[Christian Underwood]

Please post all roleplays here! Have fun and good luck!

[Dreamkiller]

Chapter 26: The Cuddle

It had been rocking my brain for days. I was replaying the moment in my head over and over again. The bell rung, we had won…together. I was happy. Not happy because I was standing next to him. Happy because we won the match. It was strange, with this win it occurred to me that we were probably going to be a team going forward.

Then it happened.

The hug.

A fucking hug.

I don’t even know why it happened. I don’t remember us doing it until it was over. I don’t remember stepping into it or being happy about that. I wanted to just walk away and now, well, now I was angry. I was angry at myself, I was angry at the situation. And now I was left to pick up the pieces. To make things worse, the morning after I got back from Climax Control, I had visitors.

Standing in my apartment were my sister Tasmin, mutual “friend” Kallie Reznik, and two children. My niece, Tasmin’s daughter Dawn and Kallie’s son Dax.

The two young children played on the floor while Kallie and Tasmin sat next to each other. Tea was placed in little mugs in front of them, and coffee in front of me. It was at this point I felt I needed to explain and clarify things.

I don’t dislike people, or spending time with them. I dislike the idea of being fake. Being nice for the sake of it. I don’t dislike Kallie. She’s a nice enough girl, taste in men is a little off being with that Australian oaf that hangs around Finn’s younger brother. But Kallie herself is a nice girl, and she loves wrestling. And she and my sister seem to get along.

But the fact they both came to visit me at the same time, sit in my house and be social, is a little off putting.

”So.last week.” Tasmin smiled at me, her hair tied back, she was still very much in “mommy mode”, wearing a loose fitting Green Day t-shirt and jeans. “Pretty exciting huh?”

Kallie stayed silent and sipped her tea; a little weird for a woman whose demeanor can be described as “hyperactive puppy”. I gave a small shrug and stepped back, before taking a drink of my coffee and sighing heavily in an overly dismissive way. ”It’s not like the end result was ever in doubt. Finn and I were better than those two and 99 times out of 100, we would still win that match.” I shrugged and stepped forward.

Kallie and Tasmin exchanged awkward glances. They whispered a little and looked back at me.

I narrowed my eyes. ”What?”

Tasmin cleared her throat and darted her eyes side to side, when Kallie suddenly blurted out. ”You got a cuddle.”

Tasmin laughed and shook her head, Kallie bounced on the stool looking excited and happy. I groaned and rolled my eyes, folding my arms over my chest. ”It was like, soooo cute. We watched and when you hugged, Aiden squealed, I squealed, Tasmin stayed silent…for some reason…”

Tasmin knew, she knew it wasn’t something I really wanted or would do. Even if Finn and I were friendly, or together, I would still not show him affection in public. It’s just not my thing. Nor his thing. Which makes what happened even more weird. ”I’d rather not talk about that…thanks…”

”But why??” Before Tasmin could stop her, Kallie continued. And I took a deep breath. ”You and Finn got a win together, then hugged…so like...things are better now right?”

I groaned and my nostrils flared. Tasmin looked over at me, her eyes pleading with me to try and be “nice”. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before clearing my throat. ”I honestly don’t know what happened. Maybe we were both caught up in the moment, maybe we both forgot ourselves. Maybe we were possessed by some unknown entity who likes to fuck with us… I don’t know.” I paused for a moment and shook my head. ”But, no…things between me and Finn are most definitely not better…at all…”

There was an awkward silence in the room, the air became thick with tension. The kind of tension that appears when someone delivers horrible news. Tasmin looked down, Kallie looked disappointed and I, well, I just wanted to crawl in a hole. I hated this, all of it. The feeling of wanting to talk to him while also not wanting to. Wanting to punch him in the face as well as hug him.

I had always been a decisive person. Either I wanted something or I didn’t, there was no in between, But with him it was everything or nothing. Love and hate, like and dislike. Both polar opposites but at the same time, together. Acid and Alkaline. Fire and water. You get the idea. ”But, you two have a Mixed Tag Team title shot....shouldn't you guys like…be on the same page?

”Probably.”

My answer was short, sharp and to the point. I took a deep breath and shook my head when Kallie popped up again. ”Why don’t you go talk to him then?” I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. Tasmin looked over at her too with a look that screamed, “bitch are you crazy?” ”I mean, you are going to be teaming, you live close to each other. Why not go talk to him in private? You two won a match while barely talking, imagine what you could do if you like…communicated…”

I blinked a few times, looking at Tasmin who was giving me that same look from before. Begging me not to go after Kallie. And truth be told, she had a point. I slowly gave her a nod and smiled. ”You know what, Kallie? You’re right.” I smirked and looked at Tasmin who, now, for some reason, looked worried. ”You are a lot smarter than you look.”

Kallie looked up at me, her eyes getting a little teary. I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I just went over a line and upset her. Her voice wavered and she put her hand on her heart. ”That is the nicest thing you have ever said to me.” She smiled and moved around to pick up Dax and play with Dawn.

I blinked a few times and looked over at Tasmin. ”She’s special…”

”Thats a word for it…but she’s right.” I groaned and leaned forward.

”I need to talk to Finn…get this worked out.”



Titles and Tribulations.

”Winning comes naturally to me – clearly, with everything that I have gone through in this company. I won the same championship three times, that also means I lost it three times. But regaining it…always felt good. The few losses that I have had, I’ve learned from. That’s what you are supposed to do in this business if you are what they call a student of the game. you win, you lose. You lose, you learn more. That is the way of the world, and that is the way that you are supposed to go. But, as I said, winning comes naturally to me.”

Kayla smirked and moved across the room, dressed in black jeans, black biker boots, a white shirt with an almost indecipherable band logo and a black leather jacket over the top.

”Being in a team is definitely something I’m not used to. For the longest time I have tried to avoid it. But last year, myself and a close friend of mine started hearing rumblings and rumors about the Mixed Tag Team Championships coming back. And when management asked if there was anyone who thought they would be good in a team we both put our hands up and said yes. However, a few months later and a falling out leads to strange bedfellows, it seems. Because even though myself and Finn aren’t really on the closest of times…or really even speaking to one another, we have now been booked together as a team and already have a win under our belts.”

“A result that was hardly surprising.”

“Finn and I are both amazing professional wrestlers. He is a former World Champion and Roulette Champion here. I’m a three-time Internet Champion here. And if you take us out of this company and look at what we’ve done in other places, there is no surprise at all that we were able to dispatch two wet, behind the ears rookies. They had no idea the depths that we were going to drag them into. I don’t know why they were there, they were in a position that was unwinnable. Going against us was a mistake for them and management…well, management let them down. A young team like that needs to be given room to breathe, not to be thrown to the sharks. And that is what he and I are…sharks. We are Apex Predators. It’s why we get along so well.”

“Regardless of how Finn and I feel about each other, in that ring, we can put those differences aside and work toward a common goal. Winning. It’s what he and I both love to do. And make no mistake, while I know he and I are both not perfect by any means, we absolutely love this business. We love professional wrestling, we love getting in the ring and showing what we can do and working towards that goal. A team like us? We are dangerous. Whether or not we are on the same page, there is not a team in this company, or any other company, that wouldn’t find a challenge in us. And that’s just the truth.”

She chuckles and moves across the room again, looking down and out of the window to the street below.

”Now, I’m sure many of you are confused. You see, I’ve spent a lot of time telling people that Finn and I had a falling out. But a few weeks ago, after we won that match, we looked at each other and shared a hug in the middle of the ring. A week later, I came face-to-face with him backstage, and we both blamed each other for how that turned out. You see, neither of us are what you would call affectionate. Even if we were as close as we used to be, even if he and I were in some sort of relationship that would be defined as romantic, we would not be showing affection in a public setting. Especially not in our place of business. That ring is sacred, and it is not somewhere that you show that kind of affection toward anyone. That is something he and I understand.”

“So, why did it happen?”

“Simple, we both lost ourselves for a moment.”

“Nothing more, nothing less.”

“But now, there’s another question as we head into this Mixed Tag Title match. Can we trust each other? After all, he and I both have the same views on this business. And life in general. Most of the time you can only look out for yourself, friendships, in this business, especially, are fragile and don’t last the test of time. So, how can we trust each other? It’s simple really. There is another view and feeling that we both have that others don’t seem to realise.”

“We hate everybody.”

Her British accent makes the words sound calmer than they are, but the vitriolic venom is definitely there.

”But, I will admit, it is an advantage that the current champions have over us. They do trust each other. And while I hate to admit it, they have been a highly effective team. Working together to dispatch anyone who has been coming for them and those championships. Hell, it was a bit of an upset when they actually won them originally. I didn’t really watch or care about it at the time because I was busy. I was busy being one of the most sought after champions in this company’s history. I was busy beating Hall of Famer’s, and defending that Internet Championship while making certain challenges look like complete idiots over and over again. I was establishing myself as one of the very best.”

“Hell, our current champions even beat one of the most dominant former champion teams in this company. But beating those two overgrown oafs is not the same as facing myself and Finn. That is something I hope you both understand. Tempest and Austin might be very large, very angry, and very skilled. But they are also extremely overrated. Somehow I don’t think you’re going to find the same with us.”

“And I’ll put it bluntly. Oliver, you are not half the man Finn is and Eiley? Well, your luck can only go so far.”

“See, I am excellent at reading people dear. And when I look at you I see fear. Fear that you are going to be found out. Fear that someone has figured you out.”

“You are simply clutching onto Oliver and riding his success all the way to the bank. And part of me admires that. But, that can only last so long, and eventually, you will be expected to pull your weight in the team. Something that you have failed to do. Oliver has been the driving force and he is the future style that will strike out by himself. Sweetheart, you are just along for the ride. And we can all see it.”

Kayla extends her arms out to the sides and chuckles before continuing.

”I get it though. I’m sure part of you doesn’t even understand why we are getting this championship match. After all, we only beat one team and they were two rookies who didn’t know what they were doing. And truth be told, I don’t know why we are getting this championship match. You look at our histories as champions, and we’ve more than earned a place like this, but as a team? We could’ve used a few more matches. We could’ve used a few more opportunities at destroying the other teams on the roster. But in the end, management realized that we were the best ones for the job. we are the best ones to take those championships off you and be an entertaining, hard-working, visual representation of what a mixed tag team should be.”

“And we get to have our crowning glory at High Stakes. An event that is always one of if not the biggest on SCW’s calendar and a must see event in the wrestling world.”

“This event is one, giant, shiny spotlight, and if anyone in this business is a spotlight chasing clout machine, well. It’s me. And I plan on putting you out of your misery, Eiley. Finn and I are going to take those Mixed Tag Team titles from you, hold them high over our heads and start our reign the way we want.

[Eiley]

OFF CAMERA
Location:Kaneohe, Hawaii.
Date: October 10, 2023.
 

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There was a disconnect that Eiley couldn’t get over and she couldn’t turn on the ability to care about anything as her mind went in circles over the fake Dean letter to his parents. She had hidden it in the apartment in Hawaii so that Oliver wouldn’t find it but she was still anxious that he would find it and there would be questions. She felt like she couldn’t grasp the concept that somebody didn’t want his parents to know that he was gone. And she also felt like she could handle it on her own and didn’t want to drag Oliver through her crap again because she didn’t want him to get his hands messy or treat her like a child again. And then there was the flickering thought that maybe it was him who had been sending the letters to Dean’s parents to keep them from wondering where their son was. But she wasn’t brave enough to ask.

She sits down on one of the benches in Mikah’s gym and chugs her bottle of water after a rigorous training session with Kendall. Kendall had walked off mad that Eiley’s head wasn’t in it and Eiley could only assume she was going to go talk to the big boss, which would only bring more problems her way if the newborn baby was sleeping and Kendall’s complaints woke her up. Eiley just shakes her head as she leans back against the wall and lets herself slump just a little bit to get lost in her thoughts once again. She wasn’t sure how Oliver’s training was going but she hadn’t much room to think about it as Kendall had been on fire in the ring and rather disgusted that Eiley herself hadn’t had the same fire.

Eiley finishes her bottle of water and chucks it at the nearby trash can and frowns when it misses the can and lands on the floor. She makes a disgruntled noise before getting up and walking over and grabbing the bottle of water and chucks it into the trash can, knowing that Mikah wouldn’t appreciate trash being all over her floor. She walks from the main area of the gym and over to the locker rooms to grab her stuff; she wasn’t going to hang around and wait for the wrath of Mikah to show up, she was going to go home for the day. She was not doing any good here, anyways and figured she could do something more productive with her time at the small(ish) apartment her and Oliver shared.

She walks out of the gym mere minutes later and fumbles through her bag to find the keys to the car that she shares with Oliver. It wasn’t that they necessarily each needed their own car as they usually only needed it for the twenty-one minute drive from Kaneohe to Honolulu. She grabs them as she walks through the parking lot to the simple, nothing fancy car. She unlocks it and throws the bag in the backseat before sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the vehicle up. The drive to Honolulu was nothing special and Eiley had pretty much disassociated the entire drive back to the apartment and parks the car in the usual parking stall. She grabs her stuff and climbs out of the car before heading to the stairs to go up to their top floor apartment.

Once inside she tosses her bag onto the floor as she shuts and relocks the door before heading into the kitchen and opens one of the cabinets before grabbing a box of cereal that was her favorite flavor and pulls out the letter. She leans against the counter as she reads over it once again. She jumps a little as she hears the door unlock and moments later her roommate and teammate and whatever else he could be considered, walks in. She quickly shoves the letter behind her and between her lower back and the counter as she gives him a small smile.

•EILEY• “Fun morning?”[/color[

It was not a special morning of any sorts and she wasn’t sure why she had asked that. She was not even sure what he had been doing all morning, either. But she didn’t know what else to say because she was sure she looked guilty by the hurried fashion she had shown of hiding the letter from him.

○OZ  “Not even a little….”

She could see all over his face that the day he had been experiencing must have been a whole lot like her own. He didn't have any of his usual confidence or bounce in his step.

○OZ  “I mean it is Hawaii, so there's that, but it is too pretty here to be having such a god-awful, shitty day.”

He sighs and then leaps up off the floor before landing up on top of the countertop with a sigh. He was dressed like he had just come from the gym, but she hadn't seen him there.

○OZ  “I couldn't get things going today. Kris canceled on me because I got a late start. Told me I couldn't interrupt you and kicked me out. Told me to think about it on the walk back…”

She was a little surprised that Kris had done that but it wasn’t too surprising and she was sure Mikah or Kendall would have had a similar reaction, Mikah more than Kendall. But then she frowns when he says he had walked back from Kaneohe to Honolulu and she couldn’t remember seeing him on the side of the road. But then again, she had disassociated the entire ride home, so it was likely she drove right past him.

•EILEY• “You could have waited for me, you know and we could have come back here together; you didn’t have to walk the entire distance.”

She gives him an empathetic look as she moves her hand away from the small of her back, pinning the letter between her and the counter as she looks at him. She looks him over, trying to judge if he was okay or not before sighing. What had they gotten themselves into with Kris and Mikah as their trainers? Eiley knew that Mikah held high expectations for everybody that walked through her doors and wanted to train under her and that’s why Kendall and Eiley had been the only ones in Hawaii. She didn’t know how to count Court in that situation.

•EILEY• “And you definitely could have interrupted me and Kendall, it might have been easier to train together, instead of separately. And plus, it wasn’t like I was there that long anyways before I pissed Kendall off and she left.”

She just shrugs her shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal that she had pissed one of her trainers off. She also knew that she’d most likely have a message from Mikah in the coming hours about her lack of attention on training and the partnership between her and Oliver.

•EILEY• “I…didn’t drive past you, did I?”

She looks at him, biting on the corner of her bottom lip in a nervous fashion. She really hoped that she hadn’t but from the look on his face, if she had, he hadn't noticed.

○OZ  “I didn't stick to the roads. Tried to shortcut it. Found out there was no shortcutting it.”

He seemed defeated more than anything. Although, will all the added effort of trying to get back home, she didn't think it could have been all that different than a gym day with Kris.

○OZ  “It was my own fault anyways. I didn't want my bad day to rub off on you.”

She gives a half smile at the thought of the two of them wanting to spare each other’s bad days on one another.

•EILEY• “It’s not like I had the best day either, honestly. I probably pissed Kendall off enough to go talk to Mikah. And that’s not going to end well for me.”

Another shrug of her shoulders as if she wasn’t worried about the consequences of her actions but she really didn’t have the room in her mind to think about what consequences her actions would have. She takes a deep breath and looks at him.

•EILEY• “It’s been a string of bad days, honestly. Something has to give, right?”

She gives him a hopeful smile, even though she didn’t necessarily feel hopeful about it. With the looming thoughts of Dean being alive or somebody not wanting his parents to know he was dead, there wasn’t going to be clear skies in her future. Or that’s how it felt.

○OZ  “Typically? Yes. But I don't see it this time. Look at where Jaycee ended up despite his best efforts.”

She could tell that their friend's situation had been weighing on him. Granted, that wasn't a new feeling. Oz had spent the majority of the last year feeling guilty about his actions and how Kris and Jaycee had to live out their punishments because of them. He couldn't help but link himself to where Jaycee ended up. It almost felt like he had been the one to give him the first push down that path.

○OZ  “That is part of it that bothers me. I mean we have come so far, and already kinda made a name for ourselves, but this shit could disappear tomorrow. It's a weird new feeling.”

Eiley listens to him with an empathetic look on her face as she tries her best not to move to keep the letter hidden.

•EILEY• “It’s called empathy which could maybe be a new feeling for you. Or one that matters now, anyways. And you’re realizing that you can’t take it for granted because it could be gone tomorrow as tomorrow is not promised.”

She hated getting all philosophical but it was more evident to the two of them that nothing is promised like most people believe that it is.

•EILEY• “But Jaycee will come out alright, Kris turned out to be alright. Granted it might have taken him awhile, but he’s there now. And maybe Jaycee will come out of it faster and sometimes, people need help and he needs help. He was not only a danger to himself but those he stepped into the ring against. It’s for the best.”

She forced a smile as she wanted to believe her own words and to an extent, she did believe them. But there was also that part of her that knew something had to give or it would be a repetitive cycle that never ends.

•EILEY• “Plus, I like this empathetic side of you, it’s cute.”

She scrunches her nose at him in an attempt to lighten the air around them.

○OZ  “You give me too much credit.”

He looked as if he wished it was empathy that was holding him back. Instead of agreeing with her, he shakes his head and lets out a heavy sigh.

○OZ  “It is more self-preservation than that. Like, I don't feel bad for Jaycee. He fucked around, and found out he needed help. What I feel bad about is that I may have done something to start that spiral.”

However, she could tell that still wasn't the whole story. Although, she didn't want to cut him off and give him the chance to try and laugh it off. In the rare moment that he was reflecting on himself, she thought it better to just let it happen. It had a way of softening his edges.

