Post by XYZ on Aug 23, 2021 15:54:07 GMT -5
Cast
Xander Young Zaber (The Talent)
Izabelle Lawrence (Executive Producer)
Clayton Bryne (Creative Team)
Edwin Bryne (Creative Team)
Edwin Bryne (Creative Team)
Xander Young Zaber opened his eyes as the morning sun creeped in through his penthouse window. On a typical day, in a typical fashion, Xander would be waking up alone. If he was not alone, he would stare into the unfamiliar face next to him as it quickly became one of those “oh God, what did I do last night?” moments. Then would start the process of him trying to figure out how to slink off the bed without making a sound, put on some semblance of clothes hastily, and sneak out of his room like a ninja. Once to safety, he would start the process of finding someone to do his dirty work and force the most recent “late night conquest” off the premises. This time though, it was different. This time, he woke up next to Amaya Torres.
She had been his girlfriend on so many occasions over the past few years. Their relationship was very “hot and cold”, but when it was “hot”...
Xander bit his lip as he tried, and failed, to conceal his smile. She still slept peacefully beside him, the blankets wrapped tightly around her like she was a burrito. Amaya always did that to him, she was a blanket hog, and he loved that about her. Their recent reconciliation came at the cost of Amaya falling off the wagon, finding herself in a bad place with only Xander there to bail her out. He didn’t get to play her “knight in shining armor” in this fantasy very often, but rejoiced in the times that he did. Xander did his normal “night after” routine of escaping into the living room but, this time, he had no intention of kicking anyone to the curb.
“Late night…?”
“Great night…?”
The brothers Bryne had already let themselves in and were taking full advantage of Xander’s hospitality while he slept. Clayton sat at the table, sipping away at his herbal tea while Edwin lounged on the couch, flipping through various channels.
“Remind me to get the locks changed.”
“Oh? Do you need us to leave…?”
“Fuck that, how was it!? Give us all the deets! Guy or girl? Blonde or brunette?”
Xander rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen, trying to find some sort of drink to hydrate with.
“Wait… redhead!? You hate redheads!”
“No, not a redhead…”
Xander grabbed a pitcher of water and poured himself a glass as he turned to see Edwin had rolled off the couch and was now sitting directly across from him on the barstools, his interests fully peaked. Clayton, too, seemed a bit curious, as he lowered his newspaper slightly so he could peer over the corner at the two.
“It was Amaya…”
Clayton swallowed hard and hid his reaction behind the daily weather section while Edwin’s mouth dropped to the floor like one of those animated cartoon characters. Xander hadn’t expected an overwhelming response from them, after all these two were very familiar with his past history with his ex-girlfriend. Regardless of how they felt or what they thought, Xander couldn’t stop from smiling.
“Like… ‘Amaya’ Amaya…?”
“Do you know any other Amaya’s...?”
“I thought you guys were done-so, like… for good this time…”
“Me too, man. I don’t know though, maybe not. She called me up out of the blue, needed my help. And now here we are…”
Xander went to take a sip of his water only to have to turn and spit it out into the sink behind him.
“What the fuck…!? What is that!?”
Edwin leaned forward, sniffing the glass that was still on the counter.
“Smells like… gin.”
“Oh God, it’s so sour.”
“Yeah, that’s my bad. I was wondering where I had left that…”
“Why did you have gin in a water gallon!?”
“So people would think I was drinking water…?”
“Oh God, I can’t get the taste out of my mouth…”
“Gin is definitely an acquired taste...”
Xander tried rinsing his mouth out with the water from the sink while Edwin got up and began to pour himself a glass of his incognito alcohol. Clayton went back to reading his paper, having stated his thoughts on the matter and now wishing to go back to his daily word puzzles.
“Hmmm, what’s a nine-letter-word for overrated?”
Edwin tried to count how many letters were in his brother’s name as Xander began his search again for a different beverage. At that moment, the apartment door opened and Izabelle walked in, all smiles.
“Good, you’re up! We need to talk!”
“I think that’s my cue to leave…”
Xander settled on what he presumed was a Gatorade bottle as he turned back to see Edwin trying to make his quick escape, only for Izabelle to be beside him, taking the drink from his hand. Before he could protest, she took a sip of what she thought was water before turning and spitting it out in his face.
"Yeah, I totally just did that.”
“What the hell…? What is this!?”
“Definitely not water.”
Clayton did his best to hide his laughter as Edwin wiped the debris from his face, before snatching back his glass from Izabelle’s hands.
“It’s gin… it’s MY gin... and I’d prefer that if you are going to partake in drinking it, you have the common decency to not spit it out… ESPECIALLY in my face!”
“It’s like nine in the morning though…”
“… yeah, well, why don’t you ask Xander what he did last night!”
Edwin used this smoke screen to avoid another “you have an alcohol problem” intervention with the trio as he made his quick exit back onto the couch. Clayton dared not touch the bomb his brother had so eloquently left ticking in Xander’s lap as Izabelle turned towards her client, her eyebrows perked up in suspicion.
“Something tells me that I really don’t want to know the answer to this but… okay, here goes. ‘What did you do last night, Xander’?”
“Um… nothing… really… you said you wanted to talk?”
