Blazers: Hey thread

[Rogue]

Chapter Eleven

Rogue went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth… He had just gotten up from bed, hadn’t done neither thing when DMC arrived. He finished washing then walked back out, finding that the phone call was done too, also the breakfast. was already nearly finished when the phone arrived, and, neither of them was in the right mood to eat anymore.

DMC wrapped up all these s in the plastic bag, the uneaten food, used paper bowls and chopsticks etc…, tied up the bag and started looking for a dustbin or something. “Ain’t there a trashcan or something here?” DMC asked.

“There ain’t one, it appears. Maybe you need to bring it away when you leave.” Rogue responded.

“No way, I’m telling you.” DMC said, with a wicked smile passing quickly through his slightly wrinkled face. “The old naughty boy is going to strike, again!”

He walked towards the window as he spoke… He reached the window and opened it, prepared to throw that that bag outright.

“C’mom mayne.” Rogue laughed, he couldn’t believe someone in his 50s would still do stuffs like this, though his posts on Spurstalk all suggested he was just such a person- a naughty old boy, never grown-up.

The bag was off DMC’s hand, off the window for a complete free-falling movement. Just two, or maybe three seconds later, a thumping sound bounced back up from the ground, followed by someone’s cussing words… Rogue and DMC were both rolling on the floor laughing, like two high school hooligans who just ed with a teacher then fled away.

But not too long afterwards, they seemed to have found something wrong… the cussing voice sounded so familiar… Yeah, it was their friend Brian. “What a coincidence, hahaha…” They laughed even harder, almost guiltlessly.

One or two minutes later the door opened and there came in Brian, followed by Irving, also their friend.

“It was indeed Brian, act like nothing happened.” DMC whispered to Rogue, then stood up to greet Brian and Irving. “Haha guys, good morning, what’s up buddies?” He still couldn’t stop laughing.

Brian looked slightly enraged, saying “Nothing much bud, just got a bomb that exploded in front of me and trashed up my ing leather shoes, I swear I would’ve made that son of a lick them clean if I had caught that mother er.” Staring at DMC, and said again emphatically “that -made mother er”.

Brian already knew who did this, he know what kind of a person DMC was and that it was totally DMC’s idea, which had nothing to do with his Rogue. Brian was too smart a person to not know it. DMC knew it too, he knew every vulgar word was aimed at him, but he didn’t mind at all. He knew what he did was rather childish and stupid, even for a high school student, so he accepted all the insults magnanimously. He knew he deserved them.

[Rogue]

Chapter Twelve

No one was really pissed though. They were all friends after all, despite the trash talk. As the old proverb goes, “every fight is a renewal of love”.

Brian brought a cuboid box with him, which DMC and Rogue almost overlooked. The box was a bit broader than a shoebox, similar height, well enveloped. Well, it was nicely enveloped despite being tainted with the residue of that “ bomb”.

“Sorry, I used it as a shield against the bomb when it hit the ground and blew” Brian handed the box to Rogue as he spoke, “I got a meeting with a client later this morning so I wouldn’t have the time to change my clothes…”

“You’re so… welcome, my friend. Is it for me?” Rogue asked

“Sure, open it up now bro.”

Rogue unpacked it so carefully as if it were also a “bomb". It was not a bomb, but a brand new Dell laptop, i7 CPU, 8G memory, 1k G hard drive, 2G video memory.

“Whooaww!” Rogue couldn’t help himself but shriek, “It’s like twice the computer the one I have back home”. His voice was quivering, with excitement and rapture.
“Thank you so much, Brian my .” He was so thankful to this guy he felt an instant impulse to kiss him, like how he kissed his brother-the fat architect at the 07’ all-star weekend (inspired by Shaq kissing T-Mac), but he finally persuaded himself not to, after doing his best to tranquilize himself. That man looked so tall standing there Rogue wasn’t even sure if he could reach his face, though he was indeed just 3-4 inches taller.

“No problem bro.” Brian said “ ’s sponsored by Spurstalk though. People need you to come back, they miss you bad bro. We can’t afford any more ing legends to leave, to be honest. Here’s a called wireless network adapter with which you’ll be able to continue posting there from here.”

“Oh, what an excellent idea it is.” DMC said, he used an exclamatory sentence but you could hardly hear any excitement in his voice, “How could I not think of such a great idea?”

“C’mon dude.” Brian answered him, “You just don’t want him to spend much time posting, but you don’t know what he really needs bro. He needs more rest, but he needs posting most of all. ’s his life, to be honest.”

Brian was thoroughly right about Rogue, he’d always been close to his heart.

Rogue couldn’t wait, not even a minute, to get back posting on Spurstalk, which he called home. He missed his friends just as much as they missed him. He also missed those threads concerning his goddess, most of which were started by himself, and the cute face of Scarlett’s in the avatar that he had never changed since day one of the obsession, as well as the lovely little girl in red dress seated in that wooden chair, which he used as his signature. It was an old photo, poor detail-level but still appealed to most poster even including Cully, whom Rogue regarded as highly as his mentor. The little girl was pre-school age, and probably still wearing diapers but her face was so beautiful even at such an early age. Of course, you can’t think of anyone else who might have such an unusually exquisite face, nor would Rogue use anyone else’s picture as his signature.

Rogue made some 20 posts in a streak, and still felt far from enough. Then he went on to drop another 20 posts and started to feel a bit satisfied, or bored.

“ ’s so boring there’s no more new posts coming up.” Rogue sighed.

“No wonder bro, the baddest ass posters are all sitting here watching you post” Brian said.

“Haha sure. Even my mentor Cully ain’t posting anymore, for some reason.” Rogue continued to search for new posts. He had no intention to stop yet… he had been missing that for so long, he was posting with a vengeance.

“Hey Shadow my , we really need you back bro. Don’t take them Spurs too seriously bro, they’re done but life will continue.” Rogue said to Shadowflames, or Irving, with his eyes still glued at the screen.

“Yeah , I’ve been back posting since our last visit. Under a troll account though…” Irving replied.

“Oh really? Which troll is you then?”

