Post by INFINITE PRO. on Aug 31, 2022 1:20:19 GMT
Peaceful. Not the first emotion that would come to mind in relation to the regular candid for The Haggards, association with such a feeling in itself felt blasphemous to even be uttered in the same breath. Yet that is the feeling we are given upon opening, a clear blue sky with hardly a cloud as a calming breeze that whistles through the leaves of a forest that stretched into the horizon welcomed the eyes with an emotion so radiant -- like the scenery itself had its arms wide open to the viewers mind. Only to snap shut with the subtlety of a bear trap, as a scream ripped up the heat of the sweltering midday sun. The full-throttled shriek could have only been the bloodied cry of an animal, terrified following the thunderous bang of a hunting rifle in the further distance. A flock of birds in equal panic take to the skies as the scream continues to hit the ear, but slowly losing its power; dying. Even then, that what shakes us back to reality is not the bang nor the scream, but something more that grips the heart with a familiar dread; it's that southern voice all too recognizable that overpowers the withering intonation of a beast.
Jack Haggard: You know what I love most about huntin', boys?
Clancy Haggard: IT GOTTA BE THE KILL. KNOWIN' YA PUT AN END TO A WEAKER CREATURE; WATCHIN' THE LIFE LEAVE ITS EYES AND CONTEMPLATIN' WHAT PARTS OF IT GOOD FOR HARVEST.
Hank Haggard Jr: Naw, it's gotta be the thrill of it. It ain't fun if it's easy.
Jack Haggard: Right you are, Boar. Butchy, you gotta tone it back a little; sayin' shit like that is exactly why IPDubbya can't legally employ you, man.
Clancy Haggard: SHIIIIIT, NOT THAT SOMETHING LIKE THE LAW EVER STOPPED A HAGGARD FROM DOIN' WHATEVER THEY DAMN WELL WANTED.
Hank Haggard Jr: Amen ta that!
Jack Haggard: You damn right. Now hurry up and finish off that buck, we eatin' good tonight.
Clancy Haggard: AIN'T NO FUN IF YA KILL IT IN ONE SHOT.
As a second shot rings out, the candid goes white before it slowly fades into black and white footage of the eldest brother Jack; cigarette hanging in his teeth as his hand blockades the oxygen as a lighter ignites the embers into a glow. Hank was close behind, seated on the hood of a Jeep Cherokee XJ with a paint job that has visibly seen better days, a copy of the bible in his hand. Clancy was deeper in the background, tying the carcass of a dead buck to the roof of the car. Jack inhaled, causing the embers to burn brighter before he exhaled a faint cloud of smoke, Stitches prominently on his forehead following the fight in London that didn't see him favorably. He had a noticeable thousand-yard stare away from the camera's lens; something was annoying him, easily visible by how his hand that held the stick gripped it, shaking in time with a thought process he wanted to air.
Jack Haggard: Took y'all long enough to catch on to what us Haggard Boys are about. All it took was for us to get into a little bit of trouble -- trouble y'all weren't ready for. 'Cause we took matters into our own hands, showed up without an invitation to your little Night of Champions shindig, and reminded y'all that we were right here. Now I admit, our party crashin' might have come from a place of anger 'cause of these little stitches here in my forehead -- that don't bother me none, but how I got 'em sure does. I lost a fight to that bum ass PRICE, and that don't sit well with me. I lost to a has-been that has five years left on this earth max before his body gets found with a belt around his arm and a needle in his vein. But I ain't the only one with an axe ta grind. Y'all been on the choppin' block for a minute now with how y'all handled this. We ran through the entire tag division of IPDubya to get Hank here a shot at that IPDubya World Championship strap, and that MYOJIN fella got to have a shot first. They sure as shit haven't had the presence we've had on this place, yet he seemed to get priority. But that ain't a thing for us, man; we can be patient when we feel like it. All that wouldn'ta been an issue, if they hadn't won the damn thing. I mean we had a game plan and all, we was watchin' every move she made; had our crosshairs on her and been waiting a long ass time before we pulled the trigger, man. Ana Somnia weren't aware of how much danger she were truly in, man. And it weren't nothing personal with MYOJIN neither; sure, they look like dirt under their nails or a stain on their shirt would ruin their whole day, but we don't got a problem with that. All it came down to was that they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and won the wrong damn match.
