The shot opens on what is actually a pretty peaceful scene. We seem to be on a ranch somewhere, far removed from the hustle and bustle of urban life. The sky is taking on an orange hue, melting into the deep red of evening as the sun does it's final dance. A cow chews some cud to the left, and to the right a dusty plain with a tumbleweed rolling by right on cue. An old farm house rises up in the background, complete with a rooster weather vane pinwheeling in the light breeze.

Sam Elliot saunters into the shot.



Wearing the kind of vital wide brimmed cowboy hat that he's famous for, he stands, hands on hips, looking into the horizon.

It's the evening redness in the West for the XWF.

Sam's lip turns up in a wistful smile as he watches the setting sun. His voice is the soothing, sagacious tone of angels.

Now you may be wonderin' what I mean by that. And it's simple really. The day is over for the XWF. A new day awaits. A new era. A new champion who will pave the way into the future.

He turns towards the camera, still with that slight hint of a knowing smile.

But what kind of champion? What kind of future? Things used to be simple in this business. Colorful costumes and elbow drops. Good versus evil. Right versus wrong. USA versus those evil Soviets. But much like the world around it, wrestling has worried itself into something infinitely more complex. It's not enough to be the face or the heel anymore. Nuance is the word now. And that word is good. Or bad. Depending who you ask. Which makes it all the more interesting that so much of this war between Jim Caedus and The Engineer has been tied up in issues of ethics.

Sam takes the hat of his head, allowing is magnificent ivory locks to spill out. The wind caresses them as a wave of brown sand is kicked up by the air just behind him.

On one hand, you have Jim Caedus. A man with his own fair share of skeletons to be sure. But a man who gets out of bed and looks in the mirror every day and speaks one word to himself. “Hero”. Speaks it till he's hoarse. Speaks it till he believes it, and then does his damndest to live up to the very essence of that word. Jim Caedus, a man who wears his heart on his sleeve so readily that it sometimes causes him to burn bridges as fast as he builds them. Whose passion for this business is not just part of who is....but dangerously close to being the whole of his very being. A man who FEELS so strongly whether it be hate or love that he loses himself in it from time to time. And ends up hurting the people he treasures the most. He's not a perfect man. He's not an easy man. He's not a predictable man. But his heart's direction is often true.

He deserves to be Universal champion.

Sam runs a hand through his hair and kicks some sand of his boots before continuing.

On the other hand is The Engineer. Fierce. Relentless. A man so accustomed to pain he doesn't know how to live life without it. So he creates it. Over and over again. An endless cycle of lies and violence. A man who may not actually know who he is but damn sure knows what he wants. A man who never made a pretense of calling himself a hero but isn't above borrowing those attributes when it suits him. A perpetual cipher that most wouldn't hesitate to call the villain. And yet, would a true villain reach out to a child he easily could have left by the wayside? Would a true villain so steadfastly refuse to degrade and humiliate a rival in the most momentous match of his entire career? Ah, but there's the rub. Cunning manipulations all....or genuine turn towards the light? We may never know for sure. He's poisoned the well so thoroughly and inoculated himself against the trust of his fellow man. And that may be the greatest tragedy of all.

He too deserves to be Universal champion.

Sam looks back at the setting sun once more. The red is getting deeper, bloodier.

Two complicated men. One supreme prize. The evening redness in the West. Sun's goin' down.

And once again, towards the camera. Sam smiles.

What does the morning bring?

There is perfect silence and stillness for a while, and then the sound of hooting and applause shatters it.

Oh my GOD, man! HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!

Joachim Bright enters the scene, looking pumped.

How do you do that?! YOU MAKE EVERYTHING SOUND SO EPIC! Feel me! I have CHILLS!

He dances up to Sam, wrapping an arm around him in a quick side hug. Sam bristles. Sam Elliot doesn't hug. Joachim lets go.

That's why they pay me the big bucks young man. Speaking of which....

Oh, right!

Joachim claws around in his hoodie for a bit, before withdrawing a fat stack of cash. He drops it in Sam's hand.

