The Beginning [Sainovic & Son TTA Finals 2/2]
Oct 20, 2023 1:04:38 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, Dave D-Flipz, and 2 more like this
Post by mosler on Oct 20, 2023 1:04:38 GMT -5
The Beginning.
At first there are just a few simple chirps, brought to life by the blue hour. Pitches vary, the conversations become increasingly animated, voices complimenting one another until forming a medley. Clouds look silver against a slowly brightening sky, welcoming this symphony of birds. As the sun starts to peak over the horizon, the musicians take flight. Beams of light cut through branches, all the more blinding for missing autumn leaves. Dew on the grass glistens under the creeping warm blanket. Our scene is a park ravaged by the fall, yet in these early hours of the morning, it roars to life.
Not appreciating the sights is El Rey. The Junior Heavyweight Champion is frequently awake at this ungodly hour, but only after a night of hard partying. Actually waking up to this chilled air? That is a whole other story. Atlanta's favourite son is exhausted, and Rey drags his feet across the dirt path to let his companion know how intollerable the situation is. Bobbing under a butterfly, El Rey feels that this is a veritable death march! If he paid more attention in school, Rey would probably cite the Geneva Convention to end this unusually cruel punishment. Legs are so sore. How far away did they park? Rey can still see the Highlander in the parking lot, but that has to be like a thousand miles away, right? The ability to judge a hundred feet isn't the champion's strong suit. Now Rey knows what military bootcamp is like. This might as well be that show Special Forces, only people will actually watch this...
For all his complaints, El Rey knows that his partner wouldn't subject him to this torture for nothing. Zoran Sainovic has no doubt devised a new maneuver to deal with The End - a move so dangerous that it could only be practiced at an hour when no rational person is conscious. Is 6 A.M. even recognized on clocks? Yes, this pain will all be justified when they learn the Annihilator winning hold...
El Rey:
Are we there yet?
Zoran Sainovic:
Almost, my boy. No need to be so glum, just PVR your Saturday morning cartoons!
El Rey:
Pretty sure they got rid of those before I was born, plus HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM?
Rather than answer the... toddler... The Final Boss smiles as they reach a large clearing.
Zoran Sainovic:
Here we are-
El Rey:
So what killer training are we going through to put Fargo in his place?
Zoran Sainovic:
Fargo? No. I zought I'd teach you how to zrow a ball.
El Rey:
The fu-
SAINOVIC & SON
IN
"GRoWiNG PaiNS"
Before El Rey can say something that would make his tag team partner STAB him, Zoran tosses the precocious youngster a baseball mitt.
Zoran Sainovic:
Good catch, boy.
El Rey:
I know how to throw a damn ball!
Zoran Sainovic:
Really? When did zat happen?
El Rey:
My fath - uh, Venom taught me a LONG time ago.
Zoran Sainovic:
I'm glad he was still in ze picture zen. Let's see what he instilled in you...
Rey whips the ball as hard as he can at the old monster's head. Fortunately, Sainovic expects exactly that reaction, reaching up in time to snatch the ball before it can give him a shiner - thus saving Rey's life. The Final Boss tosses it back harder, the impact causing Rey to flinch.
Zoran Sainovic:
Don't be afraid to put something into it. Go hard on your old man.
Furious, El Rey purposely tosses the ball high enough that it goes over Zoran and into some shrubs behind him.
Zoran Sainovic (arching eyebrow):
...You sure you know how to zrow?
El Rey (aggregated snort):
Of course I do!
The two man stand there for a minute in uncomfortable silence.
Zoran Sainovic:
....well zat ball isn't going to get itself.
Muttering obscenities to let Zoran know he's unhappy, but not loud enough that Zoran can make them out - because the old man is scary - El Rey stomps off into browning greens. The minute the youth has disappeared into the bushes, the kindness melts away from the Serbian's eyes - leaving a cold gaze to meet the camera.
Zoran Sainovic:
Ze End. For a little while zere, you two were quite celebrated, and almost made Next Level watchable. What happened? A little single success go to Mehrunes' head? You didn't want to get in his way, Scott? Is zat why you set out to make a name for yourself in Japan? I was zere during your J-RoK stint. ...At ze time I was winning ze Sakura tag league, and can distinctly remember watching my then partner, Dylan, get increasingly frustrated with ze company as zey forced him to deal repeatedly with your flavour of ze month exploits. I felt SO BAD for Dylan... killing himself to make you look like a singles star. Oh, he'd lost limbs... but if you want to see where Dylan Black lost his heart for ze business? Look to ZAT series. It was painful to watch. Zere was nothing I could do about it, as we would have had to tag against you - and it didn't seem like Mehrunes was returning your calls at ze time, Scott. It is nice zat you two were able to patch zings up, reunited in ze shared understanding zat you can't hack it as singles stars. I wish you nothing but success in Hardkore World. Hopefully your forced interpersonal relationship, or general apathy, won't cause you to abandon HKW ze way you did NLW... and indeed, ze Network. Let's see how enthusiastic you are when we conclude your Annihilator run. Personally? ...I don't see you two being here in ze New Year.
