- The Fire Still Burns -
Agent Atkins
Part Two
-[ Cody and Tomorrow Man both meet at the Crumb Caf� at approximately the same time. Both are surprised to see each other too. It�s been about a week since they�ve last spoken so neither of them knew that the other was called by their former agent, Kenneth Atkins. Cody extends his hand and Tomorrow Man shakes it. ]-
Cody: I wasn�t expecting to see you walking around here.
Tomorrow Man: Me neither. Where are you going?
-[ Cody points over his shoulder with his thumb and jerks his head in the direction of Crumb Caf�. ]-
Cody: I�m going to the Crumb. How �bout you?
Tomorrow Man: I�m doing the same thing. I�m supposed to be meeting someone there.
-[ Cody grins and takes a shot at busting his former tag tea m partner�s balls. ]-
Cody: Meeting one of the many fine ladies here in San Francisco?
-[ Tomorrow Man shakes his head in disappointment and sighs because he knows that�s probably the only thing on his friend�s mind. But instead of taking the punishment, Tomorrow Man breaks out of his shell and plays back some. He grins at Cody and Cody knows he�s in trouble. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Have you picked up any transvestites lately?
-[ Cody�s jaw drops. Tomorrow Man had to bring up the time Cody picked up a woman and she ended up actually being a he. That mistake will forever haunt Cody for the rest of his life and Tomorrow Man likes to use it any time Cody tries to bust his balls about women. ]-
Cody: Shut up! He had a good plastic job done! How was I supposed to know that she was a he?
Tomorrow Man: You could have asked. I will admit, that was a hell of a plastic surgery job though.
Cody: Yeah, I should have asked for the doctor�s name. I could have referred him to Max Danger or someone. Max did have one hell of an ugly mug.
-[ Tomorrow Man laughs at Cody�s remark about their former gfwa OMEGA employer. Tomorrow Man makes his way towards the Crumb Caf� and Cody follows. ]-
Cody: So who are you meeting here?
Tomorrow Man: Atkins.
-[ Tomorrow Man takes a seat at one of the outdoor tables and looks at his watch. Ten o�clock on the dot. Cody grabs a chair from another table and turns it backwards, taking a seat across from Tomorrow Man at the table. ]-
Cody: Our former agent Kenny Atkins?
Tomorrow Man: Yeah. He called me yesterday and wanted to meet me here at 10 o�clock to talk about �business.�
Cody: No shit? He called me for the same thing. As far as I knew, there wasn�t any business to discuss. I kept telling him that but�
Tomorrow Man: �he insisted. I know, I got the same thing.
Cody: The poor guy probably wants to re-sign us because he needs some quick cash. You know, he probably needs to refinance his mortgage or something.
Tomorrow Man: Probably. He was always strapped for cash is seemed. I say if he wants to re-sign us we should turn him down.
-[ Cody gets that look in his eye as dollar bills fill his pupils. ]-
Cody: Or, we stiff arm him and see how much we can get out of the deal.
-[ Tomorrow Man shakes his head in disapproval. ]-
Tomorrow Man: No, Cody. I won�t be part of it.
-[ All that money Cody was thinking about was just flushed down the toilet when Tomorrow Man said that. And he seriously wants to know why Tomorrow Man would turn down such a sweet deal before/if it even happens. ]-
Cody: Why not?
Tomorrow Man: Listen, it�s been about a year since we last were in a ring together.
Cody: Yeah, the good ol� gfwa OMEGA. I remember our last match.
Tomorrow Man: Yeah I do too and I wish that I couldn�t. We lost the Tag Team Titles in a handicap match to a man named Razor Blade. Key words being: handicap match.
Cody: So?
-[ Tomorrow Man looks down at the floor, just to look away from Cody while he sulks. ]-
Tomorrow Man: We don�t have it anymore.
-[ Cody is awestruck by what his friend just said. One of the greatest tag teams in the world can�t cut it anymore? He can�t even comprehend why his friend would say such a thing. Cody makes two fists and hits the table with them hard. ]-
Cody: Bullshit!
-[ Tomorrow Man looks up from the floor and notices that the people sitting outside with them at Crumb Caf� are looking at Cody because he is making a scene. Cody doesn�t care though. He points directly at Tomorrow Man with a uncompromising look. ]-
Cody: Maybe you forgot one of the key parts of why we lost. Interference. Those numbskulls Devilz Darkside came into a match they had no business in. They injured you and wasted me, giving Blade an easy 1, 2, 3. And for what? Why did they do it? Who knows. The only thing that comes to my mind is they were jealous. Jealous that in all the years and all the match-ups we had against one another, they could NEVER beat us. They couldn�t cut it with us straight up so they beat us when we were vulnerable.
