Alyster Black and Chris Peacock in…
FULL GOLDEN JACKET
Act I: Chris Peacock’s Apartment
Feeling weightless was not an experience that Chris Peacock could say that he was accustomed to. However, as he glided through the golden field, he could barely feel his feet touching the ground. He brushed his hand over the top of the grain stalks to his right as he moved through the makeshift path directly through the field. Chris felt like a child being able to explore the expansive area with his own free will; without repercussion or responsibility.
He looked over his shoulder and noticed a grey cloud in the otherwise clear sky. The cloud seemed to be creeping up on him at first, but very quickly, it began pursuing him. As he looked up, he saw the sky quickly turning a darker shade of blue and he felt the grey hovering over him as it swept above him. His movements became more noticeable; his feet were pounding on the ground beneath him as he tried to escape the incoming storm.
Chris tripped, but was unsure exactly what on. It didn’t matter though, because from the ground he looked up to see that the storm had caught up to him. Trapped, unable to escape, he let out a scream.
This same scream woke Chris up from his restless sleep, sweating in his bed. He looked up at the ceiling, breathless and felt his chest tightening. “She’s coming. She’s coming…” He glanced at the FWA World Championship which was resting on the pillow next to his sweat-soaked one. The thing which brought him some calm, and happiness, was the same thing that she was coming for, and he wasn’t ready to let it go.
Chris rose out of bed and threw on a pair of white briefs that he found at his feet; underwear was once again comfortable to wear after he had treated his ailments with traditional methods as opposed to those of a crazed Ukrainian doctor. He put his hand on the handle to his bedroom door, but paused before opening it as he remembered what was waiting on the other side of it. More aptly, who was on the other side of it.
Allowing Alyster Black to stay with him in his apartment whilst both were in New York for Meltdown seemed like a good idea at first; but the plan was hatched whilst Alyster was the owner of the championship belt on Chris’s pillow, which he picked up and put over his shoulder. Before Devin Golden and more importantly, before Back in Town. Chris was as disgusted as everyone else to see what happened to Krash at the hands of Jeremy Best and Bryan Baxter, despite having no real affinity to Krash whatsoever.
The horrendous act perpetrated by the Buddy System was not Chris’s cause for concern when it came to Alyster; it was his perceived ‘role’ in the events that unfolded. Alyster was with Chris, rushing to him as soon as his match against Best was settled. Alyster could have prevented Krash’s suffering and been reunited with a friend he had thought lost, but instead, he was helping Chris get mentally ready to defeat Devin Golden.
Whilst Chris would normally chalk such thoughts up to paranoia, Alyster’s coldness towards him since they left Denver together suggested otherwise. Chris’s panic attacks created the perfect scenario for Alyster to be absent whilst Jeremy and Bryan went about their business. Everyone knew that’s where Alyster was going. Chris was the distraction and he worried that his tag team partner thought he was in on it. He knew that some people did.
It was for this reason that Chris decided to think ahead. If he could get into Alyster’s good graces, he could remove any doubts present in Alyster’s mind. Before exiting his bedroom, he reached into the open wardrobe and pulled out a large bag which was hanging up on the rail. Chris rolled his shoulder to ensure the championship did not fall from it and then confidently opened the door, doing his best to mask all of his concerns.
===============
Alyster sat inside the living room staring straight ahead. The television was off, the coffee table was covered in fast food wrappers. His mind was blank except for thoughts of Krash in desperate need of his aide. Aide which he was not able to render due to commitments he’d made to Chris.
The masked man, sans mask, had been sitting alone in silence for hours. Dead-eyes staring at his reflection in the television screen that sat across from him. Chris had been dead asleep all morning and well into the early afternoon, leaving Alyster all alone in his New York apartment. All the masked man wanted to do was return home to California and be alone. But Chris had just become the World Champion, there was a celebration to be had. Even with Krash in the clutches of those evil fucks in the Buddy System, even with how desperately he wanted to save his former partner, he had to be here for Chris.
Besides, Meltdown was being hosted in the Big Apple and on Meltdown he and Chris would come face to face with the Buddy System. Alyster had an opportunity to save Krash.
And FTN had a chance to become number one contenders to the FWA World Tag Team Championships. It was everything he and Chris wanted. To take over the whole of the FWA, to take a shot at the Nephews… He had to save Krash though. That was the number one priority.
Alyster’s fingers dug into the sofa cushion, his knuckles turning white. His stomach flipped as the pressure of this coming Meltdown came crashing down on him. It was too much, the steaks were too high. They’d been too high for too long. He’d been in the game for too long, he wasn’t mentally equipped for this. How was a man supposed to watch as his best friend died live on pay-per-view, then watch him come back from the dead almost a year later?
It was enough to drive even the most mentally stable of men crazy. For Alyster Black this was just another log thrown into the fire that was his mind.
The World Championship, the X Championship, the Tag Team Championship. Alyster had been a part of all three divisions and had enjoyed success in all of them over the past three years. All at the same time. He’d been chasing the World Championship since day 1 of his tenure in the FWA, he’d been Fallout’s MVP and X Champion, and he had been a part of the three teams that elevated the Tag Team division to new heights.
He’d done this with Krash by his side.
He had to save Krash at all costs.
Not all costs. He had an obligation to Chris Peacock that he couldn’t ignore but…
Chris hadn’t offered to help with the Krash situation had he? Not only had he not but he’d been quick to go after the World Championship the moment Alyster had lost it. The World Championship, Alyster’s World Championship. And to make matters worse Chris was using him to get Tag Team gold. Was Chris just pretending to be his friend in order to become a triple crown winner?
That was ridiculous, of course he wasn’t.
Alyster wasn’t sure.
His mind was racing, his heart was thumping a million miles a minute. He could hear it thump inside his head. THUMP THUMP THUMP like the banging of a gong, driving him mad.
The sound of Chris screaming snapped Alyster out of his stupor. It was not an unfamiliar occurrence when sharing a domicile with Chris. His panic attacks, anxiety and general ability to invite pain upon himself had numbed Alyster to the sounds of his screams. The scream was unaccompanied by the sound of any crashing or thud, it was safe to assume that Chris was safe, merely a victim of another nightmare rather than having come to bodily harm.
But it meant that Chris would soon be joining him. Alyster quickly reached for the remote and turned the television on. He panicked for a brief moment, he was covered in sweat and breathing sharply. He didn’t want Chris to see him like this. Alas, he spotted his salvation on the coffee table, his mask, the security blanket that did a tremendous job of hiding one’s intentions.
Comfort is what he felt when he fastened the mask over his face. Pure comfort. Sitting on the sofa was no longer a man riddled with anxiety and paranoia who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Instead a warrior sat by, one who was ready to be a friend.
At least that’s what Alyster told himself.
===============
Chris found Alyster sitting on the sofa fully dressed and with his mask on. An odd occurrence as Alyster had taken to hanging out with him unmasked over the past month. His mind immediately began to question Alyster’s motivation. Had he become uncomfortable with Chris’ presence? Has their relationship taken a step back? Was all of his paranoia proven correct by something so mundane?
He sighed deeply before taking a deep breath, he had to brush these thoughts aside for the sake of their partnership.
Chris’ eyes glanced around the room. He noted that Alyster had neatly folded his bedding and placed it on the armchair. His bag was open on the floor in front of him, and Chris also caught a glimpse of the X Championship poking out of Alyster’s suitcase. A championship belt he was all too familiar with.
“Afternoon.” Alyster’s voice rang out from behind the mask, snapping Chris’ attention from the gold inside his bag.
“Huh? Afternoon?” Chris repeated. He was initially confused as Alyster greeted him without breaking his gaze at the television.
“Yeah, you slept in again. Woke me up at five this morning when you came in.” Alyster spoke in a monotone voice as Chris exhaled deeply.
Peacock’s stomach dropped as his gaze moved over to the clock hanging on the wall, his eyes widened as he saw that time was fast approaching three o’clock in the afternoon. “Shit, I’ve got to start getting ready. I had no idea that was the time…”
“I was about to wake you up,” Alyster lied, the truth was that he had completely lost track of the time. But he had wanted to wake Chris up for tonight’s festivities. “But then I heard you scream and figured I didn’t need to bother.” His voice trailed off as he finished speaking, showing complete disinterest in discussing the mundane.
“I’m sorry, man. Chris apologised. He’d picked up on Alyster’s complete lack of interest in discussing his sleeping habits and quickly dropped the subject, but then he remembered the bag he held in his hand by the hanger. “Oh! I’ve got something for you! Stand up, you’re going to love this!”
Chris set down the World Championship on the dining table and then laid the bag over the back of one of the chairs as a big smile formed on his face. Alyster was sceptical and frustrated as he rose from his seat, he cursed to himself under his breath as Chris struggled with the zipper at the top of the bag. After some cursing of Chris’s own, he pulled the zip down to the base of the bag and opened it up, pulling out its contents and holding it up.
“Huh?” There was a moment of silence between the two as Alyster stared at the object in Chris’s hand. Chris motioned towards it with his eyebrows. “What do you think?”
