Post by NoOnE on Mar 15, 2016 20:58:39 GMT -5
Shakedown Presents: A New Dawn
Part 1 – Madrugada (The Dark Before The Dawn)
A feeling all too familiar, not just since moving to Indianapolis, but since she gave up any semblance of a normal life to become a second-generation professional wrestler, Kem “Dynamo” Anderson stumbled back towards the locker room. After winning Evolved: Origins, the soreness felt like a badge of honor; tonight, her third-straight loss and sixth in eight tries in Indy Pro, the soreness is a scarlet letter. When she suffered her first loss to Issac Solo and Pavolo Kekoa, she gained regenerative strength from the “good jobs” and “nice work out there” she'd hear from the random production crew members or other wrestlers as she made her way back to the locker room but over time the conciliatory gestures devolved to white noise, and, by now, sounded completely like condescension, essentially a series of “Bless your heart”'s launched in her direction as the punchline of a cruel joke all those people will laugh about after Kem walks by. Defeated, in about as many ways as one could imagine, Kem is thankful to finally be able to tuck into the women's locker room, and is even more grateful to find the locker room void of other wrestlers; God, to have to face Emma Dylan's satisfaction at her downward spiral or Morgan Russo's “I Told You So” would've been enough for Kem to slit her throat to avoid it. Luckily for the sake of her life, the only voice telling her how far she'd fallen from topping the inaugual IPW Rankings was the one in her own head. Kem wasn't even sure she could handle seeing Ingrid and the gushing support she'd be want to offer; Ingrid's consoling was currently being offered to Venus, who had been tapped for an interview and was probably still there.
Kem's doldrums are broken by the sensation of a droplet of sweat crashing into her hand. Kem didn't even realize that she had come in and sat down on one of the benches, so lost in replaying over and over her “Hangover” duel with Morgan, the loss of which sealed her fate and gave Shakedown their fourth-straight defeat since given the opportunity to realize their dreams of becoming dual IPW champions. Now though, the cool, percussive feeling on her hand reminds her that, while there is plenty of time all week to beat herself up for another dissatisfying performance, right now, she needed to clean herself up. She reached into her bag for a change of clothes, purposefully digging past her “#RiseUp” T-shirt and jeans in favor of generic black exercise gear, not feeling worthy to wear the catchphrase, or any embellishment whatsoever. Adding a towel to her encumbrance, she heads to the restroom that leads to the shower stalls. A series of vanities are the only thing between Kem and a hot shower, perhaps the only thing that could provide warmth and comfort right now.
“Embarrassing”.
Kem stops in her tracks.
“You thought you were a champion.”
Kem looks around belligerently. She may not feel very good about herself, but she'll be DAMNED if someone else mocks her without getting repaid in violent kind.
“Look at you now.”
Triple-checking and confirming that she is absolutely alone, Kem finally catches movement in her peripheral vision, and she looks...
...she sees her reflection in the wall-sized mirror over the row of vanities. However, somehow, while the vision she sees is a reflection of Kem, it is not a reflection of her body position, but instead is somehow moving independently, staring into her with a glare so venomous that, for a moment, Kem regretted being capable of giving anyone such a look at all.
“So confident, so condescending, so CRETINOUS! You set out to ignite a phoenix, to show off your ability to make others better. GOOD JOB, KEM! YOU MADE MORGAN LOOK LIKE A CHAMPION! CONGRATULATIONS! Did it even take FIVE MINUTES to put you away?!? FINALLY! SOMEONE OUTPERFORMED JACOB DANIELS! Again, Kem CONGRATU-FUCKING-LATIONS on your great work! You did it! YOU MADE A HERO!”
Inexplicably unable to move or look away, Kem continues to watch as her reflection coldly mocks her with a slow clap, then stop suddenly.
“Oh wait! You thought YOU were gonna be that hero? You thought YOU were gonna be the one who'd get another shot at Untouchable? LOOK AT YOU! You aren't in their league! You're not even playing the same DAMN SPORT as Untouchable! Jacob Daniels is running through American Ninja Warrior and you can't even get through the MONKEY BARS! Jacob is LAUGHING at you! Kiana? LAUGHING! Kaylee? You know DAMN WELL she's HYSTERICAL watching your fat ass flounder!
You know who isn't laughing? Emma. Emma...you know there are people who look at her and say, “Hey, weren't you friends with that piece of trash?” Can't you see her now, going back and deleting all those tweets of support, retweeting all those times she lit you and your “INTERN” ablaze and left you scorched earth all over the internet, just like EVERYONE does in the ring!”
Her eyes full of tears that have begun to overflow, Kem finally musters the cowardice to look away, praying that averting her eyes could put an end to this assault that she somehow was bringing upon herself.
“NO! YOU DON'T GET OFF THAT EASY! If you're gonna come home and drag your father's name – and your OTHER father's company – through the MUD, then you aren't going to get to run away from it! FACE THIS! FACE THIS!”
