[STEELE] Road To Recovery Part 1 (Xtraction)

[Steele]

.::THE CLOSING MOMENTS OF PRESTIGE 17::.

The new AWF Champion Hyperion stands in the middle of the ring holding aloft his latest conquest, the AWF Championship belt.

The arena is suddenly plunged into darkness, the image of AXW chief V filling the screen.

He makes an ominous prediction, a warning of destruction to AWF... before his warriors, the entire AXW roster, swarm the building, coming through the crowd, jumping over barriers and encircling the new champion.

The AWF roster retaliate, meeting their foe in and around the ring, bodies breaking and blood spilling as a war rages. The new champion, unable to withstand the one-sided onslaught, is used as a footrest by AXW's champion The Anomaly.

Somehow, amidst the carnage, the former champion slowly makes his escape. Propped up on the shoulders of Del and Danny, they drag him away from the fracas and through a curtain.

: What... fuuuuuuckkkk why am I... what?

: Take it easy Boss.

: Why am I... where's... the match! I've got a match!

: Just forget about it, let's go.

: Where's my belt?

: I said forget it Boss, we gotta go.

: Can't we just go smack one of 'em around?

: Less it, Del. It ain't the time. We're lucky we didn't get our heads kicked in out there.


Jackson tries to lift his head, a pain shoots through his neck.


: Ah, Jesus... I said where's my belt?

: Hyperion's got it! We can get it back Boss, let's get out there!

: Jesus Christ Del will you shut your trap?

: Hyperion's got it? Did I... did I lose?

: Come on Boss, we better keep moving before any of 'em come back through 'ere.

: Danny. Did I lose?


Danny didn't want to tell Jackson the truth, but he knew that Jackson would have to find out sooner or later. He nodded.


: Yeah Boss. You lost.

: So let's get out there and show 'em you ain't finished! Stick it to those AXW wankers!


Jackson set his jaw, then wiped a small streak of blood from his lower lip.


: No. Like fuck am I going back there to save his ass. He wants to be the big dog, the champion? Then let him stick up for the company.

.::SOON::.

A limousine peels away from the arena as the chaos continues to rage inside. Jackson Steele slumps across most of the back seat, still wearing his ring gear, his personal security guards sitting opposite him. Jackson hasn't said a single word for quite some time now, the tension in the air is palpable.

: I'm sorry, Boss. It weren't your night.


Jackson didn't respond. His eyes flickered up to meet Danny's, and though they only met his gaze for half a second, Danny felt the full heat of his glare.


: There's always next time. Use your rematch clause.


Jackson remained slumped across the seat.


: There isn't a rematch clause.

: No rematch? Who made that ruling?

: Who d'you think? Danica.

: Why?

: Fuck knows. But I'm not surprised... everywhere I turn they just seem to be out to screw me. They throw me into a title match against Hyperion. They take away the chance of a rematch clause. They take their sweet time deliberating whether I'm good enough to be on Team AWF.

: You're good enough to be on that team, Boss.

: You're damn right I'm good enough to be on the team! But what now? Hyperion is champion. Does that mean they're gonna bump me and make him the captain?

: It's still your team, Boss. And this is still your fed.


The sudden, jarring noise of a harsh buzzing fills the back of the limousine. Jackson reaches into his kit bag and pulls out his cellphone. Looking at the screen, he sees an unfamiliar number.


: Who is it Boss?

: I dunno. But I don't answer unknown numbers. Probably a psycho fan.


Jackson tosses the phone back into his bag, where it continues to buzz. As abruptly as it started, it suddenly stops again.


: Maybe it's someone from the company.

: All the more reason for me not to answer it then.

: Come on Boss. This sort of shit happens. You've gotta just... dust yourself off, get your head back in the game and come back all guns blazing, yeah?

: Yeah. "Keep calm and carry on", innit?

: Don't... don't meme me, Derrick.

: Yeah don't meme him Del, he don't like memes.

: Sorry Boss. But you know what I mean, right? Don't dwell on this shit. It'll only make you angry. You should let me 'andle the angry.

: You know what, for once I think he's right. You need to put this behind you now. What's done is done, que sera sera and all that. So you ain't got an automatic rematch? No problem, you're Jackson fucking Steele.


Jackson nods.


: Yeah. That's right... I am Jackson fucking Steele!

: Exactly! You always find a way, don'tcha? Trust me Boss, you'll get back to the top of that mountain one way or another. And the first step on that road is by leading Team AWF to victory against AXW.

: Those bastards think they can jump US wearing masks like cowards.... COWARDS!!!

: You gotta go out there and show everybody that you mean business. That you're better than anybody in AWF, AXW, anywhere on the XHF Network, you're the fucking man. You won the End Of Days tournament last year boss. That was just a precursor of things to come.

: Hang on... I've still got my End Of Days title shot... I can call that in any time I want to... I could literally go back to the arena now and find Hyperion's sorry carcass and make him fight me right there and then...

: Do it, Boss! Go get your belt back!

: Yeah! I should! I will!

