Time: One day later
Setting: Gym
The sun rose high amongst the blue sky over the local gymnasium that War Zone was somehow still allowed to be in, today was supposed to be the day ‘General’ Troy had given him all the details on The Great Milenko. So far though, there had been nothing. But it was not like War Zone really cared or anything. War Zone had been through a long miserable night of drinking at Chappy’s and he was not in the mood for being messed with.
But unfortunately for him, he was. And he was not enjoying it.
Guy 1:
Hey soldier, heard about your new girl; never thought you were so sentimental.
War Zone grumbles at him as he puts his bag on the bench, he goes up to the weightlifting where two other guys are snickering at him. He hears their giggles and glares.
War Zone:
What is it that is so funny.
Guy 2:
Us? Oh nothing. Hey, congratulations on the girlfriend! It must’ve been hard warming your cyborg like heart to her, but you did it!
Guy 3:
Yeah, and no easy catch either! That Kimberly girl’s got quite the assets. And I should know, I’ve been following her career since she was around 16; that girl always had a body us men would kill for.
Some of the other guys agree quietly, others just nod their heads.
War Zone:
I appreciate your supportive viewpoint, but I can confirm that me and her do not and are not seeing relations with the other. The connection we have is simply business oriented.
Guy 2:
Heh, says the guy who said he was gonna beat everyone when he got to WZCW. How’s that working out for ya?
War Zone:
(Patience running low)
It is going better now that I have a leader that is always with me.
Guy 1:
You mean Troy? Sheesh, what a jackoff. He wants you one moment, but once you falter, he dumps your ass and calls you deadweight. There’s a reason why Sam Spades is only working those lame indy shows with only 20 or so people watching, 12 of which are old and drunk as it is.
Guy 3:
(Lamentful)
Yeah, poor kid. Was such a talented guy as well. Then he had to go and screw it all up by wasting all of his money gambling it on coke, steroids and two baseball cards.
War Zone:
Well maybe Sam did not have the heart nor the passion to survive the battleground.
Guy 2:
(changing the topic, apparently it is too personal for them)
Ace Stevens does though, he survived a North Korean prison, fled and actually lived to tell the tale. What kind of person does that?
Guy 1:
I’m more surprised as to why they haven’t been nuked to oblivion yet, I mean-
Guy 3:
(Playfully threatening)
Boy sit your ass down, you don’t know jacks--t about foreign policy!
Guys 2 and 3 laugh at Guy 1 as War Zone shakes his head in disapproval of their behavior. Serious times called for serious measures, and why did they even change the conversation? Once a game of teasing the big man for his ‘relationship’ with Kimberly, it had devolved into a political game of which wrestler could win, with undertones of foreign policy.
Guy 1:
Didn’t stop Trump from winning now did it?
Guys 2 and 3 groan, they know what’s coming next.
Guy 2:
Don’t even get us started with that Sam! It this kind of s--t right there that proves why you didn’t get a contract with WZCW!
Guy 3:
Next thing you’ll say is that Barrett Stratton did nothing wrong.
Sam:
But he didn’t!
War Zone sighed, frustrated as he listened to three grown men argue about politics and wrestlers and whether War Zone was going to become a man-****e or something like that. He walked away from the conversation, feeling that it was the best thing to do; finally, after being away from all the noise and the heckling, he sat down on the bench and ran down last night’s procedures.
He remembered some of it all so well, some of the boys at Chappy’s had noticed Kimberly was there and had gotten a little more than excited to see her. She didn’t seem to mind it. Apparently these were members of her fan club or something. They talked for a little while, or rather; those two men ******ed over how awesome she was while she basked into it. Egotistical twat.
Then the conversation would get weird, one of the boys pointed to a strip pole that Chappy’s had. War Zone had never noticed it before hand, but on occasion there would be a dancer that would come up there and perform; maybe strip off their clothes and their dignity with it, but he had good reason. They usually wound up being...well, less than subpar to say the least. The two dared her to get on up there and show them how it’s done, she took on that dare and just like that; War Zone was treated to a last moment show.
It was perhaps the weirdest thing War Zone had ever seen. He knew what poles were and he knew what women were. But never until today had he seen the two mix, at least; not in this fashion. This one...actually captivated him.
Once she called on the D.J to ‘drop a beat’, she went all out and never went any less. As Ke$ha’s Tik Tok blared out for all of Chappy’s to hear, she swung her hips to the beat and moved around in perhaps the most fluid fashion he had ever seen. Not even a war plane could move the way she did, she spun and danced for all those men, infused with alcohol and testosterone. It was as if she had had a war with the pole and she beat it in a curbstomp battle. Nothing could stop her.
The weirdest thing about the whole charade was that longer it went, the more people grew interested. And they too knew who she was, with curiosity they all wondered why she was here and they watched as she showed them what she was made of.
And when it was over, the crowd that grew from two to many just shook with appreciation. They had loved it. Her raw sex appeal, her charisma, her movements, it was everything they loved about a Playboy model come to life. It was the most raw, unusual thing War Zone had ever seen. The very thought of the events that occurred that fateful yesterday made him sweat.
