We Survive To Set Up Their Pride's Fall

[Delikado/J-Noble]

The Kingdom of Pride's “Oblivion XXVII”
Main Event Tag Team Match: Eddie Nash and Johnny Noble vs. Adam Abel and Paul Sant
February 27, 2011

The scene opens with Johnny Noble and Debra Mason standing in a waiting room near a reception desk where a woman is talking on the phone to someone. Both are dressed in their usual “business casual” attire of suits and slacks, looking very much like the kind of people you would expect to find in an office like the one they’re in rather than a wrestling arena. The receptionist nods her head as she finishes up her conversation with the other person and then gangs up.

Receptionist: He’ll see you both now.

Debra Mason: Thank you.

Debra and Johnny walk forward to a nearby door. As Debra opens it and goes into the next room, Johnny stops and places his hand on the receptionist’s desk, not even looking at her as he speaks.

Johnny Noble: Make sure no one bothers us. No calls, no other visitors, no one.

Puzzled, the receptionist looks at Johnny as he turns his head and looks her in the eyes, completely serious in his request.

Johnny Noble: Not even you.

Johnny doesn’t even wait for a response as he walks away, following his partner into the room that is yet another smaller waiting area that leads to a solid door brandishing a tag reading “J. Adze”. He stops next to Debra just as she walks into the room, revealing a large, square-shaped office that is windowless and somewhat dull when it comes to the walls and floors, although it does have a fancy oak desk in the center and some interesting ornaments of a tribal nature hanging nearby on the walls and a group of podiums. Debra walks in first as Johnny slowly follows behind and they both focus on an impressively built blond man sitting at the desk writing on a document. He looks to be in his early-40s or so, and he’s wearing a royal blue suit over a white shirt. He looks up from his paperwork as the door opens and Debra speaks out to him.

Debra Mason: Mr. Adze. I’m Debra Mason, a business colleague to the Kingdom of Pride’s managerial staff. This is my partner, John Noble.

Mr. Adze: Yes, come in. Have a seat.

Debra goes to the closest chair opposite Adze and sits. Johnny, on the other hand, stands up and off to the side, looking over some pieces of paper he has just now pulled out of his pocket. Adze eyes Noble at first, but refocuses on Debra a few seconds later as she talks as if Johnny’s actions don’t get noticed.

Debra Mason: Thank you. First of all, I’d like to apologize if we’re interfering with any other events you may have had scheduled today by stopping by so suddenly.

Adze’s eyes move to focus on Noble, who is idly standing by with his back pressed to the wall as he continues to read over the papers in his hands.

Mr. Adze: Noble, huh? Well, your family name has sure made waves for In Medias Res. Put us on the map, pretty much. What can I do for you? You have any more dark secrets of the past you’re wanting to unveil to the rest of the world? Chronicling the next chapter of your brother’s history?

Johnny’s eyes snap up from the pages but that’s the only movement he offers to the newsman. Debra clears her throat.

Debra Mason: Well actually, it isn’t so much about what we came to give you, it’s more of what we want from In Medias Res.

Mr. Adze: Heh. This station? What could you possibly want from us? Ms. Mason, I’m an award-winning news reporter and journalist, not an idiot, so please, stop doing what you initially apologized for—interfering with my work—and explain to me why it is you’re here in my office.

Johnny clicks makes a decisive clicking sound with his mouth and walks over to the chairs, patting Debra once on the arm to prompt her to swap places with him. Debra does so, getting to her feet and moving off to the side as Johnny stands before Adze’s desk. Adze can’t help but grin as he watches Ms. Mason brushes her hair aside and then fold her arms across her chest. Johnny then knocks on the oak desk to get his attention. Both men face each other now, a small grin edging out of the very corner of his mouth.

Johnny Noble: ”In Medias Res”. In or into the middle of a narrative or plot. That’s a nice little name you took on, being in the “middle” of all those stories your branch has allegedly covered. Want to fill me in on why that is?

Adze cocks an eyebrow at the question as Johnny continues to stand rather than sit despite asking Debra to leave the single chair.

Mr. Adze: Why what is…?

Johnny reaches into his jacket and pulls out additional pieces of paper that has adds to the pages he already had held out. He unfolds one of them and slides it onto Adze’s desk.

Johnny Noble: Why your name, the name of this news station, and so on happened to appear in the “middle” of the company I work for, the Kingdom of Pride. You ever heard of it?

Mr. Adze: I’ve heard enough.

Johnny Noble: And all these stories, all these documents I was given by a friend in the company that cover everything from fraud to possibly illegal statuses being held in the country, they all come right out of the gut of this station, In Medias Res.

