INT. HOME OF JULIA COLE - AFTERNOON
Our scene opens up inside of the home of Julia Cole-- ex-wife of Second City competitor Damian Cole. The house is crowded and the mood is festive. There are birthday decorations-- it is a Skylander-themed party-- all about. There are party hats and party streamers and cake and presents galore. Aunts and uncles and cousins a friends all gather to celebrate the eighth birthday of Damian's son Max.
Everyone is gathered in the living room, where Max is the center of attention as he opens each present one at a time, tearing through paper and screaming with joy with the revelation of each new gift.
DAMIAN COLE, although a stranger in his former home, stands a proud father, holding an envelope, waiting to give his present to his son.
Julia approaches him.
JULIA
Did you have to invite him?
I told you not to invite him.
DAMIAN
What? He's harmless.
Of course, Julia is referring to MARTY SUNSHINE, ESQ., Damian's manager-- a man long despised by Damian's ex-spouse. Marty sits on a love seat and Max, having just opened Marty's present-- a b.b. gun-- is overjoyed, and jumps into Marty's lap.
JULIA
You know I'm hiding that thing as
soon as Max goes to bed. It is completely
inappropriate for an eight year old boy.
DAMIAN
Oh come on, Jules, what are you
afraid-- he's gonna shoot his eye out.
JULIA
You're not funny. Those things are dangerous.
The two are sharing a light-hearted banter-- a crazy exchange when considering that it was three short years ago that Damian was incarcerated for possession of narcotics (they belonged to Marty), and it was revealed that Damian was having a scandalous affair with the notorious "Metropolitan Mistress" Priscilla Price-- which led to their divorce.
The banter takes a turn, however, as Julia's expression begins to change. Damian senses it.
DAMIAN
Uh-oh, what's that look for?
JULIA
I was thinking, you know,
about your present for Max--
DAMIAN
Don't start, Jules--
JULIA
It's too dangerous. Look, I know
you want him to see you wrestle,
and I know that he idolizes you but--
DAMIAN
But what? He's my son. He's eight
years old. He's never seen his old
man wrestle, and I believe it's time.
This is really important to me.
JULIA
I know it is. It's just that,
I was looking up your opponent
for this week, Erick Holland--
and quite frankly, he scares me.
Damian's eyes widen.
DAMIAN
He scares you?
JULIA
Yeah, he just seems so-- I don't
know-- so morbid, so brooding. He
seems dangerous, like a loose cannon.
What happens if you get hurt and Max sees it.
DAMIAN
Jules, they're all dangerous. Equinox was
dangerous. Jason Richards was dangerous.
There are no easy fights where I am, and
they're not gonna get any easier. When
are you going to start trusting that
I know what I'm doing in there?
The conversation has quickly turned from light to serious, and the frustration is reflected in Damian's tone.
DAMIAN
Listen, this means more to me than you'll
ever know. This is an important night. A
lot of important things are going down--
things that I can't talk about right now,
but it's gonna be a big night with big
plans and I want Max to be a part of it.
Perhaps she recognizes the need to pick her battles. Perhaps she recognizes that this is a battle that she needs to back off of. Whatever the reason, Julia calls over Max.
JULIA
Max, come here.
Max runs over.
JULIA
Max, dad has a special present for you.
* * *
Erick, maybe Jules is right. Maybe you are dangerous-- a loose cannon. I saw what you did to Equinox, and it is pretty clear to me that you carry a lot of demons-- demons that you unleashed on our common opponent.
We call carry our personal demons.
Eight years old. I missed his seventh birthday, and his sixth. I missed them because I screwed up, and I forfeited almost three years of my son's life. I'll never get that time back. Missed opportunities. Missed memories.
It's time to make new memories.
Erick, I don't know you. I don't know what you fight for. Perhaps it's a means to let out your anger, perhaps it's to prove your self worth. The truth is I don't know, and I will never know what it is you fight for. But I do know what I fight for. I fight for my family. I fight for my redemption. And on August 23rd, in Crown Point, Indiana, at the Battle for Bludhaven, I fight for my son. I will not have his first memory of his father in a ring be a haunting memory. I will not allow him to go to bed that night with a restless sleep. I will have been training too hard for that to happen. So you bring whatever malicious intentions you intend to bring with you to Crown Point, and let's have at it. I plan on ending the night with my hand raised, and my son on my shoulders.