AGGRESSION 54: Three Way Dance - Lindsay Troy vs. Layne Winters vs. Copycat
- Thread starter DBrunkGXW
- Start date
GARTHIsTheLaw
League Member
<i>(A cacophony of muffled voices, shuffling feet, beeping equipment and PA announcements fills the airwaves as we fade in on a black-and-white image of a hospital room. Immediately beside the camera is a hospital bed, on which reclines Aaron Jones, the son of EPW senior referee Pat Jones and the young man who was badly beaten by Omega at Aggression 53. Though his head and neck area sport bandages aplenty, he's not hooked up to a respirator or anything and does not appear to have suffered any permanent injuries. Aaron's head slowly lifts up as the door to his hospital room opens and his father walks in, accompanied by a nurse or other hospital employee)</i>
<b>Pat Jones:</b> Aaron! I'm so glad you're awake this time. They wouldn't let me see you when I was here before. I tried to--
<b>Aaron Jones:</b> Dad, you don't have to explain. I know how you worry. I knew you'd be here as soon as you possibly could.
<i>(Pat walks over to his son's bedside. Aaron painfully lifts himself up to give his father a hug, then lays back down)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> It's such a relief to hear you say that. You can understand how worried I was that your mother and I had done something to make you ... make you ...
<b>Aaron:</b> “Make me” what? I hope you realize nobody “made me” do anything.
<i>(Pat looks down at Aaron with a mixture of concern and confusion. He starts to say something, but stops himself and turns to the nurse)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> Could I speak to my son alone, please?
<i>(The nurse nods and walks out the door, closing it behind her. Pat turns back to his son and sits down in a chair beside the bed)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> Aaron, please don't think I'm insulting your intelligence. You know how brilliant your mother and I are always telling you you are. But you have to understand how ... how confused we are about what you did.
<b>Aaron:</b> What's not to understand? I explained it to Mom when she was here earlier.
<b>Pat:</b> And she told me she didn't understand why you were saying the things you were saying, and that the doctor shooed her away before she could figure out what your goal was. This whole thing is so ... out of character for you.
<b>Aaron:</b> Look, Dad. You didn't expect me to do what I did, I get that. But if you're going to sit there like Mom did and say over and over that you just don't know what led me astray, or whatever, you're going to leave here just as disappointed as she was.
<b>Pat:</b> I want to understand, Aaron. Maybe your mother wasn't here long enough for you to explain it to her in a way she would understand, or maybe she isn't used to dealing with the people I deal with for my job. I'll do whatever you think will help me understand.
<i>(Aaron sighs)</i>
<b>Aaron:</b> Dad, I guess ... I guess I don't get why you're having such a hard time figuring this out. I mean, you and Mom have both kept asking what I was thinking, and stuff like that, but I don't know how to answer that; it makes sense to me, and I don't know why it doesn't make sense to you. I'm not sure how I can explain it in such--
<b>Pat:</b> OK. OK. I'll get right to the point. Why did you attack Omega, knowing how dangerous he is? What did Copycat tell you that made you think you had a chance against that ... that lunatic?
<b>Aaron:</b> See, this is exactly what Mom was doing! She kept assuming that I couldn't possibly have done what I did because I wanted to, that Copycat must have brainwashed me or something, and that's what pisses me off so much about the way you guys are reacting! Has it occurred to either of you that maybe I thought what I was doing was the best thing I could be doing? I'm not so dumb that some guy I've never met before can brainwash me by snapping his fingers.
<b>Pat:</b> I'm not trying to jump to ...! Alright, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't want to jump to conclusions. But Copycat gave you that note that he expected me to read. Let's not assume anybody brainwashed anybody. Clearly, Copycat must have said something to you. All I want to know is what it was, and how it happened, and why you agreed with it.
<b>Aaron:</b> He contacted me. I'm on the e-mail lists for a lot of the guys in EPW who have fan e-mail lists, and that's where he got my e-mail address. He told me about the problems in EPW, about the effect they're having on the wrestling business as a whole, and he said there was a way I could help.
<b>Pat:</b> By attacking Omega? I'm sorry, Aaron, I just don't know how that could possibly--
<b>Aaron:</b> It wasn't about Omega, Dad. I thought that would be obvious. It was about you.
<i>(Pat stares at his son, trying to find the words to respond but apparently not locating them. Finally, he responds, voice starting to quaver)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> What did I do? I ... I know he was upset about that match with the First, but all I did was make the call I thought was best. That's what I've been doing my whole career.
<b>Aaron:</b> He doesn't think you declared the First the winner consciously and deliberately to hurt him, if that's what you're wondering. If you had, I imagine he would have taken up his problems with you directly. But you have to understand, Dad, you're part of a system that's become corrupted. You've been making the calls you thought were best your whole career, but the calls you think are best aren't all the right calls anymore.
<b>Pat:</b> I don't--
<b>Aaron:</b> The whole wrestling business has been infected. There are some people who know, deep down, that what they're doing is harmful to it, but don't care as long as they get the glory in the end. And then there are people who are just doing what they think is right, making the calls they think are best, not realizing that the harmful practices have become so ingrained in them that they don't even realize they're making the wrong calls. You really believe the First deserved to win that match, don't you? That his feet touched the ground first?
<b>Pat:</b> Of course I do! I made the call as I saw it! Aaron, I'll do whatever I can to help you through this, but I'm terrified of the possibility that someone might be manipulating you, and--
<b>Aaron:</b> I told you, I'm not being manipulated!
<b>Pat:</b> --and Copycat is someone who knows how to manipulate people. He's been doing it his whole career, Aaron. I've only known him a short time, but I've heard the stories of how he could get inside his opponents' heads, mess with their minds, make them believe whatever might help him beat them. And that was before he embarked on this ... this crusade, or whatever he calls it.
