12-19-2018, 12:44 AM
OOC: This may not be as elaborate or "creatively out there" as some of my latest efforts with Blackbourne, but I wanted to approach this one a little differently. After all, if I keep jumping between what's going on in his head and what's happening in the real world, it's going to lose its luster eventually. Plus, there's other ways to delve into Aaron's mind to understand what makes him tick, like showing how much his imagination influences his philosophies on life when someone, like a girl he loves very much, needs help moving in the right direction to ensure no distractions heading into the end of all of this. It's been one hell of a roller coaster being in this story with the Red Empire, but I think we're all coming out of this with something regardless of who takes this match. Best of luck guys!
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Sometimes in today’s world, trying to be a nice guy only resulted in you getting spat on and shoved aside, something that felt out of place in a world becoming more and more sensitive to everything that people have now fallen back on raising an uproar over old Christmas classics for the most ridiculous of reasons.
Paradoxes like this simply gave Aaron a migraine, one of many sitting on his mental plate right now.
Over the course of the past few months, Aaron felt like he’d been on a rollercoaster ride that he truly wanted to get off of several times over. There were certainly some enjoyable parts, like a second run as SCW’s Television Champion as well as winning his Rise to Greatness debut, pre-show or otherwise, and the recent hot streak he’d been enjoying that saw him knock off several main event names like Alistaire Allocco and Giovanni Aries. For every exciting hill and loop in this coaster, though, there were also plenty of agonizing climbs to endure. Outside the ring he’d found himself seemingly caught in the crossfire of a war going on inside his own imagination between the few creations that came into their own, which had continued to haunt his slumber and actually led to the artist doing his best to avoid getting lost in daydreams, at least until he could sort out exactly how he was going to reclaim control of something he didn’t think he even could lose control of to begin with.
Inside SCW’s borders… there was a crimson-colored cancer that just refused to leave him alone.
The entire final quarter of SCW’s 2018 schedule had seen this woman endlessly trying to insert herself into his life, and while Aaron couldn’t understand exactly why him of all people (considering he never thought he was too good-looking, always being his own worst critic about everything) he knew exactly what she was hoping to gain out of it, and he wasn’t interested. That might sound strange to many people considering one look at Scarlet and most men would likely pass out if she asked to ‘spend some time’ with them, but one benefit to being both as creative and detail-oriented as he was? Aaron could always see beyond the image to the story behind it, and Scarlet clearly told a story he unfortunately had some experience with to know what it would do to him. All it ever took was one look at the living hell that had become the ‘relationship,’ if he could even call it that, his brother Andrew had gotten involved in to know that anybody that’s not entirely all there and still manages to manipulate the world around them to suit their needs was as toxic as you could get, and Aaron was not going to allow himself to be pulled beneath the surface of that suffocating abyss ever again, not without a fight. That itself was a primary reason why he refused to agree with the decision-making of Katya D. after she had no problem with both giving Scarlet exactly what she wanted and letting her off the hook for crossing the line several times over, why he was glad Sasha had been willing to correct this issue and create a situation to overcome this darkness and leave it behind once and for all…
Why he was so grateful to have Liane in his life.
Liane could easily say the same thing about him. While she wasn’t expecting to end up joining him on this wild ride of dealing with Scarlet’s antics and her partner Ruby plotting new ways to help push it along for their collective benefit, she would never leave him alone to deal with this by himself. One could always cite the commitment of someone to the person they love, but even if that was the case Liane knew Aaron was far too good a person to be used and abused by a nutjob beyond obsessed with her own sex appeal and lust before being left a tainted shell of his former self. Even others in SCW like Allocco and the commentators had publicly acknowledged this, so it wasn’t like this was all going unnoticed. It was just unfortunate that nobody was lending a hand because they were either too self-absorbed to care or were tied up in their own issues that required all their focus. She had warned Scarlet before that a Forte will always fight tooth and nail for something they care about, and at long last it was finally time for the red-haired witch to pay the proverbial piper.
Barring any plans for the impending End of the Year Special, the creative couple was going to close out the year by finally finding their freedom from the libido-driven tyranny of the Red Empire.
To those simply watching, this was why it made perfect sense that Aaron and Liane were visiting one of the gyms in the Cleveland area even on the day of the year’s final Breakdown. After all, Liane was a comedian by trade, not a trained wrestler, and without all the preparation she could get many would see the impending final battle as a proverbial handicap match that might be too steep a hill for the creative soul to climb. As usual when it came to these two, though, things were never exactly what they appeared to be. Careful examination of Liane’s workout by experts would clearly show there was far more strength and technique in everything she did than you’d find in someone basically training for their very first match on only a week’s notice. She wasn’t quite there yet, but if you studied hard enough you’d know she wasn’t simply going to be a liability to her boyfriend like two self-proclaimed ‘intellectual goddesses’ would likely believe.
No matter how crazy a possibility sounds, never let it be said that creativity can’t prepare you for even the most unexpected scenarios.
Aaron couldn’t help but grin at that thought as the two were in the final stages of this workout, with him agreeing to hold the heavy bag so Liane could go to town on it with more professional technique than the wild haymakers she’d gotten to throw against that vain succubus on a few occasions. The reality of the situation is that, as nonsensical as it might have sounded back then, Aaron had been planning for this since Under Attack ended. The moment Scarlet and Ruby dragged Liane off the sidelines and into the chaos, he refused to ignore the possibility that she could be asked to actually throw down with one or both of them at any point in time and had started training her. While he’d never trained anyone for the ring before due to still feeling like he was adapting to the strong style striking he fully adopted while in Japan before he surfaced in SCW, he fell back on concepts and techniques that he’d gone through overseas that helped ease the process and made adapting much easier. Liane was initially hesitant, but the more gas that was added to this fire the more she realized he had a point, and it never needed to be said how far these two would go to protect one another and what they had no matter who opposed it. Believe it or not, deciding to do a bikini contest as opposed to an actual match at Bound by Blood was somewhat of a blessing in disguise despite the disaster that resulted from the whole ordeal, because a Liane with roughly a month of extra training under her belt was far more dangerous when paired with Aaron’s imagination and lethal striking prowess.
