[Jet City]

 “The Pitch”
Wednesday
27 June 2018
2:00pm
[OFF-Camera]

Kris pushes open the double front doors of the bar and steps out into the daylight of the early afternoon. The sun is high in the air, and forces him to bring a hand up in front of his face to shield his eyes from being completely blinded. He does not stop walking through, heading directly to his rental car.

Kristopher Ryans: I don’t know how or why you came looking for me, but I really don’t have any interest in helping you.

From behind him, barely able to stop the double doors from closing on him is SCW newcomer and former champion Kyle Kavanagh. He does not appear nearly as bothered by the sun as Kris was, and there is a smile on his face that says he knows more than Kris was willing to admit to. The fact that the champion was trying to blow him off did not look like it bothered him at all. He followed Kris out to the car, not relenting.

Kyle Kavanagh: Oh come on! We both know that’s not true. We’ve had so much fun every time we have gotten together to make someone else’s life miserable.

Kris presses a button on the remote in his hand to unlock the doors of the car, and moves around to the driver’s side to open his. He shakes his head, not even bringing his eyes up to meet Kyle’s.

Kristopher Ryans: First of all, the first time we met, the advice you gave me led me to losing a match, so I wouldn’t call that fun.

Kyle pulls open the passenger side door before Kris can even sit down in his seat. The current SCW World Heavyweight Champion looked surprised at how forward Kyle was being about helping him. Kris was unsure exactly how he always got roped into these situations, but after the blow up with Court had already decided that his days of trying to steer the careers of the next generation of wrestlers was over. There was too much stress for too little reward. Kyle was not ever going to accept that answer though.

Kyle Kavanagh: Nah, you went into a match like a scared little bitch and lost. When you finally got your shit together like I told you to do, you went out there and won. Twice.

Kris shakes his head, refusing to give Kyle any of the credit for his cleaning up his act recently. It was a choice that he made on his own, and nobody was going to take that away from him. It was the reason that he was doing things alone. It was the reason that he had been pushing Mikah away from him, even though that was not working. Kris sits down into the driver’s seat without responding, but Kyle simply plops down next to him to prevent Kris from being able to speed off and cut their negotiation short.

Kyle Kavanagh: Look, you have to be out there anyways. This guy is coming after your title in a few weeks. All I am asking is that you show me what you have put together so far. Think of it like a test run. You have a plan. I get to be the guinea pig for you to see it that plan comes together like you think it does. Worst case scenario, I get my ass kicked and you go back to the drawing board.

Kris’ eyes are locked on him the whole time he is talking, but instead of indulging him, once Kyle finished, Kris’ eyes narrow.

Kristopher Ryans: Get out of my car.

Kyle cracks a wider smile and looks around the car. There are markings for the rental company on the windshield, and the center of the dashboard. He points to them without missing a beat.

Kyle Kavanagh: Not exactly your car...

Kris rolls his eyes, and starts the car, knowing better than to try and actively argue with Kyle. They were too alike. Both of them wanted to debate the other one into caving to what they wanted, and both were too stubborn to let the other win if the conversation kept going. The only way to win, was to not play the game. The only way to not play, was to drive away. Kris weighed his options, and then did the only thing that he could do.

Kristopher Ryans: Fine. Stay in the car...

Kris turns the key in the ignition, and then puts it quickly into gear, pulling out onto the street before Kyle can even get his leg off of the ground and close the door. The rookie nearly falls out of the car, but reaches out and grabs the center console for balance. As Kris pulls onto the road, Kyle gets his foot planted on the floorboard, and allows the door to slam shut just before it would have hit a car parked along the side of the road.

Kyle Kavanagh: I’m glad I got a Lyft instead of driving or this would be awfully inconvenient….

Kris rolled his eyes, and continued to accelerate down the road, completely disregarding any posted speed limit, but also knowing there was a slim chance of getting caught by any police officer knowing the neighborhood.

Kristopher Ryans: I have places to go. I don’t really care how you got there, or where you have to go back to. I don’t want to help you. If you want to take out Fenris, go put the legwork in. I’m not giving you a free shortcut.

Kyle laughs, not having expected to hear someone like Kris take the high road. Maybe this new miracle persona was not just something made up for the cameras. Kyle had seen Kris at his worst, and always just expected that was what was under it. He never thought that maybe the hostility was the mask, and what was under it was who Kris really was.

Kyle Kavanagh: Taking this face of the company thing seriously, huh? I can remember not too long ago when you had more in common with Jon Dough’s recent behavior.