A look of terror in Kem's face, shaking from sobbing, she looks up and once again receives the death stare from her own face looking back at her.
“DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE BECOME?!?”
The reflection starts laughing maniacally. Broken and too afraid to be berated once more for trying to look away, Kem endures the assault until it suddenly ends, looking seriously back at her.
“Now what are you going to do about it?”
The question shocks Kem, somehow moreso than this entire surreal moment.
“Indy Pro isn't through with you yet. On the contrary, they're putting you on another big stage because they're NOT DONE watching you.
“What are you going to show them?”
Kem wipes her eyes. Though the message appears to have softened, the steely look attacking her has not.
“Right now, you are a loser, a bust signing by Devlin Scott that, having proven hopelessly out of depth in the upper crust, is being given the chance to be a good tag team wrestler instead in the hopes of getting SOMETHING out of his investment. His delegate, Hayden Phoenix, does NOT trust you, and this match is in every way meant to be a launching pad for the OTHER team by giving them that LAST SHRED of credibility the “Shakedown” name has SOMEHOW left to give.
“Now...DO SOMETHING about it!”
“Do something about WHAT?”
The sound of another voice makes Kem jump out of her skin. She looks over to see her friend, Ingrid, looking back at her like she's seen a ghost herself.
“What the Hell was going on in here?”
Confused at being brought back to reality, Kem looks over at the mirror to see it working the way mirrors always work. She blinks a few times, then squints, but the reflection never again takes life.
“Kem, you're really starting to scare me.”
Kem shakes her head.
“What...Wh...”
[/color]Kem takes a breath to collect herself.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were with Jennifer.”
Ingrid's eyes widen.
“I was! She's still talking, but I heard something weird, so I came in the direction of the sound, and it sounded a lot like you screaming at the top of your lungs at somebody. Who were you going off on? I know it's been rough recently, but that's still not like you.”
The pieces finally fall into place and Kem realizes that it was her, not her reflection, that was screaming the entire time. Not everything has started making complete sense, but Kem still holds her head and tries to comfort her friend.
“There's no one here. I just...I just needed a wake-up call.”
“Oh. Well, I hope you don't need any more of those any time soon, because that was scary shit, and I wasn't even here for it.”
Kem starts laughing to herself.
“I hope so too.”
She then suddenly starts purposefully walking back out of the restroom area, her need to shower temporarily forgotten.
“Come on!”
Ingrid once again looks totally lost and confused.
“What? Where?”
Kem keeps going but calls back.
“Jen already has a mic and a cameraman. Can't let them get away!”
Part 1 – Madrugada (The Dark Before The Dawn)
A feeling all too familiar, not just since moving to Indianapolis, but since she gave up any semblance of a normal life to become a second-generation professional wrestler, Kem “Dynamo” Anderson stumbled back towards the locker room. After winning Evolved: Origins, the soreness felt like a badge of honor; tonight, her third-straight loss and sixth in eight tries in Indy Pro, the soreness is a scarlet letter. When she suffered her first loss to Issac Solo and Pavolo Kekoa, she gained regenerative strength from the “good jobs” and “nice work out there” she'd hear from the random production crew members or other wrestlers as she made her way back to the locker room but over time the conciliatory gestures devolved to white noise, and, by now, sounded completely like condescension, essentially a series of “Bless your heart”'s launched in her direction as the punchline of a cruel joke all those people will laugh about after Kem walks by. Defeated, in about as many ways as one could imagine, Kem is thankful to finally be able to tuck into the women's locker room, and is even more grateful to find the locker room void of other wrestlers; God, to have to face Emma Dylan's satisfaction at her downward spiral or Morgan Russo's “I Told You So” would've been enough for Kem to slit her throat to avoid it. Luckily for the sake of her life, the only voice telling her how far she'd fallen from topping the inaugual IPW Rankings was the one in her own head. Kem wasn't even sure she could handle seeing Ingrid and the gushing support she'd be want to offer; Ingrid's consoling was currently being offered to Venus, who had been tapped for an interview and was probably still there.
Kem's doldrums are broken by the sensation of a droplet of sweat crashing into her hand. Kem didn't even realize that she had come in and sat down on one of the benches, so lost in replaying over and over her “Hangover” duel with Morgan, the loss of which sealed her fate and gave Shakedown their fourth-straight defeat since given the opportunity to realize their dreams of becoming dual IPW champions. Now though, the cool, percussive feeling on her hand reminds her that, while there is plenty of time all week to beat herself up for another dissatisfying performance, right now, she needed to clean herself up. She reached into her bag for a change of clothes, purposefully digging past her “#RiseUp” T-shirt and jeans in favor of generic black exercise gear, not feeling worthy to wear the catchphrase, or any embellishment whatsoever. Adding a towel to her encumbrance, she heads to the restroom that leads to the shower stalls. A series of vanities are the only thing between Kem and a hot shower, perhaps the only thing that could provide warmth and comfort right now.
“Embarrassing”.
