Post by Bobby Barratt on Oct 18, 2019 6:42:32 GMT -5
Bobby: What.. is this?
We cut to scene. Bobby sits at his desk at the XHF offices. The sun is low and its light breaks through the shutter blinds , sending vertical beams of light across the office illuminating some of the finer features of the room: The beer fridge is long gone, replaced by a water dispenser. The corner of the room has a selection of free weights mounted on the wall, nothing too extensive...just enough to get a pump. Just a 5 second look around the room shows that Bobby is really serious about his upcoming match. A Vortex match which will see him take on Maverick, Psychotic Goth and the current X-Crown Champion, Subject 42. A closer look reveals Bobby is watching the latest Subject 42 promo, uploaded to the Network just prior to his own.
Bobby: So let me get this straight. This guy...girl... thing barely even speaks?! I don’t know whether the banging of the bars is supposed to be intimidating or some sort of “missing link between man and beast” form of communication. All I know is that it’s a fucking waste of resources and people’s time wrapped in a fucking highlight reel. Shit like this makes me glad the area 51 raids didn’t work out. I Kwan seriously, can you imagine what sort of shit the Naruto runners would have unearthed if this is what’s walking around in plain sight? Shit....
We hear the repeated BONG from the video, as Bobby leaves the video playing in the background.
Bobby: Now I don’t know whether those scars are meant to scare us, make us think you can take a tiger mauling and live to tell the tale, but all it tells me is that you’re either being manipulated or you’re a fucking idiot putting yourself at that much risk. What happened to a straight fight? I’ll tell you now, if a guy brings a tiger to the ring, I’m noping out of there and contacting my lawyer! Anyway I’m going off topic here. My point is that Subject put out a highlight reel disguised as a promo and it hasn’t told us a fucking bean. It’s not going to scare me, intimidate me or change my outlook going into this match! You can RRRRAAAGGGHH all you fucking want mate, but once try doing that with a mouthful of boot once I get hold of you!
Bobby taps the button on the mouse to turn off the Subject promo.
Bobby: It’s fine I’ve already seen it. I only put it on to prove a point. Now don’t get me wrong, sasquatch here is a beast. I’m giving up a size, weight and sure as shit a strength advantage. This one’s going to take everything I’ve got to stay out of that grip. I’ve been making sure my conditioning is up to scratch, I’ve been training my agility with a top coach not too far from here. It might not improve drastically in the time frame we have between now and End of Days, but hopefully it’s going to improve enough. Enough to stay out of the danger zone, enough to evade Subject when it gets close, to make sure I can land a barrage and be out of the way before I catch one of those hay makers. They’ll rock you for sure.
Bobby grabs a plastic cup of water from his desk and gulps it down. He heads over and refills it at the machine.
Bobby: So since Subject held the X-Crown, another title was added. Title 20. I won’t lie, I wanted to be the guy to add title 20 to it. I got a taste for it once I added the ICW Title to it. Well technically Jack did, but I won the match and history only remembers the winners, so I’m taking credit. Either way here we are. About six months since I lost the title and the prestige of the belt has only gone up. Challengers have come and gone, champions have fallen. The X-Crown has been known to take victims by the dozen. People who challenge for it as well as people who hold it are never the same again. Those who survive and manage to keep going are changed, probably for the rest of their career. It happened to me. The pressure, the weight of carrying that much lineage on your back combined with the fucking meat grinder matches you find yourself in every XHF global event... there’s no way you come out the other side the same as you went in. Subject 42 is probably feeling that right now inside that big old meaty head. If it’s capable of feeling anyway. It knows that come End of Days, it’s stepping into the ring with what was two thirds of the most deadly stable in the XHF as well as a man still suspected of murdering his own family. Does it like those odds? Does it even understand odds? Who knows, but the last time I stepped into the ring with the X-Crown, it was the XHF Rumble.... so believe me I know all about the odds being stacked against you. Thing is Bobby Barratt has always performed better as the challenger, the guy not expected to come out on top... so Subject 42, you’re literally facing the most dangerous incarnation of me. One that still has a chip on his shoulder and a fucking point to prove! Think you’ve got what it takes to come out on top? I wouldn’t bet on it! Come End of Days, you’re going to find out what it’s like to have it all and lose it. To lay down, looking up at the lights as someone else holds high everything you’ve worked so hard for. Believe me when I tell you this... There’s no worse feeling in the world!
