Battlegrounds XXIII vs Brenton Cyrus (Briefcase Tournament Semi Finals) - RP #1

by **Brandon Macdonald** Mon Nov 11, 2013 1:18 pm

--------------------October 1st, 2011 --------------------

Anna and I pulled into my driveway in her car. I slowly opened my door and pulled my legs out into the pouring rain. Thunder cracked in the sky as Anna ran out of her side with an umbrella, and ran around to me. She held the umbrella over me while I slowly climbed out of the car and leaned on my crutches.

Anna: “Come on, I’ll walk you to the door”

I slowly limped underneath the umbrella that Anna was holding, until we reached the porch. I climbed up the steps with her help, and stood at the door. I turned to look at Anna.

Brandon: “Thank you so much”

Anna: “It was just a one time thing, I should be thanking you”

I smiled. She was being polite, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. I mean, the sex with Anna is always amazing. But I meant even more.

Brandon: “No. I mean for everything. For being my friend, no, even more than that, since we were thirteen years old. Seventeen years Anna, minus that nine in the middle. I’m thanking you for all that. I’m so sorry it didn’t work out like we had planned. But I love you, and I want seventeen more years of your friendship. And seventeen more after that. And again after that”

Anna smiled at me. She walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek.

Anna: “I’d love that”

Anna walked to the edge of the stairs. I could feel a tear roll down my cheek. I reached up and wiped it away as I looked at Anna. She turned back towards me. I could see tears rolling down her face. She didn’t even bother with her umbrella, as the rain began to drench her. Now her tears were masked with the rain. She gave me a weak smile, before turning around and walking towards her car. I stared at her the whole way, even as the car drove off. I didn’t turn around until the car had driven out of my site. I turned around and came face to face with Ashley, who had opened the front door and was staring at me from the doorway.

Ashley: “Hey”

I looked at her. She had a faint smile on her face as she stared at me. She looked so beautiful. It was right then that I remembered why I fell in love with her the moment I saw her.

Brandon: “Hey babe”

I wiped a few tears from my eyes and sniffled a bit. Ashley walked over to me and gave me a big hug. I really held her close, closer than I had with any other hug I’d ever given her. Eventually she leaned back and kissed me.

Ashley: “Hard, wasn’t it?”

Brandon: “Yeah. But I’m okay now. I just had to get it done”

Ashley: “I know it’s hard. But I’m glad you did it. Now we can finally move forward and plan our wedding!”

I had almost forgot that we were less than a month away from getting married. I hugged Ashley tightly again.

Brandon: “I can’t wait. I love you so much”

Ashley: “I love you too Brandon”

I hobbled inside the house on my crutches, and over to the stairs. I looked over at Ashley, who was staring at me with those pretty eyes of hers.

Ashley: “You look tired”

Brandon: “I’m exhausted. I think I’m gonna go nap for a bit”

Ashley: “Hold on then”

Ashley reached into her pocket and pulled out a bottle of pills. She reached over and handed them to me.

Ashley: “The doctor said to take these four times a day. I figure you should start now, especially if you wanna be able to make it to your match in Montreal”

I took the pills and opened up the bottle, before popping one in my mouth and closing the bottle. I placed it in my pocket and smiled at Ashley

Brandon: “Thanks babe. Wake me up in a few hours?”

Ashley: “Of course. I’m just going to watch a movie, maybe call Jenny.”

Brandon: “Alright. Have fun Ash”

I slowly made my way up the stairs, while Ashley walked over to our TV room. I made it to the top of the stairs and walked into Ashley and my bedroom, before dropping my crutches and falling onto the bed. I was exhausted. Anna tired me out. Plus I was already just tired from moving around, especially after having lay in a bed for a few days. I needed to rest, my body needed to rest. I lay my head back on the pillow and fell asleep almost immediately.

…………………………………………………

I opened my eyes. I was sitting in a large empty room. Well, it wasn’t totally empty. There was a large rope in the middle of the room, hanging from the roof. There were some weights on the ground. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t. I was trapped in a body that was definitely not mine.

