They say that, in certain circumstances, people held captive feel adulation toward their captors. The person who has been kidnapped begins to see things from their own warped perspective, begins to agree with them and ends up rooting for the very person that abducted them in the first place. They call it Stockholm Syndrome.
Wednesday 16th March 2011
Miami Beach
It’s 4am and Miami Beach is deserted, bar the occasional late night reveller stumbling through the sand in the distance. The moon shines brightly across the ocean as August Joyce stands with his bare feet in the sand, waves lapping up over his toes. For a brief moment he remembers the feeling of being free.
“Hope you’re not thinking of swimming away to freedom?”
A voice bellows out from the night, somewhere behind August.
“Because you know I’d put a bullet through your head before it touched that water.”
The voice moves closer and August turns round to face it.
“Why would I do a thing like that?” August shouts back. “We’ve still got work to do.”
“Yea? Well a little birdy tells me you got yourself caught last week.”
The man appears out of the darkness and has a gun aimed directly at August’s head.
“Hey, what the hell?” August stumbles backwards through wet sand and puts his hands up in front of him. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked. I’m on your side in this.”
“You got grabbed by a crew of MWA guys. Who were they and what did you tell them?”
“I didn’t tell them anything!”
“You’re lying to me, August. I don’t like it when people lie to me, my finger starts to twitch. And, trust me, you don’t want my finger twitching right now.”
“Seriously, I didn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know. Besides, there’s so much of this that I still don’t know about myself!”
The man looks annoyed and angry, he lowers the gun and turns away briefly before getting back in August’s face.
“They know about what’s going on?”
“They know some.” August begins. “But they still don’t know the end game.”
“Who is ‘they’?” The man asks as he raises the gun to Joyce once more.
“Kendall. Pinex. Black Hollywood. Nana Moto. Auslander. Bowden.” Joyces stumbles, nervously, as he speaks. “They know it’s you.”
“So they know about me, huh? Do they know about the boss? The plan?”
August shakes his head. “No. Kendall told me he heard you on the phone to the boss though. He knows there is someone, but he has no clue who it is or what they’re planning.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“He told me.” August says. “He told me that he found Monsoon’s keys with your prints on. He told me about how he followed me to the warehouse, how his crew got Mick, Earls and me. He told me what he heard you say.”
“And then he just let you go?” The man seems surprised.
“He left me alone for too long, I got the hell out of there and came here to find you.”
He goes silent for a moment as he contemplates the situation.
“I should kill you right now. You lead them to me, you blew my cover.”
“No, wait!” August shouts. “We can still do this. A handful of people are on to you, so what? Bring things forward, start the plan sooner. What better place than Revelations to announce the boss’s arrival?”
The man looks at August, gun still pointed at his head. After what seems like an eternity he lowers the gun and tucks it into the back of his pants, covering it with his shirt.
“That’s actually not a bad idea.” He turns and begins to walk away. He looks back over his shoulder with a smile. “Come on, I’m sure there’s a place around here where we can still get a drink.”
9 days earlier…
In the hours that followed BattleZone the MWA put together a team to track August Joyce. The idea was that Joyce would lead them to the man behind the recent attacks on the company. No-one was expecting that man to be who it turned out to be.
Now that the night is drawing to a close the crew that the MWA assembled has disbanded and headed home. Except Richard Kendall.
The Major is sat at a table, directly opposite August Joyce, in a dimly lit room. There’s a table lamp shining at August, who is sat with his handcuffed hands resting on the desk.
“What’s he up to?” Kendall asks. “Who is it he’s working for?”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
“What’s the timescale on this? When is he making his move?”
“I’m not sure!” August is visibly upset by the whole situation. “A few weeks, I think.” He looks down at the handcuffs. “Are these really necessary?”
“You kidnapped two people. You assaulted another. You’re going to jail, August.”
“I was forced to do those things, Major! I didn’t want to do any of it. They have someone following my wife, they threatened to kill her! I’m just so glad to be free right now.”
Kendall remains silent for a moment, almost as if there’s something he’s hiding from August.
“I need your help.” Kendall begins. “I want you to help us bring this bastard down.”
“Help, how?”
“I’m going to let you go. And I need you to contact him and arrange a meeting with him.”
“What!?” August does not like the sound of that plan. “You’re crazy, there’s no way I’m going back to that bastard.”
“You must, Mr Joyce. I need you to convince him to push forward with his plan. Convince him that Revelations is the time to strike. Then, at Revelations, we’ll be waiting for him. We’ll bring him down and whoever he’s working for.”
“And how am I supposed to do this?” August queries.
“I don’t care.” Kendall says, coldly. “Find a way.”
August thinks long and hard about what Kendall is suggesting, letting out a big sigh.
“Ok.” August finally responds. “If I do this for you, you have to help me with something.”
