Piper and the Paparazzi King

2

Within seconds, the brute was rushing to the stage and down the ramp to the fighting arena. Before Wyatt knew what hit him, Titus plowed into the older man, hitting him full force in the ribs and throwing him several feet backward. The old man was a former pro wrestler and still had the body of a fighter, but his strength wasn’t what it once was. Even so, he threw in a few good punches before Titus grabbed a chair from over the barricade from the crowd. With relentless abandon, he began hitting the man over and over until he was on the floor of the arena in a heap of blood, trying to protect his head.

Blow-by-blow, Titus went on the attack. As the ring bouncers and referees tried to pull them apart, the fighter threw four men away like rag dolls, and his boss was defenseless to protect himself. Picking up Wyatt above his head, Titus threw him into a steel barricade. Landing on his side, the steel hit him across the hip, breaking it on contact, in addition to the inevitable broken ribs he most likely sustained from earlier chair shots.

Wyatt recoiled in pain as Naomi and Vance watched on from the stage curtains. Even at her command, the woman had to turn her head away from the brutality they witnessed. “My God. He’s a monster.”

“No. You are,” the man scoffed as he turned back to witness the brutality.

“Help! Titas, no! Stop!” the older man on the arena floor screamed as pain radiated across his broken body.

Across the arena, fans were mortified as screams of pain came from the retired fighter, and the only sounds heard were those yelling for help.

Backstage, Ford, the Heavyweight Champ turned reality show darling, had just got sight of the attack on a backstage monitor. In horror, he jumped into action, sprinting through the sea of backstage fighters and stagehands. There was not a second thought other than to help his mentor, and he had no idea that was exactly what Naomie was betting on. Regardless, he had to help his ex-father-in-law from this brutal chaos before the man killed him. Pushing Naomi out of his way, he rushed onto the stage to help his mentor.

With a dastardly smirk, she staggered back with a snobbish glare in her eye. She couldn’t stomach the fact Ford rushed to her father’s side, but she was starting to enjoy seeing the devastation she created.

When he hit the stage, fans were on their feet. Finally, someone to save the older man.

She gritted her teeth in anger when the fans started to cheer his name, and could feel her fingernails pierce her flesh as her fist went into a ball. Everything in her hated that man and the fact her father saw Ford as some sort of saint infuriated her.

Tackling Titus to the ground, Ford knocked him free of his mentor, and quickly they soon fought for dominance. Blow-by-blow the battle raged on, but this was not your regular show fight for bragging rights. This was a real-life drama that they built the show around, clear now to their detriment. It’s what made their company special, and Ford knew the massive brute before him could not be taken down easily. Street fighting rules didn’t seem such a good idea at that moment, as he tried his best to protect the grandfather of his children.

To his surprise, no one from backstage was coming to his aid. With Wyatt hurt, and he barely able to fight back from Titus’ rage, he knew this was bad. The brunette with wavy hair, a faint beard, and perfect physic, was no match for the rage that came from the brutish man who was out for blood that night. He was defenseless and there was no one going to come to their aid.

Staggering backward, Ford took a moment to assess the situation. Why was no one coming to help? This was not on the show's schedule, and everyone knew Wyatt had been out of fighting shape for years. He rushed to Wyatt’s side, trying to help, but that only made things worse.

Suddenly, Titus kicked the old man while he was screaming in pain, and Ford was shaken from his thoughts. When feeling a quick blow to the side of his head, he grabbed the barricade to hold himself upright, knowing a hit like that could be career-ending.

“Come on, tough guy! Hit me, you p***y!” Titus taunted.

Ears buzzing, head in a spin, Ford struggled to get to his feet. Desperate to get back to his ex-father-in-law to protect him from the assault, he was of no use now. When he saw Wyatt’s son rushing to his father’s side out of the corner of his eye, he took a moment to shake away the daze. With Rusty now on the arena floor, there was a brief moment for him to get his bearings while Titus focused on dodging the owner’s son.

Turning back to the large man, Ford tried to clear his head, but it was too late. He had continued his attack, and before long, Titus had him in an arm bar on the ground.

“Titus, no!” Ford heard a security guard yell.

With that, he felt his arm snap almost in two. Everything was so fast, he didn’t even have time to register what was happening. His arm was broken, but he wasn’t going to stop fighting back. He had to protect his boss and the grandfather of his children. If he didn’t, he knew he wouldn’t be able to look those sweet girls in the face again.

Using his shoulder, he slammed into Titus’s gut, but it only fazed the man momentarily. Feeling himself being lifted from the floor, he knew this could become the official career-ending blow. When his body crashed into a ramp, and his head bounced on the steel, making him dizzy, the last thing he saw was Titus holding his arms in the air in victory. He watched as the rival fighter walked offstage and the sound of the chanting boos that echoed across the crowded stadium.

Through blurred vision, Ford saw his ex-wife standing at the top of the stage, shaking Titus’ hand... That was just before everything went black. From then on, nothing would be the same.