: Oh...yeah..yeah sure I can drive real good.
Karina: Good your the new driver. Ben make friends with the old lady and dickwad manager
She prances forward into the camper while the Horde follows after. Soon they are all in the camper and are heading off to California. Victory and destiny awaits.
