TCK Promo - Infinity #5 - 'Blood Symbol'

Main Event Match Six

Singles Match – Infinity Purity Championship

Neal Powers(c) vs. The Copycat Kid

Dramatis personæ

The Copycat Kid – Imitative, educated professional-wrestler, and decision-maker within Infinity City, has definitive links to being the Chief Operating Officer of Infinity Wrestling. Currently still impersonating Murray Muir.

Neal Powers – Cunning, twisted lead of Infinity City’s ‘The Blood Family’, and current Infinity Purity Champion. Neal is largely unknown, an enigma to Infinity, and wants his family to rule the City.

Panik – Neal Power’s number two in his family, and a loyal servant man-tool used to impose his will on Powers enemies.

Sin & Havok – The latest additions to Neal Power’s Blood Family. Both masked, brutal individuals, with no regard for life except of Powers himself.

Damien Muir– Uncle of Murray Muir, and a high-ranking member of the Infinity City Mob. The Copycat is undefeated against him in matches.

The Jameson Kid – A parody of Mr. Entertainment James Jameson, a favorite persona of the Copycat, with the ability to underplay and marginalize his opponents.

Horatio Williams – Psychiatrist of the Trinity Ward, a medical triage specializing in help for those who need a listening ear, also the brother to Logan Williams.

Oria Valquist – A fifty five year old black man who is in charge of running the legal firm Derrida & Valquist in the heart of the Infinity City. He has a deep disdain of non-technical wrestling.

Mr. Osman – The head of the Battle Zone Network, a former boxer, and a man who has a deep hatred of Murray Muir, and resentment towards TCK following Immortalis.

Blood (noun)

Definition 1

a) The red liquid that circulates in the arteries and veins of humans and other vertebrate animals, carrying oxygen to and carbon dioxide from the issues of the body.

b) Violence involving bloodshed

ACT I – The Bloody Ordeal

Another evening, another triage of patients, another day like the last. Most normal people could say that, but Horatio Williams of late had dealt with a different kind of clientele. Mob bosses, mobsters, Copycat COO’s, enlightened lawyer turned wrestler, and now this. Three weeks ago he was hospitalised by Murray Muir for revealing to the infamous imitator all of his deep and dark secrets. Three weeks ago he thought that that his torment was over. How wrong Horatio was.

Neal Powers circled him slowly with a baseball bat in hand; Horatio was tied to a wooden chair in his office after he was attacked by his three accomplices in the Blood Family.

Panik, Sin, and Havok. Three men who took the form of demonic monsters.

All three loyal to the purity of the Blood Family.

Neal was wearing a clay mask that shrouded his face from view, Horatio had own mask…but one made of cuts and bruises that made him indistinguishable compared to the moment they walked in. Horatio couldn’t answer their question. “Who was The Copycat Kid?”

Neal was determined to unlock the origins of the man in charge of the Infinity City, and he was certain that Horatio Williams knew after it was public knowledge he impersonated Murray Muir to gain access to him most personal information.

“You’re not helping yourself, whelp.” Neal said to Horatio, waving the baseball bat in front of him. He squirmed, afraid of being hit again by him.

“I don’t know the answer, I am telling the truth.” He said quietly, out of breath, the drops of blood running from his nose and mouth. He much preferred Murray who left after the attack.

“At this stage you can at least care to guess as to the identity of a man who is my boss, your boss, everyone’s boss. We know so little about him, where he came from, everything. Care to share?” Neal suggested an alternative; Panik looked into Horatio’s eyes which reinforced the need to at least say something before he was beaten by Neal’s right hand man again.

“He was around long before the Bebo Wrestling Network, the entire network closed. Most of the men faded into obscurity…the others are here in the City or scattered around the world wrestling at independents. It would take years to search for someone who knew anything…and the two people that do know of his origins, are well…unobtainable. One was buried, the other fled following the moment of the firsts death.” Horatio said, but not revealing any new information.

