EPISODE 6: Crimson Dawn

APRIL 24, 2010
KOA CAMPGROUND
CORAOPOLIS, PENNSYLVANIA
5:45 AM EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME

Daniel Pollaski silently shut the RVs front door behind him, and crept up the three steps that led to the main cabin. As he had expected, the RV was quiet, the other four occupants still in the blissful void of slumber.

Good, this was gonna be excellent.

Pollaski set the bulging bags from Arby's on the table, then turned his attention to one of the seats. Going more by feel than sight, he found his backpack, and quietly rummaged through it. After about forty-five seconds, he found the item he was looking for, and he replaced his pack.

Pollaski silently crept towards the back of the RV. On his right, he passed Cassie, lying on her back, her pale blonde hair spread out behind her head. On his left was Theresa, curled up into a little ball, her thumb in her mouth. Dan paused smiling at the little angel for just a second. Then he slipped past her sofa, and into the short hallway at the back of the cabin.

He passed the bathroom, and paused as he reached the master bedroom door. For just a second, Pollaski hesitsted, remembering all too well what happened the last time he had barged into the Birdz bedroom without warning.

Finally, he worked up enough courage to creak open the door, and glance inside. To his relief, both Terrence and Wendy remained asleep. Pollaski opened the door wider, and slipped in. He crept to the cabinets and entertainment center that sat opposite the King Sized bed.

It had to be here somewhere... ah!

One of the more awesome features of the Newmar King Aire was the Boze Sound System that was included in the master bedroom. Pollaski quickly located the cd changer, slid out the tray, and put in the CD he had taken from his backpack. He pressed for the desired track, then quickly hit pause.

A noise behind him spun him around, and he watched Wendy roll over in her slumber, murmuring incomprehensibly.

Sighing inwardly, Pollaski turned around, found the volume control, and cranked it as high up as it would go. A sinister grin plastered over his face, and he turned, and pressed play.

The effect was instantaneous, and, as far as Pollaski was concerned, extremely gratifying. First, the opening notes of Kamelot's "Ghost Opera" played over the speakers. Immediately, the two WhirlyBirdz bolted upright in their bed, Wendy letting out a scream of terror. From outside, Pollaski heard another shriek, this one coming from Cassie.

Good, everyone was up.

Wendy and Terrence, both gasping for breath, stared at Pollaski, the initial alarm quickly giving way to anger. Pollaski, for his part, pretended not to notice, as he was going to town on the opening riffs with an air guitar as if he was Thomas Youngblood himself.

"SHUT THAT OFF!" Terrence screamed, his face having gone straight to purple in rage. Wendy merely covered her ears, trying to drown out the noise.

"What?" Pollaski yelled back. "I can't hear you!"

Terrence dove at the end table, and grabbed the remote for the CD changer, pressing stop, and a sudden silence filled the room, both Terrence and Wendy still panting as their adrenaline levels began to drop.

Finally, Terrence found his voice. "What the HELL did you do that for?"

"Good morning, kids!" Pollaski proclaimed brightly. “I figured that since you were facing Valerie Belmont in just a few short days, playing her entrance music was going to get you inspired!

From the looks of things, the only thing it really seemed to inspire in Terrence was a deep desire to commit second-degree murder, and he continued to stare at his manager in a rage.

Pollaski either ignored his wrestler’s glares, or else failed to notice them completely. He ducked to the window beneath the television, opening the blinds, the room’s occupants squinting as the early morning light filtered in. “Ah, look at that glorious sunrise” he declared, then snickered. “Shame the Belmonts can’t”

Wendy rolled her eyes, and muttered “For crying out loud,” Terrence, for his part, looked confused, before finally catching on.

“Oh, that’s right. Cause they’re vampires.”

“Who’s a vampire?” A new female voice asked as Cassie DeSlair, squinting in the early morning light, entered the room, carrying a wide-eyed Theresa in her arms. “Thanks a lot!” she snapped at Pollaski, who stared back in feigned innocence.

“Valerie Belmont,” Wendy answered, curtailing the expected incendiary response from Pollaski. “Terrence’s opponent for High Stakes. At least that’s what her gimmick is.”

“You don’t believe she' really a vampire?” Terrence asked mildly.

Wendy rolled her eyes. “Of course not. There’s no such thing as vampires. Its just a gimmick she and her husband came up with… which is really unnecessary, because she’s more than talented enough to not need one.”

Cassie set Theresa down, and she bounded up on the bed, nestling in between her parents, while Cassie leaned against the bedroom wall.