Debra watches Johnny work at the side, casually toying with a gold necklace around her neck as she does. Johnny begins to carelessly spill out the documents he received onto Adze’s desk, the words “In Medias Res” circled in bright red ink throughout several pages in various spots at differing sizes.

Johnny Noble: You’re quite capable of getting a lot of information. Some of it’s casual and practically harmless while other bits end up being revelations people would rather have not come out. Either way, it’s in your capabilities to find news when someone wants it.

Mr. Adze: That’s a nice little summary of what you think this place is all about, if not a tad blunt.

Johnny Noble: No, it’s not my summary. It’s the summary from everyone I asked about you. About In Medias Res. It’s basically your “unofficial” motto. Bit difficult to get it on a magazine, though, as it’s kind of a longwinded statement.

Johnny shrugs indifferently as Adze’s hand reaches out and takes one of the documents. He looks it over and then his beady eyes roll up toward the young Noble.

Mr. Adze: What do you want, kid? Huh? A medal for your troubles?

Johnny merely repeats his shrugging gesture.

Johnny Noble: Ah, that depends. See, I want every resource, every collective piece of info, every photo, every lead, everything you have in this place that was ever recorded, ever documented on my brother Kurt during his time shared with this delightful little gossip column. I guess you could say I’m in the middle of my own little story right now and you…parasitic leeches always seem to have the right amount of skill to find the end result. Again, you get the news out that nobody else wants to get out.

Johnny spins around one of the papers for Adze to see.

Johnny Noble: Krieg’s boarding info into this country, finances they got from some psychotic set-up in Europe. Personal history, enough to write a book’s worth, and yet I look at it and I know that none of this would just be handed out to someone who walked up to the desk and asked for it. And it just doesn’t seem logical to me to ignore the names I see here, Jabir. Makes me wonder how this all came to be…and it also makes me wonder how everyone else would see it play out.

Grinning a bit now, Johnny rolls his neck and finally sits down at the desk as Adze can be seen eyeing the papers upon papers.

Mr. Adze: You’re calling into question the work here, the hard work we do in this business. You’re threatening me now for merely allowing my people to go out and get the truth.

Johnny Noble: Well, let’s be honest. Some of this is truth, some of it’s fabrication to make a good narrative. It’s all pretty damaging either way, though.

Johnny sits back in the chair and exhales slowly. He thinks deeply for a few seconds before speaking again. Debra stands by as well, taking in her partner’s attitude and actions.

Johnny Noble: Look, Mr. Adze, I am now under the employment of a company that my brother has a stake in as one of the General Managers. I know him well enough to say that he is the kind of person who makes bad judgmental calls, to the point he should be forced to only get the chance to wrestle in the ring rather than run what goes on in it. Week after week, people are getting thrown my way under the ideal that if they get me to go away, Kurt will give them a gold star and a shining chance to really make their careers. When that isn’t happening, he’s cutting down and releasing people who deserve more than they get. In the wake of this company’s progression forward, I would just like to know what can be done to make sure that my legendary “saint” of an older brother does not royally mess up the lives of successes in the making like he did with my life before he-

Mr. Adze: *intervening* Ah, and what DID he do to your life?

Johnny leans forward.

Johnny Noble: *ignoring angrily* -he went off and became famous for being total hypocrisy incarnate. I just want to know from you, from one of the people who came closer to breaking him than anyone else, to revealing what I know but can’t convey without surefire, physical evidence, what it will take.

Adze lowers his head and blinks a few times as Johnny sits back with an almost pleading look on his face that is also etched in bitter irritation.

Johnny Noble: And I know that that one employee of your news station, a reporter named Jacquelyn Machiavelli, came into some information. Would any of that still be around here, do you think?

Adze looks up at the mentioning of the In Medias Res employee’s name. He briefly thinks before nodding humbly.

Mr. Adze: Well, yeah, she couldn’t just walk off with the stories she had. Mrs. Machiavelli was very loyal to this business; it was a shame when she left.

Johnny Noble: Then I want all that loyalty…

He taps his fingers on the desk a few times to suggest he wants the collected story in his possession. Adze frowns at the thought presented.

Johnny Noble: People need to realize that this a very black and white situation Pride has on its hands…and they need to realize that the wrong guys are getting support and pushed into positions of power over other people who have stuck their necks out for this business a hell of a lot longer. Their, heh, “light”…it comes at the expense of others, hardly what I’d call the definition of a good “common man” and his disciples. They’re to be held accountable for what Pride has become, but that won’t happen until some real proof starts coming in to show everyone who needs to be removed from the company I work for and respect dearly for its achievements in the past.

