MIA-04: Wanderlust, or; Do the Right Thing

[Evan De Parker]

Well...
THEY TELL ME THAT I’M WANTED

Wednesday, July 24, 2013, morning
Nashville, Tennessee

”Six.

“Not one opponent... Not two... Not even three of you, but six.

“At first, I guess we could say I was a little shocked, but I quickly-- QUICKLY remembered who I was dealing with and what I was up against, so for those of you that aren’t familiar, let me catch you up on the business practices of our gracious Action Packed Wrestling staff, President ‘Hurricane’ Jeff and the man he can’t even stand, Alexander Duvall.

“On July 11th, 2013, my contract with APW ended. I didn’t resign. I opted to remain a free agent and President Jeff kindly approached me and asked me to relinquish the APW Overdrive Championship, whiiiich, we all know, is the slave name of Lady Overdrive.

“A rumor began to circulate through the back that I wasn’t gonna show up to take on Tommy Knox and my old pal, Nate. I don’t know where, how, or why these rumors started, but Amy Zing said it best this week-- anybody that knows me knows that I’’ve NEVER backed down from a fight, and July 11th wasn’t gonna be any different. I went out there with Lady Overdrive in my hand and I fought because that’s what’s instilled in me. THAT is what I do. I fight.

“And I won.

“Then I left.

“I get that it wasn’t the right thing to do and I never once claimed that it was... But it’s what I wanted to do. It’s what I told these people that I would do, and I try my absolute best to be a man of my word, even though naysayers cry otherwise.

“I love Lady Overdrive too much to just let her go; you all know that. I’ve put my blood, and sweat, and time into her to make your ‘Overdrive Championship’ the premier championship in all of professional wrestling. I’ve taken on every single person that Duvall has thrown at me, and he hates it-- and Jeff hates it-- and the guys in the back hate it, but they don’t hate me because I took her.

“What makes ‘em hate me is the fact that they don’t see any plausible way to take it back.

“That’s when we see shit like we’re seeing this Thursday night. We see a seven-person championship Scramble match featuring myself, Robina Hood, Niobe Martin, Joseph Johnson, Mad Mumf, Wyatt Crash, and Amy Zing. It sounds like an action packed match, and then you start running down the names and you realize...

“As good as they are, most of them don’t deserve to come within eight feet of my goddamn belt. There are some exceptions to that rule though-- like Joseph!

“Joe Johnson is, in theory, just some guy that showed up and decided that he was-- and correct me if I’m wrong-- ahem, ‘the Innovation of Excellence.’ This is a guy that showed up and made a hell of an impact by challenging Level One, and even sacrificed a win on the Meltdown finale to preserve himself for that match... But when it came down to it, as many expected, he was dominated by our World Heavyweight Champion, BUT... But... You can’t put your guts on display like that and go without reward. Even I have to agree with APW on this one. The pure confidence and brilliance it takes to go for the throat of the perceived ‘top guy’ is worthy of a main event spot.

“It’s worth an opportunity to prove yourself.

“And you’ll prove, Joe, that you’re the best whipping boy we ever did see... Your talent is undeniable, but I see where you’re headed; a steep, uphill trek toward an intangible brass ring that you just can’t grab because I’m already holding onto it for dear life.

“Look, dude. You’ve been eaten alive by Level One, and bested by Mumf, so the fact that there are five other distractions in this match is a blessing, friend, because I’ve seen what it takes to put you down and I know that it’s not necessarily an easy task... But it’s a very real possibility. I’m gunnin’ for you.. You may have had success elsewhere, but here in APW, you’ve experienced defeat more often than not, and I don’t wanna take anything from you-- because you remind me of myself. You seem like someone that could take APW on his shoulders and run with it. You seem... Almost, real.

“But I’m gonna hurt you, and I want you to understand that. I’m gonna hurt you, Joe, and because you’re trying to take my baby from me. Haha, and I can tell you at least half a dozen people that know exactly what happens when you try! One of them is in this match! One walks among us!

“Amy.

