Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2020 23:42:55 GMT -5
OOC: This is a collab between the handlers of Knox, Silvio, and myself.
Chaos has ended. The limited audience was long gone. The wrestlers filed out on their own time frame. Adrienne Levi and Matt Knox stood in front of his car conversing quietly amongst themselves. His recent tag partner was dressed in a Spicy Nacho Doritos t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of New Balances. Her backpack was slung over one shoulder. She looked briefly at her cellphone. Uber indicated that they’d be here in about fifteen minutes.
“So, I gotta get home. Gotta get Nate’s money in my account. I’ll have what I owe you when I come back for the next show.”
A chuckle and a dismissive wave, “You don’t owe me a damn thing, Adrienne. Spend his money on something other than de-aging bullshit and viagra. That’ll make the whole world square, much as it can be,” he joked. He had his old beat up gym bag slung over his shoulder, dressed rather strikingly in an old Aerosmith shirt and jeans that saw most of the 90s, feet still tucked into ring boots that kicked someone during Obama’s inauguration
Adrienne raised an eyebrow and smiled as she retorted in a inquisitive nature, “Sometimes I’m not sure when you’re joking or being totally serious.”
Matt smiled back, replying, “Yeah, me neither,” in a tone that’s distant but even.
“Hey!”
A voice rising above the ambient sound of the Baltimore evening was accompanied by footsteps approaching the pair. Silvio Leon, dressed in black jeans and a blue t-shirt with a Superman style crest displaying the words, ‘Frybread Power,’ was jogging across the parking lot.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting anything. I was hoping to talk to you guys. Do you have a minute?”
“Ask your cards,” came the sarcastic reply from the tall, pale member of the duo who digs a cigarette out of his jeans pocket and doesn’t bother to turn his gaze to Silvio. Adrienne shrunk a little into the background.
“Hilarious,” the tattooed fighter said with a roll of his eyes. “Listen, I wanted to talk about what happened back at Chaos 95 with Insidious.” He looked to Knox, then Adrienne. “And the match you have with them coming up at WAR.”
Knox took a long drag, before blowing the toxic fume into the night air. He rolls the cigarette thoughtfully between his thumb and index finger, before turning to Silvio, “What are you wanting to talk about?” He eyes Silvio expectantly, continuing, “Not here to tell me you joined up with Thor, and hit me with somethin’, are ya?”
“...hey.” Adrienne’s interjection was just above a whisper. Her eyes widened a bit as the first sign of confrontation.
“What they did to the Family wasn’t right. Neither was what they did to you two.” His mouth twisted and his brow knit. “I get that they were pissed off about what happened with the Family on 94, but their retaliation was excessive. And the match with you two against Winter and Matthews was your first win at Carnage. You deserved to have the time to celebrate it, but Insidious decided to take that from you.”
He looked at Adrienne, feeling a little jag of pain in his chest. Of all the people on the roster, she had earned the right to bask in her victory. Watching Thor’s brood rob her of that lit a white-hot little coal in his belly.
“You were two against three then, and right now it looks like those are the same odds you have going into WAR. Why don’t we even them up?”
Matthew’s face suddenly lights up and he lets out an honest laugh, even holding a hand up to pause the conversation so he can collect himself. He takes another drag off the cigarette before flicking it out into the street, “That. That’s funny. Suddenly you’re wanting in on...what was it?” Knox wiped a tear from his eye, but the smile remained. Smug, angry, Knox kept peppering Leon, “You’re wanting in on a movie someone else is starring in. Was that...was that close to the bullshit you spewed about me after looking at your Pokemon cards, Miss Cleo?”
Adrienne stepped forward, just a little, speaking a little louder, “Hey.”
The de-escalation failed however.
Returning the smile with a lopsided one of his own, Silvio raised a brow and scoffed. “Well, apparently that Pokemon card attack was super effective, because you still seem pretty sore about it, Raven.” Shifting his weight from one foot to the other and crossing his arms, he shook his head. “Insidious needs to be nipped in the bud. They’re already all over the show, trying to get into everyone’s business. I say the best strategy right now is to come at them hard and fast and stop this before it goes any further. Show them they don’t get to bully people or go on their...weird little crusade to try and prove everyone secretly has a grim, edgy, Frank Miller 90s reboot of themselves just under the skin. Ko’s got business out of town, so I won’t be tagging with him. I can help you, and we can help Carnage.”