“It’s a jacket.” Alyster replied in a monotone voice.
It was a jacket. It was black. Very unremarkable as far as jackets go. It lacked the frills and frays that most wrestling attire does. To the untrained eye it wasn’t worth the material it was made from. But Chris knew better, and he knew Alyster knew better. He just had to remind him.
“It’s THE JACKET! You know? The one Devin Golden wore to Back in Town before I beat him and sent him packing, never to be heard from again. You love this jacket, Alyster.”
Who the fuck was Chris Peacock to tell Alyster Black what he loved?
“I’ve never seen this fucking thing before in my life Chris.” Alyster shook his head as he plopped back down on the sofa with his arm stretched over the top, eyes fixated on the flashing images of whatever daytime crap was playing on the television.
Though he didn't care enough about Chris’ reaction to look up and gauge how he felt, he could tell from the following silence that Chris was disappointed. After everything that has happened to Alyster recently, being gifted a second hand jacket belonging to the asshole who had dethroned him as World Champion wasn’t going to make anything better.
The silence was unsettling, Alyster felt himself becoming restless. His fingers were unconsciously tapping on the top of the sofa repeatedly. He grit his teeth for a moment but couldn’t hold back, “Why? Why do you think I’d want his jacket, man? I’ve already got a pretty permanent reminder of that fucker whenever I take my shirt off, which does nothing to help with me wanting to forget he ever existed. Why the fuck would you hand me a jacket that he wore after just having beat me for the World Championship!”
Chris did his best to hide how much Alyster’s rejection of the gift upset him. He slowly began to place the jacket back into the bag. “I just wanted to show my appreciation for what you’ve done for me. I know you were busy with me when… you know… what happened with…” He couldn’t bare to even say Krash’s name in Alyster’s presence, “happened, but I wouldn’t have been ready for the match if it wasn’t for you and I definitely wouldn’t have won. I owe this to you. So yeah, just wanted to say thanks, I guess…”
Alyster did not respond immediately; part of him felt bad about being so quick to shoot Chris down, but it was just all too raw for him still. Despite that, he could see that there was a genuine sentiment behind Chris’s actions and words. Before he could say anything though, there was a knock at the door of Chris’s apartment. “Who could that be?”
“It’s probably Violet.” Alyster said, without looking away from the television. “Can you please let her in?”
After setting the bag back down on the chair without fully zipping it up, Chris walked towards Alyster on the sofa as opposed to the door, where the person waiting outside (‘probably Violet’) knocked for a second time. “Why is she here?”
“I invited her.” He replied as if this was the most obvious reason in the world for him inviting a total stranger to Chris Peacock, into his home.
“Yeah, but why is she here?” Chris repeated in an exasperated voice.
“Come on man, with what’s going on tonight I’m going to need someone to hang out with and talk to. She’s been in my corner for the last year, I’m not about to abandon her for your sake.” Alyster stood up and brushed past Chris, moving to the front door on which the person standing outside was banging repeatedly. Alyster opened it and as predicted there stood Violet Dreyer.
Violet walked in, her eyes fixated on her phone that she held in front of her face and she did not even bristle when Chris walked past her in just his underwear to close the door that she had rudely left open. “Hello, Violet.” Chris greeted her with less than an enthusiastic tone.
“Hey.” She replied curtly, not even glancing up from the screen in front of her as she casually threw herself down on the couch beside Alyster.
Chris looked to his tag team partner for guidance and was met with a shoulder shrug. He shook his head and strolled past Violet to pick up the FWA World Heavyweight Championship from the coffee table and return to his room. “So… I’m going to have a shower. You guys have fu-”
He was interrupted by the sound of Violet’s voice snapping at him. “Why are you taking that with you? It isn’t yours.” Violet said this, despite still looking down at her phone.
Chris was confused and nervously chuckled. “I… uh… think you’ll find that it is, Violet.”
“No. It’s his.” She motioned towards Alyster and a bewildered Chris could only again look to his partner to clear the confusion. He cleared his throat loudly.
“No, it's his now.” Alyster interjected.
Violet diverted her gaze to Alyster, whilst pointing at Chris. “You let him beat you?!”
“I am right here.” Chris said, matter-of-factly. “And I didn’t beat Alyster, I beat Devin Golden for it.”
“What the fuck? When did you lose the World Championship to Devin Golden?”
“Like…two months ago?”
“Fuck sake dude, you’re no better than the moustache fuck who drowned in that lake. Losing your belt to that Golden prick just like Krashy, what is wrong with you?”
“I can’t believe you haven’t been watching the shows.”
“You were winning all the time, they were starting to get boring! Fuck, well at least you won that Climaxxx thing right so you’ll be taking the belt back off of Moustache Fuck #2 right?”
There was a brief and awkward pause which Chris used as a chance to escape into the solitude and safety of his bedroom.
Alyster had noticed that Chris was gone, the sound of the shower running confirmed this. He gulped as Violet continued to berate him. She obviously had no knowledge of what had transpired at Back in Town and Alyster was in no mood to tell her. He opted to keep it a secret, at least for now. In the meantime, Chris was gone and Alyster had a few things to get off his chest that Violet was the perfect sounding board to hear.
“Violet, just knock it off for a second. I need to talk to you, seriously.”
“What’s up chump?”
“What do you think about Chris and me teaming together?”
A normal person in this situation would be able to hold their tongue and not express exactly what was on their mind. Violet Dreyer had no such filters in place and was even eager to express herself.
“That guy skeeves me and I think you’re trying to replace Krash with him. Newsflash dickhead, Krash was one in a million, you can’t replace him with any fuck sporting a moustache.”
Alyster sighed and nodded his head, he did feel deep down that this team was just him trying to replace Krash, and with Krash back in the picture, what did that mean for FTN?
“I’m starting to think that teaming with him might have been a mistake.”
“I could have told you that. But just for argument’s sake, why do you feel that way?”
“The dude is the world champion. As far as I’m concerned, that’s my belt.”
“How can you team with a guy you’re gunning to take down? Seriously, how are you supposed to trust him and how is he supposed to trust you?”
“Well, the matter of trust and fighting each other over the world championship is something we already settled, isn't it? He held the Golden Op while I held the World Title, we knew we were going to fight each other eventually. But that’s off the table now. All we have going for us is a mutual understanding of each other’s anxiety and a hunt for the tag titles.”
“Jeez, you really are trying to replace Krash with this guy.” She leans over and places a hand on Alyster’s shoulder before speaking in a completely matter-of-fact tone of voice, “Listen dickhead, you can’t replace Krash with this guy. He tried to take the X title from you, he was going to try and take the World title from you. He is not Krash, he’s nothing like Krash. You hate yourself right? Well that guy is too much like you for the two of you to get along, you’re going to end up imploding.” Violet was oddly insightful today. “You should be teaming with someone more Krash-like, someone like that Jeremy Best shithead, at least he liked Krash too.”
Alyster’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of that insane bastard’s name. His knuckles turned white with how tight a fight he made. All he wanted to do was tear Jeremy limb from limb. But Violet didn’t know yet and he was too weak to tell her.
Taking his silence as a sign that she’s forced him to make a breakthrough, Violet stood up and made way for the door. “Listen dude, I’m in no mood to play psychologist for you, it’s boring. You clearly need some alone time to think about things so I’m gonna take a walk. See you at the restaurant later.” She casually waved back at him from over her shoulder as she exited the apartment, again leaving the door wide open.
Alyster furrowed his brow and thought about things for a few brief moments before getting up and walking over to the door. His mind was fixated on Jeremy Best and all he wanted was blood.
He slammed the door with such force that the entire apartment shook. Prompting a still wet, towel wrapped Chris Peacock to pop his head out from his bedroom door.
“What was that?”
“Violet slammed the door on her way out.”
“Ah right. You just told her about him then?”
Alyster sighed deeply, “Not yet.”
“Dude, how can you not have told her that Krash is still alive?”
The masked man was in no mood to discuss this further, especially after hearing Chris utter Krash’s name for the first time since Back in Town. He looked back at Chris from over his shoulder, “I’ll meet you at the restaurant.” He said before exiting the apartment and leaving Chris alone to get ready for the festivities.
===============
Act II: Dazzling Dave’s Restaurant
It was early in the evening when the festivities were set to begin. Chris stepped through the doors of the world famous Dazzling Dave’s restaurant - its fame having grown even more due to him now holding the most prestigious prize in the world - where family and friends were waiting. The restaurant had been closed for the evening’s festivities, in celebration of Chris’ World Championship victory. Everyone who mattered to Chris was there, with the exception of Allen Price who had prior commitments, having told Chris that he was busy preparing the other “celebrations”.
A large banner was hung up over the back wall reading “CONGRATULATIONS CHAMP!” and the disco ball that hung in the middle of the restaurant had been painted gold in tribute to Chris’ title win.
“OH!” Yelled Drew Peacock at the sight of his brother stepping through the doors. “Congratulations!”
