Post by Jessica Reed on Aug 11, 2013 17:20:11 GMT
We re-join our mismatched heroes as they do their best to navigate their way through a decrepit old building which seemingly crumbles with their every step. Confident they’re out of view from the road, Verona switches on a flashlight as he looks around to make sure the area is clear of any infected before turning back round. Suddenly, he jumps and almost drops the light as he is met with the image of Jess only a few inches away from his face, smiling from ear to ear but with a look of confusion on her face.
Jessica Reed: I can’t believe they were going to kill me over wrestling.
Roberto Verona: There is nothing more important in the life of an IWC member than wrestling, even if nothing a company does is ever that good or could at least have been better if only Andrew Jacobsen turned heel and every time a surprise happens they’ve figured it out, allegedly, months in advance. It’s a complex social group.
Jessica Reed: I don’t get it. Don’t they realise wrestling is fa-?
Roberto Verona suddenly interjects quickly.
Roberto Verona: Don’t say it!
Jessica Reed: I was going to say fantastic, what did you think I meant?
Roberto sighs and shakes his head.
Roberto Verona: Never mind. We need to keep moving after you loudly and proudly announced yourself to the whole of Philadelphia.
Jessica Reed: How was I supposed to know they’d want to kill me? They’re obviously sociopaths.
Roberto Verona: The world has devoured itself, do you really think social constructs like polite negotiation still work? How have you survived so long?
Jessica shrugs.
Jessica Reed: Being nice always came naturally to me; it’s not my fault if everybody else has turned into a disgruntled goose. If you want to get tetchy, how about the fact you were going to kill a guy in cold blood?
Roberto Verona: Sometimes it’s necessary.
Jessica Reed: How!? Murder is wrong?
Roberto Verona: I know you will never understand this, Jess, what with living in cotton candy land, but sometimes doing the right thing will get you killed. That guy knows exactly who we are and now, thanks to your mercy, so do the rest of them. They’ll be looking for us and judging by the numbers we’ve seen already, they’ve got this whole place pretty much under their control.
Jessica Reed: Hannah wouldn’t have liked this…
Roberto turns sharply and stares through Jess.
Roberto Verona: Hannah is dead.
Jess becomes visibly uneasy looking away at the earliest opportunity.
Jessica Reed: Sorry…
Roberto Verona: Look, kid, I’ve done many things I am not proud of, but I would do anything to protect those I love and our interests. If that means putting a bullet in some scumbag who wanted to kill us and farm our flesh then so be it.
Jessica Reed: You love me?
Roberto’s intensity is suddenly replaced by an awkward twitch.
Roberto Verona: I just told you we were nearly cannibalised and that’s what you take out of that?
Jessica Reed: Go on, admit it.
Roberto Verona: Get your things.
Verona picks up his backpack and hooks his rifle back over his shoulder before marching forward away from Jessica.
Jessica Reed: You luuuurrrrrvvvvvvvv meeeeee.
Roberto begins to walk gradually down the dimly lit corridor, ignoring Jess before shouting back after her.
Roberto Verona: Watch your…
Verona shakes his head as Jessica gleefully skips straight into a low hanging beam, send her flat on her back, knocked out cold.
Roberto Verona: …head…
Miss me?
It was a shame about the boo boo but I guess that serves me right for pushing myself a little too hard. I can’t help it, wearing this belt has instilled a sense of needing to represent this division to my fullest ability.
But hey, it gave the rest of you ladies a chance to shine, right?
I really don’t wanna be an egopotamus and hog the limelight all the time so I was really psyched to see everybody pushing it to the limit and showing the world what us Diamonds can do. Everyone’s eyes have been on Joey and his problems with those two big bullies Lex and Xander but that little crackerjack Eternity definitely caught everyone’s attention…
I guess it’s a change from catching the eyes of the law. Seriously. Why aren’t the FBI involved yet!?
Anyways…
So this week it seems I have to prepare for my big match by throwing down with another girl I have crazy feels for. If I didn’t know any better Id’ say guys just really like to see cat fights between besties, but I digress.
Freya, I have to say I am really excited about wrestling you out there on Monday. You’ve been pretty impressive since you got here and I have total respect for you wanting to protect Tiffy Taffy, mad props there girly.
I am flattered to hear all of your compliments, I truly am and you’re right, I am just being myself and everything else just seems to be slotting into place nice and snuggly.
I mean honestly, I was a surprised as anybody when I emerged from the Heiress to the Throne as the victor. Now, I just promise myself that I have to make the most of it, for myself and for all of the fans out there, because you’re right, at the end of the day it’s them who matter.
There’s a lot of girls out there who just want to hate on me because they think I am so fake but I am used to that.
Haters gonna hate and all that. Something we totally have in common.
I mean, you’re pretty used to that right? The moment you open your mouth everybody seems super eager to stick a metaphorical pleasure stick in there and run you down.
You know, quite honestly, whatever Frey-Frey does with her foo foo is her own damn business, I’ve never really understood everyone else’s obsessions with other people’s sex lives. Honestly, it’s all pee pee this, rusty trombones that with you people. Although I am not quite what the latter means I am convinced it must be something deviant.
Freya, may I be the first girl to say this to you, I really, really… really have no interest in running you down for what you get up to in the bedroom. When I see other people do that to you, it hurts, because I know what it’s like to be run down for just being woman enough to be who I want to be, make my own mistakes and learn from them.
