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| The
air smells of dried sweat, stale bread and ale, a muscular man with a long
black cloak and his hood over his head sits on a table eating a stew with a
tankard of ale next to him. He doesn’t look up, keeping himself to himself.
He eventually raises his head when the old creaky wooden door opens, a small
fat balding man with a stiff upper lip and a full goatee which only shows the
extend of his fatness in way of layer upon layer of fat, of double chins. The
fat man looks around and then sees Breeze by the table, he presumes its
Breeze, he hopes its Breeze. Behind him is a small Chinese man with a long
white beard, he is wearing a long orange cloak with orange dragons running
down the sides, he is wearing a black square hat. The chubby man wobbles over
to Breeze and sits down at the table across from him, next to him the Chinese
man sits, in his small, wrinkled and decrepit hands he holds a roll of paper,
the paper looks brown and crinkled and it is wrapped with a cream strip of
silk, there is a mound of wax holding the ribbon down, and on it, it looks
like a seal of some kind Fat
Man:
Thanks for meeting me in here, I know you don’t like it Breeze:
Like it? Oh no I love sitting here and smelling that rosy fragrance of,
what’s it called, oh yeah, shit. Why do insist on meeting me here anyway,
this place is like a sewer, I suppose it suits you well, living like a rat Fat
Man:
Hey I have feelings too you know Breeze:
You’re joking me, not under all that fat! Fat
Man:
I come here because this is the only damn place my wife doesn’t follow me Breeze:
Yeah, I wouldn’t like her coming after me, I’ve heard when she’s hungry
the neighbours lock their doors, she’ll revert to cannibalism if she has to,
why is she after you, you not feeding her properly or something? Fat
Man:
She tried to eat the cat the other day, she wants a new car, she can’t fit
into the one she has now Breeze:
I’ve heard you both weigh over a ton when put together, is that true? Fat
Man:
How should I know? Breeze:
I suppose I expected too much when I mentioned something that involved
counting, how does your bed stand up, hell, how does the floor contain your
weights, I can’t imagine who goes on top Breeze
cringes visibly and shakes his head Breeze:
So who’s this Roy, Master Chow Main Noodles? Roy:
This guy is Sensei Chow Yun Thin Breeze:
I asked you to bring me news of the biggest match around at the moment where I
could make an impact on the wrestling world, I only returned two months ago, I
need a challenge. All I see in front of me is a pig, I think, and a crippled
old Chinese man with an orange dress on Roy:
I’ve brought you a proclamation Breeze:
I didn’t even knew you know what a proclamation was Roy
looks slightly offended Roy:
An official declaration Breeze’s
face is a mirror of a little confused and slightly scared The
Sensei stands up and moves his arms in a weird fashion, he then starts to
shout attracting the attention of the whole bar, Breeze covers his head with
the hood again. The Sensei bows deeply and places the scroll in front of
Breeze, Breeze picks it up and looks at the red waxed seal, he then looks at
the ring on Roy’s hand and sees it also had red wax on it, Breeze opens it
and looks at the white ribbon, it has a ketchup stain on it. He unwraps the
scroll and reads it, the paper is delicate and has a light brown staining
colour to it, he reads it and looks up at Roy Breeze:
Who wrote this? Roy:
Me Roy
says it proudly and a bit smugly Breeze
looks at him:
You don’t know how to spell Match? Roy:
Of course I do Breeze:
How? Roy:
M a c h Breeze
groans Roy:
What? Breeze:
Nothing Breeze
sniffs up Breeze:
This smells of tea Roy:
Well, I wanted authenticity Breeze:
What? This isn’t a Jean Claude Van Damme Movie and I didn’t want a
treasure map, just a normal sheet of paper would have done Breeze
continues to look at paper, he hands it back to the Chinese Man The
Chinese Man begins to read it out Breeze:
No, no it’s okay I’ve read it The
Chinese Man continues to read it Chinese
Man: There
in a land not far away, in a place called the ICWF, there is a tournament
held, and in that tournament there is a battle, a fight between 20 superstars,
20 superstars who must go against each other in the art of wrestling. To
defeat an opponent you must throw him over the top ropes. You shall travel to
the ICWF to take up the sword of destiny and within the scabbard lies justice,
the justice that you shall win. You shall take up your sword and strike down
any disbeliever in the simple fact that James Breeze cannot and will not be
beaten. Also I believe that the slightly over muscular man you paid to scout
for tough matches, my friend and my idol Roy Redding should be paid a small
bonus extra for his assistance and grand idea for this to be presented to you
in the most elaborate and thoughtful way The
Chinese Man’s speech is tired and not very clear, he often paused during the
speech Breeze
grins: You’re maybe more clever than I thought Breeze
throws a few notes on the table in front of him, keep it. Roy eyes it greedily
and then picks it up. Roy:
Thank you Mr. Breeze The
Chinese Man coughs Roy:
What? Chinese
Man: I want
my bloody money, one hundred bucks The Chinese Man’s accent mysteriously changing from old Chinese to a rough thick Brooklyn accent. Roy handed him the money and then he left. Breeze laughs at Roy as he leaves, Breeze sits down on the table and looks at the competition. A match made for him he thought, 19 opponents, some looked tough, some didn’t so much. He took a long drink of his ale and then left the place, glad to be able to smell the fresh air again he walked towards the car park across the road. The wind started to blow harder and the chill was seeping into his bones. The rain poured down on him harder, he quickened his pace and entered his Ferrari. He was glad to be out of the cold again, and into warmth and comfort, he started the car and drove off, all the while on his mind the excitement of such a challenge, the glory of winning it. This was an opportunity, but after all he thought to himself small opportunities can often turn into great enterprises. The car sped away, it’s lights shining out brightly in the dark night, he drove to his destination… FADE OUT |