Tainted Blood: Part One
Winter has set in across the United States, even the desert in Nevada cannot escape it's icy grasp. A Fury Studio's drone hovers slowly making its way towards a hole gaping in the surrounding mountainside. The image comes more into focus, an old mine shaft opening. The entryway made from creosote soaked timbers, spiked together to hold the mountain at bay. The drone films on as it glides deeper into the old shaft. Lanterns have been lit by someone to show the way, while old rail carts rot on the tracks. Down into the mine the camera still rolls past all the old equipment from ages long ago. The temperature inside gets warmer the deeper the drone goes and it's lens begins to haze. Through the foggy view a hooded silhouette appears holding a blue lit lamp. Beckoning the drone to follow down into the depths further, the caped figure walks onward into the darkness.
After a little bit of walking they come to a chamber all lit with blue flame oil lamps. There are four more openings with each a rail car seated at their entrances. The cloaked figure hangs the lantern on an old hook in the center beams of the mine ceiling. Pulling back the hood Kira Phoenix smiles at the camera. “Welcome SCW it's been a spell hasn't it? You like my new abode?†She spins around her arms extended showing the room off around her.
“I call it home away from home if you will. A place unlike any other that I can assure you that.†Kira dances on the junctions of tracks, hopping to and fro. She bounds over to the four other shafts where the old carts are parked. Above each doorway is a piece of wood with something written on each one. The drone flies closer to get a better view, coming close to hitting the rocky ceiling. Four names are painted, in what can be assumed is blood. Jessie Salco, Alice Knight, Raynin, and Mercedes Vargas all are there.
“ I just had to customize your rooms ladies, make you all feel a little more….well...at home. Hahahahaha!†Phoenix doubles over in laughter then jumps onto the edge of the cart with Salcos name above. Perched on the rickety boards she waves to the drone to come closer. Her long black and blue hair sways with the thermal air rising from the deep tunnel. Crouched like a cat she looks into the camera, violently she whips her head upside down.
“Jessie, oh Jessie.†Her fingers dig into the dry wood making it break and crack as she takes grip. “You are my dear are like so many in this biz. Rode hard, put up wet and still reek of disappointment. So what?! I’m suppose to give you props because you beat a six year addiction? Big fucking whoopie...†She stares at the camera while turning her head back upright. “Just like many others you really underestimate me, that's not a sober move sweetie.†The drone films on. It hovers away a little from Kira just out of reach. The glare of hatred shows burning in her odd colored eyes. “A consolation prize is what you call this opportunity? That proves everything I thought about you in the first place. You will always be an addict, in one form or another. From pining over your wonderful ass man and family, thanking them and god, and blah blah blah. To never getting this through that thick ass gourd you call a skull. Looking for a pat on the back in this biz will leave you lonely and cold, and you sure as hell aren't getting one from me.†You are the old horse that couldn't do its job no longer, and well back in this places heyday. They would've shot you long ago and do just like me.†Jumping off the cart she walks back to the middle juncture, where the lantern hangs. Smiling wickedly her eyes full of glee, she turns back towards the rail car. “They would've given you the shaft!†Kira exclaims and running dropkicks the cart straight down the tunnel! Sparks flying it races along the lines, BABOOM!!! Finally it careens into a sealed off wall smashing into a pile of pieces.
Jumping back to her feet, she begins to dance and clap her hands together in excitement. “You see Salco, just like this old silver mine your all dried up and worthless.†Batting her eyes at the camera her mouth curled into a sneer of resentment. “Yeah, I get the jist of what your saying with others having no time to play with me. However unlike you they have apparently taken a fancy to me, and offered a sweet opportunity that cannot be refused. You and like so many others before, always got a champagne taste on a beer budget. You truly think you're owed the shot to be the only Miss Sin City? That's one hell of a fucking crack pipe dream for one as useless as a tit on a boar hog there Jessie.†Kira reaches down and picks up an old iron pry bar. She starts twirling it in her hands like a flag corps major in a marching band. Quickly the metal rod picks up speed as she twists and turns her body fluid in motion. One hit would render anyone unconscious possibly dead, yet she wields it effortlessly.
