AS 29: Michael Winters vs. Brad Bomb - Elite X Championship Best of Three: Round Two

[Ty Burna]

Michael Winters earned the first victory in this best of three match up for the vacant Elite X title, although with controversy. Winters' foot was on the ropes while he pinned Brad Bomb and no doubt the pious Winters feels remorse for the miscommunication. However Winters does have the 1-0 advantage, can Bomb pull even with Winters and send this series to Kingdom Come? Or will Winters have his coronation as the new Elite X Champion before Kingdom Come even arrives?

Deadline is Tuesday, March 15th at 11:59 PM EST.

 

[Ty Burna]

Brad Bomb has been granted an extension.

 

[Ty Burna]

Michael Winters has been granted an extension.....does anyone want to win this title? I'll take it .

 

[newc868]

To truly know an opponent you must be able to enter their mind… be able to get into their head… know how they think, know how they act, and know how they believe……. If there was ever an opponent who made that task difficult it was Michael Winters… the way he thinks, acts and believes in based around the concept of a single entity… an entity that’s neither been proven to exist or not exist… one that guides that hundreds of millions of people around the world… one that used to guide me…

That’s why I find myself here…

-Suddenly, there’s an array of light and although blurry at first, there soon emerges an establishing shot of a church, from a first person perspective. We then get a third person perspective, showing us a figure from the neck down, wearing a suit, the figure seems to be adjusting their tie. Satisfied, they lower their right hand in which they hold a bouquet of flowers, the figure then walks off towards the church and the view goes blurry once more.

We’re then shown inside the church, where a service is taking place and we get a perspective shot of the group of people as they sit and in the background we can hear the pastor speaking but it’s not nearly clear enough. There’s then a close up of the figure from the neck down and around him we see others getting up and leaving as the service apparently ends. The figure remains sat there as the people filter out of the church-

“Can I help you sir?” says a voice. –The figure turns his head to see the pastor talking to him. The figures stands up, smoothing out a few creases in his suit as he walks over, still holding the bouquet of flowers in his hands, towards the pastor, who greets him with a smile.-

“Yes. Yes you can help me.” Says the figure, with a familiar, deep voice.

“Well what is it you need help with?”

“Understanding.”

“In what context?”

"Helping me understand how can God supposedly loves us all equally when at the end of the day there still winners and there still losers? How can everything seemingly be ok if you have faith?” says the figure, whose voice conveys bitterness and resentment.

“Well-“ the pastor goes to explain but he’s cut off by the figure who begins to finish his previous statement.

“How can God destroy people’s lives in a matter of moments and still expect us to follow him? How can he do that?” -The bitterness in the tone resonates through the air around the figure and the pastor-

“Sometimes it comes down to God’s plan for us. Everything happens for a reason and whether we realise it at the time or decades later, we can see that no matter what, God will always make sure that we’re safe.” –The figure smirks-

“Huh, is that so? So that’s you could say that I lost last week because God intended me to? ‘Cause he wanted me to turn up here? It seems if God created one thing it was definitely a stock answer to that question. Thank you for your time.”

–The figure walks off out of the church and the pastor looks on as he heads towards the graveyard that lies next to the church. The pastor looks on as the figure walks away. The figure is next seen looking down over a gravestone, it reads – Here lies Laura Holmes (neé Sherman) RIP 1962-1994 – beloved wife, sister and mother. Remembered by her two children. You’ll be greatly missed. RIP.

Talk about long-time no see, hey? It’s certainly been a while but clearly someone is making sure your resting place is being kept in good nick. Oh, I brought you some of those petunias that you loved so much. I can remember the garden was full of them during the summers, they were so beautiful. We could never touch them otherwise we’d rip them up out of the ground, like when you planted those lilies. The house was covered in mud. –laugh- Oh what I’d give to be able to recapture those days. The days of innocence… the time of my life… when everything was just perfectly normal...when I was perfectly normal…

–The voice drops off at the end and lets out a sigh, a tear rolls down the cheek of the figure and drops down over the grave.- Ha ha, look at me, I’ll be bawling my eyes out in a bit. Oh by the way, I got my big break in wrestling since I’ve been gone. I’m going to become a star soon. I’ve got a big title match this week as well. If I lose, I’ve lost my chance at it… but I’m determined to make sure that doesn’t happen…

Last week I was unlucky to lose, my opponent landed on the ropes. It gave him leverage and it was nearly impossible to kick out of… but it was an accident I’m sure of it… at least I think it was but anyway! This week, I’ll be the victor and then I’ll raise the title in your name. There’ll be a huge celebration and finally I can start the next chapter in my life. Don’t worry, I’ll take a few pages from the chapters I shared with you because if not for you, I wouldn’t even be where I am today… although I still wish you were here… Goodbye Mum, I’ll hopefully see you again soon.

–The figure places the flowers by the gravestone and then stands up, finally revealed to be Brad Bomb. He wipes away a tear, smiles and as he turns to leave, he sees the pastor has been there, a short distance away the entire time. Bomb walks over to the pastor.-

“What do you want?” enquires Bomb.

“You must be Brad. Brad Holmes, to be exact… or would you rather be called Brad Bomb?”

“And what’s it to you?”

“To me? Nothing. But he was right in saying you’d show up here after your loss last week.”

“And who is this he you’re talking about? God?”

“No, not God, but your brother.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, I don’t have a brother.”- As Bomb says this he stares into the face of pastor and with speaks the words with a fierce intensity- “And if you don’t mind I’ll be leaving now. As you may know, I have a match to go prepare for and I don’t need your idle distractions stopping me from winning. Goodbye.”

