Now That's Entertainment
The night air is cool against Maggie's skin as she walks across the parking lot. The throbbing pain in her nose was slowly beginning to subside. She won her match, but that clown had once again come out of nowhere. This time Magdalena had been the target. She got out of there with her life, but there was something different.
Something in that maniac’s eyes said it wasn’t over.
And that laughing.
“That fucking clown,” she sighs, absently running her hand across her forehead before digging into her bag for her keys.
“Hiya Maggs,” says a high-pitched voice - speak the name and the Devil appears. Maggie looks up - she had let herself space out. Speak the devil’s name and she appears, Jaclyn Pierrot steps from between two black SUV’s.
“Jacky,” Maggie says simply. She lets her bag drop from her hand. Free things up a bit in case she needed to...
“To what?” she thinks, “Jacky probably has a gun on her and there’s no way she’s alone.”
Maggie looks down briefly at the bag, now wishing she hadn’t dropped it.
Jaclyn’s smile is dangerously curling at the corner of her lips. She slowly walks towards her. She doesn’t seem to be armed, but that never is really the case with the crazed clown. Even without a weapon, she was rabid and violent.
“You think you’re soooooo special…” she begins, “The Champ.”
“It’s a title, but not how I define who I am.”
“Yes, of course, you are one of the humble ones.”
There is flash and sure enough, the oversized .44 magnum Aristocrat is in her hand. She follows Magdalena’s eyes to the gun in her hand, “Oh, it’s not loaded.”
The gun discharges and Jacky has an exaggerated look of shock on her face. She looks down at the gun. Jacky mouths the word ‘Oops’ before leveling the smoking barrel over towards Magdalena. Her lips are thin and narrow as she considers her options. She could rush the clown, probably take at least one shot - a gun that size though, one is all you need. She could try to make an escape through the cars and back into the building, but Jaclyn is a pack animal; someone or something would surely be lurking.
“Hey! Earth to Maggie?” squeals the clown. She’s close enough now to be touched, with a face that just begs to be punched. “Wowzers, that looks bad. Did someone boop your snoot?”
Jaclyn’s hand reaches out, but the cold stare from Maggie stops her.
“Yeah, you got me. Good for you,”she says. Show no fear. Her fist balls up as Jacky bends over, taking her eyes away as she reaches for the bag. A hand lands on Maggie’s shoulder before she has a moment to act.
“Hey there,” whispered a voice from over her shoulder.
Just as expected.
“Tempest.”
Show no fear.
He leans closer, his mouth inches from her ear. His jaws snap down, but Magdalena does not so much as blink. “You’re right, she is tough.”
From the corner of her eye she can see Koznar standing beside one of the black SUVs. Jaclyn finally stops her rummaging and stands up, a blood-covered stuffed rabbit in her hand. She squeals excitedly, “Hey, I have a bunny too!”
Without thinking, Maggie snatches the bunny from the clown’s hand. Jacky looks at her and then to the man behind her in shock. A smile slowly forms across her face as she takes another look down at it, biting her lip slightly. She drops down and begins to pick through the bag once more, “Aha!”
She pops up, the LevelUP Final Boss champion in her hand. Lockheart can feel herself squeezing down on the stuffed animal in her hand, but contains herself. A gun in her face helps hold her more violent emotions in check. At least for now.
“So Maggie,” she considers for a moment, “Do you prefer Maggs?”
“I prefer you shut up.”
“Right...” she eyeballs her partner once more, “So Maggie, riddle me this…” the hammer of the gun is pulled back with a click.
“If I shoot you in the face, would that make me the champion? After all, I’d be the winner beating you in battle.”
“It clearly does not work that way.”
“Has anyone ever tried?”
“I believe you did,” she reminds her. Jacky’s eyes narrow and her grip tightens. Her golden eyes burn like the sun as she stares almost through her. The champion can feel Tempest grip tighten but then suddenly, the clown begins to laugh.
“Touche!” she flicks the hammer back, sliding the pistol back into her waistband. Her hand reaches out and grabs hold of the freshly injured nose and squeezes. Maggie groans but continues to hold herself back, “Ya got me there."
