02-21-2020, 11:26 AM
02-25-2020, 07:29 AM
02-26-2020, 12:09 AM
OOC: I struggled a bit with this at first, mostly because I'm still trying to shake off the illness that caused me to no-show in Emerge over the weekend (I explained the full reasoning behind what happened in an apology thread I posted in their OOC section), but I'm hellbent on trying to pick myself back up and keep going even if I'm not feeling the greatest. As far as I'm concerned, this set of CDs kind of wraps up the saga with Nemesis and the Imagination War for the time being, as it makes sense to me to move on from it for a bit when Nemesis was dealt a heavy, but not final, blow in my Trios effort, especially since I've been running that story for quite some time now. There's other ideas I want to get to, and this also serves to kind of hint at what I've decided my next plan is for Aaron's adventures outside of wrestling while I've got that war on pause. Best of luck!
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Sometimes, it’s not about how hard you fall, but whether or not you’re willing to get back up again.
If social media was any indication, there were plenty of people who knew full well what Aaron Blackbourne was all about after his match with James Evans at Trios. True, Aaron did fall just short in becoming World Champion, but it took a Middle Finger to the Establishment from the top rope to get the job done, and even then James just barely made the cover that finished the match. After everything Aaron had taken from him as well as responded with, it was truly hard for anyone to ignore the fact that he could very well be a World Champion at some point in time. Even if that wasn’t the night, Aaron had proven a lot of his detractors wrong about how far he could push himself to reach the top. There will still those who would settle for the fact he didn’t win, but that just gave him a new obstacle to overcome to keep him going.
After all, nobody ever said starting from the bottom and working your way back to the top was easy, but the more you do it the more comfortable you become with it and the quicker you make that climb as you evolve and learn from your past mistakes.
Maybe it was naive to think there was ever still any room for improvement, but as with anything else, Aaron always preferred to look at it a different way: if there was nothing left to improve, then that means you’re either content with where you’re at now or you believe you’ve reached your peak potential, and those were two lines of thinking that would never be attached to the creative soul at any point in his life. He could always find new solutions to the problems he faced and always find something that could be better, and he would keep pursuing those things because that’s what made going through life interesting for him. After all, no one was ever truly content with their lives, right?
Valentine’s Day had presented a rather interesting scenario to put that to the test, in his opinion.
For the most part, the day had gone quite well with him and Liane having enjoyed a lot of the activities they did together, both in celebration of the holiday as well as the overall anniversary of their relationship and their current engagement, though Aaron could certainly wish it came with a better ending. Preferably one that didn’t see him waking up in a hospital bed after a minor altercation with a drunk man who thought it was alright to get a little too grabby with his wife-to-be, even if the contact he’d made wasn’t of his own volition. He also certainly could’ve done without a member of his mind trying to take him hostage in an effort to assume control, but considering the ordeal ended with him not only still in charge but also giving two of his most cherished creations their long overdue time in the spotlight when match time came around, he was willing to overlook the fact that the mess had even happened to begin with.
After all, anything that neutralized Nemesis for the foreseeable future was a win in his book.
The demon’s failed gambit had cost him so much more than he probably realized until well after everything had gone up in smoke. Not only did his relay tower find itself demolished after he’d been defeated quite thoroughly, but Aaron’s hunch about him potentially having more as backups in the days that followed Trios had seen his forces comb the vast lands of his imagination and dismantle any they found. Whatever hold Nemesis had quietly established in his mind was weakening very quickly, and while he knew this war wasn’t over yet, this had been a fatal loss for the Nightmare of Negativity. Not only was his plan to try and simply brute force control in the future slowly being torn down but considering there wasn’t a whole lot of things going on in Aaron’s life that would really give him anything to regain the power he lost from Dreambender and Gleeful blasting him into near-oblivion, the entire complexion of this war had completely shifted and he was desperately struggling to keep fighting.
With further proof that Aaron’s outer support system yielded just as much power not only for his mental well-being but also with its own ability to reach him even while his mind’s operating on a completely internal plane of existence, maybe it was only a matter of time before Nemesis would well and truly be gone forever.
Still, there was always more work to be done. After all, Aaron had a match on Breakdown with Glory Braddock, one of the Trios winners, coming up that would go a long way in determining how well he hits the ground running as he returning to climbing the proverbial mountain. There was also the fact that there might be no better time with Nemesis well and truly out of the picture for the moment for him and Liane to really start putting together the plans for their wedding. He also certainly had plans to discuss this latest episode with Dr. Marsh-Asher the next chance he got to get his take on the whole thing and where to go from there, but there was also something he knew he needed to still take care of in his head and on his own.
It was that last task that currently had him walking through the little camp that had been set up for his army to gather, a smile on his face as every being he’d given life to greeted him and praised him for the recent swing of momentum in their little struggle, though he knew he couldn’t really take a lot of the credit there. He’d managed to resist and outwit Nemesis to start the snowball effect that ultimately had him on the back foot at the moment, but they were the ones who were forcibly reclaiming the land he’d cultivated for all of them to live their own lives and appreciate what he gave to them once again. He would have to remind them of that the next time he needed to give a rallying speech, but right now he needed to talk to two specific individuals he knew needed to hear his voice.
To some degree, he wasn’t surprised that who he was looking for was quite a ways away from everybody else, and not even residing in their own little setup he was able to allow for them inside their little pocket dimension camp that kept everyone out of Nemesis’s line of sight if necessary. What did surprise him, a little bit, was the fact that when he found them they were just sitting on the ground doing nothing. It truly wasn’t like them, though he had a feeling as to why this was the case. He’d given the Twin Stars the chance to shine for the biggest moment of his career, and while he could hardly call his performance in that match a major loss despite the result, he knew they were no doubt beating themselves up over the whole thing. Despite their immense power and the implication of them being ageless, they still operated as children, after all.
The two were practically staring off into the distance with frowns on their faces and doing nothing else as he approached, and while they heard his footsteps loud and clear they didn’t bother turning to acknowledge whoever it was. They were too busy trying to figure out what more they could’ve done better to succeed with the opportunity Aaron had finally presented to them, and the more they quietly thought about it the harder it felt like it was for either one to actually want to discuss it. Thankfully, ice cream almost always works as a tension breaker, and when cones each bearing two scoops of mint chocolate chip suddenly appeared in their hands, they were taken aback before noticing their third party joining them, with his own cone of strawberry ice cream already slowly being consumed.
“Didn’t mean to startle you guys, but I thought you deserved a little treat for all the amazing work you’ve done lately.”
That comment earned Aaron a pair of confused looks, but at least Dreambender and Gleeful could never say no to ice cream as they quickly wolfed down the frozen delights before Aaron was even halfway done with his. Feeling a little better now that they’d had their snack, Aaron was relieved to hear their voices again, even if their tones weren’t exactly too happy still.
“Thank you Aaron, though you know we didn’t deserve any of that ice cream.”
“I have to disagree there, Dreambender. Hell, I owe you far more for leading the charge to save me and almost blowing Nemesis to kingdom come.”
