Post by Craven on Oct 15, 2014 16:19:49 GMT -6
August 25, 2014
Las Vegas, Nevada
Skylar Hansen sits outside in the sun, absentmindedly playing with a loose thread on her chair while staring at a bird playing in a tree. Warrick Craven walks up and watches her play with it, smiling in his amusement.
Craven: Interesting chair?
Skylar looks up, surprised.
Skylar Hansen: Hmmm?
Craven smiles sweetly.
Craven: You been playin with that thread for fifteen minutes.
Skylar Hansen: Oh... a lot on my mind I guess.
Craven cocks his head inquisitively.
Craven: Like what?
Skylar Hansen: Nathaniel.... Katarina.... I think he did something to her. She hides it well but she's freaked out of her mind.
Craven nods.
Craven: I noticed.
Skylar Hansen: What do you think happened? Was it on the show? Have you watched it back?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: If I had to guess? I'd imagine he got in close to her and said something that would be meaningful to her and then left because that way it would totally be a mindfuck and that seems to be how he operates outside the ring.
Skylar Hansen: That bastard I ought to hunt him down and give him what for...
Craven shrugs.
Craven: I think we kinda both got that shot already.
Skylar Hansen: Yeah but this time I KNOW what to expect from him. He won't affect me as much when I know it's coming...
She goes quiet.
Skylar Hansen: In theory, at least.
Craven nods.
Craven: That probably depends on whether he knows how to push your buttons.
Skylar Hansen: This is true... we can just hope that he doesn’t.
Craven nods slowly.
Craven: Sin and Rocket looked relatively sober when they came to get her a change of clothes before work. Never seen her that... clean...
Skylar looks surprised.
Skylar Hansen: Really? Sober?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: She looked clear. Rocket sounded like they'd been almost too busy to do much of that lately.
He pauses, smiling slightly.
Craven: Almost like they were getting to be kids.
Skylar Hansen: About time she got to have a childhood, even if it is several years too late.
Craven: They are still sorta the right age for teenager stuff.
Skylar Hansen: That’s true, shame we're a bit passed that age. A childhood would be nice...
Craven shrugs, smirking playfully.
Craven: It's not like we're old, Sky.
Skylar Hansen: Well I do feel it sometimes...
He nods and cradles her head against his chest.
Craven: I know...
He leans down and kisses the top of her head.
Craven: I'm sorry I didn't get to you faster.
She muses.
Skylar Hansen: What would you have done had you got to the ring in time?
Craven: When he had his hands on you?
She nods.
Craven: I'd probably have grabbed something from the crowd, maybe somebody's beer. Thrown it in his eyes and then knocked him on his ass with a chair when he couldn't see anymore.
Skylar Hansen: I would have enjoyed seeing that very much, pretty sure Katarina would have to.
Craven shrugs, nodding slowly.
Craven: I'm sorry I didn't.
Skylar Hansen: It’s fine, I know you'll be there next time.
Craven: I'm sorry I didn't get there earlier for you in general too. You might have gotten a childhood then.
Skylar Hansen: I never had much of a childhood before I met you either. What my father did wasn’t the end of my childhood, it was the end of my time with them. My childhood never really began.
He swallows hard.
Craven: Still, I could have at least let you be a teenager…
Skylar Hansen: Yeah... But...
She sighs.
Skylar Hansen: If I ever hear you try to blame yourself for what HE did to me again, God help me, I will smack sense into you! YOU weren’t to blame for what he did to me! You were NEVER to blame, for anything.
Leaning down, he holds her close and nods.
Craven: Do you ever miss being "Skadi and Ricky?"
Skylar Hansen: Yeah... been a while since anyone ever called me that.
Craven: I always did think you a goddess.
Skylar blushes.
Skylar Hansen: Well a goddess always needs a god at her side, and I got one of those too.
Craven: I love you, Skadi.
Skylar Hansen: Love you too Rick...
She smiles.
Skylar Hansen: You know I'm gonna have to find a nickname for you now right? Some god, worthy of you...
Craven: You'll think of something…
Skylar Hansen: Oh I'm sure I will, but then again, to me, you are more superior than all the gods combined...
She smiles and laughs a little.
Skylar Hansen: Gods Inferior, Rick Superior.
Craven smiles and kisses her.
Craven: keep that up and we're gonna have to go inside...
Skylar Hansen: Nothing saying we can't do that.
Craven nods and scoops her up from the chair into his arms. They start kissing almost immediately as he carries her back inside the house so they can enjoy some quality time together.
September 8, 2014
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Paradise, Nevada
The match between Skylar Hansen and J-Shades has just ended and Skylar lies on the mat clutching at her left knee. Craven makes his way to the ring and kneels down next to her as trainers swarm in to check her out. Within a few minutes, the head trainer and Craven help Skylar stand up, her knee obviously not allowing her to ambulate on her own. They help her to the back where she manages to sit on an examination table. As the trainers and doctor check her out, Craven steps back into the hallway. A little bit later, Craven returns to find an obviously still in pain and now quite upset Skylar sitting on the table.
Craven: So…
Skylar Hansen: They think I might have tore my knee when I landed…
She winces as she moves a little.
Skylar Hansen: We’re not talking a simple injury here either...
Craven: So you're gonna be laid up for a while?
Skylar Hansen: Seems like it.... God dammit.... I was just starting to get somewhere too. ..
Craven nods.
Craven: How long, do they have any idea?
Skylar Hansen: They won't know for sure till I get an MRI.
Craven hugs her gently.
Craven: Sin’s gonna shit herself, isn’t she?
Skylar Hansen: Yep she is... shit... I won't be able to work either job... wrestler or stripping... I won't be able to pay rent... I....
She shakes her head and squeezes her eyes closed.
Craven: Hey, whoa… slow down…
Skylar Hansen: But it's true... I can't make much money from singing. Without wrestling and the pleasure dome I have no income... if I'm out for months that's months without income.. months where I can't pay rent...
She winces again she moves the wrong way.
Craven: Well... you could always move in with Rocket and me.
Skylar Hansen: I couldn’t inconvenience you guys like that...
Craven chuckles.
Craven: Sky, the four of us practically live together already... we just tend to split time between both places.
Skylar Hansen: That’s true.... Are you sure you'd wanna take that more permanent step though? I don't want to be a burden with this injury...
Craven shakes his head.
Craven: Sky, I would have married you when we were teenagers...
Skylar looks down and blushes.
Skylar Hansen: I know…
She looks up and smiles.
Skylar Hansen: Looks like you're getting yourself a new pair of flatmates then.
Craven: Which place do you like better?
Skylar Hansen: Wherever you are suits me fine.
Craven nods.
Craven: I'd say the same thing but, if you're more comfortable at your place, we could always move in with you and just pool our resources to keep your lease rather than mine.
