Glory Braddock vs. Tsunami

[Braddock]

2 of 2
Amelia appears with permission from Doug

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April 26th, 2022
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
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One month earlier if you had told Glory Braddock that she would be showing her young and energetic prodigy, who also happens to worship the ground Glory walks on, Amelia Stone around her own private gym in Miami, well, The British Bombshell probably would have laughed in your face at the absurdity of such a notion.  After all, it wasn’t that long ago, just little over a month ago at Retribution, when Glory Braddock seemed intent upon injuring the poor girl in order to teach her a lesson about respect for the wrestling business.  The notion of Glory Braddock mentoring Amelia Stone was one of fantasy, not of reality.

Yet now The British Bombshell cannot help but smirk as she ponders the irony of the situation she finds herself in today.  The lovely blonde is driving her cherry red 2020 Ford Fusion down the streets of Miami with young Amelia in the passenger’s seat.  They were enemies at SCW Retribution but now after proving herself, and finally winning over Glory’s heart, The British Bombshell has agreed to take Amelia under her wing and is mentoring her.  What was once thought of as fantasy has now become reality. Another irony of it all is that these two once again could become enemies.  Both Glory and her new student are participants in the tournament at SCW Holly-Wood of the South to crown a new United States Champion. There is a very real possibility that Glory and Amelia could face each other in the tournament finals for the gold.

Catching a quick glance over at the passenger’s seat at Amelia causes Glory to chuckle softly at this prospect.  Last month they were fighting because they were angry and bitter, this month they could fight out of respect and for championship gold.

“Keep your eyes on the road, Glory.” Amelia says wryly. “You don’t want to get us killed do you?”  Braddock snickers as she directs her attention back to the road.

“Thanks for the advice, love, but you don’t have to worry, killing you is not in the playbook.”

“It was at Retribution.”

“This is true, but things have changed.”

“So you promise not to kill me if we meet in the tournament finals next week?”

“I promise I will not kill you.” Glory states with a wink. “Crippling you on the other hand…”

“Hey!”

“Easy, mate.  I won’t cripple my newest student, either.”

“Good.”

“Hopefully I can teach you how NOT to get crippled in any match against any opponent, myself or otherwise. You got Polly Playtime first, yeah?”

“Uh-huh,” Amelia says, nodding her head.

“Good.  I’ll show you a thing or two that might help.”

“So we really are going to your private gym?” Amelia asks, her voice going up an octave out of excitement.  Braddock nods her head in confirmation.

“Uh-huh, hopefully Fiona will be there, along with a special friend of mine.”

Amelia Stone may be the newest student of Glory Braddock but she isn’t the only one The British Bombshell has taken under her wing in recent weeks.  There is also Fiona Osbourne, a woman who is very much different from Amelia.  Whereas Amelia was very energetic and at the beginning borderline annoying towards Glory Braddock, Fiona was much more quiet, almost demure, and always very respectful towards The British Bombshell. Fiona was so quiet that it took a long time to get any information about the girl and she didn’t get anything out of Fiona herself.  Glory had to find out about Fiona through Kayla Jones, Glory’s cousin and Fiona’s former employer in the modeling business.  Fiona was a model but a reluctant one at best, who was in all honesty forced to be a model by her abusive legal guardian Todd Osbourne.  When Kayla learned that Fiona’s true dream was to be a wrestler and follow in the footsteps of her hero, Glory Braddock, Kayla felt that destiny, perhaps fate itself, was calling.

Glory was reluctant at first to take on even one student to personally mentor, let alone two.  Braddock recalls how she never truly had a traditional childhood growing up due to the fact that she was being groomed from almost the very beginning to follow in her legendary father’s footsteps.  Braddock did not wish to force herself and her vision upon anyone else the way she felt her father forced his vision upon Glory.  It took a great deal of convincing but Glory finally realized that what made this different is that Fiona and Amelia both want to learn, they want to embrace Glory’s vision.  And the surprising thing about this is that Glory Braddock is learning as much from them as they are learning from her.

“And there it is…” Glory remarks as she slows the car down and then makes a slight right turn into a parking lot.  The parking lot looks to be newly paved, or at the very least well kept.  The parking lot belongs to what appears to be a very nice building.  It looks modern and exquisite on the outside.  Amelia looks wide eyed at the sight before her and can only imagine what it looks like on the inside.