“I guess, but you know he’s not exactly destroyed yet…”
“Not to mention we totally blew your big moment! You didn’t become World Champion because of us. Maybe trying to work together as one wasn’t such a brilliant idea after all…”
Gleeful turned her gaze to the ground as she kicked a nearby pebble, and Aaron knew how down she was feeling when it didn’t spontaneously explode into a cloud of glitter upon contact as she normally would make it do. Her gaze returned to him, however, when she felt drape an arm over her shoulders, which was something he’d never done before. He did the same with Dreambender as he let his ice cream vanish so it wouldn’t get in the way of him holding his cherished creations close like a parent would their children.
“On the contrary, I couldn’t have been prouder of what you two did in that match.”
“But… but we lost…”
“You could be at the top of SCW right now, and because of us you-”
“Guys, please stop beating yourselves up. True, I’m not World Champion. But, if you want me to be honest? Part of me wasn’t fully expecting to walk out of that match as champion anyway. Even when I stood ready to emerge and reveal you to the world at long last, I didn’t feel like I was ready for what I was about to walk into. That didn’t stop me from doing it anyway, and you two made sure James wasn’t going to be forgetting about me, or either one of you, anytime soon. You gave him a fight I don’t think he was fully expecting, and that’s just as much of a reward if you ask me. Besides… sharing a creation or not, how many times have I lost and just gotten right back up and back to work?
The twins glanced past him at one another, knowing they couldn’t argue that. Not all of Aaron’s creations had perfect track records when given control to share themselves with the world beyond his mind, and Aaron himself certainly didn’t have an overall record to brag about. And yet, that never stopped him from fighting on or seeking to better himself, either here in his mind or out in the real world. It was a truly enviable feat and a testament to the incredible willpower that Aaron possessed that went so much farther than just being able to keep fighting as he did in that title match.
“How do you do it Aaron? I mean… I know Nemesis probably has a part to play in that-”
“Hopefully not for much longer, if we all have anything to say about it.”
“-but how do you keep your spirits high no matter what happens to you?”
“Yeah, we tried doing that when you reclaimed control, and that worked about as well as trying to toast marshmallows with a flamethrower.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow at Gleeful in response to this, asking without saying a word if she actually attempted that and rolling his eyes at the sheepish smile that gave him all the answer he’d ever need to that question, but he quickly shrugged this off and took a deep breath, closing his eyes as the spectral siblings watched him curiously.
“You’re partly right about having to stick to it because of Nemesis, even if we can all agree his days are a lot more numbered now. But you simply have to keep in mind what makes you who you are. In that ring, everyone knows I’m an honorable guy who will fight until my body can’t keep going and you never know what to expect from me next. I could easily throw that all away and find something else when it doesn’t work, but what does that ultimately prove? If I stick to what makes me… well, me, then it becomes a lot more satisfying when I can prove I’m still able to succeed without having to compromise who I am. Would either of you feel satisfied if you just gave up on being the powerful, carefree spirits you’ve come to be and succeeded in whatever you set out to do under any other circumstances?”
“Probably not, because that doesn’t sound fun at all!”
“Exactly. I know it stings, but there’s always something positive to take away from everything, even failure.”
“You mean like how you’ve been telling everyone they certainly know who you are now?”
Aaron nodded and slowly stood up, with Dreambender and Gleeful joining him. He patted their shoulders in a way that slowly managed to get them beaming (literally and figuratively, considering the flashlight-esque shines that suddenly shot from their teeth off into the distance that drew a few cheers from back in the camp) and he couldn’t resist grinning as well.
“We’ve all got a bright future ahead of us, so long as we never forget what makes us who we are.”
“Maybe you should leave the jokes to your babe, buddy.”
“Hey, I’ve got the both of you smiling, don’t I?”
“I think we’ll all be smiling a lot more once we’ve finished tearing down all of Nemesis’s relay towers and, ultimately, hi stronghold as well.”
Aaron couldn’t argue with that. There was still plenty of work to do here, and sooner or later Nemesis would no doubt make some kind of attempt to fight back. For now, though, they’ve earned the right to be happy… all of them did, and Aaron knew the Twin Stars would get another chance to shine in front of the masses sooner rather than later. They’d earned it, just as he’d earned the well-deserved momentary peace that came with the victory on Valentine’s Day. He wished it could last forever, but so long as Nemesis continued to exist, things would never be truly safe. Still, he could rest easy for the foreseeable future, and any problems that arose would be dealt with both here and with his help beyond his imagination.
For now, that was all he could ever ask for.
That opened the door for him to start working on something else he knew would have to be resolved sooner or later.
He stretched out a bit before slowly rolling out of bed, ready to shake off the rest he’d been getting following his flight into Raleigh so he could figure out how to spend the rest of this day and potentially work it into something he wanted to begin working on. The answer seemed to come to him the moment he found the person he was looking for, and his smile slowly widened into a full-on grin when he found Liane sitting on the edge of a small hot tub they happened to have in their hotel room this time around. Maybe it seemed a little excessive, but unless they were going to different places they certainly weren’t going to be split apart into different hotel rooms, and it was hard to argue when Liane happened to get a room complimentary for being the headliner comedian in a show that just so happened to also be taking place here in Raleigh the day after he took care of his wrestling business. He quietly approached her, noticing that she seemed too preoccupied with listening to her sister Liza’s newest album on her iPod and relaxing with her feet in the warm water and all the jets that came with it to realize he was even awake. It made him question her choice of attire if she wasn’t completely getting in, but he was willing to let it go since seeing Liane in a bikini was a rare sight even still. Maybe it was just the comfort of being alone in a room shared only by her future husband, but he knew that even after all this time she still didn’t think too highly of her looks even if he praised them with every positive word in the English language. He gently tapped her on the shoulder, which snapped her out of her music trance, but it was worth it to see the smile on her face when she looked back at him as she pulled her earbuds out.
“Hey! Look who’s finally awake!”
“Sorry I left you all alone to get your feet wet I guess. Maybe it’s the lingering damage from my battle with James, but that flight took a little more out of me than I thought. Gave me a chance to help cheer up some great friends who needed it.”
“I’m glad to hear your space cadets are doing well again. They’ve got no reason to mope after you gave them the floor and they put on the show of a lifetime in that World Title match.”
“And I’m glad that the little mess from Valentine’s Day doesn’t look like it’s caused any harm to your ‘firm, full ass that deserves to be appreciated.’”
Aaron gently caressed Liane’s rear, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at how crimson her face went. Granted, his hand didn’t stay long considering he knew he was treading a bit of a line, not in terms of intimate contact with his fiancée, but the fact that he was calling back to some of the inappropriate comments made by someone else that neither one of them wanted to hear even if he was trying to compliment her about something she still felt she could always use a confidence boost for. She proceeded to set her iPod aside and fully immersed herself in the water now, sighing at how good it must’ve felt before looking into his eyes, clearly nervous but doing her best to try and appear mischievous to him.