Skylar Hansen: Well comfortable... You're talking to someone who's barely lived in a house for more than a few months for the last few years... Comfortableness won’t be an issue... I don't have much belongings really... Like I said, I'm cool wherever, though if we stay at mine, you'll have to take over the lease... So maybe its easier for me to go to yours?
Craven nods.
Craven: Ok.
Skylar Hansen: It’s a floating lease I have on place anyways, so I could leave if I had to run again...
Craven nods again.
Craven: How do you think we break this to Sin and Rocket?
Skylar Hansen: Well no doubt they're watching the show, saw what happened and are prob on their way here as we speak... let me check my phone, can you pass it to me?
Craven hands it over.
Skylar Hansen: Yeah, she's been trying to call me…
As if on cue, the phone rings. Skylar Pushes the button and answers it.
Skylar Hansen: Hey Sin.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: SKY?
Skylar Hansen: Sin... it’s my knee... They think I tore the ligaments in it...
Sin goes quiet for a second.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Are we gonna be in trouble?
Skylar Hansen: What would you say.... If we were to move into Rick’s?
Sin goes quiet again.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: I wouldn't be in the way?
Skylar Hansen: What makes you think you would be?
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: You wanna move in with Rick…
Skylar Hansen: And that makes you be in the way... How exactly?
She can hear Sin's voice breaking.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: I... I just..
Skylar Hansen: Sin... you'll never be in the way!
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Ok... do you need us to come help bring you home?
Skylar Hansen: I think I might be stuck here for a bit.... I need to get an MRI. Not sure what the plan is tonight.... want to come meet me here? I'm in the trainer’s room.
Craven: Hospital…
Skylar Hansen: Hospital... yeah... that.
Sin's small worried voice comes back again.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Ok.
Skylar Hansen: Just ask at the main door, they'll tell you where I am.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Ok.
Skylar Hansen: See you soon, Sin.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: I love you, Sky.
Skylar Hansen: Love you too, Sin.
Craven nods.
Craven: Well, I spose that takes care of that problem. Don't worry, I'll talk to Baron.
Skylar nods, laying the now hung up phone at her side.
Skylar Hansen: He'll understand I'm sure.
Craven: We'll get through this, Sky.
Skylar Hansen: I hope so...
September 25, 2014
Las Vegas, Nevada
Warrick Craven stands next to Skylar Hansen’s bed as she sits up, left knee heavily bandaged from her recent surgery. She grimaces in pain as she moves both legs to the edge of the bed.
Craven: You sure this is a good idea?
Skylar nods and Craven bends over dutifully to help her. They make their way to the bathroom where she takes care of her business. At the sound of the flush, Craven helps her back to the bed and then sits down on the nearby chair. Just as Skylar manages to get her leg situated, both phones go off. Craven grabs them and checks, frowning.
Craven: Oh, this can’t be good… it’s both Rocket and Sin…
The color drains from Skylar’s face.
Skylar Hansen: Answer it, they'll be together.
He nods and hits both so they’re on speaker. Immediately Sin starts screaming.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Oh my God, oh my God, oh my GOOOOOOOD!!!!!
Shocked, both Skylar and Craven stare at the sounds coming from the phone.
Craven: Guys… guys… what’s going on?
Sin’s voice comes back shrill.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: She… she… bad…
Skylar Hansen: What’s happened? Sin... calm down... What’s wrong?
Sin can’t seem to find the words and the one line goes dead.
Craven: Rocket?
His much more calm and yet obviously worried voice answers.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Yeah?
Craven nods.
Craven: What just happened?
A muffled sound of crying meets their ears.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Cindy’s on her knees sobbing too hard to talk.
Skylar Hansen: Why? What’s happened?
Rocket takes a deep breath.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Brittany’s in the hospital. Somebody beat her… bad…
Skylar Hansen: FUCK!
Skylar curses and winces as she sits up in the bed, shock on her face.
Skylar Hansen: Who? WHO did it? Why?
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: I don’t know, she’s unconscious and hasn’t said anything. She was supposed to meet us this morning and didn’t show. We went over to her place and just as we were about to knock, Cindy got a call. Her number was in Brittany’s purse as an emergency contact so they called her.
Skylar Hansen: Shit... How bad is she? When I find out who did this...
She looks like she might leap out of the bed there and then. Craven moves in quickly to stop her.
Craven: Whoa, Sky…
Skylar Hansen: Whoever did this... needs to pay... big time...
She pauses.
Skylar Hansen: Do we know who did it?
Just then a text message comes in.
Craven: Oh my God…
He goes silent and Rocket’s voice comes out.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Dub?
Craven shakes his head.
Craven: Yeah… we do now…
Skylar Hansen: Who?
Craven swallows hard.
Craven: There’s a video… Kyle Travis…
Skylar jaw drops and for a moment she can't speak.
Skylar Hansen: A... Video...
Her hands clench into fists, disbelief and anger are evident in her voice.
Skylar Hansen: A VIDEO! He filmed this? Sick fucking bastard!
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Dub…
Craven nods.
Craven: I’m gonna make a call, get some guys to come watch you two. You stay there, you hear me?
Rocket’s voice comes back, fear filling the air.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Yeah, Dub, we hear you.
Realization and panic suddenly sets into Skylar.
Skylar Hansen: What if he comes for me? I can't fight... not like this...
Craven ends the call, watches a video and then looks to Skylar.
Craven: The text was from Q, he’s coming over here with some security guys. Apparently, Travis made a promo out of the end of the beating.
Her initial anger fading, her voice is a little shaky, but she tries to hold it together.
Skylar Hansen: What did he say?
Craven looks down at his phone as a new text comes in.
Craven: Q says Travis did his usual babbling and then showed Brittany hanging upside down from a car door and then he beat her with a crowbar while he talked.
Skylar closes her eyes and winces at the thought, a tear trickles down her cheek, which she brushes away.
Skylar Hansen: Did he say who would be next? Did he say why?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: Apparently he threatened Stephanie the interview chick.
Skylar Hansen: Stephanie? What did he have to gain by that?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: Who knows, he’s been going on like a jealous little kid about how nobody cares unless you get kidnapped by a redneck cult.
Skylar Hansen: Yeah... Cos that’s apparently how you get famous in this place? Is he seriously that deluded?
She looks over at Craven.
Skylar Hansen: Cos I don't remember being kidnapped by a cult... Do you? I think I'd remember if I did... Nope didn’t happen.
Craven shrugs.
Craven: He’s babbled and taken pot shots at Joshua McBride and his Children left and right.
Skylar Hansen: Is he like... Obsessed with them or something? Dude really need to focus on his own problems not everyone else’s...
She shakes her head.
Skylar Hansen: I hope they make him pay dearly for this...
Craven: He wants the Knights.
He pauses, shaking his head.
