[Roux]

 OFF-CAMERA
Las Vegas, NV
25 May 2017
9:51 PM PDT


Killian trades the key to his rented car for a ticket from the valet and starts to make his way towards the MGM Grand. He had just dropped off his girlfriend Cece off at her hotel and had wound up delayed before making his way here, something he would definitely hear about once he got upstairs. He pockets the valet ticket as he gets to the revolving door entryway and lifts his rather large suitcase from the ground to fit into one space. Once in the lobby, women seem to be eyeing him. Although he enjoyed the attention, the only girl on his mind was the blonde firecracker he had given his heart too. He stops at the front desk.

“Sir... did you forget something?”

Killian is not even confused for a second and starts to laugh. He holds his palm out to the poor woman, who looks a mixture of confused and insulted and tries to explain his reaction.

“So...my brother already checked in then?”

The woman goes beat red.

“I’m so sorry sir... I… guess.. uh... identical… and...”

She shakes her head, defeated, and no more words follow. Killian tries to reassure her nonetheless.

“Don’t worry about it. Was he rather short with you when you asked if he was Killian?”

She nods. This draws another laugh from Killian, but this time the woman smiles with him.

“Good. He hates people thinking he is me.”

She is still rather embarrassed, but the red starts to fade from her cheeks as she gives him the second room key.

“Here you are sir and again, my apologies.”

Killian brushes it off and gives her both a wink and a smile which only acts to bring back the red hue onto her cheeks. He leaves her behind, checking the number on card and making his way to the appropriate elevator. He finds his way to the room, a two room suite with a shared living space, meaning it was on one of the higher floors. It was not necessary, and Porter would definitely let him know as much, but it had the added benefit of the best view in the city so it was worth the complaining. He slips his key card into the lock and opens it to find his own face staring back at him in the armchair facing the door. He doesn’t look impressed.

“Porter...”

He nods his head in greeting as he pulls his suitcase inside.

“Thanks for checking in, must have been painful pretending to be me.”

Porter shakes his head.

“Why would anyone want to act like a less interesting version of themselves? Seems like a waste.”

His tone is flat. The same that he takes with almost everyone he comes across. Killian picks up on it instantly because he is typically the exception that proves the rule. Killian wheels his suitcase into the living area and passes right by Porter to the giant windows looking out to the city. Porter, however, turns the chair as his brother goes and piles on more.

“Do we need to devote some time towards buying you a new watch so maybe you will stop wasting so much of my time by always being late?”

Killian doesn't even turn from the windows as he responds. Porter can see his brother's smirk in the reflection though.

“Maybe if you stopped worrying about counting your seconds, you wouldn't be so miserable all the time.”

This gets a laugh from Porter that was much different than the one the front desk woman had heard. In all honesty, it was the easiest way to tell them apart aside from their choice of wardrobe.

“I wouldn't have to be sitting and counting seconds if you would show up when you are supposed to show up. It's bad enough you booked a room at the top of this death trap.”

Killian rolls his eyes.

“Do you realize how ridiculous it is to be a wrestler afraid of heights?”

He chuckles, turning to purposely lean against the large plate glass. He knew it would bug his brother to do so, although Porter would never admit to caring if Killian were to fall to his untimely death.

“It's not a fear…”

His voice was a lot more defensive than it was previously, and he pauses before continuing so that maybe he could sell the lie in a more convincing tone.

“... it's a dislike. Flying doesn't bother me. Leaping around a ring is fine. I've seen too many buildings, highways and monuments fall down to be comfortable this high in the air for no reason. It doesn't make sense.”

“The suites are higher up in the building. Not much we can do about that.”

Killian shrugs, moving to the mini bar to look for a drink. Again, Porter turns the chair to follow his brother's path.

“We didn't have to stay in this type of place and you know it. How much is this place anyways? It seems like you're burning through money faster than we are making it.”

Killian pops the tab on a can of domestic beer and turns to lean on the counter and study his brother.

“How was your visit with Nevaeh? Should I be planning that party?”

Killian ignores his brother's lamenting, knowing Porter’s list of complaints could go on for hours if not put in check. It gets the kind of reaction that he expects.

“She's good. She's actually from here. We have been traveling back and forth to shows together. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

“And why is it ‘nothing more’? If she is stimulating enough to see on a regular basis, then why not make it official and stop leading the girl on.”

