Post by King on Aug 19, 2024 4:58:07 GMT
Brandy stood at the edge of the driveway, holding a tiny piece of crumpled paper in her hands. She found the house attached to be in good repair, even though it was a bit unassuming. A myriad of lanterns hanging about gave the home a certain charm, however. As she checked the address scribed on the paper one more time for accuracy, the nerves grew in her stomach. This wasn't what she imagined the place would be like. At times, she imagined it would be so much grander. Sometimes, she imagined it held together with duct tape and caulk. Somehow, the idea of the home being perfectly average never crossed her mind though.
She walked the driveway until reaching the door, where she put her lit cigarette out against the door frame, carefully saving what remained of it for later. She raised her arm in the air, fist clenched, preparing to knock. For a moment, she hesitates, her arm hanging in the air. Finally, she beats on the door three times, quickly.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The wait at the door felt like an eternity for Brandy. In real time, it was less than a minute before the door was opened by a man that greeted Brandy with a look of utter shock and disbelief.
"Brandy?" The man recognizes her; but he phrases her name in the form of a question, nonetheless.
"Hey, Scotty." Left unsaid was the fact that she noticed Scotty had physically changed. The fit young man that she remembered training with had gained a few pounds around his midsection; and although he had only recently waded into his thirties, lost a little weight off the top of his head thanks to thinning hair.
"I didn't expect to see you show up at my door in a million years! Come in. Come in." The man motions for her to enter his home.
"I knew you ended up working here in Japan, so I got your address off someone a few weeks ago." She passes by him as he shuts the door.
"I figured those people would have long forgotten about me. I wouldn't exactly say I ever made it here." He points to a place on the floor where some shoes are lined up. "Take your shoes off, would you? The wife would kill me if she knew I let you wear those through the house."
"Shit, you got married?" The surprises continue to come for Brandy. She puts a hand against the wall to slip out of her boots.
"Yeah," he says, practically beaming with pride. "I ran into Nanami in a club one night after a show, and we've been practically inseparable ever since. We've been married for almost a year now. She works in financing, and I stay home and take care of our son. Anyway, come in and sit down. Anywhere is fine. Make yourself comfortable."
Brandy and Scotty make their way to seats. Brandy scans the place with her eyes, feeling almost overwhelmed by how ordinary this all felt to her.
"I've been watching you on the television." Scotty states, trying to keep the conversation going.
"It pays," Brandy replies, offering a half-shrug, not wanting to dive into her life in the world of wrestling. "How do you manage all of this with life on the road?"
"My days in the ring are over after one concussion too many," he explains. "I couldn't wrestle again even if I wanted to. The doctors would never clear me. That's okay, though. I won a championship in the indies once. I got to travel the world before I came here. I met my wife thanks to wrestling. Before I retired, the people here were even starting to cheer for me. It's surreal when you hear thousands of people chanting your name, Brandy. I did almost everything I wanted, which is more than a lot of people get to do. I'm happy with my run. Now I get to be a father."
"I don't blame you for getting out." Brandy crosses her legs under her on the couch.
"How is your mother these days?" Scotty inquires with a hint of unease.
"I don't know, I don't talk to her." Brandy maintains a casual tone, concealing the deep-seated hatred she actually harbors toward her mother.
Scotty nods. "I know the two of you never had the best relationship. I remember in training; she made you run ropes for what must have been an hour. I know you were madder than hell; but you kept running until you would try to sneak off somewhere to puke. We all knew. I remember you coming back into that building cussing."
"You'd have said something too if you had to run the fucking ropes that long; but she never rode your ass like that. Just mine." There is a hint of venom in Brandy's tone now.
"Is that why you damn near killed me so many times suplexing me?" A joke by Scotty in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Fucking cry about it, Scotty." She shakes her head. "I wasn't even a hundred pounds. It was stupid idea of hers to try and teach me how to do that. She was always three times as hard on me as she was on you though, and you fucking know it. All she ever wanted to do was make my life miserable by trying to turn me into a clone of her."
