Post by Delikado/J-Noble on Apr 9, 2011 13:57:25 GMT -5
The Kingdom of Pride's “Oblivion XXXIII”
Main Event Ten-Man All Star Elimination Tag Team Match:
Eddie Nash, Josh Eagles, Eric Valor, Kid Flanagan, and Stephen Callaway vs. Johnny Noble, Pitbull, Dru Tha Merc, Jason Phoenix, and Obscene
April 10, 2011
Main Event Ten-Man All Star Elimination Tag Team Match:
Eddie Nash, Josh Eagles, Eric Valor, Kid Flanagan, and Stephen Callaway vs. Johnny Noble, Pitbull, Dru Tha Merc, Jason Phoenix, and Obscene
April 10, 2011
The scene opens inside a 2004 Chevy Aveo as it drives along to its destination in the city street leading away from Cookeville. Driving alone is Johnny Noble, his face practically stone-solid with determination as his hands tightly grip the steering wheel. With ”In Medias Res” journalist Jabyr Adze having just sent him the text regarding the location of an office outside Pride’s territory that supposedly belongs to his elder brother Kurt Noble, the man Johnny has been working to corner and bring down for so long, the youngest of the Noble family is looking more driven than ever before. THIS is the day he has worked for. THIS is the moment he has Suddenly, his iPhone can be heard ringing and Johnny answers it.
Johnny Noble: Yeah?
Alex Avice [on phone]: Johnny, it’s Alex.
Johnny lets out a soft sigh of apathy as the interviewer’s voice echoes in his ear.
Johnny Noble: What do you want?
Alex Avice [on phone]: Well, uh, I was wondering if we could talk for a minute, dude.
Johnny Noble: About…?
Alex Avice [on phone]: I guess we could start with the fact that the co-interview kinda got dropped last week out of the blue after you left without really saying anything. Adze wouldn’t tell me anything, soooo…yeah, not sure how I should feel about that one. I thought we’d get some great interview footage and…
Johnny Noble: Right off the bat, Alex, I’ll just tell you that I left because after getting in maybe, oh, I don’t know, five minutes of speaking time with Adze, I could just tell that his kind, this ”In Medias Res” journalist type, that it wasn’t the kind thing I wanted to do. I didn’t feel that the Kingdom of Pride would benefit from me talking to someone from a gossip column that’s more or less proven that it will twist your words around.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Then why did you want to meet someone from ”In Medias Res” for an interview if you knew that they were going to just be someone you’d reject speaking to?
Johnny Noble: I thought I’d give him a chance. You see, I’m usually pretty open to letting people speak their piece before I make any sort of call, business or otherwise, on whether or not I want to work with them. That’s usually what I’ve tried to be about here, especially in my Pride run. And so when I sat there in that office and listened to all the premeditated words that Jabyr Adze tried to feed me on how ”In Medias Res” was this big time newspaper and magazine conglomerate that’s won countless awards and recognition for getting “the stories”, I could tell right then and there that this interview would not be in Pride’s best interest, the best interest of my career, heck, even YOUR best interest, Alex. I wanted to talk to him, sure, but I suppose I made a slight miscalculation in thinking a figure like that at the head of something like “In Medias Res” would be different from…well, a leech.
Alex Avice [on phone]: I see…
Johnny looks outside the window as he reaches a stop sign and glances around. In his mind, Johnny would like nothing better than to stop Avice in his tracks right now so that his mind may not be distracted when he reaches the address. But it is not truly in a Noble’s nature to completely abandon one who is only doing their job, and truth be told, it may do Johnny some good to talk to the interviewer so as to not focus on more painful truths like with his partner Debra Mason’s condition or the older Noble brother’s past sins that have pushed Johnny this far. And so Johnny does himself some good in speaking out to the interviewer.
Johnny Noble: Yeah. So, my apologies for bringing you around like that and then bailing on the interview I promised. Trust me though when I say this, Alex, that you didn’t deserve to have your journalist career slandered and made a mockery of by some self-absorbed, overrated propaganda sickness like ”In Medias Res” and Jabyr Adze.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Well, thanks, Johnny. You know, I appreciate that.
Johnny can’t help but roll his eyes. Even in his determination, Noble is still taken aback and somewhat annoyed by the interview’s largely cheery attitude and over stacked humbleness. A plane can be heard flying overhead and Johnny looks up into the afternoon sky as the sound passes over him somewhere high above. Indeed, a real take-off has begun.
