PROMO: A change of heart?

[Toxxic 0]

"So explain something to me."

 

Alex Zenon stops packing his stuff away and looks around. There, standing in the doorway of his office, is the familiar spiky-haired shape of the Straight-Edge Sensation. The card for Storm has only just gone up, Zenon reflects; Toxxic must have charged up here as quickly as he could to be sure of catching the Commissioner still in his office.

 

"What's that?" Zenon asks, turning to face the Brit and shutting his case on the desk.

 

"Grand Slam," Toxxic responds, leaning against the doorframe. "Why?"

 

"I thought you'd be pleased," Zenon tells him with just a hint of bitterness. The last thing he wants is for Toxxic to gloat over the booking that he's been forced into_ but then again, Toxxic doesn't sound like he's gloating. He just sounds curious.

 

"That's not what I asked," the straight-edger replies. "You know me. You know what I can do - and have done - to people I don't like. What happened to Bowers was an accident. What happened to Kibagami wasn't... but it suited you. You like Mark, and you're well aware of my feelings for him." One eyebrow quirks upwards quizzically. "So why?"

 

"You were at Ground Zero," Alex replies wearily, "you heard what King said. He's on the roster, and I have to book him. Against tough opponents." The Commissioner turns away and picks up his case. "Now, I'm going-" but Toxxic is suddenly in the room and clutching his elbow. Zenon turns around to stare into a pair of steel-grey eyes that are very interested in searching his face.

 

"Why me?" Toxxic persists. "I can't believe that you'd book Mark against me, no matter what King said. Not unless he's threatening you with something."

 

"And what if he is?" Zenon fires back. "You think I can't handle myself? Since when did you care about anything that doesn't concern you or your precious Revolution, anyway?"

 

"Oh, but it does," Toxxic tells the Commissioner. "You see Alex, as a wrestler you were mediocre. As a person, you're stuck in a hero-worship timewarp two years in the past when your precious Midnight Carnival might have actually meant something. But as a Commissioner..." The Straight-Edge Sensation relaxes his grip and stands back. "As a Commissioner you have always treated me fairly, something I couldn't hope for from Stevens. You let me and Kibagami sort out our issues without interfering. You gave me the chance for a World Title shot. Spike and Sean both won singles titles and have had their chances at the Tag Titles as well. I may have issues with the fact that Drazon and Dace got World Title shots before me, but hey," Toxxic shrugs, "I'll get it back soon enough. But if King is threatening to remove you, I want to know."

 

Zenon stares at the straight-edger. Arrogant, conceited, self-interested and without much respect for anyone... but also a very unlikely potential ally. And, Alex realises, someone who would be just as horrified at Suicide King's threat as he is himself.

 

"He wasn't threatening me with my removal; I could deal with that," Zenon tells Toxxic. "He was threatening me with my replacement."

 

"Go on," Toxxic says, eyes narrowing.

 

"Kibagami?"

 

Toxxic's eyebrows rise in disbelief.

 

"Flesher?"

 

The eyebrows go up further.

 

"Or Janus?"

 

The Straight-Edge Sensation blinks in shock. It takes a moment for him to speak, and Zenon knows why. One man he crippled, one man has been an enemy for months, and one is a psychopath whose World Title he took. On this fact, at least, Alex and Toxxic see eye-to-eye.

 

"None of those three men can be allowed to run the SWF," Toxxic states flatly, and Zenon nods. The straight-edger looks thoughtful before continuing. "And if the price for that is Mark Stevens..."

 

Zenon braces himself.

 

"King wants me to hurt him, doesn't he?" Toxxic asks. "He wants me to humiliate him in the ring."

 

"Don't tell me you wouldn't enjoy it," Alex bites out. Toxxic looks at him for a moment... and then the trademark lopsided grin creeps up the right-hand side of his face.

