| All Good Things II; Fight Night vs Osbourne/Character Development | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 3 2016, 09:03 PM (29 Views) | |
| Mirage | May 3 2016, 09:03 PM Post #1 |
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Later that night... The hotel room door opened quietly as ambient light from the hallway spilled through the opening. Sahara, exhausted beyond comprehension, entered the room and slowly closed the door, trying her best to prevent the latch from making noise. She leaned her forehead against the door and closed her eyes. *CLICK* She could see the faint glow through her eyelids. She didn’t have to turn to see him. She didn’t even have to open her eyes. She knew he was sitting there, waiting. She could feel his gaze. Sahara: Please don’t… As she said the words, Mirage stood up from the recliner and approached her. Turning her from the door, he grabbed each side of her face and looked her in the eyes. Not exactly the reaction she had been expecting, she rested the side of her face against his chest. She wondered if maybe he had gotten soft in his older age? She was expecting a knock down, drag out argument...but this? He ran his hand through her disheveled hair but didn’t say a word. He simply held her. Grabbing fistfulls of his loose fitting shirt, she gritted her teeth, forcing out the words. Sahara: I know… From one day to the next, she often didn’t know if she was dealing with Marc, her husband, or Mirage, the wrestler. Over the years, the personalities began crossing signals, a side effect most wrestlers succumb too over time. His voice was soft, understanding even. Mirage: You’ve made your point. I’ll go back. I’ll tell em’ I’ll come back. And there it was. The exact reaction she had been expecting. And if she was being honest with herself, it was the exact reaction she wanted. At least...it was. She closed her eyes. ![]() Summer, 1997 - An Angel Falls A teenage Sahara knelt down upon the thin platform above the jumbotron as a much younger Mirage lorded over her and the entire arena. Looking down toward the ring where a helpless OutKast was forced to watch alongside her own brothers, Mirage had made it clear he was taking control. Crowned with barbed wire, blood streaked down her alabaster face as she helplessly reached out toward OutKast and her brothers. That’s when she looked back at Mirage and whispered something which prompted him to look down at her. He couldn’t have heard her right. She whispered it again, only this time he heard her ... loud and clear. “Push me. Push me off!” His heart skipped a beat. It was insane. It was BEYOND insane. This wasn’t planned, what the hell was she doing? It was the moment that would reshape his career. It was also the moment Mirage realized what it took to be a star. But he didn’t have it. While she was willing to go to places most dare not tread, he hesitated on the precipice. She may have been young, but she was fearless. The original face of fearless. The clock was ticking. She shot him a look, and her words were like an adrenaline rush. ”You wanna be a star or not?” Doing his best to stay in control, Mirage looked down toward the ring and reached out with a trembling hand. He grabbed Sahara by the shoulder. No, he thought, it wasn’t worth it. Lights flashed. Thousand of simultaneous flashbulbs. *CRASH* His chest constricted as the arena fell into silence. Mirage looked down at his trembling hand. Sahara was gone. Panic struck him as he looked down from the top of the tron. Emergency responders rushed the stage as thousands watched in disbelief. There was no ‘holy shit’ chant. There would be no YouTube videos from cell phones that didn’t yet exist. Other than the various responders yelling orders at each other, you could have heard a pin drop. It was a moment she never forgot. Mirage never pushed her. She jumped. Because she knew he didn’t have it in him yet... ![]() Taking her by the shoulders, he shook her slightly to break her out of whatever daydream she was lost in. Taking a step back, he looked her over, making sure she wasn’t hurt too badly. The black mascara surrounding her striking blue eyes was smeared, partially running down her cheeks. She’d been crying. Probably through the entire ride back from from the arena. The loneliest ride she’s ever taken, he imagined. Mirage: It’s ok, we can fix this... Grabbing him by the wrists, she removed his hands from her shoulders and pushed him away. Sahara: No. Her reaction caught him off guard. Mirage: No? Sahara: A week ago that’s all I wanted to hear you say…that you’d go back. Bu- Mirage knew there was a but coming. Mirage: But nothing, Lauren! I told you not to get involved! Ya know, I knew you were up to something...we came here for you to turn in my resignation and walk away. And the next thing I know, you’re on the damn show! What the hell were you thinking?! Nevermind...forget that. What’s done is done. Like I said, you’ve made your point. I’ll step in now. I’ll take care of this. She remained defiant. Sahara: And I said no! Mirage: What are you gonna do, huh? Fight Osbourne Kilminster?! Listen to yourself. You're NOT fighting Osbourne fucking Kilminster. It’s crazy. No, it’s BEYOND crazy. Gates has lost his fucking mind, he’s lost control and he took it out on the weakest thing he could find… His voice fell silent the second he realized what he had said. Mirage: I didn’t mean it like that. That came out wrong. But this...think about it. Osbourne? It’s...Jesus Christ, it’s suicide, Lauren. I practically begged you not to get involved... He could have gone on, but her stoic glare said it all. Mirage: I didn’t make a dent, did I? Without hesitation, she shook him off. Sahara: I got involved a long time ago. And ya know what? I learned something tonight. Something I guess I shoulda’ known all along, but I didn’t really wanna know. I come from wrestling. Born and bred. I grew up with wrestlers. I married a fucking wrestler. I love this sport more than ANYONE...including you! And I’m the only member of my family that’s never been a wrestler…I mean, a real actual wrestler. Her words rang true. Very few had been around wrestling their entire lives. Even when she stepped back from the limelight years ago, she remained deeply involved in his career. Mirage loved wrestling, but her connection with it far exceeded his own. Sahara: As for calling me the weakest thing Gates could find? She shook her head. Sahara: Fuck you for that. Weak? Do you know what it’s