A man and a woman can be seen chatting as they walk into a gym where another man can be seen working out alone dressed in only a pair of high top converse and shorts.
Dressed in fatigues and a black tee, Vixen Staggs crosses her arms over her chest as she watches the man work out. Her companion leans over and shakes his head. “Don’t tell me Vix,” he says in French. “Is that Connor Murphy?”
Vixen keeps her eyes on the man throwing punches at the heavy bag that sways slightly with each strike. She responds in the same language as her friend. “Yeah, that is him. The crazy thing is that I think he is doing this just to get on my nerves,” she adds with a slight laugh that doesn’t really sound all that happy.
Looking confused, the man also crosses his arms over his khaki shirt. “Why?” he asks which only has Vixen turn her eyes to him. “I mean Vix, don’t you think that he is working out for something other than driving you fou?”
“I am sure he is but…” she begins only to notice that Connor Murphy has stopped throwing punches and is leaning on the bag watching the two talk across the gym as if he has been hearing the conversation. Sighing, Vixen moves towards the office near where the heavy bag is located and is about to pass Murphy without talking to him but Murphy holds up a hand to stop her.
“Hey Vix, can we talk?” asks Connor as he wipes his forearm over his forehead to wipe away the sweat. She rolls her eyes upward but nods yes. Connor smiles slightly as he also nods. He begins to speak softly. “I was wondering about what it is going to take to get you to forgive me and help me...”
“I told you Connor that I forgave you,” Vixen says with a deep slow breath.
“Yeah but I am looking for your help,” Connor says in exasperation. “I got serious about it Vix. With you getting me ready for my matches, I could be unstoppable,” adds Connor as he flexes his fingers into a fist.
Vixen can hear the frustration creep into his voice but only turns slightly. A slow half grin crosses her lips. “And..?”
“What the hell are you expectin’ from me to even consider training me again,” demands Connor as he slams the fist against the wall. Vixen only raises one eyebrow as Connor realizes what he had done and then sheepishly opens the hand to rub it against his cheek. “I’m sorry but I am trying Vixen and it is just getting to me that even when I try I am suffering with having to deal with the fact that I am getting nowhere. But if you were helping me, it could mean that I would be able to challenge all these guys in SCW. Matter of fact, it might help me the most this week.”
“What’s this week?” questions Vixen as she finally turns to look Connor directly in the eye.
Connor’s chest swells and a cocky grin begins to cross his face that he just as quickly wipes away. “I have a steel cage match for a title and I need to win this.” Connor turns away from Vixen and runs a hand through his hair. “This could really be something I actually stand a chance at winning and well I think that I would be better at it if I was trained by one of the best when it comes to this type of match. I used to watch you and saw what you did as the GRIME Nightmare champion. A steel cage match is something you were great at. I was just your run of the mill brawler that could stand toe to toe with anyone and throwing punches. I NEED to be taught how to handle this.”
Vixen can’t see his face but the look of her friend is telling a story as he looks first at Connor then nods at Vixen before speaking up. “Hey Vix, I think that he’s telling you that your help is something he wants and it is taking him a lot to ask for it.”
“Guertin,” begins Vixen as she steps towards the man in the military colours. “You have no idea what he has done but here you are talking him up like this,” growls Vixen as she steps between the two men. Vixen has eyes for only the soldier but tosses a hand towards Connor. “This man got cocky. He’d be a grunt in the field that would be the first to fall. All he had to do was follow my orders. But no, he thought he was better. Ostie…if you had one of your men do that, what would you do?”
The soldier looks over the shoulder of Vixen and then at Connor who is letting his head droop. “Well if you are asking me, I would make it a learning opportunity. Don’t you think he has realized he fucked up? Give him an opportunity to prove to you how much it would mean to him,” says Guertin. “Only right Vixen.”
“Fine…” says Vixen as she turns to Connor. “So who are you facing and for what title?”
Connor looks up through the damp hair over his forehead. “I am facing Kevin Carter in a steel cage for the Internet title.”
“Tabarnak…you are going to definitely need my help,” Vixen spits. “He’s so full of himself that you will need to really train. So fine, you will have my help this week but just this week for now. If you listen and do what I say, I might take you back as someone that I am willing to train.”
Connor looks hopeful as Vixen heads towards the office. Guertin watches as she stops and then points at Connor. “And before you start, you better thank him,” says Vixen as she points to the soldier. “It’s his fault that you are going to be suffering this week.”
Connor looks shocked as Guertin laughs. “Now that is the Vixen I know.”
~*~*~*~*~
A pair of eyes look into the camera as they are playing hide and seek through a fringe of hair. The camera begins to pull back to reveal the face of Connor Murphy who is smiling with a sick look of contempt on his face and a sneer. His mouth begins to move only to have the sound of Kevin Carter’s voice escape him. To the side is a television that is playing Carter on a loop. Connor’s lips move in sync with the words of Kevin Carter talking down about an opponent. Suddenly, Connor brings a hand up with a remote and he shows the camera that he is hitting the mute button. Suddenly the room becomes quiet and Connor starts to speak.
