Post by MERCENARY on Apr 29, 2021 9:40:50 GMT -6
Part 4
"Ello and Cheery-O to my marks and martyrs out there in the audience tonight. My guest this week was a specialist of the tag team and trios divisions for over twenty years. As a member of The Terror Squad he rough and tumbled his way across countless states and in more than three countries striking gold over twelve times along the way. He is a traditionalist. He is a purist. He is a hard-headed, hard-hitting, hard-line legend and I am proud to be able to bring him to you now. Please welcome: Malevolent Maxx the original Mayhem. Mister Maxxwell, welcome to show."
Mister Maxxwell: "Gene."
Gene Ross Styles: "Sir, I am not pluming smoke when I say that I'm stoked to have you as a guest. No conversation about pure tag team wrestling would be complete without talking about The Terror Squad: The Ultimate Fear David Dread. The Nightmare Curtis Monroe. And nowhere near last or least: The Malevolent Mister Mayhem. Maxximum Mayhem himself. Tag team and trios champs in a list of companies, including the now defunct, but much respected: IIW. Three time IIW champions with the second longest title reign in the companies esteemed history."
Mister Maxxwell: "I relish every moment I spent in and out of the ring with those two guys. They were my co-conspirators between the ropes and my constant companions out on the road. A crew like that are hard to come by and they are always in my better thoughts."
Gene Ross Styles: "You had one hell of a run that came to an abrupt halt in 2012 when you were forced to retire from in-ring action due to injury."
Maxx shot Gene Ross and stone stare that caused him to retreat in his seat before his eyes reflected signs of a deeply buried sadness.
Mister Maxxwell: "It took a long time to get used to the idea that I was done. Opening my school, The Fear Factory in Chicago, helped me a lot. It helps to teach students the right way to do things in the ring. It seems like these day that there is a 'dojo' or 'fight academy' opening up on every damn corner. They spit out 'combat athletes' like they are coming off of an assembly line. There is no respect for the old ways of doing things. No respect for those willing to really pay their dues. Everybody thinks they can become famous fighting in some cage or ring. People seem to think what we do is easy. I take great pride in teaching people the right way to do things. I don't graduate every student who gives me a check that clears. I have very high standards. I teach my students how to handle themselves in that ring and I teach them the consequences of what can happen when you don't."
Gene Ross Styles: "And truly if there is anyone who has felt the full impact of those consequences it would be you. Your injury was not the first loss of your career that you were forced to live through. Several years prior to that your partner Curtis Monroe also landed wrong when he was power-bombed out of the ring through a table, a move that resulted in permanent paralysis and brought an end to his career. Can you tell my listeners how Nightmare is doing and how he has coped with such a serious and life-changing injury?"
Maxx shot him another steely glance before offering his stiff and rehearsed response.
Mister Maxxwell: "Curtis Monroe is one of the toughest bastards than I have ever known. He lived like a champion in and out of the ring and he still does to this day. Curtis has a strong family and support structure. The Nightmare is a survivor. He is not the kind of man that would allow one man's mistake to break him."
Gene Ross Styles: "Which brings me to the biggest question I have gotten from listeners via the internet, and a point that I myself am the most confused about: How can you, with all that was done to your close friend and partner, be okay with your namesake now being in a stable with the very man that made the mistake that put him out of the business?"
Mister Maxxwell: "It's very simple. It's called the business Gene. I want my best student to succeed. Lacey Savage is a manager who knows how to grow a team. Malice is an old school type of talent whose attitude and values are very much like my own. I really believe Damage Inc is on a title track. Their victory at Wrestlefest is a great example that they are headed in the right direction. The more Mayhem succeeds the more his reputation grows. That brings in students to the school who want to follow in his footsteps. It's the way this business works and I am a business man."
Gene Ross Styles: "So it doesn't bother you that Mayhem, your blue-chip student, is now a member of Damage Inc, the team that you were in the ring with the night that Curtis Monroe was injured by The Mercenary? You are okay with the guy who is using your ring-name being in a stable with the man who paralyzed your friend?"
