[RP IN]
LOCATION: Club Paramount, Los Angeles, California
DATE/TIME: 11:00PM, Saturday June 16, 2007

-Cast-

Monday, June 11 was indeed a time of many new beginnings.

Unknown to many people... June 11 was also the day that the repairs of Steve's formerly-destroyed nightclub, the Club Paramount superclub formerly based in the bustling center of Los Angeles, were finally complete.

However, this time around, it wasn't just the nightclub that had been completed. No, this time the building was intended to house far, far more than just the club. As part of Steve's new position as an executive with the Richard Conglomerate megacorp, the massive building now loaned its private, secure upper-floors to the Conglomerate themselves to serve as a branch office for all details and affairs in Los Angeles- with Steve calling the shots personally under CEO Talia Richards' directions. It was both one of the biggest party zones in Los Angeles, and at the same time, one of of the biggest centers of mystery and intrigue in the western United States. However, for the purposes of this story, we return for the first time in two years to the surreal atmosphere of Club Paramount- more specifically, the Main Floor.

Much like the original club's main floor, this one was set out in a vast, enormous octagon shape, easily capable of holding a downright baffling crowd. That was about all familiar about it, however. The ceiling, far above the dance floor, and the various elevated railings, catwalks and lighting rigs above it, was a solid maroon color, and the lights washing over it varied in color. On each of the far sides of the octagon was a crystalline bar manned by a uniformed bartender, each bar glowing from within with a backlit color- one cyan, one lime green, one blue, one red, one amber, and more. A massive wall-screen rested on the far side of the floor, depicting dance music videos.

In addition to the dance floor and the bars, there was also a series of carpeted platforms elevated above the dance floors, designated as chillout/rest areas where people could sit at tables and drink, eat a meal or talk without running the risk of being flattened by wayward dancers. They were designed as a series of octagon 'rings', the first starting around the edge of the octagon-shaped floor a good nine feet above the floor, the second a little closer in and three feet above the last ring, and so on until there was one final octagon-shaped platform halfway to the ceiling.

It was on the outermost octagon ring where Steve Jason himself was located, seated on a plush maroon C-shaped couch curved into an arc around a large silvery stainless steel table, laid out with various drinks and food. He was more or less the same man he was in his last appearance with the XWF- same hairstyle if not cut slightly shorter around the sides and back, same five-o-clock shadow and same intense ice-blue eyes. His upper frame was covered in a simple cobalt-blue short-sleeved shirt, black slacks and dress shoes.

He was not alone, either.

He was also joined by one Douglas Henry Phidippidies McNamara III, otherwise known to all and sundry as 'Dougy'. Despite his official standing as the Entertainment Director of the Richards Conglomerate- or perhaps because of it- he was dressed extremely casually in a red trucker cap, a blue Hawaiian shirt and shorts, in blatant defiance of dress code. He was also joined by Chloe O'Brien- originally a close friend of Heather Halliwell and now Steve's own friend, confidante- and now right-hand of Steve's own position in the Richards Conglomerate. Her long, silky brown hair hung loose to her upper back, her hazel eyes were alert and aware, and her slender form was engulfed in a powder-blue dress starting just above the bust and descending down to skirt-level, accentuated with a white sash.

Finally, they were also joined by 'Gandhi'- one of Steve's old friends and new close associates, a Botswanan 'Grand Sultan of Soul'- effectively a smooth-talking, slick-moving Lord of the Dance. He was a bald, dark-skinned man clad in a dazzling purple suit jacket, pants and platform shoes- and a white undershirt.

"So then I said 'Look, mate, I'm Dougy McNamara, possibly the greatest drinking champion in all of Australia, which makes me possibly the greatest drinking champion in the entire world- well, except maybe for some Russian dude somewhere. I make up about half of your bar's alcohol sales. You can't kick me out!'." Dougy said- no doubt in the middle of one of his infamous stories about his drunken exploits, while Gandhi listened in rapt interest, Chloe observed with an amused look on her face... and Steve regarded with a somewhat exasperated look on his face.

"And what happened then, my man?" Gandhi asked.

"Let me guess... they kicked you out." Steve remarked dryly.

