Premonition, Rise & Surprises

[The Lost One]

Las Vegas, Nevada
The Strip
2:30AM

The ground level of the penthouse apartment was empty at this time of night. They don't call it the dead of night for no reason. It was the first night since they had agreed to stay married that he had been away from Jeszika and truth be told he found it painful to be away from her. He had lost the three piece suit and two hundred dollar sun glasses for a simple pair of blue jeans and a black silk shirt with black boots.

With Jeszika away he found he had a hard time sleeping and figured a walk around town may be the very thing he needed to calm his mind, but the more he walked the less secure he felt. The less sure. The less safe. There was something, just beyond his vision that was haunting him. Something tapping on the edge of his awareness, but after two hours of walking he realized it wasn't going to come to him.

Even the walk back was tricky. Whatever this phantom sensation was it wasn't going away. As he walked down the strip one of the club bands caught his attention. The words wofting through the opening and closing door.

“"I've been down the wrong road tonight
And I swear I'll never go there again"
Ive seen this face once before
And I don't think I can do this again.”

For a split second Brody stopped and stared into the mirror like reflection at what should have been himself, but instead he saw Jeszika's face over laid over another woman's. No, another girls. The girl would have been about sixteen with pale blond hair and a proud jawline eyes that were so deep green they looked like two pools of beautiful lake water.

Her name sprang to his mind. Vanessa. His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. Brody took on the stance that everyone knew. The stance that had left him since Jeszika had come into his life. Brody turned quickly from the faces in the window and continued walking through the streets of Vegas.

After twenty minutes he rounded the final corner and found himself walking straight into another person. The force of the impact knocked the Playboy to his ass but the person he ran into didn't seem to move. Like Brody had walked into a brick wall.

Man: “....Excuse me sir. Do you have any change?”

Brody looked up with contempt and found himself staring into the dirty black hair of the man who had jogged next to him all those days ago. He looked exactly the same. Black hair hanging down, hiding a bearded face in a pair of black slacks and a white shirt over a thick body. His forearms were covered in tattoos....at second look he didn’t look homeless.

Brody: “You....don't look homeless.”

Brody said as he pulled himself back to his feet and brushed himself off. Once he was back on his feet he looked at the man who hadn't even moved a fraction of an inch.

Man: “....I never said I was.”

Brody: “What...do you want? Do you want to mug me?”

The laugh that came through that mask of black hair was cruel, even mocking.

Man: “How arrogant you are. How foolish. How very appealing. No boy...i don't want your money.”

Brody: “Appealing? Listen man....i don't know what you've heard but....”

Man: “....You can't be a playboy if you aren’t appealing....can you?”

The way he asked this, finishing the question in a mere whisper sent chills down Brody's spine and the playboy shivered.

Brody: “What do you want?”

Man: “I want to know you. To know why they plan what they do. Do you deserve it? You....”

The man leaned in and inhaled deeply, taking in a deep breath and savoring the scent. The apprehension. The fear. Without leaning back he whispered.

Man: “...smell of stale beer and cheap pussy.”

Brody: “Hey!”

Brody went to shove the man away but he only shoved himself backwards, like he was trying to shove a car. A smile broke the face of the man at this.

Man: “You remember I told you that there was someone you could turn to?”

Brody: “....Yea....”

Man: “Stop what is coming. If it comes to pass....it will be the final catalysts. Two of them....both in one night. If you do not stop it...he will look for you. He will find you....and he will devour you.”

Before Brody could react the man brushed past him shoulder checking him into the wall and singing softly to himself.

Man: “Our favorite place we used to go.....the warm embrace that no one knows.....The loving look that's left your eyes. It's why this comes as no....as no surprise.”

Brody didn't wait around, he turned and walked into his building and closed the door. He leaned back on the glass door with his head resting on the glass behind him. In front of him stood a U.W.A. Camera man. The man cleared his throat and Brody looked up and sighed.

Brody: “Give me five minutes then follow me up.”

