Post by Bruce Lomond on Apr 25, 2006 13:53:40 GMT -5
[Hey, this is an excetionally long rp, about double of what I'd usually write. So don't be too put off by it. I would post an average rp, but this is the only one I have saved on my computer. Enjoy.]
{Our scene opens to a mob of men and women. They seem to crowd around something. They are all trailer trash; their stomachs hang out over their belts. Ripped denim jackets cover stained t-shirts. Teeth are missing, beards are unshaven and hair is untidy. They really are scum. What interests us is what is in the middle of this lower class mob, a shoddy wrestling ring, with four men fighting their match with all their hearts in the middle. None of these men are known to us and they represent their admirers well. The most basic of wrestling moves are on show here, nothing special, but the crowd is captivated all the same. We begin moving back from the ring, back past the crowd and suddenly we find ourselves looking out of a window as we continue to move back. Bruce Lomond stands with his hands at his side as he watches the mob cheer on the wrestlers. He stands in silence as the sound of a signature being written on a piece of paper can be heard. A cheery and happy voice greets us, obviously not from the mouth of Bruce Lomond.}
There ya go Mister Lomond, nine of my best employees. Just make sure to bring 'em back in one piece.
Are you positive they are the best you can offer?
Damn straight, I need those guys back, Mister Lomond, I'd go bust without 'em.
You will get them back, do not fret about that. Make sure they reach me by tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow morning?! Br- Mister Lomond, I have presentations tomorrow, I need these guys!
Read the fine print, it states clearly that I will have them tomorrow, 9am.
C'mon man, these are my top guys. Without 'em...AAW will flop.
That is not my problem.
{The promoter falls silent and uneasy. He scratches his balding head while trying to think of something. He begins to sweat as Bruce speaks again, in a rather threatening and assertive tone.}
Tomorrow morning, 9am, or I will sue Amateur American Wrestling and make sure you are left with not even a cent.
{With that Bruce takes his freshly copied contract and leaves the trailer. We fade to black as the promoter takes a seat and places his head on the desk. After a few moments he begins to thump the desk with some force as we embrace darkness.}
{We come back to see a make-shift ring in an empty room. Early sunlight floods through the glass ceiling as nine men dressed in shorts and t-shirts stand side by side outside the ring. A door is heard squeaking open, attracting all nine men's attention, they stare as one set of footsteps are heard being walked across the floorboards. He stops in front of them all, in full wrestling attire, and addresses his men.}
I do not doubt you all know why you are here, but allow me to run through it one final time. That very ring is a simulator, a simulator for an XFC ring and you are all simulators along with it. You have been paid to provide me with an accurate reconstruction of a ten man over the top rope battle royal. To whoever wins, I shall pay a bonus of two thousand dollars. However, to receive that I shall also have to be eliminated. If I shall emerge the victor, you shall all look up into the ring and see your brand spanking new boss. It seems your current boss places a lot of trust in yourselves, that and he is...easily persuaded.
{Bruce falls silent and begins to march up and down the line of nine men, inspecting them. He reaches the second man from the left before barking out an order.}
You, get in the ring.
{The young athlete turns his back and climbs into the ring and begins to shadow box, trying to hype himself up.}
Every thirty seconds, one man will climb into the ring. Every thirty seconds.
