>What I’m going to need everyone to remember, is that I wanted this…

Nobody ever begged me to come to Sin City Wrestling. Nobody wanted me to become one of the best to ever compete in this company. I didn’t have anyone really standing in my corner and forcing me forward down this path. The only person that ever motivated me, was me. The only thing that ever drove me were my goals.

You can’t get too hung up on what everyone wants in this business. That was really hard for me to wrap my head around last time I showed up and shook Sin City to its core. I came back expecting some level of respect. Maybe I thought that I had earned a little more than everybody thought I did. A lot of people said that I didn’t have it anymore, and that my prime fighting days were behind me. Well, the greatest Mixed Tag Team Championship run in the history of the company, another solid win streak for my record, and a second World Heavyweight Championship reign later… I had proved my point.

I didn’t make it very many matches into the year before I realized that my mark had been made. There was nothing left to do. I was back in the same boat that I had been in before taking time off in the years before that. I decided that what I needed was a little bit of time off to recharge the old batteries. Behold though! The same people that had a problem with my sudden reappearance and subsequent takeover of Climax Control for the better part of a year were pissed all over again that I was gone.

Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.

You know?

...but none of it really mattered. At least not to me. I was honest about what I was coming back to prove from the very beginning. I wanted to prove everyone wrong. I wanted to win the championships of a division that I felt had been made specifically for me and Mikah. I wanted to get back to the top just to prove that I could. Once I checked off all those boxes, the only one left was this match that we may or may not have brewing for High Stakes in just a few short weeks. There was nothing that I could do about that for months though, and the only thing that competing against scrubs every week was going to get me was some unforeseen injury.

I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I wasn’t going to let something like that ruin a match that has been built up for longer than any other match in the history of this company. This has been years in the making. Two of the best are finally going to step in the ring with one another for the first time….

...if it actually happens.

Right now, all of you all at home have as good of a guess as I do. Last time I asked, the only thing I got in response was some half-hearted attempt to make it seem like I wouldn’t show up. If there is anything that I have proven over the record-setting amount of titles that I have won in this company, it’s that I show up, and when I do, I win.

I’ll be showing in Atlanta to do it all over again.

…and I’ve added a few more boxes to that checklist for this time around.





==========================================================


Tricking The Past Again
Hawaii
13 September 2021
OFF-Camera


Kris hadn’t been sold on going to Hawaii. It had never been part of the plan of coming back. It was just an opportunity that presented itself at first. The two of them had joked about it on a couple of occasions, but this offer had seemed legit. Last he and Mikah were in Sin City together, they had been keeping their distance from one another. Once upon a time though, they had been unstoppable. If his path was leading back to SCW, it only made sense to check up on the one person that he had been flawless alongside in the ring. It wasn’t just that though. The two of them had history, even if it was messy. There was a good chance that he could convince her to help with the professional stuff, but it was really the sliver of a chance at something else. That was what spurred him to jump onto a plane and make the trip, without knowing exactly what to expect. The Miracle had done what he could to occupy his mind and stop himself from dwelling on those thoughts during the flight. Unfortunately, no second rate monster flick was going to be able to totally distract him. The possibilities were the only things on his mind, even when he was walking through the terminal in Hawaii. They were weighing on his mind as he walked out of the security gate to find her sitting on a bench and looking down at her phone.

Kris: “Long time no see…”

He figured that her reaction to such a simple greeting would tell him enough about where they currently stood with one another. When she stands up and adjusts her short shorts before walking over to him with a smile, the worst of his fears ease.

Mikah: "It’s nice to see that you’re not dead. And that the plane didn’t crash into the ocean.”

With a smile, he shrugged his shoulders. It was Mikah-speak for being happy to see him, and he hadn’t expected anything else.

Kris: "You know I'm not going out in a plane crash. It'll be me that kills me eventually…."

He wasn’t going to waste any time dwelling on that thought though, and quickly shifted the focus back to her.

Kris: "Why Hawaii though? It's like a big ass volcano surrounded by the most dangerous ocean things. I feel like this is a death trap. Flying here was basically hell."

As he questioned her, the two made their way out of the airport and to her rental car. Even though she had bought the house and started to settle in, she hadn’t gone as far as actually buying a car. She fumbled for the foreign feeling set of keys as they walked.

Mikah: "Why not Hawaii? No snow here. And I don't get stuck on the mainland with all the people I don't like."

She flashed him a grin before popping the trunk for him to put his things into it.

Mikah: "...I'm just tired of people. And I think living on the beach is going to be my best decision yet."

Kris pulled the bag from his shoulder and tossed it into the trunk without regard for anything in it. He quickly removed his face mask, hat and glasses and tossed them all in on top of it. As soon as they were off he seemed to loosen up a bit.

Kris: "There are perfectly good beaches not surrounded by fire and sea monsters…"

He spun around on his heels, trying to orient himself to his new surroundings. He then pointed off in the opposite direction from the airport behind them.

Kris: "They're just a few thousand miles that way!"

He turned back to her and closed the trunk with a smile on his face.

Kris: "You're lucky we're friends. I wouldn't have come all the way out here for anyone else."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but pressed her lips together and bit her tongue for a moment. He caught the reaction, and felt a tinge of excitement about it. If she reacted that negatively to simply being called a friend, maybe that sliver of hope he had wouldn’t be for nothing.

Mikah: "Florida is too humid and California is overpopulated and still brings up bad memories."

Kris: “You couldn’t pay me enough to set foot in fucking Florida anyways. The whole place sucks. Never had an experience that wasn’t awful.”

She waved it off as they got into the car. She was familiar enough with a few of the islands that she didn’t even bother setting the GPS anymore.

Mikah: "You're worried about a little volcano? And what kind of sea monsters? I'm assuming you mean sharks..."

She asked him as if he was being ridiculous. She raised an eyebrow at him as she started to drive to Kaneohe, Hawaii a mere twenty-five minutes from Honolulu.

Mikah: "...but Cali has them too..."

He shook his head back and forth quickly. He had put a lot of thought into it on the plane, and would likely be thinking about it every time he tried to sleep for months.

Kris: "Nah, the water is deep out here. California is just a coast. This place is just lava rock floating where all the scary stuff lives. You all even have beaches with haunted sand and shit….."

He tried to shake the thoughts away, but had trouble.

Kris: "I've been terrified of this place since I was a kid. You know they have a whole language nobody speaks anymore? How does that happen? Everyone forget? Sounds like bad juju."

She couldn't help but chuckle at him as she drove.

Mikah: "This is amusing to me… but look… I'm sure you know how to swim, Kristopher. It's not like you to go into the water, you know."

He tried to force as much contempt into his facial expression as possible, but could barely keep the smirk off of his face.

Kris: "I'm glad you find my fear funny. You know, I quit SCW once because I didn't like flying over the ocean. This shouldn't be a surprise."

He backtracked off of that point immediately though.

Kris: "Then again… part of that was not wanting to be on a different continent from all the dealers I knew…."

It looked as if he tried to argue the conflicting theories out in his head, but stopped to offer her a little reassurance.

Kris: "Not that I have that problem anymore. I wouldn't have brought those kinds of problems down here to you. Going on like ten months without. Haven't gone a whole year in a long time. Maybe it'll happen."

She knew about his struggle with sobriety and she halfway understood. She couldn't remember what she had told him of her own struggles, but only because it wasn’t a topic that she let come up in conversation.

Mikah: "I'm sure you can make it a year. Only two months more to go, right?"

She thought about adding another little joke in there but she thought better of it.

Mikah: "...and it's paradise. There's a lot of other things to do and places to explore. You won't have time to even think about that stuff."

He looked around as she spoke, taking in the view. She wasn't wrong. Every inch of what they passed was as pretty as it had been sold to him his whole life.

Kris: "Paradise is nice to visit every now and again, but doesn't it get old?"

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew her answer.

Kris: "Nah, you haven't been here long enough to find out yet I bet. Then again, San Diego is still amazing to me thirty something years later. Maybe this is just where you belong. Bikini weather year round, and all the open air in the world."

As he spoke, he almost seemed to be coming around to it.

Kris: "Still out in the middle of the ocean though… What happens if some big storm hits? Nobody would even know! We could all just be gone. Who would tell the world?"

She laughed again, having gotten used to this over the years. He was always going to stress himself out about things that weren’t going to happen. There was still a weird charm about it though. The smile stayed on her face even after she stopped laughing, but she kept her eyes on the road.

Mikah: "Definitely seems like a problem for Future Mikah."

She turned quickly and winked at Kris as she drove, seeing the smaller town of Kaneohe come into view.

Mikah: "I'm not sure why you're not more open to small town life. Or even island life. If I remember correctly, you liked to be left alone… What could be more alone than this?”

He shrugged his shoulders. For all of its beauty, it didn’t seem a whole lot different from home.

Kris: "This place is just  like San Diego for richer people it seems like. Maybe it's not so bad. I mean other than the evil sand thing. Let's not go to those beaches."

She frowned at him, but was ready for yet another wacky theory of his.

Mikah: "Evil sand? I'm not sure I follow you."

She gave him a look, not sure what kind of sand he was talking about. The multi-million dollar house she bought was on the beach and she had instant access to the ocean, but there wasn’t anything that felt evil about it.

Kris: "There's some beach with sand you're not supposed to mess with. Lots of people have stories about smuggling some home and bad things happened until they returned it. It's like black sand. Powdery lava stuff. Bad karma. And this place is apparently full of it."

He paused for just a second.

Kris: "Feels like I mess up everything easily enough on my own. Don't need that kind of help with it…."

He lingered on that thought for a second before something in his head clicked together. He turns to her, almost looking offended.

Kris: "...and it’s not that I like being alone. I don’t. That’s just extra time with me, and that guy is only good in small doses. It’s people that I don't like. At least not real people. Maybe three total that aren't family. Probably less than that within the family. If you're not a nameless, faceless fan screaming in the crowd, I don't care. And even if you are, I'd still rather you not breathe on me. It’s a personal space thing."

It was harsh, but the last year and a half had really drilled that into him.

Kris: "There's only three people in Hawaii I care to talk to and all of them live in one house."

She raised an eyebrow at him as she maneuvers the car through the streets of the smaller town.

Mikah: "Okay, so maybe I should have phrased that better."

She chuckled a little bit as she slowed down even more, seemingly knowing where the speed limit got slower. He didn’t hold it against her though. Not really. No matter where he went it always seemed like there was someone looking over his shoulder, waiting for him to slip up. Being on edge about society in general was just a side effect of that.

Kris: "Don’t worry about it."

It wasn't something that they needed to dwell on. They would have plenty of time for that on this trip. He just got here. It was time to keep things light and happy.

Kris: "...and you've done plenty of good things in your life, and at least one awesome thing."

His eyes widened when he finally saw the house they're headed towards.

Kris: "...who did you have to murder to pay for this?"

She gave him a disappointed look before pressing the button to open the gate to the place.

Mikah: "You really underestimated my financial situation. I've never claimed to not have money."

She winked at him as she drove the car up the long driveway and into the garage. She parked it and turned it off before moving to get out of the vehicle.

Kris: "All I'm saying is, you've been on vacation off and on for like two years. I own a gym and probably couldn't buy half of this house…."

As he exited the car, he looked around dumbfounded by what he saw.

Kris: "Life is unfair sometimes. How do you get more free time than me and nicer stuff? And you got to be better looking!"

She blushed just a little at his words.

Mikah: "I've always had money. I am a trust fund baby and all this money sat in an account since I was in the womb, I guess. And wealthy parents. And all that."

She waved it off as if it wasn't a big deal. She was never worried about money. That is where the two were different though. Mikah never competed just because it paid well, she did it because she loved the sport. Kris was more free-falling his way through life ass-first anyways, and collecting a paycheck for it made things all that much easier.

Mikah: "And I try not to flaunt the money too much. But I just figured you knew. We stayed in top tier hotels when we were sneaking around years ago..."

She laughed, as she led him inside.

Kris: "I thought you were billing Christian for all of that. I always did…"

He chuckled at the thought of the amount of Sin City money he had blown during his times with the company. Sometimes he had made ridiculous requests just to see what he could get away with.

Kris: "Several of the hotel rooms we destroyed in the process of… well… totally got billed to Christian or Mark…. Came as a cost of doing business with me."

They hadn't exactly been sneaky about any of it either. Their affair had been the worst kept secret in SCW history.

Kris: "Still baffles me that they didn't know. Even more that they didn't realize we were going to be the best team they ever had because of everything happening off camera."

She chuckled and shrugged her shoulders at him. She placed her keys up in their spot before leaning against the kitchen counter.

Mikah: "Look. We have plenty of time for all of that. I know you’re going back. I know that at some point you’re going to ask me about doing the same. Let’s just not get into it now. You just got here. We have missed a lot of time. Let’s catch up on that part first, and then we can work out the rest."

She gestured to the house around them, and his attention was pulled to the back windows, and the beautiful view of the beach.

Mikah: "I moved out here to get away from all that for a little bit, so just enjoy this for a day or two first, okay?"

She smiled before pushing herself off of the counter. Kris didn’t need very much convincing to let the subject go either. She was right. They could get to that at some other point in time. For the most part, he was just relieved that she wasn’t shooting the plan down outright. Even better, that meant that there were other parts of their relationship she wanted to hash out. Maybe that sliver of hope shouldn’t have ever been just a sliver. He wasn’t going to get his hopes up that high yet though. 

Kris: "You’re right… there’s no way that I’m leaving here for fucking Florida. We have at least another week. What can we fill it with?"



==========================================================

>We were eight days into the year last time I beat Caleb Storms…

We have come an awful long way to end up in the exact same place, haven’t we, Caleb?

I mean, we were the headliners for the first Climax Control of the year! I was walking into the arena as a dual-champion for the second time in my career. I had dominated the Mixed Tag Division. I had given the world a reprieve from the weird championship obsessions of Jack Washington. I climbed all the way to the very top of this company one win and a time while everyone screamed at me that it couldn’t be done. I proved every single one of those people wrong, and walked into the main event of Climax Control to fight the Internet Champion….

I guess I shouldn’t really say that you are in the same place now that you were then Caleb. That would be selling you unnecessarily short. Right now you are the legitimate Sin City Wrestling Internet Champion. Back then you were just a guy that was handed a championship as a joke. You hadn’t earned anything, and that rubbed me the wrong way at the time. Of course, you lost that match to me, and then dropped that sham title not too long after that. It was probably the best thing that you could have done for yourself. How did it feel to win that championship for real? Twice! Had to be better than when it got handed to you, right? What about now that you’re the only person in this company to have ever held it three times? At this point, you’ve been more successful with that championship than I have ever been. That is a long way to have come from a championship you didn’t deserve.

...so even though you’ve upped your game, Caleb, we find ourselves slipping down the card a little bit this time around. We managed to kick off the year with a hell of a main event last time, but this time we’re hovering around the upper middle. I can’t say that I blame you for it. We’ve been over that. You’ve made things happen for yourself in my absence. I wouldn’t dream of being anything but complimentary about that fact because first and foremost, I’m honest. The reason we are sliding down the card is because nobody really knows what to expect out of me. Am I going to show up as the Kris Ryans that was the face of the company? Is this the Third Coming of The Miracle?

No….

At the same time, am I going to be walking down to the ring with the blind confidence that I had before Bill Barnhart beat me in my first match back last time around?

Absolutely not.

There’s no way that I am going to lose focus like that ever again. I learned my lesson. I may be one of the best to ever come through this company, but that doesn’t mean that everyone on the roster is some kind of cakewalk. Everyone can beat anyone if the time is right. Nothing is guaranteed. That was something that I apparently needed to learn the hard way, and it only took that one match to pull my head out of my ass. I don’t just show up and expect to be great. I put the work in because I know that I’m great already. I don’t have to go out and prove that. I don’t have to walk around reminding people of it. The only thing that I need to do is go out and do exactly what has gotten me to the top of this company on more than one occasion.

...and at this point, there is absolutely nothing miraculous about it. Nobody is surprised when I go out there and win. Nobody is surprised to see that I can still do amazing things in the ring that nobody else is dumb enough to even try. It is just who I am, and what I do. But that’s not exactly chaos that you can put at the top of the card without giving it an eye test first, is it? That’s not the type of person that you would allow to have one of the biggest matches in the history of High Stakes, is it? So no matter who I am, or what I’ve done… I have to come back home. I have to come back to Climax Control. I have to remind Mark and Christian exactly who I am apparently.

So in a way, I’m back to square one. Yet still standing across the ring from Caleb Storms.

The beginning of the next chapter of my career here is going to be written with the exact same words as the start of my 2021.

Kris Ryans defeats Caleb Storms.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

However, it is not because he is unworthy. It is not because he is untalented. He has proven all of those words wrong in the short time that I have been away. He has turned himself into a real contender. He is a champion in this company, and Mark and Christian will always see their champions as the real measuring sticks. They want to see how I stack up against Caleb now that he has some momentum on his side. I’m sure they haven’t forgotten how, last time around, I laid him out with Godspeed and he still somehow found the willpower to kick out and keep a main event crowd glued to the edge of their seats.

That’s the kind of thing that is always going to make people want to see two stars go for a second round. No doubt it would have happened already had I not taken a vacation for half the year.


Maybe they know that no matter the result, this is going to be one of the can’t miss matches on the card just because our styles are so captivating.

Maybe it’s all of the above, or even more.

 Personally, it doesn’t matter to me what reason anyone needs to watch it, as long as they are paying attention when my music hits. I’m not coming back to mess around. There are things that I want. A match at High Stakes is just the tip of the iceberg.

...and this match will eventually just get lost in a highlight reel in a few months time.

Enough
Kris’ Apartment - San Diego
24 December 2014
OFF-Camera

"I can't believe I didn't abort you when your father begged me to...."

Maybe it wouldn't have hurt so bad if that was the worst thing she had called to say. Honestly, I didn't even know she was out of prison. Her sentence wasn't up yet. She must have gotten off for good behavior or something. If she were calling from the inside I would have been able to deny her call without even hearing her voice. If she were calling from the inside her words wouldn't have been slurred from however many gin and tonics she had put down.

"You are the reason Lindsey died. It was your fault. It should have been you. Look what you have made of yourself. You're a no good drug addict living off his brother."

That one had crippled me. My shoulder still hurts from sliding down the wall down to a sitting position and hitting the windowsill on my way down. Soon that pain would fade from my mind though. I mean, she was right. What have I done with my life? Failed career. Failed relationships. Jason has to shell out money for me to live like I do. The fact that I have cleaned up doesn't change any of that. How could anyone love or care about me? I don't deserve that in this life.

"You know, your father didn't even drink before you. We were happy. He loved us. And then you came along and ruined all of it. You cry and bitch about the things he allegedly did to you and your brother. You brought it on yourself Kristopher. Even if it is just your wild drug addled imagination slandering a good man."

I thought I had killed off all of those memories. The nights he had come home after mom was gone and beaten the hell out of us, those were the good nights. I didn't even get the worst of it then. It was always Jason. He has always been the one to take the fall or penalty just so I can slide by. Hearing her accuse me of none of it ever happening brought it all back and reliving it all was too much to even try to push through. I thought time... drugs... therapy... would have dulled that pain.  She cried at that point, I think. I was already trying to slip the details.

"I wish you would just die already. You should have never been here and you have all stolen twenty-four happy Christmases from us. You shouldn't be allowed to see another. You’re garbage Kris. I'm glad I never wasted time loving you."

Maybe she was right. Maybe I don't deserve to make it to see another happy Christmas. Looking down at the needle on the desk, the several empty caps, a quickly drying spoon, I can't help but agree with her. There's really only one thing left to do before I pull the rubber band from my arm and forget any of this ever happened. I tap the home button on the back of the phone twice to light up the screen. His face was right there on the main screen. I tap it, typing the text message with one hand.


Mom was right. I'm so sorry Jason. I love you. I wish that I could have been a better brother.

I watch the circle spin until it stops. The message sent. I close my eyes, and feel tears start to roll down them. I pull the rubber band off. It won't be long now.



==========================================================


The Past Has Passed
Jason’s House - Seattle
25 December 2020
OFF-Camera


Just as he felt himself slipped away, a jolt surges through Kris’ body and shakes him awake. He sits up instantaneously, sweat falling down his face. He does what he can to slow down his heart rate before his chest explodes. As he turns to the edge of the bed and swings his feet down to the cold floor, the memory starts to recede into the back of his mind where it belongs. He was six years removed from that day, the worst of his life. Luckily for him, his brother had managed to scrape him off the floor all those years ago, and paramedics were able to breathe life back into him shortly after. It was the lowest point of Kris life, and this time of year, it always haunted him. He had hoped it would stop once he found success. When that hadn’t worked, he thought maybe the death of the dreadful woman that birthed him would be enough to put it in his rearview. However, it appeared that this yearly ritual would continue until the day that Kris was finally allowed to check out of this existence.

He had no interest in going back to sleep. There was a chance that he was going to see the woman every time he closed his eyes for days. So instead of forcing himself back down into bed, Kris rises, shooting a glance towards an analog clock hanging on the wall. It was still the middle of the night. There was a good chance that he was going to be the only person meandering around the house at this hour, which felt perfect. He found comfort in the silent solitude. He put on a pair of basketball shorts, and was in the process of pulling his red hooded sweatshirt over his head as he was walking out the door when he was startled.

