Post by Phantom on Jun 20, 2012 0:38:47 GMT -6
The scene opens as Phantom pulls into a parking lot of a downtown bar in Washington DC with his silver Tesla Model S. The car moves silently into the parking lot and quietly hums to a stop. The car turns off and the World Champion gets out of the car. He is dressed in a pair of deep blue carpenter jeans with a graphic t-shirt which has a griffin holding a broken skull in its claws sprawled across the front of his shirt with the word ‘Redemption’ across his shoulders in an eloquent, black cursive writing font. His silver grey hair is washed and falls carelessly across his face. He pulls his shirt down in order to straighten out the crumpled areas.
After taking a minute to smell the ever great smelling Washington DC air Phantom turns to face the bar. It is a classic looking bar, red brick front, stained glass windows and a large window with a graphic displayed in colorful writing on top of it reading “Em’s”. He slowly made his way over to the door and opened it. There was something about the place that stirred memories or back in Texas when he was wrestling under the RCW. The inside of the bar had several booths scattered around the perimeter, several pool tables in the middle of the room with a long dark oak bar stretching across the right wall. Phantom carefully walked over to the bar and pulled out one of the old fashioned bar stools to have a seat.
He saw a couple of guys sitting down the bar and they seemed to be yelling to someone in a back room just behind the bar. Phantom really couldn’t care what they were talking about. He actually zoned out for a bit and tried to think back to when he had last been in a bar like this. If he remembered correctly things did not end up going the right way and a friend ended up kicking him out and he hasn’t seen her since. But going to the bar back then always seemed to relax him before his big matches he figured that it was worth a shot to try now.
Voice- What will you have?
The voice snapped Phantom out of the daze he had been in, he casually glanced up to find a woman staring him in the face. He nearly fell off the stool backwards when he jumped at who he saw. She jumped backwards with a slight scream. They both stared each other dumbfounded by the person they saw before them. The woman put her hand to her mouth as Phantom slowly inched his way back to the bar with his eyes wide.
Phantom- Emily? But…how…how are you here?
Emily let her dark brown hair fall across her face and in front of her black shirt. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead she just closed her mouth as her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She continued to try and find the words but she continued to fail.
Phantom- How are you in Washington DC?
Instead of answering his question she walked over to the backroom leaned around the corner. She poked her head in the room and when she finished another bar tender walked out from the back room. Emily rounded the corner of the bar and once she was within about five feet of Phantom increased her speed to a sprint. She slammed into Phantom chest embracing him in a bear hug with surprising amount of force. Phantom could hear Emily laughing into his chest. She pulled her head backwards revealing that there were tears rolling down her face.
Phantom- What is wrong?
Emily laughed before stating enthusiastically.
Emily- Nothing! I am just so happy to see you! It is nice to see a familiar face here in Washington DC.
Emily took Phantom by the hand and led him over to one of the open booths that were on the side of the bar. She took her seat on one side and Phantom took his respective seat on the other side of the booth.
Emily- How come you are in DC?
Phantom- I should be asking you the same thing. I thought you were in Sweet Water, Texas running the bar with your father.
Emily- My father felt it was time for me to branch out on my own. So he helped me raise funding to break ground on a bar anywhere I wanted. I heard about USPW and how it was taking off. My father told me that going to a town where there was a great wrestling federation was always good for business. He said I could have the pay per views on the television and even run a little betting ring on the side. I am not sure if I am going to take up the last piece of his advice but I did take up the first part. So now I am here. How are you here?
Phantom- I came here for work.
Emily went to ask her next question when she hesitated. She had a look on her face that looked like she was not sure how to phrase it.
Emily- You still wrestling?
Phantom could see the pain in her eyes over the idea of it. She had lost her close family friend Tommy Gunn, who was a great RCW wrestler in his day to suicide, just a couple of months ago. Phantom found out about it on the last night he had seen her in Texas. That was also the same night that he had told Emily that he was a wrestler. With a reluctant hesitance of his own he answered.
Phantom- I am. After RCW was bought out by the Falcones, I followed them to Philly where they set up GWA. However that didn’t last very long as the federation imploded and the Falcones lost everything. After that I drifted for a while before being contacted by the original owners of USPW, at which point they signed me to a contract…and now I am World Champion of it.
Phantom provided a meek smile as Emily’s jaw dropped. He was not entirely sure of her reaction.
Emily- You are World Champion of USPW?
Phantom- I am. It is not exactly like my first World title run either. It would be my fourth one now.