Just past the clown, she notices something.
Moving. Undulating.
It's late: most of the fans have moved on to the bars to celebrate. These bodies don't seem to be making their way anywhere, instead they seem to be exactly where they should be at this moment. A trickle of blood slides down towards her lip.
"I'm surrounded, aren't I?"she asked without really needing to know the answer. The clown just decided to laugh.
And laugh.
"And scene." Jaclyn's stops laughing, only that confident grin living on the corner of her lips. She winks, tossing the belt back towards the bag, "See ya around."
Tempest moves away and Maggie turns her head. She can see the shadows moving away as Jacky falls into his arms, walking beside him. They pause as she calls after, "What's this all for?"
Jaclyn holds onto Tempest as she turns, her arm around his back. She waves her free arm out.
"For entertainment!" She proclaims, leaping forward into Tempest's arms. She plants a kiss on his cheek. Koznar stands staring at Magdalena, not moving an inch. She looks after the clown, who is now giggling and laughing in Tempest's arms as though nothing had ever happened.
"We doing something?" She asks finally, turning her head defiantly towards the monster. He says nothing. He watches - he waits. She nods her head in acceptance, scoops the bunny and belt back into the bag, and heads for her car.
"Fuckin' clowns."
Jaclyn can feel the rustling on the bed behind her as the warmth of his body begin to pull away. His arm is still draped across her hip. She lazily reaches for it to stop him with a moan, barely missing.“Don’t go,” she purrs, turning over just as he pulls a pair of overalls above his waist. Tempest turns to her, taking her hand into his.
“We need wood.”
She bites her lip with a giggle, pulling him towards her. He stands firm, causing her to pout.
“But so do I!” she complains. He laughs, leaning down to kiss her on her forehead.
She attempts to pull him back down onto bed. Tempest’s hands drop to her waist and with squeeze and a snort, he finds his freedom. He pushes away from the bed.
“Do you need anything?”
“You.”
“Daedalus is waiting.”
She pouts her lip. Jaclyn sits up on her knees, clutching the blanket to her chest.
“Wanna hear a joke?” she offers, batting her eyes. He nods silently.“What do you get when you boil a clown?”
She shimmies for a moment before pulling the cover open. She shakes back and forth again, her smile widening as he watches, “A laughing stock.”
He grins.
“Does it taste funny?”
She gasps, pulling the covers back over herself. He steps forward, tilting her chin up so her eyes meet his. He leans forward and she pulls herself up with one arm. Their lips lock. His hand takes hold of the blanket, pulling it back off leaving her naked once more in front of him.
“They say laughter is the best medicine.” Tempest licks his lips, winking down at her. He slides the coverall back off his shoulder. His other hand slides onto her throat, pushing her backwards.
“What about Daedalus?” she whispers, pulling his body down on top of hers.
“He can wait,” his teeth clamp down briefly against her ear. He whispers, “I’m having a laugh.”
Jaclyn can hear the sound of the engine roaring to life in the distance. She feels warm and safe in his bed. There are small bruises along her neck where his hand last was. She closed her eyes. She could still smell him, feel him. She rolls to her side, absently running a hand along her collarbone. Her hand comes to rest where he did.
Tempest had turned the television on before he left and there was a couple arguing about the paternity of a child. Her eyes feel heavy as she looks over to the screen.
“You are not the father!” There is a mad dash on one side of the screen and anguish on the other. Triumph and tragedy: the American dream. Her eyelids creep closed and she does her patriotic duty to keep them open. She shuts an eye and looks across the bed to where Bunny lays. It’s lifeless button eyes stare back at her. She pulls him into her chest, squeezing him tight.
Treason it is.
She lets them close once more.
Click.
The channel shifts.
A crowd shouts the word , “Jerry.”
Click.
“It’s time to spin that wheel” a zombie grumbles towards a large wheel. Turning, it thrashes briefly but a stick extends its way, pushing it back. It grumbles but grabs the wheel, taking a swipe before letting it ride. The upper body hangs on but is torn at the midsection by the wheel.