Kris: Jesus fuck!

Kris had almost run directly into his brother as he came through the doorway of the guest room and into the hallway. The older and wiser half of Jet City didn’t seem surprised to see his little brother out roaming the halls. Had they not been under the same roof, his phone likely would have been ringing in the near future anyways. As much as Kris’ nightmarish memory had become a yearly tradition, so too had their conversations afterwards. Jason needed only to see the look on his brother’s face before realizing what had roused Kris from his sleep.

Jason: Sometimes you just wish she would stay dead, eh?

Kris wipes the sleep away from his eyes and tries to straighten himself up. Jason was always dissecting the little details in order to answer questions without having to actually ask them, so there was no reason for Kris to try and hide how he was feeling.

Kris: Is it that obvious?

Jason shrugs with a small smile coming across his lips.

Jason: It’s been on my mind too. It always is this time of year. It’s not everyday that you have to bring your brother back from the dead.

Possibly for the first time, Kris started to see his memory from his brother’s perspective. The text message had been enough to send Jason rushing to Kris’ aid. However, the sight of his younger brother face down on the floor and unresponsive wasn’t something that he was ever going to forget. Jason could still hear the EMT’s arguing about throwing in the towel when it looked like Kris wasn’t going to come back. Yet he had, at the last possible moment. The two of them had been through a lot together, but that was the scariest moment of all for Jason. Both of them had been helpless children when their sister had died. Jason had been able to let go of the guilt over that. Standing by as an adult while his brother checked out of his plane of existence early would have been the worst way for history to repeat itself. He wasn’t so sure that he could have overcome the guilt of being the last child standing.

Kris: I’m not sure if I’ve ever act---

Jason shakes his head and cuts the sentence off before Kris can get it out.

Jason: You do every year, and everyday in the hospital afterwards. You don’t have to apologize anymore. Come on...

Jason pats his brother on the shoulder as he moves past him in the hallway. Two doors down from Kris’ bedroom was Jason’s office, which is where it looked like the two men were headed. As soon as they stepped foot into the room, the low yellow lights flipped on overhead automatically. Kris hadn’t been inside the office in several years, but was shocked as he looked around. Not only were all of the various championships and accolades from Jason’s career, including pictures of the two of them winning the SCW World Tag Team Championships, but there was an entire section with headlines and pictures of Kris and his successes. The first one that caught Kris’ eye was a picture of him holding the SCW Internet Championship over his head.

Kris: I didn’t know that you had all of this...

As Kris’ eyes wander across the wall in front of him, a smile crosses his face. His brother had been paying attention to everything he had done in SCW for years. He even already had the headlines from the SCW World Heavyweight Championship match with Jack pinned just overtop of a picture of the two of them celebrating as Jet City.

Jason: Just because I didn’t go back doesn’t mean I’m not watching. You’re putting together a career to be proud of.

Kris’ eyes find an article that Jason had printed out of the announcement of Jet City South’s grand opening just a few months ago. He was surprised. Jason hadn’t been the most pleased with Kris splitting away from JCSL in Seattle when he went back to Sin City. Kris thought that maybe his sibling may have written him off the same way most everyone else had.

Kris: I’m not sure there’s anyone in the world proud of me.

Jason sits down at his desk with a heavy sigh, and leans back in his chair.

Jason: That’s just your head playing tricks on you. The girls wouldn’t have wanted you to come back and spend the holidays with the kids if they weren’t proud of how you’ve turned yourself around.

Kris wasn’t willing to bet that his brother hadn’t already heard the whole story. He had to know that Kris hadn’t really turned himself around. Two months ago he was still spiraling out of control. He was lucky that when he was given the chance to prove himself, he had been able to step up. Kris wasn’t going to give himself too much credit for that though. He hadn’t known the girls were coming. He was just in the right place at the right time.

Kris: A couple of months of sobriety isn’t much to brag about…. Six years and I still can’t prove mom wrong.

The two of them had this conversation yearly, so Jason knew where it was going. Kris couldn’t see that the woman that pushed them out into this world was wrong, despite how many times had proven it. He had a family that cared about him no matter how much he tried to push them away. He wasn’t creating messes that Jason needed to clean up. Even more importantly, not only was he running his own gym but the days of Kris living in his brother’s shadow were long over. Kris had miraculously risen from the dead and achieved everything he ever wanted. Yet, he was still hung up on a drunken conversation with a spiteful woman. Jason knew hammering that subject wasn’t going to work though. He needed to get Kris to look past it.

Jason: How many people in this world can say that they had a dream as a child, and are actually living it as an adult?

Kris turns away from the wall to look at his brother puzzled. After a couple moments of consideration, Kris played along.

Kris: Probably not a lot. Why?

Now that he had his brother’s attention Jason doesn’t break from his gaze. He was hoping that the reason that this yearly pep talk never worked was because they were always talking over a phone. If Kris had to look him in the eye, maybe things would finally start to sink in. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to try, and if he failed, he knew he would get another shot in 365 days.

Jason: Well you are. That’s what makes it so miraculous from my perspective. Since you were a little kid fighting for your life, the only thing you’ve ever wanted to be was a fighter. You do that in Sin City week after week. You get to live your dream in front of thousands of people… some that cheer for you no matter how horrible you are.

Kris shrugs. He loved his career, but looking back at everything it had cost him to get to where he is, he wasn’t sure that it was the best path. His desire to be inside the ring cost him his past relationships. Being on the road so much had always limited his ability to make and maintain friendships. He may have been living his dream, but he was doing it all alone. It almost didn’t seem worth it.

Kris: It’s just another addiction. I like the attention. I like not knowing if I am going to be able to win. Everything in the ring feels like being backed into a corner, and having to fight your way out. It’s...

He couldn’t find the right word, but Jason had it immediately.

Jason: Familiar.

It catches Kris off-guard, and he almost shakes his head to disagree with his brother. However, just before he does, the word really sinks in and stops him.

Jason: For someone that has been fighting for as long as they can remember, sitting still is hard. Believe me. I’ve been there. There’s no shame in that. You went back because it is where you feel that you belong, and that’s why you’re so good at it. People don’t understand that the six-sided ring is actually your comfort zone. It’s being out in the world that actually scares you. I have always thought that’s why you started doing drugs in your down time. It passes the time, and stops you from having to actually figure out why you’re not happy.

Kris steps away from the wall and moves to the opposite side of the desk that his brother sits behind. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t going to take offense, or lash out at his brother for his honesty. Kris falls into the chair across from his brother and looks up at the ceiling.

Kris: I don’t even know where I would start...

This was progress. Jason sits forward in his chair, nearly dumbfounded that Kris was participating in the conversation without becoming combative.

Jason: Who is saying you haven’t already started?

Confused, Kris looks down from the ceiling and back to his brother without sitting up in his chair.

Kris: I’m not following.

Jason shrugs.

Jason: You cleaned yourself up without help this time. And without anyone having to beg you to do it. You did it on your own. You’re running a gym that is becoming just as successful as what we built up here. You’re carrying two championships in the company you love, and have apparently pulled your head out of your ass lately. You’re growing up, whether you see it or not.

Maybe Kris was too close to all of it to be able to see it as progress, but he was willing to take the compliment anyways. Usually these conversations involved being called a fuck up. He was enjoying the more positive spin this one was taking.

Kris: I thought we promised that we weren’t going to do that though?

The two laugh.

Jason: Never intentionally. It just has a way of sneaking up on you.



==========================================================




>There is one thing that everything that I have accomplished in this company has in common.

I earned it.

I earned every opportunity that I was given. I relied on my abilities to win the championships that I have in this company. Every award, victory, and championship reign cost blood, sweat, tears, and broken bones. I have been injured in the six-sided Sin City ring more times than I remember. I have broken walls backstage with my body. I have been beaten with every weapon that this roster can think of. I have suffered setbacks, and overcome all of them.

I never wanted a championship handed to me. I didn’t even want an opportunity to challenge for one that I didn’t earn. Look at how Mikah and I worked our way up the mixed tag team division before challenging for the championships. Look at how I waited until I had won more than ten consecutive matches before redeeming my opportunity to regain the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. I am not sitting here as a dual SCW champion for the second time in my career because I took shortcuts. I put the work in. I lost a lot of matches, and rose from the ashes to earn the championships that I have carried, and the awards that I have won. That is why there are people that buy tickets to the shows just because my name is on the card. 

That is not a status that Caleb Storms is going to rise to by being handed a championship by J2H3. Especially not when the only reason for Caleb getting the title was because he was the biggest joke on the roster. You see, people look at Caleb as a guy that has to be handed everything because he can’t do anything right on his own. I mean, I closed out the year with fourteen consecutive wins over some of the best that this company has to offer. On the other hand, Caleb made a lot of noise for someone that lost like eight straight at one point last year. The guy has his ass handed to him more often than he pulls out victories, and it has been like that since he made his way to Sin City. Nobody is surprised to see Caleb lose. They are surprised to see Mark and Christian allow him to hold a championship that he has no hope of successfully defending. Maybe it is a slightly better option than forcing it to be vacated, but not by much. Caleb is never going to better himself or his craft by being handed things.

As a champion, I am insulted by how this match is being sold to the public. This isn’t a champion versus champion situation. This is a champion taking on a pretender. It might be the main event of the night, but there won’t be any surprises for the audience. The SCW World Heavyweight Champion is going to begin the year doing what he does best, and Caleb Storms will be well on his way to another losing record in 2021. We couldn’t be any more different from one another, and that is never going to change until Caleb takes a hard look at himself. Only he can make the changes that he needs to in order to break out of that mediocre shell of his. I’m not saying it’s not possible. I’m not saying that he isn’t talented enough to do it. It’s not like everyone thought that I was going to make it to where I am. Think about it. I am referred to as The Miracle, because I should have never risen to the level that I am at. I started out my time in this company getting beaten regularly. I have grown, adapted, and evolved over the years in order to keep inching closer and closer to the top spot in this company. Nothing and nobody was going to stand in my way or prevent me from getting to where I wanted to be. All that hard work has paid off not once, but twice in my career. I am once again the face of this company, and it was just as miraculous this time as it was last time.

I am going to say something that most will laugh at me for: I believe that Caleb Storms could do everything that I have done in this company and more. I mean look at me! I did it, and I am not the biggest, or the strongest member of this roster. I am not the smartest, or the most well-trained. However, being at the top of a company like this was my dream since I was a child, and I never let it go. I wanted it bad enough that I refused to accept no for an answer. I fought, I clawed, and I eventually got to where I wanted to be. Over the years we have all seen those same flashes of brilliance but they are few and stuffed between some really bad losses. For every step forward he takes, there are several that move him backwards. He has been a talented member of this roster for years, and the only thing he has to show for it is being an easy target for a punchline. I feel bad for him, but I feel worse for the championship belt that he holds. Without the Internet Championship in his possession, Caleb Storms is just an athlete that hasn’t quite found his rhythm yet. With the championship, he is a disappointing waste of potential.

So Caleb, unfortunately I have to make an example out of you on Climax Control. I have been trying to be a better role model for this company. What you are doing with that championship is not something that I can let slide. The people in the locker room, and the fans in the crowd deserve something better than you have proven yourself capable of offering. You haven’t earned the right to be called a champion, and I refuse to treat you like one until you stand toe-to-toe with me and prove me wrong.

There is part of me that really, really hopes that you are able to rise to that occasion this Sunday. I think we all know that the chances of that happening are nearly zero though. If it’s any consolation, maybe this match and these words will wake up something inside of you that I really hope is there. Maybe this is your time to miraculously rise up and skyrocket to the top of this company like Jack Washington did in 2020. I don’t see it happening, but am inviting you, daring you even, to show up at Climax Control and make it happen.

Step up and become The Miracle...

...or shut up and take the L.

JUMP
Jet City South - San Diego
23 October 2020
OFF-Camera


Kris was busy plowing through the paperwork from the day-to-day goings-on of Jet City South when he heard his friend’s trudging from down the hall. The door to the office was not only closed, but locked which was apparently the source of the fastest member of Jet City’s frustration. A loud bang on the door after the handle failed to give was obviously from Coby throwing a fist at it, not that it was going to help his situation. There was a long pause, while Kris assumed the man was searching for his keys, before the lock turned and the door flew open almost as if it had been kicked. Coby enters through the door carrying a box big enough to block most of his field of vision. He drops it on the floor, which makes a lot less noise than Kris expected, showing that it was more large and awkward to carry than it was heavy. Coby easily kicks it across the floor and it slides to a stop in front of Kris’ desk. Wordlessly, Coby motions in annoyance at his friend, but Kris merely shrugs his shoulders and returns his attention to his desk.

Kris: Who has your feathers all ruffled?

Kris tried to keep the amusement out of his voice, knowing it would likely only make matters worse. Coby rarely got this upset about anything. In fact, he was more proud of his level-headedness than he was his ability in the ring. If Kris could poke Coby into exploding over what Kris assumed was a box of halloween decorations they had ordered, it would be the high point of his day.

Coby: I’m not a bird. I don’t have feathers, and if I did they wouldn’t be ruffled at all. I’m good.

Coby dropped his gym bag onto his own desk, and moved across the room before tossing himself down on couch along the wall.

Kris: That both sounded and looked convincing....

The words came out of Kris’ mouth without any hint of the fun that he was having. He tried to make it seem like he was more focused on his computer screen than the conversation.

Coby: Why don’t you ever bother me about stepping up from Underground to SCW?

Kris’ attention was immediately pulled away from what he was pretending to do. He drops the uninterested act, almost dumbfounded by how pointed Coby’s question was. It made him uncomfortable when people were that direct, and it showed in the tone of his response.

Kris: I...didn’t know I was supposed to be?

It was not a turn in the conversation that Kris was prepared for. He and Coby had been partners for a little more than a year, and friends for five more, but he had never gotten the impression that Coby really valued his opinion. It was the same story as everyone else. He came to Jet City through extended family, and just happened to be better than most of the rest of them at being able to tolerate Kris. Kris had never given any thought to the idea that Coby might actually take him seriously though. He was blindsided.

Coby: Just seems to me like if you thought that I could step up I would be hearing about it constantly. You’re annoying about pushing others to do things that benefit you. Yet, you haven’t said anything about it.

Instead of trying to dig through what Coby was saying, Kris takes offense to the attack.

Kris: So let me see if I’m following you. Because I haven’t been bothering you, I don’t think that you can do it? Is that what you think?

Maybe it wasn’t that big of a stretch, but there was no way that Coby came to that conclusion on his own. Kris knew almost immediately that there had to be more to it than he was getting, but Coby shrugs off the question and gets more defensive.

Coby: I mean it’s hard not to see it that way.

This time Kris actually laughs out loud, but not at the words themselves. He had heard this type of thing before, just not coming out of Coby’s mouth. He was much more rational than this. Something wasn’t adding up.

Kris: Maybe for a crazy person!

Kris’ mind was already off to the races trying to put together the puzzle pieces that Coby had given him. He didn’t even notice that Coby didn’t take the insult in stride.

Coby: That’s insulting.

Kris shakes his head, still trying to wrap his head around what was happening. Instead of arguing with Coby, he tries to walk his friend through a different perspective.

Kris: When you came down to San Diego, which I didn’t make you do, you said you wanted to go to Underground so that I didn’t overshadow you. That was your plan, not mine. I was just letting you have your space. I don’t see how this is my fault.

Coby shrugs, not following Kris’ logic at all.

Coby: You rarely do.

It was a line of attack that Kris had been subjected to numerous times by more people than he could count. Most of the time whoever it had been had come to Kris with a legitimate gripe. It was a character flaw that he knew about. He wasn’t about to take credit for something that wasn’t actually his fault though.

Kris: Okay, usually you may have a point there, but I really feel like this is one that you are just piling on me to feel better about the fact that they aren’t doing a whole lot with you over there.

It wasn’t hard to push Coby away from verbal attacks and onto what was actually on his mind. He wasn’t nearly as petty and stubborn as Kris was.

Coby: It’s a lot of getting chased around by the masked people, and not a whole lot else these days.

Things had been pretty bleak as of late, but there was at least one silver lining that Kris felt inclined to point out.

Kris: You have that contender match coming up. If you take that, you’re back on track to where you want to be. Since when did you become so impatient?

Now they were circling back around to the fact that Kris knew that someone had put these delusions into Coby’s head. It had become his goal to figure out that person’s identity since the moment Coby had pointed the finger of blame at him. Kris had a knack for making sure that blame got placed appropriately, even if he had to do it himself.

Coby: You know what, just forget about it. I didn’t say anything.

Coby’s eyes widened, almost like he had put together what Kris’ endgame was. It was too late though.

Kris: Ah, so this wasn’t you, this was someone putting an idea in your head that you’re underappreciated.

Kris had already been mentally working his way through a short list of suspects. He only needed a few more clues to narrow it down.

Coby: Just let it go.

If Coby wasn’t going to volunteer any more information, Kris would just have to goad him into it by working through the problem aloud.

Kris: ...and you only really see a handful of people these days. I doubt it was a random person here. Chelsea wouldn’t have been that shitty to you….

Of course, Kris couldn’t know for sure. Saying her name and reading Coby’s reaction was the only way to eliminate Chelsea. Even though they were friends, she had a short temper and could really tear into people when she was upset.

Coby: It’s really not important.

Kris could safely rule out both Chelsea and anyone random, which was a lot more helpful than Coby could have imagined.

Kris: ...and since it wasn’t me, that really just leaves two people that you would come across on a daily basis that would have any chance of getting under your skin.

Knowing that arguing was pointless, Coby rolls his eyes.

Coby: You’re the single most insufferable person in the world...

There were only two options and one was a lot more likely than the other.

Kris: ...and since Mikah would have told me as much so that we could enjoy the fallout of it together, that really just leaves our dear friend Courtney.

Coby sarcastically claps his hands together too softly to produce any sound to celebrate Kris figuring it out. He knew that Court would probably have to pay a price for that, but that was between her and Kris.

Coby: I assume you have a point...

Kris had already shifted away from their actual conversation and onto Court though. She had put him through the ringer lately, and was now doing the same with Coby. It all gave him more questions than answers.

Kris: And I assume that she has one. She’s been poking around at everyone around here, and keeps tweeting things about starting to play some of the cards that she has been holding. She has some plan.

Coby took his opportunity to turn it back around on Kris now that he was given the opportunity.

Coby: You almost sound jealous.

Instead of trying to deflect, Kris tries to give a direct answer. It was the least he could do since Coby hadn’t made this conversation impossibly difficult to navigate.

Kris: I don’t like feeling like I’m being manipulated for something.

Coby laughs at how hypocritical those words were coming out of Kris’ mouth.

Coby: Now you know how everyone that has to deal with you feels.

Instead of returning fire with his own insult, Kris seemed to have pieced it together based on Coby’s words.

Kris: Maybe that’s the point….

Even Coby had to admit, Kris had a way of reading people that he really envied. Before Kris went about hunting down Court, Coby realized he needed to have a conversation with the Bombshell. He picks himself up from the couch, and shoots a smile Kris’ direction.

Coby: You know for someone that is really good at pretending to be stupid, you can actually be really helpful on accident sometimes.

Coby turns and walks out of the office as hastily as he had come in. Usually Kris was the one to storm out suddenly. It was weird to be on the opposite end of it for once.

Kris: Accident... nobody… story of my life.


==========================================================



>I have always loved the Sin City Halloween show. It’s usually my second favorite show of the year. It’s kind of fitting that I am holding a tag team championship this time of the year. One year Jet City debuted as a team before going on to win the SCW World Tag Team Championships. The next year we did the Jet City Water Balloon Fight backstage in between all of our matches. Something big happens every time I take part in this show, so I was excited to see the release of the card this past Sunday.

I think we are all in agreement that this is the kind of match that would usually be for the mixed tag team championships under any other circumstance. Mac Bane, though still new to the SCW scene, is more than formidable in the ring. Amber Ryan has been impressive in Sin City over the last six months or so. She’s been in this company roughly as long as I have been back, and is already one of the handful of bombshells on the roster worth paying attention to. A couple of weeks ago I stood here preparing for a match with two nobodies while begging for a pair of worthwhile contenders to step up. I’m not going to lie, I was referring to Ben and Evie, but these two will suffice.

Mac Bane is a guy that understands this business. He’s the type of guy that gets the fact that most champions don’t want to be fed easy matches to rack up defenses. That might be what some people in this company are after, but that is not the kind of thing that will get you far in this business. It is not how you earn respect. It’s not how you prove that you are the best. The only way to prove that you are worth being called a champion is to take out every single person or group that could even attempt to lay claim to what you have. It’s just how this business works. Mac and Amber know this, and that’s why they stepped up. Mikah and I get it, and that’s why we’re actually excited to walk into a match for once. Sure, we may have beaten the lesser half of Wolfslair. We may have taken the championships away from Sass n Bash while they were at the top of their game. We dominated both the Trenton Tigers, and The Barnharts, but everyone expected all of that to happen. The Black Sheep have been the heavy favorites to take over this division from the moment that we came together as a team. It happened when the Sweet Twins put together this group a few years ago, and it happened when Mikah and I brought it back. The Black Sheep and championship belts are made for each other, and always have been. There wasn’t anything to really celebrate about those victories though. Nobody is ever ecstatic about watching the favorite dominate their way to victory. They want to watch the underdog overcome, but that isn’t a group Mikah and I will ever be a part of. The best we can hope for is to walk into a fight on a level playing field. Most people won’t give their opponents the type of credit I’m about to, but since when do I ever follow those kinds of rules? Amber Ryan and Mac Bane are perfectly capable of beating me and Mikah.

