Post by Dean Harper on Oct 17, 2024 16:45:56 GMT
The camera comes on to Dean standing against a brick wall.
“A lot has been said about me. A lot of it is true. I don’t play well with others. I seek my enrichment more than I care about others. I am a monster. I am full of dark impulses. I might not be as much of an attack dog as I used to be. I might not unleash hell as much as I used to when Rowan was pulling the strings. I’ve gone and gotten a little domesticated.” Dean shrugs his shoulders slightly, “I am not a role model. But it’s not my life anymore. I have someone at home who has no one else to rely on. I have a son I trust to no one else to care for. I’m not the one who lies about what kind of person I am. I am honest. I never lie.”
“I know you will counter that I wasn’t honest... But I never lied. I never said anything that wasn’t true. Yes, I attacked your faction mates. But I didn’t know you from manners. I did what I had to do, what no one else could do.” Dean’s tone is cold. “Rowan needed to be taken out. I will not apologize for that. And yes, impulsively I did attack you before you could get to me. Maybe you weren’t going to throw hands but I couldn’t take the chance. Everyone seems to talk about it like I took you out in some terrible attack. Let’s not be revisionists. The record shows the truth. I hit you with one move as you came charging towards me. Self-defense.”
“When we were partnered up for the Heir and Heiress tournament, I had no intention to hurt you. That my thirst for gold was much more important than anything going on with your sister, and that was true. I had no intention to hurt you. It wasn’t on my list. I did enjoy your company. I even enjoyed seeing Brooklyn again. I liked rebuilding the family. Warren of course never enjoyed anything that implied I had any support system outside of him. One of our little quirks when we were together. I was the controlling, violent, and obsessive one and he was the rational one.” Dean laughs.
“But we all know this whole gauntlet isn’t really about my breaking your trust. It isn’t about me hitting you after a match. No. This match is about the fact your sister wants my head on a silver platter. Your sister will be at ringside and I have no doubt she will not keep her hands to herself. That’s fine. That’s just what a Big Sister should do. That’s what I taught her to do.”
“There’s a lot she is doing that is nothing like how I taught her though. When Shea took Rowan out of her body and left that shell I took over The Pack. I led. I kept us on the mission. I kept us together. I saw exactly how hard it is to keep a bunch of different personalities together. I made time for each of them. I kept us together until Rowan returned. What has Brooklyn done? Nothing. Blood may be thicker than water. But blood certainly hasn’t done you any favors, has it?” Dean glares at the camera, through it. “For fuck’s sake, aren’t you tired of it? Aren’t you tired of doing exactly what she wants you to do? Even when we were tagging together, she couldn’t even let you do a promo by yourself. You couldn’t even enjoy the chance to stand on your own feet? You had it before. Your star got a little too high and Brooklyn had to step in because you got a little too close to Charlotte. She has a lot more in common with Warren than she likes to admit. If she can’t keep you isolated. If she can’t keep you exactly where she wants you. If she can’t control you. What good are you to her? You are her lesser. Her little sister. You have to be exactly who she wants, and if you stray from the path you are NOTHING to her.”
“If she can toss you aside for the simple sin of just trusting me? She’s not worth having in your life. If you love someone, really love them. You fight for them. You go after who hurt them. You don’t just throw them away. You deserve better. You always have.”
As Dean and Damien walk deeper into the Halloween costume shop, the faint sound of creepy music plays in the background, adding to the atmosphere. The store is decorated with fake spider webs, hanging bats, and eerie lighting that casts long shadows on the walls. Shelves are packed with masks, accessories, and outfits for everything from classic monsters to pop culture icons.
Dean keeps a steady but relaxed pace, hands in his pockets as he watches his son dart between the racks. His leather jacket, scuffed and worn, contrasts with the lightheartedness of the store, but there's a soft look in his eyes as he follows Damien's excitement.
"Look, Daddy! A monster!" Damien shouts, holding up a fuzzy gray costume with big claws and a snarl printed on the mask. He growls playfully, attempting to look scary, but Dean just chuckles.
"That’s a good one," Dean says, ruffling Damien's hair as the boy wiggles his way into the furry arms of the costume to test it out. "But don’t you think it’ll be a bit hot?"
Damien shrugs, already distracted by the next thing that catches his eye—a miniature vampire cape with red lining. "Or maybe I could be a vampire! Then I can dress like you!"
Dean raises an eyebrow, smirking. "A vampire, huh? I’m not sure I vibe with being called a vampire," he teases, though there's a hint of pride that Damien wants to emulate something connected to his world.
