Continued from An XWFmas Story...


As our story continues, Doc finds himself surrounded by guards and sitting across from the Mayor of Gift City. The scepter Doc was tasked in retrieving lies between them on the table wrapped in a silk cloth.

”Are you saying she just handed it over, stranger?”

Doc giggles and shrugs as he puffs away at his cigar.

It didn’t seem like she was too bothered parting with it, good sir.

The Mayor seems skeptical, but leans in and removes the cloth to examine the relic. He looks over it for a moment then back to the doctor.

”Surely she told you what you had in your possession...”

The doctor shrugs again with the same grin he’s always had.

She explained a bit, but I don’t think that matters much anymore, does it?

The Mayor’s smile faded.

”Whatever do you mean?”

Doc reaches behind him and reaches for a cord plugged into an outlet. He pulls it and the entire scene around him blinks to white, like unplugging an HDMI cable. The people around him disappear along with the table and even the chair he was sitting on causing him to fall to the floor. Doc picks himself up in the white room and dusts himself off..

Pardon me for a moment.

He fixes himself a bit more; straightening his jacket and fixing his belt. He pulls another cigar from his inner pocket as the other one seems to vanish with everything else.

Sorry, friends.

Doc lights the cigar and puffs out a few puffs.

I’ve apparently created a misconception.

Doc fixes his collar and straightens his pants.

Right? Is the XMAS story too much? Is the Mystery Marathon a bit too………………. Silly?

Doc again pulls his collar down one last time.

How absurd.

Are ya’ll THAT lost when it comes to me that you have to start attacking my methods? Are ya’ll THAT lost when it comes to the good doctor that it results in digging and digging and digging and digging and digging in my past here?

And what’s funny is…. Every time you dig… You find nothing but good stuff. Universal Champion… Endless Tag Team Champion… Xtreme Champion…. KING……….. People sucking up to me. People avoiding me.

I’m not sure exactly what you’re trying to exploit here, Charlie….

My ego?

Hmmm.

My ego…



MYYYYYYY ego.



Are you sure you are just not confusing that with confidence, sir? Everytime I come out here I mention my past accomplishments, sure. I mean…. If they’re already brought up. I already assume everyone knows of all that stuff…. But if it’s brought up, well.. Sure, I’ll back it up! Lately, it doesn’t seem to matter WHO is opposite of me…. Everyone…. Everyone… EVERYONE!! EVERYONE seems to just be so, so, SO concerned of the doctor’s methods. I’ve done what ANY human would want to accomplish in such a FINE federation as this. I’ve reached the top. I’ve dabbled in the middle. I started from the bottom. I can relate with your rise to stardom, Charlie, but I can’t exactly relate on how you followed through with it.

I said before I won’t bother following in everyone else’s boot prints and point out your missteps when it comes to the big game and I’ll stick to that. The match with Robert Main for the Xtreme Championship…. The UNIVERSAL Title match with Sarah Lacklan… The fact you didn’t even bother with the battle royal… I won’t touch any of that. But, we WILL focus on my ego.

Since my return here, and Charlie should know since he’s done his homework and watched all the tapes and did ALLLL of that research, I haven’t lost. I came back at Relentless I beat Gator, I fought Mastermind into a No Contest and we haven’t seen him since, and I won the Tag Team Titles from a team that was already deemed unbeatable.

Hit reset and say all that back to yourself, Charlie. Start tomorrow and relay it all back and come at me.

I’m not exactly sure what you’re looking for in Doctor Louis D’Ville these days, but what more could you ask for? I’m QUITE comfortable with my position in this glorious federation right now and I’m QUITE confident that if I do much more I would just be being greedy.

Right?

That is the impression that I AM getting when someone says to me that I’ve changed….. That I’m, “a different man”.

That I’m, “not the same Dville I used to be.”

That I’m,

“Literally a different man.”

Charlie….

Mister Nickles.

As far as YOU should be concerned, my friend… I’m better than I ever was. I’m the best that I have ever BEEN.




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Because how would you know?


If you’ve been misinformed, sir, or maybe skipped over a couple of shows… I’ve eaten up the best and the rest have stepped aside. I’ve beaten the unbeatable and the failed have filed in line. YOU are just toughening it out, which is fine because it is what you’re best at. You can get there but you can’t finish. You can reach the peak but not far enough to leave a mark. You can TALK THE TALK….. But just CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T CANNOT walk the walk. You just can’t. You’re incapable. Unable. BUT you’ve found your place! That is why this match isn’t like a normal match for a Television Champion on Savage… IS IT?… Which is WHY you were so, so, SO eager to accept this match with the great, the SPECTACULAR Doctor Louis D’Ville. A very, merry non-title match with the Television Champion on Savage? That is unheard of! It must be your lucky day. Or maybe just a fair coincidence. Or, MAYBE, you saw an opportunity. MAYBE, just MAYBE… If you happened to beat the good ol’ Doc in a side-show, B-show, XWFMAS Special… That just MAYBE…. You and Jim would be taken seriously a little bit when it comes to coming after the Tag Team Titles…

I mean, you two fellas DID win a shot…

But it just doesn’t seem like the suits care too much about that…


Yeeesh… Tough luck, am I right?

