Post by Travis Pierce on Dec 7, 2014 0:59:24 GMT -5
"You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell plays as the camera pans into a studio where Travis Pierce sits behind a desk, organizing a stack of papers. A monitor behind him shows the logo to his show, The Piercing Truth.
Pierce: Hello, folks, welcome to the Piercing Truth. I am Travis Pierce, and I am your party host here for the evening. Before I get started, you may not be able to see me here behind this desk, but I assure you that yes, I did shut the barn door this morning.
The monitor behind pierce shows CoolJ zipping his fly.
Pierce: Well, LWF has officially had its first broadcast, and in the opening segment Lock was interrupted by Arelas, who apparently has twice before held the LWF Title and wants it back.
The monitor shows Arelas standing on the stage, and then a close-up of his face.
Pierce: Arelas has returned sporting an appalling scar on his face. When asked were it came from, Arelas stated that he suffered the scar on his face in a mighty struggle. Perhaps now he'll learn to stop picking his nose.
Pierce rotates his chair to face another camera, and the angle switches to follow. A monitor is behind him from this angle as well.
Pierce: Just so everyone knows, nothing of note happened during the battle royal.
The monitor shows Pierce himself being thrown out of the ring.
Pierce: In fact, I'm not sure a battle royal even happened. Nothing to see here, please move along.
Pierce switches back to the other camera. He has a wry smile on his face.
Pierce: Although I suppose worse things could have happened.
The monitor shows Red Fusion behing hit in the head with a chair, Fear attacking the Talk of the Town with his mallet, Lock getting bitch-slapped, and CoolJ stomping on Triple M's nads.
Pierce: I have to say, that last one might be my favorite. As for how the night ended, it would seem that in his infinite wisdom, Lock has decreed that the person who will bring him back to the promised land is Psiko.
The monitor shows Psiko and Lock standing together.
Pierce: Because everyone knows that if you're looking to dominate in a sport where you need to beat the snot out of your opponent to win, the best person to have on your side is the smallest person on the roster. That's it for me, folks, I'll catch you all later, and remember! It's not my fault that the truth hurts.
Cartwright: I shouldn’t be meeting with you like this.
Sharp: Pretty soon it isn’t going to matter either way.
Cartwright: How do you figure?
Sharp: Either I beat Eden and she can’t do anything to you anymore, or she beats me and has no reason to care about you anymore.
Cartwright: And probably fires me.
Sharp: Probably. Which means meeting with me today doesn’t make a difference, so sit down and have a coffee.
Rob Cartwright sighs and takes a seat next to Trevor Sharp. Trevor motions to the barista.
Sharp: It’s not like this is the first time I had it all taken from me and needed to start over and rebuild. I did it before. You remember what happened back in ‘08.
Cartwright: We didn’t work together then.
Sharp: No, but you worked for LWF, you saw what happened, what Triple M did. The interview didn’t go his way and he threw a fit and destroyed the set.
Cartwright: You called him a maniacal lunatic.
Sharp: No, he said my work was compelling and I told him it was a life goal to receive praise from a maniacal lunatic. And I don’t think that fazed him at all, it was after he claimed that losing to Phoenix was evidence of a victory, and I asked him to share what he was smoking and he got all pissy and that’s when he threw his hissy fit, destroyed my equipment and set, and smashed up the monitor.
Cartwright: You remember that pretty well considering he smashed the monitor with your head.
The set of The Piercing Truth has been destroyed. Travis Pierce stands in the center of the wreckage, overlooking it all.
The newsdesk has been splintered and shattered. Open cuts from being slammed through the wood remain on Pierce's arm. They still bleed, having not yet been tended to. Small drops of blood drip off of his arm to the floor.
The monitor lays on the floor, a head-shaped crack in the screen. Pierce picks it up and stares into it, seeing his own shattered reflection in the broken screen. He gazes into it, into his own image, until he can bear it no longer and gently puts the monitor back down.