“Well, I was in a good mood until you brought that incident up. But… since you clearly want to be cheeky about it, you could give me a little massage to make sure it feels better.”
She put on her best naughty grin and gave him a wink that was all betrayed by her deepening blush, but she quickly turned herself away from him to rest her chin on her arms on the opposite end of the hot tub, repositioning her body so her butt could slowly rise out of the water as it awaited her request. Aaron blushed and chuckled at all of this before he removed his shirt and slowly began to do as she asked, doing his best to make sure his hands made up for any ‘damage’ he’d just caused her. She sighed and relaxed under his touch, and while they could’ve been perfectly content just like this, he knew there were a few things he needed to speak with her about. It may not have fit too well with their current activity, but the sooner they talked about it, the sooner they could well and truly get the ball rolling on other things.
“I hate to kind of bring up a sore subject while we’re enjoying each other’s company, but unfortunately we never really got to talk much about it on Valentine’s Day like we wanted to. I think we need to discuss the situation with your parents before we can truly move forward with getting a start on any of our wedding plans.”
Liane let out a sigh that was more of concern this time than of being relaxed, and he couldn’t blame her. When they’d tried to discuss this before being rudely interrupted that night, she at least managed to get out that she hadn’t really spoken with them in some time, and while she hadn’t said anything exact he had a good idea of when that time was. After all, he’d risked being late for a scheduled match when he was already running a bit late to that Breakdown as it was to make her father back off from whatever he had planned for her in response to what had been a loss of control on her part to her own demon. It hadn’t exactly been a great first impression he’d left on the man, but it was the only time he’d been face-to-face with either of her parents and without knowing who he was beforehand he could’ve easily assumed it was someone with truly ill intentions for the woman he loved.
“I know we do, but I wish we didn’t have to.”
“Believe me, I’m in agreement, but you know as well as I do that, like it or not, they’re your family, and they’ll be my family too when all is set and done. Besides, even if we did try to restrain ourselves to do something small, considering our respective careers and how many eyes are on us now, I doubt we could actually try to do something low key without the internet making sure everybody knows about it.”
“Even if it wasn’t for that… they’re the ones who brought me into this world, even if I have every reason to hate them for always shooting me down and trying to simply use their rather large set of children as literal cash cows just because they couldn’t get their own dreams off the ground. Part of me feels they at least deserve to see one of their daughters have the happiest moment of her life… even if there’s an even stronger part of me that’s worried they’ll just be the ones who interrupt when they get to the ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ part.”
She buried her head in her arms to try and muffle the groan of frustration she felt at the conflict, though her body at least managed to relax again under Aaron’s continuing massage. He couldn’t blame her… had they not ended up truly reuniting in the face of Andrew’s passing last year, he’d have likely found himself at the same crossroads figuring out whether or not to share the news with his own family. Now, the idea of eloping and leaving everybody out didn’t sit as well with him, considering his family should certainly be a part of the ceremony, as well as Liane’s siblings who were just as supportive of her as she was to them regardless of any differences they may have had. Still, the thought of her parents saying ‘I object’ and trying to find whatever arbitrary reason she would make a horrible wife for him played out, and it had him wondering more and more about them.
“I know this is probably going to sound like a long shot, especially since I know SCW isn’t necessarily heading back to the Michigan area for the foreseeable future, but if we hit a point where we can justify it with the break after one of my pay-per-views and if you’ve got an opening from your comedic exploits, do you think we could take a shot at trying to talk with them? Maybe if we talk things out, we could get them to understand where they messed up and start fixing the bridge between them and you and your siblings.”
“I think you might be dreaming a little too big this time Aaron.”
“No, I might’ve been dreaming a little too big when I thought I could become World Champion, and I still almost managed to make it happen. I know there’s no tragedy to help make it easier, and I’m sure as hell not praying for one, but I never thought I could ever make amends with my family and… well, you’ve seen how much has changed. It’s like Owen told me once: sometimes you just need to take a chance and see what happens.”
As Liane seemed to ponder this for a moment, Aaron couldn’t resist reflecting back on that conversation so long ago. True, he ultimately had help, as terrible as that may sound, from what had happened to Andrew, but had Owen not told him about how much things had improved between him and Taylor, who knows if he would’ve worked up the courage to actually go to the funeral and face the family he’d walked away from for the sake of his own mental well-being years prior. There was no guarantee things with Liane’s parents could be smoothed over so easily, but they would never know unless they actually gave it a shot.
“You’ve got a point, Aaron, just as Owen did when he first gave you that advice. Remind me to thank him the next time you and him actually decide to hang out.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, though I don’t know how he’ll react to you joining us without a reason. I don’t want to feel like I’m rubbing salt in his wounds because of relationship matters.”
“I can just hang out with Peyton then. We can see your guy time together with some girl time or something.”
“I don’t know if Peyton’s as receptive to your jokes as I am, though.”
Liane glanced back at Aaron and responded with a hip motion that splashed him with some of the hot tub’s water. Feeling grateful that he’d had the foresight to remove his shirt first, the two exchanged dangerous glances that at least fit the mood that was slowly getting lighter now. As they proceeded to relax and enjoy some hot tub time together from there, there was a calm that he didn’t owe to the water that washed over him in regards to the steps he knew needed to be taken. The road was likely going to be rocky, but if he and Liane played their cards right, they could very well not only fix the issues in her family at long last as well but also remove arguably the last true obstacle they needed to worry about in regards to finally being able to tie the knot and begin working together to write their dreamed future into the present.
They had that kind of power as long as they had each other, after all, just as Aaron would always have that kind of power so long as he always stayed true to himself in regards to his destiny in SCW as well, no matter what people like Glory Braddock believed.
It’s funny how often I hear people throw that word around, especially in today’s world. You always hear someone talking about the kind of power they have and what it represents to them, and the more I listen the more it becomes obvious that everyone has a very different definition of the word, and very rarely does anyone else acknowledge the power that someone else possesses. All that matters to them is their version of power… and who can blame them? In our own minds, we tend to portray ourselves as kings and queens, never daring to acknowledge anything that happens outside our lovely little kingdoms where we and we alone possess all the power in the world and nothing bad could ever happen to us.
Trust me on this one… when a man who spends half of his time swimming through the endless seas of his own imagination is telling you that you’re all spending way too much time in your fantasies, you know that something should probably change.
After all, power doesn’t last forever. Royalty has to step down eventually and hand the throne off to whoever is next in line, a President has to be elected into office every four years regardless of whether it’s the same person or a brand new face entirely, bosses retire or lose their jobs and someone else has to fill in the gap… no matter how powerful you think you are, there’s always an end to it somewhere beyond the horizon, and the more you try to ignore it the harder it becomes when your time is well and truly up. Sure, there may be a chance to get that power back at some point, but then it comes with the question of whether or not you learned anything to make sure you’re more prepared with it the next time around. And, of course, all of this is ignoring those out there who simply don’t care what kind of power you have because they are capable of seeing beyond it.