Seems like conformity is valued above individuality, I hope you continue to break the mould with me.
We should be striving to be individuals, that is what makes the Diamond’s division so darn exciting, where else on earth two you get to see two girls dress up as video games characters and roll around half naked with a supernatural criminal and a Scot?
I mean seriously, I don’t even think there’s a fetish site that provides that.
We should be able to be proud of who we are and where we came from, not have to worry about suffering the tongue lashings of other people who want to pick apart the pasts that made us what we are today…
Quite honestly, I’ve never been able to understand this whole trash talk business. I mean right now there’s a guy just off camera holding up a placards telling me to say you’ve got… wait, what does that say?
Saggy tits?
Oh come on, Freya is perky as hell, I’m not saying that! Have you seen those things?
Jessica sighs.
See what I’m working with? My point is that there seems to be a standard we are expected to meet, we have to trot on out here and pretend to be somebody we’re not, feverishly defend any weaknesses we have or mistakes we’ve made and just rip into one another. Then, if any of us fail to meet those standards, we’re singled out, attacked…
This weekend, Frey-Frey, I am going to make all of your wishes come true and show everybody that being proud of who you are will always trump being a total negative Nancy.
We’re going to have the best possible match we can and show everyone that no matter what people may think of the pair of us as human beings, we’re damn talented athletes who put our bodies on the line week after week for the pleasure of others, putting their excitement first…
Voices off camera.
Oh knock it off, I am not making us sound like porn stars!
Let’s just… wrestle… in a ring, wearing clothes and show people what we can do. Show them that beneath all of this, we’re two of the best in the business. There? Is that clean enough for you innuendo seekers? Ugh, who knew working at a multi-national wrestling company would land me in a room full of complete perverts week after week.
See you out there.
Jessica lays on the ground, a visible bruise forming over her left eye from the impact with low hanging beam. Slowly but surely she gradual comes too but as she does she can hear the sound of gunfire flying over her, startling her as she scrambles for cover, shaking with anxiety.
Jessica Reed: Roberto!?
Jessica hears a few more gunshots before suddenly Roberto joins her behind a chest of drawers, bullets still shooting over their heads.
Roberto Verona: Nice of you to join us sleeping beauty.
Jessica Reed: What the hell is going on!?
Roberto Verona: You knocked yourself out on the main supporting beam and a whole floor collapsed. Noise like that tends to attract attention.
Jessica puts a hand to her head and grimaces in pain as she reminisces the unfortunate meeting between her skull and wood before cowering further as more gunfire flies in their general direction.
Jessica Reed: Jesus, how many are there!?
Roberto shrugs.
Roberto Verona: About five.
Jessica Reed: How are we going to get past five of these guys?
Roberto Verona: With this…
Roberto pulls a nail bomb from out of his bag and smiles before turning and standing up, tossing the object into the crowd of men who continue to fire at him but miraculously he manages to return to Jess’ side completely unscathed as a massive explosion shakes the room and suddenly, as the dust settles, the room falls eerily silent. A few minutes pass before Jess and Roberto simultaneously poke their heads over the top of the chest of drawers to see five men laid motionless on the floor.
Jessica Reed: Why are bad guys such terrible shots? I mean seriously, in every single film, television show or computer game they have the accuracy of a mole.
Roberto Verona: You want to complain because they didn’t put a bullet between our eyes?
Jessica Reed: Yes that’s’ my point exactly… wait…
Roberto Verona: Just… check their bodies for anything useful.
Jessica screws up her face.
Jessica Reed: Ew, gross. You want me to frisk a dead guy?
Roberto Verona: Well if you like we can try fighting these guys with our bare hands when we run out of ammunition Little Miss High Standards.
Jessica sticks out her tongue in disgust before getting up and walking over to the group before slowly leaning down next to one of the dead men, gingerly placing a hand inside his top pocket.
Jessica Reed: This is more disgusting than the naked selfie Gib sent me…
Jessica rifles around for a little while before moving to other pockets, retrieving a few rounds of ammunition and a Mars bar.
Jessica Reed: I found chocolate! Score!
Roberto walks over to her and she passes him the ammunition before suddenly she notices a bit of paper sticking out from his trouser pocket.
Jessica Reed: Wait, I see something else…
Jess reaches inside and pulls the paper out, unfolding it to reveal a map with a big red Diamond on it. Confused, she passes it to Roberto before standing up.
Jessica Reed: What do you think this means?
Roberto Verona: Best guess is that they’ve located a Diamond’s hideout.
Jessica Reed: That’s great… right?
Roberto rubs his chin, remaining silent for a moment, before sliding the map into his own pocket.
Roberto Verona: Only if we get there first… these guys are pretty heavily armed, the Diamonds wouldn’t stand a chance… wait, where are you going?
Roberto shouts after Jessica whop has begun to walk triumphantly down the corridor.
Jessica Reed: To save the Diamonds.
Roberto Verona: That’s heroic and all but…
Verona points down the corridor in the opposite direction.
Roberto Verona: It’s that way.
Jessica’s eyes dart to the side awkwardly as she does a complete 360, marching right part Roberto and down in the correct direction.
Jessica Reed: I knew that…
Roberto shakes his head, smiling as he picks up a sawn-off shotgun from one of the bodies before following Jess who leads the way as our scene fades to black.
Well howdy there pardner.