Statera vs. Twisted & Sadistic

[Braddock]

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Atlanta, Georgia
November 12th, 2023
Off Camera
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Under Attack was just the shot in the arm that “The British Bombshell” Glory Braddock and her friend and tag partner “The War Machine” Brittany Lohan needed to get their tag team aspirations back on track. A run of bad luck mixed in with the thorn in their side known as The Holly Adams Brand had been sidlining Twisted & Sadistic, delaying them from advancing in their journey towards capturing the SCW World Tag Team Championship. Distraction and harassment from The Holly Adams Brand had even cost them important matches that would have advanced their cause. But tonight, at Under Attack, Braddock and Lohan worked with Xander Valentine to finally put an end to Holly Adams and her Brand once and for all. Braddock can only hope that with The Holly Adams Brand in the rear view mirror, that Twisted & Sadistic can once again begin to refocus on becoming SCW World Tag Team Champions. It is a goal that she and Lohan have long sought after. It started out as little more than Braddock’s means of achieving Supreme Championship status, as the tag titles was the only title she hadn’t won yet. But after months of once again teaming with Brittany Lohan, months of being reunited with her friend, she has once again learned to love not only the art of tag team wrestling but learned to love being with her good friend Brittany.

Braddock and Lohan didn’t always used to be friends. They were once the bitterest of enemies, then they became friends, then enemies again, but now they are once again friends and once have the tag team titles in their sights. It is, in a way, reminiscent of the tumultuous relationship The British Bombshell has had with another friend, turned enemy, turned friend; the wealthy investor known as Melody Murphy.

Unlike her relationship with Lohan, Braddock and Murphy started out as friends. They were the best of friends. But both were teenagers and teenagers often make dumb mistakes. Glory Braddock ended up getting pregnant as a teenager by her then boyfriend Thomas Gage. That was Glory and Thomas’s mistake. Then, for whatever reason, Melody immediately betrayed Glory and started turning the ire and rage of her mocking and humiliation towards The British Bombshell. That was Melody’s mistake. Even now, these many years later, Melody admits that she made a mistake, she admits that she was wrong, and she claims to be a changed person. She claims that she just wants her friend back. Glory is still skeptical. The person Melody knew and was friends with way back then no longer exists. Glory, too has changed. Who does Melody want? Does she want that person she once knew or does she truly want to be friends with the person Glory has now become? And Glory, someone who knows Melody better than anyone else, knows just how manipulative Melody can be. Is Glory prepared to trust Melody and give her a second chance?

Glory certainly believes in second chances. She gave Brittany Lohan a second chance and now they are rolling strong in the SCW tag team division. Glory herself has needed second chances when she veered off the path of the straight and narrow. Despite this, Braddock still finds it hard to accept that Melody has changed. Sure, she told Melody that she would give her a second chance. But words and actions are two completely different things. Its easy to say she’ll give Melody a second chance but to put it into practice is far more difficult.

The British Bombshell finds herself in her dressing room shortly after Under Attack has concluded. She has already changed back into her casual street clothes consisting of jeans, sneakers, and a purple t-shirt. Her long blonde hair is left to hang straight and unrestrained to past the shoulders. She is packing her wrestling gear away in her bags when she hears a knocking at the door. “Yeah, come in…” Braddock turns her head to find Brittany Lohan entering the room. Braddock stands up and turns away from her packing so that she can greet Lohan.

“Since when did you knock?” Braddock chuckles.

“Maybe I’m getting soft.”

“You? Never.” Glory shakes her head as she motions for her friend to find a seat. Lohan walks further into the room and sits down on a bench. Glory approaches and sits down next to her. Both have pleasant looks on their faces; well, Glory does at least. Lohan is…well…Lohan.

“We didn’t break Holly in half like I had hoped.”

“You always were the negative one of this group. That much hasn’t changed.”

“Never will.” Lohan quips.

“Look on the bright side? The Holly Adams Brand has been decisively beaten. They are finished and we can put them in the rear view mirror, ok? Sure, we didn’t exactly leave the ol’ real housebitch of SCW in traction like you had hoped, but we did beat her and her brand. We beat them decisively. That means we can move on from them and their brand of craziness and focus on our real goal. Remember why we got back together.”