"Yeah, she was, Brandy." Pointing at her, Scotty's tone grows more heartfelt. "I know for a fact your mother never set out on some mission to make you miserable, though. She saw what I knew from day one- you had way more talent walking in the door than I'd ever have. The things that came easy for you, those were hard for me. If your mother had trained you the same way she trained me, she'd have held you back because you'd have never been challenged. You might not have made it to where you are today if she hadn't been so tough on you."
"Bullshit." Brandy's voice is sharp.
"Whatever, Brandy. I know you're probably going to grind that axe for the rest of your life." He throws up his hands. A moment of awkward silence ensues. Attempting to shift gears, Scotty asks her: "At least where you got to has to be exciting though, right? You're main eventing a show for one of the biggest promotions in the world. You can prove you're better than Natasha."
Still annoyed, Brandy tries to avoid making eye contact with Scotty. "I'm not worried about that fake bitch."
"You should take her seriously. I don't know her personally, but I know of her. She's good, Brandy." Scotty leans back in his seat. "Even if she is teaming with that Serenity girl, Natasha will have that entire building behind her, too."
"Why are you lecturing me? I know she can fucking wrestle. I just don't give a damn about her or Serenity Holmes, and I sure as hell don't give a fuck about the crowd! I'm not you, Scotty! Maybe the ringing in your fucking ears makes it harder to hear, but I want you to hear this, if nothing else: I don't need your help, just like I never needed my mother's help!"
An angry Scotty bites down on his lower lip, shaking his head. "You're still the same girl, Brandy."
"Why wouldn't I be?" She gets up from the couch. "Coming here was a fucking mistake. I'm going to go."
"Maybe you should," Scotty tells her.
She snatches up her boots, not bothering to slip them on before she slams the door shut behind her.
*********************
Filming starts.
Stephen Terrella stands at the center of the frame, arms crossed over his chest, with a pinch of chewing tobacco tucked firmly into his lower jaw. To his right, seated on the ground, is the Black Widow, who is smoking a cigarette. On Stephen's left, Portia stands, pressed against him, hanging off of Terrella's solid frame.
"At Odyssey, it will be Savage Kingdom versus Natasha Walker and Serenity Holmes in the main event, where we belong." Portia flashes a tight-lipped, dominance smile.
"Individually, Natasha and Serenity are two of the most promising young stars in all of wrestling. Look at Natasha, her very first year here, having already competed in the Iron Maiden, in addition to advancing all the way to the semi-finals of the Heiress to the Throne. Those two accomplishments alone are things most people in the world could only every dream of. Natasha hasn't stopped there, though, having worked her way into a shot at the Invictus Championship -a title that, no matter what Nick Knight may claim, Stephen made- inside of one year. That's impressive."
"Then you look at Serenity, a second-generation talent, who has been every bit as good. She is the Invictus Champion now. She took that belt from Nick Knight, who has seen it all, and done it all, in this business. Serenity's talent wasn't just noticed by us, though; she caught the eye of the most powerful man in the wrestling world- Roberto Verona. When he offered a branch, she was also smart enough not to turn it down. That is a type of wisdom most people don't have."
Portia holds up a finger. "But, as much momentum as it seems like they may have, as a team, there is a flaw: Serenity just doesn't play that well with others. If you're looking for something beyond my word, though, you need only look at the tape."
"Go back to Sacrifice, June eighteenth, when Serenity was teamed up with J-TV. Something as simple as who should start the match became rather intense, and everything just spiraled from there. In the end, they lost. When it comes to tag team wrestling, no one can pretend that is uncommon for Serenity, though."
"Fast forward, Odyssey, August sixth, Serenity team with Warren Kidd -or whatever he calls himself these days- against Pax Stormcrow and Natasha Walker. Natasha got to witness her partner this week from across the ring, as close as humanly possible. Once more, when it comes to tag team wrestling, Serenity just couldn't get the job done, however. Why you ask?"
"You only need to go back to Sacrifice, May twenty-first, when Serenity was teamed up with Allen Chaney and left him high and dry, to find your answer. Now I'm not saying any of us disagreed with what she did, mind you. Be selfish, take the best deal for yourself. Screw over anyone and everyone you need to get to where you want to go. There was one massive mistake made that day, though."
