LQJT86C
Where's my money, Chad?
(FADEIN: Jacksonville International Airport, FL – NIGHT OF JUNE 16, 2012, POST-MATCH. The camera travels down the aisle of a United Airlines first-class flight, Jacksonville to Newark, stopping at a pod-like pair of seats with a laptop in front of one and a television in front of the other. Sitting in the window seat is LANA DREMIRE, her platinum blonde hair tied up, the left side of her head shaved back from the temple with some sort of hieroglyphic symbols scrawled across. In the aisle seat is CASTOR V. STRIFE, wearing tan thin-rimmed sunglasses, forest green silk shirt, gold Vacheron Constantin patrimony watch with brown strap, and his arm in a blue sling. He sits in front of a tray where a handful of pills are laid out next to a cup of rum and coke. In a slow and deliberate manner, he takes three of the pills in his hand one by one, pops them in his mouth and follows with a sip of the drink. When he speaks, it’s in a low, groveled voice)
CASTOR: “History is the graveyard of legends. (inhales, takes another sip, clears throat) It’s a large resting place, shared by failed-men and the unmarked headstones of anonymous faithful. Some get buried on the top of the hill, beneath a walk-in mausoleum. Others reside at the foot of a pronged gate next to six-lane highways; a scenic highway landmark between suburban travelers and their IKEA of preferred destination.”
(Pauses; runs finger along his gums)
“Oh my…”
(Using thumb and forefinger, he pulls a tooth from the back of his jaw and drops it on the tray next to two remaining pills. He takes a sip of his drink and swishes the liquid around his mouth. Sighing in relief, he slouches a bit, and turns his head againt to the camera)
“True fame never dies. Gods never die. (puts up finger, emphasizes) Guilds die. Associations break. Friendships corrode and even love…can die. (smiles, laughs softly) I can’t die. I won’t die.”
“And if you chase me for the thing I value most in this world, I will lead you to temptation and deliver you into the mouth of evil. You don’t know where I’ve been, mentally, because you would find a reason to quit before you even got there. That’s the difference between a coward and a champion.”
“The month is June, the year is 2012, and as of this moment you are watching the greatest show on earth, the biggest band in the world, en route to Newark, New Jersey. Next stop, they tell me, is Hershey Park. You might ask me then, if I’ll miss the road. The answer isn’t difficult: no.”
“I was meant to travel by sky, secure in my belongings, certain in the knowledge that the art of a true master is in the right hands.”
“But when Eric Dane clipped my wings, I had no problem re-inventing myself and adapting to a new environment. If only he could have done the same…”
(Castor lays his head back, folds his hands on his chest as a rumbling noise picks up volume and gets closer. Soon a snack cart arrives and passes, with nothing offered; perhaps in transition to be filled? Castor exhales, turns again to face the camera)
“One of my teachers was a man they called THE VOID. This was a troubled man, and he’s dead now. (pauses) The Void taught me about survival. Stanley Victor Rothenstein, who many know as STAN VICK – from him I learned strategy; inside and outside the ring. ARES, the original NFW attraction when so few men of fame were involved, he brought me to the New Frontier. He taught me what it meant to develop and impose willpower. MICHAEL MANSON showed me the way of madness and Spider Man pez. His were the lessons that almost killed me, and I’m grateful for that.”
(Lana leans over)
LANA: “In case you were wondering, I’m a convicted felon, adult actress, and patient in recovery. But that was my past life. Today I’m good as new.”
CASTOR: (nods) “Good as new. The incestuous sibling I never had. What a…(searches for word, smiles when he finds it) blessing it was, to be taught by these great individuals. My career is a product of an inheritance fund fed into by thieves, addicts, strongmen, messiahs, capitalists, and pornographic pin-up girls. And yet for all the qualities they passed on to me, none of them were able to teach the most important lesson. That was the one I found all on my own.
(Takes a sip of his drink)
“I learned devotion to glory and gold. It has possessed me. It speaks through me. Told me to form and now re-form The Guild. Told me to let Eric pull my shoulder from its socket.”
“I said “No.” It said “Now.” I said “OK”. And nobody can show you how to give that. You dig it up from the soil one day like a dumbfounded farmer. You covet it, blind to it’s tentacles, until it controls your every thought.”
(Shakes head) “I don’t love Gold as much as I need and can’t live without it. And that’s not my cross to bear – it’s yours.”
“Sometimes I look at Impulse and envy his contentment. I look at Nova and wish that I too could relax, enjoy a cupcake and a joint, and beat the roof of my Oldsmobile while Jack Harmen turns up Umphrey’s McGee to volume thirty-six.”
“But my mind works differently. I think on the next in an endless line of challengers, who thinks they might be able to overcome me while I’m injured. (shuts eyes for a moment and shakes head) It won’t happen.”