Emily stammered before quickly recovering.
Emily- Fourth? Well you are quite busy. But wait…that means you are in the main event at Hell Frozen Over?
Phantom- Yeah I am. I actually leave for Green Bay on Friday to make sure that I get settled in before the match.
Emily shot him a look that told him that something was on her mind. Phantom though was also trying to take a guess at what she might say next and how she was reacting to him being the World champion of USPW. However he was saved from guessing her reaction wrong when a group of men walked into the bar and one happened to recognize Phantom.
Man 1- Dude! It is Phantom! You know the World Champion of USPW.
Man 2- No way! That can’t be him.
Man 1- Yeah it is!
The group of men walked over to end of the booth as Phantom sank his head into his hands while Emily shot him a curious look. There were three men all dressed in jeans and t-shirts.
*Really? Thanks guys, let’s make this really sensitive conversation even more awkward than it should be. I really am in no mood.*
Man 1- It really is you. Wow man I am huge fan of yours.
Man 2- Yeah we watch USPW every week. We were so behind you when you were fighting against Mike C and the USA. It is so much better now that you are World Champion.
Man 1- We are going to be watching the pay per view Sunday and we will be cheering so loud that you should hear us from Green Bay.
Phantom slowly pulled his head out of his hands and with a deep sigh turned to the group of men. The two that had spoken had an ecstatic look on their face while the third looked less than thrilled to see Phantom sitting in front of him.
Phantom- Thank you for the support guys but I am in the middle of…
Man 3- In the middle of preparing for the beating he is going to get from Idol this Sunday. Then we will actually have a champion that we can be proud of, a fighting champion!
Emily watched as a look of skepticism spread across Phantom’s face. However before Phantom had a chance to respond the other two men stepped up to the World Champion’s defense.
Man 1- Not more of this shit!
Man 2- Seriously man, we have been over this. Max Prophet is an overrated hack. He walked away from wrestling and didn’t give two shits about the fans and now he walks back like he owns the place.
Man 3- That is because we are blessed to have him grace the USPW ring. He is the great USPW International World Champion and he will be the Undisputed World Champion at the end of Sunday evening.
Phantom laughed as he did all three men looked to him and Emily just smiled. She barely knew him but she could tell Phantom was about to rip the guy a new one.
Phantom- Thank you two but I will handle this. Explain to me why Idol will beat me on Sunday. Don’t hold anything back.
The man at first was a bit taken aback by Phantom’s bold direct challenge. He composed himself though, took a deep breath and then with a smile began.
Man 3- Well where do I start? How about the fact that you are past your prime, you are an old dog talking about his past accomplishments like a fool. You are a dog on the end of a chain barking at the coming end and can’t do a single thing about it. You are nuts and the Idol is one of the smartest men on the planet. He has your number, he has gotten under your skin, he is the far better wrestler, and he is one of the greatest of all time. You are in his world now and you will have a hard wake up in the morning.
Phantom waited for the man to finish.
Phantom- You done?
Man 3- Yeah I am done describing how much better Idol is than you are.
Phantom smiled.
Phantom- Really? All I heard was how much suck on Idol’s…idol.
The two men laughed at their friend as he got flustered.
Phantom- Let me tell you what you have wrong. First off, I am not an old dog tied up to the chain barking at the coming end. If anyone is the old dog it is Prophet. He has spent the last three weeks avoiding any competition at all costs. I mean what fighting champion doesn’t prove that he is the best on the first day they are signed to a contract by beating down the first of many that would fall in front of him. I did just that. I showed up day one, and I won a title on day one. I didn’t see him do such a thing. I saw him show up and talk and talk and talk and talk. Hell, he talked about stupid shit. I mean you say that I talk about my old matches and incidents like a fool. Then what does that make Prophet? He talks about how he was a champion all the way back in 2006, about how he was the last of FCW. He talks about how afterwards he went on to own a racing team, you know like that actually matters when you are fighting someone. But my favorite is his claim to be special ops soldier. In his first appearance he claimed how he used to run spec ops under the Bush administration. Well there are two flaws to his story. One, if you are spec ops you are bred in the military to be just that. You don’t get to go home and start a career in civilian life and then called back. You get one chance to be in those types of missions and then once that chance gone it is gone. Two, spec ops guys don’t get to brag about being in those forces. They forfeit their lives, their identities disappear and they are never allowed to talk under the penalty of law. If they do, they are tried for treason which results in either the death penalty or life in a very isolated prison. So guess what? You great hero is blowing smoke out his ass because real heroes like that don’t need to brag about what they do.