Pierce stands and turns to face the camera, but his head is still down. It lifts slightly, and a tear runs down his cheek, but his eyes remain shut. His open palms close to tight fists, quivering with anger and rage. Pierce falls to his knees, his head in his hands, and after a few moments he grabs shards of the table and heaves them away. Pierce breaths heavilly and lowers his head again, his head buried in his hands, and the camera fades out…
Sharp: He got his.
Cartwright: No, you faced him at Revolution and got your ass handed to you.
Sharp: And it’s those hard-earned lessons that made me a better person, and I build on that experience here today.
Cartwright: Right.
Rob sips his coffee.
Sharp: I managed to rebuild it eventually, didn’t I?
Cartwright: You paid a steep price.
Sharp: I paid nothing, I got Jermaine and his Dirty South Franchise to foot the bill for everything.
Cartwright: And you paid a steep price in return for that. Gave up a good thing. You miss it, ever?
Sharp: Miss what?
Cartwright: The Stampeding Truth days.
Sharp: Colt was a good kid, sure. We had some good success. But I’ve had a lot of partners. Stampeding Truth with Colby Colt. Confederate Truth with Chance Chesney. Young Guns with John Russo, we must have missed a memo with that name.
Trevor sighs.
Sharp: And the Department, of course.
Ooley: You’re pathetic.
Pierce: That’s your recruitment speech? It needs a little work.
Ooley: Shut your trap and listen for once. Now, Ol’ Bob has had his eye on you for some time now. You’ve had a cute little act for some time, your little one man show. There is potential there. It’s time you expanded, evolve the concept. Time to start working with other people.
Pierce: No thanks. Been there, done that with the DSF.
Ooley: No, you and a group of shitheads used each other. I’m talking about being a part of something that’s bigger than you. I’ve sat back this past year and watched UGWC be all about people like Donut Hamstrings, Peter Damascus, and Alan Pisseragi. I’ve watched Scared run amuck for about the twentieth fucking year in a row or however long it’s fucking been. The face of this company going into the new year is Astro Bummers. Astro. Bummers. I can’t do it anymore. It’s time to take action. We need a new image, something fresh to put forward in front of everyone, with a strong force behind them. It’s going to be you.
Pierce: Me.
Ooley: You just won the Carnage Match at Horizons, and the massive purse that came with that. You’ve got a sharp and interesting concept that we can build on. You’ve got most of the resources that you need.
Pierce: And what’s left that I don’t have, pray tell?
Ooley smiles.
Ooley: Humans.
Pierce: How’s that?
Ooley: You leave that to me. You’re going to be the World Heavyweight Champion. I’m going to see to that. I can make it all happen for you, because you’re going to make it happen for me. You in?
Pierce: Yeah...fuck it, yeah. I’m in.
Ooley: Good.
Ooley stands up and extends his baseball bat towards Travis, holding it by the shaft. Travis stands and cautiously puts his hand on the end of the bat.
Ooley: Welcome to the Human Resources Department.
Sharp: To be fair, without the Human Resources Department there would have never been a Piercing Media Network. That was when I realized the potential for more than just TPT. It was when I saw the value and benefit of including others in the delivery of content. Hell, it was those wars against Jet that made me want to team with him to begin with.
Trevor sighs.
Sharp: This has been a long road, a hell of a long road. I mean, even if we’re going to be cynical here and say that Edie...that Eden never had any good intentions towards me or Opie and that she had this planned from day one, then she’s been working on this for what, a year and a half? Maybe a bit more?
Cartwright: I guess?
Sharp: I’ve been building what became the Piercing Media Network for nearly eight years. I’ve had people try to tear it away from me time and again. I’ve been beaten. I’ve suffered losses. Triple M. Hastings. Kiseragi. Tyvola. I came back from all of them. I came back better. I’m coming back from this. Eden Morgan made the biggest mistake of her life. You know why?
Cartwright: Why?
Sharp: Because my name is Travis Pierce.
He enters the familiar office of the Director of Human Resources and takes a seat. It is all three members of the Consortium that are present this time, with Dexter Vines standing beside the seated Ooley, and Damarest seated off to the side, his scalpel in his hand.