“Stupid… conniving… little… bitch…”
That was a sign that concerned Aaron, but thankfully Liane wrapped up her barrage with a nasty right hook and a roundhouse kick that easily looked like it could rival any of his. One thing he’d taken note of throughout this whole ordeal is the glimpses into Liane’s darker side, the proverbial demon living in her own head that tortured her about as often as some of Aaron’s did to him. Anger was understandable, but often times it seemed like Liane’s always carried a bit of extra malice to it, and from what he’d learned up to this point it wasn’t hard to guess where it came from. Formed from her own issues with her family and those around her just as Aaron’s issues did, there was a chance that ‘other Liane’ could take over and potentially ruin everything. It was a constant fear Aaron dealt with every time he set foot in the ring lately, as despite normally having perfect control of what he was willing to share these latest efforts from Scarlet had opened a few cracks that could break down the floodgates with a little more pushing. Somehow, he kept finding a way to balance himself while competing, but this was foreign territory for his jolly joker and deep down they both knew it needed to be discussed. Thankfully, he had an idea of how to approach this and took the lead as they walked back to the hotel.
“I’m not going to lie Liane: for someone unwilling to get in the ring and worried about not being able to do this, you’ve really come a long way in such a short amount of time.”
“What can I say? I have a great teacher willing to to show me all the ropes, and not just the ones that wrap around the ring.”
“I never doubted you for a second, and I’m not just saying that because you’re my girlfriend. Scarlet and Ruby, however… boy, are they in for a rude awakening tonight.”
“Yeah…”
Liane had stopped walking, and Aaron came to a stop a few steps ahead of her once he realized it and turned around to notice the uncertainty in her eyes. Opening with honest praise had been a nice opening gambit, but now came the hard part… he had a pretty good idea of what was coming next, and it might not be so easy to help bring her to his level of understanding.
“I’m sorry Aaron… believe me, I want nothing more than to show that silicone-stuffed she-devil what a literal punch line looks like, especially when the only real joke in all of this is her, but I can’t help but have doubts. That bikini contest was bad enough, but now I have a chance to actually fight alongside you and… and…”
“…the other you is trying to convince you that you’re going to screw this up and they’re going to have the last laugh, right?”
Liane simply nodded, confirming what he was already certain of. Thankfully, it’s this exact reason why they’d agreed to be more open and honest with one another about their problems. Granted, the public sidewalks of Cleveland on a cold day might not seem like the best area to discuss such a personal issue, but it was early enough in the day that the bone-chilling weather combined with most people still being stuck in whatever they did for a 9-to-5 job left them relatively all alone. Granted, if it were any more crowded they’d probably be getting some odd looks from people just because Aaron was just in shorts and sneakers while Liane was in the same plus a tank top, but their hotel wasn’t that far away and growing up in Boston and Royal Oak respectively before settling in Seattle gave them plenty of time to adapt to northeastern Ohio’s winter environment. Besides, right now Aaron could only see the two of them alone out here and nothing else, so that’s where he directed his focus.
“Alright, trust me on this one Liane… she’s just trying to get a rise out of you, just like Scarlet’s been doing this whole time with all this nonsense about trying to get me to ditch you just because of a body comparison. When push comes to shove, her words will be all for naught.”
“That’s easy for you to say babe-”
“Maybe it is, but that’s because I have experience with this. If you want the honest truth about this whole particular ordeal? They’ll always talk a big game, trying to make you insecure so they can grow stronger from your negative emotions and shortcomings, but when push comes to shove they’ll always bite the bullet and help you out more than you’d ever imagine them to. All their chatter is no different than the people who try to tear me down and convince me I have no hope in hell of beating them when they get in front of a camera, or someone heckling you because they think they know comedy better than someone who’s worked their whole life at it, it just seems worse because it’s all in your head. But there’s the double-edged sword they wield: like it or not, they’re a part of us, and without us they can’t survive to grow or get their way.”
Liane was about to respond to this, but she stopped herself as her eyes widened. In retrospect, the answer was so obvious, but when you find yourself falling deeper into the rabbit hole you feel like there’s no time to think about the obvious but obscured answer, only a temporary solution that will stop your descent before you crash into the ground until the cycle begins anew. She doubted this was so clear to most people, especially not the competitors that would always seek to win the war of words with her boyfriend before trying to capitalize in the physical battle that followed, but she already knew Aaron wasn’t like most people. He always saw things from many different angles, often born of his own experiences both real and fabricated, and the simplest of solutions always seemed to be just fingertips away when he needed them. Most people wouldn’t really know it though… he was never one to brag about what he was capable of, only demonstrate it by helping or entertaining people just when they needed it, obvious or otherwise.
“You’re right… I may have what feels like a psychotic clown living in my head trying to make me feel powerless, but without me she has nothing to get a laugh out of, like a joke that falls flat without a proper setup. Just like you have Nemesis and those twins constantly hounding you about getting a turn to stand in the spotlight and trying to simply take it…”
“Exactly. Once you realize you’ll always hold more power than they will, you can easily just tune them out in the heat of the moment. After all, your ‘friend’ can keep trying to convince you that you’re only going to get hurt doing this, but if it actually happens what do they really get out of the deal at the end of the day? Absolutely nothing.”
“That’s assuming this make-believe kingdom can actually back up their delusional declarations. After all, I’ve got you to watch my back just in case ‘she’ wants to be stubborn.”
“And I’ll have you no matter how much those two probably believe they just hit the lottery with how this match was set up. After all, the best setup is always the one people don’t see coming, right?”
Liane finally regains her smile as the two of them embrace and share a quick kiss before linking hands and resuming their trek back to the hotel, ignoring the befuddled glances of the few people they pass by along the way. In their euphoria, they both could swear at that moment they could see their respective internal problem children walking right along with them, looking annoyed at Aaron’s revelation to Liane but knowing they couldn’t do anything about it because it was the truth. No matter how much Nemesis, or the Twin Stars, or even the ‘other’ Liane could argue, they would always need their respective hosts and when things got ugly, they would ensure their survival by any means necessary no matter how much they may hate themselves afterwards. In Aaron’s world that he was always happy to share with the one he loved, every person had their demons lurking in the shadows, but no matter how much they tried to tear their hosts down they were stuck maintaining the balance that allowed them to even pursue whatever they were after in the first place.
It always came back to the simplest of concepts that life itself was built upon, but many would never truly understand. Not even Scarlet and Ruby, no matter how much they tried to flaunt their collective intelligence, would truly understand something so foreign to what made them tick in the first place. Trying to make it seem like there was only one solution to the problem they created might work with anybody else, but not to someone always striving to look deeper every chance he got. The couple that walked back into their hotel knew the truth behind the crimson curtain, and when they walked down to that ring in just a few hours they were going to show that something as simple as this conversation gave them a far more powerful weapon than anything these two ladies could ever hope to match.
