The Garage and The Hurricane
Mac and Amber’s Place - Las Vegas, NV
[Time: 4:45 PM Monday February 2nd]
/Scene Opens\
[off-camera]
The 2001 V-Rod; it only took me leaving Baltimore to find time to finish the refurb on it that had been in progress for three years. It was finally finished and running like the champion it was. The paint job on it had faded long ago, Amber and I had recently fixed that though. It started as gun metal grey but faded to black when you got to the back of it. This monster would go from zero to sixty in a little over three seconds. The press on this bike says three point five but thanks to the adjustments that Amber and I had made to it, we topped that with three point two-five. This motorcycle was an absolute beast and it fit my personality to a tee. “A beast riding a beast, love it.”, Amber said to me as we finished cleaning up from the final adjustments we had made to it.
I smirked at the comment, as I finished towling my hands dry. She swatted me on the backside as she brushed past to get to the door that led into our kitchen. She was still hobbled by the ankle injury she had suffered mere months before. It may have slowed her down outside, but inside of it she was still a demon with red hair. I admired her passion for what we do, it mimicked my own in a lot of ways. She stopped at the door, turning she smiled, “Coffee?” I returned her smile, “Not sure, how is it when paired with wedding cake?” She laughed as she disappeared into the house to make the coffee. “Bane, you are such a lucky bastard.”
With “Blast From The Past” coming up, I was very focused on the task at hand. Teaming with Myra had been the last thing I had in mind. Not that I minded it much mind you. Away from Baltimore, she was different, better I think. At least I hoped. The women’s division here was special, so special that I believe the men should be thankful that there is a women’s division. To be fair and honest as I often am, for good or ill, it was superior to the Men’s division. I had been away from Sin City Wrestling for quite a while. Most won’t accept why I left but I don’t worry about the opinions of others. Much like the Lion does not worry about the opinions of sheep. He simply destroys them and consumes their essence. That was my intention upon returning with Amber to SCW. We weren’t on the same team this time around, but that’s okay, we knew what the stakes were. We also knew that one would not betray the other.
I kept a backup camera out here for moments like these. Even during the pandemic, our life was chaotic with travel and trying to make sure we had enough time to plan the wedding in April. Getting all the details ironed out would be the real devil in this. Lots of people to coordinate with, invitations to send and all the frills and dressings that my future wife damn sure deserved. She more than deserved the fairy tale wedding. “Aha! There you are.”, I exclaimed as I spotted the camera tucked away and only partially visible. I pulled out from it’s hiding place, which was really that it was partially obscured from view by a tarp that had been haphazardly thrown over the top of it. I was going to have to talk to my son Jimmy about that shit. “What in the hell did he do with my stand?”, I cussed at no one in particular.
[fade]
Preamble
Mac and Amber’s Place - Las Vegas, NV
[Time: 5:45 PM Monday February 2nd]
/Scene Opens\
[on-camera]
After much cussing and searching, I finally gave up on finding my stand. Amber of course found this to be amusing and asked me if I had loaned it to Jimmy recently, I don’t loan my son anything, for the record. No matter though, I still had my studio to work with. The camera is already recording as I sit down with my coffee. If you were there you could smell the Irish coming off in waves as the aroma filled the small space. I smiled at the camera, this would be my first promo in Sin City in months.
“Blast from the Past. A tournament with a rich history. A tournament that has both Amber and I in it. She, however, is not my partner for this one. You should all be very thankful for that little silver lining.”
Take a sip from my coffee cup, allowing the warmth to wash over me. I do love a good Irish whiskey, especially when it’s actually from Ireland.
“Welcome to my preamble for the tournament and my path forward. For those of you who don’t have much of an education, that means, this is the part where I tell you how screwed you are and that you have no recourse.”
I stare at the picture of Amber and I that hangs on the wall nearby. Our wedding date was fast approaching and we were still planning most of it. In the background you can hear her cuss ,that’s all the evidence you really need about people’s availability. I smirk as I hear her drop yet another f-bomb.
[/color=limegreen] “I am teaming with your record setting Internet Champion from the bombshells side of the house. Myra is one hell of an athlete in her own right. I take nothing away from her. We also have a history of sorts. When I was in Baltimore, she was my debut opponent, she was also my supershow opponent.[/color]
I smile as I remember those matches, they were good matches, they were competitive.
