And your partner is…
Sam Marlowe can be seen standing in the soft dust motes dancing in the sunlight of the Staggs Dungeon in Vegas. Breathing heavily, sweat drenching her shirt that plasters to her body and outlining her figure, she leans back to stretch her back as her hands move to the base of her spine. Moving towards a heavy bag near a mirror, she begins to slam a few punches halfheartedly into it which sends a slight cloud of more dust motes dancing in the air. Slight grunts of effort escape Sam as she works out some frustrations.
Footsteps can be heard as a woman walks across the floor towards the redhead. “Don’t you look overworked,” says the woman as she strikes a cocked hip pose, hands in the pockets of a rather beat up leather jacket. Sam quickly turns to spy her trainer and friend, Vixen Staggs who smiles at the redhead with a jerk of her chin towards Sam. “What’s got you all in a sweat?”
Sam shrugs with a sigh as she turns back to face the heavy bag, her eyes catching Vixen’s in the mirror’s reflection. “Guess I am working hard to punish myself or work out some frustrations. I don’t know why but I have been really slacking lately. It is almost like I don’t want it anymore,” muses Sam who turns at a snort of amusement from Vixen.
“What’s so funny?” demands Sam as she shoots a hard look at Vixen who is fighting back tears of laughter. Sam’s face registers curiosity then finally breaks into a grin as Vixen wipes at her eyes.
Finally getting a hold of herself, Vixen points at Sam. “You sound like you are making excuses for a losing streak. Why?” asks a breathless Vixen as her laughter dies.
“I don’t know,” begins Sam as she moves to the heavy bag and levels a punch at it. “Maybe it is because I am on a losing streak…duh…” Sam gives Vixen a goofy look which sets the older woman laughing again.
“Ser…seriously Sam,” stutters Vixen between giggles, “you have to think about what you want in SCW. Listen,” says Vixen, her humour fading as she gives Sam a hard look of her own. “Where is the drive? Where is the desire? Where is the girl who beat Mikah and Mercedes? You ask me, these excuses you are giving isn’t for losing so much as they are excuses for getting lazy.”
Vixen glares at the reflection of Sam who looks surprised at the change of tone from Vixen. Gone is the laughter, instead there is an intense look in her eyes. Sam tries to respond but before she can, Vixen holds up her hand to stop her from speaking. “I am going to tell you something and I want you to pay attention,” begins Vixen as she moves towards Sam who backs away from the intensity of the gaze from the former champion herself. “You have gotten lazy Sam, admit it. That title defense that you lost to Candy, lazy. The internet title match at My Bloody Valentine…Lazy. What is next huh?”
Sam shakes her head as she is surprised by the speech of Vixen. “I am not,” she starts but stops. “I don’t know why you are saying this to me Vix. I mean maybe I am not as sharp in the ring…” Vixen mouths the word ‘lazy’. Sam leans towards Vixen. “I get it Vixen, but you don’t know what has been going on with me. I have been running ragged dealing with everything in my family and …”
“And what Sam? You got your master’s degree and was a person to be reckoned with inside and outside of the ring,” replies Vixen with a sneer. “You held the bombshell roulette title for a record amount of time with everyone talking you down. And now you can’t get a win and you are going to give up. Voyons donc!”
Vixen turns to walk away, a muttering of curses in French escaping her. Sam looks down for a moment then up at the retreating back of Staggs before chasing after her. “Vixen, stop!” Sam exclaims as she reaches for her mentor. “I need your help to get back to basics. Please!”
Vixen turns to look at the redhead who has a hopeful look on her face. Vixen sends her eyes sliding up and down the young woman sucking on her bottom lip. “If I help you and I mean if,” she says, “you will have to give up the excuses and do what you need to do to win.”
Sam nods vigorously and smiles as she says thanks enthusiastically. As the pair begin to talk, Spike leans his head out of the door of the office in the gym. “Hey, Mark Ward and Christian are doing the draw for the Blast for the Past…ain’t that something you are in Sam?” he calls out. “They are announcing the teams on Twitter.”
The pair of women look up at Spike then at each other. Moving towards her bag on the floor near the heavybag and paws through it to pull out her cell phone. Her fingers fly over the screen as she wakes it then taps on the small twitter icon. Opening it up, she pulls up the notifications to see her name listed under Christian Underwood’s thread. Raising an eyebrow, Sam smiles. “Team twelve? And my partner is…” she muses before pulling up the thread of Mark Ward to find her partner’s name. “O’Malley?”
