Taking Hold of the Flame Battle Royal

[Braddock]

2 of 2
======

==========
May 31st, 2022
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
==========

While most Americans spent their Memorial Day weekend resting, relaxing, or even going on vacation, there is one individual who spent her entire long holiday weekend training, working out, and busting her beautiful ass in preparation for one of the most challenging matches of the calendar year; SCW’s Taking Hold of the Flame Battle Royal. Skipping any and all Memorial Day celebrations is not unusual for Glory Braddock. In fact, skipping American Patriotic holidays in general are quite the norm for The British Bombshell, due to the fact that she is not American. In the eye of Glory, a British citizen, this is just another weekend, and the only reason it holds any sort of special attention to her is due to the fact that within one week’s time she will be taking part in the Taking Hold of the Flame Battle Royal and this year Glory Braddock intends on winning the whole thing. Plus, constant nonstop training serves as a good distraction for other situations swirling around her.

Intense, nonstop training just to distract herself is a character trait she picked up from her father, the man who raised her and later trained her; Glenn Braddock. Most psychiatrists would suggest that such a coping mechanism is not very healthy. Perhaps it is true, facing troubling situations head on would be better than just ignoring them and letting the problems fester. Yet, Glory Braddock just cannot bring herself to face certain problems. Certain problems are too big for her to deal with, so she just ignores them. She buries herself in her work. And ever since a rather shocking bombshell was dropped on her this past Saturday, Glory Braddock has been focusing her entire attention on her Taking Hold of the Flame preparation as opposed to dealing with said bombshell.

Glory had tried to be different, she tried to follow her heart and her heart told her that she needed to help a student of hers, a young lady named Fiona. Fiona had supposedly been kept in the dark regarding her background, her past, her entire history and sense of self. Braddock decided to help find out about Fiona’s past for her, hoping that the information would help Fiona psychologically. Only Glory learned that Fiona’s past was not a good one; her parents were drug users and thieves. They were common criminals who abandoned Fiona at birth. And Glory also learned that not only did Fiona already know this about herself and kept it from Glory, but that she had already devised a way to move on psychologically and heal herself emotionally from her past.

Fiona has decided to take on the surname of Logan, the name of Glory’s husband Kurt. While not an official adoption, as Fiona is too old at this point for any legitimate adoption, unofficially Fiona is making herself part of Glory’s family. This shouldn’t have been a big deal, this should not have bothered Glory. Yet for some reason, this news upset The British Bombshell a great deal. She did not know quite how to handle it, how to process the fact that this student who she was mentoring, who she truly does care about, now is joining her family. Therefore Glory decided to deal with this the only way she knew how, and that was to just simply ignore it.

Braddock tried following her heart and that did not work out. Now Glory is going to go back to what she knows and that is to just ignore the problem and focus entirely on her work, focus only on Taking Hold of the Flame. Winning that match is her top priority, not dealing with some ridiculous family situation. And that is exactly what she has done ever since hearing the news about Fiona. Braddock spent all day Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Memorial Day, in the gym. She only came home to sleep. The very next day she would wake up and go right to the gym again, barely speaking a word to anyone else staying with her. Everyone in the household knew what was bothering her; Amelia, Fiona, and Glory’s husband Kurt, all of them knew but none of them dared speak a word to her, not when she was in this mental state. They let her continue her intense training sessions, hoping she would get over it eventually.

The British Bombshell would have continued her nonstop training sessions had it not been for a message she had received from her sister; Julia Braddock was in flight to Miami for a visit. The two siblings have had a rough relationship but have recently patched things up. Despite being on good terms now, they still do not get to spend much time together due to Julia living in London, England. Therefore Glory knows that she should take this rare opportunity to visit with her sister. In fact, this visit from her sister brings about a nice change of pace for The British Bombshell. She canceled her training sessions for today; she isn’t even working with Fiona or Amelia today, she has sent Kurt, whose leg has finally healed enough to allow him to participate, to work with them. This leaves Glory with some good alone time with her sister.

Glory is dressed in denim shorts, tennis shoes, and a white t-shirt. A wide grin is on her face as she makes her way through the living room, and then out into the hall. Braddock approaches the front door as she hears the doorbell ringing, indicating someone’s arrival. She opens the door and she sees her sister Julia standing there.