“I dunno, I mean, we’ve seen some pretty weird stuff during our career,” Terrence argued. "I mean, we know for certain there’s ghosts… and angels… and demons… and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Who’s to say there aren’t really vampires? What do you think, Cassie?”

Cassie shrugged, taken aback at suddenly being put on the spot. “I… don’t know,” she finally confessed. “I mean, I’ve read Interview With a Vampire and Twilight, but I never really gave any thought to whether or not they were REAL.”

There was a brief silence, as all eyes turned to Pollaski. “What?” the overweight manager asked

“Vampires,” Wendy said in exasperation. “Do you believe they’re real?”

“Oh, yeah,” Pollaski said without any hesitation. “At least I hope they are. Otherwise my cousin Ivan is wasting his life hunting them.”

There was a long pause as the three other adult occupants of the room stared at him. “Your cousin is a vampire hunter?” Wendy asked incredulously.

Pollaski nodded. “Yeah, he’s my Aunt Jillian’s kid… you know the one that married Uncle Stefan and moved back to Poland?”

Terrence and Cassie shook their heads, but something clicked in Wendy’s distant memory. “Wait, wasn’t your Aunt Jillian the one who walked around naked wrapped in saran wrap through the streets of New Orleans trying to exorcise a demon?”

“Ah, you remember her!” Pollaski said brightly. “Yup. Well, she’s living in some town outside Warsaw now, and Cousin Ivan somehow got involved with Vampire Hunters. I don’t know. It’s not like I talk to them all that much.”

“What is wrong with your family?” Cassie asked in open-mouthed amazement.

“You don’t want to know” Terrence and Wendy answered simultaneously.

“Oh, come on…” Pollaski protested. “My family’s not THAT bad. I mean, sure, we’re a little on the dysfunctional side… but at least my dad’s never tried to kill me…”

“Thanks, Dan” Wendy snapped, glaring at her manager.

“So, vampirism” Terrence said, immediately realizing Pollaski just trespassed into forbidden ground. “Sounds like it could be a fun thing.”

“What makes you think that?” Wendy asked, puzzled.

“Just think of all the awesome things you could do…” Terrence mused…

==========WHAT TERRENCE WOULD DO IF HE WAS A VAMPIRE==========
(The scene is a very steep hill in a secluded area, sometime during the night. Suddenly, a derby car rattles by, going down the hill at breakneck speed)

(The scene cuts to the inside of the car, where Terrence is driving, and Dan is sitting shot gun. Both men are screaming as if they’re on a roller coaster ride, their mouths open wide to reveal the fangs where the canine teeth should be.)

(Back to the outside, the car gets to the edge of a cliff, and flies off a ramp that has been placed there. The car soars through the night air, the full moon in the background.)

Twister- YEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAA!

(As the car reaches the apex of its leap, and begins to plummet through the earth, two bats fly out of the windows, one from the driver’s side, one from the passenger’side.)

===========END SEQUENCE==========

“Dude,” Pollaski laughed. “That would be fun… but there’d be drawbacks too…”

=============REALITY BITES========
(Back to the mountain side, where the bat-Terrence and the bat-Dan are flying through the air. Suddenly, things start to brighten as the sun peaks over the horizon)

Bat-Twister- OH, FUCKBURGERS!

POOF!

(The bats explode in an impressive shower of sparks)

===========OOPS=========


“Oh, yeah,” Terrence said dejectedly. “I guess mortality ain’t so bad after all.”

There was a slight pause, then Theresa spoke up."What's a vampiwe?"

There was another, longer, awkward pause as Pollaski, Terrence, Wendy, and Cassie looked to one another, unsure of how to answer the question, or who should even provide the answer.

Finally, Terrence spoke up, squeezing his daughter's shoulder. "A vampire is a... creature... that looks human, but instead of eating macaroni and cheese and fish sticks, they drink blood."

"Terry, don't scare her," Wendy warned.

"And daddy's gotta fight a vampiwe?"

"Mmm-hmmm. A pretty vampire... though not as pretty as your mommy."

Nevertheless, Theresa looked frightened. "What if she dwinks your bwood?"

"Then daddy's going to have to skip his Red Cross donation next month." Terrence laughed. "But don't worry. I figure we'll eat at the Olive Garden before the show. Vampires are afraid of garlic, so all I'll have to do is breathe on her, and that'll be it."

Pollaski shook his head. "Cousin Ivan said the garlic things a myth. And crosses don't work either."

"Oh," Terrence said, disappointed that his excuse for a pre-match trip to the Olive Garden was out the window. "What does work?"

"Stakes through the heart, although that tends to kill most things. And direct sunlight. Ivan says they look really cool when the sunlight gets 'em."

