Xander Valentine vs. Kristen Scott

[Konrad Raab]

2 RP Limit for singles

3500 Word Limit Per RP

Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Wednesday, October 16, 2024

[Xander Valentine]

1 of 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17q-W...p=drivesdk

[Xander Valentine]

2 of 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1trEa...sp=sharing

[TheOne]

{EZRA: Chapter One}

In recent times, my life has been a struggle from the ground up.  It didn't begin in the world of wrestling, but it has carried over into it.  It began with Hailey, and our willingness to let our emotions get the better of us talking.  It caused a fracture in our friendship, one of which I didn't believe could be mended.  Especially with Jake Starr appearing.

Hailey didn't know why he was there.  She felt like she was being ostracized for her personal life.  Conversely, I felt Hailey was pushing me away, wanting to move on and do her own thing without telling me.  And it took a heart to heart for us to finally realize we were both wrong, and allow us to begin the healing process.

Now it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, since, but it has been more positive between she and I.  We can communicate.  I know she wants to be there with me and fight alongside me, like we have.

On the flipside, however, my professional life is still a bit murky and rocky.  I don't know what's next or where to go because since all of the chaos at home has spilled over, it has led to me fledgling in my goal of simply having success, like I did originally.  Now I'm more of fodder for everyone else to enjoy at their whim.  And I don't know what the root cause is, but I know before that can be exposed, more reality checks need to happen.  More people need to have accountability for their actions, and there needs to be a complete reset on the situation...

And it's not from the top down... It's from the foundation, up...

Along the nighttime streets a figure walks down the downtown area.  As the figure passes under a streetlight, it is revealed to be Jake Starr.  He's not trying to be subtle or inconspicuous, he's just out for a nighttime walk.  He makes a turn down one of the intersections and begins passing by an alleyway.  A voice emerges from the darkness, pausing him in his tracks.

Voice: We need to talk...

Fom the shadows, out walks Kirsten Scott, with a serious look on her face.  Jake, now much calmer knowing who the person was speaking to him, lets his anxiety down and turns toward his mentee.

Jake Starr: Safe to say, I think you're right...

Kirsten looks Jake dead in the eyes.

Kirsten Scott: So what in the hell is all of this?  What is the point?

Jake Starr: Listen... I'll be honest, this obviously has not gone the way I thought it would...

Kirsten Scott: I agree... And therein lies the problem.  It was never about how WE planned it.  It was always about how YOU planned it...

Jake Starr: Fair...

Kirsten Scott: I mean, you acted like I was you.  You acted like I was just a mini-me of Jake Starr, and would live out your career so you could feel like you still had a foot in the door.

Jake pauses and nods a bit.

Jake Starr: I can see that...

Kirsten Scott: So it's time things change... It's time for things to change from the start, going forward.

Jake Starr: And what do you propose?

Kirsten Scott: Yeah, I want you around.  But I want you around as a real MENTOR.  But someone who is equal in calling the shots and deciding the best path.  I'm done being the little bitch girl who just says "Yes sir," to "The Man."  And you need to be OK with that... You have to not be so controlling and set in YOUR ways, and understand WE have ours as well...

Jake Starr: We?

Kirsten Scott: Yes, we... I filled Hailey in on everything.  I brought her up to speed with how everything went down and no longer keep her out of the loop, and you need to do the same.  You tell one of us, you tell us... We want equality, she and I.  That's what we have fought for all along, since our days locked inside The Compound.  Between the three of us, it's not about power, it's not about authority, it's about making life equal for EVERYONE in our circle, and making sure everyone lives up to their word and their responsibility.  But it has to begin with solid foundation, and then be built into this elaborate situation you envision.

Jake nods again.

Jake Starr: The bigger question is what does Hailey think about all of this, now that you two have gotten to talk?

From the shadows another figure appears, this one emerging as Hailey herself.

Hailey Brooks: Can I be blunt?

Jake Starr: That's kind of your M. O. isn't it?

Hailey Brooks: It is, but I wanted to be fair... Truth is, I really did believe you were trying to take Kirsten from us.  Not just me, but Emma and Ethan as well.  I thought you wanted to mastermind some scheme to be her puppet master, and have her do ALL of your bidding, and not, like she said, just live vicariously through her.  I really believed that and I believed it because I knew who you were.  I knew your game.  For you it was always slithering your way through to get what you wanted, and I figured this was another time...

But then we talked...

She explained how you didn't come to her to tell her you were going to teach her the "ways of the dark side," so she could get ahead easier.  She told me how she firmly believed you wanted to help her GROW, but she felt you wanted to do it only your way.  She explained that you wanted me involved because you saw me as an integral part of the process of helping her, and I refused to see it at the time.

