[Jet City]

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>So yeah…

I cleared the first round. Mission accomplished, right?

Nah.

It doesn’t feel right. Me and Ariana picked up the win, but being in this tournament still doesn’t feel real. I mean, I didn’t really get a chance to do much. My biggest contribution by far was being in the right place at the right time to make sure that Ariana got a second chance to get things done. That’s not much to write home about, ya know?

Sure, I held my own in the ring with Teddy, but what is that even worth in this company? The guy talks like he wants to be taken seriously but doesn’t seem to be able to back it up. It feels like we only got a few seconds together in that ring, and he couldn’t maintain any kind of pressure on me. He couldn’t hold me down. He could barely even get the advantage, let alone keep it. It was clear the only way he was advancing is if his partner got the job done for him, so how can I count that as an accomplishment? How can I enjoy that kind of victory?

I can’t, so I’m not gonna even try.

As far as I am concerned, I haven’t even really gotten started in this tournament yet. I’mma chop the first round up to a bye, even though my partner definitely got to show everyone left in this tournament that she isn’t going to be put down easily. During the first round, Ariana sent her message to the locker room.

Round two is my turn.

The first is already forgotten.



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One of Us
Grant Arms Hotel - Grantown-on-Spey, Scottish Highlands
11 APRIL 2023
OFF-Camera

I had gotten used to the privileges that came with being signed to Sin City. Sure, Jet City was an entirely separate entity, but the moment that I was signed up to the Blast from the Past tournament, the perks suddenly got much better. It wasn’t just for me either. They took care of everything for all three of us in the tournament. They didn’t want us thinking about anything but advancing to the next round. All the travel, all of the accommodations, and anything else we needed was just an ask away. It was the kind of lifestyle that I could get used to. Especially because, outside the gym, there hadn’t been a whole lot of actual work. It was almost as easy as stealing money.

The only problem was, it made both Eiley and Court unavoidable. We were always on the same flights. We were staying at the same hotels. If I went out, at least one of the two of them were there. If I stayed in, there was no way we weren’t passing each other in the hallways. It seemed like there was always one of the two of them looking over my shoulder. Eiley I didn’t mind as much. I was used to it. Even if I wasn’t, I am not sure that it would bother me. I always had a soft spot for that one. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a topic that I had time to unpack right now.

Court was an entirely different story, and one I couldn’t explain. As far as I knew, she didn’t even want to be in the tournament, or on the tour. That didn’t stop her from basically being my shadow from the moment that we left for the first stop. At first I thought that maybe she was taking her job way too seriously. Then I moved onto thinking she was just trying to get in my head in case we ended up facing off in the finals. Now I wasn’t sure what to think, unless she was thinking about leaving Ruby and straightening out, but I wanted no part of that. The more that I could fly under the radar, the better. Even having that thought had to be some kind of jinx.

EILEY: It was Jaycee wasn’t it?!?!

I jumped. One second I was turning a corner and patting my pockets for the key to my door, and the next she was just there. I could tell from the tone of her voice that she had been standing there fuming for more than a few minutes. Before I even knew what was happening she closed the distance between us and threw a punch that nearly took my breath away.

EILEY: Court was blabbing on-and-on about Mikah, but then she said a name that cleared things right up. You kept talking about making money off some information. Vague shit. That information was Jaycee. You gave him up.

I took a step back and caught the next punch as she threw it and quickly wrapped my arms around her. If I had it my way, I would’ve been long gone from Sin City by the time she figured it out. That didn’t change the fact that I didn’t need her standing in the middle of the hallway screaming about it to anyone close enough to hear it. She didn’t even immediately try to fight her way out of my arms, almost like she was willing to hear what I had to say.

OZ: If you want to talk about it, we can. Just not right here, and not loud enough for the whole world to hear.

That was where I was wrong. She had just been collecting her strength for the right moment, and as soon as my grip loosened even a little she shoved me back with all of the force she could muster, sending me backwards into the wall.

EILEY: He was one of us, and the fact that you aren’t denying it means it’s true. Is that why you’re still here?

I watched as the anger faded off of her face only to be rapidly replaced by disappointment. As much as I didn’t think it was the appropriate venue for the conversation, I couldn’t just leave her hanging.

OZ: It’s a whole lon---

Her eyes rolled before I even got the whole sentence out. I reached out to stop her from turning and walking away, but she shoved me back a second time. The glare that I got in return let me know not to push my luck a third time.

EILEY: Oh fuck off…

She stormed away, and I wasn’t dumb enough to follow. I didn’t necessarily owe her an explanation, but if she wanted to know the whole story I would give it to her once she cooled off.

OZ: ....bitches.

