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Offline Alex Jones

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« on: June 25, 2025, 08:36:09 AM »
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The heart wants what it wants. That phrase has been said time and time again. It’s supposed to be sweet, it is supposed to tell everyone that no matter what happens in the world, you should follow what your heart wants because your heart will lead you to truth and happiness. But in the cold harsh reality that we all live in, and the truth is that the heart wants what it wants is a cop out. It is an excuse. An excuse the people use when they cheat on their significant other, an excuse the people use when they can act like a complete dickhead.

It is a misnomer. The saying that no one should ever care about or listen to in their right mind. The heart is something that will lead you astray. The heart is something that will cloud your emotions and make you think in circles.

A few weeks after revealing that he and his now ex-wife had broken up, Alex stood in the main area of the Wolfslair gym, and he could feel the eyes on him. He could hear the whispers. Although he and Aaron had tried to hide the relationship, it hadn’t gone well. The two of them had spent more and more time in the office together alone, and through the weeks people who knew Alex noticed small changes in him. They also noted changes in Aaron and her appearance and the way she would act. And it had started spilling over into public.

A stolen glance here, a small smile there. And the senior members of the gym had really started to notice. Alicia and Austin especially.

Aaron and Alex stood in front of the office door talking. At first, it looked like a regular talk between two people who are working together. But then it happened, Aaron giggled and put her hand up to her face before reaching out and lightly touching Alex on the arm. She smiled and turned walking away, looking over her shoulders. Alex gave her a small nod. Alex moved into the office and Austin followed. Alicia reached out to grab Austin‘s arm, but Austin turned, grabbing her hand and shaking his head.

He moved into the office behind Alex, closing the door behind him, causing Alex to turn and look at his longtime friend with a raised eyebrow. “What are you doing?” The question hung in the air and Alex simply folded his arms over his chest waiting for more of an explanation from Austin as to exactly what he meant by that question. Austin‘s nostrils flared and he stepped closer. ”What are you doing with her?”

Alex shook his head and folded his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall. He knew that Austin wasn’t going to let this go. Austin was like a dog with a bone – when he wanted to know an answer he was never going to stop. Alex took a deep breath, closed his eyes and pushed it out before speaking, choosing his words carefully. ”What does it look like? Sonja is gone and Aaron and I fell into a relationship. These things happen. You of all people should know that, Austin.”

Austin’s eyes narrowed, his long hair was tied back in a bun and his beard had grown back. A pad that was protecting his healing collarbone was visible underneath his shirt. ”And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Austin’s eye twitched as Alex stayed calm, leaning against the wall.

”You have no right to judge me.” Alex paused for a moment and ground his teeth together. He pushed off the wall and stepped closer to Austin. The two men coming face-to-face as Alex took a deep breath and continued. “Your wife was murdered, and now you are in a relationship with a woman who lost her husband, her husband that you had a direct hand in taking out. Because he had a direct hand in murdering your wife. And after all I’ve done for you, you want to stand here and judge me for this?”

”That’s different.”

Alex scoffs and shakes his head ”Different, yeah, yours was worse. Who do you think kept that detective off your back? Who do you think? Kept everything quiet? I did. And after you and Alicia got together I said nothing. Because you both seemed happy. So don’t I deserve the same courtesy? Don’t I deserve the same chance at happiness?”

Austin shakes his head ”Happiness? Happiness is one thing. I knew Alicia for years and we found each other. You and Aaron barely knew each other until she weaseled her way into the gym. And have you thought about how Finn will feel?” Austin raised an eyebrow. He brought up a good point. But Alex simply shook his head and stayed strong.

”Finn? I don’t care. That might seem cold to you or strange but the truth is he doesn’t factor into anything that I do in my life.” there was a certain amount of venom in Alex‘s voice as he spoke about Finn. There was clearly no love loss between the two. ”Can’t you just accept that I’m happy? We’re supposed to be friends. I took you in when your father asked me to train you. And even though he’s gone along with your stepmother, I have always taken care of you. With family Austin. Family has each other’s backs.”

He was gaslighting Austin. And Alex knew it. But it seemed to work. Austin‘s body language changed, his face softened and he let out a deep breath before shaking his head and running his hand through his hair. ”Just… be careful okay? Aaron is complicated and you and Sonja only broke up recently, the ink isn’t even dry on your divorce papers.”

”I appreciate your concern Austin” Alex smiled and offered up a small life before tapping Austin on his good shoulder. ”I’m not some lovesick teenager. Trust me. I know what I’m doing. Aaron and I are taking things slow. Nothing is going to change in Wolfslair.” Austin nodded slowly, understanding what Alex was trying to say. But Alex was wrong. He just didn’t know how wrong he was going to be.

He walked out of the office, Austin following him. He looked over and saw Aaron smiling as he moved over to her. Austin sighed heavily moved over to Alicia getting ready to tell her everything that just happened inside the office. Getting ready to reveal the relationship between the two.

Run it back

”Are you all happy? Are you all entertained? I ended Finn Whelan’s title reign, I stepped back and was ready to defend the championship against Carter. And I told each and everyone of you exactly what you wanted to hear.”

Alex sits forward. His long hair is tied back away from his face, his beard more grown out than normal. His cold blue eyes stare ahead as he tries to maintain his composure while a searing and bubbling reservoir of anger sits just below the surface.

”This company is a cesspool of egos. But I’m the only one who will admit it. I let my ego pull me in many different directions. I let my ego overrun me. But again, I’m the only one real enough to admit that. The entirety of this company is built off of the fact that so many of you believe you are better than you are. You believe your delusions of grandeur to the point where you are clouded to the realities of life. That World Championship is not meant to be held by everyone. It is not meant to be a bargaining chip handed around just because you think you should have it. It has been kept out of the hands of ungrateful people.”

