AS 98: Cassanova vs. Kendrick Xavier vs. Gino Galucci

[Richard Blonoff]

Deadline is Tuesday, September 15th, 11:59pM CST. Extensions available upon request.

 

[John McCass]

Moments Before Lethal Lottery​

Having finished his interview with Leon Kensworth, Cassanova was all set to set his foot in Lethal Lottery. He had physically and mentally prepared himself for the tumult he was going to participate in. He was brimming with confidence. Mikey Stormrage was seen backstage. Cassanova, lost somewhere else, ran right into Mikey. Mikey looked beaming, as usual.

“Have a look around before running.”

“I wasn’t running, was I?

“Of course you were running?”

“Hey, I ain’t drunk.”

“Why are you in so hurry anyway?”

“The reason seems obvious. Are you a dullard?”

Mikey’s face turned grim.

“Oh, you’re featured in the Lethal Lottery too. I have no idea what you might bring to the table.

Mikey starts laughing.

“Could you enlighten me on why have you burst into laughter?”

“Whoa! I just imagined you emerging victorious at Lethal Lottery. I just couldn’t stop my laughter.”

Cassanova shoved him a bit. Mikey’s face again turned grim.

“Be in your limits kid. Don’t you know who is standing in front you?”

“Yes, I do. You’re a guy who can’t do a damn thing on his own.”

“Shut the fuck up, you eccentric prick. You dare not blabber again. Face me tonight.”

Mikey walked off as Cassanova looked startled.

Cassanova walked into his locker room and turned his TV on. 5 minutes before the Lethal Lottery to begin. Eventually, the Lethal Lottery began and Cassanova seemed to be a bundle of nerves. He was enjoying every match thoroughly. Besides, he himself was nervous.

Lethal Lottery 2015​

Matt quickly grabs a soda from a fan in the front row and takes it into his mouth. He climbs onto the apron and spits into the face of Abel, causing him to stumble backwards. He punches Cassanova hard in the jaw, sending him tumbling off of Stomrage. Tastuc climbs into the ring and helps his friend back onto the apron. Stormrage climbs back into the ring where he and Tastic then lift Cassanova over their heads and drop him to the floor below.

Harrys: Cassanova has been eliminated!

ALAS!!!!​

WHAT THE HELL DID JUST HAPPEN!!!​

Cassanova tumbled on the floor, dazed and perplexed. His heart was rent asunder! What had he thought and what had happened! All he could feel around him was silence. Painful silence. He started going backstage with heavy steps. Even the great noise of fans didn’t seem to affect him at all.

-----------------------------------​

Cedric was running. He was a fleet of foot. One couldn’t see tears running down his cheek thanks to the torrential downpour. What had happened?

Cedric was at his school. The teacher could be seen teaching students. Cedric didn’t seem to have much interest there, as he was dozing. The teacher saw that and subsequently, got furious. Cedric was chided for a noticeable amount of time. Though, this wasn’t a new thing. It was one of the chores of Cedric. He had grown tired this. Neither did it effect him. He seemed to be natural. This was transient. The bell rang and then came Cedric’s favorite period. The Library. This was the period he used to anticipate the most. All students stood stacked up to go to the library and Cedric seemed to be beaming with joy. Eventually, all the students reached the destination and they chose the book of their choice. Cedric found one too. Just when he started to read, one of his burly classmates snatched the book away from him. This was Cedric’s favorite book. He had to wait a week every time he got to read the book. In fact, this was the only time he liked his school. Otherwise, the school was a painful drug for him. Thus, the book being snatched away made Cedric furious. He had never thought someone would try to trouble him while reading a book. His eyes were seen fuming.He attacked that guy. The guy wasn’t ready for an attack. He fell down. The guy never thought Cedric would ever answer him back, let alone attack. But, Cedric showed the valor he had got and jumped at the Big Guy (?) Though, this wasn’t his league, Cedric did give him some scars. But eventually, the burly guy rose and Cedric never got his chance. Moments of fury. And, Cedric was bruised.

