BFTP - vs. Goth and Candy
#OOC - I’ve used Mikah, Whisper, Kim Pain, and Renegade with their handler's permission.
“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged”
― Heinrich Heine
Life is full of twists and turns. One minute you are on top of the world and that next thing you know, you’ve hit rock bottom. Just one of my many observations from the top of the mountain. I am the standard-bearer for Sin City Wrestling. It’s the reason I make appearances in other companies. Part of the reason anyway. I like the interactions with the other talents from around the globe. It’s given me a chance to do a lot of cool things. I wear the Sin City World Title to those events. I like to talk about this company at those events. It does a couple of things for us. It increases our viewership and if someone is tired of their boss's shit, they have asked me about my home company. Just as importantly, it allows me to recruit potential members of Oblivion. We’ve toyed with the idea of expanding the oblivion brand. We might start establishing new chapters of Oblivion in these other companies. I know that would really rub Jones, and the Wolf’s Lair the wrong way. Especially when we’ll be doing it the right way instead of the way he did it.
This is part of the reason that I signed up with Chris Page. The opportunities he provides would take considerably more time to cultivate and the end results are amazing. To be clear, Chris is my agent, not my manager. Some would say that it’s semantics but not when your agent has just as active a career as I do. He’ll step in as he did at The Denzil Porter Invitational when Amber couldn’t make it. He fought alongside me, Ken Davison, and Kyra Johnson. We may not have won that match, but it was an even playing field. That’s something that has always been important to me. That’s how you get the best out of people. That is what leaders do. The most important takeaway from last week though would be my second title defense since beating Alex Jones. In Sin City, I am currently undefeated, and that is my focus, I will continue to grind and get better. That is what champions do, they do everything they can so that they are never surprised by the ability of others.
With all these kids coming in to challenge me, my health is my top priority. That means more cardio and more agility training. It’s something that I’ve been working on for the last several months. The reason is simple, I love being at the top of the food chain around here and I’ll continue to do whatever it takes. This title is mine, and it’s going to stay mine until I get tired of it. It doesn’t matter who you are in this company. When you try to take what’s mine, you’ll pay the price. I’m not selective about who I beat the hell out of. When you come for the title, that makes you my enemy, that’s never a good spot to be in. Arrogant? Maybe, but until someone here can pin me, it’s nothing but fact. Think about that for a moment, we are three months into the year and no one yet has pinned me. Think Goth can? Not hardly, he had the opportunity to do that last year and failed. If it’s between the two of us, then our victory is sealed.
{The Oblivion Garage - Las Vegas, NV - “The Apology”}
[8 A.M. Thursday]
None of the rebuilding had begun yet, the chill of the air causing goosebumps to form on my bare arms as I walked from my bike to the entry point of the garage. Even though the debris had been cleared out, there was still a heavy smoke smell. I was still very angry about this, not the garage but what happened within it. The garage was just a building after all. The fact that they tried to hurt my wife, and knowing that she went back in after that title belt. That was the real hot point for me. It was amusing to me that Dominic Del Gado had agreed to meet me here. He would likely bring some of his thugs with him. Certainly wouldn’t be the first time that someone thought they could get the drop on me. Likely wouldn’t be the last either. Especially after my appearance in XWF last night. The look on Theo Pryce’s face was priceless. I had made my way into the office and sat in the office chair. The same chair that Amber had been seated in when they came here. I looked down at the floor for a moment and saw a zip tie that I must have missed previously. I scooted the chair back and leaned only far enough to pick it up. I raised back up and leaned back in the chair.
I sat there, thinking about the last Sin City show and what my wife did to Ari, it was like a blast from the past. Literally. I had not seen her act like that in a lot of years. She had spent so much time trying to escape her reputation for violence, I often wondered if that had a place in her heart anymore. It obviously did, she really fucked Ari up bad, and rightly so. We are not the kind of people that you want to stick your nose in our business. We have no issues breaking that nose and sending you home to cry to your mom like a bitch. My phone buzzed a text message from one of my people.
One week ago today
I’d gotten the message from Senor Del Gado that his son would be in Las Vegas to apologize to me personally instead of through a messenger or a text. I had been helping veteran groups for most of my career, and I had made a few friends doing that. The group that I was having breakfast with was from Baltimore. If you’ve never served, you wouldn’t understand the dynamic. These were people I could call and they’d be on the next plane to wherever I was. It was rare to find that kind of loyalty in this world. These folks were all medically discharged from the military, grievous injuries had caused them to have an early exit. Jodi was a striking blonde-headed woman that I had served with, in Puerto Rico. Cold as ice, a marksman after a fashion. What she really was, well, a sniper might be the nicest way to put it. Ralph was the Marine Corp Gunny, IED got him in Afghanistan, he wore a prosthetic leg. Bubba was a special kind of crazy. He was actually, clinically insane, had been a tunnel rat in the Army. Frank was the saltiest of the bunch, he had been a lieutenant commander in the Navy. He was a Navy Seal and one of the baddest dudes on the planet.