{With that Bruce marches through the space in the line and gets into the ring himself. He stands across from the man sent to his fate, they stand staring at each other. The AAW representative extends a hand. Bruce smiles as he goes to shake the man's hand, but with one movement he pulls the man towards him while turning. The man flips over Bruce's right shoulder and lands in front of Bruce, Bruce applies an arm bar as the young athlete is still in shock. Feeling the pain automatically he begins flailing for Bruce's Bruce, but Bruce leans his head back out of reach. Waiting for the right moment, Bruce dodges a punch and quickly applies a sleeper hold. Within ten seconds, the AAW wrestler begins to lose energy, Bruce pulls him to his feet and drags him over to the ropes. Bruce takes a hold of the young man's head and prepares to throw him over the top rope, but just as he does this, a dropkick sends Bruce to the ropes. The third competitor has entered, he begins to throw punches at Bruce's back but after four connect, Bruce sends an elbow flying backwards. The weaker of the AAW wrestlers is resting in a corner, trying to re-build his stamina as Bruce grabs the second of his opponents and puts him to the mat with DDT. He pulls him up only to put him back down with a Russian leg sweep. Bruce gets to his feet again to be met with his first opponent latching around his back, Bruce reaches up and executes a snapmare, bringing the victim upon the victim already on the floor. Bruce picks both of them up just in time to see a new face enter the ring, he smacks both of him victims heads together, forcing them to fall once more and begins to walk towards the new face. This opponent backs off, putting his arms, trying to plead with Bruce. Bruce stops in front of him and the new guy is seen pointing to the other two men in the ring. Bruce smiles, making this guy smile, but Bruce's smile fades quickly as grabs his opponent and pushes him backwards with some force against the ropes. The opponent is winded as Bruce begins an assault ended with an uppercut which sends the victim over the top rope to the floor. One of the other two men has got up and proceeds towards Bruce's back. Bruce is unaware of this. However, just as this unseen opponent winds up for the hit, he falls to the mat as the other man has also got up and just executed a bulldog. Bruce spins around to see him get back up and apply a figure of four, just as the fallen man screams in pain, a newcomer arrives behind Bruce Lomond. Bruce spins again just to be nailed right between the eyes. Bruce staggers backwards, falling over the other two men, which breaks up the submission. The newcomer climbs on top of Bruce and begins throwing punch after punch at Bruce's face. Meanwhile, the other two men have engaged in a lock up and move towards the ropes. Their teeth are gritted and with an almighty roar the man with his back against the ropes attempts a belly-to-belly suplex over the top rope, he nearly pulls off the elimination as his direct opponent catches the top rope and manages to hold himself on the apron to meet a super kick which sends him flying to Earth. At the other end of the ring Bruce is under pressure as his opponent as rammed Bruce against the turnbuckle about three times now. The free man runs in and plants a knee to the back of the knee of Bruce's problem. Bruce falls to the mat as these two go at it. The throw any kind of punch they can at each other, failing to see the next man enter who flies for them automatically. Both meet a double flying lariat which sends one man over the rope behind him straight away. The other hits the floor just before the ropes as the newest opponent begins to rally stomps into him. Bruce has got up and clutches his sides. The man that was stomping has now ceased and focuses on Bruce Lomond, he throws a punch which Bruce dodges. While the opponent follows through, Bruce places one leg behind him and places an arm across the man's neck and takes him down. He drags the fallen man over to the ropes and places one leg on the second rope. He drops a knee right into the shin of his victim and without comes a scream as the shin is grabbed by the victim. Bruce now walks over to the other opponent and picks him up. Bruce faces the ropes, back to back with opponent and reaches up, ready to execute The Trigger as a force of some kind sends Bruce into the ropes. Bruce feels his legs being lifted as he seems to balance over the top rope. He waits until he is far enough over and grabs the second rope, with one more push from this force Bruce sends himself flying over the top rope, keeping a tight grip of the second rope he manages to use his weight to slide back in under the second rope. By now, the man that has just escaped The Trigger fights with that mystery force, a new opponent. Bruce gets up and runs over the ring to their position. The "force" turns pale as he thought Bruce was eliminated, he ignores the punches that connect with his face, but they are quickly stopped as Bruce grabs the opponent and takes him out with a beautiful German suplex. With some speed he picks him back up and throws him over the top rope, watching to see him land outside, making sure he is eliminated. Bruce looks back at the "force" who still stares at Bruce, he does not see the other man fly in to take him down with a spear. Bruce smiles as the ground assault is heaved on. Eventually the man on top gets up, bringing the other to his feet. He forces his opponent against the ropes and begins trying to push him over the top rope. The victim looks across the ring and sees Bruce charging towards their position, he quickly does all he can to get out the way to see Bruce execute a perfect dropkick of revenge to send his opponent flying over the top rope. Bruce gets up to face a relentless attack from the one remaining opponent. The exchange punches but are brought to a stop as both men spot the next entry. They part as the newest entry runs wildly towards them, he runs into nothing but ropes and is sent flying backwards. Bruce and his older opponent meet again as they lock up. Bruce blocks a quick punch and turns the man around so his back is to him and Bruce attempts some sort of suplex which backfires as the other opponent tackles Bruce to the floor. Bruce tries to block the flailing opponent which is clearly trying anything to gain an advantage. After a few moments the assault on Bruce stops as the other opponent has dragged Bruce's attacker off of him. A forearm is sent with power to the face of Bruce's attacker, sending him to the ropes. Bruce's attacker now leans on the ropes trying to figure out what just happened. Bruce's savior runs to the opposite ropes and back to send Bruce's attacker over the top rope. Bruce sits up, not ready at all for another attack. As his savior approaches him, pair of hands emerges around Bruce’s neck and slam him hard back down to the mat. A new opponent enters the ring now, the opponent responsible for what just happened. Both of Bruce's opponents now pick him up and throw him against the ropes. This time Bruce has nothing up his sleeve and faces his fate. Bruce is eliminated.