“Jules! How the hell are you?!” Glory exclaims as she steps just outside and embraces her sister in a tight hug. Julia is quite the contrast to her older sister, as she is dressed in a knee length white lace sleeveless summer dress with high heel sandals. Sunglasses sit atop her head. Julia fits the perfect mold of a lady whereas her older sister Glory looks the part of a tomboy. The hug is broken and Glory leads Julia inside. Glory shuts the door behind her. “You look great, sis!”

“Thanks, Gloria. I’m just grateful you were willing to set aside your precious training time to visit with me.”

“Anything for my kid sister.” Glory motions for Julia to follow her. “Now come on, I want to show you something.”

Julia chuckles softly as she watches Glory walk down the hall. Julia follows her down the hall and then watches as Glory opens a door that leads to a set of stairs that descends down into the basement. Glory makes her way down the stairs and Julia follows suit. Glory gets to the bottom of the stairs and into the basement much quicker than Julia, who is still just halfway down the stairs.

“Slow down, Glory.”

“You should speed up, love.”

“Really?” Julia remarks, rolling her eyes. “I can’t exactly run down a set of stairs while wearing heels, y’know?”

“Fair enough.” Glory says with a soft chuckle. Julia finally makes her way to the bottom of the staircase. She turns and watches as Glory waves her arms, almost like Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune. Glory is showing off what appears to be the makings of a fun looking room. A pool table, an air hockey table, and a classic Pac Man Arcade machine is in this basement area. “So what do you think?”

Julia scans the area. She walks over to the pool table and runs her hand across it. Then she moves over to the Pacman Arcade Game machine. Next she turns and approaches the air hockey table and looks at it closely. She studies it carefully, almost as if she notices something about it. Glory grins from ear to ear.

“Do you recognize it, sis?”

“It looks familiar.” Julia admits. She looks back up at Glory. “It looks like dad’s old air hockey table.”

“That’s because it IS dad’s old air hockey table.”

“Seriously?!” Julia says with a look of shock that quickly turns into one of pleasant surprise. She looks back down. “I loved this damn thing. I thought dad sold it when he moved to Miami with you?”

“He did. But I managed to track down who he sold it to and voila! The pool table has returned!”

“Gloria…” Julia shakes her head but has a grin on her face “...what you waste your money on.”

“Hey now, I don’t think this is a waste. I have great memories of this thing.”

“Me too. So I take it this is your new game room then?”

“Uh-huh,” Glory says nodding her head “Fiona suggested it and who am I to turn down such a bloody wonderful idea?”

“It is a great idea. You seem happy about it and I’m sure this game room will allow you to bond with Amelia and Fiona. Speaking of which, how are your new students?”

“Amelia is a real firecracker.” Glory says with pride. “She’s taken some former world champions to their limit. She’s beaten some former world champions. I have high hopes for her in the future.”

“What about Fiona?” Julia asks. Glory shrugs her shoulders.

“Fiona is…well, she’s an interesting case.”

“Oh?” Julia’s interest is peaked. “What’s wrong?”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Oh come on, Glory. You know better than to keep secrets, especially from me.” Julia smirks. “It isn’t healthy.”

“Sorry Jules, I just don’t want to talk about Fiona right now.”

“Is that so?” Julia looks over and around the air hockey table and finds the power button. She turns it on and places the puck on the table. “Tell you what, let’s play some air hockey. If I score, you tell me something about Fiona. If you score on me, I’ll drop it.”

“You mean it?”

“Do I need to repeat myself, love?”

“You made a mistake.” Glory says with a smirk. “You never could score on me.”

“Then what’s to worry?” Julia tosses Glory one of the strikers.

“I’m damn sure not worried, mate.” Glory takes her position at the hockey table. So does Julia. Glory takes the pucks and hits it across to Julia who manages to hit it right back at Julia. Julia again catches the puck and hits it right back at Glory. Unfortunately for Glory she is unable to stop the puck…it gets right by her and goes into her ‘goal’.

“Damn it!” Glory exclaims. Julia shouts with joy.

“Ha! What’s that about me never scoring on you?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Glory remarks.

