AS 67: Drake Callahan vs. Sandy Deserts

[Kermit]

Drake Callahan was inches away from world title gold at KC V, but now he finds himself face-to-face against Sandy Deserts. Deserts failed to put away Zeus and the controversial ending to their match left many scratching their heads. How will she respond and will she be fit to compete against the former world champion, Drake Callahan?

Deadline is Tuesday (August 20, 2013) at 11:59 P.M. (Central Time). Extensions are allowed via request.​

 

[Harthan]

I stared up at him, from the outside of the ring, listening to the wave of cheers for the conquering hero sweep over me. I had been inches - moments - away from stopping him. If time and space had not been just that much larger, everything would be different. If I had just been that much faster, we would still be fighting. If I had been just that much less exhausted, this war would rage on. But instead, the ashes were already cooling. I stood at ringside and looked up at him. Thunder rumbled behind me, in front of me, all around me, a hundred thousand voices screaming for him and his moment. I felt that old familiar thing rise up inside of me, total and unbridled hatred for David Cougar and all his works. I wanted to roll into the ring and punch him in the face, smash his nose in, break his teeth, stretch and snap his tendons. But no matter what I did, it wouldn't change the fact that he was the champion and I was not. There would be no rematch tonight. There was another mountain to climb tomorrow, another boulder to push.

I pushed down my hate, and remembered why I'd come here. I came here to break a cycle, to fight for something worth fighting for, and that fight wouldn't have ended no matter what had happened tonight. It would have grown considerably easier if that championship had been mine, but it wouldn't have ended. In the end, the road I had committed to wasn't meant to be easy.

I took one last look at him, as he raised the gold above his head and soaked it all in. In that moment, he wasn't just a man holding gold - the lights, the cheers, the belt, they all conspired to make him appear as if he were made of gold himself. I expected hate to rise, but I felt only...emptiness. I was looking at a mortal rival, but it felt like I was looking at a stranger. It was only later that I would understood why it felt so strange. I was used to a Showtime dragged through the mud, winning only bitter battles by narrow margins. I wasn't used to this man, this triumphant hero. I was seeing a man complete for the first time in a long time.

I turned my back on the golden man and walked away. There was nothing left for me there.

----

The thunder of the crowd still ringing in my ears, I walked backstage and went to find my things. I kept my head low, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone, even if they would look at me. They had nothing or me tonight, either.

Limping through a corridor, she found me first. I didn't see her coming, only heard her approach when she was close. I looked up. Stoya's face was calm and controlled, betraying nothing. Was she disappointed? She must have been. Was she sad? That was a different story. Was she angry? I'd never know until it was too late.

I kissed her. I kissed her selfishly, a kiss that was all for me and not for her. She knew; she felt it. As I embraced her she tensed so slightly, but I knew her too well by now. She relaxed and let me have it, and for that I was grateful.

"Are you alright?" she asked when I was finished, her voice every bit as neutral as her expression.

The question struck me as odd, and after a moment I realized it was because I was. I was disappointed, I was a little upset, but I wasn't furious. Somewhere along the way I had quietly accepted the loss.

"I am," I said, the words coming slowly and hesitantly, my voice sounding strange in my eyes. She was as surprised as I was, apparently, as she raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" she said, with no small amount of skepticism.

"I think so," I said. "It's...difficult to describe. It's...different."

She waited for me to go on, but I couldn't quite find the words.

"It's alright," she said. "We can talk about it tomorrow, as long as you aren't going to do anything...rash...tonight."

She turned and began walking toward the locker room. I watched her go for a moment. It was difficult for me to understand what I was feeling, but I realized slowly that I had truly given up the world championship as the all important goal of my career. I still had sacrificed so much to get to it, still had done too much to simply let it go forever. But I realized in that moment that there was something else for me to do. Something more for me to do. I could let it lie for a while. I was done dancing to the tune of Bateman and Dave and Myles. I was done letting them poison me and everyone else in this company. I saw then for the first time that maybe, just maybe, I could free this company of something else besides an endless cycle of greed surrounding the championship.

Stoya stopped in front of the locker room and looked back at me, waiting and looking at me with expectation. Her gaze brought me back to reality for the moment, as I followed her to collect my things.

----

A few days later, I waited alone in a small restaurant. We'd extended our stay in Los Angeles for a bit, though Stoya had gone back to New York yesterday. Max had to be talked down again after I lost the championship match. I knew that my present course might cause a rift between us; the deal between he and I had always been predicated on my pursuit of the world championship. But that was something to worry about another day.

