Post by Evan De Parker on Apr 17, 2013 23:59:41 GMT -4
"That lucky old sun's... Got nothin' to do... But roll around in Heaven all day..."
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Lima, Peru
”Radio Antarki... Radio Maria... Radio Terra... Radio America Peru... Radio Lima... Studio 92... Doble Nueve... La Mega... All of ya, I hope you’re listening. Because we’ve taken over the radio tower. We shut it down. We took it.”
We fade in from black, where we see Evan Envi sitting in front of a microphone, surrounded by glass walls... Flanked by Jenny and Jeremy Knite, each of whom are seated in front of microphones as well.
”I’m pulling your leg. We purchased the radio station for twenty-four hours so we’re-- what-- octulcasting? We’re OCTULCASTING... And for the next day, you’re only going to hear what we want you to hear.
“You’ll listen to what I tell you to listen to.
“And you’ll like it.”
”They’ll love it.”
Evan meets the gaze of Jennifer Knite who smiles at him from across the table, her blue eyes wide with... An emotion that Evan wouldn’t be able to describe for you if you paid him to try. Her blonde hair flows freely, down past her shoulders, and she bites her lip-- which is enough to prompt Evan to turn away and glance toward Jeremy instead, simply for the necessary change of scenery.
”I hear we even have a special guest. Someone very near and dear to my heart. Someone that was there for the birth of the man you’ve come to know as Evan Envi. Isn’t that right, Jeremy?”
”That’s right. She’s here right now. Want me to bri--?”
”No. Make ‘em wait. I wanna talk about something before we go ahead with our broadcast.”
Jeremy takes a sip of water and gives Evan a curious nod. ”What’s that?”
Evan crosses his hands in front of him and narrows his eyes at Jeremy, opting for a long pause before he finally responds.
”I wanna talk about Boston.”
Monday, April 15th
Lima, Peru
”I can’t believe somebody would do this.”
Jenny’s eyes move from the hotel television screen, over to Evan. Evan breaks his gaze from Lady Overdrive and turns to Jenny, clearing his throat.
”It’s horrible.”
”You were paying attention, weren’t you?”
”Yeah. Of course. People tried to blow up Boston-- how could I miss it?”
Jenny frowns slightly and she pushes herself from the floor and stands in front of Evan, sliding her hands up to her hips and giving him a long, uninterrupted stare.
”Doesn’t affect you.”
”Haha... Whaaat?”
”It doesn’t-- doesn’t directly concern you, so you don’t really care, right? You only care about that title.”
Evan opens his mouth, as if to retort, but chooses to close it. He glances past Jenny toward the television, frowning a bit as he watches the runners glide across the finish line...
”No. I’m just...” Evan turns away from the television, glancing down toward Lady Overdrive, almost as if for reassurance. He looks back up at Jenny. ”I care. I’m just awkward at showing that shit, or something.”
”Well, get over it. You have to be a PR pro. We have to be on point, and if you don’t give a shit, then you need to at least act like you do.”
Evan nods slowly. Jenny finally turns away from him and sits cross-legged, nearly childlike on the floor in front of the television. Evan’s gaze settles uneasily upon her...
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Lima, Peru
”I’m not going to insult you.
“My victory this Thursday will not serve as a hollow dedication to the state of Boston, though I extend my condolences and my best wishes-- and Boston is in my thoughts. However, I know for a fact that despite what these men tell you, they won’t remember Boston when the bell rings. It’s a cold, hard truth.
“They’ll remember blood. They’ll remember glory. They’ll remember that there’s going to be a third party in that match with an objective that could leave any of us at a disadvantage. They’ll remember survival. At least I hope that’s what I’m dealing with, or I’ve severely overestimated our World and Xtreme Champions, haven’t I?”
Jenny and Jeremy sigh.
”Evan...” Jeremy addresses him from another side of the table, and Jenny looks between both her brother and her boss, sighing in relief when Evan responds.
”Jeremy.”
”Question for you, while I have you.”
”Well, don’t make an event out of it.”
”Have you considered that you’ve never stepped into the ring, or even met Mr. Callahan before? Don’t you think it’s gonna end up biting you in the ass-- if I may offer?”
Evan scratches his head sarcastically, as if considering the statement.
