Post by Plethora the Perilous on Apr 27, 2023 21:32:53 GMT -5
CURRENT DAY, THE SECOND CHANCE RANCH, WEST VIRGINIA
The screen flashes from darkness to a moment of static to an overhead view of the Second Chance Ranch, Bifford's cult in West Virginia. 80 or so mobile homes, 60 or so bungalows, and 30 or so row houses are being built by people in Plethora robes. The sun goes up as the workers work. Low, dark, minor music plays in the background as we see the workers work.
Narrator: For many months, Bifford and his team have plotted, worked, developed.. and now, their people have shown up. If you build it, they will come - it's been said.. Bifford proved that here. People want a second chance.
The screen flashes to the second floor of the Second Chance Ranch town hall. We know this to be Bifford's private apartment. A person in a Plethora robe looks out the giant window of the apartment, looking out at the work being done by nearly 100 people. The person reaches up and pulls back their robe and, though the audience is expecting Bifford, it is not him. The person pulls the Plethora robe hood back and it is Earl the Popcorn Salesman, Bifford's oldest manager and ally. The black man from Jamaica looks out over the scene silently and then begins to speak.
Earl: Bifford has left me in charge for a few days.. he is gone. I have to oversee the continued construction efforts here, oversee any new arrivals, and keep things running smoothly..
Earl looks out over the society of people dressed like the Grim Reaper who are working in fields, building buildings, and generally going about the day to day work of running a society. Then he looks over at the camera.
Earl: Where the hell are you, Bifford? I don't know what I'm doing here..
Earl looks back out the window, his face full of concern and hopelessness. The scene fades slowly to darkness.
A HIGH SCHOOL, COLUMBUS OHIO, 2001
The scene opens at the career fair we have seen many years before - where Bifford recruited his second-longest-running manager, Kenny the Intern. Bifford is seated at a booth, but he doesn't appear to have a lot of interest from high school students. Earl walks back behind the booth. Both men look decades younger.
Earl: Why are we here? This is stupid..
Bifford: We need free labor..
Earl: These kids will work for you for a few months for free and then be gone..
Bifford: Not if we get them right..
Earl: What do you mean?
Bifford: We just need a kid with a bad home-life.. someone without a real family.. then I'll buy their house and make him come work for me forever.
Looking at Bifford with apprehension, Earl shakes his head.
Earl: You are an evil fucker, Bifford..
Bifford rolls his eyes and then stands up as a young Kenny the High School Intern walks up to the booth. Bifford stands and they begin talking as the scene fades to darkness.
SOME COLLEGE GYM, WEST VIRGINIA, CURRENT DAY
Bifford is sitting behind a table. He is dressed in his Plethora robe, but very irresponsibly has the hood down. He's sitting and watching college athletes engage in amateur wrestling. He takes notes, but then looks over to the camera.
Bifford: Some of these wrestlers have skills, but they don't have what it takes to be my tag team partner.. Not like an Alice Knight or a Pixie Sloane would have.. They're good, but they don't have IT. Alice has IT. Pixie has IT. Dangerous Dan has IT. Crazy Chris has IT. But Claudia Frost? No IT factory whatsoever..
Bifford reaches forward and grabs a piece of croissant, which he eats before looking back at the camera.
Bifford: Claudia Frost, I think a lot of you.. you're clearly a talented athlete, you're the real deal. However, you haven't done the right thing. You need to leave that tag team partner of yours behind and come join me.. your Second Chance could happen here in West Virginia, but you're too proud to realize it. Claudia, you are a hack. You're immature, your words are shallow, you lack the charisma of a champion and you're not the real deal. Your immature jokes and silly behavior might have served you well before, but this is 2023 and we are trying to bring some class to OCW. No more garbage bathroom humor, no more silliness. Come and pledge your loyalty to me, Claudia.. we can work this out.. after I pin you.
