Meltdown XXXIV & Fallout 034 (Oct '23).

-Jonathan Dexter

[ATTACH type="full"]75688[/ATTACH]“I’m getting back in the ring!”

The ecstatic voice of a young woman shouts as Princess Nova twirls around in her attic bedroom. The room has a windowsill on the far end, showing the night sky. Around the room are various dresses, pretty outfits, and stuffed animals. Her bed is, as expected, a princess-style bed with curtains around it. She has a low-cut, short, sparkly purple party dress on, one which is less modest than some of her usual attire, though as you expect, a tiara is on her head as always. A designer purse is slung over her shoulder. She grabs a teddy bear and hugs it close.

“Lulu! I’m so excited! I get to team with Keres again and we’re going to have so much fun together!”

She squeezes the bear and holds it up to her cheek.

“I almost wish I could bring you to ringside like the old days, but you kept getting hurt, little missy.” Nova holds the bear up and boops it on the nose. “I wouldn’t want someone to lay a finger on my favourite-est bear.”

Nova has a slight head tilt, as if she’s listening to the bear. She giggles.

“I know I look cute! Thanks for noticing!” The Princess puts the bear down on the end of her bed and does a few poses, putting her hand on her hip.

“I know it is a little more… more revealing than what I usually do, but let’s just say recently, I’ve been inspired to be a bit less… modest in my appearance. Express myself in more ways than ever before.” She smiles, ‘listening’ to her bear. Nova grins, her heart full of joy, and she curtsies.

“Why thank you, Miss Lulu. I have done modeling before after all, hehe.”

Snap

The snap of a finger is heard and Princess Nova’s expression suddenly becomes… blank. She stands at attention and turns around, where Keres is entering the room. Keres is wearing her usual black preppy attire, although this time she completes the look with a rather uncharacteristic purple bandana and traditional cowboy hat.

“How are you doing, sister?” Keres asks in her usual monotonous tone. Princess Nova curtsies forward.

“Wonderful as always, Keres.” And Nova shows a small smile. “So, you told me that we’re going to be traveling to a special part of the TORN Universe tonight?”

“Indeed, we are. We are going to indulge in one of those idiotic traditions that normal mortals hold in high regard… a music festival. Much like our next opponents, it is being headlined by two played-out nostalgia acts that have come back together. It will do us good to witness an example of a pairing coming back together out of pure necessity. We examine how they behave and note their faults.” Keres steps forward to Nova. She gently places her finger on Nova’s nose, like a gentle ‘boop,’ “Is that understood, sister?”

The Princess nods. “Absolutely. Though, I don’t think they are that washed up, but I understand. Just one question, why won’t Elizabeth join us?” She gently tilts her head. “I saw you two have SO much fun together, I want to play with her soon…”

Nova pouts slightly.

“She need not accompany us. This specific battle is not yet hers and I do not want her to be distracted from the path I have set her on. Besides, she told me this music scene is, and I quote, ‘fucking shit.’” Keres rolls her eyes while Nova gives a small laugh.

“Haha. That is why in my time I preferred Paramore.” Nova clears her throat and sings a line from ‘Misery Business,’ her singing voice is harmonious. “Whoa, I never meant to brag… But I got him where I want him now… Whoa, it was never my intention to brag… To steal it all away-”

Snap

Keres stops Nova’s singing and she simply stands at attention, a slight smile on her face.

“The screams of the foolish are my preferred soundtrack.”

Keres turns to look at a wall with a long piece of fabric covering it. She pulls this fabric off to reveal what looks like the inside portion of a door in an RV. She places her hand on the handle and pulls it open.

“Let’s go.”



The two sisters step through this open door and before them is what looks like a concert venue in terrible condition. Mud is on the ground along with litter, what we can only assume is vomit, along with thousands of spectators, mostly white, who are about as stereotypical metalhead as you can get with untamed hair, ripped jeans, bandana, and leather jackets covered in various patches. The stage in the distance has some psychedelic vibes and a large banner reading “Meltdown ‘23.” Keres and Nova stick out like sore thumbs with the drunks and potheads. A smoke wafts through the air with an herbal smell. Keres covers her nose.