The body I was in stood up. It walked over to a closet in the back corner of the room. My head turned, and I looked in the mirror. The red Mohawk caught my eye.

I was Nick Ridicule.

This must be his house. Why was I in his body? I didn’t understand what was going on at all. Was this a dream? It felt so real.

I looked down at my hands. One was holding a needle, and injecting something into my arm. Immediately, I felt a rush go through my body. Heroin. I’d recognize that rush any day. I could feel it reaching my brain. Or was it Nick’s brain?

Suddenly, my mind jumped, I zoned out, and then I was back. I was sitting in a chair. I saw myself across from me. I was in Nick’s body, and I was staring at me, sitting in a chair across from, well, me.

I was saying something. But I couldn’t hear what I was saying. I could see my other self’s lips moving, but no sound was coming. Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard any sound the entire time I’d been in this dream or vision, or whatever it was.

My body stood up. I guess I was leaving. I tried to stand up too, but Nick’s body wouldn’t let me. I watched as my body walked out of the room. Slowly, I stood up. I looked down at the ground, where the needle that I had used earlier lay. My body turned around and grabbed the chair I was sitting in, and moved it underneath the rope. I was powerless to stop myself.

I climbed up on the chair, and grabbed the rope. There was nothing I could do now. I was stuck as I felt my hands grab the rope and pull it around my neck. My hands tied it behind my head, and pulled on it, making sure it was tight. I tried to stop. But it was no use. I had no powers here. I was merely able to watch, forced into this nightmare.

I took a deep breath. I looked at the doorway. I saw Brandon turn the corner and say something to me, but I couldn’t hear it. I smiled at him and waved, before stepping off of the chair. The last thing I saw was Brandon run towards me, as my fall was jolted to a stop, and I woke up.

…………………………………………………

I lay in my bed, sweating profusely. I quickly got up and ran to the mirror, to look at myself. I was myself again. Brandon Macdonald. I sat down on my bed and held my head in my hands. All the memories of before Fallout were rushing back to me. Going to see Nick. Talking to Nick about everything. Leaving and then running back inside, only to see the end. I couldn’t believe it. I stood up and punched the wall as hard as I could, putting a small hole in it. I sat back down in my bed. I just sat there, not moving for what seemed like hours. Eventually, I heard the door to the room open, and Ashley walked inside and sat down beside me on the bed.

Ashley: “You okay?”

Brandon: “Nick”

Ashley: “What about him?”

Brandon: “I remembered”

I buried my head in my hands again. I could feel a small tear roll down my cheek. I felt Ashley’s arm squeeze me around my shoulders.

Ashley: “It’s okay Brandon. He’s gone, there’s nothing we can do to bring him back”

Brandon: “It was my fault, I should have known something was wrong when I went to see him. I should have known that he was messed up.”

Ashley: “Brandon, don’t be like this. It was not your fault. You had no way of knowing. Nick needed help, but he had no one to help him”

I stood up suddenly. I had just remembered the last memories I had of the hospital.

Brandon: “How do we know for sure that he’s dead? Maybe he just went into a coma!”

Ashley grabbed my arm and tried to pull me down

Ashley: “Brandon…”

Brandon: “Maybe he’s okay!”

Ashley continued to try to get me to sit back down. I was trying to make it to the door. If there was any chance that Nick was still alive, I had to find out.

Ashley: “Brandon…”

I turned and looked down at her. What did she want?

Brandon: “What?”

Ashley: “Nick’s gone”

She had a really sad look in her eyes when she said it. I didn’t want to believe her, I couldn’t. Nick had to be alive, he just had to.

Brandon: “No, there’s still a chance!”

Ashley: “Brandon. The doctors called me. He’s gone. Forever”

I sat back down on the bed beside Anna. I knew she was right, but I wished that I didn’t. I wish I could go back to forgetting about it.

Brandon: “Fuck…”

Ashley leaned in and hugged me tightly. I needed that. But when she did that, I suddenly realized something.

Brandon: “Wait…why did they call you about him?”

