Post by Sentinel on Sept 21, 2013 19:28:35 GMT -4
It’s a few hours prior to the Asylum broadcast in Quezon City, but even in the locker room area the raucous reactions of the crowd to seeing a live APW show is audible. They file into the venue, signs and merchandise at the ready, eager for a night of hard-hitting action. The peculiar thing about international crowds like these, though, is how little they seem to care about who is ‘good’ and who is ‘bad’. It is the experience that matters to them, taking in every detail and soaking it up, making memories to carry with them for years. They’ll cheer for vicious heels as readily as they will for bright and shiny faces, something that veterans as well as more intelligent younger wrestlers recognize and factor into their performances.
But one group who will change for nothing and no one is The Unforgiven.
Talon: ”Where…in the hell…are they?”
Talon, the Lady of Sin, paces back and forth in the group’s locker room. She checks her cell phone now and again, looking for a missed call or message or just to check the time. It’s presumed that they’re awaiting the rest of their team in the form of Lady Rayne and Zachariah Blood at this point. Sentinel, to his credit, is calm. He sits on an armchair nearby, slowly wrapping black tape around his right hand, paying attention to every turn of the adhesive around the bases of his fingers and over his knuckles. He constantly clenches and opens his fist as he goes to make sure the fit is just right.
But that calm of his looks like it’s mingled with something else. There’s a certain force to his simple task and he sometimes glances up at Talon when she speaks. This last time, she turns to him as he does so, offering a wan smile in response.
Talon: ”I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to concentrate.”
He shakes his head slightly with a thin smile and goes back to his wrapping. They don’t wait much longer as a few seconds later the door bangs open and the distinct voice of Zachariah speaks out even before he wanders into view.
Zachariah Blood: ”And with that, we write our ticket for One Night in Hell! Let’s hear Jace talk a little more shit while he gets his jaw reset! Maybe Bailey will pipe up if he’s not spitting teeth from landing on the guardrail!”
The Masochist looks plenty pleased with himself for his win on Overdrive and Rayne looks rightfully happy with her charge as well. Talon turns their way with a strange little smile on her face. Whatever emotion lingered on the features of Sentinel are gone now. Zachariah looks between them for a moment before starting up again.
Zachariah Blood: ”You two saw the match, right?”
Talon: ”Of course, dear. Very well done. In fact, we even have an idea of what match to choose for the pay-per-view already.”
Lady Rayne: ”As long as it entails maximum suffering for them and maximum advantage for us, we’ll be set.”
Talon saunters over to her younger sister, fixing a stare on her with that odd smile still twitching at the corners of her lips.
Talon: ”I assure you that what we have in mind will have their blood running cold. But before we go discussing that, sister, there’s a small bit of business that needs to be addressed. It won’t take long.”
Zachariah Blood: ”The hell could be more important than…”
Blood trails off for a moment as he feels Rayne’s attention go to him. She looks concerned…no, worried is a better word. He returns with a firm stare of his own, then averts his eyes to Talon.
Zachariah Blood: ”Now isn’t the time or place to talk ab-“
Zachariah is cut off sharply as Talon whirls on him and in one smooth motion slaps him across the jaw. Though it’s open-handed, the blow is not a token shot. There’s no restraint in the Lady of Sin as she rocks the Masochist with this shot. Reeling from the blow while Rayne gasps in shock, Zachariah whips back around and steps up to Talon, a welt already rising on his tattooed face.
Zachariah Blood: ”You’d better have a DAMN good reason for doing that, Ren, or shit’s gonna get fucking ugly.”
Talon: ”You arrogant little piss-ant motherfucker! Who in the hell told you to stick your Cajun nose in my Destroyer’s match against Shadow at the last Asylum?! How DARE you make a liar of me and insert yourself into business that wasn’t yours!”
Lady Rayne: ”What the hell are you talking about?! Zachariah saved Sentinel’s ass out there against that monster!”
