The scene fades
into a cold, winters day in Holt, Michigan…just south of Lansing, the home of
the Breslin Center and the BWF’s next PPV; Hearts on Fire. We focus in on a normal two story white
house, as a white Chevy van eases into the drive way. Coming to a halt, the engine shuts off and
the doors open to reveal Chamelion, Raizzor, and their wives Sandra and
Jasmine. Jasmine reaches back into the
van and picks up her son, Daniel.
Chamelion grins widely.
“I can’t believe I’m back here.”
Raizzor
nods, he himself a bit at awe.
“It’s been what? Five years at least?”
Jasmine hoists
Daniel up and steps next to her husband, pointing at the house.
“See, hun? This is where your great aunt and uncle live.”
“Aunt Jo? Uncle Wayne??”
Sandra laughs
softly,
“That’s right, cutie! They are going to be SO happy to
see you!”
“Yeah, he’s probably going to hog ALL their attention too!”
Raizzor smirks at
his brother, and the two families trudge up to the
back door. Chamelion raps on the screen
and moments later the door opens and an older lady, in her 60’s shrieks in
happiness.
“Hey!! Oh, it’s so
good to see you all! Get in here!”
Chamelion opens
the door and steps aside, letting his brother and everyone else go in
first. He steps up, clicks the door shut
and waits as Aunt Jo hugs everyone in turn, stopping to give Daniel extra hugs
and kisses. Chamelion looks our way with
a ‘Told you so” look and then gets embraced himself,
and he returns the hug.
“It’s good to see you again, Aunt Jo. How have you been??”
“Good, I‘ve been good! Now come inside and sit down!”
Obeying, Chamelion
walks through the small kitchen and joins everyone in the main part of the
house. He steps through the door way to
see his Uncle Wayne shaking hands with Raizzor.
“Well, Mark, it’s about time you and your brother stopped
by to see us!”
Blushing lightly,
Chamelion takes Uncle Wayne’s offered hand and they shake.
“Sorry, Uncle, it’s been very busy. Traveling is a major pain in the butt when working
for the BWF.”
“I’m sure it is.
It’s nice that a couple of the events are in town, so we get to see
you.”
“Heck yeah, I’ve been wanting so
badly to get back here.”
“Anyone hungry?”
Everyone nods and
Aunt Jo eagerly goes into the kitchen and starts dragging stuff out of the
fridge. Raizzor lifts an eyebrow.
“She still love to cook?”
“Whenever she can, but it’s not often. I’m out going to the MSU games or playing
cards all the time, so I just grab lunch when I do. Mom’s either bowling or playing Bingo and
that’s when she eats, so we rarely have dinner at home any more.”
“Then I guess it’s best we steer clear of the kitchen for a
while!”
Uncle Wayne
laughs, then goes and picks up Daniel.
“So, how old’s my great nephew, huh?”
Daniel beams and
holds up his left hand.
“Five!”
“My, you’re getting to be a big man, aren’t you?”
Daniel nods
happily and giggles as he’s tickled.
Jasmine smiles softly and looks gently to Raizzor. Uncle Wayne takes notice.
“How’s things been between you two, by the way?”
Raizzor nods.
“Better. Dr. Remo has
been very helpful in acclimating Jasmine to the ‘new her’.”
“Yes, when he realized it wouldn’t be possible to fully integrate
my two halves, he spent more time on getting them to accept each other. Requiem and I…. well, we’ve come to accept
each other. She still doesn’t fully
trust Michael, but she understands I love him, and that we’re the same person.”
“It’s all still so foreign to me, split personalities,
but I’m just glad you two have worked out your problems. I knew Michael found an angel when he married
you and didn’t want to see that destroyed.”
Jasmine blushes
deeply at Uncle Wayne’s compliment and Raizzor takes the empty seat next to her
on the couch.
“Thank you, Uncle.
We’re doing our best. I think
little Daniel has been the biggest inspiration for this all working out. Draven’s gone,
Jasmine’s back… for us, family life is good again.”
From the kitchen,
Aunt Jo’s hand appears with a tray of crackers and cheese.
“Take! Eat!”
Chamelion laughs
and takes the tray from her, fetching some of the crackers and cheese off
before he hands it to Sandra.
“Yeah, it’s why he’s not been around too much in the BWF,
working a part time deal and helping me out during tough times. It would be nice to see you back though,
brother, working full time.”
Shaking his head,
Raizzor lifts a hand.
“Not for now, but you know you can call upon me when you do
need me. We came along to see family,
this time, and you know we’ll all be there to watch you win the BWF World
Title!”
Taking
a bite of cheese, Chamelion chews and swallows.
“Heh, good! I hope I don’t
disappoint. I mean, here I am, going to
be in front of my home crowd for the first time ever…never got this chance in
the PWA or the HiC…I’m giddy!”
Sandra smirks.
“Giddy? You”
“Darned right! Chamelion vs Toxic,
the BWF World Title at stake, at the
“I’ll admit, I’ve not watched a lot of your BWF, I get
enough news listening to it from all the youngins at the basketball games…but
who is this Toxic?”
Chamelion munches
thoughtfully on a cracker.
“Toxic’s a strange fellow, to say the least… I’d rather not
go into him just at this moment, I’ll tell you more about him a little
later. Right now I need to focus for
Monday.”
“Oh, that’s right! You have a match in
“Yeah, against Kyle Cross. He’s a noob of sorts.. a rookie, but with a supposed
hot career out of
He turns and peaks
into the kitchen.
“Aunty, what’s for dinner?”
“Thin strip pork chops, beans and mashed potatoes!”
She beams and
Chamelion nods, turning back.
