Mitch Heart/Lab Rat King Vs. Mac Bane/Jack Michaels

Vegas


A soft wind blew through the Las Vegas foothills as we open on a shot of former Carnage World Champion JACK MICHAELS in his pool. With weather dipping into the low 50s, he’s not actually in the water but rather floating on a rather elaborate piece of blow of furniture while still fully dressed in slacks, a polo shirt and dark sunglasses over his eyes. In his hand is a glass of Chivas Regal and an unlit cigar while the Black Lab Piper lies at his feet on her own piece of furniture; bone dry and sound asleep. Jack takes a sip of the Scotch and reaches into his pocket to produce a lighter. The sound of the tinder striking perks up Piper but she quickly goes back to sleep as the gentle waves of the pool overtake her. Jack takes a puff off his cigar and produces a small ashtray from behind his back. He takes another puff, puts the ashtray on his chest and places the cigar in the ashtray as he continues to float aimlessly. From inside Jack’s mansion, AMBER RYAN stands next to MAC BANE in Jack’s kitchen and looks down from the window at the pool.

“Yeah, that's it. He's finally goddamn lost his mind.”

“Come on Red, it's not that bad.”

“How do you wanna describe this then- it's like one step off a midlife crisis without the convertible. Honestly, the smiling alone is starting to give me the creeps.”

“Well... I mean he’s 53, that’s more like a ⅔ life crisis right?”

Mac gives Amber a toothy grin as she stands stonefaced. Instead, she gives back a scathing look as though he's supposed to be on her side. Back down at the pool, Jack takes another sip off his Scotch and speaks aloud to the air.

“You know… 4 months ago I was out here crying my eyes out about how miserable I was and now… I feel good. Life is….. Good.”

“Yeah, Jacky… That’s what being happy is all about, son.”

Jack nodded as he looked over and saw his grandfather TED MICHAELS sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water. Although he’d been dead nearly 30 years, he looked the same as when Jack was a teenager; Tweed jacket with his brown pant legs rolled up. He produced his own pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one up.

“Yep, Life is good. I mean… For you. I’m dead but you know… Still good.”

Jack was forced to laugh as we cut back to Amber and Mac.

“You can’t stand there and tell me a guy floating around in a pool fully clothed and talking to himself is normal!”

Amber shook her head knowingly, however Mac didn't pay her much mind.

“If I'd had the last few months he had, and it's not all that far off, I'd probably do the same thing.”

More disgust from the redhead as she tries to comprehend the sheer lunacy and how she might possibly be the only sane one in the vicinity. She opts to open the small glass door to the veranda and tries to listen in to what Jack is saying.

“Yeah... Everything is pretty good. It’s almost funny in a way, Papa. I was so angry coming back against Ken but it’s like… I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I mean, I don’t know… It’s strange. I feel like I need to be this big bad gamechanger but in the end… It never really amounted to much. I mean yeah, I had the belts. I got to change at least some part of the sport but man… I was miserable.

Ted smiled himself as he took a pull on his smoke.

“Of course it’s strange, Jacky. You’ve spent the better part of 3 decades being the angry young man and now, you get to enjoy wrestling and family without regret or remorse. You became as blind as Helen Keller to the world around you.”

Jack pulled down his sunglasses and looked over at Ted.

“I don’t see your point.”

Both men start to laugh manically at the ridiculous Dad joke as Amber shakes her head back inside.

“I’m going down there. This is absurd…”

“Come on now… It’s fine, Red.”

Turning on a dime, Amber glared through Mac.

“No, it's absolutely not fine. For all we know he's got a concussion or a fucking brain tumor... people like us getting whacked in the head all the time… it messes people up. I can't just stand by and watch that happen.”

Amber goes storming past Mac who sighs before letting her go. Amber hurries down towards the pool area where she hears Jack telling the tail end of a bad joke.

“So she goes, ‘but honey, this one is eating my popcorn!’

Jack starts to laugh some more as he finishes his Scotch and puts the cigar back in his mouth. Amber makes it down to poolside and clears her throat.

“Hey Pops… Who uh… Who you talking to?”

Jack turns his head and smiles at her.

“Hey baby girl… I was just telling jokes with my Papa. The guy always has the best ones. Oh, speaking of which, did I tell you the one about the two nuns walking into the strip club?”

Amber raised an eyebrow inquiringly, her expression of confusion but softened with mild disgust.

“Wonderful... I bet it's thrilling conversation with someone who's been dead for 30 years.”

