Note: You can find ALL (?) the stories by all authors in order in their original versions HERE - thanks for the link, Mangler!
Texas College Championship Wrestling 54
The Final Four
The heavyweights were done round one. Many of the big men in TCCW were lined up in the locker room. Cody was seeing to Dane's preparation, with a sore Bastian and an angry Doug overseeing Anton.
Jake finally entered with Roby and Gerritt, clearly happy with the outcome. He looked at Dane, his abs still red and at Anton, with Bastian massaging his back. Jake felt guilty. He wanted to win a fair fight, not be the intensive care champion.
Ryan, Trace, Kale and Lucien came out. Ryan was heading to the ring to fight Terry. He smiled at the assembled heavyweights. He said, "Interesting how this worked out. No Posse and no Heels are in. Just you good guys who always play by the rules. Guess that'll make it a real fair match, right?"
No one said a word. There were too many raw nerves amongst the competitors to discuss this rationally. And no one hovering wanted to upset his friend before his big match.
Just then, Pat stumbled in and sat beside Dane. His back was killing him. Terry and Jackson entered carrying Clay in. Clay was obviously sore. Mike's boot prints were all over him. Cody said, in shock, "What happened to you?"
Clay looked at Cody and said, "Your buddy Mike happened." Clay explained the encounter, how Mike had taken him down. Pat explained what Lon had done to him. Everyone was shocked, except the Heels, who were smiling broadly.
Cody didn't know what to say. He apologized but Clay cut him off. "It's okay Cody. No way you could have known he would snap. I'm just pissed and sore."
Clay looked at Pat and said, "Thanks for trying to help me. If you need help dealing with Lon, I'm there."
Pat nodded and said, "Ditto to you with our "friend" Mike. He's going to get his."
Doug said, "Leave Mike alone." Clay and Pat were shocked that Doug was standing up for Mike, but Doug smiled and finished, "He is all mine. You can have the bloody pulp that's left."
Clay and Pat knew Doug was serious, but they wanted revenge, too. It would be a race to see who got him first.
Kale said, "You guys are assuming that you'll do any better in round two with Mike. Looks like he and Lon put you guys down easily. He might just do it again."
Without waiting for a response, Ryan and the Heavyweight Heels pushed out of the locker room. Ryan said, "I'll see you in a few minutes," to Terry. As Ryan passed Jake he said, "Here's some advice. Stay healthy. You might just get a default win. Ha ha ha!"
Jake gulped again. He said, "Guys, I'm sorry. Want to see if we can push the finals to next week and the title match the week after that?"
Kevin, Rusty and Lance were positioned on the side. Kevin said, "That will not happen, guys. The schedule is set. You guys can move the finals, but not the title match."
A heavy silence hung in the air. Everyone knew that that would be even better for Rusty. At least this way the winner had a week to prepare and get healthy.
Kevin took the silence as confirmation the match would go on as planned. He shrugged and said, "Hope you guys go long and hard tonight. Of course, Jake, you should walk through the match, being the healthy one and all. I guess you'll be facing Rusty guaranteed."
Jake knew what Kevin was doing, but what could he say to the others - "Please don't gang up on me even though that's the smart strategy right now?" - or something like that?
Jake thought, "Better to just accept it and try my best. I've gone from unsung to the favorite. Can't believe it."
Anton, Clay and Dane all focused on Jake. If they didn't deal with him, maybe he would just get the win by default. Dane's eyes met Anton's, then Clay's, then Jake's. It was a dirty game, but those were the rules.
Once Terry and Ryan were done, it would be their turn. Jake steeled his resolve. He would do everything he could to win. Not just for himself, but for Roby, whom had his chances stolen by Cody's pettiness in their match and for Gerritt, who had his earned shot stripped by Clay's "innocent" suggestion.
Dane was equally determined to prove that he and Cody and Pat deserved the attention they received. He needed no favors and he would prove it.
Anton had his own agenda. He was undefeated in TCCW. He deserved to be number one. Just because he had not been given as many opportunities as other guys did not mean he was not a top contender.
And finally Clay, who had the hopes of all of TPW on his back. He would not let a punk like Mike steal his shot. No way, no how.
The factions were set. There were no friends in this match any more. It was every man for himself.
*****
Texas College Championship Wrestling 55
Trouble with a Capital "K"
Chapter One
Terry sat in the locker room with his friends Jackson and Clay. He was sore and exhausted, but happy to have beaten his rival, Ryan, in the hard fought match.
Jackson suddenly looked at Clay. He said abruptly, "Shit, Clay, shouldn't you be out there?"
Clay shook his head, "There's middleweights first, then us. One of the execs told me he'd get me when it was time to get it on. But, hey, Terry, man, thanks for having such a long match, I feel way better."