Drew’s sentiments were followed by a host of others as Chris was swarmed by everyone in the restaurant; his nephew Max, both of the Diamond Dogs, former dancing rival turned friend Ron Starman and his father’s old friend Stewart to name but a few. All showering him with praise and well-wishes. He noticed that Alyster and Violet were absent. Of course they were late. They were probably lost somewhere in the city. He shouldn’t have let them go off on their own.
As Chris did his best to enjoy the party that was being thrown in his honour, he glanced at the door occasionally. Waiting for Alyster, and frustratingly, Violet too, to arrive. However, as the pornstar Martinis began to flow and the party atmosphere developed further, Chris quickly forgot about the two missing attendees. He stole the show on the dance floor in the middle of the restaurant, which was no easy feat given the crowd that were in attendance. However, what Chris failed to realise was that after the initial showing of adoration upon his arrival, the enthusiasm for his show-stealing antics waned quickly.
Whilst Chris was preoccupied with taking as much attention as he could at the party, Alyster arrived. The first thing he noticed was Chris in the middle of the room dancing whilst trying to hold onto his drink, but he was accidentally spilling it all around him as he disrupted its equilibrium. Violet shuffled through the door behind Alyster before he closed it shut.
Chris’ heart sank at the sight of Violet Dreyer. She was wearing the jacket. The one he’d just given to Alyster that very afternoon. The gift that he thought was the perfect symbol of their friendship. He swallowed his pain and continued to dance his heart out, these people were here for him and he wasn’t about to let them down.
A quick glance at the goings on of the party made Violet grimace. “Well, this is going just as I predicted it would. I’m going to get a drink.” She muttered before sauntering off toward the bar.
Alyster merely grunted in response as his gaze followed Violet through the crowd but it then ventured towards a solitary table in the corner of the restaurant, almost completely hidden from view due to the lighting arrangement. It was perfect. Alyster skirted through the room, keeping as close as he could to the walls whilst navigating himself around tables that had been strewn across the outskirts of the room. The last thing he wanted right now was for any of Chris’s acquaintances to come and talk to him; he was in no mood to make small talk with a distant relative or family friend. It was in situations such as this that he’d be better off without his mask, when no one could recognise him.
Impressively though, Alyster made it to his destination without the unwanted interruption of any of the other attendees, who were either stuck watching Chris dancing or helping themselves to the admittedly impressive looking buffet that was on offer. Alyster did not feel like eating, though. It was okay for everyone else there to enjoy themselves, because none of them were carrying the weight Alyster was carrying. He knew where he had to be at this moment in time, and it wasn’t sitting in the corner of an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn.
“Holy shit, it’s Alyster Black!” These were words that Alyster was dreading hearing as soon as he agreed to attend the party in Chris’s honour. What made things worse was that they came from the mouth of Santino Dongarelli, who stood over Alyster with a drink in his hand after sneaking up on him whilst Black was lost in his thoughts. Rick Vance approached Sonny from behind and rubbed his shoulders for a couple of seconds, before he too noticed Alyster and did a cool guy upwards nod at him. “How come you’re here? I’d have thought seeing Chris with that title would have made you feel like shit, man.”
It infuriated Alyster to no end that this Diamond Dog was almost on the mark, perhaps as a fellow wrestler he understood Alyster’s conundrum. Hell, as a tag team wrestler maybe he would be able to fathom the issue with Krash.
Alyster tapped his knuckle on the table a couple of times, almost as if he was summoning the strength to even attempt to engage with these two morons. Why did he come to this party? Chris was his partner, duh.
“Same reason as you, I imagine.” Alyster mused, “Although I could ask you both the same question. Weren’t you two and Chris on the outs? Something to do with him abandoning you during the middle of a drug induced freakout.”
“Nah, we don’t mind any of that stuff now. We’re here to have a good time and hey, if there was anything we could celebrate and give us a reason to get down, it was going to be this, right?”
It was not a surprise that the masked man was unable to coax any sort of riveting conversation out of the heavily intoxicated men who had approached him.
“It also isn’t often we get to do stuff with this crowd and Allen isn’t here. Don’t get me wrong, he definitely grows on you, but… hey, where are you going?”
Unsurprisingly, Alyster had grown impatient with speaking to the Diamond Dogs. “I’ve got to go…some place else. Yes, that will do.” He muttered from over his shoulder to excuse himself.
It was astounding to him just how easily the Diamond Dogs were able to give up on past grievances. Throw a party and everything is cool? This concept was hard to grasp but it did make Alyster think. Perhaps he was being too harsh toward Chris. It wasn’t his fault that Krash was in the position he was in now. It wasn’t his fault that Devin Golden had unseated Alyster as the World Champion. But Chris was all too ready to pounce on the opportunity to challenge Devin Golden.
It was as Alyster made his way towards the bathroom that Chris noticed that his tag team partner was actually in attendance at the party, and he had no way of knowing how long Alyster had been there because Alyster didn’t seek him out whenever he did arrive. Chris stopped dancing and failed to notice the silent collective sigh of relief as people realised they did not have to pay attention to him anymore. As he looked to pursue Alyster, he also failed to notice someone walking in his path, and he bowled into them, causing the majority of their drink to spill onto the floor. “Oh shit, sorry-”
“Watch where you’re fucking going, dickhead.” Violet huffed as she brushed some of the spillage off of her leg. She sternly shook her head at him and turned around to get a refill, but Chris grabbed her by the sleeve of the jacket and spun her back around. She quickly shook him off, breaking through Chris’s strong grip and snapping at him. “Touch me again and I will actually fuck you up.”
“I just wanted to talk to you, Violet. About Alyster.” Chris waited for Violet to respond but she just let out a pained sigh instead, which he took as an invitation to continue. “I think he’s angry with me, and I think I know why, but I-”
Violet interrupted, “Yeah, no shit.”
Chris went to respond, but then realised that Alyster must have told Violet about Krash after their last conversation, before the party. “So he told you then?”
“Of course he told me! You’ve got his fucking title, dickhead, and he wants it back. I don’t know what game you think you’re trying to play, but he’s starting to see through it all.” Violet sipped on what was left of her drink. “If someone had something I wanted and tried to keep me close to protect themselves, I’d be pretty annoyed, too.”
“This is about me being champion? I don’t understand why this is what he’d choose to be pissed off about at the moment…” Chris looked at the floor as he thought and then he had another realisation that Alyster had definitely not told Violet about Krash being alive. “I’m trying to help him. I want to help him become a tag champion again and I’d happily face him for the world title. I thought he was annoyed because… of something else.”
“Look, I think you’re full of shit, personally. I can’t tell that masked dipshit who he can and can’t hang around with, but I know he can do a lot better than you.” She scoffed, “As if you were supposed to measure up to Krash.”
Chris was annoyed. “Maybe he should go and be friends with Jeremy Best, then…
Obviously, he knew that Violet would not understand the sarcasm behind those words and Chris then walked with Violet over to the bar area to get himself a new drink and replace hers.
Alyster re-emerged from the wash room, shaking the water from his hands as he looked around the party, but he turned to his left and saw Chris standing in front of him. Or at least, someone who looked exactly like him, minus the signature moustache. “I saw you talking to the Diamond Dogs before…”
“If you can call that a conversation.” Alyster replied, coldly. “It’s scary how much you look like your brother mate.”
Drew smiled and offered Alyster a handshake, the masked man was not so rude as to refuse the offer.
“So what’s going on mate?”
“Nothing much, I was just wondering how you manage to put up with my brother, that’s all. I know better than anyone how grating he can be. I mean, did you see all of that garbage with the Nephews? As if it wasn’t bad enough that he instigated that war, he had to drag me into it too.” Drew stared off into space before realising the mood had grown awkward and cleared his throat. “No one would really blame you if you just dropped him, you know?”
Alyster was taken aback by the coldness Drew showed for his brother, “Is that a fact? You know you’re not the first person to tell me that today.”
“I doubt I’ll be the last.”
“He’s not that bad. Focused and goal oriented to a fault maybe but he’s not a bad person and he’s a good laugh too.”
Drew couldn’t help but to nod in agreement.
“I mean, if you’ve got such a problem with him then why throw together this shindig for him?”
“He’s my brother. I love him. And he achieved something big man, something dad dreamed of, something I once dreamed of. This is special.” He paused, taking a sip from his cocktail. “It’s a shame it came at your expense though.”
Alyster agreed, “Yeah, damn shame that.”
“Anyone else in your position would be pissed off beyond belief.”
“It’s not that…I’m stoked for him. It’s just hard to feel happy when someone’s parading around with something that used to belong to you.” He turned his head to meet Drew’s stare, “I’m not going to abandon him for something so petty though.”
Drew smiled and slapped Alyster on the shoulder, “Atta boy Alyster. You and Chris are going to do great things together. All you have to do is put up with some bullshit.”
He was used to putting up with bullshit. That’s what being a part of the FWA was really about right? Putting up with bullshit.
As if on queue more bullshit arose. The sound of shouting echoed through the room, emanating from the bar.
“Now what’s going on?”
Alyster could just see through the crowd what was happening, Chris and Violet were fronting up to each other and shouting. Alyster sighed as he began to push his way through the crowded dance floor toward them.