"No, no, they didn't kick me out!" Dougy shook his head, "They asked me politely to leave, and I did. Because... well, they didn't outright say it, but they implied that my awesome drinking prowess might intimidate some of the greener drinkers at the bar, make them feel a little inferior. They described it as 'scaring the customers'."

That elicited a sudden silvery laugh from Chloe, whose amusement level had now hit its peak, while Steve merely cast his eyes to the ceiling.

"Surprise sur-friggin'-prise..."

"For what it's worth, young Douglas..." Gandhi spoke up, clapping his hands together to applaud the hooligan, "I would be glad to have you at any of my discos and nightclubs in Botswana. A man of such party spirit would be an asset to my growing empire."

"Oh, dear God, don't give him any ideas..." Steve mumbled.

"Anyway..." Chloe intervened, noticing Steve's irritation growing more and more, "...we should really cut to the chase here, guys. You know why we're all here."

"To get ridiculously wasted and check out chicks?"

"Smooth, Dougy. Real smooth."

"I can't help but wonder what your fiancee would think about that, Dougy, but no..." Chloe paused to flash an impish grin at Dougy, "In fact, since Talia was the one to tell you to tell us to meet here, I'm sure you would know. We're here to talk about what our next move is now that Steve's gone back into the XWF for this Bash From The Past thing."

"I have to admit..." Steve chuckled, rubbing the stubble at the base of his chin, "Talia chose a good time to send me back in and send a message to Dan. This battle royal is going to be... very interesting. I'd have had a hard time not coming back and fighting in it anyway."

"Right, right. Business." Dougy reached for the bottle of Corona in front of him, drained it expertly, then continued, "Steve, you know one of the reasons you jumped Dan at the last Massacre. After the Conglomerate cut him loose and denied him access to all of our resources, he started getting wilder and he started threatening us. Something about some secret he has that'll bring the Conglomerate to its knees. You know we can't just let that go."

"Understood. Although it's likely to be just Dan talking out his arse..." Steve replied calmly, "It might not be, he might actually have something, but 99% of the time Dan's claimed to have something over me or someone he knows, he's actually way wrong. You wouldn't believe the number of mistakes he's made just trying to bait me back into combat. But yeah, I understand where you're coming from."

"That's right. Talia and Nestor made it pretty clear. Nobody blackmails us and gets away with it. Make no mistake, Steve- we're sending you back into the XWF for two main reasons- first, we want you to find out what Dan's trying to use against us. Secondly, we want you to show him that nobody blackmails us."

"That sounds fair. Nobody threatens me and gets away with it either, and that's what Dan's been doing, so I'm obliged to cave his face in anyway. But I can't help but wonder if there's a bit more to it than that."

"Oh, definitely." Dougy nodded, "To be honest with you, Tals thinks that you'd benefit from this Bash From The Past thing. Regardless of what we need you to do, let's face it, we know that you were chomping at the bit to get into this thing as soon as you got the call from Jonathyn. The opportunity to be known as the undisputed greatest star from the XWF's past, rather than just having a few people claim it... I know you, man, and I know you wouldn't pass that up for the world."

"Yeah. More or less." Steve agreed with a short nod, "I'm not sure how everybody else looks at this one- I'm pretty sure there's a fair few people who are just looking at it as a fun get-together in the ring for old time's sake, but I'm not looking at it that way. This is yet another chance to prove myself."

"Another one, Steve?" Chloe's brow raised slightly, "I would have thought you'd have run out of them by now."

"That's what I would have thought too, but for some reason, every time I think I've done everything I can, something new comes up. It's good, I think. It'd be pretty boring if there was nothing left to prove. And I've even heard a few rumors that some pretty big figures are coming back. Figures I either have a score to settle with, or figures who I've never fought before... and need to beat."

"Well, there you go! That's a blessing in disguise. You're just gonna have to be careful for Dan..." Dougy leaned back in his chair, reaching for another Corona bottle and drinking from it, "You know what he's gonna do. He's going to catch on to how important this match is to you, and he'll probably do everything in his power to keep you from winning it."

"He so much as tries, and his hopes at being World Champion will end very, very quickly." Steve's voice left absolutely no question to his intention to do so.

