Post by Dave D-Flipz on Sept 25, 2023 23:26:34 GMT -5
NOTE: THE ITALICS ARE QUOTES TAKEN FROM TWO PREVIOUS PROMOS BY AIDEN: Masterpiece Theater and Hell Is For Children
“Hard to feel fearful of the unknown, the darkness, and the vengeful when you’ve always played the monster.”
"Aiden! What the bloody hell was ya thinkin’? Were ya even thinking?"
"But, papa! I just wanted to see you in action. You always tell me stories. I’m brave! I can handle seeing it firsthand!"
"Aidy, my little joey. This isn’t a game, or a story. The outback, the opal mines, they’re nightmares in reality."
"I ain’t scared of the dark or nightmares. Ain’t real! Dad’s the fair dinkum!"
*The seven year old Aiden pumps his fist in excitement. His father, worn and weary from a day in the opal mines, dour and dreary from having filled his son’s head with tall tales, frowning in fear at having to burst that bubble… stands in the kitchen beside his wife. They mutter to each other under their breath.*
"Listen little hunter, I can’t have you out there with me. I know I fill yer head with the tales of my day … but it’s very dangerous and I wouldn’t be able to live with meself if I brought harm to yer head."
"Ya missed my last two birthdays out in the fields. You owe it to me to let me see!"
"If’n it were God’s plan, he’d have given me the strength to protect you out there Aiden. But it’s not."
"I don’t much think I care for God if he keeps draggin’ my pa away from me… when you talk to God … let him know I’ll talk to him again when he decides he is present enough to hear me out."
*Aiden runs off into the house as his parents sigh …*
“Ain’t never had luck before... Why start now?”
"Poooooooooooeeeena…"
*Aiden sits in front of a camera, on his bed, alone. He stares deep into the camera, eyes as dead as they’ve ever been. The fire is there, but there’s something missing. He’s there, but something is wrong. That trademark snide smirk is missing, the offbeat Aussie slang is being suppressed for maximum understanding.*
"I once said the road to hell is paved with good intentions. *he clicks his tongue* I may have been disingenuous. See calling out hell would imply a belief system in place. And I ain’t a religious type. I ain’t the Godly type. And I certainly ain’t the God-fearing type. You took some sick interest in Jack Diamond. Really loony, that. You saw him as a kindred spirit. You saw him as an equal, whether you admit it or not. You tried to bring him to your God as a fellow ‘prophet’. Erin? NOMAD? Random? It’s about sacrificing them or tormenting them or whatever. But Jack held a higher purpose for you."
*Aiden scowls*
"But me? You and I are also alike. But not in the same way. We’re polar opposites in belief system and life outlook. For us? It’s the actions …"
“I don’t see myself as brave... To be brave you have to actually fear death... Me? I’m a sinner through and through. Ain’t a rule I ain’t broken for fun or profit... I guess that would make me kind of foolish innit?… the world belongs to the foolish. The men willing to throw others under the bus and take what isn’t ours when we don’t need it...”
*A twelve year old Aiden steps through his front door. Having seen his father in a state of … unliving … and brutally dispatched by the Outback. A newly minted killer stands in the doorway, lying to the only person on the planet he cares about. Allain Merric, loving father, victim of circumstance … destined to go into the history books as a deserting deadbeat. A bad man stands in the doorway … having watched his mother step into the other room, crying. He sighs … and grabs the crucifix necklace off his body …*
"Ya fucking cunt. I shoulda known you were as much a lie as all the other stories he told…"
*He hurls the cross across the room and out the open window.*
"There ain’t a rule around we won’t break to obtain our goal. And nobody would mistake either of us for a ‘good’ person. But here’s the difference between us ya bloody figjam. You toil under the yoke of your Higher Power. You do what you do fer It. You follow It’s lead and bring It what It needs. I harbor no illusions to the existence of higher powers. Ain’t no such thing. Gods are fairy tales we tell kids to get them to behave and learn to act right. Don’t matter if they send their son to die for us, or send their own knacker to pour boiling water into an innocent kid’s ears cuz he happened to train with someone. You, like that bitch Natasha in AWF, are delusional. But don’t worry. I ain’t about to sell ya short because you trudge through life under the illusion that you are the ‘chosen one’. A ‘prophet’. We all tell ourselves little lies to get through the day. Only matters how hard ya buy into yer own shit."
