Post by Gerard Angelo on Aug 11, 2020 22:40:17 GMT -5
Gerard Angelo stood there in his backyard, muscular arms crossed over his chest as he stared up at the white owl in his tree. The owl cocked her head before leaping from the tree. The owl’s form started to shift and change as it headed towards the ground, elongating and twisting. When it finally hit the ground it had changed into a short, mousy haired, young woman. Gerard stared at her, his anger slightly visible in his face. She walked towards Gerry slowly.
“What brings you here, Amanda?” Gerry asked, arms still crossed across his muscular torso. Amanda looked up at him.
“I think you know why I’m here.”
“Going to try to lie and use me again, are we?” Gerard scoffs and Amanda’s brow furrows.
“That’s not even what happened!” The elf girl says, clenching her tiny fists. She stops suddenly and rubs the bridge of her nose, composing herself.
“Listen, I don’t know what that vile beast, Ba’lal, told you, but we aren’t the bad guys here.”
Gerard rolls his eyes.
“Bullshit Amanda. Ba’lal showed me all the things you guys did to him when he was just trying to make the world a better place.”
“You know he tried to enslave the human race, you idiot!” Amanda says, rubbing her eyes with her pointer and thumb fingers. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe he was fucking lying to you?”
Gerard goes to say something smart back but pauses, thinking it over. Was Ba’lal lying to him? Or was Amanda? He thought about it for a second, as if it was the first time he was thinking clearly. He had remembered the nightmares, and the visits for that… thing, but he just assumed it was the work of Amanda and her friends after what Ba’lal told him. Though it was odd that Gerard would believe something like that so easily, and with such little proof. Amanda, seemingly reading his mind, reached out and patted him on the arm.
“Listen, Gerry, Ba’lal has this ability to influence people. He can see your deepest, darkest, desires and use them to exploit people. You aren’t the first, and probably won’t be the last. But, right now we have very little time. I’m using magic so Ba’lal can’t see us, or eavesdrop, but it won’t last long.”
Gerard sighs and uncrosses his arms, a gesture showing he was letting down his defenses.
“Alright, alright. What is it?” The Hollywood Hero asks, sitting down on a lounge chair that was set up near the Olympic sized, in-ground, pool.
“Ba’lal has started to target Kara.”
Gerard looks up at her(Well, not that far up, considering she is very tiny) with shock.
“What did he do?!” Gerard screams, reaching out to grab Amanda’s shoulders, shaking her. Amanda puts a small hand on his forehead and uses a bit of magic to calm the larger human down.
“Relax. He was just trying to scare her. We think he’s doing this because she seems to bring out the good in you, and when you’re with her, you’re not so easily influenced by Ba’lal. He must be trying to make her feel like she’s crazy, and give that illusion to everyone else. Trying to keep you two apart.”
Gerard clenches his fist, gritting his teeth as he feels anger flowing through him. How dare someone try to attack Kara. He suddenly thinks to himself that he doesn’t know if this is true or not.
“Listen,” Amanda says, noticing his conflict, “do whatever you want with that information. Give her parents a call, see if I’m right. Ask Ba’lal himself. Just know that he will stop at nothing to see his plan through, and you are a big part of that.”
Gerard looks down at the ground, his eyes tracing the lines in the stones that make up the walkway around the pool.
“But why?” He finally asks, it was a question that had been hanging in the air since this whole situation started. Why was he so important to forces beyond the imagination of average, everyday, people? Gerard knew he didn’t lead an average life, being a pro wrestler and actor, but he didn’t feel any different from the average Joe. Amanda look at him and cocked her head.
“Because you’re an Electi, Gerard.” She said this matter of factually, as if it was the answer he was looking for. Gerard shook his head.
“No, why though. Why me? Why not someone else?”
Amanda sighs.
“It would take a while to explain, and we don’t have much time now. Next time we meet I will explain everything to you. But now I must go. The magic is fading, and we still need to prepare for Ba’lal. Every day he gets stronger, and we need to try and stop him before he gets too powerful.”
