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Climax Control Archives / Bloody hell...
« on: August 10, 2018, 06:18:53 AM »
The camera focuses in on a lake, the Friday morning sun beating down on it as the end of summer approaches. It wasn't too cold in Maine, more than warm enough to spend a day by the lake. This wasn't any lake, this was the lake outside the home of Ben Jordan. The camera focuses in on a small rowing boat, where Ben Jordan can be seen laying peaceful and relaxed, something needed after the hardships of what the Cockney King has been going through as of late. The camera moves closer to Ben's face as the boat bobbles gently on the water. Although tired looking, Ben smiles down the camera.
"Hello people." Ben says with a cheery smile. "It's that time again. You should know how this all works by now, you've seen my mush on television long enough to know this is where I tell ya about what's been going on in my life this week, and throw back a story or two, then have a rabbit about my opponent, or in this case, opponents to tie things up nicely."
Ben pauses for a second.
"This week will be no different to be honest." He says with a sight nod. "None at all. It's not been the greatest of week to be honest. There no secret that I've been going through a fair bit lately, pushing my body beyond what most consider limits to get something sorted as quickly as possible. I'm not really one to sit around and wait for something that could be done early, but it's dangerous, risky, yet has to be done. It's wearing me out a little bit though, can't lie."
He takes a deep breath and sighs.
"It's been more than tough." He admits "Even Sunday felt tiring and all I did was sit there in a chair and talk away about what was going on. I know that leaves more questions than answers but I'm hoping you'll get a few more answers later in this promo thingy. I live in hope you do anyway. But as I was saying."
Ben sits up in the boat.
"Even Sunday was tiring." He repeats. "In fact it didn't take me long to even fall asleep. I fall asleep way too quickly these days since I've been forced to abuse my body with treatment. Problem is, those weird funky dreams keep happening to me. You know the one I spoke about the other week, where I saw me in a mirror, like the ACW version of me? It happened again on Sunday..."
SUNDAY NIGHT.
Climax Control 211 had been off the air for an hour, a lot of SCW stars were still loitering around the arena, signing autographs for fans, standing a smiling for selfies, doing everything SCW stars should be doing, others have already made their way back to the hotel for the night, or a local bar, not to completely mix with the fans, but to partake in alcohol to ease their weary muscles and to switch off from the pressures of being on a live show just a little while back. Ben usually would join the fans at bars, smile for the cameras, spend some time talking to people about wrestling but ever since he was diagnosed with this illness, Ben had been given permission to leave as soon as he was done, and by extension, so was Evie Baang from that very night. Christian and Mark, like everyone other than five people in this world, had heard the bombshell tonight that the two were married and even with Christian's heart of stone, he would not let Ben Jordan travel back to Maine for treatment without his partner. Both bosses knew the intensity of the treatment and allowed Ben to leave early, knowing the first thing tomorrow morning, he would be in a hospital bed, they wanted him to spend as much time as he could relaxing. Now it was out in the open about the relationship between Ben and Evie, neither bosses could deny allowing his wife to leave the arena early too, to be with her man.
Ben was already ready to go by the time Evie had started her match, but he waited, watching her defeat a challenger for her Bombshell Roulette championship, making small talk with many of his friends backstage to the pass the time, having off camera conversations with both bosses. Ben's well being was their concern, not just for the sake of the company, but because the many years of loyal service to SCW, they knew they could count on him on a professional and personal level. It didn't take Evie long to finish off Seleana and find her way backstage, taking just twenty minutes to shower, change and be in a car with Ben heading to the airport where Ben's private jet sat waiting on the small private airfield not too far from the arena. This is where we pick things up.
Ben looks up at the private plane, the steps slash door resting on the tarmac of the runway as the car Ben and Evie are travelling in stop a few feet away. Ben gets out of the card, followed by Evie and Ben grabs a bag from inside the car, throwing it over his shoulder.
"I can carry my own stuff." Evie tells him firmly.
"Yeah, but ya don't have to." Ben tells her. "Wouldn't be very gentlemanly for me to make ya carry it, would it?"
Before Evie can reply, Ben whistles and the face of Ben's akita dog, Bear, appears at the door of the plane, looking down at the couple. Ben leaps from the steps and down towards the couple, moving straight to Evie. Ben rolls his eyes.
"Charming." Ben mutters under his breath. "Back on the jumbo boy."
Bear looks towards Ben as Ben points to the plane and Bear runs back up the steps, followed by Evie and eventually Ben. Ben looks towards Bear.
"You know where to go." Ben tells his furry friend. "I'll come strap ya down for take off in a minute."
Evie puts her hand on Ben's shoulder.
"I'll do it." She tells him. "Sit and relax."
Ben nods at her as he turns away, leaving Evie to wander off. Ben reaches up, storing Evie's bag in an overhead compartment before sitting down on a seat, leaning it backwards slightly and reaching for his seatbelt, pulling it around himself and clicking it shut. Instantly his eyes start to feel heavy as he leans back in his seat, quickly drifting in to a dream state, where once again, he sees that familiar face of.... himself.
Ben stands in the dark space once more - if you don't know what I mean, you should really watch more promos, ain't all about you, you know! Anyway, yes, dark space, where he stands just facing a mirror.
"Oh bloody hell." Ben mutters. "Not this again. Anyone who actually watches this stuff, which is probably about three people, might think I'm going to the well too often."
Another version of Ben appears in the mirror, dressed in a suit and tie, smiles at the real Ben.
"As opposed to someone who every week listens to crap metal music, waiting for it to stop before demanding a title shot regardless of losing their last four matches?" Mirror Ben says. "I'm pretty sure you can get away with having a conversation with the same person a couple of times, if they could do that for years."
Real Ben shrugs his shoulders.
"You also haven't had a year or two's worth of promos set in a hotel room, or a steak restaurant, where every promo ends with a laptop being closed." Mirror Ben says with a wink. "Or started every promo with spliced in footage of the cameraman's work and not yours. You've not switched between face and heel constantly like some people on the roster too, so when ya think about it, having a chat with me twice in a couple of promos really ain't that bad."
"Well it's not like many of my fellow wrestlers watch these things." The real Ben says. "If it's not something to do with them, they don't care."
"And they wonder why they don't do better." Mirrored Ben says. "Their own fault. If they don't know the ins and outs of their own place of employment, their own problems."
"Oh but they like to fake it, claim they know the ins and outs of a ducks arse." The real Ben replies. "When it suits them."
The real Ben moves closer to his mirror image, looking at it closely.
"So why are you in my dreams this time?" He asks. "I mean I became the old ACW Ben, I won this title."
Ben looks at his bare shoulder.
"Ah crap!" he mutters to himself.
Ben clicks his fingers and the Roulette championship appears on his shoulder. Ben grins at the mirror Ben.
"It's a dream, I can get away with that." He tells his mirrored self.
"Actually true." The mirrored Ben replies "Although a nice cold beer woulda been better."
"Can't really drink at the moment cause you know." Ben says looking into the mirror. "So why are you here, I got this thing by being the old me for a change and beating a top guy."
"Couple of reasons if I'm honest." The mirror Ben tells him. "One, congratulations on winning that thing, I saw some of the old you in there, and by the old you, I mean me, I saw me in there. That determination, that hunger, that will to succeed on your own. It was good to be back in there."
"Thank you." The real Ben responds. "Second reason?"
"Second reason..." The mirrored Ben says. "Are you out of your bloody mind challenging Tommy Crimson? Like seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?"
The real Ben cranks his neck back, looking at the mirror in surprise.
"Whatcha mean?" He asks.
"Crimson is a lunatic." The mirrored Ben responds. "An absolute bowl of nuts and you wanna face him?"
Real Ben nods to his mirror counterpart
"That I do." He responds. "I wanna take on the best and he is the best around."
"Nothing to do with seeking revenge for Drake?" Mirrored Ben asks.
"Not at all comes the reply." Ben answers. "So many people sit on their arses and dodge the real challenges when they become champions. They have to deal with the likes of Caleb Storms demanding things that they shouldn't until they at least win a few matches. They have to deal with the entitled people who think they're better than they are. No one goes after the big guys when they're champs, no one steps out of their comfort zone, especially with this title. People with this title happily sit there and face the Storms and Acquin's of the world but I want better, I need better. Where's the credibility in accepting a challenge from people who don't win matches against normal people?"
"Again." Mirrored Ben says. "The guy is nuts."
