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| [Backstage.] [Normally when Heidi’s seen by the fans, they erupt. This time, not quite so much. The cheers a bit more subdued, a bit lower pitched than usual.] [She’s just gotten done changing into her ring attire, apparently. Tying the belt of her gi, she straightens her hair. [She looks over at the camera. There’s something funny about her face.] Heidi: I don’t want to do an interview, alright? I said that already. [The camera man nods, and starts to leave. As the camera turns away from Heidi, though, Adam Delicious appears.] Delicious: You alright, Heidi? Heidi: …Not really. [About to leave, the camera stops.] Delicious: …Look. We’ll deal with whatever’s going on when the time comes, alright? You’ve got a lot of people who care about you. Heidi: …Not really. Delicious: Oh, come on, don’t get like this. You’ve got your match against Thane coming up, you’ve got to be ready for War Games, and you can’t go in all depressed. Heidi: Does it really matter? Delicious: Does what really matter? Heidi: If I wrestle, Adam. Does it matter if I wrestle. Delicious: Of course! Heidi: I don’t know. What Avarice said, about me being a slut and all that… Delicious: Screw him. [A split second later, Adam realizes his mistake. Heidi’s shoulders tense.] Delicious: Sorry. Sorry. Heidi: …Don’t worry about it. Adam, I think I made a mistake letting this happen. Delicious: What do you mean? Heidi: Avarice called me a slut. He was still angry that I used him… but that’s just the thing. Whether he got what he wanted out of what happened or not, I still used some guy who I don’t like to get something I wanted. That’s… Delicious: Not a big deal. Heidi: Yes, it is. Ever since I started winning matches, I’ve been trying to not do certain kinds of things. Trying not to act like… Delicious: You know what? Don’t even say it. [Heidi freezes.] Heidi: Don’t say what? How do you know what I’m going to say? Delicious: Because it’s exactly what you did the last time, when you were trying to fight the Sinful eXperience by yourself! I want… I have to… I need to… I can’t… no. The only thing you need to do is quit trying to force yourself through so much! Heidi: But that’s what… Delicious: C’mon. Just forget about it. We’ll see who cares what happened with you and Avarice when we track down the sonofabitch who’s been doing this to you and hang him from the rafters. OK? [Heidi’s quiet.] Delicious: Heidi? Heidi: …yeah. Heh. Instead of hanging him from the rafters, how about that ungodly statue they put in front of the old railroad house? [Out in the arena, the fans explode with cheers.] [It’s a Baltimore thing. There’s this colonial era railroad building, and some dipshits put a postmodern design statue right in the courtyard. Now you can’t see the roundhouse from the interstate like you once could, and besides, the statue is ugly. All Baltimorons hate it.] Delicious: We can cut him in half and hang him both places. Whatever you want. [Heidi laughs again, and stands.] [Then she loosens the waistline of her gi, and drops it to the floor, kicking it off.] Delicious: Heidi? I’m still here. Heidi: You’re like a brother. You don’t care, right? Delicious: Well, I try not to, but… Heidi: I’m going to do a little something different. [Heidi bends down – Adam’s face turns pale pink – and picks up her gym bag.] Heidi: I knew this white makeup I picked up would come in handy for something. Delicious: What do you want white makeup for? Heidi: Because… when Jeff wanted to clear his mind… he wore a mask. There’s no point in me wearing a mask, but… [Heidi turns around. She’s spread the white makeup in concave circles around her eyes. It looks… kinda eerie, actually.] Heidi: Facepaint works too. [And then she notices the camera.] Heidi: What’re YOU still doing here? [Quick fade…] Heidi vs Thane Conarri: Folks, this is going to be an interesting matchup, and one perhaps overshadowed by the stipulation, as well as the events that transpired earlier tonight. We’re set for the meeting between Heidi and Thane, and the stipulation Avarice made – if Thane wins, Heidi HAS to join The Iconoclasm! Stanton: Ceet, I’ve got more than a suspicion that Avarice made that stipulation