AS 108 - Luke Manson versus Vee A.D.Z

Vee is exuberant with his win. He kept laughing at Titus as the Champ’s face is filled with shock accumulated with embarrassment. Vee stands atop the ramp and takes his moment to shower in their cheers. His music starts to play as he walks back to the gorilla position. He moves the screen aside and walks backstage to see Backstage Bob rushing to the spot. Vee couldn’t control his laughter looking at Bob and his ignorance for letting Titus handle the confetti and balloon control. He stops Bob by his shoulders and takes a breather before starting to talk.

Vee: Oh! Old man, you shouldn’t have trusted Titus in the first place! Did you seriously believe that Titus will help you with that job?! How seriously you believed him?

Backstage Bob: Like how seriously you believe that you could beat Titus so easily like that! What are you happy about, Smart guy? For scoring a pinfall over him? Ask yourself, when was the last time you watched Titus losing in a match disparaging himself.

Bob scurried off the production area, shouting at the workers to stop showering confetti. But that question Bob asked has made Vee look ridiculous of himself. He was exuberant till then for scoring a pinfall over the EurAsian Champion, let alone the Greatest Wrestler in the history of WZCW, Titus. Not anymore, as a lot of questions start to swirl around his brain and echoed through his ears as he walks back to the locker room.

Vee: (voice-over) I haven’t beaten Titus for the championship yet. I don’t have the title strapped around my waist yet. It still belongs to him. Did I really win him, quite so easily?

That simple question straightjacketed his gleeful thought of beating Titus. More than that, it atomizes into millions and started plaguing his mind with a flurry of other questions as well. That lets out his Subconscious Subordinates to raise up from the darkest corner of his mind.

Vimal: (voice-over) Happy times are over, mate. Now it’s time to start thinking smart.

Vee Alias: (voice-over) Happy times haven’t even started yet. Did you just laugh at your opponent out there? How uncharacteristic of you to even do that, to callously look down on your opponent!

Vee stops walking as his head felt a little dizzy, not by any physical means, not even to the slightest but by the questions arose by his aliases. He rests his one hand on his hip and rests against the wall with his other hand and turns his head slightly back to look at the path he walked down.

Vee: (voice-over) Was truly uncharacteristic of me… Or did he manipulate me to his desires? Was this all a mind game played by Titus, the Great, to make me believe that I could beat him quite comfortably without shedding a sweat. I was expecting a war before I stepped in the ring tonight. I was ready and been expecting to shed blood, sweat and tears to get pass of both the men. But I didn’t even break a sweat!

Mind games or not, it doesn’t matter really. Because I still remember how he took that title away from Johnny Scumm at Kingdom Come. I still remember the look on his eyes when he walked pass me after defending the title against Flex in that steel cage match. He isn’t the person who I should take for granted. I can better him in the ring at Unscripted of course, I have absolutely no doubt in that. But not in that fashion I did now.

He walks a few steps further. He looks back again with a slight grin adoring his face. He pulls his glove off his hand and rubs his fist against his face.

Vee: (voice-over) He had walked out of his partners quite a few times but isn’t that aberrant that his partner walked out on him? He didn’t come out there tonight to fight me. He was there to manipulate my thoughts to the wrong belief. No, No, No… You still are the Hall of Famer, Greatest Champion of all time, and you still are the EurAsian Champion and I am not going to forget that.

I’m not going to let you take over my thoughts because I am not scared of you. None of your tricks and mind games can manipulate me, if that was your plan. What that will make me proud is, to be my greatest privilege to win my first championship title in WZCW by beating a man of your stature. I have heard of your legends, now I’ve started to reel them through me. My legacy will start at the desertion of your Legend.

He walks into his locker room with much more clarity in his thoughts. The buzzes around his head disappears; the rush of blood upstream his veins give a warmth behind his ears. He shakes his head a couple of times before heading to the shower.

The screen fades to black.

……….

Later that night… In Vee’s hotel room…

Vee is laying in a king-sized bed on his sides. His face is facing the window as a muggy yellow light from the street flashes over his face. His chest raises and lowers to his breath; suddenly his face grimaces in thoughts. The face of Prince, the WZCW superstar he faced in his debut match flashes in his dreams. Soon it disappeared only to bring back the pictures of the fans high-fiving his hands on the night of his debut. The view when he was ricocheting off the ropes with a moonsault to take out Prince, everything upside down when he springboards off the ropes was streaming in his dream. It all kept flashing through his head and he wakes up abruptly from the position to sit on the bed. He looks around; wanders his hands to grab his phone. It blinks 2:14 AM…

Vee: Bugger!

