Aaron Blackbourne vs. Bree Lancaster
#4
OOC: And here's my second of two. I'm not going to lie... I think I got really ambitious with what I wanted to do for this match, and while deep down I feel I took a gamble, I'm really happy with what I managed to put together. Just as a note, some of the things mentioned in the CDs for this might make a bit more sense if you read the Thirteen effort I posted for the battle royal (http://www.supremecw.com/forums/showthre...07#pid4507) as a means of trying to bridge the gap between my two efforts for this match. Best of luck as always J, and no matter the outcome I'm looking forward to seeing how this match turns out and if it can somehow top the Bree/Aaron war from RtG last year.
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While many people might be starting discussions on the road to Rise to Greatness with the show’s main event soon to be decided, the road to Taking Hold of the Flame had been quite interesting in its own right.

Aaron could certainly attest to that a few weeks ago when he walked into Fatal Fortunes not knowing what to expect but having a few things he was hopeful for and ended up walking out as the number one contender to the World Championship. This eliminated the need to concern himself with the battle royal this year like many others as an alternate path to the stage everybody wanted to reach opened up before him, and all he would need to do to get there was overcome one person… a person he had yet to be able to defeat in SCW.

As the pay-per-view grew closer, things certainly seemed to be leaning in Bree’s favor somewhat. After barely escaping from her World Title defense in Fatal Fortunes via an ironman Match draw, she hadn’t been tasked with competing until the show itself, leaving SCW to spend one week putting together a unique and impressive video package that highlighted their rivalry and especially their war from last year’s Rise to Greatness as both of them and many of their closest friends and allies weighed in with their own thoughts on the scenario. Then, just days ago, Bree had spent a good amount of time making it clear just how confident she was in what she believed was her inevitable victory that Sunday before leaving Aaron to compete in hopes that he would, once again, not be at a hundred percent when they locked up. Unfortunately for Bree, that plan fell apart when Aaron ended up defeating Matt Hodges, the same man she’d just barely escaped losing her title to, and while Hodges did attack him after the bell because of this, Alistaire had made sure no significant damage was done and he’d still be giving Bree no injuries to exploit this time around.

While there was no question he’d be a hundred percent physically this time around, mentally could be another story entirely.

Many would be quick to question how focused he truly was on Bree considering Shilo Valiant still saw fit to bring his name up as a means of trying to incite some sort of reaction, on top of him not thinking twice about joining Ali and Peyton in coming to Blake and Owen’s aid when The Wonderland saw fit to try and make a mess of the Tag Title picture all because of whatever ‘Lizard Kingdom’ rant Giovanni had given his followers that night. Those doubts, however, were extinguished as well in the victory over Hodges as all the creative soul focused on throughout that entire battle was the man right in front of him, not anyone else trying to divert his attention or even the woman waiting for him on Sunday night with SCW’s biggest prize at stake.

That said, Aaron’s performance against Hodges gave no clear signs that there were still a few problems that threatened to distract him at the worst possible time.

After Liane suddenly snapped and lost herself to her violent other self in a blind attempt to attack a woman who had ulterior motives to her ‘psychological’ approach, Aaron had been going the extra mile to make sure she was in a good place mentally so nothing like that would ever happen again, and while Liane’s hand would heal and she was insistent on her husband-to-be not needing to give her so much extra attention, he still put her ahead of himself because, as he put it, ‘any harm she was inflicting on herself, even unintentionally, hurt him to have to see.’ The idea of Liane falling apart clearly did not sit well with him, which made the burden on his own mind even worse. While it was virtually impossible to tell from his performance on Breakdown, the nightmare Aaron had on that same night Liane had been shoved past her breaking point hadn’t been a one-time deal. No matter how it played out, the basic idea had been the same: Aaron trying to fight off the many issues weighing heavily on his mind and ultimately failing because no matter how hard he tried, his words fell on deaf ears and his actions had little effect.

A phone call to Dr. James Marsh-Asher, however, not only made it clear the woman who had antagonized Liane was not affiliated with him or his associates at all, despite her claims, and would be dealt with soon enough, but Aaron had also been provided a piece to the puzzle he’d been overlooking this whole time.

The couple had made their way to Newark and settled in so Aaron could give his undivided attention to Taking Hold of the Flame and the World Title match, although that was easier said than done when the artist felt his mind being pulled in so many different directions. Thankfully, Liane had already made sure her schedule was cleared so she could watch him compete, meaning she wouldn’t have to try and explain why her hand was all wrapped up and she could just quietly relax so Aaron could worry about the opportunity at hand (which was something she needed to remind him of a few times for good measure). With no sign of the woman who had only added more fuel to this fire, that only left the nightmares standing between the creative soul and absolute focus.

