Post by Rated R on Sept 1, 2015 16:05:18 GMT -5
The Bedroom
August 28th 2015
People ask a lot of questions in like, right now none more so than the question of why oh why did I turn my back on Nikki Dean.
Alexa Munroe: Oh god, Trace!
But as Alexa clamps down around me and I feel how wet she is as I thrust the answer is pretty damn clear.
Life is always better when you’re
ing someone.
The Long Con
A Trace Demon Roleplay
< *** >
Trace Demon’s Office
August 26th 2015
I hear the door slam before I hear her shrill screech.
Lila Sleater: Where the is he?
I’m surprised it’s taken this long if I’m honest, but we can’t live in peace forever. That’d be no fun.
Anna Bliss: Wait you can’t just-
Lila pushes open the door to my office, my young, nubile receptionist Anna just behind her, a little too late to stop the rampaging vampire-wannabe from storming the castle. I can’t tell what terrifies the girl more, that Lila might try taking a bite out of her or that the object of her daddy issues is going to be very, very disappointed in her.
Trace Demon: It’s alright Anna, let her in.
Anna Bliss: Yes sir, should I-
I simply nod and she makes a swift exit, say what you want for the girl but she’s smart enough to get the hell out of dodge when she sees danger heading her way. I don’t have that option, sometimes you’ve got to stare down a tornado, even when that tornado is a crazed, power-hungry goth.
Lila Sleater: Youed me.
Trace Demon: I think I’d remember that.
Lila Sleater: Shut the up Trace, that tournament was a big deal; it’s been the focal point of our advertising for a month, the sponsors were hot on the entire thing, it was meant to revive the tag team division and you ed everything up!
I guess it is pretty difficult to revive the tag team division when one of your champions didn’t even turn up for the match.
Trace Demon: Let’s be honest here Lila, that tournament was doomed from the moment it was announced and there’s only one person to blame for that. And yeah, they’re in this room, but it isn’t me.
Lila Sleater: Oh I sure as hell did not come up here to listen to one of your damn speeches you self-righteous-
Trace Demon: I’ll have you remember I’m still the owner of this company!
I let the words out with a roar, months of pent up aggression boiling to the surface. Pretending to give a crap all this time has meant bottling up a whole lot of rage, fury and sarcastic wit. Lila’s somewhat stunned into silence, probably thinking that the next step is me jumping across this table and giving her a backhand. She’s got nothing to worry about, I only hit someone if they’re going to try and fight back. It’s no fun otherwise.
Trace Demon: You’ve been working here for what, six months now? And this entire time you’ve been preaching about how I’m a detriment to this company, about how I’m not trustworthy, about how I’m dragging everything down. And despite all that you go and put me in a tournament that you’re banking big bucks on? See in my books that’s not the actions of someone with good business sense, don’t know about you. Which makes me question why you put me in the tournament in the first place.
Lila Sleater: Star power Trace, you want to ignite an entire division you’ve got to have name value involved. And despite what I think of you’ve, and how much of an bunghole you are, you’ve got name value. You were in there for the same reason Drakz was, to sell the tournament as something worth watching.
Trace Demon: And I’m pretty sure we both did exactly that, both of us came out looking pretty good too if you ask me. From what I can see the only one who’s ended up looking bad is you for not seeing this coming in the first place.
I can’t help but smile as a look of realization comes over her. That’s always a look to savour.
Lila Sleater: You planned this to make me look bad. You son of a bitch, you knew exactly what you were doing, working with Nikki like you suddenly weren’t an bunghole all so you could screw me over.
Trace Demon: Well that sounds like quite an opportunistic thing to do, doesn’t it? If that is indeed what I did then I probably deserve a pat on the back. I mean the only thing more impressive than that would be if I set the entire tournament up from the beginning just so I could then destroy your credibility.
She wants to be angry bless her, but she’s just so confused.
Lila Sleater: But the tournament was my idea.
Trace Demon: Not exactly.
Anna Bliss: Sir I’ve got Mr. Anders here.
And right on cue, as if the gods themselves take delight in seeing this poor lost woman’s entire self-confidence crumble around her, Anna’s voice echoes through the intercom.
Lila Sleater: Wait, Anders?
Trace Demon: Send him in Anna. Lila, I believe you’ve already met my lawyer?
Lila Sleater: You.
Jason Anders: Yes, me.
Him, the chubby, balding, absolutely disgrace of a human being known as Jason Anders. Otherwise known as my ace.
Lila Sleater: But, you-
Jason Anders: I know.
Lila Sleater: He-
Trace Demon: I know.
At any other time I’d tell Anders to wipe the smug, crap-eating grin off his face but right now I’m gonna let him have it.
Jason Anders: I brought the guy with me.
Anders steps into the office, Big Tiny stepping in behind him, the large security guard making a point to look as intimidating as possible. Gotta say, Anders and Big Tiny being in the same room together, actually getting along, it’s enough to bring a tear to your eye.
If I could cry that is. Not quite sure I remember how to do that anymore.
Trace Demon: Lila, Tiny here is going to escort you back to your own office, give you a bit of time to try and salvage some tiny part of your reputation.
Lila Sleater: You’re a son of a bitch Trace.
Trace Demon: I know, but don’t I wear it oh so well.
< *** >
Lila Sleater’s Office
May 7th 2015
I can’t tell you what convinced me to accept the meeting. Was it because it was either this or another charity event? Or maybe because I’m hoping he’ll have something I can use against Trace? Maybe it’s just down to the fact that he’s so lost and hopeless and I feel sorry for the schmuck.
It’s probably all of the above.
All I can see when I look at him is somebody who’s got nothing let, he had one chance to be relevant in his life and he’s had it all torn away. I probably shouldn’t care, what with the fact he tried to derail my attempts to help this place recover from the cancer that is its owner, but I’m a sucker for second chances. God knows I needed enough of them before I sorted my life out.
