A drink for all the Arrogant Bastards.
OORP: I had started this earlier in the day, and so even if it's past deadline, I had felt like finishing it up and posting.
FADE IN.
(We find ourselves inside one of New York City's countless sports bars. A few stragglers hang around in the later hours of the night, but most have settled up for the night. Sitting off to the side at a table, pouring a glass of Double Bastard ale from a bottle, is Larry Tact. He wears a pair of relaxed-fitting SilverTab jeans and a short-sleeved Alfani shirt.)
LARRY TACT: "See what you two have gone and done? You've driven me to drink!"
(He laughs quietly, finishing the pour and observing the glass.)
"Actually, I'm just doing a little team building exercise with Anarky. Getting into that proper mindset and all that junk. You wouldn't understand, since you two are so busy squabbling over who can care less about Anarky, more about the title, and wants to win the EPW World Heavyweight Championship with the most ass backwards logic in EPW history."
"Unfortunate and disillusioned may not actually cover what Anarky and I are going to see across the ring from us, at Aggression 60."
(He sets the bottle on the table and lifts the glass.)
"But, opportunity knocks. Like I said, the choices are yours to make, and the consequences are yours to take."
(He nods and takes a healthy sip from the glass, then sets it down.)
"I have to say, I'm really grateful to you both, Stalker and Dis. I'm not sure if it's that you really are trying way too hard at getting Anarky's attention, or if you just really don't have clue one. Either way, I think what you've had to say is just great."
"On the one hand, Dis has been ready to place me right in the same category as Anarky. I'm nothing, irrelevant, this is the only moment when I matter. What was it someone said not too long ago about playing generic-theme bingo? Because I think I just cleared the board with you."
(He smirks.)
"Even better, I'm glad you've decided I'm worthy of the same praise you shower on the EPW World Heavyweight Champion. Stalker's still trying to process the fact I'm in this match, and needs a few more minutes to get the words from his mouth. Maybe once I make an example out of whatever it is you two amount to here, Stalker's jaw will be loosened up some. Maybe then he'll have a little something more to say?"
"But hey, take your time. I'll still be around next week and the week after that, too. I'm not going anywhere, and eventually you two may catch on to what I'm getting at. I don't think anyone believes Dan Ryan is exactly struggling to put together a roster of adequate talent, but Dis you keep on thinking that. The rest of us understand who the only person on the roster is with a secondhand outfit and mask."
"What's the big mystery, anyway? I know Dis was a big deal... around half a decade ago. But that's because it was someone who wasn't just going through the motions and spouting off the 'old classics.' It was someone that had an original bone in their body. And when it turned out that person was Lindsay Troy, it was a big deal because it lived up to the hype. It made history, being EPW's first female Champion and World Heavyweight Champion."
"It's true, you are a legend, Dis. But you don't represent any of that past glory. You only represent the nostalgia of it, and that's nothing to be proud of, or wanting to take up the mantle of. It's simply a play for some attention, and a high risk-low reward proposition, at that."
(He lifts the glass and takes a drink, shaking his head.)
"Here's the thing, Dis... even if, somehow, Lindsay Troy was fool enough to put the mask back on again, it would never amount to the same effect. And maybe you are her, I never thought she was necessarily the sharpest knife... but it'd just be tarnishing something special. And if you aren't Troy? Well, then, you're just a poser."
"The only thing people are looking forward to, is finding out whether they ridicule you for rehashing something you did better years ago... or ridicule you for being a poser who wanted to go for that play. But it isn't because you're some... sensation."
"I guess there's one other idea: you're doing it to embarrass Troy. That would be twisted, devious, and maybe a little cunning. From what I've seen and heard thus far, that definitely doesn't fit your description. Unless you're especially good at faking it."
"All roads lead to the same ring at Aggression 60, though, and the same obstacles. While you're so bent on getting Anarky, I'm simply set on taking care of what I'm supposed to in this match, and that's score a victory for myself and the World Heavyweight Champion. There's no reason for me to look beyond this match. Everything I want is here: two opponents who think they can step up and defeat the EPW World Heavyweight Champion; the Champion himself; and the opportunity to disrupt that neat little triangle."
(He smirks.)
"You may be right, Dis. You may in fact get to slap Anarky right across the face. And Stalker may live up to his name as a Lunatic. Neither of those things qualify you as being anything more than attention whores, and those are a dime a dozen in wrestling. Granted, Dis you have that outfit and mask for a reason, and Stalker pops his dosage of Crazy Plus to great effect. But if you think this is going to be like a game of leapfrog to the title, then you really will make this easier than it should be."
"I don't claim to understand Anarky. Hell, if I did that may actually be a sign of insanity. But I know well enough than to take him at face value. This whole Sad King bullsh*t? It's alright for a bit, but you're going to find out that YOU, in fact, don't have any idea what you've asked into."
"I'm not here to gain Anarky's trust. I don't need his trust, his respect, or his mind-bending bullsh*t. That goes for the two of you, too. But if I have a hand in taking down two potential contenders to the top prize in EPW, it makes an impression. Does that mean I'm going to get a World title shot? Doubt it. I don't know what it could do for me, especially considering I don't buy you two as necessarily the biggest threat to that title. But for the first time in a while... I'm feeling a real sense of freedom. The end is still unwritten, and I'll find it when it comes into view."
"For now, Aggression 60 awaits. And I'm going to make a mission of my own, for that Main Event. I'll make it my personal goal to help lead you, Stalker, and you, Dis.... to a humble end."
(He holds up the glass in toasting fashion, then finishes it off and begins refilling from the bottle.)
FADE OUT.