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What They Needed; New Friday Night RP 1
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Topic Started: Dec 29 2011, 09:20 AM (234 Views)
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Deleted User
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Dec 29 2011, 09:20 AM
Post #1
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Deleted User
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There were dozens and dozens of people at the press conference. Not surprising. No matter what time of day it was, people always came out to see what Tony Jarvis had planned. Entertainment in 2011 had spun on Tony's little finger. What he wanted to be popular, was popular. What he wanted people to hate, they hated. There was no quicker way to look like the media was in the know than to cover the latest Tony Jarvis project.
Project: HERO had been the breakthrough that had brought Tony into the public eye. The concept of the show had been so brilliant, but oh so simple. He took an average, midwestern farmboy and made him into a Superstar. Ross Raines had been an unremarkable young man. A football player with no real prospects when he got older except for taking on the family farm when his father died. He had good looks though, all american charm and an unmatched work ethic. That was all Tony had needed to make him a star. Tony'd been smart enough to get his name out there, to market himself as the genius behind the throne. That got his name out there and made him richer than he already was.
Now, it was time though. It was time to expand the brand. Ross had proven to be a disappointment. With him gone, the second season of Project: HERO would need something new. So, he'd decided to make it a competition. He'd gotten a few different people together, different walks of life. They'd train as Ross had trained. He'd imagine they would be less difficult to deal with than Ross was.
“Who holds a press conference at midnight Tony?” The english accent behind him sounded highly irritated. Tony turned away from his desk. Amelia Terrence was his right hand. An absolutely brilliant businesswoman, it was her he depended on to interact with the talent. Sometimes that worked out...others it proved to be a problem. He needed her though, for this.
”There's no point in having muscle if you don't flex it a little bit, Miss Terrence.” Tony said with a smirk ”We manage to get any press attention down there?”
She nodded and looked out the door ”You know we did. What? You want me to tell you how well the things going to turn out? I don't think you've ever had an idea you weren't completely confident in.”
Tony chuckled and walked away from his desk. He headed past her and waived her arm for them to follow. Amelia trailed behind him down the hall. The reporters were set up in his famous library. Dozens of them. He just wanted to hear her tell him what a good idea it was. Clearly, she was having none of that. They headed into the elevator and started ascending the building. Amelia crossed his arms in front of her and leaned against the wall. She looked aggravated. ”What's the matter with you?”
Amelia didn't respond. Tony sighed ”I realize, Miss Terrence, that you're concerned about my decision to go with new talent for this season...Ross was too difficult to deal with.”
”Oh don't blame this on him Tony.” Amelia snapped back ”You never had any faith in him. You let him train for that first year, you filmed him and got him all ready but when it came time for you to actually start marketing him? You wanted to dump him. You wanted to kick him off the show right there.”
”Yes, well-”
”I remember. The boy scout. You couldn't stand the boy scout. You wanted a rock star and Ross is anything but. I remember.”
She didn't say another word while they moved up the Tower. There wasn't anything to say. She was furious. There was no way to calm her down. She simply didn't understand that there was no way to make money off of Ross. The door hissed open and a wall of reporters greeted them. Tony stepped out of the elevator first and he heard the excited muttering from everyone. Tony ignored them and moved through the crowd to the front. Amelia waited at the back. There was a little podium set up front for him. He stepped behind it and smiled at the assembled crowd before he started talking.
”Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming at such a later hour for the announcement of season 2 of Project: HERO.” Tony said ”I realize most of you would like to be home and asleep. Unfortunately, with the incoming launch this is going to be our busiest time of the year. Quite frankly, even this is taking away time to from other projects.” He flashed a smile to dull the harshness of his words.
One of the reporters stood up. Louis Adams, of the Criminal Who Didn't Care. Some entertainment blog that people seemed to take pretty seriously. ”Mr. Jarvis. Can you tell us how this season is going to differ from the last one?”
”Certainly.” Tony answered, with the tone in his voice making it clear that he had no interest in dealing with interruptions ”In the first season, we were able to establish what Project: HERO could be. As I always say: America has two original creations. Those are Professional Wrestling and Comic Books. In season 1 we established one leading to other. Wrestling is...a comic book come to life. In the first season, we had Ross Raines. Midwestern farm boy who really connected with the public at large. If we-”
Louis interrupted him ”Do you regard Ross Raines as a failure?”
”What?”
At the back of the crowd he saw Amelia cross her arms across her chest. She wanted to walk over and slug the reporter. Tony wasn't happy with it either.