“Is this your private gym?”

“Yep.”

“Wow, that is NOT what I expected.”

“Really?” Glory slowly pulls the car to a stop in a nearby parking space.  She turns the car off and then rolls down a window.  Glory turns to face Amelia who shakes her head. “What did you expect it to look like?”

“Well, I just remember the school in London was…kinda…uh…”

“A dump?”

“I didn’t want to call it THAT but…yeah…”

“It’s ok to call it that, love.” Glory says with a snicker. “Because let’s be honest, it is a dump. Hell, were it not for the Braddock name being so bloody popular in my homeland, the local government probably would have condemned the place years ago.”

“If you think it's so trashy, why don’t you clean it up?”

“Nostalgia, I suppose.  My dad liked it that way.  He never gave a damn for aesthetics.  Aesthetics and appearances were not as important as simply getting the victory.  That was part of his philosophy and outlook on life.  That’s part of why I ended up becoming such a tomboy for so very long. He didn’t think it was important to teach me how a ‘lady’ should act, dress, and the like.”

“That’s what moms are for though, right?”

“True, but my mom and dad divorced when I was sixteen.  He got custody of me and my sister and she never came around.  I was raised by my dad from then on, under his sole influence.”

Suddenly Amelia is startled when Glory’s friend, Matthew Taylor pokes his head in through the window. “And Glory here would have become a great big stick in the mud just like her old man had it not been for me!”

“Matty!” Glory exclaims happily upon seeing her friend.  Glory opens the door and then steps out before embracing Matthew in a tight hug.  Amelia then exits the vehicle as well, approaching Glory and Matthew cautiously.  Braddock motions to Matt. “Amelia, this is my friend Matt.  You may remember him.  I’m sure he’s dropped in from time to time at the school.”

“Only when Sophie isn’t there.”

“Of course!” Matthew says with a knowing grin. “Sophie O’Brian is another great big stick in the mud. She can’t take a joke.”

“Nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you too, Amelia.” Matthew holds out his hand. Amelia accepts the handshake but quickly jerks it back, not quite in pain but definitely and clearly startled.  Matthew is busting a gut in laughter.  Glory is holding back her laughter whilst shaking her head.  Matthew then holds up his hand, displaying a prank hand buzzer in the palm of his hand.

“Gotcha!”

“That’s cheap, Matty.  You can do better than that.”

“It may be cheap but she still fell for it.” He smirks as he puts the buzzer away in his pants pocket.  He extends his hand back to Amelia. “For real this time, kiddo.”

Amelia extends her hand out towards Matthew.  He leans forward to grasp it but she quickly pulls away, this causes him to lose his footing and to fall forward onto the ground.  Glory is now bursting into laughter, as is Amelia.  Matthew pushes himself up and dusts himself off.  He is grinning as well as he looks over at Glory.

“You taught her that, didn’t you?”

“Guilty as charged.” Braddock admits.

“Then I guess that means a receipt is coming.”

“Perhaps, but that’s if you can get me.  Remember, you taught me everything I know.”

“Yes, I taught you everything you know, but I didn’t teach you everything that I know.”

Matthew and Glory share a hearty laugh after their banter.  Amelia looks on with a little bewilderment and confusion.  Glory notices and then turns to look over at Amelia, hoping to clear things up a little.

“Amelia, Matty here was my good friend throughout childhood.  He taught me everything I know about playing pranks on people, mocking them, and even a few of the dirty tricks in the ring.” Braddock pats Matthew on the back.

“That I did.  So I guess that makes Amelia here a third generation prankster, am I right?”

“I think it does.” Glory says, nodding her head. “Now come on, let’s get inside.  I think Fiona is probably waiting on us, right Matty?”

“Yeah, she got here before me.” Matthew extends a hand to Glory. “But can I say that I am really glad to see you acting like your old self again?”

“What can I say?  I just needed to be reminded how to have fun and to enjoy myself.  That’s what my therapist said the other day.” Braddock looks at his hand, notices the buzzer, and shakes her head. “I’m not falling for that trick RIGHT after you pulled that one on Amelia.”

“Sorry!  I had to try!”

“I didn’t know you went to see a therapist.” Amelia states, sounding a little concerned.  “You ok?”

“Don’t worry about me, love.” She pats Amelia on the back. “I’m better than ever, trust me.”