“It’s your job to figure it out brah. No one knows it yet. I ain’t telling it to no one until you guys find it out yourselves.”

“Cool stuff here bro, here we go.”

[Rogue]

Chapter Thirteen

Rogue continued posting for several hours. Rogue was so focused he didn’t even know when his friends left, nor did they want to distract him. He hadn’t been focused on anything since he received that phone call from his goddess, maybe he would’ve never needed to see a doctor had he kept posting there on a daily basis.

He kept refreshing the homepage every few seconds, always expecting to see some new posts, only to get disappointed time after time. The whole board was rather dull during every off-season as though it had a habit of sleeping through the summer like some animals. Even when he saw some new posts and clicked them to see the details, he would only feel more frustrated because those “new” posts didn’t contain nothing but few words, and maybe some beaten-up “LOL” pictures replying to other posts that were not funny at all. He was sitting there like the whole afternoon waiting for decent posts but none had come, until DMC signed in and started posting, then m>s came too, then the board became vivacious instantly with Rogue and friends debating, or sometimes even arguing with each other.

Then finally it came to a time when Rogue felt tired, he checked his post count and found that it had increased by nearly a hundred over the past several hours, which was a personal record for him probably. He felt tired and exhausted, but it was also a feeling of relief like the first masturbation after a few months of drought. He eyes felt like burning and they were actually hurting, Rogue moved his hands covering his eyes and found the eyes were just as hot as the laptop’s D plate. So he decided to give himself a rest, and also to the laptop.

He shut down the computer and put it away carefully, then dove into the bed head first. He never felt anything more comfortable than what he was lying on… he rolled around to give his back a chance to sense the comfort, and to allow more fresh air into his nose and mouth. He was so content and happy, and relaxed because that was the first time in months when he could spend a few minutes just relaxing, without thinking about his “goddess”. Rogue hadn’t drunk even a drop of alcohol since he got the driver’s license some two years before, maybe his “Scarlett fever” would’ve already been cured, or never existed in the first place had he tried trying some liquor to comfort himself and getting inebriated like he currently was. His full big head was occupied with Spurstalk temporarily, not Scarlett, all he was thinking about was “what DMC’s response would be to that post” or “who’re gonna reply to the new Scarlett thread that I just started”. And with such a strong return he was convinced he would make the top 3 again on HH’s “poster of the month” list that was going to be released at the end of this month, but Rogue definitely didn’t know at this time that… he wouldn’t be able to see it happening, whatever HH’s choice.

[Rogue]

Chapter Fourteen

Rogue had a short nap on the soft mattress which felt just like a stack of cotton to him. It felt like a full night of good sleep, so satisfying that when he woke up he thought it was already the next day morning, but when he checked the clocked he realized he had only slept for about an hour. He felt reenergized and his eyes refreshed, but the laptop sitting there was still warm in the bottom so Rogue mercifully agreed to give him a bit more rest.

But Rogue couldn’t just stay there without doing anything, his mood was still ignited. He hadn’t eaten anything yet since the “ bomb” he ate with DMC in the morning, but an empty head would harass him even more than an empty stomach, so he grabbed the New York Times that DMC brought here in the morning, and started reading it.

Rogue had “a little fire in his brain” to write but oddly enough, he didn’t quite like reading. Usually he only read the Sports and Entertainment sections of the newspaper, and he wasn’t even reading the Sports that much because it was the off-season so basically he was only reading the Entertainment section. He wasn’t a fan of it though, not at all but he still wanted to skim those pages to check if there was any news about… well, you know who.

To his chagrin, however, his efforts of searching for the latest info about that special person always fell in vain over the past many days. He checked all the les on today’s newspaper but still couldn’t find any of them containing either “Scarlett” or “Johansson”, but instead, he found another name which also looked so familiar that he believed he had seen that name many times but couldn’t remember any details about it at the moment, so he went on to read the full article… That name was “Ryan Reynolds”.

“Ryan Reynolds”, “Hollywood actor”, “sick”, “in coma” etc… several key words grabbed Rogue’s attention, as he read the article line by line, word by word, he suddenly remembered whom that guy was… ‘He is… Scarlett’s ex husband. Yes, that’s him’, Rogue was sure about it, and he was right.

According to what the paper said, Reynolds was also suffering from a mysterious disease which had been eroding his body and diluting his consciousness, and finally put him in a coma, a state of catatonia and trance.

Rogue had mixed feeling for this guy… He had sympathy for this guy because he was experiencing some similar symptoms as those described in the paper. And, furthermore, that dude used to have the world’s prettiest woman as his wife but he blew it away, while Rogue had the chance to study in the country’s best university but he blew it away too. They both wasted some parts of their lives, one way or another. Meanwhile, Rogue also hated that guy, to some extent, not because he used to love Scarlett and Scarlett used to love him, but that he once treated her bad and left her alone in the deep depression which took her almost a year to recover from. Rogue could generously share the love for Scarlett, he could share the love with anyone, but he just couldn’t tolerate any hatred against his goddess, or any behavior that might hurt her.

[DMC]

where you been what made you decide to welch

welcome back brah

Verb

1.

welch - cheat by avoiding payment of a gambling debt

What gambling debt payment did I avoid?

I offered several bets that no one took prior to the end of the Finals. Then I said if the Spurs win I would stop posting, They didn't win. My first response was to Thread. If Thread wants to challenge me on it, let him speak up.

I've been mostly vacationing, fishing and such. I will be until the end of August.

[scroteface]

Yeah that's what I mean lol so only culburn can claim the money? Shoulda just responded to me tbh that way you'd be safe spend that ish on a new rod and reel

[Lincoln]

Yeah that's what I mean lol so only culburn can claim the money? Shoulda just responded to me tbh that way you'd be safe spend that ish on a new rod and reel

Get out of my thread got

[scroteface]

Lol no hooping skills

[Rogue]

Chapter Fifteen

‘How isn’t there a thread about it yet?” Rogue thought to himself. There weren’t many Reynolds fans on Spurstalk but that was still a Scarlett-related piece of news because that dude used to be her husband, so Rogue couldn’t wait to get back online and add another “Scarlett thread” to his book of honors which had already included 20-30 threads concerning her movies, her interests, and the “goddess” story of course.