before he found out about all… that stuff that just happened. You know? Heidi joining the Iconoclasm may not be as important to him as it was before… [Leslie is interrupted as the sounds of “Out Of My Way” by Seether rock through the arena.] # OUT OF MY WAY! # Ferraro: The following contest is set for one fall, with no time limit! Making his way to the ring at this time, representing The Iconoclasm! Hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and weighing in at 202 lbs! HE… IS… THAAAAAAAAANNNEEEE!!!! # I can’t pass up this opportunity to make myself absurd # Conarri: Thane, known as Jeff Kushner for most of his career, including his runs in the CSWA and BWWa. He’s a former CSWA Heavyweight Champion no less, he was on his way to the very top in BWWa when that federation closed down. In short, he’s a wrestler of pedigree equal to both his stable leader and his opponent. Stanton: He was doing really well for himself back in BWWa, but he had those problems with his ex-wife. Styles: Yeah… I heard about that. Didn’t she off herself and try to frame him for it or something like that? [As the commentators talk Thane steps out of the back, clad in a pair of tearaways and an Iconoclasm T-shirt. He throws an arm in the air.] BBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! # Nobody’s gonna stand in my way # Conarri: Thane finding very little favor here. Stanton: What’s to favor? You know, I didn’t like him in the BWWa, and I don’t like him now. He could be doing so much better than what he is… Styles: It’s like his second match back. First singles match. Give him a break, and hope Heidi doesn’t give him two of em. Cos you KNOW she’s going to be looking to hurt someone and, since Thane’s the new second in command of The Iconoclasm, it’s like the next best thing until she gets Avarice in the cage. # You like to think the worst is over now, but you cant breathe at all # # Nobody’s gonna stand in my way # [Thane rolls under the bottom rope and into the ring, where he tests the ropes, and then turns to wait.] # You can’t hold me down # [Music fades.] [Lights out.] [No “Shine” by Orange Goblin, though.] [Instead, it’s distorted guitars and tribal drums. “Star Under My Bed” by Glassjaw.] Stanton: What the hell is this? This song hurts my ears… Conarri: We heard earlier from Heidi that she wants to send a message to Avarice and the Iconoclasm. Perhaps this is part of it. # Kneeling low on my pillow, child # Ferraro: And the opponent! Hailing from Baton Rogue, Louisiana! She weighs in at 156 lbs, and is a former IWA Heavyweight and CAL World Champion! She! Is! HEEIIIIDDDIII!!!! # Look at the pink roses filled with black kind hearts # # Why do you not wanna look at roses, girl # [Heidi walks out. Behind her, the Tron is playing clips from her matches, but all whitewashed of color. Roundhouse kicks and dragon suplexes can be seen easily. The opponents are mainly unidentifiable.] [She’s wearing one of her brother’s white windbreakers, hood up. It’s big enough that the sleeves hang past her hands, and the jacket itself falls to half way down her thighs. The hood falls over her face, hiding it.] # I will be there… I will see there… # [And she flips the hood down.] Styles: GAAH! [We saw, earlier, Heidi putting on the face paint in her dressing room. Now she’s completed the job. White paint rings her eyes, sticking out in jagged bolts that come up to meet her hairline. It looks pretty out there, especially since Heidi’s generally a wrestler who prefers to keep it low on the theatrics.] # Summer’s trudging closer # [As the screaming and talking of the song fades into sung vocals, Heidi throws off the oversized windbreaker and begins stalking down the ramp, eyes on the ring and her opponent.] # I, I see the fucking manger # Conarri: Of course, we saw the confrontation between Avarice and Heidi. I won’t recap it for you, but Heidi was frankly, ready to rip him limb from limb. Styles: I don’t think he’d have let her do that. Conarri: Perhaps. But what happened seems to have had an effect on her. Or maybe this is just cumulative effect. Fans, I don’t really know what’s going on in Heidi’s mind right now. But there’s one big advantage she has right now – Thane doesn’t