The Rampant Lion

[Thomas Uriel Bates]

The Rampant Lion

Scene I “Torn”
Stan Sheriff Center – Honolulu, Hawaii

Finally, He gets the tag! Gemini Battle is shoved right into his own corner by David Sanchez, allowing Thomas Uriel Bates to tag himself in. The announcers are screaming, and Bates steps into the ring. Sanchez is unsuspecting as Bates charges towards him, taking him out with a devastating clothesline. From the corner of his eye he sees Kevin Bishop standing back up. Bates charges at him too, hitting him with another clothesline that sends him rolling out of the ring. Psychopomp tags himself in and charges at Bates.

The poor kid gets a Bates’ Boot for his trouble. That’s one Bates feels a bit sorry for, as Psychopomp is not really a bad guy, just misunderstood and being led astray by the Brotherhood. Bates doesn’t have too much time to think however, as he sees Johnny Rabid running full speed towards him. Now that’s someone Bates wouldn’t mind sending to the moon.

Rabid charges forward, and Bates quickly lifts him up to a Military Press. He benches Rabid three times, then drops him down with a devastating Gorilla Press Gutbuster. He can hear the commentators shouting as Rabid rolls out of the ring clutching his destroyed gut. Psychopomp, showing either amazing stamina or is just too stunned to notice where he’s at, stands up. Bates easily locks him in a full nelson.

We all know what comes next. Bates will lift Psychopomp high in the air, making the poor kid fly for just a moment. When gravity finally catches up to him, Bates will wrap his massive hand around his poor little neck. The Badge, a move handed down from his father, which continues to be devastating for now a second generation.

Things don’t seem to work out like they should though, do they? Before Bates could lift up Psychopomp, he feels two hands grabbing his ankles. Before he could even steady his stance, he is quickly pulled out of the ring. As he falls, he sees David Sanchez simply slide in the ring and pin the now collapsed Psychopomp.

Bates is stunned. Victory grabbed from his very clutches by, David Sanchez? This man didn’t earn his victory, he snuck in and stole it from Bates. It was the Bates’ Boot that took out Psychopomp. It was Bates who cleared the ring. It was Bates who stood atop the mountain and ready to plant his flag. No! BeachKrew, Pantheon, whatever they call themselves, snatched victory from him at the last moment, and reaped the rewards for his hard work.

Of course, they laugh. Just like they always do, they laugh. These are people whose maturity level maxed out in the eighth grade. Yet here they are, because they have large numbers of halfway decent talent, they think they can get away with anything. They’re so sure of themselves. So smug. So …

He can’t take it anymore. They’re not fighting fairly. They’re not playing by the rules. They’re not going to, they have no need to. They’re here to destroy the WCF, and they’re here to destroy Bates himself. They want to run around and rip this place to shreds? Well, Thomas Uriel Bates has had enough.

He punches Rabid with a stiff right hook and rolls back into the ring. David Sanchez looks so unsuspecting when Bates stands up and sends him down with a Big Boot. Bates will destroy Pantheon if it’s the last thing he does. He knows there’s more. He knows Corey Black, Joey Flash, Wade Moor, and the countless others are either at ringside or on the way. He knows it. He can feel it. He can feel their hands wrap around him. He feels undoubtedly Joey Flash, or maybe Andre Holmes, wrapping their arms around the giant’s waists as tight as they can.

He smiles as he pushes him off. With great joy, he spins around and sends a Big Boot to his cowardly attacker. He takes joy in the sound of his boot crushing the man before him. The sickening thud as his attacker lands flat on the mat, devastated by such a kick. The human sandbag rolls out of the ring and lays motionless on the floor. Bates knew he had a lot of power behind his kick, and this time he was tired of holding back. Tired of letting everything get in the way. This time he had destroyed one of Pantheon, and he was happy for it. He was joyful. He was… horrified.

He whispers. In utter shock, in utter confusion. Knowing full well what he has done, but questioning what he has done. There, the face covered now in blood, but still unmistakable, the body of his close friend and sometimes friendly foe. There lies his brother.

Thomas Uriel Bates: Gemini?

