RP #3- "Marital Woes"

[Promo - The Undeniable Words #3, 2/24/08]

Well, it was only a matter of time, ladies and gentlemen.

When Steve Jason and Jem Williams rocked up in PDW at the exact same time- believe it or not, neither of us actually knew about it until we saw each other in the Spectrum- it was only going to be a matter of time before somebody decided to pair us up as a team and once again unleash the tag team force known as the Unkillables on Platinum Dynasty Wrestling.

As any of you who've been tuning in to Jem Williams' words recently will realize- heh, pardon the pun- this is not precisely the first time that Steve Jason and Jem Williams have teamed up. I don't think it's ever been a real secret to anybody backstage that Jem and I are friends, and I don't think it was all that hard to tell that we've been in the same federation, but you'd have had to have done some real research to know the truth of what Jem revealed. I will now confirm it- yes, Jem and I are, in fact, part of a two-man cohesive unit known officially as 'The Unkillables'.

Again, I doubt you'd have a full understanding of what exactly that means, unless you took the time to hear Jem's words- then maybe you might have a clue. Suffice it to say that we're a team with some serious history- nearly five years of it to be precise. Half a decade. That's almost an eternity for some people on this roster. Sean Williams, Toni Terror, Hayden Brooks, Carliee Williams... all of these kids would have been in freakin' high school the day that Jem Williams and I first forged this alliance. Not that we're exactly old- I'm still, like, fourteen years younger than the Platinum Champ after all- but still, that gives you an idea of the validity of this team.

We are not just some cobbled together team with no cohesion. On the contrary- the last five years we've been able to combine our skills- which are pretty impressive in our own rights- into a unique style that has devastated and broken down everybody thrown in our path. Now, I'm aware that what happened in previous federations doesn't really matter here so much- it's about what we demonstrate in Platinum, not in places we since left behind- but I say this as a warning to our opponents should they foolishly make the mistake of believing that we don't stand a chance of working in synchro as well as they will. Because make no mistake about it, Jem and I practically wrote the damn book on synchronization. We will formulate a battle plan that will bring out opponents to their knees.

Don't believe that we can be a cohesive fighting force? Take a look at the last two weeks. In our first week after our debuts at the PPV, Jem and I both had the opportunity to fight fellow rookies. In Jem's case, people wondered what the big deal was about him and that it'd amount to nothing. In my case, people thought I was going to get bulldozed by a larger opponent. Yet both of us had the resources and abilities to bring our opponents down. The week after, we get something even bigger thrown at us. Jem's got to fight Hayden Brooks and Kindred London, a man who's got something of a solid past and reputation here, and I've got to go against the Bloodshed Champion himself. I'm not going to lie and say my match was a walk in the park, but I was able to come out successful, and Jem managed to do that. I know this sounds egomaniacal, but if you can name two new stars who've put their names on the map in a major way in February, I dare say 'Steve Jason' and 'Jem Williams' are the names you'd pull out of the hat.

At any rate, it looks like we might get a bit of a test as a team. Let me say, I've faced a lot of team 'types' in the past. I've faced teams of brothers, I've faced teams of 'thugs', I've faced cult members, I've even faced a team taken out of a stable of clowns, for God's sake. But ironically, never before in my life have I ever faced a husband and wife team. Well, I came to Platinum for new experiences, and I guess you can definitely call fighting a husband and wife a new experience. Hell, fighting a chick that's taller than me's a new experience in itself. Never thought I'd see the day that happened.

I know that there's going to be one thing going through your heads, Hannah and Joseph St. John. And it's also probably a thing that's going to be going through the heads of all the people watching as well. One of the major questions that will be asked leading into this match is 'sure, these guys are good and they've got a friendship and alliance, but how in the hell is that going to match up with the bond a married couple have'? I suppose that's a fair statement. After all, you guys probably spend every waking moment with each other, have an in-depth knowledge of each other, understand each other, hell, maybe I'll even throw in some romantic wankery and say you can communicate in a glance what most people would in a thousand words.