-------------------------------------​

The Night That Followed

Moonlight. Dimly lit surroundings. Cedric found himself in an eerily clean room that had a window but no door. Though, the window was large enough to be called a door. The time seemed to be midnight. Howls could be heard coming from a distant place. Cedric looked around in disbelief to find himself amidst a forest. Large leafless trees looked frightening.

Suddenly, a light illuminated the room and a celestial voice could be heard.

“Cedric Auttenberg”

Cedric looked around in agony to find the origin of voice. But, he couldn’t.

“Don’t be afraid. Get used to this.”

“Who are you?”

“I am the one that drives courage into kids like you. I am the one who sees potential in you.”

“But, why am I here? I don’t want to be a part of all this. Leave me please, let me go.”

“No, you can’t go until you promise to do what I am going to tell you. You have to do it.”

Cedric tries to flee through the window but, the wild animals were there blocking his path. He couldn’t find a way to run away. He comes back into the room.

“So, what have you thought?”

Cedric reluctantly nods his head.

“First of all, you’d never disclose this secret conversation to anyone.”

“What if I do?”

“You’ll face the consequences. Do you want a demo?”

Cassanova started feeling immense pain in his leg. He began screaming.

“This is enough. I hope you understand now.”

“Oh God!”

“Yes”

“Oh, you’re not God.”

“I am your God.”

“Please, tell me what I got to do. I want to be out of here as soon as possible.”

“Learn to play patience.”

“Cedric!”

“Cedric!”

“Cedric!”

Cedric woke up to see her stepmother awaking him up. Her stepmother was the person he hated the most.

“Look around. It is 6 o’clock and you are still asleep.” said her stepmother wearing a grim face.

Was it all a vision? Was it reality?

-----------------------------------------​

Cassanova had lost once again at Lethal Lottery. He couldn’t spend much time in the ring. It took Live Mas’ combined power to take him down. He went there with valor. He passionately fought but he couldn’t think. What was he lacking? What was the thing that stood in his approach to the victory? Could he ever beat someone in wrestling? He had been on a losing streak for a noticeable period of time. Isn’t there something he could do to get the upper hand on his opponents?

Backstage, after Lethal Lottery, Cassanova sat on his bed wearing a sad face. Distress on his face could be easily seen. He sat there pondering.

“Am I that bad?”

His voice echoed throughout his locker room. He turned his TV on to watch the wrestlefest going in the ring. He could see tons of guys beating each other up to stand alone in the ring. He looked attentively on the TV screen. Eventually, Dr. Zeus won the match. At this point, Cassanove let out a grin. But, it faded quickly.

“Am I really not good enough to defeat these guys?”

He plays videos of his older matches.

As Cassanova goes to cross the legs, Alhazred uses his leg strength to push Cassanova away and countering the hold. Cassanova drops to a knee before turning around, trying to rush Alhazred... BUT ALHAZRED CONNECTS WITH THE LEVEL 5! Cassanova drops to the canvas with Alhazred dropping down for the pin...

... 1
... 2
... 3!

Connor: Alhazred wins!

Referee Prince signals for the bell and raises the hand of Alhazred as he gets to his feet.

Anderson: Here is your winner... ALHAZRED!

I need to work some more on locking. I had almost won.

But Kagura moves out of the way at the last second! This time, the injuries that Nova suffered are not fake, as he crashed to the canvas like a bug hitting the wind-shield of a moving vehicle at high speed. Kagura crawls towards her opponent and locks in the FOURTH DANCE OF TOYOUKE OMIKAME! There is nowhere for Nova to go this time as Kagura locks in the hold perfectly. Nova looks a mixture of stunned and pained as he struggles to manoeuvre his body and release the hold. But the stern features of Kagura tells a story as she levers the hold in even further. The referee asks Nova if he wishes to give it up and Nova has no choice! He taps out!!

Anderson: Here is your winner by way of submission... Kagura Ozhora!