He was thrilled to find that there were new replies to almost every thread on the front page of the NBA forum, the forum which he and his friends predominantly posted in. People were all elated about the return of Rogue, particularly his friends such as DMC, m>s and Shadowflames, and even some of those who hadn’t frequently posted and those who hadn’t posted for a long time were coming out of woodworks to present their warm welcome to Rogue. This was a remarkable day in the history of Spurstalk, and also a memorable day for Rogue himself. There was even an “official welcome Rogue back” thread in the NBA forum, started by the forum’s owner Kori Ellis who had barely posted since the end of the NBA finals.

Kori had been a big fan of Rogue since he first joined this website. Rogue was still rather naive back then, and his language was rather plain and outdated as if he had been living his whole life in a tribe or something. But his intelligence and subtleness still appealed to other posters, upstairs and downstairs, as well as his exotic sense of humor. There wasn’t such an “add friend” option back then, but as soon as it came into existence, Kori added Rogue as her friend instantly and preemptively, and there were only two posters on Kori’s friend list at the time.

Rogue viewed almost every new post in the NBA forum, and the Club forum as well. Then he refreshed both pages and delightedly found that the “Reynolds” thread he just started already had 2 pages of replies. There weren’t many Reynolds fans on Spurstalk but Scarlett fans had never been the minority there. There were many other posters who loved Scarlett to different extents, secretly or openly, like Shadowflames, AchillesHeel, and his mentor Cully of course.

Most of the comments were like “Sad news”, “RIP” (though he wasn’t dead yet, some Spurstalkers just liked making fun of others’ misfortune or maybe they just didn’t even know what RIP means), and “Prayers, best wishes” types of .

Just like the world outside the internet, there were also good and bad guys on Spurstalk. Rogue’s mentor Cully once said “Rogue and I are just like two brothers born to different moms”. The age gap between them might be rather big but those two guys indeed had many things in common: they were both enthusiastic about writing; both of them were creative and authentic; they both knew the true meaning of love; and they both had polarized characters, which means the hatred against them went to just as extreme an extent as the love did, though the posters who hated them were very few and were well known assholes around the board.

Some of those assholes made fun of Rogue’s love, his pure love for his goddess. They did their utmost to make it look like some kind of perversion, as a method of besmirching Rogue’s image. Those people were perhaps born with such evil instincts to disdain others, which gave them more joy than their own successes delivered, if they had even tasted any success… Rogue didn’t care much about there posts, whatever trash they had spewed. Just as he always said, “If you don’t like certain posters you can simply put them on ignore list so they’re no longer polluting your eyes”. Rogue also proved to be a man of his words, as he practiced exactly what he preached…

Rogue continued posting till late that night, when he already felt sleepy like a panda and there were no more new posts coming up. No feast would last forever… Shutting down the computer was always a sad moment to Rogue, but at least he knew he would start it again right after getting out of bed the next morning… that was always true in the past, but the future? No one knew…

[Rogue]

Chapter Sixteen

The next morning, Brian arrived in his room even before the sunshine, with the great news that he couldn’t wait to tell his friend.

“Wake up, you lazy ass, which the sun is already shining on now.” Brian said as he waved Rogue strenuously, he didn’t say aloud because he thought it would be rude to wake the whole building up when it was only barely 5 o’clock.

Rogue worked hard to open his right eye, with the left one still closed, and he vaguely saw a man’s figure standing in the dim room. That was his friend Brian, he realized.

“Goddamn it” said Rogue, a voice from the throat that was like full of sputum. “It’s not a military base here, isn’t it?” Rogue didn’t need to check the clock to know it was still very early in the morning.

“Bro, hurry up. The news I got here would be the best news for you of this summer. Even above the news of your mentor’s returning, to be honest.” Brian responded urgently and excitedly.

“So you just won a lottery, huh?”

“Nooo…, even better than that maybe, it’s about your Goddess.” Brian said “goddess” with emphasis.

The mention of his goddess blew the sleepiness completely out of his head in a second or less, it seemed like. “My goddess? What’s that?” Rogue asked curiously

“Well, your goddess arrived back in NY yesterday for her new film The Avengers 2, the crew is gonna shoot some scenes in Manhattan this morning. They gave me the call late last night informing me of it, and I thought you were already sleeping then so I came here early today to give you a little surprise.”

But how much of a surprise did it mean to Rogue? The chance to see her in person was definitely great news for a die-hard Scarlett fan who had only seen her on TV and the internet, it would be the greatest moment of his (or her) life, even from 100 yards away. But it didn’t mean that much to Rogue… It would still and always be a pleasure for Rogue to see his goddess, whether on TV or in person or whatsoever. But it was obvious Brian had no idea what happened between Rogue and his goddess that night in Dallas, before, during and after the Hitch premiere. He spent a whole night with his goddess: they attended the premier together, drove “home” together, and it was also on that night when he lost his virginity… Brian knew none of these, even Rogue’s parents didn’t know.

However, Rogue seemed to have remembered something else, speaking of “surprise”…

“Ahh… thank you Brian, you’re so kind…” Rogue said to Brian.

“Thank me for… what?”

“The laptop”, Rogue said.

“No need to say thanks , it’s no big deal. I would’ve blown the money on weeds anyways.” Brian said jokingly. Rogue knew his friend never smoked any weed or , he just acted so because he thought it cool maybe.

“Thank you anyway.” Rogue said, “Was it a gift for me?”

“Yeah, it was.”

“But… for what?”

“For… what?” Brian sounded confused, “It was your birthday yesterday, you forgot it bro?”

“My birthday?” Rogue looked even more bemused. His birthday was in October, still a few months away.

“Yes, your birthday. I saw it on your profile page.”

“Oh no…” Rogue smiled, apologetically he said, “That’s not really my birthday, I’m sorry… That’s the ’s birthday, the I had a crush on in high school.”

“Oh… so send it to the then.” Brian said, in his trademark low husky voice.

“The laptop?”

“Heck no, the ‘ bomb’ I mean”

Then, laughter filled the room as the first flux of morning’s sunshine flowed in.