At the same time, though, Jem and I have a damn cohesive team- but without the emotional ties. Jem said before that he knows I can handle myself. I pretty much reiterate that statement in his case. We're both wrestlers, we know what can happen to us if we take a major beating. And I know that Jem can take a major beating and still hold it together. We don't have those emotional ties that a married couple have. And don't tell me you don't have them. You do worry about each other, you can't not. That's where we've got the advantage. We've been friends for five years- quite possibly as long as you've been married, maybe even longer- and we know each other back to front and can predict what the other's going to do most of the time- but we don't have certain feelings tying us down. We've got all the advantages and none of the disadvantages. We can throw concern to the winds and do what we've got to do, and I think that'll be part of what gets us the win.

[MAIN STORY]

DATE/TIME: 10:45PM, Friday 22 February, 2008
LOCATION: Tiki Bar, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"I'll tell you something, SJ..." Dougy McNamara reached out with a hand to brush some of the steamy tropical mist out of his face, brushing some palm fronds aside in the process, "This is one hell of a venue."

Waaaaaait a sec. Palm fronds... mist?

That couldn't have been Philadelphia in the middle of winter, could it?

Actually, it was Philadelphia in the middle of winter- but more to the point, it was inside what would commonly be referred to as a tiki lounge. Steve- and his best friend Dougy McNamara- were sitting on the far left end of the main area of such a lounge. Rather than the usual painted-brick walls of most bars, the wide open lounge was instead hollowed out to emulate the look of a cavern- complete with the walls themselves taking the appearance of carved-out, beige-colored rock. On the furthest north side of the cavern was a stone tiki mask, with fiery eyes and a fearsome-looking jaw. The rest of the area was laid out with Polynesian-style straw tables, complete with straw hut-roods at the top, in addition to several booths. All of this was set around the main tiki bar in the center of the room, where a variety of tropical beverages were being served. All the while, ukulele music could be heard playing from a lei-wearing live band over on the south side of the room.

All things considered, Steve still couldn't get his head around the fact that a tiki lounge actually existed in Philadelphia. It wasn't exactly a coastal town, and as such it wouldn't have been flooded with the surfer crowd, the island fanatics and the people who would generally benefit from such an experience. Not that Steve was complaining, of course. He had to candidly admit that as somebody who'd surfed Hawaii and the South Pacific, the quasi-Polynesian feel of the area around him suited him in a certain sense.

"Tell me about it, mate..." Steve grinned, "Never really thought places like this still existed in Philly, but evidently I was wrong."

"Still, surprising that your friends would agree to be in this venue. Those people who work for this Jim Diablo guy... don't exactly sound like the kind of people who'd be getting on down in a tiki bar."

"Well, as I understand it, these guys don't want to be seen by certain people. And 'certain people' aren't too likely to come looking for them in a tiki lounge. And it helps throw Darkside off my scent, too. The man's obviously trying to tail me after what he pulled..." Steve got no further as suddenly, Dougy spoke up over the top of him in a surprisingly serious tone of voice.

"About that. We've gotta talk, mate."

While it seemed like an innocent enough statement, as soon as Dougy made it alarm bells and sirens immediately started flashing through Steve's head. Dougy McNamara was never a serious man. This was a man who, in the past, had almost blown himself up in a barbequing accident only to laugh about it when he regained consciousness in the ER three months later. This was a man who had been thrown out a window by a mobster only to come out on a wrestling TV show, call the man 'the biggest wanker in all of recorded history' and proceed to kick him in the groin. Dougy took nothing seriously. In that sense, he was up there with Steve himself on fearlessness. Steve ignored his fear, Dougy laughed at it- and to see Dougy not laughing and acting in a very serious manner could have meant anything up to and including a pending apocalypse.

Thus it was that Steve eyed his friend very carefully, holding his breath before replying carefully, "What's wrong?"

