Prologue:
Jack seemingly suffered a setback at Climax Control two weeks ago. A rare lethargic showing caused Jack to lose a non-title match to Senor Vinnie, which raised some questions and doubts about Jack, but maybe raised the stock of Vinnie more in the eyes of the fans and management. People have been quick to pile onto Jack and give him grief about not only the loss, but expressing doubt about his ability to defend the title at Into the Void against the hall of famer, Goth. Goth has been very vocal, and it caused Jack to retort last week on Climax Control. Now with the war of words growing, Jack must focus and not fall even further, as he defends the Internet championship against former Roulette champion Bill Barnhart, and if Jack isn’t focused this week, he won’t even have a match at Into the Void, and will walk away with nothing.
Outside the ring more than likely contributed to Jack’s downfall as he got very drunk in celebration of his win, and the hangover and celebration seemed to last forever. Jack however also questioned his decision to get rid of Benny, but Brian assured him it was the right thing to do for the sake of the Casino, and the bad deals made by Jack. Perhaps it was guilt, perhaps it was shame, but Brian’s words seemed to soothe Jack over for the time being. Now with the championship in toe, and Jason now in control of the Casino, he seemingly has bigger plans for Jack, and the talk continues to head towards expansion. Jack doesn’t really have any idea what type of expansion Jason is talking about, but the Washington’s seemed primed to take a little slice of Las Vegas for themselves. --
Grand Flamingo Hotel
Las Vegas, NV. Jack took the staff elevator up to the crow’s nest where Brian and Jason were already seated. Jason was peering at the security cameras and Brian sat going over documents relating to the casino. Jack entered, and Brian simply glanced in his direction and Jason turned his head, nodding at Jack, who sat down. The three sat in silence for a few moments before Jason turned away from the cameras and stood up, looking at the Casino floor from the overhead view.
Jason: This is pretty sweet.
Jack: I take it you’re enjoying things?
Jason: So far.
Jack: That’s good.
Jason: Still have some big ideas we need to talk about.
Jack: Yeah, something about getting our name out there.
Jason nodded, turning back to Jack, before sitting back down at the table.
Jason: But first, I think there’s some house cleaning we have to do.
Jack looked at Jason confused, not sure what he was referring to.
Jack: What do you mean?
Jason: There’s one guy I don’t trust here. I never had ever since I started.
Jack: Somebody giving you trouble?
Jason: No. But I just don’t get a good vibe from him, and I know sooner or later, he’s going to fuck something up and we’ll have to get rid of him.
Jack: Well, don’t play the pronoun game, who are you talking about?
Jason looked at Brian for a second, and then back at Jack.
Jason: Danny Anderson.
The name coming from Jason didn’t ring a bell. Jack seemed even more confused. After all, he didn’t know every single employee here, just a handful. The people who mattered. This name wasn’t anything to Jack.
Jack: Who?
Jason: Quiet dude, doesn’t talk to anybody. Just sit there and does his job.
Jack was still lost, until Brian finally answered his question.
Brian: The commish’s kid.
Jack finally got it, and he shook his head.
Jack: Oh, him. Yeah, we... we can’t get rid of him.
Jason looked very confused, almost offended that Jack had told him no. He stared at his brother, almost bewildered.
Jason: What? No, bro. We have to get that dude out of here. He’s no good. He’s going to bring the whole place down. He creeps out the people down there.
Jack: I don’t care. He’s important.
Jason: I thought I was in charge.
Jack sighed and rubbed his face.
Jack: You are, Jay, you are. That’s not what this is about.
Jason: We don’t have any bad shit going on anymore, man. We’ve got nothing we need to hide. The kid is going to drive away customers.
Jack just shook his head.
Jack: No.
Jason: What’s the commissioner going to say about what we do here, bro? Nothing. He’s got nothing.
Jack sighed again.
Jack: Jay, I didn’t see it at first either. Trust me, I had this exact conversation with Brian about that kid. I didn’t want to hire him, and I saw exactly what you see. Okay? You’re not wrong. I’m not telling you that you are wrong, or going over your head. I’m telling you that for this particular thing that you want to do, we just can’t.
Jason was growing more and more impatient about this.
Jason: And why the hell not?
Jack: Because that keeps powerful people off our back. That kid being here, he makes a lot of things less difficult. That way we don’t have people snooping around here.
Jason: We don’t have anything to hide.
Jack: We did just send Benny on a permanent vacation.
Jason sighs himself.
Jack: And I’m pretty sure some people are going to be very curious about how that happened, why it happened, and why you’re suddenly in charge. That’s why we haven’t done an official announcement yet.