[Rogue]

Chapter Seventeen

Rogue then followed Brian out of the hospital building. Rogue had ambled around the streets before… the fifth street, the river, and the campus nearby, but he hadn’t roamed anywhere far away for the fear of getting lost. Brian was still driving that same old sport car, Rogue didn’t know the brand of it but it was still a sport car anyway…

“I’ve been driving this since college years.” Brian said. He paused a bit, then continued “I really miss the past, the high school days when friends and me were doing bad stuffs all around the school yard and our neighborhoods.”

“Yeah it’s fun to do bad things, I guess.” Rogue cited the famous quote of Latarian Milton, a badass hood-rat stuff doer who stole his grandma’s SUV when he was only 7. He once even held a troll account on Spurstalk using that exact name, before it got banned for violating some of the forum rules. Rogue also had a bad half of himself, like every boy of his generation, but you could only see that half on the Spurstalk when he was posting under troll accounts, unlike DMC who was always a naughty boy only except when someone called him Prof. Cobs.

“True that. Let’s go then.” Brian got to the car first and Rogue followed. Brian started the engine which sounded like a lion’s roaring, while Rogue began to study the radio set in the car.

“Ain’t there any Scarlett songs here bro? You’re the president of the local Scarlett fan Krew, if I remember correct.” Rogue asked.

“Does she sing? Don’t think she has a singer’s voice, to be honest.”

“C’mon dude, she’s been singing since 08 or something… Anywhere I lay my head was her first album, released in 2008, from which the song “Falling Down” is my all-time favorite… You forfeited your duty as the president of this Krew, to be quite frank.”

“Yep I admit. I’m probably even worse as a president than Barack Obama. Hehehe…”

“At least you aren’t ruining this country so… Obama is second to no one on the all-time tiest list to be honest, with Bush being a close runner up maybe…” Rogue paused a second, then continued, “Well, Bush might be just as ty but he’s a Dallas’er so save him some face please.”

“OK bro.” Brian said, “And… you said falling down is your favorite of all time, so can you sing that ?”

“For sure, I’ve been practicing it any chance I got, and when I sing it I sound 70 to 80% similar to her.” Rogue answered, proudly and boastfully.

“Need some proof, .”

“No problem, nig.” Rogue then started singing that song…

I come five-hundred miles just to see a halo
Come from Saint Petersburg, Scarlett and me
When I opened my eyes I was blind as can be
When you give a man luck, he must fall in the sea
And she wants you to steal and get caught
For she loves you and for all that you’re not
Falling down, falling down…. Falling down, falling down…

You for-get’ bout the roses don’t, come around your Sunday.
She ain’t gonna choose you for standing so tall
Go on and take a swig of, that poison, and like it
Don’t ask for silverware, don’t ask for nothing
Come on and put your ear to the ground
You’ll be hearing that sound
Falling down, falling down… falling down, falling down…

Come down and see that racking ball
Go swinging in A-lone
Everyone knew that hotel was a goner
They broke all windows, they took all door-knobs
They hauled it away, in a couple of days
And now someone yell timber, and take off your hat
It’s a lot smaller down here on the ground
Falling down, falling down… falling down, falling down…

Rogue felt very proud as he just got done singing it, perfect show by him, and it made Brian regret not taking record of it…

“Hey, my . How do you like it bro?” Rogue asked joyfully.

“It’s just wonderful to say the least. I’ve never heard Scarlett singing it but you sounded just like Michael Jackson, to be quite honest.”

“Scarlett sounded even more like him when she sang, probably even better than MJ.” Rogue said, seemingly having just come up with a great idea, then continued, “Hey bro, hope you don’t mind if I register a new troll account on Spurstalk, using the name ‘m<s’.”

“A troll account aimed at trolling me?”

“No, not really. I mean… ‘MJ < SJ’”, Rogue said.

Both guys laughed aloud, even overwhelmed the roaring engine…

[Rogue]

Chapter Eighteen

It wasn’t a long drive between Manhattan and the Cornell medical school campus, and it was still early in the morning so the roads were basically empty, with most traffic lights still sleeping… Rogue intended to sing another Scarlett song, but the car already arrived at the filming site before he could begin singing.

There was a crowd there already, people were bustling around and the air was noisy, in sheer contrast to the surrounding blocks.

Brian was the president of the local Scarlett fan Krew so he, actually he and Rogue could get much closer to the movie scene, as if they were also crew members of the movie. To some extent, they were, except they didn’t have any work to do there.

They saw a man, half bald with ginger beard, pointing his finger here and there as other workers were moving cars and s as he directed. He was the director, obviously, fat, defiant, and looking a bit re ed, just a typical director as you could imagine.

“Looks like they didn’t blow up enough cars and buildings here last time”, Rogue said jokingly.

“True. They’re probably sponsored by Al-Qaeda, I’m telling ya.”

But, Rogue couldn’t care less about the sponsorship or anything that wasn’t related to Scarlett. So they began to search for Scarlett, Rogue’s goddess.

“Hey, pardon me bro. Do you know where Scarlett is?” Brian asked a staff member.

“No idea, sir. Just a few minutes ago I saw her with Whedon, the director”, He pointed to that fat bald man who was still busy making the scene, then continued to say “Maybe she’s preparing herself for the film, it often takes her quite some time to get into that black widow suit…”

“Yes, she’s pretty ‘fat’, to be honest.” Rogue said jokingly, and also a bit nervously. He kept joking to cover up his nervousness, but was betrayed by his quavering voice.

“Haha…” The staffer laughed, and said, “She’s coming up soon though. You won’t need to wait for too long. You’re also gonna see other stars like Brenner, Evans, Hemsworth…”

Rogue had heard of those names, but Scarlett was the only one he knew… no just “know about” her, he actually knew her. They were even friends, in some way.

[Rogue]

Chapter Nineteen

Rogue’s heart was pounding hard, his body almost numb and his palms sweating constantly. While Brian was chatting with some staffers, mostly about movies and trivia, Rogue’s eyes couldn’t move even by an inch from the big caravan parked on the other side of the road, which he was told that Scarlett was in, getting her makeup and preparing for the film shooting.

