PROMO: 'Strangers in the night...'

[Toxxic 0]

Scene: Melissa Fasaki's trailer/dressing room, somewhere in Amsterdam

Time: Half an hour before Storm

 

 

*knock-knock*

 

“Hold on, I’m coming!” Melissa Fasaki calls at her door as she checks her makeup in the mirror one more time. With a quick sweep that tucks one side of her long, dark hair behind her left ear she prepares a smile for Wildchild, Tom Flesher or whoever is on the other side of the door and pulls it open…

 

“What the…?”

 

…but she wasn’t prepared to be greeted by a lopsided version of her own grin.

 

“Evenin’,” Toxxic says, steel-grey eyes meeting Melissa’s dark ones. “Mind if I come in?”

 

Mel backs away from the Straight-Edge Sensation, who apparently takes her retreat as an invitation and steps in before closing the door quietly behind him. His host swallows slightly as she sees this, then flashes him a dazzling smile anyway.

 

“Hi!” she says, a trifle breathlessly. “Um… look, about Jerry? I really don’t know what got into him, I certainly didn’t have anything to do with ‘setting him on you’ or anything…” She laughs slightly nervously before ploughing on, “I mean, I hate it when he gets mad, and he got so mad-”

 

“I know you didn’t have anything to do with it,” Toxxic cuts her off, waving one black-nailed hand dismissively, “in fact, I think I recall him saying that it was because you wouldn’t speak to him at all that made him so mad, so I know you didn’t say anything to spark him off.”

 

“Oh… right… good!” Mel tries another smile, this one slightly more inquisitive. “So, er… to what do I owe the pleasure?”

 

“Pleasure?” Toxxic snorts. “Odd word, given that you’re speaking to someone who broke your nose about six weeks ago.” Mel makes flapping motions with her hands, plainly trying to signal that the whole nose thing was no big deal.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” she tells her visitor. “Heat of the moment, water under the bridge and everything, ya know?”

 

“No,” Toxxic says slowly, fixing her with another steel-grey stare. “No, I don’t think I do.” The Brit lets that statement hang in the air for a moment before looking briefly at a chair, then glancing quizzically up at Melissa. She motions for him to sit and the young straight-edger sprawls into the chair, then crosses his legs in front of him.

 

“See, I broke your nose,” he reiterates. “I got involved in your brother’s match, which I shouldn’t have done. You took exception to that and slapped me… so I headbutted you. Heat of the moment, like you say,” he continues, “but that doesn’t make it right. Again, if I remember what Ejiro said correctly, you were so mad at him for not keeping you safe that you didn’t want to speak to him. So not only did I cause you physical injury, I damaged your family relations.” Toxxic shrugs. “Seems like sort of a big deal to me.”

 

“Well, you know how families are,” Mel tries. “I mean, would you get upset if someone hit your sister… if you’ve got one, that is?”

 

“Funny you should say that,” Toxxic grins humourlessly, “some wanker in a club nutted my sister last year.” The Straight-Edge Sensation’s smile widens slightly. “When they pulled her off him, half his ear came away in her teeth.” Seeing Melissa’s hands make an involuntary movement towards her own ears in sympathy, Toxxic seems to shake himself and sits forward.

 

“But that’s not why I came here,” he says. “I came here for one reason; I’d like to apologise.”

 

“You… apologise?” Mel says, caught completely off-guard. “Erm… well… thank you? Apology accepted,” she continues, getting a slightly better grip on herself. “I hope you won’t be offended if I say I didn’t expect that…?”

 

“Nah, not at all,” Toxxic shrugs, “I’ve got a reputation as an arsehole.” He pauses for a moment, then purses his lips before continuing. “Actually… I think I came here for something else, as well.”

 

“Yes?” Melissa says, sitting down opposite and crossing her legs. Toxxic raises an eyebrow at this, but then seems to accept it and continues.