"I think you know what I'm about to say, mate." Dougy's green eyes were wide with worry, "We have to talk about this... hornet's nest you stirred up with Darkside a couple of weeks ago. It's getting out of control, man."

"You're telling me. It's pretty obvious this guy isn't going to give up." Steve cast his eyes skywards.

"Yeah. And I know it's none of my business usually, mate. Most of the time I don't care who you pick a fight with. Most of the time, even when people jump in and start whaling on me to get to you, I don't care. But Steve... this time it's gone too far. I hate to sound like I'm pointing the finger, but you've unleashed something bad this time."

"Because he got Talia involved." Steve answered flatly.

Not many people in Philadelphia would have even known who Talia Richards was. She was a figure from Steve's past wrestling career... his former agent, so to speak. They'd met when Steve was twenty-five, a rather small-time figure in professional wrestling, and Talia was twenty-two, just starting a career under the guidance of her father and his ultra-corporation in Los Angeles. In time the two had developed a symbiotic relationship as wrestler and agent, and that had only grown when Dougy, Steve's own best friend, had fallen for and married her. Between the three of them, the ties between them were among the strongest on Earth- husband-and-wife on one side, pseudo-brother-and-sister on the other, and best friendship on another. Like a triangle, so to speak.

The worst part about it was Steve had left her behind, had intended to start his career with Platinum Dynasty Wrestling on his own two feet with nobody else around- had run from his past, so to speak- and yet somehow, Zachriel Donahue found her. Somehow, Darkside found out about her, went straight back into a past Steve was trying to leave behind him, and frightened her- no, he put his hands on her. That was a declaration of war right there- and it was enough to ensure that Steve would be unleashing a retribution that even the so-called master of fear wouldn't want to be facing again. It wasn't if it would happen, it was when.

Unfortunately, Dougy wasn't quite as calm about it as Steve was.

"Yeah. Look, I know it sounds like I'm blaming you- but ever since you kept Heather from attending that match, he's had the fuse on his tampon lit and it's obvious he's doing this to get back at you! Steve, I don't care if he beats me up, I'm used to it, but that's my wife, man! That's my one and only, that's the woman who I see when I wake up in the morning. I don't like him following her! It frightens me. Knowing that he could break in there at any time, and do whatever he wanted..." Dougy wasn't used to fear. Steve could see it, could tell by the way his voice was fluctuating out of control and how he was flailing wildly.

"You think it's my fault, don't you?" It wasn't an accusation. More of a resigned acceptance of the fact.

"It's not, but... it's happening because you..."

"In other words, you think it's my fault. That's OK. That's fine. Maybe you're right. Maybe if I'd let Heather screw me over, this wouldn't be happening. And yeah, Talia's in jeopardy right now. She's not going to be safe. But that's all happened now, and I can't go back in time and change it. We have to deal with the here and now."

"Yeah. And by 'here and now', I mean that you've gotta stop this thing!" Dougy's voice cracked at his exclamation, "Right here and right now! I don't care what you do, but you've gotta do something to stop him!"

"Don't worry, Dougy." Steve measured his words out, knowing that the incorrect wording could send his friend off on another panicked tangent, "You know me. You know that I have a plan for everything, and you know that I have the ability to make things happen. That's why I need you to believe me when I say that I am working on a solution to the problem. I will stop him, and believe me, he won't even be able to contemplate hurting her again after this. He won't even be able to put her name together in a coherent sentence after I'm through with him."

Steve drew himself to a pause quickly. Dougy seemed slightly relieved, although his eyes were still wide open and he nodded awkwardly. He cleared his throat and continued.

"But with that said, it will take time. I can't just go out this very second and break his legs. I do that, I'm up for an assault charge. What I need for you to do is to keep your head screwed on and not to do anything stupid. Give me some time. Better yet, give me until Disclosure. By then, I'll have a solution in mind and I will deploy it. Can you do that?"

