Post by Jessica Reed on Aug 17, 2013 1:24:38 GMT
We rejoin our mismatched heroes as they begin their long march through Philadelphia, depserate to make their escape from the even present IWC. Verona clutches the map to the Diamond's hideout in his hand as the pair navigate their way through debris before merging in an alleyway between two crumbling old buildings. Verona leads the way as Jess gleefully follows him from the rear.
Jessica Reed: Did you really mean what you said back there?
Roberto Verona: What?
Jessica Reed: Do you really… love me?
Roberto Verona: Of course I do. Why would you think otherwise?
Jessica Reed: Asides the fact you abandoned me, you were always so mean…
Roberto Verona: You were living in my house rent free, I had to listen to your sister complain over and over about your Dad complaining about you and then you filled an entire room with your comics and computer games. Do you realise how much of my house I lost already to your sister’s junk?
Jessica Reed: Oh, you’re being dramatic.
Roberto Verona: Dramatic? It was an en-suite guest room with enough space for a piano and a 60 inch flat screen television!
Jessica Reed: The television in my room was smaller.
Roberto Verona: It was 42 inches.
Jessica Reed: Size matters.
Verona sighs.
Roberto Verona: I can’t believe I walked into that one.
Roberto begins to trudge out into the street, looking left and right to make sure that the route is clear and despite a visible barricade blocking the route onto the bridge leading out of the city there is no armed presence in sight. Verona takes another step forward before looking back to see Jessica standing still in the alleyway.
Roberto Verona: Jess? What’s wrong?
Jessica Reed: Why do you want to leave me?
Roberto Verona: Leave you? What do you mean?
Jessica Reed: If you love me, why do you want to hand me back to the Diamond’s so much?
Roberto Verona: I don’t… it’s just.
Jessica Reed: I’ll be safer… right.
Roberto Verona: Yes, and you can help so many people…
Jessica Reed: I know, but I don’t want to be alone anymore…
Roberto Verona: You won’t be alone, Jess.
Jessica Reed: Yes I will! Even after all eve been through, I’ll have to say goodbye to you again, you’re all I have Roberto. Hannah and Tifa are dead, my dad never wanted me, I already lost you once, now I am going to lose you again…
Roberto Verona: What do you want?
Jessica Reed: I want to stay with you! I am so sick of this “fate of the world” splurge, nobody cares how I feel, it’s all cure this, cure that…
Roberto Verona: Jess, I… I just want you to be safe, this isn’t a life for you. You can be a hero, everything you ever dreamed of, you can save people. You get to be like all of your idols.
Jessica Reed: Who will save me?
Verona pauses, scratching the back of his head as he looks around.
Roberto Verona: I don’t know if I have the answer you’re looking for.
Jessica Reed: You do! Just let me st-
Suddenly the sound of gunfire can be heard as Roberto covers his head and crouches down to try and avoid it as he waves for Jess to follow him to a nearby car.
IWC Grunt 1: I’ve found em boys! Like sitting fucking ducks.
IWC Grunt 2: Woo yeah, we’re going to have fun tonight.
Jessica Reed: Where the fudge did they come from?
Roberto Verona: I don’t know…
More shots come flying past their head as they shut their eyes whilst a large group of grunts begin to advance on them, a bloodlust sending them into an off putting euphoria.
Roberto Verona: All that matters is the way out of this hell hole is across that bridge.
Squee! It’s time folks!
In three days’ time me and Tifa will get to hang at our first con together! It is going to be so, so, awesome, nothing could spoil this…
Oh, shoot…
Well, I mean the awkward fighting part aside.
People are asking, nay, begging, to know why you have been awarded with the first shot at this belt and even you’ve admitted that recently you haven’t been so hot, so let me make this super easy for everyone watching at home. Of all the girls who missed out on their chance at Lineage, you, Tiffy, were deemed the most deserving based on “prior accomplishments and the achievement of pre-ordained requisites.”
Those are Miss Lockheart’s word, not mine.
Indiscernible voices off camera.
What do you mean you can tell? How rude!
See everybody thinks I just picked you because you’re my bestie, which, I guess makes sense if we were picking team members for volleyball or something but think about, why on earth would I want to hurt my main girl? I would be voluntarily signing up to hit you and I totally wouldn’t want to do that.
No, Tiffy, I picked you because you’re just like me. An idealist, a dreamer. All that separates us in that the results went my way at the right time, as much as you don’t believe it and everybody else fails to see it, you’re not beneath me.
Even though Frey Frey told me about some slash fiction where you totally are. I don’t think I want to click the attachment she sent me…
I lived my dream a month ago even if Joe kinda stole my thunder, everything I’d trained for and everything I gave up my cushy life for came true. All the crappy nights getting ogled by perverts in super smelly gyms finally paid off and I made it. I know that is what you want too, Tiffy, to achieve your dreams and why should you be denied?