Craven: He wants us to give his little bitches a title shot they don’t deserve.
Skylar Hansen: See I get this whole, any of us can defend the titles thing, but attacking Brittany only gets at you and I and well.. I'm not exactly in the position to fight them. Would Baron, Q and Freeman really give them a shot for attacking one of the like forty girls who work in the Dome?
Craven: Fraser's gone. He wandered off from the hospital when he woke up.
Skylar gapes.
Skylar Hansen: He's gone? Since when?
Craven: Like I said, he woke up from that beating Vince Jones gave him, went crazy, wandered off and nobody has heard from him since.
Skylar Hansen: Well fuck, ain’t that just grand, Freeman gone, me out, and you guys have a bunch of idiots running around forcing you into title shots they haven’t earned...
Craven: Actually, they lost it fair and square to Bethany and Ashley Kenyon on the same night you got hurt.
Skylar Hansen: Then boo hoo to them, they should just get over and it and move on...
He nods.
Craven: It looks like they’ve decided not to by going after somebody that would get to all of us on some level. Baron would be angry that they got one of his girls. Q would be mad because he’s working Fraser’s security job and it reflects poorly on him if one of his charges gets assaulted and me…
Skylar Hansen: That’s true.
She pauses.
Skylar Hansen: Well, is it gonna work? Are they gonna give in?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: I don’t know. They’ve announced a title match for the Kenyon sisters on the next show and then the one after is a six-man with me against Travis and his minions.
Skylar Hansen: So not a title shot then, that’s something. Bastards don't deserve it!
Craven nods.
Craven: I don’t know what to do, Sky. I mean, this guy is kind of delusional. He thinks Ashley Kenyon beat Vince Jones when she didn’t and doesn’t seem to let facts get in the way when they should stop him cold and now he’s attacked somebody basically for the hell of it apparently because he wasn’t getting enough attention.
Skylar Hansen: He's worse than The Children then. At least they had some kind of purpose behind what they did, not just for attention.
Craven nods slowly.
Craven: Now we gotta worry about Baron snapping just after he’d pulled his shit together.
He pauses, biting his bottom lip.
Craven: It’s times like this I really wish I could just get fucked up and pass out… without feeling like a complete selfish prick about it later.
Skylar Hansen: You're not selfish, Sweetie... you never have been.
Craven nods slowly.
Craven: I should go get the kids…
Skylar Hansen: Yeah, I guess so...
She swallows.
Skylar Hansen: You don’t think he'll come for me do you?
Shaking his head, he walks over to her and kisses her.
Craven: I could always carry you to the car…
Skylar Hansen: Would the doctors even allow me to leave?
Craven: We are kinda home, Sky. The doctors have no say in the matter.
Skylar Hansen: That’s true, but is it wise for me to be out of the bed?
Craven: No, but when has that ever stopped us before?
Skylar Hansen: Well it is nice when you carry me...
Craven: Let's go, then.
Skylar Hansen: Ok let’s go.
Craven nods, picks her up and helps her to the car. He steps around to the driver’s side himself, fires it up and heads off to the hospital to try and help the rest of their little family.
October 9, 2014
Las Vegas, Nevada?
Three days previously, Warrick Craven had been inside a dressing room for a wrestling show he was not booked on to stand by teammates set to fight a match that had very little to do with him against Bethany and Ashley Kenyon for tag team championships he’d barely ever seven laid eyes on. As they stood there waiting for the time to come for that match, Kyle Travis sent them all a video he had made two weeks previous to that of an attack he knew would hit home for all three active members of the Sin City Knights.
Now, he sits in his car, a dark green 1994 Ford Taurus SHO, shooting glances at the unassuming yet spacious house sitting across the street on his passenger side. Seeing no one walking through this exclusive area of town at the moment, Craven reaches up and turns on his voice recorder.
Craven: It’s amazing what you learn about yourself when you actually find you really do have something to lose.
He nods as he shoots another glance at the house.
Craven: You’ve got a nice house, Kyle, a nice place to raise a family and treat yourself to memories of better days. I can just picture your trophy room now and how you must have a new spot all picked out for all the things you’re gonna get to mount from this hunt in UWA. There’s the North American Championship belt in its place of semi-honor waiting for its big brother to come take the big spot. There’s the notices for all the scalps you’re gonna take in your quest to prove you’re still the greatest thing since sliced bread.
He pauses as his gaze moves from the house back to the street in front of him.
Craven: How many memories come flooding back every time you look around that room, Kyle? How many videos play in your mind reliving all of your past accomplishments that you so love to throw in everyone else’s face whenever you see a camera nearby?
Another pause as a smile comes across his face. He nods and then starts singing.
Craven: I had a friend was a big baseball player
back in high school
He could throw that speedball by you
Make you look like a fool boy
Saw him the other night at this roadside bar
I was walking in, he was walking out
We went back inside sat down had a few drinks
but all he kept talking about was
Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days
Craven glances back behind him to make sure no one is creeping up on him as he sits here just watching the world around him.
Craven: That’s you, isn’t it, Kyle? You just love telling everyone about how much better you used to be treated. You love regaling us all with tales of how you won this world title and that world title and how things were so much better when the company heads treated you with what you feel was your just level of respect. You tell us all about them glory days and how you’re a legend and we should all by God get down on our hands and knees and worship at the altar of “The Once And Future King.”
His gaze moves back to the steering wheel as he shakes his head in skeptical disbelief.
Craven: I can’t even begin to imagine what that must be like, to be as far into a career as you are, have a laundry list of apparent accomplishments, walk into a company that, by all rights, you should be so far ahead of everyone in terms of renown and star power that you get handed a special place at the table and then watch it pass you by because all you have left anymore are those stories of things most in that company are too young in their careers to have truly witnessed in all their glory. I’m a baby in this sport by any standards, never wrestled professionally before UWA and to get to sit and absorb things from people like you, like Vince Jones, like Fraser Freeman, Quentin Sharpe, and everyone else who’s come in here with actual experience should be a blessing that no amount of money can possibly buy and yet…
He shakes his head again as he looks back at the house.
Craven: I find myself actually kind of feeling sorry for you. You walked into this company with that attitude, that smug fucking smile on your face and showed off that trophy room in that house of yours and then you told us all we weren’t fit to lick the dung off your boots, much less lace them up, and yet every time you do anything, you manage to find a way to just make it seem like you either got lucky, made it all up or you’ve lost whatever drive you used to have. You tell us how awesome you are, how you’re the champion of champions and then you wrestle like a guy who has barely had more time in the ring than I have and when you talk?
He blinks, staring at the house like he can’t believe it.
