Andrea Romero (speaking on the phone):
“Hello… Miyoko?”
…
“Yeah, it’s Andrea Romero. I uh… I need to tell you something, and I am pretty sure you aren’t going to like it.”
…
“Well…”
[Andrea takes a deep breath, and exhales slowly. She had put this off as long as she could, and she was terrified of telling her the dark secret she had kept hidden for the last two days.]
“On Friday night… while some attendants were escorting her back to her room after some testing, Jessica assaulted them. In the fight, she did some serious damage to the attendants before… she uh…”
…
“Before she broke her neck and died.”
…
…
…
“No. John doesn’t know. That’s the other thing I called about.”
…
“I was supposed to meet him on Friday night when I got done at the hospital… but that was before… before IT happened. I went to see her and sent John to the house to see what we could do to salvage the place after the damned fire. It was after I left that she attacked the attendants.”
…
“Well… that is why John doesn’t know yet. I don’t really know where he is.
…
…
…
“Yes I understand that if he doesn’t show on Madness for the Main Event he is fired. I know that Miyoko… I just…”
…
…
…
“He wasn’t there.”
…
“Just what I said. I went to the house after I left the hospital. John wasn’t there. I saw where he HAD been there… but he wasn’t there when I got there. I tried to call him, but his phone is off.”
…
“Yeah I saw it. I read over some of the articles about the last fire back when he was in the EWCL. It was all over the news when the Family murdered Hank. They got away with it, because no one could prove that any of them were ever there to set the fire. John was pissed and Hank and Jessica got so worried about him that they Baker Acted him.”
…
“Well, Miyoko… have you heard from Karl Cross today?”
…
“Someone should call him and make sure John hasn’t found him yet. At least Cody had a head start and John hadn’t lost it. Karl really kicked the bear with this Miyoko. I think it would be safe to let Randall know he should have some extra security on hand to peel John off of Karl. He is liable to kill him.”
…
“I’ll let you know if I find him.”
…
[Andrea clicks the ‘End Call’ button and the scene fades in from black to the back hallways of the arena where people are just starting to get the show ready for Madness tonight. The camera pans through the maze of halls as we watch the men and women scramble around. We see Randall Cross checking over a clipboard with a tech going over specs for the show later. People are hauling large boxes or rolling equipment trunks from one end of the labyrinth of back hallways to the other, getting everything ready for the big night.]
[The camera moves down the hall and we see rooms on the left with name cards on each one. They are the names of the XWF Superstars scheduled to be here tonight. All of the doors are closed, except for one. As the camera gets closer, we see the name card on the door reads: Johnathan Cable/the New Breed. The camera moves slowly into the room and we see a small set of lockers, the burgundy couch, a metal framed wooden bench, and a recliner… but no Johnathan, no Andrea, no one in the room at all.]
[The camera pans around, leaving the empty dressing room, and back down the hallway, where we see an entryway covered in a thick black curtain. The opening to the arena perhaps? The camera moves closer as the curtain parts way and we move into a dark tunnel with another thick cloth curtain at the other end. The camera moves forward as this curtain too parts before it, and we emerge on the top of the ramp leading into the arena. The seats are empty, and the XWF Technical Crew is hard at work setting up the masses of lights and sound and pyrotechnical equipment required to host a show of this magnitude.]
[The camera pans around the arena, and still, there is no sign of Johnathan Cable. The scene fades to black as his camera makes its way back into the maze of the backstage to try to find John somewhere else in the building.]
Johnathan Cable:
“I told you Sean… I ****ing told you if you laid one ****ing finger on her I was going to kill you… you son of a bitch.”
[We hear Johnathan whispering in the dark. His breathing is heavy and more than a little erratic. Wherever he is, it is dark, but we can hear things, albeit a little muffled, but we can still hear them.]
Man’s voice:
“Bring that box of lights over here Bob. Greg… set this rigging and get it attached to that fly bar? OK guys, once we get these lights affixed, we can float this bar and get it set for height and angle. Who wants to go up in the air today?”
[We hear several voice grumbling about not wanting to do it this time, and then the sound of metal clanking to the floor loudly as what sounds like meal tubing can be heard rolling across the floor and coming to rest.]
Man’s Voice:
“Jesus H Christ Jim… you tryin’ ta’ break the whole damned light kit? What the hell are you doing?”
[The voices continue and the sounds of people building things can be heard. Every now and then we hear Johnathan whispering in the dark about Sean Corvik, and the atrocious things that he had done to him more than ten years ago.]
Narrator:
“John has completely convinced himself that this is 2003, and tonight, he is going to face Kritical Kondition Sean Corvik. Karl Cross has completely unraveled what took Doctor Curtis years of therapy, and Jessica even more years of understanding and compromise to overcome. John had to relearn how to even BE a person, and it took him this whole time he was out of the business just to get back a semblance of normalcy. Now, what would he do? How would Karl Cross even hope to survive the night?”
Johnathan Cable:
“I tried to tell you that you were dangerously close to a line I wouldn’t abide Sean… and you ignored my warning. You told the world that I wasn’t grown enough to keep my promise. I told you I would stop you Sean… and I mean to do just that.”
Narrator:
“You see Karl… you think that tonight is about you winning the XWF European Championship and validating your joy. You think that tonight is about shutting John up once and for all. You think that tonight is about becoming famous. You are wrong Karl. Tonight… for you… is about getting out alive. There is no question about who IS the XWF European Champion. The REAL Champion is waiting… waiting for you to show your face Karl… so he can knock it off of you. The REAL XWF European Champion doesn’t even remember you exist Karl… because you couldn’t even come up with an original way to get his attention. You had to do a half ass job of copying someone else’s work Karl, and I do mean HALF-ASSED. Seriously… the guy who did this before you Karl… he was a master manipulator. You are just a little boy who has no idea what he has gotten himself into. Tonight Karl, has nothing to do with you winning a Championship that you have held onto for only seven days by the grace of another man. Tonight has nothing to do with you earning the respect you crave so much. Tonight, for you at least Karl… is more about terror and pain. Tonight, is all about a nightmare for you Karl… a nightmare you can’t wake from… a dream so deep, you may never return. Tonight Karl… you just worry about breathing, and let the Beast worry about what to do with the XWF European Championship. It IS his after all.”
Johnathan Cable:
“I’m waiting Sean. I am waiting to hear your voice Sean… and when I do… your ass is mine.”
[With that, the scene fades to black.]