Meltdown XXVII & Fallout 027 || Promo Thread

[Wiseman]

Tales From The Reaper
Season I, Episode II
Days of Future Past

Prologue: Tale of Life

When you’re young, life seems so insurmountable. It feels like you have a million critical decisions to make and any wrong choice will mean you’re a failure at life. That outlook on things doesn’t go away until it’s too late.

Because of this predicament we all wish we had the ability to see our future. See what exactly happens in our life in order to either correct it to fit what would make us happy or know that we succeed in our life and can have peace of mind.

It’s been well documented that my life is full of regrets. It’s been well documented that my decisions in my life have been far from perfect. As much as I wished for that crystal ball. As much as I wished things would just align and give me the happiness I yearned for. At the end of the day life is just a tumultuous journey and there are battles to be fought every single day for every single one of us.
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Act I: The Joke

PAPA, help me with this game!

A young child shouts out as he runs up to a “Pop-the-Weasel” arcade game. The game looks like it’s been around the block a time or two. Beaten and just old. You can tell it doesn’t get played too often as it is way back in the back corner of the arcade. The young child picks up the cushioned, black mallet and begins to scream out with excitement again.

PAPA, PAPA, hurry up! I want to bang the weasels!

From around the corner of another set of arcade games steps out Logan Darwin. With a smile on his face he makes his way towards the “Pop-the-Weasel” arcade game.

Miles! Please don’t get too far away from Papa in this place. I know you’re excited to play the games I just don’t want to lose you.

I’m sorry Papa, I’m just excited to smash some of these weasels! Remember when you did it when you used to be a big, superhero?

Miles starts to smash holes in the game with the cushioned mallet as if he is practicing how he will do it once the game begins. Logan wears a big smile on his face as he crotches down to his grandson’s height.

Alright, so you know how to play this game right?

Miles nods his head in approval.

You gotta be quick though, there is nothing more sneaky and fast then a stinky weasel. Once you start to see the top of his head coming out of that hole smack him as hard as you can. But remember, be as quick as you can.

Miles stands in front of the game, holding the mallet anticipating the moment his grandfather puts a quarter into the game and it fires up. Logan then slides a quarter into the game and it starts to make noise and the lights begin to flare up.

Get ready, they’re going to start coming at ya!

As the weasels start to pop up at a fast pace the child tries his best to keep up with them. Bashing them on the head as quickly as he can. Missing some, of course, but making sure he throws the mallet down as hard as he can onto the arcade game. As the game continues the child begins to laugh as he continues to hit the weasels in its head. The timer on the arcade game counts down as he goes and as forty-five seconds hit zero all the weasels

5000 POINTS! That’s awesome Miles!

Logan’s grandson throws the mallet down on the top of the arcade game, screams out “YEAH” and wraps his arms around the neck of his grandfather.

Whoa, don’t forget about your tickets that you won. We can add those to the ones we already have and hopefully get an awesome prize at the counter.

Just then a young woman, probably in her mid 20s comes around the other side of the arcade games and looks down at Logan and Miles. Her face lights up with a smile as she sees the excitement on Miles’ face. Miles lets go of his grandfather for a second and turns his attention to the slot of the game where a string of tickets have come out of. He grabs the string of tickets, spins around to see his grandfather once again but then takes notice of the woman that is behind them now.

MOM!

Just then the little boy runs to the woman wrapping his arms around the pelvic region of the woman. Logan looks the woman’s way as well and stands up to greet her. He walks towards her and the two embrace. As they come apart Logan’s face is utterly shining.

Gwen, it’s great to see you. Me and Miles have just been having some fun and getting the boy some tickets to get a really cool prize to take home.

Gwen smiles at Logan and leans forward to give Logan a kiss on the cheek. She then looks down at Miles.

Is that so Miles? Have you been collecting a treasure chest of tickets?

Miles looks up at his mother with a big smile as he thrust his hands upward with a mess of tickets.

Absolutely. I’m looking to get a cool Lego set. Papa says if I win enough I could probably even buy this entire trash heap.

Gwen looks up at Darwin with a smirk. Darwin just flashes her a smile. Darwin reaches down to rub the top of Miles’ head.

Well, like I said this place is fun but it’s been here longer than even Papa can remember.

He then has his hand on the back of Miles’ neck and looks down at the boy.

But, it is getting pretty late, Miles. I’m pretty sure your mom had a pretty long day at work and would love to get back home. What do you say we take those tickets to the counter and see what cool stuff we can get for you to take home?

With that Logan reaches his hand out and Miles grasps Logan’s hand. The trio then begin to make their way through the arcade and reach the counter with a bunch of small prizes organized in a glass container and then on a bunch of shelving behind that there are a bunch of various bigger prizes.

Alright Miles have a good look. You can either take a look in this glass case and probably get a few, cool small things OR if you look behind at the shelves you might find you can get one of the awesome, bigger prizes on them.

Logan’s grandson begins to crouch down and look through the many items in the glass case. Moving up and down the glass case a few times before diverting his attention to the shelves behind the counter. Just then a group of three, young, adult men step behind Logan and his other two family members. At first they definitely believe they know who is in front of them. The group of men then begin to whisper to each other as if trying to put all of their thoughts together to ensure they all realize who is in front of them. Just then one of them abruptly interjects by saying.

Holy shit are you Logan Darwin.

Logan’s entire mood then spins on a dime, steaming from complete irritation from the young man’s remark. Logan turns his head over his shoulder and replies to the guy with a stern voice.

Dude, I’m with my grand kid. Could you please curb that nonsense? Give me five minutes here and I’ll sign whatever the hell you want me to sign. Just let me have this time with my grand kid and he doesn’t need to hear that trash.

Logan then turns his head back forward and throws his attention back to Miles, kind of pushing him to stay focused and see what he wants to spend his tickets on. Logan places his hand on the back of Miles’ neck once more and bends down.

Miles, have you seen anything good that you want yet?

Not yet Papa, I wish I would have won more tickets!

Just then another one of the men behind him piles more tension onto things.

Yo, old man. We didn’t ask you to sign anything. Why in the hell would we want to get anything from your old ass? You couldn’t even beat a fucking rodent in a fight. You old ass, mother fucking has been.

Logan’s mood is not pure anger. He turns his head to look his daughter in the face and she notices the straight irritation on Logan’s face. Gwen then bends down to talk to Miles.

Hey honey, how about we go get your more tickets. I noticed there is an awesome remote control car on one of those shelves. Wouldn’t it be awesome to race that thing around the house when we get home?

Miles begins to mull the decision over and looks up at his mom with an excited smile.

That would be AWESOME! Can I please play the game where I throw the balls at the clowns?

Absolutely, let’s go play that game for a bit. Papa has to talk to some of his old friends from back when he was a superhero.

Miles reaches his hand up towards Gwen as she grabs it and the two walk away to find the arcade game Miles spoke off. With those two disappearing in the sea of arcade games, Logan stands back up and slowly turns to face the trio of guys behind him that were just heckling him. As he faces them the emotion on his face is a mix of complete anger yet trying to hold it back a little bit.

Look, I get it. Three, young guys like you. Full of piss and vinegar. You see me, someone that used to beat the crap out of people for a living. You three with the world at your fingertips think there could be nothing that would make a cooler story to tell your other friends than the day you put Logan Darwin in his place. You three were able to verbally belittle a man that used to take people to such a pain threshold that they had no choice but to say in front of millions of people that I tortured them enough that they couldn’t take it anymore. Am I close to your thought process with what you just decided to do as I was spending time with my family?

The group of guys exchange looks with each other and then busting out laughing.

Bro, you’re a broken down old man. I watched as you were beaten down like a scalded dog by a weasel person. You coming at us all tough now just cause you can’t handle us telling you how it is only tells me that you’re hoping we’re only here to call you names.

Logan begins to grind his teeth a little bit and clench his fist. Yet, at the same time he tries to hold his anger back and be the voice of valor.

I really didn’t come to this place to have a fight. I came here to simply spend some time with my grandson. How about we just let bygones be bygones?

You know what, that sounds best. Let me apologize, we didn’t realize you were here to just spend time with your grandson.

The guy speaking stops for a second as if he is thinking for a second.

I will say, I really hope that kid doesn’t grow up to be a little bitch like his grandfather.

Just then one of the guys throws a punch and connects with the side of Logan’s face. Then another one of the guys charges at him, throwing a shoulder into Logan’s midsection and driving him into the glass counter. Logan has no choice but to fight back then. As his back slams against the counter he pummels the back of the guy with a double ax-handle smash. He then throws a knee into the guy’s midsection, at the same time wrapping his arms around the guy and throwing him to the floor. The next guy runs up to Logan and fires a straight right punch at Logan but he catches the guy’s fist and twists his arm down, while Logan throws a headbutt, connecting with the front of the guy’s head.

The loudest of the jerks finally walk up to Logan, cracking his knuckles as if he knows he’s going to kick Logan’s ass. The guy throws a punch to the side of Logan that connects. He then throws a punch into the gut of Logan. The guy goes for a hook to the face of Logan but Logan ducks it and in one fluid motion lunges forward hoisting the guy up and over Logan’s back. The guy crashes into the glass case that was behind Logan. Logan turns around, grabs the guy by the arm, dragging him out from the case. The guy screams out in pain as his body is dragged through the shattered glass.

As Logan still has a hold of the guy's wrist, one of the other guys throws a punch at Logan which he dodges. Logan then drops the other guy’s wrist and puts his attention to the guy that just threw a punch at him. As the guy realizes he missed Logan with the punch he has no time to react as Logan floors him with a clothesline. Just then the third guy throws a punch into the back of Logan’s kidneys. Logan winches with the bunch but now he has a new target to divert his anger to. Logan spins around and blocks another punch with his arm. He then grabs the guy by the collar and one of the loops of his jeans. With all of his anger behind it Logan begins to push the guy forward and with one giant hoist throws him head first into the playing screen of one of the arcade games in the place.

With that guy disposed of he then turns his attention back to the guy he threw through the glass case. At the moment though that guy has begun to crawl through the shattered glass to try and escape any more retribution from Logan. As Logan notices that, he bends down, grabbing a giant shard of glass off of the floor. Logan then methodically makes his way over to the crawling man. Logan grabs a handful of hair, pulling the guy up, forcing him to his knees. Logan then holds the glass shard up high so the guy notices what is next for him.

Logan: Listen, I wasn’t trying to do this. I came here just to enjoy time with my grandson. Clearly though, CLEARLY, you are either deaf or dumb or both. Just because I’m old enough to be your daddy doesn’t mean I still can’t whip your ass. I might have embarrassed myself by not being able to defeat a slimy rodent. But that was when I was too weak to not let my anger loose. That was when I wasn’t truly willing to die in order to win a battle. Evidently that is something you either forgot, or just were too ignorant to think was something you could slap around. So I’ll do you a favor right here, right now. I’ll give you something to remember this moment by. I’ll give you a beautiful scar that every time you look into the mirror you can say to yourself, “that was the day I thought a weak old man couldn’t take me to the woodshed.

Just then Logan brings the shard of glass down to the man’s forehead and starts to drag it horizontally across it. As he drags it blood begins to flow from the cut. Logan then raises the shard of glass high in the air and then starts to bring it……
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Act II: Lose Is Inevitable

And that’s when I always wake up.

Now Logan is laying on the couch of a therapist’s office. The therapist sits across the room from him.

What exactly do you think you were about to do to the man?

Logan thinks about it for a second and at the thought of it his eyes begin to water and tear or two escape the side of his eyes.

I really don’t know. I just know when I wake up I am filled with two things, anxiety and anger. It almost feels like it’s a battle between God and the devil raging inside of me when I wake up. If I had to hazard a guess I would say in that dream the only thing that would satisfy me when someone disrespects my family is more blood.

And with that, where do you think this creation of Miles and Gwen comes from?

I’m going to have to say my relationship with Johnny. That was and is such a shit show that having a daughter I love and loves me along with a grandson who adores me, thinks that I’m sort of a superhero because of what I have done in the wrestling business. I’ve spoken so often on how much regret I hold from what I did to Johnny. How I chose my love for a business that would eventually chew me up and spit me out instead of having the love of a son. Gwen and Miles is what I would have if I wasn’t that asshole twenty some years ago.

In the dream, you made a decision to keep Miles away from the violence. Do you think that is also another way of you trying to cope with the fact that you weren’t able to keep Johnny away from the violence of the business you are in?

Logan sighs deeply as he rubs his forehead with his head.