Craven: Skylar IS a prostitute. It’s why she went to the PleasureDome for shelter when I came to UWA looking for her. She thought the Silver Baron and Fraser Freeman could offer her both employment and protection and, in truth, they did as she asked. They even gave her friend and companion, the women she considers her little sister, a job as an exotic dancer. There are several wrestlers in UWA who have paid for her services and I’ve done a few odd jobs here and there for the Baron and Fraser as well when it pertains to certain employees of the PleasureDome. That...
He nods, taking a deep breath.
Craven: Is why we have been members of the Sin City Knights for a good little bit here, Kyle and you would know that if you would bother paying attention. There seem to be things you miss a lot, like whether Ashley Kenyon has actually beaten Vince Jones, which, she has not, and even your latest victim’s name.
Anger starts to creep into his voice.
Craven: What’s even sadder is that you’ve found two like-minded guys to spew stupidity in the air next to you in Connor Murphy and Gabriel Krown. Guys, I hate to break it to you but Oliver Georgio didn’t just make THIS match. He makes all of them. That’s what he does, he’s the owner, the boss, the matchmaker. You asked for a match with the Sin City Knights and guess what, he gave you one, he just didn’t give you a title shot because you’d already lost that. He gave you that opportunity coming off that pay-per-view attack you guys perpetrated and what did you guys do with it?
He nods knowingly at the recorder.
Craven: That’s right, you blew it. You lost and thus Bethany and Ashley got the shot instead. As for why you and the Kenyons were there in the first place, it’s quite simple if you just pay attention. You see, for all your talk of how there was no tournament for the tag team titles, yes there was and you were in it. The Sin City Knights fought K.I.S.S. and you guys fought the Cornbread Mafia and the two winning teams, the Sin City Knights and the Cornbread Mafia then faced off for the championships. Then you and K.I.S.S. were given the opportunity to show who should get the first shot and you lost. If you two had paid just a hint more attention to that than to the fact that the version of the Knights that won the shot was not the version that competed in the title shot itself, you’d probably have won more than one match since you got here.
He glares at the recorder as if the members of Ragnarok are standing right there in front of him.
Craven: I’ve had six matches total, all here in UWA, including one with you two jackasses as my partners and that went well, didn’t it?
He cocks his head, his glare intensifying.
Craven: And after everything you and your king have been handed on a platter here, he got placed in the original North American title match without having to earn it and you guys got to be in the tag playoff despite losing damn near everything you’ve been in, you all have the audacity, the unmitigated gall to make demands, throw out words like respect and deserve and outright say you’ve been fucked over when really, you’ve been coddled and protected every step of the way and the only reason you’re pissed is because you weren’t good enough to take advantage of the privileges you were afforded!
He shakes his head and looks back to the house.
Craven: You’re so busy screaming about the lawn having a couple of leaves on it, you didn’t even notice you were living in the best house on the block and then you decided you needed to act like common thugs, something you’re supposedly better than, and tried to burn mine down!
Shaking his head, Craven looks back to the recorder.
Craven: That’s got to be the funniest part of all of this, you guys told me to just walk away, that this didn’t concern me because I wasn’t one of the champions running away from a fight...
Swallowing hard, Craven glares straight ahead.
Craven: And then you went out and made sure I WAS part of it by attacking one of the three people from MY family that works for the Baron at the PleasureDome and there is no way in hell you are going to convince me that was coincidental! For whatever reason, you’ve convinced yourself you are owed more than everyone else and I for one am sick of listening to you whine and bitch that you aren’t having your ass kissed like you’re a god when all you ever do is get handed an opportunity to shine and then prove the guy giving you that opportunity probably shouldn’t have bothered in the first place!
He shakes his head and turns the recorder off just as the door to his car opens and Quentin “Razor” Sharpe gets into the passenger seat.
Craven: Safe house is ready?
Quentin nods.
Quentin "Razor" Sharpe: The girls are set, Baron’s been chilled, the cameras are in place, everything’s in place.
Craven nods and cranks up the car.
Craven: Alright, then I spose we can go back to work now.
Quentin shrugs.
Quentin "Razor" Sharpe: We’re always at work, Rick. We simply change the locations from which we operate from time to time.
Craven nods, managing a smile.
Craven: I spose you’re right, Q.
Quentin nods his approval and agreement as Craven puts the car into gear and starts to pull out into the street. He glances back at the house one more time and then nods as he turns his gaze back to what’s in front of him.
Craven: Time to move Brittany to the other safe house…
Nodding slightly again, Quentin quickly checks his smart phone.
Quentin "Razor" Sharpe: The system at your place is fully functional and will allow us to keep eyes on everything at all times.
Craven laughs nervously.
Craven: You really are the security system from hell.
Quentin laughs along with his young friend.
Quentin "Razor" Sharpe: Wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t.
Half an hour later, the two men pull up outside Spring Valley Hospital. Quentin steps from the car, opens the back door and watches as Merlyn “Rocket” Harper and Cynthia “Sin” Conway wheel Sin’s sister, Brittany Conway aka Miss Mercy/Mercedes Graves of the PleasureDome to the vehicle in a wheelchair. Rocket and Quentin move quickly but gently to get the injured Brittany into the front seat while Sin moves the chair around to the trunk. Quentin straps Brittany in for safety and then slips into the backseat with Sin. Rocket folds up the chair and slides it into the trunk of the car, closing that before heading to the backseat as well. With everyone safely inside, the doors all closed, Craven puts the car into gear and drives back to his home.
Another hour later, Quentin has taken his leave, while Brittany has been set up in a room adjacent to her sister’s in the downstairs area of this lovely rental house. Through her still battered and bruised face, Brittany looks around.
Brittany Conway: I don’t remember this place being so…
Craven nods solemnly.
Craven: I used to only have the one part of the downstairs area, nice rent too. However, my landlord wanted to move back to Hawaii so he sold me the entire thing for next to nothing because some of it needed fixing and he didn’t feel like waiting til that happened. So Q and the Baron helped me find the right people to set us up with nice, safe home here now.
Brittany nods as Craven, Skylar, Sin and Rocket all smile, trying to make her feel more secure and at home.
Brittany Conway: So… this is home now?
Craven nods.
Craven: If you’d like it to be. I’m sure Cindy would love that.
Before anyone can answer, Brittany nods sadly. Tears start in her eyes as she starts quietly sobbing.
Brittany Conway: I can’t just go back to work… can I?
As everyone else looks at her sadly, all wishing they could find a way to comfort her, Craven nods grimly.
Craven: Not right away, no. You need time to heal, same as Sky.
Brittany nods slowly, tears streaming down her bruised face.
Brittany Conway: What did I do?
Her hands fly up to cover her face.
Brittany Conway: What did I do to…
Sin moves in quickly to hug her sister.
Craven: Nothing…
He pauses as Sin, Rocket and Skylar all nod in unison.
Craven: You… did nothing wrong…
The family spends the rest of the evening comforting Brittany, each one thinking the same thing, “Ragnarok is gonna pay for this!”