“This one. You. I like you, Amy. Your attitude, your moves in the ring, your magazine spreads-- I’m a fan of yours, and I didn’t pay too much attention to you in that ‘other company’ I met you in, but I should’ve. You’re somebody that the world should be watching. You do amazing things every night that go unnoticed, and because of a shotty win/loss record, you’re an underappreciated Megastar. It’s really unfair. You never had much of a chance, y’know?

“From the moment you signed with this company, you came in here, chomping at the bit to get a piece of Aubrey J. Parker. You had your spats, and you helped cost her the North American Championship-- but at the end of the day, she put you down. She moved on, and you went onto clash with Young Mannie... And with a little help, he put you down. And then you and my SISTER got into it, and you may have essentially kicked her head off, but by proxy, Robina Hood put you down.

“Every chapter in the legacy of Amy Zing ends with her flat on her back, looking up at the rafters, consumed by wanderlust, aching to climb higher and higher, out of this-- this monotony that plagues her, and into true superstardom!

“Your problem, Amy, is that all you have are dreams. You don’t have that extra umph that it requires to go out and realize those dreams. You have an impressive victory every once in a blue moon, and it keeps the fans caring about you. It reminds them that despite all your shortcomings, you ARE a fantastic athlete, and you ARE capable of getting the job done-- but you’re inconsistent. You’ve never had momentum at any point in your career, but you’re kept in this flickering sort-of-spotlight because you’re a reliable worker. That’s what you are, Amy... You’re the dependable one. You’re the one that the company can count on to go out and put on a good show but you DO NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES to hold Lady Overdrive!

“You... Have no idea what it takes to hold this. None of you do-- ESPECIALLY you, Niobe!

“Let me ask you: how in the everloving fuck did you actually GET in this match? How much skin did you have to show in the production truck to get the card-writers to accidentally slip your name into the main event? Like... REALLY?

“You’re a good wrestler with a lot to be proud of, Niobe, but you have to be a GREAT one to hold this championship-- and because of the rules, I’m certain that you’ll get a chance. You’re the only person in this match that has any experience in an APW-style Scramble match, and you had a fantastic showing, but you failed. At the end, like usual, you failed.

“You’re not gonna win this match, because you don’t have the same hunger that people like Amy and Mumf do. You don’t have as much on the line as I do. The thing about you, Martin, is that you’ve got people like Chris Madison and that ass-gnome, Tommy Knox watching your back. The numbers’ game is ALWAYS in your favor, and that is why people never forget about you. That’s why people can’t afford to underestimate you. You don’t walk alone.

“You’re dangerous. Fast. You’re afraid of nothing. You are a threat, Niobe, but I’ll snatch you out of the air so fast that you won’t believe your body when it tells you how much pain you’re in. You’re an example, because the man that YOU chose as your companion, has taken it upon himself to dismantle the League of Extraordinary Wrestlers by himself. He broke Buck’s arm... And he flat-out broke Nate, and he’s taken you under his wing, and you’ve been right by his side, listening to him whisper into your ear at every turn.

“You like it.

“You like chaos... Panic...

“So I’m gonna give you that on Thursday, Niobe. I’m gonna make you panic. I’m gonna make you scream. I’m gonna make sure you know exactly what I plan on doing when I get my hands on Tommy Knox. Your undeserved appearance in Overdrive’s main event will not be wasted.

“Ahem.

“This brings me to Mad Mumf; truly someone that I have a lot of interest in working with this week. Mumf-- you’re a guy that nobody in APW knows too much about, but technically, technically you’re undefeated here, albeit with two matches to your name. You beat the hell out of Anthony Washington while our beloved Joseph Johnson backed away from the ring like a frightened child... And then you beat a guy named ‘Coldblood’ or ‘Dirk’ or, perhaps both. Nobody really remembers. It didn’t quite make the broadcast, eh?

“Whatever happened during the course of those matches might’ve been enough to convince management that you deserved a spot in this main event, although, I like your theory better... That the powers-that-be are throwing anything they can at me to try to pry Lady Overdrive away from me.