"Uh, hunh" Terrence said. "What if I'm not looking to kill her, just knock her out?"

"Well, its a scientific fact that Last Laps are anathema to all living creatures." Pollaski said with a grin, and Terrence chuckled.

Theresa still looked confused, and just a tad scared, so Wendy picked her up and set her on her lap. "Don't worry, Terr-Bear. Valerie Belmont is not going to be drinking daddy's blood."

Theresa nodded uncertainly, but looked decisively less afraid. Terrence stood up, stretching and letting out a long, roaring, yawn. "Well, now that we're up, we should probably get going," he said, as he straightened his basketball shorts. "Its a long drive back to Indiana." On the other side of the bed, Wendy set Theresa down, and also got to her feet.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Got us all biscuits and gravy from Arby's." Pollaski announced.

"Excellent," Terrence said with a grin. "That's God's food right there."

Theresa ran out of the room, and the four adults, all now suddenly hungry, followed her out into the main cabin.



APRIL 24, 2010
INTERSTATE 70
NEAR ZANESVILLE, OHIO
12:39 PM EASTERN DAYLGHT TIME

(Alright, promo time. And no, none of this talking about a match over breakfast crap. We’re going straight up here.)

(Well, it looks like the Birdz have mounted a camera to the dashboard, so we can see Twister in his element- driving. So yeah, there's Terrence Thompson, wearing a black #17 Matt Kenseth T-shirt, and a pair of jeans, behind the wheel of a Recreatonal Vehicle that has more controls than a 747.)

(Remember kids, this RV's 45 feet long, and its towing a car. That's about sixty-five feet of sheet metal going about 80 miles per hour down Interstate 70. This has to be a perfectly safe time to talk about the biggest match you've had in five years, right?)

(At least he's wearing a seat belt. So's Wendy, who's decked out in a blue floral skirt and a plain blue button-down short sleeve collared blouse. She's sitting shotgun, and looking fairly apprehensive about this arrangement. Probably cause her daughters somewhere in the back, with Daniel and Cassie, watching cartoons. You can't see them, but they're there.)

(Kinda like angels. Or stars during the day, if you’re an athiest)

(Anyways, the Mechanical Mayhem's about to talk, so enough with the parentheticals)

Twister- Well, I suppose congratulations are in order to one Noah Hanson. It was a hell of a match, stole the show, and could have gone either way. But the fact is, in the end, it was Noah making the pin, getting his hand raised, and walking out the winner. So yeah, Noah, you won, props.

(It should be noted that the preceding has been said with all the enthusiasm of a Grayson Willis fan club meeting.)

(That would mean zero, in case you didn't get the joke)

Twister- Now, I'm sure the entire world has been waiting for my reaction to the match. How does Terrence Thompson feel about losing his first singles match in five years?

(Pause)

Twister- How the fuck do you think I feel?

(Of course, Wendy's less than pleased that the f-bomb just got dropped, especially considering it was within fairly close proximity to Theresa's ears. The dirty glare she's now giving her husband should attest to that)

Twister- Sorry, that slipped out.

(Glare softens. A little.)

Twister- Anyways, yeah, I'm not happy. Frankly, I'm pretty freakin' pissed right now. You see, the fact of the matter is, I have absolutely no excuse for losing, especially the way I did. Next time somebody flops their own finisher to trick me, I'm just gonna kick them in the face before they get up.

(Small smile, probably at the thought of kicking a field goal with Noah Hanson's head.)

Twister- But, nonetheless, apparently my 'losing effort' impressed somebody high up, and I've got myself a title shot at the High Stakes pay-per-view.

(Which is infinitely better than facing Lust, given by the slight slumping of shoulders from his wife.)

Twister- So, now, after losing my first match, I'm now put up against Valerie Belmont, self-proclaimed vampire, mother of one, wife of Jeremiah, and of course, the PWX Next Generation Champion.

(Short pause, as Terrence checks his mirrors to make a lane change.)

Twister- Now, I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to see that there are some pretty distinct similarities between the Thompsons and the Belmonts. Wendy and Valerie both are attractive young ladies with red hair, and both have ties to the British Isles. Both also are extremely talented wrestlers, and abide by a code of honor that have made them two of the most beloved competitors in the world. From what I've seen, both Jeremiah and I have a knack for destruction, and we both are also top competitors. And, of course, both families each have a beautiful young daughter that they love more than anything in the world.

(Beside him, Wendy smiles at the mention of Theresa, and looks back over her shoulder to check on her daughter.)

Twister- Of course, there's a ton of differences too. Wendy's WAY hotter than Valerie...

