“...Quite an experience to live in fear isn’t it?
...that’s what it is to be a slave.”
(We see the darker interior of Mack McKane and Mattie Cormier’s hotel room as Mack stares out the window holding an unopened bottle of whiskey in his hand. He juggles it a bit before he sees a face enter the reflection behind him. Mattie had gone to celebrate Alanah and Jack’s engagement with her and the rest of the ladies, so Mack had the entire night...alone...with his thoughts. Or rather he HAD thought...until the visage of his brother Kenny hovers over his shoulder.)
Kenny McKane: Oi.
Mack McKane: Alrigh’?
Kenny McKane: The FUCK you think ya doin’ wif that?
Mack McKane: Relax. Ironically I don’t touch the stuff. More I was just...reflecting.
Kenny McKane: Right, penny for ya thoughts then, innit?
(Mack turns around and sits the bottle down on the table gently as he crosses his arms and leans against the window.)
Mack McKane: I was thinkin’ about how much trouble...the torment and pain that shit has caused us and I was thinkin’ about it, what now that we done the old bastard in...I took a beat to reflect and somethin’ dawned on me.
Kenny McKane: Well for fuck’s sake, Judy, bugger on with it!
Mack McKane: ...d’you remember anything about our old man?
Kenny McKane: He was a drunk and let you play with knives WAY too early, innit?
Mack McKane: No not THAT cunt...I mean...our birth father. I can’t...I don’t remember him.
Kenny McKane: He weren’t around long. And it makes sense you don’t remember him. You was a tiny little runt when she grabbed us and bailed on him.
Mack McKane: But...why’d she bail on him?
Kenny McKane: Dunno...can’t remember. I just remember he wasn’t...he was kind, innit? Like...he actually CARED about us and Mum havin’ her problems an’ all he probably wanted her to get help or somethin’ like that.
Mack McKane: ...why didn’t he ever try to find us?
Kenny McKane: Fuck’s sake kid, do I look like his bleedin’ journalist or sommin’?
Mack McKane: I wager I’d love to see that…”Extry! Extry! Front Page Headline! Them FOOKIN’ Cunts What Dunnit Again!!!”
Kenny McKane: OI!...cheeky wanker! What brought all this on?
Mack McKane: Iunno somethin’ doesn’t feel…*RIGHT*. We bested the Insane Cunt Party, we took care of the old gray mare, we got me girl back, we FOUND you a girl, everybody’s gettin’ all gussied up an’ ringed. It’s like...there’s nothin’ wrong with the universe.
Kenny McKane: ...fuckin’ Hell, you’re the ONLY person I know that would complain about that?
Mack McKane: It’s not that...I may have hired a gumshoe to do some work for me, innit?
Kenny McKane: Jesus Christ, Mack. You can’t ever just let things BE okay can you?
Mack McKane: Kenny it’s what DRIVES me! I HAVE to have something to fight for!
Kenny McKane: WHAT ABOUT YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP YA DAFT CUNT!
Mack McKane: I KNOW! And I’m workin’ my arse off to fight Sierra but it still feels like somethin’ is OFF, Ken!
Kenny McKane: So what’d you hire this flatfoot for ANYWAY?
Mack McKane: ...I wanted to know how the REAL old man turned out...y’know...wifout us. I want...iunno...maybe just ONE good memory.
Kenny McKane: ...so THAT’S it, innit. Yer daddy issues are flarin’ up. “Oh look at me, I’m Mack! I never had a positive male role model!” why? ‘Cause yer adopted dad tried to kill you and your lady love? Because I lied to you for years? Because- actually now that I’m sayin’ it out loud...it kinda makes sense.
Mack McKane: Yeah well...no need to worry about it.
Kenny McKane: ...why’s that?
Mack McKane: The geezer’s passed on. Died in a little studio apartment ‘bout four years ago.
Kenny McKane: Fuckin’ shame...well? That got’cha closure?
Mack McKane: ...not even slightly.
Kenny McKane: ...what? Wait, WHY!?
Mack McKane: Ken...there’s another of us.
Kenny McKane: ...fuckin’ Hell.