All other thoughts escape his mind. There is no WCF, there is no Pantheon, there is no DRG, there is only Thomas Uriel Bates and Gemini Battle. As he stands over the fallen body of his brother, he can’t help but think; there is no Gemini Battle.

Laughter. He can hear laughter somewhere in the arena, amplified by the speaker system. It figures that Corey Black would come back out and laugh, or any number of the childish members of the false Pantheon. They have no morals, they have no decency, they have no honor. Now that Bates had slain his own brother; he began to question if he had any of those things.

He embraced the fallen Gemini, holding him tight, as if worried that at any moment he would turn to dust and simply fade away. There was no sign of life from him. There was no more laughter, there were no more jokes. Bates was realizing that those things would never again come from his friend. Never again would he see his friend smile, at least not with him. If Gemini comes through, Bates understood that he may have just created a monster.

In releasing his own monster to take out the false Pantheon, he may have released the monster within Gemini to take him out.

Scene II “The Man in the Mirror”
Holiday Inn – St. Paul, Minnesota

Thomas Uriel Bates… I HATE YOU!

The nerve of Gemini Battle! After the friendship we had, after everything we’ve done together, this is how he treats me? Over an accident? I can’t even apologize to him for what happened at Slam. I can’t even tell him how I just knew more of that childish group would be surrounding me. Why did he grab me anyway? How could he not think I would take that as another BeachKrew assault?

But at the end of the day, the mirror lies to you.

I sit at the dressing table and stare into my own eyes. Who is this person? Is the mirror really lying to me? I’m I just some kind of overgrown Stuart Smalley? Is everything I say, everything I do, just some kind of propaganda that I’m telling people, that I’m telling myself? Am I really following the Code, or have I strayed far from it with this vendetta against a false Pantheon? Did I push away Gemini, did I push away my own brother? Who the hell is this man in the mirror?

Looking at myself, I try to see just who the man in the mirror is. His eyes are fierce, determined, but are they hiding something? What really lurks behind those eyes? This massive bulking body looks huge in the mirror, but is it really just small? Is the strength of Thomas Uriel Bates just masking my own inferiority?

I can’t stop looking at the eyes. Those deep brown eyes look solid black right now. I can’t help but wonder what lies behind those eyes. They are my own eyes, and I know my own mind, but could Gemini be right? Am I just lying to myself? Am I lying to everyone? Just who is this man in the mirror?

When I first joined WCF, I just wanted to be a wrestler. That’s it. I just wanted to go down to the ring every week, fight my matches, and win the Championships. That’s the whole purpose of wrestling, isn’t it? That’s what we’re all supposed to be doing, right? When did it turn into this big soap opera show where the villains must be fought off every week by the hero of the picture?

What happened to wrestling? Is this what Gorgeous George had in mind when he came out with his gimmick? Did he really know that these gimmicks would evolve to include grown men going around pretending to be time travelers, serial killers, angels and demons, even aliens? Did he know what insane things these modern so-called wrestlers would claim? The WCF itself seemed more like it belonged on the Syfy channel.

What happened to just trying to be a wrestler, and compete in this very competitive sport? What ever happened to just coming out, and putting your skills against your opponent? Why all the fictional stories, why all the lies? I don’t do that. I’m not out here trying to pretend I’m something I’m not. I’m not acting like some kind of monster lurking in the woods at night. I’m not pretending that I’m in some episode of Doctor Who, or Timeless. I go out there and try to have a wrestling match, why can’t these people do the same? Why can’t Gemini?

Or have I pulled the wool over my own eyes? Have I pretended for so long that everything here was normal, that I now believe it even in the face of overwhelming evidence? Is Oblivion really a monster that inhabits the poor body of a mental patient? Did Mikey eXtreme and his large and strange friend really kill all those people? Does Jay Omega really go back and forth through time and space? Did Grayson Pierce really get possessed by an alien that became Gemini Battle? Are those two simple minded souls Gemini calls his children, really his children? Am I the fool? Proclaiming myself as some sane person while the world around me has gone insane?

Have I pretended that I am a man of honour? Am I just playing some role that I have assigned myself? Is Thomas Uriel Bates, the man who lives by his Code, a man who would die for his Code, really just some cheap gimmick picked out on his way to an interview with Seth Lerch? Is any of this real? Am I real?

