GO Gym -
Las Vegas, NevadaThe famed training facility that helped to pave the way for the future of the sport was fast becoming a familiar site where the treacherous Bombshell known as Tempest was concerned. Since her recent return to a more active role inside of the six-sided rings of Sin City Wrestling, the amazon was taking a more active outlook to her career, preferring to not rely solely on her size and power to get by where her opposition was concerned, and instead to continue with her training to hone the skills taught her and learn what new skills she may.
Considering her size and the difference it held between herself and the majority of not just the other Bombshells on the active roster, but here at the Gym as well, Tempest often had to rely on training in the GO Gym’s rings with the male graduates and Gabriel himself, with the possible exceptions of Gabriel’s wife Odette and the always dangerous femme fatales of London Underground - Mackenzie Page and Charlotte Elliot. But none of the three aforementioned women were on hand this day and after what happened in her previous sparring match against two loud mouthed students, few of the other trainees were anxious to step inside of the ring against her for something as simple yet potentially damaging as a wrestling match.
So rather than push herself too much before her match this coming weekend against a fresh faced opponent, Tempest was instead working uncharacteristically on her cardio, running at pace on one of the state of the art treadmills lined up along the wall. This was a rarity for her but was something Gabriel had urged her to work on more because there would come a time when she went up against a woman that could run circles around her. If she didn’t work on and improve her stamina, the smaller women would succeed at the old ‘hit and run tactics’ and where that was concerned, such a tactic would play a detriment toward the larger of the two competitors. Or in this case - Tempest.
But as she continued to run, she extended her fingertips to press a few buttons on the treadmill’s monitor, causing it to not only pick up speed, but to also rise into an incline so as to push her even harder. Not something she would have wanted to do regularly in front of others, having had to get used to using one of these things rather than do it the old fashioned way; by running along the streets of Las Vegas like a normal human being. The first (few) times that she tried, she admittedly fell and was grateful that the Gym had been blessedly vacant and that there were no active cameras recording at the time. And now, the only others present in the Gym were a couple of male students being directed through the basics inside of the ring by Daniel Morgan of London Underground and his wrestling colleague, Fenris. Them - and those same two little divas that Tempest had a run in with a couple of weeks ago. They were insignificant enough that for the most part, she had even forgotten their names.
Kelly and Hayley? She thinks…
But those two were over at the free weights, ironically enough, Kelly spotting as Hayley was working on her bench press. Tempest stole a glance and thought she saw Kelly steal a glance her way but she quickly averted her gaze and that was when Tempest thought she overheard some hushed whispers between the two.
Kelly: I swear, I don’t know what Gabriel or anyone in SCW sees in her! She’s just … big! That’s all.
Hayley: Big enough that she threw us around the ring like kids?
Kelly: That’s only because neither one of us were really ready. I bet when we graduate and Gabriel gets us jobs in SCW, things will change. Everyone will see that she’s not as great as they think she is!
Hayley: And that we’re the future of the sport! I mean, we’re young and she’s… how old is she?
Kelly: Too old. She should have retired years ago.
Both young women cackle like a couple of hens about to lay a gigantic egg. It was almost like the two didn’t realize how well the walls of this facility carried sound. That, or they just were that dumb above the neck. Tempest again extended a hand to the controls and with a few rapid clicks of her fingertips, the treadmill slowed down to an eventual stop. Grabbing a towel from the rail, she dabbed at her forehead and neck and then calmly walked over to the two, neither being the wiser that not only were they overheard but now about to be confronted by the same woman they were discussing.
Tempest walked up and laid a hand down on Kelly’s shoulder, causing her to jump almost out of her own skin! Kelly cast a look back over her shoulder and blanched at the sight behind her. But Tempest did nothing and said nothing. She just tightened her grip on Kelly’s shoulder and steered her away from where she was spotting her buddy, then took her place.
Hayley: I know, right! Just… say, you don’t think she can hear us, do you? Kel…?
Hayley looked up and saw the upside down face of Tempest staring down at her. Hayley gasped hard, almost inhaling her own tongue as she dropped the barbells - which were snatched suddenly by Tempest before the young woman could get injured. Tempest set the weights back on the bench where they belonged as Hayley very slowly and very meekly pulled her legs around to sit up with Kelly joining her, wide eyed, at her side. Tempest then folded her arms over her chest and looked between the two.