<b>Aaron:</b> He is <i>not</i> manipulating me, Dad. No one is. I could have walked away at any time. As soon as he made it clear to me that Omega was going to hurt me, I could have said “no.”
<b>Pat:</b> He ... he <i>told</i> you Omega was going to hurt you? You knew in advance that that was going to happen?
<b>Aaron:</b> Of course! I know what Omega is capable of. I had no illusions that I would win that fight.
<b>Pat:</b> Then why--
<b>Aaron:</b> It was never about winning the fight. I told you, Dad, it was about you. And if you'll let me finish, you'll understand why.
<i>(Pat sits in silence, waiting for Aaron to continue)</i>
<b>Aaron:</b> First off, it wasn't to hurt you. It was never about hurting you, even though he knew you would think that initially. It was just to get you to take notice. So many people in EPW are blinded to the destruction of this business all around them and need to be shocked back to reality. That's what this was. It was about making you see the harm your actions, even if you see them as harmless, are doing. And it was about ensuring you do not continue to do that harm in the future.
<i>(Pat is near tears, but he manages to respond quietly, without his voice cracking)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> But why you? Why did it have to be you, Aaron? Why couldn't he have just come after me? I've been in this business for so long now, I've taken worse beatings than he can give out.
<b>Aaron:</b> Because I want to be like you.
<i>(Pat, confused by this statement, is stunned into silence. A tear begins to well up in one of his eyes)</i>
<b>Aaron:</b> I know you wanted me to make my own path, that it didn't have to lead where yours led. But Dad, I've always looked up to you, always respected the career you chose. You knew that when I was younger. I'm sure you haven't noticed as much lately, because I didn't want you to think that I wasn't considering other options. I was considering other options. But from the first time I ever counted a pinfall on the carpet while I watched you on TV, I knew that was a career I could love. Now, maybe that's not where I'll end up going in life. I don't intend to drop out of school or anything, and I'll keep studying. But Dad, if you understand nothing else about why I've made the choices I've made, understand this: I did what I did because I want the wrestling business to still be there if and when I decide to be part of it. I can’t let the people who are working to destroy it, whether they realize it or not, destroy it.
<i>(Aaron looks at his father for a response, but Pat is silent, staring at the ground, not meeting his son’s eyes)</i>
<b>Aaron:</b> I hope you can see why I came to Aggression 53 to do what I did. I hope you can see why I agree with what Copycat is saying, why I realize his way is the only way.
<b>Pat:</b> … You sound like him. You don’t even sound like you.
<b>Aaron:</b> Look, if you’re going to start in on this again, I don’t—
<b>Pat:</b> Can you at least promise me you won’t put yourself in harm’s way again? If nothing else, please—
<b>Aaron:</b> I don’t want to get beaten up again. But whether I get put in danger again depends on you and the rest of EPW, not on me.
<b>Pat:</b> Will you please listen to me on this one thing? You’re an adult, you can believe what you want to believe, we can figure it out together. But your mother and I can’t stand the idea of you getting hurt again.
<b>Aaron:</b> I’m sorry, Dad. If I have to get involved in EPW again, I will.
<b>Pat:</b> I can stop you. I can find a way. I can—
<i>(The nurse opens the door and peers in)</i>
<b>Nurse:</b> Visiting hours are over, Mr. Jones.
<b>Pat:</b> No! I need more time! Can’t I have just another minute?
<b>Nurse:</b> I’m sorry, Mr. Jones. You have to go.
<b>Aaron:</b> Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll still be here when you come back.
<i>(Pat gets up and slowly leaves the room at the nurse’s behest. After one more glance back, but without another word, he walks out. With both the nurse and Pat gone, Aaron reaches over to the camera and turns it off. Cut to black)</i>
<b>Pat Jones:</b> Aaron! I'm so glad you're awake this time. They wouldn't let me see you when I was here before. I tried to--
<b>Aaron Jones:</b> Dad, you don't have to explain. I know how you worry. I knew you'd be here as soon as you possibly could.
<i>(Pat walks over to his son's bedside. Aaron painfully lifts himself up to give his father a hug, then lays back down)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> It's such a relief to hear you say that. You can understand how worried I was that your mother and I had done something to make you ... make you ...
<b>Aaron:</b> “Make me” what? I hope you realize nobody “made me” do anything.
<i>(Pat looks down at Aaron with a mixture of concern and confusion. He starts to say something, but stops himself and turns to the nurse)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> Could I speak to my son alone, please?
<i>(The nurse nods and walks out the door, closing it behind her. Pat turns back to his son and sits down in a chair beside the bed)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> Aaron, please don't think I'm insulting your intelligence. You know how brilliant your mother and I are always telling you you are. But you have to understand how ... how confused we are about what you did.
<b>Aaron:</b> What's not to understand? I explained it to Mom when she was here earlier.
<b>Pat:</b> And she told me she didn't understand why you were saying the things you were saying, and that the doctor shooed her away before she could figure out what your goal was. This whole thing is so ... out of character for you.
<b>Aaron:</b> Look, Dad. You didn't expect me to do what I did, I get that. But if you're going to sit there like Mom did and say over and over that you just don't know what led me astray, or whatever, you're going to leave here just as disappointed as she was.
<b>Pat:</b> I want to understand, Aaron. Maybe your mother wasn't here long enough for you to explain it to her in a way she would understand, or maybe she isn't used to dealing with the people I deal with for my job. I'll do whatever you think will help me understand.
<i>(Aaron sighs)</i>
<b>Aaron:</b> Dad, I guess ... I guess I don't get why you're having such a hard time figuring this out. I mean, you and Mom have both kept asking what I was thinking, and stuff like that, but I don't know how to answer that; it makes sense to me, and I don't know why it doesn't make sense to you. I'm not sure how I can explain it in such--
<b>Pat:</b> OK. OK. I'll get right to the point. Why did you attack Omega, knowing how dangerous he is? What did Copycat tell you that made you think you had a chance against that ... that lunatic?
