Post by Bobby Barratt on Oct 23, 2018 15:42:20 GMT -5
We open scene as Bobby is packing up his gear for End of Days. He's getting all his stuff together so he can head out towards the end of the week. He pulls his ring gear off the line in the back garden. It always was amusing when people came over for business matters: be it cold callers or anyone else who might not know who he was. They'd see the trunks on the line and always had to ask about them. Obviously with Bobby's ego, this quickly led to them being ejected from the premises. As Bobby folds his trunks up in a crude fashion, he gets a call.
RING! RING!
Bobby: Yeah?
Maverick: Hey...It's me.
Bobby: The last guy I expected to hear from. What can I do for ya?
Maverick: Listen. I was a little harsh on you the other day.
Bobby: Don't worry about it. I lied to you both. I deserved it. I was expecting it would be you dodging my calls, not Jack.
Maverick: He's gone silent on you too, huh?
Bobby: Yeah, what's with that?
Maverick: I don't know. He's normally pretty reachable when it comes to crunch time. I thought you two would at least want to vent to each other about the Cage match...Anyway.... I have to ask. Why did you feel you had to lie to us?
Bobby: Man it wasn't easy, but ever since I had that money from Shawn, it was always about being over the top, extravagant. Me being the guy that threw cash around. Maybe not at Jack's level, but he didn't make it by spending it. This proves why, right? Anyway. In short, Jack told me over and over to invest my money and the only reason I did was to give back to the guy that paid for all my bullshit for the last year.
Maverick: Yeah. Especially with him not actually being dead and all.
Bobby: Precisely. I'd never have known what to put money into. Do I look like a stocks and shares kind of guy?
Maverick: Nothing about you says "share" to me.
Bobby: Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. We good, though?
Maverick: Yeah, we're good. I just had to know why you didn't trust us.
Bobby: There's a lot I didn't tell you about it, but you know the important parts now. I'm having a bit of a clearout. I'm going to offload the A-Team va-
Maverick: A dumb purchase.
Bobby: Yeah, yeah. I had to let go of the Pilot too. It's poor mans travel from now on.
Maverick: Dude, you'll have the Lamborghini back the minute you win End of Days. It'll patch you over to get it back and you'll be sailing. Hardly a poor man's travel.
Bobby: True, but sitting in traffic is hardly the luxury I'm used to is it? Paying tolls and shit.
Maverick: Fuck it. Learn to fly it yourself. Bruce Dickinson did it for Maiden! He flies his own jet!
Bobby: Now you're talking, lad! It can't cost too much to learn to fly one of these. More than I have right now, but certainly less than I was paying a Pilot to sit at home and wait for my call! Listen. I'm gonna get off. I'm packing up, so I can head out to England in a few days. It's been a stressful few weeks, so I'm going to head home and touch base with the family before I head out to Ireland.
Maverick: Yeah. Gives me a chance to catch up with my family too. Nice and close to home.... Well closer than we are from here anyway. Let me know if you hear from Jack?
Bobby: Yeah... you too. Peace out.
Bobby hangs up the phone. He sighs as he looks out the window at his grounded transport. He's going to miss being ferried around in that, but being a Pilot would be badass! He cracks open a beer as he carries on packing.
We come back and Bobby has just finished a workout. His home gym is barely used nowadays. He normally grabs a workout in whatever town he happens to be in that day. Bobby sits up from the incline bench, two dumbells lie by his feet. He picks up a towel from the floor and wipes his brow to clear the sweat.
Bobby: See? Determination is what makes a man. We are yet to even hear from Killa Kai. The kid has a great attitude and if the tides were different, I might have even seen him as an Icon one day. He's got the drive and that cut throat attitude you need to make it in this business. The one thing he lacks is presence. You have to be making these videos, taking time from each day and putting yourself out there so people know what's going on, so people know where your match is and they get out there to see you. Take me for instance. I'm doing a video right now. I'll get showered up and then head out for a press conference later on. Word has it Jack fucked about in one the other day to send a message to Mongo about something or other. No idea what spurred him on to do that, but I'd have loved to have been there to see all those reporters' faces when they realised they'd turned up all ready and all they got was a good view of him picking his nails.