They were all my brothers and sisters and I loved them dearly for their sacrifice. As we sat around the table, as was the custom, Frank raised a glass to our fallen, and we returned that salute with a shot of jack daniels. With all that out of the way, it was Jodi that spoke first. “So, what’s the deal, Mac?” A straight shooter and a no-bullshit kind of woman. I paused only long enough to take a deep breath. I told them the story of how the garage had burned down and the men behind it. They all looked at me and in unison, “We’re in.” I smiled and nodded my appreciation to them. “I only ask one thing, no fatalities this time, okay?” A collective sigh from the group was heard. “You got it, Mac,” Jodi said to me with a smile. Why did I not quite believe them?
Present Day
“HE’S HERE”
I stood up and went out into the garage, or what was left of it. I expected Dominic but instead, it was his father. “Good morning, Senor,” I said very politely. He responded in kind, “Ah Senor Bane, very nice to see you again.” I nodded, I had zero respect for this piece of shit but I had to see how this played out. “I do hope you left your men at home this time,” I said in a friendly voice. He nodded his head, “That was our agreement when my son refused to come.” My phone buzzed with the message,
“HE’S GOT HALF A DOZEN MEN WITH HIM.”
I smiled and then continued, “You wouldn’t lie to me would you?” He tensed a bit and his eyes gave him away. “Senor Del Gado, do not attempt to reach for your weapon or to signal your men.” I glared at him defiantly. I walked up to him and reaching inside his jacket found the holstered weapon. I relieved him of that and the knife that was in a belt holster with the knife on the inside of his waistband. “Tsk, tsk, Senor,” I smiled again as I threw the weapons away. I looked at my phone again and the message came in:
“ALL CLEAR”
That message from Jodi meant that her team had disarmed his men. I disarmed myself and rolled up my sleeves leveling my gaze on a man that was roughly five years older than myself, perhaps 7 at the most. He returned a defiant look to me, “I’m not scared of you, Bane. I’ve never met one of your kind that could actually fight.” I almost laughed as he said it. “Del Gado, you are a fool.” He tried to connect with an inside-out crescent kick that missed the mark badly. In turn, with him off balance, I kicked the other leg out from under him, causing him to crash to the unforgiving concrete floor. I dove on top of him and once I got on top of him, I straddled his chest, pinning his arms under my legs. I started raining down hard right hands, first to the nose to blind him and then to the mouth. It’s pretty tough to beg for forgiveness or at least a cease-fire with a broken jaw. “Now then, Senor, you are going to get in that chair and we’re going to have a little fucking talk. Understand?” He nodded to me as I got up. He went to the chair and sat down heavily. A man thoroughly defeated or at least that was the vibe he was trying to give. Using zip ties much like his son and his men did to Amber, I zip-tied him to the chair. Hands and feet now secure, I squatted down in front of him.
“You see, slick, you tried to take everything away from me. This garage is a thing, but it’s a thing that my wife and I built up together. It’s a part of our hearts. When your son and his goons zip-tied my wife trying to leave her there to burn in that fucking fire. They tried to cut my heart out, do you have any idea what that is like to know that someone tried to take something you loved away from you?” I patted him none too gently on the side of his face, where I knew a very broken jaw lay underneath. He of course squirmed and grunted in pain. “Now, there’s a good boy. I told you not too long ago that for trying to hurt one of mine, I would have put two of yours in the ground, didn’t I?” He nodded his head slowly, probably hoping I wouldn’t hit him again. “So, you thought you’d come here and get the jump on me and kill me to get away from the price you must know is coming.” Again, he nodded slowly and his eyes went from defiant to fear. “See, old man, when I was in the Navy, I was a part of forward operations. I would later be trained in torture techniques. I laughed as I said. “Not only was I good at it, I fucking enjoyed that work.” He began struggling against his bindings and that made me laugh even harder.
“I’d say if you knew how to escape from the zip ties you’d have already done that. You need to understand that when I owe you a receipt, I’m damn sure going to pay it back.” I stood back up and looked around, “Hey Mac,” came the call from one of the women that I work with when there is a need. “Hey Jodi,” I called back. “We got these scumbags tied up, what do you want us to do with them?” I smiled down at Del Gado, “I need about five more minutes with the Senor here and then we’re going to cut them loose.” There was a pause there and then a laugh, “Alright Chief, your call.” She said it over her shoulder as she walked away. I dug his cell phone out of his pocket, like most arrogant pricks, he didn’t even have a password on his phone. So I dialed the number of Dominic which he had labeled as “dumbass”. “Now there’s some fatherly love right there.” I chuckled as Dominic answered the facetime call with video. “Dominic, my man, how’s life?” There was no answer at first, then he realized it wasn't daddy calling. “You son of a bi..” I cut him off, “Is that the same mouth you kiss your mom with, boy?” He stopped in mid-sentence as I squatted down next to his father. “Now then Dominic, I’m sure you recognize dear old dad.” His eyes went wide. “I thought so.”