"You'd screw him out of the match?" Chloe blinked in surprise.

"If he tries to do the same to me, I reserve the right to respond in kind- and with just about everything else Dan does, I'll do it better."

"Nice." Dougy answered with a calm smirk, "Other than that, do you think you're ready for this, Steve? Last time didn't go so well, you have to admit."

"Last time was last time." Steve answered, "I failed in the Helldome, and yes, it hurt. I was gutted. Disappointed. Any word you want, I can use it. But I'll be damned if I allow one failure to hold me back. I've bounced back from far worse, and I fail to see how this time is going to be any different. Hell- what better way to bounce back than this?"

"Exactly!" Gandhi, who had been content to listen up until this point, suddenly piped up with a brilliant grin, raising the purple liquid he had been sipping from in the air, "Steve, I liken your situation here to the state of soul and dancing. For decades, I have seen the groove rise, only to fall after years of a golden age. And for a considerable period, we've all thought it had been down for good. But in due time, as it always does, it experiences a revitalization and rises only to be bigger, better, and most importantly funkier than before!" He was growing excited now, pointing a finger to Steve as if to single him out, "You must be like the groove, Steve. You must master your inner funk and use it to better yourself and rise to the occasion. When the bar is raised higher, you get bigger platform shoes and continue to fight on. It seems to me as though you are well on your way to getting those shoes- and if you win this battle royal, you will take all of their collective platform shoes, adding them to your own to create the biggest pair of platform shoes ever!"

The entire table was shocked into stunned silence at the downright wackiness of the Grand Sultan of Soul's statement. Dougy seemed completely clueless, while Chloe's expression indicated that she half-understood, but had no idea of the relevance of Gandhi's statement. Steve merely sat there for several seconds, his ice-blue eyes narrowing as he ran the statement through his head, then spoke up.

"Uh... OK. Thank you, Gandhi. I greatly appreciate that and I'll keep it in mind."

"Excellent." With that, Gandhi rose to his feet, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dance floor to tear up and hearts to send a-flutter."

"And I'm going to get completely pissed..." Dougy added, hopping up to his feet with an uncharacteristic bounce, "Talk to ya later, kids. Steve, keep it real."

With that, the two men left the table and headed down for the staircase linking the platform to the dance floor- Dougy doing his usual boisterous swagger, while Gandhi's pace was a half-dance, half-walk. As soon as they left, Steve laughed and shook his head, cupping a hand to his forehead.

"Oh, man. Working with those two will be the death of me."

"Well, you did pick them, Steve..." Chloe reminded him, "Well, you picked Gandhi, anyway. You're technically working for Dougy, so I suppose you didn't pick him."

"Yeah. Just glad I didn't make Gandhi my right hand. I would have gone absolutely insane if I'd done that."

"I'll take that as a compliment... I think." Chloe laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh, by all means, do. I made you my right hand because you're the woman for the job. You've got the intelligence and the charisma down. And I'm pretty sure we're gonna do a good job working together for the Conglomerate."

"Well, I'd hope so. We're kinda jumping straight into the fire, you know? Marching back into the XWF, going straight for Dan's jugular, and you doing this high-profile Bash From The Past thing. It's a big way to start, you know?"

"Heh. I know exactly what you mean. But it'll be fine. We've got a pretty decent team, and like I said, I couldn't have asked for a better right hand. We're gonna make a great team, Chloe. Always have in the past and I'm pretty sure we always will now. Question is... are you ready?"

"Kinda." she answered after a long delay, "It's all over my head still, but I'm sure I'll get it together." She paused, cupping a hand to her chin, "What about you, Steve? You're looking at a pretty big few weeks at the very least, and I'm just the one who's supposed to make decision and advise people and relay stuff. You're the one who's going to have to do the actual fighting. Are you ready?"

The answer was quite simple, of course. Steve had been through it in his head a million times. Right now he was up against nineteen other former XWF stars, two unknown, and a few who would be quite serious threats in this match. And on the horizon, all-out war with Dan Malcolm loomed, something that could spill into his match and seriously work against him. Nevertheless, he knew what the answer would be as soon as he spoke it.

