<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>