Free Ride

[Miles]

The last time Curt Hawkins appeared on EBWF programming he had lost his Breakout Title in the opening match of WrestleMania and subsequently attacked the new holder of the championship, Trent Barreta, backstage. Attacking Barreta had been a reoccurring theme for Hawkins during his brief stint with the company. After a third time, he was sent from the arena and had remained in his New York apartment where he currently remained. The young man sat on a loveseat in his modest living arrangements, a decent enough place, and he looked to be extremely stressed. Sitting on a couch was his partner Tyler Reks who took a bite from a cheese pizza, the entire box resting on a coffee table. Hawkins pulled his hair and and sighed deeply, which Reks took notice of.

Tyler Reks: "You need to calm down, man."

Curt Hawkins: "I can't calm down. Do you understand the gravity of the situation here?"

Reks didn't look very calm or collected himself. He sat a few fingers on his chin and remained silent for a few moments.

Tyler Reks: "You've got that match with James Storm. You should probably try focusing on that."


Curt Hawkins: "No. No, no, no. I can't focus. I jumped Trent and I thought that might be good enough but I still haven't heard from him. I haven't heard from Kane."


Since joining the company, Hawkins quickly aligned himself with the Big Red Monster. A simple trade. Exposure and television time for his soul. Who wouldn't agree? It's not as if a soul were something you could actually give to someone. But Kane was a certifiable lunatic and tended to see things differently. Reks had almost made the same agreement, albeit against his will. Since his run in with Kane, the former member of the Midnight Gang had changed his perspective considerably. Hawkins placed his chin into his hands and stared blankly at his cell phone resting beside the pizza box.

Tyler Reks: "Why are you looking at the phone? Do you think he's going to CALL? Do you really think KANE uses a phone?"

Curt Hawkins: "How the hell else is he going to get in contact with me?!"

Tyler Reks: "He's KANE. He wears a mask all day. Do you really think he has a cell phone bill? Why don't you check your e-mail? Maybe he's got internet access too."

Hawkins rolled his eyes at the absurdity of this topic.

Curt Hawkins: "Shut up, just shut up, alright?! Forget Kane. Forget it. Who am I wrestling? James Storm? Some redneck, hillbilly. Pfft."

Curt scoffed at what he thought of as an unworthy opponent.

Tyler Reks: "He did almost win the IC Title."

Curt Hawkins: "Yeah. Almost. Maybe he if didn't drink so much and hit the gym every once in awhile he could have got the job done. He literally has a beer super glued to his hand at all times. I would say it's killed his brain cells but he's from the south so he didn't have much to begin with in the first place."

Tyler Reks: "And you've got your x-factor."

Curt Hawkins: "Yeah? What's that?"

Tyler Reks: "Me in your corner!"

Curt Hawkins: "Yeah, well, that did me a whole lot of good at WrestleMania, didn't it?"

Hawkins asked with a glaring forming in his eyes, bitter over his defeat. Reks took another bite from his pizza and downed it with some soda before glancing over to anywhere but Hawkins.

Tyler Reks: "I didn't want to steal your WrestleMania moment."

Curt Hawkins: "Go to hell."

Hawkins spat out the phrase and rose to head towards his bed room. The door swung open and somehow all seven feet of Kane was now standing before him. Hawkins nearly jumped out of his skin and Reks sprung to his feet. The masked behemoth's hair hung in his face and he remained eerily still before speaking.

Kane: "Poor choice of words."

Curt Hawkins: "How did you get in here?!"

Kane: "You never responded to my e-mail so I came."

Tyler Reks: "..I..I..told you he had an e-mail."

Kane: "I DON'T HAVE AN E-MAIL, YOU MORONS!"

Kane's voice grew to a roar. The jokes were over.

Kane: "The free ride is over. I got you both television time. A Wrestle Mania appearance. And a title. It isn't my fault you couldn't hold onto it. It's time for my payback. And it begins this week."

Hawkins still looked as though he were staring at a ghost and Reks made sure to keep a considerable distance from the demon.

Kane: "You have a match with James Storm. You should be victorious. And if you aren't? You had better be standing over his broken body when it's done. I WON'T be associated with weaklings."

The last words came through gritted teeth. Kane through a hood over his head and began to leave through the front door. Before leaving he looked over his shoulder.

Kane: "Oh and Curt? I love what you've done with the place."

