The Story So Far...

And now… The story continues!

***

The fire alarm blares through the hallway

Kato runs through the arena, still cradling his lengthy brown paper package to his chest.

“Oh Goodness… Where could the commander be in this maze of doors and hallways?”

Scanning the hallway, he sees a person wearing jeans and a polo.

“Oh!”

Kato breaks stride and runs up to the person’s back, tapping them on the shoulder.

“Excuse me! I apologize for my intrusion and I regret to inform you that there is a fire within the premises! Please make your way to the nearest exit in a calm and orderly manner!”

…

Despite Kato’s polite yet firm tone, the man does not heed his statement. Or move at all.

Kato slides around the man from his back to his front. And sees the person is frozen in place.

“...Bizarre.”

In fact… This oddity makes Kato take pause. While the outside of the building is a raging inferno, the entire KFC Yum! Centre being consumed and devoured in flame.

The interior looks… incredibly intact.

Kato ponders this conundrum further… When suddenly a sign catches his eye…

“...Animal storage?”

…

Somewhere, deep in his gut, Kato feels compelled to go this direction…

He heads off that way.

***
Flynn has woken up to find himself in the middle of some weird scenes.

He’s woken up in a coffin under six feet of earth, awakened by a distant storm.

He’s woken to being surrounded by two dozen federal agents, guns drawn, screaming at him to raise his hands in the air, while his muscles were literally paralyzed and immobile, in the middle of a morphine-withdrawal where it took all his concentration to move his eyes…

Also, (and this might not have come up before), but one time, he passed out in the middle of a match and woke up to a clown woman biting his dick off.

…This moment, though?

Where Flynn has woken up in a room, with a 6’10” red-bearded man wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt with Robbie Bourbon’s face on it? Wielding a katana and yelling at the top of his lungs about Theo Pryce and blood sacrifices?

While Flynn is prone ontop of a stack of boxed popcorn machines?

While a fire alarm is screaming?

This still might be in Flynn’s personal Top 3.

“I DEMAND TO KNOW WHICH OF YOU IS THE GEORGE-SOROS-LOVING-LIBERAL-ELITE I’VE BEEN SENT HERE TO DESTROY! I WILL DEFEAT YOU! THEN YOU WILL TAKE ME TO THE BASEMENT TO FREE THE CHILDREN FROM THEO PRYCE’S VAMPIRIC FEAST!” The BOB-Anon shouts again, pointing his katana menacingly, standing in the doorway. The only means of escape from the concession storage room…

Maria, the XWF Security Guard Hall Monitor, is backed up against the wall, terrified and a little sore in the noggin from receiving a wake-up headbutt from “Kyodai Monsuta” (who is actually Mark Flynn.

“I already tried to explain that there is no basement, I showed him the map… I don’t know what to do!”

“NO TALKING! NOW, WE COMMENCE IN HONORABLE BATTLE! OR AS HONORABLE AS TWO EVIL WRETCHES SUCH AS YOU ARE CAPABLE OF!”

Flynn is still blinking his eyes awake, rubbing a little sleepy residue out of his eyes. He just wrapped a bout of time displasia where he had to fight off three past versions of himself to keep control of his body. Dried blood is still apparent under his nose.

Flynn is quietly trying to commit to memory what came to him at the end of his bout of Time Displasia…

After meeting three prior versions of himself…

Robert Miles.

The Person Whose Identity Flynn Stole 9 years ago to become XWF World Heavyweight Champion.

And the lead suspect in the mysterious identity of Phone #1 A.K.A. RM of RM Industries.

…It’s really hard to think right now with that fire alarm.

“WHO WILL MEET MY DEMAND FOR BLOOD?!?”

And this guy won’t shut the fuck up.

