Ariana’s night on Climax Control got off to a bad start after she lost the opener to the debuting Aleesha Jones and even before that her segment time was again interrupted by Krystal Wolfe although this time it wasn’t for an attack, the night did end well for her though because Ariana jumped at the chance to wrestle Keira Fisher the following week at Climax Control and the match was booked.
Keira had come out of retirement for one reason, to deal with Krystal as she had gone rogue and had been on a rampage since Blaze of Glory XI but now that a potential rematch between Krystal and Keira was being built towards Keira was all to eager to get back in the ring and work off the ring rust! Ariana was out to bounce back from her back to back losses to Roxi and Aleesha but can she do it? Can she get the win?
Backstage at Climax Control 362, Reno, Nevada
Sunday the 28th of May 2023, 23:00pm
Tonight was definitely an interesting night.
The loss to Aleesha wouldn’t matter in the long run, she was a newcomer who I knew nothing about heading into the opener but was so angry about the attack by Krystal that I was unable to completely focus, besides, everything that happened after the match made that worth it including my little conversation with Keira.
And off course, Krystal and Jessica had to let their voices be heard because they haven’t been on camera enough already! Still, we got what we wanted in the end, I got my dream match against the renegade of Team Hero, Keira got her chance to work off eight months’ worth of ring rust and the fact that her return match would be against the Team Hero Fangirl who took her wife to the limit for the World Bombshell Title.
Oh yeah, that wasn’t even the weirdest part about tonight.
”First title defence since Into the Void and she loses the title.” I muttered to myself as I watched the closing moments of the Main Event between Courtney Pierce and Roxi Johnson, we were watching the main event in the cafeteria getting a quick bite to eat before we headed back to the hotel for the night and then back to Vegas the following day, I sighed to myself as I folded my arms. ”If I had hit the Angel’s Descent at Into the Void that could’ve been me out there.”
”I think we know the real question babe.” Francisco responded and I turned to my fiancé with a curious look on my face. ”If you had won the title and your first defence was against Courtney, would you be a one and done champion or would your reign survive Courtney?”
”That’s a tough question, I’ve never wrestled Courtney before but her win in the 2018 Blast from the Past Finals has been one of the biggest “what if” questions to have stem from that year’s tournament.” I responded with a nod as I shifted my weight. ”Not to mention her team with Fenris was the team that gave the Go Gym/Jet City Partnerships high expectations, just look at my team with Oliver this year and the team of Jaycee and Levana from last year!”
”I guess we’ll never know unless you end up as a challenger at some point before or after Summer XXXTreme, and that’s if she survives Devona off course.” Francisco nodded in response and yeah, I found it hard to disagree with his points. ”Speaking of Team Hero, you’ve got Keira coming up next week, after Jessie flat out refused to defend the Bombshell Roulette Title against her.”
”I saw that too, Jessie did have some great points and Keira did say that she and Roxi were no longer interested in titles but that’s gotta sting, right?” I asked and Francisco nodded in agreement. ”And Jessie’s got an open-door policy with the rest of the roster I’d be tempted to challenge her if I wasn’t worried about Krystal costing me the match to be honest!”
”A year ago I would’ve thought you were crazy for thinking something like that, but we’ve both seen her actions since Blaze of Glory.” Francisco responded after taking a deep breath and I nodded. ”Speaking off, have you heard anything about her latest three victims?”
”Off the two Krystal brutalized before the bell? Gabby and Addy are in bad shape but are expected to make a full recovery long before Summer XXXTreme rolls around, Abby took the worse of it though.” I added as I shook my head with a disgusted look on my face. ”Shaving that girl’s long flowing black hair just so that obviously fake wig wouldn’t look so bad was bad enough but breaking her arm like that? She’s going to send a lot more rookies to the hospital by the end of the year if we don’t stop her.” I added as I took a sip from my drink. ”Though given that Jenny Tuck was in the building tonight, I’d be surprised if she didn’t send those three enough money to cover the medical expenses and set them for life.”
”After seeing her updated bank balance? I’d believe it.” Francisco nodded in agreement before he checked his watch. ”We had better get going before we spend the rest of the night here.”
”No argument there, just let me finish my drink.” I responded with a nod before I finished my drink in one gulp and left the cafeteria area for the parking lot.
I didn’t know what Krystal’s end game was, she had obviously put a massive target on my back due to perceived favouritism and whatever her end goal was for herself, I had the distinct feeling that me and god knows how many other Bombshells were going to get caught in the crossfire.
