Xander crossed his arms. His stomach turned sour. Dillusion ‘graciously’ cracked open his energy drink stash and gave a can to Xander. Since then, Xander has combated feverish chills and butterflies in his stomach. What he really needed was sleep, not a shit ton of caffeine. He only had to blame himself for this decision. His nagging conscience in the form of Hunter had dragged him to this place. Xander assumed that Dillusion spend a year’s paycheck on this elaborate scheme. The intricacy of the obstacle course that led on either side of this large chamber showed a lot of thought when into it’s design, even though a lot of it was made out of cardboard. This should have been a reality television show, one of those garbage programs people watched on national television channels during the off-season. At least, Dillusion would had made an interesting celebrity host and by doing so, would have also made his money back. But if there was one thing Xander knew about Dillusion, money wasn’t important. He once watched the man order every item off a Taco Bell menu just because he thought it would make someone’s night.
The mad road agent had cast Ducky into a cardboard maze of sorts. The maze itself wasn’t any more elaborate than those corn mazes farms ran during the Hallowen season. From his vantage, he saw a lot of rudimentary illustrations drawn on the walls. Yet she was completely helpless and seemed to be encountering unseen challenges. For his other team mate, there were a series of screens following Gavin as he went through his own trials and tribulations. Basketball with ninjas. Xander watched both his teammates struggle while wondering why exactly was he there? He wasn’t helping anyone by being a presence. Throughout the early morning hours, Dillusion bopped in and out of the room; the puppet master scrambling to pull the strings to manipulate Gavin and Nicole simultaneously. Hunter sat in a desk chair before the control center, crossed her legs and remained silent during the proceedings. She occasionally glanced over at the screen or stood up to see how Ducky was progressing through the maze; however, most of the time, she passed the time, observing him from the corner, evaluating him. Xander didn’t like that feeling of being judged.
The longer the wait became, the more irritated and restless Xander became. He found himself frustrated with his teammates as much as towards this sense of helplessness that consumed him. They were all having a difficult time in their own way. Gavin refused to give up, trying to take on the challenges on his own despite being devised to be done with a teammate. The last challenge that presented Gavin was nearly impossible to Xander’s eyes. Meanwhile, Nicole stumbled through the maze, including a room that was such an on-the-nose reference to Kennedy Street’s favorite greeting. Honey everywhere.Xander knew the price of honey and that expenses must have set back Dillusion months’ pay. Surely, couldn’t he come up with a cheaper alternative? No, he always ran with the first thing popped in his twisted head. Dillusion was indeed a bona fide idiot. Most have been all those unprotected chair shots to the head.
But even though she preserved, once she got past that stage, she became lost in the maze. Gavin made zero progress on the final challenge. Xander kept looking at the clock on the wall, time slipping away from them. Sleep deprivation besieged his senses. He hadn’t taken his meds either. Dillusion vanished altogether by this point, not even bothering to check in on them. His hands formed fists. He paced. He growled. He needed to do something about this!
Hunter uttered her first words in two hours, “You’re really not enjoying this, are you?”
“Here I am. What is the point of me coming here? I can’t help them. They’re floundering about. By this point, I wouldn’t have blamed them to just give up on the whole thing. Dillusion can’t keep them here forever,” Xander said. He couldn’t conceal his irritation, most of which he was quite aware he misdirected towards his teammates’ failings. He understood that this wasn’t their fault but at the same time, the longer they faltered, the longer he had to wait.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe we should have gone back to the hotel and skipped all of this. Like you mentioned, you haven’t been any help to them yet. What can you do?”
“I think you overestimate Dillusion’s foresight. He didn’t want me to come here. Like he said, I already learned my lesson… whatever bullshit lesson that was, I don’t know. It’s not my fault that neither Gavin nor Nicole satisfied Dillusion,” Xander complained. He pointed his fists on the railing overlooking the maze. The control room opened up to the ceiling rafters of the venue. Catwalks ran the course of the ceiling. He decided to venture out when he saw only the top of Nicole’s head but she wasn’t moving. On a closer look, she seemed glued to a wall. She seemed to struggle to move like a fly on sticky tack. What was her malfunction now? He went further on the catwalk until he came to a point he was overhead.