○OZ  “...and the dude just kinda watched everything slip through his fingers because he was trying to have TOO good of a time. That's definitely something that could happen to me. I guess I have never really had anything to lose before. Now I got a shining example of how all this can come crashing down in an instant. Kris put that stupid idea in my head last week. Haven't been able to shake it since.”

She listened to him and didn’t once try to interrupt him and she could understand where he was at. However, she did feel that Kris was a lot harsher on Oliver than Mikah was on her but she also knew that Mikah’d been pregnant for the last nine months and had held back in order to keep her blood pressure level.

•EILEY• “First of all, anything that you did should not have made Jaycee do anything. People are capable of making their own decisions, Olly. Jaycee had other choices he could have made to deal with the fallout from whatever happened and he chose to get into that lifestyle. He didn’t think he would land where he is now, but he did. That’s not on you, that’s on him. You did whatever you had to do to fend for yourself; it’s always been like that. And while Kris has had some trouble in his life, he hasn’t had to rely on himself for anything; he has a brother and most of the time a significant other to help bail him out. Who did you have?”

She raises her eyebrows at him. She was much better at giving advice than she was at taking it but she didn’t care as she didn’t really enjoy seeing Oliver beat himself up over Jaycee’s decisions.

•EILEY• “Nobody but yourself.”

The two of them had only just started to rely on one another and even then, that was far and few in between. They were both independent by nature and by their childhood, so it wasn’t like them to ask for help or look elsewhere for help.

•EILEY• “But you’re not the same Olly-Oliver that you were a year or so ago, Olly. You’ve changed for the better, whether you want to believe it or not. A year ago, I probably couldn’t really stand being in the same room as you for much longer than twenty minutes.”

She gives him a pointed look.

•EILEY• “And now look at us.”

She raises her eyebrows at him with a smirk on her face.

○OZ  “All it took for us to get our shit together was somebody dying and one of our friends ruining their life.”

He tries to force a smile onto his face but it doesn't take. It was a clear sign of the progress that she was talking about, even if he wanted to pretend it wasn't there.  A year ago, he probably would have been able to laugh about that. Today he couldn't bring himself to find any joy in it. He seemed to be able to pick up that she wasn't crazy about the joke either.

○OZ  “Probably too soon to laugh about that… My bad. ”

She frowns as she can sense the change in his behavior and his confidence and she wasn’t sure what to do with it at first. She sighs before moving over to him, forgetting that she had been hiding the letter behind her back and she doesn’t think about it as it falls to the floor. She moves closer to him and reaches up, gently cupping his face in her hands.

•EILEY• “Hey….Dean dying? That’s not on you, that’s on me. And Jaycee will come out of this better than he was before.”

Her voice was soft and tender, trying not to think about her own issues as she looks up into his eyes. She didn’t want him to place any of the blame on himself as it was not just his to hold.

•EILEY• “You might not be able to see it right now, but it’s going to be okay. Jaycee is going to be okay. You…are going to be okay.”

She was not usually the optimistic one but this time, she could be, if that’s what he needed from her.

○OZ  “We'll see…”

He shrugged his shoulders and did his best to shake off all of the negativity. It wasn't his style to get weighed down by things he couldn't control. He breaks eye contact with her and sits back on the countertop, stretching out his arms. It is in that position that he sees the paper on the floor and immediately points at it to bring the focus to anything other than himself.

○OZ  “Ha! And you think that I don't pick up after myself! What's that, huh? Floor trash? Uncool!”

She pulls her hands back from his face as he asks about the paper on the floor and she makes a face before she moves over and grabs it. She looks at it then at him.

•EILEY• “It’s nothing. And you don’t!”

It was the common argument about who’s mess was where and which mess was who’s. It was never-ending. She looks at the envelope that she’d half shoved the letter back into before looking at him. She gives him a half smile, but the gesture doesn’t reach her eyes.

•EILEY• “Not important.”

She is quick to hide the letter down her shirt as she looks at him and shrugs her shoulders. His eyes narrow, and he waves his index finger at her accusingly.

○OZ  “You can't just say something isn't important and then do something like that with it. It's suspicious.”

He studies her face for a second, and decides that something about it didn't add up.

○OZ  “It fell when you moved, which means you were hiding it behind you. Now you're hiding it again. Must be pretty awful.”

She shrugs her shoulders, trying to be elusive about it. She didn’t want to make it a big deal or burden him with it, either. He already had enough on his plate.

•EILEY• “It’s nothing. Honestly, don’t worry about it.”

She knew, however, that he wasn’t just going to let it go either as she looks at him, trying to push that deceitful look from her eyes.

•EILEY• “It also involves illegal activity on my part…which is not something you should worry about. I can handle it.”

She gives him a tentative smile. She chews on her bottom lip a little nervously before sighing and pulling the letter from her shirt and reluctantly hands it to him and avoids eye contact.

•EILEY• “It’s nothing. Probably.”

She doesn’t elaborate on how she got it but she was sure he could put two and two together to get four; it wasn’t difficult. His eyes scan over it and widen before confusion sets in.

○OZ  “It's something…. Proof of an afterlife maybe. Or someone else knows what we know, which isn't great.”

He tries to think back to that night, but nobody in his memory really struck out as lurking around or watching them. Granted, there were so many other things going on that night. It made him nervous to say the least.

○OZ  “...but I know where we might get an idea of where to look for whoever wrote this.”

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ON CAMERA
Location: San Diego, California.
Date: Saturday, October 14. 2023

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The scene opens up to the Jet City gym with Eiley sitting in the ring on a stool she had managed to drag into the middle of it. She was sporting a pair of black high rise leggings and a simple LIMITLESS raspberry purple-pink colored crop top and bare feet.

“Austin Mercer and Tempest couldn’t get the job done a few weeks ago when they went up against Olly and I, so now the bosses are pushing Kayla Richards and Finn Whelan as the next team to go up against us. Another team that really doesn’t have a chance in beating us, but they can sure try to.

Olly and I have been pretty much unstoppable as a team. Our record as a team together is spotless and I’d say almost untouchable. Ben Jordan and Sam Marlowe couldn’t get it done at Violent Conduct and Austin Mercer and Tempest couldn’t get it done on Climax Control. Hell, even in a non-title match, Bill and Bea Barnhart couldn’t beat us, not that they’re worthy competitors but still, it shows that we’re the most important champions on this roster. And other than Court, our championships haven’t been playing hot potato and we haven’t been causing a scene backstage and getting suspended, either. We mind our own business and keep things in the ring, like they should be. But do we get praised for keeping our hands clean? Absolutely not. In fact, we’re probably the least thought about champions on the roster but yet, other than Court, we’re the most consistent when it comes to competing in the ring and winning. But we get no praises for that, but then again what else should I expect?”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“I was warned about that when Mikah agreed to train me, that I wouldn’t be praised for being successful in SCW because I was trained by her. She had stated that she had never been praised either for her legend status in SCW and she told me that I should never expect to be praised by anybody in management in SCW because it more than likely we wouldn’t happen because of the fact that I would be reliable at showing up and doing my job. So, I do not expect any praise but when the doubt that Olly and I are going to win settles in, it is hard not to have a chip on my shoulder. Because Olly and I have worked our asses off to be the Mixed Tag Team Champions. We are always in the ring in Hawaii or this one here to work on our skills in the ring and to build ourselves together as a team. We let Kris Ryans and Mikah yell and belittle us in the ring because we know it’s what is going to make us better. No, not better, the best. And there is absolutely no denying that they were the best team that SCW had employed.

And yes, I said were because Olly and I are going to be the ones that dethrone them from that title. Olly and I are going to be the best team that SCW has ever seen, whether anybody chooses to believe it, that’s on them. But we’re already on the right path in cementing our names as the best team to ever step foot in a SCW ring as Mixed Tag Team champions.”

She smirks a little before shaking her hair out behind her.

“I’m not going to claim that I know everything about Finn Whelan and Kayla Richards. And I’m not going to pretend that I care anything about them, either. Because I do not give a fuck about them as a team because they are not the better team. They are not better than Olly and I in the ring and I don’t care what Olly and I have to do to prove it, but next Sunday the 22nd, we’re going to prove exactly why we’re the best team this company has ever seen. There’s not going to be any question about who is better and why, because we’re going to prove just why we’re the best and why we are the Mixed Tag Team Champions, whether the fans or those in the back like it or not.

We’re not here to be anybody’s friend and sometimes, Olly and I can’t even stand one another. We’re here to build our resume and to prove that we’re the best, better than our mentors. I mean, that’s everybody’s goal, right? To be better than the ones that trained you? Look at the GO Gym, almost everybody that has came out of that gym has had some success and a few may be considered to be better than Gabriel and Odette themselves. That is what every single wrestling student wants once they are cleared to sign a contract to whichever company they want. They want to prove themselves as the best, better than their trainers because if they aren’t, what was the point of training under them? There is no difference here. I went to Mikah’s gym because she is the best Bombshell that SCW has ever seen, even if there are some that do not believe that claim. But I want to be better than her and I want to be the best that there is but first, I want Olly and I to beat her and Kris’ record as the Mixed Tag Team Champions and Kayla and Finn are just in the way, an obstacle in our path to get around in order to continue to break their records and prove that we’re not just some flash in the pan.

We’re here to stay and I think we’ve proven that as competitors, together as a team, and separately as singles competitors when we are booked in singles matches. We haven’t tucked our tail between our leg and went home, refusing to come back because a match didn’t go our way. No, we’ve fought for everything we’ve gotten and we’re about to do it again in a week. I’m sure that Kayla and Finn are good in the ring, and they are definitely an improvement in opponents since Olly’s and I’s last tag match against the Barnharts. But they’re not as good as us and allow me to be arrogant for just a second, I don’t believe that there’s another team in SCW that are as good as we are. We’ve beaten all the already known teams and Ben Jordan and Sam Marlowe have not even voiced their opinion on trying again, we’ve beaten Tempest and Austin twice now and the Barnharts aren’t even in the same league as Olly and I are. So, it’s interesting to see who SCW pairs together as a team to go up against us but it’s funny to see how these other teams continue to fail when fighting against us because we’re the best they have and we’re smarter than all of the opponents we’ve had. And I’m going to say that we’re smarter than Finn and Kayla as well.

I know that Olly can handle whatever Finn Whelan throws at him, I am not even worried about that in the slightest. He’s got it handled. I wasn’t worried about Ben Jordan or Austin Mercer and I’m sure as hell not going to be worried about whether Olly can handle Finn or not because I have the utmost faith that he can.”

She smirks a little at the camera before shrugging her shoulders once more. The room was quiet except for the few sounds of doors closing somewhere else in the building. She is quick to wipe the look off of her face.

“And I can handle Kayla Richards, she’s not anything better than Tempest or Sam Marlowe. She does seem to have a chip on her shoulder and she has stated that she doesn’t even know if she and her partner can co-exist. And that’s a scary feeling, trust me, I know. Olly and I haven’t always been the best at co-existing in the same state, let alone the same room but now? We’re probably the best at co-existing when it comes to wrestling and other aspects of life. And Kayla wants to state that even an unfocused Finn Whelan is dangerous and maybe he is, in her world. But Olly? He’s always going to be better than the male counterpart of any tag team that we face. He’s focused on what he wants out of this business and he’s Limitless in the ring and he doesn’t stop, he knows how to get shit done. He's faced the wrath of Austin Mercer, which could be seen as one of the few Superstars of SCW that have anger issues, he can handle whatever Finn gives.

And as for me? I know how to get shit done too. I might not be the tallest Bombshell in the division or the biggest, but I am really fucking good in the ring. I hang my hat on the fact that I’ve been trained by the best and that’s going to be one of the many reasons as to why I am going to be so successful in this company. Kayla’s anger issues do not scare me; I’ve seen a lot worse things than somebody’s anger, so it doesn’t worry me that she’s going to be angry with her partner and wants to take it out on me. Bring it on; I’ve managed to piss Mikah and Kendall off for the past two weeks and their anger combined is going to be a million times worse than anything that Kayla is going to be in a week’s time. I can handle anger and pretty much anything else that Kayla wants to throw me. I can guarantee that I have seen a lot worse in the rich scumbags that run in this state. And plus, maybe her anger will lead to this match being one of the best in the year.”

She smirks again, running her fingers through her hair a little bit. Her eyes move over to the doorway and she frowns just a little bit, seeing somebody in the doorway but she doesn’t think anything about it.

“Or maybe not. Maybe this will just be another match that our opponents realize that they’re just not as good in the ring together as they thought. Maybe they will be bound by the limits that are placed on them as a team. But whatever it is, they’re not better than we are as a team. Olly and I have finally figured out that we are better as a team and that we know no bounds...

Because we are…LIMITLESS.”

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[Jet City]

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>
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Forward
San Diego, CALIFORNIA -- Shoreline Recovery Center
13th OCTOBER 2023
OFF-Camera

Oz hadn’t been able to shake the letter out of his mind since the moment that Eiley showed it to him. Just when he thought that they were starting to move past everything that happened at Summer XXXtreme, it came back to haunt them. They were supposed to have left all of that on the other side of their Barcelona vacation. Eiley had even given him several lectures about walking on eggshells around her and convinced him that things could get back to normal. She didn’t know how wrong she was going to end up being. Jaycee was locked away in rehab, a letter from a dead guy popped up, and that was before the week started with the two of them being thrown out of Mikah’s Gym because of their lack of focus. Unfortunately, things hadn’t gotten better from there.

They knew that they needed to get to San Diego to talk to Jaycee, but several obstacles were thrown in the way. However, there was no way that Kris and Mikah were going to sign off on the two of them skipping the rest of the week at the gym. Sure, they were adults and nobody was really forcing them to show up, but they both knew the consequences if they didn’t keep their commitments. Their mentors had been instrumental in bringing them this far, but they wouldn’t hesitate to slam a door in Oz and Eiley’s faces if they felt the rookies weren’t taking things seriously. That wasn’t a safety net that either of them were willing to give up. That meant that even when they were made an example of, and used as crash test dummies for the majority of the week, that had to endure. The only thing that made it tolerable, was that it kept their minds off of the other things going on in life. The beatings they were taking at Mikah’s gym hadn’t left a lot of time to dwell on the other negatives.

And despite everything, they had made it through. For the first time since the beginning of the summer, Eiley and Oz were totally back on the same page. He had finally told her about how Jaycee’s situation was causing him to lose focus. She had finally handed over the letter that Dean couldn’t possibly have written. The two of them both knew that there was only one other person that could help them with both of those problems, but they couldn’t visit him until after he was out of detox. The hell week at Mikah’s Gym had helped to pass that time in the most terrible way. The only silver lining was that they didn’t have a show to worry about this weekend. Neither of them would have been ready mentally, or recovered physically.

OZ: This is a way nicer place than I thought it would be. Kris really went all out…

The two of them were bruised and looked like they hadn’t slept well in days. The lady at the desk took one look at the two of them and immediately had them searched before they were allowed to enter. If Kris hadn’t put them on the visitor list from the moment that Jaycee stepped into the facility, they probably wouldn’t have made it past the doors. Fortunately, Jaycee was talkative enough that everyone on the staff knew the line of work that he and his friends were in. It somehow made them more accepting of the duo’s appearance.

EILEY: I’m not sure we should have expected anything less from him now. Have you seen both of the houses in Hawaii?

She gives him a look before looking around the area and also could not deny that it was at least somewhat nice to look at and the environment seemed rather calm.

OZ: Yeah, but he hates Jaycee, right? Like he was trying to throw him out of Jet City when he got shot, and rode him into the ground to get him to that point. Then he comes back with all of these problems, and Kris does nothing until now? I figured this would be some hole in the wall, back-alley type place.

It had thus far been far from it. The two of them had been guided through the ground floor of the facility and walked out to a courtyard that was placed between the group of buildings that made up the recovery center. Oz had expected it to be more like visiting a friend in prison, and had been surprised with it seeming a lot more like a luxury resort.

OZ: I wonder how many actually famous peo--

He stops in the middle of his sentence as two glass doors slide open in front of them, and Jaycee walks through them. The same person that had walked Oz and Eiley out to the courtyard was the one that brought Jaycee down, but after he pointed him in the right direction, he disappeared back into the facility. Jaycee seemed pleasantly surprised to see the two of them sitting at one of the tables, but Oz attributed that to the two of them looking like they had been in a car crash. He crossed the courtyard over to where they sat with a smile on his face.

JAYCEE: So which one of you two is going to be the next one to join me here? Before you all showed up I woulda said Oz, but Ei you looking a lot like a downward spiral in the making….

He pulled out a chair with a laugh and sat down with them. It was nice to see him actually in a better mood. Neither of them could remember the last time that he actually seemed somewhat like himself. It was clear that something this place was doing was working.

EILEY: It has to happen at some point, so why not now?

Even years ago, they had all assumed that they would each end up in a place like this at some time or another and as Oz had pointed out, this one wasn’t so bad. She simply shrugs her shoulders before glancing at Oliver and then back at Jaycee.

EILEY: Kidding…so, how are things in here? Anybody Olly can make friends with?

She gives Oliver a teasing smile while he feigns taking offense to her statement. It was nice that they could all still talk so effortlessly, but something about it made her uneasy too. She knew that she was there to ask a big favor from Jaycee during one of his worst moments. The thought makes her squirm in her chair just a little bit.

OZ: Of course there is! I fit in everywhere that I go. People that end up here are my kind of people. I have probably partied with half of the people that Jaycee has met here.

Jaycee shakes his head, and makes an attempt to amend his friend’s words to be a little more accurate.

JAYCEE: ...and by that you mean you have probably stolen something from half of the people in here, and if they all figured that out you would probably have a pretty bad time here. Gives you another reason not to fall this far, ya know?

Jaycee shrugged his shoulders. They were probably lucky that they were getting to see him after he had more than a week to start to work through some of the things that landed him here. The first several days had been much more explosive and hostile than most of the days since. It didn’t seem like Jaycee was angry anymore, but humbled.

EILEY: He’s not the only one that has enemies when it comes to theft. But he can usually talk himself out of trouble but you’re probably not wrong, either.

It was everything that she could do to tightrope between the two of them. She wasn’t going to boldly defend her partner, because Jaycee more than anyone knew how awful Oz could be when he really put his mind to it. She was also well aware of the progress that her partner had made since getting his first real job. It was important not to take anyone’s side when they ribbed each other, because they would both certainly use it against her later.

EILEY: We’re actually trying not to steal things from people that don’t deserve it now that we’ve got SCW’s money coming in.

At least, that is what they had agreed on when they became the champions. She shot at glare across the table at Oz, who had since run several of his small schemes to make money that the two of them really didn’t need with Sin City paying them, and Jet City covering all of the travel expenses as long as they continued to promote the gym every time out. Oz rolls his eyes at her silent threatening glare, and directs the attention back to Jaycee.

OZ: Yeah, we’ve really turned over a new leaf. I really didn’t think that I would ever fall for the “get a job” trick, but fighting on TV isn’t a terrible gig.

The smile falls off of Jaycee’s face, and he offers them only a silent shrug at first. He was almost content to let it sit at just that, but the work that he has been doing since being in the facility kicks in, and he forces himself to say the hard thing.