Talon turns on her sister in the same quiet-yet-focused fury.
Talon: ”Saved him from what?! He was handling the monster just fine before your chair-wielding pet came out there and got involved! Sentinel has already proven that he can go toe-to-toe with that loudmouthed bastard! You…”
She stabbingly points at her sister, then back at Blood who stands seething, hands clenching and releasing rapidly.
Talon: ”…and you need to learn your place!”
During all this, Sentinel is predictably silent. Sharp gray eyes are watching what goes on, however, and his taping has slowed.
Zachariah Blood: ”I don’t recall any complaint from the silent giant as we were tossing that oversized bitch into the surf! If he has a problem with it, maybe he should say something about it! But you putting your hand in my face like that, Ren? That stops the train in its fucking tracks! You’d better tell big sister, Rayne, that if it happens again…”
Lady Rayne: ”Excuse me?!”
Talon smirks at Blood’s ‘error’ and steps in again toward him.
Talon: ”Like I said: you need to learn your place. Disrespecting your Mistress, your partner and your superiors in one week’s time, Zachariah? That’s bad for business. Do you realize that if anyone interferes in the match tonight that we’ll lose our title shot? I damn well hope so. Because if I even smell you close to that ring tonight I will beat you down myself.”
Zachariah Blood: ”Bite me, bitch!”
Talon’s eyes widen at that and Rayne is caught between fear and fury. The former wheels back to strike Blood again…yet this time he catches her wrist in his hand. The hold lasts for a few moments before a larger hand grasps Blood’s. He and Talon turn to see Sentinel standing there, glaring down at his partner. For the first time in the midst of all this, Blood quails just a bit. He releases Talon’s hand and tries to jerk himself out of Sentinel’s grip but the big man isn’t relenting. Blood pulls a few more times before Sentinel lets go of his own accord. Without a word (obviously) he points at the door.
Blood takes the hint and storms out. Lady Rayne looks between the door and the others, unsure of what to do. It’s a strange state for her to be in right at that point but eventually she turns and hurries off after Blood in a huff. Once the door slams shut behind her, Talon puts a hand to her face, sighing behind it.
Talon: ”I had no idea it was this bad already. Do you think I went too far, love?”
Sentinel stares at the door, then turns to Talon when she queries him. Shaking his head once, he puts his powerful hands on her shoulder and leans down to press his lips to her crimson hair. Her acid-green eyes close for a moment before opening again, her tone at murmur-level.
Talon: ”We had best address Shadow now. Just promise me one thing when you go out there tonight:”
The Silent Destroyer indicates that she has his attention as she turns to look up at him over her shoulder.
Talon: ”We have proven already that we can handle Shadow. Do not let this match drag out nor put yourself in a position to get hurt before One Night in Hell. We have enough to worry about heading into the tag title match without the leader of this team, the one who holds it together, getting hurt because some asshole has an axe to grind.”
Sentinel nods once and we fade to black.
Returning a few moments later, Talon and Sentinel are standing on the Asylum interview set though without someone to ask stupid questions. Talon holds the microphone herself, dressed in her standard red-and-black attire while The Silence Behind the Violence is in his ring gear of matching colors. Thick, muscular arms are folded across his chest as he stares coldly at the camera. Talon, conversely, has a satisfied smile on her face.
Talon: ”Quite the mouthy bastard this time around aren’t you, Shadow? It’s over the last few weeks that I think I’ve finally discovered why you grate on our nerves so much: because you try too damn hard.”
The big man smirks slightly as Talon continues.
Talon: ”Just another cookie-cutter badass with a foul mouth and blessed with the genetics of a giant. Same long, greasy hair, same over-muscled physique, same litany of tough talk…you’re the proverbial wrestling Frankenstein, the kind of wrestler you’d get if there were an assembly line churning out dime-a-dozen muscleheads for the suits to trot out on TV to get the girls ooh-ing and ahh-ing. There’s not a damn thing about you, Shadow, that stands out. And if it grates on our nerves I know it must drive you up the wall.