”Ross was a ratings success, certainly, people tuned in to see him.” Louis replied ”But he was hardly interested in going out there and making appearances to promote himself. All he cared about was wrestling. He became involved with some unsavoury characters. Certainly, if you intended on marketing him as some classic good guy associations with people like Zenna Zdunich and Alissa Lacroix couldn't have helped matters.”
Tony's eyes narrowed at Amelia. She'd been Ross's handler. It'd been her job to make sure he hadn't done anything that would harm the project. She'd failed miserably in that regard. They'd have to talk about it later.
”Are you always this judgemental, Mr. Adams?”
He was standing at the back door with his arms across his chest. He was dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a plaid shirt and a golden hoody. It clashed. Certainly wasn't what Tony would of gotten him to wear if he knew he was going to show up. More than that, there was the look in his eyes. That stare. That narrow eyed, frustrated look on his face whenever someone said something he didn't approve of. It wasn't anger. It was disappointment.
There was a shocked gasp from the assembly. Ross Raines was supposed to be gone. Done with the show, out of wrestling with an injury. Everyone pretty much figured he'd disappear. Yet, here he was.
”Zenna Zdunich and both of the Lacroix's are good people. Better than most. Certainly more honest.” Ross said, walking between the rows of chairs and heading up toward the podium. Amelia stepped forward and he reached out uncertainly, she extended a hand and he took it for a moment before he nodded slowly and continued forward to the front ”Hello, Mr. Jarvis.”
”I can honestly say I didn't expect this. I thought you were laid up in the hospital.” Tony responded coldly.
Ross shook his head, seemingly amazed ”Clearly, you don't watch the shows your talent is working on. I'm back. Came back on the Secret Santa show. I'm wrestling again.”
No reaction from the crowd. They knew. Son of a bitch, the reporters already knew. He was back on TV and Amelia hadn't told him. Son of a bitch. Son. Of. A. Bitch! He did his best to hide his frustrations and answered ”Well, color me surprised. I thought your neck had been broken.”
”Nearly. Very nearly. Everyone certainly seemed to be under that impression.” Ross muttered ”I'm a hard man to keep down Tony. I've got the will to keep going. Which is why I'm here.”
”Why ARE you here?”
The reporter. Tony and Ross both gave him a look and he fell quiet and sank slowly to his chair. Ross turned back to face Tony ”While I was on the show regularly, I had trouble with the cameras. With the fame. All that stuff. Whenever I wanted to get away from it you came down on me about the contract. About how I had signed a multi year contract with Jarvis Industries to be part of this project. You were always quick to remind me.”
”Trust me, I'm aware of how often we had to remind you about your commitments.” Tony muttered ”We gave you a million chances and you constantly tried to-”
”You're right.”
The crowd muttered and Tony stepped back. Ross continued ”I was selfish. I wanted to pursue a life outside this whole thing. I understand that. This is what I'm supposed to do. Destiny. I've got a higher purpose...I didn't exactly understand that until I got hurt and almost lost it. I'm supposed to help people, Tony. Project: HERO is how I can do that. The show...wrestling...that whole thing. I need it. I need it and I'm not going to be as effective without the connections being on the show provides. Without a platform to get my message out there.”
Tony shook his head ”You had your chance. We've already got new talent for the show, new wrestlers to train. We don't need you anymore.”
”Contracts work both ways Tony.” Ross replied ”I want to get back to my job. I want to get back on the program. I'm willing to do anything I have to do to make that happen.”
”Is that a threat, Mr. Raines?”
”It's a request to go back to work sir.” Ross answered, with a cold confidence in his voice ”And...if this request is not met? Then I'll be willing to fight it in court. Maybe I'll win, maybe I won't but I think it's easier to let someone work with you than it is to try and stop them.”
Tony walked away from the podium and stepped toward Raines. The reporters were scribbling frantically in their notebooks, muttering among themselves. Ross had connect with them. They were excited. Time to stoke the fire ”Maybe you underestimate how much I value getting my way, Ross. Fine. You want to come back to work? Make an appointment, come pick up your gear...we'll have the cameras back on you by morning.” He walked back past the others. He stood next to Amelia and snapped his fingers, watching her give Ross a confused look before they headed out the doors.
”Did you know that was going to happen?” Tony snarled once they were out of earshot of the reporters, heading back toward the elevator.
