"Sir, this 'evidence' that you're presenting today has done nothing to help you or prove your innocence in any way."

"Your Honor, please!  I've hardly gotten to the 'meat-and-potatoes' here!"

"There had better be a point to all of this."

"Trust me!  There is, I swear!  I mean, I'm under oath, right?"

"Ugh."

"May I proceed?"

The judge closes her eyes.

"You may."


BACK TO THE STORY…


When Ricky left the hospital and walked home, he didn't realize he had been followed.  Calypso stayed close behind, using a certain set of skills to remain hidden, all the way to an apartment building.

After Ricky entered, Calypso lingered outside and started scoping out another point of entry.  He paced around, waiting, when he noticed a window light up on the third floor.

"Bingo!"

After finding a bag of clothes and crafting a mask out of a pair of boxer shorts, he climbed up the gutter and fire escape to Ricky's window.  He peeked inside to see a large, single room that combined as a bedroom, living area, and kitchen.  Ricky was sliding a frozen pizza into the oven, then turned on the TV and took a seat on the couch.  Calypso waited until Ricky fell asleep watching a thighmaster infomercial before opening the window and climbing in.   

He crept around the room silently to turn off the couple of lamps left on, then turned off the television and stood over Ricky.

"Ahem."

Calypso coughed.

"AH-HEM!"

He did again a little louder.

"AH-HA-HA-HEM!"

Ricky remained still and asleep, so Calypso walked over and slapped him across the face.

"Wake up!"

He said in a raspy voice.

Ricky opened his eyes and freaked out at the sight of a tall, dark intruder.  He reached for his .357 under the couch cushion and pointed it.

"Dude, no!  Wait!  WAIT!"

He fired once which missed and hit the wall.  He fired again, but the gun misfired.

"Piece of shit!"

Rick threw the gun and run up on Calypso who finally managed to wrestle the make-shift mask from around his head.

"RICKY IT'S ME!"

This didn't stop the janitor from continuing with his attack.  He ran up to Calypso screaming, but took a kick to the gut and landed on his back after taking a Calypsonator!

BACK IN THE COURTROOM... "So, wait, the man fired a gun at you…  and you did what?" "Hit him with my finisher, your Honor.  Brought to you by the Rattlesnake Dojo.  I made that up, but it was a move taught to me by Stone Cold, himself.  Seriously."

Ricky snapped out of it pretty quick, even resisting when Calypso was securing his hands with some zip ties he managed to find in a bag nearby.  The two were face to face when Ricky's eyes came to focus.

"Look, dude, I should've told you from the get-go that we can do this the 'easy-way' or the 'hard-way'.  Don't worry, I made the choice for you."

"You?!  What are you doing here?!  What do you want?!"

"I've already told you, bruh!"

The two sat in silence while Ricky tested the strength of the zip ties around his hand.

"Ah-ah-ah!  I'll let you go as soon as you spill the beans.  C'mon man!"

"I was just screwing with you earlier, man…  I, honest to truth, have no clue who or what you're even talking about!"

"Dude, Peter Vaughn has always looked down on me.  From our very first match and going on to this day, he acts like he's so much higher above me.  Before even knowing me, the guy labeled me as someone that just can't dance the dance like him.  If we want to dig in we could talk about stats and records all day long, but what it always comes down to is that one moment when the bell rings and there's one dude left standing.  I know I'm no superstar of the month or anything, but holy crap after how many times you'd think this guy would take me seriously!"

"You're crazy, man.  Just let me go."

"I know I've lost to the guy, but he's lost, too!  He's lost as many titles that he's won, especially in these parts.  I took him to the limit for the S.C. (bless its soul) Title and for him to not acknowledge that we were, at most, a half a Calypsonator away from a completely different storyline coming into this thing…  THAT'S CRAZY..  Speaking of storyline, does the guy really believe he's 'THE' favorite to win March Madness?  I have no room to talk here because I don't win anything, but I can see with my own two eyes that there are plenty others that have a better shot than Peter freakin' Vaughn.  When he first came and was leading the charge in that failed take-over, everyone talked about how great Peter Vaughn was and that we were basically screwed when he won the Universal TItle.  But, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, this guy has done here, there, or anywhere has lived up to anything anyone, including him, has said."

Suddenly, there was a loud banging at the door.

"This is the police!  Open up!"

Calypso gasped and Ricky yelled out!

"We're in here!  Help!  I've been kidnapped in my own home!"

"Dude!  Shut up!"

Calypso tried to cover Ricky's mouth, but the janitor bit him.

"Bruh, WTF?!  You bit me!"

"HELP!  HEEELP!"

"Dude, gimme your keys!"

"Keys to what?!"

"Ugh!  I figured you just walked to work since it was close!  You seriously don't have wheels?!"

"Don't you?"

"Why would I, with this city's great public transportation program?"

"I know right?"

