Owen Cruze & Aaron Blackbourne vs. Sienna Swann & Bree Lancaster

[Konrad Raab]

SCW Tag League Matches

4 RP limit for tag

Deadline: 12 NOON ET Wednesday, September 30, 2020

[Sienna Swann]

OOC: Another Chapter in the unstable mind and World of Sienna Swann. Always a pleasure Ruppy and Chris.




Anything with the “REC” on it is Viewable to the Public.

The Views Expressed By Sienna Swann Do Not Reflect Those of the Publisher. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

BROKEN WINGS: THE BREAK DOWN
PART TWO

(Click Title)

[HardyGirl]

Breakdown 9-30-20

[Owen]

OOC: Latest instalment of Owen's evolution as the person he is becoming starts to become clear. 

As always guys a pleasure to work with you all. Enjoy and Good luck

OWEN #75

[Ruppy]

Frustration…

It was a feeling Aaron was all too familiar with throughout his life, whether it was the result of dealing with a situation where he was given little chance to actually share what he had to offer or suffering a setback that he knew people weren’t going to let go of that easily. Aaron hated the feeling with every last ounce of flesh and blood that made him who he was, and even though he’s long since accepted that it’s a natural part of life and one that no one can avoid forever, that doesn’t make it sting any less when it does happen.

That was exactly why he felt as though his mind was on fire when he finally made it to the backstage area at Apocalypse.

Some of that frustration slipped a bit as he ran his hand across his face, removing some of the paint that was losing its grip on his flesh from the sweat before slamming his palm against the wall with a growl. He didn’t care if staining the wall with paint would get him in trouble or not, but nothing about the act made him feel any better. After spending the past several minutes appeasing Shilo one last time and trying to prove whatever would finally get the jester off his back once and for all, not coming away with the win bothered him greatly. He’d tried not to let it show when he had finally left the ring, but back here where he was alone for the moment and all eyes were on whatever match had followed Under the Big Top, the cracks were finally showing. Despite his best efforts, despite knowing he had beaten Shilo straight-up on ‘his stage’ back at Rise to Greatness, he had agreed to one more match knowing that the odds of the man resorting to whatever games he needed to until he said yes were the kind of bet that no one in their right mind would fail to put money on. There was no reason to give Shilo any of this… but he did, and while he had shown what he could do in such a unique environment, no one would be talking about that at the end of the night.

Shilo got the win he so desperately sought… he had refused to shake Aaron’s hand afterward, verifying what the creative soul already knew that this was all about Shilo and was never meant to be any sort of ‘passing the torch’ moment. The only thought Aaron could cling to now was the hope that the clown was finally pacified with his ‘grand finale’ because if not and he still felt the need to try and haunt his career until he got it… he was beyond certain his grip was going to loosen to the point where he would lose all sense of who he was, not to the degree that Shilo got the carbon copy he was looking for, but more to the level where there was a very good chance that man would not be returning to whatever family he had in any shape to be a husband or a father or even a properly functioning human being when all was set and done.

Accidents may happen, but Aaron knew he was better than going out of his way to try and literally destroy another human being all for the sake of making sure a point was proven. Not even Shilo could take that away from him.

As Aaron kept walking, dragging his palm along the wall as though it were an eraser trying to remove everything that had transpired lately, he dreaded when his mind inevitably went to the other issue at hand that was present tonight. While all eyes were on him clashing with Shilo in his match, his gaze had flickered elsewhere as he was making his way down to the ring. Sitting near the front, where the cameras wouldn’t catch them, were four people who had come specifically to see him: Dr. James Marsh-Asher, Liane and her parents. While the therapist would certainly not hold anything against him, having been in this business for a long time before him and knowing full well that success and failure is a natural part of it no matter how hard you work sometimes, the Fortes were another matter entirely. The whole point of them being here to especially watch this match was to show them that there was nothing wrong with pursuing your dreams no matter what’s standing in your way, and while he wanted to hope he’d gotten the message across with some of the stunts he’d pulled off with the tools presented to him…

He wasn’t sure if it was Nemesis’s doing or simply his frustration talking, but it was hard to think that they were inclined to really believe him in the face of defeat.