<b>Aaron:</b> See, this is exactly what Mom was doing! She kept assuming that I couldn't possibly have done what I did because I wanted to, that Copycat must have brainwashed me or something, and that's what pisses me off so much about the way you guys are reacting! Has it occurred to either of you that maybe I thought what I was doing was the best thing I could be doing? I'm not so dumb that some guy I've never met before can brainwash me by snapping his fingers.
<b>Pat:</b> I'm not trying to jump to ...! Alright, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't want to jump to conclusions. But Copycat gave you that note that he expected me to read. Let's not assume anybody brainwashed anybody. Clearly, Copycat must have said something to you. All I want to know is what it was, and how it happened, and why you agreed with it.
<b>Aaron:</b> He contacted me. I'm on the e-mail lists for a lot of the guys in EPW who have fan e-mail lists, and that's where he got my e-mail address. He told me about the problems in EPW, about the effect they're having on the wrestling business as a whole, and he said there was a way I could help.
<b>Pat:</b> By attacking Omega? I'm sorry, Aaron, I just don't know how that could possibly--
<b>Aaron:</b> It wasn't about Omega, Dad. I thought that would be obvious. It was about you.
<i>(Pat stares at his son, trying to find the words to respond but apparently not locating them. Finally, he responds, voice starting to quaver)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> What did I do? I ... I know he was upset about that match with the First, but all I did was make the call I thought was best. That's what I've been doing my whole career.
<b>Aaron:</b> He doesn't think you declared the First the winner consciously and deliberately to hurt him, if that's what you're wondering. If you had, I imagine he would have taken up his problems with you directly. But you have to understand, Dad, you're part of a system that's become corrupted. You've been making the calls you thought were best your whole career, but the calls you think are best aren't all the right calls anymore.
<b>Pat:</b> I don't--
<b>Aaron:</b> The whole wrestling business has been infected. There are some people who know, deep down, that what they're doing is harmful to it, but don't care as long as they get the glory in the end. And then there are people who are just doing what they think is right, making the calls they think are best, not realizing that the harmful practices have become so ingrained in them that they don't even realize they're making the wrong calls. You really believe the First deserved to win that match, don't you? That his feet touched the ground first?
<b>Pat:</b> Of course I do! I made the call as I saw it! Aaron, I'll do whatever I can to help you through this, but I'm terrified of the possibility that someone might be manipulating you, and--
<b>Aaron:</b> I told you, I'm not being manipulated!
<b>Pat:</b> --and Copycat is someone who knows how to manipulate people. He's been doing it his whole career, Aaron. I've only known him a short time, but I've heard the stories of how he could get inside his opponents' heads, mess with their minds, make them believe whatever might help him beat them. And that was before he embarked on this ... this crusade, or whatever he calls it.
<b>Aaron:</b> He is <i>not</i> manipulating me, Dad. No one is. I could have walked away at any time. As soon as he made it clear to me that Omega was going to hurt me, I could have said “no.”
<b>Pat:</b> He ... he <i>told</i> you Omega was going to hurt you? You knew in advance that that was going to happen?
<b>Aaron:</b> Of course! I know what Omega is capable of. I had no illusions that I would win that fight.
<b>Pat:</b> Then why--
<b>Aaron:</b> It was never about winning the fight. I told you, Dad, it was about you. And if you'll let me finish, you'll understand why.
<i>(Pat sits in silence, waiting for Aaron to continue)</i>
<b>Aaron:</b> First off, it wasn't to hurt you. It was never about hurting you, even though he knew you would think that initially. It was just to get you to take notice. So many people in EPW are blinded to the destruction of this business all around them and need to be shocked back to reality. That's what this was. It was about making you see the harm your actions, even if you see them as harmless, are doing. And it was about ensuring you do not continue to do that harm in the future.
<i>(Pat is near tears, but he manages to respond quietly, without his voice cracking)</i>
<b>Pat:</b> But why you? Why did it have to be you, Aaron? Why couldn't he have just come after me? I've been in this business for so long now, I've taken worse beatings than he can give out.
<b>Aaron:</b> Because I want to be like you.
<i>(Pat, confused by this statement, is stunned into silence. A tear begins to well up in one of his eyes)</i>
<b>Aaron:</b> I know you wanted me to make my own path, that it didn't have to lead where yours led. But Dad, I've always looked up to you, always respected the career you chose. You knew that when I was younger. I'm sure you haven't noticed as much lately, because I didn't want you to think that I wasn't considering other options. I was considering other options. But from the first time I ever counted a pinfall on the carpet while I watched you on TV, I knew that was a career I could love. Now, maybe that's not where I'll end up going in life. I don't intend to drop out of school or anything, and I'll keep studying. But Dad, if you understand nothing else about why I've made the choices I've made, understand this: I did what I did because I want the wrestling business to still be there if and when I decide to be part of it. I can’t let the people who are working to destroy it, whether they realize it or not, destroy it.
<i>(Aaron looks at his father for a response, but Pat is silent, staring at the ground, not meeting his son’s eyes)</i>
<b>Aaron:</b> I hope you can see why I came to Aggression 53 to do what I did. I hope you can see why I agree with what Copycat is saying, why I realize his way is the only way.
<b>Pat:</b> … You sound like him. You don’t even sound like you.
<b>Aaron:</b> Look, if you’re going to start in on this again, I don’t—
<b>Pat:</b> Can you at least promise me you won’t put yourself in harm’s way again? If nothing else, please—
<b>Aaron:</b> I don’t want to get beaten up again. But whether I get put in danger again depends on you and the rest of EPW, not on me.
