Post by Johnny Rebel on Sept 11, 2013 10:31:23 GMT -4
"Out of the Ashes, Hope Rises"
Immediately Following Overdrive
September 5th, 2013
Paris, France
“We couldn’t be in a better position,” a familiar voice cried out from across “Simply Put” Johnny Rebel in the back of the stretch limo, the light just dark enough to hide the silhouette of the man.
“Well,” Rebel took a deep breath, sipping from a glass, “We certainly gave him every opportunity to repent.”
“I knew it would be this way…the word repent doesn’t have a place in Level-One’s vocabulary. He’s in the business of promoting one thing: himself. You heard the words straight from his mouth. The Synndicate isn’t a faction that seeks after power or uses numbers to their advantage. They have one sole purpose – and that’s to support the self-proclaimed greatest wrestler on the planet…”
That was certainly a role reversal for Johnny Rebel. He’d spent the majority of his career looking out for priority number one…himself. It almost felt backwards to have those things said about someone else, even more specifically, a Rebel adversary. It almost felt…new?
“What’s next?” Rebel asked curiously, navigating through the newfangled relationship cautiously. “We better have a game plan…if I learned anything from my time with Level-One, it’s that he isn’t going to lay down willingly.”
“We’re right on schedule,” the voice reassured Rebel. “He’s right where we want him. The entire APW is right where we want them…”
“I’ve got to be honest,” Rebel rubbed his brow with both hands. “I didn’t expect the two of us to be working together again. I know we’ve had our disagreements in the past but I’m not one to forgive and forget easily, y’know what I’m saying?”
“You don’t have much of a choice…if it weren’t for me, you’d still be digging through the trash and sleeping in a pissed-soaked bed sheet down by the river.”
“Touche…”
Life hadn’t come easy for Rebel lately. He had been a tailspin headed for nowhere fast. Losing the APW General Manager position had certainly put him in a low-place and he couldn’t bounce back without an extended hand from an old ally, who had turned enemy.
“Everything will be revealed Monday and our master plan will start to unfold. I’ve already made a few phone calls to President Jeff and he’s agreed to meet with me…he’s such a simple creature. I don’t know how in the world that fool has managed to keep his finger on the pulse of APW for so long. He’s a cat, who has used all of his nine lives, but keeps pulling magic mushrooms out of his behind for another. We’re going to cut him off at the source.”
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Penthouse Club Paris
September 7th, 2013
Paris, France
“What are we doing here, Johnny? I swear you’re like a kid in a candy shop!”
Michael Andrews was Rebel’s closest confidant and one of the few that took pity on him during his time of need, offering a couch to sleep on temporarily, and food when Rebel was down in the dumps. Now that Rebel had fallen on some good luck for a change, he couldn’t resist blowing other people’s money.
“I’m trying to get in the head of Kaylyn James Evans,” Rebel snickered. “I figured if I was going to try and think like she does…I should probably spend time in a place where she’d most likely be.”
“I seriously doubt she spends her down time in a run-down strip joint, Johnny,” Andrews huffed. “It would make a lot more sense to be in the gym getting ready for your match this week. It has been *quite* a while since you stepped in the ring at one-hundred percent. You probably shouldn’t be wasting your time here.”
“How would you know about Evans and strip clubs? How many have you been to in your life?”
“None!”
“Exactly,” Rebel smirked. “Look, Kaylyn knows that her ability to make money doesn’t rest on her shoulders. She doesn’t have the benefit of using a brain like the rest of us…she’s, ahem, gifted if you know what I mean. Let’s be honest – she’s probably flipped upside down with her fun bags dangling for any scumbag that’s willing to drop a five in her lap, waiting patiently for someone as handsome as yours truly to sit down in front of her! She’s on a pole…waiting for my pole!”
“They say nothing goes quicker to someone’s head than money…” Andrews sighed.