Aaron couldn’t stop himself from cursing out Shilo under his breath, blaming the Hall of Famer and his desperate need for one last round of attention for all the damage he had caused to the designer both intentionally and otherwise. He truly hoped, deep down, that Shilo was satisfied and could live with himself after all of this because it was going to take a lot of time to fix everything in his life that had been broken all because of that man’s selfish behavior. He never wanted to see him or even hear his voice ever again, and the idea of a lobotomy to ensure there was no trace of the jester left in his thoughts was a drastic but extremely tempting thought. Before he could even think about entertaining that thought any further, he felt someone wrap him up from behind. His body stiffened, trying to pull away and twist to confront his assailant, but before he could even get very far in doing so he heard a voice that was far quieter than it ever had a right to be reach his ears.

“You did good Aaron… you did good…”

While his nerves still felt like they were on fire, mostly because something about this situation felt off, he felt himself slowly start to relax before taking the hands that were tying him up and slowly turning to face the person they belonged to. The moment he locked eyes with Liane, he felt his heart start to soar considering they had been apart for several weeks by this point after the mess regarding her parents, only for it to plummet once more when he truly got a good look at her. While nothing about her had changed physically as far as he could tell, the look in her eyes was not the constant spark of joy determined to share that with everyone around her that he’d fallen in love with. Something about how they looked at one another made his breath hitch in his throat for all the wrong reasons. For as much as the comedian was trying to give him the same look of affection that had become the norm between them, hidden beneath it was the fear that even talking to him was wrong and she was doing something forbidden that was going to get her in trouble. As much as his mind wanted to respond to what she had said, knowing full well she was trying to make him feel better about the loss, he stood his ground against what he knew a certain someone in his imagination wanted. Unlike a lot of people on the SCW roster, this wasn’t about him right now and he wasn’t going to make it about him. When he suddenly closed the gap and pulled her into a proper hug, he could feel Liane’s body tense up, which only brought back his frustrations over what had happened prior to SCW’s return and piled them on top of what he was feeling now.

“…are you alright?”

The words carried a tone he really didn’t want to use in this situation, as much as he tried to keep himself from doing so, but a little bit of his anger was starting to slip. Liane’s arms immediately wrapped around him in the kind of bearhug that he would’ve normally been able to withstand from being a wrestler, but the pain and exhaustion from what he’d just gone through had made him far more vulnerable right now. Feeling Liane shake her head ‘no’ only caused the thoughts racing through his mind to darken further, but he bit his bottom lip and desperately tried to regain control before anything happened he was going to regret.

“They… they committed me Aaron… they hesitated for a few days after we had to separate, but when that awful woman called they went through with it. They had second thoughts once I was in, but… they wouldn’t let them discharge me. I… I wasn’t there for very long, thanks to Dr. Marsh-Asher, but… but…”

Her words were cut off by the sobs that began escaping her throat, only solidifying how broken she felt right now. The two of them just stood there, holding one another as though the world itself was going to collapse if they ever let go, Aaron trying to gently rub circles on his beloved’s back as she pressed her forehead against his shoulder, desperately trying to pull herself together as her body shuddered with every sob that escaped. He wanted to blame her parents so badly… he wanted to storm back out into the arena, hop the barricade and be willing to risk his place in SCW after what they had done, but he couldn’t find it in him to do that. He reminded himself that he was above being that petty… they had done wrong, and they had been a significant cause of most of Liane’s longstanding suffering, but Liane had tried to make it clear they hadn’t actually pulled the trigger until Nancy had intervened again. He didn’t know what had happened in whatever time she was there for, but with the state she was in now, he wasn’t going to push anything. She would open up in time and now was not that time.

“Where are your parents? I saw them here…”

“They’re still in the crowd, talking with Dr. Marsh-Asher. They knew how badly I’ve needed to see you… you did good honey. I think… I think you got through to them… especially tonight…”

“But… but I lost! That selfish spotlight junkie got what he wanted at my expense!”