JAYCEE: Speak for yourself. In my experience, it has been pretty all-around terrible. I go out and can’t get anything right. Then I went home and kept fucking up. It’s great, but it’s a lot of pressure, ya know? I think maybe it all just got to me a little too much.

Eiley lets the frown pass over her face as she listens to Jaycee and she could understand his point but she was also a firm believer that people made their own choices. As much as they may have joked about it as teenagers, none of them were destined to be here. Such a thing didn’t actually exist. People got to the place in life that their decisions led them. It was as simple as that.

EILEY: Or maybe you focused more on the wrong thing instead of the right thing?

It might have been harsh to just dump all of the blame on the feet of the person already in recovery, but it needed to be said. If Jaycee kept thinking he was supposed to be here, he would end up needing to come back here over and over again, and never really getting it right. That wasn’t something that she could sit silently and allow to happen.

EILEY: I’m not trying to be harsh, but maybe instead of focusing on the partying, you should have focused on the fighting in the ring thing. But then again, I’m not the type of person that anybody should take advice from; I’ve landed myself in a lot of questionable situations…

As quick as she was to offer advice, she was also quick to make sure that her opinion wasn’t always to be trusted and followed. Not wanting things to devolve into a pity spiral between the three of them though, Oz sits forward in his seat and tries to inject a little bit of positivity into things.

OZ: It doesn’t matter. None of us can change what has gotten us to this point, but we can make sure that this is one of the last times we have to sit at some dumb table like this. We started out together just a couple of blocks from here a decade ago. Maybe we should have never split up and done our own thing. Maybe we should have just stuck it out together. We can do that now.

Jaycee doesn’t seem convinced, but the sentiment does bring a slight smile back to his face. The three of them were in much different places in their lives than they had been back then, but Oz had a point. They were all still here at the same table. Despite everything that had happened, they were all three still San Diego street kids. It was one of the positive thoughts Jaycee wanted to remember to write down later.

JAYCEE: I don’t trust either of you though, ya know? Last time I thought we were going to do this whole thing for life the two of you bailed. Left me running around with all of those asshats we usually tried to keep away from.

He gave a look to Eiley, and without even mentioning a name, she knew exactly who he meant. She looked away from him at first, and Oz sensed how uncomfortable she was going to be bringing up the reason that she wanted to come to San Diego to speak to Jaycee.

OZ: Speaking of… we actually kind of wanted to talk about that now that you are thinking a little more clearly these days.

Jaycee laughs at the way that Oz tries to tip-toe around his sobriety despite the fact that they were literally sitting inside of a rehab. It wasn’t even the elephant in the room, it was the whole room.

JAYCEE: ...or thinking at all, you mean. I get it. What’s up?

Eiley shifts a little uncomfortably in her seat, which was her usual reaction anytime that Dean was mentioned or involved, whether it be directly or indirectly.

EILEY: It’s just…

She sighs before reaching into one of her pockets and pulls out the folded letter that was presumably from Dean and hands it to Jaycee. She doesn’t even try to hide the guilty look on her face, knowing that she committed a federal offense of opening somebody else’s mail.

EILEY: This letter was sent to Dean’s parents…and I know–er, we know that it’s not possible. I mean, it’s not possible that Dean himself sent the letter…

From the look on his face, she could tell that Jaycee understood what she was trying to say. She stopped short of giving any more details than that because she felt bad enough having dragged Oz into her mess. Granted, he was the only one there on the boat that could have helped her at the time, and she probably wouldn’t have made it this far without him. Luckily, Oz steps in and phrases everything in a way that stopped her from further incriminating herself.

OZ: We realize it’s not really one of the steps to recovery to help your friends with other possibly illegal shit, and if you don’t want to know a whole lot about it, we get it. You’re just kind of the only one we could ask, ya know?

Jaycee opens and looks over the letter. It is clear that he doesn’t understand the entire situation, but also knew better than to ask many more questions about it. Being heavily involved in this kind of shady business led to almost all of the events of the last year and a half.

JAYCEE: You’re right, but if I don’t know, I don’t know, ya know?

Oz nodded his head, but Eiley looked at the two of them blankly. It sounded like gibberish to her, so Jaycee tried to put it a different way.

JAYCEE: I don’t wanna know how you know Dean didn’t write this. I don’t care how you know it is bogus. If I can help, I’ll help though. It was a long time ago, but there aren’t many people that would be able to kinda sound like him and care to lie to his parents, ya know?

Oz seems to get excited that Jaycee was following along despite not actually knowing any of the details. If they didn’t have to explain what happened at Summer XXXtreme, Jaycee would likely feel better about helping them.

OZ: That’s all we are looking for. If you think back to that point, do you remember any of the people that he was hanging out with? Someone that he might still be close to these days?

Jaycee holds up both of his hands, palms out, in an attempt to look innocent in front of the other two.

JAYCEE: Look, I mean for obvious reasons, that wasn’t exactly my crowd…

He gives a knowing side-glance to Eiley. That was another experience that the three of them never really put any words to, but it was always understood. As teenagers, their friend group nearly split down the middle, and both Oz and Jaycee had sided with Eiley and distanced themselves from some of the others.

EILEY: Whoever wrote this doesn’t want any attention brought to Dean in any fashion. But I don’t know who could have wrote it because I didn’t…I don’t know any of Dean’s associates.

She was careful to word what she had said, not wanting to spill any incriminating evidence of Dean’s death. She didn’t want to involve Jaycee even more than she hadn’t really wanted to involve Oliver.

OZ: You remember anyone that would give enough of a shit to cover for him?

Jaycee shook his head. Even trying to think back to pull details about their mutual acquaintance seemed to disgust him, and it was years in the past.

JAYCEE: Nah. I mean, once word got out about how he wouldn’t keep his hands to himself I pretty much tried to steer clear of him; most all of us did. I mean he had a couple of guys that he was always with, but most of them saw the light and ditched him around the time that you guys left. The last time I saw him he was talking about some boat scheme…

Eiley didn’t seem to follow, but instead of forcing Jaycee to explain, Oz did so in just a handful of words that got the point across.

OZ: Open water has no rules…

Jaycee nodded, almost looking sorry that he had to bring it up in front of Eiley. He shrugged away the guilt that he felt, as they were the ones asking him for what he remembered. He was only trying to answer their question.

JAYCEE: Something like that. Trying to lure girls out on some dude’s boat. Show them a good time and then maybe not bring them back when they wanted to leave, if you follow me.

It seemed like the best lead either of the two of them had to go on, even if it wasn’t much. The whole situation had been a longshot, but Oz was excited to finally have a real square one to start from.

OZ: You remember the guy’s name?

Oz was overeager for the information, and it hurt Jaycee to have to let the two of them down. He strained his memory for a few moments trying to pull out the name, but it just wasn’t there. After all, it was just a passing moment with two people that he had no interest in speaking to several years ago.

JAYCEE: Nah. It was just some rich kid. Parents owned some company. He babbled to me about it for a few minutes before I was able to shake them. It was all douchebag gibberish, and strangely something about hockey.

Eiley’s eyes widened, and even though Jaycee hadn’t given her much, it was enough. Suddenly, everything started to make a lot more sense to her. There is only one person that it could have been. There was only one person that was close enough, and there was always something just a touch off about him. Everything Jaycee said pointed her in one direction.

EILEY: Kaleb….

Jaycee nodded as soon as she said the name, and the memory of being introduced came flooding back to him.

JAYCEE: ....but with a K, because it was more pretentious…

Eiley went from shock, to looking like she was going to be sick, before getting up from the table. She turned without another word to the other two, and left the courtyard, headed back through the building at a frantic pace. Oz and Jaycee exchanged a look with one another before Jaycee tilted his head in the direction that Eiley’s went, telling his friend wordlessly that it was okay to go after her. Oz nodded, and patted his friend on the shoulder before taking off to go find his partner.



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>Biggest Challenge Yet?

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One half of the Sin City Wrestling Mixed Tag Team Champions stands in the center of the frame as the video starts. He is dressed in street clothes, with a Jet City logo across the center of his shirt. It is one of the few times that fans haven’t seen him in Limitless merch since the team won the championships, but it doesn’t feel out of place. In the last week, reports were the current generation of Jet City talent had all pulled together around fellow Sin City wrestler Jaycee MacDonald. That didn’t appear to be what the champion was here to speak about though. The look on his face said he was likely more focused on the two individuals he was set to step into the ring with at High Stakes.

”I feel like Limitless’ new challengers are looking for us to roll out the red carpet for them….”

”I don’t think they’ve earned it though, ya know? I was watching Climax Control on the monitors backstage when I wasn’t out there in the ring, and I saw Kayla and Finn pop up a couple of times. I saw all of the announcements that not only are they entering the Mixed Tag Team Division, MY DIVISION, as a team, but they have shot straight to the top of the list of contenders.”

”I can’t blame Mark and Christian for that. I mean one of their only other options for a stage as big as High Stakes was to give Tempest and Austin another shot, and we all know that Eiley and I are going to outsmart those two every single time out. It’s diminishing returns to see the same fight over and over again. Sure, those two monstrosities are going to get their shots in, but they are going to be walking out with the Mixed Tag Team Championships at the end of the night. Everyone knows it. There’s nothing exciting about it anymore.”

”...but what is exciting, huh? What would raise the bar for this new division even further than we already have? It sure as hell wasn’t putting us in the ring against The Barnharts. We might be rookies in this business, but we are already leaps and bounds better than those two. Not that it didn’t serve a purpose to beat them. Eventually we will get around to beating each and every team that has ever laid claim to our championships just to prove that we are the best to ever do it. That’ll have to wait until after High Stakes though.”

”...because what Sin City finds exciting is a new team…”

”Granted, it is not just any new team. Kayla Richards is one of the greatest Bombshell Internet Champions in Sin City history. Finn Whelan is a former SCW World Heavyweight Champion. Together, they have quite the impressive resume, and that is just in this company. I am not stupid. I know that they have done even more outside of this company than they have while they have been here. They are formidable. They are intimidating. But they are not a team.”

”Finn has made it very clear what he is here for. He wants to win gold, and doesn’t care which championship it is. Usually the people in the Mixed Tag Team division had a safety net in place to keep people like Finn away. There used to be a rule that people that were chasing after singles championships couldn’t be in the mix in our division. You had to make a choice, and people that are as greedy as Finn would never risk falling short of his goals because a partner didn’t come through for him. So people like Finn, and others like Jack Washington, naturally funneled themselves away from being in the path of the Mixed Tag Team Championships.”

”It is a new day in Sin City though. This is a new division. We don’t have the same restrictions that the previous championships protected themselves with. In LIMITLESS’s Mixed Tag Team Division, there are no rules barring champions from chasing a singles championship as well. Eiley and I have joked about coming after the other champions on several occasions. However, when someone like Finn saw that, he saw an opportunity. He saw a way to leap to the top of the contender’s list on name alone, and a chance to swipe some gold just a handful of matches into being back. I can’t say that I blame him. I even respect the hustle on some level. If I were Finn and Kayla, and I had their list of accomplishments, I would maneuver myself into the match with the rookies too. I’m certain a victory seems like a sure-thing for them.”

”....and it always does, doesn’t it? Sure, I haven’t personally stood in the ring with Finn before. I don’t think I have even come across Kayla anywhere backstage all year long. They are strangers to me, but their affiliations aren’t. I am more than familiar with Wolfslair. In fact, it seems like every time a supercard comes around, someone in their circle starts talking about stealing what is mine. It’s like clockwork, and they always sound so confident about their chances. They talk about all of the big things that they have done, just like I am sure that Finn will. There’s just a couple problems with that. I have stood in the ring against people with the same qualifications, from the same affiliation, and walked away with my hand held high in the air and my championship still on my shoulder.”

”So while these two are, in fact, formidable, I find myself feeling real fucking comfortable as champion right now. While these two are certainly intimidating, I am not intimidated. I have seen people like them step up and try their hand at taking these championships away from Eiley and I, and the last one was much bigger and stronger. He still failed, several times.”

”That’s not to say that I didn’t agree with a couple of the things that Finn said back on Climax Control last week. First of all, Limitless does certainly think highly of ourselves. We don’t hide it. We don’t sugarcoat it. We have this opinion of ourselves because we have earned it. Since showing up in Blast from the Past this year, there aren’t two rookies that have stood out from everyone on the roster like Eiley and I have. There aren’t two people that have gotten more praise from the higher-ups in Sin City, and the legends of this company. Since our first nights on the job, people knew that we were destined for great things, and we haven’t let anyone down thus far. Limitless is undefeated as a team despite the fact that every single person on this roster has told us that we never really had a chance in any of the matches we have been involved in.”

”This is a whole new division, and as far as Eiley and I are concerned we are the only real champions that there have ever been, or ever will be. It isn’t just High Stakes 13, but 14, and 15, and 20, and 30, and as many as there happen to be before this place closes its doors. There hasn’t ever been a team that can beat us, and no last minute, thrown together main eventers are going to be stepping into our division and taking anything from us. The Mixed Tag Team Championships are not a consolation prize for you to win on your way to singles gold. These championships mean that Eiley and I are the greatest tag team wrestlers in this entire company, no exceptions. It’s not a side-piece for either of us like it would be for the two of you, and that’s why you can’t have them.”

”High Stakes is the biggest show of the year in Sin City Wrestling. The whole Hall of Fame is going to be in attendance to see some of the biggest stars in recent memory take their place amongst the greats. That means that anyone worthwhile that has ever competed in this company is going to be in the crowd that night, or watching on a monitor some place in the back. So this night isn’t just about defending our Mixed Tag Team Championships. It is about making sure that every legend this company has ever has sees the Limitless in the ring and realizes that we’re the next ones up. It isn’t just about Kayla and Finn to us, because they simply exist to be the message that we are sending to everyone that has ever paid attention to this company.”

”There is no dethroning Limitless.”

”There is no stopping Jet City.”

”We have always been on top of this division, and there’s nothing that some last minute pairing has a chance to topple everything that we have built. Eiley and I will push them. We will find their weaknesses. We will piss them off. We will drive a wedge between them. We will beat them, and it will all seem like it was always part of the plan. Eventually Mark and Christian will learn that these kind of challengers, aren’t really a challenge.”

”We are Limitless, and therefore we have no equals.”

[finnwhelan]

PARADIGM SHIFT V // FOXGLOVE
THESE FUCKING PROBLEMS KEEP FOLLOWING ME. MAYBE I’M THE PROBLEM? MAYBE IT’S ME? FIND ME AT THE BOTTOM BECAUSE, THAT’S WHERE I’LL BE. NO ONE’S INVINCIBLE. I’M STUCK IN THE MIDDLE.
BOSTON MANOR



••••••

OMNI SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA
AFTER CLIMAX CONTROL 374

The thrill of the lights, the sights, the sounds, settled within his memory for what seemed like the first time. It was the first time every time, he would reason with himself later. He loved the fights, he loved the feel of the crack of someone else’s bones beneath his own, and for a split second – though he would never admit it aloud – he liked the fact that he was facing this new trial with her. He could deny it all he wanted to, and he would for the record, but some little part of him took solace and pride in the fact that he was able to succeed with her by his side.

When the elation wore off, he knew he would find himself sullen and morose as he had been for weeks. For now, as he let the hotel room door slam behind him and he drug his bags into the room, he allowed himself a moment to take in the air of victory. Next week, the following week, whenever he was booked, he would find himself feeling the elation of winning once more. That was how determined that he was to go above and beyond once more, to not be the laughing stock, to be as vicious as the next competitor, if not doubly so.

He crossed the room, pulling a paper bag out of his suitcase. It had been a while since he’d indulged in a bit of Jameson, but the sweet sense of victory warranted a moment of bliss. But with that bliss came unwanted problems, and as he stood there, he wondered if it was really worth it. For simplicity’s sake, was it? It wasn’t like he’d gone to Alcoholics Anonymous or any shit, but the last time he imbibed, it wasn’t exactly the best sight for anyone, including to himself.

No.

It wasn’t time for the bitter whiskey. One little win over a rookie team had no bearing on him, and it shouldn’t have. He who had once been a World Champion of the very company he was now ill-fated to team with a woman who despised him. He who had been a Roulette Champion of the very company that destined him to a constant barrage of anger, greed and revenge. He didn’t want this. Why in the hell would he want to be subjected to badgering and vitriol? Why in the hell would he want to put himself through the annoyance, the self-loathing, the headaches and the trauma that this would ultimately place upon him.

As he placed the paper bag back in his suitcase, his nostrils flared. He didn’t even need to think why. He knew why.

Her.

As fucking pathetic as it was, the fact that he was at least in her presence for longer than ten seconds backstage was a piece of serenity to his otherwise fury-filled life. It wasn’t as if he enjoyed the thought. Wasn’t as if he was even remotely pleased by the fact that he needed her still for whatever reason. She rejected him, despised him, denied him, and yet, even if she snarled at him, he could bear it if it gave him at least one fleeting moment of happiness. Was that what it was? Happiness? Maybe. Maybe not. But it was a calm that he didn’t have and desperately wished for with everything in him.

If that wasn’t a reason to grit his teeth, gnash them at someone else in response, and be a fucking boorish dick to literally everyone that interacted with him, well…then he wasn’t sure what could be a better reason at all.

He’d said it once before, and he’d say it over and over again until someone else would agree. Kayla Richards was going to be the death of him, of his peace of mind, of everything that involved him. She consumed so many thoughts, emotions and time within his day that it was a wonder he could think of anything else at all.

Rubbing the heels of his hands into his tired eyes, he sighed and sat down on the spacious bed, the mattress depressing deeply as he did so. The sinking springs matched the weight of his world, and only weighed heavier upon his shoulders. He recalled the tag line added to promote the match – the Mixed Tag Team Champions were watching the match, and if he knew what that meant, it meant he was about to face them. And he was going to face them with her.

The vibration of his phone shook him out of his thoughts, and he glanced at the screen before reaching out and grabbing it. A moment later, he let out a groan.

“Not fucking interested.”

Nevertheless, he knew that if he didn’t show up, it would bode worse for him. He was tired, now that the elation wore off. He was exhausted, what with his thoughts swimming upstream like salmon in the spring. Yet he climbed to his feet, stretched out his arms, and flung his phone onto the stand, leaving in a huff. About a minute after the door slammed behind him, the screen blinked on once more. A message laid upon the screen of his iPhone.

K.H.
Behind the seafood restaurant 39. No phone. K.

••••••

Look at that. It was like we said it was going to be, right? Kayla and I went out there and did what we predicted. We won, and honestly, there was really no other outcome. The kids didn’t really push us to our limit, but they fought hard…yet to no avail. The team that didn’t want to work with one another had success over a brother and sibling pair that honestly shouldn’t have been out in this company, let alone out of a training center. Nevertheless, here we are. One week in as a team, and we’re already facing the extremely established team that have labeled themselves Limitless for their precious gold.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are limits to everything. How much you can handle, the amount of content you can process in your brain before it can’t retain anything else, and the amount of tolerance you have before you lose patience. Limits.