I'd received a text message a few hours ago letting me know I was scheduled to face Sandy Deserts on Ascension coming up. I'd largely put it out of my mind, until another text message had arrived from Leon Kensworth, asking me to meet him here and discuss the match a WZCW.com piece. I had nothing better to do, so I'd come and was now awaiting his arrival.

I'd just waved the waiter away again, not wanting anything, to his increasing annoyance, when Leon appeared and caught my eye. He hurried over to the table and took a seat.

"Sorry I'm a bit late," he said. "Traffic in this city, you know?"

I grunted without much commitment behind it.

"Anyway," he said. "I was hoping we could just talk quickly about your match and your thoughts coming out of Kingdom Come. You don't have to stay for all of lunch if you don't want to. It's on WZCW's tab, of course."

I shrugged. Leon waved over the waiter and ordered his meal. I passed again. Leon looked a little uncomfortable, and I regretted it slightly. I didn't really want to be here, but in the end, Leon was just doing his job. I reminded myself that his job involved being the lackey of three men who were turning wrestling into a merciless bloodsports. Suddenly, I didn't mind being rude so much.

"So," Leon said, bringing out a tape recorder. "What are your thoughts coming out of the triple threat at Kingdom Come?"

"Did you stay up all night writing these questions, Leon?"

He smiled nervously. "Sorry, I just wanted to get straight to the point."

"My thoughts are simple, Leon. I'm disappointed in myself but there's nothing to do now but carry on, and I'm focusing on what's next."

"Speaking of what's next, you've been tapped to face Sandy Deserts."

"I've heard. I...let me say this, Leon. It's time I made myself clear to all of WZCW. I'm not interested in the petty fights anymore. I'm not interested in dragging names through the mud, in wild accusations, in conspiracies, or any of it. I'm not interested in making people hate me, or coming up with reasons to hate them. I'm interested in wrestling, Leon, and I'm interested in winning. I'm interested in showing this company that there's a wrestler who's better than them, someone who isn't going to be dragged into their blood sport. Someone who can carry his head high at the end of the day and call himself a man."

I paused for a minute, thinking back on all I'd done on my way here.

"Leon, there's a lot in my past that I regret. There's a lot I've sacrificed needlessly, thrown aside casually without realizing what I was doing. And I can't escape that. I can't change that being a part of my past forever. I've let a lot of hate into my heart as I've wrestled Showtime, and El Califa Dragon, and Steven Holmes...as I've pursued the world championship relentlessly. I can never change what brought me here, Leon, but I can decide where I place my feet next. I can make all of it mean something. I'll never justify all of it, never escape all of it, but I can do something constructive with it. And what I am going to do is this - I am going to make this company a better place. I'm going to fight in and out of the ring until everyone realizes you don't have to take the path I did to make it to the top. You can be a better person. We can all be better people, and still wrestle, still be as great as we ever were."

"You want my thoughts coming out of Kingdom Come? I have one that's more important than anything. As I stood outside the ring and looked up at Showtime, I saw the man I wanted to be. Showtime was complete. Showtime was fulfilled. Showtime had gone through a lot in the past, he'd done a lot he shouldn't be proud of, he'd had a lot done to him. He'd wallowed in the mud and drew the blood every single bit as much as I have. But I saw him, in that moment, and I saw where I wanted to be. Someone who's taken a past they're not happy with and did something with it. I'm not there yet, Leon, I'm a long way away. But I can start. I can start by proving something to everyone. I can start by proving I'm still the best wrestler in this company."

"Let me leave a brief personal message to Sandy here. Sandy, you don't mean a whole lot to me, and you know what? That's okay. You're just a competitor and that's all you need to be. I don't care what your problems are; I don't care who you're fighting with. But, then again, that's not entirely true. I care that you're perpetuating the blood sport of WZCW by playing Dr. Zeus's game. He's just the latest monster in a series of freaks and maniacs let in by this company to keep the circus going. They're the lions, the tigers, and the bears who keep us all on edge. So maybe I can prove something else to you, Sandy, and to everyone else. You need to let go and stop playing by his rules, by the rules of the powers that be. When I beat you, maybe you'll start to realize that the only way you're going to get ahead isn't by beating the game; it's by stepping outside the game entirely."

