Showdown

[Kurt]

APW Shockwave 2012
Showdown

August 26th, 2012
3 hours to Shockwave[/b]

“I know what you’re thinking. You think stopping him will end all of this. You think you’ll create some sort of peace, the kind that lasts. It never lasts. They’ll survive this, while you’ll burn down everything you stood for. There’s only one person that’s going to be hurt from what you’re going to do…and that’s you.”

Kurt Noble smiles as he finishes lacing up his boots, refusing to meet the stringent stare of Chris Hart through the mirror.

“Not sure when you became a mind-reader Chris,” Noble says with a hint of sarcasm tucked behind his grin. “You really think you know what I’m going to do tonight?”

“I don’t know what you’re going to do, and that’s what I don’t like,” Chris retorts.

Noble begins to adjust his gloves as he flexes his fingers, once-again diverting his eyes away from his tag-team partner.

“I’m going to give him exactly what he’s asked for: A show. Anything that happens tonight isn’t on my conscience-“

“Bullshit.”

Noble chuckles, but Hart isn’t laughing. The two tag team partners finally lock eyes.

“He hurt Amy,” Noble says, his friendly-tone disappearing in thin-air. “He hurt Medea and Monkwood. Christ, he got you-“

“Then why does it feel like you’re the only one willing to go to war over this?”

Noble’s jaw clamps shut, but he quickly shakes it off.

“Because he hurt you all over me,” Noble protests. “That makes this my fight. I can’t have anyone else getting hurt because of the mistakes I made-“

“Then don’t make another,” Chris interjects. “Prove you’re stronger than he is. He’s been playing you, like this is some sort of damn game. He wants to prove that you’re not untouchable. Even if you beat him the way he expects you to, you won’t have won anything. You’ll have lost everything.”

Noble leans back against the mirror, crossing his arms. “And what would you have me do Chris? Be courteous to Marvin, go out and pretend like he didn’t take a steamy shit all over everything I’ve ever cared about? You, the guy whose always been about evening the score, want me to forgive Terry Marvin?”

“Yeah…I do.”

Noble bites down on his lip, leaning forward as if to say something…but only silence fills the room.

“You want to give Terry Marvin a show?” Chris asks as he glances over at the Undisputed title. “Then prove you’re better than he is. Don’t turn this showdown into anything more than a Pay-Per-View Main Event. You can’t beat Terry Marvin at his home, and he sure as Hell can’t beat you at yours. You can’t give in-“

Suddenly, Noble turns and slams his fist into a nearby locker, caving in the locker as his mouth twitches uncontrollably.

“And why the Hell not?” Noble asks, his voice raising. “I have put my LIFE into this company for the past year. I have ALWAYS done what I thought was right, and look where I am Chris! I have to keep my managers away so that they won’t have their brains bashed in Terry Marvin. My wife HATES me for trying to protect her! I am losing in EVERY poll to Terry Marvin, and it’s not just him! How many people thought we could beat the Sindicate? Let me remind you Chris: NOBODY DID!”

Noble moves in closer to Chris, the pulsing veins in his neck telling the story.

“And now Terry Marvin wants APW to believe I’m unfit to the Undisputed Champion, that I can’t keep this company safe…and he’s right Chris! He’s been right about everything, and it is KILLING me! I have NEVER been more alone because of that HE’S done, and you want me to do NOTHING when I finally get the chance to put my hands on this throat? It’s not fair Chris. IT’S NOT FAIR!”

Noble steps back, running his hands through his hair before bumping into the mirror.

“Why…why you? Why are YOU asking me to do this? It was supposed to be us against them…and now you’re asking me to just let it go?” Noble mumbles meekly, the wounds on his face clearly visible. Chris sighs to himself.

“Truthfully…I’m not. If it were up to me, you’d be out there snapping Terry Marvin in half to make a point…but this match is bigger than the two of you…

“It’s about Amy.”

“I told Amy I would make him pay for her,” Noble retorts. “I told him I would get revenge for her-“

“That’s not what she wants Kurt. She wants you back. Ever since you stepped into this company, you haven’t changed things Kurt…you’ve just changed. What’s made Marvin more dangerous than Level-One or CJ Gates is that he sees it…and he’s using it against you. He’s putting you between Amy and the Undisputed title. That’s what this showdown’s really about. You and I both know you’ll end this with one or the other; not both.”

Noble’s gaze drifts towards the title, but he says nothing. Chris continues.

“When I first came to APW…I made a promise to someone very important to both of us that I would do my best to look out for; to protect you from whatever threatened to hurt you. That’s why I helped you fight the Sindicate. I promised this person that when there were no battles left to fight, I would bring you home. I promised them that I would end your APW career before it ended you…

“And I will not break my promise to Amy.”