I can see that. I also think I didn’t want my family to see just who I can become when people push me down and try to discount who I was and who I am. I bleed buckets for the business I love. I lost a family for the business that I love. Lose has been as much of my career as success has been. Hell, a person that has been in the business as long as just has that. Even though it’s pretty much a part of my life, losing is always a bitter pill to swallow. I realize that I’m old enough to be the parent of some of the talent in this business. But until I take my dying breath there is no man, woman or even weasel that will not have the Reaper come for them. ​

 

[Comeback Kid]

Shawn Summers in
My Darling, Tulip​

The horizon seemed endless when they looked at it from their home. There was a whole world beyond the limits of Orange Leaf but it interested no one in exploring. And who could blame them? Orange Leaf was a paradise within the confines of the towering mountainscape and the desert's unforgiving vastness. The ranch-style homes, manicured green lawns, swimming pools, and palm trees are a sight to see within the isolated barren landscape. Men tended to the landscape of the homes as bikini-clad women lay atop lawn chairs sipping from alcoholic beverages, soaking in the rays of the sun, and relaxing after a hard day's work. The sound of laughter intertwined with the revving of motors acted as the soundtrack of the afternoon most days in Orange Leaf and none would have it any other way.

A young man plunges into the clear water of a pool and slowly begins to sink to the bottom. He opens his eyes as his foot touches the bottom and notices the kicking feet and the distorted outlines of the people above. He takes a moment before kicking off the bottom of the pool and swimming toward the top, ripping through the water's surface and being greeted by cheers and applause from the guests above. He wipes his face with his palm and runs his hand through his short cropped blond hair attempting to stop the water from dripping onto his face and over his eyes. He had hated how the chlorine made his eyes sting with irritation when he was a child, but that wasn't a problem now. There was hardly anything that irritated him or anyone else in Orange Leaf.

"I was starting to get afraid that you weren't going to make it back up. You spent so much time down there, Shawn," exclaimed a woman dark-haired woman dressed in a stylish bathing suit and a cigarette in hand.

"Oh, come on now, Bunny. You know his little tulip wouldn't have let him stay down there too long. She's gotta keep an eye on him," jokes a man with the build of a jock, wearing black discrete sunglasses, and a bright red speedo. Bunny and the other two couples laugh at his joke as the blond-haired man swims to the edge of the pool toward a young woman with an almost empty glass in her hand. She has short, shoulder-length blond hair under the large brimmed sunhat that she has chosen for the evening. The curves of her body are accentuated despite her wearing a teal-colored one-piece swimsuit adorned with purple octopi. She smiles at him as he swims between her legs and kisses her inner thigh eliciting cheers from the other couples. She reaches down and lifts his face to hers, planting a kiss on his lips before using her free hand to dangle the empty glass in his face. He smiles as he grabs the drink and exits the pool.

"You want the same as last time, Tulip," he asks with a smile as she nods her head at him. He happily makes his way toward the bar cart and begins mixing a drink.

"You know, I'm actually in the mood for one more drink myself. Gerald, honey," Bunny says raising her glass to him with a smile. Gerald exits the pool and casts a look at the other two men as if to say 'get your wives a drink' as he makes his way to the bar cart where Shawn is happily mixing a drink for his Tulip.

"What did we do to deserve men like that," Bunny whispers to 'Tulip' as they admire their men mixing their drinks.
"Everything," 'Tulip' says as the other three women laugh to themselves and nod in agreement.
"Michelle, I have no idea how you are so calm right now. It's almost like you know you've got the party's nomination in the bag or something," jokes a tan-skinned woman of Hispanic descent. As Michelle goes to answer Shawn slyly passes her a drink and plants a kiss on her lips before slowly sinking back into the water resting between her legs as the other husbands hand their wives drinks.

"That's just it, Peg. You don't have to be worried when you know that you have the nomination in the bag," Shawn responds. "My 'Tulip' is one of the most accomplished women that Orange Leaf has ever seen. She's on a level that cannot be replicated when it comes to her abilities to lead, the awards that she has won, and the people and obstacles that she's overcome. My Tulip's going to be the next leader of Orange Leaf and this nomination is just a formality at this point."

"Alright, Shawn. No need to be cocky" quips a bearded man with dark piercing eyes. He wears a smile on his face but one can't help but feel unease seeing it. The smile felt unreal on his face.

"I'm not being cocky, Noah. I'm just being realistic. Michelle has the best qualifications and it's almost impossible for anyone to defeat her on the roll that she's been on. I mean, sure - she's going up against two men who want to bring the status quo of patriarchy to Orange Leaf, but that's not how we operate here," Shawn says with a smile, receiving head nods of approval from the other men and women in the pool. "Michelle and the women before her who helped establish Orange Leaf are shining examples of what women can do when we allow them to lead. There's no doubt in my mind that Michelle is going to win this nomination, and then the title of 'Leader'. And with Bunny and Gerald in her corner, she's truly unstoppable."

Gerald and Bunny smile at one another as Michelle, Shawn's 'Tulip' blushes at the praise and words from her husband. Shawn raises his drink in the air and calls for a toast to Michelle's impending victory. They finish their drinks and the guests slowly begin leaving the home of the Chambers as they must begin getting ready for the nomination banquet. Michelle is prepared a final drink by Shawn as she makes her way to the shower. He lays out an elegant dress colored in the pattern of a tulip along with a plethora of jewels and a pair of heels that complement them. In the shower, Michelle chugs the drink prepared by Shawn and rests her hand against the linoleum. Her hand slips, a rare happening for her, but she ignores the moment and takes deep breaths. She had been in this position before and had won it all only to have it taken away from her by a man - a man that she would rid herself of when they moved to Orange Leaf. She couldn't bear experiencing that again. It would kill her.

"Sh...Shawn," she calls out as the walls around her start to slowly close in on her and the shower grows narrower and narrower. Shawn charges into the bathroom and immediately grabs her, embracing her in his arms as he attempts to calm her down. He caresses her body and reassures her that everything is going to be alright and that this night is hers.

"I need it...please," she says to him as he nods his head and gently puts her down. He rushes to the medicine cabinet and grabs a small bag with a white powderlike substance that he gently taps onto the area of his hand between his thumb and index finger. Carefully he approaches Michelle, lifting her face toward his hand.

"Inhale. Inhale. Come on baby, just inhale. Good. Good, girl. I've got you. I've got you. I'm in your corner. I'm always in your corner, my little Tulip," he says with a low, reassuring voice as Michelle inhales the powder and seemingly jolts herself back up. She occasionally needed that jolt. They all did. Well, all the women did anyway. It's what helped them to do it all. No one questioned it and why would they? The powder was what helped make life in Orange Leaf what it was. Orange Leaf was a utopia for the residents and there was no need to question perfection.

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Shawn, dressed in a discrete tuxedo, opens the door to the auditorium for Michelle, who is dressed in the dress, jewels, and shoes that he had laid out for her earlier as the couples inside roar with cheers and applause for her arrival. The auditorium is all clean lines and glass, twinkling like the stars in the night sky above. The sound of a large band floats throughout the auditorium as Shawn, carrying Michelle's clutch purse, and Michelle wave as they make their way through the crowd. Everyone reaches out toward and seemingly vies for attention or acknowledgment of Michelle as she gently smiles and glides throughout.

"I've always described Michelle as someone who is the definition of quiet power, you know?" says Bunny to a group of women all dressed in elegant ball gowns. They stand around Bunny with bated breath awaiting her next words about Michelle. Bunny commanded social power amongst many of the women due to her proximity to Michelle and her greatness. Her husband, Gerald, enjoyed similar power amongst the men but his power was never as strong as that of Shawn and those who were close to him. "She's brilliant, confident, and she has a disarming presence about her that just makes everyone want to just gravitate towards her. And what about her husband, Shawn? He's warm, gracious, and is the ideal, sorry babe, husband," she says as the women laugh and nod their heads while the men playfully shove and laugh at Gerald. Michelle and Shawn make their way toward Bunny, Gerald, and the other couples and are greeted as if they were celebrities. The women take turns shaking Michelle's hand and await her greeting to them, as Shawn hugs and reassure the husbands that Michelle will definitely be coming out with a victory tonight.

"Michelle, it's truly an honor to be in your presence tonight," says an eager-eyed young woman. "My brother Bret and I are so happy to have been given an opportunity to work on your campaign and I for one can't wait to hear your victory speech tonight as you accept the nomination."

Michelle slowly retracts her hand from the young woman and gives her a warm smile. "Thank you, Bella. I hope that I've done enough to earn the nomination of the party here tonight," Michelle answers as Bella stares at her in confusion. She looks at some of the other women in attendance before looking back at Michelle and beginning.

"I'm confused. I thought that this was all part of the program for this event," she says as Michelle looks at her with a confusion of her own. Bunny and Gerald make their way over to Michelle and Bella and laugh out loud. Their laughter provokes everyone around them to laugh, except for Bella who continues to look around in confusion.

"Bella's just a little new to these 'political' things," Bunny says with a laugh as she puts her arm around Bella's shoulder. "But don't you worry I'm gonna take her under my wing and we'll get her all caught up on how things work here, right, Gerald?" she says with a smile as Gerald nods his head in agreement and reassures Michelle that is all that it is. "Gerald, why don't you grab Bret and fetch Bella and me a drink while we discuss everything about tonight?"

Michelle looks to Shawn who shrugs his shoulders at the situation as they continue walking through the crowd of couples roaming around the auditorium. It seems as though the entire city is here, having fun, pouring drinks, and ready to celebrate the nomination of Michelle. Michelle spots a man dressed in an equally discrete suit similar to Shawn's drinking a cocktail alone as everyone moves around him. She pats Shawn's hand as he notices his friends, Noah, Eli, and Trevor at the bar grabbing drinks for their wives and allows him to join them. She approaches the brown-skinned man with a knowing smile and greets him with a one-shoulder hug.

"I didn't think that you would make it, here, Jay," she says with excitement in her voice.

"And miss the biggest moment of one of my nephews? I would never."
"You're the second person tonight to speak with such certainty about my victory."
"Well, it's what you wanted, right? You want to win the nomination of the party and go for the title of "Leader"."
"Yes, but it's not a guarantee, you know?"
"Oh, Michelle, my darling," he says laughing to himself as he takes another sip from his drink. "ANYTHING can be a guarantee for you here in Orange Leaf. I thought they told you that before bringing you in here."
"I...I don't think I quite understand."

He laughs and shakes his head as he notices the approach of Shawn with a drink in hand for Michelle. Shawn plants a kiss on Michelle's right cheek as she accepts the drink from him and takes a sip.

"Who was that?" he asks.
"That was..ummm... my uncle," she says with a smile as Shawn shoots her a narrow-eyed look of confusion before switching to the trademark smirk that he had become known for in Orange Leaf.
"Uncle, aye? Alright, I'll take your word for it.. Hey, I heard that the Goldwins were here in support of you tonight."
"Yes, I have to speak with Violet tonight. She's been a tough rival, but a great mentor. I'll have to give her my thanks for all she's done for Orange Leaf."
"How gracious of you, my little 'Tulip'," Shawn says with a wink and smile.
"I'm just excited to see Devin. You know, I see all the other husbands at the gym, taking care of their lawns, working, and everything but I hardly ever see Devin anymore. It'll be good to catch up."

"It's happening!" exclaims Bunny drawing all attention to the large projector screen that slowly lowers from the ceiling of the auditorium. Shawn clasps Michelle's hand and squeezes it tightly as he looks down and beams at her. She squeezes his hand back and can feel her heart beating as a slender young brunette woman appears on the screen with a calming smile. A graphic appears to show her name - Cathryn Baxter.

"Good evening, women and gentlemen of Orange Leaf. In a shocking turn of events the nomination for the Community Party has ended...in a tie."

There is a large number of gasps and shock throughout the auditorium as all eyes seemingly turn toward Michelle whose eyes are almost glazed over at the announcement. Shawn embraces her and rubs her back telling her that everything will be okay as Cathryn continues.

"The Community Party will be represented in the election for Leader of Orange Leaf by Michelle Chambers and Cyrus Verdad. They will compete for the title of Leader against the nominee from the Party of Men, Christopher Heavensbee. This is an unexpected first for the city of Orange Leaf - having one woman go against two men. This is sure to be a grand political battle as we march towards the election."

There is a hush in the room as the broadcast cuts out and everyone looks around in confusion as to what has just happened. Michelle looks broken as the moment she earned was slowly being taken away from her by men, again. Various couples come to offer their support and encouragement to Michelle as she continues to stare blankly - still in shock. This wasn't supposed to happen. Everything had been perfect since they had moved here and now...this?

As the night continues Michelle excuses herself to the bathroom where she stares at her reflection in the mirror. She is startled as the reflection in the mirror stares back at her. Instead of seeing herself in the mirror, she sees Shawn staring back at her with his signature smile. She pushes herself back from the bathroom sink and hurries out the door where she overhears an interaction between a couple.

"Keep your voice down, Devin. You're embarrassing me," says a woman as the man in front of her scoffs and rolls his eyes at her statement.

"I'm going to embarrass, you, Violet? I'm going to embarrass YOU!?!?! That's rich. Hillarious even. How the hell can I embarrass you in this fucking fantasy world. Huh?! How am I going to embarrass you in a fucking world that doesn't exist? You're embarrassing me by even being here. You've given up your real life, taking care of your real family and responsibilities to live in this land of make-believe where everything is perfect and warped to whatever story you feel like living out this month."

