Ace Marshall vs. Aaron Blackbourne

[Konrad Raab]

2 RP Limit for singles

Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Friday, March 5, 2021

[Ace]

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[Ruppy]

The past month has been a mentally trying time for Aaron Blackbourne, and it’s left him struggling to figure out how to piece together the puzzle that is everything he thought he knew about himself and where he stands.

Ever since Last Grasp of Reality, Aaron has found himself seemingly stranded on a deserted island, both all alone and with no clear way of knowing where he’s supposed to go to return to everything he once knew. After he and Owen had finished their final obligation for the Tag League, he’s wrestled only one match, a victory over Kandis that both got a small measure of justice on behalf of Peyton and paid her back for her own efforts to sabotage Aaron’s attempts at getting himself back into that position everyone keeps trying to reassure him they all knew he can be at. Since then, he willingly checked out of SCW on a night where he wasn’t booked anyway to support Owen after the news broke of what happened to Shaun, which had only earned him a reminder from his friend the following week that he didn’t need to do that as they both should be focusing only on their own efforts right now.

All of that said, the creative soul certainly didn’t need to speculate on the outrage he knew would be waiting to meet his ears once his name was announced among the list of those David Helms wanted to see compete in the Scaffold Scramble.

It was becoming more and more common as his career marched on that everyone wanted to question what he’d done to earn the opportunities he was fighting for, and considering this situation came from a handpicked list by a Trios contract holder, he could hear the screams of bias from a mile away. Whether it was because he was best friends with the guy who was dating the daughter of the man who got to put this list of competitors together or because he and Owen had both proven themselves against David firsthand and earned his respect, it wasn’t hard to try and mentally prepare himself for the onslaught of accusations that he knew a good chunk of that field was going to try and level him with once Retribution rolled around and the chaos commenced.

Chaos… that sounds about right in more ways than one, sadly…

He couldn’t help it as that thought crossed his mind. While it had been hard to try and get himself back in order regarding SCW now that it seemed a certainty that he was going it alone for the foreseeable future, the unintentional extended break had both helped and hurt him beyond the ring as well. Not being in action and only really being present backstage the night of the hellacious gauntlet that had spawned from Ace Marshall’s Trios contract over the last three weeks had left him pretty open for being able to meet with Dr. Marsh-Asher, which had been a big help in trying to get his head screwed back on straight amidst the bizarre thoughts that seemed to be plaguing him more and more. He’d even been able to use the break to check in on both his own family as well as Liane’s and the relief from seeing all of them doing well almost felt like finally receiving the serotonin he’d been missing to keep him grounded. He’d even been able to head back to Seattle to retrieve the bottle of Chimera that had been sent to him along with the mysterious message that seemed to be meant specifically for him, turning them over to James and the team he was working with as they sought to unravel a way to kill this drug epidemic once and for all.

That said, this mess was only just getting started, and there were still a lot of unanswered questions that were still haunting him.

The more he thought back on how things seemed to be falling apart around him and attempting to somehow stitch themselves back together in some new form that vaguely resembled what he once had, the harder it was to ignore the episodes that had been more and more frequent lately. None of them at least seemed to be as bad as the one he experienced on his drive to Kansas City about a month ago that had almost led him into a fatal accident, but they were starting to affect the way he operated during his day-to-day life and he couldn’t take it anymore. Even James had been at a loss for words when he’d witnessed his patient break down into one right before his very eyes during the last session they had this past weekend, despite doing his absolute best to bring Aaron back around.

If that spoke volumes about anything to the creative soul, it was that there was some element to this mess that specifically had to do with him, and figuring out exactly what it was and how he could get a hold of it might be the key to getting himself back to the way he wanted to be.

That was the prevailing thought he tried to focus on as he holed up in his hotel room in Little Rock for the next Breakdown. Sure, there were a ton of things in the city he could do to try and enjoy himself while he was here, but the city was unfortunately tainted with bad memories of the Scarlet Grey mess and while he could never hold it against the city itself, that was a scar that would always make its presence felt whenever he was here even if that woman was long gone from both SCW and anything pertaining to him.

“It always seems like whenever I have the chance to prove I belong where everyone thinks I do, something else decides to get in the way and tie me up for far too long…”

It was a painful thought to lament, but one that he was able to focus on even as he could practically feel the low hum of static trying to make itself known in his mind once more, picking up on the problems of his past in this city and feeding on them like a parasite. It was a weird feeling, knowing this was a tactic of something else that seemed like it has nothing to do with the feeling that was trying to plunge his mind into the abyss, but the creative soul was struggling with trying to even figure out where to begin with unraveling this mystery.

