DEADLINE 1 - 1X 3,250 word limit RP, in whatever format you choose
FRIDAY 23rd AUGUST 2019 2359 EST
DEADLINE 2 - 1x 750 word limit SHOOT / SEGMENT rp, to be used in the show. This rp must be sent to the EMERGE PM box before the deadline of SUNDAY 25th AUGUST 2019 2359 EST
It was a word that Melissa was becoming all too familiar with as time went on, and it had her wondering if she had simply reached a state of being where she just didn’t really care anymore or if she was just trying to figure out too many conflicting issues at one time she’d come full circle on how to feel about it all.
The most glaring example of this was the fact that she had finally tasted defeat for the very first time in her Emerge career. Being upset over it seemed like the most likely path she would take, and yet outside of some annoyance with Sundown’s new mouthpiece not showing her the respect she knows she’s beaten into the big man himself twice now regardless of the outcome either time, she couldn’t really place her feelings on the matter. Counterbalancing the desire to blow a gasket over her perfect record being no more was the lack of weight on her shoulders now to have to retain that unbeaten streak. She only needed to focus on retaining the prize that still sat around her waist when required to defend it and everything else would fall into place on its own.
Considering everything else on her plate outside of the ring, having one less thing to stress over when the bell rang would certainly help in the long run. Not that she would ever admit it publicly, of course.
Things were already getting more interesting simply because of her newfound status as champion, considering she’d heard her name come up several times courtesy of a few other individuals since she marched off that boat months ago. Jennifer Helms made it clear she wanted a shot, newcomer Jensen K. Robinson agreed to fight her at the next show simply because he respected that she was a fighter like he was… there was no doubt that list would only grow the longer she had that gold-colored bullseye on her, but if she hadn’t made it clear by now to the rest of the roster, she was never a woman who backed down from a challenge.
“Just send them all my way and let Emerge figure out what to do when I’ve run through them all.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as she remembered what she’d told Matt when he asked what she planned to do about the spotlight she would always be standing under now. As usual, he was proud of the answer but advised her not to get too cocky about it, but as far as she was concerned if she kept her nose to the grindstone and continued improving then all the talk would become a reality. After all, going from a complete rookie to one of Emerge’s biggest names before she’d even gotten a full year under her belt wasn’t a fluke, and anyone who wanted to stick with that rationale clearly wasn’t paying attention to the last Invasion or hitching themselves too much to the belief that she was only a champion right now because of outside help.
Maybe knocking out Emerge’s new brawler out cold would fix that in a heartbeat.
Knowing a fistfight was guaranteed to be in her future for sure, it made a lot of sense that she was currently throwing haymakers and combos at a heavy bag as Matt held it steady for her. The minor bruises on her face from being on the receiving end of her trainer’s own heavy shots in preparation for the bombs that would be thrown at her were only motivating her as the sting with every motion she made ended up linked to a nasty shot that would’ve opened up a gaping hole in just about anything else.
That wasn’t the only thing fueling her, though, and Matt could see it clear as day with how often her eyes seemed to grow cloudy at times when she picked up the tempo, almost like she was in a trance and only focused on whatever she saw in her head. He had a pretty good idea of what she was visualizing, considering the unsolved issues regarding her mother's sudden reappearance along with the issues between father and daughter that would likely never be resolved at this point. Outside of some minor contact with the latter that was really nothing more than the police chief sending his men to try and bring Melissa back to him only for Matt to turn them away because they had no warrant or legitimate probable cause to do anything to her, things had been quiet on both fronts, and clearly that wasn’t sitting well with the forced soldier. She wanted some answers in regards to her mother, she was looking for any sign from her father that her efforts were finally getting through to him so he’d back off once and for all or admit he screwed up in how he raised her, and she was getting absolutely nothing but radio silence from all fronts. It was driving her crazy, and it only made things worse when you realize there wasn’t exactly much she could do about either one without taking some kind of risk regarding her wrestling career potentially.
“Give me a few more combos Melissa, then take a break. You keep trying to over-exert yourself because your head’s on family matters and that Jensen guy will catch you daydreaming for sure when you truly need to be focused.”
Melissa let out a growl at this but nodded and threw a furious combo that ended with the haymaker blow she loved to refer to as her Kill Shot. Matt nodded, satisfied with the finish, before she stormed off to grab a drink of her water and take a seat on one of the benches in the gym. Matt followed and hovered near her, and while she didn’t acknowledge him he knew she was listening to his words anyways.
