Post by Rated R on Sept 9, 2014 4:33:21 GMT -5
The Ballad of Jason Anders
The Truth of a Revolution; Act One
A Trace Demon Roleplay
”What is your name?”
“What? What are you talking about T-“
”Your name, tell me your name. It’s not a difficult question.”
“Jason Anders, you know that, what’s all this about, what are you doing?”
”What does your name mean?”
“What? Look I don’t really have time for this, you called me here at a really bad time.”
”Your name means nothing Jason, not a damn thing. You’re just another man, just another little man who doesn’t mean anything.”
“Well that’s great, I’m really glad I came here to be insulted, you realize my dau-“
”It doesn’t mean anything because you don’t stand for anything. When people hear your name they don’t think of anything more than a plump little man following Trace Demon around.”
“I haven’t seen you since that night and now you’ve brought me here to insult me?”
”No, I brought you here as a witness.”
“A witness to what? You’re not making any sense. Maybe you got your brains knocked out of you, would make sense considering what you did.”
”No, I’m finally making total sense, more sense than ever. I brought you here to witness the moment my name truly meant something. I brought you here because I haven’t given myself over to this one hundred per cent, not until I did what I did.
I brought you here to see the truth.”
< *** >
September 3rd 2014
WFWF Headquarters, Los Angeles; The Office of Jason Anders
Jason Anders: Look I’ll be there, I promised Katie I would and I will so stop busting my balls over it! Is he there? Can I hear him talking? Is he in my f*****g house! Did you just…
The b***h hung up on me.
Joe Bishop: You realize I’m stood right here, I heard all of that.
Jason Anders: You walked straight in without knocking.
Joe Bishop: We’re revolutionaries together Jase, your office is my office.
I hate Joe Bishop. Before Trace plucked him out of obscurity he was nothing but a petulant child wallowing in self-pity and depression. Not that I’ve got anything against actual depression, that things terrible, but Bishop was just b*****g because he couldn’t win a bloody match. Now I’m stuck with him for our second one-on-one of the week without Trace to keep the mutt occupied so I don’t have to speak to him. Couldn’t Trace have got someone less unbearable?
Joe Bishop: How did you even get an office like this? You go down on Sleater or something, god knows it’s not the work you do round this place.
Jason Anders: You here for a reason or just to try and piss me off.
Joe Bishop: Sounds like someone already managed that one, what was all that about anyway? Not getting any from the wife or something?
Jason Anders: Ex-wife, my daughter’s got this talent show in a couple of days and she doesn’t think I’m going to make it.
Joe Bishop: Didn’t know you had a kid Anders; look at who’s been keeping secrets from his buddies.
Jason Anders: You are not my buddy, you’re barely an associate.
Joe Bishop: Whatever you say man, so have you seen Trace or not? I’ve been trying to get hold of him all week, starting to get the feeling that he’s avoiding me or something.
Lucky Trace, if I could avoid Bishop as well then I’d be a much happier man. But then my ex would probably find a way to take half of my happiness away as well.
Jason Anders: Haven’t heard from him, haven’t seen him, don’t know what he’s doing or where he’s doing it.
And I’m starting to wonder if that isn’t a good thing. I realize that I’ve only got this job because of Trace but he’s getting erratic, harder to predict. That’s never been easy anyway but now he’s on this revolution kick he’s getting worse. I thought it was a front for a power grab but now… now I’m not so sure.
Joe Bishop: And you’re happy with that? What are we meant to do without him?
Jason Anders: How about start thinking for yourself. You don’t need Trace to tell you what to do. Sure you weren’t doing too great before he took you in-
Joe Bishop: Speak for yourself man, what were you before you became Trace’s whipping boy? Nothing, just another lawyer about to lose his job. Don’t think I don’t know your game Anders, this revolution doesn’t mean anything to you, you don’t want to help the WFWF, you just want to help yourself. And if Trace thinks that’s fine then it’s fine but I’m not gonna let you mess this up because of your big ego and tiny cock.
Let’s make it very clear I don’t have a tiny cock no matter what my ex-wife might want to claim. She always was a huge liar. As huge as my cock just so we’re doubly clear.
Jason Anders: Does it matter why I’m doing this? Does it even matter what we’re doing when Trace is the one running things? No one can get a word in edgeways with him let alone an idea, if he wants to do something one way then that’s the way it’s getting done and you know why? Because he’s a control freak but he’s a good one, he knows what he’s doing and if he’s gone AWOL then it’s probably for a good reason.
Who the hell am I trying to convince, Bishop or myself?
Joe Bishop: And him helping Drakz win the title, that was for a good reason as well?
God I hope so.
Jason Anders: This is Trace we’re talking about, of course it was.
Joe Bishop: And what is that reason exactly? Because I’ve got no clue what the hell he was thinking.
Jason Anders: When it comes to Trace Demon Joe you’re guess is as good as mine.
That’s if he was thinking at all, but I don’t want to start trying to wrap my head around why Trace Demon does the things he does.
I’m already at the mountains of madness, I’d hate to look beyond them.
< *** >
“You’re not making any sense, you just talk in riddles, you don’t tell me anything of any f*****g substance!”
”Watch your language when you’re around a man of God.”
“You’re not a man of God.”
”No I’m not, because if I believed in the big man upstairs I’d start to worry about where I’m going. But you’re not here for a philosophical debate Anders, that’s not what this is about. This is about-“
“I know, I know, rebirth and all that bull you keep feeding everyone. You know I see through you, you know I can tell that you’re losing your mind in all this.”