“All I’m saying is that you seemed pretty fucking happy that he lost the belt! You didn’t have to give up this make-believe team to win that World Championship. We all remember how eager you were to cash in that title shot on him anyway!”
“You’ve got it completely wrong.”
“You’re a snake!”
“Would you shut up for two seconds?”
“You were just using him to get the title!”
Chris had had enough of this. He slammed his fist down on the bar and screamed back into Violet’s face. “Oh yeah, well if Alyster’s so fucking innocent then why hasn’t he told you that Krash is back?”
A silence filled the room. Violet was stunned.
“Yeah that’s right. Your buddy, your mentor, your hero. He’s back. He came back at the pay-per-view. He came back after Alyster’s fucking match. And you know wha-”
Chris was interrupted by a hand grabbing him by the shoulder. It was Alyster “Chris stop, please.” He pleaded but the damage was done.
Violet was mortified to find out that Krash was back, doubly so that Alyster hadn’t told her. She took one look at the masked man and threw her drink in his face.
“You didn’t tell me. You lying snake fuck.”
“Violet, I can explain please.”
“Where the fuck is he? Why isn’t he here with you?”
Alyster fell silent, he didn’t even know where to begin. Chris Peacock on the other hand, fuelled by a cavalcade of alcoholic mixtures was quick to offer an explanation.
“He’s in the clutches of that evil fuck Jeremy Best. He’s kidnapped the dude and is trying to brainwash him. And Alyster was too busy helping me to do anything about it!”
Violet’s jaw dropped. Her gaze moved from Chris’ face to Alyster’s and back again. Eventually she just shrugged her shoulders, turned around and made for the exit.
“Violet wait!” Alyster called out.
“Fuck you!” She shouted back. “You goddamn coward, someone has to go save that moustache fuck!”
Alyster takes a few steps forward but doesn’t pursue. He places his hands on the back of his head and swears quietly under his breath.
“Good fucking riddance, she was ruining my party.”
“What the fuck Chris?” Alyster turned to face his partner. “Why did you tell her about all of that?”
“She deserves to know what happened. Why the hell didn’t you tell her? Why the hell aren’t you out there right now looking for Krash? We all know you were just waiting for him to come back so you could abandon me.”
“What?” Alyster was taken aback by these accusations. “I’ve never, ever, said anything like that.”
“You don’t have to say it! I know what’s going on. You’re bitter that I won the World Title and you’re just counting the days until you can turn on me and try to take it back for yourself!”
“You’re paranoid.”
“I’m paranoid am I? Why was she wearing the jacket then Aly? Why did you give her the fucking jacket!”
“It’s cold out man, she had nothing to wear. Better I let her wear it then burn it like I was planning to.”
“Why would you burn that jacket! It’s the jacket! I got that jacket for you by beating Devin Golden and you spit in my face by rejecting it like it wasn’t worth a damn.” Chris got into Alyster’s face, grabbing him by his shirt collar, “Guess you’ve shown your true colours, you’re just like the rest of them, ready to turn on me at the drop of a dime.”
Alyster slapped Chris’ hands away from his shirt. “You’re going crazy. You’re fucking losing it Chris. When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep? You keep dreaming about Michelle coming after you, you keep waking up in a sweat and screaming. You’re scared of her and you’re projecting that fear onto me.”
“Scared? Like fucking hell I’m scared. I’m not scared of Michelle and I sure as fuck aren’t afraid of you. You jealous fuck. All you care about is taking my world championship from me.”
Alyster doesn’t respond. Chris continues, “Why can’t you be happy for me? This is my party, to celebrate me winning the World Championship and you’ve been a total jerk about it all night.”
He had a point.
“I’m sorry…it’s just hard to be happy when you’ve lost what I have.”
“I’m right, you are jealous! You resent me for winning this title. Well fuck, I suppose it’s time to drop me then isn’t it? Especially now that Krash is back you just can’t wait to abandon me. And right when we were on the cusp of getting those tag titles.”
Alyster shakes his head, he’s had enough and turns around to leave. As he takes the first few steps toward the exit Chris calls out to him. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Walk out on me just like everyone else. You’re no better than Randy Ramon!”
This causes Alyster to stop dead in his tracks. “The fuck did you just say?”
“You heard me.”
Alyster turns around and steps right up to Chris, going nose to nose. “Say it again I dare you.”
“You wanna fucking go, right now? Fine.” Chris steps backward, shuffling to the dance floor. His body moves rhythmically before stopping to strike a disco pose, pointing at the jukebox. On cue the jukebox comes alive with the music of the Bee Gees.
“I said you’re no better than Randy Ramon, now let’s dance!” The dance off begins with Chris spinning on the spot and comes to a quick end with Alyster smashing a beer bottle over his head.
Screams are heard as people scramble and panic. An ambulance is called and the party comes to an abrupt end.
==========
Act III: This is the End for You My Friend
Chris hissed as Drew was finishing up with pulling each shard of glass from his brother’s open gash. The restaurant was now closed, the guests had been shuffled out. All that was left was Chris, his brother Drew and nephew Max. All sitting together inside the kitchen, all administering aid to the FWA World Champion.
“He got you good, this is definitely going to need stitches.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time, or the last. You’ve still got the kit right?”
“Yeah, one sec. Max, come here. Put pressure on this towel for Uncle Chris.”
Max quickly walks over and presses his hand down on the towel against Chris’ open wound.
“Thanks Max.” Chris gives his nephew a big smile and thumbs up as Drew goes to retrieve the suture kit.
Whilst Drew is gone the back door to the kitchen swings open and in pops Alyster Black. “Hey fellas. Do you all mind if I come in?” The masked man is ashamed of his actions, and doesn’t dare step foot into the kitchen without permission.
Drew places the suture kit down besides Chris and gives him a look. Chris simply nods in affirmation and Drew waves Alyster inside.
“Thanks guys. How bad is it?” He steps in, walking right over to the scene. Max lifts the towel off of Chris’ forehead for a brief moment.
“Damn, I got you good.”
“Should have saved it for Meltdown.”
Alyster sighs and turns to Drew, “I can take over. I’ve received enough stitches to know what I’m doing. Can you guys give us a minute?”
Again Drew turns to his brother who again gives him the go-ahead. “Alright, but this is a restaurant, not an alley. If you guys want to keep fighting then take it outside. Come on Max.” Drew motions for Max to follow him and as the youngest Peacock gets up to follow he pauses and stares down Alyster.
“If you try anything funny then you’re gonna have to fight me, you got that bozo.” Max teases, raising both fists up at Alyster.
“I wouldn’t dream of raising your ire, little Peacock. I’ll be on my best behaviour.”
With the other Peacock’s gone Alyster tends to Chris. Opening the structure kit and getting right to work.
“I am so sorry about this. I never should have hit you.”
“I was being insensitive toward you.”
“Nah, you’re right. I’ve been a jerk to you all day. You didn’t deserve it. I should have been happy for you. You shouldn’t have called me Randy though, that was going way too far.”
“That’s fair. I shouldn’t have gotten so worked up about you and Krash though. I’m not trying to take his place, you know that right?”
“Pfft, don’t pay any attention to what comes out of Violet Dreyer’s mouth.”
“I’m just so used to pushing people out, and I don’t know. I feel guilty that you’re here and not out there scouring the globe trying to find him. I know how special your relationship with him is, I just don’t understand what you’re doing.”
“I’m committed to this. FTN, that’s my priority right now. I want to win those tag team titles with you. What’s going on with Krash, that’s complicated, and scouring the globe trying to find him won’t do any good. We know that Jeremy and Bryan are going to be on Meltdown, that’s where we’ll start our investigation.”
Alyster works the thread and needle, closing up the wound, being as careful as possible. Chris, no stranger to receiving stitches remains still and ignores the pain. His phone vibrates with a new notification. He checks the screen and sees he has received a text message from “RW”. He quickly turns his phone over, hoping Alyster didn’t see it.
“I just…I’m having a hard time with this. Everyone turns on me. You and I said some heinous shit to each other, but here you are. I don’t get it?”
“What’s to get Chrissy? We’re kindred spirits mate and we’ve got a job to do. I’m not about to abandon you over petty squabbles.”
A smile forms over Peacock’s face. “Right, all for one and one for all and all that then?”
“Team Anxiety forever and ever. You and I, we’re going places. We’ve got tag team gold to win and our journey starts on Meltdown.”
“Right, big ol clusterfuck against all the mooks in the tag division.”
“Not one of them want it as much as we do.”
“None of them deserve it as much as us.”
“You’re the goddamn World Champion.”
“And you’re the greatest X Champion of all time. We’re going to eat everyone in that scramble alive.”
“Especially those bastards in the Buddy System.”
“Especially them.”
Alyster gives the finishing touches to the patch job on Chris’ forehead. The duo rise to their feet and Chris claps Alyster on the back.
“Now how about we grab a drink and talk about our opponents one by one in a sort of list?”
“Sounds boring. Let’s do it!”
The two shared a raucous round of laughter before going on a tirade, talking shit about the Lumberjacks, then the Coven, followed by Eternal, PONI BOI, and the dastardly Buddy System.