Click...
Static...
Channel 13.
A piano plays a light jazzy tune and the sound of someone doing tap can be heard. Rhythmically, it is similar to ‘Singing in the Rain’, but it appears the piano may be just slightly out of tune in some areas. There are an abundance of mannequins and wax figures and the walls still look incomplete. It is likely somewhere in the labyrinth where construction of the Underlook was just beginning.
Pisces, wearing a full-black cat suit, complete with ears, dances across the screen. She has a shotgun in her hand and she swings it like a baton.
"I'm screaming with the pain
Just screaming with the pain"
She swings it across one of the faceless forms. It’s head goes flying.
"What a glorious feeling
I'm happy again."
She takes hold of one that looks like it could be either Richard Nixon or John Travolta, though the exposure has ravaged it of the nuances between them.
"I'm laughing with clowns
So dark up above"
She places her free hand on its head and twirls around, tapping all the while before pressing the gun to the chest.
“The guns at my heart
And I'm ready for love.”
The boom of the buck blasts the abomination backwards. She swings it around and the sizzle of the still burning hot metal can be heard over the sound of her tapping. She taps in a wide circle, batting mannequins backwards with the butt.
"Let the Creepy crowd chase.
Everyone from the place"
She releases the gun and holds her arms out palms up while still tapping. Her mouth is forced upwards in mockery of the seared flesh.
"Come on with the pain
I've a smile on my face"
She runs and catches one of the forms on wheels,spin taps behind it, then shoves it into a cluster of dummies.
"Get hit with a train,
You won’t be the same"
She does a cartwheel, catching hold of the gun.
"Just screaming."
Boom - she fires it at the ceiling.
"Screaming with the pain."
She drops the gun low, holding it between her hands. She looks down, almost sad as her tapping slows.
"Dancing with the pain"
She finishes with a freeze frame. Behind her, the door opens and the light flicks on. A man in blue cargo pants and a plaid shirt stands at the door. He has a hard hat on his head and a tool belt on his waist. He looks around as Pisces continues to hold still. His eyes glance at the gun and then the mess before shrugging his shoulders. Her body shakes as she tries to maintain the pose. He cuts out the light.
Static...
Jaclyn rolls over and looks at the entertainment center. It is meticulously laid out with a series of controllers and cases neatly stacked. The clock reads ten, but the clock on the wall says otherwise. Jaclyn decides to let them fight it out and slumps back into the bed. She lifts the remote from the nightstand and looks it over. She turns to the rabbit next to her, offering the remote up.
"Any ideas?"
Bunny doesn't budge. She sets it back down.
Jaclyn sits up, letting the cover fall off her shoulders as she stretches loudly. Her feet kick out and land in a pair of bunny slippers. She pulls on one of Tempest Cornbugs T-Shirts before scurrying out of the room and towards the kitchen and the smell of fresh coffee and bacon.
"Hiya!"
Pisces looks up from a newspaper. She is currently sitting at the kitchen table reading the funnies.
"Oh, you're still here," she says with a snort, turning back to the paper. Jaclyn looks her over. She sets a coffee cup on the counter, pours a cup, and walks to the island between them. She leans over it with a coy look.
"I really like Garfield!" She tries cheerfully. No response. She swirls her cup before turning to the stove, hopeful "The bacon smells great!"
Pisces lowers the paper once more. Her irritation is suddenly replaced with a sly smile inching across her lips, "Do me a favor? Get Koznar. Breakfast is almost ready."
Jaclyn hesitates.
"He doesn't seem to like me."
"Oh that's just Koznar, he's shy. He's a breakfast guy so this will make his day!" Jacky’s eyes perk up and she sets the coffee cup down.
If his friends like me...
Jacky practically skips her way towards Koznar's room. Pisces calls after her,
"Oh, hey!" Jaclyn turns and looks back, practically beaming with joy, "Don't knock! Just go in. He hates it when people knock."
She smiles back at her new friend and bounces away towards the back room. Pisces returns to her paper. She chuckles, "That fucking Nermal..."