”No my friend, it’s I that can see through you. Mr. Jason Anders, you’re no revolutionary despite what everyone keeps trying to claim, you’re a man with a desire for power. Always have been, always will be. Doesn’t matter where that power comes from, doesn’t matter if it’s in business or in family all you want is to be in control. That’s an admirable trait my friend, nothing wrong with wanting to be in control. But you’re not; you’re not in control of anything. You lost your wife, you lost your job, you lost your daughter. And now the only man who can help you get it back is a madman with a cause.”
“And what if that madman doesn’t have a cause? What if he’s just mad?”
”There is no great genius without a mixture of madness.”
“What?”
”Aristotle.”
“You’re quoting Aristotle now?”
”My genius shouldn’t surprise you. What should is that nobody cares why you’re part of the revolution, just that you give yourself over to it. Stop pretending and start accepting that this madman can help you. Start accepting that this revolution, whether you believe in it or not, can help you get everything you want.” Start accepting your place in all of this.
“My place is with my family! The family that you dragged me away from!”
”You’re family don’t want you! And you want to know why?”
“Shut up.”
”Because you’re short sighted.”
“Shut up.”
”Because you don’t think things through.”
“I said shut up.”
”Because you don’t look at all the angles.”
“I said shut the f**k up!”
”Because you’re a damned fool! Go on Jason, tell me what you were doing with Mrs. Sleater, tell me how you betrayed your revolution.
Tell me how you betrayed me.”
< *** >
September 4th 2014
WFWF Headquarters, Los Angeles; The Office of Lila Sleater
Lila Sleater’s office is something to behold. The space isn’t quite as grandiose as Trace’s up on the top floor, shame he doesn’t appreciate what he’s got, but still Lila knows what she’s got and she knows what to do with it in more ways than one. The room is coated in grunge, the black and punk-green paint scheme and the minimalistic trashy furnishings. You would, in any other situation, consider it a vast waste of the space given to her but when you’ve got Lila, as grunge as anything else in the room, sitting behind her desk tying it all together it just kind of works.
Shame she’s just a horrible b***h.
Lila Sleater: Feeling a bit awkward Jason?
Jason Anders: You could say that.
Lila Sleater: I would if I was called to the office of the woman who I’m trying to get fired from her job. If I was in your shoes I’d be feeling pretty sh***y right about now.
Jason Anders: That right?
She gives a smirk, not even needing to vocalise her answer. She knows what she’s doing, there’s a reason she got this job in the first place and it wasn’t just because she doesn’t take any bull. She’s smart, much more intelligent than Trace gives her credit for, and she knows exactly how to push peoples buttons and to put them in a position that guarantees she gets what she wants. I’m not about to fall into that hole though.
Lila Sleater: Do you know why I asked you up here Jason? I’ll give you a clue; it certainly wasn’t for your sparkling conversation skills.
Jason Anders: Maybe it was because you needed the company of a man.
Lila Sleater: Ha, not likely.
If she wasn’t running the show right now I’d tell her exactly what I think of her laughing at me. Women like her think they can just dictate everything, they think they’ve got all the control in the world even when they don’t deserve it. She’s just like Jenna, trying to tear me down because she likes the way it feels. I won’t give her the satisfaction.
Lila Sleater: Jason, why are you doing this?
Jason Anders: What?
Lila Sleater: This, working with Trace Demon, trying to tear me down, walking around this building like everyone doesn’t hate you because of it. You could be so much more than that.
She thinks she knows anything about me but she doesn’t, she doesn’t know a thing. All she sees when she looks at me is a man a little down on his luck, a man who’s stuck working for a bunch of idiots and ingrates to make it through this bloody world comfortably. But she doesn’t know anything about me, she doesn’t know how much I struggle, she doesn’t know how much I fight. She doesn’t have the right to judge me.
Jason Anders: What does it matter to you, you can’t change what’s going to happen. Your days are numbered.
She’s still looking down at me; like she can’t believe what I’m telling her could possibly be true. She’s overconfident, that’s going to cost her.
Lila Sleater: I don’t think so. Sure Trace Demon is smart, I can’t argue with that, he’s proven that plenty of times in the past and I’m not about to go and underestimate him, but it doesn’t look like it works both ways. Trace thinks he can build his little group and just take the WFWF back, he thinks I’m not going to do anything about it, but I am. I know exactly how to hurt Trace Demon and I know exactly how to do it in such a way that he never sees it coming.
Oh yeah, of course she’s got a plan. Of course she thinks she knows what’s she doing. I can’t wait to hear this one.
Jason Anders: So what exactly is your plan?
This is going to be good.
Lila Sleater: You.
Wait what did she say?
Jason Anders: Wait what did you say?
Lila Sleater: You Mr. Anders, you’re the weak point of the Final Revolution, you’re Trace Demon’s weak point. He doesn’t respect you Jason, he doesn’t think anything of you, he doesn’t really see anything useful in you. You’re just there to do the crap he doesn’t want to and you know it. He’s not going to expect you to betray him and he’s certainly not going to expect you to help me out.
Jason Anders: You’re full of crap. And of course he wouldn’t expect it because it would never happen.
Lila Sleater: Not even for your family?
How the hell does she know about my family? How does she know anything about my life outside of this bloody building? And there’s that smile, that look, she thinks she’s got me on the run. I’ll show her.
