[Guns For Hire]

 The scene opens up to the morning after Climax Control, the crowning of new champions, Guns For Hire accomplished the seemingly unthinkable by defeating Jon Dough and Aaron Matthews. However those who dare to believe saw those beliefs come to fruition. Landon Axel slowly opens his eyes, blinking viciously as he lifts his hand up to cover the raise of the sunlight; he manages to slowly sit up to see the aftermath of the night before. Beer Bottles and cans scattered everywhere, the hotel room he was staying in completely trashed, he looks down to see that he is completely naked apart from the SCW Tag Team Championship wrapped around his waist. Landon notices that lying next to him are two completely naked women, he smiles and begins to nod his head in achievement but he grabs hold of his head in hangover pain. A bang of the door is heard as Landon gingerly gets up and opens the door. Ethan Brody stands there wearing his usual getup of leather jacket, black t-shirt, denim jeans bandana and a pair of his shades. Ethan pulls his glasses of his face and looks his partner up and down.

Ethan Brody
For fuck sake put your god damn pants on!

Landon looks down and puts his hands on his waist.

Landon Axel
What’s the matter? Not liking the angle of the dangle?

Ethan shakes his head before slamming his fist against the wall. Landon jumps out of his skin, putting one of his hands on his forehead, exhaling in pain as he stumbles back and rests against the back of the sofa. Ethan steps inside to see the state of the room, as well as the naked women on his bed, the women smile towards Brody as they crawl to the side of the bed.

Naked Woman
LA, you didn’t tell me your friend was hot.

Landon looks over to her

Landon Axel
How do you know my name?

Ethan smirks

Ethan Brody
Listen, sweetheart, lovely chatting but my colleague and I need to discuss a few things.

Landon Axel
Forgive him, he’s British, all ‘Proper’ and all that. Why don’t you girls stay and we can continue where we left off.. I think.

The women look towards one another and laugh

Naked Woman
It’ll cost you double and last night wasn’t exactly great.

The two woman pick up their clothes and head towards the door, smiling towards Brody as they carefully brush against him, Ethan glares at Landon who walks over to the sideboard and pulls out some pain killers. The door clicks shut behind Ethan as Landon swallows a couple of pills.

Landon Axel
What happened last night?

Ethan points towards his waist, Axel glances at him before looking down, he slaps the main plate of the tag team championship belt.

Landon Axel
No, I know that. I meant afterwards? It seems to be all of a blur.

Ethan points towards the door and then with both hands Ethan shows the beer bottles around the room.

Landon Axel
We must of partied hard last night, I don’t even remember picking those girls up, why did you leave?

Ethan Brody
I didn’t leave, Landon, I never came here as I didn’t leave the arena until late.    

Landon looks perplexed.

Landon Axel
Why did you stay in the arena?

Ethan Brody
I needed to see if the saviours were lingering somewhere, you know how they work Landon, they can be sneaky and I wanted to see if I could say hello and talk.

Ethan slams his clenched fist into his open palmed hand, clicking his fingers in the process.

Ethan Brody
I do not forget, Landon, I won’t let this lie until I get even.

Landon stretches his arms out, yawning, unclasping the championship belt and allowing it to clatter to the floor. He walks over to his clothes and notices his wallet laying on top, open, he reaches down and checks it before looking up in complete shock.

Landon Axel
I don’t believe it!

Landon rushes towards the door, swinging it open and stepping outside, the two women had disappeared but a scream can be heard coming further down the hallway. Landon turns towards the screamer, looking very apologetic as he covers himself up with his hand.

Landon Axel
Sorry!

Landon steps inside and slams the door shut.

Landon Axel
I just got robbed! They took all my money!

Ethan steps forward and picks the championship belt up, brushing the main plate with his sleeve, Landon sits on the bed with his head in his hands.

Landon Axel
They even took my coupon for McDonalds!

Landon looks at Ethan with a serious look on his face

Landon Axel
Why would they do that?

Ethan walks over and drops the championship belt next to Landon.

Ethan Brody
I suggest you clean this place up, get your gear and lets head out of here, oh by the way.

Ethan opens the door.

Ethan Brody
Put your fucking pants on.

Landon Axel
You’re not going to help?