Maybe I’m not the kind of guy who should be giving lectures. After all, what power do I have that would make you sit up and listen to me? I’m not standing here as World Champion right now… and you know what? I’m not bothered by that fact, as much as you may find that hard to believe. After all, anyone who watched my match with James Evans at Trios knows full well that I gave him my absolute best and held nothing back. At this point in my career, to have come so close on so many occasions to winning a match I fully admitted that I wasn’t sure I was ready for going in is far from a setback… it was a sign of how much farther I can keep going until I finally get to where I want to be, a sign of how much I needed to push a man with so much more experience than I have to figure out how in the hell he keeps me down to retain his title. I said it on Twitter, but I’ll say it again here, loud and clear: even though I lost, I think it’s safe to say that every single one of you knows who Aaron Blackbourne is and what he’s capable of now. True, I know quite a few people will be ready to jump down my throat over the fact that I didn’t win, but I’m not standing here having a meltdown over it, now am I? After all, I’m still competing, and as long as I keep going and my evolution proceeds, my time will come again, one way or another.
On that note, how interesting is it that I talk a little bit about evolution and I find myself in the presence of a moniker that goes against everything that concept represents?
When I saw that I would be competing in Raleigh for Breakdown this week against Glory Braddock, I’ll admit I was half-expecting to hear her try to lecture me about the fact that I didn’t leave Trios as World Champion while she gloated about being part of the winning team, and to some degree, I was not disappointed. One moment she talks about how she wishes people like me and the various friends and allies I have in this business were more abundant and echoing the sentiments of so many others that I deserved my title opportunity at Trios, and then almost immediately she remembered that she’s trying to teach me something and criticized everything we represent while saying I was lucky that I even got my shot in the first place. Funny… she acknowledged the one thing I did that truly earned me my shot and still believes the event as a whole was a fluke in the making. I would question if she’s still feeling the effects of Trios, considering the last time I faced someone who went all the way in that tournament I ended up dethroning them to begin my first TV Title reign, but I’d be ignoring the fact that she’s still trying to figure out who she is after deciding her repeated use of ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis’ doesn’t apply to herself anymore.
Glory, do you know what the idea of calling oneself ‘the best’ means to me? To say that you are the best implies that there is no further room for improvement, that you have reached your maximum potential and accomplished everything you’ve set out to do. The claim of ‘best wrestler in the world’ is a rather subjective one as well, as evidenced by the fact that you think Syren is the only person I can compare you to that lays claim to those words, ignoring the potentially hundreds or even thousands of wrestlers all over the world in wrestling promotions we’ve probably never even heard of who lay claim to that same exact title and preach those same exact words every single day. How many of them have you beaten to prove that you are better? Where is the proof that you have held every single title and won every single tournament that has happened at least once since you’ve started wrestling? If you are well and truly ‘the best in the world’ then what proof do you have that solidifies that claim?
…please tell me that even you see how ridiculous that whole idea is. Calling yourself ‘the best’ is just like saying that you have obtained true perfection: there is nothing left to strive for, no one left to beat, and it would raise the question of why you’re still in the business at all if there’s nothing left to do. What would you even be chasing, in that scenario? That’s the fundamental flaw of your claims… I don’t need to compare you to any one person, in particular, to point out the fallacy of your self-given title, I simply need to point out the existence of a world full of people calling themselves ‘the best wrestler in the world’ and point out that you, like the vast majority of them, are still missing a few accomplishments to truly validate that claim, and suddenly the ending of your little tale of how you believe our match on Wednesday night is going to go has some more significant plot holes you should consider looking into. After all, your own World Title aspirations once upon a time didn’t exactly go as planned either, now did they?
Do you know what I think your real problem is Glory? I think, for as much as everything seems to line up, you and I ultimately have very different ideas of what is going to solve the riddle of a pro wrestling business that needs to be fixed. You can pretend that people like Owen, Alistaire and myself are more of what you want to see, but we both know that, at the end of the day, if this business doesn’t have you on top calling the shots while claiming that you’re actually making everything better, then, and only then, is there a problem. And yet, this brings up a rather interesting catch-22: if this is the way it’s always been for you, then you were always lying about what you were fighting against because you were part of the problem, to begin with, and if this is a more recent development, then it means you don’t have as much faith as you claim in your own abilities and convictions to keep yourself from becoming what you’ve claimed to hate.
Do you know what can be considered ‘true power’ Glory? You no doubt think it’s the ability to do anything with the contract you now possess, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. True power is being able to stay true to yourself in the face of adversity no matter what, fighting for what you believe in until the bitter end no matter how ugly things get or what happens to try and make you question who you are or why you do this. True power is the ability to keep fighting, no matter how beaten or broken you are or how ill-advised it is that you push yourself farther because you know you still have more to give. True power… is not caring about how powerful someone else is, because you know you have what it takes to not only overcome it, but perhaps even influence it without them realizing it.
Let me lay out a scenario for you Glory, to show you what I mean:
- I defeat you on Breakdown this Wednesday night in Raleigh.
- You go on to use your Trios contract somewhere down the line regardless, perhaps putting yourself in a World Title match where you actually go on to become champion.
- For as much as you considered losing to me inconsequential because you had the power of Trios, all of a sudden people are looking back on the fact that I hold a victory over the now-World Champion Glory Braddock, and the next thing you know, I can come knocking at your door with a valid reason to challenge you for that title.
Maybe you don’t think I would do such a thing, but that’s assuming you truly believe that I’m as blind to how this business, and the world as a whole for that matter, actually works. You criticize me for still needing to learn that this business isn’t for the weak of heart while forgetting that I’m the same man who ignored doctor’s orders to reconsider pushing Bree Lancaster farther than she’d ever been pushed before just forty-eight hours after my life was almost taken from me by someone who could care less if I was a wrestler or not. You question whether or not Alistaire would have prevailed over Syren to become World Champion without your involvement because of what we all knew she was going to do while somehow forgetting that the very victory you acknowledged earned me my title opportunity also proved that it was, in fact, very possible after all. If anything, the more you believe that I’m not as understanding about how any of this works as you are, the more you prove that I may actually be a lot wiser to all of it than the proverbial seasoned veteran.
And I still have so much left ahead of me too, unlike the woman who’s practically admitting to me she’s at the very peak of what she’s capable of doing.
Despite what you’ve convinced yourself of Glory, I’m far from irrelevant. In fact, I dare say that if I have anything to thank for how relevant I am right now, it’s my own efforts against Evans at Trios that have more and more people standing up and taking notice of who I am. In the time I’ve been in SCW I’ve gone toe to toe with some of the very best the company has to offer, including legends, and if I haven’t pushed them to better themselves then I’ve ended up defeating them along the path I walk towards whatever destiny I draw into existence for myself. Breakdown will be no different: legend or not, I’m going to throw everything I have with you, and if you cannot truly adapt to what I have to offer then you are going to find that maybe your claims of being ‘the best’ might be as hollow and meaningless as that entire concept itself has always been.
And while it’s true you may be willing to sink a little lower than I would to try and achieve victory, maybe you should ask how well that’s worked out for a few other people before assuming I can’t come up with some kind of creative solution to that little problem?
