One Problem by Instant Classic Superstar Pac
Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this has nothing to do with any of my other stories.
Rating: T
Summary: One-piece short set after Champ Level Conscience. While entering a restaurant with the Main Event Mafia, Kurt Angle quickly finds out why messing with a man's pride is never a good idea.
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Travis Tomko was in the middle of eating a boiled egg sandwich at a local restaurant, feeling entirely peaceful for the first time in over a year.
He'd just had a conversation with A.J. outside the Impact Zone a half hour ago, where he was able to apologize for his betrayal from a year and just under half ago and patch up the issues that had long been lingering between the two men. With that weight finally lifted off his shoulders, he was ready to move on and start to drive his way back home to Jacksonville - except for the part where he'd neglected breakfast apart from a sip of orange juice. This unfortunately caught up with him and resulted in him going a bit hungry, leading him to find the nearest restaurant that was open at this time and asking for a boiled egg sandwich. Now he just finished taking in the last bite of the sandwich, getting up and leaving $10 on the table, part of it a tip, before beginning to walk out the side door. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to look at who just entered the front door.
"Hey, told on a second!"
Immediately, once he heard that voice he just stopped dead in his tracks. Tomko would recognize that voice from anywhere. And unlike what he'd thought before when he did the things that he did, he and this person weren't truly buddies nor partners, and they damn sure weren't friends. As soon as he turned around, he recognized the smaller bald-headed man who basically considered himself God, Kurt Steven Angle, flanked by the entire Main Event Mafia.
"Well, would you look at that? It's my old buddy, Tomko!" Angle noted, a smile coming onto his face. Apparently he never got the memo about Tomko knowing the truth now, even after a full year of opportunity for that to be the case. "I heard you've been making the rounds in Japan again. What are you doing in this neck of the woods?"
"I just got a little hungry and decided to make a stop," Tomko said flatly, trying to end this conversation as soon as possible.
"Is that so? This is kind of a long way from Jacksonville, you know. You planning on coming back to TNA, or just stopping by at a friend's place?"
"If you really need to know, I spent the last couple days at Edge's," Tomko told him. It wasn't exactly a lie; he had been Edge's guest for the better part of this week, and he was coming up from that neck of the woods. However, Angle didn't need to know about any of his other stops.
"Edge?" Angle repeated to himself, to which Booker T and Scott Steiner began to mildly snicker.
"I think I'm gonna go take care of some liquid business, if you know what I mean," Kevin ash instead excused himself, walking off in the direction of the corridor where the restroom most likely was.
"Okay, Big Kev, but don't take too long!" Angle called, leaving the mercenary on his own before turning back to Tomko. "Anyway… Edge, huh? Well, I can't see why you would be hanging out with a loser like him, but he is injured, and probably laying on his bed right now crying about how he can't walk. I suppose misery wanted some company. Anyway, I'm glad you're telling me the truth, Tomko." The Problem Solver could only sigh and wait for Angle to continue jabbering on like the egotistical idiot that he is.
"Seriously. I'm glad I can still talk to you, big guy. I mean, I'd hate to learn that you were planning on coming back to TNA to try to fight the Main Event Mafia," Angle continued on, thinking he now controlled Tomko again probably due only to his own delusions of godhood. "I mean, after all, if you've been watching TNA, I think you know what happens to people that cross the Main Event Mafia. But then again… that's been true about my past alliances right before the Main Event Mafia too, hasn't it? You know all about that…" Angle paused briefly to stand next to Tomko and put a hand on his shoulder. "…don't you, buddy?"
As he stared down at Angle's hand on his shoulder, the Man of Principles knew one thing:
Angle was still trying to buddy up to him, right? Okay. That did it.
"Keep your grimy paws off me," he started after swatting Angle's hand away, "you filthy little bastard!"
"Filthy little bast… who da hell do you think you are, you dumb redneck!?" Steiner jumped in defense of the Godfather.
"Hey, I may be a bit of a redneck, Steiner, but the only dumb ones here are you and your idiot partner Whoopi T!" Tomko countered, using a line that Christian actually taught him a bit about to irritate the Mafia. Like he thought it would, his Whoopi Goldberg jab got both Booker T and his wife Sharmell jabbering about how he needs to learn respect.