Ethan snorts

Ethan Brody
You’re a big boy, of sorts, you can put your own pants on.

Landon Axel
No, I meant help cleaning up, It’s like a bombsite in here.

Ethan smirks as he heads out of the door, allowing the door to slam shut; Landon leans back on his bed and closes his eyes as the scene fades away to black.

The scene reopens to the sight of Ethan Brody, standing at the back of the Edge Nightclub in Reno Nevada, he had witnessed all the goings on from the successful ACW Heavyweight Championship defence to the disturbing Jamie Dean promotional video, but the three people he had wanted to make an appearance didn’t show. The Saviours. Ethan stands in the shadows so the fans can’t get a clear visual but in his hands is a rusty steel chair, wrapped with Barbed Wire, he grips hold of it tight in anticipation. even at the end of the show and the fans begin to file out. Ethan waits until the entire nightclub is empty before taking a wild swing with the chair into the seating area. Walking out of the nightclub in utter frustration of not seeing them, chucking the chair into the boot of his car, jumping into the car and slams his fist into the padding of the driver’s side door. Brody switches the ignition and pulls away as the scene fades away to black.

The scene reopens with Ethan Brody sitting at one of the tables in his establishment, a bottle of brandy next to the ashtray, a cigarette perched between his two fingers as he takes a long inhaul from it. Landon Axel sniggers as he lifts his phone up and quickly snaps a picture. Ethan turns around and glares at his tag partner.

Ethan Brody
What are you doing?

Landon Axel
Nothing..

Landon begins to type away on the phone.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
Landon Axel here... Ethan is pissed that I've made this

Landon Axel
I lied, I’ve just created a twitter account for you.

Ethan Brody
you, what?

Ethan gets up as Landon begins to type.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
He's trying to get my phone

Ethan grabs a hold of the phone and begins to yank the phone from Landon’s grip

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
dgafdxhc dsgadzx[

Ethan looks down at the profile, seeing the picture he had taken just then and the statues he’d just posted, included the jumbled up post from the phone yanking.

Landon Axel
I was thinking this would help you, everything is going the way of Social Media, might as well jump on the bandwagon and get Ethan Brody’s name out there.

Ethan Brody
You’re not going to have control over this, LA, log off and log me in on my phone.

Ethan throws Landon’s phone towards him before reaching into his trouser pocket and placing his phone in front of Axel. Landon begins to type on his phone.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
I'm now forced to give the account over to Ethan, it's been fun Twitter, peace out! - L.A.

Landon logs out of his phone, grabbing Ethan’s and begins to download the application, Brody sits back down and takes a swig from his glass as Axel finishes logging into his phone and chucking it towards Brody. Ethan catches it and looks down, flicking through the application and begins to type.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
I have no idea why LA created this, but it looks like social media has gained another soul, I'll post on here every now and again.

Landon Axel
You should of hash-tagged.

Ethan looks up.

Ethan Brody
What?

Landon Axel
Hashtag, you know, hash-tagging?

Ethan shrugs his shoulders in a non-caring fashion.

Landon Axel
it marks key words like you should of put hashtag gained another soul, all one word, or hashtag clueless.

Ethan begins to type away on his phone.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
I don't fully know why LA is telling me to "hashtag", he should hashtag himself, and why this space only capable to fit 140 characters?

Landon glances down and nods his head.

Landon Axel
Fine.. was only trying to help!

Ethan begins to type away again.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
Getting ready for SCW tag match against the roulette champion and former two time SCW heavyweight champion, Brother Grim and Goth. 1 m or 2?

Landon Axel
It’s two M’s..

Ethan sighs.

Ethan Brody
look, I’m trying to figure this out, I wanted to do one which seemed off key and maybe get someone to message me back.

Landon Axel
It’s tweets and they’re called responses.

Landon shakes his head in annoyance.

Landon Axel
It’s like teaching my dad about technology!

Ethan Brody
You created this so I’m going to utilise it, for now..

Ethan looks down at the twitter screen

Ethan Brody
Why do people so the ‘AT’ symbol, you know, the ‘A’ with a circle around it?

Landon Axel
It links their profile to a post, so your ‘@’ is @ExileEthanBrody that’s why you hashtag and ‘@’ people.