Las Vegas, Nevada
Skylar Hansen sits outside in the sun, absentmindedly playing with a loose thread on her chair while staring at a bird playing in a tree. Warrick Craven walks up and watches her play with it, smiling in his amusement.
Craven: Interesting chair?
Skylar looks up, surprised.
Skylar Hansen: Hmmm?
Craven smiles sweetly.
Craven: You been playin with that thread for fifteen minutes.
Skylar Hansen: Oh... a lot on my mind I guess.
Craven cocks his head inquisitively.
Craven: Like what?
Skylar Hansen: Nathaniel.... Katarina.... I think he did something to her. She hides it well but she's freaked out of her mind.
Craven nods.
Craven: I noticed.
Skylar Hansen: What do you think happened? Was it on the show? Have you watched it back?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: If I had to guess? I'd imagine he got in close to her and said something that would be meaningful to her and then left because that way it would totally be a mindfuck and that seems to be how he operates outside the ring.
Skylar Hansen: That bastard I ought to hunt him down and give him what for...
Craven shrugs.
Craven: I think we kinda both got that shot already.
Skylar Hansen: Yeah but this time I KNOW what to expect from him. He won't affect me as much when I know it's coming...
She goes quiet.
Skylar Hansen: In theory, at least.
Craven nods.
Craven: That probably depends on whether he knows how to push your buttons.
Skylar Hansen: This is true... we can just hope that he doesn’t.
Craven nods slowly.
Craven: Sin and Rocket looked relatively sober when they came to get her a change of clothes before work. Never seen her that... clean...
Skylar looks surprised.
Skylar Hansen: Really? Sober?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: She looked clear. Rocket sounded like they'd been almost too busy to do much of that lately.
He pauses, smiling slightly.
Craven: Almost like they were getting to be kids.
Skylar Hansen: About time she got to have a childhood, even if it is several years too late.
Craven: They are still sorta the right age for teenager stuff.
Skylar Hansen: That’s true, shame we're a bit passed that age. A childhood would be nice...
Craven shrugs, smirking playfully.
Craven: It's not like we're old, Sky.
Skylar Hansen: Well I do feel it sometimes...
He nods and cradles her head against his chest.
Craven: I know...
He leans down and kisses the top of her head.
Craven: I'm sorry I didn't get to you faster.
She muses.
Skylar Hansen: What would you have done had you got to the ring in time?
Craven: When he had his hands on you?
She nods.
Craven: I'd probably have grabbed something from the crowd, maybe somebody's beer. Thrown it in his eyes and then knocked him on his ass with a chair when he couldn't see anymore.
Skylar Hansen: I would have enjoyed seeing that very much, pretty sure Katarina would have to.
Craven shrugs, nodding slowly.
Craven: I'm sorry I didn't.
Skylar Hansen: It’s fine, I know you'll be there next time.
Craven: I'm sorry I didn't get there earlier for you in general too. You might have gotten a childhood then.
Skylar Hansen: I never had much of a childhood before I met you either. What my father did wasn’t the end of my childhood, it was the end of my time with them. My childhood never really began.
He swallows hard.
Craven: Still, I could have at least let you be a teenager…
Skylar Hansen: Yeah... But...
She sighs.
Skylar Hansen: If I ever hear you try to blame yourself for what HE did to me again, God help me, I will smack sense into you! YOU weren’t to blame for what he did to me! You were NEVER to blame, for anything.
Leaning down, he holds her close and nods.
Craven: Do you ever miss being "Skadi and Ricky?"
Skylar Hansen: Yeah... been a while since anyone ever called me that.
Craven: I always did think you a goddess.
Skylar blushes.
Skylar Hansen: Well a goddess always needs a god at her side, and I got one of those too.
Craven: I love you, Skadi.
Skylar Hansen: Love you too Rick...
She smiles.
Skylar Hansen: You know I'm gonna have to find a nickname for you now right? Some god, worthy of you...
Craven: You'll think of something…
Skylar Hansen: Oh I'm sure I will, but then again, to me, you are more superior than all the gods combined...
She smiles and laughs a little.
Skylar Hansen: Gods Inferior, Rick Superior.
Craven smiles and kisses her.
Craven: keep that up and we're gonna have to go inside...
Skylar Hansen: Nothing saying we can't do that.
Craven nods and scoops her up from the chair into his arms. They start kissing almost immediately as he carries her back inside the house so they can enjoy some quality time together.
September 8, 2014
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Paradise, Nevada
The match between Skylar Hansen and J-Shades has just ended and Skylar lies on the mat clutching at her left knee. Craven makes his way to the ring and kneels down next to her as trainers swarm in to check her out. Within a few minutes, the head trainer and Craven help Skylar stand up, her knee obviously not allowing her to ambulate on her own. They help her to the back where she manages to sit on an examination table. As the trainers and doctor check her out, Craven steps back into the hallway. A little bit later, Craven returns to find an obviously still in pain and now quite upset Skylar sitting on the table.
Craven: So…
Skylar Hansen: They think I might have tore my knee when I landed…
She winces as she moves a little.
Skylar Hansen: We’re not talking a simple injury here either...
Craven: So you're gonna be laid up for a while?
Skylar Hansen: Seems like it.... God dammit.... I was just starting to get somewhere too. ..
Craven nods.
Craven: How long, do they have any idea?
Skylar Hansen: They won't know for sure till I get an MRI.
Craven hugs her gently.
Craven: Sin’s gonna shit herself, isn’t she?
Skylar Hansen: Yep she is... shit... I won't be able to work either job... wrestler or stripping... I won't be able to pay rent... I....
She shakes her head and squeezes her eyes closed.
Craven: Hey, whoa… slow down…
Skylar Hansen: But it's true... I can't make much money from singing. Without wrestling and the pleasure dome I have no income... if I'm out for months that's months without income.. months where I can't pay rent...
She winces again she moves the wrong way.
Craven: Well... you could always move in with Rocket and me.
Skylar Hansen: I couldn’t inconvenience you guys like that...
Craven chuckles.
Craven: Sky, the four of us practically live together already... we just tend to split time between both places.
Skylar Hansen: That’s true.... Are you sure you'd wanna take that more permanent step though? I don't want to be a burden with this injury...
Craven shakes his head.
Craven: Sky, I would have married you when we were teenagers...
Skylar looks down and blushes.
Skylar Hansen: I know…
She looks up and smiles.
Skylar Hansen: Looks like you're getting yourself a new pair of flatmates then.
Craven: Which place do you like better?
Skylar Hansen: Wherever you are suits me fine.
Craven nods.
Craven: I'd say the same thing but, if you're more comfortable at your place, we could always move in with you and just pool our resources to keep your lease rather than mine.
