Post by Bobby Barratt on Oct 12, 2018 6:49:49 GMT -5
We open scene and Bobby sits in his office at home. He is typing away on his computer while using the phone.
Bobby: Sure. So they're interested?
...
Bobby: Well I'm sure we can come to terms on all of those things. Ok...Have your people contact me and we can get it all written up and I'm sure we will have a great working relationship!
Bobby hangs up the phone, smiling to himself as he does so.
Bobby: Hook line and sinker...Oh! I didn't see you there! I've been a little busy...As you can see, the office is back in use for anything I want to get done while I'm not in the Lounge.
Bobby sifts through his paperwork. Picking up a headshot of himself.
Bobby: Well guess who's getting into modelling! I can be making the big bucks both in AND out of the ring! Just got off the phone to a modelling agency and soon, you'll be seeing this face all over Ohio! I'm headed out later to get a few more headshots taken and then?....The sky is the limit!
Bobby gets up from his desk, picking up his bag and heading out of the door. As the door clicks shut, we see the shot pan around and on the screen, we see the start of an email. We only see it for about half a second, but the words "I'm sorry Mrs Stackhouse" can be made out as the scene fades.
We come back and Bobby is just hopping out of his car outside a large building. It doesn't appear to have much signage, so we can only assume Bobby is headed to something to do with the modelling gig he was talking about earlier. He grabs his bag and heads in, locking the car in the process as he does so. At the desk sits a bubbly young girl. Curly blonde hair falls down past her bright red cat eye style glasses. She seems to be sporting quite the 50s pin up look.
Girl: Hi there! What can I do for you?
Bobby: Hey, babe. I'm here about a modelling job.
Girl: Well you're in the right place!
Bobby: That's always a good start, huh?
They share an awkward laugh together. The kind of laugh you give a customer when they make a bad joke in order to keep them happy. The girl makes a call to someone in the back.
Girl: Hi. I have a.....Mr...
Bobby: Barratt. How can you not kn-
Girl: Mr Barratt here. He says he's here for a job?....Ok thank you! I'll send him down!
The girl hangs up the phone and smiles at Bobby.
Girl: So your shoot is down the hall. Third door on the right. If you want to go sit down, get comfortable and have a chat with Andy, your advisor, you'll be set to go!
Bobby: Thanks! So now the pleasantries are out of the way...
The girl smiles before raising her left hand, displaying a wedding ring. Bobby's expression drops to a blank one.
Bobby: Ok, fair play. Have a good day.
Bobby heads down the corridor with his bag. He taps on the door.
Andy: Come in!
Bobby heads in and sees an impeccably well dressed man sitting behind a desk. He takes a seat and he and Andy exchange a shake of hands.
Andy: So, Bobby is it? I hear you're looking to model?
Bobby: Yeah, I mean I have a big few weeks ahead of me with the XHF and End of Days. My face will be out there a lot and I thought we could all capitalise on that and walk away a little richer.
Andy: So XHF....What's that? And what's an End of Days?
Bobby: Oh man, you don't know me?
Andy: You're an aspiring model, right?
Bobby: I'm also a former Two time World Champion. One of the members of the biggest stable within the XHF, THE name in AWF. Think about the opportunities a person like that can open up. Think of the money we can both make together!
Andy: What's an AWF?
Bobby puts his face in his hands. We hear a muffled groan escape as Andy looks perplexed.
Andy: So, let's get a few forms filled out and we can get this show on the road!
The scene flicks to inside a photo studio within the building. A young, student looking Photographer is setting up the lighting in the room, fine tuning it and putting the last touches to the setup in order to achieve the look she wants. Bobby walks in, wearing only a white towel robe. His hair and makeup have been done for the shoot.
Bobby: Man, those girls really know their way around guys makeup!
Photographer: They're good, right?!
Bobby: Yeah I mean it looks so natural!
Photographer: Yeah we looked long and hard for people who can achieve that look! So you're a fighter, right?
Bobby: Best of the best! You ever seen me in action?
Photographer: Afraid not! Andy left it on your notes for me, so I could throw a few ideas around for shoots! Now this is a test shoot. These images might be picked up by companies for use, but they aren't for a client in particular, you know that right?
Bobby: Ummm....I do now. Well I'm sure if you're half as good as the girls in makeup, we'll be getting these puppies picked up in no time!
