Post by Swindle Shelldrake on Feb 2, 2022 17:50:57 GMT -5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---| Proving Ground XXX |---
---| T h e P a t h o f T y r a n t s |---
∞
T h e K r a k e n
S w i n d l e S h e l l d r a k e
F a l l e n E m p i r e s
She came in stills
Deadly and quiet
Where no one knows you
Two headed hydra
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---| SWINDLE |---
---| F o x I n T h e H e n h o u s e |---
Undisclosed Location
January 31st, 2022
The light click and ripple of a zippo lighter simmers it's way into existence as the lone dancing flame singes the end of a cigarette, the Kraken taking an inhale he's taken a thousand times before, followed by the wisps of greyish-white smoke and a puff projecting them out into the room. Trails of the smoke are pushed out of his nose with a silent breath.
He hands the lighter over into a more delicate hand, with black-painted nails, the rest of them kept hidden in the dark, moody room. The flicker of light shows a glimpse of their face, and sharp, dark blue eyes framed in dark eyeshadow, and pitch-black hair blending with the voided space before they once again disappear from view. She too puffs smoke into the room, before their neutral-sounding voice speaks.
?: "Why did you join Big Drip, Swindle?"
SWINDLE: "I didn't"
?: "Care to elaborate?"
SWINDLE: "Because the alternative was a different kind of terrible? But, I'd start splitting hairs if I tried to really boil down the choice. The road would lead to the same place anyway. A few months ago, and especially now, tell me that True Society wouldn't become a lethargic, crawling mess that would have no choice but to consume itself. Wouldn't do much good to be caught in that crossfire when the bullets start flying, no matter who you are".
"But then you have the other side...."
?: "You never took me for someone who would gel with people like Petey, I wasn't the only one surprised to see you teaming with his ilk".
SWINDLE: "A war was brewing then, and I saw an opportunity. Join the collapsing star or the dancing jokes, to partake or otherwise. I was still hot about Fallout's....liberal stretch of power into my affairs. I suppose that the answer you're looking for. Big Drip got me because of what they weren't, rather than what they were".
?: "Were? Heheh, you're already speaking like they're gone. Not very classy of you when this match is supposed to be a celebration".
SWINDLE: "Hmm, celebration of stupidity more like it..."
?: "Whatever happened to the pragmatic side? Hahaha! Hmmm, on that we do agree".
"I'd like to ask you a simple question. Don't worry, this is strictly off the books. Raith won't know of anything in this conversation".
SWINDLE: "Why are you keeping this from him? You've got the chance to hear more than I'll ever let him in on. What's with the cagey attitude?"
?: "Indulge me, Swindle".
SWINDLE: "....fine. Ask".
?: "Purely for some wild speculation, where do you think your career would be if you did join the True Society?"
The pause in the room is palpable, even Swindle being taken aback with the processing of what was asked of him. Whether that be because he hadn't thought of the scenario, or that he didn't want to think of it, still up for debate. But it was far from his conversation partner to overlook his analytical nature. A quiet snort flew out of his nose before taking another inhale from his cigarette, the ash crackling with little orange fireflies that burn and die into the air.
SWINDLE: "Depends if you want what I think, or what I want to think..."
He wasn't graced with a response.
An eternity inside his head go by.
"....I would be a champion by now".
They inhale again, this time the sparks showing the dark lips curl into a small smile that breaths out the smoke like a dragon that's just seen its next mountain of gold.
"A decision that cost us the chance to make a champion. No matter how bitter it might feel looking back, but that is how it is. Do you really believe that the True Society would have allowed you to become what you've desired your entire life?"
"Do you believe that Big Drip would have been able to support you to make that desire into a reality?"
This time it was they who was not entertained with a rebuttal. Only the steely glare of The Kraken. Deep down he knew a nerve was hit, but if there was anyone who had grown accustomed to living in that painful mindset. It was him. It was Swindle Shelldrake.
?: "It is all fun speculation in the end. Not something you should be dealing in, Hmm? Raith may have been speaking your praises for a long time now, even if you don't see eye-to-eye. He put his neck out for you after the incident with Mr. Hunter. If it weren't for him you would have been given your pink slip and back to scraping the barrel of this whole circus act. Like it or not, your choices are not left to be unchecked, Shelldrake. While I have full confidence in Mr. Raith's judgement that you are the one fit to spearhead our agency, I needed to see you first hand".
SWINDLE: "And what do you think?"
?: "I-"
They go to speak, but Swindle quickly cuts them off, his line of vision not leaving theirs.
SWINDLE: "First impressions do matter, after all".
