MD86: Steven Holmes vs. Celeste Crimson

[Viola Moonlight]

The main event of Aftershock Insanity left a lot of people wondering - what happened to Celeste Crimson during the ambush orchestrated by Steven Holmes? No-one will really know for sure except for Celeste but this week on Meltdown, she will have the chance to confront Steven toe-to-toe as they are slated to compete in singles competition. Will Crimson use this opportunity to avenge Showtime after much hesitation or does Celeste see this as just another match? On the flip side of the coin, Holmes will surely look to make Showtime's life a misery leading up to the Lottery and possibly use Celeste as bait. We won't know for certain until Meltdown.

Deadline is Tuesday March 26, 2013 at 11:59 PM (Central). Extensions as per request thread.​

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

A bright shining light welcomes us. It is blinding in its brilliance and those who look upon it for more than a mere second will succumb to a loss of vision. Then, a voice resonates for all to hear:

The light bathes me in glory. Its majesty oh so overpowering.

The sound of the voice seems to begin a process of clarity. The light’s power begins to die down and once again we can gaze upon what lays before us; a stone staircase. Its presence appears familiar, but only when we look to its side do we notice that we are amongst the Gods, high in the clouds. This is a staircase of a man’s dream and one man in particular:

I ascend once more. The dizzying heights I face new to even I. This is not a challenge though for I am the chosen one. I am the man who shall sit above even the heavens.

We see the bare foot of the man. Then his other foot, it too is bare. Pulling away we see his starkly naked body, climbing ever higher up the staircase. His hair is long, a beard adorns his face. It is all highly biblical:

Chosen for my power, my wealth in life and my encompassing grandeur. I soon shall be the omnipotent overlord of this and all realms. Every kingdom shall kneel before their champion.

Soon the staircase is at an end. The man pauses and turns, glancing back at the seemingly infinite staircase below. Knowing he has just achieved his goal he snickers and smiles. It is only now that we identify that the man is the #1 contender for the World’s Heavyweight Championship and WZCW’s “Elite”; Steven Holmes:

I survey my victory and sneer at those in defeat. I call out my name to overwhelm my remaining foes and the quiver with fear, knowing what I have left them sand knowing what my return shall bring. But for now, I must enter the deep.

Holmes turns to face the uncertainty of what lies beyond the final step. From his point of view it is another cloud to climb into and could even lead to more stairs, but in his very being he can feel the end is hear and that the long, arduous road is at an end, the summit is soon to be reached. He closes his eyes and takes that fateful step:

All my senses are ignited in one glorious fusion of pain and pleasure. My body is both on fire and submerged in ice. I am at one with the world as it feel all these emotions. This is truly the omnipotence I have sought and it is truly as grand as I imagined. But then...it ends.

Holmes steps forward, almost collapsing. Suddenly he is dressed in the finest suit and groomed to match. No beard, his hair trimmed to perfection. He looks himself over with confusion. He pads himself to see if this is reality or but a dream. He looks left and right but sees nothing. No throne, no stairs and not anything of any description. It is just a final stone platform for Holmes to stand on. He looks left and right, more frantic. Suddenly a chill runs down his spine. The heavens grow dark, their brilliant glow dimmed. Then an almighty crack. Holmes looks straight to his floor:

Fear, my greatest ally, has come back to haunt me. It feels left out as I trade it for the omnipotence I had wished to gain. The end is hear and I am alone and afraid. How very pathetic that this of all things spells the end for Steven Holmes; The Elite.

The cracks in the floor glow larger, the stone growing weaker. Then Holmes looks at the floor and sees something he dare not believe; a face:

She returns!

The woman’s face looks at Holmes with emotionless features. Then as the cracks grow larger, the face falls into a state of fury as if it were screaming, and naturally as the mouth opens, Holmes falls through it. He tries to break his fall and grab onto the edges of the hole, but they crumble and Holmes falls even further with the rest of the platform following:

My future, falling into the abyss. She follows with me and I see them all; the women of my life.

As Holmes falls through the clouds, various women’s faces are seen in the clouds. There are a mosaic of his life, both his friends and his enemies. From the proud women of WZCW to those who litter his personal life to the one who gobbled him up, bones and all. His fall and descent are endless and he closes his eyes. Then he awakes. In a cold sweat, Holmes sits upright. He is in his nightwear, not a suit.

