Post by Trav McBang! on Feb 12, 2011 23:57:22 GMT -5
And another week passed by. There weren’t any changes in the life of the Krieg. They had won another match in dominant fashion, with their teamwork and brute force they had defeated two teams at the same time. Despite their in ring success, the Maschinen remained in the dark. If anything, their brief moments in the ring were almost an escape from the heavy silence that constantly draped over their room at the Monopoly. There still hadn’t been any contact from Commander Kohler and both Maschinen were falling deeper into their respective moods. Somba was now completely withdrawn, only making eye contact with Kaja when he was given food. Balraj, however, was growing more tense. After the match last week, the Punjabi giant had spent nearly four hours in the weight room and was still ready to fight someone. Kaja feared this would prove problematic in the coming weeks if nothing was done.
Kaja Reinhardt squinted as she carefully closed the door to her hotel room, taking special care not to make any noise that might disturb the two slumbering giants within. She briefly fumbled around with her keys, attempting to locate the correct one despite being shrouded in darkness. She did and carefully locked the door. She nodded quaintly, proud that she’d managed to sneak out without waking either Balraj or Somba. It was barely 5 am and both men still had several hours of sleep ahead of them. Given their recent frustration and peculiar moods, she didn’t want to disturb their rest. Kaja, however, never managed to sleep more than 6 hours per night. It was as if she simply recharged at a more rapid rate than most people. At least, it had been that way since she entered the military at the tender age of 16. Perhaps her mind was just too busy to rest for longer than 6 hours at a time. Whatever the case, she felt as if a morning jog would help to ease some of the pent up frustration that had been brought on by Kohler’s silence.
Kaja turned away from the door and peered out at the city of Knoxville. It was hard to believe that this had been her home for nearly six months now. Despite her lengthy tenure here, it still seemed so foreign. By keeping up with the Maschinen, Kaja had never really gotten a chance to see the beautiful city. Ever since Balraj’s confrontation with Jason Summers, she’d barely left the confines of the Monopoly. Most of Knoxville’s residents weren’t stirring yet and the sun was barely peeking over the skyline. It was a perfect time for Kaja to reacquaint herself with the city that she might as well call home. She took a deep breath that wafted upwards in the chilly air. The coldness was nice. It reminded her of her actual home in Germany. She smiled as she took a step forward, which quickly evolved into a sprint.
As she made her way through the Monopoly parking lot, she couldn’t help but notice the hotel room of Johnny Noble. The blinds were drawn and there didn’t seem to be any light coming from inside the room. Perhaps he was still asleep, but for all Kaja knew he didn’t even reside at the hotel any longer. It had been weeks since she’d crossed paths with Johnny outside of the Pride arena. It felt odd to her that he had been so helpful those first few weeks in America, then he seemed to disappear after Jason Summers and his drug addicted roommate came along. Now, Johnny Noble was simply opposition to the Krieg. Last week, he’d been able to escape a beating at the hands of Somba and Balraj. In a way, Kaja was glad that he’d been spared after he’d been so accommodating to her in the past. However, with The Knighting looming on the horizon, Kaja knew that the paths of the Maschinen and Johnny Noble would cross once again. Kaja shook her head as she continued to jog. That was an issue for another day. After all, she was jogging to relieve tension, not to add to it. But still, she hoped that Johnny Noble was well.
As she left the parking lot, Kaja veered left and jogged past a plethora of corner markets that were just beginning to open. As Kaja rounded the block, the strong smell of dark coffee brewing hit her in the face. It gave her a warm sensation, overpowering the chilly air and the barren sidewalks of the city. As she neared the poorer section of town, a lone patrol car passed her by. The police man driving it was a red faced man with a graying mustache. He slowed down enough to offer Kaja a friendly wave. This was pure Americana, Kaja thought to herself; an old, pudgy man giving a friendly wave in passing, but not stopping to make an actual connection with her. At least there was the façade of kindness. Eddie Nash, though? Kaja had to stop running to chuckle to herself. The tough guy, the biker…Eddie Nash and his WolfPack were exactly why the rest of the world hated America. It was the year 2011 and men like Eddie Nash were still masquerading around like cowboys. Kaja sighed, a little disgusted at herself for even letting her mind linger to Nash. This jog was having an inverse effect on what she’d hoped.