"Devin don't say that. Someone will hear you and think you're crazy," she snaps at him. Devin mutters a curse word under his breath and shouts as Shawn approaches Michelle, who has been watching intently. Devin snatches the glass out of his wife Violet's hand and smashes it on the table beside them allowing the shards to fall to the ground below. He grabs one of the shards and digs it deep into his palm. Shawn shields the vision from Michelle's view as a hoard of women swarm around Devin and Violet. Devin holds his hand up and pulls out the glass as many of the women attempt to bring his hand down out of view. They try to wrap his hand with gauze but Devin continues to shout and curse at them in protest. As his hand falls out of view, Shawn can't help but notice that neither the shard of glass or the gauze had any blood on them as Devin continues to shout.

"It's all fake! None of this shit is real. It's a fantasy. Think about it!"

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Shawn sits in the living room of their home with a glass of scotch in his hand replaying the moment of the night in his head as he stares out into the darkness of the night. He takes a drink from his glass and finishes the scotch before reaching for the decanter on the side table to pour another glass. He lets out a sigh of disappointment as he notices it empty. With nothing more to drink, he couldn't help but wonder about what Devin had yelled. He couldn't figure out why Devin would choose this moment, the biggest moment of Michelle's life in Orange Leaf, to decide to show up, after being gone for so long. Then, there was the fact that despite him driving the glass into his hand there was no blood to be found. Shawn had seen it. They all had seen him drive the glass into his hand and yet there was no blood. There was nothing. Shawn was curious.

He allowed the curiosity to get to him and slumped up from his chair and made his way toward the kitchen. The house was silent. All he could hear was the ticking of the clock as it counted down the seconds until the morning when Michelle would be off to work. He wasn't sure what it was that Michelle did for work but he knew that she was successful at it. She competed against the top women and the surprisingly adept top men in her field but she never talked about her work. The only thing that she talked about was winning the title of Leader of Orange Leaf. It was her goal. She was determined. It was one of the qualities that he loved about her, but he still wondered what it was that she actually did.

He wondered what she actually did just like he wondered about the lack of blood from Devin's wound. He stood in the kitchen for a while in silence before slowly opening the kitchen drawer and removing a massive knife. The knife is heavy in his hand. He stares at the knife before placing his hand palm first on the countertop. He had never thought of it until tonight but it occurred to him - since he moved to Orange Leaf he couldn't remember ever getting hurt or feeling pain. Why was that he wondered. He slowly raised the knife before slicing it down on his ring finger - nearly severing it. It dangles off his hand like a loose tooth leaving Shawn Stunned. He stares at the scene for a moment and waits for blood to appear but there is none. There's nothing - no blood, no pain. He grabs his dangling index finger and presses it back into place as if he'd never hacked through it with the knife. His finger returns to normal right before his eyes and it all starts to become clear to him. His pupils dilate and he begins to have a full sensory overload. Lights strobe throughout and his breathing becomes heavy. The room spins in a chaotic and overwhelming manner. He tries to move his arms and legs but it feels as though they are being held down as we cut to black.

As the days went by Shawn began to grow resentful towards Michelle. She went to work and was praised for simply existing in Orange Leaf. They treated her like a God despite the fact that she did nothing worthwhile. Hell, she did nothing worth discussing because absolutely no one discussed exactly what it is that she did. They just commented that she did it well. She gained all the praise while Shawn was relegated to tending to her home, building what it was that she wanted to be built, keeping his body the way that she liked it, and answering her every request once she was home. He hated it. He knew he was destined for something greater than just being Michelle's husband. He knew that he deserved more than to just stand in her shadow. He knew that something about all of this wasn't right.

Shawn begins to neglect his normal routine, relegating himself to laying in bed all day. Michelle notices but is unsure of what to do as he ignores her attempts to gather what is wrong with him. She does the only thing that she can think of and simply fills him in on the happenings of the election. As she tells him about her preparation for the debate with Cyrus and Christopher he quietly seethes with anger. She's so selfish. Only thinking about herself and her accomplishments while he wallows alone every day in their bed she can barely be bothered to make up without his help.

On the eighth day of his depression, he was startled as the door slammed shut. It was five and that meant that Michelle was home. She had taken care in the past not to disturb Shawn as he lay in bed, but today was different. He could hear her feet stamp against the carpeted floor as she approached their bedroom. He could feel her staring at him but he refused to turn and face her as she quietly seethed in the doorway. This only seemed to anger her more as she stamped over towards the drawn curtains and pushed them open allowing light to hit the room for the first time in over a week. Shawn locked eyes with Michelle who stared back at him with hatred.

"Get up," she said as Shawn glared at her. "I've given you long enough. I've given you more time than I should have. Get up and end all of this," she says as she gestures her hands at him laying in bed with a scowl on his face. "You're gonna cost me EVERYTHING. You know that? They're saying that my numbers are down in the polls and that people are beginning to talk. Yeah, they're starting to talk. Asking what the fuck is wrong with my husband. Why the fuck isn't my husband standing by my side at all of these events and photo ops. They shouldn't even be talking about you. This is about me and my success."

She scoffs and walks down the corridor of their home toward the living room where she starts to pour herself a drink. Shawn slowly gets out of bed and makes his way out of the room as Michelle chugs a glass of whiskey - straight. She pours herself another glass as she rolls her eyes in disgust at his presence - he is unshaven, wearing wrinkled clothing, and his hair starting to show signs of its original black coloring at the root.

"You know," she begins as she waves the glass of whiskey around with each word. "I can't understand why you would pick now to do all of this. Everything had been going well for us. Everything was working, Shawn. We were working. Our life was PERFECT! EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT. It's like you saw me on the cusp of gaining everything I had always wanted, again, and you decided to sabotage me. Why would you do that, Shawn? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" she questioned as Shawn silently boiled with anger inside of him. "Why can't you just support me? Why do you have to be an obstacle in the way to my success?"

"Because you don't deserve it!" he shouts, catching her completely off guard. "You don't deserve any of it, Michelle. I DO! It should be me. It always should have been me but everything changed when we moved here. It's like something switched and everything started to become exactly what you wanted...and that's not right. Nothing is right about any of this! What makes you or any of the women here think that you deserve what you have? What makes you think that?!?!"

"WE EARNED IT!"

"BUT I DESERVE IT! WE DESERVE IT! Why am I the one getting you a drink when it should be YOU that's getting me a drink? Why am I standing in your shadow when it should be you grateful that I allow you to be present in my success. That's how it should be Michelle! That's how it's supposed to be. Devin knew that. Devin knew that something wasn't right and now he's gone. Violets gone. Where are they, Michelle?" he questions as he back Michelle into a corner. He snatches the glass from her hand and takes a final swig of the whiskey before tossing the glass to the ground below him. As he raises his hand to her the door to their home bursts open.

Police officers swarm Shawn as he tries to fight them off. Michelle stares blankly at him as he continues to struggle but the masked men overpower him. They drag him out of the house as he tries to fight back as Michelle stares from the doorway. The dark-skinned man from earlier approaches Michelle, taking a look back at Shawn as the officers manage to strap him to a gurney. The man, Uncle, is dressed in a police outfit and has a commissioner's badge on as Shawn flails angrily on the gurney and screams at Michelle. The neighbors slowly begin to exit their homes and watch as Shawn continues to shout at Michelle and her Uncle. The police load the gurney into the back of a paddywagon and close the door as Shawn's screams are finally silenced.

============================================================================

The flash and cracking of photo bulbs greet Michelle as she opens the door to the filled auditorium. She takes a moment and reaches her hand outwards until it is grasped by another. Shawn slowly walks into frame as the cheers in the auditorium reach an almost deafening level. He silently thanks everyone as he stands hand and hand with his wife dressed in a white tuxedo. He kisses Michelle on the cheek to applause from those in attendance as the two make their way through. Noah, Eli, and Trevor excitedly approach Shawn who greets them with an excited "Hey!" He's bright, happy, and radiating like he was at the pool. He looks back at Michelle and she nods her head in approval as he rushes toward the bar with his friends to retrieve their wives a drink.

"We missed you so much, Shawn," Trevor exclaims as they await the drinks they'd ordered. "You've missed so much but we'll get you back into the swing of things in no time. I mean, it's the least we can do for the husband to the soon-to-be new leader of Orange Leaf," he says as all four smiles and laughs with excitement.

"How are you," Noah asks Shawn emphatically as they retrieve the drinks and begin to make their way through the crowd.

"I"m good. You know, I'm having a hard time remembering certain things, but I'm good. I'm better," Shawn says with a smile.

The election of the new leader of Orange Leaf was the biggest event of the year. The whole town was at their respective parties' election headquarters, drinking and dancing, and letting loose as they awaited the results of the election. Shawn eventually returns to Michelle but finds himself overwhelmed by the room. It was loud. It was almost too much for him. He clutched at Michelle's arm trying not to panic but she quickly pulls away from him and mouths "relax". She leaves with Gerald as he is left to mingle with the other husbands and wives he was left with. He surveys the room as the results from neighborhood pools start to come in, causing everyone at the party to grow as anxious as him. He smiles and reassures everyone that the night will end with Michelle as leader as people welcome him back and ask him how he feels about the night. Through all of the people he stops when he notices Devin Goldwin, laughing boisterously with Teressa Ramon's husband Randall. He charms everyone around him with stories of their life from when Violet was the leader of Orange Leaf. Violet looks elegant, royal even, as Devin gushes about his wife and all that she's accomplished.

Shawn watches as he plants a kiss on Violet's cheek and walks over to the bar. He quickly follows and approaches Devin as he takes two drinks from the bartender and turns around. almost bumping into Shawn.

"Oh, Shawn. It's great to see you, man. How're you feeling?" he asks as he beams with a smile on his face. Shawn swats the question and places both his hands on Devin's shoulders.
"You know something, Devin. You know that somethings not right about all of this."

Shawn tries to look Devin in the eye but he won't hold his gaze at all. Shawn leans in and begins to whisper into Devin's ear.

"I saw that there was no blood. I tried to hurt myself at home and realized nothing. You called this a fantasy world and they swarmed you. What did you mean by that? Why did you say that?"

Devin slowly backs away from Shawn and gives him a look as if he may be crazy and that that crazy may be contagious.

"I think they're about to announce the final results of the election. I need to find my wife," he says as he walks away slowly. Shawn turns back and sees Michelle, who had been watching the whole thing. She looks unsettled. Shawn takes a drink from the bar, a cocktail in a hightail glass, before making his way toward the stage where Michelle, Gerald, and Bunny are. The projector screen slowly descends into the auditorium as everyone in the room waits with bated breath for the announcement of the results.

Cathryn Baxter appears on the screen and a hush comes over the auditorium. Her mouth moves but there is no sound coming out. The sound of murmurs from the crowd fill the auditorium as Cathryn announces the winner with excitement. Michelle looks to Gerald and Bunny who look on confused as Shawn pulls her in close to him with a smile on his face.

"What's the matter my little 'Tulip'?" he whispers as he pulls her in for a kiss. "You don't to hear it. You already know the results. You've known since the moment we came to Orange Leaf, right? I'm right. You don't need to tell me. I know I'm right. I'm always right. That's what you hated about me before we came here, isn't it, Michelle?"

"Shawn, please, you are scaring everyone," Bunny says with an uneasy laugh and a smile as Gerald slowly begins to approach.

"Shawn, you need to calm down. Your wife worked hard to win this election. You should be happy for her. We're all happy for her. You're happy here in Orange Leaf. Happier than you ever were before you came here."

"Gerald, I'm gonna give you the opportunity to back the fuck away from me and my wife before I beat the living shit out of you." Gerald stops in his tracks at Shawn's words as Michelle mouths "it's alright to him."

"You couldn't just have left things alone. You had to keep poking at everything, didn't you? Everything finally worked. You liked it here. You and your friends loved it here. You loved this reality that I created for us. That I created for you. You loved it."

"This isn't fucking real, Michelle..."

"WHO GIVES A FUCK!?!?!" she screams. "Who actually gives a fuck. It's perfect for me and it was perfect for you."

Shawn shakes his head in confusion and backs away from Michelle as he realizes that he was right. This place wasn't real. It was manufactured for her. Memories of his life before Orange Leaf start to flood back to him and he sees himself in positions of power competing against the best of the best in his industry as Michelle stands and cheers for him on the sidelines. His eyes well up with tears as he slowly remembers what it is that she took from him.

"We've already reset you once, Shawn. I can't do it again. I won't do it again. This is your new reality. You can either accept that or not - but you're not escaping this. I'm in charge. This is my WORLD. This is OUR world," she says as the women in attendance cheer her words. Shawn looks out at everyone in attendance cheering for Michelle and shouting obscenities at him and he can feel his head begin to pulsate. He takes a large drink from his glass before cuffing it in his hand and smashing it against Michelle's temple. As the glass shatters he grabs a shard and slits his throat as Gerald and Bunny rush towards him in a rage.