Well, here’s something else just to piss you right the hell off since you’re probably already frothing all over the place like an oiled-up Tasmanian devil:”
She tucks a stray lock behind her ear and levels her best fanged smile at the camera.
Talon: ”We don’t give a damn about you or this match.”
The fans who had been at a tittering level for the full length of this promo that they’re viewing in real time during the pre-show boo heartily at this and that only makes Talon’s smile wider.
Talon: ”The Unforgiven are vying for the World Tag Team Titles very soon and you’re just a diversion on our road to glory. You’ve already been turned to a pile of quivering parts by my chair-wielding Destroyer and last time around, despite all the shit you talked you couldn’t put him down for the count. See, Shadow, you’re the veteran around here compared to us. You’re the man with tenure and highlight reel moments while we’re still, in the eyes of some at least, trying to make our mark. By that logic, you should have disposed of my Destroyer last time, but you didn’t, did you? Sort of makes all the shit you talk mean less.
‘I’m gonna whip your ass!’ this and ‘I’m done holding back!’ that. Your words reek of excuses for shortcomings you didn’t know you had until we started making your life hell. There’s always going to be someone better, Shadow, and in your case that person is Sentinel. Even if you do beat him tonight it won’t mean even a tenth as much as it would have had you got the job done the first time and deep down you know that. You don’t have convictions…you have a chip on your shoulder that you’re daring someone to knock off. My Destroyer has done that twice already, first by beating the dogshit out of you and the second time by embarrassing you. You just haven’t gotten the fucking clue yet.”
A single nod from Sentinel punctuates that statement as Talon lowers her voice a bit.
Talon: ”While you talk about our dealings with Parker or Raab, you conveniently ignore just how vulnerable we’ve made you look. It’s sad, Shadow, that you have to be one of those types who tries to make himself look better by denigrating others. And you’re supposed to be the type the fans get on their feet for? If they’re that brain-dead, let them.”
Another chorus of boos from the packed house which doesn’t deter Talon one iota.
Talon: ”You can have the win if you survive long enough to eke it out, and good on you if you manage. So you’ll be the person to break my Destroyer’s undefeated singles streak. And in the grand scheme of things that will mean…what? You put more stock in this match than it’s truly worth. I reiterate: we don’t care about you or this match. We care about the World Tag Team Championships…about Anthony Bailey and Jair Hopkins…about Jace Savage and Brian Hollywood. Not you. Not your hard-on for being the big man on campus around here. Face it, Shadow…you just don’t rate in our eyes. You had your chance to step up and be a man and instead, twice for that matter, you were beaten like a bitch. You’re old news. Hopefully after tonight, we can move on to greater things which at this point would be anything other than you. All the praying in the world won’t change what you’ve become Shadow. Do you want to know what that is?”
Sentinel’s arms unfold and his hands come to rest on Talon’s shoulders.
Talon: ”A shadow of your former self. The self that men and women in this company feared. That perhaps at one point gave Stefan Raab nightmares. The warrior that fans at one point cheered for good reason. It would be funny if it weren’t so damn sad. You, a former beast now without fang or claw, getting tossed around by a man who is still considered a rookie in this company and is fresh off a hiatus. That’s sad, Shadow. Dr. Phil sad.”
Her giggling would be endearing if it weren’t so evil. Brings a smile to Sentinel’s face though, albeit slightly.
Talon: ”We’ve neither run from or hid from you once, Shadow. Once again, you’re caught in the act of throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks. Do you even listen to yourself before you step in front of a camera? Do you? Because if you do…”
No need to finish that statement, apparently. She shakes her head and takes a breath before continuing.
Talon: ”My Destroyer has spilled more blood and sweat in this business than you can measure. To hear you talk of being righteous and making this painful for him…is about as funny as it gets. Pain is a part of the business, Shadow. Try something new. Threaten to break bones or end his career. Oh, but wait…you’re righteous now. Of course. Another gimmick change for the man who can’t best someone smaller that apparently requires help every time he’s in the ring because he’s that weak…
…no. You know what? We’re done here. You want some last words, Shadow?”