“So you owe me some information. What’s the deal with Fiona?” Julia asks. Glory sighs.

“Do I have to?”

“You agreed to the bet.”

“Fine.” Glory rolls her eyes. “You don’t know much about Fiona, do you?”

“Only what you’ve told me…which isn’t much.”

“Well I know I told you she lived most of her life under the foster care of an abusive drunk. I recently learned even more about her past, more than I really wanted to know. She was abandoned at birth because her parents were druggies and criminals who didn’t want her.”

“That’s awful.” Julia winces a little. The idea of Fiona’s parents being drug addicts hits home for Julia Braddock, who herself was once a drug addict. The pressure of living up not only to her famous father’s reputation but also following in the footsteps of her even more famous sister had become too much for Julia to bear. Simply living with the fame of being a Braddock was too much. Julia turned to drugs in order to help ease the pain. Ultimately the drugs nearly destroyed her life and her career even before it got started. Julia was lucky to get away from that life. She realizes how lucky Fiona is to at least have Glory helping her out and mentoring her. “So how is Fiona handling this?”

“Classified information.”

“Unfair!” Julia exclaims.

“How is it unfair? I agreed to give you information if you scored on me. I did.” Glory grins knowingly. “If you want more you need to earn it.”

“Fine.” Julia returns to her station at the hockey table. This time Julia serves, striking the puck and sending it across the table towards Glory. The older sister hits it back, bouncing it off the edge of the table and towards Julia who easily is able to guard her ‘goal’ and then hits the puck back towards Glory. The siblings go back and forth for several seconds, this round is much closer than the last. But once again the end result is the same, Julia scores on Glory.

“Bloody hell!” Glory exclaims, throwing her striker up in the air. “What is wrong with me?!”

“You’re rusty. That’s what’s wrong.” Julia says, teasing her sister. “Now tell me more about Fiona. How is she dealing with her past?”

“I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. You’ll find out soon enough.” Glory hops up on the side of the air hockey table. “She’s changing her name.”

“That sounds good. If she was abused by that foster father of hers, then she shouldn’t have to continue carrying his name.”

“Yeah, but the name she’s chosen…Fiona Logan.”

“Wait, Logan? As in Kurt?” Julia asks curiously. Glory nods her head.

“Yeah, she’s taking my husband’s last name.”

“Even you haven’t done that.” Julia says, teasing her sister. Glory rolls her eyes.

“Shut it, sis. It isn’t funny.”

“Sorry. But I am proud of you for adopting Fiona. She needs people like you and Kurt in her life.”

“You got it all wrong and so does Fiona.” Glory remarks, shaking her head. “This isn’t an adoption. Fiona is twenty years old. She is a grown woman. She no longer needs a legal guardian let alone a legal parent. She’s just taking Kurt’s last name. Nothing more…” she sighs as her voice trails off “...and I have no idea why.”

“Isn’t it obvious? Fiona views you and Kurt as parental figures.”

“No way.” Glory shakes her head, she doesn’t take that notion seriously at all. Julia insistently nods her head.

“It’s true! You said it yourself, her biological parents abandoned her at birth, she doesn’t even know who they were other than drug addicts who didn’t want her. Her foster parents, or at least one of them anyway, were abusive drunks who never cared about her. Then you took her in. And now she has two people who really do care for her. She even has Amelia, Melinda, and Dawn…she has girls who are practically sisters to her. She has a real family, something she has never had before.”

The British Bombshell listens to her sister repeat all of this, and all of it is true. Glory may not want to hear it, but it is true. Fiona has a family with them and that has definitely had a strong impact upon her. It is for this reason that Fiona is almost forcing herself into the family as an adopted daughter of Glory and Kurt. This shouldn’t be cause for alarm, because Glory does care about Fiona. She loves the kid. So why does Glory feel awful about this? Glory is about to respond when a familiar voice is heard nearby.

“Mom…” Glory and Julia turn their attention to the staircase. Glory’s youngest daughter, Dawn Logan, has descended the staircase.

“Dawn, sweetie, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to play Pacman!” She says happily. “But uh, I heard what you and Aunt Julia were saying. Is it true that Fiona is my sister now?” That is a loaded question indeed. Glory hops down off of the hockey table and walks over to her daughter. She rubs her head and then kisses her on the cheek.