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Sometimes, it’s not about how hard you fall, but whether or not you’re willing to get back up again.
If social media was any indication, there were plenty of people who knew full well what Aaron Blackbourne was all about after his match with James Evans at Trios. True, Aaron did fall just short in becoming World Champion, but it took a Middle Finger to the Establishment from the top rope to get the job done, and even then James just barely made the cover that finished the match. After everything Aaron had taken from him as well as responded with, it was truly hard for anyone to ignore the fact that he could very well be a World Champion at some point in time. Even if that wasn’t the night, Aaron had proven a lot of his detractors wrong about how far he could push himself to reach the top. There will still those who would settle for the fact he didn’t win, but that just gave him a new obstacle to overcome to keep him going.
After all, nobody ever said starting from the bottom and working your way back to the top was easy, but the more you do it the more comfortable you become with it and the quicker you make that climb as you evolve and learn from your past mistakes.
Maybe it was naive to think there was ever still any room for improvement, but as with anything else, Aaron always preferred to look at it a different way: if there was nothing left to improve, then that means you’re either content with where you’re at now or you believe you’ve reached your peak potential, and those were two lines of thinking that would never be attached to the creative soul at any point in his life. He could always find new solutions to the problems he faced and always find something that could be better, and he would keep pursuing those things because that’s what made going through life interesting for him. After all, no one was ever truly content with their lives, right?
Valentine’s Day had presented a rather interesting scenario to put that to the test, in his opinion.
For the most part, the day had gone quite well with him and Liane having enjoyed a lot of the activities they did together, both in celebration of the holiday as well as the overall anniversary of their relationship and their current engagement, though Aaron could certainly wish it came with a better ending. Preferably one that didn’t see him waking up in a hospital bed after a minor altercation with a drunk man who thought it was alright to get a little too grabby with his wife-to-be, even if the contact he’d made wasn’t of his own volition. He also certainly could’ve done without a member of his mind trying to take him hostage in an effort to assume control, but considering the ordeal ended with him not only still in charge but also giving two of his most cherished creations their long overdue time in the spotlight when match time came around, he was willing to overlook the fact that the mess had even happened to begin with.
After all, anything that neutralized Nemesis for the foreseeable future was a win in his book.
The demon’s failed gambit had cost him so much more than he probably realized until well after everything had gone up in smoke. Not only did his relay tower find itself demolished after he’d been defeated quite thoroughly, but Aaron’s hunch about him potentially having more as backups in the days that followed Trios had seen his forces comb the vast lands of his imagination and dismantle any they found. Whatever hold Nemesis had quietly established in his mind was weakening very quickly, and while he knew this war wasn’t over yet, this had been a fatal loss for the Nightmare of Negativity. Not only was his plan to try and simply brute force control in the future slowly being torn down but considering there wasn’t a whole lot of things going on in Aaron’s life that would really give him anything to regain the power he lost from Dreambender and Gleeful blasting him into near-oblivion, the entire complexion of this war had completely shifted and he was desperately struggling to keep fighting.
With further proof that Aaron’s outer support system yielded just as much power not only for his mental well-being but also with its own ability to reach him even while his mind’s operating on a completely internal plane of existence, maybe it was only a matter of time before Nemesis would well and truly be gone forever.
Still, there was always more work to be done. After all, Aaron had a match on Breakdown with Glory Braddock, one of the Trios winners, coming up that would go a long way in determining how well he hits the ground running as he returning to climbing the proverbial mountain. There was also the fact that there might be no better time with Nemesis well and truly out of the picture for the moment for him and Liane to really start putting together the plans for their wedding. He also certainly had plans to discuss this latest episode with Dr. Marsh-Asher the next chance he got to get his take on the whole thing and where to go from there, but there was also something he knew he needed to still take care of in his head and on his own.
It was that last task that currently had him walking through the little camp that had been set up for his army to gather, a smile on his face as every being he’d given life to greeted him and praised him for the recent swing of momentum in their little struggle, though he knew he couldn’t really take a lot of the credit there. He’d managed to resist and outwit Nemesis to start the snowball effect that ultimately had him on the back foot at the moment, but they were the ones who were forcibly reclaiming the land he’d cultivated for all of them to live their own lives and appreciate what he gave to them once again. He would have to remind them of that the next time he needed to give a rallying speech, but right now he needed to talk to two specific individuals he knew needed to hear his voice.
To some degree, he wasn’t surprised that who he was looking for was quite a ways away from everybody else, and not even residing in their own little setup he was able to allow for them inside their little pocket dimension camp that kept everyone out of Nemesis’s line of sight if necessary. What did surprise him, a little bit, was the fact that when he found them they were just sitting on the ground doing nothing. It truly wasn’t like them, though he had a feeling as to why this was the case. He’d given the Twin Stars the chance to shine for the biggest moment of his career, and while he could hardly call his performance in that match a major loss despite the result, he knew they were no doubt beating themselves up over the whole thing. Despite their immense power and the implication of them being ageless, they still operated as children, after all.
The two were practically staring off into the distance with frowns on their faces and doing nothing else as he approached, and while they heard his footsteps loud and clear they didn’t bother turning to acknowledge whoever it was. They were too busy trying to figure out what more they could’ve done better to succeed with the opportunity Aaron had finally presented to them, and the more they quietly thought about it the harder it felt like it was for either one to actually want to discuss it. Thankfully, ice cream almost always works as a tension breaker, and when cones each bearing two scoops of mint chocolate chip suddenly appeared in their hands, they were taken aback before noticing their third party joining them, with his own cone of strawberry ice cream already slowly being consumed.
“Didn’t mean to startle you guys, but I thought you deserved a little treat for all the amazing work you’ve done lately.”
That comment earned Aaron a pair of confused looks, but at least Dreambender and Gleeful could never say no to ice cream as they quickly wolfed down the frozen delights before Aaron was even halfway done with his. Feeling a little better now that they’d had their snack, Aaron was relieved to hear their voices again, even if their tones weren’t exactly too happy still.
“Thank you Aaron, though you know we didn’t deserve any of that ice cream.”
“I have to disagree there, Dreambender. Hell, I owe you far more for leading the charge to save me and almost blowing Nemesis to kingdom come.”
“I guess, but you know he’s not exactly destroyed yet…”
“Not to mention we totally blew your big moment! You didn’t become World Champion because of us. Maybe trying to work together as one wasn’t such a brilliant idea after all…”
Gleeful turned her gaze to the ground as she kicked a nearby pebble, and Aaron knew how down she was feeling when it didn’t spontaneously explode into a cloud of glitter upon contact as she normally would make it do. Her gaze returned to him, however, when she felt drape an arm over her shoulders, which was something he’d never done before. He did the same with Dreambender as he let his ice cream vanish so it wouldn’t get in the way of him holding his cherished creations close like a parent would their children.
“On the contrary, I couldn’t have been prouder of what you two did in that match.”