"But even if I can't do that, Leon, I can still prove that I'm at the top of my game physically by outwrestling and defeating one of WZCW's best competitors. That, if nothing else, that is a beginning. But it's far from an end. Leon, the powers that be in this company have built great fortresses for themselves, but I can start to hack away at their pawns. Sandy isn't one of them. Sorry as I am to say it, Sandy, you're just a way for me to remind everyone of who I am. I hope you get something productive out of it, but I have bigger targets in mind. I haven't made up my mind yet, but it's not going to be long before Drake Callahan starts the war in earnest. So here's a final message for all of you in WZCW who think it's okay to act like a monster, to hate everyone who comes into your path, to tear people apart because you can, to absolutely everyone perpetuating the degradation of this company and this business: watch your step. Someone has finally noticed you, and that someone is ready to do something about it."

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Kingdom Come V
Dr. Zeus vs. Sandy Deserts
(Aftermath)​

Confusion arises as every single light had been temporarily terminated, causing a sea of darkness to consume the arena. Fans can be heard screaming in terror as their fears come to life and are unable to view their surroundings clearly. Many attempt to alleviate the problem via their camera but enabling flash but the poorly-lit strobe lighting effect does no justice. Even Sandy Deserts had no idea what was going on as she breaths heavily, recovering after her attempt to break out of the restraints that Dr. Zeus had imprisoned her in on his personalised hospital bed. She attempts to move but unfortunately, her efforts have proven useless to escape and the power shortage was only now delaying the inevitable. She knew that all hope was lost and that when the power restored, Zeus would still see Sandy struggling not out of courage, but out of weakness. Her fate was set and all she could do was endure what was coming to her - facing the wrath of the Gods that Sandy had no business challenging. She takes one deep breath and lies back down onto the hospital bed, ready to accept what was coming.

As she lies back down, she feels a hand underneath her head that causes her to jump slightly, scared at whose hand that might be. She jolts up and goes to make a noise but another hand covers her mouth, preventing any noise from being heard by anyone nearby. She does not know what to do or think as this mysterious person kiss her forehead before beginning to remove the restraints that bound Sandy down. Whilst somewhat relieved, Sandy wishes to know who this daring knight in shining armour is. As the last restraint gets removed, Sandy's body is picked up and gently tossed along the ground, rolling along as she has little strength to do anything to stop the momentum. She smacks into something metal and goes to investigate when the lights get turned on. Sandy isn't able to see much except for a slither of light shining underneath a small slit. She looks around and sees the slit being exactly the same height as every direction she looks. Turning her head up, she sees that the roof is very close to her head, unable to even crouch. She looks at the floor to see a litter of weapons: ladders; tables; garbage cans; and kendo sticks. All weapons familiar to Sandy as she finally realises what has happened.

"I'm under the ring?" Sandy whispers to herself.

Suddenly, a huge explosion of cheers echo throughout the arena where it seems a fight is breaking out. Slowly, Sandy begins crawling towards the edge of the ring, looking to escape. As she gets close, she is able to see enough of the action where two sets of feet are at a stand-still with a pair of hands at one set of feet picking up a steel chair.

"FINALLY! The moment I have been waiting for!
Say goodbye to everything, professor."

Before Sandy can establish who the familiar voice is, the lights disappear once more and the same hand from before reaches underneath the ring, dragging Sandy towards them and out into the arena. The person picks up Sandy and begins to flee the scene as fast they can, keeping her mouth covered so she doesn't scream. Sandy tries to process everything going through her head and attempts to get a good look at her rescuer but eventually... she blacks out...

...

...

...

...

Sandy fades in and out, seeing different areas of the backstage that are fully lit, barely able to make out the surroundings each time Sandy opens her eyes...

...

...

Eventually, Sandy manages to muster the energy to keep her eyes open for more than a second, feeling that her rescuer had stopped moving. She wearily looks up and sees another person, a familiar face: Michelle Frost, who looks on with concern before checking behind her. Giving the signal that is good to continue.

"Let's go Steve before that mad-man shows up." Michelle states.

Sandy had so many questions and wanted to figure what was going on but at her strength, it took Sandy only a couple more seconds before she faded out for good.

********************************************

Unknown Date - Dusk
Sandy's Apartment​

For the first time since blacking out at the arena, Sandy Deserts slowly wakes up and pushes herself up to a seated position on her bed, rubbing her eyes to make sure that everything she is witnessing around her is happening in real time. She feels the mattress a couple of times as well as touching her face before deciding to pinch herself.

"Ow" Sandy says softly.

This was definitely the present, Sandy concludes. She looks around, noticing that everything in her bedroom is the same as she left it with the only difference being a full glass of water on her bedside table. Parched, she grabs the drink and downs the entire thing in seconds, feeling the sweet relief of moisture once again touching her lips.