”Gotta start somewhere, Jeremy. And the way I see it-- Callahan is the World Heavyweight Champion, and I want to start right there. I wanna get to know Mr. Callahan very intimately inside that ring. I wanna be able to watch him, and feel what he’s going to do next-- I wanna see it in his eyes. In his twitches, after I drive his head into the mat. I wanna read Mr. Callahan.
“And I can’t do that if I don’t have a first match. This time, it includes the two hundred and seventy-five pound monster known as our ‘Xtreme Champion’, A.C. Smith. So-- so while I won’t get to know Callahan the way I feel I need to, I can get a good idea. We can save the one-on-one for somethin’ real juicy. Make them pay for it, right?”
Evan laughs at it and slaps a hand on the table, winking at Jeremy and Jenny.
”It’s gonna be a war out there in Bogota. The balance of power is going to be severely skewed by the end of the night because it won’t be the President that’ll be standing tall... It’ll be the colonel.”
Jenny perks her eyebrows at the response. ”What’s that mean?”
”It means that Callahan has only gotten a taste of the ugly, bitter battleground that Overdrive REALLY is. He’s felt pain. He’s been attacked by Level One. He’s been brutalized by Delikado. But for the most part, he’s done nothing but watch from a distance-- from Asylum. And then he made the decision to come to Overdrive.
“He’s diving right into a war, and he has no idea what’s waiting for him.
“I’ve been a warrior on Thursday nights for the better part of nine months, leading a Goddamn revolution, and I’ve seen some of the best. Kurt Noble, Terry Marvin, Biggs-- and one way or another, I managed to put down each and every single one of them.
“So logic dictates, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, I will manage to put down the World Heavyweight Champion, Mr. Callahan. One way... Or another... I’ll put down the Xtreme Champion, A.C. Smith.”
”What if--”
Jeremy interrupts his sister. ”What if you can’t?”
Jenny glances over at Jeremy uneasily and then back at Evan, who simply chuckles in response.
”Oh, guys. Please.” He nods toward Jeremy. ”Why don’t you bring out our guest?”
Jeremy smirks and pushes himself up, diving out of the room, jogging down the corridor.
Wednesday, April 17th
Bogota, Colombia
Evan watches with his arms folded and his left foot tapping gently against the pavement as the Colombian bellhop loads six different bags onto a dolly in, what is apparently inefficient time. For now, Evan isn’t flanked by the Knite siblings.
”Are you done, bro? Er... ha terminado, bro?”
The young man turns and gives Evan an annoyed glance, to which Evan responds by holding up eight or nine Colombian pesos. Unsurprisingly, once in the man’s palm, it prompts him to quickly have Evan’s vehicle pulled into the garage, and the dolly wheeled away.
”Hmmm... Where is she...?”
Evan reaches into his pocket, impatiently, retrieving his iPhone.
”Evan!”
Evan lowers the phone and looks up, watching as Michelle Weaver emerges from the hotel, striding over to him. He smiles and walks over to embrace her. ”I wasn’t sure if you were here alre--”
”We heard you on the radio. Are you fucking insane?”
Evan quickly lowers his arms, stopping just a foot away from her. ”What?”
”You think it was okay to-- to broadcast a message like that, with everything that’s going on... And after what just happened on Monday? Really?”
”What?! I-- I didn’t--”
”It was stupid. I thought Jenny was hired to talk you out of saying stupid shit.”
Evan takes another step back from Michelle and glares.
”So, evidently you think this is a constant thing.”
Michelle rolls her eyes and throws up a hand to illustrate her frustration. ”You’re really making this about you.”
”Michelle-- Jesus Christ-- I don’t have any control over what happens in North Korea. I had nothing to do with what happened in Boston. I’m just...”
”Insensitive? I know. I figured it out, weeks ago.”
Evan doesn’t move-- just watches as Michelle turns and walks back inside the hotel. He takes a deep breath and trudges slowly behind.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Lima, Peru
”You were there from the beginning. You saw what others-- what others, to this day, still haven’t been able to grasp. You FELT what a lot of people haven’t been unlucky enough to feel.”
As our cameras return, reintroducing us to a world of vivid color within the Peruvian radio tower, Evan Envi is facing us-- or rather, facing somebody seated behind the camera, with a frozen grin painted on his face.