“UGH! Let… ME… GO! You stupid WALL! I want out! OUT!” Ducky screamed. Xander suspected she no longer enjoyed the night’s festivities. He sighed, wishing there was something he could do to end this shared misery, especially given to how close she was to the exit. But knowing her luck and lack of direction, she probably will end up wandering a few more hours before finally getting there.
Unless…
“Peel yourself off the wall, Duck. Then, go right!” Xander barked down the order.
“God, is that you? I’m sorry! I’m sorry I never believed you existed!”
“I’m not God, you idiot!”
“Oh, Xander! Sorry, I get confused. You want me to take a right?” Ducky finally unstuck herself from the wall though that seemed to tear her t-shirt off. Fortunately, she still had a tank top underneath, making her slightly less sticky and the situation not any more awkward than it already was.
“No, your other right!” Xander corrected her when she started left.
“Aye!”
“No, Ducky. You have to go the other way. Go back the way you came,” Dillusion’s voice echoed throughout the arena. He must be speaking through the PA System.
“JERRY? I mean, DILLY? I mean, JERRY? I mean, DILLY?”
“Don’t trust that other man, he’s misleading you. He doesn’t want you to get to the exit.”
“Listen to me, Duck. I have no reason to lie to you. I want you to get out,” Xander yelled back. He looked back towards the control room, hoping Dillusion spoke from there. He saw only Hunter who looked out with some concern. Xander thought Dillusion should consider himself smart for hiding because at this rate, Xander would have marched over to him and tossed him off the catwalk to an untimely death.
“But that’s DILLY! DILLY would never lie to me! Well, we would never LIE to me for a bad reason!”
“That’s it, Duck. Listen to my smooth Barry White voice. You can trust me. Remember, Xander is a pooptart that hurt TONY FURBALLS!”
“You’re right, he did hurt TONY before I smushed him on accident!”
“Listen, Duck. I’m sorry about the spider. I shouldn’t have hurt him. I was surprised, that’s all. Now listen to me, Dillusion is the reason why you’re trapped in there, right? Why would he tell you how to get out? He wants to keep you in there forever,” Xander countered. He reached the point where he knew he had to win over Nicole’s trust. Dillusion banked on his protege’s unwavering loyalty to her mentor. How to overcome that bond? He couldn’t. Never would he had imagined he would find himself in such an irksome dilemma.
“OKAY!” Nicole screamed.
“What?” Xander called out.
“IF DILLY WANTS ME TO STAY, I’LL STAY!”
“Yes, I’ll keep you forever and ever!”
“REALLY? Awesome! Bye, Xander! Good luck on the tourney! It was fun but Dilly has kidnapped me!” Ducky responded gleefully. Xander dropped down onto his knees. He groaned. How does someone fix stupid? That was a proposition many philosophers before him had wondered. He didn’t have the answer. Maybe he should leave. Hunter seemed to find the notion more palpable. So what was the point? No, he understood that if he left now then how would they work together in the future? He needed to figure out how to work alongside this crazy little girl if he wanted to win the tournament.
“Wait! Ducky! Fucking listen to me. I want you to leave this maze. I need you to leave the maze. We cannot win this tournament without you, okay? We’re a team. Remember all the things you’ve done to make us more a team, what are we going to do without you? You’re our mascot, aren’t you?” Xander decided on a new approach. He hoped his voice carried well, at least his tone to know he was trying to have a heart-to-heart with her. He wasn’t exactly lying. She had tried to foster unity before the first round and she did serve as their mascot.
“Nuh-uh, Ducky. He’s lying.”
“STOP! I’m confused! Stop hurting my head with all this thinking stuff!”
“But you have to… THINK, how can I be Puke… without the Unicorn, huh?” Xander grasped his chest. He never uttered something so unintelligent in his entire life. He knew he swung for the fences with the amount of surreal sappiness and false depth to the thought experiment he had developed on the fly; however, he knew that only Nicole would make sense of it, whatever gaps would be colored by her insanity.
Nicole perked up, leaping up onto her feet. She bounced up and down, throwing her arms. “You’re right! If I’m the Unicorn, and if I’m not there, you will not be rainbowy… you just be regular, EW Puke!”
“We both don’t want that.”
