Post by The Following on Nov 24, 2020 15:01:08 GMT -5
A couple of days after Clash, Chase Jackson is in the ring, sparring with another member of The Following. Hands are flying and Chase Jackson looks dialed in as he practices his moves. He knows that he needs to stay ready in case he is called upon to fight alongside his brothers. His concentration and his sparring partners' are interrupted when a side door is thrown open. Chase looks over and sees fire in the eyes of the man who just threw open the door. His eyes widen as the man marches over to the ring.
That man is Kyle Kemp. Kemp slides into the ring and looks at the man sparring with Chase.
“Out!”
The man nods and bolts from the ring. Chase is staring at Kemp with his hands up. Meanwhile Kemps eyes haven’t wavered. They are cold as he looks at Chase.
“What’s going on?”
Kemp ignores the question and takes two quick steps forward and punches Chase in the gut. Chase quickly gasps for air and drops to his knees. Kemp kicks Chase in the gut and the air completely rushes out of Chase’s body as he rolls onto his back, holding his stomach. Kemp drops his knee into Chase’s sternum and holds it there as he puts his weight down on his chest.
“What’s going on? I’ll tell you what’s going on you little shit! I’ve told you time after time! Everything we do is about a greater good. I’ve told you to leave your feelings at the door and you just don’t listen!”
Kemp punches Chase in the right eye and the swelling is almost immediate. Chase groans but is able to let out one simple question.
“What did I do?”
The question infuriates Kemp even more who throws a couple more punches into Chase’s face before standing up and he begins to pace back and forth in the ring as Chase writhes in pain on the mat.
“Don’t play dumb with me! I know exactly what you did and you do too! You didn’t tell Dandy about the change in the match last week like I told you too! Do you realize how that could have affected our preparation if someone else hadn't told him?”
“I forg…”
Before he could finish his words Kemp runs forward and hits a punt kick to Chase’s head as he is on his knees, trying to get up.
“Please don’t tell me you were going to say forgot. You didn’t forget! You did it because you can’t get over this little thought in your head that Dandy is here for nefarious reasons. The truth is the only person that is acting nefariously right now is you.”
Kemp walks over to Chase who is just barely awake at this point. Blood is slowly running down from his nose and Kemp snarls.
“If I had my way I would kick you out the door right now but I can’t. This isn’t all about me. It’s about The Following. That is why I’m leaving your fate up to one man Chase. Dandy is going to decide if you stay or if you go.”
Kemp takes one last look at Chase before sliding out of the ring and walking out of the practice area, leaving Chase who is still lying on the mat.
Minute after minute. Hour after hour. Day after day. The concept of time moves within these parameters and we distinguish our days after these concepts. We build our days according to milestones like the sun rising or setting and lead our lives with the understanding that time will always keep moving. During this time you will get older and you’ll have people come and go but sometimes you have some things that are constant.
Those constant things can be family members, friends and sometimes rivals. I’ve had family members and friends come and go but one rival seems to stick around. That is you Spencer Adams. You are the yin to my yang in the wrestling business. It’s been that way since day one and it’s that way right now.
You can try to tell me that you don’t feel it but we both know that would be a lie. Spencer Adams is nothing without Kyle Kemp and vice versa. We have been on this journey together since our first match together in our first couple of weeks in WCF and will be for many more years to come. No matter what evolutions we go through as people, to the two of us we will still be Spencer Adams and Kyle Kemp. Not the King of Slabs or leader of The Following. Not members of #FightSmart. Not two of the most decorated wrestlers in this business today! You will always be that scrawny little emo kid and I’ll always be the arrogant rich kid that fell into wrestling. We will always be competing against each other.
I am the Joker to your Batman no matter how many other people you come into contact with you always come back to me. The thrills of teaming with guys like Lockhart and Crow McMorris and battling guys like Corey Bull and even my brother Wesley can only fill your thirst for action for so long. It’s a routine. No one fills the void that you seek to fill but me. That’s why you always come back to me and once again we have come full circle.
Only this time it isn’t Crow at your side but Lockhart. I guess you quickly realized that Crow was using you like I previously said. Crow was looking for someone to provide cover fire from expectations and being that cover fire wasn’t enough for you. I bet all you could think about was when I was going to show up and slap the taste out of your mouth. That’s a thought I bet you lay awake at night seeking. Because let’s face it. One slap from me is more to you than winning the Tag Team Titles with someone that wasn’t me. It’s no surprise that your best Tag Team Title run was with me and not with any of these other top tier guys you seem to keep convincing to tag with you.
I do want to know what your secret is though Spencer. How do you keep convincing all of these guys to stop what they're doing and team with you? It certainly isn’t the glory. Lockhart already has that. It must be something else. Do you bribe them? I mean that’s usually your way to convince anyone to do anything. I should know.
