Keep Your Friends Close

Chuck Matthews is in his car. The camera shows a shot of him behind the wheel. Behind him, trees, signs, and other cars fly by the window as he passes them. Chuck is frowning. His face is a blank slate, just as it has been for a while. What has happened to him? Once a man with many emotions, it now seems as though the only feelings he shows are anger, fear, thoughtfulness, and pain. Today is a thoughtful day. Painful thoughts. Chuck sighs and turns on the radio.

"You look at me, but you don't see. Understand I'm a sinner."

Chuck hears the lyrics and immediately changes the station.

"I hear voices in my head, they-"

Chuck changes the station again, a look of increasing frustration on his face.

"Sometimes it feels like I can't wake up. I'm trying to breathe. I wanna let go so I can feel again-"

Chuck Matthews: "God damn it."

He changes the station again.

"It's too late, it's too late to get saved.
How long are you gonna have to go
Before you see the miles of mistakes and the waste
Down these dead end roads and-"

Chuck lifts his foot and kicks in the radio, smashing it and effectively shutting it off.

Chuck Matthews: "What the fuck kind of music is this?"

Chuck glares ahead at the road. It's silent without the radio. Fortunately, it isn't long before Chuck turns off the highway. It's a few minutes before he turns sharply into the parking lot of the Church of Salvation. It's been a while since he's been here. An ominous cloud hovers over the tower.

Chuck gets out of his car and heds to the massive doors he knows so well. He feels drops fall from the sky onto his face. Chuck wipes it away, and a flash of red catches his eye. It's blood.

Chuck Matthews: "What the hell..."

He looks up. Blood rains down from the cloud. Chuck staps back, letting the crimson shower fall on the tower.

Chuck Matthews: "This place is going to the dogs."

???: "Excuse me, sir."

Chuck turns. A small group of people stand behind him, armed with cameras and other odd devices.

Chuck Matthews: "Not today. No interviews, no autographs. Get out."

The man in the front chuckles and steps forward, holding a clipboard.

Guy: "I think you misunderstood, sir. I'm Jerry Green, executive producer of Paranormal Patrol."

Jerry exteds his hand. Chuck crosses him arms, and raises an eyebrow.

Chuck Matthews: "You guys aren't those crazy ghost chaser losers, are you?"

Jerry laughs.

Jerry Green: "Paranormal Patrol is the highest rated show on our network, Mr. Matthews. People believe in what we do. Spirits and creatures of the night are all around us. It's our job to track them down and catch them."

Behind his shades, Chuck is rolling his eyes.

Chuck Matthews: "Fine. You get good ratings. That still doesn't explain why you're here. You want freaky shit, Havoc's house is that way."

Jerry laughs again.

Jerry Green: "I've heard about the infamous Chuck Matthews sarcastic humor. This must be it. No, Chuck, we're actually here for our Church of Salvation episode."

Jerry hands Chuck the clipboard. Chuck glances at it. The top of the page reads in big letters "The Salvation Investigation."

Jerry Green: "Came up with that title myself."

Chuck Matthews: "Did you think that rhymed?"

Jerry frowns, and takes his clipboard back.

Chuck Matthews: "In any case, there are no spirits or whatever here. Just Gods. So unless you want an interview, which i already mentioned I won't do, I suggest you go."

Jerry Green: "Actually, Chuck, we've heard of some very strange activity going on here. Women screaming, apparent brainwashing, and strangest of all, a dark cloud that rains blood."

Jerry looks at the tower, where fat red blooddrops fall and splatter on the church. He points to the cloud.

Jerry Green: "That the one?"

Chuck stares dumbstruck at Green.

Chuck Matthews: "Is that a serious question?"

Jerry shrugs. Chuck shakes his head.

Chuck Matthews: "That's it. Out. Get out!"

Chuck shoos the team into their van, and watches them speed off. Chuck mumbles something under his breath that sounds like "Ghost hunting bullshit."

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

Chuck wanders into his living quarters within the church, and plops onto his bed. He rubs his eyes and stares at the ceiling.