<b>Pat:</b> Will you please listen to me on this one thing? You’re an adult, you can believe what you want to believe, we can figure it out together. But your mother and I can’t stand the idea of you getting hurt again.
<b>Aaron:</b> I’m sorry, Dad. If I have to get involved in EPW again, I will.
<b>Pat:</b> I can stop you. I can find a way. I can—
<i>(The nurse opens the door and peers in)</i>
<b>Nurse:</b> Visiting hours are over, Mr. Jones.
<b>Pat:</b> No! I need more time! Can’t I have just another minute?
<b>Nurse:</b> I’m sorry, Mr. Jones. You have to go.
<b>Aaron:</b> Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll still be here when you come back.
<i>(Pat gets up and slowly leaves the room at the nurse’s behest. After one more glance back, but without another word, he walks out. With both the nurse and Pat gone, Aaron reaches over to the camera and turns it off. Cut to black)</i>
GARTHIsTheLaw
League Member
<i>(We fade in on a shot similar to the last one: a black-and-white camera angle of the hospital room of Aaron Jones. This time is different, though. The lights in the room are down, but Aaron is sitting up in the hospital bed with a tray in his lap and a pen-light clenched in his teeth, pointed down at the tray. Most of his bandages are still intact, but it's clear he's not in as much pain, as he appears to be able to sit comfortably. Barely visible on the tray is a sheet of paper, on which Aaron is writing. Most notably, the hospital noise from the last video is gone; the image is silent until Aaron's voice, layered over the image, breaks in)</i>
<b>Aaron Jones (V/O):</b> Dad.
<i>(Aaron stops writing for a second, then continues)</i>
<b>Aaron (V/O):</b> I'm sorry for breaking my promise to still be here the next time you visit. It was not my intention to mislead you. But circumstances have changed since you were here, and in comparing the importance of those circumstances with my fast-improving physical condition, I've realized this hospital bed is not the best place for me to be right now.
I told you this before, but I want to reiterate right away that I'm not doing any of this to hurt you. My actions at Aggression 53 were intended to make you sit up and take notice – not of me, you understand, but of the problems destroying the wrestling business and your unwitting exacerbation of those problems. My involvement was just a means to ensure you would pay attention, and I think we can both agree it was successful in that regard.
I would like nothing more than to limit my involvement in this matter to my appearance at Aggression 53. But I have seen how the problems in this business persist, and I'm not comfortable with the idea of taking a passive role in trying to solve them. I have to remain active. I can't take the risk of hoping others will step up to steer the business back in the right direction, because the evidence has shown very few are willing.
If I'm ever to become a part of this business – maybe even a well-respected senior official like you – I have to make sure it will still be there when I'm ready. That's why I have to be part of this effort to drag this industry back from the brink. If it continues toward that edge, there will come a point when it can't be pulled back, and if that happens, my dream of one day having the success you've had will fall over that edge with it.
I've come to understand that Copycat will face Layne Winters and Lindsay Troy at Aggression 54 in a triple threat match that may as well be a handicap match, given the hatred the both of them harbor toward him and the indifference they surely have toward each other. This is just another attempt on the part of EPW management to stop him from fixing the parts of EPW, the parts of this business itself, that are broken. EPW management is scared that if the problems he is attempting to solve are solved, they will lose their relevance. But it is only through solving those problems that EPW can continue to survive.
Lindsay Troy and Layne Winters both represent the problems this business faces with their selfishness and their utter disregard for the future. Copycat has to defeat them, however difficult it may be to do so given his numerical disadvantage.
He has made it clear that while he is prepared to fight this battle alone, it will help his cause if others take up the fight with him. Not others who only wish to use his cause to benefit themselves; others who want only what he wants, which is the ultimate survival of a business that is gasping for air as it slowly sinks. It is people like me who can help him achieve what he has set out to achieve.
I've decided to help him.
I don't have any illusions that I'm going to be able to do the things he does in the ring, or that I'll be able to take on any member of the EPW roster. But I have to try.
Don't worry that you're losing me. This isn't going to be my whole life. I'm not going to drop out of school or stop talking to you and Mom or anything like that. This isn't going to replace my other goals; it's just going to be added to the list.
Someday – sooner rather than later, I hope – you'll see the positive effect Copycat's cause will have on this business's future, and you'll see that his way was the only way.
Love,
Aaron
<i>(Aaron stops writing, leans back to let the pen-light illuminate the entire letter, and nods. He takes the light out of his mouth and stretches his hand out to the side, holding the light)
(Out of the shadows next to the bed, Copycat appears. He takes the light from Aaron, then the letter when Aaron hands it to him a moment later. His eyes scan over the letter for a few seconds, then he hands it and the light back to Aaron. He pats Aaron on the shoulder, then turns and walks out of the room. After Copycat is gone, Aaron lifts himself out of the bed. He reaches over to the table on which the camera is set to grab his street clothes, and as he pulls them back to him, he turns off the camera with his other hand, cutting abruptly to black)</i>
<b>Aaron Jones (V/O):</b> Dad.
<i>(Aaron stops writing for a second, then continues)</i>
<b>Aaron (V/O):</b> I'm sorry for breaking my promise to still be here the next time you visit. It was not my intention to mislead you. But circumstances have changed since you were here, and in comparing the importance of those circumstances with my fast-improving physical condition, I've realized this hospital bed is not the best place for me to be right now.
I told you this before, but I want to reiterate right away that I'm not doing any of this to hurt you. My actions at Aggression 53 were intended to make you sit up and take notice – not of me, you understand, but of the problems destroying the wrestling business and your unwitting exacerbation of those problems. My involvement was just a means to ensure you would pay attention, and I think we can both agree it was successful in that regard.
