THE CHAPEL SHOW
Episode: S01E07
Date: 21/03/2014

The video begins and we see The Chapel Show logo on the screen. The logo slowly fades out and we see the Chapel apartment in Las Vegas, Nevada where we see Nate Chapel’s wheelchair sat in the corner of the room without anyone sitting in it. After a few seconds we see Lexy Chapel walk in front of the camera. She’s wearing a tight fitting, low-cut t-shirt with the word ‘BOOBS’ written across the front along with hip hugging jeans and smiles at the camera with a confident smile on her face. “What’s up fuckers?” she asks with a smirk toward the camera. “I’m Lexy Chapel, and Sony may tempt you with all the amazing things you can do in virtual reality but I’m one you can do in this reality. Welcome to the Chapel Show! Now we’re a couple of days away from The Downfall of Us All, San Diego, California, and the biggest opportunity of my life. Am I excited? Am I terrified? Is it possible to be both at the same time? I think it is, because that’s how I’m feeling right now. And that’s actually kind of the theme of the show we’ve put together for you this week. A lot has happened over the last few weeks, so much that I could fill a few HOURS of video with some of the stuff we’ve filmed, but we’ve had to strip it all back and leave what really mattered, and what mattered for me this week was the journey. I mean, I’ve been on a journey for a while now, and you guys have been a part of that journey at every step. There have been a lot of good times on that journey as well, the incredible night that The Chapel Show made it’s in-ring debut just a few months ago in tag team action, and then went to Japan to compete in another tag team match, and we thought we were going to conquer the world together but how quickly that came to an end, right?”

She looks over at the wheelchair in the corner before turning back to the camera and smirking a little. “Yeah, how many people tell you that their tag team ended because their tag team partner fell out of a window? It’s the wrestling business, it’s not exactly a normal way to get put on the injured list but then we’re not a normal tag team. And as sad a moment as that was for me, it’s opened an opportunity I never expected to have. It’s turned my career in to being one half of a team in to being a singles wrestler, an up and coming star, and I’ve heard from so many people that I have a bright future. I’ve been trying to prove those people right for the last few months, trying to compete with the best the company has to offer, going up against big challenge after big challenge, whether it was my amazing match with Blake Jones or an incredible opportunity against Spirit Z I’ve always given everything I had. But it was two weeks ago that I’d say that my momentum came to an incredible, screeching halt,” she says, the confidence that seemed present in her earlier dropping away considerably. “I mean, at EXPRO on FX #13, unlucky for some and definitely for me, it was my first time stepping up against a really big name in this sport. That’s not meant as an offence to anyone I’ve faced, that’s not meant as an insult to anyone else in the company or anywhere else, I’m sure most of them will tell you that they’re not on that level either. That match was my first opportunity against a top name, and it was also the first match where I’ve ever felt really out of my league. I felt small. I mean, compared to Jerry Matthews I am small physically, but I’ve stood up to big guys before and I’ve never been made to feel six inches tall, but that’s how he made me feel.”

She pauses for a moment, looking way more withdrawn and conflicted than normal, and then begins to slowly smile. “This week though... well, this week I get an opportunity to be more than six inches tall. That’s kind of what I want the Chapel Show to be about this week. I mean, you guys are getting to know us by now, right? You know we like to have fun. You know we both like to do some pretty crazy things, and that we both have pretty crazy dreams. Well this week wasn’t so dreamy for us, this week wasn’t so crazy for us, this week was hard. This week I think the reality of being a wrestler in today’s world really dawned on me,” she says before smiling again. “I mean, I’ve always known what it was like to be a wrestler. My parents were both wrestlers, I grew up watching them be larger than life, I grew up watching them through all the good times but more than that through the bad times as well, and there were plenty of bad times. I remember watching my dad, especially as he got older, and the way he’d struggle to get up off the couch sometimes. I remember being small and the way that sometimes he’d give me piggybacks and it would be so much fun. He’d carry me around on his back and I’d feel like I was flying. Every time he’d come home I could tell immediately how things had gone for him based on whether he’d pick me up and give me a piggyback ride or if he’d smile at me and tell me ‘not today kiddo’. So yeah, there was obviously pain. There was obviously punishment. But that wasn’t today’s wrestling world. That was when guys had honour. That was when guys had respect. Today you’re just as likely to be hit with a chair as with a suplex. Today you’re more likely to meet an opponent who’ll put you through a table than shake your hand.”

She laughs to herself. “God, how much do I sound like an old woman?” she asks before shrugging her shoulders. “I’m not trying to be that girl, ok? I’m not trying to preach about how much better things used to be because if you want my honest opinion I’m not sure they were better. Most of the guys I met from back when my dad was wrestling, guys who’d talk to me when they were in the locker rooms they shared with my dad, have been admitted to rehab or died from drug-related issues. Most guys back then would pump god knows what in to their veins to get them through matches and fill themselves with steroids in order to get as jacked up as possible, because that’s the way the business was. You had to have huge muscles or you were nobody. Guys were only hired because they had ‘twenty four inch pythons’ and not because they could out wrestle opponents. And when they suffered a head injury they were considered weak if they couldn’t go the next show because of it, so they were constantly fighting with concussions which only led to even more mental problems down the line. Today the wrestling business isn’t like that. Today we have drug testing. Today we have counselling. Today we have experts on concussions who assess us every step of the way after any warning signs to make absolutely sure that our well being is cared about above all else. The business isn’t comparable to when my dad was competing anymore. It’s not better, it’s not worse, it’s just different. One of those differences though is the reason I’ve not slept so well since EXPRO on FX #13. One of those differences is the reason that I’m scared about going in to the ring in San Diego, and that difference is Jerry Matthews hitting me with a chair and driving me through a table. Does being scared now mean I’m not ‘man’ enough for this challenge?”

