The Empire In My Hands

[JLevinson]

(FADEIN to the locker room post-Aggression 67. Anarky is slumped up against a locker, his facepaint smeared all over his face. The EPW Television Title is draped over his shoulder. He's smiling.)

ANARKY: "Can you hear that, Dan... ? That... my employer... is the sound of the Empire's sun setting... and a new era dawning.

"FirDist already ruined your World Title... disgraced himself and the Empire in one fell swoop. I allow him to continue to disgrace it because it is all he has... all he ever will have.

"Me... I have the Empire right here in my hands... and you, Dan... what can you do?

"You can scarcely provide me with a challenge. Your Empire... your Empire has already fallen to me. And so I will rebuild it as its EPW TV Anti-Champion... I will make your least... your greatest.

"But first, Dan, I need a challenge. I need more than Larry Tact. More than Teddy Alexander. More than FirDist.

"If you can't provide that, Dan... then I will continue usurp your Empire... I will continue to consume your gold and glitter and all that will be left... will be what I built.

"I don't make threats, Dan. I make promises and then I fulfill them. You know this. I know this.

"So you do your job and I'll do mine.

"And then we'll see what happens at Black Dawn."

(FADEOUT to his crooked smile.)

 

[DBrunkGXW]

FADE IN. BOOM.

Empire Pro Wrestling Owner Dan Ryan, sitting in a high-backed leather chair behind a mahogany desk, hands steepled in front of him.

DAN RYAN: "You need me to do my job, 'Nark?"

"Hmm... that sounds fun, you know, since I so rarely do my job. I never do anything around here, right? I loaf around, eating the food, dirtying up the carpet and offering nothing of substance in my role as owner."

"And then there's you. Anarky. The man who was either way too good to be EPW World Champion or else not remotely qualified to handle the pressure of such. And now you need a challenge...."

"Well, let's not mince words then, eh? I'm not a guy who wastes time, so I've identified some people who I feel are worthy of a shot at the Television Title at Black Dawn...."

"Larry Tact."

"Adrian Willard."

"Kendall Codine."

"And.... Teddy Alexander."

"The question however, remains, which man gets the shot? So many decisions for a simple-minded guy like me, so I think just to make it easier.... on me, not you.... I'll just give everyone the shot."

"Five-way-dance. All five of you."

"Oh, a few more things. Falls count anywhere. No interference allowed. No disqualification."

"You know, I think I do my job quite nicely....."

Ryan smirks....

FADE OUT.

 

[RStrawsma]

Dibs on this match!

 

[fugginVOSS]

(FADE-IN: on TEDDY ALEXANDER standing in his hotel room in Colorado, streaming from his laptop as he stands before it. He wears a neck brace around his neck and an Anarky t-shirt, the sleeves are crudely cut off. A sadistic smile is stretched across his face.)

TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Anarky. You're welcome."

"When I went out there at Aggression 67 I was sending Larry Tact a message. Dat message is you don't one up Teddy Alexander.

"You CAN'T one up Teddy Alexander."

(He snatches the neck brace from his neck and scrawls quickly across the front of it, holding it up to the camera to reveal what's been written: "A-N-A-R-K-Y". He wraps it back around his neck with that grin spreading wider.)

TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"Dat message was for ALL of EPW. When I near kicked Tact's stupid face off his head dat message was for you. Dat message was for Codine. It was for Willard and anybody else stupid enough to step in my direction.

"When I DESTROYED Eddie Burns with not one but TWO Ragekill Drivers I told EPW that I am da fastest, strongest, most powerful up-and-comer on this roster and when I walk away from Black Dawn...

"There'll be four bodies on da floor...

"And a TV belt strapped to my waist."

(Teddy points at the laptop's camera like he were pointing at Anarky.)

TEDDY ALEXANDER:
"You think you'll consume this Empire, Anarky, but when I wrap my hands 'round your skinnny, little, chicken-ass neck you're gonna CHOKE."

(He throws one last grin and points to the name scrawled on the neck brace before reaching forward and shutting the laptop's lid.)

(CUT to BLACK!)

 

[KRobinson]

[Fade In: An excerpt from Dan Ryan's latest address flashes across the screen.]

"Well, let's not mince words then, eh? I'm not a guy who wastes time, so I've identified some people who I feel are worthy of a shot at the Television Title at Black Dawn...."

"Larry Tact."

"Adrian Willard."

"Kendall Codine."

"And.... Teddy Alexander."

"The question however, remains, which man gets the shot? So many decisions for a simple-minded guy like me, so I think just to make it easier.... on me, not you.... I'll just give everyone the shot."

"Five-way-dance. All five of you."

[Cut To: A profile shot of Kendall Codine placed upon a pitch black screen. Codine's face shows the bumps and cuts that were a result of his first professional loss at the hands of Adrian Willard.]

Codine: Let's dance....

[Fade Out]

 

[DBrunkGXW]

DAN RYAN: "You know what, 'Nark? I'm feeling a little bit..... crazy right now. So I was thinking at first, Classy Mike C vs. Aaron Jones again, then I thought, been there, done it. So then I was thinking, maybe a five way dance isn't enough of a challenge for the former World Champion Anarky. Maybe it's not enough to really prove that I'm doing my job...."

"So then I thought, let's do something we've never done before."

"Let's add Mike C and Aaron Jones to the TV Title match and make it a seven-way-falls-counts-anywhere-no-interference-allowed-match. How does that sound to ya?"

"Congratulations, Anarky, you're gonna get exactly what you want."