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Returns
Mikah’s House - Hawaii
21 October 2021
OFF-Camera
The last six weeks had flown by in a blur. One second Kris was tweeting about High Stakes coming up, as more of a subtle reminder of what he and J2H had been planning. He wasn’t even sure that it was actually going to happen back then. Days later he was on a plane to Hawaii, and his life outside the ring flipped upside down. He started splitting time up and down the coast, and sleeping on the jet more often than he had previously thought possible. Then he added his return to the ring, and all of the aches and pains that came with it. It was everything he had been missing, and also all of the pain that he had pushed out of his mind in the months he spent glorifying his return in his mind. As if it all wasn’t too much to handle, Mark and Christian dropped the bomb on him that after a few years of disappointment, he was finally going into the Hall of Fame. Kris still wasn’t sure that all of it was just an elaborate dream. Maybe in reality he had died, and this was the afterlife. It was the strangest thing. After all of these years, he got everything that he wanted, but all at the same time. He felt like so much of the joy of each individual moment was lost just via sensory overload. It was hard enough just to tell which way was up. Every morning, waking up started with trying to figure out where he had gone to sleep, and the same question.
Kris: Is this still real life?
Mikah’s eyes flicker over to him and cracks a half smile.
Mikah: Maybe? I mean, it could be a fever dream...
At least now he wasn’t confused about where he was waking up. By the time he finds his glasses and puts them on his face, he has already started to put together how he got back to Hawaii. It was just a small stopover before the both of them would be heading to Climax Control together.
Kris: If it is, it’s the best and longest one I have ever been a part of. At this point, I’m not even complaining. I’m just going to ride it out. No more asking questions or waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe sometimes shit is just supposed to work out.
She pushes her blonde locks out of her face for a moment as she leans against the headboard of her bed. She has her tablet in her lap, leaned up against her knees as she looks through her emails.
Mikah: It’s not a dream, or at least if it is I’m definitely not aware of it. But is it possible for the both of us to be in the same dream and be hyper aware?
She raises her eyebrows for a second before furrowing them together and then looking over at him.He is still fighting with his eyes to get them to actually focus. Life had become a game of fighting off perpetual jetlag. When he finally looks over to her, the sight of her brings a legitimate smile to his face.
Kris: I want to say yes… but no. If it was, I think that you would be having just as good of a time as I am. Instead you have Dani knee-deep in your shit. Here I am going into the Hall of Fame and finally getting the gigantic match I’ve been planning for years...and I get to wake up with you. You’re saddled with me, and being called out. Sounds like a nightmare.
The smile never leaves his face. In truth, he was actually enjoying the fact that Dani was trying so hard to get Mikah’s attention. It was exactly the type of thing that he would do if he were in the Bombshell division. If the best of the best isn’t around, convince them to be around. Kris had done it himself. It usually worked.
Mikah: Dani? She’s not bothering me that much. I think it’s bothering her more that I haven’t answered her challenge yet, which I find more and more entertaining each day. And saddled with you? You’re saying that like it’s a bad thing. There’s nobody else I’d rather be with.
She scrunches her nose up at him before looking at him and smiling a little bit. She lets the tablet rest against her legs for the time being to focus her attention on him.
Kris: Nobody believes that you’d willingly spend all of your time with me. It’s only a matter of time before Dani convinces you to come back by offering time to get away from me. Not that I would hate that. All of this plane travel would be a lot more fun if you were going back and forth with me.
He obviously wouldn’t expect her to make the stops in San Diego while he was at Jet City South, but something was going to be better than nothing. She looks at him and gives him a small smile.
Mikah: You could have asked me to go with you, you know. I would have gone with you. It doesn’t bother me to fly and travel. I’m actually more at peace with traveling than you are. I knew traveling was going to have to be a thing when I made the move to Hawaii permanent. And even if I do accept her challenge, it wouldn’t make me want to get away from you at all.
It was comforting to know that asking her along was an option even if her match at High Stakes wasn’t going to be a reality. That really wasn’t what he was holding out hope for, but he really wasn’t in any position to hope for anything better than all of the recent gifts life had given him.
Kris: Hey now! I haven’t even decided if I am sticking around after all this High Stakes stuff. I wanted this match. I wanted the Hall of Fame for so long that it may have been driving me a little crazy. After that though… what’s left? There’s only a couple of things that I would even really want to do, and I can’t do one of them without you.
