A room, wooden in décor and with a heated atmosphere, seats 12 men at a large wooden table. At the end of it, the scowling face of Vance Bateman. Around him, the yes men that normally make up a board of directors. They sit, their faces smug to the point where they would turn the most hardened of stomach. Silence, however, sweeps the room as a crashing sound comes from outside the room. Bateman immediately stands up, knowing what is approaching. The suited men steady themselves for the incoming storm. They too know what is heading their way.
Bateman braces himself as shouting from outside the door is heard over the crushing silence inside. He straightens his tie and takes a deep breath in.
Suddenly, the door flies open, John Constantine standing in the open doorway. His face is a significant illustration of his feelings as he moves inside the room. He moves around the back of the table, silently looking the suited men up and down as he circles the table. Reaching Vance at the top of the table, he leans his face over Vance's shoulder. Vance doesn't move and keeps his feelings under wraps as Constantine pats down his lapel before continuing down the other side of the table. Constantine reaches the bottom of the table and slams his fist on the table. There is a frightening thud that startles the men to further attention.
Constantine: Look at you people. You sit in your offices with your ties done up. You dictate to the footsoldiers on the ground your whim and they feebly carry it out. You hide behind your power because you have nothing else. You hide bhind your cheap suits and fancy houses because you're scared. You are scared that when you look in the mirror, you will realise that every shred of dignity you ever had for yourself was lost when you signed your contract to sit in this rather lush room.
Bateman (Suddenly finding his voice): John, I'm going to need to you to sit down.
Constantine: And why would that be, Vance? So that you can try and dictate all of the lies to me that makes up the very foundation of this company? Or so that you can once again feel bigger than a man with true dignity?
Bateman swallows hard and then allows a small cough to echo around the room.
Bateman: I'd appreciate if you sat down and heard what we have to say to you, John.
Constantine lets out an exasperated laugh to pass his lips as he rolls his eyes in the direction of Bateman. He throws his arms up in the air in reluctance but pulls an empty chair out from under the table. Constantine shoots a look at Bateman before seating himself at the bottom of the long wooden table. Bateman, realising that he has soothed the anger in Constantine momentarily, sits down also.
Bateman: I notice that you don't have the Elite X Championship with you?
Constantine: You expected me to bring it to you, Bateman? You expected your harshly-worded letter to have any effect on me? That's more laughable than the career of Sam Smith.
Bateman lets out a breath, knowing that Constantine can see through his plan.
Bateman: John, it is the will of the Board of Directors that you immediately surrender the Elite X Championship to us within the week or suffer the consequences for your actions.
Constantine: Give the Elite X Championship to you? Give the Elite X Championship to those who have been making the decisions around here since the inception of this company? You must excuse me for guffawing, Bateman, but the sheer thought of that is ridiculous.
Don't you see, Bateman? The only reason I took that magnificent Championship from Sam Smith isn't because I wanted the Elite X Championship. It wasn't because I needed it either. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The fact of the matter is that the Elite X Championship needed me. That gold-plated trophy singled out the best competitors in the company at one point. Titus and Everest both wore it and they wore it with pride. They defended it at every single opportunity and they earned the credibility that leeches like Michael Winters and Sam Smith live off of.
Bateman shuffles uncomfortably in his chair as Constantine looks to continue his tirade. Suddenly, he is cut off by the man who heads the table.
Bateman: It's not about what you think the Elite X Championship deserves, John! It's about what it needs! It needs a Champion like Sam Smith. It needs a Champion who has been showing a linear growth in talent and potential. It doesn't need some two-bit politician with a God complex. You will surrender the Elite X Championship or, I hasten to add, you will suffer.
Constantine widens his eyes as his jaw drops to signal his shock. Constantine lets out a shocked burst of air and leans back in his chair.
Constantine: You know what annoys me, Bateman? You guys sit in this office and talk about your little plans for the business. You talk so heartily about it, that I bet you think that you are in charge of this place. I bet you were in charge when Titus won the Lethal Lottery. I bet you were in charge when Big Dave was given the King For A Day briefcase. Hell, I bet you were in charge when I was ruthlessly beaten by the EurAsian 5...
But for all your planning, for all your cheap tricks to keep the house in order, you have been thwarted every time. Titus has fallen by the wayside since his Championship run. That hero you put all that time and effort into, corrupted. Big Dave was shown to be a fraud by a man who was raised in the jungle, for goodness sake. All of the momentum you built towards making Big Dave the marquee name for this organisation went right out the window, didn't it?
And me? Well, I'm currently in possession of the Elite X Championship. I currently hold one of the Championships that has made this company so great and it makes you sick, doesn't it? It makes you gentleman grit your teeth when you see a spanner being thrown into the works. You hastily organise meetings and wear your finest suits just so that you can inform people like me that I am not good enough to hold a Championship that has as much lies and plans behind it that you would care to mention.
And as for your consequences... You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?
Bateman: Oh, I assure you, Constantine, the consequences will be very real indeed.
Constantine: Let's not beat around the bush here, Bateman. You're not going to fire me. In fact, I bet it makes you cry at night when you think about me taking that glorious Championship somewhere else. I bet it makes you weep when you think of all the trouble I could cause with one call to the people I used to associate with in politics. Fire me, Bateman, and I will have this place closed down on some ridiculous charge faster than you can remove your nose from Big Dave's posterior.
Bateman looks well and truly beaten.
Constantine: But I suspect that was never the consequences you were talking about, Vance. In fact, I am sure it wasn't. You see, I've been watching WZCW grow for a long time and if anything is true of this company, it's that it doesn't lie down to people who pose a threat. It doesn't shy away from those who wish to upset the little plan of a number of sharp-suited men. No, I know what is coming my way.
Come every Meltdown and Ascension, you can bet that I am going to punished. I know that I am going to be beaten until I want to give the Championship back or until it is taken from me.
Bateman twists his face into a contorted mess, lined with anger and frustration.
Constantine: But know this, Vance. The Elite X Championship means more to me than anything in this business. It means more than finally beating Ty Burna. It means more to me than taking the pretentious talents of WZCW from their perches and it certainly means more to me than any of you.
So, with that, I warn you. I will be going into my match against Wasabi Toyota at Ascension with one eye firmly fixed on you. Yes, he may be one of the most dominant tag team superstars to have ever graced this company. I know that the mere mention of putting an end to me will have him licking his lips more than his average trip to a local sushi bar. More importantly, I know that you will have plans for me, Vance. But let me tell you this, I have never backed away from a fight. Be it 90 pounds men in suits or 430 men in a diaper, Constantine doesn't relent.
As long as I am in this company and as long as I am sticking my hand into every single affair that you have with the Elite X Championship, I am going to be a more dangerous animal than ever before. Toyota is going to learn that the hard way come Ascension and I trust that you will be watching.
Constantine stands up and makes his way to the door.
Constantine: Like it or not, Vance. I am the closest thing to a true Champion that this company has.
Constantine leaves the room with Vance shaking with anger.