A stuttered silence followed where they take another inhale, not turning away from Swindle.
?: "You are what Raith says you are. 'The Antithesis' of what I had initially been interested in. For good, and for ill, that is what you are. Unequivocally. As for your standing, my view has yet to be swayed one way or another".
SWINDLE: "If you were going to let me go, then why didn't you? The way you speak about Roland doesn't convince me that he has that much influence over you".
?: "Call it....intuition. Even a broken clock can be right twice a day. Your power struggle with him is....entertaining, from a professional level. But all the same, he finds good talent. That's the impression that matters, Mr. Shelldrake".
"His Underground pet-project is progressing well, and a new signing that is looking hopeful for Fallout as well...."
"That just leaves you".
"I am a patient person, Mr. Shelldrake. Very patient. Personally I do not care how long it takes you to reach where we want you to be. As long as you get there".
"Prove to me that you can".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---| SWINDLE |---
---| Q u a l i t y |---
SWINDLE: "Proving Ground...."
"That's what this is supposed to be, right? Where we cut our teeth to either fly higher, or sink back to the depths. I already had a friend drift away from this place. As much as I wanted him to be ready, I don't think he was. I'm still here trying to prove what I am. Even when that is plain and clear to see, and I fall on deaf ears".
"How long has already gone by with me working here? Six months? What do I have to show for it? First impressions matter. An unremarkable debut in some clusterfuck battle royal, where the name Swindle Shelldrake only goes forward to become just a name. Just a name.....Main events against the best talents this promotion has to offer. Victories only to lag behind, with the losers to fall upwards beyond me. Those that have been able to defeat me personally....one is spiralling into his own madness, and the other is gone".
"There's even people who have been around half the time...a quarter of the time and already have gold over their shoulders. Fucking joke. They all come and go and claim to be someone, but I'm just still here. In the limbo that they never come across, because they wouldn't be basking in their own little bubbles of glory if they did face me. It's a bit sad how many that applies to".
"I defeat the Hollywood Hoax on my return, and yet I fall back down the ladder. And yet. All because of that choice. The one choice that would have led to fire and death either way".
"Big Drip was the biggest mistake of my time in Project: Honor".
"The countless weeks I've been saddled with TJ Thompson, Archiemedes... the entire thing. I made a choice, and here I am. Reaping what I've sewn. The war that was to be, it never came. The True Society will have no trouble in tearing itself apart, and Big Drip is whimpering out of the spotlight with one last tired groan in the deathrattle".
"And all the worse, it's to 'celebrate' a legacy that is building little more than embarrassment. Time and time again, he finds more purpose in arguing with whatever woman walks through backstage than what we're fighting for. I am dragged down by the muppets that make up his entourage of rejects and bums. I'm just as much the outcast, and maybe in another life, we could have had something in common, Petey. But the fact of the matter is....you're not made for this. You do not deserve this. The notion that we walk out in respect to your name after a shotgun retirement...that doesn't sit".
"It couldn't be something classy, quietly bowing out to pursue what your mind has always put more effort into. It couldn't be an acknowledgement of your own decline and accepting that we are where you never could be".
No, you needed to get in your grandstanding, for your spotlight. I had to watch my tag team partner drift away and disappear while you were yucking it up with Julius Fairweather pretending that you were the pinnacle of Tag Teams. Championships that were, and still are, nothing short of a mess because of you".
"Now, for all that I can get off my chest about how terrible Big Drip is. It's one match. I will endure through and not remember you the second that you leave. I still have a match to win, and team mates that are much bigger prizes deserving of attention than yourself. I've been here too long to not have my eye on gold. Ozymandias and MYOJIN are in need of some real challengers to the faceless grubs that have been in the title scene as of late, and I'm much more motivated to tear them down than push you from the floor you're already on. I've watched you hop over to challenge for whatever belt takes your fancy, while the very best crumb that's fallen my way is Scramble match where I pinned the champion".
"None of what you've built will get in my way. This is the last gasp where I fix my mistake, and forget you".
"The beginning of this farewell tour isn't for you anymore, Petey. Fuck everything that you want to squeeze out of this final run. We will beat Noah Hope, Puma, Burque, Rapture...the lot of them. I want you to see that I cooperate for a victory on your behalf before I walk away to never remember this time. You probably don't want to tip the scale too much with me, Petey. I'm already on edge for greater things than your pitiful retirement ceremonies and tours. I can taste my time in the sun, I won't be chained to your pathetic tag partners to prop up your brand. You saw what happened to Mark Hunter the last time I was denied didn't you...."
"Unless you do want me to cut the tour short and go home to burn your CDs".