She raises an eyebrow at him.
Mikah: And what is that one thing that you can’t do without me? I must know this...
She looks at him, her eyebrows raised with interest as she looks at him before she sets her tablet on the bed next to her.
Kris: There was this undefeated mixed tag team that killed it for a while last year. I was thinking about trying to beat all of their records.
The smile grows wider across his face.
Kris: Well… our... records. You know, wipe the whole Coby addendum off of the record books. I never really wanted to challenge for the big one again. I was content when we were just doing our thing. That was fun, and at this point, that’s one of the biggest things that I care about. Although, if you’re not down I have other boxes that need checking off. That is just the one that I can’t do all on my own.
She looks at him, thinking about what he was saying.
Mikah: I don’t have anything going on. Think we can convince them to come to Hawaii though? I’m not sure how many shows they could get out here….
She winks at him before pushing the blanket off of her legs a little bit.
Kris: I doubt it. They rarely go anywhere fun.
Other than the Summer XXXtreme show, Kris hadn’t been a fan of any tour that he had been on with the company, even quitting during the international tours on two different occasions. It was no wonder that half of the people backstage couldn’t stand him. He should count himself lucky that Christian had been objectifying him for years.
Mikah: You’ve got that right; they didn’t even go to NYC when I was there ninety-five percent of the time. But choose to have an east coast tour after I’m no longer a member of their active roster. But you could maybe pull some strings.
She winks at him, playfully before poking his cheek.
Kris: Not without feeling dirty about it afterwards. That’s how I end up at Summer XXXtreme competing in see-thru clothes. I’d rather not be that person anymore. It was an easy way to get the thing that I wanted, but you can’t shower that kind of thing off, you know?
It had taken him a long time to come around to the fact that the whole thing had rubbed him the wrong way. It wasn’t even like he reaped any real benefit from it either. His rise to the top was still miraculous, and far from easy. He would have thought with how much he had degraded himself that it would have greased some wheels. Instead it was just more negativity to look back on.
Mikah: I’m kidding. I wouldn’t want to objectify myself to get something I want, so I wouldn’t want you to do it either. But you can do it for me.
She scrunches her nose up at him before stopping for a moment to listen to see if either of her children were awake but then relaxes a little when she hears nothing.
Kris: Plus, I’m not even sure if it is going to be something that sticks. Aside from us being a team again, there’s really only one or two dream matches that I have left. Getting in the ring against Ben and Evie would involve you, but would sell itself. Stepping into the ring with Fenris again would be dope. I could win the Internet Championship and be a two-time Grand Slam Winner… are there any of those?
He would have to remind himself to have someone ask Mercedes about it. She was always able to rattle off obscure things like that. It was the reason that Kris stopped messing with her. From the way that she talked in the ring, she knew everything about everyone. He wasn’t about to make himself a target now that he was happy with how things were going. There were definitely some gnarly losses that she could refresh everyone’s memory on.
Mikah: Facing Ben and Evie would be fun. But the only problem there is that I actually like Evie. And I don’t even know my own record in SCW to be honest, let alone yours or anybody else’s. I didn’t even really care to be a Grand Slam Champion, if you remember correctly.
She shrugs her shoulders before scooting to the edge of the bed to stand up. Once she’s on her feet, she stretches before looking at him again.
Kris: It just feels like I have already done everything else… you know? I still have the urge to go out there and be in the ring. I still like being in front of the crowd, and I definitely don’t want to go sign anywhere else. There’s just… not much left on the bucket list.
He realized that in a way he was asking for trouble. He should feel good about the fact that nobody insane was after him. Nobody was trying to maim him, or kidnap loved ones. There were no stakes. It was safe.
Mikah: Beat J2H first and then decide how you feel after that. I think I’m going to let Dani sweat a little bit longer. I was never one to answer things on Twitter anyways. There are a few Bombshells that I haven’t faced yet, but I’m not sure that I need to face them either.
She shrugs her shoulders a little bit.
Kris: That’s kind of how I’ve been looking at it. I was looking into Fenris’ partner, and honestly haven’t been impressed by anyone on his hit list. I miss the days when just about everyone was a superstar. I’m not going to be excited about going back full time just to be beating Bill Barnhart as much as I did last year.