I didn’t know how many would be claimed by this war that Krystal had declared, but we needed a peace treaty ASAP!
Ariana’s home, Las Vegas, Nevada
Memorial Day 2023, 17:00pm
Ahh memorial day, a day most Americans look at as a three-day weekend and an excuse to have BBQs or go a picnic whilst those who have served in the military (like Mac Bane) or have a relative who served in the army (like Christian Underwood or the self-proclaimed military brat Harper Mason) looked at this day with more sombre eyes.
Me and Francisco are somewhere in the middle.
I’m a first generation Greek American, the rest of my family still lives on the Island of Corfu and as of now I was the only member of my family who spoke Greek and English fluently, the rest either spoke fairly good English (like my parents) or exclusively Greek.
Francisco’s situation was much the same, he and his sister Juliana were born and raised in Vegas but their family is Brazilian, I have heard Francisco talk with his relatives in Portuguese but I don’t know enough of the language to know if his Portuguese is any good or not, nor have I gotten around to asking him to be honest, the point is, because we’re both originally from foreign countries we’re split down the middle on Memorial Day, kinda viewing it from both sides.
Besides, American BBQ is good and all but Greek BBQ is on a different level! Something I was demonstrating to my curious neighbours after inviting them over for a BBQ.
”Okay, the Beef Souvlaki Skewers are ready to go on the bill.” I commented as I put the skewers on the grill ready to cook the meat, when I saw the confused look on the husband’s face I explained. ”Oh, Souvlaki is what us Greeks call Kebabs, it’s traditional street food, usually made with a marinated top sirloin which is what I’m using here.”
“Ahh okay, I gotcha.” The husband nodded as he watched me work the grill, don’t let my YouTube show fool you, I know how to cook and as I mentioned earlier, I’m Greek American, my speciality lies in both cuisines. “How long did you marinate the beef for?”
”24hrs overnight, I literally started this beef before I left for Climax Control yesterday.” I explained with a small grin as I motioned to the homemade pita bread. ”I usually serve it with Pita Bread but these skewers go well with anything really.”
“And you’ve got that going with those pork chops, gotta say if you won Franky’s heart with your cooking I wouldn’t be surprised.” The wife responded as she took a break from giving Athena some fuss to come over. “Speaking of Climax Control, we don’t see your Australian friend come over anymore, did something happen?”
Oh right, I forgot these guys aren’t wrestling fans, they knew I wrestled for Sin City Wrestling and that I had joined the company last year after SCU’s closure was announced but they weren’t privy to the details. ”It’s a long story, all you need to know is that me and Krystal had a falling out and it’s going to take a lot to rekindle our friendship.” I explained not really wanting to break the happy mood by going into detail about the Krystal situation, thankfully they seemed to accept that and I moved on. ”But yeah, Pork Chops are well on their way, the burgers should be ready to go on the grill soon.”
”Burger mix is ready and seasoned so we just need to get it formed and ready to go on the grill.” Francisco called out from inside the house via an open window and I nodded with a grin. ”The homemade burger rolls should be out of the oven in about ten minutes.”
“You don’t do anything by half, do you Ari?” The husband asked and I shook my head with a proud grin on my face. “Homemade pita bread and burger rolls?”
”Bread was one of the first food items I learned how to make from scratch, it’s like riding a bike for me.” I responded with a grin before I turned the beef skewers and then the pork chops. ”Speaking of food, pork chops look about done, Franky when you come out can you bring the mix with you? I can make the burgers from here a lot faster and they’ll go straight on the grill.”
”Will do and the burger rolls are ready, I’ll bring them out second.” Francisco responded with a nod and a few minutes later he came out of the house with the burger mix and then with the freshly baked burger buns. ”And if you think this is impressive Ari made a whole Indian feast whilst we were in India last September, no idea how authentic it was but it was delicious.”
If only the authenticity was the only issue that came from that feast, that was the night that I found out Laz was abusing Carter after all and whilst the fact that the tour ended with me winning my first singles title by beating Melissa for the Bombshell Roulette Title was a small comfort, I had to admit, that reign was tainted by the fact that it was happening side by side with Carter’s abuse saga. ”That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, almost makes me tempted to do something similar the next time SCW tours a foreign country but I’m getting way ahead of myself there.” I added with a nervous laugh before I plated up the pork chops. ”But this is more in my wheelhouse, Greek Style Pork Chops, or brizola if we want to use the official name, served with duck fat roasties.”