I looked at Ashley, who let go of me and stared off into space a bit. I tapped her on the shoulder, which seemed to snap her back into reality. She looked at me.

Ashley: “Who else did he have?”

That really got me. She was dead right. Nick was completely alone. Before he died, and after. He had no real family. He and his step-dad didn’t get along in the least bit. I don’t even think SBK would care to hear that Nick died. If anything, he’d probably be glad. Then there was Ashley. She was really all that he had in life. And then I took her away from him. No wonder he wanted to kill himself. What more did he have to live for? What was Nick’s real reason to be alive? I couldn’t think of anything. He had no family, no friends, no real job, nothing in his life. I couldn’t imagine living like that.

Brandon: “Wow. You’re right”

Ashley: “They just called me and asked if I wanted to see him or anything. I guess they found my name and number written on a piece of paper in his pocket or something”

Brandon: “You didn’t go see him did you?”

Ashley shook her head.

Ashley: “I didn’t. I couldn’t”

It was my turn to hug Ashley. I felt terrible. I had been so focused on my feelings about losing a friend in Nick, that I had completely ignored what Ashley would be going through. This was her ex-husband for god’s sake.

Brandon: “I’m so sorry Ashley. I can’t believe this had to happen”

Ashley: “So close to our wedding too”

I had almost completely forgotten that we were supposed to be married in just a couple of weeks.

Brandon: “Yeah. I just can’t believe this”

Ashley grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

Ashley: “I think it’ll be best if we try to forget about it. Nick was a lot of things. But he always had good intentions at heart. It’s sad that he had to go so early, the way he did. But he wouldn’t want us to dwell on it”

She was right. I hugged Ashley tight, and wiped some tears from my face.

Brandon: “Yeah. You’re right. I just wish all of this never happened”

Ashley: “Don’t we all”

I grabbed Ashley’s hand and she rested her head on my shoulder. I lay my head down on her head and we fell backwards in the bed together. Pretty soon, we were both fast asleep.

--------------------October 21st, 2011--------------------

I sat on the couch, flipping through the television channels on TV. There was nothing on at one in the afternoon. Ashley walked into the room. I had my leg propped up on a chair. Even though in public, I had said that my knee was fine, it really wasn’t. It still hurt like a bitch, and I had to take pain meds often to try and deal with it.

Ashley: “I’m going out now, okay?”

I looked over at Ashley. Something was off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I must have been imagining it.

Brandon: “Yeah, that’s fine. How long will you be?”

Ashley: “A few hours I think”

Brandon: “Alright. I’ll just take a nap while you’re gone”

Ashley: “Alright. Here're your meds”

Ashley handed me a few pills, and a glass of water. I grabbed the pills and downed them with my water, before leaning back in the couch. Ashley gave me a kiss on the cheek, before leaving.

It had been a busy week. We were at home in Miami, and were supposed to fly out to Detroit tomorrow for Battle Grounds. James and Keagan had come to visit, and then were flying out to Dallas tomorrow as well, for James’ game against the Cowboys. How he managed to get a day off like that I’ll never know. But we had such a good time. Well, I did. And so did James and Keagan. I think Ashley is still getting used to them. She definitely had more fun than last time, but she wasn’t quite there. I figured with a few more times to hangout, she would fit right in.

I leaned over and pulled a baggie and a needle out of my pocket. I had started using heroin again. But not as much as last time. Not even close. I was in control, and I was going to always be in control. I wasn’t going to let it take over me again. I didn’t tell Ashley, obviously. I just did it when she wasn’t here. And she hadn’t found out. I really only did it to help with the pain in my body. That match with Chuck really did a number on me.

I slowly injected myself with the heroin, and then slumped back in the couch. I lay there for a while, letting the heroin sink in. I could slowly feel my pain going away. I knew that I would be fine for a couple of hours at least. I was feeling sort of weird though. I felt a bit sick to my stomach, and this was not normally how I felt when I took my meds and shot up. This was different. I got up from the couch, and suddenly I was in the kitchen.