“We know that, you are reminding us of facts we already are aware of. What else!” Neal startled him by hitting his chair with the baseball bat.

“Ok, ok!” He said terrified, focusing his mind to what he knew about The Copycat Kid. “He is…he is…much more different than I learnt. I barely could tell him from Murray, but as I said earlier after that I did some digging into him. He had followed a pattern throughout the years before his own obscurity when Destiny rose to prominence, and he seems to have retained that same important pattern. He does not copy, the name, his gimmick…it is just a rouse. He does not copy, he absorbs, in limitless amounts. There is no depth to the levels he would go, which indicated his lack of human empathy. In my…in my…opinion, his ability to process emotion is unique, and unlike the tendencies that form psychopaths. I believe we will never know who he truly was until he is ready to show the world for himself, not through suppression from your…family. All I know is that he is searching for something, and he is leeching onto the very essence of life to find it, but my guess is that you will never find that motivation. Knowing his method, and finding its weakness, is all you can hope for. What can he take from you Neal?” Horatio answered as truthfully as he could.

Neal seemed satisfied with the answer given; he took off the clay mask on his face and put it on a defenceless Horatio Williams who quivered after seeing the true face of Neal Powers. Covered in black, white, and red face-paint it was another mask away from the real self of Neal. Horatio watched as through the masked he walked up to Panik and put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, ready to issue the next set of orders.

“Panik…go tell him the poisoned blood of this family will be too much to handle, and by no means get physical with him. We’ll leave that showcase for all to see.”

Panik nodded and as Neal took his hand off him he quickly departed the office as all three turned their attention to Horatio Williams in the chair. Neal pointed up, signalling to take him out of the chair. With their grotesque hands Sin and Havok cut the bindings that held him in the chair and lifted him up so he was slumping towards the floor, weakened.

“That only leaves you.” Neal wiped the blood from underneath his mouth, and onto his jacket.

“Remove him from my sight, I will grant him the kindness of a quick end. He has seen enough, let us put this poor soul out of the misery of his life shall we?” He directed Sin and Havok towards the window as he struggled amidst their huge size, but to no avail. Neal watched with a smile as they were manhandling Horatio Williams.

“No!” Horatio screamed as he was lunged out of his office window. “Noooo!”

A splash was heard which surprised Power’s subservient members of the Blood Family.

“How did you know there would be a pool outside?” Sin asked regarding the survival of Horatio Williams.

“I didn’t.” Neal stated boldly as he left the office.

ACT II – Vengeance unto Rebellion

“Dammit!” Mr Osman shouted in the large office of Oria Valquist, the man in charge of legal firm Derrida and Valquist. “Damn the Copycat, damn that goon Murray Muir, and damn to hell Neal Powers.”

“I can see that this is more to do with much more than the Chief Operating Officer of Infinity Wrestling, Oz. Tell me…what is the part that stings the most?” Oria replied.

“They don’t know how to keep a promise. Infinity is beneath us, what that Copycat thinks he is double crossing me at Immortalis?!” He bellowed at Oria again, of whom tried to stay patiently calm with his friend of over thirty years.

Oria Valquist went over to a fine wooden cabinet and took out a glass bottle with a deep brown liquid sloshing around inside. He also grabbed two small tumbler glasses and poured two generous amounts, one for him, one for Mr Osman. He placed it down on the table where he was sitting.

“This should take the edge on your tension.” Oria recommended he drink the scotch.

“I don’t drink.” He said begrudgingly, looking at the drink with little appeal.

Oria nudged it further to Mr. Osman, “Every now and then you need to know when to let up, you need a cool head to see through the next part of the plan. You cannot risk tightening up into a tight ball of tension; you’ll become a time-bomb to only yourself and the BZN.”

“Desperate times, I guess.” Mr Osman took the drink and downed it in one; he squirmed as the warming nectar slowly trickled down his throat.