“I get it, there’s shit going on outside the ring you’d love to resolve. One of the reasons I was so willing to take you under my wing in the first place for this endeavor was because I knew your father and what he was capable of so I had an idea of what kind of baggage you’d be bringing to my doorstep. I know you’re aware this is coming, but I’ll say it anyway: what’s going on in your life needs to take a backseat when you step between those ropes, and the more you get into that mindset even when training the better off you’re going to be in the long run.”
“You make it sound so damn easy Matt…”
“At least the sarcasm’s a sign that you understand where I’m coming from. I don’t care what you have to do to put yourself into a state of mind where you’re one hundred percent focused on what’s in front of you, but the more you do it the easier it’ll be to pull it off when you really need it. You want to silence your critics? Bouncing back from that Sundown loss and knocking a potential challenger off the list prematurely will shut them up faster than Miss Prescott can rattle off every item on sale that she plans to buy online straight from Paris this weekend.”
Melissa can’t help but grin at how well the analogy works, knowing one of the few ‘rich girl’ things her friend will likely never let go of so long as she still has cash would be how much gets poured into top of the line fashion straight from the world’s capital itself and how quickly she can name every item before the military maiden can even blink. The mention of her friend does seem to get Matt looking around with a curious expression on her face, though.
“Speaking of which, didn’t you say she wanted to join us today?”
“Yeah… now that you mention it, she wanted to check up on me now that I actually have a loss on my Emerge record. Apparently trying to reassure her over the phone it’s not as big a deal as she thinks it is while she was stuck on a trip with her family didn’t really get through to her.”
“She has gone through an awful lot of trouble to help get you to where you are today, which makes her a real friend as far as I’m concerned.”
“For better or worse, that’s just how she’s always been… it didn’t get seen too often back in school when her social status was everything half the time, but-”
Melissa was primed and ready to start detailing the one thing that seemed to make Claire start drifting away from putting her wealth and family name above all else back in the day but found herself getting cut off by the sound of the front door to Matt’s personal gym opening along with the familiar laugh of her blonde best friend. She took another drink of her water before standing up and stretching a bit before going to greet her.
“You know, for someone so concerned about how I’m doing after a loss, you sure took your sweet time to- why is SHE here?”
Melissa’s good mood was gone in the blink of an eye as she took notice of the fact that Claire didn’t come alone, and the girl who accompanied her was someone she wasn’t exactly a fan of. The redhead went by the name of Jennifer Fontaine, and while she wasn’t someone who would jump out at you in a crowd based on her looks, she certainly would with the way she lived her life. For someone who made their living as an author, Jennifer could be very determined and opinionated when necessary, not afraid to call someone else out on their B.S. if a situation called for it. It was always with the intent of a greater good, though, as she was the kind of good person always going out of their way to help others and expecting nothing in return that made Melissa’s skin crawl. Maybe it was the hatred she developed towards her father for trying to make that the mantra she lived her own life by en route to following in his bootprints, but the more Claire broke away from the popular crowd back in school to spend time with Jennifer as the two used it as an excuse to learn more about the other’s place in the social pecking order, the more Melissa just wanted to ignore Claire’s wishes to let it be and just flatten her like she might do to any other nerd that got on her bad side.
“Sorry Melissa. I was on my way over as soon as our flight landed, after being delayed for several hours for who knows what reason, but I bumped into Jennifer along the way and we got to talking and catching up after not seeing each other in so long.”
“Claire told me about how you were in the wrestling business now after things between you and your father finally fell apart, and I couldn’t help but be interested in how it was going for you.”
“Fine, for your information.”
“But Claire was telling me about your last match and-”
Melissa quickly stormed away, not wanting to talk with a woman she despised any further. It didn’t take her long to put quite a bit of distance between them before she set to work preparing to do some bicep curls, but she stopped at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. Thankfully, seeing it was only Matt in the mirror he had set up near his racks of dumbbells kept her from whirling around and throwing a knockout punch blindly, which would’ve been a disaster considering who she’d have been attacking at the time.
“There something you want to share with me about Miss Prescott’s little friend before you go forgetting what I told you just a few minutes ago? Or do I need to ask her myself when they come over this way?”