It took a while for Dougy to respond. Steve didn't blame him, to be honest- the worry of having one's spouse or significant other threatened was one of the reasons Steve was very, very wary about allowing loved ones to intertwine with his ring life, and Steve had no doubt that it was shaking his friend up inside. Finally, after a while, Dougy finally swallowed and nodded his agreement to his friend.

"Alright. If you say you can take care of the problem, then I'll let you take care of it. Just... please, by Disclosure, man. The longer it takes to stop this guy, the greater a thread he'll be, and it'll drive me mental. If you've got a plan by then, I'm happy. Just... this uncertainty is killing me."

"That's a feeling I know all too well..." Steve consoled his friend, "Seriously, though. You can trust me. I've got this one and the problem will be ended very, very soon."

"Hope you're right, man..." Dougy's voice was grim, taking another sip from his beer before his worried expression faded, as if he'd put all of his worries behind him temporarily, "Alright. I think I'm good, mate. When abouts are your friends getting here?"

"Not sure. They should have been here about five or ten minutes ago..." Steve flickered his eyes around the tiki bar, flickering around for any sign of Sergei or Chanah, "Short, broad pale guy, short dark hair and a tall, kinda tanned brown haired girl. Definitely the kind of pair you wouldn't miss in a crowd."

"Why, thank you, you've very kind to be saying such flattering things about me..." Steve really, really should have known that Sergei would have been lurking right around the corner as soon as he spoke. The Russian had been coming up the aisle behind them, dressed in a white dress-shirt and black pants under a brown coat. Chanah was bringing up the rear, her light brown hair hanging loose around her shoulders while she wore a black tanktop and jeans. Steve could only grin slightly and raise his drink.

"Should've known. How are things, guys?"

"About as well as could be expected..." Chanah replied as she and Sergei slid into the booth opposite him, "Nice... choice of an unsuspicious location."

"Hey, let's face it, nobody's gonna come looking for us or spying on us in a tiki bar."

"You're concerned about your enemy following you, aren't you?" It wasn't really a question.

"Sorta. I can't touch him and deal with him yet, so I'm going to try to evade him until the time's right to confront him and deal with him. But that's not why we're really here."

"Actually, it does sort of tie into it." Sergei replied in a matter of fact tone, pausing briefly as a waitress arrived with two drinks on a tray- a shot of straight vodka and a sparkling blue lagoon cocktail. Sergei chose the former, Chanah took the latter, and then Sergei continued speaking, "If there's one thing that we- and Mr. Diablo- have seen through this, it's that obviously your past is harder to escape than you imagined. You wanted to leave your life in California behind when you moved here, but Darkside somehow found out about a major part of that life and went back to it. No matter what decision you have made, your past is still clinging on."

"Yeah. So I've noticed." Steve muttered ruefully, taking another sip of the Bacardi and Coke, "Any opinions on that?"

"It's nothing you can't work around..." Chanah noted smoothly, "As long as you can stop him as soon as you can. Before it blows out of proportion and your past does become a major issue. But that's a problem neither we nor Jim Diablo can help you with. You'll have to take care of that problem on your own."

"I figured as much. What are you guys really here for, then? It's obvious this was only a small part of your visit."

"To be honest?" Sergei spread his hands, "We're just here to see how you're doing. Diablo wants to know."

"And why exactly, if I can ask, does Jim Diablo care about 'how I'm doing'? We're not even in any kind of agreement yet and already he's starting to poke his nose into things that really don't concern him." As soon as Steve said that, he grimaced- he'd made that far more hostile than he'd intended. Chanah didn't seem too phased, however, simply smiling at him.

"That's a fair concern, I suppose. He likes to keep track of his friends- and potential friends. He has great interest in what you're getting up to- such as this upcoming match of yours. And your friend in that match."

"Jem? What's Diablo care about Jem?"

"He's just interested in the role that he plays in your life. As I understand it, you're both very good friends- and you two formed a very formidable tag team in the past. The... Unkillables, was it? Nevertheless, it's obvious that Jem's of some importance in your life- and that means he's of interest to Jim."