He had a lot of ideas on what was contributing to the problem, but no real way of dealing with those as they were matters best left in the hands of the people who were more equipped to tackle that issue.

The one thing he knew for sure is that he needed to get his mind off of everything… off of the derailing of where things stood in SCW, off this mysterious drug that was trying to take hold of so many lives and the insistence that it somehow held some sort of relation to him, off of every last bit of damage that had run through his life as of late and tried to throw everything he knew into oblivion.

That was why he had decided to just stay in his hotel room, lay on the bed, and attempt to force his way past the static and hateful words that tore through his mind and tried to consume him once again, aiming to enter the world within so he could find the peace he sought to figure out his next course of action.

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The constant static that seemed to play in Aaron’s head ended up making the ride a lot rougher than he was used to.

Needless to say, that was a problem if this was going to become a constant issue going forward.

Still, he found himself opening his eyes in the fields just outside of his planned destination, which was perfectly fine with him. The walk would help to sort things out, and once he made it to where he was going, perhaps he would be able to start forming his plans for Retribution. Needless to say, it had been quite some time since he’d shared what existed within his imagination with the world, and part of him felt like doing that would help him get back to his roots and steer his focus in the direction he truly needed it to go in right now.

Even if he didn’t find who he was looking for upon the completion of this trek, he’d gladly take the extra time to allow the inspiration of the area to flow through him, because at this point, any distraction from whatever was going on was a good distraction in his book.

Thankfully, being inside his own head seemed to inexplicably make the static clear, though whether or not this was because he was the one in control here or if it was just some sort of solitary layer he’d passed through and could now safely ignore was up for debate. Just another thing he could sort out later because all that mattered right now was deep breaths and the serenity of the silent fields around him that would soon give way to the location he was heading toward: a large snowy mountain with a frozen lake that cut straight through the terrain at its base, complete with small snow-covered cabins that he never really filled with inhabitants, only painted them into existence to help add to the tranquility of the landscape that was constantly being covered in a neverending snowfall.

Truth be told, despite what many would assume because he currently resided on the West Coast and had made his love of Halloween over all other holidays very well known by now, Aaron’s favorite season was always winter. The peace of the falling snow, the way the snowflakes always danced through the air and no two ever looked the same, the way it blanketed the land… it was always this time of year that the creative soul felt he could find peace the easiest whenever his life was in turmoil. Knowing that when he moved to Seattle he likely wouldn’t have that anymore, he’d settled for making sure he had several locations such as this one planted firmly into his creative world to fall back on in moments like this when he sought a way to empty his mind and wanted something a little different than what the Sanctuary had to offer.

That was why, once he’d reached the top of the small hill he would have to climb that would level out into the serene snowscape, he suddenly felt his heart shatter.

Before his eyes stood not the mountain gently painted with snow or the frozen river that snaked its way through the ground, and not a trace of snowflakes drifting through the air could be found. Instead, it almost looked like some unnatural force had rampaged through and destroyed everything in its wake, corrupting every last trace it could find. The majestic mountains had been reduced to a giant pile of rubble, the snow-covered fields resembled a wasteland that had been ripped apart by the force of several earthquakes happening simultaneously, and the frozen river was now running rapidly through the area, though it was not water that flowed through that crevasse but rather some sort of black torrent that Aaron didn’t even want to begin to speculate on the identity of. It was nothing like what he’d imagined… it was now the aftermath of something awful that felt like it came straight from his nightmares, and he had no idea what had happened or even why.

Aaron cautiously made his way through what was left of this place, carefully stepping around the broken debris of boulders from the former mountains and wood and glass from the former cabins. There seemed to be no obvious trace of what exactly had happened or who could’ve done this. Nemesis came to mind, but Aaron dismissed that thought rather quickly because even at the strongest he’d known that abomination to be, which was nowhere close to what they were at present, even they weren’t capable of doing this. The thought that there was some other force that was capable of causing this kind of mindless destruction to the world he’d been building inside his mind for most of his life was not a pleasant one, and he could feel the chill run down his spine at whatever he might find himself having to deal with.

Whatever it was, he was hopeful they could find a peaceful compromise and this wouldn’t be like Nemesis at all.

A strange sound caught his attention, eyes turning toward the black rapids that were barreling through where the once frozen river used to sit. He strained to listen carefully, but he could hear it faintly, buried in the normal sound of water flowing that quickly like a sideways waterfall, there was a strange gurgle that sounded like nothing he had ever imagined before. It was odd… sounding almost like something was alive inside the rapid flow of this bizarre black substance, and it wanted him to be aware of it.

Perhaps that alone was the reason why he was ready when whatever it was made its move.