“Damn it…”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a challenge in his life if it was that easy to overcome.

While tonight hadn’t seen the nightmare rear its ugly head again yet, the inability to fall asleep wasn’t going to bring Aaron one step closer to where he wanted to be when all was set and done. No matter how much he tossed and turned or had Liane snuggled up to him or anything else that would knock any normal person out cold for the night, sleep just would not come to the poor sleep-deprived individual. Seeing that the clock was displaying a time still quite early in the morning, he could only let out a yawn and drag his body out of bed, apologizing to Liane as she briefly awoke to question him. His tired mind decided that maybe going for a walk would not only help to clear his head but also wear his body down enough that he could finally, with any luck, get some proper rest at last, which is why he’d thrown on some workout shorts and a shirt and made his way down to the lobby via the stairs, where he paced around for a few minutes with apologies to the front desk for doing so before stepping outside. He was immediately hit with a much cooler temperature than he’d be dealing with during the day, but it didn’t deter him as he walked the streets for a little bit, never straying too far from the hotel and thinking all the while about what it was he truly needed to do to conquer the nightmares and the message they were trying to tell him.

When he finally began making his way back to the hotel after a little while, he’d at least settled on the conclusion that the nightmare had a definitive link to the World Title match and what Bree had been preaching leading up to the bout, though the waters were still a bit muddied by several other factors that he was trying to figure out the significance of. It wouldn’t be recurring as much as it was or bother him to this extent for no reason, after all, and once he figured it out, maybe he’d know what he needed to do to dethrone Bree and finally reach the very top of the mountain.

“Excuse me, do you have a few minutes?”

With the hotel’s doors in sight and hopes that he could finally let himself be claimed by his dreams to see what awaited him tonight, he suddenly found his path blocked off by someone who clearly wanted to talk with him. Something about her voice seemed to set off alarm bells in his head, but it wasn’t until he’d taken a moment to rub some of the oncoming drowsiness from his eyes that he found them narrowing into a glare all on their own. While he’d only caught a fleeting glimpse of her the last time, he’d seen enough to know that everything matches up with the description Liane gave after she’d calmed down once this woman was done doing whatever ‘job’ she thought she was working on. Remembering what Dr. Marsh-Asher had advised, he tried to simply move past the woman and ignore her, but she was adamant in staying in front of him no matter what. Even though he was giving her the silent treatment, she decided to carry on as though he’d given her the OK to do so.

“You’ll have to forgive me, but this is actually kind of important. My name’s Nancy, and I’m actually apprenticing with the office where Dr. Marsh-Asher practices to get some real-world experience for-”

“Sorry, but that’s not going to work twice.”

It was a blunt response, but it immediately silenced Nancy and left her looking shocked that it had actually been said. Aaron had sounded stern enough to make it clear he wasn’t going to buy into whatever story she wanted to spin, but ensured there was no malice she could twist to get whatever info she was hoping to pry out of him. Despite this, she continued to make sure she blocked his path to try and force him to get physical if he wanted to just avoid this, and he wasn’t going to take that bait either. He simply turned and began walking away from the hotel, his tired body making it known that it disapproved of any decision that took him farther away from bed right now but he made ditching this vulture top priority so he could better his chances of maybe getting some decent rest tonight. Despite this, Nancy followed him, making sure to stay in a position where she could cut him off if he suddenly whipped around and tried to bolt past her.

“Look Mr. Blackbourne, I’m sorry if this is a bad time, given the late hour and all, but I’m only looking to help-”

At the sound of that, Aaron stopped and slowly turned to glare at her, which froze her in her tracks but didn’t keep her from moving her pencil to the little booklet she had at the ready.

“Help? Sorry, but I don’t consider anyone who antagonizes my fiancée the way you did as ‘helpful’ in any sense of the word.”

“I’m… sorry that you feel the need to make such baseless accusations towards me, but I should remind you that a threatening tone of voice like that out in public could be taken any number of different ways by law enforcement if I choose to get them involved. I don’t think that would reflect well on someone who’s on the verge of potentially his greatest achievement yet… assuming you can actually get the job done, of course.”

That tiny little barb was enough to open the floodgates, and almost immediately he could hear the voices pounding in his head… the same ones that haunted his dreams for weeks, giving him no opening to truly respond while slowly breaking down whatever confidence he had in his ability to overcome the challenge standing between him and being able to join his friends in saying he’d made it to the top at long last. While he gave no visible indication for Nancy to assume she’d broken through the shield he’d been trying to put up against her, she took his silence as a sign that she’d made some progress and pushed ahead.

