>What did I tell you?
Just a few hours removed from Violent Conduct, Kristopher Ryans looks overjoyed to rub his victory in the faces of all of those that had called him a relic of the past. He had a crew set up a camera, cleaned himself up, and now he sits in front of the camera in the new Black Sheep Villains shirt, with a wider smile on his face than fans had seen in a long time.
I think I told you that Sass n Bash had no chance against The Black Sheep tonight. I think I told you that it didn’t matter if they picked a stupid stipulation, spun the wheel, or took us on straight up, The Black Sheep were going to walk out of Violent Conduct with the Mixed Tag Team Championships. I told them that they were both good, but not good enough. People doubted. There were rumblings of people saying that Mikah and I wouldn’t be able to get the job done. I made a promise though, and I just wanted to prove to everyone that unlike so many people on this roster, I actually have followed through.
He raises the SCW Mixed Tag Team Championship belt up from outside the view of the camera and places it over his shoulder. The sigh he lets out as soon as it is positioned is one of satisfaction and relief.
You know, they said that they were going to get over the hump this time around. People were really ready to rally behind them too. After all, the SCW fans had seen that scenario play out before. Both Bella and Malachi needed do-over after do-over to get anything done as a team. They dropped matches to teams that Mikah and I rolled through on our way through the ranks. They even needed a second chance under their specific conditions to break through that championship glass ceiling. It seemed like every time they got a chance to correct a mistake, misstep, or setback they were able to rise to the occasion. It was a formula that got them all the way to a championship reign.
His eyes lower to the belt on his shoulder for just a second. The championship’s reflection sparkles in The Miracle’s eyes, and he loses the point he was making for just a moment. Once he does peel his eyes away from it to refocus on the camera, he continues almost like he hadn’t missed a beat at all.
Unfortunately for them, Mikah and I were not an obstacle for them to overcome the second time around. Our first win over Sass n Bash wasn’t a fluke. Mikah and I went out to the ring at Violent Conduct to prove that if we had wanted Malachi and Bella’s championship reign to end at 14 days we could have gotten the job done. Then, we set out to prove that we could give them every advantage that they could ask for, but that they would still come up short. The both of us said all of these things on our way into Violent Conduct, and now that the dust has settled, we were the ones proven right. The Black Sheep are not only SCW Mixed Tag Team Champions, but a team made up of Grand Slam Champions. I went from a Nobody, to a Miracle, to the guy that has won every single championship that this company has made available to a person of my gender. I am on the longest winning streak of anyone in this company right now. I have been nothing short of dominant since my return to the company, and Mikah and I went undefeated on our way to tag team championship gold. I said that the mixed tag team division was made for us, and then The Black Sheep backed that up with sheer dominance at Summer XXXtreme, Violent Conduct, and every Climax Control in between.
I don’t know what we are going to have to do in order to prove to you people that we are every bit as good as we say that we are. We have built two of the best careers of any competitor to ever join the SCW locker room. We have won every award worth winning. We have put on more highlight matches than most of the rest of this roster combined. Year after year we find ourselves near the top of the food chain in this company, but we are still looked down on. We show up week after week and beat whoever it is that Mark and Christian put in front of us, but that is not enough. We’re undefeated as a team, but according to our former champions we didn’t actually earn our way through the ranks. Now that we are the champions, I’m sure it is only a matter of time before people start to tell us why we shouldn’t be.
He shrugs his shoulders, resigned to the fact that he couldn’t stop idiots from having imperfect opinions.
....but that’s fine. The Black Sheep will take on all comers. I’m not sure what the future holds exactly, because it doesn’t look like Sass n Bash is going to want to go for round three right now, not that it would matter. The outcome wouldn’t change. It looks like Ben and Evie find themselves unburdened by their championships, so maybe they can be convinced to give Mikah and I a real challenge.
His eyes light up at the thought of taking on the only two people he saw as a real potential threat to himself and Mikah. He doesn’t let himself get off track with something that would probably never happen though. Instead, he shifted to murmurs he had heard backstage about a new team brewing.