He lies on the floor, exhausted, staring up into the ring as we fade to black.}
{We come back to see the same ring, but this time empty. Bruce stands beside the ring with one of the wrestlers we only saw in the line-up. He now wears trousers and a white shirt, top two buttons undone as always. He is handing cash over to this one wrestler who has a bit of bruising to his face. We hear Bruce counting it out.}
1800, 1900, 2000. There you go, you fought well today.
You were unlucky man.
{The scene goes quiet. Bruce looks to the floor as the winner hesitates to say something, but eventually comes out with it.}
Is this worrying you? I mean, if you couldn't win today...
{Bruce looks up from the floor smiling.}
Does it worry me? Does it worry me?! No! It does not worry me!
{The amateur wrestler seems frightened as Bruce has quickly changed from being quiet and collected to shouting his head off and making sure this amateur is getting a shower after the match.}
Do you wish to know why? Do you? I shall tell you. I am not worried at all, because you nine guys are here until Saturday. We still have two days left to show your friends that I am worthy of a shot at the XFC Uncensored title. Today was a fluke, do you hear me? You are a fluke, and I will prove that to you. Tell the rest of your men to be back in here within the hour, we are going again.
{With that Bruce furiously turns around and marches out of the room, leaving the victor of the first Lomond battle royal stunned and speechless. The door is heard slamming shut as we fade to black with the victor saying one last thing.}
Crazy-ass, helium head f*cker.
{We come back to see Bruce behind the beautiful table we seen him at before. This time he has a significantly smaller pile of folders in front of him. Four folders sit making a rectangle in front of Bruce Lomond. He sits, tense but he seems to be trying to hold his anger back as he talks.}
Let me tell all of you this right now, I will be ready for this battle royal. I had a late start for my first XFC match, I am running behind for this one too, but just as before, I will come through in front of you all. Trust me, I will. I warn you all, do not be fooled into a very false sense of security by my performance today. It will be very different by the time of our match, trust me.
{Bruce falls silent, passing his right hand over the four folders, all the names can be seen; Adam Quist, Frank Plumber, Jordan Rice and Renegade.}
It would seem only a few of us wish to be vocal about our thoughts for this match, ladies and gentlemen. Five of us. I also take a stab in the dark that we are the five many accepted would be the loudest, would have the most thunder heading into the storm. I can say it is pretty safe to assume, we are the men most believed to be able to succeed. Congratulations are in order boys, this is not just a one man race. There will actually be a second, third, fourth and fifth place behind me. So my victory will benefit others, you can all be seen as the men that met Bruce Lomond, that were graced with his in-ring presence, and to whomever gains second place, you will receive the benefits to some great extent. "The man who nearly beat Bruce Lomond." Quite an achievement I must say. Not many have achieved that, not because I lose more than I should win, but because normally they do not come anywhere close to defeating me. That AAW wrestler out there should be pretty proud, although he did not meet me in the ring, what goes on his record is all that counts. It does not matter that I was eliminated before he even entered the ring, all that matters is that he won. That will be all that matters in our match two, gentlemen. All that matters, is that I win. All that matters, is that I receive that shot at the Uncensored title. All that matters, is that I defeat each and every one of you.
In front of me, I have information on all the men which have wished to let their thoughts be heard. I commend each of you for that, a true sign of sportsmanship. I have always said I will scratch your back if you scratch mine and hence we come to these folders. In them I have gathered a lot of information about all of you, I have the other five sitting in that cabinet.
{Bruce points across the room, assumingly at the cabinet which holds these folders.}
In them I have your life story, I have everything, but what I need to focus on right now, are the tapes which are in these folders. Every speech you four have made in the run up to this match. You spared the time to talk about myself, I feel it nothing but necessary to return the favor.
{Bruce reaches for one folder, the one entitled "Renegade" and quickly scans through the first few pages. He smiles with satisfaction as he places the open folder on the table.}
Renegade, I can admire you. You are not the conventional mind I have come to expect in this business. You are something truly different and with that, you can take a small portion of my respect. Not a lot of it though and do you know why? I do not give you a great amount of respect for while I acknowledge you bring something different to the table, you do not bring enough talent to match the mind. In this business, we need a balance between mind and body. We have to have some amount of physical capability and mental capability and they cannot be out of proportion with each other. They need to be balanced. Renegade, although your mind is powerful I fear you do not bring enough bite with your bark.
