Post by rocketmanedh on Nov 19, 2019 21:12:59 GMT -6
The camera pans over the Las Vegas strip, stopping in front of the Planet Hollywood hotel. It ducks down and a second later is inside the hotel. It focuses in on Ed Houston and Bob Black standing right outside the sportsbook.
Houston: “What are we doing back here in Bob? Why did you drag me here? I already had enough of Vegas to last a lifetime two weeks ago. And I have the Vegas mob on me.”
Bob: “We have fuck you money now. The mob will not touch you once I cash this ticket.”
Houston: “What are you talking about?”
Bob: “I won big at High Rollers.”
Houston: “You did?”
Bob: “Yeah. I did. I bet well. I bet on you and got those great odds. I bet on Duce Jones. Won a good amount of money there.”
Houston: “Why didn’t you cash it right after the pay-per-view?”
Bob: “I wanted to do it on camera.”
Houston: “Well there we go.” Ed points to the camera. “I hope you all get this. It should be something.”
Bob fishes into his pocket. He looks around wildly. His face turns dark. He turns his back to the camera for a second. His shoulders reveal a frantic search.
Houston: “Well where is it?”
Bob: “I swear I had it like minutes ago. It was right in my pocket.”
Houston: “Are you telling me we flew all this way and you don’t even have the ticket.”
Bob: “No. It’s here. It has to be.” He retraces his steps, desperately looking for the ticket. He takes off the jacket he is wearing and tries to make the ticket appear there. It does not.
Houston: “Well I’m glad we did this Bob. This has been great.”
Bob: “It has to be here! That was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Houston: “Wait seriously?”
Bob: “Seriously.”
Ed looks for the ticket. He gets down on all fours, searching the floor. Suddenly he gets called up.
Man: “Ed Houston?”
Houston stands up. “Yes?”
Man: “Is that what you’re looking for?” The man holds up a ticket. Ed stands up and gets a good glance at the heavy set dark haired man for the first time.
Houston: “Yeah! That’s it. Thanks.”
Man: “Unfortunately, I can’t give this ticket to you.”
Houston: “What? Why not?”
Man: “You stole from the LaVilla family.”
Houston turns to Bob. “Oh great. See. I told you we shouldn’t have come back.”
Man: “This covers some of it but we have a long way to go before we consider ourselves even.”
Houston: “Man, I took out those two goons that you tried to sick on me pretty easily. Do we really have to do this again? Just give me the ticket and we can go our separate ways.”
Man: “Oh you aren’t getting this ticket back. It’s a drop in the bucket. Plus, the don always charges interest.”
Houston: “Tell him not to feel bad that I didn’t have any interest in throwing my match at High Rollers. He should have taken me plus the points. Now give me the ticket.”
Ed drops into an attack posture. He looks ready to strike at a moments notice. This causes some Planet Hollywood patrons to look around nervously.
The man shakes his head. “Aren’t you supposed to be from NASA? The don said that you were some brainiac or something but whatever you will do isn’t something some brainiac would do.” The man pushes his coat to the side, revealing the nuzzle of a gun. “I wouldn’t walk anywhere without protection.”
Houston smiles. “Your protection doesn’t scare me. I faced much longer odds and here I am. I got out of that rat house, I won my match and I’m still flaunting around Las Vegas.”
The man sneers. “You won’t be for long. And you won’t be flaunting down in Texas either.”
The tension reaches an all-time high when Bob Black takes it upon himself to break it.
Bob: “Let him have the ticket, Ed.”
Houston: “What, why?”
The man smiles: “Listen to your agent, Ed.”
Bob: “It isn’t worth it. Come on. You were right. This was a bad idea. Let’s go home.”
Ed looks like he can’t comprehend what Bob just said.
Bob: “I’m serious.”
Ed sulks a bit but finally agrees. “Fine.”
The man smiles: “We’ll be seeing you very soon, Ed.”
Houston: “Can’t wait.”
Ed and Bob slowly walk out of the casino. When the door closes Ed turns to Bob.
Houston: “What the heck was that?”
Bob: “It’s just money. It’s not worth getting shot up. It’s not worth getting hurt and not getting a championship shot when you are so close. Let’s just back to Texas. We will figure it out.”
Houston: “It is not about the money. It is about standing up to a bully. I will get your money back though too, Bob. I promise that this isn’t over.”
Bob: “I hope you can do it safely.”
Houston smiles: “I probably can’t, but that’s what makes it fun.”
Bob shakes his head at Ed who now has a pep in his step. He runs down the Vegas strip. Bob follows behind him as the scene fades to black.
Despite the craziness, I find myself in, my time in Las Vegas could not have gone better. I entered High Rollers looking to prove a point, and I walked not only successful but by putting an exclamation mark on that point. I know have a legitimate claim to my first one-on-one world championship match ever. Things are coming together. While there still are some hoops that I’ll have to jump through to reach that, I’m excited to make my case for a shot at The Big Bifford, or whoever ends up the champion.
To do that, I will have to roll through Lightning. Lightning is like Peter the Janitor minus the crazy lucky winning streak and about half the intellect. This guy knows he doesn’t have a chance in the ring which is fitting, the guy doesn’t seem to know much at all. When your goal in a match is to last longer than your partner, you have to be exciting standing across the ring from him. This team is like Team Rocket if they were half as competent and four times as redneck.
So I will beat him faster than a flash of lightning. By the time my countdown starts, the match will be over. It will be quick, easy and painless for everyone except Lightning. At least he’s used to it. It will be dominant enough that someone backstage will realize that I at least deserve a championship shot if not the outright championship. The Age of Ed Houston is coming soon. It took a while for NASA to convince itself that it could go to the moon. I can wait for GCWA to decide that I can be a world champion.
