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Justin Sane · **12-28-2014, 05:44 PM**

PREVIOUSLY, ON LOST....

:: Splash – Again, I heard it but paid no attention, though I wished I hadn't tried making small talk with Nan. BANG! Everybody jumped as a loud crashing noise came from the living room. We all exchanged glances, before pushing our chairs out and going to investigate. Walking down the hallway, I could her muffled expletives being belted out. The fingernails of mom and Michelle were digging hard into my arm as we approached the room. As we made it to the doorway, mom let out a violent scream and turned to run away. Her shriek startled the intruder who spun around. I go to move into the room and make the first move, but stop after a step and just stare at the masked man in front of me. ::

“.....Gator?”

:: He looks up at me and starts dusting soot off of himself, much to the disdain of my family, who still remain silent. ::

“Oh, hey Justin.”

“What are you doing?”

“Dusting myself, what does it look like?”

“I mean, what are you doing here? And why the fuck are you using the chimney?! What happened to the fire?”

:: Gator looks behind himself at the fireplace, before turning back to face me. ::

“Oh, that? Yeah, dude, you have no fucking idea how hard it was carrying two buckets of water up to your roof in the snow just so I could put that thing out. Can't your family just get a heat pump?”

:: I stare at him in disbelief as he finishes wiping damp soot all over the once white carpet. ::

“...why didn't you just use the front door?”

:: Gator stops everything and just stares at me for a second, before looking at the rest of my horrified family. ::

“I.. oh yeah.”

“You still didn't answer my question. Why are you here?”

“Because it's Christmas, of course! You're supposed to spend Christmas with your friends, remember?”

“What about your family?”

“Defiance man, we are family!”

:: I slap the palm of my right hand onto my forehead in disbelief and run it down my face. ::

“Okay man, well you gotta' go...”

“...join your for Christmas lunch? Wow, thanks man, you didn't have to do that.”

:: Gator just pushes past me and the rest of my family and makes his way to the kitchen. I exchange apologetic looks with the rest of my family, and reassure them that he is actually an okay guy, before heading back down the hallway. I walk back into the kitchen to see Gator sitting at the empty end of the table. He has one of his black boots in his hands, knocking it on the floor to get the snow off it. He does the same with the other boot as my mother watches on in horror, but says nothing. Gator throws his boots off to the side and grabs my beer before throwing his feet up onto the table, his mangy looking socks instantly making me lose my appetite. He leans back and starts drinking the beer as I encourage everyone to go and sit back down. One thing is for sure, this Christmas' is going to be the most eventful I have had in many years. ::

TO BE CONTINUED...

NOW.

:: I take my seat back at the dining table, as does everyone else. I don't take my eyes off Gator the entire time. He casually takes another swig of my beer and then lowers his feet off the table, much to everyone's relief. He grabs a spare plate from the table and begins loading it up with absolutely anything he can get his hands on. There is an awkward silence where the only sound is coming from the ravenous masked superstar as he tears a slab of turkey breast from the bird with his bare hands and slaps it on his plate. After a moment, Gator decides he has enough food to satisfy his hunger. He picks up the slab of turkey breast again and goes to eat it, but stops, instead looking puzzled.. well, at least I think he is. There's no mouth piece cut out of his mask for the food. I decide to take some tension out of the moment and introduce Gator to my family, clearing my throat. ::

“Ahem. Uhhh. Mom, dad, grandma.. Michelle, this is Gator. He's my.. associate, in the XWF.”

:: They all smile weakly at Gator, except for the old man who just stone faces him. Gator rolls his fingers in a sort of wave directed at everyone. ::

“Sup?”

:: A moment passes, then Michelle finds her voice. ::

“It's nice to finally meet you. Justin has told me so much about..”

“No, I haven't.”

“Baby..”

“What? I haven't told you anything.”

“Yes, you have.”

“Really? What's he said about me? Tell you what a great guy I am?”

