Robert Humphrey,45, stands on the edge of a forty story building rooftop looking down at the streets below. His clothes are heavily disheveled, it looks like he hasn't changed in days, thats because he hasn't. Standing on the edge of the rooftop, Robert thinks about how his life had over the years, gone to complete shit. A 15 year dysfunctional marriage, which came to an end earlier last year when he found his wife in bed with another man. He however wasn't the one to file for divorce... "You haven't made me feel wanted in years, you only have yourself to blame" his soon to be ex-wife oh so bluntly put it at the time. He developed a drinking problem after that, drinking himself into a stupor on a regular basis, sometimes he'd find himself waking up on the streets, smelling of piss, cheap tobacco and alcohol. His drinking addiction opened the door to other addictions, such as gambling, Robert just felt like life wasn't worth living if he didn't have a bottle or a stack of chips in his hands. The addictions soon got out of hand though, often turning up to work drunk, or not at all, he consequently lost his job, which meant he was no longer able to aptly fund his drinking addiction, which means he turned more to his gambling to make more money, which in turn just brought about more debt and the urge to drink his sorrows away.
"Enough is enough" he thought to himself , standing at the edge of this building rooftop, sobbing to himself quietly. He had lost everything, his wife, his job, his self respect and worth. He just wanted to make it all come to an end, the sorrow that had eaten away at him and left him feeling like a soulless empty vessel. Robert gulps and whimpers to himself before suddenly lunging forward and throwing himself off the building. As he plummets to his death, the ground coming closer and closer, he suddenly becomes overwhelmed with a feeling of regret and cries out as he falls to his demise. He closes his eyes.
Just as he does so, a flash of light appears next to him as he falls, he feels arms grabbing his waist as another flash of light engulfs him...suddenly, he feels his feet touch the ground, safely, he opens his eyes just in time to see another flash of light and what appears to be the figure of a man disappear into thin air leaving him alone and confused as to what has just happened.
Friday 22nd January-Later that day
Remy Blaine, 19, was an impressionable young man, who had friends who knew how to influence him into doing stupid shit. It was always minor things at first, a bit of house burglary here, a dash of car jacking there. Just petty crimes, just minor hits that only got Remy and the rest of his gang a few couple hundred dollars split between them. One day however one of Remys friends convinced Remy and the rest of the crew that they could pull off something not so minor, if fact, Remy and his friends had got it into their heads that they could take it to another level and pull off something rather big, pull of something that one of Remys friends eloquently put it "Would have them set for a good minute my nigga, trust me".
Thats why Remy now finds himself in a bank with three of his other friends, wearing balaclavas and brandishing shotguns, robbing the place with another friend in the getaway vehicle waiting outside. Remy and one of the other crew members are on crowd control shouting at everyone in the bank to stay on the ground with their hands in the air while the other two ransack the open safe filling up two large duffel bags each with all the money they can hope to carry.A dead security guard lays in a pool of blood next to some terrified civilians. Remy's doing.
The two men clearing the safe decide they have their fill and rush out the safe and towards the exit telling Remy and the other guy on crowd control to follow suit. The four men exit the bank rushing into the parked car with the getaway driver and drive off.
The men pull off their balaclavas as they whiz through the streets, gloating that they had just pulled the bank robbery off. Suddenly a flash of light appears on Remy's side of the car and something hits said side of the car with the force of a freight train causing the car to rapidly spin out and then flip over on its back, a couple seconds later and Remy regains consciousness and crawls out the door window of the upturned car, vision still a daze, but the sound of shouting, screaming and gun fire is clear and deafening, ringing in his ears. He hears his friends cry out in pain, one by one being taken out by something...someone...Remy turns around and lays on his back on the ground his blurred vision slowly coming to....and sees a dark figure standing over him.
Friday 22nd January-Later Still.
Sarah Wilson, 30, is in hysterics. As she watches the burning building in front of her eyes, the apartment building which is currently ablaze due to a freak accident transpiring nobody is quite sure of, a gas explosion perhaps? It doesn't matter to Sarah what caused the blaze, all that matters is the fact that her daughter is still in the building that is currently going up in smoke. Sarah had only gone to the shops for groceries for what could not of been longer than an hour, when she came back home, she saw the sight she now sees before her and dropped her bag of groceries on the ground, desperately trying to get inside the burning building screaming at the people grabbing onto her, preventing her from doing so as she cries out her daughters name... "Lola! LOLA!".