Despite how much he wanted all of the big matches, at this point in his career, the slow grind that he would need in order to make it all happen was almost too much to sign up for. Maybe Mikah was right. Hell, maybe J2H was right. That guy pops in whenever, and does whatever he wants. That wouldn’t be such a bad gig.
Mikah: I’d be okay with a match every now and then with somebody that’s worth it. I don’t want to be facing Crystal all the time like I was a few years back. And yeah, I’m no help on that end because before recently, I wasn’t even aware that person was in SCW. I’m not even sure that Dani is worth it yet, I’m still thinking about it. I have a few days to make sure she is; let her sweat it a little longer. At least your match with J2H will draw big crowds, who’s to say my potential match with Dani will?
She raises an eyebrow and shrugs her shoulders at him.
Kris: You should just come with me to this next show. You know she’ll be there running her mouth. If you feel inclined to take her up on it, you’re already in the building. Otherwise, it is just an excuse to spend a little extra time with me. And I’ll even promise not to make any big decisions about anything until after High Stakes.
It was his best pitch to avoid another few days of travel blur.
Mikah: I think...I will come with you to Boston. And then instead of having to come back to Hawaii, we can go to NYC from Boston and be there? It’s just a suggestion. . .
She was sure that her house in NYC was still standing, she hadn’t heard otherwise.
Kris: I might have to go back to San Diego in between for a couple days, but that sounds much better than doing it all alone… but we still get a few days to ourselves before then...
It was totally unto themselves, but that hadn’t ever mattered to Kris. Together they had four little ones to be chasing after, though they had yet to have them all in the same room at the same time. He was used to sharing her attention with everyone else in the house, but he wasn’t going to waste anymore of their time worrying about what may or may not be meant to be for them in Sin City. At this point in his life, the ring wasn’t the thing that he was most focused on anymore. Sure, it was his dream. But he had already lived it.
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>I would be lying if I said that I wasn't excited for this match. I mean, let's be honest, the Caleb Storms match was a tune up and everyone knew it. There wasn't going to be any real competition there if I was on top of my game. After that loss last time I came back though, Mark and Christian needed to see what they had. They needed to see what condition that I came back in. If it was the worst version of myself, there would have been no Hall of Fame, and of that I am absolutely certain. If I came back sloppily, there would be no marquee match with J2H3 at High Stakes. I had to prove that I was in it to win it when I came back. I get it. I have earned that weariness over the course of my career here. However, I more than proved that I am every bit the competitor that I say I am. I proved that I was as sharp as ever. I got the victory, and everything that has followed since has been a dream come true.
….but not this. This wasn't a dream match for me. This wasn't one of those boxes that I needed to check off before retiring and riding off into the sunset for good. Nah, I wanted this one for a different reason. I wanted this one for a more personal reason, and I don't mean that however the card writing intern might think. I couldn't possibly care less about his relationship with Fenris. I have very few friends in life, and those that I do I support with every single cell in my body. Fenris is in that group, so I support him in all of his endeavors. That's what friends do. They don't get bent out of shape about a manufactured and not at all realistic love triangle. This isn't a primetime sitcom. It's open combat.
And that is what excites me. Stepping into the ring with, and beating David. Why? Because of all the chirping from him that I have heard since the last time I was in the ring. The guy throws my name around more than any other person on my roster. What was it he said before that tag match at Summer XXXtreme?
“I’m teaming up with possibly the biggest prick on this boat, and I hear Kristopher Ryans is on the boat.”
Those were his words. Or something like that at least…. Shots fired I guess. I thought it was a little uncalled for that someone who hasn't really done anything worth bragging about was taking a free shot at a Grand Slam Champion that wasn't even scheduled to compete. Even worse, he was using my name to insult a close friend and hide his true feelings. I mean, we all saw what happened during that match. We know what has transpired since. Why bring my name into it at all? Why did I need to take some undeserved warning shots? When did "The Miracle" become a punchline? Last I checked, the kid's claim to fame was a short reign with the title that I put back on the map a few years ago. Even since then, he hasn't beaten anyone worth naming. He has done nothing in the ring to be worthy of getting mentioned in the same sentence as me. The single thing that we have in common is that we have slept with the same person. Congrats are in order for him. He's part of a pretty big group, because it is no secret that I have gotten around in my time here. For real, The Mean Girls are getting inducted into the Hall of Fame at the same time I am, and I knocked up at least one of them. It's not an accomplishment to share that kind of history with me, and most people would look at it as a negative. This guy doesn't know me. Hasn't really talked to me. But frequently talks about me. Now he gets to join another big group. The group of people that have fallen at my feet inside that Sin City ring.