Kris nodded, but did not let the attempt at an insult get under his skin.

Kristopher Ryans: Everyone fucks up. The smart ones get their shit together. I did it, so absolutely anyone else is capable of it.

Kyle shrugged, trying to twist Kris’ words into working in his favor.

Kyle Kavanagh: Well here I am, asking you to help me do things the right way, and you’re shooting me down.

This time Kris could not agree with him. He shakes his head as the car whips around a corner, throwing Kyle off center in his seat and causing him to have to look away from the champion to make sure that they were still on some kind of road. With the way that Kris was driving, he was starting to regret his decision to get into the car, but that was probably the point that Kris was trying to make.

Kristopher Ryans: Nah, the right way is doing it yourself. You don’t need my help, you want it. Anything I put together from watching him, you can put together too. This is not fucking rocket science. Break him down. Find your opening. Exploit his flaws. Play to your strengths. I don’t owe you any favors though, so I’m not doing it for you.

Kyle had already put together his response for if the conversation flipped this way, and did not hesitate to throw what he knew into Kris’ face.

Kyle Kavanagh: Word is you helped Court. What favor did you owe her, huh?

It actually makes Kris laugh, and for a second, he caves into the game just to prove Kyle wrong.

Kristopher Ryans: None. Mikah asked me to look out for her.

It only works to peak Kyle’s interest in the situation even more.

Kyle Kavanagh: Well what favor did Mikah owe you? She putting in some back of the limo service, if you know what I--

Kris turns the wheel quickly to the left, and slams hard on the breaks. His hand even moves up from the shift knob to the emergency brake, pulling it up quickly as the car slid to a halt. Kyle braced himself, and the world seemed to move in slow motion for a few moments. As he looked towards the road, he saw a man running down the sidewalk with another one chasing him down from behind on a bicycle The first of the two cut hard across the road just as Kris was coming alongside them. Kris’ quick thinking and movements slowed the car so that the man on foot could leap, slide across the front, and land back on his feet on the other side. The second of the two men was not as lucky. He turned the bike to follow, and slammed into the front tire on the passenger side. The bike flipped forward, depositing the young man riding it flat onto the hood on his back. The first of the two men did not look back, disappearing down the alley at a full sprint while the man on the hood writhed in pain from the impact.

Kyle Kavanagh: What the fuck?!

The kid on the hood could not even be in his twenties yet by the look of it, but rolled off the hood, taking the landing like someone who was no stranger to a beating. As he got to his feet, he shot a look down the alley, but knew that there was no way that he was going to catch up. His eyes drifted back to the two men in the car, but widened when they focused on Kris.

Kristopher Ryans: You!

The kid’s mouth fell open as Kris violently pushed open the door of the car. He backed away from the front of the car, and then looked down to the damage that the bike had down to the side of the car. There was a huge dent in the hood from where he had landed as well, which was only going to make things worse for him.

: Shit...


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”Foot Chase City”
Wednesday
27 June 2018
2:18pm
[OFF-Camera]

The teenager that crashed onto the hood backs away from the car as Kris gets out of the driver’s seat. He puts his hands up in front of his chest, and starts shaking his head. This day was going downhill fast, and he knew that this was not a physical fight that he could win if it really came down to it.

: Okay, so last time we got off on the wrong foot. We should totally just call that a misunderstanding.

He was trying to figure out how he was going to talk his way out of it, but he could see from the look in Kris’ eyes that it was not going to happen. The kid shoots a glance at Kyle as he gets out of the passenger seat, but Kyle can tell that the kid does not recognize him from anywhere. That fact that both he and Kris knew each other did seem interesting though.

Kyle Kavanagh: This another one of those kids you’re doing mystery favors for then?

Kris shakes his head, and the irritation on his face finally makes sense. The mystery man looks back and forth between them, putting together that whoever the guy with Kris was, they were not friends. If the champion was going to explode because of whatever game Kyle was playing, there was no way that he wanted to get caught in the crossfire.

: Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but that guy...

Kris cuts him off, not even caring about whatever their problem with one another was. It did not matter. It was not his problem.

Kristopher Ryans: That other guy had the decency to not fuck up my car.

Kyle corrects him for the second time.

Kyle Kavanagh: Well, rental car.

Kris shoots him a glare that would have caused most others to shut their mouth and watch the situation play out. The fact that he was getting under Kris’ skin just seemed to bring Kyle some kind of weird enjoyment though. Kyle turned from Kris to the kid just in time to see the kid backing away.