Tempest: So girls, what’s new?
Gabriel: Tempest?
Tempest already knew who was addressing her. His voice had been one of the most familiar to her ears these last several years but nevertheless - she turned around to address the man who did the seemingly impossible. And that was to transform this violent, hot-headed “bounty hunter” into a credible threat in the world of professional wrestling. Gabriel Stevens.
Tempest: You called?
Eyes closed, Gabriel could not help but smile that this amazon of a woman was having a bit of sport at the expense of two young hopefuls that have been something of a handful in recent weeks. Often they’ve allowed their egos and mouths to overrun their better judgment and more often than not, it’s come back to bite them on their backsides. In short, Gabriel was almost grateful that a handful of his prized graduates like Krystal Wolfe and Tempest have taken these two to task. Almost. All the better to drive some sense of humility into their being where before there didn’t seem to be none. Gabriel beckoned her to come over to where he was standing just outside of his open office door, all the better to be able to handle the business dealings while still keeping watch over the goings on between his and Odette’s students.
Gabriel: Well, I did have something to discuss with you but before I get to that, do you think you could possibly refrain from scaring the hell out of the students? I think they’ve been through enough, don’t you?
Tempest: You’d think so but I just caught them running their mouths, again. So I just thought I’d put a bit of a scare into them.
Gabriel: Really…
Gabriel leaned over slightly to look past her and toward the two young women who were huddled together and talking in quick, hushed whispers. Gabriel stood right and nodded.
Gabriel: Remind me to have Fenris take those two on a run tomorrow morning.
Tempest scrunched her facial features, pursing her lips. Knowing full well the magnitude of Fenris’s training tactics, especially when it came to his early morning runs.
Tempest: Ooh! That’s just cruel.
Gabriel: Flatterer. But I digress. We have to talk. I have something to tell you and I don’t think you’re going to like it.
Tempest leaned back against the door frame and crossed her arms.
Tempest: Oh this should be interesting.
Gabriel: It’s just that I just got some news from Odette. She had to take Lucas to the doctor and the poor kid has a flu bug. So we’re not going to be able to watch Anele while you’re in Reno.
Tempest: Damn…
Gabriel: I know. Poor kid always ;looks forward to when his buddy is over but we can’t risk Anele catching the flu. You understand, right?
Tempest frowned.
Tempest: Of course I understand! I know I’m not the best mom in the world but I don’t want my kid to get sick! She just had the flu over Christmas. I don’t want her getting it again!
Tempest then tapped a finger to her lower lip, clearly in thought.
Tempest: Now what am I going to do?
Gabriel: You could always ask Fenris to watch her.
Gabriel snorted back a laugh as Tempest lowered her hand to just stare at him. Both knowing Fenris’s reputation for being as bad with children (in his own mind, Lucas would disagree) as he was for his infamous temper.
Tempest: Damn it! This is what I get for not moving back to Hawaii. I have no options!
Gabriel all but rolled his eyes.
Gabriel: Oh I think you have more options than you realize! The most obvious being just take her to Reno with you. It’s not even a forty minute flight. I get your little one is scared of flying but by the time she reacts to taking off, you’d have already landed. Or, you could drive there with her and just see the sights along the way. It’s not even eight hours.
Tempest: Gabriel, the flight or the drive doesn’t bother me! I can’t take her to the show!
Gabriel holds his arms out in wonder, his face a mask of bewilderment.
Gabriel: Why not? I can all but promise you the people backstage would make over her! Your girl is adorable!
Tempest had to smother a smile at that all but too true of a statement.
Tempest: She gets it from her Daddy. But that aside, what happens when it’s time for me to wrestle? What do I do then?
Gabriel: Are you kidding me? Austin is usually somewhere backstage and he could keep an eye out for her. And even if he weren’t, you have a locker room full of women, some of whom are mothers themselves! Chances are that any one of them would be too happy to watch her for you until the match is over! And you probably couldn’t find anyone better or safer to watch than one of those women. Bella? Laura Phoenix? Even Crystal. Nobody would try to mess with Anele with those women around to watch over her. Not that anyone would try anyway. There’s an unspoken truce backstage where each others’ kids are concerned. You don’t mess with someone’s children.
Moments later…The doors that led from the Gym’s interior to the lobby itself opened and Tempest, having grabbed a quick shower and change of clothes, was being escorted out by Gabriel.