“I’m going to have to go to a dietician after this but it’ll be worth it.” The husband left before we tucked into the pork chops and the rest of the meal, spoiler alert: it went down a treat. “You ever consider working as a chef Ari? I’d pay a lot of money for this!” The husband added once we had finished everything and I shook my head.
”I’m flattered but I am a former Professional Chef, worked at the Gold Coast Casino for a few months.” I sighed as I put the plates to the side and my neighbours nodded. ”Sadly the Covid-19 pandemic made my chose between focussing on my wrestling or my chef work and wrestling had been my dream since I was a little girl so that choice was easy, as for whether I’d go back? Who knows? I’ve still got the rest of my twenties ahead of me.”
“Well if you ever do go back you have your first two customers right here young lady.” The wife responded and they were headed back home a few minutes later, but I grimaced as soon as they were out of site.
”Don’t get me wrong, it was lovely to show Ralph and Maria my native cuisine.” I commented to Francisco as I cleaned up the dishes and Francisco turned to me. ”And they are lovely people but they did dredge up some bad memories for me, the pandemic, the incident in New Delhi, the whole Krystal situation.” I sighed as I finished washing up a plate. ”And they didn’t know any better because they aren’t wrestling fans, so I couldn’t really stay mad at them either.”
”Your first year as an SCW Bombshell has definitely been a trying time, and I feel like I should take the blame for the New Delhi incident being brought up since I was the one who mentioned the Indian feast.” Francisco responded and I nodded knowing that my fiancé had a point. ”And your second year is being plagued by Krystal’s new attitude, maybe year three will be relatively quiet?”
”We’re not even halfway through my second year Franky, let’s not get that far ahead of ourselves!” I reminded him and Francisco nodded in response and understanding. ”Besides, this year hasn’t been all bad, I started it as a champion, I’ve challenged for titles in back-to-back PPVs, I’m getting my dream matches against both members of Team Hero, Carter’s finding his feet after his debut run was derailed by that whole Lazarus mess, if thigs continue the way they’ve been going? Maybe 2024 won’t be so bad after all.”
”One can only hope, anyway I’m off to feed the pets since they’ve waited so patiently.” Francisco nodded in agreement before he left the room. ”If you need any help give me a shout.”
”I should be okay, but thanks!” I called back to him as I continued the washing up, all this talk about what the future might hold for me in my SCW career definitely left me with a lot to think about but there was one future at the forefront of my mind.
The future between me, Keira and Krystal.
Go Gym, Las Vegas, Nevada
Wednesday the 31st of May 2023, 16:00pm
I may have lost my last two matches in a row but that isn’t stopping me from training, heck if anything that should give me extra incentive to train even if my next match wasn’t against Keira.
The only reason why I didn’t go to the Go Gym at the start of the week is simple, it was closed for Memorial Day and the staff and students were given the day off to spend with their families but now that the gym was back open I was back to the grind.
And like last week when I opened the door to the Go Gym’s main facilities I saw Kelly warming up, though this time Harper was MIA.
”Hey Kelly.” I greeted the Irish girl who looked up before grinning and greeting me with a hand clap. ”Harper’s not in today?”
“No, she’s in England for her title match with KCW, she flew out this morning.” Kelly responded as she shook her head and I nodded as I got the idea. “And even if she was still stateside, she’s been training at Hero Academy this week, guess she wanted to be in more familiar surroundings ahead of her title match.”
”Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” I responded with a nod before I set my duffel bag with my wrestling gear in it down to give my arm a rest. ”My match against Keira isn’t a title match but I still want to train in a facility that I’m familiar with.”
“Yeah, that was what I was thinking.” Kelly responded but I could tell that the Irish girl had something on her mind, and that she had caught on to the fact that I had picked up on that already. “Ari, you mind if we chat somewhere private?”
”Follow me into the women’s changing rooms, I need to get changed into my wrestling gear anyway.” I responded before leading Kelly to the women’s changing room and Kelly closed the door behind her, no I wasn’t going to get naked in front of Kelly, I was wearing a sports bra and leggings under my street clothes and whilst it did give her a nice view of my body, it wasn’t something she wouldn’t have seen in the training room anyway. ”What’s on your mind?” I asked as I removed my jacket.
“It’s Harper that’s on my mind.” Kelly stated as she sat down on the bench and I nodded as I continued to remove my street clothes. “Did you see what she tweeted the other day? About a friend coming out of the closet during Pride Month?”
