Post by Smith Jones on Mar 29, 2020 11:32:14 GMT -5
~ SATURDAY NIGHT ~
~ OFF CAMERA ~
“Let’s really get to know each other. Shall we?”
(Read Part One Here)
The plane jerks and begins to taxi. Smith Jones is still completely nude sitting inside his private jet, gazing into his fiancée’s fearful green eyes. She is sitting across the aisle from Jones, being held around the throat from behind by Copeland Sanderson, Smith’s son… erm… well, not Smith’s son. It isn’t yet clear who Copeland Sanderson really is.
The jet taxis the tarmac amidst the tension in the cabin.
“Why are you doing this?? You’re only eighteen!!”
“Shut the fuck up, wifey. This is between me and your daddy.”
“All ears, Copeland. Who are you?”
The rage within Copeland swells to the point of tears. He is not sobbing from sadness, but tears stream down his face as he barks at Smith.
“You fly around in your little private jet showing off that great gold belt all the time. You walk out to crowds chanting your name like you’re some sort of hero...”
“I never expected them to start chanting my name.”
“Interrupt me one more time, Jones.”
Smith inhales and then holds his breath.
“You work hard for everything you have. I can see that. I’m just sick and tired of having to sit here mere feet from you and watch you do it while you completely ignore me! You believed I was your son, and yet you have me off in some separate compartment while you get naked with your girl. You have me drive the limo and carry your bags while you sign autographs and pose for pics. Never once have you introduced me to the world. Not once did it cross your mind to say you’re proud of me. I KNOW that I’m not really your son, but you THOUGHT that I was and this is how you chose to treat me!!?!”
Agitated, Copeland momentarily loosens his grip on Siobhan. He gets his fingers tangled in Siobhan’s hair as he rubs his other hand all over his own head and face, sighing deeply and looking around the room with wild eyes.
“Your old friend, Jenny? Yeah, she really is my mom. But, you’re not my dad. He’s some deadbeat drunk I met once. What a dick. Mom sent me to come try to make a better life for myself than she could. She saw you as a good man at heart. She thought if I could convince you that you’re my father, I could have a chance at living the life you live.
But, you couldn’t accept me as family, could you? You’re more damaged than I ever thought. You were my HERO. I chanted your name too! Every time you came through Toronto, I was there in your hometown crowd wearing your shirt and shoving people aside just to try to reach out and touch your robe as you walked by. My arms simply couldn’t be long enough.
One time, you ripped my sign in half. It said ‘I’m Smith Jones’ on it in white lettering. You have no idea how hard my mom and I searched for that gray sign paper to make it with. You ripped my sign on a house show and I was so happy. I kept the one piece I was able to recover up on my bedroom wall for years. I bet you don’t even remember that sign. I was so proud to have had the chance to… touch you in some small way.”
Copeland wipes his face of tears and grabs a tighter hold on Siobhan again.
“Listen, Smitty, from what I’ve seen during my time serving you, you’d better watch your back. You cannot trust The Architects. They will be your downfall.
You are living the life I’ve always wanted right in front of me and I am done watching. I wanted to be the APW Tag Team Champions with you, Smith. I wanted to be your big, shocking alliance. But, no. You formed The Architects instead. You’re teamed up with Lex Collins; you’re teamed up with Damon Warrens, a guy who wants to take your World Title away from you! Well, when you don’t show up to Battlecade on Monday night, Damon Warrens will win by FORFEIT. Then, I will have taken away a piece of you. Or would you rather try to stop me and watch me snap your lover’s neck right here, right now?!
You choose, Jonesy.
The Alpha Word Championship…
Or your lovely fiancée...
Which will it be?”
There is a long pause as Copeland and Smith now stare one another dead in the eye.
“The choice is clear.”
Just then, the aircraft lurches and lifts off from the ground. The still naked Smith Jones takes this opportunity to lunge out of his seat and connect with a headbutt to the cheekbone. Jones then stuns Copeland over the chair back. Smith then steps quickly behind Copeland and hits him with the Point of Controversy!!! As the plane ascends at a sharp angle, Copeland tumbles through the door between compartments all the way to the back of the plane. Jones holds onto walls and seats, bracing himself against the incline of the jet as he moves towards the back of the aircraft.
As Jones reaches the rear, he is clobbered from the side as Copeland charges out from one of the rows! They both fall to the ground in a whirlwind of punches. Smith gains the upper hand and throws Copeland Sanderson over his head with a belly-to-belly suplex against the rear wall. As Copeland gets up, Smitty rushes in with a spear! Copeland dodges it and Smith crashes hard against the back wall. Copeland goes for the rear door! He grabs hold of the large handle. Smith cuts him off by grabbing a handful of hair and pulling him away from the door, which is now slightly less secure. Wind noise roars through the cabin.
Copeland throws a punch. Smith blocks it and connects with another headbutt. This one breaks Copeland’s nose as blood explodes from his face. He barely reacts, grabbing Smith and trying to bite his face! Jones resorts to a low blow kick! Jones then hits a running knee strike to the face. Copeland stumbles backwards and again grabs the door handle. The door flings open as Copeland gets blown out of the jet and into the night sky with a fading scream. Justifiable homicide. Jones struggles to hold on, wedging himself between the seats. Wind whips all around the cabin. Smith can’t even process the emotion flowing through him right now along with adrenaline and searing rage.