War Zone:
No...no. That is not on the agenda today.
War Zone had to block out the memories for now, this was not something he wanted in his mind when the biggest opportunity he ever had was knocking on his door. And he was teaming up with the male equivalent of the Great and Powerful Trixie...except, he wasn’t a unicorn. And he was actually powerful...and he was probably insane as well. Nonetheless, unless plans had somehow changed; The Great Milenko was to be his partner for the tag match. And there was nothing he could do about it but accept it and respect him as a fellow soldier in the fight for the badge.
He then thought about Ace Stevens once more, and thought about how hard it must have been to rot inside a prison where hard labor was the law and death by hanging, assassination, suicide or even by cannibalism were on the menu. The tenacity and resilience of that man to have survived this long inside what he knew was the palace of Satan himself was admirable, and the fact that he miraculously escaped without even a hint of being brainwashed by the glowing propaganda spat out by so-called ‘news reporters’ and flourishing ballads about how great their leader is every single day made him almost respect the man. Almost.
But even so, he was a threat. A threat to WZCW, a threat to his country and a threat in his quest for his badge. And like all threats, he had to be taken out.
And then there was Yemrez Reqonic, the girl who fought for the honor of the USSR itself. You see, having been built from the 50s and being frozen away until recently; War Zone was never able to see what had happened to Estonia or the USSR. He never learned about the demise of the Soviet Union or the many crises that occurred during it’s reign of terror amongst the East; such as the Cuban Missile Crisis or Able Archer 83. And most importantly, he never got to see what became of Estonia. As Russia continued in it’s path of authoritarianism, rebuilding its army and continuing some of the traditions the Soviet Union had left behind, Estonia blossomed into a strong and noble democracy; priding itself on prosperity and diplomacy.
But War Zone only knew Estonia for what it was back then. A puppet state being run by the cruel communist rulers of Russia and their wicked allies. The thought of having to face Yemrez only made his bad mood even worse. And yet somehow, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. Such a promising young girl she was, a former power lifter even. But her oppressive government was holding her back from the things she could do, she was probably restricted on what to wear and what she could say, she might have also been famished. In a communist state, everything belonged to the state. Even the food she should be eating belonged to them, poor Yemrez; all those cold nights wondering to herself if and when she will ever have a loaf of bread again.
And lord help her if she had lost any Olympic challenge; even if it had been a silver medal. She would have been exiled by all the other girls like her, she would be ostracized by the public, maybe even executed for her failures. The very thought of such a prospect going to waste because of her miserable excuse of a government made his blood boil; and forced him to make an important decision.
War Zone:
(quietly)
If I am to beat her, it will be to liberate her from the communist region of Estonia and all of the USSR; heed my word, so help me McCarthy.
War Zone sat silently to himself as the visions of his three opponents danced in his head. For the first time since arriving in WZCW, War Zone was at peace with himself.
And then, he heard a knock...and then another knock. And from the very moment he shuffled his head to the window, he knew he had arrived with the details. Yes, Troy Excellence had a big smile on his face; which seemed to indicate that the meeting with Milenko had gone down well. Troy motioned for the big guy to head on out the gym, he acquiesced as he silently walked away from whence he once sat and away from the three heckling gym rats who at this point had gone into a lengthy discussion on snakes, pencil sharpeners and why glow in the dark underwear is a bad idea.
Once he was outside, he met up with the proud manager and was prepared to hear the good word.
War Zone:
General Excellence. I have been expecting you. What is the word on The Great Milenko?
Troy Excellence:
He took up the offer, once we take down Estonia and Brooklyn, he’ll have Ace all to himself. And as for us, it puts the empire of war once step closer to ensuring total destruction.
War Zone:
Excellent. The news I have wanted to hear. A masterful job indeed.
Troy Excellence:
A pleasure it is to serve! (Beat) So, on a more personal note...how was your night with Kimberly?
War Zone looked at the curious manager/general with sheer disinterest. Here he thought that he was finally getting away from the chit-chat of last night and moving onto something he was more equipped to know. But no, he was back into that awkward feeling he never once felt. After spending some few seconds trying to figure out just how to put it in a way so Troy would feel no concern or worry, he decided to take the most responsible route he possibly could.
War Zone:
I’d rather not say.
And he walked away, not wanting to escalate the situation further. As Troy watched War Zone disappear into the sunlight, he sighed to himself and shook his head in a doubting manner. For the first time in a long while, there was no confident swagger or smirk on his face: There was an actual hinge of hesitation.
Troy Excellence:
(quietly to himself)
I knew she was trouble. Always was.
Troy kept thinking about Kimberly and wondering about what possible snafu she could have possibly gotten herself and War Zone in.
Troy Excellence:
I know she means well...but when she does things like this, it makes you wonder how she got popular in the first place. (sigh) I just hope that hiring her to be his second in command was the right decision. I don’t want to end up having yet another failure on my record…
Troy looked at his watch and sighed again. And after showing his smarts, his majesty, his...well, excellence on just about any front; for the first time since taking up the position of War Zone’s general…
He was worried.
