Post by Dean Harper on Sept 17, 2017 16:22:17 GMT
“Imagine my surprise when I heard that the Legendary Nighthawk wanted a piece of me.”
Dean is in Times Square, munching happily on a hot dog as he leans against a building, watching the crowd casually while he talks to the camera. “I mean, the guy has a career as long as at least two of my limbs stitched together. Dude’s one of the most respected men in the company, and considered one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. I mean, the man’s a legend. You don’t earn the nickname “The Wrestling Machine” for nothing. I gotta admit, the fact that I’m on his radar as someone to extend a challenge to… that’s a big deal, right there. Means I’m making the impression I came here to make. I’ll give him this – he sure knows how to make a boy feel all special inside.”
Dean rolls his eyes with a chuckle, taking another bite from his hot dog. “I remember filming a lot of your matches before your injury earlier this year, ‘Hawk,” he continues. “It was good stuff. Great TV. It was also awesome TV when you got broke. I mean, you know that people love a good hero, Nights. You know how people’ll cheer when you do a good wrasslin’ thing, how they’ll get all excited when you go down into the ring to fight the good fight, or… I dunno, whatever it is you heroic types do.” He shakes his head with a chuckle. “But I tell ya… the day that Spike Kane broke you and put you out for a few months? That was ratings. My Lady isn’t wrong when she says that the people who watch us fight – you know, the people we ostensibly do this for? – really love when good guys get wrecked. As one of the guys whose job it was to film you, who worked in the actual filmography bit that knows what gets us watched and what gets the channel changed? I can at least say that as long as I was working backstage, the day that Nighthawk broke was the most watched piece of IWF programming outside of a Pay-Per-View.”
He finishes his hot dog, brushes the crumbs off his hands, and turns directly toward the camera, looking into it with a grin. “I’m an entertainer, ‘Hawk. I love putting on a show. Have since I was a kid. I aim to please – whether the audience or my new family. I know there’s a whole lot of pressure on me right now, because I know that beating you is going to make a lot of people really damn happy – so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Dean set the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of the tv. He sat down and stretched slightly.
“What are we watching again?” Maxine asked looking over at him.
“Dollar bin horror movie.” Dean grinned.
“Is that popcorn?” Caleb asked peaking his head up from behind the couch.
“Want some?” Dean offered.
Caleb leaped over the back of the couch to sit on the other side of Maxine. “You have a whole buffet setup.”
“He does that.” Maxine motioned.
“It’s movie night.” Dean shrugged.
“…You have movie nights?” Caleb asked grabbing a handful of popcorn.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Dean asked with a smile.
“Rowan doesn’t seem the kind…”
“Maxine and I have movie nights.” Dean clarified. “Normally during Rowan’s alone time.”
“No one else?” Caleb asked.
“Do you want to watch with us?” Maxine asked.
“Not like I have anything else to do.” Caleb ate another handful. “Why is that guy in the glasses shanking the other guy?”
“It’s not clear yet.” Maxine sat back.
“He’s not very good at stabbing.” Dean frowns,
“Dude doesn’t have any eyes… are we just skipping that…?”Caleb made a face.
“I think he’s an angel?” Dean sat back grabbing a popcorn and catching it in his mouth.
“That would explain the perching.” Maxine nodded.
“They’re killing Uriel in the first scene? fascinating.”
The three of them jumped slightly at the sound of Rowan’s voice, whirling in their seats to see Rowan sitting among them, lounging casually in her seat as though she’d been there the whole time.
“I thought you were busy.” Dean offered looking over at her.
“It did not take as much time as I had hoped,” Rowan replied.
“You want to watch with us?”Maxine offered.
“There’s food.” Caleb pointed out eating some pretzel bites. “Dean made it.”
“Hm.” Rowan simply sat back in her chair.
“If all you needed to kill an angel is toss it out a window and to hit it with a car…it still seems a little easy.” Maxine sat back into the couch.
“Maybe I should be taking notes?”Dean grinned, relaxing.
“Don’t forget to jab it in the eye socket, now that’s classy.” Caleb joked.
Dean laughed, and for a few moments, the four of them sat quietly as they watched the movie. After a few minutes, Dean chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”Maxine asked.
“Just thinking,”Dean replied, “how everyone at work would be so bewildered to see us doing something so… mundane.”
Maxine grinned. “Well, we do thrive on doing the last thing people expect.”
“You call yourself The Wrestling Machine. That paints a hell of a picture, I’ll give you that. That makes you really see just what someone’s in for when they step into the ring with you. You’re the kind of guy who can wrestle and wrestle and wrestle, just keep on going like you’re the neon pink drummer-bunny of the IWF. You’ve been doing it for years – you’ve been making people tap out in a wrestling ring since before I ever touched an IWF camera. You’re a well-oiled, time-tested machine.”