-[ Tomorrow Man shakes his head, not believing any of what Cody is saying. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Those are just excuses and I don�t make excuses. We�re the ones that can�t cut it anymore.
Cody: T-Man, you�re one of the smartest men I�ve ever met but this you�re wrong about. But then again, maybe you�re right to a degree. Maybe YOU can�t do it anymore. But I know for a fact that I can. If Atkins wants a deal, I might take it if the zeros add up to the right amount. What you want to do personally is up to you.
Tomorrow Man: Deal.
-[ They both shake hands to seal the deal, but before they can finish they are interrupted by a man presumably trying to get their attention. He clears his voice and both Cody and Tomorrow Man look in his direction. ]-
Cody: Kenny Atkins! We were just talking about you.
-[ Cody extends his hand and Atkins shakes it. Atkins is a slender man and stands about 6 feet tall. He�s in his usual business attire, complete with a briefcase and all. Tomorrow Man nods at him, signaling his former agent to join the two. Of course he does since he was the one that called them both here in the first place. He grabs a chair from a nearby empty table and sets it next to a vacant spot near Tomorrow Man. He then places the small black briefcase down on the ground and reaches for his glasses. As he wipes them off with one of the table napkins, Tomorrow Man notices that Atkins� eyes have dark spots around them and bags under them; he looks as if he hasn�t slept in days. Sure, Kenny Atkins liked to work late some nights but never has he not had a problem sleeping after a long day of work. So this puzzles Tomorrow Man. ]-
Atkins: It�s wonderful to see you two again. It�s been, what, about a year since we last talked?
Cody: About. Want to get anything to drink or eat? Some coffee maybe?
Atkins: No, no, no. I�m fine. I just want to get down to business.
Tomorrow Man: We have no business�
-[ Tomorrow Man grimaces in pain as he reaches for his shin. On the other side of the table Cody sits there with a smirk on his face after kicking Tomorrow Man, relaying the message to �shut up.� Atkins reaches for his briefcase and sets it on the table. He snaps it open and pulls out three papers. He slides one to Cody and hands another to Tomorrow Man. Tomorrow Man quickly sees the top headline reads �Contract� and he instantly pushes it away, not wanting anything to do with signing a contract. Cody on the other hand joyously takes it and looks where to sign and notices that it�s all ready signed. All ready signed by Cody Carmichael, himself. He looks at Atkins suspiciously. ]-
Cody: What�s with the all ready signed contract? I never signed this.
-[ Tomorrow Man re-looks at his and notices his is signed all ready with his name. ]-
Tomorrow Man: I didn�t sign this either. What�s going on?
-[ Atkins takes his glasses off with his left hand and starts to rub the bridge of his nose stressfully. He then puts his glasses back on. ]-
Atkins: Gentlemen, I have a problem.
-[ Cody and Tomorrow Man look at each other simultaneously, as if to say �Yeah, well what do we have to do with it?�. ]-
Atkins: I�ve developed a bad habit�a gambling habit. I got mixed up with some bad people and I was way in over my head.
Cody: So what does that have to do with us?
Atkins: Well, I owe this bookie some money�a lot of money.
Tomorrow Man: How much is a lot?
Atkins: 5.2 million dollars.
Cody: Nice chunk of change there.
Tomorrow Man: If you�ve come here to ask us for some money we�ll do what we can.
-[ Cody quickly looks at Tomorrow Man with a surprised reaction. ]-
Cody: We will?!
-[ Tomorrow Man kicks Cody in the shin this time and Cody winces in pain. Of course Tomorrow Man wants to help out. He realizes that without Kenny Atkins he would have never been signed to the GFWA and he literally wouldn't have a career worth squat. ]-
Cody: Ah!�Of course we will!
Atkins: I wish I would have come to you guys sooner but I needed a lot of money really fast. And technically I still represent you two until June 1 of this year. That�s when the contracts run out.
-[ Tomorrow Man looks at his contract again, the one he signed close to a year and a half ago. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Yeah I see it right there on the contract.
Atkins: Well seeing as you two weren�t competing and making me money anymore, I had the contracts bought out.
Tomorrow Man: You did what?
Atkins: I had what was left on the contract bought out.
Cody: Why would you do that?
Atkins: I was desperate! I needed the money!
Cody: Who bought you out?
-[ Kenny Atkins puts his copy of the contract back in his briefcase and then he hands Cody and Tomorrow Man each another document. Cody and Tomorrow Man skim over the documents in disgust. Their sour faces turn even more appalled when they both find out who bought their former agent out. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Razor Blade?