“But… but we lost…”
“You could be at the top of SCW right now, and because of us you-”
“Guys, please stop beating yourselves up. True, I’m not World Champion. But, if you want me to be honest? Part of me wasn’t fully expecting to walk out of that match as champion anyway. Even when I stood ready to emerge and reveal you to the world at long last, I didn’t feel like I was ready for what I was about to walk into. That didn’t stop me from doing it anyway, and you two made sure James wasn’t going to be forgetting about me, or either one of you, anytime soon. You gave him a fight I don’t think he was fully expecting, and that’s just as much of a reward if you ask me. Besides… sharing a creation or not, how many times have I lost and just gotten right back up and back to work?
The twins glanced past him at one another, knowing they couldn’t argue that. Not all of Aaron’s creations had perfect track records when given control to share themselves with the world beyond his mind, and Aaron himself certainly didn’t have an overall record to brag about. And yet, that never stopped him from fighting on or seeking to better himself, either here in his mind or out in the real world. It was a truly enviable feat and a testament to the incredible willpower that Aaron possessed that went so much farther than just being able to keep fighting as he did in that title match.
“How do you do it Aaron? I mean… I know Nemesis probably has a part to play in that-”
“Hopefully not for much longer, if we all have anything to say about it.”
“-but how do you keep your spirits high no matter what happens to you?”
“Yeah, we tried doing that when you reclaimed control, and that worked about as well as trying to toast marshmallows with a flamethrower.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow at Gleeful in response to this, asking without saying a word if she actually attempted that and rolling his eyes at the sheepish smile that gave him all the answer he’d ever need to that question, but he quickly shrugged this off and took a deep breath, closing his eyes as the spectral siblings watched him curiously.
“You’re partly right about having to stick to it because of Nemesis, even if we can all agree his days are a lot more numbered now. But you simply have to keep in mind what makes you who you are. In that ring, everyone knows I’m an honorable guy who will fight until my body can’t keep going and you never know what to expect from me next. I could easily throw that all away and find something else when it doesn’t work, but what does that ultimately prove? If I stick to what makes me… well, me, then it becomes a lot more satisfying when I can prove I’m still able to succeed without having to compromise who I am. Would either of you feel satisfied if you just gave up on being the powerful, carefree spirits you’ve come to be and succeeded in whatever you set out to do under any other circumstances?”
“Probably not, because that doesn’t sound fun at all!”
“Exactly. I know it stings, but there’s always something positive to take away from everything, even failure.”
“You mean like how you’ve been telling everyone they certainly know who you are now?”
Aaron nodded and slowly stood up, with Dreambender and Gleeful joining him. He patted their shoulders in a way that slowly managed to get them beaming (literally and figuratively, considering the flashlight-esque shines that suddenly shot from their teeth off into the distance that drew a few cheers from back in the camp) and he couldn’t resist grinning as well.
“We’ve all got a bright future ahead of us, so long as we never forget what makes us who we are.”
“Maybe you should leave the jokes to your babe, buddy.”
“Hey, I’ve got the both of you smiling, don’t I?”
“I think we’ll all be smiling a lot more once we’ve finished tearing down all of Nemesis’s relay towers and, ultimately, hi stronghold as well.”
Aaron couldn’t argue with that. There was still plenty of work to do here, and sooner or later Nemesis would no doubt make some kind of attempt to fight back. For now, though, they’ve earned the right to be happy… all of them did, and Aaron knew the Twin Stars would get another chance to shine in front of the masses sooner rather than later. They’d earned it, just as he’d earned the well-deserved momentary peace that came with the victory on Valentine’s Day. He wished it could last forever, but so long as Nemesis continued to exist, things would never be truly safe. Still, he could rest easy for the foreseeable future, and any problems that arose would be dealt with both here and with his help beyond his imagination.
For now, that was all he could ever ask for.
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It had been some time since Aaron could truly say he’d woken up with an honest smile, but that was the scenario he found himself in here. Maybe it seemed a little odd that he hadn’t done so over the course of the past week, but even when he was still sorting out his mental and imaginary baggage there were some things in the real world that obviously kept plaguing his mind as well. The fact that his Valentine’s Day with Liane hadn’t quite ended the way they’d wanted it to, any lingering doubts he naturally needed to shake off following his World Title loss, and a few other things here and there that came and went but were still worth pondering. This time, however, his mind was clear, and talking with the Twin Stars had certainly not only helped raise their spirits after putting a few things in perspective for them, but also felt like it laid to rest any creative issues that could weigh on his mind for some time to come.That opened the door for him to start working on something else he knew would have to be resolved sooner or later.
He stretched out a bit before slowly rolling out of bed, ready to shake off the rest he’d been getting following his flight into Raleigh so he could figure out how to spend the rest of this day and potentially work it into something he wanted to begin working on. The answer seemed to come to him the moment he found the person he was looking for, and his smile slowly widened into a full-on grin when he found Liane sitting on the edge of a small hot tub they happened to have in their hotel room this time around. Maybe it seemed a little excessive, but unless they were going to different places they certainly weren’t going to be split apart into different hotel rooms, and it was hard to argue when Liane happened to get a room complimentary for being the headliner comedian in a show that just so happened to also be taking place here in Raleigh the day after he took care of his wrestling business. He quietly approached her, noticing that she seemed too preoccupied with listening to her sister Liza’s newest album on her iPod and relaxing with her feet in the warm water and all the jets that came with it to realize he was even awake. It made him question her choice of attire if she wasn’t completely getting in, but he was willing to let it go since seeing Liane in a bikini was a rare sight even still. Maybe it was just the comfort of being alone in a room shared only by her future husband, but he knew that even after all this time she still didn’t think too highly of her looks even if he praised them with every positive word in the English language. He gently tapped her on the shoulder, which snapped her out of her music trance, but it was worth it to see the smile on her face when she looked back at him as she pulled her earbuds out.
“Hey! Look who’s finally awake!”
“Sorry I left you all alone to get your feet wet I guess. Maybe it’s the lingering damage from my battle with James, but that flight took a little more out of me than I thought. Gave me a chance to help cheer up some great friends who needed it.”
“I’m glad to hear your space cadets are doing well again. They’ve got no reason to mope after you gave them the floor and they put on the show of a lifetime in that World Title match.”
“And I’m glad that the little mess from Valentine’s Day doesn’t look like it’s caused any harm to your ‘firm, full ass that deserves to be appreciated.’”
Aaron gently caressed Liane’s rear, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at how crimson her face went. Granted, his hand didn’t stay long considering he knew he was treading a bit of a line, not in terms of intimate contact with his fiancée, but the fact that he was calling back to some of the inappropriate comments made by someone else that neither one of them wanted to hear even if he was trying to compliment her about something she still felt she could always use a confidence boost for. She proceeded to set her iPod aside and fully immersed herself in the water now, sighing at how good it must’ve felt before looking into his eyes, clearly nervous but doing her best to try and appear mischievous to him.
“Well, I was in a good mood until you brought that incident up. But… since you clearly want to be cheeky about it, you could give me a little massage to make sure it feels better.”