Terry nodded. He had his eyes closed. He said, "Yeah, that's why I lost the first fall. To give you more time to recover. I could have taken him down twice in two minutes, but I wanted to help my buddy. Just the kinda guy I am."
Clay smiled and said, "Yeah, I was wondering why it took you so long to put that wimp away." Clay's expression and tone became serious when he added, "When I win the jacket, I'm giving you first title shot, Terry."
Terry looked at his friend and smiled a genuine smile. Clay was a great friend and Terry appreciated it.
The TPW studs were joking about Terry losing the first fall on purpose, but one thing you learned in TCCW was never joke around because the wrong person always overhears.
In this case, it was Jordan. He sauntered over to the other locker room where a disappointed Ryan sat with Lucien, Trace and Kale. Jordan sat beside Lucien. The heavyweights looked at Lucien's "little" friend. He had a huge shit-eaters grin on his face.
"What?" Lucien asked.
Jordan shrugged. He said, "Just heard something funny."
"You want to tell us so just spit it out."
Jordan relayed the TPW studs talk, leaving out the humorous tones. A sore, angry Ryan slammed his fist into a locker door, punching the door right into the locker. He said, "Those losers will NEVER see the jacket. NEVER!"
Ryan looked at his friends, "If that little guy or Terry or the other one ever get a title match, we destroy them. Got it?"
They all nodded, especially Jordan, who was more than happy to put Clay in harm's way.
*****
Down the hall, Dane was psyching himself up. He looked up and saw Kevin before him. Kevin smiled and said, "Good luck Dane. Hope you win."
Dane sneered, "Get lost, Kevin."
Kevin said, "I'm sincere. You deserve it, no matter what anyone says. Besides, you're the most Posse of any of them. After all, you ambushed Cody and cost him the title. Made me proud, you know."
Dane frowned. He still felt guilty over that incident. He replied, "I'm nothing like you."
Kevin replied, "Please. You know how you got into the finals. You owed Mike for that, but you still pinned him. I like that. You and he have a plan then you double cross him. Never let sentiment get in the way of getting the job done."
Dane was confused, "Owe Mike for what? What plan?"
Kevin said, "Well, Mike could have pinned you, but didn't. He tagged Doug instead. Then took out Doug with that awesome new move of his and dragged you on top of him. He also kicked Doug's foot off the rope before the ref could see so the count continued."
Dane growled, "You're lying you little snake."
Kevin smirked, "Why would I need to lie? Ask anyone. Ask Mike, ask Doug, ask anyone. Anyway, I'll be cheering for you, killer. Keep up these tactics and I might just let you into the Posse."
Dane watched Kevin exit, his mind reeling at the truth.
*****
Chapter Two
Doug was feeling restless. He left Bastian and Anton alone and went into the hall. Before the match all the contenders had been split up into little rooms along the hall. Doug looked at the door of Dane's. He wanted to talk to Dane, but knew that was not smart. Doug did not want to be accused of going in to rough up Dane.
Doug saw Cody slip into the room and made up his mind. At least no one could accuse him of anything with Cody there.
*****
"I need to talk to you," Dane said to Cody when he entered Dane's prep room. Cody recognized the serious tone.
"What's wrong, bud?"
"Kevin came to see me."
"The Posse with him?"
"No, he came alone. He told me that Mike cheated to keep me in the match."
Cody breathed heavily. He waited before responding. "Dane, don't think about that. We'll talk later tonight."
"So it's true?"
Cody nodded. Dane asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I would have but I didn't want to break your focus before your match. Something Kevin obviously did want to do."
"You should have told me. I don't deserve this shot." Dane turned to walk away, but Cody shot out his hand. The large paw wrapped tightly over Dane's bicep and he stopped.
"Don't let Kevin win. We all had something happen in our match that we wish we could change. You don't know that Mike could have pinned you. And you never will. You are a great wrestler, Dane."
Dane shook lose. He said quietly, "You're right. Kevin's screwing with my head. But I'm going to apologize to Doug."
"For what?" Cody asked.
"For stealing my shot for starters," Doug said from behind the guys. Cody and Dane turned in surprise.
Cody stiffened. He said, "Doug, why the hell are you in here?"
Dane said, "Doug - I'm sorry -"
Doug's face was hard. He said, "Save it. I'll be happy when Anton kicks your ass the same way I did. Twice."
Cody pointed at Doug, "Shut up, Doug. You never said why you're here. Planning on helping Anton a little?" Dane realized that Cody had a point. Why else would Doug come here? Cody continued, "Yeah, what happened to you sucked, but shit happens. Deal."
Doug's intense emotions swelled up inside him. Deal? Let Cody "deal" with this.
WHACK! The furious boxer shot out his right hand before Cody could react, hammering Cody's jaw with the big shot! Cody went down immediately. Dane tried to catch him, but the 209-pounds of dead weight was too much and Cody's limp form knocked them both down to the floor.