He looks around his room, frantic, concerned. He sees no clouds, not stairs and no women. Instead he sits in his rather small bedroom. Compared to other rooms in the Holmes establishment this is tiny, cosy almost. This doesn’t appear to be Steven Holmes’ natural abode. He is distinctly alone in his massive bed, taking up one side with the other vacant. He glances at it, patting where she used to lie beside him. Looking toward the opposite wall there is a portrait of a happy couple. One half of it is Holmes, the other, is torn from the frame. Holmes looks quizzically at it. He does not recall this act of violence.

Holmes now turns his attention elsewhere, the sound of rain pattering off the window. He looks out to see a bird, a raven, sat on his window ledge. It stares at Holmes and Holmes stares back. He sneers as only he can and makes an animalistic sound that would frighten most creatures in both an audio and visual sense. But the raven merely sits and stares. Holmes chuckles lightly before looking downwards. We fade out.

________________________________________​

Fade back in and we are now in a much larger, much vaster room. It is the kitchen of the Holmes compound. The work stations are numerous in number and large in size. It is here where Holmes employs a number of staff to feed himself and his significant other. For a long time that person was a woman, now it is merely his recently returned brother Erik. That same brother has turned the lights on in the kitchen in the quest for a midnight snack, something to satisfy his appetite which has flared up during the rain drenched night.

Foraging around in the behemoth of a fridge, the rather large Erik manages to acquire a jar of something. He turns it around to see the label and now we can see it quite clearly; herring. Erik chuckles, delighted with his find. He turns and seeks to twist the jar open in one swift motion, but is confronted by the sight of his pyjama wearing brother. Steven is stood, a grim expression etched into his face.

Erik: Brother, you startled me.

No answer, it is the reversal of the last time we saw the two men alone together. Erik waits for that answer, but again it does not come. He lightly laughs and holds the jar of herring out towards Steven.

Erik: Herring?

Steven looks at the jar and again sneers, disgusted by the notion. He turns around. Erik’s light chuckle erupts into a belly laugh.

Erik: Ah yes, you often noted your distaste for the, what was it you called it?

Steven: Poseidon's devil spawn.

Erik: ‘Poseidon's devil spawn’, that’s right.

As Erik continues to laugh at the past, he begins to note Holmes rather solemn appearance, particularly at this hour and then he asks a question which has only just occurred to him:

Erik: If you hate herring so much, then why does it sit in your fridge?

Steven’s answer is swift and fits the tone of his appearance.

Steven: It belonged to her.

Erik nods, understanding where his brother’s pain lies. He glances at his treat once more before sighing and placing it back in the fridge where he found it. He shuts the door on his potential snack. Erik turns to his brother again and makes strides towards him. He puts his hand on Steven’s shoulder and looks into his brothers eyes.

Erik: You seem off this evening brother, what troubles you?

Steven: A personal and professional issue. A mesh of the two that seems to have brought with it a crossroads that I cannot pass.

There is a pause. Erik does not understand but Steven does not go on, thus he must prompt his brother.

Erik: And what is this crossroads of yours?

Holmes: Women.

Taking in air to laugh and a step back to make room for his chuckling figure, Erik moves away from his brother.

Erik: Did father not have that chat with you.

Steven: Of course you buffoon. I am fully aware of what a woman is and indeed what they bring with them. I bring them up because this past two weeks has shown that women are bizarre creatures. Take for example Celeste Crimson. She should have valiantly ridden in to save her champion from destruction at your hands and yet she abandoned him. Now this week she is my adversary. Will she lie down and take the fall or will she fight me like the last time, with all the vim and vigour of a true warrior? Confusing is it not?

Erik: I suppose she has her own reasons. Perhaps she sees Cougar as an enemy. She could very well be looking out for her best interests.

Steven: No, that’s too simple for a woman. Why would she do that unless there was a more complicated motive. There’s something afoot here Erik. What has David Cougar done in his past to upset Celeste Crimson? Perhaps there is something in their past that we need to investigate.

Erik: Playing Sherlock again, eh Steven?

Steven looks at his brother with scorn. Then, his expression sharply changes. An idea has formulated in his mind.

Steven: I need not play detective this time around Erik that is your job. No, instead I am going to be the judge, the jury and the executioner. Whatever information you find concerning Celeste Crimson and David Cougar’s relationship, I will use to hang David Cougar and perhaps Celeste Crimson too. She may prove to be a double edged sword and in this case, I’m going to dull her blade. She will fall at my feet inside the ring and beg for mercy before learning that Aristocracy Reigns.

As for David Cougar, he will feel my vengeance and my anger and my frustration. She has left as a result of my obsession with him and his prize and what goes along with it and so he will fall. Cougar will learn what true personal misery and pain is. He will be broken and destroyed. He will come so close to victory that when the jaws of defeat crush him and cause him to bleed and break that he will beg for forgiveness. This is no longer a matter of my omnipotence and it is no longer a matter of business sense. This is a matter of the most personal.