While that thought might scare others, it’s motivating for people like us. Mikah and I have been at it in Sin City for so long that it’s hard to get that rush back sometimes. Sometimes you get on such a roll that you forget what a setback is like. Mikah and I are undefeated as a team, and we haven’t even been close to being in danger of that streak coming to an end until now. Everything has been so easy that the two of us have been coasting without even realizing it. Seeing a true contender pop onto the scene has a way of being so motivating that you push yourself that much further to make sure that you are on top of your game. The problem for most of this roster, is that Mikah and I were already so much better than they are. What are they going to do now that there is a new team on the block forcing us to be better, sharper, and more cohesive than we have ever needed to be before now. It’s exhilarating.

...and I understand that this is a lot of praise to heap onto two people that don’t look like they have done a lot in this company. Mac has only had a couple of matches, despite how impressive he may have looked in them. I mean, the guy is the current number one contender to the Roulette Championship. Clearly Mark and Christian see the same thing in him that I do. He’s not the guy making empty threats. He’s not the guy coming into this business just to make a name for himself elsewhere. He lives and breathes this business. He is a guy that has always wanted to be competing inside of a ring. That’s the kind of thing that I can respect. It’s the reason that I climb into the ring on a weekly basis. It is the reason that no matter how many times I leave, I always end up coming back. Being in the center of that ring is everything that I have ever wanted in life. It’s the best part of being me, and I get the feeling that Mac might feel the same way about it. It isn’t about past accolades. It isn’t about all the extras. It’s about what happens in between the bells. It’s getting more and more rare to find someone competing in this business for the right reasons, which is why I am so impressed with the guy.

It doesn’t hurt that he’s practically a giant either. He’s got the right attitude, and is freakishly big. That is how he was able to out-muscle Bill Barnhart. We all saw what happened when I tried to go at Bill head-on. Luckily, I have pulled my head out of my ass since then. I’m not going to win this match by throwing myself against the wall and seeing what sticks. Unlike most people his size, Mac’s perfectly able of keeping up with me for longer than most people. He’s got the reach and power on me to really hurt my feelings if I try to stand toe-to-toe with him and throw hands. His one glaring weakness is that his legs might not hold up under extended pressure, but in a match where he can tag out to a partner, it’s going to be hard to keep him in the ring long enough to wear him down. Unlike most people I come across, there is no simple answer as to how and why I am going to beat him. He’s not sloppy. He’s not going to lose his temper and make mistakes. He’s going to force me to be flawless, because he is more than good enough to capitalize on any mistakes I make. It’s going to take everything I have and a little bit of luck to come out on top this time around, and it’s not like Mikah has it any easier.

Sure, Amber has the typical victories over people like Jessie Salco and Maki. Neither one of those names is impressive by itself. And yeah, she has dropped a few matches since her debut, but when she’s taking Hall of Famers like Roxi Johnson to their limits and causing them to change the way they approach the ring, you have to give her credit no matter what the outcome. She’s been unstoppable on Climax Control, and had the confidence in herself to call out The Black Sheep before ever even competing in the mixed tag team division. Don’t get me wrong, Mikah is still the greatest bombshell in SCW history, and has beaten every single female worth competing against in her time with this company. I doubt that she is going to give Amber as much credit as I am, but I feel like it needed to be said.

If these two want a future in this division, I could see it happening. This match might not be for the Mixed Tag Team Championships, but win or lose, I wouldn’t mind putting them on the line when and if Amber and Mac are eligible to challenge for them. Obviously the Roulette Championship Mac is headed towards complicates that, but you never know what the future holds. If given the opportunity to defend against these two over the crop of challengers we already have, I would pick these two every time. I would rather be challenged than allowed to coast.

Unfortunately it looks as if these two are the only challenge we are going to get for the foreseeable future. The powers that be look to be feeding into The Barnhart’s delusions of grandeur. I can see the writing on the wall already. Ever since my return I have been trying to shrug off Bill Barnhart looking over my shoulder. It seems like no matter what I do, he is always going to be there hanging around. There isn’t going to be anything exciting about having to stand across from him at High Stakes, so I’m going to make the most out of this match on Climax Control. In my mind, this match has so much more on the line. Mikah and I will be leaving with the championships regardless, but we have the potential to launch the career of an impressive new team.

I am sure the two of them would have to admit that they are getting the royal treatment here. Amber called out The Black Sheep, and was given her opportunity immediately. I keep seeing all of these champions and former champions complaining about a lack of opportunity, but Amber went out and seized hers. Unlike other champions, I wasn’t too busy to pay attention. I wasn’t too afraid to push it along. I embraced the challenge, and the Halloween show was given a mixed tag team match that nobody is going to forget. Amber and Mac get the opportunity to step up and beat the champions their first night as a team. They get to jump to the front of the line. All they have to do is hold their own against two of the best competitors that Sin City has ever had on their roster. All they have to do is beat two Grand Slam Champions of this company. They have to rise up and succeed where every notable Sin City competitor has failed. If they live up to the hype, they make the jump from newcomers to true contenders in this company. If Mikah and I come out on top, we were able to fend off two people that are definitely on the rise in this company. Either way, both teams will be challenged more than we have been previously or will be in the near future. I see that as a win-win.

It’s nice to take a break from all the bullshit and just let what happens inside the ring speak for itself, but you have to have the right opponents to capture that kind of magic.

I think these two have potential.

I look forward to testing it.

Good luck you two, you’ll need at least a little of it to win this one.

Always Something
Jet City South - San Diego
3 September 2020
OFF-Camera


Both The Miracle and Coby Quik looked a little worse for wear as they walked through the door of their shared office overlooking the main floor of Jet City South. The launch of the gym had gone better than Kris had expected it to, but he wasn’t allowed to say that out loud. It helped that he and Coby had featured the gym on several SCW and SCU events to get their name recognition back. There was also the fact that it was a Jet City gym in the center of the city that had made them famous. Sure, the group had moved up the coast to Seattle years ago, but that didn’t change the support that they had in SoCal. It was the whole reason that Kris had come back in the first place. It was the only place other than SCW that legitimately felt like home. Kris was always the type to expect the worst not only of people, but situations. Before he was The Miracle, he was an accident and a nobody. The situation he currently found himself in was previously unheard of. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t battling any personal addictions. His gym was a success. He was on a winning streak that nobody saw coming after his match against Bill. He should be enjoying the fruits of his labor, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t. In recent days, he had trouble even sitting still. Every second that he wasn’t productive felt like time wasted. There was an uneasiness in the air around him that Coby was sick of trying to ignore. It was never a smart idea to press Kris on something he didn’t want to talk about, but even the fastest member of Jet City was growing tired of trying to keep up with his panicked pace.

Coby: What are you so damn nervous about all of a sudden?

Kris shrugs his shoulders, and keeps his eyes focused out the office window. He knew that there was no way Coby was going to believe him, but he hoped he was able to sell his lie well enough to cause his friend to drop the subject.

Kris: Nothing man. Just stressing about the gym. It’s not moving along as fast as it did in Seattle…. I expected things to go smoother.

The audible laugh from over his shoulder told Kris all he needed to know about whether or not Coby had bought his lie. Kris’ former student didn’t waste any time shredding his lie for the facade that it was.

Coby: Dude, look around! It’s a pandemic and classes are just about capped. We’ve beaten projections already. Having me in SCU and you in SCW has been the best thing we could have possibly done. People see the roll you are on and want to sign up because clearly you know what you’re doing...

That assertion was just as big of a lie as Kris’ had been, and gets the Grand Slam Champion to turn to his friend instead of focusing on the window.

Kris: Oh come on!

The smile on Coby’s face was enough to tell Kris that he had merely played into Coby’s hand. He wanted his attention, and now he had it.

Coby: Alright fine, it’s probably just name recognition. Everyone knows you’re an idiot. I was just trying to make you feel better but now you had to go and ruin that too. But, to be fair, Jet City South is not what you are actually worried about. So we both lied.

Kris knew that there was no getting Coby to drop it. Maybe it would be worthwhile to just get everything off of his chest anyways. Kris lets out a deep breath and falls into the chair behind his desk.

Kris: I guess it is this match with Wolfslair coming up.

Coby offers only a nonchalant shrug at first before pulling back his own chair behind the desk opposite Kris’.

Coby: You think you’re going to mess the whole thing up like you always do?

It was probably a step too far, but that was how Kris had to be dealt with. If you wanted him to give an inch, you had to reach for that mile first.

Kris: No!

It was a knee-jerk reaction to the words that were more true than Kris was willing to admit. Upon another second to think it over, Kris nodded, and his voice got much quieter and less certain sounding.

Kris: ...at least, not really.

Coby sits down in his chair, and puts his feet up on his desk. His favorite part about being part owner of the new gym.

Coby: Ah, so it's that you're finally going up against someone you feel is on your level and you're actually nervous about losing.



Kris: It's that obvious?



Coby: Honestly I knew before I asked. You tense up everytime you talk about Climax Control. You're even getting along with Mikah during training. You're working at this harder than normal. I figured it was related.

It made Kris feel stupid that he had been so transparent. He had thought he was keeping things together well enough. Then again, he should have known better than to think he could hide something from someone that had been on tour with him for years now.

Kris: It might be shitty to say, but everything has felt like a walk in the park until now. I haven't been this nervous since...

Coby knew where the thought was going, and decided to put it in a way that Kris wasn’t going to be able to tip-toe around for the next hour. He had gotten used to expediting these kinds of conversations so that Kris couldn’t waste too much of his time.

Coby: Choking in your match against Fenris a couple years ago?

Kris’ glare sharpened, and he opened his mouth to say something on reflex, but stopped himself. Instead, he shook his head softly and cut all but two words out of his thought.

Kris: Too far.

Kris always looked like a kicked puppy when someone was as mean to him as he was to most people. Coby had started to enjoy these kinds of moments, but knew better than to continue to kick his friend while he was down.

Coby: The most important thing that you're missing is that you should be nervous. You make it seem like it is a bad thing to be a little unsettled going into a match. You ever think that your blind confidence is actually the weird part? Like that's why you rub so many people the wrong way. Nobody should think so highly of themselves all the time. Maybe it will do you some good to be nervous for a change.

That wasn’t the way that Kris operated, and Coby knew it. There was no way that he could snap his fingers and just feel and react differently than normal. He was too entrenched into how his past had shaped him.

Kris: ...but last time...

Coby loses his cool in an attempt to get Kris to budge off of his self-deprecation.

Coby: No last time! Let that go. You were in a public fight during a sex scandal while battling injuries. You shouldn't have been in the match, but you're dumb. Just like when you beat Crimson for the title in the first place. You were lucky the first time. You got what you deserved when you lost to Fenris.

Suddenly, it felt like the conversation was not going to go the way Kris wanted it to, so he wanted to bail out of it.

Kris: This is not making me feel better….

He goes to get up from his chair, but Coby extends a hand out to him, gesturing for him to stop. He wasn’t going to let Kris keep taking the easy way out of things like this. At some point he was going to have to grow up.

Coby: Well, maybe it's something you need to hear. Just because you're nervous doesn't mean you're going to mess it up. It means you're human. Use it to your advantage.

Dumbfounded, Kris looks up and stops sulking.

Kris: How?

Coby: You've already been doing it. You and Mikah are more cohesive than ever. You have broken down every single aspect of all four members of Wolfslair for months preparing for this. Trust that you have put in the work to come out the other side with a win.

It helped ease some of Kris’ fears, but there was still the feeling that was lingering under the surface and digging at his core.

Kris: What if I'm not sure if we can pull this one off?

Coby had an answer for that too though. The things that Kris was feeling now for the first time had plagued Coby every time he signed a new contract or stepped into a ring with a new opponent. There was only one way to deal with it that had ever done him any good. The only way out is through.

Coby: Then be as honest about that as you are everything else in your life. You can't shrug off a sex tape and then worry yourself sick about a tag match. People will start to think you're crazy or something.

Kris felt like Coby was missing the point, and tried to redirect the conversation a little.

Kris: I can't go out there and do the same old 'Just Take The L' speech. It's not going to sound right this time. Nobody is going to believe that Mikah and I are going to walk all over Wolfslair like we have everyone else over the years.

Coby shrugs.

Coby: Then say that. What's so hard about that?

Kris didn’t even have to think over an answer, it just spilled out of him immediately.

Kris: It's not what people expect from me….

It was surprising to hear the words come out of Kris’ mouth given how he has treated every single one of his opponents, and most of his friends.

Coby: Since when do you care about what people expect from you? You're the villain, remember? You're supposed to be unpredictable. Go out there and give them something they haven't heard before.

At the very least, Coby had Kris actually listening to him for a change. He wasn’t going to miss the chance to be the mentor for once. All Kris had to do was ask.

Kris: ...and that is?

Coby laughs, and rocks backwards in his desk chair. He extends his arms up and laces his fingers together to cradle the back of his head with them. He wasn’t sure how his advice was going to work out for Kris, but it would be entertaining to watch either way.

Coby: Be humble.


==========================================================


>I have never made a secret out of how much I like Wolfslair...

Kris is sitting inside the office of the Jet City South. The camera sits across the room from him, but he is not looking at it. His focus is on his hands in his lap. Most of his fingers are laced together, except his thumbs, which chase one another in circles.

They are every bit the draw that they say that they are.

They are the ones that brought life to a division that was otherwise dead in the water.

They turned championships that nobody cared about into the championships that lured me back to SCW.

They are so good that I tried to convince Alicia Lukas to tag with me against two of her own teammates because she was the best option around to beat them at the time.

I usually come out and take this time to tell whoever is going to be standing across from me at Climax Control that they aren’t as good as they think they are. I tell them that they aren’t going to have the dream career or the big win that they are hoping for. I let them know that there is no hope against me. People see it as boastful, but look at what I have done since coming back. One person has beaten me, and he has gotten his ass handed to him twice since. Mikah and I have never lost together as a team. I know exactly how good I am. I know exactly what Mikah is capable of, with or without my help. Usually when I size up an opponent I see how everything is going to play out. I know, without a doubt, that I am going to have my hand raised at the end of the night. That’s why I can say the things that I do to my opponents. I know… not think, but KNOW… that I am better than a majority of the people on this roster, and most of the people with the audacity to call themselves champions in this company.

However, none of that applies to Wolfslair.

From top to bottom, they are one of the most solid groups that I have ever seen in this business. Alicia Lukas has been a champion everywhere she has gone, and her dominance in SCW etched her name into the record books faster than just about anyone else that comes to mind.

Alex Jones went from Mixed Tag Team Champion to SCW World Heavyweight Champion basically at the snap of his fingers. He wanted a shot at Griffin. He got a shot at Griffin. He took the championship and made it look easy.

Austin James Mercer was the most dominant Internet Champion that SCW has ever seen, and I say that as someone that has held that championship. The guy held the championship for the majority of this year. Even if Teddy manages to hang onto it for the rest of the year, his reign won’t be as impressive.

Then there’s Johanna. She’s the one that I probably know the least about. The only thing I really know is that she came to SCW to break out in the mixed tag division and she did exactly that. Her goal was to dominate alongside her teammates in this division before pursuing championships in the greatest women’s division in the world. In one match since dropping the mixed tag team titles, she beat a legend and Hall of Famer in Roxi Johnson. I’d say she’s well on her way to scratching more goals off her list.

So you can see, when this match was announced, and I didn’t know which two members of the team I would be facing, it didn’t matter. All four of them are equally impressive on paper and in the ring. All four of them are dangerous. All four of them are more talented than the majority of the people that have ever walked through the SCW curtain.

...and before people think I’m just trying to flatter them, don’t be stupid. The things that I am saying are facts, plain and simple. There is no getting around them. There is no discrediting them. For once, there are people in this company that say what they want to whomever they want, because they can back it up in the ring night after night. It’s kind of easy to see why I would be a fan of theirs….

...but it’s also why I can’t stand here and tell all of you that I know that I am going to walk out of this match with a win. I understand that it’s not something that I can guarantee will happen unlike most of my matches since returning to the company. I mean, think about it. They had an advantage by forcing us to prepare for all four of them, and then they threw it out the window on social media because they didn’t need cheap tricks to win. Even better, instead of strategically figuring out who would be facing The Black Sheep this week, they flipped coins. They are so confident in their abilities that it truly didn’t matter to them which ones took part in the match, and deservedly so.

Austin James Mercer and Johanna Kreiger won the toss apparently. They are the duo that get to represent the group that brought both myself and Mikah to the division in the first place. We looked around the roster, and Wolfslair seemed to be the only decent challenge for us. We had hoped for a chance to be the ones to take their Mixed Tag Team Championships, but allowing Sass n Bash to take their shot solo backfired. I’m not going to lie. I expected Wolfslair to emerge from Summer XXXtreme unscathed. I had faith that I wasn’t going to miss my opportunity by allowing Bella and Malachi to once again fall short. I was wrong.

...but the group did let us know that it could happen. I mean, just look at the things Alex was saying before they lost the championships. It sounded like his eyes were already on the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. It really felt like Johanna was ready to make the solo jump to the Bombshell Division. I went into the week before the show with a feeling that an upset could happen, but it was already too late to cash in my opportunity and add The Black Sheep to the match.

Then Sass n Bash shocked the world and walked away with the championships. And I don’t say it that way to be insulting. It’s a fact. It was the upset of the year. The fans were dumbfounded. The two of them were surprised to be having their hands raised. Nobody thought it was going to happen. Why? They weren’t the better team. They had lost to Wolfslair before, and should have come up short once again. That’s what the betting people put all their money on. Imagine how disappointed I was to see Wolfslair toppled before I could get a chance to be the one to beat them.

Like I said, I am not sure that Mikah and I will walk out of this match with a win. Yet, when it came to Sass n Bash, we called our shot and went out to ruin their two week long celebration of a fluke. Mikah and I guaranteed we were going to mop the floor with the new champs, and we did. They might hold the championships, but they are not the measuring stick of this division. Though, I’m not sure that Wolfslair is anymore either, which is the real shame.

See, everything that I have said to this point is true. I respect the hell out of all four members of Wolfslair. They are as good as they say. None of that was bullshit. The problem is, I don’t think that their hearts are in it anymore. They phoned it in during Summer XXXtreme, and they lost. It didn’t seem to bother Alex or Johanna at the time either. They both took a step forward in their careers in the time since they lost the titles. It feels like the team has moved past the need to assert their dominance over the mixed tag division, and that sucks for me personally. The match I was looking forward to, and the match that we have been given aren’t the same. Not even close.

No matter what happens, it seems like Wolfslair is onto other things. Johanna isn’t going to turn her back on the Bombshell Division and come running back to the mixed tag scene after beating Roxi. She’s going to try and climb to the top of a new ladder. If you can’t see that, you’re blind. Alicia? It seems like the people behind the scenes are determined to keep her in the main events by any means necessary, and who could blame them? Does anyone think that she is going to turn down the opportunity to main event every show just to carry a mixed tag team championship? Alex Jones has the SCW World Heavyweight Championship already, so there is no doubt about what his future plans hold. The only wild card is Austin, and I don’t see him running into this division all on his own. He has already held the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. He was great as Internet Champion. Maybe he has his eye on the Roulette Division now that he finds himself short of a full-time partner.

So what purpose does this match serve to any of them? Why would they be so ambivalent about this match that they flipped a coin? The answer is simple. They aren’t going to back down from any challenge, because that’s not their style, but this doesn’t mean anything to them anymore. They aren’t dumb enough to underestimate me or Mikah. They aren’t going to parade themselves out to the ring and boast about how badly they are going to beat us. Winning this match would be a positive for them, but losing this match isn’t going to derail any of their future plans. For that matter, losing this match isn’t going to hurt myself or Mikah. Wolfslair doesn’t want the mixed tag team championships anymore, so it’s not like they will jump The Black Sheep in line. Not to mention, me and Mikah already dominated Sass n Bash a couple of shows ago, so our shot at their championships is all but guaranteed to happen in a few weeks.

My patience and staying out of the match at Summer XXXtreme cost me the challenge that Wolfslair vs The Black Sheep was supposed to be. It cut through the buildup of what this encounter could have been. It took a match that could have main evented any show, and been a contender for the best mixed tag team match of the year, and made it an afterthought on a random Climax Control headlined by Crystaltina Milltonzdunwhatever’s wife. It’s deflating to say the least, and disappointing if I’m honest.

I know that both Johanna and Austin are going to bring their best to this fight because that is just what they do. When they step in the ring, their minds are on winning. It doesn’t matter what they think about their opponents. It doesn’t matter what is on the line. They are going to attempt to dominate because they don’t know how to half ass anything, and they aren’t like these other champions that lose a title and then disappear afterwards. I’m not trying to say that they are going to throw the match against us just because they have other aspirations. I am saying that this match doesn’t mean a damn thing to them anymore, and Mikah and I have something that we need to prove against this team.