Because of a few iffy results? Nuh huh. You totally earned this with your early success, I know you’ve lost your way of late but you’ve got gifts girl, gifts that will get you ahead in this business…
No I didn’t mean that! Stop trying to drive a wedge between us! I mean she has mad skills in the ring!
I know everybody sees me as this unstoppable blonde machine in some sort of incomprehensible streak of gold, but I’ve read enough comics to know that streaks don’t last, well, not unless you live in a nudist colony or something. Even Batman and Spiderman have to regroup after a humbling from time to time.
I am just a small town girl, living in a… wait, shoot, now I have that song stuck in my head! Argh! Gosh darn it.
What I am trying to say is, I am really proud of how well I have established myself in this company, but, I am under no illusions, this dream can become a nightmare so quickly that I’ll never see it coming. I may be on top today, but I could so easily fall tomorrow. Perhaps I should buy into the hype that guys and gals have built up around me, but then I’d not be being genuine anymore.
And I always wear my heart on my sleeves. Sometimes literally depending on who I am dressed as.
This success should fill me with so much confidence I am literally at breaking point and about explode into a shower of glitter, candy and shiny stars like a Aardvark in Viva Piñata but the truth is, I am scared, just like you are.
Scared that this is all too good to be true.
I know, I know, I totally brought a downer on this by bringing the feels but it’s true. Deep down, rather than believing I am an unstoppable a machine, part of me is just waiting for this to all turn sour, I guess because I am just not used to being the Alpha Reed. Everybody expects me to sweep all before me, but I just don’t see it that way. Perhaps I am too humble, but I can’t buy into this invincibility that everyone is so eager to apply to me because I know I am not perfect.
Far from it.
There are so many talented girls in this company and even though I totally believe in myself, I can’t erase a lifetime of self-esteem boo boos overnight. Hell, ask Dr Griffiths. He literally cancelled his other sessions for a whole week just to get his head around the basics.
If you guys were expecting me to march out here, puff out my tatas and tell Tiffy and the world that there is no way I am letting this belt out of my grasp because I am the best, period, then sorry guys, I am going to have to disappoint you and point you in the direction of my sister’s mister for your ego fix.
I am just a goober dork who doesn’t know when to quit and that gets you quite far in this business. Hannah thinks it because I was dropped on my head as a kid, which would explain a few things actually…
All I want this week is the same I want every week, to entertain everybody. Me and Tiffy are going to go to town in a unorthodox match for your viewing pleasure because all we care about is making wrestling fun again and showcasing this championship in the best way possible, by showing you all how much this means in an environment we are completely comfortable in and that, as Tiffy says, anybody can achieve their dreams.
Although again my comfort is costume pending. If I follow my bestie’s advice Leia’s bra always pinches me in places I’d rather weren’t ever pinched. Comfort, thy name isn’t chesticle nips.
I said nips you perverts, focus!
I know you’re excited Tiffy, and I am so looking forward to throwing down with you and showing everybody that you really don’t need to fit the mold of a “big tough wrassler” to bring the fun and to be a success around here. You and I have succeeded despite our apparent weaknesses amongst the more experienced girls because we deserve to be here just as much as they do.
This weekend we’ll show everybody what we’re about and you know what? We’ll have a damn good time doing it. So many girlies forget that they are meant to enjoy themselves, not just show up and collect a pay check.
At the same time, I appreciate that it is my job as champion to do everything in my power to win this weekend and as much as I have the love for my Tiffy Taffy, and I totally do, she and I are both grown up enough to realise I am going to be bringing it hard and doing whatever it takes to keep this Diamond’s Championship.
I have to do whatever it takes to make sure I walk on out of that con with a bag full of goodies and the real Diamond’s Championship wrapped around my waist. That is the weight a champion must carry, to give their all every week to represent that belt to the best of their abilities. I've gotta show everybody that I am not just a fluke who got lucky one night, I have to remind everybody just why I was able to beat Kathy and Alysson. Whilst I do not share their unwavering belief in my ability, I know that if I try my hardest, I can achieve more than I give myself credit for.
Don't mistake my insecurity and humility as disbelief in my abilities, because that totally isn't what it is. I know I am capable out there, I just won't ever write anybody off, especially not a woman who I know so well. Nor will I ever become what I hate, a girl who thinks she can do no wrong.
So not cool.
Don't mistake my insecurity and humility as disbelief in my abilities, because that totally isn't what it is. I know I am capable out there, I just won't ever write anybody off, especially not a woman who I know so well. Nor will I ever become what I hate, a girl who thinks she can do no wrong.
So not cool.
This still means the world to me, but I will not tarnish a friendship that means the same by dragging this week into a tit-for-tat back and forth in the mistaken belief that being really harsh to Tiffy is the key to victory. I will never sling the poop for the sake of joining in the monkey business, even if it is in defence on this belt which is so precious to me.
I am going to do what I always do, lace up my boots, do some star jumps and then do my thing.
This may not be the most Con-ventional match... heh, get it? CON-ventional? Oh shush you people have a terrible sense of humour...