No!

As I sit here before this mirror, staring into my own eyes and doubting my very existence, I can hear something deep within me, from within my soul, scream “no!”. As I question everything I have ever known, I hear myself shouting from within, “no!”. I hear my soul shout to the heavens, and though it is buried deep within the collapsing mountain, the angels themselves take notice. “No!” comes the shout from within. It answers my every doubt. It works itself up, becoming louder and louder until I find the words within my own throat.

Thomas Uriel Bates: No!

No more do I doubt. No more do I question myself. I am Thomas Uriel Bates, and I am not a fool! A sane man surrounded by the insane, is still a sane man! The man who stands by his ideals and by his convictions, even as those around him falter, is still a man of honour. A man who will live and die by his Code is no pretender.

I do not notice until it is too late. The glass is embedded deep within my fist, even stuck in my knuckles. No more do I see within my own eyes, no more do I see my own face in a reflection. My anger had banished the image from its very existence. I had bashed through the image. I had bashed through the glass, and pounded through the very wall itself.

The man in the mirror was gone, but he had spoken. Looking deep within his soul, I had finally discovered just who the man in the mirror was. Gemini may think the mirror lies, but it was from within my own soul that I found the truth. I am not some pretender. I am not some fool that does not see the world around me. I am a man of my convictions, and I will stand by them no matter the cost.

Even though that cost, was my friendship with Gemini Battle. A friendship that I cannot see returning to the point it was before. I cannot view him as a brother, or as a friend, I must accept Gemini Battle as what he is, what he has chosen to be.

My enemy.

Scene III “The Rampant Lion”
Como Park Zoo and Conservatory – St. Paul, Minnesota

The most majestic creature of the wild. Its golden fur hangs tight on its muscular frame, and its brown mane wraps around its massive head like a fitting crown for this king of the jungle. The eyes of this lion however, seemed to know that the trees were planted, and the river bottom was mere concrete. Bates could see the male lion staring at him. He eyed our giant, not as a potential prey, but as another captured soul. Restrained from doing the very thing they were built to do.

As if in acknowledgement, the lion roars. It comes from deep within, and erupts with a force that can be heard for miles. Bates returned the compliment. From deep within his gut, and traveling through his throat, finally erupting from his mouth. His arms spread wide, his head tilted back, our giant roars. The compliment paid, the two lions stare into each other’s eyes.

Bates needed not to worry about terrifying the rest of the crowd, he had paid the Commo Park Zoo and Conservatory for an exclusive tour after hours. He was here to film yet another video for the coming up pay-per-view, the WCF’s Helloween. He was facing challenging opponents in Gemini Battle and Corey Black. He was going for the WCF World Championship. His, and Gemini’s, rematch for the title. But this was so much more than just a match to reclaim the top title in the company, this was to deliver a fatal blow against the biggest threat in recent WCF history; the false Pantheon.

The WCF Camera crew was waiting patiently. The Boom operator held his boom stick high as his assistant keeps himself busy working with seemingly endless sound equipment. The cameraman holds steady the camera as his two assistants do whatever is needed of them. A director is standing at the ready, also prepared if need be to step in and be some interviewer for the giant. It is not needed, as Bates is fully aware of what he wishes to say.

So, with a nod from the director, he speaks. Is voice carries through this empty-yet-full zoo. It was deep, masculine, and carried the sweet and nearly musical sound of his Southern Accent. It was not the stereotypical “redneck” accent that the false Pantheon would have you believe, but rather the sweet drawl of ages past. An accent that was nearly gone with the wind, to borrow the title of such a piece of film history. It speaks of elegance, of class, and of a commanding tone. He had something to say.

Thomas Uriel Bates: On Sunday, we will finally have a significant battle between Team WCF and the false Pantheon. This will be an important battle, and a strategic one at that. If Team WCF is able to defeat the false Pantheon, then they will be prevented from even having a title shot until One. However, if Team WCF loses, then they’ll be able to claim any title shot, or even insert themselves into any title match they choose. They will be given free rein to stack the deck against any and all legitimate champions, and steal the titles from their rightful owners.

So, let us take a look at Team Pantheon, and Team WCF.