I looked around. It was six o’clock. Five hours had passed since I was on the couch. What had happened? Had I fallen asleep? Usually I can tell when I fall asleep. But this time it was almost like I blacked out. I wasn’t high anymore, I could tell that much. And the pain medications were slowly beginning to wear off. I was awake, and alert as always. But why couldn’t I remember that last five hours? What had I done? I must have just fallen asleep. I walked back into the living room. The TV was still on, my chair was still close to the couch where I propped my leg up. Nothing looked any different from what I remembered last. I really must have just fallen asleep. The combination of pain meds and heroin must have had a weird effect on my body and brain, causing me to black out like that. Oh well.

I decided to go over to see James and Keagan at their hotel. I figured that I’d hang out with them until Ashley called me or got back. I grabbed the keys to my brand new car and walked outside. Since the UFC paid me a shitload of money to beat Chael a few weeks ago, I bought a brand new car. A beautiful black and red Bugatti Veyron Super Sports. Cost me half of what I made from the UFC fight, but that didn’t matter. I needed a new car, and this was the best one out there. I hopped inside and began to drive off towards Keagan and James’ hotel.

Most of the ride I thought about my wedding. It was only four days away, and I was so excited. I couldn’t believe that I was finally going to marry Ashley. It seemed like just yesterday that we finally were able to be together. And now we were finally getting married, just like we always wanted. It was so exciting. I couldn’t believe it was finally here. All that planning, all that inviting, everything. James and Keagan were going to be the best man and a bridesmaid. Ashley’s friend Jenny, who was really her only friend, was going to be the maid of honour. It was really going to be fun.

I turned the corner onto the street where James and Keagan’s hotel was. I was shocked to see it blocked off. There were police cars and fire trucks and ambulances all over the place. I slowly pulled my car to a stop and hopped out. It looked like something straight off of CSI or something. I walked towards the crowd of people, who were standing behind police tape.

Brandon: “What’s going on?”

Man: “I think someone was murdered”

---------------------------------------------------------------

It seems almost surreal doesn’t it?

That almost exactly one year ago to this day, I ended the NLWF career of Brenton Cyrus.

What’s even weirder is that I didn’t beat him in a match. I didn’t win a match with any sort of retirement stipulation, or severely injure him to the point where he could no longer continue.

No, in fact, I won a match in which Brenton Cyrus was my teammate. I won a match in which we were the heavy favourites. A match pitting Chuck Matthews, Brenton Cyrus, Brandon Macdonald, Ruben Ricardo Leon, and Matt Biggars, against one man only, Nick Ridicule.

A squash match, as it would appear on paper. How in the world would Nick Ridicule, as great a wrestler as he may have been, overcome five men in the same match? And not just five men. But five incredibly talented men. Matt Biggars, always a dangerous opponent. Ruben Ricardo Leon, one of, if not the most dangerous luchadore in the history of lucha libre wrestling. Chuck Matthews, the leader of Bad Company, and perhaps the greatest team wrestler of all time. There was me, the Golden Crown and NLWF Champion, and the fastest rising star the NLWF had ever seen.

And then there was Brenton Cyrus. A man who has won more championships than I can count. The 2009 NLWF Superstar of the Year. The man who once won fifteen straight matches. Arguably the greatest superstar in NLWF history.

How could any man defeat all five of those men in one match? He would be challenged just fighting one of them one on one.

But that was what the situation was at City of Evil in 2010. But Nick tried to even the odds. He kidnapped my wife, Anna, during our wedding. He put her in the Live or Die chamber, with the stipulation that if I did not help him beat Bad Company, she would be buried in cement.

But see, here’s where the fun begins. I knew my wife was never in any danger. I knew that even if I fought Nick, that my wife would not be buried in cement. Fuck, I even knew that I was going to pin Nick and win this match.

Because of, as Brenton and Chuck are probably quite familiar with, two words

Master plan.

It was almost too easy. I watched what Bad Company was doing to Nick Ridicule and Corey Casey, and later on Jason Hawk. I despised it. I could not stand to watch them do these things, to their own co-workers. So I sought out Nick. Came up with a plan. Infiltrated Bad Company, rose up the ranks to the top of the NLWF, then bring it all crashing down. And I did just that.