“I know.” Lohan nods her head. “The tag team championship. Helping you become Supreme Champion. I haven’t forgotten.”

“You’re right…” Braddock nods her head “...the tag team championship is still our goal. And yeah, I still want to become Supreme Champion. But we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We have other business to take care of first. Bree and Datura.”

“What about them?”

“Do you honestly think SCW will give us an opportunity without first beating those two?” Glory shakes her head. “There is unfinished business, Britt. As much as we’d like to jump the line and get the shot, we have to take care of them.”

“Seriously?” Britt slams her fist against a locker. “How many actual TITLE MATCHES have they had? We have been given ZERO? All we need is ONE chance and those titles are ours! No way Blythe and Luz beats us!”

“Look, you’re preaching to the choir. I know it, you know it, but that’s not how it works in SCW. We’re gonna have to earn it. We will inevitably have to face Statera.”

“That’s a dumbass name.” Lohan says with a scowl. Glory chuckles.

“Never change, Britt.” She pats her on the back. “That’s the other primary reason we needed to get back together and do this.”

“Hmmm?”

“You and I.” Glory says with a grin on her face. “We sure have had a roller coaster of a friendship, wouldn’t you say mate? I mean, you first laid eyes on me and you power bombed me on the roof of a car. Of course I got my own bit of revenge for that…in spades. We damn near killed each other for months until Orlando Cruze…” She looks up into the sky and makes a sign of the cross over her chest “...God rest his soul, decided that it’d be funny as hell to put us together as a tag team.”

“I remember.” Brittany smirks. “We showed him.”

“Damn right we did. We put our differences behind us and we dominated every single promotion we set foot in. We were unstoppable. At least, we were until we grew apart, we went out separate ways. Eventually we became enemies again, right here in SCW. But when I expressed a desire to become Supreme Champion, and I needed to be a tag team champion to do it, you stepped up. I admit, I was hesitant at first…”

“VERY hesitant.”

“Ok, very hesitant.” Glory nods her head in agreement. “But the point is, I gave you…hell, I gave US a chance and it worked out. Twisted & Sadistic is still strong and like you said, all we need is ONE tag team championship match and we will get the job done. That’s why I have no qualms going through Bree and Datura first if we must. Because I believe in us. I believe in Twisted & Sadistic.” The British Bombshell pats her on the back. “Thank you, Britt, for being there for me, for stepping up, and for being a friend.”

There is a long, somewhat tense pause after Glory finishes with her little rant. Brittany Lohan stares deep into Glory’s eyes, both women remain unblinking. Then, a few moments later, Brittany breaks the silence. “You’re god damn awful when you get mushy, you know that?”

“What do you mean?”

“The mushy crap. You suck at it.” Lohan shakes her head. “You’re covering for something. Or someone. What is it?”

“You’re loopers, mate.” Glory shakes her head, in complete denial, hoping that her friend will buy it. But Lohan shakes her head. She isn’t buying it.

“Look, I don’t always care about personal crap. But this, if it is going to be a distraction to you and cost the two of us in the ring, then yeah, I do care. So once again, I ask…what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, nothing big that is. It’s just…”

“What?” Lohan demands again, more sharply this time. Braddock finally relents and nods her head.

“Fine. It’s just that…you and me, what we’ve done since reuniting, since giving each other another chance, what we accomplished by giving this friendship another chance, its reminded me of something else going on my private life.”

“What?”

“Not a what. Who.” Glory says, correcting her. “Her name is Melody Murphy.”

“Who is that?”

“An old friend of mine. At least, we were friends way back when we were kids.”

“You as a kid?” Lohan actually smiles in somewhat amusement. “You were a devilish prankster when I first met you. I would kill to hear about what YOU were like as a child.”

“Nah, you really wouldn’t.” Braddock shakes her head. “I was almost as annoying and full of myself as Holly Adams. And Melody? She was even worse. You would’ve wanted to kill us. But Melody and I, we were thick as thieves. We ran the community. We ran the school. We ran it all.” Glory sighs as she recalls these memories of long ago. She seems to be a bit saddened as she thinks back. “But all good things come to an end. Like you and I drifted apart, so did me and Melody. Except me and Melody’s split was much more sudden. Like being hit by a mack truck or a freight train.”