She looks down not just at her t-shirt but at her ‘assets’ before grinning a little. “Well, in truth I’ve never really been confused for much of a ‘man’, but if anything that further proves my point. I’m not big. I’m not tough. I’m not scary. I’m not a world class talent capable of fighting anyone. I’ve never been mistaken for a potential World Heavyweight Champion; after all I’m far from being Angela Jameson, Fiona Collins or Heather Halliwell. I’m Lexy Chapel. I’m just Lexy Chapel, and last week in front of the world I got put through my very first table,” she says, the grin fading again to be replaced once again by that same look she had before, almost withdrawn, perhaps even a little scared. “You know they say that you never get used to that.  I imagine they don’t. And it’s not something you can ever adapt to. How do you adapt when a guy would rather destroy you physically than fight you fairly? How do you prepare for someone who can overwhelm you on a whim? I haven’t figured out an answer to that yet, and maybe when I do I’ll let you in on it. But what I have figured out is how much it hurts when it happens. What I have figured out is how much it affects your life not just inside the ring but outside of it. Until now the Chapel Show has been about fun. Ok, we had an episode where Nate fell out the window, the videos from the hospital I included there probably weren’t a whole lot of fun, but the last two weeks for me have not been fun. They’ve been a struggle. You guys know I’m not rich, right? I’m not. I don’t have money. I have to work as a waitress just to make rent. It sucks. It’s hard. It sucks more when you’re doing it hurt. So this week, that’s the journey I want to take you on.”

“This week on the Chapel Show I want to take you behind the scenes even more than usual, I want to show you my struggle, I want to show you WHY I’m scared when it comes to Downfall of Us All and I want to show you I know what I’m walking in to in San Diego. I know. I know how dangerous it is. I know that when the International Championship is on the line Jerry Matthews will look to do even worse to me than he did before. You said I should have been scared before Jerry, do you remember that? Well I was scared before, and what I am now? It’s much more than scared. You’ve put the fear of God in to me, which is ironic all things considered. But Jerry, there’s something you should know about me,” she says before stepping closer to the camera, looking around like she’s trying to make sure nobody will hear what she’s about to say and then whispering in to the camera. “I don’t run. I don’t hide. And what you did to me last week Jerry? You’ve given me all the motivation I need now. So thank you Jerry. Thank you for showing me the man you are. Thank you for giving me my baptism in EXODUS Pro, thank you for being the first guy to ever hurt me like you hurt me and now I want you to do something for me. Can you do that Jerry? Take that International title, lift it up and give it a little kiss. Can you do that? Will you do that? You should, because if I get my way you’ll be kissing it goodbye. Enjoy the show guys; I’ll see you all in a little bit.”

The Chapel Show

We cut from the Chapel lounge to a dark room. We can’t hear much in the darkness, save for the sound of fingers hitting against the side of the camera and the sound like the camera is being moved about. After a few seconds the lights flick on and we see what looks like the inside of a hospital room. There are no signs or equipment that immediately make it stand out as an obvious hospital room, although as the camera pans toward the bed again we can see that there is a curtain around the bed. The thing that makes it seem more like a hospital room than anything is just the purity of it. The walls are white and look so very clean, the floor is tiled and the bed is so neatly made, with the sheet tucked perfectly in at the corners. Next to the bed is a stand on wheels that looks like something that a nurse would normally put food on and wheel over the table and we see the camera get closer to that table and then put down on top of it. The table slowly rolls around so that the camera is now pointed away from the bed, toward the door, and we hear the sound of a woman clearly groaning in pain behind the camera. After a few more seconds the camera spins around and rests over the hospital bed and we see Lexy Chapel lying in the bed. She’s not wearing makeup, her hair is messed up and when she gives a thumbs up to the camera we see that in the back of her hand she’s got a cannula in the back of her hand.

“So, I had an interesting night,” she tells the camera before smiling weakly. “Um, I can’t believe that anyone watching this doesn’t know what happened to me at the hands of Jerry Matthews, so I’m not really feeling like giving you a blow by blow recap of it. In truth I’m not really sure I can remember all of it anyway, one moment I’m in the ring and I’m winning and he’s rolling to the outside and the next thing I remember is... pain. Lots of pain! Ok, I’m trying to think of something to compare it to, but have you ever... been hit by a train? No? Me neither, but I’m imagining this is what it would feel like.”

She starts laughing at her own joke before cringing in pain and it’s very clear that even in laughing it’s causing her all kinds of pain. She stops for a moment before taking a few deep breaths and holding her midsection in pain. “Oh god, it actually hurts to laugh and it hurts to breathe and basically it just hurts,” she groans before pushing the table away a bit and trying to sit up, but even struggling with that. She sits there for a few moments holding her ribs before we hear the door opening and the sound of footsteps tapping across the floor. We then see a nurse standing next to her, looking at her very seriously. “I’m ok, I’m fine, I just need a minute...”

“You’re not ‘fine’ Mrs Chapel,” the nurse tells her in a Californian accent, in contrast to her own English accent, and weirdly she smiles a little.

“Sorry,” she mutters softly. “It’s still weird when people call me ‘Mrs Chapel’.”

“Would you prefer Alexandra?” the nurse asks kindly.

“I’d prefer not to be here at all, any chance you can make that happen?” Lexy asks before letting out a little sigh and shaking her head. “I prefer Lexy. Only my dad calls me Alexandra.”

“Well, Lexy, you shouldn’t be out of bed,” the nurse tells her before nodding toward the camera, “and I don’t know what you’re doing with that but you definitely shouldn’t be doing it.”

“It’s just this thing,” she mutters before looking at the nurse. “It’s this thing for YouTube. I wanted to film this for my YouTube show.”

