Jake Starr vs. Gavin Taylor vs. Aubrianna Powers

[Konrad Raab]

SCW Adrenaline Championship Number One Contendership

3 RP Limit for singles (REGARDLESS OF SHOW)

Deadline: 5 pm ET Saturday, July 25, 2020

[Jake Starr]

OOC: Wow it's RtG season again. I am excited, and having past the hardest part of the year (I'll explain in an OOC post), I am happy with what I turned out. I hope everyone enjoys, and honestly, and I mean this, if anyone has any criticism PLEASE message me. Let me know how it reads to you, too. I am not one to get pissy about criticism, in fact, I love it because it'll make me a better writer, or show me where I am weak. Good luck all! Here's to our month long break as Olek writes his "War and Peace" version of a pay per view! Also to those who have been there for me during the past few weeks, Wasley, Joel, Olek, etc, I truly love you all. Thank you for everything! Now here are the cookies, and give me my title shot!

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Time after time I sit here, writing on this stupid blog, and I think to myself, "why am I even saying anything?" Nobody sees this. Nobody comes up to me and empathizes for these words. Hell, nobody even knows this even exists. But yet, here I am trying, over and over, to change myself and make myself better than I was. Time and time again, though, I hope that by writing all of this down, writing my life out, it'll give me something to look back on and reflect on. But I haven't had that. Instead I've been being the same person, the same bum, the same failure that people have come to get used to.

I hate that feeling of failure, though. I hate that feeling that I haven't been able to move past my past, but the truth is, even after my oldest friend telling me the exact same thing, it didn't resonate. It didn't get through my thick skull. Instead, it just became more of the same. For once, they didn't fall on deaf ears. I mean, what I do with the words means more than the fact I agree with them, and for once, I've started to agree with them big time.

Especially now...

Going into the biggest night of my company's year, and having an opportunity given to me that I don't know I have earned, have my mind currently even more twisted than it was the day that everything finally clicked. That day, I went to my happy place. I went back by the river. I went to the bench they should just name mine. Why? Because looking out over that river, hearing the crack of a baseball bat in your ear just behind you, seeing peace and serenity in front of you, it has always been the place where I could process everything, and the place where, if I disappeared, people knew I was... Including my sister...

Jake sits on the banks of the Des Moines River staring forward. He doesn't wear anything inconspicuous, or anything to hide his identity. He simply sits there, staring forward thinking about a lot of what people have said, people have heard, and people have felt about him and his recent run in SCW. The haunting "r" word looms over his head, no matter what he seems to do week-in and week-out, and he truly has to think is this something he cannot avoid? Or is reality, as Jake Starr is so familiar talking about, beginning to come true?

All of these emotions, thankfully, he can contain. He doesn't sit there fearing that he's going to kill himself or harm himself. It's becoming more of a sadness of thinking that everything he has known for his entire life may be coming to an end. He sits there thinking about the reality that may be about to stare him head on, when another reality approaches him from behind. He always assumes that its a fan or something similar, and this time, instead, he is completely wrong. Instead of what he expected, he is surprised by his sister circling the bench, and eventually sitting down right beside him. Now Jake, initially, is surprised by his sister's presence, but after she begins to walk around the bench, and continues to stare him down, he eventually turns his attention back toward the river, which is when Jordan sits down.

Jordan looks over at Jake and realizes he is going to do his "stare forward" shtick, so she does the same, before finally breaking the silence and addressing her older brother.

Jordan Majors: So how's it going?

Jake Starr: Oh you know... Peachy... As always...

Jordan Majors: Oh I'm sure. Watching a lot of your stuff on TV has shown me you're happy as fuck...

Jake Starr: Well, we can't all be Jordan Majors, can we?

Jordan slowly turns her head.

Jordan Majors: And what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Jake Starr: It means that we can't all be one of the best in the business, and someone everyone sees as a favorite every time I turned around...

Jordan shakes her head, and goes back to looking forward.

Jordan Majors: Whatever, Jake... But that's not why I'm here... I'm here to check on you. Since the Trios, since Taking Hold of the Flame, since all of those moments we've been on opposing sides, we haven't talked on a "personal" manner. So, honestly, that's why I'm here. I'm here to check on you, and find out if you're really OK?