been like watching you come home a banged up bloody mess for the past however many years? Or the multiple visits to the hospital?! Or how about seeing my brothers hit a point where they could barely walk? You wanna call me weak?! You don’t have the guts to watch someone you love get beaten to a pulp, hanging on to something they lost...I was in one fight and look at you. She placed her hand against her chest. Sahara: Years ago I let wrestling chase me away. I should have fought for it. Things may have been different back then, but it’s always been there...that one regret. When that bra-and-panties bullshit came around and infected wrestling...I should have stood up and raged against it. Instead I tucked tail and ran. It’s that one thing I wish I could go back and change. And look now...look at Sinnocence. Or Laura Seton. Or Maggie. Regardless of how you or anyone else might feel about them, they showed ME it can be done. They showed me what I lost. Mirage opened his mouth to speak, but she immediately silenced him. Sahara: Don’t...please. Let me, just...let me. I’ve been coddled and protected since the day I walked away. First by my brothers. Then by you. And Cronos. Everyone. That entire ride back tonight, all I could think of is all the people I let down. But at some point during the ride, I don’t know what...but something happened. I just...I stopped caring. I ain’t runnin’ again. Tonight was the first night in my life I was on my own, and it showed me who I really was. A week ago all I cared about was getting you back in that ring... She didn’t have to say it. He knew. Sahara: You’ve done your bit for this family. Her piercing blue eyes flashed as she looked up at him. A look of revelation. As if witnessing a spark of life that had been lying dormant for many years opening it’s eyes for the very first time. Her voice fell to a whisper, but he heard her every word with perfect clarity. Sahara: This is my fight now. It’s who I am. It’s who I’ve always been. And yeah, I’m gonna get banged up pretty bad at the beginning, and maybe next time they won’t hold back, but that doesn’t matter. I gotta do this. Not for my brothers, you, or anyone else. She tapped her chest. Sahara: For me. Even if it means facing Osbourne Kilminster...on my own. She paused. Sahara: I won’t run away again... If anything was going to chase her away, what happened tonight should have done it. But it didn’t. When faced with the reality she found herself in tonight, something changed...she found a part of herself she had lost a long time ago. A slight laugh escaped his lips as he whispered the name in disbelief. Mirage: Osbourne Kilminster... This wasn’t quite how he expected this confrontation to go. He’d been expecting a scared little girl to come rushing into his arms for the save. Instead, she pushed him away. Most can’t pinpoint the exact moment they became wrestlers. Usually, it begins as something “they wanted to try”, which slowly grows into something more over time. For Lauren, it was tonight. There was no talking her off this ledge. Ready or not, she was going to jump...and nobody, not even Marcus Mirage, was going to stop her. She’d either crash and burn, or... Mirage: Let fly… His words resonated, and for the first time in many years, Mirage remembered when she did exactly that... ![]() The Fallen Angel. Dropping down on all fours in disbelief of what just occurred, Mirage leaned over the scaffolding and looked down on the stage below. He had to see her. What the hell happened? As emergency response carefully fished her body out of the wreckage of the stage, Mirage could barely breathe. What the hell had he done?! “I didn’t push her...”, he whispered, trying to convince himself. As they lifted her limp body onto the stage, he saw her face. It was as clear as day. Streaked with the blood that poured from the barbed crown, he couldn’t believe what happened. But he knew. He didn’t push her. This was all her doing... And just then, for an instant she opened her eyes and looked up at him. She winked and quickly closed her eyes again. That just happened. His heart leapt as he let out a sigh of relief. Mirage pushed himself up onto his knees and ran his hands through his hair. He sat back and rested on his heels as a feeling of elation came over him. That’s when he noticed it all for the first time. The cameras. The wrestlers. The announcers. The fans. The world was watching...him. He wondered, what would Sahara have said to him right at this moment?! He could hear her voice, repeating the age old showbiz trope, “Take your bow.” The risk was hers. The reward was his. Standing up, Mirage looked down upon the wreckage she had caused and slowly lifted his arms. The stunned crowd suddenly sprang to life, as thunderous boos rained down upon him unlike anything he had ever heard. It was a volume only reserved for stars. And it was her doing... ![]() He looked down at his hands as he snapped out of it. He looked at her in disbelief as fifteen years of realization smacked him in the face. Mirage: It was you. It was … you. I never pushed you… She shook her head. Sahara: I knew you couldn’t and the moment was passing, that’s when I jumped. You became the top heel in the AODWF, won the world title...and the rest is history. Reaching behind him to search for the bed, Mirage sat back in shock. He couldn’t believe it never saw it before. He was at a loss for words. Mirage: Holy fuck. I uh. I... Mirage pointed at the minibar. Mirage: I uh, could use a drink. She laughed ever so slightly, wiping her eyes with a shirtsleeve. Getting up, Mirage twisted off a cap from a mini bottle of Crown Royal and chugged it down. He grabbed another but stopped and turned toward her. Mirage: And here you are... She nodded, laughing through her joyfully tearful words. Sahara: Here I am! Mirage: I forgot...I guess I forgot what you were made of. Mirage looked down at the mini bottle of Crown and gripped it tightly. He began nodding as he looked back at her. That scared little girl he used to see was gone. Grabbing another bottle, he tossed it to her. Twisting off the cap, he tossed it to the side and held the bottle up. She did the same. Mirage: All right then...to tonight. The bottles clanked together and Mirage took a drink. She simply held the bottle out and continued to look at him. Somehow, the worst night in her life had turned into one of the best… Sahara: To all good things. |
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10:52 AM Jul 11