Post by Fiona McFly on Apr 24, 2017 3:31:36 GMT
11 March 2017 - 2:00 PM
Back in the underground bunker...
...we find Fiona McFly and Captain Kirk Gaither lounging about, reflecting upon the flight they took a little while ago. For Fiona, it was another crazy part of a day that began, innocently enough, with a nice, relaxing massage. All she wanted to do was find a place where she could be herself, where she could get away from the distractions which have been dogging her since this past January and even beyond--mainly the upcoming wedding to Jack and, perhaps more important, dealing with the fallout from mentor Regina Kimble's cancer struggles.
It was more than a day of relaxation for the Northern Irishwoman...
...it was a day of discovering the unexpected, when she met a gentleman who had been presumed dead for years.
Yet the proud Navy pilot, who lit up a cigarette, chuckled as he wrote a log entry into his flight journal.
CAPTAIN KIRK GAITHER: So how'd ya like bein' up there in the ol' bird, huh?
FIONA MCFLY: I've been on my fair share of roller-coaster rides, but it was a much more...elaborate experience. It felt like...being out of control whilst strapped into a seat.
Kirk had a warm presence about him, a wide grin that was somewhat marred by stained teeth through decades of smoking. Yet he perked up a right eyebrow at McFly's humble tone of voice, assuming that she would say she loved the experience of doing stunts in a vintage World War II-era fighter plane.
KIRK: Tell me ya loved it...
Fiona closed her eyes for a moment, giggling in her heart if not in the rest of her body.
FIONA: I...got a kick out of it.
Kirk gave the old "thumbs up," agreeing with her answer. He sat down on his leather sofa, placing his cigarette into an ashtray as Freddie Mercury's cover of "The Great Pretender" played softly from his tablet's docking station speakers.
KIRK: I gotta admit, flyin's the only thing I've known how to do, and believe me...I must've done them aerial acrobatics hundreds of times over the years. Never scared the hell outta me though, 'cuz I always had this feelin' like I was in control, that I knew what I was doin'.
But Fiona observed his voice trailing off, his eyes closed in a brief, yet unmistakable, moment of clarity.
KIRK: Then I realized...I was only pretendin' to be in control when in reality, I wasn't...
FIONA: When you were taken prisoner during the war in 1990.
KIRK: Worse...worse than that.
Fiona's head nodded solemnly, for she understood the pain the good captain had been dealing with ever since the incident above Iraq a little over twenty-seven years ago--yet moreso, the death of his wife and unborn child in March 1988.
She realized, then and there, what his true motives for staying underground really were.
KIRK: This bunker's been my prison for a long, long time. I built it...if only to block out the pain of losin' my wife, bein' away from my kid as a P.O.W. all these years. This...has been my livin' Hell. Ever since Linda died, ever since I got shot down over enemy lines...I haven't made a difference in no one's life--not Regina's...not Jack's...and not my own.
All Fiona McFly wanted to do was make a difference with other people, not just her own life.
She eked out a loving grin, knowing full-well that she had been able to convince a once-disillusioned gentleman to see what years of self-torture had done to him--they brought him nothing but a once never-ending aura of sadness and despair. In her mind, however, she began to comprehend the notion that the drunk-driving crash that nearly tore an entire family apart would spark a chain of events that would lead her into meeting Regina Kimble and, most of all, Jack Gaither himself.
Now it was her duty to bring the captain out of his personal nightmare and into the light--where he belonged.
FIONA: Come back with me, get out of this bloody hellhole. You can make a difference again!
Kirk smiled, acknowledging her resolve. It was now his duty to fulfill his end of the bargain and reunite with the people he loved most.
His son...
...and the woman who helped him cope with an unspeakable tragedy.
3:00 PM
Outside the main Pleasantville campus building...
...Fiona stepped out of the front door and outstretched her arms as Kirk followed suit. He sighed as he took in the crystal-clear weather conditions and that gentle southerly breeze that typified North Texas weather. She watched him marvel at the various cars and trucks rumbling down Highway 67 on all sides, for it was his first time out in broad daylight for something other than flying an aircraft.
Yet as they approached the 1973 Chevrolet Vega McFly was driving, she watched the captain stop dead in his tracks.
She saw his jaw drop, and his eyes widen in disbelief. Kirk had never, even in a million years, expected to see his favorite car--this fully-restored, banana-hued, forty-four year old automobile--ever again. She calmly observed him shedding tears as he slowly walked around the brightly-painted old vehicle, trying desperately to jog his memories and reflect upon the good times he had while racing the Arlington city streets.