–As Bomb finishes his sentence, he smirks once more and leaves the pastor standing in the graveyard. As Bomb walks off, it shifts to a view of his face, in the background, the pastor is a blur and the main focus is of Bomb’s eye, he’s looking on with a look of intent. He then closes his eyes and it goes to black. Why now?

 

[M. Winters]

The scene opens inside of a dimly lit restaurant. Individual tables sit through out the room, each with a large white candle burning at its center. Couples and families alike sit enjoying their meals around the giant hearth that dominates the center of the room as waiters and waitresses hustle from table to table, filling orders and topping up drinks. Michael Winters takes this all in as he sits in the corner of the room. He's here on his third "date" with Jennifer, they had spent some time together but this was one of the few times he had actually been able to take her out somewhere since meeting her after his defeat at the hands of Celeste in the Lethal Lottery. He switches his attention back to her and takes a sip of his water as she continues to talk...

He was a real jerk though, I thought I loved him but I didn't.

The heart can play tricks on us all.

Yeah, I suppose so. What about you, any past horror stories?

Michael dreaded the question. He knew that he would have to talk about it sometime, but he did not expect it to be this soon. But what did he know about relationships? He had only ever been in one and look how that ended, a woman dead and him in jail. The pain was written across his face and Jennifer immediately realized she had opened up an old wound.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to poke and prod.

No, no. It's not your fault, any normal person wouldn't have a problem with sharing. I have a dark past and some people don't take to well to what I have to say.

Jennifer shoots him a compassionate look and reaches her hand across the table and grabs Michael's hand tight.

We've all made mistakes, I'm not here to judge anyone.

It's not judgment, I can handle that. I just don't want to ruin a good thing we've got going here.

I promise you, nothing you can say will change the way I feel about you.

Michael took a deep breath and began to tell her about his dark past. He started early and explained how he and Rebecca had met, how he wrestled in the indy circuit during the early stages of his career. He talked about that fateful night and the consequences it wrought, five years in prison and a life lost. It was hard to tell the story but it felt good to talk to someone other than Father Fournier about it. He felt exasperated by the end of it, but through out the whole story Jennifer's face never wavered once, she just sat there and listened, soaking in all of the information until Michael was ready to finish talking, he was grateful for that.

And that's pretty much it.

Jennifer reached her hand over the table again and squeezed Michael's hand.

It was a horrific accident, but it was just that, an accident. You never intended to kill her Michael, you can't beat yourself up over it for the rest of your life or you'll never be able to get over it and heal properly.

I am a religious man Jen, healing at this point is the least of my concerns. The focal point of my life is my connection with God, that is why I do what I do. Every week I go out to that ring and go toe to toe with men for one reason and one reason only, to gain salvation in the maker's eyes.

Michael pauses and takes a sip of his water.

I've done a terrible thing taking a life and no matter what I do that won't be forgotten. It's my job now to go out there and do something with my life and make Him proud of the person I've become. I lived for a reason that night, whether you believe in divine intervention or not, something protected me from harm. The man that was driving died out there on the road and I don't want him to ever come back.

Winters takes another sip of water, his throat suddenly hoarse and dry.

I'm proud of the man I've become and my path is now set in stone, I truly believe that I am meant to be the Elite X Champion. If I didn't have complete faith in myself and God then I would have no reason to go out there and put life and limb on the line like I did last week when I defeated Brad Bomb and like I'll do this week when I do it again. It didn't go down the way I intended it but my intentions do not matter, He wanted me to win that way for a reason, to show Brad that I can and will do anything to obtain the Elite X Championship.

Winters pauses and stares deeply into Jennifer's eyes, clutching both of her hands across the table.

This is who I am. I can't change what I did but I can promise you I will never do anything to hurt you as long as I live.

Jennifer smiles and leans across the table to kiss Michael on the cheek.

You're a sweet man. I wouldn't think for a second you'd be capable of doing me any harm Michael. Trust me when I tell you, this changes nothing between us. I know the man you are today and that's all that matters to me.

You're one of the few that think that way. I'm feeling a bit hot under the collar, do you want to get out of here?

Sure.

Michael goes and pays the bill and the two of them walk out of the restaurant and call a cab. The cab arrives a few minutes later and Michael opens the door for Jennifer and she gets in the backseat and Michael sits beside her. Michael's phone begins to ring as the cab driver asks them where they're headed. He steps outside of the car for a moment to take the call.

Hello?

Hi, is this Michael Winters?

Yes it is.

Hi, this is Dr. Lloyd calling from Northwestern Memorial. Are you a friend of Richard Fournier?

Michael's stomach drops at the sound of his best friend's name.

Yes, what's happened?

There's no real easy way to say this but your friend has had a heart attack and he's heading into surgery in 20 minutes, you're the only person on his contact list.

Jennifer gets out of the car and stands vigil beside Michael in silent support as he begins to panic and asking the Doctor question after question.

Is he going to be alright!? Where did it happen!? Can I see him first!?

I can't answer all of those over the phone sir, and we can't delay surgery any further. If you come down to the hospital I can tell you more after the surgery.

I'll be right there.

Michael slams his phone shut and stuffs it into his pocket, tears streaming down his face. His closest friend in the world, the one person who truly understands him could be dying at any moment.

What's happened?

Father Fournier has had a heart attack, I have to get to Northwestern Memorial as soon as possible.

Jennifer grabs Michael's arm and pulls him into the cab as he stares blankly out the window.

Northwestern Memorial, drive fast.

The cab screeches out of the parking lot and heads for the hospital as the screen fades to black.