That could be an option for you".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---| Proving Ground XXX |---
---| T h e P a t h o f T y r a n t s |---
∞
T h e K r a k e n
S w i n d l e S h e l l d r a k e
F a l l e n E m p i r e s
She came in stills
Deadly and quiet
Where no one knows you
Two headed hydra
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---| SWINDLE |---
---| F o x I n T h e H e n h o u s e |---
Undisclosed Location
January 31st, 2022
The light click and ripple of a zippo lighter simmers it's way into existence as the lone dancing flame singes the end of a cigarette, the Kraken taking an inhale he's taken a thousand times before, followed by the wisps of greyish-white smoke and a puff projecting them out into the room. Trails of the smoke are pushed out of his nose with a silent breath.
He hands the lighter over into a more delicate hand, with black-painted nails, the rest of them kept hidden in the dark, moody room. The flicker of light shows a glimpse of their face, and sharp, dark blue eyes framed in dark eyeshadow, and pitch-black hair blending with the voided space before they once again disappear from view. She too puffs smoke into the room, before their neutral-sounding voice speaks.
?: "Why did you join Big Drip, Swindle?"
SWINDLE: "I didn't"
?: "Care to elaborate?"
SWINDLE: "Because the alternative was a different kind of terrible? But, I'd start splitting hairs if I tried to really boil down the choice. The road would lead to the same place anyway. A few months ago, and especially now, tell me that True Society wouldn't become a lethargic, crawling mess that would have no choice but to consume itself. Wouldn't do much good to be caught in that crossfire when the bullets start flying, no matter who you are".
"But then you have the other side...."
?: "You never took me for someone who would gel with people like Petey, I wasn't the only one surprised to see you teaming with his ilk".
SWINDLE: "A war was brewing then, and I saw an opportunity. Join the collapsing star or the dancing jokes, to partake or otherwise. I was still hot about Fallout's....liberal stretch of power into my affairs. I suppose that the answer you're looking for. Big Drip got me because of what they weren't, rather than what they were".
?: "Were? Heheh, you're already speaking like they're gone. Not very classy of you when this match is supposed to be a celebration".
SWINDLE: "Hmm, celebration of stupidity more like it..."
?: "Whatever happened to the pragmatic side? Hahaha! Hmmm, on that we do agree".
"I'd like to ask you a simple question. Don't worry, this is strictly off the books. Raith won't know of anything in this conversation".
SWINDLE: "Why are you keeping this from him? You've got the chance to hear more than I'll ever let him in on. What's with the cagey attitude?"
?: "Indulge me, Swindle".
SWINDLE: "....fine. Ask".
?: "Purely for some wild speculation, where do you think your career would be if you did join the True Society?"
The pause in the room is palpable, even Swindle being taken aback with the processing of what was asked of him. Whether that be because he hadn't thought of the scenario, or that he didn't want to think of it, still up for debate. But it was far from his conversation partner to overlook his analytical nature. A quiet snort flew out of his nose before taking another inhale from his cigarette, the ash crackling with little orange fireflies that burn and die into the air.
SWINDLE: "Depends if you want what I think, or what I want to think..."
He wasn't graced with a response.
An eternity inside his head go by.
"....I would be a champion by now".
They inhale again, this time the sparks showing the dark lips curl into a small smile that breaths out the smoke like a dragon that's just seen its next mountain of gold.
"A decision that cost us the chance to make a champion. No matter how bitter it might feel looking back, but that is how it is. Do you really believe that the True Society would have allowed you to become what you've desired your entire life?"
"Do you believe that Big Drip would have been able to support you to make that desire into a reality?"
This time it was they who was not entertained with a rebuttal. Only the steely glare of The Kraken. Deep down he knew a nerve was hit, but if there was anyone who had grown accustomed to living in that painful mindset. It was him. It was Swindle Shelldrake.
?: "It is all fun speculation in the end. Not something you should be dealing in, Hmm? Raith may have been speaking your praises for a long time now, even if you don't see eye-to-eye. He put his neck out for you after the incident with Mr. Hunter. If it weren't for him you would have been given your pink slip and back to scraping the barrel of this whole circus act. Like it or not, your choices are not left to be unchecked, Shelldrake. While I have full confidence in Mr. Raith's judgement that you are the one fit to spearhead our agency, I needed to see you first hand".
SWINDLE: "And what do you think?"
?: "I-"
They go to speak, but Swindle quickly cuts them off, his line of vision not leaving theirs.
SWINDLE: "First impressions do matter, after all".
A stuttered silence followed where they take another inhale, not turning away from Swindle.