From upstairs there is the sound of muffled, high-pitched complaining followed by the sound of shattering glass. Pisces looks up, thinking aloud to herself, "Or was it he hates when you don't knock? I always get that confused."
The door bursts open and Jaclyn Pierrot steps through. Her makeshift pajamas are covered in shards of glass and dirt. She glares over at Pisces who in turn does her best to appear shocked.
"He said to knock."
"Honest mistake!" she shouts after the jester who storms over to the refrigerator."Hey, since you're loitering around, maybe you should clean up some. Make yourself useful. You know: like a good little housewife."
“Hey!” The clown-faced maniac begins, but stops.
Housewife...that does sound nice.
She smiles, leaning back onto the refrigerator, lost in her thoughts.
Jacky sees herself shimmying into the room in a harlequin-print Gucci polo, a Versace mini, and a pair of red-bottom pumps.“Mista Daedalus!” She stops and looks out into the studio audience, hand on her hip, her smile bright and red. Her honking laughter pours from her.
“Yes, Miss Pierrot?” Daedalus enters in the standard butler fair.
“Have you seen my baby?”
On cue, Tempest appears at the top of the stairs. He is wearing a black and white pinstripe suit and has a cigar in his hand.
He saunters down and Jaclyn meets him at the bottom. He take her hand, leans in and says, “Hey stupid!”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Jacky looks around herself in surprise, “If you’re gonna stand there, grab the chicken and defrost it.”
Pisces gets up from the table, walking towards Jacky with the comics in her hand. As she passes the clown, she begins to hold it out causing Jaclyn to reciprocate, but instead shoves past. She jams the comics into the trash and makes her way towards the living room. The painted-faced woman stares down at the trashcan. She turns to her hand which has landed on a chef’s knife.
Whatever.
She releases it and turns to the freezer.
♪If you wanna be his lover…♪
Jaclyn pulls a large frozen lump out, dropping it with a thunk into the sink. Frozen solid.
“How the fuck do you defrost a chicken?” she mutters to herself. She turns the faucet on and adjusts it to hot. She watches it pour off the bird, the hot water causing steam to rise off the frozen carcass. She reaches down to poke it.
Still cold.
She sighs and groans, “How long does this take?”
Jaclyn looks over to the dishwasher: Bingo!
She tosses the bird, still in the plastic, into the dishwasher. Flipping it to Hot/Pre-Wash, she folds her arm across her chest. She nods her head with a satisfied smirk.
Wifey material.
She looks around the room. If she could defrost a chicken, what else could she do? Maybe there was something to this housewife thing. She begins to dig around in the cabinets, and after causing much disarray, she rises with some rags and a spray bottle.
Cleaning time!
“Cleaning Montage!” Jaclyn yells!
Drink poured. Drink drank. Double down.
She slides a pair of cleaning goggles on. One yellow glove snaps on then the other.
One more for the road, she turns the bottle up. Once, twice, third time’s the charm: she’s ready.
She moves towards the living room, sliding in front of the entrance. Her sock catches and she tumbles headfirst into the door frame, smacking her face with a loud thud. Her glasses fall uselessly from her face. She rolls onto her back, her hands going to her face to test the wound for tenderness.
And blood.
Nothing.
Jacky watches as the ceiling fan above her rotates slowly, each blade weighed down by dust which tufts out at the edges. She sits up.
“Start from the top!” she says. Jaclyn rises to her feet and looks around the room. Pisces has wedged herself on the couch and is absently flipping through a People magazine.
♪You gotta get with his friends.♪
“Hey, you got a ladder?” Pisces peaks up over the corner of the magazine, her annoyance spilling out from every pore. She looks to where Jaclyn is indicating.
“No,” she lowers the magazine further, “If only you could jump higher somehow…”
“You’re a genius!” the clown exclaims, taking off towards Tempest room. Moments later, she returns with her boots. She drops to the floor and begins to pull them on.
“You need a hand?”