Also, bringing Trace down is worth the stink that Jason Anders brought with him.
Lila Sleater: You not been showering lately?
Jason Anders: My water got shut off; it’s hard paying your bills and your ex-wife at the same time when you don’t have a job anymore.
Lila Sleater: Well I can’t say much about the ex-wife but you’d still have the job if you hadn’t been stupid about who you work with.
Jason Anders: Oh yeah, I could have still been toiling away as some nobody in the legal department. Really would have made my daughter proud doing that, would I.
Lila Sleater: She’s really gonna be proud her dad’s going the way of a homeless bum ain’t she.
Again, if this was anyone else I probably wouldn’t be digging the boot in as much as I am, but nobody said you’ve got to be kind when giving a second chance.
Lila Sleater: Let’s cut the small talk.
Jason Anders: You call this small talk? I call it you trying to make me feel like crap.
Lila Sleater: Fine, fine, let’s just cut all the pointless crap then. You said you’ve got something on Trace for me, I want to know what it is.
Jason Anders: It’s not exactly something, it’s more an idea.
Lila Sleater: I should have known you were just wasting my time. An idea? Aing idea! I’ve got three dozen people in half a dozen different departments pitching me ideas every single day, and you think I care about yours? Get the hell out of my office.
Jason Anders: No, listen to me, it’s a good idea, it helps you, it helps me and it’ll drive Trace insane all at the same time.
Lila Sleater: You’re testing my patience now.
Jason Anders: You’ve already got me pencilled in for the time, what’s the harm in hearing me out?
The thing about Anders is that he just comes across as a nobody who couldn’t be useful for anything, let alone bringing down a megalomaniac, but he had Trace’s ear, Demon trusted him and that makes me think there’s more to him than his appearance and general crap-heel personality would infer.
Lila Sleater: You’ve got one chance, if I think you’re wasting my time I’ll kick you out of this building myself, you hear me?
Jason Anders: Okay, okay. What’s the one thing Trace wants more than anything else?
Lila Sleater: Money? Power? Someone to pull his head out of his ass? I don’t know Anders the guy’s a nut.
Jason Anders: The spotlight Lila, he wants the spotlight. He wants everybody to be talking about him. He doesn’t care what it’s about; he doesn’t care what they think about him, he just wants to be the centre of attention. He craves it, he needs it, more than anything else. Everyone wants to call him mad, crazy, a psychopath but he’s none of those things. He’s just a guy who’s scared of being forgotten about and who’ll do anything he can to make sure that doesn’t happen. Maybe it’s a Canadian thing, I don’t know.
Lila Sleater: And how does any of that help me? Don’t get me wrong, I love a good psyche profile as much as the next girl but let me give you a tip that might help any future wives from leaving you Jason, women like a little substance in their lives.
Jason Anders: You’ve got a tag title problem, right?
Lila Sleater: How did you-
And for the first time I see a little bit of a smirk creep across his lips, a bad habit picked up from Trace Demon no doubt. Still, it’s proof of what I was saying, there’s more to Jason Anders than being the world’s whipping boy.
Jason Anders: I still got a few friends down in legal, they tell me Dave got himself in something of a predicament, the kind you don’t just come straight back to work from. Now those guys, your little Saviours, they were meant to be the saving grace of your tag team division, part of the big rebuild. Good idea, I’ll give you that, marketable faces, fans love them, but now Dave’s going to get himself crapcanned and-
Lila Sleater: Who says we’re getting rid of Dave?
Jason Anders: Again, I’m from legal, contract terminations go through legal. Anyway, like I was saying, Dave’s out the door and you’ve got to do something with the titles. How’d you like tournaments Lila?
I still don’t know what this has to do with anything, but he’s surprised me once today. Let’s see if he can’t do it again.
Lila Sleater: I’m listening.
Jason Anders: You run a tournament, tag titles on the line, but not just any tournament. I mean we both know you don’t have enough teams to run a match let alone a tournament. I’m talking random lottery, eight teams drawn at random. You play up the conflict, do the whole “will they work together” thing and you’ve got yourself a hit.
Lila Sleater: I’ll admit Jason I like it, but still, how does this help me with my Trace problem?
Jason Anders: Simple, you put him in it.
Lila Sleater: You want me to solve my Trace Demon problem by setting him up with a shot at the tag team titles? Now I don’t know if you actually know how revenge works but right now you’re doing it wrong.
Jason Anders: I get you, but this is the new and improved Trace Demon, right? He’s out there spouting off about respect because he wants people to think he’s turned over a new leaf. It’s the only chance he’s got to keep any support for this little revolution rubbish. So he can’t afford to be seen turning on another person, otherwise his whole façade goes to crap. So you put him in a team with someone and he’s got to be on his best behaviour and that’s gonna drive him crazy. Best thing is as long as he’s in that tag tournament he can’t do much of anything else to mess up your show. You sideline him, you up whatever plans he’s got and, here’s the kicker, you drive him absolutely insane while you figure out what the next step of dealing with him is.
Lila Sleater: So your idea is that I wind Trace up? That’s your big idea?
Jason Anders: Look, either he sticks to his guns and he’s stuck outside the main event, unable to do anything, working with someone he can’t stand. Or he breaks and shows everyone that he’s still the man we both know he still is.
Lila Sleater: And if he does break, if he ruins this tournament, how do I explain that to the sponsors, the advertisers, all the people paying to see new champions?
Jason Anders: You sell it Lila. You make a big scene, storm into his office, tell him off, make it clear he’s screwing everything up. You sell it to the sponsors too, convince them to run him out of town. Either way Trace demon stops being a problem.
I take a moment to think about it. It feels like a risk, way too many things to go wrong. But the chance to get one up over on Trace, to maybe even get rid of him for good. That feels too good to resist.
Lila Sleater: I think I’ll be taking you up on your idea Jason.