He continues to study his brother intently, using his stony expression to stay neutral. Porter opens his mouth to respond than closes it without saying a word when Killian cocks his head just slightly to the right and glares at his brother. It was the same way that their mother did when either of them were about to lie to her face. Porter’s mouth opens and slams shut a few times until he comes to an honest thought.

“She's perfect right now. You know how that goes. It's why you have a parade of women around you. You get to know them, you eventually get bored, and they are gone. You realize they're not as smart, witty, or interesting and you discard them. I'm just cutting out the wasted time.”

Killian stares him straight in the eyes and without missing a beat says.

“Maybe you’re perfect right now, and that is your real problem. You ever think about that?”

Something crosses Porter’s eyes and Killian knows he has him. He takes a long agonizing swig of his beer.

“It’s really a perfect plan though.”

He points the can at him, a bit of the substance spilling out.

“Keep it up and you could go through your entire life without ever having to get to know anybody. You’re safe. Protected.”

Porter shakes his head.

“We have more important things to deal with than my dating life, or lack thereof.”

He pushes himself out of his seat, clearly more irritated than he was willing to let on. He walks away from the conversation, towards his own suitcase on the couch, but stops short. Instead of opening it, he spins on his heel back towards his brother.

“And I happen to like who I am!”

He levels the index finger of his right hand towards his brother as he traces his steps back across the room to him.

“I don't have to deal with people being disappointing, or having them leave damage when they take their exit from my life. I don't have to have someone to validate me and I’ll never have to put myself back together when the smoke clears.”

Killian lets his brother vent before straightening himself up from the counter.

“Aria used to have this weird moan when she ate something she enjoyed but she never realized it. The longer we were together the more it just became one of those things. Something that I would chuckle at, and she would ask me about, but I would blame on something I heard or read. She never picked up on it…. it is odd little things like that I remember and it brings a smile to my face. The things that really link us together as a couple, because nobody else got close enough to see them. We let people into our own little bubbles because they make us better for it.”

He gives a weird little half smile, remembering his fiance.

“The point is Porter... you are not perfect and Nev isn't either. But maybe...”

He chugs the rest of his beer before walking past his brother.

“... you're perfect for each other, and fuck I’m tired of seeing you alone.”

He takes the handle of his suitcase and rolls it toward his room but stops.

“You can’t go through life not taking chances, Porter. Despite losing her, I don't regret a single day but I would have regretted it had I not at least tried.”

Porter’s mind races to find a response to refute his brother, but falls short. Normally he would attack him for not giving any female a chance since then, but something about the one he was with now was different, even if Porter disliked her for being a twin. Instead of continuing, he switches gears before his brother can escape into his room.

“Did you at least talk to the movie star?”

Killian recognizes that his brother needs time to let his words sink in based on the sudden change of topic. Killian doesn't press it, he knew his words had struck a nerve.

“Yeah. She’s good to go.”

Porter nods, looking away and running through the rest of everyone it was going to take to pull off their grand debut.

“That's everyone then.”

Killian goes to turn back towards the door but Porter again stops him.

“The Elders. Did you watch what I sent you?”

“Yup. Cece and I watched on the plane ride back from the lake. She seems to think it will be a slaughter. I tend to agree.”

Porter nods.

“We knew that before we even showed up and talked to the addict though. They are, by far, the best draw we could have gotten for a debut. It's why we went about our debut the way we did. All the other teams have something going on. Process of elimination.”

Killian nods.

“You know, the talent here isn't better than in Japan but for some reason it’s more popular here. I dunno. Anyway it goes down, it will be us with victories.”

This makes Porter smile widely.

“But that's only if you can manage to be on time. As soon as that show opens we need to be in that ring. The shock factor alone should keep the other teams off of our backs for a night. If not, they get mobbed. Win-win.”

“No problem. I told Cece my pre-game plan is nothing before a match. She understood despite her disappointment. It was my reason for being late today.”

He smirks but the return to the topic only earns him an eyeroll from his brother. He tries hard to keep them on track.

“We have events in the morning. Something about marketing the new team so people in the arena are excited about the debut.”

“This is why I am staying with you dear brother and not her. You need to just bring it down a few notches right now. I just got off a plane. I’m tired.”

Killian turns to grab the handle of his bedroom door again but Porter has one final jab to take.

“No gambling.”

Killian turns around with a ready made response, but now it is Porter's turn to use the glare he learns from his mother. He does not just leave it at that though, piling on a follow-up.

“...and yes it is still gambling when you do it despite what you think.”

Killian grumbles to himself before conceding it.