Jake Starr: Honestly, I'm fine... Nobody needs to worry about me. Especially on a professional level...

Jordan smirks, unimpressed, and shakes her head.

Jordan Majors: Especially not on a professional level? Really? Then where is this change, this "Resurrection," this "next chapter," that you have been running your mouth about since the battle royal? Where are you, turning the page, on your career? Why does it sound like someone is simply good enough to run their mouth like a damn Parceltongue, and trying to get everyone to simply buy-in to what he is saying, yet realistically do absolutely nothing to prove that they are legitimate.

Jake actually looks down and sarcastically chuckles.

Jake Starr: Really?

She looks over at Jake.

Jordan Majors: Yeah Jake, really. I've been hearing everything you've been saying and for once, you had me believing you. You had me buying into the fact that you were stepping up and taking the initiative to move on, but nobody has seen you grasp the brass ring so you can begin to crawl your own ass out of the hole it's in. Your words a fucking hollow, man. Nobody buys into your hollow words. To everyone, you're just running your mouth, like you do best. Your words are to the point where you needs to decide if you're going to prove yourself, or fucking leave, man...

Jake basically begins to hear the identical words of his friend Shawn, and everyone else, and grits his teeth.

Jake Starr: I promise you... I hear all the fucking criticism, Jordan... I know everyone thinks I should go the way of the dodo, and be like Greg Cherry and fucking leave. I know they think I should try and find another career path, like the popular GregCherryBrand. Trust me, I fucking hear it.

Jordan Majors: Do you, Jake? Do you ACTUALLY hear it all? Do you actually FEEL it all? You remember the last time you and I were here? You remember how you didn't give a FUCK about SCW or pro wrestling? You told me to go out there and make a name for myself. You told me to go out there and write my story. Now you're here talking about writing a story and ending one chapter in favor of another, but instead you just say the right stuff but do nothing. You do what you've been doing. You don't REALLY fucking care about becoming something SCW again. If you did, your words wouldn't be so meaningless. Instead, you've done nothing to prove that you've turned any page...

Jake Starr: I promise you I have...

Jordan Majors: Bullshit, Jake... You haven't done anything. Some days you're out there making people think they can believe you, hell, making ME think I can believe in you, and then it turns around and you go right back to half-assing things, and next thing we all see is you seemingly going back to just forgetting to care. You don't care about SCW, Jake. You don't care about the business. You don't care about much of anything, but you DO know what to make yourself look good. The problem is, you don't put two and two together...

Jake Starr: Jordan, I get it... Seriously...

Jordan Majors: Oh do you?

Jake sighs.

Jordan Majors: ... Exactly... You don't get any of it. If you got it, and if you were serious, you'd either step your game up and do something about this halfassed approach to things, like you're taking. You'd quit relying on your snake-tongued words to carry you through to the next level. Instead you would actually do like you said you were going to do, and turn a fucking page. Nobody sees this metaphoric page. They see Jake Starr talking the same shit he talked every other time he has tried to revitalize his career. Shit, Jake, I have been waiting for you to call yourself the "Social Misfit" again, or start ripping SCW management. And honestly, I'm not alone in that. You've gotten so many people prone to thinking that your words mean nothing and are completely irrelevant. I'm new to SCW, but I've followed you, as my brother, and even I don't believe you. I don't believe you are anyone different than you were a decade ago, in your head.

Jake, what you said, before Taking Hold of the Flame, it excited me. It made me hope to see my brother come out and be himself in 2020, and not be the shell I met on this very, fucking bench. Instead, what have I seen, I've seen that same guy. Yeah, he isn't suicidal, yeah he isn't someone I need to worry about getting a phone call about, but still, I figure when you walk out there to do whatever it is you're calling it that "you do," I'm scared to see a guy who turns into the antithesis of what he planned to be. I'm scared to see my brother become that "Jason Zero" or that "Greg Cherry" where he's mocked behind the scenes and told how he can't succeed on his own anymore. It doesn't hurt my career. You told me to make my career, and I have, but Jake, the fact is I'm not someone who is going to let you completely be a shell, be a fake, be a phony, and walk out there like you're some modern version.

So I'm here to say one thing, and one thing only...

Jake smirks.

