Post by SalTal on Dec 21, 2012 1:50:54 GMT -4
Internet Explorer-*click*-Favorites-*click*-APW.com-*click*-Christmas Chaos-*click*-Sally Talfourd-*click*-Loading...
"Sally Talfourd presents ..."
is written across the screen, fades out, then
"In association with Action Packed Wrestling..."
is next to appear, holds, then fades out for
"Happy Endings T.V."
Which finally fades into a shot of the wonderful World Heavyweight Champion Sally Talfourd. We find her, not in her usual state of affairs, but sitting in front a big screen (looking very high-tech and whiz-bang), each with a dozen images of live feeds running in a faint tinge of blue. She looks small, tiny, in front of all this action. A quick glance at the individual screens shows all sorts of Asylum action from across the year: Sally and Callahan; Knuckles and Atken; Kash and just about everyone on the roster. It’s a montage of Asylum Action!
[Shaneford] Miss Talfourd, your breakfast.
A peculiar, Michael Cain-esque, English accent from Shane, who walks into shot dressed very much as a butler. He places a tray of breakfast before her, drops a newspaper into her lap, then stands over her shoulder. She brings up the newspaper and looks over the front page. There’s a big picture of Phil Atken, dressed all politician-like. Under it, it says: ‘Mayor or Mistake?’
[Shaneford] Is this Asylum’s newest criminal? The newest terror to us all?
[Sally] Yes, it would seem so. But it’s hard to believe. He’s running for mayor, Shaneford. Sure, he might be disliked, but he’s got enough people hoping he wins.
[Shaneford] Sometimes the best lies are the ones told to our faces, Miss Talfourd. Even you know that.
Sally punches a button on the screen, and all the little screens disappear to a big one, this time showing Atken not looking political at all. He now has a red suit, white trim, and a Santa Hat on. What’s he doing? He’s robbing townhall, stealing votes machines, taing vote officials as hostages and replacing them with his own men, and being all criminal-like!
[Sally] ...Calendar Man...
Calendar Man? He’s a Batman criminal! Are we...are we in a different universe? Or at least some parody universe!?
[Shaneford] It is Christmas, the biggest holiday of the year. It’s certainly the time for him to strike!
[Sally] Biggest holiday of the year means the biggest crime of the year. And it all comes down to this.
Sally turns around on her chair, looking over the newspaper again. She can’t believe that a man so evil can get even a sliver of support. But, alas, he has tricked enough people in all of this to cloud out the whole race, distracting the people from his main plan.
[Shaneford] The election is a week away. Surely he won’t win.
[Sally] I think he will, Shaneford. It seems like he might, especially if his plan comes to fruition! Plan Christmas Chaos would bring him to power in Asylum...
[Shaneford] Miss Talfourd, I don’t understand. How does all this tie together?
Sally smiles before she throws the newspaper on the control panel below that high-techie screen. She stands up, and starts to walk. Shaneford watches as she leaves, then sneaks a bite of her toast.
[Sally] Well, it’s quite ingenious. Atken - Calendar Man - plans to take over Asylum during his plan: Christmas Chaos. Even though he is pretty popular with some of the Asylumites, he’s not popular enough to win an election here. He’s divided us all. So he plans on rigging the election and becoming the mayor of Asylum. He knows, though, that I will do everything in my power to stop this. I might not be mayor, but I am the protector of the people in this city. And the people, they might be cheering for him now...
[Shaneford] But surely, miss, the people won’t want him there?
[Sally] The people...they are a strange group, Shaneford. You see, they want Atken to get close. They want it because they know that it will test me. You see, they want to see a fight. Not just a fight, but a great fight. A contest that rivals the best they’ve ever seen. They know I will protect them from the scourge of Asylum, and that reassures them. They want to feel safe, and they feel safest when they see what I can do for them. They feel safe when I defeat those that, you know, should win. The bigger, stronger, tougher people out there. And Atken...Atken is all of them. So they want him to face me...but they don’t want him to win. They want to see him fight hard. Harder than any of those criminals that they’ve seen before. Harder than everyone left in the city. But anyone else who could stand a chance against me...they’ve had their first shot, and they’ve been beaten.