Gabriel: You have to trust me .. and your peers, Alleyne. Everything will be fine. Your daughter will get to see what goes on backstage and she’ll get to see her mom compete in person for the first time.
Clearly not taking everything to heart as much as Gabriel might have preferred, Tempest shook her head but still was trying to put as much faith into what she was hearing as Gabriel was in saying it.
Tempest: I hope you’re right!
They pass the desk where all guests - both students and visitors alike - must check in with Gabriel’s little brother Despayre sitting behind the desk, his nose buried in an upside down edition of the National Enquirer. Despayre glanced up over the rim of the paper, his eyes magnified ten times their usual size thanks in part to his Mister Self-Help glasses and focused (
) on the bigger of the two figures heading for the exit door.
Despayre: Don’t forget to cut your promo after this! Mark and Chris will dock you points if you don’t!
Tempest reached for the exit door but stopped short at hearing this little declaration. She turned to look at the little guy who had by now again buried his nose into his reading material. Gabriel too was looking toward his and Odette’s ‘little helper’ but he had a knowing smile on his face, all too used to his Despy’s way of thinking. Tempest and Gabriel shared a look and she held a hand up, stalling him from saying anything.
Tempest: I know, I know! Don’t question it!
Gabriel nodded, patting her on the shoulder as she turned to pull open the door.
Gabriel: You’re learning!
The Truckee River District is one of Reno, Nevada’s top ten destinations for both tourists and locals alike. It is viewed as an ideal place to go for a stroll, no matter the time of year. Offset by the city’s famed main road where there was a plethora of bars, museums, cafes and theaters to visit, one never had an excuse for being bored while paying the “Biggest Little City In the World” a visit.
And that would go for the stars of Sin City Wrestling as well, as the former World Mixed Tag Champion and contender for the Bombshell Internet Championship - Tempest - was out and about, casually walking along the famed Truckee River. She had just left the Automobile Museum and was not getting some fresh air, carefully avoiding all others along the path. She began to cross over the bridge and paused in the middle, arms resting on the rail as she looked to the running waters below.
“So here’s the thing. There is something about myself as a wrestler that you might not be aware of. I know, people tune in and see me and how little I talk on Climax Control or how I am when I step inside of the ring and these experts think they are already experts on everything there is to tell about me. They think that they know all that there is to know.”She wagged a finger at the camera, shaking her head.
“Not true! You see, I am not - nor have I ever been - one of those wrestlers that have perfected the art of psychological warfare. You see certain wrestlers with vast reputations like Crystal Zdunich and J2H who have this way of expertly inserting themselves into the minds of whoever they’re set to face inside of the ring and more often than not, the battle is over already even before the opening bell sounds. And why? Those subtle little actions that they do and the things that they say, either in their promos or on social media that gets under someone’s skin and causes them to lose focus and before you know it, they’re left lying flat on their backs and staring up at the lights, wondering what the hell just happened!”
“I’ve often been told while in training and to this very day that getting into your opponent’s head is half the battle already won. But … it’s just not my bag, if you know what I’m saying? I guess you might say that I have never been one to play with my food. I don’t have social media as I always found it distracting and a complete waste of time. And as for promos, how often do you see me cut an interview before my match, saying time and again what I’ve already said is going to happen to whoever it is that’s unlucky enough to have to face me that given evening? I’m just not much of a talker. When you look like this…?”With a wave of both hands, she showcased her imposing stature.
“You don’t have to be. And you don’t have to go out there on a microphone and talk a bunch of bullshit or hide behind some computer screen while playing the role of keyboard warrior on twitter or X or whatever the hell else it’s supposed to be called. I do not have to say or do anything but just stand there in order to get into the mind of one of my opponent’s. They take one look and see a woman that is twice their size! They see the only woman who was able to lift Bobbie Dahl into the air for a crucifix! They hear the (repeated) stories of how I hurt my back by lifting a car and they already know they are in way over their heads - and I don’t have to do or say anything in order to put them there! All I need to do is step into the ring and I see them putting on the bravest of faces but deep down I can see they are regretting ever putting their names on a contract opposite my own! Only three women by my recollection…”She held up three fingers.
“... Ever took the initiative to challenge me rather than the other way around, or by being unlucky enough to simply draw the short end of the straw in however the matchmakers do things.”As she recited each name, she lowered one finger.