Now, like I did before, I shall study your speech and take all I can from it. I know that some people will not be able to interpret your words and I may not even get them right, but as I said, I will take what I can. First of all, you said as long as you are not dishing out punishment, you will grow hesitant to do so. In your weakness, those that do what you will not will be your demise. I agree to some extent, Renegade, but where you will hesitate, I shall not. All it takes is one hit, Renegade, one hit where you fall and I will make sure you cannot shed any more blood. For you see, while you feel my wrath, you will do so for some time. By the time I leave you be and focus elsewhere, too much time has passed for you to continue being vicious. I shall march onwards, with the same fierce attitude. I will not seek blood though, I will not seek injuries to my opponents, all I look for, Renegade, is the man closest to the ropes. The easiest to eliminate. I know I said before that I wish to prove myself to everyone, that if I am victorious, I deserve my shot, well even if I take the easy way in this match, I will still prove it. How? I will be taking the easy way through the hard way. The fact remains, I will still be proving myself. I will still be doing enough to prove that I have earned my shot, the thing is, I could have done more, but to be perfectly honest, enough to get by will satisfy me.
Moving onto your lemonade portion of your speech, Renegade, I cannot help but notice something is not quite right. I could follow you before this perfectly, but now, I know there is something you hold back. I am making it a priority, Renegade, to find out what this is. I know that it could cause problems, but Renegade, I am taking the easy way, and I need to add some credit to this victory. You said this fear inside you is making you weaker by the day, well Renegade, I truly hope you do let go, I want to fight you at your best. I enjoy proving myself to my peers, I enjoy watching them put all they can into their performance, only to still come up short. It gives me a great satisfaction to know I can beat the very best someone has to offer, that is when you realize you are superior. Renegade, I will prove I am superior to you, and our opponents. I have said it, but how many of you dismiss it as a plain lie? I guess the vast majority of you, if not all, well listen to me now, gentlemen, listen to me before it becomes all too apparent. I am warning all of you. All of you are welcome to come and watch me train, then you will see just how much pain those nine men out there go through when I prove myself. They are amateurs too, they have not got an ego, and they do not believe they should beat me, how much more of a fall will it be then, when I storm through all of you gentlemen?
Back to the topic at hand though, Renegade. You say you can control the future, no, you cannot. The only thing we control, Renegade is the present. The future is only to be decided. Decided at that point in time where it is the present. Which man do we target? Which man do we swing for? Which man do we help push which man over the top rope? Those questions are what we decide our future. My answer to these questions, anyone. Anyone I can eliminate I will, I do not go in holding allegiances or vendettas with. Everyone is an opponent, an opponent which I will have to over come. You are all equal in my eyes, and you all must equally receive the same fate. That is the only answer I give, why? This answer is the correct answer, the correct answer being I will win. Renegade, I look forward to meeting with you in the ring, I sincerely hope we do, because your mind, is something worth infiltrating. It is different, and I enjoy searching unknown lands.
{Bruce puts the folder back in its original place and lifts Frank Plumber's. He flicks through it, refreshing his memory from our previous encounter with Bruce Lomond. That same smile appears before this folder is too, placed open upon the table.}
I told you I would elaborate, Frank, and I now show you I am a man of my word. However, Frank, you do not speak of any of the opponents. Instead, you tell us a story, your story. Your story through that horrific trial challenge and I must say, Frank, I am impressed. You came through it. I know that I certainly would not have fancied that challenge. I'll give you again some small amount of respect, you have faced severe dangers but you do not receive my full respect, why? I have yet to see your wrestling abilities, but based on the nature or that trial, you will take a few hits, but that does not matter does it? It is whether you can take the chance when it arises. If you see a man leaning against the ropes, trying to catch his breath, you do not focus on an opponent that is still standing, you take the initiative and eliminate all you can while you can. In the long run, it is for the best, for you take one step closer to that title shot. Is that not all that we are in this match for? I know that is why I am, if this was not a title shot I would want to be facing off against much better talent. If this match did not offer a title shot at the end, I would be quite frankly, offended. To be classed amongst this bunch, I would be disgusted if the guys in the office did not offer me some incentive. I know, the Uncensored title is not the most prestigious of XFC titles, but it is a title nonetheless, and one I can live with at this stage in my XFC career. It will prove to those that control XFC and I am to be watched, that I can be trusted with the name of an XFC champion. It will give me yet another chance to prove myself on a higher stage. I have told you all before I do get what I want, maybe not when I want it, but I do get it, eventually. Ladies and gentlemen, I will wear XFC gold, that I promise you, and ask Frank, I am a man of my word.
