Post by somethingwicked on Feb 9, 2021 10:50:57 GMT -5
The blackness of night breaks away suddenly and instantly as Xavier Wolf, Former Immortal Champion of OPW, kicks up in his bed. He looks around and checks for the other people that he had just dreamt were there. The fans. The referees. Him.
But he is in fact alone. Sleeping in a bed older than himself. Located in a hotel cheaper in both construction and decoration than the outfit he had been wearing. The shoes alone cost more than the lot this hole had been built on. Vincent had admitted to finding a place that both Vhodka would call “lavish” and Xavier would be ok sleeping in. He’d done good in both respects. Save for the truth of the matter, which was he had been operating under the idea of old Xavier. Not Nomad Xavier.
Nomad, the word used for a person who moves from place to place with no real home, had made his bed in the dirt. Rocks became pillows and while blankets were still blankets, you didn’t usually pull them all the way up because the smell wouldn’t be as strong if it was a little bit further away. The Xavier that Vincent was planning for had never slept in anything less than a king sized bed. This Xavier could collect a pile of dirt for a pillow and be asleep in seconds.
Yet something about this hole of a hotel was severely off. He had never been here before, he was sure of it. And whatever it was, It wasn’t even anything visible. It was a feeling. And it was a demanding one. He stood up and stretched, grabbing his cigarettes off the end table. He lit one quickly and leaned against the window sill. The parking lot was mostly empty, save for the car they’d arrived in. The road leading to it was quiet, almost abandoned, save for a few cars every 20 minutes or so. Xavier had spent many a night on the sides of roads like this, feet up on the handles of his bike, neck pressed against a bed roll strapped to the ass of the chopper. But that wasn’t the familiar part. It was something more. And then it hit him.
He was 16 years old, and was on vacation from school. Most would call it a suspension, but most didn’t have fathers who would install a tennis court or three to keep that off your record. Thomas Marke expected the best out of life. And if certain aspects could not deliver that naturally, he would gladly use his resources to purchase it. Xavier had not been happy about the bribe, nor the punishment. He hadn’t been wrong, nor was he sorry. He’d come to the aid of another student, and for his efforts he’d been given the same sentence as the perpetrator. They called it ‘fair’. What he called it was bullshit.
Thomas Marke, never one to miss an opportunity, flew his son out to the middle of god’s nowhere. It was a long stretch of land with nothing more than a few rocks and a few less trees. But to hear Thomas talk of it, it was to be the foundation of their future.
Thomas Marke
“ See this, Xavier? This is where the future happens. You find an area like this, you buy it from whoever thinks they own it, and you put something here. Something is, where nothing was. “
Xavier Marke
“ What would you even put here? “
Thomas Marke
“ Well, that’s the key to success isn’t it? Finding out what an area needs and playing to it. This could be a cement factory. It could be a car dealership. As long as you have the imagination, you can do anything. “
Xavier Marke
“ Except stick up for another student. Then you have to buy them a tennis court to keep my secret. Which I don’t even get, every kid in the school knows! So what’re you paying for? “
Thomas Marke
“ It is never about what others know, Xavier. It is always about what can be proven. Let the other kids talk. There is no proof of it. And that is all that matters. “ Thomas looked out at the land before him and tried to imagine what it was that he would build there. Xavier turned away and imagined a world where his father gave a shit enough to pay attention rather than thousands. And that is when current Xavier snapped out of the memory. He sits down on the bed, and fingertips the remote control, barely pressing the power button as the remote is greasy from years of use. The tv comes to life and Denzel Washington is moving about a room, giving out instructions to several people, including Dr. Dre, and Ethan Hawk. As he does so, he says something, and it strikes a nerve with Xaveir. In fact, many things strike a nerve. And they do so all at once.
Xavier Marke
“ Son of a bitch. “ He says out loud, standing and reaching for his phone which in the heat of the moment he forgot had been destroyed and not replaced. He raced to and flung the door open to find Vhodka Marie, dressed as godzilla walking past his door. He looked at her, and she looked at him, and for a second the both wanted to ask the other a question. His was likely to be ‘why are you dressed like Caleb Koresh, Emma’s cousin who works with us?’ and hers was probably going to be ‘dude where are your pants, you can’t just be naked out here!’ Neither asked either and both went their separate ways. Vhodka to her room where KONG most likely awaited her. And Xavier went to the front desk, banging on the counter, still unaware that he was nude. He would require a phone, a map, a highlighter, some salad, and a new hotel, as the reality of the situation just sank in, and none of this was going to be available from the clerk who needed help spelling ‘Vin’. He ran back to his room and went past it, banging on the room where his brother was banging and continued to do so until he answered. Standing in the doorway in a Kong outfit, Vincent looked up and down at his brother, confused.