Then again, there are rumors of some new team that has interest in the championships now that the champions are legitimate again. I wouldn’t mind seeing the handful of talented bombshells without plans for High Stakes partner up and make a run at Mikah and I. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind if one of the other sets of former mixed tag team champions wanted to come back and give us a run for our money.
One thing was clear, the new champion wasn’t going to be backing down from any challenge, no matter who it was that stepped up.
For the last couple of months, the only thing that was certain in this division was that Mikah and I were on our way to the top. Now that we are there, I guess things are wide open for whoever wants to try to walk the same path that we did. I’m not sure that there are any teams out there that can make it look as effortless as we did. I’m not sure that there is anyone on the roster capable of knocking us off of our thrones. It is a hell of a lot more fun to be challenged. Hopefully the powers that be at Sin City have something working that is worth the attention of two Grand Slam Champions.
The words came out like he strongly doubted that it would all shake out that way. It didn’t seem to matter much to The Miracle, he had already gotten what he wanted.
After all, villains are nothing without some misguided heroes trying to step up and challenge them. If the SCW roster wants to make The Black Sheep the bad guys, we are happy to take that role. Nobody should prepare for a short ending to the reign of the most dominant team this company has ever seen. We are on top to stay.I dare anyone to try and make a liar out of me. Consider it an open challenge.
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What’s Owed.
Kris’ Apartment - San Diego
1 OCTOBER 2020
OFF-Camera
The party hadn’t stopped for Kris once Violent Conduct was over. The toll that the battle for the championships took on him had started to catch up to him even before he left the arena, but he had an answer for it when it came. There was nobody around to stop his habits from taking the wheel from there. In the back of his mind he knew that days had probably gone by at this point, but he didn’t really care. There would be time to pick up the pieces before he was needed for anything, whether that be SCW or Jet City South. These days he had the lack of supervision to take a timeout from life, and justifying it to himself had become easier and easier over the last couple of months. Coby would take care of the gym. Mikah would be preoccupied with her children. Kris could vacation from life while tucked away in his room, uninterrupted, or so he thought. When the door handle jiggled, he knew that the lock on it would detract most of the people that would try to open it. When the noise continued, he turned over from his spot in the center of his bed so that he could see whoever it was that was determined to bother him. The determined intruder made short work of the simple lock, and pushed the door open. By the time Kris’ eyes met hers, he was anything but surprised.
Kris: Don’t you have some place that you live… you know… that’s not here….
The room didn’t smell pretty, and Court didn’t make any attempt to hide that fact in order to be pleasant. She waved a hand in front of her face and squinted into the darkness trying to find the outline of Kris in the room. The sound of his voice had narrowed her attention to one side of the room, but it took The Miracle actually sitting up in bed for her to actually see him.
Court: Great, it’s wonderful to see you too.
She chose to ignore the insult and attempt to sound cheery. She knew what to expect from the moment The Black Sheep won the Mixed Tag Team Championships. She had even gone as far as to circle today on her calendar as the perfect time for the conversation that she wanted to have whether Kris wanted to or not. He wasn’t exactly in the state to get away from her.
Kris: It’s not wonderful to see you. I didn’t invite you here. I don’t care how you got in. Go away.
She shrugs at him, and comes into the room, closing the door behind her. She could have left it unlocked, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t be making any kind of hasty retreat for the lock to make a difference. It was better that they weren’t disturbed by any curious party walking by. She turns back to him, the wide smile back on her face.
Court: Coby was on his way out as I was on my way in. He said he wasn’t sure you were here, but that I could wait. Said he hadn’t seen you in a few days….I knew better….
Court steps through the darkness and pulls back a curtain from the window splashing the room in the first bright light that Kris had seen in days.
Kris: What the fuck is wrong with you?
He raises both hands to cover his eyes and shield them from being blinded. Now that Court was getting a good look at him, it was clear that he hadn’t left the room since Sunday night. The master suite had a full bathroom, and from the look of the place, he had been living off of a well-stocked mini-fridge. His clothes looked like they were on day two or three, and his hair and beard were matted in all kinds of different directions. Kris didn’t look like a champion. He was barely a shell of that person.
Court: Oh, you’ve been hitting it a little hard, huh? Doing your fair share of partying in celebration of your big win?