{Our scene opens to a mob of men and women. They seem to crowd around something. They are all trailer trash; their stomachs hang out over their belts. Ripped denim jackets cover stained t-shirts. Teeth are missing, beards are unshaven and hair is untidy. They really are scum. What interests us is what is in the middle of this lower class mob, a shoddy wrestling ring, with four men fighting their match with all their hearts in the middle. None of these men are known to us and they represent their admirers well. The most basic of wrestling moves are on show here, nothing special, but the crowd is captivated all the same. We begin moving back from the ring, back past the crowd and suddenly we find ourselves looking out of a window as we continue to move back. Bruce Lomond stands with his hands at his side as he watches the mob cheer on the wrestlers. He stands in silence as the sound of a signature being written on a piece of paper can be heard. A cheery and happy voice greets us, obviously not from the mouth of Bruce Lomond.}
There ya go Mister Lomond, nine of my best employees. Just make sure to bring 'em back in one piece.
Are you positive they are the best you can offer?
Damn straight, I need those guys back, Mister Lomond, I'd go bust without 'em.
You will get them back, do not fret about that. Make sure they reach me by tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow morning?! Br- Mister Lomond, I have presentations tomorrow, I need these guys!
Read the fine print, it states clearly that I will have them tomorrow, 9am.
C'mon man, these are my top guys. Without 'em...AAW will flop.
That is not my problem.
{The promoter falls silent and uneasy. He scratches his balding head while trying to think of something. He begins to sweat as Bruce speaks again, in a rather threatening and assertive tone.}
Tomorrow morning, 9am, or I will sue Amateur American Wrestling and make sure you are left with not even a cent.
{With that Bruce takes his freshly copied contract and leaves the trailer. We fade to black as the promoter takes a seat and places his head on the desk. After a few moments he begins to thump the desk with some force as we embrace darkness.}
{We come back to see a make-shift ring in an empty room. Early sunlight floods through the glass ceiling as nine men dressed in shorts and t-shirts stand side by side outside the ring. A door is heard squeaking open, attracting all nine men's attention, they stare as one set of footsteps are heard being walked across the floorboards. He stops in front of them all, in full wrestling attire, and addresses his men.}
I do not doubt you all know why you are here, but allow me to run through it one final time. That very ring is a simulator, a simulator for an XFC ring and you are all simulators along with it. You have been paid to provide me with an accurate reconstruction of a ten man over the top rope battle royal. To whoever wins, I shall pay a bonus of two thousand dollars. However, to receive that I shall also have to be eliminated. If I shall emerge the victor, you shall all look up into the ring and see your brand spanking new boss. It seems your current boss places a lot of trust in yourselves, that and he is...easily persuaded.
{Bruce falls silent and begins to march up and down the line of nine men, inspecting them. He reaches the second man from the left before barking out an order.}
You, get in the ring.
{The young athlete turns his back and climbs into the ring and begins to shadow box, trying to hype himself up.}
Every thirty seconds, one man will climb into the ring. Every thirty seconds.
{With that Bruce marches through the space in the line and gets into the ring himself. He stands across from the man sent to his fate, they stand staring at each other. The AAW representative extends a hand. Bruce smiles as he goes to shake the man's hand, but with one movement he pulls the man towards him while turning. The man flips over Bruce's right shoulder and lands in front of Bruce, Bruce applies an arm bar as the young athlete is still in shock. Feeling the pain automatically he begins flailing for Bruce's Bruce, but Bruce leans his head back out of reach. Waiting for the right moment, Bruce dodges a punch and quickly applies a sleeper hold. Within ten seconds, the AAW wrestler begins to lose energy, Bruce pulls him to his feet and drags him over to the ropes. Bruce takes a hold of the young man's head and prepares to throw him over the top rope, but just as he does this, a dropkick sends Bruce to the ropes. The third competitor has entered, he begins to throw punches at Bruce's back but after four connect, Bruce sends an elbow flying backwards. The weaker of the AAW wrestlers is resting in a corner, trying to re-build his stamina as Bruce grabs the second of his opponents and puts him to the mat with DDT. He pulls him up only to put him back down with a Russian leg sweep. Bruce gets to his feet again to be met with his first opponent latching around his back, Bruce reaches up and executes a snapmare, bringing the victim upon the victim already on the floor. Bruce picks both of them up just in time to see a new face enter the ring, he smacks both of him victims heads together, forcing them to fall once more and begins to walk towards the new face. This opponent backs off, putting his arms, trying to plead with Bruce. Bruce stops in front of him and the