FULL GOLDEN JACKET
Act I: Chris Peacock’s Apartment
Feeling weightless was not an experience that Chris Peacock could say that he was accustomed to. However, as he glided through the golden field, he could barely feel his feet touching the ground. He brushed his hand over the top of the grain stalks to his right as he moved through the makeshift path directly through the field. Chris felt like a child being able to explore the expansive area with his own free will; without repercussion or responsibility.
He looked over his shoulder and noticed a grey cloud in the otherwise clear sky. The cloud seemed to be creeping up on him at first, but very quickly, it began pursuing him. As he looked up, he saw the sky quickly turning a darker shade of blue and he felt the grey hovering over him as it swept above him. His movements became more noticeable; his feet were pounding on the ground beneath him as he tried to escape the incoming storm.
Chris tripped, but was unsure exactly what on. It didn’t matter though, because from the ground he looked up to see that the storm had caught up to him. Trapped, unable to escape, he let out a scream.
This same scream woke Chris up from his restless sleep, sweating in his bed. He looked up at the ceiling, breathless and felt his chest tightening. “She’s coming. She’s coming…” He glanced at the FWA World Championship which was resting on the pillow next to his sweat-soaked one. The thing which brought him some calm, and happiness, was the same thing that she was coming for, and he wasn’t ready to let it go.
Chris rose out of bed and threw on a pair of white briefs that he found at his feet; underwear was once again comfortable to wear after he had treated his ailments with traditional methods as opposed to those of a crazed Ukrainian doctor. He put his hand on the handle to his bedroom door, but paused before opening it as he remembered what was waiting on the other side of it. More aptly, who was on the other side of it.
Allowing Alyster Black to stay with him in his apartment whilst both were in New York for Meltdown seemed like a good idea at first; but the plan was hatched whilst Alyster was the owner of the championship belt on Chris’s pillow, which he picked up and put over his shoulder. Before Devin Golden and more importantly, before Back in Town. Chris was as disgusted as everyone else to see what happened to Krash at the hands of Jeremy Best and Bryan Baxter, despite having no real affinity to Krash whatsoever.
The horrendous act perpetrated by the Buddy System was not Chris’s cause for concern when it came to Alyster; it was his perceived ‘role’ in the events that unfolded. Alyster was with Chris, rushing to him as soon as his match against Best was settled. Alyster could have prevented Krash’s suffering and been reunited with a friend he had thought lost, but instead, he was helping Chris get mentally ready to defeat Devin Golden.
Whilst Chris would normally chalk such thoughts up to paranoia, Alyster’s coldness towards him since they left Denver together suggested otherwise. Chris’s panic attacks created the perfect scenario for Alyster to be absent whilst Jeremy and Bryan went about their business. Everyone knew that’s where Alyster was going. Chris was the distraction and he worried that his tag team partner thought he was in on it. He knew that some people did.
It was for this reason that Chris decided to think ahead. If he could get into Alyster’s good graces, he could remove any doubts present in Alyster’s mind. Before exiting his bedroom, he reached into the open wardrobe and pulled out a large bag which was hanging up on the rail. Chris rolled his shoulder to ensure the championship did not fall from it and then confidently opened the door, doing his best to mask all of his concerns.
===============
Alyster sat inside the living room staring straight ahead. The television was off, the coffee table was covered in fast food wrappers. His mind was blank except for thoughts of Krash in desperate need of his aide. Aide which he was not able to render due to commitments he’d made to Chris.
The masked man, sans mask, had been sitting alone in silence for hours. Dead-eyes staring at his reflection in the television screen that sat across from him. Chris had been dead asleep all morning and well into the early afternoon, leaving Alyster all alone in his New York apartment. All the masked man wanted to do was return home to California and be alone. But Chris had just become the World Champion, there was a celebration to be had. Even with Krash in the clutches of those evil fucks in the Buddy System, even with how desperately he wanted to save his former partner, he had to be here for Chris.
Besides, Meltdown was being hosted in the Big Apple and on Meltdown he and Chris would come face to face with the Buddy System. Alyster had an opportunity to save Krash.
And FTN had a chance to become number one contenders to the FWA World Tag Team Championships. It was everything he and Chris wanted. To take over the whole of the FWA, to take a shot at the Nephews… He had to save Krash though. That was the number one priority.
Alyster’s fingers dug into the sofa cushion, his knuckles turning white. His stomach flipped as the pressure of this coming Meltdown came crashing down on him. It was too much, the steaks were too high. They’d been too high for too long. He’d been in the game for too long, he wasn’t mentally equipped for this. How was a man supposed to watch as his best friend died live on pay-per-view, then watch him come back from the dead almost a year later?
It was enough to drive even the most mentally stable of men crazy. For Alyster Black this was just another log thrown into the fire that was his mind.
The World Championship, the X Championship, the Tag Team Championship. Alyster had been a part of all three divisions and had enjoyed success in all of them over the past three years. All at the same time. He’d been chasing the World Championship since day 1 of his tenure in the FWA, he’d been Fallout’s MVP and X Champion, and he had been a part of the three teams that elevated the Tag Team division to new heights.
He’d done this with Krash by his side.
He had to save Krash at all costs.
Not all costs. He had an obligation to Chris Peacock that he couldn’t ignore but…
Chris hadn’t offered to help with the Krash situation had he? Not only had he not but he’d been quick to go after the World Championship the moment Alyster had lost it. The World Championship, Alyster’s World Championship. And to make matters worse Chris was using him to get Tag Team gold. Was Chris just pretending to be his friend in order to become a triple crown winner?
That was ridiculous, of course he wasn’t.
Alyster wasn’t sure.
His mind was racing, his heart was thumping a million miles a minute. He could hear it thump inside his head. THUMP THUMP THUMP like the banging of a gong, driving him mad.
The sound of Chris screaming snapped Alyster out of his stupor. It was not an unfamiliar occurrence when sharing a domicile with Chris. His panic attacks, anxiety and general ability to invite pain upon himself had numbed Alyster to the sounds of his screams. The scream was unaccompanied by the sound of any crashing or thud, it was safe to assume that Chris was safe, merely a victim of another nightmare rather than having come to bodily harm.
But it meant that Chris would soon be joining him. Alyster quickly reached for the remote and turned the television on. He panicked for a brief moment, he was covered in sweat and breathing sharply. He didn’t want Chris to see him like this. Alas, he spotted his salvation on the coffee table, his mask, the security blanket that did a tremendous job of hiding one’s intentions.
Comfort is what he felt when he fastened the mask over his face. Pure comfort. Sitting on the sofa was no longer a man riddled with anxiety and paranoia who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Instead a warrior sat by, one who was ready to be a friend.
At least that’s what Alyster told himself.
===============
Chris found Alyster sitting on the sofa fully dressed and with his mask on. An odd occurrence as Alyster had taken to hanging out with him unmasked over the past month. His mind immediately began to question Alyster’s motivation. Had he become uncomfortable with Chris’ presence? Has their relationship taken a step back? Was all of his paranoia proven correct by something so mundane?
He sighed deeply before taking a deep breath, he had to brush these thoughts aside for the sake of their partnership.
Chris’ eyes glanced around the room. He noted that Alyster had neatly folded his bedding and placed it on the armchair. His bag was open on the floor in front of him, and Chris also caught a glimpse of the X Championship poking out of Alyster’s suitcase. A championship belt he was all too familiar with.
“Afternoon.” Alyster’s voice rang out from behind the mask, snapping Chris’ attention from the gold inside his bag.
“Huh? Afternoon?” Chris repeated. He was initially confused as Alyster greeted him without breaking his gaze at the television.
“Yeah, you slept in again. Woke me up at five this morning when you came in.” Alyster spoke in a monotone voice as Chris exhaled deeply.
Peacock’s stomach dropped as his gaze moved over to the clock hanging on the wall, his eyes widened as he saw that time was fast approaching three o’clock in the afternoon. “Shit, I’ve got to start getting ready. I had no idea that was the time…”
“I was about to wake you up,” Alyster lied, the truth was that he had completely lost track of the time. But he had wanted to wake Chris up for tonight’s festivities. “But then I heard you scream and figured I didn’t need to bother.” His voice trailed off as he finished speaking, showing complete disinterest in discussing the mundane.
“I’m sorry, man. Chris apologised. He’d picked up on Alyster’s complete lack of interest in discussing his sleeping habits and quickly dropped the subject, but then he remembered the bag he held in his hand by the hanger. “Oh! I’ve got something for you! Stand up, you’re going to love this!”
Chris set down the World Championship on the dining table and then laid the bag over the back of one of the chairs as a big smile formed on his face. Alyster was sceptical and frustrated as he rose from his seat, he cursed to himself under his breath as Chris struggled with the zipper at the top of the bag. After some cursing of Chris’s own, he pulled the zip down to the base of the bag and opened it up, pulling out its contents and holding it up.
“Huh?” There was a moment of silence between the two as Alyster stared at the object in Chris’s hand. Chris motioned towards it with his eyebrows. “What do you think?”
“It’s a jacket.” Alyster replied in a monotone voice.