CRACK!!! Phoenix smacks the next opening with its plaque named Vargas. “Vargas, poor little Vargas. Have you ever heard the saying, “ can't take it with you?†I have many a time.†The drones light catches something glistening in the cart, its belts. Many different replicas all with the name Vargas on the front. “I will admit your reputation precedes you Mercedes. Your mind like a steel trap of the old conquests of years past. Remembering all of that must cause migraines.†Mockingly she begins to rub her temples. “Hell, even my head hurts thinking about them all you so love to boast upon….repeatedly. Like an old worn down record that no one likes to hear any longer.†Casually she walks around to the front of the car, iron bar dragging through the fine dirt. She reaches in and pulls up one of the belts, Roulette Bombshell Champion glitters in the lamp's flickering light.
Kira stares at the strap she is holding, tilting her head she speaks with an eerie tone. “Do you think I’ll not harm you miss Vargas? Have you gotten such an ego, that has made you blind to a real threat like me? A wild animal attacks when poked too long, I am that beast...and I want blood.†She rubs her thumb across the etched name plate, then takes her nail under the edge and starts prying it off. The sharp thin metal jams under her cuticle slicing deeply. A trickle of Kira’s blood starts to flow as she continues to remove the plate. Ruby droplets trickle through the gold gilded Roulette belt, finally the name gives hold and flips into the cart. “That's better.†She tosses the leather and buckle back in the rail car, without a care.
Taking her iron pry bar in both hands she spins around holding it up, then hangs it on two spikes in the carts threshold. Leaning over the titles face first, her hair falling over her face touching the many belts. “And to think Mercedes, they are coaxing me around a cage with all of you.†Kira swings upward on the bar like a gymnast and back towards the trolley. Both feet connect flush and send the cart flying down the next set of rails.
It zooms from the momentum, wheels screaming with decades of rust from sitting so long. Sparks shoot all directions underneath the chassis, suddenly they lock up. The rail car flips and somersaults end over end. Titles fly into the air and onto the rails as the cart breaks into twisted metal. “I’m going to enjoy the view from the top of the cage, watching you fall down,down,down just like that broke ass cart. Your body twisted in the destruction I leave in my wake makes my mouth water.â€
The drone turns back from the wreckage to see Phoenix hanging upside down. Her long legs locked over the iron rod while she licks the blood from her thumb. She then tastes her lips and smiles at the lens wickedly and winks. Twisting upward she uncurls and lands on her feet, to begin side stepping to the next opening. Scissor skipping over the criss crossed train rails, little puffs of dust flare up from each step. Kira stops dead and looks up at the next wooden marker across the third timber archway. Raynin is spelled out boldly with four finger smeared lines straight across.
“It's. Raynin, It's boring, the whole crowd is snoring. Your gimmick in shreds, your parents are dead, it's your blood that will be pouring.â€
Kira sings the rhyme as she looks up at the oak board. She cast her gaze back at the drone as it hovers above Raynin’s little cart. Bending into the rail car she picks up a large folder. “Poor, poor thing tsk tsk tsk. Must be hard to live up to a Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow character huh? Then again it was a flop.â€
Flipping the folder her hands peel back the pages one after another. â€Military mercenary? Black-Ops? Well, well, well don't we have quite the resume. Taught by a retired luchador to boot and top ace of your unit? Don't you just make your grand pappy so proud!†Mockingly she wipes a tear from her green eye, then pulls out a photo of her opponent staring into the image. “You know that selling out secrets of the military can have some serious consequences? Or is that lovely decoration over your eye a prize for a job well done? Possibly your Angel granny sensei ripped it out for punishment? Hmmmm…†Kira’s bloody thumb caresses the eyepatch in the photo. The finish begins to wane and smear from the gentle circular motion. She stops for a moment, then viciously gouges the eyes from the portrait with both thumbs.
After Phoenix is done with the picture, she throws it and the folder back into the cart. She strides over to one of the hanging lamps and plucks it from its perch. Swinging the lantern to and fro, she proceeds to walk back over to Raynin's mine shaft cart. Holding the light over the papers scattered inside the bin, Kira's eyes light up from the lamp's blue torch. “I believe your going to be overdue for an eye exam Raynin. Especially after this royal rumble, when I pull the good one from its socket. It will make a really nice memento for my truck keys, then again feeding the fire sounds better!†Kira tosses the lamp into the cart, the glass shatters and the flames shoot upward. Burning the folder and all its contents, rapidly the fire consumes the whole rail car.