On the outskirts of town, next to a dirty looking Chinese restaurant, Kaja’s eyes fell on an old black man unlocking the doors of a substantially large building. As he ducked inside, out of the cold, Kaja couldn’t help but notice a gym full of punching bags and weights. In the center of it all was a purple and gold roped boxing ring. Her eyes drifted upwards, noticing a small sign that read: SILVER MITTS BOXING. Kaja couldn’t believe that this gym was so close to the Monopoly, but she had yet to venture this far aware from her abode. She chuckled to herself, as things seemed to have an odd way of working out. While the morning jog didn’t give Kaja any sort of serenity or time away from the pressures of handling the two Maschinen…it had instead guided her to a place that might just help one of her men. She slowly breathed out, watching her breath form before her eyes. This small boxing gym might be just the thing that Somba and Balraj needed to vent their frustration. It was time to head back to the Monopoly.
---
The thuds of fists against bags ceased from the moment the monstrous Maschinen stepped into Silver Mitts. While most people wonder if it’s polite to stare, the group of gawkers were asking themselves a different question altogether. What should they be staring at? On one side was the stocky Samoan, his face decorated with tribal tattoos. On the other side was the tallest man any of them had ever seen. And in the middle of it all was something that didn’t walk through the doors of the gym often; the petite blonde Kaja Reinhardt. As the moments passed, none of the men could take their eyes off of the trio in the doorway. Kaja’s eyes began to dart around the gym, hoping to catch sight of the owner of the establishment.
In the back of the gym, Cedric Wise was stunned to hear something that he’d never heard before at Silver Mitts; silence. The elderly owner poked his head around the corner, glaring at his students who had all inexplicably stopped working. As Wise craned his neck even further, he caught a glimpse of what was causing the work stoppage. His jaw nearly hit the floor. He lurched forward and out of his chair, scrambling to confront these giants to learn what their intentions were.
“Who be ya?” The voice of Cedric echoed throughout the gym. It sounded as if he gargled rocks and vodka each morning, a stern but uneasy voice that caused the German trio to become slightly restless. “Whatcha, deaf?” Wise shuffled forward from his office. Kaja raised an eyebrow, as the man’s stature was frail despite his empowering voice. “Got no use for deafs. Can’t train’em.”
“Sorry,” Kaja stumbled over her words. Her thick accent made it apparent that she wasn’t around Knoxville. Wise stopped shuffling forward and began eyeing the giant Balraj up and down. “We are not …native?” Wise scoffed at Kaja’s uneasy, poor English.
“Well no shit, Barbie,” Wise said with a chortle. “I ain’t ‘spectin’ a man look like that to be from Knox’lle.” He extended a mangled finger in Somba’s direction, tracing the curves of Somba’s tattoo to show his intention. “I give a damn lesstya from ‘ere. What doin’ at Silver Mitts? Ya don’t look like’ah boxah.”
“Oh, no no…” Kaja smirked. “I don’t fight…” Cedric rolled his eyes in response to Kaja stating the obvious. He pointed his gnarled finger once more, first at Somba and then at Balraj. Kaja, understanding what he was asking, tried to find the words. “Ohhh…They are wrestlers.”
“Rasslers?” Wise rolled his eyes in an exaggerated matter. He then turned and glared around the gym, remembering that his boys had stopped their sparring. Ignoring his conversation, he lashed out with an order in his harsh voice. “GIT YA WORK IN! I AM OLD MAN ON BORROWED TIME AN’ I AIN’T TOLERATE NONE OF THIS LAZ’NESS!” He turned his gaze back to Kaja. “Rasslers ain’t no ‘count, Barbie. I ain’t ‘bout to was’e mah time.” Wise turned to walk back to his office with a dismissive wave.
“Please,” Kaja called after him. “They are also trained in fighting.” Wise stopped in his tracks. He’d be lying if he said his interest wasn’t peaked at the prospect of the giant Balraj showing a boxing form. “Somba is good striker, but Balraj needs work. Can you teach?”