Fiona, too, couldn't help but muster a single tear as well, gazing with wonder as Kirk laughed joyously, recalling the many moments he shared with his family whilst behind the wheel. On the other hand, she began to reflect upon the days in which she'd help Regina restore it to its former glory, and how they traveled along the road, happily belting out a sing-along version of many of Queen's biggest hits.
It was the start of the healing process--for her and the captain.
Fiona smiled before pulling out the key, complete with Pikachu keychain, out from her purse. She presented it to her newfound friend, who took a deep breath, admiring her resolve to break him out of his shell.
FIONA: Would you care to drive, sir...for old time's sake?
Kirk chuckled, nodding his head affirmatively as Fiona gave him the keys. They both soon realized that, at this juncture, there was no turning back...
...for they were about to be part of a reunion--decades in the making.
Back in the underground bunker...
...we find Fiona McFly and Captain Kirk Gaither lounging about, reflecting upon the flight they took a little while ago. For Fiona, it was another crazy part of a day that began, innocently enough, with a nice, relaxing massage. All she wanted to do was find a place where she could be herself, where she could get away from the distractions which have been dogging her since this past January and even beyond--mainly the upcoming wedding to Jack and, perhaps more important, dealing with the fallout from mentor Regina Kimble's cancer struggles.
It was more than a day of relaxation for the Northern Irishwoman...
...it was a day of discovering the unexpected, when she met a gentleman who had been presumed dead for years.
Yet the proud Navy pilot, who lit up a cigarette, chuckled as he wrote a log entry into his flight journal.
CAPTAIN KIRK GAITHER: So how'd ya like bein' up there in the ol' bird, huh?
FIONA MCFLY: I've been on my fair share of roller-coaster rides, but it was a much more...elaborate experience. It felt like...being out of control whilst strapped into a seat.
Kirk had a warm presence about him, a wide grin that was somewhat marred by stained teeth through decades of smoking. Yet he perked up a right eyebrow at McFly's humble tone of voice, assuming that she would say she loved the experience of doing stunts in a vintage World War II-era fighter plane.
KIRK: Tell me ya loved it...
Fiona closed her eyes for a moment, giggling in her heart if not in the rest of her body.
FIONA: I...got a kick out of it.
Kirk gave the old "thumbs up," agreeing with her answer. He sat down on his leather sofa, placing his cigarette into an ashtray as Freddie Mercury's cover of "The Great Pretender" played softly from his tablet's docking station speakers.
KIRK: I gotta admit, flyin's the only thing I've known how to do, and believe me...I must've done them aerial acrobatics hundreds of times over the years. Never scared the hell outta me though, 'cuz I always had this feelin' like I was in control, that I knew what I was doin'.
But Fiona observed his voice trailing off, his eyes closed in a brief, yet unmistakable, moment of clarity.
KIRK: Then I realized...I was only pretendin' to be in control when in reality, I wasn't...
FIONA: When you were taken prisoner during the war in 1990.
KIRK: Worse...worse than that.
Fiona's head nodded solemnly, for she understood the pain the good captain had been dealing with ever since the incident above Iraq a little over twenty-seven years ago--yet moreso, the death of his wife and unborn child in March 1988.
She realized, then and there, what his true motives for staying underground really were.
KIRK: This bunker's been my prison for a long, long time. I built it...if only to block out the pain of losin' my wife, bein' away from my kid as a P.O.W. all these years. This...has been my livin' Hell. Ever since Linda died, ever since I got shot down over enemy lines...I haven't made a difference in no one's life--not Regina's...not Jack's...and not my own.
All Fiona McFly wanted to do was make a difference with other people, not just her own life.
She eked out a loving grin, knowing full-well that she had been able to convince a once-disillusioned gentleman to see what years of self-torture had done to him--they brought him nothing but a once never-ending aura of sadness and despair. In her mind, however, she began to comprehend the notion that the drunk-driving crash that nearly tore an entire family apart would spark a chain of events that would lead her into meeting Regina Kimble and, most of all, Jack Gaither himself.
Now it was her duty to bring the captain out of his personal nightmare and into the light--where he belonged.
FIONA: Come back with me, get out of this bloody hellhole. You can make a difference again!
Kirk smiled, acknowledging her resolve. It was now his duty to fulfill his end of the bargain and reunite with the people he loved most.
His son...
...and the woman who helped him cope with an unspeakable tragedy.
~~
Dear Eternity...
One year ago, I stood before you and the entire planet, poised for bigger and better things after becoming the Iron Maiden. When I earned that right to face you in Chicago for last year's Night of the Immortals, we clashed like twin titans, each looking for our own place within the annals of the Imperial Wrestling Federation.
Now...I get to relive that moment in time, for the Shieldmaidon.