Oria Valquist joined him, he watched Oz cough as he couldn’t handle the drink. Oria then brought up the documents he had drafted up following the end to Immortalis, and the match between Murray Muir and The Copycat Kid that saw the COO use Muir as the template for Infinite possibilities…a massive middle finger to the Battle Zone Network’s tightening rules around the Infinity Wrestling brand.

“Here they are,” he sat down at the opposite side of the table, he slid over the documents. Mr Osman opened the documents; his lip flickered with the faint sign of a smile on his black face.

“This should be everything you need to condemn the Copycat and have him removed from television.” Oria continued.

As Mr Osman was reading more of the document more of his smile was forming until it was a full faced grin. He seemed satisfied with the documents, and he looked at Oria for confirmation.

“Spell this out in plain English for me, what grounds do I have over the Copycat?” Mr Osman asked, his mood more mellow and contented after his mind put at ease by Oria.

“TCK has breached his contract with the BZN. By impeaching on the PGTV rating you have set for your network the Infinity Wrestling Federation has on several occasions breached multiple clauses of the contract. Neal Powers…Murray Muir…The Copycat…Matt Rydell, even Taylor Westfall. The definition you need to remember is this; ‘failing to perform any term of a contract, written or oral, without a legitimate legal excuse. This may include not completing a job, not paying in full or on time, failure to deliver all the goods, substituting inferior or significantly different goods, not providing a bond when required, being late without excuse, or any act which shows the party will not complete the work…the anticipatory breach. A breach of contract is one of the most common causes of law suits for damages and/or court-ordered “specific performance" of the contract.”

“This is almost too perfect.” Mr Osman was resolute in his decision, it genuinely made him happy.

“And…your plan?” Oria asked plain and simple.

“TCK will not have a job by the end of the working day; there is nothing that can prevent this court order from going through. Nothing.”

Oria and Mr Osman departed on good terms with Oria, after sharing one more drink with him. He returned home and Mr Osman sat in contemplation for the rest of the evening in front of the television, he had filed the court order with the right legal parties and any moment now TCK was going to get the order in his office to depart immediately. All Osman was waiting for was the phone-call to tell him the good news. About quarter to nine in the evening the night before Infinity #5 he got the phone-call, but he was surprised when it was Oria Valquist calling him instead of the courts judge.

“Oria…how are you this evening, only good news I hope.” Mr Osman hoped for.

“Oz, don’t get mad with what I am about to tell you. I went to personally hand TCK the court order, something happened when we was there. He was waiting for us; he had an iron clad contract stating that he is next in line to face Neal Powers for the Purity Championship on tomorrow’s show. We had to throw out the charges against him.”

“What the…how…the…Oria I swear to god you better have some answers for me.” Mr Osman’s foul tempered mood returned, everything he had worked for, ruined.

“He won the Infinity City poll for recommending our senior referee…the Copycat now has free reign to pick the ringmaster of Infinity Wrestling; I wish the news could be better.” Oria said, and then he hung up. Even he didn’t want to incur the wrath of his good friend, or find out what he had to say.

Mr Osman was left contemplating, but now for different reasons. This time his choice to drink was voluntary, the one chance he had to remove the biggest thorn in his side brought to an abrupt end. Osman thought Telis Reye would never get a single vote in any Infinity poll, he thought it was a joke. But now the times had changed, and Telis Reye was the senior official…and the man who put him on the pedestal…The Copycat Kid…was no free to roam, and make one final effort to prove that he was the character of infinite possibilities. The upcoming match with Neal Powers wasn’t the source of his anger and frustration; it was because he hated himself for a decision he made when Infinity started. Osman signed on TCK because he believed the imitation hero was capable to handle anything, and deal with any situation. Osman instantly regretted the decision to allow TCK leadership of Infinity, his confidence in TCK to defeat Neal Powers was the source of his anger. One match would lead to many more, and then to greater horizons, golden horizons. Mr Osman now needed a new plan. 