Phantom took a breath as the color began to drain from his face.
Phantom- By the way, I am not old. In fact I am only twenty-six years old almost ten years younger than Prophet. I am in better conditioning than that blow hard, I have more match experience over the last six years than he does and I have been pushed to deadly limits several times over the last eight months. Him? He hasn’t competed in six very long years. Ever hear of ring rust? Well guess what someone does not just hop in the ring and compete at the level they used too on their very first match back. In fact they are at quarter of their ability that is left, not what they had, what is left.
The two men began to laugh as Emily smiled as Phantom continued.
Phantom- Now I may be a little nuts, a little crazy. But there is one thing that I am not. I am not afraid of Max Prophet, I am not intimidated by Max Prophet and I don’t give two shits about Max Prophet. He is not under my skin; he is far from it simply because I know that I am better than he is. In fact if you didn’t notice the difference between that little video he put out on the internet opposed to the video from the Today show? There was a hint of doubt in his voice. Frankly, I think is afraid of me now. I even heard those close to him said that he is afraid that I am actually going to hurt him. If he is afraid of me now than he is going to be petrified when we meet in the ring and I get going. I saw the video, he said that I don’t belong in the same ring with him well guess what the truth of the matter is that he doesn’t belong in the same ring as me. I am not arrogant, I am not telling you what I think, I am telling you what is fact. The only reason why he has that shitty piece of metal that is absolutely worthless compared to my title is because he is giving Mischoff a great job review from his knees. In fact I could have sworn he came out of his office one time at the show, he was wiping his mouth and had his knee pads on. I just laughed it off because it shows you that some bitching and sucking that anyone could be handed a worthless title. If he was a fighting champion he would have challenged me the second week he was there to a match for the World title. Not pull some backstage bullshit to run away from me. So this Sunday I am going to be in Green Bay I am going to get into my yard, stare down Prophet and I am going to beat him senseless. I am going to be the first, according to Prophet, to beat him in a one on one match up and I am going to put him into the hospital. Just wait and see. This Sunday, for Prophet, Hell will freeze over.
The two men hollered and hooted as they pulled the third man, who was in shock over the verbal rant that he hit with, away towards the bar. Phantom laughed to himself before turning to Emily who had a smile of her own.
Phantom- What?
Emily- You enjoyed that. You had way too much fun with that.
Phantom laughed again.
Phantom- Well, I can’t deny I didn’t enjoy that.
The two laugh together as they pick up on their conversation as the scene fades to black.
After taking a minute to smell the ever great smelling Washington DC air Phantom turns to face the bar. It is a classic looking bar, red brick front, stained glass windows and a large window with a graphic displayed in colorful writing on top of it reading “Em’s”. He slowly made his way over to the door and opened it. There was something about the place that stirred memories or back in Texas when he was wrestling under the RCW. The inside of the bar had several booths scattered around the perimeter, several pool tables in the middle of the room with a long dark oak bar stretching across the right wall. Phantom carefully walked over to the bar and pulled out one of the old fashioned bar stools to have a seat.
He saw a couple of guys sitting down the bar and they seemed to be yelling to someone in a back room just behind the bar. Phantom really couldn’t care what they were talking about. He actually zoned out for a bit and tried to think back to when he had last been in a bar like this. If he remembered correctly things did not end up going the right way and a friend ended up kicking him out and he hasn’t seen her since. But going to the bar back then always seemed to relax him before his big matches he figured that it was worth a shot to try now.
Voice- What will you have?
The voice snapped Phantom out of the daze he had been in, he casually glanced up to find a woman staring him in the face. He nearly fell off the stool backwards when he jumped at who he saw. She jumped backwards with a slight scream. They both stared each other dumbfounded by the person they saw before them. The woman put her hand to her mouth as Phantom slowly inched his way back to the bar with his eyes wide.
Phantom- Emily? But…how…how are you here?
Emily let her dark brown hair fall across her face and in front of her black shirt. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead she just closed her mouth as her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She continued to try and find the words but she continued to fail.
Phantom- How are you in Washington DC?
Instead of answering his question she walked over to the backroom leaned around the corner. She poked her head in the room and when she finished another bar tender walked out from the back room. Emily rounded the corner of the bar and once she was within about five feet of Phantom increased her speed to a sprint. She slammed into Phantom chest embracing him in a bear hug with surprising amount of force. Phantom could hear Emily laughing into his chest. She pulled her head backwards revealing that there were tears rolling down her face.