On Team WCF, we have the Magnificent Bastard, Adrian Archer. A man who entered this company at the bottom, and fought his way to the top. Like Corey Black, he proved himself worthy of at least some praise when he went through the Deathmatch Tournament. Though he was unsuccessful, he did leave a mark. He shed the old moniker of At-At-At, and truly became the Magnificent Bastard we know him to be. Will that be enough to face down the false Pantheon? Will he rise to the challenge, and successfully defend the company that employs him?

Up next, we have Damian Kaine, a man who took a stand, even when the rest of his brothers would rather just do their own thing. Though tensions between The Brotherhood and myself have been rising, my respect for Damian Kaine has been rising higher. He has heart, and he has courage. Will this be enough to face the storm?

The next three I group together, because quite frankly that’s what they are. They are Zero Tolerance, a team of heavy hitters, Trios Champions, and the Hardcore Champion, they are without a doubt the team to watch here in the WCF. People will group them in with the Insane Clown Posse, call them Juggalos, and expect them to run out to the ring with their faces painted, oversized jerseys, and a truckload of Faygo, but that’s not what these people are, is it? Their facepaint isn’t the paint of clowns, but of warriors. I may not like everything they do, nor do I much care for their taste of music, but I will not mistake them for some untalented hacks that have no business being in the music industry, nor have any business being in the ring. Zero Tolerance is not to be taken lightly, and I’ll wager that the false Pantheon will discover this soon enough.

Then we have Sarah Twilight and Eric Price. Two icons of the WCF. Eric Price has had seven title reigns in the WCF, and is a Grand Slam Champion. The man is a legend in the WCF, and I have no doubt that this Sunday he will prove it to the false Pantheon. Sarah Twilight is the first ever female in the WCF to hold the World Championship. She may not be the nicest person, quite frankly I have several problems with her myself, however, she is loyal to the WCF. At Helloween, the false Pantheon will see just what that loyalty will do.

So, what of the false Pantheon? What are they? I have just described the entire Team WCF, but what will I say about these people? Will I talk about how they tore down this company, and how they are just as much to blame for the Mexico Incident as Logan himself? Should I talk about how they each have this false sense of importance, that they all believe themselves to be the best of the best, even when they really aren’t even close.

Should I talk about how I remember Joey Flash? How he rose to the top of the company, was the Main Event, was the undefeated soon to be legend? The man has forty-five victories in this company, and only five losses? No matter who you are, that’s impressive. However, Joey Flash doesn’t like to talk about how I gave him two of those defeats. Grime gave him another, as did Adam Young. The man is skilled, but he is not unbeatable. I have the upmost confidence in Team WCF, that they will give Joey Flash his sixth defeat.

Now what can I say bout Jared Holmes, Wade Moor, or Johnny Rabid? No, I’m serious, what can I say? These people I barely remember at the tail end of my first run here in the WCF. BeachKrew came in and dominated a WCF that I was not part of. They took over, and ruled this place, but did they pry it from my cold dead hands? No, they waited until I was on the way out the door.

Jayson Price, now him I know. A two time WCF World Champion, hell the man is a Grand Slam Champion himself, so he does deserve some form of respect. However, I just can’t bring myself to it. How can I respect a man who turns on the very company he helped to build? Much like Zombie McMorris, or Corey Black, I view Jayson Price as nothing more than a traitor. All of his past achievements are meaningless. He betrayed the company, he betrayed us. He betrayed the locker room, and he betrayed the fans. Everything that he once was, is gone.

They may view themselves as the saviors of the WCF, but the truth is they are more like hyenas. They smell what they believe is a rotting corpse. So, they run towards it, and begin to devour it. Sure, there are lions here, but the hyenas are large in numbers. The hyenas can annoy the lions and finally even cause them to give chase. Other hyenas will grab the carcass and run, leaving the lions hungry.

You know what hyenas, even a large pack of them, are scared of? The male lion. A single male lion can face down the entire pack of hyenas, and chase them off. He will attack, and break the backs, sever the necks, rip the bellies of the invading hyenas. He will defend the Pride, and the hyenas, those who survive, will cower away once more.