I said it under my breath, hoping that Court wasn’t going to come around another corner and beat me down for some other imagined sleight. Not that it mattered, because the door to my suite was slammed closed behind me an instant later. I could finally take a breath.



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Comeuppance
Grant Arms Hotel - Grantown-on-Spey, Scottish Highlands
12 APRIL 2023
OFF-Camera


People backstage probably think I am boring. While others in the locker room were out investigating this week’s Unsolved Mystery. Others were just like any other tourists. I heard chatter about what I was missing out on, but I wasn’t really interested. I stayed to myself, and kept close by the hotel. Instead of wasting my time with the local shit, I intended to put whatever amenities that the swanky hotel Jet City was paying for had to offer. There were four more days before Climax Control. I had more than enough time to enjoy myself, even if Eiley was going to be a bummer. I had successfully ducked both Eiley and Court for most of the day which I was considering a major success. Finally getting back to my room, I engaged all three locks on the door to the room and went to settle in for the night when I was blindsided. The lights dimmed. A white flash of heat came across my face, and in an instant, I was falling. I hit the ground before the left side of my face started to throb, and the pain actually started to register.

JAYCEE: I owed you that one….

To my surprise, the voice didn’t sound angry. Although, that could have just been because it was mostly deafened due to the ringing in my ears. I tried to get my bearings, but a quick kick to my ribs sent me rolling across the hardwood floor. My assailant was on top of me, and rifling through my pockets in an instant before finding what he was looking for. He backed off once my phone was in his hand, and then dropped it on the floor next to me before stepping on it. The screen cracked under his shoe, less than a foot from my face.

OZ: Come on… you didn’t have to do all that….

I couldn’t find it in myself to even be angry. I knew that this was coming. This was the job. I had been placed in Jet City to be a big billboard for Jaycee to see. It only made sense that he would put together that I had sold him out and come after me to extract his pound of flesh. Apparently he knew that too. That was likely the whole reason that he made short work of my phone the way that he did. He didn’t want me calling for any help.

JAYCEE: Fuck you man! I owe you that much and so much more! How could you be this stupid? Really!?

I tried to get up, only for a second kick to the ribs to knock me back onto my side. I wasn’t dumb enough to try a third time, and instead forced a laugh.

OZ: You give me too much credit. All I did was mention Blast from the Past last year. You did the rest.

Was it smart to poke at him? Probably not. This time he meant it, foregoing the open shot at my midsection to imprint the bottom of his shoe across my cheekbone. My head bounced off of the floor, which may have hurt more than the first impact. It was hard to tell anymore. Before I could even process the first one, there was a second. The floor was just as unforgiving the second time, and the warm-wet feeling on my cheek let me know that I had been cut. Apparently that was where Jaycee felt I was in a position to actually listen to him. He sat down on the edge of the bed in the suite and stared at me down on the floor.

JAYCEE: Did you even think about what they were going to do to me? Or did you just not care?

I held my hands up. There was no way that I could look any less threatening while laying on the ground bleeding, but I wasn’t trying to give him any excuse to pick up the beating where he left off.

OZ: Look, that’s between you and them. I had my own problems to deal with, ya know?

I knew that it probably didn’t matter whether or not it was personal. I also knew that he wasn’t going to feel bad about any problems that I had gotten myself into. What I was hoping he would realize is that if he didn’t care about my problems, it was hypocritical to be mad at me about doing the same.

JAYCEE: Forget what you did to me. Your problems got a guy shot, and you don’t care. I mean look at you! You stayed at his gym. You sat around watching it play out without ever saying a word.

That was more self-preservation than anything else. Once Kris got tangled up in it, I was screwed. If I had bailed, they would have immediately pointed the finger at the guy that disappeared as suddenly as he had showed up before everything went to shit. The only thing that I could do is stay, and the only way I could make things worse was to talk. These people came after Jaycee out of fear of what he might say to the wrong people. I was lucky they didn’t consider me a threat. Or at least that they still had a use for me. He didn’t want to hear any of that though. Jaycee didn’t come to hear an explanation, so I gave him what he wanted to hear.

OZ: I didn’t know the guy. Plus, I didn’t put him in that situation. You did.

If he wanted me to be the villain, I could do that. He exploded off of the end of the bed, and everything kind of became a blur after the first couple of right hands landed. I managed to somewhat cover up, but I had zero thought about fighting back.

JAYCEE: YOU SENT THEM AFTER ME!

The flurry subsided, and he pushed himself back up to his feet. He was out of breath. I had to respect the fact that he stopped himself before he tired himself out and started swinging half-heartedly. He wanted each shot to hurt like the first one. Unfortunately, everything had dulled into one throbbing ache from head-to-toe. He could have kept the attack up for hours; I wouldn’t have to deal with it until the next day. I knew that he wasn’t really in it to maim me. If I wasn’t able to show up for Climax Control, it wouldn’t matter if he smashed the phone. That really limited what else he could do to punish me for everything he had to endure in the last year. It also emboldened me to say whatever the fuck that I wanted.