Wolfslair is going to be the team that everyone remembers from 2020. They have had the most impressive year of any team that has come through this company, Jet City and The Black Sheep included, and let’s not forget The Black Sheep held almost every championship simultaneously last time around. Still, we don’t measure up to the last year that Wolfslair has had. They have two different SCW World Heavyweight Champions in their group, Alicia was the Bombshell Champion, and they had the most impressive Mixed Tag Team Championship run in company history. The only way that The Black Sheep were going to take them down a notch was to take their championships away before they moved onto the next part of their career. We missed that chance, but were granted this consolation.

I’m confident in The Black Sheep. I know that I didn’t become a Grand Slam Champion by accident. I know that I haven’t been beaten since April for a reason. Mikah is the single greatest Bombshell in company history. She is a record setter. She is the measuring stick that people like Johanna join the Bombshell Division to be compared against. The Black Sheep are not the Trenton Tigers, or Team Eggplant. We aren’t a joke. We aren’t the lackluster Barnharts. We are the team that is picking up exactly where Wolfslair left off when they allowed Sass n Bash to walk away with the championships of this division.

Does it suck that Wolfslair made up their mind to move on before we got the chance to take them on while they were at the top? Absolutely. Is it going to be a whole lot less fun to take those championships from Sass n Bash? Probably. Are we still going to do it? Definitely. The Black Sheep came to this division with one goal: Get the championships and hold them until we get bored beating the rest of the teams on the roster.

Johanna is someone that has already done that. Even more impressive, she did that without the long history of success that most of her teammates came in with. Nobody would be dumb enough to try and say that Alex carried the team for them either. Johanna held her own alongside the man that currently holds the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. That’s impressive. How many teams can say they are that balanced?

Austin James Mercer was too busy winning the Internet Championship to get into the Mixed Tag Championship picture back in February. It’s funny to think that Austin, Johanna and Alex all won their titles on the same night, only to lose them on the same night six months later. It goes to show that anyone in their team could have carried the Mixed Tag Championships and they would have been just as successful. I mean, Austin was the one to end Fenris’ championship reign that many thought would be years long. Let’s not forget that I couldn’t get that done back before my hiatus from the company. My last match was losing my shot at Fenris’ belt. Austin stepped up and ended that reign while I was sitting on the couch at home.

I guess what I have been trying to say, is that this isn’t just some random match for The Black Sheep, or for Wolfslair. For Johanna, this is a chance to prove herself against the best bombshell in SCW history while she is trying to break into the division that Mikah has been the Queen of for the last six years. For Austin, he gets to step in the ring with a Grand Slam Champion, and the only undefeated team left in SCW. There might not be any championships on the line on Sunday night, but rest assured that this match is between the two best teams in this company. The only drawback, is that only one of the teams is actually interested in teaming right now.

While Austin and Johanna clearly have no problem working as partners, they aren’t motivated to function as a team. They have their own interests in this match. They want to prove themselves against two of the best singles competitors in SCW. The problem is, that isn’t the focus for Mikah and I anymore. We are a team first, and individuals second. Sure, we have taken the path of most resistance to get to this point, but it hasn’t slowed us down any. Since we brought The Black Sheep back, we have ironed out all the kinks. We have learned to put our egos aside and work with one another in the ring. We have learned to depend on each other while competing. We were dangerous as individuals. We were unstoppable as a semi-functional team. Now we are on our way to taking over the mantle of the greatest team in this company. That path is going to run us directly through a Wolfslair group who are more worried about their individual pursuits. If they weren’t so damn good, this match would be a no-brainer.

So I guess we all have to wait another few days…. I can’t promise what will happen at the end of this match. I can’t tell all of you what the outcome will be, because I don’t want to sound like I’m not giving the former champions the credit that they rightfully deserve. What I do know is that they have never faced a team like The Black Sheep before. There is no weakness to exploit in me and Mikah. There is no weakest link. We don’t have to carry one another because we made a career out of taking care of ourselves while everyone else was gunning for what we had.

I know that this is going to be a hell of a fight. I know that the Climax Control audience is going to be excited about the fact that they get to be in the building for this one instead of being stuck watching it from a couch. This is going to be the best mixed tag team match of the year, and it’s not even for a championship or part of the Blast from the Past tournament. Let that sink in.

This is everything that I have been waiting for since I came back to Sin City. I hope that Wolfslair is as ready for this as I am. I hope they are as prepared for this as Mikah and I are. If you can’t tell, we aren’t taking them lightly, and hopefully they aren’t making the mistake of thinking that The Black Sheep are some forgotten relics of the past like everyone else has.

Let’s tear the roof of Orleans Arena. Let’s make the mixed tag division the headline of the night. We might not be the main event, but we have the potential to steal the show away from people that simply can’t measure up to any of the four of us. Let’s prove that this match should have been a main event. At least that way, no matter what happens, it was worth it.

I look forward to my first real test since coming back.

Johanna… Austin… Good luck...

 Same Page
Jet City South - San Diego
9 July 2020
OFF-Camera


Training against their Trenton Tigers stand-ins hadn’t gone perfectly. Mikah would argue that the whole day was a success, because she had managed to hold her own much longer than anyone else was willing to give her credit for at the start of the day. On the other hand, Kris was able to prove to her that there were, in fact, kinks that needed to be ironed out. Courtney Pierce had been trained by Mikah when she was at the top of her game. She hadn’t had the easiest time pulling one over on her old student. It helped both Kris and Mikah to work as an actual team, instead of just showing off to one another.

Kris: You know, you were actually kind of impressive earlier.

He didn’t mind losing the silent battle that they were having about who was going to admit that they were wrong, or at least not as right about how their day would transpire. It didn’t help that one was just as arrogant about their abilities as the other. Put them together and instead of doubling, it increased exponentially.

Mikah: ...and to think you doubted me, even for a second.

Clearly Mikah was not willing to concede her victory like Kris was. After all, he was the one that needed a partner. He was the one that wanted her to come back. This was his doing. In her eyes, if he had doubts, he shouldn’t have bothered. Since he did, all these hoops she was jumping through were pointless. Kris was quick to cut her big head back down to size though.

Kris: Calm down. I am not saying that there weren’t rough spots and you were perfectly flawless by any means, but you held your own. To be honest, we got people that I think are better teams than the Tigers to train with us. I think we have this thing won.

She was glad that he was finally coming around to what she had known from the moment the match was announced. For all his big talk in front of a screen, he really was kind of a pushover. Maybe that was how he and Fenris happened. She was not going to dwell on the thought though. She tried to keep it out of mind.

Mikah: Maybe so… it still doesn’t change the fact that you thought I was going to show up and mess things up for you. It’s the same kind of thing that Drake would do. You didn’t trust me enough to let me in on anything, and just assumed that I wasn’t really paying attention or putting any work in. It’s insulting. We are supposed to be partners. Hell, we are supposed to be friends.

According to others, they were supposedly a lot more than that. The two of them had drawn a line at calling themselves anything other than friends. It was the truth. Despite the fact that it was widely drowned out by the news about the benefits of their friendship. Still, the fact that they were friends should have meant comparing him to Drake was off limits. Kris was having a hard time stepping around her feelings while she was throwing jabs at him like that.

Kris: Can you honestly blame me though? Look, I said that you did well today. You proved me wrong. Are you saying that I am a shitty person just because I wanted to see that in an empty gym before we went out and did it for real? I already have enough people telling me that I am stuck in 2017. I didn’t want to give anyone another reason to shoot us down before we even get started.

There it was. He was so obsessed with his own mistake that he was just projecting it onto others. It was the reason that he had traveled to his brother’s debut in another company and helped him to a victory that he had well in hand. It was the reason that he was lecturing Mikah all week. She was actually upset with herself that she hadn’t picked up on it sooner.

Mikah: Yeah, well, you could have gone about it some other way.

Unfortunately, Kris wasn’t the type to think things through. He was more of the act on first impulse type, for better or for worse. Usually for the worse.

Kris: What other way?

After a moment of thought, she realized that maybe that was better said than done. Instead of admitting that though, she spins it back around on him.

Mikah: I don’t know! One where you don’t seem like such an ass all the time! You could have come down to the gym while I was working out. You could have asked me what I was doing to get ready. Instead, you just assumed that the answer was nothing at all. I can do more than run my mouth, unlike most of the bombshells.

She knew that there were going to be more than a few women on the roster that weren’t going to be happy about her return. Mikah told herself that they were just jealous of her accomplishments though. They wouldn’t hate her if any of them were actually in her league. Hate always starts at the bottom looking up.

Kris: You’re right. I just didn’t think you were serious about it. It’s not like you jumped at the opportunity to come back the first time that I asked you.

She was surprised that he was backing down so easily again. She must have really surpassed his expectations earlier. Of course, that itself was offensive. Exactly how low had his expectations been? It was not her fault that he had twiddled his thumbs for a month in SCW before really deciding what he wanted to do.

Mikah: Have you ever considered that I didn’t think that you were serious? I mean, you had already pitched being a team to Alicia Lukas. Court is even training for a comeback. You could have picked her. How am I supposed to know when to take you seriously, and when you are just being….well… you.

The whole thing had always seemed so simple to Kris though. It made too much sense to ignore.

Kris: What? We are part of the reason that this whole division even exists. How many times did we try to make them let us take a stab at the tag belts before they combined the divisions and tried to take the credit for it? If there was ever a team that was supposed to rise up and take control of mixed tag matches in SCW, it is us. We wanted it. Now we have the opportunity to pick up where we left off.

She took the opportunity to go back to her point in their original argument since he was backing down left and right.

Mikah: ...and we could do that by cashing in your opportunity and taking over now.

He shook his head instantly.

Kris: I---

Mikah waved a hand at him and finished the thought for him. She had heard it enough already.

Mikah: ...don’t want to do it that way. I get it. As wrong as you were about me not being ready, you were right about one thing. That shot is yours. You can use it however you want. If you don’t think that we need it right now, then that’s your call to make. If you think we can make it to the top without it, fine. I’m willing to give it a shot.

It was really the only words that he had wanted to hear her say all week. She was notorious for not wanting to put the work in. She had always argued with Mark about not wanting to come to shows she was not booked on. Or drinking backstage and not taking it seriously. All Kris needed to hear was that she was willing to put in the effort instead of taking the shortest possible route. He pinched himself in case he was dreaming, but didn’t instantly find himself waking up in bed.

Kris: Wow….

She looked up at him, confused by the surprise on his face.

Mikah: What?

He laughs at her, and shrugs his shoulders almost at a loss for words.

Kris: I never thought I would see the day where you admitted that you were wrong about something.

It was not something that she was going to let him hold over her head. He had admitted that he was wrong about her. It was the least she could do. It was not like she was going to be able to change his mind anyways. At least, not with the direct approach. If she had to, she could come up with a way to get him to agree. He would probably even think that it was his idea. Maybe he was right though. It was possible that they could go out and be so impressive that they wouldn’t need it.

Mikah: Yeah, well you started it….

She quickly amends her statement to squash any hope he might have of it being a recurring thing.

Mikah: ...but don’t get used to it!

He holds up his hands in front of his chest as if he is pleading his innocence, but with a smile on his face.

Kris: Wouldn’t dream of it.

He does get up from his seat and start to make his way out of the room though. He could see how worn out she was from the day, and training hadn’t been a walk in the park. Unlike him, she had more important things that this match to worry about for the next couple of days, and he wasn’t going to make the mistake of forgetting that.

Kris: Get some rest. I’m sure those kids of yours will have you up and running around again before you know it, and we have a lot more work to do before we head to Vegas for the show.

She watches him go, considering asking him to stay but knowing better than to push it after such a tense day. Right now she could chalk up the day as a win for her. With Kris, that wasn’t always a guarantee. She did not want to ruin it, but the least she could do was put some of his negative thoughts at ease.

Mikah: Hey...

He turned back to her at the door without actually responding to her.

Mikah: You know we got this, right? At some point you are going to have to get out of your head about that. You never let people hold you back before. Don’t start now.

He nods wordlessly, and taps the door frame with his knuckles before making his way down to his studio and leaving her to rest for the remainder of the night.


==========================================================

The Black Sheep Return!
ON-Camera


You know how people use the phrase “the more, the merrier” like it is supposed to be a good thing?

Kris is seated in the black office chair that we have seen sitting behind his desk for the last few weeks. Using the small space to film his promos had become a habit after his brother had berated him for using the gym downstairs.

The Trenton Tigers are the exception to that rule. They think that it is a problem for people to have to gameplan for four of them instead of two. They are wrong. Instead, it makes them twice as big of a joke as they appear to be on the surface.

He allows himself a laugh at the expensive of the fearsome foursome that he finds himself planning for this week on Climax Control. He has his feet propped up on the desk forcing the chair he is in to lean so far back that only his head and shoulders come into view behind the desk. The Miracle almost looks carefree, despite the advantage that his opponents have on paper. He starts to explain to the audience exactly why that is.

Think about it. Brandon and Daniela come into SCW feeling real good about themselves. They have a peppy high school team name, a record of success, and finally stepped up to the big leagues in SCW after feeling left behind in SCU. They came in and smashed up the Barnharts, and then even got one over on Malachi and Bella. Everything looked like it was smooth sailing there for a second. There was a point where people were talking about them as mixed tag team championship contenders without having to stifle a laugh.

He frowns at the camera to indicate just how much the times had changed. In his opinion, the team had run into a roadblock by making one fatal error.

So they think it is a bright idea to add a couple of new members to the team. They get laughed at for trying to pass off their Mixed Tag Team Championship shot to their buddies, and then go on to lose anyway. At this point basically all of them have dropped the ball when it comes to facing off against Wolfslair, and even though they started out by making Sass and Bash look like chumps, the tables have certainly turned. Char Kwan may have been worth a look back when Gamers Inc was at the top, but she has been nothing but a weight around the Tigers’ neck. And if Daniela has learned the hard way that adding a sibling to the team doesn’t always go the way you want it to, but hey, we have all been there, right?

The smirk on Kris’ face is sure to irritate his brother Jason if he is watching from home. In recent weeks he has not shied away from reminding his brother about their confrontation on Climax Control where Kris walked out with his hand raised in the air.

In just a few short months this team that had a lot of potential, finds themselves at the back of the line. They were gifted back-to-back shots for the championships, and came up short regardless of the configuration that they chose to run with. For all of their talk and grandiose plans, they have amounted to little separately, and absolutely nothing together.

Kris shrugs, not feeling bad about telling it like it is. The Tigers were always the first to tell people that their independent accomplishments didn’t matter, and they were a long lasting team. To Kris, if they were worth anything, they would be able to prove it, and thus fair they had failed to impress him.

Now we know what they are going to say, because we have seen them say it over and over again. Time after time they come up against teams like the Barnharts, or Sass and Bash and say that they are not a real team. That they are more worried about their relationship dynamic outside of the ring than they are about what happens between when the bells sound. Mikah and myself won’t be exempt from that line of bullshit.

Not that they were exempt from it beforehand either. The whole backstage had been buzzing with rumors before Mikah outed certain parts of their friendship. Everyone had been jumping to incorrect conclusions since, and it was clearly eating at the Grand Slam Champion.

Most people in SCW have sniped at us one way or another. People think that we are dating. People think that I am the reason that she and Drake are no longer together. They think we bicker too much to ever be a functional team. They think we are too cocky for our own good.

At least a couple of those were probably true, even though Kris had no intention of validating any of them.

Tell me how that makes anyone on the current roster different from the people we both walked all over a few years ago? Everyone thought Mikah talked a big game at first, but then she built a career out of backing that talk up. She is constantly ranked amongst the best of the best that this company has ever had walk through the doors. If this match were Char Kwan or Daniela against Mikah on her own, there would be no debate about who people would put their money on. Only one of those three is a Hall of Famer in this company. Only one of them has done anything worth noting on her own. Gamer Inc might have carried Char Kwan to a tag title reign, but she has proven over and over again that when she flies solo she can’t get the job done. Either female member of the Tigers will be outclassed and overmatched before they even ring the bell to start this thing.

He was not going to just heap praise on his partner though. Anything Mikah could do, he could do better. That is why his name came first on the show.

...and the same is true on my side of the match. I have done things that Brandon Sludge and Vector only dream of doing. I have dominated every single division that I have been a part of in this company. I won the Internet Championship against all odds. I set Roulette records that nobody thought could ever be broken. My brother and I popped into the tag division as a joke, and went on to make every team on the roster look like our bitches. Not to mention, I was the last person to hold the SCW World Heavyweight Championship in the air before the company was going to close its doors forever, and the people in attendance for it blew the roof off the place.

It would probably remain the defining moment of his career, as he finally shattered the glass ceiling that had always held him back.

I get that singles accomplishments don’t count for much in tag team wrestling, but let’s be honest: this isn’t really tag team wrestling. Jet City was tag team wrestling. I could be trapped on an apron while my brother was getting dominated on the other side of the ring and there was not a damn thing that I could do about it. The other team could tag in and out to stay fresh while they laid waste to half of Jet City. All they had to do was isolate and attack. That’s not a strategy that works in mixed tag matches though. Why? Because as soon as anyone tags out of the match, both partners change. This isn’t tag team wrestling, this is a bombshell match, and a men’s match happening at the same time in the same ring.

Char Kwan or Daniela Rodgers have to somehow beat Mikah, someone we have already established is out of their league when it comes to singles wrestling. Their male partner isn’t going to be able to bail them out of trouble. They are going to have to do it on their own, and they are not up to that particular task. They are struggling on their path to finding tag team relevance and facing someone who is coasted her way into the hall of fame. What are either of them going to do when they bring their sad ass offense against someone who has forgotten more about technical wrestling than either of them have the capacity to learn? My guess is that someone is going to get choked out. I have seen Mikah’s Cupid’s Chokehold up close before, and that shit doesn’t look fun at all. I almost hate to see which one of these ladies will draw the short straw and have to step into the ring this week. It’s going to be a slaughter.

He has to reconsider that maybe they are not as terrible as he thinks. Maybe they will actually put up a fight.

I mean, unless somehow they manage to make it to their team’s corner and tag in some help. That would solve their Mikah problem and buy them some time to recover, but the news isn’t so great for their tag team partner, whichever one that ends up being.

Kris was more than confident that he would be able to take on either of the male members of the team.

Sure, Brandon has me by like 100 pounds, but it’s not like the guy can keep up with me for very long. Good ol’ Sludge comes out of a background of bodybuilding and weightlifting. You know what that tells me? The dude could probably bench press a bus even though he looks like a beached whale. However, nothing about bodybuilding screams endurance. The guy doesn’t have the stamina to keep up with someone like me. I wouldn’t even have to run circles around him. He couldn’t keep up with a light jog. He’s going to get tired and have to tag in his partner for Mikah to pummel some more. Or, the giant is going to fall a little too far from his corner, and he definitely has that “I’ve fallen, and can’t get up” type of vibe to him. Then he is too far out of reach for anyone to save him, and stuck in the ring for me to pick apart. My offense is already hit and run. I don’t have to lift the hippo. I just have to stick, move and wait for the big guy to tire himself out. See, someone like Sludge is like a picnic for me, and I am a nightmare for him.

It felt like Brandon was going to be the Tiger’s best answer for him, even though it was still the wrong answer.

...but what other option do they have? At least if Brandon manages to get a hand on me, he can do some real damage. If they let Vector slide in and take his shot, people are going to laugh. This is a guy that couldn’t hack it in SCU, a brand that has sorry ass O’Malley as its champion. He couldn’t manage to break out of the pack on the B-show, and came running to his twin to take pity on him and let him into the tribe of mediocrity.

The problem for Vector is that I have made a career out of making people just like him Just Take The L. Sure, it would be a hell of a lot more exciting for the people watching at home to watch the both of us fly around the ring as opposed to watching Brandon breathe heavily and struggle to keep up. The fact of the matter is, it still wouldn’t matter. I have beaten better people than him in my blackout drug days. In fact, I have both tagged with, and beaten someone who has the exact same style that he does. People remember my brother Jason as being part of Jet City, but everyone should watch back what happened when he tried to step up and say he was better than me. He ended up on his back in the middle of the ring asking what went wrong.

He shrugs.

The answer was simple. Nothing went wrong. I was just better.

Kris keeps pushing forward though, not lingering just to gloat.

...but again, it is not just me this time. It is Mikah too. It is The Black Sheep finally together again and doing the thing that we have always said that we were going to do. There is a reason that I am the only person that Mikah would ever team with. I am the best at what I do. Don’t believe me? Ask Griffin Hawkins, O’Malley, or even our World Heavyweight Champion Ben Jordan. What do they all have in common? They have never beaten me. Not once.

It was not just his individual work that mattered here though.

Mikah and I are undefeated as a team going against a group that hasn’t won since Blaze of Glory despite the fact that they have doubled in size since then. These people actually have the ability to surprise opponents with whom they send out to the ring, and still haven’t been able to get the job done. Why? Because they just aren’t that good, even with the stupid ass Freebird rule in play.

He rolls his eyes. Usually it would be more difficult to prepare for more opponents, but there was no combination of the team that was causing him to lose sleep. The only wildcard in his mind had been Mikah, and he had already gone out of his way to make sure that she would be ready.

...but Mikah and I aren’t going to whine about not knowing which combination of these never-will-be’s that we will be facing. Instead of worrying about something out of our control, we have just been preparing to face all of them. That way, no matter who comes down the aisle, The Black Sheep can walk out after having their hands raised in victory.