I would like nothing more than to limit my involvement in this matter to my appearance at Aggression 53. But I have seen how the problems in this business persist, and I'm not comfortable with the idea of taking a passive role in trying to solve them. I have to remain active. I can't take the risk of hoping others will step up to steer the business back in the right direction, because the evidence has shown very few are willing.
If I'm ever to become a part of this business – maybe even a well-respected senior official like you – I have to make sure it will still be there when I'm ready. That's why I have to be part of this effort to drag this industry back from the brink. If it continues toward that edge, there will come a point when it can't be pulled back, and if that happens, my dream of one day having the success you've had will fall over that edge with it.
I've come to understand that Copycat will face Layne Winters and Lindsay Troy at Aggression 54 in a triple threat match that may as well be a handicap match, given the hatred the both of them harbor toward him and the indifference they surely have toward each other. This is just another attempt on the part of EPW management to stop him from fixing the parts of EPW, the parts of this business itself, that are broken. EPW management is scared that if the problems he is attempting to solve are solved, they will lose their relevance. But it is only through solving those problems that EPW can continue to survive.
Lindsay Troy and Layne Winters both represent the problems this business faces with their selfishness and their utter disregard for the future. Copycat has to defeat them, however difficult it may be to do so given his numerical disadvantage.
He has made it clear that while he is prepared to fight this battle alone, it will help his cause if others take up the fight with him. Not others who only wish to use his cause to benefit themselves; others who want only what he wants, which is the ultimate survival of a business that is gasping for air as it slowly sinks. It is people like me who can help him achieve what he has set out to achieve.
I've decided to help him.
I don't have any illusions that I'm going to be able to do the things he does in the ring, or that I'll be able to take on any member of the EPW roster. But I have to try.
Don't worry that you're losing me. This isn't going to be my whole life. I'm not going to drop out of school or stop talking to you and Mom or anything like that. This isn't going to replace my other goals; it's just going to be added to the list.
Someday – sooner rather than later, I hope – you'll see the positive effect Copycat's cause will have on this business's future, and you'll see that his way was the only way.
Love,
Aaron
<i>(Aaron stops writing, leans back to let the pen-light illuminate the entire letter, and nods. He takes the light out of his mouth and stretches his hand out to the side, holding the light)
(Out of the shadows next to the bed, Copycat appears. He takes the light from Aaron, then the letter when Aaron hands it to him a moment later. His eyes scan over the letter for a few seconds, then he hands it and the light back to Aaron. He pats Aaron on the shoulder, then turns and walks out of the room. After Copycat is gone, Aaron lifts himself out of the bed. He reaches over to the table on which the camera is set to grab his street clothes, and as he pulls them back to him, he turns off the camera with his other hand, cutting abruptly to black)</i>
LQJT86C
Where's my money, Chad?
(FADEIN: Young man lying in a hospital bed, breathing through a respirator as the ‘bleep…bleep’ of his heart rate can be heard from one of them fancy machines. Suddenly the door swings open, and LAYNE WINTERS walks in wearing a black Seahawks cap, holding flowers. He discards the flowers and walks right up to the respirator, which he violently unplugs. The young man begins to flatline)
WINTERS: Enjoy the afterlife, Aaron. I just spared EPW from having to endure the rest of your sh*tty soap opera. (turns to camera) What I’m gonna do now is, stand here and cut a promo over Aaron Jones’ dead body with my only regret being it ain’t Copycat’s, or better yet…that sorry excuse for a paper cut legend Lindsay Troy.
Now I’m not gonna do the easy thing, and make all kinds of raunchy analogies about what Layne Winters is gonna lay on Lindsay Troy at Aggression. New School’s better than that. I don’t have to get my point across by saying sh*t like how I’m gonna fly my steel tips into her vaginal entryway, knee deep, and build a mosque twelve centimeters from her labia. That’s not me, that’s not my style. I’m not the type of guy who needs to tell some crazy b*tch getting into the ring with him how I’m going to take a giant dump on her career, nail the coffin shut, rip out her patch and use it to build a chia pet voodoo doll that I’ll stick with pins twice a week to ensure she never comes out of retirement again.
No, I won’t say those things.
What I will say, is when a b*tch gets smacked enough times, said b*tch should learn her place and know when NOT to step to a man like me. But enough about Copycat, I wanna talk about Lindsay…
VOICE: Pro wrestlers don’t have an Old Timer’s Day, Layne…
WINTERS: Who the f*ck is that?
(Camera cuts to the corner of the room, where NOSELLUS WALLACE, a huge black man that looks like Ving Rhames, emerges from the shadows)
NOSELLUS: You know exactly who it is, muthaf*cka. It’s Nosellus Wallace. I heard you been wiping your ass with other people’s sh*t.
WINTERS: What, you’re gonna tell me how to cut my promos now?
NOSELLUS: I ain’t tellin’ you how to cut sh*t, muthaf*cka. All I’m sayin’ is…the situation in EPW is a sticky one. You know, I don’t. Now there’s one of two ways you could navigate this sh*t: you could continue to stick your dick in other people’s mashed potatoes, OR you go back to doin’ business the way you did it your rookie year.
WINTERS: Believe me, after the sh*t that went down at King of the Cage, where I got Zane Gated out of victory over a man I’ve proved time and again I’m CLEARLY better than, there’s some sh*t that needs to be straightened out.
NOSELLUS: You feel that sting, Copycat? That’s Layne Winters…f*ckin’ with your angle.
WINTERS: Come on man, it’s my fault everybody in EPW’s half a retard?
NOSELLUS: Nah, but it’s all in how you respond. You gonna respond like a b*tch, no sellin’ like everybody else? Or you gonna respond like the badass mutha f*cka that I know you are?
WINTERS: Where the hell did you come from, anyway?
NOSELLUS: Long story. Sean Stevens sucked the heat out of every main event he ever did, swallowed it, shat it liquid into an ice cube tray, froze it, and fed it to Lindsay Troy where it became impregnated in her stomach when fertilized by the heat she ingested by no-selling her comeback.