”Yeah, I was kinda surprised Carter didn’t chime in but I saw it.” I nodded as I started getting changed into my wrestling gear and Kelly nodded. ”Why do you ask?”
“I know the common perception is that she was asking for herself, Harp’s hardly made a secret of the fact that she’s bi-curious and all.” Kelly responded after taking a deep breath and I turned to her after putting on my crop top. “But she was also asking for me, I confided in her that I was planning to come out as gay the other week but I needed the reassurance that it was going to be okay.”
”Kelly, I’ve had a gay best friend for as long as I’ve been enrolled here and I was an ally even before that.” I responded with a sigh before I sat down next to her. ”How long have you known?”
“Since I made the decision to enrol at the school, I guess seeing gorgeous women like you and Krystal wrestle and kick arse awakened something in me.” Kelly admitted and I did blush a bit at her compliment. “Off course, that was before Krystal went rogue but that’s beside the point, and by the way? Can I just say that Francisco is one lucky bastard?”
”He gets that a lot, trust me.” I responded with a laugh which was shared by Kelly. ”But why would you confide in Harper first when you’ve barely known her for a couple of weeks……..” I trailed off before it hit me. ”You have a crush on Harper, don’t you?”
“Crush nothing! I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen in love with Harper by this point!” Kelly responded as she shook her head and I nodded as I started butting my shorts on. “But I don’t know if she feels the same way, plus for as buff as she is, Harper is smoking hot, I don’t know if I even have a chance with her!”
”Don’t sell yourself short, you’re a good-looking girl in your own right.” I assured her and Kelly grinned in appreciation. ”Look, you won’t know unless you try, and it’s like you said, Harp all but spoiled the fact that she plans to come out as bi, I say just take the plunge!”
“Maybe you’re right, but I don’t want to rush into things.” Kelly responded with a nod before she stood up and headed towards the exit of the women’s changing room. “Thanks for the advice Ari but I’m ready to start training when you are.”
”I’ll be with you in a sec, just gotta do up my boot laces.” I responded with a nod before I started doing that.
Well, I guess I’m playing matchmaker now, how did I end up in this situation?
Ari’s home, Las Vegas, Nevada
Wednesday the 31st of May 2023, 21:00pm
*promo time*
Time to fight another hero.
”Class, today I’m not going to make excuses for how I performed against Aleesha or how I apparently disrespected her, she was the better woman last Sunday night and that’s all I’m going to say on the matter.” I stated as I pointed to the picture of Aleesha before quickly moving on to Keira’s picture. ”Besides, with all due respect to Aleesha, I have bigger fish to fry this week at Climax Control! At Into the Void I wrestled my idol Roxi Johnson for the World Bombshell Title in what ended up being the penultimate defence of her reign and this week? I’m wrestling her wife Keira in her return match!”
No pressure.
”Sorry I had to interrupt your planned confrontation with Krystal to make this match happen Keira but I had to jump at the chance, at least Krystal will be too busy with Dawn Warren to even think about getting involved!” I added as I shook my head. ”The fact that I’m wrestling you literally a week after what was likely Roxi’s last ever title reign ended isn’t lost on me either! But speaking of lasts, let’s talk about what was supposed to be your last ever match, you vs. Roxi at High Stakes XI, your retirement match.”
This will be good.
”I won’t lie, even though I was defending the Bombshell Roulette Title on the night against Seleana, it was that match that I was most excited for! Even if it did bum me out that I’d never get a one-on-one match against you, yet here we are eight months later, ready to do battle.” I added as I pointed to the picture of the match between Keira and Roxi from that night. ”Tell you the truth? I wish this match was happening under better circumstances, I wish Krystal had never betrayed me and Cassie, I wish she had never broken the arms of those rookies, I wish I was still friends with Krystal and that the past few months have been nothing short of a nightmare!” I added as I pointed to the pictures of me and Keira. ”We both know that this match was the result of a Monkey’s Paw wish rather than a wish granted by the Genie from Aladdin, but I guess I have to make the most of it!”
But I digress.
”Enough dwelling on the past, let’s talk about the future, and this match in particular.” I added as I rested the pointer stick over my shoulder. ”Keira as much as I’m relishing the opportunity to wrestle against Team Hero again, we have to face facts, you haven’t wrestled since October and you can train against the girls from Hero Academy, Harper and Cassie all you want, I’m a lot more experienced than any of those girls and I’ve only been wrestling for four years! I know you’ll have a lot of ring rust to work off and that you’ve been training hard since you returned in Romania but that was just under a month ago! Is a month’s worth of training really enough to get you ready for me? Let alone Krystal?”
