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James Raven · (01-28-2018)

I step through the doors of the corner pub, taking a look around as Big Shank and Genevieve Tate make their way in behind me. There are maybe 15 people in the bar, including the hammered young woman on a stage in the corner, microphone in hand as she shrilly wails away to Journeys "Don't Stop Believing". I glance over my shoulder to my two companions.

BIG SHANK
Nope. Hard pass. I'm not doing a fuckin' karaoke bar. I'll kill somebody.

GENEVIEVE TATE
It's perfect.

Genevieve pushes her way between us and strolls confidently to the bar to add her name to the performers list. Again, judging by the amount of patrons in the bar, it's probably not a very long list. Shank rolls his eyes, already knowing who I'm going to side with and pulling his leather jacket off in defeat.

BIG SHANK
Where do you want to sit?

Together we survey the vast wasteland of dusty tables and cracked vinyl booths.

JAMES RAVEN
Thank God we got he before the rush hit.

Big Shank grins and we make our way down a three-set of stairs and into the main seating area, grabbing a booth in the corner and sliding in. We avoid eye contact with the other patrons; not that they're beneath us, we just don't want to be recognized... also, they're beneath us.

BIG SHANK
This place is a goddamn shit hole, James.

JAMES RAVEN
I have eyes, Dustin. I'm aware.

He stares across the bar at Genevieve, now successfully added to the karaoke list and placing an order with the tender. He shakes his head, grunting audibly.

JAMES RAVEN
What?

BIG SHANK
What's the deal with the ginger? You guys eloping soon or something?

JAMES RAVEN
Fuck off.

BIG SHANK
You fuck off. She's barely left your side the past three weeks. She's been at your heels like a fucking puppy, and you've been taking her sight seeing all over the world... and why? Because you like having someone to victory fuck after the matches? Pick up a ring rat like the rest of us, man. Have some decency.

I shake my head, rubbing my eyes with my thumb and forefinger as the gears turn inside my head, trying to process everything he just said.

JAMES RAVEN
Look, what's the big deal? I like her. She's fun, and she's good company on the road. It's not like I can't afford to fly her around with me, and besides, what the fuck do you care what I do? You BARELY travel with me anymore!

BIG SHANK
I'm just saying, I watched Mia sink her whore claws into you and nearly drag you off a cliff when you married her as young as you did. I'm seeing red flags, here.

JAMES RAVEN
That's a joke, right? Tell me you did not just compare a girl I've hung out with for less than a month to my ex wife, and the mother of my child.

BIG SHANK
Just callin' it as I see it.

He shuts up and smiles as Genevieve makes her way over to our table, carrying a small tray of shot glasses filled to the brim and setting it down between us. Shank studies the tray, counting nine shots of amber liquid and nothing else.

BIG SHANK
What's this?

GENEVIEVE TATE
Jack Daniels. James said that's what you drink...

BIG SHANK
9 of them?

GENEVIEVE TATE
3 for each of us. To start.

He stares at her, puzzled.

BIG SHANK
You're not getting some fruity girly froo froo drink?

Genevieve grabs a glass from the tray and tosses it back without hesitation and without so much as a grimace, demurely wiping her lips with her fingertip and winking at him. He turns to me and shrugs his shoulders.

BIG SHANK
I stand corrected. She may not be so bad.

He grabs a glass from the tray and I do the same, and we clink them together before downing the whiskey and catching up to Genevieve.

GENEVIEVE TATE
Excuse me? I feel like I may have missed something important.

JAMES RAVEN
Nope, not at all.

BIG SHANK
Actually we were comparing you to his ex-wife. Has he told you about her? Have you guys met? Are you besties that go shopping and to the spa on Saturdays?

I will kill this fucking man. Genevieve glances at me, but I don't say anything. To her credit she doesn't skip a beat.

GENEVIEVE TATE
Of course he's told me about her. As for the rest of those questions; they're none of your fucking business.