Kayla and I have made it no secret that we’re not particularly interested in tagging with one another, but the fact of the matter remains that we’re good at what we do. Oh believe me, I can hear you already before I even look at material for round two of this: Finn, you’ve been in and out of the company how many times? When you get to the top of the rounds, you fail. And maybe that’s true. Maybe I did, but new year, new me, new…wasn’t it last High Stakes that I won the World Championship when everyone said I wasn’t going to? And how many times did anyone expect someone like Kayla to be three-time Women’s Internet Champion? We have a habit of doing the things that the rest of you tell us we can’t, no matter how many times we’ve proven that we can.

Try to come at me with the thought that I’ll flame out a couple of weeks later, and I’ll tell you that you’re full of shit. This isn’t about redemption, this isn’t about trying to be better than I was before. This isn’t about trying to right a wrong…it’s simply about doing things in this company that I haven’t. The World Championship is eventually something I will find myself in the ring for, but for now? My eyes are on the Internet Championship…at least, for the singles moments.

But just because they’re eyeing elsewhere doesn’t mean that they’re not focused on this opportunity that lays in front of me. Kayla and I, the forced together team with a very different set of ideals and desires, will be facing off for the Mixed Tag Championships at High Stakes. It wasn’t my first choice to go for these championships, and I bet you already knew this. When Kayla and I once said that we were interested, it was before we hated each other, and before we had issues even being within the same room without wanting the other to be held under water long enough for the bubbles to stop surfacing. But here we are. Preparing. Looking at our

While I’m sure that our illustrious champions are gritting their teeth and appearing to wear the chips on their shoulders, Kayla and I are preparing in our own little ways for this match. For instance, I’ve been refreshing myself to note that while our opponents are going to be sitting there acting like they’re the best fucking things in the existance of mankind, the last few matches that they’ve…

…sorry I have to laugh…

…’won’ have been controversial. Holding down Tempest’s legs from the kick out. Inventive. Hooked tights. Ingenious. Weapons, oh my goodness. I mean, it’s like you really took the idea of whatever it takes and forgot what it was like to have a win that wasn’t tainted by some bullshit decision that you’ve made. Sure, sit there and feel proud of your decisions. Proud of your wins. You’ve done well for yourselves…at least the point where you feel like you’ve done something. But gained respect? Nah.

At least when I win, I don’t have to question the veracity of it. I don’t have to question the truth of the matter. If there was anything I’ve learned in this business is that the wins that you actually come out as a true winner without a tainted win are the ones that make you feel like a true competitor. You don’t have to question the what if. You don’t have to question whether you’re fucking good enough to survive.

You know.

And that doesn’t seem to be something that Jet City teaches their people. It’s all about getting the win, no matter what bit of credibility you lose in the process. Every competitor the infamous Jet City pushes out is a cheating scumbag in my opinion, but you know…that’s apparently what wins matches.

Not with me. When I win, I’m going to know that it’s because I put my pride and my effort and my love into this sport. Not because I chose to be a little bitch to get a dub that doesn’t really mean I did shit. Doesn’t earn me respect. Doesn’t earn me anything but questions about my integrity, doesn’t earn me anything with my peers.

Not that I particularly give a shit, but at the end of the day, let me tell you the win with integrity feels so much better than being questioned time and time again.

Do you like being questioned Oliver? Eiley?

I don’t.

And you shouldn’t either.

••••••

ALLEYWAY, CRAB HOUSE @ PIER 39
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA
AFTER CLIMAX CONTROL 374

A crackling of bone and a short scream, that’s what Finn heard as he entered the alley way. It wasn’t an unusual sight to him, though it probably shouldn’t have been. Two Japanese men stood on the edge of the scene, semi-automatic rifles in their hands. He didn’t know the make or model, and honestly, he didn’t want to know. He sighed as he approached, shoving his hands in his pockets. The two guards weren’t the only ones – he knew others were hidden in a variety of places, because that’s how the Shateigashira worked. The shadows were ultimately his friend, as they always had been, and always will.

Kei Hideshima was Finn’s mentor, for those of you who didn’t know who he was. The man was a former World Champion in a variety of places, and he was one of the cruelest human beings in the existence of mankind. Wrestling was a front for the man, though, as he was part of Yakuza clans in America. He often spent his time in arms deals, but there was a time or two in which the silencing of another human being needed to happen, and it needed to happen quickly. And while Kei was, by all means, a menacing kind of man, he was also the leader that Finn often needed to get support when others couldn’t or wouldn’t be so merciless. Although, it was never quite sought after – Kei always had this ability to know when there was something that needed to be said. He followed Finn’s career and every step made. In fact, for some time, he was even present as a manager back when it was Once Upon a So-Cal Ultraviolent scene. And now?

Now was one of those times.

Kei sat perched upon wooden crates, dressed in a nice white shirt, and black dress pants. He looked a bit like Cloud Strife from the neck up, though he wore a cloth strip across his face to cover a hideous burn he’d received as a child. His sportcoat laid a few spots back, and though he clearly hadn’t noticed, blood was dotted along the front of his shirt. He looked up when he saw Finn and a smile came to his lips.

“Ahhhhh, konnichiwa Kyodai,” he rose to his feet, standing just below Finn’s height. “And here I thought I’d have to escort you here.”

“What do you want?” It was phrased like a question, but Finn didn’t particularly mean it that way. He never really did.

Kei’s smile didn’t falter. He looked at the man behind him, one of his henchmen, and the other man that was with him, kneeled upon the ground, holding his arm which was now clearly broken. “I feel hurt that you would insinuate I didn’t want to see you just to…catch up.”

“Maybe that’s because I know you well enough that if this were just about catching up, you would have invited me to a nice little cafe and we could’ve spilled secrets over tea.”

Kei laughed and clapped the younger man on the shoulder. It was good natured, but Finn felt the pressure of the man’s hand as it clenched into his flesh.  “Haaaaaai! Good on. Come, let’s talk. You all,” he directed his free hand to everyone else. “Clean up, will you?”

The two walked towards Kei’s Escalade, and the Japanese Shateigashira opened the door for his mentee. Finn hesitated, rolled his eyes, and then hopped into the vehicle, moving immediately to the opposite side of the car. He wasn’t particularly happy about this, but he knew Kei well enough to know that he’d drop him off back outside of his hotel. At least he wouldn’t have to walk the way back. And when Kei climbed in after him and shut the door, snapping his fingers, he figured this probably wouldn’t take that long.

“Tell me, Kyodai, what are you doing these days?” Kei questioned, crossing his legs and leaning back against the leather seat. Finn raised his eyebrow – as if the man didn’t already know. Kei thrived in knowing everything and being at a minimum of five steps ahead. Fortunately, Finn didn’t even have to answer him. “I see you’ve made your way back to wrestling, and that being in Sin City. Impressive how quickly you gain championships…”

Finn chose to say nothing. The other shoe would drop in just a second. Instead, he looked outside at the parkway in which the car turned upon. The ocean was visible. Part of him wished he was ready to retire – maybe he could just get on a boat and live away from all the madness and the emotions and the feelings.

“...and how quickly you’ve been losing them. What excuse do you have this time? Kids? Well no, your twins are dead. Family? You divorced your wife, watched your life crumble into a million pieces, and now you’ve created some makeshift family of people you’ve taken in as lost sheep. But they’re not a distraction, correct? Wolfslair? Something you use to cure the itch you get to avoid working back in my ranks.” Kei clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “Mixed Tag Team Championships are upon your horizon and you don’t even speak to your teammate.”

Finn’s nostrils flared. “She isn’t a teammate. She’s a piece of–”

“I don’t care if she’s a hooker off of Colfax Avenue in Denver, she is your teammate and partially your reason to win these championships.” Kei reached out and smacked Finn behind the head. “Kayla Richards is a meticulous former champion in several companies who will do whatever she needs to do in order to win. She’s willing to destroy herself to get what she wants, and she has that hunger that will forever outclass yours if all you do is the bare minimum.”

“The bare minimum? When the fuck have I done just the bare mini–”

“You’ve done the bare minimum for a long while, and if that’s all that you’ve done in order to gain championships, imagine what you could do if you did more. Show up to every show, make sure they hear you, get to know your dreams, your aspirations. Be a presence in every show, make sure that this time, it is not just the bare minimum that you strive for. And that includes talking to your partner.”

He paused again, setting his head back against the seat cushion and looking up at the ceiling. “Speaking to Kayla isn’t going to help us see eye to eye in this match anymore than me stabbing my own eyes into a bed of nails. We’ve been…unable…to do that for more than a year now. We got along, seamlessly, when this all started. For a while, we trained together, we had each other’s backs. We knew each other well enough to know what the other was thinking.”

“Because you communicated.”

“No, because she lived in my house and it was easy. I didn’t have to worry if she was going to do her job because her job didn’t necessarily affect mine. But it was easy, and it was more than that, Kei. We got along because neither of us gave a fuck about anyone else’s emotions or needs – we chose our path, and if that included others, great. But she’d always hit on me, even when she was with Billy, and after their split, she still did. I thought she was joking, and then I realized she wasn’t, but I wasn’t going to be the rebound.”

Kei stared at him with an eyebrow raised and sneer starting to form on his lips. “Do you think I care about your love life? This is about winning. This is about championships. And this is about a team–”

“That’s the problem, Kei. I can’t team with her.”

Silence permeated the room before Kei smacked him behind the head again.

“You’ll team with her and you’ll do it fluidly. Kayla Richards and Finn Whelan have the shot, Kayla Richards and Finn Whelan will be moving forward and be thankful that it is someone that you know well enough and it’s not the stupid fucking Blast From the Past tournament that wreaks havoc on poor souls…”

“I can’t.”

“Because you’re in love with her, right?” Kei tilted his head, and when Finn was silent, the Japanese Yakuza member leaned forward and clasped his hands together, looking down. “What happened to you? You used to be a violent killer, and now you’re some lovesick guppy that second guesses everything about himself and has wayward focus. You will never strive to be good in this industry if you can’t put behind you your emotions and your feelings about people to come together for a common goal. Do you want this shot?”

“The mixed tag titles? Yes.”

“Then you will need to speak to Kayla. You need to push whatever bullshit you have with her – love, hatred – out the window, and become a symbiotic unit. Stuff down your emotions, Callien. Become a statue if you have to. But you need to communicate. Take this week, go to Climax Control, speak to her. Make your decision if you truly want this. Then fucking communicate.”

The car came to a halt outside the Omni and Kei reached over to open Finn’s door.

“Don’t be the one that lets the team down.”

••••••

You’ve got a chip on your shoulder, Oliver. And I don’t care why. But I’m here to knock it off. Looking at any of your previous promotionals, all you seem to do is hold yourself in a higher regard but at the same time, be quick to tell all of us how jaded of a kid you really are. Forgotten. Mistreated. Misused. Fuck, it’s like I’m looking directly into my past and seeing a kid with a vendetta to prove himself while screaming that there’s nothing to prove. And why would they? Jet City took you in.

And now you’re Limitless.

I want to correct a couple of things that seem to be a misconception. Just because I affiliate with Wolfslair doesn’t mean that I live and breathe the facility like you breathe your training grounds. I work there. Nothing more. I’d like to throttle Mercer, I’d like to kill Jones on a regular basis and everyone else within the facility is really just a fucking thorn in my side. I am not them. They are not me.

But you two live and breathe your facility, because it gave you…well, it gave you life. It was you, Oliver, that sat there and gave us a reason for the fact that everyone supposedly hated you. Called yourself discarded and callous…but in reality, you two just seem like completely spoiled children. I don’t know what streets you grew up on, but you don’t talk like you have been, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t personally think you’ve ever lived a life where anything you’ve ever done has been particularly difficult. You’ve never had to strive for greatness or for your very life. Otherwise, you would have a little more humility about the world.

See, that frustrates the ever living fuck out of me. My life from the age of sixteen hasn’t been the easiest. I could talk about how I grew up, and what has created me to this day, but to be frankly honest, we haven’t the time to go over it in depth, but I’ll give you the short and sweet of it. I lived on the street, I became an addict, and it was this sport that saved me. Someone found me one day and gave me a life, gave me hope and gave me a career that I think I’ve been…quite lucrative with.

But regardless of all that…and despite what you’re probably going to say, I’m not going to discredit the fact that you’ve been champions in this company for a cup of tea. And you pride yourselves on that, as I guess you should. Despite all the odds, the controversies, the fact that you’ve needed to support one another to get things done, you’ve succeeded regularly. With one another, at least. Can’t really say the same across the board, can you?

Every time you haven’t had Eiley, it hasn’t gone so well. I recall the match you had with Ben Jordan, particularly…didn’t go so well, did it? And lets wonder why for a moment…maybe surmise a reason. Is it because nearly every time you’ve gotten a win over someone, its been simply because the two of you have cheated your way through? Oh I’m sorry. Hold on. “Focused on doing whatever needs to get done”. But you “can’t change your nature” right? And let’s point it out even further, it’s been Eiley for a majority of the matches that has been the one to get the pinfall. You helping her along the way, well, it’s been fun for you guys because while Eiley is the parrot on your shoulder, squawking the same epithets of disinterest and discord that you scream from the heavens hoping someone will hear you and give you the handout that you feel you deserve, she’s the one that’s actually achieving what’s needed for your team.

Didn’t think of it that way, did you?

That Eiley is the stronger of the both of you and while you sit there and both state that you were trained by the best Mixed Tag Team Champions in Sin City history…you haven’t really been pulling your weight. You were in the Blast from the Past, and while you can blame your partner for failing miserably, you didn’t do so well by yourself. Suck it up. You need Eiley to even be a viable candidate, because you are substandard and can’t survive on your own.

Unlike me.

You see, I don’t need Kayla. I don’t need Kayla to help me get a win. I don’t need her to push me over a bit, or give me a leg up on someone. I don’t need people to help me succeed in this business when it comes to the ring itself. I am a contender on my own. Kris Ryans may have defeated me in my first foray into this company, but that’s the nice thing about failing upwards…I learn from it. You and Eiley? Because you’ve cheated your way through, you haven’t learned how to fall down and get back up again. When you lose these championships, will you continue to  be relevant? Will you continue to push yourself to be better and better afterwards, or are you going to fall flat on your face and then really face the trials and tribulations of this company? Are you going to be like your mentors who, when they fail, disappear for months, years at a time?

Eiley, are you going to be like Mikah, who chose the pregnancy route rather than face another disappointment? One of the greatest to walk Sin City’s halls – are you going to be able to handle her disappointment in you as well as your own when these championships are wrested from you?

Oliver, are you going to be like Kris Ryans, who steps away and retires more than I have ever seen anyone do so, only to come back for “one last run”? Mentor people like Jaycee and Coby…and then they disappear as well? You’re only as good as your current run, and when those championships are gone, are you going to try desperately to get back into the field and make something of yourself with it again? Because you’ve already proven yourself to only be capable when someone else is with you. You’ve said it yourself. If this is all you can do, then you might want to get back into Jet City to try to be a better candidate for everything else.

The outcome of this match is simple for me. It’s a win-win. Look at Kayla and I. We’re going to fight like hell like we always do because we love this business, but if we fail, it’s because we don’t trust each other, and maybe we shouldn’t be a team. And if we win? Fuck, the team that can’t stand each other overcame the team that can only succeed with one another. What kind of sad, pathetic excuse will you come up with if that happens? A bad day? Couldn’t figure out how to pull our tights? Needed something else to survive?

Gonna be sad when Limitless finds their limits.

And I absolutely love making people eat their fucking words.

••••••

FINN’S HOME @ CENTRAL PARK
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
AFTER CLIMAX CONTROL 375

He knew the sounds of the city like the back of his hand, and now, they were comfort that he long wished he could have. He liked sounds rather than the silence, and maybe that was why he chose to invite people to live with him. Maybe he couldn’t take being by himself. Maybe…maybe he just couldn’t handle life on his own. For whatever reason it was, though, the sounds of life were a consoling embrace that he still seemed to not find for his own.

He leaned against the balcony, thumbing through his phone as he looked over Central Park. It was the afternoon, and people were busy racing to get home. For some, they wouldn’t look up at the beauty of a park surrounded by echelons of buildings and corporate lifestyles, but for him…the nature was a sight to behold. Just like she was, angry and raring to fire at him no matter what was said. She was mad they embraced, he was mad they embraced. But he didn’t regret it.

Kei was right.

In order for this to work, there needed to be an increase in communication. He needed to do more than the bare minimum. And he needed to stuff down whatever there was in his mind about what he felt if they were going to do business. Because now it was simply that: business. They had a goal. They had something to accomplish. Attain the Mixed Tag Titles as the team that didn’t like each other and wrest them from the hands of two kids who had everything in the world ahead of them.

He opened the contacts app on the phone and scrolled through it for a second, his thumb hovering over the name when he came to it. With a deep inhale in, he centered himself, tried to remove all the emotion from his being. He knew he could do that. He’d done it for so long before.

It was just a goal.

He pressed the button. He set the phone to his ear.

“What do you want?”

“We need to talk.”

[Dreamkiller]

Chapter27:The Meeting

Winter was coming in, whether anyone truly wanted it or not. The air became chilly, the wind picked up, and everyone began to don more clothing. It was the same cycle over and over. And I hated it. Just as much as I hated this day. I’m not someone that likes to fix anything, or go over feelings or emotions. I’m not someone that likes to talk about that kind of thing because in my own opinion, people were kind of like cheetahs. They couldn’t change their spots, and they couldn’t change who they were just because you talked to them.

Still, I found myself pushing open the door to a small cafe close to that stupid training facility that all of the other idiots in my former living situation worked and trained in. Wolfslair. It was a stupid concept, but one they all seemed to form the same opinion of. Me? My training had been in London, and I had no desire to go back there and be a part of some reunion with people that were less skilled and less intelligent. I had better things to do with my life. And truthfully, sitting in this cafe wasn’t one of them, but I knew everyone I’d spoken to – Tasmin and Kallie being the only living beings beyond my own head – was right. To make this team work, we were going to have to talk.

I saw him there before I think he even saw me. Long sleeved black henley, the buttons unbuttoned at his neck with a bit of his tattoos peeking out, sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He had a pen in his hand, scribbling notes down on a notepad. He had glasses on. Wait. When the fuck did he wear glasses?

Fuck.

I looked down at myself, checking my own appearance. Ripped jeans, like normal. Check. Leather jacket over a Motorhead long-sleeved (and low-necked) shirt that showed off the girls like I preferred. Check. Hair pulled up into a ponytail because why the fuck would I do it in this wind? Check. And then I mentally slapped myself for even caring.

I walked over, my chucks hitting the tile floor quickly and I dropped into the chair in front of him, throwing my bag onto the floor. He looked up at me, sizing me up like he always did. I felt my nostrils flare and my lip curl. “What?” I snarled, before he could even open his mouth to say hello.