Terrella calmy, confidently spits out a mouthful of tobacco juice onto the ground below before rather gruffly speaking. "Holmes, you need to fucking finish what you start. Leave no one standing because loose ends, they come back to bite you in the ass later. Now you're looking over your shoulder, wondering if that big, fat motherfucker is going to come for his pound of flesh."
"The same way he helped me beat you in Heiress to Throne, Serenity, despite him being no friend of mine." The Black Widow smirks. "That is how much he hates you. Allen was willing to sell out who he is and what he represents, trading his integrity for your loss. Funny, isn't it?"
Portia flips her hair back. "That's what makes this interesting. It isn't a question of if either one of you are talented enough to hold your own in the ring against the Savage Kingdom, it's a question of if you can trust each other enough to survive a match against the Savage Kingdom. I mean, Natasha, you have to trust that Serenity isn't going to screw you over, even though she has an established history of failed partnerships. And this close to Legacy, it'd be in her best interest to completely fuck you, if she can. Flip that around though, Serenity, and you have to hope that Natasha isn't going to leave you to take the beating of your life from us to make it that much easier for her to take the Invictus Title off of you. And if you're honest with yourself, Serenity, isn't that what you would do if you were in her shoes?"
"Then, of course, there is the large, poorly dressed piece of baggage that you have attached to you, Serenity. Should Chaney decide to show his face in this match, I challenge you to give me one good reason why Natasha wouldn't just walk away. She would already have won the match by disqualification."
"That is a lot to overcome against any team, but you're not facing just any team." Portia holds a hand out, as if she were presenting Stephen and the Black Widow. "You are facing the IWF World Tag Team Champions. Along with Madjinn, what you're looking at is the best tag team in wrestling. That isn't an opinion. The titles they hold make that an absolute fact."
"The popular thing these days seems to be to take shots at us for how we acquired those championships, but everyone that's said it always conveniently leaves out the fact that no team has been able to take these belts off of Savage Kingdom yet. And this match is a chance for Stephen and the Black Widow to make another statement against two rising stars in this sport-- that as good as you both may be, as a team, just like everyone else, you don't measure up to the Savage Kingdom. And when you don't measure up, you get snuffed out."
End Filming.
She walked the driveway until reaching the door, where she put her lit cigarette out against the door frame, carefully saving what remained of it for later. She raised her arm in the air, fist clenched, preparing to knock. For a moment, she hesitates, her arm hanging in the air. Finally, she beats on the door three times, quickly.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The wait at the door felt like an eternity for Brandy. In real time, it was less than a minute before the door was opened by a man that greeted Brandy with a look of utter shock and disbelief.
"Brandy?" The man recognizes her; but he phrases her name in the form of a question, nonetheless.
"Hey, Scotty." Left unsaid was the fact that she noticed Scotty had physically changed. The fit young man that she remembered training with had gained a few pounds around his midsection; and although he had only recently waded into his thirties, lost a little weight off the top of his head thanks to thinning hair.
"I didn't expect to see you show up at my door in a million years! Come in. Come in." The man motions for her to enter his home.
"I knew you ended up working here in Japan, so I got your address off someone a few weeks ago." She passes by him as he shuts the door.
"I figured those people would have long forgotten about me. I wouldn't exactly say I ever made it here." He points to a place on the floor where some shoes are lined up. "Take your shoes off, would you? The wife would kill me if she knew I let you wear those through the house."
"Shit, you got married?" The surprises continue to come for Brandy. She puts a hand against the wall to slip out of her boots.
"Yeah," he says, practically beaming with pride. "I ran into Nanami in a club one night after a show, and we've been practically inseparable ever since. We've been married for almost a year now. She works in financing, and I stay home and take care of our son. Anyway, come in and sit down. Anywhere is fine. Make yourself comfortable."
Brandy and Scotty make their way to seats. Brandy scans the place with her eyes, feeling almost overwhelmed by how ordinary this all felt to her.