Hank Haggard Jr: Shit, I musta watched Rocky IV 'bout a dozen times preparin' for that Ivan Drago lookin' bitch. Took what didn't belong to them.
Jack Haggard: Nah, lets be honest with ourselves; we are just shiftin' the blame. We are to blame for everything that happened at Night of Champions. Shoot, we own that. We own the fact that we put our hands on people we shouldn't ta put our hands on, that we showed up to an event we weren't invited to. We own the fact that we robbed MYOJIN of his precious little moment under the big lights. We own the fact that we rubbed salt in the wounds of Ana Somnia who turned out not to be shit as champ. We sure as shit own the fact that we chin-checked bossman Jason Long -- man been in that suit too damn long cause he didn't come correct and he left corrected! We regret nothin'! We own the fact we're now public enemy #1 and it took ya'll too damn long to realize that's what we've always been! We've been a threat the moment we signed that dotted line!
Hank Haggard Jr: Outlaws like the James-Younger Gang -- robbin' ya blind! Y'all ain't safe. Put ya own names on a bullet.
Jack Haggard: And we out here shooting to kill. Ya'll don't gotta heed that warnin' but you're walkin' into dangerous territories blind but confident. It's always huntin' season for us -- we ain't professionals; we do whatever the hell we want and ta hell with ya rules. IPDubya put out a cute little notice about us facing the consequences of our actions. Ya'll invite huntin' dogs into your chicken coop, you act surprised they turn up dead. So now ya'll think it's a punishment to stick us in the pit with your prized hens. Ya'll ain't punishing us; you're given us what we damn well want. Ya'll can fancy it up by putting repercussions on it, do whatever you can to band-aid fix the problem, but it don't matter one bit when ya world champs are runnin' 'round without heads.
Hank Haggard Jr: Ya keep puttin' them in the crosshairs, then ya feed em to the dogs.
Jack Haggard: So you bet your ass we lickin' our chops right now. Ya'll put dangerous stakes on this one, ya'll hedging your bets that we ain't gonna take them out before Royal Crown even come about. We lose and what? Ya put all but one of us on a leash, you can threaten to fire, fine, and lock us up.
Hank Haggard Jr: We're animals ya tryin' ta back into a corner, and that is when they are their most dangerous. That's when it's eat or be eaten, and ya'll gonna have to pick up the pieces of the lambs ya led to slaughter.
Jack Haggard: And when we win, we can promise you a slaughter. You're givin' us the right to decide what happens to them, we hold the fate of MYOJIN in our hands and we ain't the nurturing type. We get to pick a stipulation that may not allow him to leave Royal Crown with a career no more. Cause he might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but Hank sure can get creative when he in the right frame of mind.
Hank Haggard Jr: I spent my entire life watchin' tapes of Ace throwin' people into barbed wire, lynchin' people with bull ropes, hittin' folks with anythin' that wasn't nailed down. I even saw him use a brandin' iron on a man once. That shit influenced my thoughts young man, I got a lot of ideas up in this head of mine, and not a single one sees ya leavin' lookin' pretty, if ya even get ta leave breathin'!
Jack Haggard: MYOJIN. Ana. Ya'll have to worry about Ace comin' in to try and paralyze you again. You don't gotta worry about Clancy back here tryin' ta get involved. We don't need it. Not cause we care about the fine, or the arrest, or losin' these jobs -- we can go without. Because when we win, we're gonna make it the biggest nightmare IPDubya will ever see. We gon' dig ya'll graves, and we gon dig em deep!
Clancy Haggard: GOT THE SHOVEL RIGHT HERE!
Jack Haggard: Figure of speech, Clancy -- but I like where ya heads at. So ya'll better notify your next of kin. Ya'll better beg Bossman to go back on his word. Your blood will be on his hands.
The candid closes as Jack takes the now withered cigarette in his right hand, still embers alight as he puts it out in the palm of his left.