Team WCF has lions. They even have male lions. At Helloween, they will discover this fact. They will run, and WCF will regain some sense of what was before. However, if the hyenas are successful. If they outnumber the lions, if they distract them and haul away the prize, they will need to remember one thing.

Thomas Uriel Bates smiles as he stares at the camera.

Thomas Uriel Bates: I’m still here.

He faces once more the male lion in the den, stretches his arms and lets out a roar. The lion joins in, and the two creatures announce to the world just what they are capable of.

Scene IV “Treason”
Ramsey County Courthouse – St. Paul, Minnesota

It’s not elaborate. There are no massive Greek style columns, there are no steps, there’s nothing that resembles the style of courthouses that Thomas Uriel Bates was familiar with. Instead, it was a plain building. Sure it was tall, but it looked more like any old office space than a place of justice. Yet the Ramsey County Courthouse was indeed the seat of Justice is Saint Paul, Minnesota.

So it’s here that we find our giant, our former and perhaps soon to be WCF World Champion. Thomas Uriel Bates looks sharp today. A dark blue striped suit, three-piece in construction. The tie matches the suit, and the shirt a lighter shade of blue. His pocket square was white, and the gold chain of his watch looped through a buttonhole of his vest. His blue suede shoes were perhaps a statement of his hometown, but combined with the suit, was just as sharp.

The camera crew was assembled yet again, and made up of the same crowd as before. Bates had little interaction with them, as the crew seemed more concerned about setting up than establishing any connections. He had heard the camera crew and the sound crew talking to each other. He had figured out the Boom Operator’s name was Mike, and the assistant was Joe. The cameraman was Johan, and his two assistants were Rick and Phil, or was it Bill? He never got the director’s name, everyone just called him “sir”. Bates could tell the director was former military in the way that he stood. Must have been an officer at that. Not American though, perhaps British.

The director nodded, and Bates knew it was time to begin. He had assembled the crew together in front of the Ramsey County Courthouse for a very specific reason. Bates has stood as a defender of WCF since he first stepped foot in the company. Even when the Dark Riders Gang MC was fighting the Stable Wars of Twenty-Fifteen, he was fighting for the WCF. The future must be preserved. Order must be preserved.

That’s what a Courthouse is for, maintaining order. It is within these courtrooms that order is upheld, where justice can prevail. When someone wrongs us, it is not vengeance we must seek, but rather justice. The violators of law must be punished, and only once the task is completed will order be returned. Corey Black had wrong the WCF, and he must be punished.

Thomas Uriel Bates: I’m sitting here at the Ramsey County Courthouse in Saint Paul, Minnesota for a very important reason. I’ve come here to talk about my opponent, Corey Black. Why though would I choose to go to a Courthouse? Is Corey Black making some claim on law that he knows nothing about? Not that I’ve heard anyway. Was Corey Black some lawyer in some past life? No, again not that I’m aware of. No, Corey Black has committed an offense, and it must be reconciled.

Corey Black has committed treason. Treason against the WCF, treason against his co-workers, and treason against the entire WCF Galaxy. He betrayed all of us when he sided with BeachKrew, and surrendered the name of Pantheon. It wasn’t to save the company, and it wasn’t rid the WCF of some cancer. Corey Black turned on us all, just to feel relevant once again.

For fourteen years, Corey Black was loyal to the WCF. He had built this company. He made sure this company could run, even with Seth constantly doing everything he can to ruin the place. Corey Black ran the WCF. He made sure this company became what it is today.

Yet fourteen years is a long time. For the last few years of this, people have called him old. They have called him past his prime. They have called for his retirement. They have called for Corey Black to go gently into that good night, but he will not do it, will he? Why should he? The man still has fight left in him, his Deathmatch Tournament and his victory over me for the World Championship is proof of this. The man is a legend, and he continues to impress to this very day. I have never been one of these people that question this man’s contributions, nor called for him to settle into old age.

But Corey Black has. Corey Black looks in that locker room and sees a whole new crowd of wrestlers. There’s no Jonny Fly, there’s no Steve Orbit, no Slicky T, no Gravedigger, no Madd Dog, no Jack of Blades, and most importantly to him, no Corey Black. He sees new faces, most I’m certain he doesn’t even know the names of. He sees people trying to make it to the top, trying to do their own things. He sees other people stepping up, other people begin their own legacy. He knows that the locker room has changed. He knows that he is not in there nearly as much as he used to be.