Ethan acknowledges what Landon says with a simple nod of the head. Ethan begins to type several statues one after another.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
Self advertisement but I'm participating in @APWefed Survive and Conquer on the 26th, Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. 20 man rumble match

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
It'll take some time getting use to this '@' business

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
Self Advertising again but I'm currently representing @SCWrestling1 with Landon Axel. Currently their Tag Champions, 2014 is the year of GFH

Ethan looks up at Landon, who is also looking at his phone.

Ethan Brody
I am doing this shit right?

Landon Axel
Welcome to the newest way to communicate with practically anyone! You should hashtag Guns for Hire and see if we trend

Ethan looks up very confused.

Ethan Brody
‘trend’?

Landon Axel
Yeah, trending means it’s like the most talked about thing, most popular things hash-tagged on twitter. If we start a Guns for Hire, or GFH, we may start a mini-trend in the Nevada area at least!

Ethan Brody
This is getting complicated now.

Landon Axel
How so? You seem to be doing fine. Once you learn the basics you’re on your way!

Ethan glares at him before typing on his phone.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
Trending #GunsForHire or #GFH ...What the hell is "trending"? Have I "hashtagged" correctly? ...what happened to well-written messages?

Landon Axel
That status just showed how old you are!

Ethan Brody
I’m getting old, Axel, I was happy with email but you’ve started all this now! Oh look I’ve got followers, SCW has messaged about me.  

Sin City Wrestling ‏@SCWrestling1
Ladies and gents, go follow Guns For Hire member and current SCW tag champ, Ethan Brody. @ExileEthanBrody

Landon Axel
Look at that, you’ll be fine, Twitter can be a fun place to read what is on the mind of competitors. A good insight.

Ethan looks at a tweet sent straight after SCW’s, from another promotion, Ethan looks slightly confused and begins to message them back. After a short conversation he stops and places the phone down.

Ethan Brody
I’ve been touted by another promotion, Landon.

Landon Axel
Yeah, that might happen, good insight into wrestlers mind sets but also a breeding ground for scouts and poachers.

Ethan Brody
Like I just said to Drake Green and JJ Dixon, I’m getting paid by Mark Ward and the SCW, if they discussed fees then perhaps my interest would be more lucrative.

Landon Axel
Did they ask about me? Since we are a double act?

Ethan doesn’t respond, taking a long sip from his drink, Landon places his phone away.

Landon Axel
I’m going to take that as a yes, hurts less than the truth, I’m happy in SCW Ethan. I think we can do well here.

Ethan takes a drag from his cigarette and puts the butt out in the ashtray.

Ethan Brody
you’re not believing the ‘hype’ built around us, are you? The next team to fulfil the legacy of Sinful Obsession?

Landon Axel
Why not? We’re a good team and we’re capable of defeating anyone on our day!

Ethan Brody
We could be like Jon Dough and Aaron Matthews, one hit wonders, these championships haven’t had the greatest of luck since the reign of Blood Omen. Sure Giani and James had a good long run but I don’t recall them defending them against tough opponents, like Sinful Obsession or Blood Omen. We need to beat Dough and Matthews in the rematch but more importantly defeat Brother Grimm and Goth this week at Climax Control!

Landon Axel looks at Brody, nodding in agreement.

Ethan Brody
Get that camera out and lets do the online video thing, post it to the forums and youtube, perhaps Twitter to let the fans see our thoughts. Yeah?

Landon pulls out the handheld camera and sets it up, perching it on the counter to get the view of Ethan and enough space for himself to stand beside him, Landon presses record and walks behind Brody to stand next to him.

Ethan Brody
The first show of 2014 ended with the crowning of new champions, myself and my partner Landon Axel became the new SCW Tag Team Champions, a title which doesn’t seem to have much meaning amongst the company. Lethal Lottery pairings seems to be the only way to gain new champions and it doesn’t seem right. The Tag Team Championships are the most valuable commodity in any promotion, no matter how global or local you are, the name of being called ‘champion’ means you’re the best in what you do, it doesn’t mean passing it along like a used needle amongst junkies! We will bring balance and order to these championships, rumours are circulating that Matthews and Dough will indeed get a rematch, for that I say let the battle commence. This week will truly be a test when we face the former two time heavyweight champion and a current reigning and defending champion, Goth and Roulette Champion, Brother Grimm.

