Title: Personal
Featuring: Christian Light
Date: 10/4/12
Location: Various
[Backstage, in Iris Davine's makeshift office.]
[For those of you who don't know, Iris is the head medical technician for Defiance, and right now she's tending to one of its top competitors.]
[The Last Nighthawk sits as still as he's able on a long bench covered by a paper “sheet”, aided by his hands being braced against the bench he sits on, as Iris glues his cut shut. Blood that dripped down his face has been washed off, but there are still droplets of blood on the floor and the bench’s paper sheet.]
Iris Davine:
You need to be more careful, Chris. Protect your head better or something.
“The Last Nighthawk” Christian Light:
Yeah, I know, Iris.
[The response is almost mechanical and dismissive. Iris picks up on this, and is not amused.]
Davine[sternly]:
Then do it, don't just talk about it. Seeing you in my office three straight cards for different head injuries is not going to do either of us any favors.
[With a final swipe, Nurse Davine puts down the glue and examines the wound, ensuring it’s closed up sufficiently.]
Davine:
You're not as young as you used to be, y'know...
Light:
I'll be more careful, I promise.
[More sincere this time. Christian's no fool, he learns quick.]
[Davine goes to put a large bandage on Light’s forehead.]
And it’s then, as both are silent, that we are aware that something else is going on in the room. Specifically, we hear a chant of "Bronson" coming over the background.]
[Christian looks around, seemingly caught by surprise. Which throws off Davine’s bandage routine and irks her slightly.]
Davine:
Hold still! I want to get out of here too you know.
Light:
What's that?
Davine:
The noise?
Light:
Yeah.
Davine:
They're replaying your match on the CC I think.
[Light takes a quick sideways glance at the TV as Iris bandages up Christian’s forehead gash. They’re at the point where Bronson Box is executing an Airplane Spin (!!) on Christian.]
Light[somewhat surprised]:
The fans were really chanting for Box?
Davine:
Yup
[BAM! DVD by Box]
Light:
Wow.
Davine:
What?
[Light shakes his head slightly.]
Light:
Nothing.
[It wasn't nothing.]
[Truth is, Christian didn't want to tell Iris that he didn't remember that part of the match, or she'd probably keep him from flying home to his family.]
[Or worse, competing at the next show.]
[And truth is, the fan reaction kind of hurt a little.]
Nucky Thompson: "I learned a long time ago, not to take things personally."
Gyp Rosetti: "Everyone's a person, alright? So how else could they take it?"
“You have time for a story, Elijah?”
[It’s odd to see The Last Nighthawk in a gray pinstripe suit with blue tie, but when addressing someone, you show them what they perceive as respect, and they may take you more seriously.]
[The bandage is still there, but we're no longer in Iris' office, instead finding ourselves in the Defiance promo booth.]
Light:
I know you're busy, Elijah, so I'll make sure I keep it brief.
I met a friend in this business named Joey Tesauro back in my WfWA time. We became such close friends, in fact, that I named my son after him. One of the things he did for me when I left this business was set me up with a position in his company, DLK Enterprises.
Chief Marketing Officer, he called me.
I said sure, why not? I've spent my life marketing myself...marketing The Last Nighthawk as a wrestling brand. And the pay was massively above what I was making on a per-appearance basis, even at the height of my career. Win-win, right?
[A shake of the head.]
Light:
I got chewed up and spit out.
I did what I could with what I could think to do. And I had corporate protection, too. But the position just wasn't for me at that time. I made mistakes I didn't even know I was making. A choice that I felt was one hundred percent factually justified and indisputable had massive unintended consequences that undermined the respect my subordinates were supposed to have for me.
If not worse.
For me, it was one hundred percent frustratng.
[Pause as Light adjusts his tie.]
Light:
That's why I want you to know one thing, Elijah.
This was never personal for me.
Not just the whole Defiance thing. The whole wrestling business thing.
But like me in my brief role as a CMO, you've made mistakes that you didn't even know you were making. You've made ill-fated choices that have brought you to this point, from the alienation of the original Defiance locker room to the riot show to the horrendous way you handled having a legit superstar like Heidi on your roster and all the way up to the Lisa Loeh incident.
Yeah, we all know what happened. She's a bit of a gossip, you know.
[Wink.]
Light:
If I believed for even one second that what you did was less about winning this contest and more about enmity and hatred, then perhaps I'd feel differently.
If that were the case, you'd be right up there with Ed White, who got the first receipt for his War Games treachery from Claira. Or Alceo Dentari, who, according to a recent poll of Defiance fans 87% of them think his continued existence is an environmental toxin and must be cleaned up immediately.
No, Elijah, our disagreement is less emotionally driven and more of a consequence of your bad choices. You want to take something from Eric Dane, my friend and stablemate. Something near and dear to his heart. And despite my...feelings of sorrow for you...despite my feelings of empathy...an assault on my friend and ally is just something I cannot abide.
That's it.
So this coming show, no matter what happens between Claira and I in the first match of the night, we will both stand and await your representative. And it’s going to be either someone who loathes and despises you...or someone who's now championed your two previous interleague efforts and came up short both times.
If its Alceo, you might as well get ready for the cage match, because he’d have to shoot us both in that ring to have a 50/50 chance of winning.
If it’s Heidi? Well, your odds are much better, since, y'know, Heidi is a world class wrestler and should still be Defiance World Champion.
But if you think I've come this far just to fall short now, Elijah...even against two of the most talented and successful female wrestlers to walk this Earth...
Well...I'd call that another one of your assessments that wasn't so bright.
[End.]
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