The people of Asylum, they know I can beat them. And it won’t make them feel safe at all. Everything would be a second chance for them, and everything has been done. But Atken...they need to know I can beat the likes of Atken. *Sally turns with a graven look on her face, coming back to Shaneford, her contemplative walk finished*[/b] This is his first. This is the first shot he’ll have to take over this city. Asylum has always been weak, but the city is at its weakest right now. They want him to have the opportunity, but they don’t want him to win. But the fans...they’re sending someone to the top who could win. They don’t realise the danger that they are putting themselves in. And I’ll fight for them, don’t worry. But they are certainly risking this great city. [/color]
Sally wanders over to her breakfast, goes to take the toast, but sees a bite out of it. She stares at it, confused, then slowly turns to Shaneford. He looks worried, turns to hide his evidence.
[Shaneford] But Miss Talfourd...Atken is no mere criminal...
[Sally] I know.
[Shaneford] You can’t just beat him like anyone else.
[Sally] No, not like anyone else. But I do know how to beat him.
Sally downs the orange juice that Shaneford bought in. She wanders over to Shaneford and tosses it to him. A quick catch, and he glares at her, incredulous that Sally would be so careless.
[Sally] Because he’s never been broken. He’s always been caught. Mr. Atken has been handled in cotton wool his whole life. He’s not the kind of criminal raised on the streets like Bailey, nor is he the Rebel style of man who has been through years and years of pain. No, Atken is a new criminal. A soft criminal. His only tests have been political spots and comedy skits to win the voters over. Given the gimmick contests against men who are inventing their own accolades in this city. Arguments and debates over the quality of tea. He’s lived a cushy life, that Atken. He need only look at his rise to the public’s attention to see how easy he has been. He’s a new criminal, not a tested one. He hasn’t had to fight me off ever before. The worst he has had to deal with is the other minor criminals here in Asylum city. And we know that they aren’t the best of criminals. He is coming into a world that is completely foreign to him. He’s never been held accountable for his actions...until now.
You see, he’s coming into a world. A world that I’ve guarded for a long time now. He doesn’t know how to win a fight with someone who has lived out here. Lived here in the real world. The real world: The one that has fractured my leg. The one that has ruined my shoulder. The one that has made be bleed more blood than anyone ever should. Not some cotton-covered, silk-strewn, tender-touching world that Atken has lived in. *Sally turns from Shaneford, starting to wander aimlessly around the empty-ish room*[/b] My body has been tested in everything I’ve done to protect Asylum. But, from that, I’ve been conditioned. I’ve been prepared. I’ve been made ready for a fight like this. I might not be able to match Atken with the physical strength he has...but I have far stronger inner strength. [/color]
[Shaneford] Your body might be your weapon, Miss Talfourd, but even the best weapons...need fixing.
Sally lets out a long sigh, remembering all the times that her ‘weapon’ has needed fixing. But, with each fix, she is changed. She is smarter, stronger, wiser. Yes, perhaps weaker, but only if her opponent is smart. And while Atken might be a criminal mastermind, he isn’t at the level he needs to be to out-maneuver a crimefighter like Sally Talfourd. But, it has to be acknowledge, fighting crime does take its toll on the body, that’s for sure.
[Sally] Shaneford, he’s coming intoAsylum. My world. The world that might have ruined my body, but I have mastered. This...*Sally, who has come to the big screen, presses another button and we see her in action. Not just in any action, but dressed as a very, very attractive Batwoman*[/b]...role I have, this said I’ve done it. It says I’ve mastered the world that he and I find ourselves in together. Why? Because no one else could do this. No one else can carry the load that I now have. I fight for Asylum because I want to, but also because who else could do it? Who else could save Asylum from the likes of the Atken’s in the world? What I do...it says I’ve mastered our world. This cruel and harsh and horrible world that chews so many people out, and leaves only the strongest standing.