“Brother, better make that VERY early morning, since I’m
going to have some stuff to work off!”
Nodding, Raizzor
notices Daniel wiping his eyes. He turns to Jasmine.
“I think someone needs a nap.”
Jasmine gets up,
takes Daniel from Uncle Wayne who points her to the upstairs. Sandra follows to help and Raizzor comes to
stand next to Chamelion.
“We’ll get an early jump, don’t worry. After dinner, we will need to check into the
Day’s
“Yeah, but while dinner’s cooking, I want to go take a short
walk. I’ve not seen the neighborhood in
too long a time. I’ll be back before
dinner, okay?”
“That’s fine, I’ll sit and talk basketball with Uncle Wayne,
and he can complain about MSU’s horrible season.”
Smirking, Chamelion
clasps Raizzor’s shoulder.
“Heh, good luck!”
Uncle Wayne quirks
an eyebrow and Chamelion beats a hasty retreat, passing Aunt Jo in the kitchen
and quipping he’ll be back in half an hour, he steps out into the cold weather.
Once outside, Chamelion
takes a moment to breath in the cold air before he starts off down the
street. He sighs calmly, looking around
at how things had changed since he’d last been here. It did feel good to be back
home, even if it was a little alien to him now.
Now, for a neighborhood such as Holt, there’s nothing really outstanding
or remarkable, but it is very peaceful, especially on a cold winter day such as
this. The new snow fall puts a
mysterious touch on the whole thing and the gray sky does nothing to discourage
Chamelion’s positive attitude. Turning his attention
fully to Monday’s match, he dives into the task ahead.
“Kyle Cross, for the first time we’ll meet this coming
Monday. I watched you when you first
entered the BWF and I’ll admit, I was a bit
impressed. Whomever you hired to direct
the ‘air’ of your promo did an outstanding job and you delivered a promising
start to your career here.”
Stopping, he stoops down and scoops up a bunch of snow, and
begins to mold it.
“Like this new fallen snow, you started out clean, yet
untested. I’d hoped to see you mold
yourself into a serious contender here, because frankly, too many come in here
hawking themselves as the next best thing in the business, only to fall flat on
their face. You were not like that. You were excited to be here, you wanted to
get into the ring and wrestle with the greats.
I was pleased you took the time to list me among them.”
He squeezes the snow, turning into a nearly perfect round
snowball as he resumes walking.
“Unfortunately, you were more like a flash in the pan. A big explosive entrance, and then from there
you turned into nothing more then ash.
Sure, you won a couple of times, but this last match of yours? Things have begun to spiral out of control
for you. I think the problem is you
relied too much on your padded history to get you by here. Unlike the places you claim to have been, and
the things you say you’ve done, the BWF is a whole new world, a different
reality of sorts. We’re real here,
perhaps too real for you. You’ve made
claims to have wrestled some of the best in the business, but to us, those
people, those promotions, are toys compared to what we offer here. The BWF isn’t a play land, a game, it’s .. well, pardon me for
stealing from Torby, but it’s the real deal here. I had hoped you hadn’t jumped into the deep
end of the pool before you really had learned how to swim, but the fact
remains; you did.”
He continues to pat on the snowball, as he turns left from
his street onto another.
“Don’t take it personally though, Kiddo. While you may have stumbled into the lion’s
den while wearing a necklace of raw meat, you certainly haven’t backed down
from doing your best. In fact, I’ll
freely admit you’ve got skill, charisma and you definitely love what you’re
doing. It’s just, to me,
you’re still the rookie, still fresh and as I said a few moments ago, really
untested. So, here’s your chance to make
something of yourself. Forget the
Japanese promotions, forget where you trained, who you fought in your
past. Now, you’ve got the chance to step
into the ring with the Most Devious SOB in the business today. Currently undefeated and now the BWF’s number one contender to the world title, could you
ask for anything better to test your mettle?
Forget Toxic, who can’t seem to wrestle his way out of a paper bag
lately, and forget Kirlia, the one true champion of
this federation is your next opponent.”
Satisfied the snowball is as complete as it can be, Chamelion tosses it up lightly
and catches it, smiling. Reaching the
next street, which was maybe 75 yards away, he turns
another left, taking him back towards home.
“Heh, actually, that’s a lot to
forget in such a short time. The point
is, when you face me on Monday, you’re going to fully appreciate and understand
what the BWF really is all about! Now,
while I will do everything in my power to put you down, at the same time maybe
I can show you a new way to go… to shed your past, erase it from your mind, and
make a new future here in the BWF. I am
not going to fall Monday, I can’t afford it, kiddo… but you can gain something
from me that no one else here could offer you; Confidence. You wonder how? Especially if you gain
another mark in the loss column to boot?
Simple; Unlike anyone else; I do believe in you, and that you could make
something of yourself here….and when we collide, we can take our contest up to
a new level… you show me what you’re made of, Kyle, and I’ll show you exactly
why I’m one of the best in the business today.
Stopping, Chamelion spots a large
tree and grins wickedly. He holds up the
snowball.
“For now, you’re in the palm of my hand, kiddo. I can mold you, shape
you into something of value, I promise you.
However, sorry to say, for the time being I have to
look out for myself, and if that tree there is Havok,
and if this is you?”
Presents the snowball in front of him.
“Then with perfect aim, this is the only thing I can do!!”
Heaving back, Chamelion throws
the snowball and it slams into the tree, exploding and leaving a pulpy splatter
on the bark. Nodding, he offers us his
“Got it??”
Wiping his hands on his winter jacket, Chamelion
makes a bee-line back to the house, and what’s certainly to be a delicious
dinner.
End