Bifford takes another bite of the croissant and appears to really enjoy it, before looking back to the camera.
Bifford: Ms. Frost, your record speaks for itself.. you've beat legends. But I'm not about to tell you that I'll Biff End you and pin you, like I've Biff Ended and pinned so many others. I can't do that this time. But I will climb to the top rope, or some high place, and I will crush you, crush your dreams, and take my tag titles back. One Championship isn't enough for me.. I will be the Tag Team Champions whether I'm with Alice, Sloane, or someone else. I will jump and I will crush you because it's my destiny, Ms. Frost. You and your partner are similar in that you strive for the lowest common denominator and hope for the best.. but I hope you realize you could be so much more.. If you moved to the Second Chance Ranch you could be real contenders, facing Synn for the World Belt rather than flailing about in the Craze and Tag divisions.
Finishing the croissant, Bifford looks back to the camera one last time.
Bifford: Claudia, you don't have to be this classless fool. Move to West Virginia, take on my robe, and learn what you're really supposed to be. Many are about to.. you could be the first. I have nothing against you other than I don't know you and I think you're immature. I would gladly welcome you into my ranks and you would start near the top. There's no need to be covered in frost when you can move into the light, be close to the sun, and let the warmth of the earth bring you to where you're supposed to be Claudia. The United States government and their oppressive ways are not the ways of the future.. move to my sovereign state, grow up, and work toward truth.
Smirking at the camera, Bifford goes back to watching the amateur wrestling as the scene fades to darkness.
THE SECOND CHANCE RANCH, WEST VIRGINIA, CURRENT DAY
Two men in Plethora robes lean against the front of a Jeep that is parked in the middle of the dirt road leading from another dirt road to the Second Chance Ranch. The compound has an impressive wall that has been heightened since the viewer last saw it. A red Honda rental car makes its way down the dirt road and stops in front of the jeep. The two robed men stand upright and walk toward the car. The door opens and The Bailiff walks out.
The scene flashes to darkness, then static, and then to a flashback. It shows Bifford in Nationwide Arena being blackmailed by three men (one of which is The Bailiff). It shows the other (non-The Bailiff) men being murdered by a child. Then it shows footage of Bifford paying The Bailiff $15,000,000 to silence him. As the man gets out of the car and its clear he hasn't shaved in weeks. He looks rough, his eyes bloodshot.
Bailiff: I need to talk to Bifford..
Security: There's nobody by that name here..
Bailiff: Theodore Bryan Benson! Earl! Kenny! Someone! I need to talk to someone in charge!
The two security guards in robes look at each other and one walks back to the jeep and begins using a radio.
Security: It'll be a minute..
The other guard walks back and they look at each other for a moment in silence. The guard that has been with The Bailiff the whole time looks over at him.
Security: Someone will be with you soon..
A golf cart pulls up to the compound gate and two men in Plethora Cloaks get off of it and walk over to where The Bailiff is standing with 2 security guards.
Bailiff: Kenny? Earl?
Neither man removes their hood.
Bailiff: Listen.. I know I did something really bad.. and i shouldn't have asked him for that money.. but my wife left me, my family is gone.. I lost 10 million dollars.. but I still have five.. I will give it all to him.. but I have no place else to go.. I saw the commercials! I SAW THEM! I need a second chance..
A black SUV pulls up on the dirt road behind where The Bailiff's rental car is parked, blocking it in. The door opens and a massive man in a Plethroa Robe steps out of the back seat, walking over to where all the robed men and The Bailiff are standing.
Bailiff: Mr. Bifford.. Mr. Benson.. whatever.. I'm so sorry. I made a terrible mistake. I want to be forgiven.. I need a second chance.
Plethora: How much is left?
Bailiff: Of the money..? Well my exwife took half.. and I lost some.. but $5,000,000 is left.
Plethora: 5 million of 15?
Bailiff: I pledge it all to you! I'll do anything.. anything to work it off..