Liane flinched a bit and clung to him tighter, and Aaron needed a few deep breaths to stabilize himself. He hadn’t meant to raise his voice, but it was hard not to let it all start seeping through the holes in his armor at this point. He’d just barely been holding himself together in the aftermath of the bell ringing, but just like the real thing, imaginary duck tape could only hold it all together for so long before it finally gave way, and seeing the state his fiancée was in had been his tipping point. His eyes widen as he felt a gentle, but shaky, kiss on his earlobe before he heard her whispering in response, her voice hesitant but trying to show a level of firmness he needed to hear right now to ground himself.

“It’s alright… they saw you make that match your own regardless. You… you showed them that it’s alright to fail, the thing they were afraid of most, because it didn’t stop you from proving what you needed to… it won’t stop you from coming back next time, stronger than before, where Shilo probably won’t be seen again.”

At that moment, the haze that had been clouding Aaron’s mind slowly seemed to lift as the gravity of Liane’s words hit him. True, he had lost on this night, and Shilo would no doubt brag about it until the day he died along with everyone else who was eager to shove it down his throat that he failed again. But despite that, he would still be back in the ring competing once more before long, taking what he learned from this setback and applying it so he could continue improving and fighting his way up the mountain. The odds of Shilo coming back for one more round when he’s proven he was clearly the type to just take what he could get and fade back into obscurity in satisfaction were slim, and there was no point in dwelling on trying to continue pursuing someone who had been chasing after him for the past year. To do that would prove that Shilo had gotten into his head, as well as prove every baseless fear Liane’s parents had about what they wanted to do with their lives correct all along. He was better than that and he knew it… Mr. and Mrs. Forte could be better than that, but he needed to stand strong to make sure they truly understood that.

“What are you doing here Miss Forte? I don’t believe you were deemed fit to return to society quite yet.”

The new voice in the conversation immediately had Liane releasing her love and moving to make sure he was between the two of them, and Aaron’s eyes narrowed into a glare as Nancy Black stood before them, making sure she looked as though she could care less about being here and was simply trying to do her ‘job.’ Considering the circumstances, the fact that she was even standing there with an air of authority around her was baffling, but the moment she took a step forward Aarin reflexively balled his fists up, refusing to let her anywhere near the woman she’d already done more than enough damage to.

“Mr. Blackbourne, I highly suggest you step aside before you do anything you’ll regret. I do believe there’s a legal restriction right now about you being anywhere near her until she’s-”

“The hospital let me go after Dr. Marsh-Asher invalidated whatever you showed them.”

Aaron could tell Liane was trying to stand strong, but her voice carried a shaky tone to it, almost like she was afarid this woman somehow had the power to force her to have to go back to that place that had clearly done damage to her. Aaron kept her close while glaring at the pretend therapist, seeing her flinch a bit at the mention of James’s name but trying to maintain her composure to control the situation. When she opened her mouth to try and retort, Aaron cut her off, refusing to allow her to start any sort of mental chess game with someone who wasn’t in a state to play right now.

“I think a better question is what are you doing here? I was told all about what you tried to pull at Taking Hold of the Flame, and you’re on security’s blacklist right now.”

“Well perhaps SCW should hire better security then because they seem awfully distracted by someone else I could write an award-winning report on if she wasn’t already turning her life into the equivalent of a daytime soap opera out there.”

Aaron had faintly registered the sound of the crowd out in the arena and whatever had been going on in the show since he got back here, but he’d been too tied up with his thoughts and frustrations to acknowledge it right now. Whatever was going on had apparently been enough to attract most of security to diffuse the situation, and while he could make guesses as to who it was, he knew full well that no one on this roster, regardless of his professional or personal feelings towards them, deserved to have their lives ruined by someone simply looking for fame and fortune at their expense.