“What is your intention,” he asked. I countered with, “What was yours when you hired local goons to burn down my business and kill my wife?” I didn’t let him speak and I continued to come at him hard. “If you ever step foot in Vegas again, I’ll fucking kill you for fucking with my family. Am I clear?” He nodded his head, “Now then, what I told your dad not long ago was that if you hurt one of mine, I’ll put two of yours in the grave. Who do you think is my next target?” I ended the video call and took out my buck knife. “Senor, this is your lucky day. I’m feeling generous today and you get to live. Do not come at me or my family, if you do, I’ll kill every last member of yours. Understood?”
He nodded again as I cut him loose and watched as he tried to stop and pick up his weapons. “Don’t do that, I’ll mail them to you,” I said in a voice that was probably a little too amused. He froze and then continued out to where his men were.
Fade.
{Hell’s Gate - Junction Colorado - “The Grind”}
I had only landed just a few hours earlier, the air in Colorado was brisk, to say the least. I made my way into the facility to find Mikah already there. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was displeased, hands on her hips, glaring a hole right through me. I shrugged it off and approached the very aggravated partner of mine with a smile. “Hi Mikah, hope the flight was okay.” Her stance didn’t change as she continued to glare at me. “Okay, I’ll ask, what’s the problem?” She started by taking a deep breath, that was the red flag for what was about to go down. Taking her hands off her hips, she casually crossed one arm across her chest and then brought her hand up to her face. Tapping on her lips she began, “Oh, now that’s not a short list, Mac.” I braced myself for the barrage that she had been waiting to unload on me. I changed my mental focus to whisper and felt her calming effect.
Mac, she’s a pampered princess, a tough one but loves her comforts.
“It’s cold as hell here, Bane!” She said in a way that was loud and clear that she wasn’t happy. I nodded, “Yes Ma’am it is. It’s Colorado and it’s March.” I realized too late my mistake, interrupting her rant was not a good thing. “The food here sucks, that town is terrible..” she continued on with a long litany of things she didn’t like about the location she agreed to. I waited until she was done this time not interrupting her to allow her to get it off her chest. At points she had reached an almost screeching level to emphasize how displeased she was.
“Feel better?” I asked her in my most friendly voice, must diffuse the situation, voice that I could muster under the unrelenting assault. She stamped her right foot and started to rail again but then stopped. “A little?” I smiled and paused for just a moment, “Good, ready to get to work?” She had a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and finally relaxed. “At least the dojo is good, and Kim has always been really tough, I’ve faced her before in other places.” That made me laugh and I agreed with her. “Kim is one of the best, and a great training partner,” I said as I bent down to pick up the bag I had dropped earlier. “I’ll be right back, I need to go get changed. I made my way to the locker room and quickly changed into my training gear. She was waiting as I came out of the locker room, “Today I thought we’d train with Rene and Kim.” She nodded as we walked, “Wait? Who’s Rene?” I chuckled and pointed across the room at the smiling big man. “That is Rene to his friends for everyone else, He’s the Renegade.”
“He’s freakin huge,” she almost whispered. “He is and hits like a truck,” I said with my voice full of levity to try and keep things light. “Why is it that I think you enjoy that?” She said in a nonchalant way. “It’s a reminder for me that I’m still alive. Pain is a great teacher and motivator.” She stopped walking to consider that, “I’ll accept that,” she quipped at me. “Thank you ma’am.” I said in return, causing her to wrinkle her nose at me. “Ma’am? Really?” I threw up my hands in mock surrender, “It’s the way I was raised, to be polite and respectful until they give you a reason not to be.” She looked at me, like she was seeing me for the first time. “Don’t be shocked Mikah, my mother was a good woman and that’s the way she raised me.” That finally seemed to break her foul mood and she laughed a bit as we made our way towards the practice ring.
We took our time, stretching exercises, as is required before taking something like this on. When I took my shirt off and turned to toss it near my bag, she spotted the tattoo. “That’s beautiful, who did that for you?” I smiled, “Maria, she’s associated with Whisper and the dojo.” “Does it have a special meaning or was it just because?” I smiled again, “It has a very special meaning to me and to the others here, they all have similar tattoos. Whisper calls us her Arch Angels.” She seemed to think about that for a moment. “So, you’re a stable or a cult or something?” That question caused me to erupt in laughter. “No ma’am, we are none of those things. We are family, we take care of each other and on occasion, we bring justice to those who deserve it.” I nodded over at Rene, “Isn’t that right big man.” His only response was a nod of his head and a smile.