About 30 minutes after they arrived, though the time felt much longer for Rogue, like 3 hours something, the door of the caravan opened and there stepped out the “avengers”. Captain America came out first, Clint Barton followed… Rogue’s heart was palpitating harder and harder, faster and faster. His blood pressure was already 150mm Hg, and as each avenger stepped out of the van, it increased by 10mm...

The crowd was making a whole lot of noise as their saw those stars walking out of the trailer, but Rogue couldn’t hear any of it, he could only hear the pounding of his heart, strong and fast.

But it wasn’t supposed to mean so much to Rogue, was it? He had spent a night with Scarlett, his goddess, and he was one of the few luckiest guys on this planet to have ever been so close to that lovely girl, that exquisite woman. He had the bragging rights over his friends, Brian, Irving… anyone. He could’ve act more calmly and maturely, knowing that she was just going to shoot film out there, and that she was just one of the team that also included 4 to 5 other big names. So why was this event so special to Rogue?

Rogue’s favorite Scarlett pictures were the ones from “Bobby Long” press conference and those taken when Scarlett was receiving her star on the “walk of fame”. He didn’t know why, he loved all Scarlett pictures but those pictures really seemed to make a different to him. Maybe he just loved to see Scarlett in the sunshine… He remembered those “Bobby Long” press conference pictures: she was standing in a garden, wearing blues jeans with a subtle cut near the left knee, a cowgirl jacket made of the same cloth with the “Kerry & Edwards” badge sowed above the upper-left pocket and her initials “SJ” a few inches down. It was a sunny day and she looked more beautiful than any flower.

The one on the “walk of fame” was another favorite of Rogue’s… standing on those red pair of high heels, dressed in a 70s-style blouse with black and white grid pattern, and the black skirt that barely extended to her knees… all of which formed an image of absolute elegance, as if she just got out of a movie where she acted as the 30yr old Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, albeit looking twice as good.

[Rogue]

Chapter Twenty

Scarlett came out last, right after Thor, just in time to save Rogue’s life because if she had stayed there just a few seconds longer, Rogue would’ve died of a heart attack or something. It wasn’t the first time this goddess saved someone’s life, nor would it be the last.

The loudest applause and scream were heard, louder than any avenger received, because it was in New York, her hometown.

“Where’s Iron Man? Isn’t he showing up today?” Brian asked

“It’s only a ground fight this morning, while Downey belongs in the air-force. He’ll be here tonight. All avengers will be here then.” Someone answered.

Rogue heard what they said, or didn’t, or he didn’t care at all. Downey was also one of his favorite actors, parallel to the likes of Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone on his interest list, but at this moment his head was occupied by Scarlett, and only Scarlett.

He swiftly wiped his hands dry on his trousers, waved both hands towards those avengers… He opened his mouth wide trying to say something, but no sound could be heard from his mouth. Maybe it was because the environment was already too noisy, or he didn’t make any sound at all… He mouth was dry as the Sahara desert, because his full body’s water had escaped from him via his palms…

But Rogue still caught Scarlett’s eyes, wanted or unwanted… He didn’t want Scarlett to see his pale face, which he hadn’t even washed this morning before hasting out of the hospital with Brian. However, he just couldn’t help but wave his hands and get the attention of his goddess… it had become an instinct of him. Rogue was trying his best to stay on his feet… his body was trembling and teeth clenching as if he was standing in the winter of Sweden- fatherland of his goddess, while it was indeed summer New York.

(It’s generally believed that Scarlett’s dad immigrated from Demark, and I have no intention of disputing it, but from my experience of playing Football Manager over the past many years, I’m convinced that the name “Johansson” is a common surname in Sweden because when you select the Sweden national team to coach, you’ll find that about 10%-15% players in the national pool have the same family name “Johansson”, which was also the name of the former president of UEFA. Scarlett’s dad is an immigrant in the US, and probably was also an immigrant in Demark, imho. Although there’re some Danish names that sound similar to “Johansson”, but they’re often written in different forms, like “Johansen”.)

[Rogue]

Chapter Twenty-one

Scarlett saw Rogue, she had to… This guy was once her “boyfriend”, though their “relationship” only lasted one night… So did it mean Rogue was her ex-boyfriend now? No. None of her ex-boyfriends was still a friend of hers, but Rogue would be her friend forever because he was probably the only man in this world who had given her his full heart, who would like to sacrifice everything to see more smiles on her face.

But she couldn’t just come over to greet Rogue right now, give him a warm hug or even a kiss, though she really wanted to… She was still at her job and she was devoted to it, because she knew that as an actress in the men-dominated world she had to work harder, much harder to earn men’s respect. She wouldn’t like being called “eye candy”… So she only waved her hand slightly, giving him a big smile plus a row of quick blinks. But that was enough… Rogue never expected anything more than just being a friend of hers, and the facts that Scarlett still knew him and that she had just blinked to him were powerful enough to reinvigorate this young man, who had spent almost the whole time in hospitals since the last time they met.

Following the director’s “action” order, the film shooting began. Rogue was doing his best to imitate Scarlett, every movement every facial expression, as Scarlett was fighting those invaders from outer space. When a fist or a kick landed on Scarlett’s body, he also felt the pain. He would even join the fight to help the avengers, or more precisely, to help his “goddess”, if the director allowed so.

The fight lasted about 40 minutes, about the same length of a class. Then it came the break, like someone called a timeout, probably Hulk because he was the oldest of them all and his upper body was enveloped in a big green mass of . ‘It must feel hot like in that ’, Rogue thought.

The avengers each were handed a plastic chair to sit on… The other avengers all sat down enjoying the rest time, but Scarlett didn’t. She was still standing so she could be easily seen when she waved her left arm, to Rogue.

‘She’s waving her hand backward,’ Rogue thought as he saw his goddess waving to him, of course he couldn’t miss it… his eyes had never moved away from his goddess since she first appeared. ‘Is she asking me to come over there?’ Rogue asked himself.

“What the heck you waiting for, mayne?” Brian said, which kind of woke him up from a dream or something.

