When The Party's Over | Proving Ground XVII | #1

The opening camera feed opens up to the home of Big Drip Productions, the boys are back and in full swing this time around but the house is empty, nobody around and there’s banners hanging from the ceiling, and even confetti all over the floor. There’s more meaning to this than meets the eye, some might think there’s been a celebration but there just hasn’t been one. Nothing’s happened that’s worth the celebration, after the ending to Project: Honor’s Proving Ground… all there was given was false hope.

One person continued to walk through the home and kicked away all the confetti that lay around on the ground, that person being Yung Sauce, the Big Drip Prince was a man who felt as if everything crumbled before him. As if everything crumbled before the drip- because it did. Lil Petey’s celebration was cut short and sadly, the boys just weren’t feeling it anymore. A sad time for anyone in The Hip House, and a sad time for Petey too, because once again he’ll have to go through Ozymandias. Was this the perfect crime of theft by the hands of Indy Darling- a man who’s always been for the people?

Sauce took a seat on the bar stool by the kitchen counter, a carton of choccy milk in his hand as he feels that depression kicking in, that feeling of failure, a feeling that he’s not felt since they lost their match against Legacy back at Wired Consequences. Sauce kept his head down as the whole of The Hip House fell into silence.

YUNG SAUCE
Can we even call it robbery at this point? Maybe we’ve gone past the point of theft, but even then… I don’t know what the fuck you’d call something like that. I feel it for my brother, he’s a hard working man and I know how prepared he was for the Grand Championship. He had it won even, just because the referee didn’t see him tapping out doesn’t mean he didn’t win, the boy pinned the Grand Champion - and no less, in a championship match, where the title was on the line - and then to have everything taken away from him just like that.

A long sigh comes over Sauce.

YUNG SAUCE
...just like that…

Sauce then lifts his head up, looking into the void of nothingness, but there’s a stern concentrated look on his face.

YUNG SAUCE
But see, here’s the thing about us, about the Big Drip boys… we always come back fuckin’ stronger. We always come back fighting the wars and ending the battles that we started. I’m aware that we lost big time at Proving Ground but that doesn’t mean we’re fuckin’ finished here. Sure, we didn’t win the tag titles months ago, sure we don’t have the Warrior Rising title any more, sure TJ didn’t get through the X-Factor tournament and sure, Petey only got to hold the title for less than thirty seconds. The Big Drip… yeah, we’ve taken some massive L’s here in 2021, and that’s expected… not everyone can be as great as we’d wish.

Taking a sip of his choccy milk before placing it back down onto the counter.

YUNG SAUCE
But we’re all about to come up with the rise, we’re back on the map and this time, we’re about that life -- we’re all about giving the world what they need in their life and that’s some serotonin -- but to do that, we need a starting point. At the next Proving Ground, however, that’s not a starting point. That’s the end game. The end goal of proving why these lots aren’t as good as many expect them to be. Having the likes of Cadillac Jackson and Pat The Postman on the team, having the Warrior Rising Champion who’s just a fuckin’ flake on the team, and they wanna face someone like us. I know that Indy Darling’s tryna make us all feel a little bit better after the events of the last show but if he’s really tryna make us feel better… then make this worth more.

Again, another long sigh coming over Sauce.

YUNG SAUCE
...and to give Petey the championship he’s deserving…

Shaking his head in disgust.

YUNG SAUCE
Cadillac Jackson, Pat The Postman, and Emmanuelle. Three dumb BITCHES that don’t mean shit to us, expect for that little girl y’all got over there with the pretty fuckin’ championship on her shoulder, but the point still remains. Ya’ll tryna make this shit a great battle for us, tryna make these people our best opponents, but nah… they ain’t worth shit, don’t you think? I know the boys, I know the vibes, I know what’s ahead of us. Scott Oasis, I know the boy’s gonna make moves on that GOD DAMN DEBRA. TJ Thompson, I know the boy’s looking to bounce back from the tournament so starting off with the goober he always hoes out every time there’s a win needed. Then there’s me and well… shit… I don’t know what I gotta prove in this match. I guess I’m the odd one out right now, the man who’s in this with nothing to win but nothing to lose at the same time. I mean, there ain’t a fuckin’ problem with that but still… at the same time… I want something worth fighting for.

Sauce brushes his hair back with his right hand.

YUNG SAUCE
But at the end of the day, at least I don’t fuckin’ suck like these two people. Pat the Postman and Cadillac Jackson. Why are you two the two people that gotta be here, why is it that it’s you two who should be in this match, a Warrior Rising Division match and THESE TWO ARE WHO’S REPRESENTING THE CHAMPION!? HAHAHAHAHAHA! Hilarious. I’ve gone hysterical over how much of a FIGHT you two would be bringing into this match. I don’t know much about y’all but still… Pat the fuckin’ Postman? I watched that shit when I was a toddler years ago! I’ve heard all about you, about what you did with young TJ Thompson, and well… to be frank- I’m not afraid of you and I’m sure as FUCK ain’t gonna be beat by someone like this. Do people cheer you on? Are people happy to see you? When I watch the shows, people be fuckin’ freaking OUT over how you looked, seemed pretty easy to knock ya damn head right off, breh!