Skylar Hansen: Well comfortable... You're talking to someone who's barely lived in a house for more than a few months for the last few years... Comfortableness won’t be an issue... I don't have much belongings really... Like I said, I'm cool wherever, though if we stay at mine, you'll have to take over the lease... So maybe its easier for me to go to yours?
Craven nods.
Craven: Ok.
Skylar Hansen: It’s a floating lease I have on place anyways, so I could leave if I had to run again...
Craven nods again.
Craven: How do you think we break this to Sin and Rocket?
Skylar Hansen: Well no doubt they're watching the show, saw what happened and are prob on their way here as we speak... let me check my phone, can you pass it to me?
Craven hands it over.
Skylar Hansen: Yeah, she's been trying to call me…
As if on cue, the phone rings. Skylar Pushes the button and answers it.
Skylar Hansen: Hey Sin.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: SKY?
Skylar Hansen: Sin... it’s my knee... They think I tore the ligaments in it...
Sin goes quiet for a second.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Are we gonna be in trouble?
Skylar Hansen: What would you say.... If we were to move into Rick’s?
Sin goes quiet again.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: I wouldn't be in the way?
Skylar Hansen: What makes you think you would be?
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: You wanna move in with Rick…
Skylar Hansen: And that makes you be in the way... How exactly?
She can hear Sin's voice breaking.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: I... I just..
Skylar Hansen: Sin... you'll never be in the way!
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Ok... do you need us to come help bring you home?
Skylar Hansen: I think I might be stuck here for a bit.... I need to get an MRI. Not sure what the plan is tonight.... want to come meet me here? I'm in the trainer’s room.
Craven: Hospital…
Skylar Hansen: Hospital... yeah... that.
Sin's small worried voice comes back again.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Ok.
Skylar Hansen: Just ask at the main door, they'll tell you where I am.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Ok.
Skylar Hansen: See you soon, Sin.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: I love you, Sky.
Skylar Hansen: Love you too, Sin.
Craven nods.
Craven: Well, I spose that takes care of that problem. Don't worry, I'll talk to Baron.
Skylar nods, laying the now hung up phone at her side.
Skylar Hansen: He'll understand I'm sure.
Craven: We'll get through this, Sky.
Skylar Hansen: I hope so...
September 25, 2014
Las Vegas, Nevada
Warrick Craven stands next to Skylar Hansen’s bed as she sits up, left knee heavily bandaged from her recent surgery. She grimaces in pain as she moves both legs to the edge of the bed.
Craven: You sure this is a good idea?
Skylar nods and Craven bends over dutifully to help her. They make their way to the bathroom where she takes care of her business. At the sound of the flush, Craven helps her back to the bed and then sits down on the nearby chair. Just as Skylar manages to get her leg situated, both phones go off. Craven grabs them and checks, frowning.
Craven: Oh, this can’t be good… it’s both Rocket and Sin…
The color drains from Skylar’s face.
Skylar Hansen: Answer it, they'll be together.
He nods and hits both so they’re on speaker. Immediately Sin starts screaming.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: Oh my God, oh my God, oh my GOOOOOOOD!!!!!
Shocked, both Skylar and Craven stare at the sounds coming from the phone.
Craven: Guys… guys… what’s going on?
Sin’s voice comes back shrill.
Cynthia "Sin" Conway: She… she… bad…
Skylar Hansen: What’s happened? Sin... calm down... What’s wrong?
Sin can’t seem to find the words and the one line goes dead.
Craven: Rocket?
His much more calm and yet obviously worried voice answers.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Yeah?
Craven nods.
Craven: What just happened?
A muffled sound of crying meets their ears.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Cindy’s on her knees sobbing too hard to talk.
Skylar Hansen: Why? What’s happened?
Rocket takes a deep breath.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Brittany’s in the hospital. Somebody beat her… bad…
Skylar Hansen: FUCK!
Skylar curses and winces as she sits up in the bed, shock on her face.
Skylar Hansen: Who? WHO did it? Why?
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: I don’t know, she’s unconscious and hasn’t said anything. She was supposed to meet us this morning and didn’t show. We went over to her place and just as we were about to knock, Cindy got a call. Her number was in Brittany’s purse as an emergency contact so they called her.
Skylar Hansen: Shit... How bad is she? When I find out who did this...
She looks like she might leap out of the bed there and then. Craven moves in quickly to stop her.
Craven: Whoa, Sky…
Skylar Hansen: Whoever did this... needs to pay... big time...
She pauses.
Skylar Hansen: Do we know who did it?
Just then a text message comes in.
Craven: Oh my God…
He goes silent and Rocket’s voice comes out.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Dub?
Craven shakes his head.
Craven: Yeah… we do now…
Skylar Hansen: Who?
Craven swallows hard.
Craven: There’s a video… Kyle Travis…
Skylar jaw drops and for a moment she can't speak.
Skylar Hansen: A... Video...
Her hands clench into fists, disbelief and anger are evident in her voice.
Skylar Hansen: A VIDEO! He filmed this? Sick fucking bastard!
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Dub…
Craven nods.
Craven: I’m gonna make a call, get some guys to come watch you two. You stay there, you hear me?
Rocket’s voice comes back, fear filling the air.
Merlyn "Rocket" Harper: Yeah, Dub, we hear you.
Realization and panic suddenly sets into Skylar.
Skylar Hansen: What if he comes for me? I can't fight... not like this...
Craven ends the call, watches a video and then looks to Skylar.
Craven: The text was from Q, he’s coming over here with some security guys. Apparently, Travis made a promo out of the end of the beating.
Her initial anger fading, her voice is a little shaky, but she tries to hold it together.
Skylar Hansen: What did he say?
Craven looks down at his phone as a new text comes in.
Craven: Q says Travis did his usual babbling and then showed Brittany hanging upside down from a car door and then he beat her with a crowbar while he talked.
Skylar closes her eyes and winces at the thought, a tear trickles down her cheek, which she brushes away.
Skylar Hansen: Did he say who would be next? Did he say why?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: Apparently he threatened Stephanie the interview chick.
Skylar Hansen: Stephanie? What did he have to gain by that?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: Who knows, he’s been going on like a jealous little kid about how nobody cares unless you get kidnapped by a redneck cult.
Skylar Hansen: Yeah... Cos that’s apparently how you get famous in this place? Is he seriously that deluded?
She looks over at Craven.
Skylar Hansen: Cos I don't remember being kidnapped by a cult... Do you? I think I'd remember if I did... Nope didn’t happen.
Craven shrugs.
Craven: He’s babbled and taken pot shots at Joshua McBride and his Children left and right.
Skylar Hansen: Is he like... Obsessed with them or something? Dude really need to focus on his own problems not everyone else’s...
She shakes her head.
Skylar Hansen: I hope they make him pay dearly for this...
Craven: He wants the Knights.
He pauses, shaking his head.
Craven: He wants us to give his little bitches a title shot they don’t deserve.