Many don’t realize it, but all of us tend to wear masks each and every day. You may not see it, but a mask doesn’t have to be physical in order to do its job: hide the truest perception of the wearer. The person you could make yourself out to be might not be the real you, and it’s up to you to decide if you’re doing this to appease others or to hide from yourself for one reason or another. Some even take pride in the masks they wear, never wanting to face reality so long as they can hide behind it and build their own little world. Unfortunately, those that fully believe in the lies they’ve created are the ones most vulnerable, and the more they try to convince others to believe in the illusion, the more they reveal what it’s trying to hide, until soon everyone can see it clear as day.
It seems fitting that when faced with the prospect of two people who are so buried in the masks they wear that they’ve forgotten who they truly are, one creative couple has taken it upon themselves to create quite the setting heading into the final Breakdown of the year. The room itself is dimly lit, but the thing we see clearest are all the different masks decorating the walls of this room and even hanging from the ceiling. Some are simple while others are elaborate, some are colorful while others are plain, some are breathtakingly gorgeous while others are downright hideous. Even in the eye of this storm of masks, however, we find exactly who we’re looking for. They may be hiding their faces behind the theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy, but there’s no mistaking the forms of Aaron Blackbourne and Liane Forte. Perhaps it may come as somewhat of a shock to you seeing the former as despite his vast imagination he’s never really gone beyond simply speaking his piece, but with his girlfriend by his side and a message he needs to get across loud and clear, what better time to give everyone an early holiday surprise that may not be so jolly for a certain pair of redheads before this night is over.
“Who are we?
I know, that’s a pretty cliché question to ask, but deep down it’s not one that many of us can truly answer. One of the beautiful things about your imagination is that you can choose how you want people to see you, and on an unconscious level we all do this each and every day. Every time I walk down to that ring all painted up in one form or another, you still know me as Aaron Blackbourne, but you’re also being introduced to this new entity at the same time that could either be an extension of myself or maybe an entirely different entity altogether. It’s always open for interpretation, just like the opinions of those surrounding us each and every day. We can all agree to disagree and argue until the sun sets, but we all have the power to decide what kind of person we truly wish to be and how much of a proverbial mask we want to wear to ensure that’s exactly what everyone else sees.
The dangers of this, however, are becoming so consumed in a lie you wish to build that it becomes everything you stand for.
This is something we all encounter every day, whether it be in politics or someone trying to deceive you in the business world to make a quick buck, or in my case some that I share the locker rooms of SCW with. After all, it’s one thing to build a persona to either connect with the fans or use as a shield to hide behind when you know they’re going to rain down their hatred for your actions upon you, but when you truly start to believe that you are every little fragment of your imagination that you present to the masses as fact day in and day out, that’s when you lose your sense of self and become the most vulnerable, because the more you try to hold your fragile world together the more cracks begin to show.”
“Take the two of us for example. Yes, we’re both standing before you wearing masks that fit pretty well with our personalities, but while we’re more than happy to share with you what makes us unique in different aspects, we’re also careful to make sure you get to know the real us as well. Aaron is every bit as passionate about creativity and what it can do for the world as he says he is, just as making people laugh and putting smiles on their faces is what I live for each and every day. Maybe it sound stupid to some of you, but it’s who we are and we wouldn’t dare to change it for each other or anybody else. After all, we’ve got nothing to hide and no reason to be dishonest even to those who have the biggest problem with us, because at the end of the day what you see is real.
It’s sad though… maybe someone out there who has the very problem Aaron described is a much better person than anyone will ever give them credit for, but they’ll never share it because all they know is what they want people to see. Maybe it’s just because we’re the kinds of people that are always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt even when we should know better, but it’s not as hard as you think to see what kind of person someone truly is if you just look hard enough. Even then, though… there do unfortunately exist people out there who present themselves in a way that tries to convince you all that they’re everything you want them to be and more, but one glimpse behind the mask and you see the horrible creature hiding beneath that preys on your reactions to help them retain the illusion. These are the kinds of people that truly need unmasked, because the sooner you stop believing in the masquerade the better off you’ll be at the end of the night.”
It’s at this point that both Liane and Aaron pull off the masks to reveal their actual faces, and Liane’s isn’t bearing the same smile that adorns the plastic in her hand. She strays a tiny bit away from Aaron to position herself behind one of the hanging masks in a way that mimics wearing it, though the red half-mask adorned with rubies and spiced up with a few small gray designs here and there isn’t one she feels comfortable putting on as this show continues.
“For months now, Aaron and I have been the victims of two women who repeatedly try to convince you all that SCW is simply part of their all-conquering empire and they are the single most attractive and intelligent people you will ever see in your lives. Scarlet Grey and Ruby Amarant accomplish this by doing everything they can to manipulate things in their favor, because even the slightest thing that doesn’t go their way causes them to flip out. Scarlet always has to get whatever she wants just like a spoiled princess, Ruby cannot be outsmarted because she tells us all her IQ makes every one of us look like simpletons… they believe this makes them invincible and we’re all just supposed to bend over and kiss their ‘perfect’ asses so they can keep pretending that they’re a much bigger deal around here than they truly are. Maybe some will buy into it, believing those two may actually be faces worth investing in because they deliver empty promises about satisfaction and other things that only really hold any value to them.
When someone that’s not actually on the SCW roster can see right through it, you know you’ve got a problem.
That’s the biggest reason why they have a problem with me in particular. I’m backstage because SCW allows me to, in support of my boyfriend, but that very concept alone goes against what Scarlet wants and because I won’t just give up something that means more to me than any wrestling championship ever could and defiantly call her out on her nonsense, all of a sudden I have to be humiliated and made to suffer. Does this make sense to anybody else? I didn’t think so, but to Scarlet and Ruby, who despite preaching how dangerous she is in her own right just plays along with Scarlet’s games even when they set her back as well, I’m evil incarnate just because like any girl in this situation I’m not going to give up my significant other just so someone else can ‘have fun’ with them. Even the greatest comedians of all times couldn’t think up a joke that’s crazier than what they believe.”