He didn’t exactly understand Nicole’s response but derived the basic gist of it. She thought she made him special. Was there any truth behind that thought? He never stopped to think, whether or not in the context of the tournament, did he really need Gavin or Nicole? In the past, he always thought he could carry anyone to victory but how did that work out? He admitted he needed teammates he could rely on. The competition was too stiff for him to go it alone. Could they fill those shoes? Maybe. He surely wasn’t going to win a handicap given their opposition. He still held bitterness the last time he found himself in such dire straits. He lost that handicap to Selena and Regan. He still wasn’t over it. But there was something else. Gavin and Ducky seemed to gravitate towards his leadership? In doing so, he seemed appointed to be the anchor of their team. That responsibility empowered him. It wasn’t just his wants on the line but their desires too.
“Listen, Ducky. I’ll guide you. Trust in me and we can get you outta there. Then we’ll grab Gavin. We all go back to the hotel together, okay?”
“Can we stop at IHOP on the way? All this stickiness makes me want pancakes!”
“No— Yes, sure! We’ll stop wherever you damn want!”
“OKAY! Sorry, Dilly! I have to go now, but I promise one day I’ll come back and play! Pinky promise!” Nicole announced, waving her pinky high in the air. Dillusion never responded. Xander expected a little more opposition but Dillusion never returned to the PA System. With his interference gone, Xander effortlessly directed her through the rest of the maze, avoid various boobytraps, pitfalls, and other obstacles that would have slowed her down. Once she reached the exit, Xander climbed down a ladder and some stairs to join her. She ran to him, excited to see the big man, throwing out her arm as if she was coming in for a glomp! Xander caught her in time before she hugged him with her honey-coated body.
“Hey! I deserve a hug!” Ducky stated.
Xander shook his head. “Not when you’re covered in honey.”
“I thought you became a nice guy but you’re still mean as ever!”
Xander ignored her complaint, “Let’s go find Gavin now, okay?”
Nicole gave up on the hug, no longer wanting to embrace the grump. While she pouted, Xander searched around for any clues where to go next and immediately spotted a set of double doors. Big paper arrows pointed at the door from all directions. Could Dillusion be any more obvious? Xander waved Ducky on who moped behind him. He pushed open the double doors to enter the room that contained Gavin and his final trial. Nothing had changed since Xander last checked in on him. Xander found himself slightly impressed at Gavin’s stamina. He continued to run from one side of the next, then to the middle, changing it up to see if there was a quicker way to hit all the buttons. Sweat drenched his clothes. His skin burned a bright red from all the exertion. So caught up in trying to beat the game, he didn’t even notice their arrival.
“Gavin. Let’s get the fuck out!”
“One more try, coach! I got it this time! I know I do!”
“You’re wasting your time! We can leave now. Let’s go back to the hotel and call it a night—”
“After—” Ducky started.
“After we stop at IHOP. Let’s do that,” Xander proposed. Gavin slowed down, realizing that it wasn’t his high school basketball coach shouting at him to call it a night. Resting for the first time, everything hit Gavin at once. He slapped his hands onto his knees, bent over, panting. Logic started to churn instead his head, understanding if they were there then they had unlocked the exit.
“You’re right. I mean, I do think I could finally win but yeah, let’s go. Who cares right?” Gavin agreed but sounded reluctant. Xander wondered if he simply hated quitting even something as trivial as this final trial.
“But I want a try!” Ducky didn’t give either man the chance to object. She started running around aimlessly, still bursting with the same energy she had the entire night. But she ran in a chaotic fashion, not even giving the buttons any attention. Xander doubted she understood the premise of the game. Regardless, the men started towards the door but when they drew near, a loud click echoed out. They panicked. They raced to the door but the door was locked once more.
“What the hell, man? You should have thought to keep the door ajar. Of course, he’s going to lock you guys in. Are you stupid or something?” Gavin shouted.
“I’m the stupid one? You’ve been running back and forth like a real moron half the night. For fucks sake.”
“I was trying my best to win! I had this all covered but you came in and ruined my focus. I would have been out if you hadn’t—”
“STOP YELLING!” Ducky squealed in between them. She kicked both in the shins before wagging her finger. “Xander, you said we were a team. You said you needed me. Well, we need Gavin. And Gavin, OBVIOUSLY, you can’t do this on your own. Even a kindergarten knows teamwork is always the answer!”