?: "You are what Raith says you are. 'The Antithesis' of what I had initially been interested in. For good, and for ill, that is what you are. Unequivocally. As for your standing, my view has yet to be swayed one way or another".
SWINDLE: "If you were going to let me go, then why didn't you? The way you speak about Roland doesn't convince me that he has that much influence over you".
?: "Call it....intuition. Even a broken clock can be right twice a day. Your power struggle with him is....entertaining, from a professional level. But all the same, he finds good talent. That's the impression that matters, Mr. Shelldrake".
"His Underground pet-project is progressing well, and a new signing that is looking hopeful for Fallout as well...."
"That just leaves you".
"I am a patient person, Mr. Shelldrake. Very patient. Personally I do not care how long it takes you to reach where we want you to be. As long as you get there".
"Prove to me that you can".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---| SWINDLE |---
---| Q u a l i t y |---
SWINDLE: "Proving Ground...."
"That's what this is supposed to be, right? Where we cut our teeth to either fly higher, or sink back to the depths. I already had a friend drift away from this place. As much as I wanted him to be ready, I don't think he was. I'm still here trying to prove what I am. Even when that is plain and clear to see, and I fall on deaf ears".
"How long has already gone by with me working here? Six months? What do I have to show for it? First impressions matter. An unremarkable debut in some clusterfuck battle royal, where the name Swindle Shelldrake only goes forward to become just a name. Just a name.....Main events against the best talents this promotion has to offer. Victories only to lag behind, with the losers to fall upwards beyond me. Those that have been able to defeat me personally....one is spiralling into his own madness, and the other is gone".
"There's even people who have been around half the time...a quarter of the time and already have gold over their shoulders. Fucking joke. They all come and go and claim to be someone, but I'm just still here. In the limbo that they never come across, because they wouldn't be basking in their own little bubbles of glory if they did face me. It's a bit sad how many that applies to".
"I defeat the Hollywood Hoax on my return, and yet I fall back down the ladder. And yet. All because of that choice. The one choice that would have led to fire and death either way".
"Big Drip was the biggest mistake of my time in Project: Honor".
"The countless weeks I've been saddled with TJ Thompson, Archiemedes... the entire thing. I made a choice, and here I am. Reaping what I've sewn. The war that was to be, it never came. The True Society will have no trouble in tearing itself apart, and Big Drip is whimpering out of the spotlight with one last tired groan in the deathrattle".
"And all the worse, it's to 'celebrate' a legacy that is building little more than embarrassment. Time and time again, he finds more purpose in arguing with whatever woman walks through backstage than what we're fighting for. I am dragged down by the muppets that make up his entourage of rejects and bums. I'm just as much the outcast, and maybe in another life, we could have had something in common, Petey. But the fact of the matter is....you're not made for this. You do not deserve this. The notion that we walk out in respect to your name after a shotgun retirement...that doesn't sit".
"It couldn't be something classy, quietly bowing out to pursue what your mind has always put more effort into. It couldn't be an acknowledgement of your own decline and accepting that we are where you never could be".
No, you needed to get in your grandstanding, for your spotlight. I had to watch my tag team partner drift away and disappear while you were yucking it up with Julius Fairweather pretending that you were the pinnacle of Tag Teams. Championships that were, and still are, nothing short of a mess because of you".
"Now, for all that I can get off my chest about how terrible Big Drip is. It's one match. I will endure through and not remember you the second that you leave. I still have a match to win, and team mates that are much bigger prizes deserving of attention than yourself. I've been here too long to not have my eye on gold. Ozymandias and MYOJIN are in need of some real challengers to the faceless grubs that have been in the title scene as of late, and I'm much more motivated to tear them down than push you from the floor you're already on. I've watched you hop over to challenge for whatever belt takes your fancy, while the very best crumb that's fallen my way is Scramble match where I pinned the champion".
"None of what you've built will get in my way. This is the last gasp where I fix my mistake, and forget you".
"The beginning of this farewell tour isn't for you anymore, Petey. Fuck everything that you want to squeeze out of this final run. We will beat Noah Hope, Puma, Burque, Rapture...the lot of them. I want you to see that I cooperate for a victory on your behalf before I walk away to never remember this time. You probably don't want to tip the scale too much with me, Petey. I'm already on edge for greater things than your pitiful retirement ceremonies and tours. I can taste my time in the sun, I won't be chained to your pathetic tag partners to prop up your brand. You saw what happened to Mark Hunter the last time I was denied didn't you...."
"Unless you do want me to cut the tour short and go home to burn your CDs".
That could be an option for you".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------