Alex Avice [on phone]: So hey, uh, John. I’m guessing you heard the news this past week on Oblivion about how this is the Kingdom of Pride’s big finale coming up…
A more somber tone enters the interviewer’s voice, contrasting with how he’d been feeling moments ago. Johnny slowly inhales and exhales. He himself heard the news, but does not appear to take it as badly as others.
Johnny Noble: Yeah, I got the memo. Can’t say I’m surprised, given the circumstances.
Alex Avice [on phone]: I guess. Still…But hey, looks like the company’s going out with a heck of a bang, huh? I mean, it’s you and a team of some of the best in Pride taking on the Valiant Champion and his team of men who are equally impressive! And this isn’t even the big Super Show finale, which I’ve heard is going to be PACKED!
There’s that eagerness again from old Avice. No doubt the things Pride is capable of really get him going with excitement just emitting from every word that comes out of his mouth.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Johnny, if you don’t mind, dude, could you give the Kingdom of Pride some of your thoughts on a huge match such as this one? There’s the fact that it’s your longtime Pride rival Eddie Nash collaborating with the likes of the Syndicate Champion Kid Flanagan, Pride’s cult favorite Stephen Callaway, the future super star in the making Eric Valor, and then—of course—Josh Eagles. These are some pretty high-leveled odds, wouldn’t you say?
Johnny Noble: Well, getting right at it, Alex, the match itself IS a major note to have the last Oblivion end on. It’s practically the kind of captivating sight you want to end a wrestling company’s regular programming on; something that all wrestling fans can appreciate and what a lot of professional wrestling promoters should aspire to end it on. The Main Event we have, that I’m in, is one of a major size not only in terms of how many people are in, but the star power driving the match. Like you said, there’s the Valiant Champion, there’s the Syndicate Champion, there’s former #1 contenders, there’s the current #1 contenders, the future of this entire industry, and those who are going out in this industry; the kind of people who are going to want to leave behind a real impression on a place with as much history as the Kingdom of Pride. This place has literally hundreds of different stories to tell, Avice, and everyone will want to make an impact.
Alex Avice [on phone]: And no doubt you’re going to be one of those people looking to make an impact?
Johnny can’t but crack a smile.
Johnny Noble: Why would I push for anything less? Since I first arrived in the Kingdom of Pride back in August of last year, I’ve consistently been pushing to change things in this company.
Alex Avice [on phone]: So…would you say you have?
Johnny’s smile now fades a bit as his mind refocuses on where it is he’s going now, and what it might mean for his career and his life when he gets there. No matter the case, Johnny makes it his priority to stick to the sense of changing things in Pride as a wrestler, to which Avice was alluding to.
Johnny Noble: I’d like to think I’ve made the Kingdom of Pride “breath” in a different manner than it’s used to since coming here. Giving the fans and the wrestlers who first made this place a unique kind of intensity to watch and experience; something that the name “Noble” is capable of bringing about. But as it is, this Main Event--going back to the final Oblivion this Sunday--was at first something I wondered about to myself. I questioned, “Are the guys up in management REALLY going to attempt this on a smaller basis like Oblivion? Are they going to book a big finish in a territory that is presented at two in the morning on a Monday on the WNPX-TV station?” But, um, I first thought like that when the match was only just getting announced, and now that I’ve had time to think it over and reconsider the people I have on my team to go against the likes of Eagles and Flanagan and Callaway and Valor, I realize that there is the potential for some real genius moments in this match-up.
Perhaps Avice noticed the exclusion of Eddie Nash, and perhaps he would take a moment to make mention of it, but knowing Johnny and having witnessed the history that has played out between the two men, he guesses it was fully intentional by Noble to leave out his bike-riding enemy when talking about moments of “genius” in the wrestling ring. It was not a flub on the young man’s part. So instead of pointing out it out, Avice merely clears his throat on the other line as Johnny continues driving on.
Johnny Noble: Meanwhile, my corner has the likes of Dru Tha Merc, who I’ve had my differences with in the past but am able to put aside in a classy manner. Basically, I’ll play the adult who addresses the manner and then bury any hatchets Dru might believe exists. This is just something I’m prepared to do, and the “Gangstar” will do the same. There’s Obscene, the Kingdom of Pride’s only “Original” left after some cuts and controversy stripped Pride of a lot of its old faces. He may have some bitterness in him, but Obscene is fully-capable of manipulating that ring he knows inside and out to our benefit, and he’s amazing enough to use the anger he might be feeling from a hard run to go about unleashing the type of hardcore type of Luchadore wrestling needed to make him an irreplaceable part of my team.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Well, you certainly seem to not be kidding about using the last of Pride’s run in order to jump back up on the wrestling road. You’ve really looked all these guys over and placed it together, huh?