”Of course I didn't-”
Tony twisted around on his heel, locking eyes with the Englishwoman ”Allow me to make myself clear Amelia. I'm aware of your affections for Raines. I understand that. If I discover you're working for him? Don't worry. I won't fire you. I will find a way to punish you. I will put every ounce of the creativity I have into making your life very, very difficult.” The doors opened and she stared at him. She seemed stunned. A moment later, she followed him into the elevator and stood there nervously. Tony took a deep breath to compose himself and fixed his tie as the elevator closed.
Think. Think. Think. Use your brain Tony. You can make this work for you. You always make this work for you. How can you spin this to your advantage? Ross is back. The public loves him. The public needs their hero. The hero you control. The hero who's just tried to step into your world and tell YOU how to run YOUR show. How to run YOUR empire. Who does that little Ant think he is? Doesn't he realize you made him? Doesn't he understand YOU put this all together? And those people? Those people down there who cheered when he rebelled against the businessman who created him. The common reporter who'd-
Smile.
”I want you to prepare a letter, for immediate release to every press outlet that will carry it.” Tony said, his usual sly confidence returning to his voice ”I want you to announce Ross Raines return to Jarvis Industries. Make it sternly worded. Drop in a quote from me making it clear I'm annoyed he humiliated me tonight. Let them know I'm going to be considering legal action against Ross.”
”What? Why?”
”He's a hero, Amelia. Heroes need villains. Good ones.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Amelia Terrence opened her eyes. What time was it? She'd gone to bed late. Very late. It hadn't been staying up late to prepare the letter. She'd prepared dozens of them like that on such short notice. It hadn't been dealing with Tony going off on her for Ross' little stunt. Tony was constantly plotting and scheming, she'd learned to stay one step ahead a very long time ago.
It'd been him.
The television at the foot of her bed was still playing the same thing it'd been playing the night before. The footage she'd gone to sleep by: Ross Raines standing on the middle turnbuckle after winning a match, smiling and staring down over the fans. Easily her favorite shot of him. In the last two months, Ross had all but fallen out of her life. They'd been close in the beginning. She'd been his compass in dealing with the strange realities of fame. More than that, they'd been friends. Maybe more. She had to admit a bit of affection for the farmboy, with his wry grin and easygoing attitude. More than that? He was a good man. A good man in an increasingly cynical world.
Now he was back. Out of nowhere, just walked into her life again. Everyone's eyes were on him when he walked into the room, but his eyes had been on her. She didn't understand it. How he'd connected with everyone so fast. It wasn't like his record in the ring was particularly impressive. He'd lost the most important matches of his career. He kept pushing though. When he'd been hurt? There'd been thousands of letters wondering where Ross was. She couldn't imagine he'd just walk in the door again. What did he want? It sounded like he wanted things to be the way they'd been in the beginning. How could they be? What little support they had from Tony before had been hard to gain. Now, he had a plan to exploit Ross in some new way she didn't understand. She'd have to be ready. He'd need to be prepared.
She missed the man too. She smiled warmly, climbing out from under the blankets and moving over to turn the television off. He never agreed with her. Amelia was reluctant to see the good in people. She'd seen others be screwed over too many times to allow anyone the chance to do the same to her. Ross? The opposite. She could remember him at an autograph signing, giving some kid his jacket. He looked at her and said ”I believe in the good in people.”
I believe in the good in people.
She smiled and turned off the television.
He'd made her dinner once. Oh, she didn't know about it at the time. They'd been having a disagreement about whether or not Ross had the right to interfere in the affairs of Zenna Zdunich, one of his best friends. She hadn't shown up for dinner. It was only later that her driver in her limo that night had confided in her Ross' feelings for her. She wanted to talk to him about it, but after that he was gone. A few weeks later, there was the neck injury...and he hadn't spoken to her since. Not one word. He was gone and she wondered if any of that was her fault.
She just wanted him back. She just wanted to be able to tell him it'd be okay, that they could figure it out. She wanted to tell him that people needed him around. Hell, she wanted to finally admit that she needed him around.
Knock Knock.
Amelia sighed and headed over to the door. Yeah, she wasn't dressed particularly well. Just her underwear and the same white shirt she'd been wearing the day before. Note to self: Shower immediately. Screw it though. This day was stressful enough. Whoever it was, she'd kick them off her floor and go back to bed. When she opened the door, she smiled. It was him. Of course it was him. Ross Raines stood in her doorway and smiled that same constant, easy smile.
”Hey Amelia.” He said softly ”I just wanted to-”
She kissed him. She hopped up and kissed him, pulling him backward into the apartment. Ross shut the door behind him and she looked into his eyes.
He was back. He was back and they were together. All the hard stuff could be sorted out later. Right now? Everything was easy.
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