“Fine.”

Killian waits at the door, shooting a look at Porter that begged him to shut his mouth. All he gets in return is a nod. With that, he retires to his room, leaving Porter alone in the living space with the weight of his words to consider.



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ON-CAMERA
Las Vegas, NV
26 May 2017
6:22 PM PDT
SCWrestling.net Exclusive


There is a table pulled in front of the camera that both Sweete Twins are leaning back against. Behind them is the large bay window of their suite, looking out over Las Vegas. The twin’s respective counterparts are nowhere to be seen, despite being vocal on social media about accompanying the twins to the show. As always, Porter’s plain blue shirt and cargo khaki pants clash against Killian’s three-button suit.

“By now, either you all already know who we are, or this is your first time paying attention to Sin City Wrestling. Climax Control might mark our official debut, but everyone on the roster has already starting asking questions about us. I have heard it backstage. I have seen it on social media. The main thing people want to know isn’t the ‘who’ but the ‘why’. Why do these two keep showing up? Why are they lurking around backstage instead of competing in matches. I was able to shrug the questions off when it was just me, and my brother was on vacation, but ever since his return, I haven’t been able to explain it away. The simplest way to put it is, we both learned at a very young age not to walk in blind.”

As Porter finishes, Killian picks up seamlessly. New fans immediately pick up on the difference between them. Their first impulse when Porter was talking was to hate the guy because of his cold tone. However, from the moment Killian opens his mouth, he is nothing but warm, and even charming.

“We didn’t find success in Japan by signing on the dotted line with the first company that offered us a contract. We took a little bit of time to get to know the lay of the land. Once we had it narrowed down to a handful, we checked out their shows. Once we picked a show, we hung around to get a real breakdown of the roster. By the first time we stepped into the ring, we had the goods on every single person we could perceivably come up against. Yet, people were still dumbfounded by how quickly we found success.”

Just as seamless, Porter picks up as soon as the last word leaves his twin’s mouth. However, instead of warming the room with his tone, fans are immediately shifted back into the contempt they felt at the open of the video.

“Sin City was no different. While my brother was away I checked out a few companies. Once I realized that the place to be was in SCW, everyone started seeing me pop up backstage. I could have sat back in the shadows and just observed, but what fun would that be? SCW is a place where groups are constantly forming, breaking, and shuffling. Even worse, this isn’t a place where two individuals form a team and compete to be the best. This is the kind of place where people have their friends run in and distract or attack their opponents to steal a win. It is the kind of place where a team that was at the back of the tag team championship line intentionally ended a match in a draw in order to hop the line.”

Killian nudges his brother and when Porter turns his head towards him, he shrugs.

“How else are the lesser talented ever going to steal a championship that could validate their career choice?”

Porter’s identical shrug makes the audience feel like they are experiencing déjà vu.

“It doesn’t much matter either way. Those kind of tricks don’t work on a team that sees it coming.”

Killian peels his eyes off of his brother to look at the camera.

“That is the dilemma that the SCW roster finds themselves in. Over the last month or so, not one of them have directly approached us about who we are, or where we came from. Yet, we have been able to catch up on everything that the whole roster has been up to in the last year. We have gotten all their matches, all their promos, and even the dozens of god awful fifteen minute mid-show segments that the Mean Girls forced the fans in attendance to listen to. Now you might be asking your computer screen why we would waste our time with the females on the roster, when we are never going to compete against them in the ring.”

Killian pauses to let the fans at home think it over, but Porter has no interest in wasting any time.

“Ask yourselves this: what are The Mean Girls and The Bad Boys, if not a faction on the brink of being born? If we were to be in a match with The Bad Boys, how would we react if the more successful female version of the same gimmick took a stroll down to ringside as a distraction? That’s not an answer we need to waste time trying to find in the moment.”

Killian seems to run out of patience as his brother beats around the point. He helps the audience out by explaining what Porter means.

”There are people in this business that will tell you that you need to be able to improvise. They will tell you to never have a plan because it is destined to come off the rails at some point. That’s not our style. If things spin out of control, we can adjust in the moment. However, preparation is what separates teams like us, from teams like The Elders.”

Finally the debuting duo work their way around to their actual opponents. Porter shoots an annoyed look at Killian, but continues all the same.