WINTERS: Seriously?
NOSELLUS: Yeah. And though I may have just gotten you fired by revealing the true muthaf*ckin’ nature of my existence, now you know. At Aggression, I’ll be sendin’ the Wolf.
WINTERS: The Wolf?
NOSELLUS: YOU, dumbass. I’m sendin’ you in there to take care of business like I know you can. ‘Cause a year from now, when you’re kickin’ it in the Carribean, you gonna say to yourself: “Nosellus Wallace was right.” At 54, the Cat and the Queen’s asses go down.
WINTERS: Abso-f*cking-lutely.
NOSELLUS: Say it.
WINTERS: At 54, Copycat and Lindsay’s asses go down.
NOSELLUS: You my n*gga then. Feel better, muthaf*cka?
VOICE FROM BEYOND: SHYYYYIT NEGRO! THAT’S ALL YOU HAD TO SAY!
…
…
WINTERS: Who the f*ck was that?
NOSELLUS: Nobody. Now go on, do yo thing. And by the way: that ain’t no f*ckin’ Aaron Jones in the hospital bed. That’s the f*ckin’ white boy who jumped from the mezzanine at the Phish concert. (disappears into the shadows)
WINTERS: (blinks, shakes head) Christ, I need to lay off the painkillers.
(FADEOUT)
WINTERS: Enjoy the afterlife, Aaron. I just spared EPW from having to endure the rest of your sh*tty soap opera. (turns to camera) What I’m gonna do now is, stand here and cut a promo over Aaron Jones’ dead body with my only regret being it ain’t Copycat’s, or better yet…that sorry excuse for a paper cut legend Lindsay Troy.
Now I’m not gonna do the easy thing, and make all kinds of raunchy analogies about what Layne Winters is gonna lay on Lindsay Troy at Aggression. New School’s better than that. I don’t have to get my point across by saying sh*t like how I’m gonna fly my steel tips into her vaginal entryway, knee deep, and build a mosque twelve centimeters from her labia. That’s not me, that’s not my style. I’m not the type of guy who needs to tell some crazy b*tch getting into the ring with him how I’m going to take a giant dump on her career, nail the coffin shut, rip out her patch and use it to build a chia pet voodoo doll that I’ll stick with pins twice a week to ensure she never comes out of retirement again.
No, I won’t say those things.
What I will say, is when a b*tch gets smacked enough times, said b*tch should learn her place and know when NOT to step to a man like me. But enough about Copycat, I wanna talk about Lindsay…
VOICE: Pro wrestlers don’t have an Old Timer’s Day, Layne…
WINTERS: Who the f*ck is that?
(Camera cuts to the corner of the room, where NOSELLUS WALLACE, a huge black man that looks like Ving Rhames, emerges from the shadows)
NOSELLUS: You know exactly who it is, muthaf*cka. It’s Nosellus Wallace. I heard you been wiping your ass with other people’s sh*t.
WINTERS: What, you’re gonna tell me how to cut my promos now?
NOSELLUS: I ain’t tellin’ you how to cut sh*t, muthaf*cka. All I’m sayin’ is…the situation in EPW is a sticky one. You know, I don’t. Now there’s one of two ways you could navigate this sh*t: you could continue to stick your dick in other people’s mashed potatoes, OR you go back to doin’ business the way you did it your rookie year.
WINTERS: Believe me, after the sh*t that went down at King of the Cage, where I got Zane Gated out of victory over a man I’ve proved time and again I’m CLEARLY better than, there’s some sh*t that needs to be straightened out.
NOSELLUS: You feel that sting, Copycat? That’s Layne Winters…f*ckin’ with your angle.
WINTERS: Come on man, it’s my fault everybody in EPW’s half a retard?
NOSELLUS: Nah, but it’s all in how you respond. You gonna respond like a b*tch, no sellin’ like everybody else? Or you gonna respond like the badass mutha f*cka that I know you are?
WINTERS: Where the hell did you come from, anyway?
NOSELLUS: Long story. Sean Stevens sucked the heat out of every main event he ever did, swallowed it, shat it liquid into an ice cube tray, froze it, and fed it to Lindsay Troy where it became impregnated in her stomach when fertilized by the heat she ingested by no-selling her comeback.
WINTERS: Seriously?
NOSELLUS: Yeah. And though I may have just gotten you fired by revealing the true muthaf*ckin’ nature of my existence, now you know. At Aggression, I’ll be sendin’ the Wolf.
WINTERS: The Wolf?
NOSELLUS: YOU, dumbass. I’m sendin’ you in there to take care of business like I know you can. ‘Cause a year from now, when you’re kickin’ it in the Carribean, you gonna say to yourself: “Nosellus Wallace was right.” At 54, the Cat and the Queen’s asses go down.
WINTERS: Abso-f*cking-lutely.
NOSELLUS: Say it.
WINTERS: At 54, Copycat and Lindsay’s asses go down.
NOSELLUS: You my n*gga then. Feel better, muthaf*cka?
VOICE FROM BEYOND: SHYYYYIT NEGRO! THAT’S ALL YOU HAD TO SAY!
…
…
WINTERS: Who the f*ck was that?
NOSELLUS: Nobody. Now go on, do yo thing. And by the way: that ain’t no f*ckin’ Aaron Jones in the hospital bed. That’s the f*ckin’ white boy who jumped from the mezzanine at the Phish concert. (disappears into the shadows)
WINTERS: (blinks, shakes head) Christ, I need to lay off the painkillers.