Casey Williams, Lucian Frost amongst others all had the distinct illusion that they would be the first ever Grand Slam Champion within the promotion, gaining roulette and tag team success, but neither have come anywhere near dethroning the heavyweight champion. Frost hasn’t even had the opportunity in doing so, truly an illusion on the mysterious enigma’s part there, but where there shortcoming came the man who was to be the first and only man to do so. Goth. Gaining the Heavyweight Championship from a near dead wrestler, the comatose and brain dead Kevin Carter, to be the man who everyone will now look to emulate in their goals to being the second grand slam champion. You Goth epitomize what everyone strives to be, a champion, a winner, the true success story within the promotion. I know your reigns as champion here won’t be remembered fondly like those of Nick Jones or Spike Staggs but you achieved it. Facing you will be a true test of our calibre as champions, defeat at your hands will question us as possible champions of longevity, however defeating you and Brother Grimm could very well place the first marker in our reign as champions. Not saying you’re a stepping stone, far from it, but this is something we must do in order to progress and make these championships a title worth holding once more. Not a title you need to collect like stickers, cards or pokemon.

Landon looks at Ethan with a bemused face.

Landon Axel
Pokemon? How on earth do you know about pokemon?

Ethan Brody
Some of my battalion had Gameboys and… look it doesn’t matter how I know about Pokemon, just shut up L.A!

Landon mimics him zipping his mouth shut as Ethan composes himself.

Ethan Brody
We were not alone on the first Climax Control in capturing championship gold, Mercedes Vargas captured the Bombshell Roulette Championship and Goth’s partner, Brother Grimm won the Roulette Championship too. All three championships changed hands that evening. Who will be the longest reigning champions between the three of us. Only time will tell for that question to be answered. You’re one weird looking fella, Grimm, I know the bald headed veteran and a young brash long haired dweeb isn’t exactly qualified to question your looks, but the intimidation factor for most is clear to see. You also know what it is like to be stepping in our shoes, new champion, taking on a division in crisis like the Tag Division seems to be. Your reign is often overlooked but one not to be forgotten.

Landon Axel
I heard you like to be like a boogie man, scaring people, well we’re not easily scared.

Ethan thumps the table causing Landon to jump out of his skin, looking around the room in caution.

Ethan Brody
Goth went on to two reigns at Heavyweight Champion when your reign ended as Tag Team Champion, yet you don’t seem to have moved on, this is really the first real sign of success since your partnership ended. In my eye you have the talent both in and out of the ring to challenge for the Heavyweight Strap, yet now you’re the Roulette Champion, not an accomplishment I’m knocking but a man who can defeat anyone on their day. I said it before and I’ll say it again, we’re not looking to add title reigns to a piece of paper in a history book, we want to succeed as champions and actually show the ‘hype’ is truly worthy of it being ‘hyped’. So much hype is given to the unworthy, we’d like to show our worth, be the champions these belts deserve to be. Defeating a current champion and a former two time heavyweight champion in our second match of 2014, that would show that Guns For Hire mean business, and that is exactly what we intend to do this week at Climax Control. A man in this industry once said that ‘everybody has got a price’ that maybe true in one sense but the price of success doesn’t have no worth unless you achieve it, earn it, that is what we will show at Climax Control and in the lead up to My Bloody Valentine.

Ethan nods towards Landon, who cautiously walks around the table and presses the stop button, Brody gets his phone out and looks at Twitter again.

Landon Axel
There isn’t such things as boogie men, like Brother Grimm, right?

Ethan Brody
Brother Grimm is real, so yes, Boogie Men exist Landon.

Ethan pulls a cigarette from his packet and lights it up, pouring brandy into his glass, Ethan takes a picture of his glass and cigarette and begins to type a tweet.

Ethan Brody ‏@ExileEthanBrody
What gets me through the day, especially with Landon Axel around!  


Landon sits down close to Ethan, looking around at the shadows just in case Brother Grimm comes out of him, Brody shrugs his partner off as he begins to look at the people who now follow him as the scene fades away to black.