“Similar to sisters, I suppose.”

“Sooooo…yeah?”

“We can go with that, sure.” Glory says, nodding her head. “You do like Fiona, don’t you?”

“She’s cool.” Dawn remarks. She points to the Pacman arcade game. “So can I play?”

“Sure, Dawnie. Knock yourself out.”

“Yay!” Dawn rushes over to the arcade game. Glory begins ascending the staircase to leave Dawn alone. Julia follows Glory up the stairs. Glory is nowhere near as upbeat and therefore nowhere near as fast this time, so Julia is able to keep up. They reach the top of the stairs and back into the first level hall. Julia follows Glory back down the hall and into the living room. Glory sits down on a cream colored sofa. Julia sits down next to her.

“Tell me what’s wrong, Glory.”

“If you must know it’s because of Dawn. And Melinda.” Glory sighs deeply out of frustration. “I already have children of my own. If I were to embrace this idea of adopting Fiona as my own, would Dawn feel neglected or jealous?”

“Bullshit.” Julia says, calling out Glory on her excuse. “Amelia has been with you for quite awhile now and Fiona has been living with you even longer than that. Don’t you think if Dawn were to feel any sense of neglect or jealousy that it would have reared its ugly head by now?”

“Not necessarily.” Glory argues. “Maybe she’s just good at hiding it?”

“Or maybe you are the one hiding?”

“Hiding from what?”

“The truth. See, I think you and I both know why you are really upset about Fiona taking on Kurt’s last name, I think we both know why Fiona wants to be adopted into your family.”

“Don’t you dare…” Glory sternly warns her sister against the direction she is heading with this train of thought. Julia stubbornly ignores the warning.

“We were both mentored by Aphrodite Noel. She helped me kick my drug habit and gave me the self-confidence that I had sorely lacked which had ultimately to my drug habit in the first place. You had only just began dipping your toes into the corporate world and you had made many mistakes. Aphrodite taught you everything you needed to know in order to be a success in the cutthroat corporate world. And whether you admit or not, we both viewed her as more than just a mentor…but as that maternal figure we did lost after our parents separated.”

“I do remember that.” Glory says with a low growl in her voice, clearly upset that her sister would bring this up. “And I also remember how Aphrodite’s influence led me down a dark path. I hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on my board of directors so that I could blackmail them into doing whatever I asked. I still had other enemies in the corporate world so I decided to work with a con-artist, a monster named Meagan Collins, knowing and not caring that she had connections to organized crime, and not caring that she would use those connections to do away with my enemies. But my worst crime…” Glory wipes a tear that forms in her eyes “...my worst crime was when I had you committed. I had you committed just so I could protect myself, my reputation, and my status within my company.”

“Glory…” Julia isn’t quite sure how to respond. She knew why Glory was bothered but she had no idea how passionately bothered she was.

“Do you see now why I don’t want this? What you and I had with Aphrodite grew to become more than just a mentor-student relationship. And you see the results. It has taken me over a year to fix myself, to finally get back to a place where I am not only happy with myself but where I can honestly look in the mirror again and not be completely ashamed of who I am. What Fiona and I have right now is just a simple mentor-student relationship and I will be damned if it becomes more than that.” Glory starts to cry. Julia wraps a comforting arm around her sister’s shoulder.

“Glory, you did make mistakes, but like you said you have redeemed yourself. You are a good person. You have a good heart. You need to trust your heart and follow your heart. It told you to help Amelia and Fiona and look at what happened? They are better off now because of you and in turn they helped you rediscover yourself. You need to believe in yourself, Glory. You need to believe that you are a good person and a good person like you will give Fiona what she needs…real parents.”

“But what if I screw it up? What if I lead her down a dark path?”

“You won’t screw up. You do not need to worry about leading Fiona down a dark path. Because you won’t let that happen. I may not know much about Fiona but I do know everyone needs a good influence in their lives. And I cannot think of any better influence than my sister.”