Cody: Razor Blade?! As in the gfwa OMEGA Razor Blade?!
-[ Atkins nods his head. ]-
Atkins: Actually, he�s part owner of Advantage Wrestling now.
Cody: So what? I don�t give a shit what he�s part owner of! You screwed us!
Atkins: Come on now! I didn�t screw you. It�s all in the fine print of the contract you two signed. I could be bought out without your authority. Business is business. It�s nothing personal.
Cody: Bullshit! This is a personal thing! We aren�t working anymore so you sold us out. That�s just low, man.
-[ Cody stands up from his chair and looks directly at Kenny Atkins. ]-
Cody: I have half a mind to kick your teeth down your throat!
Atkins: You better save all that energy and anger for this weekend!
Tomorrow Man: What do you mean this weekend?
Atkins: Your new agent has made a deal with his federation. You�re going to be working the rest of the contract off in Advantage Wrestling.
-[ Cody roars in anger and makes his way towards Atkins. Again, the people in the pavilion area look at the three because Cody is making another scene. Tomorrow Man sees the owner of the caf� looking through the window at what�s going on. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Cody! Stop! Just hold on a second.
-[ Cody listens to his friend and stops before he assaults his former agent. He sits down and covers his face with his hands in frustration. ]-
Cody: Ok�how much are we going to make out of the deal?
Atkins: You�ll have to take that up with Razor Blade. I think he said somewhere around $1000 an event you appear in.
Tomorrow Man: Each?
Atkins: No, you guys came as a package so I believe it will be around $1000 for you two to share.
-[ Cody covers his face back up again in frustration. ]-
Cody: This is amazing. We can flip burgers for a week and make more.
Tomorrow Man: What if we refuse?
Atkins: You�ll probably get sued for breach of contract and for not appearing at an event you�re advertised for.
Cody: So we lose either way. Damn! I can�t believe you did this to us!
-[ Atkins reaches one last time into his briefcase and pulls out a single piece of paper. It�s small and has what appears to be a list of things typed onto it. ]-
Atkins: I knew you guys wouldn�t have liked the news so I had my secretary print up a match listing for the event�just so you two weren�t in the dark.
Cody: Gee, thanks a lot. You don�t know how much it warms my heart that you�d tell us what match we�re in.
-[ Cody rolls his eyes and Atkins just doesn�t pay attention to the sarcasm. ]-
Atkins: The event is Saudi Arabia�
Cody: �you�ve got to be kidding me.
Atkins: No, I�m not. And you guys are in a Tag Team Battle Royal type match where the winner wins the Advantage Wrestling Tag Team Titles.
Tomorrow Man: How many teams are in it?
Atkins: Eight tag teams, not including yourselves.
-[ Tomorrow Man points at the paper with the match listings. ]-
Tomorrow Man: Can I see that?
-[ Kenny Atkins hands the sheet of paper to Tomorrow Man and he looks it over. ]-
Cody: I can�t believe this. Here we are rusty as shit, and we�re put in a match that we only have days to prepare for. Now, I like competition and all but I don�t like the fact that we�re just being thrown into this.
Atkins: Sounds like you two have a lot of ring work cut out for yourselves.
Cody: No kidding.
Tomorrow Man: You�ll like this, Cody.
Cody: What�s that?
Tomorrow Man: Devilz Darkside is in the match.
Cody: Anybody else we know?
Tomorrow Man: Nobody else seems familiar.
Atkins: Sounds like you two have a lot of ring work AND research to do.
-[ Atkins closes his briefcase and stands up. ]-
Cody: Shut up! We�re going to win this thing, Kenny. Then we�ll be back to kick your ass!
Atkins: Sounds like a plan. Good luck, gentlemen.
-[ He nods at the two but they only respond with disgruntled looks. He then walks away, leaving Cody and Tomorrow Man at the table with the match listing. Tomorrow Man looks at his watch again. ]-
Cody: I just realized something.
Tomorrow Man: What�s that?
Cody: I hate Kenny Atkins.
-[ Tomorrow Man chuckles and nods in agreement. He then stands up, places the match listing in his pocket, and begins to walk around the table to leave. Cody grabs him and looks at him puzzled at where he�s going. ]-
Cody: Where are you going?
-[ Tomorrow Man looks back at him sharply with a slight grin. He�s got a plan. ]-
Tomorrow Man: The Butcher�s Clinic.
-[ After hearing what Tomorrow Man just said, Cody�s displeased expression turns into a smirk of joy and agreement. He stands up, turns his chair forwards, and pushes it under the table. They both leave the small pavilion area together and begin to walk down the street in the same direction. In the direction of the answer. ]-