The towering figure laughed silently before departing. Hawkins and Reks slowly turned towards one another.

Tyler Reks: "How did he get in here?! Did he climb up the side of the building?!"

Curt Hawkins: "Yeah, man, a seven foot tall guy climbed up the side of the building like Spider Man!"

Tyler Reks: "Then how did he get in?!"

Curt Hawkins: "I don't [BLEEPING] know!"

Hawkins slumped back into his chair, hands covering the sides of his head, looking as if he were ready to have a mental breakdown.

Curt Hawkins: "..I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.."

---

At the arena for this week's Warfare event Curt Hawkins paced back and forth backstage. He held his cane in his hand, tapping it lightly against his palm. Tyler Reks stood in the background, wearing dark sunglasses, pulling his tendrils of hair away from his face. Todd Grisham stood by to interview the two men.

Todd Grisham: "Curt Hawkins, you've been displaying a nasty mean streak as of late and you will get to put it to the test against James Storm tonight."

Curt Hawkins: "You call it a mean streak and I'll call it a competitive edge. The same edge that made me a champion, the same edge that will make me a champion again and the same edge that put James Storm down and out."

Todd Grisham: "I have to imagine that James Storm has been in a ball room brawl or two and will be ready to bring the fight to you."

Curt Hawkins: "Is that what you think? You think "The Cowboy" has my number? I guess he's just going to come to his lame little Kid Rock song and walk all over me, right? Well, I've got a better song for him. "Country Boy Can't Survive". Because he has no chance. He can hop right back on his pony and take his Hank Hill ass right back to Texas. YEE-HAW!"

Todd Grisham: "James Storm isn't from Texas."

Curt Hawkins: "Who could possibly care? So he's a hick who grew up in a nicer trailer park. Big deal."

Todd Grisham: "Well, both of you gentlemen perpetrated a rather heinous attack against our new Breakout Champion a few weeks ago. Are we going to see more of the same?"

The mountain of dreadlocks in the background stepped forward.

Tyler Reks: "I can field this one. Yes. You will. Why? Because we're tired of being overlooked. Why hasn't Hawkins gotten a rematch against Baretta yet? And why haven't we been given a tag team title match? Don't stress too much because I've got another. How long has it been since I've had a match in this dump? I've main evented a pay per view! And the owner, our fearless leader, said during that match "look at all of this talent in the ring. Except Tyler Reks."

Reks removed his sunglasses and almost snarled in anger.

Tyler Reks: "That's really cute. Laugh riot from Richie Rich. And that's the reason guys like Baretta and Storm are going to keep getting beaten down. Because guys like us bust our asses and that's the level of respect we get it."

Curt Hawkins: "It's a travesty."

Tyler Reks: "A crime."

Curt Hawkins: "A shame!"

Tyler Reks: "An abortion!"

Curt Hawkins: "A tragic, crime ridden, shameful abortion!"

Todd Grisham: "I think we get the picture."

Curt Hawkins: "No. I don't think you do. The people WANT Hawkins and Reks but they aren't getting them. They don't want James Storm and his beer gut."

Tyler Reks: "Or his goofy cowboy hats."

Curt Hawkins: "I mean look at this tweet I got today."

The former Breakout Champion removes his Blackberry and begins to read from it.

Curt Hawkins: "From PGSux10935..'Curt Hawkins, you are amazing, please sleep with my girlfriend. You deserve more TV time. I hate James Storm.' All day. I get stuff like this all day long. It's overwhelming how much support we have."

Reks pulled out his own blackberry with the intention of reading out loud.

Tyler Reks: "I've got something similar and it goes like this..from AssDaily 'Tyler, you have the best hair in all of wrestling, you should be on TV more, James Storm lost his virginity to a donkey.' These people NEED us, Todd. Need."

Todd didn't look entirely impressed by the praise from these less than dubious sources.

Todd Grisham: "With all that aside, what if James Storm picks up the win tonight? How will you regroup?"

Curt Hawkins: "Tough one, tough one. I think I'll regroup by hitting him in the face with my cane. What do you think, Reks? Solid plan?"

Tyler Reks: "Solid."

Todd Grisham: "One final question. Will Kane be watching this match closely?"

Hawkins face turned very pale before becoming very angry. He was heard shouting "INTERVIEWS OVER!" before shoving the camera's lens with his palm.