He sits there with his head cupped on his hands, for a few moments. Then he stands up and grabs his wallet and phone, puts on a hoodie and walks out of the room.

The cold breeze gently caresses him as he walks on the pavement. The street is completely deserted except for a few street dogs chasing something in the dark. He walks down with a clammy expression.

Vee: (voice-over) A year back, I was roaming like this at night down the streets of Crawley. Despite my anti-social behavior, I went through every bar, searching for bookers to sign me for a bigger promotion. Now, here I am in the United States, at WZCW, with a plenty of opportunities laid before me. I was gutted when I was left off the Unscripted 2015 Card, making my appearance only as a mere Lumberjack for Mikey’s return match against Logan.

One year later, I have faced Mikey, Logan and most of the superstars featured on that Unscripted Card. It wasn’t a roller-coaster ride for me. It was the steps of the ladder that I climbed up, now to be the #1 contender for the EurAsian Championship. There were many slips and trips on my way up, but I firmly held that ladder of opportunity to get here. Just one more step ahead, this time I will be facing Lu…

His thoughts are interrupted by a rough voice from behind. A police officer on his night patrol stands behind him.

Officer: Hey, young man. What are you doing out here at this time? Let me see your ID.

Vee: Oh… All I have is my international driving license. Is that enough for an ID?

He scampers through his wallet to drag out the license and hands it over to the police officer. The officer, who might be in his early 50s takes a close look at that and lets out a smile to the corner of his lips.

Officer: You’re from WZCW huh? My kids used to watch it and I mock you for your bad choice of picking the ring name.

All Vee could do is give back a wicket smile coupled with a slight embarrassment which he tried to hide by putting a hand on his forehead.

Vee: Well, that’s a long story how I picked that name.

Officer: Let’s go the bar and have some beer. Then you can tell me that long story.

Vee: I don’t drink you know, Straightedge. I mean…

Officer: You’re better than me? I was just kidding. Do you know what is better than being a Straightedge, kid? Getting addicted, going through a rehab and being sober for the rest of the life. That, and that is stronger than being straightedge.

He hands the license back to Vee with a smile on his face. Vee acknowledges his smile back with one of his own.

Officer: Just wanted to say that, never tried to offend your straightedge principle.

Vee: That’s alright. I respect everyone’s believes and their principles. Thank you, officer. I guess I’ll go back to my room now.

Vee shakes the hand of the officer before turning back to his room. He walks his way to the hotel room and just before he walks through the door, he receives a notification on his phone. It is a text message from his Girlfriend Sara.

The whole night is eventful for Vee, meeting strangers at strange times, surprise wins and surprise news. He couldn’t react much more of what to think. Whether to be happy for his parents to be at Unscripted or to ask them why they haven’t told him that they’ve been attending his every PPVs. All he wants to do is ask them the questions when he meets them face to face.

The screen fades to black.

……….

The next morning…

With the help from the WZCW staffs, Vee finds a local gym where most of the independent wrestlers used to train in Wisconsin. He picks up a taxi and gets there with no trouble and checks in. Once inside all he could see his fighters with sturdy body working out in different equipments. He smiles at the few of them who seems to recognize him and walks to a split bar. He hurried into his training gear and pulls a pair of earphones, plugs it into his ears.

He grabbed the bar firmly and starts to do chin ups. He continues that till his muscles flexes, then he extended his arms wider and continued. He takes a breather by doing some jumping jacks before continuing through his upper-body workout routine.

After a few minutes of workouts, he picks his phone out to change the song. The notification bar shows a message from WZCW production. It reads that his next match is up against Luke Manson on Ascension. He smiles looking at the phone before whipping the sweat with a towel. He lays on a bench and starts to do elevated bench press.

As he lifts the weight up and down, his mind starts to distort from the workout as it scrambled through his head. Quite a few events that had happened recently seems to be going through his head and he couldn’t lift the weights any further. With the help of an assistant he drops the weights and sits on the bench to recollect his thoughts.

Vee: (voice-over) I felt for Luke Manson last night on Ascension. Especially during his backstage interview. He has a strong heart, to get through all the uneventful things happened in his life. He even owed to the wrong people to get here. It’s his desire that might’ve made him do that.