Bang!  Bang!  Bang!  Again at the door!

"If you don't open up, we'll break the door down!  This is your last warning!"

Calypso ran towards the window and looked back one last time.

"I really wish you were more helpful, bruh.  Peter Vaughn deserves this!"

Calypso pounded the wall causing the window to close.  He tries opening it again, but it slammed down hard and has become stuck.  The door to the apartment slammed open and several police officers rushed in and tackled Calypso to the ground and took him out.

After the police got a testimony from Ricky and left.  He made a call on his cellphone.

"Yeah?  This is Ricky.  Yeah.  We've got a turd in the punch bowl."


BACK IN THE COURTROOM...


"Wait a minute.  You were already in the back of a squad car, how do you know if he made that call?"

"I'm sure he did, Your Honor.  It's how brainwashed he is."

The judge rolls her eyes and picks up her gavel.

"Well, that was an excellent confession, sir."

"Confession?  Your honor, I fessed up to all this stuff when I turned myself in!"

"Then, for the love of God, what is the point of all of this?!"

"To prove I did it all for good, your honor!"

"You've proven to have some obsession with that Peter Vaughn you keep bringing up.  What is the deal with this janitor?!"

"He's a mechanic, now.  I think.  But he's the leader of the Custodial Coalition, I don't get it, either…  It seems kind of cultish to me the way guys move up into power and stuff…  But that's one of the reasons I'm trying to get to the bottom of it!  To infiltrate their ranks and see what the heck Peter's problem is.  Are these duties as their leader stifling him from being the Peter Vaughn that everyone talks about?  Maybe I just missed the train when he was a badass and after he took on these new responsibilities he started missing some steps."

"Sir…."

"I was trying to help Peter from the beginning, Your Honor.  And, I guess, even after all of this, I still kind of am.  It's in my heart to do so and sometimes, most-times, it can be a thankless job, but I'm okay with that.  Sometimes the people you're trying to help don't want the help and you have to hold a few people hostage to get the information you need to get access to their secret base of operations.  I think the approach I took on Peter before was the wrong one.  Well, obvs, huh?  LOL.  I haven't beaten him yet and I haven't gotten through to him either.  He acts like everytime we fight, it will be nothing more than him stomping me into the ground, but he hasn't managed to do that to me once yet.  I've had him backed into the corner several times and it would just be a shot to his ego for him to admit it." 

"SIR!  That's enough or I will hold you in contempt and you will go to jail!"

"BUT!  He's not afraid to admit that he needed this tournament to prove to the masses that he's worth something again.  To get people talking about Peter Vaughn again.  I can't blame him.  I was thinking of using it to do the same thing!  I mean, who wouldn't use the biggest tournament in the XWF to boost their own ratings?  My bruh did just have a shot at the Universal Title against Mark Flynn and if that isn't a perfect opportunity right there then damn.  So, yeah, winning the March Madness would be one heck of a rebound to take.  But, unfortunately for Peter, this isn't just a chance for me to step into the light.  People already talk about Calypso and, I believe, with or without the masses, that I'm better than him."

[img][/img]


SEVERAL MINUTES LATER…


Calypso is sitting inside a jail cell, talking with a man in the cell next to his.

"I'll help him, alright.  I'll help and show him that he's not as good as the gold he wears, no matter how many straps.  I'll help him recognize where he belongs and what it's like to have to scrape the bottom like I have to, something that I don't think he's had to do yet.  In fact, I know he hasn't yet.  I think the guy's first match was for the Universal Title!  The second shit got real around here, he lost it.  The one he just had against Flynn?  Where did IT come from, huh?  You can't cry the blues that no one believes in you when you're obviously a star in SOMEONE's eyes around here to get that kind of treatment.  I EARNED my shot to face him for the SC Title and I may not earn his respect when I knock him out of this tournament, but I"m sure as heck gonna make him recognize that this isn't getting handed to him.  Maybe he can try his luck in that Denzel Porter Invitational that's going on right now that I see he's trying his luck in.  Hey, it seems like he has a lot better luck outside of an XWF ring, but we ARE hosting it, so who knows?  LOL."

The guy in the next cell presses his face against the bars.

"Buddy, would you shut the hell up?  I have no idea what you're talking about and I'm just trying to sleep until morning, if you don't mind."

He seemed a little distressed and alotta drunk.  Calypso could hear him walk across the cell and over to the bed.

"No doubt, no doubt.  I should do the same thing.  The big day IS tomorrow, after all.  Some rest would be good.  I'm not afraid to admit that what I have ahead of me is going to be tough.  I mean, obvs, right?  This is my redemption story, man.  Peter always had the upper hand and always walked away smiling, this is when that changes.  He's looking to prove himself?  Peter has proven one thing around here and that's that he's at no level to walk in anywhere and guarantee a win."

"SHUT UP!  SHUT THE HELL UP!"