He smirks. “You wanna know the interesting thing about machines? I’m guessing you’ve never had to do any serious tech work, since you’ve always been out there on the stage doing what you do best. The thing about machines is that they only do one specific thing, under very specific conditions. The second something goes wrong, the moment something happens that the machine isn’t programmed to handle… it shuts right the hell down. It jams. It breaks. It short-circuits. You’re the Wrestling Machine, Nighthawk, and you can do a wrestling match for days as long as things go the way you want them to, you could probably do it until the day you die. But if you throw a little bit of chaos into the mix… remove a single gear, or get the batteries wet… and you sputter and shut down.”
He leans in and whispers conspiratorially: “Wanna take a hot guess as to what I’m really damn good at?”
He beams and leans back. “If you’ve been paying attention, friend, you’ll have probably realized that The Pack kinda thrives on the whole Mayhem thing. We excel at changing the game, keeping people on their toes, and giving them the last thing they expect at the worst possible moment. Diamonds Division thinks they’re safe from the Giant? Whoops! Maxine’s back to ruin your fucking day. Council thinks they have a lock on Heir to the Throne, thinking I’m a friend because Rowan’s one of them? Whoops! I outperform all three of them. Kole and Sandman think they can numbers game up to get their revenge? Whoops! We found a man who beat YOU once upon a once in a dumpster, and WE were the ones to give Caleb a second chance.” His eyes gleam wickedly. “Pandora gets a rematch against Our Lady? Whoops. Rowan invents a special match and paints the ring red with the blue-haired hellion’s blood.”
He counts off on his fingers. “Warren Kane. James Gilmore. Dante Saffron. Paul Harper-Davidson. Astrid Hall. Jason Sandman. Kole Kaos. Chris Card. Sara Garcia. Crystal Miller. Will Fennel. Pandora Freeman. That’s the list of those that the Pack has beaten since our foundation – even if we didn’t announce ourselves until a little later. All of those people walked into the fight expecting one thing and got something profoundly different. You? You’re just going to end up the same damn way. You’ll come in all full of your stoic, steely-eyed action movie heroism… and I’m going to break you down, lay you out, and be the gremlin that breaks the Wrestling Machine.”
He waves into the camera. “I’ll see you at Sacrifice, old man.”
Dean is in Times Square, munching happily on a hot dog as he leans against a building, watching the crowd casually while he talks to the camera. “I mean, the guy has a career as long as at least two of my limbs stitched together. Dude’s one of the most respected men in the company, and considered one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. I mean, the man’s a legend. You don’t earn the nickname “The Wrestling Machine” for nothing. I gotta admit, the fact that I’m on his radar as someone to extend a challenge to… that’s a big deal, right there. Means I’m making the impression I came here to make. I’ll give him this – he sure knows how to make a boy feel all special inside.”
Dean rolls his eyes with a chuckle, taking another bite from his hot dog. “I remember filming a lot of your matches before your injury earlier this year, ‘Hawk,” he continues. “It was good stuff. Great TV. It was also awesome TV when you got broke. I mean, you know that people love a good hero, Nights. You know how people’ll cheer when you do a good wrasslin’ thing, how they’ll get all excited when you go down into the ring to fight the good fight, or… I dunno, whatever it is you heroic types do.” He shakes his head with a chuckle. “But I tell ya… the day that Spike Kane broke you and put you out for a few months? That was ratings. My Lady isn’t wrong when she says that the people who watch us fight – you know, the people we ostensibly do this for? – really love when good guys get wrecked. As one of the guys whose job it was to film you, who worked in the actual filmography bit that knows what gets us watched and what gets the channel changed? I can at least say that as long as I was working backstage, the day that Nighthawk broke was the most watched piece of IWF programming outside of a Pay-Per-View.”
He finishes his hot dog, brushes the crumbs off his hands, and turns directly toward the camera, looking into it with a grin. “I’m an entertainer, ‘Hawk. I love putting on a show. Have since I was a kid. I aim to please – whether the audience or my new family. I know there’s a whole lot of pressure on me right now, because I know that beating you is going to make a lot of people really damn happy – so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Dean set the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of the tv. He sat down and stretched slightly.
“What are we watching again?” Maxine asked looking over at him.
“Dollar bin horror movie.” Dean grinned.
“Is that popcorn?” Caleb asked peaking his head up from behind the couch.
“Want some?” Dean offered.
Caleb leaped over the back of the couch to sit on the other side of Maxine. “You have a whole buffet setup.”
“He does that.” Maxine motioned.