Mack McKane: He remarried shortly after Mum bailed on him...and that lady sired a child for him. Apparently...she died during childbirth and the poor sod had to work three jobs to make ends meet to provide for him and the kid.
Kenny McKane: What happened to the kid?
Mack McKane: Sent to public housing for a year or two...then he turned 18.
Kenny McKane: ...and out on the street he went, innit?
Mack McKane: Quite right. Ken...I know we got no right and I know he’s only HALF us but-
Kenny McKane: We need to find that kid.
Mack McKane: I’ve found that kid.
Kenny McKane: Right then! How th’FUCK are we gonna get to the UK in this lockdown? An’ what the FUCK you gonna say to Matts? And you need to seriously think about this because Sierra Williams is coming to take your fookin’ head off.
Mack McKane: Mattie knows...and it’s not the UK...so I’ve called in a favor. We’ll be back in time for the match with Sierra...but I need to do this before that happens...it’s all my mind can think about and I need to be completely focused on her.
Kenny McKane: What? Then fookin’ WHERE?
(The scene changes to show a nice hotel surrounded by a bustling street as we see Mack and Kenny standing on the sidewalk looking up at it as we hear gunshots in the distance that make everyone else duck their heads and speed up...however it doesn’t bother the Brothers McKane. As we hear sirens whiz by, Kenny looks bewildered at Mack.)
Kenny McKane: YOU BROUGHT ME...TO *FOOKIN’* DETROIT!?!?
Mack McKane: Never actually ASKED you to come, ya daft bastard.
Kenny McKane: WEll OBVIOUSLY I’m with ya till the end but...DETROIT!?
(Kenny scoffs and looks back at the hotel)
Kenny McKane: Well...at least the kid’s livin’ okay.
Mack McKane: Yeeeeah...that ain’t why we’re here…
Kenny McKane: ...WHAT-
(The scene suddenly shifts and both of them are in the basement where there is a circle of men screaming and holding betting cards as Mack and Kenny find a little uprise to stand on to see the action as Kenny finishes…)
Kenny McKane: -THE FUCK!?
(In the middle of the clearing there’s an extremely buff and heavily tattooed man with fist wraps working over a scrawny punk that has no business being in the ring with him.)
Kenny McKane: ...well...at least he got the family genetics.
Mack McKane: Kenny.
Kenny McKane: Yeah?
Mack McKane: ...wrong one.
(Suddenly the scrappy little punk can be seen nodding to a greasy looking fat, bald man near the payout station who nods at him. The kid nods back and suddenly the massive behemoth catches a VICIOUS right hand square in the liver. This doubles him back causing him to cough as the kid straightens up, cracking his neck and his shoulders before squaring up and absolutely teeing off on the now weaker giant. A series of left and right jabs almost too fast for the naked eye land flush on the big man’s vital organs as he drops to a knee starting to cough as the kid...who is now intensely snarling...let’s out a feral shriek as he headbutts the mountain as hard as he can dropping him unconscious to the floor. The kid swaggers around soaking in a myriad of boo’s from the masked patrons but they don’t dare stand in his way as he stalks to the pay window, takes his cut, and starts to slide on his jacket. Mack and Kenny make their way over to him.)
Mack McKane: ...nice one, mate.
(The kid just looks at them expressionless as he pops a cigarette in his mouth leaning against the wall...Kenny clicks his lighter to life as the kid looks at him with a raised eyebrow for a moment...but then relents and lights his cigarette with Kenny’s flame.)
Mack McKane: Been lookin’ for you.
Kid: Yeah? You don’t look like feds…
Kenny McKane: Definitely not. Is your name perhaps-
Kid: Call me Krash.
Mack McKane: Strong name...but we were more lookin’ for-
Krash: I know who you lot are lookin’ for.
(Mack and Kenny look at each other with confused eyes...Mack is wearing one of his signature masks and Kenny is wearing a surgical mask that has the DESIGN of Mack’s mask on the outside of it.)
Kenny McKane: Err...you do?
Krash: Ain’t hard to figure, innit?
Mack McKane: Wow...so he says that too…
Krash: Look boys. I know what’cha are...I seen yer face bout a hundred times...an’ once upon a time, I was lookin’ for ya as well. BUT. As you can see...I got things covered. So...ta!
