Chapter Two: "Preparation"

PEOPLE U/M: Abram, Zarek // Pretty much everyone in the free-for-all
BUD RECORD: 02/01/00
METHODS OF MADNESS: I have my timeline back in order, so no switching things this time. This would be my third hangover roleplay.

“Luck is what happens when
preparation meets opportunity."

The water was cold to the touch, and Abram couldn't stand it. Zarek on the other hand, who had been working out for hours, slipped right into the icy water, that was supposed to relax one's muscles. Abram and Zarek had been pretty much living at the gym for the past couple of days, Abram because in the near future he actuallye planned on taking down Deacon Frost, that is of course, he still remained in BUD after the beating he was to receive at Hangover. Zarek, well, because he had so much on his plate that he needed the workout to prepare, as well as a stress outlet. Evan Pierce, one of the men Zarek defeated in his debut match in BUD, was back at Zarek for some type of revenge. Oh joy. Meanwhile, Zarek was chasing after the man that was able to put a swift one over him last week, Manic. Wonderful. All the while, these three men, as well as half the roster, have entered a free-for-all for the BUDvision Championship. That's what really makes it great. In this free-for-all, not only did Zarek have two enemies he had made during his stay in BUD, Evan Pierce and Manic, but he also had an ally of his that had joined the free-for-all, Melanie Thomas. Melanie Thomas, along with Abram, had been the only one fighting to keep the THC Championship around Zarek's waist, and the two had become somewhat of a dynamic duo in the THC division. Melanie always came to Zarek's aid when he wore the championship, and now that Melanie wears the championship around her beautfil waist, Zarek is more than happy to return the favor. This free-for-all puts them against each other, as well as many others. At least the two have an advantage in this match, that many others don't have, a friend. Teamwork is not a  worthy quality in a BUDvision Champion, but it does help in attempting to win the gold. What's wrong with using friendships in order to make it to the top? Nothing. The two can't be co-holders, but as long as one of them makes it to the end, it's a win for both.

If anyone in this free-for-all, there was one person that Zarek was most worried about, or rather, there was one person that hurt his chances of winning, a great deal. This lady's name was Jade, and not much was known about her, other than she was once married to Lee Spawn, but who hasn't been, nowadays? The man definitely got around, but that's besides the point. Jade was the sort of person that just screamed threat, and she was definitely making her point known that she was here for buisness, and she was definitely making short work of any competition that was thrown her way. As well as being able to hold to with Jessica Michaels, she also seemed to be on top of this free-for-all. She appeared to the hold the key to getting under everyone's skin, and be able to pit everyone against one another. It was a quality that Zarek himself and since forgotten, and envied in a person such as Jade. Jade, who had so much power, and cout easily have BUD at her finger tips in a matter of weeks. Zarek had to do everything in his power to stop her. Not that he was some good force in the battle of good versus evil, and Jade was supposed to be evil, but it was just a matter of who seemed to be the victor at this point. If Jade was to win, that means that Zarek would lose, and considering what happened last time, that wouldn't be a very wise move. Although Manic didn't think a woman could win this thing, Zarek knew that at this day in age, a match such as this could easily be dominated by a woman. Take Dannica for example, it's fact that she could drop her Bytch Championship right now and be a formittable opponent for Dante Cross for that Heavyweight Championship. Come to think of it, that would be a good match. Getting back on subject, at this point, Jade is the biggest threat, which means Zarek is focusing on her, more than anyone else...besides Manic and Evan, of course.

Speaking of Evan Pierce, he appears retaliating in a timely fashion this time. Last time, Evan only thought Zarek was worth him responding to half of his promos, but this time, I'm pretty sure Evan knows better than to underestimate Zarek. Within a matter of mintues after Zarek's first promo, Evan cut himself a promo, in which he appeared to be in some sort of church, yet he later claimed he didn't believe in religion. Now, I could be wrong here, but isn't it a bit strange for a man, who doesn't believe in religion, to be going to a church, and confessional for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a church-goer myself, but atleast I don't claim to be and then skip off to confessional. What Evan failed to see by going to church in his promo, was that he proved nothing. Calling Zarek a few names, and confessing a supposed upcoming sin, proved to be absolutley nothing, other than a laughable moment, to be pointed out in everyone's promos. Well atleast we have some comic relief in BUD, Zarek definitely needs it. Moving onto Manic, he hasn't really said much after his first promo, in which he told everyone that he basically was done with Zarek, and wanted nothing to do with him. To bad for Manic, Zarek was definitely not finished with him, not by a long shot. I'm sure Manic will turn up somewhere though, and bicker about someone cutting a promo moments before the show was underway. Whatever, Manic was in this free-for-all, Zarek was in this free-for-all, and the only satisfaction Zarek needed was to outlast him in this match. Although Manic, not being very intelligent and all, may see it a different way, that would be enough revenge for Zarek. Knowing you couldn't last longer with the roster than the man, that you supposily "kicked his ass" last week. It's shame enough for Manic, to bring a smile to Zarek's face.