Rogue couldn’t hesitate anymore. He rushed towards the Avengers as fast as he could, even fast enough to beat Gareth Bale probably.

“Hi Rogue, no need to hurry yourself, dar ehh… brother” Said Scarlett, whose voice sounded like the world’s most pleasant music in Rogue’s ears. She wanted to give him a tight hug, using her own soft chest to calm him down, but she later realized it wouldn’t be the right thing to do right here, right now… She was never a fan of those paparazzi so she didn’t want to leave any fodder to them… She just gave him a big smile, and a brief handshake, nothing else, but that was enough to satisfy Rogue.

“This is Rogue Smith, my friend and favorite author.” Scarlett introduced Rogue to the other “avengers”, no need to introduce them to Rogue because they were already household names.

“I’m so honored to meet you guys here.” Rogue began to shake hands with the avengers, one after another. Surprisingly he didn’t feel nervous at all, with his goddess standing by.

“And, they’re also my friends. Brian, a successful banker and president of a local fan um… krew, right? And this is Irving, vice president of the… krew.” Scarlett continued to introduce the other two friends, while Rogue had no idea when Brian came here, not to say Irving who he hadn’t seen at all this morning.

“I just arrived here buddy. You know I wouldn’t miss it”, said Irving, “You and I are the two biggest Scarlett fans on Spurstalk, don’t forget.”

Then, Brian and Irving also greeted the other avengers, no handshakes though.

[Rogue]

Chapter Twenty-two

“That bald is having too much mercy on us today, it seems like. We’re having an extended break.” Renner said, of course the “bald ” referred to the director.

“He’s just looking for the right person for that cameo appearance, I think” Hemsworth said.

“What cameo appearance?” Rogue asked.

“Umm… We originally invited Tom Cruise for it, which he accepted, but he gave us a call this morning telling us he wouldn’t be here in time due to flight delay so… we have to look for someone else now.” Scarlett answered the question, of course. It was supposed to be her job, which no one dared to hijack.

“Don’t you think Rogue would probably be a good fit for that role, sis?” Chris Evans said.

“Oh… Yes.” Scarlett sounded excited, really. “Do you wanna have a try, Rogue?” She was gazing at Rogue as she spoke, her eyes so clear and so charming… ‘Please accept it, for me, please…’ Scarlett said from her heart, which only Rogue had heard.

“Sure… I’d like to do anything for you, my goddess, anything.” Rogue responded briskly, genuinely and determinedly.

Scarlett looked thrilled. She just solved a problem for her team, and more importantly, Rogue would be staying there a bit longer, to work with her team, to work with… her.

“So please let me introduce that cameo role briefly” Evans stepped up and said, having noticed that his sister was too excited at the moment to organize any words the right way. “You have a daughter, half-black, you clutch her in your arms then roll through an enemy soldier, from between his legs, and then kick his ass hard. The soldier will turn around and find you, enraged and wanting to kill you, but Natasha will arrive and kill that soldier before he could kill you… Doesn’t sound too complex, huh?”

“No wonder Cruise’s plane was delayed…” Brian whispered.

Rogue also knew it wasn’t a glorious role. Rolling through someone’s legs wasn’t anything worth bragging, (unless you were Han Xin though, an ancient Chinese militarist who once crawled between someone’s legs). But how could Rogue decline it? It was an order from his goddess, or a request, and he had vowed to himself that he would execute all her orders unconditionally, at any cost. He would do it without any hesitation or reluctance even if his goddess asked him to die.

“So you still want to do it?” Hemsworth asked.

“Of course, I’m gonna do it with pleasure.” Rogue responded, adamantly.

“Cool bro, thought you would.” Evans continued to say, “Have you watched the world at war, a Tom Cruise film? Just pretend that you were Tom Cruise, expressing the hopelessness, the dread, as well as the for ude and the determination on your face…”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound too hard, to be honest”, Rogue said, then asked, “But have you got the Dakota Fanning girl yet?”

“Dakota Fanning, you know her?” Asked Scarlett, her voice sounded a bit worried and annoyed.

“Yep, I watched that film and the girl’s name is very interesting so I remembered it. Dakota, there’s a state named Dakota, if I remember correct.”

“Actually… two states, South Dakota and North Dakota.” Hemsworth said.

“Hey Fenan, come here.” Scarlett yelled to a little girl, half black, looking just like that other “Dakota” girl they were talking about.

Scarlett introduced that girl to Rogue and his friends as soon as she reached them, “This is my sister, her name is Fenan.”

“What, your sister? She looks so young then.” Brian asked, confused, obviously not knowing that Scarlett’s mom adopted a little girl a couple of years ago.

“My mom adopted her a few years back. Say hi to them all, Fenan.”

“What a lucky girl.” Irving said jealously.

“What?” Scarlett asked.

“Oh erh… I said ‘what a lovely girl.’”. Everyone laughed except Irving, face flushed.

[DMC]

Yeah that's what I mean lol so only culburn can claim the money? Shoulda just responded to me tbh that way you'd be safe spend that ish on a new rod and reel

No, scrotisserie, I wanted Dale to claim it so I could say "you don't believe in paying debts so nary a dime".

Then DoK unveils that I didn't owe anyone (DoK would know) since the Spurs didn't win. So there went that one.

No doubt though, if I ever intended on giving away money, you'd be first.

[scroteface]

No, scrotisserie, I wanted Dale to claim it so I could say "you don't believe in paying debts so nary a dime".

Then DoK unveils that I didn't owe anyone (DoK would know) since the Spurs didn't win. So there went that one.

No doubt though, if I ever intended on giving away money, you'd be first.

lmao I wouldn't have claimed it though, if have traded it in for 1 fishing trip on your boat

[DMC]

I'm going to be fishing the gulf for a full week at the end of the month. You should take your kayak down there and fish the back bays for reds.

[scroteface]

I would tbh except I gotta work

[Rogue]

Chapter Twenty-three

Rogue was excited about his upcoming film debut, and more excited about the chance to work together with his goddess. His heart started to pound hard again, his pants quickly becoming saturated with sweat as his palms. He tried his best to steady himself because he couldn’t allow himself to act like a little fussy jerk in front of those other avengers, colleagues of his goddess… He was Scarlett’s friend so he couldn’t show even a pinch of stupidity or anxiety that would otherwise embarrass his goddess.