Photographer: Nice way to look at it! So the best idea I came up with was this. You got your gear on, right?
Bobby: I do!
Bobby drops his robe, leaving him in just his ring gear: Purple biker shorts, kneepads and boots.
Photographer: Perfect! Now I wasn't privy to the colour choice, so I guess we'll go with.....
The Photographer picks out something and tosses it to Bobby. It's a small bag, which Bobby opens.
Bobby: .... Boxing gloves?
Photographer: Yeah! Well I figured we could play on your sport, show off what you're known for!
Bobby: I'm not a Boxer! I've never worn a pair of these in my life!
Photographer: Oh....So....Cage fighting?
Bobby: WRESTLING! Did any of you guys look me up?
Photographer: Apparently not. Well it's a test shoot. Let's go ahead and get this shot, when people know you do this, I'm sure the Wrestling shoots will come!
They get to work. Bobby is snapped wearing the gloves in faux-boxing stances before taking off the gloves, hanging them around his neck and letting them fall onto his chest. An hour goes by and they finally wrap up the shoot.
Photographer: Seems someone is used to being in front of a camera!
Bobby: If only you knew what I've done in front of a camera.
Photographer: Ummm....Eww!
Bobby: No that's not what I meant!
The Photographer doesn't hear this. She's already packed up her gear and headed to the door, leaving Bobby to get dressed and make his own way out. He arrives back at the desk. The girl is still working away on something.
Girl: So how did it go?
Bobby: Well there was a misunderstanding on what I do.
Girl: Yeah... They thought you were a Boxer, right?
Bobby: Yeah! Man news travels fast here! Anyways, do you guys have a video studio I could use while I'm here?
Girl: Afraid not. We only really operate with photos and editing here.
Bobby: Damn. I got a piece to say to my opponent for the weekend and nowhere to go ahead and do it.
Girl: Yeah, I'm sorry. Wish I had some idea to help you. Anyways, we will get these images circulated, get some feelers out on your stuff, see if anywhere bites and get back to you, OK?
Bobby: Sure. How long does that normally take?
Girl: Unfortunately, it's a case of "as long as it takes". Sometimes, you get bites instantly and we might be calling you before you get home, other times....We just have to hope people are looking for models.
Bobby makes small chat to wrap up the conversation before heading out of the door. He gets out into the street and looks around. A few seconds later and panic starts to show across his face.
Bobby: The fuck?! Where's my car?!?!
We come back and Bobby is sitting on the kerb. He looks around and finally, we see an Audi R8 come roaring into shot. It's clearly the one owned by Bobby's fellow Icon member, Maverick. It pulls up next to him and the window comes down.
Maverick: So come on....What mess did you get yourself into now?
Bobby: Someone's stolen my car! It HAS to be that Chronic guy. Guy's a damn felon!
Maverick: If I didn't know where you were, what makes you think he would?
Bobby: Well SOMEONE stole my car! It's a classic, too! That thing cost thousands!
Maverick: Don't worry about it. You got a match ahead of you and we need to get back to Sa- wait. What the fuck is on your face?!
Bobby: Makeup!
Maverick bursts into hysterics. He obviously isn't used to the fact makeup is required to stop visible sweat on camera.
Bobby: Just open the door, OK?
Bobby gets into the passenger side of the car as Mav lights the back wheels up, wheelspinning back off into the distance as the scene fades.
The scene fades back into shot in some woodland in Salem. Bobby walks through alone. He's carrying a larger bag now. The leaves, freshly fallen from the trees surround him make a crunch underneath his boot with each footstep. He looks around before setting the bag down. Pulling out an old looking camera tripod and a digital camera, he sets it all up before standing in front of it and hitting a button on the wireless remote.
Bobby: So Eric. Here we are. Salem. The home of the infamous hangings way back in the day. I hear you learned that the other day, right? You know I watched that promo...I watched the whole thing to see how you felt in such a situation. One thing felt really....OFF to me.
Bobby pulls out his phone and swipes at it a few times.
Bobby: The guide you had giving that lecture. You know when someone doesn't have the conviction in what they're saying? When they don't feel like they have the knowledge in a subject to back up what they're saying? It felt like they were reading the whole thing off a cue card. So I decided to do a little research myself. Since all of your stuff is locked up in Federal archives, I couldn't get anything on you, so I looked up what was being said.