Liane steps out from behind the crimson mask and rips it down from the ceiling before tossing it out of the shot, unable to stand being in its presence any longer. She looks down at the comedy mask in her hands, a smile slowly forming on her lips before she returns her gaze to the camera, clearly eager to share something with us that she knows the Red Empire won’t like hearing. Whether or not they believe it is another story entirely, but the delusional ones always have to find out the hard way unfortunately.
“Speaking of jokes, it doesn’t surprise me that those two are already writing this off as a handicap match just because they think I’m irrelevant in this situation despite how much focus they’ve put on trying to tear me down ever since they made sure I was involved in all of this. I’ve made it no secret that being a wrestler wasn’t in my life plans, but I remember giving Scarlet a very clear warning not that long ago… when a Forte has something that means everything to them, they will not hesitate to defend it at all costs. If you think I haven’t been preparing for a fight all this time, then boy are you guys in for a very rude awakening on Wednesday night. I would have figured Scarlet would know better considering I’ve laid her out twice now all to prove how far I would go to defend what Aaron and I have, but of course she’s going to call them ‘cheap shots’ while believing that what she pulled at Bound by Blood after I very clearly beat her at her own game doesn’t fall into the same category. I even thought Ruby, being the genius who’s always prepared for every situation with plans A through Z, might know better than to simply think I might not be any sort of factor at all. True, I may not be a wrestler day in and day out like you two or Aaron, but the more you believe that alone is worth writing me off the harder you’re going to smack yourselves when you realize that when push comes to shove, I’m more than just jokes and smiles, especially when it comes to two women who have no respect for me or what matters beyond their own little bubble they think is so high in the clouds it can’t be burst.
Maybe a city known for hard-working people with a lot of heart is the perfect place for that bubble of theirs to finally get the point.”
Liane takes a bow as Aaron walks into the scene and rewards her with a kiss that they both know is simply going to drive Scarlet up a wall, but considering it’s what couples do they’re not necessarily playing any games in return for everything they’ve been through. Aaron’s own smile at how well his girlfriend handled the situation at hand is brief, because now he knows the spotlight is on him, and what he has to say in regards to the war at hand has honestly been a long time coming.
“You know something? I thought I had it all figured out for a while. I managed to walk out of Rise to Greatness, SCW’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, as a champion, and for weeks afterwards I defended that title against anyone that crossed my path. Even after a few stumbling blocks along the way, I managed to pick myself up and score a couple of big victories that have the potential to open a lot of doors for me in the following year, something that not even Katya can deny if she’s as much of the opportunist as she claims when she doesn’t have a bunch of self-absorbed whiners on a sudden power trip whispering into her ear. I know, maybe I shouldn’t be saying these things, but considering it was Katya’s idea to give Scarlet her way at Bound by Blood, I’m not going to trust someone who sees my personal life and relationship as nothing more than a soap opera worth a few extra ratings every Wednesday night.
The reason I say I ‘thought’ I had it all figured out if because thanks to Scarlet, I feel like my entire world has been turned upside-down just because she doesn’t understand one simple word no matter what language I could say it to her in.
I’m not stupid Scarlet… like Liane, I can see beyond the picture you keep trying to paint for me to see what’s hiding underneath, and I know I’m making the right decision by making sure my life doesn’t have you as a part of it. You’ve made it blatantly clear that when you say you ‘care’ about me, you’re only interested in what’s between my legs and nothing more. I could bring up the repeated blatant attempts to flaunt your body in my presence, stealing my phone, forcing me into a date you truly didn’t deserve and attacking the woman I have said time and time again is the only one for me… but let’s go a little beyond that, shall we? If you actually want me to ignore all of that when I have no reason to do so, then how do you justify the fact that ever since you and Ruby made it your personal mission to make my life a living hell all just because the baby isn’t getting her bottle, I haven’t gotten the chance to compete on a pay-per-view to try and gain any extra momentum that might have me in a much better position than I’m currently in. Maybe that wouldn’t be the case after all, but I’ll never know because that Rise to Greatness was the last time I actually competed in pay-per-view action, and more importantly to me, the last opportunity I had to get to share my creativity with the world and spread a message that actually means something to me.
Your petty jealousy and insatiable sex drive for someone that you clearly don’t deserve has not only interfered with my life, it’s interfered with my career as well.
I would hope Ruby shouldn’t need to explain to you why, despite being far nicer than I ever should have been this entire time out of respect for the fact that it’s painfully clear sitting behind your mask is someone that’s not entirely all there, I am walking into this match with absolutely no reason to play along anymore. Ruby herself isn’t blameless in all of this, and it’s clear now that as far as she’s concerned if I wasn’t going to actually join your little party for Scarlet’s sake then I was simply fodder for your careers because of what sits on my resume and how desperately you both want to prove that 2019 might actually be the complete opposite of what 2018 has been for the both of you in terms of SCW’s standings. If that’s as far as Ruby’s planning has gotten, though, then maybe she isn’t as creative as I thought she might be for a woman who wants to act an awful lot like a far more successful woman on the roster with a similar disregard for anyone that’s not herself and those close to her. To the two of you, it’s as simple as this night ends either when I declare myself an unfaithful S.O.B. or Liane and I fail to overcome you. Nothing in life is ever that simple, and when it comes down to whose more willing to fight for what they want, only one tandem is entering into this match with the passion and ferocity to actually put an end to this ongoing charade no matter what it takes, and that team isn’t the one obsessed with only one color off the palette of life.”
Aaron and Liane move their bodies closer to one another, glancing around at the various masks that surround them, each one with its own story to tell. But those are stories for another time… after all, to the Red Empire, the only story that matters is their own, and the longer they are ignored the worse their brand of cancer becomes. Slowly the couple bring their masks together, the two of them actually coming together like magic to form one silver mask that looks like a merged version of comedy and drama, each respective half covering half of their faces as their fingers intertwine while they deliver the final statement to a lingering problem that they have grown tired of being plagued by week in and week out.
“It never even needed to come this far, but if the two of you won’t listen to very clear reason…”
“…then maybe we need to just show you, once and for all, why you picked the wrong people to repeatedly screw over because your petty and senseless obsession is more important than giving anybody any reason to want to associate with you in any fashion going forward.”
