The Brothers Sebastián: Lies in Plastic (II/II)

Part I

Diománte Sebastián - Hospital, LA - After Colossus

Dio Sebastián lived in fear of the call. He heard it in his dreams, in his silent moments, and most of all, when he saw his brother's face on TV. "Mr. Sebastián, I'm sorry, it's your brother," that's how it would start. "We found him in a ditch/alleyway/crackhouse. He died alone, and it's all your fault for kicking him out all those years ago. What kind of brother are you?"

Now, he keeps vigil by Sebastian Gold's bedside sporting a wrinkled button-down that matches his unkempt hair. The bags under his eyes sag with fatigue.

Dio: "Hey, Dio, you wanna go to Japan and Australia!?"

He throws up his hands.

Dio: "Be my manager, Dio! It'll be so much fun."

He paces around the hospital room.

Dio: Only you, Bani, would have the nerve to pass out after asking me that.

No, not Bani, He thinks. Call him Sebastian. That white name Hollywood gave him. God, I'll never get used to it.

Dio sighs and takes in Sebastian's damaged body. The Bastion of Action is lying on his front, his back covered with gauze and dressing already soaked through with blood.  His braced knee is awkwardly elevated so Bash can stay on his front. Rob Williams did his job thoroughly; there was no position in which Sebastian could rest without pain.

Dio: Why? It was supposed to be a regular match. Why, in God's name, did you let him set the rules? Did you think it would end any other way?

He stands and begins pacing around the hospital room, always talking to Sebastian's unconscious form.

Dio: Of course I know why. I saw it in your eyes. "The crowd's gonna love me for this," those eyes told me. I turned off Colossus before you even answered. I knew what was about to happen. So I put Lyra to bed, sat by the phone, and waited for the call, like so many times before.

He stops pacing and retakes his seat at Bash's bedside.

Dio: You have third-degree burns on your back, a concussion, and a dislocated knee. You'll need PT and time to recover. Not that that's gonna happen.

Dio buries his head in his hands lest the unconcious body catch him vulnerable.

Dio: What was it you told the press? "This isn't over between me and Rob, not by a longshot." to which I say-

He reveals his face, eyes swelling with tears, face red, temples bulging.

Dio: Fuck you. Fuck you, Sebastian, you selfish, egotistical BRAT! "Rob this, Rob that," he's all you talk about, this man who despises you. Newsflash! While you were trying to save the unsavable, your own family was going to shit. Everything....everything has gone to shit.

He wipes down his face and blows his nose.

Dio: I've been lying to you...about everything.  I said Angie's good, she's not.  I said Lyra's happier than ever, she's not.  I told you I was good? Pfft. I'm barely holding it together.

He goes back to pacing, his eyes trained on the floor as if that's the only thing they'll allow him to see right now.

Dio: All those years I didn't answer your texts...it wasn't just cause I was angry. I... I'm ashamed. I've made a mess of it all, Bani. I lost my job. Had to give up the house. Angie and I live at her mother's place now. I'm a grown-ass man living in my mother-in-law's basement, just like I always dreamed.

He chuckles to keep the darkness from taking over.

Dio: Remember how insanely religious Angie's mom was?  Well, now that woman has Facebook. Angie already caught her telling Lyra her measles shot had a mind-control chip! God only knows what else she's telling her. Angie's been tearing her hair out.

He sits down and leans back, hands behind his head.  It's all spilling out now; nothing his shame can do about it.

Dio: God...Angie. I don't think she ever loved me. I loved her, at least in school.  But we were just kids. She kept the baby because it was the good Catholic thing to do. I married her because it was the good Catholic thing to do. And like all good Catholics, we're miserable.

He pauses.

Dio: Still wouldn't give up Lyra for the world. She misses you. She still trusts you like only a kid can. She's even forgiven you for "scaring her" that night. I haven't.

He exhales, his breath quick and coarse as if a weight's been lifted from his chest.

Dio: When I said I forgave you, that was a lie. I've tried so many times, but I can't because you trapped me, brother. You trapped me good. We both want a divorce. It's against Angie's faith, but she'll sign the papers when her mother isn't looking. She's too miserable not to.  But I can't do it.  I have to stay in my miserable marriage because years ago, I invited my drug-addict brother into my home. He stole from me, lied to me, and one night, he crashed the car with my daughter in the backseat. What judge would deny her custody??

Dio collapses into a chair and tries to muffle his sobs with his hands.

Dio: I still remember seeing you two at the Station. Lyra's eyes were sore from crying; I couldn't look at them. And you…you couldn't look at anyone…I wanted to kill you. You would have deserved it.