“You wanted to film being in hospital for your YouTube show?” the nurse asks with a worried look. “You do realise how serious this is, right? You’re lucky Mrs Ch—Lexy. You could have been seriously hurt tonight. You’re fortunate that you didn’t break any ribs or that nothing more serious happened to you, but your body needs time to recover. The injuries you’ve sustained—”

“—are serious, I know,” Lexy says with another sigh. “The doctor went through all of this, how ‘lucky’ I am to not have broken anything, how he thought I suffered more injuries tonight than if I’d been in a car accident, he told me all that stuff and I didn’t feel lucky then and I don’t feel lucky now. I’m not lucky, ok? Lucky would be it not hurting when I laugh. Lucky would be not have being picked up and thrown around like a ragdoll. No, probably not even a ragdoll because that probably would have taken more effort. Tonight Jerry Matthews toyed with me like I was a fucking action figure and that is NOT lucky!”

“What’s LUCKY is that you’re recovering here and you’re not in the ICU,” the nurse tells her sweetly. “Are you in pain? Do you want me to get you some more medication? I think what you need to do is just lay back in bed and try to get some sleep. Your husband has been called, he’ll be here in the morning, you just need to rest and get some sleep and forget about this YouTube thing. Whatever it is, it can’t be that important.”

“It is,” Lexy mutters quietly.

“Why is it?” the nurse asks her in a disapproving tone. “Why is it so important that you film anything right now?”

“Because he hurt me,” Lexy replies angrily. “Because he... because I... because I can’t do anything else. Because I can’t walk and I can’t laugh and I can barely breathe without it hurting and I have to do something or I’m going to go insane. I just wanted to film a little, that’s all. I just wanted to talk a bit, and maybe show them my ribs. I swear I’m not going to do anything else.”

“You need to rest. What you need to do is let me get some medication for you, close your eyes and just go to sleep,” the nurse tells her before smiling a little, “but you’re not going to do that, are you? You’re going to be a pain in my butt. Ok, so, this guy who did this to you, who put you in the hospital in the first place. What’s his name?”

“Jerry,” Lexy mutters softly.

“And this is about him?” the nurse asks, picking up a little plastic cup from the side and pouring some water in to it before handing it to Lexy. “Here, have a few sips, it’ll help. Not too much though. Tell me what happened.”

“You want me to tell you what happened? Ok, I’ll tell you what happened. What happened is that I started wrestling Jerry Matthews and then he got out of the ring and I... I... um...” Lexy says before looking around a little, “I don’t actually remember what happened next. I just remember this white wall of pain. He hit me so hard that my head’s still... you know... and my body... and there was a table. I remember there was definitely a table, but... it wasn’t meant to be like that.”

“How was it meant to be?” the nurse asks her slowly.

“It was meant to...” Lexy begins before taking a little sip of her water and letting out another sigh. “I was supposed to win. That’s what was supposed to happen. I wanted to fight him. I thought I was ready! I wanted to show him I could hang with him, to show everyone I could go with him, to prove something to him and to Gods & Monsters and to Christian Furor, but I didn’t. I didn’t win, I was useless. I was helpless. All I did was prove I’m not ready for this.”

“You think you’re not ready because of one set back?” the nurse asks in a puzzled tone.

“It’s not just one set back though, is it?” Lexy replies defensively. “I mean this isn’t just one set back, he put me in the hospital! He stood there in front of everyone with a microphone and he promised that I’d leave on a stretcher and he was right, I did. And now I can’t... I mean I can’t even stand up straight, and it hurts to do anything! I thought I was ready for this. I thought I was ready for everything that EXODUS had to offer, I thought that I could make friends and I could face competition and that I could impress guys like Jonathan Collins, that I could win fans, that I could climb through the rankings but I can’t. Tonight proved that. Tonight proved that I’m not ready. I mean look at me, I’m just... I’m just a stupid kid who’s dad got beaten up for a living and who thought she could be better than him. My dad was amazing. My dad was strong and brave and defiant and most weeks he’d come home and he wouldn’t even be able to pick me up because he was hurt and I thought I could be different but I can’t. I was deluding myself!”

“Girl, I don’t think you’re deluding yourself,” the nurse tells her with a smile.

“You don’t even know me,” Lexy replies with a sigh.

“No, you’re right, I don’t,” the nurse admits before laughing a little. “When you came in here tonight I didn’t know WHO you were, but some people did. You know the doctor who treated you? The one you were so willing to defy, the one who said you looked like you’d been in a car accident. He knew who you were. He couldn’t believe it when you came in. And do you have any damn idea how many phone calls we’ve gotten about you tonight? People from that company you work for have been calling this damn place all night! Sure they’re worried about you, but you don’t do that for someone you don’t believe in. So they all believe in you girl.”

Lexy looks up at her a little conflicted. “They’ve been calling?”

“Damn right, driving us nuts as well,” the nurse tells with her with a smile. “You’ve got friends girl, and you’ve earned their respect, but now you’re going to sit here and feel sorry for yourself and quit because of one little set back?”

“Would you stop saying ‘one’ set back like that? It makes it sound way less serious than it is,” Lexy complains with a pout. “I mean, he did own me pretty hard.”

“Oh you’re damn right, he straight up owned your ass,” the nurse tells her with a laugh.

“Is that the medical term? I mean, is that what they teach you guys in nurse school?” Lexy asks with a smile, noticing the lack of humour on the nurse’s face and biting her bottom lip sheepishly. “Err, guess not.”

“You want to know what they teach us in ‘nurse school’?” the nurse asks before shaking her head slowly. “One night when I was still learning I was standing right out there in that hallway when this brought this little kid in. Little guy had to be no more than six years old, real little cutie pie, and he was dressed up like Spider-Man. Reason I remember that is that I had to cut that little costume off of him because the little guy had been climbing up the fire escape trying to be Spider-Man when he’d fallen off. Little guy broke almost every bone in his body, but you know what he said when he woke up?”

“Dammit, Doc Ock finally beat me?” Lexy guesses.

“The doctor told him that he’d never walk again, and that little guy he looked straight up and he said he would. He said he’d be climbing buildings and swinging from webs,” the nurse told her encouragingly.

“And did he?” Lexy asks.

“Did he what?” the nurse replies confused.