“SPEAK QUICKLY, SHEEPLE! LEST MY BLADE, FORGED IN THE NAME OF THE COMING STORM, BLESSED OVER A CAMEO BIRTHDAY ZOOM CALL BY ROBBIE BOURBON HIMSELF FIND ITS PERCH IN YOUR FREEDOM-HATING, CHILD-STEALING HEARTS! FOR YOU SEE, THE DEEP STATE MAY CONTROL YOUR MINDS, BUT CRITICAL THINKERS LIKE THE FOLLOWERS OF ROBBIE BOURBON SHALL ALWA-”

Flynn slowly rises to his feet off the makeshift medical table. Made of boxed popcorn makers. He seems a little shaky on his feet, his right hand still resting on the popcorn-maker-bed.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, SCUM!” The BOB-Anon shifts his stance pointing his sword at Flynn.

Maria is terrified.

“Kyodai! Stop!”

Flynn looks at Maria.

“What?” He cups a hand around his ear, leaning in. The fire alarm is still blaring all around them.

“TELL YOUR FRIEND TO PREPARE TO MEET HIS CORPORATE BANKER MASTERS! IN HELL!”

Flynn squints at the BOB-Anon.

“What?”

Maria cups both hands around her mouth.

“Dude! I don’t think Kyodai can hear you!”

She points a finger up.

“Cuz of the alarm!”

The BOB-Anon looks over at Maria, then back to Flynn, then back to Maria.

“I SAID! TELL YOUR FRIEND TO PREP-”

Flynn tries to yell over the alarm sound. “I can’t hear anything! What are you guys saying?”

The BOB-Anon finally gives up and lowers his sword to cup his other hand around his mouth.

“YOU! PREPARE! TO!…”

Suddenly, Flynn’s right arm swings up with the box… bowling the popcorn maker like an olympic hammer thrower

Whoosh..

WHAM!

Suddenly, 45 pounds of mint, still-in-box popcorn maker COLLIDES WITH THE BOB-Anon’s face! The box collides to the ground with the sound of shattered glass internally…

The BOB-Anon stumbles backwards, just a couple steps back into the hall! Incredibly, still on his feet!

“Oh my God! That’s arena property, Kyodai! That’ll come out of your paycheck!”

Maria turns to … And where Flynn was, he is no longer.

Instead, two pointed feet plow into the BOB-Anon’s stunned chest, his stomach caving in as his spine collides against the back wall of the hallway.

He lays, crumpled against the wall, sucking in air after taking a Mark Flynn dropkick straight to the lungs…

…Flynn hits the ground and scrambles back to his feet quickly. He leans his head back in the room.

“C’mon! Hurry up! Out out out!”

Maria seems to snap out of her terror just enough to follow Flynn’s instruction.

As Maria carefully steps over the crushed popcorn machine box and shattered glass to the exit… Flynn is leaning over the semi-conscious BOB-Anon, admiring his handiwork.

Maria leans down to pick up her brochure, the one she slid under the door to the BOB-Anon, trying to show him there’s no basement in the arena…

Flynn turns to the BOB-Anon and reaches down for the sword.

He glances up at Maria, who has slid the map into her pocket.

“Maria!”

“KYODAI!” She says screaming over the alarm. Flynn’s eyes wrinkle in pain from the volume. “CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?”

“...Yes, I can hear you. I could hear you the whole time. The feigned hearing issue was a ruse to create an opening to attack this… very bizarre interloper.”

“...WHAT?”

…

“CAN YOU NOT HEAR ME OR ARE YOU CONFUSED?”

Maria tilts her head, perplexed.

“WHAT?”

Flynn raises his right hand to his face and squeezes his temples.

He leans right into Maria’s ear.

“WHERE IS THE CONTROL TO SHUT OFF THE FIRE ALARM?”

Maria’s eyes widen and she nods her head in recognition. She reaches into her pocket to retrieve the brochure. She points to the highest level on the map.

“IT’S UP IN THE EXECUTIVE SUITE! BUT WE SHOULD HEAD FOR THE NEAREST EXIT IN CASE OF AN ACTUAL FIRE! SECTION 20, RULE 4, SUBSECTION 2 OF THE HALL MONITOR’S CODE!”

Flynn shakes his head.

“WE AREN’T LEAVING WITHOUT NK!”

Maria’s eyes widen. “OH YEAH! RICKY TOLD ME YOU CALL HIM NK... DO YOU THINK HE RAN INTO THIS GUY?” Maria asks, pointing at the still woozy, still on the ground BOB-Anon.