“Mr. Blackbourne, I really don’t want to question the way you live your life, but I find it hard to justify your ability to contribute anything of real value to those around you. True, you make enough money to contribute to supporting yourself and your future wife, but her career seems to be taking off while yours appears to keep stalling. I don’t know what goes on in your head, but the line between fantasy and reality has to be drawn somewhere, and I’d assume it’s only a matter of time before-”

Nancy continued to go on, but Aaron slowly lost track of her voice among the cacophony of echoes ringing in his head that were all saying virtually the exact same thing. The justifications that he would fail against Bree or never reach the same level as Owen and Alisatire and even Peyton, the claims that he could never be of any real help to anybody because he was too much of a mess to fix himself, the fears that despite his best efforts he was only going to be a burden on those who associated with him and drag down their chances of being successful and achieving their dreams and goals as a result. He drew in a sharp breath and shook his head, trying to empty his mind and focus on trying to get out of this conversation before this woman was able to get a hold of anything she didn’t need to be knowing about him.

“What is the point of you even bothering to try and push me like this? What are you even hoping to gain from me?”

“I’m afraid I’m the one asking the questions here, Mr. Blackbourne.”

Trying to turn the tables and get some answers himself had only hit a brick wall, which was becoming all too familiar territory for him, unfortunately. It had been the case with Bree every time they had crossed paths before and it had been the same song and dance with many both in the SCW locker room and out in the world that were locked into the belief that Aaron Blackbourne simply was not meant to make anything of himself, no matter how hard he tried.

“There are many in the world who know exactly what to say and do to get whatever they want, and those same people tend to refuse to listen to whatever logic would normally invalidate their ways. The best way to deal with them is to simply focus on what’s most important to you and ignore them.”

It was at that moment that Dr. Marsh-Asher’s words from their most recent conversation pierced through the maddening maelstrom within his mind, and his eyes widened as it finally completely dawned on him what he’d been missing up to this point. True, he could stand in front of a camera and speak his piece to Bree Lancaster when the time came to do so, but he was never going to get her to believe she was superior to him and everyone else just because she was so fixated on that belief and trying to force it down everyone else’s throats. This woman standing before him, like Bree, like so many others he’d come across in his life and would meet somewhere down the line as well, was only interested in what mattered most to her and getting it by any means necessary, and he’d almost allowed her to lead him astray and fall victim to her tactics just because she knew what buttons to push. As the haze in his mind began to clear and realization was beginning to assemble the puzzle of what he truly needed to do at long last, he began to make his way back to the hotel. Nancy continued to stay in front of him, calling to him to try and get his attention and making more claims and accusations in hopes he’d bite on any of them and give her something, anything. Finally, they were at the point where he could simply go back inside the lobby, but Nancy practically threw herself in front of the doors and tried to spread her body as wide as possible to prevent him from escaping her. At this, he confused her with a smile as he finally gave in and spoke again, though it was not what she was hoping to hear.

“Look, Nancy… I don’t know why you seem obsessed with harassing Liane and I or what you hope to gain from it, but you’re only going to make yourself a ton of enemies along the way. Maybe that’s not important to you so long as you get whatever you’re after, but no matter what you say or do, you aren’t going to stand in my way or change my mind, just as I know I clearly won’t be able to change yours.”

Nancy went to reply to this, but she’d just barely opened her mouth before the sound of someone clearing their throat caught both individuals’ attention. They turned to stare at a security guard who was leaning against the wall near the entrance and wasn’t looking too pleased with what he’d just heard. Aaron slowly and calmly pulled out the key card to his room to confirm he was a guest at the hotel, and the guard turned his focus to Nancy who was unable to provide the same thing and found herself being shooed away from the door unless she wanted this to escalate with someone she really didn’t want to be messing with. Aaron gave her one last look as he moved past her, his path now clear to return to his room and attempt to catch up on some much-needed sleep. It wasn’t a look of hatred or smugness that he’d managed to win this little impromptu chess game… only a look that made it clear he was keeping an eye open for her going forward if she wanted to keep pursuing whatever she was looking for out of both him and his beloved. Once Aaron was well out of sight and she’d been forced away from the premises, Nancy simply growled in anger before storming off, but not before muttering an ominous warning that only she could hear.

“I hope you sleep well Aaron… because like it or not, I’m going to expose the truth. People will know the real you, and I’ll get to reap the benefits of being the one who exposed the insanity of the man who prides himself on his imagination.”
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Darkness…

Every time he found himself here, it was always the same. Nothing but an endless void that stretched on for eternity surrounding him in all directions, leaving him all alone. At least, until THEY started to emerge from the abyss to break him down and erode his confidence in himself and what he could do.