::Gator hit me playfully in the right shoulder, but hard. He looked across at Michelle expectantly. ::

“Umm, yeah, actually. He told me that you've been doing this a bit longer than he has, and that you've been pretty successful. Said you two would be working together and he couldn't wait to learn from you. He's really excited, aren't you baby?”

:: This whole time, I have been staring at Michelle with a 'what the fuck' expression on my face. I never said any of that, and I had no idea why she was telling Gator that I had. Before I can respond though, I feel Gators hand wrap around my bicep and I spin around to find him leaning over the table towards me. ::

“Justin, man, you really said that? C'mere!”

:: And before I knew what hit me, Gator had wrapped me up in a hug with a vice like grip, his head buried into my shoulder. He began patting me on the back as I looked awkwardly around at my family, who seemed confused by this grown man in a superhero costume emotionally embracing me. I patted Gator on the back a couple of times, thinking he would release me, but he didn't. I grabbed him on the shoulders and slowly pushed him off. ::

“Ooookay man, that's enough.”

“Oh, not the hugging type? I get it man, that's cool.”

:: Gator dusts off his chest and then sits back in his chair. I hear Michelle giggle softly and I nudge her in the ribs with my elbow in annoyance. ::

“Wow, this is some great grub, Mrs. S”

“Uhm.. you haven't eaten anything? Actually, how have you been drinking your beer?”

“Yeah, well.. still, it smells really good. As for the beer, that can filter through the mask. It's the one thing I made sure of. I mean, what sad excuse for a man would go without alcohol? Priorities, am I right, pops?”

:: My dad just narrows his eyes ever so slightly, but doesn't respond. I don't think he is offended, just that he isn't quite sure what to make of Gator yet. Hell, I'm not sure what to make of him. ::

“Speaking of beer, dad, would you mind grabbing me one? I seem to have misplaced mine.”

:: I shot Gator a telling look, to which he merely raised his beer bottle and tipped it in my direction before having another drink. The old man got up from his chair and went to the fridge where, to my surprise, he retrieved three beers. He tossed one to me, and one to Gator, who caught it without batting an eyelid or even really looking. Dad took up his chair at the end of the table opposite Gator, ripped the top of his cold one and took a mouthful, as did I. ::

“So.. Gator, is it? Have you got another name?”

:: Dad enquired, taking another swig from his beer and looking intently, almost fascinated, at the masked man. ::

“Nope. Gator is fine.”

“I see. And you are a wrestl...”

“Superstar.”

“Right. So, you are a superstar with the XWF also?”

“Sure am. Probably the best that I know of. Your kids alright, too. He'll learn a lot from me.”

:: I raise my eyebrows as I turn my head slowly to face Gator. He notices me looking at him and leans back in his chair, holding his hands up besides his shoulders in an apologetic sort of way. ::

“Hey, whoa Justin, you know what I mean dude. You're awesome, man, but you're new to this game is all I'm saying. With me by your side, you're gonna be great.”

“With you by my side?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, think about it.. after this week, I'm going to have my Television Title back, and you? You'll have finally kicked Ghost Tank's ass and shut him up man. Then, you'll be the #1 contender for my belt, we'll never fight, I won't have to defend it for a while and we will be all sweet. We can concentrate on you, you know?”

“Gator, you have to win that belt first. If you lose, you know I am taking that shot.”

:: Gator breaks out into hysterical laughter and slams his beer down on the table, causing my nan and mom to jump. ::

“Hahaha. Justin, are you serious man? I'm obviously not going to lose, have you heard those fucking

I'm facing this week? Oh shit, language at the table! I'm so sorry, that was really rude of me. Anyway, as I was saying...”

:: Gator continues to ramble on as he digs into his one-piece costume and pulls out a crumpled packet of cigarettes. He draws one out and straightens it up a bit, before sticking it into a cigarette sized hole where his mouth should be (also a custom modification, no doubt.) and lighting it up. I actually can't believe it, and nor can anybody else from the looks of it. ::

“...and then there's that Knight guy who looks like he's walked out of a 70s sitcom and gotten lost on the set of Game of Thrones...”