She smiles sweetly at him, and grabs another shot from the tray. She extends it into the air, waiting for him to do the same which he eventually does. I grab mine, and we toast.

GENEVIEVE TATE
To the downfall of Scully on Savage. May he learn his place in the hierarchy of the sport, and fear the Raven... forevermore.

There's a twinkle in her eyes as she looks at me, and I smile back before taking my drink. Shank slams his empty glass to the table emphatically.

"Please welcome to the stage, Genevieve Tate!"

We all turn to see a small nebbish man on stage, thick coke bottle glasses pushed all the way up his nose as he surveys the room for his next singer. Genevieve smiles at us mischievously and throws her hand into the air.

GENEVIEVE TATE
Right here!

She quickly throws down her third shot in as many minutes before turning and rushing across the room to the stage, grabbing the microphone from the mans hand and thanking him graciously. The music begins to play, and while I'm distracted by the rhythmic swaying of Genevieves hips, Big Shank recognizes the intro almost immediately.

BIG SHANK
Is this "Cell Block Tango" from Chicago? The song about all the female criminals confessing the details of murders they commit and shit?

JAMES RAVEN
Maybe.

BIG SHANK
James, you ever get the impression that this girl might be a little bit crazy?

JAMES RAVEN
Oh, most definitely.

BIG SHANK
But like, in a dangerous way?

JAMES RAVEN
Who knows. I'm looking forward to finding out, though.

She continues to dance as she begins to sing, and suddenly Shanks fingers are snapping in front of my eyes, forcing me to swivel around in my seat and face him.

JAMES RAVEN
What?!

BIG SHANK
You can watch her twerk or whatever it is you like to watch her do when you're alone. I'm here now. Let's talk business. Why Scully? Don't give me that bull shit about him calling you out on Twitter, either. You get a hundred of those guys a week, yet you're here in the XWF to fight him of all people... why? What are you up to?

I look around. I'm not sure who I was expecting to see listening in, but rest assured there was nobody of importance anywhere around us. Regardless I lean in to the table, my voice barely above a whisper.

JAMES RAVEN
It didn't have to be Scully. It could have been anyone. I just needed somebody to call me out. I tried asking for matches against guys like Bourbon or The Engineer, and I could barely even get my phone calls returned.

could have booked me on his Anarchy special in a "eat a brick of shit to win" match no problem, but to find someone available to fight me for real? That was apparently too tough on the booking department. So I said fuck it, I'd find my own fight. I started jumping on every XWF related hashtag I could on social media. The return of Dr. Emo, the Universal title tournament, Jenny Myst being a raging cunt... I waited for someone to take a shot at me, and tell the "old timer" he needed to earn his stripes and do something of value, and I agreed to fight them.

BIG SHANK
Scully, that dumb fuck.

JAMES RAVEN
I wasn't expecting a former Universal Champion, but I admit it worked out better than if it had been some clueless rookie. Once we had publicly agreed, and it started picking up some steam in the media... what's the XWF supposed to do? NOT book it? Say "no thanks" to the money I'm about to print for them?

He nods thoughtfully, running his fingers through his hair.

BIG SHANK
I guess I just don't understand why you were having such a problem getting in? Weren't they all but begging you out of retirement last year?

JAMES RAVEN
Tides change, Dustin. You know that. My match with Bourbon didn't exactly win me any new fans in the management offices, and I hear me coming back to sway The Apex match against The Mother Fuckers pissed some people off too. It seemed they certainly put me on timeout, at the very least.

BIG SHANK
Fair enough. This isn't it, though... a match with any random idiot that came along, just to get back into a company that you left and may not want you? Connect the dots for me.

JAMES RAVEN
I'm chasing someone, and the XWF is the only place I'm ever going to get my hands on him now. Call it a vendetta if you want, but I owe him one and he's dodged ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged his way out of every call out I've made over the past six months. I think I can finally get to him.

Dustin stares at me with the concern only someone who's been friends with you for an extended period can have.