???: "Boy, your life just gets better and better, don't it Matthews?"

Chuck Matthews: "You can't leave me alone, can you?"

The masked man materializes at the foot of Chuck's bed. He takes a seat in a chair near the door.

???: "So what all has happened now? You have three weels left to live it up in your sinful ways. Then we take you."

Chuck Matthews: "It's on my calendar."

The stranger laughs.

???: "Ah, Chuck. You're more like me every day."

Chuck grunts.

???: "Well, let's look at what else has happened. Your good buddy Brenton Cyrus has gotten himself traded to Legacy-"

Chuck Matthews: "Don't remind me."

???: "Oh? I should think this is excellent news. Hasn't Cyrus just been holding you back?"

Chuck Matthews: "So they say."

???: "Well, with him gone, who's stopping you from taking the top spot?"

Chuck Matthews: "There are more important things in life than being the best."

???: "Did I just hear Chuck Matthews say that? That brash young man that has never been satisfied with the success he has already had?"

Chuck Matthews: "Yeah. Imagine that. Chuck Matthews has a heart."

???: "Alright, alright. Let's move on. At Guilty as Charged, we found out the Father of God was Joe Santiago."

Chuck rolls on his bed, so that he faces away from the masked man.

???: "You don't seem happy. Look at me, Chuck."

Chuck reluctantly turns back around.

Chuck Matthews: "I'd rather not discuss this whole Santiago deal."

???: "Because?"

Chuck Matthews: "That's none of your business."

???: "Your entire life is my business, Chuck."

Chuck grunts.

Chuck Matthews: "Whatever. I have nothing to say about this Father of God bullshit."

???: "Bullshit? Strong words, Chuck. You don't like Santiago leading Salvation?"

Chuck Matthews: "Let me explain something to you. Salvation was the most dominant fucking force on the planet when it was Alex, Brenton, and me. Johnny Styles came in and tried to sabotage the whole fucking thing. The draft fucked everything up. Chuck Matthews. Brenton Cyrus. Alex Mark. That's Salvation. As soon as someone decided to go fuck up the winning formula, Salvation fell to pieces. Did you notice we didn't lose the title until Cyrus ended up hearing from this 'Father of God?'"

???: "That's an interesting point. Well with Mark drafted to Legacy and Cyrus traded to the same place, Salvation is a bit of a lost cause, isn't it?"

Chuck Matthews: "Like I said, I don't want to discuss it."

The masked man sighs. It was like counseling a teenager. He says he doesn't want to talk, but everyone knows deep down, Chuck is bursting to say everything on his mind.

???: "Move on, bud. The next Pay-Per-View is Simple Survival."

Chuck Matthews: "Congratulations. You can read NLWF announcements."

???: "You and Cyrus grace the poster. It doesn't take an idiot to see that you aren't there because you're a team."

Chuck says nothing.

???: "So there's the match of the century. Chuck Matthews finally takes on Brenton-"

Chuck grabs the lamp from the bedside table and hurls it across the room. The masked man ducks quickly, and the lamp smashes into the wall behind him, shattering the bulb.

???: "Someone's angry."

Chuck Matthews: "Shut the fuck up."

???: "Oh boy, I'm hitting all sort of nerves tonight!"

Chuck Matthews: "Next subject."

???: "Not this time, bud. You don't want to fight Cyrus, do you?"

Chuck Matthews: "I never said that."

???: "So what, the last six months of Matthews and Cyrus is just going to go down the drain?"

Chuck Matthews: "You're really testing my patience here."

???: "Well come on, spill it. Which is it? Funny that whenever you're in the spotlight you go on and on about how this is nothing to you, how you want this match more than anything. But when when the cameras are off, you chuck lamps when someone brings it up. Do you want to fight him or not?"

Chuck Matthews sits up and glares at the masked man.

Chuck Matthews: "Of course I don't want to fucking fight him. You think I've been here for the last six months, waiting for the perfect opportunity to turn on my best friend?"

???: "What was that last part?"

Chuck thinks about what he said and shakes his head.

Chuck Matthews: "Nothing."

