After Climax Control
Ace Baldwin went storming through the backstage area, a towel over his shoulders, his wrestling trunks still on and an angry look on his face, despite the face he had just got the win over the Roulette champion, Thatcher Rex just minutes ago, but Ace wasn’t happy as he went looking for two people: Kevin Carter and Erik Staggs, he walked toward the hallway where he knew Erik would be but instead he found “Dynamic” Derek Daniels, his manager. Derek held up his hands as Ace tried to storm by him and caught him.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
Whoa! Whoa! Where the hell are you going? Why are you so upset? What’s wrong? What happened out there, I didn’t catch the end of the match but saw where you had won.
Ace stopped and balled up his fist and paced back and forth a couple of times before he looked up to Derek and began venting to him.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Some cock-head came down to the ring and hit Thatcher with a chair, he stumbled into me, I didn’t have any other choice but to lift him up and nail him with a TFC. I won the match but…
Derek placed his hands on his hips as he waited for Ace to go on, but the words, ‘I won the match’ seemed to have stopped him in his tracks as he looked for something else to say, Derek waited, finally Ace just shook his head and sighed.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Yeah, yeah I won, but I don’t want to win like that, I want to take a guy to his limit if I have to, and I want to win because I was the better man, not because some guy comes down to the ring and hits my opponent with the chair, but what am I supposed to do? Am I just supposed to let him recover? He should have watched his back…Shouldn’t he?
Derek sighed, seeing the internal struggle with Ace for making the pin he put a hand on his shoulder and guided him over to a box that was against the wall and Ace sat down as Derek stood beside him with his hand over onto the wall.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
Look, I know you’re struggling with why you picked team Erik, but you can’t storm back there and start asking him and demanding why a guy came out and hit Thatcher with a chair...Thatcher should have watched his back, plain and simple. That wrestling ring doesn’t mean you’re going to be safe from anything outside of it just because you’re between those ropes, you’ve got to put your head on a swivel. I know you’re wondering if you made the right choice, but the fact is, we’re not going to know until the end, keep your cool, at least until that three way for the tag belts, then you can do whatever you want to, but listen, you need to keep those belts around your waist…At any costs, those don’t come cheap, nor do they come often…You understand?
Ace looked around, Derek’s voice had lowered a bit as Ace paid attention, but someone who had been watching, keeping her eye on things was Ms. Rocky Mountains, who knew a scoop when she saw one, she had a recorder in her hand as she watched in the distance, trying to get a feel for the situation.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Yeah, but no matter how big of a dick Carter is, I don’t want to turn my back on him, because I want these titles around my waist, I want to be the tag team champions because I’ve looked up and down the history books and the past matches of the SCW, and the fact is they’ve never had a better champion, in my opinion, than Kevin Carter and I. Team Erik is something I don’t want to be a part of anymore, but it’s going to be better for me if I do…Look, I’m not going to partake in any beat downs, or any jumps of Team SCW, but if in this match something happens…I’m turning a blind eye, because just like them, I’m risking my neck and risking a loss from someone interfering, if it happens to me, you aren’t going to hear me complain…The tag titles will stay home, to Carter and Baldwin…
Ace trailed off because Ms. Rocky Mountains came strutting up as Derek nodded to Ace and looked to Ms. Rocky Mountains, he backed away.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
I’m going to be heading out, I’ll get the stuff together in the locker room and you can come and get me when you’re done, alright?
Ace nodded as he stood up and faced Ms. Rocky Mountains as she smiled at him, the recorder in her hands as she clicked it on and off as she approached.
-Ms. Rocky Mountains:-
Hello, Ace Baldwin. Long time no talk, my dear. I saw what happened out there tonight, very good, and a very impressive win over the Heavyweight and Roulette champion.
Ace shrugged it off, as Rocky Mountains clicked her recorder on, which Ace was sure this would be aired out for SCW fans to hear over one medium or another.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Yeah, well, as much as I respect Thatcher as an opponent, he should have been paying attention to what is going on outside of the ring, because we both know, as you’re a former wrestler, you always have to be watching and what’s going on around you, it’s always good to mind your surroundings. As for Spike? I think he’s a great champion, and while I think he’s a worthy opponent, I’m the best this company has to offer, and one day…I’ll show him.
