Dusty Griffith/Johnny Lightning vs Team ELITE

[Ryan Cooke]

Good luck to both teams!

[James]

* written by me and Ryan D*

[Up.]

[It's a balmy 7 degrees today with the wind chill.]

[In other words, it's god damn cold today in Minnesota.]

[But that doesn't seem to bother some people.]

[Sitting on a park bench overlooking a frozen pond is Dusty Griffith.]

[He's watching a makeshift hockey game already in progress.]

[It's actually quite fun.]

[The game, I mean. Hockey is fairly enjoyable, shame it doesn't get more attention.]

[Of course you wouldn't know the sport has become so obscure here in America.]

[Not by the sort of reaction from the people sitting around Dusty.]

[Even though it's not world class hockey, it doesn't matter, right here and now it's as good as it gets.]

[And that does just fine for Dusty Griffith.]

[At least it gets his mind off of business.]

[Namely fellow Tenchu-Do brethren Daniel Corey and Chris Butler.]

[Somewhat anyway.]

[Because Dusty is nothing if not a little obsessive.]

[Especially when you call into question his character.]

[Coward? Disgrace? A shame to the sport of wrestling and perhaps most importantly, to Jason Ramsey and Tenchu-Do?]

[Yeah, Dusty takes that very seriously, even if the source is Daniel Corey.]

* * *

[It's been an interesting year for Johnny Lightning thusfar. Three days in, and Johnny was faced with a world of changes.]

[New Home. New Job. New friends. New enemies.]

[Luckily for him, among those he could count on was Dusty Griffith.]

[Dusty's sudden absence from Wrestle Coast : Cascadia surprised Johnny. Here he was, a rising star in the ranks of the new proving grounds, and with Dusty around, Johnny had someone who he felt he could trust.]

[But then, over the next months, Dusty left, and the proving grounds fell to pieces.]

[It was a difficult transition, to say the least. Johnny felt like the rug was pulled out from under him, leaving him and his lady stranded in a strange land.]

[Johnny thought back to the day his phone rang. Derek Shanahan, head of Pure Pro Wrestling. Said Johnny came highly recommended.]

[With the bills piling up, and not much work in this economy for a professional wrestler in the northwest, Johnny quickly made a deal, packed up his life, including his lady, and made way to a place that made Rochester look like a tropical paradise. Luckily for him, his lady loved the snow.]

* * *

[Johnny's camaro pulled into the parking lot near the visitor station at the park. He had no idea what Dusty was up to, telling him to meet him at the park, but who was he to second guess the man the beat him at Summer Games. Johnny carefully exited his car, double checking to ensure he was properly attired.. he zipped up his jacket, tightened his scarf and pulled his gloves on as far as they would go.]

[He set off in the direction of the gazebo, where he was told Dusty would be within eyesight. He trudged down the slushy path, where alls he could hear was the slushy crunch of wet snow under his boots and the distant shouts of children at play.]

[By the time he arrived at the gazebo, he was half frozen. He wiped the snow running down his face with the back of his glove, and slowly surveyed the surroundings, quickly noting the unmistakable presence of one Dusty Griffith, sitting about 100 yards out on a park bench, enjoying a pick-up hockey game.]

[Dusty catches a glimpse of Johnny approaching from the closing distance. He nods his head and raises an arm to signal him over before turning his attention back to the game as he takes notice of the particularly excellent play of one of the kids on the ice. Granted Dusty isn't much of a hockey fan, but he can tell the kids ability to skate circles around the other team is pretty damn good.]

[Just as Johnny makes the last few steps over to the benches, Dusty looks up and nods again with a slight wave of his hand and barely noticeable smile to greet him upon arrival.]

DG - Hey John, been a while.

JL - Dusty, man, it certainly has... how's the shoulder?

DG - It's seen better days, but it gets the job done.

JL - Well, could be worse, I suppose. Shanahan said you put in a good word for me.. thanks. I appreciate it, seeing as how WC:C is... [his voice trails off.]

[Dusty nods.]

DG - Yeah.

[The sighs.]

DG - It is what it is... Still, doesn't mean it's any less of a crappy deal.

[Snort, thumbs his nose.]

DG - Anyway. I knew things were going south with WCC and I started making some calls for some of you guys out west.

JL - Well, again, thanks. And it looks like we've been thrown in the thick of things, with one of those tag teams who pick a cool word and use that as their team name. They anything to worry about, or what?

[Dusty bristled a bit.]

