Dark Fantasy vs. Light in the Darkness vs. Twisted & Sadistic

[Braddock]

2 of 2
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February 29th, 2024
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
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It’s Thursday and soon “The British Bombshell” Glory Braddock will be making the trip to Glendale, Arizona for Retribution. It will be the night of her and Brittany Lohan’s first defense as the new SCW World Tag Team Champions and a more difficult challenge couldn’t have been scripted anywhere else. In a triple threat affair, Braddock and Lohan defend against not only Dark Fantasy but also Light in the Darkness. The obvious tension here seemingly revolves around the brewing feud between the champions and Dark Fantasy. Lohan has led the charge in the attacks against Syren and Ravyn, revenge against them ruining their moment, their night of celebration when Twisted & Sadistic finally won the tag team titles and Glory Braddock finally achieved Supreme Champion status. While Braddock has typically been reluctant to be the vigilante, to take the law into her own hands, she has followed her hot heated partner’s lead in this one, which has led to numerous encounters between the four of them. Adding more tension to this situation is the fact that the former champions, Amelia Blythe and La Pequina Luz, have been caught in the crossfire. What we have now is a situation where Syren and Ravyn believe that they have not had a fair rematch for the tag titles, Luz and Blythe as the immediate former champions perhaps are owed a rematch, and then you have Braddock and Lohan, who really just want to put this entire situation behind them and move on with their title reign. Retribution is where they hope to put an end to this once and for all. In one night, in one swift motion, Twisted & Sadistic could wipe the slate clean and rid themselves of Dark Fantasy and Light in the Darkness. That task is certainly easier said than done. Even though Twisted & Sadistic just beat Light in the Darkness for the belts, they recall all too well how Luz and Blythe hold a triple threat victory over them. And while Braddock and Lohan personally do not think very highly of Syren and Ravyn, their history as a tag team in SCW is quite legendary. Twisted & Sadistic have had their fair share of success since reuniting in SCW. They have beaten just about every tag team to have been placed in front of them. Yet doubt still lingers as to whether they can be the single most dominant team in the company. Retribution is the chance to put those doubts to rest and cement their legacy as one of the all time great tag teams in SCW.

Currently the opulent living room area of The British Bombshell is occupied by none other than her tag team partner, Brittany Lohan. The War Machine is in her workout gear and sits with her feet propped up on the coffee table. Tape of their most recent match against Dark Fantasy is currently being played in the background. Lohan’s eyes tell the story of a woman who is annoyed with having to rewatch this match again, knowing how it ends. This is Glory Braddock’s idea. Watching tape of your opponents, especially if you have tape of them facing you, is great strategy. Glory believes that they can not only look for weaknesses in Syren and Ravyn, but they can also look for weaknesses in their own game, mistakes they may have made, and hopefully correct them. And as The War Machine glares at the television set, Glory Braddock herself eventually steps into the living room, carrying two bottles of water. Braddock is wearing purple workout shorts, white sneakers, and a purple t-shirt.

“Here you go…” Braddock grins as she tosses Lohan a bottled water. She easily catches it, takes one look, and then looks back up at Glory.

“Water?”

“Did you really expect a beer BEFORE the physical workout begins?” Glory asks with a grin as she walks over and sits down on the sofa next to Lohan.

“It’d be nice to get a little buzzed if I have to watch us lose to Dark Fantasy.” She remarks, motioning to the television.

“It is very important to watch tape. As much as we dislike them and as much as we may hate to admit it, they own a victory over us. We need to make sure that we correct any mistakes we may have made that night, and perhaps even find any weaknesses in their game.”

“If watching tape is important, why don’t we watch all the tape of us beating Luz and Blythe? We’ve beaten them plenty of times. There should be plenty of tapes.”

“Oh there is.” Glory winks. “But don’t you think that this is a little bit more important than that? With all due respect to Luz and Amelia, Syren and Ravyn are our biggest threats at Retribution. We haven’t beaten them…yet…and they are willing to do absolutely anything to win. We don’t have to worry about any trickery or shenanigans from Light in the Darkness.”

