Post by Odin Balfore on Mar 27, 2020 14:30:42 GMT -5
Get Caught up:
APW
Battlecade Finals
Man Made Gods
Vs
The Enforcers
______________________________
City Hall ITR Subway station, East Side line. New York.
The grand and Gothic architecture of the abandoned subway station lay as a beautiful corpse of the hopes that New York had for itself. A far cry from what it would turn into some 80 years after the ITR’s construction. The granite, the marble and the glass work were like a suit of armor that the city was buried in. No one comes down here anymore, not even the homeless. All it is now is that hollow reminder of what could have been. However, in this train station was a hidden room dubbed ‘The Fire Box’ where old contracts and accounts are kept in case an ex associate needs to be burned, I.E. Taken out. Hence ‘Fire Box.’ Lafontaine didn't have my records, so then they were moved here. The only problem is that the rooms are not marked. No signs, windows or doors. The only clue is a single agent named Owen White, disguised as a homeless man who sits in front of it. On top of that he needs to be bribed for access.
[ Flash back to Odin talking with Lafontaine in the Gas Works, sitting across from one another in a booth. Tommy slides over a gold coin. “ Here.” Tommy says. “To Help you get back on your feet.” ]
The gold coin weighed heavy on my pocket and my mind. I knew what I was getting myself back into. I’m just not sure where it would lead. Then I come across Owen White.
“Are you Owen White?” Owen was just ‘asleep’ under an army poncho. I nudge him with my foot to roll him over. “Are you Owen White?” I ask again.
“Hey Buddy, you got some change?” He asks. I stoop down, taking a coin out of my pocket and holding it to his face before flicking it into a foam cup. “Maverick, is that you? It’s been a long time.”
“I know, that's why I’m here.”
“Agents never come down here. It’s never a good thing.”
“Lets just say I’m out of retirement.”
“ No one ever is.” Says Owen getting up off the ground and turning to a nearby emergency call box. He takes a skeleton key off from around his neck and inserts it. The brick wall behind him slides open and we walk through into the Fire Box. fluorescence lights flick on over head. Our footsteps echo on the granite floor and our reflections shine against the marble walls. Little golden plaques dot the wall. Each with an agent's name and another plaque with a skull to indicate if they’ve been burned. Some names had them and some didn't. We walk down a long stretch of hallway and take a left into another room labeled ‘M-P.’ We find my name and Owen inserts the key into a recess and slides the marble over, reaches into the and pulls out a small protective firebox. Open it up reveals the same gold coins that Tommy gave me. The only currency our industry accepts. If you need anything, these coins will get it for you. I spread out the coins and let out a sigh.
“Only ten left.” I said with a deflated tone.
“That's enough for two or three jobs.” replies Owen.
“I’m not doing any jobs.” I answer.
“Then I hope you have a friend but in this business, that's unlikely.”
_______________________
Marfa, Texas.
Marfa, Texas is often dubbed ‘middle of nowhere’ and in the middle of nowhere is where I would find that friend; or so I hoped.
Benjamin F. Conrad, my old manager and mentor in the industry. For a while we double dipped between doing agent work and wrestling as a way to keep things 'legitimate’ but over time I left kneecapping behind while he stayed. That's just how life worked out. We’d speak every now and again except the ‘again’ part was a few years ago. Feels like everything was years ago, a decade ago - even a lifetime ago. And for me this was. It’s nearly 10 PM when I get to the house; having switched from a chopper to a black BMW. The Eagles ‘Hotel California’ echoing in the night. Conrad was already standing on the stairs to greet me.
“What took you so long?” He called.
“How did you know I was coming?” I asked from the bottom of the stairs.
“Because I hate the Eagles.”
“But-”
“And. Because. I. Hate. You.” Conrad seeths as he takes off his cowboy hat and goes back inside.
Man Made Gods, this is what I have to do. This is what I get to go back too. A point in my life that I thought was over. A place that I put behind me. The place where I was legitimately a mad dog killer for hire. That outlaw. The Maverick. It’s what you saw when I first stepped into WCF. It’s what you were both in awe of. It’s that Balfore Paradox that I spoke of last week. Everyone wants the old me but no one wants it to be true; to come to life. Not that I need to give either of you my resume for some soliloquy about my career. You both lived it. Only difference is that I outlived both of your careers. That's your Modus operandi and I get it, it was a good one while it lasted. FPV prances along, says his face gimmicks then CD comes along and just tells people he’s gonna punch them in the face. Its a solid gimmick that works on everyone else except Richards and I and CD, I’ll see you next week for a Hardcore title but right now those tag titles, we both know are gonna be to the death. And Frank, Lissie Hope kept me from getting back to your World Title, so taking this from you would be a small but welcome consolation prize on my way to finish what WALTER started, to what YOU stuck your nose into, to what you DRAGGED my best friend, CD into.
To what Lissie Hope thought she could circumvent.
Now this, my quest spans two promotions, two lifetimes and untold amounts of lives.. All for me to get what I want. It would be a fools errand to stand in the way just so you can live true to your gimmick of:
“Ride in. take. And LOL to the bank.”
It hurts to laugh with broken ribs. You know that. Can’t laugh with your jaws wired shut. You know that. You’re both smart men and you both know that my alliances arnt exactly.. Perfect. I take what I want when I want and go through who needs going through. Right now I’m sure Frank is standing there with a smug sense of pride. He’s got a couple of world title matches whispering Saruman spells into his ear and passing them off to CD on this throne. As if that championship belt was the One Ring. Yah, it is and it’s trying to get back to its rightful owner and the one champion that needs. ME. You just keep thinking that this is going to be like those times.
It’s not.
The little world of wrestling that a lot of you have built for yourselves is coming to an end. Time you boys step out of that shire and into the land of the horse riders, the Middle Earth. The one where the Enforcers take the APW tag belts because you just expect them to fall into your laps. That's not happening. Not here. Not now.
I would apologize but I’m not. This is something you chose to put yourselves in front of. Just like everything else. At least I’m up front about being a selfish asshole. I’m up front about everything. Like when I tell you that when we meet in that ring, I’m going to tear down my best friend. Just like when I meet Frank in that ring again for the fourth time this year- it’ll be cathartic revenge.
But in a way, thank you because if not for your actions I wouldn't be on this path. I wouldn't be here. Yet here I am and here you are. Both of you coming face to face with something you haven't seen in a long time. Its that thing that when CD was running things made him go:
Yah, that's the guy.
The one that scared everyone. That fear that everyone talks about how they used to have it. It’s ok if you don’t remember, Frank cuz you’re about to live it and the Enforcers are about to steamroll you on our way to being crowned APW Tag Team Champions. I understand that it’s a hard truth to swallow but sometimes in your career, you gotta take that bump in the road.
Right Frank?
But this isn't something that either of you can overcome.
An outlaw
A Maverick.
A Bad Mother Fucker
An Enforcer.
You can all say it with me because I’m going to leave you both broken in the middle of the ring and Alex will just bully and beat you into that Enlightened Nightmare.
But spoilers: You already walked into one the moment you ignorantly signed up for this tournament. Our paths will always cross; that's fate. However, this is one encounter you will not survive. My Plettet Sjel will not allow it. You’re not Fireproof. Remember that. And the Enforcers have come to burn it down. You. them. APW. Action Wrestling. The tag titles, the hardcore title. All of it. Everything.
So I have spoken.. So it shall come to pass.