His eyebrow shot up briefly, and he leaned back in his chair. Finn Whelan was not a human being that liked being questioned and I knew that. His nostrils flared too. But he didn’t sound angry when he opened his mouth. “I bought you coffee. Black. One sugar. Sugar and creamer are there if you want them, but if I remembered correctly, you only liked a packet in there.”

I tried to slow down and calm my outward indignation. Taking a deep breath I gave a small nod and sat down across from him. His eyes moved up to mine, he had that confident stare going on. This mother fucker really thought he was in charge here. “Thanks. Nice to see you remembered something.” It came out of my mouth with a little too much venom. I wanted some to be sure, to hammer home that no matter what he believed, I was the one with the power here. Finn sighed and sat back, bringing his hand up to place his thumb under his jaw and his forefinger across his chin, staring right into me. His eyes were gorgeous, his cheekbones perfect and his jawline so sharp it could cut the rock hard breakfast they were serving in this godforsaken cafe.

Oh god, I needed to look away. Finn caught my trepidation, he isn’t stupid. And how knows me, as much as I hate to say it. “Look, we have to be in agreement. On everything.” I took a sip of my coffee, nodding slowly but choosing to stay silent. He looked over his notepad, leaning forward with a small smirk. “We won a match easily. And now we have a chance to be champions together. However, only if we co-exist.” He was right, of course. It was something that people close to me had reiterated. Clearly he got the same message.

I took a deep breath and drank more of my coffee, looking down at my hands and then slowly back up at him. “I can admit, you and I worked well in the ring together. I can even admit I…enjoyed it.” I trailed off, cleared my throat and shook my head. “And I never want to lose. Ever. So given this opportunity I think you’re right. We need to co-exist, get on the same page. Work as a team and all that.”  I chuckled and sat back. “But how?” I softened my gaze, my voice, even my body language. I felt myself slipping. My emotions were bubbling to the surface. Fuck, I wanted to just tell him how I felt.

Finn tried his best to hide his feelings too. He could read my body language like a book. But for the sake of this conversation he held back. Typical. “Trust. We don’t have it. We need it.  At least in the ring. I need to trust that no matter what you’re trying to win.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

I tutted, throwing a hand in the air and rolling my eyes. Sitting forward I replaced the sorrow with arrogance. The sadness with anger. “You can trust that I will do what is best for me. Like I always do.” I narrowed my eyes and scoffed with a scowl etched across my lips. “And right now, what is best for me is teaming with you to take those championships….” He exhaled from his nose, as if he had more to say and was trying to decide if he wanted to say it at all. I almost thought about goading him into saying it, but I knew that even if I had the power, I could never force the man to talk. Silence settled between us, and it was extremely uncomfortable. I cleared my throat, looking elsewhere. “Is that all?”

“No.”

He said the word with such force that it made me look up at him again. Finn’s eyes were set on me, and it was unnerving. Those ice blue eyes of his, especially staring at me like they were, were as if he could see through me and right into my soul. I felt my heart plummet down and I tried to look disinterested. “Well, what is it, because I don’t have all day—“

“Kayla, if we’re going to win, you have to get over yourself and trust me too.”

Absolutely not. I felt my back stiffen, my nostrils flare and the hair on the back of my neck stand up all in one flash. “Get over myself?” I nearly shrieked, but for the betterment of myself I was able to keep it down. “You have a lot of nerve—“

“Do you think I want to do the very same to you?” He cut me off, leaning forward. “That I want to put trust into you after all the shit we’ve been through? It’s not on my highest list of priorities, but we don’t really have a choice. So I’m stuffing it down. I’m trusting you —  not to just do what’s best for you — but to be a partner. We don’t have to be friends. We don't…” and he stopped, clearly struggling with what he wanted to say. And that wasn’t like Finn. He was getting agitated, and while part of me was excited to see him flustered (he deserved it), there was a part of me that wanted to help him calm. A small part of me. An almost dead part of me. “Look, whatever we had is dead, right? I get that. I understand that. But you and I both know that if we can just let that go when it comes to the ring, we can do this. We can be better than Tweedledum and DeeDee. But they have the one thing we don’t. Trust in each other not just to win, but to support the other as their teammate. I have to have your back just as you have to have mine. There is no me—“

“Oh my god,” I snorted. Really?

“—without you. Okay?”

I paused, staring ahead. I knew the words were coming. I tried to fold away all the emotions, ones I didn’t know were going to bubble up. Fuck. He could see it too, in my face, my eyes, my body language. I swallowed, pushing it all down. “All right. I get it. We can’t do this without each other. And, to be honest, with you, I know if I do my job, you’ll take care of yours. I can trust that. Besides, you’d never fuck me over.”  He stayed silent, looking me up and down, reading me, studying me.  I could feel myself cracking, breaking. The delicate mask that I slipped over my face when I walked inside and saw him slipped. “I could never hurt you in that way either….” I trailed off looking down at my hands, I was fidgeting, moving my fingers together and away again.

Nerves and insecurity were never my thing.

“Kayla, I–”

I put my hand up and shook my head. “This should be professional, we are nothing if not pragmatic, Finn.” I shot a small smile, drinking the rest of my coffee before clearing my throat. “Thank you for your honesty. Before. It’s nice to know where you stand with me.” I pushed out my words, thinking back to his phrasing before.  At least now I knew. Everything, anything that was there is now dead in his mind. The weight was bearing down and my face changed, my eyes hurt and I felt it all crashing down. And while it happened I could feel it, his eyes on me. It was only a matter of time before Finn saw it. I cleared my throat and looked away, I wasn’t going to let him win.

Finn’s look changed, as if he just had a thought enter his mind he didn’t expect. ”Kayla…did we…oh shit.” He looked past me, his face faded from thoughtful and introspective to annoyance, I raised an eyebrow and my heart hurt and felt as if it was going to explode.

”Finny! HEY! How are you?” It was Emily. She was still in his life. I shook my head and planted my hands on the table, standing up.

”Kayla, wait…” I put my hand up in a dismissive way, I wasn’t going to get drawn in again, I wasn’t going to let this happen and this bullshit crush me again. I pushed the door open and walked out onto the busy streets. I thought I heard something behind me, but right now? Right now I just wanted to get home. Hailing a cab, sliding in, I don;t even remember telling him where to go, the anger had blinded me, dulled my hearing to a subtle deafness.

As the cab got to my apartment building, things started to clear. I paid the driver, moved through the lobby and up to the elevator. My heart started slowing down, I started to breathe and relax. Moving to my door and into my apartment I heard laughing. Kallie and Tasmin were waiting for me. Kallie stood up, Tasmin recognised the look, standing up and tapping her on the shoulder. Tasmin moved over and sat down near me. ”So, things didn’t…go well?”

I took a sharp inhale in, pulling out a bottle of whiskey, pouring a glass with no ice, cause fuck diluting it you savages. ”You could say that. I think we cleared the air, know where we stand….it was even lovely seeing Emily again.”

”Wait…..what? Emily? Why was she there?”

I shrugged and sipped  my drink, calming me even more. ”You’d have to ask Finn. but it’s fine. It is. We can work together. I know he and I can win and be successful. We can be professional…but…that’s it…professional.” I repeated it again, drinking the rest of my whiskey. Tasmin looked over at Kallie, they both seemed sad. I just shook my head. I had work to do.




Assumptions

”If you would indulge me for a moment. I would like to paraphrase the greatest postmodern American poet of the last twenty years.”

“Lindsey Lohan…”

“I’m tired of rumours starting, I’m sick of being followed, I’m sick of people lying, saying what they want about me”

“That’s right, I said it. And it’s true.”

Kayla sneered, her long black hair flowing down her shoulders and back framing her face, her high cheekbones and focused look betraying the frustrations she was keeping inside.

”There’s a lot of miscommunication and bullshit being thrown around this place, especially when it comes to myself and Finn. But, in the ring, he and I are ready to do what we need to do and our opponents at High Stakes have done nothing but believe their own hype. Now, this might seem ironic of me to say but Eiley and Oliver need to reign their arrogance in. And yeah I know, coming from someone like me? That’s rich”

“I mean yeah, as established, Eiley, you and Oliver beat Tempest and Austin…and Austin is a former World Champion and Tempest is, big. Like…really, really big. But the fact you needed to cheat speaks volumes. And make no mistake. To win that match you NEEDED to cheat.”

“I don't cheat in matches because I need to.”

“I do it because I WANT to.”

“But in the first little verbal barb you decided to try and throw out there, you decided to go on and say Finn and I don’t have a chance at beating you. Really? No chance at all? There is a 0.0000000000000001 percent chance that you will walk outside and get brutally murdered by a five-year-old with a rubber banana. It’s a tiny chance, but it’s still a chance. So saying that ,two seasoned, skilled, former champions with a killer instinct stand “no chance” at beating you?”

“Sweetheart…”

“You’re an idiot.”

She scoffs and shakes her head, tapping her arm with her finger as her arms fold over her chest.

”Not that arrogance is a bad thing. Hell, I live and breathe arrogance and confidence. My full name might as well be Kayla “Hubris” Richards. But even I have limits. I have beaten Ariana Angelos so many times I think I have PTSD from hearing her pathetic begging. But even I know, deep down there is a tiny chance she could get lucky and beat me. Thing is, in your rambling rant of arrogant stupidity there are some nuggets of logic and truth. You and Oliver have beaten some big names and great teams. You beat Ben and Sam, and it’s unfortunate that Ben’s talents couldn’t overcome Sam Marlowe’s apathy. You beat Austin and Tempest who I already talked about ad nauseum. And then you beat….you beat….”

“Bill and Bea.”

“Congrats. Three Mixed Tag Title wins. Against one credible team, one team that would have been credible five years ago and a husband-wife team that shouldn’t even be in this company. Small logics and half truths.”

“Three wins a legacy does not make, Eiley. But I get the sentiment. You and Oliver live, eat, breathe and work together day in and day out. You guys are always in the ring working with the rest of your gym all striving to get better and stronger and be the best team you can be. I get it. It makes a lot of sense. It even makes sense saying Finn and I aren’t “a team”.”

Kayla shrugs and nods slowly.

”Outwardly. No, outwardly he and I have our issues due to personal things. But you want to know why you should be worried, Eiley? Why you and Oliver need to open your goddamn eyes? You two, being in your little SCW centric bubble, know about the big stars of this company. But, even then your bubble is smaller. You two think that Kris Ryans and Mikah are the be all and end all of SCW, despite the fact the company left them behind. The company and wrestling in general moves on to new stars…more dominant stars.”

“You think Mikah is still the best bombshell of all time? Amber Ryan, Roxi Johnson, Alicia Lukas…that is three names off the top oif my head that make Micah look like a third rate Margot Robbie with a less annoying accent. The wrestling world moves on. So, while you two mention Kris and Mikah and ride their asses around like it means something, all it shows is that you can’t live up to your own lofty expectations and your own careers and futures so you need to verbally blow them for twenty minutes.”

“But again…you and Oliver are a real TEAM, right?”

“Finn and I don’t know each other as well, and I even said we might have trouble learning to “co-exist” as a team”

“I don’t think you took in what I was saying kid. Let me spell it out for you.”

“I know Finn Whelan. I know him very well. He and I were best friends for a long time, even though neither of us would admit it. I had his back and he had mine. We drove each other nuts, but we still know each other. We lived together, we saw each other everyday and when I was at the lowest most fucked up point of my life and I needed a hand, he was there. Finn pulled me up, dusted me off and reminded me of the one indisputable fact of my life: I am a raging bitch whose horrible attitude is matched by my talent.”

Kayla sneered again and threw her hands in the air.

”You and Oliver are young kids with your whole careers ahead of you and while Finn and I aren’t old by any metric, he and I do have way more experience – in life and in the ring. So yeah, you can say Finn and I aren’t a team, and we’re not better than you two, and you can even fall back on your trainers names as a way to both keep them relevant and add legitimacy to everything that spills out of your pathetic little mouth.”

“But at the end of the day, we will be in the ring with you both at High Stakes. And you will be facing two people who have the talent and the drive to challenge anyone. Two people who hate to lose, who do anything and everything they can to win.”

“You and Oliver can talk a great game, you have had some success but arrogance needs to be earned. Earned through wins and losses. So you guys, need to lose. To be who you want to be, to show the world that you are serious and aren’t just riding on other past accomplishments, you have to have that loss. That crushing defeat. You learn nothing from a win. You and Oliver win and then what?”

“Who else is there for you two to face?”

“You lose and you have to go back to the drawing board, deal with the deflation and loss of ego. And then and only then will you know how good you really are. So in a way, Finn and I can and will be willing to help you. By beating you, taking those titles and then holding them ‘till you raise back up and come for us. Now, I don't dislike you Eiley, or Oliver. In fact, you both impressed me, but you are still the weak link, you are still following Oliver around while verbally mouth fucking “legends.” And at High Stakes…I’m going to end that story thread and force you to grow up…fast.”

[Eiley]

OFF CAMERA
Location:San Diego, California.
Date: October 15, 2023.
 

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There had been constant turmoil in Eiley's life since Summer XXXtreme. For a while, she had felt as if everything was going to be okay; Dean was presumed dead and gone and nobody but her and Oliver knew about the real reason for his disappearance. That was until she discovered a letter that had been sent to his parents. How she had obtained the letter didn't really matter but now, she could only think about the fact that Kaleb was involved in some fashion.

She had literally run out of the area that she and Oliver had been in with Jaycee after the revelation of Kaleb's involvement. She didn't want to believe that he was involved or that his agenda may have had sinister intentions behind them. It was baffling to her because she had been out on his boat multiple times and he had not even remotely tried to do anything harmful to her. But now, she wondered if he had been luring her into a false sense of security.

After she had run out of meeting with Jaycee, she had been physically sick and had thrown up onto the side of the road. That then led to dry heaving as she couldn't comprehend the fact that Kaleb's intentions hadn’t been pure or genuine. Then she thought of the times she had done things with him that she never would have done with Dean, willingly.

Now, she was trying to figure things out. She hadn’t wanted to go to Vegas to try to confront Kaleb, so instead of facing Oliver, she was locked up in one of the rooms in the Jet City South building, trying to hide from her partner. She moves a little to get comfortable as she keeps her phone’s ringer on silent and her media volume was low so that hopefully it wouldn’t be heard through the closed door. She glances up as she can hear somebody walking in the hallway outside of the room/closet she was hiding in and she pulls her feet up on the crate she was sitting on and then pulls her knees up to her chest. She focuses on her phone for a little bit before sighing to herself as there’s a knocking on the door. She chooses to ignore it but the knocking doesn’t seem to stop.

•EILEY• “Please go away!”

The stealth mode clearly wasn’t something that Eiley was good at, especially when it came to Oliver.

○OZ  “You’re going to have to learn some new tricks if you don’t want to be found.”

She can tell that he was leaning up against the outside of the doorframe just from the sound of his voice. However, as he talked, it sounded like he had squatted down so that his voice would more easily carry through the small crack under the door.

○OZ  “You’re going to have to come out eventually, and I don’t have anything better to do, so I’ll just be here to talk whenever you’re ready…”

She frowns at his words and presses the side button on her phone to lock it before looking/glaring at the locked door. However, she doesn’t move as she looks around the room/closet before looking back at the door.

•EILEY• “What’s there to talk about?”

She knew what they needed to talk about but she was really good at avoidance. It was how she had originally handled the Dean situation that had happened back in April.

•EILEY• “I can hide in here just as long as you can wait out there…”

But she knew that she would probably cave first as she usually did. She sighs before grabbing her phone and standing up before opening the door to see her partner there, however squatted down. She gives him a small, half fake smile.

•EILEY• “Is this what it feels like to be tall?”

She gives him a smirk, trying to change the subject. He pushes himself back to his feet, and looks down at her. He was more than willing to give into the change of subject if it meant getting her talking.

○OZ  “I wouldn’t know. I am looking up at most people too. It’s really just you that sees me from that perspective. Well, you and children.”

And they both knew that the children he spoke of didn’t think that he was too big to mess with either. Kris’ team of terrorists had beaten them up at the gym and stolen their titles after several exhausting days.

○OZ  “...and Kris cut me a couple of days of slack. We’ve been going pretty hard and he doesn’t want me to burn out or get hurt before High Stakes even gets here.”

Eiley gives Oliver a skeptical look, unsure if Kris had underlying intentions or not. She chooses to ignore the comment about her height as she knew that she was short.

•EILEY• “That seems a little suspicious…Kris cutting you some slack…”

She raises her eyebrows at him as she relaxes just a little bit. She leans against the door frame, her eyes still on him. She looks around the hallways, noticing that it was relatively quiet around the gym and that was okay with her.

•EILEY• “Kendall seems to have a similar idea. Or she’s just fed up with my lack of interest in training. Can’t be too sure.”

She shrugs her shoulders at the thought. He didn’t seem surprised that everything seemed to link up. Things had a way of happening like that around the Jet City crowd.

○OZ  “You know they have eyes and ears everywhere. If we are thinking about something, they already know about it somehow. It’s not like a couple of days would be a bad thing either….”

He didn’t just mean the Kaleb situation either, but the other problems could probably wait until after the two of them handled the cloud hanging over Eiley’s head. Although, he didn’t want to feel like he was pushing her to do something that she didn’t want to do.

○OZ  “....unless it’s not something that you have the brain space for. I totally understand if you want to just try to push through and focus on the match. It’s been working for us for a couple of months already.”

She looks at him, a slightly hesitant look on her face as he suggests talking about it or not, if that’s what she wanted. She takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out as she chews on the inside of her bottom lip.

•EILEY• “But…it’s not going work long-term…”

She knew that it would be best to just talk about it.

•EILEY• “I…don’t know where to start…”

She takes a deep breath as she looks at him, an unsure look on her face. She then looks around the hallway before looking at him and then grabbing him by his shirt and pulls him into the closet and shuts the door. She didn’t want to take the chance that anybody could be listening.

•EILEY• “I don’t remember Kaleb being a part of Dean’s group when we were teenagers, but he had to have been. But…I don’t really understand his motive? Or what his endgame was…I had been on his boat multiple times and he didn’t … try to get rid of me. And…I’ve done things with him..”

She avoids looking at him as she spills the words out of her lips quickly, not sure that she would get the words out if she didn’t do it quickly.

○OZ  “For all we know, the whole thing is a big coincidence…”

Granted, he felt that was probably a longshot at this point. Without being directly involved in any of it, everything sounded like it added up for him. The way that Jaycee pulled the name out of nowhere, and triggered the reaction that it did made him believe that on some level she must have believed it too. Although that could have just been wishful thinking. If Jaycee was wrong, they still didn’t have any idea what was actually going on. Oz wasn’t willing to let himself think about that possibility.

○OZ  “...on the other hand, the only person with any of the answers is Kaleb, and you’re the only person that could get him to talk. That doesn’t mean that you’ll have to do it alone though. We’re a team, remember? That goes a lot further than Sin City.”