Mister Maxxwell: "It's like this: Damage Inc was never all about The Mercenary. Mayhem is a very special student. He's a blue chip talent. Being a part of the revival of a team like Damage Inc and having Malice as a partner will give him exposure that can only help in his rise to the top. I don't have any special love for Mercer. He'll always be the man that you're talking about. He can never undo what he did. But if he deserves any credit at all it is to say that at least, behind the scenes, he has tried to make things right by Curtis and his family."
Gene Ross Styles: "His lack of success this past year must at least bring you a little satisfaction."
Mister Maxxwell: "The man you people have been seeing this past year is not the guy that I knew. It's not the real Mercenary. That man is missing something. But he's not going to feel guilty forever. Inside he longs for a return to the old ways. He knows what he has to do to bring the true version of himself back to the surface. He's getting frustrated, and that frustration is what will make him dangerous going forward."
Gene Ross Styles: "Dangerous or careless?"
Mister Maxxwell: "It's really the same difference. He won't be able to help himself. I think the pity party is pretty much over with. I think Dalilah and Damage Inc will help him find that old fire again. Myself, I'm very anxious to see the real Mercenary again. That man has a lot coming to him and people eventually get what they deserve. Even a man like Mercenary."
Gene Ross Styles: "It's just hard for me to understand how you can be okay with Mayhem being associated with the men who did so much damage, no pun intended, to your career. Though the most glaring example, the end of the Nightmare's career was not the only bad result that came out of that injury. You and David were never the same after you lost your third member. As this broadcast is happening the man known as David Dread is doing several years for assault and battery and you yourself had all of your fight robbed from you by an injury. It just seems strange to me that you're able to just forgive and forget all that in the name of business."
Mister Maxxwell: "It is very obvious that you don't understand. You who think that the war is won by brute force alone. I have enacted more massacres in my mind than most will ever do with weapons in their hands. I have forgotten more about how to battle than a man like you will ever know. A weak fool with a strong opinion is still weak. A man who lacks patience will be able to savor neither victory nor revenge. A coward with a big voice is still a small man. And you Gene, you've got yourself one great big f**king voice and you like to use it a lot."
Gene Ross Styles: "AND on that lovely note I'm sorry to say that we are all out of time. I would like to thank my guest: Mister Malevolence Maximum Mayhem for being such a great guest. And as I'm sure our guest would agree dear listeners: In this life there are no disqualifications, so you best grow eyes in the back of your head. I'm Gene Ross Styles, and that's the bell. Goodnight everybody."
The producer cut off the BROADCASTING light as the two men in the room sat in a tense silence. Maxx stood up slowly and placed his headset down on the console. Gradually a cold grin stretched across his weathered features.
Mister Maxxwell: "Thanks for having me Gene. I really enjoyed it."
Pulling on his leather overcoat Maxx turned towards the exit with a pronounced limp, his weight resting on a length of thick black cane the head of which was the face of a snarling pit bull cast in solid silver. Gene Ross watched him go, his hands gripping hard the arms of his chair. Before leaving Mister Maxxwell paused at the door and turned back to look at Gene one final time.
Maxx: "Be sure you keep watching kid. I think you'll have a lot more to talk about real soon."
With that he turned and walked away, his cane echoing in the empty hallway.
Gene Ross leaned back and rubbed his eyes. He exhaled hard before lighting up a cigarette and taking a deep drag.
Styles: "Bleedin' damn Wrestlers.... Bloody Hell."
Paramount Ep 1 2021 Mercenary and Damage Inc in ring segment
Lacey Savage: Kevin, when you first came to this company over two years ago you were a broken man in search of the person he had lost. You carried the weight of the world on your shoulders. You wore your past sins on your sleeve. You had lost your whole identity. Since then you’ve struggled so hard to find yourself again and every time you get knocked down you forced yourself back up to your feet and you kept on moving forward. You may not have been able to recapture your status as a champion, but you sure as sin have recaptured your fighting spirit and your will to persevere. And we’re not the only ones who wanted to come out here to congratulate you. Someone from your past also has something they wanted to say.
Lacey points up to the X-Tron where a face very familiar to the Mercenary flashes ten feet tall on the big screen.
Watson: That, I believe, is Mister Maxxwell, the man who originally called himself Mayhem before he bestowed that name of his protégé and current member of Damage Inc.
