Post by wblstudios on May 23, 2006 13:19:50 GMT -5
Hearshot Kid Disaster- Chapter Three
---
The sprawling penthouse at the South Ashford Heights hotel was far more than a tiny teenager would need. But Yoshimitsu Daioh, in his ever growing interest in the distribution of the WCF oversees, wanted his daughter to have only the best. So on that afternoon, looking out at the picture window that overlooked a bustling city punctuated by the WCF Arena in the distance... an arena in need of some repair... Kikyo Daioh shuffled through papers with a pencil in one hand and a box of apple juice in the other.
Sometimes I wonder if maybe I take on too much work, the world’s cutest manager thought to herself. In addition to managing Ellis and nearly putting her on suicide watch, Kikyo still did a little freelance work for Josephine, arranging flights and setting up dates oversees, and was also working on getting the background of the WCF for her father’s distribution company, Daioh Entertainment industries. In doing so, she’d done research on her charge’s opponents for the next week. She couldn’t find very much on Nate Nytro, but honestly didn’t feel all that concerned. Torture was going to be the larger problem. A man with an amazing winning streak and title history, as well as someone that the veterans respected. She felt sorry for Torture, having been through what he’d been through, but forced herself to remember that he’d gotten what he felt was revenge.
Kikyo didn’t have nearly the bleak outlook that Ellis and Josephine had on the match, but always looking at the world through rose colored glasses will do that to someone. All Kikyo saw was an opportunity, win or lose, to pit Ellis alongside an international wrestling legend against two people the ‘suits’ of the WCF would have preferred win the titles, and a chance for Josephine to get revenge with a far more competent partner at her side.
Of course, Ellis and Josephine had been so busy looking at the Tag match and concentrating on trying to eliminate the ‘good old boy’ advantage, as well as interference from any other interested parties, that Kikyo was the only person thinking about the Hardcore match Josephine would be in against a mystery opponent. Kikyo, in all her ability, had actually found out who the WCF had booked for the Hardcore title shot... she pulled out his bio again and looked at it, giving a cute little chuckle. Josephine had nothing to worry about. Her title was safe.
Setting aside the paperwork, Kikyo made her way over to the couch, popping her copy of “Everybody Loves Katamari Damacy” into the complimentary PS2. She still had a couple of hours before she had to be at the Pao-Pao cafe, and was already dressed... a long, shimmering yellow sun dress that made it’s way all the way down to her cute little feet. And besides, as they said, “Rolling is so much fun”. But Kikyo found it more as a relaxation tool. The game was so easy, as well as easy on the eyes, it gave her a chance to relax her mind after what had been three days of straight work. Some kids her age were still going through High School. Kikyo was already a college graduate stuck in the work force.
Sometimes she got a bit depressed that she didn’t have nearly as long a childhood as her friends did, essentially an adult at 16. But that’s the price to pay when you have a gift.
---
The Pao-Pao cafe was about as classy as they came. Marble floors, picture windows overlooking the shimmering evening, chandeliers, classical music. But even in this classy, sophisticated atmosphere, the waiter that showed Kikyo to her seat referred to her as Matchbox Kikyo, the name she used managing Jo Phoenix in Mexico. This really is a wrestling town, she thought.
Kikyo-chan knew she was going to be the first person there, but she was surprised at seeing that Josephine had arrived before Ellis. Clad in a cherry-red business suit that matched her shimmering lipstick, nail polish, round-framed sunglasses, and shoes, Jojo was a vision of cool confidence and sex appeal. But Kikyo frowned slightly seeing what Jojo had tucked under her arm... sheet music. Making her way over to one of the violin players, Jojo handed him the sheet music and more or less demanded he study it before making her way over to the table, sitting across from Kikyo. The tiny prodigy barely had time to open her mouth before Jojo took off her sunglasses and snapped her fingers, demanding a waiter.
“Jojo-chan... I just wanted to apologize again. I really did enjoy managing you before. But Ellis...”
Jojo held up one hand to silence Kikyo before ordering her signature ‘classy’ drink... a crimson rose and a gin and tonic. “Forget about it. It’s all cool. But I’ll be totally honest, I don’t see what you fucking see in this kid.”
“Then why did you agree to come tonight?”
“Free food, free booze, who the fuck am I to turn this shit down. Why’d you invite me?”
“Well, if we’re going to be partners this week, and I like to think I’m both your friends, I thought maybe we could take this chance to get to know each other.”
“Whatever”, Jojo blurted out as she took her drink, tossing the rose to the floor and chugging the gin and tonic. “Where’s our fucking breadsticks? After the workout I had today, I’m fucking starving. Waiter! And get me another crimson rose and a gin and tonic while you‘re at it, asshole!”