“That atrocious odor in the air. My intentions were to replicate the actual scenery, but I should have left out that horrid detail.”

Princess Nova simply grins.

“I don’t mind so much. Reminds me of home.”

“Drug dealers?” Keres mutters.

“No, Canadians. There just happened to be a lot of this smell in East Vancouver. So who is performing?”

Keres points at a washed-out poster taped to a porta potty. The poster reads “DEATHSWITCH ENGAGE: REUNION TOUR” and shows two male figures rocking out, although the state of the poster makes any details of the two hard to notice.

“Those two miscreants. Nothing other than debauchery, idiocy, and incompetence between the two of them.” Keres reaches over and digs in Nova’s purse, retrieving one of the Princess’ trademark lipsticks, this one black.

“Sister, you want to borrow my makeup?” Nova smiles. “Aww, that’s so cute! You’ll look so pretty! Taking an interest in something I love.”

Keres uncaps the lipstick and uses it to scrawl a big black “X” over the poster of the headliners.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but no.”

Nova pouts as Keres tosses the lipstick back into her sister’s purse. Keres starts walking closer to the larger group of people and Nova follows by her side.

“As I said before we arrived, this embarrassing pairing has reunited after just under a year and a half apart. How in the world people can have such ‘nostalgia’ for an act that was gone for such a short while is beyond even my comprehension. Nevertheless, it will serve as an appropriate analog for the neanderthals we face.”

“I was thinking…” Nova looks at the poster again. “The name, the shape of the bodies, I thought it was our opponents… But they aren't exactly them, right?”

Keres looks straight ahead towards the stage, “No. Merely puppets serving their purpose.”

“So they will not be perfectly accurate, got you.” Nova, for some odd reason, winks.

“Perfect use of the fourth-wall, Nova. Now, let us discuss this plan...”

While the sisters are in the crowd, avoiding eye contact, and coming up with a plan, backstage, we see two band members sitting on production crates before going on stage. One of them has a mustache with a top hat, there’s some Slash vibes to his look. A true showman with his leather cuff, and shades. He is loose, hyped up. Slightly more subdued is his friend. He has his hair in a ponytail, a bushy beard, and a black cowboy hat on. He’d also seem to fit with a Country band, but feels more rugged. He has his electric guitar with a Texas flag design on it. It is in his lap as he tunes his instrument, by ear. Around his neck is a necklace with a red “X” design on it. The man in the mustache shakes his friend, hyped up.

“Yeah, Tom-E. You feel it? You feel the energy! We’re back, and better than ever!”

Tom-E keeps somewhat calm compared to his friend. He strums his guitar, checking the sound.

“It’s been great, Croe. But relax, man.”

“Come on, we’re recapturing our past glory man! I’m on my way to being one of the best lead rock singers around again! A great performance like this, and I’ll be on my way!”

“I’m proud of you. I’m glad you came back after that incident on stage a while back. Though the way our fans feel, it feels like we’ve been apart much longer.” Tom-E gives Croe a vote of confidence.

“I know! And after this… Ooh boy!” Croe rubs his hands together before slapping the shoulder of Tom-E. “We’re gonna party. I already got a reservation at The Brothel House, and it will be you, me, a couple of brewskis, some shrooms from my dealer, and all the girls we want.”

Croe is practically frothing at the mouth at the thought of it. Tom-E, at one time, may join him, but now, something seems different. He tries to temper his friend’s expectations.

“Easy there cowboy.”

“Isn’t the cowboy thing yours?”

“You know what I mean, bastard.” Tom-E responds.

“No, that’s the OTHER guy.”

“Focus, Croe, shit.” He tries to get his friend back on topic. “I know you’re ready to party like we used to, but things are a bit different now. First of all, I’m pretty sure my wife would castrate me like a bull if I went to a Brothel.”

“Nothing wrong with getting your motor running as long as you park it in the right garage, if you know what I’m saying.” He nudges Tom-E.