Jack takes his sunglasses off and turns to look at his Papa.

“Don’t look at me, she’s the one who probably thinks you are crazy.”

Jack nods as Ted vanishes away. He sighs turns to look at Amber.

“I’m fully aware that my Papa is dead, Amber. I just sometimes like to think he’s still around when I’m reflecting on things in my life. He’s… One of the few people I had who made sense. It’s been a weird time for me baby girl and I’d like to imagine what he would have said if he was here.”

Amber still doesn’t seem convinced as Jack slowly paddles his way towards the edge of the pool. Piper is the first to jump out as Jack easily shifts out of the pool with the cigar still in his mouth. He blows out a puff of smoke as he walks up to Amber who now has her hands on her hips.

“Right.”

Jack chuckles as he shakes his head.

“You think I’ve lost the plot, don’t you?”

Amber takes a second to study the older man and bites her bottom lip.

“Truthfully.. yeah. Imagine it from my perspective- if I started walking around with a smile on my face handing out compliments and sage advice to people who otherwise wanna kick my head in… You'd think I'd have cracked. I mean… I almost think you might be leaving yourself open to get hurt if you keep your guard down. I get your happy, and I'm happy for you… I just don't get why.”

Jack looked at his adopted daughter for a moment as he digested what she said to him. He snubs out the cigar in the ashtray in his hand and brushes away a lock of Amber’s hair.

“You have your mother’s eyes, you know.”

Amber softened a bit but slowly pulled away.

“Don’t you fucking change the subject on me… This isn’t about me…”

Jack smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, baby girl, it sort of is about you.”

Jack walked past Amber and started towards the house as Amber followed him.

“Doesn’t it ever get tiring for you, Amber? All the hate… All the wrath… All the anger? Don’t you ever wonder if it will ever end?”

Amber remained quiet as Jack opened the door for her to walk back in the house. Amber hesitated as Jack turned around and gave her a warm smile.

“We all grasp onto what we were to fuel what we are. I get that… And it was the same thing that drove me to want to be the best for a long, LONG time. After the thing with Ken and seeing how the world looks at us… I just don’t want to be that person anymore.”

Piper ran by Jack and Amber into the house as Amber stood in silence staring at Jack.

“But talking to yourself and being a good guy to… Everyone out there? I mean Kyra, Mitch, fucking Ken… I don’t…”

“Get it. I know.”

Jack turned away from Amber and looked out at the sunset. He furrowed his brow a bit as he studied the horizon.

“I used to love the sunset but I never… I never look at it anymore. One day after another. One match after another. One quest or one belt or what problem after another. I forgot what it means to just be… Me.”

Jack shook his head slightly and turned back to Amber.

“I’m not crazy… I’m not weak. I’m not stupid and I’m not blind. I just realize for the first time in my life the person I want to be… And the person I want to be out in that ring is the same person I want to be at home with you, with Lil Amber, with Mac and with everyone else who made me believe that I was something more than I am. I’m not special. I’m not a god. I’m just… Me. And I like me. I like who I’ve turned out to be and I want others to like who they are too.”

Amber sort of bowed her head a bit as a wave of emotion seemed to flood into her. There were no words but Jack placed his head against her.

“There will still be fights to fight… Wars to wage… But I don’t have to be angry about them anymore. And if someone says they don’t like it? To hell with em. You be even happier for it. It sort of feels good to kill someone with kindness and honestly? There is a lot of kindness I want to share.”

Jack picked up his daughter’s head and kissed her on the forehead.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel, baby girl… All you have to do is look for it.”

Jack turned and walked back inside as Mac came out from an adjacent door. He walked up to Amber.

“So….. What happened with Jack?”

A small tear rolls down Amber’s cheek as she looks at the door where Jack went through and smiles despite herself.

“Yeah... He’s fucking lost it.”

She turns and gives Mac a hug as the sun rests behind the mountains….


-----



Hartford


While the Carnage Elite sat in the special Luxury Box set aside for them to watch JC battle for the UGWC World title, Jack had opted to buy a seat much closer to the ring. He wasn’t sure what made him want to experience this by himself but something in his gut told him it was the right way. With a black face mask and a ball cap over his head, nobody noticed the former Carnage World champion at ringside as he showed his support to JC in the ring.

One year ago it would have been a surreal moment for Jack; cheering on a man he legitimately wanted to end the career of. Now, the anger and mistrust he had was bled away and in it’s place was a sheer joy that he hadn’t allowed himself in a long time. He was enjoying himself immensely among the fans and felt a legitimate pride in seeing Joe trying to fill his dream in the ring.