He adds a few more weights to the bar and elevates the bench to another few degrees and lifts the weight again; continuing with the bench press.

Vee: (voice-over) Hard to believe that a man of 38 years of age, being addicted to drugs before is pushing his body over the limits in this industry. Sometimes it makes me wonder what makes a man stronger. The will and belief to do great things?

He senses his muscles tenses; his arms tremble a little nonetheless he continues with the counts of press.

Vee: (voice-over) Human can never be measured. But all the human is not the same. Some motivates himself, some searches for a motivation and some creates a motivation of his own. Everyone falls into either of these three category which makes them more predictable. Luke is someone who created his own motivation.

His muscles start to hurt a little with the weight convolutes the layers of his muscles. Nonetheless he continues.

Vee: (voice-over) Anyone can push oneself to any limits. I am going to push my limits to the level of Titus or even above. I can’t lose a match before facing him. I can’t lose THE match to him.

He drops the weight after a few more reps and sits on the bench. His hands tremble a little as he pushes a towel to his face.

Vee: (voice-over) I regret for pushing my EurAsian Title match to Unscripted. Whomsoever my opponent is for the next round, my mind is fastened only to the thoughts of beating Titus and winning the title. The question is, will I let anyone stop my momentum on the path of Stardom?

He adds another set of weights to the bar and sets in position for another set. He lifts the weight ignoring the pain.

Vee: Never!

……….

 

Luke lays awake in his hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. The beeping sound of the Electrocardiograph is the only sound that is heard in the room. The attack from Tony Mancini really did a number on Luke. The Doctors said that nothing major damage was done, but they wanted to keep him overnight just to be sure.

Why did he agree to that deal in the first place? After he decided that he wanted to be in WZCW, he needed money to train. That was the first time he met the Mancini Family.

Flashback a few months later, Luke is standing in front of the biggest house he has ever seen. In fact, it was a Mansion! He knocks on the door and a butler answers it. He doesn't say a word but turns, walking away. He stops and looks back at Luke and motions for him to follow him which Luke does so without saying anything. The Butler leads him to a dark office, with "Don" Angelo Mancini sitting behind a wooden desk. Behind Mr.. Mancini, there stands three bigger men, probably acting as body guards. Gino enters the room and sits next to Mr.. Mancini. "Don" Angelo Mancini then whispers something in the ear of Gino, but doesn't take his eyes off of Luke. Gino nods his head he's.

"Don" Angelo Mancini- Welcome to my home Luke. I'm glad you can make it to our appointment.

Luke his hesitant to speak but opens up his mouth to spit out some words to not be rude.

Luke-Thank you for having me.

Luke sounds nervous and he worries that he is sweating up a storm. Mr.. Mancini leans over and whispers in Gino's ear again, still not taking his stare off of Luke.

Gino-Luke, let's get to the point to why you are here.


Luke-Yes, definitely. I recently overdosed on drug--

Mr.. Mancini holds up his hand to stop Luke from talking. Luke begins to panic again as He heard the tragic stories of the Mancini Family and how deceitful they can be.

"Don" Angelo Mancini- I do not need you to tell your damn life story. Get to the point on why you are here.

Luke nods his head nervously.

Luke-I wish to join WZCW but I have no training and no money.

The Don stares at Luke. An eternity seems to pass but in reality, it was only a few seconds.

"Don" Angelo Mancini- I will grant you what you will need. However, if you do not pay me back in double, then my family will come after you. Every. Single. Penny. Got it?

Both Luke and Gino are shocked that Mr.. Mancini came to that decision so fast. The shock factor is quick to be replaced with joy by Luke though. Finally, his new dream to wrestle, is taking flight. He already begins to feel closer to his son.

Gino-The butler will show you out now.

With that, the butler from before enters the room and motions for Luke to follow him. Luke does so without saying a word, afraid of speaking out.

Luke snaps out of his day dream and realizes he is still in the hospital with the Electrocardiograph still doing that annoying beeping. He glances at a clock and notices that it's little after 8 AM. He stares at the ceiling until a knock is heard on the door. A familiar face, Coach Adams, pops his head in the door. When he sees that Luke is awake, he fully enters and takes a seat, in an empty chair next to Luke.

Coach-Why did Tony Mancini attack you Luke?

Luke looks away from the Coach, too embarrassed to answer him.

Coach-Luke! Answer me!

The coach stands up and walks toward Luke.

