Hunter knew NXT was going to be a hot mess but he was thankful that at least some of the roster was lessened due to the pandemic. William and Nigel were just about ready to pound into Scotty after finding out it was because of Johnny that this whole investigation even began. They were pretty much almost done with the investigation, they had people working on this and it was easy to pinpoint who was close to whom. Hunter looks over at his camera monitor checking when he sees Scotty in the stairwell with two of the cruiserweight competitors. The footage was too dark so he wasn't able to tell who they were or what the hell was going on.
"Shit, I should know this place better." Hunter says pulling out a map of the building checking the camera number.
Meanwhile in the staircase with Scotty, Drake Maverick and Jake Atlas. Drake has somehow gotten handcuffed to the stairwell. It was obvious to him that this wasn't Jake's first experience with Scotty which made Drake want to go into protective mode. Jake kept retreating up the stairs not realizing it was a dead end. Drake sighs loudly.
"Didn't think you were the type to be into handcuffs, Scotty. Are you a kinky boy?" Drake asks.
"What did you just say?" Scotty asks turning around. Drake grins moving his hand up and down causing the handcuffs to tap against the railing.
"These things, you just pack 'em? Never know when you might need 'em, eh? What you need them for anyways?" Drake asks.
"Right now would be a good enough reason to need them." Scotty says.
"Are you sure?" Drake asks. "Are you sure that's all?" Drake presses. Scotty reaches the ground turning towards Drake, when suddenly Jake leaps onto Scotty's back putting his arm around his neck. Scotty quickly counters and sends Jake crashing to the hard concrete floor.
"You stupid faggot!" Scotty shouts laying in the kicks to Jake's stomach.
"HEY! Don't you think that's just a little too fucking much?" Drake asks kicking Scotty in the back of the calf. Drake instantly regrets this decision as Scotty turns his attention to him. There's no way for Drake to get away, but that doesn't mean he can't fight back. He is able to land some kicks and punches until Scotty hits him with a punch just above his ear.
"You know, out of all of Fit's sons you are by far the weakest one. So tiny, makes you an easy target." Scotty says. Drake scoffs gasping when Scotty's hand is around his throat. Jake starts to crawl towards them absolutely spent both mentally and physically but not giving up. Scotty kicks Jake in the shoulder, Jake screaming out in pain, panic in his eyes when Scotty puts his foot onto his throat. "I really don't see what they see in you." Scotty says lessening his grip on Drake's neck pushing down harder on Jake's throat causing him to choke and gag it getting harder and harder to breath, "Especially you. You are nothing special, just a knock-off and they are too afraid to even say that you are gay. And why would they? I wouldn't want someone like you to spread your message." Jake growls grabbing Scotty's ankle and knee yanking them as hard as he can sending him crashing to the floor. Scotty quickly recovers leaping on top of Jake nailing him with shots left and right to the stomach, the chest, and face.
Hunter and security quickly arrive, security pulling Scotty off a defenseless Jake.
"Shit! Drake! DRAKE! For fuck's sake, Michael! You are going to pull your arm out of your socket or break your damn wrist!" Hunter shouts touching Drake's shoulder gently to get him to stop pulling at the handcuffs. "It's alright. It's…it's over. We'll get you out of these."
"Jake…" Drake says crying. Hunter sighs looking at Drake's neck which has a red mark from the hand. Jake is on the floor getting looked over by medical staff and he looked even worse. "Hunt, the things he said. The guy is real homophobic." Drake says. He jumps as security are behind him with pliers to cut the handcuffs.
"Yeah, well, I think tonight is the night we fire him. Hell, Scott could be arrested for a hate crime right now." Hunter says.
"No…I just…I just really want him gone from the company." Jake says.
"How bad is he hurt?" Hunter asks. He turns to Drake again when he hears him wince when the handcuffs are taken off. "Ah, hell, Drake." Hunter says seeing the red marks and indents from the handcuffs.
"I tried my best to distract him away from Jake. To…to get him focused on me. The handcuffs were just a way to get me to stay out of the way." Drake says. "Didn't exactly work in the end…"
"You did what you could." Hunter says. "Go, go get checked out. I'll be there in a bit." Hunter walks to his office security already escorting Scotty there. Hunter enters the office, Scotty standing up almost instantly.
"Hunter, I can explain." Scotty says.
"I'm sure you can. I'm sure you've come up with hundreds of excuses for your behavior." Hunter says. "I imagine you have a reason for beating these men, for hurting them, right?"
"How else are they going to learn?" Scotty asks. "I'm doing them a favor, really."
"Are you? Is that really how you feel?" Hunter asks.
"Most of these kids come from wrestling royalty. They need to be taken down a peg or two." Scotty says. "You can't fire me. This is the only shred of evidence you have."
"That's where you are wrong." Hunter says. "You see, you think that the footage is deleted but really it isn't. There's always a way to trace it back." Scotty folds his arms looking down. "That's right, I know about the deleted footage. What you think I wouldn't notice sudden bits of stream missing when I looked back on it?"
"It took you a while to look back though." Scotty says cockily. Hunter puts his hands on the desk in front of him.
"Scott, I appreciate the work you have put in but I can't continue to have you on my team harming my roster. I'm afraid I am going to have to let you go, I wish you luck on all your future endeavors." Hunter says. Scotty scoffs kicking the chair.
"You are going to regret this." Scotty says.
"Get out." Hunter says.
The next day, Hunter calls Hayes, Porter and Luger into his office at the performance center. He has Stephanie to his right and Shawn to his left. Hayes sits down, Luger sitting next to him, Porter standing in the middle of them. They looked almost cocky, over-confident, and maybe even proud? It didn't seem as if they were going to have any trouble.
"We've been doing some investigations into the claims made by a former signee. We've talked to the roster, getting their side of things and have concluded that these claims are true." Hunter says.
"Cut the bullshit business talk, Hunter." Luger says leaning back in his chair hands behind his head.
"We know what you've been up to. There's at least 30 plus men you've targeted maybe more. Are you proud of yourselves?" Shawn asks.
"Please, you can't tell me that these guys don't deserve it." Hayes says.
"Deserve it?!" Stephanie asks bewildered.
"Those kinds of thoughts and opinions are not wanted here. I'm sorry but we are going to have to let you all go." Hunter says. "I wish you luck."
"Unbelievable." MVP says. Hayes just stands up offering his hand to Hunter who takes it.
"Let's go, boys." Hayes says. He walks out the door and down the hallway but not getting far when he is suddenly pushed against the wall by Regal. Nigel is holding the other two back as best he can.
"What the fuck did you do to my nephew you son of a bitch?" Regal shouts. Hayes grins looking Regal in the eye.
"Johnny is just an easy target. We didn't know how fun he'd be until we got our hands on him. Just one little taste was all we needed." Hayes says. Nigel looks back at him then at the other two who are grinning as well. Before anything can get too out of hand, Hunter, Shawn and Stephanie come out into the hallway.
"William, step away. It's been handled." Hunter says.
"Maybe if you taught Johnny how to defend himself he wouldn't have been in that position." MVP says. Nigel scowls the side of his hand connecting with MVP's Adam's apple causing him to double over coughing.
"Fuck you!" Nigel says.
"Enough!" Hunter shouts. Nigel growls holding up his hands stepping away, Regal doing the same. Hayes and Luger grab MVP's arms helping him out of the Performance Center.
"So this is it? It's over?" Shawn asks.
"Let's hope so. We still have to put out a statement." Hunter says. "But all the staff that has helped them is gone."
As the three are driving away Hayes says, "They are going to wish they never let us go. We'll get our revenge."