“Okay Partner, you feel like your loose enough and ready to go?”, I asked her and she nodded her head. “Just remember, we don’t pull punches here, put everything you’ve got into this and all of it will come out during our match.” There was an evil glint in her eyes as we stepped up onto the ring apron. Needless to say, I felt really good about our match at Climax Control. Very good indeed.
Fade.
{The Gospel According to Mac.}
My training in Colorado was completed, Kat was on the mend and my partner had impressed the folks at Hell’s Gate. It had damn sure been a good week of work. In between Mikah bitching about the cold, the town, and the lack of places to eat that were good enough for her advanced pallet. Now I stood in front of the cameras with a half-smile on my face. I was dressed in blue jeans, a white brush popper button-down, and my traditional black boots and skull cap.
Thanks to Mikah we are moving on to the next round, it was her that got the pin on Kat. What I had wanted most was to be the one that made the pin on Cross. That didn’t happen but we progressed in the tournament. I had watched Goth and Candy win their match, I wasn’t surprised. He was determined and in her own special way so was Candy. They are the next challenge in front of us. I’ve made it known in the past that I have a ton of respect for Goth. Hall of Famer, Sin City alumni, and someone I always thought should be in the main event scene in this company.
I slide the skull cap off, and remove the ponytail holder, allowing my shoulder-length hair to flow freely. I shake my head in disgust or dismay or hell maybe it was both.
Your partner, Candy. My dear sweet Candy. You are the epitome of what it means to be bright, beautiful, and a shining example to children. You love glitter and rainbows and probably unicorns too. Unfortunately for you, I just don’t see any of that in the match we are scheduled for being relevant. Did you know Candy that you are one of the few people I go out of my way to be nice to? You and Despy have been among my favorites for a long time. Both are good kids, both a little gullible but you are really an exceptional person. In this match, none of that will matter one damn bit. After you and Goth won, you went around telling anyone who would listen that you and he were the best team in the company. You can’t possibly believe that. Can you? Nah, it must be my imagination.
I look down at my boots and the ruffling of my shirt is heard as rough hands stroke the starched material.
All that being said, I won’t be in the ring with you. You’ll be in the ring with one of the baddest women on the planet. As sweet a person as you are, we all know that Mikah is the polar opposite. She doesn’t even like it when people like her. That in and of itself is admirable. Amber and I are very similar when it comes to that. One less person that likes me? Cool, one less person to worry about pissing off. I really don’t have to try that hard to do that. Every morning when I wake up, I know that I have the same group of haters as when I went to bed. On a good day, I’ve gotten a couple of new ones. People like you and Goth, to a lesser extent, worry about shit like that. You worry about whether people like you. You wondered why someone faked an injury. Shit that’s easy, they wanted you to feel guilty. They wanted you to think that it was your fault. The only thing that was your fault was the fact that you believed that lyin’ assed bitch. You’ve got to learn Candy, do not trust anyone.
Ever.
It’s Goth that draws the short straw for this match. Chris, why do you suppose it is that they won’t allow you a shot at the title? It’s not a lack of ability or presence. I don’t know if you pissed off the bosses or if they just don’t think you have it anymore. I know differently though, I faced you last year in a one-off match and we took each other to the limit. I guess my biggest question for you is, when are you going to stop being a doormat for them? That’s the way they treat you. You get treated like you’re some kind of damn enhancement talent. That’s gotta hurt my man, all that ability being blocked by the men who own the company. They put you in the mixed tag division, but why? You could challenge for any title in the men's division you wanted to. You allowed them to control your narrative. Sounds to me like you lack confidence in yourself, or maybe it’s as simple as a lack of self esteem. There’s a lot of that in this company and in this industry. All these losers on social media, “Poor me, wahhh”, such a load of crap.
I exhale explosively through my nose and I look up at the camera.
I hope I know you well enough to know that you will bring your best to this match. There should be no doubt about that. There is though. Every time I watch your proms, there’s no sauce behind that. Of all the originals for this company that I’ve faced, you should be walking with a swagger. You should be daring motherfuckers to take a shot at you. You don’t do that though. I guess I’m down to the question…Why do you bother though? We already know you can’t beat me. You’ll never challenge for the world title through this tournament. I mean, fuck man, Cross couldn’t get it done and he had won this whole damn thing two years running. At this point, everyone else should just pack their things and go home. I will not let my foot off the gas until Mikah and I are done winning this thing. Now, that is something you bet on and win in Vegas. I know that Mark Ward is probably praying to every God he can think of. Whether it be the old gods or the new ones. He’s praying that you and Candy can get the job done so he doesn’t have to admit what we all already know.
That Mikah is his favorite bombshell. He will say it after we win this tournament and send everyone else home depressed and dejected. It’s simply what we do. So, neither of you should take this personally, but we are gonna whip your ass.