Melissa practically spat out a sigh as she set the weights back down and glanced over to where she’d left the other two women, and while they were quietly conversing they were both eyeing her carefully, the concern easy to read on both of their faces.
“Her name’s Jennifer, and she’s the reason Claire started breaking out of her ‘spoiled rich brat’ shell back in school. Claire kind of lived vicariously through her in terms of how the middle to lower class lived since she couldn’t do that with me because of ‘drill sergeant dad,’ and in return, Jennifer got to do the same through her in regards to how the popular people and upper class went about their day. She’s a nice girl, don’t get me wrong… but that’s kind of what I hate about her.”
Melissa reclaimed her weights and slowly slipped into a set of curls, taking deep breaths in the process to try and keep herself calm and follow through on Matt’s advice on maintaining full focus at all times when it mattered. For his part, the general took careful notice of the way Claire and this newcomer interacted, especially the fact that the redhead was concerned for someone who certainly wasn’t hiding their disdain for her mere presence, and the pieces slowly fell into place as he pondered what little bit Melissa had been willing to share with him.
“You hate her just because she reminds you a lot about the part of your father that drives you to be the bitch you want people to see you as in Emerge, don’t you?”
Melissa simply snorted, trying not to break her newfound concentration. That was all the confirmation Matt needed, though, and he left his trainee be to go properly introduce himself and his role in things to this newcomer in his midst. Melissa watched in the mirror as he happily conversed with both Claire and Jennifer, not blaming him for trying to be a civil and courteous host to someone in his domain even if she wasn’t too fond of the visitor herself. As she finished her set and dropped the weights to give her arms a temporary break, she noticed Claire walk over to where she stood and sat down on one of the nearby benches.
“Sorry I kind of brought Jennifer here unannounced. I got so into catching up with her and she seemed so interested in how you were doing…”
“I would’ve appreciated a warning, considering you know I’m not as fond of Fontaine as you are.”
“I guess part of me thought you’d have finally let it go after all this time. I know she embodies some of the things that make you sick about your father, but you know as well as I do that all of us have issues with our parents. Hers divorced when she was still a baby, after all.”
“Yeah, and her mom remarried and she grew up living the life she wanted and now she gets to write all about it.”
Melissa retrieves her weights and starts another set of curls, her eyes narrowing into a glare as the mirror shows her Matt and Jennifer getting more acquainted with one another as he no doubt fills her in on the things Melissa refuses to talk about herself with the redhead out of blind hatred.
“I know it’s certainly not high on your priority list, what with this family nonsense that’s risen lately for you and the match on the horizon, but considering everything I’ve helped contribute to this little project, would it be too much to ask you to at least try and give her a chance? She’s never resented you for all the flak you’ve given her over the years, and she did stand up for you the one time when we had a falling out in school and I was in the wrong for a change in hindsight.”
“I guess you’re right… I’m not making any promises though, especially when right now the only thing I want to worry about is knocking this Jensen guy’s teeth out so he knows I wasn’t kidding when I told him to be careful what he wished for. Considering you know I still don’t like her though, I don’t get why you think I should bother with-”
Melissa’s response trailed off as her eyes drifted over to see that while Claire was listening, her eyes had drifted away from Melissa and back over to where Jennifer stood chatting with Matt. What she saw in her friend’s eyes was a look she knew all too well, even if she never experienced it herself. She’d seen that look a few times over the years when Claire had Jennifer in her line of sight, and while she brushed it off before because she could care less about anything involving the author unless it absolutely had to be her business, she carefully analyzed it this time and slowly began to realize why Claire had made such an effort time and time again to get her two closest friends (even if she refused to believe Jennifer ever belonged in that category for the blonde) to at least tolerate one another instead of adhering to Melissa’s one-sided disdain. She looked away before Claire caught on, but Melissa knew everything she needed to about some of the hidden intentions behind Claire’s hopes.
Feeling torn between her desire to throw up at the mere idea of such a possibility even existing or trying to at least give it a chance out of respect for Claire being the one friend that’s stuck with her through everything when she had no reason to and being a big reason behind where she was at today was just another uncertainty she could add to the growing list. Somehow, she was going to start addressing those uncertainties and getting answers once she was finished with her impending fight, and as much as she hated thinking about it… maybe trying to play nice with Jennifer and getting some details about where she stands about this possibility was a good starting point to slowly dealing with everything else over time.
![[Image: yC0vuyj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/yC0vuyj.png)