Johnny Noble: Again, Alex, why would I push for anything less? Sure, there are old stories to tell between me and some of these guys, most of them bad in some form or another, but to master your craft, you have to look beyond the run-in’s, the cheap shots, the trash talking, the gutlessness of your enemies, and the hostile competitive nature of your peers. Take another man on our team for instance, Jason Phoenix. As I told you last week during our interview at ”In Medias Res”, Phoenix is the type of person you describe as a character before you call him a wrestler. Yeah, he gets the same benefits the rest of us do, and he’s gotten enough shots at our Valiant Champion to go around, which would imply he has the talent and strength to back it up, but his value comes from entertainment in the short run, not the long run that would see him as Pride’s final champion. I told you these things a week ago before I faced and defeated Jason Phoenix in that ring, and then I forced him to tap out in front of everyone.
Silence lingers on both sides for a second as Johnny goes to turn the corner and Avice must be writing some of these things down for his Pride blog. After a few moments, Johnny continues because Avice does not speak.
Johnny Noble: But regardless of what I said about Phoenix a week ago, and not making it a selling point that I defeated him cleanly in the center of the ring, none of that lingers onward in my mind and does not make me see him any less of a value in the ring on our team. One week he’s an opponent, the next he’s an ally, and that requires you to come to two different types of mindsets, which I have done to prepare for this match. We have to be a cohesive unit, even if Jason and I never have to really cooperate at once in the ring. I know I will be. It’s just a question of whether Jason Phoenix can get beyond his general thinking—that entertainment spot of his—and get into the frame of mind where we work together to defeat the opposing team. If he can…then it will be quite a show, Alex.
Alex Avice [on phone]: I couldn’t agree more, although I have to ask you about the last man on your team, Pitbull. Now, obviously this is someone who isn’t very keen on listening to words about focusing together as a team. Last week, he couldn’t even focus on working a simple match-up with Kid Flanagan. Instead, he more or less vaporized him!
Johnny Noble: Not the word I—or anyone else-- would use, but go on.
Alex Avice [on phone]: I guess, uhhh, I guess I’ll just see what you think having a man on your team who has been more brutish and animalistic in his style than in a more classic wrestling sense. I mean, he destroyed the Syndicate Champion no matter what the consequences threatened to be. And also, rumors have gone about that he doesn’t even give a crap about you guys as well as your opponents.
Johnny Noble: It’s like with the Krieg, Alex. Pitbull is more or less the instrument used to keep people in line. But now that Pride’s about to close its doors, his role is essentially down to just being someone on the offensive. As you put it, he’s a brute. He’s not to the point of being just a “character” like Phoenix, because nobody has found entertainment in him or what he’s done so far in the Kingdom of Pride…but, he’s on my team. However, the man is not the draw of Pride’s final night. Even the likes of my brother have no reason to put him to use anymore, because Pride’s roster is down to the people management realizes it won’t be getting rid of. What’s more, I’ve given too much effort to this company to allow something that doesn’t even fit the WRESTLING sense of the Kingdom of Pride to get the last triumph. The people want to see the likes of Pitbull, who did nothing for this roster, get thrown around, and while he’s on my team…so long as it’s kept at a minimum and does not risk the match itself, anything that happens to Pitbull is a just cause. Anything…
Johnny’s ominous words linger for several seconds and it wouldn’t be too out of line to suggest that Avice himself is a bit cautious in prodding Noble for more info on what he means. Indeed, the intensity that Johnny Noble has brought to Pride is in full bloom here now. After a few seconds, Avice clears his throat again and carries on with the interview.
Alex Avice [on phone]: It’s clear you have your teammates all lined up and prescribed their roles in this Main Event, but your opponents are what I want to get your last thoughts on if you don’t mind, John.
Johnny Noble: I’m compelled to say that while a team of their kind is unprecedented in the Kingdom of Pride, it’s one that’s running on a variation of multiple agendas and some faded star power. You were talking earlier on how Pitbull destroyed Kid Flanagan just last week. I saw the…not match, the violation of professional wrestling that Pitbull went about acting out, and while it’s not to my taste, you have to ask yourself just what kind of state Kid will be in. Already the rumors have been flying about even before that match, in the weeks preceding it, that Flanagan was about to lose his job. He’d more or less fallen and his career was kicked into the dirt. He’s become someone that is not the Syndicate Champion that wowed us months ago. And even though this is Pride’s big ending we’re building to, and even though it should be a point where Kid Flanagan says “enough is enough, it’s time to show you why I won this belt and have held it for so long,” it just doesn’t appear to be so easy for the Champion to live up to and support after everything that’s happened to him.