“Oh and we’re supposed to believe Syren is turning over a new leaf.” The sarcasm in Brittany’s voice is very apparent. Glory rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, right. I don’t believe it for one second. Syren and Ravyn have a reputation and I cannot ever bring myself to trust either of them. That’s why they are our number one priority when it comes to the tape.”

“Fine.” Brittany shrugs her shoulders. “But after we get done watching this crap we get to go to that nice fancy private gym of yours?”

“Kurt’s private gym, yes.” Glory nods her head. “It’s downstairs in the basement.”

“Very nice. I always knew you were wealthy, I just didn’t realize you flaunted it.”

“I wouldn’t quite call it flaunting.” Glory states. “I mean, Kurt may be retired but he wants to keep in shape if he ever decides to wrestle again. Besides, I’m still active, it’s a nice thing to have.”

“Yes but this house, it’s incredible. Much too extravagant for the Glory Braddock I first met.” Lohan smirks. “Is this Aphrodite’s influence?”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Glory shakes her head. “I dad always had money. He was always wealthy. He just never splurged like most wealthy individuals did, but I always had been wealthy even before I made more money by running dad’s wrestling school and running my own company. The idea of splurging on myself, well, yeah, that comes from Mother.”

“Thought so.” Lohan chuckles. “Is she why you left England to live in Miami?”

“Yes.” Glory nods her head. “I wanted to be close to Mother.”

“Of course you did.” Brittany says with more sarcasm in her voice. “I will never understand that relationship, Glory, but whatever makes you happy. Besides…” she sighs “...you’re right, Aphrodite hasn’t led us astray…yet.”

“And she won’t.” Glory points out. Just then their discussion is interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing which echoes throughout the house. Braddock sighs and shouts to her husband.

“Kurt! Would you answer the door please! Britt and I are a little busy right now!” She waits until she hears footsteps racing down the stairs. Glory grins as she looks at Brittany.

“You have him trained well.”

“Thanks.”

Glory and Brittany turn their attention back towards the television set, and the replay of the last Twisted & Sadistic versus Dark Fantasy match. It is nearing the closing moments which annoys Brittany as she has to watch her and Glory lose. She looks over at Glory.

“So after this can we watch ourselves kick Luz and Amelia’s asses a few dozen times?”

“No, after this we’re going to spar.”

“Excellent.” Brittany cracks her knuckles. “I’ll try not to knock your head off.”

Glory Braddock chuckles as she opens her mouth to respond but before any words can get out she is interrupted by the sound of her husband, Kurt’s, voice. “Glory!”

“What is it?”

“I think you need to come to the door.”

“Why?” Glory sounds a little annoyed. “I told you, I’m busy.”

“Melinda’s father is here.”

Braddock’s eyes go wide. She has a good idea what he is here for. She sent him on a mission a few days ago to look into the car bombing that targeted her…or her friends Melody and Francis. Has he found something already? Glory hears Brittany snicker and she turns to look at The War Machine.

“So the baby daddy is here, eh?”

“Yeah, real funny.” Glory smirks. “Why don’t you go on down to the gym while I take care of this?”

“Sure.”

Glory watches as Brittany Lohan gets up from the sofa and walks away. Once she has made her exit, Braddock rises up off of the sofa and walks over towards the hall and to the front door. Immediately Glory is met by her husband Kurt, standing side by side with her ex-boyfriend and father of her oldest daughter, Thomas Gage.

“I thought he was here to see Melinda.” Kurt begins. “But he insisted he needs to speak with you.”

“Yes, it is urgent.” Thomas says, with a nod of his head.

“I have an idea what he wants to talk about, Kurt, and it is important. So if you don’t mind giving us some privacy?”

“Sure.” Kurt nods his head. “If you need me I will be in the other room.” Kurt kisses his wife on the lips before turning to walk away.

“Wait…” Thomas calls out. Kurt stops and turns around. “...you need to hear this as well. It pertains to you as well.”