We cut to scene. Bobby sits at his desk at the XHF offices. The sun is low and its light breaks through the shutter blinds , sending vertical beams of light across the office illuminating some of the finer features of the room: The beer fridge is long gone, replaced by a water dispenser. The corner of the room has a selection of free weights mounted on the wall, nothing too extensive...just enough to get a pump. Just a 5 second look around the room shows that Bobby is really serious about his upcoming match. A Vortex match which will see him take on Maverick, Psychotic Goth and the current X-Crown Champion, Subject 42. A closer look reveals Bobby is watching the latest Subject 42 promo, uploaded to the Network just prior to his own.
Bobby: So let me get this straight. This guy...girl... thing barely even speaks?! I don’t know whether the banging of the bars is supposed to be intimidating or some sort of “missing link between man and beast” form of communication. All I know is that it’s a fucking waste of resources and people’s time wrapped in a fucking highlight reel. Shit like this makes me glad the area 51 raids didn’t work out. I Kwan seriously, can you imagine what sort of shit the Naruto runners would have unearthed if this is what’s walking around in plain sight? Shit....
We hear the repeated BONG from the video, as Bobby leaves the video playing in the background.
Bobby: Now I don’t know whether those scars are meant to scare us, make us think you can take a tiger mauling and live to tell the tale, but all it tells me is that you’re either being manipulated or you’re a fucking idiot putting yourself at that much risk. What happened to a straight fight? I’ll tell you now, if a guy brings a tiger to the ring, I’m noping out of there and contacting my lawyer! Anyway I’m going off topic here. My point is that Subject put out a highlight reel disguised as a promo and it hasn’t told us a fucking bean. It’s not going to scare me, intimidate me or change my outlook going into this match! You can RRRRAAAGGGHH all you fucking want mate, but once try doing that with a mouthful of boot once I get hold of you!
Bobby taps the button on the mouse to turn off the Subject promo.
Bobby: It’s fine I’ve already seen it. I only put it on to prove a point. Now don’t get me wrong, sasquatch here is a beast. I’m giving up a size, weight and sure as shit a strength advantage. This one’s going to take everything I’ve got to stay out of that grip. I’ve been making sure my conditioning is up to scratch, I’ve been training my agility with a top coach not too far from here. It might not improve drastically in the time frame we have between now and End of Days, but hopefully it’s going to improve enough. Enough to stay out of the danger zone, enough to evade Subject when it gets close, to make sure I can land a barrage and be out of the way before I catch one of those hay makers. They’ll rock you for sure.
Bobby grabs a plastic cup of water from his desk and gulps it down. He heads over and refills it at the machine.
Bobby: So since Subject held the X-Crown, another title was added. Title 20. I won’t lie, I wanted to be the guy to add title 20 to it. I got a taste for it once I added the ICW Title to it. Well technically Jack did, but I won the match and history only remembers the winners, so I’m taking credit. Either way here we are. About six months since I lost the title and the prestige of the belt has only gone up. Challengers have come and gone, champions have fallen. The X-Crown has been known to take victims by the dozen. People who challenge for it as well as people who hold it are never the same again. Those who survive and manage to keep going are changed, probably for the rest of their career. It happened to me. The pressure, the weight of carrying that much lineage on your back combined with the fucking meat grinder matches you find yourself in every XHF global event... there’s no way you come out the other side the same as you went in. Subject 42 is probably feeling that right now inside that big old meaty head. If it’s capable of feeling anyway. It knows that come End of Days, it’s stepping into the ring with what was two thirds of the most deadly stable in the XHF as well as a man still suspected of murdering his own family. Does it like those odds? Does it even understand odds? Who knows, but the last time I stepped into the ring with the X-Crown, it was the XHF Rumble.... so believe me I know all about the odds being stacked against you. Thing is Bobby Barratt has always performed better as the challenger, the guy not expected to come out on top... so Subject 42, you’re literally facing the most dangerous incarnation of me. One that still has a chip on his shoulder and a fucking point to prove! Think you’ve got what it takes to come out on top? I wouldn’t bet on it! Come End of Days, you’re going to find out what it’s like to have it all and lose it. To lay down, looking up at the lights as someone else holds high everything you’ve worked so hard for. Believe me when I tell you this... There’s no worse feeling in the world!
We come back and Bobby is sitting at home on the porch. The light has died as the sun gave up the last rays of light, succumbing to the darkness for the night. Bobby sits there on his lounger seat, looking out over the garden.
