Hammer and Anvil [Jason Bronco/Bond vs. Ze Germans - #2]
Aug 16, 2015 23:40:10 GMT -5
Post by Vinny on Aug 16, 2015 23:40:10 GMT -5
Boston, Massachusetts.
Midnight. The Applebee's parking lot is empty save for employee cars and the scattered halos of the parking lamps. Jason Bronco emerges from the rear exit, with his black button-down shirt tossed over his shoulder. He walk past the cars in the lot and out onto the main drag and off into the night. Traffic is scarce, and the air is muggy. His black T-shirt clings to his back and his sides like a second skin.
“So you wanna know,” Bronco says to the night, “why I was hanging around backstage at Pride, huh? So you wanna know why Chris Bond would pick me over any of his students in the Lion's Den? So you wanna know why I had Chris Bond's back?”
Bronco exhales through a dismissive smirk.
“Yeah, just some kid getting handed everything on a silver platter. The reason Bond chose me isn't because he didn't trust his students. It isn't because I'm better than anyone in the Lion's Den, as much as I'd like to think I am. It isn't even because of my last name. He did it as a favor for an old friend. An old friend that put him in a tough position, because I pushed him. Dynamic Duos... that was just serendipitous timing. I don't know if Bond had any intentions of entering until I showed up and flipped his world upside-down.”
“But you're right about one thing, I did want to cut the line. Not just past everyone in the Lion's Den, but past established names in FGA, too. I thought I was ready. I was kid Icarus with wax wings... but I flew to close to the sun.”
“And you know what they said to me after Dynamic Duos? 'Hey, kid, great job out there... but we don't have anything for you right now.' Hey, kid, thanks for killing yourself out there... but we don't have anything for you right now. Hey, kid, thanks for letting us make a buck off your famous name... but we don't have anything for you right now. Hey, kid, thanks for sacrificing your future and your family to take a shot... but we don't have anything for you right now!”
Bronco spits.
“So why was I backstage at Pride? Because I've spent the last two months on the phone every day trying to get another shot. 'Hey, you got anything for me? Hey, you got anything for me? Hey, I'm out here dying, couch-surfing, and waiting tables... you got anything for me?' I finally got an invite to come to Gibsonville. I spent what was left of my savings on a plane ticket to Charlotte. Hitchhiked up to Greensboro and then walked the 16 miles to Gibsonville so that I could try to talk my way onto a Pride card.”
“So that leaves one question left... why'd have Chris Bond's back? I could tell you all the things people want to here from guys who wanna play the hero. 'It was the right thing to do.' 'He's my friend.' 'I owed him one for taking me under his wing.' And sure, there's kernels of truth in all of that. But when I hit the ring, when I ran out there, legs pumping like mad... heroics weren't on my mind. I was thinking about one thing: this is my chance to get on the show. This is my chance to get on the card.”
“My dirty little secret, Hans and Liesl, is I don't give one damn about either of you. I barely knew who you were before, and I only know a little bit more about you now. You could've been goddamned werewolves and I'd have still come out, because – unlike Icarus – I got a second chance. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let it slip through my hands.”
“So if you want to try and beat that determination out of me,” Bronco smirks, “Well, I wish you the best of luck. Better men than you have been trying to stop me from wrestling for the past five years, and I'm still here. Hans, you may be 'the Hammer,' but I'm a goddamn anvil. So come at me, bro, and we'll see who breaks who first.”
Word count: 704
Midnight. The Applebee's parking lot is empty save for employee cars and the scattered halos of the parking lamps. Jason Bronco emerges from the rear exit, with his black button-down shirt tossed over his shoulder. He walk past the cars in the lot and out onto the main drag and off into the night. Traffic is scarce, and the air is muggy. His black T-shirt clings to his back and his sides like a second skin.
“So you wanna know,” Bronco says to the night, “why I was hanging around backstage at Pride, huh? So you wanna know why Chris Bond would pick me over any of his students in the Lion's Den? So you wanna know why I had Chris Bond's back?”
Bronco exhales through a dismissive smirk.
“Yeah, just some kid getting handed everything on a silver platter. The reason Bond chose me isn't because he didn't trust his students. It isn't because I'm better than anyone in the Lion's Den, as much as I'd like to think I am. It isn't even because of my last name. He did it as a favor for an old friend. An old friend that put him in a tough position, because I pushed him. Dynamic Duos... that was just serendipitous timing. I don't know if Bond had any intentions of entering until I showed up and flipped his world upside-down.”
“But you're right about one thing, I did want to cut the line. Not just past everyone in the Lion's Den, but past established names in FGA, too. I thought I was ready. I was kid Icarus with wax wings... but I flew to close to the sun.”
“And you know what they said to me after Dynamic Duos? 'Hey, kid, great job out there... but we don't have anything for you right now.' Hey, kid, thanks for killing yourself out there... but we don't have anything for you right now. Hey, kid, thanks for letting us make a buck off your famous name... but we don't have anything for you right now. Hey, kid, thanks for sacrificing your future and your family to take a shot... but we don't have anything for you right now!”
Bronco spits.
“So why was I backstage at Pride? Because I've spent the last two months on the phone every day trying to get another shot. 'Hey, you got anything for me? Hey, you got anything for me? Hey, I'm out here dying, couch-surfing, and waiting tables... you got anything for me?' I finally got an invite to come to Gibsonville. I spent what was left of my savings on a plane ticket to Charlotte. Hitchhiked up to Greensboro and then walked the 16 miles to Gibsonville so that I could try to talk my way onto a Pride card.”
“So that leaves one question left... why'd have Chris Bond's back? I could tell you all the things people want to here from guys who wanna play the hero. 'It was the right thing to do.' 'He's my friend.' 'I owed him one for taking me under his wing.' And sure, there's kernels of truth in all of that. But when I hit the ring, when I ran out there, legs pumping like mad... heroics weren't on my mind. I was thinking about one thing: this is my chance to get on the show. This is my chance to get on the card.”
“My dirty little secret, Hans and Liesl, is I don't give one damn about either of you. I barely knew who you were before, and I only know a little bit more about you now. You could've been goddamned werewolves and I'd have still come out, because – unlike Icarus – I got a second chance. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let it slip through my hands.”
“So if you want to try and beat that determination out of me,” Bronco smirks, “Well, I wish you the best of luck. Better men than you have been trying to stop me from wrestling for the past five years, and I'm still here. Hans, you may be 'the Hammer,' but I'm a goddamn anvil. So come at me, bro, and we'll see who breaks who first.”
Word count: 704