BIG SHANK
Are you high? You fought them all already. You fought the Kings, you fought Chris Chaos, you fought Thaddeus Duke, you fought Blingsteen... you even ran through Chasm, Barney, Gilmour and the job-squad for good measure. Who the fuck were you not able to get your hands on that you'd be this obsessive over?

Genevieve finishes her song and bounds from the stage, making her way back to the bar for more drinks. A long haired male has taken her place on the stage, and with no warning he leaps into his song.

"I JUST WANNA ROCK!"

Big Shank looks at me, wide eyed.

BIG SHANK
No.

JAMES RAVEN
Yes.

BIG SHANK
You're fucking joking.

JAMES RAVEN
I'm not. I'm going to make it happen, and I'm going to make it happen at Turning Point. I just have to roll through Scully tomorrow night and then make a few more moves over the next couple of shows. He's not getting away from me this time.

Genevieve approaches with another tray of shots, setting them down and taking a seat, this time on my lap as she hooks her arms around my neck.

GENEVIEVE TATE
Did you like my song?

JAMES RAVEN
Of course.

BIG SHANK
It was disturbing as shit, Genie.

GENEVIEVE TATE
That's because it's all about killing men like you. What are we talking about now? Hopefully not comparing me to anymore of your exes?

JAMES RAVEN
No. We were waiting for you to get back to do that with you.

She punches me gently in the shoulder, then rests her head softly upon it.

BIG SHANK
James was filling me in on his big plan for Turning Point, and who he's using Scully to call out. I'm guessing you already know?

GENEVIEVE TATE
Of course I do, sweetie.

Dustin reaches to grab a shot from the new tray, firing it down the hole.

BIG SHANK
I've been replaced. She'll never love you like I can, James.

Genevieve smiles.

GENEVIEVE TATE
I can love him better.

FADE TO BLACK

[Image: YourMom.jpg]

It's over Scully.

The fat lady is singing, and the dirt sheet writers are pre-typing their results to leak to the masses before we even get to the ring tomorrow night. You've got nothing for me, Scully, nothing to offer mentally, verbally or physically that I haven't seen or bested before. You've been shredded and laid to rest, and the worst part about it is you're too stupid to realize it.

You think we're going toe to toe, don't you?

You think you're hanging with the great James Raven, and making him sweat while you hurl vulgarities and middle school insults with pathetic accuracy. You're not.

Look me in the eyes, Scully, I want you to be clear that I'm entirely sincere here; you're not. You're putting in more of an effort than some expected, you're quite possibly going to have one of the best showings of your life tomorrow... but nothing you've said has convinced me or anyone else that it'll be enough.

Build your throne? I'm your stepping stone?

I'm nobodies stepping stone, Scully, I'm sure as shit not anybodies carpenter. Instead I'll take your skull as a trophy and mount it on my wall along with all of the others, I'll lay your skin our like a rug in front of my fireplace and wine/dine/fuck the shit out of your mother atop your back on a cold and rainy night. I guess that's the arrogance you were talking about earlier? I've earned that sort of arrogance, and I will continue to wield it like a fucking samurai sword until one of you pansy ass new generation fucks can force me to swallow it... but none of you can. Least of all you, you knuckle dragging mouth breathing Neanderthal.

In the end, I'll owe you a debt of gratitude. As much as you blabbered on and on about the clever trap that you laid out for me, it's actually you that's brought my target to me. I know I've been vague, but he knows who he is, and when you and I see him tomorrow night he'll be wearing a pair of commentators headphones.

Don't puss out like that. Wear that sexy pink spandex of yours, and bring the arm candy as back up. Face me like a man. You know it's coming, and you know it's been due a long goddamn time. Get it out of the way. Give me my closure. The longer you wait me wait, the worse it's going to be for you.

Scully's lucky. He got on my hit-list, and is getting taken off a week later. You've been on my list since the night I stepped out of retirement. You've got hell coming.

See you both tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. Keep lying to yourselves that you are too.

Fear the Raven Forevermore.

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