“They’re-- they’re trying to neutralize my ego a bit by reminding me and EVERYONE ELSE that Lady Overdrive is a slave to Action Packed Wrestling, and believe me, I understand that I probably can’t be your Overdrive Champion forever but you can bet your ass I’m gonna try.

“Mumf, you’re a complete unknown to me. There, you have an advantage, provided you don’t crack under the pressure of being in the ring with six other people at once. But for every second we’re in that ring together tomorrow night, I’m gonna study you. I’m gonna get to know you. And I’m gonna learn how to be the first person in APW to hand you a loss. I’m not Dirk, nor Washington... And I most certainly am not Johnson.

“I’m better than them. I’m better than you.

“I don’t say it with disrespect-- I just say it with the knowledge I can back it up. If I say that I’m the best, then EXPECT me to go into the ring and PROVE that I am the best. It’s a claim that people like Amy, Joe, and Niobe can’t make, ahhh no... To say I am the best or I am the greatest-- those are phrases reserved for people who have earned it! People like me.

“I have EARNED the right to walk out of this company with my head held high because I have given my entire life to this company, and I’ll be damned if a couple of nobodies that haven’t even made a splash on MY show yet are going to tell me how I’m disrespecting the company that helped BUILD me. I’m sick and tired of people thinking that by walking around with MY ‘Overdrive Championship’, that I’m spitting in the face of APW, and this business, and every wrestler to hold a championship before me.

“Don’t get misled, ladies and gentlemen.

“I didn’t kidnap Lady Overdrive. I just gave her an out. She doesn’t owe anybody anything, and I would never ask her to stay behind. We belong together.

“There’s one man that a SMALL part of me believes can respect it. There’s a man in this match that I want to think understands what it’s like to work so hard for something, and wrestle your ass off and then... Finally achieve it. Maybe this guy knows what it’s like to get addicted to a part of the very business that you love so much.

“Our own walking, talking moral compass.

“Wyatt Crash... You’re a wrestling machine, haha. You proved doubters wrong last week when you put down the Christian hype train, Jerry Matthews, and-- hey-- I watched, and I was impressed. From me to you, congratulations. Since you’ve come to APW, I’ve been nothing but impressed, and I can’t even think of a bad thing to say about you, y’know? You’ve never wronged me. You’ve never run off at the mouth with bullshit-- nothing serious, anyway.

“You don’t even really do anything wrong, man. You’re a vegan, like myself-- errrr, unlike myself, you adhere to a straight-edge lifestyle, but I respect it. You’re a man of discipline, and you’ve dedicated your life to honing your craft. You’ve traveled clear to the other side of the world, to Japan to establish yourself as one of the best in that ring. THAT’s what Wyatt Crash does.

“So what motivates me to put you down as much as everyone else? I’LL TELL YOU!

“...I wanna wrestle.

“I want to put on a wrestling clinic with a guy that I think could be the future of this show, and I want everybody watching in the arena to go home and tell all their friends about those two studs that stole the whole show, even if it was only for a moment. And then I wanna beat you, walking out of Nashville as your Overdrive Champion. Still. But even if I don’t, I WANT that moment to tear the house down, and if one of you six takes Lady Overderive from me, then at least I had that.

“When I started here in APW, I knew that I wanted to be one of the ‘big dogs’. I did everything I could to ensure that happened, and it all started with winning the APW North American Championship. I became the FIRST, but-- but I may not have been the best. Some might say that the best is the one that took the title home. Some say that the best is the last.

“Robina.

“Meltdown’s first, and Meltdown’s last in the same ring. Fitting! Last week, Meltdown died, and you were standing in the wreckage when the dust settled, eh?

“And this week, you’re gonna try to make sure I die with it, haha.

“As much as I admire what you’ve done, and how fucking insane you actually are-- I’m not gonna let that happen. I’m not entirely sure what relationship you had with my sister, but I’m positive that I don’t like you, and it does make me a little nauseous thinking that YOU are Meltdown’s last North American Champion-- but what’s done is done. There’s something BIGGER than that at stake, and it’s something that you can’t handle.