“You can stop being so protective of her Mr. Blackbourne. Miss Forte had all the help she could ever need without you intruding on her life, much as you were better off without her by her side. The two of you only exacerbate one another’s issues by trying to solve them together when they are meant to be tackled in an environment designed to correct such problems, overseen by someone who actually deserves to be recognized for their efforts.”

The smug satisfaction Nancy was taking in trying to insist that Aaron and Liane even remotely made their lives worse by being together, on top of the jabs at someone the creative soul knew full well had worked hard to be where he was now for all the right reasons and not caring if his work was acknowledged so long as he helped someone truly get better, only made him want to do something he knew he would regret. He bit his bottom lip harder as he could virtually feel the embodiment of all his negativity screaming from inside his head to just level her and be done with it all, but even as he felt his lip split from the force and blood begin to trickle down over the paint left on his face, he tried his best to stand his ground and not give in. He was above this… even if he forced it to become a madness mantra he would repeat until the end of time, he would repeat it in his head as many times as necessary to stand by it, especially now.

“That’s quite the amusing notion ‘doctor,’ considering it’s coming from an individual who is now wanted in at least two states for her callous manipulation of the law and basic psychological practices to placate her nonexistent ego.”

Aaron released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, feeling Liane expelling hers with a sigh of relief as well as it hit his back when all eyes turned to see James with his arms crossed, staring daggers through Nancy. A similar look could be seen on the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Forte from behind him, though not with the same pure disdain that he wielded, almost as though he was allowing Thirteen the freedom to say what needed to be said without restraint. Nancy did her best to stand firm, but the moment James began closing the gap, reaching into his pocket to produce his phone in the process, she slowly began to back away.

“Now, security may be a little busy right now to realize you snuck into the building, which I do believe is another violation of the law since you’re not even a part of this company in any way or have the valid permission needed to be back here, but considering the outstanding warrants for every last hand of deceit you’ve been trying to play, I don’t think it’s wrong of me to consider letting the local authorities into the loop, now do you?”

James had only just finished speaking when Nancy turned and bolted, causing a sigh of annoyance to leave his lips. He turned to look at the couple, silently asking him if they were alright, and once they returned nods in the affirmative, he motioned with his head to the Forte parents before quickly walking away, dialing a number on his phone that made it clear he would be back to talk with his patients later because trying to take the source of all of these problems out of the equation once and for all was understandably his top priority. Aaron and Liane watched him head off after the rogue pretender before slowly turning to meet the eyes of Liane’s parents, who both looked a little guilty after witnessing what had just transpired.

“Are you two alright?”

“We’ve been better if you want me to be blunt…”

Aaron flinched at that as he tried to take a few more calming breaths, his emotions still running a little high after how this night had gone so far. Thankfully, it seemed like the mood he was in was understandable as the husband and wife showed no anger towards the outburst.

“I know we’ve already said it countless times to you Liane, but… we owe you an apology Aaron, and then some. You were right… we let the idea that we’d wasted our lives and our chance to live our dreams was long gone consume us, and all it really did was drive all our kids away when we tried to invade what made them happy for our own selfish gain. But what we saw tonight, especially from you… we really have no excuse to not take a chance and see what happens.”

“It was wrong of us to treat our kids the way we have, and to blame you for a problem you had nothing to do with all because we let someone else manipulate how frustrated we were about our own lives. You have no reason to forgive us for the way we’ve acted, nobody does… but, if it’s alright with you, we’d like a do-over on getting to know you.”

“What do you say we go out to dinner and have an actual, civil conversation?”

“Let me go get cleaned up first, and then we can figure out where to go.”

As Liane gave her husband a small peck on the lips while her parents looked relieved, Aaron spent his time going back to his locker room and washing the paint from his body thinking about how things could’ve played out if he had chosen to reject the offer. Finding nothing good coming from those thoughts, a sense of relief came over him that he’d made the right decision. It wasn’t always easy to know exactly what was the right call to make sometimes, but he knew deep in his heart that no one was ever going to truly make the progress they wanted if they kept letting frustration and failure dictate their every move. After all, that’s exactly how you get people like Nancy Black, hellbent on using everyone around her as stepping stones to get exactly what she wanted by any means necessary.