“Did he walk again?” Lexy asks, perhaps looking for the positive ending to the story.

“Well, no, his body was too broken,” the nurse says with a saddened expression. “He died a few days later from his injuries. But what I’m trying to tell you is that that little kid never gave up hope!”

“But he died,” Lexy states coldly. “You’re trying to inspire me not to give up after getting owned with the story of a little kid who DIED?! That’s not exactly too motivating right now...”

“The point in the story is that that little boy never stopped believing,” the nurse says sternly. “Now if you want to sit in here and you want to feel sorry for yourself you go right ahead, but if a little boy like that can be that scared and that hurt but still believe, why can’t you? I’ll get you those pills while you think about that.”

The nurse gets up and walks out as Lexy takes another sip from the cup and looks up at the camera. “Are you still recording? Did you actually get all of that? Because I’ll be honest, I was pretty bummed out before but that story just made it way worse,” she says before smiling a little and then cringing in pain. “I guess that’s the kind of story that people like Jerry Matthews tell though, isn’t it? The kind of story without a happy ending, where evil wins in the end! People like him enjoy that kind of bullshit, and they enjoy inflicting pain on others in the name of their causes. I hate guys like that...” she mutters before twisting her legs back up on to the bed and resting up on them a little, cringing in pain again before lifting up her shirt. Under the shirt we can see her bra but we can also see her ribs, which are severely red and badly bruised. She cringes again as she lowers her hospital gown and lets out a long sigh. “People like him enjoy seeing their handiwork, right? Just like serial killers stick around in the crowds to see the reaction to their work. Well Jerry, you got your wish because that’s what you did to me. You threw me around like I was nothing. And maybe I should just give up, I mean if I come back in here again – well, not HERE I guess, which is a pity because the staff here tell such uplifting stories, but another hospital in San Diego – then maybe next time I’ll be like that little kid. Maybe next time I won’t make it out alive. Maybe I should just give up... or maybe I shouldn’t. I was supposed to beat you, and instead I’m here. Maybe I should just give up before someone hurts me worse than you did... but maybe I don’t want to.”

She spins herself around so she’s sitting back on the edge of the hospital bed again with her legs hanging over the edge, just where she was when the nurse left. A few moments later the nurse walks in and puts her hand out. Lexy holds her hand out and the nurse drops a few pills in her hand. “There, take them,” she says softly. “And in the meantime I’m going to do something about this camera. The hospital is not a place for making YouTube shows, you understand me?”

“Yes ma’am,” Lexy says softly. “It’s ok though, I think I got everything I needed anyway.”

With that the video suddenly cuts to black.

The Chapel Show

After a few seconds of black the scene changes to the Chapel apartment and we see Nate Chapel sitting on the couch with a remote control in hand. He’s obviously looking at something that isn’t the camera and pressing buttons, but every time he does press one of them something weird happens to the effect on the camera. After he presses a few the scene suddenly turns in to night vision, with an incredibly bright spot at the window, and Nate calls out in excitement. “Hey babe, did you know thiNathan Chapels new camera has fucking night vision? How bad-ass is that?” he asks excitedly before the scene changes back again. “Didn’t I always say that I wanted a camera with bad-ass night vision?”

“I keep telling you, if we’re going to do a porn movie it has to be classy, not some weird Paris Hilton sex-tape shit,” Lexy calls back from the bedroom. “Seriously, I may not have her money but I do have something she doesn’t – standards!”

“So let me get this straight, that’s a YES to the porn movie idea?” Nate asks, seemingly excited.

We see over by the bedroom Lexy popping her head out of the doorway. “I’m thinking about it at least,” she replies before disappearing back in to the bedroom again.

“Wait, are you thinking about the idea in general or are you thinking about MY movie idea?” Nate asks excitedly. “Because I know you weren’t too excited about the idea of you meeting the Space Hooker and her seducing you, but I’m telling you we can rewrite the bits that you don’t like, and no decent porn movie is complete these days without a little lesbian scene. The fans expect it!”

Lexy steps out of the bedroom, glaring at him disapprovingly. She’s dressed in a blue dress with a white apron over it and has her hair tied back with a little blue hat on her head. “I’m really starting to worry about you,” she says with a serious look. “I’m starting to wonder if you hurt more than your back when you fell out the window.”

“Now you mention it my feet have been hurting lately,” Nate replies, looking down at his feet. “They could do with a rub...?” Lexy just glares again. “Ok, maybe not. Besides, I’m joking, you know that, right? When you give me that look like you’re going to kill me then whatever I’ve said is ALWAYS a joke!”

“Right, sure it was,” Lexy replies, still glaring before grinning a little. “Besides, if I recall you’re the one who owes me a foot massage, and after my shift tonight I’m definitely going to need it. That and a back massage, and probably a shotgun to blow my brains out...”

“Wait, you’re going to work today?” Nate asks in disbelief, finally looking over at her properly. “Are you crazy, going to work after what happened the other day? I told you I spoke to your boss. He said to take as long as you need. He said that they could manage the week without you, that they’d get people to cover your shifts.”

“Yeah, and I then called him and told him I was fine and was coming in,” Lexy informs him with a weak smile. “And I am fine. I can do this babes.”

“No, you can’t,” Nate tells her with a stern shake of his head. He forces himself up off the couch and slowly walks over to her, a feat that’s obviously still tough for him despite the progress he’s making in his recovery. “Baby, you could barely even walk yesterday. The doctors said you could come home but that you needed to rest, remember? And this is not resting. Working in that fucking diner is NOT resting, and if anyone would know it would be me.”

“Yeah, you’re one of the most annoying customers,” Lexy tells him with a smirk.

“I know, that’s my point, and if you’re not here I’m going to have to go down there and annoy you,” Nate tells her while laughing before looking at her more seriously. “Seriously babe, you’re not going to work. Come in to the bedroom, let me take those clothes off and then see about that foot massage...”