Knox went silent, soaking it in a moment. He nodded silently as he mulled over Silvio’s words, stopping briefly to wonder what issue he had with Frank Miller? But he buried that thought, and brought it home.
“Not interested,” he replied, “Can’t take you seriously, or your want to do good. Not after you cozied up with that swollen freak tonight. If you were worth your salt, you’d have wiped your hands and taken the night off,” he pointed directly into Silvio’s face with an obnoxious digit, nearly seething, “You don’t get to ride along with one cancer, and come here to try and cure another one. So no, not interested.”
And finally, Adrienne wedged herself between the two, raising her voice to their level, “Shut up! Both of you!”
Silvio took a step back, arms uncrossing, looking abashed. Matthew went silent, casting his gaze away from them like a kid about to get scolded.
“I’m sorry,” back down to her level, she continued, “but this is the sort of stuff that jerk goes on about.”
She turned to Matt.
“I’ve sat back and watched you shrug off any help in this endeavor. Silvio’s a good guy but objectively, he’s good in the ring. You know that personally. Two versus three? That’s just … dumb, Matt. We need another partner and here he is.”
But then she wheeled around on Silvio, eye to eye.
“Not to say that I don’t get his anger. I … wouldn’t say it like him, sure. I can’t explain how grateful I am for what you shared with me. We talked about a lot of … stuff I rather not mention. But the point is,” she paused, flustered a bit. Taking a deep breath, she found her voice again, “the point is that you gave me the choice. The things you told Matt, he had no choice not to hear. That’s just the prerogative of a veteran in this industry. Usually someone says something about you, you listen, you take it in and you remember. I’m guessing you didn’t say what you did to help him. You said it because this is the nature of the sport and maybe somewhere deep down inside, you knew that if something shook out of that reading that affected Matt like it did, you may just gain an edge.”
Stepping out between the two, her gaze now was generally directed at both.
“I’m rambling, I know. But what I’m saying here is that I’d like to consider both of you as my friends. Some of my first friends in a very long time. So maybe for one night, we can set aside some differences and work together?”
Chaos has ended. The limited audience was long gone. The wrestlers filed out on their own time frame. Adrienne Levi and Matt Knox stood in front of his car conversing quietly amongst themselves. His recent tag partner was dressed in a Spicy Nacho Doritos t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of New Balances. Her backpack was slung over one shoulder. She looked briefly at her cellphone. Uber indicated that they’d be here in about fifteen minutes.
“So, I gotta get home. Gotta get Nate’s money in my account. I’ll have what I owe you when I come back for the next show.”
A chuckle and a dismissive wave, “You don’t owe me a damn thing, Adrienne. Spend his money on something other than de-aging bullshit and viagra. That’ll make the whole world square, much as it can be,” he joked. He had his old beat up gym bag slung over his shoulder, dressed rather strikingly in an old Aerosmith shirt and jeans that saw most of the 90s, feet still tucked into ring boots that kicked someone during Obama’s inauguration
Adrienne raised an eyebrow and smiled as she retorted in a inquisitive nature, “Sometimes I’m not sure when you’re joking or being totally serious.”
Matt smiled back, replying, “Yeah, me neither,” in a tone that’s distant but even.
“Hey!”
A voice rising above the ambient sound of the Baltimore evening was accompanied by footsteps approaching the pair. Silvio Leon, dressed in black jeans and a blue t-shirt with a Superman style crest displaying the words, ‘Frybread Power,’ was jogging across the parking lot.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting anything. I was hoping to talk to you guys. Do you have a minute?”
“Ask your cards,” came the sarcastic reply from the tall, pale member of the duo who digs a cigarette out of his jeans pocket and doesn’t bother to turn his gaze to Silvio. Adrienne shrunk a little into the background.
“Hilarious,” the tattooed fighter said with a roll of his eyes. “Listen, I wanted to talk about what happened back at Chaos 95 with Insidious.” He looked to Knox, then Adrienne. “And the match you have with them coming up at WAR.”
