Chance Owens vs. Josh Hudson
#1
SCW United States Championship
Chance Owens vs. Josh Hudson


Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Saturday, February 4, 2023
2 RP Limit for singles; 2 RP Limit PER CHARACTER for tag (no word limits in play)
#2
Mr. D: “And I’ll be damned if SCW has to stoop so low to Slapfight Championship Wrestling, damn it!”

The crowd looks on as Mr. D looks around.

Mr. D: “But I digress. See last week is why I’m here. And with Body, Heart, and Soul just over a week away, well, time for people to need to deal with the consequences of their actions. Because I was watching everything last week and while we have the World Tag Team Championship figured out, and the World Title…Underground Title figured out…a lot of people’s dance cards are free. And I’m going to start divvying out partners. So let’s start with the SCW United States Championship!”

The crowd roars.

Mr. D: “Josh Hudson…congratulations on defending against Colleen. You’re not getting much rest though. You did this to yourself. And if you want to threaten young talent, that’s fine. But we’ll settle it in the ring – Because you’ll have Chance Owens standing across from you at Body, Heart, and Soul!”

The crowd roars.

Sharper: “Huge opportunity for the rookie!”

Lyman: “From Trios partner to US Title challenger!”


The playback pauses immediately after that and a now-familiar voice is heard. “So the founder of the company himself was at Breakdown. Trust me, sir, you won't be disappointed.” There's a soft clicking sound that precedes a flood of light illuminating everything in its path... Including a very thoughtful looking Chance Owens. Today he's in a red tank top and loose grey sweats with red piping down the outside seams.

A patch of shadows detaches itself from the rest and comes to stand on Chance's right side, their left hand coming up to rest on his shoulder. “Nothing like the boss laying down the law, hey kid?”

Chance doesn't have to look to know who's standing beside him. “It's something else, that's for sure.” He smiles a little before slowly tipping his head to one side then the other, wincing at the popping sounds and rubbing his neck. “I don't mind telling you I'm looking forward to venting my frustrations in the ring.”

“That's good. So what are your plans for today?” Chance's companion is in a grey t-shirt and grey sweatpants with red piping down the outside seams, and they have a thick mass of blond hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Chance grimaces and rubs his temples. “Killing this bitch of a headache, for one thing...” He blinks and studies the white plastic bottle that gets held in front of him. The label finally makes sense and he shakes his head as he slowly pushes it away. “No thanks, Adam... I have an addictive personality.”

Adam Brock grins as he puts the bottle away and brings out a different one. “Then try this one.” The second bottle has over the counter migraine medication in it.

Chance recognizes the label and takes the bottle. “This one, I've used before.” He fumbles with the bottle before getting it open and shaking two of the caplets into his hand.

Adam takes the bottle and lid and replaces them with Chance's water bottle. “Good thing you don't drink a lot of soda, huh?”

Chance washes the pills down with generous swallows of water before he answers the question. “Yeah, it is.” Then he sighs and closes his water bottle before looking off.

Adam recognizes that expression. “How's Leo doing?”

“The orthopedic surgeon had them fast-track his tests and we got the results today.” Chance sighs again and runs a hand through his hair. “There's an infection inside the bone where it broke. Leo has to have surgery so they can take care of the problem.” He looks down at his water bottle, then back up at Adam. “The surgeon wants Leo to consider a lawsuit against his doctor.”

Adam lightly squeezes Chance's shoulder with one hand. “Leo may not be the only person something like this has happened to. If he does sue his doctor, his best bet is a class-action lawsuit.”

“What's the difference between that and a regular lawsuit?”

“A class-action lawsuit allows for multiple plaintiffs to present the same case with the bulk of the group represented by one to three people.”

Chance ponders that for a moment. “What category would the lawsuit be put into?”

Adam isn't smiling when he answers the question. “Medical malpractice. That doctor deliberately put Leo in a position that caused a lot of unnecessary pain.”

Chance's new phone goes off at that moment to alert him to an incoming text message. “Excuse me a minute, Adam.” He picks up his phone and finds a message from Leo's doctor's office. A frown appears on his face as he opens the message. 'Your brother isn't the only one who's been ignored and mistreated by this doctor. The orthopedic surgeon he saw regarding his recently broken leg is looking into filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of everyone this doctor has wilfully harmed and neglected. - Mandy' “Holy shit.” He taps Reply and his hand moves rapidly across the screen. 'Leo's number hasn't changed... Why are you telling me instead of him?' He taps Send and puts his phone in his pants pocket before coming back over to where Adam is.

“What prompted the 'holy shit' just now, kid?”

“You were right. Leo isn't the only one who's been hurt by that idiot with a doctor's license.” The reply to his question comes in and he takes out his phone to read it. 'Leo asked me to tell you because he's the first plaintiff.' He can't help a smile. “Go get him, little brother.” He taps Reply without hesitation. 'Thank you for letting me know... You may want to start looking for another job in case that idiot has to close his office.' He taps Send and shows Adam the text messages.

Adam whistles. “He's got guts!”

“Yeah, he does.” His pride for Leo comes through in his voice. He loves his little brother.

Adan smiles and claps Chance on the back of the shoulder. “He comes by it honestly.”

Chance ducks his head then grins. “Dad keeps joking about how his kids were swapped with us at birth.” He and Leo take after their father's side of the family.

Adam can't help laughing. He's met their parents. “You definitely got his sense of humor there, kid.”

“You should see Mom's... She puts me to shame!”

“I hope I get to.”

“Stick around for a few days and you will.”

Adam gets a thoughtful look on his face. “Money isn't a problem for me now... Help me find a decent hotel?” He knows neither Chance and Leo nor their parents have room for a guest.