(FADEOUT)
GARTHIsTheLaw
League Member
<i>(A two-second burst of loud static quickly cuts to a grainy, black-and-white, from-the-shoulders-up image of Aaron Jones standing before a camera in an otherwise featureless room, much of it obscured by a dark curtain behind him. For the first moment his profile is onscreen, Jones’ eyes are aimed off-camera, but he quickly focuses them directly into the lens. He’s still sporting some bandages, but for the most part, they’re gone, replaced by bruises and scabs)</i>
<b>Aaron Jones:</b> Frustrated, Layne? I bet you are. He didn’t even need to point it out to me.
All this time talking – and talking and talking and talking – about how you paid all your dues and now you’re an unstoppable force of nature, only to spend the last few months languishing, looking like a fool, ever since you lost your Television Title. It was supposed to be a springboard to bigger and better things, wasn’t it? Except it turns out it was more like a diving board – elevating you for oh so brief a time before sending you plummeting back down to the depths you struggled so hard to crawl out of.
He empathizes, Layne. Really. He’s been frustrated too by the state of things in EPW. He knows what it’s like to be held down. Neither of you got what you initially expected out of EPW. And both of you eventually found yourselves relegated to mediocrity, thanks in no small part to the egos of those you surrounded yourself with.
But he’s found new resolve. What recourse do you have?
What were we to interpret from your words? That you’re planning to go back to the old, take-no-crap, kill-‘em-all-and-let-God-sort-‘em-out Layne Winters? When did that Layne Winters start his vacation? Because it really doesn’t seem like he’s gone anywhere. He’s just gradually found that what he’s been doing doesn’t work anymore. Are we to believe that maybe, just maybe, you would have beaten Karl Brown and Erik Black if you’d just been a little more of a tough guy?
I don’t buy it, Layne. You’re promising to go back to an old version of yourself, but you haven’t changed. You’ve just gotten obsolete. And he knew it would happen.
Like so many other members of the roster, you came into EPW looking to burn it to the ground so you could rule over the ashes. It might have seemed like a good idea at first. But you weren’t the only one with that idea. Now, more selfish people have come into EPW to burn it to the ground and rule over the ashes – and to them, you’re just another piece of kindling.
I suggested that maybe you’d take that as a lesson, that maybe recent evidence of your mortality would make you realize there is a better way. But he knew better. He knows it will take much more time before you learn your lesson.
Let Layne Winters come to Aggression 54 full of the illusion that he’s as good as he ever was, he said. Let Layne Winters fail to regain his footing again, he said. Let Layne Winters continue to fail, and see if it has any effect, he said. And I agreed it was the best way.
I know you don’t see what he sees, Layne. And I know it will be a while before you can open your eyes wide enough to see it. But no matter what else you see now, you clearly see that you’ve stagnated. That leaves you with two options.
You can keep doing what you’re doing, trying to convince yourself that this time will be different, climbing to the top of the diving board only to plummet from it all over again. Or you can open your eyes to the harm you’re doing this business, realize your personal glory is not worth its destruction, and start acting in its interests, not your own. Leave a legacy rather than a trail of bodies that ends with your own.
He doesn’t expect you to change your mind before Aggression 54. He expects you and Lindsay Troy will bring everything you have, however little or much that may be. And he doesn’t think you’ll see what he sees right away.
But he won’t let either of you stand in his way as he fights to save the future of this business from its present inhabitants, no matter the cost to himself. At Aggression 54, you’ll see just how far he’s willing to go – that much I can guarantee you.
And if we’re all fortunate, you’ll see what he sees, what I see – that his way is the only way.
<i>(Jones looks off-camera again in the direction he was looking before, as though expecting a response from someone. A second later, having apparently gotten the acknowledgement he was looking for, he nods in that direction)</i>
<i>(A fraction of a second later, we cut back to static, then to black)</i>
<b>Aaron Jones:</b> Frustrated, Layne? I bet you are. He didn’t even need to point it out to me.
All this time talking – and talking and talking and talking – about how you paid all your dues and now you’re an unstoppable force of nature, only to spend the last few months languishing, looking like a fool, ever since you lost your Television Title. It was supposed to be a springboard to bigger and better things, wasn’t it? Except it turns out it was more like a diving board – elevating you for oh so brief a time before sending you plummeting back down to the depths you struggled so hard to crawl out of.
He empathizes, Layne. Really. He’s been frustrated too by the state of things in EPW. He knows what it’s like to be held down. Neither of you got what you initially expected out of EPW. And both of you eventually found yourselves relegated to mediocrity, thanks in no small part to the egos of those you surrounded yourself with.
But he’s found new resolve. What recourse do you have?
What were we to interpret from your words? That you’re planning to go back to the old, take-no-crap, kill-‘em-all-and-let-God-sort-‘em-out Layne Winters? When did that Layne Winters start his vacation? Because it really doesn’t seem like he’s gone anywhere. He’s just gradually found that what he’s been doing doesn’t work anymore. Are we to believe that maybe, just maybe, you would have beaten Karl Brown and Erik Black if you’d just been a little more of a tough guy?
I don’t buy it, Layne. You’re promising to go back to an old version of yourself, but you haven’t changed. You’ve just gotten obsolete. And he knew it would happen.
Like so many other members of the roster, you came into EPW looking to burn it to the ground so you could rule over the ashes. It might have seemed like a good idea at first. But you weren’t the only one with that idea. Now, more selfish people have come into EPW to burn it to the ground and rule over the ashes – and to them, you’re just another piece of kindling.
I suggested that maybe you’d take that as a lesson, that maybe recent evidence of your mortality would make you realize there is a better way. But he knew better. He knows it will take much more time before you learn your lesson.
Let Layne Winters come to Aggression 54 full of the illusion that he’s as good as he ever was, he said. Let Layne Winters fail to regain his footing again, he said. Let Layne Winters continue to fail, and see if it has any effect, he said. And I agreed it was the best way.
I know you don’t see what he sees, Layne. And I know it will be a while before you can open your eyes wide enough to see it. But no matter what else you see now, you clearly see that you’ve stagnated. That leaves you with two options.
