12-14-2014, 09:05 PM
Saturday – 2:47pm || Ford Dealership || Little Rock, AS
:: So Michelle and myself had decided to spend a couple of extra days in Little Rock. We were in no rush to get to New Orleans for Madness, seeing as time was not an issue. Michelle had friends in the area too, so she was happy to have the opportunity to catch up with some of them. We had been driving around some crappy rental car for the last few days and it was really starting to do my head in. The brakes squealed to my touch, the wheels shuddered and the interior had a lingering odour of stale vomit. I'd ditched the rental about an hour or two prior, refusing to travel 427 god-damn miles in that death trap. Now, here I stood, clutching the keys to my new ride in my right hand. I removed my aviators to better examine the beast which sat in front of me. My brand new supercharged, 5.8-litre, 662 horsepower V8 Ford Mustang Shelby GT. Sapphire blue white ice-white racing stripes to set it off. Yeah, she was a thing of beauty. It was in this moment I took the opportunity to understand just how fortunate I now was to be part of the XWF – I could never afford anything like this working the indy circuit. Michelle walks up beside me and wraps both her arms around my right arm, before standing on her tip toes and giving my a soft peck on the lips. As our lips disconnect, I smile at her before looking back at the car. ::
“Well baby, what do you think?”
:: Michelle looks and the car, and grins devilishly. ::
“I think it's sexy! It suits you.”
:: She winks at me, and then begins to laugh. I share in the joke as a soft chuckle escapes my lips. ::
“It's incredible. It's everything I've ever wanted.”
“Everything?”
:: Michelle bats her eyelashes at me. I pull her in close and smile. ::
“Well, almost everything.”
:: She giggles as I release her from my grasp and run my hand ever-so-softly across the rooftop of the car. ::
“Come on, they've already loaded our bags in. We've got a long drive down highway 65 ahead of us, we might as well get going.”
:: We both climb into the car and I stick the key in the ignition. With a quarter turn, the beast roars to life and then maintains a melodic purr as that supercharged V8 goes through the motions. As if often the case, both Michelle and myself become rather distracted and lost in our own little worlds. There isn't always a great deal of conversation between us.. there doesn't need to be. What we have, works. I am vaguely aware of Michelle playing some kind of game on her phone or something. Myself? I'm driving on auto-pilot, my conscious thoughts drifting onward to my upcoming match against Ethan Donovan and Mastermind. I've been pretty good these past couple of days, for the most part forgetting all about the match. I've been trying not to over think it, but now that it has entered my brain, I know getting it out again will be easier said than done. I don't even know what to make of this Donovan punk. He's been in the XWF five minutes and already they are throwing him into the Roman Colosseum without so much as a wooden sword to protect himself from the lions which await. I become aware that all of a sudden I am taking an exit for Highway 65, so either I have been lost with my own thoughts for longer than I had imagined, or I have to concept of distance. I also become aware of another sound in the car.. Michelle is watching a video. She's laughing occasionally and constantly looking quite amused. ::
“Justin, baby, have you seen this?”
“Is this one of those stupid “Mah name Jef” videos?”
:: I did my best Channing Tatum impersonation as I said it, which I am sure was terrible, and chuckled afterwards. Michelle simple began to laugh again, shaking her head. ::
“No baby, it's that Mastermind guy. You should here some of the stuff he has come up with, it's hilarious! Here, listen..”
:: I continuously shift my glance from the road to her phone screen as I watch Masterminds latest couple of videos. Is this guy fucking serious? I can't help but chuckle as he dances with Maria, making an even bigger dick out of himself than even I would have thought possible. The video stops playing as Michelle and I both chuckle. ::
“Is that guy serious? I mean, actual dancing.. honestly?”
“I know, I know! Poor thing, he obviously has no idea how ridiculous he looks.”
“What about his girlfriend? She must be absolutely nuts if she seriously has a thing for him.”
“Yeah, I honestly don't know what she sees in him, baby.”
:: I smirk as I look across at Michelle. ::
“You know, a lot of people say the same thing about you and I.”
:: Michelle directs those steely blue eyes at me and smiles. ::
“That's only because they're jealous.”
:: I smile before turning my attention back to the road. We've already hit the exit for Highway 65 and as we make our way onto the open stretch, I enquire about the third piece to this puzzle at Madness. ::
“What about Donovan? Any word from him yet?”
“I don't know, there was some video online earlier I came across where he was hunting vampires or something.”
“Did he mention me at all? Our match?”
“No, nothing. I don't think he is all that concerned with the three way dance to be honest.”
“Ha, figures. His mistake. I'm not concerned with him anyway.”
