Her first match in the 2019 Blast From the Past tournament went about as well as she could have hoped; she and her partner, Alex Jones, won after all! true, she had wished she would have picked up the win and contributed more to the team effort she shared with Alex, but the fact that they had advanced to the second round more than made up for it, and besides; there was always their next match!
After the show, Devona did as promised and took Alex out for a small celebration at this quaint little Creole restaurant that she had miraculously discovered in Ireland. Unfortunately as lovely as the decor was and as good as the food happened to be, there really wasn't that much of a Cajun flavor to it. Oh make no mistake! The entire menu was nothing but Cajun dishes, but really none of the spice that had become so synonymous with the traditional recipes she had grown accustomed to as a full blooded Cajun girl. In some dinner conversation with Alex, Devona could only hazard a guess that the food was toned down for the locals and tourists who were unable to handle really spicy foods.. In answer to this, Alex openly expressed his opinion in why open a so-called Cajun restaurant if they can't handle the spices Cajun food was meant to have?
It would be like ordering a pizza and telling them to hold the cheese because you were lactose intolerant!
The evening had progressed well enough, but she had to admit that a friendship between the two partners was unlikely. Their respective personalities were such a clash. Alex admitted at the beginning the first time they chatted that he was a rude and arrogant individual. How that made him any different than her own 'gym brother' Fenris still defied explanation, but she did not want to press. So long as they were tag team partners for this historic event, they would have to learn to rely on each other in order to advance hopefully to the finals.
She was greatly determined however to lure Alex against her in a video game before their time as partners was through!
Her room at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cardiff continued too impress Devona, and show just how much Gabriel and Odette worked to ensure their charges, even those that were close to inactive or retired status, were well cared for. The hotel was located right in the Cardiff City Centre, and was within minute walks to much of the city's attractions and shopping excursions; Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (where she would be competing this Sunday!) and Sophia Gardens were all close, less than twenty minutes walk. She strongly suspected that being in the center of, well -- everything, was probably why Gabriel had selected this hotel for her accommodations. Her own destination as a tourist today was ten minutes away, and she was very much looking forward to it.
Devona had taken care of much of her wrestling duties that Mark and Christian had scheduled for her. She and Alex had appeared together at one Meet and Greet, and even had a brief interview as a tandem on a popular radio talk show to help hype both the tournament as well as SCW's tour itself.
For now, she was simply relaxing in her room, which was beyond lovely and comfortable. It overlooked the cityscape on the sixth floor, and she had the window slid open as far as it was able, to allow the fresh air to waft its chill path through her room. It was only roughly in the lower sixties but she always had an affinity for cooler weather. The room was accented almost entirely in white, save for the bed spread over the gargantuan, king-sized bed which was a burgundy color, a perfect match for the white. A chair in the corner of the room also was burgundy in color. The carpeting was a soft blue, with white floral accents, and there Devona was, seated in the middle of the bed, her legs curled up beneath her as she had a chat on her laptop with one of her favorite people in the world; her pseudo brother in Beauty.
Devona: I just don't know exactly what I did or said that was so wrong. To basically be told to shut the fu, shut the 'f' up, by someone I thought of like a sister. I never thought of myself as anything close to arrogant...
On the flip side of the video screen, via Facebook chat window, Beauty was half paying attention to his close friend since childhood, and half staring into a mirror as he rubbed moisturizer into his cheeks in a circular motion with his fingertips.
Beauty: Well, that was rude. I've known you for years, Didi, and the one thing I can honestly say that the one thing you are not, is arrogant. I should know.
He gave the camera in his own laptop a coy smile, and thus, gave her one.
Beauty: I know arrogant.
Devona smiled brightly, showing those pearly white teeth. She couldn't help it. Even the little things that Beauty said could bring a smile to her face. That was when she wasn't feeling like Beast and wanted to wrap both hands around his neck and squeeze until his head popped off! This time, she wasn't even altogether certain whether Beauty was referencing himself with that little nugget of information.
Still, she shrugged.
Devona: Apparently I am though. Or at least I'm allowing Alex's own 'arrogance' to rub off on me. I just don't get why when other wrestlers express confidence in themselves or their team in this event, that's all it is. Confidence!! But when I do it, it's just arrogance and I get told to shut the 'f' up.
Beauty: Well, it is Mackenzie. You know her bark is as bad as her bite.
He then blinked with a confused and concerned expression on his devilishly handsome face.
Beauty: At least I think she bites. Charlotte said if I flirted with her again she would....
Devona shook her head, looking to put the young man out of his mental misery. For as good looking as Beauty was, and as fit as he kept his body, he definitely had an arterial flow problem above the neck. And that was her being kind. Beast would simply say his brother was a dumb ass. (Though god help you if Beast heard someone else say the same thing about his little brother!)
Devona: I think I know what you mean.
Beauty shrugged over on his end, as he took a damn cloth and wiped his hands free of the moisturizer in his daily morning 'beauty' routine.
Beauty: Still, there is one benefit on all of this.