"Always."

[Steve's Thoughts]

**Your television screen, which, presumably, has been tuned to X-Treme Wrestling Federation programming up until this point, is suddenly interrupted by a burst of white snow-style static with a deep blue tinge soaking it. The broadcast returns to normal soon enough and continues for several seconds, then the blast of static returns again, this time for much longer than before. As the static continues, a strange symbol gradually fades in on the screen, overlaying the static**

**Once the symbol becomes apparent, the static in the background fades out, now revealing a new scene on the TV screen. The setting seems to be a glass dome of some kind inside what seems to either be an underwater setting or alternatively a giant aquarium. Dark blue water surrounds the glass walls of the domes- a sandy ocean floor can be seen in the background with various rock structures, and various fish- and even a few manta rays- can be seen in the background. On the main focus of the screen is a stainless steel desk on top of the marble floor of the dome, on which the same logo is embedded. None other than Steve Jason sits at the desk, hands steepled and wearing a black shirt, pants and baggy combat jacket with the same logo on his shoulders, in addition to the pips that indicate a rank of Captain. His ice-blue eyes settle on the camera, and he speaks.**

Well, XWF. I did tell you I'd be back sooner or later.

Those of you who actually remember my last Steve's Thoughts segment will no doubt recall a few things I told you that could possibly lead me to return earlier than expected. I didn't say it outright, but I said that it would be take something big to lure me back in before my own terms. Well, ladies and gentlemen- it seems that thing has, in fact occurred. Or rather... two things have occurred.

First- Jonathyn coming back. Now, let's not make any quick leaps of judgment about this- that sure as hell isn't the only reason I came back here. I've usually been pretty indifferent to the XWF owners and executives throughout the years- so long as they leave me alone, I'll leave them alone. My allegiance has been to the locker room, and any alliance- or opposition-  with XWF management has been based on that. I've supported owners who protect the locker room, I've removed owners who oppress it. But let's face it here- since Jonathyn's return, the XWF's been lighting up. Let's count- the Universal title back into commission- honest, Smitty, were you that frightened of losing it that you had to retire it. Anarchy starting back up- and without any lazy sacks of crap who couldn't be bothered showing up to a wrestling ring. Things are looking up for the XWF, and that's one reason I've dropped back in for a while.

The second big thing- and the most important- is this Bash From The Past battle royal. I'll be honest, I had my signature on the dotted line before most of the rest of the guys even had time to remember who the hell Jonathyn Brown actually was. The actual phone conversation went a little something like this: "Hey, SJ. I'm kinda obliged to ask, there's a battle royal for superstars not currently under contract and..." "Sign me up". As it so happened, it also served as the perfect opportunity to come flying out of the blue and smack The Late Dan Malcolm back to the Stone Age, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone, beat the crap out of Dan, announce that I'm in the battle royal, and then mark his 'wah wah wah America sucks because I can't win the Universal title' arse for termination.

But this isn't about him. At least not yet. Depending on how this actual battle royal goes it could end up about him after Bad Medicine, but right now it's about one PPV, one match, and a crapload of superstars dating back up to at least five years. That number may rise as more people sign up. So far we've seen all kinds of names up there- hell, I'm kinda a tad surprised Default and the Big Shank even remember the XWF- and it seems there are a couple of aces just lurking in the darkness. I'm guessing to be regarded as such a secret, we're talking either an XWF Legend, XWF Legend candidate, or somebody who made so much noise that it'd blow this place out of the water for them to come back. I'll be watching that for sure.

But anyway, where to begin. Gentlemen... and ladies... been a while since I've had to add that to an opponent discussion- I sincerely doubt any of you don't know who I am, but in case your memories are a little fuzzy, the name's SJ. Most of you no doubt know this already, but I've been here a little while. I know just about every one of you on that list- well, besides the two mystery people. Some of you I've clashed with, some of you I've watched coming up in this industry. One of you even turned into the biggest emo of all time when your girlfriend dumped you for me. Either I've interacted with you in some way, or I know of you. Either way- rest assured, none of you are strangers to me.