"How am I meant to challenge myself against people like Storms?" Ben asks. "There is no challenge there at all. I need this against Crimson. It's not worth it unless you're taking on the best in the world. Storms in not the best in the world, never will be, Crimson is and will be until he chooses not to be."
Mirrored Ben shakes his head slowly.
"You're out of your mind." He tells the real Ben. "Respect for taking a chance but damn. All the people you could have gone after, you go after Crimson. Ah well, look on the bright side, at least you're on the same side this week."
The real Ben looks at the older version of himself in the mirror.
"Say what?" He asks curiously.
"Oh yeah." mirror Ben says clicking his fingers. "You don't know about that yet. Just keep one eye on him, he's more than a sick in the head kinda guy, he likes playing mind games and he will do so with you. Just be aware, he's as likely to attack you as he is anyone else."
"Still don't have a clue what you're banging on about." The real Ben replies.
"It's alright." The mirrored Ben says. "You're gonna wake up in a few seconds and Evie's gonna have her phone in her hand and tell you all about it. She'll tell you all about your match. Maybe you should wake up about... now!"
With that, Ben's eyes fire open. He turns his head to see Evie with her phone in her hand, reading a message from SCW, the standard card message. She turns her head towards Ben and looks at him.
"Ummm." She starts. "I've just seen the new card."
"And?" Ben mutters.
"You're facing Fenris and Kris Ryans." She says surprised. "And you're teaming with Tommy Crimson."
Ben frowns as he look out of the plane window.
"If only that man in the mirror could tell me the lottery numbers." Ben mumbles to himself.
BACK TO THE LAKE
The camera once again focuses on Ben face.
"I dunno how the bloody hell my dreams are ahead of real time." He admits. "Really have no clue but the man in the mirror did give me a heads up."
He shrugs his shoulders.
"But the problem is, I couldn't really focus on that match just yet." He says. "I had other things to focus on before that. Trust me, all this treatment has hit my body hard, and I do mean hard. It's pretty easy to feel a bit down when ya constantly getting prodded and poked all over the place. At least on Wednesday, I had some kinda cheering up..."
WEDNESDAY.
The sounds of machines bleeping can be heard, way too familiar sounds if you've spent even just a few hours in a hospital room. Everyone has at some point, even if it was to just visit a sick loved one, we've all been there hearing that repetitive bleeping of machines monitoring every aspect of the human body. The camera turns around to see Ben Jordan laying in a hospital bed, wearing nothing but a white gown. Wires attached to his chest can be seen, as well as an IV drip coming from his arm. Ben rests his head on his pillow as he lays alone in the room, his face looking years older than his current age. His phone rests on his stomach as he lays still. As the boredom creeps in, Ben picks up his phone and quickly taps away at the screen, hitting a contact on it and pressing call. He holds it to his ear as he waits for someone to answer at the other end. Eventually, a voice can be heard.
"Hey, this is Sam Marlowe." The pre-recorded message says. "Sorry I can't answer your call at the moment, but if you leave a message, I'll get back to you soon."
A bleep can be heard, indicating for Ben to leave a message.
"Alright ginge." Ben starts. "Thought I'd give ya a quick bell to catch up a bit, check in, see how ya doing. Caught the show again, being as I missed some things walking back up the ramp and all, and saw you're cleared to wrestle and back in action this week. Brilliant news, looking forward to seeing it happen. Things are alright over here, laying in that familiar hospital bed, scratching me arse cause I got nothing to do. Been a rough week already. Three days, and on my fifth treatment of the week. I know what ya thinking before you say it, yep it is a bit much and it's starting to kick the crap out of me, but it's my last one this week and I get to spend a few days recovering. God knows I think I need it to be honest. Anyway, hope ya well and all that studying is paying off, you'll be able to speak better Shakespeare than me soon.... Not that I speak that way, but apparently I'm mean to being English and all."
Ben smiles to himself.
"Anyways." He continues. "Take care and we'll catch up soon. Have a good un!"
Ben hangs up the phone and drops it back to his stomach. He looks around the room, twiddling his thumbs as he goes, looking through the window of the room, seeing nothing but sky from his position. He sighs deeply but his phone starts to buzz on his stomach, causing him to reach down and pick it up, looking at it. He smiles as he sees Jamie Dean's name appear on it, a Skype call and Ben quickly answers, seeing the face of Jamie on the camera.
"What up JD?" Ben asks.
Jamie looks at the picture on his own screen.
"You look like Ben, just like twenty years older." He jokes. "Time to buy you some anti aging cream."
Jamie smiles down the camera but Ben shakes his head.
"Ah piss off." He says with a smile on his face.
"Have I caught you at a bad time?" Jamie asks.
"Nah." Ben says with a shake of his head. "Just all chilled out in a hospital bed with the sounds of bleeps and things. I'm bored out of my skull to be fair. Evie's just popped out for a little bit. Hospitals are not her thing, so just me here."
"How ya feeling?" Jamie asks.
"Like I've been pulled through a hedge backwards and stark bollock naked." Ben admits. "Think it's started to catch up with me a bit. Five to six hits a week for the last three weeks is taking it's toll, but I recover quick on days off."
"Ben, I think you might be doing this a bit much." Jamie says with concern in his voice. "No normal person has this much treatment. This might be helping that problem but too much could cause other problems. No one should do it that quick."
"Well lucky for me I'm not a normal person." Ben says with a smile, trying to put a more positive spin on things. "I'm alright mate, I have tired moments, but like I said, recover quick and get myself back on it and ready to go again."
Jamie nods, unconvinced that Ben is being completely truthful about his physical health to him.
"It'll take a lot more than this to put me down." Ben tells Jamie with conviction. "Take a lot more to beat this guy, trust me."
"I believe that." Jamie tells him. "You're Ben Jordan."
"I'm Ben Jordan." Ben repeats with a nod. "Gonna take a lot to put me down mate. Wish someone would tell my body that, but it will take a fair amount to finish me off."
Jamie smiles warmly at his long time friend.
"It will. By the way, feeling better now you got that weight off your shoulders?" Jamie asks.
Ben nods, knowing exactly what Jamie is referring to.
"Yeah." Ben says with a nod. "Feel like things have been lifted, don't need to hide things anymore and we're at the point where if anyone claims the other is only there because of the other, they will become a laughing stock. Feeling good about it all."
"Great." Jamie says with a smile. "That's probably one of the longest secrets I've ever kept."
"Well you did a great job with that." Ben tells him. "I appreciate it."
"I got something to cheer you up actually." Jamie says with a wide grin.
"I don't wanna see that picture of you again like that." Ben says waving him off.
"It's not that." Jamie says with a frown, but the frown turns in to a smile. "That was a good picture though, showed my best side."
"No it wasn't and no it didn't." Ben replies.
Jamie holds up a finger.
"Just a second." He tells Ben.
"I ain't going anywhere." Ben replies with a smile
Jamie hits a button on the laptop he's using to speak to Ben and the camera switches around to Oasis, the club set up by Ben and Jamie to help homeless teens. The room is full of teenagers who clap at seeing a confused Ben on a big screen. Jamie appears in front of them all, a cordless microphone on his face.
"Can ya hear me?" He asks Ben.
"I can hear ya." Ben says confused. "What's going on?"
"Turns out the kids really wanted to see ya" Jamie tells Ben with a smile. "And we seem to have some whiz kids here when it comes to computers, who have come up with a way to broadcast this on a big screen, using the house speakers so that people can hear you. Throw in a couple of boom mics around and we got ourselves a live Ben in HD."
Ben shudders.
"Bloody scary to see." Ben says softly.
"Tell me about it." Jamie responds. "We can see your chest hairs and everything. Have you ever considered waxing?"
"Not even for a second." Ben replies. "How you guys all doing?"
A cheer comes from the club from the crowd of smiling faces, each happy to see the man who played a small part in putting a roof over their heads. Jamie took care of the day to day stuff with Ben's partial funding, but the group seemed to be very attached to the Englishman.
"I'm sorry I haven't been to see you guys there for a while." Ben tells him. "As you can see, I'm a little laid up here at the moment, I told Jamie to explain it to you guys, hopefully he did...?"
Ben watches the nodding heads in the club and smiles.
"Great." He tells them. "But this won't keep me down, trust me people. It's eye opening, believe me it is but it'll take a lot more than this to keep me down, and I will be seeing you guys again real soon. I'm flying in to California on Saturday morning. I'll swing by Saturday afternoon to see you guys before heading to the SCW show for Sunday."
Another cheer comes from the crowd, and claps from the teenagers.