That's more generous than we agreed on.

It's cool. It's Madison's money from her change jar. She won't miss it.

Sam's mighty mustache bristles with surprise as he counts the money and walks off camera. Jo sticks his hands in his hoodie pockets. The hoodie is unzipped revealing that he's wearing a black t-shirt underneath with an image of Batman passionately kissing Superman.

So I'm betting nobody was expecting to see me here. I asked around online and found out that usually the last promo for a big match like this features the man or lady who wants to win doing some epic blow off spectacle full of angry diatribes and ridiculously high production values. Just one problem with that...

...can't find Engy anywhere.

Jo shrugs.

By the by, calling him Engy is SUPER weird. Almost as bad as it would be calling him “Dad”. But yeah. He's not answering any calls. Hasn't been to the house since the whole “lie detector” thing. So....I guess the last promo is coming from...me? I also understand for the guy in the match to not cut the closing remarks is tantamount to sacrilege so I'm sorry but it looks like I'm the best we got. It could be worse. You could have got Madison screeching into the camera for, like, an hour.

Which she actually did. Funny story, you see the camera crew showed up at the house for Engy's last promo, thinking he would be there and rarin' to go. But no Engy. So Madison, whose Xanax shit the bed like a week ago because apparently you can get so angry it just SHUTS OFF decides to step up to the plate for him.

We all looked at each other and realized nothing good would come from that.

So the unfortunate bastard who drew the short straw is pretending to film her with a camera that isn't even on. She's blowing a goddamn incoherent gasket over this match and NOTHING IS RECORDING!

A thin smile slowly bursts into a torrent of laughter.

sssssnnnnnrrKKTTTTT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

He holds his stomach as his contagious laughter spills out onto the airwaves. Once he resumes control he proceeds. In the background, the sky continues to get darker and darker and some of the automatic ranch lights start blinking on.

So why am I here? After all, I said before I hated the idea of people's every movement being broadcast and played out on a national stage. But I guess I felt like this just needed to be said, ya know? And before you jump to conclusions, I'm not just here to play cheerleader for Engy and harp on Caedus. I met Caedus. He's an interesting guy. Bigger in real life than he appears on screen. Nice guy. Maybe a LITTLE nuts, but isn't that true of ANYONE who's interesting? I won't be upset if he wins. He's earned it.

Plus, I think I've made it pretty clear that I don't trust Engy as far as I can throw him. He's a liar and a dick. Caedus had some real good points. BUT!

Jo narrows his eyes in contemplation, sticking his forefinger up in the air to place emphasis on what's incoming.

You know how sometimes it's what ISN'T said that screams the loudest? Yeah. Because when I was standing there and that camera crew was pulling up to the house, and Madison was blowing up Engy's phone wondering where the hell he was.....combine that with just how important these closing remarks usually are in these big money matches....I mean, he HAD to know he was ceding some serious ground, right?

And then I thought back to the lie detector test. Right at the end when I asked him if he respected Caedus and he said yes and it told him he was lying. I looked at his face. And I know...I KNOW..he's a great liar! I'm not THAT naive, ride this with me! But....I honest to God felt like he was legitimately shocked that he was lying. Like he seriously had no goddamn clue that he was lying. In fact, that he was even ANGRY at HIMSELF for it being a lie!

It's insane, isn't it?

So I'm askin' myself....is the guy really that good? Can he fake being that pissed off at the confirmation of a lie, even as all the rest of those results came back that he really wanted to be Caedus' friend?

I mean, if he CAN fake that. If he's REALLY that good. Then he might just be the scariest motherfucker on the planet. And if he wins, the XWF is in for probably the most unprecedented period of darkness it's ever had.

But I just don't think he's that good. What I do think is that The Engineer may just be one of the most DELUDED people on the planet. I think he's so broken that he truly doesn't know where truth ends and falsehood begins. So damaged that truth is not just simply a vague 5-letter word, but a word that doesn't even appear in his dictionary.