“And I think if I show up home too wasted, she’ll kill me. You know we have a kid.”

“Yeah, Walker.” Croe comments. “Because someone has a Chuck Norris obsession.”

The Cowboy cuts a dirty look at his friend. “Leave my son’s name out of this. What I’m saying is, I think maybe it’s time for us to settle down a little. Think of our long term health. We had some good times before. I had a blast. So here’s what I’m thinking.”

Tom-E places his hand on Croe’s shoulder, standing up and leaning his guitar on the side of the box.

“After the show, we’ll find a nice pub. Have some drinks and food. Relax a little. You can hit on some girls if you want and I’ll be your wingman while having some wings. Then if you want to go to the Brothel House after, I won’t stop you.”

“Sounds good. Just means more for me.” Croe winks.

“But dear God, wear protection.” Tom-E pats Croe on the back. “I don’t think you want to have any more child support payments.”

A chill runs down Croe’s spine.

“Tell me about it, I don’t envy you on diaper duty.”

“Honestly, not as bad as some people out there say it is.” Tom-E quips, motioning to the stage area. “We should probably be ready to get out there for our ‘adoring’ fans. Can’t believe they went from hating us to loving us like that.”

“Nostalgia, it’s a hell of a drug.”

The two bump fists and head towards the stage.

Now back with Eternal, the two sisters have made their way to the edge of the stage as DEATHSWITCH ENGAGE have started performing one of their old classics, much to the delight of the crowd and the dismay of Keres.

“This is what qualifies as music to some people? I’d rather have a power drill puncture my eardrum.”

“I’ll admit, this isn’t what I would usually like, but it’s fun! Oh look, here comes Croe! Is he looking at us?”

Keres just smiles as Croe motions for Princess Nova to come on stage. She obliges and begins dancing around as Croe rocks out to the shitty song. The two get a little flirtatious, with Nova leading the interactions, and Croe seems to be extremely pleased with himself.

“Perfect. All according to plan.” Keres mutters to herself as Nova gets off the stage and DEATHSWITCH ENGAGE takes a brief intermission and heads backstage.

“What’s going on? Who was that chick?” Tom-E asks.

“I don’t know, but she was smokin’, man. Trying to get us some action.” Croe says with a wink, “I’m going to tell security to bring her back here. I think she’s down for some fun.”

A few moments later security returns with an overjoyed Princess Nova. Nova excitedly looks around their locker room and examines all of the rockstar-esque decorations on the walls and the illicit paraphernalia strewn about the room.

“Wow, you two were so good out there, I really enjoyed the show!” Nova, with a bit of sarcasm in her voice, lauds DEATHSWITCH ENGAGE with ego-filling praise, “I can’t wait to see the rest of the show!”

“Well-” Croe says as he reaches for Nova’s hand and has her take a seat next to him, “The next set isn’t for a while. Me and Tom-E here could use a bit of an energy boost before we get back out there.”

Croe starts to get a lot more flirtatious with Nova, letting his hand wander up and down her arm and around her hair.

“Oh, you mean like a party?” Nova says innocently, but very much aware of what Croe meant, “I actually have my sister with me! She loves to party too, and she can dance with Tom-E while I dance with you!”

Croe glances at Tom-E, who gives a “fuck it” sort of approving shrug.

“The more the merrier! You’re hot as fuck and look like royalty. If your sister is half as hot as you… then this is going to be a fucking awesome time. Let me get security to bri-”

Before Croe can even finish his train of thought, Tom-E loudly blurts out, “HOLY SHIT!”, which startles Croe.

This sudden burst of fear is at the sight of Keres, who has somehow snuck up behind Tom-E and tapped him on the shoulder.

“What’s up with this Addams Family reject?”, Croe asks, “Oh wait, is that your sister?”

“Yup!”, Nova exclaims happily.

“Hey, Tom-E, I know you said you wouldn’t, but come on, for old times sake! There’s a hot goth here, when are you going to have another shot at that?! Besides, this isn’t a brothel, and I’ll never snitch!”