"I've been watching you on the television." Scotty states, trying to keep the conversation going.
"It pays," Brandy replies, offering a half-shrug, not wanting to dive into her life in the world of wrestling. "How do you manage all of this with life on the road?"
"My days in the ring are over after one concussion too many," he explains. "I couldn't wrestle again even if I wanted to. The doctors would never clear me. That's okay, though. I won a championship in the indies once. I got to travel the world before I came here. I met my wife thanks to wrestling. Before I retired, the people here were even starting to cheer for me. It's surreal when you hear thousands of people chanting your name, Brandy. I did almost everything I wanted, which is more than a lot of people get to do. I'm happy with my run. Now I get to be a father."
"I don't blame you for getting out." Brandy crosses her legs under her on the couch.
"How is your mother these days?" Scotty inquires with a hint of unease.
"I don't know, I don't talk to her." Brandy maintains a casual tone, concealing the deep-seated hatred she actually harbors toward her mother.
Scotty nods. "I know the two of you never had the best relationship. I remember in training; she made you run ropes for what must have been an hour. I know you were madder than hell; but you kept running until you would try to sneak off somewhere to puke. We all knew. I remember you coming back into that building cussing."
"You'd have said something too if you had to run the fucking ropes that long; but she never rode your ass like that. Just mine." There is a hint of venom in Brandy's tone now.
"Is that why you damn near killed me so many times suplexing me?" A joke by Scotty in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Fucking cry about it, Scotty." She shakes her head. "I wasn't even a hundred pounds. It was stupid idea of hers to try and teach me how to do that. She was always three times as hard on me as she was on you though, and you fucking know it. All she ever wanted to do was make my life miserable by trying to turn me into a clone of her."
"Yeah, she was, Brandy." Pointing at her, Scotty's tone grows more heartfelt. "I know for a fact your mother never set out on some mission to make you miserable, though. She saw what I knew from day one- you had way more talent walking in the door than I'd ever have. The things that came easy for you, those were hard for me. If your mother had trained you the same way she trained me, she'd have held you back because you'd have never been challenged. You might not have made it to where you are today if she hadn't been so tough on you."
"Bullshit." Brandy's voice is sharp.
"Whatever, Brandy. I know you're probably going to grind that axe for the rest of your life." He throws up his hands. A moment of awkward silence ensues. Attempting to shift gears, Scotty asks her: "At least where you got to has to be exciting though, right? You're main eventing a show for one of the biggest promotions in the world. You can prove you're better than Natasha."
Still annoyed, Brandy tries to avoid making eye contact with Scotty. "I'm not worried about that fake bitch."
"You should take her seriously. I don't know her personally, but I know of her. She's good, Brandy." Scotty leans back in his seat. "Even if she is teaming with that Serenity girl, Natasha will have that entire building behind her, too."
"Why are you lecturing me? I know she can fucking wrestle. I just don't give a damn about her or Serenity Holmes, and I sure as hell don't give a fuck about the crowd! I'm not you, Scotty! Maybe the ringing in your fucking ears makes it harder to hear, but I want you to hear this, if nothing else: I don't need your help, just like I never needed my mother's help!"
An angry Scotty bites down on his lower lip, shaking his head. "You're still the same girl, Brandy."
"Why wouldn't I be?" She gets up from the couch. "Coming here was a fucking mistake. I'm going to go."
"Maybe you should," Scotty tells her.
She snatches up her boots, not bothering to slip them on before she slams the door shut behind her.
*********************
Filming starts.
Stephen Terrella stands at the center of the frame, arms crossed over his chest, with a pinch of chewing tobacco tucked firmly into his lower jaw. To his right, seated on the ground, is the Black Widow, who is smoking a cigarette. On Stephen's left, Portia stands, pressed against him, hanging off of Terrella's solid frame.
"At Odyssey, it will be Savage Kingdom versus Natasha Walker and Serenity Holmes in the main event, where we belong." Portia flashes a tight-lipped, dominance smile.