Amanda turns and stares up at the night sky for a moment.
“Just know, it’s not too late to renounce him, Gerard. But make up your mind soon, or you will be too far gone.”
Gerard goes to ask another question, but Amanda changes form back into a snow white owl, and flies off. Gerard sits there for a moment, processing everything. Who was telling him the truth? He let out a groan and rubbed his temples. All of this was giving him a headache. He stood up and went into the house to call Megan, see if what Amanda told him was true.
=============
Present Day
Gerard sat back out in his backyard, the warm night air almost stuffy at this time of year. He let out a puff of smoke from his lips before bringing the lit cigarette back up and taking another drag. Gerry hadn’t had a good two weeks, which led to him buying a new pack of smokes. Not only was it true that Kara had seen some kind of monster (which Frank and Megan insisted that it was just trauma from the attack), but he also narrowly lost to Grimm. And what is the match for this episode of Trauma? Why Pandaemonium vs Grimm and Rick Majors.
Again.
Gerard understood why they were doing it. He and Holden had unfinished business with Grimm and Rick, and due to the major Pay-Per-View event being so stretched out, they needed a way to keep the interests in the feuds up. But Gerard was just tired of wrestling the same matches over and over again. He was also tired of hearing that blithering idiot Jerry Andrews say there is no shame in losing to Grimm. For Gerard, there was nothing more shameful. Every time Grimm got one over on him it set his plans back two steps. It seemed like everything he had accomplished recently got wiped away with that one loss. Every step forward was two steps back around here. He was still the Icemann winner, and had his contract, but it seemed like no one was taking him seriously. Hell, no one even wanted to try and collect the bounty he had put on Stormm. Texas Tim was the only one and he was an incompetent fool. Willard had been the only one to put Stormm down for a bit, and he even made his bounty seem like a joke.
Gerry sighed, a stream of smoke exiting his nostrils.
He was tired of being taken lightly. He was tired of Pandaemonium being taken lightly. Gerard Angelo wasn’t a joke, and he would prove that this week. Winning or losing doesn't matter anymore. He would take Grimm down a peg, and Rick Majors too, since he wanted to hang out of Grimm’s ass like he was some kind of sidekick.
Gerard flicked his cigarette, the ember spinning into the night.
“What brings you here, Amanda?” Gerry asked, arms still crossed across his muscular torso. Amanda looked up at him.
“I think you know why I’m here.”
“Going to try to lie and use me again, are we?” Gerard scoffs and Amanda’s brow furrows.
“That’s not even what happened!” The elf girl says, clenching her tiny fists. She stops suddenly and rubs the bridge of her nose, composing herself.
“Listen, I don’t know what that vile beast, Ba’lal, told you, but we aren’t the bad guys here.”
Gerard rolls his eyes.
“Bullshit Amanda. Ba’lal showed me all the things you guys did to him when he was just trying to make the world a better place.”
“You know he tried to enslave the human race, you idiot!” Amanda says, rubbing her eyes with her pointer and thumb fingers. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe he was fucking lying to you?”
Gerard goes to say something smart back but pauses, thinking it over. Was Ba’lal lying to him? Or was Amanda? He thought about it for a second, as if it was the first time he was thinking clearly. He had remembered the nightmares, and the visits for that… thing, but he just assumed it was the work of Amanda and her friends after what Ba’lal told him. Though it was odd that Gerard would believe something like that so easily, and with such little proof. Amanda, seemingly reading his mind, reached out and patted him on the arm.
“Listen, Gerry, Ba’lal has this ability to influence people. He can see your deepest, darkest, desires and use them to exploit people. You aren’t the first, and probably won’t be the last. But, right now we have very little time. I’m using magic so Ba’lal can’t see us, or eavesdrop, but it won’t last long.”
Gerard sighs and uncrosses his arms, a gesture showing he was letting down his defenses.
“Alright, alright. What is it?” The Hollywood Hero asks, sitting down on a lounge chair that was set up near the Olympic sized, in-ground, pool.