Lila Sleater: I know you’re doing this because you want to provide for your daughter. I know that your ex-wife doesn’t think you can and you’re doing everything to prove her wrong, that’s why you’re with Trace Demon because you think he’s going to win and you need to be on the winning side. Not want, but need. Trace doesn’t care about them; he doesn’t care about your daughter or about you. As soon as you’ve outlived your usefulness he’s going to throw you to the side and you’ll lose your daughter completely. You think your ex-wife will let you see her if you can’t pay the bills? Not a chance.
That’s not going to happen; she’s not going to take my girl away from me.
Jason Anders: I’m listening.
Lila Sleater: Help me bring Trace Demon down from the inside, tell me what he’s planning, tell me who he’s talking to, make sure I know everything that I need to know to bring him down. You do that for me and I’ll make sure that not only do you keep your job but that you get everything you need to get your daughter back.
Jason Anders: Everything?
Lila Sleater: Money, lawyers, a proper house, childcare. When I say whatever it takes I mean whatever it takes.
Jason Anders: You’re willing to use my daughter as a bargaining chip just to keep your job?
Lila Sleater: I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make sure Trace Demon doesn’t get control of the booking against because the moment he does the moment this company dies.
Jason Anders: You’re colder than I thought.
Lila Sleater: Not cold, just pragmatic. So do we have a deal?
When it comes down to it, when the choices are Trace Demon or my little girl…
Jason Anders: You promise me I’ll have my little girl?
Lila Sleater: You can even have it in writing.
Then there really is no debate.
Jason Anders: Then I’m in.
< *** >
“I did what I had to do, I did what any other man would have done. Even you. Hell especially you.”
”Wrong, I’d never just take Lila up on her offer, where’s the smarts in that?”
“You would, don’t you dare lie right now, you do whatever it takes to survive, that’s what you’ve always done. You know it and I know it.”
”You’re wrong, it’s not about surviving, it’s never been about surviving. Surviving is for the weak, it’s for the mediocre, the people just getting by. I am about thriving. Being better than before, that’s what life is about, that’s what you have to do. Not just survive but thrive. That’s why you mean nothing, that’s why the name Jason Anders will be forgotten.”
“I’m doing what’s right for my family, that’s who’s important, my daughter, my little girl, she’s the one I’ve done all of this for.”
”So what? Lila fed you all that stuff about how mean old Trace Demon would toss you aside, that mean old Trace Demon doesn’t care about your family, that mean old Trace Demon only gives a damn about himself. Is that what she fed you?”
“She was speaking from experience.”
”That’s what the old Trace Demon did maybe, the Trace Demon who didn’t have anything but himself to fight for. Not anymore, now Trace Demon is fighting for the WFWF. The WFWF is Demon country so of course he’s gonna do you right. You see if you’d have really thought about it you wouldn’t have kept it a secret, you’d have seen the opportunity.”
“What are you talking about?”
”Double agents Anders, people love a good double agent. You agreed to Lila’s little plan, didn’t you? Don’t worry, you don’t need to answer, we already know. But you agreed and you didn’t think what that meant. Of course we’d find out, you don’t think there are people in that company with big ears and bigger mouths? But if you’d played it smartly, if you’d have thought it through, then you’d have agreed and then you’d have come straight to the Final Revolution, you’d have worked from the inside, fed Lila snippets, just enough to make her thing you were on her side. Told her what she needed to hear and then BANG! You bring the hammer down when she least expects it.
Luckily for you Jason, just like they always do someone else thought of it first.”
< *** >
September 5th 2014
Belmont High School; Los Angeles
Jason Anders: Excuse me, cheers, thanks, sorry…
Will you all just get out of my bloody way!
Hayley Thomas: Nice of you to finally turn up.
I take my seat next to my b***h of an ex-wife in the school auditorium mid-way through the school’s talent show. The girl on stage certainly isn’t all that talented at playing the piano is all I can say.
Jason Anders: I promised her I would didn’t I.
Hayley Thomas: You promise a lot of things Jason. You almost missed her.
Jason Anders: I left the office late and there was a jam a mile long getting here. I didn’t miss her though so-
I, and everybody else around me, hear the ringing of my phone from my pocket. I scramble to turn it off and set it to silent without looking at whose calling.
Hayley Thomas: Couldn’t have turned that off before getting in here?
Jason Anders: I was in a rush.
It’s not like the piano girl is any good anyway.
Jason Anders: So where’s your boyfriend tonight? Too busy enjoying my house?
Hayley Thomas: Shut up Jason, it’s not your house anymore if you remember. And I’m not your wife either, what I do in my free time is my business.
Jason Anders: Not when it’s around my daughter it isn’t.
One of the old cows sitting in front of us turns around and shhh’s me. Who does that, really? I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket again and let it ring out. This isn’t the time. On the stage the piano girl has thankfully left and is replaced by the principal, a plump lady in her mid-forties who I have it on good authority owns twelve cats.
Got the whiskers of one as well might I add.
Principle Gertrude: Thank you Tammy.
Yeah, thank you so much for sucking Tammy, real good job there.
Principle Gertrude: Up next-
And there’s my phone again. Who in the hell is so desperate to talk to me that they can’t leave it more than thirty seconds between calls? S**t… Trace.
Principle Gertrude: Is Katie Anders!
Haven’t spoken to him since the pay per view, since he helped Drakz win the WFWF World Championship. Still don’t know what he was even thinking when he did that.
Hayley Thomas: Jason, are you even watching?
Right, eyes on point, the entire reason I’m here. My little girl, my Katie. She stands front and centre on the stage looking far more beautiful than either myself or Hayley could possibly claim came from either of us.
