Taking Hold of the Flame Battle Royal

[Braddock]

Ooc: 1 of 2 for Glory. Amelia as always appears with permission.
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May 26th, 2022
St. Louis, Missouri
Off Camera
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SCW Breakdown from St. Louis went exactly the way Glory Braddock had hoped it would. The British Bombshell defeated Polly Playtime via submission to gain much needed momentum heading into the next big marquee event on the calendar; Taking Hold of the Flame. This isn’t just any marquee event, either. Taking Hold of the Flame begins the march towards Rise To Greatness, and the main event, battle royal itself, will decide who will get the SCW World Title Match at Rise To Greatness. Braddock has been in the main event of Rise To Greatness before, she had to use her Trios Contract to get herself there. Now she realizes that her only path to Rise To Greatness and the World Championship is through the battle royal. It truly is all or nothing for The British Bombshell. This year Taking Hold of the Flame holds great importance because it is a must win scenario for Glory Braddock. She must win if she hopes to get another shot at the SCW World Championship anytime soon.

Braddock’s journey has been a unique one, very different from previous years. Braddock is used to being a solo act but this year she has taken on not one but two students under her wing; one, a wrestler-in-training named Fiona Osbourne and the other a young lady who recently made her SCW debut, Amelia Stone. The British Bombshell has always been hesitant about taking anyone and personally mentoring them. Yet despite her own personal misgivings about the situation, Glory has found great success both personally and professionally while mentoring Amelia and Fiona. Professionally she has rediscovered her own passion for professional wrestling. Braddock has gone on to win some significant matches in recent weeks and now looks to potentially making a run at the World Championship by winning Taking Hold of the Flame. Personally she has remembered just who she used to be as a human being; a fun loving young woman, full of energy, who just wants to help people and do what is right.

It is that last part that still gets her in trouble; after all, doing what is right is almost never easy, and it is very often controversial. In this case, doing what is right centers entirely around none other than Fiona Osbourne. The British Bombshell has known for quite some time now that her young protege only just recently escaped the abusive care of her ruthless and uncaring foster father Todd Osbourne. Now Glory has learned that Fiona knows next to nothing about her actual parents. Fiona’s true past and true history is completely unknown to her. Fiona insists that she does not need to know about her past nor does she want to know about her past, but Glory Braddock is convinced that the truth can help. Glory feels that facing one’s past is a good way to heal and move onto a better future. Therefore, despite Fiona’s insistence upon not knowing, and despite the warnings from Kurt Logan, Glory’s husband, Glory has decided to stick her nose into this situation.

Immediately upon the conclusion of Breakdown, Braddock urged Amelia and Fiona to go on back to the hotel ahead of her. Glory brushed the two young students away, assuring them that she would be fine, that she had an errand she needed to run before going back to the hotel in St. Louis. Braddock didn’t tell them that the errand in question is a planned meeting with a private investigator that she had hired to do some research into Fiona’s past. It is night time, nearing closing time for Citygarden Sculpture Park in St. Louis, Missouri. Braddock is seated on a black iron bench, dressed in denim jeans, black boots, and a plain purple t-shirt. Her long blonde hair is pulled into a ponytail in the back.

This isn’t the first time Glory has had dealings with private investigators. It was just over a year ago that Glory Braddock was paying a private investigator to dig up dirt on the members of her company’s board of directors so that she could use the information against them, to blackmail them into doing whatever she wanted. It wasn’t exactly her proudest of moments. It certainly wasn’t the Braddock way. But Glory has found her way again, she knows right from wrong, and she is again dealing with private investigators, but this time she believes it is for all the right reasons.

Braddock is alerted as she hears the sound of footsteps from off in the distance. More specifically, it is the sound of someone stepping through leaves and grass, which ordinarily wouldn’t create that much noise, but on a night as quiet and still as this one, it is clearly enough to catch the attention of The British Bombshell. Glory stands up and turns around, expecting her private investigator to be approaching. She sighs with a sense of disappointment as she sees her young protege, Amelia Stone, making her way over to the bench.

“Amelia? What on earth are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.” Amelia responds quickly and simply. “Why did you ditch me?”

“I didn’t ditch you. I told you and Fiona to go back to the hotel.” Braddock pauses. She thinks that if Amelia is here, Fiona potentially could be here too, and that would ruin everything. “If you’re here, then where IS Fiona?”

“Back at the hotel.” Amelia grins. “At least, I think so.”

“You THINK so?!”

“Well I never went back to the hotel with her.” Amelia says, shrugging her shoulders. “I told her you needed me and that she should go on to the hotel without us.”

“So you lied?”

“No, I just assumed you needed me.”

“You know what they say happens when you assume things? You make an ass out of you and me.”

