PROMO: Ancient History II

[Toxxic 0]

Atlanta, Georgia

Early 2002

 

 

 

"HEY!"

 

Toxxic doesn't look round, and nor does Livvy; it's a noisy environment backstage at a wrestling show, and the chances of someone trying to attract their attention are remote. Karl Winter, on the other hand, has a deep-seated fear that anyone who ever shouts anything is always shouting it at him, so he turns around. And it is Karl, therefore, who first sees the three muscular young men bearing down on them.

 

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" the one in front shouts. Karl grabs Toxxic by the shoulder and the Englishman pulls up, then turns around. Livvy stops as well, and the two trios come face-to-face.

 

"You're the guys we're facing tonight, right?" the apparent leader of the newcomers says, looking them up and down and plainly not drastically impressed by what he sees. His manner isn't openly hostile, but there's a certain testosterone-fuelled aggressiveness that hints that hostility is a definite option depending on how this conversation goes. "So," he continues, "what happened to that pussy Drake?"

 

"You what?" Toxxic asks.

 

"Drake," the other man repeats, "it was meant to be you two and a guy called Drake against us tonight, now he's bailed and we've been told it's down to a regular tag. So what's the deal? He scared of us or something?"

 

"Scared?" Toxxic scoffs, "do us a favour and go find some ten year-olds who might be impressed with your shit, cos we're not buying."

 

"Oh, a limey huh?" one of the others sneers, "so the team was going to be a pussy, a limey and Mr. Silence here," he continues, nodding at Karl, "no wonder this Drake guy didn't want to get his ass whipped!"

 

Livvy places a restraining hand on Toxxic's arm.

 

"Question is, are you sure you want a regular tag?" Karl asks, finding his voice. "I mean, you've been preparing to all team together. Wouldn't be fair for us to change things on you at the last minute. Maybe it should be you three against me and Toxx?"

 

"You're kidding, right?" the leader laughs.

 

"The fuck he is," Toxxic chips in, "tell you what, if three-on-two's not good enough for you, I'll take you all on. On my own," he clarifies, tapping himself in the chest. "How about it, ladies?"

 

"You're bluffing."

 

"Try me," Toxx challenges him, "you want it, we'll go find the booker right now and change it. If he's OK with it, I'm OK with it. All at once or one at a time, makes no difference to me sunshine." The opposing trio look at each other uncertainly for a second, then the leader jabs his finger at Toxxic. "You'd better just get ready for the tag match," he snarls, "we don't need extra numbers. We'll take both of you down in five minutes," he adds, glaring at Karl for good measure.

 

"Five minutes?" Toxxic asks, quirking an eyebrow.

 

"Damn right," the leader replies, turning to leave. Toxxic reaches out and grabs him by the elbow.

 

"Sunshine... prepare to be proved wrong." He grins lopsidedly and releases his grip. The leader glowers for a second, then snorts and moves off. Toxxic watches him go, then strokes his chin thoughtfully.

 

"Hmm... I like the sound of that..."

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"You know, for a second I thought he was gonna go for it," Karl remarks, winding athletic tape around his wrist. Toxxic just grins and shakes his head.

 

"No chance mate," the Englishman replies, "once we offered it he had to turn it down, he'd look like a wuss otherwise. But even if he hadn't," he grins, "can you imagine that? Three-on-one in my first ever match. I'd have got the shit kicked out of me, but I'd have made a name for myself instantly."

 

"I'd rather make a name for myself by winning," Karl mutters. He pauses for a moment. "You scared?"

 

"Scared?" Toxx asks, looking at his teamate.

 

"Well... nervous."

 

"Nah," the young Brit grins, "what's to worry about? If we win, that's great. If we lose, it's our first match, we can only get better."

 

"Yeah, but we're gonna be in front of all those people," Karl says, "it's a big crowd. I don't mind telling you Toxx, I'm kinda jittery."

 

"You're going out there as Karl Winter though, aren't you," Toxxic says, leaning against a wall. "I'm going out there as Toxxic. When that guy announces us, he's not announcing my real name. He's announcing a character, someone I've made up. All of this," the Englishman continues, "is a performance for me. None of 'em are gonna be watching me. They're gonna be watching Toxxic. And as it happen," he grins, "Toxxic loves the spotlight."

 

"...alright then," Karl says, not entirely sure he follows his friend but willing to go along with him anyway, "then you can go first!"

 

"Guys!"

 

They turn around just as Livvy runs up to them. She holds up a cellphone. "Gabe just texted me, he wishes you guys luck. Says he'd rather go into an Inferno match than be at his parents' wedding anniversary, but there you go."

 

"I'd swap," Karl says, but Toxxic slaps him on the back and waves a black-nailed finger under his nose. "Don't you dare sunshine," the younger man mock-chastises him, "we've got a match to win, right?"

 

"Oh, yeah, about the match," Livvy says, "there's... been a last-minute change."

 

Toxxic and Karl turn to look at her.

 

"See, after what those assholes said in the hall I went to the booker and... asked for a change to the match."

 

Toxxic and Karl turn to look at each other. Then back at Livvy.

 

"Let me guess? It's three-on-two now?" Toxxic asks.

 

"Well, not exactly..." Livvy hedges, but at that moment the voice of the ring announcer thunders out, audible where they are backstage, about to go through the curtain.

 

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TONIGHT'S OPENING CONTEST IS A MIXED-GENDER SIX-PERSON TAG MATCH, AND IS SCHEDULED FOR ONE FALL..."

 

"What?" Livvy says innocently in the face of Toxxic's and Karl's stares, pulling her sweater off and tying her hair back, "no-one calls my boyfriend a pussy and gets away with it!"

 

Toxxic and Karl look at each other again; then, as Livvy marches through the curtain and onto the entrance ramp, Toxxic turns and hurries after her.

 

“Bloody hell girl, Gabe made me promise to watch out for you…”

 

 

 

 

To Be Continued...