That said, whether you were friends with me, whether you hated me, whether you tried to recruit me into a stable, whether you offered your services to me as a manager, whether you were once a GM over me, whether you were once going out with the biggest retard in human history, or whether we never spoke a word, know that I intend on gunning through each and every one of you. Yes, this is one of those 'for old time's sake' deals, but as far as I'm concerned, it's yet another one of those periodical 'tests' I get put through. The prize money has nothing to do with it. Hell, I'm running one of the biggest superclubs on the West Coast, and you know how much money drinks usually rake in. No, the only thing someone who wins this can claim is that they're quite possibly the toughest superstar to grace the XWF. Ever.

And to be honest, that's the only real thing I have left to prove. First I wanted to prove I could rise to the top of the XWF- and I did that. Then I wanted to prove I'm capable of ascending to Legendhood- and I did that. There's only one real thing left for me to establish, and that's pretty much that I'm the best there ever was. That's something I haven't done yet- and so help me, it's the one thing I'm going to make damn sure I do before I finally let it go and just surf for the rest of my life. So far, it seems like this little match here might be the first step. If I can take on a vast number of the XWF's past superstars and stand victorious at the end- then that's the first big checkpoint. There'll be more to come, of course, and I imagine this is to be the first of many challenges towards becoming truly epic... but the importance of this one can't be denied.

Right. I've done a lot of blabbering on about the fact I'm back and what this match actually means, now I suppose it's time to get the proverbial talons out and start calling people out. Obviously there are a lot of people to get through here, but I'll be doing my damndest to get through as many of them as I possibly can between now and Bad Medicine.

I'll start with the very first man to go active on XWF programming regarding this match. Gravy. The Gravitron himself has come back from God knows where for this match. I've got to say, it's interesting to see the man come back after so long. I have to admit, I've seen Gravy go from curtain-jerker to pseudo-goth in the original Order to KoRe's drinking buddy in LSD... but I almost thought I'd seen the last of him until I saw the lineup for Bash From The Past. Last time we really interacted face to face was when I ended up spearing through a cage door and squishing him when he was in the way at Leap of Faith 2005. Good times.

Gravy's main mistake last time we fought was underestimating me. He was under some delusion that I was a fading star and that he was some kind of supernova who I had no chance against. I tried to warn him, of course, and open his eyes to the reality of the truth- that while he was good, I was far better than he made me out to be- but it was to no avail. I wonder, will he make the same mistake this time? Will he once again convince himself that because I've been out of the ring a couple of months, I'm now some washed-up has-been who can't run with anyone? I hope not. I hope he's a little smarter than that this time around, because if he's not, I can virtually guarantee that the end result will be the same- a humiliating defeat at my hands.

Now, there's another name I've been quite intrigued at the prospect of fighting in this thing, and that one would be... a woman? Oh, don't look so shocked, boys and girls. Those of you who've followed me for a long time know that I'm an equal-opportunity guy. Hell, I kinda pride myself on the part I played in dispelling the sexist 'women can't wrestle' attitude the XWF had prior to 2003. But I digress. Yes, one of the people I especially look forward to fighting is in fact, shock horror, without a Y chromosome. And that woman would be none other than the Glittering Goddess- Star herself.

Now, this admittedly isn't the first time I got in a ring against Star. Last time was a match I can barely remember, pitting the Unkillables up against the Bloodhounds- with the Extreme Warrior and Star thrown in on each side respectively. Amazingly, EW actually pulled his weight for once and the team came out victorious. But a lot's happened since then- for one, Star's nearly-undefeated streak. For those of you who don't know it, last year, Star racked up a crapload of back-to-back victories, and a lot of people thought she was going to be the one to claim the Universal title. A lot of people have let that fade into the past as wasted potential... but I haven't forgotten. But then again, I never do.

I remember once telling Star that I thought she had major potential before that fight I had with the Bloodhounds- and she basically shrugged it off as me being a holier-than-thou judgmental prick. Now, that's a fair call, since I am a holier-than-thou judgmental prick, but nevertheless, I wasn't lying when I said that. She claimed I 'didn't know her' at all. That was completely untrue. I've been watching anyone with half a grain of potential in this place. Sometimes I don't go out there and announce it, but I do. And I still do. I was watching her impressive Cruiserweight defense against Jason Mudd. I was watching her gun her way through the Universal Elimination taking up the latter half of 2006, and hell, I was shocked and in disbelief when she didn't beat DD, because to be frank, I thought she'd murder him.