I’ve mastered a world that Atken is only now just stepping in to. He’s about to come into the city’s focus. Not some underground world where only a master of chaos can reign, but into a place where only a master of himself and his abilities will reign. He’s coming into a world where your worth is being measured by the skill and talent and natural ability. Criminals never have ability and skill and honour - they have got ahead by cheating and stealing and manipulation. They don’t get tested because they don’t want to be tested. And to avoid getting tested like me, they skirt the hard fights. They get others to fight, they fight dirty, they fight unfair. As spectacular as his rise might have been...he’s not been through a test like I have? [/color]
[Shaneford] So what do you do now, Miss Talfourd?
Sally dwells on the screen once more, then turns around. Her face: determination. Her resolve: Unbreakable. She comes towards Shaneford and pats him on the shoulder.
[Sally] We meet him head-on, Shaneford. We make this fight happen. He thinks he will win no matter what happens: That if I fight him, I’ll lose. And if I do nothing, he’ll win. But he just thinks like a bad guy...like a criminal. He doesn’t think like a hero like me.
As she walks off, she leaves Shaneford standing there in the room alone. He watches after her. Then, as she’s about to leave through the only door along the long, worn wall, he calls after her...
[Shaneford] I’ll get the Batpod ready then?
[Sally] Not yet. We have to wait for the right time to strike. I need to wait for when he expects me to be at my weakest, not my strongest.
[Shaneford] And when would that be, miss?
Sally can’t help but smirk. She knows when Atken is going to be ready to fall: When he’s the most confident. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And Atken...Atken may have risen very, very far, but that just leaves him a very, very long fall.
[Sally] At Christmas Chaos. You see, he won’t be expecting me to bring the fight to him then. He will think he has the upper hand. That he will have the element of surprise. What I will do is show him that I’ve been ready for him all along. That I’ve been planning for a day like this when he launched his last plan, One Night in Hell. I’ve been watching him, waiting for him, planning for him.
[Shaneford] So that’s what all those meetings were with with Mr. Fox were for?
[Sally] That’s right. I’m ready for him better than I ever was. I’m better prepared for him now than when I stopped him in his last plan. He think he knows what I bring to the table after that last fight. He needs to think again. I’ve got new weays to take him down...ways he can’t even imagine yet. Because he’s the bad guy, and the bad guys are never ready to accept that they can learn something new.
[Shaneford] And you, Miss Talfourd? Are you the good woman in all this?
She starts to walk back towards Shaneford, burying her hands in her pocket, bowing her head with a graven face.
[Sally] Sometimes it might be hard for Asylum, you, even me to see that. Sometimes I might look like a bad woman. But it’s fights like these...these fights remind the city that I am the good amongst us all. That what I do for them might not be something that they always agree with...but that it’s always for the good of the city. Asylum deserves to be the greatest city in the world. Sometimes I can’t make it better by myself. Sometimes I can. Sometimes I need the people to wake up and realise what’s happening so that they do something about it. And other times...
[Shaneford] Other times you have to do the fighting?
[Sally] And sometimes I have to do the fighting. But the people...they just want to be reassured. They just want to be reminded this time that they have a protector. That they have someone fighting for them. They know that if Atken takes over, their lives are ruined. The city is ruined. But with me? They want to be reminded that just before they go to bed, someone is watching over them. Someone is waiting to step in and protect them. Someone is here to fight for what’s right, whether it looks like that or not.
Shaneford nods, which Sally returns. Then, she’s gone. There’s a slight hold on Shaneford as he goes back to the breakfast he started with. He looks around, all sneaky, and takes another bite of the toast. Then there’s a slow fade out to a blank, black screen and then into...
