Melissa Killgraves versus Thamuz

[thisisemerge]

Please note amended deadline

DEADLINE ONE - 3250 ROLEPLAY 18TH OCTOBER 2019 2359 EST

DEADLINE TWO - 750 WORD SHOOT / SEGMENT 20TH OCTOBER 2019 2359 EST

[Ruppy]

OOC: This basically accomplished the basic idea of what I was aiming for. I wanted to do so much more with it, but I've been feeling a bit out of it since I came home from work and struggled with finding the motivation to actually put the idea together the way I planned to. I apologize that this isn't the best effort from me this time around.

One small moment on the last EMERGE seemed to have left more questions than answers.

Only one woman had those answers, and she wasn’t in the mood to talk right now.

Melissa Killgraves found herself the subject of a lot of talk again after that show went off the air, though it was far from the reasons her name was on everyone’s lips before. Despite her best efforts, including having to team with seemingly bitter enemy Sundown, she wasn’t going to find herself in the Pyramid or with an EMERGE Title opportunity anytime soon. For the second straight show, she had to watch something she coveted dearly be ripped away from her by Jennifer Helms and her desires of hoarding everything like the greedy little bitch she truly was shined through clear as day, even demanding to launch the final strike and score the pinfall herself. First the RUSH Championship, and now being one win away from the biggest prize the company had to offer… the very thought had Melissa about ready to throw up.

Perhaps that was the last straw that led to what many might call a deal with the devil.

To the surprise of many, Melissa actually seemed to work together very well with Sundown despite their lingering animosity toward one another, and neither one of them was responsible for why they wouldn’t be on their way into Pyramid contention. That blame fell onto the shoulders of Desiree Devna, who was more concerned with imitating Taylor Chase than actually being of any use when push came to shove. Considering all she’d been hearing up until the bell rang was whispers of this impending ‘war’ between Cindy Todd’s group and the rest of the roster, the very idea of getting caught up in it at all made her furious. But everyone, from the fans to most of the roster, was expecting her to stand by their side and fight the injustice that the Unforgiven seemingly represented, and despite her own past conflicts with Sundown, she had no interest, which unfortunately didn’t seem like an option as far as everyone was concerned.

With her chance at the Pyramid up in smoke, Melissa found herself listening as Cindy whispered something in her ear after keeping Sundown from mauling Devna… and then proceeded to give the wannabe First Lady the Dishonorable Discharge herself.

Rumors were naturally running rampant because of that one moment, with so much speculation it made Melissa’s head spin. Had she really just joined the Unforgiven? Was she really willing to stand against the entire EMERGE roster? And for what reason? Considering nothing official ever came out in the aftermath of the show, especially when tragic news broke that made it clear the group had more important matters that needed their attention, it left the world begging for someone to give them a clear response for the information they so desperately sought. And yet, all Melissa seemed concerned with was turning her focus to her next match as the tedious ascent back to the throne she still felt was stolen from her began anew.

That was why she was currently in the gym, body in a push-up position as she used some dumbbells to do some alternating weighted bicep stretches. Her next match didn’t seem like it had anything to do with whatever was going on around her, just a straightforward match pitting her against a demented freak who looked like a clown. The mere thought of him standing across the ring from her just made her blood boil, as while she probably would’ve bullied around that Briley girl if given the chance, there was a part of her that felt bad for everything she had to put up with from this guy and his shameless antics. Whether or not he was as much of a dangerous lunatic as he and others claimed was irrelevant in her mind… she’d stared down Sundown twice and battled him without fear and even seemingly convinced Cindy to look at her in a different light and consider talking with her instead of to her, and Thamuz seemed like a walk in the park by comparison.

She couldn’t have asked for a more perfect opportunity to make a statement.

“Melissa, can we talk?”

She finished the last of her reps before rising to a stand and putting her weights back as Matt watched her carefully from the gym’s doorway. When she met his gaze, she saw a mixture of concern and frustration on the face of her trainer, which got her raising an eyebrow.

“What is it?”

“Do you want to tell me what the last show was all about?”

Melissa practically spat out a sigh, not surprised he wanted to talk about that. She had a feeling he would be concerned, but she put it out of mind to focus on preparing to lay waste to Thamuz.

“You mean the fact that I fell short again? Can I really be blamed if one of my partners thought she was more than she truly is and cost us the match because she was too busy trying to impress some retired bitch I could care less about even if she was staring me down?”

“You know full well that’s not what I’m talking about, and I’m not letting you duck out of this conversation. What was that AFTER the match? You and that Cindy woman, and then what you did after she whispered in your ear?”

“Do I really have to answer? Why do you even care about what I do in EMERGE beyond whether I win or lose?”

Matt sighs as she goes to sit down on one of the benches, stretching out her legs a bit as she waits to hear his response.

“It’s because I’m concerned for you Melissa, and I’m speaking from my own experience on this one. The biggest reason you felt I was the perfect choice to train you beyond being the only one Miss Prescott could find that understood your situation and sympathized with you instead of your father was that I never went through my entire career being the ‘heroic soldier fighting the good fight.’ You know there was a point in my career when I was a ruthless, cutthroat machine who cared only for winning by any means necessary and leaving a trail of broken bodies in my wake as the only statement I really needed to make. During that time I found myself part of a group that shared that vision and we all desired to be the big, bad force that tore everything apart and rebuilt it in our own image. I came away from that in a positive light again because I was stabbed in the back the very second they felt I couldn’t pull my own weight because that’s all these groups know how to do. Whoever serves as the leader or mastermind or whatever, they only see what they want and how to get there, and if someone under them isn’t doing their part they pay the price. Do you really think I want you to experience that so early in your career?”

Melissa could see the passion in which Matt was recounting the experience, and understood full well what he was getting at. It was one of the biggest reasons why she’d hesitated before making her declaration that if Cindy had something to say to her, she was willing to listen. She knew she was playing with fire and Cindy probably didn’t have her best interests in mind. But when she thought about everything that led her to make the decision to pull the trigger in the first place, she felt her temper flaring up again as she slowly rose to stare down Matt, who didn’t budge as he gave her a stern look.

“I know you’re just looking out for me, especially since you’ve been more like a father to me than my own dad really has. But the whole reason I did any of this in the first place was because I’m getting sick and tired of my decisions being made for me. I don’t want to be a soldier or serve in the military, and if I had my way I’d rather just stay out of this stupid so-called war. But everyone is making it clear that I absolutely have to pick a side, so if I’m left with no choice I’d rather be on the side that isn’t harassing me about standing with them. I’m not afraid of what that means, and if this turns out to be a mistake I’ll own up to it. For now, I’ve at least got a match that’s not related to this in any way, shape or form, and I’d like to just focus on that and figure out the rest if Cindy wants to keep talking. In the meantime, I’ve got a clown I need to break in half.”

With that, Melissa walked off to resume her workout, with Matt watching her carefully. He was still very much concerned, believing she was making a rash decision based on her frustrations toward everything going on around her, but for now, he would just have to wait and see and hope she knew what she was doing. It was still fairly for anything to truly cause alarms to go off, but the most terrifying part of any storm was always the calm that came before it.

When it began, he could only hope she was truly as prepared as she thought she was.