Luke-I---I owe the Mancini Family money. I didn't have a way to get the things I needed to start wrestling and I didn't have a job so I panicked. I took out a loan with them and had a few months to pay them back.

Coach-Well, looks like time is up. I'm not happy with this. I know what that family is capable of.

Luke doesn't know what to say. His whole face goes numb as he begins to express guilt. He didn't want to disappoint anyone, especially Coach who has really been there for him when no one else has.

Coach-Luke, The only option we have is to fight the Family.

Luke turns back toward Coach, his face now looks enlightened.

Luke-We?

Luke has a puzzled look on his face

Coach-I'm not letting you do this alone. You will need someone to train you to take on Tony Mancini.

Luke nods slowly. He really messed up by signing that deal, but doesn't feel comfortable allowing Coach to be caught up in this. He doesn't say that though. He knows Coach is too stubborn to let him help him. The two talk a bit longer as the scene fades to black.

A few days pass and even though Luke has been now discharged from the hospital, he is still sore. He doesn't have anything serious, just a few bumps and bruises. He is sitting on his bead in his trailer home relaxing. He has been training since the day after he was released from the hospital. A knock is heard on the door, startling him. Luke is slow to get up but walks over and opens it. He is in disbelief because outside his door is standing Ashley.

Ashley-Coach Adams called me and I seen what happened on Ascension. I'm glad your not dead.

They both chuckle at the joke.

Ashley-I wanted to come by and see how you were feeling.

Luke-Come in. Sit down. It's great to see a friendly face. Would you like a drink?

Ashley comes inside. She takes off her coat and sits down at the table inside in the trailer.

Luke-It's not much but it's somewhere to sleep.

He hands her a bottled water. She smiles and take a big gulp. The two make small talk for about 30 minutes but he can tell something is on her mind.

Luke-Ash, I have known you for over half my life. I can tell something is on your mind. What is it?

She looks away and sighs. Then shakes her head and looks back into Luke's eyes.

Ashley-It's Sebastian. He wants to meet you.

Luke's eyes light up like the fourth of July. He doesn't know what to say. He has been so down the last few weeks, he felt that nothing would be able to make him smile again but this has.

Luke-I'm speechless. When?

Ashley- Well, we were hoping you could come over and join Sebastian, Mike, and I for dinner. I'll give you a call with the details. Remember what I said though? Don't leave him hanging.

Luke-Yeah, no. I won't. Thanks Ashley. This really means a lot to me.

Ashley-Don't thank me. It was Mike that convinced him.

Luke is baffled as his ex's husband has talked Sebastian into having dinner to finally meet him.

Luke-I owe him a big thanks then.

They start talking a bit more about life and jobs. She thinks Luke must have a really awesome job, being a professional wrestler and all. He does enjoy it and but it's all because the Mancini family paid his way.

Ashley-So do you know who you will face this next week?

Luke-I found out earlier that my opponent this week is Vee A.D.Z.

Ashley takes a drink of her water.

Ashley-The number one contender huh?

Luke is shocked that she knows that but then he remembers tht she and her family sit down and watch WZCW all the time.

Luke-Yes, I'm nervous. He is a tremendous competitor. I feel like my mind has been on Tony though, after that attack. I would have loved to get my hands on him.

Ashley-Yeah, that was hard to watch. I don't think you should go for revenge though. Focus on Vee A.D.Z this week. I am curious though, what did he mean by "pay your debts". He said that after he finished attacking you.

Luke pauses for a moment and stares off. He shakes his head as if he doesn't know but after all these years, she can still tell when he is lying to her. She doesn't say anything about it.

Luke-I'm not sure. I can go out fighting the Mancini Family or I can go out like a bitch. But I will focus on Vee this week.

Luke chuckles a bit and Ashley develops a confused Luke upon her face.

Luke-Vee and I, we have a lot in common. Well, kind of. He is straightedge. He doesn't do drugs, drink alcohol, or use tobacco. Totally clean.

Ashley-Like you are now. You are stronger than Vee that way. He never had to beat something that took over his life like you. You beat addiction Luke. After years and years of drug abuse, you beat that.

Luke-Thanks Ash. After everything that has happened the last few months, I'm glad I have a friend like you.

Ashley-Well, I need to go. Mike is making dinner. I will call you when all get the dinner plans situated.

She stands up and puts her coat on before leaving out the door. Luke wipes a few tears from his eyes. He joined WZCW in hope to feel closer to his son. Finally, it is about to happen.​