Sauce began shadow boxing the air in front of him, as if he’s punching Pat The Postman that’s standing right in front of him, but for the first time since the feed opened up -- there’s a smile on the face of The Big Drip Prince.

YUNG SAUCE
Ain’t no fuckin’ way I’m losing this match, breh. Not a damn fuckin’ hope I ain’t gonna lose to this fucker, man.

A man walks into the shot, and it’s a Hip House regular in Redface. Wearing the red colors of the crips and doing the crip walk around the house as he makes his way into the kitchen.

REDFACE
Y’all talkin’ bout that muh’fuckin’ post man dude? Yea, nah, he ain’t gonna fuckin’ win that ish, breh.

YUNG SAUCE
Everyone knows that shit won’t fuckin’ happen, the boys know that shit won’t fuckin’ happen, and when Pat--

Redface taps Sauce on the shoulder.

REDFACE
Aye, when we gon’ clean this fuckin’ place up, breh? Shit’s in shambles as it is right now.

YUNG SAUCE
...soon, fam. Give me time on this promo ish, ‘ight?

REDFACE
Bet, money. Lemme know, ‘cuz.

Redface soon leaves the shot with a handful of snacks, heading back to his room as Sauce watches him walk away.

YUNG SAUCE
Even the dumbest of fools don’t see the same shit y’all might see.

Sauce then turns his head to face the camera.

YUNG SAUCE
And for that Caddy daddy lookin’ motherfucker, aye big dawg, flexin’ those wins like shit is going to be sunny side up for the next couple of matches for ya. What’s the matter, fool? When we predicted your match, we didn’t know who the fuck you were, and when we saw your name come up here for this match, we STILL don’t know who the fuck you are. Explain to me who the fuck you’re meant to be to me, to us, to EVERYONE watching this show because at the end of the day when everyone’s tryna make use of what you are. We’ll never know because apes have small attention spans, and people watching our match wouldn’t give a rats ass cheeks if you’re this kinda dude or that kinda dude, but the kinda dude I’m tryna be? The dude you’re also tryna be? A success story that nobody expected? Yeah, nah, that’s my story fam and you ain’t about tryna take MY STORY when I’m writing the damn fuckin’ book on it. You ain’t about that life, I know you ain’t, and all you gonna bring to the table at Proving Ground is failure.

A cocky laugh comes from Sauce.

YUNG SAUCE
As you always have been.

And then a slight shrug of his shoulders before turning his head, grabbing the choccy milk in his hand and then taking a gulp from it.

YUNG SAUCE
But I guess we can’t talk all that shit without runnin’ through the queen bitch around here, fuckin’ Emmanuelle. Damn, I watched you all over the damn shop, you’re the queen bitch that’s always thinking she’s higher than everyone else in the world because you’re influenced by the likes of Carlos Rosso or other people that you might think people fuckin’ care about but they really don’t. Do I see you as the viable threat? Of course, who wouldn’t when you’re the champion. But at the same time, you’re not as good as you say you are, and that’s facts that anyone can fuckin’ bring to their grave. Emmanuelle, lemme tell ya, you might have beaten “the best of the best that there is right now” but you STILL AIN’T SHIT. You ain’t shit, your wrestling ain’t shit, your fighting ain’t shit, your vignettes ain’t shit, when you just gonna realise that you ain’t the shit that needs the attention so much that it’s basically all you fightin’ for.

A laugh coming from Sauce.

YUNG SAUCE
So when you realise this ain’t your game to win, you can fuckin’ give up the title and walk off. Go all the way back to the island since you seem so appreciated over there, go back to the omegas if you feel as if you’re so appreciated because over here… You’re not. You’re not gonna be appreciated over here and thinking that The Silver Starlet is going to be the next big star on Proving Ground is the worst thing you’ve ever done. You’re not queen shit of fuck knows what mountain you stand on and we’re not the jokes you might be seeing us as. We’re done playing the same swan song, and we’re done listening to that same old fuckin’ mantra from you, so do us all a fuckin’ favour AND JUST FUCK OFF ALREADY!

Sauce’s tone raised before falling into silence, leaving him to take another sip of his choccy milk.

YUNG SAUCE
Fate leaves us with a lot of things, but if there’s one thing we are not going to be anymore, that’s being fuckin’ slackers, that’s being the fuckin’ butt of every single joke there is, and that’s being laughed at because of what we do for a living. Laugh it up, we’re happy to humble you, but when the party’s over… Who’ll clean up all the shit you left behind? Because we won’t. Not anymore.

Sauce leaps off of the bar stool and looks over his head, the banner reading “GRAND CHAMPION PETEY” as it’s pulled down from Sauce and then carried away by the Big Drip Prince, looking to clean up the mess made behind from what was meant to be. A grand celebration of life.

Fade to black.