It was a lot to happen for me, at a bad time in my life.

BUT, she and I talked.  We discussed whatever "this" is, or could be, and you have my vote of confidence only if we do it, like she said, together.  It's the only way we can succeed in achieving what we all want, and that's her success in her vision.  You have a lot to give.  I've been by her side since the beginning.  Others have roles as well, like Emma and Pro.  But it has to be a group effort to get to that greater good you talked about once.  So if you're game... I'm game...

Jake is a bit surprised.

Jake Starr: Can honestly say I wasn't expecting to hear that, but thank you, and to answer you both...

I agree...

I tried to jump back into the deep end like it was my battle to fight.  It's my battle to be involved IN, but not lead.  So if it's OK, we start this process over because that "greater good" I spoke about, that "bigger meaning," is there.  THAT I can see with my own two eyes.  But it will ultimately take an army, and not an individual.  But we need to define the leaders who will lead that army... And it has to start with one... "The One..."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to give you two more time, and we can talk more later.  But we can consider this, the beginning of the rebuilding of OUR vision...

Jake turns and slowly begins to walk off, putting his hands in his pockets as Hailey and Kirsten watch.  The scene ends with the two simply nodding at one another, signifying that they believe they have made the right course correction, and hopefully can let it blossom.

-------------------------

{PROMO}

Within a studio, everyone begins to kind of clamor for the opportunity to "reboot" the career of Kirsten Scott.  Recently, her career has been on a major downturn, with losses piling up, and motivation waning, it was ultimately time to change things up a bit, and truly begin the process of rejuvenating her career, or accepting the fact that the industry had finally gotten the best of her.

For Kristen, it wasn't the latter...

She refuses to believe that something can beat her, and it is merely a realization that everything she may have perceived may have never been what reality had set for her on a professional level.

So after Apocalypse, she has chosen to make it just that, an "Apocalypse,"  a moment that has come to be used popularly as a synonym for catastrophe, but the Greek word apokálypsis, from which it is derived, means a revelation.  For her, the "revelation," is simple.  She was wrong.  She simplified an industry with much more nuance and unpredictability than she could prepare for, and with the knowledge, now, she changes her mentality, and wages her personal wars forward...

And it beings... Now...

As the cameras begin to roll, a woman, defeated in stature, initially stands, leading the world to question her mentality and ability to face the reality in front of her.  A woman who stands there, broken, believing in herself to be some form of Joan of Arc, read to be a martyr for the future, realizing she is not that... Maybe not ever... But still in front of a live camera, willing to speak her peace, speak her emotions, and tell the world what she feels now, then, and going forward...

... It's been a long year, hasn't it?  I've said a lot of bold things, haven't I?  I've asserted I was some bastion of change, but yet, here we are, in SCW, today.  Josh Hudson... Ace Marshall... CHBK, even... And one specific other I'll get to, running the show, once again.  It's as if SCW is one of those places where history is simply destined to repeat itself, once it finally gets past the person, like Selena Frost, who threw the monkey wrench into the situation...

So what's next?

Phantom?

Jason Wheeler?

Christian Savior?

Cid Turner?

God forbid, Greg Cherry?

What is next for SCW, since we are just resting on our laurels when it comes to the moment there is time for change, and it's not the "change" we feel we need?  Why must SCW always go back to the "way it was" in order to reestablish order?  Why can't it function in chaos?

These were the questions I asked myself when I came here.  These were the goals I set for myself.  I wanted to be that chaos.  I wanted to be that change, that new chapter, but I realize, SCW isn't ready for it.  SCW can't handle a new chapter until it has allowed itself to close the book on its own past.  And for that... Honestly, I failed you all.  I failed the people, I failed the locker room, I failed my friends, and most importantly, I failed myself.

You see I came here to be the catalyst of change, much like people in the past.  I wanted to be th person who helped SCW move forward into a TRUE new generation, but the more I competed, the more I realized those pulling the strings, they weren't comfortable with change because they always allowed those "safe spaces," those people who they could rely on in their EARLY DAYS, to dominate the limelight when, and ONLY when, they were ready to do so.  They could let them run away, make excuses, but those of us who scratched and clawed, we didn't get that preferential treatment.  So to that, I ask one real question to the fans, the talent, the management, the OWNERS, everyone...

IS THIS REALLY WHO SCW IS?  Or is it the place where the big guns come to shoot their shot because I'm a bit in the dark... Because if it is that place, boy, the curtain needs to be pulled back and the "Wizard of Oz" should be exposed because that is not where we live... We live in an oligarchy.  We live in a world where a few prevail, and the masses are forced to suffer the consequences, and I simply ask if that is what this is.