“This is the biggest mistake I have done in my life. I would never repeat this kind of mistake. I need to be more patient. Before I hit the Library Dive. ”

-----------------------------------------------​

7 o’clock at night. Cassanova was jaunting. He logged on to WZCW.com on his phone to see the Ascension 98 match card. He was competing against Gino Galucci and Kendrick Xavier. Two competitors he knew little about. He opened his contacts bar and called Leon Kensworth.

“Hello, Bookworm”

“Leon, I apologize for my bad behavior last time we met. I beg pardon. Consider this a rookie’s mistake.”

“Nevermind. I like those people who feel guilt for the impolite things they did.”

“Could you conduct an interview for my match at Ascension 98 or more importantly mentor me.”

“I will be more than happy for this. Meet me backstage.”

“Yes, I’m coming, per your order”

Leon chuckles.

Cassanova approaches Leon Kensworth backstage.

“So, here are you, Cassanova.”

“Yes, I want to get some detail about my opponents.”

“Your opponents at Ascension 98 are Kendrick Xavier and Gino Galucci. Kendrick Xavier is a hi-tech techie geek who can amaze you with his techniques. Don’t forget, he beat Alhazred at Ascension 97 whom you could not beat at Ascension 96. How logical this is”!

“And what about that Gino Galucci?”

Little do we know about that guy. That guy is a former Pizza boy.



“He has just debuted at Lethal Lottery and I haven’t talked to him yet. Moreover, this is a triple threat match means no disqualification. Do you know how lethal it can be!”

“Given, I’m also competing this would be more lethal than people have thought. I want to deliver a video message, can I?

Oh sure.

They arranged the setup.

“Hello, WZCW universe. Cassanova on your screen and I’m here to talk a little about me. I’m scheduled to face Gino Galucci, the pizza boy and Kendrick Xavier, the technician. So, this is a no disqualification triple threat match means I can go to extraordinary limits to beat them. You have still not seen how much pain I can inflict. So, Gino Galucci, prepare an extra pizza for me the night at Ascension 98. ‘Cause when I beat you, I would feel hungry and I like pizzas too much. Are you as fluffy as a pizza is? Are you as soft? If yes, then I’m gonna crush you like an elephant crushes anything that comes in his way. If no, then also I’m going to beat you ’cause you ain’t got what it takes to beat Cassanova. And I’m looking at you too Kendrick. You might be techie geek but, you could never be Cassanova. The guy that seduces, the guy that inflicts pain. The only way any of you two is going to win is if I don’t appear which is surely not going to happen. Be scared ‘cause you’re going to be in a battle. Thank you.

 

[Franchize1990]

BUZZ!
BUZZ!
BUZZ!
BUZZ!​

The unmistakable sound of an alarm clock fills up a nearly empty hotel room as the scene opens. The cameras pan around the room and find an above average figure roll over to its side underneath the multiple covers. A long slender hand emerges from the bed sheets to stop the noise from ringing out as he hits the snooze button a couple of times to make sure that the alarm went off. The hand then sluggishly grabs onto the edge of the comforter and pulls them away from the bed to reveal that the figure in the bed was none other than WZCW wrestler, Kendrick Xavier. Kendrick lets out a slight groan as he sits up in his bed and stretches his arms out, still trying to regain his entire consciousness. It was the day after the Lethal Lottery match and Kendrick could feel sharp pains flowing from one part of his body to the next.

Kendrick Xavier: Boy, was it me or did the concrete floor underneath the ring area feel a little bit harder than usual?

Xavier attempts to stretch the pain away as he arches his back and reaches his hands as high as he could over his head. He stands up and staggers his way over towards the bathroom sink area so that he could brush his teeth and get his day started. Midway through his brushing, Kendrick pauses and stares into the mirror, not at himself however, but at the image of Wembley Stadium that towered over buildings nearby just blocks away. Images of the previous night come rushing back to the forefront of his mind: The feeling of optimism that flowed through him when he drew the number 27 at the start of the show, the adrenaline rush he got when his music came over the loudspeakers and the crowd began to cheer and roar for him, the level of success he felt he had once he slipped through the ropes and hitting not one but two EMPs seemingly back to back, to then the cold realization that his road to Kingdom Come hit a spiked roadblock when the eventual Lethal Lottery winner, Dr. Zeus caught him and hurled him crashing over the top rope to the hard, unforgiving floor. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before going back to brushing his teeth.