He wipes away his tears and tries to regain composure.

Dio: Lyra still asks when her Tito (uncle) Ban-Ban is visiting again. I tell her you're too busy now, which only makes her sadder. The truth is Angie won't let her see you. She doesn't believe you're sober, and I can't blame her! What kind of sober person agrees to a "Flaming Table Match?"  What sober man would see a degenerate like Rob Williams and go, "I'm gonna help that guy?" She asks those questions because she doesn't know you. She doesn't know the answer to all of the above is Sebastian fucking Gold.

He half-smiles through tears and takes his brother's hand.

Dio: The stupidest, most frustrating, only brother I've ever had, who knows me better than anyone else and hurt me deeper than anyone else could.  Why couldn't you have been an accountant?

Sebastian's phone buzzes.  Dio peeks over and sees the preview of the email from Sebastian's publicist, "ALIAS TITLE SHOT RUMORS????!!!!!"

His hands start shaking. This is my brother's life now. He thinks. Is this my way out?

Dio: I'll go with you to Australia. I'll go with you to Japan.  I'll support you, be a good manager, and play-act like I've forgiven you.  But if we get to the end of this and you're still obsessed with Rob above all else, I won't stay. I'll leave again. I'll have no choice but to leave. I refuse to watch you destroy yourself again. I wouldn't survive it.

He steadies himself and stares out the window.  He mumbles a few words, then makes the sign of the cross.

Dio: I only pray that…one day, I'll be brave enough to say all this to your face.

Another wave of emotion begins to crest. Dio can't be here anymore. He needs air. He needs to pray. He jolts to the exit, making sure not to slam the door too loud behind him.

The hospital goes still save for the hum of machines and Bash's light breathing.

Then, Sebastian's eyes open, already moist with tears.  He wipes them away, wincing in pain with every movement.  But he's not thinking about pain right now.

He's processing.

Sebastian: Okay…okay…

Bash's head collapses into his pillow. His world rearranges as he begs for a return to a painkiller's sleep. But before the darkness can claim him again, a single thought lights up like a marquee:

It's all your fault. Part II

Bayani Sebastián (Sebastian Gold) - Melbourne, AU - Present Day

It's all my fault.

Everything.

Dio and I decided to spend a day in Melbourne en route to Perth. ​​Right now I'm walking down Bourke Street, a shopping district known for its extravagant display windows.  I hear Aussies flock from all over to see the impeccably arranged scenes from "real life" where plastic humans wear their spiffiest fits for idiot tourists (like me!).

The first display on my right has a man wearing a sharp suit at a perfectly arranged desk, presenting vague graphs to impressed colleagues.

Sebastian: Buy this suit, and you'll be the toast of your office with an organized desk and colleagues who respect you.  I could be that person. I could be that dummy.  If only I had that suit, everything would be different. It's the kind of Western lie I'm sure the Reds hate. Isn't that right, Dawkins? I bet they tell you how above 'advertising' they are. Meanwhile, they stick you with what?  A Herald.

A mannequin wearing a military-style blazer comes alive in the next window display.  He's the spitting image of one of Dawkin's Heralds but decked out in sparkling GOLD.

Gold Herald: DO WHAT I SAY, GOLDY.

Sebastian: You think a team of color-coded twinks like the Heralds can do anything but lie?

Gold Herald: GET WASTED AND REARRANGE THE MANNEQUINS LIKE THEY'RE BLOWING EACH OTHER. TAKE A VIDEO WHILE YOU PUKE ALL OVER IT. FANS WILL LOVE IT.

Sebastian: Nah. Lying's all they do. I should know. I've got a Herald to cart around, too.

Gold Herald: DOOO IT. THINK OF THE ATTENTION YOU'LL GET.

Sebastian waves him off and continues down the busy street. The Gold Herald looks at his fellow mannequins and pshaws.  He runs out of the store window, out the door, and onto the street, where he can properly scream into Sebastian's ear.

Gold Herald: YOU'RE IN MELBOURNE AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA HIT UP A BREWERY??? HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE LOCAL CUSTOMS!

Sebastian: Like you, my Herald shouts and thunders and gives me orders. I can ignore him most days.

Gold Herald: YOU'RE BORING SOBER.

Sebastian: Until he zeroes in on what I want.

Gold Herald: YOU'RE LOSING AT PRIME BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO STIFF. TAKE A SHOT BEFORE YOUR MATCHES THAT'LL LOOSEN YOU UP!

Sebastian: And boy, did mine get good at that.

Gold Herald: DON'T YOU WANT TO WIN, BASH?

In the window to my left, three mannequins serve spandex bodysuits like superheroes.

