+ Retrograde: The Hunger [III]

[Archer]

++ "Retrograde: The Hunger" ++

"I said, cut her arm off, Jimmie..."

He gripped the knife hilt hard, gazing down at the back of the blonde in front of him. His hands were trembling, sweating, his veins coursing with fear as he rose his arm higher. The man known as Archer pressed the cold, unforgiving end of the pistol against his head harder. He was quickly growing impatient, and Jimmie was stalling.

"Cut her FUCKING arm off!"

Twenty-five Minutes Prior

Jimmie Barassi awoke in a small, dimly lit hotel room. It was the same he had fallen asleep in, but there was something different about it. As he opened his eyes, this is what ran through his mind, but he was too groggy to fully comprehend what was happening. A second later and the melatonin wore off, his mind returning to his body. That's when he saw it. There was blood lining the walls, from what must have been tons of people. His eyes-widened as he looked around the room, it was completely trashed. He searched his mind, had he done this? Then, he was there.

"Morning Jimmie...get up."

He grabbed Jimmie Barassi by the collar, yanking him from his bed, making him stand.

"You saw Vendetta, didn't you? I assume that you did, given your new position of power here in RSW. I wouldn't guess you'd simply skip the showing, you were probably there but I didn't care to notice. Don't get me wrong, I've known who you are, but unless you end up in my way, you don't end up on my radar. You're a smart man, I'm sure you can conclude that this means you've gotten in my way..."

Jimmie's eyes were still wide, slightly groggy from sleep, in disbelief this was actually happening.

"So I ask you, Jimmie, if you were at Vendetta, or if you saw it, at least, then why did you allow Lord to walk out with his title? He should have been stripped right there, Raven should have been fired, but instead, you're letting them carry on. You break the rules, you pay the consequences, that's what it was supposed to be, not some bull about not being able to break a pin ten feet away from you due to early on-set arthritis or something. You said you'd make things fair, Jimmie...so why do I feel I got screwed?"

Archer lifted one of his eyebrows, still holding Jimmie by his collar. With a powerful thrust, he shoved Jimmie to the floor. Barassi only hit his knees, not far from where Archer stood.

"It's because you've screwed me Jimmie, and now you're going to make it right. I'm not going to make you strip Lord of the Supreme title, because I still want him and Mondae, both, in that No Holds Barred. No, that'd make things easy on him."

He paused, laughing and taking a moment to run a hand through his hair.

"What you are going to do is follow-up on Lord Blake's little proposal. I want the Blackwoods banned from ringside. Hell, I want everyone else banned from ringside too. I don't want anyone else out there except for the two people who will be leaving in bodybags, and me. For too long Lord and Mondae have gotten away, for too long they've tried to lay claim to MY title, and it's about time that ended. At Scream Fest, those two are mine, I'm not even going to allow the rest of Violent Intent by my side, and if I see anyone else out there it's going to be your head, Jimmie!"

Again, he took Jimmie by the collar, almost dragging him across the room.

"Lord and Mondae are cut from the same cloth, given everything in life and only wanted more. They grew up as rich kids, and laughed at people like me, and now look, who's going to be laughing now?! I'm made for matches like this, these are the sort of matches I've grown up in. Lord got lucky, he beat me in that street fight, but now he's going to take on both Mondae and I at the same time? I really can't comprehend why both of them think they can outlast me. I've always been able to take a beating, and in this match I can give it back tenfold. I know they've both got things they can do better than me, but does it really matter in this setting?"

He hadn't noticed her before, a blonde woman on the floor, face down. For a second, Jimmie thought Archer had killed her. Then, he realized she was moving, her arms cuffed to the floor.

"My win at Scream Fest is imminent, my mind may have faltered this week but there's one thing that never did...my drive. My desire to rid RSW of ALL second gens is more powerful than ever, and my yearning for the Supreme Championship is even greater now..."

Archer forced Jimmie onto his knees, next to the blonde.

"and I know what you're thinking, Jimmie. This is some empty threat...Lord likes to think all my threats are empty. So I'm going to do something now that makes a believer out of you."

With a clinking sound, Archer tossed a butcher knife down at his feet, next to Jimmie and the woman. Next, he pulled out a black gun, aiming it at the back of Barassi's head.

"Cut her arm off."

Barassi was mortified as he looked down at the knife. Archer saw his shock, grabbing Jimmie's hand and placing it around the hilt.

"I said, cut her arm off, Jimmie..."

He gripped the knife hilt hard, gazing down at the back of the blonde in front of him. His hands were trembling, sweating, his veins coursing with fear as he rose his arm higher. The man known as Archer pressed the cold, unforgiving end of the pistol against his head harder. He was quickly growing impatient, and Jimmie was stalling.

"Cut her FUCKING arm off!"

Jimmie was almost motionless, raising the knife, attempting to force himself into doing the unthinkable. He was sweating uncontrollably, seconds before possibly passing out, before Archer took the knife out of his hands. He felt relieved, maybe Archer changed his mind, before he threw the gun down. It sounded different now, almost...fake? The blonde stood up, not cuffed at all, and not even blonde. She removed her wig, Emma Douglas giggling uncontrollably.

"Jimmie-Boy, do you get it now? I'm not messing around. When I first came here, I was hungry for blood, but now I'm hungry for something else, and if I don't walk out of Scream Fest with my Supreme Championship around my waist, then you best run and hide. I'm coming for you, and worst of all, I'm coming for RSW."

He tapped Emma on the shoulder, and the duo walked past Barassi, leaving him on the floor to gather his thoughts. They exited his hotel room, shutting the door behind themselves and walking down the hall. Emma had a slight skip in her step, overjoyed by what had just occurred. She had seen him there, the Architect of Ultraviolence.

"Welcome back, love."