“Ba’lal has started to target Kara.”
Gerard looks up at her(Well, not that far up, considering she is very tiny) with shock.
“What did he do?!” Gerard screams, reaching out to grab Amanda’s shoulders, shaking her. Amanda puts a small hand on his forehead and uses a bit of magic to calm the larger human down.
“Relax. He was just trying to scare her. We think he’s doing this because she seems to bring out the good in you, and when you’re with her, you’re not so easily influenced by Ba’lal. He must be trying to make her feel like she’s crazy, and give that illusion to everyone else. Trying to keep you two apart.”
Gerard clenches his fist, gritting his teeth as he feels anger flowing through him. How dare someone try to attack Kara. He suddenly thinks to himself that he doesn’t know if this is true or not.
“Listen,” Amanda says, noticing his conflict, “do whatever you want with that information. Give her parents a call, see if I’m right. Ask Ba’lal himself. Just know that he will stop at nothing to see his plan through, and you are a big part of that.”
Gerard looks down at the ground, his eyes tracing the lines in the stones that make up the walkway around the pool.
“But why?” He finally asks, it was a question that had been hanging in the air since this whole situation started. Why was he so important to forces beyond the imagination of average, everyday, people? Gerard knew he didn’t lead an average life, being a pro wrestler and actor, but he didn’t feel any different from the average Joe. Amanda look at him and cocked her head.
“Because you’re an Electi, Gerard.” She said this matter of factually, as if it was the answer he was looking for. Gerard shook his head.
“No, why though. Why me? Why not someone else?”
Amanda sighs.
“It would take a while to explain, and we don’t have much time now. Next time we meet I will explain everything to you. But now I must go. The magic is fading, and we still need to prepare for Ba’lal. Every day he gets stronger, and we need to try and stop him before he gets too powerful.”
Amanda turns and stares up at the night sky for a moment.
“Just know, it’s not too late to renounce him, Gerard. But make up your mind soon, or you will be too far gone.”
Gerard goes to ask another question, but Amanda changes form back into a snow white owl, and flies off. Gerard sits there for a moment, processing everything. Who was telling him the truth? He let out a groan and rubbed his temples. All of this was giving him a headache. He stood up and went into the house to call Megan, see if what Amanda told him was true.
=============
Present Day
Gerard sat back out in his backyard, the warm night air almost stuffy at this time of year. He let out a puff of smoke from his lips before bringing the lit cigarette back up and taking another drag. Gerry hadn’t had a good two weeks, which led to him buying a new pack of smokes. Not only was it true that Kara had seen some kind of monster (which Frank and Megan insisted that it was just trauma from the attack), but he also narrowly lost to Grimm. And what is the match for this episode of Trauma? Why Pandaemonium vs Grimm and Rick Majors.
Again.
Gerard understood why they were doing it. He and Holden had unfinished business with Grimm and Rick, and due to the major Pay-Per-View event being so stretched out, they needed a way to keep the interests in the feuds up. But Gerard was just tired of wrestling the same matches over and over again. He was also tired of hearing that blithering idiot Jerry Andrews say there is no shame in losing to Grimm. For Gerard, there was nothing more shameful. Every time Grimm got one over on him it set his plans back two steps. It seemed like everything he had accomplished recently got wiped away with that one loss. Every step forward was two steps back around here. He was still the Icemann winner, and had his contract, but it seemed like no one was taking him seriously. Hell, no one even wanted to try and collect the bounty he had put on Stormm. Texas Tim was the only one and he was an incompetent fool. Willard had been the only one to put Stormm down for a bit, and he even made his bounty seem like a joke.
Gerry sighed, a stream of smoke exiting his nostrils.
He was tired of being taken lightly. He was tired of Pandaemonium being taken lightly. Gerard Angelo wasn’t a joke, and he would prove that this week. Winning or losing doesn't matter anymore. He would take Grimm down a peg, and Rick Majors too, since he wanted to hang out of Grimm’s ass like he was some kind of sidekick.
Gerard flicked his cigarette, the ember spinning into the night.