Jake Starr: That you can't wait to lavish me in praise for how far along I've come?

Jordan isn't amused.

Jordan Majors: No, asshole, that's not what I'm going to say... I'm here to simply say if you're serious about all of this page turning you've hyped up and made people think you're serious about, it's time for you to step up and do it, instead of running your mouth and thinking that everyone is just going to hang on your words, it's over. The fact is, you can't rely on words to carry you anymore. SCW has become something bigger. You have to turn the page, like you CLAIM to do. You need to fucking turn that page, quit being 2009-2010 Jake Starr, and start being the man who can compete in 2020 SCW. I'm not going to try and defend or protect you in any way, just like you never would me. So I'm here, fucking turn your page and quit running your mouth about the changes you NEED to make, but never do it. For once, bro... Nut up... Or shut up... Or watch me do every thing myself, like you told me to do without you. I'm to the point where I feel you need to quit talking, and start acting. It's time for Jake Starr to do what he did back in the day and nut up, or shut up. You can turn the page, and still be someone who steps up and faces his adversity head on. But it's on you, bro... If you want to be a bitch, be a bitch, and be all talk. I'm not defending you anymore. I'm either supporting you, or doing my own thing and telling you to go find yourself before trying to use me for your own leverage.

She stands up and walks in front of Jake.

Jordan Majors: ... Figure yourself out, bro... I came to this place to seek guidance and inspiration... Maybe you can grow the fuck up and use it the same way...

Jordan immediately begins walking away before giving Jake a chance to respond. Jake had looked up, and watched her walk off, knowing she was not going to stop and listen to anything he said. As he wanted to speak, and seeing it was worthless, he looks down and just sighs. He knows Jordan was here to try and get through to him, and not listen to his excuses, but regardless, he wishes he could have spoken his mind. Instead, he keeps his head down, repeatedly taking deep breaths and shaking his head, wishing he could still have his moment of response, but knowing it's long gone. A tear begins to fall down his cheek after all of the criticism, and he begins to think that this is all happening for a reason, and the worry about calling it a career may become more of a reality than he has wanted to acknowledge.

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Jake Starr: Rise to Greatness... It is the pinnacle of the year for Supreme Championship Wrestling, and the night where every superstar brings the best they have to showcase themselves at their peak performance. And for years I have been a member of this pay-per view card, and done everything I have ever could to win every year. For years I did a lot, and set records for being "the first" for many different things at Rise to Greatness. I began to create a legacy that I have talked about year in and year out from the moment I walked in, and started running my mouth at Shawn Winters. So Jake Starr, the name, has been there. He's been one of those staples. He's been Mr. Rise to Greatness...

But this year is vastly different...

I am that person who I just eluded to, Mr. Rise to Greatness, but I walk into this event thinking and realizing that I'm walking in like I did in 2009. No... Not with the attitude, momentum, or anything of the like. I'm walking in feeling like this is a first for me. For years, I've made this journey. For years, I've walked into the arena, knowing I was part of the biggest show of them all. But all of those felt like I was entitled to that moment. All of those entries into Rise to Greatness I felt like, "oh I'm Jake Starr, I belong here!" This time... I don't feel like I belong here. I don't feel like SCW has necessarily put me in there deservingly. Instead... I think they put me in there as a way to get inside my head. I think they put me in a match, which I'll get to eventually, to try and bring me back from the darkness.

Now, I'm not here to make excuses. I'm not here to reference the darkness that has clouded my past year. Instead, I'm here to acknowledge that the guy who walked into Rise to Greatness in 2009, 2010, and all of the years up until 2019, was one man. It was a man living with a mindset that became more and more dated over time. Yet... That man carried them on. He didn't see that the words he was espousing was simply being just that, words. He expected his words to intimidate the world. That's what happened before. That's what happened "back then." But this isn't, "back then." Instead this is 2020. This is a year where a man was forced to look himself in the mirror, and not ask others for hand-me-outs. This was the time for a man to see himself, and realize he's not the person who he has always run his mouth as. It was this moment, the man, the myth, and the legend, no longer existed. Instead, a man with nothing to hang his hat on, nothing to hang his career on, and nothing to show he actually CARED about this industry, stood in front of the masses and watches his popularity wane...