It is this sight that we fade out on, leaving our creative couple alone in a truly unified front to combat the final antics of a tandem that has proven they don’t even always see eye to eye with one another, but as long as one gets her way and the other claims it proves her own intellectual superiority, all else is irrelevant. If anyone can shatter the illusion and expose the true monsters hiding beneath so this doesn’t happen to anyone else in SCW or elsewhere, it’s the man and woman who finally have a chance to end the nightmare they never chose to deal with, just as the city of Cleveland has time and time again battled to fight off their own nightmares to prove they are what they say they are: a city filled with people who have the heart and determination to succeed, just like Aaron and Liane.
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Sometimes in today’s world, trying to be a nice guy only resulted in you getting spat on and shoved aside, something that felt out of place in a world becoming more and more sensitive to everything that people have now fallen back on raising an uproar over old Christmas classics for the most ridiculous of reasons.
Paradoxes like this simply gave Aaron a migraine, one of many sitting on his mental plate right now.
Over the course of the past few months, Aaron felt like he’d been on a rollercoaster ride that he truly wanted to get off of several times over. There were certainly some enjoyable parts, like a second run as SCW’s Television Champion as well as winning his Rise to Greatness debut, pre-show or otherwise, and the recent hot streak he’d been enjoying that saw him knock off several main event names like Alistaire Allocco and Giovanni Aries. For every exciting hill and loop in this coaster, though, there were also plenty of agonizing climbs to endure. Outside the ring he’d found himself seemingly caught in the crossfire of a war going on inside his own imagination between the few creations that came into their own, which had continued to haunt his slumber and actually led to the artist doing his best to avoid getting lost in daydreams, at least until he could sort out exactly how he was going to reclaim control of something he didn’t think he even could lose control of to begin with.
Inside SCW’s borders… there was a crimson-colored cancer that just refused to leave him alone.
The entire final quarter of SCW’s 2018 schedule had seen this woman endlessly trying to insert herself into his life, and while Aaron couldn’t understand exactly why him of all people (considering he never thought he was too good-looking, always being his own worst critic about everything) he knew exactly what she was hoping to gain out of it, and he wasn’t interested. That might sound strange to many people considering one look at Scarlet and most men would likely pass out if she asked to ‘spend some time’ with them, but one benefit to being both as creative and detail-oriented as he was? Aaron could always see beyond the image to the story behind it, and Scarlet clearly told a story he unfortunately had some experience with to know what it would do to him. All it ever took was one look at the living hell that had become the ‘relationship,’ if he could even call it that, his brother Andrew had gotten involved in to know that anybody that’s not entirely all there and still manages to manipulate the world around them to suit their needs was as toxic as you could get, and Aaron was not going to allow himself to be pulled beneath the surface of that suffocating abyss ever again, not without a fight. That itself was a primary reason why he refused to agree with the decision-making of Katya D. after she had no problem with both giving Scarlet exactly what she wanted and letting her off the hook for crossing the line several times over, why he was glad Sasha had been willing to correct this issue and create a situation to overcome this darkness and leave it behind once and for all…
Why he was so grateful to have Liane in his life.
Liane could easily say the same thing about him. While she wasn’t expecting to end up joining him on this wild ride of dealing with Scarlet’s antics and her partner Ruby plotting new ways to help push it along for their collective benefit, she would never leave him alone to deal with this by himself. One could always cite the commitment of someone to the person they love, but even if that was the case Liane knew Aaron was far too good a person to be used and abused by a nutjob beyond obsessed with her own sex appeal and lust before being left a tainted shell of his former self. Even others in SCW like Allocco and the commentators had publicly acknowledged this, so it wasn’t like this was all going unnoticed. It was just unfortunate that nobody was lending a hand because they were either too self-absorbed to care or were tied up in their own issues that required all their focus. She had warned Scarlet before that a Forte will always fight tooth and nail for something they care about, and at long last it was finally time for the red-haired witch to pay the proverbial piper.
Barring any plans for the impending End of the Year Special, the creative couple was going to close out the year by finally finding their freedom from the libido-driven tyranny of the Red Empire.
To those simply watching, this was why it made perfect sense that Aaron and Liane were visiting one of the gyms in the Cleveland area even on the day of the year’s final Breakdown. After all, Liane was a comedian by trade, not a trained wrestler, and without all the preparation she could get many would see the impending final battle as a proverbial handicap match that might be too steep a hill for the creative soul to climb. As usual when it came to these two, though, things were never exactly what they appeared to be. Careful examination of Liane’s workout by experts would clearly show there was far more strength and technique in everything she did than you’d find in someone basically training for their very first match on only a week’s notice. She wasn’t quite there yet, but if you studied hard enough you’d know she wasn’t simply going to be a liability to her boyfriend like two self-proclaimed ‘intellectual goddesses’ would likely believe.
No matter how crazy a possibility sounds, never let it be said that creativity can’t prepare you for even the most unexpected scenarios.
Aaron couldn’t help but grin at that thought as the two were in the final stages of this workout, with him agreeing to hold the heavy bag so Liane could go to town on it with more professional technique than the wild haymakers she’d gotten to throw against that vain succubus on a few occasions. The reality of the situation is that, as nonsensical as it might have sounded back then, Aaron had been planning for this since Under Attack ended. The moment Scarlet and Ruby dragged Liane off the sidelines and into the chaos, he refused to ignore the possibility that she could be asked to actually throw down with one or both of them at any point in time and had started training her. While he’d never trained anyone for the ring before due to still feeling like he was adapting to the strong style striking he fully adopted while in Japan before he surfaced in SCW, he fell back on concepts and techniques that he’d gone through overseas that helped ease the process and made adapting much easier. Liane was initially hesitant, but the more gas that was added to this fire the more she realized he had a point, and it never needed to be said how far these two would go to protect one another and what they had no matter who opposed it. Believe it or not, deciding to do a bikini contest as opposed to an actual match at Bound by Blood was somewhat of a blessing in disguise despite the disaster that resulted from the whole ordeal, because a Liane with roughly a month of extra training under her belt was far more dangerous when paired with Aaron’s imagination and lethal striking prowess.
“Stupid… conniving… little… bitch…”
That was a sign that concerned Aaron, but thankfully Liane wrapped up her barrage with a nasty right hook and a roundhouse kick that easily looked like it could rival any of his. One thing he’d taken note of throughout this whole ordeal is the glimpses into Liane’s darker side, the proverbial demon living in her own head that tortured her about as often as some of Aaron’s did to him. Anger was understandable, but often times it seemed like Liane’s always carried a bit of extra malice to it, and from what he’d learned up to this point it wasn’t hard to guess where it came from. Formed from her own issues with her family and those around her just as Aaron’s issues did, there was a chance that ‘other Liane’ could take over and potentially ruin everything. It was a constant fear Aaron dealt with every time he set foot in the ring lately, as despite normally having perfect control of what he was willing to share these latest efforts from Scarlet had opened a few cracks that could break down the floodgates with a little more pushing. Somehow, he kept finding a way to balance himself while competing, but this was foreign territory for his jolly joker and deep down they both knew it needed to be discussed. Thankfully, he had an idea of how to approach this and took the lead as they walked back to the hotel.