OZ: ....and you ran. You be pissed at me all you want about turning you in, but I didn’t make you go to Jet City. I didn’t put the guy between you and them. You could have just gone quietly.

I could see his anger waver a little when he looked down at me.

JAYCEE: I tried to go quietly. They shot him anyways.

I shrugged. If he wanted me to feel bad about it, he didn’t really know me at all. The world was never fair to either of us; why care about someone else that got the short straw?

OZ: Wrong place. Wrong time. Probably happens a few thousand times a day. Why should I feel bad?

He must have seen the smile starting to form in the corner of my mouth, because he sent another hard kick to my ribs just to keep me humble.

JAYCEE: Why are you still here?

Maybe he wasn’t as smart as I gave him credit for. I always thought the plan was kind of dumb. I didn’t think there was any way that he would see my stupid face in a wrestling ring and show up just to lay down a beating. It was yet another small win, despite my position.

OZ: I put all of the work in, I might as well pay it off.

He was already shaking his head before I even finished the sentence.

JAYCEE: I’m not buying it.

Even if I knew I couldn’t convince him, I wasn’t just going to give it up. We learned from a young age that you have to die with a lie no matter what. As soon as it was spoken, it was fact. Whatever reality existed before then was forgotten. There was only the new truth. No backpedaling; not ever.

OZ: Doesn’t matter what you’re buying or not buying. I had to bust my ass to even get into this Blast from the Past shit. I’mma ride it out until I get eliminated.

He still wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

JAYCEE: Nah. That’s not you. You’re not that guy. You don’t care about your obligation to the tournament. You don’t care about anyone but yourself, and I know it ain’t about Eiley. So why are you here?

He could ask the question as many different ways as he wanted, but he was always going to get the same answer.

OZ: I ---

Before I could get it out he was back on top of me in a flash. He forced his forearm against my throat, cutting the lie off before it could come out again.

JAYCEE: ---you… are here to let them know when I show up, right?

I shook my head, and he eased off just a little bit so that I could force out just a few words in response.

OZ: Can’t do it. Lost… my… phone.

It wasn’t as eloquent as I usually prided myself on being, but it did bring the start of a smile to his face before he turned away and stood back up.

JAYCEE: You know what? I don’t even need you do admit that you fucked up. I don’t need you to even take responsibility. I should have expected you to pull some shit like this. It’s who you are. You got a choice now though. You can keep being a little bitch, or you can help me clean this shit up the right way.

I hoped that he wasn’t going to stand over me and wait for an answer, because I had no intention of telling him what he wanted to hear. I don’t think he expected anything else though, because he made his way to the door before looking back over his shoulder.

JAYCEE: Don’t make that phone call, Oz….

I didn’t even try to get up and follow him. As soon as the door shut, I closed my eyes. There were only a few more brief moments before the adrenaline was going to wear off and I was going to start feeling every shot he threw at me. I was going to enjoy them.



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So it’s only round two, and yet I have arrived at the top of the mountain…

Or at least that is what it feels like. I mean, this week I get to step into the ring with that guy that nobody will shut up about. From the moment that J2H signed up for Blast from the Past, people called him the favorite. From the moment Devona was announced as his partner the two of them were declared unbeatable. The two of them have been the crowned champions of this tournament before the brackets were even announced. Every other team was already just a speed bump on their way to the finals.

Some people might think that is an awful position for me to be in, but I couldn’t disagree more. Nobody expects Ariana or myself to defy the odds. Nobody expects us to even be able to hold a candle to these two. To be fair, some are going to congratulate us simply for making it out of the first round considering the accomplishments of some of the teams already watching the rest of the tournament from the back. If I step into that ring and J2H rips me to shreds, nobody would be surprised. The world would keep on turning just like it always has. My career in this company wouldn’t be derailed. People wouldn’t think less of me. If J2H and Devona walk out of Climax Control with an easy win, it will have been business as normal. So I either get to piss off all the odds-makers and guarantee that I go down in the Sin City history books, or things play out exactly as they were intended to play out.

Either way, I can’t lose.

I mean of course I could literally lose. That could happen, but how big would that win need to be for anyone to find it impressive? I mean, if J2H and Devona come out and barely scrape by, how bad would that make them look headed into the next round. Even better, if J2H has to cheat again just to survive this match, how does that make him look? I know that nothing I say, and nothing anyone thinks is going to change that guy’s opinion of himself, but it’s worth putting some thought into, right?