As Rogue finally settled back on a stable ground, mentally and physically, a question came to his mind, ‘Why they asked me to take that role, not anyone else like Irving or Brian?’. Those words popped up in his head, then escaped from his mouth…

“Because…” Renner raised his hand to answer this question, but probably not yet prepared. He hesitated for a few seconds, then continued, “because of your size, the space between that freak’s legs is barely enough for someone your size to roll through, and that’s also why we chose Cruise in the first place.”

Rogue was rather short at 5’7. He quite loved basketball and was a good 3pt shooter. Like he could usually hit 6-7 out of 10 three-pointers without defense, but that was useless due to his size combined with his poor dribbling. He was basically just some good dribbling skills away from being as good as JJB or Nate Robinson, or just a Doctorate’s degree away from being a badass private contractor like DMC.

Rogue didn’t respond, nor did he say anything, seeming to be thinking about something calmly and devotedly. Renner thought his words might have upset Rogue so he came over here, patted Rogue’s shoulder softly and said, “Sorry bro, didn’t mean to offend you, I’m also rather short you know.”

“Ahh… Oh… doesn’t matter bro, I’m pretty proud of my size to be quite honest, I’m at the same height as Tom Cruise.” Rogue said proudly.

“Sure.” Renner felt glad and relieved he didn’t cause any discomfort to Rogue, Scarlett’s friend, then he continued to say, “And 5’7 is also a perfect fit for a girl at 5’3 or something…”

‘Girl at 5’3 or something?’ it didn’t take Rogue more than 2 seconds to realize whom Renner was referring to. Barton and Natasha were lovers in the comic book, but not in the real life. Rogue didn’t quite like that “hawk eye” guy before, mainly because of his role in the first Avengers movie who almost wrecked the heli-carrier, and who had a fierce fight against Natasha throwing a few fists and kicks at her body. He was then just a puppet controlled by Loki, but it already gave Rogue a negative impression of him… But Rogue was really grateful to this guy at the moment, and he knew Renner wasn’t teasing him. Renner was giving him the best wishes, in total honesty and genuineness, though Rogue would be satisfied with just being a friend of hers, like Renner, Evans, Downey or any other avenger.

[Rogue]

Chapter Twenty-four

The film shooting began… Rogue clutched the little girl, rolled through his legs and kicked that alien freak hard in the ass. The freak turned around and aimed his spear at Rogue and the little girl… It was so frightening the girl was already crying, Rogue also felt scared, though he knew he was just making film. The spearhead was so sharp and dark, and he could feel the coldness of it 3 feet away.

The might be accidents in film shooting, like what happened to Bruce Lee a few decades back. ‘What if the spear pierced me through the chest?’ Rogue was thinking. ‘No, it wouldn’t be happening. Scarlett will come here and save my life, she certainly will.’ Rogue was very convinced.

Meanwhile, Rogue was also hoping that his goddess wouldn’t come, so he would die in her arms, would die in the sprinkling of her tears, seeping through his wound into his heart… It was the most romantic way of dying that Rogue had imagined, dying in his most loved one… but all of a sudden, he felt guilty of having such selfish will. ‘How could you leave Scarlett in total remorse? How dared you break her heart? Rogue, you little bas …” Rogue condemned himself.

But Scarlett wouldn’t allow any harm afflicting her loved one either. She came here just in time and adeptly beat that freak into the dust, and saved Rogue’s life as well as her sister’s.

“O….” The director was intending to say “OK”. He was very satisfied with the performance of this rookie and his goddess, but he was having a hard time shouting the “K” out of his mouth as he saw Scarlett lending a hand to Rogue, gazing at him affectionately…

Rogue held Scarlett’s hand firmly in his. It felt so warm, and so strong, yet also so smooth like silk, like a baby’s face… Scarlett’s eyes were speaking to Rogue, that big charming pair of eyes in metallic blue, glinting in the sunshine. The smile on her face might look a bit absurd amid the fragments of cars and aliens’ corpses, yet it also lightened up the whole place… It gave hope to the humans in the hardship, encouraging them to get through it.

Rogue felt the strength of Scarlett’s hand, her arm, and her entire body… He could feel every muscle and every ligament in her hand, as well the flowing of her blood… He got back on his feet, but still didn’t have no intention of loosening her hand, nor did Scarlett. Their eyes were tangled up in each other’s face, as if they were studying each other thoroughly and carefully… Love was heating up at light speed between the young couple…

“Perrr… fect!” The director interrupted the young boy and girl before nature could take the course.

[Rogue]

Chapter Twenty-five

The film shooting was done and Rogue was allowed to go. Although he wanted to stay there a bit longer with Scarlett who still had some work left to do, he knew it was probably the best time to leave, to say good-bye to his goddess… He already felt tired and exhausted, and the energy his goddess injected in him was about to run out soon. He felt he could fall down anytime, and probably never be able to get up again…

As Rogue wriggled into Brian’s sport car, Scarlett gave him a smile, waving her left hand slowly and gently… Nary a word was said, or needed to be said. The door closed, Rogue rolled the window down, hands resting on the edge of the window, gazing at the goddess who looked incredibly beautiful in the noon’s sunshine. Rogue didn’t want to waste even a second not looking at her, knowing that it could be his last time to see her, and it later turned out to be true. The goddess was standing there all the time, waving her hand, even after she disappeared in Rogue’s eyesight…

“Rogue, you were simply brilliant there, my brother. That scene is gonna be the masterpiece of the movie I’m telling you.” Brian said, excited. Irving sat beside the driver’s seat, nodded exaggeratedly.

“Thanks, I owe it to goddess.” Rogue said, in such a low voice that could just barely be heard.

“Bro, you feeling tired?” Brian asked considerately.