“I know. Nor should you be. After what you did to Vinnie Lane last week, I don't think either of these guys are going to cause you any trouble. It might be left up to me to break you into a sweat later on in the night.”
:: Michelle winks at me playfully, and I smirk. No more words are exchanged as I take the opportune moment of silence to think about the words Mastermind had to say. He is seriously delusional if he believes that he is going to be able to stop me at Madness. Just like Lane, he has absolutely no idea what he is in for when that bell rings. For now though, I have 400 miles of open highway to traverse on my way to New Orleans. Plenty of time to plan my response. ::
[ f a d e 2 b l a c k ]
Monday – 6:37pm || Mercedes-Benz Superdome || New Orleans, LA
:: A solitary drop of water rushes from between the wet strands of hair on my head and trickles down the side of my face. I sit on the cold steel chair that the XWF has afforded me for my locker room – nice to know they look after the real talent. Staring into the camera with a smirk on my face, I decide to give Donovan and Mastermind some final pieces of advice. ::
“So, boys, here we are. The talking has been done to death and all that is left to do it either put up, or shut up. You know, I've been keeping tabs on you guys all week, as is the norm when scouting upcoming opponents. What is anything but normal, however, is you two fucking spastics. I mean, for fucks sake, last week I defeat Vinnie Lane and yet somehow only seven days later I find myself stuck in a three way dance against the likes of you.
Ethan Donovan. I don't know if you got the memo man, but this is the XWF. That 'W'? It stands for wrestling. This isn't some bullshit fantasy cos-play. Nobody gives a fuck about your lame-ass vampire stories, and it would appear as though you couldn't give a fuck about having your ass handed to you, which is about to happen in less than three hours time. You're out of your depth and you are in WAY over your head, kid. The fact that you haven't even prepared yourself in the slightest to step into the ring with Mastermind and myself proves just how little you have to offer. I've seen a hundred guys, just like you. Guys who think they have what it takes, who think that they can compete. At the end of the day though, Ethan, they all end up taking the long walk. None of them survive, because none of them are ever prepared for what actually awaits. There are far worse things in this world than Vampires, Donovan. In less than three hours from now, you're going to meet one of them.”
:: I run my right hand through my slick, black hair and look down at my hand, now covered in a thin slither of H20, glistening under the light. I turn my attention back to the camera, but no smirk is present this time. My expression is far more serious. ::
“As for you, Mastermind, you have garnered far more of my attention these past few days. You asked me, since when have I been the best the XWF has to offer? Since day fucking one. It's funny, you bring up the King of the Ring and you ask where all my titles are, like it makes any fucking difference. It's merely a matter of time before such accolades are mine, and the world knows it. Don't get it twisted.. don't mistake my lack of championship gold for failure, because that would be foolish on your part. You make mention of the fact that I'm yet to have ten matches, whilst you have had 44? Congratu-fucking-lations. Like that makes you special or something. Tell me something, Mastermind, how does it make you feel to know that even after such a short time in the company, my name means more around here than yours?
My name is fast becoming synonymous with success, and will continue to do so. I'm not here to make friends. I'm not here to win over fans. I'm here to do what god put me on this earth for, which is conquer. That place at the top of the mountain? It's reserved only for the likes of me. You will never know what that is like, because that pinnacle will never be within your reach. So you got lucky in a few matches, won the X-Treme title and were named Star of the Month.. big fucking deal. After tonight, you're once again going to be staring down the barrel of another losing streak and end up back where you belong, at the bottom of the food chain.
It's like this. You can sit there and call me out on telling everybody that I'm the future. Tell me I'm ripping of World Wrestling Entertainment, go ahead... all the while using the tired line “I'm that damn good.”, which I am certain I've heard somewhere before. Can't quite put my finger on it though. At the end of the day, Mastermind, I don't need to tell people I'm the future. They know I am. It's no secret that out of every single superstar on this roster, I am next in line for the big time. I was born for it. Nights like tonight serve one purpose for me, and that's to send a damn message to everybody else sitting back in that locker room. If you are unfortunate to see your name sitting alongside mine when the card goes up, you best start preparing yourself for the inevitable.
I'm glad you took the opportunity this past week to work on your dance moves, Mastermind. After tonight, you are going to have a lot of time to pursue other interests. It's like I said the other day, the equation before us is quite simple: three men enter, one man leaves. You go ahead thinking that I'm not in your league, because Vinnie Lane said the same damn thing. I made a believer out of him, and I'm damn sure going to make you take the pledge tonight.
Donovan, Mastermind.. welcome to my world. You're about to find out that I am much more than hype. In here, I am the Alpha and the Omega. Brace yourselves.. this won't be pretty."
:: I smirk wickedly as the scene fades to black. ::