...and I know that is going to chew him up inside...
“It would have to really gnaw at one’s craw to lose to Kristopher Ryans. Possibly the biggest heathen in Saved City, and the most annoying to boot….”
...because he said it himself, even though he was saying it to Jack Washington. It’s only funny, because not only did I beat that guy, I took away his SCW World Heavyweight Championship for shits and giggles. That’s how good I am. Last year, I won a shot at any championship, any time. And I literally sat on it until I absolutely had to use it. And what happened? I went out and showed the world that I am one of the very best in the world when it comes to what happens between those ropes. I always have been. I always will be. Why? Because that is what I wanted out of life. I grew up watching it, and wanting to be the one on television doing all these larger than life things. I went out and became what I wanted to be in life. I conquered all of the obstacles put in my path. Granted, I was also the one that put a lot of them into my path to begin with, but that’s a story that’s already been told. There is one single person in this company’s history that can even begin to compare his resume against mine, and we are set to square up at High Stakes. That means everyone else is in a league beneath the two of us. The rest of the superstars not just signed right now, but in the entire history of the company, fail to measure up.
So why would anyone feel bad about dropping a match to me? Why would anyone hang their head in shame after going out to the ring to just take the L? So many people have gone out there and fallen short, and not all of them were awful. I’m just that much better than the average. That’s why they call me The Miracle. You wouldn’t look at me, or listen to me talk, and think that I am as good as I am in that ring, but I am. It defies explanation, but is backed up by year after year of facts. If there is an award worth winning, I’ve won it. If there’s a title worth holding, I’ve probably already had it twice. I have won more of them than anyone else in the company, and I am just one Internet Championship away from being a two-time Grand Slam Champion. I’ve beaten every single ‘face of the company’ put in front of me, whether it was when I was a Nobody, or after everyone realized they were watching something Miraculous.
David isn’t an idiot. Well, at least not that big of one. He was part of that weird cult for a while. Now he seems to think that some big sexual awakening somehow has something to do with how well he performs inside the ring, because that’s all we hear about. But still… he has to know that there is no shame in losing to me. At least not professionally….
….but personally?
Yeah, I could see that. See, it isn’t about what I do in the ring. He hasn’t had a single negative thing to say about my abilities in the past. He hasn’t ever doubted my record. He doesn’t set aside my accomplishments. He just thinks I am annoying. I bother him on a personal level. He doesn’t seem to like me very much, despite not knowing me at all.
….but why?
Again, I think he gave us the answer already.
“You can’t live a loss like that down because Kris is a social media kingpin.”
...and that’s what it boils down to for him. I’m a guy that cares about wins and losses. Sure, I might rub that loss in your face at the end of the night, but come the next day I’m not thinking about it anymore. I am already thinking about what I am going to do to get the next one. David doesn’t seem to be one of those people. He seems like the kind of person that is going to get all in his feelings about losing to me. The type of guy that would get all defensive every time it gets mentioned afterwards. It’s okay. He’s not alone in that group. O’Malley’s bitch ass will keep him company. But honestly, it would bother him to lose to me, because he doesn’t think he could handle having to stew about it afterwards while I laugh him off. It has nothing to do with business. There is not a single thing about it that is professional. This isn’t a job for him. This is just a gateway to me mocking him on social media. From everything he said about me all summer, that’s what he seems to be afraid of. I wish I could take that fear away from him. I wish that I could tell him that it probably wasn’t going to go down that way this time too. The problem is, I really am just that damn good at what I do.
If it’s not broke, don’t try to fix it, ya know?
I mean, being me is what got me into the Hall of Fame. Being Kristopher Ryans is what gained me entrance into The Battle of the Great Ones. I love every second of being me, and if that rubs people the wrong way, it’s just a perk that I never really counted on. But he shouldn’t think for a second that his opinion of me changes anything about what I am going to do in that ring. I go out there to win, and I do that better than just about everyone that’s ever stepped through the curtain in Sin City. After this match is over, he won’t have to reach so far for a reason to not like me. I’mma give him one.
Another shiny L for his record.
And another punchline for social media.
It’s what I do.