It was the only outcome that made any sense to him, on paper or otherwise.

I’m not going to stand here and rattle off cliches like about not taking the Tiger’s lightly, doing my best, and giving 100%. I will leave that to them and their same old tired lines that thousands of people have spouted off before them. I am standing here to say that The Black Sheep are going to win because of one simple fact: We are better.

He drops his feet from the desk and sits up in the chair. Sometimes facts hurt and he was going to throw a few more at the lens of the camera. He didn’t want people to mistake a relaxed posture for a lack of seriousness.

Together. Separate. It doesn’t matter. Mikah and I are the most impressive team that this division has ever seen. We are not a married couple like the Barnharts. We are not two people just in the division because we couldn’t hack it on our own like Sass and Bash. We aren’t a joke like the Trenton Tigers.

He would argue that as far as jokes go, they weren’t even a good one of those.

We are winning this match and coming for Wolfslair’s Mixed Tag Team Championships sooner rather than later. I dare anyone in this division to step up and try to stop us.

He gives a knowing wink to Malachi and Bella, hoping that they are keeping an eye on The Black Sheep. As Kris flashes a smile, the camera cuts to a black screen.

 SPACE
Kris’ Apartment - San Diego
14 June 2020
OFF-Camera


Had he gone too far? Probably. Kris was not going to let that stop him from trying to get things back on the right track though. Coby was still understandably angry about what had happened during the last Underground show. Kris had gone out with the intention of playing by his friend’s rules but lost track of it once the spotlight was on him. He had been out of line to disqualify Coby. That was a mark on his record that was not ever coming off. For that, Kris at least had to make an attempt to apologize.

Kris: Yo...

The door was already ajar, so Kris pounding the side of his closed fist on it scooted it further open until his friend was in plain sight. His back was to Kris, and he was packing up some of his things laying around the room. Kris’ tried his best to keep things light, but had a feeling he was about to get his head bitten off.

Kris: Going on vacation?

He attempted to inject some hopefulness into his voice, but Coby’s flat response crushes it instantly.

Coby: I’m going home.

Determined to not assume the worst, Kris tries his best to spin Coby’s departure in the most positive light. However, the cheeriness in his voice wavers.

Kris: Ah, no match this week so you are running back to the wife and child?

Kris attempts to force a fake laugh to cut some of the tension in the room, but Coby turns towards him and talks over it.

Coby: No match this week, so no reason to force myself to be around you. I can get away from you and go the only place that I know you won’t follow.

It was a low blow. Kris had been estranged from most of their extended families for months now. Neither his wife nor Kali had answered many of his calls. The others had given up trying to convince him to come back. Coby knew that Kris’ ego was too fragile for him to follow back to Seattle. He would have to address the possibility that everyone was fine without him. Better off even. Naturally, Kris tries his best to get his friend to walk his comment back.

Kris: That’s a bit harsh. I’m not so bad...

He trails off, but Coby does not take the bait. Instead, he doubles down on his previous hurtful claims and digs the knife in a little deeper.

Coby: You’re intolerable! It’s not even just during the shows. It’s all the time. I can see why nobody else wanted to come down here and babysit you. Everything is always about you. Why do you think everyone in SCW keeps saying the same thing to you? It’s just how you are, and you are too dense to get it.

Kris starts to shrink in front of Coby. His arms cross in front of his chest, and his shoulders dip. At this point Kris cannot even lift his eyes to meet Coby’s gaze.

Kris: I never asked for you to be here.

It was a classic Kris misdirection away from the point. Coby does not let him off the hook though.

Coby: Yeah, but you’ve proven time and time again that you need supervision or you spiral out of control. Unfortunately people care enough about you to try to save you from yourself, but you know what? I’m tapping out. I’m going home. I can’t do it anymore.

He turns back to his bag and continues packing up his things. Kris should have just left. There was nothing that he could say that was going to get past Coby’s defenses when he was this angry. This had been the worst case scenario that had been running through Kris’ mind his whole way up to Coby’s room. At this point, Kris was desperate not to let any of that show on his face.

Kris: What about Underground?

It was a last ditch effort to draw Coby into any topic other than how Kris had been a letdown. Coby doesn’t bother turning back to him to answer, and continues packing.

Coby: I’ll be back for the show, and whatever you have planned for ruining it. I’m not quitting. I am just not going to do this anymore. I thought if I went to SCU and stayed out of your way that you would let me do my own thing, but you’re incapable of coexisting with anyone.

He zips the top of the bag closed and takes one last look around the room as he finishes. His eyes meet Kris’ for just a moment and the SCW Grand Slam Champion flashes his a smile and tries to lighten the situation.

Kris: What can I say? The spotlight loves me?

Coby shoulder checks him on his way out of the room, not indulging Kris any longer. He calls back to him over his shoulder on his way down the stairs.

Coby: Does it? Or do you love swooping in and stealing it from others?

Kris quickly follows him down, no longer content just to accept the verbal beatdown that Coby was laying on him.

Kris: I ca--

Before he can even make his point Coby turns around at the bottom of the staircase and cuts him off. It was better not to even let Kris get going, and Coby knew it. He had the upper hand, and he was not going to give it up.

Coby: ...you did it to Kyle. You did it to Court when she was trying to win Blast from the Past. You were the reason Aaron bailed out of SCW. And why is that?

Kris shrugs.

Kris: I gu---

Again, Coby refuses to let him talk, answering the question for him.

Coby: It’s because we were your friends. We were the people you helped train and get their foot into the right doors. So when you kept popping up, we let you. Anyone else would have put you in your place. That’s why you always do it to us. But you always take it too far. It always has to be about you. You never know when you overstay your welcome. That’s why you’re going to end up alone.

Coby turns again, making his way through the main floor of the apartment. Kris follows him through the hallways, not wanting to give up on the argument.

Kris: I have always just been trying to help.

Coby laughs, and fires back immediately.

Coby: Who? Us or yourself?

Kris does not overthink his answer, not wanting to get cut off by Coby before getting to answer for himself.

Kris: Both.

They were closing in on the front door now, and Coby was not making any signs of stopping or reconsidering heading back home. As he pulls the door open, he turns back to look at Kris for just a moment.

Coby: Well it never looked that way to us...

It stops Kris in his tracks, and he does not have anything to say for himself. Coby does not wait for him to find the answer, stepping through the door and leaving his friend alone in the apartment.

==========================================================



The scene opens looking down on Kris Ryans as he hangs from a pegboard on the wall of the Jet City Sports Lab. He works his way across the board, supporting all of his weight with one hand as he pulls a peg out of the wall and moves it further down the line. Once he is sure of his grip, he shifts his weight right, and moves the second peg closer to the first one that he moved. As he continues moving across the wall, he starts to speak without looking up at the camera.

Crystal isn’t so bad.

I know it’s not going to be the popular opinion this week, but it is the truth. It seems like I am the only person that is not too good to admit it though. There are so many of us that get the chance to control our own destiny this week. If this was a regular card, would we have all gotten this chance?

Of course not.

Mark and Christian can be generous, but not this generous. We probably would have seen one of the Roulette Championships up for grabs no matter what in a main event. A couple of matches would have led to possible contendership opportunities, but nothing like this. Two bombshells and myself get the opportunity to name a match of our choosing from now until the end of the year. It’s a hell of a handout.

He gets to the end of the wall and starts to swing back and forth to gather some momentum. On his third swing he lets go of the pegs and launches himself through the air, landing on a raised platform. The camera bounces from the impact, but stays attached to him. Kris sits down on top of the obstacle, attempting to catch his breath.

People are going to complain about how things aren’t fair, but nobody ever said that Crystal had to be fair. Remember when Christian went to war with Griffin Hawkins? Was that fair?

Others are going to complain that the top two champions of the company are in the show opener. I remember a time where I was the SCW World Heavyweight Champion, and Ben Jordan was happy to participate in the opener against me. I guess time really has changed Saint Ben while I was away.

He shrugs, and moves on, not wanting to waste any time on the SCW World Heavyweight Champion at the moment. If he were to walk away from this match a master of his own destiny, he could spend some time talking about Ben. Until then, he needed to stay focused.

For me it is not just about the opportunity to take a shot at any championship that I desire in the next few months. For me this match is a lot more than that, and that is why I had to give credit to Crystal for doing something intelligent. I would be stupid to say that I didn’t care about the prize awarded to the winner of the match, but that isn’t the only thing that interests me.

He shakes his head, and a smile spreads across his face. He had known Crystal a long time, and there was no way that she hadn’t thought things through before putting him in this match. It made it hard to say anything bad about her when she knew him so well.

Since I first started here, I haven’t been very good at losing. Unsurprisingly, I don’t take it very well. It eats at me.

He uses his hand to claw at the skin of his left arm like something was actually crawling around beneath the surface.

It gets under my skin and there’s really only one thing that I can do to make the feeling go away.

He stops, the smile coming back.

That’s why I’ve made a habit of going back and beating the people that have gotten one over on me in the past. I talked about it leading up to my match at Into the Void, and Crystal must have been listening, because she dropped Bill Barnhart directly into my lap this Sunday.

Despite his loss last time he was in the ring with Bill, Kris seemed confident, possibly bolstered by his recent victory over Griffin Hawkins.

At this point, everyone knows that Bill’s win over me was a fluke. It was my first match back after an extended period of time away, and he got the luckiest win he is ever going to get in his career. Even Mark and Christian were surprised by it, and they handed him a chance to win the Internet Championship based on his win over me. Of course, he isn’t carrying that championship into this match, so obviously giving him a chance was a waste.

It was harsh, but it was the truth. Bill Barnhart had beaten Kris and gotten the opportunity of a lifetime, but pissed it away. Kris took some personal satisfaction in the fact that he hadn’t been a sudden launchpad for Bill’s career.

Bill, I started you on a path towards greatness last time around, and you proved that you weren’t up for it. I gave you all of the momentum in the world, and you couldn’t rise past the upper middle. You were barely able to come away with a victory over me when I was unfocused and rusty. What are you going to do now that I am better conditioned? You aren’t going to outlast me this time, and I have already absorbed your best shots. I am sure that Griffin wishes that he had fought me that first match back instead of at Into the Void. I’m sure that O’Malley wishes he was in any match other than this one. Nobody wants to step into the ring with me when I am on top of my game.

Kris flashes a smile to the camera one more time and moves around the platform that he is sitting on. He looks down at the floor beneath him, before looking back up into the camera with one last message for Bill.

Last time was a fluke. There will not be a second.

With that, he drops off of the obstacle into a pit of foam blocks. As he makes impact, the camera cuts to a black screen.



==========================================================


Jet City Split
Jet City South - San Diego
16 June 2020
OFF-Camera


It did not make any sense. Coby had gone back to Seattle days ago. Kris had locked the gym up hours ago. Yet, as he was finally relaxing for the night one of the motion sensors had sent an alert to his phone. He had checked the cameras without seeing anything out of sorts, and thought it had to be a mistake. Twenty minutes later it happened again. Again Kris checked the cameras, only to be disappointed. When it happened a third time, he had already made his decision to investigate. However, this time when he checked the camera a single light was on in the middle of the gym. From the view Kris had, he could not see who it was, only that they were standing in the center of his six-sided ring, and looking out at the rest of the gym. It had to be Coby. He was the only other person with a key. Kris grabbed his phone and made his way down to the bottom floor of the building. The front door was still locked, another sign that it was not Coby. Kris was starting to worry that he was dealing with a legitimate break-in as he unlocked the door and made his way inside.

Kris: Can I help you?

Whoever was standing in the middle of the ring was leaning on the ropes with his back to Kris. He laughs, and Kris’ relaxed immediately. He did not have to see his face to know that the man standing in front of him was his brother and former tag team partner.

Jason: Probably not...

Jason didn’t sound like he was in a mood to play games, and Kris quickly put together why. They had been partners in Jet City, but that had gone way past the two of them being a team in Sin City Wrestling. They had built a successful gym together. Kris knew it was just a matter of time before Jason found out that he had basically stolen half of their gym and taken off to San Diego.

Kris: I should have known that Coby was going to run and tattle on me. Is he still in the middle of his tantrum?

Jason turns towards his younger brother, his expression blank. He shrugs his shoulders, and shakes his head slowly.

Jason: I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him. I’m sure whatever he is mad about is your fault though. You have a knack for being a jackass.

Jason’s condescending smirk started to corner out of the corner of his mouth, but Kris was not going to stand by and let his brother waste his time.

Kris: So if Coby didn’t tell you what was up, how did you find out?

Kris climbs up the stairs in one of the corners of the ring and walks up along the apron. Jason takes a step closer to him, but stays in the center of the ring. He was almost insulted that his younger brother thought this little of him. Jason was by-far the more responsible of the two of them. If anyone was going to notice something wrong with the gym, it was going to be him.

Jason: Well there’s the fact that storage got cleaned out a couple of months ago, but I knew it wasn’t me.

Kris shrugs and rolls his eyes.

Kris: I didn’t think you checked it.

Jason’s voice raises, not happy with Kris treating him like he was an idiot.

Jason: Oh, and the fact that you keep filming all of your promos for SCW from here.

Kris had not even thought of that possibility. It was nice to know that even though the people at home were mad at him, they were still fans of his. They might have been the only ones that he had left these days. Maybe they would set Coby straight.

Kris: You people are still watching the shows?

The look on Jason’s did not make Kris hopeful that he was going to have a pleasant answer.

Jason: We started watching them all together. That didn’t last long.

The fact that all of their friends and family had watched Kris fall on his face in his debut felt like getting caught with his pants down. Although, he had literally gotten caught with his pants down in his last run with the company, so this couldn’t be as bad for him as that was. Kris timidly tries to shake off the embarrassment.

Kris: I didn’t exactly have the best debut...

Jason helps him along, but not the way that Kris would have gone if he was given the option.

Jason: No, and since then you have been running around making an asshole out of yourself. You brought up me and Parker fighting Griffin in order to get into his head? What is wrong with you. You two are friends. How do you think Heather feels about all that? Or do you not think about that?

Kris had done what he had to do going into that match, and he had not allowed himself to feel bad about it. He shrugs his shoulders again, a little of his confidence returning.

Kris: I won.

Jason still doesn’t seem impressed. If anything, Kris was just digging himself a bigger hole. He could see the disappointment building in his older brother’s eyes.

Jason: ...but what does all of that cost? What does all of this cost you?

Jason gestures to the gym that Kris had built. This visit was not just about the way that Kris was acting, or bringing him back home. It was about all of it, the gym included. Kris had made a choice and run away from everything, screwing over everyone in Jet City in the process. Kris wasn’t ready to have that conversation though. He tries his best to deflect away from it.

Kris: I mean we already owned the building so it’s really just about keepin---

Jason refuses to participate in the circus act and yells over Kris.

Jason: You know what I mean!

Kris had been moving like he was going to step between the ropes and enter the ring to face his brother, but the sudden outburst stopped him in his tracks. Jason pressed on before Kris even realized what was happening.

Jason: Every time you come back you end up leaving more injured and with less people that give a shit about your well-being. You get in front of a camera and decide to be your worst self just to get attention. You piss people off and then someone finally breaks you for it. What’s going to break this time?

Kris finds the willpower to step into the ring now, and does his best to keep calm. He was not going to let Jason get to him the same way that Coby had.

Kris: I guess we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.

Jason reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a stack of papers. He extends it out to Kris.

Jason: No, we can do that now. I was hoping to talk some kind of sense into you but there’s no point.

Kris reaches out to take it, but could not decipher what he was looking at right off the bat.

Kris: What’s all this?

Jason moves around his brother, happy to explain that he was finally cutting him loose after all of the years that he spent taking care of him.

Jason: This is me giving you all of this shit. It’s yours. The rest is mine.

Kris stops flipping through pages and turns back to his brother with a smile. He goes to the last page in the stack and signs his name in a few places before tossing it back to his brother.

Kris: Done.

Jason catches it, but it was not the outcome that he had been hoping for. Despite all of the negatives that came with him, Kris was family. He didn’t like the idea of casting him out, even though he had left everyone no alternative.

Jason: It didn’t have to be like this.

Kris was not going to give him the satisfaction of begging him to stay. If Jason was trying to call Kris’ bluff, he was going to continue to be disappointed by Kris’ stubbornness.

Kris: I think we both knew that it was always going to end like this.

Jason nods, and tucks the papers back into his jacket pocket. He takes one last look around the gym that Kris had built for himself before stepping out of the ring and dropping down to the floor. The slaps the mat twice before making his exit.

Jason: Good luck.

==========================================================



The cameras catch up to Kris looking a little breathless. The top half of his sleeveless red shirt is much darker than the bottom, and visibly damp. The former champion’s usually perfect hair is beyond frazzled. He unscrews the lid off of a bottle of water and finishes the last half of it before throwing it into a bin next to the front entrance of Jet City South. The cameras follow him as he makes his way inside.

Into the Void IX is going to end up being my most favorite match of my SCW career.

It did not come out like a joke, or that he was gloating. The smile on his face looked to be genuine, like Kris was thinking about turning over a new leaf.

I know. Even I didn’t believe that it would be at first. Believe me, I have worked it all out though. My matches with Despy were great, but he was just better than me back then. My brother and I tore the house down when we fought on Climax Control, but I feel like he was already past his prime. I even thought back to all of my battles with Crimson, or possibly even the match with Ben, but none of them measure up. As of today, I feel like it has to be the match with Griffin.

Kris stops once the camera crew was inside and locks the door behind them before making his way across the gym. The space was huge, but quiet. He had not opened it up to the public and now that his partners were not around, it was really just Kris using the space.

Let’s put aside all of the things that we said to each other building towards the match.

It was easier said than done. The things that Kris had dragged out into the public eye for the sake of their match had done more harm than he had intended.

While we are at it we can put aside the fact that Griffin’s dreams of a shot at the SCW World Heavyweight Championship died when he lost to me. That’s not going to be helpful for this either.

He had hooked everyone in until now. Suddenly the smile on his face did not feel so genuine anymore. If he wanted to bait people in by being positive before dropping the hammer on them, he had been successful. He wasn’t quite done reeling everyone in though.

The match itself was amazing. I don’t think that there is another person that I have been more evenly matched with in all of my years stepping into the ring. Since the moment that Griffin accepted my challenge he pushed me to be at the top of my game. I couldn’t walk into the match with Griffin with the same attitude that I approached Bill Barnhart with weeks before. I had to be sharp. I had to regain the instincts that made me the face of this company two years ago.

The former champion had crossed the line between confidence and cockiness.

I walked into that match with something to prove, and walked out with my hand held high in the air. But like I said going in, that outcome was not preordained by any means. I am not unbeatable, nor am I unstoppable. I have proven that I can lose a match after a single misstep time and time again. I wasn’t fighting Griffin to prove that I was perfect though. I was fighting Griffin to prove that I am one of the best to ever step into the six-sided SCW ring.

Any thought that Kris was going to grow up was out the window now. He was just as full of himself after his victory as he had been beforehand. If anything, the win had reinforced the worst parts of his personality.

Griffin attempted to sell me on the idea that there were so many up and coming guys that were ready to take my place if I wasn’t able to deliver like I used to. He reminded me that there are always people looking up from the bottom and wanting what the people at the top have. He reminded me that I was one of the few that was able to break through that glass ceiling and take over a company. Nobody believed that I could do it back then, and not many believed I had enough left in the tank to keep doing it now.

The thrill he got out of proving people wrong was the whole reason that he still wanted to compete despite how much it had cost him. He had spent the last two weeks doubting himself but was starting to remember what he loved so much about the industry.

Thanks to Griffin Hawkins I was able to prove all of the doubters wrong at Into the Void. It didn’t matter what was said. It didn’t matter what anyone thought of me. I came down to that ring, turned out Griffin’s lights with a well-aimed boot to the side of the face, and walked out a winner. Any thought that my career had stalled after losing to Bill was brushed away. Any talk of Griffin Hawkins passing me up and becoming a top contender was squashed in a split-second.

He snaps his fingers and then pauses for just a moment. He tries to force himself to ratchet down the confidence and sound more serious.

Griffin has been kind of quiet about things since the loss, so I assume it got in his head a little bit. It is hard when you talk a big game and then fail to come through in the end. I get it. I have been there my fair share of times.

Kris raises his index finger to tap his bottom lip and then rests his hand on his chin. Something he had said earlier in the week about Bill Barnhart started to come to mind.

The good thing is, Crystal seems to be giving Griffin the same second chance that she is giving me. While I am aiming to avenge a fluke loss against Bill Barnhart, Griffin can try to do the same thing. This time he doesn’t even have to actually pin me to make it happen either. All he has to do is take out Bill or O’Malley, neither of which pose the same threat that I do.

He knew that it would sting for both men to hear, but that didn’t make it any less true. Kris wasn’t going to feel bad about telling the truth. At least there was at least some path to success for Griffin, even if O’Malley and Bill were screwed.

If Griffin can pull it off, then his loss at Into the Void becomes an unfortunate speed bump. He gets his opportunity to challenge for whatever title he chooses, whenever he chooses to do so. At the same time, he manages to finally get around the only obstacle that he hasn’t been able to overcome: Kristopher Ryans. You have to admit, it makes for an exciting story.

Kris’ eyes wander away from the camera as he thinks over the possibility that his friend could actually rise to the occasion. It doesn’t last long, as Kris would not willingly give up the spotlight to let something like that happen.

