Blade is sitting on a plane in Dublin airport, it’s 20 minutes from taking off. There are two empty seats next to Blade, one of which his bag is placed upon. Blade’s eyes are fixed at the plane’s entrance. A small boy timidly walks up to him.
Boy: Mr. Blade, I just wanted to...
Blade: Get out of here kid, I don’t care.
Boy: But all I wanted was an autograph.
Blade: If you don’t leave me alone right now, I’ll make you sky dive out of this plane when it’s 10,000 feet in the air, except I won’t give you a parachute.
The boy looks at Blade in horror before running to his mother with tears streaming down his face. Blade turns his attention back to the people coming into the plane.
Blade: Where is she.....?
Blade watches every person that enters the plane as they’re greeted by the pilot and head airhostess on their way in. Finally, Rebecca Serra and a WZCW cameraman enter the plane. They look around and spot Blade, who snaps his finger and points at the seat beside him. Becky nods and they make their way through the aisle down to Blade. He moves his bag off the empty seat and gestures for them to sit down. He stares out the window, watching the bags being loaded into the plane as he starts talking to Becky.
Blade: I thought you weren’t coming.
Becky: Well obviously, it took me a while to make up my mind.
Blade nods while still looking outside the plane.
Becky: Ok, Blade, so lay it on me. What’s going on?
Blade turns to her.
Blade: We’re going on a little trip. You’ll see.
Pilot over the speakers: Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the Aer Lingus flight 102 to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The duration will be 9 hours. Please enjoy your flight.
Becky: This is something to do with Rush isn’t, it?
Blade smirks.
Blade: How did you guess?
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Blade, Rebecca and the cameraman get out of a taxi on a suburban street. Blade looks around and his house right at the end of the street.
Blade: This is the place.
Becky nervously follows Blade as he makes his way down the street exchanging worried glances with the cameraman. They reach the end of the street and Blade knocks on the door of a small, old house. Blade gives Becky a look that seems to say “Let me do the talking.” After a few seconds, the door is opened by an old woman who looks up at Blade through big, round glasses.
Blade: Hi there.
Old woman: Oh, hello! Are you Mr. Kensworth from the film company?
Blade sees Becky about to speak out of the corner of his eye and he shoots her a look that makes her close her mouth again.
Blade: Indeed I am, Madam.
Old woman: Oh, very good, very good. Well his bedroom is upstairs and I’ll be in the kitchen if you want an interview...
Blade gives a fake smile to the old woman and walks past her toward the stairs.
Old woman: Y’know, young man, you look an awful lot like that Blade fellow who my son is facing next week....
Blade turns to her, his face expressionless.
Blade: How ‘bout that...
The old woman makes her way back into the kitchen. Blade, Becky and the cameraman make their way upstairs and Blade looks around with a look of slight revulsion on his face. He walks over to a door at the end of the room and stares at a sign on the door saying “JASON’S ROOM.”
Blade: This is it.
He grabs the doorknob and pushes the door wide open, revealing a bedroom behind it. The walls have shelves upon shelves of wrestling merchandise: Videos, DVD’s, books, posters.... Blade walks into the middle of room and slowly turns 360 degrees, taking in every little detail.
Becky: Eh, Blade, excuse the ignorance, but what the hell just happened and what are we doing here?
Blade snaps out of his trance like state and turns to Becky, looking irritated.
Blade: Huh? Oh, I called up Rush’s mother and told her that we were from a film company who were doing a documentary on her son.
Becky detects the hint of amusement in his voice and shakes her head. Blade walks towards the shelves.
Blade: Can you believe this crap? The Best of Puerto Rican Wrestling? Who the hell cares about Puerto Rican wrestling?
Blade nonchalantly throws the video cassette on the floor and walks over to the shelf on the opposite wall to examine it.
Becky: Blade, what are we doing here?
Blade doesn’t answer her immediately, instead he wanders around the room for a few more seconds.
Blade: Look at this place. Rush was a massive wrestling fan. He loved it and wanted to be a wrestler. But he was under the impression that he was living wrestling, but he wasn’t. I... I lived wrestling. I grew up with the industry. From the age of 10 I was training. Being stretched by my father and being beaten up by wrestlers twice my size and twice my age. I wasn’t sitting around watching videos all day. I truly lived wrestling.... Come on, it’s time to go.
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It’s the next day. Blade, Rebecca and the camera man get off a bus in the middle of another town. Blade glances at a nearby sign that says “Welcome to Windsor!”
Blade: And this is where the pain in my ass was created.
Blade and his companions walk down the busy street. Becky and the cameraman are looking around them at the various shops, restaurants and establishments but Blade keeps staring right ahead. Half a mile down from the bus stop, Blade suddenly stop and smirks. He looks to his right and points to a parking lot. Becky looks to where he’s pointing then looks back to Blade curiously.
Blade: The making of the pain in the ass.... That’s the lot he stayed in, lived in when he was scraping money together to go to wrestling school. Speaking of which...
He points forward to a big grey building in the distance and starts walking towards it. As the draw nearer to it, it appears to be a big gym. The letters on the front door spell out “Border City Wrestling.” Blade’s pace picks up as he gets closer to the building and he bursts through the front door. The wrestling school is bigger than it looks from the outside, with wrestling rings of various sizes set up, students ranging from teenagers to people in their 30’s. An older man with wispy, thinning brown hair sees Blade and walks over to him. He’s wearing black wrestling tights and a white tanktop saying “BCW” on it.
BCW trainer: Blade! What an incredible surprise! It’s an honour to have such an incredible talent such as yourself in our humble wrestling school! Nice to meet you, I’m John Donson.