She knew that throwing the fact that she knew his secret in his face meant nothing these days. The fact that he hadn’t tried to hide any of it once she pushed open the door said that much. What she wasn’t exactly prepared for was how much more blunt he would be in this state.
Kris: You can drop the condescending bullshit. It doesn’t work on me. It’s even easier for me since you knew what you were walking into and did it anyway like you were going to make some kind of point. I’m sorry to disappoint you. I don’t give enough of a shit about your opinion to care about what you have to say about any of this. You’re wasting your time.
Court had thought that Kris would be soft and vulnerable on the inside. The fact that he was this harsh meant that the soberish version of him that she had always dealt with was actually still filtering out some of how he really felt. Court didn’t know whether to be touched or offended.
Court: You’re awfully feisty today. Where has this been the last couple of weeks? It’s like you’ve been handling me with kid gloves since I decided I was coming back.
He lowers his arms with his eyes finally starting to adjust to the light in the room. It gives Court a clear shot of the eye roll that he words earned her.
Kris: There’s no point in hurting people’s feelings for no reason. It takes too much time out of my day to deal with the fallout.
With a laugh, she gestures to the shitastic state of the room around them.
Court: ....yeah because you have so much going on...
Kris sighs, disgusted with the fact that she wouldn’t just leave him alone. If she wasn’t going to leave of her own free will, there were ways that he could make her without having to actually leave the comfort of his bed.
Kris: Listen, I get that you stumbled across some big secret so now you think that you know me, but you don’t. Congrats. You figured something out that everyone in Seattle already knew. You were the thirtieth person to put the puzzle together. But now you feel like you’re a smart cookie. You feel like you have something to hang over my head. Sorry to disappoint you. I don’t care. Out me.
Court gasps and tries to seem shocked; as if the thought had never even occurred to her to out his relapse to the general public.
Court: That’s not something that I would ever think about doing. Your problem is your business.
She was hoping that he believed her, especially since she had already decided against it. Over the last few weeks she had been trying to figure out how to use the information to her advantage, so the thought had crossed her mind. She had come up with something way better though.
Kris: Then why won’t you just leave me alone?
She doesn’t hesitate to answer him as directly as possible.
Court: You have something that I want.
He still wasn’t impressed, and his patience for the conversation was gone.
Kris: I have lots of things that lots of people want. You can join the rest of them in their collective fucking off because I don’t care, and I don’t owe you anything.
Court tries to hold back, but something inside of her just snaps. Her voice raises, and she makes her way across the room towards him.
Court: Actually you owe me a hell of a lot, and you know it. That’s why you have walked away all sad from our last couple of conversations. You wouldn’t let me say the things that I do unless you felt guilty about costing me my big opportunity a few years ago. You are the one that sent me down the spiral that I went down. That was your fault, and you have to live with that, not just brush it off.
She is now standing at the edge of his bed, an index finger pointed in his face. Kris reaches out and pushes her hand away before shrugging his shoulders.
Kris: It’s so easy for you to blame everything on someone else...
He says the words under his breath, but Court calls him out immediately.
Court: What was that?
Kris: You have made the mistake of thinking that because I have had a little restraint towards you, that you’re entitled to something. You’re not.
Court: I---
He cuts her off, finally losing his composure.
Kris: No! You asked for this, so now you can get it. It’s easy for you to blame others because that is what your whole life has been. You’re a privileged chick from Long Beach. You had the money to chase whatever dream you wanted, and even a long list of setbacks weren’t enough to derail you. You’ve taken every advantage that you’ve been given, and acted as if you have gone through some terrible struggle. It’s bullshit. You were a wealthy kid that got trained by the best, but you have paper-thin skin physically and metaphorically and you’ve proven that you’re too fragile to handle this business. I think it is a joke that you’re still around. The fact that you have the option to linger after two years shows how easy you have it. Unfortunately, none of it entitles you to shit with me. Your struggle isn’t shit to me. Leave me alone.
She smiles. Court had wondered how long it would be before he finally stopped letting her win and actually snapped at her.
Court: I like when you lash out like that. Makes me think that maybe you’re not all dead inside like you look most of the time.
He rolls his eyes again.