"This is starting to get a bit creepy, you know..." Steve chewed on his lip thoughtfully, "I'm not sure I really want Diablo nosing around in my personal business."

"Am I to understand you're not interested in the help Mr. Diablo can offer you?" Sergei asked in a neutral tone of voice.

"Didn't say that, but sticking his nose in my business isn't going to endear him to me. In fact, I'll tell you something- if he wants my 'friendship', he's going to have to stick the damn brakes on. Is that understood?"

"Of course. We'll relay the message to him." Chanah's reply was pleasant- almost a little too pleasant- "As it is, we'd still like to catch up with you now and then. It's up to you what you share or don't share."

"That's fine, so long as I'm calling the shots on that front."

"Then we're in agreement." Just like that, both Chanah and Sergei rose up simultaneously, "Thank you for the meeting, Steve. We'll be seeing you, I hope?"

"Sure thing." Steve answered, "I'll talk to you then."

Just like that, Sergei led the way out of the booth, with Chanah following him. Without so much as another word, they left Steve, and the surprisingly-quiet Dougy, in their wake, disappearing into the thick crowd around the bar. Both Steve and Dougy sat there for several seconds, then Steve shook his head and turned to Dougy.

"Don't want to alarm you, man... but things are probably about to get even weirder."

[CONTINUED: Promo - The Undeniable Words #3, 2/24/08]

Now, obviously I could talk about you as a unit all day, but the two of you are at the end of the road different people, and there are things I have to say to one of you that I won't have to say to the other, and vice-versa. So this is the point where I'm going to split things up and deal with you on an individual level.

I'll start with you, Hannah. 'The Crystal Rose', they call you. You're certainly not like a lot of the other girls I've fought in the past. Hell, you're taller than I am, for one. 6'4", 175 pounds, you're not exactly the image of a tiny girly-girl that a lot of the chauvinists like Reggie Stallworth would have us believe. And you're a skilled wrestler, too. That's something I kind of like about this place, to be honest. I never really got to fight that many girls where I came from, primarily because by and large it was probably the biggest sausage-fest in the world.

Much like myself, you seem to be 'the whole package' when it comes to wrestling. You've got decent size, decent speed, good tech abilities and hell, from what I understand you can use your brains when it comes to this sport. A lot like myself. That will make things interesting should we get into a head to head fight. You've probably got a speed edge, but I've got a strength and weight edge so that pretty much balances things out. It should be... interesting to say the least.

With that said, be prepared for the biggest contest you've gone into thus far. Yes, you guys managed to outwit Darkside and Heather Phoenix- but hell, I've done pretty much the same myself. Well, if you want to call 'locking Heather Phoenix in a closet and keeping her from interfering while I whup her boyfriend' outwitting. Fact of the matter is, I'm a bigger deal than Darkside. I was better than the man then and I'm prepared to say that I'm better than him now. Like your husband basically admitted, I outclassed the man. I am tougher- and I'd be happy to make a claim that Jem's tougher as well.

Joseph St. John. I actually had the liberty of catching some of what you had to say recently. Glad I caught your promo when I did, because I'll candidly admit I like to hear what people have to say and take that on board when saying what I've got to say for the match. And it sure as hell looks like you've given me a few things to be thinking about.

It seems you pointed out something quite major we have in common- the ability to defy the odds. Obviously, you understand that I've faced a lot of things in the past that I really, really logically shouldn't have been able to overcome but somehow did. And you referred to yourself as having similar qualities. What was it you claimed... that logically you should be another statistic, dead or in jail, but you aren't because you're making something of yourself. Having cheated death a fair bit myself, I understand that. I even respect that quality in people, and I have no reason to dispute your claim. So absolutely, Joseph. I recognise that claim and commend it.