Jason Anders: So that means I get my job back?
Lila Sleater: Trace won’t like it, so sure.
Jason Anders: Oh, and one more thing. If you really want to wind Trace up you pair him with someone specific, someone who’ll push him right to the brink.
Lila Sleater: Thought this was meant to be a random draw kind of tournament Jason.
Jason Anders: Oh, it is.
Lila Sleater: Who do you suggest exactly?
He smirks again. It’s grating.
Jason Anders: Your returning heroine, Nikki Dean.
< *** >
Jason Ander’s Car
May 7th 2015
Moments Later
The man in my passenger’s seat is not a good man. In fact I find it difficult to think that there is even the slightest bit of good in him. So it comes to question why I so often find myself sat alongside him, even more so after the last month.
Trace Demon: She eat it up?
Jason Anders: Yeah, she did.
I didn’t expect to ever hear from Trace again after he gave me the boot, but then my phone rang and there he was, acting the forgiving father figure. I shouldn’t have answered, but I didn’t have much choice, nowhere else to go but down otherwise.
Trace Demon: No suspicions?
Jason Anders: Didn’t seem like it, no.
He didn’t spin me a story, didn’t pretend like he had any investment in my life. For the first time since I’ve met him Trace told me the truth.
Trace Demon: It was the stink, told you not showering for a couple of days would do the job. Bet she softened the moment you mentioned the whole water being cut off.
Jason Anders: Most people would.
Trace Demon: Most people are soft.
He told me that he wanted me back on the payroll, that he had some use for me and that I could redeem myself, but that it wasn’t going to be nice work, that I wasn’t going to be getting any power, not this time. I was going to be pawn. No, I am going to be a pawn, because I accepted. I accepted because I’ve got bills to pay and a daughter to look after. Work is work, even if it’s dirty. A father can’t be choosy.
Trace Demon: You followed the script exactly how I laid it out, sold the tournament, using it against me, pairing me with Nikki?
Jason Anders: I did exactly what you told me to Trace and it went exactly how you said it would. She said exactly what you said she would, right the way through.
Trace Demon: Course she did Anders, people are predictable, most of them anyway. Oh cheer up Anders, you did good up there, everything’s going to plan.
It’s hard to feel good right now, got to admit. Lila’s ready to give me a second chance, to give me my job back. Her intentions aren’t pure either, not by a long shot, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to feel bad about setting her up for what’s to come. This whole thing is just wrong.
Trace Demon: Suit yourself; just don’t go acting like you’re some saint all of a sudden. You’re not exactly in this with anything close to good intentions.
Jason Anders: It’s just people are going to get hurt Trace. Not just Lila, but Nikki. If this pans out like you’re planning then her and Josh it’s just… it’s not right, messing with a man’s marriage like that. And the whole thing with Dave, expediting the charges like that, making-
Trace Demon: Wait on up Anders, say what you want about the rest but there’s nothing connecting me to anything to do with Dave’s unfortunate situation. Nothing at all.
Yeah, I’m sure he made sure of that.
Jason Anders: Either way, people are going to get hurt. Really hurt, not just in the ring. Real lives Trace, that’s what we’re playing with here.
Trace Demon: It’s always real lives Anders, but you’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt. The revolution crap didn’t work so now I’ve got to take a different approach. Nothing different about this one for me than any other. Sure, there’s gonna be some collateral damage, people might get hurt, but at the end of things, when it comes down to it, every single person involved had the chance to get out of my way, and they didn’t take it. Josh, Nikki, Dave, Lila, they all could have kept out of my business, every single one of them could have kept on carrying on without ever drawing my gaze, but that’s not the path they wanted to take. They chose to get on my bad side, and now they’ve got to face what happens when you piss off a man willing to go to lengths that any normal man wouldn’t.
Jason Anders: That still doesn’t make it right.
Trace Demon: I’m no saint Anders, I’m a survivalist. I’m not worried about what’s right, I’m worried about making sure there’s food on my families plate. I’m worried about making sure Emily and my daughter go to top notch colleges, that Caitlyn can rebuild her life away from that messed up family of hers, that Alexa is safe and happy and has everything she could possibly want. See Anders you think the same as everyone else, that my whole family thing is just some act, but it’s not, it’s the one truthful thing that I show the world. Every mask has to have a reflection of its wearer, that’s what makes it a good costume; otherwise it’s just a mask.
Trace Demon is not a good man.
Trace Demon: Now the question is do you want to be a man who makes sure his family has everything they could ever want, or are you happy with them settling for what they’ve got? You can start up this car, we can drive off and I can explain to you what comes next. I’ll give you till five. If you don’t start her up then I’ll open this door, walk off and I’ll do this on my own and you can go back to where you’ve been for the past month. That sound good to you? Okay, one. Two. Three. Four.
But he is all I’ve got right now.
So I turn the key and start the car.
And he smiles.
And I feel sick to my stomach.
Trace Demon: You’re going to make your daughter very proud Anders.
Proud? Maybe not.
But she will have everything she deserves. I’ll make sure of that. No matter what I have to do.
< *** >
The Demon Household
August 28th 2015
In all the excitement of the past few days I’ve got to admit I’ve slacked a little bit in preparing for my match. Though preparing for a match when you don’t have a clue about your opponent is a difficult one.
Trace Demon: Sometimes I wonder whether I’m actually paying attention when I sign these guys.
I sit on the bed, laptop in hand, watching some clips from Gabriel Black’s quite frankly uneventful and unimpressive career. You’d think at his age he’d have realized that it just wasn’t meant to be for him, that time had passed him on by and that there just wasn’t a place for him beyond being a stepping stone for guys making a name for themselves. Then again, he’s about to face the best pure wrestler in the business, so I guess he’s got something to keep himself out of the hospice.
Trace Demon: If I’m this pathetic at forty six make sure to let me know will you?