“It’s just logic, Michael,” Rebel replied. “If you want to think like someone than you’ve got to put yourself in their shoes…walk a mile in their shoes. Trust me, you don’t want to see me walking in high heels, it’s *not* pretty! This is the next best choice. I’ve always maintained that if this wrestling thing doesn’t work out, she’d have a long career in popping tennis balls out of her you-know-what!”
“She’s probably training, y’know, with Level-One,” Andrews desperately pleaded for Rebel’s attention, whose head was bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball as another gorgeous lady walked by. “The APW World Heavyweight Champion. Multiple time True Expert’s Champion. Probably the most dangerous man in the APW. You remember him?”
“Who?”
“Can’t you be serious for two seconds?” Andrews asked. “Level-One has turned the APW upside down on multiple occasions and isn’t going to let you off the hook for embarrassing him on Thursday evening.”
“Oh, I didn’t embarrass him,” Rebel shoved out the palm of his hand to stop Andrews’ from continuing his thought. “I offered him the chance to join a winning team again…something that he obviously knows nothing about! I extended my hand in friendship to help him circumnavigate all the sharks that are certainly swimming after his championship now that Gates is out of the picture. Now go buy me a lap dance so I can study Evans…and then treat yourself by standing outside the room, occasionally peering in to get a glimpse of the action. You can tell me what Zing’s going to feel like while she’s standing on the apron watching me dismantle both Evans and Lester!”
“You’re infuriating sometimes,” Andrews shook his head in disbelief. “You, more than anybody, should know the benefit of having a partner in your corner that can watch your back.”
“Please,” Rebel snorted. “Evans was dumb enough to willingly pick Level-One as a partner! Do you realize how stupid one would have to be to have him watching your back? I’d rather have a three-legged chair in my corner…at least it would give me something to break over his head!”
“Do you even hear the drivel that’s coming out of your mouth? Your hypocrisy is maddening! *You* once handpicked Level-One as your partner. You two ran the APW for months! You can’t sit back and chide Evans for doing the same exact thing…you more than anybody should be aware of what he’s capable of with a competent associate by his side.”
Andrews turned around to find Rebel strutting away with each arm resting over the shoulder of a beautiful young lady. He called back to the disappointed Andrews…
“Kaylyn Evans is no Johnny Rebel!”
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Jimmy’s Coffee Shop
September 11th, 2013
Athens, Greece
Michael Andrews thumbed through his contacts, repeatedly cycling through all the names, but eventually settling on one. He seemed timid, the send button seemingly taunting him. He mustered up enough courage to follow through with his plan and held the phone up to his ear.
It began to ring.
“Hello?” A gruff voice called out from the other end of the line.
“It’s about Rebel,” Andrews voice cracked. “He’s going off the deep end…”
“Truthfully,” the mystery voice continued. “I expected a phone call sooner rather than later. I’m afraid we have given an alcoholic an open bar and he doesn’t know when to call it quits. Do you think that he’s capable of carrying out the tasks we’ve assigned him?”
Andrews paused briefly.
It was almost as if he was betraying Rebel’s confidence, something that he’d never done before, but something inside of him couldn’t allow Johnny to mess this up. It was often that people got second chances in life but Rebel was handed what seemed like to Andrews a winning lottery ticket…and all Johnny could think about was blowing a wad of twenties at a local strip club. It was time for action.
“I don’t think he’s in the right mindset to walk through this alone,” Andrews immediately felt his heart sink. “He’s going to need someone to hold his hand…”
“We’ll be there soon, Michael,” the voice calmly reassured Andrews. “You did the right thing...”
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“There isn’t a better feeling than lacing up those boots again and stepping in to the spotlight of APW’s Thursday Overdrive. I’m home.”
“It seems as President Jeff picked up on a little animosity between the former members of the Sindicate from last week’s episode and decided to capitalize on the millions of dollars in revenue that will come from Johnny Rebel and Level-One standing on opposite sides of the ring.”