(At this, Wendy turns bright red, although a small smile does flash across her face)

Twister- And last time I checked, Wendy and I can still go outside during the day without disintegrating.

(Terrence smirks, and flashes a wink to the camera.)

Twister- But I'm not here to make a compare and contrast chart about our two families. I'm here to explain why Valerie Belmont's three month Next Generation title reign is going to be coming to a screeching halt on Monday.

(Yes, screeching, and its time to be direct. As Terrence talks, he alternates between looking at the camera and keeping his eyes on the road.)

Twister- Now, Valerie, don't get me wrong. Both Wendy and I have all the respect in the world for you and Jeremiah, and what you've done. I've said this before, but Wendy and I regularly watched PWX while we were training for our comeback. In fact, the first show we watched was New Horizons, and the very first match we saw had you beating five men to win that title belt you now hold. Hell, Wendy completely marked out when you hit that Red Arrow to pin..

(Wendy's going to interrupt here)

Wendy- I did NOT completely 'mark out!' I merely expressed my admiration for the heart she displayed when-

(Terrence cuts her off, now looking straight into the camera.)

Twister- She squealed. And, believe me, I KNOW what that sounds-

Wendy- TERRENCE!

(Wendy, now blushing furiously, stares angrily at her husband, while Terrence launches an ear-to-freaking-ear grin)

Twister- Even I gotta admit, that 630 you do with regularity has me pretty damn impressed, and you’ve got more heart and guts than anyone else I've seen. Well, except one.

(Terrence jerks his thumb over his right shoulder at his wife, who's angry glare again softens substantially from the compliment.)

Twister- So yeah, I guess had Wendy and I not decided to return to the ring, we'd probably have been Belmont fans. But we did return, and now, Valerie, you’re the next speed bump on my road to the top. Now let's get a couple of things out of the way, right off the bat. I'm a chivalrous guy. I'll open car doors, pull out chairs, hell, I might even help an old lady cross the street once in a while. But not in the ring. If a woman wants to step in the ring with me, in my mind, she's fully accepting whatever consequences come of our encounter. There is no room, for chivalry in wrestling. I learned that very early in my career, in a now-defunct indy fed called the GCW. I had just won a ladder match to become the GCW 'World' Champion, and I was lying on the mat, exhausted, when this woman named Summer Kensington hops over the barrier, takes my title, and walks off! I had to get it back in a back alley brawl, and I beat that Jezebel half to death to get my title back.

(Twister pauses, obviously reliving that brutal match, then finally shrugs.)

Twister- Now, Val, I have no intention of beating you within an inch of your life. This ain't personal like that was, the only thing I have against you is that you’re in my way. Of course, I'm going to hurt you as much as I have to in order to get the three count, but I strongly doubt that you’ll be ending the evening on life-support.

(Pause)

Twister- Can you even put a vampire ON life support?

(Shrug. Over on the left side if the screen, Wendy's rolling her eyes.)

Twister- Nor will I be making the fatal mistake of overlooking you because you’re a woman. My wife is one of the top female grapplers to have ever stepped into the ring, and I learned pretty damn quick to respect what females are capable of in this business.. But, like I've said before, I've been watching you in action, and your record alone, coupled with that shiny belt around your waist, are testament enough to your ability.

(Pause, smirk)

Twister- But here's the crux of the argument... Valerie, who exactly have you beaten? Red Dragon? Becky Dakota Paisley? Randy Treehugger? Winners all!

(Short chuckle)

Twister- No, your biggest singles wins are over Devon Poole and Josh Graves, and the only reason those two are even on the radar is that they beat you and Jeremiah for the tag titles! With copious amounts of assistance from an idiotic hippy, mind you.

(Ah, Randy Treehugger, how we miss thee)

(Just kidding.)

Twister- So, Valerie, there lies the biggest gap in your PWX resume. Your strength of schedule has been somewhat... lacking. Your record is gaudy, but it is soft. Now, its not your fault, I doubt you can control who the office puts you against. But there is no denying this one simple fact, Valerie. I am by far the toughest test you will have had in your PWX career.

(Now the cocky smirk we've come to love is in full force on Terrence's face)

Twister- I'm not Red Dragon, who was so weak a your own three year old daughter could pin him. I'm not Randy Treehugger, who could swing protest signs and stab dolls, but folded like a cheap paper fan when it came time to actually wrestle. I'm not Josh Graves, I don't need to go to eight separate locations to get my message across. I'm not Devon Poole, and I'm most certainly not Lilith Morgan or Becky Dakota Paisley, something I think my wife is infinitely thankful for.

(Terrence launches a shit-eating grin as Wendy rolls her eyes again and shakes her head in consternation.)