new guy is seen pointing to the other two men in the ring. Bruce smiles, making this guy smile, but Bruce's smile fades quickly as grabs his opponent and pushes him backwards with some force against the ropes. The opponent is winded as Bruce begins an assault ended with an uppercut which sends the victim over the top rope to the floor. One of the other two men has got up and proceeds towards Bruce's back. Bruce is unaware of this. However, just as this unseen opponent winds up for the hit, he falls to the mat as the other man has also got up and just executed a bulldog. Bruce spins around to see him get back up and apply a figure of four, just as the fallen man screams in pain, a newcomer arrives behind Bruce Lomond. Bruce spins again just to be nailed right between the eyes. Bruce staggers backwards, falling over the other two men, which breaks up the submission. The newcomer climbs on top of Bruce and begins throwing punch after punch at Bruce's face. Meanwhile, the other two men have engaged in a lock up and move towards the ropes. Their teeth are gritted and with an almighty roar the man with his back against the ropes attempts a belly-to-belly suplex over the top rope, he nearly pulls off the elimination as his direct opponent catches the top rope and manages to hold himself on the apron to meet a super kick which sends him flying to Earth. At the other end of the ring Bruce is under pressure as his opponent as rammed Bruce against the turnbuckle about three times now. The free man runs in and plants a knee to the back of the knee of Bruce's problem. Bruce falls to the mat as these two go at it. The throw any kind of punch they can at each other, failing to see the next man enter who flies for them automatically. Both meet a double flying lariat which sends one man over the rope behind him straight away. The other hits the floor just before the ropes as the newest opponent begins to rally stomps into him. Bruce has got up and clutches his sides. The man that was stomping has now ceased and focuses on Bruce Lomond, he throws a punch which Bruce dodges. While the opponent follows through, Bruce places one leg behind him and places an arm across the man's neck and takes him down. He drags the fallen man over to the ropes and places one leg on the second rope. He drops a knee right into the shin of his victim and without comes a scream as the shin is grabbed by the victim. Bruce now walks over to the other opponent and picks him up. Bruce faces the ropes, back to back with opponent and reaches up, ready to execute The Trigger as a force of some kind sends Bruce into the ropes. Bruce feels his legs being lifted as he seems to balance over the top rope. He waits until he is far enough over and grabs the second rope, with one more push from this force Bruce sends himself flying over the top rope, keeping a tight grip of the second rope he manages to use his weight to slide back in under the second rope. By now, the man that has just escaped The Trigger fights with that mystery force, a new opponent. Bruce gets up and runs over the ring to their position. The "force" turns pale as he thought Bruce was eliminated, he ignores the punches that connect with his face, but they are quickly stopped as Bruce grabs the opponent and takes him out with a beautiful German suplex. With some speed he picks him back up and throws him over the top rope, watching to see him land outside, making sure he is eliminated. Bruce looks back at the "force" who still stares at Bruce, he does not see the other man fly in to take him down with a spear. Bruce smiles as the ground assault is heaved on. Eventually the man on top gets up, bringing the other to his feet. He forces his opponent against the ropes and begins trying to push him over the top rope. The victim looks across the ring and sees Bruce charging towards their position, he quickly does all he can to get out the way to see Bruce execute a perfect dropkick of revenge to send his opponent flying over the top rope. Bruce gets up to face a relentless attack from the one remaining opponent. The exchange punches but are brought to a stop as both men spot the next entry. They part as the newest entry runs wildly towards them, he runs into nothing but ropes and is sent flying backwards. Bruce and his older opponent meet again as they lock up. Bruce blocks a quick punch and turns the man around so his back is to him and Bruce attempts some sort of suplex which backfires as the other opponent tackles Bruce to the floor. Bruce tries to block the flailing opponent which is clearly trying anything to gain an advantage. After a few moments the assault on Bruce stops as the other opponent has dragged Bruce's attacker off of him. A forearm is sent with power to the face of Bruce's attacker, sending him to the ropes. Bruce's attacker now leans on the ropes trying to figure out what just happened. Bruce's savior runs to the opposite ropes and back to send Bruce's attacker over the top rope. Bruce sits up, not ready at all for another attack. As his savior approaches him, pair of hands emerges around Bruce’s neck and slam him hard back down to the mat. A new opponent enters the ring now, the opponent responsible for what just happened. Both of Bruce's opponents now pick him up and throw him against the ropes. This time Bruce has nothing up his sleeve and faces his fate. Bruce is eliminated.
