Detective Cox is sitting across from him, and Hope has returned to the penthouse as well, sitting beside Talon, looking shocked as well…
Cox, “Now Ms…”
Hope, “It’s Cassidy… Hope Cassidy.”
Cox, “Ms. Cassidy, what you just heard… that’s not something you need to publish, or report… agreed?”
Talon looks over at Hope as she looks at him and then back to Cox.
Hope, “I won’t say a word… that’s not what I wanted to report on, this was purely a wrestling article, not a invasive personal one… I promise I won’t say a thing.”
Talon lets out a sigh of relief as he shakes his head.
Talon, “Cox, thanks for the info… I appreciate it.”
Cox stands up and puts a hand on Talon’s shoulder.
Cox, “I hate I had to tell you, but you’re welcome. I’ve got to get back home, the wife’s made dinner already … I’ll stop by the bar and see you and Ed later…”
Talon, “Thanks again Cox… see you ‘round.”
Talon and Cox shake hands and then the detective leaves, leaving Talon and Hope alone again.
Talon looks at her and again lets out a sigh.
Hope, “rough night huh?”
Talon, “just one in a string of many…”
Hope, “you’re life’s always this hectic?”
Talon, “This is a calm day for me.”
Hope, “I’m sorry I had to add to it by trying to scam you… I really am.”
Talon smiles lightly, reassuring that everything is ok.
Talon, “It’s fine… but if you don’t mind… I need to be alone for a while, but if you’re interested, we can get lunch tomorrow…”
Hope smiles warmly as she stands up and kisses Talon on the cheek,
Hope, “it’s a date.”
Talon, “Here’s my number, call me tomorrow and we’ll set up a place to meet.”
Talon escorts Hope to the door and says goodbye before turning around to face the camera.
Talon, “Ok… So I had planned on doing all my HWA addresses tonight but that got cut short by all the commotion you just saw… so Logan, Ally… I’ll speak to you personally in the coming days… but as for my Road To Ruin counterpart, the current reigning, ‘eager to defend’ world heavyweight champion, Hans von Richtoven… Hans, I know you’re ready to come and tear me apart, I mean… not to say you need to fight your little brother’s battles for him, but I know that if my brother were still here, and I saw him being choked out with a bra, or any other material for that matter… I’d be ready to destroy the attacker… So I’m assuming you’re going to be looking forward to facing me in the Main Event at Road to Ruin, but I do need to ask, was this ‘gauntlet’ a byproduct of your lottery once again producing subpar competition at a pay per view? I predicted this a long time ago, and here it is… I mean, I know I am a world class wrestler, and a world champion contender, but according to my ‘contract’ if you can call it that, the world title has been deemed ‘unobtainable’ for me, so the fact that at a pay per view, where fans are spending 100-350 dollars a ticket for good seats, you can only provide them a gauntlet match full of spotlight contenders? …tsk tsk, I know it’s not your fault, it was the ‘luck of the draw’ but still… your little lotto has been a lot more of a joke than it has been a success to boost your credibility as world champion…. Sure you’ve been successful in all your title matches… I mean, all of your officially booked HWA authorized title matches, but what does that say? That you can beat guys who aren’t worth the world champion’s time any other day? Wow, isn’t that how Bill Goldberg ran his undefeated streak up so high? Yeah, he turned out golden didn’t he? But I digress, you’re a fighting champion, the champion to make everyone forget about my pathetic reign, and Ed’s equally dab run as world champion right? But I really don’t need to talk to you like Butch does, and by that I mean, asking you rhetorical questions and being all sarcastic, nope… instead I’m going to tell you just how it is… cut and dry, plain and simple.”
Talon steps closer to the camera, getting even more serious, his tone not changing much, and his demeanor still relatively calm.
Talon, “Hans, I still respect the fact that you are the Heavyweight Champion, but I really think you’re disrespecting the intelligence of everyone in the viewing vicinity when you say that your lottery is going to restore glory to the HWA and its top prize. You can defend it all day against non-hackers and all it does is add to your win/loss record, but you know, just like I do, that to make that title more valuable to have to go out there and constantly repel real contenders. My hands were tied, I had Ed coming at me nonstop and the match makers above simply had me facing him week in and week out without any chance to do anything else… Ed’s situation was slightly different, and you’ve all heard that before… but You Hans, as noble an idea as you presented, by now you have to see that it was a lot better on paper than it is in practice. You’re doing nothing but miss out on a great chance to put on an epic match with a guy like Ronnie. Then again, he beat you at Havoc, and it was pretty clear he should be wearing the belt… c’mon, how can you really deny that in your typically long winded, play on words response?”
Talon looks at the camera, pondering Hans’ retort.
Talon, “So here we are though Hans, the lotto has pitted you against Draconis, Shakir, and myself… which of the three, I am at least both a Ring Master and World Title winner… but you out class the formers by not only leaps and bounds, but by both in every mental and physical category on the charts… But you see, the lottery selected them for a Pay Per View main event… Im sure Draconis came up first and they said, Oh damn… pick again…. Then comes Shakir… a gifted Tag teamer but nothing more than a lunatic with a jihad fueling his rage, that and burning up his family in order to take on the mantle of a legacy everyone else wants to forget… and think about this…. Both of your first opponents are notorious for the company they keep, as am I, but think about this. You may destroy Draconis normally, but what about when the rest of the SoA comes out to help… Grudge, Fallen, Finn-o-fate, hell maybe even Legion comes back from church to get you, you’ll be fighting a mob, and when you win, and win you shall… You get Shakir, and what comes with that? Curt Evers… a much more deadly member of the cadre. Again, you’ll be fighting the numbers, and I know you have your pride, so I doubt Parker or even your baby brother will be ringside with you… so again, you will be worn down, little by little… I have no doubt you will come out of both of those pairings victorious, but at what cost? You will be spent Hans, and then my music will hit… the black sheep of the HWA, the one who fell from grace, but unlike everyone else, was actually booted from the heavens… In many ways I guess I resemble Lucifer… I was the HWA’s golden standard, the prodigal son, the one who was bound for the Hall of Fame after my first six months… So when I rebelled, I was kicked from my cloud and down into the Hell that is the Spotlight division… Now I am booked out of spite, in a title match that I know I can win, but still foresee the end resulting in my hand being raised, only to see David Willyard step out and say “NO! You cant be champion” and laugh as he walks back to his shitty desk and his shittier cigar… So what do I have to lose? Nothing at all… I’m already at the bottom of the barrel, a win hear won’t likely allow me back into the World title division, even if I snatch the gold from Hans’ waist and celebrate my second HWA title reign… I’m doing this for personal pride Hans, and to show you that I am still as deadly, and as skilled as I have ever been, only now Im serving a punishment in the cellar of the Spotlight division… So when I beat you, it will serve as more of a precursor to Ronnie’s second victory over you, it will set you up for another loss, only when that time comes, neither David Willyard, or Senester will have just means to keep the title around your waist… but I am going to do something for you Hans… I’m going to give you my word that the rest of the nWo, Ronnie, Eddie, Merlyn, Hogan, and anyone else who maybe on our side by then, none of them will come down to the ring during our match… I may be a ‘bad guy’ but I still have that honor and respect for the World championship to give that respect to you and our match… I will beat you one on one Hans… because I know I am better than you, and after Road to Ruin, you’ll know that too.”
Talon takes a breath and smirks confidently into the camera before saying one last thing...
Talon, "Hans, I look forward to our match... rest up champ, it's going to be a marathon."
Talon steps back from the camera as the scene fades to black.
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