either. [Heidi rolls into the ring, rising to one knee and focusing a hate-filled glare on Thane.] # I wasn’t a star lost # Conarri: Thane Kushner could pick up the biggest win of his entire career here tonight, but he could also be leaving the ring on a stretcher. When Heidi gets like this, people tend to get hurt. DING! DING! DING! [Immediately as the bell rings, Heidi rushes Thane. Thane prepares to guard against a kick, and Heidi throws him viciously over her shoulder, sinking in a wicked cross armbar. The ring positioning isn’t good and Thane gets his foot on the ropes. Heidi pulls him to his feet, rolls him over, stepping across the shoulder and rolling forward, sinking in an omo-plata, pushing down on his shoulder with her leg while twisting his arm up and behind his back to put pressure on the joint. Thane, gritting his teeth, manages to roll forward and grab the rope. Heidi doesn’t let up for a second, wrenching the arm and knee dropping it just above the elbow, then wrapping it around the bottom rope and kicking the rope. Thane’s arm pops loose, and he promptly rolls out of the ring, clutching his shoulder and staring at his paint-faced adversary.] Styles: …WOW. You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Heidi wrestle like that. The last time actually, was back in IWA, almost 4 years ago, when she was defending the IWA Heavyweight Title against Kai Scott. Then, she HAD to wrestle methodically because her knee was too banged up to fly around or lose her cool. But this, now this is new. Conarri: …and Styles with the unexpected contribution. He’s right, though. Heidi generally has two styles, the high energy mix of strikes, high flying and grappling she’s known for, or her wild unfocused, roundhouse kick things that move until they quit moving style. [Thane circles the ring as Sean O’Meara counts on him. Heidi doesn’t try to chase, she just stands in the middle of the ring, staring him down.] Styles: I hope she never looks at me like that. [Thane climbs back up on the apron. Heidi waits on him as he steps over the middle rope and into the ring.] Conarri: Thane is no insignificant wrestler. Don’t let the beginning of the match fool you. [Thane extends his hand, offering a tie-up. Heidi approaches for the tie-up. They lock hands, then go into a test of strength. Thane wins relatively easily, forcing Heidi’s hands backwards – she rolls onto her back and attempts a monkey flip. Thane, with great balance, refuses to go over her back, instead, balancing on her feet. He then rolls back, and executes his own monkey flip, before rolling over. Still in the knuckle lock, he tries to pin Heidi to the mat. Her face twisted in a snarl, she works her legs under him, then flips him back off of her, rolling over herself. Quickly, she steps over one arm, pulls up on the head – Thane sees the triangle choke coming, he quickly pushes her off and jumps to his feet. As Heidi turns, Thane meets her with a crisp dropkick that drops her to the mat. She rolls to her feet, but instead of charging, dusts herself off and continues to make eye contact.] Conarri: Thane, now trying to feel his opponent out. Styles: Can’t say I blame him, really. Conarri: [ignoring Styles] Heidi’s style is unorthodox, and her rare losses these days are usually to wrestlers who’ve fought her before and know what to expect. [Thane, again, signals for the tie-up. Heidi goes into a crouch, waiting for the knuckle lock – but the split second their hands clench, she steps forward with a roundhouse to the back of the head. Thane falls to his hands and knees, Heidi quickly steps behind him, hooks the full nelson, Thane promptly drops to his back, rolling up to catch Heidi around the neck with his ankles and tossing her overhead. Thane’s up a split second before Heidi, and as she’s preparing to attack.] THWAAACKK!!! Conarri: …and THANE drills HEIDI with a roundhouse to the head! Stanton: He’s been using it for years, but these fans react to it as a deliberately disrespectful gesture, and I’m not guaranteeing it wasn’t. Styles: Y’know. It’s a damn shame this match is overshadowed by the Heidi Avarice stuff and the gimmick. Time was Heidi and Jeff Kushner, not necessarily opponents, but they’d both have been