I do want to clarify that when I say bribe I don’t mean money. You just like to make a lot of promises. Promises that you don’t always keep and unkept promises will come back to bite you. I remember when I won the World Title for you Spencer. I remember it well. You promised me a prominent spot in #FightSmart and I did get that but I never got what I truly was promised. I helped you win the World Title and you were supposed to help me in a similar fashion down the road. That promise was never kept and when I needed you you were never there.
Do you know when I’m talking about Spencer? I bet you don’t because you’re selfish. I’m talking about when I was fighting Walter. I beat him on my own and I showed everyone I had what it took. I choked him out in the middle of the ring and won the United States Title but that only pissed him off. How many times did he jump me after that? How many times did he bludgeon me? How many times was I on the brink of being killed in the middle of the ring with my friend nowhere to be seen? You didn’t help me once. You didn’t even think about it. You just sat back in catering, stuffing your face and boasting about how good you are. The best kept secret about Spencer Adams is he is all about himself and nobody else. Just ask those poor people in the slabs.
Weren’t you supposed to be their king? Aren’t you supposed to be taking care of them? I thought they needed direction. That they needed someone to take a chance on them and lead them. You were supposed to be that guy but a funny thing happened. You realized you couldn’t do it. You realized you aren’t a leader after all. You are just a guy hiding behind those that help him.
That’s what you did in #FightSmart. You hid behind me. You hid because you knew that you weren’t really the leader. I was. Just like I’m leading The Following. The difference is that I don’t need to anoint myself as a king or a god or an antidote. I lead because that is what I was born to do and I know how to do it properly.
Deep down you know it. You know my leadership and my willingness to help others is why you are a Triple Crown winner. I won you your World Title. I was your partner winning the Tag Team Titles. I kept you healthy by protecting you. Your career is where it is because of me and nobody else.
That is why I laugh when people claim that I put Wesley and Dandy in front of me because I’m not good enough to be front and center. You and I both know that isn’t true. I’m focused on being better and I’m going to make them better. Just like I made you better. It’s already working. Wesley is in the finals of the Wrestler of the Year tournament and Dandy is rejuvenated. Him and I are coming for you and Lockhart and there isn’t anything you can do about it. Do you want to know why? Because you’ve gone soft.
That’s right Spencer. This is the first time I have gone into a matchup with you and I have full confidence that you aren’t even in my league. I don’t even recognize you anymore. In fact I don’t think I even see you anymore. What happened to being the first one in and the last one out at the arena? What happened to being the hardest working guy in the room? You take more weeks off at this point than you actually show up to Clash. It’s pathetic.
But as I said before….things come full circle and now here we are once again. Spencer Adams and Kyle Kemp. One more time. Only this time I’m going to make sure everyone sees us in the right light. The leader, me, and the lackey, you. I'm going to finally get my due and I'm going to expose you. Get ready to FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING!
Dandy walks into the training area and through a far door just in time to see Kemp lift his knee off of Chase and exit the room. Chase sits up slowly, dejected.
“You good, Chase?”
Chase’s eyes shoot up to meet Dandy’s. Dandy notices the hurt in Chase’s body language and he sees the swelling over Chase’s eye. Dandy steps into the ring and walks over to Chase, towering over the seated man. Dandy extends his hand out to Chase, offering to help Chase off the mat. Chase looks at DD’s hand with his eyes beginning to water due to Chase’s emotionally heavy situation. Chase hesitates for a moment before reaching out and grabbing Dandy’s hand and using DD’s assistance to climb up from the mat. Dandy turns his attention to a nameless member of The Following.
“Yo, man, go grab my man an ice pack.”
The nameless member nods and rushes off out of the training room. Dandy’s attention turns back to Chase.
“I guess Kemp, uh, ain’t happy wit’ ya, huh?”
Chase scoffs.
“You could say that.”
“Look, man… I know we ain’t started shit on the best foot, but, uh, I...I just wanna bury the fuckin’ hatchet an’ I wanna get you and me on the same fuckin’ page, ok? I ain’t here to replace you. I ain’t here to fuck this shit up. I just want The Followin’ to be as good as e caan as a whole ass unit, Chase. You a part of that. I know I been bustin’ yo’ balls. But I had an epiphany las’ week, Chase: this place was your home long befo’ it was mine. I’m here on Kemp and Wes’s invitation, but I’m in yo’ home wit’out yo’ ass havin’ any say in it. If I was in yo’ shoes, I’d be pissed, too.”
Chase looks stunned with surprise.
“Kemp said it’s up to you.”
Dandy looks at him confused.
“What is?”
“Whether I get Odin’ed.”
“Oh. Well, shit.”
An awkward silence falls over the pair.
“Soooooooooo…?”
“‘So’, what?”
“Are you gonna...you know, or do I get to stay?”
Dandy looks Chase dead in the eye as he considers everything.