Glory reaches up and wipes more tears out of her eyes. She does believe that she is a good person at her core. Perfect? No, she is far from perfect. But she does believe at her core she is a good person. But does she trust herself enough to give Fiona what she apparently wants, to become more than just a mentor, to become a parent? Is Glory ready for that kind of responsibility? This is exactly the kind of situation she was afraid of when she first met Fiona. This is why she at first resisted the calls and urges to mentor Fiona, because she was afraid the two would grow close and it would come to this. Now Glory must decide, should she pull the trigger? Does she follow her heart and give this a shot or does she follow her mind and stop this before it gets any further?

==========
June 4th, 2022
Cleveland, Ohio
On Camera
==========

We open to a bright and shining day in Cleveland, Ohio. The cameras are zoomed in on a flag that has the SCW logo brandished on it. The cameras pan out and we see a sidewalk. Just then the lovely figure of “The British Bombshell” Glory Braddock comes running into the scene from the left. Braddock is dressed in purple jogging shorts, a purple t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Her long blonde hair is pulled into a ponytail in the back. She is carrying a torch similar to the Olympic torch and Bugler’s Dream, the traditional Olympics theme for NBC, is heard being played in the background. She turns to face the camera and smiles.

“Hi there! Sorry if I’m a mite distracted, but I just Took Hold of the Flame and now I’m running like hell! I got thirty-nine other lasses and blokes looking to kick my ass and take it from me! But they’re gonna have to work very hard in order to take it from me!” Braddock turns and runs through a grassy area with a sprinkler system. She runs through the sprinklers, which is going pretty strong throwing out lots of water, which lands on the torch. The water is slowly starting to put the fire out but The British Bombshell does not notice yet. She keeps running until a familiar site comes into view…

“There we are, mates! Do you see it?” While still running she points up towards the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. “Destiny awaits!” Braddock makes one final sprint towards this arena. We cut to another camera angle, one that shows Glory getting closer and closer to the arena. She sets foot in front of the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and she begins jumping up and down, shouting for joy and celebration, as if she just won Taking Hold of the Flame itself.

“I did it! I did it! I…” she stops and looks at the torch…well, lack of torch, at least. The fire has been put out completely by the sprinklers. Braddock sighs and shrugs her shoulders. “Oh well, I tried…” she tosses the torch away. The loud shattering of glass and a shrieking cat can be heard. She looks over in the direction she threw the torch and smiles sheepishly. “Yeah…I’ll pay for that!” Braddock turns back to face the camera and and shrugs her shoulders.

“You never know what will happen, am I right? Who would have expected that the fire would have been put out, or that I would just so happen to throw that and now I’m responsible for a new windshield and maybe vet bills. Maybe if I’m lucky that was Amelia’s cat and my husband’s car? That’s the thing, though; Taking Hold of the Flame is heavily reliant upon luck. If you draw an early entrant, well…sucks to be you I guess? Whoever draws one and two will have to go through the entire gauntlet of competitors in order to punch their ticket to Rise To Greatness and a shot at the SCW World Title. Whoever draws number forty will have the easiest path to victory. So tell me, how lucky do you feel?”

“I don’t need to rely on luck.” Braddock shakes her head. “I only need to rely on my own skills, my own talents, and my own abilities. Would I love to walk into this match at number forty? Hell yeah! Who wouldn’t want that kind of advantage? Anyone who tells you don’t want an advantage is lying or crazy. But do I NEED to be lucky and get that number forty draw, or any of the later draws for that matter, in order to stand a chance at winning the Flame? No, I don’t need that kind of luck before. I have wrestled over an hour multiple times in my career. So yes, I have the endurance needed to go the distance. I am battle tested and I am ready. I can take on all comers in the Flame. So I say BRING IT ON regardless of the luck of my draw.”

“Taking Hold of the Flame is a match about entirely centered upon the unexpected. You have no idea who will be in the ring when your time is up. And you have no idea who will be coming to the ring after you. You won’t know who or what you will have to deal with, you won’t know what kind of challenges you have to face until your number is called and your music plays. But do I look like someone who is worried about the unexpected?” Glory points to her face. “This is the face of a fourteen year veteran of the squared circle. I have fought opponents my size, smaller than me, and opponents much larger than me. I have choked out power houses, I have grounded high flyers, and I have sent nursing home escapees with delusions of grandeur back out to pasture.” She waves at the camera. “Hi there, Terry! Looking forward to seeing you, mate!”

