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The scene begins with Dan Stein sitting in a hospital room, with his street clothes on, a black muscle shirt, and khaki cargo shorts, with a pair of black sandals. His head is hanging low, his eyes down at his feet. The camera pans around to catch his facial expressions, currently blank. As he lifts his head, looking out the window, he begins to smirk. "Think I didn't see that coming, Aeolus? You've got another thing coming, man. I owe you one now. Remember that." Stein's lower lip is scabbed over after that vicious kick from Wrath, his arms are bruised, but it was nothing that a couple days in the hospital couldn't help. Stein rolled his head on his shoulders, and reached into his pocket drawing out a cell phone. He held the phone up to his ear, grinning mischievously. "Hey, Dudeman. Yeah, I'm being released right now. Yeah, I heard. Mox and Deej came in and checked up on me. Yeah, man, I'm fine. Don't worry, I understand. Loc', c'mon. It's obvious why they did it. High Society knows I'm prettier than them, and Wrath knows I was right the entire time. I told you, man. Haha, what was that? That's right. Dan Stein, exposing Aeolus Wrath since 2005. Oh, don't worry, Marty, I've got this. I've got this." Stein had been walking out of his room with a slight limp. He smirked over at the nurse behind the nursing station, gave her a wink. The woman blushed and looked away. Stein continued down the hallway to the elevator, with the cell phone to his ear. "That's right, man. And as Sky High 2 Champion, it is my duty to... yeah, I know. You did it first, blah, blah, blah. Hah! Dudemanbrothaheimer, I'm gonna jump on this elevator, gonna lose signal, I'll give you jingle after a bit, k? Peace." As Stein stepped onto the elevator, he looked over to the camera and grinned, his trademark grin for no apparent reason. "This is gonna be fun."
Stein drove his Mazda 6 into the driveway of his home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He smirked to himself as he stepped out of the car, brushing his hair back over his ears. He walked up to the door, the limp all but gone now. As he entered the house, sitting on his living room table was the Sky High Cup, sparkling, with a woman behind it. His mother. She looked at him as he walked in the house and turned around, leaving the room. "What, ma'? That's the kind of greeting I get after being away from the house for months?" She came back into the room, nodding. "Exactly. You couldn't even come home for Christmas, Daniel." Stein sighs, grinning. "Ma', I was busy. C'mon, ma'." Stein gestures towards the Sky High Cup. "Daniel, if you think that's going to make up for the missed family time, you're wrong. I told you on the phone I wasn't too happy, I told you in Mercy." Stein sighed, tapping his foot on the ground. "Ma'... I'm sorry. You're right, I should've been home, but I let work get in the way. I promise that next Christmas, I'll be home." Stein's mother wiped her hand on a towel tucked in her apron. "Promise?" "Promise." Stein's mother walked up to him, and the two hugged. "It's good to see you, Champ." As the two broke the hug, Stein looked at her. "I like the sounds of that..."
Stein looked at the Sky High Cup as it now rested in his room. Of course, Stein was going to do something with it, it wasn't meant to be kept out in the open, but for now, he was going to sit back and relish in his victory... "Years of training put into this. YEARS, Jonny. I sit back and look at this thing, the biggest accomplishment in my young wrestling career, and I smile proudly. The Sky High Cup, Jonny... do you know what this means?" Stein shook his head. "Of course you don't, Jonny Johnson. You're too busy off in 'Fuck-the-World-land', riding the rollercoaster to self destruction to see what Sky High is doing for TTW and wrestling in general." Stein grinned. "Yeah, I know, Jonny. Years of training for this? Yeah, Jonny. For this." Stein grabbed the Sky High Cup, pulling it closer to him. "I know what you're going to say, I can see it now. 'Wow, you're so caught up in such a bullshit tournament, you're excited about that, you'll never last in the ring with me, I R DEMORALIIIZZZEEE U!' Wait, that is you, right? Hope is Illusion and shit?" Stein laughed. "Yeah, that's you. Jonny Johnson, The DEMORALIZER! Taking out whole men with the help of forty other cowards in hoods and masks and shit. It's a sad world when you think you're badass because your friends do your shit for you. Yeah, but you're gettin' this shot, just like I am, you must be impressing somebody with your talents you got. Don't worry, that finger you got to call up past and current buddies to perform 'hits' for you scares me. I'll be looking for the 'Finger Poke of Doom', Jonny, and I know how to counter it, too!" Stein looked to the Sky High Cup. "See, Jonny, the Sky High Cup means a lot to me. Like I said, it's the biggest accomplishment of my career, JJ. But it's not going to be the last, no no no. Even you know that, Jonny. You can feel it in your nut sack, God knows no one else is feeling your nuts. You can feel the potential I have... the potential that Sky High just unleashed became fulfilled. It's not potential, Jonny. I don't have the potential to beat you anymore. Sky High made me a better wrestler, and while I don't have the experience that you do, Jonny... I do have the skills... the talent... that you do... I don't have the potential, Jonny. I have the fucking ability. The knowledge... the down right BALLS to do it. Because I know that after the match, something's going to happen. Either Wrath's chicken-shit ass is going to come down, or Connor, or even your BITCH of a friend that hasn't been identified yet. I'm not a fucking tool, Jonny. I'm not a moron." Stein smirked. "I'm the next number one contender, Jonny. You... your DEMORALIZING days are over." Stein laughed. "A loss to you, Jonny, and it'd be Dan Stein having another off day, or a second year pro losing to the veteran. It'd be 'Dan Stein's experience growing'... but if you lost to me? That, Jonny, would be DEMORALIZING. Jonny Johnson falling at the feet of the Sky High Cup Champion? That's unheard of. Jonny Johnson falling at the feet of a man who's been through a modeling academy? PREPOSTEROUS! Dan Stein gaining the number one contendership to the TTW World Championship? ABSURD!" Stein chuckled, his trademark grin coming on strong. "But on Thursday, Jonny? Who's going to be the DEMORALIZER? The veteran who's too busy with pot head friends and drug abusing whores to handle his own shit... or Dan Stein, the Hottest man in TTW today, who's cards are looking up, and ready to take out TTW's trash to the curb, where it should be? "Remember, Jonny."
HOPE IS ILLUSION Stein looks at the camera, then to the Sky High Cup. He laughs, picking it up from the base. "Lights Out, Jonny." Just as it looks like the camera is fading to a close, the camera fades to a picture of Dan Stein embracing Loco Martinez, DJ Cassidy and Herbert J Moxley after Sky High concluding, then this lyric before fading out:
Ain't no way
they can stop me now |