Kendrick Xavier: (Thinking to himself) You let yourself get a little too careless and predictable last night. If only I had ran the numbers through my head one more time I might hav---.

He sighs heavily again.

Kendrick Xavier: Make sure to take a mental note of this feeling and research solutions to make sure that this outcome doesn’t become a continual result.

A series of soft pings can be heard going off on the other side of the hotel room, turning Xavier’s attention away from Lethal Lottery VII for a couple of seconds. Kendrick can recognize the sounds coming from his PDA device resting face down in the bed, a reminder alarm was going off.

Kendrick Xavier: I don’t remember setting up anything for today. Computer, run down the list of tasks I had planned for today.

A couple of whirs from the machine and suddenly, a blast of light comes shooting out of the PDA device and headed straight for the mirror. After the ball of light makes contact, a holographic notepad can be seen pressed against the glass as if someone had pinned it there with a thumbtack. Xavier leans in to get a better look at the futuristic sheet and seems surprised to see that only one item had been placed there. In a bolded font, the words “Train for Kingdom Come” were front and center for him to see. Kendrick bites his bottom lip lightly and shakes his head as he focuses his attention back to his reflection back in the mirror. He stares himself dead in the eyes and puts up an index finger and his thumb near each other.

Kendrick Xavier: This close.

He heads over to the closet to get his gym clothes on, not really feeling the motivation to be in a rush to workout. Xavier hops on his Hovertrax and wheels himself out of the hotel room on his way to Wembley Stadium.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The scene picks back up a few miles away from Wembley Stadium as Kendrick Xavier can be seen rolling on the nearby sidewalk towards the venue, watching a recap of the Lethal Lottery match from his wristband. He looks up from his mini screen for a brief moment as a rather loud noise coming from nearby breaks his concentration. In the distance, Kendrick could see a group of people, kids and adults alike, migrating towards him with pens, pencils, paper, t-shirts, and other WZCW merchandise all in their hands. Xavier slows his Hovertrax to a halt and steps off as he’s soon surrounded by the group of people.

Male Adult #1: Hey X-Man! Would you mind signing this? My, uhhh…kid would really really really like to have your autograph man.

Female Adult #1: Kendrick I think you’re hot and one of the best things going in WZCW. Any chance I can get your phone number?

Kid #1 & Kid #2: (In unison) Can we get a picture Kendrick? Pleeeeaaseee?!!?

The requests and shouts came in every direction from every walk of life seemingly at once. Kendrick was taken by surprised by the response he was getting.

Kendrick Xavier: Well…… wow, I really don’t know what to say except thanks for all of the support. I’ve got some time so please bring me anything and everything you’ve got for me to sign.

The crowd starts to push closer towards Xavier with their memorabilia and happy to give the people what they wanted, Kendrick set up shop right there on the sidewalk and put his signature on whatever was placed in front of him. It was at this moment that Xavier had a rather significant thought pass through his brain:

This was it.

This was the thing that he was yearning for for a very long time. While growing up in Riverside, he was never the guy that people wanted to be around. The biggest thing Xavier had going for him was his smarts and where he grew up, smarts wasn’t going to get him the attention that he strived to attain. Not even the elementary school bullies saw him as worthy enough to pick on, he was just kind of… there. Every now and then during show and tell, Kendrick would be the center of attention due to some of the inventions that he would bring in. Kids would ohh and ahh for a minute and then go right on outside and carry on as if Xavier was white noise as soon as the recess bell rang. Those would be his best days growing up, just getting a couple of minutes of attention from his peers because of the things he could do with his mind.

