Upgrades

[Ghost Spike]

How’s the view from back home Laszlo?

I told the world I had a goal in mind when I left the Man of Steel Championship behind…..no, no, that’s not right. Once I LOST the Man of Steel Championship. No sugar coating here….I lost the championship I’d held for longer than any other champion had held in the company, and I set myself a goal…..to become Imperial Champion once more.

I’m one step closer.

Now all that remains, is Freedom Fight Night.

Some people spend their entire lives trying to get to this stage of their career, and most….they never make it. Despite their efforts, they fall short. Now, I’m here in all my glory, arguably enjoying one of the most successful runs in my whole career, and I earned my way to the top. Despite what I might say about Mike Laszlo, despite what I might feel about him….there’s respect there. You heard it here first ladies and gentlemen.

I respect Mike Laszlo.

He gave it his all, he looked me right in the face, and spat in it. He defied everything about me, and pushed me further than anyone else has since I returned to active duty…..that, deserves some acknowledgement, no matter what I think about Mike Laszlo the person….inside that ring? He’s one of the best.

I’m just that much better.

Eventually, one by one, everyone gets the chance to realise that. Mike knows it now for sure…..next?

It’s Andrew.

---

{We open up on the familiar setting of the Xander Aiden Kane memorial wrestling school, just as a cap pulls up outside. Spike Kane climbs out of one door, as Pandora does another. Spike begins to get the bags from the trunk, paying the cabbie as he does, while Pandora looks up at the school with a shocked look on her face.}

Pandora: W-What’s going on?

{Spike, with his bag slung over his back and Pandora’s in his hand, simply smiles at her.}

Spike: Well, we were on tour for a while, so I figured it was the best kind of time to do some remodelling.

{As the cab drives off, the camera pans around to show two extra stories have been added to the building. Pandora’s eyes grow wide as she smirks at Spike, and pulls the keys from his hoodie pocket. She all but skips up to the front door and unlocks it, mindlessly reaching for the alarm system with her free hand, almost like second nature - which, in turn, makes Spike smile even more.}

Spike: That girls more at home than she realises.

{Spike follows as Pandora runs into the training area. She’s looking around at all the new machines, gear, rings, and everything Spike has had installed. Spike, meanwhile, drops their baggage near the office. Where the two of them had been spending so much time whilst not out on tour.}

Pandora: This is pretty awesome. You’ve replaced everything, and upgraded so much! But…

{She looks at him with her puppy dog eyes, but can’t maintain it for too long, as the excitement is building up in her.}

Pandora: What’s upstairs!?

{Spike now, slow, and methodically, walks over to her, placing his arm around her as he does. Pan is almost bouncing from excitement.}

Spike: Well…..we’ve been living here for months, right? And….it’s not like I couldn’t afford to buy us a new house that we could live in….together, I could. BUT! I thought….why not make this place more hospitable in and of itself, that way we’re not causing loads of moving stress, we’re not putting any undue stress on our relationship….and, well….you feel at home here. I don’t wanna take that away…

{Her smile broadens as he looks up at him, her eyes almost glistening. Her smile changes to a slightly devious little grin, as she turns and bolts up the open planned wooden stairs bounding two steps at a time. Spike chuckles as he follows her, one step at a time.}

Pandora (off screen): OH! MY! GOD!

{Spike walks through the door to what would now become his home, and we see Pandora Freeman running around, looking at everything. From the modernly fitted open plan kitchen, to the huge wall mounted TV Screen and ridiculously comfortable sofas. She pokes her head into another room.

Pandora: IS THAT A HOT TUB!?

{She comes back out of the room, her smile beaming from ear to ear.}

Pandora: This is nuts, you know that right?

Spike: Yeah well. We can live here, we can train whenever we need to….and we’ve got everything a superstar needs to relax. I got a room just for you too, it’s got speakers for music, equipment for recording - if you felt like it, and a shit ton of art things.

Pandora: Art things?

Spike: Y’know. Paint, that thing you stand up to put your paintings on?

Pandora: An easel?

Spike: Yeah one of them….

{She shakes her head and chuckles at him.}

Pandora: And what’s up stairs?

{She says as she approaches him, with a sort of swagger to her steps.}

Spike: Well that, my love, is where the bedroom is.

{She approaches him, placing her arms around his neck, and bites her lip.}

Pandora: I think you should show it to me.

Spike: Oh!?