“Bobbie Dahl. Zoey Lukas. And they are the exceptions to the rule because those two bad ass chicks are the closest to match me in size and strength. But the third?”She shook her head.
“Not so much. And that would be the woman who decided that this weekend, she wanted to tempt fate by challenging me to a match for no other reason than saying she was brave enough - or dumb enough - to have done so. And that woman is Harper Mason.”
“Now Harper, you’ll have to give me some time here to process this whole scenario because I still don’t get what got it into your head to do this. For a little girl such as yourself to actually get it into her head to risk it all and two weeks away from My Bloody Valentine V where you and I both have dates with champions; you the Roulette and myself, the Internet title. Now I know that when you first showed up, people - mainly Christian Underwood - were teasing you with the idea of putting you into a match against me so soon after your debut but when you think about it, you have nobody to blame but yourself for having been backed into that particular corner. Because once again, social media came into play and you just started talking about being nervous or scared - or both - at the idea of eventually having to be put into a match against me. That was when our esteemed boss…”Tempest rolled her eyes.
“... did what he does best and took the bait, and he started using you for target practice with my name as the proverbial ammo. I mean, you never know! Had you not opened your mouth, it was entirely possible that Christian may never had gotten it into his head to put us inside of the same ring together! But now we’ll never know because you made a ballsy decision … a regrettably dumb decision - but ballsy nonetheless. You decided that rather than wait and sweat it out over a possible time frame of weeks or months to see if the match would happen on its own, you were just going to tear that bandage right off and get it over with!”She shrugged with an air of nonchalance.
“More power to you, I suppose, but you really couldn’t have waited? This match could have taken place after we both had our respective championship matches in Vegas, and while I’m secure in how I feel about dealing with the three other women that I’m up against, one would think you’d have more of a care considering you’re facing the first woman to ever beat me in a match; Bobbie Dahl. So Harper, I have to ask. What the hell got it into your noodle head that it was a smart idea to want to face me right before you have your first title match in SCW??? Why in hell would you risk it!? You have got to know that I have absolutely no intentions in taking it easy on you! Do you think I have it within myself to show mercy to you or any woman I’m up against?”She looked confused as she placed both hands on her upper body.
“Me of all people! Sugar, I don’t care if you’re my size or pint size! I don’t give a damn if you’re some ten year veteran or a wet behind the ears rookie who is making her official debut! I treat every woman that stands across the ring from me in the exact same way; as an obstacle! A hurdle in my path. And I do not jump over roadblocks or move around them. I run right over them, no matter who the hell they are or fancy themselves to be! But this time, Harper, you really stepped into it because as of late, you’re making me feel almost as if you’re thinking of me as something akin to a stepping stone. Someone to use to serve yourself up to when you have to fight Bobbie Dahl for the Roulette gold.”
“I don’t like feeling like that. And before you even try to deny it, let’s not forget I have eyes where you might not think. I know you shoehorned your name into someone else’s tweet when it had absolutely nothing to do with you, in this little girl’s attempt to maintain being the center character to everyone’s story. You just reply to a tweet by Roxi Johnson to try and turn the subject around to what she thinks of you challenging me. You get what I’m saying here, Harper? That exchange you got yourself involved in, it had nothing to do with you. It had even less to do with myself! But you just had to go and try to make it all about you which really makes me start to see and recognize the influence that Jessie Salco has had on you because time and again, that chick made it her career goal to take any spotlight that was shone down on any other woman and turn the lights so it was on her instead. Well – good news and bad news, Harper.”
“The good news is you got what you wished for and then some! You got the match that you THOUGHT you wanted, and you did indeed turn the attention to what was about to happen between the two of us. The bad news is, is that it is just between the two of us! Jessie Salco can’t help you for obvious reasons. This has nothing to do with the two women who helped bring you into this sport - neither Roxi nor Keira can help you where it matters the most. This doesn’t involve them. It doesn’t even have anything to do with your little friend, Joshua Acquin. He can stand in your corner as much as he wants, but he’s not going to be able to do anything to prevent the end result of when I get my hands on you.”Tempest stood up straight, arms extended and hands gripping the rain of the bridge.
“And that end result will be Mark and Christian looking for a new contender to challenge Bobbie in Vegas because there won’t be enough left of you to provide her with anything resembling a decent challenge!”Tempest gave the camera one last, derisive look before turning her back and continuing on her way as the scene closed out.