“As tempting as that is, we can do it later,” Lexy tells him with a sigh. “I’ve got to go to work, and while you may live in this magical world where we won’t get evicted if we fail to pay our rent I, unfortunately, don’t. We’ve already been late once before and remember what the landlord said? He doesn’t like you after you insulted his daughter.”

“I really did think it was a boy,” Nate replies defensively. “She had such a boyish haircut, and I swear she had an Adam’s apple. Plus, for god’s sake, his name was Terry!”

Her name is Terri,” Lexy replies with a sigh.

“Exactly, Terry,” Nate says before rolling his eyes. “Seriously, how is that my fault? He even introduced him as ‘my kid’. I mean geez, if your daughter looks like a boy and you get offended over it, at least make it obvious!”

Lexy rolls her eyes before beginning to walk away. “I don’t have time to talk about this right now,” she says with a sigh. “I’m going to be late for work, and the longer I spend standing here arguing with you about it the less time I have to get down there and get ready.”

She walks out the door and Nate lets out a long sigh. “Oh for god’s sake,” he mutters and stumbles over to the camera, picking it up before the scene temporarily cuts to black and then restarts again with Nate, based on the smooth way the camera is moving and the lower height that things seem to be filmed at, is now in his wheelchair and rolling through a door in to what looks like a locker room area where we see Lexy standing at a locker, clearly in pain. “See, you only just got here and you’re in pain already. Please babe, you don’t need to do this. We’ll sell some more cards or, or... hell, didn’t Jonathan Collins offer to get them to review your contract?”

“He did, I told him no,” Lexy states firmly.

“You told him no?” Nate asks in a puzzled tone. “Wait a minute, the guy who you’ve got a crazy crush on offers to help you get the company to pay you more money so that you don’t need to work a second job to pay our rent and you tell him no?! After all the times you’ve called me boneheaded and stubborn?!”

“What was I supposed to do Nate? Huh? Was I supposed to jump at the opportunity? Was I supposed to say ‘yes please Mr Collins, please help me out, I’m a pathetic little girl who can’t make it on her own and needs your hand outs’?” she asks defensively. “I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to run to Jon whenever I need anything, ok? I’m not running to him just like I’m not running to my parents and begging them for help either. I’m a big girl and you’re a big boy and we got ourselves in to this so we’re going to get ourselves out of it!”

We can’t see Nate’s face, but we can hear the tone in his voice and it changes dramatically from a firm, almost angry tone to a very soft, worried one. “Babe, you know that’s not why he offered, don’t you?” he asks supportively. “This isn’t about running for help. This isn’t about begging for handouts. I know that’s not what you want and I support that. But he didn’t offer to help you because he wanted to give you a handout. He offered to help because he wants to be your friend; he wants to make things easier on you. Ok, so maybe I didn’t like him that much when I first met him but we’ve talked a few times now and I do like the guy, so if this is about me and him then—”

“It’s not about you and him,” Lexy says with a laugh before turning her back and reaching for her face. It looks like she’s wiping a tear out of her eye. “Not everything in the world is about you, you know?”

“Most things are,” Nate replies playfully and Lexy laughs a little but is clearly upset. Nate wheels himself over closer to her. “Ok, so... this is about something else. Is this about what you said when I met you at the hospital? Because I thought we agreed that that was just talk, that you weren’t actually going to quit...”

“I’m not,” she replies defensively, still not turning around.

“Well then what?” he asks before letting out a long sigh. There’s a long period of silence broken with just a few sobs from Lexy before Nate finally says something else. “Ok, let’s talk about something else. I’ve been thinking...”

“I’m not in the mood,” she mutters.

“You don’t even know what it is yet,” he claims, defensive a little himself now. “Geez, talk about judgemental. I say I’ve been thinking and you think you know what about? Do you want to know what I’ve been thinking about? I’ve been thinking about spinners! I think we should get some spinners for this chair.”

Lexy turns around; her eyes a little red and tears still in them, and looks at him in confusion. “Spinners, for your chair?” she asks in disbelief. “That’s your big thought? You don’t even need the damn chair for much longer.”

“Yeah, I know, but this chair rocks and don’t you think spinners would suit it? I mean we could totally pimp it out. Ooh, idea! We could get Xzibit to host it. PIMP MY WHEELCHAIR! We could give crippled people wheelchair makeovers. People love that shit where it looks like you care about things,” he says excitedly. “Ok, this is genius. Quick, find a pen so I can write it down!”

Lexy just glares at him before beginning to laugh and then lets out a long sigh, holding her ribs again in obvious pain. “Ok, you want to know why I didn’t accept his offer?” she asks nervously. “Because I’m not worth it! I’m not worth more money, I’m not worth a better contract, I’m not worth ANY of this stuff! I’m just... I mean look at me Nate. I’ve had a few matches. I’ve gotten lucky a few times, and then someone like Jerry Matthews proved to me how much above my weight I’ve been punching and now rather than the San Diego Bay Championship match, which I probably was never going to win anyway, they’ve put me in a rematch with Jerry for the International title? He’s going to kill me. He’s going to break me in to two large chunks and leave me in the middle of the ring to DIE. And even if I DO survive this, then what? They’ll all know. They’ll all see me the same way I see me. They’ll know that everything I’ve done so far is fluke, that I’m not as good as they think, and then they’ll realise they’re paying me all this money for nothing and they’ll fire me and we’ll lose everything! Do you realise that’s what’s going to happen after Downfall of Us All? My career is going to be over and without this job, without the money we get from this, then what? We’re going to be homeless, sleeping on the street...”

Nate reaches out to her. “Ok, first of all... that won’t happen. There are doorways for homeless people to sleep in, or at least big cardboard boxes, they don’t actually have to sleep ON the street,” he says, making her laugh a little, but as she laughs she then holds her ribs in pain.

“Can you never be serious about anything?” she asks with a sigh.