With that said, let's not go expecting some fuzzy kind of camaraderie based on that. Sure, you've done something similar to what I have and I have recognised and applauded it, but that will not change my mindset going into this match. On the contrary, it might have me a little more on edge. If you can luck out and beat the odds, if you can pull amazing feats to score a win in harsh situations, I have to be on the lookout for that now. I have to make damn sure that out of the two of us, I'm the one who can pull off the bigger feat. It'd be interesting if that was what it came down to, Joseph- which of the two of us pulled out the biggest defiance of the laws of biology and physics. Make no mistake, I'll be doing everything in my power to make damn sure it's me.

I have absolutely no doubt that this won't be the last time we're across the ring from each other. Cause when you get down to it, Joseph, us four aren't completely un-alike. We're all in very similar situations- new people who have shown a very impressive amount of skill and who are on a runaway train of success up towards the top. And because of that, I know that eventually we will face each other again and again on the road to the top. One of us has to get there before everyone else, after all- and after that, the rest of us will be trying to fight our way up there. Titles on the line? Probably. I'm the #2 contender for the Bloodshed title, after all, and if Toni takes down Sean, that would probably make me the first man they throw at her. It could be for that. Maybe one of you guys will take the Cyber Championship in the next few weeks. Maybe one of us will even end up with the Prodigy title. Fact of the matter is, I have no doubt we'll be facing each other again, and that the next match could be very different to the next.

But if that's the case, I want to be in the lead. I want to have that one win to my name. This may be just another match for you, Joseph, but the fact of the matter is I'm undefeated right now and people are making note of how good I am. This match might not be important to your career, maybe you're shrugging it off a bit, but in my opinion you're only as good as your last match. Each match is as important as the one that preceded it. So yeah, Joseph- this is probably the biggest match I'm going to have to date. And you bet your life I'm basing my career on it. Because if I lose this one, then the road to the top gets that much longer. And while I have no problem walking the long road, I'd rather walk the road of unrivaled success.

You claim that what you have to say goes in one ear and out the other. While I sort of understand what you were getting at- you actually couldn't be further from the truth, Joseph. In my mind, only a fool ignores everything his opponent has to say. Like you said, I'm a psychological wrestler, and you'd be damn surprised what you could learn from your foe based on what he has to say. Your words will not pass in one ear and out the other. I have taken them on board and have analysed every single word you've had to say. Because while some would shrug off what we're saying as idle trash-talk- it's not. It's a window to better understand your opponent.

But you're absolutely right with one thing you said- in my mind, you are just another opponent, another obstacle. But that doesn't mean I disregard everything about you. Like I said, your psyche can be revealed by what you say, and that's important. But so are your strengths, your weaknesses, your movesets, your size, and the list goes on. I haven't ignored any of that. On the contrary, I've done my homework and I know a little about you. So yeah, when it comes down to it you and Hannah are just another roadblock to victory, but at the same time, I have to know about said obstacles and roadblocks if I am to defeat them.

But before I finish up discussing you, I had to refer back to this one quote by yourself- you asked if I've ever gone into a match with my back against the wall.

Mate, I've spent the last five-odd years with my back against the wall. I know this is Platinum, and I know that it's the here and now that matters and not the past, but you did ask if I'd ever entered a situation with my back against the wall, and I'm giving you the full, uncensored answer. It's an experience I've had far more times than I care to count. But at the same time... that's not really a disadvantage. Not for me. Because I'm gonna be honest with you, Joseph- having my back against the wall is something you really don't want.

It's like cornering a snake. If you back a snake into a corner, it's generally the stupidest thing you can do. You'll find that's how most people get themselves bitten- by backing something into a corner. I'm much the same in that regards. Every time I've been backed against a wall, I've struck hard and I've struck fast- and the people backing me against said wall have ended up regretting it as one of the dumbest mistakes they have ever made. So yes, Joseph- I have indeed entered a match with my back against the wall. And I prevailed.

And make no mistake, Joseph... if I have it my way, if there is any possible move that I can make, if there's anything I can do to have a say in how things will pan out... that trend continues next Disclosure.

And that... IS UNDENIABLE!