Kris: Whatever you say, Court. Are we done now?
Now it was her turn to set him straight.
Court: No! What gave you that idea? You dump some sob story because you have had a real sad life and expect me to just walk off? I don’t care what you think any more than you care what I think. I have told you time after time that we aren’t friends. That’s not how this works. You can think whatever you want about me, but our arrangement stands, and I need something from you. When the time comes, you’re going to pick yourself up and play your part.
Not one to take orders, Kris shrugs.
Kris: ...and if I don’t?
Court: You will. No matter how you feel about me. You can think I’m entitled. I can think that you’re junkie trash. That doesn’t change who we are inside Sin City. It doesn’t change that we are both representing Jet City South now. When the time comes, I’m cashing in on what you owe me.
He shakes his head, hoping that she wasn’t so dumb as to think he would hand over something like his guaranteed championship opportunity.
Kris: They aren’t going to let me hand you my championship shot if that is what you are angling for. Not that I would let you have it anyways. I have plans for the last show of the year. I want to end things with a bang.
Court: Sometimes I wonder how you got so far while being so incredibly short-sighted.
The attempt at insulting him didn’t even look like it registered.
Kris: That’s what happens when your whole life is a struggle. People are constantly surprised to see that you’re still around. If they only knew the half of it, they would know how wrong they were.
He waves her away, and turns over on the bed, done with their conversation. She was killing his vacation time.
Court: ...you’ll have to let me in on at least that much at some point….
He doesn’t respond, but it doesn’t matter. Court makes her way out of the room not wanting to waste any more of his time talking to a brick wall.
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>Now more than a week removed from Violent Conduct, The Miracle doesn’t seem to be in such a happy mood. He is standing in the window of his office looking down on Jet City South. The SCW Mixed Tag Team Championship sits on the desk behind him, with the center plate perfectly squared up to the camera so that it catches the viewer's attention right away. Kris didn’t want anyone forgetting that he had cashed in on all the promises that he and MIkah had made about Violent Conduct, even if the magic of it was starting to wear off.
Back when I was calling Sass n Bash disappointments, I didn’t think that the bar could be lowered any further. If I had a time machine, I would travel back a couple weeks and slap myself for being so naive. I’m a veteran of this business. I should know that the bar can always, and will always go lower. At least the team that I was heading into Violent Conduct to face was…. a team. They weren’t a particularly good team. We gave them a really hard time, and then proved that we were right on back-to-back occasions. It was awesome. But we were all there. We have all moved on. But what’s next on deck for The Black Sheep? Disappointment.
He sighs heavily and leans forward, placing his forehead against the glass. He rocks back and smacks his head on the glass a few times, trying to bottle up the disappointment he felt about his first set of challengers.
I get it. SCW is going to try and defend themselves by saying that random bookings like this are normal. Sure, there are even some weird examples to back it up. I see right through that shit though. It’s clear that all of the other teams currently on the roster are too afraid to stand up and challenge the new champions. That is why they have to throw a couple of randoms together and hope that lightning strikes. They know that Mikah and I are going to put on a hell of a show no matter who is standing across the ring from us. We have a knack for making people less-than-talented shine while they are sharing our spotlight. Where are the Trenton Tigers? Too busy imploding apparently. London Underground? Are they even still a thing? Wolfslair is apparently moving into the solo album portions of their careers. Sass n Bash failed twice. I guess they could have sent out the Barnharts, but me handing Bill his ass is getting old at this point. I think that The Good Shepherds spend most of their time in SCU these days too….
One after another, the list of teams falls apart. He was just now realizing why the powers that be would put together a Lethal Lottery team in the first place. He spins to the camera and away from the window now that he had figured it out.
The Black Sheep are the champions of a division without any actual competitors…..When you add everything up, I guess it makes sense that SCW has to throw the mediocre motorcyclist and glitter ditz at us while we are in the middle of our victory lap. We are at the bottom of the barrel, and this is just what we are left with. Maybe one of those other teams will find the courage to step up, so that we won’t have to be subjected to this kind of thing on a regular basis.
It was a harsh way to start in on the random challengers being hurled at himself and Mikah, but he wasn’t in the mood to pull punches.