I look back at what happened around a year ago, and I started to ask myself this one question...was I really in control? Thing is, for every fleeting moment I've spent working towards what I want to accomplish, I've found myself always thinking that I was controlling the shots, that I was firing on all cylinders week in and week out. Yet throughout the passage of time, I soon became confronted by the very things that have dogged me ever since...
...things like heartache and self-doubt.
Fighting for the people of this wonderful world, no matter what anyone else might think about it, has been EXTREMELY difficult on my part. I mean...you've seen what happens when somebody provokes me. You've seen my temperament...a weapon that I have, one that which I have tried my best to keep under wraps. Perhaps...I started to realise that, truly, my career has been like a ride I took in the back of an old Second World War-era fighter--chaotic, out of control, with the entire skies rushing around me as if they were about to fall...
...but in the end, I never wavered, even when the other Diamonds damned me for being outspoken.
I never gave up, even as shot after shot at something special slipped from my grasp.
I stayed the course, trying my absolute grandest to keep a level mind, even as if I found myself facing you--one full year after we first met on that gridiron field. Yet whilst the time flew by, I sit down and think about what I had to do in order to get to this point in time...
...for everything I've experienced was about two things--discovery and growth.
~~
Dear Eternity...
One year ago, I stood before you and the entire planet, poised for bigger and better things after becoming the Iron Maiden. When I earned that right to face you in Chicago for last year's Night of the Immortals, we clashed like twin titans, each looking for our own place within the annals of the Imperial Wrestling Federation.
Now...I get to relive that moment in time, for the Shieldmaidon.
I look back at what happened around a year ago, and I started to ask myself this one question...was I really in control? Thing is, for every fleeting moment I've spent working towards what I want to accomplish, I've found myself always thinking that I was controlling the shots, that I was firing on all cylinders week in and week out. Yet throughout the passage of time, I soon became confronted by the very things that have dogged me ever since...
...things like heartache and self-doubt.
Fighting for the people of this wonderful world, no matter what anyone else might think about it, has been EXTREMELY difficult on my part. I mean...you've seen what happens when somebody provokes me. You've seen my temperament...a weapon that I have, one that which I have tried my best to keep under wraps. Perhaps...I started to realise that, truly, my career has been like a ride I took in the back of an old Second World War-era fighter--chaotic, out of control, with the entire skies rushing around me as if they were about to fall...
...but in the end, I never wavered, even when the other Diamonds damned me for being outspoken.
I never gave up, even as shot after shot at something special slipped from my grasp.
I stayed the course, trying my absolute grandest to keep a level mind, even as if I found myself facing you--one full year after we first met on that gridiron field. Yet whilst the time flew by, I sit down and think about what I had to do in order to get to this point in time...
...for everything I've experienced was about two things--discovery and growth.
~~
3:00 PM
Outside the main Pleasantville campus building...
...Fiona stepped out of the front door and outstretched her arms as Kirk followed suit. He sighed as he took in the crystal-clear weather conditions and that gentle southerly breeze that typified North Texas weather. She watched him marvel at the various cars and trucks rumbling down Highway 67 on all sides, for it was his first time out in broad daylight for something other than flying an aircraft.
Yet as they approached the 1973 Chevrolet Vega McFly was driving, she watched the captain stop dead in his tracks.
She saw his jaw drop, and his eyes widen in disbelief. Kirk had never, even in a million years, expected to see his favorite car--this fully-restored, banana-hued, forty-four year old automobile--ever again. She calmly observed him shedding tears as he slowly walked around the brightly-painted old vehicle, trying desperately to jog his memories and reflect upon the good times he had while racing the Arlington city streets.
Fiona, too, couldn't help but muster a single tear as well, gazing with wonder as Kirk laughed joyously, recalling the many moments he shared with his family whilst behind the wheel. On the other hand, she began to reflect upon the days in which she'd help Regina restore it to its former glory, and how they traveled along the road, happily belting out a sing-along version of many of Queen's biggest hits.
It was the start of the healing process--for her and the captain.
Fiona smiled before pulling out the key, complete with Pikachu keychain, out from her purse. She presented it to her newfound friend, who took a deep breath, admiring her resolve to break him out of his shell.
FIONA: Would you care to drive, sir...for old time's sake?
Kirk chuckled, nodding his head affirmatively as Fiona gave him the keys. They both soon realized that, at this juncture, there was no turning back...
...for they were about to be part of a reunion--decades in the making.
~TO BE CONCLUDED - NEXT WEEK"~
~~
Everything I've done...was about discovery.