She looks at him and while his words should be comforting, it only made her feel a little more unsettled. She didn’t think that it could be just a coincidence and now all of her memories with Kaleb were tainted with whatever this was or could be.

•EILEY• “That means we have to go to Vegas..”

She knew that’s where Kaleb was and she could get ahold of him but she hadn’t talked to him since the one tour where she had been sort of elusive toward him. She wasn’t sure that he would even take her call this time.

•EILEY• “Are we going to drive or fly?”

She looks at him. She knew that a flight was only an hour or so from California and driving from San Diego would be a little over five hours. But not that she had even know where they would get a car.

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OFF CAMERA
Location:Las Vegas, Nevada.
Date: October 16, 2023.
 

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The flight to Las Vegas from San Diego hadn’t taken them too long and Eiley had explained nearly everything to Oliver on the flight from San Diego to Vegas, even the dirty details that she necessarily didn’t want to but did so anyways. And she had sent a text message to Kaleb, asking to meet up at neutral location at some cafe off of the strip to talk. She wasn’t sure it was the best idea and now, as she and Oliver wait for him to show up she looks at Oliver.

•EILEY• “I think we should just go. Just forget it and go and maybe he’ll just…disappear.”

She looks at Oliver with a slightly hopeful look on her face that he would agree with her. Even if she did want to know what Kaleb’s hidden intentions were, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know about his involvement with Dean or Dean’s schemes.

○OZ  “There's really only one way to make that happen…”

He directs her eyes back to where a camera sits behind a window over her shoulder. The street signs in front of it helps to obscure it from view, but he had made sure it was getting a good shot.

○OZ  “Just remember, I am only ten seconds away if things get weird and I can hear everything….”

He looked down at this watch, knowing he had limited time to get out of sight.

○OZ  “Don't admit to anything, and try to get him to say anything to make himself a suspect and by the end of the day we will never have to see him again.”

Eiley nods her head as she chews on the inside of her cheek, anxiously. She doesn’t require him to say anything else as he slips over to a table not too far away. She tries to sit still but every time the door opened and the little bell rang to signal the door had been opened, she flinched. She looks up as she sees him walk into the cafe and he was on time, which she figured that he would be. She forces a smile on her face, hoping that it was friendly enough that it wouldn’t raise suspicion. Kaleb notices her before nodding his head at her with a smile on her face as he walks over. She swallows hard as he leans down and plants a kiss on her cheek before sitting down across from her and she resists the urge to wipe it from her face.

•EILEY• “Thank you for coming…”

He smiles at her as he leans slightly onto the table, his blue-grey eyes looking into hers.

♠KALEB “Not a problem at all, in fact I’m glad you messaged me because we kind of left things in a bad place the last time we talked.”

She vaguely remembered the talk they’d had in Peru but she knew that he had disapproved of whatever it was she had with Oliver and she wasn’t sure if that came from jealousy or from disgust.

•EILEY• “You’re right we did. I have to say I was a little scatter-brained then and my head was not in the right place. But I have a question…about Dean…”

She looks at his face and she can see the recognition on his face and she forces a smile, trying to appear as if she was calm and collected, even though her heart rate was saying otherwise.

♠KALEB “Ah…yes, what about Dean?”

There was a look in his eyes that Eiley could now read as something sinister and she grabs her glass of water and takes a drink from it to calm herself down.

•EILEY• “I…haven’t heard from him lately and I was…just curious if you had? You see, his parents have been asking me where he’s been...”

She looks up into his eyes, hoping that he was buying her lies. But she didn’t know what he knew and what he didn’t know. A smirk plays over his face as he watches her squirm in her seat.

♠KALEB “You and I both know that isn’t true, Eiley. I thought I told you in Peru that we both know you’re not dumb…so I am not sure why you are trying to act like you are. You know where Dean is, just as much as I do.”

He leans forward and says in a quiet voice.

♠KALEB “And we both know he’s not coming back, don’t we?”

She knew that he was trying to rattle her and stir up things that she didn’t necessarily want stirred up. She has to keep a straight face as she looks at him, using all of the strength she could and remembering the some of the tips she had learned over the years.

•EILEY• “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, Kaleb. I haven’t talked to Dean in a long time, but I remember that you used to run around with him when you were teenagers.”

She watches his face as the smirk turns a little more sinister and he leans back in his chair. He didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that Eiley had connected the dots.

♠KALEB “I’m surprised it took you this long to remember, Eiley. I wondered if you were ever going to figure it out. And don’t worry about Dean’s parents, they think he’s on vacation somewhere.”

It was all she needed to hear and all she could stand to hear again before she stands up to leave but he is quick to grab her wrist.

•EILEY• “Let go.”

He just smirks at her, looking up into her golden brown eyes, his hand still holding onto her wrist.

♠KALEB “Don’t be a stranger, Eiley. I know I won’t be.”

He lets her wrist go and she walks outside to get some air, breathing it in quickly once she is outside.

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ON CAMERA
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada.
Date: Saturday, October 20, 2023

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The scene opens up to show one half of the mixed Tag Team Champions, Eiley sitting on a bench in front of the newly finish Las Vegas Sphere. And behind her the Sphere’s image was the usual emoji that it has currently been sporting. She is dressed in a pair of jean cut off shorts and a black, ribbed cropped tank top. Her blonde hair is pulled up into two messy space buns on each side of her head and her mixed tag team championship is sitting next to her on the bench.

“Time is a funny thing, really. Time is something that most everybody takes for granted and usually has some sort of  view that there will always be time to do something at a later, future date. But time moves faster than anybody realizes and we spend at least seven hours of our day sleeping and for those who have a normal job, they spend eight or more hours at work, away from their families. However, wrestlers have a different sense of time and usually view time as something that they have to use wisely when they are young because that’s when they are in their prime in the ring. Or time that they spend chasing after something that they may never get in their career. Things like World Championships or any championship, for that matter. And that’s just what Kayla Richards and Finn Whelan are doing right now, wasting time in chasing after the Mixed Tag Team Championships.”

She glances back at the Sphere, smiling at the cute, confused expression the emoji was currently displaying.

“A lot of previous teams have wasted time in chasing after the Mixed Tag Team Championships and their tries have been fruitless for them. They wasted weeks of their lives chasing after a fever dream that Olly and I both knew was never going to happen for them. But Kayla and Finn? They’re on borrowed time already as a team. Kayla already stated it last week in her own promo that she was not used to being in a team and that she has been chasing after singles titles. She even went on to make the statement that she completely tried to avoid teaming up with somebody to chase after these championships.”

Eiley looks down at the championship for a moment before looking back at the camera that was currently recording her for her promo.

“Then what is really the point in going after these championships now? Clearly, Kayla, you think you’re above these championships. Because you spent a few minutes talking about the championship that you lost three times and how you it taught you something after losing it that many times. That, to me, makes me think that you think that these championships are beneath you or at least, that’s the way it sounds when you first even started talking about the championships and you wanted everybody to know that you’ve had success outside of the Mixed Tag division and that your previous championship reigns happened three times. You wanted that to be an important fact and you wanted everybody to think that you’re a better competitor than I am in the ring because I have not held a singles championship….yet.”

Eiley winks at the camera as she gets comfortable on the bench, enjoying the illumination that she was getting from the Sphere.

“You see, my career is just starting out, Kalya. I have alllllll of the time in the world to chase after singles championships. Championships like the World Bombshell Championship or even the Bombshell Internet Championship. I don't have to rush to those championships right now because what I have going for me with Olly is just what I want. But this championship? The one that I share with Olly? It is the most important one to me because it’s another accomplishment that I am sharing with Olly, who is probably my best friend. If not anything else.”

She smirks again, a certain look in her eyes.

“I don’t want to ever feel like this championship is beneath me in any fashion. Because it’s not. And you should know how hard it is to rely on another person in a match after all, you claimed that being in a team is not something that you are used to. You even boldly state that you and Finn are not on the same page, essentially. And we all know that you and Finn are professional wrestlers, none of us would be employed by SCW if we weren’t.”

She gives the camera a slightly confused look before shaking her head.

“That point was a little redundant, don’t ya think?”

She just laughs it off as she leans back against the back of the bench and crosses one leg over the other.

“You seem to think that even though you and Finn aren’t on the same page, that you will be able to power through it to get the win on Sunday. And you are right, Olly and I? We are an effective team and probably the best team that this company has seen since Kris Ryans and Mikah themselves. And sure, people say that we’re the cheap knockoffs but if you think about it, we already get along better than they did their first entire first reign. So, essentially, we’re already better Mixed Tag Team Champions than they were.”

It probably was a bold statement to make and Eiley was well aware of that. But she believed that making such bold statements like she had was something that could make the difference in the pace of the match.

“Kayla, you can claim to be an excellent people reader all you want but fear? That’s not something that I feel while competing in the ring for the SCW audience. And I find it amusing that you and Finn quite literally contradicted one another as you claimed that I am riding Oliver’s success all the way to the bank but Finn sees it as the opposite. He wanted to point out that Oliver has not found success outside of the Mixed Tag Division, while I have. Whereas you, you seem to think that Oliver is the standout star of this partnership. However,, what you don’t seem to take into consideration is the fact that Olly and I? We’re a team. We’re not out to get something over one another and we work together phenomenally well. We are good at what we do and that’s why Ben Jordan and Sam Marlowe couldn’t hack it at Violent Conduct and it’s why Austin James Mercer and Tempest always fall short when they’re booked against Olly and I. We’re just simply the best team that SCW has employed.”

She shrugs her shoulders as she looks at the camera.

“And honestly? I do not care how you got this championship match because I have zero room to talk Nobody thought that Olly and I deserved to be in the match at Summer XXXtreme and everybody believed that we were not going to walk out of that match as the Champions. Everybody claimed that we hadn’t paid our dues yet and that we hadn’t been in the company long enough to even earn that shot. And I don’t give a fuck about your previous singles championship reigns. That? Is irrelevant when it comes to Sunday because you’re not facing anybody for a singles championship. I don’t give a fuck who you think you are or what you think that you’re capable of in the ring that I’m not. Because I’m going to tell you that I’m just as capable in the ring as you are, if not more. And the fact that you and Finn aren’t on the same page? That’s only going to help Olly and I even more on Sunday because he and I? We’re always on the same page when it comes to competing.”

She hold an arrogant look on her face, one that could have rivaled her mentor, Mikah’s signature look.

“It seems like Finn is really the only one out of his team with Kayla that believes that they can manage to work together. I also thought that the month was October, not January? I don’t think you can claim, new year, new you this late in the year. We’re practically at the end of the year, you’ll have to wait until January of 2024 to claim that shit. And honestly? I don’t give a shit how many times you’ve flaked on SCW or how many times you’ve rose to the top only to fail because that doesn’t matter on Sunday. Go ahead and flake again, it’s not my concern. My concern is to defend my championship with Olly against you and Kayla, not laugh at the fact that you’re quick to note your own failures. That’s your problem, not mine. And while you want to basically shit on the competitors of Jet City, you can’t say that about me, not fully. I’m half trained by Jet City and half trained by Mikah at her gym in Hawaii. And plus, everybody that has come out of Jet City is more successful in the ring than the two of you combined and the one that is owner of Jet City? He’s considered a legend in this company.”

She smirks at her own words.

“Maybe it’s jealousy that’s coming out of your mouth because you’re not somebody that comes from Jet City, the gym that has probably cranked out more superstars than whatever crack shot of a gym you came from. I don’t know and frankly, I don’t fucking care, either. And I don’t give a shit about your sob story of a life before you became a superstar. We all have pasts and demons in our closet, it’s not SCW’s job to clean out our closets. Nor does that make you any better than Olly, Finn. And you can claim that you don’t need Kayla to get a win or for her to be the one to push you over, but guess what? In this match? You’re going to have to rely on her a little bit in order to somehow get the win. But it’s doubtful that it’s going to come to that.”

She just smirks again before glancing back at the Sphere which still had the emoji on it.

“You know what’s funny? Olly and I haven’t really dove into the singles division yet besides a few matches here and there. But yet, Finn, you seem to think the few matches that we’ve had without one another is sinking our potential singles division careers. But right now? We’re not singles division stars, we’re the Mixed Tag Team Champions and we’re the champions for a fucking reason. Sure, some of the outcomes of the matches we’ve had have been a little unorthodox, but a win is a win. You don’t see anybody discrediting any other champion for how they’ve won their matches, do you? No, but it seems to be a trend for everybody to do so to those champions who have come out of the Jet City gym. Personally, I think it’s jealous because they can’t fucking hack it in SCW but that’s just my opinion and it should be taken with a grain of salt. And if you must know or be reminded, the GOAT of SCW, J2H himself pretty much endorsed me and my career on Twitter, so yours and Kayla’s opinion of me? Irrelevant and unimportant because your opinion is never going to be as important as J2H’s. And that’s just facts.”

The arrogance was easily seen on her face. It had been a while since she had felt this confident in herself and her team with Oliver. And it was nice to feel confident once again.

“There’s a reason that High Stakes is SCW’s best show and there’s a lot effort that everybody puts into their matches and their promo work. Everybody wants to prove to Mark Ward and Christian Underwood that they are the best and they aim to prove it by winning their match. But Olly and I already know that we’re the best team that SCW has right now. Austin James Mercer and Tempest tried twice to beat us and they couldn’t get it done. Everybody’s favorite Ben Jordan and the ultimate good girl Sam Marlowe couldn’t get it done and they were definitely the handpicked favorites to get it done. And on Sunday, Kayla and Finn are going to fail just like the others have failed in the past. It’s not something that can be changed by time or by sheer luck.”

She smirks again as she looks at the camera. She ignores the people that seem to come in and out of the frame. Some seemed to recognize her but for the most part, they leave her alone.

“This is the show where Olly and I are going to be the ones to cement our names as the best in the Mixed Tag division, even though it should already be known. We’re unbeaten as a team and we’re not looking for a remedy for that on Sunday. We’re going to continue to be the best team that this company has ever seen. And we’re going to continue to work on being better than Mikah and Kris Ryans as a team. And while Finn likes to think that we’re limited…”

She smirks at her own words as she grabs her championship belt and slings it over her shoulder. She stands up and adjusts her top a little bit. She glances back at the Sphere once more before looking back at the camera with a confident look on her face.

“We’re going to prove just why we’re Limitless.”

---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---

[Jet City]

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>Limited

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Only one half of the SCW Mixed Tag Team Champions stands in the center of the frame as the video starts. Wind whips through his air, and ripples his shirt as he leans against the railing on the balcony of one of the MGM Grand SKYLOFTS. His championship belt is proudly displayed to the camera from a table on the left side of the screen, but he makes no move to pick it up. Despite the fact that he had just listened to the opening salvo of comments from his opponents, he appears unbothered. The smile on his face as he looks out at the city in front of him tells the story of how he feels headed into High Stakes.

”I think that I was meant to be irritated after hearing what Finn and Kayla had to say about Limitless….”

He shakes his head, and turns around to put his back to the railing in order to face the camera and the viewers at home.

”That’s not really the emotion that comes to mind though. I mean sure, they got some pretty good shots in, and they made some pretty fair points. I can’t stand here and tell any of you that anything that they said is totally false. I guess instead of being mad about it, I was more flattered that these two have actually been paying attention. The last few opponents that Eiley and I have come against haven’t really nailed down who Eiley and I were as people, or as a team. There have been those that wouldn’t dare to give us an inch of credit for our success. There have been others that mistakenly thought the two of us were handed everything we have earned so far. Some have called us nothing but flashes in a pan. Others have called us simple knock-offs of the people that trained us. It has never felt like anyone really got us, not really.”

He holds up his left hand with the tips of his index finger and thumb only an inch or so apart.

”Finn and Kayla came close though. It definitely feels like the two of them have been following along, even though neither of them cared to admit it. Finn says that the Mixed Tag Team Championships aren’t even really on his radar. Kayla says she has been more focused on the Bombshell Internet Championship. However, they both seem to have watched us come into this company and do better than anyone expected us to. I guess for that reason alone, I could never really be riled up by anything they had to say. Like I said last week, these two have won championships that I wouldn’t feel ready to compete for right now. They have done things that are probably still years away for me. Having their attention at all is a compliment.”

The smile comes back to his face, and it is easy to see why it is there. Everyone said that the two rookies didn’t have a chance from the moment that they came to Sin City. They managed to have a pretty successful first six months though, and were even up for several awards at High Stakes.

”....that’s not to say that I wasn’t amused by how laughable it would be to call them a real team. By their own admission, neither of them currently want anything to do with the other. Coming after the Mixed Tag Team Championships wasn’t a goal they had. Mostly because they really aren’t even speaking to one another. Apparently winning a contendership, and challenging the undefeated champions hasn’t been enough to bridge that divide. Whatever the personal issues are there, I know there’s no way to keep that out of the ring. When Eiley and I aren’t on the same page, everything we do inside the ring suffers. That’s not something that just goes away just because you’re a former World Heavyweight Champion. Trying to convince yourselves that neither of you are going to carry those issues down the aisle and into the ring is a fucking joke. C’mon! You’re both smarter than that!”

The smile fades from his face, and he shrugs his shoulders.

”...or maybe you aren’t….”

It appears that he is let down by that thought, even though it would only help Limitless’ chances of winning at HIgh Stakes.

”You both seem to be paying a whole lot of attention to Eiley and I, and Jet City as a whole, but you both jumped to very different, contradictory conclusions. Kayla went on and on about how Eiley was riding my coattails, and benefitting from all of my successes. She went as far as to say that it was obvious that when our partnership dissolved, I was going to be the shining singles star of the future. Now, while I appreciated the kind words of encouragement, I couldn’t disagree more….”

He pauses. Those weren’t the right words. He makes a motion as if to say that he wants to go back and strike them, before correcting himself.

”Sorry, did I say that I couldn’t disagree more. That’s my bad. I meant that her partner, Finn Whelan, couldn’t disagree more.”

At once, the confidence that was on his face from the start comes back. He was having the time of his life poking fun at his opponents’ lack of coordination with one another.

”See, Finn feels like the opposite is true. He feels like even though I keep playing the hero and saving Eiley from horrible things happening to her, she is the one that is carrying me. He pointed out that when I am by myself, I don’t seem to carry myself with the same confidence as when she is around. I got eliminated from Blast from the Past because Eiley wasn’t my partner. I have gotten beaten to a pulp every night that she hasn’t been in my corner. These things are facts….”

He taps his chin twice with his index finger, and narrows his eyes like he is trying to pull a half-forgotten memory from deep to the front of his mind.

”...and I can remember when I first heard them, because I was the one to say them. I can remember standing backstage at Climax Control at the beginning of the summer and all of those things coming out of my mouth when I pitched the idea of teaming up to Eiley originally. It was funny to hear Finn call Eiley the parrot on my shoulder in the middle of quoting my whole recruitment speech back to me. Again, it is hard to be insulted in the midst of such flattery.”

He shrugs, and then crosses his arms in front of his chest before leaning backwards against the railing.