“You didn’t let me finish,” he says before getting up from the wheelchair and putting the camera down on the seat. We can’t see their upper body’s now as they’re both standing too close to the camera but we can still hear them. “What I was going to say is that secondly, I know you’re scared baby. I know what happened on EXPRO on FX hurt you, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you because you know I would have done everything I could to stop him. I know I’m not exactly impartial here, I mean I’m more than a little biased if I’m honest, but I promise you that absolutely nothing that has happened so far, nothing you’ve accomplished so far, is anything close to being a fluke. You think you’re not worth a bigger paycheque babe? You’re worth ten times what they’re paying you right now, and soon enough the entire world is going to see that, but I already see it every single day.”

We hear her sob and sniff a little. “Well you have to say that,” she mutters softly. “You’re right, you’re definitely not unbiased.”

“I mean it though,” he tells her lovingly. “No jokes, no funny lines about unflippable wheelchairs, just honest truth, ok? Forget the cameras. Forget the Chapel Show. Forget everything else. The day we got married was the best day of my life because it was the day that I promised to spend the rest of my life with you. You’re the strongest, bravest, most committed person I’ve ever met. You work every hour you can here while I sit upstairs playing video games and planning out movie ideas. You’re my hero already, and you’re becoming the hero of a lot more people. And I know you’re scared, and I know Jerry Matthews can hurt you, but he can only hurt your body baby, he can’t break your spirit.”

“I don’t know,” she mutters, “if he puts me through another table while I’m feeling like that then my spirit might just break in to pieces.”

“But he won’t,” Nate assures her.

“But he might,” Lexy replies nervously.

“No, he won’t,” Nate tells her lovingly. “No matter what happens on pay per view babe, whether you win or you lose I promise you this, you’re career is only going upward from here and I’m not the only one who knows it. Remember the hospital, how many people sent you flowers or cards? You’ve impressed people so much they want to improve your contract after just a couple of months. You’ve amazed them so much they’ve given you an INTERNATIONAL title match, that’s unheard of! There are guys who’ll fight their whole lives and not get that, and you’ve got there already babe. You’re a star, whether you see it or not, and right now you’re hurting and you’re scared and I know that, I see that, but I promise you that you have the strength to get through this, and you’re worth time times what you think you are.”

Lexy sobs again before beginning to laugh. “You know what babes? You are such a...”

“Great guy?” he suggests. “Amazing husband? Sexy, sexy beast?”

“Yeah,” Lexy agrees with another chuckle. “All three...”

“Great, would you be willing to testify in a video to the final one? There’s this guy on this forum who thinks that—” he begins before we hear the sound of her hitting him and he stops abruptly. “Ow. Geez, ask your wife for one little thing and get punched in the arm.”

The Chapel Show

We cut from the restaurant back room to the Chapel apartment again where we see Lexy Chapel once again, still dressed in the same ‘BOOBS’ t-shirt and jeans from the beginning of the episode, now sitting cross legged on her bed with a smirk on her face. “Ok, so, now you know two things. You know that being put through a table in professional wrestling hurts like all hell, not to mention the chair shot before it and the being laid out in the middle of the ring with Savior’s Wrath after it. That all hurts like hell, and it leaves bruises and it leaves scars but you know the thing about bruises and the thing about scars?” she asks before lifting up her shirt to show her ribs. They’re still looking bruised, but significantly less so now than they were in the earlier part of the video at the hospital. More importantly, Lexy doesn’t seem to be flinching and cringing in pain like she was in the other bits of the video as well. “The thing about bruises is that they heal, and the thing about scars is that they fade. I may not have been left with any physical scars after that attack but I was left with plenty of mental ones, scars that made me afraid, scars that made me want to run, scars that made me question whether I even wLexy Chapelanted to be a part of this business, whether I even wanted to continue a career as a professional wrestler knowing full well how it might end, what might happen to me. And like I said before in this world today, in this business as it currently stands, you’re just as likely to get put through a table as you are to meet someone who wants to shake your hand, and that’s a scary thought when you’re just a little girl, that’s the kind of thought that gives you nightmares, but it took it took my husband to make me start to realise that I’m NOT just a little girl, am I?”

“You see there’s this thing about women in wrestling. Guys look down on us as weak. Guys look down on us as powerless. They have all these ideas that women don’t belong in the same ring as men, they can’t compete on the same level as men, they’re not as tough as the men are, not as strong as the men are, and instead they’re vulnerable, they’re weak, they should be cuddled and protected and there should be rules set up to stop those big bad men from taking advantage of the helpless, hapless little girls. And the reason that there are rules set up like that, the reason that men think that way is that there are women in this world like that. There are women in this business who do think they should be protected, and rightfully so. There are managers, dancers, girls who make their money by looking pretty and only by looking pretty and those kinds of women should be protected because they are helpless little girls. But then there are women like me. Then there are fighters! And for the longest time after EXPRO on FX #13, after being hit with a chair, speared through a table and laid out in front of the world, after being carried off on a stretcher, after being made in to a human sacrifice to further the agenda of Christian Furor, Jerry Matthews and the rest of Gods & Monsters, I felt like I was one of them. I felt like I was afraid. I felt like I was broken. But then the craziest thing happened. Then I remembered who I am,” she says, smiling at the camera with her confidence looking like it’s coming back. “You see Jerry took some of that away from me. Jerry made me feel small, and why wouldn’t he? He’s six foot six inches tall, more than a foot taller than me. He’s two hundred and seventy five pounds, and I said it before that it would take two and a half Lexy Chapel’s just to even up the scales against this guy. He’s physically imposing and dominant in that ring and he has an attitude that puts him above everyone else.”

