Post by CallMeRobert on Mar 15, 2022 13:03:03 GMT -5
March 3rd, 2022
Providence, Rhode Island
Off Camera
Silence. Broken.
ARIK HOLT: Listen, I’m sorry I couldn’t get out to help you against that crackerjack, Mr. Wright. I tried, but security stopped me and damn near threw me out of the building.
Darkness. Lightened.
We find ourselves in the back halls of the Dunkin Donuts Center during Fallout XXI: A New Era Begins. We see Arik Holt and Savannah Andrews. Arik is holding Savannah’s bags as they are gradually making their way to the exit.
ARIK HOLT: I pushed everything to the limits when I ran in at the end of the show.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS: It’s okay, Arik. I understand completely.
The look on Savannah’s face is that of unease. She slows down slightly, just to be able to walk behind Arik by only a step. With a quick glance, she lifts her right hand and looks at the fresh diamond ring that is sitting on her finger.
ARIK HOLT: I still feel bad. I could have done something. I could have gotten into that ring. Tonight was just a mess from the word go.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS: Well at least we are able to walk out. Billy was pretty banged up after that Main Event.
Arik stops dead and turns around, catching Savannah off guard as she jumps slightly…stopping in her own tracks.
ARIK HOLT: I like Billy and all…but right now I don’t give a shit about her. All I care about is you and me. Fuck Havoc, fuck Slade, fuck Syndicate, fuck Julius, and FUCK that little pecker-neck Angelo.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS: Well listen, Arik. Billy is my best friend and I…I worry about her.
Savannah’s eyes, that had been focused on her hand and were forced to look up to Arik, now drift off.
ARIK HOLT: Believe me, I understand. Billy is a good person, a good friend if you will. But sometimes you have to know when to cut your losses.
The look on Sav’s face changes to one that was a mixture of surprise and shock.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS: I will NOT cut Billy out of my life. And truthfully, you are the one that introduced us. By bringing me into True Society, you are the one who placed us face to face.
ARIK HOLT: Fuck True Society. None of them were worth the trouble. Well…beside you and maybe Billy. And I plan on heading over to Proving Ground tomorrow night to see where we stand with Casanova.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS: I never really felt like English was part of us. He always just did his own thing over on Proving Ground while we all danced here on Fallout.
ARIK HOLT: Yeah, well I’m hoping he feels differently. Now come on, let’s go. We have a lot to do before this Cancun trip.
CHADWICK BUNDY: ARIK!
Arik’s glances over from Savannah, to see Chadwick Bundy running up the hall to him.
ARIK HOLT: Listen, why don’t you head out to the car and get comfortable. Get yourself settled in and find a nice radio channel to listen to. I’m not sure what Chadwick wants and I don’t want to keep you waiting in this filth trap anymore than you have to.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS: Okay.
Arik leans into Savannah as she takes a step forward, kissing her on the cheek. She lightly flinches at his touch, but Arik is too distracted by Chadwick to notice.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS: I’ll see you in the car.
And with that, Savannah continues walking down the hallway towards the exit.
CHADWICK BUNDY: Arik! I’m glad I caught you.
ARIK HOLT: What did you need, Chad?
CHADWICK BUNDY: So, Petey wanted to throw this away…but I had to tell him that would TECHNICALLY be a federal crime…
Chadwick hands a bundle of envelopes to Arik. With a sigh, Arik places Savannah’s bag on the ground and takes the stack of mail from Chadwick. One by one, he begins to go through them.
ARIK HOLT: Credit card application, junk. Credit card application, junk. Trugreen Lawn Care, junk. Oh look…
Arik smirks as he holds up a ‘Make-A-Wish’ letter.
ARIK HOLT: What the fuck do they want from me? To help? To donate? To go say hi to all those little children? Aren’t all those little ankle biters going to be dead soon anyway? JUNK!
Arik laughs while Chadwick just gives him an uneasy look.
Back to the letters, Arik continues to go through them.
ARIK HOLT: Some angry fan mail, junk. OH…look…
Arik holds up a thicker envelope that has a red stain in the bottom corner, with Norse writing on the front of it.
ARIK HOLT: Angry former employee mail…junk!
Back through the envelopes.