Kem stops in her tracks.
“You thought you were a champion.”
Kem looks around belligerently. She may not feel very good about herself, but she'll be DAMNED if someone else mocks her without getting repaid in violent kind.
“Look at you now.”
Triple-checking and confirming that she is absolutely alone, Kem finally catches movement in her peripheral vision, and she looks...
...she sees her reflection in the wall-sized mirror over the row of vanities. However, somehow, while the vision she sees is a reflection of Kem, it is not a reflection of her body position, but instead is somehow moving independently, staring into her with a glare so venomous that, for a moment, Kem regretted being capable of giving anyone such a look at all.
“So confident, so condescending, so CRETINOUS! You set out to ignite a phoenix, to show off your ability to make others better. GOOD JOB, KEM! YOU MADE MORGAN LOOK LIKE A CHAMPION! CONGRATULATIONS! Did it even take FIVE MINUTES to put you away?!? FINALLY! SOMEONE OUTPERFORMED JACOB DANIELS! Again, Kem CONGRATU-FUCKING-LATIONS on your great work! You did it! YOU MADE A HERO!”
Inexplicably unable to move or look away, Kem continues to watch as her reflection coldly mocks her with a slow clap, then stop suddenly.
“Oh wait! You thought YOU were gonna be that hero? You thought YOU were gonna be the one who'd get another shot at Untouchable? LOOK AT YOU! You aren't in their league! You're not even playing the same DAMN SPORT as Untouchable! Jacob Daniels is running through American Ninja Warrior and you can't even get through the MONKEY BARS! Jacob is LAUGHING at you! Kiana? LAUGHING! Kaylee? You know DAMN WELL she's HYSTERICAL watching your fat ass flounder!
You know who isn't laughing? Emma. Emma...you know there are people who look at her and say, “Hey, weren't you friends with that piece of trash?” Can't you see her now, going back and deleting all those tweets of support, retweeting all those times she lit you and your “INTERN” ablaze and left you scorched earth all over the internet, just like EVERYONE does in the ring!”
Her eyes full of tears that have begun to overflow, Kem finally musters the cowardice to look away, praying that averting her eyes could put an end to this assault that she somehow was bringing upon herself.
“NO! YOU DON'T GET OFF THAT EASY! If you're gonna come home and drag your father's name – and your OTHER father's company – through the MUD, then you aren't going to get to run away from it! FACE THIS! FACE THIS!”
A look of terror in Kem's face, shaking from sobbing, she looks up and once again receives the death stare from her own face looking back at her.
“DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE BECOME?!?”
The reflection starts laughing maniacally. Broken and too afraid to be berated once more for trying to look away, Kem endures the assault until it suddenly ends, looking seriously back at her.
“Now what are you going to do about it?”
The question shocks Kem, somehow moreso than this entire surreal moment.
“Indy Pro isn't through with you yet. On the contrary, they're putting you on another big stage because they're NOT DONE watching you.
“What are you going to show them?”
Kem wipes her eyes. Though the message appears to have softened, the steely look attacking her has not.
“Right now, you are a loser, a bust signing by Devlin Scott that, having proven hopelessly out of depth in the upper crust, is being given the chance to be a good tag team wrestler instead in the hopes of getting SOMETHING out of his investment. His delegate, Hayden Phoenix, does NOT trust you, and this match is in every way meant to be a launching pad for the OTHER team by giving them that LAST SHRED of credibility the “Shakedown” name has SOMEHOW left to give.
“Now...DO SOMETHING about it!”
“Do something about WHAT?”
The sound of another voice makes Kem jump out of her skin. She looks over to see her friend, Ingrid, looking back at her like she's seen a ghost herself.
“What the Hell was going on in here?”
Confused at being brought back to reality, Kem looks over at the mirror to see it working the way mirrors always work. She blinks a few times, then squints, but the reflection never again takes life.
“Kem, you're really starting to scare me.”
Kem shakes her head.
“What...Wh...”
[/color]Kem takes a breath to collect herself.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were with Jennifer.”
Ingrid's eyes widen.
“I was! She's still talking, but I heard something weird, so I came in the direction of the sound, and it sounded a lot like you screaming at the top of your lungs at somebody. Who were you going off on? I know it's been rough recently, but that's still not like you.”
The pieces finally fall into place and Kem realizes that it was her, not her reflection, that was screaming the entire time. Not everything has started making complete sense, but Kem still holds her head and tries to comfort her friend.
“There's no one here. I just...I just needed a wake-up call.”
“Oh. Well, I hope you don't need any more of those any time soon, because that was scary shit, and I wasn't even here for it.”
Kem starts laughing to herself.
“I hope so too.”
She then suddenly starts purposefully walking back out of the restroom area, her need to shower temporarily forgotten.
“Come on!”
Ingrid once again looks totally lost and confused.
“What? Where?”
Kem keeps going but calls back.
“Jen already has a mic and a cameraman. Can't let them get away!”