Sydney: Just like Mercenary he and his partners were big time players on the small scene in a team called The Terror Squad, a team that has huge history where Merc is concerned. In fact I would call them the EWC Outlaw’s biggest albatross because they are a part of his past that he just can’t seem to escape.
Watson: They have proved to be a heavy weight indeed Cid.
Mr. Maxxwell: Hello Michael. Try to fight that surprise. I’m sure I’m almost the last person you thought you’d be talking to tonight but I ask you to please just hear me out. Now it’s no secret that Mayhem was my student before he became a member of Damage Incorporated. It is also no secret that I was the one who loaned Lacey the substantial funds to get that team back up and running, even though the OG team were some of the biggest rivals from my wrestling past. When asked about my reasons for doing this, I would just say that it was good business. Malice is a very talented veteran that I knew could help elevate Mayhem’s career and Lacey is possessed of the kind of cunning financial mind that I was certain would gain me a serious return on my investments. But as we all came to find out for ourselves the EWC is a very different world from the ones that we were used to.
In the past Michael WE were KINGS! We were all champions. We were on top of the heap. But the same has not proven to be true for any of us on this roster. Damage Inc found early success in the tag team division but, very much like you Merc, they just couldn’t seem to win with a title on the line. That was why I orchestrated the creation of The FEUD. I was certain that reunited and with the help of Mayhem our union would give us the advantage that we were missing by fighting alone.
It’s strange I know, that an enemy would want to bring you in as an ally. But if you think about it it’s not all that weird at all. My friends, Mercenary, my allies… they are all out of the business. So what do you do when all of your friends are gone? Who is left that has any idea about who you were or where you’ve been? Sometimes the enemies are the only people left who really know you… the only ones who really understand.
I know why you don’t want the help Michael. I know what it is that you are trying to prove. I get it. I know your story as well as anyone bro. I know why it’s so hard for you to trust people. But take a second, if you would, to look around you. Take stock of your situation. In that ring with you are a group of people who are willing to take your side. They are willing to back you up in any situation or struggle. With all the people who have walked out on you, even though you constantly push them away, THESE are the people who are still there, standing by your side. I really think that should count for something, don’t you?
Mercenary looks around the ring to see that he is surrounded by nothing but smiling and supportive faces. His guard begins to lower as his tension starts to relax. Malice slaps his former best friend on the shoulder in a brotherly way and Lacey presses her chest up against his large arm in an awkward kind of hug.
Mr. Maxxwell: It’s true. This crew sticks with you. Though everything. Through loss after loss. Through every missed opportunity for a title. They stayed true. These are the people that you owe an apology. Not the people. Not the fair weather fans. The FEUD is your true family. They are the ones who care.
The fans start to turn on the scene after Maxxwell’s remarks. In the ring the love fest continues as Mayhem stretches out his arms wide in an open gesture of friendship. Malice shoves Mercenary playfully towards his partner and Mercenary nods as he shakes he outstretched hand. Mayhem doesn't break contact with him right away, tightening his grip and holding Mercenary in place until it becomes awkward and intense for everyone involved. The two men stare at each other and Mercenary's half smile fades from his face mere seconds before Mayhem pulls him hard into a short arm clothesline that slams the bigger man down to the mat. Malice looks at Mayhem with an expression of mock shock before the two jackals attack to fallen Mercenary with kicks to the head and stomps to the body until the blood begins to flow. From the corner Lacey laughs and shouts encouragement. From the big screen Maxxwell looms with a God’s eye view over the scene with a sinister smile on his concrete features. After Mercenary is subdued and doesn’t struggle anymore the two turn him towards the screen, picking his head up by the hair so that he is forced to look up at Maxxwell.