Unfortunately for Griffin, we have already seen the ending. He is going to be on the brink of victory, only to have it snatched away at the last moment by someone just slightly more talented than he is. It’s a problem that has plagued him for most of his career, but one that I have already shrugged off.

Sorry about costing you another opportunity Griffin, but I’m going to need to take this one for myself as well. Better luck next time.  



==========================================================

FTW
Kris’ Apartment - San Diego
19 June 2020
OFF-Camera


The two weeks following Into the Void had not gone Kris’ way. Everyone had ignored his birthday. Coby had left. Jason had cut him off. His family had abandoned him. Worst of all, Kris was starting to believe that it was entirely his own doing. Had he really been pushing everyone away all this time? The distractions had made preparing for his match difficult. Having nobody around to bounce ideas off of had added another level of torture of it as well. Kris had been making his way through his routine and was halfway through his set on an inverted leg press machine when a pair of hands covered his eyes. His headphones had canceled out the sound of her approach, but Kris easily identified her by the scent of the lotion she had covered herself in.

Kris: I’m really not in the mood for any games right now.

Mikah takes her hands away from his eyes and sits down on the machine next to him with a frown on her face. The tank top she has on is soaked, indicating she had been going through a workout of her own. Kris tries not to let her distract him from what he is doing. He exhales, and starts his set over, trying to ignore her.

Mikah: What? Are you upset that Coby finally got sick of your shit? You should have seen that coming.

Kris stops. He had already reached his threshold of shit he was going to allow people to shovel his direction.

Kris: I did.

Mikah does not let the hostility in Kris’ voice get her off of her game. She was used to dealing with him, regardless of how combative he was feeling. The two of them used to do the Kris and Mikah Show in front of cameras while livid with one another. She was not afraid of him in any way.

Mikah: So you are pouting about something else?

It came out as more of a taunt than an actual question, but Kris was too knotted up not to take the bait. He sighs, and starts to unload some of his baggage.

Kris: Jason showed up and signed all of this over to me.

He gestures to the gym around them. Of course, that did not seem like a bad thing to Mikah. Kris and Coby had spent months working on getting the gym ready to open. Kris had been stressed about what Jason would do once he found out it was open. The fact that he knew, and seemingly didn’t care, felt like it should be a good thing. The way Kris was acting made it feel like the opposite.

Mikah: That seems like something to be happy about. That is what you wanted, right?

Kris laughed, not sure how she could miss why Jason would do something like that. It was not a favor. It was an insult.

Kris: It means that they are all giving up on me. They don’t want me back.

Mikah stretches out across the machine next to Kris, trying to sit more comfortably. She still couldn’t what had made Kris so upset. He sounded a lot like how she was talking when she first showed up after her fight with Drake. Kris had told her to stop hanging onto something that was only letting her down. Maybe it was her turn to do him the same courtesy.

Mikah: All you ever do is complain that they are always trying to control  you and tell you what to do. This sounds like a good thing.

She was right, but something about it still was not sitting well with Kris. It felt like he was letting everyone else down by chasing what he felt was right for himself. He loved being in the ring, but nobody seemed to understand that. He didn’t care about the injuries or the risk. It was better than sitting at home wasting away. The fact that his brother was willing to write him off over that felt unfair.

Kris: It’s just a weird feeling. We took a tag team, built a training center around it, and kind of all became really close-knit because of it. It feels like being kicked out of the family once and for all.

Mikah was well aware of what that felt like, and gives Kris the same advice that he had given her time and time again.

Mikah: Well, you never needed them anyways.

It was not something that Kris was used to hearing. Everyone was always telling him that he needed their help, or that he required supervision so that he would not get into trouble.

Kris: What?

Mikah smiled, she knew that she had him on the hook now. After two weeks of being chopped down to size, Kris was dying to hear anyone say something positive.

Mikah: You’re Kristopher Ryans, SCW Grand Slam Champion. None of those people were around for any of that. You did that all on your own. You overcame every obstacle thrown at you. You’re adaptable.

Kris wasn’t sure that everyone would agree with her. The Nobodies had helped him along as Internet Champion. His brother had co-captained Jet City during their tag team run. Her heart was in the right place though, and Kris could kind of her see point.

Kris: That depends on who you ask...

Mikah had the perfect answer waiting for any kind of resistance from him.

Mikah: Me! Because I am the only one with an opinion that matters. Look at me!

Reluctantly, Kris looks up from the machine to meet her gaze.

Kris: What?

Mikah: Every time you have run into a problem you have picked yourself up, and found a way to get past it. So what if Jet City hates you now. They weren’t around when you were a nobody anyways. They only came around once you were already The Miracle.

She had a point. Jason hadn’t even come up with the idea of them opening a gym until after they were holding the SCW Tag Team Championships. By that point Kris was already an established star on the roster. He clawed his way up the ranks on his own before then. It did not change the fact that his current situation was deflating though.

Kris: Well I’m not exact feeling very miraculous...

Mikah shrugs, refusing to allow Kris to continue sulking.

Mikah: Then maybe it is time to adapt.

Kris laughs and shakes his head. It was one of those things that was easy to blurt out as an idea, but difficult to do.

Kris: What does that even mean?

Luckily, from the moment that Kris’ name had been announced as a participant in the Control You Destiny match, Mikah had been plotting the change Kris needed to get things turned around in the right direction.

Mikah: I have an idea.

==========================================================



The cameras do not find Kris in the middle of his strange workout routines this time. Instead, he is sitting in the center of the ring on a stool. He is dressed in street clothes, and has his attention focused on the camera in front of him.

O’Mally is, by far, my least favorite type of person in the world.

There is no smile, and no game being played. It must have been Honesty Hour at Jet City South.

This is a man whose opinion of me is something like ‘a little flaky, and nothing respectable’. In his lead up to losing at Into the Void, he said that I should have been easily beaten by Finn Whelan. Let’s not forget that O’Malley went on to prove he can’t do something as simple as climb a ladder and remove a briefcase while I was busy putting on another SCW Classic against Griffin Hawkins.

This time Kris doesn’t let his last win get him off track. He was not here to talk about Griffin. He was here to talk about a guy that was too cowardly to even speak for himself, unless it was to complain on Twitter.

I guess it is a little unfair to call Darcy’s words against O’Malley, but since the guy is incapable of talking for himself I guess I don’t have much of a choice. It is kind of strange though. O’Malley pretends to be an intimidating presence, but needs his significant other to come and be his mouthpiece. He is supposedly a talented alumni of the GO Gym, but it looks like everyone else from there is ashamed to know him. The guy wants to be considered a decent competitor and champion but stole the Underground title and says he would rather have the week off than have a chance to compete on Climax Control.

It is clear that nothing about O’Malley impresses Kris. The former champion had at least had a little fun during his addresses to his other opponents. However, there was nothing joyous about his demeanor now.

This is a guy that made it a point to complain that nobody else had anything to say about his match at Into the Void, but never actually speaks for himself. He says that others put in half-assed effort while sitting on his ass and letting Darcy speak for him. He wonders why he is still struggling to legitimize his grip on his B-show championship when it is clear to all of us. He can’t speak for himself. He can’t win without her help. He can’t win a title unless he is stealing it from the rightful champion.

Kris shrugs, with a sorry-not-sorry smirk coming back onto his face.

...and for all of Darcy’s complaining in his promos, he hasn’t been going out to the ring and getting anything done. Is he planning his next big move as King of a Day? No, Jack Washington is. The same Jack Washington that threatened to break me before I put him in his place just a few weeks ago. A guy that I laid out in the middle of the ring after he told me that I was too feeble to be a real threat. That was the guy that rose to the occasion and bested O’Malley, and yet I am supposed to fear him for some reason?

The laugh that Kris lets out is almost as offensive as any of his words.

Mark Cross may have been a shitty Underground Champion but at least the guy speaks for himself and actually has the talent to get it done in the ring on his own. O’Malley needs someone to do the talking for him, and someone to bend the rules for him just to gain any traction. When it comes to the championship he carries around, he took advantage of two real champions having just beaten the hell out of each other. There is nobody in this company that is scraping by doing the bare minimum quite like O’Malley is. Yet, he has the audacity to try and call out anyone like he is better than they are.

When I pressed him about this match, he said that he would show up and win the whole thing if he wanted to, but he wasn’t sold on it. This is a guy that just took the shortcut of all shortcuts to steal the Underground Championship, but suddenly has no interest in winning this one? Days ago, he made the ludicrous statement that if he lost it would just be because he wasn’t interested in the opportunity.

Maybe he is not interested because there is no way to cheat his way around putting in the work this time. Maybe he knows that his days of letting Darcy fight his battles for him isn’t going to get him the kind of respect that he is demanding out of people. Or maybe he just realizes that he is not good enough to do any of these things on his own. We have all heard Darcy talk about how she was the one to see his potential and draw it out of him. We have heard her say that he was on the wrong path before she got involved. It seems like she thinks that he is a failure without her.

Kris knew that he was not going to be able to cause any friction between the two with his opinion, but he couldn’t help but point out the facts.

I’m here to make sure that he knows that everyone still thinks of him as a failure, even with her. Possibly even because of her.

The predictability of it all made Kris start to appear bored even wasting time on the not-so-dynamic duo.

...but still. I bet she ends up at ringside for this match and does her best to help him steal another victory that he couldn’t possibly earn on his own. It will be entertaining to get to see the heartbreak on her face up close when he loses yet again.

It’s going to be hard to wait two more days before I get to see it.  


==========================================================

 Get It Together
Jet City South - San Diego
28 April 2020
OFF-Camera

It was the fourth straight day that Coby Quik had beaten Kris down to the makeshift gym that he had built in what used to be a grocery store, then a bowling alley, and finally a laundromat beneath his apartment. It had been Kris’ idea for them to train with each other. The way that they pushed one another had paid off years ago when both of their careers were on the rise. They had been hoping to recreate the magic. However, since agreeing to meet first thing every morning, Kris had failed to actually show up. Coby had just pressed ahead without him until now. This morning was different though. Instead of starting his routine, Coby turned around and went back upstairs. Within moments he was beating on Kris’ bedroom door, no longer giving him space.

Coby: We got work to do! Let’s go!

There was an immediate rustling inside the room that gave Coby an odd sense of satisfaction. It sounded as if Kris was knocking over a variety of objects on his way to the door and his disheveled appearance told Coby that his friend had been fast asleep. Kris only opened the door far enough to fill the space with his face, but his eyes were only half open and stinging from the light in the hallway.

Kris: What time is it?

Coby pushed the door open, knocking Kris off balance from still being half asleep.

Coby: Time to get up and actually put some work into this thing you have dragged me into.

Coby moves across the darkened space as Kris tries to get his bearings. Before Kris even realizes what Coby is doing, he yanks back the curtain, letting light into the room and blinding Kris all over again.

Kris: That’s totally uncalled for...

Kris, now turning away and shielding his eyes, never sees Coby turn back to him. Despite being the smaller of the two, Coby sizes Kris up and easily sweeps his legs out from under him, planting The Miracle on his back in the middle of his own bedroom.

Coby: You know… I thought losing would wake you up.

Kris uses his arms to cover his face, trying to get rid of the stars floating in front of his eyes. Not long ago he was dead asleep, and this was not how he had intended to start the day. If Coby thought that this course of action was going to force Kris to be receptive, he was wrong.

Kris: I’m really not mentally prepared to be lectured, can we try to pencil it in for tomorrow?

Coby pulls the chair away from Kris desk and places the legs around his friend’s torso. He promptly sits down on it, pinning Kris to the ground beneath it. Once Kris moves his arms, he is face-to-face with Coby looking down at him.

Coby: What’s the difference between the two of us?

Kris still was not convinced to participate in the conversation in a productive manner.

Kris: I understand personal boundaries and you don’t….

Coby had been around long enough to know that Kris was not going to be helpful. After all, if he was going to give Kris that much credit, he would not have gone as far as to pin him to the ground beneath the chair. He had learned a long time ago that sometimes Kris just needed to hear things, whether he wanted to or not. The problem was not getting him to talk. The problem was always keeping him somewhere that he would be forced to listen.

Coby: I didn’t just sign a contract and expect smooth sailing. I checked out the roster of the place. I did a little scouting at the show beforehand. I gameplanned for my opponent. I busted my ass during the week to prep. I knew what to expect. I won.

Coby pauses just long enough to give Kris a chance to change his mind about listening to what he has to say. Unfortunately, Kris was not on the same page.

Kris: Yeah, you fought a guy your own size and walked out with a win. You should have. Whoever trained you was talented.

Despite being only one of the three different people to help him through his training at Jet City, Kris always found a way to try and take full credit for it. It was Kris’ gym now, at least on paper. Any success was his success. Any failures got blamed on his brother. Coby was smarter than to let it get him off track though.

Coby: The people that trained me made sure to let me know that I couldn’t just sit back and wait for good things to happen for me. I had to go out there and make it happen for myself. I had to be smarter than the people around me. I had to train harder than they did. I had to want it more. I had to prove them wrong about me. That’s what I learned. I damn sure didn’t learn to give up after a setback.

Coby finally saw a little bit of light arise in Kris’ eyes at the assumption that he was just going to give up.

Kris: I’m not givi---

Coby Quik-ly (puns) cuts him off, not even letting Kris get his defense started.

Coby: That sure is what it looks like. You can call it blowing off the gym, or wallowing in self pity, but it all amounts to the same thing. You lost, and now you lost interest. If I knew that you were going to quit this early on, I wouldn’t have even come down here.

Of course, that was not entirely true. Coby had used Kris as an excuse for getting back into the business. He was not about to let that get in the way of his guilting Kris into action though.

Coby: You know, for all your talk about all of us at Jet City meaning something to you, you have a terrible way of showing it through your actions.

It was not an accusation that Kris was willing to just lay back and take though.

Kris: I did everything that I could for you guys.

It sounded good to Kris, but he had unwittingly made Coby’s point for him.

Coby: Exactly! You talk about it like it is some kind of past tense thing. We are still here! We are still competing! It’s not a thing of the past. It’s not something that we used to do. You are out there as the biggest representative of all of us, and you’re blowing it.

Kris tries to shake off the responsibility of carrying their brand on his shoulders just as he always does.

Kris: Jason and Parker are th---

Coby cuts him off again though, having already heard that excuse too many times.

Coby: Those two might have been great at one point, but we both know that they are both done inside the ring. And yeah, Jay was a Triple Crown Champion. Sure, Parker was a Grand Slam like you. I mean, I have held championships of my own, and Courtney even won the Blast From The Past tournament that everyone gives Fenris the credit for. None of us are the face of Jet City though. You are.

Kris had never thought that a day would come where he was outside of his brother’s shadow. He had always been able to be the talented fuck-up that just barely skates by somehow. Jason had always been the driving force. For the first time, Kris was starting to notice that things had changed.

Kris: I don’t think I’m the guy for that particular job...

Maybe it was because Coby had gotten to him while he was half asleep, but it had been easier than expected to dig under Kris’ rigid exterior.

Coby: I don’t think you have a choice. Court has been out of action almost as long as you have been. I’m really just getting started again, and nobody in SCU really knows me yet. You are the one everyone is going to be looking at.

Coby could see in Kris’ eyes that he was running through how his actions reflected on Jet City as a whole, as if the weight of his disappointing return was not enough.

Kris: ...so when I look like shit, we all look like shit.

Coby nodded. He did not need to rub it in any further, although Kris definitely would have if their roles were reversed.

Coby: Now you see why I’m gonna need you to get your shit together, right? You’re making me look bad.

Kris nods, and taps his hands on the legs of the chair Coby was using to pin him down.

Kris: So you’re going to let me up now?

The smile on Coby's face turns down into a frown, and he shakes his head, much to Kris’ dismay.

Coby: Not unless you are ready to get up and get to work. Like, for real this time.

Instead of agreeing immediately, Kris grabs the legs of the chair and attempts to push them up off of the ground. Coby seems confident, but the chair starts to wobble. Instead of trying to overpower him physically, Coby simply reaches down and flicks Kris in the center of the forehead, causing him to laugh. The laughter makes it impossible for Kris to hold his grip, and he gives up.

Kris: Who flicks someone in the forehead? I’m pretty sure you’re some kind of terrorist.

Coby shakes his head.

Coby: Not me. I learned that one from your brother.

It actually made sense to Kris that it would be advice that Jason gave. There were countless times where their disagreements had turned physical and ended a lot like this.

Kris: He give you the chair thing too?

Coby nods with the smile back on his face.

Coby: He said you would need someone like me to keep you in line if you were going to make it.

Just like that, Coby’s words cut through years of fog in Kris’ memory. There was a reason why all of this had seemed so familiar. A conversation that he had with his brother came to mind, and Kris had to fight hard to keep the feelings that it stirred off of his face. Now was not the time to dig into that. The point was that Jason was right back then, just as Coby was now. He had been going about everything the wrong way. It was time to fix that.

Kris: Then let me up and let’s get to work.

==========================================================


The Climb
30 April 2020
ON-Camera

”Let’s start off with the stupid questions.”

The camera feed opens looking down on Kris Ryans. The natural light of the area shows that they have to be outside, but the ground appears to be nearly twenty feet beneath them.

Confused? I’m talking about the stupid shit that all of the backstage interviewers are going to be buzzing about. The questions that don’t deserve answers.

The camera pans back a little to show that Kris’ hands are locked into small knobs on the wall. His legs are spread apart, with each of his feet on different levels of posts in the wall.

Things like, was my return a setback for me? Do I regret making the decision to come back? Have I lost a step or... nine? What does the future hold? Am I just going to take my ball and go home?

Fans appear to be looking down from the top of the rock wall Kris attempts to climb up, but the former champion appears to have reached one of the more difficult spots. His eyes search for a path up as he speaks.

The last thing that I want is anyone to be running to ask me something like this when I step into the GO Gym for my next match. I don’t want my return to be the focus of the night. So we are going to clear some shit up right now, and then we’re all going to move past it.

Just as he finishes his thought, he uses all of the strength he can muster to leap up off of the posts on the wall to get to a grip spot that had been just out of reach. Kris dangles there for a second, searching for a foothold without being able to really look down.

I was overconfident.

His left foot finds a divot in the wall to step into, while his right finds one of the grip knobs to stand on top of. He reaches out for a higher spot with his free hand and nearly loses his balance.

I was sloppy.

Instead of looking up, Kris looks down to his footing, finding a place to move up, allowing him to easily reach the spot that he had missed before.

I underestimated my opponent, and also how easy it was going to be to just slide back into competition after being away for so long.

He appears to be two-thirds of the way up the wall, with the camera panning back to show a giant inflated mat beneath him should he actually fall during his ascent.

I was wrong, and it cost me the first impression of my return. That’s something that I am going to have to live with. It’s not something that is going to get me off track though. I’m not going to let falling short cause me to rethink the fact that I want to be out in the ring. I have already had to give up a lot just to be back in SCW. I want this. That has not, and will not, change.

As he speaks Kris is moving more and more confidently up the wall, not letting his near miss moments ago get into his head.

A stumble is not a defeat. I’m not going to try and take anything away from Bill Barnhart. The guy beat me. He deserves the opportunity that he has been given after pulling out what everyone has been calling an upset. I walked in expecting to win, and everyone was putting their money on me. That bit me in the ass.

He comes to another spot where there is nothing within reach. Instead of continuing straight up though, he moves horizontally a few notches. He continues to speak, though not really focused on the camera recording him.

I’m actually kind of grateful for it though. I could have lost to a much more annoying person. The opportunity at the Internet Championship could have gone to someone less deserving. I could have continued thinking that there was nothing wrong with the way I was approaching coming back. Winning that match would have had consequences down the line. Maybe it would have cost me a lot more than just a first impression.

Viewers can tell that the climb is starting to wear on him a little. Sweat starts to bead down his forehead and into his eyes when he looks up to try to find a way up.

It’s good to get the failure out of the way early, but it’s not something that has ever actually happened since my first match here. I lost my actual debut in Sin City, only to come back better, and more focused on creating the career that I have had here.

The Miracle does not stop moving in order to reminisce about the past, even working his way back towards the camera as he climbs.

On the other hand, the times that I have come out feeling bulletproof, I have lost focus in some big spots. When I went on the streak to win the Internet Championship, the inevitable downfall handed me my worst losing streak to date. I ended up hurt and in rehab not long after. I came back with my brother but Jet City dropped the tag titles in embarrassing fashion after being dominant for months. I let Crimson derail my entire career not once, but twice after that. Both times I ended up seriously injured and had to take time away. All because I couldn’t get out of my own way. I felt like nothing could stop me.

He is back to being directly beneath the camera now, just feet below reaching the top of the wall.

So, I’m kind of glad that Bill Barnhart stopped the trend from starting again this time around. Sure, losing sucks, and I am bad at admitting when someone had my number, but I’m not going to dwell on that. I’m not going to fixate, or kind someone else to blame for it. There is no explaining it away. I just have to own it, and move on.

The top lip of the wall appears to give the former champion some trouble. His arms look like they want to give out, but he refuses to give up when he is this close to the top. Kris places his hand on the top of the wall, and then swings to get his leg up as well. From there, he rolls, laying at the feet of the cameraman. He seems pleased with himself.

