Post by Jimbo on Mar 25, 2024 4:14:06 GMT -5
KARMA POLICE
In a dimly lit tent, the TAPOUT Openweight Championship sits at the end of the bedroll propped up by a duffle bag. The champion, James Sloane, enters from out of frame and sits down opposite the belt. He leans forward to adjust the framing of the phone he has attached to a tripod.
“When I beat Aiden at Supremacy and won that title, I was tellin’ myself over ‘n over again that it was too good to be true. Felt like I was livin’ in some dream.”
He sits for a moment, a bird calls somewhere far away outside his tent.
“I'm a cynic."
"That's no secret."
"Always felt like anytime somethin’ good happens, somethin’ bad is just waitin’ around the corner. I really wanted to believe that this time things were different. I really did. Sure felt different anyway. But maybe…”
His focus turns to his championship.
“Maybe it's karma.”
NOMAD falls silent again as he tosses the thoughts in his head back and forth.
“Maybe this is what I get.”
“Maybe all I get is just a little taste. The moment I've worked my entire life toward finally happens and not even two months later, Cross is shuttin’ the door and boardin’ up the windows. And so once again, I'm back at square one. A man with nothing. It's a cycle that I've been tryin’ my damndest to break for so damn long. You know, I thought that maybe if I changed my ways, things would be different. An’ for a time, things were different. I reached the top of the mountain, and for what? I got there but the view stayed the fuckin' same.”
He reaches from off frame and retrieves a large metal toolbox. He places it down before him with a heavy thud. He unclips the first of the two latches on the top of the box.
“And despite everything, all I am? All I am is a *really* bad man. I'm filled with anger and hatred. I live on a diet of bloodshed and broken bones. I've done terrible things to good people. And I thought that I had paid the price for that ten times over. I thought maybe I had redeemed myself. Guess I ain't paid enough yet. So I guess it's time to cash these chips in.”
He unlatches the second clip.
“But I'm not the only one who has a price to pay.”
He throws back the lid of the toolbox.
“You gotta pay up too, Poe.”
Reaching into the box, a sick smirk creeps along the face of the TAPOUT Openweight Champion.
"So we will dance."
NOMAD pulls a large length of steel chain from the box.
“Joined together at the neck."
He drapes the chain around his neck, and displays the two studded leather dog collars at either end.
“One of us will pay our penance, and the other will walk away as TAPOUT's final champion."
In a dimly lit tent, the TAPOUT Openweight Championship sits at the end of the bedroll propped up by a duffle bag. The champion, James Sloane, enters from out of frame and sits down opposite the belt. He leans forward to adjust the framing of the phone he has attached to a tripod.
“When I beat Aiden at Supremacy and won that title, I was tellin’ myself over ‘n over again that it was too good to be true. Felt like I was livin’ in some dream.”
He sits for a moment, a bird calls somewhere far away outside his tent.
“I'm a cynic."
"That's no secret."
"Always felt like anytime somethin’ good happens, somethin’ bad is just waitin’ around the corner. I really wanted to believe that this time things were different. I really did. Sure felt different anyway. But maybe…”
His focus turns to his championship.
“Maybe it's karma.”
NOMAD falls silent again as he tosses the thoughts in his head back and forth.
“Maybe this is what I get.”
“Maybe all I get is just a little taste. The moment I've worked my entire life toward finally happens and not even two months later, Cross is shuttin’ the door and boardin’ up the windows. And so once again, I'm back at square one. A man with nothing. It's a cycle that I've been tryin’ my damndest to break for so damn long. You know, I thought that maybe if I changed my ways, things would be different. An’ for a time, things were different. I reached the top of the mountain, and for what? I got there but the view stayed the fuckin' same.”
He reaches from off frame and retrieves a large metal toolbox. He places it down before him with a heavy thud. He unclips the first of the two latches on the top of the box.
“And despite everything, all I am? All I am is a *really* bad man. I'm filled with anger and hatred. I live on a diet of bloodshed and broken bones. I've done terrible things to good people. And I thought that I had paid the price for that ten times over. I thought maybe I had redeemed myself. Guess I ain't paid enough yet. So I guess it's time to cash these chips in.”
He unlatches the second clip.
“But I'm not the only one who has a price to pay.”
He throws back the lid of the toolbox.
“You gotta pay up too, Poe.”
Reaching into the box, a sick smirk creeps along the face of the TAPOUT Openweight Champion.
"So we will dance."
NOMAD pulls a large length of steel chain from the box.
“Joined together at the neck."
He drapes the chain around his neck, and displays the two studded leather dog collars at either end.
“One of us will pay our penance, and the other will walk away as TAPOUT's final champion."