He lies on the floor, exhausted, staring up into the ring as we fade to black.}
{We come back to see the same ring, but this time empty. Bruce stands beside the ring with one of the wrestlers we only saw in the line-up. He now wears trousers and a white shirt, top two buttons undone as always. He is handing cash over to this one wrestler who has a bit of bruising to his face. We hear Bruce counting it out.}
1800, 1900, 2000. There you go, you fought well today.
You were unlucky man.
{The scene goes quiet. Bruce looks to the floor as the winner hesitates to say something, but eventually comes out with it.}
Is this worrying you? I mean, if you couldn't win today...
{Bruce looks up from the floor smiling.}
Does it worry me? Does it worry me?! No! It does not worry me!
{The amateur wrestler seems frightened as Bruce has quickly changed from being quiet and collected to shouting his head off and making sure this amateur is getting a shower after the match.}
Do you wish to know why? Do you? I shall tell you. I am not worried at all, because you nine guys are here until Saturday. We still have two days left to show your friends that I am worthy of a shot at the XFC Uncensored title. Today was a fluke, do you hear me? You are a fluke, and I will prove that to you. Tell the rest of your men to be back in here within the hour, we are going again.
{With that Bruce furiously turns around and marches out of the room, leaving the victor of the first Lomond battle royal stunned and speechless. The door is heard slamming shut as we fade to black with the victor saying one last thing.}
Crazy-ass, helium head f*cker.
{We come back to see Bruce behind the beautiful table we seen him at before. This time he has a significantly smaller pile of folders in front of him. Four folders sit making a rectangle in front of Bruce Lomond. He sits, tense but he seems to be trying to hold his anger back as he talks.}
Let me tell all of you this right now, I will be ready for this battle royal. I had a late start for my first XFC match, I am running behind for this one too, but just as before, I will come through in front of you all. Trust me, I will. I warn you all, do not be fooled into a very false sense of security by my performance today. It will be very different by the time of our match, trust me.
{Bruce falls silent, passing his right hand over the four folders, all the names can be seen; Adam Quist, Frank Plumber, Jordan Rice and Renegade.}
It would seem only a few of us wish to be vocal about our thoughts for this match, ladies and gentlemen. Five of us. I also take a stab in the dark that we are the five many accepted would be the loudest, would have the most thunder heading into the storm. I can say it is pretty safe to assume, we are the men most believed to be able to succeed. Congratulations are in order boys, this is not just a one man race. There will actually be a second, third, fourth and fifth place behind me. So my victory will benefit others, you can all be seen as the men that met Bruce Lomond, that were graced with his in-ring presence, and to whomever gains second place, you will receive the benefits to some great extent. "The man who nearly beat Bruce Lomond." Quite an achievement I must say. Not many have achieved that, not because I lose more than I should win, but because normally they do not come anywhere close to defeating me. That AAW wrestler out there should be pretty proud, although he did not meet me in the ring, what goes on his record is all that counts. It does not matter that I was eliminated before he even entered the ring, all that matters is that he won. That will be all that matters in our match two, gentlemen. All that matters, is that I win. All that matters, is that I receive that shot at the Uncensored title. All that matters, is that I defeat each and every one of you.
In front of me, I have information on all the men which have wished to let their thoughts be heard. I commend each of you for that, a true sign of sportsmanship. I have always said I will scratch your back if you scratch mine and hence we come to these folders. In them I have gathered a lot of information about all of you, I have the other five sitting in that cabinet.
{Bruce points across the room, assumingly at the cabinet which holds these folders.}
In them I have your life story, I have everything, but what I need to focus on right now, are the tapes which are in these folders. Every speech you four have made in the run up to this match. You spared the time to talk about myself, I feel it nothing but necessary to return the favor.
{Bruce reaches for one folder, the one entitled "Renegade" and quickly scans through the first few pages. He smiles with satisfaction as he places the open folder on the table.}
Renegade, I can admire you. You are not the conventional mind I have come to expect in this business. You are something truly different and with that, you can take a small portion of my respect. Not a lot of it though and do you know why? I do not give you a great amount of respect for while I acknowledge you bring something different to the table, you do not bring enough talent to match the mind. In this business, we need a balance between mind and body. We have to have some amount of physical capability and mental capability and they cannot be out of proportion with each other. They need to be balanced. Renegade, although your mind is powerful I fear you do not bring enough bite with your bark.
