Mark Brooks answers the phone and holds it up to his ear.

MARK BROOKS: What’s up?

….

MARK BROOKS: Oh you just landed? Nice. We are staying at the Jurys in.

….

MARK BROOKS: Yeah, it’s on Victoria Street. You coming?

…

MARK BROOKS: You cheap ass! Haha, I’m just glad you made for tomorrow night. I don’t know what Barney is smoking, but it’s something.

Mark listens and starts laughing as he holds his forearm up against his mouth.

MARK BROOKS: Aw man, that is some funny shit. This match is really testing my limits, but if you can help—it’s two less people I have to worry about. Scully is a and he’ll probably get lost on his way to the ring.

…

MARK BROOKS: Yeah, Scully is still around. With the XWF’s face lift, Scully is nothing more than an idiot. He’s a joker. While some card games may give the joker card a high rating—the joker is ultimately the most useless card in all the 52 cards.

…

MARK BROOKS: There’s also Azrael and Centurion. Azrael is no bothered. I don’t think he’s even going to make it on time.

He pauses.

MARK BROOKS: Oh hey man, do you happen to have any information I can use on Centurion?

…

MARK BROOKS: Oh… right. We were in XWF around the same time. I just thought you may have known who he was. I just need something to really use against him. I feel like talking about his old ass, breaking a hip from a lost of balance, and being lost in his past is getting old.

…

MARK BROOKS:
Well, you just show up like you said you are going to do and we can let the entire world in on the best kept secret.

….

MARK BROOKS: No, I’m done with listening to Centurion yapping his gums and he’s not even worth it. Why would you go after him? What would be the reason? Just stick with the original plan and I will take care of Centurion.

…

MARK BROOKS: There you go. We can’t fail with this plan. I have to let you know it’s going to be an ABOVE AVERAGE night! So, just make sure—

…

He was obviously interrupted, and Mark looks quite annoyed. He face palms his nose and shakes his head.

MARK BROOKS: Yeah, yeah, make fun of me all you want. You’ll see. I’m going to start things off with a bang. I’m going to get back in the title picture I have deserved to be in this entire time. I just feel sorry for those four legends who will never get back what they had.

…

MARK BROOKS: Aw shut up already!

…

MARK BROOKS: Well, I have to go. I have a prep match to practice and make sure I’m in perfect shape. When you’re damn near perfection, you can’t take any chances at risking it all against the rift raft.

He hangs up the phone shortly after explaining to the person on the other why he had to hang up. As he hangs up, he sets the phone down and slouches over. He rests his hands on his knees and looks down at the room’s floor. He lifts his upper body up and looks at his refection in the mirror as he stands up straight. He brings his right hand up and runs it over the top of his head. He shakes his head as he starts to pace in front of the television. He pauses and grabs the remote off the dresser and flops down on the foot of the bed. He turns on the television set and starts to flicker through channels. He gets to one of the local wrestling channels in Northern Ireland and they have a special edition of promos streaming live from the XWF’s network. He sets the remote down next to him when Centurion’s third promo starts to play on the screen.

MARK BROOKS: Centurion, do you ever shut up? Have you ever heard of the saying, “talk is cheap?” I think you totally missed that whole lesson in life, but allow me to be the one to enlighten you on that very important clue. Talk is cheap. It’s all about what you can and how you can back up all the crap you spew.

We can go back and forth, but man, what’s the point? Do we really want to make enemies out of each other? You want the title. I want the title. Only one of us can earn the spot. Only one of us can move onto Relentless and challenge for the Hart’s Championship. It doesn’t matter how much you throw a hissy fit or yell from the Empire State building that you’re the better man in this fatal five way match because it’s all going to come down to skill.

It’s going to come down to who can outsmart and outlast the opposition. Centurion until your second to last promo, I didn’t realize how much you and I think alike. Hell, you made me laugh when you were talking about Scully. I literally could not contain myself when I listened to it. The way you called him the biggest fucking idiot was comical. Good stuff. I’ll have to remember to use that whenever I face Scully in the future… if I even face him in the future. I think the dude is a real piece of work.

He’s definitely missing a screw or two. You have to admit, he’s better than Azrael. Azrael is a little bit of a disappointment in my mind. I’m torn. I would have loved to be around the days he was something because his name is all over the title histories of nearly all the championships. There is a man you just cannot miss. Now, look at what his career has turned into. It has turned into an utter joke and with a loss this week in Warfare, if he even shows up is going to totally disgrace everything, he’s worked so hard for in the past. I don’t think it’s fair to stay it’s like you though, Centurion.