"Individually, Natasha and Serenity are two of the most promising young stars in all of wrestling. Look at Natasha, her very first year here, having already competed in the Iron Maiden, in addition to advancing all the way to the semi-finals of the Heiress to the Throne. Those two accomplishments alone are things most people in the world could only every dream of. Natasha hasn't stopped there, though, having worked her way into a shot at the Invictus Championship -a title that, no matter what Nick Knight may claim, Stephen made- inside of one year. That's impressive."
"Then you look at Serenity, a second-generation talent, who has been every bit as good. She is the Invictus Champion now. She took that belt from Nick Knight, who has seen it all, and done it all, in this business. Serenity's talent wasn't just noticed by us, though; she caught the eye of the most powerful man in the wrestling world- Roberto Verona. When he offered a branch, she was also smart enough not to turn it down. That is a type of wisdom most people don't have."
Portia holds up a finger. "But, as much momentum as it seems like they may have, as a team, there is a flaw: Serenity just doesn't play that well with others. If you're looking for something beyond my word, though, you need only look at the tape."
"Go back to Sacrifice, June eighteenth, when Serenity was teamed up with J-TV. Something as simple as who should start the match became rather intense, and everything just spiraled from there. In the end, they lost. When it comes to tag team wrestling, no one can pretend that is uncommon for Serenity, though."
"Fast forward, Odyssey, August sixth, Serenity team with Warren Kidd -or whatever he calls himself these days- against Pax Stormcrow and Natasha Walker. Natasha got to witness her partner this week from across the ring, as close as humanly possible. Once more, when it comes to tag team wrestling, Serenity just couldn't get the job done, however. Why you ask?"
"You only need to go back to Sacrifice, May twenty-first, when Serenity was teamed up with Allen Chaney and left him high and dry, to find your answer. Now I'm not saying any of us disagreed with what she did, mind you. Be selfish, take the best deal for yourself. Screw over anyone and everyone you need to get to where you want to go. There was one massive mistake made that day, though."
Terrella calmy, confidently spits out a mouthful of tobacco juice onto the ground below before rather gruffly speaking. "Holmes, you need to fucking finish what you start. Leave no one standing because loose ends, they come back to bite you in the ass later. Now you're looking over your shoulder, wondering if that big, fat motherfucker is going to come for his pound of flesh."
"The same way he helped me beat you in Heiress to Throne, Serenity, despite him being no friend of mine." The Black Widow smirks. "That is how much he hates you. Allen was willing to sell out who he is and what he represents, trading his integrity for your loss. Funny, isn't it?"
Portia flips her hair back. "That's what makes this interesting. It isn't a question of if either one of you are talented enough to hold your own in the ring against the Savage Kingdom, it's a question of if you can trust each other enough to survive a match against the Savage Kingdom. I mean, Natasha, you have to trust that Serenity isn't going to screw you over, even though she has an established history of failed partnerships. And this close to Legacy, it'd be in her best interest to completely fuck you, if she can. Flip that around though, Serenity, and you have to hope that Natasha isn't going to leave you to take the beating of your life from us to make it that much easier for her to take the Invictus Title off of you. And if you're honest with yourself, Serenity, isn't that what you would do if you were in her shoes?"
"Then, of course, there is the large, poorly dressed piece of baggage that you have attached to you, Serenity. Should Chaney decide to show his face in this match, I challenge you to give me one good reason why Natasha wouldn't just walk away. She would already have won the match by disqualification."
"That is a lot to overcome against any team, but you're not facing just any team." Portia holds a hand out, as if she were presenting Stephen and the Black Widow. "You are facing the IWF World Tag Team Champions. Along with Madjinn, what you're looking at is the best tag team in wrestling. That isn't an opinion. The titles they hold make that an absolute fact."
"The popular thing these days seems to be to take shots at us for how we acquired those championships, but everyone that's said it always conveniently leaves out the fact that no team has been able to take these belts off of Savage Kingdom yet. And this match is a chance for Stephen and the Black Widow to make another statement against two rising stars in this sport-- that as good as you both may be, as a team, just like everyone else, you don't measure up to the Savage Kingdom. And when you don't measure up, you get snuffed out."
End Filming.
Well howdy there pardner.