♪Make it last forever, friendship never ends♪
“Sure!” Pisces helps her to her feet, bending down to fiddle with the boots. She pats them, giving the thumbs up towards Jacky.
“Good to go!”
Jaclyn bends at the knees....
“Wait!” Pisces scurries past her, moving to where she bashed herself against the door to retrieve her goggles. She brings them over, sliding them over the excited jester’s head, “Safety first.”
Jacky nods her head, resolute. Her spray bottle in one hand, rag in the other she bends at the knees once more, and then skyrockets into the ceiling. Her body ricochets off the roof and back towards the ground where she crashes through the table.
Pisces looks her over. After a minute, she kicks her with her boot.“Jacky?” she asks, before kicking again, this time harder. And again. And once more, just to be sure.“Oh well.”
Pisces drops back down on the couch, pulling the People magazine into her hand.
“Oh Koznar!” she yells.
The truck pulls to a stop just as the front door of the farm opens. Koznar steps out, holding an oversized cardboard box in his arms. It has a large label indicating the final destination to be ‘Abu Dhabi’. He walks past the pair silently as they step out, looking after him.
“What are you mailing?” asks Daedalus. The monster of a man does not respond. Instead, he mechanically moves back down the driveway, towards the mailboxes.
Daedalus looks over to Tempest and they share a shrug.
(VO)Morgan Freeman as Bunny the Dead Rabbit:
The air is cool against Bunny’s fur as he steps into the night air.
“Deja Vu,” he mutters to himself, before fishing into his pocket. He pulls a crumbled soft pack of Lucky Strikes from his coat, slipping one in between his pursed lips. He flicks a match and like a torch in the night, it guides him towards the final destination.
One puff at a time.
He looked down at the bag in his hand and into the parking lot.
“Alright, buddy. Come on out,” he drops it on the concrete, slowly shuffling his coat from his shoulders.
Another match lit up like a beacon and a shorter, gray fuzzy stuffed rabbit in a singlet steps from the shadow.
(VO)Morgan Freeman as Bunny the Dead Rabbit:
He would recognize that wascally wabbit anywhere: that was Maggie’s wabbit.
“You packin’, pooka?” he says, stepping closer. Dead Rabbit shakes his head.
“Nah, you?”
“Well,” he absently tosses a gun aside. A piece of tobacco loosens itself, causing the fuzzy gray bunny to spit for a moment before moving forward, “I guess not.”
“So we doing this?”
“Yeah, we’re doing this,” the fluffy gray rabbit pulls deeply one last time, exhaling a cloud of poison into the air before flicking the butt off into the night. Dead Rabbit flicks his cigarette into the same direction: why not have a litter-bug pissing contest before the big dance right?
(VO)Morgan Freeman as Dead Rabbit:
And so they began. The corpse rabbit versus the childhood hero hare. Peter Cottontail would be rolling in his grave if ol’ man McGregor hadn’t finally burst his bubble with a barrel of buck.
The two circle each other - two dancers dancing become two sluggers slugging. There’s nothing technical or flashy: just two fluffy bunnies flinging floof. Their furs intertwine - with bing and a boop and a boof, the two bunnies bounce off the cars around them. The gray rabbit finally lands on top.
“Hare today…”it says, driving it’s paw downwards into Dead Rabbit’s face. It’s head bounces off the concrete.
Koznar drops the box at the mailbox and Jaclyn Pierrot’s eyes burst open.
“What the mother fuck?” shrieks her muffled voice from within. The larger man turns without response, heading back the way he came. There is a rumbling and rustling and finally a sock kicks up through the top of the box, popping the tape. Another foot bursts through the side. She begins to thrash and wail, slowly tearing the box to shreds from within. Part of the box clings to her foot as she stands up. She scrapes and kicks at it before finally loosening herself from it.
Jaclyn storms back towards the farm. She moves to open the door, but it is locked. She pounds on it. No response.
“Open the motherfucker mcfucking-” it’s pulled open from within and Pisces stands in the frame.
“Oh, did you forget something?”
“Why was I in a box?” she demands.