~ SUNDAY AFTERNOON ~
~ ON CAMERA ~
Fade up on a shot of a formation of aircraft flying high above the large gathering of military personnel and their families who’ve gathered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, for a special fan interaction event just days before APW Battlecade! There are hundreds of people in the crowd, many of them children, staring up at the sky in awe of what they are seeing. What they’re seeing is five F-15 Eagles flying in formation above them. The five aircraft buzz very low to the ground, creating wind and noise beyond belief. They then break formation and come in for a landing one by one.
The first plane taxis over to a large crowd where there is a wrestling ring set up on the tarmac. The hatch pops open as two men climb out dressed in full military flight suits. One of the men has the Alpha Pro Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship locked safely around his waist. He walks through the crowd as they part like the Red Sea to allow him access to the ring. He mounts the steel ring steps and wipes his feet before parting the ropes and taking centre.
“Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!! Smitty!!!”
Jones removes his helmet to a boisterous roar of cheers!! He salutes curtly and then slowly raises a microphone to his lips. The higher the mic raises, the quieter the audience gets until there is complete silence.
“Damon Warrens.”
The crowd starts to booooooooooo.
“Even after all I’ve been through, you are still the focus of my attention today. I can’t allow myself to be distracted by anything. I know how good a fighter you are. This is absolutely going to be the fight of my life. It doesn’t matter if people knew how much tension there really was between us all this time. They’ll get the point. They’ll see it in the way we voraciously devour each other’s egos tomorrow night. They’ll taste it in the blood spatter that smacks them in the face! Every snap of a bone. Every smoosh of an eyeball. Every gnash of a tooth will be heard loud and clear when you and I step into the ring tomorrow night at Battlecade.
In this, our very first match, we both have so very much to prove… to the wrestling world… to one another…
I said earlier this week that you weren’t good enough to hang with me back in 2013. My how times have changed. You are a much better, much stronger version of Damon Warrens now than you were all those years ago. You are the shining example of what I wish I could see from every competitor that I’ve crushed. You never stopped being what you are. In fact, you’ve become much better at openly expressing yourself and declaring that you are more than meets the eye. I cannot help but to have top level, all out respect for you, Warrens. You are exactly what the wrestling world needs more of. You work hard to achieve your goals. You will stop at nothing to make this game your bitch! You teach by example what every man, woman, or whatever people are choosing to identify themselves as, to stop playing the victim and BE THE HERO.”
His face becomes more and more grave as he scowls hard into the main camera.
“Or, be the VILLAIN as the case may be. Honestly, over the years I’ve learned that it doesn’t really matter what you try to paint yourself as. I’m not an archetype. I’m an Architect! I can build myself up any way I damned well please. It doesn’t matter. People will always see you through their own lenses and filters.
I AM the hero.
I AM the villain.
I AM BOTH!
So, when you refer to the great #HEEL of old, fuck dude, I’m right here. Same white boots. Same white trunks stained in the blood of those gone by who thought they were going to be the one to step up and bury the incredible Smith Jones. This is indeed a new era for us. It’s an era of complete openness and honesty that will either build The Architects up stronger than ever or bring us crumbling to the ground!
If you really are the Devil Himself, Damon Warrens, drag me to Hell and prove it.”
He begins to pace back and forth inside the ring.
“This is not going to be an easy match for either of us. It’s a hell of a thing when the monster you created comes back to bite you in this ass. It’s my fault that this unresolved… vitriol has welled up inside you to the point of eruption. You have every reason to want me dead, Damon. I get it. I understand you. I did this to myself. But, the outcome that you seek is not how this saga ends.”
Jones looks out into the crowd, a sea of green dotted with signs here and there. Some for Smith. Some for Damon. Some for various other APW superstars. Smith rolls out of the ring and begins to circumnavigate it, looking into the individual faces of the people in the front row.
“You can see me as the good guy...”
He moves to the next person.
“You can see me as the bad guy...”
He moves to the next person.
“No matter what you see when you look into my eyes, KNOW that I am the most dangerous man you could ever step into the ring with...”
He moves to the next person. He keeps moving down the row and around the ring.
“Tomorrow night at APW Battlecade, the Nitemare comes to life. And it will be up to ME to keep the Devil at bay. Warrens, you and I are going to show the world just precisely why we are going to be the ones to shape the future. This is the sudden, unexpectedly fiery Main Event that APW needs. We are going to turn millions of eyes towards us. This is what the best of the best looks like when we go all out to be at the top of the game!
Bring your deep seeded psychological torture and inflict some of it on me! Hurt me the way I’ve deserved all this time to be hurt. Drop me with the Near Death Experience. Crush my skull with the Badd Dream. Put an end to Smith Jones with Justifiable Homicide!”
He rolls back into the ring and walks right up to the handheld camera with a snarl. He removes the Alpha World Title belt and holds it up next to his face.
“You are not going to take this from me. Yes, you and I and Lex are going to shape the future, but we will do it with ME as your Champion. This is the order of things. This is how we will best protect ourselves from falling apart at the seams. Got it? Let’s fall in line, soldier up, and march onward. There will be honour in your loss. There will be respect in your loss, because you will be losing to the greatest wrestler ever to paint to canvas here in Alpha Pro. We’re not a waste of time like Bloodline and we certainly aren’t just thirsty bombastic blowhards like those microphone hogs the Cowgirls From Hell! We are the real deal and after you’ve finished testing my resolve, we will put people like Meghan Kelser and Maxine Riggs in our dignified dust!
Dearest APW faithful, do not make the mistake of missing this one. This is the match of the year! And when the final bell tolls, I will walk out of Battlecade STILL your Alpha Pro Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion!!!”
Fade to black.
“Watch me.”