Ooley tosses a packet on the table, a contract presented to him by the Piercing Media Network prior to Horizons.
Ooley: I understand you have a new proposal for us.
Pierce: Hello, folks, welcome to the Piercing Truth. I am Travis Pierce, and I am your party host here for the evening. Before I get started, you may not be able to see me here behind this desk, but I assure you that yes, I did shut the barn door this morning.
The monitor behind pierce shows CoolJ zipping his fly.
Pierce: Well, LWF has officially had its first broadcast, and in the opening segment Lock was interrupted by Arelas, who apparently has twice before held the LWF Title and wants it back.
The monitor shows Arelas standing on the stage, and then a close-up of his face.
Pierce: Arelas has returned sporting an appalling scar on his face. When asked were it came from, Arelas stated that he suffered the scar on his face in a mighty struggle. Perhaps now he'll learn to stop picking his nose.
Pierce rotates his chair to face another camera, and the angle switches to follow. A monitor is behind him from this angle as well.
Pierce: Just so everyone knows, nothing of note happened during the battle royal.
The monitor shows Pierce himself being thrown out of the ring.
Pierce: In fact, I'm not sure a battle royal even happened. Nothing to see here, please move along.
Pierce switches back to the other camera. He has a wry smile on his face.
Pierce: Although I suppose worse things could have happened.
The monitor shows Red Fusion behing hit in the head with a chair, Fear attacking the Talk of the Town with his mallet, Lock getting bitch-slapped, and CoolJ stomping on Triple M's nads.
Pierce: I have to say, that last one might be my favorite. As for how the night ended, it would seem that in his infinite wisdom, Lock has decreed that the person who will bring him back to the promised land is Psiko.
The monitor shows Psiko and Lock standing together.
Pierce: Because everyone knows that if you're looking to dominate in a sport where you need to beat the snot out of your opponent to win, the best person to have on your side is the smallest person on the roster. That's it for me, folks, I'll catch you all later, and remember! It's not my fault that the truth hurts.
Cartwright: I shouldn’t be meeting with you like this.
Sharp: Pretty soon it isn’t going to matter either way.
Cartwright: How do you figure?
Sharp: Either I beat Eden and she can’t do anything to you anymore, or she beats me and has no reason to care about you anymore.
Cartwright: And probably fires me.
Sharp: Probably. Which means meeting with me today doesn’t make a difference, so sit down and have a coffee.
Rob Cartwright sighs and takes a seat next to Trevor Sharp. Trevor motions to the barista.
Sharp: It’s not like this is the first time I had it all taken from me and needed to start over and rebuild. I did it before. You remember what happened back in ‘08.
Cartwright: We didn’t work together then.
Sharp: No, but you worked for LWF, you saw what happened, what Triple M did. The interview didn’t go his way and he threw a fit and destroyed the set.
Cartwright: You called him a maniacal lunatic.
Sharp: No, he said my work was compelling and I told him it was a life goal to receive praise from a maniacal lunatic. And I don’t think that fazed him at all, it was after he claimed that losing to Phoenix was evidence of a victory, and I asked him to share what he was smoking and he got all pissy and that’s when he threw his hissy fit, destroyed my equipment and set, and smashed up the monitor.
Cartwright: You remember that pretty well considering he smashed the monitor with your head.
The set of The Piercing Truth has been destroyed. Travis Pierce stands in the center of the wreckage, overlooking it all.
The newsdesk has been splintered and shattered. Open cuts from being slammed through the wood remain on Pierce's arm. They still bleed, having not yet been tended to. Small drops of blood drip off of his arm to the floor.
The monitor lays on the floor, a head-shaped crack in the screen. Pierce picks it up and stares into it, seeing his own shattered reflection in the broken screen. He gazes into it, into his own image, until he can bear it no longer and gently puts the monitor back down.
Pierce stands and turns to face the camera, but his head is still down. It lifts slightly, and a tear runs down his cheek, but his eyes remain shut. His open palms close to tight fists, quivering with anger and rage. Pierce falls to his knees, his head in his hands, and after a few moments he grabs shards of the table and heaves them away. Pierce breaths heavilly and lowers his head again, his head buried in his hands, and the camera fades out…
Sharp: He got his.