They continue wandering the aisles, stopping occasionally as Damien tries on hats, masks, and fake weapons. His eyes light up when he spots a spooky ghost costume that glows in the dark, but then he immediately gets distracted by a pirate outfit complete with a plastic sword.
"I want to be a pirate!" Damien says, brandishing the sword and pretending to swashbuckle. He makes "whoosh" sounds as he swings the sword, giggling when Dean blocks his pretend attack with his arm.
"You'd make a good pirate," Dean says with a grin, bending down to Damien's level. "But you sure? We still haven't seen everything yet."
Damien looks up, a serious expression crossing his face for a moment as if weighing his options carefully. Then he spots something near the corner of the store—a display of superhero costumes. His face lights up once again. "Superhero!" he exclaims, dropping the sword and running toward the brightly colored capes and masks.
Dean watches as his son excitedly browses through the superhero outfits. Warren’s influence again but if it made Damien happy…who was he to judge? From Batman to Spider-Man to Iron Man, Damien tries on masks and waves his arms around as if testing each hero’s power.
Finally, Damien holds up a tiny Captain America shield. "This one, Daddy! I can save people!"
Dean crouches down, taking a good look at his son with the shield. "You sure about that one, kiddo?"
Damien nods enthusiastically. "Yup! Captain America is cool! And he helps people."
Dean’s smile widens as he pats Damien on the shoulder. "Alright, Captain. I guess if that’s the one you want."
“Are you gonna get something too?”
“I’ll just pick something out of the closet. I apparently dress like a vampire.”
“You do!” Damien nodded.
They make their way to the register, Damien clutching the shield proudly, while Dean carries the rest of the costume. As they walk out of the store, the sun is setting, casting an orange glow over the sidewalk, and Damien skips alongside his dad, ready to take on Halloween as his own little superhero.
"Thanks, Daddy," Damien says, looking up at Dean with a grin. Dean ruffles his hair again, feeling a warmth in his chest.
"Anytime, kiddo."
“To be clear. I do not blame you April. I don’t hold your association with The Murder against you. I enjoyed you. You grew on me. I will do what I have to do. I’ve been enjoying this little contest of settling old scores. Pandora got her pound of flesh but I came out the victor there. I put Vivienne on the bench and she worked out her aggression and blamed me for all her failed relationships. Pointing out a few cracks in her current one was also fun for me. Shea revealing she’s just as fucked up as I am was another fun discovery I have been enjoying seeing the ripples of. Also yes, an added bonus of getting to beat Warren with a chair. I’m a slut for a little unneeded violence. Even Mai was a little fun. Really made me work for it. Maybe you will too.” Dean leans against the wall, “I thrive on chaos. I enjoy making people take a look at themselves when I am done with them. Because no one enters a match with me exactly the same way they come out.”
“I don’t think you will either. Not that I hope the worst for you. There are times when you seem like a cinnamon roll too pure and good for this world. But you made your choices and you have to pay for them. And teaming with bad people means you have to pay for their sins the exact same way. I will rip you apart. I will make you bleed. And I will leave you feeling empty. It’s just the way of things. No ill will on my end about it.”
“And just as an aside, Little Sister? Finally, stop licking your wounds long enough to want to get back on camera huh? You fully abandoned your faction for months but glad to see you could get off your ass to show up for this. I assume it’s not for the moral support of April. All that big talk about being the leader of the faction and what have you done? Sat silently in the corner. You are not a leader, you never have been, and you never will be. That would involve thinking of someone other than yourself. Look at The Murder, really look at it. It’s a fucking joke now. You don’t lead them, you just want your name listed first. You blame everyone but yourself for your shortcomings. You can blame April for trusting me, you blame me for ‘breaking our family’. What was left of The Pack when I bent the knee to Verona, Brooklyn? Max was dead. Warren was gone. Xavier and Jayson left. It was four of us. No other company was going to take us. We needed to have jobs. Blame me for losing to Verona and taking the deal, sure. But some of us needed to keep working. So I sacrificed my dignity to save your fucking job. Caleb put me in a coma. Rowan beat my head in. YOU started this war. Your little girl gang attacked me. I took out the main powerful hitters. I gave you someone you could beat to blame and instead, you whined and pouted. You are not a big bad wolf. You're a little girl who can’t get the job done. But I can. And I will. I take no pleasure in beating April’s head in. She doesn’t deserve it. But if you send another lamb to slaughter, who am I to reject it? You could have ended this months ago. But you didn’t. And you get the front-row seat to watch how I will make her suffer. You’ll get your turn soon enough.”