“Ass? Out of you and….oh I get it!” Amelia begins to chuckle softly. Glory pats her on the back.

“Thanks for thinking about me, mate, but I think I have things well in hand. So why don’t you go on back to the hotel with Fiona, ok? Make sure she’s ok.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to ditch me again.”

“I’m not trying to ditch you. I’m just waiting on someone…”

“And you found someone. Me!” Amelia says, grinning from ear to ear. Glory can’t help but chuckle, despite her own frustrations. She would much rather Amelia leave and go back to the hotel. She doesn’t want her involved in this. But at the same time it doesn’t look like Amelia is going to leave anytime soon, and on top of that the private investigator will be here any second. Braddock sighs and nods her head.

“Fine. You can stay.”

“Yay!” Amelia says, jumping up and down excitedly. “Sooooo what are you doing here?”

“First of all sit down, ok?” Glory says, motioning to the bench. Amelia nods and sits down. Braddock sits down next to her. “Next, you have to promise not to say anything to Fiona. Ok?”

“Oh a secret? Cool!”

“You’ll keep this a secret right?!”

“I promise!”

“Great.” Glory sighs, still unsure if she can fully trust Amelia with this secret. But still, there’s little she can do about it now. “How much do you know about Fiona?”

“She’s not a good karaoke singer. Oh and I know that tacos give her bad gas. And…”

“Besides all that.” Glory says with a wry grin on her face. Amelia pauses to think for a moment and then shrugs her shoulders.

“Uh…I dunno…”

“About her past? What was she and where was she before she joined us?”

“Oh that! Yeah, Fiona talked to me about this before. Her parents abandoned her and she was raised by an abusive jerk named Todd. She was a model and that introduced her to your cousin who introduced her to you and the rest is history!”

“Right, that’s all she told you and that’s all she told me, and that’s because apparently that’s all she knows.”

“Seriously?” Amelia asks, sounding somewhat surprised. Glory nods her head.

“Yes, unfortunately Fiona knows next to nothing about where she really comes from. Now she claims it doesn’t bother her but I’m telling you, Amelia, I can sense that deep down inside it does bother her not knowing who she really is and where she really came from. And I intend to do whatever I can to help her.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“That’s why I’m here tonight. I hired a private investigator to look into her past for me. I hope he’s got some information for me.”

“So wait a sec, Fiona said she doesn’t care?”

“She claims it doesn’t bother her but I don’t believe her.” Glory responds. Amelia shrugs her shoulders.

“I dunno, Glory. Why do you think its so important if it isn’t that important to Fiona?”

“I know what Fiona said, but I don’t believe her. I think deep down inside she really does care, she really does want to know about her past. Besides, even if she doesn’t care, I still think it is important to know your past and to know where you came from. You can learn a great deal from your past.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right!” Amelia’s face brightens up. “Fiona could be like, uh, a filthy rich heiress, or maybe next in line to the English throne!”

“Pretty sure Charles is next in line…and besides that, Fiona isn’t even English!”

“Oh, duh!” Amelia and Glory share a laugh together. The laughter drowns out the sound of another set of footsteps making their way through the park and closer to the two women sitting on the bench. This time it is a silhouette of a male. Eventually the male figure gets closer, close enough that Glory can see him out of the corner of her eye. Braddock stands up, and Amelia follows suit. They turn and find a brown haired gentlemen in dress pants and a light blue button up shirt approaching them. The British Bombshell extends a hand as he approaches.

“Aaron! Nice to see you again!” Glory exclaims. Aaron accepts her handshake. She then turns and motions to Amelia. “Aaron, this is Amelia. Amelia, this is Aaron, the private investigator I told you about.”

“Nice to meet you mister Aaron.” Amelia remarks.

“Likewise.” Aaron says gruffly. He looks up at Glory. “Shall we speak in private?”

“Are you sure that’s necessary?”

“I am sure it is, Ms. Braddock.” Aaron looks annoyingly at Amelia, who sticks her tongue out at him. Glory sighs and nods her head.

“Fine.” She turns to face Amelia. “You go on back to the hotel, ok? Tell Fiona I’ll be right there.”

“But what about all this?”

“Don’t worry, mate, I’ll tell you everything later.” Glory says, winking at Amelia. Amelia still doesn’t really want to go but reluctantly nods her head and turns to walk away. She knows that she can trust on Glory to spill the beans. She will learn the juicy details later. Once Amelia is out of sight, Braddock turns her attention back to Aaron. She folds her arms over her chest and stares impatiently at the private investigator.

“Well? What do you have for me?”

“I do want to point out that this task you gave me was rather difficult, Ms. Braddock; young Ms. Osbourne is almost an unknown. Finding out anything about her was a challenge.”