Mr. Maxxwell: Through every FAILURE I waited. I was so sure that eventually you would luck out and win one. I was certain that you would find the top of that heap and become something of the man I knew… Something of that man who threw my partner Curtis Monroe through a table and broke his damn neck just to take home a title. I waited for you to regain that killer instinct, that attitude you used to live by. I waited for years, but all I got was disappointment and failure. Until I realized something. I finally understood. I understood that THAT guy. That champion caliber fighter, he’s gone. DEAD! And you are just the sad shade of what he used to be. I REALLY wanted you to win at Wrestlefest. I really did. It would have made this moment so much sweeter for me. Did you really think that I could ever forgive you Mike? YOU RUINED MY LIFE! It was like dominoes falling. You put Curtis out and the Terror Squad was never the same again. Dread got depressed. He got angry. He got himself locked up and then I was all on my own. Then I got injured and that was it, career over. I was erased like I had never existed at all and all I had was my hate to keep me company. And then one night I’m flipping the channels and there you are, The Mercenary, sitting in the crowd at Uprising and talking trash about how he’s set to take over the wrestling world all over again. It was in that exact moment that I knew what I needed to do. I had to take care of my unfinished business.
The fans are booing loudly now.
Mr. Maxxwell: What? What!? You don’t like it? You feel bad for him now? You feel bad for this fatherless son of a bitch who is so damn worthless his own junkie mother went and died so she could be rid of him? You fickle fuckers make me sick.
Watson: Oh come on! Disgusting! Somebody get this guy off the screen. Shut him off.
Sydney: Telling the truth doesn’t get you any friends Tim, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be told.
Watson: This is ridiculous.
Mr. Maxxwell: You are the last of my unfinished business Mikey. I’m the past come back to haunt you. You ruined my life. You crippled my partner. You abandoned Malice. You left Lacey high and dry. You are a cancer that spreads to everyone you leave in your diseased wake but We are going to cut you out. We’re gonna save the EWC from your sickness for its own good and whether anyone likes it or not. But don’t worry Mike, we’ll let you finish your apology, but we’re gonna make damn sure that you mean it when you do.
*****
Paramount Ep 2 2021 Mayhem VS Mercenary
Mayhem presses his advantage with a series of kicks and stomps but Mercenary catches his foot and uses his upper body strength to push him back off balance. Merc gets up and pursues his opponent, whipping him across the ring where he sweeps him up into a side slam. Mercenary drops the guillotine leg across his throat before regaining a vertical and hauling the dazed Mayhem into the setup for a Gotch-style Piledriver. Spiking the top of his head off the mat Mercenary allows Mayhem's dead weight to crumple over in a heap at his feet before his follows up with a series of heavy boots to the head and neck. Picking him up again he puts him back down quick with an Evenflow DDT. Getting up he glares down at his fallen foe and uses his thumb to cut his own throat as his signals for the Gravebreaker.
Watson: This one could be over right here!
Sydney: I think I have to agree with you!
He stoops to pick the man up for the double Powerbomb, bringing him up to shoulder level and slamming him back down again with a loud crash. Maintaining the waist lock he picks him up again and launches his bulk across the ring where the man missile is caught by the encroaching Malice before he can land on the mat. Malice uses his brute strength to toss his partner back at the Mercenary where Mayhem has the ring awareness left to take his surprised opponent down with a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Malice grabs the Mercenary in a Full Nelson stretch, holding him out so that Mayhem can deliver a bicycle kick square to his jaw. As Mercenary goes down the gang beating begins again as the ref signals for the disqualification.
DING DING DING
Damage Inc ignores the ringing bell as Malice picks Mercenary up for the Buckle Bomb which Mayhem follows up with a standing dropkick and Malice follows up with a running knee strike. Mayhem finishes off the combination move with a baseball slide dropkick that crushes the now half conscious Mercenary into the padded steel of the bottom turnbuckle and leaves him bleeding on his back.
Watson: Damage Inc delivers Shock and Awe! It's another cowardly assault! Mercenary had that match won until Malice got involved.
Sydney: It's his own fault for not having eyes in the back of his head and expecting a fair fight. He knew Malice was at ringside and he should have been ready for the threat and now it looks like the damage has been done so it's time for the fun.
Watson: Even though he's out it looks like they mean to make a Sacrifice out of the man. Hasn't he had enough?
Sydney: It's never enough Tim and it's like the song says: This is gonna hurt!