“Ugh, fine, alright. For old times sake I guess”, says a peer-pressured Tom-E, “What other tricks do you have up your sleeve goth-mommy?”

Tom-E quickly closes the distance between him and Keres, bringing them body to body, and he places his hand on her ass and squeezes.

“Oh, uh-oh.”, says a shocked Princess Nova.

“Uh-oh? Why uh-oh?”, questions a confused Croe.

Keres reaches behind herself and removes Tom-E’s hand from her behind… and then almost removes his arm entirely as she bends it backwards behind him and swiftly pushes him to the ground.

“AH WHAT THE FUCK!”, yells Croe as he witnesses Tom-E’s arm turn into a backwards letter L.

Tom-E screams in pain and yells at everyone, “MY ARM! MY FUCKING ARM! YOU BITCH! CROE I KNEW THIS WOULDN'T BE RIGHT, AHHH!”

“Touch me again and you’ll be eating your other arm next time.”

“Fuck this! Fuck them, they’re trouble, Let’s get out of here!”, says Croe as he picks Tom-E off the ground and they both dart out in the direction of the stage.

Nova hops up from her seat and goes to check on her sister Keres.

“Are you alright, sis? I can’t believe he grabbed you like that! I thought he was the more responsible one… Do you think they’ll continue the show?”

“No. I think it’s time for a set change.”, says Keres as she raises her hand and snaps her fingers.

Back on stage we see DEATHSWITCH ENGAGE scrambling around in front of their loyal audience, who are still cheering them loudly and chanting their name, despite them obviously being in a state of panic with Tom-E’s arm being bent 90-degrees in the wrong direction.

“Why are you still cheering, help! HELP!”, yells Tom-E as the nostalgic crowd completely ignores their cries and cheers raucously.

Then they hear the snap. The crowd’s cheers turn into blood-curdling shreiks of terror as the stage starts collapsing around DEATHSWITCH ENGAGE and pyrotechnics go off into the crowd. Loud sounds of pain, sloshing, explosions, and death, fill the ears of everyone in attendance. Fires spawn all around and trap everyone that was attempting to flee as the rest of the stage finishes falling on Croe and Tom-E, crushing them beneath thousands of pounds of metal, debris, and various setpieces. The screams of the foolish echo through the TORN venue created by Keres.

Through the fire and the flames come Eternal. Nova tip-toes over some rubble while Keres simply walks over it.

“Ah, finally. Music to my ears.”

“I’m super glad you got to enjoy the show too! I think Elizabeth would’ve loved how this ended up!”, Nova says with a sense of glee and whimsy in her voice.

Keres’ attention darts to Princess Nova. Her steely eyes gaze deeply into the very soul of her sister. The flames around them freeze in place, the screams of the foolish go silent, and the air itself seems to come to a complete halt.

“Princess. My sister… Nova…”

“Y-yes, Keres? Is something wrong?”, Nova says quizzically.

“Very. It has come to my attention that you signed yourself up… for the ‘Buddy Bowl’? Without prior consultation or approval? Now, I know that I have granted you free-will… but this utter disrespect cannot stand. How dare you leave the side of your sisters.”, Keres says with a burning fire in her eyes.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you upset! I just thought this would be a fun thing to do! I thought-!”

“Not anymore.”

Snap

Princess Nova’s eyes go entirely white, her face becomes emotionless, her shoulders slouch, and her arms drop at her sides. Her mouth hangs open showing the only thing she is capable of doing at the moment is breathing.

“Your thoughts wandered too far, Princess. Free-will privileges have been revoked. Hopefully this reset will do your mind some good while your vessel continues onward under my influence. You will wrestle in our tag team match. You will partake in the ‘Buddy Bowl’. You will stand by the side of your sisters… And when your head returns, unfortunately, you will not remember any of it… But you will be better in the end. Now come.”

Keres uses her index finger to motion ‘come here’ at the catatonic and puppet-like Princess Nova, who follows the command and walks next to Keres as they both go back through the door they originally entered and return to The Residence.

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"NOVA ISN'T HOME RIGHT NOW"