The Approaching Storm

{Dallas, Texas - Jimmy’s Apartment Complex}

Off-Camera

The last place I wanted to be was in front of this computer monitor, I had called my baby sister to wish her a happy birthday earlier this morning. She said she understood why I couldn’t be there today, even if I did pick up on a slight hint of sadness in her voice. Of course that could've been because of the gift she had no doubt received from Dad this morning. I had been working on something that Dad clued me into on Mitaxia, he had said something about her wasn’t quite right. Having seen it myself, I can tell you, he’s not wrong. Something was definitely amiss with my young friend. So, I’ve been sitting in front of this laptop for the past several hours. Tracking someone’s movements was no mean feat, I can tell you that. Unless that is, you have experience as a skip tracer. I had done a bit of this in my downtime when I was taking some time off from Wrestling. I still had access to a lot of databases that your ordinary citizen didn’t. They weren’t department of justice databases but it was the next best thing, when you were trying to see where someone had been.

I scrolled through the list of signal lights, then something made me stop on a particular one. This was at an intersection not all that far from the Carnage Arena. I didn’t know what I was looking for at first. I saw only the briefest of shadows on the playback. Then something caught my eye, a figure that was dancing? “I only know of one man…”. I rolled the footage back and watched it again. I make note of the timestamp, November 30th, that would make it that night of Carnage eighty three. Then the camera catches an embrace and a kiss. “Interesting, so you had stayed in touch with her you little burlapped devil.”. I paused the film, “Okay, that would be Mia and Ataxia, everything seems normal at this point.” I let the film roll again and they disappeared into the apartment complex. “So, that begs the question of what happened between the end of November and March?”. I shake my head and stand up to work the kinks out. My body still had minor aches and pains from Trent tossing my ass out of the ring during the battle royal.

That of course was not what was bothering me, what was bothering me was the events that lead up to that. I only entered that match because of Mitaxia. She was playing games but the real question was why. Why go to the lengths of wearing my face, latex mask or not, then I look back at the monitor. “Ataxia”, that’s why she’s doing this. “Well, my young friend, what exactly did you do to earn her wrath.” I studied the image on my monitor of the building they had entered, shaking my head, “No Jimmy, we will not be going into the vipers nest, I doubt that there’s anything there to find.”. “It does beg the question, who is it that lives in that complex, what would draw them both there?”. I then pull up the images, “Mia”, “Su”, and “ZQ”, the resemblance. “Balls.”, I say to no one in particular. “Are they related somehow?”, I push the thought away. I mean as far as I know, she has no family outside of the forsaken. I go back to my previous train of thought.

“Well, shit, maybe it’s time to call Ataxia and find out what my favorite crazy man is doing or more importantly what he’s done.”. I pick up the phone and call him. There’s no answer and the inbox for his voicemail is full so I can’t leave him a message. I send him a text instead, “Taxi, what did you do to Mia? I don’t mean this in the most literal sense, nor do I want pictures. This new personae is worse than Loki.”. I set my phone down, scrubbing my face with my hands, I try to allow the training to take over. I try to allow the frustration to leave my body, I focus on my breathing and allow myself to relax. I drop into a cross legged position, and begin focusing on my breathing, finding my center.

Fade

I sit there watching the red flashing light on the camera, it tells me that it’s recording, and I sigh a deep sigh.

“I really should replace that damn thing, hand me down from my father. This is the same camera that he used all those years ago. Funny that I still have it, but on to things that have a bit more relevance than old technology. Everything about my match this week feels old. My tag team partner, my opponents, tag team wrestling. These days most companies use tag team matches as filler for their shows. Sure they have tag team titles, but they don’t give them that hype. Ya know, the hype that the UV title gets for example. That belt is a staple here in Carnage, it has almost the same level of prestige as the world title itself.”

I pause, taking another deep breath.

“This match though, Mike you’re my partner and really an unknown to me. I’ve never heard of you, much like I think you’ve never heard of me. My opponents though, these men I know very well. My dad has been friends with Jeff and Christian for many years. To say that I’m familiar with them would be a gross understatement. We’re talking about two men that I’ve watched countless times on television and have sat across the table from them at dinner. Men that I have nothing but admiration and respect for.”

Lean forward in my chair, the camera auto zooms capturing only my face.

“I’ve watched you on twitter thanking my dad for telling you about Carnage, I’ve watched your matches since I was a child. From a certain perspective, I suppose in your eyes I probably still am. Considering I don’t have the decades of experience under my belt that you gentlemen do. The thing that makes me relevant? The Jimmy Allen brand makes me relevant. While others around here and elsewhere hype the family brand, and use the last name of their famous mother or father. I chose a different route to success. I wrestle here under the Jimmy Allen name because I didn’t want anyone to say that I was just riding the coattails of my father. I’ve wrestled in other places under assumed names for the same reason.”

With the remote, I pan the camera back out and continue.

“I’ve been everything from “The Catalyst '' Jim Simmons over in Boardwalk to Jimmy Allen in CWF to DestinAtion-X in a streaming fed called VCW. That last one has been the most successful of them all. I’m their current reigning and defending world champion. I’ve been a tag team champion in many places and that’s what this match is really about. Jeff and Christian are trying to bring relevance back to the tag team division. I guess Scott and I are the sacrificial lambs in this matchup. Problem is, I’m no lamb gentlemen, you already know me. You know who my father is, and he would tell you that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. He’s not wrong, I’ll not be the sacrificial lamb that they want me to be. I’ll fight with every fucking ounce of everything that I am to make sure we don’t lose this match.”

I lean back in my chair, not allowing my poker face to slide.

“Make no mistake, the team that Scott Shultz and I face this week is a damn good one. Scott and I have never teamed together, while our opposition has done so many times. The one thing that Scott has with me as a partner that gives him the edge is determination, youth and a refusal to fail in his partner. I’ve been here in Carnage for a cup of coffee and have yet to make that trip to the pay window for a winners purse. That in itself is all the motivation I need, that is the thing that drives James Allen Bane. That is all you need to know for this match.”

Using the remote for the camera, I turn I press the off button and stand up. (Unknown to Jimmy, it’s still recording)

I lean down and give the puppy, “Hellion” a playful scratch behind his ears. He was one of the puppies that had been abandoned at the family place in Port Arthur. He was a feisty little guy, no doubt about it. He achieved his name quite honestly, he was a roughhouser to say the least. Those red tips on his ears reminded me of pictures that I had seen depicting demons. So that is how he ended up with this name. There’s a dog park not far away and so, we and I use that term loosely, grab some supplies for the park.

Now with Hellion on a leash and my keys in hand, we head out, I stop only long enough to lock the door.

The camera still rolling from recording Jimmy’s promo catches a flicker, maybe it was a trick of the light. The flicker begins to coalesce into the form of a man. The man’s face cannot be seen, all dressed in black with a hood hiding his face. He appears to be studying something and he picks up a forgotten business card. The same card that Jimmy had picked up from the parking lot only days earlier. He utters a single word, barely audible,”No.”, is all he says before the form is gone. Just a shadow remains….

Fin