Now, like I did before, I shall study your speech and take all I can from it. I know that some people will not be able to interpret your words and I may not even get them right, but as I said, I will take what I can. First of all, you said as long as you are not dishing out punishment, you will grow hesitant to do so. In your weakness, those that do what you will not will be your demise. I agree to some extent, Renegade, but where you will hesitate, I shall not. All it takes is one hit, Renegade, one hit where you fall and I will make sure you cannot shed any more blood. For you see, while you feel my wrath, you will do so for some time. By the time I leave you be and focus elsewhere, too much time has passed for you to continue being vicious. I shall march onwards, with the same fierce attitude. I will not seek blood though, I will not seek injuries to my opponents, all I look for, Renegade, is the man closest to the ropes. The easiest to eliminate. I know I said before that I wish to prove myself to everyone, that if I am victorious, I deserve my shot, well even if I take the easy way in this match, I will still prove it. How? I will be taking the easy way through the hard way. The fact remains, I will still be proving myself. I will still be doing enough to prove that I have earned my shot, the thing is, I could have done more, but to be perfectly honest, enough to get by will satisfy me.
Moving onto your lemonade portion of your speech, Renegade, I cannot help but notice something is not quite right. I could follow you before this perfectly, but now, I know there is something you hold back. I am making it a priority, Renegade, to find out what this is. I know that it could cause problems, but Renegade, I am taking the easy way, and I need to add some credit to this victory. You said this fear inside you is making you weaker by the day, well Renegade, I truly hope you do let go, I want to fight you at your best. I enjoy proving myself to my peers, I enjoy watching them put all they can into their performance, only to still come up short. It gives me a great satisfaction to know I can beat the very best someone has to offer, that is when you realize you are superior. Renegade, I will prove I am superior to you, and our opponents. I have said it, but how many of you dismiss it as a plain lie? I guess the vast majority of you, if not all, well listen to me now, gentlemen, listen to me before it becomes all too apparent. I am warning all of you. All of you are welcome to come and watch me train, then you will see just how much pain those nine men out there go through when I prove myself. They are amateurs too, they have not got an ego, and they do not believe they should beat me, how much more of a fall will it be then, when I storm through all of you gentlemen?
Back to the topic at hand though, Renegade. You say you can control the future, no, you cannot. The only thing we control, Renegade is the present. The future is only to be decided. Decided at that point in time where it is the present. Which man do we target? Which man do we swing for? Which man do we help push which man over the top rope? Those questions are what we decide our future. My answer to these questions, anyone. Anyone I can eliminate I will, I do not go in holding allegiances or vendettas with. Everyone is an opponent, an opponent which I will have to over come. You are all equal in my eyes, and you all must equally receive the same fate. That is the only answer I give, why? This answer is the correct answer, the correct answer being I will win. Renegade, I look forward to meeting with you in the ring, I sincerely hope we do, because your mind, is something worth infiltrating. It is different, and I enjoy searching unknown lands.
{Bruce puts the folder back in its original place and lifts Frank Plumber's. He flicks through it, refreshing his memory from our previous encounter with Bruce Lomond. That same smile appears before this folder is too, placed open upon the table.}
I told you I would elaborate, Frank, and I now show you I am a man of my word. However, Frank, you do not speak of any of the opponents. Instead, you tell us a story, your story. Your story through that horrific trial challenge and I must say, Frank, I am impressed. You came through it. I know that I certainly would not have fancied that challenge. I'll give you again some small amount of respect, you have faced severe dangers but you do not receive my full respect, why? I have yet to see your wrestling abilities, but based on the nature or that trial, you will take a few hits, but that does not matter does it? It is whether you can take the chance when it arises. If you see a man leaning against the ropes, trying to catch his breath, you do not focus on an opponent that is still standing, you take the initiative and eliminate all you can while you can. In the long run, it is for the best, for you take one step closer to that title shot. Is that not all that we are in this match for? I know that is why I am, if this was not a title shot I would want to be facing off against much better talent. If this match did not offer a title shot at the end, I would be quite frankly, offended. To be classed amongst this bunch, I would be disgusted if the guys in the office did not offer me some incentive. I know, the Uncensored title is not the most prestigious of XFC titles, but it is a title nonetheless, and one I can live with at this stage in my XFC career. It will prove to those that control XFC and I am to be watched, that I can be trusted with the name of an XFC champion. It will give me yet another chance to prove myself on a higher stage. I have told you all before I do get what I want, maybe not when I want it, but I do get it, eventually. Ladies and gentlemen, I will wear XFC gold, that I promise you, and ask Frank, I am a man of my word.
