AS28: Constantine & Austin Reynolds Contract Signing

[Phoenix]

The Board of Directors have decided to give neither Austin Reynolds or Constantine a match this week so they can finalise their match at Kingdom Come. With Showtime Cougar and Gordito deciding their fate on Meltdown, who is going to be fortunate in getting the match choice they want? Will they be able to contain themselves with time still ticking away to Kingdom Come?

Deadline is Tuesday 1st March 23:59 EST

 

[a0161613]

Austin is backstage. He has just walked through the curtain. In the background he can see Ty Burna watching the Cougar vs Winters intently. He seems immovable, like an earthquake couldn’t budge him.

Austin on the other hand is seething. He sends one empty chair flying across the gorilla area and barges into a couple of staff backstage. Everyone turns and stares – except Ty – to see what the fuss is about.

“The absolute ASSHOLE!!!”

Austin’s fury is absolute. His outburst immediately clears a path in front of him in the backstage corridor. He punches the nearby wall and kicks out at a few boxes on the floor.

“The guy knows he can’t beat me clean and he insists on costing me match after match. I’m going to end him at Kingdom Come. He really just doesn’t understand what he has let himself in for!”

Gordito comes up behind him. Similarly unimpressed yet typically upbeat despite the hard-to-swallow loss.

“Hey don’t worry bud. You’ll tear him apart at MSG. That’ll be your time, your stage, your public. I’m certain of it.”

Gordito makes to leave but Austin grabs him, with a sudden, slight grin on his face.

“Dude.....it’s going to have to be you.”

“Errr, OK.......what?”

Austin moves closer, delighted by his own thought process.

“Pick Your Poison. I’m picking you.”

“Dude, I’m honoured.”

“Dont be, just kick the ass of whoever he picks for me.”

They bump fists once again.

“Consider it done.”

*

Austin is driving on the freeway on the way to the hospital. Using the Bluetooth handset, he is mid-conversation.

“I don’t care what they say; I don’t care how much it costs. I want that spot for a live Ratings Spike before Kingdom Come.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m the reason that we are there, the directors chose MSG because of me.” He pauses as an argumentative voice replies down the other end of the phone. “I know that because the board of directors told me. They were damn impressed with how I sold it. And they know the fans will turn up.”

“So it’s final, I’ll get all the time I need at the fanfest for the segment. Brilliant” *pauses again*”Five thousand? That would be great.”

He presses a button by his ear lobe to disconnect the call. He exhales and he speeds along the road.

“Dom would have got that for me at half the price.”

******

Later that day, we see a familiar scene in the High Dependency Unit of New York’s Flushing Meadows Hospital. Dominic is still in a stable condition but has not yet woken up. Austin is sitting in a typically uncomfortable hospital chair next to Dominic.

Austin is playing a Nintendo DS version of the WZCW Kingdom Come game.

credit Red Skull

As a bit of an egomaniac, he is playing through the modes as his 2D counterpart and is doing quite well. He decides to set up a fight with the one guy he hadn’t faced yet.

Mode Select.......Showcase.....Legendary difficulty.......Single Vs.......1P Austin Reynolds vs CPU Constantine.

Austin thinks about the real life scenario between him and the PowerTrip. Their encounters, the fights, the sneak attacks, the matches; they have all ended with horrifically similar outcomes. Austin waits for the game to load and in seconds, Austin is using his polygonal partner to punish Constantine all over the digital arena of Madison Square Garden. Using his signature moves, the Powertrip gets destroyed after a Ratings Killer through a table.

This was nothing like their previous encounters. This was a dominant performance fitting of the grandest stage. He could do this for real at Kingdom Come.

He knew that Constantine had laid down the challenge to end their war of the last six months and that Kingdom Come, the grandest stage, it had to end.

In the game, the match had ended and the game had come back to the Start screen. The slick visuals of the game, remarkable for a handheld, were impressive. Austin’s character model looked impressive and kicking Constantine’s ass in the game felt totally satisfying. Beating him in the game was too easy for Austin.

Just like it was at the Lethal Lottery.

Austin smiles as he remembers the pulsating feeling that he had when he thrashed Constantine at the Lethal Lottery.

That briefest taste of success was the feeling I want to be bathed in once the match at Kingdom Come was over. I’ve been his beating post for far too long and after everything, Kingdom Come, MSG, it will be the perfect stage to demand retribution.

That success and the feeling it brought was great but Austin was aware that it wasn’t all about getting revenge for a few dirty wins. Constantine had done much more than that. The man lying in front of him reminded him of that.

The contract signing was going to be the final stop. Constantine will want to put the exclamation point on what had been an easy road to Kingdom Come for him. A roadblock was required.