Laughing maniacally Phoenix dances around the tracks, she reaches up and pulls a cord that had been missed. Suddenly the flaming cart darts down into the open shaft. Rattling and clunking along the line, it slams into a huge body of water SPLASH!!! The old mine must have flooded long ago and a pond formed, the flames sizzle and hiss as they go out. The cart tips upward and begins to sink down into its depths. Kira peeks around the opening watching the car go under the ripples. Burnt remains of the folder and its contents litter the surface, slowly dissolving in the water.
With a satisfied sigh Kira rolls her back along the timbers and pushes away, her hands clasped together. She outstretches her arms and walks like a queen gliding over the next rung of tracks.
Standing in front of the fourth and final tunnel she speaks aloud. â€Alice, my dear sweet Alice, me and you go back to OCW. My dear Tommy says your his favorite female wrestler, and you have won my own admiration in this biz. Now you could say I’m a bit jealous, but I have honest respect for you. However this isn't the time for cordials.â€
She slides her hands over the edge of the railcar, feeling its worn down hull. Bringing her face down to inspect it, her odd eyes studying every inch.
Kira speaks to Knight again solemnly. “So much abuse and hard work hours this contraption endured. Just to be left in the dark, abandoned, forgotten to rot away. That's what sets me and you apart sweet Alice.â€
Standing back up, the drone continues to film her from behind. She removes the hooded cape from around her throat, letting it fall to the earth. Her hair flows down her back, a river of black and blue. she turns her head to look over her shoulder at the tiny aircraft. “How much is the price of admission for Wonderland Alice? I'm growing curiouser, and curiouser, as to how long you have been there yourself. You have forgotten who or what you are with no sense of time. Where's that woman I know from OCW? The one who liked a good fight, the one who outshines the toughest obstacle?â€
Kira grills her opponent more. “Will you give me that challenge Knight? Or will you crawl back into your wonderland, to sleep off the effects? You can't hide in there forever, it's time to come back to reality. You may be off in your little fantasy world, but I am here and that belt will be mine. No matter whose blood has to get spilled to get it, even if it's my own. I will be MISS SIN CITY!!!†Her voice echoes off the tunnel walls, screaming back at the wrestler.
Both Kira's hands are balled into fists, her nails digging deep into the flesh. She stands listening to the vibrations of the mine.
“Make no mistake dearest Alice, I will never leave your mind come Saturday at Full Circle. You will remember receiving the beating of your life, at my hands no one else's. Not even the mad hatter wants to tango up that cage with me.†Uncurling her hands, blood begins to weep and slowly run.
Phoenix looks at her palms, then back at the drone. Now floating in front of her. “There is no limit to what I will do to win this one and only belt of its kind.†She spreads her long fingers apart, the blood has begun to trickle to the tips. Droplets begin to hit the thirsty ground below, making perfect ruby pearls nest in the dust. Kira then reaches into the last cart, hoisting a 15 lb sledge hammer into view. She slides her bloody hands across its long handle, then grasps it tightly. Bringing it up into the air only to lower it over her shoulders. Her wrists keep the heavy tool in place against her neck, she takes a step around the cart. The opening looks weaker than the others, on the verge of collapse. “You will fall with the rest of the lot, to be left for the crows to feed upon Alice.â€
Gripping the oversized mallet firmly, she slides it off her left shoulder. Letting it hit the ground with a thud, her fingers get a better hold with both hands this time. Kira lifts the hammer and swings, smacking the entrance of the tunnel full force. The old termite eaten lumber is no match for the sledge. Groaning under the weight above, it begins to snap and give way. Dirt and rock begin to fall and cascade inside the tunnel, plumes of dust bellow in the air. The timbers finally give and slam down on the cart crushing it flat. The drone loses visual in the thick cloudy haze. A few minutes pass and the dirt begins to settle back into place.
Phoenix is standing covered in dust head to toe, making her look like a ghost. Her face twisted in a simple smirk of amusement. She starts walking up to each of the lamps still burning along the walls. Lifting the glass flutes, she blows them out one by one. Singing a tune as she slowly gets swallowed in the darkness. “Ring around the rosies, a pocket full of posies. Aaaashes, aaaaashes, you all fall down.†The camera loses visual of Kira as the last lamp is snuffed of life. The last lantern hangs above, the only light visible in the cavern.
Its blue flame burns flickering and dancing in its dome of safety. Her hand reaches out of the pitch black and brings the lantern towards her face. Illuminated in blue her eyes shine evilly as she speaks. “From the ashes, I shall Rise.†Smiling sadistically she blows a quick kiss, then out puffs the flame. A smoking glowing ember is the last shot as the camera cuts off.