Devona: Which is?
Beauty: Mackenzie's team already went to the third round. You and Alex win, and there's a chance your teams will be against each other. Then you can look her in the eye and just say 'Make me.'
Devona: Right. Like I really want to antagonize the girl who can answer the question 'you and what army!'
Devona laughed, and Beauty himself broke into a soft flow of chuckles. He knew that his 'Didi' wasn't afraid of any opponent, but she did show knowledge and caution and if they met, Mackenzie Page would be a dangerous individual to try to overcome. She did, after all, defeat Mikah cleanly in the ring. Then again, so did Devona.
Devona: Well it looks like you're all prettied up for the day.
She casually observed, and Beauty's face lit up with a smile that practically screamed, "Don't I know it!"
Devona: So I'm going to let you run off and break a few more dozen hearts today...
To this, Beauty jetted out a woeful bottom lip and placed a hand over his own heart. Woe to any whose heart was broken by his devastating good looks!
Devona: ... While I go on a tour and take care of my promo.
Beauty: Oh that's right! Going to do a little whale watching?
Devona blinked.
Devona: Whale... whale watching? No. Why would you think I was going whale watching? I told you I was going to go to Cardiff Castle.
Blank stare from Beauty.
Beauty: Well... you said you were into Whales, so I thought there was a moat or something around the castle you could watch the whales.
It took all the will she could muster not to face palm herself at this logic, and thus possibly hurt Beauty's feelings. Beast routinely called his brother a dumb ass to his face but Beauty just rolled with it. If anyone else did so, however, and that was different.
Devona: No, sweety... I'm not into whales. I'm IN Wales.
Blank look.
Devona: The country? Cardiff is the capital.
Beauty: O... kay?
She tilted her head to the side with a sympathetic smile.
Devona: Why don't you ask your brother to explain... actually, ask your Momma, to explain it to you?
Knowing his Momma would be far less crass in explaining the concept of Wales as opposed to whales. The blank look slowly subsided into a softer one and he nodded.
Beauty: I think maybe I will. Bye Didi! Have fun! We'll be cheering for you!
Devona: You had better!
She laughed and kissed her fingertips before waving bye to him. The chat then ended and Devona closed the laptop before grasping her purse and she headed for the door to her hotel room...
Cardiff Castle was, is, a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion at the very city centre in Cardiff. Situated at the top of a large hill that overlooked the grounds of the keep, it remained an attraction to this day from when it had first been commissioned sometime in the late eleventh century. It had started off as a fort, and slowly grew to the magnificent historical site that it had grown to today.
And it was here that the former Bombshell Internet Champion, Devona, had decided to venture on this, a rare day off. Oh certainly, there were ample places for the men and women who put their bodies on the line during the SCW shows, but these worldwide tours. such as the one they were on now, were also thought of as working holidays. The competitors had to perform inside of the ring and other duties outside of it, but when there was a chance to see some of the local sights in these foreign nations, you can bet that the Superstars and Bombshells would take full advantage!
Cardiff Castle was Devona's main choice of destination. Call her a geek if you would, but she loved fantasy tales, books, movies and the like. Stories of magic and brave soldiers. The tales of King Arthur and Merlin were some of her favorites, as were the famed works of Tolkein. That was why she really wanted to see the Castle, because it would be like walking into one of those stories that was held dear to her heart.
Devona stood at the base of the stone steps that led to the entrance, a stone arch. A hand rested against the side of the steps, she started to walk up, her eyes never straying from the sight before her.
Devona: Dreams. That is what it's all about, am I right? When we, as wrestlers, are asked what brought us into such a rough and rugged sport like professional wrestling, we use the reason of it having always been a dream. Or at least, the vast majority of us do. When Gabriel interviewed me before he and his wife took me on as a student, I admit I gave them that very same answer. I had loved watching wrestling ever since I was a little girl. It was a dream that I held in the back of my head for many a year, until my brothers from another mother, Beauty and Beast, lulled it out into the open and they convinced me to realize it for myself.
Dreams are the basis for why we do what we want to do in life. Some of us dream about being doctors or lawyers. Some dream about being famous actors or movie stars. And in cases like myself, some of us dream of stepping inside of the ring and having our backsides handed to us on a regular basis.. Which isn't altogether a terrible thing, just so long as we can hand our opponents the same dosage of their own medicine.
Devona, with tourists of all ages at her sides, walked through the stone arch and into the castle, they were thunderstruck by the beauty that was laid out before them. The imperial designs, the sheer majesty of the decor and design work all around them, from the floors to the pillars and the walls that surrounded them.
The word 'breathtaking' would not even begin to do this justice. It was simply magnificent and Devona immediately pulled out her phone for some snapshots, silently thrilled that she had talked herself into taking this little sight seeing jaunt.
Devona: Without dreams, what good would life be? It's dreams that bring us out of the pits of despair and gloom, knowing and believing that there would always be something better for us, just across the horizon. All we had to do was reach out and grasp that brass ring. If you're blue, or down and feel like life is a rut, our dreams make us feel better about ourselves and give us that extra hard nudge to get out of that rut and do something! Because if we don't take that first step to fulfill all of our dreams, who would?