“That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it? I’m not just talking about Jerry Matthews; I’m talking about ALL of Gods & Monsters. That’s kind of your guys’ thing. You’re big, you’re powerful, you’re imposing, you’re dominant, you see something that you want and you walk out there and you TAKE it because it’s YOURS to take. Sure, I get that. You’re the top dogs. You’ve got the World Championship in your camp, you’ve got the International Championship as part of the team, you’ve got the preacher talking sermons about your dominance and you’re really good at sending messages, you’re really good at gang warfare, you’re really good at putting yourself in to positions of power,” she says with a nod of her head. “That’s what you are. But what you are really, what you are underneath it all, are bullies. That’s why you band together, isn’t it? Because there is strength in numbers, and with strength you can victimise the weak. And you’ve done a good job. Hell, you’ve even got your own line of propaganda for the whole thing, this quest you’re all on, this holy war you’ve got going with Jonathan Collins against everything he stands for, a holy war that involves me for the sole reason that I’m a huge fan of the guy. Make no mistake about it as well, that’s as far as my relationship with Jonathan goes. He’s taken me under his wing, he’s helping me learn, he’s helping me find myself in that ring and I’ll be the first one to admit that I need the help, after all I’m hardly experienced at this whole thing, but that’s all there is to it. He’s never asked for my help. He’s never tried to get me to join his cause. He’s never banded me together with anyone else, asked me to fight the good fight on his behalf, asked me to pledge allegiance to a damn thing, but now he doesn’t have to because if ever he needs someone on his side, then hash-tag Team Collins becomes far more than just something spouted by an adoring fan.”

“You don’t like him Jerry, I get that. You consider yourself one of his greatest ever foes. You think I’m a pathetic, mindless sheep who hangs on his every word. You think he’s manipulated me in to any of this? No, unlike you and your ‘masters’ in Gods & Monsters he’s never asked me to prove myself, he’s never demanded a sacrifice, and he doesn’t need to. You see I respect him. I respect everything he’s done in this business. I respect the kind of man he is. And more than anything else, I respect the fact that he went out of his way to find a little lost girl and congratulate her on a couple of wins. I used to sneak down in the middle of the night when I was younger – because, you know, time difference and everything – and turn on the TV and turn the volume on it down so low so I could sit there, bathed in the glow from the television set, and watch his matches in New Era Wrestling and so many other places. I remember his battles. I remember his fights with the Ashton’s. I remember something else as well. I remember he was International Champion back in that promotion. And when he held that belt over his head for as long as he did I used to think that that belt was the greatest thing in the entire world. I begged my dad – BEGGED him – to buy me a replica of it when I saw one in a store just because I wanted to raise it over my head like he did and pretend to be him. How pathetic is that? But I did it. I was in love with him. I had his posters on my wall. He was my hero. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes. They say that they can’t ever live up to the expectations you have of them, of the illusions you form about them in your mind. But here’s the thing about Jonathan Collins, he didn’t just meet those expectations, he surpassed them,” she says happily. “How many people can you honestly say that about?”

“But you don’t like him. You don’t like the things he stands for. You rejoice in his misery. And just for being his fan, just for associating with him in the smallest way, just for going to a few training sessions with him so he could help me with my grip and teach me the better way to pop my hips when I’m trying to pull off a move, you decided to destroy me. I never did a damn thing to you Jerry. I never did and I never would have. I had no problem with you. Hell, I respected you. You’re the International Champion, you said yourself you’re the longest ever reigning San Diego Bay Champion, you’ve got the stats to back up the fact that you’re not just a veteran in this business but you’re on the verge of becoming one of the all time greats. And yet you decided to destroy me, because I wanted to meet my idol. And you know the worst part Jerry? You almost did it as well,” she says, rubbing her hand across the bottom of her chest, across her injured ribs and looking down as she does so before then looking back up in to the camera. “You hurt me. You made me doubt myself. You made me doubt all of this. I was so close to walking away because you made me that afraid Jerry. But that’s what you wanted, isn’t it? You wanted to hurt me. You wanted me terrified. You wanted me to turn my back and to run away from all of this, to turn my back on Jonathan Collins and everything that Lexy Chapel stands for, and I almost did. God I came so close! I almost even asked to call off this match because I was too scared of what might happen. I was scared you could end my career. Hell, I’m still scared you might, if you want the truth. But that fear, that fear of God you put in to me... well, it had the opposite effect in the end, just like so many other things from your life that have affected me over the years.”

“You used to give sermons, didn’t you? Well, you still do, but the God you worship now is Christian Furor, which will be interesting to see what happens with that if Andreas Lasiewicz takes his boot and shoves it so far up Christian’s ass that the laces pop out his mouth! I’m not saying that that’ll definitely happen, but I’m just saying it’ll be interesting to see what happens to your newfound leader in life if it does,” she says with a smirk. “But you used to give sermons, right? You used to stand up in front of people and you used to preach the word of God. You’d open the bible and you’d start talking, finding stories of all the times that he’s reached out, all the incredible things that he’s done, all the power that he’s shown. Your stories used to inspire people, am I right? They used to put fear in to them as well though no doubt. You used to scare people down the righteous path, you used to tell them that all those thoughts they had were SINFUL and that they had to obey the rightful, righteous word of the Lord. Yeah, I’ve heard similar sermons. I’ve even been told that I’m a sinner. I’m a devil child. I’ll BURN IN HELL unless I change my wicked ways. That tends to happen when the world finds out you masturbate because your dad almost walks in on you and they film that lovely moment for fucking national broadcast. Still not forgiven Channel 4 for that, seriously! But that’s me, the sinner, the horny little witch and I need to find God, because only in His power can I be saved. Except... what is his power? These stories that I was told, the stories you used to tell... they were stories that one guy told another guy, right? Oh sure, eventually when it goes back far enough the story is that GOD HIMSELF spoke these words, these EXACT words, to some guy who then told another guy who told another guy who told another guy who maybe, possibly, might have written them down, maybe.”