Katie’s a dancer, and coming from someone who doesn’t know the difference between body popping and the waltz I can tell you right now watching her is like watching the most graceful thing you could possibly imagine. She moves with grace, elegance and the kind of passion that you don’t see ve-
And there’s my f*****g phone again.
Hayley Thomas: Are you looking at your phone?
Jason Anders: It’s Trace, I haven’t-
Hayley Thomas: Are you f*****g kidding me? Just go and answer it you piece of s**t.
Jason Anders: I’m watching my daughter.
Hayley Thomas: Just f-
The same mother from before shush’s us again and I swear Hayley is about to have a fit. The phone rings again and after glares from roughly nine different surrounding parents I stand and push my way down the aisle, making my way to the back of the auditorium and quickly answering the phone.
Jason Anders: what the hell Trace, you don’t call me all week and-
Trace Demon: I know what you did.
S**t.
Jason Anders: Trace I don’t-
Trace Demon: You and Lila, I know. Leave now, meet me at the training centre within an hour or you’re over.
Jason Anders: I can’t leave Trace, I’m-
Trace Demon: Over Anders. You get here now and I will make you a hero, you don’t… and I’ll make you a deadman.
He hangs up. I glance back at Katie on stage, moving through the air like the most pure thing I’ve ever seen. And I have to leave, I have to break my promise because of Trace f*****g Demon.
We all make sacrifices for the lives we want to lead.
< *** >
NOW
Trace Demon: Do you understand what I mean now Anders?
For the first time since I walked into the empty House of Hell training centre, a training centre that Trace Demon owns but hasn’t actually personally run since his falling out with Wayne, I can see some emotion on his face. This entire time he’s been stoic, none of the usual vitriol in his voice. It was almost like it wasn’t Trace Demon at all, like I could have been talking to anyone. But no, this is definitely Trace Demon.
Trace Demon: I told you you were here to witness a rebirth but I didn’t mean mine Anders, I meant yours. It’s time for you to step up and take charge, it’s time for you to make ‘Jason Anders’ a name that people will remember, it’s time you made your little girl proud of you. Lila Sleater wants to offer you everything you want by making you a cheap, pathetic little weasel. I want to offer you the same thing by making you a damn hero.
Nobody could ever argue that Trace Demon isn’t a persuasive man. It isn’t just about what he says; it’s the confidence he speaks with. He’s so sure of everything he’s saying that, no matter how crazy it might sound, it always sounds like a perfectly rational and understandable thing to think.
Trace Demon: You help me bring her down Anders and suddenly you’re the hero of the WFWF, the man who did everything he could to make sure our mighty company stayed standing, who made sure that wrestling didn’t die with Lila Sleater and her false champions like Dex. But that’s not enough for you is it? It’s not about glory, it’s about power, it’s about control, it’s about your family.
He’s right, it is about my family. It’s all about Katie… god I promised her I’d be there.
Trace Demon: She wants to offer you everything you need to get her back but you won’t have the most important thing, you won’t have her respect. To little Katie you’ll just be a man who abandoned his friend and led the WFWF into oblivion. You work with me Anders, you trust me, and not only will you have your daughter but you will have everything. Even your ex-wife if that’s what you want.
Jason Anders: You can’t promise me that.
Trace Demon: Really Anders? Look at me, look me in the eyes and tell me that there is anything I can’t do.
I see it in him, the fire, the drive, the belief that he can do everything he says he can do. I didn’t see that in Lila, she was cold and calculated, he’s passionate. He wants this more than she does. He’s going to win.
Trace Demon: You work with me and you won’t just be a father anymore… you’ll be a hero. And every little girl loves a hero. So, are you in?
I’m in. I know it before he’s even finished speaking.
Jason Anders: Yes.
But there’s still one question I need answered.
Jason Anders: You still haven’t told me why you did it.
He smiles at me, he knows exactly what I’m talking about.
Trace Demon: Did what Anders?
Jason Anders: Why you helped Drakz win the title.
The smile grows, he chuckles a little bit, like he’s amazed nobody has been smart enough to work it out yet.
Trace Demon: Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve said for weeks Anders? I promised that I would rip that title from Dex by any means necessary, I told you all that with him as the champion this company would fall to ruins and I wasn’t about to let that happen. Everyone thought that meant I had to be champion, that I was the only one worthy, but that’s not true. That title deserves to be held by the best, which in truth is me, but it also has to be held by someone worthy of being champion and that describes more than just the King of Demons. Drakz has proven himself time and time again, he might not be up to my level but he still deserves the title far more than Dex does.
Jason Anders: Still not getting it, why didn’t you just let Dex break up the pin and try to win the title yourself?
Trace Demon: Because it wasn’t about being champion Anders, it was about making sure Dex wasn’t. He doesn’t deserve it, he never has, he got gifted the title, he never won it. I had to make sure he didn’t walk out of that building as champion through some fluke or outside interference and the longer the match went on the more chance that could have happened. I saw an opportunity to achieve my goal and I took it. Maybe it isn’t what’s best for the WFWF, god knows we’d be better off with me as champion, but with that title off of Dex it buys us time. And god knows he’s never going to win it back, you see the guy wrestle? He’s like a whiny baby who hasn’t realized nobody cares about why he’s crying. I made a promise Anders.
So did I.
Trace Demon: I promised that I would make sure Dex wasn’t champion, and unlike you…
I promised Katie I’d be there…
Trace Demon: I always keep my promises.