Sebastian: I spent the best years of my life listening to my Herald.

One of the mannequins pukes and starts drunkenly knocking over the display. The two other mannequins pick it up by the collar and toss it out of view.

Sebastian: Now I get to spend a lifetime atoning for it. That's your destiny now, Bryan. It kills me. What could they have offered you? Money? Power? Title reigns? Bruh. How has the Army tricked you into thinking you need them?? Have you seen what you can do in the ring???

I stop in front of a window that shows three plastic models lounging in "tropical" swimwear by a styrofoam ocean. Slowly, the Alias Title Belt fades into view around the dummy in the middle.

Sebastian: You've got a solid claim on being PRIME's most dangerous submission specialist. I've suffered through plenty of heel hooks, but never one as painful as yours. You tapped me out, far and square. It sucked, but at least I knew I lost to the best. I gained so much respect for you that day.

The lounging mannequins on either side of the Dawkins dummy transform into the spitting image of Crash Jackson and Violent Purple.

Sebastian: And lost all of it the second you stood between Crash and Violent Purple. How fucking dare you. What has Crash ever done to you?  Offered you too many dawgs? Slapped you too hard on the back cuz he thought you were a true bro? Only for you to crush his heart, and FOR WHAT??? Cuz you know you'll never be half the man he is? Lemme tell you what kind of man Crash Jackson is.

He looks to another store window, where two dummy school children whisper secrets on a playground.

Sebastian: Last year, I made a deal with Crash when it was obvious I was in over my head with Rob.

One of the plastic kids jumps up with Crash's unmistakable enthusiasm.

Mannequin Crash: We gotta look out for each other, Brollywood. You watch my back, I'll watch yours. Deal?

Sebastian: He kept his word. Even though you twisted his ankle all the way round the night before, Crash still ran, full speed, towards the ring when Rob was dumping lighter fluid on my corpse. That's the kind of man Crash Jackson is! That's the man whose friendship you threw away for them. How far are you willing to go for whatever they promised you?

The next shop window's mannequins form into a tableau of Stanislav sending Jake Colton to his doom.

Sebastian: If Stanislav ordered you to say, "injure an innocent Colton," would you?  The rest of the Army would. They wouldn't hesitate. They wouldn't look into Nate Colton's eyes and be horrified by what they saw.  I've seen those eyes up close now.  There's light still there, but it's flickering. The Army snuffed that light with blood and trauma. You'll be expected to do the same. And once you've done something truly terrible for the Army, there's nowhere else you can go. They've trapped you. Then, they can take and take and take until you're nothing but a hollowed-out pineapple rotting in its shell.

There's only a few windows left before my destination. I hang my head low. It's tough to stand tall admitting what I'm about to admit.

Sebastian: I know all this, because I listened to my Red Army, my Herald when they lied to my face.

Gold Herald: I NEVER LIED TO YOU!

I roll my eyes. Time to tell the truth.

Sebastian: A couple years ago, I was blacklisted from Hollywood because [this section has been redacted by PRIME Legal as its contents may violate the terms of an NDA Mr. Gold willingly signed.  Frankly, he should know better.] After that mess, I showed up on my brother's doorstep, a washed-up stuntman who swore his drinking was under control.

Gold Herald: AA IS FOR LOSERS WHO CAN'T DO IT ON THEIR OWN. ARE YOU A WITTLE BITCH BASHY?

Sebastian: I told him I was planning on getting sober, and I was.  I just… wasn't doing it very well. I thought I could control it all on my own.

Gold Herald: DIO WON'T MISS SOME LOOSE CHANGE.  HE OWES YOU FOR SETTING HIM UP WITH ANGIE.

Sebastian: I took advantage of Dio wherever I could. Took his money. Drank his liquor. Brought strangers into his house to fuck and l lied about it all. Dio made excuses for me until that night.

Gold Herald: HE'LL FORGIVE YOU FOR ANYTHING!

Sebastian: My training center was putting on a showcase tourney packed with scouts. The thought it was my shot at the big leagues. But Dio and Angie were away, and I was supposed to watch Lyra.

Gold Herald:  BRING HER! LYRA LOVES WRESTLING. SHE HAS THREE NATE COLTON POSTERS AROUND HER BED TO SCARE OFF MONSTERS FROM ALL ANGLES. SHE'LL HAVE A BLAST! DIO NEVER NEEDS TO KNOW!

The mannequins in the current window begin to rearrange but it's unclear what picture they're trying to make.  It's certainly not a wrestling show.