At this moment, Zarek is stepping out of the ice water, wearing only a pair of boxer briefs, his muscles being iced enough. Abram handed Zarek a towel, and Zarek dried off a bit before putting back on his shirt and pants. Both men were wearing loose fitting clothes, easy to move around in. Abram wore some type of windbreaker material with a muscle shirt, although you really didn't have anything to show off. Zarek, in turn, just wore a regular gray shirt and long shorts. By this time, the two had been in the gym for awhile, and with so much errands to run before Hangover, the duo decided to leave the gym. Outside, it was like any other day, medium weather, not to hot, not to cold, so everyone and their mother was out today. It didn't bother Zarek, or Abram for that matter, but it always sucked getting stuck behind someone who was walking extremly slow, when you lived your life at a high pace. There was so much to do today, Zarek was scheduled in for an interview, thanks to Abram, and Zarek was still into his little preparation ritual he did right before a match. The duo wondered down the street, the gym being close enough to where they were staying, that they decided to walk.

"So Abram, have you completed your list yet of who has actually entered the free-for-all?" Zarek was whipping off the sweat and the wet spots he had missed from the ice water. He had originally planned on taking a shower after a good workout, but his time ran over, and a shower wasn't in the question any longer. The first day of the rest of his life, Zarek had other things on his mind besides taking a shower.

Since the very first day that Zarek had signed up for the BUDvision Championship, Abram had been doing what any good manager would do, make a list of all the participants that will be going up against his client. He watched promo after promo of people who entered the free-for-all, and what they said. It wasn't surprising that most of them were speaking of Jade, but it was a little sad that they would underestimate a force like Zarek Lyle, especially after what happened with Evan Pierce and Corey Vega. Well, I suppose everyone is in for a surprise, atleast, most of the roster, anyway.

Abram took a list out of his pocket, the list he had made that had everyone's name on it who would compete in the free-for-all, "Of course I did Zarek, who do you take me for? Alright, I'm just going to go in order of how I wrote them. The first one being..." Abram unfolds the list and looks at the first name on the list, "Melanie Thomas"

Melanie Thomas was one of Zarek's only ally, and he definitely didn't want to be the one to step in front of her way. "Well, Melanie knows that I want this just as much as she does. We'll do what any other friendship in this match would do, steer clear of each other. Of all the people in this match, Melanie will definitely not be the one I throw over first. We'll stay out of each other's way, and if we're both left standing at the end, then we'll duke it out, it's as simple as that." Of course, Melanie is a formittable opponent and will be a challenge if the two of them are left in the ring.

Abram checks of Melanie's name, so he doesn't end up coming back to her, and looks at the next name on the list, "Alright, the next entrant is another lady, Katrina Bensen. I don't think she's anything to worry about."

"Hmm...she doesn't appear to be a threat in the singles division, she really hasn't done anything worth mentioning, that I know of, anyway. She does seem to be somewhat of a threat in the tag team division though. I mean, she did manage to defeat Corey Vega and Evan Pierce last week, not a very big accomplishment, considering I did it single handedly, but did Lori Ann enter as well?" Zarek was becoming pretty good at this whole people thing, he had been studying up on the roster of BUD, and he figured he knew them pretty well. Knowing the BUD roster, was part of his strategy in the free-for-all.

Abram skims through the list for a second before he reaches he name, Lori Ann Rossdale McMahon, "As a matter of fact, she did enter the free-for-all, good call." Abram was surprised at Zarek's knowledge of the BUD roster, he really had been studying up. Abram was amazed at how seriously he was taking this free-for-all, how seriously he was taking this match was Evan Pierce, how seriously he was taking this week.