Inside the building, Lola, 7, is on the living room sofa curled up into a ball crying as smoke begins to seep through the bottom gap in the front door and into the room, the smoke gets increasingly thicker as the room gets increasingly hotter as the fires which are now right outside the front door grow more fierce. Lola begins to cough and grabs a pillow putting it over her mouth coughing into it while crying profusely. Suddenly the front door is kicked off its hinges and fire and smoke surges through it. Lola looks up wide eyes and terrified as a tall dark man, dressed in all black, surrounded by what looks to her like a glowing golden bubble, walks into the room and up to Lola and extends his hand. She grabs it and the two vanish in a flash of light.
Outside the burning building, Sarah has dropped to her knees, head in her hands crying as people around her try to comfort her, to no avail, her daughter is most surely dead or will soon be, suddenly behind her she hears a familiar voice scream "Mommy!" and Sarah turns around and to hers and the crowd's bewilderment, sees Lola standing a few feet away next to a lamppost, completely unharmed, grinning from ear to ear. Sarah runs up to her daughter and hugs her.
"Lola!? I-I don't understand, what happened?"
" Some man saved me mommy!"
"Man? Who?"
Saturday 23rd January-Yesterday.
Trax? You're fucking with me right now aren't you?
Trax and his friend Paul "Extreme Machine" Hunter are at a quiet bar seated at a table laden with all sorts of beer and spirits. Trax calmly takes a swig of beer before wiping his mouth and shaking his head.
Nah.
EM scoffs and Trax shoots him a glance.
Whats so funny?
You expect me to believe you saved a suicidal man, apprehended some bank robbers, and saved a kid from a burning building, really?
Really.
How could I NOT find that hilarious!?
Trax shoots EM a cold stare as he continues to chuckle and gulp down some lager.
I'm not following.
Oh come on man I know you're not THIS dense. Ever since I've known you've been a heartless son of a bitch, a stone cold killer, a manipulative...
Don't hold back now tell me how you really feel Paul.
Ha, come on, you really don't see why I or ANYONE for that matter would find it hard to digest that you're now suddenly going around saving lives and stopping crime like some sort of ...of..
Don't say it.
Superhero!?!
EM laughs loudly, so much so other people in the bar turn to look, Trax looks rather annoyed, slumping in his chair slightly.
Shit man do you do it wearing spandex? Do you have a cape? Please tell me you have a cape. Maybe you should change your wrestling catchphrase to make a superhero one? "Do Not Cross...the wrong side of the LAW!". Shit man, convicted gang member turned Boxer turned wrestler turned superhero, you should write a book.
Are you done?
Not quite. I mean one minute you go on a huge killing spree taking out Frey and his men, which was reckless by the way, and now this? I don't get this, what are you looking to get out of this?
My ego went out of control when I got these powers Paul, I've got to admit. Started thinking I was some sort of God, like the way Shane and Vinne Lane see themselves,I turned into power obsessed megalomaniac, like even more so than I usually am. I'm thinking...if I do this shit then well, maybe that will help keep me in check.
I see...and what about the villainous wrong doers INSIDE the XWF, like this tranny looking Vinnie Lane dude, still looking to keep guys like him in check inside the ring?
Of course, and thats going to be taken care of, CCWF is shell of what it was when they invaded. When I beat Vinnie thats the final nail in the coffin for CCWF as far as I'm concerned, he'll disappear, I know he will, and the CCWF enthusiasts will either follow suit or jump back to being XWF loyalists.
Pah! What I say? I told you those bunch of knuckle draggers wouldn't remain too much of a problem for too long, big factions like that always end up self-dissolving eventually. You owe me a title shot by the way.
Excuse me?
You heard me, I've beaten you twice, which means I've beaten you more times than anyone else ever has, I don't care if those two wins weren't in XWF, we agreed that when you win the title and become Universal champion, you'll give me a title shot.
Ha, well, get yourself a XWF contract, and then maybe...just maybe that match will happen.
You know what? Fuck it, I might just do that then, getting bored of retirement. Don't think these super powers of yours will stop me kicking your ass a third time though.
Guess we'll be see about that, be a hell of a match either way if it does happen.
I'll agree and drink to that, cheers.
Cheers.
The two raise beer bottles and clink them together before knocking them back.
Present Day.
Me again.
We see Trax sitting behind his office desk once again.
Two things I want to primarily talk about, the prestige of the XWF and CCWF IWGP championships respectively,and Vinnie Lanes loss of love for this business, or well at least it seems this company.
Vinnie Lane and Shane introduced the IWGP championship on the Monday Madness after Vinne Lane defected to CCWF, you threw away the championship I now possess, calling it something along the lines of a useless piece of tin, and then proceeded to celebrate the introduction of your new "Superior" Universal Championship by having a title defense against the legendary Japanese wrestler Tanahashi. Well it can't really be called a title defense, more so a glorified mob attack orchestrated by Vinne Lane and CCWF. Since then you have repeatedly mocked the XWF Universal championship insinuating the CCWF IWGP Championship is superior.