So long as Aaron could remind himself of why he had no reason to stoop to such levels over something that was trivial at best in the long run, he would always be able to stay in control, no matter what was threatening to take everything away from him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way now… yes, Shilo Valiant got one over on me at Apocalypse.

What, you were expecting me to simply forget that ever happened? Sorry, but unlike some people, I will admit and own up to my setbacks because there is always something to learn from them. The fact of the matter is, Shilo caught me. In my bid to get him off my case once and for all, I played too much into his game and let my desire to get creative overshadow the fact that I should have been focusing on trying to win that match. Goon on Shilo for taking advantage… and yet, I was still stirring even as he celebrated, I walked to the back under my own power. For all of Shilo’s claims that he was willing to destroy me if necessary to prove his point, then by his own logic, he failed to accomplish what he set out to do on that night. Considering he never even considered shaking my hand when all was set and done, he proved that I was right about his need for the spotlight and having that last laugh overshadowing even his own supposed desires to make me into his successor.

For your sake Shilo, I hope you got everything you wanted out of that match because this is the end of the line. I’d like to return to my regularly scheduled programming of busting my ass night in and night out to scratch and claw my way up the mountain and remind anyone who may be in doubt that Aaron Blackbourne is far more than just what you’ve convinced yourself that I am.

Let’s be clear for a moment… am I frustrated that I failed to win that match? Absolutely. It’s a natural part of who we are as human beings to get a little upset when things don’t go our way. But to complain about it would undermine exactly what I DID accomplish in that match, was is exactly what Shilo wanted to ‘test’ in the first place. He would have to be blind or going senile to deny that even in defeat, I made his match my own, and I did things that no one else before me, not even Shilo himself, have done with the tools available to us. I may not have won, but I proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am every bit the creative soul that I say I am, and I did it all on my terms, not whatever the jester may believe I simply ‘stole’ from him.

Now, it would be very easy to assume that heading into Breakdown I’m going to hear an awful lot of chatter about my failure to win. But let’s not get the facts twisted here: of the four people involved in this upcoming match I find myself in, only one actually won their match at Apocalypse, and she’s acting as though she still lost just because, much like Shilo at the end of the day, she didn’t get EXACTLY what she wanted. Going sixty minutes and getting a win is an impressive feat, I will never deny that, but to act as though it doesn’t matter simply because your opponent was actually able to walk away at the end of the night and still show up to compete in the weeks that follow is a dangerous sign that goes far beyond the mere concepts of being egotistical and demanding the world be handed to you on a silver platter.

Being able to participate in this Tag League with Owen is certainly a huge honor for both of us, and we’ve been excited about the prospects of who we could find ourselves matched up with considering both established teams and potentially fragile alliances are all being tested here. We may not have teamed together very often, but every time we have we’ve put our best foot forward and proven that the bond we have is a lot stronger than some people give it credit for. No matter what happens, Owen and I will always have each other’s backs, and the same goes for Peyton and Kelcey and even Alistaire at the end of the day. Maybe it’s just me, but I like to consider them a second family, one that’s willing to keep me grounded and help me when I need it just as I would do for any of them. That might explain why seeing that Bree and Sienna as the first team we cross paths with in this thing has me feeling determined to fight, and sadly not just because of the talent that does threaten to start us off behind the eight ball.

I might as well get this out of the way first… hello Bree, it’s nice to see you again. I would say it’s funny how our paths keep crossing, but I recall telling you a long time ago that as long as we exist on the same roster, this possibility will always exist. I’m sure you’re on cloud nine after seeing how the chips fell to kick off the Tag League, considering I’ll openly admit that I have yet to notch a win over you. Maybe it’ll surprise you to hear me say this, but there’s no denying that after three failed attempts to do so in the past, you are my superior… at least, for now. Take offense to that all you want, but the fact of the matter is that as time goes on, we will both continue to improve, and one of these days we may find ourselves at a point where I’ve improved enough to finally take one away from you. Maybe that’ll be this upcoming Breakdown, maybe not… but the one thing you can always expect of me is that I will push you farther than you’ve ever gone before, regardless of what is or isn’t at stake, because either you’ll meet me at that level or you’ll let the fact that I have yet to win make you grow complacent enough that it’ll come back to bite you. Maybe you’ll get a good laugh out of that now, but deep down you know full well what I’m capable of, regardless of whether I’m at a hundred percent or not… sooner or later, it’s going to happen.