Nick and I caused the NLWF to crumble and fold. We took the shiny red carpet that it was standing on, and pulled it right out from under it’s feet. Sad and broken, it turned it’s tail and walked away. Which in turn, caused the greats, Chuck Matthews and Brenton Cyrus, to do the same.

So as you can see, it wasn’t my intention to retire Brenton Cyrus. It’s not even like it was a goal of mine. It was just something that happened. You could even use the phrase, “Every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction”. Nick and I cause the NLWF to crumble and fall, build a better place in FTW, albeit it’s later failure, and the NLWF crumbles, causing Brenton to retire.

And here’s the thing. You’d think that I’d be proud of that. That it would be an accomplishment to boast about, something cool to add to my list. Imagine being able to walk around, saying that you retired Brenton Cyrus. That your screwjob caused him to retire, rather than come work for a company that you ran. It would be pretty cool for most people right?

Not for me. I never talk about it. I’m not afraid to say that I made a mistake, and that I am not proud of causing Brenton or Chuck to retire.

First things first, there was the obvious failure of Fight the World, and the failures that Nick Ridicule had in running a company. Now I know that technically towards the end, I was the majority owner of FTW. And I’m not saying that I was the perfect owner. But by the time I owned a majority of it, FTW was sinking fast. Maybe if I had more time I could have righted the ship. But what Nick did to it in just a few weeks was killing it. We were losing money left right and center. Nick as a great wrestler, and a better friend, but he was a terrible businessman.

Secondly, I looked up to Brenton Cyrus. He was the greatest in the business. A legend fighting among superstars. I had the privilege of learning alongside him while I was with Bad Company. Even if I was only there as a ruse, that didn’t mena I didn’t learn a few things. I respected Brenton Cyrus a hell of a lot. While I didn’t agree with what he was doing with Bad Company, I still respected the hell out of him. I wanted to see him succeed again. He was in a slump at the end of his NLWF career. I wanted him to make a comeback, to rise back up again and recapture his throne. I didn’t want him to sit at home and watch from his couch.

But look where we are now, a year later, and we finally get to go one on one. Brandon Macdonald and Brenton Cyrus. We’re two of the world’s greatest wrestlers. Hell, maybe even the world’s two greatest wrestlers. Doing battle on free TV? Come on, what more of a reason do you have to come and watch us?

But seriously, this is going to be a war. I want the old Brenton Cyrus. I want the Brenton Cyrus of 2009. I want the Brenton Cyrus of early 2010. The one who showed up ready to kill in every single match. The one didn’t accept losing, no matter the costs. I want to go one on one with that Brenton Cyrus. And judging by what I’ve seen from him so far upon his return to the IWF, that Brenton Cyrus has returned in full force.

I look forward to our war Brenton. I’ve been waiting for this match for a year now. Finally it gets to happen. And while I mean it when I say I respect you, I also mean it when I say that I’m going to beat you.

You are another obstacle in my way of regaining the IWF Championship. Of course, you are a much bigger obstacle than Kurumi or Sir Mixer, but you are still an obstacle. And when an obstacle gets in my way, I just run it over. I’m not stopping until I get that briefcase. I’m not stopping until my left hand is being raised to the sky, and my right hand is holding the IWF Championship. And if that means that I must beat Brenton Cyrus this week, so be it.

People know better than to doubt me now. I’ve been the underdog in so many big matches in my career. Chuck Liddell. Anderson Silva. Chuck Matthews. Nick Ridicule. Corey Casey. But I’ve beaten them all. I have what it takes to beat Brenton Cyrus. And make no mistake about it; I’m going to beat Brenton Cyrus.

I know you’re listening Brenton. I know you can hear what I’m saying. So heed my warning. Don’t underestimate me. Don’t expect anything less than the hardest fight of your entire career.

Because that’s exactly what you’re going to get.

And then I’m going to keep on coming at you.

And coming at you.

And coming at you.

And coming at you.

Until the referee’s hand hits the mat.

One

Two

Three.

Ding Ding Ding.