The Truth of a Revolution; Act One
A Trace Demon Roleplay
”What is your name?”
“What? What are you talking about T-“
”Your name, tell me your name. It’s not a difficult question.”
“Jason Anders, you know that, what’s all this about, what are you doing?”
”What does your name mean?”
“What? Look I don’t really have time for this, you called me here at a really bad time.”
”Your name means nothing Jason, not a damn thing. You’re just another man, just another little man who doesn’t mean anything.”
“Well that’s great, I’m really glad I came here to be insulted, you realize my dau-“
”It doesn’t mean anything because you don’t stand for anything. When people hear your name they don’t think of anything more than a plump little man following Trace Demon around.”
“I haven’t seen you since that night and now you’ve brought me here to insult me?”
”No, I brought you here as a witness.”
“A witness to what? You’re not making any sense. Maybe you got your brains knocked out of you, would make sense considering what you did.”
”No, I’m finally making total sense, more sense than ever. I brought you here to witness the moment my name truly meant something. I brought you here because I haven’t given myself over to this one hundred per cent, not until I did what I did.
I brought you here to see the truth.”
< *** >
September 3rd 2014
WFWF Headquarters, Los Angeles; The Office of Jason Anders
Jason Anders: Look I’ll be there, I promised Katie I would and I will so stop busting my balls over it! Is he there? Can I hear him talking? Is he in my f*****g house! Did you just…
The b***h hung up on me.
Joe Bishop: You realize I’m stood right here, I heard all of that.
Jason Anders: You walked straight in without knocking.
Joe Bishop: We’re revolutionaries together Jase, your office is my office.
I hate Joe Bishop. Before Trace plucked him out of obscurity he was nothing but a petulant child wallowing in self-pity and depression. Not that I’ve got anything against actual depression, that things terrible, but Bishop was just b*****g because he couldn’t win a bloody match. Now I’m stuck with him for our second one-on-one of the week without Trace to keep the mutt occupied so I don’t have to speak to him. Couldn’t Trace have got someone less unbearable?
Joe Bishop: How did you even get an office like this? You go down on Sleater or something, god knows it’s not the work you do round this place.
Jason Anders: You here for a reason or just to try and piss me off.
Joe Bishop: Sounds like someone already managed that one, what was all that about anyway? Not getting any from the wife or something?
Jason Anders: Ex-wife, my daughter’s got this talent show in a couple of days and she doesn’t think I’m going to make it.
Joe Bishop: Didn’t know you had a kid Anders; look at who’s been keeping secrets from his buddies.
Jason Anders: You are not my buddy, you’re barely an associate.
Joe Bishop: Whatever you say man, so have you seen Trace or not? I’ve been trying to get hold of him all week, starting to get the feeling that he’s avoiding me or something.
Lucky Trace, if I could avoid Bishop as well then I’d be a much happier man. But then my ex would probably find a way to take half of my happiness away as well.
Jason Anders: Haven’t heard from him, haven’t seen him, don’t know what he’s doing or where he’s doing it.
And I’m starting to wonder if that isn’t a good thing. I realize that I’ve only got this job because of Trace but he’s getting erratic, harder to predict. That’s never been easy anyway but now he’s on this revolution kick he’s getting worse. I thought it was a front for a power grab but now… now I’m not so sure.
Joe Bishop: And you’re happy with that? What are we meant to do without him?
Jason Anders: How about start thinking for yourself. You don’t need Trace to tell you what to do. Sure you weren’t doing too great before he took you in-
Joe Bishop: Speak for yourself man, what were you before you became Trace’s whipping boy? Nothing, just another lawyer about to lose his job. Don’t think I don’t know your game Anders, this revolution doesn’t mean anything to you, you don’t want to help the WFWF, you just want to help yourself. And if Trace thinks that’s fine then it’s fine but I’m not gonna let you mess this up because of your big ego and tiny cock.
Let’s make it very clear I don’t have a tiny cock no matter what my ex-wife might want to claim. She always was a huge liar. As huge as my cock just so we’re doubly clear.
Jason Anders: Does it matter why I’m doing this? Does it even matter what we’re doing when Trace is the one running things? No one can get a word in edgeways with him let alone an idea, if he wants to do something one way then that’s the way it’s getting done and you know why? Because he’s a control freak but he’s a good one, he knows what he’s doing and if he’s gone AWOL then it’s probably for a good reason.
Who the hell am I trying to convince, Bishop or myself?
Joe Bishop: And him helping Drakz win the title, that was for a good reason as well?
God I hope so.
Jason Anders: This is Trace we’re talking about, of course it was.
Joe Bishop: And what is that reason exactly? Because I’ve got no clue what the hell he was thinking.
Jason Anders: When it comes to Trace Demon Joe you’re guess is as good as mine.
That’s if he was thinking at all, but I don’t want to start trying to wrap my head around why Trace Demon does the things he does.
I’m already at the mountains of madness, I’d hate to look beyond them.
< *** >
“You’re not making any sense, you just talk in riddles, you don’t tell me anything of any f*****g substance!”
”Watch your language when you’re around a man of God.”
“You’re not a man of God.”
”No I’m not, because if I believed in the big man upstairs I’d start to worry about where I’m going. But you’re not here for a philosophical debate Anders, that’s not what this is about. This is about-“
“I know, I know, rebirth and all that bull you keep feeding everyone. You know I see through you, you know I can tell that you’re losing your mind in all this.”