“It took you seven months to reach the top on Meltdown, and I’m not knockin’ you for it because competition was heavy, but you could BARELY hold your own against the likes of Zing and Martin the last time you were in the ring with either of them, so it troubles me to think that all of Sienna’s hard work is going to be for naught if you get exposed on Thursday. Overdrive is a different monster, Robs.

“There’s no Sienna here to gift you title match after title match, even after you fall flat on your face. You’ve always been capable of being one of the greats, but you’ve never had to work toward it. You allowed management to convince you that you truly are PERFECT and because of that, you have never been ALLOWED to be afraid of failure, babe, but I’m gonna teach you how! You’re gonna get beat up, and bruised up, and welcomed to Overdrive in SPECTACULAR fashion! You’re gonna KNOW what it’s like to be on the other side of Meltdown, champ!

“You’re gonna find out what a real fall feels like.

“Six.

“Six.

“At one point, I had it all, y’know? I had the support of Jeff. I had-- I had the backing of my comrades, and I even had management on my side, but I gave it all up for one thing, and this is what it’s come to!

“People say that my pride got in the way, but it always had to do with Lady Overdrive. It always had to do with my dedication to her. I lost friends, and I lost support because I just wanted to hold on... Hah, I knew our love was forbidden, but I took her anyway, because she means more to me than anything.

“I’d kill for her.

“And if any one you hesitates to do the same... Then you’ve already lost.

“I’ll be in Nashville for Overdrive. Don’t you worry about that. Worry about doing Alexander Duvall’s dirty work. Worry about being pawns, and making the best of the opportunity you’re given. Worry about each other, but please-- please don’t forget to worry about me.

“I’m the worst thing that could’ve ever happened to you.”

You ask about my conscience...
AND I OFFER YOU MY SOUL

Wednesday, July 24, 2013, evening
Nashville, Tennessee

For the first time, we’re introduced to a world of color. We are seated in a small, dimly-lit Nashville-based cafe. There are a few younger people, oddly placed throughout the sitting area, though perhaps the most notable include the pair seated in the farthest, darkest corner in the coffee shop... Evan Envi and Jenny Knite. Jenny leans against the table with both hands gripping the sides of a tea mug. She holds it to her lips, with her eyes scanning Evan from above the mug.

Evan, perhaps glumly, moves a single, triangular-folded napkin back and forth with his index finger, humming a very delicate, and almost inaudible tune to himself. Jenny lowers her mug and offers Evan a warm half-smile that she knows he can’t say.

”You know, I worked here for two summers back in high school. They spent an hour during our orientation teaching us how to fold those napkins. It’s more intricate than it looks.”

The comment is intended to garner a chuckle, or maybe provoke some conversation, but Evan doesn’t seem to realize that Jenny has even spoken. With a sigh, she reaches across the table, placing a hand across his.

”Ev.”

Evan jolts a bit, Jenny’s cool touch bringing him back to reality.

”What?”

He laughs a bit and buries half of his face into his palm, groaning slightly.

”Sorry. I’m totally--”

”Not with us?”

”Basically.”

”I get it. This... This one’s kinda hard to keep off your mind. I’ve been thinking a lot about it too.”

”Six people... Is that not ridiculous?”

Jenny smirks.

”Six people... Can you not do it?”

”Pssshhh. Please.”

Evan rolls his eyes and reaches across the table, casually snatching Jenny’s mug, bringing it to his own lips, earning a mocking grimace from the girl sitting across the table from him.

”Oh, sure. Help yourself.”

Before Evan can make another remark, his eyes drift away from the tea and from Jenny, toward a slender man, perhaps a few years Evan’s minor, approaching the table. The man’s probably some type of Asian, if Evan had to guess, and wears his jet-black hair in spikes. Evan blinks rapidly as the young man arrives and turns to Jenny, looking for guidance, but they’re greeted before the situation can be evaded.

”Well, hello!”

Evan sighs.

”Hello, fan.”

”Steve, actually. My name’s Steve.”

”Okay...”

Jenny nudges Evan beneath the table with her foot. Evan, again, sighs.

”Hello, Steve.”

Steve smiles brightly.

”You guys enjoying everything here today?”