She put on her best naughty grin and gave him a wink that was all betrayed by her deepening blush, but she quickly turned herself away from him to rest her chin on her arms on the opposite end of the hot tub, repositioning her body so her butt could slowly rise out of the water as it awaited her request. Aaron blushed and chuckled at all of this before he removed his shirt and slowly began to do as she asked, doing his best to make sure his hands made up for any ‘damage’ he’d just caused her. She sighed and relaxed under his touch, and while they could’ve been perfectly content just like this, he knew there were a few things he needed to speak with her about. It may not have fit too well with their current activity, but the sooner they talked about it, the sooner they could well and truly get the ball rolling on other things.
“I hate to kind of bring up a sore subject while we’re enjoying each other’s company, but unfortunately we never really got to talk much about it on Valentine’s Day like we wanted to. I think we need to discuss the situation with your parents before we can truly move forward with getting a start on any of our wedding plans.”
Liane let out a sigh that was more of concern this time than of being relaxed, and he couldn’t blame her. When they’d tried to discuss this before being rudely interrupted that night, she at least managed to get out that she hadn’t really spoken with them in some time, and while she hadn’t said anything exact he had a good idea of when that time was. After all, he’d risked being late for a scheduled match when he was already running a bit late to that Breakdown as it was to make her father back off from whatever he had planned for her in response to what had been a loss of control on her part to her own demon. It hadn’t exactly been a great first impression he’d left on the man, but it was the only time he’d been face-to-face with either of her parents and without knowing who he was beforehand he could’ve easily assumed it was someone with truly ill intentions for the woman he loved.
“I know we do, but I wish we didn’t have to.”
“Believe me, I’m in agreement, but you know as well as I do that, like it or not, they’re your family, and they’ll be my family too when all is set and done. Besides, even if we did try to restrain ourselves to do something small, considering our respective careers and how many eyes are on us now, I doubt we could actually try to do something low key without the internet making sure everybody knows about it.”
“Even if it wasn’t for that… they’re the ones who brought me into this world, even if I have every reason to hate them for always shooting me down and trying to simply use their rather large set of children as literal cash cows just because they couldn’t get their own dreams off the ground. Part of me feels they at least deserve to see one of their daughters have the happiest moment of her life… even if there’s an even stronger part of me that’s worried they’ll just be the ones who interrupt when they get to the ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ part.”
She buried her head in her arms to try and muffle the groan of frustration she felt at the conflict, though her body at least managed to relax again under Aaron’s continuing massage. He couldn’t blame her… had they not ended up truly reuniting in the face of Andrew’s passing last year, he’d have likely found himself at the same crossroads figuring out whether or not to share the news with his own family. Now, the idea of eloping and leaving everybody out didn’t sit as well with him, considering his family should certainly be a part of the ceremony, as well as Liane’s siblings who were just as supportive of her as she was to them regardless of any differences they may have had. Still, the thought of her parents saying ‘I object’ and trying to find whatever arbitrary reason she would make a horrible wife for him played out, and it had him wondering more and more about them.
“I know this is probably going to sound like a long shot, especially since I know SCW isn’t necessarily heading back to the Michigan area for the foreseeable future, but if we hit a point where we can justify it with the break after one of my pay-per-views and if you’ve got an opening from your comedic exploits, do you think we could take a shot at trying to talk with them? Maybe if we talk things out, we could get them to understand where they messed up and start fixing the bridge between them and you and your siblings.”
“I think you might be dreaming a little too big this time Aaron.”
“No, I might’ve been dreaming a little too big when I thought I could become World Champion, and I still almost managed to make it happen. I know there’s no tragedy to help make it easier, and I’m sure as hell not praying for one, but I never thought I could ever make amends with my family and… well, you’ve seen how much has changed. It’s like Owen told me once: sometimes you just need to take a chance and see what happens.”
As Liane seemed to ponder this for a moment, Aaron couldn’t resist reflecting back on that conversation so long ago. True, he ultimately had help, as terrible as that may sound, from what had happened to Andrew, but had Owen not told him about how much things had improved between him and Taylor, who knows if he would’ve worked up the courage to actually go to the funeral and face the family he’d walked away from for the sake of his own mental well-being years prior. There was no guarantee things with Liane’s parents could be smoothed over so easily, but they would never know unless they actually gave it a shot.
“You’ve got a point, Aaron, just as Owen did when he first gave you that advice. Remind me to thank him the next time you and him actually decide to hang out.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, though I don’t know how he’ll react to you joining us without a reason. I don’t want to feel like I’m rubbing salt in his wounds because of relationship matters.”
“I can just hang out with Peyton then. We can see your guy time together with some girl time or something.”
“I don’t know if Peyton’s as receptive to your jokes as I am, though.”
Liane glanced back at Aaron and responded with a hip motion that splashed him with some of the hot tub’s water. Feeling grateful that he’d had the foresight to remove his shirt first, the two exchanged dangerous glances that at least fit the mood that was slowly getting lighter now. As they proceeded to relax and enjoy some hot tub time together from there, there was a calm that he didn’t owe to the water that washed over him in regards to the steps he knew needed to be taken. The road was likely going to be rocky, but if he and Liane played their cards right, they could very well not only fix the issues in her family at long last as well but also remove arguably the last true obstacle they needed to worry about in regards to finally being able to tie the knot and begin working together to write their dreamed future into the present.
They had that kind of power as long as they had each other, after all, just as Aaron would always have that kind of power so long as he always stayed true to himself in regards to his destiny in SCW as well, no matter what people like Glory Braddock believed.
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Power…It’s funny how often I hear people throw that word around, especially in today’s world. You always hear someone talking about the kind of power they have and what it represents to them, and the more I listen the more it becomes obvious that everyone has a very different definition of the word, and very rarely does anyone else acknowledge the power that someone else possesses. All that matters to them is their version of power… and who can blame them? In our own minds, we tend to portray ourselves as kings and queens, never daring to acknowledge anything that happens outside our lovely little kingdoms where we and we alone possess all the power in the world and nothing bad could ever happen to us.
Trust me on this one… when a man who spends half of his time swimming through the endless seas of his own imagination is telling you that you’re all spending way too much time in your fantasies, you know that something should probably change.
After all, power doesn’t last forever. Royalty has to step down eventually and hand the throne off to whoever is next in line, a President has to be elected into office every four years regardless of whether it’s the same person or a brand new face entirely, bosses retire or lose their jobs and someone else has to fill in the gap… no matter how powerful you think you are, there’s always an end to it somewhere beyond the horizon, and the more you try to ignore it the harder it becomes when your time is well and truly up. Sure, there may be a chance to get that power back at some point, but then it comes with the question of whether or not you learned anything to make sure you’re more prepared with it the next time around. And, of course, all of this is ignoring those out there who simply don’t care what kind of power you have because they are capable of seeing beyond it.