Xavier snaps back from his out of body experience to find that he had signed all but one autograph, a little boy who had clothes similar to his being lead to him by the little boy’s mother.

Little Boy’s Mom: Hey Mr. Xavier, my little boy was just crushed that you didn’t win the Lethal Lottery match last night and he just wanted to give you a hug just in case you were feeling a little down like he was.

Kendrick looks down at the red headed, slightly freckled faced kid and smiles a wide smile as he gets down to one knee and opens his arms. The little boy sprints to Kendrick and embraces him with all of his might, letting out a sniffle or two. Xavier pats the boy’s head in a somewhat awkward manner and tries to calm him down.

Kendrick Xavier: Hey there, no tears. I tried my best and unfortunately, my best wasn’t good enough last night. You want to know the interesting thing about matches in the WZCW little humanoid? They’re just like numbers. There’s always one more right after you get to the number you wanted to get to. I’ll be fine, I fought well and held my own as you saw last night. Now all I’ve got to do is study some more tapes, run some algorithms on my upcoming opponents, work harder than I’ve ever worked before and then I’ll be back on the winning side of the equation before you know it.

Red Head: But now you won’t have a chance to win the World Title at Kingdom Come.

Kendrick Xavier: Not this year but, that doesn’t mean I won’t have a big match sometime down the road. Kingdom Come will be a blast no matter who I fight or what I fight for. And when I do get there, I’ll make sure that you guys can get some of my gear from that show. That sound good?

The kid nods and the two share one more hug before Kendrick hops back on the Hovertrax and continues his journey towards the arena. He waves goodbye towards the group as a rejuvenated man towards the reason he got to WZCW in the first place. He wanted to relive that feeling of being liked now more than ever and he knew that the best way to do it was to continue his winning ways. As he rolled over the gate, a wide smile once again came across his face.

Kendrick Xavier: I look forward to the next batch of opponents that I’ll face in these upcoming weeks. At Kingdom Come, we steal the show. But that all starts with a good showing at the next Ascension.

END SCENE

 

[JamJam]

♫Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and I’m home bound.♫

The incoherent singing of 'A Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Carlton, comes from WZCW’s newest pizza man, Gino Galucci, earphones ready, as he jogs the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, New York. With a slew of people on the streets, his singing his heard by many people who are quick to glance towards Gino’s directions, giving him a look. It was almost dusk, the shiny red and yellows disappeared from the sky with dark reds, dark blues filling in the scenery instead. Gino dons a simple navy blue hoodie, some Nike sports shorts, and a pair of yellow Nike FreeRuns, quite the contrast Gino is sporting. The visible sweat marks indicate that the pizza man has been running for a while now and has seemingly had the song on repeat for a few blocks now.

♫If I could fall – into the sky.....♫

Gino continues his singing before needing to take a breath. He spots a flight of stairs before slowing down and finally resting on the lowest stair. Gino’s upper chest visibly expands showcasing the shape that he’s in. However, that doesn’t stop him from singing embarrassingly for all to see.

“Here’s the closing." ♫If I could just see you – TONIGHT! Nananana-na na.♫

People passing by Gino shake their head but a few of them are actually amused by Gino. With his earphones still on, he even bows down before his audience.

“Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all night.”

Smiling to himself, he takes a seat once more. As if everything is right in his world, the smile on Gino’s face just doesn’t go away.

“Well, I didn’t win the lottery but I did go out there, pour my heart out, and got a big ovation from the crowd. It was awesome.”

It was indeed awesome. It was unlike anything Gino has ever felt before. The feeling as soon as his theme music hit was his favorite. Or maybe it was when the crowd gave him a pop when he made his way out from behind the curtains. Or maybe it was actually getting in that ring to put a beating on anyone who came his way. Let’s just say Gino had a lot of favorite things about his WZCW career so far.

“One step at a time. I didn’t win the lottery but that won’t keep me down. If the fans loved what they saw during the lottery, then they have a whole bunch of awesomeness waiting for to be delivered – by me of course.”