Then he remembers. Holmes recalls a similar tirade, but when he was on his own, in his relatviley small bedroom. He remembers how he took medication to see him off to sleep on this night and how he ranted and raved at his wife and how he wished to destroy her very being because she had left him. He remembers threatening the portrait of them as a happy couple. He remembers it all. And he remembers tearing it apart, signalling the end and the beginning all in one fell swoop. And he remembers the sleep that came afterward. He utters his thought verbally by mistake.

Steven: It was me...

Erik: What was you?

Steven pauses before dismissing the point.

Steven: Never mind. Come Erik, there is work to be done.

His spirits raised and his mind riding high, Holmes turns in the most dramatic of ways before exiting the kitchen. Erik grins and begins to follow as we finish for now.

 

[Bernkastel]

It was despicable; horrible. Words couldn’t describe the types of emotions she was beginning to feel. What was supposed to have been a simple transaction had lead to a misunderstanding, which in turn had lead to a nightmare. Stopped at a traffic light on a busy Friday afternoon; the blond was seething with malcontent – the cogs in her mind spinning, forcing her paranoia into a downward spiral, revving the engine to her rental car as she sped off to her next destination. She couldn’t think straight, she had to know… what was going on with Laxus?

It all started two days ago; Celeste Crimson had gone to the bank to make a deposit; the check that she had received for All or Nothing had done little to sooth her disappointment at what was now her career. She handed the deposit slip to the teller who punched in her account information – but soon she encountered an error…

“Which account would you like to transfer this money into Mrs. Vermillion?”

“My personal account would be fine.”

Baring the transaction, the teller handed her a receipt and as Celeste was looking over it, she noticed that the balance looked off – way off.

“Excuse me,” she said pointing at the paper. “There’s something wrong with my balance.”

The teller took the paper and brought up her account history; there was a transaction a few days prior where her husband had taken three hundred dollars out of her account.

‘What the hell?’ Celeste thought and asked the teller for an explanation.

The teller brought up her families records and crossed checked them. As it turned out the money was transferred into a business account that she didn’t recognize. On top of that there were plenty of random expenses on her family’s account that seemed really odd. A new suit, new outfits, trips to fancy restaurants, expensive jewelry!? What the fuck?

Celeste suddenly got a twisted feeling in her stomach. She requested a complete history of her families account, and as her eyes scanned the transactions, all the color began to drain from her face. Soon she began to get redder and redder; her face looking identical to a tomato. Expense after expense… if she didn’t know better it was as if her husband was… no! He couldn’t be! Their bond was absolute – wasn’t it?

“Thank you,” she replied as she abruptly left the bank.

She sat behind the wheel of her rental car contemplating what to do next. Her hands shook with a combination of fear and rage. All signs pointed to the obvious…. New clothes, women’s clothes, expensive dinners, little gifts here and there… and none appropriate for a five year old little boy. And these transactions went on and on for weeks. Her eyes shot up! She was always one to be paranoid, especially when it came to her family. But it wasn’t like she smothered Laxus constantly; hell, she was rarely around… rarely around…

“It couldn’t be!”

Her eyes shot up as she came to the sickening realization. She turned the ignition, revved the engine, and drove down the street. Her pulse was pounding and she was beginning to sweat. It was all a misunderstanding; it had to be! She was supposed give an interview today; she and Sandy had a falling out a couple of days before. A drunken night gone wrong…

"I don't want your pity." Celeste stormed out of the bathroom and back into the main room with Sandy following.

"Then what do you want from me? I don't understand." Celeste turned around and got into Sandy's face.

"I want you to be my tag team partner and not some ****e who jiggles her product around to get what she wants." She could see that Sandy was a bit angry, straightening herself up as Celeste looked down on her, giving herself some breathing room.

"Whoa, whoa Celeste... I have absolutely no idea where this has come from and I can understand that you are frustrated with losing all the time..." Celeste twitched her neck.

"... but if you haven't noticed, I'm in the same boat as you as I haven’t had many wins since returning. I even lost to you when it came down to finding out who would be the next Elite X contender was and we had no quarrels then... and just like your World championship shot, my Mayhem contenders match got randomly drawn and we had no control over these things yet you are the one who tells me off about competing for a singles championship when we are supposed to be a team? How dare you suggest that I’ve flaunted and paraded myself around to get this title opportunity? If anything, I should be the one calling you the ****e!"