A gasp escapes from Vixen as she shoots a glance at Spike who just turns and disappears into the office. Sam checks between the pair before raising an eyebrow and tilts her head slightly. “Something you want to tell me?” she asks softly.
Vixen nods slowly. “I know O’Malley…well I knew him before he changed. See, he was married to Spike’s ex and the woman who was my nemesis and my friend Misty. He made her happy and then when she died..he disappeared,” she adds. “He left their son with Misty’s parents and just poof was gone.”
Sam watched as Vixen bit her lip but remained silent until Vixen began to speak again. “He’s back but he is back with a new woman and new attitude. He’s wrestling down in SCU and he could be a good partner if you can trust him. I am thinking that he isn’t that trustworthy right now. Well, the woman he brought with him isn’t someone to trust.”
“But will I be able to trust him?” asks Sam softly.
“I don’t know,” is the soft reply from a concerned Vixen.
“I just don’t know.”
<img src=https://french-kiss.webs.com/samdivider2.png>
Blast from the past…For a shot at the future
Here it is again…the blast from the past tournament that will see teams of mixed tag teams facing off in a single elimination tag tourney. Each week there will be matches that will see lethal lottery teams fight to advance in the tournament and the gold at the end of this little rainbow is a shot at a title here in SCW.
Now I have to say that this is my fourth kick at the can and each time I get into this tournament, I get closer and closer to the finals. But when push came to shove, I was never able to pull the trigger and make it over the hump of the finals. I don’t know if it is because I let my partner down or they let me down. Either way, this year is the one where I want to go all the way and get my shot at the title once more.
I am going to be using this tournament as redemption for the fact that so far in twenty twenty I am not on the best streak of my career. This is going to be the first step in getting me back to my winning ways. And the first thing I must do is get to know my partner before we must face our first opponents. Which is quite difficult if you ask me because I don’t know who to talk to given that this O’Malley is a rather distant and nontalkative person. But that is okay, I am going to put my faith in him. And I promise that I will do my best to be the partner that will help him get to the finals and win the shot.
Our first test is going to be on Climax Control this week again Austin Mercer and Candy. Now given that there is no chance of me getting my hands on Mercer and O’Malley getting his hands on Candy, that is a good thing. But I will be the one that will have to deal with Candy.
Before you say it, yes, she is the one that took the Roulette title from me and yes, everyone has piled on to make me realize it. And I was gracious enough to congratulate her and I will freely admit that she beat me fair and square. But that was then, and this is now.
Now Candy, this is something that you will have to deal with, and it is a brand new concept for you and I don’t know if you are ready for this tough tournament. And it is tough considering that you had no clue who you were going to be teamed with to start with. I also must admit you drew a great partner in the internet champion Austin Mercer. The two of you are going to be hard to beat but beat you is what I am going to be striving for.
This is going to be my redemption in some ways and in others, it is going to be the way that I bring myself back into my winning ways. I have a monkey on my back with my losing streak and I am so ready to shake it off. So, if that means that I must beat you to grab the win, that is just what I am going to do. Which means that I am coming with a heart burning for a win and a desire to beat you and Austin to advance in the BFTP.
I am sure that you will be bouncing all around talking about how great an opponent I was but that you beat me and that you have my number when it comes to being in the ring with me. Maybe you do and maybe you don’t because I want you to know some numbers.
Numbers like four…the number of times I have been in the Blast from the Past. Number like two…that I am a two time Bombshell World champion…or four again. Four times I have worn the belt you carry. Three…the number of times that you could hear the slap on the canvas. And as a matter of fact the numbers are something that could go against either of us.
And if you ask anyone, with the losing streak I am on, you are probably the odds on favorites to win this match on Climax Control. But I really need to tell you that no one should tell me the odds because then I get this crazy idea that maybe I should just beat those odds. So, I am thinking that maybe you need to remind me that you are the odds on favorite and when I see you in the ring on Sunday in Scotland, I just might be the odds.
And O’Malley, I make no promises when it comes to this match. I will do my best and that is that. So win or lose, there isn’t much more you can ask of me because that is all I am asking for from myself...my best.
