Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2017 20:47:10 GMT -5
"I'm getting word that the number one suspect in the disappearance of Rowan Blackwood has managed to make bail. I repeat, this monster is back out on the streets. He is dangerous. He had already murdered a man, and now stands accused of kidnapping Blackwood. If you see him, please stay away, do not approach under any circumstances!"
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ● JULY 20TH, 2017
PARK BENCH
He saw it there within his mind, as if he was really seeing it. He held the strap within his hands, just as he had done before. He could almost visualize it, feel the warmth it created. The Trans-Pacific Championship. It had finally found that home it had been searching for. Far from Aliyah Turner's grasp, far from Rowan Blackwood's waist. Right there, on his shoulder. It was his. Holding it there, close to him, meant everything to him. Washed away any sins previously committed. Created absolution.
And then he'd wake up, remembering swiftly that the very belt he desired was in the custody of the San Diego Police Department. He was startled awake, this time, by a little girl tugging on his sleeve.
"Are you the monster on the TV?"
For a moment, as he looked up still involved within his dream state, he saw young Izzi Mercer. But a second later and the vision was fading away, being replaced with a different little girl. She played with her barbie, brushing her hair.
"They say you took that girl. Are you really a monster? That's what the man in the suit calls you. Mommy watches him all morning."
"I...I am a monster, yes."
"Can you tell the night time monster under my bed to stop, pwease? You seem like a nice monster."
"I'm...I'm not a nice monster. I've done bad things."
The little girl sitting next to him on the bench took hold of a second Barbie that had been lying to her left. She handed it to Rumble, and a small pink brush mirroring the same one she had.
"Mommy says if you're sorry, then that makes it okay. Are you sorry?"
"...yes, but not at first."
"That's okay, too. The other day my brother Daddy popped off Barbie's head. I was so so sooooo mad that I hit him and I wasn't sorry. I just wanted to hit him more. But then later, I felt bad and I said sorry. Then it was okay."
"It's okay to be sorry later?"
It was at this point that the little girl's mother finally noticed where her daughter had run off to. She looked over, seeing the man that was basically charged for murder, sitting next to her daughter. She rushed over, letting her motherly instincts kick in.
"Honey, don't talk to that man. Get away from my daughter! How dare you come to a park with CHILDREN!"
The mother scooped up the little girl, carrying her away as fast as she could.
"Mommy, it's okay. The monster's sorry."
Her mother paid no attention to the words coming out of her four-year-old, who she'd later claim didn't understand. The little girl waved as she was being carried away, leaving Rumble with the Barbie within his hand. He looked down upon it would he ever be absolved of his sins?
******
As Rumble watched the little girl being carried away into the distance, her face grew bruised and bloody, a trail following her mother as she walked. The woman was carrying a corpse, a single eyeball following out of the little girl's socket.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ● JULY 20TH, 2017
THE HOME OF LORENA REYES
"But Mom, he came all the way here, and has a big man coming up at So Cal World War...why can't I go?"
Stone Reyes, the seventeen-year-old son of Rumble Reyes, begged his mother. His mother, Lorena, hadn't bothered bailing Rumble out of jail, despite their son's pleading. Lorena had long since tucked away any feelings she may have had for the man she once called Bruin Reyes.
"No, no, no! I'm not letting you step into that murder house with your father. There's actual killers in that place!"
"Mom, don't be so over-dramatic. Dad has this under control. He's not going to let anything happen to me. The only thing Zander Blackwood has proven is that he hasn't been able to do things on his own in a long time. Rowan is gone, and she's been there every step of the way. Even last week, Zander had to rely on Ryker being there in order for him to make an impact. Otherwise, the whole Complex knows that Zander would have faltered. Zander is an opportunist, not a devastating powerhouse like Dad is, and there's no opportunities in a C4 Barbed Wire match. Plus there's no way that Paige is going to help him, she's only out for herself, as seen by the way she took out even the Blackwood's on Asylum XI. But again, an opportunist. She wait until after Dad was finished fighting the Blackwood's. This time they've BOTH got to face this head on, face to face. It's going to be a showdown...I've got to see it."
"Stone, it's not the other competitors that I'm worried about, it's your father..."
She glared at Rumble, who remained standing in the doorway. He knew better than to argue with his ex-wife over the wellbeing of their son. The one and only person he'd never pick a fight with, Lorena Reyes. She couldn't see his eyes, due to his sunglasses, but glared anyway.
"Your father is just...well, he's the killer I'm worried about. I know he'll protect you with his life, I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about what you'll see the night of So-Cal World War. I've seen that same look before. Not many people can see it, they think he's stoic, but I was married to him I KNOW. Your father is out for blood, and he's not going to rest until he gets it. That's what fuels his recovery, what makes his endurance continue. He just doesn't quit. His decently high stamina and focus make him deadly..."
She looked at Rumble again, her facial expression now a somber one. She missed the man she used to know.
"I don't want you having to see what I had to see years ago...I don't want you to witness your father committing murder. I forbid it."
Stone looked to his father, a confused look on his face, as if he expected his Dad to speak up. Fight for his son to see him in battle. Instead, he still said nothing, only nodded, and turned to leave.
*****
As he did, Bruin Reyes took one last look at the family he had left behind. His son, missing arms, rotting scabs upon his face. The woman that he once loved, and still did deep down, was completely headless. Blood continued to pour out onto the floor from the pair of them.
They were all dead. All of them. Was this punishment for killing another? Still no body, but he knew it was only a matter of time.
Would he be able to come back from it, again?