“But he—”
“Yeah, he started—”
“No, buts. No nothing! Apologize. Both of you!” Ducky ordered.
“Alright… Alright. I’m sorry. I hate losing, that’s all,” Gavin muttered his apology. He kicked the floor with his sneakers, letting out a squeak. He put his hands in his pockets.
“Alright, Duck. Tell us. What do we now?” Xander didn’t apologize but decided not to continue the pointless argument. Gavin looked up with a shocked face but no one paid him any heed. Xander walked past him, stretching his arms out before turning back to their mascot.
“Uh, duh. Just beat the game! Dilly wouldn’t have made it impossible for ALL THREE OF US. We’re Voltron now! We come together and save the day! Tu-tu-RU!”
“Well, he did, Nic. I’m sorry, but I’ve been here over an hour, trying to push the buttons fast enough to win. But I can’t, I’m not fast enough— well, wait a minute,” an epiphany struck Gavin’s tired mind. How did they overlook something so obvious? He looked over at Xander who figured it out at the same time. They lifted their hands. Counted: 1-2-3. They nodded in agreement. Both men went their separate ways to the farther buttons. The only one who hadn’t figured out the solution was Ducky. She stared at them strangely. She recoiled, confused at the nasty looks she received in return.
“WHAT!? WHAT DID I MISS!? WHY AM I THE BAD GUY NOW? I didn’t even fart!”
“Really, Duck?” Xander and Gavin said at the same moment.
“What! I don’t get it!”
“There’s three of us. There’s three buttons. So?” Gavin started.
“So what?”
“We hit buttons at the same time. So go on over to that one. On three, we push the buttons at the same time, beat the game, and go home!” Gavin explained. Ducky winced, still confused but decided to follow instructions anyways. “Now… on your mark, get set, 1… 2—”
Ducky hit the button before either man. A buzzer alarmed. The buzzer sounded like the one that you would hear on game shows when the contestant got the answer wrong.
“We have to do it at the exact same time I think—” Xander was interrupted by another buzzer. Ducky had pressed the button again.
“It’s not working—” BURRRR!
“No, we have to—” BURRRRR!
“WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” —BURRRR!
Tired of the shenanigans, Xander walked over to Ducky. Ducky stopped button mashing. She looked up at Xander with innocent eyes that only belonged on a doe. Then she went to hti the button again to show him what he was talking about but he slapped her wrist. Ducky rescinded her hand, put it to her mouth and uttered a silentless ow. “What did I do wrong!?”
“Listen to me, Duck. I need you to focus. You have to time it right, so when Gavin says 3. You press the butt—” BURRR!
“What the fuck, man?” Xander chastised Gavin.
“Sorry, I slipped!”
“But that’s what I did!”
“Just, try and focus. Time it up with us, okay? Do your best or whatever…”
“Okay! Okay! One more time. We’re not going to screw this up again, I promise!” Ducky doubled down. She stuck out her tongue and narrowed eyes towards the button. Her reaction convinced Xander that stood a chance to get this right.
Xander repeated once more, just in case she needed a reminder of what they needed to do, “Okay, when Gavin says… 1… 2—” BURRR!
“What? That wasn’t right?”
“You have to wait for us all to be in position. Then when Gavin says… 1… 2—” BURRR!
“Like that?!” Ducky looked for Xander’s approval. Xander kept his hands at his sides. He didn’t say anything but returned to his position. Once there, he motioned Gavin to hurry up and get on with it. Gavin snapped to attention. Xander could see the fatigue in the man’s eyes.
“Ready? 1… 2—” BURRR!
“It still didn’t work?” Gavin asked.
“Let’s try again,” Xander ordered.
And they did. Over and over and over and over again. Everytime, one of the three pressed the button, they did so a moment too soon or too late from the others. The frustration grew too great for Xander who recognized he was about to lose his temper. He stopped. Counted backwards from thirty. He steadied his breathing. He looked up and watched carefully. He realized, despite her best efforts, Nicole wasn’t in sync with the others. She pressed it right at ‘2’, not adjusting to hit the buzzer on 3, when the two men struck the button. Ducky couldn’t anticipate. They had to compensate for that and adjust it so they matched her count, not Gavin’s; however, he couldn’t announce the change in strategy because he risked confusing Ducky and she would change her behavior, throwing things back into turmoil once more.