============================================================================

A prolonged beep echoes in the air as Shawn slowly opens his eyes. His eyes dart around the room as he jerks to a seated position. He reaches for his head and removes the cable plugged into the jack on the back of his head. Shawn's heart beats faster and faster as looks to his left and sees the unconscious body of Michelle with a cable still plugged into the jack on the back of her head. There is an iPad located on the side of the bed with a message that reads: SIMULATION INTERRUPTED. EXIT INITIALIZED. 69%. He looks at her for a moment as the percentage slowly begins to rise. He reaches behind her and slowly tugs at the cord until another message pops up on the screen. DO NOT REMOVE THE PLUG UNTIL THE EXIT IS FINALIZED. REMOVAL BEFORE FINALIZATION CAN BE FATAL.

He stands with the cable in his hand and can't help but think that this world...reality may be too much for her to handle. She would never be happy. He grips the cable fully in his hand and pulls.

 

[weaselperson]

ch1.
WANDA
vs. 'The Reaper' Logan Darwin
at Fallout 027​

"When I was a young girl, my parents had divorced," Wanda said.

Wanda was my partner. My girlfriend. My agent. My therapist. My best friend. My motivational speaker. She controlled most aspects of my life, a freedom I had more or less, enthusiastically relinquished. The matter of why might entice you, but it's easy to come up with reasons as to why someone might give up control of their life to someone else. Most people do it, although unconsciously. There are very few people who truly control their lives. I would say, probably in the thousands, or maybe tens of thousands on the entire planet. There's no real way to measure it, but I would certainly err toward fewer digits.

It's arrogant to say, but I thought better of myself to have done this relinquishing of freedom consciously, and to have chosen, with - admittedly minor - deliberation Wanda to take on this role. The how, what, when, and where of this story will have to wait for another day, though they're hardly as interesting as you might imagine them to be. I'd always been practical, and that could just about sum up how we reached this point. Practicality. But Wanda was telling a story, and the respectful thing to do here, instead of telling my own, is to listen.

"My father, in an effort to maintain an emotional connection with me, since he only had custody every other weekend, would bring me to his friend's farm every once in a while. He knew I had been fond of animals ever since I first began to have interests."

I thought this was a relatable anecdote. My own father, in an effort to connect with me, had brought me into the city to attend a furry convention so I could feel what it's like to be normal. I'd never figured out if he'd intended it because I'd be with people who looked like me, or because he believed I would feel no communion with those people, and feel normal relative to how alien he believed these people were to society at large. My father and I never really reached a point where we understood each other, so I can't really narrow down his intentions. I digress.

"At that farm, they had a guard dog. His name was Logan," she said.

"That's a funny coincidence." You see, Logan was the first name of the man I'd been scheduled to fight some days from now in Detroit.

"Sorry, I lied to ensure the story would resonate with you, but perhaps that was too much on the nose and I'm not giving you enough credit. A bit more distance might be required for this analogy, to keep it grounded, and believable. Though I would avoid doubting the veracity of any story I tell you. In fact, I'd be offended if you did, understand?" I nodded obediently. Nobody liked having their stories questioned for their authenticity. After all, what did a story's truth matter so long as it was either entertaining or came with a solid moral at the end. "His name, and you may understand why I adjusted it, was Yeller."

"Like... the story Old Yeller?"

She nodded. "My father's friends weren't very creative. Would you rather I come up with a fictional name?"

"I think Yeller will do."

"Thanks. I think it adds to the story too. You could say they were setting themselves up for a tragic ending by naming their dog Yeller."

"That's a rather foreboding statement."

"The most poignant tragedies are the ones we can see coming from some distance. The Titanic, for example."

"Perhaps that was the case for you, but at my tender age, I did not see the Titanic being struck by an iceberg and capsizing coming. It was a horrifying turn of events for little young me. I haven't watched it since that first viewing, so I couldn't say whether the story's poignancy was elevated or reduced by then knowing of the coming tragedy. Maybe we can watch it together sometime."

"Sometimes I forget how youthful you are."

"I won't interrogate at which points you forget and at which points you remember. I wager the truth might not be so kind to my self-esteem."

"Kind enough for me to take you up on that offer. I'll have us a special dinner prepared" It was rather well that blushing did not show itself so readily on my face.

"So, this Yeller, how does his tragic tale go?"

"You could go so far as to call him Old Yeller, as he was in his latter years when I met him, though no one called him that. I think this was simply a point of denial on their part. As if they could postpone the fate that came of its namesake by avoiding titling him as such. Still, even in its best days, it wasn't a very good guard dog. Yet, it somehow survived a rather long time, I think that was largely on account of my father's friend. Often it failed at its job and my dad and his friend had to go out with their rifles to take care of the coyotes themselves before they could smother the dog and give it its - some would say well-deserved - restful sleep. I found it peculiar that they would keep dragging this guard dog out, once it had recovered, to give it another chance at fulfilling its duty. It had happened too many times for any sensible and merciful person to keep marching him out on that field. They weren't entirely to blame. Sympathy and goodwill must have factored into the act. Perhaps mercy had been the act intended, but it was not the act carried out. Old Yeller was always eager to get back on the field, even when its scars had hardly finished healing. He was rather determined to protect his family which was an admirable trait, to be sure. Maybe all those maulings had done in his memory too much for him to have the good sense to know his limits. Or maybe he'd been struck so hard he could hardly feel the pain anymore. I couldn't tell you for sure."

"Perhaps he was determined to prove himself after so many failings? If I looked at it that way, I could see why his family would enable him. And by the way you described it, they were always close by if the situation became too dangerous."

"Perhaps there was such a determination. I've never had a dog. I'm not familiar with the working of their minds. Eventually, they did try to give Old Yeller some reprieve, as he'd had a son they'd raised to take his place. But it seemed the son had inherited the father's genes. Not so much his determination, but his frailty, and his lack of guarding skill. The son, I would say, was in fact worse than its father in every respect. Furthermore, the son had a vile personality. Not even I, who found myself fancying most animals in that farmstead, could harbor any love in my heart for that welp. He was done in by coyotes shortly after he'd replaced his father. I remember that night. My father and his friend weren't heavy drinkers, but they drank deeply and they were rather unkind that full moon. They didn't bother going out even as we heard the telltale signs of those wild beasts, even as Old Yeller pawed at the door seeking out his son. I think they felt a tad guilty. Old Yeller was rather moody after that. But I think he also knew his son was no good, his moodiness didn't last very long. And their guilt fled equally as fast."

"That is rather tragic," I said, wrongly assuming this was the part of the story that made the story a tragedy.

"No. It was a blessing in disguise for Old Yeller. What would he have done if his son had succeeded? He might have keeled over then and there, acknowledging his lifelong failure in a final grander act of failure. I think he was rather grateful that his son died, and his life's purpose, however much he failed at it, had been returned to him. Besides, who am I to say the relationship between a father and son are the same between dogs and between humans? Maybe his son didn't factor at all in his eagerness to get back outside that night. It could have been purely jealousy motivating him."

"Oh." I didn't like to think of it that way. I preferred the idea that Yeller had been wanting to protect his son.

"But as I said, I know not the minds of dogs. I never went back to that farm again, to see what became of Old Yeller."

"And which part of the story is the tragedy?"

"The part where the story never gets to end properly. It just goes on. This cycle of failure. Of tolerance of failure. That's the tragedy. Of course, Old Yeller is long dead by now. I couldn't tell you if it was by old age, or if one day my father's friend was a bit too late getting the rifle out from the shed. But I'm certain that family never acted on anything but sympathy and falsely perceived mercy for Old Yeller, and that was the last thing it needed. That's the tragedy."

I wasn't sure I agreed with her. It seemed too one-sided a view of the situation. But I thought I should disagree gently.

"You think? Maybe that was an enjoyable life for Old Yeller. Maybe he was happy his owner came out to save him. It could be, that's why he did it in the first place. You don't think you're being too harsh on Yeller?"

"That's one way to look at it," Wanda conceded.

"And what would you have done in their place?"

"I would've shot Yeller long before he could take on the prefix of Old. As long as no one recorded me doing it, something that wouldn't have been much of a factor at the time, I imagine I would have gone on living without a shred of guilt. And certainly, a bit of satisfaction if I knew I'd helped him avoid his eventual fate."

"If I can pull back the veil a bit, Wanda, seeing that this story is meant to make me recontextualize my views on Logan Darwin, can I say I don't feel strongly enough about this to desire to kill Logan Darwin that you're trying to push forth?"

"Eventually, someone has to do it. Otherwise, his tale will end with a whimper."

"Is it even legal? The shows seemed relatively violent, but it seemed most of them came well short of attempted murder."

"I do believe that the rules of the match prevent murder, but I've heard it's not entirely uncommon for people to die in a wrestling ring, particularly people with ties to the FWA. Well, if killing Logan isn't viable in what they've labeled a singles match, then certainly the possibility remains in this 'King of the Deathmatch' tournament they'll be running."

"Is killing an obligatory aspect of that tournament?"

"I would imagine so, given the name, but from a financial perspective, it does sound unreasonable to think they might sacrifice a dozen or so wrestlers in a singular night."

"Our world has veered towards dystopia lately, maybe they offset those losses incurred by dozens of deaths through viewership. The company has toured the world, from what I've heard. They must have a pretty big audience. Live broadcasted deaths would certainly help, I'd think. Or maybe I just have a pessimistic view of our world's recent choices in entertainment. I don't think I'd watch a live broadcast death myself."

"Really? You should give it a try. Fictional movies don't compare to a genuine death."

"I don't know. I'd feel pretty awful watching that. Some kids used to put those on in middle school. I was pretty good about looking away."

"If you reconsider, I'll show you some of my favorite executions. I'm sure you've matured enough to stomach them now. As for these killing matches, I may have to look into the matter a bit more deeply. A deathmatch tournament might be suicidal with your inexperience in mind."

"If I'm to forfeit my life, I oughtta say, there are probably many other ways I'd rather go. Not to say I want to forfeit my life. That's probably the bigger issue I have with the tournament. More the fact of dying than the manner."

"And I am rather fond of your presence, it would be far too soon to part ways. And yet, you are quite feisty in a fight, maybe you could handle it."

"It's all well and good if I can handle it, but I'm still not very certain I'd like to become a murderer. Logan Darwin doesn't seem that bad of a man. Besides, I think shooting Yeller would've been pretty cruel of you."

"Sometimes mercy and cruelty can be two sides of the same coin."

"That seems easy enough a thing to say if you're being cruel."

She frowned. "Maybe asking you to become a killer is a bit much."

"Have you... killed before?"

And then she smiles. "You mean another human being?"

"Yes."

"If I have, confessing to it is something I never intend on doing."

"That's reassuring," I said, not meaning it.

"Nevertheless, I simply suggested killing Logan Darwin as this seemed to be something he himself wanted."

"I know he said that, but I don't think he actually meant it."

"You might not believe it, but it could very well be that he genuinely wants to die in that ring. That's something you'll hopefully learn later on in life: a passion so strong you would be willing to die for it. I think if you were capable of it, killing him in that ring would be the kindest act you could commit."

"Bringing up capability is a good point. I don't think I'd be able to. He seems like a pretty tough guy."

"I was only referring to your mental capacity, not your physical capacity. I'm not particularly worried about how you'll fare against Logan Darwin physically. I wouldn't say your success is ascertained, far from it, but there are few better opponents you could have faced. He's experienced, stalwart, hardheaded, and pragmatic. In spite of all these qualities, he's proven himself incapable of ever living up to his own expectations, if he'd ever had any beyond modest ones. He's a perpetual failure. A man who has never genuinely succeeded at anything in his entire life. He's in a coffin that has had too many final nails. The pitiful defeat to that ditzy girl we were privy to witnessing, was just another nail. You, another nail. And there'll be more nails. Until one day he's disappeared for good, and no one knows where he went, and no one knows who he even last fought. Which of those nails had really been the final one, the truth of that matter would remain as clear to the rest of the world as the fate of Old Yeller does to me. That's why I think it would be a kindness to kill him. To offer him a chance to die for something he loves so dearly. To let his memory live on a fraction more than it's destined to."

This was a rather poetic way to view the act of killing Logan Darwin, but I suspected that Wanda was telling me what she thought would sway my opinion, as opposed to what she truly believed.

"Killing out of kindness seems a convenient justification for a killer."

"You might need many convenient justifications if that tournament lives up to its namesake."

"I thought you would pull me out if you discovered they were literal matches to the death."

"I briefly considered it, but that would be an act of cowardice, ultimately. We're committed to the tournament, it would be undignified for us to back out now."

I nodded. "Then killing him now would be a good way to get over the mental hurdle when I get to the tournament of death."

"It would be."

I thought about it some more, giving it some real consideration since this is what Wanda seemed to want, then I shook my head. "No." I didn't like telling Wanda no, but I knew that some boundaries were important, lest you think I abandoned control over my life to rid myself of moral responsibility. I still felt there were some times I needed to intervene on the matter of my agency. "No matter how easily I mention the act of killing, even just the thought of it repulses me. I don't want to take someone's life."

"It would help you live up to the imagery we've created of you, a rabid beast. Deranged. Psychotic. Uncontrollable."

"I still think they'll see through most of it quickly enough."