Bobby laughs to himself at the thought of how those reporters would have got yelled at when they got back to their desks.
Bobby: As a matter of fact, I better head out now. I don't have a lot of time to spare. Prior to all this, I'd have taken another few hours to chill out, knowing I'd just call my guy and we'd still be there with plenty of time....But for now? Icon....out!
We come back and we are in the same room that Jack Diamond held his by now, infamous XHF Press Conference of silence. The room is still decked out with the End of Days decor and the reporters are in. Will Bobby continue the same tactic as his Icon teammate and continue to stick it to the man?
Host: Here we are again. In the run up to the End of Days final event, we invited all participants to come and say their piece. So today, it's the turn of the man that calls himself a living legend withing the XHF. Please welcome one of the finalists of End of Days....Bobby Barratt!
Bobby walks onto the stage to mild applause from the reporters. He straightens the tie of his suit and takes a seat.
Reporter 1: Bobby, we have been led to believe that your financial situation isn't what it was. How will that affect your mindset coming into End of Days?
Bobby takes a sip of his water. He looks around the room and sees the expressions of the reporters start to turn to disappointment again. Another stand up by another guy who wants to stick it to Mongo and his network. He decides to act.
Bobby: You know what? First of all, my financial situation is nothing to do with any of you... Though now you asked, I recently ploughed a lot of money into a friend's business. It's left things a little thin on the ground with regards to cash, but when you look at assets, there's nothing poor about me. That being said, I'll still approach this match with the same hunger, the same passion and the same killer instinct that I always have. The same drive that's got me to the dance is going to be the driving force that will seize the whole tournament in my name! Now any questions that aren't about the size of my bank account?
Reporter 2: Bobby... Killa Kai is a relative newcomer to the Network. How do you rate his chances against an established star like yourself?
Bobby: Nice question there. Now Killa Kai has had quite the meteoric rise throughout this tournament. I can guarantee his stock has tripled since his first round match. He came into this as a total unknown. A kid in a man's world. Only one match under his belt and that was a rumble matchup. Now he stands in the Final of End of Days. He stands opposite the man that practically has his name etched into the Hall of Fame in funnily enough....a Haunted Hall of Fame Match. Killa Kai, you tried to kill a Bear. Not defeat him....KILL him! I admire that! I like your style! That attitude is what's brought you to the main event of one of the biggest events of the year. The question is.... Do you have one more in you? Do you have what it takes to take down one of the undisputed biggest names in the entire XHF Network? I'll let you answer that one but the question I'll leave you with... Is when we're locked in that Hall of Fame, whichever it may be, with whatever decides to "haunt" us.... Who ya gonna call?!
Bobby grins at his pun. It appears to be lost amongst the mainly blank stares of the press.
Reporter 3: One more question Bobby. First of all, thank you for being more co-operative than your Icon stablemate Jack Diamond. Secondly... What's next? For a man who's done it all within AWF... Winning End of Days. Where's that get you?
Bobby: Well for one I haven't won End of Days.....YET! But that question has so many answers. I could walk back into AWF and take a shot at winning the Prestige Championship back from Seth Dillinger. We all know that there's no love lost there since I eliminated him from the tournament. He would probably relish the opportunity to try to take his pound of flesh. Another option is I could literally walk into any federation I'm eligible for and challenge for their World Championship. Does that make me potentially the first man to win two separate World Championships in the XHF Network? LEGEND! The sky's the limit, my friend! The only way you're going to find out what my next move is.....is to keep your eyes peeled! Don't touch the remote, don't take your eyes off the XHF Network. Soon... This is going to be the face that represents it!
Bobby shakes the hand of the host, before exiting the stage. As he heads off left, we see him wipe his hands on his jacket as the scene flicks to black.