???: "Your best friend? HA! Come on, Chuck. You don't have the heart to challenge Brenton Cyrus. Deep down, you're praying he finds a way to weasel out of the match so you don't have to fight your buddy while still keeping up your tough-guy image."

Chuck Matthews: "This would be a really good time for you to stop talking."

???: "You and Cyrus are the NLWF Brothers. No other team in NLWF, hell no other team in wrestling has ever been as close as you two. You guys are always on the same page. You made your careers together, you've been building off each other since your NLWF debuts, and now you're forced to fight each other. And you can't stand it."

Chuck stands up.

Chuck Matthews: "Shut up, man."

???: "Or maybe you're scared, Chuck? You've said yourself you can't beat Cyrus. Is that why you don't want to fight him? Chuck Matthews cares for no one. Chuck, your own family hates you. You have nothing. Look at you! You win titles, you thrive on wrestling success because that's the only certantly in your life. So long as you hold the gold, you have something over everyone else. And that makes you feel big, doesn't it? Everything everyone ever said about you was true. You don't care about Lauren Taylor. You don't care about Erika Fox. You sure as hell don't care for Brenton Cyrus. You just won't fight him because you know it'll knock you off your high horse when he beats you."

Chuck roars and ruches the masked man. The man disintegrates as Chuck comes in contact with him, sending Chuck careening into the wall, where his shoulder breaks through it. Chuck feels a hand of his shoulder. The masked man is nowhere in sight. Chuck lifts off the ground, and is brought crashing back down onto the shards of glass from the broken lamp. Chuck lies in a bloody head on the floor. The masked man reappears.

???: "Chuck, you aren't fooling anyone. Nobody buys the bad boy game anymore, so drop it. We all know you and Cyrus don't want to fight. We know your respect for each other goes way too deep for anything like that to happen. But whether you like it or not, Chuck, that match will happen. Avoiding Simple Survival is just a band-aid. You're postponing the inevitable. One of these days, Chuck, you're going to have no choice but to stand in that ring and watch your only friend walk down that ramp to fight you. What are you gonna do then. Huh?"

Chuck Matthews: "I will never fight Brenton Cyrus. I promise you."

The masked man grabs Chuck's face and pulls it very close to his mask.

???: "No, Chuck. You WILL fight Brenton Cyrus. I promise you."

The masked man disappears. Chuck struggles to get to his feet, blood dripping down his back and face from the impacts.

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

Chuck Matthews is cleaned up. It is about three hours later.

Chuck Matthews: "Aaron O'Shea. You've come in at a bad time. You make your stupid video blogs in hopes that a few fans will need to kill some time and decide to give it a watch. Aaron, you were drafted to Direct Hit, and given to me. I'm not some dark match, PG level loser who's going to help break you into the business. I'm the top of the food chain that's going to break you period. You can tell everyone how much of an honor it is to be on Direct Hit, and how much of a privilege it is to fight me. You're right. It's an honor to fight a man like me, Aaron. An honor I don't believe you deserved. Big deal, you're the PG champion. I'm the longest reigning champ in NLWF history. Not only that, but as of Joe Santiago's hall of fame, I became the most watched champion in NLWF."

Chuck Matthews: "I'm breaking out of my glass ceiling, O'Shea, and step one is to build momentum on my way to the biggest match of my life. I'm just a few inches away from grabbing my frst World title reign in NLWF, and nobody...not Brenton Cyrus, not Ramirez Silva, and most certainly not some puke-stained little Irish bastard is going to prevent me from achieving my greatest accomplishment in NLWF."

Chuck Matthews: "You've been traded back to Legacy, O'Shea. You know why? Because the second you were put in a match with me, management knew they had just signed your sould to the devil. Not even I know the things I'm capable of. That's when I'm at my most dangerous. This week, I'm going to take whatever Irish pride you have left, and I'm going to tear it to pieces. I'm going to leave you a broken man in that ring. Why? Because I fucking can. You're going back to Legacy? I'll make sure you get a good sendoff from Direct Hit, in the only way Chuck Matthews can. With an Impact. A Hollywood Impact."