"You only need to put on a convenient act. Don't be yourself. Be larger than life. The FWA is both a competitive business and an entertainment business. If you lack that much confidence, it's not too late for me to put you in contact with Andy." That was Andy Serkis she was referring to. Extraordinaire motion capture actor. Teacher to the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and every actor who joined him on the set of Planet of the Apes.

"No, he's a bit obsessive with his acting. It'll be too much for me."

"That's why he's the best at his job."

"And what about the barking? That's not helping anything."

"It makes you endearing."

"Endearing wasn't part of the imagery you described earlier."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

She pushed on. "When you're wrestling Logan, don't shy away from letting saliva build up in your mouth. You could also try practicing foaming it up, it'll probably rattle Logan's composure, and further help with the presentation we've constructed for you as a rabid beast."

"Are we no longer discussing the barking?"

"Your presentation as a rabid beast. Deranged. Psychotic. Uncontrollable. But endearing."

I guess barking is now justified.

"Try to use your nails too, and bite him as well. Not all acts are legal, you'll have to do your research on what is and isn't, but I do believe so long as you don't outright hit someone with an external weapon - and they seem awfully vague about what counts as one, I believe their favored choice of weapons are chairs if you can imagine that -, but so long as you avoid those, the official should warn you if you do anything that would risk you being disqualified. And if they too pushy, you could try growling at them, and they might avoid warning you for fear of reprisal."

"I think I can manage biting and scratching. Growling, too."

"Even urinating might be a fair contribution to the role."

"I think I can manage urinating, but I'd rather not."

"No? That's fine, we can make do with biting and scratching. Maybe spitting?"

"Spitting is pretty gross. I don't know if I want to spit on anyone."

"You need to excrete some sort of bodily fluid to drive home your savagery."

"Fine, I'll spit."

"It would be good to aim for the eyes, blind them. Maybe even chew on something spicy before the match. And if you find yourself slipping deeply into character, urinating is always something to consider."

"If I ever slip so deeply into character as to do that, I wouldn't hold it against you if you did to me what you wish to have done to Yeller."

"If I ever need to do to you as I would have done to Yeller, say in a scenario where you've outlived your usefulness, I would not let you holding it against me factor into me putting you out of your misery."

"You always have the most wonderful ways of reassuring me." I did not mean that.

 

[Death Walker]

Return To Los Angeles

This time we start inside a Ford F-150 truck from the passenger side but looking at the driver. He wears his cloak, hood over his masked face… pretty much his entrance attire minus the iron paladins. With two hands on the steering wheel, Death Walker mashes the accelerator down an empty highway. It may be due to how early in the morning it is but darkness swarms around the vehicle with the only light from the headlights and taillights plus the occasional streetlights. There's a calmness to be acknowledged as the dark Lord is focused on getting somewhere in a haste. A voice creeps up on us behind the backseats…

???: “So… we're headed home for a moment? I think this will be a fun trip… back to LA. I mean for you… it'll be a first time as this version of yourself, My Lord.”

The Dark Traveler takes a look up at the rearview mirror and spots his trusted advisor stretched along the backseats. Then he looks back at the dark road ahead as they come up to their first of many streetlights. Enjoying the darkness and the lone road, Death Walker is focused on whatever he's expecting upon his arrival to Los Angeles…

***************************************************

Several days later, Death finally pulls into California and navigates his way to Darius Wright’s old neighborhood. It doesn't take too long to get there and Death Walker pulls up in front of some homes. He puts the truck in park and waits a brief moment…

The Dark Guardian: “...I know this is going to be tough at first but I don't want you to question your intentions. This… this needs to be done, it's the only way to maintain order. The Terrors of Darkness are depending on you to make good in any way necessary. And you know how long it took to get them to believe in you… My Lord. Now the streets have to get back on board… by hook or by crook, as it is said. After then… then we can speak about your next FWA mission, ok My Lord?”

Without even responding, the new Darius Wright known as Death Walker gets out of his Ford truck. The same truck that used to strike fear into the hearts of all in LA and California. But what would be the results of his citywide takeover this time around? How worse could it be than when he was just a powerful man who lived by the streets and their codes? Would he rewrite them or run them like he used to? One thing is certain, this was going to be something new to all around as the man was no longer man but monster… demon… pure evil. Already wearing his cloak and looking around at where to find the person in charge, he was g-

…
…
…

And with a closeup on the demon skull then a smooth slide to the right, there's a gunman with a TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol pointed at The Dark Traveler’s spine. However this isn't just any gunman… it's a boy no older than the age of 10. But the thing that's more interesting is that the boy seems to have this unflinching look on his face. The same as a young Darius Wright… only… his hand with the weapon slightly trembles as he shouts at one of the Devil’s children.

The boy: “HEY MUTHAFUCKA! Uhh uh… g- g- get over there! On… um, on the curb! YEAH! GET YO ASS ON THE CURB!”

Little man escorts Death Walker to the sidewalk then directs him between a few houses where they travel within the darkness in an open field. The perfect advantage to Death Walker as he takes off sprinting within the sea of darkness. The terrified kid tries to pull the trigger to his semi-automatic as quickly as possible, spraying gunfire recklessly in hope of grazing the mysterious figure. But he was unsuccessful because Death Walker appears to be gone. That is… until he ends up right behind the boy. Then the demon reaches over and squeezes the shit out of the hand that the little boy has the TEC-9 in. He continues to crush both the hand and the gun handle as if both were cheap plastic.

Tb: “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! MY HAAAAAAANNNNDDD!!!! AAAAHHHHH!!! MY HAND!!!”

Finally, someone pokes their head out from a door to some type of garage that's lit up from inside. A strange dark skinned man who looks around his 20’s, hollers out…

Big homie: "Ay Lil’ Homie?! Ay, you alright??? LIL’ HOMIE!!!...”

There is no response back because Death has one of his hands covering the kid’s mouth while holding his small fist in the palm of his other hand. Death Walker makes sure the coast is clear before having little man guide him to this odd hideout… with The Dark Guardian following behind.

TDG: “Aaahhh… I see we found our way to finding out who's in charge around here. Poor child, have you learned your lesson about playing with weapons?”

Death crushes the boy’s fist again as he lets out a muffled scream and Death growls low like a dog ready to attack. He pushes the kid to continue moving to the large, old rusty garage. As the people inside are having a good time partying and whatever else, everything is disrupted once The Dark Traveler kicks in the door. As he tosses the young boy inside and steps in to reveal himself, everyone draws their guns on him. This is when The Dark Guardian comes in right behind his Lord… slow clapping to indicate their sentiments for the theatrics.

TDG: “Well, well, well… now this is a hell of a party. You’ve got music… alcohol… drugs… the “BITCHES” and of course… guns. This shit around here never gets old I see. Gangsta… for life!”

With the sarcasm radiating off of this mysterious figure, nothing more than some muttering is heard… with the exception being the whimpering child who may now have a broken hand. One of the guys goes to approach the injured child but is instantly stopped as Death Walker steps up to the person.

TDG: “Ah, ah, ah I wouldn't do that if I were you. My monster can sometimes snap without warning so it's best the child remains as is. By the way… who is responsible for carelessly having this child possessing a firearm and using it to make believe being a thug? Hmmm? Any takers want to own up to that?”

The crowd of hoodlums still in awe, mutters to themselves as they can’t understand what they are witnessing with these two strangers. They're also discussing whether or not to confess who their leader is. But it isn't long before a voice in the far distance shouts out…

???: “I AM!”

Making his way through the gang members, a shirtless tall and muscular man makes his way through. He’s dark skinned with a 4 inch scar over his eye, nappy fro, clean shaved and little taller and more muscular built than Death Walker as he dons camouflage cargo pants and some dark brown boots.

???: “Yeah I said I am. I'm the man in charge around here!”

Death just takes a hard stare at this so-called huncho and examines the details he needs to know.

TDG: “Well hello there and you are?”

???: “ I go by Freak and I don't like weird muthafuckas just coming to my hood to trick or treat. So you and your mute bitch need to run back to whatever treehouse you've dropped from.”

TDG: “I don't think that's gonna happen… I think we're doing just fine here in your… “castle”?! I mean it's soooo exquisite and classy with its… its… dirt and crusty matching interior and exterior, mmm mmm mmmm this is award winning.”

Freak: “Oh so you're the comedian?! Yeah I usually can spot clowns a mile away but I guess I thought there was more to this whole charade. You know what, I'm getting tired of this exchange so why don't we just end this quickly.”

The Dark Guardian snickers and smirks before responding back.

TDG: “Freaky my boy! How about I tell you something that's important?”

F: “...and what's that?”

TDG: “This here is the true ruler of these streets, these neighborhoods.”

The Dark Guardian uses his hands to present his protégé to everyone.

F: “Him? Mr. Skull Face? HA! Ay yo, shoot these dumbasses.”

But before there's any more gunfire tonight, the advisor states one last thing.

TDG: “So this is how you treat your King of Los Angeles?”

Freak signals for everyone to stop and gives a confused look.

F: “What the fuck you say? Huh?”

TDG: “This here… my great creation and Satan’s spawn is Death Walker formerly known as… DARIUS WRIGHT!”

The gang mutters again as they're confused at such the wild proclamation.

F: “Hey listen here, the last time anybody saw Darius Wright in this hood… he was… he was uh… ah yeah, he ran away after losing some… some play fight for a gold belt.”

The two cloaked individuals don't allow the insults to affect them in any manner. Then The Dark Traveler gets an idea…

TDG: “You know, My Lord, would you like to know your next mission for FWA? Hmmm? You have a triple threat match… another preview for the King of Deathmatch tournament against Sawyer Xavier and Madison Gray. And I know how much you just love to do these random matches and preview.”

F: “Family, pop these fools!”

And with a snap of his fingers, Freak goes to walk away into the distance. Just then Death Walker begins to remove his demon mask, hands it to his Dark Guardian and reveals his other identity wearing war paint and a pair of new eyes.

TDG: “Behold! Darius Wright! Your king of LA!”

The gangsters gasp as they can recognize the face of their former boss. The smart mouth figurehead turns back slow and looks carefully to get a good glimpse of who was behind the mask.

F: “This ain't no damn king of LA, that's not Darius Wright!”

TDG: “Well yeah, I said that he is no longer Darius Wright but this is the same man that used to be.”

F: “Ain't no way that's him!”

Death Walker raises his hand to get everyone's attention then snaps his fingers and the guns from the thugs are aimed on Freak.

F: “Really?! REALLY??!? AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE DONE FOR YOU? WHEN YA’LL NEEDED FINANCIAL HELP, WHO THE FUCK DID YA’LL CALL ON? ME, THAT’S WHO. WHEN THE RIVAL GANGS CAME AROUND AND TRIED TO TAKEOVER THE BLOCKS, WHO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO ATTACK BACK WITH OUR OWN CREW? ME, THAT’S WHO. WHO HELPED A LOT OF YA’LL WHEN THIS IDIOT WENT INTO HIDING TALKIN BOUT HE WAS GOING TO HELL? THAT WAS ALL ME. IF YA’LL DON’T OPEN YOUR FUCKIN EYES AND KILL THAT MUTHAFUCKA!”

The gang reflects on the facts for a moment and turns their guns back on Death Walker.

F: “YEAH THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT! But don't worry, I'll actually send you to hell this time, punk.”

And The Dark Guardian barricades the doors and the only way to enter as well as exit. Before setting the mood for something…

TDG: “You can kill us, all I ask is that you all do it as real gangstas used to. No need for the guns, it's what like 30 or 40 of you. But yet, we're the ones supposed to be afraid. Come on, if ya’ll tough like ya’ll supposed to be then come beat our ass.”

Out of nowhere, there's a song selected as Death Walker unhooks his cloak and tosses it aside for now…

Spoiler: Drake - Papi's Home

TDG: “I’ll just be here on the sideline talking to you about your previous tag member and previous opponent for this preview coming up… as you remind these “gangstas” who you were and who you are now.”

After Drake is done speaking and the beat drops, Death Walker goes into action. Striking a heavy headbutt, he immediately breaks a guy's nose and blood gushes out. Then throws some punches to his face, knocking the guy down. Another guy comes behind him trying to get the better of him. But that doesn't turn into anything as Death delivers a roundhouse kick to his head. Death follows this up with multiple fast jabs to the abdomen then stiff kicks to each thigh. The kicks bring the man to his knee where Death Walker grabs him by his hair and connects with a knee shot square in the face. The kid that he harmed, tries to crawl to a safe space but there’s nowhere to go. A young woman and two men charge the monster all at once from different angles. And just when they think they have Death Walker down to stomp out, he balls up just long enough to trip one of their feet and does a triangle choke from the ground while taking the stomps and punches from these hooligans. After choking out this guy, he makes his way up now blocking as best as possible. This turns into a two on one fist fight like something you see in a 90's action flick. Once Death is able to block one's offense then he dishes out kicks and punches to the other while dodging that person's offense.

With everything happening within a few minutes of each other, even The Dark Guardian is stunned and unable to get out his words.

