INTRO...... The last time most people saw "MVP", Maverick Von Pfender, he had just won the Shock Championship from Mike Williams. It was the first singles title of Maverick's career and he still holds it to this day. In fact, the Shock Champioship has remained on display in a trophy case at Maverick's house since ICW held it's last show. Many people have wondered if ICW would ever reopen, however until recently, such did not seem to be a likely scenario. Just recently, ICW announced a one night only return to pay-per-view as ICW presents the appropriately titled, One Night Only Pay-Per-View. Shortly upon hearing about this news from someone with an iside source, Maverick received a call requesting him to make an appearance at the afore mention show.

It had been a while since Maverick was last in the ring, so before he agreed to anything firmly, he would have to work off any ring rust he might have collected in recent months. Having few options in the way of places to turn to in preparation for the ICW One Night Only Pay-Per-View, Maverick figured a brief return to the MWA would suit his needs just fine. As witnessed on the July 24th edition of Battlezone, Maverick issued an open challenge. Hoping for a big named star to step up ad face him so as to be best prepared for the upcoming ICW PPV, Maverick was soon disappointed to find out that he'd be facing one of the MWA's newest recruits, a guy by the name of Leviathan.

It is late Saturday night in Spain and it is one day before the next Battlezone. Most everyone has made it to their hotels already or are in the process of catching flights into town, Maverick however, has arrived a few days ago and so now he has decided to pass some time by grabbing a late night meal at a nearby Burger King. That’s right, even Barcelona Spain has one, and Maverick found it. Normally Burger King wouldn't be his first choice for fast food, but without a McDonald's or Wendy’s in sight, it would have to do. Besides that, Maverick's friend from the indy scene, AJ Shelly, well he was craving a Whopper of all thing. AJ Shelly is someone Maverick met back on the indy circuit during his time away from MWA & ICW. AJ is with Maverick tonight, hoping to see someone about getting signed to a contract that'll guarantee him some exposure on national television. AJ isn't quite the technical expert that Maverick is, and although he stands shy of six feet tall, his high flying moves and fast paced style have often proven he can hold his own against some of the biggest and best undiscovered talents on the market.

As the guys sit there talking about the show tomorrow, a couple cute young ladies can clearly be seen checking them out from not too far away and trying hard not to get caught looking. Maverick is the first to notice and so he gives a non-verbal heads-up to AJ by nodding his head and motioning toward the gals with his eyes. AJ casually glances over and then turns back to Maverick in solid approval by nodding slightly. Maverick takes a drink of cola and starts to get up, looking like he intends to head over across the lobby and introduce himself to the ladies. It is at this moment though, when a young boy about 12 years of age, walks up to the table and smiles at Maverick & AJ, but it’s clear he only recognizes MVP.

The boy looks a little short for his age, but given a few years to grow, he might catch up to the rest of the curve. Maverick looks down at the boy, his baggy jeans hanging off his waist and his oversized shirt draping off him like a bad toga. If Maverick didn’t know any better, he’d think the boy tossed himself into the dryer a bit too long when he washed his clothes and shrunk himself via over drying. Of course, that’s not really possible, and so Maverick just mentally rolls his eyes and chuckles to himself over the fashion trends of today’s youth. This boy may look a little goofy with his oversized clothes, but Maverick knows what he wore in the 80's and 90's would be considered equally goofy by today’s standards.

As luck would have it, this goofy dressed boy seems like he’s trying to think of something to say, and meanwhile the hotties across the lobby continue checking him and AJ out, now looking curiously at the boy and probably wondering what’s up. Maverick sits back down on the edge booth, putting himself at about eye level with the boy. AJ looks on, deciding to let Maverick deal with the kid as he instead chooses to take another bite of his Whopper. With the cat having the kid’s tongue, Maverick is the first to speak.

“MVP” Maverick Von Pfender “Hey buddy, you ok?”

The kid nods. The boy looks over toward a table in the corner, as if looking for someone, and so Maverick follows his gaze. In the corner, and elderly man nods back at the kid. It looks at though they know who Maverick is, and the boy’s grandfather is encouraging him to say hello, maybe seek an autograph. Maverick’s seen this plenty of times before, though usually it’s a bit less weird. After an awkward moment, the kid clears his throat and actually speaks!

Kid “Um, yeah. I just... You’re MVP, right?”

The boy looks uncertain as he stands there with obvious anxiety. You can just tell he’s hoping to hear Maverick say yes. Meanwhile, across the lobby, one of the girls is getting up, looking like she’s gonna go dump her tray. AJ notices this, and glances over at Maverick again. Maverick though, is intent on being nice to this boy, perhaps as one of his first steps toward giving back to the fans or something. Whatever the reason, AJ starts to think they may be letting these young and probably available girls, slip through their fingers.

“Yeah, the one and only! And this here’s my good friend, AJ Shelley.”

Maverick moves his arm and motions toward AJ, but AJ isn’t where MVP motions to. AJ is sliding out of the booth, wiping his hands on a napkin before he stands up. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what AJ is up to, but Maverick hopes his intentions aren’t completely self-serving. It’s been a while since Maverick’s hooked up with anybody, and this is no time for AJ to get greedy.