Bobby: You know a few years ago, I was unemployed. ICW had closed the doors. I went from being a minority shareholder and one of the top guys to having no cheque coming in. I was living on the money Shawn Rossdale left to me from his sham death. Uncertainty hit every member of that roster like a truck. I'd identified the XHF Network as a potential target. Somewhere I could get in and make money fast. Support the lifestyle if you will. But I didn’t want to just rock up like any other guy. I wanted to make an impact, hit the ground running and make sure people knew who the fuck I was...
Bobby lights a match, watching the flame dance and flicker in the darkness. The warm orange light illuminates the features of his face against the pitch black night sky.
Bobby: I wanted to make sure that once ink dried on those contracts, that I was set. That I wasn’t just seen as “another signing” but something that then dirt sheets got excited about. Something that got the rumour mill turning. The more hype you create around yourselves, the more you have people talking about you and who they’d love to see you take on, the more offices can’t ignore you and the more money you’ll make. Simple, right?
Bobby watches the flame burn down the match towards his fingers.
Bobby: So then became “how do I achieve this?” I knew I had the ability to make the crowd leave the building telling their friends about me once I got in the ring, but how did I go about creating that hype without a fight? Well that’s where the Icons came to be. I realised that amongst the talent pool they have in AWF, no man could stand alone and do that. I needed backup. Jack Diamond was naturally the first person I called. We had only just built a shoddily constructed bridge, the foundations were still wet, but I knew Jack’s competitive nature would only help drive the Icons forward... We threw names back and forth for weeks, missing out debut day. We figured that rather than rushing in just about anyone that showed half an interest for the sake of it, we’d delay slightly and move in when we had a cohesive unit. Boys like brothers. We locked in Chaos, Cazador but yet one name constantly coming up was the guy I saw as building for the future. Maverick that guy was you. Someone I saw was so similar to me, someone who I identified as the guy who would one day take over my mantle. Again Maverick.... that was you. You came in hot, you won title after title, you career was starting to take off. Things were looking up, so I have to ask.
Bobby looks like he momentarily drifts off into thought.
Bobby: Why? Why did you feel the need to come after me every damn chance you got? You bit and bit at me, trying to get a reaction. Sometimes you did and one of us got a hole stomped in our arse. It was either you acting up for attention l, or you wanted control of the Icons. Me and Jack took our leave from AWF and we handed you the keys. Jack gave you the keys to the Lounge in Canton and I gave you the keys to the kingdom. You were leader of the Icons. Any business conducted within AWF by Icons went through you. No more excuses. We were excited to see what you did. What you could achieve after sitting under the wings of Icons for so long.
Bobby tosses the match out into the grass. The moisture from recent rain made sure it never caught light as the embers faded.
Bobby: So we watched, we waited and saw you systematically destroy everything we held dear. You staged a fake retirement seemingly to get out of your AWF contract. Seems like you ďidnt have balls to walk like we did. By that stage you’d hired Nate as your partner. You two were killing it too. XHF Tag Team Champions. Kings. Then not only did you hold this sham retirement, you handed the titles to Nate and walked right out of there. In that moment you’d quit on your fed, your title and your brand. The fact that you still walk around posting messages from the Icons sickens me, Mav. Me and Jack extended the brand so we could leave you part of it and you took a leprechaun style shit on it by not only faking a retirement, but losing the keys to the Diamond Lounge to Anthony bastard Caffrey in the process! How can you fuck up so much so quickly, Mav?
Again, Bobby lights another match. The light illuminates the breath we can see in this chilly air.
Bobby: The thing is, despite having walked away from it all, you still live in the past. Looking at titles you won next to titles I won, that you’ll never hold. You still try to live the Icon life after what you did. I mean even your material is 12 months out of date. Any time we appear on the same booking sheet you have to start squawking about Jenny as if to coax a reaction. Now I’m not blameless there Mav. Up until this point I’ve given you every reaction you’ve asked for when you said her name, but remember who was there when she got killed. Remember who was at the Hospital next to me as she took her final breath, Mav... Remember it! She liked you, so I suggest you stop being so fucking disrespectful to her! The last time you put her name in your mouth you ended up on the wrong side of a baseball bat. You want that to happen again? Face it. You’re a hot head screaming out for attention Mav. You need to realise that you can’t ask or beg for attention. If you want it? Go take it! Defeat me. Otherwise?
Bobby takes one more look at the match burning in his hand.
Bobby: Otherwise.... We look at the best way to deal with a hot head and we put out the flame...This time....for good.
Bobby tosses the match into the grass again. The scene turns to black as we hear the faint sound of water putting out a flame.