“If you’re playing at a sympathy angle hoping I’ll give you more money then you can forget it. I’ve already paid you a rather generous sum of money MORE than what your usual pay rate is, and I paid you more because I did know how challenging this would be. So don’t expect to get anything else from me, ok mate?”

“I’m simply curious as to how important this information really is to you, Ms. Braddock.”

“And I’m telling you that this isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with your type, mate.” Braddock remarks coldly. “Remember, Aaron, I haven’t finished paying you everything I promised to pay you. Tell me what you have learned and I will give you this check I have in my pocket for the rest of what you’re owed. Otherwise our deal is off.”

“Very well.” Aaron says with a half-smirk on his face. “I suppose we can start…and finish…with the parents.”

“Start and finish?” Glory asks curiously. “What do you mean by that?”

“All I managed to learn about this Fiona Osbourne is the identity of her parents, and I learned very little about that, to be honest.”

“You’re joking!”

“I am NOT joking. I told you that she was a virtual unknown. There was very little information to be found. Now if you want to hear what I have to say then let me speak, otherwise you can be on your way without hearing any of it.” Aaron says nastily. Glory rolls her eyes and nods her head.

“Fine. What do you know about her parents? Do you know their names?”

“I do not know their names. What I did find out is that they were both drug addicts. Their drug addiction led to other small time crimes, such as petty robbery and theft in order to maintain their drug habit. At some point the female got pregnant and had a child. The most likely reason they carried the child to full term was because they couldn’t afford an abortion. But obviously these two weren’t going to let a little thing like parenthood get in the way of their drug habit, so they abandoned the child.”

“Where are the parents now?” Glory asks.

“My research shows that they both died in a shootout with police.”

“You know that they died in a shootout with police but you don’t know their damn names?!” Glory says, fury and anger entering her face. Aaron smirks.

“I can probably learn their names…for a price.”

“Fuck you!” Glory exclaims angrily. She reaches into her pocket, produces the check, and hands it to Aaron. “Take your damn money and get the hell out of my face!”

“Very well.” He looks at the check and grins. “It was nice business with you, Ms. Braddock.”

Aaron turns and walks away with the check in hand. Glory is fuming as she watches him walk away. She is also disappointed about what she learned. This wasn’t exactly the information she had hoped to find out. Will this kind of history help Fiona or harm her? Perhaps Glory should keep all of this new information to herself?

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May 28th, 2022
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
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It is Saturday morning, just a little over one full day since Glory Braddock’s nighttime meeting in St. Louis with her private investigator to learn about the past, the background of her young protege Fiona Osbourne. Braddock had high hopes that the information she would learn would somehow be beneficial to Fiona’s growth as a person. Instead what she learned from Aaron the PI is that Fiona was merely the product of two drug users and thieves, nothing more and nothing less. Braddock had hoped that whatever she had learned about Fiona’s past would be beneficial to the young girl, but how can this new information be beneficial? The British Bombshell went to the trouble to pay for a private investigator so that she could learn this information but now she is beginning to second guess herself. Maybe ignorance truly is bliss? The other question on the mind of The British Bombshell is Aaron himself. Could he be lying about this? He certainly was very rude, crude, and uncaring. He certainly gave off the impression that he was a slimy con artist. Could he have made up this whole story about Fiona coming from common crooks?

All of this is on the mind of Glory Braddock as she laces into the heavy bag at her private gym in Miami, Florida. Working out is a good way to deal with frustrations and anxiety, and right now is the perfect time to work out, especially with Taking Hold of the Flame coming up. Braddock is dressed in purple workout shorts, and a white t-shirt. She is punching the heavy with heavy rights and lefts. She throws the occasional kick so as to work out her leg muscles as well. This continues for a few more minutes until the sound of the door opening startles Glory to attention. She stops assaulting the heavy bag to turn around and see her students, Amelia and Fiona, entering the gym.

“Hey! You ditched us!” This is the familiar voice of Amelia Stone. This makes the second time in less than forty-eight hours Glory ditched the pair. Amelia and Fiona don’t find it very funny but Glory does, as it shows on the ear to ear grin she is sporting.

“Yeah! What gives?” Fiona asks. Glory shrugs her shoulders.

“Well the best I recall, this past Monday you ditched me and left me at home to come here to train by yourselves.”

“No we di…” Amelia starts to protest but then sighs and nods her head “...ok, fine, we did.”

“It was her idea.” Fiona says in an attempt to throw Amelia under the bus. “Why am I getting punished?”

“Guilt by association.”

“Fair enough.” Fiona answers, shrugging her shoulders. Glory approaches the pair. She takes appraisal of them; she notices Amelia is already wearing her gear while Fiona is still wearing her pajamas. Glory chuckles softly and points to the locker room area.