"Guys, hold up!" Samoa Joe suddenly shouted, which actually stopped both Huffmans from making yelling fools of themselves for awhile, though it took a second or so. His stablemates finally settled down, he turned to Tomko and got in the Problem Solver's face.
"I don't know why you're startin' to think you can get gully with the Mafia, but if you don't get the steppin', then you will be gettin' stepped on," Joe threatened with a calm viciousness in his voice that generally marked him.
"Well, look who's talking. It's the huge sellout, Mercenary Joe!" Tomko responded with a grin of his own, unafraid whatsoever. "You are making the same mistake I did, three times as bad! I screwed Christian over for Kurt Angle and I still paid for it with my own pride, but you! You screwed yourself for Kurt Angle, after you'd already beat him for the TNA title before."
"Say what you just said to me again, and I won't hesitate to take you out right here and now!" Joe shot out, within earshot of everyone in the restaurant - at this point people were scattering and shouting for him to stop.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Joe, simmer down!" Kurt suddenly ordered, silencing the entire area and stopping Joe in his tracks.
"Tomko, stop it. This is between me and you. You don't wanna get too hot and get the Mafia involved," he then cautioned the big man.
"Good, so now let me tell you what I should've stuck with before if I wasn't too stupid to drink your Kool-Aid last time," Tomko replied, eyeing Angle viciously once again. "If you EVER put your hands on me again, before your mobsters can move to do anything about it I will knock your block off!"
"That's it- you're dead!" Joe screamed, beginning to go after Tomko. However, Tomko had seen it coming, taking Angle by the neck with both hands and throwing him to the side right into Joe, knocking both men down and sending the entire place into a commotion with all the other patrons and workers running off.
"Dumbass redneck, you better stop that right now, cause you're steppin' to the man with the largest peaks in the world!" Steiner commanded, stepping up to Tomko while flexing his over-inflated Street Fighter vein muscles- but a quick boot to the chest stopped him right in his tracks and took him tumbling down, landing on his ass right at Sharmell's feet.
"Scotty!" Booker yelled in brief concern for his partner, before charging after Tomko - who crouched to pick him up shoulder-to-waist style, turn him around, and ram him right into the wall.
"BOOKER!" Sharmell screamed in hysterical panic now.
"Stop!" Tomko immediately commanded, freezing her in her tracks. "I don't know if your moron husband and friends are still awake, but you make sure they know that they do NOT wanna try this again with me."
On that note, Tomko finally opened the door this took place right in front of and took his leave from the restaurant, just before Kevin Nash made his way out the bathroom… It was true that he had no plans on returning to TNA for the time being, but with that message sent, the towering Man of Principles was certain that Angle's mob would think twice next time they come across him, if that day is ever to come.
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A/N: Allow me to introduce something about myself. I am, among other things; an Edgehead, a Peep (Christian), a Creature of the Night (Taker), a Saved (Jericho), a Air Raider (Styles), a Randonite (Orton), a Punk Brigadier, a Prophecy Agent (Daniels), a Morrison Follower, a Kaneanite, even a Mizfit and a Citizen of Violence (Samoa Joe) minus the Mafia thing… but when it comes to unsung heroes, I am most definitely a Tomko Mark. I thought he was an ordinary big man with a bit of a cool look when I first saw him with Christian in 2004 in WWE, but during his time in TNA, his character developed into something that was going into major league awesome. One thing, though, that always defined Tomko's character was his principle.
Now, you wouldn't think that hired muscle would come with any principles, but as Tomko's persona was fleshed out in TNA, his real life loyalty to friends and dedication to the game became deeply entrenched in his character enough that his Man of Principles reputation backstage was already used to describe him in a TNA vignette. His whole time under Christian all the way up to the Tomko's-for-Tomko course that everybody thought he was set for long term had the fans rallying behind him more and more because his growth and realism was showing, and it was incredible. But then came the turns over to Kurt Angle's side, after which Tomko was portrayed as little more than a callous hater, which didn't fit him at all and completely killed all the effort put into developing him. What I wouldn't give to see Tomko come back to TNA and give Kurt Angle one of those boots to set him up for a Spiral Tap courtesy of A.J.…
That concludes the ramblings of a writer. I hope you guys enjoyed the story. A.J. Styles, once again, congratulations on being the champ. May your reign fly phenomenal for a long time and lead TNA, the company once thought dead, on a rise to the future.
-Pac.