Normally, this deflection wouldn’t have carried any weight but his producer was too excited that she decided to take the ball and run with it.
“Guess who got you a match on Sin…!?”
Again, Xander spit out his beverage, but this time out of shock.
“Wait, really!? That’s awesome! I haven’t had an actually televised match in over a month! Who am I going against? Please don’t say the ‘Overbaker’…”
“Isn’t he on the Legacy show…?”
Normally, Edwin didn’t become all that invested in any of Xander’s business ventures. The fact that he even knew who the Overbaker was enough to draw stunned stares from all three.
“What...? That dude’s hilarious….”
“No, not Overbaker. But none other than Jin Min-Jun…!”
“Wait, there’s a chick named 'Jin'!?”
“I believe 'Jin' is a guy, Edwin…”
“Well that’s not as much fun; I had a killer joke lined up…”
“Not just A guy, but THE guy, Clayton! He’s currently the number one contender…”
“I was gonna say (clears throat) ‘I hope she tastes like gin’...”
Izabelle glowered at Edwin for interrupting as Clayton leaned forward, putting his paper down.
“Wait… how many letters in the name ‘Jin Min-Jun’…?”
Izabelle ignored the elder Bryne brother as she turned back towards Xander.
“Well, what do you think?”
“I… don’t know what to say…”
“I mean… a ‘thank you’ would be nice…?”
“Don’t get me wrong Izzie, this is huge! This might finally be the moment that I… that WE’VE… been waiting for. Finally, I’ll get my chance to shine against an actual… certified… superstar.”
“It wasn’t easy to make this happen, Xander. I don’t know if you’ll get another opportunity like this…”
“Don’t worry, I’m going to make the most of this, I promise. Jin is going to be the toughest challenger I’ve ever faced, but I’ve been waiting for a chance like this since I signed on the dotted line back in March. If I can do the ‘impossible’ and beat the number one contender for the Sin World Championship, then people will have no other choice but to stand up and take notice. Just think about it… my stock will begin its meteoric rise to the top, XYZ merchandise will become a best seller, I’ll become a trending topic across all the social media platforms once more, hell… I may even get my own 'Revo-mal' out of this.”
“Let’s not get TOO ahead of ourselves here…”
“Something tells me the hype train has already left the station, Izzie…”
“Yes! It fits! 'Jin Min-Jun' is a nine-letter-word for overrated!”
“Don’t you see it, guys!? This is my ‘big break’! No more glass ceiling hanging over me. After I beat Jin, the sky is the limit! I could be next-in-line for a Championship match. We can bring back the ‘X-Factor’ show! With one victory, I could become a household name overnight! And once that happens, I’ll finally have the backstage leverage and power that I need in order to expose the wrestling world for what is truly is.”
“Drugs…?”
“Sex…?”
“Violence…?”
“No! A fraud! Normal people like you and I are tuning into this product, buying-in to the whole notion that ‘wrestling is real’. But it’s all a smoke screen; I’ve been informed as much. I’m like a… undercover news reporter, sent into the belly of the beast to shine a fucking search light on all the dark places that people like Cecilia Ortiz and Thomas Snow don’t want you to see.”
“Remember the deal though Xander, Kylie Moore can’t be implicated…”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. Kylie’s hands will remain clean and untarnished. Once I’ve revealed all of Revo1’s dirty little secrets, the world will realize just how ‘fake’ wrestling truly is.”
“There’s nothing ‘fake’ about Jin Min-Jun, Xander. He’s the real deal.”
“Oh I know, he’s extremely gifted; a true athletic specimen of agility and strikes that could take anyone’s head off if you’re not careful. But while Jin has been basking in his euphoria from becoming number one contender, I’ve been at the bottom of the pile, chomping at the bit, waiting for a moment like this to come along. I got myself in the best physical shape I’ve ever been. I spent my last dime on paying for the services of the best this business has to offer, training with them, picking their brain, preparing myself for a moment like this. I know Jin is quick, I know his feet are his deadliest weapon. So I target his legs first, take them out from under him, twist him into a pretzel. There’s only so much pain and agony a human body can physically take and – if nothing else – I’m going to push Jin to his very limits. I’m going to make him remember this encounter for years to come, how ONE match with XYZ was enough for me to take YEARS off of his career.”
“You know Sierra Silver won’t be out there to help you. And you can’t expect Chase..”
“Don’t worry, Jin has earned my respect and he deserves a fair fight. CJ will be there to simply run interference, just in case anyone else gets any ideas. As for Sierra, I owe her for what she did with Jalen Prince. If not for her, I wouldn’t be the Futures Champion. We should really do something for her to ‘thank her’. Maybe a fruit basket? Or an invitation to re-appear on ‘X-Factor’ as my historically first-ever second-time guest...?”
“You should create her a 'Revo-mal', I hear those are all the craze right now!”
“Sierra single-handedly knocked Jalen out… pulled Xander over his unconscious corpse… and got him his Futures Title back and you want to 'thank her' by buying her a stuffed animal…?”
“I mean… they’re CUTE stuffed animals?”
“Jin has a 'Revo-mal'…”
“And I’ll take that from him, too. Now is my time to shine and I’m not going to waste my SHOT.”