She gestures for the camera to move in close.
Talon: ”Nice boots. We’ll make sure you’re buried in them.”
Fade to black.
But one group who will change for nothing and no one is The Unforgiven.
Talon: ”Where…in the hell…are they?”
Talon, the Lady of Sin, paces back and forth in the group’s locker room. She checks her cell phone now and again, looking for a missed call or message or just to check the time. It’s presumed that they’re awaiting the rest of their team in the form of Lady Rayne and Zachariah Blood at this point. Sentinel, to his credit, is calm. He sits on an armchair nearby, slowly wrapping black tape around his right hand, paying attention to every turn of the adhesive around the bases of his fingers and over his knuckles. He constantly clenches and opens his fist as he goes to make sure the fit is just right.
But that calm of his looks like it’s mingled with something else. There’s a certain force to his simple task and he sometimes glances up at Talon when she speaks. This last time, she turns to him as he does so, offering a wan smile in response.
Talon: ”I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to concentrate.”
He shakes his head slightly with a thin smile and goes back to his wrapping. They don’t wait much longer as a few seconds later the door bangs open and the distinct voice of Zachariah speaks out even before he wanders into view.
Zachariah Blood: ”And with that, we write our ticket for One Night in Hell! Let’s hear Jace talk a little more shit while he gets his jaw reset! Maybe Bailey will pipe up if he’s not spitting teeth from landing on the guardrail!”
The Masochist looks plenty pleased with himself for his win on Overdrive and Rayne looks rightfully happy with her charge as well. Talon turns their way with a strange little smile on her face. Whatever emotion lingered on the features of Sentinel are gone now. Zachariah looks between them for a moment before starting up again.
Zachariah Blood: ”You two saw the match, right?”
Talon: ”Of course, dear. Very well done. In fact, we even have an idea of what match to choose for the pay-per-view already.”
Lady Rayne: ”As long as it entails maximum suffering for them and maximum advantage for us, we’ll be set.”
Talon saunters over to her younger sister, fixing a stare on her with that odd smile still twitching at the corners of her lips.
Talon: ”I assure you that what we have in mind will have their blood running cold. But before we go discussing that, sister, there’s a small bit of business that needs to be addressed. It won’t take long.”
Zachariah Blood: ”The hell could be more important than…”
Blood trails off for a moment as he feels Rayne’s attention go to him. She looks concerned…no, worried is a better word. He returns with a firm stare of his own, then averts his eyes to Talon.
Zachariah Blood: ”Now isn’t the time or place to talk ab-“
Zachariah is cut off sharply as Talon whirls on him and in one smooth motion slaps him across the jaw. Though it’s open-handed, the blow is not a token shot. There’s no restraint in the Lady of Sin as she rocks the Masochist with this shot. Reeling from the blow while Rayne gasps in shock, Zachariah whips back around and steps up to Talon, a welt already rising on his tattooed face.
Zachariah Blood: ”You’d better have a DAMN good reason for doing that, Ren, or shit’s gonna get fucking ugly.”
Talon: ”You arrogant little piss-ant motherfucker! Who in the hell told you to stick your Cajun nose in my Destroyer’s match against Shadow at the last Asylum?! How DARE you make a liar of me and insert yourself into business that wasn’t yours!”
Lady Rayne: ”What the hell are you talking about?! Zachariah saved Sentinel’s ass out there against that monster!”
Talon turns on her sister in the same quiet-yet-focused fury.
Talon: ”Saved him from what?! He was handling the monster just fine before your chair-wielding pet came out there and got involved! Sentinel has already proven that he can go toe-to-toe with that loudmouthed bastard! You…”
She stabbingly points at her sister, then back at Blood who stands seething, hands clenching and releasing rapidly.