”No my friend, it’s I that can see through you. Mr. Jason Anders, you’re no revolutionary despite what everyone keeps trying to claim, you’re a man with a desire for power. Always have been, always will be. Doesn’t matter where that power comes from, doesn’t matter if it’s in business or in family all you want is to be in control. That’s an admirable trait my friend, nothing wrong with wanting to be in control. But you’re not; you’re not in control of anything. You lost your wife, you lost your job, you lost your daughter. And now the only man who can help you get it back is a madman with a cause.”
“And what if that madman doesn’t have a cause? What if he’s just mad?”
”There is no great genius without a mixture of madness.”
“What?”
”Aristotle.”
“You’re quoting Aristotle now?”
”My genius shouldn’t surprise you. What should is that nobody cares why you’re part of the revolution, just that you give yourself over to it. Stop pretending and start accepting that this madman can help you. Start accepting that this revolution, whether you believe in it or not, can help you get everything you want.” Start accepting your place in all of this.
“My place is with my family! The family that you dragged me away from!”
”You’re family don’t want you! And you want to know why?”
“Shut up.”
”Because you’re short sighted.”
“Shut up.”
”Because you don’t think things through.”
“I said shut up.”
”Because you don’t look at all the angles.”
“I said shut the f**k up!”
”Because you’re a damned fool! Go on Jason, tell me what you were doing with Mrs. Sleater, tell me how you betrayed your revolution.
Tell me how you betrayed me.”
< *** >
September 4th 2014
WFWF Headquarters, Los Angeles; The Office of Lila Sleater
Lila Sleater’s office is something to behold. The space isn’t quite as grandiose as Trace’s up on the top floor, shame he doesn’t appreciate what he’s got, but still Lila knows what she’s got and she knows what to do with it in more ways than one. The room is coated in grunge, the black and punk-green paint scheme and the minimalistic trashy furnishings. You would, in any other situation, consider it a vast waste of the space given to her but when you’ve got Lila, as grunge as anything else in the room, sitting behind her desk tying it all together it just kind of works.
Shame she’s just a horrible b***h.
Lila Sleater: Feeling a bit awkward Jason?
Jason Anders: You could say that.
Lila Sleater: I would if I was called to the office of the woman who I’m trying to get fired from her job. If I was in your shoes I’d be feeling pretty sh***y right about now.
Jason Anders: That right?
She gives a smirk, not even needing to vocalise her answer. She knows what she’s doing, there’s a reason she got this job in the first place and it wasn’t just because she doesn’t take any bull. She’s smart, much more intelligent than Trace gives her credit for, and she knows exactly how to push peoples buttons and to put them in a position that guarantees she gets what she wants. I’m not about to fall into that hole though.
Lila Sleater: Do you know why I asked you up here Jason? I’ll give you a clue; it certainly wasn’t for your sparkling conversation skills.
Jason Anders: Maybe it was because you needed the company of a man.
Lila Sleater: Ha, not likely.
If she wasn’t running the show right now I’d tell her exactly what I think of her laughing at me. Women like her think they can just dictate everything, they think they’ve got all the control in the world even when they don’t deserve it. She’s just like Jenna, trying to tear me down because she likes the way it feels. I won’t give her the satisfaction.
Lila Sleater: Jason, why are you doing this?
Jason Anders: What?
Lila Sleater: This, working with Trace Demon, trying to tear me down, walking around this building like everyone doesn’t hate you because of it. You could be so much more than that.
She thinks she knows anything about me but she doesn’t, she doesn’t know a thing. All she sees when she looks at me is a man a little down on his luck, a man who’s stuck working for a bunch of idiots and ingrates to make it through this bloody world comfortably. But she doesn’t know anything about me, she doesn’t know how much I struggle, she doesn’t know how much I fight. She doesn’t have the right to judge me.
Jason Anders: What does it matter to you, you can’t change what’s going to happen. Your days are numbered.
She’s still looking down at me; like she can’t believe what I’m telling her could possibly be true. She’s overconfident, that’s going to cost her.
Lila Sleater: I don’t think so. Sure Trace Demon is smart, I can’t argue with that, he’s proven that plenty of times in the past and I’m not about to go and underestimate him, but it doesn’t look like it works both ways. Trace thinks he can build his little group and just take the WFWF back, he thinks I’m not going to do anything about it, but I am. I know exactly how to hurt Trace Demon and I know exactly how to do it in such a way that he never sees it coming.
Oh yeah, of course she’s got a plan. Of course she thinks she knows what’s she doing. I can’t wait to hear this one.
Jason Anders: So what exactly is your plan?
This is going to be good.
Lila Sleater: You.
Wait what did she say?
Jason Anders: Wait what did you say?
Lila Sleater: You Mr. Anders, you’re the weak point of the Final Revolution, you’re Trace Demon’s weak point. He doesn’t respect you Jason, he doesn’t think anything of you, he doesn’t really see anything useful in you. You’re just there to do the crap he doesn’t want to and you know it. He’s not going to expect you to betray him and he’s certainly not going to expect you to help me out.
Jason Anders: You’re full of crap. And of course he wouldn’t expect it because it would never happen.
Lila Sleater: Not even for your family?
How the hell does she know about my family? How does she know anything about my life outside of this bloody building? And there’s that smile, that look, she thinks she’s got me on the run. I’ll show her.