Branches snap, El Rey staggers out of a thicket covered in scratches.
El Rey:
Here's your damn ba-
Zoran Sainovic (concerned look):
When you were in scouts, my boy, did zey teach you to identify poison ivy?
El Rey:
Like Mom would let those pedophiles near m-
Looking down, Rey notices some weeds that have collected on his clothing.
El Rey:
Fu-
Children laugh as they trample through tulips.
The sprawling garden of the Sainovic estate currently hosts a few dozen guests, as the Final Boss holds one last barbecue for the season.
Behind the grill, Zoran is cooking up a storm. Having wasted his summer on a hyper restrictive diet, Zoran is burning enough meat to feed a small army - and he has food for company too. As the XHF Devil flips burgers, El Rey avoids the other guests, trying to disappear into a maple tree. Checking out the size of the grounds, Rey can see an upside in being adopted by the crazy rich bastard.
Oliver:
How is scouts?
Zoran's youngest wanders up to El Rey - who is decked out in a boy scout uniform. Yes, Rey is entirely too old to be part of the program. Yes, they don't make uniforms in his size. Yes, it is rather tight. Sure, there is a distinct possibility that Rey's pseudo-adoptive father cut some people to get the junior champion into the organization.
El Rey:
I've escaped twenty-seven times.
Oliver:
And you keep going back?
El Rey:
...they have very good tracking skills.
Oliver:
Have you gotten any badges yet?
El Rey:
Hundre- thousands. There is a reason I'm not wearing my sash here - I have so many merit badges its embarrassing. You seem awfully interested. Why doesn't Zoran make you join too?
Oliver:
My Mom says there are too many perverts in it.
One of the other children slaps Oliver, exclaiming "TAG" before running away. Now IT, Oliver happily chases after her - abandoning his prospective step-brother in his prat dressing ways. Observing the children play, Rey reflects sadly on how much more difficult tagging is in wrestling.
Zoran Sainovic (cupping mouth):
Hey Rey, get over here!
Ugh. The only thing keeping Rey from sticking to his tree is the concern that Zoran will keep hollering, drawing more attention to this travesty. While walking over to the barbecue, El Rey continues to pour calamine lotion on himself like it was champagne. Apparently identifying poison ivy isn't amongst his plethora of badges.
El Rey:
Can I go now?
Zoran Sainovic:
Zis isn't a prison, my boy. You can leave whenever you want-
El Rey (feet don't fail me now):
About time, see you in San Pedr...
Zoran Sainovic:
I just zought you wanted to beat Ze End-
Damn it. Rey turns on his heel, back towards his mentor.
El Rey (pulling at his scout uniform):
How is this helping?
Zoran Sainovic:
Are we ze best singles stars on ze Network?
El Rey (eyes narrow):
...we are.
Zoran Sainovic:
So we know we can out wrestle zem. We just need to be a better tag team. Given how short zeir actual run was before zey split up, zat shouldn't be a problem. But just to make our superior chemistry abundantly clear, it is important we BOND.
Sigh. El Rey knew there would be sacrifices to winning his triple crown.
Zoran Sainovic:
...Which is why I'm going to teach you how to cook your first burger, son.
El Rey:
I've cooked before!
More than one onlooking chuckles at this obvious lie.
El Rey:
I... uh... I've made my own food!
Zoran Sainovic:
Glad to here it!
Doesn't look like the rest of the party is buying this boast. Even Zoran seems to be humouring, Rey.
El Rey:
Mostly sandwiches.
You can bluff your way through Peanut Butter and Jelly! How did Tracy do it? Right, first you cut off the gross edges.
Zoran Sainovic:
I'm certain zey were delicious, my boy. Perhaps after ze party you can give me ze recipe.
El Rey:
Uh, sure.
Putting a warm hand on his protege's shoulder, Zoran walks him over to the grill.