Skylar Hansen: See I get this whole, any of us can defend the titles thing, but attacking Brittany only gets at you and I and well.. I'm not exactly in the position to fight them. Would Baron, Q and Freeman really give them a shot for attacking one of the like forty girls who work in the Dome?
Craven: Fraser's gone. He wandered off from the hospital when he woke up.
Skylar gapes.
Skylar Hansen: He's gone? Since when?
Craven: Like I said, he woke up from that beating Vince Jones gave him, went crazy, wandered off and nobody has heard from him since.
Skylar Hansen: Well fuck, ain’t that just grand, Freeman gone, me out, and you guys have a bunch of idiots running around forcing you into title shots they haven’t earned...
Craven: Actually, they lost it fair and square to Bethany and Ashley Kenyon on the same night you got hurt.
Skylar Hansen: Then boo hoo to them, they should just get over and it and move on...
He nods.
Craven: It looks like they’ve decided not to by going after somebody that would get to all of us on some level. Baron would be angry that they got one of his girls. Q would be mad because he’s working Fraser’s security job and it reflects poorly on him if one of his charges gets assaulted and me…
Skylar Hansen: That’s true.
She pauses.
Skylar Hansen: Well, is it gonna work? Are they gonna give in?
Craven shrugs.
Craven: I don’t know. They’ve announced a title match for the Kenyon sisters on the next show and then the one after is a six-man with me against Travis and his minions.
Skylar Hansen: So not a title shot then, that’s something. Bastards don't deserve it!
Craven nods.
Craven: I don’t know what to do, Sky. I mean, this guy is kind of delusional. He thinks Ashley Kenyon beat Vince Jones when she didn’t and doesn’t seem to let facts get in the way when they should stop him cold and now he’s attacked somebody basically for the hell of it apparently because he wasn’t getting enough attention.
Skylar Hansen: He's worse than The Children then. At least they had some kind of purpose behind what they did, not just for attention.
Craven nods slowly.
Craven: Now we gotta worry about Baron snapping just after he’d pulled his shit together.
He pauses, biting his bottom lip.
Craven: It’s times like this I really wish I could just get fucked up and pass out… without feeling like a complete selfish prick about it later.
Skylar Hansen: You're not selfish, Sweetie... you never have been.
Craven nods slowly.
Craven: I should go get the kids…
Skylar Hansen: Yeah, I guess so...
She swallows.
Skylar Hansen: You don’t think he'll come for me do you?
Shaking his head, he walks over to her and kisses her.
Craven: I could always carry you to the car…
Skylar Hansen: Would the doctors even allow me to leave?
Craven: We are kinda home, Sky. The doctors have no say in the matter.
Skylar Hansen: That’s true, but is it wise for me to be out of the bed?
Craven: No, but when has that ever stopped us before?
Skylar Hansen: Well it is nice when you carry me...
Craven: Let's go, then.
Skylar Hansen: Ok let’s go.
Craven nods, picks her up and helps her to the car. He steps around to the driver’s side himself, fires it up and heads off to the hospital to try and help the rest of their little family.
October 9, 2014
Las Vegas, Nevada?
Three days previously, Warrick Craven had been inside a dressing room for a wrestling show he was not booked on to stand by teammates set to fight a match that had very little to do with him against Bethany and Ashley Kenyon for tag team championships he’d barely ever seven laid eyes on. As they stood there waiting for the time to come for that match, Kyle Travis sent them all a video he had made two weeks previous to that of an attack he knew would hit home for all three active members of the Sin City Knights.
Now, he sits in his car, a dark green 1994 Ford Taurus SHO, shooting glances at the unassuming yet spacious house sitting across the street on his passenger side. Seeing no one walking through this exclusive area of town at the moment, Craven reaches up and turns on his voice recorder.
Craven: It’s amazing what you learn about yourself when you actually find you really do have something to lose.
He nods as he shoots another glance at the house.
Craven: You’ve got a nice house, Kyle, a nice place to raise a family and treat yourself to memories of better days. I can just picture your trophy room now and how you must have a new spot all picked out for all the things you’re gonna get to mount from this hunt in UWA. There’s the North American Championship belt in its place of semi-honor waiting for its big brother to come take the big spot. There’s the notices for all the scalps you’re gonna take in your quest to prove you’re still the greatest thing since sliced bread.
He pauses as his gaze moves from the house back to the street in front of him.
Craven: How many memories come flooding back every time you look around that room, Kyle? How many videos play in your mind reliving all of your past accomplishments that you so love to throw in everyone else’s face whenever you see a camera nearby?
Another pause as a smile comes across his face. He nods and then starts singing.
Craven: I had a friend was a big baseball player
back in high school
He could throw that speedball by you
Make you look like a fool boy
Saw him the other night at this roadside bar
I was walking in, he was walking out
We went back inside sat down had a few drinks
but all he kept talking about was
Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days
Craven glances back behind him to make sure no one is creeping up on him as he sits here just watching the world around him.
Craven: That’s you, isn’t it, Kyle? You just love telling everyone about how much better you used to be treated. You love regaling us all with tales of how you won this world title and that world title and how things were so much better when the company heads treated you with what you feel was your just level of respect. You tell us all about them glory days and how you’re a legend and we should all by God get down on our hands and knees and worship at the altar of “The Once And Future King.”
His gaze moves back to the steering wheel as he shakes his head in skeptical disbelief.
Craven: I can’t even begin to imagine what that must be like, to be as far into a career as you are, have a laundry list of apparent accomplishments, walk into a company that, by all rights, you should be so far ahead of everyone in terms of renown and star power that you get handed a special place at the table and then watch it pass you by because all you have left anymore are those stories of things most in that company are too young in their careers to have truly witnessed in all their glory. I’m a baby in this sport by any standards, never wrestled professionally before UWA and to get to sit and absorb things from people like you, like Vince Jones, like Fraser Freeman, Quentin Sharpe, and everyone else who’s come in here with actual experience should be a blessing that no amount of money can possibly buy and yet…
He shakes his head again as he looks back at the house.
Craven: I find myself actually kind of feeling sorry for you. You walked into this company with that attitude, that smug fucking smile on your face and showed off that trophy room in that house of yours and then you told us all we weren’t fit to lick the dung off your boots, much less lace them up, and yet every time you do anything, you manage to find a way to just make it seem like you either got lucky, made it all up or you’ve lost whatever drive you used to have. You tell us how awesome you are, how you’re the champion of champions and then you wrestle like a guy who has barely had more time in the ring than I have and when you talk?
He blinks, staring at the house like he can’t believe it.