“Yes, I’m fine though.” Rogue answered, powerlessly. Apparently he wasn’t very fine, but he didn’t want to worry his friends. He felt he might faint out anytime, but he was still trying hard to squeeze the last gram of energy out of his guts, he wanted to at least stay up until his friends left… But his body failed him…

“Hey we’ve arrived home, buddy, wake up bro.” Brian said to Rogue, thinking he was sleeping. He was sleeping, in some way. He was just too tired… he spent the whole day yesterday posting on Spurstalk, and the whole morning working with his goddess, but he had already used up the credit line of his body… He was sleeping now, in total peace and quietness.

“Wake up bro, are you OK?” Brian asked again, no response still. He extended his harm backwards, touched him and swung his arm, but Rogue still didn’t move, not even a muscle. His face looked pale and drained, he was still breathing but it was weak and frail.

Brian instantly knew something was wrong, so he and Irving rushed him to the hospital, not a second afforded to be wasted…

[Rogue]

Chapter Twenty-six

Rogue had imagined how being dead would feel like since his childhood. He was a smart guy and when he was still a little child he already knew that everyone would die, but how would it feel when you’re dying, or when you’ve already died? He asked his parents this question many times back then, of course they didn’t know how to answer it. They didn’t know the answer either, but they were surprised that a 3yr old boy was thinking about questions like this.

Rogue often woke up from sleeping all of a sudden, at midnight, jumping out of the bed then trudging back and forth in his room while making a long scream. It was as if he had just seen how it was: his body lying in a nursing room lifelessly, surrounded by his children (or friends after he became a celibate), breathing becoming harder and harder, shorter and shorter, weaker… and weaker. Finally he passed away… then woke up.

He felt as if he was trapped in a metal chamber which was going to be filled with poisonous gas soon. He tried to escape from it, but had never found a way out. He knew it was the inevitable fate for any human being including his goddess, and any living thing.

He was young so maybe death wouldn’t be knocking on his door anytime soon, but he knew it was going to come anyway, sooner or later, in seventy years, sixty, or half a century. He didn’t want to imagine how the world would be without him, how broken the hearts that loved him would be. He feared the burning pain when he was cremated, or the feeling of being locked up in a coffin under the ground and eaten up by germs, though he was told he wouldn’t feel nothing after his death.

But Rogue didn’t want to be a pussy. He didn’t want to use alcohol or sex to get inebriated, making himself temporarily forget about the horror of death like most people did. Instead, he kept thinking about those stuffs. Even though he knew it was a battle that he had no opportunity of winning, he still refused to surrender. He would die, but he would never surrender.

Life is like a journey, in which the destination for everyone is the same. No matter how long the voyage lasts or how far you have traveled, you’ll have to return to the starting point eventually.

Rogue longed to know how the world would be like in 100 years, 200 or even more, but no one knew the answer, nor could anyone buy the answer no matter how much wealth he or she had. Most of us will have turned white bones or ashes before one-hundredth anniversary of 9.11. It’s easy to say but have you ever imagined such a situation where you’ve become some white bones or some ashes in a casket? Couldn’t move, couldn’t hear, and couldn’t even think? Being dead is the most miserable thing on the earth, maybe, even more miserable than being a quadriplegic. I’d rather that I had never lived in this world than live for several decades and get my life taken away. Maybe it’s just the quintessence of the cruelty of life itself, maybe… Mother Nature gives you a life, allows you to enjoy during your lifetime but she’ll eventually take it away. Like you’d been in a relationship for eight and a half years with a wonderful girl, like the Charlotte girl in Lost in Translation, you loved each other and had a great time together, but she ended up marrying another man (especially some old bag like Bill Murry or some sissy head like Ribisi), breaking your heart in a million pieces.

Rogue was being semi-conscious the entire afternoon, sometimes he was conscious for a while, sometimes not, just sleeping… Even when he was conscious, there was still nothing he could do but think about those things again and again, things that had gone through his head countless times over the past 25 years of his young life.

He could hardly see anything now, maybe his visual nerves had already atrophied, nor could he hear anything. He could feel Brian and Irving being with him, and maybe DMC as well, but the whole environment was quiet like his heart now, except the sound of another Scarlett’s song echoing in his head, over and over again…

Cold feet, don’t fail me now
So much left to do
If I should run ten thousand miles home
Would you be there?

Just a taste of things to come
I still smile
But I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die
Way before… my time

Keep calm, carry on
No worse for the wear
But I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die
Way before… my time.

Is it any wonder?
All this empty air
Drowning in laughter
Way before my time has come here.

[Rogue]

Chapter Twenty-seven

Rogue was still breathing with the help of some machines, his heart still beating, but he was not thinking any more because his brain had stopped working, at least it appeared so to the doctors… Maybe Rogue was still thinking, still watching, from another dimension of the world, which no one has ever been, and which all of us will eventually belong in.

“Where’s his family?” One doctor asked.

“He doesn’t have a family here, maybe…” Brian said, his eyes turning to DMC.

“I’ve already called his family but the Smiths won’t arrive sooner than 12pm.” DMC paused for a meaningful while, “So… How is he?” DMC asked, though he already knew clearly what the answer would be…

“His brain is dead, and even if he somehow survives, he’ll be a plant, for the best scenario.” The doctor said.

Brian burst to tears, digging his head into Irving’s arms to muffle the sound and to hide his teary eyes, which this tough man would never want others to see. He held Irving’s forearms tightly against his cheeks, leaving no free hand for Irving to wipe his own face dry, or maybe Irving wouldn’t be able to wipe it dry anyway…

“Oh boys, don’t cry” DMC was calm enough, though his own voice also seemed to be trembling.

“It was all my ing fault, I ed my ’s life…” The remorseful voice trudged out of the crevice between Brian’s head and Irving’s chest, unsteadily and reluctantly.

“At least he passed away in a happy mood”, DMC tried to console him. “Posting is his life, you were right about that, so he’s still alive as long as Rogue doesn’t stop posting… You know the password to that account, right? You told me so.”

“You’re right bro.” Brian said sorrow vanished from his face, replaced by confidence and determination, the regular things that were always seen on his face. “I’m gonna request the mods to get mavs>spurs banned so I’m gonna post as Rogue full-time.”

“Great idea, bros. Rogue’s legend should continue.” Irving said, totally agreeing with DMC and Brian.