on any CAL dream card. [Thane doesn’t follow up quickly, waiting to see how Heidi reacts to the kick. She reacts… well, like it hurt, obviously, but aside from that, not at all. And that’s another advantage of the face paint. Heidi’s face is expressive, and by now most opponents know how to tell when she’s angry, and what to do to anger her further. Now, Thane’s not sure what’s the deal.] [Thane signals for another tie-up. Heidi shows what she thinks of that idea by kicking his hand. Thane pulls it into his stomach, and Heidi hits a quick thrust kick to the stomach, and hooks Thane in a front chancery. Thane tries standing up out of it, but Heidi’s tough to throw – she just spins with his body, then underhooks one arm and sprawls out, dragging them both to the mat. Keeping a grip on the hooked arm, she twists Thane over to his back, jumps across his body, and…] Conarri: Heidi, grabbing the Twisted Triangle! It’s more of a knockout move than a submission, but it’s going to do some damage to Thane if he can’t break it quickly. Thane, trying to get to the ropes… [Heidi releases the neck scissor, keeps hold of the arm and pulls him back to his feet. But Thane’s ready. Cartwheeling to reverse the arm lock, he flips Heidi to the mat, drops a leg on the elbow joint and moves to a short arm scissor. Some of the ‘smarter’ fans applaud, enjoying the whole technical wrestling thing, but the majority of the fans just boo Thane relentlessly.] Styles: Les, you’re the one who knows more about Thane there than either me or Cito, but you done forgot to mention something important. Just like her, Thane made his career beating much, much bigger men to win titles. He knows the style she’s using because it’s very much like his own. [Heidi gets to her feet and rolls Thane over into a modified schoolboy. It barely gets one before Thane rolls through, but as he stands he’s caught with a nice spinning heel kick that returns him to the mat. No longer playing careful, Heidi immediately goes for the neck again, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.] Conarri: Styles has a good point, but Heidi’s got a good strategy there. If Thane can match her in speed and style in top condition, he’s not going to be able to if he’s out of breath and dizzy in the head. It’s too early for the rear naked choke to be a match ending move, especially because he can just roll over and drag her to the ropes… [Which, incidentally, is what he does.] Conarri: But he’s going to want to keep her from working on the neck. Styles: We know dude. Cumulative damage and all that good stuff. [Releasing the choke, Heidi spins Thane around, knees him in the ribs and snap suplexes him. Thane ends up mid ring, and Heidi goes right back to the neck, applying a figure 4 headscissor.] Conarri: And again, going to work on the neck. Styles: I’ll spare the smartass remark as I do believe I’m ahead of quota. Smart by her too, it’s tougher for him to drag her from that position. Stanton: Can I get a word in edgewise, you two? Styles: Hush woman. Man talk. [As Stanton takes off her headphones to presumably curse Styles out, Thane goes to work freeing himself. Rolling them over and stepping on Heidi’s legs just above the knee joint, he works the hold just loose enough to pull his head free. He then settles down on Heidi’s back, applying a chin lock, much like a crossface without the arm hooked. Now it’s Heidi’s turn to look for a break, and unfortunately for her, she doesn’t have the option of just powering her way to the ropes. As Thane pulls back on her head, she pushes up on the arms – slipping free, she rolls, grabs him by the arms, and hits the backslide! Thane rolls through quickly, runs off the ropes. Heidi stands, only to be hit with a VICIOUS dropkick to the face!] OHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Conarri: WHAT a dropkick from Thane! Heidi was caught unawares by that one. [The dropkick not only connected with Heidi at the combined speeds of both wrestlers, but she was dropped to the mat so abruptly the back of her head bounced off it. She rolls off her back, covering her head with both hands.] Styles: Yeaaaaahhh… facepaint don’t counter NONE of that. Conarri: Thane going for a cover! …ONE…!