Not tonight… he thought. Tonight, I’m ready for it…

When sleep had finally claimed his tired body, there was a small hope that he would just have a normal dream tonight or anything that would at least allow him to actually get the rest he so desperately needed. He wasn’t surprised when the familiar arena of nothingness greeted him, though, but this time he knew what he had to do. It wouldn’t be long before he’d find himself face to face with something, and then the trial would begin anew. Time ticked away, however, and Aaron couldn’t help but look around in confusion. While he had no way of truly knowing how much time was passing by, he knew that by this point he’d normally be surrounded and desperately trying to find a solution to get free and put an end to this nightly struggle. Over the past several weeks, his nightmares and the fears they’d latched onto could never wait to start this game, but tonight they were nowhere to be found. And yet, he was still here…

It was at this moment that something caught his attention. Something new, something he hadn’t encountered yet in all the times he’d gone through this scenario up to this point. Looking straight above where he stood, instead of more of the darkness he’d slowly grown accustomed to, he found a bright light piercing through the veil, well out of reach unfortunately but it almost felt like it was calling to him, offering him a way out of this Hell and a chance to finally be somewhere else he felt he deserved to be. And yet, there seemed to be no way to reach it, and the creative soul began to wonder if it was just a new trick meant to make him lower his guard so the abominations could emerge and begin to tear him apart.

When he looked away from the light and realized that rocky walls circling all around him had emerged from the shadows and given him a change of scenery, it finally began to click.

Even if this was a new scenario to this nightmare, Aaron felt as though he was being asked to do something he’d done so many times in the past, and immediately set to work as he sprinted towards the wall in front of him and began to climb. He never looked up at the light that he now had a path towards, nor did he look down towards the bottom he was finally pulling away from, only towards wherever he needed to grab next in order to get to where he wanted to go. Under normal circumstances, one wrong move would spell certain doom as he had no way to protect himself if he fell, but he shrugged that off and kept climbing. So long as he stayed focused on what was right in front of him, he’d be fine. Just grab one stone at a time and go from there…

“Come on Aaron! That’s it! Climb the same path as everyone else! Prove that all you know how to do is follow in the footsteps of your superiors and claim it’s something unique to you!”

As Aaron had reached what looked like a little cliff where he could potentially take a small break, he found the space occupied by one of the entities who’d been strangely absent from this picture before now. To some degree, he wasn’t surprised the first encounter was the silhouette wearing the Shilo mask, jumping all around as though it were some kind of cheerleader as it ‘cheered’ him on, pom-poms and all. It even pointed them towards the next stone, which was right above its head and suddenly glowing gold. In fact, a path of gold was slowly beginning to light up moving towards the light streaming in from above, and there was no surprise as to what the pompous pep rally was meant to accomplish. He’d heard Shilo’s attempt to dedicate his speech regarding the battle royal solely to him, and this was just an extension of his mockery to follow the exact same path he had taken once before to prove he was nothing more than a carbon copy of the clown that had been trying to haunt his head for months now.

Not this time… he mentally repeated to himself as he made it up onto the cliff. The silhouette was watching with glee as Aaron approached the glowing stones, but that glee quickly faded when he grabbed on and began to climb all the same. He worked his way up, knowing that he could take any number of paths to get to where he was going, but at the end of the day someone would always claim he was following in their footsteps and would attempt to pick away at the creativity he valued most by doing something ‘unoriginal.’ Shilo himself wasn’t the first person to reach the top of the mountain, nor would he be the last, and he certainly wasn’t going to be the only person in SCW or wrestling history to crow about being THE entertainer, but Shilo wasn’t anything he needed to be concerned with. He’d had several chances to make good on the games he was playing and put his own self-satisfaction before progress. No matter how he tried to spin this story, Aaron had no reason to listen. He knew what he needed to do, and if it bothered the jester that much then he could be the one to give chase this time.

“Why are you climbing that path? Didn’t you hear me!? You’re just going to copy me and keep pretending this is original? You’re supposed to be the creative soul! You’re supposed to do something crazy and different to stand out from the crowd! Get back here! This isn’t how this story is supposed to go!”

The masked silhouette’s cries fell on deaf ears, and soon they faded entirely. Aaron didn’t know if he disappeared or was simply out of earshot now, but his eyes remained focused on the task at hand even as the glow that illuminated his path faded away. The nightmare had its chance to follow after him, and if it wasn’t going to do so then it had no one to blame but itself for failing to deter him. The ascent continued and the light grew closer, but Aaron didn’t dare to look up. Once that end goal was within reach, then it would become his concern, but until then he still needed to work his way up there. The climb was grueling and his body was beginning to ache, but he continued to push forward, determined to see this through no matter what.

“Oh look, it’s the guy who thinks he belongs with today’s top stars! Trying to work his way up there again… isn’t that cute?”