Xander snaps his fingers. Gavin jerked when he heard the noise and realized it came from Xander. Ducky still stared down the button, oblivious to what was going on behind her back. Xander gestured to Gavin to change the plan. He stuck up two fingers and a thumbs up. Then three fingers and shook his head. Gavin’s jaw dropped, momentarily confused until he deciphered the code. He nodded and gave Xander a thumbs up!
“Ready? Last time,” Xander called out.
“Here we go. 1… 2—!” DING DING DING!
The Price is Right chimed and then the theme song played over the speaks. All three of them jumped with excitement. They did it! They finally did it! The sense of triumph washed over Xander, making him forget that he was acting like a fool along with his two teammates. He didn’t care. This meant he got to go to the hotel and finally sleep! They finally ended their suffering. They converged in the middle of the room. Xander went for a high five, something he hadn’t done in years but he was left hanging. Gavin and Ducky hugged, jumping up and down. Xander lowered his hand. They both looked at him and waved him on. Xander hesitated. He wasn’t really a group hug kind of guy.
“Come on, Xander. Group… hug… now!” Ducky demanded.
“Don’t be shy, big man… we did it!” Gavin encouraged me.
“For fuck’s sakes,” Xander spat. He went to turn away, then threw up his arms. Why the hell not? Xander embraced both his much smaller teammates. Then he remembered why he was originally against the hug. The honey-coated Ducky stuck to him. When they tried to separate, it was like ripping off a gigantic band aid that covered his entire arm. Still, he didn’t complain. At least, they get to go back to the hotel and finally sleep.
“And now onto IHOP!” Ducky called out, pointing to the door.
“Yay.” Xander cried, forgetting his promise.
————————————————————————-
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t exactly have confidence for my pairing with Duck and Gavin. Luck hasn’t been on my side my entire life and when I saw that my name was scratched in besides someone I didn’t respect at the time in Gavin Taylor and also alongside the unknown in Duck, I cursed my fate under my breath. While on the outside, my frustration manifested as mere ground, internally I shook my fist at the Heavens and swore to God he had it out for me. Nothing is ever easy. There’s always something. The mantras of those that fed on self-victimization with their persecution complex, and I wish I could say that I haven’t dabbled in such black magic as that, I will say I stopped with the whining, the conspiracies. I spat down onto my hands. I decided that if the bar has to be higher for me than so be it. If I have to earn my way, outperform everyone and overcome the double standards and the bullshit booking decisions, then I will do just that. There is never such a thing as a level playing field, so let’s stop crying about it.
Life isn’t fair. Get over it.
There isn’t a conspiracy against me, more than that my past has seeded doubt and concern in the minds of my employers. I might be over here, trying to rehabilitate my image and convince everyone that I’ve changed my ways. And I promise you, that effort is genuine. Each day I awake, I strive to be better than I was the day prior. I’m not in the business of gaslighting, simply changing minds and turning heads. I’ve dug deep. I’ve faced the reflection in the mirror. Finally, I’m able to look myself in the eyes, knowing that I have worth. My march to the top is driven by this unwavering faith that I can finally be better, as a man and as a wrestler. That when the day comes I get back to where I belong, when I take back the SCW World Championship, I can hoist it above my head with a clear conscience. Just like I did when I first came into this company.
But now, I can finally face the fans with my head held high.
And these trials and tribulations that have been set before me, be it by God I’ve spat in the face of, be it by those powerbrokers that I’ve wronged in the past, or those that have been caught in the undertow of my fifteen year rampage through this company. And can’t you blame me for a moment of weakness? I stared at the news breaking this week leading up to the event with disbelief. Asher Hayes was out. Cid Turner is in. And in some crooked twist of logic, Cid is representing his buddy’s interests. But when I fucked up, Drachewych fired me. But when I got arrested, I had to spend months of my prime in suspension purgatory. Each time, I quit. Each time, they fired me. Each time, they suspended me. I had to fight my way back up. And I get to watch management do mental gymnastics how Asher Hayes deserves a break. He made a mistake. Even though every single one of us knows what kind of man Asher Hayes is. We associate pond scum with his name. That doesn’t matter. He’s friends with Cid Turner. In this world, it’s all about networking and who you know, right? Despite the fact that I laid him out on his back weeks ago, they gave him a title shot that has eluded me for years. They sent him home after the news broke. They patted him on the back and told him it’s going to be okay. They told him that he still has a place here when he comes back from whatever legal trouble he found himself in.