Amelia nods her head, accepting the explanation.  The trio then turn and head towards the entrance of the private gym.  What Matthew and Amelia do not notice are the “Kick Me” signs that Glory conveniently placed on their backs when she patted them on their backs. Braddock stifles her laughter about yet another perfectly placed gag, an old one but a good one, as they push open the front door, not at all surprised to find it already unlocked.  This is Glory’s private gym that she uses specifically for purposes of training other students and for her own personal training.  Therefore she already has a standard size wrestling ring set up in the center of the large room.  In the center of the ring stands Fiona, who has been waiting on them to arrive.

“Hi guys!” Fiona waves cheerfully before stepping through the ropes and onto the ring apron.  She hops down off of the apron and rushes over to meet the trio.  She gives Glory a big warm embrace.  After breaking the embrace Fiona goes to embrace Amelia.  Matthew notices that Fiona now has a “Kick Me” sign on her back.  Matthew pulls the sign off.

“Wait a sec…” he goes over and finds a sign on Amelia’s back.  Then he frowns as he pulls the sign off of his back.  Glory bursts into laughter.

“I got all three of you!”

“And you call me cheap for the buzzer gag?  At least that is more fun.  Kick me signs are just secondary school crap, mate.”

“You fell for it, Matty.” Glory says with a wink.

“Fair enough, Gloria.”

“Wow, this is a really nice place…” Amelia says, her voice trailing off as she wanders around the gym, taking it in, looking at the equipment and especially taking note of the ring.  Glory nods her head.

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you said so because tonight we are going to make use of this grand place.”

“The equipment here…and the ring…” Amelia turns and looks back at Glory “...it is so much better than the stuff at your school in London.”

“Don’t let the other students hear you say that, Amelia.  Same goes for you, Fiona.  You two are getting special treatment.”

“Yeah, the other kiddos at the school would love to spend time being specially trained by her royal majesty!” Matthew playfully bows to Glory.  Glory rolls her eyes.

“Knock it off, Matty. We’ve had our fun…” Braddock smirks “...or at least I have had my fun, anyway.  Now it is time for business.”

“Watch out girls, the stick it in the mud is back.”

“Shove it, Matty.” Glory snaps. “There is a time for fun and games and a time for business.  You were right, Matty, we can’t be all business and no pleasure.  Part of this sport is about enjoying ourselves and entertaining the fans in the process.  But my dad was also right when he said that at the end of the day this is all about winning.” Glory points at Matthew. “Do you know why you never won a single championship in your professional career?”

“No, and I don’t care either because I was too busy having fun.”

“I can count at least two occasions where you could have become a world champion but you failed because instead of going for a win you went for a high risk move to get a cheap thrill for yourself and a cheap pop out of the fans.”

“But I still had a blast!”

“Maybe you did but you could have been so much more, Matty!  In my early years I enjoyed myself, I had fun, but I still maintained enough control over myself to remain focused on the task at hand, that’s why I actually won championships in my early years.” Braddock turns to face Fiona. “You, you’re still learning.”

“Right…”

“So we’re going to spar.  Get in the ring.” Fiona nods her head and complies, heading towards the ring. Glory turns to Amelia. “You, you are part of a tournament to crown a new United States Champion.  The same tournament I happen to be in.  So you could use some good preparation time and why the hell not scout each other at the same time?  Get in the ring, we’re sparring too.”

“Huh?”

“Just get in the ring, love.” Glory commands. Amelia nods and walks over to join Fiona inside the ring.  Matthew then walks over, dragging his foot as if he has a hump on his back.

“What about me master?  What is thy bidding, master?”

“Put a sock in it, Matty.”

“Put a sock where, exactly?”

“You know what I mean.” Glory points towards the ring. “You get in the ring, as well.  Seeing as you are the biggest and tallest of all of us, you will play the role of Tsunami.”

“The big angry guy who doesn’t talk?”

“Right, him.”

“So what are we doing?” Fiona asks curiously.

“This is a tournament, right?  So I’m going to spar with the whole lot of you.” Braddock points to Matthew. “Now get in the ring, Tsunami.  You’re up first.”