: I’m really sorry about your car...

He took a few more small steps backwards while Kris was still focused on Kyle.

Kristopher Ryans: Yeah well you should be...

Kris turned back to his acquaintance just in time to see him start to turn.

Kyle Kavanagh: Please don’t run...

Kyle’s words were much too quiet to be addressed to anyone other than himself. The mystery guy was already pivoting on his right foot and shifting his weight to take off as soon as his left foot hit the ground. Kris was not going to let him get away though, not for a second time. As soon as he starts to sprint in the direction he originally came from, Kris takes off around the back of the car in pursuit of him. Kyle watches as the two of them go, and shakes his head.

Kyle Kavanagh: Of course he did…

Kyle ducks back into the car and slides across to the driver’s seat, taking off in the opposite direction of Kris and Kyle. Just as Kris gets close enough to reach out though, the guy cuts to his left and down an alley. A gate blocks his path, or so Kris thinks as he rounds the corner behind him, but he steps up onto a trash can, then up onto the top of the dumpster next to before going up and over the fence and into a pile of boxes on the other side.

: Look, I am sorry about your car, but I gotta--

He pushes himself back up to his feet, expecting to turn to see Kris stopped at the fence. However, the Kris jumps up onto the same trash can, but instead of stepping up, kicks off the wall of the building before landing across the top of the fence. The kid cuts himself off and immediately turns around to start running.

Kristopher Ryans: You’re gonna stop is what you’re gonna do.

Kris lands on his feet on the other side of the fence just as the mystery guy starts to sprint away.

: Not a chance, and you’re not fast enough to catch me.

He yells the words back over his shoulder as he spins a few trash cans to the ground behind him. Pushing the cans over does not even seem to slow him down, which Kris would find impressive under other circumstances, but was making it difficult to keep up with him. Instead of running the obstacle course though, Kris jumps up off a stack of rotting wooden pallets, using it as a launchpad to leap over the cans and put a hand on the guy’s shoulder to spin him around and stop his sprint.

Kristopher Ryans: You’re not as fast as you think….

To Kris’ surprise, the guy does not lose his balance, although Kris does not quite stick the landing the way that he wanted to. He falls forward, staying on his feet only because he slams hard against the front of a dumpster. It was a lot less forgiving that the ropes of the rings he normally competed in, but it at least kept him from eating concrete. He was able to put some distance between the two of them while Kris found his balance, and knew that there was no way Kris was following him after hitting that hard.

: Not as slow as you were hoping, champ.

He turns around with a smile on his face, looking to turn out of the opposite end of the alley than they had started on. As he moves around the corner though, he is cut in half by a hard kick to the ribs from none other than Kyle Kavanagh.

Kyle Kavanagh: It’s a lot faster to just drive around the block and cut people off. Running is so overrated.

Kyle pushes the runner’s shoulders back as he doubles over, and he falls onto his backside. Kris gets up to his feet, and joins the two of them just as Kyle looks up to the champion with a proud look on his face.

Kyle Kavanagh: I think you were looking for this...

Kyle kicks a leg out from under the mystery guy as he tries to get up and run away again. He hits the ground hard enough the second time to stop him from having those kinds of thoughts pop up again.

Kristopher Ryans: Yeah… thanks.

Kyle taps the kid on the shoulder with the tip of his shoe.

Kyle Kavanagh: Please tell me that you are at least eighteen so that I don’t have to feel bad about hurting you.

The guy on the ground nods, and forces an answer out.

: Nineteen.

Kyle gives him another tap, this one a little harder. He did not necessarily need to do so to get his attention, but it amused either way.

Kyle Kavanagh: You got a name?

He nods again, still working on breathing normally.

: Adam Wilson.

Kyle shrugs, apparently convinced that Adam was not just throwing him a fake name by either the tone of his voice or the look on his face.

Kyle Kavanagh: I’m Kyle. You obviously know the asshat already… speaking of..

Kris tries to cut him off before he can say it, but Kyle does not let Kris get a word in edgewise.

Kyle Kavanagh: ...I’m pretty sure you owe me a favor now.