”Tell them. TELL THEM who you are!”
Evan spins the camera around, past the smiling face of Jenny Knite, and past even Jeremy Knite... Revealing a bronze-skinned brunette, with a more-than-sufficient amount of makeup and eyeliner adorning her face. The Hispanic woman’s hair is pulled back behind her head in a ponytail, and judging by her stature, it isn’t difficult to determine that she’s more than halfway through a pregnancy.
”My name’s Carmen. Carmen Harris.”
”Carmen... Harris...”
”That’s right.” Carmen looks thoroughly unimpressed with the Overdrive Champion, glancing uneasily at the Knite siblings, who never take their eyes off of her. ”And it’s a little fucking creepy that your two goons found me. We didn’t tell anybody we were in--”
”They can find anybody they want. We’ve got tabs on everybody-- Smith, Callahan, Jeff, the like. It’s a great system we’ve got going.”
”A flawless one.”
”Like I said-- it’s fucking creepy.”
Evan keeps his gaze set on the former APW Megastar for a while, but before he can address her again, he’s interrupted by Jeremy Knite.
”You were on Meltdown right alongside Evan, from the time he made a name for himself, until the time he was drafted to Overdrive. Based on your experiences, do you think Evan’s ready for a battle that involves the World Heavyweight Champion? Do you think that he’s capable of defeating--”
”No.”
Jenny and Jeremy exchange worried glances again, but Evan remains calm and smiles almost knowingly, watching, listening as Carmen continues.
”Evan’s got his head stuck too far up his own ass... To even consider that he might have to approach his opponents differently. He thinks God’s gift to the fucking world. He thinks he’s untouchable. He think he’s... Without flaw.
“And for a long time, that went unchallenged, and I think it was far too long.”
Though she refers to Evan as “he”, Carmen’s eyes never leave Evan Envi. He continues to smirk at her while her indifferent expression has devolved into a scowl.
”But remember-- and I know better than most-- there’s always a chink in your armor, and you can be beaten. I think you will be.”
”You think that?”
”Yeah.”
”Well, GOOD!”
Evan slams a fist down on the table, causing Jenny Knite to flinch once again, while Jeremy and Carmen remain silent, their eyes locked on the champion.
”I think this world needs a little bit more variety. You’re the perfect splash of color, Carmen. Please, please-- tell me some more about myself. Tell me about how I’m too involved in myself to have a successful career here in APW. Tell me about that, Carmen, please.”
”Stay on the road you’re on, and this place will kill you. And you’ll let it.”
”Like you let it nearly kill you, right? You and Harris?”
”Yeah. Like that.”
Evan’s smirk grows into a broad grin and he laughs, for upwards of a quarter-minute, staring right into Carmen’s eyes.
”You wanna know the difference between people like you... And people like A.C. Smith? And, no-- I’m not expecting you to answer-- but I’m about to tell you anyway.
“The difference is, people like Smith come from the same set of ideals that I come from. We’ve traveled all over the world, so there is no evil that we haven’t seen. He spent his life working for the NYPD, and I spent mine trying to emulate my parents, my siblings, and my heroes. We saw two totally different kinds of danger. He saw the dangers of-- of defeat, and guns, and drugs. Thieves. Liars. Murderers.
“I saw the dangers of the human mind. I saw the power of a dollar.
“The specifics are unimportant, but we were designed to last in a place like this. He came in around the same time I came in-- the same time you came in, but like me, he’s still here. And it’s because he knows he could be better. He knows that he can’t do that without conquering APW first.
“And for that reason, A.C. Smith this week, could be just as dangerous as Michael Callahan. How many opportunities like this do you think any of us are going to come across again? A Champions’ Ball?”
Carmen sighs and turns, tracing an invisible image into the table with her finger as Evan speaks.
”Smith’s fighting for Boston. The hell are you fighting for?”
Evan scoffs.
”I’m fighting for everything.”
Wednesday, April 17th
Bogota, Colombia
Jenny sits on the couch in Evan Envi’s Colombian hotel suite, flipping through articles on her iPad, glancing up at the Overdrive Champion with uncertainty. Evan is currently halfway-wedged behind the living room’s television, trying, currently unsuccessfully, to install his Blu-Ray player.