He doesn’t know them, so he doesn’t think they are worthy. He can’t name the people on the cover of the video games, or figure out who WrestleZone and other wrestling news sites are talking about. The world Corey Black knows has gone away, and he doesn’t recognize it anymore. It scares him. It terrifies him. So he doesn’t think they are worth anything.

Oh, but he knows my name. I made sure he knew my name. Corey Black came back and expected that he would enter the Trio’s Tournament along with Steve Orbit and Jonny Fly, and once again dominate the industry then. What happened to his vision? Six men stepped into that ring, and only three walked out. It wasn’t Corey Black and his people. It was Gemini Battle, George “Gonzo” Murdock, and yours truly. Me, a rookie at the time, stood triumphant over three legends including Corey Black.

That rode all over him, didn’t it? After the tournament, he began demanding a match. How can I say “no” to one of the WCF’s biggest legends? Of course I accepted. One of the rising stars of the company faced off against one of the most established legends. Did I come out with my hand raised? No, I did not. This was predictable. Corey Black is a legend, a proven legend in the WCF, and what was I? I was a rookie simply trying to make it. Something happened that night though. Corey Black’s hand wasn’t raised either.

Now that, that was unpredictable. Here was a legend, the self-proclaimed greatest wrestler in the world, and he couldn’t beat a rookie just months in the business? For crying out loud, I didn’t even come over from another wrestling promotion! I was fresh out of my father’s wrestling academy, fresh out of training, and I stood my own against a legend like Corey Black?

It was devastating to him; I remember that much. He barely made a showing when we faced off against Howard Black for the Television Championship. He was even eliminated in the Ultimate Ninth Battle Royal by Adam Young. I didn’t have my hand raised in victory against Corey Black, but nevertheless I did defeat him. I destroyed him. It was not my intent to destroy him, but that is exactly what happened.

Now here we are a year later, and Corey Black comes back for revenge. He had a plan, set in motion for an entire year. He thought of every angle, he thought of every possibility. Corey Black would make sure that he would have his hand raised over me. When he came back, he entered the Deathmatch Tournament knowing that he would be able to challenge me once he won. He did exactly that.

So he challenged me, for the Television Championship. As I gave up that title so that others would have a chance to earn it, I accepted his challenge with the World Championship on the line. But no, the titles were never what he wanted, was it? No, he just wanted to fight me. He stewed over it for a year, and to him, at that moment, all the titles in the world didn’t matter. Corey Black must redeem himself.

But I’m a big guy. One of the strongest men in the world even. I had accomplished so much in the WCF at that point. They like to attribute that to simply being a big guy. To simply being lucky enough to be born with the genes of giants. They like to say that talent, skill, had nothing to do with my success. However, if Corey Black, a man with fourteen years of experience and talent, couldn’t soundly defeat me even in my rookie year, then something about their story doesn’t make sense.

I think Corey Black knows this too. You see, even after a year of planning. Even after year of training, and studying, and steaming over a draw, Corey Black didn’t think he could get the job done. He knows that I have talent, otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today. Without that talent, I wouldn’t be a Triple Crown Champion. Without that talent, I wouldn’t have made it out of mid-card status. Though Corey Black and the false Pantheon like to claim that’s all I am, the billing of the shows for the last year have proven otherwise.

So, what does Corey Black, a legend in the business do, when he doesn’t think he can win a fight? He cheats. Two weeks before War, he attacks me. He uses a police battering ram and puts me in the hospital. My internal organs were flattened. My ribs busted. Blood coming out of every opening of my body, and I do mean every opening. I lay in the hospital bed in a medically induced coma for two days. Finding out I still had a match, I defied the doctor’s orders and showed right back to work, the bandages wrapped around my body doing their best to hold my insides together. What happens then, Corey? You still come right back out! You blindside me and cost me my match. Another sneak attack by a man who is supposed to be the greatest professional wrestler in the world. What’s that they call you? The King of All Wrestlers?