“Have you ever played Chinese Whispers Jerry? It’s a fun game. You listen to what one person said, you tell the next person, it moves down a chain and when it gets to the end you find out that most of it isn’t actually what the first person said anymore. No, bits were misheard. Stuff was added or changed. Hell, that one guy in the middle has serious wax build-up and he didn’t hear a damn thing so he just straight made up some new shit to tell the next person so he didn’t look like a fool. In the end, is it really the word of God I’m listening to at all? Is the story of Moses even the way it really happened, or did Moses’ nephew tell the story one time and just REALLY exaggerate the fact that his uncle kind of asked the Pharaoh nicely if he’d let his friends have a few extra holiday days?” she asks before laughing at the idea. “You see, I was never taken in by any of that, but you were, right? You completely believed the whole thing, about the stick that banged on the ground could split an ocean, about God impregnating virgins – yeah, I know a few girls who’d have told their father’s that God did it too if they ever found out they’d gotten pregnant, but my friend’s dad’s weren’t stupid enough to believe it – and about it raining frogs and the world flooding and killing everything but a few animals on a boat. You believed ALL of that so much that you PREACHED it to the world, you got down on your knees and you begged this guy who’d done all of that to bless you and how many times did he Jerry? How many times did he speak to you? None. Never. Not a single time. And that’s why you turned on him, right? And instead you sided with Christian Furor and Gods & Monsters, but you’ve just traded one mythical super being for another. The difference between them is that Christian does speak back, and tells you what you want to hear, pats you on the head, and probably laughs at the fact that he’s got you so under his thumb.”

“You tell me I’m wrong to align myself with Jonathan Collins but Jon doesn’t pat me on the head, he doesn’t tell me what I want to hear, he doesn’t promise me the world and that he’ll strike down anyone who hurts me – hell, you hurt me and he hasn’t struck you down, has he? Instead I’ve got this match. Instead I’ve got this chance to strike you down MYSELF,” she practically screams. “No, Jon doesn’t do any of those things because he’s not my leader, he’s my friend. Do you think that’s naive? Do you think I just can’t see the truth? Do you think I’m blinded by my naivety? No Jerry. You’re blinded by yours! You’re the blind one. You’re the naive one. You think you’re a lion hunting down a helpless gazelle? At Downfall of Us All I intend to show you that when you get close enough to THIS gazelle she’s going to kick your damn teeth down your throat! You laid me out as a sacrifice to your new Gods at EXPRO on FX #13 in San Francisco, but in San Diego I’m going to do everything I can to expose you. In San Diego I’m going to do everything I can to take back everything you took from me two weeks ago and while I know I won’t be able to HURT you physically like you hurt me there’s something else I can do to you Jerry, something I can do to get my revenge over you and hurt you in a far, far worse way. I can take that title away from you! Now I know it won’t be that easy. You’ve got champions advantage, and we already know you don’t mind getting disqualified to prove your point. I know it won’t be a walk in the park. I know I might not be able to do it. I know you might leave me a broken, drooling, crippled mess in that ring. But Jerry, ask yourself this— what happens if you don’t?”

“What happens at Downfall of Us All if you DON’T overpower me? What happens at Downfall of Us All if you DON’T dominate me? What happens at Downfall of Us All if you come up against Lexy Chapel and I bring everything I brought against you two weeks ago and more? What happens if I send you reeling from the ring, and what happens THIS TIME if I’m not stupid enough to leap straight in to a chair shot to the skull? What happens THIS TIME if I’m not stupid enough to let myself get hurt the same way I did before. What happens THIS TIME, Jerry, if you’ve written a cheque with your mouth that your ass can’t cash, as the saying goes? What happens if I take you down? What happens if I start to build momentum? What happens if drop me on that mat, injured ribs and all, but I won’t stay down? What happens if you find that you CAN’T put me down? What happens, in this incredible fantasy, if I’m able to overcome the veteran, overcome the odds, overcome the preacher of Gods & Monsters and actually BEAT YOU in the MIDDLE OF THE RING and take the International Championship? What happens then Jerry? Will you blame my friendship with Jonathan Collins? Will you blame everything that’s happened with the Seikigun? Will you blame another fictional being you’ve heard stories about, or will you blame the lights for being the wrong colour, or the robes you were wearing for being too restrictive, or the shoes you were wearing for not being tied tightly enough? What excuses will you make if you lose to me Jerry? And I know it’s a long shot. I know that the likely story is that I’m going to walk in to that ring and you’re going to break me in to pieces. You’re bigger than me. You’re stronger than me. You’re the man and I’m just a little girl. But I’m a fighter Jerry and they can measure my weight, they can measure my height, they can measure how quickly I can move but they CAN’T measure my HEART! You said yourself Jerry this is my DREAM! This really is everything I’ve wanted since I was just a little girl. This is the chance I’ve wanted since I begged my dad to buy me that replica title. And I know it’s crazy, I know it’s a long shot, I know that the realists will say Jerry Matthews is going not just to beat me but to kill me but to everyone watching this, to every person who follows me on Twitter, to everyone who’s ever subscribed or liked a video I have one question – what if they’re wrong? What if dreams really CAN come true?”

She pauses for a moment before closing her eyes and beginning to giggle a little. She sits there, with her eyes closed, and slowly raises her hand up over her head before giggling again. “I can hear it, you know. When I shut my eyes, I can imagine them saying it. Lexy Chapel, International Champion! It’s my dream. It’s my everything. And at Downfall of Us All, what if dreams DO come true?” she asks again before opening her eyes and smiling at the camera. “Thanks for watching. Did you like what you saw? Well then do what you should do, subscribe to the channel, rate the video, leave a comment below, we love every single one of you who do, even the weirdoes who only watch our videos to insult us over and over, because they’re super hardcore tough at their keyboards. Oh, and get excited people, because coming soon you too can have BOOBS! The t-shirt, I mean. It’s on sale soon. More info in the next video! In the meantime, I’ve been Lexy Chapel, and this has been The Chapel Show. Until next time, fuckers!”

She smiles at the camera and the Chapel Show logo comes up on the screen as the video ends and the replay button appears.

The Chapel Show

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