"Don't choke"

A startled Sandy performs the exact opposite, choking on her water as she is surprised to see Michelle Frost in her apartment and entering her bedroom with a cup of coffee. Sandy whips her mouth off as Michelle gives her the hand towel she was using to prevent burning her fingers off with the hot beverage.

"Sorry... how are you feeling?" Michelle asks.

Sandy nods to answer the question as she begins cleaning herself up, drying the water stains on her shirt and bed as Michelle sits down on the bed as well.

"What happened?" Sandy asks with intrigue.

Michelle takes a sip of her coffee before putting it down on the bed side table, turning to Sandy.

"Dr. Zeus knocked you out and strapped you..."

"I know that part," Sandy interrupts. "What happened when the lights went out? All I seem to remember is being stashed away under the ring for a moment before I was taken away and now, I'm here."

Michelle smiles at Sandy, "We rescued you."

Sandy has a look of confusion on her face. "Who's we?"

Michelle hesitates the answer the question, looking away momentarily as she gathers her thoughts. Sandy looks on, trying to piece the puzzle together.

"It was Steven, wasn't it?"

This time, it is Michelle who nods to respond as she looks over to Sandy who turns away, not sure what to make of this revelation. This was Sandy's best friend, someone she had cared for and respected... but with his departure and recent psychological transition into becoming the Sandman, this news was more upsetting than anything, something Michelle expected.

"How did he know?" Sandy says as she continues with the interrogation.

Michelle grabs her coffee and takes another sip before reaching into her bag on the floor, pulling out a piece of paper that she hands over to Sandy. She reads it, revealing a number that looks like could be reached via phone.

"Before Steven left, he gave me this." Michelle explains. "It's a contact number for Steven should I ever need to get in touch with him but it was only for emergencies. When I received a call from security informing me of a Dr. Deserts entering the abandoned wing in the Corrections Facility, I feared the worst for you Sandy... so I called Steven to tell him what was happening and what would eventually occur."

Sandy cannot stop staring at the number, a simple sequence that could summon her best friend at the drop of a hat. But it wasn't the fact that this number existed that annoyed Sandy but the fact that Michelle was given this number instead of herself.

"If you knew then, why didn't you stop me before? Why didn't you 'rescue' me before Kingdom Come?"

"I wanted to but Steven advised against it - he knew there would be no talking you out of it and he wanted to see how things went. So, we created a back-up plan where the two of us would stand-by in the arena should anything bad happen. I rigged the lights so Kurtesy could distract Zeus and-"

"He wanted to see how things went?" Sandy interrupts again, looking up at Michelle with anger. "The rescue was the back-up plan?"

Michelle has no clear answer to respond with, attempting to articulate a sentence together by using general terms and stutters as Sandy sits there, shaking her head as she scrunches up the paper.

"The only reason why I was fighting against Zeus was because he assumed that being his close friend and confidant, I'd have a way to get in contact with him... yet you were the one with the details? All that I've endured from him the past weeks to keep Kurtesy a secret and you pull the trigger?"

"I didn't do it for Zeus, Sandy... I made the call to protect you from going down that downward spiral!" Michelle exclaims, trying to defend her choices.

Sandy stands up from her bed. "Well too bad, Doctor!" She exclaims, "Now Zeus knows that Kurtesy is lurking around, he's not going to stop looking for ways to summon him and gain his attention. He's obsessed with him, Michelle, and I was planning to hold out until Zeus had given up, no matter how long or what Zeus had in store for me."

Michelle looks at Sandy with concern. "You were going to put your life on the line to protect Kurtesy from a psychopath?"

"What else do I have to offer this world, Michelle!?"

An long pause fills the room as the two stop arguing for a moment, letting the implication of those words sink into both womens' minds. Michelle looks worried for Sandy but decides to let her explain everything on her own without interruption.

"Ever since I was deemed 'fit to enter society,' I've been trying to blend into the crowd and live the life or a normal person. I got a respectable career, bought my own apartment and began establishing a social life among peers and friends. I entered the regular routine that most people follow..." Sandy pauses for a second. "... but the longer I lived that life, the more I thought about what I used to live like, entering the squared circle again. Eventually, I did just that but it wasn't to satisfy the proverbial 'itch' that every former wrestler gets when they hang up the boots. It was a gateway to reverting back to the life that I once understood and the one that made sense - protecting people, yearning to be the guard that keeps nightmares at bay. I wanted to become the Sandman again, Michelle... so badly... and my work as a psychologist didn't fill that void."

Michelle doesn't speak, continuing to listen to Sandy as she reveals her motives. Sandy folds her arms together, leaning back against the wall as she feels a little more relaxed.