Another cliff was in sight, and as soon as Aaron grabbed onto it he found his ears being assaulted by the sound of voices speaking in unison. He shook it off and went to start pulling himself up, only to feel a hand on his head pushing him down like someone trying to make their pet understand they shouldn’t be trying to climb up to someplace they didn’t need to be. Unsurprisingly, as he looked up he locked eyes with the Beauty Factory amalgamate that was gladly gloating about how they were the best and always would be as they tried to keep pushing him down, though they began to grow annoyed when Aaron continued to force himself upward despite their best efforts. They screeched and yelled and began kicking at him to try and send him back to the bottom ‘where he belonged’ but the creative soul grit his teeth and finally forced himself up onto the ledge, which only infuriated them even more.

“Feel happy we’re letting you sit here right now out of the kindness of our hearts, but this is as close as you’re going to get. You’ll never break that glass ceiling because all you know how to do is fail and come up with excuses like so many have done when they’ve been beaten by- hey! Get back here!”

Somewhere in their ranting and raving, the fused entity had taken their eye off of him while basking in their own self-worth and other things that were irrelevant to the man making this perilous climb. They got no response from him to rebuke, no forced attempt to remove them from this perch, but their own distraction was more than enough for him to duck past them and continue his fight towards the very top. They had tried to pull him back down and had managed to grab his ankle, but through sheer force of will, the determined soul had managed to pull himself free and get his body out of reach. He could hear them climbing after him, yelling all the while at how he wasn’t going to make it, and especially not while they had anything to say about it, but his attention never wavered from the next stone he needed to grab and so on. At some point, he’d returned to hearing only silence, and while it was music to his ears he continued on with his task, pushing his body onward no matter how much it was pleading for a break or just to stop altogether. He could feel he was getting closer… he didn’t know what was waiting for him, but he knew that was his final destination and that was all that mattered right now. His road to the top was getting easier to see as the light he was chasing began to illuminate what little was left of his journey, and that only pushed him to climb faster, knowing it would soon be over.

“I think someone’s getting a little TOO confident in themselves now. Isn’t that supposed to be a bad thing, Aaron?”

Before he even had a chance to register the twisted voice that had created more than its fair share of horror stories alone for him, he had to pull back his hand as the next rock he was reaching towards was grabbed first by a bloody hand. Aaron quickly dug his feet into the wall and clung tighter to the stone he still held, but his grip was nearly broken as he felt something slam into him from the side. He cringed from the impact and turned to meet his assailant, finding himself face-to-face with the horrifying visage of the man who had nearly destroyed him and his family all because he simply could.

“You really don’t get it, after all this time, huh? You may be able to ignore everything else, but you know you can never ignore the man you killed. SCW still allowed you to compete even after they knew full well you’d taken a life, and you tried to carry on as though you were still the saint who could do no wrong, cheered by a crowd of bloodthirsty bastards who don’t care about you, just how much you can hurt someone else and be hurt in return. You really think you should keep going, even in the face of all of that?”

Aaron grit his teeth, shifting his gaze away from the apparition of Dylan and back to the path before him. He managed to reach around the nightmare to another rock nearby and used that to work his way past, but Dylan kept pace, throwing any shot he could at the artist’s body to try and finally make him let go and plummet into the abyss below, but Aaron continued to force his way to the top, step by step, stone by stone. Growling like a feral animal, Dylan climbed up next to Aaron again and suddenly leaped onto his back, trying to use his weight to jerk the persistent dream chaser off the wall and to a shared demise, but despite the agonizing pain coursing through every muscle, he continued to climb. Even slowed down by the extra weight he was being forced to carry, he refused to yield even as Dylan yelled in his ear and made him feel the blood pouring from the wound on his throat as it trailed down his back, reminding him of the sins that he believed would forever weigh upon his shoulders.

Just as Aaron began to slow to a virtual crawl, Dylan’s physical and verbal assault finally beginning to take its toll, something began to reach his ears. Even though it still sounded a ways away, he allowed himself to focus on it to drown out Dylan’s vitriol. Slowly, he allowed himself to look back up at the light for the first time since he was still at the very bottom, and within it, he could see the source of the sound: Owen, Alistaire, Peyton, Kelcey, Liane and her siblings, his parents and brothers and many more… all of them were cheering him on, shouting his name and reaching out their hands to him, reminding him that he wasn’t doing this just for himself. His efforts were all born of the hope that people had in him, the faith that he could succeed even against the critics who believed he was never meant to make it. No matter how many times he fell, they would support him until he was back on his feet and trying again. They knew he wasn’t perfect and there was a chance he may not succeed, but they kept him going until he finally did. After all, how often did someone ever succeed on this climb the first time around?