Kikyo sighed. Same old Josephine.
---
Ellis forced herself to stuff the urge to cut herself down as she pulled the shimmering black Cruiser into the parking lot, ignoring the valet standing at the entrance. Thanks to the brutal life she’d led, she still had trouble trusting even Kikyo sometimes, so how could she trust a total stranger with her brand-new car?
As Ellis slid her scythe, Jack’s rusted blood cleaned off for the occasion and the blade made as shimmering and sharp as new, out of the cruiser, she took a second to overlook the Pao-Pao Cafe. Living on the streets after the liberation from home after abusive home, she’d seen places like this, elegant high-end places where the elite met to discuss world affairs, politics, life, and possibly even eat something. Now she had the opportunity to step inside one of these places...
Ellis felt about as uncomfortable as she looked. Her dull grey hair hid those tombstone-colored eyes, but her usual street attire had been replaced by a sleeveless black dress, a stark color contrast to the scarred, slashed, horribly pale flesh coming out of it at the arms and neck, the slashed face that told of a lifetime of abuse. The only comfort she felt was from gripping her dearest Second Stage closely to her in the hand not busied by a simple black purse, the scent of death clinging to both her and her blade. If they wouldn’t allow her to bring her ‘date’ into the restaurant, she’d simply leave, she decided as she made her way in. Luckily, one of the waiters, in all his sophistication and elegance, actually recognized Ellis from the WCF, and convinced the Maitre’D to let her to bring the ‘date’ slung over her shoulder in. Besides, he explained as he led her to her table, she couldn’t be any worse than the woman getting drunk on roses.
---
And so the scene was set. Ellis with her dear Ambellina on her right glancing nervously between the two wrestlers, her dearest Second Stage on the left glinting brilliantly in the chandelier's light, and this Prize Fighter Inferno across from her, chowing down on breadsticks and throwing up the middle finger and anybody foolish enough to look over at the motley crew. Kikyo was the first one to speak anything other than a nearly unintelligible “Fuck you”.
“You look nice, Ellis-sama.”, Kikyo commented, deciding to leave the issue of the scythe sitting across from her where it was. “You still have the card my daddy gave us for expenses?”
Ellis, her throat growing more raw by the day, speech getting more painful, simply nodded as she reached into her purse and pulled out the shimmering golden card, handing it back to the tiny prodigy, who proceeded to hold it up in the air for a second.
“Alright, guys. Eat up. It’s all on my daddy!”, she chirped out as a pair of waiters, one to take the order and one to sweep up the roses, emerged. “Hm... I’ll take the vegetable soup!”
“Just a salad.”, Ellis rasped out, barely audible over the sounds of the violin player reading the sheet music and struggling through the opening riffs of “Enter Sandman”.
“Fuck is wrong with you two?”, Josephine shouted out. “Money’s not an issue, fucking go for it! Waiter, give me a big thick fucking steak, rare enough that I can hear that fucker moo when I shove my fork into it. Mashed potatoes, fried okra, all that good shit. And a big ass bowl of miso soup if you got any. Oh, and chocolate cake for all of us...”
Jojo grinned as she chugged down the rest of her drink and tossed the rose at Ellis’ scythe. “Even him. You need to get some meat on your bones, pal. Ellis, what you been feeding this motherfucker?”
“The blood of those who would harm the innocent.”
“... get him a steak too. Just make sure the cow was evil. One of those nasty fucking pirate cows with an eyepatch, you know? One of those cows, they sit on the track, they wait for the fucking train to stop, then his friends jump out from behind the bushes and rob the fucking train.”
Kikyo sighed again. It was going to be a long night, especially if Josephine kept teasing Ellis. She was almost afraid to look at the corpse girl as the waiters disappeared, see her expression, as Josephine rambled on, shitfaced already.
“FUCK YEAH! That was the day. Back in the days of the Wild fucking West, when your country was shooting people left and right. The infamous Cow Gang robbing trains, hiding from the Marshal... getting... I dunno... buttfucked by cattle and branding them for their own... shit? The Cowboys of the Wild Fucking West! Yeah... WAITER! Another crimson gin rose fucking tonic vodka fucking whatever! I‘m proposing a toast to the Cowboys of the Wild Fucking West!”
It’s all going downhill, Kikyo thought nervously. It’s all going straight downhill. Josephine is plastered, and Ellis is... she glanced over at the corpse girl on her other side... laughing? It wasn’t much of a laugh, sounding more like a death rattle, but that grin on her face...