Wise turned around and eyed the two giants once more. He took a deep breath, sizing both of them up and nodding slowly. He'd never seen men so large, so the curiousity of them throwing punches was enough to make Wise agree. “Ya pay?” Kaja nodded solemnly. “Aight Barbie, come back in abou’ fo’ days.”
“No no…” Kaja pleaded once more. “We have no equipment to work out…” She eyed an unoccupied heavy bag in the corner. “Would it be fine if we just stay and…keep to ourself?” She could tell Wise was pondering it. Just the presence of the monsters seemed to drive the other men to hit harder in order to measure up. “We will not be a bother…”
“Aight, but don’tcha mess wit’ mah boys…” Wise grumbled. He turned and shuffled back to his office. Before ducking inside the door, he turned and looked at Kaja once more. “Ah mean it, Barbie. Don’tcha mess.”
Kaja smiled to herself. With the weight of silence troubling both of her men, she hoped that this little hole-in-the-wall gym could be the necessary cure for their frustrated moods. As she strolled to the back of the gym, the Maschinen followed her closely and cast suspicious glares at the other men in the gym. Somba’s worried mind had cost him one match already; against Dru Dallins. Last week, their experience and teamwork, as well as the inexperience of Jing and Jerome, had been enough to grab a victory…but this week, they weren’t so lucky. Again, Somba was fighting by himself in a battle with the John Wayne of Pride, Eddie Nash. That worried Kaja. A man like Nash had the crowd behind him and his pride was no doubt harmed because of the previous week’s defeat. A man like Eddie Nash, on a week like this, could be dangerous. A victory at Oblivion would set the tone going into the Knighting.
Although she suspected the issues between Noble and Nash would boil over and cost them in their upcoming tag team battle, that wasn’t a luxury that Somba could plan to be given this week. It was one on one, Samoan Monster vs American Biker. What happened with Dru Dallins could not happen again.
She tapped Somba to the side, letting him know that he would be the first to strike the heavy bag. The Samoan golem took a step forward, prepared to strike. With a thunderous war cry, Somba struck the bag with his left palm. The heavy bag shot upwards, lurching back down with a noise that echoed throughout the entire gym. It was the most emotion Somba had shown outside of the ring in nearly a month…and Kaja couldn’t be happier. This could only mean bad things for Eddie Nash’s hopes this upcoming week.
On the other side of the gym, a stocky man with mocha skin stared in awe. Silver Mitt’s hands-on trainer, Donald Dince, caught himself with his mouth agape and gawking…the form of the giants wasn’t pretty, but the power alone was impressive. Under his breath, he muttered, “God damn…” before turning back and holding up hit pads for a young trainee.
---
“With all due respect Commander, the Krieg needs you to stay and oversee the management of this new Kriegzimmer,” Til Hahn argued. Just a few days ago, Kohler’s trip to America was Hahn’s very own idea. However, with the issue brought up in front of a counsel, Til’s tone was different.
“But Officer Hahn,” Kohler stated in a firm voice. “Someone must contact the Maschinen to see where we are with this…Otbet.”
“I agree,” Hahn said with a nod of his head. “However, that person should not be you. We need to send someone with less importance, but who still knows the situation. We need to send someone that can blend in with the typical American town…” Hahn nodded to the doorway, where Klaus Krupp stood his post.
Kohler turned to see what Hahn was gesturing at. The sight of the young soldier made Kohler smile. If anything were to go wrong, Krupp was the most expendable man in the entire Krieg. Sending him to America was a win-win situation.
“Private Krupp…” Kohler barked, as if he were giving an order. “Are you passports current?”
The Knighting was in two weeks. Together, Kaja knew that Somba and Balraj would be able to overcome the team of Noble and Nash. However, this week’s task was a little more worrisome. Somba, who recently failed to defeat Dru Dallins, had another tough matchup. In the previous weeks, the Samoan could tell that something was wrong and his mental state had been distracted. He would need to be sharper against Eddie Nash. That was the only way he would escape with a victory. If that flash of emotion at Silver Mitts was a sign of things to come…Eddie Nash had more of a fight on his hands than he realized.