Phantom- What is wrong?
Emily laughed before stating enthusiastically.
Emily- Nothing! I am just so happy to see you! It is nice to see a familiar face here in Washington DC.
Emily took Phantom by the hand and led him over to one of the open booths that were on the side of the bar. She took her seat on one side and Phantom took his respective seat on the other side of the booth.
Emily- How come you are in DC?
Phantom- I should be asking you the same thing. I thought you were in Sweet Water, Texas running the bar with your father.
Emily- My father felt it was time for me to branch out on my own. So he helped me raise funding to break ground on a bar anywhere I wanted. I heard about USPW and how it was taking off. My father told me that going to a town where there was a great wrestling federation was always good for business. He said I could have the pay per views on the television and even run a little betting ring on the side. I am not sure if I am going to take up the last piece of his advice but I did take up the first part. So now I am here. How are you here?
Phantom- I came here for work.
Emily went to ask her next question when she hesitated. She had a look on her face that looked like she was not sure how to phrase it.
Emily- You still wrestling?
Phantom could see the pain in her eyes over the idea of it. She had lost her close family friend Tommy Gunn, who was a great RCW wrestler in his day to suicide, just a couple of months ago. Phantom found out about it on the last night he had seen her in Texas. That was also the same night that he had told Emily that he was a wrestler. With a reluctant hesitance of his own he answered.
Phantom- I am. After RCW was bought out by the Falcones, I followed them to Philly where they set up GWA. However that didn’t last very long as the federation imploded and the Falcones lost everything. After that I drifted for a while before being contacted by the original owners of USPW, at which point they signed me to a contract…and now I am World Champion of it.
Phantom provided a meek smile as Emily’s jaw dropped. He was not entirely sure of her reaction.
Emily- You are World Champion of USPW?
Phantom- I am. It is not exactly like my first World title run either. It would be my fourth one now.
Emily stammered before quickly recovering.
Emily- Fourth? Well you are quite busy. But wait…that means you are in the main event at Hell Frozen Over?
Phantom- Yeah I am. I actually leave for Green Bay on Friday to make sure that I get settled in before the match.
Emily shot him a look that told him that something was on her mind. Phantom though was also trying to take a guess at what she might say next and how she was reacting to him being the World champion of USPW. However he was saved from guessing her reaction wrong when a group of men walked into the bar and one happened to recognize Phantom.
Man 1- Dude! It is Phantom! You know the World Champion of USPW.
Man 2- No way! That can’t be him.
Man 1- Yeah it is!
The group of men walked over to end of the booth as Phantom sank his head into his hands while Emily shot him a curious look. There were three men all dressed in jeans and t-shirts.
*Really? Thanks guys, let’s make this really sensitive conversation even more awkward than it should be. I really am in no mood.*
Man 1- It really is you. Wow man I am huge fan of yours.
Man 2- Yeah we watch USPW every week. We were so behind you when you were fighting against Mike C and the USA. It is so much better now that you are World Champion.
Man 1- We are going to be watching the pay per view Sunday and we will be cheering so loud that you should hear us from Green Bay.
Phantom slowly pulled his head out of his hands and with a deep sigh turned to the group of men. The two that had spoken had an ecstatic look on their face while the third looked less than thrilled to see Phantom sitting in front of him.
Phantom- Thank you for the support guys but I am in the middle of…
Man 3- In the middle of preparing for the beating he is going to get from Idol this Sunday. Then we will actually have a champion that we can be proud of, a fighting champion!
Emily watched as a look of skepticism spread across Phantom’s face. However before Phantom had a chance to respond the other two men stepped up to the World Champion’s defense.
Man 1- Not more of this shit!
Man 2- Seriously man, we have been over this. Max Prophet is an overrated hack. He walked away from wrestling and didn’t give two shits about the fans and now he walks back like he owns the place.
Man 3- That is because we are blessed to have him grace the USPW ring. He is the great USPW International World Champion and he will be the Undisputed World Champion at the end of Sunday evening.
Phantom laughed as he did all three men looked to him and Emily just smiled. She barely knew him but she could tell Phantom was about to rip the guy a new one.
Phantom- Thank you two but I will handle this. Explain to me why Idol will beat me on Sunday. Don’t hold anything back.
The man at first was a bit taken aback by Phantom’s bold direct challenge. He composed himself though, took a deep breath and then with a smile began.