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”Favors”
Wednesday
27 June 2018
3:30pm
[OFF-Camera]

Kyle did his best to watch the rest of the exchange between Kris and Adam from the passenger seat of the car. Kris was not exactly keen on the idea of him listening in, and had insisted that he go back to the car. He had not counted on Kyle being able to read their lips out of the side mirror of the car. The two talked for much longer than Kyle thought that they were going to, but eventually Kris made his way back to the car, sitting in the driver’s seat without raising the keys up to start the car. It was like he knew that Kyle was going to have something to say about the ordeal and was not going to take him any further until he got it out of his system. Not one to leave people hanging, or filter himself, Kyle was happy to oblige.

Kyle Kavanagh: So the kid runs into your car--

Kris corrects him perfectly, flipping his point from earlier.

Kristopher Ryans: It is a rental car, remember? You reminded me that.

Kyle sighs, but stops himself from getting annoyed by him. He knew that Kris was going to try and push him in order to get out of doing him a favor, but Kyle was not going to let the opportunity slip through his fingers.

Kyle Kavanagh: He damages the car, leads you on a chase, and you not only let him go, but you gave him money too?

Kris shrugs his shoulders, putting together how much of it Kyle had seen.

Kristopher Ryans: Things aren’t always what they seem. Some things you have to just be there to understand. You can’t put a puzzle together with half of the pieces.

Kyle was quickly losing interest in the conversation. It was obvious that Kris was not going to fill in any of the blanks that he had where Adam was concerned. Instead of letting him continue to deflect, Kyle cut straight to the point.

Kyle Kavanagh: Fenris. I want everything you have. Then we can call it even.

Kris sighs and looks over at Kyle. The rookie got the distinct impression that Kris did not like being put in the position that he was in, but it only worked to make Kyle more proud of himself. Kris was not ready to give in just yet though.

Kristopher Ryans: You want me to tell you how to beat a guy that can literally kicked a guy unconscious in the middle of the ring. Here’s my advice: duck.

Kyle shakes his head, not buying it.

Kyle Kavanagh: No, fuck you. I know you. I know you take this shit seriously now. You have a plan. Other people might not see any kind of method in the chaos, but you’re not all that hard to figure out. After all, Crimson did it.

The mention of the name of Kris’ rival gets a strange response. Kris’ first instinct was to grind his teeth together, but there was almost a begrudging respect in his eyes that made the anger seem forced, or more out of reflex than anything.

Kristopher Ryans: You know that I could take you, right?

Kyle backpedals off of it to disarm Kris instead of engaging in his deflection.

Kyle Kavanagh: Probably, but I’m really just thinking about Fenris, and you should be too. You already get a front row seat. Instead of throwing away the chance, stop being a little bitch, and just let me see what you have.

Kris sighs and reaches behind the passenger seat in the floorboard of the car. He unzips a gym bag there, and pulls out a few folders from it. He starts to go through them all as Kyle tries to twist around to see what he is doing.

Kristopher Ryans: No more cashing in favors after this. We are even.

He tosses most of his stack back into the bag and yanks the zipper closed before handing Kyle one of the folders. The rookie former champion looks down at it with a smile on his face, but motions back to the bag. He did not get a chance to see much of anything in it, but from the sounds of it, there was a lot more in that bag than he was originally giving Kris credit for.

Kyle Kavanagh: You have one of these for everyone, don’t you?

Kyle looked for any indication of an answer on Kris’ face, knowing that he was never going to answer the question directly. The best that he could hope for was getting some kind of hint by how Kris reacted to the question. Unfortunately, Kris simply shook his head, offered his signature fake smirk, and had two words for him.

Kristopher Ryans: Goodbye Kyle.

Getting the message, Kyle popped the handle on his door, and pushed it open. As he got to his feet, he leaned back in towards the car so that Kris could hear him.

Kyle Kavanagh: Thanks for all of your--

Kris did not even wait for him to finish, putting the car in gear and speeding off before Kyle could finish the sentence.


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The camera opens on Kyle sitting with his back to the camera, on a small stool in the middle of a room the size of a walk in closet. There is a light hanging over his head, illuminating the entirety of the small space.

”I’m the kind of person that likes to get all of the details before I walk into any situation. Call it self-preservation. I mean, I can obviously take care of myself, but there is no substitute for preparation time. Even a weakling can take down someone much better than they are if they have enough time to get ready for the fight, and the right tools at their dispense.”

The viewers start to let their eyes linger around the walls in front of Kyle, since they cannot see his face to watch him speak. It is probably all part of his plan though, as the audience can see why he wants their attention on the walls. Every piece of information that Kyle could put together about Fenris has been crudely taped up. Every story that SCW had posted during the Blast From The Past tournament, still frames of the way he moves around in the ring, spots to scout, and everything with notes written on them that were too small for the viewers to really be able to read. It did not help that Kyle’s writing appeared to be atrocious.