Alexa doesn’t say anything; she’s been quiet since I got back from Tokyo. I like silence usually, silence is peaceful, but this is uncomfortable. Not a big fan of uncomfortable if I’m totally honest.
Trace Demon: I think I might just slit his throat in the ring.
Alexa Munroe: You’re going to what?
Trace Demon: So you are listening. Good to know.
She’s not impressed.
Trace Demon: What is your problem? I can’t have done something wrong because I’m still in the bedroom.
Still. Not. Impressed.
Trace Demon: Alexa!
Alexa Munroe: I honestly thought you’d changed.
Trace Demon: What?
Alexa Munroe: All that stuff with Nikki, all that respect stuff, I actually thought it was real. I believed you. You let me believe you. You didn’t tell me that you were just going to end up breaking the girl like everybody else.
Trace Demon: You’re always telling me you don’t want any part of my business, wrestling or otherwise, why would I think you wanted to know about it now? Why do you even care? What does Nikki Dean even matter?
Alexa Munroe: You’re never going to change, are you? You’re never going to be anyone other than the man years back.
Trace Demon: Why the would I want to?
I chuck the laptop to the side, approach her slowly. She doesn’t shy away, that’s not her style. She stands her ground and would do to the last moment, that’s why I’m with her after all, I can’t be dealing with some little girl who’s too scared to fight a battle. Nikki Dean for instance…
Trace Demon: You’re not with me because I’m a nice man Alexa, you’ve never wanted nice, not when we met, not now. You’re not with me for the money or the power and sure as hell not for the safety. You forget I know you, I knew you back then and I know you haven’t changed. You get off on the danger; you get off on the unpredictability of it all.
I keep walking towards her so that I’m right in front of her, staring down into her eyes. She shows no fear. It’s a turn on. I’m a second away from tearing her clothes off and taking her against the wall right now.
Trace Demon: You’re not someing housewife Alexa, you think I’d be with you if you were? Nah, we both know what I do to normal boring girls, we both know the reason we’re here after all these years is because we’re one and the same. You get off knowing what I do to people, knowing that I hurt them, you’re as twisted and ed up as I am and you love it.
Alexa Munroe: We’re parents now Trace, we’ve got a little girl…
Trace Demon: And she’ll grow up knowing that her parents would do anything for her, knowing we’d die for her, that we’d kill for her. But the rest of the world, they’re not family, we don’t worry about what happens to them. We live exactly the way we want to, because what’s the point in having all this money and fame if you can’t enjoy it. Who gives a about other people Alexa? I know I don’t, the only people I have to care about are right under this roof. So the rest, let them burn, if they get in our way we run them straight over. That’s the way we’ve always lived, don’t pretend you don’t know that.
Alexa Munroe: Are we monsters?
Trace Demon: No. We’re gods among men.
And with that she pulls me, roughly pushes her lips against mine, bites my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. I taste the copper as it runs down into my mouth.
And I feel alive.
< *** >
The Bedroom
August 28th 2015
Later That Night
Alexa Munroe: Oh…!
She clenches again, pulls me in close, her nails slicing into my back. Gonna be hard to explain that one away on camera but y’know. The sensation of her clenching around me is enough to tip me over the edge and I empty myself inside her. Moments pass, sweat clinging to our skins, breath deep and laboured. No words are spoken.
I pull out, roll over onto my back.
I feel like a god.
After all…
Life is always better when you’reing someone.
< *** >
I’m not here to answer your questions. I’ve done enough of that over the years to realize nobody really cares; they’re going to judge no matter what you say. Simply put I did what I did because I wanted to, because it needed to be done to prove a point. You all know me, at least you claim to, and yet you really believed I gave a crap about Nikki Dean? Does that sound like me? Don’t make me laugh. You believe what you want to, you all do, you always have. None of you are any different to me, you warp the world around you to suit your own narcissism on whatever scale it may be. The only difference between any of you and me is that I’m just not afraid to admit it.
That applies to you too Gabriel. Did you ever think, when you got into this business way back when, that you’d still be a nobody twenty years later? I mean think about it, twenty years and you’ve done nothing, not a thing, you’ve made no impact. You could vanish tomorrow and nobody would even notice. And yet you keep fighting, you still think you belong here, you still think you have a chance. And of course you do, because everybody does. Everybody convinces themselves they’re something special, everyone wants to be a star so much that they make excuses for why they’re not. But that isn’t how the world works, not everybody can be a star, some people have to fail. Why do you think Communism works in theory but not in practice?
Because not everybody is equal.
Gabriel, I applaud you for lasting this long, I truly think it’s amazing how anyone could be doing this for over twenty years and never achieve anything. I mean that’s incredible! Even Yukio Blaze has been around long enough to actually win a few titles. But you make failure an art form Gabriel; I mean truly it takes a special kind of man to be a 6’11 loser. Bet your kids are proud of you man, I really do. Still, you’re here now, so let’s look at the positives, the big ol’ silver lining that you’ve probably been searching for ever since you realized you’d failed at gaining any semblance of success which I imagine happened years back.
Namely, me.
That’s right Gabriel, you’re in the very enviable position of getting to face Trace Demon, public enemy number one. That means that for what I imagine is the first time in your career the fans are actually going to give a crap about you. Not because of you exactly, but because of me. These people are going to want to see you tear me apart so they’re actually going to cheer for you. I tell you this not to put unneeded pressure on your shoulders, but as a warning of what’s to come. Don’t want you getting all confused when people are cheering your name do we.
But there’s another warning I should give. Because this match has meaning to me as well. It’s the first match in a long time where I get to truly be me again. No more respect nonsense, no more pretending to give a crap what the fans think, just me and you, in the ring. Just my foot and your face. My first and your ribs. My knee and your skull connecting over and over and over. Fact is Gabriel you’re going to have something to tell your kids now, you’re gonna get to tell them that you’re final match was against the greatest wrestler in the world.