: Now hang on Boss, you don't even know if those AXW goons are still sniffing around there... besides, what sort of message would it send if you went and pinned Hyperion after he just got the shit kicked out of him by their entire roster?

: It'd send the message that I was a three-time AWF Champion, that's what message it would send!

: It would send the message that you was weak. That you couldn't beat him without someone else softening him up first. No Boss, what you need to do is bide your time. You need to pick your spot, choose a time when you know you can beat him, but you ain't gonna look like you took the easy way out doing it. Trust me. Get through Xtraction first, that's your first step.

: I've got half a mind to just not bother. Why should I?

: You're pissed off. I get it, but you're not thinking straight. This is YOUR company Boss. YOU made it. YOU need to defend it. If you don't, then who will? Seth Dillinger? Damien Young? The rookie champions? Not likely. Randy Angel? I don't even know why he's on the team in the first place. So that leaves Michael Storm. You really wanna trust the future of this company to that nutjob?

: Well... not really, no...

: I'm just calling it like it is, Boss. And if you don't wanna be in this match, you know damn well who they'll get to replace you.

: No... not- Copycat?

: Copy- No! I'm talking about Hyperion. You can't let him have the chance to steal your spotlight Boss. And don't forget, if AXW win, they take a massive chunk of Ascension's profits. That's your wages getting slashed to keep the company afloat. You've gotta do this to secure your future, Boss. The team's already weak enough... don't jeopardise it just because you're in a huffy with Hyperion. You need to put him out of your mind until after this match, because if you don't, there might not even be an AWF Title to go after in ten days' time. And Hyperion's gonna be taking that worthless piece of metal and leather and cashing it right on in for what he wants the most, an X-Crown Championship spot.


Jackson grimaced at the thought of Hyperion taking his beloved belt and making it a part of the X-Crown. his phone started buzzing again, and he cast a quick glance towards his bag.


: Sounds like whoever that is really wants to get hold of you Boss.

: Let me take care of this.


Danny reached into the bag and pulled out the phone. He hit the answer key.


: Hello? Who is- huh. They hung up.

: If it's that important they'll call me back. But yeah, anyway- I think you're right, Danny. I guess it's time for me to swallow my pride... as pissed-off as I am by this company, if we lose this Xtraction match then we're seriously in the shit. I've got to give it my all, just so that there's something left to get back to the top of.

: That's the spirit! Nothing beats giving some tosspot who deserves it a good-old fashioned hiding!

: So what do you know about their team?

: Not much. Who's on it? Anemone? Price? Shawn Rossdale? Effigy? It's like a who's-who of nobodies. The only one I know on their side is Curtis Kanyon, and I beat him already.

: That's a good start. How did you go about preparing for that one?

: Yeaahhhh, I... I don't really wanna talk about it.

: Come on Boss, we ain't gonna get anywhere if we don't know where we're starting out from.

: 'Ang on, I'm just havin' a look online to see what I can...


Del's eyes widened as he looked down at his phone screen. He tilted the phone towards Danny boy, who followed suit with a wide-eyed stare.


: Fack me...

: Yeah... alright. Maybe we won't go that route again.

: Yes, yes, fine, very funny. I broadcast gay porn to the entire town, ha ha haaa.

: I ain't judging, Boss. You was young, you did what you had to do to get by. So alright, we switch tack. Anomoly. What do you know?

: He... wears a mask?

: And...?

: And he's probably ugly. Look, I really don't think this is helping.

: Not if you don't take him seriously, no it won't help. Anomoly is their champion. He's the best they've got, and he's gunning for you. He wants to make a name for himself by taking down the top guy in AWF.

: Well he's not going to. I promise you that right now! I may not know much about them but I know all about me and that's all that matters! It doesn't matter what paper championships their guys are wearing, with or without a title Jackson Steele is the real fucking deal and believe you me Danny, I am not gonna go down without a fight! You saw what I did out there against Hyperion. I might have lost but dammit I left everything in the ring out there. Difference is they don't have any seven-foot, three-hundred pound monsters on their team, and they've got nobody that can beat me!


Danny smiled and nodded.


: Now you're getting it. I knew you would, obviously. You're Jackson Steele, it's what you do.

: Damn straight it's what I do! Alright... we need to regroup. Come at this from a different angle. Where's this show happening again?

: England. Gloucestershire. Nice little place if you ignore the scummier parts of it... which to be fair is half the county. but the other half is nice, real posh. Prince Charles lives there.

: Sounds like a place I could fit right in if royalty lives there. I say we go give it a scout, see what we're heading into. If they're all gonna be on AXW's side over there, we need to see the locals up-close and personal, see if we can't win a few of them over to our side. Because God knows nobody wants to cheer for Randy Angel and Michael Storm at the best of times, let alone when we're the "bad guys" in their territory.

: Good plan Boss. I'll get some flights booked.

: Yeah, you do that. This is the first step on my road to recovery... first we go give AXW a stiff kicking, then I can work on getting my title back from Hyperion. I'm gonna make sure I make up for what just went down... tonight wasn't my night... but I'll be damned if I don't steal the show at Xtraction... one way or another.