”It doesn’t matter to me which one of them is right about the weak link inside Limitless. The most important thing that I took away from their comments was that they were so out of sync with one another that they couldn’t even agree on a way to approach Eiley and I. They both speak with so much confidence, and yet they are directly at odds with so many of the things that the other says. Only one of them can be right, so one of them is confidently pulling everything they are saying out of their ass.”

He shakes his head, again looking more disappointed than angry about his opponent’s claims.

”They both say that Eiley and I are too arrogant for our own good, but true hubris is thinking that you can successfully take on the champions without even trying to be an actual team. This is not the singles competition that the two of you have been so successful in. I know that both of you mistakenly think that teaming up makes everything so much easier, but it doesn’t. It is a different game altogether. It doesn’t matter if Finn gets any momentum, because when I tag Eiley into the match, he goes to stand in the corner. It doesn’t matter if Kayla’s more experienced than Eiley if every time there’s a tag she can’t capitalize on it. This isn’t about just stepping into the ring and dominating a single opponent like Finn and Kayla have proven that they can do. This is two chess matches being played inside the same ring, at the same time. It really helps if you have a partner that you can trust, but it’s detrimental if you don’t have a partner that you can talk to…”

It is clear that Oz thinks that will be the problem that seal his opponents’ fate.

”I can’t put the blame fully on them though. These two have personal problems with one another, and Mark and Christian were the only two that apparently didn’t get the memo. They had no interest in being a team, and the only thing that they had to do in order to earn this opportunity was beat a duo that had no business stepping into an actual ring. Instead of giving them time to figure their shit out, and maybe find themselves as partners, they are being given the biggest stage, where Limitless is going to be forced to expose all of their shortcomings to everyone that buys a ticket or watches at home from their couch. That is a shitty position to be put in, but they brought it on themselves.”

”These two have been given weeks to put whatever the issue is behind them. They have had opportunities to talk out their problems, and get onto the same page. Not only have they not done that, it seems as if they are proud of that fact. They boldly declare that they will take us on despite the fact that they have no interest in even attempting to work together or communicate with one another. They think that they can coast through this match because they have both put together notable singles careers. You know what that means to me though? It means that they haven’t done shit in the tag division. In my book, that makes them the rookies, and Eiley and I the veterans. Don’t be surprised when Eiley and I are there to take advantage of their implosion.”

”Despite all of their accomplishments it is their personal problems, and their egos that handicap them as a team. It is their disconnection that limits them.  The problem is, it doesn’t sound like either of them have any interest in fixing their issues...”

”That limit will be the reason that they fail at High Stakes.”


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

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Focus
San Diego, CALIFORNIA -- Shoreline Recovery Center
19th OCTOBER 2023
OFF-Camera

Eiley and Oz may have successfully put Kaleb, and therefore Dean’s untimely demise,  firmly behind them but there was still one last thing lingering on Oz’s mind. He knew that it would be a bad idea to carry with him into High Stakes, because he was going to have to be focused to take down a former SCW World Heavyweight Champion. Within the next few days, he was going to face the biggest challenge since he squared up with J2H in his second match, and it was for the championship that he couldn’t stomach the thought of losing. Even worse, he couldn’t stand the idea of letting Eiley down after everything they had overcome.

He knew that Mikah and Kendall were going to keep Eiley busy during the day, and it wasn’t hard to convince Kris to help him get back to San Diego for an afternoon. It was a relatively short flight, and if Oz timed it right, nobody was even going to notice that he was ever gone. He would be back in more than enough time for one of the signings that Mark and Christian had set up for the champions. There was only one awkward conversation that he needed to get out of the way before he got to all of that, and he regretted not bringing Eiley along as a buffer. Then again, if he had brought her along, he probably wouldn’t have been able to say some of the things that he intended to get off of his chest. It felt like a conversation that he owed Jaycee face-to-face, and neither of them needed an audience. When Jaycee stepped into the courtyard, and saw Oz without Eiley, he seemed surprised. He made his way over to the table with a smile on his face, and Oz tried to match that energy with his tone of voice.

OZ: Another week, and you still haven’t freaked out and burned this place to the ground. I’m almost impressed.

Jaycee pulled out his chair, disregarded Oz’s comment, and spoke quietly enough that nobody else in the area was going to hear him.

JAYCEE: I take it you two figured out everything that needed figuring?

Oz nodded, which reassured his friend enough that he sat down. He may not have wanted to know any of the details, but Oz thought he looked relieved to have actually been of help with the situation.

OZ: Something like that. I don’t think it’ll be a problem anymore, ya know?

Jaycee clearly didn’t need to hear anything more than that, and held up a hand to cut Oz off right there.

JAYCEE: Heard.

In the awkward silence that followed the moment, Oz struggled to find the right words to get started on what he wanted to say. Jaycee could see the internal struggle, and tried to pull it out of his friend instead of letting him find the right words.

JAYCEE: That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here though man. You and Eiley got titles to defend in a couple of days. What are you wasting your time coming to see me for?

Oz immediately became defensive, and sat back in his chair before folding his arms across his chest.

OZ: I don’t see it as wasting time.

Jaycee didn’t need to hear the words Oz was struggling to say anymore. He had heard enough talk from doctors telling him what his every move meant as they dissected every bad decision he had made during his life. The whole process of being in rehab felt like dragging a scalpel through his most painful wounds, but he was a work in progress. However, the biggest benefit by far had been picking up on some of their tricks. Instead of trying to pull the information out of Oz, he answered the question Oz couldn’t actually ask.

JAYCEE: Still. I don’t need you dropping by feeling sorry for me. I’ve already told you that we’re good.

The words made Oz flinch, and he immediately tried to throw them away. He couldn’t accept it; especially because once again it was Jaycee trying to offer him an out without actually having to earn it.

OZ: ....and maybe we shouldn’t be.

Jaycee understood where his friend was coming from, but he was a couple of weeks late to the party. These were issues that he had gotten ahead of during his time in rehab, and Oz hadn’t had the luxury of that kind of time for reflection.

JAYCEE: We are though. I am not carrying any of that around, and neither should you. The both of us played the hands that we got. We’re both still standing.

It didn’t feel like it should all go away that easily though. After all, Oz had nearly gotten two people killed with his actions and seemed to being living the dream in spite of it.

OZ: ..and yet I am competing at Sin City’s biggest show, and you’ll be lucky if they let you watch it.

The words drew legitimate laughter out of Jaycee that Oz couldn’t help but be offended by. He was about to shame Jaycee for it, when he was cut off with an explanation.

JAYCEE: Court said the same thing when she showed up. It really pissed me off at the time. This place is all about unpacking shit like that though. I have had a lot of time to realize that all of this is on me, and has nothing to do with you. It’s unfair to be jealous of you and Eiley for being an instant success. You two made that happen, and it had nothing to do with me. You two deserve to be where you are, and I probably needed to be here sooner rather than later.

It made Oz feel slightly better, and also opened up a path to bring up an offer he had for Jaycee.

OZ: I meant what I said last week. When you come back you should just link up with Eiley and I. You should have been Limitless from the start.

Jaycee shakes his head and quickly wipes the smile off of the Mixed Tag Team Champion’s face.

JAYCEE: I can’t do that either.

There was no world where Oz thought that his friend would accept the offer from the start, and he had spent the whole trip trying to counter any argument that Jaycee made to show that it was for the best for everyone to team up.

OZ: If you’re afraid of people thinking you’d just be riding our coattails, it wouldn’t be like that. The two of us could clearly use a loose cannon hanging around that deter people from messing with us as much as they do. There is safety in numbers, and you should be with us, not out on your own.

Jaycee smiled. Clearly he appreciated the offer that he was being made, but Oz didn’t seem to be grasping that he wasn’t turning them down without having put serious thought into the possibility already. It was something that he had a lot of time to consider, and every time he did, it didn’t add up. It didn’t feel right, and it took him a while to figure that out himself.

JAYCEE: You’re not hearing me. It’s not that I am not flattered, I am. It’s just not for me.

Oz could tell that there wasn’t going to be any convincing him to change his mind, but as far as an explanation, Jaycee hadn’t yet offered one.

OZ: You’re gonna have to do better than that.

He may not like the answer that he was about to hear, but there was no way that he was leaving without hearing it.

JAYCEE: Look, you two are great. As terrible as it sounds, you two are the best friends that I have outside of the arenas. And you two are the absolute embodiment of what Kris and Mikah taught you to be. I get why people make the comparisons.

All of those things felt like positives to Oz. They all knew what they were signing up for.

OZ: ....and? You act like you weren’t part of Jet City, or that Mikah was never around.

Jaycee shrugged his shoulders with a frown on his face.

JAYCEE: They just aren’t the ones that rubbed off on me I guess. I spent a whole lot of time with Court before she lost her damn mind and snapped on the whole world. Coby was the one that filled in all the gaps Court left.

Oz finally looked like he was actually hearing Jaycee for the final time, so he didn’t give his friend any time to cut him off before he got his point across.

JAYCEE: I think trying to fit myself into the stereotypical Jet City box is where I went wrong. It’s not that I don’t respect the hustle, it’s just that it isn’t for me. I don’t want to be that guy. That was never what I pictured in my head, and I think that is where I went wrong when I came back.

Oz sat back in his chair, and even though Jaycee was shooting down his offer, he still felt a weight lift off of his chest.

JAYCEE: I think that when I am ready I just need to figure out my own thing. That’s why I keep telling you not to feel sorry for me. It’s on me, and only I can put things back together. I’m happy you guys made it to High Stakes as champions. I guess I will have to wait until next year.

Oz was able to breathe a little easier. Not only had Jaycee cleared up his concerns, his friend was also actively planning for a lengthy return to the business once he was back on his feet. It wasn’t exactly what he had come to San Diego looking for, but it would do.

OZ: Bet. As long as it isn’t my Mixed Tag Team Championship, ya know?



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>Beyond Definition

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The video opens with half of the Mixed Tag Team Champions standing alone in the frame, without his partner, but also without his half of the championships. He isn’t standing on an MGM Grand balcony. He isn’t staring out into the city with a smile on his face anymore. He has had time to dedicate to listening to every syllable of what Finn said about him over-and-over again as motivation for his time in the gym preparing for Sunday. Oz’s entire demeanor has changed in just a few short days, and he looks more ready than ever for the battle he will wage against Kayla and Finn at High Stakes. However, there is something more than that in his eyes. There is an intensity that the Sin City audience hasn’t seen from him during his short time with the company, and when he speaks, he jumps directly to the point.

”I don’t like when people try to tell me who I am…”

He looks away from the camera for a moment, and pauses to select his words carefully.

”I would have thought that someone with Finn’s reputation would be above trying to impress labels on someone they clearly don’t know very well. He chose to judge my life, and my actions, through his own lens. He chose to impose some unwritten code that he follows to how I live my life. I wouldn’t have thought him to be the type to talk down to someone like that.”

He shrugged, but the scowl on his face didn’t go away.

”Then again, I wouldn’t have expected someone with a history of flaking out randomly to throw stones at someone like Kris Ryans for doing the same thing. I wouldn’t have expected Finn, a former drug addict, to target someone in rehab like Jaycee. I didn’t think that someone that has truly been to the bottom of the barrel in their time on this planet could look at another and minimize their struggle.”

He leans forward towards the camera, a little more animated now. The gaps between his words become smaller and smaller as he lets his irritation boil over.

”I am sorry Finn. You’re right. I wasn’t ever some homeless junkie fated to die on the streets. Mainly because despite the opportunity to fuck around, the addict lifestyle never really had any kind of appeal for me. I grew up seeing people that previously had houses and careers, but were living on the streets in tents next to mine. Instead of thinking that I was destined to end up like they were, I got angry. I got angry that they were given a chance at something normal and pissed it away. Maybe to you, that is the only way that someone can really reach the bottom. You’re wrong. That wasn’t my experience. I was part of a group of kids born at the bottom. I was part of a system that taught me from a young age that nobody really cares about anything in this world. I learned that nothing was fair. I learned that hard work rarely ever pays off. I learned that there really aren’t any rules, because someone at some point simply made them up. There are no limits on what you can and can’t do in this life. There is only the question of what you are really willing to do in order to get what you want. You think that makes me sound spoiled. I think of it more as a cold realization about how the world really is.”

He could have let it stand there, but he immediately launches into rapid fire examples without being able to stop himself.

”There is never going to be a moment in life that everyone gives you the credit that you deserve. You are never going to be impressive enough to silence all of the hate that comes your way. I could be an immaculate performer in the ring. I could follow every rule. I could win every match. I could hold every championship. I can guarantee you that every single week there would still be someone to show up and tell me how I was doing it all wrong. That is the nature of this business, and also the cold truth of everything outside of it. If everyone agrees with absolutely everything you are doing in life, you’re probably leading a cult.”

”So Finn can complain about the fact that Eiley and I will do whatever it takes to win if he wants, because it doesn’t matter to me. He can have his opinions about my upbringing, because I can’t change them. I am not here to be the guy’s friend. I am not here to prove the guy wrong. That is not what Sin City pays me to do. They pay me to go out there and win, and I will do so by absolutely any means necessary. That seems to make some people queasy, but that sounds a whole lot like their problem. It might mean that nobody is going to respect me as a competitor, but my name will still be etched into the record books, won’t it? I can’t believe that someone like Finn couldn’t wrap his head around that. Does he think that he is some kind of saint? Do either of them?”

He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a phone. With a few quick taps on the screen, he turns it around to show the camera. In the center is Kayla Richards, confidently cutting a recent promo for Sin City.

”From day one I said that I would sell out anyone, I would cheat, I would take every single rule that they put in front of me and break it all toward one goal. Making sure I could call myself the best and be a champion.”

He turns off the screen, and places the phone on the floor out of the frame.

”We have heard about the high regard that Finn holds his partner in, and she seems to feel the same way about the business that Eiley and I do. She seems to understand that if you want something, you have to take it. If someone is in your way, you have to step on them. If someone wants what is yours, you have to take them out. If it so happens that you can tilt the scales in your favor, that sounds like the loser’s problem. There is a referee for a reason, and none of us are there to do their job for them. Sometimes all that matters is being the champion.”

It was not only vindication for everything that Eiley and Oz had done in the ring, but another glaring example of how their opponents weren’t anywhere close to being on the same page.

”...and for all of his finger-pointing, does anyone actually believe that Finn sees himself as above an ‘any means necessary’ approach to being successful? He calls himself The Virulence. Does that sound like the moniker of a person that really gives a shit about respecting competition and the rules of the game? It sounds more like a hostile intruder that is willing to do whatever it takes to neutralize an adversary. I say that Finn should drop this noble bullshit and just be who he actually is, because this attempt to take the high road is a bad joke.”

”...but that is what this whole match-up has been so far. Eiley and I are lifelong friends that are fighting two people that can’t stomach looking at one another. We are a team, and even both of our opponents agree that we are so much stronger together than we are separately. Yet, neither of them think that they need one another, and still aren’t interested in being an actual team. They both think that they can step up to the Mixed Tag Team Champions as two individuals and walk away with something other than disappointment. They might be the more experienced individuals in the ring, but they are going to learn a few harsh lessons at High Stakes.”

”I guess it is a good thing that Finn says that he has learned so much from his failures. Eiley and I are going to make sure that he gets a full education on Sunday. The Mixed Tag Team division isn’t something that you can just dip your toe into on your way to your next singles championship. This is a level of competition that neither of you seem to understand, nor do you seem to have the willingness to even try. You think that High Stakes is going to be business as usual, and instead you’re going to find out why Jet City always steps on and walks over the people that are associated with Wolfslair.”

”If we didn’t know what we were doing, we wouldn’t be so goddamn good at it. Keep your advice to yourselves, and be ready to take notes once the bell rings. Limitless will show you what being a team is all about when we send you home empty-handed.”

”Nothing else matters.”

[finnwhelan]

PARADIGM SHIFT VI // DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS
A MILLION GOOD INTENTIONS WON’T ERASE ALL THE SCARS IF THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS. ARE THE LINES GETTING THINNER? CAN’T TELL THE SAINTS FROM THE SINNERS – THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS.
LOVE LIKE GRAVITY




••••••

WOLFSLAIR TRAINING FACILITY
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

“She did what?”

The dulcet tones of Dickie Watson were audible from even behind the closed door off Finn’s office at Wolfslair. The Seattle Saint was seated at his desk, feet propped up on the top and the palms of his hands pressed tightly into his eye sockets. Across from him, his little “brother’ (might as well be at this point and time) was seated literally on the edge of his seat, fingers clutching at the arms of the chair, an incredulous expression on his face mixed with abject horror. Behind him, arms crossed and a raised eyebrow nearly shooting into his hairline was Aiden Reynolds, the loveable Australian who tagged with Dickie as the team of The Commonwealth…and also lived in the second part of Finn’s apartment.

These were, as much as he wouldn’t like to admit it on most occasions, his closest friends.  Who the fuck wanted to be friends with a dimwit Australian? Finn. Apparently.

“She just fucking popped out of nowhere.” Finn rolled his eyes. “Finny! Hi!” He waved a hand like a childish girl and flung himself backwards just a bit. “It’s not enough that I have to see her here and listen to her fucking tinny ass twang. I swear to God, she’s following me. I saw her at the corner mart the other day. She waved while I was cashing out.”

“You didn’t like…wave back did you, mate?” Aiden questioned lightly.

He hesitated. “I…did.”

“MATE.” Aiden slammed his hand over his eyes while he yelled. “Ah, that’s the worst fuckin’ thing you could do, aye. Crazy sheilas are always goin’ for the nice card, and then they get in and they–” he wrapped his hands around an imaginary neck and started shaking it, flailing about a bit.

“They become a fish out of water?”

“If wishes were fishes, motherfucker.”

“What the fuck does that even mean?” Dickie snapped. “Wishes, fishes, we’d live in an ocean. Stupidest fuckin’ analogy–”

“All right, so like…there’re a lot of fuckin’ fish in the sea, yeah?” Aiden questioned, like he’d already told Dickie this over a billion times already. “Clearly, we’re likeinin’ fishes to wishes and saying they’re the same thing. There’s a lot of fish in the sea, and there’s a lot of–”

“Get to the fuckin’ point. I’m not your child.”

“You ever tried to catch a wish?”

“No, but I’ve tried to catch a fish.”

Finn looked up at Dickie and Aiden. Truly, the hetero-lifemates that they were meant they often bickered like they were right out of the set of the Golden Girls. He leaned forward and pressed his hands to the desk, patting his papers and trying to get somewhat sorted out. “Is your quarrel done?”

“Aye.”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Because the second Emily popped her head in there, Kayla was right out of the gate and wasn’t bothering with the bullshit that I would have rather popped in the face myself. It was like she saw her and refused to fucking even be present. I’m not with her anymore. I’m not dealing with Emily, but Kayla and I were finally getting somewhere to talk about all of this bullshit, but–”

Dickie snapped up to his feet and turned the corner of his chair, heading for the door. “I’ma fuckin–” He was swiftly intercepted, however, by the bigger and taller Australian, who put him into a headlock. The slightly younger man flailed himself and put his hands up to ensure he continued to have an airway to breathe.  “Lemme—“

“Ah-ah, Sparky.” Aiden shook his head, looking at Finn and purposefully ignoring his best friend. “So Crazy Shelia Em showed up, but you didn’t tell us how the rest of the meetin’ went. I mean, Kallie went with Tas to see her the other day because…I dunno why, but the kids tend to put the Demonically Posessed Richards sister in a calm mood. Said she seemed like she’d gotten over the whole…bamboozlement.”