You can keep doing what you’re doing, trying to convince yourself that this time will be different, climbing to the top of the diving board only to plummet from it all over again. Or you can open your eyes to the harm you’re doing this business, realize your personal glory is not worth its destruction, and start acting in its interests, not your own. Leave a legacy rather than a trail of bodies that ends with your own.
He doesn’t expect you to change your mind before Aggression 54. He expects you and Lindsay Troy will bring everything you have, however little or much that may be. And he doesn’t think you’ll see what he sees right away.
But he won’t let either of you stand in his way as he fights to save the future of this business from its present inhabitants, no matter the cost to himself. At Aggression 54, you’ll see just how far he’s willing to go – that much I can guarantee you.
And if we’re all fortunate, you’ll see what he sees, what I see – that his way is the only way.
<i>(Jones looks off-camera again in the direction he was looking before, as though expecting a response from someone. A second later, having apparently gotten the acknowledgement he was looking for, he nods in that direction)</i>
<i>(A fraction of a second later, we cut back to static, then to black)</i>
LQJT86C
Where's my money, Chad?
(FADEIN: LAYNE WINTERS is running his fingers over a chain-link fence, walking past his property in suburban Seattle. It’s night time, and he has his Seahawks cap pulled down low)
WINTERS: Who the F*CK am I arguing with, the referee’s son? Let me set you straight on a couple things, you little Kool Aid drinking dicksucker…
This is professional wrestling. Got that? The goal is to win: that means your daddy needs to slap his little cabbage hands on the mat three times, and there’s nothin’ more to say. I don’t measure my dick by who I’ve beaten, I just care to beat ‘em frequent enough to get that gold around my waist.
What, you think after I beat Copycat a couple times I went home and slapped it on my fridge? The man’s washed up, hasn’t mattered since 199-f*cking-7. And as far as I’m concerned, this David Koresh bullsh*t he’s throwing up at the dartboard doesn’t change any of that.
Yeah, I lost. I ain’t proud of it, but the difference between me and The Cat, is I don’t go running off into the woods to live in a shack with wormwood and twigberries while I write anonymous manifestos every time it happens.
The most dominant wrestler in EPW just lost by a fluke in the second round a cage tournament. So what’s he gotta do? Simple: go back being the most dominant wrestler in EPW.
Losing has taught me only thing: DON’T LOSE.
Apparently the wise and powerful prophet of pro wrestling himself never got that memo. He’s been spouting the same sh*t since he got here, and hasn’t done a damn thing about it. For whatever faults you think I have, for whatever errors you think I’ve made, I don’t apologize for a g*ddamn thing because I’M the one who made one of the longest title runs in EPW history, and I’M the one who our current World Champion is running scared from.
That’s right, Cat. When I’m done with you, for a THIRD TIME, I’ll be going after what is rightfully mine, because the guy holding it owes his reign TO ME!
There’s people in this company that told me things, lied to me. Good luck to them. They know who they are, they know who they f*cked with, and they know I’m collecting debt. It’s just a matter of time.
And Aaron, don’t think for a second I wouldn’t come after you, boy. ‘Cause if you get involved, in any way, just remember that I’ve made good on threats against men three times your size. I HIT women, and you ain’t much different.
No more television title defenses show after show.
No more bodyguard bullsh*t.
I’m free and clear to make my run at the big belt. It’s what I came here to do. It’s what was meant for me. And now there’s nothing…NOTHING holding me back. (smiles)
(FADEOUT)
WINTERS: Who the F*CK am I arguing with, the referee’s son? Let me set you straight on a couple things, you little Kool Aid drinking dicksucker…
This is professional wrestling. Got that? The goal is to win: that means your daddy needs to slap his little cabbage hands on the mat three times, and there’s nothin’ more to say. I don’t measure my dick by who I’ve beaten, I just care to beat ‘em frequent enough to get that gold around my waist.
What, you think after I beat Copycat a couple times I went home and slapped it on my fridge? The man’s washed up, hasn’t mattered since 199-f*cking-7. And as far as I’m concerned, this David Koresh bullsh*t he’s throwing up at the dartboard doesn’t change any of that.
Yeah, I lost. I ain’t proud of it, but the difference between me and The Cat, is I don’t go running off into the woods to live in a shack with wormwood and twigberries while I write anonymous manifestos every time it happens.
The most dominant wrestler in EPW just lost by a fluke in the second round a cage tournament. So what’s he gotta do? Simple: go back being the most dominant wrestler in EPW.
Losing has taught me only thing: DON’T LOSE.
Apparently the wise and powerful prophet of pro wrestling himself never got that memo. He’s been spouting the same sh*t since he got here, and hasn’t done a damn thing about it. For whatever faults you think I have, for whatever errors you think I’ve made, I don’t apologize for a g*ddamn thing because I’M the one who made one of the longest title runs in EPW history, and I’M the one who our current World Champion is running scared from.
That’s right, Cat. When I’m done with you, for a THIRD TIME, I’ll be going after what is rightfully mine, because the guy holding it owes his reign TO ME!
There’s people in this company that told me things, lied to me. Good luck to them. They know who they are, they know who they f*cked with, and they know I’m collecting debt. It’s just a matter of time.
And Aaron, don’t think for a second I wouldn’t come after you, boy. ‘Cause if you get involved, in any way, just remember that I’ve made good on threats against men three times your size. I HIT women, and you ain’t much different.
No more television title defenses show after show.
No more bodyguard bullsh*t.
I’m free and clear to make my run at the big belt. It’s what I came here to do. It’s what was meant for me. And now there’s nothing…NOTHING holding me back. (smiles)
(FADEOUT)
LQJT86C
Where's my money, Chad?
What about the last RP by Layne Winters? 