It was a jacket. It was black. Very unremarkable as far as jackets go. It lacked the frills and frays that most wrestling attire does. To the untrained eye it wasn’t worth the material it was made from. But Chris knew better, and he knew Alyster knew better. He just had to remind him.
“It’s THE JACKET! You know? The one Devin Golden wore to Back in Town before I beat him and sent him packing, never to be heard from again. You love this jacket, Alyster.”
Who the fuck was Chris Peacock to tell Alyster Black what he loved?
“I’ve never seen this fucking thing before in my life Chris.” Alyster shook his head as he plopped back down on the sofa with his arm stretched over the top, eyes fixated on the flashing images of whatever daytime crap was playing on the television.
Though he didn't care enough about Chris’ reaction to look up and gauge how he felt, he could tell from the following silence that Chris was disappointed. After everything that has happened to Alyster recently, being gifted a second hand jacket belonging to the asshole who had dethroned him as World Champion wasn’t going to make anything better.
The silence was unsettling, Alyster felt himself becoming restless. His fingers were unconsciously tapping on the top of the sofa repeatedly. He grit his teeth for a moment but couldn’t hold back, “Why? Why do you think I’d want his jacket, man? I’ve already got a pretty permanent reminder of that fucker whenever I take my shirt off, which does nothing to help with me wanting to forget he ever existed. Why the fuck would you hand me a jacket that he wore after just having beat me for the World Championship!”
Chris did his best to hide how much Alyster’s rejection of the gift upset him. He slowly began to place the jacket back into the bag. “I just wanted to show my appreciation for what you’ve done for me. I know you were busy with me when… you know… what happened with…” He couldn’t bare to even say Krash’s name in Alyster’s presence, “happened, but I wouldn’t have been ready for the match if it wasn’t for you and I definitely wouldn’t have won. I owe this to you. So yeah, just wanted to say thanks, I guess…”
Alyster did not respond immediately; part of him felt bad about being so quick to shoot Chris down, but it was just all too raw for him still. Despite that, he could see that there was a genuine sentiment behind Chris’s actions and words. Before he could say anything though, there was a knock at the door of Chris’s apartment. “Who could that be?”
“It’s probably Violet.” Alyster said, without looking away from the television. “Can you please let her in?”
After setting the bag back down on the chair without fully zipping it up, Chris walked towards Alyster on the sofa as opposed to the door, where the person waiting outside (‘probably Violet’) knocked for a second time. “Why is she here?”
“I invited her.” He replied as if this was the most obvious reason in the world for him inviting a total stranger to Chris Peacock, into his home.
“Yeah, but why is she here?” Chris repeated in an exasperated voice.
“Come on man, with what’s going on tonight I’m going to need someone to hang out with and talk to. She’s been in my corner for the last year, I’m not about to abandon her for your sake.” Alyster stood up and brushed past Chris, moving to the front door on which the person standing outside was banging repeatedly. Alyster opened it and as predicted there stood Violet Dreyer.
Violet walked in, her eyes fixated on her phone that she held in front of her face and she did not even bristle when Chris walked past her in just his underwear to close the door that she had rudely left open. “Hello, Violet.” Chris greeted her with less than an enthusiastic tone.
“Hey.” She replied curtly, not even glancing up from the screen in front of her as she casually threw herself down on the couch beside Alyster.
Chris looked to his tag team partner for guidance and was met with a shoulder shrug. He shook his head and strolled past Violet to pick up the FWA World Heavyweight Championship from the coffee table and return to his room. “So… I’m going to have a shower. You guys have fu-”
He was interrupted by the sound of Violet’s voice snapping at him. “Why are you taking that with you? It isn’t yours.” Violet said this, despite still looking down at her phone.
Chris was confused and nervously chuckled. “I… uh… think you’ll find that it is, Violet.”
“No. It’s his.” She motioned towards Alyster and a bewildered Chris could only again look to his partner to clear the confusion. He cleared his throat loudly.
“No, it's his now.” Alyster interjected.
Violet diverted her gaze to Alyster, whilst pointing at Chris. “You let him beat you?!”
“I am right here.” Chris said, matter-of-factly. “And I didn’t beat Alyster, I beat Devin Golden for it.”
“What the fuck? When did you lose the World Championship to Devin Golden?”
“Like…two months ago?”
“Fuck sake dude, you’re no better than the moustache fuck who drowned in that lake. Losing your belt to that Golden prick just like Krashy, what is wrong with you?”
“I can’t believe you haven’t been watching the shows.”
“You were winning all the time, they were starting to get boring! Fuck, well at least you won that Climaxxx thing right so you’ll be taking the belt back off of Moustache Fuck #2 right?”
There was a brief and awkward pause which Chris used as a chance to escape into the solitude and safety of his bedroom.
Alyster had noticed that Chris was gone, the sound of the shower running confirmed this. He gulped as Violet continued to berate him. She obviously had no knowledge of what had transpired at Back in Town and Alyster was in no mood to tell her. He opted to keep it a secret, at least for now. In the meantime, Chris was gone and Alyster had a few things to get off his chest that Violet was the perfect sounding board to hear.
“Violet, just knock it off for a second. I need to talk to you, seriously.”
“What’s up chump?”
“What do you think about Chris and me teaming together?”
A normal person in this situation would be able to hold their tongue and not express exactly what was on their mind. Violet Dreyer had no such filters in place and was even eager to express herself.
“That guy skeeves me and I think you’re trying to replace Krash with him. Newsflash dickhead, Krash was one in a million, you can’t replace him with any fuck sporting a moustache.”
Alyster sighed and nodded his head, he did feel deep down that this team was just him trying to replace Krash, and with Krash back in the picture, what did that mean for FTN?
“I’m starting to think that teaming with him might have been a mistake.”
“I could have told you that. But just for argument’s sake, why do you feel that way?”
“The dude is the world champion. As far as I’m concerned, that’s my belt.”
“How can you team with a guy you’re gunning to take down? Seriously, how are you supposed to trust him and how is he supposed to trust you?”
“Well, the matter of trust and fighting each other over the world championship is something we already settled, isn't it? He held the Golden Op while I held the World Title, we knew we were going to fight each other eventually. But that’s off the table now. All we have going for us is a mutual understanding of each other’s anxiety and a hunt for the tag titles.”
“Jeez, you really are trying to replace Krash with this guy.” She leans over and places a hand on Alyster’s shoulder before speaking in a completely matter-of-fact tone of voice, “Listen dickhead, you can’t replace Krash with this guy. He tried to take the X title from you, he was going to try and take the World title from you. He is not Krash, he’s nothing like Krash. You hate yourself right? Well that guy is too much like you for the two of you to get along, you’re going to end up imploding.” Violet was oddly insightful today. “You should be teaming with someone more Krash-like, someone like that Jeremy Best shithead, at least he liked Krash too.”
Alyster’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of that insane bastard’s name. His knuckles turned white with how tight a fight he made. All he wanted to do was tear Jeremy limb from limb. But Violet didn’t know yet and he was too weak to tell her.
Taking his silence as a sign that she’s forced him to make a breakthrough, Violet stood up and made way for the door. “Listen dude, I’m in no mood to play psychologist for you, it’s boring. You clearly need some alone time to think about things so I’m gonna take a walk. See you at the restaurant later.” She casually waved back at him from over her shoulder as she exited the apartment, again leaving the door wide open.
Alyster furrowed his brow and thought about things for a few brief moments before getting up and walking over to the door. His mind was fixated on Jeremy Best and all he wanted was blood.
He slammed the door with such force that the entire apartment shook. Prompting a still wet, towel wrapped Chris Peacock to pop his head out from his bedroom door.
“What was that?”
“Violet slammed the door on her way out.”
“Ah right. You just told her about him then?”
Alyster sighed deeply, “Not yet.”
“Dude, how can you not have told her that Krash is still alive?”
The masked man was in no mood to discuss this further, especially after hearing Chris utter Krash’s name for the first time since Back in Town. He looked back at Chris from over his shoulder, “I’ll meet you at the restaurant.” He said before exiting the apartment and leaving Chris alone to get ready for the festivities.
===============
Act II: Dazzling Dave’s Restaurant
It was early in the evening when the festivities were set to begin. Chris stepped through the doors of the world famous Dazzling Dave’s restaurant - its fame having grown even more due to him now holding the most prestigious prize in the world - where family and friends were waiting. The restaurant had been closed for the evening’s festivities, in celebration of Chris’ World Championship victory. Everyone who mattered to Chris was there, with the exception of Allen Price who had prior commitments, having told Chris that he was busy preparing the other “celebrations”.
A large banner was hung up over the back wall reading “CONGRATULATIONS CHAMP!” and the disco ball that hung in the middle of the restaurant had been painted gold in tribute to Chris’ title win.
“OH!” Yelled Drew Peacock at the sight of his brother stepping through the doors. “Congratulations!”