Noble’s face contorts from confusion as a snarl forms on his face.

“Say what you really mean Chris,” Noble asks, his tone as rigid as ice.

Chris walks forward, between Noble and the Undisputed Championship. “What I’m saying is that a storm’s coming Kurt…and it’s not Terry Marvin; it’s you. The damage Terry Marvin has done to your life is only a fraction of what you’re capable of doing if you let go…so if you cross that line, and let Terry Marvin ‘win’…I’ll do everything I can to bring you back to her. I repeat…

“I will keep my promise.”

No further words are necessary as the two men stay locked in a staredown, neither showing even the slightest twinge of intimidation. Noble grabs his belt and begins to walks towards the exit.

“I know she’s manipulating you,” Chris says, stopping Noble dead in his tracks. “But no one’s unbeatable...not even Kylie Demens. Not even you. Remember that.”

Noble stays frozen in place, and speaks one more time before exiting the room.

“Whatever happens tonight between me and Terry Marvin…I want you staying out of it. If you come between me and Terry…”

Noble turns back towards Chris, his eyes watery, yet fiery at the same time.

“I’ll hurt you too.”

Noble wastes no time in slamming the door behind him, leaving Chris alone in the locker-room. The scene fades as he looks at a picture on the wall of Amy, Chris, and Kurt…

-
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Nobledrive

“It’s story-time Nobledrive Nation! Gather around, and let me tell you a particular story from my wrestling past. I like to keep the past in the past…but it’s time I told you all about the event that shaped my life…

“And the man that ruined it.

“Three years ago, I met a man named Jerry McClean; to this day, he stills holds the record for the man that hated me in the shortest amount of time. From the moment he locked eyes on me, he knew that we could never, ever be friends, pen-pals, even guys that could sit together without wanting to bash each other’s faces in. He hated everything about me: He hated my former painkiller addiction, he hated my ‘righteous’ attitude, but most importantly…

“He hated that that I better than him.

“I was a bigger name than he was in his own company…and it ate him up. He did everything he could to get me out the door. He verbally lashed out at me at every turn. He got me arrested by planting drugs in my locker. He attacked my friends and even threatened my wife. Every time I tried to get my hands on him, he weaseled away.

“Then one moment changed everything: One night, he grabbed by manager Robert Banks, beat the Hell out of him, and poured bleach down his throat...all while I watched, handcuffed to the ring. He nearly died. Robert saw what Jerry McClean was trying to do:

“He was trying to turn me into a monster. I knew that to protect my friends and family, I would have stop Jerry McClean once and for all. I didn’t know how to do it, only that it had to be done…so we wrestled in the most violent match of my career: A barbed wire massacre. Near the end of the match, I stood over him with a bloody railroad spike, and I was ready to end it; I was ready to get my revenge, the kind that Robert Banks warned me would destroy me if I gave into it. So, I did what I had to do…

“Nothing.

“I stopped. I didn’t destroy Jerry McClean, and he beat me down, winning the match. That was my last night in the company. Jerry McClean went to hurt lots of people as the company’s World Champion. To this day, he mocks me about not being strong enough to finish him off. I think about that night, July 31st, 2010, almost every day. I never understood why Jerry McClean did what he did…

“Until I met you, Terry Marvin.

“I’ve seen that history repeats itself; I can’t tell you why you hate me, only that you do. You’ve done everything you can think of to show APW that you’re the better man: You’ve attack my friends, my family, restrained me with hand-cuffs, lashed out at me…when I look at you, I can’t help but see Jerry McClean. I finally understand why Jerry McClean did what he did; it’s because he wanted what you want:

“Showtime.

“You, like Jerry McClean, don’t give a shit about me, or any of the people you hurt; you just care about putting on a good show. You saw the polls: APW has rallied around you because they know you can put on the kind of show they want. They all scorned you when you screwed Keaton Saint out of the Overdrive title…but on the inside, they were starting to believe on you. They believed that you were going to give them the kind of show they’d never forget. That’s your goal for Shockwave: To make this Shockwave more memorable at the last. One year ago, I rose to the challenge of fighting evil in APW.

“One year later, you want me to lose that battle.

“That is your ‘Showtime’ Terry Marvin: Getting me to cross the line I said I never would. Even if I can put your shoulders to the canvas, you’ve won if I played your game: By cheating, by pushing myself too far, or by doing something that I’ll never forget. You, like Jerry McClean, want me to drive that railroad spike into your fucking face. The difference between now and two years ago?

“This time, I won’t hesitate.

“So yes, Terry…it’s ‘Showtime.’ I am going to give you the show you’ve been asking for since you stepped back into this company at the start of 2012. You already know that I will not hold back when I’m standing over your bloodied body. That’s what you want, because for you, this is a no-lose situation.

