Post by Jack Hammond on Aug 6, 2009 13:29:48 GMT -6
A rather bleak opening and a rather subdued Jack Hammond fades in onto the viewer's screens this week, his regularly cheery face contorted into one of confusion or some sort of internal conflict that seems to be boiling away inside of him. He sits hunched on yet another park bench in the sweltering outdoors of a Tennessee night, no sounds cutting through the still, dark air besides Hammond's breathing as he seems to fidget quietly, shifting slightly uneasily. His head rises momentarily and a half-hearted but pained smile spreads across his features.
"It's difficult sometimes. To have a certain set of standards or rules that you want to live by and then to suddenly have a situation presented to you that seems to drive you to follow those same standards and rules down a path that you weren't exactly expecting. In some cases it can lead to good things happening; when I won the World Title was one of those times...a slightly darker period of my life, but something that saw me become immortalized as a true champion. But sometimes the road can be dark and treacherous. It can be strange and hostile and yet somehow you need to ride it out and see where it leads you."
Jack pauses again, the subdued and quiet tone of his voice almost chilling the night air despite his current location and the season. Once again, that conflicted, almost pained expression comes onto his face.
"When I saw Joe Everyman being laid in front of me at my mercy, a chair placed into my shaking hands...I wanted to hit him. To let out all the frustration that was pent up inside of me and let him taste the torment that he's put me through. But I didn't. Instead, I found myself swinging at the men who'd attacked him and were looking to cause him a massive pain simply because they wanted revenge and defending the man who'd promised a few weeks ago to bring my career to an end."
He manages a shrug after a slight pause, scratching at his head, tousling his already messy hair.
"And now I've got people asking me if I've turned my back on what I used to stand for. The two men who tried to beckon me towards the easy way out, to let fly with that chair and cripple Everyman, the cocksure Mac Bane and brazen Nick Logan, they want revenge for my 'betrayal'. Mac Bane in particular has made it quite clear that I'm no longer to be trusted for throwing my lot in with the very man who delivered a Twist Of Fate to rub in my X-Division Title loss last month at Mind Games; to team up with Joe Everyman at Fallout in a Grudge Tag Match."
Jack manages a mirthless chuckle, shaking his head.
"So it seems that by helping a defenseless man is enough to make me a cause for controversy. If it's all well and good, I'd like to try to clear something up; no matter who it was who the Syndicate chose to attack and I was given the chance to prevent it, I'd have done it; it just so happened to be Joe Everyman. Even if it'd been Rob Diamond, Adam Knite, either of that twats from Dirty Deal or even the girl with the voice that leaves me with a headache worse than a morning after a few pints in the form of Kelly Fox, I'd have stepped in. Though now that I think about it, saying all of this makes me sound like I'm trying to be some sort of superhero...'Hurricane Hammy' or some such."
He chuckles at the image that pops into his head and makes a mental note to perhaps start equipping himself with a mask and cape before he waves his arms and coughs to try to return to the more serious subject at hand.
"I don't expect everyone to understand as to why I'd do it, but being called a hypocrite for saving Everyman's bacon irks me some. When I want to get even with someone, I settle it in the ring, not backstage with a mate under some false pretense that a Hall Of Famer needs their honor upheld; let's face it boys, Lance Ryan's a big boy and he can stand up for himself without the need for a pair of self-righteous berks trying to put on some noble act."
A grin seems to grow on Hammond's face, that little spark behind his eyes coming alight.
"Let me make another point clear here as well; I never accepted Everyman's deal. I never shook his hand and quite frankly I haven't spoken to him since Sunday night and I don't really expect him to become my best buddy. If we're honest I don't think we can be all chummy considering what he's put me through this past month, it just happens to that we're being put on the same boat and having to team up this Sunday at Fallout. If the cross I have to bear is that I have to work with him, so be it; but nobody's told me that I have to enjoy it."
Jack's little grin grows, his posture changing as he sits up straight, that tenacious side of him beginning to shine again.
"I mean let's face it. In the past few months, we've seen that Everyman's ego seems to have expanded tenfold and he's become so cocky I'm surprised he doesn't crow when the sun comes up every morning. He's taken to being as vicious as a pitbull who's just had his pint spilled and yet is liable to cowardly sneak attacks and running away from a fight when the odds are stacked against him. Most disparaging of all is that he's desperate for a title shot, but hasn't seemed to have had one in a long while and this seems to only be irritating the hell out of him, which provides most of the rest of us with some form of amusement as he throws his little hissy fits. I could go on listing all of the bad points about him, but I fear I don't really have the time to do so."
He chuckles and grins cheekily, letting loose an amused sigh as he leans back on the bench.