Sebastian: I won that night.  Just a student showcase, but at the time, it was everything. I even got a cheap plastic belt for posterity. I remember giving it to Lyra, raising her onto my shoulders, and parading around the ring with my new "belt." She held up that title with the aura of a mini-Coral Avalon. I wish someone could've filmed it.

Gold Herald: YOU WON! IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE.

Sebastian:  At least then I'd have proof not all of the night was a disaster.

Gold Herald: PSHAW! YOU'VE ONLY HAD A FEW DRINKS.

Sebastian: I had more than "a few" after the show. It was getting late. Lyra was yawning and I was past buzzed and-

Gold Herald: YOU'RE NO LIGHTWEIGHT. YOU CAN DRIVE!

Sebastian: So, I made the worst decision of my life.

The tableau the mannequins create becomes clear. Police officers administer a breathalyzer test to a disheveled man dressed in black and yellow.

Sebastian: On the way home, I lost control and skidded into the breakdown lane and scraped against the guardrail. Close call. But I was so gone I tried to back up into the highway. If Lyra hadn't screamed, the semi-truck that flew by would've made her into paste.

My voice cracks. My hands start to shake.

Sebastian: I almost killed my niece because I didn't have control. And I… I've never forgiven myself...How could I?

I look at the imagined scene as long as my mind can take it before I turn away. That's enough self-punishment for now.

Sebastian:  How much redemption will you need to seek one day, bruh? When the Army forces you to do the unforgivable, how much time will atonement take from you?

There's only one window between me and my destination now. I wonder what it could be.

When it comes into view, and I freeze. Boiling anger surges from my chest to my head. The sensation is so overwhelming and immediate that I literally see red.

Because I'm in this display. Two mannequins are dressed in garish sportswear in a wrestling ring. One is standing, the other isn't.  The standing dummy pours an endless stream of lighter fluid onto the fallen one.  In his other hand, a lit flame. They made a window display of my Colossus match to sell ugly clothes??? 

I fight every urge to break the window and make a scene. How am I supposed to move on, Dio? After what he did...

I feel my back. The burn has healed but left behind a spiderweb of scar tissue embossed onto my skin.

Sebastian: I can't move on from you, Rob. Not fully.  But I can learn to pretend...In fact, I owe you some thanks.

I spit out the last words like poison and look that plastic demon straight in the eye.

Sebastian: Thank you, Rob Williams, for burning my Savior complex to the ground. Old Sebastian woulda given some speech about how I want the Alias Title so the Army rejects Dawkins. "It's all to save him - him blah blah blah" - NO.  I want the Alias Title for me. So I can step up to bigger, better things for myself and my family.

He rips himself away from the Colossus display.

Sebastian: I let my loved ones drown because I was too caught up trying to save someone I hated. The Alias Title and all the stock that comes with it…it's a chance to make things right with my brother. That's what's on the line for me, Dawkins: family, redemption, everything.

I turn onto a less busy street, the Gold Herald still at my heels.

Gold Herald: DON'T GO THAT WAY! THE BARS ARE OVER THERE!

Sebastian: So do what you've "gotta do," Dawkins. Months from now, I'll be turning in the Alias Title to Lindsay Troy for the ultimate shot, and you'll be shining Stanislav's boots with your tongue.

Gold Herald: WHY AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO MEEEE!

Sebastian: Go ahead. Listen to your Heralds. Paint your future Red.

I stop in front of a nondescript building, no fancy displays here.

Sebastian: I'll be wearing Gold.

I enter the building. The Herald tries to follow, but the door won't open for him.  He tries again, but it won't budge.  They don't let Heralds in AA meetings.

Outside, he can do nothing but scream and stamp his feet, until all that's left is rasp. His voice gone, the Herald powerlessly fades away. Part III

The Brothers Sebastián - Melbourne, AU - After the AA Meeting

Dio's waiting for me on the sidewalk once the meeting gets out.

Dio: Hey.

Sebastian: Still window shopping?

Dio: Nah.

Dio's not looking me in the eye. Barely has this entire trip.

Sebastian: You good?

Dio's body tenses.

Dio: Yeah.

Sebastian: ...You sure?

He pauses. I can tell he's deciding between truth and fiction.

Dio: Well...

Come on, Dio.

Sebastian: Yeah?

Don't lie to my face like I lied to yours. Be braver than I was.

Dio: …this street's too crowded for me. I'm gonna head back to the hotel.

Damn.

I'm sorry, brother.

It's all my fault.

I'll make it right. I'll get that title and everything that comes with it.

I'll get Lyra a new home with her own room far away from your mother-in-law, set up perfectly like a department store window.

I'll make all of it right again.

I promise.

I only pray you believe me.

I was always such a liar.