Brian: Stick has a point, Jay.
Jason angrily sighed, but he accepted this, for how long would be a better question to ask.
Jason: Fine, fine. I can’t believe you guys won’t let me have any damn fun. I’m running a damn casino and I can’t have any fun.
Jack: This can be very fun. Watching these poor suckers lose their money is something that can be very fun.
Jason: You know what else is fun?
Jason quickly turned back to the security cameras and motioned for Jack to join him there. Jack stood up and walked over, peering over Jason’s shoulder.
Jason: Catching people cheating.
Jason pointed to the camera as Brian also stood up and took notice.
Jack: How do you know?
Jason: Watch.
Jason is quick to see that two men are signaling to each other and counting cards. Jack and Brian both take notice of this as well.
Brian: Jay’s got a good eye for this shit.
Jack: He does.
Jason: Now, can I deal with it, or are you gonna tell me no on that?
Jack and Brian both looked at each other, and then at Jason.
Jack: Have fun, Jay.
Jason smile grew as he radio’d down to the floor manager.
Jason: Earl, I have a couple of runners on 2nd base down at pit two.
Earl: Roger.
Earl, a large bald man begins to direct traffic and it blends into the flow of the casino. Slowly, Earl moves his men into position. Jason gets on the radio again.
Jason: I’m going to need the B-day special.
A few seconds later, at another table, several waitresses and waiters bring a large cake out to the floor, heading to one of the dealers, who is obviously in on what’s happening. He feigns surprise. There is laughing and signing for the dealer. Offering up a distraction.
Jason: Whenever you’re ready, Earl.
Earl’s people move in, and soon in all the confusion and distraction. The cheater signaling is zapped with a taser. He goes down, and security is already conveniently there to assist him. The other cheat realizes this and quickly exits his table, heading to cash out. The tasered cheater is carried away. Jason smiles to himself and turns to Jack and Brian.
Jason: Now, I’m going to really have some fun. Want to see?
Jack: I don’t think it would be good for me to be there.
Jason: Suit yourself. You can watch from the backroom camera.
Jason grabs the radio and speaks one last time.
Jason: I’ll be down in a minute, ensure the second runner is thrown out at home.
Jason seems to have some pep in his step as he takes the staff elevator down to the floor, and then walks around to the back area. The cheater in the back room is held down by the four security guards as Jason makes it to the room.
Jason: Well, I didn’t think we’d have somebody try and take this place for a lot of money.
Cheater #1: I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about man!
Jason: Right. Of course, you don’t. I must have made a mistake. Well, let me just make sure.
Jason signals to the security.
Jason: Empty his pockets.
The cheater is strip searched, and several signaling devices are found. Jason shakes his head.
Jason: We’ve seen you. And we’ve seen your buddy. So, I guess the first question is, what hand do you write with?
Cheater #1: What?
Jason: Are you left-handed, or right-handed?
Cheater #1: Why?
Jason: I’M ASKING THE FUCKING QUESTIONS! I ASKED YOU A SIMPLE ONE!
Jason is right up in the man’s face, and has a manic look on his face.
Cheater #1: Right... right-handed.
Jason: See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?
Cheater #1: No.
Jason makes another signal and the man’s right hand is CRUSHED by several swings from one of the security guards with a lead pipe. He crumbles to the ground, holding his hand and groaning in pain.
Jason: Guess you’re going to have to learn to do things left-handed from now on, huh?
The door opens and the second cheater is brought in.
Earl: He was trying to cash out.
Jason: Thank you.
Cheater #2 sees his partner is an obviously large amount of pain, and Jason’s none-too-happy expression.
Jason: I’m going to give you a choice. You can keep that money, and as payment, we’ll take both your hands, or you, and your piece of shit friend here, can walk out. You can’t have both.
Cheater #2: I just want to leave.
Jason: That’s a wise choice. Don’t ever try and fuck me in my casino, you understand that?
Cheater #2: Yes, sir, I’m so sorry.
Jason: Give me the money.
The second cheater wisely hands over the money.
Jason: I find one fucking cent is off and you tried to pocket it just now, I will take every single fucking appendage you have.
Cheater #2: It’s all there! I swear!
Jason: Good. Don’t ever fucking come back here. If I catch you in here again, with a fake beard or some other shit, you will lose more than everything. You understand? You may think you have one of those forgettable faces, but right now, I will spot you from a mile away. You understand?
Cheater #2: Yes, yes sir!
Jason: Get the fuck out of here.
The second cheater gathers up the first cheater, but then he is whacked in the back of the leg with the pipe sending them crashing to the ground.
Jason: HURRY UP!