“Technical expertise? I can do that. Hardcore violent types? I have fought them before and won.” Again she waves at the camera. “Hi Konrad! Sorry about losing that Underground Title but I’m happy you are moving on with your life. I have fought and beaten them all in SCW…from the likes of Polly Playtime to Syren. I have beaten competitors at every single level of talent in this company. And I don’t care how brilliant you think you are with your strategy…I’m looking at you, Syren, Jenni, Josh…I have been around for quite some time. Nothing surprises me anymore. So am I prepared to deal with the unexpected? You damn right I am.”

“The only thing that matters is the Flame…I symbolically carried the Flame all the way here, to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse where me and thirty-nine others will go to war in hopes of survival, in hopes of making an impact, some like my demented cousin Kimberly Williams with a strange eccentric goal of sending a message to SCW management, but for the majority of us in this match, the goal is so take that flame and carry it all the way to the main event of Rise To Greatness and become SCW World Champion. And just like what happened with me as I made my way here with that torch, the dreams and goals of thirty-nine of you blokes will be squashed. A harsh rain will wash away your goals for Rise To Greatness. But ONE person will make it over the finish line with the Flame in hand and their main event world title match guaranteed.” A soft chuckle escapes her lips.

“I have done a lot in my career. I have won championships all over the world. In SCW specifically I have been the Adrenaline Champion, the World Champion, and a back to back Trios Tournament Winner. I even main evented a Rise To Greatness. But to be fair, I used one of my Trios victories to get there. One of the few things I have never done is win Taking Hold of the Flame. I can probably live with that, I suppose; but one thing I cannot and will not live with is how my one reign as SCW World Champion came to an abrupt end.” She sighs deeply as she thinks back to that moment. “It was in the Gauntlet Match for the SCW world title, booked by Ace Marshall using his Trios Contract. I had already choked out Asher, and then gone to defeat a fresh and one hundred percent healthy Bree Lancaster to become SCW world champion. No excuses, she hadn’t wrestled earlier, she hadn’t been attacked, she wasn’t injured, and I hadn’t cheated. I beat her clean in the center of the ring and by virtue of the rules, since I pinned the champion, I became the champion. For a few fleeting minutes I was SCW World Champion…until a fresh Chris Cannon came to the ring.” Braddock chuckles softly. “Hey, there’s no shame in losing to Chris Cannon even if you’re one hundred percent, after the war I had gone through with Bree, to then immediately defend against Cannon…well, like I said, there is no shame. But it does hurt.” She pats herself on the chest.

“It hurts right here! And anyone who has ever been World Champion will echo just how badly it hurts to have been champion and then lose it. Adam Allocco, Syren, Owen, ask any of them what it is like to be on top of the whole damn world only to have it taken away. They’ll tell you how it hurts, they’ll tell you how much it stings. And they will also tell you how they will fight like hell to get back to the top. And I am here to tell each and everyone of you that my legacy as SCW world champion will not be that reign. I refuse to be remembered as a champion who could only last for a few bloody minutes!” The intensity is picking up, based on the tone of her voice.

“I do not care who you are, if you are an experienced veteran like Katie Steward or a newcomer like Sarah Wolfe I do not care if you are a known legend like Syren or Josh Hudson or if you are someone who hasn’t quite gotten off on the right track like Crystal and Diamond. I will go through each and every one of you. I will do whatever it takes to win Taking Hold of the Flame. I will endure, I will survive, and I will punch my ticket to the main event of Rise To Greatness, no matter the cost.” Braddock points a finger at the camera.

“That goes for you too, Amelia. We have grown close in recent weeks. Hell, you reminded me who I needed to be, you reminded me that I can’t just be the stuck up egomaniacal bitch, you woke me the hell up and reminded me who the hell Glory Braddock really is, and for that I thank you. But make no mistake about it, if it comes down to it, if eliminating gets me to Rise To Greatness, then I will not hesitate to throw your ass out of the ring. And I expect nothing less from you. So good luck, Amelia. You will need it…and everyone will need it because I am Glory Braddock and I am taking no prisoners, but I WILL Take Hold of the Flame!”

Braddock turns and runs off screen. The camera fades to black.