:: He takes a long drag from his cigarette and blows a thick cloud of smoke across the table. Realising he needs to ash out, he searches for a suitable ashtray. He grabs the gravy jug and just tips the remaining gravy over one of the salads and begins ashing out into the now empty jug while continuing. ::

“...so I'll have no problem walking out of Madfare with my belt. Just like you, Justin. I have full faith that you'll be able to easily account for...”

CAACAAWWW!!

:: SMASH! A large black crowd goes smashing into the turkey in the centre of the table! On impact, the bird falls to the table and lies motionless. I think it's dead, but nobody checks, we all just stare at it. Finally, Dad breaks the silence. ::

“What the hell is going on now?!”

:: All of a sudden, “Come Join The Murder” by The White Buffalo & The Forest Rangers begins to play somewhere in the background. Everybody starts looking around the room, but it's my nan who let's out a little cry or terror. We all turn to look at her, and she is pointing out the window. There, standing in the soft falling snow, stands CorVus. Arms at his sides, his face expressionless, he just stands there, staring at us all through the window. I feel the back of Gators hand come whipping across my chest. ::

“Hey, look, it's CorV..”

:: I slam my hand over his mouth to cut him short. I think my family has had enough of guys in body suits and face paint with weird names for one day. ::

“Corey. It's, Corey. Yeah, he's a friend of ours, he does kids birthdays. Great guy, really.”

:: I shoot a glance over my left shoulder. CorVus is still standing there, unmoved. CAACAAWWW! Our gazes are snapped back to the centre of the table as we watch the large black bird spring back to its feet and rip a strip of meat from the turkey. ::

“Crows eat turkey?”

“I guess so.”

:: The bird launches off the table and our gazes follow it. Well all jump as it comes to rest a mere five metres later on CorVus' shoulder, as he is now standing just by the table. Everyone but Gator and myself looks terrified. CorVus slowly reaches up and scratches the crow on the back of it's neck, before reaching down and grabbing Gators fresh beer. ::

“HEY!”

:: CorVus simply turns around, and slowly begins to walk away towards the back door, before disappearing. I'm guessing he found his way out. Gator turns back to look at the rest of us. ::

“Woowwww. That guy is so awesome.”

:: After a few moments, the rest of the family has recovered and everyone takes their seats once more. Mom looks over at me weakly. ::

“Honey, you have some.. unique friends.”

:: Gators head snaps up indignantly as I see him eyeball my mom. He goes to respond, but his phone rings. ::

“Talk dirty to me... Oh, Rodd, it's you... What? When? … Well how the hell am I supposed to know how the cat got in the wood chipper?”

:: Gator throws his hands up and starts shaking his head. He sighs. ::

“Fine! I'll be there soon.”

:: Gator hangs up the phone and stands up to address everyone. ::

“Well, this has been great, sorry I couldn't stay longer. We should do this again next year.”

:: Gator begins pulling his boots back on. ::

“Oh, by the way Justin, I got you a gift for Christmas.”

“You did?”

“Of course I did!”

“Oh.. I didn't get you anything, man.”

“Ah, don't sweat it. Gift is gonna be a few days late though, I'm still working on it.”

:: I raise my right eyebrow in a weary show of curiosity. Gator turns to leave, gets about half way to the door and then stops, reaches into his tights to retrieve something, and turns around. ::

“Oh, I almost forgot. Nana Sane... call me.”

:: Gator flicks a business card in my Nans direction and it glides gracefully onto her plate of food. Gator then takes his leave as we hear his footsteps go down the hallway and the front door close. You could hear a pin drop as we all just sit there in silence, not even really looking at each other. Eventually I look up at my nan, who is turning the card over in her hands with a big smile on her face. ::

“Well... Merry Christmas!”

:: Yeah, Nan. Merry fucking Christmas. ::

f a d e 2 b l a c k

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode An InSane Christmas pt2 \|\| Madfare #2 \|\|
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