Sally Talfourd
written across the screen, which in turn fades away as the episode comes to a close.
"Sally Talfourd presents ..."
is written across the screen, fades out, then
"In association with Action Packed Wrestling..."
is next to appear, holds, then fades out for
"Happy Endings T.V."
Which finally fades into a shot of the wonderful World Heavyweight Champion Sally Talfourd. We find her, not in her usual state of affairs, but sitting in front a big screen (looking very high-tech and whiz-bang), each with a dozen images of live feeds running in a faint tinge of blue. She looks small, tiny, in front of all this action. A quick glance at the individual screens shows all sorts of Asylum action from across the year: Sally and Callahan; Knuckles and Atken; Kash and just about everyone on the roster. It’s a montage of Asylum Action!
[Shaneford] Miss Talfourd, your breakfast.
A peculiar, Michael Cain-esque, English accent from Shane, who walks into shot dressed very much as a butler. He places a tray of breakfast before her, drops a newspaper into her lap, then stands over her shoulder. She brings up the newspaper and looks over the front page. There’s a big picture of Phil Atken, dressed all politician-like. Under it, it says: ‘Mayor or Mistake?’
[Shaneford] Is this Asylum’s newest criminal? The newest terror to us all?
[Sally] Yes, it would seem so. But it’s hard to believe. He’s running for mayor, Shaneford. Sure, he might be disliked, but he’s got enough people hoping he wins.
[Shaneford] Sometimes the best lies are the ones told to our faces, Miss Talfourd. Even you know that.
Sally punches a button on the screen, and all the little screens disappear to a big one, this time showing Atken not looking political at all. He now has a red suit, white trim, and a Santa Hat on. What’s he doing? He’s robbing townhall, stealing votes machines, taing vote officials as hostages and replacing them with his own men, and being all criminal-like!
[Sally] ...Calendar Man...
Calendar Man? He’s a Batman criminal! Are we...are we in a different universe? Or at least some parody universe!?
[Shaneford] It is Christmas, the biggest holiday of the year. It’s certainly the time for him to strike!
[Sally] Biggest holiday of the year means the biggest crime of the year. And it all comes down to this.
Sally turns around on her chair, looking over the newspaper again. She can’t believe that a man so evil can get even a sliver of support. But, alas, he has tricked enough people in all of this to cloud out the whole race, distracting the people from his main plan.
[Shaneford] The election is a week away. Surely he won’t win.
[Sally] I think he will, Shaneford. It seems like he might, especially if his plan comes to fruition! Plan Christmas Chaos would bring him to power in Asylum...
[Shaneford] Miss Talfourd, I don’t understand. How does all this tie together?
Sally smiles before she throws the newspaper on the control panel below that high-techie screen. She stands up, and starts to walk. Shaneford watches as she leaves, then sneaks a bite of her toast.
[Sally] Well, it’s quite ingenious. Atken - Calendar Man - plans to take over Asylum during his plan: Christmas Chaos. Even though he is pretty popular with some of the Asylumites, he’s not popular enough to win an election here. He’s divided us all. So he plans on rigging the election and becoming the mayor of Asylum. He knows, though, that I will do everything in my power to stop this. I might not be mayor, but I am the protector of the people in this city. And the people, they might be cheering for him now...
[Shaneford] But surely, miss, the people won’t want him there?
[Sally] The people...they are a strange group, Shaneford. You see, they want Atken to get close. They want it because they know that it will test me. You see, they want to see a fight. Not just a fight, but a great fight. A contest that rivals the best they’ve ever seen. They know I will protect them from the scourge of Asylum, and that reassures them. They want to feel safe, and they feel safest when they see what I can do for them. They feel safe when I defeat those that, you know, should win. The bigger, stronger, tougher people out there. And Atken...Atken is all of them. So they want him to face me...but they don’t want him to win. They want to see him fight hard. Harder than any of those criminals that they’ve seen before. Harder than everyone left in the city. But anyone else who could stand a chance against me...they’ve had their first shot, and they’ve been beaten.