Flynn shakes his head, glancing around at the snow-white walls of the hall.

“NAH. IF THIS GUY RAN INTO… RICKY… WE’D BE LOOKING A MUTILATED CORPSE OR A METRIC FUCKTON OF BLOOD.”

Maria’s eyebrows raise in awe.

“WOW! RICKY MUST BE REALLY GOOD AT FIGHTING IF HE’D DESTROY THIS GIANT GUY!”

Flynn’s brow squiggles.

“NO, I MEAN THAT…” Then, he shrugs defeated, “NEVER MIND. SURE. WHATEVER.”

Flynn looks down at their fallen foe, still unconscious.

And his gleaming golden sword.

“SO, PLAN FROM HERE:...”

“1. I TAKE THIS SWORD.”

“2. WE GET TO THE EXECUTIVE SUITE AND TURN OFF THE ALARM.”

“3. WE FIND RICKY AND GET OUT OF HERE ”

“SOUNDS GOOD. I THINK IF WE SPLIT ITEM 3 INTO A THIRD AND FOURTH ITEM RESPECTIVELY, I CONCUR WITH THE PLAN.”

Flynn’s brow furrows, as if annoyed that Maria feels she has a say in the plan, but eventually nods back and grabs the golden katana by its handle out of the BOB-Anon’s hand…

He tries to stand up with it…

…But it snags, just a few inches from the BOB-Anon’s wrist.

He tries to snap it up again…

But it snags taut.

Flynn’s eyes squint confused.

He leans in… taking a closer look.

And sees, attached to the customized tennis racquet grip…

The BOB-Anon has adhered one of those controller straps like on a motion-based video game.

And the strap is firmly wrapped around his wrist.

…

“...Very… Clever.”

…The slight tug… And the giant starts to stir awake… Moaning…

Flynn gently releases the blade’s grip and looks back at Maria, who is looking over his shoulder and sees the dilemma. Flynn slowly stands up.

“OKAY, NOT A BIG DEAL. SLIGHT ALTERATION TO THE PLAN”

Maria nods, stone-faced, prepared to listen.

“1. …”

Suddenly, The BOB-Anon’s eyes snap open.

His hand clamps down on his sword.

Flynn takes Maria’s hand.

“RUN!”

To Be Continued…

***

XWF Presents Leap of Faith 2020 Saitama Super Arena Tokyo, Japan July 27th, 2020

Quote:A solitary spotlight illuminates an image of the XWF Hall Of Legends banner which is hanging to the left of an official XWF podium and just a short moment later James Raven appears at the podium.

Raven steps to the microphone to the delight of the crowd.

JAMES RAVEN: Last month we induced Doctor D'Ville who along with The Kings hold the record for the longest tag team reign in XWF history however the person we are inducting tonight makes of one half of the longest two man tag team reign the XWF has ever seen. Few teams have tried to surpass it but so far no one has. Tonight the XWF is proud to induct it's newest member of the XWF Hall of Legends…

CLICK.

Suddenly, the image freeze-frames, with static blurring the screen…

The footage is faded, clearly the tape it’s being watched on has been worn down from many repeated viewings.

The camera pans away from the ancient CRT monitor to the lounge chair across the room.

Where Mark Flynn is sitting with a remote in hand.

“FALSE.”

Flynn takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He squeezes his fist closed to regain control.

If there’s one thing he truly despises… it’s misinformation about athletic achievement.

Flynn dashes off-screen.

You can hear slightly out-of-sight, hands manically searching, tossing old leather bound books to the floor, frantically searching for truth amidst a sea of lies.

“HAHA!”

Flynn stomps back with a large crimson tome.

Across the front, it reads ‘XWF Title Histories’.

Flynn licks a finger and flips quickly through the pages, before stopping at the section about the XWF Tag Team Titles.

Flynn’s index quickly parses down the table of victors and their reign’s beginnings and ends…

“At the time Sebastian Duke’s Hall of Fame induction occurred, (Leap of Faith - July 27th, 2020), Apex had already set a new Tag-Team championship reign record of 241 days. From January 16th to September 14th, 2019.”