Man 3- Well where do I start? How about the fact that you are past your prime, you are an old dog talking about his past accomplishments like a fool. You are a dog on the end of a chain barking at the coming end and can’t do a single thing about it. You are nuts and the Idol is one of the smartest men on the planet. He has your number, he has gotten under your skin, he is the far better wrestler, and he is one of the greatest of all time. You are in his world now and you will have a hard wake up in the morning.
Phantom waited for the man to finish.
Phantom- You done?
Man 3- Yeah I am done describing how much better Idol is than you are.
Phantom smiled.
Phantom- Really? All I heard was how much suck on Idol’s…idol.
The two men laughed at their friend as he got flustered.
Phantom- Let me tell you what you have wrong. First off, I am not an old dog tied up to the chain barking at the coming end. If anyone is the old dog it is Prophet. He has spent the last three weeks avoiding any competition at all costs. I mean what fighting champion doesn’t prove that he is the best on the first day they are signed to a contract by beating down the first of many that would fall in front of him. I did just that. I showed up day one, and I won a title on day one. I didn’t see him do such a thing. I saw him show up and talk and talk and talk and talk. Hell, he talked about stupid shit. I mean you say that I talk about my old matches and incidents like a fool. Then what does that make Prophet? He talks about how he was a champion all the way back in 2006, about how he was the last of FCW. He talks about how afterwards he went on to own a racing team, you know like that actually matters when you are fighting someone. But my favorite is his claim to be special ops soldier. In his first appearance he claimed how he used to run spec ops under the Bush administration. Well there are two flaws to his story. One, if you are spec ops you are bred in the military to be just that. You don’t get to go home and start a career in civilian life and then called back. You get one chance to be in those types of missions and then once that chance gone it is gone. Two, spec ops guys don’t get to brag about being in those forces. They forfeit their lives, their identities disappear and they are never allowed to talk under the penalty of law. If they do, they are tried for treason which results in either the death penalty or life in a very isolated prison. So guess what? You great hero is blowing smoke out his ass because real heroes like that don’t need to brag about what they do.
Phantom took a breath as the color began to drain from his face.
Phantom- By the way, I am not old. In fact I am only twenty-six years old almost ten years younger than Prophet. I am in better conditioning than that blow hard, I have more match experience over the last six years than he does and I have been pushed to deadly limits several times over the last eight months. Him? He hasn’t competed in six very long years. Ever hear of ring rust? Well guess what someone does not just hop in the ring and compete at the level they used too on their very first match back. In fact they are at quarter of their ability that is left, not what they had, what is left.
The two men began to laugh as Emily smiled as Phantom continued.
Phantom- Now I may be a little nuts, a little crazy. But there is one thing that I am not. I am not afraid of Max Prophet, I am not intimidated by Max Prophet and I don’t give two shits about Max Prophet. He is not under my skin; he is far from it simply because I know that I am better than he is. In fact if you didn’t notice the difference between that little video he put out on the internet opposed to the video from the Today show? There was a hint of doubt in his voice. Frankly, I think is afraid of me now. I even heard those close to him said that he is afraid that I am actually going to hurt him. If he is afraid of me now than he is going to be petrified when we meet in the ring and I get going. I saw the video, he said that I don’t belong in the same ring with him well guess what the truth of the matter is that he doesn’t belong in the same ring as me. I am not arrogant, I am not telling you what I think, I am telling you what is fact. The only reason why he has that shitty piece of metal that is absolutely worthless compared to my title is because he is giving Mischoff a great job review from his knees. In fact I could have sworn he came out of his office one time at the show, he was wiping his mouth and had his knee pads on. I just laughed it off because it shows you that some bitching and sucking that anyone could be handed a worthless title. If he was a fighting champion he would have challenged me the second week he was there to a match for the World title. Not pull some backstage bullshit to run away from me. So this Sunday I am going to be in Green Bay I am going to get into my yard, stare down Prophet and I am going to beat him senseless. I am going to be the first, according to Prophet, to beat him in a one on one match up and I am going to put him into the hospital. Just wait and see. This Sunday, for Prophet, Hell will freeze over.
The two men hollered and hooted as they pulled the third man, who was in shock over the verbal rant that he hit with, away towards the bar. Phantom laughed to himself before turning to Emily who had a smile of her own.
Phantom- What?
Emily- You enjoyed that. You had way too much fun with that.
Phantom laughed again.
Phantom- Well, I can’t deny I didn’t enjoy that.
The two laugh together as they pick up on their conversation as the scene fades to black.