 

"Not any more." The grin disappears as abruptly as it came, and Toxxic turns away. "I don't think you know quite how much Grand Slam pissed me off, Zenon. Suffice to say that after making each other's lives miserable for a few weeks, he booked me in my first ever SWF tag match with a partner who was about as much use as a chocolate kettle... against two former World Champions, in himself and Tom Flesher." The Straight-Edge Sensation wheels back around, and now Zenon can almost see the angry fires burning behind the grey eyes.

 

"Now he comes waltzing back in, and he's trapped by the Suicide King. That one match against me forces him to compete as and when King dictates. This is my chance to get some bloody revenge on that bastard - but I don't want it."

 

"Why not?" Zenon asks, completely confused.

 

"Because I want to humiliate `Grand Slam' Mark Stevens, former World Champion, retired but still a well-conditioned workhorse. The man who teamed with Tom Flesher to beat me," Toxxic tells him. "Not Mark Stevens the family man, the ageing, out-of-shape ex-wrestler who when he goes to the ring against a credible opponent is thinking about how to survive, not how to win. There's no satisfaction in that."

 

"Well... I guess I could tell King you refuse to compete..." Zenon says, at a loss.

 

"No, I'll compete," Toxxic replies, "but I'm not going to do what King wants, I'm going to do what I want... just like always." He smiles again, mischievously. "I'll be going out there to win. But like I've always said, I don't enjoy hurting people, I just enjoy winning. And against someone as old and slow and out of shape as Stevens, I won't have to hurt him to win."

 

"You know Toxxic," Zenon tells the Brit, "even when you're trying to be nice, you're still an asshole."

 

"You can give Mark a message from me," Toxxic replies, ignoring the Commissioner's comment. "This doesn't have to go hard for him. King pissed me off with that whole Landon thing, and I don't dance to anyone's tune. As long as Mark doesn't try anything cute, he can get through this without getting carried out on a stretcher again."

 

"You just might find that `old man' has got a lot more left in him than you think!" Alex snaps, but Toxxic merely grins.

 

"Zenon - prepare to be proved wrong."

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Awesome promo, Toxxic. I love all of the development that has gone into your character in such a relatively short period of time. "Even when you're trying to be nice, you're still an asshole" is a great line.

[Secret Agent 0]

Cool promo, but I still think Toxxic is getting stretched a bit thin with his hands in everything these days.

[Guest Suicide King]

When you're on top, everyone wants you. Fact of the fed. The number one heel has always had more plotlines than common sense refusals to them.

 

That said, if our boy Toxxic knows what's good for him, he'll dial that cocky back about eight notches and do whatever he's told.

[Toxxic 0]

You know what I always hate about wrestling? The fact that the faces and heels stick together as faces and heels for NO DAMN REASON. Toxxic doesn't do what anyone wants, so it makes no sense for him to blindly acqeuiese to King's wishes, especially when he KNOWS there must be a reason for Zenon to make this match... and it just so happens that King's threat worries him just as much if not more so than Zenon, because Toxxic hates all three people mentioned.

 

And Johnny - I know I'm involved in a lot at the moment, but I'm just trying to kickstart a bit more activity in the fed. Don't worry though, there'll be enough left of me for you to receive your whuppin' at Genesis

[Kaertos 0]

::sniff sniff::

 

Smell that? That's storyline fertilizer, boys and girls.

[Toxxic 0]

'storyline fertiliser?'

 

I would say 'Ooh-arr' if anyone apart from the Brits would recognise it as stereotypical farmer-talk.

[Secret Agent 0]

Genesis? I think I'm off that show as I'll be out of town.

[Guest Suicide King]

You're absolutely right Toxxic. It is annoying when faces and heels stick together for no reason...

 

::makes note to self to give Toxxic a raise::

 

There you go. Now you have a reason. BOW!

 

Seriously though, I have always loved plotlines that involve one person caught in events beyond his/her control. It's usually done with a face, but Landon is running that one right now so I see no harm in seeing what our boy Toxxic can do. Should be fun!