The two cheaters muster the strength to finally leave. Jack and Brian have been watching the whole time on the camera. They look at each other, a bit taken aback by Jason’s extreme approach.
Jack: He takes this seriously.
Brian: That’s what you need. Now those fucking guys won’t come back. They will become nothing. Because they know. They had their moment of glory, and now... they’re just happy they’re alive.
Jack: Yeah, no shit.
--
On Camera:
Click. We are once again with Jack in his home, sitting on his couch, the Internet championship draped across his lap. Instead of his usual scowl, Jack seems almost bemused, while still annoyed, as he begins.
Jack: It just seems everybody wants to run their mouths about me these days. It’s getting almost sad with the number of pathetic attempts to rattle me, or get my attention or, basically just to troll me at this point. It’s seriously sad. I mean, my god, Goth, a grown man, who calls himself Goth, figure that one out... the point here is this man is tweeting me and making awful threats and now all of a sudden, he’s pumped up. He’s pumped up and ready to fight me, because a couple of weeks ago, I had a moment of weakness.
I did. I can admit that. Unlike a lot of these chumps around here, I can raise my hand and say, I fucked up. Because I did. I did not take Senor Vinnie as serious as he probably should have been taken, and because of that, he got a win over me. A fluke win, but a win none the less. And that, is on me. I fucked it up. I didn’t do what I knew I was capable of, I got a little lazy, I had a little bit of a championship hangover no doubt in my mind. But that’s just what happened. I had that moment where I let a win slip through my fingers and I have to deal with the consequences. I messed that up and I was weak.
But rest assured that I will learn from that, as I have learned from all losses. Everyone who gets one over on me, I learn, and I adapt, and I get better. I mean, I’m still only 26 years old. I haven’t even reached my peak as a pro wrestler and I am already light years ahead of these scrubs and would-be legends. I am only going to get better, I don’t think people really understand that, because I am wise beyond my years. I have done more in half the time as some of these buffoons. So yeah, there’s going to be moments where I slip up. Although I am amazingly talented, sometimes, there a lapse in concentration and things happen.
People have been praying on my downfall since day one. The moment where I fall so that they can call me kid and say shit like “You gotta pay your dues.” and other stupid bullshit so they can sound wise. But the truth is they aren’t. They aren’t, and they never will be. And because those moments are so few and far between, those people get mad, they get pissed because I back up all the shit I talk. They act like I owe them respect. And I don’t owe them a god damn thing.
And then I get what I’m getting now. The hate, the snide comments. But they hate me, because they ain’t me. That’s just the way it is. As much as they want to throw out the tired cliché's and try to act like they can one up me, they know they can’t. Matt Knox, Vinnie, Alex Jones, Ken Davison, Kris Ryans, the list goes on and on. And now Goth has joined that list. I’m just going to real with you Goth, get your shots in now, because at Into the Void, I’m giving you all that work back, and I will make you regret ever calling my name like you really wanted this work. Jack’s eyes shift down ot the championship as he takes it in his hands, looking at it and smirking for a brief moment, before his serious demeanor returns.
Jack: But, anyway, I have to move forward because this week, the champ is one again in the main event, where I belong mind you, as I courageously defend my Internet championship against Bill Barnhart. I almost forgot the man even worked here still. I was honestly drawing a blank because that’s what I think of when I hear the name Bill Barnhart. Nothing. Empty space. I don’t think of anything. And why is that, Bill? Why is that I just think of nothing? Because that fits you to a T. You are nothing. You were nothing before, you are nothing now, and you will be nothing in the future. You’re really not a part of this franchise’s big picture moving forward, really, your services aren’t really required, and neither are your wife’s. Like, there must be a glitch in the pay system or something that you still show up and get paid. There must be. There is no other plausible explanation for your continued employment.
Wait, don’t tell me, Bill, you were Roulette champion once, yeah? You held that championship up until recently, yeah? See, I know who you are, my guy. I’m not completely blanking on you. The name just tells me all I need to know. You just have one of those names. You just have one of those face, you’ve just had one of those careers. You’ve done one thing in your entire life you can brag about. And really, it went largely unnoticed. That must suck. It must absolutely suck to you. It must suck to know that for as long as you have been here and consistent as you have been, you’re going at level one and you will always be at level one. It must be painful to know that this is pretty much as far as you will ever go in your career. I wouldn’t know, because I don’t have that problem. I went straight to the top, and this right here, currently is just a minor pit stop before I’m right back up there where I belong.