ACT III – The Jameson Harmony Kid, The Blood Family Kid

The Jameson Kid was in the centre of the Infinity Arena, the heart of the Infinity City, slap bang in the centre of the iconic ring. Alone, and dressed in the imitation of Mr Entertainment James Jameson…the close rival and current Harmony Champion, the implication of The Jameson Kid imitation was used to ground a character using metaphorical references to compare and contrast a character to their background to highlight the man making the case, in this one it was the imitator himself. He had a replica of the Harmony Championship with him, perhaps the second belt that rightfully belonged with Jordan Casanova…perhaps not, perhaps like him it was only an imitation copy…like the real, but much different.

Not a single word was heard by another soul, the imitation hero was in his ring, and in the building he helped craft with his own fractured mind in the dream of infinity possibilities. He was purity in the City, its architect, and everything true for what it stood for.

“Neal Powers…now there’s a name we can talk about for hours, the man behind the Blood Family currently running amok in Infinity. The mob looking for its territorial nesting grounds, the place to store their guns, and their growing numbers. You know, I remember the old Neal Powers as something much different entirely, before Blood Family, the man who never held a single UBW title…the one who refused to leave the premises of UBW over the War At The Rumble crisis, so embattled and in belief that he was one of the many unintentionally harmed…like genuinely innocent people who are actually willing to hurt other innocent to prove their innocence, I know, how confusing, but so true. Neal was just, well, Neal…nothing wrong, but not bad about him either. He faded in and out, had his moments, and lived among what was the best of the best. And now we have this Neal, hungry, and driven…like a super villain with a new dastardly plan to take over the world, I like this Neal. He now tells the Battle Zone Network where to shove their papers, and knows how to put such talented stars such as Matt Rydell and Craig Anderson on the verge of jobbers pit…we haven’t seen that kind of ruthless domination in the path of success since…dare I say it, Aaron Destiny. So power hungry, he, like Aaron, had a group committed to taking over everything, he had many, he aligned himself as their leader to be the greatest of what was known as second generation…triumphant, and still triumphant…like great products and brands that will always be around. Microsoft, Colgate, Cadbury’s chocolate, toilet paper, bottled water, and the giant Coca Cola. Some of these things are nice and simple because they are nice and simple…no complications. We are still here, and we have all changed, and Neal’s change has been like that of our current world champions…formerly never thought good enough to hold the top tier belt…but suddenly, give the man enough hunger, passion, and ability, and he can achieve anything. Neal sits on a bloody throne, one step away from the great golden chalice that exists in purgatory. Neal Powers resembles the essence of Destiny, a man whose gimmick revolved around darkness, brutality…and truth. Neal, like Aaron…was a man faced with the reality of evil, and accepted it into his life’s path to cross through the eternal gate to fate. Neal is one step away from his should-be Bebomania moment, the crown everyone sought. He is the Joker plotting his final move to kill the Batman, the African dictator planning one final barbaric genocide of his people, the antihero Sting in a WCW. Baseball bat and all. Neal’s Power is absolute; he is everything we need him to be.

What I…want him to be.

Powerful…strong…pure.

Neal resembled what was once greatness, the must see asset on television. He may have his Blood Family, on his search for the illusive gate to fate. Question is…for him to answer…is whether or not the imitation hero has already crossed through for himself, into the void, where purity was born, where harmony was born, to a place that transcended him. What if the foundation of the Infinity City was built upon the bricks of something much more than an idea, a hope and dream, what we see to believe is only half the story. What if everything had been built from the same inevitability that everyone once knew as…fate?”