Houston: “What are we doing back here in Bob? Why did you drag me here? I already had enough of Vegas to last a lifetime two weeks ago. And I have the Vegas mob on me.”
Bob: “We have fuck you money now. The mob will not touch you once I cash this ticket.”
Houston: “What are you talking about?”
Bob: “I won big at High Rollers.”
Houston: “You did?”
Bob: “Yeah. I did. I bet well. I bet on you and got those great odds. I bet on Duce Jones. Won a good amount of money there.”
Houston: “Why didn’t you cash it right after the pay-per-view?”
Bob: “I wanted to do it on camera.”
Houston: “Well there we go.” Ed points to the camera. “I hope you all get this. It should be something.”
Bob fishes into his pocket. He looks around wildly. His face turns dark. He turns his back to the camera for a second. His shoulders reveal a frantic search.
Houston: “Well where is it?”
Bob: “I swear I had it like minutes ago. It was right in my pocket.”
Houston: “Are you telling me we flew all this way and you don’t even have the ticket.”
Bob: “No. It’s here. It has to be.” He retraces his steps, desperately looking for the ticket. He takes off the jacket he is wearing and tries to make the ticket appear there. It does not.
Houston: “Well I’m glad we did this Bob. This has been great.”
Bob: “It has to be here! That was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Houston: “Wait seriously?”
Bob: “Seriously.”
Ed looks for the ticket. He gets down on all fours, searching the floor. Suddenly he gets called up.
Man: “Ed Houston?”
Houston stands up. “Yes?”
Man: “Is that what you’re looking for?” The man holds up a ticket. Ed stands up and gets a good glance at the heavy set dark haired man for the first time.
Houston: “Yeah! That’s it. Thanks.”
Man: “Unfortunately, I can’t give this ticket to you.”
Houston: “What? Why not?”
Man: “You stole from the LaVilla family.”
Houston turns to Bob. “Oh great. See. I told you we shouldn’t have come back.”
Man: “This covers some of it but we have a long way to go before we consider ourselves even.”
Houston: “Man, I took out those two goons that you tried to sick on me pretty easily. Do we really have to do this again? Just give me the ticket and we can go our separate ways.”
Man: “Oh you aren’t getting this ticket back. It’s a drop in the bucket. Plus, the don always charges interest.”
Houston: “Tell him not to feel bad that I didn’t have any interest in throwing my match at High Rollers. He should have taken me plus the points. Now give me the ticket.”
Ed drops into an attack posture. He looks ready to strike at a moments notice. This causes some Planet Hollywood patrons to look around nervously.
The man shakes his head. “Aren’t you supposed to be from NASA? The don said that you were some brainiac or something but whatever you will do isn’t something some brainiac would do.” The man pushes his coat to the side, revealing the nuzzle of a gun. “I wouldn’t walk anywhere without protection.”
Houston smiles. “Your protection doesn’t scare me. I faced much longer odds and here I am. I got out of that rat house, I won my match and I’m still flaunting around Las Vegas.”
The man sneers. “You won’t be for long. And you won’t be flaunting down in Texas either.”
The tension reaches an all-time high when Bob Black takes it upon himself to break it.
Bob: “Let him have the ticket, Ed.”
Houston: “What, why?”
The man smiles: “Listen to your agent, Ed.”
Bob: “It isn’t worth it. Come on. You were right. This was a bad idea. Let’s go home.”
Ed looks like he can’t comprehend what Bob just said.
Bob: “I’m serious.”
Ed sulks a bit but finally agrees. “Fine.”
The man smiles: “We’ll be seeing you very soon, Ed.”
Houston: “Can’t wait.”
Ed and Bob slowly walk out of the casino. When the door closes Ed turns to Bob.
Houston: “What the heck was that?”
Bob: “It’s just money. It’s not worth getting shot up. It’s not worth getting hurt and not getting a championship shot when you are so close. Let’s just back to Texas. We will figure it out.”
Houston: “It is not about the money. It is about standing up to a bully. I will get your money back though too, Bob. I promise that this isn’t over.”
Bob: “I hope you can do it safely.”
Houston smiles: “I probably can’t, but that’s what makes it fun.”
Bob shakes his head at Ed who now has a pep in his step. He runs down the Vegas strip. Bob follows behind him as the scene fades to black.
Despite the craziness, I find myself in, my time in Las Vegas could not have gone better. I entered High Rollers looking to prove a point, and I walked not only successful but by putting an exclamation mark on that point. I know have a legitimate claim to my first one-on-one world championship match ever. Things are coming together. While there still are some hoops that I’ll have to jump through to reach that, I’m excited to make my case for a shot at The Big Bifford, or whoever ends up the champion.
To do that, I will have to roll through Lightning. Lightning is like Peter the Janitor minus the crazy lucky winning streak and about half the intellect. This guy knows he doesn’t have a chance in the ring which is fitting, the guy doesn’t seem to know much at all. When your goal in a match is to last longer than your partner, you have to be exciting standing across the ring from him. This team is like Team Rocket if they were half as competent and four times as redneck.
So I will beat him faster than a flash of lightning. By the time my countdown starts, the match will be over. It will be quick, easy and painless for everyone except Lightning. At least he’s used to it. It will be dominant enough that someone backstage will realize that I at least deserve a championship shot if not the outright championship. The Age of Ed Houston is coming soon. It took a while for NASA to convince itself that it could go to the moon. I can wait for GCWA to decide that I can be a world champion.