Maybe it’s not gonna be such a bad night after all.
---
The sprawling penthouse at the South Ashford Heights hotel was far more than a tiny teenager would need. But Yoshimitsu Daioh, in his ever growing interest in the distribution of the WCF oversees, wanted his daughter to have only the best. So on that afternoon, looking out at the picture window that overlooked a bustling city punctuated by the WCF Arena in the distance... an arena in need of some repair... Kikyo Daioh shuffled through papers with a pencil in one hand and a box of apple juice in the other.
Sometimes I wonder if maybe I take on too much work, the world’s cutest manager thought to herself. In addition to managing Ellis and nearly putting her on suicide watch, Kikyo still did a little freelance work for Josephine, arranging flights and setting up dates oversees, and was also working on getting the background of the WCF for her father’s distribution company, Daioh Entertainment industries. In doing so, she’d done research on her charge’s opponents for the next week. She couldn’t find very much on Nate Nytro, but honestly didn’t feel all that concerned. Torture was going to be the larger problem. A man with an amazing winning streak and title history, as well as someone that the veterans respected. She felt sorry for Torture, having been through what he’d been through, but forced herself to remember that he’d gotten what he felt was revenge.
Kikyo didn’t have nearly the bleak outlook that Ellis and Josephine had on the match, but always looking at the world through rose colored glasses will do that to someone. All Kikyo saw was an opportunity, win or lose, to pit Ellis alongside an international wrestling legend against two people the ‘suits’ of the WCF would have preferred win the titles, and a chance for Josephine to get revenge with a far more competent partner at her side.
Of course, Ellis and Josephine had been so busy looking at the Tag match and concentrating on trying to eliminate the ‘good old boy’ advantage, as well as interference from any other interested parties, that Kikyo was the only person thinking about the Hardcore match Josephine would be in against a mystery opponent. Kikyo, in all her ability, had actually found out who the WCF had booked for the Hardcore title shot... she pulled out his bio again and looked at it, giving a cute little chuckle. Josephine had nothing to worry about. Her title was safe.
Setting aside the paperwork, Kikyo made her way over to the couch, popping her copy of “Everybody Loves Katamari Damacy” into the complimentary PS2. She still had a couple of hours before she had to be at the Pao-Pao cafe, and was already dressed... a long, shimmering yellow sun dress that made it’s way all the way down to her cute little feet. And besides, as they said, “Rolling is so much fun”. But Kikyo found it more as a relaxation tool. The game was so easy, as well as easy on the eyes, it gave her a chance to relax her mind after what had been three days of straight work. Some kids her age were still going through High School. Kikyo was already a college graduate stuck in the work force.
Sometimes she got a bit depressed that she didn’t have nearly as long a childhood as her friends did, essentially an adult at 16. But that’s the price to pay when you have a gift.
---
The Pao-Pao cafe was about as classy as they came. Marble floors, picture windows overlooking the shimmering evening, chandeliers, classical music. But even in this classy, sophisticated atmosphere, the waiter that showed Kikyo to her seat referred to her as Matchbox Kikyo, the name she used managing Jo Phoenix in Mexico. This really is a wrestling town, she thought.
Kikyo-chan knew she was going to be the first person there, but she was surprised at seeing that Josephine had arrived before Ellis. Clad in a cherry-red business suit that matched her shimmering lipstick, nail polish, round-framed sunglasses, and shoes, Jojo was a vision of cool confidence and sex appeal. But Kikyo frowned slightly seeing what Jojo had tucked under her arm... sheet music. Making her way over to one of the violin players, Jojo handed him the sheet music and more or less demanded he study it before making her way over to the table, sitting across from Kikyo. The tiny prodigy barely had time to open her mouth before Jojo took off her sunglasses and snapped her fingers, demanding a waiter.
“Jojo-chan... I just wanted to apologize again. I really did enjoy managing you before. But Ellis...”
Jojo held up one hand to silence Kikyo before ordering her signature ‘classy’ drink... a crimson rose and a gin and tonic. “Forget about it. It’s all cool. But I’ll be totally honest, I don’t see what you fucking see in this kid.”
“Then why did you agree to come tonight?”
“Free food, free booze, who the fuck am I to turn this shit down. Why’d you invite me?”
“Well, if we’re going to be partners this week, and I like to think I’m both your friends, I thought maybe we could take this chance to get to know each other.”
“Whatever”, Jojo blurted out as she took her drink, tossing the rose to the floor and chugging the gin and tonic. “Where’s our fucking breadsticks? After the workout I had today, I’m fucking starving. Waiter! And get me another crimson rose and a gin and tonic while you‘re at it, asshole!”