“Ok Fiona, you need to get changed into your gear. Amelia, you can stay here and we’ll get started.”

“Ok. I’ll be back!” Fiona rushes off towards the locker room area. Glory meanwhile turns back to the heavy bag and begins pounding away at it with rights and lefts. Once Fiona is out of sight, Amelia approaches the heavy bag cautiously.

“So, uh, what’s up?”

“What do you mean, what’s up?”

“Oh come on, Glory, don’t play dumb. You know what I mean.”

“I honestly have no idea.” Glory says, lying right through her teeth.

“You ran me off when that Aaron guy came by to talk to you Thursday night after Breakdown. You told me that you would tell me everything but you still haven’t. So come on, tell me!”

The British Bombshell stops punching the heavy bag and sighs deeply. She isn’t sure she wants to tell Amelia, she isn’t sure Amelia would even want to know if she actually had any idea what the truth was; but Glory did promise to tell her. Braddock nods her head.

“Well as it turns out Aaron wasn’t much help.”

“So he had nothing?”

“Ohe had something alright.” Braddock sighs. “But it wasn’t much. All he told me was that Fiona’s parents were both drug users. They committed petty crime to keep up their drug habit. When Fiona was born they abandoned her because, well, obviously they only cared about their drugs, they didn’t care about being parents. And according to Aaron they both died in a shootout with police.”

“Seriously?!” Amelia is in shock upon hearing this. “Are you sure?”

“Hell, I’m not sure that was the truth. Aaron was rude, an absolute jerk, and an absolute con artist. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just made that shit up.”

“So are you going to get another private investigator to confirm if what he said was true?” Amelia asks. Glory shakes her head.

“What’s the point? Maybe I should just drop this whole thing? It hasn’t proven fruitful. It hasn’t achieved what I had hoped it would achieve. I mean, there’s no way this could help Fiona.”

“Speaking of Fiona…” Amelia’s voice trails off “...are you still gonna tell her?”

Braddock opens her mouth to respond but she is quickly cut off by the third member of their trio. “Tell me what?” Braddock and Amelia turn to see Fiona approaching. She has already gotten changed into her workout gear. That was much quicker than Glory and Amelia had anticipated. Fiona approaches the heavy bag where Glory and Amelia are and folds her arms over chest, expecting an explanation. Glory, for her part, has little explanation to give.

“Uh, well, I was going to tell you that…training for Taking Hold of the Flame begins now!”

“Really?” Fiona asks, looking on skeptically. “I haven’t even made my debut yet, and I’m definitely not signed up for Taking Hold of the Flame.”

“Yes but training is always beneficial! Especially my training! It’s fory competitors so I need you two and thirty seven more to fight me all at once so I can definitely be ready for anything that might happen and…” Glory’s voice trails off as she sees Fiona chuckling softly and shaking her head. Fiona is clearly not buying any of this.

“Glory, just stop. I know that you hired a PI to look into my past.”

“How…” Glory sighs deeply and shakes her head “...how did you know?”

“I overheard Amelia talking about it.” Fiona states, pointing to Amelia, who just smiles sheepishly. Glory shakes her head.

“Look, Fiona, I’m sorry. I really and truly am. But believe me, I only had the best of intentions. I have always believed that facing your past will only make you stronger. Yet in you I saw someone who knew NOTHING about her past. I thought I was doing you a favor by trying to find out about your past for you.” Braddock says this and waits for Fiona’s response. Her response is a somewhat surprising laugh.

“Then I suppose I should apologize to you.”

“Why on earth should you apologize to me?”

“Because I lied to you.” Fiona says with a grin. “I already knew all about my biological parents.”

“How did you find out? I thought you were abandoned at birth?”

“I was…” she sighs “...but you know how well connected my foster father was, right? Well he found out about my past. He would frequently use my past against me as a psychological weapon to make me feel bad about myself, to make me feel less than human. He would taunt me about how my parents were druggies who didn’t care about me and didn’t want me.” Tears form in Fiona’s eyes. “So eventually I just started doing my best to try and forget about my parents. And sometimes it would work. But inevitably the memories would come back.”

“Thanks to me…” Glory says quietly. Fiona shakes her head and places a hand on Glory’s shoulder.

“No, it wasn’t your fault. If anything, you helped me. I mean, I cannot just simply forget about my past. But I can overcome it. I was abandoned by my biological parents who didn’t want me, my foster parents only wanted to use me, but now I have a real family…you and Kurt are like parents to me. Amelia, Dawn, Melinda are like sisters to me. And since I see no reason to remain attached to the last name of a jerk who only wanted to use me and abuse me, I have decided that I want to legally change my name…” Fiona wipes tears from her eyes “...to Fiona Logan.”