Flynn flips back a page…

“Griffin MacAlister and Sebastian Duke’s Tag Title reign began August 7th, 2013… And ended March 26th, 2014.”

“A total of two hundred.”

“And THIRTY-ONE DAYS.”

“Ten days short. Duke’s record had for an entire 10 months been matched AND surpassed.”

“Check my fucking math.”

Flynn snaps the history book shut…

“Even in his Hall of Fame induction ceremony… Sebastian Duke’s achievements are sewn into a tapestry of lies.”

A small trace of spittle flies off Flynn’s chin, the furious boiling of venom oozing out of his throat…

CLICK.

The tape whirs forward as the image on the screen flies by at double-speed…

CLICK. The tape resumes.

James Raven steps aside after introducing the man who would induct Sebastian Duke into the XWF Hall of Legends…

Theo Pryce.

Pryce steps up to the microphone, comfortably. Like what’s about to take place isn’t a fucking travesty.

Quote:THEO PRYCE: So....here I am. Back to induct someone else into the XWF Hall of Legends. And I suppose it's only fitting that after inducting some friends I now get to induct family. Sebastian Duke. My half brother.

“Fucking. Nepotism.”

CLICK. The tape fast-forwards.

CLICK.

Quote:Many years ago when the XWF was very literally fractured by the actions of Eli James and drawn into a war that would pit Team Eli vs Team Theo against each other at XWF War Games there were two people who sided with my instantly in my quest to get rid of Eli and repair the XWF.

CLICK.

…

“Keep this line in mind.”

“We’ll be talking about it in… more detail… Next Week.”

CLICK.

Quote:John Samuels and Sebastian Duke. And this was before Sebastian and I even knew of our shared lineage. It was almost as if the two of us were drawn together by some kind of cosmic force to always have each other's backs.

CLICK.

The tape stops and rewinds…

CLICK.

Quote:It was almost as if the two of us were drawn together by some kind of cosmic force to always have each other's backs.

CLICK.

CLICK.

Quote:The two of us were drawn together by some kind of cosmic force to always have each other's backs.

CLICK. The image freezes.

Flynn smiles and turns to the camera.

“This is a direct quote from a 50% owner of the XWF.”

Flynn shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“And somehow, despite shit like this… You all think I’m a conspiracy theorist for calling out corruption around here...”

“I don’t need a web of red yarn connecting a thousand quasi-related stories to back up my claims that something is amiss here.”

“I only needed one event to prove this place is a den of corruption… A hotbed of rewarding the stooges and the lapdogs over those actually seeking to elevate this sport.”

“Only one event has kept me awake, gnawing at me, as the smoking gun proving that something is horribly wrong inside of the XWF…”

CLICK.

…

CLICK.

Quote:And so it is with that that I close my induction by formerly welcoming my brother Sebastian Duke into the pantheon of greatness that is the Hall of Legends.

CLICK.

“And it’s this moment. Right here.”

Flynn leans his head back as far as it can go against the headrest of his chair.

Until finally his neck cracks. The tension in his back loosens and he relaxes.

“Hey, Sebastian.”

“Long time, no see.”

“You sure seem to be enjoying retirement. Kicking back, relaxing, huh?”

“While I’m out here in the prime of my career, putting together the best in-ring work of my fucking life.”

“You’re collecting retirement checks, television royalties and speaking appearances at other people’s Hall of Legends inductions.”

“How.”

“Very.”

“You.”

“Sebastian.”

Flynn scratches the center of this forehead with a bent index.

“Let’s face it, Sebastian. You’ve made an entire wrestling career in the XWF out of minimal effort.”

“And scheduling availability.”

“You existed in the same window as some of the greatest wrestling talent in the XWF: Sid Feder, Azrael Erebus, Griffin MacAlister…”

“The last name being your tag team partner, the man who carried you for 231 days on his back like a fucking sherpa hauling a decrepit old corpse up a mountain.”

“The middle man being the actual history maker, the one who won the first ever Universal Championship… Only to get cashed in on by you… Then, took it back rightfully from you a month later.”