Without it, I wouldn't have realised and understood the full extent of your own personality. For when I closed my eyes before peering through the looking glass...I saw a scared little girl trapped between the darkness and the light, happiness and inner rage--a figure polarised by your own inner emotions. I saw a soul who's been gripped by Humanity's loving hands, trying its very best to convince you to see the "good" within not just myself, but ALL of us as people living in a modern civilisation, treasuring every singular moment like its our last on the planet. I saw somebody who was living and breathing, ready to remain steadfast on a track towards prosperity.
But I'm not intimidated by you. Why, you ask?
It's real simple...'cos the problem here lies from WITHIN, that you DON'T want to see yourself as the things I've described. But rather..you want to see yourself as an invincible jack-of-all-trades who wants to utilise some quaint hocus pocus against myself or others, that you can't be defeated by anyone at any given time, even after you've had EVERYTHING thrown at you including the proverbial kitchen sink. Yet through all that joy and pain, through all that bliss and depression...lies a vulnerable soul with a fractured mind that THINKS you can play mind tricks on my or the remainder of the Diamonds division...
...except you don't scare me, no matter what parlour tricks you might have up your sleeves. You are NOT an indestructible machine...
...you can be beat. And you WILL be beat.
For everything I've done...was about growth.
Without that..I wouldn't have have the courage to face my own worst fear, self-doubt. I wouldn't have been able to combat the people who've said, time and time again, that all I do is collect my money and walk away, that I can't capitalise on the blessings that I've been given throughout my career, that all I'm capable of is taking a beating from the critics without proving a thing. Yet deep within my heart, within my soul, lies a stark reality that I've found difficult to face--that every time I saw you standing across from me in that ring, I've always known you've got the best of me.
And quite frankly...I would never learn about growth that way, not with my family, not with my friends...
...and CERTAINLY not with me.
No. MORE!
No longer will I sit there and let you get the best of me. No longer will I run around like a chicken with its head cut off as you make one attempt after the other to creep into my soul and try to use it for your own personal whim. No longer will I allow myself to be convinced that you are invincible, that you can't be beaten at any given time. For I WILL solve the puzzle that is you, leaving very little doubt that I AM, truly and sincerely, the future of the Imperial Diamonds division...
...for this is MY time. MY moment--one year in the making.
I will keep a clear conscience, I will never surrender...
...and it will be long, LONG overdue.
Cheers!
Everything I've done...was about discovery.
Without it, I wouldn't have realised and understood the full extent of your own personality. For when I closed my eyes before peering through the looking glass...I saw a scared little girl trapped between the darkness and the light, happiness and inner rage--a figure polarised by your own inner emotions. I saw a soul who's been gripped by Humanity's loving hands, trying its very best to convince you to see the "good" within not just myself, but ALL of us as people living in a modern civilisation, treasuring every singular moment like its our last on the planet. I saw somebody who was living and breathing, ready to remain steadfast on a track towards prosperity.
But I'm not intimidated by you. Why, you ask?
It's real simple...'cos the problem here lies from WITHIN, that you DON'T want to see yourself as the things I've described. But rather..you want to see yourself as an invincible jack-of-all-trades who wants to utilise some quaint hocus pocus against myself or others, that you can't be defeated by anyone at any given time, even after you've had EVERYTHING thrown at you including the proverbial kitchen sink. Yet through all that joy and pain, through all that bliss and depression...lies a vulnerable soul with a fractured mind that THINKS you can play mind tricks on my or the remainder of the Diamonds division...
...except you don't scare me, no matter what parlour tricks you might have up your sleeves. You are NOT an indestructible machine...
...you can be beat. And you WILL be beat.
For everything I've done...was about growth.
Without that..I wouldn't have have the courage to face my own worst fear, self-doubt. I wouldn't have been able to combat the people who've said, time and time again, that all I do is collect my money and walk away, that I can't capitalise on the blessings that I've been given throughout my career, that all I'm capable of is taking a beating from the critics without proving a thing. Yet deep within my heart, within my soul, lies a stark reality that I've found difficult to face--that every time I saw you standing across from me in that ring, I've always known you've got the best of me.
And quite frankly...I would never learn about growth that way, not with my family, not with my friends...
...and CERTAINLY not with me.
No. MORE!
No longer will I sit there and let you get the best of me. No longer will I run around like a chicken with its head cut off as you make one attempt after the other to creep into my soul and try to use it for your own personal whim. No longer will I allow myself to be convinced that you are invincible, that you can't be beaten at any given time. For I WILL solve the puzzle that is you, leaving very little doubt that I AM, truly and sincerely, the future of the Imperial Diamonds division...
...for this is MY time. MY moment--one year in the making.
I will keep a clear conscience, I will never surrender...
...and it will be long, LONG overdue.
Cheers!
Well howdy there pardner.