The trainer holds out his hand for Blade to shake, but Blade ignores it.
Blade: Indeed.
The trainer retracts his hand, but keeps his jolly attitude. Many of the students have started to gather behind Donson. Some are pointing at Blade and whispering, others are just staring at him in awe.
Trainer: Well, I’m sure your reason here is something to do with Rush. But I was wondering if perhaps you could give a little talk to the students about the business and what it takes to make it. We have 102 students here in total and I’m sure all of them would like to hear what you have to say.
Blade looks at the students over the trainer’s shoulders at the students. He then spots a poster of Rush on one of the walls. It shows him as a young student, training with Donson.
Blade: I’d be happy to.
Donson smiles excitedly and moves to the side. Blade looks at all the students who have gathered.
Blade: Your trainer has asked me talk to you about being a wrestler. But I’m not gonna do that. Instead I’m going to give you one piece of advice: Get out of here. Get out of here now. Do you realise how mediocre this wrestling school? The biggest star to have ever come out of this school is Rush. Rush, the same man who I’m going to humiliate at Kingdom Come. Do you really want to end up like that? Get out of here and find a school that won’t only teach you how to be a wrestler but will ready you to be destined for greatness. Unless all of you want your career to be made up of beating rookies and stealing wins by catching them off guard.
Blade turns to the trainer.
Blade: Yeah, that was fun. Seeya!
Blade turns and walks back outside, leaving the students and trainers in a state of shock. Becky is right behind Blade.
Becky: What the hell was that about!?
Blade: I wanted to know where Rush was trained. Just as I suspected, a school run by amateurs. I was trained in the Dungeon. Do you realise what that means? I experienced pain being taught there that few men have ever felt in their life. I learned from the greatest group of wrestlers of all time. I learned technical wizardry. Rush barely learned the basics.
They reach the bus stop again.
Blade: Let’s go back to the hotel. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.
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Rebecca and the cameraman are asleep on a plane, with Blade sitting beside them wide awake. He sips his plastic cup of vodka. He stares absentmindedly out of the window, into the darkness of the night sky. The bags under his eyes from exhaustion are obvious. An airhostess appears at Blade’s row.
Airhostess: We’re coming in for a landing sir, you might want to wake up your friends.
Blade: Thank you.
Blade takes another sip of vodka. He smirks, turns to Becky and the camera man and coughs very loudly. They awaken with a start.
Blade: Oh, I’m sorry, did I wake you guys?
Becky mutters angrily under her breath.
Blade: Now, now, watch your tongue dear. We’re landing soon. Can’t have you muttering evil things around the honourable and dignified Japanese people.
Becky: I was enjoying that sleep... I love these first class seats.
Becky rubs her eyes and yawns as the pilot comes on the speakers.
Pilot: Welcome to Tokyo. The local time is 4am and it’s a cool 12 degrees Celsius out. Thank you for choosing Japan Airlines, we hope you enjoyed your flight.
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It’s a dark, slightly run-down section of Tokyo. Blade is walking quickly through the streets with Rebecca clutching his arm in fear and the cameraman doing his best to keep up. They get to a grey apartment building and Blade runs his eyes up it.
Blade: And this is our last target...
Becky: What do you mean by “target”?
Blade ignores her and opens the building door. They climb up five flights of stairs and get to apartment 102. Blade knocks on the door and waits for an answer.
Becky: Who...?
Blade raises a hand to quiet her as they hear someone moving from within the apartment. The door is opened by a man. He’s 6’6” with short brown hair, brown eyes and slightly overweight.
Blade: Tyler Harper, I presume?
The man looks at Blade, shocked.
Harper: You...
Blade: Ah, so you know who I am. That will save alot of time.
Becky: Blade, who...?
Blade: I’m sorry, how rude of me. Rebecca Serra, this is Tyler Harper.... Rush’s brother.
Becky’s jaw falls open slightly as she stares into the face of the huge man. The cameraman tries to get a close up on Harper’s face.
Blade: Let’s assume you invited me in, shall we?
Blade barges past Harper into his small, dirty apartment. Harper follows him in.
Harper: What do you want?
Becky and the cameraman timidly walk in to the apartment.
Blade: This is it. I’ve travelled 15,000 miles and it all comes down to you. I want to know how to beat your brother.
Harper lets out a bark-like laugh.
Harper: It’s easy... All you have to do is be better than him. Which you, Blade, are not.
Blade chuckles and smirks before suddenly pouncing on Harper and unleashing a flurry of right hands as Becky lets out a scream and the cameraman jumps forward to record it all. Blade accentuates every word with a punch.
Blade: YOU... COMPLETE.... LOSER!
Blade picks up the dazed man and throws him at the wall, causing a huge dent to appear. Blade takes a step backwards and dusts himself off.
Blade: Look at this scum, Becky... You see, just after he banished his brother from Japan, it all went downhill. He lost a lot of matches and got a serious injury that forced him to retire, broke and with his family resenting him. He didn’t even have enough money to leave Japan so he’s been stuck here working his minimum wage job. I’d call him a wrestling tragedy, but he’s far too pathetic for that. If this parasite can defeat Rush... Then so can I.
Blade delivers a kick to Harper’s head.
Blade: Rush has beaten me twice, and it’s eating me alive inside... No matter what I’ve said about my passed matches with Rush, I was screwed, I was a rookie, whatever. They were still losses and they still haunt me. This is my last chance. I’m putting too much into this to lose. I need to beat Rush. And I plan to do so... At Kingdom Come.
