“Here’s the weight of the world on my shoulders…
Here’s the weight of the world on my shoulders…”
...ON MY SHOULDERS!!!!!!
*Deep Breath*
Jack Russow: Okay...you’ve seen this done a thousand times...you got this.
“Aaaaand SET!”Jack Russow: Here we go kid. Just like we planned.
“ATTACK!”(Jack Russow’s eyes suddenly fly open in a dramatic spoof of a Tony Jaa martial arts movie as we see him in the ring being surrounded by Levi’s current class of students (subsequently, including Mack’s little brother Krash) as they all circle him holding different variations of weapons.)
Jack Russow: A-YAH!!!
(And just like THAT…
...Krash cracks Jack across the back with a 2X4 as Jack hits the mat and the entire class takes turns just beating him with their weapons. He can barely stay up before getting peppered and bounced around like a pinball, a whimpering “oww.” with every hit...)
“ENOUGH!”(Jack gets cracked in the spine one final time as his legs slowly start to buckle and he squeaks out before he crashes…)
Jack Russow: Thank...you…
*Dark*
“Jaaaaaack?”“JAAAAAAAAAAAAACK?”*SPLASH*
(Life suddenly kicks past Jack’s uvula and reaches down his throat seizing his lungs up as a bucket of ice water gets thrown on his face and he feels the breath both enter yet leave his chest as fast as it got there. When he finally focuses, he sees Mack McKane holding the bucket as Jack lies on the floor of Levi’s office.)
The Iceman Levi Russow: You...dense...clown.
Jack Russow: D-Do NOT tell Alanah!
Mack McKane: What the fookin’ Hell you tryina do anyway?
Jack Russow: No one will tell me who the fuck I’m facing so I gotta be ready for anyone and anything!!!
The Iceman Levi Russow: ...so you give a class of barely 18 hormonal psychopaths with a penchant for violence a bunch of stuff to hit you with and thought...what...exactly?
Jack Russow: ...you ever see Ip Man?
The Iceman Levi Russow: ...Oh my God.
Jack Russow: I just kinda thought if I could like...face the entire town, y’know?
The Iceman Levi Russow: Oh my GOD!
Jack Russow: WHAT!?
The Iceman Levi Russow: I RAISED A PAINT-HUFFIN’ WINDOW LICKER!!!
Jack Russow: IT WOULDA WORKED!
The Iceman Levi Russow: Jack...son...I get it. This is your first title in PWS...you still think you’re in some “shado-”
Jack Russow: I’m not in your shadow.
The Iceman Levi Russow: Such a HUGE “shadow” you gotta deal with but kid! There’s easier ways than getting yourself killed!
Jack Russow: ...do you know who I’m facing?
The Iceman Levi Russow: ...I do.
Jack Russow: ...CAN I beat them?
The Iceman Levi Russow: That...I can’t answer.
Jack Russow: GODDAMMIT CAN I *EVER* GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER OUTTA YOU!?
The Iceman Levi Russow: LOOK kid! You got the talent. Both on the stick and God knows you can go in that ring. But what you’re going to go through...is gonna change you. Now...you can let it change you for the better? Or you can let it change you for the worst. This is a life lesson son...this is a test of the tribe. I believe in you...you KNOW I do. But I’m not going to stand around and blow smoke out your ass like this is going to be a cakewalk for you because it’s not. And that’s all I’m going to tell you. Son...this is REALLY...going...to hurt.
(With that, Levi takes his leave as Jack leans himself up against the wall with a glare on his face as Mack taps him on the knee offering him a hand up.)
Mack McKane: Work it out, kid?
Jack Russow: I’ve worked out twice today, Mack. And you know damn well you get lost in the scuffle.
Mack McKane: I regret nothing.
Jack Russow: Nah...but it’s time I spoke on this.
-THRONE-
“So you can throw me to the wolves…
...tomorrow I will come back!
LEADER of the whole pack!
Beat me black and blue…
...every wound will shape me!
EVERY SCAR WILL BUILD MY THRONE!”
(The scene starts with the sound of heavy breathing and the sound of a body hitting pads as the picture slowly turns the corner around a pillar of stone to show a wrestling ring, extra crash pad in the middle...and young Jack Russow constantly springboarding 450’s into the ring, then jumping up on the top rope and alternating shooting star press variations and finally a 630 Splash. He stays crashed after that one lying on the crash pad looking straight up at the dim lights.)
Jack Russow: ...this was the end you always saw for me, isn’t it? Right here...center of the ring...lying on my back with my eyes cast to the dirty lights above. I’m not supposed to get back up. I’m not supposed to kick out at two and three quarters. I am not SUPPOSED...to take your BREATH AWAY!!! And yet you persist...that I’m supposed to. Why? Why do you either want me to be the single greatest star this sport has ever seen or to watch me crash in flames? I love you...but you’re all a bunch of fuckin’ sociopaths.
(Jack takes a deep breath and rocks back like he’s going to kip up but simply just rolls up to a sitting position crossing his legs with his knees to his chest.)
Jack Russow: I am, and have been from the start, damned if I do and damned if I don’t. But I want you to take notice...of one thing...that’s quite different from a year ago. Look around you...you know where we are.
(And for certain the camera pans around to show the long, wallpaper-esque banners inside the Russow Complex as Jack talks over the slow pan.)
Jack Russow: Do you remember when I sat in the middle of this ring...a greenhorn...a youngblood...and I looked up to these incomparable faces on each and every banner. People that have taken this sport by storm be it past or future. And it hurt...because I saw Mack...I saw Malachi...I even saw Bella. But most importantly?
...
I found a space.(As soon as he says that the camera reaches the blank spot where presumably Jack’s banner would hang.)
Jack Russow: And I told you...I hadn’t earned it yet. And then I went on my barrage. Mack isn’t the only one that hasn’t lost...Mack isn’t the ONLY deadly champion you need to watch out for!
(Jack reaches into the corner and cuddles the PWS United Championship into his chest.)
Jack Russow: What now? I’m the first of my family to hold THIS one. And you saw the inner struggle I had to go through to get here. But...I got here. And SO?
(Jack snaps his fingers and a massive banner of his visage flows down into place! A stern picture of him with the United Championship over his shoulder as he looks up with a beam of pride.)
Jack Russow: ...and that’s how I know...that’s how I KNOW I’m ready. I EARNED my spot. I EARNED this title! And I don’t care WHAT fucking game you’re playing! Someone thinks it’s really clever to pick ME out...to make ME the laughing cornerstone of a massive event like Crusade! Let’s make Jack Russow lose his mind...and then his title.
(Jack stands up stretching out and readjusting the title on his shoulder.)
Jack Russow: They told me to be ready for the biggest fight of my life. I begged of you...not to make me do this. Because I don’t know who’s BEHIND this sick game. My father? God I hope not, I wouldn’t put it past him to make me fight my fiancee’ in a deathmatch...prick. But that’s neither here nor there, is it? The point is...I’m not afraid of “question marks”. I’m not afraid of whatever kind of washed-up drivel or snot-nosed puke you THINK is gonna put me in the hospital! I am JACK….FFFFFFUCKING...RUSSOW!!! I AM...THE PRINCE OF PRO WRESTLING!!!...I AM THE PUNK...THAT WAS PROMISED!!! AND I…
AM
*NOT*...
...AFRAID!!!(With that, Jack rolls out of the ring and slams the door behind him making his exit.)