Malice picks Mercenary up in a wheelbarrow position as Mayhem heads up top to drop the guillotine. The crowd boos the move as no one seems to support this beating. Mayhem plays this up to the crowd as they shout louder. During this pause in the action a figure streaks down the ramp and slides into the ring. Dalilah lays on the mat beneath the Mercenary with her hands stretched out over her. She is distraught and it looks like that she has been crying. She begs Malice and Mayhem to stop the assault. Mayhem sits down on the top turnbuckle with a look of confusion and Malice just stares down at the cowering woman with an annoyed expression. From the apron Lacey Savage screams at Dalilah to get out of harm's way but she refuses to move. Reluctantly Malice slams Mercenary down beside her where she crawls on top of him to protect his body from further harm. Lacey is now in the ring and furious. She yells down at Dalilah who refuses to move away from her boyfriend's fallen form. Realizing that her words will not be heeded a frustrated Lacey signals her goon squad to abandon their attack. The three of them make their way up the ramp to a chorus of boos as several officials and a very concerned Dalilah Ashe check on the Mercenary who has again been busted open and left laying by Damage Inc.
Paramount Ep 3 2021 Mercenary and Dalilah Ashe VS Damage INC W/Lacey Savage
From the floor Lacey shouts commands and Malice chuckles as he lifts Dalilah up by the hair like a cat that has caught a mouse by the tail. While this is going on inside the ring Mayhem rolls under the bottom rope where he digs under the ring and after a short search produces a folding table that he sets up outside of the ring. Banging on the table top he signals Malice who answers with a sadistic grin. Against the protests of the referee, who waves his hands wildly and shouts warnings at deaf ears, Malice strikes Dalilah in the bread basket and lifts her much lighter frame into position for a Powerbomb through the table.
Watson: OH MY GOD NO!
Sydney: CW is gonna be pissed if they kill this poor girl on Live television!!!
As Malice brings Dalilah up Mercenary slides back into the ring from behind just managing to catch hold of Dalilah where he is able to pull her down and away from Malice’s grip. Setting her down he pushes her back into their corner putting himself between her and further harm. He tore into Malice with a renewed kind of rage. Dispensing with the wrestling holds he hammers him with clenched fists meant to reduce his face to an ugly wet pulp and when Mayhem rejoins them in the ring he is met with more of the same treatment. Knocking Malice down Mercenary shoves Mayhem back, shocking him hard with a roaring elbow to the side of the head before alternating strikes in both directions. Malice rolls under the bottom rope to escape the ferocity of this new onslaught. Mayhem is dazed and struggles to get to his feet but an enraged Mercenary kicks him in the ribs and wrenches him up only to drop him back down with Pumphandle slam. Turning to his corner he points at Dalilah before cutting his own throat with his thumb. Slapping on the Full Nelson he pulls Mayhem into an atomic drop that pops his body back up into the Decimator Atomic Bomb. Mayhem’s head bounces off the mat with a brutal recoil. Mercenary goes for the pin but Referee Lizarraga refuses to count the fall. Somehow in all the confusion she has managed to keep track of the fact that Malice is still the legal man.
Watson: Mercenary would have the win RIGHT HERE if he had pinned the legal man!
Sydney: That is a rookie move by Mercenary. You cannot forget who the legal tag is. This is going to cost him
Cursing him Mercenary kicks Mayhem out of the ring before he joins him out on the floor where Malice has nearly recovered. Rushing him Mercenary whips Malice into the barricade before immediately hitting him with a short-arm Lariat. Pausing to kick Mayhem in the side of the head he manages to muscle Malice back under the bottom rope and into the ring. Looking again to Dalilah he turns from her and points out at the table that is still set up at ringside before setting his prone opponent up for a Doom Shadow. Lacey climbs up on the apron clamoring for his attention and screaming insults at Dalilah. Distracted he drops Malice’s barely conscious body back down inside the ring with a loud and disgusting thud before he advancing on his one time manager with hate burning behind his eyes. Mercenary and Lacey exchange angry words giving Mayhem the chance to make his way back into the ring where he tries to go after Dalilah. Turning away from Lacey Merc manages to keep Mayhem from getting to her with a well timed kick. He again put himself between Dalilah and danger, backing her into the corner with his eyes on the immediate threat. Mayhem stalks the ring like a wolf with a meal on its mind as Lacey rouses Malice to join him in an attempt regain the upper hand.