ARIK HOLT: Girl Scouts, junk. Probably asking for some money for some overpriced cookies. Maybe…JUST MAYBE…if they didn’t support an organization that killed off their future members in the name of ‘health’...they’d be able to get more money from their members. But who am I to judge, right? I’m just a lowly, good-for-nothing man.
Arik laughs out loud but stops when he gets to the final piece of mail. His eyes widen as he looks down at the letter addressed to ‘Andrew Holt’. He looks up at Chadwick, anger raging in his eyes.
ARIK HOLT: Is this some kind of joke?
CHADWICK BUNDY: What do you mean?
Arik holds up the letter.
CHADWICK BUNDY: They must have addressed it to the wrong Holt.
Arik lunges forward and grabs Chadwick by the collar, pulling him to within inches of his own face.
ARIK HOLT: Where did this come from, Chadwick?
CHADWICK BUNDY: I-I-I-I don’t kn-
ARIK HOLT: WHERE DID IT COME FROM???
CHADWICK BUNDY: I’m sorry, Arik. I don’t know.
Arik lets go of Chadwick, pushing him away slightly.
ARIK HOLT: Chad…I’m…I’m sorry.
Clearing his throat, Arik takes a deep breath. The uneasiness is thick in the air.
CHADWICK BUNDY: It’s okay, boss. But listen, I have to get going. I’m sure Petey and Percival need me to help start getting things together. With Cancun happening in two weeks, we have a bunch to do.
ARIK HOLT: Sounds good. Have a good week, Chadwick. I’ll see you in Mexico.
Chadwick nods, before turning and walking away. Once he is far enough away, Arik tears open the letter addressed to him and opens up the folded piece of paper that was inside. His eyes widen in terror as he reads the letter. It only had four words on it. ‘I AM FREE - Arik’
March 14th, 2022
Cancun, Mexico
On Camera
The sun cascades onto the perfect sandy beaches in Cancun, finding no resistance without a cloud in the sky. Tourists little the landscape; playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean, or just soaking in the sunshine.
ARIK HOLT: For just a moment, to feel the sunshine on my skin…to smell the ocean breeze…to just be able to enjoy myself…it reminds me of a better time…a simpler time.
The camera pans back and we find it is on the balcony of a nearby hotel. Sitting next to the camera itself, is Arik Holt. Dressed in a white t-shirt, white shorts, and a white panama hat…his eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark-lense sunglasses as he faces out to the beach.
ARIK HOLT: I once feel like I had it all. I was General Manager of Fallout, leader of True Society, a man on TOP of the world. There once was a time when I stood before Champions, before monsters among men, before Gods. But you know what that ended?
Arik pauses.
ARIK HOLT: It wasn’t when DeMarco came out from under his fucking rock to steal Fallout back from me. It wasn’t when Syndicate and Slade decided they wanted to be traitors to the standard we set within True Society. No…my downfall was the day that Angelo Caito came knocking at my door to ask me if he could ‘pwease join Twue Society.’ And how was I supposed to turn him away? He had the Gatekeeper Championship, he had just recently bricked Savannah’s brother in the he-
He grimaces and then removes his sunglasses as he turns and looks at the camera.
ARIK HOLT: Oops, sorry. I forgot I’m not supposed to mention Asher. He’s been retconned, written off, sent to rehab, or something. We’re supposed to pretend like he wasn’t JUST on Fallout, JUST getting a brick upside his skull. But back to Angelo…I saw the Gatekeeper Championship on Angelo’s shoulder and figured it wouldn’t hurt to have him be the lackey of our little group of friends. At least he had gold, right?
Slight pause.
ARIK HOLT: At least he couldn’t be a total waste of air, right?
Another pause.
ARIK HOLT: At least…he could…be…any…worse. Boy was I fucking wrong! I let him join our little group, to make sure he had a few friends to hang around. I let him sit at the cool kids table, just so he didn’t feel lonely. And then what does he do…
Arik sighs.
ARIK HOLT: He fucking loses the Gatekeeper Championship, then decides that not only does he want to start wearing face paint…but he wants to start wearing a green wig too? I mean, isn’t this the same guy that just shaved his head a couple months prior to this? He goes from wanting to be one of the cool kids in school, to the freak who seems ready to shoot up the school bullies.
He folds his sunglasses and slides them into a pocket located in the front of shirt. With a slight sigh, he stands up from the chair he was relaxing in and leans forward onto the banister of his balcony.