Good question!
”Because say what you will about Krystal’s actions since Blaze of Glory XI, she’s always been a hell of a wrestler and has done the Go Gym proud, or at least she did until she went rogue, and I received the same training as her.” I added as I pointed the pointer at Krystal’s picture, which had demon horns and a demon’s tail drawn on it via crayon. ”I just realized that I’ve given you plenty of reasons to call this match the warmup for Krystal, I hope you don’t see it that way and instead treat me with the same respect you’d treat any other opponent not named Krystal Wolfe!” I added as I shook my head. ”Guess I’ve still got some lingering frustration from Roxi’s comments towards me in the leadup to my title match against her a few weeks ago, but on the other hand? It fits that you’d see this as the warmup given your reputation, wouldn’t it Keira?” I asked as I pointed to a picture of the renegade symbol from the Mass Effect series. ”You said it yourself Keira, if Roxi’s the Paragon of Team Hero, then you’re the Renegade.”
Confession time.
”I’ll admit, I haven’t played much of the Mass Effect series, I’ve always been more into Fantasy RPGs than Sci-Fi RPGs, but I have seen it played by a certain Aussie on her Twitch Channel and I know the basics of the Paragon and Renegade system.” I added as I pointed to the two symbols on the board. ”Both names are fairly self-explanatory, Paragon means you’re a champion of justice who would never resort to underhanded tactics, Renegade basically means you’re an anti-hero not afraid to break a few limbs to get the desired result, or in your case Keira? Threatening to break another wrestlers arm, your threat to break Krystal’s at Into the Void XI must’ve scored you at least twenty Renegade points alone! But how far are you willing to go against Krystal? I’m not naive Keira, I’ve seen what she’s done, I’ve heard what she’s said, and every day I question why I ever considered her a friend!”
The sad truth.
”And let’s be honest, if Krystal continues down this path for the rest of her SCW career then I’ll probably spend the rest of my life asking myself the same question.” I admitted with a frustrated sigh as I brushed some hair over my shoulder. ”And let’s face it, there’s no way in hell that Krystal won’t be watching this match, I was one of the original victims of her wrath and you came back to teach her a lesson, and as much as I’d love to be privy to what you’ve got in store for her? I do have my own stuff to worry about for Summer XXXTreme since I don’t even know if I’ll be doing anything on the night or not! Obviously a lot can change in the coming weeks but I need a big win to raise my stock in SCW following my loss at Aleesha, beating you in your return match sounds like a perfect way to do that.”
Can I do it?
”The question of whether I can pull this off or not remains though, my match against Roxi showed that I can hang with the best wrestlers that the Bombshell Division has ever seen and it sucks that I won’t get another chance to dethrone her now, but with the title now in the hands of Courtney Pierce? It’s practically open season for a bunch of new contenders to race to the top of the card.” I said as I pointed to the picture of me. ”I hope to be first in line once the dust settles on Devona and Courtney’s match but I need a big win to get me there, this match could be my ticket to that spot in the line and beating a grand slam cham sounds like a perfect way to secure it to me!”
It's that simple.
”I’ve gone from the paragon to the renegade in the space of a few weeks, if only that was the only crazy thing that had happened over the past few weeks but wrestling is as unpredictable as it is violent at times!” I added before I rested the pointer over my shoulder again. ”Keira, like Roxi you are a dream opponent for me but I also know that you are about as far removed from Roxi as a wrestler can be! That’s not a knock on your skills or even your title reigns, it’s a comment about how you conduct yourself in the ring!”
And with that I decided to wrap things up.
”You’ve always wrestled with a lot more aggression than Roxi, and even as a teenage girl watching SCW for the first time all those years ago I picked up on that fact pretty quickly.” I said as pointed the pointer to Keira’s picture. ”I wonder what that teenage girl would say to me now, knowing that about a decade later, give or take, she’d had wrestled her idols multiple times, in a tag team match, a PPV Main Event for the World Bombshell Title and in Keira’s return match? Well, I don’t know the answer to that but I know what I’m about to say to you Keira, once I make you bask in the glow of the Greek Angel’s light the world will know the name Ariana Angelos! I’ll see you in the ring!”
I left the white board area as the scene fades.