Let me tell you all the ISSUE with that.
The IWGP title may have more name value since IWGP championships are generally regarded as some of the most prestigious in wresting history but its superiority is in its name alone. The XWF Championship title holder history has a lineage of all time great wrestlers, some of the best this company has ever seen, some of the best the WORLD has ever seen. People have spilled blood and sweat or this championship, broken their bodies over this championship, there have been several classic matches in this companies history involving THIS championship. Men arguably greater than me and you Vinnie have held this championship and made it was it is, don't get me wrong not EVERYBODY who has got their hands on this belt is a five star wrestler like yourself or myself but for the most part, the title holder list history for this title is one to be respected. This title has a rich and prestigious history.
Lets look at the IWGP championship now, now I know its not exactly FAIR comparing the two titles fully since the CCWF IWGP has only been around for a couple of months, but look at the two matches that belt has been involved in so far, the first match as I said was a glorified mob attack by the CCWF. The second match with Ginger Snaps is more so the same, what you might gloat about being two great title defenses, I look at it and simple see two cheap and tactless acts of abuse of power. Thats what the CCWF IWGP symbolizes to me, cheapness.Tactless.Abuse of power. You may see no problem with the title defenses you've had, or the type of champion you've been, but to me, the CCWF IWGP championship is a cheap and tactless title that was created out of ego. You consider that a championship to be proud of? I think not. You think the title matches you've had so far are anything to be proud of? I'm afraid to say I think not. At War Games, Shane took that championship off me and tossed me the XWF championship, did I ever bitch about that? No. Now I think you might understand why, that title will NEVER be superior to the XWF if the title matches for it are plagued by fuckery like the first two were. The XWF Universal championship to me symbolizes toughness, rawness, the very essence of what XWF is supposed to be, thats why I am proud to be holding THIS title, and not the one you use as a cocaine line coaster.
Now for the second thing I want to cover, you apparent loss of love for this place, how sad. You used to always be so involved around here, whether it was backstage or what not, whenever a shows card was booked and you was on the card you would always be one of the first if not THE first person out with a promo. Thats something I've always noticed about you since I've been here. Always quick to fire out the gate. This week it hasn't been like that, you've taken your time a bit, seem less motivated, even for your match against Maverick, you seemed disinterested...something seemed a bit off with you. Don't get me wrong I know Maverick isn't exactly a hard challenge, and thats what I originally pegged the cause to your noticeable disinterest to being but now I KNOW thats not the case, you've confirmed it for me. You've just genuinally fell out of love for this company, the Loverboy...loves no more.
Trax shakes his head.
And you know what, its sad you know? I know we're "enemies", we've attacked one another several times and all that jazz but I'm going to be real with you for a second now Vinnie. I respect your talents, you as a person not so much due to your most recent actions but you as a talent? How can I not respect that, the boys in that locker room, the same guys who once patted you on the back and said well done, the guys you turned your back on...THEY respected you man. You're an amazing talent, one of the best, arguably the best and nobody is going to be able to take that away from you, not me, not a member of management.
But you're saying you're done? After this match win or lose you won't be looking to renew your contract because management haven't reached out to you? You know how LAZY management here can be, shit us guys have to manage ourselves most of the time and make sure shit is how its meant to be and our contracts get renewed when they're meant to be and shit. You're saying you're sick of making money and breaking your body for those guys sitting higher up, and I GET that. You think I give a damn about making money for these guys, risking my health, my life, for these guys? You think I give a fuck about how filled Tyrone Jackson's pockets get? I'm going on record to say FUCK TYRONE JACKSON. FUCK SHANE . Fuck them ALL! I know people think me and Tyrone are tight just because we're both black but I've never trusted no light skin nigga. Believe that. You think I don't know how corrupt these people are? I understand completely. The owner of the old federation I was in run the company into the ground with his corruption and backstage politicking, I understand COMPLETELY what these management types are like, which is what frustrates me when people think they're in my pocket, nah man, I'm in their pocket. We all are. Well all know that. Don't think we don't ALL know that.
But let me tell you something, you want to know why I continue doing this shit despite being just a walking talking ass kicking cash cow ? Because you damn right I'm good at it, and if you're good at something like my momma taught me, then run with that shit. I love this business, I love testing my bodies physical capabilities against some of the the finest goddamn athletes on the planet, I love hearing how vocal the fans are, whether they're cheering me on or booing my black ass out the building. And yes, on a more shallow level, I love the money and fame and it brings.I do this shit all for me because I love it.