"Sure that won't wear you out?" Jamie asks.
"Nah. I'm not flying in meself mate, the plane will do most of the work." Ben fires back with a smile. "I'll be perfectly fine. Just don't be throwing any kinda parties mate, I ain't got the energy for all that stuff. Just get everyone there so I can say hi to the lot of ya, without being in a hospital bed wearing this fashion nightmare."
Once again a laugh comes from the crowd, causing Ben to smile.
"Till I get a chance to be there guys." Ben starts. "Keep listening to Jamie, doing what he says most of the time, keep studying hard, working hard on everything. Good education is essential to get out there in the real world and live up to all that potential you all have. Never sit there wasting time or your life away wishing, get the knowledge ya need and really show the world what you got. Show everyone the ability that you have and live a good life. Remember, nothing is worth having if you don't work for it. So get ya heads down and work, you'll thank me for it later."
Ben smiles as another round of applause comes from the crowd inside Oasis. Jamie disappears off camera and back to the laptop, cutting the feed back to him, and ending the house microphone sounds, just back to Ben and Jamie.
"Are you really sure you'll be alright to come in on Saturday?" Jamie asks.
Ben waves him off, trying to ease his concerns.
"Of course." Ben tells him. "I'll be perfectly fine. You worry too much mate. Today is my last treatment for the week. I'll be home in an hour or two, sleep for like 30 hours and feel proper refreshed. I sleep a fair old whack after these things so I'll be ok with it all. By Saturday, I'll be as right as rain. No problems at all."
"Alright." Jamie concedes "I'll let you get back to all that and I will see you Saturday."
"That you will buddy." Ben say with a warm smile. "Have a blinding day."
Jamie waves and nods his head before cutting off the camera feed.
ONCE MORE TO THE LAKE
Ben smiles down the camera as the he continues to sit in the boat on the lake.
"Thank God Wednesday was the last batter my body day of the week." Ben says with a warm smile. "I can handle it but you know, I'm glad it was done and dusted and I was back here on Wednesday night, sleeping in my own bed. As a wrestler, there's a couple of things you do appreciate. The people who support you and sleeping in ya own pit. All that travelling and stuff, you appreciate being able to crawl in to your own bed and having a comfortable kip. Wednesday night I did just that and slept till sometime yesterday afternoon."
Ben puts his hands together in a prayer like shape.
"It was heaven." Ben says with a smile. "And I felt so much better for it, I felt top of the world, amazing, brilliant and the truth be told, didn't feel a single side effect from anything and I sure as hell didn't wanna be cooped up in doors doing bugger all. Bar Harbor isn't a huge place, you can get around it with ease and there is a boozer or two around, obviously with a name like that and although drinking wasn't really on my mind, I needed to get out, I needed a giggle and believe it or not, there's a place around here that gave me just that."
THURSDAY NIGHT.
ImprovArcadia... The name should give it away on what kind of bar this is. You smart ones would have guessed it, it is indeed a comedy bar, famed for it's improv, a comedy art form made famous by a television show called Whose Line Is It Anyway, from many years ago. Improv was a strange thing, some people could be brilliant, others, not so much and buckled under the pressure, but the ImprovArcadia seemed to be more on the brilliant side.
At a small round table sat Ben Jordan, next to Evie Baang, his hand wrapped around a cold glass of water while Evie drank from a wine glass. The two near the front of the stage wait patiently for the show to start. Evie looks towards Ben, her hand reaching out to his on the table, causing him to turn his head towards her.
"Are you feeling ok?" She asks him with a concern in her voice that is rare from the SCW version of Evie.
Thankfully, this wasn't the SCW version of Evie.
"I'm fine love." Ben says as he looks at her. "You worry too much. If I was feeling a bit Tom and Dick, you'd be the first to know and we'll bugger off."
Ben looks at her with sincerity, he knew she worried about him, especially considering the recent bombshells about his health, but Ben knew his limits. He felt fine enough to be the designated driver for the night - Shut up Jamie, he can still drive, sorta!
"Look." Ben starts in an attempt to reassure her. "Let's be a couple of normal people tonight. Forget the illness, forget all that's going on, forget the lot, let's just be a couple of people out watching a comedy show, where you can spend the night trying to make them work harder when they ask for suggestions."
Ben smiles towards her, but the Aussie doesn't return his smile. She nods her head slowly.
"I do like doing that." She admits. "But if you feel ill."
Ben raises a hand to her.
"I will make sure you're told immediately." Ben reassures her.
Before the two can continue the conversation, a woman approaches them. It was a smallish kinda town, people were friendly, even if they were strangers.
"Hi guys!" The woman says. "I saw the announcement on the SCW show the other night. Congratulations."
Ben smiles politely while Evie's face remains blank.
"Thanks." Evie responds dryly.
"Appreciate it." Ben replies with a warmer smile.
"I would never have guessed it." The woman says to them.
"If you listen to most of the people around us, they'd claim they've known it all along." Evie says sarcastically, drawing a look from Ben, that seems to get her to lighten up. "But that's wrestlers, right?"
"I guess so." The woman responds with a smile. "How did you guys meet?"
FEBRUARY 2015
The camera focuses on to a busy room, people walk around in tuxedos and evening dresses at a charity event. People mingle with each other, talking various things but the camera moves to the side, showing a bar area, where a man in tuxedo sits on a stool, his elbows on the bar. The camera moves to his side to show him as a younger Ben Jordan, his hand wrapped around a glass of whiskey on the rocks. He picks the glass up and drains it within seconds before pointing to it again. The barman grabs a whiskey bottle nearby and fills it up once more.
"Feeling alright, sir?" The barman asks.
Ben looks up at the man and shakes his head.
"Not really son." Ben tells him. "The stuff I've had to deal with over the last few months has been horrible. I wouldn't wish it on anyone at all to be honest."
The barman looks at Ben with sympathetic eyes.
"We all have rough patches sir." He says to Ben, very much playing the role of the listening barman. "It's about how we respond to these things. You never know when your luck might change."
Ben picks up the glass, draining it again before pointing to it again. Right on cue, the barman pours another drink in the glass.
"I doubt it mate." Ben tells him looking at the glass. "In the last few months, my missus has packed her bags and pissed off to god knows where after I piss away thousands on a poxy engagement ring, just upped and left and I ain't heard from her since. Took all her clothes, important stuff and fucked off for no reason, which set my mind thinking she found someone else and didn't have the jacobs to tell me. I can no longer look at my own house because it's full of memories I really don't want. I've had to take time off from work to sort my head out, because it's a minefield in there. I now need to look for a new place and it sure as hell better be in some place hot."
"There's also nothing wrong with a fresh start." The barman muses. "Many have done this before and it's helped them out."
"I think I need a new life let alone a fresh start." Ben tells him. "Story of my life, things start rolling in my direction, then all of a sudden, the shit hits the fan and I'm standing underneath it."
Ben picks up the glass and looks deep in to the dark liquid.
"And this stuff probably ain't helping much either." He says to himself.
As Ben looks in to the glass, the form of a dark haired woman in a red dress comes in to focus and Ben blurs out. The woman stands talking to a man, her right hand on his shoulder, her left hovering over his drink. A slight splash can be seen as she nods her head and turns away, walking towards the bar when Ben is sitting. She stands next to him as Ben moves his arm, catching her accidentally on the wrist, causing the woman to grab his arm and twist it.
"Ouch!" He says as he struggle his arm away. "What the hell?"
The woman releases her grip and Ben looks at her properly for the first time.
"Someone a bit highly strung." He says to her. "Relax lady."
"Sorry." She says in a thick Australian accent.
"Most people tell me their name before trying to rip my arm off." Ben says with a half hearted smile.
"Evie." The Australian replies.
"Ben." Ben says introducing himself, putting out his hand for Evie to shake it.
Evie shakes his hand and looks at him.
"Buy ya a drink?" Ben asks politely.
"It's an open bar." Evie tells him with a roll of her eyes.
"I know." Ben tells her. "I didn't say I was gonna be paying but someone around here would be buying ya a drink."
Evie rolls her eyes at Ben and point to Ben glass.
"I'll have whatever the English guy is having." She says to him.
The barman adds a second glass next to Ben's and pours the whiskey in to it before moving it towards Evie.
"English guy." Ben says with a smile. "You got a good ear."
"I travel a lot for work." She tells him.
"And what work is that?" Ben asks her.
"International super spy." She says as she picks up the glass.
Ben looks at her and smiles before a laugh comes from his lips as he looks at her.