“I’m not going to lie Liane: for someone unwilling to get in the ring and worried about not being able to do this, you’ve really come a long way in such a short amount of time.”
“What can I say? I have a great teacher willing to to show me all the ropes, and not just the ones that wrap around the ring.”
“I never doubted you for a second, and I’m not just saying that because you’re my girlfriend. Scarlet and Ruby, however… boy, are they in for a rude awakening tonight.”
“Yeah…”
Liane had stopped walking, and Aaron came to a stop a few steps ahead of her once he realized it and turned around to notice the uncertainty in her eyes. Opening with honest praise had been a nice opening gambit, but now came the hard part… he had a pretty good idea of what was coming next, and it might not be so easy to help bring her to his level of understanding.
“I’m sorry Aaron… believe me, I want nothing more than to show that silicone-stuffed she-devil what a literal punch line looks like, especially when the only real joke in all of this is her, but I can’t help but have doubts. That bikini contest was bad enough, but now I have a chance to actually fight alongside you and… and…”
“…the other you is trying to convince you that you’re going to screw this up and they’re going to have the last laugh, right?”
Liane simply nodded, confirming what he was already certain of. Thankfully, it’s this exact reason why they’d agreed to be more open and honest with one another about their problems. Granted, the public sidewalks of Cleveland on a cold day might not seem like the best area to discuss such a personal issue, but it was early enough in the day that the bone-chilling weather combined with most people still being stuck in whatever they did for a 9-to-5 job left them relatively all alone. Granted, if it were any more crowded they’d probably be getting some odd looks from people just because Aaron was just in shorts and sneakers while Liane was in the same plus a tank top, but their hotel wasn’t that far away and growing up in Boston and Royal Oak respectively before settling in Seattle gave them plenty of time to adapt to northeastern Ohio’s winter environment. Besides, right now Aaron could only see the two of them alone out here and nothing else, so that’s where he directed his focus.
“Alright, trust me on this one Liane… she’s just trying to get a rise out of you, just like Scarlet’s been doing this whole time with all this nonsense about trying to get me to ditch you just because of a body comparison. When push comes to shove, her words will be all for naught.”
“That’s easy for you to say babe-”
“Maybe it is, but that’s because I have experience with this. If you want the honest truth about this whole particular ordeal? They’ll always talk a big game, trying to make you insecure so they can grow stronger from your negative emotions and shortcomings, but when push comes to shove they’ll always bite the bullet and help you out more than you’d ever imagine them to. All their chatter is no different than the people who try to tear me down and convince me I have no hope in hell of beating them when they get in front of a camera, or someone heckling you because they think they know comedy better than someone who’s worked their whole life at it, it just seems worse because it’s all in your head. But there’s the double-edged sword they wield: like it or not, they’re a part of us, and without us they can’t survive to grow or get their way.”
Liane was about to respond to this, but she stopped herself as her eyes widened. In retrospect, the answer was so obvious, but when you find yourself falling deeper into the rabbit hole you feel like there’s no time to think about the obvious but obscured answer, only a temporary solution that will stop your descent before you crash into the ground until the cycle begins anew. She doubted this was so clear to most people, especially not the competitors that would always seek to win the war of words with her boyfriend before trying to capitalize in the physical battle that followed, but she already knew Aaron wasn’t like most people. He always saw things from many different angles, often born of his own experiences both real and fabricated, and the simplest of solutions always seemed to be just fingertips away when he needed them. Most people wouldn’t really know it though… he was never one to brag about what he was capable of, only demonstrate it by helping or entertaining people just when they needed it, obvious or otherwise.
“You’re right… I may have what feels like a psychotic clown living in my head trying to make me feel powerless, but without me she has nothing to get a laugh out of, like a joke that falls flat without a proper setup. Just like you have Nemesis and those twins constantly hounding you about getting a turn to stand in the spotlight and trying to simply take it…”
“Exactly. Once you realize you’ll always hold more power than they will, you can easily just tune them out in the heat of the moment. After all, your ‘friend’ can keep trying to convince you that you’re only going to get hurt doing this, but if it actually happens what do they really get out of the deal at the end of the day? Absolutely nothing.”
“That’s assuming this make-believe kingdom can actually back up their delusional declarations. After all, I’ve got you to watch my back just in case ‘she’ wants to be stubborn.”
“And I’ll have you no matter how much those two probably believe they just hit the lottery with how this match was set up. After all, the best setup is always the one people don’t see coming, right?”
Liane finally regains her smile as the two of them embrace and share a quick kiss before linking hands and resuming their trek back to the hotel, ignoring the befuddled glances of the few people they pass by along the way. In their euphoria, they both could swear at that moment they could see their respective internal problem children walking right along with them, looking annoyed at Aaron’s revelation to Liane but knowing they couldn’t do anything about it because it was the truth. No matter how much Nemesis, or the Twin Stars, or even the ‘other’ Liane could argue, they would always need their respective hosts and when things got ugly, they would ensure their survival by any means necessary no matter how much they may hate themselves afterwards. In Aaron’s world that he was always happy to share with the one he loved, every person had their demons lurking in the shadows, but no matter how much they tried to tear their hosts down they were stuck maintaining the balance that allowed them to even pursue whatever they were after in the first place.
It always came back to the simplest of concepts that life itself was built upon, but many would never truly understand. Not even Scarlet and Ruby, no matter how much they tried to flaunt their collective intelligence, would truly understand something so foreign to what made them tick in the first place. Trying to make it seem like there was only one solution to the problem they created might work with anybody else, but not to someone always striving to look deeper every chance he got. The couple that walked back into their hotel knew the truth behind the crimson curtain, and when they walked down to that ring in just a few hours they were going to show that something as simple as this conversation gave them a far more powerful weapon than anything these two ladies could ever hope to match.