"You see Abram, apart, these two aren't exactly your average threat. I mean, Lori Ann was slaughtered one on one with Dannica last week, but with Katrina they defeated Vega and Pierce. Apart, these two are close to nothing, but together, they are a well oiled machine. I mean, they have to be, they are the number two contenders to the tag team championships. The trick is, seperating them, and then they fall. It's quite simple" Action

"Very clever Zarek, very clever. But here's a question for you, the next person is Justin Black, how do you plan on taking him out? Former Franchise Champion, THC Champion, BUDvision Champion, Icon Champion, and Heavyweight Champion, you've got your hands full with this one" Abram had been impressed at Zarek's strategy thus far, but Justin Black was a name to be reckoned with in BUD, so it would be interesting to see how Zarek planned on putting him over the rope.

Believing himself to be dry enough, Zarek unzips his gym bag and tosses the towel inside as he thinks of an answer to Abram's question. Justin Black was not one to get involved with, but with strategicly placed opponents, Zarek wouldn't have to touch him, "Well, it seems that Mr. Black has somewhat of an ego, I mean, he has a right to have one, but it will be his downfall. With so many people in this free-for-all, his ego is bound to  collide with someone else's, and they'll take care of each other, it's that simple. I'm just not quite sure as to who that may be just yet."

"Hmmm...that's a bit iffy, but I'll let you off the hook for now, we'll come back to him. Up next we have your favorite person in the world...Manic." Abram already knew what Zarek was going to say. Ever since his loss to Manic last week, Zarek had been looking for some sort of redemption and looked at this match to redeem himself.

Zarek thought about it for a second, he knew how he wanted to get rid of Manic, run straight for him and rip his throat out, but focusing on one person wasn't the smartest thing to do. He would have to overcome the strong feeling of revenge towards Manic, and focus on the match, "It's not secret that Manic is not my best friend, more like I want to burn him alive, but I've come to realization that if I want to become BUDvision Champion, I can't focus on just one person in this match. If I set my sights on just Manic, and focus on my personal vendetta's, the someone else could easily toss me over when I'm not looking. If I meet Manic in the ring, then I meet him in the ring, but if not, then that's that."

Zarek had managed to shock Abram yet again with his answers, Abram had thought for sure his main goal in this match was to simply kill Manic, but he seemed to actually want to win the BUDvision Championship now. "Next on the list, ahh...we have your best friend, Evan Pierce. Did you manage to catch his promo by the way?"

Abram knew very well that he had seen Evan's promo, infact, they had watched it together, and shared a laugh about it. Evan was an idiot, everyone knew that, except for him of course. Zarek had put off actually addressing such a laughable promo, but knew he had to do it sooner or later, Abram was now provoking him to do so. "Evan, Evan, Evan, do we have a little case of homophobia? I believe so. Isn't homophobia one of the biggest signs of being gay? It definitely is. Do you have something against gays, Evan? Brian Juneau, is the Franchise Champion, a championship you will never be holding, considering I'm knocking you out of any sort of contendership when I defeat you in this match. By the way, incase you hadn't noticed Brian is gay, and a superb wrestler. But, just for the record, I can't speak for Abram, but I for one, am straight. What about you Evan?"

Abram, hearing these words, speaks up, "Umm..yeah, just for the record, I'm straight too" Abram then goes back to his piece of paper.

"Very mature by the way, Evan. What, are we back in high school, maybe even junior high? 'I don't like you, you're gay'. Grow up, Evan. You are pathetic. Has that lose made your brain go off track? Oh, I'm sorry, have those two loses made your brain go off track? By the way, you did lose, so don't try to deny it. Because you weren't pinned, doesn't mean you didn't lose. Your lose to me at 2007 Wayz 2 Die is even more pathetic, considering it was more like a handicap match. You lost Evan, and you lost bad. What makes you think this singles match will change anything? Oh wait, it's not just a singles match, this is a Parking Lot Brawl. Was that your 'ace' Evan? Knowing that you could use weapons? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I can use weapons as well" Evan was slowly but surely becoming a pain. Anything that came out of his mouth was deserving of being in some sort of comedy routine. Atleast Evan had a backup career when he's gotten enough loses, that he realizes he's nothing.