A black tar-like claw suddenly shot out from the rampaging river, attempting to grab a hold of Aaron’s ankle, but the creator of this imaginary world quickly dove out of the way, the claw only grabbing at fragments of wood that it dragged back into the torrent. More claws soon followed, however, desperately trying to seize Aaron. He was able to stay on his toes and dodge, but the more he avoided the more claws that seemed to shoot out, making it clear that whatever this thing was, it had every intention of snatching him by any means necessary. Aaron eventually resorted to grabbing one of the shattered wood planks and wielding it like a bat to keep the creature at bay, but this was a fight he knew he was losing as his resistance only incited greater numbers.

“I don’t know… what this thing is… but I’m not… letting it… take me… without… a FIGHT!”

A battle cry to keep himself going and a warning to this thing that he wasn’t going to let it take him that easily, Aaron continued to bat the claws away. When it only increased its efforts, he simply took hold of the fact that this was his imagination and used it to begin conjuring up stone pillars out of thin air to hinder the creature’s efforts, making it easier on him to keep defending himself against whatever it wanted with him. Even still, he felt like he wasn’t getting anywhere, and he knew this needed to end because it was better safe than sorry to snap out of his thoughts now. Trying to keep himself as composed as possible as his body’s instincts took over in defending himself, he slowly began to use his creativity to reshape the destroyed remnants of the mountains into a massive stone wall that slowly but surely cut off the creature’s efforts, making sure to effectively box off the river and leave it with no avenue of being able to keep trying to grab him.

It was a few minutes that felt like a few hours of struggle, but soon he no longer needed to keep fighting.

Dropping the plank he’d been wielding, Aaron was breathing heavily as he looked at the rocky prison he’d created, quietly mourning the devastation of one of the few peaceful places in his imaginary world that wasn’t the Sanctuary. Still, it left him trying to figure out what had even happened and what had been so hellbent on sweeping him away in that current of darkness. The feeling of dread hadn’t let go of his senses yet, which made him worried that this was only the beginning of a bigger problem, one that might potentially tie into the bizarre voices that had been plaguing his thoughts and attempting to derail him constantly.

All because of the possibility that he might not be so paranoid about-

A loud crashing sound kept him from finishing that thought. He quickly whipped back to look at the blockade he’d made as the sound repeated, cracks beginning to form in the stone that had his eyes widening and his feet starting to carry him backward. A few more crashes followed, each one rattling the box he’d made and slowly breaking it down more and more. With one final crash, the stone was obliterated as the dark river itself began to hurtle toward him, tearing through the very landscape itself and consuming anything that found itself in its path. Aaron turned and started to run, but no matter how much he imagined himself being much faster, the terrifying torrent was still able to catch up in no time, slamming into the ground and sending him airborne just as he reached the hill he knew he would have to descend. As his body floated through the air, he saw the substance tumble down the hill like a waterfall, corroding everything it came into contact with. He barely had time to process this before another twister seemed to erupt from the blackness and tear through the sky towards him, and with no time to react, he could only fear the worst as he desperately tried to snap himself out of his head and back into reality.

“YOINK!”

“Just in time!”

In the blink of an eye, the creative soul suddenly realized he was being dragged through the air at top speed, and following the length of his arms he found the Twin Stars clutching at his wrists as they tore the sky at a speed not even he seemed to be able to reach, the torrent trying to follow after them but finding itself constantly fought back by one of the twins’ powers as they continued to gain distance.

“Dreambender! Gleeful! What the hell is that thing!?”

“No clue! All we know for sure is that it clearly likes making a mess out of your head!”

“You need to get out of here Aaron! Don’t worry, we’ll be able to blink away safely, but you need to snap out of it before this thing gets to you. Whatever it is, there’s no telling what’ll happen if it gets a hold of you, just as it’s been trying to do for weeks now!”

“Weeks?”

The question went unanswered as the spectral siblings did their absolute best to keep the entity at bay, and the fact that they seemed to have better luck than he did on that front was concerning. Was this thing simply wise to what he was capable of specifically inside the epicenter of his greatest asset? Or was there more to it than that? If it had been after him for weeks at this point…

Did that mean this thing was connected to the voices and static that had been short-circuiting his ability to function and driving him deeper into madness?

A violent roar tore through the air as the sinister spiral seemed to suddenly open up at its tip to form into a colossal pair of jaws, begging to crush anything that found itself caught by them. Realizing that, at least for the moment, he was actually safer outside of his world than within it for a change, he nodded to the Twin Stars and put all of his energy into trying to leave this place behind, though as he felt his form fade away and return to reality, he made a silent vow:

He was going to get to the bottom of this, and he was going to rid his mind of this… thing, no matter what it took.

After all, it was about damn time that Aaron could actually have some peace in life, for a change, at least as far as he was concerned.