……TWO…~
………THRE…
…………KICKOUT! Conarri: Very close call there. A lot of the faster wrestlers out there neglect what I’d call the meat and potatoes offense – to an extent, Heidi’s one of them. Thane, however, is not, and you see how effective even the simplest moves can be if timed right and executed well. [Thane pulls Heidi to her feet and scoop slams her. Twice. He then locks in a Boston crab. Heidi’s natural flexibility only means that Thane has to bend her back until she’s nearly touching the back of her head with the soles of her feet. At O’Meara’s prompt, Heidi insists that no, she doesn’t want to give up. Thane releases the crab by himself, pulling Heidi up a waistlock, and quickly converting it to a backbreaker! A rolling knee drop across the back, and then Thane returns to the backbreaker! This time, Heidi doesn’t yell at O’Meara’s prompt, she just grits her teeth and shakes her head.] Conarri: Thane’s also got a good game plan here. Heidi, unlike many wrestlers of her status, isn’t unwilling to submit, but it’s still a rarity, maybe 4 or 5 times in her career. Stanton: Is her back the best thing for Thane to be working over? I mean, it’ll help block the dragon suplex, but not any of the other stuff. [As Thane tries to lean back and increase the pressure on her back, Heidi, with a phenomenal effort, pushes off the mat – just enough to tuck her head and roll through! Thane is almost amazed as, having been in control three seconds ago, he’s now caught in a very painful leg lock, Heidi twisting his knee around her own. He tries to kick her with his free leg. Heidi catches the leg, crosses it over the first and anchors it with one of her own legs. Thane winces and drops to the mat. O’Meara drops in to make a cover!] …ONE…! [Realizing that his back was on the mat, Thane pushes himself up on his elbows. He tries to roll over and get to the ropes. Heidi counters by trying to roll in the other direction, increasing the pressure on his knee. Thane changes directions, rolling with her, using the momentum to get the ropes with one hand. Heidi releases the hold, but she’s up slowly, holding her back. Looking to the turnbuckle as if she’d like to take to the air, but not being fast enough to make it, she lays into Thane with some kicks. Not the Lethal Roundhouse knockout kick, but some faster, more stinging kicks. One to each shoulder, then she jumps, spins – Thane ducks the spinning kick, grabbing her around the waist and taking her over in a back suplex! Heading to the top rope, he leaps!] Conarri: MY TIME Swanton! Thane connects dead on with his finisher! And… Stanton: He’s not making the cover! Styles: Ha. See, when you do the swanton, you land on your head, and since Heidi’s been working on his head, I think he hurt himself with that one. Conarri: Thane, trying to pull himself together, dragging himself over… cover! ONE…!
…TWO…!
……THRE…!
………EEEE…!
…………KICKOUT!!! RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Conarri: Heidi, just survived the swanton finisher of Jeff Kushner! Er, Thane. Sorry fans. Stanton: It DID take him about 10 seconds before he was able to make the cover. If he’d done it promptly, I think the Iconoclasm would have found itself one person richer. [Thane slashes his finger across his throat. He then scoops the mostly unresisting Heidi up onto his back in a firemans carry and begins climbing the turnbuckle.] Styles: So what’s he up to now? Seems like if the Swanton didn’t work once, he should just do it again. Conarri: No, she’d be expecting that. I think he might be… dear god. Stanton: What? Conarri: Swanton falling slam. I’ve seen it a few times in my career. If he does that – not only will he be getting the win here, but Heidi might not make it into War Games at all. [The fans are getting rowdy as Thane carries the unresisting Heidi up the turnbuckle. Standing on the middle rope, he signals – and as he does, Heidi comes back to life! Thrashing, breaking the firemans carry, Heidi rolls off his shoulders and down to the mat, and before he can react, delivers a superkick. Not to the side, but nearly straight UP. The kick connects with the back of Thane’s head, he slumps over the top rope.] Stanton: She’s not done! Conarri: Heidi just hit Thane with a hell of a kick, and now she’s… climbing the turnbuckle behind him! RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Styles: We haven’t seen this in ages! [Grabbing Thane by the legs, Heidi puts them on the far side of the turnbuckle. Climbing up herself, she places her legs the same way, locking them, and then applies the full nelson…] Conarri: TOP ROPE DRAGON SUPLEX!!! WHAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!! RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! [Thane, thrown into the ring, lands hard and doesn’t move.] Conarri: Heidi sits up on the turnbuckle… Styles: SHOOTING STAR PRESS! DUDE! Stanton: COVERRRR!