(Krash starts to leave but Mack grabs his arm turning him around.)
Mack McKane: Wait wait wait! Look I”m...I’m sorry! We didn’t know about you.
Krash: Didn’t seem to look too hard, didja?
Kenny McKane: Oh like ANYONE’S gonna look in fookin’ MICHIGAN.
Krash: Exactly. S’why I’m here. NOW...I’m gonna walk outta here...an’ I’m never gonna see you lot again. An’ if you EVER...grab my arm like that again? I’ll make your little fake-ass “wrestling” look like piss in a bucket and you will lose feeling in that arm...savvy?
Kenny McKane; Kid, don’t be stupid! We’re BROTHE-
(Krash suddenly whirls on Kenny shoving him against the wall and glaring in his face.)
Krash: Don’t. Say. That word...to me.
(Mack has started twirling Cutrina wildly until he’s made his decision. He exhales a deep breath.)
Mack McKane: ...yep.
(Before Krash can register what happened, Mack has cracked him with a left hook across the jaw. Krash staggers back and squares up as he looks up and all he sees is Kenny cracking his back and Mack standing absolutely violently still.)
Mack McKane: YOU might hate it? But he and I? We ARE brothers. So you’ll be keeping your fuckin’ hands off, innit? Now. You don’t want us to call you “brother”? That’s fine. We didn’t come here for a fight, we came here to MEET you and give you the family the likes of US never had growin’ up.
Krash: I NEEDED YOU THEN...ION’T FOOKIN’ NEED YOU NOW!
Mack McKane: And that’s fine. Consider this meeting, met. We’ll fuck off back to the private jet that brought us here taking us back to the villa of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas to cuddle up with two absolute dime pieces that love us. And you’ll never hear from us again so you can enjoy…
(Mack waves his hand around the dusty, blood-caked basement scenery.)
Mack McKane: THIS.(Krash looks around almost contemplative...and when he turns back around, Mack is directly in his face, unmasked.)
Mack McKane: ...I ran from a family I didn’t even know were living. So let’s get this straight...I...looked for YOU...in a time when my attention needs to be one hundred percent elsewhere. So. If you can find your way to Las Vegas? I’ll leave you a ticket at “Will Call” so you can see just how “fake” my piss in the bucket can be, savvy? If not there...you can find us in New York if you’d like. But understand this...I’m not gonna MAKE you do anything.
(Mack slides the mask back down over his face making him look ten thousand times more menacing.)
Mack McKane: ...but you ever swing on my family again and I’ll bury you with the last motherfucker that took a shot. Let’s go Kenny.
(With that...Mack and Kenny leave Krash looking on after them with a look of contemplation on his face as he rubs his cheeks where Mack clocked him...and an almost smile stretches across his face.)
-The Champion’s Lament-
“...all those...moments...will be lost...in time.
...like...tears...in the rain.”
...TIME...TO DIE
(We hear the whirring of the jet’s engines as Kenny is rushing up and down playing with every little feature he can find as Mack sits with his legs crossed in one of the backwards facing seats twirling a crystal glass of what we can probably assume is soda. As he’s looking out the window we acknowledge now there has been a camera with them this entire time as Mack begins to speak.)
Mack McKane: Sierra Williams I have just invited you...into one of the most uncomfortable, unsettling, heartbreaking moments of my life. You share that with me now. You also share the fact that, as I understand it, before you found my good friend Lachlan...your life was in utter turmoil. Chaos. You have had people...from every walk of life...slam the door in your face in one avenue or another and it has made you HARD.
Kenny McKane: *from the cockpit* THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!!!
Mack McKane: Nevermind my brother...he’s an imbecile.
(Mack reaches into the seat in front of him and pulls to his person the PWS World Heavyweight Championship as he looks at his reflection in it.)
Mack McKane: ...have I been a champion worthy of note? For certain, my work precedes me. You know my name, you know my resume, you have SEEN...with your own two eyes...the shiver that goes down the spine of those I’ve called victims every time you merely say my name. As if you were muttering “Christo” in the presence of a demon. And that’s not for show, Sierra. That’s not a ruse. This is also neither a brag nor a boast, surely you don’t expect that from someone who hates themselves more than the bastard upbringing that labeled him “unstable”.