"The lady has jokes." He says with a smile
"Yeah." She says with an innocent smile. "Jokes. And what is it that you do?"
"I'm a wrestler." Ben says before trailing off. "Well, was a wrestler, I dunno what the hell I am now. I'm just a bloke who turns up at open bars and drinks whiskey to be honest. This ain't really my scene though. I'm more a pub and burger guy."
Evie looks behind her, seeing the man she was talking to a few minutes before starting to sweat profusely. She looks back at Ben.
"Well I happen to know a good place for that a little distance away?" Evie says as she glances over her shoulder. "Interested?"
Ben stands up, nodding at her.
"Best offer I've had today." He tells her.
The duo walk away as the man behind starts to clutch his chest, before falling to the ground.
LAST TIME BACK TO THE LAKE.... I PROMISE.
Ben lays back in the boat, his hands behind his head as he looks up at the blue sky.
"I really shoulda believed what she said back then..." He says tapping his chin.
He shrugs his shoulders
"See..." Ben says. "Bit of a crazy week, but now I've had a day or two to relax, it's time to focus on what's right in front of me. If this ain't living proof of being careful what you wish for, nothing is to be honest."
A half smile crosses Ben's face.
"This is definitely that, I can tell ya, but I'm not complaining about it at all. This is exactly what I asked for, better quality opponents." Ben says with an air of honesty. "I'm gonna be in the ring with one World Champion, two former World champions, not one, not two but three men who have held the belt everyone dreams of. Right now I am a current champion, but the truth is when you look at is as the casual fan, I'm the weakest in the match. Should I be nervous? Nah."
He waves his hand in front of him.
"I'm not even close to nervous, but bloody hell am I excited." Ben says with a full smile this time. "More than excited. I mean I got to go against Kris Ryans before, randomly, out of nowhere, very impromptu kinda match, ended in a draw but I think I did alright with that one, I think I actually shocked a few people with how decent I was in that ring. That don't happen too often cause what you see is what you get from me, and considering I'd been out of the ring for a bit, dressed in jeans and boots, the thought of wrestling not even entered my mind at any point that night and here I am with the top guy in the company seeing what I was doing. He could have been all bad and pulled a Salco, laughed at what I was doing, made fun of it for me being here for a while and never reaching the heights that he has, but did he do that? No, he reached out a hand."
Ben holds his hand up.
"He reached out a hand and he pulled me up." Ben says with honesty. "He pulled me in to the ring and he didn't take the piss out of me, he stood there like a man and pretty much said show me what you can do, show me you can be at this level, show me you're the man you want to be. He threw that ball at me when I least expected it and I ran with it, I showed him what I could do, I showed everyone what I could do. I could hang with the best of them. I give a lot of credit for that to Kris because at that point, he lit a fire under the #BenDeservesBetter thing, he did that and kick started the thing off proper to the point not even the poor attempts from Salco to hijack it could put out that flame, so to Kristopher Ryans, I have nothing but respect for, to Kristopher Ryans, all I can say is thank you."
Ben nods firmly.
"Thank you for lighting that fire." Ben says again. "Thank you for kicking me up the arse and getting me moving in the right direction that lead to a championship match with Jon Dough, which drove me on to be a better wrestler, that drove me on to be something better than I was."
Ben runs his finger across his lips.
"I owe you for that, but there's one huge difference between this time and the last time you pulled me out of a crowd." he says waving a finger. "The difference is I ain't showing up in jeans and boots, I ain't showing up with the thought of wrestling out of my mind, I'm showing up the complete opposite of that. I'm showing up ready, I'm showing up good to go, I'm showing up with this new mindset that you helped to create, that you helped throw in to my head... Be better than I was. See that night changed the way I thought about everything, changed the way I saw so many things, showed me that no matter what the challenge, I can handle it. You helped put that there, you put it right here."
Ben taps the side of his head.
"That's where you left it and that's where it stayed." Ben says moving his finger away. "This is why this match, this next big encounter is not gonna end up in a draw. I need to win this match to show people that I'm not past it, I'm not old, I'm just a normal wrestler that has the ability to light the world on fire and this is the perfect match to show just that. Kris, this is a much bigger challenge than you thought it would be, it's a much bigger challenge then you can imagine, cause I got everything to gain here and nothing to lose."
Ben nods slightly.
"I know I'm gonna get the best of you." Ben says firmly. "You're a pro, a slight injury is not gonna slow you down, it's not gonna make a difference in this match, people like Kris Ryans don't get ring rust at all, people like Kris Ryans could spend years away from the ring and come back somehow better. He defies the laws of life at times but I'm gonna put in everything I got to make sure at the end of this match, my hand is raised high above. This is the match I get to shut everyone up, with their old jokes, and the one last run bollocks. This is the one I show everyone exactly who I am, and that's by beating one of the greatest SCW World Champions their has ever been. If you hadn't got injured, I believe you would still be the World Champion now, no offence to your partner but you'd be hard pushed to find someone who doesn't agree that you'd have been the World Champion after facing Fenris."
Ben holds up his hands in front of him.
"No offence at all Fenris, but I think you know that too." Ben starts. "It's took a while, it's took a few sessions of you inviting yourself along to where ever I am to suss you out, but think I got it now. You're the kinda guy who uses the brash face to intimidate people, to stop people getting anywhere near ya, because I don't think you have as much confidence in yourself as you like to throw out there. Am I right?"
Ben shrugs his shoulders.
"Maybe it's to do with being in a country you're unfamiliar with so you have to try and mark your territory." Ben starts. "I too am a bloke from a distant land, a bloke from far away shores and I learned pretty quickly that American's do not take too kindly to antics like this, I mean think about it, it's a country with a lot of short tempered people that are allowed to carry firearms. The path you're going down Fenris, you'll be making a lot of enemies of people and this ain't the place to that. This is a country where you catch more flies with honey and not vinegar and this is a big damn country to be lonely in, put it that way."
Ben's look changes to serious.
"For your own good, stop driving people away. No one can make it on their own here, no one." Ben tells him. "It's friendly advice, and before you throw at me that you're the World Champion. You didn't make that on your own. You won a tournament with someone else helping you, you were guided by good people, people you seen intent on losing, and you won a match against a guy who had to beat others earlier that night. I respect you as a champion, but you can't sit there and pull of the I'm the best, I did it on my own bollocks because we both know that ain't true."
Ben sits up in the boat and looks down the camera.
"I respect that your undefeated, I respect you hold the title everyone wants." Ben says with a serious look. "I respect the fact that you can pull emotion from people but you as person, Fenris, well you on a personal level, as a man, you're making it bloody difficult for me to respect that. It's not my doing Fenris, it's your own and it's all about that ego of yours, all about thinking you're better when you're a rookie."
Ben brushes his hair back.
"That ego that drives you, is gonna be the same thing that makes you fall." Ben says with a calm shrug. "It's that ego that will have to burst at sometime, a mistake to be made when you think you should walk through people. This could be that very week Fenris when you sit there and think you should go through two people like me and Crimson. You might be sitting there thinking I ain't won a whole lot in terms of titles, so I'm not at your level after a handful of matches. It might have got in your head that maybe being as Tommy has lost to Kris in the past, and you cruelly feel you're the strongest one in your team that Tommy isn't a danger.... Also so very wrong. This could be the one match you take lightly and it turns out to be the one match that costs you that perfect record and it will all happen because in your head, you've already got it won."
Ben shrugs again.
"In this business, you never ever take that thought and let it run in your head." Ben tells him. "Because those are the times everything can and will go wrong for you. There's a reason Crimson attracts people like Drake back to SCW after a while, hell, I reckon J2H is still sitting there on Twitter thinking about returning to take on Crimson even though he ain't admitting it, because it's Crimson. There's a reason the fans got behind everything I said and did not too long again, a reason I'm fairly popular backstage, it's because my talents are actually respected, I'm respected Fenris. Writing us off for silly reasons could be your downfall. What lifts you up, will bring you crashing down mate."
Ben points up, then points down.
"That will happen this week." Ben tells him. "I know what's on the line here, I know what a win can give me and I intend to take it. I intend to step up my game and use every bit of energy I have to get the win here. I get the feeling the fans wanna see it Fenris just to snap you back to reality and you know me mate, I'm all about giving the fans what they want."
Ben smiles and nods.
"I think there's nothing more left for me to say to be honest, so I'm gonna invite every fan to sit back, relax and watch a main event style supercard match on a normal show." He says with a nod. "And I'm gonna invite you Tommy Crimson to look real close, cause you're about to see first hand that I'm not that past it fella you think I am."