“A lot has been said about me. A lot of it is true. I don’t play well with others. I seek my enrichment more than I care about others. I am a monster. I am full of dark impulses. I might not be as much of an attack dog as I used to be. I might not unleash hell as much as I used to when Rowan was pulling the strings. I’ve gone and gotten a little domesticated.” Dean shrugs his shoulders slightly, “I am not a role model. But it’s not my life anymore. I have someone at home who has no one else to rely on. I have a son I trust to no one else to care for. I’m not the one who lies about what kind of person I am. I am honest. I never lie.”
“I know you will counter that I wasn’t honest... But I never lied. I never said anything that wasn’t true. Yes, I attacked your faction mates. But I didn’t know you from manners. I did what I had to do, what no one else could do.” Dean’s tone is cold. “Rowan needed to be taken out. I will not apologize for that. And yes, impulsively I did attack you before you could get to me. Maybe you weren’t going to throw hands but I couldn’t take the chance. Everyone seems to talk about it like I took you out in some terrible attack. Let’s not be revisionists. The record shows the truth. I hit you with one move as you came charging towards me. Self-defense.”
“When we were partnered up for the Heir and Heiress tournament, I had no intention to hurt you. That my thirst for gold was much more important than anything going on with your sister, and that was true. I had no intention to hurt you. It wasn’t on my list. I did enjoy your company. I even enjoyed seeing Brooklyn again. I liked rebuilding the family. Warren of course never enjoyed anything that implied I had any support system outside of him. One of our little quirks when we were together. I was the controlling, violent, and obsessive one and he was the rational one.” Dean laughs.
“But we all know this whole gauntlet isn’t really about my breaking your trust. It isn’t about me hitting you after a match. No. This match is about the fact your sister wants my head on a silver platter. Your sister will be at ringside and I have no doubt she will not keep her hands to herself. That’s fine. That’s just what a Big Sister should do. That’s what I taught her to do.”
“There’s a lot she is doing that is nothing like how I taught her though. When Shea took Rowan out of her body and left that shell I took over The Pack. I led. I kept us on the mission. I kept us together. I saw exactly how hard it is to keep a bunch of different personalities together. I made time for each of them. I kept us together until Rowan returned. What has Brooklyn done? Nothing. Blood may be thicker than water. But blood certainly hasn’t done you any favors, has it?” Dean glares at the camera, through it. “For fuck’s sake, aren’t you tired of it? Aren’t you tired of doing exactly what she wants you to do? Even when we were tagging together, she couldn’t even let you do a promo by yourself. You couldn’t even enjoy the chance to stand on your own feet? You had it before. Your star got a little too high and Brooklyn had to step in because you got a little too close to Charlotte. She has a lot more in common with Warren than she likes to admit. If she can’t keep you isolated. If she can’t keep you exactly where she wants you. If she can’t control you. What good are you to her? You are her lesser. Her little sister. You have to be exactly who she wants, and if you stray from the path you are NOTHING to her.”
“If she can toss you aside for the simple sin of just trusting me? She’s not worth having in your life. If you love someone, really love them. You fight for them. You go after who hurt them. You don’t just throw them away. You deserve better. You always have.”
As Dean and Damien walk deeper into the Halloween costume shop, the faint sound of creepy music plays in the background, adding to the atmosphere. The store is decorated with fake spider webs, hanging bats, and eerie lighting that casts long shadows on the walls. Shelves are packed with masks, accessories, and outfits for everything from classic monsters to pop culture icons.
Dean keeps a steady but relaxed pace, hands in his pockets as he watches his son dart between the racks. His leather jacket, scuffed and worn, contrasts with the lightheartedness of the store, but there's a soft look in his eyes as he follows Damien's excitement.
"Look, Daddy! A monster!" Damien shouts, holding up a fuzzy gray costume with big claws and a snarl printed on the mask. He growls playfully, attempting to look scary, but Dean just chuckles.
"That’s a good one," Dean says, ruffling Damien's hair as the boy wiggles his way into the furry arms of the costume to test it out. "But don’t you think it’ll be a bit hot?"
Damien shrugs, already distracted by the next thing that catches his eye—a miniature vampire cape with red lining. "Or maybe I could be a vampire! Then I can dress like you!"
Dean raises an eyebrow, smirking. "A vampire, huh? I’m not sure I vibe with being called a vampire," he teases, though there's a hint of pride that Damien wants to emulate something connected to his world.