(Mack takes a drink from the glass as he settles the championship on his lap stroking it with his thumb as if it were a docile kitten.)
Mack McKane: It doesn’t matter what I’ve done...it matters what I’ve yet to do. And this belt, like my family, are all doomed to burn alongside me in Hell for all the SINS...I’ve yet to commit, innit? Nah, I never much considered myself much of a “champion”...but then...why not? Why...NOT...me? Why not US...Sierra! ‘Cause for every door slammed my face there’s been an equality door slammed in yours! “Women can’t wrestle men”, “Sierra Williams is mid card at BEST!”, “She’s just a novelty act making jokes about Lachlan Kane’s dick being an eggplant!” I SEE...these fickle comments, Sierra. I...HEAR...these bastardizations of WHO YOU ARE...not just as a competitor, but a PERSON...a WIFE...a doting MOTHER. And that is why...I am SO pleased it’s you.
(Mack leans forward in his chair starting to rock back and forth a little bit contemplating the next lines of his diatribe...it wasn’t life or death but it felt like it in his eyes.)
Mack McKane: I’m pleased because I’ve been teetering on this line for so long now...it took me over a YEAR to finally grasp this title in my hands because of underhanded politics and a cowardice-ridden “champion” and then my life...went straight back to Hell. Have I defended this title as much as I should have? No...no not nearly. But when Hell rises up and kidnaps the one true thing you have in your life...the first thing that’s actually LOVED you! That’s gonna BE there for you even when this title has been scrapped! They say the greatest thing the Devil ever did was convince the world he didn’t exist and because of that...HE almost got away from me! Syn…”Papa”...they were just puppets the REAL...DEVIL...is still walking the face of this Earth and what’s more is he has a CONTRACT...and I’M NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH HIM. So no...I haven’t DEFENDED this “title” as much as I should have because I was DEFENDING...the whole fookin’ WORLD, innit!
(Mack cracks his neck and his hand starts to shake...he can’t have Cutrina on his person on flights so he fiddles with his mask as he looks from the it to the title.)
Mack McKane: ...I’m happy it’s you...Sierra. Because it’s your time. See like I said, I’m teetering on that edge and you haven’t been given your proper due so either you and I dance a BEAUTIFUL serenade of violence and I elevate your status even in your defeat...hoisting this title over my head once more! OR...you spin the chamber on the revolver, point it to my forehead, and you put me outta my fookin’ misery. Either way...I WIN! But is THAT...what you’re PREPARED to do, Sierra? I think so...I think it is. I KNOW you have that killer instinct that sets you APART! That is why you are HERE! And that is WHY...if I LOSE this championship...at least I know it will be well represented and you will have EARNED it! And I would never overlook you but...it’s so hard to say...I’m keeping a weathered eye on the horizon. Because whether I win...or I lose...I won’t feel satisfied until I have EVERETT JACOBS’ HEAD...ON A STICK!!!
(Mack’s demeanor shifts into full snarl as he slides the mask over his face and takes a deep breath.)
Mack McKane: Since I cannot take this...RAGE...out on HIM as of yet? I’m sorry to say, sweet Sierra. Beautiful, tough-as-nails, QUEEN Sierra! That as much as I love Lachlan Kane and his family...and as much respect as I have for you. YOU...are going to catch EVERY. OUNCE. OF RAGE...that I have to deplenish...before it consumes me. This match won’t be for the faint of heart, boys and girls. And you mark my words, Sierra Williams WILL be the World Champion someday! But for NOW?
...It’ll be over my dead...decaying...body. Cheers.(Mack raises the crystal glass before quickly shattering it over his own forehead…)
Kenny McKane: OI WHAT THE FOOK, BRUV!? WHO’S GONNA CLEAN THAT UP!? I SWEAR-
(Blood streams down Mack’s face and into his eyes adorning his pale white skin and his dark black mask into a cascade of crimson rivers as we fade on a close-up of Mack’s steel gaze with Kenny screaming complaints in the background.)