“We’ll begin with Kaylyn Evans because what is there to really say? We’re talking about a girl that has been drilled more times than George Bush’s allies in the Middle East looking for oil. There isn’t a position that KJE doesn’t feel comfortable in…except for the place she finds herself when the bell rings Thursday evening. Welcome to the big leagues, darling…Amy Zing is the least of your worries! I know you are used to being able to scream out a safe word when the action gets a little hot and heavy…but there won’t be anything saving you from the beatings that are coming your way!”
“Seeing my name at the top of the card has to have your panties in a wad…assuming you aren’t airing out the black hole that resides below your belt. How does it feel knowing that you’ve been desperately playing every trick in the book to somehow make it to the main event and failing at every passing? Meanwhile, Johnny Rebel shows up for a few brief moments, and is automatically inserted in to the headlines of APW and makes Kaylyn James Evans relevant…if only for a few moments.”
“I’m sure you’ll bring your empty threats and broken promises. A fool never learns from her mistakes and you’re the definition of a fool. You’re no better than the flaming pile of crap that gets left on the doorstep of somebody like C.J. Gates. You’re just pesky enough to be stomped on but after the fire has been put out – you’re forced to live with the smell on the bottom of your boot for weeks on end.”
“It’s something that you should probably know about me – as long as you’re trying to outshine me…you’re guaranteed failure! The truth is I could muster up a ounce of respect for you if you would have stayed in your own little world, chasing midcard belts like the North American Championship, and throwing out challenges to Mr. Dangerous. But something tells me that you don’t have the wherewithal to maintain status quo where you belong and I’ll be forced to stick my foot up your rear…which is probably something you’re used to hanging around with Level-One!”
“Speaking of which, I’ve been waiting patiently to get my hands on Lester…and Thursday night is just the beginning!”
“I gave you every chance to repent of your previous transgressions but you’d rather spend your time playing puppeteer with your plaything KJE…and I’m perfectly fine with that.”
“The truth is we could never coexist again on the same side of the coin. It took nearly a year for my back to recover from carrying you! All I heard from every person in the locker room was how Level-One was this great champion and that the two of us would be unstoppable in the APW! They couldn’t have been more wrong…you were simply a shell of yourself then and you’ve only deteriorated since then!”
“You’ve managed to succeed in a watered-down version of the APW. The only credible threat up until Johnny Rebel walked back through those doors was Terry Marvin, and I don’t think I need to remind you what happened there! C.J. Gates is one race away from being sent to the glue factory and you couldn’t even finish the job. You’re soft and the whole world is staring through the glaring holes in your played out game.”
“There comes a time in every sport where someone rises up through the ranks and pulls the wool over our eyes. It happened in boxing when Tommy Morrison miraculously outlasted George Foreman. You have been nothing but an opportunist…waiting until the APW was ripe for your sideshow. Your best days are behind you! I led this place in to its apex…while you are nothing more than a memory of when the APW used to be a shell of what it is now!”
“I’m sure you’re whispering in Kaylyn James ear that Rebel doesn’t have anything left…but do us all a favor and remove your tongue from her rear for a few moments and remember you’re stepping in the ring against one of the most dangerous to walk through that curtain in the history of this business. There is plenty left in the gas tank and I’m drifting around the curve in the road and heading straight towards your APW World Heavyweight Championship!”
“You’ve overstayed your welcome in the APW. Your satisfaction with all things mediocrity has put a stain on this place and I refuse to allow it to linger any longer. I’m trending up and you’re trending down. I haven’t come back to restore the APW from it’s miserable existence that you have created…because your wake hasn’t left anything worth saving. I’m going to rebuild this place in the image of the one person who is worthy of being worshipped…me!”
#SIMPLY
#F’N
#PUT?
“Thousands of years ago, the Greek gods roamed in Greece. Thursday night, one rises from the ashes to take his place on the throne. Johnny Rebel becomes ruler of the universe!”