“What I’ve got is a pretty damn good partner, whether we’ll have any chemistry or not is yet to be seen. I’m not too damn worried about that though. Myra and I are the kind of people that just handle their business in the ring. It’s really just that damn simple. Much like our opponents for the first round.
Simple
Fade
Trouble
Mac and Amber’s Place - Las Vegas, NV
[Time: 5:45 PM]
/Scene Opens\
[off-camera]
A few months ago, a man named Charles Marlowe had paid me a visit. Charles, or Chuckie is how I have known him, planted information in a database to be found by the Bandido leadership. Data that would put my family and friend in harm's way. So far, that hadn’t been the case, everyone was healthy and happy. Or as happy as they could be in the world today. Now Chuckie, he was a special agent from the department of homeland security. Which meant only one thing, these clowns had gone from running drugs and prostitution to something far worse was my assumption. Today though, Chuckie sat at my kitchen table, his head heavily bandaged. He had just gotten out of the hospital a few days before.
”It looks like they’ve declared war on HSA Chuckie.”
He grunts in pain as he nods his head in agreement, gingerly touching the place where the bandages stop and his barely healed skin begins.
“You could say that.”, he winced and pulled his hand back down from his face. He grasped the coffee cup in both hands and smiled. The coffee in this house has that effect on people. He sighed contentedly as he took another sip. “Thank you for the Irish, Mac. That’s really good.” I returned his smile and allowed him to take solace in the warmth of the coffee for a moment. His eyes came back to me and there was an unasked question there, but in his current condition he may have been too scared to ask.
“No Chuckie, I haven’t heard anything from them since the night you left. How long was it after you left my house that they jumped you?” I watched him wince again as he swallowed more coffee. “Wasn’t them.”, he managed to say before he started to cough. I allowed him a moment to recover before I asked.
”Then who? What have you stumbled into man?” I stood up from the table and began to pace back and forth between the living room and the dining room, racking my brain, trying to think of who else they might have partnered with.
We don’t know, the crew that attacked me and my team were chinese.” He made the statement and saw the look on my face and it clicked for the both of us. We’d need more proof first but this had “Triad” written all over it. These were people that you couldn’t fuck with and walk away from it. I sat back down heavily in my chair, setting the coffee cup down, I rested my elbows on the table. Burying my face in my hands, I exhaled slowly before bringing my hands back down. ”The only good thing that came from this, is the fact that I wiped all traces of the data that we had planted. Your name doesn’t exist anywhere there that they can find.”
I nodded an acknowledgment that I understood what he was saying. “But they already know who I am, and who those closest to me are. The damage has been done, thanks to you. Now, you want me to help. You want me to clean up your mess. That about right? I level my gaze at him in a way that dares him to deny anything I just said. He doesn’t though, Chuckie knows he’s in over his head. Just as I know he’s in over his head. He’s not CIA, where those fucks have no conscience. No, Charles Marlow has a family of his own and he inadvertently kicked a hornets nest. He’s still trying to figure out if he can get his own out of harm’s way or if they’ll all be stung to death. I liken it to Sin City Wrestling in a way. They brought Amber and I back but they don’t realize they’ve kicked the hornets nest. Now, we are going to sting them to death.
You’re not wrong, Mac. I didn’t see this coming, can you help or would you even consider it?”
I studied him for a long moment, the man who sat at my kitchen table was tired and severely injured. Definitely not the same kid I remember from Puerto Rico. He doesn’t move or even say anything else, he stares at his coffee cup and waits on me. When he finally does raise his head to take a drink of the coffee, his emotions play over his face. Pain, fear, and anger are all present in his eyes.
“I shouldn’t. I’m getting married in April, Chuckie. Who knows about what you’ve uncovered so far. Obviously the MC is not operating alone. You got jumped by a chinese crew but that doesn’t mean that the Triad is involved. They could just be hired goons. You may not need me at all, if you can coordinate this with others.”
He smirks at the mention of other groups.
“My superiors know what happened and the evidence that I provided to them, just disappeared. I’ve tried to reach out to other groups, but my place within HSA, I have no political capital to operate off of.”