“And the first… A man who, let’s face it, a man who would have humiliated you if you two ever stepped into the ring together in a fair one-on-one fight.”

"And somehow, none of those three are in the Hall of Fame."

"And you are."

Flynn chuckles, twisting his head side-to-side, anger building up in his gullet.

“Of course, let’s face it, Sebastian. Why are we talking about you and fair fights in the same breath?"

“Fair One-on-one fights have never really been your style, have they?”

"Standing on your own fucking merit? Never your forte.

Flynn bites his lip, stewing in his own rage.

“If you want my take, as one of the handful of superstars that’s taken on Daddy Duke and Thaddy Duke?”

“One of them had the fucking cajones to fight me straight-up. To go between the ropes and battle me without any shenanigans.”

“And the other is named Sebastian Fucking Duke.”

“Now, did my and Thad's match get called off early? Yes, it did. But, I got to have a long chat with young Thaddeus about it, and I learned he was just as pissed off our match ended early as I did.”

“The only thing we disagree on… Is who would’ve won in overtime.”

Flynn allows himself a split-second smile… Only to immediately seethe in rage.

“Now some might cite my history with Sebastian Duke. My 0-3 record.”

“Let’s look at everyone of those matches, shall we?”

“First off, a tag match: Duke got paired up with Angelus, one of the Top 50 Greatest XWF superstars of All-Time.”

“And I got paired with the now-unemployed Peter FUCKING Gilmour.”

“Nuff said.”

“Match #2: A 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match.”

“One in which, A. I lasted longer than you.”

“B. You and the rest of the Black Circle, Luca and Johnny Madison and [NAME REDACTED] decided to fuck up the whole match.”

“And you still turned around and claimed it as a win when Sid Feder carried your squad after you ambushed him.”

“Classy, Duke.”

“For the record, if you get to count that match as a win over me? Then, at WarGames, I logged a win over your son.”

“That kid’s a hell of a lot better than you and he’s never once beaten me.”

Flynn winks, grinning ear-to-ear.

“Then, finally… The match that put you on the map…”

“There’s one show that you yourself acknowledged as your first MAJOR Victory.”

CLICK.

The tape fast-forwards. We see Theo Pryce step aside after warmly receiving the Man of the Hour.

Sebastian Duke.

We see Sebastian prattle on and on and o-

CLICK.

Quote:Over the years, every trial and tribulation, every victory and defeat helped me become what I was and still am. The measuring stick for greatness. From my humiliating defeat in my debut against Unknown Soldier to my first major victory over Mark Flynn

“Your first major victory, Sebastian?”

“How did you get it?”

“Watch the tape back, Duke.”

“FIRST! I got disqualified intentionally, because I saw getting fucked in the cards and tried to dodge it.”

“Of course it didn’t stick. Warfare GM Wallace Witastick’s idiot muscle Tyrone demanded the match be restarted.”

“Then, I beat you fair and square. Put you down in the center of the ring. THE END.”

“No official to count the pin.”

“Then, you had a fucking NAZI run-in. Another Black Circle member. RUN BY (at-the-time) XWF OWNER AND SHOVE-IT GM [NAME REDACTED]. He Ambushed me from behind and dropped you across my chest.”

“That’s the kind of company Sebastian Duke was in the habit of keeping.”

“And of course, why would they restart the match again after NAZI’s interference?”

“They had the winner they wanted from the beginning.”

…

“What a star-making fucking night for you, Sebastian..”

“A night where the heads of both active XWF brands joined for one night. TO FUCK ME OVER. And you just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

“To take something you never earned.”

“...Just like when you took your place in the Hall of Legends.

Flynn points down the barrel of the camera, with fury in his eyes.

“That’s the difference between you and me, Sebastian.”

“That’s what the difference has always been.”

“I was the talent. You were the fucking stooge.”

“You were the name that some executive in the boardroom decided was championship caliber.”

“And I was the diamond that got fucking missed in the sand. Stuck under an idiot’s boot, held down and forgotten about.”

“One of us is in the Hall of Legends. And the other is an actual fucking legend, Sebastian.”

“The difference between you and I, Sebastian?”