They continue wandering the aisles, stopping occasionally as Damien tries on hats, masks, and fake weapons. His eyes light up when he spots a spooky ghost costume that glows in the dark, but then he immediately gets distracted by a pirate outfit complete with a plastic sword.
"I want to be a pirate!" Damien says, brandishing the sword and pretending to swashbuckle. He makes "whoosh" sounds as he swings the sword, giggling when Dean blocks his pretend attack with his arm.
"You'd make a good pirate," Dean says with a grin, bending down to Damien's level. "But you sure? We still haven't seen everything yet."
Damien looks up, a serious expression crossing his face for a moment as if weighing his options carefully. Then he spots something near the corner of the store—a display of superhero costumes. His face lights up once again. "Superhero!" he exclaims, dropping the sword and running toward the brightly colored capes and masks.
Dean watches as his son excitedly browses through the superhero outfits. Warren’s influence again but if it made Damien happy…who was he to judge? From Batman to Spider-Man to Iron Man, Damien tries on masks and waves his arms around as if testing each hero’s power.
Finally, Damien holds up a tiny Captain America shield. "This one, Daddy! I can save people!"
Dean crouches down, taking a good look at his son with the shield. "You sure about that one, kiddo?"
Damien nods enthusiastically. "Yup! Captain America is cool! And he helps people."
Dean’s smile widens as he pats Damien on the shoulder. "Alright, Captain. I guess if that’s the one you want."
“Are you gonna get something too?”
“I’ll just pick something out of the closet. I apparently dress like a vampire.”
“You do!” Damien nodded.
They make their way to the register, Damien clutching the shield proudly, while Dean carries the rest of the costume. As they walk out of the store, the sun is setting, casting an orange glow over the sidewalk, and Damien skips alongside his dad, ready to take on Halloween as his own little superhero.
"Thanks, Daddy," Damien says, looking up at Dean with a grin. Dean ruffles his hair again, feeling a warmth in his chest.
"Anytime, kiddo."
“To be clear. I do not blame you April. I don’t hold your association with The Murder against you. I enjoyed you. You grew on me. I will do what I have to do. I’ve been enjoying this little contest of settling old scores. Pandora got her pound of flesh but I came out the victor there. I put Vivienne on the bench and she worked out her aggression and blamed me for all her failed relationships. Pointing out a few cracks in her current one was also fun for me. Shea revealing she’s just as fucked up as I am was another fun discovery I have been enjoying seeing the ripples of. Also yes, an added bonus of getting to beat Warren with a chair. I’m a slut for a little unneeded violence. Even Mai was a little fun. Really made me work for it. Maybe you will too.” Dean leans against the wall, “I thrive on chaos. I enjoy making people take a look at themselves when I am done with them. Because no one enters a match with me exactly the same way they come out.”
“I don’t think you will either. Not that I hope the worst for you. There are times when you seem like a cinnamon roll too pure and good for this world. But you made your choices and you have to pay for them. And teaming with bad people means you have to pay for their sins the exact same way. I will rip you apart. I will make you bleed. And I will leave you feeling empty. It’s just the way of things. No ill will on my end about it.”
“And just as an aside, Little Sister? Finally, stop licking your wounds long enough to want to get back on camera huh? You fully abandoned your faction for months but glad to see you could get off your ass to show up for this. I assume it’s not for the moral support of April. All that big talk about being the leader of the faction and what have you done? Sat silently in the corner. You are not a leader, you never have been, and you never will be. That would involve thinking of someone other than yourself. Look at The Murder, really look at it. It’s a fucking joke now. You don’t lead them, you just want your name listed first. You blame everyone but yourself for your shortcomings. You can blame April for trusting me, you blame me for ‘breaking our family’. What was left of The Pack when I bent the knee to Verona, Brooklyn? Max was dead. Warren was gone. Xavier and Jayson left. It was four of us. No other company was going to take us. We needed to have jobs. Blame me for losing to Verona and taking the deal, sure. But some of us needed to keep working. So I sacrificed my dignity to save your fucking job. Caleb put me in a coma. Rowan beat my head in. YOU started this war. Your little girl gang attacked me. I took out the main powerful hitters. I gave you someone you could beat to blame and instead, you whined and pouted. You are not a big bad wolf. You're a little girl who can’t get the job done. But I can. And I will. I take no pleasure in beating April’s head in. She doesn’t deserve it. But if you send another lamb to slaughter, who am I to reject it? You could have ended this months ago. But you didn’t. And you get the front-row seat to watch how I will make her suffer. You’ll get your turn soon enough.”
Well howdy there pardner.