“It’s movie night.” Dean shrugged.
“…You have movie nights?” Caleb asked grabbing a handful of popcorn.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Dean asked with a smile.
“Rowan doesn’t seem the kind…”
“Maxine and I have movie nights.” Dean clarified. “Normally during Rowan’s alone time.”
“No one else?” Caleb asked.
“Do you want to watch with us?” Maxine asked.
“Not like I have anything else to do.” Caleb ate another handful. “Why is that guy in the glasses shanking the other guy?”
“It’s not clear yet.” Maxine sat back.
“He’s not very good at stabbing.” Dean frowns,
“Dude doesn’t have any eyes… are we just skipping that…?”Caleb made a face.
“I think he’s an angel?” Dean sat back grabbing a popcorn and catching it in his mouth.
“That would explain the perching.” Maxine nodded.
“They’re killing Uriel in the first scene? fascinating.”
The three of them jumped slightly at the sound of Rowan’s voice, whirling in their seats to see Rowan sitting among them, lounging casually in her seat as though she’d been there the whole time.
“I thought you were busy.” Dean offered looking over at her.
“It did not take as much time as I had hoped,” Rowan replied.
“You want to watch with us?”Maxine offered.
“There’s food.” Caleb pointed out eating some pretzel bites. “Dean made it.”
“Hm.” Rowan simply sat back in her chair.
“If all you needed to kill an angel is toss it out a window and to hit it with a car…it still seems a little easy.” Maxine sat back into the couch.
“Maybe I should be taking notes?”Dean grinned, relaxing.
“Don’t forget to jab it in the eye socket, now that’s classy.” Caleb joked.
Dean laughed, and for a few moments, the four of them sat quietly as they watched the movie. After a few minutes, Dean chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”Maxine asked.
“Just thinking,”Dean replied, “how everyone at work would be so bewildered to see us doing something so… mundane.”
Maxine grinned. “Well, we do thrive on doing the last thing people expect.”
“You call yourself The Wrestling Machine. That paints a hell of a picture, I’ll give you that. That makes you really see just what someone’s in for when they step into the ring with you. You’re the kind of guy who can wrestle and wrestle and wrestle, just keep on going like you’re the neon pink drummer-bunny of the IWF. You’ve been doing it for years – you’ve been making people tap out in a wrestling ring since before I ever touched an IWF camera. You’re a well-oiled, time-tested machine.”
He smirks. “You wanna know the interesting thing about machines? I’m guessing you’ve never had to do any serious tech work, since you’ve always been out there on the stage doing what you do best. The thing about machines is that they only do one specific thing, under very specific conditions. The second something goes wrong, the moment something happens that the machine isn’t programmed to handle… it shuts right the hell down. It jams. It breaks. It short-circuits. You’re the Wrestling Machine, Nighthawk, and you can do a wrestling match for days as long as things go the way you want them to, you could probably do it until the day you die. But if you throw a little bit of chaos into the mix… remove a single gear, or get the batteries wet… and you sputter and shut down.”
He leans in and whispers conspiratorially: “Wanna take a hot guess as to what I’m really damn good at?”
He beams and leans back. “If you’ve been paying attention, friend, you’ll have probably realized that The Pack kinda thrives on the whole Mayhem thing. We excel at changing the game, keeping people on their toes, and giving them the last thing they expect at the worst possible moment. Diamonds Division thinks they’re safe from the Giant? Whoops! Maxine’s back to ruin your fucking day. Council thinks they have a lock on Heir to the Throne, thinking I’m a friend because Rowan’s one of them? Whoops! I outperform all three of them. Kole and Sandman think they can numbers game up to get their revenge? Whoops! We found a man who beat YOU once upon a once in a dumpster, and WE were the ones to give Caleb a second chance.” His eyes gleam wickedly. “Pandora gets a rematch against Our Lady? Whoops. Rowan invents a special match and paints the ring red with the blue-haired hellion’s blood.”
He counts off on his fingers. “Warren Kane. James Gilmore. Dante Saffron. Paul Harper-Davidson. Astrid Hall. Jason Sandman. Kole Kaos. Chris Card. Sara Garcia. Crystal Miller. Will Fennel. Pandora Freeman. That’s the list of those that the Pack has beaten since our foundation – even if we didn’t announce ourselves until a little later. All of those people walked into the fight expecting one thing and got something profoundly different. You? You’re just going to end up the same damn way. You’ll come in all full of your stoic, steely-eyed action movie heroism… and I’m going to break you down, lay you out, and be the gremlin that breaks the Wrestling Machine.”
He waves into the camera. “I’ll see you at Sacrifice, old man.”
Well howdy there pardner.