Well… once you wake up that is.
August 28th 2015
People ask a lot of questions in like, right now none more so than the question of why oh why did I turn my back on Nikki Dean.
Alexa Munroe: Oh god, Trace!
But as Alexa clamps down around me and I feel how wet she is as I thrust the answer is pretty damn clear.
Life is always better when you’re
ing someone.The Long Con
A Trace Demon Roleplay
< *** >
Trace Demon’s Office
August 26th 2015
I hear the door slam before I hear her shrill screech.
Lila Sleater: Where the
is he?I’m surprised it’s taken this long if I’m honest, but we can’t live in peace forever. That’d be no fun.
Anna Bliss: Wait you can’t just-
Lila pushes open the door to my office, my young, nubile receptionist Anna just behind her, a little too late to stop the rampaging vampire-wannabe from storming the castle. I can’t tell what terrifies the girl more, that Lila might try taking a bite out of her or that the object of her daddy issues is going to be very, very disappointed in her.
Trace Demon: It’s alright Anna, let her in.
Anna Bliss: Yes sir, should I-
I simply nod and she makes a swift exit, say what you want for the girl but she’s smart enough to get the hell out of dodge when she sees danger heading her way. I don’t have that option, sometimes you’ve got to stare down a tornado, even when that tornado is a crazed, power-hungry goth.
Lila Sleater: You
ed me.Trace Demon: I think I’d remember that.
Lila Sleater: Shut the
up Trace, that tournament was a big deal; it’s been the focal point of our advertising for a month, the sponsors were hot on the entire thing, it was meant to revive the tag team division and you ed everything up!I guess it is pretty difficult to revive the tag team division when one of your champions didn’t even turn up for the match.
Trace Demon: Let’s be honest here Lila, that tournament was doomed from the moment it was announced and there’s only one person to blame for that. And yeah, they’re in this room, but it isn’t me.
Lila Sleater: Oh I sure as hell did not come up here to listen to one of your damn speeches you self-righteous-
Trace Demon: I’ll have you remember I’m still the owner of this company!
I let the words out with a roar, months of pent up aggression boiling to the surface. Pretending to give a crap all this time has meant bottling up a whole lot of rage, fury and sarcastic wit. Lila’s somewhat stunned into silence, probably thinking that the next step is me jumping across this table and giving her a backhand. She’s got nothing to worry about, I only hit someone if they’re going to try and fight back. It’s no fun otherwise.
Trace Demon: You’ve been working here for what, six months now? And this entire time you’ve been preaching about how I’m a detriment to this company, about how I’m not trustworthy, about how I’m dragging everything down. And despite all that you go and put me in a tournament that you’re banking big bucks on? See in my books that’s not the actions of someone with good business sense, don’t know about you. Which makes me question why you put me in the tournament in the first place.
Lila Sleater: Star power Trace, you want to ignite an entire division you’ve got to have name value involved. And despite what I think of you’ve, and how much of an bunghole you are, you’ve got name value. You were in there for the same reason Drakz was, to sell the tournament as something worth watching.
Trace Demon: And I’m pretty sure we both did exactly that, both of us came out looking pretty good too if you ask me. From what I can see the only one who’s ended up looking bad is you for not seeing this coming in the first place.
I can’t help but smile as a look of realization comes over her. That’s always a look to savour.
Lila Sleater: You planned this to make me look bad. You son of a bitch, you knew exactly what you were doing, working with Nikki like you suddenly weren’t an bunghole all so you could screw me over.
Trace Demon: Well that sounds like quite an opportunistic thing to do, doesn’t it? If that is indeed what I did then I probably deserve a pat on the back. I mean the only thing more impressive than that would be if I set the entire tournament up from the beginning just so I could then destroy your credibility.
She wants to be angry bless her, but she’s just so confused.
Lila Sleater: But the tournament was my idea.
Trace Demon: Not exactly.
Anna Bliss: Sir I’ve got Mr. Anders here.
And right on cue, as if the gods themselves take delight in seeing this poor lost woman’s entire self-confidence crumble around her, Anna’s voice echoes through the intercom.
Lila Sleater: Wait, Anders?
Trace Demon: Send him in Anna. Lila, I believe you’ve already met my lawyer?
Lila Sleater: You.
Jason Anders: Yes, me.
Him, the chubby, balding, absolutely disgrace of a human being known as Jason Anders. Otherwise known as my ace.
Lila Sleater: But, you-
Jason Anders: I know.
Lila Sleater: He-
Trace Demon: I know.
At any other time I’d tell Anders to wipe the smug, crap-eating grin off his face but right now I’m gonna let him have it.
Jason Anders: I brought the guy with me.
Anders steps into the office, Big Tiny stepping in behind him, the large security guard making a point to look as intimidating as possible. Gotta say, Anders and Big Tiny being in the same room together, actually getting along, it’s enough to bring a tear to your eye.
If I could cry that is. Not quite sure I remember how to do that anymore.
Trace Demon: Lila, Tiny here is going to escort you back to your own office, give you a bit of time to try and salvage some tiny part of your reputation.
Lila Sleater: You’re a son of a bitch Trace.
Trace Demon: I know, but don’t I wear it oh so well.
< *** >
Lila Sleater’s Office
May 7th 2015
I can’t tell you what convinced me to accept the meeting. Was it because it was either this or another charity event? Or maybe because I’m hoping he’ll have something I can use against Trace? Maybe it’s just down to the fact that he’s so lost and hopeless and I feel sorry for the schmuck.
It’s probably all of the above.
All I can see when I look at him is somebody who’s got nothing let, he had one chance to be relevant in his life and he’s had it all torn away. I probably shouldn’t care, what with the fact he tried to derail my attempts to help this place recover from the cancer that is its owner, but I’m a sucker for second chances. God knows I needed enough of them before I sorted my life out.