“How pathetic are these people? Late last year both the men and women of that group were sitting on the tag team titles in their division. Look how far they have fallen. They lost to Jet City, another debuting team of brothers, watched their championships slip from their grasp, and did nothing to stop it from happening. Did you see them trying to figure their opponents out? Did you see them making a plan? No. If you watch their promos they fumble their way through lackluster joke after lackluster joke until it abruptly cuts off. Just when you think it is over, they come right back. By the time it is over, and they put us all out of our misery, we are all just thinking about the time we wasted that we are never going to get back. In case those videos put you to sleep, maybe you have caught it on social media. They come across as nothing more than happy losers. We even told them that they were going to lose this match, and they were okay with it. If you’re asking yourself why they are even still in this company, I promise you are not alone.”

Killian raises his hand and claps it down on Porter’s shoulder to cut him off. He shakes his head, and then tries to steer the discussion away from the petty jabs.

“I think what my brother is trying to say, in his own hostile way, is that The Elders don’t strike us as a group that wants to be around. When we look at them we don’t see the same fire that we see in the vast majority of this roster. We see malaise, or outright laziness. It’s not like we don’t understand. We get it. We promise. You two were the big kids on the block not too long ago and within a few short months you have fallen all the way down the ranks to the team that the new guys get to beat up on in order to introduce them to the fans in an exciting way. You went from champions, to enhancement talent in less than six months. Instead of fighting the label, you embraced it. You act like it doesn’t bother you that none of the other teams take you seriously. For all I know, it might not be an act at all. You two could be happy with your current position in this company.”

Killian tries to continue, but Porter has had enough of the pleasantries.

“If you’re not interested in winning, why are you here? It is not like anyone is twisting your arm to be a part of this company. Believe me. I would know. I lurked around the backstage area with a VIP tag for multiple shows without Mark or Christian trying to force us into a match. At this point, any fans that you had have probably given up on you two amounting to anything more than you are right now. The popular sentiment around the locker room is that you peaked last year, and are in the process of fading into obscurity. For all we know, this beating might be the thing that actually gets you two to stop lying to yourselves and just leave. If you’re showing up and not even your ‘fans’ think you have a shot at winning, then why show up at all? Why make them suffer through failure after failure? And don’t try to feed us a line about loving what you do. If you loved what you do, you wouldn’t be okay with losing, or being humiliated in every match you are placed into.”

Now it is Killian that has had enough, speaking up before his brother can continue the verbal onslaught. It is not only the words that come out of his mouth that surprise the viewers, and Porter alike, but the way he says them. There is a smile on his face, and not a single note of sarcasm in his voice.

“All of that aside, we need to thank you.”

Porter’s brow furrows, and the glare he gives his brother could have made a child cry. The audience can tell that Killian must get the look a lot, because he is completely unphased by it.

“We need to thank you, because we only get one opportunity to make an opening statement in this company. If we showed up a few months ago, we might be having this conversation with Jet City, and neither of us would be as confident going into this as we are right now. If you had a little more success as of late, maybe you wouldn’t be at the back of the line at all. Porter and I might have been showing up and fighting The Unholy Alliance, Dying Breed, or even Team BJ if you two would have managed to stop them from taking home the titles in the match that you pitched to the owners. Instead, somehow, you have found your way beneath even The Bad Boys. Those three are a legitimate walking joke, despite how offensive it might be, yet are closer to a title shot than you two are.”

Both of them shake their head at the exact same time, so in sync with one another that mirrors would be jealous.

“Thank you for being so spectacularly terrible that we get to look a lot more impressive in our debut than we would have against any other team. Not only do we get walk away from our first match with a victory, but we get to make earning that victory look effortless. If you weren’t outclasses already, which you are, you are out-prepared by a lot. Even you two have been working around the clock behind the scenes to get ready for us, which we doubt, neither of you even look like you have the drive to compete once the bell rings and the match starts.”

He looks over at Killian, his eyes questioning if anything he said was wrong. Killian simply shakes his head and pushes away from the table.

“You two might not know us now, but by the end of Climax Control, we are going to be the group that everyone is talking about. That’s your silver lining. At the very least, no matter how far behind the ball you are right now, by the end of the night everyone will be able to catch you up on what you should have already known before this match starts. When you’re looking up from the mat at us celebrating our victory, I want you both to think about one thing. Is this loss going to be the thing that breaks you, or is it going to be the little blue pill that motivates the two of you to try and rise to the top of this division again. I hope it’s the latter, and if it is, we will be at the top of the mountain waiting for you two to get there.”

Killian continues to walk forward, passing the camera and switching it off as his brother gives  a half-hearted wave goodbye to the camera.