Cheers became muted...

Merchandise options became more and more limited...

Royalties, I won't lie, became less and less...

Jake Starr had, effectively, become a nobody...

And I'm not going to stand here and say it wasn't rightfully so. I had screwed up. I had screwed the fans, my family, my friends, everyone. I had quit caring. I had stopped being someone who mattered because I rested on my laurels and continued to believe that my words, my empty words, would carry me to whatever I felt I deserved because of my name. My name... A name that today means nothing, and hell, hasn't for a few years. So with the fact that I am walking into Rise to Greatness at all, especially with my performances lately, is by pure luck. I don't know how I got there. I don't know why I'm there. SCW is at its deepest of all time, with my sister, all the champions, the contenders, and these returning talents with so much focus, and yet, here I still am. And I could look at this in a cocky manner. I could talk about how SCW knows all of these reasons why you HAVE to put Jake Starr in Rise to Greatness, but in the end, it'd all be bullshit. It'd be those hollow words that nobody hears, and nobody believes anymore.

Jake sighs.

... This is a reality I have brought on myself. Nobody hears me. Nobody believes me. Family, friends, opponents, partners, nobody. They all hear me talk like Jake Starr always has, and yet they just seem to drop their head and shake it, knowing that I'm really not going to go out there and do anything about it. And I don't have excuses for any of this. I don't have anyone to blame but myself. And it's to a point where I own that responsibility. It's at a point where the 2020 Jake Starr truly moves on from the decades old Jake Starr. It's time for me, today, to accept the fact that whatever legacy, history, accolades, achievements, or whatnot don't matter in 2020. They're just, like my past few years, just words. They're nothing anyone cares about, or for that matter, matters. So this year at Rise to Greatness, I'm walking in as someone who nobody really gives a fuck about. Nobody believes in me. Nobody believes I can accomplish anything.

And they're probably pretty spot on with things.

But that just means I have to go out there and I have to change the perspective. I have to do it with actions. At Taking Hold of the Flame, I closed this past chapter on my life and career. I told the world I wasn't going to be the same person I was, and try and feel entitled. I've had a lot of problems trying to sound different. I've had a lot of problems not just allowing myself to sounding like "Jake Starr," without TRYING to sound like my old self. People look at me the same. People believe I am the same person. People look at me like they look at the likes of Christian Savior, Jason Zero, CHBK, Greg Cherry, et cetera. We were all "that guy" who kept holding on. CHBK, yeah, he has his role in the company, but as a wrestler, he's not the CHBK that instilled fear in the masses. It's just like I'm not the Jake Starr who instills ANY fear in the masses anymore.

So that is why this year, this is almost like my FIRST Rise to Greatness. This is almost my FIRST MOMENT in SCW to establish myself. And like history, it seems to repeat itself. Now... Just so you know this is the ONLY time you'll really see me mirror the past to the present, outside of emotion. Emotion is one of those few things that can't be hidden or masked. But I walk into Rise to Greatness as my true moment of Resurrection and my first try at a "Second Coming." Why? When I came to SCW I fought one match before March's pay-per view in 2009, and next thing I knew after the preshow, I was facing Alex Desoubrais Jr. for the Adrenaline Championship.

Jake takes a deep breath.

Now at Rise to Greatness, I'm walking into a match where I KNOW what the outcome in, versus being told it's just a match for "an ultimate opportunity." This time it's exactly what that "ultimate opportunity" was, but this time, in a whole new decade. It's an opportunity to vie for the SCW Adrenaline Championship. It's Jake Starr getting the opportunity to truly restart everything, and not just do so because he said so. Instead, it gives him the chance to step up, and become the number one contender for the SCW Adrenaline Championship. It effectively creates a situation where I have the chance to truly restart everything. It isn't an opportunity where I can bring myself back to 2009, and start anew, but instead, it gives me a moment where I can step up, and earn an opportunity that, even back then, I didn't know what would be "delivered" as part of that "ultimate opportunity."

So 2020... It sure looks a lot like 2009, and I should be running my mouth about what happened at Retribution... Instead, no!