Penthouse of Broderick Montgomery
3AM

When the camera opened again Brody was standing in front of the window with a drink in his hand staring down at the bed with wide eyes then raised the glass and drained it in a single drink before shaking his head and muttering something about it being ridiculous to himself.

He turned and walked from the bedroom and into the main living room where the camera was situated speaking as he walked.

Brody: “Sentinel's mouthpiece number....what are we up to now? Three? Five? Twelve thousand, four hundred and nineteen? I am no more concerned about your words then I was Talons or Blood's before her.....though I do suddenly wonder....”

Brody canted his head and came to a stop in mid walk.

Brody: “....How does Sentinel convey inflection? I am assuming the big retard has to write you little sticky notes with what he wants said....but how does he convey inflection? How does he let you know when he wants something to be mocking.....or angry?

Does he draw little happy faces? Little frowny faces? Does he grunt and make the face himself as you two rehearse so you know exactly how to deliver each line?

Seriously....i am curious.”

Brody gently bit his lip then shook his head and waved a dismissive hand shooing away the thought then continued his walk through the living room.

Brody: “Do you know what the issue with your analogy is Princess? I am either a defenseless mouse nor a outmatched cobra.....although in one breath comparing Sentinel to a pussy and a overrated pop culture reference may have been about dead right.”

Brody pursed his lips in thought, then smacked them and nodded.

Brody: “Yea, actually I like your analogy but in reverse. A pussy and a overrated pop culture reference. Sentinel is like so many other little muscle bound cretins in life. Thinks that BIG equals impressive. Thinks that BIG equals winner. Thinks that BIG equals automatic the best.

Now in the case of my junk, then sure. Bigger is better, but in Sentinel's case not so much.

Allow me to lay it down so that even the most thick headed cretin with a fifty IQ can understand it. Sentinel defeated Pauly and me when I was in the middle of my slump.....”

Brody rounded on the camera and shouted.

Brody: “THAT'S IT! WHY in the blue FUCK would I be impressed OR intimidated by this?”

Brody leaned back and lifted a hand ticking off the fingers one by one.

Brody: “You lost to Aerynn Donnelly....who I defeated in back to back weeks. The only win you have gotten since BEFORE Tragic Engagement was when you were teamed WITH me.

Me on the other hand....care to take a guess at me big guy?”

A smirk spread across his face and he leaned in and whispered.

Brody: “Undefeated since Tragic Engagement.”

Brody nodded mockingly and then leaned back and smiled.

Brody: “So to recap. Sentinel.....has only won one match since before Tragic Engagement.....and only won that because he was teamed with me....and Broderick Montgomery.....undefeated.....and you expect me to be intimidated by him?”

Brody laughed gently and shook his head.

Brody: “Not likely Dearie. So you will forgive me if I don't worry about being this close....”

Brody showed mockingly how close the masked woman said he was.

Brody: “To never walking again because Sentinel is this close....”

Again Brody made the same mocking gesture with his fingers.

Brody: “....To having to see a plastic surgeon to remove my boot from his ass.”

Brody shook his head and chuckled to himself then looked back up, snorted one final mocking laugh before continuing.

Brody: “The rest of your ranting....seemed to blend together. It was all about me being an inconsiderate, insufferable, belligerent and not at all in the same league and Sentinel....and to a lot of that I say....thank you, but to most of it I laugh.

Do you know why your client....your little silent guard dog chose to face me instead of Aerynn Dearie? It had nothing to do with Talon.....or my actions or his fake offer of respect. It was about AERYNN!”

Brody threw the name out with a shout and his eyes narrowed.

Brody: “That Champion who is isn't even in possession of her own title, which is hilarious by the way, and on a miserable losing streak....WASN'T when he turned down his shot. Do you know what she WAS Dearie?

She was a woman fresh off the best run in the company. She was undefeated. She was a woman who had outlasted THREE men larger then her, stronger then her and more experienced then her. She was a woman who proved that she belonged. That she had EARNED her spot atop the U.W.A. Ranks and when Oliver offered Sentinel that spot do you know WHY he didn't take it Dearie?