“RAWWWWWWR!” Matthew begins beating on his chest like King Kong and charges towards the ring.  Glory watches what is going on inside the ring; namely, Matthew Taylor in his worst ever King Kong impersonation, is chasing Fiona and Amelia around the ring.  Eventually Amelia sticks out her leg and trips him.  He falls flat on his face and then Fiona and Amelia begin to double team him.  Braddock smiles an ear to ear grin, one that would have to be surgically removed.

“Ah, it feels good to be back.” Glory begins to walk towards the ring. Everything is as it should be.  Now is the time to prepare.  She has a championship to win.

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April 30th, 2022
Atlanta, Georgia
On Camera
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The cameras roll and we are outside on the balcony of a hotel room.  This balcony provides a nice view of Atlanta, Georgia, the city that plays host to SCW’s Holly-Wood of the South.  Then the clear sliding door that leads into the hotel room opens up.  “The British Bombshell” Glory Braddock emerges onto the balcony dressed in a pair of purple shorts, a white t-shirt, and tennis shoes.  Her long blonde hair is pulled into a ponytail in the back and she is sporting a pair of fancy sunglasses over her eyes.  Braddock goes over to one of the two seats on the balcony and sits down.  After making herself comfortable, Glory looks into the camera and begins to speak.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the time has arrived.” Braddock shrugs her shoulders. “Well, almost time.  Twenty four hours to be exact.  In twenty four hours I will be exiting this rather nice hotel suite I have reserved for myself and will make my way to the State Farm Arena where I will attempt a repeat performance of my professional wrestling debut, a repeat performance of my first two Trios appearances; or to put it another way, a reminder of just how good I can be when I am focused and properly motivated.”

“In twenty four hours the SCW United States Championship, forcibly vacated by Spencer Pryce when his SCW contract was terminated, will once again have home.” Braddock makes the championship belt motion around her waist. “Around the lovely waist of this British citizen!”

Braddock chuckles softly. “Don’t worry, folks, I’m not going to pull some bloody stunt like rename the title the British Championship or some nonsense like that.  It’s a cheap gimmick beaten to death intended to get a reaction out of people, to get people riled up.  That’s not what I’m here to do.” Braddock shakes her head. “I am here to march through the competition, starting with that seven foot Sasquatch reject and then finishing with two more unlucky victims to claim the vacant SCW United States Championship.”

“Tsunami, mate, you have no chance.  You are big, you are bad, and you have power, but that’s all you have.  I am smarter than you, I am a better wrestler than you, and I am a better technician than you.  It will be no problem for me to chop you down to size and beat you.  Hell, I don’t think it would be too arrogant of me to predict a submission victory.” Glory pauses for a moment to consider her statement.  She nods her head. “As a matter of fact, let’s run with it!  Why the hell not?  I’m living more on the edge these days so I’ll go ahead and say it; I will make Tsunami tap out at Holly-Wood of the South.”

“Next on the plate will be either Gavin Taylor or Alexis Quinne.  In all honesty, I don’t care which one I face, but it would be nice to face Gavin. The All Star Tart managed to get beat in that tag match on Breakdown.  What happened to you holding up your end of the bargain, mate?  Then you and Nicole lose the tag titles to a couple of glorified celebrity cartoon rejects.  Hell, the rate you’re going I am beginning to think that your victory over my Trios Team was nothing but a damn fluke.  Is that what you are, Gavin?  Are you an All Star or are you just the All Star Fluke?” Braddock shakes her head. “Face facts, Gavin.  If you didn’t have Xander and Ducky to carry you through Trios, you wouldn’t have won.  And if you do manage to fluke your way past Alexis, then you know damn well you have me waiting for you.  And my record against you is sparkling, my friend.  I beat you before one on one and I will do so again if I have to.”

“The chances of you fluking your way past Alexis is unlikely, so allow me to go ahead and address Dr. Quinne Medicine Woman for a moment.  Alexis, I admit I was properly impressed with what you brought to the table on Breakdown.  But I noticed you seemed a mite too obsessed about that whole Best in the World shtick.” Braddock shakes her head. “What’s wrong, Lexi?  Are you trying to prove something to yourself or someone else?  Are you trying to compensate?  See, I no longer run around making that silly ass claim of being the best in the world.  I realized that I do not need to prove anything to anyone.  I already know who and what I am and I know how good I am. If my opponents refuse to recognize how good I am and refuse to respect the challenge that they are in for, then the ass kicking that they receive is their own damn fault, not mine.  You have the potential to run the table, Alexis.  I see that fire in you, I see the desire and motivation to compete against the very best and prove yourself day in and day out inside the squared circle.  It’s that same fire and motivation that I had when I made my debut, it is that same fire and motivation that continued to drive me throughout my entire career.  That same fire and motivation will drive me and help me to see my way through this tournament, it will help me to overcome any and all obstacles, including you.”