”You should have chosen more wisely Chuckie”, a soft and deep voice came from the kitchen as our old commanding officer, Robert Jeffrey Castello entered the room. The look of shock on Chuckie’s face was priceless. Jeff was one of those people that when he entered a room all conversations stopped. He commanded the room and the respect that is due to a war veteran and decorated sailor who had served his country with distinction. Chuckie almost shot to his feet, causing Jeff and I to smile.
“Easy son, no formalities please.”, Jeff said in his easy going way. ”I think I can help with this, this incident has come to the attention of the Director of National Security. Foreign agents attacking a member of the Homeland Security Agency have that kind of impact.”
Fade
Garbage Time
Mac and Amber’s Place - Las Vegas, NV
[Time: 5:45 PM]
/Scene Opens\
[on-camera - In-Studio]
I leaned back in over-sized office chair and thought how I wanted to address the opponents that Myra and I would face. I finally decided on a path and now I begin…
“Max Burke and Amy Santino. The roadblock that exists between Myra and I and the next round. Max is a former roulette champion, and he did something down in GRIME. World Nighmare Champion or some such. The rules are much like the Roulette Championship. It allows people to explore their own creativity. Pursue things that might lay hidden or things they’ve never thought they were capable of. I’ve no such issues. I don’t have dark fantasies that lay hidden away, they are always on the surface and they are always present. Most people, in these types of matches, they like to talk about, “By any means necessary”. The problem is, they don’t really have a clue what it means to live that life. They’ve no clue about the things that come with that philosophy. The guilt that comes creeping up on you while you sleep, the inability to even look at your own face in the mirror without being repulsed.”
I smile a beaming smile at the camera as I sip from the coffee cup.
”Amy, Amy, Amy. That’s quite the burden you’re carrying. We all know that Max is dead weight. The real power on your team is you. It’s quite the resume you have, a great track record. Too bad you’re nothing more than a dime store version of Amber Ryan. I do mean a very cheap knock off. You are Myra’s problem to deal with, but I don’t think my record breaking partner in this tournament will even break a sweat in doing so to someone who hasn’t been active in a while.”
Taking another sip from my mug, I allowed a sigh of contentment to escape me.
“That brings me to my partner in all of this, Myra Rivers. Now she and I go back a little ways. Another company, another time. She was my debut match there and my pay per view debut. We fought tooth and nail, mostly over an imagined insult but that is the past. We are not friends, but I think we could be the dark horse team to win this whole damn thing. We are not the type of people that go kissing the boss’ ass. She’s earned her way to where she is within this company. She’s worked her ass off to win that “Internet” Title and worked harder to maintain it. She’s simply beaten everyone they’ve put in front of her. In the prime of her career with nothing but good times ahead. There’s a lot there to be respected. Like when she left Baltimore, she put all of that behind her and is a better person for it. Her personal issues are well documented and I’m certainly not going to drag all of that up and expose old wounds.”
I pause more for dramatic effect than anything, then continuing…..
“What have I done in Sin City? Not too much really, I’m undefeated in singles competition. I won your Roulette Championship and then handed it back and left. The reasons I left are my own. Do I regret just abdicating the Roulette title? Nope, that shit is beneath me. I’m a wrestler, not a garbage time performer. I don’t need special rules to become a violent man, I was born that way. Something else that you will learn to hate about me. I come from a wrestling family, tradition matters. This tournament is just the beginning boys, I’m here for the long haul and yes I am going to capture the world title and elevate all of you. I’ll put this company on my back like no one who’s ever been in sin city has before. This company matters. Max and Amy think they matter, they also believe for whatever delusional reason that they’ll win this match. The only thing they’ll win is an early exit from this tournament.”
The smile previously seen on my face is now gone. I usually do this so the enemy knows how very serious I am about this match. Allowing my brows to furrow, exhaling through my nose to give a visage of a raging bull. This time when I speak it’s barely audible, almost a growl.
“Max and Amy will find out what the term, “By any means necessary” really means. You’ll learn a lesson in what true aggression looks like and what it means to play for blood. This is not a game to me, this is in my blood and as much a part of me as my shriveled up black heart is. You and I are not the same, you don’t deserve to share a ring with me. Hell, you don’t deserve to breathe the same air as I do. I’ll see you at Climax Control, Myra and I will be removing our obstacles, one speed bump at a time.”