So a year of plotting, and two weeks of relentless attacks, and what happens? Corey Black gets his win. Is he satisfied now? Can he simply move on as having finally achieving victory over someone he doesn’t think is talented? No, he still can’t move on. Somewhere, deep down within that black heart of his, within that empty soul of his, he knows what he had to do to win. He knows it wasn’t a clean win. He knows that his entire existence now is just a façade.

So what does the great Corey Black do now? How can he stay relevant in today’s wrestling world? A world where Kevin Bishop, Zero Tolerance, Gemini Battle, and myself exist? What does Corey Black do to stay at the top of the game? He joins the invading force and turns his back on everything the WCF ever was.

So he joins with Joey Flash. He joins with David Sanchez, Johnny Rabid, Jared Holmes, and the whole host of BeachKrew invaders looking to prove themselves against the current crop of WCF. He turns over Pantheon to them. He ruins the reputation of not just himself, but everyone who had ever associated themselves with him, including Pantheon. Now he just runs around saying the same childish things we’d expect to come from BeachKrew.

So what does he say now? Mostly L-O-Ls and Hashtag this, and Hashtag that. Or the same old tired, and ignorant bigoted clichés about what a Southerner believes in. Oh, I’m a terrible person because apparently, I believe gays shouldn’t marry, blacks should be out in the field, and children should be forced to prey. Let us just forget about my work in black majority towns, promoting black history, preserving the memory of the Civil Rights Movement. Let’s just forget about my work in trying to make Civil Unions equal to marriage under the law. Let us forget my work in Religious freedoms. Let’s just call me racist because I’m Southern. Let’s just call me homophobic because I’m straight. Let’s call me bigoted because I’m Christian. Do you know who else says these same old tired things? BeachKrew, Corey Black’s new best friends.

You betrayed the WCF, Corey. I never wanted your throne, and I never once thought to push you out of it. You were the crème de la crème of the WCF for fourteen years, and I even looked up to you in a way. You were the symbol of a long and successful career in this company, and I wanted to live up to it. Now that I’ve faced you, now that I’ve seen the lengths you will go to keep that spotlight on you. Now that I see just what will do for your own selfish cause. I have no respect for you. I have no admiration for you. I finally now see you as the washed up has been that you really are. That I refused to believe until now. I see you as the traitor you really are. This Sunday at Helloween, I’m going to make sure that justice is delivered.

Bates looks up high to the sky, seeing the top of the courthouse. He scans it, level by level, until he reaches the door. He smiles, turns back to look at the camera, and simply nods. The Mountain of WCF turns slowly around, and walks away from the cameras. Leaving the director to manage the crew as they gather their things, and return to their white beat up van.

Scene V “Stand for Something”
Birch Coulee Battlefield – Birch Cooley Township, Minnesota

The red wooden sign sat in an empty field, far away from the distant tree line. The white letters adorned the sign. Large words, taking two lines give notice as to the location of the field; “Birch Coulee Battlefield”. A date is written below, “September 2, 1862”. The scene of some battle far north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Was this connected to the infamous war that tore apart the very fabric of our Nation? Or was this something else not told in the history books?

Thomas Uriel Bates stood beside the sign, his back turned to the camera and his eyes gazing across the field. He wore a navy jacket which came nearly halfway between his waist and his knees. The dark blue striped trousers seen in earlier footage indicates that this must have been shot in the same day. The sun setting in the west, shows that this was much later than before. A trail of smoke leaving him shows that our giant is enjoying another of his premium cigars.

He turns his upper body to the side, and eyes the camera behind him. The humming of the drone’s rotors gave away its position, as well as gave notice to its very presence. For a man known for his dislike of cameras, Bates was calm. He simply smiled, brought up his Romeo Y Julieta Churchill cigar, and took a smoke. After a moment of savoring the taste, he blew the smoke out as he turned completely around and addressed the camera.

Thomas Uriel Bates: This is the battlefield of Birch Coulee, part of the Sioux Uprising of 1862. You see, the Dakota, which people ten and even now like to call the Sioux, grew tired of the U.S. government constantly lying to them. They grew tired of the broken treaties, the broken promises. The whites were at war with themselves, and the Indian Nations that had been removed west of the Mississippi, had now sided with their Southern brothers and waged war on the United States. The Dakota decided to do the same thing.