“What happened?” Lohan asks. “Did you finally realize how annoying you were?” Glory laughs and shakes her head.

“No way. I was fiercely loyal to Melody. If I had stayed with her, I would have been a stuck up aristocrat bitch to this day. It was Melody who turned on me. And like I said, it was very sudden. One day we were close friends, the next she was giving me the same bullying treatment that she and I together had given the other kids in the community.”

“Karma is a bitch.” Brittany says.

“True. And I don’t deny the fact that maybe I had a lot of that coming. Hell, I was willing to just forget all about it and move on. We were kids. I hadn’t seen her in forever and I had no desire to ever contact her again. It was in the past and I was prepared to leave it there.” Glory sighs deeply. “But then Melody decides to resurface.”

“Did you choke her out?” Britt asks. Glory rolls her eyes.

“No, that’s what YOU would have done. Me? I just played it safe.”

“Well that’s boring. What brought her back?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know.” Glory shrugs her shoulders as she looks confused. “At first she says she just wanted to invest in my company. I didn’t believe that, because its suspicious as hell that she just so happens to want to invest in a company owned by her ex-friend that she had spent a long time tormenting? Eventually I learn that she was dating and is now engaged to marry Matthew.”

“The dweeb you used to team with?” Lohan asks. Glory nods her head.

“Yes, that ‘dweeb’ is my friend Matthew Taylor. And that certainly raised some red flags because she just isn’t his type. Later she drops this bombshell that she has changed, she apologizes for the past, and simply wants to be my friend again.”

“Oh I see now.” Brittany nods her head. “And that’s why Twisted & Sadistic reminded you so much of you and Melody? Because you and I spent so much time beating the hell out of each other that you weren’t sure at first you could trust me. Now you’re in the same position with Melody. You aren’t sure you can trust her.”

“Exactly, yeah.” Braddock nods her head and then sighs. “What do I do, mate?”

“If you want good advice you asked the wrong person.” Britt says flatly. “If it were me, I’d have punched her damn lights out.”

“With the subtly of a jackhammer.” Glory grins. “That’s why I like you.”

“Yeah. But you don’t think you want to punch Melody, do you?”

“Fists can’t solve this.” Glory shakes her head. “I’m still not convinced her relationship with Matty started out as an honest to goodness thing or not, but they have grown to care about each other, they are getting married, and I can’t change that. I have to deal with the fact that she is going to marry my friend. I could not really stop the investment deal she wanted to do with my company, because it was a good deal and rejecting it would look bad on me as the corporate head. I cannot keep her out of my life, I cannot ignore her. She told me she wants to be my friend again and I even told her I was willing to give her a second chance. But I’m just not sure that I am ready to trust her again.”

“Yeah. I get it.” Lohan nods her head. “Then again, you can give her that second chance and still not trust her until she has proven herself.”

“I’d feel dishonest.”

“Really, Glory?” Britt frowns skeptically “How long after we reunited before you completely trusted me again?”

“Uh, I don’t know…” she shrugs her shoulders “...second match in? Maybe?”

“See? Be friendly, let her think you two are pals, but make the prissy bitch earn your trust. Then maybe you can be friends with her again.”

“I never thought about it like that.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Brittany declares. “To pull your head out of your ass when I need to.” Lohan stands back up. “So are you ready for…Statera?” Glory grins and nods her head. She stands up.

“You know it.” Glory hugs Brittany. “And thanks…for pulling my head out of my ass…”

“Don’t mention it.” Brittany turns and makes her exit. Glory remains there, thinking about her friend’s advice. Being a friend doesn’t automatically mean you trust them. Glory has had friends that she would never trust simply due to their reputation. Some of those friends would eventually earn Glory’s trust based upon their actions. Glory Braddock wasn’t sure she could trust Brittany Lohan during their first or second run as Twisted & Sadistic, but both times The War Machine more than earned Braddock’s trust. This made them a powerful force in tag team wrestling.

Braddock and Melody Murphy were once a powerful force. They could be again if their friendship was rekindled and if that trust was once again built back up. But Glory knows that trust is hard to win back after it is lost. Is she prepared to trust Melody again? Yes, yes she is. But it is on Melody to earn that trust. If Melody is indeed sincere about being Glory’s friend again, then she will earn that trust. Braddock just has to give her that chance.