DG - Corey and Butler, yeah, they're solid... Came out of the same camp that I did in Japan. They're currently annoying the piss out of me.

[Dusty grumbles a bit.]

DG - But I ain't worried about 'em. They like to talk and play these stupid little games with me. So far they're winning, but that's the beauty of this thing we got goin' on here. When it's time to get in the ring, we'll see who's doing all the talking.

[Johnny chuckles.]

JL - Yeah, man, I'd be hard pressed to find any tag team that could get the advantage on you and me. Hell, we beat scores of WWA's best in one night, and the only thing that could stop either of us that night seemed to be the other, hah.

[Johnny wipes his face.]

JL - So is it always going to be this cold?

DG - It doesn't get cold in New York?

JL - Not this friggin cold. This is totally inhuman.

[Dusty nods and grins before groaning as he stretches his limbs out.]

DG - Well I suppose then... There's a bar not far from here, big screens, playoff football, and some of best heart stopping grub you can eat.

[Dusty gets up and stretches once more.]

JL - I do want me some heart stopping grub. I heard they have good grub in this part of the country. I have a feeling this may work out just fine.

DG - Positive thinking, I like it.

[And with that, we did you all a good day.]

[Out.]

[teamelite]

"I never thought I'd see the day, Chris."

[The day turned to night, and it was the eve of the January Fourth Pure Pro Wrestling show. Chris Butler and Daniel Corey of Team ELITE walked around the city of Winnepeg. Corey was dressed in a black and green Boston Celtics winter jacket and hat, blue jeans and wheat boots. Butler was dressed in a black leather jacket, black jeans and black leather boots with his black long hair tied back.]

"Chris, we're in Winnepeg. I thought Toronto was lame, but this place takes the cake. Wait, I got an idea..."

[Corey walked away from Butler and stops a young man on the sidewalk. The young man is no older than twenty, dressed very blandly with a face full of acne.]

"Excuse me, child, what time is the Winnepeg Jets game tonight?"

[The young man flips Corey off.]

"You asshole!"

[Corey smirks as the kid walked away. It was fun for him to make a dig at the city's lost hockey team. The elitists carried on down the sidewalk, with the other pedestrians dodging the twosome.]

"So tomorrow night, we will do what nobody else could last summer, we stop the bus called Griffith. Sadly, his recruitment in Johnny Lightning disappoints me."

[Butler turned his head at his partner to listen better.]

"He's so cliche, Chris. This guy is a blonde Tom Cruise knock off who wants to be a daredevil. And who calls themself 'Lightning' anyway? You don't see me running around calling myself 'Daniel Cumulus' now, do you?"

[Butler chuckled to himself and shook his head.]

"Because I stopped that in sixth grade... the girls weren't down with the cape."

[Butler slapped his forehead with his massive right hand.]

"But that's besides the point, Big Guy. You see, I'm not sure what planet Johnny Appleseed came from, possibly Cybertron, but he's not me. Hell, he's not you either and that makes him passe. We're the shit, he's just shit. Him and that Denny Griffith, that Chubby Checker looking freak."

[Corey stopped in his tracks as he came across the building that the show will be held in tomorrow night. A smile crept through his brown beard.]

"Tomorrow night, Griffith and Appleseed will get theirs. When it's all said and done, we will be victorious and carry on the legacy of Jason Ramsey and for all to bow before us."

[Butler shrugged his shoulders as he was not sure what his partner's deal is with Ramsey's legacy, especially since he's not dead or anything.]

"Then, we march on to the God awful area known as Georgetown, Ontario twelve days from today to extinguish the fire known as Garden Snake and Anthony Cockroach. Apparently, one of these boy band members is the World Heavyweight Champion, not sure which one."

[Corey walked over to the front door and put his palm on the surface.]

"These two utes, they have no idea who they are messing with. We have one little piggy that can never win the big match, apparently that's the inside joke inside the alliance. The other beat a manicly despressed Champion by cutting his wrists for the guy since he was a coward and won the belt on a technicality."

[Corey chuckled.]

"Where we came from, the Tenchu-Do Dojo, we do not get handed titles, we earn them. We earned our Iron Crown Tag straps, Big Chris. We didn't win pie eating contests or a rock/paper/scissors game, we out performed the competition. And why did we do that? Because we are Team ELITE, damn it."

[He turned back to Butler with an evil smirk.]

"And starting tomorrow night in PPW and on the fifteenth in II, we will show the world that we really mean it when we say 'If you aren't ELITE, you aren't shit'."

[Black.]