 

“I want to explain something. I can’t say this to Ejiro, and I don’t know how much you speak to him at the moment,” he begins, then forges on before Mel can reply, “but maybe in the future, if he ever expresses any curiosity about it, you could tell him. Y’see, I think he’s gonna wonder why, after all that time with the World Title, I never tried to get a rematch with him. I mean, I know I made that big statement about not wanting the hassle and all, but I don’t think he’d buy it.” The Straight-Sensation leans back again, watching Melissa through his eyeliner, but the female Fasaki gives no sign as to her opinion of that statement.

 

“The fact is, it’s about impact,” Toxxic says. “I know that if I was to get back into the ring with Ejiro now, I’d be fighting for my life. He’s got so much anger wound up inside him I don’t know if it’s even directed at me anymore… but once I got into the ring, it definitely would be. It’s not what he could do to me that concerns me,” the Brit clarifies, “because I think I know what he brings to the table now, I think I could take him. No, it’s the fact that I’d have to fight fire with fire. It’s the things I’d have to do to him to stop him.”

 

“Right,” Melissa says, “go on.” Toxxic looks up, at her but she seems the very picture of an attentive audience.

 

“Ejiro knows what he’s getting into when he steps into the ring. He knows the risks he’s taking,” Toxxic begins again, “but what I really came to realise after our little… encounter… was the effect it has on other people. For example, Kibagami,” the Straight-Edge Sensation continues, expression twisting as the hated name crosses his lips, “does he have anyone who loves him? Does he have a girlfriend, a wife? I know there was someone a couple of years ago, but now? Who knows. I didn’t. I broke his neck, and never thought about it. Justin Bowers?” Toxxic ploughs on. “He studied under Ejiro’s old friend, William Heartford. He stepped up and I knocked him down, and after our match I saw the tears on his mentor’s face. I don’t know how long Heartford had trained Bowers for, but he cared what happened to him. He really did.” Toxxic’s expression has grown stony now, but the list continues. “Sacred? I don’t even know what happened to Sacred, just that he didn’t come back after the beating I gave him. Does Andrew Blackwell have anyone who loves him, now? Can anyone even ever know the man? Again, I don’t know.” Toxxic leans forward, putting his face quite close to Melissa’s… and she doesn’t draw away.

 

“Ejiro? I know there are people close to him. I’m looking at one now. I saw how he reacted when I injured you, and I know that to stop him I’d have to do much, much worse.” Toxxic grins again, but there’s still no humour there. “Ejiro knows the risks he takes, but I don’t want to have to that to anyone. Not in the ring, and not outside it by association. Not ever.”

 

“You mean you didn’t go after Jerry again because of me?” Melissa asks. “Toxxic, I… I’m flattered!”

 

“Don’t be,” the straight-edger tells her bluntly. “But anyway, I have a match to go and get ready for…”

 

“Oh, you don’t need to go yet!” Mel says, standing up before him. “I mean, you’ve apologised and I’ve accepted it, there’s no reason for us not to be friends, now is there?” she continues, flashing the Straight-Edge Sensation a smile. “Fancy a drink?” Her hand closes on a bottle of scotch, but then she quickly takes it off again and mutters something about “I’m sure I’ve got some soda somewhere…”

 

“No, thanks, I’m good,” Toxxic tells her, rising to his feet.

 

“Oh well, if you’re sure there’s nothing else…” Melissa says, curling her hair around one finger, apparently quite absent-mindedly. Toxxic just looks at her for a moment, then nods.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure. Still, it’s good to see I didn’t leave a mark,” he adds as he heads for the door.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Your face,” the Brit replies, turning around to find Melissa closer behind him than he expected. He raises one black-nailed finger towards her nose. “Doesn’t look like I damaged anything too bad.” He flashes a lopsided grin. “You’re still as pretty as you were.”

 

“Oh, now I am flattered,” Mel laughs, turning her face away slightly but looking sideways at him with her big dark eyes. Toxxic holds her gaze for a moment as his smile fades… then returns. This time however, the grin is lacking its humour again and makes the straight-edger look considerably more sinister than before.

 

“You know, I feel kinda sorry for Ejiro,” Toxxic says, looking Melissa up and down briefly, “having a girl like you as his sister…” Without another word, he opens the door and strides through it, shutting it behind him to leave Mel Fasaki staring at the back of it.

 

“Now what was that supposed to mean…?”