Cartwright: No, you faced him at Revolution and got your ass handed to you.
Sharp: And it’s those hard-earned lessons that made me a better person, and I build on that experience here today.
Cartwright: Right.
Rob sips his coffee.
Sharp: I managed to rebuild it eventually, didn’t I?
Cartwright: You paid a steep price.
Sharp: I paid nothing, I got Jermaine and his Dirty South Franchise to foot the bill for everything.
Cartwright: And you paid a steep price in return for that. Gave up a good thing. You miss it, ever?
Sharp: Miss what?
Cartwright: The Stampeding Truth days.
Sharp: Colt was a good kid, sure. We had some good success. But I’ve had a lot of partners. Stampeding Truth with Colby Colt. Confederate Truth with Chance Chesney. Young Guns with John Russo, we must have missed a memo with that name.
Trevor sighs.
Sharp: And the Department, of course.
Ooley: You’re pathetic.
Pierce: That’s your recruitment speech? It needs a little work.
Ooley: Shut your trap and listen for once. Now, Ol’ Bob has had his eye on you for some time now. You’ve had a cute little act for some time, your little one man show. There is potential there. It’s time you expanded, evolve the concept. Time to start working with other people.
Pierce: No thanks. Been there, done that with the DSF.
Ooley: No, you and a group of shitheads used each other. I’m talking about being a part of something that’s bigger than you. I’ve sat back this past year and watched UGWC be all about people like Donut Hamstrings, Peter Damascus, and Alan Pisseragi. I’ve watched Scared run amuck for about the twentieth fucking year in a row or however long it’s fucking been. The face of this company going into the new year is Astro Bummers. Astro. Bummers. I can’t do it anymore. It’s time to take action. We need a new image, something fresh to put forward in front of everyone, with a strong force behind them. It’s going to be you.
Pierce: Me.
Ooley: You just won the Carnage Match at Horizons, and the massive purse that came with that. You’ve got a sharp and interesting concept that we can build on. You’ve got most of the resources that you need.
Pierce: And what’s left that I don’t have, pray tell?
Ooley smiles.
Ooley: Humans.
Pierce: How’s that?
Ooley: You leave that to me. You’re going to be the World Heavyweight Champion. I’m going to see to that. I can make it all happen for you, because you’re going to make it happen for me. You in?
Pierce: Yeah...fuck it, yeah. I’m in.
Ooley: Good.
Ooley stands up and extends his baseball bat towards Travis, holding it by the shaft. Travis stands and cautiously puts his hand on the end of the bat.
Ooley: Welcome to the Human Resources Department.
Sharp: To be fair, without the Human Resources Department there would have never been a Piercing Media Network. That was when I realized the potential for more than just TPT. It was when I saw the value and benefit of including others in the delivery of content. Hell, it was those wars against Jet that made me want to team with him to begin with.
Trevor sighs.
Sharp: This has been a long road, a hell of a long road. I mean, even if we’re going to be cynical here and say that Edie...that Eden never had any good intentions towards me or Opie and that she had this planned from day one, then she’s been working on this for what, a year and a half? Maybe a bit more?
Cartwright: I guess?
Sharp: I’ve been building what became the Piercing Media Network for nearly eight years. I’ve had people try to tear it away from me time and again. I’ve been beaten. I’ve suffered losses. Triple M. Hastings. Kiseragi. Tyvola. I came back from all of them. I came back better. I’m coming back from this. Eden Morgan made the biggest mistake of her life. You know why?
Cartwright: Why?
Sharp: Because my name is Travis Pierce.
He enters the familiar office of the Director of Human Resources and takes a seat. It is all three members of the Consortium that are present this time, with Dexter Vines standing beside the seated Ooley, and Damarest seated off to the side, his scalpel in his hand.
Ooley tosses a packet on the table, a contract presented to him by the Piercing Media Network prior to Horizons.
Ooley: I understand you have a new proposal for us.