Talon: ”…and you need to learn your place!”
During all this, Sentinel is predictably silent. Sharp gray eyes are watching what goes on, however, and his taping has slowed.
Zachariah Blood: ”I don’t recall any complaint from the silent giant as we were tossing that oversized bitch into the surf! If he has a problem with it, maybe he should say something about it! But you putting your hand in my face like that, Ren? That stops the train in its fucking tracks! You’d better tell big sister, Rayne, that if it happens again…”
Lady Rayne: ”Excuse me?!”
Talon smirks at Blood’s ‘error’ and steps in again toward him.
Talon: ”Like I said: you need to learn your place. Disrespecting your Mistress, your partner and your superiors in one week’s time, Zachariah? That’s bad for business. Do you realize that if anyone interferes in the match tonight that we’ll lose our title shot? I damn well hope so. Because if I even smell you close to that ring tonight I will beat you down myself.”
Zachariah Blood: ”Bite me, bitch!”
Talon’s eyes widen at that and Rayne is caught between fear and fury. The former wheels back to strike Blood again…yet this time he catches her wrist in his hand. The hold lasts for a few moments before a larger hand grasps Blood’s. He and Talon turn to see Sentinel standing there, glaring down at his partner. For the first time in the midst of all this, Blood quails just a bit. He releases Talon’s hand and tries to jerk himself out of Sentinel’s grip but the big man isn’t relenting. Blood pulls a few more times before Sentinel lets go of his own accord. Without a word (obviously) he points at the door.
Blood takes the hint and storms out. Lady Rayne looks between the door and the others, unsure of what to do. It’s a strange state for her to be in right at that point but eventually she turns and hurries off after Blood in a huff. Once the door slams shut behind her, Talon puts a hand to her face, sighing behind it.
Talon: ”I had no idea it was this bad already. Do you think I went too far, love?”
Sentinel stares at the door, then turns to Talon when she queries him. Shaking his head once, he puts his powerful hands on her shoulder and leans down to press his lips to her crimson hair. Her acid-green eyes close for a moment before opening again, her tone at murmur-level.
Talon: ”We had best address Shadow now. Just promise me one thing when you go out there tonight:”
The Silent Destroyer indicates that she has his attention as she turns to look up at him over her shoulder.
Talon: ”We have proven already that we can handle Shadow. Do not let this match drag out nor put yourself in a position to get hurt before One Night in Hell. We have enough to worry about heading into the tag title match without the leader of this team, the one who holds it together, getting hurt because some asshole has an axe to grind.”
Sentinel nods once and we fade to black.
Returning a few moments later, Talon and Sentinel are standing on the Asylum interview set though without someone to ask stupid questions. Talon holds the microphone herself, dressed in her standard red-and-black attire while The Silence Behind the Violence is in his ring gear of matching colors. Thick, muscular arms are folded across his chest as he stares coldly at the camera. Talon, conversely, has a satisfied smile on her face.
Talon: ”Quite the mouthy bastard this time around aren’t you, Shadow? It’s over the last few weeks that I think I’ve finally discovered why you grate on our nerves so much: because you try too damn hard.”
The big man smirks slightly as Talon continues.
Talon: ”Just another cookie-cutter badass with a foul mouth and blessed with the genetics of a giant. Same long, greasy hair, same over-muscled physique, same litany of tough talk…you’re the proverbial wrestling Frankenstein, the kind of wrestler you’d get if there were an assembly line churning out dime-a-dozen muscleheads for the suits to trot out on TV to get the girls ooh-ing and ahh-ing. There’s not a damn thing about you, Shadow, that stands out. And if it grates on our nerves I know it must drive you up the wall.
Well, here’s something else just to piss you right the hell off since you’re probably already frothing all over the place like an oiled-up Tasmanian devil:”
She tucks a stray lock behind her ear and levels her best fanged smile at the camera.
Talon: ”We don’t give a damn about you or this match.”