But I get it. I get you Bill. You’ve got a wild hair up your ass now because you saw me fall. You’re just going to be another shit bird who thinks that now is the time to strike because you saw that. You think that I’m vulnerable right now because I have people coming at me from all sides because quite frankly, I’m a bigger target than the world champion. That’s what people like me do, Bill. They make what they have more important than it was. Who gave a shit about the Internet title before I won it? People have cared about this championship since the bum-ass Cowboy had it a while back. I have instantly made it relevant again. And you think I’m just going to let you walk in and take it from me? You are sadly mistaken Bill, but that’s what people like you think. That’s level one thinking. Jack points to his head to emphasize the point before continuing.
Jack: Now, I’m going to level with you, Bill, this is probably going to be the one and only time that you get a chance like this. We both know it, and while you can sound as confident as you want, you know deep down that this is nerve wrecking for you, and you know even deeper down that I’m going to beat your ass and you have about a snowball’s chance in hell of beating me. Because you are simply not on my level. So, I can see the hamster wheel in your head turning. You’re going to pull out all the stops, throw caution to the wind because you’re going to want to show everyone that you are actually better than everyone knows you are. You want to dream big and punch above your weight class. It would be almost comical, but you, you actually believe that. You actually think that you have an actual chance to beat me and take this championship from me.
Son, I don’t allow anything to be taken from me without a fight. And this is a fight, you cannot win. But, I tell you what I’m going to do for you, Bill. I’m going to humor you. I’m going to give you the chance to showcase exactly how good you are. Because that’s what I want. Normally, I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about how good you think you are, With the mood I should be in, this wouldn’t last 30 seconds before I laid your ass out in the ring, and either pinned you, or made you tap out. I would CRUSH you like a bug, Bill. I would take out every single ounce of frustration and aggression on you and leave you regretting every poor life choice you have ever made. That’s what I would do, and maybe it’s what I should do, but I am looking around and I understand that I have to be the real champion around here and life you up to a level you will never reach again. The fucking cowboy is giving old men their last dances with glory and trying to act like some kind of... savior or something. That’s not me, Bill. You and I? We’re going to do something special. Well, okay, “we” is a strong word. “I” am going to do something special and I will make you better than you ever were, for a small amount of time, on Sunday night.
I’m going to go to the ring with this championship around my waist, and I will give you the chance to dance with the lights on bright, and maybe in the end, people will have a little more respect for you than what little they have for you now. I’m going to give you the chance to shine, and let you feel what it’s like to be in the ring with the face of this franchise. I have to lift you up, Bill. That’s what people in my position do. What born leaders like myself do. So, I’m going to give you a once in a lifetime opportunity, Bill. And once that is all over, once that time has passed, I want you to do something for me.
I want you to treasure that shit, because it will NEVER happen again. Jack’s face is a serious as a heart attack. He shakes his head and scoffs, placing the championship again across his lap before he finishes up.
Jack: I will build you up, and I will break you down like you were a fucking tent. You understand me, Bill? You will be thanking me at the end of the day, but let’s just face the facts, once your time is up, and I’m done humoring you, I will dismantle you and I will beat you and I will retain my championship. I will make the world stand up and take notice of you for a fleeting glimpse, Bill, and then I will take it all away and leave you with nothing but the memories of how you got your ass beat, and much like all these other people who try and bring me down, you’ll just be added to the list. A pile of broken pieces of trash that I gave their chance to shine, and took it away. You can choose to be two things here Bill, you can be bitter like so many others have been, or, you can be grateful for me doing exactly what I say I’m going to do. What you do is your choice, but at the end of the day, you will know what it’s like to be in the ring, with greatness.
I will give you a small glimpse of great, and then you will head back down to level one and start all over again. It’s just that simple. You will be humbled, Bill. I say what I mean, and I do what I say. Maybe in the future, you will rise to level two after you take a look back at all I have given you. But you will not be taking this championship from me. Because I know you got that wild hair making you think you got this, and this is the time to go for broke, but the reality is, this is the time for extreme caution, and for you to pay attention to how a true champion conducts his business.
That, of course, is provided things go smoothly. Now, if you get another wild hair up your ass and decide you want to get all froggy and try and jump, and you want to act like you really want this work, then your night is going to end real quick. I’ve been trying to be nicer around here, Bill, they say I’ve got a bad attitude. Don’t make me pull it out and beat the ever-loving shit out of you and leave you a broken shell of a man who will only make his wife disappointed with how pathetic he looked. You just play ball, and everybody wins. You decide to fuck it up... it will be the last mistake you ever make.
Don’t try me, Bill. Just fucking don’t. I will see you Sunday, and I will make you more than nothing for a brief moment in time. You will thank me on Monday. Jack shoos the camera away with his hand, as we fade to black.
Click. Face. Of. The. Franchise.