“Ain’t it weird how you was sayin’ I took your spot, but now I’m the man that holds your fate in his damn hands?”
“Dandy, look, I’m s…”
“Nah, Chase. It ain’t time for apologies. I just need you to listen to me righ’ now… If Kemp is puttin’ your status in my hands, you’re safe, ok?”
Chase lets out a relieved sigh and reflexively grabs Dandy in an awkward hug. Dandy gives Chase a second before he pushes Chase off.
“There’s a catch, Chase.”
Chase’s face washes over with concern.
“Of course there is...What is it?”
“Because you fucked yo’self by tryin’ ta fuck me, you’re stuck.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You been obsessed wit’ this idea that I’m a fuckin’ narc spy since I stepped in the fuckin’ door. I know you been tellin’ e’erybody who’ll listen that I’m a fuckin’ mole, right?”
Chase’s eyes drop in shame, and he refuses to verbally answer.
“So since you spent so much time tellin’ e’rybody I’m some sorta snake, now you gotta live wit’ the fact that if you was right, I’m the fuckin’ reason you still here. You can either believe that I’m doin’ this shit for the good of the group, or…”
“Or what?”
“Or you gotta come to terms wit’ the fact that you was right, and the best fuckin’ thing this snake/narc/spy thought he could do to sabotage The Followin’ was make sure you stay in it.”
Dandy smiles.
“So, Chase, am I the real deal or…?”
Chase puts his hands on his hips and looks up to the ceiling desperately.
“Either way? You stay in The Followin’, and you’re fuckin’ welcome.”
Dandy pats Chase on the shoulder and exits the ring as the nameless man returns and tosses Chase an ice pack.
“Thanks.”
Last week I had the chance to avenge a career low moment when the powers that be booked Kemp an’ me agains’ DV an’ Shaw. This week, I get another chance to slay that dragon and avenge a loss to Ryan Lockhart. Now I know what a lot a’ people is gon’ think: winnin’ a fuckin’ tag match ain’t doin’ much fo’ avengin’ a singles loss. E’cuse me but that’s some shit, y’all. Now fo’ mos’ people? I’d be inclined to agree. But fo’ me? Right now as I’m tangled up in Tha Followin’? Hell nah. Ya see I ain’t who I was when I ate them losses and got my ass fuckin’ kicked. Nope. I’m a better mo’fucka today than I was yesterday, than I was last week, a month ago. I’m better today than when I was walkin’ the halls a’ this comp’ny wit’ that strap slung over my shoulder. I owe this fuckin’ family fo’ that shit. Trios was the dawnin’ of a new era in Action Wrestlin’. Come Turmoil, the fuckin’ sun will be blarin’ down on this company: The Followin’ will be the Turmoil winners two fuckin’ times over, first with Kemp and me snaggin’ them tag straps and then wit’ Wes pullin’ down that Wrestler of the Year honor.
I found a strength in The Followin’ that I ain’t never had before, an’ it’s important to remember that in my whole fuckin’ career befo’ this moment, I ain’t never lost to Spenny one fuckin’ time an’ I’m one of the only fuckin’ guys in this company that can boast a non-losin’ record against Lock. I did that before I found the shit that makes me better. Just imagine how the fuck shit’s gonna go when it’s you mo’fuckas as good or worse as you ever was standin’ across the ring from me an’ Kemp when the two of us is better than we ever been… It ain’t a pretty picture unless you The Followin’.
And let’s not forget that last battle, Lock. You didn’t beat me as much as I beat me in that one, mo’fucka. I got in my own fuckin’ way and surendered a fuckin’ point to yo’ ass before you even knew what was happenin’. Yaz had me convinced I was snatchin’ the strong position, but really, I was just bustin’ a foot long double dong off in my own ass. Even then though, you couldn’t capitalize until the las’ fuckin’ second. Lock, I gave you the fuckin’ lead and you STILL damn near threw it away. What’d happen to you, man? Did you get some a’ Jaice’s DNA in your test tube? I just wish you could remember how to be yo’self. Where the fuck did the Lock that set the record for a World Title run go, man? Did that mo’fucka get lost in a lab? I mean, you The One now, right? But fuck, man, you ain’t even fit to carry yo’ the real deal Lockhart’s jock. You some kinda fuckin’ creature wit’ a familiar face, Lock, but you ain’t the man you usedta be. I know, I know. I can hear you respondin’ now: I’m not the same, I’m better. But we both know that’s some bullshit. Would the best version of Ryan Lockhart attach himself to Spencer Adams’ hip for reasons unknown to anybody but them labtechs? I’d sure as fuck say the answer’s no. The Lock of old woulda laughed in your punk ass modern-era face, RyRy.