Ben winks down the camera.
"Laters people." Ben says with a smile.
The camera moves up and away from Ben, the lake coming in to the shot more as the boat starts to look like a speck of down on the cool blue water, before the camera fades to black
"Hello people." Ben says with a cheery smile. "It's that time again. You should know how this all works by now, you've seen my mush on television long enough to know this is where I tell ya about what's been going on in my life this week, and throw back a story or two, then have a rabbit about my opponent, or in this case, opponents to tie things up nicely."
Ben pauses for a second.
"This week will be no different to be honest." He says with a sight nod. "None at all. It's not been the greatest of week to be honest. There no secret that I've been going through a fair bit lately, pushing my body beyond what most consider limits to get something sorted as quickly as possible. I'm not really one to sit around and wait for something that could be done early, but it's dangerous, risky, yet has to be done. It's wearing me out a little bit though, can't lie."
He takes a deep breath and sighs.
"It's been more than tough." He admits "Even Sunday felt tiring and all I did was sit there in a chair and talk away about what was going on. I know that leaves more questions than answers but I'm hoping you'll get a few more answers later in this promo thingy. I live in hope you do anyway. But as I was saying."
Ben sits up in the boat.
"Even Sunday was tiring." He repeats. "In fact it didn't take me long to even fall asleep. I fall asleep way too quickly these days since I've been forced to abuse my body with treatment. Problem is, those weird funky dreams keep happening to me. You know the one I spoke about the other week, where I saw me in a mirror, like the ACW version of me? It happened again on Sunday..."
SUNDAY NIGHT.
Climax Control 211 had been off the air for an hour, a lot of SCW stars were still loitering around the arena, signing autographs for fans, standing a smiling for selfies, doing everything SCW stars should be doing, others have already made their way back to the hotel for the night, or a local bar, not to completely mix with the fans, but to partake in alcohol to ease their weary muscles and to switch off from the pressures of being on a live show just a little while back. Ben usually would join the fans at bars, smile for the cameras, spend some time talking to people about wrestling but ever since he was diagnosed with this illness, Ben had been given permission to leave as soon as he was done, and by extension, so was Evie Baang from that very night. Christian and Mark, like everyone other than five people in this world, had heard the bombshell tonight that the two were married and even with Christian's heart of stone, he would not let Ben Jordan travel back to Maine for treatment without his partner. Both bosses knew the intensity of the treatment and allowed Ben to leave early, knowing the first thing tomorrow morning, he would be in a hospital bed, they wanted him to spend as much time as he could relaxing. Now it was out in the open about the relationship between Ben and Evie, neither bosses could deny allowing his wife to leave the arena early too, to be with her man.
Ben was already ready to go by the time Evie had started her match, but he waited, watching her defeat a challenger for her Bombshell Roulette championship, making small talk with many of his friends backstage to the pass the time, having off camera conversations with both bosses. Ben's well being was their concern, not just for the sake of the company, but because the many years of loyal service to SCW, they knew they could count on him on a professional and personal level. It didn't take Evie long to finish off Seleana and find her way backstage, taking just twenty minutes to shower, change and be in a car with Ben heading to the airport where Ben's private jet sat waiting on the small private airfield not too far from the arena. This is where we pick things up.
Ben looks up at the private plane, the steps slash door resting on the tarmac of the runway as the car Ben and Evie are travelling in stop a few feet away. Ben gets out of the card, followed by Evie and Ben grabs a bag from inside the car, throwing it over his shoulder.
"I can carry my own stuff." Evie tells him firmly.
"Yeah, but ya don't have to." Ben tells her. "Wouldn't be very gentlemanly for me to make ya carry it, would it?"
Before Evie can reply, Ben whistles and the face of Ben's akita dog, Bear, appears at the door of the plane, looking down at the couple. Ben leaps from the steps and down towards the couple, moving straight to Evie. Ben rolls his eyes.
"Charming." Ben mutters under his breath. "Back on the jumbo boy."
Bear looks towards Ben as Ben points to the plane and Bear runs back up the steps, followed by Evie and eventually Ben. Ben looks towards Bear.
"You know where to go." Ben tells his furry friend. "I'll come strap ya down for take off in a minute."
Evie puts her hand on Ben's shoulder.
"I'll do it." She tells him. "Sit and relax."
Ben nods at her as he turns away, leaving Evie to wander off. Ben reaches up, storing Evie's bag in an overhead compartment before sitting down on a seat, leaning it backwards slightly and reaching for his seatbelt, pulling it around himself and clicking it shut. Instantly his eyes start to feel heavy as he leans back in his seat, quickly drifting in to a dream state, where once again, he sees that familiar face of.... himself.
Ben stands in the dark space once more - if you don't know what I mean, you should really watch more promos, ain't all about you, you know! Anyway, yes, dark space, where he stands just facing a mirror.
"Oh bloody hell." Ben mutters. "Not this again. Anyone who actually watches this stuff, which is probably about three people, might think I'm going to the well too often."
Another version of Ben appears in the mirror, dressed in a suit and tie, smiles at the real Ben.
"As opposed to someone who every week listens to crap metal music, waiting for it to stop before demanding a title shot regardless of losing their last four matches?" Mirror Ben says. "I'm pretty sure you can get away with having a conversation with the same person a couple of times, if they could do that for years."
Real Ben shrugs his shoulders.
"You also haven't had a year or two's worth of promos set in a hotel room, or a steak restaurant, where every promo ends with a laptop being closed." Mirror Ben says with a wink. "Or started every promo with spliced in footage of the cameraman's work and not yours. You've not switched between face and heel constantly like some people on the roster too, so when ya think about it, having a chat with me twice in a couple of promos really ain't that bad."
"Well it's not like many of my fellow wrestlers watch these things." The real Ben says. "If it's not something to do with them, they don't care."
"And they wonder why they don't do better." Mirrored Ben says. "Their own fault. If they don't know the ins and outs of their own place of employment, their own problems."
"Oh but they like to fake it, claim they know the ins and outs of a ducks arse." The real Ben replies. "When it suits them."
The real Ben moves closer to his mirror image, looking at it closely.
"So why are you in my dreams this time?" He asks. "I mean I became the old ACW Ben, I won this title."
Ben looks at his bare shoulder.
"Ah crap!" he mutters to himself.
Ben clicks his fingers and the Roulette championship appears on his shoulder. Ben grins at the mirror Ben.
"It's a dream, I can get away with that." He tells his mirrored self.
"Actually true." The mirrored Ben replies "Although a nice cold beer woulda been better."
"Can't really drink at the moment cause you know." Ben says looking into the mirror. "So why are you here, I got this thing by being the old me for a change and beating a top guy."
"Couple of reasons if I'm honest." The mirror Ben tells him. "One, congratulations on winning that thing, I saw some of the old you in there, and by the old you, I mean me, I saw me in there. That determination, that hunger, that will to succeed on your own. It was good to be back in there."
"Thank you." The real Ben responds. "Second reason?"
"Second reason..." The mirrored Ben says. "Are you out of your bloody mind challenging Tommy Crimson? Like seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?"
The real Ben cranks his neck back, looking at the mirror in surprise.
"Whatcha mean?" He asks.
"Crimson is a lunatic." The mirrored Ben responds. "An absolute bowl of nuts and you wanna face him?"
Real Ben nods to his mirror counterpart
"That I do." He responds. "I wanna take on the best and he is the best around."
"Nothing to do with seeking revenge for Drake?" Mirrored Ben asks.
"Not at all comes the reply." Ben answers. "So many people sit on their arses and dodge the real challenges when they become champions. They have to deal with the likes of Caleb Storms demanding things that they shouldn't until they at least win a few matches. They have to deal with the entitled people who think they're better than they are. No one goes after the big guys when they're champs, no one steps out of their comfort zone, especially with this title. People with this title happily sit there and face the Storms and Acquin's of the world but I want better, I need better. Where's the credibility in accepting a challenge from people who don't win matches against normal people?"
"Again." Mirrored Ben says. "The guy is nuts."
"How am I meant to challenge myself against people like Storms?" Ben asks. "There is no challenge there at all. I need this against Crimson. It's not worth it unless you're taking on the best in the world. Storms in not the best in the world, never will be, Crimson is and will be until he chooses not to be."
Mirrored Ben shakes his head slowly.
"You're out of your mind." He tells the real Ben. "Respect for taking a chance but damn. All the people you could have gone after, you go after Crimson. Ah well, look on the bright side, at least you're on the same side this week."