”Yup... Thanks.”

”Oh, great! Anything I can help you guys with?”

”Nah.”

”You sure? Want me to take your plates, or--?”

”We’re good.”

Steve nods, folding his arms over his chest, that smile never fading.

”Are you? Are you good?”

Evan narrows his eyes, arching an eyebrow in a hybrid of irritation and curiosity.

”Completely fine.”

”You don’t look fine.”

”Wha-- but I just told you I was!”

Steven turns from Evan and gives Jenny a doubtful look, which is returned.

”He doesn’t look fine.”

”He’s not fine.”

”Is no one taking my words into consideration?”

To Evan’s chagrin, Steve swiftly reaches behind him, swiping a stray chair from an abandoned cafe table. He pulls it up to Evan and Jenny, leaning forward with an inquisitive expression.

”Tell me what’s wrong. Start from the beginning. Leave nothing out!”

”Who ARE y--?”

”Evan quit his job two weeks ago.”

”I didn’t quit.”

”Okay. He ‘didn’t quit’ but--”

”Why are you using air quotes? I DIDN’T!”

”He ‘let his contract expire’ instead. Happy?”

Jenny rolls her eyes away from Evan and mouths “he quit” to Steve. Evan throws a hand up in frustration.

”I’m looking right at you. Why would you mouth something when I can clearly--?”

”Ahh... The resignation blues. Having second-guesses about walking away, my friend?”

”It’s not that; I just--”

”He took the company’s Overdrive Title with him. He’s basically holding it hostage.”

”Oh my God.”

Steve frowns and shakes his head at Evan in disappointment.

”That’s not cool, bro.”

”You don’t even know the situa--!”

”So now our boss is making him fight SIX people.”

Steve’s eyes widen.

”Six guys?!”

”Six people.”

”God, no wonder he’s so depressed. Poor guy.”

”I’m not dep--”

”I tried to tell him... Management was gonna be pissed if he left with that title. And then what’d he do?”

”I bet he left with that title, didn’t he?”

”Sure did.”

”And now he has to face six guys?!”

”Six people.”

Steve shakes his head and gives Evan a sideways glance.

”Wouldn’t have happened if you just left the title with the company, my friend.”

”...Yes. Yes, I know.”

”Do you see how bitter he gets when you try to tell him the truth?”

”UGH.”

”Yeah, I so see it.”

”Could’ve just been the bigger man, but noooo. ‘Controversy sells’ he said. ‘Lady Overdrive and I belong together’ he said.”

Steve turns and smiles at Evan, though continues speaking to Jenny.

”Blinded by love. It’s admirable, almost!”

”Alright. That’s quite enough.”

Evan pushes his chair backwards away from the table and places both hands on the edge of it, quickly rising to his feet. He glances down at Steve with a gaze, entirely lacking emotion, but maneuvers his stare toward Jenny Knite instead.

”I’m ready to go.”

Jenny smirks up at Evan, but leans toward Steve as she reaches for her purse.

”He speaks in four-word phrases when he’s mad.”

”I don’t do that!”

”See?”

”Wow! SO mad!”

”I am not mad!”

”Wow!”

”See? He just can’t stop himself.”

”...I’m leaving right now.”

Evan, without another word, strides past the seated line-crossing fan. Within seconds, he strides past the many seated figures within the cafe and makes his way through the glass door to the warm, dark outside world.

”Hey!”

Evan pauses once he reaches the sidewalk, shoving his hands into his pockets, waiting patiently as a giggling Jenny Knite reaches his side. She wraps his arms around Evan and gazes up at him.

”I’m messing with you. You know that...”

”I know, Jen.”

”And I know how important tomorrow night is-- and we’re gonna get through this. We’re gonna win.”

Evan looks away from her, up into the night sky. He responds in the same manner, but his words come out as more hollow, this time... As his eyes search the moon beyond the clouds, and the stars beyond the moon, his mind races... His eyes glimmer... His voice is distant...

”I know.”

Dark.

Take me now, but know the truth...
I’M GOING OUT IN A BLAZE OF GLORY