“You really think they’re going to make a difference? Maybe you need a reminder of just how much your fate is set in stone, no matter how much you think you can keep fighting.”

Aaron didn’t know what Dylan was getting at now, but he didn’t care. Fueled by the support that was only a few more steps away, Aaron began his climb again, fighting through the pain caused by the burden on his back that was hellbent on trying to destroy his chances once again. Seeing that Aaron was gaining ground again, Dylan did something that caused Aaron to stop once again, this time not out of pain and fatigue, but out of shock. In an instant, the weight he’d been carrying was no more, and he allowed himself to glance down only briefly to find that Dylan had thrown himself from his back and was plunging into the shadows below. It was an unexpected move and there were clear warning signs that something was amiss, but Aaron shook his head and tried to push forward.

“He’s just trying to play games again… trying to play on my conscience all over again for something he did to himself. He’s trying to rattle me… I just have to ignore it and keep pushing- AH!”

Aaron’s attempt to talk himself into continuing, knowing full well the kind of games Dylan was capable of regardless of whether he was alive or simply haunting his dreams, but just when he could feel himself being fingertips away, his digits gently grazing the proverbial glass ceiling made literal as one last obstacle he would need to overcome to reach everyone waiting for him on the other side, he found himself suddenly falling a bit and desperately grabbed onto the first stone he could to stop his descent, but it didn’t take away from the weight that was suddenly pulling at his legs. Gritting his teeth, the creative soul tried to make up the distance he’d lost, trying to ignore whatever was attempting to pull him off the wall despite its best efforts to hinder his ascent.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

The ungodly scream boomed from below him, the force from the noise alone rippling through his body in a manner reminiscent of feeling the force of an explosion even when he stood a safe distance away. As whatever held his legs made another strong pull to try and put an end to his endeavors, Aaron was finally forced to see exactly what was attempting to stop him now as he did his best to reposition himself to avoid falling any further, and what greeted his eyes horrified him.

Slowly rising out of the void below was a terrifying mass of flesh and blood that would put any of the most disturbing and gut-churning horror monsters ever created to shame. Within the writhing mass, he could make out vague shapes that called to mind not only Dylan, but also everyone who had ever hindered him on this climb in the past, everyone who tried to force him to accept that this was as far as he’d ever go. As if to further illustrate this, the disgusting blob slowly began to take on an overall form that vaguely resembled the woman that stood between him and becoming World Champion, roaring out at a deafening pitch as it continued to use the sickening tendril it had wrapped around Aaron’s leg to dislodge him. The tendril began to split, writhing around both of his legs now as it began twisting them in ways legs were never meant to bend and twist, trying to almost break them if necessary and take away whatever hope Aaron had left of making it to the top. As he felt his hands slipping, he began to realize that no matter how much fight he had left, there were still some limitations that would hinder him no matter how hard he tried to push through it. With tears beginning to form, Aaron turned to give the crowd showering him with support the most apologetic look he could muster for giving it his best shot.

In that moment, as he stared at each and every person and saw exactly how much they were still throwing their support behind him, believing that he could find a way to ignore this and push through like he’d done every other obstacle that had been standing in his way, he found his gaze locking with that of Kelcey, the woman who had been willing to take him under her wing despite not knowing him but believing in the resolve he showed no matter what threatened to rattle him, and an epiphany began to form… one that could change the entire complexion of the battle that separated him from everyone who believed in him.

With a smile slowly gracing his lips… Aaron let go.

The eldritch horror let out a triumphant roar, confident in its victory as it opened a gaping maw for the creative soul to fall into, ending his attempts to reach the promised land once and for all. That roar, however, began to turn to one of surprise and even fear as it saw Aaron twist his body around, ignoring the pain surging through his damaged legs as he managed to force his body to angle away from the mouth that threatened to swallow him whole, his palm throat forward as the warrior seemed to be propelling himself TOWARDS the abomination. The creature tried to find some way to stop whatever he had planned, but by this point, the impact was all but certain. Before it even had a chance to fully register what Aaron had done, his palm was smashing the amorphous creature right between where its eyes would be if it were the human being it was mimicking the shape of. Aaron slowly seemed to sink into the horror at first as it appeared to absorb the impact, but just as quickly as he’d struck, he was suddenly being rebounded and hurtling up towards his finish line as the monster was swallowed by the darkness it had emerged from, one final unholy screech of pain being its final call.

The last thing Aaron remembered before waking up from this dream was his body crashing through the glass ceiling, watching as its shards floated down into the abyss where he’d once been trapped, the deafening roar of delight from all those who supported him as he could finally join them on the other side… while it may have been a dream, he knew the fight to get there was just as real, and so would the feeling of finally making the end of this dream a reality at long last.