This was not the news that The British Bombshell had expected. The car bomb was targeting her or Melody or their friend Francis. But then again, if Glory was indeed the target, could they have chosen to go after Kurt as well to get at Glory? It certainly makes sense. Is that what Thomas learned? Is that why Kurt needs to be here? Kurt walks back over and joins Glory by her side.

“So what’s wrong?” Needless to say, both Kurt and Glory look more than a little surprised, Kurt more so simply because he had no idea about any of this. Glory knew Thomas eventually would be coming by with information. She just didn’t expect it this soon.

“Have you told him anything?” Thomas asks Glory, who responds by shaking her head.

“No.”

“Told me what?”

“Kurt…” Glory begins “...as you know, Thomas is very wealthy and very influential. He has a lot of connections. I asked him to use his connections to see if he could find out anything at all about the car bomb.”

“Seriously?” Kurt seems somewhat annoyed. “I thought we were going to let the police handle it?”

“Face it, Kurt, the police have no idea who was behind it and I cannot risk your life or our children’s lives.”

“If there was even a slim possibility of Melinda becoming a target simply due to her association with Gloria, well, I had to act.” Thomas points out. Kurt still doesn’t seem very thrilled but accepts it.

“Fine. Well, you must have found out SOMETHING because here you are. What did you find?”

“First of all, I went to the local news sources to read about the incident. Immediately I knew without even having to speak to the authorities that whoever planted the bomb was a rank amateur.”

“How do you know that?” Glory asks curiously.

“The simple fact that it failed and failed as miserably as it did.” Thomas points out. “It went off way too early and thus did not harm anyone.”

“Ok, so we’re not necessarily dealing with a professional. That’s good.” Glory nods her head. “What else did you learn?”

“I spoke to some of my…less than savory sources.”

“Organized crime.” Kurt states stoically. Thomas nods his head in confirmation.

“Yes. I may not involve myself with criminal enterprise but it does pay to be on their good side. They can provide good information, in this case, the identity of who was behind this as well as their motive.”

“So you’re saying I’m being targeted by organized crime?!” Glory exclaims. “I thought I was through with that?!”

“I already said you were being targeted by an amateur.” Thomas points out calmly. “That eliminates the possibility of organized crime. The only involvement of organized crime was the fact that they provided the necessary tools to the individual responsible. Also you were not the target, Gloria.” He points at Kurt. “He was.”

“Me?!” Kurt exclaims. Thomas nods his head.

“Yes, you were the target…well, I suppose Gloria was the target in the sense that they wanted to send a message to Kurt by harming his wife.”

This was certainly not the information Glory expected to hear. Considering her company, Melody’s powerful and influential businesses, and Francis Taylor’s businesses, she expected certainly one of them would have been the target. Instead none of them were. This was just a way to get at Kurt. This was meant to send a message to Kurt. The British Bombshell looks at her husband and she can immediately tell that he isn’t taking this news very well.

“Who was it?” He asks quietly. Glory can tell that he is trying to contain his temper.

“Andrew Meadows.” Thomas states. “I did not find much information about him but I assumed you already knew him.”

“I have never heard that name before.” Glory says. She looks up at Kurt. “Who is he, Kurt?”

“Look, Glory, my past isn’t all that great.” He sighs as he struggles to control his emotions. You and I met when my life was finally looking good. But long before I met you I was an alcoholic and a drug addict. Andrew was my best friend and he, too, was an addict.”

“Oh my…” Glory’s voice trails off. She has never heard this story about her husband before.

“One night Andrew and I thought we were going to pick up some drugs from a dealer. But it was all a ruse, a trap set by the police. We tried to get away. Andrew did get away but I got caught.”

“Did you turn on Andrew?” Glory asks. “Is that why he’s mad?”

“No, in fact, I refused to give up Andrew’s name. At least, that night I refused. I took the fall for it.” He sighs. “But over time as I got caught again and again, eventually I grew to become a police informant. I helped police crack several cases by snitching on people. One of those busts was Andrew.” He sighs and shakes his head. “He’s obviously still mad that I helped put him away.”