Doug waved his hands towards him and said, "Get up, Cody! C'mon! Where's the big bad champ now? Not so tough, are you?"
Dane pushed Cody off him and rose. He looked at Doug as a groggy Cody rolled on the floor. Dane charged Doug, driving his shoulder into Doug ripped midsection, sending him to the floor. The wind was driven from Doug's body as Dane landed atop him.
Dane slid over Doug and schoolboy pinned him to the floor; Dane's knees holding the flailing Doug flat on the mat. Doug looked up over Dane's trunks and muscled torso to meet him eye-to-eye. Doug lifted his legs to hammer Dane's back but Dane grabbed them and bent them towards him. Dane leaned forward, folding Doug in half.
Doug moaned as his flexibility was tested by the 224-pounds on top of his face and forcing him down. Dane said, "Not so tough when you can't Pearl Harbor someone, eh?"
Dane kept the pressure on, watching Doug's face turn red. Dane said, "Give it up, Doug! Give it up or I'll break you in two!"
*****
Chapter Three
"Give it up, Doug! Give it up or I'll break you in two!"
As Dane pulled harder, he suddenly felt arms under his pulling him back and off. Dane reacted instantly, turning and hammering fists into the new person's abs!
Jackson, who had passed by, saw the fight. He had simply been trying to break the struggle up when he saw it. Instead, he got a hard punch to his abs and went down fast and hard. Dane turned back to Doug, who was rising. Despite his aching neck and throbbing headache, Doug thrust out with a boot, pushing Dane off him.
Cody was back on his feet, jaw bruised and sore, but he was ready to take the fight to Doug.
Doug rose and put up his fists, clearly ready to take Dane down. But before he could do anything, Bastian entered looking for Doug. Bastian saw the crowd and assumed it was three-on-one. He knew Jackson was friends with Cody and had no idea Jackson was neutral in this conflict.
Bastian charged up and tackled Jackson down. Cody moved beside Dane and said, "Dane, go get ready for your match. Doug and I'll settle up."
Doug smirked. He had long wanted to take Cody off his pedestal. Here in the back, without rules, Doug knew Cody had no shot against him.
From behind it all, Jake's voice echoed in the room as he said, "No way, this stops now. You can settle this later."
From the open doorway, Roby, Gerritt and Jake were watching. Gerritt and Roby charged in to break up Jackson and Bastian. Jackson was on top, having reversed Bastian's attack and taken the upper hand. Roby grabbed him and Gerritt grabbed Bastian.
Dane said, "This is crazy. Cody, relax. We need to get this under control."
Once parted, Bastian was seething. He spat out, "Now you want to stop, eh, Dane? Three-on-one was good, but now the odds are a little too even for you?"
"What the hell are you talking about? Doug started this. He came into my private area, probably to take me out for Anton. And then Jackson attacked me!" Dane said. He turned to Cody, "I told you not to trust them. They ganged up on you and now they ganged up on me with Doug."
Jackson broke from Roby's hands. "Screw you Dane! You dumb punk, how Cody puts up with you is amazing." Jackson turned to Cody and said, "Cody, I never attacked anyone. I was keeping the peace. I wanted to break these guys up!"
Cody was torn between his best friend and his new friend. He said, "Dane, Jackson, calm down. Neither of you guys would start this. This was all Doug and Bastian."
Doug sneered, "Did you have a good view from the floor, pussy?"
The five men involved screamed accusations at each other until Jake whistled loudly. "STOP! Shit, man, what the hell is going on here? Everyone just shut the hell up."
"Screw you Jake. You weren't here," Doug said.
Jake said, "Look, we should all get along. This match has created way too much animosity."
Bastian snorted, "Lucky for you, Jake."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Bastian said, "You're the one getting a free ride because of all this. Lucky Jake. You're like Sweden and neutral and shit."
Cody smirked and said, "Switzerland, idiot."
Bastian looked at Cody with hard eyes, before looking back at Jake. He said, "You can stand by while your friend's getting mauled, but I can't. Maybe you're too much of a wimp to stand up for anything, but I'm not."
Roby said, "Shut up, Bastian. You think you're scary? Jake kicked your ass once tonight. He's got the big match but I'm prepared to kick it again for him."
Jackson turned to exit. He turned to the room and said, "There's way too much drama here. You guys are pathetic. All of you!" He stormed out.
The men stood silently as an official looked in and said, "Dane, Jake, it's time."
The men looked around the room for a minute before anyone moved. Dane went to the door and followed Jake to the waiting room. They waited as Anton and Clay arrived. Clay noticed Dane's tension, which was visible from his stern jaw and throbbing temple. Jake was the same way.
Clay said, "You okay, guys?"
Dane said, "Yeah, just don't like someone sending his buddy to take me out before the match."
Before anyone could ask for an explanation, the announcer began his introductions.
THE END
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