“I was at your last show here in town, you were awesome! The way you took care of that guy, I forget wh ohe was... it was wicked cool!”

“Hey, I’m glad you enjoyed that, because I know HE didn’t!”

Maverick & the kid share a laugh, meanwhile... AJ has his tray in hand and is making a b-line for the trash can that’s closest to the girls.

“You got a name, kid?”

The kid wastes no time in answering this time. It was perhaps the only thing he’d been prepared to say since he walked up.

“Paulie.”

“You know kid, if you liked what you saw last time I came to tow, then you should see what I do tomorrow on Battlezone!”

Paulie(the kid) “Whatchya gonna do tomorrow?”

“Well, in short and simple terms... I issued an open challenge, some no-talent hack accepted, and now I'm goig to end the rookie's career before it even gets started.”

“Huh?” The lack of subtlety seems lost on Paulie though as Maverick’s mention of his upcoming challege goes right over the boy’s head. It is official though, as Maverick was told sometime after the show last week, Maverick will be getting a one on one match against the rookie, Leviathan. The former Pope, John Paul himself, could have swooped down from Heaven and accepted the challenge to face MVP to a match, but despite all the holy help at his almighty disposal, Maverick would still bank on himself for the win. Of course, it helps that Maverick isn’t particularly a spiritual man, not now or ever before.

“Nothing, nevermind. I was just trying to say, make sure you keep watching our shows because tomorrow should be a good one. But hey, it’s kinda getting late and your grand-daddy over there might be ok with you being up this late, but I’ve got a long day tomorrow. If you have some stupid piece of crap you’d like me to sign...”

“How about your tray liner? I got a pen here in my pocket, somewhere.”

“Well, I guess I've signed more worthless things before...”

Maverick glances over at AJ, now talking with both of the ladies in the booth across the lobby, one of them is blonde and the other a redhead. They motion for AJ to sit with them, and AJ slides in beside the blonde, then glances back at Maverick and gives him a discreet hand motion under the table for him to wrap things up with autograph-boy and get his ass over by him and the girls.

“Let’s see, how about I make it say... To my biggest fan and good friend, Paulie. Signed... Shock Champion forever, MVP. There ya go Paulie, now you’ll be the envy of all of Spain, hell, probably all of Europe come Wednesday morning!”

Maverick flashes a smile as he hands the autographed tray liner back to Paulie. Paulie smiles, and runs off back to his table, waving as he leaves.

“Thank you!”

Maverick was about to be disappointed in the lack of good manners being practiced by the boy, but he is pleasantly surprised get thanked if even from a distance and mostly nothing more than an after thought. Still though, Maverick feels good that he just made some little kid’s day, and with any luck... a certain little red headed hottie just might make his own day.

Looking again over toward AJ and the ladies, Maverick again gets motioned to come join them. This time, Maverick doesn’t plan to disappoint. Grabbing his tray, Maverick heads over to the other table. As he gets there, the girls smile and the redhead scoots over to make room beside her for Maverick to slide in.

AJ Shelley “Hey man, I was starting to wonder if you were EVER gonna come over here and meet these fine ladies. This cute little blonde right here is Mary Anne, and her friend over there is Ginger. Ladies, this is my good friend, Gilligan...”

AJ, Mary Anne, and Ginger share a good laugh. Maverick smiles and nods, but is quick to come back.

"In that case, I just want you both to know that whatever The Skipper there said about me... is completely false. The name’s actually Maverick, but are your names really Ginger and Mary Anne?"

Mary Anne “They sure are, sugar, but I hope for Ginger’s sake, not everything your friend said about you is false...”

Maverick smiles at Mary Anne, who turns and giggles at AJ, and then Maverick turns to Ginger and gets a nice close-up view of just how good looking she really is. It’s one thing to see a woman far afar, but it’s another to be sitting right next to her and stare into her sea green eyes.

“Well, if he told you about how I’ve got a special place in my heart for beautiful red haired ladies like Ginger here, then he might not’ve told ALL lies about me...”

Maverick smiles a cheshire cat-like grin. His comment though, has started to make Ginger blush. She’s a little quiet it seems, but she’s probably shy or just waiting for the right thing to say... like now. Ginger tries hard not to look embarrassed by his flattering, and decides to turn the tables by running her fingers up Maverick’s bicep.

Ginger “Well, you’re in luck Maverick... because it just so happens I like big strong men...”

“Hey Maverick, I already told these girls how we’re famous wrestlers... so why don’t you tell her about how you’re gonna beat that wad-waste, Leviathan.”

AJ shifts in his seat, and looks to be getting up. In fact, he’s got Mary Anne by the hand and she seems to be following suit! Mary Anne has a sly grin on her face and AJ’s smile goes nearly from ear to ear.

“Aw, I don’t think she wants to hear about... Besides, he doesn't deserve more than a brief mention...”(Maverick suddenly has to stops mid-sentence as Ginger cuts him off)

“Yeah, tell me about how you’re gonna beat up some big bad guy next week. He is a bad guy right?”