The real Ben looks at the older version of himself in the mirror.
"Say what?" He asks curiously.
"Oh yeah." mirror Ben says clicking his fingers. "You don't know about that yet. Just keep one eye on him, he's more than a sick in the head kinda guy, he likes playing mind games and he will do so with you. Just be aware, he's as likely to attack you as he is anyone else."
"Still don't have a clue what you're banging on about." The real Ben replies.
"It's alright." The mirrored Ben says. "You're gonna wake up in a few seconds and Evie's gonna have her phone in her hand and tell you all about it. She'll tell you all about your match. Maybe you should wake up about... now!"
With that, Ben's eyes fire open. He turns his head to see Evie with her phone in her hand, reading a message from SCW, the standard card message. She turns her head towards Ben and looks at him.
"Ummm." She starts. "I've just seen the new card."
"And?" Ben mutters.
"You're facing Fenris and Kris Ryans." She says surprised. "And you're teaming with Tommy Crimson."
Ben frowns as he look out of the plane window.
"If only that man in the mirror could tell me the lottery numbers." Ben mumbles to himself.
BACK TO THE LAKE
The camera once again focuses on Ben face.
"I dunno how the bloody hell my dreams are ahead of real time." He admits. "Really have no clue but the man in the mirror did give me a heads up."
He shrugs his shoulders.
"But the problem is, I couldn't really focus on that match just yet." He says. "I had other things to focus on before that. Trust me, all this treatment has hit my body hard, and I do mean hard. It's pretty easy to feel a bit down when ya constantly getting prodded and poked all over the place. At least on Wednesday, I had some kinda cheering up..."
WEDNESDAY.
The sounds of machines bleeping can be heard, way too familiar sounds if you've spent even just a few hours in a hospital room. Everyone has at some point, even if it was to just visit a sick loved one, we've all been there hearing that repetitive bleeping of machines monitoring every aspect of the human body. The camera turns around to see Ben Jordan laying in a hospital bed, wearing nothing but a white gown. Wires attached to his chest can be seen, as well as an IV drip coming from his arm. Ben rests his head on his pillow as he lays alone in the room, his face looking years older than his current age. His phone rests on his stomach as he lays still. As the boredom creeps in, Ben picks up his phone and quickly taps away at the screen, hitting a contact on it and pressing call. He holds it to his ear as he waits for someone to answer at the other end. Eventually, a voice can be heard.
"Hey, this is Sam Marlowe." The pre-recorded message says. "Sorry I can't answer your call at the moment, but if you leave a message, I'll get back to you soon."
A bleep can be heard, indicating for Ben to leave a message.
"Alright ginge." Ben starts. "Thought I'd give ya a quick bell to catch up a bit, check in, see how ya doing. Caught the show again, being as I missed some things walking back up the ramp and all, and saw you're cleared to wrestle and back in action this week. Brilliant news, looking forward to seeing it happen. Things are alright over here, laying in that familiar hospital bed, scratching me arse cause I got nothing to do. Been a rough week already. Three days, and on my fifth treatment of the week. I know what ya thinking before you say it, yep it is a bit much and it's starting to kick the crap out of me, but it's my last one this week and I get to spend a few days recovering. God knows I think I need it to be honest. Anyway, hope ya well and all that studying is paying off, you'll be able to speak better Shakespeare than me soon.... Not that I speak that way, but apparently I'm mean to being English and all."
Ben smiles to himself.
"Anyways." He continues. "Take care and we'll catch up soon. Have a good un!"
Ben hangs up the phone and drops it back to his stomach. He looks around the room, twiddling his thumbs as he goes, looking through the window of the room, seeing nothing but sky from his position. He sighs deeply but his phone starts to buzz on his stomach, causing him to reach down and pick it up, looking at it. He smiles as he sees Jamie Dean's name appear on it, a Skype call and Ben quickly answers, seeing the face of Jamie on the camera.
"What up JD?" Ben asks.
Jamie looks at the picture on his own screen.
"You look like Ben, just like twenty years older." He jokes. "Time to buy you some anti aging cream."
Jamie smiles down the camera but Ben shakes his head.
"Ah piss off." He says with a smile on his face.
"Have I caught you at a bad time?" Jamie asks.
"Nah." Ben says with a shake of his head. "Just all chilled out in a hospital bed with the sounds of bleeps and things. I'm bored out of my skull to be fair. Evie's just popped out for a little bit. Hospitals are not her thing, so just me here."
"How ya feeling?" Jamie asks.
"Like I've been pulled through a hedge backwards and stark bollock naked." Ben admits. "Think it's started to catch up with me a bit. Five to six hits a week for the last three weeks is taking it's toll, but I recover quick on days off."
"Ben, I think you might be doing this a bit much." Jamie says with concern in his voice. "No normal person has this much treatment. This might be helping that problem but too much could cause other problems. No one should do it that quick."
"Well lucky for me I'm not a normal person." Ben says with a smile, trying to put a more positive spin on things. "I'm alright mate, I have tired moments, but like I said, recover quick and get myself back on it and ready to go again."
Jamie nods, unconvinced that Ben is being completely truthful about his physical health to him.
"It'll take a lot more than this to put me down." Ben tells Jamie with conviction. "Take a lot more to beat this guy, trust me."
"I believe that." Jamie tells him. "You're Ben Jordan."
"I'm Ben Jordan." Ben repeats with a nod. "Gonna take a lot to put me down mate. Wish someone would tell my body that, but it will take a fair amount to finish me off."
Jamie smiles warmly at his long time friend.
"It will. By the way, feeling better now you got that weight off your shoulders?" Jamie asks.
Ben nods, knowing exactly what Jamie is referring to.
"Yeah." Ben says with a nod. "Feel like things have been lifted, don't need to hide things anymore and we're at the point where if anyone claims the other is only there because of the other, they will become a laughing stock. Feeling good about it all."
"Great." Jamie says with a smile. "That's probably one of the longest secrets I've ever kept."
"Well you did a great job with that." Ben tells him. "I appreciate it."
"I got something to cheer you up actually." Jamie says with a wide grin.
"I don't wanna see that picture of you again like that." Ben says waving him off.
"It's not that." Jamie says with a frown, but the frown turns in to a smile. "That was a good picture though, showed my best side."
"No it wasn't and no it didn't." Ben replies.
Jamie holds up a finger.
"Just a second." He tells Ben.
"I ain't going anywhere." Ben replies with a smile
Jamie hits a button on the laptop he's using to speak to Ben and the camera switches around to Oasis, the club set up by Ben and Jamie to help homeless teens. The room is full of teenagers who clap at seeing a confused Ben on a big screen. Jamie appears in front of them all, a cordless microphone on his face.
"Can ya hear me?" He asks Ben.
"I can hear ya." Ben says confused. "What's going on?"
"Turns out the kids really wanted to see ya" Jamie tells Ben with a smile. "And we seem to have some whiz kids here when it comes to computers, who have come up with a way to broadcast this on a big screen, using the house speakers so that people can hear you. Throw in a couple of boom mics around and we got ourselves a live Ben in HD."
Ben shudders.
"Bloody scary to see." Ben says softly.
"Tell me about it." Jamie responds. "We can see your chest hairs and everything. Have you ever considered waxing?"
"Not even for a second." Ben replies. "How you guys all doing?"
A cheer comes from the club from the crowd of smiling faces, each happy to see the man who played a small part in putting a roof over their heads. Jamie took care of the day to day stuff with Ben's partial funding, but the group seemed to be very attached to the Englishman.
"I'm sorry I haven't been to see you guys there for a while." Ben tells him. "As you can see, I'm a little laid up here at the moment, I told Jamie to explain it to you guys, hopefully he did...?"
Ben watches the nodding heads in the club and smiles.
"Great." He tells them. "But this won't keep me down, trust me people. It's eye opening, believe me it is but it'll take a lot more than this to keep me down, and I will be seeing you guys again real soon. I'm flying in to California on Saturday morning. I'll swing by Saturday afternoon to see you guys before heading to the SCW show for Sunday."
Another cheer comes from the crowd, and claps from the teenagers.
"Sure that won't wear you out?" Jamie asks.
"Nah. I'm not flying in meself mate, the plane will do most of the work." Ben fires back with a smile. "I'll be perfectly fine. Just don't be throwing any kinda parties mate, I ain't got the energy for all that stuff. Just get everyone there so I can say hi to the lot of ya, without being in a hospital bed wearing this fashion nightmare."