Vincent Black
“ ...If you want to join, you’re going to need a costume. “
Xavier Marke
“ ….anyway. I need to borrow your phone. “
Vincent Black
“ I am not falling for that twice. Besides...we’re using it. “
Xavier Marke
“ Are you making a porn based o-...I don’t have time. Can I borrow her phone? “
Vincent Black
“ We’re using that one, too. Multiple angles. What’s going on? “
Xavier Marke
“ Two prongs are great. But I think I just found a third. “
Vincent Black
“ We’re rich. Have someone bring you a phone. “
Xavier Marke
“ And how am I calling them? “
Vincent Black
“ That’s a fair question. “ Vin steps back and calls out to Vhodka to bring him a phone. She appears in the Godzilla costume, and hands over a phone, kind of out of breath. “ Don’t mess with our footage. “
Xavier Marke
“ ...what's the title? “ Vhodka reappears, knocking Vin out of the way to excitedly respond.
Vhodka Marie
“ KOCK VERSUS VAJIRRA. The large monkey awakens, and i mean AW-AK-ENS, if you get my drift. And it goes head to head with VAJIRRA, the lizard king of Pussah, a small is- “
Xavier Marke
“ Sounds wonderful. “ Quickly typing out a message, Xavier hands back the phone and walks away. Vin closes the door and we hear the sounds of roars of both beast-like origins and that of genuine pleasure. Returning to his room, Xavier lights another cigarette and stares at the horizon. Tomorrow is a new day. Full of new possibilities. And ther sky will soon be full as well. Of at least two helicopters, one of which carried his wife. The days ahead would have to be played precisely right. One misstep, one mistake, and all of it would be for nothing. But done right, he stood to not only gain everything, but regain so much more. His eyes close easily, and open right back up determined.
Miles away, Kal X Wolf sits on a desk, looking out at something that has his undivided attention. Yawning, he begins to stretch, only to have the stretch disturbed by an extended hand holding a cup of steaming coffee. The outstretched hand belonged to his brother, Jackson, who looked just as tired as him, but far worse for it. The two sat there quietly for a moment, sipping the coffee, and starring off in the same direction. Jack turns to Kal, breaking the silence, while keeping his eyes on the focal point.
Jack Wolf
“ Xavier reached out. He’s with Vin in Omaha. Requested some supplies. Including the phone you crushed. “
Kal X Wolf
“ It was fucking neccessary, was it fucking not? “
Jack Wolf
“ Kal. This isn’t going to stay hidden for long. Marke is g- “
Kal X Wolf
“ Marke? Fuck Marke. Kid just lost his fucking title because of this fucked up bullshit. Now that fucking half-a-cunt fucking has it, and fucking beat him at his own game. This? This isn’t the time for this fucking...thing. “
Jack Wolf
“ My therapist says that this would make an amazing study. “
Kal X Wolf
“ Does the mother fucker have availability? Because at the end of this fucking bullshit, we’re all gonna fucking need one. “ Kal turns toward Jack, a look of anger on his face that is somehow different from the look of anger that was on his face a moment ago. “ Fuck, do you want to become that, too? “
Jack Wolf
“ Don’t do that. Don’t lash out at me with your misdirected anger. I am just as much a victim as you are. “
Kal X Wolf
“ Fuck, you sound like one al-fucking-ready. “
Jack Wolf
“ You have to admit. It’s not every day that the man who destroyed your family and made you who you are through his deeds imprisons your sister, supplies info to your enemies and...“ Jack takes a deep breath. Shocked at the very words that are about to fall from his lips into reality. As if even speaking of it makes it any more real. “...somehow brings your dead father back from the dead. “
The man in the room they’ve been staring at sits on a metal folding chair, his head in his hands as he looks down at a book in front of him. He turns the page and sighs, sitting back and reaching into the pocket of his black suit jacket for a white handkerchief. His face is covered in a well kept beard, but his eyes are not his. They are Kal’s, They are Jack’s. They are Sarah’s, Vin’s and Xavier’s. The man reaches down to his neck, and retucks the white collar back into the black button down shirt, and returns to the book before him, clearly a very old bible.
Kal X Wolf
“ And as a fucking priest no less. “
Jack and Kal sit there in silence, watching the man read the book of Lazarus, they assume silently. Sipping on their coffee, they sigh almost on cue, and the darkness returns once more, bringing us back into the shadows from which we came.