Rocky Mountains nodded with a smirk on her face as Ace still sat down on the box of ring materials as he toweled himself off as she asked him another question as she stood over him.
-Ms. Rocky Mountains:-
Well, you got to see a bit from your future opponents and you know a match has been made for the Hostile Takeover, super show as Goth and Brother Grimm has been added to the tag team title rematch between you and Blood Omen….Thoughts?
Ace shrugged as he pulled the towel up over his head and rubbed the towel against his already tussled brown hair so he could dry it off a bit from the sweat.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
You know, Blood Omen was overwhelmingly bad the last time we stepped into the ring, I mean, the fact is Kain looks like he is the only one interested in the match, Kevin Carter and I dominated the little ankle biter Frost the whole time, he doesn’t belong in this match, as we showed. I essentially just held a hand on his forehead and let him try and fight me, I dared him to try and do something. All that happened, all of that led up to a pair of champions who didn’t deserve the championships that they held, because say what you will about Kevin Carter and I, but we are the two best damn wrestlers on the roster, and when you put us together….Well….You get a real pair of tag team champions, you get two people who deserve to hold the belt.
Ms. Rocky Mountains nodded as Ace pulled himself up from the box he sat on and put both hands on his hips as he faced Rocky Mountains.
-Ms. Rocky Mountains:-
So if the number one contenders for the tag team titles, Blood Omen were listening to this right now, what would you tell Kain and Frost? What would you tell them?
Ace smirked as he looked to Rocky Mountains.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
To watch their backs, because they don’t belong. This is a triple threat match, and if I’m ranking teams in this match, I’m ranking Kevin Carter and Ace Baldwin first, by a long shot, nobody will come close honestly, and then as bad as I hate to admit it, at least they seem interested, at least they want to be in this match and at least they look like they’re a team. You see, Kevin and I have revamped this tag team division to something that has never been in SCW before. We’ve single handedly added validity and added legitimacy to these tag team title belts, and we may not see eye to eye, I may want to kick his ass more than any person in this ring, but we are ready to swim with the sharks, we are good enough to hold these titles, Blood Omen? Never was. Blood Omen wasn’t on top of the mountain; no pun intended.
He winked over at Ms. Rocky Mountains as she smirked and gave a throaty laugh as he looked back forward and continued to talk about Blood Omen.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
No, this tag team was dwelling at the bottom, and awaiting teams that can’t even apply a wrist lock correctly. They didn’t beat anyone, or at least I never even noticed putting those tag team titles on the line, I know this first defense is going to be the hardest, but because we are the best, because we are the better team, nobody, nothing will be able to touch us. Kain can’t do it by himself, and Frost…Who may or may not show up. Who knows what will happen will him, but let me tell you one constant, one constant is despite the odds thrown against us, despite what’s going to happen, at the end of the night, I don’t care about Team Erik and Team SCW, I’m going to be holding up one half of my tag team titles at the end of the night.
He smirked as he got up to walk away but Ms. Rocky Mountains stopped him as she put a hand on his shoulder with a nice smile.
-Ms. Rocky Mountains:-
Well, what about your other opponents? What about Brother Grimm and Goth, do you think they have a chance to bring the title home for them?
Ace held up a hand and smirked.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I got something special planned for them, but I don’t care about them, I sure as hell don’t fear them. I’m not afraid of any man. I’m more afraid of my own partner than I am the other four men in this match, and I’m about to leave, and go get ready and go to my hotel room, in the meantime, I want SCW to know this, look out, because I’ve lit a fire under myself. No more losing, no more dropping down to my opponents level, I don’t fall off the wagon, because I’m strapped in and driving it. At the end of the day, it’s going to be me that has the main strap around his waist, but for the time being, I have something other people want, and other people need to be successful, I have something other people covet over, it’s human nature to want to hold onto these titles, and I’m going to break a few records in the process, and it all starts next Sunday, because the first defense…Is always the toughest…
He nodded as he walked away from Ms. Rocky Mountains who clicked stop on her recording and slowly walked away, her heels clicked as Ace pulled the towel from his head and leaned his head back and let out a sigh, he had a lot of work cut out for him in the next couple of weeks, or month in the SCW, but he wasn’t backing down…
- -
It is around nightfall in Brasilia, Brazil, where Ace Baldwin walks the streets with a hoodie pulled over his head, his hands jammed down into the pockets, with a pair of jeans on, along with a grey pair of vans as he walked, he kept his head down, the hoodie pooling a shadow over his face with the dying sun, he finally looked up as he walked, his destination was unknown, as usual though.