“One of us spent 2012 kowtowing to ownership. Gladhanding management. By your son’s own telling, you went to the back and sobbed up a storm to get your Intercontinental title back after getting cashed-in on. When you did the same thing to get your ONLY Universal title reign six months earlier.”

“You’re a hypocrite, Sebastian.”

“And a fraud.”

“You came here and from Day One, you traded up from tandem to tandem, getting carried by Paul Heyman, then [NAME REDACTED], from GM to GM… Until you conveniently ended up with your half-brother as 50% owner of the XWF.”

“You became the Universal Champion on day one of the belt’s existence.”

“Because of a briefcase your Brother-in-Law gave you.”

“For winning a fight on his behalf”

“Look it up. Point out the lie.”

"Spoiler Alert: There's not one.

CLICK.

Quote:The two of us were drawn together by some kind of cosmic force to always have each other's backs.

CLICK.

Flynn twists his neck uncomfortably, in disgust. He grabs the history book he pulled from the shelf and frisbees it at the camera.

“THE XWF WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE I WON… IS SITTING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE INACTIVE SECTION OF THE HISTORY BOOK… IN SMALL FONT… AS SMALL AS FUCKING POSSIBLE. TO MAKE IT AS DIFFICULT TO READ.”

“But they can’t erase it. They can't erase my past. Just like they can't stop my DESTINY.”

“I bided my time. I trained. And I waited.”

“...And now look where we are.”

“It’s eight years since the last time we met.”

“What have you accomplished recently?”

“You beat a morbidly obese John Samuels, a shadow of his former, so-called Legendary self… In a Legend vs Legend, curtain-jerker Relentless match.”

“You two old fogies went out and embarrassed yourself, receiving pity applause from a Chicago audience that felt sorry for you.”

“While I, someone who started wrestling BEFORE you two… Went out and had the match of the night, pushing a 22-year old future Hall of Legend resident to his fucking limits. In a 5-Star caliber match that ended in a draw.”

“In the last few weeks, I’ve beaten the #1 contender to the Universal Title.”

“According to some critics of my still-developing partner, I won the Tag Titles single-fucking-handedly.”

“Which isn’t true, NK. It’s just what some idiots say. Calm down.”

Flynn winks.

“And I’ve been signed by the newest star-studded agency in the wrestling business, CCP Enterprises.”

“It took eight years, but I’ve finally got people in my corner. I’ve finally got resources and, for the first time, I have (a small number of) people I trust.”

“While I’ve had more corporate bullshit and power plays from executives dumped on my head than any superstar in XWF history… In 2022, as we open a new year… I finally see THE OPTIMAL PATH.”

“OPENING IN FRONT OF ME.”

“LIKE MOSES AND THE FUCKING RED SEA. CHALLENGES LINE UP BEFORE ME TO BE LAID TO WASTE, IN WITNESS OF MY ASCENT INTO GODHOOD!”

…

“And now here we are.”

“Eight years later.”

And I know that you don’t deserve to be a legend, Sebastian.”

“And deep down? I know you know, too.”

“But, for one night, let’s play pretend.”

“For one glorious night, I want you to play the part the XWF has trained us all to believe you can play.”

“The returning hero.”

“The conquering warrior.”

“The KING of Darkness.”

….

“Because it will make it all the more poignant. All the more powerful.”

“When after eight fucking years. Eight years of getting FUCKED by management... Of being held under you.”

“The prodigal son. The chosen winner. The half-brother of an XWF Co-Owner.”

“And the man who’s tallied three bullshit wins against me.”

“I’ll finally overcome the last black mark in my record. I'll prove, once and for all, that I’m the best I’ve ever been.”

‘The.”

“Best.”

“That’s.”

“EVER.”

“Been.”

“And on the road to my destiny."

"My rightful place at the top seat in this company."

"I claim my first victory.”

“Against Sebastian.”

“Fucking.”

“Duke.”

CLICK.

The footage resumes.

Flynn leans his head back in the chair, his eyes closed.

Basking in the glorious televised applause.

As the image of Sebastian Duke leaves the stage.

And Flynn imagines.

It’s for the very.

Last.

Time.

And he smiles.