Ha! The confidence sure is pouring throughout Gino. And why shouldn’t it? His WZCW career was just beginning and in his opinion, it has gotten off to a pretty good start.

Gino takes a huge breath once more. When he turns around, he sees that he’s actually resting on the stairs that belong to the Hell’s Kitchen public library. Seeing as reading is a hobby of Ginos’, he begins making his way towards the entrance of the library. It looks just like any other library. Full of books – duh. There weren’t a little of people left since it was almost closing time. Gino scanned the numerous bookshelves before finally getting to the section he was really looking for – comic books. He took a Flash comic book from the shelves and made his way to the corner so that the librarian wouldn’t catch him reading. As a kid, Gino would always come to this very same library, go to this very same spot and read comic books all day. Gino took a liking to the Flash and even modeled his wrestling style from the Flash. Gino definitely wanted to become a speedster himself but knowing that he couldn’t achieve the feats that the Flash could do, he decided to become fast in many other ways, which the pizza man’s opponents would soon know.

However, something caught the pizza man’s eye. Through the bookshelves, Gino somehow managed to catch a glimpse of a small white box. Not just any small white box, but a small white box with the Galucci’s logo on it – someone ordered pizza from their place, ooh lala. Gino peaked through the shelves and saw a three-layered sausage pizza (Gino’s recipe) being devoured. The person seemed a little fishy though. Gino couldn’t figure out if it was a man or woman as the person was dressed in a denim shirt with folded sleeves and a hat that covered their face. Seeing only the back of the person didn’t help Gino either. Not only that, but person was reading an old edition of WZCW Magazine, hmm. To say that Gino was a little interested was an understatement. So Gino did the only logical thing to do – he approached the mysterious figure.

“Excuse me. I see that you’re reading WZCW Magazine and you’re actually eating a pizza made by my company, so.....”

With anticipation in his eyes, the person looked up and all Gino could recognize was the person’s gray eyes, as if staring right into his soul. The person took off their hat revealing short, dark brown hair, with blondish tips. She looked up to Gino who is now as red as an apple.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t.....”

“You didn’t what?”

“It’s just that I saw you were eating a pizza. A pizza that is my very own recipe so I was just admiring my work from afar. But then I saw that you were reading a WZCW Magazine. And seeing as though I’m a WZCW wrestler, I wanted to greet a probable fan of mine. And.....”

The woman, with a seemingly fiery spirit, holds up her hand to stop Gino from babbling which Gino does instantly.

“Did you say that you’re a WZCW wrestler?”

“Yes.”

She puts down the slice of pizza on the box and begins laughing. She laughs so hard that she rams her fist onto the table, startling Gino. The sound from her fist also prompted the librarian to “shhhh” them. Looking all confused, the pizza man raises his eyebrow towards the woman.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh wait. Wait, you were serious?”

The woman stops laughing hysterically but a smile is still etched on her face. Gino found her smile to be cute and thought it was kind of upsetting that she laughed at him when he said he was a WZCW wrestler, Gino didn’t pay much mind to it as he was really put in a trance from the sight of her gray pupils staring right at Gino. But Gino had to put up a mean face and snapped out of the trance – sort of.

“Yeah. Is it so hard to believe that I’m a wrestler?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. I guess I just have a mental picture of how a wrestler looks like. Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh at you like that.”

She even said it with a bit of sarcasm but Gino didn’t mind much.

“Seriously though, I am a WZCW wrestler. WZCW’s newest acquisition actually. Made my debut at the Lethal Lottery in case you were wondering. Had a good showing. Pumped up the crowd. Did some awesome moves. You know, the usual.

“Yeah but you got thrown out rather quick and had no eliminations.”

Cue cartoony dejected face. That’s exactly how Gino felt. But Gino was optimistic a second later because she knew about his performance in the Lethal Lottery.

"So you do know me."

The pizza man then flashes his best smile and lifts his eyebrows upwards in a constant motion.

"Honestly, I thought you were a one-off character. You know, since WZCW has many returns or one-time debuts at pay-per-views like the Lethal Lottery. But like I said, you no eliminations that night."