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Masks…Many don’t realize it, but all of us tend to wear masks each and every day. You may not see it, but a mask doesn’t have to be physical in order to do its job: hide the truest perception of the wearer. The person you could make yourself out to be might not be the real you, and it’s up to you to decide if you’re doing this to appease others or to hide from yourself for one reason or another. Some even take pride in the masks they wear, never wanting to face reality so long as they can hide behind it and build their own little world. Unfortunately, those that fully believe in the lies they’ve created are the ones most vulnerable, and the more they try to convince others to believe in the illusion, the more they reveal what it’s trying to hide, until soon everyone can see it clear as day.
It seems fitting that when faced with the prospect of two people who are so buried in the masks they wear that they’ve forgotten who they truly are, one creative couple has taken it upon themselves to create quite the setting heading into the final Breakdown of the year. The room itself is dimly lit, but the thing we see clearest are all the different masks decorating the walls of this room and even hanging from the ceiling. Some are simple while others are elaborate, some are colorful while others are plain, some are breathtakingly gorgeous while others are downright hideous. Even in the eye of this storm of masks, however, we find exactly who we’re looking for. They may be hiding their faces behind the theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy, but there’s no mistaking the forms of Aaron Blackbourne and Liane Forte. Perhaps it may come as somewhat of a shock to you seeing the former as despite his vast imagination he’s never really gone beyond simply speaking his piece, but with his girlfriend by his side and a message he needs to get across loud and clear, what better time to give everyone an early holiday surprise that may not be so jolly for a certain pair of redheads before this night is over.
“Who are we?
I know, that’s a pretty cliché question to ask, but deep down it’s not one that many of us can truly answer. One of the beautiful things about your imagination is that you can choose how you want people to see you, and on an unconscious level we all do this each and every day. Every time I walk down to that ring all painted up in one form or another, you still know me as Aaron Blackbourne, but you’re also being introduced to this new entity at the same time that could either be an extension of myself or maybe an entirely different entity altogether. It’s always open for interpretation, just like the opinions of those surrounding us each and every day. We can all agree to disagree and argue until the sun sets, but we all have the power to decide what kind of person we truly wish to be and how much of a proverbial mask we want to wear to ensure that’s exactly what everyone else sees.
The dangers of this, however, are becoming so consumed in a lie you wish to build that it becomes everything you stand for.
This is something we all encounter every day, whether it be in politics or someone trying to deceive you in the business world to make a quick buck, or in my case some that I share the locker rooms of SCW with. After all, it’s one thing to build a persona to either connect with the fans or use as a shield to hide behind when you know they’re going to rain down their hatred for your actions upon you, but when you truly start to believe that you are every little fragment of your imagination that you present to the masses as fact day in and day out, that’s when you lose your sense of self and become the most vulnerable, because the more you try to hold your fragile world together the more cracks begin to show.”
“Take the two of us for example. Yes, we’re both standing before you wearing masks that fit pretty well with our personalities, but while we’re more than happy to share with you what makes us unique in different aspects, we’re also careful to make sure you get to know the real us as well. Aaron is every bit as passionate about creativity and what it can do for the world as he says he is, just as making people laugh and putting smiles on their faces is what I live for each and every day. Maybe it sound stupid to some of you, but it’s who we are and we wouldn’t dare to change it for each other or anybody else. After all, we’ve got nothing to hide and no reason to be dishonest even to those who have the biggest problem with us, because at the end of the day what you see is real.
It’s sad though… maybe someone out there who has the very problem Aaron described is a much better person than anyone will ever give them credit for, but they’ll never share it because all they know is what they want people to see. Maybe it’s just because we’re the kinds of people that are always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt even when we should know better, but it’s not as hard as you think to see what kind of person someone truly is if you just look hard enough. Even then, though… there do unfortunately exist people out there who present themselves in a way that tries to convince you all that they’re everything you want them to be and more, but one glimpse behind the mask and you see the horrible creature hiding beneath that preys on your reactions to help them retain the illusion. These are the kinds of people that truly need unmasked, because the sooner you stop believing in the masquerade the better off you’ll be at the end of the night.”
It’s at this point that both Liane and Aaron pull off the masks to reveal their actual faces, and Liane’s isn’t bearing the same smile that adorns the plastic in her hand. She strays a tiny bit away from Aaron to position herself behind one of the hanging masks in a way that mimics wearing it, though the red half-mask adorned with rubies and spiced up with a few small gray designs here and there isn’t one she feels comfortable putting on as this show continues.
“For months now, Aaron and I have been the victims of two women who repeatedly try to convince you all that SCW is simply part of their all-conquering empire and they are the single most attractive and intelligent people you will ever see in your lives. Scarlet Grey and Ruby Amarant accomplish this by doing everything they can to manipulate things in their favor, because even the slightest thing that doesn’t go their way causes them to flip out. Scarlet always has to get whatever she wants just like a spoiled princess, Ruby cannot be outsmarted because she tells us all her IQ makes every one of us look like simpletons… they believe this makes them invincible and we’re all just supposed to bend over and kiss their ‘perfect’ asses so they can keep pretending that they’re a much bigger deal around here than they truly are. Maybe some will buy into it, believing those two may actually be faces worth investing in because they deliver empty promises about satisfaction and other things that only really hold any value to them.
When someone that’s not actually on the SCW roster can see right through it, you know you’ve got a problem.
That’s the biggest reason why they have a problem with me in particular. I’m backstage because SCW allows me to, in support of my boyfriend, but that very concept alone goes against what Scarlet wants and because I won’t just give up something that means more to me than any wrestling championship ever could and defiantly call her out on her nonsense, all of a sudden I have to be humiliated and made to suffer. Does this make sense to anybody else? I didn’t think so, but to Scarlet and Ruby, who despite preaching how dangerous she is in her own right just plays along with Scarlet’s games even when they set her back as well, I’m evil incarnate just because like any girl in this situation I’m not going to give up my significant other just so someone else can ‘have fun’ with them. Even the greatest comedians of all times couldn’t think up a joke that’s crazier than what they believe.”
Liane steps out from behind the crimson mask and rips it down from the ceiling before tossing it out of the shot, unable to stand being in its presence any longer. She looks down at the comedy mask in her hands, a smile slowly forming on her lips before she returns her gaze to the camera, clearly eager to share something with us that she knows the Red Empire won’t like hearing. Whether or not they believe it is another story entirely, but the delusional ones always have to find out the hard way unfortunately.