Let’s be honest. SCW never did that for me. They never treated me like family. They told me I should be thankful to still have a job here. After all my missteps and poor judgement, they treated me like I had a spot on this roster as a charity. Why does that sound oddly familiar? That screams like corporate America?
And you know what? I am grateful that I am still here. Unlike Amazon employees, at least I live comfortably. I am proud of myself that I didn’t cave when lesser men would have acted self-righteous and quit. No, regardless of the attitude from my bosses, regardless of the double standards on display then and now, I still put my shoulder down and grinded through now I do so with a chip on my goddamn shoulder. It’s not that I’m alone. There are many others out there facing even worse unfairness. What do the kids call this kind of adversary? First world problems? At least, I know that some of this is still the long lingering consequences of past poor decisions. This isn’t anything to do with something as arbitrary as the color of my skin, the nature of my faith, or the crowd I run in. This is my own doing. And instead of crying about this perceived injustice, I have to pull my pants like everyone else and get to work.
Enough crying in my boot, let me lace them up.
Before me I have an opportunity to make a demand that they cannot refuse me. And there has been a lot of confliction in my soul about what that demand would be. So much so was the question that it started to distract from the matter at hand. Will I use this shot to put James Evans forever on the shelf? Will I use this shot to force the hands of the boss that hates me to give me my due… aka a shot at the World Championship?
But don’t you think I’m getting a little bit ahead of myself?
After all, before me stands three of the greatest wrestlers to have entered this company. Regardless of my feelings about Cid Turner and the opportunities he received over me, he took advantage of each of those opportunities. As a result, he has had himself one hell of a year. Jealousy or not, fucking kudos to him. Yes, him being slotted into this tournament made things even harder. Raised the bar. Yes, we can once fall into the trap of feeling slighted and cry about fairness or lack thereof. It’s not going to change anything. He’s in front of me. He’s in my way. And he’s coming at my team with Tommy Valentine and Kennedy Street behind him all the way. We all know Tommy and I have had a share of clashes. We all know he has challenged me, pushed me to the limits, especially when the stakes are high. They’re high now. And then there’s Kennedy, who I never had the privilege of competing against but if she’s anything like Regan, then that convinces me that this is quite a herculean labor. All three of them are dangerous. All three of them are oozing with talent. And with my bloodstained fists proving my guilt, I’m going to have to redeem myself by undergoing this colossal challenge, whether or not it’s the work of some evil’s doing, Hera or Drachewych, I’m going to have to become the hero of the day. I’m going to have to cut off the three heads of this hydra coming towards me and pierce their heart.
But I won’t be doing it alone.
Let me pause for a moment and cherish that fact. I’m not alone. While we are even surprised how well we work together, given our clashing personalities, we’ve proved not just ourselves but the world, we belong here. Three weeks ago, we were pariahs in the desert. Now we’re the latest rendition of a Cinderalla’s story, one that has everyone entranced with its magic. Despite all the odds, here we are. And in face of an insurmountable climb before us, I think everyone’s hungry to see us do it. Including ourselves. And every week, I hear as much. Every round, the crowd grew louder. And while we’re not sure that we deserve that love and support, that energy is definitely an extra kick to the ass, a fine pairing with the adrenaline we’re feeding off of coming into this match. And to me, this tastes like nostalgia. The last time I felt this electrification was all those years ago .Back when I first entered this company. Back when I believed I was unstoppable. Back when no one could stop me. Back when I was on top.
And I’m not going to let this slip through my hands. I’m not going to fall into the same defeat. I’m going to put my faith in my own abilities and those of Nic and Gavin. They have my back. I have theirs. We can do this. I know we can. I’m grateful for them, helping me get into this position. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it. Regardless of the challenges, our personalities, we’re here now. Now it’s my turn. Enough with the wallowing. Enough with the stumbling. No more excuses, Xander. Damn it, it’s my time to lead. And lead I shall.
My will. My way.
Executioner's Plight 