“Pshhh. Well I wasn’t ready. I had something in my eye. Plus, did you see how mad Abel Hunnicutt was that night? Dude was like a beast possessed.”

Gino began pulling at his mustache as if trying to gain some luck in his current situation.

“Eh. If I was in there, I would’ve done better. Would’ve had everyone scouted and been prepared for any possible scenario. That’s how you’re supposed to prepare for the match.”

“To be fair, there’s no real way to prepare for a match like the Lethal Lottery.”

“That may be right but being ready for any situation in the match would’ve done you a world of good. Not only that but you put yourself in harm’s way too much. You were basically asking to be thrown over the top rope.”

The pizza man squints towards the woman only because what she was saying held some weight. Gino definitely put himself in harm’s way a little too much. But that wasn’t what Gino was really thinking about. He was thinking about the woman. How did she know so much? Had she been watching him? She must be a WZCW superfan or something.

“Yeah well, I’ll do better against Cassanova and Kendrick Xavier this week. Sure, it’s a triple threat match but since you clearly saw what I could do at the Lethal Lottery, you’ll know that I’m pretty sharp and agile.”

“Triple threat match for your first official match? Yeah, good luck with that bucko. You may be agile but you fail to remember that this is a triple threat match. It can easily be 2-on-1 with Cassanova and Xavier teaming up to take you down. You have to be aware of every situation buddy. Right now, you’re just too un-focused.”

Darn. She’s right again.

“That may be true but if you look at our wrestling styles, I think I’ll combat Cassanova and Xavier quite well. Cassanova will probably be flying all over the ring while Xavier will be too caught up trying to think of all the probabilities in this match – trying to find the best possible combo to deliver him the win. Well, let me tell you something, I’ll be victorious this time around. It’ll be a combo of mine that will ---“

Just like that, the woman had Gino faced down on the table with his hand behind his back. Oh boy.

“Weren’t prepared for that were you? This is what I’m saying. I just took you off your game and look at yourself now. I have you in an armlock and there’s no way you can get out of this one.”

For good measure, the woman applies more pressure on the hold before letting Gino go. The pizza man shakes his right arm out, trying to get some feeling back into it. Glaring at the woman, he simply smirks at her. The woman is surprised by Gino’s reaction but certainly perks her interest.

“What’s so funny?”

“That right there was a pretty sweet move. Either you have a lot of training or you really caught me off guard there. I’m going with a lot of training. So tell me, what’s your name miss?”

“That’s not important. I know you have a boxing background so I’ll advise you to use more of that in your match against Cassanova and Xavier. Just saying. But hey, I’m just some woman in a library reading about WZCW, what the hell do I know.”

With an unsure look on his face, Gino simply shrugs at the woman. How did she know he had a boxing background? Hmmmm. Something fishy is going on here. He remembers the WZCW Magazine she was reading was a physical copy. Knowing this, Gino walks to the nearest tablet section and with no surprise, finds that the library’s public tablets are subscribed to WZCW Magazine. When he has it all booted up, he turns back to the woman.

“Hey, this should be –“

Aaaaaand she’s gone. All Gino can really do is smirk to himself. He sees the Galucci’s pizza box on the table where the woman once sat. Walking towards it, Gino discovers one more slice of pizza is in the box. Sure, Gino just came from a jog but he was feeling hungry now. He took the slice and threw the box, exiting the library. Gino, now atop the flight of stairs looks to his right and spots an old WZCW poster. It’s Unscripted 2014.

Spoiler

Gino takes a good look at it. He takes one big bite and devours the pizza before nodding his head at the poster. Thoughts of being on a WZCW poster one day filled the pizza man with joy. The poster contains some of WZCW’s top rising stars at the time. Seeing that motivated the pizza man to be the best he can be. He taps the poster once, recognizing that he’ll be on a poster – hopefully soon. And with that, Gino begins making his way down the stairs and disappears into the horde of people.