ARIK HOLT: The moment he stepped foot into True Society, he began to TRUTHFULLY show us just how big of a loser he is. Henry Lee Hyde, the Throne Of Blood match, Henry Lee Hyde again, Alyssa Grace…just chalk them up to the double-digit loss total of Angelo Caito. The man who has so many faces that people just call him the ‘lesser-talented’ version of Jason Long. Looking back on it, I should have told him no. But it was like finding a mangy dog that is flea-covered, injured, and missing an eye, in the middle of the street. You want to help him. You want to build him back up. You want to make him better.
Holt smirks as he turns and looks at the camera.
ARIK HOLT: But it’s one of the deals that I should have just kept on walking. Looking at his record alone, I should have realized that this man was just the King of Shit. With just wins over Rapture, Keno, Guy…it should have been an eye-opener. Because every time he stepped up to the plate with a bigger-badder opponent on the other side of him…he just couldn’t get the job done. And now? Now Petey finds it hilarious that on MY wedding day…he wants me to face Angelo.
Another hard sigh.
ARIK HOLT: I’m sure that Poco Pedro is getting a stiffy, just thinking of the ways he can fuck with me. First he fucks me over by kicking me out of the Fallout GM position…then he fucks me over by scheduling that True Society-killing Main Event at the last Fallout…now he wants to fuck me over by putting Caito in front of me, on what is supposed to be the happiest day of my life.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS (Off screen): Arik?
Arik’s attention turns to behind the camera.
ARIK HOLT: I’ll be in, in a moment, darling.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS (Off screen): Hurry up, please. We have some delicious cake’s to taste-test and we have to get you fitted. The wedding is in only four days!
ARIK HOLT: Yes, dear.
Back to the camera.
ARIK HOLT: But I will be damned if I let Petey, Caito, or ANYONE ELSE, ruin this day for me. Angelo doesn’t frighten me. No amount of face-paint or silly Joker-gimmick, is going to frighten me. I’m seen worse…I’ve BEEN worse. Now I know Caito is going to try to walk out, acting all intimidating…probably say something absolutely stupid…DO something absolutely stupid…then think he is going to be the big, bad in our little back and forth.
Arik leans in towards the camera.
ARIK HOLT: But I want you to remember a few things, Angelo. When you look back at your hit list on Fallout…who have you honestly destroyed? When everyone looks back at your time on the Fallout brand, who WOULD be scared of you? What have you done, besides knocking off a few of the enhancement talent and having good enough aim to hit someone with a large brick?
A moment for Angelo to answer.
ARIK HOLT: As for me? Ask Jason Long version four-point-five…you know, the one he wants everyone to forget about…ask him how intimidating I can be. Ask him if my aim was good, or did I just get up close and personal to get my hands dirty. Or what about Jacob Steele? Ask him how much it tickled to cross paths with me. Ask him if I needed to play cornhole with a brick…or if I tickled the inside of his ribcage with the cold steel of a knife? You see Angelo, where I come from, we aren’t a group of chicken shits like you. We don’t need to throw things from a distance and then run away. We don’t need to beg for people to take us in like a little lost soul. We go in, guns-a-blazin’.
Arik chuckles to himself, understanding the irony of him mentioning a gun.
ARIK HOLT: Friday is coming quick, Angelo. And while I know the thought is probably running through your head and you suddenly grew a pair of balls the size of Texas, I want you to think twice before your dumb ass comes flying out to try and interrupt my wedding. You see, I don’t care if you fuck around with me. I could take a step back, fuck you up, then step right back into the moment. But don’t you DARE take this away from Savannah. She has waited too long for a real man…for a TRUE man. And if she sheds one tear because of you and your actions, I swear to God you will feel the same wrath of those who have stood in my way before.
He finally pulls back from being close to the camera.
ARIK HOLT: This is not your opportunity to shine, Angelo. This isn’t your chance to be the bigger man. This is your chance, for the first time in your life, to be a smarter man. Walk away. Be on Offense…and just run with the ball…run far away from the ring, the wedding chapel, and Fallout itself. If not, as God as my witness…I’ll send you to the same grave that your cosplay-inspiration is buried at.
SAVANNAH ANDREWS (Off screen): ARIK!
ARIK HOLT: I”M COMING…I mean…coming, sweetheart.
And just like that, the screen goes black.