TDG: “Umm… My Lord. My Lord wait! Ohhh wow, ok but- he was gonna surrender. Ok so about your opponents…”

With Death Walker now in his zone, he snaps some legs and arms while brutalizing the gang one by one.

TDG: “Well you have Madison Gray, The Young Lioness… and she's proving to be tougher than what everyone assumes but you definitely have a great chance at schooling her on a few things.”

Death Walker hurls a woman up and hits her with Hell’s Fury then kicking her in her ribs as she hollers in thriving pain. He goes back to the men who are able to still fight. Within seconds, he’s performing a harsh sleeper suplex known as Bedtime Story.

TDG: “And you’ve already seen what she can do as an ally. Now we need to be on the receiving end on what she can do to Death Walker. Look for her to use her cunningness to assist both her offense and defense.”

Whittling down the thugs as Freak keeps his distance and watches what this evil creature can do, he still listens to his advisor. One of the men crawls in retreat but Death Walker flips him over and stomps on his chest repeatedly until he coughs up blood. Death Walker isn't done unleashing his carnage as he grabs a pair of fluorescent light tubes and shatters them across a few of the wasted bodies.

TDG: “Umm so… then there's Sa- Sawyer Xavier, ouch… that high flying goofball and as you witnessed, he'll be using a lot of his agility and speed to make fools out of both you and Madison. But like I've always said, patience is a virtue. We can't allow his wittiness to outweigh our power and wisdom. So when you finally see an opportunity to stop him in his tracks, take it and don't let up… for anyone or anything.”

As Death Walker goes to wrap up with all gang members, he begins to walk towards Freak with a now bloodied baseball. The new boss doesn't flinch even though he's scared, he attempts to not show an ounce of fear. And splattered in blood from the badly injured (and not dead but wishing they were), he steps toe to toe with Freak.

TDG: “So there’s one other strategy if you can make it happen and that is… to let the two of your opponents duke it up first. Then try to capitalize on the slain bodies… I don't have much more to say on that.”

Death looks deep into the eyes of the man who had supposedly took his place and offers a handshake. Freak stares back for a few seconds unsure if he should trust this offer but still shakes Death's hand. They embrace in a manly hug and as Freak goes to leave, he is instantly yanked back… hoisted up onto Death's shoulder and slammed by the new version of Dark Cloud…

Death Walker takes his time getting back to his feet, walking over to a handcrafted throne and takes his seat. The advisor comes right over and Death snatches his mask from his grasp. He slips it back on and stares at the mess he made as everything fades into darkness.​

 

[Sully]

The Witch of Oz
Starring Trixie Bordeaux and Kleio De Santos

Trixie Bordeaux sat anxiously in the parlor chair of the large castle. Trixie was amazed with childlike wonder when she saw the big Disney-looking castle from the outside, but when she ventured inside the atmosphere was entirely different. What was once a castle engulfed in world-champion royalty has now turned into something from a horror movie. It was dark and filled with cobwebs. Despite the fact that Saint Sulley had only abandoned it less than a year ago, in his absence, the castle had already fallen to decay. Of course Kleio De Santos and the Ravenwood Sisters may have sped up that process.

"The castle needs a woman's touch" Blair would say, as she smashed several pictures on the wall and turned off the lights.

The first thing Kleio did was take off the giant Saint Sulley picture that was on the wall, and lit it on fire.

Sullivan Castle had officially turned into a headquarters for The Coven.

Now Trixie sits in it, across from the Witch Queen herself, Kleio De Santos. Kleio is sitting in a giant throne, the same one that used to belong to a former FWA King. No longer Gold, the throne has been painted black and has a much more witchy vibe. Trixie's hands tightly gripping the arm rests of the chair as she tries to explain herself to Kleio. Blair and Celestia stood intimidatingly next to their Queen as Kleio sat in silence.

Trixie: It's just...that uhm...Miss....Witch Queen...lady...I really don't think I can do this. XYZ is one of my best friends. And I've been trying really really hard to try and find a way, but I don't think I can, uhm, fight him?

Trixie braced herself. She had only gotten glimpses of Klieo's wrath. She had seen it first hand when she last teamed with Kleio during Fight Night: The Final Four. Kleio wasn't a good teammate then, and Trixie knew to expect the worst.

Blair and Celestia too were bracing for Kleio's wrath. Blair was doing so with a smile, almost as if she was going to enjoy it. Celestia meanwhile worked worried, unsure about what Kleio was going to do.

But, to everyone's surprise, Kleio simply smiled. Trixie felt a little bit at ease.

Kleio: Trixie, my friend, I entirely understand.

Friend? Was Kleio Trixie's friend too?

Trixie: You do? Oh, I mean yes YOU DO! Thank you Kleio, I was so nervous about this. Like look at my nails! I'm going to have to paint them all over again because of all the chewing I was doing on the plane. I thought you were this big mean scary witch lady, but I'm so glad that you're not!

Kleio's smile faded. But she still responded cordially.

Kleio: No...of course not. I would never force you into a position that made you uncomfortable, just for a wrestling match. Your dear friendship with XYZ is not worth that expense. In fact, I don't think you know this, but XYZ and I have quite a history ourselves!

Trixie: You do??? I didn't know you guys were also friends!

Kleio: Oh yes, we most definitely...are acquainted. We spent a lot of time together leading up to Back in Business last year. And, quite frankly, I've been looking forward to seeing him again. After my concussion, we weren't able to quite...say goodbye.

Trixie: Well, since XYZ and I are bestest best friends, maybe we can all get together and hang!

Kleio: That would be lovely. But in the meantime Trixie, just know...no hard feelings about this. Oh, and before you go...have a drink.

Suddenly, Blair Ravenwood brings over a silver goblet with a mysterious liquid inside.

Kleio: Blair made it herself. She is quite the...mixologist.

Trixie looks suspiciously at the green liquid inside the cup.

Trixie: Uh...I don't know...I don't really like green things. Brocolli, Brussels Sprouts...

Kleio: Ah, but what about Kiwis? And Green Grapes? Apples? Oh and those green Jolly Ranchers!

Trixie: I do like the green Jolly Ranchers! OK! What the heck!

And with that, Trixie gulps down the drink.

The three ladies of The Coven all look on eagerly. Trixie meanwhile wipes her face with the sleeve and licks her lips.

Trixie: Wow, that was delicious! You said Blair made it? Blair, I am going to HAVE to get your recipe.

Blair chuckles nervously as Kleio gives a stern look at Blair. Celestia also is confused, as she whispers "Why isn't it working?" to her sister. Kleio taps her long black nails against the arms of the throne.

Trixie: It tasted just like a green Jolly Rancher too! Do you guys have anymore? I'd love some mor-

And just like that, Trixie's head falls back like a bag of bricks.

All three girls smile.

Blair: Finally...I thought it wasn't going to work.

Kleio: You're lucky it did, Blair. You're already on thin ice after losing the tag team scramble. Stock photos? Seriously?

Celestia: Everything will go as plan. When Trixie wakes up, she should be under our control!

The three members of The Coven begin to laugh maniacally. Meanwhile, we fade closer and closer to Trixie Bordeaux's sweet empty little eyes. Close enough that the white in her pupils begins to fill the screen, and we soon fade into a whole new world.

---

When Trixie opens her eyes, the entire world has changed around her. The dark scary castle is no more. In fact, now she is in a land surrounded by life and color. She was surrounded by bright green grass, a beautiful forest filled with bright flowers, and definitely no hanging munchkins. She awoke on a yellow brick road, but before she could examine it any further, she was greeted out of nowhere by a little blue Raven.

Blue Raven: Hi! Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Trixie looks at the bird in awe.

Trixie: It's a talking bird! I'm just like a Disney Princess.

Blue Raven: A Disney Princess? But are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Trixie: I'm Trixie! I'm not a witch at all. Where am I?

Blue Raven: You're in the land of Oz! But the reason I ask, is because when you came...you dropped that entire castle on the evil Mayor Alyster. He had been a fugitive for some time, and had been hiding, but your castle found him and smushed him! So we're assuming you are a good witch?

Trixie: I already told you, I'm not a witch at all. Witches are ugly and mean.

Blue Raven: Ah, but what if I told you I'm a witch. I'm Celestia, the witch of the blue!

Trixie: Wow! That's fun! But, uhm...as cool as this place is, I kind of need to get back to where I was.

Blue Raven: No worries! Just follow this yellow brick road. At the end of it you'll reach a castle, and in that castle is a witch. The Witch of Oz! She'll be able to help you with EVERYTHING you need.

Trixie: Perfect. This sounds like it'll be a blast! I feel like I'm at Disney.

Blue Raven: Oh, I wish it was that easy. But you have to be careful...

Trixie: Careful? Why?

Blue Raven: Because lately, these lands have been tormented by the Evil Alphabet Wizard of the West.

Trixie: THE EVIL ALPHABET WIZARD OF THE WEST?

Blue Raven: That's right. The Alphabet Wizard is an evil evil man. He speaks in riddles, and thinks he's wise, but he's really just an abomination on our town. You must not trust the Alphabet Man.

Trixie: Got it. Alphabet Man is bad. But I should be okay right, you'll keep me safe?

And with that the little blue raven's demeanor changed. She suddenly felt worried and scared.

Blue Raven: Oh...I...can't.

Trixie seemed confused. Why didn't her new friend want to go with her? She began to feel sad. Maybe the Blue Raven didn't want to be her friend.

Trixie: You don't want to be my friend? That makes me sad...

Blue Raven: No! No it's not that, it's just that...I don't know if I could handle The Alphabet Wizard...because...well...I don't have any assertiveness.

Trixie: Aww...no assertiveness! I'm sorry, I wish I could give you some of mine...

Blue Raven: I don't know if I'd call what you have assertiveness, but I appreciate the gesture nonetheless.

The backhanded compliment goes right over Trixie's head as she continues to try and brainstorm some ideas.

Trixie: Wait, the Witch of Oz...could she give you some assertiveness?

Blue Raven: Hmm, well, she is all-powerful. I guess she could!

Trixie: Well there you go! The Witch of Oz can get me back home, and get you some assertiveness. We are all set!

The Blue Raven seemed on board with the plan, and so with that, the two of them had a plan. They were going to follow The Yellow Brick road, and make their way to The Witch of Oz.

And so Trixie and The Blue Raven skipped down the road singing "We're off to see The Witch, the beautiful Witch of Oz". Or well, the raven was flying but you get the idea.

But soon enough, the yellow brick road that they had been following had taken them through a cornfield. The cornfield was huge and looked like it stretched on for miles. Even worse was the yellow brick road came to an intersection. It branched off into four different directions. Both Trixie and Blue Raven were stuck in the middle confused on which direction to go.

There wasn't a clear sight of the castle from either path, so it was a guessing game on which one to take.

If Trixie and the Blue Raven took the wrong path, they could end up lost or at the very least wasting a bunch of time.

Trixie: Oh no, I don't know which way to go!

Blue Raven: I don't know either...I've never gone this far before!

Trixie: Well, which path do you think we should take?

Blue Raven: Um, you decide...

Trixie: Oh, right...no assertiveness. Well, maybe we could ask someone for directions?

Blue Raven: Who would we ask?

Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.

Random Voice: To get to the castle, you go that way!"

Trixie and The Blue Raven were startled to hear the voice?

Trixie: WHO SAID THAT?

Random Voice: It was me!

Trixie turned around and saw a scarecrow staring at her.

Trixie: A TALKING SCARECROW! Wow this world just keeps getting crazier.

But then, a little black raven flew out from behind the scarecrow.

Black Raven: No you idiot. That's just a scarecrow. It was me, I said it. I'm The Witch of the Black!

Trixie: Another witch! Wow this place is just filled with witches.

Black Raven: To get to the castle, you want to take that path.

The Black Raven motions her body towards the path going north.

Trixie: Thanks talking bird!

The Black Raven looks at both The Blue Raven and Trixie up and down. She thinks for a moment before finally asking right as Trixie almost heads down the next path.

Black Raven: Uh, why are you guys going to that castle anyway?

Trixie turns around with a smile and says

Trixie: We're off to see The Witch of Oz! She's going to help me get home.

Blue Raven: And she's going to help me get some assertiveness.

The Black Raven chuckles at them both, and rolls her beady black little eyes.

Trixie, being the soft soul that she is, then decides to ask the Black Raven something.

Trixie: Say, is there anything you could ask the Witch of Oz for? You can jon us!

The Black Raven chuckles at Trixie for even asking.

Black Raven: Pfft...me? I need nothing. I am The Black Raven! I am one of the smartest witches in the land. Maybe not as powerful as The Witch of Oz, but I'm definitely more powerful than your blue little friend there. I need nothing at all! Absolutely nothing.

Trixie and the Blue Raven look at the Black Raven suspiciously.

Finally, the Black Raven caves.

Black Raven: Okay...fine, I could maybe...well...use some empathy.

Trixie: Empathy?

