Concerned.
He was angry. Frustrated. Annoyed. And even betrayed. It was the night after Alicia’s Queen fur a day card, and the match he had been put in left him scratching his head. Asking questions over and over again. Why? What was the point? Was she punishing him for the past? Had this been a reaction to Austin’s bad decisions and anger? He stood in the gym, his arms over his chest. He looked around it as his jaw clenched.
There she was. Alicia stood in the corner talking to Milo. More anger flashed. He got an Internet title shot.
Austin got scraps. He shook his head and he wanted to storm across and ask why? But what would that prove? He would be seen as an angry whining child. After he had worked so hard to change people’s minds. To try and become the leader he was before his anger and ego took over.
He was still angry.
Still wanting and needing to prove himself. And he was still done with being walked over. But in the gym, with his family, he wanted and needed to be better. And maybe this would take it all back. Destroy all that goodwill. He sighed and smiled at Alicia giving her a wave. He saw Alex out of the corner of his eye. He smirked and moved towards the office stepping in and shutting the door behind him.
He paced back and forth, breathing in and out slowly as Alex flicked through a few papers and shook his head. “Something on your mind?”
Austin scoffed he shook his head and rolled his eyes running his hands through his long hair. “I’m struggling to understand this.” He threw his hands up and cleared his throat moving over to the window. “Milo gets an internet title shot. You get left out. Jo gets left out. Alicia gets a works title shot. And me?” He paused again laughing under his breath. “I’m in a mixed tag title match with Tempest….”
His voice trailed off. Alex raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest. “You have a problem with Tempest?”
“No, I don’t really know her. But that’s the point.” He sighed and shook his head. “We’re thrown together for mixed tag titles. Why not the world title?”
He gave a small shrug and moved around the desk looking Austin up and down with a groan. “Look. I get it in one way. You want to be the top right?” Austin gave a nod, he wanted it. He needed it. He wanted to be the champion, prove he was still the best. “But, you’ve been there. This...a win...it’d get you the triple crown.”
His ears perked up. He swallowed hard and gave a small understanding nod. Austin hadn’t thought of that. The win, the title. The triple crown. Like Alex had achieved with the Roulette title. A smile came in his face as he laughed. “Yeah. I didn’t think of that.”
“And look at your partner Aus.” Alex knew how to pluck those puppet strings. “She’s a force of nature. And your opponents?..I know how you feel about Bill Barnhart…”
“I do like beating him up…”
Alex placed his hand on Austin’s shoulder, he sighed heavily and smiled with an arrogant tone coming in to his voice. “Think about it Aus. You become a mixed tag champion. Hold that title for as long as you and Tempest want.” He moved around to Austin’s other side. Placing his hand on Austin’s other shoulder. “And remember. I won the SCW title after being the mixed tag champion.”
Austin looked up, he smiled and gave and ignored as he turned to Alex. “Yeah you did. Like the Mixed tag built you back up right?” Alex gave a nod. “So, I thought Alicia was punishing me. But she’s helping me.”
Alex swallowed hard. “Sure”
Austin clapped his hands together and laughed. “That’s awesome of her. I gotta thank her.” He moved forward, opening the door as Alicia came closer. He smiled warmly and pulled her into a hug. “Thanks Alicia. I won’t waste this opportunity. I’ll bring those mixed tag titles home.”
He moved passed her and high fived a few others on his way. Alicia blinked a few times and shrugged. “You’re welcome…” she moved towards the office as Alex stepped out. Alicia sighed and folded her arms over her chest. “Really thought he’d be annoyed….now I’m annoyed…”
Alex simply shrugged and smiled, he looked over at Sonja who shook her head before making a “stir the pot” motion. Alex gave a nod and pointed at his head. “No one out-thinks the king.”
A new mountain
”Congratulations.”
The booming voice of Austin James Mercer is the first thing we hear. His large arms folding over his chest as a small smile comes across his face, an arrogant chuckle and a smirk.
”Bill and Bea Barnhart are the mixed tag team champions and it is the first championship either of them have won in SCW. It’s great for them, it really is. On that night, while they did that I lost, again, to Vinnie. He was able to climb that ladder and become the King for a day. So now, after Alicia’s show we wait with baited breath to see what he does. Where will I be when Vinnie decides to make his card? I am scared to think. But, Alicia? Well, she made the decision to book myself and Tempest in a mixed tag team title match with Tempest. Not the match I would have booked for myself.”
“I told everyone what I would do, I told everyone that I would have put myself in an SCW world title match. Cause Mark Cross, he’s a joke. Jack Washington, another joke. That championship has been on a downward spiral and I was going to liberate it.”
“But, Alicia made the decision that I need to focus elsewhere.”
“And after thinking about it. After talking to certain people in my camp, I realised that the mixed tag titles could be good for me. It will teach me to trust and team with others, even someone outside Wolfslair and trust me on this, I couldn’t have a better partner than someone like Tempest. Johanna could be, Alicia could be, but Tempest is a monster. A huge woman who can move and cut a path through the bombshells division, so she can eat Bea Barnhart alive.”
Austin laughs to himself and nods slowly.
”Thoser mixed tag titles have also had a rough time lately. After Alex and Johanna lost them, we all thought maybe Malachi and Bella would do something with them, maybe keep them at the same level Alex and Johanna did. But instead those titles have been passed around, even within their own team when Kris Ryans gave up his half to Coby Quik, and then he and Mikah failed. They lost to “Ignorant discord” who then lost them to the Barnharts. The Black Sheep tried hard but didn’t elevate the belts they just held them. If I am going to do something I’m going to do it right. And those championships coming to myself and Tempest will do wonders for them.”
“But, first thing is first. Beating Bill and Bea. And why wouldn’t we be able to?”
“Those two have been nothing but a pair of failures. And loud mouthed failures. Constantly running their mouths over and over again with nothing to back it up. I run my mouth, Alex, Johanna and Alicia also run theirs. Wolfslair is arrogant and cocky. We get it. But we earn our arrogance. The amount of championships we have won and held is staggering and you Bill, you and your wife have been here almost as long as us and this...this is your first SCW title.”
“Amazing…”
Austin offered a shrug and cleared his throat.
”I may not have wanted this, I had never even thought about the mixed tag titles Bill. But, now I have the opportunity I will grab it with both hands. I will do all I can to win them and hold them. Not just because I can, but because it will give me that infamous triple crown. Think about that Bill, I am about to become the second triple crown champion in Wolfslair. Alex held the mixed tag titles, the world and the roulette title, I won the world and internet so, Tempest and I beat you two?..well…”
“I get to tell the world I’m a triple crown champion too. And you? You get to say you held a title in SCW, which for you is a great accomplishment. Do you know why Bill?”
“You’re a fucking joke.”
“You and your idiot beanhead wife are a pair of racist moron chuckleheads who constantly talk about how great they are despite the fact you have nothing to prove it. Ever. Nothing to sit there and hold up as a beacon of hope to any fans who might give a shit about you. Hell even your Mixed tag title win is mired in shit, you beat a team who are as inconsistent as you are. But, Tempest and I? Look at us Bill. I can destroy you, yank that stupid beard off your face and beat the bloody. And Tempest?...well what she does to your wife will be a sight to behold...and at the end of the night Bill, Tempest and I will raise those mixed tag titles high above our heads…..and you’ll go back to being mediocre.”