Alex Avice [on phone]: So you believe he won’t be “all there” so to speak?
Johnny Noble: You could say that. Even if the person the announcers and people of Pride call “the Syndicate Champion Kid Flanagan” comes to the Cookeville Community Center on Sunday, I can’t say with an honest heart that he WILL be “the Syndicate Champion Kid Flanagan” and that, THAT is something I believe will handicap the other team in the big scheme of the Main Event. And meanwhile, as to the other persons of interest, Callaway.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Callaway? You’d call him a handicap for the team of Eagles and so on?
Johnny Noble: Time and time again people have held out for Callaway to really shine in this business, and he’s often come close, Alex. Real close, to the point he deserved more than he received throughout his career. I took notes on the guy, back in PWF, even while he carries himself though both the Kingdom of Pride and the Universal Wrestling League, but it’s all a lot of “try” and very often it’s not a “do.” He tries to become Valiant Champion, he just doesn’t go out there but he doesn’t do all he’s capable of to make it happen. If he falls off the road, in a similar manner that I did after “Survival of the Proud”, it’s just a quirky nature and some good fun he embraces before fading back into the dim lights of the locker-room. One day, he might get another chance to do himself some justice, but it’s only after an extended period that goes beyond how long I would approve of. And so that’s what will keep him back, prevent him from shining even when his team begs him to. He might try to help his team stand tall even in the face of elimination…but he won’t be doing everything that someone with all the built like the man who “Always has an Angle” should be doing.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Strong words. Is there any comparison between Callaway and Valor, one of the only figures in this match that you really haven’t had any sort of contact with throughout your Pride tenure?
Johnny looks beyond the car he’s driving for a moment to spot a building that rests among some smaller, more run-down buildings, and his mind pinpoints this place as the location that Adze sent him the location of. This could be the place, his brother Kurt’s other office outside of Pride, outside of Cookeville, where the files ”In Medias Res” uncovered and sent out. This could be where the realization of Johnny’s behind-the-scenes actions were made and where it was decided to have him run down in a moment that cost Johnny his partner, Debra. This is where it could all very well end.
Johnny Noble: I think, more or less, that the name Valor is one of those names that will be the answer to an emptiness a lot of people have felt existed in Pride, at least regarding to having that truly energetic, charismatic figure. It’s just a shame someone like him had to pop into sight at such a late point in the game, but it is what it is, I suppose. Because if you think about it, there weren’t too many “young” guys in Pride, Alex, and by that I mean the kind of people that kind of arrogance that you can actually find yourself to LIKE rather than renounce or just plain old hate. This man, this Eric Valor, is a future star, a future “one-stop-shop” athlete, and I do believe that we actually got the short end of the draw in having him on the side that won’t know how to let him compete, and that’s because they’re cocky, arrogance that you disregard flows in the veins of Josh Eagles and Nash and so on. You want one quote from me, it’s this: Eric Valor will be the star player of his team. Maybe not April 10th necessarily, but one day. On…day, Alex.
Finally, Johnny’s Chevy Aveo pulls up to the building and he stops, putting the car in park and gazing at the place he has now come to. The building looks like an average-sized house, at least in terms of basic outside appearance, but it still retains this more “official” look that you’re more likely to find in, well, an office, which is what Adze told Johnny this place was supposed to be. Johnny is still holding his iPhone to his ear but he is no longer paying attention to Avice, who has been rambling on about something else regarding Pride. Instead, he looks at the building, at its doorway and windows, all of which are cleverly blocked so as to avoid any creeping curiosity. A number is placed on the outside of the building, causing Johnny to check the piece of paper he wrote on following the receiving of the text he was sent by ”In Medias Res”. The number matches the address. Now more certain than ever that this is the place, Johnny Noble focuses on Avice just long enough to shut him down and end the interview once and for all.
Johnny Noble: Listen, Alex, I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this interview short.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Oh. Well, uh, okay then, Johnny. I suppose I got a good amount that I can at least improvise the rest, you know.
Johnny Noble: Glad to hear it.
Johnny goes to hang up when something inside him tells him to bring the iPhone back up to his ear one last time.
Johnny Noble: Hey, Avice.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Yo.