"As for Evan in this free-for-all, I shall take him out myself. The way I see it, due to his performance these past two weeks, he doesn't amount to anything special. If I was to focus on Manic, there was the possibility of being thrown over by someone else when giving my attention to Manuc. With Evan however, well, he's less than Lori Ann, he's less than Katrina, so I can just throw him over myself, and that'll be it." Zarek seems pretty confident in his match with Evan, and why shouldn't he? Last time, Evan had a huge advantage on Zarek and still managed to lose? Why would this be any different? "P.S. Evan, I'm glad you're Evan Pierce, and I'm well, not, because I would hate the humiliation after losing my third match in a row"

 Abram looks at his watch, and notices that they are running out of time. As to not interupt, Abram lets Zarek finish his sentence before speaking up "Zarek, we need to speed this up. The last few competitors are Jessica Michaels, Emerald, Jade, Lust Vegas, Matt Matlock, and DSL."

Zarek really doesn't change into trying to speed up his speech about the free-for-all participants. Instead of seperating them, though, he groups them into pairs. The first being the two who he believes are his biggest competiton. "Alright, these next two are the people in this competition that I believe, besides myself, could walk out of this match as BUDvision Champion. The first being Jade. She has made herself known, and there is a lot of hype about this young lady. Already she has scored herself a contenders match for the Bytch Championship and has entered this free-for-all for the BUDvision Championship. My only concern about her possible victory in this matchup, is that her singles match may get in the way. Let's say Jade gets the best of Jessica in their match, well, we all know how psycho Jessica can be, so it's a possibility that Jessica will attempt to seek revenge in the free-for-all. Hell, it's not so farefetched, I even said I would attempt to do it. If it's the other way, I'm sure Jade would want revenge on Jessica in the free-for-all. It could go either way. Then we have Emerald who seems to be really asserting herself into this free-for-all. My concern about her, is the fact that he is madly in love with Nova. On one hand, this could be her downfall, and it could very well distract her from winning this. On the other hand, winning the BUDvision Championship could be her chance to impress Nova. It could go either way, Emerald is one tricky female."

The duo walk right in front of the hotel that they are staying in this week. In order to prolounge this, he takes out a cigarette and lights up. Because the hotel doesn't allow smoking, Zarek stays outside and continues while Abram walks inside. "Speaking of Jessica, she, of course, entered into the free-for-all. It's crazy really. Jade and Jessica kind of cancel each other out because there is no telling what will happen in their singles match. Jessica could end up injuring Jade, making it so she can't compete in the free-for-all, or the other way around for that matter. Then, as I said before, there's the option of taking revenge in the free-for-all. Then again, if one of the ladies does that then it opens them up. In focusing on just one person, it leaves that person vulnerable for just anyway to penetrate them. Then we have the legend, known as Da Sweet Lunatic. I would like to take this time to come back to Justin Black as well, considering I didn't have a strategy for him. You see, these two hae gathered up so many accomplishments, and along with those accomplishments came the ego. I'm not saying they don't deserve to boast about themselves, because they do, but when one huge ego meets another ego, one is getting deflated. It is my opinion, that in this match, either DSL will get rid of Black, or Black will get rid of DSL. Either way, I don't really have to deal with one of them much."

Zarek flicks the end of the cigarette as he blows out smoke. Zarek never learned how to make rings, or make cool little shapes, although he had always wanted too. "Coming too the last two competitors of the night. Matt Matlock, is a competitor, yes, but I don't think he'll be much interested in this free-for-all. Right before the free-for-all, he is taking place in the triple threat for a contendership for the Heavyweight Championship, which will be sure for dry him up. I don't think he'll have much juice after the triple threat match to be competitng for the BUDvision Championship. Don't get me wrong, Matlock has talent, but not enough talent to compete for a World Heavyweight contendership, and then compete in a BUDvision Championship match. Lastly, but hopefully not least, we have Lust Vegas. I've learned my lesson about newcomers, and know not to underestimate people, so although I don't know much about this guy, I'll still be keeping an eye out for him."

Zarek walks over to a trashcan with an ash tray on top, and stick the rest of his cigarette into the ash."There is one big hole in my plan. I've paired people up such as DSL-Black, Michaels-Jade. It's my opinion that these people will be the downfall of one another, but that always leaves the other person. Say Jade throws Jessica Michaels over, I'm still left with Jade, so no matter what, in a match like this, I'm going to get my hands dirty. When it comes down to it, it should definitely be an interesting matchup. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some buisness to take care of"

Zarek tips his head and walks into the hotel, busy with other things to continue any further. There's no telling what Zarek and Abram plan on doing in order to further their process of getting ready both matches, but one thing's for sure, they'll be ready.

Gone.

TBC: Me Only