She's become pretty damn impressive, I'll say that much- and if I were to pick a major threat to me in this match, she'd be a front-running contender. Now, she can not believe that I think that or she can believe that I do, it's her call- but if she wants to win this, she'd better believe it. Yes, I'm over 100 pounds bigger and I've got about half a foot on her, but in my opinion, that doesn't make this a foregone conclusion, since I've beaten people who fit that bill too. And hell, I have to give her major props because she's become the first person in human history to actually understand all the retard-speak that comes out of T Money's mouth- enough to actually get in a relationship with him! I think she needs to be awarded an honorary Ph.D in Linguistics for that fiasco.

And there's another name I found quite interesting to find among the pack. Somewhere in that thick midst of names that I cycled through, I found a name I haven't encountered for the last... oh, four years. The last time I recall, he was desperately chasing a World title shot from me despite the fact he'd had, like, one match under his belt. And he was quite obsessive with getting that end as I recall it. Continual assaults on myself and my friends- often with foreign objects. And now all of a sudden, he thinks he can waltz right on back in here and think that I haven't forgotten a bit of it.

The man I'm talking about is none other than the Big Shank.

Well, well, well, Shankius Maximus. Hope you haven't forgotten about me. Because you and I still have a little issue to iron out. Turns out that I never did get the chance to fight you and knock five shades of tar out of you to teach you to stay off my back. Unfortunately for you, my skills have increased exponentially since that time. So while you probably think you're getting in the ring with some run-down, half-a-shade-of-the-former-man-he-was SJ, you are dead wrong. The hilarious thing is, you needed brass knucks and your horde of Titan Confederacy douchebags to even get close to me in 2003. What freakin' hope do you have now?

I'm faster, I'm stronger, I'm smarter, and in the time since we last met, I've racked up four more World titles and three Universals. You hardly scare me, Shank. Not by a long shot. And quite frankly, I'm looking quite forward to settling old scores once and for all. Hell, I need to make an example of somebody so that The Late Dan Malcolm knows exactly how deep the shit he's gotten himself into is, may as well be you. So consider yourself that if you want, Shank. My example. Much like my advice for Gravy, about the only hints I can give you for any kind of survival in this match is not to underestimate me or overestimate yourself- both of which you did last time. If you don't do that, Shank, I honestly can't see you standing much of a chance here.

And then... then there's the mystery slots. Two of them. Whenever I see those mystery slots in a bunch of names this big, I have to assume that whoever's coming back is legendary at least- possibly earthshaking at best. And I for one welcome that. Lord knows that after Cooper's last attempts at turning the locker room against me- which failed- I'd certainly relish the attempt to come back and permanently sink that unrivalled douche's hopes by eliminating him personally. There are a few other of those 'our time was soooo much better' old codgers I'd relish the chance to do that to as well. And hell... it could even be The Brand. In which case, I'm going to be widely anticipating my first clash with him that won't end in a no-contest.

Or hell, it could even be someone from my time. Hell, half the reason their name's concealed is so we don't find them out, which indicates to me that not only would we know them, but we'd know them pretty damn well. So I'll be keeping my eyes sharp for that.

But that's about all for the time being. Obviously I can't discuss you all in one go, because if I do that this promo will be about five times longer than usual, and... *chuckles* that's pretty damn long. About all I can really say in the way of parting is that if you didn't get mentioned this time around, hold your breath because I plan to get as many of you mentioned as possible before the end of this. I've got my eye on all of you, rest assured of that. And make no mistake... I look very much forward to clashing with each and every one of you. But while it'll probably be fun and the fans will get into it and all that lovey-dovey sentimental crap... I do intend on emerging victorious- regardless of the odds.

And that... IS UNDENIABLE!

** Soon static begins to fill the screen one last time, and the same unique logo appears above the static for several seconds before the screen flickers into a 'turn-off' effect, narrowing down to a thin line before disappearing. **

[RP OUT]