Maybe I’m not the kind of guy who should be giving lectures. After all, what power do I have that would make you sit up and listen to me? I’m not standing here as World Champion right now… and you know what? I’m not bothered by that fact, as much as you may find that hard to believe. After all, anyone who watched my match with James Evans at Trios knows full well that I gave him my absolute best and held nothing back. At this point in my career, to have come so close on so many occasions to winning a match I fully admitted that I wasn’t sure I was ready for going in is far from a setback… it was a sign of how much farther I can keep going until I finally get to where I want to be, a sign of how much I needed to push a man with so much more experience than I have to figure out how in the hell he keeps me down to retain his title. I said it on Twitter, but I’ll say it again here, loud and clear: even though I lost, I think it’s safe to say that every single one of you knows who Aaron Blackbourne is and what he’s capable of now. True, I know quite a few people will be ready to jump down my throat over the fact that I didn’t win, but I’m not standing here having a meltdown over it, now am I? After all, I’m still competing, and as long as I keep going and my evolution proceeds, my time will come again, one way or another.
On that note, how interesting is it that I talk a little bit about evolution and I find myself in the presence of a moniker that goes against everything that concept represents?
When I saw that I would be competing in Raleigh for Breakdown this week against Glory Braddock, I’ll admit I was half-expecting to hear her try to lecture me about the fact that I didn’t leave Trios as World Champion while she gloated about being part of the winning team, and to some degree, I was not disappointed. One moment she talks about how she wishes people like me and the various friends and allies I have in this business were more abundant and echoing the sentiments of so many others that I deserved my title opportunity at Trios, and then almost immediately she remembered that she’s trying to teach me something and criticized everything we represent while saying I was lucky that I even got my shot in the first place. Funny… she acknowledged the one thing I did that truly earned me my shot and still believes the event as a whole was a fluke in the making. I would question if she’s still feeling the effects of Trios, considering the last time I faced someone who went all the way in that tournament I ended up dethroning them to begin my first TV Title reign, but I’d be ignoring the fact that she’s still trying to figure out who she is after deciding her repeated use of ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis’ doesn’t apply to herself anymore.
Glory, do you know what the idea of calling oneself ‘the best’ means to me? To say that you are the best implies that there is no further room for improvement, that you have reached your maximum potential and accomplished everything you’ve set out to do. The claim of ‘best wrestler in the world’ is a rather subjective one as well, as evidenced by the fact that you think Syren is the only person I can compare you to that lays claim to those words, ignoring the potentially hundreds or even thousands of wrestlers all over the world in wrestling promotions we’ve probably never even heard of who lay claim to that same exact title and preach those same exact words every single day. How many of them have you beaten to prove that you are better? Where is the proof that you have held every single title and won every single tournament that has happened at least once since you’ve started wrestling? If you are well and truly ‘the best in the world’ then what proof do you have that solidifies that claim?
…please tell me that even you see how ridiculous that whole idea is. Calling yourself ‘the best’ is just like saying that you have obtained true perfection: there is nothing left to strive for, no one left to beat, and it would raise the question of why you’re still in the business at all if there’s nothing left to do. What would you even be chasing, in that scenario? That’s the fundamental flaw of your claims… I don’t need to compare you to any one person, in particular, to point out the fallacy of your self-given title, I simply need to point out the existence of a world full of people calling themselves ‘the best wrestler in the world’ and point out that you, like the vast majority of them, are still missing a few accomplishments to truly validate that claim, and suddenly the ending of your little tale of how you believe our match on Wednesday night is going to go has some more significant plot holes you should consider looking into. After all, your own World Title aspirations once upon a time didn’t exactly go as planned either, now did they?
Do you know what I think your real problem is Glory? I think, for as much as everything seems to line up, you and I ultimately have very different ideas of what is going to solve the riddle of a pro wrestling business that needs to be fixed. You can pretend that people like Owen, Alistaire and myself are more of what you want to see, but we both know that, at the end of the day, if this business doesn’t have you on top calling the shots while claiming that you’re actually making everything better, then, and only then, is there a problem. And yet, this brings up a rather interesting catch-22: if this is the way it’s always been for you, then you were always lying about what you were fighting against because you were part of the problem, to begin with, and if this is a more recent development, then it means you don’t have as much faith as you claim in your own abilities and convictions to keep yourself from becoming what you’ve claimed to hate.
Do you know what can be considered ‘true power’ Glory? You no doubt think it’s the ability to do anything with the contract you now possess, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. True power is being able to stay true to yourself in the face of adversity no matter what, fighting for what you believe in until the bitter end no matter how ugly things get or what happens to try and make you question who you are or why you do this. True power is the ability to keep fighting, no matter how beaten or broken you are or how ill-advised it is that you push yourself farther because you know you still have more to give. True power… is not caring about how powerful someone else is, because you know you have what it takes to not only overcome it, but perhaps even influence it without them realizing it.
Let me lay out a scenario for you Glory, to show you what I mean:
- I defeat you on Breakdown this Wednesday night in Raleigh.
- You go on to use your Trios contract somewhere down the line regardless, perhaps putting yourself in a World Title match where you actually go on to become champion.
- For as much as you considered losing to me inconsequential because you had the power of Trios, all of a sudden people are looking back on the fact that I hold a victory over the now-World Champion Glory Braddock, and the next thing you know, I can come knocking at your door with a valid reason to challenge you for that title.
Maybe you don’t think I would do such a thing, but that’s assuming you truly believe that I’m as blind to how this business, and the world as a whole for that matter, actually works. You criticize me for still needing to learn that this business isn’t for the weak of heart while forgetting that I’m the same man who ignored doctor’s orders to reconsider pushing Bree Lancaster farther than she’d ever been pushed before just forty-eight hours after my life was almost taken from me by someone who could care less if I was a wrestler or not. You question whether or not Alistaire would have prevailed over Syren to become World Champion without your involvement because of what we all knew she was going to do while somehow forgetting that the very victory you acknowledged earned me my title opportunity also proved that it was, in fact, very possible after all. If anything, the more you believe that I’m not as understanding about how any of this works as you are, the more you prove that I may actually be a lot wiser to all of it than the proverbial seasoned veteran.
And I still have so much left ahead of me too, unlike the woman who’s practically admitting to me she’s at the very peak of what she’s capable of doing.
Despite what you’ve convinced yourself of Glory, I’m far from irrelevant. In fact, I dare say that if I have anything to thank for how relevant I am right now, it’s my own efforts against Evans at Trios that have more and more people standing up and taking notice of who I am. In the time I’ve been in SCW I’ve gone toe to toe with some of the very best the company has to offer, including legends, and if I haven’t pushed them to better themselves then I’ve ended up defeating them along the path I walk towards whatever destiny I draw into existence for myself. Breakdown will be no different: legend or not, I’m going to throw everything I have with you, and if you cannot truly adapt to what I have to offer then you are going to find that maybe your claims of being ‘the best’ might be as hollow and meaningless as that entire concept itself has always been.
And while it’s true you may be willing to sink a little lower than I would to try and achieve victory, maybe you should ask how well that’s worked out for a few other people before assuming I can’t come up with some kind of creative solution to that little problem?