Losing was a wake up call, and it happened at the perfect time. Luckily, I have some people around to knock some sense into me, and get me to start pushing myself back to where I need to be. I didn’t become a Grand Slam Champion by sitting back and relying on tricks and minimal effort. I wanted to come out and prove everyone wrong about me. I had to put in the work. That hasn’t changed.

Kris slaps the top of the wall and pushes himself up to his feet. He takes a deep breath before looking down to the ground below. He gives a shrug to the camera and a confident smirk.

I know that I’m playing catch up now, but at least I’m not afraid of the climb back to the top…. Or a fall all the way back to the bottom to start over….

Kris holds his arms out to his side and falls backwards off of the top of the wall. The cameraman rushes forward and the camera catches most of Kris’ fall down to the giant inflatable below. He bounces upon impact, rolling backwards and landing on his feet on some of the mats below as the camera fades to black.

==========================================================

Jet City Calling
Jet City South - San Diego
8 May 2020
OFF-Camera

What a difference eleven days had made. Following his loss to Bill Barnhart, Kris had been blowing off showing up to training. He had not been preparing mentally for Finn Whelan. He had been dragging his heels about putting in the work required to make a successful comeback. However, Coby had finally gotten things turned around. Not only had Kris put the failure of his return behind him, but he was actively taking part in preparing for the next challenge. At the beginning Coby was able to brag about how Kris could not keep up with him, but after the Grand Slam Champion started to shake off some of the rust and get a lot of his timing back, Coby found himself struggling to gameplan for Kris inside the ring.

As Kris’ confidence came back, so did his ability to improvise unique ways to get himself out of trouble. With Coby as a stand in for Finn, Kris had the perfect training dummy. All three men were similarly built. All three of them employed similar styles inside the ring. For maybe the first time in his career, Kris was actually focused and looking ahead, instead of flying by the seat of his pants. It was a good change. One that Coby hoped would stick. After all, the sharper Kris got, the more Coby could use Kris to push himself. That was the only way that Coby was going to be able to keep up in SCU.

This was their last day to really push themselves ahead of the show, not wanting to go too hard in the days leading up to the actual fight. The two men had already packed everything up, and were supposed to be closing down for the day when Coby made his way back into the gym. Instead of finding Kris ready to head out, the only thing that he could hear was the same sequence of sounds echoing through the otherwise quiet space.

*THWACK* *THWACK* *THUD*

The same three sounds repeat yet again, while Coby searches for the source. He gets closer to it as it cycles a third time. Before the fourth though, he finally finds Kris. The former champion is standing in the center of the ring they had built, staring at one of the corners. In it, he has a heavy bag set up. Coby had seen Kris working on something like this before he had taken time away, but Kris had never quite gotten it right. The fact that he was back at it told Coby all he needed to know about where Kris’ level of confidence was at. Kris sprints towards the bag, getting airborne just a few steps before he reaches the corner. He drives his forearm down into the top part of the bag.

*THWACK*

Kris lands on his feet in front of the bag but in rapid succession, he follows with a knee to his would-be opponent’s rib area.

*THWACK*

Kris leaps to his left and plants his foot cleanly on the middle rope. However, instead of attempting the roundhouse kick that Coby had seen finish off the combination before, Kris hooks his legs around the bag and falls backwards to the mat, flipping it out of the corner and down to the center of the ring.
*THUD*

Kris smacks the mat and rocks back on his shoulders. He kicks his legs, and rolls forward, kipping back up to his feet. He was winded, but there was a smile on his face when he saw the positioning of the bag on the mat. Kris lets out a heavy sigh, and falls back to be sitting on the middle turnbuckle in the corner of the ring. Coby finally lets his presence be known, clapping a few times to acknowledge Kris’ accomplishment.

Kris: Oh, shut up! I couldn’t get the kind of distance that I wanted all week. I think I finally got it down.

Coby holds up his hands to make himself appear innocent of trying to mock Kris.

Coby: I remember when you first started working on that and needed Jason’s help to get the timing right. I’m thinking you might finally be onto something.

Kris shrugs his shoulders, and points out to where the bag lays in the center of the ring.

Kris: I need something to create some space, and it feels like people in SCW have just been getting bigger since the last time I was around. It wasn’t so much of a size disadvantage. I could just kind of wing it…. Now though...

Coby does not have any trouble finding the words that Kris was missing.

Coby: ...now people like Bill Barnhart are just going to hold you to the ground and make you tap out every time you step into the ring.

Kris looks up annoyed, but Coby is long past being afraid of his scowl.

Kris: Not exactly, but yeah. The same old tricks aren’t going to keep working. I need to keep people away from me so that I can keep myself off of the ground. Luckily, I don’t think it’s going to be a problem this time around though.

Coby takes two running steps and leaps up to the apron of the ring. The two of them had built it themselves, but it was well enough done to pass for the real thing. He ducks in between the middle and top ropes and makes his way to the center of the ring across from Kris.

Coby: Alright, so forget about that for a minute. What are you going to need to work on for this week, huh? Let’s see what you got...

Kris laughs, and points at Coby before pushing himself up off of the turnbuckle. He takes a few steps closer to the center of the ring but not within striking distance of his friend.

Kris: You standing in for Finn? You know enough about how he moves?

Coby just nods, and makes the first move towards Kris. Coby catches him with a running knee to the midsection, but Kris is able to backpedal away from most of the contact.

Coby: You were ready for that knee at least.

Coby goes for a straight kick to the center of Kris’ chest, but the Grand Slam Champion catches it and pushes him back. Kris charges out of the corner and leaps to attempt a running wheel kick, but Coby has it scouted and slips under it. As Kris gets back to his feet Coby attempts an enziguri that narrowly misses catching Kris face. Coby continues to be the aggressor, closing the distance between Kris and himself with a spinning back elbow that actually lands. Kris continues to backpedal and finds himself with his back against the corner. Coby closes in, looking to send a chop across Kris’ chest.

Kris: Not fast enough….

Kris rolls forward, ducking under the chop but planting his heels firmly into the mat. He leaps backwards, and would have leveled Coby with a pele kick if Jet City’s Quikest had not managed to get his hands up in front of his face first. Instead Coby falls back against the same corner he had backed Kris up into just moments before.

Coby: You’re the one moving so slow...

Coby charges out of the corner, having scouted Finn with Kris and knowing what he would do with this opening. Coby tries to hook an arm around Kris’ neck and attempts the sit-out sleeper slam that Finn had used to lay out opponents, but Kris is able to counter by hooking his arm around Coby’s neck and dropping himself backwards into a neckbreaker. Coby immediately grabs at the back of his head as the two lay in the center of the ring.

Kris: Yeah, but I was ready for that. If I keep trying to create space he is destined to attempt that Fenian Rising thing to turn the tides. It was the one thing he will go to if I am winning, which I intend to be. Tough break that you would think I didn’t know that.

Coby lets his arms fall back to the mat and he actually lets out an amused chuckle.

Coby: I really thought I had you for a second.

Kris shakes his head, allowing himself a moment to gloat.

Kris: That’s just what I wanted you to think. Sometimes you have to sucker people in to create yourself an opportunity.

Coby shrugs his shoulders, having no problem admitting defeat.

Coby: I just would have hit you in the side of the head with a running knee and called it a day. This guy is a little like you. There is definitely a passion for adding some flare. You know, style points.

Kris was not just going to let that kind of insult to his style stand though.

Kris: There is nothing flashy about just booting someone in the face to end a match-up and I’ve been doing that for forever.

Coby again has the perfect amount of experience dealing with Kris to be able to explain away his answer effortlessly though.

Coby: Yeah but before that it was that flipping leg drop so that you could cheat and hit people with that bulky brace. I think that is about as close to the line as you can get without breaking rules.

Not having any shame, Kris does not even try to deny it.

Kris: First of all, still going to be doing that. It’s awesome. I enjoy being in the air. Plus, you gotta take what you can get. I have cleaned up a lot of my tricks, but there is no need to color all the way inside the lines at all times.

Coby sits up on the mat and starts to push himself back to his feet.

Coby: That’s where we are going to have to agree to disagree.

Kris rolls to his side and pushes himself up off of the mat. He knew that Coby saw the rules as rigid and never meant to be broken, but Kris had not always had the relationship with them that he does now. He used to think that rules were meant to be broken, and to get away with it meant you were skilled. More recently though, he has strayed from breaking them but was never afraid to test their pliability.

Kris: I’m not going to be hitting people with brass knuckles or sneaking low blows when the referees are not looking, but I am not above trying to gain an edge.

Coby gestures around the room that they are standing in, the smile gone from his face.

Coby: What do you call all this? You think everyone has the time, money, or ability to set up their own personal gym like this? You think everyone can just create their own environment to train in? This right here is your leg up on the competition, and you still don’t quite get that, do you?

Kris takes a second to look around at what they had built in the very short time that they had been in San Diego.

Kris: They have their GO Gym, and Staggs whatever…. People can train anywhere.

Coby uses Kris point against him instead of trying to deflect away from it.

Coby: ...and when you look at the people that Staggs has trained, or the ones that come out of the GO Gym, look at how successful they are in SCW. Look at how they have come in and dominated. For that matter, look at everything that the Jet City people have been able to accomplish under the radar there. People that have this kind of set up, and can prepare like we can already have every advantage that they need.

It was not an angle that Kris had ever looked at it from. Coby was not done trying to shake Kris out of his old line of thinking though.

Coby: You went into your last match flippant, and relying on your shortcuts and little tricks to win. It didn’t work out. It hasn’t ever worked out. For every single one of your successes there is an equal failure that could have been avoided. How many times have you gotten hurt? How many times have you gotten pushed out of your comfort zone and it cost you a match? This….

Coby again points around the room at the equipment that they are surrounded by.

Coby: ...this is the key to winning. What we have been doing for the last two weeks is how you are going to take your spot back in SCW. If you want to get back to winning, this is the way. Not bending the rules. Not trying to cheat under the radar. And definitely not….

Coby cuts himself off before he goes too far. Although, the way that he stops manages to grab Kris’ attention almost more than any of the words that actually made it out of his mouth.

Kris: What were you going to say? Definitely not…. what?

Coby takes a step back from his friend, knowing that Kris is not ready to hear what he had stopped short of letting slip out. They were getting there, but now was not the time.

Coby: How about this, you go win that match, and maybe I can impart some more wisdom. I don’t give free tips to people that can’t handle themselves inside the ring.

Kris knew that Coby was mostly joking, but was willing to play along for the time being.

Kris: So that’s how it is?

Coby nods as he makes his way out onto the apron of the ring. He does not look back at his friend as he hops down to the floor.

Coby: That’s what’s up!

Kris picks up a towel from near the center of the ring and tosses it in Coby's direction. It catches the ceiling and falls short of reaching the Underground star.

Kris: We agreed on no catchphrases!

Coby puts his hands up in the air as he makes his way back towards the exit. He yells back at Kris without breaking his stride.

Coby: Sometimes it needs to be said!

Without waiting for Kris to call anything back to him, Coby makes his way out of the back entrance of the building, leaving Kris to finish cleaning up and locking up on his own.

==========================================================


Known Unknowns
San Diego, CA
6 May 2020
ON-Camera

It is supposed to be hard to step into the ring against someone that is new to the company.

Kris sits in the middle of the ring inside a dimly lit room. The camera seems to hover in front of him, but he is not looking at it. Instead, he sits back a little in the chair and lets out a heavy sigh.

I mean I admit it. When I saw the card go up, I may have been more nervous than I thought I would be. I mean had it been someone like Dmitri, Caleb Storms, Ben Jordan, or even Fenris I would have been more in my comfort zone. These are people with history here. They are people that I have shared the backstage area with. They are known quantities. Regardless of their level of talent, I know what to expect. There is a safety net there.

Clearly Kris is still not quite over coming up short in his return to the company.

Bill Barnhart was not one of those known quantities, and look how that ended up going for me. I wouldn’t necessarily call it my finest moment.

He tries to shrug the memory away, but some of the negativity still shows on his face. He does what he can to attempt to move past it.

I know that Finn Whelan is going to want to capitalize on the fact that I lost my last time out. I know that he has to be thinking that this is the jackpot spot to be in. He is only two matches into his SCW career and he gets to take on one of the best that has ever been in Sin City’s six sided ring.

He has said the words dozens of times before, but this time they do not sound the same. It is possible that his most recent loss had shaken the Grand Slam Champion’s confidence.

I know that my last match may not have been all that impressive, but there is no denying my place in SCW history. I guess I am a Triple Crown Champion according to the people running the show around here, but it’s actually a Grand Slam. I was man of the year just two years ago. Finn Whelan could have found himself in the ring across from someone that has yet to do anything impressive. He could have been in a match where he would have been the heavy favorite to win. Instead, he finds himself against “The Miracle” Kristopher Ryans.

He pauses, and allows himself to think about what this match could have been.

On another show, at another time, that’s a match worthy of a main event.

Both men had risen to the top of their profession, and both in some of the most violent ways. Had they entered Sin City Wrestling at the same time, the Roulette Division may not have survived. Kris tries not to let his mind linger on what could have been though.

I know that I haven’t earned that spot back yet, and I know that Finn is not there in SCW yet either, but nobody could argue the appeal.

Kris sits forward in his chair. The cadence of his voice starts to speed up as he gets more excited about the possibilities of this match.

I mean this guy is an unknown as far as Sin City goes, but that doesn’t make him an actual unknown. It doesn’t mean that he is unproven. He may be new around this locker room, but that doesn’t mean people don’t already know his name. How could I be part of Jet City without being familiar with The Seattle Saint?

Kris had taken pride in familiarizing himself with the talentpool in Seattle. It was how his brother had recruited for PRIDE both times the company was open. It was how they scouted talent for the Jet City Sports Lab. This card was hardly the first time he had come across Finn Whelan’s name.

To go even further, how could I, Kristopher Ryans, not know of Finn Whelan? If you don’t count the wonderfully different childhoods that we had, looking at Finn is a lot like looking in the mirror.

Kris pushes himself up from the chair and starts to move towards the camera. He holds his hands up though, pleading innocence before the viewers can accuse him of anything stereotypical.

This isn’t one of those villain ‘we are a lot alike’ speeches either. This is just me making an observation. I know that the guy might be relatively new around here, and he wasn’t exactly talking everyone’s ear off in his debut, but the more you learn about him the more it makes sense.

Kris runs his hand through his hair, trying to wade through how best to phrase his words.

The guy bounced around early in his career with Elena Dedraca and got into some trouble here and there not unlike myself and my brother when we teamed as Jet City. I’m not saying the two things are exactly equivalent, but the more I think about it, the more things like that just started to line up.

He shrugs his shoulders, but quickly finds another example.

The guy had some problems to deal with outside the ring. The kind of problems that plagued my early career and got me sent home from shows more than a handful of times. He picked fights with people just for something to do, because he didn’t really care about much else.

The smile that crosses Kris’ face almost makes it seem like he is talking about himself. It was starting to become clear why he had been so excited for this opportunity.

So then he trained. He got a leg up by being shown the ropes by people that had already climbed to the very top of this business. He always seemed to be the underdog, no matter what the situation. If anyone can relate to that it’s me. I started off as a Nobody and had to fight tooth and nail to become a Somebody. Every time I took a step forward everyone was just expecting a backslide. There was a point where I thought no amount of success was going to change the way that people thought of me. I’m glad that I was wrong.

Kris had only just started to accept that he had moved out of his brother’s shadow, and the weight that was lifted off of his shoulders was clear on screen. He seemed more free now than he had in his previous stints with the company.

I remember back when I was actually holding the SCW World Heavyweight Championship, Finn’s name just kept popping up in the finals of tournament after tournament. It seemed like everyone was always counting on him to lose, but the dude was always there at the end. It always seemed like the biggest prizes were always just out of reach for him though. I remember there was a company that closed on him once before a title match. That has to be a tough break.

He shakes his head, and does his best not to try and sound insulting. Instead of dwelling on the bad, Kris shifts gears, just as he starts to pace along the ropes.

Luck changed for him, not unlike it did for me. He went from a guy that was always just a little bit short to the guy sitting on top of the mountain. When I was tearing apart SCW fighting Crimson, Finn was dominating another company in a way that very few people can say that they have.

Kris almost sounded impressed, which was not something that his opponents could typically say of him.

Finn seems like the type of guy that is fueled by proving people wrong. I may be reading into it too much, but I think he is just a guy trying to make his impact on this business. He’s the type that wants people to remember him alongside some of the best to ever do it. Competing in the middle of a ring is the thing that he is best at, and he wants to show that off. I can’t say that I blame him.

After all, Kris shares the exact same type of personality. He stops at one of the corners of the ring and the camera stops with him, hovering just in front of him. Kris seems to be trying to pull out anything else that he could remember but nothing comes to mind. He shifts gears away from it as not to get stuck in a loop.

I honestly can’t say that I’ve kept up with what he’s been up to in my time away. I know that there was a time that we overlapped when I ventured outside the confines of Sin City to a ring with only four corners. I don’t think we ever actually got to cross paths though. He was just a guy on social media that I had a feeling was going to end up making people look silly when he finally rose to the top.

The smile on Kris’ face starts to fade though.

...and it looks like that time is now. It looks like the person that he is going to attempt to make a fool of, is me.

He raises his hand up to his chest, and does his best to convey his over-the-top hurt feelings to the viewers.

The problem is, regardless of how little he says in his promos, and regardless of how short and sweet he makes his appearances, he is not an unknown to me. He does not have the Bill Barnhart advantage of being someone that has flown under my radar. He had put together one hell of a career, and it has been entertaining to follow. The problem for him, is that I have followed. The crowd of people that told him that he could never amount to anything: I wasn’t in it.

He shrugs his shoulders, and the smile starts to come back to his face.

Now Finn Whelan is going to attempt to come into my environment and try to steal away a win from me? That’s not going to happen. Last time around I was hoping that I wasn’t going to have to leave my comfort zone. This time around I am better prepared, sharper, and more ready than I have ever been. It is just an added bonus that I am just as familiar with Finn as I am with people that have been on this roster for years. I told people when I came back that I was going to be taking back the spot that was taken away from me. I was going to refresh people’s memory when it came to the things that I did here. I was the nobody that proved everyone wrong. I was everything that Finn Whelan has tried to be for his entire career. This matchup couldn’t have come at a better time, because Finn helped me realize something that I almost forgot. Luckily, Coby was here to beat it into me before Finn got the chance.

Kris looks directly into the camera, not thinking about all of the fans watching at home anymore. The part of the show that was for them is already over. He drops the jovial tone and becomes more blunt.

So Finn, now that it’s clear that I know you, maybe I should introduce myself in case this is your first time. I’m Kristopher Ryans. I know you. I hope, for your sake, that you learn a little something about me. You're going to need to, because I just remembered that I’m the miracle that everyone's been waiting for. I’m the one that proves the naysayers wrong. I'm the resident underdog that always manages to come out on top eventually. And I'm going to be the person to hand you the first loss of your SCW career.

He laughs, and the confident smile returns to his face.

Someone go ahead and call Finn Whelan an ambulance… There’s gonna be an accident!

With that the video fades to black.

 Friday
8.31.18
Jet City, Washington
9:17am
“Suck it up!”
OFF-Camera

To say the former SCW World Heavyweight Champion was acting childish would be an insult to children. Since he announced his comeback, nearly everything had spiraled out of control. Fenris had been outed against his will. Crimson had taken off from the company. He was not on speaking terms with Mikah, and there were too many young people always asking questions. Instead of laying on his couch to lament the choices that got him to where he is today, he made a spectacle of himself, as usual. His feet were propped up on one of the cushions of the couch, but he laid in the middle of the floor. His arms are crossed over the world’s ugliest mustard-colored pillow in order to clutch it tightly to his chest. When he speaks it is not in his usual tone of voice. Instead his words are barely louder than a whisper, and he shakes his head through them.

Kristopher Ryans: There has just been so much that has gone so wrong since I came back, ya know?

The sigh that comes from across the room does not even draw Kris’ eyes off of the ceiling above him, despite the obvious frustration filling the air. Laying sideways, with her head draped over one side of a reclining chair, and her legs hanging over the other side is the rightful number one contender to the Bombshell Championship, Courtney Pierce. It was clear from the look on her face that she had been at this for hours and her patience was running thin.

Courtney Pierce: Oh for fuck’s sake, who cares? You made us all come here. Are you coming with us or not?

Kris scoffs, feigning as much offense as he could fit on his face. He tosses the pillow like a frisbee in her direction, but it is snatched out of the air by Adam Wilson.

Adam Wilson: I am down for staying here as long as he wants. The longer we are here, the less time I am going to spend getting my ass kicked learning some lesson.

Kris shifts his anger towards Adam, and sits up from the floor as his newest trainee made his way across the room. He tosses the pillow back at Kris, who avoids contact with it. It hits the floor behind him, but cuts off his words before he can respond. The third of the intruders into Kris’ house takes the opportunity to describe the situation to the others.

Kyle Kavanagh: See, Kris here is having an identity crisis again, children.

Court rolls her eyes from her chair, but tilts her head up to meet Kyle’s eyes.

Courtney Pierce: Dude we are like the same age, don’t be condescending. You’re the least accomplished person here, and that includes the rookie.

Adam does not take the compliment, instead pointing to Kyle and taking his side.