“Like Miles Kasey, like Alexander Raven. These names are just a few of the examples of those of you who believe they should be at the top, but never had the talent. Carter was one of those people. But, in one moment, in one shining moment of unbelievable hubris on my part, he was able to beat me and walk out with that championship. And I can’t even have a chance to rectify the situation because he was the first defence. I beat Finn and immediately lost it to him and now I have to sit here while Carter goes onto face J2H…”

“This is indeed the darkest timeline. This entire company has fallen to a place that no longer resembles the shining beacon of honesty and dignity that this sport needed. For the longest time, I was able to point to SCW and tell the world that this is where true talent was rewarded. That the cream would rise to the top and everyone else would fall by the wayside.”

“Austin James Mercer, Ben Jordan, J2H, Kris Ryans, Ferris, myself, Mac Bane, Finn Whelan, even Michael Harris. All of these names are men who were worthy of being the World Champion. You see, a world championship is not just something you throw in the collection and say that you earned. A world championship is something that becomes part of your life. Part of your very being. So many of you don’t understand what it is to be a world champion. The type of pressure that ends up being thrust upon you because you are looked at as the best of the best. In the fact that Carter has that championship in his hands now? It makes me sick to my stomach. And the fact that he want it from me makes it even worse.”


He takes a deep breath, he’s nostrils flaring as he keeps the venom down as well as the bile that’s rising up from his stomach

”But, life goes on. Life and careers go on and that is exactly what we are going to focus on, isn’t it? The fact that this business and the company in general just breeze past all of this and keep on going towards the next event, the next person, the next big thing in the next title reign while leaving everyone else in their last week. I was forgotten once before. We all saw how that ended, didn’t we? Finn Whelan was a dominant champion. A monster in orbit statue. A man who would verbally and physically cut you down and make you nothing. nothing. It is something that so many of you just couldn’t handle. Carter couldn’t handle it, Miles couldn’t handle it. None of you could until I came along and I'm damn sure I was able to end that monster’s reign of terror.”

“And how was I thanked? How was I rewarded? I was beaten, I was shuttled aside. All because everyone was so happy that Carter finally won the big one. The big one. After how many attempts? How many times did Carter have to have opportunities thrown at him?”

“I was thanked by listening to Carter fiddle and fuck around through cutting promos against Me that made absolutely zero sense. Sitting there talking about me sitting in catering. Are you kidding me? That lame excuse that we’ve heard from so many other people like I apparently grab hold of Christian or Mark‘s hand and forced it on a fucking book to write my name down? That’s the argument that you went with, Carter? And the fact that these idiots believed it. The fact that you had people actually listening to every single word you had to say going into that match, believing that you were right and not just full of shit because you had nothing better to say?”

“You arrogant little shit. Before we had our match, you actually told people that I was jealous watching the younger generation take centre stage. Really? You beat me one time and become the world champion and suddenly you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread? You call me self absorbed? Bitch, what the fuck did you just say before our match? You are one of the most self-absorbed people in the fucking planet and you wanted to judge me?”

“Me?”

“I have been a World Champion in every company I have ever been in. I have been the standard for greatness for two decades and you want to stand there and honestly say to me that my success was like a participation trophy? You shouldn’t have beaten me. That might sound arrogant, that might sound self-righteous but you should not have beaten me. Because you aren’t the best.”


Alex gets so angry that he spits across the table. His hands slam against it as he stands up. The chair that he was sitting on kicking back across the room and hitting the wall behind him.

”And soon, well soon you’re going to see it. Do you know why? Because J2H is going to kick in your fucking skull. He’s gonna take that championship from you and you’re going to be looked at as an afterthought. Because winning a championship one time is not going to make you a legend, Carter. You can prance around like you’re the best of the best and you can tell people how great you are but when push comes to shove and the bright lights are on you and you do have that “centre stage” feeling you are going to find out what so many others have. That winning a championship and being a Champion are two completely different things.”

“Being a champion means turning up day in and day out. Being a champion means listening to all of those silly little things that people who think they’re better than you say and shrugging them off. Being a champion is going into a match showing respect to have an athletic competition instead of just ripping some arrogant little shithead’s head clean off his body, and sticking it straight up his fucking husband’s ass.”

“The truth is, you little piss ant, is that I should have been so much harder on you. But instead, I showed you respect. Too much respect. And instead of her looking at me for what I was, a teacher, a champion, a legend, you decided to spit on my fucking legacy. And in one moment you were justified. You were proven right when you were able to beat me. And you did, you did beat me. Congratulations Carter. Clap clap for the conquering hero who is able to beat someone who was a mediocre mid-card star.”

“Your words…not mine.”

“Way to bury the lead, shithead. Oh am I breaking the fourth wall? Sorry, tends to happen a little bit in this company doesn’t it?”

“But hey, at the end of the day this match is inconsequential. I beat you before I defended the championship against you. Then you beat me. Now for some reason, I’ve been booked in this match against you despite the fact that my old broken down ass just wanted to get drunk with my girlfriend and enjoy my life. But I’ve been called back again and again. I’ve been called back because I’m making your championship ring seem more interesting. A hell of a lot more interesting than facing Artie.”

“But, in the end, what would you get by beating me again? You sat there and decided to piss all over my career and then you beat me. So you belittled your own win. But I guess they don’t really count for things like that, do they? Good luck Carter. I’m still in this company. I’m still contractually obligated to turn up but that heart that I had, that soul that I had, everything that I was and everything that I am. That’s mine now. My career and my legacy doesn’t belong to this business or this company any more. Fuck SCW, fuck Christian Underwood, fuck Mark Ward and most of all fuck you. I’m out.”