This is Rise to Greatness. This is a night where Gavin Taylor and Aubrianna Powers are out to try and assert themselves as the new number one contender for the Adrenaline Championship. It's not 2009. It's not a bunch of nobodies. It's two people who have been annoying me to the limits since the day after Taking Hold of the Flame, now walking into the biggest event of the year, looking to establish themselves as a title contender, just like me. The three of us, instead of them being together against Jay Gold and I, will be facing off against one another to try and establish ourselves as one of the next big contenders in the lineup of Supreme Championship Wrestling.

Now, these two have made me their target, like I said, since Taking Hold of the Flame. This past Breakdown, there's a lot of personal feelings about, but Frozen Hell coming out and helping, when the one man I would have banked on didn't, I'll thank you now. But what you two did... You two coming out there and attacking me, making me your collective target has made me realize that both of you fear me equally. It shows that the two of you, as a combined unit, don't believe in yourselves as individuals and you know that I am someone to be taken out. You realize that that ME, even in my newfound infancy in SCW, could be the jumpstart to either of your careers. But the reality is... At Rise to Greatness, you two can double-team me and destroy me all you want, but in the end, only ONE PERSON will walk away with a chance to vie for the Adrenaline Championship.

You both won't...

You both don't get the opportunity...

This is an ULTIMATE opportunity for the three of us. Why? Because one of us will go on to face whomever leaves Rise to Greatness with the Adrenaline Championship. And I want you to both realize what that exactly means. It is no "stepping stone" in SCW anymore. It was back in the day, but many of us have taken the championship, including its current champion, and treated it like it is a hot commodity. For me, it is just that. I'm not going to harp on my past with the championship, because history is written in stone, and anything I say about just that, is hollow words. It doesn't matter in 2020. But what does matter is the fact that I look at the Adrenaline Championship as if it is everything to me. My history with that belt is well written, and I can only imagine what future there is with me. Now, this match, this triple threat between myself and you two needy assholes, it's Rise to Greatness. It's my chance to establish Jake Starr as someone to be reckoned with.

Jake smirks.

Aubrianna, Gavin... This is your moment. You've obsessed over me for this long, and now ONLY ONE of you gets the opportunity to show the whole ordeal was worth it. The two of you have never had to look one another in the eye for the opportunity that is in front of you. I have. I have looked friend and foe in the eye and known EXACTLY what was on the line. It's been even greater than this, but yet, we were able to overcome. Are you two? Can greed take you two to a limit that you're not comfortable with? Even though he stood there, Tommy, David, and I have all stood there around one another with the ULTIMATE Championship on the line, and in the end, come out stronger. But here I am comparing you two to The Brotherhood. Here I am comparing you to a trio who understood the business, and the reality is, you two have never faced this kind of personal adversity. When I say personal adversity, think about the reality of the situation... Only ONE of you two get to face the Adrenaline Champion. Only ONE of you can win. Only ONE of you can become a SINGLE'S champion.

Can you two do that?

Can you two allow the other to win?

You two have a lot to deal with, which I've been in the midst of, like I said. We understood one another. We respected one another. We cared for one another. All we wanted was the best for each other. Is that you two? Is that Aubrianna and Gavin? Is that these two? Can they put their personal desires aside to allow the other to succeed? Or is greed just too much?

See, that's where Jake Starr holds a decisive advantage. I have nothing to lose. I have nobody to worry about but myself. I have everything the gain, and the opportunity to become the Adrenaline Champion for a THIRD time. And I realize it's no guarantee. I know that whoever comes out of Rise to Greatness as the Adrenaline Champion is going to be someone to compete with. I'm not naive to that. But I know that you two, your greed, and my opportunity to make you two regret deciding Jake Starr was a fun target, will end up evening out. I know the scales are even. I don't care that it may SEEM two on one, but the reality is you two will still have to face one another at some point, like I said. In the end, what SCW is going to see is Jake Starr turning a page, and beginning to write a new chapter. Instead of throwing hollow words, actions will speak louder. REALITY will be more than HISTORY. Whether it be Peyton Rice or Glory Braddock, they will walk out of Rise to Greatness knowing that they have achieved greatness, but then have to face the reality that is front og them...

That reality is scary...

That reality is unfortunate...

That reality is THE ONE PERSON who loves that championship more than anyone in the HISTORY of Supreme Championship Wrestling...