Just like when I beat you, I'll be doing that for myself, NOT because management want to "replace" you and make me the "top" man. Everything I do is for me, always has been and always will be.
I don't want you to no show and I'm glad you have no intention to, I WANT this match. I want to have this match because I know you're right, I can't be the best unless I beat the best, we both think we're the best but there can be only be one. But on the other hand I want this match simply because like I already said you are an amazing talent and I want to put on the greatest match the fans,other wrestlers, and suck ass management will ever see. And Vinne Lane, I want you to WANT to have this match for the same reasons, I don't want you to have this match because you feel like you're contractually obligated to have it. I want you to want to have this match because Trax vs Vinnie Lane sounds as much like a MOTY to you as it does to me, the year has only just started and I guarantee there won't be a bigger match in XWF this year than this unless I end up going up against The Doctor.
You talk about me being champion and how I haven't earned it, how I haven't had a single title defense. I was ready and willing to have this title defense the week after I won the title, in fact I was EXPECTING to have had this match by now. I told Morbid Angel if it was up to me my match against him would of had the title on the line, he beat me, would he of still beat me if you hadn't of gotten involved? Who knows, what I do know is I beat him AND Scully without any help so logic would say no. As for not having earned this championship. Let me ask you a question, and I want you to be completely honest, if I had challenged you to a title match up front, wouldn't the CCWF of gotten involved making it unfair and probably costing me the match? You ridiculed Ginger Snaps and the CCWF STILL got involved, you've acknowledged I'm better than Ginger Snaps so of course they would of gotten involved. There was absolutely no way I would of been able to beat you in a match, not because I'm incapable, but because the CCWF would of gotten involved. The way I saw it, the cash in wasn't a cheap tactic, it was an equalizer to counter act the cheap tactics YOU had been using while being apart of the CCWF. Do I wish I had earned the title the standard way, yes I do, of course I do, but you and Shane would never of allowed me or ANYONE to beat you the "standard" way and you can deny it all you want but you know its true, even The Doctor who has beaten you before, most likely wouldn't of been able to beat you in a standard match whilst you had the CCWF watching your back.
But now I have the chance to make things proper. There are no CCWF watching your back anymore and there sure as hell isn't anyone watching mine. No interference allowed means this is the first title defense you've had since becoming champion that can honestly be called fair for the challenger. And when I'm standing in the ring opposite you, with the fans screaming our names, I don't want you to feel trapped anymore Vinnie, I want you to feel free. Free, because you're going up against a guy who has had his equal share of standing the test of time and is still here so he knows how you feel and you can have comfort knowing theres people here who understand what you said, free because you know after our match your contract is done and you can do as you wish, free because you know that the burden of being a champion for a company you call a nightmare will be over. The nightmare will FINALLY be over. You ask me if I think I can beat you. I don't think I can beat you, I know I can. Not a doubt in my mind. Because I'm Mr FN' Dominance, that was a nickname GIVEN to me, because I earned it.Snow Job we both will earn something, you will earn your freedom, and I will earn the right to call myself the UNDISPUTED UNIVERSAL CHAMPION.Peace.
Later that day.
Trax stands there in the all black attire we've seen him in before, in the middle of a crop field at the dead of the night. Trax was thinking to himself about the man he saved a few days ago, the man who had jumped off the building, the man who felt trapped by his burdens, and just wanted to cut of all ties with the world and be free of them. Trax then considered if in a way, Vinnie Lane felt like that man, trapped and empty, just wanting to jump, to be free, free of the pain. But jumping is an easy way out, its much harder to fight and battle the demons. Trax knew all about battling demons, growing up in the life he did, doing the things he did, some would say its a miracle he's still on this planet today, alive and prospering when many people like Trax had lost to their demons and were currently rotting away in jail, or in the ground. But here he was, feeling the energy of the world around him, sensing the energy passing through his very being as the crops sway in the wind.
He felt at ease, comforted.
For the first time in a long time, Trax felt... blissful.
The same can't be said for the man Trax would be facing in less than a weeks time, the man who has seemingly lost his motivation, his drive, his heart.
Vinne Lane was no longer The Loverboy Trax had known when he joined XWF, he hadn't been for awhile. Vinne Lane was now a shell of a man who would tell anyone what would listen that he had been victimized.
Trax looks up towards the heaven eyes widening.
Vinne Lane thought he was a victim?
Trax smiles to himself, his eyes now glowing amber.
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and Vinne Lane see themselves,I turned into power obsessed megalomaniac, like even more so than I usually am. I'm thinking...if I do this shit then well, maybe that will help keep me in check.