Xoxo

ACT IV – Calm the Fire

00:30 at the Infinity Harbour was cold in November. The air was light, but seen through the exhalation of air. Damien Muir was dressed in a long brown coat, fedora style ash coloured hat, and gloves that covered everything but his fingers. He stood motionless and saw a man in a leather jacket with messy brown hair looking deep into the water, the skinny jeans and tattoos made it a dead giveaway that it was his nephew, Murray Muir. As Damien approached Murray who was leaning over the rail in silent thought he spoke to Damien, and after he listened properly he didn’t know if this was shock or surprise overcoming him at once.

“I feel guilty for Frank, for what I did.” Murray said warm heartedly.

Murray turned around, and to the surprise, and shock, of Murray. The battered and dimpled faced Murray was absent. In his place a man of perfect complexion sporting light stubble and the purple eyes that made Murray so infamous.

“For Christ’s sake you again,” Damien Muir said with ample surprise. “How do you keep getting me to meet you like this?” Damien asked as he looked the synthetic Muir in the fake eye.

“This is no act. And this is my City.” The imitation Murray replied.

“Where is Murray?” Damien then replied, thinking his real nephew could be in some kind of real danger. Wouldn’t have been the first time he’d have got a similar call to a quiet location, tricked into believing Murray was actually going to be there.

“Safe, as usual. I took care of the original copy after the encounter at Immortalis. His form, our form, ascended in the City. He made as a great sacrifice in the display of infinite possibilities. You should be so bloody proud of me right now.” The parody version had Murray’s same tone, and poor etiquette for the English language.

“You?!” Damien bellowed, now frustrated.

“Whose else is here to thank? I saved our jobs, our bloody places in the train-wreck of a City. Some gratitude wouldn’t be hard to give…but do not misinterpret my kindness as fucking weakness, uncle.” The imposter Murray gave chills down Damien’s back.

Murray puts on a set on dusters whilst he had his hands inside his pockets, in case TCK blew like he did with Murray at Immortalis. No member of the Muir family will ever learn to trust a member of the initiative that has been the brainchild of these great places and federations, it started with UIBW and now Infinity. He recognises that the imitator in particular, the one also behind the crazed menace that was Destiny was even less trustworthy than Robert Stevens, bless his soul. Did the death drive the Copycat into denial, into overdrive to ignore the casualty that occurred? He didn’t say any of to his face but Damien was thinking it, but couldn’t risk an attack by TCK. He instead kept on track with the conversation, not to give anything away.

“The real Murray is no ‘original copy’…listen to yourself Copycat…your delusion, you are more haunted than I first ever imagined. Murray, my real nephew was right about you. You’re nothing inside, he called you fucked up and I’d always seen it in you, how long will this masquerade go on before we see what hides behind the façade of limitless costumes and phoney persona’s.” Damien said in anger, but also in pity of the Infinity COO who had no real identity of his own, like the water over the harbour it was cold, meaningless, and empty. Only reflections were cast when you looked into it, he could see why the Copycat came here to meet with him.

Damien cautiously walked towards ‘Murray’; he gripped the dusters in his pocket tightly and saw the twinkle of the purple eye, a fake purple eye. There was tension on Damien’s end of things, but not the imitators, he was calm and composed. Damien knew why TCK was going ahead with this plan for Purity…in anticipation for his battle with Neal Powers…TCK saw Murray as a symbol of purity in the Infinity City, something different that it needed. Perhaps this was a blessing for his nephew, a way to immortalise him.

“What do you see in the water, Murray?” He addressed his question to the part of TCK that was in his imitative mode.

“A reflection of my own, the mirror image of what it will take to become the Purity Champion. That bastard Neal Powers contains not a single ounce of Purity in his body; his ideal is to dominate, by his hand alone. He’s a fucking idiot if he believes he can stop me, or us.” ‘Murray’ replied sincerely, and hopefully.

“What is your plan for Telis Reye?” Damien then asked. Obviously the Copycat had a plan, maybe he’d use Telis as the next stage of a much greater plan.

“He will be there for this City; he’ll have a part to play.” He replied, turning to face the water once more. Looking down at his reflection.