"But, no matter how much you Syndicate boys and I can make fun of him, I would sooner have him in my corner than anyone else in this business over almost anyone else in nCw. Because despite all of the bad points, he's still Joe Everyman. Despite our obvious choices for choosing to stomp on kittens or not, both he and I respect each other. We have been able to bring the best out of each other and we've fought one another to a standstill. There is no other man who probably knows what I'm capable of and would be able to use it with his own talents in order to work together. We can throw names at each other and make claims that we're eventually going to settle it one day, but for now Mac Bane and Nick Logan, you find yourself against two men who will work together for a common goal; to defeat you."
Jack's grin turns feral as he begins to amp himself up slightly, his eyes burning into the viewfinder of the camera that seems to close in on his face.
"You call me a victim, that I will be destroyed come Fallout. Now either, you haven't been paying attention or there's something that's clouding your judgement when you say those words. You're gutsy...up to a point where i feel maybe I need to explain just what hubris is and hope you don't fall victim to it when you see the history I've had with Joe Everyman. Maybe you think we're going to bicker and moan at each other this Sunday and that will bring about our defeat; you think that and it's going to perhaps require a Mustang to the chest to make you wake up from your little dream that it'll be that easy; I certainly know it won't. You want to steamroll over us and see your name up in lights for the first time and I can respect that, but the second you become complacent, it won't matter how much you think your tenacity or freshness in nCw will matter, you lose focus for a moment on what you need to do and what lies ahead of you, I will not hesitate for a moment to make you pay. I can guarantee the both of you that Everyman would say exactly the same...only he may be a little less polite about it."
Hammond shrugs nonchalantly before he grins once again.
"You want me to stay away, you don't want me to be a problem? I think I answered that question when I whacked Mr. Logan in the face with the chair. Unless I hit him too hard that he forgot, in which case I apologize and I hope that little episode with the Elvis suit wasn't a result of it."
He tries to stifle a chuckle before he nods confidently at the camera, getting to his feet and looking up at the night sky, the stars and moon glittering all around him.
"So good luck Syndicate. You keep banging on about me worrying about losing face for defending the man who insulted a legend. You worry about losing face for getting beaten by the Hamster."
The camera pans upwards to look at the star-spangled blackness of the sky, watching them fade as the scene goes black.
---
The scene then suddenly fades back in, the camera dropping to Hammond, still standing beside the forlorn park bench, a phone pressed to his ear. He looks slightly grim as there's the sound of a voice on the other end.
"I was wondering when you'd be calling."
"..."
The other voice seems to be inaudible but whatever he says makes Hammond let out an exasperated sigh.
"...I suppose a talk wouldn't hurt."
"..."
The other voice is still muffled, but one word, 'bar' seems to come through clearly, something that makes Jack pay attention.
"...and it's all on you?"
"..."
There's a pause before Hammond turns off his phone and rushes off screen, his destination not exactly a mystery as the sound of his Mustang starting up just off camera can be heard, the scene fading out to black for the second but final time.
"It's difficult sometimes. To have a certain set of standards or rules that you want to live by and then to suddenly have a situation presented to you that seems to drive you to follow those same standards and rules down a path that you weren't exactly expecting. In some cases it can lead to good things happening; when I won the World Title was one of those times...a slightly darker period of my life, but something that saw me become immortalized as a true champion. But sometimes the road can be dark and treacherous. It can be strange and hostile and yet somehow you need to ride it out and see where it leads you."
Jack pauses again, the subdued and quiet tone of his voice almost chilling the night air despite his current location and the season. Once again, that conflicted, almost pained expression comes onto his face.
"When I saw Joe Everyman being laid in front of me at my mercy, a chair placed into my shaking hands...I wanted to hit him. To let out all the frustration that was pent up inside of me and let him taste the torment that he's put me through. But I didn't. Instead, I found myself swinging at the men who'd attacked him and were looking to cause him a massive pain simply because they wanted revenge and defending the man who'd promised a few weeks ago to bring my career to an end."
He manages a shrug after a slight pause, scratching at his head, tousling his already messy hair.
"And now I've got people asking me if I've turned my back on what I used to stand for. The two men who tried to beckon me towards the easy way out, to let fly with that chair and cripple Everyman, the cocksure Mac Bane and brazen Nick Logan, they want revenge for my 'betrayal'. Mac Bane in particular has made it quite clear that I'm no longer to be trusted for throwing my lot in with the very man who delivered a Twist Of Fate to rub in my X-Division Title loss last month at Mind Games; to team up with Joe Everyman at Fallout in a Grudge Tag Match."
Jack manages a mirthless chuckle, shaking his head.
"So it seems that by helping a defenseless man is enough to make me a cause for controversy. If it's all well and good, I'd like to try to clear something up; no matter who it was who the Syndicate chose to attack and I was given the chance to prevent it, I'd have done it; it just so happened to be Joe Everyman. Even if it'd been Rob Diamond, Adam Knite, either of that twats from Dirty Deal or even the girl with the voice that leaves me with a headache worse than a morning after a few pints in the form of Kelly Fox, I'd have stepped in. Though now that I think about it, saying all of this makes me sound like I'm trying to be some sort of superhero...'Hurricane Hammy' or some such."