Also, bringing Trace down is worth the stink that Jason Anders brought with him.
Lila Sleater: You not been showering lately?
Jason Anders: My water got shut off; it’s hard paying your bills and your ex-wife at the same time when you don’t have a job anymore.
Lila Sleater: Well I can’t say much about the ex-wife but you’d still have the job if you hadn’t been stupid about who you work with.
Jason Anders: Oh yeah, I could have still been toiling away as some nobody in the legal department. Really would have made my daughter proud doing that, would I.
Lila Sleater: She’s really gonna be proud her dad’s going the way of a homeless bum ain’t she.
Again, if this was anyone else I probably wouldn’t be digging the boot in as much as I am, but nobody said you’ve got to be kind when giving a second chance.
Lila Sleater: Let’s cut the small talk.
Jason Anders: You call this small talk? I call it you trying to make me feel like crap.
Lila Sleater: Fine, fine, let’s just cut all the pointless crap then. You said you’ve got something on Trace for me, I want to know what it is.
Jason Anders: It’s not exactly something, it’s more an idea.
Lila Sleater: I should have known you were just wasting my time. An idea? A
ing idea! I’ve got three dozen people in half a dozen different departments pitching me ideas every single day, and you think I care about yours? Get the hell out of my office.Jason Anders: No, listen to me, it’s a good idea, it helps you, it helps me and it’ll drive Trace insane all at the same time.
Lila Sleater: You’re testing my patience now.
Jason Anders: You’ve already got me pencilled in for the time, what’s the harm in hearing me out?
The thing about Anders is that he just comes across as a nobody who couldn’t be useful for anything, let alone bringing down a megalomaniac, but he had Trace’s ear, Demon trusted him and that makes me think there’s more to him than his appearance and general crap-heel personality would infer.
Lila Sleater: You’ve got one chance, if I think you’re wasting my time I’ll kick you out of this building myself, you hear me?
Jason Anders: Okay, okay. What’s the one thing Trace wants more than anything else?
Lila Sleater: Money? Power? Someone to pull his head out of his ass? I don’t know Anders the guy’s a nut.
Jason Anders: The spotlight Lila, he wants the spotlight. He wants everybody to be talking about him. He doesn’t care what it’s about; he doesn’t care what they think about him, he just wants to be the centre of attention. He craves it, he needs it, more than anything else. Everyone wants to call him mad, crazy, a psychopath but he’s none of those things. He’s just a guy who’s scared of being forgotten about and who’ll do anything he can to make sure that doesn’t happen. Maybe it’s a Canadian thing, I don’t know.
Lila Sleater: And how does any of that help me? Don’t get me wrong, I love a good psyche profile as much as the next girl but let me give you a tip that might help any future wives from leaving you Jason, women like a little substance in their lives.
Jason Anders: You’ve got a tag title problem, right?
Lila Sleater: How did you-
And for the first time I see a little bit of a smirk creep across his lips, a bad habit picked up from Trace Demon no doubt. Still, it’s proof of what I was saying, there’s more to Jason Anders than being the world’s whipping boy.
Jason Anders: I still got a few friends down in legal, they tell me Dave got himself in something of a predicament, the kind you don’t just come straight back to work from. Now those guys, your little Saviours, they were meant to be the saving grace of your tag team division, part of the big rebuild. Good idea, I’ll give you that, marketable faces, fans love them, but now Dave’s going to get himself crapcanned and-
Lila Sleater: Who says we’re getting rid of Dave?
Jason Anders: Again, I’m from legal, contract terminations go through legal. Anyway, like I was saying, Dave’s out the door and you’ve got to do something with the titles. How’d you like tournaments Lila?
I still don’t know what this has to do with anything, but he’s surprised me once today. Let’s see if he can’t do it again.
Lila Sleater: I’m listening.
Jason Anders: You run a tournament, tag titles on the line, but not just any tournament. I mean we both know you don’t have enough teams to run a match let alone a tournament. I’m talking random lottery, eight teams drawn at random. You play up the conflict, do the whole “will they work together” thing and you’ve got yourself a hit.
Lila Sleater: I’ll admit Jason I like it, but still, how does this help me with my Trace problem?
Jason Anders: Simple, you put him in it.
Lila Sleater: You want me to solve my Trace Demon problem by setting him up with a shot at the tag team titles? Now I don’t know if you actually know how revenge works but right now you’re doing it wrong.
Jason Anders: I get you, but this is the new and improved Trace Demon, right? He’s out there spouting off about respect because he wants people to think he’s turned over a new leaf. It’s the only chance he’s got to keep any support for this little revolution rubbish. So he can’t afford to be seen turning on another person, otherwise his whole façade goes to crap. So you put him in a team with someone and he’s got to be on his best behaviour and that’s gonna drive him crazy. Best thing is as long as he’s in that tag tournament he can’t do much of anything else to mess up your show. You sideline him, you
up whatever plans he’s got and, here’s the kicker, you drive him absolutely insane while you figure out what the next step of dealing with him is.Lila Sleater: So your idea is that I wind Trace up? That’s your big idea?
Jason Anders: Look, either he sticks to his guns and he’s stuck outside the main event, unable to do anything, working with someone he can’t stand. Or he breaks and shows everyone that he’s still the man we both know he still is.
Lila Sleater: And if he does break, if he ruins this tournament, how do I explain that to the sponsors, the advertisers, all the people paying to see new champions?
Jason Anders: You sell it Lila. You make a big scene, storm into his office, tell him off, make it clear he’s screwing everything up. You sell it to the sponsors too, convince them to run him out of town. Either way Trace demon stops being a problem.
I take a moment to think about it. It feels like a risk, way too many things to go wrong. But the chance to get one up over on Trace, to maybe even get rid of him for good. That feels too good to resist.
Lila Sleater: I think I’ll be taking you up on your idea Jason.
Jason Anders: So that means I get my job back?