I think The Engineer, at the very core of his being....has no idea who he is or what he believes. I'll leave it up to you to decide if that makes him more or less dangerous. But it's prompted me to make a decision.

Hey Sam, can you bring it over now?

After a moment, Sam Eliot brings over a binder with a small phone book's worth of papers inside. The way it's being held, combined with the encroaching darkness, make it impossible to discern what's on the cover.

A guy like Engy, assuming everything I've said about him is true, needs direction. He needs HELP. Call me a sap if you have to. I get it. But I wanna make sure he gets the direction he needs before anyone else gets hurt.

Jo opens the binder and Sam bends over, offering his back as an impromptu desk. Jo obliges, placing it on his back. He pulls a pen out of one of the deep pockets of his sweater. Flipping to the final page in the series, he writes something. He then returns the pen to his pocket, and closes the binder shut. Sam stands up.

You really sure you wanna do that, kid?

It's already done.

We can finally see what's emblazoned on the front of the binder: XWF TALENT CONTRACT.

So sue me. I came around on the idea. But only because my dad needs...

Jo stops short. Sam looks at him knowingly. Jo, pinches his lips together, looking a tad annoyed, but then it passes.

....only because The Engineer needs someone to help him figure out who the hell he is and what the hell he's all about. Preferably before he plunges the XWF into the pit or somehow becomes a Senator and dooms the whole goddamn COUNTRY. It's a tall order to be sure. Not sure I'm up to it. But I gotta try. Because somebody once told me that was what being a hero was all about. Before showing me the 3-D replica of Engy's penis that he was going to incorporate into his promos.

Jo looks at Sam. Sam cocks his head and shrugs his shoulders. Jo holds the contract out in front of him, peering at it warily.

Mother of God what have I done....

ELSEWHERE....

The environment is quite a bit different this time. Before us is an ornate mahogany desk. Atop the desk is a paper which reads “Policy Proposals” across the top, followed by a series of numbered lines. The first 3 lines are filled out in childish scrawl in crayon. Some of the letters are backwards. The first line reads “FREE POKKET POOSAY”. The second line reads “GUNS DAT SHOT BULLITS WIF BEES INSYDE”. The third one says “LOTS OV PRETTI LADEEZ TOO SEX ENGY”.

UGGGHHHHHH HOW MANY MORE?!

A Pinkie Pie doll is pushed into view next to the piece of paper. The voice speaking just off camera mimics a feminine voice.

”I don't know Engy. But this is boring and it SUCKS! Doesn't Madison know we're angry at numbers?!”

A knock is heard, and the camera picks up to reveal a 20-something in blacks slacks, a white shirt, and an obnoxious red bow tie as he steps into the room. This asshole looks like he's was picked straight up out of a College Republicans recruitment pamphlet.

Sorry to interrupt Mr. Bright, but the door was ajar. Just wanted to let you know that another round of school shooting survivors is protesting outside, what should we do?

....da fuq?

...sir?

Where am I?

Are you ok sir?

Yeah I'm good. What do these little shits want now?

Complete removal of all guns everywhere.

The Engineer sits up at his desk and starts walking around it with a purpose towards the door.

Fuck that shit. Lemme at 'em.

The aide's eye is drawn to the Pinkie Pie doll on his boss' desk.

Hey, is that a My Little Pony? My little sister loves those!

Engy looks back at the pony on his desk, his eyes dissipating into a blank thousand yard stare.

I have no idea where the fuck that came from.

**BING!**

Well, at any rate sir, they're at the front of the building.

Engy's eyes linger on the doll for a moment before he pulls his attention away.

Let's roll.

They pass through the door, shutting it behind them. The shot fades out and then back into.....



(OOC: Just wanted to say a few things. This is my last promo for this match. And I think it's my favorite. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Whether I get the win or not, I usually come through these big match situations feeling exhausted. But this one left me feeling excited like never before.

Thanks to everyone who read my work, and now that I'm done I hope to do some catch up reading everybody else's. Good luck to everyone. I hope to see everyone on the other side of Sunday. )