I mean, surely you and Jimmer beating two nothings would lead you straight down that golden paved road to the top, right?

RIGHT?!

Doc shakes his head and throws his long burnt out cigar into the white abyss which he stands. The cord and outlet which he separated before still remains at his feet as he uneasily stretchest his arms and shoulders…

I can’t say I’ve been met with such luck. Maybe those heads that overlook your leaps and bounds take greater consideration in me just stepping from the shadows. I don’t remember begging for a shot at the Tag Team Titles…. I never won a shot at them, either. I don’t recall following Lil’ Duke around hiding in his shadow….. Maybe the people who stopped buying my merchandise when I almost off’d myself after my contact with the XWF ran out just felt bad for little ol’ me. Or maybe you’re just trying to soften the blow when you walk away again with your head down… Maybe you’re just so used to getting kicked in the head when you finally reach a certain peak that you’ve trained yourself to take it well long before it even happens. Or maybe this EGO of mine isn’t an ego… But it’s just history repeating itself. Maybe it’s just a retelling of a great story that you’re just not part of.



Doc looks down at the cord which still lies lifeless at his feet. He shrugs and grabs it up.

I suppose….

Doc shoves the plug back into the outlet which brings the white background back to life. We are not longer in the white void but within a great place of red, green, white, and blues…. A festive XMAS setting, indeed!

The festivities, however, are not what we expected! A battle for XMAS is now happening before our very eyes! The Mayor of Gift City is dead upon his throne while his soldiers continue to defend the tower. Miss Santa sits with a fatal wound to her abdomen in the doorway to the throne room while Barney the elf stands above her…

”You can’t give up… You MUST go on!

”Barney…. You’ve always been…. Ugh… You’ve always been the greatest of Santa’s little helpers…. Ugh….”

”Save your strength…”

Miss Santa reaches behind her and reaches out with the Candy Cane key….

”I thought it was lost…”

”Peter is a fool, Barney… It is YOU that holds the power. It is YOU that is going to save XMAS…. Not him. Take it…

Barney the elf reaches down and takes the key from Miss Santa and holds it high above his head.

It’s been up to you all along, Barney. The holly, jolly… *COUGH* *HUK*.... The spirit… The holiday spirit…. It’s…. It’s…..

Miss Santa’s eyes fade to a snowy gray as she fades away. Barney the elf stands silent over her holding the key as a familiar voice shouts from behind him.

Had it over.

Peter the elf, the betrayer… the snitch… the rat… Stands behind Barney atop the throne and pushes the Mayor away from it. Barney turns to him, holding the Candy Cane Key ever so tightly in his grasp.

You’ve been very naughty, Peter….

The old, fat man is dead, Barney! It is time for a new era! Peter Claus!

Barney closed his eyes as Miss Santa fades away. He looks down at the Candy Cane Key which has now morphed into a spear.

I gotta say, Peter… You've put up a good fight…

Barney throws the spear and like a torpedo it sails towards Peter's head….

Merry XMAS to all…. And to all a…..

*BLOOP*

The image flashes back to white as Doc lies on his back. He flails about like a turtle before coming back to all fours.

Oopsie…

Doc says as he grabs the cord after tripping over it.


Clumsy me…

Doc reaches for the outlet again, but hesitates and looks back.

Before we finally meet atop that snowy, steep rooftop, Charlie… Just know that regardless of the outcome… Whether it is you or me getting shoved into that chimney, just know that this is a stepping stone for you, sir. Your greatest challenge is not in the form of a title match. Your toughest opponent will no longer be something to loom back a frown about. After Savage Solstice, Mister Nickles, you can look back and admire the time you spent with the good doctor. Consider this a rite of passage. Consider this the day that you can finally say that you've competed against the elite. Take this opportunity, sir, and learn just what being kicked off the top really feels like. I am sure that one day you and I… the boy and your boy, Jim…. We will all get together again for some fun. After all… you earned it.

Doc grins as he reaches over plugging the cord back into the outlet. The world comes back to a glorious hall where Barney the elf, newly crowned Santa, stands before thousands of gis former peers as they cheer him on. With a large red and white robe, rosey cheeks, a snow white beard, and a belly full of XMAS cheer…. He throws up some devil horns and winks.

"Ho, ho, ho…. Say hello
… to the Daddy of Xtreme-mas."