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It’s not often that when Aaron Blackbourne addresses a task at hand that he will step in front of the camera to do so, but that is the rare sight we are greeted to this evening as we find the creative soul standing in what appears to be an art studio of some kind, dressed in blue jeans and one of the many shirts bearing one of his custom designs from over the years. Maybe it’s not a fancy appearance that screams “champion” the moment it hits your eyes, but Aaron will always take comfort and functionality over fashion any day of the week. Besides, we’re not here to be impressed by his choice of clothing right now. We’re here to listen to what he has to say about the opportunity sitting before him.

“February 16th, 2020 in Dallas, Texas… on that night, while many others were concerned with how well they would be able to get along with the teams that were formed to chase after a set of contracts that virtually gave you any one match of your choice within the next year, I was staring down a different challenge. In a rare moment where the Trios Tournament was given a break, I challenged for the SCW World Championship for the very first time. I’m not going to stand here and mince words… I gave James Evans everything I had. Every last bit of heart and soul I had to give, I threw it all at him, and on that night it simply wasn’t enough. But on that night, I earned the respect of a man who does not give such a thing out so easily, and while that night was not my time to ascend to the proverbial throne, I made a believer out of him and many others that perhaps my time wasn’t as far off as many wanted to believe.

July 21st, 2019… on that night, in front of the biggest crowd SCW can possibly draw and under the brightest of lights, I could make this exact same claim. Challenging Bree Lancaster for the United States Title, I walked into that match the victim of an attempt on my life just forty-eight hours prior, knowing full well I wasn’t at a hundred percent and that Bree would not hesitate to take full advantage. And yet, even in the face of all of that, I still pushed myself far beyond what my body was reasonably capable of and almost took that title away from her. In the aftermath of that clash, I saw a sight that I never thought I would see… as much as I know she’ll deny it so long as she has breathe in her lungs to devote to protesting it, I saw the high and mighty ruler of Breemerica step down from her perch briefly to recognize that I gave her a fight I should not have been able to and left a very important question hanging in the air that she couldn’t answer then, despite what she claims today:

What would have happened had I not been attacked by a man who only cared about his own plans and nothing else?

I could keep going, listing off every time I’ve found my fingers grazing the coveted brass ring only to fall short at the very end, but I think it’s clear that I’m not this ‘perfect wrestler’ that’s going to succeed on my first try every single time I step up to bat. I never once claimed that I was anywhere remotely close to that idea. But any time I have fallen short, did I complain about it? Did I cry foul and expect something to be fixed? Did I believe I was being forced to compete at a level lower than where I thought I belonged and complain every single night until I got my way? No… every single time, I just started the climb again, busting my ass to get back to that point, learning and improving along the way. I could bring up a few key points, facts that paint a very clear picture of the challenges I have to fight through that are more than just whoever is standing in front of me, but I’m not going to… after all, there are many out there who would see these facts as ‘excuses’ because it doesn’t fit their narrative, just as the idea of Aaron Blackbourne finally succeeding at long last goes against everything that those who believe themselves to be untouchable want to force you to accept because it allows them to justify any web they wish to weave.

It’s funny how those who claim I have a ceiling I will always hit will conveniently forget that they often come from those same beginnings.”


At this, Aaron walks over to something hidden beneath a giant tarp, the camera following his movements as he removes the cover to reveal what’s hidden underneath: several paintings, all faithful recreations of still frames from the history of SCW that all have one thing in common: the sight of Bree Lancaster failing, despite her best efforts to capture championship gold. Of particular note are a few paintings in front of all the others, portraying moments that longtime followers of SCW will remember as matches where Bree had her own chance to become World Champion but fell short right at the finish line. The camera pans in and lingers on these shots for a moment as Aaron continues.

“For as much as Bree likes to throw around the concept of the glass ceiling, she’s lost herself to her own version of history to the point where she doesn’t even realize that her current reign as World Champion is the first time where she herself finally broke through that barrier. She’s had so many more chances than I have up to this point, and even with any other title she’s challenged for she can’t always make the claim that she succeeded on her very first attempt. I’m sure you’ve heard those same exact words you spoke to me leave someone else’s mouth in reference to you once upon a time Bree, but to admit to it now would unravel this carefully laid story you’ve written out about how you are the all-conquering double champion ruling over the land of Supreme who will never be dethroned because you are the best, bar none.

Those who indulge themselves too much in the feeling of absolute glory will often forget that they are as human as anybody else, up until it’s too late.