"The only reason why I went back to my cell was to get into the proper psyche to face someone as mentally challenging as Zeus... and it failed... and now that Kurtesy is out there, protecting me, I feel useless. That's why I'm angry you informed Kurtesy... I wanted to be the person who saved myself for once and not by a bunch of shrinks."

A long pause occurs between the two before Michelle musters up a response "Sandy... I..."

Before she can finish, Sandy pushes herself off the wall and looks underneath her bed, grabbing out a duffel-bag that appears to be already filled. Michelle looks on as Sandy grabs a couple of things from her wardrobe, slipping on a pair of jeans and a leather jacket.

"Where are you going?" Michelle asks.

"I need some time to think, Michelle... some alone time." Sandy grabs out a pair of boots and a helmet, zipping up her bag as she wraps it around herself. "I trust you've got your own set of keys to let yourself out."

Before Michelle can go after her, Sandy leaves the bedroom and a few seconds later, the front door to her apartment can be heard as she exits. Michelle contemplates going after her but ultimately decides to let Sandy go, sitting back down on the bed as she thinks about what transpired, grabbing her coffee and drinking it.

********************************************

Ascension 67
Inside The Arena​

The door swings open from the outside parking lot as Sandy walks through in the same pair of jeans and leather jacket that she left her apartment in, with the same duffel bag and helmet as she carries them in. Her hair is a mess and her eyes are droopy as she continues to walk down the corridor with backstage workers looking at her, confused as to why she is looking like this. In one of those conversations is Rebecca Serra who immediately leaves and goes after Sandy, catching up with her.

"Hey Sandy, where have you been?" Serra asks. "You look like you've stumbled across the wrong neighbourhood somewhere. Are you okay?"

Sandy stops and weakly smiles at Serra, letting out a bit of a laugh.

"I'm fine, Becky." Sandy responds. "I've just been living on the road for the last few days, taking some personal time off."

"Oh good." Becky says, with a hand on her heart and look of relief on her face. "When Zeus put you on his hospital bed and then you disappearing, we were a little worried about you."

"No need to worry about me, Becky... I'm the one who should be worrying about people. It's my responsibility that Zeus is becoming crazed and overly-obsessed and I've got to clean up the mess that was left at Kingdom Come. So if you or anyone else sees Zeus around, tell him I'm here and I'm looking to settle the score. I'm willing to bring my own bed if he wants."

Sandy goes to head off down the corridor again but Becky stops her, shaking her head and looking slightly confused.

"So even after that traumatic experience, you're not worried of what Zeus has got planned for you?"

"Why should I be Becky?" Sandy responds. "What's the worst Zeus is going to do without risking the attention of the higher authorities? I'm calling his bluffs."

"What about your match with Drake Callahan tonight?"

Again, Sandy let's out a laugh. She puts a hand on Becky's shoulder, patting it a couple of times before she lets it rest there. She looks up at Becky with a smile.

"You expect me to be focused for my match?" Sandy retorts. "No offense to WZCW and Vance Bateman but do you know how many matches I've won since I've joined the company? Do you? I know... I keep an imaginary record on my left hand because that's how many victories I have, and I still have room for a couple more before switching to my right. Every single time I've competed in WZCW, I've come out victorious a mere 4 times. 4 times, Becky... that's abysmal for a veteran like myself. That's including my appearances at the All-Stars events and that one time I applied to join the "greatest creative decision of all-time" - WZCW Vixen's division - and yet apparently, I wasn't even good enough to compete in the match despite being accepted. Go ahead, look it up: I was forced to sit backstage as Heather Valentine and Big Dave's sister got to wrestle around like idiots... and you expect me to focus on my match against a former World champion, this year's Lethal Lottery winner and a guy who has more victories over high-profile wrestlers than anyone else in the company? I don't mean to sound like a depressed & negative person but there is no way I'm winning tonight."

"So what - you're just going to go out there, perform a couple of high-risk moves and collect a paycheck?"

"Who do I look like to you? Justin Cooper?" Sandy says, getting a little angry. "No, I'll go out there and I will wrestle like I always do - I'll let my instincts take over and let the energy flow through me but I won't be determined to take the victory, Becky. I'm determined to make sure that Dr. Zeus is dealt with appropriately and if he doesn't come out for my match to settle things, then I'll be the one to introduce myself to his match.

Now, if you excuse me, I've got to go get changed."

And with that, Sandy walks off and leaves Becky behind, a little concerned over the statements she made. She watches Sandy leave before heading back to the crew members she was conversing with earlier.​