Black Raven: YES, Empathy, OK? I don't have any empathy. When I see people like you, I don't have any feeling at all. I don't feel bad that you're lost, and I definitely don't feel bad that your blue little friend is a pushover. I don't even care much about the Alphabet Wizard and all his little schemes. I just don't...and well...I wouldn't mind feeling something. ANYTHING. I wouldn't mind feeling some emotion...makes me think I'm Raven Dahmer or something.

Trixie's eyes light up.

Trixie: WELL there we go! The Witch of Oz can help you! Come join us! Blue Raven, are you okay if the Black Raven joins us?

Blue Raven: Uhm, it's er...up to you I guess...

Trixie: Perfect! Come along Black Raven! But watch out of the evil Alphabet Wizard!

Black Raven: Alphabet Wizard? If I see that stupid Wizard I'll poke his eyes out with my talons.

Trixie seems a bit startled but shakes it off.

Blue Raven: We're off then!

And with that, the three of them continue merrily down the path.

They sing their tune yet again.

"We're off to see the Witch, the beautiful Witch of Oz!"

After some time of walking, Trixie and the two Ravens had finally made their way to the castle. It was a giant green Emerald castle in fact. It was one of the most glorious things that Trixie had ever seen. It was definitely more glorious than that spooky castle she was in earlier.

The trio made their way through the gate. It was guarded by these giant green guards. They looked Trixie and her Ravens up and down, and let them pass.

They were led through the castle corridors and into a grand big room.

There Trixie saw a giant throne, and sitting on it was none other than The Witch of Oz herself. She had dark green skin, but wore a purple fur coat. She looked down at Trixie and her Ravens with a smile.

The Witch of Oz: Yes, my pretty?

Trixie smiled at the compliment.

Trixie: Uhm, Mrs. Witch lady. We've uh, been told that you're the most powerful witch in all the land. So powerful in fact that you can help us. We really need some help. My one blue raven friend here, she needs you to make her more assertive. And uh, my black raven friend here needs you to help her get some empathy. And well, me...I...I need your help getting home.

The Witch of Oz put her fingertips together. He long fingernails scratched back and forth and she contemplated what to say.

Finally, she gave an answer.

Witch of Oz: I would love to help all of you...

Trixie let out a sigh of relief.

Witch of Oz: ...for a price.

The Black Raven scoffed as the Blue Raven bellowed with grief. Trixie didn't even expect it.

Trixie: What? I thought you'd help us!

Witch of Oz: I can, but you need to help me first. I'm sure you heard of The Alphabet Man...

Trixie: The Alphabet Man? Who lives on Mulberry Lane?

Witch of Oz: NO! That's The Muffin Man. The Alphabet Wizard I mean, whatever he's calling himself these days. He's no Wizard to me. He's just a poser, a fool...either way, he's been a thorn in my side for way too long. Look, if you help me get rid of him, I'll grant you all whatever you desire.

Trixie: But isn't the Alphabet Guy this big bad meanie? What if he hurts us?

Witch of Oz: He might. But you want to get home, don't you?

Trixie: Yes...

Witch of Oz: Then, it'll be worth the risk. What you need to do, is enter his forbidden forest...and lure him out.

Trixie: Lure him?

Witch of Oz: Yes, lure him. Like...bait.

Trixie: BAIT?!

Witch of Oz: Think of it like fishing.

Trixie: But, who's the fish?

Witch of Oz: Exactly. So go into the forest...the Alphabet Wizard will see you as his prey. But don't be alarmed, that's all part of the plan. What you're going to do next, is TRAP him.

Trixie: And how am I going to do that?

Trixie seems scared. This plan is way too much. More than she bargained for.

Witch of Oz: With this box...

With that, the Witch of Oz takes out a small black box. She holds it in her hands and shows it to Trixie.

Trixie: That box is the size of my fist. How is it supposed to trap the Alphabet Wizard?

Witch of Oz: It's magic. Look, all you have to do, is when you see The Alphabet Wizad, open the box. It'll suck the maniac right inside. Then, bring the box to me, and I'll take care of him from there. Ok? No harm done.

Blue Raven: No harm done, except to the Wizard.

Black Raven: Serves him right.

Trixie takes the box out of the Witch of Oz's hands. She doesn't seem confident in this plan, but what choice does she have.

Witch of Oz: Good luck! Oh, and if for some reason the box doesn't work, don't worry...you won't be completely skilled. There's a backup plan in place.

Trixie is relieved at that sound.

Trixie: Oh thank goodness! What's the backup plan, just in case?

Witch of Oz: Run. Just...run.

Trixie: THAT IS THE BACKUP PLAN!

Witch of Oz: Hopefully you don't need it.

And with that, Trixie and the three Ravens were off.

They were going to confront the Alphabet Wizard. It might be one of the most dangerous things that the three of them were about to do yet. Trixie wondered why The Witch of Oz couldn't do this herself, but nevertheless they were going to be doing it. Surely The Alphabet Man couldn't be that hard to take down.

Surely.

Right?

Soon enough, Trixie and the Ravens found themselves following the yellow brick road yet again. This time into the deep dark and scary forest where the Alphabet Wizard was none to reside.

It was definitely spooky, and Trixie and the Blue Raven were definitely scared. The Black Raven seemed right at home, however. Trixie clutched the box that the Witch of Oz gave her tightly.

They could hear all sorts of spooky sounds as they made their way through the trees. Trixie became startled as she could have sworn she saw a munchkin hanging from one of the trees...but to her relief, it was just a crane.

After some time walking through the forest, the trio seemed to be almost at the Alphabet Man's lair.

Trixie: I think we're getting close.

Black Raven: We should be. I can't wait to claw this jerk's eyes out.

The Blue Raven was going to comment, but suddenly she was attacked! By a flying monkey!

Blue Raven: AHH!

Trixie and The Black Raven went into defensive positions, trying to help defend their friend. But the monkey kept attacking them.

Suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared, and emerging from it was none other than the crazy Alphabet Wizard himself. Trixie was shocked when she finally saw who The Alphabet Wizard was!

Alphabet Wizard: Wildcard! Wildcard, stop attacking these people.

Suddenly, the flying monkey stopped and flew back to The Alphabet Wizard.

Alphabet Wizard: Sorry about that, my flying monkey gets out of hand sometimes.

Trixie was still surprised. She recognized The Alphabet Wizard somewhere, but she couldn't remember from where. For some reason, however, she felt like he was trustworthy.

She now didn't know what to do.

Would she capture him, so that she could help the Witch of Oz? Or would she trust her gut?

Trixie: You're...the Alphabet Wizard...

Alphabet Wizard: That I am. I'm not so scary after all, am I? People like to exaggerate. I think I'm a good guy. Jason here however gets out of hand if you don't keep a leash on him.

Blue Raven: I thought his name was Wildcard.

Alphabet Wizard: Oh right. Anyway, how can I help you three?

Trixie had to make a decision.

Would she open the box?

Trixie: I...I need you to help me get home.

Alphabet Wizard: Oh, I can do that. No problem, all I gotta do is snap my fingers.

Trixie: And, what do I have to do first? Let me guess, attack The Witch of Oz?

Alphabet Wizard: What? No. I don't need any favors. I'll do it right now.

And just like that, the Alphabet Wizard was about to snap his fingers.

But then, suddenly, the Black Raven swooped in.

Black Raven: Now's our chance! ATTACK!

And suddenly, the Black Raven went straight for his eyes.

Trixie: WAIT, No!

The Alphabet Man screamed as The Black Raven's talons dug into his eyes. The Blue Raven tried to stop her, but Jason The Flying Monkey then came in and started throwing steel chairs at them! The Blue Raven was too busy dodging them to be of any help.

Trixie was going to have to do it herself. She ran towards The Alphabet Wizard and The Black Raven, but on her way there she tripped...

And the box fell out of her hands and onto the road.

It open up, and then SUCKED The Alphabet Wizard and his flying monkey Jason inside of it just like that.

Blue Raven: Yay! Trixie you did it.

Trixie seemed upset.

Trixie: No! He was going to help us...

The Black Raven seemed disappointed in her.

Black Raven: You shouldn't be so niave. Just because people act friendly, doesn't mean that they are. For all you know, he could've snapped his fingers and teleported you into the sun.

Blue Raven: Well, uh...she's sort of right.

Trixie sighed.

She didn't agree, but what could they do now?

She picked up the box, and headed back towards Emerald Castle. They passed a tree that had a "Missing" poster featuring Mayor Alyster on it as they exited the forest.

Now back at Emerald Castle, The Witch of Oz cackled as Trixie handed her the box.

Standing behind them was a giant cauldron, it was filled with boiling hot water. It was very obvious The Witch of Oz intended on dropping both the Alphabet Wizard and his Flying Monkey Jason into the boiling hot water.

The Witch of Oz: Finally! Do you know how long I've been wanting to dispose of this evil Alphabet Wizard?

Trixie seemed torn. The Alphabet Wizard still seemed like a good guy to her...he was going to send her back home, and he wasn't even going to ask for a favor.

But The Witch of Oz didn't seem open to negotiations. Still, Trixie wanted to try.

Trixie: What if you just put them in jail or something? Please don't hurt them.

Witch of Oz: Don't hurt them? Don't hurt them? Trixie, my pretty, you don't understand what this Alphabet Wizard has done to me. He started this war with me long ago, when he stole from me! He stole from me, and he taunted me. He and all his flying monkeys didn't want to take me seriously. Now, I am The Witch of Oz...I have all the power. I'm not the bad guy here Trixie. The Alphabet Wizard is...he always has been. If you think he's a friend...I promise...he's fooling you.

And with that, the Witch of Oz opened the box...holding it over the cauldron.

For a split second, Trixie was going to let it happen. The lack of empathy from The Black Raven almost took her over too. But still, Trixie couldn't. She trusted the Alphabet Wizard, and didn't want to see him hurt.

So, at the last second, she ran towards the Witch of Oz and pushed her away from the cauldron...just as the box was opening...

As a result, Jason the Flying Monkey fell into the cauldron, but The Alphabet Wizard did not! The Wizard fell onto the floor instead. And although his hardcore little monkey screamed in pain as he was boiled alive in the water, The Alphabet Wizard was free.

The Alphabet Wizard jumped up!

Witch of Oz: NO! What have you done!

Alphabet Wizard: YES! I AM FREE!

Trixie jumped with glee.

She saved her friend!

Trixie: Yes! I knew it..I knew you were a good guy. I just had to save you!

The Alphabet Wizard chuckled, as he then zapped the Black Raven! The poor little Raven turned to dust.

Alphabet Wizard: That's for taking out my eyes!

Trixie was shocked. The Alphabet Wizard was supposed to be a good guy!

The Alphabet Wizard then zapped the Blue Raven! Turning her to dust as well. Trixie fell backwards onto her bottom. She made the wrong choice, what had she done! The Alphabet Wizard stood towering over The Witch of Oz...about to zap her too. That's when Trixie did something impulsive. She grabbed the cauldron, and without even thinking, threw the water out of it and onto The Alphabet Wizard!

The Alphabet Wizard screamed in pain as Trixie dropped the cauldron.

She watched as her friend The Alphabet Wizard melted from the hot boiling water.

Alphabet Wizard: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! AHHHH...IT HURTS....I'm MELTINGGGGG.

Trixie watched in fear.

Trixie: I...I didn't mean to...

Alphabet Wizard: OH MY GOD IT HURTS SO BAD...

The Witch of Oz got up to her feet, and patted Trixie on the shoulder.

Witch of Oz: Look my pretty, you've done the right thing here. He was an evil man. It's like I tried telling you...just because people appear nice, just because you think they're your friends...it doesn't mean you can trust them. People like the Alphabet Wizard...

Alphabet Wizard: WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG. THIS IS SO PAINFUL.

Witch of Oz: People like The Alphabet Wizard only care about themselves. There is no such thing as good people and bad people in this world. But there are people who will pretend to be nice to get what they want. Nobody is that nice deep down. Everyone has a motive. Including The Alphabet Wizard. He will use you, take advantage of you, and manipulate you. And when he's done with you, he'll toss you in the trash and move on.

Do you understand?

Alphabet Wizard: AHHHHHHH I AM DYING...AHHH...AHHH...ahh....ah.

Trixie: Uh, I guess so?

And with that, the Alphabet Wizard was dead.

And everyone clapped.

Trixie still seemed shocked about the whole ordeal.

Witch of Oz: Well, as I promised. Time to send you back home.

And with that, she snapped her fingers.
​

---

Trixie awoke, now back in the castle. She rubbed her eyes, she was still in the same chair that she was in earlier before drinking that green juice.

Kleio, Celestia, and Blair all looked happy to see her.

Kleio: Wakey wakey! You must've been tired, you took a nap right here in my castle.

Trixie: Yeah, I guess I really needed a nap. I had the strangest dream.

Kleio: You did?

Kleio smiled. Knowing exactly what the dream was.

Trixie: Yeah, you were in it too! And I think Blair and Celestia were too...and so was XYZ, and Jason Randall...kind of. But uhm, anyway...I kind of think, maybe I will fight with you in this match? If that's okay?