“What is it?”
“My match with Jeff Starxxxx. Cancel it.”
“I can’t do that, August.” Kendall says, shaking his head.
“Why the hell not? I didn’t want to attack him, I was made to. If I can just explain it to him I’m sure he’ll understand. And to Mick too! If you put me in that ring with those two I’ll be destroyed!”
“And if the match doesn’t go ahead then this asshole will know something is up. I’m sorry, August, but you’re going to have to face Jeff.”
August sighs deeply. “At least tell them what’s going on, maybe they’ll go a little easier on me.”
“In order for you to keep your cover I’ll have to tell them that you escaped from here tonight. I can’t have them knowing that I let you go.”
“You know they’ll both be out for blood, right?” August says.
Kendall nods, silently.
“So, you’re saying I have to go out there and have the living fuck beaten out of me?”
“You’re assuming there’s no way you can win?”
August looks confused. “What are you getting at?”
“Re-wind the clock two years. What were you then?” Kendall asks.
August thinks for a moment. “A free man?”
“The MWA Millennium Champion.” Kendall reminds August. “You were a champion, a fighter. People didn’t think you belonged in the MWA and you proved them all wrong. You started living up to your moniker, the Peoples Choice. You defeated Dyson Scott and held that title for three months. Granted, that’s not the longest title reign you’ll find in the MWA records, but it’s not to be dismissed either.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying, you’ve proved yourself before. Now I’m asking you to prove yourself once more. Contact this lunatic, persuade him to bring forward his plans. Then get to Revelations and be a man, face up to Jeff Starxxx. You do that and you’ll be on the road to redemption. Hell, you do that and I’ll make sure you stay out of jail.”
9 days later… back on Miami Beach
“Drink?” August quizzes. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
“Don’t make me point the gun at you again, Joyce.”
“Hey, I love a drink, but I’ve got to get into the ring with Jeff Starxxxx on Sunday!”
The man stops and turns back to face August.
“Oh, yea. No disqualification, huh?”
“Yea. And since they managed to get Mick Monsoon back, he’s going to be referee.”
He laughs. “Oh man, you are so fucked.”
“No shit.” August says as he begins to walk back up the beach. “So I should probably get some sleep. I’m going to need some serious training over the next few days if I’m going to be ready for this match. Or if I’m going to survive it.”
“Starxxxx is just an over-hyped spot monkey. He goes for the thrills, the cheap pop from the crowd. He’ll showboat, he’ll work the crowd and all the time he’ll leave openings for you to put him in his place.”
“Well, even if you’re right I need to get in some training.”
“You do that.” The man says. “I won’t need you for the next stage of the plan anyways. And now they know I’m involved I can’t very well kill you… which was my original plan. Looks like you got what you wanted, August, you’re a free man.”
“Seriously?” August can hardly believe what his captor is saying.
“Yea, seriously.” He says with a smile. But the smile soon fades. “But if I hear that you helped Kendall in any way, if you fuck up my plans… your wife WILL die. As will your son.”
Joyce stops dead in his tracks.
“My son!?”
“Oh, snap!” The man says with a wicked smile. “I knew there was something I forgot to tell you. His first birthday was in January, by the way. While we were in Japan. Xanthe tried to bring him to see you, fortunately we managed to stop them.””
“You son of a bitch!” August begins to move in on him.
The man begins to reach behind him for his gun. He holds out his other hand towards August, signalling him to stop.
“Now, hold on there daddy. Come any closer and your kid will never know you. “
August stops dead. His anger evident in his face. The man simply laughs.
“I see Kendall didn’t bother telling you either. Figures. You see, no-one cares about you, August. No-one but me. I’ve had you working for me for almost two years and in that time not one person has come close to finding you until this week. You know why? Because they don’t give a flying fuck. You don’t know how lucky you are to have me!”
The man turns and walks away, leaving August stood on the beach alone.
They say that, in certain circumstances, people held captive feel adulation toward their captors. The person who has been kidnapped begins to see things from their own warped perspective, begins to agree with them and ends up rooting for the very person that abducted them in the first place. They call it Stockholm Syndrome. And it’s not a condition I suffer with.
You know what? For two years you’ve treated me like shit. For two years I’ve been your punch bag, your sick little project. You tried to persuade me that no-one cared. That there was nothing left in the world for me any more, that I was better off doing your dirty work and helping you and your boss bring forth the destruction of the MWA.
And I actually started to believe it. I actually had given up all hope. I assumed that I’d wind up dead in a ditch somewhere if I didn’t do what you said. I figured there was no escaping you so I went a long with it all.
But now… knowing I have a son. Thank you. Thank you for giving me something to live for; something to fight for.
So, bring it on. Bring it all on.
Bring on Revelations. Bring on Jeff Starxxxx. Bring on you and your boss.