CHBK?

Mr. D?

Whomever is in charge today?

Do you shit on those who work, for those who give you the alumni boost?  Or do you want to see those who you've brought in be the ones that give you that same return on investment in the future?  There is a law of diminishing returns, and I can promise that Bob Backlund didn't sell as much merch in the days he was shitting in a diaper, as compared to when he became World Champion for the first time... So ASK YOURSELF THAT!

Because I have done that for myself.  I have asked myself, could I be a future law of diminishing return, or could I just be a flash in the pan, and then... Something weird happened.  And it was actually because of those at the top of the SCW fappening scale of decision making... You kept insisting that Xander Valentine be someone that had ANYTHING to do with my life.  Now sure, he could have made that decision on his own, but I'm going to be frank, he's not that smart.  So instead, he's been there, annoying me, week in, week out, doing whatever it is he thinks he does to make himself relevant all of these years past when he was an actual DOMINANT competitor.  And I get that... Xander Valentine holds a special place in the annals of this organization, but there is someone else who believes there may be an ulterior motive here... Someone who knows Xander much better than I do, and who believes, well, as he says, his "balls are cupped by Mr. D to ensure that they don't droop all the way to the sauna floor..."

Kirsten reaches to the side and grabs someone off screen.  Next thing seen is Jake Starr being pulled into frame, for the first promo since his retirement match against James Exeter.  He has a shit-eating grin on his face, and begins waving at the camera, very similar to a gimmick being portrayed in another promotion.

"HI FELLAS!  I'M THE BURNING BUSH!"

You see guys, you may have protected Xander all of these times that our paths have crossed, but it was time I evolved as well.  Much like my desire to change the game, change the idea, change the mentality, I had to do so with a catalyst.  I thought I had it within me alone, and I was wrong, and I was approached by someone who knows Xander and SCW better than the two of you do combined.  The ONE MAN who truly changed the face of this company, and did so for the BETTER, and it was none other than Jake Starr!

"ME!"

Kirsten signs, and turns to Jake.

Did we not agree this was MY promo?

"Oh... Sorry!"

Xander... You've stuck your nose into business you have no right to for years.  Why?  Because you CRAVE relevancy.  You crave still being the dominant force you were in SCW's early days.  And I don't blame you, but let's be real, you're, how do I say it, OLD!  You're not the Xander Valentine "OF OLD," you're just an OLD version of Xander Valentine.  And that's OK.  It's OK to allow Father Time to finally take it's toll, and not be a menace to society, but instead, you don't just want to be that, you want to be a PROBLEM for the future.  And let's be real... You had that chance with Jake, and what did you do?  You ran away.  You ran away like, well, a BITCH!  You two could have eliminated all of the bullshit trauma SCW went through, but NO, you somehow got SCARED, and ran away, leaving Jake high and dry...

So face it, you overweight, big man...

Your second chance at relevance came and went.  NOW, it's time for someone wiser than you to begin to TEACH those of us who actually WANT to be here to not run away, and not be scared of what is in front of us.  And that represents me.  I'm not fucking scared Xander.  I haven't been since the day I walked in.

She leans in.

Am I wrong?

I came INTO SCW putting my name on the map at Taking Hold of the Flame, and have done the EXACT SAME THING every year since.  People KNOW who I am regardless of the numbers with my record, but I stand by my wins and losses, no matter which is higher.  Do you?  Do you stand by ANY loss you've had that didn't involve you tucking your tail?  Because if you do, Jake says he'll wait, because he asked that YEARS ago, and the "brute" that WAS Xander Valentine has yet to own up to his own actions.  And that is why I am STILL here, and why I am NOT backing down from some SHELL of a champion who once was.  I am not going to be your little pushover because you desperately want to resurrect a career that died years ago.  Instead, guess what?   I'm the WOMAN who will be taking your career and putting the final STOP in its trajectory toward anywhere but retirement.

And it's not because I necessarily WANT you to retire, but SCW needs it to happen.  It needs it to stop being willing to go to the well time and time again.  It needs the old guard to finally be willing to pass the torch along to those of us who have an INFERNO inside of us, and not the occasional Zippo Lighter that gets flicked on every now and then when it feels refueled.

So come Breakdown, I do what, you were afraid would happen when you were supposed to face off against Jake.  I'm going to send you into the sunset with a pissy look on your face, and a shocking reality that times are different.  Times are tougher.  And these times don't include you.

Facts are facts...

And the truth is the truth... Just like death, taxes, and KIRSTEN SCOTT!

The scene goes to black with Jake waving in his typical sarcastic manner, with Kirsten rolling her eyes and walking off screen.