As the battle went back and forth, Jack started to wonder if perhaps he was taking this return to the ring a bit too lightly. If, as Amber put it, he was endangering himself by not being the angry relic striving for... For…..

Huh.

As JC caught Yamazaki with a stiff Butterfly Suplex, Jack realized he couldn’t remember exactly what it was he was fighting for. Sure, he knew what Paragon had stood for but the whys and hows felt miles away. There were still pangs of frustration with those who took such a narrow view to the sport he loved but, at the same time, he had such a better understanding of how one could come to that point. It was such a vicious circle and he knew all too well what it could lead to.

Hurting your daughter.

Losing your love.

Anger begetting more anger.

Despair, Depression and finally a point where you hit a crossroad.

He’d come close to the edge of his sanity. The cool exterior ready to break from the pressure he built in himself. Maybe one day he’d tell them how close it came… How close he was to just ending it all. To make the pain go away forever because he lost track of who he really was.

He could have gone down that dark path… But instead he decided that life is too precious to waste it like that.

JC looked like he wanted to finish the match as Jack felt his lips curl up in a smile. He was happy now…. Much happier than he’d been in a long, long time. He didn’t need to be angry anymore. He didn’t need to be the one leading the charge. He didn’t need to be the champion or the Icon or whatever they thrust at him. If it came up, great. He’d fight. Not because he had to but rather because he’d want to.

The match came to a close as JC took a stiff blow and was down for the count. The UGWC faithful cheered this on but Jack still gave props to Joe for everything he gave in this match. He wondered if this loss would affect him against Ken or if maybe he’d see things the way Jack had; The belts meant little anymore. The psychological dissection of those who were flawed was moot. All that he needed was to stay himself, the jokey and fun version of himself, and let nature take its course. If it meant he’d lose a few, so be it. If it meant he got to get wrestlers to question themselves a bit more… Wonderful. He wanted to give it his all and just enjoy the fact that yeah, I can still do this.

In the end, it wasn’t about Paragon or Carnage or even wrestling anymore.

It was about…

Just being happy.

-----




BALTIMORE


*CRACK*

The balls on the pool table smashed together as Jack watched over Mac taking his shot. The Salty Old Bastards seemed to be in some random pool hall prior to the show with both looking wildly out of place in the typical Baltimore bar scene. The giant men were both in what passed for their casual wear; Mac in a cowboy hat, jeans and boots and Jack with a shirt and tie sans jacket as he leaned on his cue. Even though he was up to shoot, Mac was shaking his head while looking down at the table.

“I don’t see it, Jack. How can you say the 80s were better than today?”

Jack sighed as he watched Mac pot another ball.

“How many examples do I need to give you? The music, the movies, the culture, the fashion.”

Mac potted another ball and shot an eyebrow up.

“The fashion. Really.”

“Don’t question the power of a skinny tie and a Members Only jacket. I’ll bring it back.”

Mac chuckled as he took another shot. Jack continued on.

“Hell… Even the wrestling was just easier back then.”

Mac missed a shot and let out a small curse before looking back up.

“What was easier about wrestling then compared to now?”

“Just everything really. Take promos for example. Today we have to have these elaborate set ups that are overly produced when back then, we just had a camera set up and went to town.”

Suddenly Jack and Mac slowly turn to the camera.

“Which brings me to Mitch Heart and the Lab Rat King.”

In a totally unironic twist, Mac comes around the table next to Jack and leans on the edge as his partner begins to speak directly to their opponents.

“I don’t know why but for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m starting over. I get this… Chill in my soul of just how lucky I am to be able to go out to the ring with my partner and do what I’ve been doing for 23 years. Maybe it’s because my mindset has changed. Maybe it’s because the opponents are new. Maybe it’s because I don’t feel like I have to shape the world anymore… But regardless it’s a feeling that makes me realize Mac and I… We… We just are here to do what we do best. Wrestle and fight with heart, pride and honor.

A small smile comes over Jack’s face as he pats Mac on the shoulder. He turns back to the camera.

“My god... Can you two feel it yet? Can you feel the power which is emulating from us? It's wonderful and it's nearly time for us to do what we have been waiting for... Let’s forget the wildcard of Kyra reffing the match. You two may look at her as a hindrance or a goal but that isn’t what this match is about. Let’s just look at the brass tacks of the here and now. As a matter of fact…”

Jack takes a seat on the table and picks up one of the pool balls. He looks at it closely as if analyzing something only he can see.