Adam Wilson: ...at least he has won a championship this year.

Court’s eyes narrow on Adam and she lashes out at him next.

Courtney Pierce: We both know I could take you, newbie.

Kris finally pulls his legs off of the couch and pushes himself up to his feet. He brushes at his shirt, clearing off some of the random lint from the rug he was laying on. His eyes move between all three of them in rapid succession.

Kristopher Ryans: All of you shut up!

All three of the recruits cut out their arguments and straighten up a little. Their plan had been to get him up and moving, and it had worked. Whatever the fallout of that was, they had gone in prepared to face the consequences. Kyle was the first to get Kris’ direct anger.

Kristopher Ryans: You are going to leave me alone about this Fenris thing. I don’t want to hear it.

Court seemed to snap to attention at the mention of her Blast From The Past partner, but when she opened her mouth to ask, Kris cut her off.

Kristopher Ryans: You need to stop being so damn salty. You haven’t won the championship from Mikah yet. How about you worry about that instead of me?

Adam nodded in agreement on both accounts, but that did not stop Kris from turning some of his outrage on the newcomer.

Kristopher Ryans: Don’t be so smug, and stop bitching about getting run down in training. Get better.

Both Kyle and Court were immune to these kinds of outbursts having had to deal with them for months already.

Courtney Pierce: That was real inspirational. Go team!

Her words were dripping with sarcasm, but it did not stop Kyle from piling on in a way he knew would get under Kris’ skin.

Kyle Kavanagh: New Jet City!

Kris spun around in his direction with an index finger pointed towards him. Before any words leave his mouth though, Adam looks up with a smile on his face.

Adam Wilson: Hey, we should totally use that.

Kris’ hostility instantly deflates, and he lets out a heavy, defeated sigh. He shakes his head while looking down at the ground and speaks almost under his breath.

Kristopher Ryans: I hate all three of you...

Kris moves around Kyle and starts to head out of the room. Court calls out to him from her chair with glee in her voice.

Courtney Pierce: Pack your shit up champ, plane leaves in an hour!.


================================
================================

“Fine. I guess.”
ON-Camera


”Alright, so I realize that all of you have been waiting for me to say something about this. This whole Fenris story came out, I gave the dude some space to deal with it. I kept my mouth shut. I did my best to shut it down and then I went about my business. I took myself away from social media so that people would not draw more attention to it. I flew a low profile when it came to the tournament Mikah and I were competing in. I kept quiet to keep questions to a minimum. Not for my benefit. Personally I do not care. It doesn’t bother me, and never has. People expect me to do whatever I want and this is no different. This is just more of Kris being Kris.”

“Since all of that went down though, I have had a match canceled, and I have tried to slip away into the background while Fenris got through some of his issues and worked his confidence back up. I wanted him to compete and win. I wanted him to get back to feeling like himself. All of this was an unnecessary distraction. All it is doing is taking away from what is really important, the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. We all know that I am going to have to talk about that eventually. We all know that match is coming sooner rather than later. You can all guess where I stand on the issue without me even having to say much, but talking about that is going to be getting ahead of ourselves.”

“Before I can get to all of that, I have to go through Dmitri. I have to fight back the vampire that has beaten me nearly unconscious twice. Now, do not get me wrong. The guy can’t beat me. Every time we get in the ring with each other, he finds himself on the losing end of the stick. Whether he is in the ring with Crimson and I, with a shitty partner dropping L’s to Jet City, or flying solo under Roulette Rules, the guy can’t beat me.”

“That is not to say that there is not anything to worry about. I mean, the guy has a knack for coming up short and then laying me out in the center of the ring. I constantly find myself reduced to a puddle and left to listen to his shitty music play through the PA system while I try and see through the stars. There is a very real chance that could happen again this time.”

“There is also a very good chance that this time I prove that this guy and I are just not on the same level. Maybe this is the time that I let myself go a little bit too far, so that by the time the bell rings, I am not catching a beating. Maybe this time I use Dmitri to send a message to Fenris like Fenris sent to me by kicking Kyle Kavanagh’s face off. It seems like I would have every reason to put the vampire down once and for all. I would be crossing a guy off my list that I know is going to try and come after me once the championship is back around my waist where it belongs.”

“I have been in the background lately, but we all know where my place in this company is.”

“SCW is not Fenris.”

“SCW is not Dmitri.”

“SCW is not Ben Jordan.”

“SCW is not Crimson.”

“SCW is Kris.”

“I think everyone needs to be reminded of that this week on Climax Control. I’m going to be happy to do so, and get to work on setting things right.”

  - “Ispy”

It wasn't like I was trying to grab anyone's attention or anything, so I didn't think the word was even directed at me. It sounded more muttered under someone's breath and I wasn't about to try and start another conversation after the two ladies at the bar looked like they wanted to rip my head off. That's probably why the guy in the first booth putting up his hand to stop me caught me off guard.

- “You are just going to let her blow you off like that and walk away?”

I wasn't about to take shit from some random guy, but there was something familiar about his face. I knew it from somewhere, but I couldn't place it. More than that though, his voice was the same as the one before. It suddenly clicked together that whatever he had said was directed at me. There was only one problem.

Adam: “What was it you called me? Ispy?”

He laughed in my face, and motioned to the bench opposite him in the booth. I wasn't fond of the idea of some stranger laughing at me, but for some reason I didn't get ass offended by it as I reasonably should have. It had to be some kind of insult. I don't know why I didn't walk away right there. I didn't really know who he was. I had no obligation to sit, but I did. As I got comfortable in the booth, he nodded back over to the bartender that had rudely refused to answer my question.

- “Ispy.”

So it was some kind of insult, but it wasn't aimed at me, or so I thought.

Adam: “What because she wa--”

He didn't let me finish the thought, and actually sighed like he was annoyed. To that point, I rarely felt like the dumbest person in the room. I usually felt like I could outwit anyone within earshot, but there was something about this guy. Being corrected and taunted should have ticked me off, but I was more curious what he was going to say than anything else.

- “I...spy…”

It clicked together in that moment. I knew where I recognized his face from, and knew why it seemed so normal that he would be talking me in circles just to mess with me. Before I could ask, he cut me off to continue.

Kris: “I saw the way you looked at her when you walked up. She shut you down hard before you could even say anything.”

He made an annoying and judgemental clicking sound with his tongue against the roof of his mouth. I flashed back to how many times I had seen adults do it to me as a kid and found it more frustrating than his laughing in my face.

Kris: “....and you just walked away like a bitch. It was disappointing.”

I wasn't going to let him keep poking at me. He was probably banking on me not knowing who he was, and letting it all get under my skin. The familiarity made it easy to deny him what he wanted. I could end the game before he even got to enjoy it.

Adam: “Well not everyone is famous and can get anyone to do whatever they want. Some of us aren't that lucky.”

I tapped my knuckles on the table twice and rolled my eyes at him. I had places to go, and more important things to worry about than entertaining some asshole.

Adam: “Thanks for the… whatever this was. Advice?”

I shook my head, and saw something change in his eyes. He tried to interrupt me, but I had him now. It was my turn to cut him off.

Adam: “Nah, advice has to be useful. This was just… well.. it happened.”

I slid to the end of the bench and got up to my feet proud of myself. I knew he wasn't going to let me get the last word, but I thought I would be able to brush off whatever it was.

Kris: “You're pretty good at running away but making it look like it's what you really want to be doing. Must have a lot of practice.”

It cut me, but not as deep as I think he was banking on. It was also painless to turn it back on him.

Adam: “Yeah, we can spot our own.”

I winked at him before he could throw the trademark my direction. I didn't wait for him to put together any kind of rebuttal either, making my way towards the door.

Adam: “Try not to get thrown up on again, champ.”


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The growl of frustration slipped from the young girl's lips as she slung her overly large purse over her shoulder as her shift at the bar ended. She shoots the blonde that was still sitting at the bar a look as she makes her way to the door.

Elowyn: “Stupid Mikah. Showing up and costing me money.”

She mumbles under her breath as she walks out of the bar. She waves bye to the bouncer and doesn't pay attention to where she's going. As she comes out of the front door and onto the sidewalk, she is nearly mowed over by a bicycle that screeches to a halt and slides sideways to avoid her. The person on it was just as shocked to see her as she was to see him, and stutters over a few words trying to explain himself.

Adam: “I-I-I didn't even see you come out. I was just trying to leave. Sor--”

He cuts himself short of an apology when he realizes who she is. Instead of finishing the word, he shrugs his shoulders and gives her an undeniably fake smile.

Adam: “You know what? No. I should have just ran you over.”

She glares at him, the wind picking up a little bit and blowing her already messy curly locks all over her face. She folds her arms over her chest before looking him over.

Elowyn: “Of course. You'd have to have a bicycle to run anybody over because you can't do it with just yourself. Pathetic.”

She gives him a once over again before rolling her eyes and trying to move around him. She wasn't in the mood to deal with his bullshit and was going to make sure let him know that.

Adam: “Oh look, she does talk.”

He tries to move the bike to the side to get out of her way, but unintentionally moves in the same direction that she does, cutting her off. They both try to sidestep the opposite direction at the same time, leading them to still be standing in each other’s way.

Adam: “I guess there must be some rule about doing so when you’re on the clock. Can you get out of my way, please?”

She takes a deep breath, trying to contain her frustration. She was growing more and more agitated with the guy in front of her and his accusatory tone he was taking with her.

Elowyn: “Can YOU get out of MY way? Seriously, do you have a problem?”

She doesn't make a move to go around him but instead, stays in place. The frown was settled on her pretty face as well, letting him know about her frustration.

Elowyn: “YOU were the one that cut me off. So I don't know if you're uneducated or what, but you need to move before I make you move. I am not in the mood to deal with your shit.”

He motions around to his left with his arm, allowing her to pass in front of him, keeping the bike steady.

Adam: “After you.”

She looks at him, his eyes narrowing at him but she doesn’t hesitate in walking past him.  She shakes her messy hair out behind her as she literally struts past him.

Elowyn: “Thank you.”

It was not a sincere thank you but it was something she felt that she needed to say to him. Why?  She hadn’t been too sure but something about him was strange.

Elowyn:  “And maybe, instead of being such a goddamned hoodlum, you should work on not running people over.”

He shrugged his shoulders, not letting the insult get to him at all.

Adam: “Well, you're not a speed bump on the sidewalk, so I guess I'm already ahead of the curve.”

He looks over his shoulder in her direction with a smirk on his face.

Adam: “While we're giving free advice though, when you work for tips, being a bitch costs you money.”

She whips around to glare at him, stopping in her tracks to do so.  She looks at him before vaguely remembering him as the guy that tried to interrupt her conversation with Mikah.

Elowyn: “Being a dick doesn’t get you a drink, now does it?”

She smirks before rolling her eyes and turning back around, walking in the direction of the house she lived in.  She didn’t count on him following or anything really, just started to walk.

Adam: “You think you know everything…”

He spins the bike around towards her and rides forward, coming alongside her.

Adam: “I'm not riding around on this because I think it makes me look good. I'm not carrying extra weight because it makes for a good workout.”

He nods behind the seat of the bike where a case is strapped above the tire.

Adam: “I wasn't looking for a drink. I was trying to ask for help, but I guess I'm just wasting my time trying to give someone down here the benefit of the doubt.”

She tries her best to keep her emotions in check as he talks and rides his bicycle alongside her.  She turns her body slightly, stopping at a crosswalk with a DO NOT CROSS sign flashing at them.

Elowyn:  “What?  Are you saying that the people that live down here are trash?”

She didn’t bother with hiding the look of irritation in her eyes as she stares at him, like she was trying to stare a hole through his body.

Elowyn:  “You chose to go into that bar and you chose to insert yourself into the conversation I was having.  That was YOUR choice, not mine.  You could have chosen a gas station to ask for help.  Or you know, asked one of the hundred other people in the bar for help.”

She gives him a look as she starts walking again as the sign lets them cross now.

Elowyn: “So, don’t try to push your stupidity on me, guy.”

He pushes the bike away from the curb, still at her side, and not wanting to let her get the last word in the argument.

Adam: “A conversation you were having instead of doing your job…”

As she goes up onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street, he rides alongside it still on the road.

Adam: “Your job paying some kind of attention to possible customers…. and you can't even seem to do that well enough, so maybe the stereotype fits.”

She rolls her eyes before contemplating on sticking her foot out to trip him on the bike but thinks better of it.

Elowyn: “I was talking with that lady who apparently is like a daughter to the owners.  It was a serious conversation.  A conversation you had no part in.  And should have kept your pointy nose out of it.”

She doesn’t bother looking at him as she walks, watching the houses pass them by.  She wasn’t scared of the neighborhood, having lived there her entire life and just barely scraping by.

Adam: “Pointy nose?”

He laughs at the attempt to insult his appearance, not taking offense to it in the least.

Adam: “That is the best you have? All this time arguing and that is the best you came up with? Way to prove my point about how bright the neighborhood is.”

She runs a hand through her messy curls as they were getting dangerously close to her house.  She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to know where she lived so she stops in the middle of the sidewalk again.

Elowyn: “What the hell is your problem!?  Do you not know when you’re not wanted?  Are you like a dog that doesn’t know the word no?”

She gives him a dirty look before rolling her eyes in irritation again. She puts her hands on her hips and looks at him, expectantly. He stops, and plants both feet on the ground, just now realizing that he was following her in the opposite direction from where he thought he needed to be albeit just being a guess. He looks back over his shoulder in that direction, and then back to her.

Adam: “I can see that this is a lost cause…”

It was Kris that had gotten in his head with this girl. Maybe that was why he argued with her. He wanted to prove someone he did not even know wrong.

Adam: “Enjoy the rest of your miserable day.”

He spins the bike around in the opposite direction. She watches him for a moment.

Elowyn: “Don't fall off your bike!”

She shouts at his back as he starts to ride away.

Elowyn: “Because I'm not fixing you up!”

He rides straight across the road they had just crossed, not waiting for the light to change. Instead of turning back towards her, he waves over his shoulder quickly before hopping up onto the sidewalk and racing away to make up for the time that he lost.


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They did not cross paths again for a few days following their strange meeting, but that had not stopped Adam from talking about the experience. Especially now that he found himself back in the same neighborhood. It was more of a social call this time, instead of work pulling him this direction. As such he was dressed a lot more casually.

Adam: “I dunno man, she was pretty shitty for no reason. Not sure anyone down here is going to be worth pic---”

He kicked the skateboard at his feet up and then tossed it to one of his friends behind him as his eyes found her inside the small store. They seemed to pick up on the way his words stopped coming, and traced his eyeline to her. Before anyone in the group could give him any shit for it, he pushed through the door, and pulled it closed behind him. He made his way across the store, tucking his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and stepping up behind her in line.

Adam: “I guess they let anyone in these places…”

She had been on a mission to get pedialyte and soup because Lincoln was sick. She hadn't expected to run into the douchebag from the other night in the store.

Elowyn: “Clearly. They let you in here.”

She doesn't bat an eye and doesn't even turn around to look at him. Her arms were full and she couldn't find the pedialyte, so he had to accept the fact that Gatorade would work just the same.

Elowyn: “Is there a reason you're in here? It is clear that you don't have a life and are trying to start something.”

She looked a mess, her wild hair up in a messy bun to keep the strands from her face and to probably conceal the fact that she hadn't had time to properly wash her hair. Shower? Yes but before she could get her hair washed, she was being shouted at by Asher.

Elowyn: “I really don't have time for your antics right now. So either way whatever it is you have on your mind or get lost.”

She steps forward in line. She didn't know if she could handle anything he threw at her without breaking. It had been a rough couple of days, money wise.  And their father had stopped by to see their mother and that was a mess in itself.

Adam: “Wow… so you’re like, always a bitch. It wasn’t just a one time thing.”

He shrugs lightly, and tries to shake off any sign of visible surprise. He was not even sure that she was going to remember seeing him. He certainly hadn’t thought that he was going to see her again, at least not so soon. His friends all hung around the outside of the doors, looking through the glass windows, but unable to hear the conversation. He tries to wave them off without her noticing.

Adam: “Here I was… about to give you the benefit of the doubt, and you just prove that I was right the first time.”

She looks at him before shaking her head, not in the mood to deal with him.

Elowyn: “And what did you expect me to do?”

She raises an eyebrow at him before turning to see if she needed to move forward in line.

Elowyn: “Did you expect me to just jump into your arms and hug you? Like I should be so excited to see you?”

She raises an eyebrow at him. He shakes his head without even acknowledging that she meant it more as an insult than anything realistic.

Adam: “Maybe a.. Oh you’re that guy. Sorry I was shitty to you for no reason...”

He does his best to mimic the cadence of her voice back to her, knowing that there was no way that he could strike the same tone that she did.

Adam: “Or even, hey we got off on the wrong foot, don’t be a dick next time and maybe we can just get past that.”

He shrugs lightly, and tilts his head slightly to his left.

Adam: “Maybe?”

She looks at him before sighing, not really having it in her to fight with him today. She moves forward and places her things on the counter.

Elowyn: “Maybe.”

She grabs her purse as the cashier rings things up and she scrambles through her things and finds the right amount of cash and shoves it into the guy's hand.

Elowyn: “Thanks.”

She takes the bag he offers her before looking at Adam. She offers a smile before turning to leave or at least move out his way.

Elowyn: “You...right. Sorry I was having a bad night the other night.”

He steps to the side, and reaches into his pocket before slapping a bill down on the counter. He does not even look at the cashier before doing so.

Adam: “That is so much better. See, we could have started there last time and already become friends.”

He looks up at the cashier finally, and points to the outside.

Adam: “I am hoping that ice machine has something useful in it because I literally need to buy all of it.”

The cashier looks down at the bill on the counter, and then back up at Adam confused. Adam’s eyes shift back and forth and few times, not exactly sure what the hold up is.

Adam: “No seriously. They are only a few dollars each. Use your little magic marker to make sure it is real and then give me a thumbs up or something. Kinda got things to do.”

Ellie had started to move away from him as he spoke with the cashier, but as he went about checking the bill, Adam spun around her way.

Adam: “...and if you don’t have any plans tonight, maybe you want to come have fun for a while. Nothing too dangerous.”

She looks at him, a little unsure of where he was going with this. But how could she go anyways? Lincoln was sick.

Elowyn: “Fun? What's fun?”

She gives him an unapologetic look as she shifts the bag to her other hand as she starts to walk in the direction of her house. The cashier gives up a sarcastic thumbs up without producing any change, and Adam follows her from the small store. His friends disperse and move a truck in front of the ice machine before tossing bags from it into the back of the truck. Adam’s focus was less on them though, and totally on her.

Adam: “See, fun is a thing that you do in order to get away from the things that suck, even if just for a few hours.”

He comes up to her side, looking over at her as they walk.

Adam: “Makes the bullshit more tolerable.”

She looks at him as he walks alongside her and she smiles at him a bit bit not much.

Elowyn: “Coming from a guy who probably has absolutely no responsibility. And I am not saying that in a negative manner.”

She shrugs her shoulders as they stop to cross the street. She watches the light, waiting for it to change before they cross.

Elowyn: “Plus, how would I even know how to get there?”

He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a phone. When he clicks the screen on, there is not much to the display.

Adam: “I actually had some thoughts about that.”

He opens up the messenger on it and sends a quick text. Almost as soon as his does, a second phone chimes in his front pocket.

Adam: “Here…”

He catches the strange look she gives him and tries to brush it off.

Adam: “Not going to be presumptuous enough to ask for your number or anything. This is just a throw away. I sent a message to myself. You have my number in it now. If you want to come, let me know. You don't have to decide now.”

He extends the phone out to her after clicking off the screen. She looks at the phone and then over at him, frowning.

Elowyn: “I cannot take a phone from you. Under no circumstances would that be acceptable.”

She looks at the phone that he was still holding out to her.

Elowyn: “I can't come anyways. My brother is sick and well…”

She doesn't offer anything else but an apologetic look. He does not appear to follow the line of thinking.

Adam: “You're not taking it. You're borrowing it in order to get directions to a party. Just a couple people. Okay… maybe like a couple dozen people.”

His friends pull away from the store, and quickly catch up to where they are walking. He holds a hand out to stop them from trying to yell out at him, with only his index finger extended upwards.

Adam: “Anyone can make excuses not to do things. They can also find ways around those excuses too if they really want to.”

She looks at him, biting her bottom lip. She knew she could ask Asher to watch Lincoln but still.

Elowyn: “I'll think about it.”

It was all she offers him before she turns before looking at the house that was just a few hundred feet away. With her eyes up at the house, he reaches out and slips the phone into the top of the bag that she is carrying before moving away from her.

Adam: “Well, you'll have to get that back to me somehow. I guess either way you will have to text me.”

He offers her a wink as the truck picks up speed to meet him at the side of the road. It does not even come to a full stop before he leaps up onto the back of it with all of the ice.

Adam: “Or you know, steal it, sell it, smash it, hope to never run into me again.”

She watches him as he seems pretty confident in her going to whatever party he was throwing. She raises an eyebrow at him.

Elowyn: “Maybe all of the above.”

She doesn't try to give the phone back, however. The thought of getting away from the house seemed decent. If only for one night.

Elowyn: “We will see…”

She turns and starts walking up the sidewalk to the house as the truck speeds away down the road.