Kurt turns to walk away. Glory can sense a hint of shame from her husband, shame that his former life has come back to haunt him and this new family he has built with Glory Braddock. She wants to go after him and comfort him. Glory turns towards Thomas and hugs him.

“Thank you, Thomas. Thank you for everything.”

“Anything, my beloved. Now go tend to your husband. I promise you that this information will make it into the hands of the authorities and Mr. Meadows will be put away before he can try to strike you or your family again.”

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March 2nd, 2024
Glendale, Arizona
On Camera
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The sun hangs low in the sky which creates a golden hue over the city of Glendale, Arizona. In the distance the silhouette of the State Farm Stadium rises up like a behemoth, its sleek lines cutting through the horizon. There is a gentle breeze rustling through the trees that line the streets and walkways in front of the stadium. A few moments later and we see the lovely figure of “The British Bombshell” Glory Braddock stepping into the scene from the right. The reigning SCW World Tag Team Champion is wearing a white silk blouse underneath a royal purple woman’s suit jacket that fits perfectly, accentuating her frame and a skirt that falls just above her knees. Braddock is perched atop a matching shade of purple high heels that adds a stylish flair to the outfit. Her long blonde hair is left to hang straight and unrestrained to past the shoulders. She has her World Tag Team Title belt draped over her right shoulder.

“So the journey that began over a year ago has brought us to this city…Glendale, Arizona…and this building, the State Farm Stadium…where The War Machine and The British Bombshell fight to keep this journey alive and well.” Braddock smirks knowingly. “What? Did you think it was over? Did you really believe that just because Britt and I won these SCW World Tag Team Titles, the final piece of my Supreme Championship puzzle, that we’d just call it a night?” Braddock shakes her head.

“Yes, we brought Twisted & Sadistic back together as a unit in order to win the tag titles and complete my Supreme Championship. That was the purpose and yes, we accomplished that goal. But you forgot why I set my sights on Supreme Championship status in the first place. I did it because it was a challenge. I am the type of competitor that thrives on challenges, I am the type of competitor that needs to be challenged by new and more difficult tests in order to keep going. I came to SCW wanting to become a World Champion. It took over four years to reach that goal. There were tears, there was frustration, and I got knocked on my ass many times but I never gave up. I kept going until I accomplished that goal. The next goal would be to become Supreme Champion. By that time all I needed was the Television and the Tag Titles. It took me one year…one year of more frustration, more tears, and more agony…but damn it I got the job done. Now that I accomplished that goal, I needed to find a new goal, a new challenge to meet. That’s what a real competitor does. A real competitor keeps raising the bar, a real competitors keeps working to improve themselves by taking on more difficult challenges. And the next big challenge facing me…well, not just me, but both me AND Brittany Lohan…well it was easy to find. The challenge, quite honestly, was right there in front of us.” Braddock pats the tag team championship belt that rests over her shoulder.

“Our challenge now is to defend these titles. Remember when we first reunited, when we first brought Twisted & Sadistic to SCW, we knew we were among the best tag teams in professional wrestling. Our history speaks for itself. But we were not going to rest on the laurels of our past in other promotions. We were going to prove ourselves to be the best and most dominant tag team in Supreme Championship Wrestling. In the process we ran through every single tag team in this company, and we beat them all. Well, all but one, and we’ll get to you in a moment, Dark Fantasy. You name them, we beat them, and while the road was long and at times frustrating, the end result was exactly what we knew it would be. The War Machine and The British Bombshell are now the SCW World Tag Team Champions. We now possess the title belts that recognize us as the current best there is in the company today.”

“Our journey to become the BEST tag team in SCW only began just a few months ago, and even though we are the reigning champions, I know and Britt knows that the journey to accomplish that feat is far from over. Winning the titles is one thing, keeping them is a completely different story altogether. It takes true greatness to keep a tight grip onto a tag team division as hotly competitive as the one in SCW. Just ask La Pequina Luz and Amelia Blythe.” Braddock nods her head. “I will give you your flowers because you damn sure have earned my respect over the many times we have done battle. We beat you in the gauntlet, you turned around bested us in the triple threat that also included Statera, but then in the lone singles tag team match we had, just Twisted & Sadistic against Light in the Darkness, it was me and The War Machine announced as the victors and as THE NEW SCW World Tag Team Champions.”