“Speaking of jokes, it doesn’t surprise me that those two are already writing this off as a handicap match just because they think I’m irrelevant in this situation despite how much focus they’ve put on trying to tear me down ever since they made sure I was involved in all of this. I’ve made it no secret that being a wrestler wasn’t in my life plans, but I remember giving Scarlet a very clear warning not that long ago… when a Forte has something that means everything to them, they will not hesitate to defend it at all costs. If you think I haven’t been preparing for a fight all this time, then boy are you guys in for a very rude awakening on Wednesday night. I would have figured Scarlet would know better considering I’ve laid her out twice now all to prove how far I would go to defend what Aaron and I have, but of course she’s going to call them ‘cheap shots’ while believing that what she pulled at Bound by Blood after I very clearly beat her at her own game doesn’t fall into the same category. I even thought Ruby, being the genius who’s always prepared for every situation with plans A through Z, might know better than to simply think I might not be any sort of factor at all. True, I may not be a wrestler day in and day out like you two or Aaron, but the more you believe that alone is worth writing me off the harder you’re going to smack yourselves when you realize that when push comes to shove, I’m more than just jokes and smiles, especially when it comes to two women who have no respect for me or what matters beyond their own little bubble they think is so high in the clouds it can’t be burst.
Maybe a city known for hard-working people with a lot of heart is the perfect place for that bubble of theirs to finally get the point.”
Liane takes a bow as Aaron walks into the scene and rewards her with a kiss that they both know is simply going to drive Scarlet up a wall, but considering it’s what couples do they’re not necessarily playing any games in return for everything they’ve been through. Aaron’s own smile at how well his girlfriend handled the situation at hand is brief, because now he knows the spotlight is on him, and what he has to say in regards to the war at hand has honestly been a long time coming.
“You know something? I thought I had it all figured out for a while. I managed to walk out of Rise to Greatness, SCW’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, as a champion, and for weeks afterwards I defended that title against anyone that crossed my path. Even after a few stumbling blocks along the way, I managed to pick myself up and score a couple of big victories that have the potential to open a lot of doors for me in the following year, something that not even Katya can deny if she’s as much of the opportunist as she claims when she doesn’t have a bunch of self-absorbed whiners on a sudden power trip whispering into her ear. I know, maybe I shouldn’t be saying these things, but considering it was Katya’s idea to give Scarlet her way at Bound by Blood, I’m not going to trust someone who sees my personal life and relationship as nothing more than a soap opera worth a few extra ratings every Wednesday night.
The reason I say I ‘thought’ I had it all figured out if because thanks to Scarlet, I feel like my entire world has been turned upside-down just because she doesn’t understand one simple word no matter what language I could say it to her in.
I’m not stupid Scarlet… like Liane, I can see beyond the picture you keep trying to paint for me to see what’s hiding underneath, and I know I’m making the right decision by making sure my life doesn’t have you as a part of it. You’ve made it blatantly clear that when you say you ‘care’ about me, you’re only interested in what’s between my legs and nothing more. I could bring up the repeated blatant attempts to flaunt your body in my presence, stealing my phone, forcing me into a date you truly didn’t deserve and attacking the woman I have said time and time again is the only one for me… but let’s go a little beyond that, shall we? If you actually want me to ignore all of that when I have no reason to do so, then how do you justify the fact that ever since you and Ruby made it your personal mission to make my life a living hell all just because the baby isn’t getting her bottle, I haven’t gotten the chance to compete on a pay-per-view to try and gain any extra momentum that might have me in a much better position than I’m currently in. Maybe that wouldn’t be the case after all, but I’ll never know because that Rise to Greatness was the last time I actually competed in pay-per-view action, and more importantly to me, the last opportunity I had to get to share my creativity with the world and spread a message that actually means something to me.
Your petty jealousy and insatiable sex drive for someone that you clearly don’t deserve has not only interfered with my life, it’s interfered with my career as well.
I would hope Ruby shouldn’t need to explain to you why, despite being far nicer than I ever should have been this entire time out of respect for the fact that it’s painfully clear sitting behind your mask is someone that’s not entirely all there, I am walking into this match with absolutely no reason to play along anymore. Ruby herself isn’t blameless in all of this, and it’s clear now that as far as she’s concerned if I wasn’t going to actually join your little party for Scarlet’s sake then I was simply fodder for your careers because of what sits on my resume and how desperately you both want to prove that 2019 might actually be the complete opposite of what 2018 has been for the both of you in terms of SCW’s standings. If that’s as far as Ruby’s planning has gotten, though, then maybe she isn’t as creative as I thought she might be for a woman who wants to act an awful lot like a far more successful woman on the roster with a similar disregard for anyone that’s not herself and those close to her. To the two of you, it’s as simple as this night ends either when I declare myself an unfaithful S.O.B. or Liane and I fail to overcome you. Nothing in life is ever that simple, and when it comes down to whose more willing to fight for what they want, only one tandem is entering into this match with the passion and ferocity to actually put an end to this ongoing charade no matter what it takes, and that team isn’t the one obsessed with only one color off the palette of life.”
Aaron and Liane move their bodies closer to one another, glancing around at the various masks that surround them, each one with its own story to tell. But those are stories for another time… after all, to the Red Empire, the only story that matters is their own, and the longer they are ignored the worse their brand of cancer becomes. Slowly the couple bring their masks together, the two of them actually coming together like magic to form one silver mask that looks like a merged version of comedy and drama, each respective half covering half of their faces as their fingers intertwine while they deliver the final statement to a lingering problem that they have grown tired of being plagued by week in and week out.
“It never even needed to come this far, but if the two of you won’t listen to very clear reason…”
“…then maybe we need to just show you, once and for all, why you picked the wrong people to repeatedly screw over because your petty and senseless obsession is more important than giving anybody any reason to want to associate with you in any fashion going forward.”
It is this sight that we fade out on, leaving our creative couple alone in a truly unified front to combat the final antics of a tandem that has proven they don’t even always see eye to eye with one another, but as long as one gets her way and the other claims it proves her own intellectual superiority, all else is irrelevant. If anyone can shatter the illusion and expose the true monsters hiding beneath so this doesn’t happen to anyone else in SCW or elsewhere, it’s the man and woman who finally have a chance to end the nightmare they never chose to deal with, just as the city of Cleveland has time and time again battled to fight off their own nightmares to prove they are what they say they are: a city filled with people who have the heart and determination to succeed, just like Aaron and Liane.
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