As he walked he looked up with a sideways smile upon his face as he pulled the hood from his head as the sun seemed to leave the scene as if someone had turned off a light, the streets were still teaming with life as he walked and turned down a street, and ahead rested a place that said “Brasilia City Hall” which seemed to be quite empty this time of night, as business—at least government affiliated had already shut down, the people had gone home, but a single light remained on in City Hall, and someone stood at the door before Ace as he walked down the street. He spoke.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
This city, is filled with beauty. The streets we walk on, the people I meet, the food I eat, the sounds I hear, the sights I see. It’ll all wonderful, this place…Is something else. I haven’t seen an ugly person, eat a bad meal or wake up on the wrong side of the bed. This place is beautiful, but just because it is, doesn’t mean there isn’t something there to tarnish it. Ahead of me? It Is the City Hall of Brasilia. In this wonderful, beautiful place it can be known as an eye-sore, because the old City Hall that stood here, burned to the ground with people inside of it. Blood was shed, people suffered, and loved ones lost forever in a blaze of ash and ember. They erected this building we see before us on the very site where all of that blood was shed and by tale; this place is the most haunted place in Brasilia, in this beautiful city, even something so nasty, so vile can turn into whispers about how haunted the place is, how scary it is, it can turn into how you should avoid this place, whispers turned to yells, turned to screams, turned to postings and videos online…
He walked toward the building where the guard waited for him, he jogged up the steps and talked to the guard in some broken Portuguese, but it was enough for the guard to say in some broken English, “good luck,” as Ace stepped in and the doors were locked behind him as the officer, through the darkness left Ace to his lonesome in the lobby, where the lights were dimmed, but the upstairs and different halls of the City Hall was dark. He pulled out a head lamp and tested it a couple of times before he took a deep, long breath. He walked over to the lobby light and flipped it off. He placed the head lamp around his head and it flickered to life.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Just like the SCW is filled with magnificent wrestlers…Amazing…Wrestlers even, at least I know one that is amazing. Regardless of how wondrous it is, still there are spots where you think, it isn’t very special, it isn’t very marvelous, in fact it’s just revolting. A few bad apples can spoil the bunch, or so they say. If the SCW is Brasilia, and this haunted City Hall is an eye-sore, then the eye-sore of the SCW would have to be Goth and Brother Grimm.
In the dim light you could see him run his tongue across his lips to wet them as he walked around the hallway slowly, his ears every listening to any creak of the stairs or any doors opening or slamming.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
So before I get ahead of myself, you may be asking why I’m walking through this supposed haunted place, well it all ties together, it all comes together in this ugly, outdated hall, and it all ties into the ugly, overrated wrestlers that I’ll be stepping into the ring with at Hostile Takeover. I went through SCW, and I asked if there was any way I could get into the most haunted place here in Brasilia, because I want to prove a point, a point against Brother Grimm and Goth, the two absolute losers, and one of the two teams Kevin Carter and I will be defending our title against come next Sunday.
He turned his head as he pointed his headlamp up the steps, a soft bump came from upstairs, several times as Ace smirked and began a slow ascend up the stairs, he spoke softly, so he could hear the sounds of the City Hall as he walked.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
You see, fear is an amazing thing and it moves we, as people in different ways. It seems we always seem to fear what we despise and despise what we fear. It could be anything, one could be afraid of failure, some may be afraid of animals, snakes and spiders. Some have fears of water; some have fear of odd and different things. You see, the two men my partner and I will be stepping into the ring with thrive on what they think is this fear…This fear they think they fans have of them, this fear they think they strike into their opponents hearts when they stumble to the ring over their trench coats and robes, but the fact of the matter is, nobody is scared…Especially not me…
The smirk was gone; a determined look replaced it as he reached the first landing of the stairs as he looked around, he heard the bump sound again as he walked toward the source of the noise, he stepped slowly, but it was a fearless walk, his head and face up, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched as he stepped, one foot after another.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I’ve been raised from day one not to fear nothing, or no man. I grew up not fearing the things that go bump in the night and the things that the other kinds talked about living under their bed, I was never scared of the dark, and I never had a fear of water or spiders, or snakes. I grew up on a stage, I grew up acting, the sea of people who swam before me, was a challenge. Not being a afraid was a challenge, but my father taught me to be afraid of nothing, and maybe, maybe I’m just salty. Maybe I’m just mad because I’ve been and wrestled in so many independent federations across the country, and in every single one of those, there is always some overweight, or underweight, skinny, pale…Regardless someone they have to book because it seems it isn’t a show without some sort of freak show coming to the ring trying to scare people, the problem?