Maybe Breakdown will be the night it happens after all. Considering how Apocalypse went, the aftermath is a tale of two tapes in a sense… true, you have your World Title rematch that I’d be blind to believe you don’t deserve, but while I can at least take solace in my setbacks from that night and both look on the bright side and develop from where I went wrong, you’re acting as though you came out of that show scot-free. I get it, you weren’t involved in the final decision, but let’s be honest Bree… it’s always so easy to take the route of ‘I didn’t actually lose because I wasn’t pinned’ and carry on as though nothing happened. I know you’re better than that, I’ve faced you more than enough times to know what you’re all about. Go ahead and pretend that it never happened all you like, but the more you choose to make excuses for your failures when they do happen, the more prone you become to making more and spiraling. What happens if you don’t walk away from your rematch for the World Title with the belt? Do we just induce amnesia and act like it never happened and you still should be at the top of the mountain?

If I had to play devil’s advocate for a moment, though… I’d rather Bree’s approach to things than where Sienna Swann is right now. I’ll be honest… maybe there are some things that have happened in her life that have driven her to the point she’d at now, and maybe she’s in the right to feel angry over it all. But sometimes, proving you have a handle on your emotions and channeling that fury in a way that’s not just violently lashing out at whoever’s within arms reach can take you a lot farther than just trying to create a warpath. I hate to say it Sienna, but for as much as I distrust Katya after what she’s pulled with me back when she was running the show, I have to agree with her that the idea of you being considered for the World Title is not one that should be entertained right now. Don’t get me wrong, you have the talent and you’ve more than proven you deserve to be there, something I, again, know firsthand. But do you think SCW would willingly gamble on making the face of the entire promotion someone who has lost all control of her state of mind that she’s liable to literally burn the building to the ground if it gets her all the vengeance she feels she’s owed?

I get it… you have your longstanding issues with Kelcey Wallace, and I’d be a fool to ignore them. You’ve no doubt had some personal interactions with some of the members of our little family outside the ring, and I’m being caught in the crossfire because I’m not one of them but as someone willing to be guided by your old rival I’m responsible for what’s happened to you by proxy. This is the kind of imbalance thought process that has people worried for you and trying to get you under control, the kind of irrational behavior that warrants the question of whether or not you can cooperate with Bree to score wins as opposed to just trying to cause chaos, end result be damned. You’ve made it no secret already that you plan to destroy the Perfect Pack with little regard to whether or not it will ultimately cost you this match or allow Bree to keep you as a partner in the weeks to come… Bree shouldn’t have to divide her focus on making sure you don’t go overboard, but even if you don’t want to acknowledge that, I want you to remember who you’re dealing with here. Owen and I have both gone through a lot of personal trauma in our respective lives… in my case, it’s no secret that someone attempted to take my life last year, and yet just forty-eight hours later I still marched down to the ring, damaged by ready to fight, and your tag partner and I still stole the show. That, if anything, should be a warning sign that no matter what you think you can do to me, you aren’t destroying me that easily, and you aren’t going to put an end to the Perfect Pack no matter what you think you can try.

We are resilient, we stand up for one another, and we will always fight until the bitter end… we may not be ‘perfect’ but Owen and I don’t have to be in order to survive everything the two of you may throw at us and walk out of Breakdown with two points to our name. Our bond will survive and we will live to fight another day, growing and improving along the way. Whether or not the same can be said about the two of you will come down to what happens on Breakdown, because if this is how Sienna wants to play? Then I truly feel bad for Bree that her friendship meant so little to you Sienna.