The people of Asylum, they know I can beat them. And it won’t make them feel safe at all. Everything would be a second chance for them, and everything has been done. But Atken...they need to know I can beat the likes of Atken. *Sally turns with a graven look on her face, coming back to Shaneford, her contemplative walk finished*[/b] This is his first. This is the first shot he’ll have to take over this city. Asylum has always been weak, but the city is at its weakest right now. They want him to have the opportunity, but they don’t want him to win. But the fans...they’re sending someone to the top who could win. They don’t realise the danger that they are putting themselves in. And I’ll fight for them, don’t worry. But they are certainly risking this great city. [/color]
Sally wanders over to her breakfast, goes to take the toast, but sees a bite out of it. She stares at it, confused, then slowly turns to Shaneford. He looks worried, turns to hide his evidence.
[Shaneford] But Miss Talfourd...Atken is no mere criminal...
[Sally] I know.
[Shaneford] You can’t just beat him like anyone else.
[Sally] No, not like anyone else. But I do know how to beat him.
Sally downs the orange juice that Shaneford bought in. She wanders over to Shaneford and tosses it to him. A quick catch, and he glares at her, incredulous that Sally would be so careless.
[Sally] Because he’s never been broken. He’s always been caught. Mr. Atken has been handled in cotton wool his whole life. He’s not the kind of criminal raised on the streets like Bailey, nor is he the Rebel style of man who has been through years and years of pain. No, Atken is a new criminal. A soft criminal. His only tests have been political spots and comedy skits to win the voters over. Given the gimmick contests against men who are inventing their own accolades in this city. Arguments and debates over the quality of tea. He’s lived a cushy life, that Atken. He need only look at his rise to the public’s attention to see how easy he has been. He’s a new criminal, not a tested one. He hasn’t had to fight me off ever before. The worst he has had to deal with is the other minor criminals here in Asylum city. And we know that they aren’t the best of criminals. He is coming into a world that is completely foreign to him. He’s never been held accountable for his actions...until now.
You see, he’s coming into a world. A world that I’ve guarded for a long time now. He doesn’t know how to win a fight with someone who has lived out here. Lived here in the real world. The real world: The one that has fractured my leg. The one that has ruined my shoulder. The one that has made be bleed more blood than anyone ever should. Not some cotton-covered, silk-strewn, tender-touching world that Atken has lived in. *Sally turns from Shaneford, starting to wander aimlessly around the empty-ish room*[/b] My body has been tested in everything I’ve done to protect Asylum. But, from that, I’ve been conditioned. I’ve been prepared. I’ve been made ready for a fight like this. I might not be able to match Atken with the physical strength he has...but I have far stronger inner strength. [/color]
[Shaneford] Your body might be your weapon, Miss Talfourd, but even the best weapons...need fixing.
Sally lets out a long sigh, remembering all the times that her ‘weapon’ has needed fixing. But, with each fix, she is changed. She is smarter, stronger, wiser. Yes, perhaps weaker, but only if her opponent is smart. And while Atken might be a criminal mastermind, he isn’t at the level he needs to be to out-maneuver a crimefighter like Sally Talfourd. But, it has to be acknowledge, fighting crime does take its toll on the body, that’s for sure.
[Sally] Shaneford, he’s coming intoAsylum. My world. The world that might have ruined my body, but I have mastered. This...*Sally, who has come to the big screen, presses another button and we see her in action. Not just in any action, but dressed as a very, very attractive Batwoman*[/b]...role I have, this said I’ve done it. It says I’ve mastered the world that he and I find ourselves in together. Why? Because no one else could do this. No one else can carry the load that I now have. I fight for Asylum because I want to, but also because who else could do it? Who else could save Asylum from the likes of the Atken’s in the world? What I do...it says I’ve mastered our world. This cruel and harsh and horrible world that chews so many people out, and leaves only the strongest standing.