“If I can beat you without becoming you, I still haven’t won back APW…and you can rise once again.

“If I can’t beat you without becoming you…you’ve proven to the world that the Terry Marvin’s of the wrestling world will always be better than the Kurt Noble’s.

“If I can beat by becoming you…all I’ll done is shown your method works.

“If I can’t beat you by becoming you…then you’ve just shown you can do it better than I can.

“Any way you spin in, I lose everything while you have the win everything. You’re the puppeteer, and I’m the puppet. There’s no move I can make here without losing APW, my wife, my tag team partner, and possible even my career…

“Except one.

“If every move I make forces me to change, and every move I make causes to lose, then it’s time to change the game. The best shows are the kinds that give their audience something they’ve never seen before. It’s like the trick where the magician pulls the rabbit out of the hat. It’s time to give them something amazing, something they’ve never seen before.

“I’m going to show them Terry Marvin’s fear.

“The first time I saw it was the second you struck Amy with that steel chair. The slightest twinge in your eye, the smallest, most miniscule flash across your face told me something: That you were afraid. Maybe you were afraid of what I was going to do to you; maybe you were afraid that I was going to reach a violent level that you couldn’t match. Who the Hell knows? Me, I’ve got my own theory…

“I think you’re afraid of what all men in showbiz are afraid:

“Because exposed as a fake.

“The second that rabbit doesn’t come out of the hat, the jig’s up; you’ve lost the game. Your ‘Showtime’ is over the second I show that Terry Marvin isn’t the unbeatable, unstoppable wrestling machine he thinks he is. I’ve been convinced that the ring thing to do is smash your head in with a steel chair; instead, I’m going to let you make that decision.

“So, the second that bell rings, I’m going to come at you with all I’ve got: I’m going to pound you into the canvas, drop you on your neck as much as I’d like, choke you as you beg for a five-count, and make sure that I pound every drop of blood you spit out of that disgusting mouth of yours. I’m going to pit your best wrestling skills against mine, and I am going to use every ounce of strength in my body to resist crushing you with a steel chair.

“And you will lose.

“So you’re going to try your method: Knock out the referee, hand-cuff me to the ring, whatever the Hell you think is going to help you destroy me. You know what I’m going to do?

“I’m gonna take it.

“I’m going to take every blow, so I feel exactly what Amy felt when you slammed a steel chair into her head.

“I’m going to take every cheap-shot, so I know exactly how helpless Mede and Monkwood felt when you brutalized them.

“I’m going to let you bring any weapon you want against me, so I can know exactly the kind of pain you put Chris Hart through.

“And in the final moments of the match, I’m gonna remember two years ago: I’m gonna remember how I failed stop Jerry McClean. I’m gonna let you stand over me, like I did over Jerry McClean, and decide how the match ends. That will leave you with two options to:

“The first option is that you swing that steel chair down on my head, proving that at your very core…you aren’t a wrestler. You’re a fake. We played by your rules to get here…but if you want to walk out as the true Undisputed Champion, you’ll have to play by mine. If you don’t, I will do exactly what I said I would do:

“I’ll end you.

“The second option is that you put the chair down…and you face me. I’m going to give you the chance to own up to your mistakes, and earn the APW Undisputed Championship. For the first time in your career, you’re not going to give the fans their “Showtime.”

“You’re going to give them the Showdown that will change APW forever.

“Because this match truly is the most important match-up either of us will have ever wrestled in our careers. Maybe there isn’t a clear-cut difference between good and evil; maybe I have to own up that putting Amy is harm’s way is my fault. Maybe I don’t have to be the villain of this story…

“But I will if you make.

“That is how I’m going to truly hurt you: By showing you what you care about most, the exact game I’ve been playing since Test for the Best. Consider this your true test. This isn’t a pass/fail kind of game: You can strike me down and solidify yourself as a true monster, or you can give APW the Showdown they’ve been waiting for since our names both appeared on the same card on January 12th.

“You can give them true Action Packed Wrestling.

“So now the ball’s in your court Terry: It’s up to me to move to the pace that you set. You can have your Showtime, or we can our Showdown. You can’t have both. So, I encourage you…

“Make your choice.

“Just don’t make the wrong choice.

“I’ve got something that’s so rare in this business: a second shot to make-up for the mistakes I made. I’ve told you once, and I tell you again: I will NOT waste it. I’ll do what I have to do to protect the people I love…from whoever threatens them. At the end of the day, maybe my fans will believe in me, maybe they won’t. It doesn’t matter, really. Despite whatever they think, there’s one thing they can believe in…

“This business…

“This company…

“Our rivalry….

“This match….

“It’s all Showtime…but there’s one distinct difference.

“It’s not your show.

“It’s mine.”

Nobledrive