Craven: Skylar IS a prostitute. It’s why she went to the PleasureDome for shelter when I came to UWA looking for her. She thought the Silver Baron and Fraser Freeman could offer her both employment and protection and, in truth, they did as she asked. They even gave her friend and companion, the women she considers her little sister, a job as an exotic dancer. There are several wrestlers in UWA who have paid for her services and I’ve done a few odd jobs here and there for the Baron and Fraser as well when it pertains to certain employees of the PleasureDome. That...
He nods, taking a deep breath.
Craven: Is why we have been members of the Sin City Knights for a good little bit here, Kyle and you would know that if you would bother paying attention. There seem to be things you miss a lot, like whether Ashley Kenyon has actually beaten Vince Jones, which, she has not, and even your latest victim’s name.
Anger starts to creep into his voice.
Craven: What’s even sadder is that you’ve found two like-minded guys to spew stupidity in the air next to you in Connor Murphy and Gabriel Krown. Guys, I hate to break it to you but Oliver Georgio didn’t just make THIS match. He makes all of them. That’s what he does, he’s the owner, the boss, the matchmaker. You asked for a match with the Sin City Knights and guess what, he gave you one, he just didn’t give you a title shot because you’d already lost that. He gave you that opportunity coming off that pay-per-view attack you guys perpetrated and what did you guys do with it?
He nods knowingly at the recorder.
Craven: That’s right, you blew it. You lost and thus Bethany and Ashley got the shot instead. As for why you and the Kenyons were there in the first place, it’s quite simple if you just pay attention. You see, for all your talk of how there was no tournament for the tag team titles, yes there was and you were in it. The Sin City Knights fought K.I.S.S. and you guys fought the Cornbread Mafia and the two winning teams, the Sin City Knights and the Cornbread Mafia then faced off for the championships. Then you and K.I.S.S. were given the opportunity to show who should get the first shot and you lost. If you two had paid just a hint more attention to that than to the fact that the version of the Knights that won the shot was not the version that competed in the title shot itself, you’d probably have won more than one match since you got here.
He glares at the recorder as if the members of Ragnarok are standing right there in front of him.
Craven: I’ve had six matches total, all here in UWA, including one with you two jackasses as my partners and that went well, didn’t it?
He cocks his head, his glare intensifying.
Craven: And after everything you and your king have been handed on a platter here, he got placed in the original North American title match without having to earn it and you guys got to be in the tag playoff despite losing damn near everything you’ve been in, you all have the audacity, the unmitigated gall to make demands, throw out words like respect and deserve and outright say you’ve been fucked over when really, you’ve been coddled and protected every step of the way and the only reason you’re pissed is because you weren’t good enough to take advantage of the privileges you were afforded!
He shakes his head and looks back to the house.
Craven: You’re so busy screaming about the lawn having a couple of leaves on it, you didn’t even notice you were living in the best house on the block and then you decided you needed to act like common thugs, something you’re supposedly better than, and tried to burn mine down!
Shaking his head, Craven looks back to the recorder.
Craven: That’s got to be the funniest part of all of this, you guys told me to just walk away, that this didn’t concern me because I wasn’t one of the champions running away from a fight...
Swallowing hard, Craven glares straight ahead.
Craven: And then you went out and made sure I WAS part of it by attacking one of the three people from MY family that works for the Baron at the PleasureDome and there is no way in hell you are going to convince me that was coincidental! For whatever reason, you’ve convinced yourself you are owed more than everyone else and I for one am sick of listening to you whine and bitch that you aren’t having your ass kissed like you’re a god when all you ever do is get handed an opportunity to shine and then prove the guy giving you that opportunity probably shouldn’t have bothered in the first place!
He shakes his head and turns the recorder off just as the door to his car opens and Quentin “Razor” Sharpe gets into the passenger seat.
Craven: Safe house is ready?
Quentin nods.
Quentin "Razor" Sharpe: The girls are set, Baron’s been chilled, the cameras are in place, everything’s in place.
Craven nods and cranks up the car.
Craven: Alright, then I spose we can go back to work now.
Quentin shrugs.
Quentin "Razor" Sharpe: We’re always at work, Rick. We simply change the locations from which we operate from time to time.
Craven nods, managing a smile.
Craven: I spose you’re right, Q.
Quentin nods his approval and agreement as Craven puts the car into gear and starts to pull out into the street. He glances back at the house one more time and then nods as he turns his gaze back to what’s in front of him.
Craven: Time to move Brittany to the other safe house…
Nodding slightly again, Quentin quickly checks his smart phone.
Quentin "Razor" Sharpe: The system at your place is fully functional and will allow us to keep eyes on everything at all times.
Craven laughs nervously.
Craven: You really are the security system from hell.
Quentin laughs along with his young friend.
Quentin "Razor" Sharpe: Wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t.
Half an hour later, the two men pull up outside Spring Valley Hospital. Quentin steps from the car, opens the back door and watches as Merlyn “Rocket” Harper and Cynthia “Sin” Conway wheel Sin’s sister, Brittany Conway aka Miss Mercy/Mercedes Graves of the PleasureDome to the vehicle in a wheelchair. Rocket and Quentin move quickly but gently to get the injured Brittany into the front seat while Sin moves the chair around to the trunk. Quentin straps Brittany in for safety and then slips into the backseat with Sin. Rocket folds up the chair and slides it into the trunk of the car, closing that before heading to the backseat as well. With everyone safely inside, the doors all closed, Craven puts the car into gear and drives back to his home.
Another hour later, Quentin has taken his leave, while Brittany has been set up in a room adjacent to her sister’s in the downstairs area of this lovely rental house. Through her still battered and bruised face, Brittany looks around.
Brittany Conway: I don’t remember this place being so…
Craven nods solemnly.
Craven: I used to only have the one part of the downstairs area, nice rent too. However, my landlord wanted to move back to Hawaii so he sold me the entire thing for next to nothing because some of it needed fixing and he didn’t feel like waiting til that happened. So Q and the Baron helped me find the right people to set us up with nice, safe home here now.
Brittany nods as Craven, Skylar, Sin and Rocket all smile, trying to make her feel more secure and at home.
Brittany Conway: So… this is home now?
Craven nods.
Craven: If you’d like it to be. I’m sure Cindy would love that.
Before anyone can answer, Brittany nods sadly. Tears start in her eyes as she starts quietly sobbing.
Brittany Conway: I can’t just go back to work… can I?
As everyone else looks at her sadly, all wishing they could find a way to comfort her, Craven nods grimly.
Craven: Not right away, no. You need time to heal, same as Sky.
Brittany nods slowly, tears streaming down her bruised face.
Brittany Conway: What did I do?
Her hands fly up to cover her face.
Brittany Conway: What did I do to…
Sin moves in quickly to hug her sister.
Craven: Nothing…
He pauses as Sin, Rocket and Skylar all nod in unison.
Craven: You… did nothing wrong…
The family spends the rest of the evening comforting Brittany, each one thinking the same thing, “Ragnarok is gonna pay for this!”