Kleio's expression didn't change. She played it off cool, and didn't let Trixie know that is exactly what she wanted.

Kleio: Oh, are you sure? I thought XYZ was a friend of yours?

Trixie: Yeah, he is...I think...I hope. I don't know, I think sometimes you have to be careful of who's really your friend, and who isn't.

Kleio let out just a tiny smirk. Everything was going exactly as planned.

Kleio: Exactly! I couldn't agree more. Well Trixie, if you really want to fight, I'll meet you there. Worst case, I'll do all the punching and hitting on XYZ, ok? You can handle that Flying Monkey Jason.

Trixie chuckled.

Trixie: Thanks, Kleio.

And with that, Kleio and The Ravenwood sisters walked Trixie out of the castle.

Trixie hoped she was making the right decision. Maybe XYZ really wasn't her friend. But maybe Kleio wasn't either? She needed to start being more careful of who she could trust, and who she couldn't.

Wait a second, how did Kleio know that Jason Randall was a Flying Monkey?​

​

 

[The Gipper]

The Second’s Second.​

“Chris Peacock. It’s about time this happened, huh? Always so close to interacting yet always so far apart.”

After these vague words from a voice that sounds familiar, we are introduced to the scene with a vicious slang of thunder! It rings out through the audio system of whatever device you’re watching this through, followed by an onslaught of rain drops banging against glass, the sound almost blurs into one long, whirring noise almost reminiscent of rotor blades on a helicopter. It’s occupied with a heavy sigh from the voice.

“I assume you remember the beginning. Ground Zero.”​

We finally see our first blurred visuals come to life as the background noise fades so it’s just a bit of background noise as it is overloaded with chatter and quick steps back and forth but those are all heard outside, inside is a nice little break room. You have the basics, white cupboards filled with mismatched coffee mugs that showcase either cheesy or rather…let’s say colorful sayings inscribed on them. A coffee maker is seen, complete with the coffee grounds surrounding the front. Wrestlers are quite messy. Boxes of sugar cubes, teabags, hot chocolate reside next to it but none of that is our main attraction for this little segment, the main attraction sits on an pretty poorly padded seat resting his elbow on a cheap table with bunch of scratches, the thing that you don’t really wanna ask about. The man who will, not that long down the line, be recognised incorrectly by Fenix & Savage as “Jim from the Office” sits there, phone in hand as he is seen filled with what everyone is filled at the beginning of a journey. Hope. And a purpose.

Reagan: “I actually did it…. I can’t-“

The slightly younger Reagan than the one we see today breaks out in a small laugh as he listens to the person on the other side of the phone.

Reagan: “I know, there was so many people in the ring teaming up that I wasn’t sure but I did it! Later than we expected but we’re actually in Ground Zero.”

Another pause as we see the full blown smile on Reagan, an expression that nowadays we haven’t seen in months, as in this moment he just radiates excitement.

Reagan: “Yeah, I have no idea who that Techno Vampire was either haha. Alright I have to go, talk to the new coach and all that shit. I love you so much, Sarah. We did it! Send all my love to Jason, I’ll try to get back before he wakes up for school but I obviously can’t promise anything. Alright. Still love ya, bye.”

Reagan hangs up the phone, puts the phone onto the table before just letting his head fall into his hands as he still comprehends what is happening. He won the battle royal. He did it. He’s now one step away from the place he’s been trying to get to for years, he’s fought demons in masks, egomaniacs & some of the weirdest authority figures but he’s got past them. And now he’s almost made it to the next level. Just a couple more steps. Reagan is interrupted by a massive loud voice as a man walks in with disheveled hair and a nice black jacket.

???: “Woooo! You must be the new guy, right?”

Reagan is taken back from the loud presence before him but he does manage to get a answer out

Reagan: “Erm, yeah. Reagan Cole, you’re Emerson McCoy right?”

The now named Emerson McCoy does a courtesy nod in appreciation of Reagan knowing his name, his chest still bright red from competing in a triple threat earlier tonight. Emerson jumps straight into making a nice cup of coffee for himself.

Emerson: “Always nice to see someone doing their research, saves a lot of time. You did good out there, you eliminated a good few didn’t ya? 7 or something? Not bad, I mean I would have done it quicker of course as the second Team Rockstar draft pick but you did good for yourself!”

Reagan: “Thanks.. I guess?”

Emerson: “Absolutely no problem.”

Reagan: “Speaking of…Erm, do you know where Randy is?”

Emerson: “Already out of here, my new friend.”

Reagan: “Oh. I just wanted to talk to him, we had a brief conversation before my wife called but that was about it.”

Emerson: “Well buddy, I’ll tell ya this, you might have waited too long to get into Randy’s good books if you know what I’m saying.”

Reagan: “I….don’t think I do.”

Emerson: “He already picked his number one friend, Chris Peacock. I saw them go out together presumably to a bar or some shit, I don't know for sure.”

Reagan: “Oh. Well I don’t think that necessarily means anything about favoritism, Peacock probably just ain’t good at riding solo yet.”

Emerson: “What you mean by that?”

Reagan: “He was a tag guy right?”

Emerson: “Couldn’t tell ya.”

Reagan: “Yeah, him and his cousin or brother or something. I’ve been there. Only difference is that I willingly broke up my own team. I don’t think they had a choice, think the other guy got injured not that long ago I’m assuming so.”

Emerson: “Well whatever the reason, I don’t really care for people who suck up especially to a “Rockstar” of all people. As long as I get my big contract at the end of this which I will, nothing else matters and I think that’s the route you should try going down too, boy.”

At this specific time the kettle pops and Emerson pours the water into the cup just almost to the top before “The Renegade” takes an immediate sip.

Emerson: “Oooh that hits the spot! Alright, I’ll be leaving ya, new guy. Hope our paths don’t cross in the ring soon!”

Reagan:”Yeah, I’ll see you around!”

Emerson leaves the room to rejoin the chorus outside of yelling as Reagan just breaks a smile at the chaos he’s entered himself into. Should be interesting.​

The voiceover added to the rain comes back into our ears as who, assumedly is Reagan Cole, speaks once more.

“What fun we had, huh? Yeah. Fun. You know what’s always bugged me about Ground Zero? The fact that you were one of the first that got signed. Meanwhile I had to wait. I had to wait two months and let me tell you there were not pretty, two months of wondering what I did wrong, analyzing my matches, looking for the mistakes I made every day. It consumed me! That I fucked my chance up, my opportunity to do something greater. The life I could have given to my wife, to my kid! Then I looked at you Peacock and I will admit that for the first time in many years, in one of my darkest hours. THAT I FELT JEALOUSY! I FELT ENVY FOR THE DISCO BOY!”

The voice of Reagan shakes violently with every single word as you hear another slash of thunder once again as well as something you can distinguish as wood creaking violently as the steps go back and forth.

“Because in my head it made no sense. You didn’t qualify against McClain, you didn’t qualify in the battle royal because you lost it to Lizzie Rose, only when Kleio got disqualified, did you finally get the slot into the final by beating Emerson McCoy. 4 chances and then you didn’t even win the final. Meanwhile me on the other hand? I had one chance. I wasn’t given the 5 weeks to coast on by because of a freaking technical issue so I knew I had to work twice as hard, I had to fight twice as much as everyone else because of HOW MUCH I WANTED TO BE HERE! I wanted to fight the best and challenge myself and that was what I did! I defeated EVERYONE in my way! Undefeated, nobody could touch me. And then the finale happens and you know what happened. I had my hands on the briefcase as much as you did! Me, you, Marcus, Konchu were all right there and then Konchu took it. And I wish the jealousy stopped when I eventually got that contract and I felt so much relief. But I also knew that at the same time that I was signed, you had the Gauntlet Championship. And then when I won the Gauntlet Championship, you had possession of the X Championship. You were somehow one step ahead of me. And I still had to push all that envy away because it wasn’t your fault, if I had gone down that same route that you did and still got the contract, yeah I would have taken it. It’s not your fault. And then shit happened.

​

We get another visual now coming into view as it’s a familiar one. Gibson’s Gym. We obviously haven’t seen this place in a while but we don’t have much time to really assess the scene as straight away Reagan catapults across the screen in a roll to dodge a clothesline from his wife. The cage circles around them as the duo circle each once more. We see a still slightly younger Reagan Cole than we see today as he grows a smirk, the timeline is just after Aka and Reagan failed to win the tag belts.

Reagan: “Come on, you gotta do better than that”

Sarah: “Oh can I now? I see how this is gonna go, street rat.”

Reagan: “Street rat? Now that’s just taking it too far.”

Sarah smirks as the couple grapple once more with a tie up! Testing each other, Sarah gets a cheap shot to the leg so she can capitalize into a headlock! Reagan struggles for a second as it is locked in tight before Reagan’s ring awareness kicks in and decides to screw it and he quickly runs forward to try and squish Sarah into the cage but Sarah instead runs up the cage and flips her way over her husband before pushing him into the cage but Reagan does manage him to catch himself just in time.

Reagan: “Pushing?”

Sarah: “You did it first!”

Reagan: “I call lies! Referee!”

Reagan calls for a official declaration from the official which for its contest is Jason Cole who is sitting comfortably in a Bluey kids chair, to both sides of him are multiple chairs all stocked up with different teddy bears and figures, some have two in one including a chair that has custom made Reagan Cole and Jason Cole figures there that were a personalised gift from a very specific princess/future FWA Wrestler. Jason is all smiles at this occasion as he excitedly points at his mother declaring the debate in her favour

Sarah: “Hell yeah! Who’s mummy’s boy?”

Reagan: “…. I demand a second referee!”

BK: “I also declare-o in favour of Sarah!”

British Kid walks into the chaos with his phone in his right hand, smiling at his friends displeasure.

Reagan: “Kid!”

BK: “What? She’ll kick my ass if I say otherwise!”

Reagan: “And I won’t?”

British Kid shrugs as he hands his phone over to his best friend through the cage.

BK: “By the way, think you might need to read this.”

Reagan: “Don’t tell me it’s a FWA thing. I really….I really just can’t right now.”

BK: “Just read it, I think it’s better that you read from here than the thousand tags you’re gonna get.”

The tone shifts as Reagan tilts his head considers it before looking down and his face in a instant turns to shock followed by confusion and finally anger. As the voice over once again takes over ​

“One week. That’s another part I don’t get entirely. Maybe something happened that I wasn’t aware of because I was more focused on the match but…to me you made the conscious choice similar to your mate Ramon that you would have rather had the joke team because that’s what they were to me anyway, one of the guy fucking cosplayed as a emperor, you would rather have them win the tag belts instead of me and Aka. Now would we have agreed to the help, not really to be honest with you. Just I would prefer it to make goddamn sense, but I guess that is a positive to you being Ramon’s little helper on Fallout, I guess. You had those visors on that told you Ramon can do no wrong especially when he superkicks someone who wasn’t far off your position on his list. Let’s face it they used both of us but you believed in him more, I’ll give ya credit for that. Atleast me and Golden knew that we wouldn’t get along and so Golden found someone else to blindly believe whatever the fuck he was on, just unfortunate it was Lizzie of all people. But for the start of that brand split, I was the freaking back up. I was the one that they went to when you weren’t available to trios, I was the one they went to so I could do a one off replacement to fight Legends Evolved simply because you were a fallout boy. I still believe that a lot of shit you blamed on Golden had more to do with Ramon but let’s face it. You’ve made your mind up at this point, haven't you? “

We come back to finally reveal the current Reagan Cole in a hotel room, the wooden bed creaks below him.

“Because at the end of the day I know this is another match for you, I don’t think you really care about what I think, this is the side quest until the triple threat, you helping out a princess in dismay. It's respectable, I wish I had the balls. But I don't. Because I have made the choice to put my family over Trixie and that is a choice that I would make a thousand times without question. Maybe there is a third option to this dilemma that you see and I don’t but even if there was, I don’t know if I take it unless I know there is zero dot zero zero zero, you get the drift, recurring percentage that Sarah and Jason get hurt. I guess I’m just explaining my actions to make some sort of point I guess. Like I said you beat me and it’s justified avengement on your half but nothing happens in the long term. Hell, nothing in the long term happens if I beat you, does it? I’m not getting a world title match. Your match at Grand March is set! You win that, your Back In Business match is set! Maybe I’ll get a shot at contendership, pull a Thomas West on you! But I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I will make that date. I simply don’t. It would be a massive date to miss, that’s for sure. But this Deathmatch tournament. I don’t know what’s gonna happen there. And a part of me is fucking terrified about it. God, why am I telling you about this? You’re literally the tag partner of the person I’m trying to take the belt from. “

A small broken laughter comes from him now.

“Eh, fuck it. What’s the worst that can happen at this point? Everything terrible has already happened to me. That Jeffry match left a lot more scars than you’re aware of, Peacock. And now I have to go through it 4 more times and I don’t know who I’ll be afterwards. So I’ll tell you straight, in my mind this is my last normal match. And there’s nobody else I would rather fight against than the asshole who for some reason has been connected to me the entire time. I plan on going out fighting, I hope you are too.​