He chuckles at the image that pops into his head and makes a mental note to perhaps start equipping himself with a mask and cape before he waves his arms and coughs to try to return to the more serious subject at hand.
"I don't expect everyone to understand as to why I'd do it, but being called a hypocrite for saving Everyman's bacon irks me some. When I want to get even with someone, I settle it in the ring, not backstage with a mate under some false pretense that a Hall Of Famer needs their honor upheld; let's face it boys, Lance Ryan's a big boy and he can stand up for himself without the need for a pair of self-righteous berks trying to put on some noble act."
A grin seems to grow on Hammond's face, that little spark behind his eyes coming alight.
"Let me make another point clear here as well; I never accepted Everyman's deal. I never shook his hand and quite frankly I haven't spoken to him since Sunday night and I don't really expect him to become my best buddy. If we're honest I don't think we can be all chummy considering what he's put me through this past month, it just happens to that we're being put on the same boat and having to team up this Sunday at Fallout. If the cross I have to bear is that I have to work with him, so be it; but nobody's told me that I have to enjoy it."
Jack's little grin grows, his posture changing as he sits up straight, that tenacious side of him beginning to shine again.
"I mean let's face it. In the past few months, we've seen that Everyman's ego seems to have expanded tenfold and he's become so cocky I'm surprised he doesn't crow when the sun comes up every morning. He's taken to being as vicious as a pitbull who's just had his pint spilled and yet is liable to cowardly sneak attacks and running away from a fight when the odds are stacked against him. Most disparaging of all is that he's desperate for a title shot, but hasn't seemed to have had one in a long while and this seems to only be irritating the hell out of him, which provides most of the rest of us with some form of amusement as he throws his little hissy fits. I could go on listing all of the bad points about him, but I fear I don't really have the time to do so."
He chuckles and grins cheekily, letting loose an amused sigh as he leans back on the bench.
"But, no matter how much you Syndicate boys and I can make fun of him, I would sooner have him in my corner than anyone else in this business over almost anyone else in nCw. Because despite all of the bad points, he's still Joe Everyman. Despite our obvious choices for choosing to stomp on kittens or not, both he and I respect each other. We have been able to bring the best out of each other and we've fought one another to a standstill. There is no other man who probably knows what I'm capable of and would be able to use it with his own talents in order to work together. We can throw names at each other and make claims that we're eventually going to settle it one day, but for now Mac Bane and Nick Logan, you find yourself against two men who will work together for a common goal; to defeat you."
Jack's grin turns feral as he begins to amp himself up slightly, his eyes burning into the viewfinder of the camera that seems to close in on his face.
"You call me a victim, that I will be destroyed come Fallout. Now either, you haven't been paying attention or there's something that's clouding your judgement when you say those words. You're gutsy...up to a point where i feel maybe I need to explain just what hubris is and hope you don't fall victim to it when you see the history I've had with Joe Everyman. Maybe you think we're going to bicker and moan at each other this Sunday and that will bring about our defeat; you think that and it's going to perhaps require a Mustang to the chest to make you wake up from your little dream that it'll be that easy; I certainly know it won't. You want to steamroll over us and see your name up in lights for the first time and I can respect that, but the second you become complacent, it won't matter how much you think your tenacity or freshness in nCw will matter, you lose focus for a moment on what you need to do and what lies ahead of you, I will not hesitate for a moment to make you pay. I can guarantee the both of you that Everyman would say exactly the same...only he may be a little less polite about it."
Hammond shrugs nonchalantly before he grins once again.
"You want me to stay away, you don't want me to be a problem? I think I answered that question when I whacked Mr. Logan in the face with the chair. Unless I hit him too hard that he forgot, in which case I apologize and I hope that little episode with the Elvis suit wasn't a result of it."
He tries to stifle a chuckle before he nods confidently at the camera, getting to his feet and looking up at the night sky, the stars and moon glittering all around him.
"So good luck Syndicate. You keep banging on about me worrying about losing face for defending the man who insulted a legend. You worry about losing face for getting beaten by the Hamster."
The camera pans upwards to look at the star-spangled blackness of the sky, watching them fade as the scene goes black.
---
The scene then suddenly fades back in, the camera dropping to Hammond, still standing beside the forlorn park bench, a phone pressed to his ear. He looks slightly grim as there's the sound of a voice on the other end.
"I was wondering when you'd be calling."
"..."
The other voice seems to be inaudible but whatever he says makes Hammond let out an exasperated sigh.
"...I suppose a talk wouldn't hurt."
"..."
The other voice is still muffled, but one word, 'bar' seems to come through clearly, something that makes Jack pay attention.
"...and it's all on you?"
"..."
There's a pause before Hammond turns off his phone and rushes off screen, his destination not exactly a mystery as the sound of his Mustang starting up just off camera can be heard, the scene fading out to black for the second but final time.