“I think this has become a do or die scenario for the both of you.”

Jack keeps staring at the ball and nods his head.

“For you, it’s a chance to put down two, dare I say, ICONS in Carnage Wrestling. A chance to prove your merit as it were. I mean how many chances do you have to change the course of Carnage by even being in the same ring as two people like us? I mean Mitch… He was there last Chaos and he was outshined by Kyra. Not an insult but rather just a byproduct of what went down. Here is his 2nd chance to prove the doubters wrong and show how big and bad he really is. LRK? I’m not even sure he knows what this could mean for him other than he gets a chance to taste some truly glorious blood. He’s a monster. He can wrestle and he’s a hell of a lot smarter than people seem to give him credit for. It’s a damning situation and one that I suppose could be worrisome.”

Jack puts the ball back down on the table and raises an eyebrow.

“But I’m not worried. I could tell you the sob story of how I got beyond worry but I think the two of you already know. You see I understand what it is Jack Michaels is supposed to do now… And it involves more joy, more fun and a hell of a lot more Dad jokes.

Mac groans and rolls his eyes as Jack turns to him and chuckles.

“Oh you know you love them, Mac. But I think you also understand what I mean.”

Mac tips up his hat and nods at Jack.

“Yeah… I’d say I do.”

The two turn back to the camera.

“Our days of struggling to prove our way or our talent are behind us. The days of enjoying just going out to the ring and being the very best we can be are here and now. The two of you… I don’t know if you can see it that way. I mean I almost think you’d sell your soul to get ahead Mitch. I’d almost think you’d rip Mitch’s head off if it meant you got another chomp on the UltraViolent belt, Zane. The thing is though that it doesn't really matter in the end because your narrow views come with a price. You see, while the two of you want this bullheaded rush towards tangible glory, Mac and I? We see the big picture. We see what needs to be done. The two of you? You’re still shadows of what the two of us were whether you want to admit it or not. When this match comes to an end, you might finally understand what it is I’ve been trying to tell you over the last month. It's not really about you fulfilling your dreams. It's about the world finding their own.”

The camera begins to pull in a bit tighter to Jack as he looks down at the ground.

“I’ve waited a long time for a moment like this to come… And I have accepted that this will be the last time I have this opportunity in my career. A point in time where what I’m doing makes sense to me and it makes me happy to do it. I know as well that there are those who think I’m squandering what’s left of my legacy. That happy Jack is somehow a mistake. Some would say that in my shoes that they are not going to waste the chance to try and be a champion. Some would say that they would do whatever it takes to pin your shoulders to the mat and show the world that our generation and our ability and our fight means more than what you two could ever stand for. However, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t matter. We are coming to give you a great wrestling match and I expect the two of you to respect the joy that it brings both Mac and I. Clean… Fun… Happy… Happy… Happy… Happy…”

A shiver comes over Jack as a small twitch comes over his eye. Mac looks over at his partner who suddenly brings his head up.

“But let me also warn you ahead of time. If you two push us, grind us, try to make this more than a wrestling match and head towards a fight… I won’t be responsible for the damage we cause. Mac and I will do everything we can to break every single bone in your body. You two like blood… We’ll spill buckets of it. There is no back step for the two of us because we’ve been there… I’ve been there… And I’m not going back. If you push me… If you push me… If you push me… Heh heh heh…..

Jack’s breathing becomes erratic as a small stream of blood comes down his nose and over his mustache. We see concern come on Mac’s face as small drops are now dripping on his white shirt.

“I will do everything I can to end you. I’ll laugh and smile and joke and be happy as your family and friends sit around your bed as you shit yourself and take your food through a tube. I’ll be so happy… So god damn FUCKING happy to see you motionless from the neck down and slowly rotting away to hell. The pain… It will bring me such… Joy….. Happy…”

Jack starts to twitch again as Mac puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Um. You okay, partner?”

Jack suddenly snaps back to reality as he looks up confused at Mac and then wipes the blood away from his nose.

“Huh? Yeah… I uh… Yeah.”

He realizes he’s still in front of the camera and lets out a big Dad smile.

“So see you two at Chaos and let’s have a great time!”

Jack turns to Mac and wipes his mouth.

“I’m suddenly hungry. Let’s get a taco, buddy.”

Jack heads off screen as Mac looks at him confused. He gives a final quick glance at the camera before we fade to black...