“Well...”

As AJ stands and helps Mary Anne out of the booth, he knows Maverick is gonna play Mr. Humble, and so he answers Ginger’s question for him.

“Oh yeah... Leviathan’s a REAL BIG, bad guy. In fact, he’s always pushing his weight around and bullying the ladies backstage.”

“Is that true?”

Maverick shoots AJ a cold look, but AJ is already zipping up his sweatshirt and locking arms with Mary Anne. Maverick starts to say something, then thinks better of it. Clearly, AJ just wants to leave with Mary Anne, and he’s doing all he can to help Maverick hit it off with Ginger so that Mary Anne won’t feel bad for leaving her. Mary Anne though, only has AJ on her mind and so they turn to leave. Maverick, against his better judgment, goes along with some of what AJ was saying and tries his best not to imbelish too much.

“Yeah, well, he’s big, that much is for sure.”

“Do you think you can beat him up?”

AJ & Mary Anne are now headed for the door. The two turn back and wave, and Maverick & Ginger wave back. The watch them go out the door and head for Mary Anne’s car, though, in all honestly it COULD be Ginger’s car and she’s just borrowing it. Putting his friend out of mind now, Maverick answers Ginger’s question.

"Let's just say, I know I can take whatever he dishes out, return the ass kicking, and STILL be home in time for supper when it's all said and done. I think I'll leave it pretty much at that, cuz like I said, he's hardly worth a whole discussion. But heck, my pal AJ, you remember him, the guy who just left... HE could beat Leviathan and win too if he were in my place. But do you really want me to go on and on about how I am gonna make him tap out when I put him in the unbreakable Mav-Lock#1 or Mav-Lock#2?"

"Well, not exactly...

Something about the way she just said that makes Maverick's pulse-rate speed up a beat or two. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was putting the moves on him more than he was on her!

"I know this may be a bit direct and all, but I was thinking we could get outta here and go find something more, I dunno, interesting to do... know what I mean?"

Hot diggity, she IS trying to put the moves on him, and she sure does like to move fast for someone who looks so innocent to the world! Maverick is no stranger to fast women, unfortunately it always turns out she's some mega-slut and all he gets out of the deal is a one or two night stand, not that he doesn't necessarily mind from time to time. Not wanting to ruin what's already been a good night so far, Maverick decides to kick the night into the next gear and moves just a little as if to slide out of the booth, meanwhile glancing at Ginger to make sure she's ready to leave right this moment. She aparently is more than ready as she immediately reaches for her purse the moment Maverick shifts his weight, and so Maverick stands up and takes one last drink of his cola.

"Well, since I'm not from here, maybe you've got somewhere in mind where we should go?"

Maverick's mind begins to race as he completely puts his title match with Leviathan tomorrow out of his mind and begins thinking about what the rest of TONIGHT has to offer. Maverick admires all of Ginger in her tight fitting sweater and jeans, helping her out of the booth as he does. As Ginger goes to stand up, her purse gets snagged and she has to tug at it before she can get out. As Ginger tugs on her purse, it suddenly uncatches and sends her stumbling into Maverick's arms. Ginger clings to him for a moment, then looks up at him and smiles.

"I'll tell you where we're going, but you'll need to drive because our friends took my car when they left."

"Anything you say pretty lady. I'll drive us to gates of hell and back if you promise to make it worth the ride!"

"Don't worry, I never aim to disappoint."

With their mutual use of not-so-discreet sexual inuendos out of the way for the moment, Maverick and Ginger toss their garbage and head for the door. On the way to his car, Maverick suddenly realizes that AJ has his keys since he let HIM drive from the arena to here. Unsure how to break the news, Maverick walks her to the car anyway, and they stop at the passenger door where she waits for him to unlock it and let her in. With no other alternative, Maverick breaks the news.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but uh, The Skipper kinda left with my keys..."

Ginger smiles, not seeming to care a whole lot, and then she gives Maverick a bit of a reprieve.

"That's ok, I only live a few blocks from here. Mary Anne's my roommate, so we can just walk there and get your keys from him then."

"Remind me to punch him in the arm when we get there for leaving us without a ride."

"Honey, when we get there, that'll be the LAST thing you'll have in mind for doing."

Ginger smiles a shy little smile, and the two head off across the parking lot, towards her home. It's a cool night, but there's no wind right now, which means it could be worse. As Maverick walks with ginger, he wonders just how opposite of innocent she really is. As they walk quietly for a few minutes, just enjoying being arm in arm, Maverick thinks more about his match tomorrow with Leviathan. He wants nothing more than to leave the show with a big win so that he can roll into ICW's One Night Only Pay Per View, ready more now than ever to face Big Dave or whoever else they end up bookig him against. All that will have to wait though, because no matter how bad he wants that, there's something else he'd like a little more right here ad now and taking Ginger here from behind and hitting her like a caveman. If there were ever a better way to prepare for a match, MVP could go a lifetime without ever knowing it.