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I’m sure you’re all waiting with bated breath to hear what I have to say, huh?

I wouldn’t blame you… there are a lot of people trying to fish for anything they can hold over my head right now. They want something to use against me when Retribution rolls around after my name was on the list of those who will be competing in it. They’re hoping I might say something that they can spin to drive some sort of wedge between myself and Owen all over the interaction we had backstage two weeks ago before the gauntlet neither one of us was a part of. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if many out there are grabbing their torches and pitchforks just because it seems like I have yet another chance to claim an opportunity you all believe I don’t deserve.

You can take that one up with David Helms… the Scaffold Scramble was born of his Trios contract and his choice of who he feels are ready to try and take that shot.

The fact of the matter is, I never asked for much when I first came to SCW years ago. I came here to compete with the best, to share with the world what makes me who I am. Through all of that, I ended up making some friends that will last with me for a long time to come, even outside of this business. I’ve had my chances, I’ve fallen short, and I’ve been frustrated at that just like anyone else in my position would. But despite all of that, I’ve stayed here and fought for everything, no matter what anybody else says. Because for every single person that tells me I don’t belong here, there’s someone on the other side who will argue back that not only do I truly belong, but I should be a lot higher up on the proverbial ladder than I am. And as far as I’m concerned, Retribution will be my opportunity to prove just that.

But right now, we’ve still got a little ways to go before Retribution. And I’ve got a chance to be part of a sneak preview for all of you regarding what you might expect when it comes time for all of us to fight over who can make it to the top of that scaffold and grab that briefcase.

It’s almost symbolic in a way… the perfect way to promote a very chaotic match a week before it’s set to take place is by taking two very creative and chaotic individuals and pitting them against one another.

To many people these days, Ace Marshall is the epitome of chaos, and I would say that assumption isn’t too far off. After all, it was Ace’s Trios contract that spawned the gauntlet two weeks ago that gave what essentially amounted to a list of people he either associated with at some point in time or had some sort of issue with a chance to destroy one another all for the chance to become World Champion. This is the same man who used the last Trios contract he held before that to alter the open invitational into something… ‘unique’ while putting the Adrenaline Title on the line, and while I can at least respect Ace’s desire to try and shake things up around here, I know many others won’t feel the same way.

One thing I know I take issue with when it comes to Ace is how he acts the way he does and expects people to just ignore it and treat him like the big deal he thinks he is.

I’ve said it before Ace and I’ll say it again: you’re a talented competitor. You wouldn’t be a former three-time World Champion if that wasn’t the case. You can stand there and rub it in that you’ve held the title more times than I’ve even had attempts to reach that level. But for as much as people have a problem with this idea that I might be getting too many opportunities for reasons they can’t seem to comprehend, no one is talking about the fact that you disappeared for months on end with no rhyme or reason and only recently resurfaced, and as a result, you not only had a direct shot at becoming World Champion but will soon have a chance to claim another opportunity to go after that belt. I know, Trios, but the fact that you’re acting like an attention-starved child believing everyone should be thanking you for suddenly coming back and shaking up everything because you were bored and running out of time to do anything with that contract just proves my point.

Who the hell can take you seriously or show you the respect you demand when you feel the best way to go about things is to simply show up whenever you feel like it and take advantage of the openings you know are there to put you right back where you want to be?

Let’s go ahead and make this clear now Ace: yes, I’m well aware of every single title opportunity I’ve had over the last two years, and I’m just as aware of the fact that I’ve fallen short time and time again. And yes, it does piss me off and frustrate me to no end. And yet, I’m still here, busting my ass week after week trying to get to that spot you feel just belongs to you because you say so and were in the right place at the right time, and the fact that you would prefer to just joke about it gives me every reason to want to climb right on up there and remove you from that perch.

I don’t know how much you care about this match considering it’s just a stop-gap between now and the Scaffold Scramble, and I wouldn’t put it past you to not even give this your all because you want to preserve yourself for the hell that awaits us both. But I’m not afraid… I’m not afraid of walking into Breakdown willing to give you everything I have and walk away the winner because I know I’ll be able to walk right into Retribution and do it all over again. This match, Ace? This match is a statement… this match will give one of us a huge boost of momentum going in, and while I may not know how much that means to you, I know I’d love to walk out of Little Rock on Thursday night being able to say I topped a former three-time World Champion as a warning to everyone else in the Scramble, regardless of whether they respect me or don’t think I belong in that match with them.

I do belong in this fight to see who will be next in line for the World Championship.

I do belong in the main event scene of SCW.

And I do belong at the very top of the mountain like so many believe I should have already reached.

And come Breakdown? I get one step closer to that end goal, no matter what tricks Ace has up his sleeve.