Pushing forward Mercenary prepares to start swinging again, but Damage Inc is prolonging the stand off by keeping just out of reach of his offense. The tense moment drags on and the crowd howls loud for some sort of final resolution, but when the end came it was not in any way what they had been expecting. From the Mercenary’s back Dalilah climbs up onto the second turnbuckle. From her perch she screams insults at the members of Damage Inc over the Mercenary’s shoulder, challenging them to bring the fight back to them. Her words embolden him to advance on them a few further steps and that gives Dalilah all the room that she requires. Diving off the second turnbuckle she catches her partner’s shoulders in both hands and using her weight she pulls him backwards and on to her waiting knees.
Watson: The Backstabber! She just literally just stabbed her own partner right in the back!
Sydney: Oh this cannot be a good thing!
Malice is on the man before his big body could even hit the mat setting him up for a Cradle Piledriver. Mayhem shoot to the top turnbuckle and pauses to pose for the angry crowd before jumping off the top to spike Mercenary’s head as Malice drives it into the mat with The Nail Gun. Mercenary slumps down to the mat where Malice covers him as Lacey orders the bemused referee to count the fall:
ONE… TWO… THREE
DING DING DING
The frenzied crowd fill the arena with the sound of their displeasure as the surviving members of The FEUD gather around their fallen sacrifice. Dalilah went to Lacey where she rested her head on the older woman’s shoulder. Lacey begins to stroke Dalilah’s hair like a child in need of comfort. The younger woman seems displeased and confused by the crowds reaction. Reluctantly Isabella Starr makes the match official.
Starr: And here are your winners via... pin fall... at 22:13.....Malice and Mayhem: DAMAGE INCORPORATED!
With Dalilah in tow Damage Inc follow their manager up the ramp where they paused for a moment to look back and survey the scene of referees and ring crew checking on the Mercenary.
Watson: I'm not sure what I've just seen here. I really am at a loss for words.
Sydney: I think you just saw the end of a relationship, LIVE and in living color. That's some real Reality TV stuff right there.
The double cross had gone well and Dalilah had played her own part perfectly. He hadn’t been sure about her at the beginning. When Lacey brought her to him as the woman that would act as the biggest component of their plot he hadn’t been sure that she could handle the job. After all she was the lynch pin. She was the big distraction. She was the one who would throw Mercenary off his guard and keep his attention where they wanted it to be. It was like any good magic trick. She was the pretty girl in the shiny dress that would misdirect the audience while the sleight of hand was done right in front of their faces. But she had surprised him and had played her part perfectly. Her betrayal was the straw and he knew that she had broken Mercenary's heart and his back, not to mention his will to carry on with the fight. He had watched the man and had seen something that had long struggled within him finally lay down to die and it was sweet Dalilah who had dealt the killing blow. Whatever happened next Maxx knew that the man that he had set out to destroy was gone for good and that what was left would never be the same.
He stood in the sand watching white-capped waves dance in from the blue water, retreating as quickly as they came, going back to the black fathoms of the open ocean. The hood of his ash grey pullover protected his head from the chilly wind that whipped in off the Pacific, bringing with it the scent of sea salt. It also hid his face from any early morning onlooker out for a walk who might happen to recognize him at a time when he had no desire to be disturbed.
He gripped the picture tightly to keep it from being blown away by the greedy gusts of air that threatened to tear it from his grasp and though his eyes were glued to the image his mind was a million miles away. His heart was heavy in his chest and there was pressure behind his eyes that threatened to force the flow of tears he was determined not to let loose because he’d been brought up with the steel and stone belief that real men were never allowed to show that kind of frail emotion. He took in a deep breath and forced the emotions back down into depths that went far deeper than the ocean itself, gradually replacing his numb sense of sadness with a smoldering heat and hatred that burned away the last good feelings for the girl that had betrayed a love that now hurt as much as it had ever healed.
With a flash of anger he ripped the worn picture into pieces, letting the shreds fall as an offering to the pounding surf which carried them slowly out into the sea. Shoving his fists deep into the kangaroo pocket of his hoodie he raised his eyes to the horizon, sighing deeply through gritted teeth. The sound was loud and sounded like a pressure valve at last being released after a prolonged build up of tension that had long threatened to explode the seal that had struggled to keep it contained. Turning away from the water he walked in his own footprints back from the beach to the blacktop parking lot where his bike was waiting to take him away from the pain of his regrets and forward into an uncertain future.