“You know all about the difficulty of defending the belts because you defended them multiple times in quite the extraordinary title run. But you ran into a brick wall called Twisted & Sadistic. As good as you were, and you were VERY good, your run was put to an end the moment you put those belts up for grabs against us. No outside interference, no other tag teams involved, just Light in the Darkness and Twisted & Sadistic and when the smoke had cleared everyone saw what happened. We respect…” Glory chuckles “...ok, I won’t speak for Britt, so I’ll just say I respect both of you. But this journey isn’t going to end now, not here, and not by your hands.” She points a finger at the camera.

“But then there’s the other duo in this equation, a pair of annoying roaches that keep popping up at the most inconvenient of times.” Glory’s smile dissipates. It becomes a nasty scowl. “Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about the pair of annoying insects known as Syren and Ravyn. The legendary Dark Fantasy.” Braddock nods her head. “I will give the devil their due, you are one of the best tag teams in SCW history. But that is where the niceties end between us. Britt and I are fierce competitors. We want to be recognized as the best and yes, we sometimes go to great lengths to prove it.” She winks. “How’s the neck, Syren? But in any event, at the end of the day, for Twisted & Sadistic it is all about competition. And that’s what this business is and should be about; competition. That’s why I respect Luz and Blythe. We may have different approaches and different viewpoints on a range of issues surrounding this sport, but we agree that this is about the spirit of competition. This is about, when there is a level playing field, finding out just who is the best.” Glory shakes her head.

“Not Syren and Ravyn. Let’s face it, Dark Fantasy never ever wants prove anything on a level playing field. They will lie, cheat, and screw over anyone and everyone they have to in order to gain an unfair advantage. And when you don’t get what you want, you throw tantrums. Me and Britt became World Tag Team Champions, we did what you failed to do on TWO occasions. We beat Light in the Darkness. So what do you do? You ruin our moment by attacking us after the match. Did you really think we were just gonna let that go? Syren was a warning. And Ravyn, you had better kiss Luz’s ass because had she not gotten involved, we would have finished the job.” She sneers. “And all of this because you two feel entitled. You wanted to cut in line ahead of us simply because you were the former tag team champions and owed a rematch. But honestly, to be perfectly frank, Dark Fantasy didn’t win the tag titles. Dark Fantasy didn’t win shit. Ravyn and ACE MARSHALL won the tag team titles when Selena Frost refused to play ball and then Syren was GIFTED the tag titles when Ace went missing.”

“Congratulations, Syren. You were HANDED a tag team title reign on a silver platter. You were GIFTED another accolade for your bloody trophy case and you didn’t have to do shit for it. But you two entitled brats felt you were owed a rematch, so you wanted to cut ahead of us in line. At least you were forced to earn it by facing Twisted & Sadistic. And to be fair, you won.” Braddock sarcastically claps her hands. “That is one reason why I am so happy Luz and Blythe wanted this particular match. That and the fact that you two manipulative bitches are recognized as one of the all time best tag teams in SCW is one reason why I am so happy this match is taking place.”

“So let me spell it out for all of you watching. Dark Fantasy is recognized as one of the great tag teams of the past, Light in the Darkness have already proven to me and many others that they are one of the greatest tag teams of the present. At Retribution in the State Farm Stadium, The War Machine and The British Bombshell will beat both of them and prove that Twisted & Sadistic is now truly the best in the world when it comes to tag team wrestling. That is our new goal, to be the best tag team in SCW today, and to do that we have to go through Dark Fantasy. We have to go through Light in the Darkness. We have to end this back and forth nonsense once and for all and achieving that goal, being the best and retaining the tag titles, if that means having to put one or more of you through HELL ON EARTH…” she snickers “...well, so be it.”