Lila Sleater: I know you’re doing this because you want to provide for your daughter. I know that your ex-wife doesn’t think you can and you’re doing everything to prove her wrong, that’s why you’re with Trace Demon because you think he’s going to win and you need to be on the winning side. Not want, but need. Trace doesn’t care about them; he doesn’t care about your daughter or about you. As soon as you’ve outlived your usefulness he’s going to throw you to the side and you’ll lose your daughter completely. You think your ex-wife will let you see her if you can’t pay the bills? Not a chance.
That’s not going to happen; she’s not going to take my girl away from me.
Jason Anders: I’m listening.
Lila Sleater: Help me bring Trace Demon down from the inside, tell me what he’s planning, tell me who he’s talking to, make sure I know everything that I need to know to bring him down. You do that for me and I’ll make sure that not only do you keep your job but that you get everything you need to get your daughter back.
Jason Anders: Everything?
Lila Sleater: Money, lawyers, a proper house, childcare. When I say whatever it takes I mean whatever it takes.
Jason Anders: You’re willing to use my daughter as a bargaining chip just to keep your job?
Lila Sleater: I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make sure Trace Demon doesn’t get control of the booking against because the moment he does the moment this company dies.
Jason Anders: You’re colder than I thought.
Lila Sleater: Not cold, just pragmatic. So do we have a deal?
When it comes down to it, when the choices are Trace Demon or my little girl…
Jason Anders: You promise me I’ll have my little girl?
Lila Sleater: You can even have it in writing.
Then there really is no debate.
Jason Anders: Then I’m in.
< *** >
“I did what I had to do, I did what any other man would have done. Even you. Hell especially you.”
”Wrong, I’d never just take Lila up on her offer, where’s the smarts in that?”
“You would, don’t you dare lie right now, you do whatever it takes to survive, that’s what you’ve always done. You know it and I know it.”
”You’re wrong, it’s not about surviving, it’s never been about surviving. Surviving is for the weak, it’s for the mediocre, the people just getting by. I am about thriving. Being better than before, that’s what life is about, that’s what you have to do. Not just survive but thrive. That’s why you mean nothing, that’s why the name Jason Anders will be forgotten.”
“I’m doing what’s right for my family, that’s who’s important, my daughter, my little girl, she’s the one I’ve done all of this for.”
”So what? Lila fed you all that stuff about how mean old Trace Demon would toss you aside, that mean old Trace Demon doesn’t care about your family, that mean old Trace Demon only gives a damn about himself. Is that what she fed you?”
“She was speaking from experience.”
”That’s what the old Trace Demon did maybe, the Trace Demon who didn’t have anything but himself to fight for. Not anymore, now Trace Demon is fighting for the WFWF. The WFWF is Demon country so of course he’s gonna do you right. You see if you’d have really thought about it you wouldn’t have kept it a secret, you’d have seen the opportunity.”
“What are you talking about?”
”Double agents Anders, people love a good double agent. You agreed to Lila’s little plan, didn’t you? Don’t worry, you don’t need to answer, we already know. But you agreed and you didn’t think what that meant. Of course we’d find out, you don’t think there are people in that company with big ears and bigger mouths? But if you’d played it smartly, if you’d have thought it through, then you’d have agreed and then you’d have come straight to the Final Revolution, you’d have worked from the inside, fed Lila snippets, just enough to make her thing you were on her side. Told her what she needed to hear and then BANG! You bring the hammer down when she least expects it.
Luckily for you Jason, just like they always do someone else thought of it first.”
< *** >
September 5th 2014
Belmont High School; Los Angeles
Jason Anders: Excuse me, cheers, thanks, sorry…
Will you all just get out of my bloody way!
Hayley Thomas: Nice of you to finally turn up.
I take my seat next to my b***h of an ex-wife in the school auditorium mid-way through the school’s talent show. The girl on stage certainly isn’t all that talented at playing the piano is all I can say.
Jason Anders: I promised her I would didn’t I.
Hayley Thomas: You promise a lot of things Jason. You almost missed her.
Jason Anders: I left the office late and there was a jam a mile long getting here. I didn’t miss her though so-
I, and everybody else around me, hear the ringing of my phone from my pocket. I scramble to turn it off and set it to silent without looking at whose calling.
Hayley Thomas: Couldn’t have turned that off before getting in here?
Jason Anders: I was in a rush.
It’s not like the piano girl is any good anyway.
Jason Anders: So where’s your boyfriend tonight? Too busy enjoying my house?
Hayley Thomas: Shut up Jason, it’s not your house anymore if you remember. And I’m not your wife either, what I do in my free time is my business.
Jason Anders: Not when it’s around my daughter it isn’t.
One of the old cows sitting in front of us turns around and shhh’s me. Who does that, really? I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket again and let it ring out. This isn’t the time. On the stage the piano girl has thankfully left and is replaced by the principal, a plump lady in her mid-forties who I have it on good authority owns twelve cats.
Got the whiskers of one as well might I add.
Principle Gertrude: Thank you Tammy.
Yeah, thank you so much for sucking Tammy, real good job there.
Principle Gertrude: Up next-
And there’s my phone again. Who in the hell is so desperate to talk to me that they can’t leave it more than thirty seconds between calls? S**t… Trace.
Principle Gertrude: Is Katie Anders!
Haven’t spoken to him since the pay per view, since he helped Drakz win the WFWF World Championship. Still don’t know what he was even thinking when he did that.
Hayley Thomas: Jason, are you even watching?
Right, eyes on point, the entire reason I’m here. My little girl, my Katie. She stands front and centre on the stage looking far more beautiful than either myself or Hayley could possibly claim came from either of us.