…ONE…!
……TWO…!
………THREE!!! DING! DING! DING! Ferraro: Here is your winner – HEIDI! [Heidi stands and allows Sean O’Meara to raise her hand, before turning to Thane.] Stanton: Not cool Heidi, don’t attack him… [She doesn’t. She just takes a knee, saying something unheard.] [Thane, who despite taking the SSP is more concerned with his neck, waves her off. Heidi nods, stands, and then hits the turnbuckle, throwing a fist, index finger extended, up into the air.] RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Conarri: So that’s the end of that. Heidi picks up a nice win, and she will not be joining The Iconoclasm. Fans, we’ll be back! Conarri: We’re backstage again, with Duane Eckelbury. [Backstage.] [With Duane Eckelbury.] [Just like Cito said, because he’s right about everything.] Eckelbury: Hey folks. Right now, and I think this is probably the last one of the evening. I’ve got one of the team captains for War Games, and a man who was just cost a big match earlier this evening – Cole Christenson! RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Christenson: Eckelbury. Eckelbury: So, first, any words for Minority Uprising? Christenson: You know my take on so called ‘outside interference’. I wasn’t prepared to deal with Minority Uprising, that was my fault. Daemon Curtis got the win, and I can’t really fault him for that. I still don’t appreciate their actions, but quite frankly, I have more important things to worry about. Eckelbury: Like War Games? Christenson: Yes. Like War Games. Eckelbury: So let me ask you this first – who would you rather see leading the Iconoclasm faction? Avarice, or Jeff Andrews? Christenson: Tough question. See, I’d like to tear them both limb from limb to the point that I don’t know which one I hate the most. However, if Andrews were in the match, Heidi, for reasons best known to herself, would probably stop me from doing that. In Avarice’s case, she’d prefer to do that herself… either way. But as for policy, I think I’d rather face Avarice. Eckelbury: Why? Christenson: Because Jeff Andrews is a lunatic, and Avarice is simply an arrogant coward. After I ended his winning streak, Eckelbury, he decided to deal with it by pretending that I was beneath his contempt. Even though I’ve repeatedly proven to him how foolish that line of defense is, he insists on using it. And he’ll do so again. Eckelbury: And you don’t expect Andrews? Christenson: I do not know what Andrews will do at any given time, and that’s why I consider him a greater threat than Avarice. Though I’d like to note that I’ve pinned him as well, when he was wrestling as Ultra Raptor. Eckelbury: Any comments about what’s happening between Avarice and your sister? Christenson: None. Eckelbury: OK. So how about War Games, what do you think of your team? Christenson: Well first. While I may not trust Damien long term, for the short term I do simply because he has nothing to gain by betraying us. Other than that, no comment. I don’t want to divulge my strategy and give the others time to counter it. Eckelbury: So any last words? Christenson: Yes. Do you remember how the last War Games ended? Eckelbury: With Heidi helping Ultra Raptor defeat you? Christenson: Yes. While Heidi and I’ve made our peace over that, I was a rightful winner of that match. Before that, I was robbed of my contendership to the CAL World Title, first by IWA closing, and then by Angelina Bishop personally. When OLW opened, I was the top wrestler here by my own prowess, until my career got side tracked. I promise everyone this – I am going to do everything within my power to win this War Games, and I pray to god that Heidi and I aren’t the last two people in the match. Eckelbury: If you are, maybe she should take a dive to make up for what happened last time? [Christenson actually smiles a bit.] Christenson: Not a bad idea. You tell her. Eckelbury: …I think I’ll pass. Christenson: Alright then. If you’ll excuse me… [He leaves.] Eckelbury: …wow, that actually went well for once. Erm, I mean, I’m Duane Eckelbury, that was Cole Christenson, and back to you guys at ringside, Cito! |