Where was I? Ah, yes. This may not be a conventional match by any stretch of the imagination, but there's more to being a Diamond than fancy head scissors and arm bars. We have to show the world that we can cope with different challenges. No matter what our opponent throws at us, even if it may be a replica model of the Incredible Hulk.
This may not be the most Con-ventional match... heh, get it? CON-ventional? Oh shush you people have a terrible sense of humour...
Where was I? Ah, yes. This may not be a conventional match by any stretch of the imagination, but there's more to being a Diamond than fancy head scissors and arm bars. We have to show the world that we can cope with different challenges. No matter what our opponent throws at us, even if it may be a replica model of the Incredible Hulk.
I will give you my absolute best, Tiffy, and I totally expect the same in return, it isn’t even in question. This will be a war between two girlies who know when to be professional and when to let the crazy out.
It’ll be hard surrounded by all that geekgasm inducing awesomeness, but we wrestlers have to suffer for our art.
And I plan to suffer a whole bunch.
Hey! What do you mean that is the worst closing statement for a promo ever?
We return to Jess and Roberto who remain crouched behind the taxi as grunts begin to swarm around the barricade blocking the exit to Philadelphia. The pair of them press up against the car as one grunt emerges from the pack and begins to shout in their direction, firing his gun up in the air as he does so.
IWC Grunt 1: Come out, now!
Verona closes his eyes and grits his teeth.
Roberto Verona: Shit…
Jessica Reed: What do we do now?
A glass bottle suddenly shatters on the other side of the car as the group begin to get rowdy, pointing the spotlight firmly on the vehicle.
IWC Grunt 2: You can’t hide there forever, we know who you are!
IWC Grunt 1: We just want an autograph.
The group laugh as Verona’s eyes dart back and forth as he runs over his options in his mind, before clearly falling on one that fills him with a sense of unease.
Roberto Verona: Jess…
Jessica Reed: Yes?
Roberto Verona: Have you ever fired a gun?
Jessica’s eyes light up.
Jessica Reed: You’re going to let me have a gun!? I want the shotgun!
Roberto Verona: Can you shoot one or not?
Jessica nods.
Jessica Reed: Sure, I mean, I was always pretty good at Unchartered and it’s the same basic principle, right?
Verona sighs.
Roberto Verona: Right.
Jessica Reed: Sweet! Who do you want me to shoot?
Roberto Verona: What happened to murder is wrong?
Jessica Reed: Shooting unarmed men in cold blood is wrong. Shooting sociopaths who want to rape and eat me purely because I was a popular wrestler once to save the pair of us is just common sense.
Roberto Verona: Nicely justified.
Verona passes Jessica the shotgun.
Roberto Verona: There’s about eight off them, I’ll distract them and draw their fire, when I give you the signal, you start to let them have it, right?
Jessica Reed: It’s cool, I’ve got this bro.
Verona groans.
Roberto Verona: Just, don’t shoot me, ok?
Jessica Reed: Does this thing have auto-aim?
Verona glares at Jess, who smiles.
Jessica Reed: Kidding, go get them tiger.
Roberto Verona: I knew this was a bad idea…
Verona closes his eyes before taking a few deep breaths. Time seems to slow for a moment as he reaches into his jacket pocket for a smoke bomb which he tosses over the car before leaping up when he hears it explode and cover the street in a layer of smog. Unloading his rifle he begins to run towards a burnt out school bus, dodging incoming bullets which fly harmlessly past him in the confusion of the smoke. Verona slams into the bus before waving his hand at Jess who screws up her face in confusion. Verona slaps his face with his palm before shouting at Jess.
Roberto Verona: Now!
Jessica Reed: Wait, that was the signal? We need to devise a better…
Roberto Verona: Just fucking shoot them!
Jessica Reed: Aye, aye Cap’n.
Verona moves out from his cover and begins to open fire again, hitting one of the grunts in the neck which sends him crashing to the ground as Jess finally leaps up from behind the car, screaming at the top of her lungs.
Jessica Reed: Fus Ro Dah!
Gunpowder explodes inside the chamber of the shot gun as two approaching grunts are struck straight in the face, scattering the contents of their skulls through the air as the recoil sends Jessica spinning onto the floor hard as she lets out a squeal whilst Verona just watches on in both bemusement and despair.
Roberto Verona: You had to give her the shot gun… you couldn’t just give her a handgun…
Verona leaps out again, shooting another grunt in the throat before shouting back over at Jessica.
Roberto Verona: Are you ok!?
Jessica looks up at the sky in a daze, the shotgun clutched tightly in her hands as she lays still in a rigid state, just about managing to mutter in response.
Jessica Reed: I think my boob imploded!
Roberto shakes his head and lets off a few more rounds before rushing back over to Jess who clutches her shoulder in agony, although the pain is not enough to stop her smiling at her disturbingly good aim as the scene begins to fade to black.
Well howdy there pardner.