I think part of you are living in your own shadows. I know you’re living in the past and I really get it. I understand why you would want to live in the past. The past is where all your winning stories are part of. The past is where all your history is. The present is like starting over again. It’s tough. I get it bud. It’s time to live in the future and test yourself to see if you can do it all again. Unfortunately for you, it’s a race against the clock. You have to worry about doing it all again before your time runs out.

You’ve already shown the world you couldn’t win the Universal Championship. I’ll tell you what. If we ever face each other again and I’m a champion, I will be more than happy to defend the title against you. After all, you’ll deserve it. You were the one opponent who had the biggest mouth and you’re going to be one of three opponents with a fist crammed down your throat!

He slides his hand through the back of his head and leans back on the bed. He dazes up at the ceiling and grins.

MARK BROOKS: Again, Centurion, do you ever shut up?
I do want to answer something you’ve asked because it’s important to me. you asked if I have ever failed at something. If you have followed my wrestling career, you could give your own personal opinion on whether or not I have failed. I have been part of some tough companies in my day. I partook in a company called Pulse Wrestling Federation. I wrestled in Boardwalk Wrestling. I even wrestled in 4 Cornered Wrestling. My biggest claim to fame came in PWF when after a few years, I managed to break into the main event scene. My days in Boardwalk Wrestling were restricted to the Anarchy division, but with my team Boston Strong—we were on our ways to the tag team championships, but never quite got to the top of the division. The only thing I managed to do in 4CW was fought the Southwestern Champion Jason Cashe to a draw. Much like you, the man was a legend in the business. So, have I failed at anything? I let you be the judge for yourself.

I don’t let failure define me. I look at failure as a roadblock. I use losing and failure as a way to improve and get better. We all lose. Some lose more than others and others just plain lose every single time they step inside the ring. I don’t believe winning is the only solution. Some people have a way about themselves that they can take losing and turn it into a positive. Some people can make losing look good.

My wife and I are two of those people.

You won’t get to see how well I wear losing because I don’t plan on losing just yet. I don’t plan on readjusting my mindset in XWF right this minute. I do have to tell you something that we both differ on. You are motivated by failure, so does that mean if you lose, or should I say when you lose tomorrow night? When you lose tomorrow night, does that mean you are going to be motivated to get back into the Hart’s Championship title picture? What is going to fuel you? The fact that I’m a young, dumb, and full of cum arrogant kid?

Mark starts to chuckle.

MARK BROOKS: When you lose, you should be fueled by anger. You should be fueled by frustration. You should be fueled by the useless chump that cost you the match. In this case, it’s most likely going to be Scully or Azrael. Hell, I have to say I give more credit to Barney this week than I have ever thought I was going to give him. I know for a fact Barney will probably not take the fall in this match. It’s not because he’s better than the others—there are just other plans for the fat boy.

You should be fueled and motivated by the fact I’m younger, faster, and better than you. You should be trying everything in your power to try and get on the same page with me. Outwrestling you is something that I am going to do quite often, if we ever have a rematch of Wednesday night Warfare.

Mark cups his hands and starts to rub his palms. He sits up on the edge of his bed and he starts popping the knuckles in his left hand.

MARK BROOKS: Centurion, it’s sad… real sad. It’s sad that we have to listen to Barney Green talk about stuff he knows nothing about. You know when Barney was talking about how picking a fight with him was like cancer. How sick is this individual? I know people who have beaten cancer and kicked it to the curb. How many times do you think Barney has been kicked to the curb? Yeah, yeah, you’re probably right. He’s probably never been close to a man or woman to even be kicked to the curb in the first place.

If Barney is cancer, then you can call me chemo… chemotherapy! I’ll burn him to death. Haha! Barney just like Scully, you are both going to learn a very important lesson from Azrael. You are going to learn when to fold them and when not. This is going to be a huge learning experience because this is that type of match that you want to fold them. Everything you two have built up inside your diluted little brains are going to be shattered. You can just call me the DREAM CRUSHER! Crushing your dreams will make me feel better.

Once again, I wish you guys would have taken Azrael’s lead. I don’t care if you would have missed your flight or just showed up without ever showing your face. It would have made my life that much easier, but I worked harder than I have ever worked in the XWF. Do you know what that is going to do for my future Hart’s title match? It’s going to make it that much better to know I earned that title shot. I proved to be better than three and a half legends to get back in the title picture I longed to be in since 2017!

I am going to be more relentless. More vicious. More aggressive. And more focused than all of you combined in this match, and also the Hart’s Championship match. Goodluck, but I don’t freaking need any luck because I have my heart, determination, and motivation on my side. My motivation is my striving to be number one in XWF!

The scene fades to black.