Twister- No, I'm Terrence, the "Twister" Thompson. I am a WWA Grand Slam Champion, and a Hall of Famer. My return was the biggest news story in the Alliance thus far this year, and I sure as hell did not come to the PWX to put on 'strong losing efforts' against Noah Hanson. I came here to win gold. Top gold. Now, I'm really not all that concerned about your Next Generation Championship, but if its going to be offered, why not? Besides, I'm hearing a lot about an upcoming eight-man tournament, and the winner gets a shot at the PWX Championship. I can guarantee that the winner of this match is going to be in that tournament, and I fully expect my win over you to be my ticket into that event.

(Terrence smiles, as if thinking already about having the PWX Championship around his waist)

Twister- Valerie, I will agree with you about one thing- you and Jeremiah deserved a rematch for the PWX Tag Team Championships. But unfortunately for you, that oversight on the PWX booking committee’s part has turned into a double whammy against you, because now you have to face me. Again, nothing personal, but I’m coming off an embarrassment to Noah Hanson, and I’m not about to start my PWX singles career with an 0-2 record. And furthermore, I know that you are one of the best Pro-Wrestling X has to offer, and if I want to cement myself as the best, and true champion of this region, I’m going to need to beat you.

(Terrence once again takes a moment to check his mirrors, and switches over into the left lane to overtake a slow-moving semi)

Twister- So, Valerie. Here’s how things are going to go. You and I are going to get into the ring at High Stakes, and we’ll have our match. I’m going to give it about five minutes, before you realize that I’m way tougher than the other hacks you’ve been put up against. Probably at about seven to eight minutes, the first pangs of doubt will be setting in, and you’ll begin to realize that this time, you’ve got a problem on your hands. And by the ten minute mark, you’ll be desperate, searching for a way to stop the Mechanical Mayhem. But you won’t stop it, Valerie. It’s not my catch phrase for nothing.

(Twister smirks, knowing that the real reason it became his catch phrase is because it’s out of the lyrics to his original entrance music. Admittedly, its not as poetic as ‘welcome all to curtain call at the opera’, but it still works!)

Twister- And then, Val, I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but the unthinkable is going to happen. I’m going to hit the Last Lap… or the Black Flag… or hell, I might even sneak a Sparkstarter in there, and the next thing you know, you’ll be flat on your back, and I’ll be standing over you getting my hand raised by the referee. And I’m going to bet at first you’ll be crushed. You’ve got a pretty big ego in that small frame of yours, and I know from experience, the bigger your ego is, the more it sucks when you lose. Especially because this will be the first time you’ve been pinned in the PWX. But you’ll go home, Jeremiah and Chloe will console you, and you’ll wake up Tuesday evening, and you’ll realize that you did everything you possibly could, and you just got flat out beat by the better wrestler. And then you’ll realize that its nothing to be ashamed of, and you’ll move on, and kick the ever-loving crap out of whichever unfortunate soul they stick you in the ring against at Adrenaline 30.

(Short pause)

Twister- Unless you face me again… or Wendy. In which case… I’m so, so sorry.

(Twister grins at the camera, while over in the shotgun seat, the much more modest Wendy shakes her head in exasperation, but keeps quiet)

Twister- Valerie, you talk of curtain calls, well, the only one that will be happening Monday night is the one on your PWX Next Generation Title reign. And I hope you do get a good one, because it was a hell of a reign. And I know you like to pretend you’re not about the belts, but you’ve already admitted you’ve got a magpie complex, and you won’t like losing this shiny little piece of metal anymore than you liked losing the Tag Titles. As for me, the curtain’s just risen on my play, and I don’t think it’s going to be coming down for a very long time.

(Wendy looks over at Terrence, a bemused expression on her face. Obviously- she’s the theater expert, so she’s a little surprised to hear her artistically deficient husband making a reference. Twister doesn’t seem to be paying attention.)

Twister- Valerie, Monday night, it’s on. I’d wish you the best of luck, but that’d be a bit on the counterproductive side. I know you’re going to be putting up a fight, and I think this match has the potential to bring the house down. But it will be me walking out the victor, and I will be the Next Generation Champion, I will be in the PWX title tournament, and I WILL become the top dog in this federation.

(Pause)

Twister- And you can’t stop it. No one can… why?

(Yes, it’s time for the inevitable catch phrase… except Terrence looks out the windshield and…)

Twister- Hey guys! There’s a Cracker Barrel at the next exit! Should I stop for lunch?

(Next to him, Wendy nods, and there’s a general affirmative vibe in the voices coming out of the back. Twister turns back to the camera, one last time)

Twister- See you Monday, Val!

(FADE)