“Bamboozlement?”

“Aye; I’m addin’ new words to me vocabulary.” And he was absolutely proud of himself.

Finn shook his head, a ghost of a smile crossing his features. As much as he generally hated stupidity, it was nice to have friends who at least understood that he needed some form of humor in his life. However, his hands shook. And he couldn’t get them to stop shaking. He shoved them down out of sight and rose to his feet. Maybe if he busied himself, he wouldn’t feel like he shot himself in the foot. He stepped out from behind his desk and headed for the door, grabbing a stack of files that he’d meant to give to Sonja for storage. Aiden promptly followed him, dragging Dickie along while keeping him in a headlock.

“We seemed to be on the same page,” Finn’s steps upon the steel walkway by the offices echoed on the gym floor, and he headed for Sonja’s office, setting the files there before stepping back out. “I mean, it was a little…it took a little bit to get there. She didn’t seem happy to be there, but like…we talked about it. Said we needed to start trusting the other not to just do their job. I knew she’d do that, she always looks out for herself, but we have to be the team that we aren’t. Told her she has to trust me.”

Aiden sucked his teeth in and Dickie’s eyes became alarmed. The younger man tapped on the Australian’s arm and got himself released from the hold. He placed a hand on the railing, watching as Finn descended the steps and headed out onto the gym floor.

“I’m sure that didn’t go so well?” Dickie questioned.

“I mean, she got shitty with me–”

“As is to be expected.”

“But I explained to her that we can’t do this whole thing where we can’t trust the other person but be a team. If we were going to do this – truly do this – then we needed to be the unit we used to be. I know she doesn’t want that. I know she doesn’t want to even be friends, let alone anything more, so I assured her that whatever we had before was–”

“Don’t tell me you said it was dead to you, mate.” Aiden asked in a quiet voice. Quiet enough almost that Finn didn’t hear him. The Virulence looked up at him and frowned. He didn’t have to say anything. Aiden and Dickie knew. And instantly, both groaned. “Mate!”

“I’d really fucking appreciate it if you both stopped yelling at me.” Finn frowned, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. “It’s dead, isn’t it? She killed it back at Christmas, and no matter how long we floated in and out of whatever the fuck friendship we had, it’s dead. It’s gone. But we can do this professionally. We can do this well enough without needing to feel like we–”

“Callien,” Dickie’s voice was surprisingly calm and even as he looked at his brother. He didn’t yell. But he did cut him off. It was rare that Dickie or Finn called the other by their real, unsanctioned name. They both hated their pasts, their lives before they were wrestlers. But when it was serious, they dropped the act. “Kayla moved out because she couldn’t stand being second place to Emily.”

“Emily was a fling–”

“I know that, but Kayla didn’t. Whatever happened at Christmas…you put up walls. You put up every single wall that you always do when you feel like you’ve had something shit happen to you and you’ve put up…an enormous amount of bullshit that everyone has to wade through. I get it. All the shit with your ex-wife and…ugh, Elena…you just put a chasm between you and everyone else.”

“She’s not interested in me. Trust me.” Finn snorted, reaching for a roll of tape and wrapping it around his knuckles. “And it’s probably for the best anyway. We have championships to win, and we can’t do that if we’re focused on whatever fucked up relationship we have.” He sounded like he was trying to be calm himself, but everyone knew him in that room. He wasn’t. It was there. Underneath the surface, just barely setting to where it could be heard. “It’s done. We’ll work together, but that’s it. As a team.” With finality in his tone, he shook his head and turned away from his friends.

At the railing, Dickie and Aiden watched him walk away. Dickie frowned. “I’ma fuckin’ become the Zodiac Killer. I swear to god, I’m just gonna…” He clapped his hands together and then cut across his throat with his hand. “I’ma kill em all.”

“Okay.” Aiden rolled his eyes and patted his friend on the head. “If wishes were fishes.”

••••••

The devil’s in the details.

You’ve heard that saying, have you not? If you haven’t, here’s the way that I look at it:  the thing that a person chooses to overlook is going to ultimately fuck them over in the end. It’s a story that’s as old as time. A parable used to teach little kids a lesson so that they’ll never make the same mistake again. Teachers use history to remind people of  the downfalls of society, how not looking at the details of how something happens is what destroys everything. It’s easy if you’re just glancing, not really looking and listening to the meat of the story. To the words that come out of peoples’ mouths. To the actions and important pieces.

The devil is in the details.

We’ve been very candid about this for weeks, hell, even months, now. Prior to July, Kayla and I were very, very amicable. We talked, we hung out, we tweeted to each other on that godforsaken app. We were inseparable. Hell, we were a bit like the two of you dimwits – and don’t sit there and try to tell us that you guys aren’t friendly. Like, ugh, we just like don’t get along all the time! He hates me sometimes…and yet, here the fuck you are in literally every post on X either showing off your godforsakenly boyish body with music lyrics or sending cute little posts to dear ol’ fuckin’ Olly. Or mentioning Mikah, who at this point, the only person who gives a flying fuck about Mikah that still is in this company is Mark Ward…and I don’t think that’s as positive a scenario as you think.

You want to see two people that do not want to even be in the same room with one another? Then look at Kayla and I. We dislike each other on a personal level, but for the sake of this match, for the sake of this company that put us together, and for the sake of our careers, we’re coming from above and trying now to work on the same page. You won’t see Kayla sweet posting on social media, and trying to make a picture that doesn’t exist.

Let’s be honest. The only reason the two of you are together as a team is because of Kris Ryans and Mikah. Because of Jet City. Because like them, the only time that any of you have mattered in the past three years. The last time that Kristopher Ryans had success as a singles wrestler was in 2020. For a little more than 90 days. And didn’t he try to fake his own death too? Neither of you have been able to do a damn thing on your own.

But that’s the thing. The two of you pride yourselves so high on your own career that maybe you should take a seat when I remind you what I was getting at the last Climax Control: there is essentially no Mixed Tag Division here. The Barnharts, and the Wolfslair team are the only ones truly recognized. All the rest? Random pairings have been the option because people despise tag teams so much…so stating that you’re the most important champions on this roster? Kind of hard to be anything less when you’re the only people who are viable as contenders. There’s nothing to be proud of when the division is crumbling from the inside out. You’ve done well for three months. 90 days. That’s nothing to be proud of. Nothing to gloat about. You have had the bare minimum. Tempest and Austin may have been contenders but they’re as well an oiled machine as Michael Harris and suspensions.

But where you made a mistake? A fallacy? “I’m not going to pretend I care anything about them.” Bad plan. You should. You want to know why? Your thought that you’re both decent competitors?  Cool Good job.

You’re both essentially rookies that have been given an opportunity to lead a division to the heights that someone else is supposed to lead them to. Instead, when the two of you captured these championships, everyone else that was even remotely interested decided to move out of the division and go back to doing their best. No one wants to listen to you throating Mikah and Kris Ryans down your own throats, and no one wants to listen to either of you guzzle your own greatness between each other just like they didn’t want to hear is back in 2022. They deactivated the championships so they didn’t have to hear from your fearless mentors because they killed it. And now you’ve killed the division just as much.

But like phoenixes, Kayla and I are going to breathe life into it. As much as we dislike each other, the goal will always be not to be better than our mentors –  because literally fuck our mentors – but to have our name in the legacy of the limelight. You can call me gold hungry if you like. You can call Kayla a cunt, because she absolutely is. We have differences of opinion in how matches should go, but at the end of the day, we both live and breathe this sport. We know the levity of a championship. And we know what it's like to actually carry the mantle and not have everyone so disinterested in you because they simply don’t want to hear the things you have to say. We know how to make ourselves targets, know how to make sure people see us, and make sure people want to face us. We don’t have to sit there and beat our chests and state how fucking good we are. And if I have to hear it again? I may ask for someone to blow my ear drums out because it is so fucking pedantic and childish. I don’t care! I’m the best!

I’m not discrediting what you’ve done, Eiley. You came into a barely functional company in some of the spots and you have a decent record. Wins over people who are kind of trash, but good job kiddo. But you know who else has a decent record and isn’t fucking dimshit? Kayla Richards. I’m not worried about this match, not worried about Kayla showing up and showing out. She is a three-time champion here alone. She has been a champion and knows the stakes in which are present. We’re not going to act like you’re not a big deal. Kayla has always taken every match she goes into like it might be her last, because she knows how fucking important it is to not be content. To not sit there and think because you’ve gotten a championship, you can start to let things go. That’s what I did. And it fucked me over.

The only one of us that has a losing record at a pay per view is me, and that’s because I didn’t give a flying fuck about the Roulette Championship and I didn’t give a flying fuck to listen to Ken Davison spout bullshit. I know my issues. That is the worst way to be. You can call it what you want. I walked out when the win didn’t happen or whatever the fuck, but you? Watch the two of you cry to your mommy and daddy when the championships leave your hands, act like it’s not fair, and then turn around and try to rise again. That’s the cycle. Over and over again, that is the cycle, and that is what I love. Proving fuckers wrong.

Like you two. Twenty-four seven, three-sixty-five.

The devil is in the details. The unfortunate piece for the two of you is that that devil comes in the form of wolves.

••••••

COLLEEN’S COFFEE SHOP
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

“Kayla, wait–” He watched her walk away. Again. She didn’t say goodbye, she didn’t say a word. She saw Emily and she hightailed it out of the coffee shop with a dismissive gesture, and she didn’t look at him as she grabbed her bag and stalked out, hair flowing with the breeze as she left, ramming her sunglasses onto her face. Finn sat back, watching her go, before he tempered the rage that was building within his bones. His crystal eyes fell upon the voluptuous blonde, with her stupid Wolfslair shirt and her dreads and her veneers. She sat across from him.

“So like, it’s been a little while.” She said, reaching out and taking his hand into her own. Just like she did when they were…dating? “Like, how are you? How are things goin’! Was that a team meeting? I saw you guys at Cricket Control.”

Finn snapped his hand back, wrapping it around his coffee cup.  Cricket Control.

“You guys, like, did amazing!” She pouted her glossy, pink lips and pressed her chin into her hand, propping it up on the table. “I mean, I guess they weren’t that great, but at the same time, like…you kinda…I mean, the hug at the end!”

He was beginning to see red. He was seconds from talking to Kayla. Seconds from trying to figure out this bullshit further more than what it was before. They’d agreed, finally, on being a team. They agreed that it was the right thing to do, the right thing to say, to have each other’s back. Not just because they were getting along, but because it was necessary  to the survival of their team. It was necessary, and here again, she was. With her likes and her vapidness and her patheticness and her stupidity.

“So like, are you guys getting along now?” She reached into her little bag she brought with her and pulled out a lemon loaf, dropping her bag to the ground and proceeded to start eating it, dipping it in her pumpkin spice latte. “I hope so. I mean, like, she moved out and then you got stuck with each other.” She paused, and then she actually looked Finn in the eyes, dropping her mouth open. “Oh my god, are you like, dating?”

“No.” Finn replied, bluntly.

“Oh.” It sounded like she was trying to be sad, but he couldn’t ignore the smile that popped up on her face. “So…”

“I’m sorry,” Finn shook his head, trying to keep himself calm and serene as he uttered the words that came out of his mouth. “But what the fuck are you doing here?”

She had the audacity to look hurt, and pursed her lips again, folding her hands on her lap and (subconciously) pushing her arms into her breasts to make them bigger. Or consciously, maybe. “I just figured we could talk.”

“We have nothing to talk about.” Blunt, with an edge this time.

Oh, Finn Whelan was definitely filled with edge and malice right now. His whole vision had gone to red, and if he hadn’t learned how to cope with this so many years before, Emily might have become a red puddle on the floor that wasn’t identifiable by the time he was done with her. But instead, he balled his hands into fists and tried desperately not to sock her in the face.

“Come on, Finn…pl–”

Instead of even giving her the opportunity to respond, or for her to hear his voice again, he rose to his feet and made his way to the door, adjusting the glasses on his face with an annoyed swipe. He exited the doorway, ignoring Emily’s calls after him.

Maybe if he hurried, he could catch up with her. Maybe they could have a conversation. Maybe they could figure out what was really going on between them, if there was anything left, if there was something that existed anywhere that was still a remnant of their life before Emily. But when he got out onto the sidewalk, she wasn’t there. She moved fast, like she always did. And now, there he was, standing on his own once more.

They could be professional.

They could team and do this well.

But at the end of the day, he was alone. Of his own choices.

Part of him wanted this. But the other part, the one that relished in winning with her, the part that wanted desperately for this to be fixed, still sat on his brain, screaming at him about his mistakes. Today, he’d gained a true teammate. But it was clear: she was not a friend.

And she would never be again.

••••••

And now, for the feature presentation.

Oz. Ozzy. Ollie. Olly. Oliver Zahn, and whatever fucking name that you have today.

I refuse to be shamed by a team with Kayla Richards on it.

Time stamp 6:30, October 16th.

Is it because she has more balls than you do, Olly? Granted they’re on her chest, but you’ve got yours in Eiley’s purse from an outside perspective, so at least they’re on her person. I know what it’s like to be intimidated by a strong woman, and that’s the thing…Eiley over there breathes Taylor Swift and puppies. Kayla breathes venom and Monster Energy Drinks – they are not the same, and one of them is going to come out on top at High Stakes. How are you going to help Eiley, Olly, when she’s pinned? When she’s submitted? When she ultimately fails to succeed where you’ve so heinously failed on your own?

But Finn, I’ve won matches as a team. Have you?  I took a look at that handy primer, and you’ve competed in eleven matches in your tenure within Sin City. Congrats. It’s kind of fun to break it down a bit more, though, so we can see a real picture from data. You – and Eiley as well, both lost at Blast From The Past, so that’s one loss for each of you. That means you two have tagged for six matches, which you both have won because…let’s face it, again, this division is nothing after the two of you put your hands in it. But before that, you have four losses in the company. One of a mixed tag, that means of your five remaining matches, three of them were singles losses and two wins.

On your own, Oliver, you’re nothing. With Eiley, who is holding the weight of this team…somewhere…you have a championship,  but you and I both know you only opted to move to Mixed Tag because you couldn’t do anything else. While you’re chastising me for being gold hungry and greedy, you’re over here bitching about the fact that they removed the stipulations so that competitors can capture more of the things they’ve had opportunities placed in front of them. This was meant to stimulate the interest that the two of you destroyed, and get it so that the divisional restrictions were a little bit lightened so other stars might want to put themselves under the Sin City banner. This is business. When interest fades and divisions are removed, like this one was in 2022, that puts a bunch of wrestlers that are only as good as their partner out of a job.

I could have said ‘fuck no’. I should have said ‘fuck no’ when management came to me after I won with Kayla and offered me the opportunity to face for these championships. But what good would that do you, Zahn? What fucking good would that do for a division that desperately needs reinvigoration just months after its reinstated? You’d be out of a fucking job because you can’t do anything other than win with Eiley doing the heavy lifting while you do what needs to be done to get the job done. Jet City hasn’t done a fucking thing for you except made you a bitch. You’re Eiley’s bitch.

But you’re comfortable with that, right? You’re comfortable saying different things than your partner, and you’re comfortable facing Tempest and Austin – were those the two you mentioned that had qualifications and you’ve walked out as a winner? Yeah, Austin James Mercer has a happy little record, but ask him how many times he’s faced me and walked out the winner. He’ll tell you zero, and then he’ll get shitty and then I’ll have to put him back in his fucking place again. And while we’re at it, ask anyone at Wolfslair who has a win over me. Alex Jones and I despise each other, and even he doesn’t want to face me again. Because he knows the result? I’ll scalp his ass before he has an opportunity to defeat me again. Alicia Lukas, who’s getting placed in the Hall of Fame is a fucking Thundercunt and I’ll call her that until the end of the day.

You’re comfortable as a champion, but what happens when you finally face someone that has vitriol in his bones? Comfortability breeds complacency, and you can tell me a million times that you just want the legends of this business to see you for your worth, but your limits are going to be pushed, your shine is going to dim. We’re not just some last minute pairing that doesn’t make sense. And that is where you made your mistake with your details.

Kayla and I, while we don’t like each other now, have been wanting this since January. We watched Blast From the Past and we talked about how we could be champions if they had the Mixed Tags. We wanted to work together. We trained together, we lived together. We know each other well. We know how the other wrestles, when they need support, and together, we can move mountains. You are not stable. You’re not solidified into the ground with matches between Tempest and Austin, the Barnharts or anyone else that you’ve faced in your easy walk to gold. We may not like each other, but to question our existence as a team is a fallacy. For all intents and purposes, we are the most formidable team. We’ve jumped over our communication gap – and now? Now we have everything in play.

While you believe yourselves to be the second coming of The Black Sheep, the Reckless Elite,, you have leagues to go before you get anywhere near their capabilities. I don’t like them. I never did. Superiority when the company lives on through Chris Pages and Goths and fucking Ariana Angelos of this company.  But Kris had a leg up on me once. I’ll be damned if you do it in his stead. You’re not next up. You’re fucking fetuses in the ring, and you haven’t learned the roads that we walk to greatness. You might be good. You might be great someday. But have you gotten messages from people in this business asking for you to attend their show? Watch their matches? Be a part of their roster? I have.

I got it here.

I was asked to come back, and I said I would when the time was right for me.

You? Neither one of you have ever had that, and while you think you’re happy right now and content and comfortable in your position, what happens when you lose your security blankets? How much worth will you have when Jet City can’t use your name to elevate their status anymore?

You’re as limitless as you are worthless, Oliver.

You can talk about how much you outsmart people, you can talk about how much you guys can get into our heads, but at the end of the day, you’re talking to veterans of the sport. I don’t give a flying fuck if you or Eiley don’t respect either myself or Kayla. When we were just starting out, we wore those chips on our shoulders. You’ve earned that. But to sit there and say you’re the greatest Mixed Tag Team Champions that walked the halls of Sin City?

No. I disagree.

You don’t have any equals, because we’re simply better than you. We’re better than your less-than-a-year long trek and your three month championship reign. Kayla and I, whether you respect us or not, are far higher competitors than you or Eiley will ever be. We’ve worked with one another, been friends with one another longer than you think. We’re not just limitless, we are completely unstoppable when we have our minds in the game and our crosses to bear. The Championships are ours for the taking, and we will wrest them from your grasp. And then what will you have? A new puppy?

I hope that’s a good consolation prize.

Winter is coming, Zahn. I sincerely hope that this puts everything into perspective for you. You are nothing. 

The Devil’s in the Details.

Time to go to hell.