I wish I could say something nice about either of these two. I have found that it comes off a lot more believable if you can commend your opponent for something before you put them in their place. The problem is, both of these two are so far beneath myself and Mikah that it is impossible to compare our two teams...if that is what we are calling them…. In any kind of positive way.
Usually Kris found some way to relate to his opponents, but this time it didn’t look like he was even trying. He thought that these two were too far beneath him for pleasantries.
Agostino hasn’t been impressive since stepping into Sin City. Jack Washington beat the hell out of him at Summer XXXtreme, and we all know I don’t think that guy is worth a shit as a competitor, let alone a champion. His only real notable win is over El Dark, a guy that flamed out of the company before most even noticed he was here. He talks more about bikes and how good he was in his past career than he does about the things that happen inside the SCW ring which makes me think he isn’t taking any of this all that seriously. Maybe that will get him a win here and there in this company, but it’s not going to cut it against The Black Sheep. It’s not going to cut it in a championship match. It’s not going to cut it as part of a team of two people who don’t even know each other.
He laughs, and tries to remember the exact words of the tweet that Candy had sent out. Had he felt any anxiety about defending the championships, her first comments would have silenced any doubt in his mind.
”Who is Agustus Romanov?” was the funniest shit that I read all week.... but that’s what we have all come to expect from Candy, the only that spent the last month talking about some Glitter Bomb Match that nobody actually understands. The one that makes PSA’s making herself look like an idiot, only I’m pretty sure even that is over her head. I guess at some point while I was gone she had a decent run with the Bombshell Roulette Championship, but if I remember right, Violet Amelia Holt was the run that ran that shit into the ground. That’s not an impressive name to have putting an end to your greatest achievement in Sin City. Almost makes me think that the whole reign must have been during a downturn in the Bombshell division. I look around at the current Bombshell roster, and neither of them look like people that I would peg as champions.
Kris hadn’t been shy about the fact that there were several bombshells on the roster that he knew could challenge The Black Sheep, so in case people were putting together a list, there were at least two more names that could be scratched away now.
So on one hand there is a lackluster bombshell, on the other is her partner that is apparently better on a motorcycle than he is inside a ring. I guess it is fitting to put two of the most positive, carefree, fun-loving individuals on the roster against the two people that everyone loves to vilify, but everyone has to realize that this is not a match fought on equal footing. This isn’t two superheroes taking on a couple of lowly henchmen. This is going to be two supervillains taking apart some well-intentioned civilians to send a message to the world. The Black Sheep aren’t holding anything back just because these two smile their way through life. They are stepping up to challenge us for the championships that we came back to this company to win. What hope could they have of prying them away from us?
He picks up the championship from the desk as he talks and holds it out towards the camera as he finishes almost as if he was offering his challengers to try and grab it through the screen.
I wouldn’t want to put any of my money on the two of them pulling out the upset. I am teamed up with the most dominant bombshell in SCW history. Not only is she one half of the Mixed Tag Team Champions right now, but she is the newest SCW Grand Slam Champion. She’s a Hall of Famer. She is undefeated when teaming with me inside the Sin City ring. Even back when Mikah and I were fighting all the time, we were still running through all of the teams that have tucked their tails and run away from this division now that we are at the top. Now that we are finding out footing as an actual team instead of just two individuals, we are unstoppable. That is why there aren’t any challengers left in this division. That is why we are left with these two. And that is why The Black Sheep are going to walk into and out of this match with our Mixed Tag Team Championships exactly where they belong.
Kris places the championship belt over his shoulder and wraps his arm around it to clutch it to his chest.
We aren’t scared. We aren’t intimidated. We aren’t worried. This is a match that we could win blindfolded and with both of our arms tied behind our backs. We know it. They know it. All of the fans that bought tickets know it. They aren’t in the ring to see Agostino and Candy compete for the championships. They are coming to watch The Black Sheep keep the winning streak rolling while we celebrate our first successful defense.
If anything, the new Mixed Tag Team Champion looked more confident than he ever has before.
These two are just showing up to a massacre. I’m glad they both like to keep things fun, because Mikah and I are going to have a blast ripping them apart.