But I can’t think about Meltdown. Gordito’s awesome and although Showtime poses the ultimate threat, he can cover it. It was just another mind-fu.....attempt from Constantine to screw with my mind. Despite everything, I can’t let him get the advantage so close to the big match.

Austin had allowed himself to drift off into a mindless wander. He realises the game has gone into demo mode. He slaps himself in the head to bring him around.

“I gotta get myself out of this slump.”

And then a harsh but familiar voice brought him back with a bang to reality.

Dominic: “Are....you talking to yourself again?”

 

[Dave]

The screen fades from black to show John Constantine, the man, the myth, the (dare it be said) legend of WZCW. With a smile on his face that stretches from one ear to the other, he looks like the epitome of cool. His whitened teeth showing and a hearty glint in his eyes, you wouldn't believe that he had just narrowly avoided a win over Ty Burna, the supposed World Heavyweight Champion.

Around him, people are hard at work in the whitewashed stone walls of a nameless arena from a nameless town. As the camera pans out from his face, Constantine stands with his arms on his hips in a pose that would normally be attributed to a caped superhero who wears blue and red. A mic in one hand and his eyes fixed on the camera before him, Constantine allows the obvious suspense of the moment to course through his veins for a moment. Finally, he stirs...

Raising the mic to his mouth, Constantine looks as though he is ready to speak. However, as he does, a deafening chorus of hate comes from the fans that are packed into the local arena stops him. Constantine stumbles over his first word in the wake of this but regains his composure within seconds... Seamless, baby!

Constantine tries again...

Constantine: At the risk of sounding like another, less important person, in the world of professional wrestling... Can you smell it in the air?

The crowd boo louder as Constantine's wonderful wisdom of spoken word is passed onto them. However, Constantine has never been one to back away from a challenge and intends to be louder than the ignoramuses that do not believe in his gospel.

Constantine: I know what you are thinking, folks! You are thinking that Papa Constantine has finally begun to smell the people that infest this arena and this town... But no! Hell, I wouldn't even go near them, never mind get close enough to smell their odours.

The crowd give relentless heat to the Power Trip but Constantine continues on with his monologue undeterred.

Constantine: No, this smell is not as pungent and sickly. It is not the smell of caffeine that flows your every one of your filthy mouths, as you attempt to make it through another day at the office or the farm or... Wherever the Hell people work in this God-awful town!

No, this smell is in the air but only a select few will ever get to smell it. What is the smell, I hear you ask?

Constantine takes a deep breath through his nose and then releases it, the words are positively hanging on every word that he states.

Constantine: The smell is that of potential.

Constantine hurries into his next sentence as he begins to walk towards the camera.

Constantine: Now, I know that the world alone is probably too hard for a lot of you to understand and that is without even knowing the concept. Let's face it, the only potential that any of you have is the potential to get down on your knees and start pleasing the Power Trip but that is another story for another, less child-orientated, time.

You wouldn't know it but potential is everywhere. I completely understand that it may be thin on the ground in these parts but it is still there. I mean, if people work hard at their endeavours, like John Constantine has, perhaps they wouldn't live in the undoubted squalor that they do in this town. I mean, look at this guy for example...

Constantine nears a member of the arena staff and taps him on the shoulder.

Constantine: Excuse me, my good man... How long have you been employed to work for this arena?

The elderly man seems shocked that he has been approached by anyone, let alone the most dominant man in professional wrestling. He ponders the question for a moment as Constantine flicks his eyes between the interviewee and the camera... After a few seconds, the man answers.

Man: Around 21 years, I would say.

Constantine nods along to the response from the interviewee, his features moulded into the shape of significant concern.

Constantine: And in that time, have you climbed the proverbial ladder in terms of promotion?

The man looks confused and stares through Constantine, as if looking for help with the longer words in his previous sentence.

Constantine: Oh! Let me put it to you like this, were you once the guy who cleaned the toilets and have now moved onto being the guy who makes the coffee for the guy who makes the better coffee?

Man: Hmm! Well back in 98, I got a pay rise. $6.40 an hour, they pay me now!

The man smiles widely as he fondly remembers the days when his level of promise compared to that of Constantine. That one moment when he knew that he was valued. Luckily for the Power Trip, his value only continues to rise. Constantine's features fall at the mention of the paltry sum that the man is being paid for his work.

Constantine: You sorry bastard!

The man tries to jump in to the conversation to defend himself but Constantine quickly turns away and begins to walk again.