I’ve mastered a world that Atken is only now just stepping in to. He’s about to come into the city’s focus. Not some underground world where only a master of chaos can reign, but into a place where only a master of himself and his abilities will reign. He’s coming into a world where your worth is being measured by the skill and talent and natural ability. Criminals never have ability and skill and honour - they have got ahead by cheating and stealing and manipulation. They don’t get tested because they don’t want to be tested. And to avoid getting tested like me, they skirt the hard fights. They get others to fight, they fight dirty, they fight unfair. As spectacular as his rise might have been...he’s not been through a test like I have? [/color]
[Shaneford] So what do you do now, Miss Talfourd?
Sally dwells on the screen once more, then turns around. Her face: determination. Her resolve: Unbreakable. She comes towards Shaneford and pats him on the shoulder.
[Sally] We meet him head-on, Shaneford. We make this fight happen. He thinks he will win no matter what happens: That if I fight him, I’ll lose. And if I do nothing, he’ll win. But he just thinks like a bad guy...like a criminal. He doesn’t think like a hero like me.
As she walks off, she leaves Shaneford standing there in the room alone. He watches after her. Then, as she’s about to leave through the only door along the long, worn wall, he calls after her...
[Shaneford] I’ll get the Batpod ready then?
[Sally] Not yet. We have to wait for the right time to strike. I need to wait for when he expects me to be at my weakest, not my strongest.
[Shaneford] And when would that be, miss?
Sally can’t help but smirk. She knows when Atken is going to be ready to fall: When he’s the most confident. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And Atken...Atken may have risen very, very far, but that just leaves him a very, very long fall.
[Sally] At Christmas Chaos. You see, he won’t be expecting me to bring the fight to him then. He will think he has the upper hand. That he will have the element of surprise. What I will do is show him that I’ve been ready for him all along. That I’ve been planning for a day like this when he launched his last plan, One Night in Hell. I’ve been watching him, waiting for him, planning for him.
[Shaneford] So that’s what all those meetings were with with Mr. Fox were for?
[Sally] That’s right. I’m ready for him better than I ever was. I’m better prepared for him now than when I stopped him in his last plan. He think he knows what I bring to the table after that last fight. He needs to think again. I’ve got new weays to take him down...ways he can’t even imagine yet. Because he’s the bad guy, and the bad guys are never ready to accept that they can learn something new.
[Shaneford] And you, Miss Talfourd? Are you the good woman in all this?
She starts to walk back towards Shaneford, burying her hands in her pocket, bowing her head with a graven face.
[Sally] Sometimes it might be hard for Asylum, you, even me to see that. Sometimes I might look like a bad woman. But it’s fights like these...these fights remind the city that I am the good amongst us all. That what I do for them might not be something that they always agree with...but that it’s always for the good of the city. Asylum deserves to be the greatest city in the world. Sometimes I can’t make it better by myself. Sometimes I can. Sometimes I need the people to wake up and realise what’s happening so that they do something about it. And other times...
[Shaneford] Other times you have to do the fighting?
[Sally] And sometimes I have to do the fighting. But the people...they just want to be reassured. They just want to be reminded this time that they have a protector. That they have someone fighting for them. They know that if Atken takes over, their lives are ruined. The city is ruined. But with me? They want to be reminded that just before they go to bed, someone is watching over them. Someone is waiting to step in and protect them. Someone is here to fight for what’s right, whether it looks like that or not.
Shaneford nods, which Sally returns. Then, she’s gone. There’s a slight hold on Shaneford as he goes back to the breakfast he started with. He looks around, all sneaky, and takes another bite of the toast. Then there’s a slow fade out to a blank, black screen and then into...
Sally Talfourd
written across the screen, which in turn fades away as the episode comes to a close.