Bobby shows his phone to the camera. It's simply a website image.
Bobby: Dude, you got ripped off! For a guy who sleeps in his car to be shrewd with his money rather than overpaying on Hotel rooms, you sure do waste some cash! That guide was nothing more than a local scam artist, looking to cash in on the infamy of Salem! Their whole tour was literally read from Google......Man! I feel bad for you! Then to go on to a Psychic, who told you I was going to be in PRISON in a year? Dude come on! You're more naive than you look! Did being inside teach you to blindly trust people so much that you've come out here and jumped into the world with both feet? Choosing to take everyone at their word? Dude....Wow. You're going to get eaten alive in my world if that's what you do!
Bobby puts his phone back into his pocket.
Bobby: So on the back of you being swindled by local hustlers, how does that make you feel in the run up to the Witching Hour? Surely that has to breed some insecurity within you. Surely that's going to make you doubt yourself and let me tell you veteran to rookie. That's not the approach you want! You lack conviction with your words. You lack the confidence that you can pull this off and in this world...I'm a Shark. I'll sniff out that insecurity and I'll feast upon it like the Predator I am! Though one thing you said really stood out to me, Eric. That you hope to achieve only ten percent of what I have. My first thought on that was that if you aren't here to be the BEST this business has to offer, you're in the wrong game, buddy! If you don't want to hold World Championship after World Championship, then you don't belong in the ring with the people who actually HOLD that gold. You disrespect the history of the Championships within this business if you don't want to chase it with every fibre of your being....To make the ultimate sacrifice! We hated it at the time, but look at Michael Storm! The man PARALYSED himself in order to get the X*Crown away from Jack! THAT is the dedication you need in order to succeed in this business. Unfortunately for Storm, he made one mistake too many and he paid the price.
Bobby lights a cigarette, taking a drag on it. The smoke dissipates into the air as he exhales.
Bobby: Though there's a difference. The difference is that if you ASPIRE to only achieve 10%....that makes you scum. If you aim your sights to BE the best this business has to offer and still achieve 10% of what I already have? That makes you a loser, but it also makes you on par with most of this damn network! The fact is that there are two types of people. The ones that ACHIEVE the accolades, the fame, the money and the titles....Then the ones that dream of it...Yet fall short. Sunday night, we will see what kind of a man you are. Are you someone who will go on? Or are you someone who will simply fall by the wayside?
Bobby dips into the bag he left on the floor. We don't see right away what he picks out.
Bobby: So Salem. Home to this week's episode of the End of Days Tournament. Infamous for the trials way back in time. The way it punished and persecuted people who were possibly innocent was nothing short of barbaric. Didn't like someone? Accuse them of Witchcraft! Problem solved. They get to meet the wrong end of one of these....
Bobby lifts his right arm. He's holding what appears to be a noose!
Bobby: Yep! One thing you may now know about me...A little over a year ago, I was on the wrong end of this very noose. I've experienced what it's like plummeting to what would be a certain death. I've been lucky enough to make it through the other side of this. See this....I haven't spoken publicly about this yet... But this is the very noose I tried to hang myself with some time ago. I was a bad guy in a worse place. Drugs were in my system in quantities that far surpass the recommended dosage. I drove out into woodlands just like this in the dead of night and the only thing that stopped me meeting my grisly end that night was a bolt of lightning that happened to take out the branch I used as an anchor. Now think about that. If I chose ANY other branch that night, we wouldn't be having this match! All the titles, the accolades, the Icons themselves might not have happened! There's a reason I'm still standing here and I'm starting to believe that the reason is for me to go onto win the End of Days Tournament! I made it out the other side of that experience just like I'll make it out of the other side of this match! The question is....Will you? Now I'm going to sign off here and you won't see me again. Not until our match on Sunday. You can go ahead and post promo after promo and say I'm in hiding because I'm afraid but the fact of the matter is this. Every second I've spent talking at a camera, holding a seminar, shooting a promo or whatever else...That's a second I could have been training to defeat you. You did well to keep me distracted for all that time, but the fact is you've wasted more than enough of my time. As for the question about who you'll be facing come Witching Hour. If you paid any attention during all that research you did, you'll notice that the name "The Prodigy" was buried along with Jenny! So keep that name out of your mouth!
[End Feed.]