Here at this battle, the Union sent out a company of men, who would be decimated by the Dakotas led by Gray Bird. The Dakota were successful in destroying this company, and only disbursed when the Union dispatched an entire Brigade. The Dakota would eventually lose, and the Union, under the orders of none other than Abraham Lincoln, committed the largest mass execution in American history by hanging thirty-eight Dakotas without a fair trail.

Though they lost, they stood for something. They decided that they had enough of the lies, enough of the deceit. They took a stand, and even though they lost, even though some of them died, and their entire way of life demolished, they lost with their honour intact. They died with honour.

You see, this is what some people are just not understanding. Sadly, I now must include my own friend, perhaps former friend, Gemini into this mix. He doesn’t understand what I am doing. He doesn’t understand why I keep going back out there. He doesn’t understand why I keep fighting the fight even though my numbers get smaller and smaller every week.

He wants to say he bleeds for the WCF, and I have no cause to doubt him. But my brother, you are not the only one. I may stumble from time to time, but we all do. I may not win every fight, brother I may not even win the war, but I will fight with every fiber of my being. I will take my stand, and proudly hold that torch high in the face of the enemy. I will rally the troops, sound my battle cry, sound my Oliphant even if it is with my last breath.

I understand the realities of the situation, Gemini. I’m not so certain you do. While you’re running around playing in your Battle Station, hiring dim witted actors to play the part of your deceased son, and imagining that you’re some kind of alien so that you, Grayson Pierce, don’t have to deal with the torment of their loss; I’m fighting the fight to ensure that we get to keep our jobs. I’m fighting the fight to make sure that my friends, my family, gets paid.

Oh but your delusions have their clutch on you, don’t they? This lie you tell yourself so that you don’t have to face your son’s death is a powerful one, and quite frankly Grayson, it’s understandable. While I understand your torment, Gemini, as best I can in light of the circumstances, you have to understand that it’s not healthy. You’re hurt, Gemini, and you need help.

Now I know last week didn’t help you any. Here you are just starting to get where you can trust me again, and I go off and kick your head in. What did you think was going to happen there, Gemini? You know how BeachKrew works, you know that they’ll sneak around and the whole clique will attack one single person. How was I supposed to know that it was you that wrapped your arms around my waist? How was I supposed to know that you weren’t one of them, ready to attack me from behind? For all I knew, Gemini, you were Corey Black looking to soften me up one more time before the pay-per-view.

No, Gemini, in years past I think you would have understood what happened. I think you would have realized that when I caved your skull in last week, it was an accident. That I didn’t mean to hurt you, and that my anger was targeted at someone else. The old Gemini would have made sure he had my back, but such is not the case anymore, is it?

You hate me after all. You decide that you’ve had enough. That you’re done with me. You decide that I’m just some big fool, and you start to slowly believe stories that you know are lies. Your hatred grows stronger, because you need someone to hate. You need someone close to you to hate. You need to project all of your negative feelings and all of your anger, on me. You can’t cope with what has happened to you Gemini, so you need me to take the blunt of your anger.

So I have. We have stood in this ring on opposite times perhaps more often than we have on the same side. We have been friends, we have been enemies, we have been both at the same time. Now maybe I’m not the best friend, and right now I sure don’t feel like it, but I have been there for you as much as I can. This time, when you pushed me away, Gemini, I fear that we have crossed a bridge that we simply cannot go back to. I do hope that I am wrong, but you leave me with so little of that hope.

So this Sunday, when you step into that ring with me, I won’t be seeing a brother. I won’t be seeing a friend that I have let be so big a part of my life. I can’t see that. I just can’t anymore, Gemini. You win. You get your way. Grayson Pierce is dead, buried alongside his son, and Gemini Battle is now all that remains.

So when I kick you in the face this time, you can know it wasn’t an accident. You can know it wasn’t a mistake. You can know that I’m not holding back because you’re my friend. On Monday morning, you will wake up in a cold hospital bed wondering what happened to you, and you really will be all alone.

Our giant is finished. He has said all he can say at this point. It really is all there is to say.