Lila Sleater: Trace won’t like it, so sure.
Jason Anders: Oh, and one more thing. If you really want to wind Trace up you pair him with someone specific, someone who’ll push him right to the brink.
Lila Sleater: Thought this was meant to be a random draw kind of tournament Jason.
Jason Anders: Oh, it is.
Lila Sleater: Who do you suggest exactly?
He smirks again. It’s grating.
Jason Anders: Your returning heroine, Nikki Dean.
< *** >
Jason Ander’s Car
May 7th 2015
Moments Later
The man in my passenger’s seat is not a good man. In fact I find it difficult to think that there is even the slightest bit of good in him. So it comes to question why I so often find myself sat alongside him, even more so after the last month.
Trace Demon: She eat it up?
Jason Anders: Yeah, she did.
I didn’t expect to ever hear from Trace again after he gave me the boot, but then my phone rang and there he was, acting the forgiving father figure. I shouldn’t have answered, but I didn’t have much choice, nowhere else to go but down otherwise.
Trace Demon: No suspicions?
Jason Anders: Didn’t seem like it, no.
He didn’t spin me a story, didn’t pretend like he had any investment in my life. For the first time since I’ve met him Trace told me the truth.
Trace Demon: It was the stink, told you not showering for a couple of days would do the job. Bet she softened the moment you mentioned the whole water being cut off.
Jason Anders: Most people would.
Trace Demon: Most people are soft.
He told me that he wanted me back on the payroll, that he had some use for me and that I could redeem myself, but that it wasn’t going to be nice work, that I wasn’t going to be getting any power, not this time. I was going to be pawn. No, I am going to be a pawn, because I accepted. I accepted because I’ve got bills to pay and a daughter to look after. Work is work, even if it’s dirty. A father can’t be choosy.
Trace Demon: You followed the script exactly how I laid it out, sold the tournament, using it against me, pairing me with Nikki?
Jason Anders: I did exactly what you told me to Trace and it went exactly how you said it would. She said exactly what you said she would, right the way through.
Trace Demon: Course she did Anders, people are predictable, most of them anyway. Oh cheer up Anders, you did good up there, everything’s going to plan.
It’s hard to feel good right now, got to admit. Lila’s ready to give me a second chance, to give me my job back. Her intentions aren’t pure either, not by a long shot, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to feel bad about setting her up for what’s to come. This whole thing is just wrong.
Trace Demon: Suit yourself; just don’t go acting like you’re some saint all of a sudden. You’re not exactly in this with anything close to good intentions.
Jason Anders: It’s just people are going to get hurt Trace. Not just Lila, but Nikki. If this pans out like you’re planning then her and Josh it’s just… it’s not right, messing with a man’s marriage like that. And the whole thing with Dave, expediting the charges like that, making-
Trace Demon: Wait on up Anders, say what you want about the rest but there’s nothing connecting me to anything to do with Dave’s unfortunate situation. Nothing at all.
Yeah, I’m sure he made sure of that.
Jason Anders: Either way, people are going to get hurt. Really hurt, not just in the ring. Real lives Trace, that’s what we’re playing with here.
Trace Demon: It’s always real lives Anders, but you’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt. The revolution crap didn’t work so now I’ve got to take a different approach. Nothing different about this one for me than any other. Sure, there’s gonna be some collateral damage, people might get hurt, but at the end of things, when it comes down to it, every single person involved had the chance to get out of my way, and they didn’t take it. Josh, Nikki, Dave, Lila, they all could have kept out of my business, every single one of them could have kept on carrying on without ever drawing my gaze, but that’s not the path they wanted to take. They chose to get on my bad side, and now they’ve got to face what happens when you piss off a man willing to go to lengths that any normal man wouldn’t.
Jason Anders: That still doesn’t make it right.
Trace Demon: I’m no saint Anders, I’m a survivalist. I’m not worried about what’s right, I’m worried about making sure there’s food on my families plate. I’m worried about making sure Emily and my daughter go to top notch colleges, that Caitlyn can rebuild her life away from that messed up family of hers, that Alexa is safe and happy and has everything she could possibly want. See Anders you think the same as everyone else, that my whole family thing is just some act, but it’s not, it’s the one truthful thing that I show the world. Every mask has to have a reflection of its wearer, that’s what makes it a good costume; otherwise it’s just a mask.
Trace Demon is not a good man.
Trace Demon: Now the question is do you want to be a man who makes sure his family has everything they could ever want, or are you happy with them settling for what they’ve got? You can start up this car, we can drive off and I can explain to you what comes next. I’ll give you till five. If you don’t start her up then I’ll open this door, walk off and I’ll do this on my own and you can go back to where you’ve been for the past month. That sound good to you? Okay, one. Two. Three. Four.
But he is all I’ve got right now.
So I turn the key and start the car.
And he smiles.
And I feel sick to my stomach.
Trace Demon: You’re going to make your daughter very proud Anders.
Proud? Maybe not.
But she will have everything she deserves. I’ll make sure of that. No matter what I have to do.
< *** >
The Demon Household
August 28th 2015
In all the excitement of the past few days I’ve got to admit I’ve slacked a little bit in preparing for my match. Though preparing for a match when you don’t have a clue about your opponent is a difficult one.
Trace Demon: Sometimes I wonder whether I’m actually paying attention when I sign these guys.
I sit on the bed, laptop in hand, watching some clips from Gabriel Black’s quite frankly uneventful and unimpressive career. You’d think at his age he’d have realized that it just wasn’t meant to be for him, that time had passed him on by and that there just wasn’t a place for him beyond being a stepping stone for guys making a name for themselves. Then again, he’s about to face the best pure wrestler in the business, so I guess he’s got something to keep himself out of the hospice.
Trace Demon: If I’m this pathetic at forty six make sure to let me know will you?