This weekend, I find myself being able to fulfill another dream, besides the one Gabriel and Odette helped me to accomplish back when I debuted back in May of 2017. See, when I first started training in late 2016, I had a dream opponent. Someone I looked up to and hoped to accomplish even half of what this woman had accomplished in her own storied career. I wanted to wrestle Roxi Johnson.
If anything could pry the eyes of the tourists from the spectacular decor of this tour, it would be the artwork in the rooms that they found themselves in. From the Nursery to the Winter Smoking Room, the stained glass windows, the paintings, and religious carvings, were all enough to make the expert tour guide wonder why he was even bothering because few were actually listening to the details he was reciting from memory alone on the history of their surroundings.
Devona: Unfortunately, Roxi had fulfilled just about everything there was to fulfill and called her time inside the SCW ring at an end. She was a Grand Slam Champion and a Hall of Famer, and I certainly can't fault the woman for wanting to spend more time with her wife, Keira, and their lovely son. Family should always come first. But even way back when, I had privately hoped that somehow, in some way, I would find myself in the ring against Roxi. Just for the learning experience alone at being up against such a modern day female wrestling icon! The chance, to imagine the things I could learn from just the experience! The opportunity to test myself against a woman who had done everything anyone might have fantasized about in their own thoughts in this sport! But above all else...?
The chance to put my own training to its absolute best! And I did have the best training, from Gabriel and Odette. Gabriel is Hall of Fame in two separate promotions, and Odette held so many championships in her own right and followed her husband right into the Hall of Fame, having earned it on her own, with help from no one. With that kind of dynasty behind me, it just makes me all the more thrilled at this Quarterfinal match in the Blast From the Past!
I know Alex will have his hands full with Caleb Storms, but I'm pretty proud of my partner and confident he can take care of his own. Caleb has to be the best high flyer SCW has going for it right now. I swear, I haven't seen a man take to the air and put his body on the line like he does on a routine basis since Despayre retired!
Side note; what I wouldn't have given to seen a match between Caleb and Despayre for the high flying action alone!
But I digress. Caleb is a one of a kind talent, and Roxi is lucky to have him at her side. But I have Alex Jones. A man who has held too many championships to list, and a Hall of Famer in his own right. So while he busies himself, working on grounding a high flyer, what do I have for myself?
The tour group then found themselves on the roof garden. A stone fountain was the feature in the center of the room, with greenery all around it. Plant life and bright flowers on all corners of the garden, as the tour walked around the outskirt of the attraction, listening to the guide and admiring this natural form of art they found themselves in the presence of.
Devona: I'm in the ring with a certifiable superhero. And, I've always been proud of the fact that as a girl, right up to this day, I collect comic books. The Gail Simone run of Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman were always my favorites. The Birds because hey had at their helm a woman, Oracle/formerly Batgirl, who had been tragically injured at the hands of the Joker, and would never be the same again. But she did not let being confined to a wheelchair slow her down. She continued to fight the good fight, just in a different way where she used her brains rather than her brawn, to take down the bad guys.
Wonder Woman was just always at the heart, a hero but never let the fact she had super powers get in the way of her humanity toward the world around her. But what I loved most about her was she wasn't the moral idealist that her teammates in the Justice League were. oh Batman and Superman were wonderful role models for readers, as was Wonder Woman, but she was willing to go the extra mile that the men were not. One of my favorite scenes was between Superman and herself, where she told Supes that there was a reason why her list of enemies wasn't anywhere near as long as his or Bats, or even the Flash. It was because when she dealt with them, she dealt with them! That is a woman of strength and conviction!
And if I had to choose a third woman I love in the superhero community, it may surprise you to know that it would be Marvel's Emma Frost. She started off her run as one of the X-Men's most deadly adversaries, but over the course of time, she showed she indeed had a heart where her students were concerned, and she soon became one of the X-Men's most valuable team members. Still, despite being a 'hero,' Emma never let the world change who she was. She stayed the same blonde bombshell she had always been, and retained that sharp wit and acid tongue that she used against friend and foe alike. She made no apologies, and no excuses, for who she was as a woman.
That's me, in my own fantasy mind, Roxi. I bring a little piece of each of those three women with me as a part of who I am. A woman who lets no adversity in life get between her and her goals. A woman who tries to lead by example and do what needs to be done. And a woman, who may not be like what others expect of her, but makes no apologies for who she is.
And here I am, now, facing a woman who I have admired for so many years. A superhero in every sense of the word. It is my honor to step into the ring with you, Roxi. And God as my witness, it will be my honor to get perhaps the biggest win of my career. Either way, I will stand tall and be proud to shake your hand, before and after this match.
Thank you, Roxi Johnson, for helping this girl fulfill this dream.
The fifty minute tour reached its conclusion, and the guide escorted them from the garden as the scene slowly faded...
