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Vagabond · (02-06-2023)

Born in 1988, Shaun Fitz, now more commonly known as Vagabond, spent most of his adolescent years living on a farm in New Hampshire. At one point his family owned over 300 head of cattle and almost twice as many chickens. There were also ducks, goats, horses, pigs, sheep, turkeys, and a barn cat named Barney. Shaun's father employed 29 full-time farmhands and 5 veterinarians to care for the animals. Shaun's mother had a dozen employees of her own to help her tend to the crops, which ranged from tomatoes to berries to pumpkins, you name it. Every October they'd transform some of the utility sheds into a makeshift haunted house, accompanied by a corn maze full of Halloween-y things. Then, every Thanksgiving, Fitz Farm provided the meat and all the fixings for the community dinner, and again every Christmas until his mother's untimely passing in 1999. Everything started to fall apart after that.

By 2003, the last of the Fitz Farm employees had to be let go. The bank took over and kicked Shaun and his father out, sold off the remaining livestock, and leveled the whole farm. What was once a bustling epicenter of life is now a parking lot next to a Dollar General and a Dunkin (like there's not enough of those already).

15-year-old Shaun didn't understand what was happening. The night before they had to leave the farm, he found his dad sitting on the floor in the middle of what used to be his parents' bedroom. There were tears staining his cheeks and a look of sorrow in his eyes when Wesley Fitz lifted his head to acknowledge Shaun.

"Something I can help you with, son? Did you finish packing up your stuff?"

No answer from Shaun. He'd never seen his father look so... defeated. It was like looking at a completely different person.

"Shaun? Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, dad."

"Do you need help carrying it to the truck?"

"Naw, I managed just fine."

"Oh."

Shaun plopped down next to his father and sighed heavily as he looked around the empty room.

"Something the matter, son? Other than the obvious, I mean."

"Dad, you paid the taxes, didn't you? So why's the bank doing this to us? I don't get it. What did we do wrong? Why are we being punished?"

"Well, the bank's saying they haven't received payment since your mom... passed away."

"But that's not true! I know you, dad. I know you always pay the bills. They're obviously lying!"

"Shaun."

"They have to be lying!"

"Shaun."

"Yeah, dad?"

"I think it's something else."

Wesley Fitz went on to explain to his son how Joshua Reed, the banker who handled Fitz Farm, once held a torch for Shaun's mom, and how he subtlety blamed Wes for her death even though she died of pneumonia. Around Shaun they were all smiles and handshakes, but it turned out that Wesley and Joshua were only being civil to each other--which confused Shaun even more.

"But if you hate each other, why didn't you get a different banker?"

Wesley remained silent for a short while.

"You see, son, it all boils down to trust. Your mother trusted Joshua, and I in turn trusted her."

"So it's mom's fault we have to move?"

"No, son. Not at all."

"Then who's fault is it?"

It was Wesley's turn to sigh.

"I don't know for sure, but if I had to wager a guess--"

"-- it's Joshua's fault!"

"That's Mr. Reed to you, Shaun. We might've lost the farm, but we mustn't lose our manners."

Shaun laid his head on his father's shoulder as the two of them stared off into space.

"This sucks, dad."

"Normally I'd tell you not to use that word, but yeah, son, it sure does."

It wasn't long until Wesley found out the real reason he lost the farm and it wasn't because of the envious banker, but because of his second-in-command and best friend, Frank, making "errors." As it turned out, Frank got "confused" about which account to deposit the money into, and somehow a lot of the money was finding it's way into his own. This had gone on for quite some time, right under Wesley's nose. Long story short, Frank got arrested, convicted and sent up the river. Of course it was already too late to get the farm back. Not a day's gone by Wesley hasn't kicked himself in the behind for not keeping a closer eye on Frank, but you live and learn.

The whole ordeal taught Shaun several valuable lessons, not the least of which was to be careful who you trust, and always do your own banking.

XWF Exclusive Audio Recording
02/03/23

"Hey, what's up, guys? It's Vagabond! First I just wanted to offer my sincerest apologies for having to postpone this week's vlog due to severe weather here in the Granite State. Right now it's about 5 degrees with a wind chill putting it down to anywhere from 40 to 60 degrees below zero. It's really freaking cold! I couldn't find a camera man willing to film outside today so we'll just have to wait till later. Let me just say I'm definitely looking forward to going to Houston, Texas next week when I make my official XWF debut. The timing is perfect!

"Speaking of timing, here's a little fun fact: I arrived just in time to become the last entrant into the XWF March Madness Tournament! That won't make the road ahead any easier for me, but I'm glad I didn't miss the cut-off. 31 others will be vying for the same thing I am, so it's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out.

"My first opponent is one Elena Stratt, a.k.a. Astra. She'll be making her debut as well, so both of us have a lot to prove. Not only do we have to prove who belongs in this tournament, but also who belongs in the XWF. Astra, I'm not telling you I don't think you belong in X-Dub, what I'm telling you is that if I had to choose between us then I probably wouldn't pick you to move on in this tournament. Me, I'm all about moving on. How do you think I got this name?

"Your size is your most obvious... shortcoming. Yeah, I said it. If I didn't know any better I'd say you're at a great disadvantage right off the bat. But I, Vagabond, know better! I know how you pixie-ish females can fly like butterflies and sting like bees! I've wrestled my fair share, and believe-you-me, I know your kind is hard to trap. Thing is, Astra, 'hard to trap' doesn't mean impossible. I'll catch you off guard, maybe give you the 2-for-1 Special. I'll have you right where I need you for the 1, 2, 3. So bring your Jun Fan Kung-Fu, bring your fists and your kicks. I've got a good kick, too. Just saying!

"I'm sure you'll find another way to honor Mother Russia other than by winning this tournament, Astra. Next week just won't be your night. Even if there aren't any Stars in the Night's Sky, my star is on the rise! Now before I wrap this up I just want to give a shout out to the makers of Hot Hands™ for keeping me warm on these cold winter days. Thanks for listening, everybody, you'll be hearing from me again soon. Vagabond, moving out."

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