And just like that she had snapped, “Get out!” she screamed.

With a banshee like bellow she grabbed the television and sent it flying, flipped the mattresses, and tossed the bed frames. She could hear Sandy sobbing from outside but in that moment she no longer cared. It wasn’t fair. She had spent her entire career trying to make something of herself and she had nothing to show for it. She heard the doorknob turn as Sandy slowly walked back in, her mouth slightly agape as she surveyed the destruction.

“Just like I supported you when you went after the Elite X & World titles, I only ask for you to support me in going for the Mayhem title... a championship whose rules got me famous for being who I am as a wrestler. It holds a special place in my life and the significance of the Mayhem title to me is unparalleled, something I don't think you fully understand,” she said.

“So whether you like it or not, I'm going out there when it comes time to face Vega for that prize he carries around his shoulder and I’m going to do my very best to take that title away from him. You'll still be my friend in my eyes regardless whether I walk out with the title or not and I’d still like to continue being a tag team but if my shot at the Mayhem title is going to end our friendship, then so be it...”

Celeste slowly turned to look at the woman she long considered her best friend in the business, “I’ve spent years trying to make it in this company trying to make something of myself, and last year I spent months riding Steven’s coattails. But I will be god damned if I have to ride yours too!”

Sandy clenched her fists and grit her teeth, "I’ve said my piece - I’m leaving this decision concerning our friendship is up to you - I hope you make the right decision, Celeste. I'll see you at Ascension."

And just like that she was gone – and if that weren’t enough, now she had this crap with Laxus of all people to deal with. As she drove down the interstate she came to a fork, the left side would take her back towards the airena, but the right side would take her to the airport. With tears in her eyes, she revved the engine and took the right fork

--------------------------------------------------------------------​

It wasn’t easy trying to get a ticket at the last moment, but she managed to get a last minute flight to Sacramento for later that evening. As she was sitting in the terminal, her phone began ringing off the hook. She flipped it open and answered it.

“Hello…”

“Celeste? This is Stacy Madison; where are you? We were supposed to do an interview.”

“Sorry,” she replied. “I’m at the airport. I’ve had a family emergency come up.”

“Wha- but that’s… fine!” she replied in a huff.

“At least tell me what’s going on? Last week on Aftershock you sat there and watched as the world champion Showtime got ambushed by Steven Holmes! Why didn’t you do anything?”

“Huh? I didn’t realize it was my job to interfere. Showtime’s a big boy he can take care of himself.”

“Well you’ve got Steven Holmes to deal with this week! He’s beaten you before…”

Celeste’s suddenly saw red. “… so how are you going to deal with him this time?”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do this week!” she exploded.

Sandy and I are likely through and now I’ve got bigger problems. If Holmes wants to mess with me then I’ll end his career! How’s that for an explanation you parasitic, sorry excuse for a reporter?”

With a growl Celeste terminated the call and buried her face in her hands; catching wayward glances from other pedestrians. She grabbed her bag and moved to a more private area until her flight was called. The flight took two hours, and her mind was racing so badly that she had to drink to keep her nerves under control. By the time the plane landed in Sacramento, she was buzzed, and had to call a taxi. There was no way she could have made it to her house without getting a DUI. She paid the fare up front as the cab took her to her house. A few months ago a fire and destroyed the roof of the house, and had traumatized her because she didn’t want her baby going through the same ordeal that she had to as a child. She rested her head against the window as she pulled her legs up against her body.

‘When did we grow apart Laxus? Was I that bad of a wife? I did everything I could to make you happy after you took me back… so why… please don’t abandon me too.’

It was a little after 11:30 when the cab pulled up against her driveway, gingerly she stepped out of the cab and grabbed her bag; the cabbie left her standing in front of the mailbox. She looked up and that the lights on the top floor were still on. It was odd since his studio was on the bottom floor, and he almost never spent time in the bedroom by himself. She walked up to the door and turned the knob… it was open!?

Gingerly she turned the knob, opened the door, and stepped inside. She turned on the kitchen light and turned towards the stairs leading to the second level. And then she heard it – a voice!

“Laxus? Honey is that you? I came home early.”

She began to climb the stairs leading to the second level and stopped at the top. Her son’s room was down the hall, but the master bedroom was straight ahead. It was closed but she could see the light seeping in underneath. She tried the handle – it was locked.

“Laxus?”

Then she heard it. Muffled voices; a man swearing, some shuffling, and a woman’s voice… wait a woman’s voice? A woman’s voice! With a yell Celeste kicked down the dorr and barged inside.