Drew’s sentiments were followed by a host of others as Chris was swarmed by everyone in the restaurant; his nephew Max, both of the Diamond Dogs, former dancing rival turned friend Ron Starman and his father’s old friend Stewart to name but a few. All showering him with praise and well-wishes. He noticed that Alyster and Violet were absent. Of course they were late. They were probably lost somewhere in the city. He shouldn’t have let them go off on their own.
As Chris did his best to enjoy the party that was being thrown in his honour, he glanced at the door occasionally. Waiting for Alyster, and frustratingly, Violet too, to arrive. However, as the pornstar Martinis began to flow and the party atmosphere developed further, Chris quickly forgot about the two missing attendees. He stole the show on the dance floor in the middle of the restaurant, which was no easy feat given the crowd that were in attendance. However, what Chris failed to realise was that after the initial showing of adoration upon his arrival, the enthusiasm for his show-stealing antics waned quickly.
Whilst Chris was preoccupied with taking as much attention as he could at the party, Alyster arrived. The first thing he noticed was Chris in the middle of the room dancing whilst trying to hold onto his drink, but he was accidentally spilling it all around him as he disrupted its equilibrium. Violet shuffled through the door behind Alyster before he closed it shut.
Chris’ heart sank at the sight of Violet Dreyer. She was wearing the jacket. The one he’d just given to Alyster that very afternoon. The gift that he thought was the perfect symbol of their friendship. He swallowed his pain and continued to dance his heart out, these people were here for him and he wasn’t about to let them down.
A quick glance at the goings on of the party made Violet grimace. “Well, this is going just as I predicted it would. I’m going to get a drink.” She muttered before sauntering off toward the bar.
Alyster merely grunted in response as his gaze followed Violet through the crowd but it then ventured towards a solitary table in the corner of the restaurant, almost completely hidden from view due to the lighting arrangement. It was perfect. Alyster skirted through the room, keeping as close as he could to the walls whilst navigating himself around tables that had been strewn across the outskirts of the room. The last thing he wanted right now was for any of Chris’s acquaintances to come and talk to him; he was in no mood to make small talk with a distant relative or family friend. It was in situations such as this that he’d be better off without his mask, when no one could recognise him.
Impressively though, Alyster made it to his destination without the unwanted interruption of any of the other attendees, who were either stuck watching Chris dancing or helping themselves to the admittedly impressive looking buffet that was on offer. Alyster did not feel like eating, though. It was okay for everyone else there to enjoy themselves, because none of them were carrying the weight Alyster was carrying. He knew where he had to be at this moment in time, and it wasn’t sitting in the corner of an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn.
“Holy shit, it’s Alyster Black!” These were words that Alyster was dreading hearing as soon as he agreed to attend the party in Chris’s honour. What made things worse was that they came from the mouth of Santino Dongarelli, who stood over Alyster with a drink in his hand after sneaking up on him whilst Black was lost in his thoughts. Rick Vance approached Sonny from behind and rubbed his shoulders for a couple of seconds, before he too noticed Alyster and did a cool guy upwards nod at him. “How come you’re here? I’d have thought seeing Chris with that title would have made you feel like shit, man.”
It infuriated Alyster to no end that this Diamond Dog was almost on the mark, perhaps as a fellow wrestler he understood Alyster’s conundrum. Hell, as a tag team wrestler maybe he would be able to fathom the issue with Krash.
Alyster tapped his knuckle on the table a couple of times, almost as if he was summoning the strength to even attempt to engage with these two morons. Why did he come to this party? Chris was his partner, duh.
“Same reason as you, I imagine.” Alyster mused, “Although I could ask you both the same question. Weren’t you two and Chris on the outs? Something to do with him abandoning you during the middle of a drug induced freakout.”
“Nah, we don’t mind any of that stuff now. We’re here to have a good time and hey, if there was anything we could celebrate and give us a reason to get down, it was going to be this, right?”
It was not a surprise that the masked man was unable to coax any sort of riveting conversation out of the heavily intoxicated men who had approached him.
“It also isn’t often we get to do stuff with this crowd and Allen isn’t here. Don’t get me wrong, he definitely grows on you, but… hey, where are you going?”
Unsurprisingly, Alyster had grown impatient with speaking to the Diamond Dogs. “I’ve got to go…some place else. Yes, that will do.” He muttered from over his shoulder to excuse himself.
It was astounding to him just how easily the Diamond Dogs were able to give up on past grievances. Throw a party and everything is cool? This concept was hard to grasp but it did make Alyster think. Perhaps he was being too harsh toward Chris. It wasn’t his fault that Krash was in the position he was in now. It wasn’t his fault that Devin Golden had unseated Alyster as the World Champion. But Chris was all too ready to pounce on the opportunity to challenge Devin Golden.
It was as Alyster made his way towards the bathroom that Chris noticed that his tag team partner was actually in attendance at the party, and he had no way of knowing how long Alyster had been there because Alyster didn’t seek him out whenever he did arrive. Chris stopped dancing and failed to notice the silent collective sigh of relief as people realised they did not have to pay attention to him anymore. As he looked to pursue Alyster, he also failed to notice someone walking in his path, and he bowled into them, causing the majority of their drink to spill onto the floor. “Oh shit, sorry-”
“Watch where you’re fucking going, dickhead.” Violet huffed as she brushed some of the spillage off of her leg. She sternly shook her head at him and turned around to get a refill, but Chris grabbed her by the sleeve of the jacket and spun her back around. She quickly shook him off, breaking through Chris’s strong grip and snapping at him. “Touch me again and I will actually fuck you up.”
“I just wanted to talk to you, Violet. About Alyster.” Chris waited for Violet to respond but she just let out a pained sigh instead, which he took as an invitation to continue. “I think he’s angry with me, and I think I know why, but I-”
Violet interrupted, “Yeah, no shit.”
Chris went to respond, but then realised that Alyster must have told Violet about Krash after their last conversation, before the party. “So he told you then?”
“Of course he told me! You’ve got his fucking title, dickhead, and he wants it back. I don’t know what game you think you’re trying to play, but he’s starting to see through it all.” Violet sipped on what was left of her drink. “If someone had something I wanted and tried to keep me close to protect themselves, I’d be pretty annoyed, too.”
“This is about me being champion? I don’t understand why this is what he’d choose to be pissed off about at the moment…” Chris looked at the floor as he thought and then he had another realisation that Alyster had definitely not told Violet about Krash being alive. “I’m trying to help him. I want to help him become a tag champion again and I’d happily face him for the world title. I thought he was annoyed because… of something else.”
“Look, I think you’re full of shit, personally. I can’t tell that masked dipshit who he can and can’t hang around with, but I know he can do a lot better than you.” She scoffed, “As if you were supposed to measure up to Krash.”
Chris was annoyed. “Maybe he should go and be friends with Jeremy Best, then…
Obviously, he knew that Violet would not understand the sarcasm behind those words and Chris then walked with Violet over to the bar area to get himself a new drink and replace hers.
Alyster re-emerged from the wash room, shaking the water from his hands as he looked around the party, but he turned to his left and saw Chris standing in front of him. Or at least, someone who looked exactly like him, minus the signature moustache. “I saw you talking to the Diamond Dogs before…”
“If you can call that a conversation.” Alyster replied, coldly. “It’s scary how much you look like your brother mate.”
Drew smiled and offered Alyster a handshake, the masked man was not so rude as to refuse the offer.
“So what’s going on mate?”
“Nothing much, I was just wondering how you manage to put up with my brother, that’s all. I know better than anyone how grating he can be. I mean, did you see all of that garbage with the Nephews? As if it wasn’t bad enough that he instigated that war, he had to drag me into it too.” Drew stared off into space before realising the mood had grown awkward and cleared his throat. “No one would really blame you if you just dropped him, you know?”
Alyster was taken aback by the coldness Drew showed for his brother, “Is that a fact? You know you’re not the first person to tell me that today.”
“I doubt I’ll be the last.”
“He’s not that bad. Focused and goal oriented to a fault maybe but he’s not a bad person and he’s a good laugh too.”
Drew couldn’t help but to nod in agreement.
“I mean, if you’ve got such a problem with him then why throw together this shindig for him?”
“He’s my brother. I love him. And he achieved something big man, something dad dreamed of, something I once dreamed of. This is special.” He paused, taking a sip from his cocktail. “It’s a shame it came at your expense though.”
Alyster agreed, “Yeah, damn shame that.”
“Anyone else in your position would be pissed off beyond belief.”
“It’s not that…I’m stoked for him. It’s just hard to feel happy when someone’s parading around with something that used to belong to you.” He turned his head to meet Drew’s stare, “I’m not going to abandon him for something so petty though.”
Drew smiled and slapped Alyster on the shoulder, “Atta boy Alyster. You and Chris are going to do great things together. All you have to do is put up with some bullshit.”
He was used to putting up with bullshit. That’s what being a part of the FWA was really about right? Putting up with bullshit.
As if on queue more bullshit arose. The sound of shouting echoed through the room, emanating from the bar.
“Now what’s going on?”
Alyster could just see through the crowd what was happening, Chris and Violet were fronting up to each other and shouting. Alyster sighed as he began to push his way through the crowded dance floor toward them.