”Did I do all of this work myself?”

Kyle gestures out to the wall in front of him, extending both arms out to make reference to the entirety of his notes.

”Nah, I got to call in a favor from the one person in this company that might actually be better than everyone else at what he does. He gave me a platform to start from, and I ran with the knowledge from there. In the last few days, I have come to one conclusion: I can beat Fenris.”

Kyle spins around on the chair to face the audience, and unveils a wide smile that most find totally unsettling. Not only was he talking about being able to beat the number one contender, but from the look of confidence on his face, it was not some random assumption. Kyle did not look like he thought he could win. He looked as if he already had.

”Like that match with Cross. You know, you’re debut...”

He winks at the camera, abandoning the rest of the viewers and talking exclusively to his opponent.

”Oh yeah, like I said, I know everything.”

He seems to get more and more excited about the prospect as he goes, and his words start to run closer together as he struggles to contain himself.

”See you had every answer for that tub of shit, even from the start. Go back and give it another look. It is one of those debuts that you can be proud of. Mine? Not so much, but I’m sure you’ll point that out.”

Kyle shrugs his shoulders, clearly not going to allow it to bother him.

”...but Cross. You had his number until he started bending rules. In a straight up fight, you would have beaten his ass just like you did for most of that night. You know what he taught me though? He taught me that you don’t have an answer for someone that is willing to step outside the rules for an advantage. He did it with a fingerpoke, and he is a fucking idiot. What do you suppose someone like me is going to cook up for you buddy? Remember, there is no substitute for prep time.”

He definitely finds himself amusing, even if nobody watching did.

”Then you had Storms, who nobody has ever thought of as intimidating, especially when all he does is cry about the titles he either can’t win or can’t hang onto. He’s another person you physically dominated through parts of that match, but I learned something from him too. You always run in blind. Someone that can move faster, or is more agile, is going to get the drop on you every single time, and here is the kicker: it gets worse when you get pissed off. How long you think you are going to keep your cool against someone that can run circles around you? What is going to be your answer for getting countered and berated at every turn?”

Kyle does not even give any kind of pause for an answer, giving it himself.

”You don’t have one.”

It was simple enough, and better than that, Kyle definitely believed it, and that was what was going to matter once the match started.

”Even worse for you, that match with Equinox showed me exactly what you are capable of, and took the guesswork out of the equation. He gave you the smallest opening, and your obliterated him for the rest of the match. You exploited that knee without any kind of remorse, and even got close to getting yourself disqualified and your team kicked out of the tournament. That is the person that you are when you snap. What happened to Equinox is what happens to me if I give you that opening. You aren’t afraid to get booed if it means you are going to win the war. Equinox fell victim to it because he never saw it coming. You won’t get that opportunity with me. Don’t expect it.”

He glares at the camera, but after a second or two, his eyes soften, and his expression turns into a smile. The tone of his voice even becomes much lighter.

”I don’t think I need to tell you how the fact that you struggled with the midget helps my cause, right? Like, that was a legitimate midget… and you had issues. What? The few feet of advantage you had weren’t enough? The extra foot or so of reach on your legs and arms wasn’t enough to subdue the troll in the early going? For real?”

He waves at the camera, trying to cover the smile on his face with the other hand. His eyebrows come together over his eyes and he attempts to shake his head in a nonchalant manner.

”So we won’t talk about that one..”

He uses an obviously fake cough to erase the smile from his face and cover a light laugh before striking a more serious tone.

”You couldn’t even pin Ty West. You couldn’t get him to tap out. He passed out rather than allow you to beat him in any kind of meaningful way. You didn’t beat him. His body gave out on him and you outlasted him. It says a whole lot about Ty West, but that guy has never held a championship before. He has never really proven himself anywhere, let alone here. He pushed you as far as you could go, and he survived you unpinned.”

Kyle shrugs his shoulders, and stands up off of the stool.

”I know my strengths. I know your weaknesses. I know what to look out for. I know what you’re capable of. I know how to beat you. Someone like me, who has done nothing in this company, knows how to beat the so-called number one contender to the grandest prize in the entire company. Not bad for a second match, huh? Look at me go.”

He gives the camera another smile, and the light over his head cuts out. The screen stays black for a few moments before the feed cuts off completely.