{She leaps up onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist and begins to kiss him. Spike, without skipping a beat, uses his foot to shoot the door behind him as he carries Pandora up the short flight of stairs to their mezzanine bedroom, and closes that door behind him too, as we fade.}

---

Interesting match, isn’t it? Andrew and two surprise partners against me, and two surprise partners. The comedian is still booking IWF it seems, because let’s face it! I’m not exactly swimming in friends right now am I? The things I’ve done in my career, in my time in IWF alone….they’ve pushed almost everybody away from me….and then there’s exteniating circumstances outside of that, that have left me almost…..friendless.

Who would team with the man who faked cancer?

That’s the lynch pin isn’t it? Nobody cares that I brutalised Joe Everyman and reformed the Empire. Nobody cares that I crucified Xavier Cross (I imagine they’d love me to do that right now) and not a soul cares that I chopped off Rob Diamonds finger…..hell, the only person who cared about me putting my own son in hospital was Shea O’Hara, and she ended up joining him soon after - not by me though. Then there’s the small smattering of you that give a single fuck that I beat up Nighthawk in his own school and through him down the stairs.

Retiring the “Wrestling Machine”

It all comes back to the cancer, doesn’t it?

Shit…..if only I’d have known.

Nobody came out to save Johnny fuckboy for his own sake, nobody came to find Falcon, nobody wanted to help Ryan Shane….because everybody knew what putting yourself in my cross hairs meant. Maybe, just maybe, some of you understood what I was going through? On some level, you knew that I was grieving, and you knew that I wasn’t myself. One person knew for sure, and she put herself directly in the firing line….for no benefit of her own.

She did it to save me.

Nobody else did, despite what they might say. Andrew likes to think he tried to save me, that it was all about saving me and Warren. Yet….as soon as he got that chance to headline Night of the Immortals? It was all a thing of the past….Andrew forgot little old me, and high tailed it as fast as he could to the Imperial Championship.

But I was the bad guy.

I’m not defending my actions, and I never will…..the only excuse I have was that I’d lost yet another son, and with him, part of my mind. I was consumed, vengeance and violence where my outlets….and now, here I am….the longest reigning champion in the history of the company, a man with more accolades than half the roster have victories….and I’m struggling to find two people willing to team up with me.

There’s options I could take, of course.

I could turn to the council.

I could go running back to Laura Howlett.

Hell, I could probably drag some dudes from some long forgotten federation as back up.

But that isn’t how I roll, and it never has been. I’m not the type of person to take orders from anyone else, and I’m not going to back down from a fight. If IWF want to put Spike and Andrew Jacobsen head to head the week before their Imperial Title match? Then fuck it. I’ll take all three of you on at once. I don’t care, I’ve earned my spot to be here, I’ve fought my way to be here…

Nobody is going to take that away from me.

You probably feel the same way, right Andrew? ...but that, that is for next week of course. This week? It’s team boyscout Vs team anarchy. Amusing when you think about it, because everyone is probably talking about who in their right mind would ally themselves with yours truly, and the fact of the matter is….I knew exactly who it would be the moment I was informed of the match. Despite what people think of me, despite my actions over the years….I’ve always had that few that remained, those few who were loyal. Those who saw the man behind the theatrics, those who allowed themselves to be a part of his world.

Those who have always elevated themselves.

I’m sure there’s no shortage of men willing to team up with you Andrew, half of them would just to be close to the Imperial Championship, another half just to get their hands on me…...but all of them, knowing full well and true, they can rely on you. That’s what you are, reliable, but me? I’m anything but….I’m chaotic, enigmatic, my only constant is my unpredictability.

I’m an unknown quantity.

Except for the fact that I’ll kick ten shades of shit out of you in that ring.

Everyone in this business knows that when you step into the ring with Spike Kane, you’re in for a fight. Lord knows we’ve done it twice already this year, stolen the show on cards where we weren’t supposed to be the highlight, or the main event. It makes the fact that we aren’t going to headline a pay per view just that much more idiotic. I don’t know, maybe the idiots backstage thought Laszlo could actually beat me, and didn’t want to waste a pay per view main event on him. It doesn’t really matter…..because you? You’re damn good at what you do, I’m not going to take anything away from you, I never would….but me?

I’m the best there is at what I do.

And what I do ain’t nice.

So bring what you can Andrew. Bring your samurais, your lunatics, your fanboys, your punching bags….it doesn’t matter, because this? This is just a warm up to the real show, and no matter who you pick as your partners?

They can all Suck IT!