Once again a laugh comes from the crowd, causing Ben to smile.
"Till I get a chance to be there guys." Ben starts. "Keep listening to Jamie, doing what he says most of the time, keep studying hard, working hard on everything. Good education is essential to get out there in the real world and live up to all that potential you all have. Never sit there wasting time or your life away wishing, get the knowledge ya need and really show the world what you got. Show everyone the ability that you have and live a good life. Remember, nothing is worth having if you don't work for it. So get ya heads down and work, you'll thank me for it later."
Ben smiles as another round of applause comes from the crowd inside Oasis. Jamie disappears off camera and back to the laptop, cutting the feed back to him, and ending the house microphone sounds, just back to Ben and Jamie.
"Are you really sure you'll be alright to come in on Saturday?" Jamie asks.
Ben waves him off, trying to ease his concerns.
"Of course." Ben tells him. "I'll be perfectly fine. You worry too much mate. Today is my last treatment for the week. I'll be home in an hour or two, sleep for like 30 hours and feel proper refreshed. I sleep a fair old whack after these things so I'll be ok with it all. By Saturday, I'll be as right as rain. No problems at all."
"Alright." Jamie concedes "I'll let you get back to all that and I will see you Saturday."
"That you will buddy." Ben say with a warm smile. "Have a blinding day."
Jamie waves and nods his head before cutting off the camera feed.
ONCE MORE TO THE LAKE
Ben smiles down the camera as the he continues to sit in the boat on the lake.
"Thank God Wednesday was the last batter my body day of the week." Ben says with a warm smile. "I can handle it but you know, I'm glad it was done and dusted and I was back here on Wednesday night, sleeping in my own bed. As a wrestler, there's a couple of things you do appreciate. The people who support you and sleeping in ya own pit. All that travelling and stuff, you appreciate being able to crawl in to your own bed and having a comfortable kip. Wednesday night I did just that and slept till sometime yesterday afternoon."
Ben puts his hands together in a prayer like shape.
"It was heaven." Ben says with a smile. "And I felt so much better for it, I felt top of the world, amazing, brilliant and the truth be told, didn't feel a single side effect from anything and I sure as hell didn't wanna be cooped up in doors doing bugger all. Bar Harbor isn't a huge place, you can get around it with ease and there is a boozer or two around, obviously with a name like that and although drinking wasn't really on my mind, I needed to get out, I needed a giggle and believe it or not, there's a place around here that gave me just that."
THURSDAY NIGHT.
ImprovArcadia... The name should give it away on what kind of bar this is. You smart ones would have guessed it, it is indeed a comedy bar, famed for it's improv, a comedy art form made famous by a television show called Whose Line Is It Anyway, from many years ago. Improv was a strange thing, some people could be brilliant, others, not so much and buckled under the pressure, but the ImprovArcadia seemed to be more on the brilliant side.
At a small round table sat Ben Jordan, next to Evie Baang, his hand wrapped around a cold glass of water while Evie drank from a wine glass. The two near the front of the stage wait patiently for the show to start. Evie looks towards Ben, her hand reaching out to his on the table, causing him to turn his head towards her.
"Are you feeling ok?" She asks him with a concern in her voice that is rare from the SCW version of Evie.
Thankfully, this wasn't the SCW version of Evie.
"I'm fine love." Ben says as he looks at her. "You worry too much. If I was feeling a bit Tom and Dick, you'd be the first to know and we'll bugger off."
Ben looks at her with sincerity, he knew she worried about him, especially considering the recent bombshells about his health, but Ben knew his limits. He felt fine enough to be the designated driver for the night - Shut up Jamie, he can still drive, sorta!
"Look." Ben starts in an attempt to reassure her. "Let's be a couple of normal people tonight. Forget the illness, forget all that's going on, forget the lot, let's just be a couple of people out watching a comedy show, where you can spend the night trying to make them work harder when they ask for suggestions."
Ben smiles towards her, but the Aussie doesn't return his smile. She nods her head slowly.
"I do like doing that." She admits. "But if you feel ill."
Ben raises a hand to her.
"I will make sure you're told immediately." Ben reassures her.
Before the two can continue the conversation, a woman approaches them. It was a smallish kinda town, people were friendly, even if they were strangers.
"Hi guys!" The woman says. "I saw the announcement on the SCW show the other night. Congratulations."
Ben smiles politely while Evie's face remains blank.
"Thanks." Evie responds dryly.
"Appreciate it." Ben replies with a warmer smile.
"I would never have guessed it." The woman says to them.
"If you listen to most of the people around us, they'd claim they've known it all along." Evie says sarcastically, drawing a look from Ben, that seems to get her to lighten up. "But that's wrestlers, right?"
"I guess so." The woman responds with a smile. "How did you guys meet?"
FEBRUARY 2015
The camera focuses on to a busy room, people walk around in tuxedos and evening dresses at a charity event. People mingle with each other, talking various things but the camera moves to the side, showing a bar area, where a man in tuxedo sits on a stool, his elbows on the bar. The camera moves to his side to show him as a younger Ben Jordan, his hand wrapped around a glass of whiskey on the rocks. He picks the glass up and drains it within seconds before pointing to it again. The barman grabs a whiskey bottle nearby and fills it up once more.
"Feeling alright, sir?" The barman asks.
Ben looks up at the man and shakes his head.
"Not really son." Ben tells him. "The stuff I've had to deal with over the last few months has been horrible. I wouldn't wish it on anyone at all to be honest."
The barman looks at Ben with sympathetic eyes.
"We all have rough patches sir." He says to Ben, very much playing the role of the listening barman. "It's about how we respond to these things. You never know when your luck might change."
Ben picks up the glass, draining it again before pointing to it again. Right on cue, the barman pours another drink in the glass.
"I doubt it mate." Ben tells him looking at the glass. "In the last few months, my missus has packed her bags and pissed off to god knows where after I piss away thousands on a poxy engagement ring, just upped and left and I ain't heard from her since. Took all her clothes, important stuff and fucked off for no reason, which set my mind thinking she found someone else and didn't have the jacobs to tell me. I can no longer look at my own house because it's full of memories I really don't want. I've had to take time off from work to sort my head out, because it's a minefield in there. I now need to look for a new place and it sure as hell better be in some place hot."
"There's also nothing wrong with a fresh start." The barman muses. "Many have done this before and it's helped them out."
"I think I need a new life let alone a fresh start." Ben tells him. "Story of my life, things start rolling in my direction, then all of a sudden, the shit hits the fan and I'm standing underneath it."
Ben picks up the glass and looks deep in to the dark liquid.
"And this stuff probably ain't helping much either." He says to himself.
As Ben looks in to the glass, the form of a dark haired woman in a red dress comes in to focus and Ben blurs out. The woman stands talking to a man, her right hand on his shoulder, her left hovering over his drink. A slight splash can be seen as she nods her head and turns away, walking towards the bar when Ben is sitting. She stands next to him as Ben moves his arm, catching her accidentally on the wrist, causing the woman to grab his arm and twist it.
"Ouch!" He says as he struggle his arm away. "What the hell?"
The woman releases her grip and Ben looks at her properly for the first time.
"Someone a bit highly strung." He says to her. "Relax lady."
"Sorry." She says in a thick Australian accent.
"Most people tell me their name before trying to rip my arm off." Ben says with a half hearted smile.
"Evie." The Australian replies.
"Ben." Ben says introducing himself, putting out his hand for Evie to shake it.
Evie shakes his hand and looks at him.
"Buy ya a drink?" Ben asks politely.
"It's an open bar." Evie tells him with a roll of her eyes.
"I know." Ben tells her. "I didn't say I was gonna be paying but someone around here would be buying ya a drink."
Evie rolls her eyes at Ben and point to Ben glass.
"I'll have whatever the English guy is having." She says to him.
The barman adds a second glass next to Ben's and pours the whiskey in to it before moving it towards Evie.
"English guy." Ben says with a smile. "You got a good ear."
"I travel a lot for work." She tells him.
"And what work is that?" Ben asks her.
"International super spy." She says as she picks up the glass.
Ben looks at her and smiles before a laugh comes from his lips as he looks at her.
"The lady has jokes." He says with a smile
"Yeah." She says with an innocent smile. "Jokes. And what is it that you do?"
"I'm a wrestler." Ben says before trailing off. "Well, was a wrestler, I dunno what the hell I am now. I'm just a bloke who turns up at open bars and drinks whiskey to be honest. This ain't really my scene though. I'm more a pub and burger guy."