“Lax..us?”

Her husband was under the covers with a younger brunette by his side. Both of them looked horrified, like deer caught in the headlights of a speeding truck. Celeste was so shocked that she couldn’t process what she was seeing. It felt like a bad dream. She stood there, her mouth agape, trying to process the scene in front of her. Her husband was lying underneath the covers, while the girl had wrapped herself with the comforter to keep herself decent. Stealing a quick glance at her, she was easily fifteen years her junior!

Slowly her mind came back to reality as her expression went from shock, to anger, then to rage. She dropped her bag on the floor as expression turned to one of absolute fury!

“What is this!? What the fuck is this!” she screamed. “You’re cheating on me!?”

Laxus threw himself against the head board and threw up his hands in exasperation.

“Wait, Celeste I can explain…”

“Explain nothing asshole!” she said as she took a step forward.

She saw him reach for something beside the bedside table as her martial arts instincts took over and she lunged for him. The girl beside him let out a blood chilling scream. Celeste was fast, but Laxus was a little bit faster quickly reaching for a canister of pepper spray and nailing her in the face and mouth. She fell against the bedside table as Laxus shouted at the girl to make a break for it. The brunette stood and used one of the throw pillows to cover her chest as she made a mad dash for the door. In a burst of speed Laxus stood and raced out the door in nothing but his underwear. Cursing up a storm Celeste followed and managed to pin her husband up against the wall before he could make it to the stairs. She threw a punch at him, but he ducked, as her fist went through the wall. He threw her off him, and in her delirium, she fell sideways and rolled straight down the stairs.

The younger girl was scared out of her mind and was now cowering in the hallway outside the kitchen. Laxus stood at the top of the stairs as Celeste righted herself. She glared up at her husband with tears in her eyes.

“Why? Tell me why?”

Laxus held the canister of pepper spray at the ready, “It’s because you weren’t here for me; you’re on the road all the time.” He said darkly.

Celeste clenched her fist. “All the time we spent together whenever I was here meant nothing to you? I gave you everything Laxus! I even gave you a son!”

He shook his head, “It’s not enough! Do you know how lonely I was without you? How many nights I spent wishing I could of held you in my arms? How many years have you spent chasing a dream that hasn’t even come true yet?”

Celeste began to cry as she took a step forward, “I loved you Laxus; how could you do this to me?”

“No Celeste,” he said. “You abandoned me a long time ago. I took you back hoping things would be different but they’re not. You aren’t even around enough to know your own son!”

“Don’t you dare mention him to me, you bastard!” she exploded as she lunged up the steps, only to receive another shot of pepper spray. Celeste let out a cry and planted her fist through the wall beside her. When she pulled her fist back it was clear that she had broken her hand, as the middle knuckle was now hanging off to the side.

“You were right Laxus!” cried the girl. “She is some kind of monster!”

Celeste stood in the doorway not saying a word. She turned towards the girl in her kitchen and looked her up and down. She heard the door upstairs open as her son ran down the hallway. The little boy stood by his father as his eyes lit up.

“Mama! You’re finally home!”

It was too much for her to bear at that point. Celeste broke down into tears, threw open the front door and ran straight to the garage. The door was locked, but she punched the glass with her broken hand and opened it. She couldn’t face her son; not like that. It shattered her heart to know that Laxus had abandoned her, but she couldn’t pour her grief onto Nero.

She pulled back the cover on her bike, grabbed her keys from the wall, and opened the garage door. She grabbed her helmet and started the bike right as Laxus opened the garage door from the basement. He didn’t say a word as she raced away into the night, as heavy sobs racked her body. The streets were a blur, and the world was spinning. The alcohol that she had consumed earlier didn’t help her perception. She didn’t even get two miles from the house when she suddenly lost control of the bike and went down with it. Her body skidded along the asphalt as her body and bike came to rest inside of a ditch.

She couldn’t do anything but lay there and continue to sob; she vaguely heard the passing motorists as one man came to check on her. Another dialed the paramedics, as Celeste slowly got to her feet. The man approached her to see how she was, but backed away as she took her helmet off, threw it to the ground, and began to kick her bike over and over.

“This isn’t fair! Screw you Sandy! Screw you Laxus!”

She grabbed a tree limb from the side of the road and began to bash her bike over and over again. “Everyone’s abandoned me! There’s no justice in this world! I can’t rely only on myself; I can’t live only for myself!”

She tossed the limb aside and broke down in tears on the side of the road, as the sounds of the ambulance drew closer and closer. Through sobs she could only muster the will to say…

“Someone please help me!”