Johnny rises up from the seat, leaving the documents behind as he turns his back on Adze.

Johnny Noble: And that can start this week, against three different men, all playing a part in this system. Just three, but it’s bound to turn into more.

Johnny turns his head to Debra, stares at her for a few seconds, and then looks back to Adze.

Johnny Noble: You help me, I’ll give you all the credit you could ever want.

Mr. Adze: And if I decide not to play along…?

Johnny Noble: Oh, that’s a sweet little deal-maker/deal-breaker, isn’t it? Because you see, In Medias Res knows it’s scum. I can tell just by looking into your beady little eyes as you looked over the documents I showed you. You know this was all obtained by means you’d rather not have announced to the world. You don’t want to assist me, that’s fine. I’ll just toss the documents aside. They’re not much use to me as they are. I can’t guarantee where they might land, however.

Johnny grips a random piece of paper and holds it up.

Johnny Noble: And I can also guarantee these aren’t the only copies.

Johnny turns his back on Adze and walks for the exit of the office.

Johnny Noble: Let’s go, Deb. He knows what the score is.

Debra eyes Adze for a split second before walking out of the office as well, shutting the door behind her. Adze groans softly as he looks through the seemingly endless pages.

Mr. Adze: Kid’s got a sharp tongue on him. Better watch it I don’t find dirt on you, you greasy son of a…

Outside, Johnny and Debra are seen descending a stairwell with Johnny flexing his wrist and adjusting his cuffs as Debra walks at his side.

Debra Mason: Well, what do you think?

Johnny Noble: I think we got through to him.

Debra Mason: You might’ve. I just took notes on the side.

Johnny Noble: It’s all about the presence of others, Deb. If Adze sees at least one person standing at my side who he can tell is carrying the same amount of loyalty to this cause and has the same hungry look in her eyes to take on the forces we are, he’ll reckon there has to be more. We’re not two lone rangers out here just firing like crazies, we’re just two people with enough passion to step up when everyone else is content with letting things be in Pride.

Debra Mason: And those three people you talked of back in there?

Johnny turns to his partner with a serious look on his face as he answers rather coldly and bluntly.

Johnny Noble: Sant, Abel, and Nash.

Debra Mason: So what’s gone on with those three especially falls in line with those content on staying silent?

Johnny Noble: Yes, Deb, yes.

Debra nods her head as the two reach the bottom of the staircase and open a door leading to a parking garage. They begin to walk along it to their car.

Debra Mason: What a careful web we’ve weaved then. Almost clever by design. Everything with intent to use force always needs a backup plan, and we netted ourselves one here.

Johnny Noble: Indeed.

As Johnny stops at the passenger side of the pair’s car, he rubs his ribs and groans slightly, catching Debra’s notice.

Debra Mason: You’re still hurting from that spear, huh?

Johnny Noble: Only when I move too much.

Debra Mason: Leave it to a biker, I suppose. I still can’t believe management is bold enough to try and pair you two up after what Nash did. What’s more, against Sant and Abel, two former World Champions! If anything, it should’ve been pushed to have that man to be put against both of them on his own, to get that notion out of his head that this is some hardcore street fighting competition. Instead he got nothing but a mild frown from officials and a cry of “justice served” when you were the one who took the fall last Sunday, and he’s thrown into our corner again to take on two athletes who’ve done little but fall in line with what’s to be expected from them. It stupefies me, what can go down in this company and still let people keep their jobs.

Johnny unlocks the car and both climb in. As Johnny starts the car, he shakes his head firmly.

Johnny Noble: Hmph, it’s just what it is at this stage. Misjudged martyr meets disgruntled biker, disgruntled biker meets misjudged martyr, martyr tries to tell disgruntled biker what he should really be fighting for, biker takes this as insult, martyr gets distracted one time and…biker spears him in the stomach as a form of “payback.”

Johnny turns to Debra and shrugs heavily, shaking his head at the fallout of his teaming with Eddie Nash and the past few weeks.

Johnny Noble: People can say what they want, Deb, but I don’t see any reason for what he did and I don’t see justice being dished out over the right stuff here, “served” as you put it. I just don’t buy it, this belief people have saying I deserved that. But come Oblivion, I’ll make sure what SHOULD have happened, what was most DESERVED to have happened, happens.

Johnny puts the vehicle in drive as Debra folds her hands together and casually listens while eyeing her reflection in the side mirror. The self-described “martyr” looks in the rear-view mirror as he backs up to leave the parking garage.

Johnny Noble: And if need be, I’ll use this In Medias Res income to personally take Nash down as well...

With that, the car drives away and leaves the garage, the sound of screeching tires the last thing we hear.

<END OF FEED>