That reality is also BOTH of your realities...

That reality is Jake Starr!

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Inside the home of Jake Starr, life seems to finally be taking a turn for the normal, as far as normal is in today's world. Jake, Brandon, and Jake's wife, Roeper, all sit in the living room watching the television. On the TV is MSNBC and one of the many talking-head shows that it airs, and Brandon and Roeper seem to be paying more attention to it than Jake is. Jake blankly sits, staring at the TV, as Brandon and Roeper begin to make small talk about what is happening on the news.

Roeper Hart: ... Why is so fucking hard to wear a mask?

Brandon Evans: Because it fogs your glasses! At least it does mine!

Roeper Hart: So you're willing to let yourself get some wonky-assed virus and us have to send you to quarantine?

Brandon Evans: What's quarantine consist of?

Roeper expects Jake to jump in, but he continues to stare at the TV. She looks back at Brandon to respond.

Roeper Hart: Spacesuit people taking care of you like you're ET, and absolutely no curves on them whatsoever...

Brandon Evans: Well that sounds like shit!

Roeper looks over at Jake.

Roeper Hart: ... Umm, babe, you doing OK?

Jake shakes himself out of it.

Jake Starr: Yeah... I just have a lot on my mind, right now...

That was the only reply I could think of at the time. I couldn't explain my emotions. I couldn't explain what I was thinking. Instead I had to simply say that everything was on my mind and it was my responsibility to begin to parse everything I was dealing with. For once, me saying that felt like an internal sense of strength. Usually I know how to formulate the right words to say what I needed to shut everyone down and do what I need to do to just make it slide off of my back. This time, however, was different. I did have a lot on my mind. I had everything that my sister had put right in my face, in my face. I had a reality to face that I couldn't hide or run away from. Since the moment we talked, I had tried, time after time, to not think about it, and that's on me. Why? Because the truth is, it's EXACTLY what is on my mind. It's exactly where I am worried and am focused. My sister, she wasn't wrong... She wasn't off course... She was right on point, and I had physically done nothing to move forward or turn any page. Instead, I had run my mouth, talked about what I "was" going to do, I never did it, but instead, stood my ground and did the same thing I always did before...

Roeper hears this, and begins to worry, and also feel frustrated, that Jake is being distant, and not allowing his supporters to be there for him.

Roeper Hart: ... Well is there anything that either Brandon or I can do to help?

Jake gently shakes his head.

Jake Starr: Nah... I promise, I'm fine... I'm just trying to be here processing everything around me...

Roeper Hart: You sure?

Jake Starr: I'm sure...

Roeper takes a deep breath.

Roeper Hart: OK...

She turns her attention back to the news on MSNBC, and listens to Brandon react to some of the reporting.

Brandon Evans: ... Really? Children will just fucking "get over it," and all will be OK? What about the people they come home to? Shit, I live here, and what if the kid brings it here and we are all infected? Next thing you know, we're all zombies and eating one another!

Roeper rolls her eyes.

Roeper Hart: Jesus Brandon... Have you been watching Ancient Aliens again?

Brandon Evans: I haven't fucking stopped! Giorgio is the only one who gets where this country and this world is going. And this virus, this shit, all of it is playing right into the aliens hands!

Jake sighs, and stands up.

Jake Starr: I need some time time to myself, I'll be back in a bit...

Initially this would most likely make sense to be attributed to Brandon's outlandish claim, but Brandon freezes and looks over at Roeper. Roeper looks at Brandon, and then up at Jake as he leaves the room. She then looks back at Brandon.

Roeper Hart: Brandon...

He immediately gathers her worries.

Brandon Evans: Roeper, I would completely bet against him doing anything like that, or going that far again...

Roeper Hart: Are you sure?

Brandon Evans: I am pretty sure he scared himself straight...

As time passes, there is silence throughout the house. Roeper and Brandon keep passing glances back and forth wondering what is going on. They both begin to fidget more and more on their respective seating placements, and take deep breaths knowing that this has the eerie resemblance of the darkest night they have both faced, even with Brandon's similar night, but breaking the sound of the television is a yelling and a crashing noise. Both Brandon and Roeper are startled to the point of falling on the floor, and looking back toward the back of the house. They then look at each other as there is another and another yelling and crashing sound coming from the same area.