Pisces merely shrugs. Jacky shoves past her into the living room. The ceiling has a dent in it from where her body had collided with it, and the shattered table still lays broken in pieces in the middle of the room. There is the sound of someone throwing up coming from the side room. She turns back towards Pisces.
“Maybe it was something they ate?”
Jaclyn storms into the kitchen where Daedalus is doubled over the trash can. The chicken she pulled out sits on the counter, slightly torn apart.
“Maybe it was the chicken?”
“It wasn’t cooked,” Jaclyn countered,
“Oh that wasn’t ready?” Her face becomes a picture of shock, “My mistake.
♪Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is♪
Jaclyn moves to pick up the knife from the counter, but Pisces has already turned and walked away. She screams, throwing the blade into the wall. Tempest voice calls out from the downstairs bathroom.
“Jacky?”
She looks around at Daedalus, head in the trash. Koznar is out in the yard, his mask pulled back over the top of his head as he doubles over, retching. From the sound of his voice, Tempest may be in the same place. Her lip quivers and her eyes well up with tears before she bolts back towards his room.
Jacky slams the door shut and jerks her phone off the cabinet. She flips through it, then tosses it on the bed. She knew she had to get out of here. That stupid fucking Pisces, now Tempest would be mad and hate her and never talk to her again. She begins to cry.
There is a knock at the door and Jacky covers her mouth. Tempest’s voice is weak and labored.
"Jacky?" she presses stop on the phone, looking over at the door. She holds her breath, ready for the yelling to begin.
"Are you okay?" She tilts her head towards the door. A trick? That didn't seem like something he would do but after all they just met. She balls her fist up, shoving herself to her feet. She sneaks towards the door as he calls her name out once more.
She hesitates for a moment, pulling the door wide. Tempest skin looks somehow more flush and pale than usual. He's bent over and has a thin layer of sweat dampening both skin and clothing. He smiles, reaching for her. She catches hold of his head as he embraces, his cheek pressed against her neck.
“Hey, Doll.”
His weight suddenly drops into her and she staggers backwards towards the bed, pulling the larger man on top of her. His head tucks down against her chest. And his leg pulls on top of her, pinning her to the mattress. Her heart races. She wraps both arms around him, holding tightly onto him as she slowly strokes his back.
Bunny sits across the bed, watching.
VO Dead Bunny(played by Morgan Freeman)
And it was at this moment, Jaclyn Pierrot knew she was falling in love.
The clown pulls herself away from him, his hand lingering on her clothing as she walks forward, “Lemme guess: the evening news tells us tonight that the great ‘entertainer’ is not afraid. He’s seen this, he’s seen that, yadda yadda yadda. It’s one of those things where you don’t even want to listen cause you’ve heard it all before. We’re weird. We’re outcasts. We’re fools. What’s that one we love?”
Tempest says mockingly from behind her, “I’m not afraid of you.”
“That’s the one!” she shoots an arm into the air triumphantly.
“I don’t fall for mind games?” Daedalus offers.
“That’s the other!” her other arm rushes to join its raised colleague.
Koznar grunts. Jaclyn tilts her head slightly. She shrugs, continuing enthusiastically.
“Yeah, whatever he said!”
Tempest pulls her back by the clothing he still holds. He wraps his arms around her waist from behind. She giggles.
“We’ve heard all the resumes before. Fact of the matter is: we don’t really care, do we babe?”
He shakes his head.
“See, this isn’t about your past or my past or his past or anything really. You professional wrestlers are all the same, always stuck in the past - always seek glory time and time again, yadda yadda, Jesus fucking Christ,” Jaclyn deteriorates into laughter for a moment. Tempest takes the opportunity to poke at her stomach causing her to snort. She elbows him, clearing her throat, “Well, ‘Entertainer’, here’s the inside scoop! Jacky’s looking to change! See I want to make sure I fit in. I want to make sure I’m doing the things and saying the words so in the interest in being...one of you…”
“One of us...one of us…” the Creeps mumble in unison. Tempest rocks back and forth with her in his arms.