Zoran Sainovic:
Now ze trick to cooking a rare steak-
Not showing the same fight, El Rey nods at Sainovic's grilling monologue - defeated. The JHW champion might be plotting an elaborate revenge for when the tournament is over, but at the moment the two men appear to be bonding. ...despite their best efforts.
A tombstone reads...
HERE LIES VENOM
1978 - 2023
PROUD HUSBAND AND FATHER
DIED AS HE LIVED
EATEN BY DINOSAUR
Next to it, another tombstone...
REST IN PEACE TRACY
1980-2023
DEVOTED WIFE AND MOTHER
YOU DON'T HAVE TO CARRY HIM
WHERE YOU ARE NOW
It is possible that these memorials to the first couple of GUNS were erected by Zoran Sainovic, owing to them not having surnames. The writing is inappropriate enough that the blame could also lie with Rey.
Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia.
Even if the messages leave something to be desired, the stones are impressive, and the placement - a hilltop overlooking the grounds, is quite scenic. It is unclear when El Rey found out his parents were consumed by a dracolich, but he looks visibly shaken next to their graves. The camera keeps a respectful distance from the mourning, with a long shot of the sad scene.
"Freak Popeye cosplay accident. Both parents at ze same time... tragic."
The XHF Devil slithers into the foreground, then turns his back on the camera to watch his ward.
Zoran Sainovic:
Still... sooner or later... we all reach Ze End.
Shaking his head, Sainovic turns back to the camera, ushering it to the edge of the hill to give Rey privacy.
Zoran Sainovic:
Scott. Mehrunes. Not ze first Network stars to tap into Eldritch horror to court ze Hot Topic Lovecraft crowd. How out zere. So creative. But perhaps you bring something new to zat specific quirk zat somehow differentiates you from Tabitha Osborne, Randy Angel, Bones, ze majority of CAR... or ze dozen other Network stars zat share your interest in fish sex, but you never really interact with. Kind of loners, huh, End? For a team, you aren't really team players, are you? No I in NLW. Although I will say, for all ze tentacled imagery, if you're actually looking in ze XHF for an Elder God... you're looking at him. So for your obsessive searching... guess what? You looked into ze void, and zis is ze void winking back, whispering "you have my attention, and I am going to fuck you into oblivion." So congratulations. Your road zrough ze Annihilator might not conclude with ze final victory, or a title shot - but you do get to meet a horror zat your minds cannot begin to comprehend. Every round was a step closer to ze goal... you just didn't realize ze form of ze destroyer. Perhaps you got a little too optimistic on ze date zat your expiry would go down? At least Mehrunes will be happy to realize his dream, even if Scott Fargo abandons Smith again in hopes of becoming more zan ze straight man on your one note End. Still in embracing obliteration, decaying quickly, accepting loss, for a brief moment of entropy you'll be more zan ze poor man's Nihilists. Which incidentally, is how ze Network sees you.
For your MANY shortcomings, I just wanted to zank you for your upcoming sacrifice.
It was important to Rey and myself zat we beat an established tag team to mint our Annihilator triumph. ...and for fans who aren't familiar with NLW, or HKW, you two certainly fit ze respectable bill. Ze casual fan might not realize zat WE beat ze Anointed's A-Team in zis tournament's semi-finals, while you stole ze Hardkore World tag straps off zat group's struggling secondary crew. Or zat your HKW glory was ze curtain jerker for me and Rey just messing around. Likewise, current fans who don't remember ze dark ages of ze NLW, probably won't remember zat federation's incredibly toxic tag scene. Between you, ze Goons, and ze Crinkley Bottoms - it's hard to say whose seething negativity ultimately took Next Level's legs out from under it. .......but given zat one of your team rage quit over ze other member becoming champ, I know where my money is. Zat is not a slight, mind you. ....Ending zat dive is actually why I like you two so much.
But when we look at ze pedigree you brag about... ze highlight becomes clear. Facing Sainovic & Son will be your finest hour... in defeat.
You're welcome.
Approaching steps hang heavy with the weight of serious sorrow. The Final Boss withdraws his fangs, transforming back into a harmless old man, as he offers El Rey a sympathetic look.
Zoran Sainovic:
Ready to head out?
Too depressed to speak, El Rey simply nods.
Zoran Sainovic:
I grabbed us some court side Hawks tickets - feel up to it?
El Rey:
...thanks.
Zoran Sainovic:
We'll get you zrough zis, Rey. ...Zat's what family is for.
With that Sainovic & Son slowly wander out into the graveyard, the somber scene feeling less like an end than...
The Beginning.