Kikyo sighed. Same old Josephine.
---
Ellis forced herself to stuff the urge to cut herself down as she pulled the shimmering black Cruiser into the parking lot, ignoring the valet standing at the entrance. Thanks to the brutal life she’d led, she still had trouble trusting even Kikyo sometimes, so how could she trust a total stranger with her brand-new car?
As Ellis slid her scythe, Jack’s rusted blood cleaned off for the occasion and the blade made as shimmering and sharp as new, out of the cruiser, she took a second to overlook the Pao-Pao Cafe. Living on the streets after the liberation from home after abusive home, she’d seen places like this, elegant high-end places where the elite met to discuss world affairs, politics, life, and possibly even eat something. Now she had the opportunity to step inside one of these places...
Ellis felt about as uncomfortable as she looked. Her dull grey hair hid those tombstone-colored eyes, but her usual street attire had been replaced by a sleeveless black dress, a stark color contrast to the scarred, slashed, horribly pale flesh coming out of it at the arms and neck, the slashed face that told of a lifetime of abuse. The only comfort she felt was from gripping her dearest Second Stage closely to her in the hand not busied by a simple black purse, the scent of death clinging to both her and her blade. If they wouldn’t allow her to bring her ‘date’ into the restaurant, she’d simply leave, she decided as she made her way in. Luckily, one of the waiters, in all his sophistication and elegance, actually recognized Ellis from the WCF, and convinced the Maitre’D to let her to bring the ‘date’ slung over her shoulder in. Besides, he explained as he led her to her table, she couldn’t be any worse than the woman getting drunk on roses.
---
And so the scene was set. Ellis with her dear Ambellina on her right glancing nervously between the two wrestlers, her dearest Second Stage on the left glinting brilliantly in the chandelier's light, and this Prize Fighter Inferno across from her, chowing down on breadsticks and throwing up the middle finger and anybody foolish enough to look over at the motley crew. Kikyo was the first one to speak anything other than a nearly unintelligible “Fuck you”.
“You look nice, Ellis-sama.”, Kikyo commented, deciding to leave the issue of the scythe sitting across from her where it was. “You still have the card my daddy gave us for expenses?”
Ellis, her throat growing more raw by the day, speech getting more painful, simply nodded as she reached into her purse and pulled out the shimmering golden card, handing it back to the tiny prodigy, who proceeded to hold it up in the air for a second.
“Alright, guys. Eat up. It’s all on my daddy!”, she chirped out as a pair of waiters, one to take the order and one to sweep up the roses, emerged. “Hm... I’ll take the vegetable soup!”
“Just a salad.”, Ellis rasped out, barely audible over the sounds of the violin player reading the sheet music and struggling through the opening riffs of “Enter Sandman”.
“Fuck is wrong with you two?”, Josephine shouted out. “Money’s not an issue, fucking go for it! Waiter, give me a big thick fucking steak, rare enough that I can hear that fucker moo when I shove my fork into it. Mashed potatoes, fried okra, all that good shit. And a big ass bowl of miso soup if you got any. Oh, and chocolate cake for all of us...”
Jojo grinned as she chugged down the rest of her drink and tossed the rose at Ellis’ scythe. “Even him. You need to get some meat on your bones, pal. Ellis, what you been feeding this motherfucker?”
“The blood of those who would harm the innocent.”
“... get him a steak too. Just make sure the cow was evil. One of those nasty fucking pirate cows with an eyepatch, you know? One of those cows, they sit on the track, they wait for the fucking train to stop, then his friends jump out from behind the bushes and rob the fucking train.”
Kikyo sighed again. It was going to be a long night, especially if Josephine kept teasing Ellis. She was almost afraid to look at the corpse girl as the waiters disappeared, see her expression, as Josephine rambled on, shitfaced already.
“FUCK YEAH! That was the day. Back in the days of the Wild fucking West, when your country was shooting people left and right. The infamous Cow Gang robbing trains, hiding from the Marshal... getting... I dunno... buttfucked by cattle and branding them for their own... shit? The Cowboys of the Wild Fucking West! Yeah... WAITER! Another crimson gin rose fucking tonic vodka fucking whatever! I‘m proposing a toast to the Cowboys of the Wild Fucking West!”
It’s all going downhill, Kikyo thought nervously. It’s all going straight downhill. Josephine is plastered, and Ellis is... she glanced over at the corpse girl on her other side... laughing? It wasn’t much of a laugh, sounding more like a death rattle, but that grin on her face...
Maybe it’s not gonna be such a bad night after all.