Damien felt something off about this setting; he felt another presence lingering nearby. He swiftly turned around and saw a hulking seven foot framed man staring at him. He was masked; his black scraggy hair was draped over one shoulder. This was Panik, and he was wearing a long black leather coat with tears all over it, but then again he was entirely cast into shadow from the lights behind him. Only an eerie white silhouette highlighted the colossal figure that put Damien on edge.

“He isn’t here to attack us.” The imitation hero tried to put Damien’s mind at rest, the Boss took out the knuckle duster.

TCK knew that the Blood Family were going to

“You can never be too sure!” Damien stood with his arm stretched out, like an animal making itself bigger to intimidate their pursuing predator.

“I can see now that those were not intended for the Blood Family.” The Copycat said of Murray’s choice of weapon.

“Then you know why I can never trust you, Copycat. Your blend of chaos has only brought me and my family ruin.” Damien defended his decision to come armed, still weary that Panik had not said a single word yet.

“Calm down Damo, the Panik before you is under orders. Neal doesn’t want to make an example of me just yet; I brought you here to show you the true underbelly of the City, and the type of war we are fighting. Powers wants an audience for my ritual execution, and this is one of the last places he will find one, his illustration of power depends on recognition…and that is why I idolize your nephew, old friend. Murray is pure; he doesn’t need the judgment of others to be something that we all need.” TCK said, and this time there was no accent, no gimmick, he spoke to Damien as the infinity COO, an uncharacteristic break from his usual demeanour.

Panik remained in place, as he addressed Damien Muir first. “Citizen of the City, move aside so I can address the brainchild of this domain.”

Damien moved begrudgingly to the side so Panik had a direct line of sight for the Infinity Coo who still had his back turned to the Blood Family’s right arm.

Panik continued speaking, his voice malevolent and focused, with ample confidence in his chosen words. “You’ve chosen a battle eclipsing even yourself, until this point our paths have not crossed within Infinity, and master Powers has his concerns over the intent of Telis Reye.  Your symbolism is strange, but one we can understand. We know that your greatest strength is your absence of personality. Copycat, you are of but spirit and ghost, hollow. You’ll cling to the essence of life and feast upon it; you are a parasite living off the success of others. The taste of pure blood on your lips will change you, the flavour will overwhelm you and make you sick…you’ll finally be defeated by your own insatiable lust to consume the world around you. No amount of help can calm the fire of my family, until the hollow void of your existence is filled with a palate of red, wholesome purity.”

Panik turned around and disappeared into the night. He was not seen again by the eyes of the Infinity COO until the main event of Infinity #5. Damien released the grip on his knuckle duster and placed it on his pocket as he walked over to TCK who had allowed Panik to relay his message without retaliation. Muir placed his hands around the cold railings; the fingertips of his hands were freezing cold to the touch.

“If my nephew is threatened because of your decision to emulate him then I will be coming for you, and next time a duster is the last thing I’ll bring.” Damien warned TCK, protecting his family.

“Murray will be fine, like the blood family he relishes the chance to perpetuate violence through bloodshed.” TCK replied.

“You really don’t like the Blood Family, do you?” Damien wanted to understand TCK’s strange behaviour. He would get his answer, and be surprised by it.

“Neal has no interest in peace, he has sights higher than the red shield, and it is his passageway to the golden throne. I fear Adrian Flynn is too far from being the Hero needed to stop this family. Neal Powers will trigger an even greater problem with the BZN, one that I cannot stop. I am all that stands between this City and its bloody demise.”

Damien stood with The Copycat Kid looking into the reflection of the water, so calming and dark it was soothing and made them at peace. Damien had no answer for TCK, just acceptance that Copycat was not the man everyone made him out to be. One day the world would be there to find out what was below the water, just like the pure indiscriminate reflection staring him back in the face the imitation hero was only ever interpreted on the smallest skin deep level. What lies beneath frightened him, if there was anything there to begin with.

Ended.