Constantine: You see! Potential is everywhere. Even in these hard economic times, the opportunity for success is beckoning for people to reach out and touch it's flowing locks and chiselled features. Potential, they say, is not unlocked through strength or intelligence. Rather, it is found through continuous effort on the part of the individual. Baring in mind that the last time any of you put any effort into anything, it resulted in a mistake that you had to take a neat little pill the morning after for, I don't expect you will know what I am talking about.

The crowd, seemingly not as stupid as they all look, begin to boo louder as they pick up on the thinly-veiled words of the Power Trip.

Constantine: My efforts have been concentrated for so long now, I have the potential to do anything. However, it is not just anything that I want to accomplish. The destruction of those who stand before me is the ultimate goal and last week at Ascension, I took one step closer to realising that potential. The end, I hear you ask... The end is to rid the finest professional wrestling company of pandering morons like Austin Reynolds!

Constantine stops again but this time, it is only for a second as he thinks about the happy experiences he has shared with Reynolds. Like the time that he bludgeoned him in his first match in WZCW... Or the countless times that he has driven steel into the back of The Rating's Winner. A smile appears on the face of Constantine. After a moment, he begins to walk again, continuing his thoughts as if he had not stopped at all.

Constantine: One step closer to the ultimate destruction of a man who believes he can step into the ring with one of the most electrifying men in all of WZCW...?

Constantine rolls his eyes and then continues on.

Constantine: Last week, I took the first step on the road to finally getting Reynolds out of my head and back onto winning ways. I took legitimate steps to make sure that Reynolds would not show his cowardice once again and back out of my challenge for Kingdom Come. I knew that Reynolds would find any excuse to get out of my challenge and I had to make it my business to make him accept. Truth be told, it played on my mind so much that Ty Burna was able to get the better of me... I mean, why else would he beat me in the middle of the ring!? Ha!

The crowd cheers for the first time during Constantine's brilliant words. This feeling is cut short, however, when Constantine walks through the curtain and onto the stage.

Constantine: The pick your poison match gave me the ultimate in-road to ending his pathetic career once and for all. As much as I hate to admit it, Showtime David Cougar is a great athlete and competitor. To get one up on John Constantine takes a lot and when he got the better of me, I knew that he would be the man to be my poison... Do I think that he will throw the match just to spite me? No way!

You see, the reason that Showtime and I became so close in such a short time was because of our need to win! It was the reason that he contacted me to interfere in his match with Reynolds for the Elite X Championship and I know just as well as he does that he simply cannot walk away from the match with Gordito. I also know, perhaps better than he does, that he will get what is coming to him in the future. Putting him through one hell of a match ought to throw a spanner in the works for his Kingdom Come match but his pride will stop him from leaving...

When he wins his match against the main event failure that is Gordito, the ball will be in the court of the Power Trip!

The crowd reach out to Constantine and try to grab his beautiful Armani suit. Constantine avoids them like the plague and makes his way to the ring. He reaches the ring and walks up the steps. He gives a smile to the fans and then gets into the ring.

Constantine: And that brings me to the stipulation...

Now, given the scale of the challenge that awaits me in ending the illustrious career of Austin Reynolds, this match-up needs to be something special. Given, also, that it is the first time that the word of Constantine has been placed on the grandest stage of them at Kingdom Come, this match-up needs to be the biggest thing to hit the world of professional wrestling... Right after John Constantine, of course.

That is why I am here to announce the stipulation for Austin Reynold's last match with WZCW. A destructive match that is sure to take us both to the limit, so much so that the lesser man will not be able to rear his ugly rating's winner face in this company ever again.

Are you ready?

Constantine points towards the titantron that hangs over the stage that he just arrived on. It cycles through numerous match types as they fans hold their collective breaths. Hell In A Cell match, Buried Alive match, Ladder match: all are options that the projection flies through until it comes to a complete stop on...

“TWO OUT OF THREE FALLS MATCH!”

The crowd roar in appreciation as Constantine allows himself to smile outwardly at the fans.

Constantine: That's right! At Kingdom Come, you very fortunate and undeserving people will get to see the destruction of Austin Reynolds in a match-type that will take everything from him. In the first fall, a singles match, I will take away his mind as I beat Reynolds in the middle of the ring with no assistance from anyone or anything but my genius! In the second fall, I will take away his body as I beat him to a bloody pulp in a Street Fight! And, if need be, I will take away his career in the last fall that will be a Last Man Standing match!

The crowd roar again.

Constantine: Mark it in your diaries, folks. At Kingdom Come in only a few weeks, the word of Constantine will reach a whole new level! You will witness the last match of Austin Reynolds in a WZCW ring and you will know that I am John Constantine and I am better than you!

Constantine drops the mic and raises his hands into the air as the crowd boo loudly for him. The scene fades to black as the hatred reigns down upon the most superior man in the arena...