Alexa doesn’t say anything; she’s been quiet since I got back from Tokyo. I like silence usually, silence is peaceful, but this is uncomfortable. Not a big fan of uncomfortable if I’m totally honest.
Trace Demon: I think I might just slit his throat in the ring.
Alexa Munroe: You’re going to what?
Trace Demon: So you are listening. Good to know.
She’s not impressed.
Trace Demon: What is your problem? I can’t have done something wrong because I’m still in the bedroom.
Still. Not. Impressed.
Trace Demon: Alexa!
Alexa Munroe: I honestly thought you’d changed.
Trace Demon: What?
Alexa Munroe: All that stuff with Nikki, all that respect stuff, I actually thought it was real. I believed you. You let me believe you. You didn’t tell me that you were just going to end up breaking the girl like everybody else.
Trace Demon: You’re always telling me you don’t want any part of my business, wrestling or otherwise, why would I think you wanted to know about it now? Why do you even care? What does Nikki Dean even matter?
Alexa Munroe: You’re never going to change, are you? You’re never going to be anyone other than the man years back.
Trace Demon: Why the
would I want to?I chuck the laptop to the side, approach her slowly. She doesn’t shy away, that’s not her style. She stands her ground and would do to the last moment, that’s why I’m with her after all, I can’t be dealing with some little girl who’s too scared to fight a battle. Nikki Dean for instance…
Trace Demon: You’re not with me because I’m a nice man Alexa, you’ve never wanted nice, not when we met, not now. You’re not with me for the money or the power and sure as hell not for the safety. You forget I know you, I knew you back then and I know you haven’t changed. You get off on the danger; you get off on the unpredictability of it all.
I keep walking towards her so that I’m right in front of her, staring down into her eyes. She shows no fear. It’s a turn on. I’m a second away from tearing her clothes off and taking her against the wall right now.
Trace Demon: You’re not some
ing housewife Alexa, you think I’d be with you if you were? Nah, we both know what I do to normal boring girls, we both know the reason we’re here after all these years is because we’re one and the same. You get off knowing what I do to people, knowing that I hurt them, you’re as twisted and ed up as I am and you love it.Alexa Munroe: We’re parents now Trace, we’ve got a little girl…
Trace Demon: And she’ll grow up knowing that her parents would do anything for her, knowing we’d die for her, that we’d kill for her. But the rest of the world, they’re not family, we don’t worry about what happens to them. We live exactly the way we want to, because what’s the point in having all this money and fame if you can’t enjoy it. Who gives a
about other people Alexa? I know I don’t, the only people I have to care about are right under this roof. So the rest, let them burn, if they get in our way we run them straight over. That’s the way we’ve always lived, don’t pretend you don’t know that.Alexa Munroe: Are we monsters?
Trace Demon: No. We’re gods among men.
And with that she pulls me, roughly pushes her lips against mine, bites my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. I taste the copper as it runs down into my mouth.
And I feel alive.
< *** >
The Bedroom
August 28th 2015
Later That Night
Alexa Munroe: Oh…
!She clenches again, pulls me in close, her nails slicing into my back. Gonna be hard to explain that one away on camera but y’know. The sensation of her clenching around me is enough to tip me over the edge and I empty myself inside her. Moments pass, sweat clinging to our skins, breath deep and laboured. No words are spoken.
I pull out, roll over onto my back.
I feel like a god.
After all…
Life is always better when you’re
ing someone.< *** >
I’m not here to answer your questions. I’ve done enough of that over the years to realize nobody really cares; they’re going to judge no matter what you say. Simply put I did what I did because I wanted to, because it needed to be done to prove a point. You all know me, at least you claim to, and yet you really believed I gave a crap about Nikki Dean? Does that sound like me? Don’t make me laugh. You believe what you want to, you all do, you always have. None of you are any different to me, you warp the world around you to suit your own narcissism on whatever scale it may be. The only difference between any of you and me is that I’m just not afraid to admit it.
That applies to you too Gabriel. Did you ever think, when you got into this business way back when, that you’d still be a nobody twenty years later? I mean think about it, twenty years and you’ve done nothing, not a thing, you’ve made no impact. You could vanish tomorrow and nobody would even notice. And yet you keep fighting, you still think you belong here, you still think you have a chance. And of course you do, because everybody does. Everybody convinces themselves they’re something special, everyone wants to be a star so much that they make excuses for why they’re not. But that isn’t how the world works, not everybody can be a star, some people have to fail. Why do you think Communism works in theory but not in practice?
Because not everybody is equal.
Gabriel, I applaud you for lasting this long, I truly think it’s amazing how anyone could be doing this for over twenty years and never achieve anything. I mean that’s incredible! Even Yukio Blaze has been around long enough to actually win a few titles. But you make failure an art form Gabriel; I mean truly it takes a special kind of man to be a 6’11 loser. Bet your kids are proud of you man, I really do. Still, you’re here now, so let’s look at the positives, the big ol’ silver lining that you’ve probably been searching for ever since you realized you’d failed at gaining any semblance of success which I imagine happened years back.
Namely, me.
That’s right Gabriel, you’re in the very enviable position of getting to face Trace Demon, public enemy number one. That means that for what I imagine is the first time in your career the fans are actually going to give a crap about you. Not because of you exactly, but because of me. These people are going to want to see you tear me apart so they’re actually going to cheer for you. I tell you this not to put unneeded pressure on your shoulders, but as a warning of what’s to come. Don’t want you getting all confused when people are cheering your name do we.
But there’s another warning I should give. Because this match has meaning to me as well. It’s the first match in a long time where I get to truly be me again. No more respect nonsense, no more pretending to give a crap what the fans think, just me and you, in the ring. Just my foot and your face. My first and your ribs. My knee and your skull connecting over and over and over. Fact is Gabriel you’re going to have something to tell your kids now, you’re gonna get to tell them that you’re final match was against the greatest wrestler in the world.
Well… once you wake up that is.