Johnny closes his eyes and inhales. He sighs deeply, almost with a hint of sadness.
Johnny Noble: It’s been an honor.
Alex Avice [on phone]: Uhhh, thanks, Johnny. Likewise, I’d say.
Johnny hangs up the phone and sets it aside. For several seconds, Johnny sits in the seat and plays out everything in his head that has gone down since August. Every month, every match, every encounter, every personal step forward, and every sacrifice he made or have even made without his knowledge. With it all in his mind boiled to one last effort, Johnny takes his phone and opens it. He goes to send a text. On it is the address he’s at and one name is visible at the top of the screen:
“Jeremy Sterling,
Pride deserves better, and I don’t have time to wait anymore for that ‘better’ to arrive.
-J.N.”
Johnny sends the text and closes his iPhone. He pockets it and turns off the car. Johnny exits the vehicle and shuts the door before turning to face the building. He walks to the building and goes to the front door which has glass windows to let him see inside, although the lighting is too dim to give him anything to work with. He tries to open it, but the door is locked. Johnny mumbles to himself before noticing a nearby brick. He picks it up and proceeds to use it to smash in the glass. Johnny reaches inside and unlocks the door. The door creaks open slowly but surely and Johnny steps inside. He steps over the broken glass littering the floor and looks around at this front office he’s come into. No signs of life are visible, and only the dim lights buzzing loudly above present sounds.
Johnny then spots a notebook resting on the receptionist counter and goes to investigate. However he finds nothing but random scribbles that make no sense to him. Suddenly, a loud clatter is heard somewhere across the building somewhere and Johnny becomes even more alert.
Johnny Noble: Kurt?
Johnny slowly moves to the direction of the sound. He spots a broken 2x4 on the floor and decides it’s best to armed given the grimy area he’s in. You never know when something more than you bargained for could appear. Johnny’s grip tight on the 2x4, he carries on in the direction of the sound. He walks out into a grand welcoming hall that has two massive staircases that encircle the room and lead to the second floor. Johnny’s eyes move up as another loud crashing sound is heard. This time, Noble pinpoints it to be upstairs and makes his way to the staircase. He ascends slowly and with the blunt object ready to be used if the need arises. Along the way, he passes some dusty photographs of people he doesn’t recognize. Old associates of his brother, perhaps? Some of them look like they could be wrestlers, given their muscular status. One of them—foreign-looking-- smokes a cigar and smiles proudly. Another is a smaller man who looks determined as he sits in a chair looking at the camera that takes his photo. The initials “P.D.” are visibly written on the bottom of the photo.
It’s then that Johnny spots an older photo of his brother Kurt standing with Amy Register and two men known as the Carringtons. All are looking young and different as they take this group photo after an event. Johnny’s eyes narrow and his head turns to the top of the staircase. Now more than ever, he’s sure this building has held some importance to Pride in the past. Johnny walks to the top of the staircase and swings the 2x4 around as he turns the first corner. His breathing is heavy yet controlled as some noticeable perspiration is forming on his face and neck. Johnny steps forward when his foot lands on something that jingles like metal. Johnny looks down and picks up the item, a silver chunk that bears only a blue mark on it.
Finding the item of no use, Johnny drops it to the floor and carries on. His face is stone solid as he turns the corner and finds a long-winded hallway that has doors on both sides, most of which are locked or blocked by something on the other side. If this is indeed an office his brother uses, Johnny decides it doesn’t get used enough. It’s more like a run-down breeding ground for drugs and other kinds of trouble. But Adze seemed sure that this was the place where someone took the files Noble wanted and then used them in a negative manner to try and take Johnny out…and that’s good enough for the young Noble. His drive pushes him forward, his knuckles now pale from gripping the 2x4 so tightly. Johnny finds one door that is open and sees that it leads down another flight of stairs, possibly to the basement. He begins to walk toward it when a loud boom of metal on metal causes Johnny to spin around in surprise. His shock is only intensified with he realizes the sound was upstairs. Johnny picks up speed and runs in the direction of the sound.
Johnny Noble: *whispering* Where are you?
His eyes wide and his breathing intakes quick and sharp, Johnny Noble peers around the corner and then steps around fully with his weapon angled at his chest. Another long hallway greets him, although this one has a brighter light shining from the ceiling above, unlike the previous hallway that was as grimy and dark as the rest of the building, and this makes this hallway much more intriguing to Johnny. Moving forward with the same level of caution he’d approach a match in the ring or an encounter with the unknown, Johnny walks to the end of the hall, turning to find one last hallway that leads to a large doorway that is open and into a room that emitting lights. Johnny spins the 2x4 and moves to the door, to the light at the end of this proverbial tunnel, his mouth agape slightly and his pulse quick in motion.