On some level, you can say the same shit about me, Lock. I know it. I ain’t the same neither. But the difference here, man, is that I AM better. You’re just starin’ down the barrel of bein’ the genetic and professional rip off of mo’fuckas who you just couldn’t fuckin’ beat. Me? I’m turnin’ to introspection and letting my fuckin’ ego go in favor of learnin’ from someone I usedta diminish and belittle. I know I’m better than you, ‘cause I know good goddamn well that there ain’t a single mo’fucka in this whole ass world that yo’ ass would respec’ enough to realize they got somethin’ ta teach yo’ ass. Look, man, bein’ better means understandin’ yo’ own shit stinks too, and in all the fuckin’ years I known yo’ ass, Lock, I cant’ imagin’ you doin’ nothin’ but enjoyin’ the fuckin’ stank. You the fuckin’ dog that finds them tightly coiled piles in the yard and makes ‘em into canine snow angels.
Lock, the world knows you ain’t lookin’ at Spencer as yo’ equal. We know you ain’t lookin’ at him as a friend. That relationship is one of convenience an’ exploitation. Me an’ Kemp? We workin’ together to build each other up and improve ourselves as pieces wit’ the goal of improvin’ the whole fuckin’ family. We building one another up so that we can tear the rest of the world that stands opposed to us down. We ain’t just lookin’ to be better for the sake of titles and gold, but them prizes are sure gon’ do a hell of a lot to show the world how fuckin’ successful our mission has become. 2021 is gon’ be the year of The Followin’ jus’ like the last two months have been all about us.
And that real team shit we on is what really makes us not only the stiffest competition you’ve faced for the tag straps but the first team that’s primed to beat your asses for ‘em. ‘Cause even if you ain’t the Lockhart you was in the old days, you still a mo’fucka who straight up better than most a’ tha roster, RyRy. Ain’t no bullshittin’ I can do that would reasonably deny that you ain’t one a’ them four faces they’d haveta carve into the rock fo’ a Mount Rushmore of Action Wrestlin’. The thing is though…my fuckin’ face would be right there beside yo’s. I ain’t yo’ subordinate, RyRy. Even on yo’ best day, I’m no fuckin’ worse than yo’ goddamn equal. I know how you process shit though, son, so I know damn well the idea that they’s anybody in this company that’s on yo’ level is a bitch fo’ you to hear. You got this whole fuckin’ fantasy in yo’ head that you the greatest thing that ever happened to this comp’ny, that you the best in-ring competitor of all time, that you the gold fuckin’ standard for what a champion or a wrestler ever could be. But facts is facts, RyRy, and here they is: I ended your all-time-great run with the World strap by showin’ the world you ain’t perfect; you beat me in an Iron Match by showin’ the world I ain’t perfect; you gonna lose yo’ straps at Turmoil and prove to the whole ass world that The Followin’ is better together than you would ever let yo’self be when someone else is sharin’ yo’ glory and accolades.
Lock, Turmoil is the next fuckin’ battle in the war that’s become the last year of our careers. What are you bringing to the battlefront, son? Me? I got my brothers, my fuckin’ family, a ride or die fuckin’ crew. You? You’ve got a partner of convenience who you lookin’ more uncomfortable aroun’ e’ry damn day. After all, it ain’t exactly what you want to world to see as the Lockhart way, right? You relyin’ on someone else to cover fo’ ya… Nah, even in BeachKrew, you wouldn’t let yo’ boys help you fight yo’ battles. How the fuck did you think you was gon’ go from that perpetual solo shit to this tag work without any real effort to change yo’ approach to how you work wit’ other people? I’m mo’ ready fo’ you than I ever been, an’ I already beat yo’ ass once, RyRy. You ain’t never faced the Dandy DiVito that’s gonna stand across the fuckin’ ring from you at Turmoil, son. You ain’t never faced the man who finally figured out how to work wit’ other mo’fuckas, Lock. I’m fuckin’ ready fo’ round three in this fuckin’ war between the two a’ us. I’m fuckin’ ready to do all that shit again. This shit’s gonna be the rubber match. You an’ Spence is just a fuckin’ house a’ fuckin’ cards. Me an’ my brother? We flamethrowas, an’ The Followin’... we gon’ burn your shit down, boys.
Back in the practice ring, Wesley and Dandy are running drills. Dandy’s breathing heavy and stops running. As he’s sucking wind, he speaks.
“Wes… thank… you...”
“For what, DandyDaddy?”
“For goin’... out on a limb… for… me.”
Wesley smiles.
“We took a leap of faith together, Dandy. Everything that’s happening now…those are the fruits of that leap. The Following’s recent successes just serve to validate the decision we made together.”
“Tag champs… Wrestler of the Year… We both a far cry… from where we was… when we jumped, huh?”
Wesley pats Dandy on the shoulder.
“That’s faith, brother.”
Wesley gives Dandy a moment to gather himself.
“Let’s start from the top, brother.”
The pair heads back to training.