*Aiden slowly stands up. He shakes his arms out and cracks his neck. He is covered in bruises and scrapes and cuts. Clearly he has been intensely training for this match. More than he has ever trained.*
"Poena … NOMAD was one kind of beast. A big ole bruiser who seeks the thrill of the fight and wants to live his life the way he wants to live his life. Free of judgement … free from fools. I can respect that. After beating him again, I still want more. I crave the thrill of the big hunt. This is where I usually would turn around and tell you just how I’m hunting you."
*Aiden reaches off screen and clicks on the light. His room is barren but for his bed and a small travel bag with clothes and wrestling gear.*
"… Well … you can fuck right the hell off. There’s no enjoying this kind of fight. This is survival. I’ve seen what you do to people. I’ve made it a point to personally prepare everything around me. I harbor no illusions that if you wanted to somehow slink and slither your way into my life, you could. T’ain’t about prevention with you. No no … it’s about punishment … it’s about making it more detrimental to you to make the effort. You are not prey. You are a fellow hunter. That makes this a game of chess. And I ain’t a fan of that. Fair play to you. Say what you want about taking the fun from my hunt, being the target who avoided the traps, whatever. It’s about … survival. It’s about getting that trophy… out of your hands … and onto my mantle … in any way necessary. The people who actually take the time to play your games come away changed. The people who choose not to indulge you get hurt. I offer you instead my undying indifference."
*Aiden flops onto his bed. Still no smirk.*
"I refuse to give you the satisfaction. So I’m shooting straight with you. I am not the same kind of man Jack is. I’m not the same caliber of person Erin is. I am the same thing as you. A snake in the grass, a monster in a world of very breakable humanity. You are no crocodile. You are no kangaroo, dingo, actual snake … no no … those things have fears, needs … souls. Those things can be extinguished. You? You are a hollow shell, a marionette on the strings of your pretend God. Absolving you of responsibility and conscience. I doubt the man who was … whatever you were before becoming ‘Poena’ is still in there, he’s long since dead and buried."
*Aiden reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sand encrusted, tarnished, rotting, decaying, silver cross. He lets out a laugh*
"Mama Merric found this and sent it to me when she saw me scheduled to fight a prophet. Don’t think she realized your God and hers are VERY different. If it’s all the same … I’ll treat yours the same way I treated mine."
*He squeezes his hand hard and opens it slowly, silver dust falling from his hand*
"Killing the very idea dead. Poena, this hunt … isn’t for you. The trophy may be the belt you hold, the trophy I DESERVE. And the loser in all this may be the physical body you inhabit. Whether you even care as I inflict all that delightful pain into you, I don’t care. By all means, get your penance with it, take it as a positive. And all the while I will be absorbing everything you can dish out too. There ain't an ounce of quit in me. There is no pain you can inflict that will make me back down, react, give you the fucking pleasure. Because this is MY unholy mission. Because the target of this hunt … is your so-called God. How much does he care for his prophet? At what point will that light in your eyes fade? The spiral untangled? The color drained?"
*Aiden rocks back to his seated position*
"I’m out to kill belief itself. And this is an involved, multi-step process. I harbor no illusions you will stop coming for me once I have your golden trinket you claimed you didn’t need until you had it. See unlike you? I’m honest with myself. I am going to turn you inside out. I am going to give you all the pain you could desire for your penance. And then I’m going to double it. Then I’m going to break your arm for what you did to Erin. And I’m going to make you bite your own tongue off for what you did to that woman. And then I’m going to take your title … because I want to. And then you will come for me. And I will be waiting. I’m a very simple man. And I don’t intend to hide from you. I don’t fear what you can do. Because everything you can do has already been done to me. Usually in the name of one God or another, or one boss or another. And eventually we’ll have another match for MY Openweight title. And then I’ll finish the job. And claim your spirit, your belief, your God … as my trophy."
*Aiden finally lets out that smirk and a laugh.*
"I appreciate you think so highly of me to present me with all these options for how to taunt you. But I am a simple man Poena. It’s ALWAYS been about money, glory, and MYSELF. I didn’t protect Jack from you out of preference. I did it for money. And now… I do this for the thrill of the impossible hunt. How does one kill a God? What even is a God to a non-believer? I invite you to show me. Because I am going to give you the fight of your God-damned life. And I will relive you of my Openweight title."
“I thrive on the impossible challenge. I excel at making people second guess everything they thought they knew.”