If he has to cheat his way all the way through the tournament, what’s the point? What is he actually proving to anyone? Look at the first round for example. I don’t do anything worthy of getting disqualified for, yet Christian makes sure to send some half-shaming tweet my way. The biggest name in his company blatantly cheats his way out of the first round, and there isn’t a peep. He’s already got everyone up in the offices looking the other way. And why? Because he has earned it?

Answer me this, because admittedly I am not up on all of my history, when has J2H ever been any different? From what I have heard he has always been an underhanded cock, he just used to be significantly less successful. Sure, he went on an awesome record-setting run that probably won’t ever get touched, but was any of it ever legit? Was it all just one screwjob after another? Is that all it takes in order to end up in the hall of fame? If so, sign me up. It’ll take a whole lot less effort to get there than I thought it would.

On the other hand, I guess he could just sit back and let his partner do all the heavy lifting. Devona is probably one of the few people in the tournament that could have been successful regardless of who got named her partner. Don’t get me wrong, I fully expect that Ariana will be able to hold her own, but I am not going to lie and say that she isn’t impressive. Because of that, I can’t exactly take the low-road and keep myself on the apron in order to keep J2H out of the match all together. That kind of strategy might buy me some time, but I’m not willing to bet that it will give us the win. J2H might be content to stand on the apron, but I won’t be. The good thing is, I can bring him into the match any time that I want to.

…and I might as well make him work for it., because even if we were to take them out, Ariana and I wouldn’t just start jumping up the boards as the favorite to win the whole thing. If we win, it will undoubtedly be called a fluke, and if we lose, nobody will care. That puts us in a position to go out in front of that crowd and just do our thing. The pressure is off of the two of us, because it is all on the other side of the ring. They are the ones that have to live up to their hype. They are the ones that have to put on a dominating performance. They are the ones that have the burden of proving that we aren’t ready to take on this kind of challenge. Devona and J2H have the tall task of trying to put Ariana and I “in our place” and I know the two of us aren’t going to be going quietly.

So like I said, it feels like this is the top of the mountain, even though it is just the second round. There is no greater possible matchup for me than this one. There isn’t anyone that I could beat and have it have the impact that winning that this one would, and I know that Ariana is going to be looking across that ring and thinking the same exact thing. See, people think that the opportunity of a tournament like this lies simply in the ultimate prize at the end. It doesn’t. There is no way that this company would have ever put me in the ring with their measuring stick this early on. There is no way that I could have taunted J2H into showing up to step into the ring with me under any other circumstance. Blast from the Past is the one place that I get to step into a six-sided ring with the best to ever do it, and just see where it is that I stack up. Will I lose? Maybe. But could I win? You better fucking believe it.

It is not even without precedent. Look at all of the greats that Fenris, Court Pierce or Ruby Steele had to run through on their way to improbable rookie runs. The history of this tournament is littered with people that came to it the same way that Ariana and I are coming to it, and they managed to make it all the way through to the end. Each and every time they stepped into the ring they were supposed to lose Yet somehow, some way, it is their names etched into the history books. It doesn’t mean that they were destined to go bigger and better places than the teams that they went through. It didn’t even mean that they were the best team in the tournament. All it means is that when they needed to step up, they did. When it was time to fight, they were ready. When people tried to talk them out of it, they ignored it. They pushed through when nobody gave them a chance, and enough things went their way. It can happen. It has happened. That means it can happen again.

If anyone expects us to walk into this match intimidated, they are going to be sorely disappointed when they see Ariana and I walking down that aisle. We have absolutely nothing to lose, and everything in the world to gain. It doesn’t matter to either of us who people are putting their money on in this round, or any other. If we listened to all the chatter, we probably wouldn’t have even made it out of the first round. On Sunday, I am going to step into the ring and throw everything that I have at The Best in the World and if he doesn’t plan on doing the exact same thing to me, it is going to cost his team the crown that everyone is already begging to give them. There are no free rides to the final four. If J2H and Devona want that spot, they are going to have to take it from us, because we aren’t going to lay down and hand it to them. 

First the final four. Then the finals. Then the whole damn thing. That was what the two of us signed up for, and that goal hasn’t changed. We knew that we would have to be willing to fight our way through every single person that grabbed a spot in this tournament. None of this was a surprise. None of this is biting off more than we can chew. This is exactly the kind of match that Ariana and I wanted, because the opportunities waiting for us at the end of the tournament are worth it.

Our obstacle this week is a whole lot bigger than the first, but so what?

I’ve never been one to be threatened by a challenge.

I’ve never enjoyed succeeding more than when everyone told me it couldn’t be done.

That makes this match my best case scenario.

That’ll make this win all that much sweeter.

I have nothing to be afraid of, and everything to look forward to.

See you Sunday.