He chuckled as he walked into the room where he heard the banging’s and heard the bump in the night, he walked in to see a window cracked, and a cabinet door was fluttering back and forth, making the banging noise he heard, he shut the window, locked it and shut the cabinet door.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Nobody is scared because they’ve seen it all before, and how…How am I supposed to take you two ding bats seriously? I beat Goth, clean in the center of the ring…One…Two…Three, and now he’s got a carbon copy for a partner. Some joker called Brother Grimm, now I haven’t followed his path here in SCW, nor do I really care about it, because I glanced at a few of his matches, I watched a few of his entrances, I don’t see anyone cowering in fear, I don’t see any wrestler backing down from him, including me. Hell..
He laughed and walked out of the room he was just in and headed for the stairs again, as the hall was quite big, and went up to at least three stories. He stood and lingered on the stairs as he flipped off his light, over to red so his light didn’t project much, just the front of his face, but he could see out in front of him with ease.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I never believed in the boogey man growing up, it was a fairly tell, some scare tactic I’m sure used to strike fear into the hearts of children. There was nothing ever under my bed, nor is there today. There was nothing in my closet, nothing in my house, no bumps in the night. It says a lot about Brother Grimm if he is claiming himself to be the boogeyman though. Why would you compare yourself to something that hides under little kid’s bed, or things that refuse to come out of the closet? Why? Because you’re a sick freak, but not in a good way, because I can see your painted lips grinning at that statement. You aren’t scary, you aren’t frightening, and you’re a pedophile obviously.
He rubbed his smooth chin as he stepped up onto the first step to go up towards the third floor, where lights had been known to come on and office doors were randomly found open without any reason by security. He slowly walked up the steps, listening for something to go investigate.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Yet here I am in this building, here I am supposed to be scared out of my mind because of ghosts and goblins, and maybe even the boogeyman he, but do I look scared? Am I shaking in my boots? Am I frightened? No. Take notes, because next Sunday at Hostile Takeover, you can glide your goofy ass right down to the ring, Brother Grimm. I’ll draw the line, I’ll mark it with my toe, my belt or I’ll dare you to step across that line, but you don’t want to do that, because you don’t want to be hurt. Go ahead, hide under my bed, come to my closet, and meet me in the ring, all of the scenarios end in one thing, you, easily being beaten—by me. I’m not afraid of you.
He balled his fists up and walked into the upstairs atrium, where creepy pictures covered the walls as he stepped with a purpose to the center of the room and began shaking his fists to his side.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
But if you’re so big, and you’re so bad, and you have all these powers, come here, right now. SPILL MY BLOOD IN THESE HALLS, make me bleed, kill me, end it…I’ll stand right here waiting, laughing at you in the face the entire time, because Ace Baldwin…He fears no man. Ace Baldwin fears NOTHING, he doesn’t fear failure, because failure doesn’t come to people like me, I’m a winner, unlike you, Grimm, because you’re a loser so you resort to these scare tactics that doesn’t exist, nobody wants to read your fairy tales, because your whole gimmick? Your whole shtick? It’s nothing more, than that. A fairy tale, but in this fairy tale it isn’t going to end happily for you, but I’ll have the happy ending, and the moral of the story will be simple, you don’t cross Ace Baldwin…And for that matter you don’t cross Kevin Carter either, my tag partner, because while we may hate one another, we have one thing in common, we hate to lose. You? You were born a loser, raised a loser, and you’ll stand in the middle of that ring just that, a loser. When you walk in, you’ll walk out in the exact same social standing, at the bottom of the food chain, because while you’re out there hiding under little kid’s bed and playing like you’re the big bad wolf, you’re pretending to be me, cause I’m up here in amidst the giants of this industry while you’re piddling down at our feet, you ankle biter. I don’t care if you’re 6’4, you don’t hold any power over me in the ring, because I am…Amazing, and I am the light to your darkness…Step off, or get stepped on by the champs.