Of course, the claim could easily be made that none of this matters because I’m not any of the opponents she couldn’t overcome to reach the top of the mountain, and she could console herself with the idea that she has beaten me in every single one of our past encounters. That, I will concede to her. The problem, though, is that when you become too complacent entertaining the idea that some things will always stay the same, you tend to expose that one crack in the armor that will ultimately turn your entire world on its head as a concept you perceived to be impossible becomes a reality. If we’re being honest with ourselves Bree… aside from the heart and fight I’ve displayed every single time in the past, when’s the last time I’ve ever approached you the same way as I did previously? And when’s the last time I didn’t have to force you to adapt in order to find a way to keep me down?”


The camera pans back as Aaron slowly walks over to an easel with another canvas set up on it, though this canvas is facing away from us so we cannot tell what, if anything, rests upon it yet. Aaron takes a seat in front of it and grabs a brush, taking a moment to slowly wave his arm around as proof that despite Bree’s best wishes, Aaron will be entering their match in perfect physical condition this time, before he starts to get to work. As he does so, he motions with his head to another painting that’s already framed right behind him, displaying a rather abstract image with Bree at the center surrounded by a ring of speech bubbles, each one filled with the face of someone else that will only find themselves mentioned with this one visual and no further, as much as I’m sure some of them are disappointed just praying to hear their names leave the lips of the determined artist.

“Up to this point, one of the most prevalent questions that has been thrown around is whether or not I’m actually focused on this match. After all, I’m sure I could produce a laundry list of excuses all linking back to anyone else on the SCW roster as being on my mind when that bell rings. And yet… I’m sitting here right now, addressing one person and one person only, and that’s you Bree. I walked into Breakdown and competed against a man who, despite your claims otherwise, you ultimately could not truly put away… and I overcame that challenge. Could I have managed to succeed where you had to settle for a draw at best if my undivided attention wasn’t on the one thing standing right in front of me as opposed to anything else? And yet, you have no problem throwing around any number of names to try and prove a point, knowing full well that one of those names could be waiting for us at Rise to Greatness, just as hungry for World Championship gold as I am going into taking Hold of the Flame.

I guess the question needs to be asked: who’s the one that needs to worry about being focused on this match?

Truth be told, it would not surprise me if you really are looking past me Bree. It goes back to your belief that you are, and always will be, better than me, so why worry about what you believe is a foregone conclusion when the biggest show of the year is just over the hill, waiting for you to cement your place in the main event against whoever you believe will be good enough to win the battle royal only to bow before you on the grandest stage of them all? Of course, she could easily turn right around and respond to this with a statement claiming that she is focused only on me despite what she’s said leading up to this match, and that leads me to the one thing I’ve taken away more than anything else from reflecting on our previous encounters, the one thing that makes this match different from all the rest.

In the mind of Bree Lancaster, she is always right no matter what anyone else says or brings up as proof that she is wrong. Bree’s beliefs are one hundred percent infallible at all times.

I’ve come to realize that no matter what I say to you Bree, you will always believe I am in the wrong, that I’m either lying to try and make YOU fit into MY narrative and not the other way around ‘like it’s supposed to be’ or concocting excuses in some attempt to ‘save face’ when your perception of the inevitable happens. Whenever I’ve spoken to you before, I always made it a point to address you in a way that was designed primarily to try and force you to change your tune, to make you accept that even you can be wrong sometimes. But come Sunday night, when I walk into the Prudential Center to challenge for SCW’s crown jewel once more, I know that everything I’ve said to you here today will have fallen on deaf ears. To you, the only outcome that can possibly happen is you walking into Rise to Greatness as a double champion, and nothing I say or do will alter that in any way. I said everything I needed to say anyway, not because I’m awaiting your response to see how my words can be twisted as proof that you are as high and mighty as you like to believe, but because I needed to remind MYSELF that no matter how persistent you are in shoving your vision down my throat, there was a point in time where we actually weren’t that different from one another. And if Bree Lancaster can shatter that glass ceiling at long last with nothing but the hopes and dreams of herself and those she calls her friends…

Why can’t Aaron Blackbourne do the same?”


With that, Aaron puts down his brush and slowly turns the easel around, revealing the linework for a painting that depicts him soaring through a literal glass ceiling, holding the World Title high above his head as the sky slowly becomes the new limit for the man who has always pushed himself farther and farther, knowing that eventually, this won’t just be an image drawn onto a canvas, but a tangible reality that was brought to life through the support of those who believed in him and every last quality that makes this man who he is today. This is the image Aaron leaves us on, allowing our gaze to linger on it a little longer to take in what could be after Sunday night in Newark as he moves on, knowing there’s still work to do to ascend to that higher plane he knows he’s destined to reach, no matter how many times those like Bree will claim otherwise.
[Image: yC0vuyj.png]


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RE: Aaron Blackbourne vs. Bree Lancaster - by Ruppy - 05-30-2020, 11:47 PM

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