The fans who had been at a tittering level for the full length of this promo that they’re viewing in real time during the pre-show boo heartily at this and that only makes Talon’s smile wider.
Talon: ”The Unforgiven are vying for the World Tag Team Titles very soon and you’re just a diversion on our road to glory. You’ve already been turned to a pile of quivering parts by my chair-wielding Destroyer and last time around, despite all the shit you talked you couldn’t put him down for the count. See, Shadow, you’re the veteran around here compared to us. You’re the man with tenure and highlight reel moments while we’re still, in the eyes of some at least, trying to make our mark. By that logic, you should have disposed of my Destroyer last time, but you didn’t, did you? Sort of makes all the shit you talk mean less.
‘I’m gonna whip your ass!’ this and ‘I’m done holding back!’ that. Your words reek of excuses for shortcomings you didn’t know you had until we started making your life hell. There’s always going to be someone better, Shadow, and in your case that person is Sentinel. Even if you do beat him tonight it won’t mean even a tenth as much as it would have had you got the job done the first time and deep down you know that. You don’t have convictions…you have a chip on your shoulder that you’re daring someone to knock off. My Destroyer has done that twice already, first by beating the dogshit out of you and the second time by embarrassing you. You just haven’t gotten the fucking clue yet.”
A single nod from Sentinel punctuates that statement as Talon lowers her voice a bit.
Talon: ”While you talk about our dealings with Parker or Raab, you conveniently ignore just how vulnerable we’ve made you look. It’s sad, Shadow, that you have to be one of those types who tries to make himself look better by denigrating others. And you’re supposed to be the type the fans get on their feet for? If they’re that brain-dead, let them.”
Another chorus of boos from the packed house which doesn’t deter Talon one iota.
Talon: ”You can have the win if you survive long enough to eke it out, and good on you if you manage. So you’ll be the person to break my Destroyer’s undefeated singles streak. And in the grand scheme of things that will mean…what? You put more stock in this match than it’s truly worth. I reiterate: we don’t care about you or this match. We care about the World Tag Team Championships…about Anthony Bailey and Jair Hopkins…about Jace Savage and Brian Hollywood. Not you. Not your hard-on for being the big man on campus around here. Face it, Shadow…you just don’t rate in our eyes. You had your chance to step up and be a man and instead, twice for that matter, you were beaten like a bitch. You’re old news. Hopefully after tonight, we can move on to greater things which at this point would be anything other than you. All the praying in the world won’t change what you’ve become Shadow. Do you want to know what that is?”
Sentinel’s arms unfold and his hands come to rest on Talon’s shoulders.
Talon: ”A shadow of your former self. The self that men and women in this company feared. That perhaps at one point gave Stefan Raab nightmares. The warrior that fans at one point cheered for good reason. It would be funny if it weren’t so damn sad. You, a former beast now without fang or claw, getting tossed around by a man who is still considered a rookie in this company and is fresh off a hiatus. That’s sad, Shadow. Dr. Phil sad.”
Her giggling would be endearing if it weren’t so evil. Brings a smile to Sentinel’s face though, albeit slightly.
Talon: ”We’ve neither run from or hid from you once, Shadow. Once again, you’re caught in the act of throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks. Do you even listen to yourself before you step in front of a camera? Do you? Because if you do…”
No need to finish that statement, apparently. She shakes her head and takes a breath before continuing.
Talon: ”My Destroyer has spilled more blood and sweat in this business than you can measure. To hear you talk of being righteous and making this painful for him…is about as funny as it gets. Pain is a part of the business, Shadow. Try something new. Threaten to break bones or end his career. Oh, but wait…you’re righteous now. Of course. Another gimmick change for the man who can’t best someone smaller that apparently requires help every time he’s in the ring because he’s that weak…
…no. You know what? We’re done here. You want some last words, Shadow?”
She gestures for the camera to move in close.
Talon: ”Nice boots. We’ll make sure you’re buried in them.”
Fade to black.