The largest person in the Plethora Cloak walks past them and toward the entrance to the compound, but first he stops. He pulls the hood off his head and reveals that it is, in fact, The Big Bifford. Bifford looks back at the Bailiff.
Bifford: You want your Second Chance? Are you sure?
Bailiff: I will do anything.
Bifford: He used to work in a court.. and he threatened to put me in jail if I didn't give him 15 million dollars.. get his paperwork and get him to sign over his possessions.. then put him with Cornelius Cook, Esquire.. our lawyer. They're legal people. They understand.
Throwing the hood back over his head, Bifford heads into the compound and disappears behind the gate.
Bailiff: You won't regret this Mr. Bifford.. Mr. Benson.. Thank you!!
Kenny (whispering from under the Plethora Robe): You have no idea what you've done..
The Bailiff looks concerned when he hears this, but then he follows the two men into the compound as the scene fades to darkness.
A FEW HOURS LATER, TOWN HALL OF THE SECOND CHANCE RANCH
The Bailiff is in an office, seated across a desk from Kenny the Intern, who has removed the hood of his Plethora Robe.
Kenny: And just initial here and we'll be all set..
Bailiff: I can't wait to get this money out of my name.. everything has gone bad for me since then.. I need this so bad..
Kenny looks at him with serious apprehension. The door opens and Earl the Popcorn Salesman (his hood also down) walks inside.
Earl: Is he done yet?
Kenny: Yes, everything is signed over..
Bailiff: Do I get a mobile home or a bungalow?
Kenny and Earl both stand up, they look at each other uncomfortably.
Kenny: Come with us..
The three men walk out of the office and down a hallway. They enter a stairwell and begin descending.
Bailiff: Downstairs? This building has a basement?
They continue in silence and come to a landing. It is dark, appears damp, and then they turn a corner and see a row of cells, complete with bars. They walk down and the Bailiff looks at them and laughs.
Bailiff: You've gotta be kidding me.. I just signed over $5,000,000...
Kenny: It's just temporary.. until you repay your debt.
Bailiff: Debt!?
Earl: In here..
Unlocking the door with a metal key, Earl shoves the Bailiff inside and then closes the door. The locking sound is automatic.
Bailiff: WHAT!??
Both Earl and Kenny put their hoods back up, disappearing into their Plethora robes, they walk away leaving The Bailiff alone. He turns around and finds himself looking at Cornelius Cook, the black lawyer that would be highly memorable to OCW viewers as the lawyer from the Kenny the Intern Trial.
Bailiff: What're you.. why am I.. what.. you're that lawyer that argued that he was in jail because of an anti-glasses-wearing prejudice..
Cornelius: You're here because you fucked up.. I fucked up too and didn't win a unwinnable trial. I charged Bifford about $113,000 for my representation in the trial. They think I'll be down here for 2 years paying it off.. How long do you have to stay down here?
The Bailiff's eyes bulge as he does the math in his head.
Bailiff: 20 years..
Cornelius: 20 years?
Bailiff: I fucked him out of 10 million dollars..
Cornelius: Well there's your problem..
Bailiff: That I fucked him out of 10 million dollars!??!!
Cornelius: No, you did the math wrong.. I think that's 200 years.
The Bailiff looks around, his mouth open like he wants to scream, his eyes bulging. He doesn't know what to say.
Bailiff: They didn't take my shoelaces or anything..
Cornelius Cook begins laughing. The Bailiff looks at him, a bit angry, but also puzzled.
Cornelius: You think they don't want you to kill yourself? They're making the fucking chicken sandwiches again.. they'll killing the homeless. If you kill yourself, you'll just be ground up and deep fried.
Bailiff: I've.. I've made a terrible mistake.
Cornelius: We all have.
The scene fades to darkness as The Bailiff looks at his surroundings, becoming aware that the dark and damp cell is where he will live for the rest of his life.