“I want to talk to you a little bit about the past and more specifically about history: the history of fear. What’s that thing they always say again, babe?”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Tempest says again, he snaps his jaws down towards her. Daedalus parrots him and Koznar howls from beneath the mask. The clown joins them, her honking laughter tearing through their howls.
“Here’s the problem with that: by ignoring your own fears, you take away the very thing that makes you mortal. Fear has a purpose, a meaning. Fear is a weapon, a tool, and a powerful one that man developed to protect itself.”
Her hand crawls around the champion’s back, pulling the large hunting knife his sheath. She waves the weapon around while she speaks.
“From what? Pain, death: man was afraid of fire because he could not control it. Man became afraid of the dark because of what lurked in the night. So what happened when man used his fear to learn and grow? What happened when man controlled his fear? He controlled the fire. He controlled the night and then the creatures of the night lost their power. And man? Man tried to forget about fear.”
“But man needs fear and so fear found a way,” She spins into Tempest's arms, holding the blade against his throat. He stands immobile.“Man became what man should fear and man too chose to cause fear in the darkness because for a time man was afraid to bring his own fear to light. Once again, man conquered that fear and man brought those horrors into the spotlight. The horrors of war. The horrors of life. The horrors of love.”
A trickle of blood rolls down his throat and her face turns soft for a moment. She moves the blade away, leaning in to kiss the wound. Jaclyn slides her arm along the back of Tempest, turning and nestling herself into him, his arm resting on her shoulder.
“And man once again tried to forget about fear, this time by numbing himself. Animals and monsters and men, all the fears condensed and pushed out in hour and a half incrimination to slowly numb man to fear. Fear became a game: say bloody Mary or Beetlejuice enough and just like me, third times the charm.” she butt bumps Tempest with little effect. He bumps her back with substantially more. She laughs.“Someone shoves you in the shoulders and your heart jumps, maybe one last time, maybe not and you get just that second to look into the mirror and see what you’re really made out of.”
“Fear is a Friday night double feature. Maybe it makes you jump, or maybe it moves your man closer, either way it whispers somewhere in your memory. It’s exhilarating and in those moments you just feel so alive but nobody wants to admit it. I’m not afraid they say. Well...that’s quite alright with me.”
She pushes his arm off and steps closer to the camera, her voice suddenly serious.
“Now...I don't need fear and fear doesn’t need me. Fear isn’t something I give to you, it’s just there to help you out. Be afraid, or don’t, it’s no matter in the end. I’m not here to play with your fears. I’m not here to play mind games.” She pauses and looks down. The cheshire smile spreads across her face, “I’m just here to have a good time. Have a good laugh and take that little prize off your waist.”
She looks back over at Tempest midsection and then down at hers. Her hands briefly touch where the same belt might fall if she was wearing it.
“See, my man looks so good with this little thing around his waist, what kind of Queen would I be if I didn’t have a matching crown? Another prize for the Cool Kids to chase. Another worthless hunk of shit I’ll have to carry around, but I’m always willing to do a little work for a game of keep away!”
Jacky grabs hold of one of Tempest's hands. She skips around him before wedging herself beside him once more: “Mister Pierce. You’ve suffered and strived and clawed your way to where you are. You’ve struggled and you’re halfway up the mountain! You’re almost there. But now, just for the laughs here I am: taking that all away from you. When you wake up from your tumble from the humble middle and you look up at the belt, your precious little fast pass to the top in my hand, just know that everything you worked for, everything you fought for was well...just a game for me…”
She pushes herself onto her toes and gives Tempest a peck on the cheek. His hand catches hold of her chin and they kiss, deeply. Daedalus clears his throat. The two separate, but stay locked tight into each other's arms.
“Travis,” she begins, her face turning to the camera once more, “at the end of the day, end of the night, unlike you I don’t really care if I’m champion. It’s not a badge of honor for me. It’s proving to you and yours that me and mine don’t need fear: you do. And the punches? The piledrivers? Pummelling your face?”
She laughs. Jacky launches herself into Tempest arms, spreading her arms wide for emphasis:
“That’s just entertainment.”
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