Knox took a long drag, before blowing the toxic fume into the night air. He rolls the cigarette thoughtfully between his thumb and index finger, before turning to Silvio, “What are you wanting to talk about?” He eyes Silvio expectantly, continuing, “Not here to tell me you joined up with Thor, and hit me with somethin’, are ya?”
“...hey.” Adrienne’s interjection was just above a whisper. Her eyes widened a bit as the first sign of confrontation.
“What they did to the Family wasn’t right. Neither was what they did to you two.” His mouth twisted and his brow knit. “I get that they were pissed off about what happened with the Family on 94, but their retaliation was excessive. And the match with you two against Winter and Matthews was your first win at Carnage. You deserved to have the time to celebrate it, but Insidious decided to take that from you.”
He looked at Adrienne, feeling a little jag of pain in his chest. Of all the people on the roster, she had earned the right to bask in her victory. Watching Thor’s brood rob her of that lit a white-hot little coal in his belly.
“You were two against three then, and right now it looks like those are the same odds you have going into WAR. Why don’t we even them up?”
Matthew’s face suddenly lights up and he lets out an honest laugh, even holding a hand up to pause the conversation so he can collect himself. He takes another drag off the cigarette before flicking it out into the street, “That. That’s funny. Suddenly you’re wanting in on...what was it?” Knox wiped a tear from his eye, but the smile remained. Smug, angry, Knox kept peppering Leon, “You’re wanting in on a movie someone else is starring in. Was that...was that close to the bullshit you spewed about me after looking at your Pokemon cards, Miss Cleo?”
Adrienne stepped forward, just a little, speaking a little louder, “Hey.”
The de-escalation failed however.
Returning the smile with a lopsided one of his own, Silvio raised a brow and scoffed. “Well, apparently that Pokemon card attack was super effective, because you still seem pretty sore about it, Raven.” Shifting his weight from one foot to the other and crossing his arms, he shook his head. “Insidious needs to be nipped in the bud. They’re already all over the show, trying to get into everyone’s business. I say the best strategy right now is to come at them hard and fast and stop this before it goes any further. Show them they don’t get to bully people or go on their...weird little crusade to try and prove everyone secretly has a grim, edgy, Frank Miller 90s reboot of themselves just under the skin. Ko’s got business out of town, so I won’t be tagging with him. I can help you, and we can help Carnage.”
Knox went silent, soaking it in a moment. He nodded silently as he mulled over Silvio’s words, stopping briefly to wonder what issue he had with Frank Miller? But he buried that thought, and brought it home.
“Not interested,” he replied, “Can’t take you seriously, or your want to do good. Not after you cozied up with that swollen freak tonight. If you were worth your salt, you’d have wiped your hands and taken the night off,” he pointed directly into Silvio’s face with an obnoxious digit, nearly seething, “You don’t get to ride along with one cancer, and come here to try and cure another one. So no, not interested.”
And finally, Adrienne wedged herself between the two, raising her voice to their level, “Shut up! Both of you!”
Silvio took a step back, arms uncrossing, looking abashed. Matthew went silent, casting his gaze away from them like a kid about to get scolded.
“I’m sorry,” back down to her level, she continued, “but this is the sort of stuff that jerk goes on about.”
She turned to Matt.
“I’ve sat back and watched you shrug off any help in this endeavor. Silvio’s a good guy but objectively, he’s good in the ring. You know that personally. Two versus three? That’s just … dumb, Matt. We need another partner and here he is.”
But then she wheeled around on Silvio, eye to eye.
“Not to say that I don’t get his anger. I … wouldn’t say it like him, sure. I can’t explain how grateful I am for what you shared with me. We talked about a lot of … stuff I rather not mention. But the point is,” she paused, flustered a bit. Taking a deep breath, she found her voice again, “the point is that you gave me the choice. The things you told Matt, he had no choice not to hear. That’s just the prerogative of a veteran in this industry. Usually someone says something about you, you listen, you take it in and you remember. I’m guessing you didn’t say what you did to help him. You said it because this is the nature of the sport and maybe somewhere deep down inside, you knew that if something shook out of that reading that affected Matt like it did, you may just gain an edge.”
Stepping out between the two, her gaze now was generally directed at both.
“I’m rambling, I know. But what I’m saying here is that I’d like to consider both of you as my friends. Some of my first friends in a very long time. So maybe for one night, we can set aside some differences and work together?”