Both jump from the floor, and begin running back toward the back of the house. As they reach the hallway bathroom Jake had, notoriously, tried to take his life in, they see the door closed. They both freeze and then out of the blue see a sledgehammer come barreling through the door, and Brandon quickly shields Roeper. The two watch as another blow comes through the door, with a grunt following. Brandon pushes Roeper back as another smash comes through, this time in the drywall beside the door itself.

Brandon quickly runs down the hallway, to get on the opposite side of the bathroom, and decides to try and calm the Social Misfit down.

Brandon Evans: JAKE!

Jake swings through the wall on the opposing side of where Brandon is.

Brandon Evans: ... DUDE! DROP THE FUCKING HAMMER!

Jake, panting heavily, realizing someone is outside the bathroom, where he is.

Jake Starr: What??

Brandon begins to look through the original hole in the bathroom door.

Brandon Evans: Brotha... What in the FUCK is going on?! Calm the FUCK down!!!

Jake, preparing to swing at another place, away from Brandon, lowers the hammer, and lifts his head, giving Brandon the safety to open the door. Brandon opens the door and Roeper runs to be able to look in at the destruction that he has wielded to the bathroom. He and Roeper see the destruction that Jake had committed to the bathroom, and are inherently speechless. Jake smirks, holding his hands out to the side.

Jake Starr: Closing a chapter... Don't you think?

Brandon, and Roeper alike, are looking in, with the door open, but backs against the wall, concerned for their safety.

Brandon Evans: What in the FUCK are you talking about, man?!

Jake smirks, and throws the sledgehammer on the floor.

Jake Starr: I'm closing a chapter in MY LIFE! Isn't it obvious?! For once and all, I'm KILLING, I'm DESTROYING, I'm ENDING something that has been my bane for almost a fucking YEAR now?! I'm DONE with it! This bathroom, let's be real, you two fucking ALWAYS see as the one "Jake tried to kill himself in." You don't look as it as the visitor bathroom. You don't look at it where Brandon takes his daily shits, watching fucking TikTok. Instead, it's ALWAYS where Jake tried to kill himself.

Everytime I walk by this bathroom, everytime I walk down my own home hallway I feel this about this room in MY OWN HOUSE. Why? Because of my own feelings. Jordan... She made me realize that if I'm going to "turn a page," I need to be able to "close" a chapter. This room... This fucking room... Every inch of it from the viewpoint of me laying there looking at every corner while being strangulated, those fucking chapters, those worlds, they need to be closed and destroyed. So THIS fucking bathroom is it... THIS is what has always been what I have had to live with. I have had to live with the demon that has called my name just walking to my bed with my wife. I have had to hear that demonic voice tell me to join it in its infamy.

I'm done with being haunted in my own house. I'm done with being fearful to come home. So fuck me, I have decided it is time to shut this shit down finally! This room... Fuck it... It's mine to destroy! It's mine to own. If I'm going to move on, if I'm going to move forward with my own care, I have to prove to the world I'm killing my demons. I am willing to fight the reality I face...

Out of nowhere, Jake's daughter, Mara Jade, emerges and walks into the bathroom and sees the complete destruction that her Dad has leveled upon it, the sarcasm and "father-like" commentary cannot be dissented...

Mara Jade Hart: ... We got a permit for all of this shit, right?

The break in the seriousness makes Jake drop actually drop the sledgehammer, and smile at his daughter. He hears the handle bounce and lowers himself to a knee, and stares his daughter right in the eye. He smiles himself and Mara Jade slowly walks into the bathroom, pushing her mother and Brandon back, and she embraces him. Roeper goes to run in, but then Brandon restrains her. He realizes Mara Jade is the key to Jake's recovery, and not he or Roeper. Brandon holds Roeper back to make sure Jake and his daughter have the moment they need. Mara Jade, offering the sarcasm Jake needed in his heat of destruction, was the key all along. Nobody but Mara, and here simple words of understanding would have been, "right," but it was. Brandon, for once, was the one who recognized it, and allowed it to happen, so hopefully Jake could, indeed, turn the page.

[Corner G]

https://allstargavintaylor.wordpress.com/2020/07/25/all-star-all-the-time/