Evie looks behind her, seeing the man she was talking to a few minutes before starting to sweat profusely. She looks back at Ben.
"Well I happen to know a good place for that a little distance away?" Evie says as she glances over her shoulder. "Interested?"
Ben stands up, nodding at her.
"Best offer I've had today." He tells her.
The duo walk away as the man behind starts to clutch his chest, before falling to the ground.
LAST TIME BACK TO THE LAKE.... I PROMISE.
Ben lays back in the boat, his hands behind his head as he looks up at the blue sky.
"I really shoulda believed what she said back then..." He says tapping his chin.
He shrugs his shoulders
"See..." Ben says. "Bit of a crazy week, but now I've had a day or two to relax, it's time to focus on what's right in front of me. If this ain't living proof of being careful what you wish for, nothing is to be honest."
A half smile crosses Ben's face.
"This is definitely that, I can tell ya, but I'm not complaining about it at all. This is exactly what I asked for, better quality opponents." Ben says with an air of honesty. "I'm gonna be in the ring with one World Champion, two former World champions, not one, not two but three men who have held the belt everyone dreams of. Right now I am a current champion, but the truth is when you look at is as the casual fan, I'm the weakest in the match. Should I be nervous? Nah."
He waves his hand in front of him.
"I'm not even close to nervous, but bloody hell am I excited." Ben says with a full smile this time. "More than excited. I mean I got to go against Kris Ryans before, randomly, out of nowhere, very impromptu kinda match, ended in a draw but I think I did alright with that one, I think I actually shocked a few people with how decent I was in that ring. That don't happen too often cause what you see is what you get from me, and considering I'd been out of the ring for a bit, dressed in jeans and boots, the thought of wrestling not even entered my mind at any point that night and here I am with the top guy in the company seeing what I was doing. He could have been all bad and pulled a Salco, laughed at what I was doing, made fun of it for me being here for a while and never reaching the heights that he has, but did he do that? No, he reached out a hand."
Ben holds his hand up.
"He reached out a hand and he pulled me up." Ben says with honesty. "He pulled me in to the ring and he didn't take the piss out of me, he stood there like a man and pretty much said show me what you can do, show me you can be at this level, show me you're the man you want to be. He threw that ball at me when I least expected it and I ran with it, I showed him what I could do, I showed everyone what I could do. I could hang with the best of them. I give a lot of credit for that to Kris because at that point, he lit a fire under the #BenDeservesBetter thing, he did that and kick started the thing off proper to the point not even the poor attempts from Salco to hijack it could put out that flame, so to Kristopher Ryans, I have nothing but respect for, to Kristopher Ryans, all I can say is thank you."
Ben nods firmly.
"Thank you for lighting that fire." Ben says again. "Thank you for kicking me up the arse and getting me moving in the right direction that lead to a championship match with Jon Dough, which drove me on to be a better wrestler, that drove me on to be something better than I was."
Ben runs his finger across his lips.
"I owe you for that, but there's one huge difference between this time and the last time you pulled me out of a crowd." he says waving a finger. "The difference is I ain't showing up in jeans and boots, I ain't showing up with the thought of wrestling out of my mind, I'm showing up the complete opposite of that. I'm showing up ready, I'm showing up good to go, I'm showing up with this new mindset that you helped to create, that you helped throw in to my head... Be better than I was. See that night changed the way I thought about everything, changed the way I saw so many things, showed me that no matter what the challenge, I can handle it. You helped put that there, you put it right here."
Ben taps the side of his head.
"That's where you left it and that's where it stayed." Ben says moving his finger away. "This is why this match, this next big encounter is not gonna end up in a draw. I need to win this match to show people that I'm not past it, I'm not old, I'm just a normal wrestler that has the ability to light the world on fire and this is the perfect match to show just that. Kris, this is a much bigger challenge than you thought it would be, it's a much bigger challenge then you can imagine, cause I got everything to gain here and nothing to lose."
Ben nods slightly.
"I know I'm gonna get the best of you." Ben says firmly. "You're a pro, a slight injury is not gonna slow you down, it's not gonna make a difference in this match, people like Kris Ryans don't get ring rust at all, people like Kris Ryans could spend years away from the ring and come back somehow better. He defies the laws of life at times but I'm gonna put in everything I got to make sure at the end of this match, my hand is raised high above. This is the match I get to shut everyone up, with their old jokes, and the one last run bollocks. This is the one I show everyone exactly who I am, and that's by beating one of the greatest SCW World Champions their has ever been. If you hadn't got injured, I believe you would still be the World Champion now, no offence to your partner but you'd be hard pushed to find someone who doesn't agree that you'd have been the World Champion after facing Fenris."
Ben holds up his hands in front of him.
"No offence at all Fenris, but I think you know that too." Ben starts. "It's took a while, it's took a few sessions of you inviting yourself along to where ever I am to suss you out, but think I got it now. You're the kinda guy who uses the brash face to intimidate people, to stop people getting anywhere near ya, because I don't think you have as much confidence in yourself as you like to throw out there. Am I right?"
Ben shrugs his shoulders.
"Maybe it's to do with being in a country you're unfamiliar with so you have to try and mark your territory." Ben starts. "I too am a bloke from a distant land, a bloke from far away shores and I learned pretty quickly that American's do not take too kindly to antics like this, I mean think about it, it's a country with a lot of short tempered people that are allowed to carry firearms. The path you're going down Fenris, you'll be making a lot of enemies of people and this ain't the place to that. This is a country where you catch more flies with honey and not vinegar and this is a big damn country to be lonely in, put it that way."
Ben's look changes to serious.
"For your own good, stop driving people away. No one can make it on their own here, no one." Ben tells him. "It's friendly advice, and before you throw at me that you're the World Champion. You didn't make that on your own. You won a tournament with someone else helping you, you were guided by good people, people you seen intent on losing, and you won a match against a guy who had to beat others earlier that night. I respect you as a champion, but you can't sit there and pull of the I'm the best, I did it on my own bollocks because we both know that ain't true."
Ben sits up in the boat and looks down the camera.
"I respect that your undefeated, I respect you hold the title everyone wants." Ben says with a serious look. "I respect the fact that you can pull emotion from people but you as person, Fenris, well you on a personal level, as a man, you're making it bloody difficult for me to respect that. It's not my doing Fenris, it's your own and it's all about that ego of yours, all about thinking you're better when you're a rookie."
Ben brushes his hair back.
"That ego that drives you, is gonna be the same thing that makes you fall." Ben says with a calm shrug. "It's that ego that will have to burst at sometime, a mistake to be made when you think you should walk through people. This could be that very week Fenris when you sit there and think you should go through two people like me and Crimson. You might be sitting there thinking I ain't won a whole lot in terms of titles, so I'm not at your level after a handful of matches. It might have got in your head that maybe being as Tommy has lost to Kris in the past, and you cruelly feel you're the strongest one in your team that Tommy isn't a danger.... Also so very wrong. This could be the one match you take lightly and it turns out to be the one match that costs you that perfect record and it will all happen because in your head, you've already got it won."
Ben shrugs again.
"In this business, you never ever take that thought and let it run in your head." Ben tells him. "Because those are the times everything can and will go wrong for you. There's a reason Crimson attracts people like Drake back to SCW after a while, hell, I reckon J2H is still sitting there on Twitter thinking about returning to take on Crimson even though he ain't admitting it, because it's Crimson. There's a reason the fans got behind everything I said and did not too long again, a reason I'm fairly popular backstage, it's because my talents are actually respected, I'm respected Fenris. Writing us off for silly reasons could be your downfall. What lifts you up, will bring you crashing down mate."
Ben points up, then points down.
"That will happen this week." Ben tells him. "I know what's on the line here, I know what a win can give me and I intend to take it. I intend to step up my game and use every bit of energy I have to get the win here. I get the feeling the fans wanna see it Fenris just to snap you back to reality and you know me mate, I'm all about giving the fans what they want."
Ben smiles and nods.
"I think there's nothing more left for me to say to be honest, so I'm gonna invite every fan to sit back, relax and watch a main event style supercard match on a normal show." He says with a nod. "And I'm gonna invite you Tommy Crimson to look real close, cause you're about to see first hand that I'm not that past it fella you think I am."
Ben winks down the camera.
"Laters people." Ben says with a smile.
The camera moves up and away from Ben, the lake coming in to the shot more as the boat starts to look like a speck of down on the cool blue water, before the camera fades to black