”You think you went a little too far at the end of the broadcast?”
Evan casts a glance over his shoulder at Jenny Knite and groans. ”You too?”
”...I get how much the match means to you, but maybe Michelle was right. Maybe your priorities are a little skewed.”
”What do you want me to do, Jenny? Want me to kickstart some sort of charity event? Fine. Consider it done.”
”Well, it’s a start.” She laughs lightly, but it’s accompanied by too much nervousness to seem genuine. ”I’m just looking through these articles-- and I guess some people weren’t too pleased.”
”Because of one little comment?”
”Do you even remember exactly what you said?”
Evan sighs and removes himself from his position behind the television, giving her an annoyed half-sneer.
”Remind me.”
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Lima, Peru
”America. South America. Planet Earth. You can consider this... A hostile takeover.”
”What the--”
Jeremy is silenced by a sharp glare from Jenny... Though even she glances at Evan worriedly after the comment. Jeremy mouths “bad time” to Evan, but Evan rolls his eyes and continues. With this shot of the table, we can see that Carmen Harris is no longer with us.
”I’m taking back Action Packed Wrestling. Hell-- first, I’m taking back my show, Overdrive. I realize that I’m going up against two of the absolute best that APW has to offer this week, and in these triple threat matches, that Smith and I have seen each other in before, there’s never a guarantee. Nothing is ever a sure thing.
“And then you throw in that other element... The fact that the referee, or referees of this match, have some sort of connection to at least one of us-- and for the most part, that connection isn’t very positive.
“Except for mine.
“My opponent for Mayhem is Buckson Gooch. Buckson Gooch is a man that I’ve roughed up on occasion, and I’ve taken some liberties with him. I have. However, I have the...” Evan clears his throat and takes a deep breath before continuing. ”I have a world of respect for Buckson Gooch, and I’d consider him a fr... A friiiuhhh... A, very highly-thought-of acquaintance.”
”That was good.”
”And I have no problems, whatsoever, with Mr. Gooch. Nathaniel Havok and I actually get along swimmingly, as luck would have it. My hands are clean. All the referees in this match love me.”
”Except Level One.”
”Motherfuck Lester.”
Evan glares across the table at Jenny as he says this, as if she is Level One himself. Her eyes widen and she glances toward the phones. ”We have callers.”
”Callers?! Holy cow, would you look at it? We do! Jeremy-- answer those! Answer one!”
”One... Second... Hello! You’re on the air with--”
”We realize who we’re on the air with. Thank you, Mr. Knite.”
Jeremy and Jenny Knite look perturbed by the statement, but Evan Envi leans forward with a grin.
”Who is this?”
”Evan. We heard you were on a few stations, so we decided to tune in. Aubrey’s here. She would say ‘hi’ but, she has this thing, where she hates you to the point where all she can really do is make inaudible grunts and make really, really angry faces.”
”I... What?”
”First and foremost, I want to applaud your sensitivity. You’re a natural charmer.”
”Tell him he’s a prick!”
”Mr. Alexander...”
”Ms. Knite?”
”Would you agree with Carmen Harris’ assessment earlier that, and I quote, Evan was unable to defeat two champions because his ‘head is too far up his ass’?”
Despite the acknowledgment of its source, Evan still gives Jenny a disapproving leer.
”Well, I guess that depends on the champions.”
Jeremy Knite laughs bluntly at the dry humor, but shakes his head in disapproval once he receives a pair of looks from Jenny and Evan.
"Can he beat Smith? Yes. I've seen it before, and low blows are legal this week. Can he beat Callahan..."
”Fuck no!”
”...Well, that’s a much taller order. That’d be an accomplishment. But Evan-- you’ve got my support.”
”Thanks for your time, Mr. Alexander. Thanks for the call!”
With that, the call disconnects and Evan looks up at the grinning faces of Jenny and Jeremy. Jenny nods toward the phones.
”We’ve got another one.”
”Answer it.”
Jeremy raises his brow, locking eyes with the self-proclaimed “King of Overdrive” for a moment before he turns and answers the call.
”Greetings! You’re on the air with--”
”Evan! Evan, are you there? It’s Jason!”
”...Kash?”
”Yeahhh, boy!”