We come back and Bobby is just arriving back at home. He looks stressed as he heads inside the door. His hair looks rough and his eyes are bloodshot. It's been a long couple of days. He's staring at a video on his phone on Youtube.
Bobby: Ok, so that's step one sorted. We can get her in the air. Who said I needed to get lessons? I can learn all this shit on Youtu-
Bobby's eyes jolt open as his screen displays a TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES message. Youtube has gone down, folks!
Bobby: What the fuck?! I'm trying to learn shit here! What's with the constant technical difficulty messages lately? Just a couple of days, it resulted in us having to sign stuff we shouldn't have to sign as Wrestlers, now I can't even watch a video! You know what? Fuck it!
Bobby grabs a beer and pops it open, while he tries to refresh the video on his phone. He finishes the beer in quick fashion while taking some keys off the hook in the house.
Bobby: I've learnt how to get it off the ground, I'll just do the same in reverse coming down. No more messing about with cabs and traffic. No more waiting on trains and planes. It's all on me!
Bobby rushes outside and down the the far end of the garden. There it is. Glistening under the moonlight...Is Icon-1. Bobby hops inside and puts on the helmet. He's seen the Pilot do this a thousand times by now. He's seen the pre-flight checks done so he ambles his way through it as thoroughly as he remembers how.
Bobby: Fuel...Check. Motors...
Bobby turns the key. He flips a few more switches and the chopper fires into life.
Bobby: Check. I'll just take it out for a quick test. Nowhere too far. Wait til the boys hear about this!
Bobby allows the motors to run for a few seconds before he pulls back on the lever. The one he's used to seeing the Pilot use to get away. The whole chopper sways violently as it leaves the ground, hovering there about thirty feet above the ground. Bobby uses a few things he learned watching his operation manual on Youtube to steady her.
Bobby: OK! We're off the ground! That's a good start! Not perfect, but I'm new to this! See? I can do anything I turn my hand to!
With that, Bobby pulls back again on the lever and we go up into the air. We go right before levelling out and heading off left.
Bobby: Oops! Let's not get forgetful now! I'm going to head on past the Casino and back. It takes about 15 minutes or so each way.
Bobby sets course. Of course it's not steady or as controlled as he would have you believe. He's doing his best not to lose control of this thing at all times. Luckily, the Casino lights are pretty easy to spot, so once you're far enough in the air, you don't need to set directions...You just follow the lights.
Bobby: So Killa Kai. We're...... 3000 feet in the air now. I'm speaking to you having just decided to pilot my own aircraft. This is how quickly I pick shit up!
The chopper shakes violently in turbulence. Bobby shifts his concentration back to keeping it steady.
Bobby: So if I can pick up something this quickly, what do you think I'm going to be able to do with something I've been spending over half of my life doing? You think you picked up Wrestling quickly because you only just appeared? You've been training for longer than you let on. You just never got given the stage to show it until now! So don't try to pull that underdog shit with me! I towed the line in the interviews, pretending you were some fresh faced rookie but that was honestly because I haven't seen much of you in terms of prior stuff, but I know you're trying to have me over!
Icon-1 finally stabilises in the air, giving Bobby a little time to talk and concentrate on what he's saying, rather than spitting out random thoughts.
Bobby: So this Sunday... Croke Park in Ireland. You're miles and MILES from home. The jetlag is about to kill you. Face it. You're in my house now. By the way, who the fuck uses the nickname "KKK"?! My final piece of advice to you is that's fucking career suicide. If Michael Storm wasn't....well whatever he is nowadays...Him and Michael whatever his name is would have had you fucking slaughtered for that.... Drop that shit! You've told us you're all about "Kontroversy" but that's just straight stupi-
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!
Bobby: The fuck's that?
Bobby looks down at his console and numerous red lights are flashing at him. He knows a few of them, but the chopper is starting to lose altitude fast.
Bobby: Ok engine....Check! Fuel....Check! Bla-
Bobby grabs the lever and yanks it back, starting to panic.
Bobby: Shit! Shit! Shit we're going down! I'm gonna cra-
///~:END FEED:~///