Suddenly, a new sound is heard, the breaking of glass followed by dismayed shouts. Johnny steps back and hides in the doorway of a locked room in anticipation. A voice can be heard, and it’s one that Johnny almost wants to say he knows, but he can’t say for sure.
Paul Murach: *yelling* Screw you!
Johnny walks away from the door he used for cover and to the large door that remains open and is the source of this commotion. He hears yet another crashing of glass like the last one, but this time the young Noble moves forward. Johnny is now only a few feet from this large door, but he cannot see inside at the angle of the door. A loud clattering is heard before the same voice from before cries out again.
Paul Murach: *yelling* FOR THE KINGDOM OF PRIDE!!!
A thundering crash is heard, followed by a sickening crunch. The door slams shut without warning, causing Johnny to step back a bit. The echo of the heavy metal door against the normal wood frame is deafening, but after a few tense moments pass and no sounds are heard, Johnny walks forward. One hand lets go of the 2x4 and he uses it to grip the handle of the door and pull it open with a loud groan greeting his effort. Johnny’s jaw tightens as he finds a crimson curtain like you’d find at a play greeting him. Taking a breath, Johnny splits the curtain down the middle and enters the room. Inside, he finds an office just like the kind found in the offices of the regular Kingdom of Pride, nothing out of the ordinary…at first. It’s then that Johnny sees a man standing over a downed figure in a suit with his back to him and Noble holds up the 2x4.
Johnny Noble: Hey! What the hell are you doing?
The man turns to face Johnny. He is revealed to be Paul Murach, his old friend from back when Johnny was in the Utopia training school. Now more confused than ever, Johnny slightly lowers the 2x4 and cocks an eyebrow.
Johnny Noble: Paul?
Murach stares at Johnny like he doesn’t recognize him. After a few seconds, though, his memory seems to come back, although his voice is none too sweet regarding this union of old training buddies.
Paul Murach: You. You’re the Noble responsible for all this!
Just then, Murach holds up a crowbar and points it threateningly at Noble. His eyes pulse mad with rage as he speaks with grinding teeth.
Paul Murach: You just killed this place and handed it over him!
Johnny Noble: Murach!!
Paul Murach: Go to Hell, John Noble!!
Murach lunges at Johnny with the crowbar, but Johnny is quicker and able to swing the 2x4 across the insane man’s face, causing blood to burst from his nose and mouth as he flies to the floor and painfully hits his head on a cabinet, breaking the glass and causing his body to go limp. His eyes blink rapidly as blood spills from his mouth and shattered nose. It also looks like the blow from the weapon broke at least a small portion of his face.
Paul Murach: He…he’s coming back…and…and…
Murach slumps over and goes motionless as his eyes close. Johnny just does not know what to say as he looks at Paul’s body and then over the rest of the office. Everything is as plain as day from the look of things. It’s like someone just ripped the Pride office of Noble or Sterling and set it up right in this damp building. Johnny goes to examine the other person in the room with Murach, but he doesn’t recognize them as most of their face is a crimson mess in between two steel chairs. Johnny speechlessly walks around the office with the bloody 2x4 in hand and goes over to a drawer. Out of curiosity, he pulls it open but finds nothing. He looks around the rest of the room and then spots the Kingdom of Pride banner. Over it lies a TV that has a hammer smashed through it, but a VCR nearby shows an ejected tape. Johnny reaches out and grabs the tape. He examines it, finding only the word “Noble” written on the sticker. Being that the TV is destroyed, Johnny realizes he can’t make any use of the video right now, and so he simply holds onto it.
It is then that Raymond Caravelle appears in the background and stands in the doorway watching Johnny while the young Noble looks around the rest of this office with his back to the intern. Caravelle smiles as he grips the door and pushes it shut with a resounding cry of heavy steel that gets Johnny’s attention. Johnny turns back around, but he only sees the door slam shut and he only hears it lock seconds later before he can react! Johnny pants heavily as he stands there in shock yet again this day. Outside, Ray pockets the key he used to lock Johnny into the room. He takes one last look at the door, still grinning smugly.
Ray Caravelle: Arrivederci, Jonathan.
And with that, Ray turns and walks away with a hurry in his step as he goes to exit the building and leave Johnny Noble behind. The scene cuts right to black.
<END OF FEED>