“If I can survive the B-Rate Monster Movie Reject and Dr. Quinne Medicine Woman then I advance to the finals, my third match of the night, and my opponent could be anyone.  On the one hand you have Owen Lee, a kid who quickly went to the top, just as quickly as I did as a matter of fact, and just like me found himself with a bit of an identity crisis.  Josh Hudson is a very decorated superstar who just wants to beat the ever living crap out of Owen, he just wants to pummel some respect into the kid, and if he gets a title out of it then that’s just icing on the cake right?” Braddock shakes her head. “The way Hudson has acted lately, I’m not sure he even cares about the United States Title or its history, its dignity, and its respectability.  Owen does care and I would be honored to face him in the finals.  But if I have to put down two monsters in one night then I will put down the monster that is Josh Hudson.”

“Polly Playtime…mate, I actually respect you.  You want this challenge.  You want to fight the very best.  You took my erratic and eccentric cousin Kimberly to her limits, you took Syren to her limits, and you have proven to everyone that you definitely have potential.” Braddock smirks knowingly. “But you cannot make a living based on potential.  Eventually you have to win the big one.  In the first round you are facing Amelia Stone, a young woman who I am personally mentoring.  Unlike you, she already has won some big matches against some top names in this company, including a certain former Adrenaline Champion, World Champion, and back to back Trios Tournament winner.” Glory chuckles softly.

“Sorry about that, I promised I wouldn’t stroke my own ego.  But anyway, I’m going to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t think you will see the finals.  I don’t think you will even see the semi-finals.  In my fantasy world it would be me and my student having our rematch from Retribution, only this time it would be for the vacant SCW United States Championship.  But to be fair you have taken some top names to the limit, so maybe you can get past Amelia?  If you do, you run right into Owen or Hudson, two former World Champions.  Then you get asked yet again, can you win the big one or will this just be another case of ‘oh, well at least she pushed them to their limits!’” Braddock shakes her head. “You have potential, kid, but as of right now that’s all you have and you can’t win this tournament on potential alone.”

“Last but certainly not least, Amelia…” Glory removes her sunglasses and places them down on the chair next to her “...like I said, I would love to see you in the finals.  We had a great match at Retribution.  We showed the world a first class example of true wrestling and then you pulled a trick out of my old dirty tricks playbook and managed to sneak your way to a win.” Glory claps her hands, applauding Amelia’s efforts. “You impressed me, mate.  You impressed me enough that I decided to take you under my wing and teach you more. But what you did had the side effect of bringing out a more dangerous side of yours truly, a more unpredictable side of The British Bombshell.  And I would love nothing more than to have our rematch at Holly-Wood of the South, because now I know what you’re capable of and I won’t be fooled by you again.  Unfortunately you have the same tall mountain to climb that Polly does.  If you get past Polly, you have to face a former world champion.  It could be Owen or it could be a very dangerous Josh Hudson.  But either way, you have a very tough task ahead of you if you want to make it to the finals against me.”

Glory grins from ear to ear. “That’s why I love a good tournament.  It separates the mediocre from the good and the good from the great.  You can be mediocre and convince a guy like Shaun Cruze that you deserve a chance to prove yourself in this one night tournament.  But you have to be good to advance to the semi-finals, then you have to be great to wrestle and win for a second time in the same night to advance to the finals, and last but not least you have to be elite in order to wrestle and win for a third time in a row to become the new SCW United States Champion.”

“I will beat Tsunami in the first round, I will send that overgrown daddy’s boy back home to Howe’s basement.  Then I will muscle my way past Quinne or Gavin to make it to the finals.  All I want to know is who will be waiting on me?  Who will prove themselves to be great?  I want to know who I will beat to prove that I am among the elite talent here in Supreme Championship Wrestling.”

Glory picks her sunglasses back up and places them back on her eyes.  She rises up out of her chair, opens up the clear sliding door and returns to her hotel room, leaving the balcony empty.  The camera fades to black.