He smirked as his voice had raised, so he hadn’t paid attention to the door that had slowly opened behind him, he caught it out of the corner of his eye as he turned quickly, no sign of fear but he only smirked, knowing Brother Grimm was a fake, knowing he was a fraud, and no way he would be in the building with him, plus he didn’t have the guts.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
You see, Grimm. I’m not scared of your partner either, because I’m not sure if he told you or not, I’m not sure if he let you in on the secret, but when I came into the SCW, I laid eyes on Goth and I thought, oh, what a huge waste of space of this roster, so what did I do? I went out and beat him in one of my first few matches here in the SCW, I beat him in the center of the ring…One…Two…Three, because that’s what I do. I talk my trash talk up, with my ability in the ring, something neither of you numbskulls has. I have more talent in my big toe, I use more of my talent putting on my jock before I head out to the ring than either of you can muster in the ring itself. You see, I said this when I faced Goth, but I’d just like to be the guy to rid the world of gimmicks like yours in professional wrestling because there is no room for it, no room for ghosts and goblins, because the people have seen it all. You don’t need a gimmick, Goth. You just need to hit the tanning bed, buy your buddy Grimm a package as well, hell, I’ll pay for it.
He grinned as he walked over to examine the door as he pulled it back and forth and it squealed and squeaked like a mouse, he then meandered off to find a source of what was making the door flutter open, back and forth. He didn’t watch his back, he walked casually as if he was in a coffee shop, or some sort of museum.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
You don’t look like wrestlers, and that would be okay if you could get it done in the ring, but you can’t. Goth, how did I make you feel when I slammed you into the mat and pinned you as easily as you had ever been pinned in your life? How did it feel? Did it make you want to slit your wrists all over again? Maybe you should have done the SCW fans favors that are actually showing up for Hostile Takeover, which actually bought tickets to see you disgrace, MY ring. You’d be better off dead, that way SCW could actually make some money off of you with a memorial show, maybe a sell a couple of DVD’s to your putrid family, something to make me think you’re a real threat, because quite frankly, I’m scared of my partner screwing me over more than I am you beating me in a wrestling match…Been there…Done that.
He waved his hands as if he was getting ahead of himself as he found another window just slightly ajar, but it looked closed, this was what was causing the door to blow open from time to time.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
And don’t get it twisted, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, this is more than a good guy, bad guy thing. That’s wrestling in the 1950’s. You see, I’ve been damned for “not being myself” when I have a big match, and maybe showing some “Heelish” qualities, but main stream wrestling has ruined the dynamic of a good guy and a bad guy, you see just because I tell the truth about Goth and Brother Grimm, doesn’t mean the crowd shouldn’t still cheer me, because they do. They cheered me when I lifted Goth up over my shoulders and I told him, Thanks for Coming. They cheered me when I won the tag titles, but they booed Kevin Carter, the fans cheer talent when they see it, and you guys can pretend all you want in this world is to be booed by the fans of the SCW but I know it’s a side show, it’s an act, that’s all you two are, circus acts.
He slammed the door behind him and made his decent back down to the lobby, after not finding much of anything in the old and supposedly haunted City Hall, but not many people would dare go in after dark.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I’m not afraid of the dark, I’m not afraid of what you two buffoons can do to me, because what you want to do, and what you can do are two different things. The fact of the matter is, I’ll be standing with my foot on top of the boogey man and his butt-buddy Goth, and I’ll be holding up MY tag team championships, because just like I walked through this haunted place just to prove that this stuff that people are scared of isn’t real, you are both mortal men, because anything other than a mortal wouldn’t let me pin him in the middle of the ring, and if you were what you said you were, Grimm, you would have the intuition to know to stay the hell out of my ring, to stay as far away from the ring as you can, because when you step through those ropes, you aren’t under a bed, you aren’t in a closet, you are in my play ground, you’ve stepped foot in my sand box, and you aren’t leaving with anything less, than a black eye and a loss…Now how’s that…For Amazing.
He smirked as he flipped off his light and pushed open the front door in a cocky manner as the door closed behind him and Ace walked out into the lit street, slowly a door in the lobby swung open and then slammed back shut…