Katie’s a dancer, and coming from someone who doesn’t know the difference between body popping and the waltz I can tell you right now watching her is like watching the most graceful thing you could possibly imagine. She moves with grace, elegance and the kind of passion that you don’t see ve-
And there’s my f*****g phone again.
Hayley Thomas: Are you looking at your phone?
Jason Anders: It’s Trace, I haven’t-
Hayley Thomas: Are you f*****g kidding me? Just go and answer it you piece of s**t.
Jason Anders: I’m watching my daughter.
Hayley Thomas: Just f-
The same mother from before shush’s us again and I swear Hayley is about to have a fit. The phone rings again and after glares from roughly nine different surrounding parents I stand and push my way down the aisle, making my way to the back of the auditorium and quickly answering the phone.
Jason Anders: what the hell Trace, you don’t call me all week and-
Trace Demon: I know what you did.
S**t.
Jason Anders: Trace I don’t-
Trace Demon: You and Lila, I know. Leave now, meet me at the training centre within an hour or you’re over.
Jason Anders: I can’t leave Trace, I’m-
Trace Demon: Over Anders. You get here now and I will make you a hero, you don’t… and I’ll make you a deadman.
He hangs up. I glance back at Katie on stage, moving through the air like the most pure thing I’ve ever seen. And I have to leave, I have to break my promise because of Trace f*****g Demon.
We all make sacrifices for the lives we want to lead.
< *** >
NOW
Trace Demon: Do you understand what I mean now Anders?
For the first time since I walked into the empty House of Hell training centre, a training centre that Trace Demon owns but hasn’t actually personally run since his falling out with Wayne, I can see some emotion on his face. This entire time he’s been stoic, none of the usual vitriol in his voice. It was almost like it wasn’t Trace Demon at all, like I could have been talking to anyone. But no, this is definitely Trace Demon.
Trace Demon: I told you you were here to witness a rebirth but I didn’t mean mine Anders, I meant yours. It’s time for you to step up and take charge, it’s time for you to make ‘Jason Anders’ a name that people will remember, it’s time you made your little girl proud of you. Lila Sleater wants to offer you everything you want by making you a cheap, pathetic little weasel. I want to offer you the same thing by making you a damn hero.
Nobody could ever argue that Trace Demon isn’t a persuasive man. It isn’t just about what he says; it’s the confidence he speaks with. He’s so sure of everything he’s saying that, no matter how crazy it might sound, it always sounds like a perfectly rational and understandable thing to think.
Trace Demon: You help me bring her down Anders and suddenly you’re the hero of the WFWF, the man who did everything he could to make sure our mighty company stayed standing, who made sure that wrestling didn’t die with Lila Sleater and her false champions like Dex. But that’s not enough for you is it? It’s not about glory, it’s about power, it’s about control, it’s about your family.
He’s right, it is about my family. It’s all about Katie… god I promised her I’d be there.
Trace Demon: She wants to offer you everything you need to get her back but you won’t have the most important thing, you won’t have her respect. To little Katie you’ll just be a man who abandoned his friend and led the WFWF into oblivion. You work with me Anders, you trust me, and not only will you have your daughter but you will have everything. Even your ex-wife if that’s what you want.
Jason Anders: You can’t promise me that.
Trace Demon: Really Anders? Look at me, look me in the eyes and tell me that there is anything I can’t do.
I see it in him, the fire, the drive, the belief that he can do everything he says he can do. I didn’t see that in Lila, she was cold and calculated, he’s passionate. He wants this more than she does. He’s going to win.
Trace Demon: You work with me and you won’t just be a father anymore… you’ll be a hero. And every little girl loves a hero. So, are you in?
I’m in. I know it before he’s even finished speaking.
Jason Anders: Yes.
But there’s still one question I need answered.
Jason Anders: You still haven’t told me why you did it.
He smiles at me, he knows exactly what I’m talking about.
Trace Demon: Did what Anders?
Jason Anders: Why you helped Drakz win the title.
The smile grows, he chuckles a little bit, like he’s amazed nobody has been smart enough to work it out yet.
Trace Demon: Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve said for weeks Anders? I promised that I would rip that title from Dex by any means necessary, I told you all that with him as the champion this company would fall to ruins and I wasn’t about to let that happen. Everyone thought that meant I had to be champion, that I was the only one worthy, but that’s not true. That title deserves to be held by the best, which in truth is me, but it also has to be held by someone worthy of being champion and that describes more than just the King of Demons. Drakz has proven himself time and time again, he might not be up to my level but he still deserves the title far more than Dex does.
Jason Anders: Still not getting it, why didn’t you just let Dex break up the pin and try to win the title yourself?
Trace Demon: Because it wasn’t about being champion Anders, it was about making sure Dex wasn’t. He doesn’t deserve it, he never has, he got gifted the title, he never won it. I had to make sure he didn’t walk out of that building as champion through some fluke or outside interference and the longer the match went on the more chance that could have happened. I saw an opportunity to achieve my goal and I took it. Maybe it isn’t what’s best for the WFWF, god knows we’d be better off with me as champion, but with that title off of Dex it buys us time. And god knows he’s never going to win it back, you see the guy wrestle? He’s like a whiny baby who hasn’t realized nobody cares about why he’s crying. I made a promise Anders.
So did I.
Trace Demon: I promised that I would make sure Dex wasn’t champion, and unlike you…
I promised Katie I’d be there…
Trace Demon: I always keep my promises.
I dont know good luck 