”...Jesus Christ. I’m sorry, Evan. Want me to--?”
Evan shakes his head and holds up a hand.
”And why are you calling? I really don’t feel like listening to you make poo for the next fifteen minutes, so let’s hurry this along and--”
”I’m not on here to tear you down. I’m not on here to tell you that I’m in your corner, wearing your shirt, rootin’ for ya... But I’m here to tell you that I know you got this.”
”Wow.”
”Wow.”
”...Really now?”
Jenny Knite laughs a little bit from her spot at the table. ”I’m shocked.”
”I know Callahan like some people wish they could. I watched him start out on Asylum-- I watched him start with gold. I watched his growth from the bottom of the pack to the World Heavyweight Champion. I watched him go on a tear through Asylum and knock out everyone in his way. Except me. He could never beat me.
“You beat me though. And A.C. Smith is no joke-- I had my eye on the guy back when no one else wanted to give him a chance, and you know him better than anyone. You got this.”
Evan smirks.
”I didn’t know you were in the business of handing out verbal blowjobs, Kash.”
”HA! He’s got jokes... Look, call it whatever you need to, but I’m just giving credit where it’s due. You’re the one that needs to win this match. Aight?”
Kash hangs up before Envi or the Knite siblings have another chance to respond. For moments, they sit in silence. For upwards of ten seconds, you could mistake the silence for pure, dead air.
”He’s got a point.”
This prompts both Jeremy and Evan to look up at Jenny with a mixture of bewilderment and annoyance.
”You do need this.”
”Hm. And why’s that, Jenny? Enlighten us.”
”Look at it. What’s the one thing that you’ve always accused A.C. Smith of being?”
”...Complacent.”
”So what happens if he loses this match? Regardless of if his shoulders are being pinned to the mat, or he just witnesses it-- what happens to A.C. Smith?”
Evan spends the next few moments sitting in silence before he shrugs.
”Nothing happens to A.C. Smith. He goes onto Mayhem to face Nathaniel Havok, and a week from now, he doesn’t even acknowledge this loss. He’ll-- he’ll probably tell the world how he took Callahan and I to the limit in our primes. He’ll add this to his list of accomplishments, and he’ll shove it down everyone else’s throat when he gets the chance.
“And don’t ever mistake me; I know that A.C. Smith is a monster, and when he’s on, he’s an unstoppable force in the ring. I don’t feel that I’ll be dealing with that Smith this week, but it’s always a possibility. It doesn’t take too much to send that tick off in his head. It doesn’t take too much to get him into that zone. Onto that level.
“He could rip shit up out there in Bogota for Fan Appreciation Night and he could TAKE APW by storm, but it won’t happen. It won’t happen.
“...Ultimately, nothing happens from A.C. Smith. Nothing out of the ordinary. A win here would mean-- it would mean a lot. He won’t win though. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again... I won’t let him.”
Jenny smiles warmly at Evan once he’s done speaking, and calmly-- almost eerily calmly-- addresses him again.
”And Michael Callahan?”
”...I wanna take the man’s hope away this week.”
Evan smiles, faintly.
”With everything going on, and falling apart around him in his great country-- in our great country-- I don’t think it would be difficult to say that Callahan is losing faith in America. And now I want him to lose faith in himself.
“There’s no room for two people at the tippy-top, and don’t think for a second that I haven’t noticed Callahan’s bumpy entrance into the main event on Overdrive. I’ve caught every second of it. And, it was classic, really. I couldn’t have written the shit better myself. He managed to make enemies out of Level One AND Delikado, all in one go!”
Evan laughs, but soon, his expression grows serious.
Cold.
”And now we’re at a time where America a hero more than ever. Callahan can protect his beliefs. He can protect morals. He can try to protect these people... And his World Heavyweight Championship... But he can’t protect himself.
“Not from me.”
Evan leans back, sitting a few inches from the microphone and grins.
”This is just the beginning of a hostile takeover, ladies and gentlemen. At Mayhem, I take on a whole new threat-- I take on the south, but on Thursday, I take on APW’s best. I take on Xtreme.
“And I take on the World.
“I take on the American Hero.
“...But the American Hero needs a hero.”
Evan Envi,
K.O.D.
K.O.D.