BECAUSE HE WAS TERRIFIED!”

Brody bellowed this at the camera at the top of his lungs and then snarled.

Brody: “Sentinel didn't want to get embarrassed by her AGAIN at Spring Slaughter so he took what I did to Talon and formed a plan in his twisted, weak, pathetic mind. He would pick a fight with the loser of U.W.A. The man who couldn't buy a win. It would be an easy way to get himself back into the position he feels he deserves.....”

Brody leaned in and whispered.

Brody: “....but he made a mistake Dearie.”

Brody's face twisted into a smile. The kind of smile that didn't even try and hide the contempt he felt for the two of them.

Brody: “That Loser found his footing. That loser found his drive. That loser found his MUSE...and since that has happened that loser had become one of the leaders of the U.W.A. That LOSER has become the most dangerous man in U.W.A.

Let me hear you deny it Dearie. Let me hear you deny that right now, anyone in U.W.A. With the exception of the Cornbread Mafia, are more dangerous then I am right now? I haven't lost a single match since I pulled my head out of the dirt.

THAT is Sentinel's worst fear. To get embarrassed in back and back Pay Per Views by newbies. First by Aerynn Donnelly and then by me. This man who claims he came into U.W.A. With more fanfare and cred then anyone else in U.W.A....is TERRIFIED that he is going to be shown for what he truly is.

A talent HACK who got by on lesser talent.”

Brody let out a mocking whistle and then added.

Brody: “Maybe you need to remember for a second just WHO your fucking with Sentinel. Fuck the money. Fuck the cars. Fuck the girls. Don't let the five thousand dollar suits fool you bitch....my family grew up poor in the projects before we build our empire....fuck with me...and I will get projectish.”

Brody blew a deep breath out of his nose to take a moment to gather himself. Truth be told he was still more then a little uneasy from his run in earlier. Once he centered himself he continued.

Brody: “You know the difference between me and every other person in those companies of years past. Sentinel always heard whispers and snide remarks. Haters words coming from talentless cowards....but the difference is I don't stand behind some curtain and whisper I will scream it into your face.

YOUR A FUCKING RETARD! A FOOLISH, WORTHLESS HACK AND I DON'T FEAR OR RESPECT YOU!

Whoa......head rush....”

Brody pinched the bridge of his nose and took a few deep breaths then looked up and continued.

Brody: “I won't say anything behind someone's back I won't shout into their face. I don't give a fuck if you hear it, get offended and want to do something to change it. Don't like it? I couldn't care less. You offended and want to go something to change it?”

Brody paused and looked directly into the camera and spread his arms out to either side of him.

Brody: “I not gonna hide, come and get paid.”

Brody stood there a moment and then let his arms drop to his sides.

Brody: “Sentinel and....generic mouthpiece number six thousand, five hundred and thirty I will leave you with this. All this talk of blood, broken bones and tearing flesh. All this talk of talent, wrestling team captains and the like. Who are you trying to convince, me or yourselves....and for a man who lets his actions speak for themselves....you two sure had a lot to say

I have a wonderful surprise for you. I created it just for Sentinel and I will unveil it at Spring Slaughter. I will put Sentinel down with it. I call it simply....The Rise of Valhalla.”

Brody smirked one mockingly at the camera then turned and walked back into the bedroom, kicked off his boots and jumped onto the bed. A remote turned on the stereo. The stereo was on a local rock station that happened to be playing Daughtry.

“....I can't believe that I stayed til today. There's nothing here in this heart left to borrow. There's nothing here in this soul left to say. Don't be surprised when you hate this tomorrow. God knows we tried to find an easier way. Yea, you and I will be a tough act to follow, but I know in time we'll find this was no surprise.”

Brody sat forward in bed slowly. He ended up leaning on his elbows with his eyes staring at the stereo. It was the same tune the homeless guy had been singing under his breath as he walked away. He stared at the stereo as the song continued as again that feeling that he was missing something struck him like a bullet. A single hand passed over his face as he tried to track it down....but he wouldn't. Not in time.