“Then I think on the ULTRATITLE. (smiles, bows head) My gift to the New Frontier.”
“And now this flight takes me to the next stage, for the next song, by request of a new audience, at the expense of a new challenger.”
(Pops the last two pills, downs it with the last of the rum and coke, including the ice, which he chews loudly. With his mouth full, he speaks)
“Well…(looks inside an empty cup) the show must go on.”
(FADEOUT)
CASTOR: “History is the graveyard of legends. (inhales, takes another sip, clears throat) It’s a large resting place, shared by failed-men and the unmarked headstones of anonymous faithful. Some get buried on the top of the hill, beneath a walk-in mausoleum. Others reside at the foot of a pronged gate next to six-lane highways; a scenic highway landmark between suburban travelers and their IKEA of preferred destination.”
(Pauses; runs finger along his gums)
“Oh my…”
(Using thumb and forefinger, he pulls a tooth from the back of his jaw and drops it on the tray next to two remaining pills. He takes a sip of his drink and swishes the liquid around his mouth. Sighing in relief, he slouches a bit, and turns his head againt to the camera)
“True fame never dies. Gods never die. (puts up finger, emphasizes) Guilds die. Associations break. Friendships corrode and even love…can die. (smiles, laughs softly) I can’t die. I won’t die.”
“And if you chase me for the thing I value most in this world, I will lead you to temptation and deliver you into the mouth of evil. You don’t know where I’ve been, mentally, because you would find a reason to quit before you even got there. That’s the difference between a coward and a champion.”
“The month is June, the year is 2012, and as of this moment you are watching the greatest show on earth, the biggest band in the world, en route to Newark, New Jersey. Next stop, they tell me, is Hershey Park. You might ask me then, if I’ll miss the road. The answer isn’t difficult: no.”
“I was meant to travel by sky, secure in my belongings, certain in the knowledge that the art of a true master is in the right hands.”
“But when Eric Dane clipped my wings, I had no problem re-inventing myself and adapting to a new environment. If only he could have done the same…”
(Castor lays his head back, folds his hands on his chest as a rumbling noise picks up volume and gets closer. Soon a snack cart arrives and passes, with nothing offered; perhaps in transition to be filled? Castor exhales, turns again to face the camera)
“One of my teachers was a man they called THE VOID. This was a troubled man, and he’s dead now. (pauses) The Void taught me about survival. Stanley Victor Rothenstein, who many know as STAN VICK – from him I learned strategy; inside and outside the ring. ARES, the original NFW attraction when so few men of fame were involved, he brought me to the New Frontier. He taught me what it meant to develop and impose willpower. MICHAEL MANSON showed me the way of madness and Spider Man pez. His were the lessons that almost killed me, and I’m grateful for that.”
(Lana leans over)
LANA: “In case you were wondering, I’m a convicted felon, adult actress, and patient in recovery. But that was my past life. Today I’m good as new.”
CASTOR: (nods) “Good as new. The incestuous sibling I never had. What a…(searches for word, smiles when he finds it) blessing it was, to be taught by these great individuals. My career is a product of an inheritance fund fed into by thieves, addicts, strongmen, messiahs, capitalists, and pornographic pin-up girls. And yet for all the qualities they passed on to me, none of them were able to teach the most important lesson. That was the one I found all on my own.
(Takes a sip of his drink)
“I learned devotion to glory and gold. It has possessed me. It speaks through me. Told me to form and now re-form The Guild. Told me to let Eric pull my shoulder from its socket.”
“I said “No.” It said “Now.” I said “OK”. And nobody can show you how to give that. You dig it up from the soil one day like a dumbfounded farmer. You covet it, blind to it’s tentacles, until it controls your every thought.”
(Shakes head) “I don’t love Gold as much as I need and can’t live without it. And that’s not my cross to bear – it’s yours.”
“Sometimes I look at Impulse and envy his contentment. I look at Nova and wish that I too could relax, enjoy a cupcake and a joint, and beat the roof of my Oldsmobile while Jack Harmen turns up Umphrey’s McGee to volume thirty-six.”
“But my mind works differently. I think on the next in an endless line of challengers, who thinks they might be able to overcome me while I’m injured. (shuts eyes for a moment and shakes head) It won’t happen.”
“Then I think on the ULTRATITLE. (smiles, bows head) My gift to the New Frontier.”
“And now this flight takes me to the next stage, for the next song, by request of a new audience, at the expense of a new challenger.”
(Pops the last two pills, downs it with the last of the rum and coke, including the ice, which he chews loudly. With his mouth full, he speaks)
“Well…(looks inside an empty cup) the show must go on.”
(FADEOUT)