It took a pint of Bushmills and several beers before he could dial the number. He wasn’t even sure that she would answer.
“Hello?”
“Lacey. It’s Michael.”
Lacey Savage: “Kevin. DARLING. What in the world do you want at this late in the evening?”
Mercenary: “How could you do it?”
Savage: “Do what exactly sweet heart?”
Mercenary: “How could you make her do it? Dalilah. How could you send her to me? You pimped her out like a pro. You made her… be with me. How could you do that?”
Savage: “Oh honey. I never made her do anything. Everything she did with you was by her own choice. She never did anything she didn’t want to.”
Mercenary: “You made her be a WHORE! You made me into a monster. After what they did to her. After all she’s been through. What the Hell is wrong with you?”
Savage: “Kevin sweetie. You haven’t figured it out by now? Those boys down in the basement, they never did anything to her except talk a little too rude when they tried to take her home one night when she was out partying. They were just convenient props for our play that Dalilah thought needed to learn some manners. You punished those guys for something that they never did. How do you feel about that baby? You altered the course of their lives forever and all they were guilty of was having lame game at the bar.”
Mercenary: “But she lied because of you! You used her like some tool for your cruel little vendetta. You turned her out like a cheap little trick like she isn’t even a human being.”
Savage: “Aw Kevin. You really are that guy aren’t you? You really are. You're the guy that just needs to save that damsel in distress. It’s just so sad. I mean the only thing more pathetic than a little girl who grows up wanting to be a princess is a little boy who grows up believing that princesses really exist. You think that Dalilah is just an innocent in all this? She was in it from the start. She knew what she was doing. She understood what we were asking of her. Hell, she went above and beyond what we asked. She really got under your skin. She got into your head. She got into your heart and she’s still in there. Even after all that she’s done she’s still in there. Poor Kevin. Sweet little Kevin. You really are such a boy scout aren’t you? Trust me baby boy, she’s not the innocent little girl you want her to be. She never was. She played you for the simp bitch that you are and you still can’t see the truth of it. For everything that she did to you, you still have feelings for her. It’s just so… pathetic.”
He hung up the phone. He couldn’t hear any more. He didn’t know what he'd been looking for, but he hadn’t found any peace in that call. He cracked another pint and leaned back on bed. The ghosts wouldn’t go away and he needed to shut them up so he could sleep. He had to catch a plane. He had a match to get to, but the baggage he was trying to shed would be coming with him to Pennsylvania. He took a deep draw from the bottle and put in his ear buds. Cranking up the music loud he leaned back with the lyrics to Five Finger Death Punch's The Bleeding blasting through his head:
I remember when all the games began
Remember every little lie
And every last goodbye...
Paint the mirrors black (to forget you)
I still picture your face and the way you used to taste...
To you this all was nothing,
Everything to you is nothing...
I'm better off without you and you're better off without me
As wicked as you are, you're beautiful to me
You're the darkest burning star, you are my perfect disease
The lying
The bleeding
The screaming,
Was tearing me apart
The hatred
The beatings
It's over
Disaster
It's over now
After getting back to the apartment over 9 Circles a few days after that final fight he'd started packing things away. He knew he couldn’t stay here anymore. Every room reminded him of the things and the people that he’d lost. He threw his phone on the bar and turned to the task of boxing up his stuff for storage.
Going back downstairs he locked down the elevator on the third floor, sealing the living quarters off from the club levels below. He handed the keys over to Pete, who would manage the place in its owners absence. Maybe once he was gone Thorn and Nightshade might come back to stay from time to time to check on their collective investment, but he couldn't imagine that he would ever call this place home again. He would be leaving his motor home out back and his bike in the garage for a little while as well. He had to catch a plane this afternoon headed to New York. He had someone back East that he really needed to see.
He wasn't sure how that meeting would turn out, but he knew that he couldn't put it off any longer. Throwing his bags in the rental car that would take him to the airport he took one last look back at the place where he had once been happy and he wondered how the hell he could have let his life go so very wrong. But for a time this place had felt like home and now it was just something else he felt like he had to get away from. What he was looking for he wouldn’t find here. It was time to get back out on the road.
