Slowly blinking Joe's eyes open to a beautiful face smiling at him. He doesn't know who it is, but soon realizes it is a nurse. He is at the hospital.
Whe...where am I?
You're in the ICU unit of the hospital. We thought we'd lose you.
How did I get here?
You were admitted after being found in your home with cuts on your arms...we thought they were self-inflicted. Were they self-inflicted?
Maybe...who admitted me?
A guy steps up from the shadows where he had been sitting.
Josh: I did.
Thought I told you not to come back.
I left the camera.
It's my camera.
When I saw what had happened I immediately called 9-1-1. Told them you got cut on a broken bottle, when you fell, because you were drunk. Of course that is what happened isn't it?
Josh subtly nods his head at the nurse who is attending to Joe's IV.
Of course. You know me...I'm hardly able to stand up straight when I get enough liqour in me.
The nurse looks over, sternly, trying to see if they are lying.
So that means that with the cut all bandaged up I can go now, right.
Techincally...yes...although we have reasons to believe you are suicidal.
Baby do you have any idea who I am? I'm Joe Cool! The MWF World Heavyweight Champion! To steal a line from someone else, I'm a sexy beast! Why would I do something like that?
I don't watch wrestling.
The point is, there's no way I'd do something like that. Besides, I've got a title defense on Saturday. So if you'll excuse me...
Joe starts to sit up and the IV tugs at his arm.
Shit. Could you take that out?
The nurse removes the IV and applies a band-aid to where the needle was. Joe sits up and walks out.
You'll have to take care of the appropriate paperwork.
Joe looks over at Josh.
I did it already...all he needs to do is sign. Hey, there's gotta be something for a guy to do when he's waiting for another to come around.
That's what magazines are for.
Joe signs the release form and they leave the hospital. They enter Josh's car and they drive off. Inside of the car there is an eerie silence. Josh is the first to speak.
You know, some thanks would be appreciated.
I wish you'd left me there.
Why'd you do it, Joe?
I saw something that made me lose all hope for life.
And that would be...
I saw Andri on FX, one of her promos for TCW.
I didn't realize you're THAT hung up about her.
Yeah well she did just leave me for no reason, to shack up with Rocket, the guy who tried to break my neck. Besides...she was special. I loved her. Those feelings don't fade away too easily. Besides, what I saw last night...
Josh looks at him, wanting to know and Joe changes the subject.
Do we have anything to drink?
What did you see Joe?
How come I knew you wouldn't leave me alone about it? She's engaged..
Well that's good isn't it?
To C4.
Oh.
Yeah..."oh". The guy comes acting like a friend...he knew what he was doing.
Well why didn't you just call her?
Are you kidding me? She hasn't talked to me since ICW closed. I thought we were friends too but...yeah.
Well anything would be better than killing yourself.
That's what you think.
Joe looks at his arm, which is heavily bandaged and he sighs.
I lost my company, and the girl of my dreams. YOU try not killing yourself when that happens.
In addition to the fact you think you might not have what it takes anymore in the ring.
No..that was just ring rust. I'm sure of that.
They pull up in front of Joe's house.
I really don't want to leave you alone in there.
I'll be fine. I won't try anything I promise.
Well I'll be back anyway...for the camera.
It's MY camera!
Oh...I know it doesn't matter much at this moment but..here are some tapes that Pozen had made. I figured if you're up to it...
Joe snatches the tapes.
I've gotta vent on someone. Pozen's the unlucky guy.
Joe exits the car and heads inside. He looks and sees that nothing is really changed. The camera is still set in front of his TV...and the blood is still on the MWF title belt. He sits down and lifts up the belt, which now has the dried blood on it. He uses his own shirt to clean it off, although without much luck, he does get most of it off. He slides one of Pozen's tapes into the VCR...then another once he's finished. He decides now is the time to respond. He goes to remove the tape to replace it in his camera and sees there is no tape. So he just puts a new one in and hits record.
What an ordeal it's been in the last 24 hours. Pozen thinks I've went silent because I'm scared. Well Pozen that is most certainly not true. I'm going to tell you something, that you might have trouble believing. I have a life outside of MWF. Things happen that are far more important than talking trash to you. My life doesn't revolve around Pozen! Maybe that's just me being WACKY, but I'm pretty sure that it doesn't have to. Why should I focus so much on a guy that I'm going to beat easily at Brimstone? The answer is, I really shouldn't. Hell I shouldn't even continue with this, but I'm going to. Not because I like you, but because I'm bored and need something to do. That's how important you are Pozen. A guy is talking trash about you because he's bored. Feel special, take your new knowledge with pride.
I noticed you went ahead and named off your accolmplishments in ICW. Big deal. So what if I said you were a jobber, you still are! Fluke wins doesn't make up for that fact. It all goes downhill from there and you know it. You think i'm living in a dream world, well only you would say that. You can't see the facts right in front of your eyes. You think that by insulting me you can somehow build your own self-confidence. I keep telling you Pozen, I am living in a dream world, but the funny thing is, it's your dream! I'm stuck in your dream. I know you want to be me. You want what I have. The admiration of the fans, the knowledge that I am the best there ever was in MWF or wrestling for that matter..
Joe picks up the World title.
And you want this. The MWF World Heavyweight Championship. The one that was with me this entire time at my house, which means you are a complete idiot by saying you threw it into the crowd. A complete and utter disgrace to this sport Pozen. That's what you are. This belt, in my hands, is something that you can only look at. You can stare from your television and stare at this belt. The closest you'll ever get to it is when the referee shows it to you right before I proceed to dismantle you. That's right, take you apart, piece by piece, until there is nothing left and I'm free to pin you 1, 2..3.
Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, pissing you off IS what I want to do. Now see you are the one with delusions if you think I'm even remotely scared of you. How could I be? You're a joke! You know who you beat to get this title shot? SKWERL and MATT WARD. One of them is fired and the other..well the other just plain SUCKS. See, I do want a fight, because I'm tired of all the people who lose to me in less than five minutes. I figure that if you put up a fight, you'd lose to me in less than 10 minutes, tops. Pozen, I have a serious question...can I buy some pot from you? Because obviously you are smoking something to think you are going to come CLOSE to beating me. Maybe beating yourself, if you catch my drift, but not me.
Now onto your second tape. What's running THROUGH my mind you ask? Well, not you. Well I suppose the fact I'll soon be able to kick some sense into you is in there somewhere. I mean I am looking forward to showing you how wrong you are. I am not scared of you. What part of "The Man Without Fear" do you not understand? I HAVE NO FEAR! Do you understand? You are not exempt from that rule. I do not fear anybody or anything. What is going to happen in our match is, I'm going to go to that ring, step inside, and proceed to beat the hell outta you until you realize that I am the better man. Resistance is futile. You're either going to get pinned, or I'm going to make you tap out like the bitch you are. You don't deserve the title shot, but you're getting it anyway and you're going to wish you hadn't.
I'm ready for anything you can dish out. The question is...are you ready? If so you'd better BE ready. Because I'm giving you everything I've got and in the end it's going to be more than you can handle, and more than enough to help me retain my title. And I am going to retain my title Pozen...but hey, I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know.