“All I’m saying is that you seemed pretty fucking happy that he lost the belt! You didn’t have to give up this make-believe team to win that World Championship. We all remember how eager you were to cash in that title shot on him anyway!”
“You’ve got it completely wrong.”
“You’re a snake!”
“Would you shut up for two seconds?”
“You were just using him to get the title!”
Chris had had enough of this. He slammed his fist down on the bar and screamed back into Violet’s face. “Oh yeah, well if Alyster’s so fucking innocent then why hasn’t he told you that Krash is back?”
A silence filled the room. Violet was stunned.
“Yeah that’s right. Your buddy, your mentor, your hero. He’s back. He came back at the pay-per-view. He came back after Alyster’s fucking match. And you know wha-”
Chris was interrupted by a hand grabbing him by the shoulder. It was Alyster “Chris stop, please.” He pleaded but the damage was done.
Violet was mortified to find out that Krash was back, doubly so that Alyster hadn’t told her. She took one look at the masked man and threw her drink in his face.
“You didn’t tell me. You lying snake fuck.”
“Violet, I can explain please.”
“Where the fuck is he? Why isn’t he here with you?”
Alyster fell silent, he didn’t even know where to begin. Chris Peacock on the other hand, fuelled by a cavalcade of alcoholic mixtures was quick to offer an explanation.
“He’s in the clutches of that evil fuck Jeremy Best. He’s kidnapped the dude and is trying to brainwash him. And Alyster was too busy helping me to do anything about it!”
Violet’s jaw dropped. Her gaze moved from Chris’ face to Alyster’s and back again. Eventually she just shrugged her shoulders, turned around and made for the exit.
“Violet wait!” Alyster called out.
“Fuck you!” She shouted back. “You goddamn coward, someone has to go save that moustache fuck!”
Alyster takes a few steps forward but doesn’t pursue. He places his hands on the back of his head and swears quietly under his breath.
“Good fucking riddance, she was ruining my party.”
“What the fuck Chris?” Alyster turned to face his partner. “Why did you tell her about all of that?”
“She deserves to know what happened. Why the hell didn’t you tell her? Why the hell aren’t you out there right now looking for Krash? We all know you were just waiting for him to come back so you could abandon me.”
“What?” Alyster was taken aback by these accusations. “I’ve never, ever, said anything like that.”
“You don’t have to say it! I know what’s going on. You’re bitter that I won the World Title and you’re just counting the days until you can turn on me and try to take it back for yourself!”
“You’re paranoid.”
“I’m paranoid am I? Why was she wearing the jacket then Aly? Why did you give her the fucking jacket!”
“It’s cold out man, she had nothing to wear. Better I let her wear it then burn it like I was planning to.”
“Why would you burn that jacket! It’s the jacket! I got that jacket for you by beating Devin Golden and you spit in my face by rejecting it like it wasn’t worth a damn.” Chris got into Alyster’s face, grabbing him by his shirt collar, “Guess you’ve shown your true colours, you’re just like the rest of them, ready to turn on me at the drop of a dime.”
Alyster slapped Chris’ hands away from his shirt. “You’re going crazy. You’re fucking losing it Chris. When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep? You keep dreaming about Michelle coming after you, you keep waking up in a sweat and screaming. You’re scared of her and you’re projecting that fear onto me.”
“Scared? Like fucking hell I’m scared. I’m not scared of Michelle and I sure as fuck aren’t afraid of you. You jealous fuck. All you care about is taking my world championship from me.”
Alyster doesn’t respond. Chris continues, “Why can’t you be happy for me? This is my party, to celebrate me winning the World Championship and you’ve been a total jerk about it all night.”
He had a point.
“I’m sorry…it’s just hard to be happy when you’ve lost what I have.”
“I’m right, you are jealous! You resent me for winning this title. Well fuck, I suppose it’s time to drop me then isn’t it? Especially now that Krash is back you just can’t wait to abandon me. And right when we were on the cusp of getting those tag titles.”
Alyster shakes his head, he’s had enough and turns around to leave. As he takes the first few steps toward the exit Chris calls out to him. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Walk out on me just like everyone else. You’re no better than Randy Ramon!”
This causes Alyster to stop dead in his tracks. “The fuck did you just say?”
“You heard me.”
Alyster turns around and steps right up to Chris, going nose to nose. “Say it again I dare you.”
“You wanna fucking go, right now? Fine.” Chris steps backward, shuffling to the dance floor. His body moves rhythmically before stopping to strike a disco pose, pointing at the jukebox. On cue the jukebox comes alive with the music of the Bee Gees.
“I said you’re no better than Randy Ramon, now let’s dance!” The dance off begins with Chris spinning on the spot and comes to a quick end with Alyster smashing a beer bottle over his head.
Screams are heard as people scramble and panic. An ambulance is called and the party comes to an abrupt end.
==========
Act III: This is the End for You My Friend
Chris hissed as Drew was finishing up with pulling each shard of glass from his brother’s open gash. The restaurant was now closed, the guests had been shuffled out. All that was left was Chris, his brother Drew and nephew Max. All sitting together inside the kitchen, all administering aid to the FWA World Champion.
“He got you good, this is definitely going to need stitches.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time, or the last. You’ve still got the kit right?”
“Yeah, one sec. Max, come here. Put pressure on this towel for Uncle Chris.”
Max quickly walks over and presses his hand down on the towel against Chris’ open wound.
“Thanks Max.” Chris gives his nephew a big smile and thumbs up as Drew goes to retrieve the suture kit.
Whilst Drew is gone the back door to the kitchen swings open and in pops Alyster Black. “Hey fellas. Do you all mind if I come in?” The masked man is ashamed of his actions, and doesn’t dare step foot into the kitchen without permission.
Drew places the suture kit down besides Chris and gives him a look. Chris simply nods in affirmation and Drew waves Alyster inside.
“Thanks guys. How bad is it?” He steps in, walking right over to the scene. Max lifts the towel off of Chris’ forehead for a brief moment.
“Damn, I got you good.”
“Should have saved it for Meltdown.”
Alyster sighs and turns to Drew, “I can take over. I’ve received enough stitches to know what I’m doing. Can you guys give us a minute?”
Again Drew turns to his brother who again gives him the go-ahead. “Alright, but this is a restaurant, not an alley. If you guys want to keep fighting then take it outside. Come on Max.” Drew motions for Max to follow him and as the youngest Peacock gets up to follow he pauses and stares down Alyster.
“If you try anything funny then you’re gonna have to fight me, you got that bozo.” Max teases, raising both fists up at Alyster.
“I wouldn’t dream of raising your ire, little Peacock. I’ll be on my best behaviour.”
With the other Peacock’s gone Alyster tends to Chris. Opening the structure kit and getting right to work.
“I am so sorry about this. I never should have hit you.”
“I was being insensitive toward you.”
“Nah, you’re right. I’ve been a jerk to you all day. You didn’t deserve it. I should have been happy for you. You shouldn’t have called me Randy though, that was going way too far.”
“That’s fair. I shouldn’t have gotten so worked up about you and Krash though. I’m not trying to take his place, you know that right?”
“Pfft, don’t pay any attention to what comes out of Violet Dreyer’s mouth.”
“I’m just so used to pushing people out, and I don’t know. I feel guilty that you’re here and not out there scouring the globe trying to find him. I know how special your relationship with him is, I just don’t understand what you’re doing.”
“I’m committed to this. FTN, that’s my priority right now. I want to win those tag team titles with you. What’s going on with Krash, that’s complicated, and scouring the globe trying to find him won’t do any good. We know that Jeremy and Bryan are going to be on Meltdown, that’s where we’ll start our investigation.”
Alyster works the thread and needle, closing up the wound, being as careful as possible. Chris, no stranger to receiving stitches remains still and ignores the pain. His phone vibrates with a new notification. He checks the screen and sees he has received a text message from “RW”. He quickly turns his phone over, hoping Alyster didn’t see it.
“I just…I’m having a hard time with this. Everyone turns on me. You and I said some heinous shit to each other, but here you are. I don’t get it?”
“What’s to get Chrissy? We’re kindred spirits mate and we’ve got a job to do. I’m not about to abandon you over petty squabbles.”
A smile forms over Peacock’s face. “Right, all for one and one for all and all that then?”
“Team Anxiety forever and ever. You and I, we’re going places. We’ve got tag team gold to win and our journey starts on Meltdown.”
“Right, big ol clusterfuck against all the mooks in the tag division.”
“Not one of them want it as much as we do.”
“None of them deserve it as much as us.”
“You’re the goddamn World Champion.”
“And you’re the greatest X Champion of all time. We’re going to eat everyone in that scramble alive.”
“Especially those bastards in the Buddy System.”
“Especially them.”
Alyster gives the finishing touches to the patch job on Chris’ forehead. The duo rise to their feet and Chris claps Alyster on the back.
“Now how about we grab a drink and talk about our opponents one by one in a sort of list?”
“Sounds boring. Let’s do it!”
The two shared a raucous round of laughter before going on a tirade, talking shit about the Lumberjacks, then the Coven, followed by Eternal, PONI BOI, and the dastardly Buddy System.
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