“Have you listened to Kevin Carter when he speaks? I mean I get it, he yaps about how he thinks he is King Shite of Turd Island and that he doesn’t stink. Yeah so he’s good, he is full of himself and he deserves to be that way. After all, he is a champion you know,” says Connor. The sneer he had has changed into a grin that is more familiar to the Irishman.
“I have to ask myself why,” Connor muses as he once more steps closer to the chain link that frames his body. “After all, he isn’t really anything special if you ask me. Sure he’s buddy buddy with Jimmie and all that. Speaking of Jimmie, when I get in that cage with Kevin before the bell rings I want to ask him if he has talked to Jimmie about me. I am sure that he has said that I am nothing or rather a Nobody…” Connor says with a laugh and sigh at the memory. “But I also wonder if Jimmie told him about one of the first people to beat him in the ring. Not to toot my own horn or anything but I seem to remember a Climax Control where you know who beat J2H in the middle of the ring.”
Connor moves closer to the fencing and then reaches up to curl his fingers into the chain links. Leaning his head against the steel of the cage, he rolls his neck just enough to push against the steel that begins to dig into his forehead. “I think that I have found something that is cooler than you Kevin Carter,” he teases as his fingers on his right hand trail along the links. “Steel like this is colder. Well, it starts that way. And believe me that I know what I have learned just standing here putting my skin against it.” Connor drags his hand along it again as if trying to rub some warmth into the steel. “It is cold, impersonal and solid when you touch it and it seems that nothing will warm it up.”
Connor’s last word comes out as a hiss as he quickly pulls his hand away from the steel. He looks down into the palm of his hand that has a thin ribbon of blood pooling on it. Looking down at it dispassionately, Connor begins to chuckle. “Wow, not even Sunday and already blood has been drawn. That was quick…” states Connor as he looks up at the camera and holds up the hand as the blood begins to flow down his hand and onto his wrist. He puts the hand on the steel and curls his fingers against the cage once more, his blood staining the chain link.
“I guess I should be talking about the fact that you have probably talked about me and how I am something or other. And I could be here talking about how this match is going to descend into a blood bath given that it is in a steel cage. But we both know exactly what we are getting ourselves into when we step into the ring and just exactly what is at stake. This match is going to be for your newly won Internet title. A chance that I am being given and why I am being given it escapes me right now. Have I deserved it? Probably not. Did I ask for it…hell no. Am I going to use it…DAMN straight!”
Connor once more pulls the hand that is bleeding away from the steel and sees just the slightest bit of steam come off the chain link and smiles. “Will you look at that…the steel isn’t cold anymore,” he muses. “Guess that means that if I bloody you on the steel, a bit of your heat will be transferred to the cage. Connor looks up to the top of the cage as the camera pulls away to reveal the wall of the cage as it is ready for installation on Sunday.
“I know that in San Fran we are stepping into the ring that will be surrounded by a steel cage. And that there is only one way to win that pretty Internet title that rests on your waist and that is escaping the cage Kev. And from the sounds of it, this match is going to be bloody for sure,” says Connor as he brings his bloody hand up to look close at it before running it along his forehead and then looks hard at the camera. “I want you to know Kevin that I am ready willing and able to bleed when it comes to this match. Pain heals…chicks dig scars…yadda yadda…”
Connor laughs at his own comment.
“Let me be clear Kevin Carter. This match is not going to be for the faint of heart. I am coming into this match clear-eyed. I have heard stories about you Carter. I have seen the bastard that you are and to be honest, you are just an older grizzled J2H if I am honest. You whine the same, you bitch the same, hell, if I didn’t know better I would say that you sucked just the same but neither of you suck in the ring, I will give that to you. Sadly, I am coming into this match as the underdog, I get that too. But what I am also coming into this match as someone who has a drive to prove something. I am coming into this match to shut you the fuck up because I am tired of hearing the shit falling out of your mouth week in and week out…” growls Connor, the bloody handprint smeared over his forehead has dripped into his eyes that have a wild glint in them.
“It’s only days away, Kev and I don’t know about you but I am sooo ready for this. And the bonus I am going to get when I leave you a bloody mess in the middle of the ring is that I am going to be the new Internet champion, which will make you a transitional champion now wouldn’t it? A paper champion that is going to fold like origami on Sunday,” jokes Connor.
Connor turns to walk away but stops and turns to the camera. He holds up the hand with the bloody that has dried into a rusty smear and waves at the camera before raising it like it is being raised in victory. He leans in close and addresses the camera in a low voice. “Just showing you what I will look like when they announce me the winner and new Internet champion on Climax Control.”
Connor leaves the camera’s view as his hand trails across the chain links of the fence leaving the camera to focus on the cage and then blinks into darkness.