“Deal.” Chance mutes his phone and puts it in his pocket then runs his hands down his legs. “Damn palms are itchy.”

“Show me.”

Chance turns his hands palm up so Adam can see for himself. “It started after I capped my water bottle.”

“How do you wash it?” Adam's new red frames make his glasses clearly visible so people know he's wearing them. He studies Chance's hands and notes tiny silver flecks all over the skin.

“By hand with a soft cloth.”

“Do you wear gloves when you wash it?”

“I always wear gloves when I do the dishes. What are you seeing?”

“A lot of tiny silver flecks.” Chance's water bottle is a solid blue.

“Silver flecks?” Chance's brow furrows as he tries to think of what he could have come in contact with that was silver.

Adam suddenly realizes where the flecks came from and groans before knocking on Chance's new phone. “You need a different case for it.”

Chance feels his phone press against his leg and comes to the same conclusion Adam just did. “That's the last time I let Aunt Claire's sister in law give me something!”

“Go wash your hands. Then we can get down to business.”

“Right.” Chance disappears into the men's room of the gym they're in to wash his hands. He comes out after drying them with paper towels and joins Adam at the bench press machine.

“We're starting here today.”

“Okay.” Chance gets in position on the bench and exhales softly. “What's my starting weight?”

Adam checks the weights before answering. “Two hundred.” He takes up the spotter's position at the head of the bench. “Start with reps of three.”

“Gotcha.” Chance exhales again and carefully lifts the bar out of the brackets. The reps of three go slowly because he doesn't want to hurt himself.

Adam taps his hand when he sees the bar wobbling a little. “Rack it.”

Chance racks the weight bar and lies on the bench for a few seconds before slowly sitting up. “How many sets was that?”

“Three. I stopped you because it was starting to wobble and I didn't want you to hurt yourself if you dropped it.”

“Thanks, Adam.”

“Any time, kid.” Then Adam smiles. “Good job taking it slow, by the way.”

“Thank you.” Chance has heard too many horror stories about people not being careful in the gym to be that careless himself.

“Let me know when you're ready to move on and we'll start working on your leg muscles.”

Chance leans over to pick up his phone because it fell out of his pocket and checks for any new text messages while he's at it. He finds one from Leo. 'You remember Gary from my workplace, right? The guy who up and quit a week before I broke my leg in that on-site accident? I found out today he quit because his wife was one of that fuckhead doctor's patients and she had a massive stroke the day before he quit. She's in a coma because the doctor didn't give her the right medication and refused to fix it.' He's shaking when he taps Reply. 'Oh my God.' He can't think of anything else to say so he taps Send and puts his phone back in his pocket before he stands up and grabs a towel so he can wipe down the bench and weight bar he just used. “Let's move on, coach.”

Adam grabs Chance's water bottle for him. “This way, kid.” And he takes Chance to one of the leg lift machines.

Chance is about to sit at the machine when he's seized by an overwhelming desire to use a different one. He goes to the next machine and the urge passes. “This one.” And he sits on the bench for it.

Adam moves to the new machine and sets the weights without a complaint. “Two hundred... Both legs at once, three at a time.”

“You got it.” Chance exhales and moves as slowly as he did at the bench press machine. After the third set of three he can feel a slight wobble in his right leg so he stops.

“Which leg?”

“My right.”

“Liam's right knee was a mess until Michael got a hold of him.”

Chance knows just how much Michael did for Adam and Liam and vows never to reveal the full extent of that help. “Didn't he also help your nephew Jeremiah?”

Jeremiah had been almost hopelessly addicted to heroin. “He did, actually.” Adam smiles a little. “Kid's been fine ever since.”

“That's great!”

“It sure is!” Adam hands Chance his water bottle. “Instincts had you changing machines, huh?”

“Yup.”

“How's your head?”

Chance sits quietly to see if his head still hurts. “It's barely even noticeable now.”

“That's both good and bad.” Good that it worked and bad that it took migraine meds to make it go that far down on the pain scale.

“I'll talk to my doctor about it. It could be a sign of a more serious problem.”

“I could talk to Jericho about it if you give me permission.” Adam's suggesting Chance's headache has a non-visible source.

Chance absently rubs his leg where he felt the wobble and thinks while he does. “Isn't he busier than Liam these days?”

“He's finding ways to keep himself busy. He has a lot of time on his hands.”

Chance exhales softly and stands up to wipe down the machine he just used before he says anything. “All right.” He puts the towel over his shoulder and picks up his water bottle. That wobble in his right leg repeats itself at a stronger intensity. “Dammit.” He rubs his leg again.

Adam scowls and taps a button on the device he's wearing on his right arm. The soft click lets him know the channel's open. “Jericho, it's Adam. I'm in Denver with Chance. How soon can you get here?”

Jericho's voice floats easily to where Chance is standing. “What's going on, Adam?”

“He's having trouble with his right leg and we just finished his leg lifts.”

“Get him out of the gym. I'll meet you on the sidewalk.”

“Right. See you soon.” The channel closes with a soft click and he pushes the button again. “Come on, kid, we're calling it early. I don't want you getting hurt so close to the Pay Per View.”

Chance exhales slowly a few times. “Help me to the locker room so I can get my stuff?”

“Sure.” Adam takes Chance's weight and helps the younger man walk to the locker room.

Someone with more than a passing resemblance to Liam comes out of the locker room holding Chance's duffel bag. “Dad thought it was a good idea for me to come here.”

Adam isn't surprised in the least. “How's the school situation going, Jeremiah?”

Jeremiah walks with them so Chance doesn't have to worry about dropping his duffel bag. Adam's been so busy with Chance he hasn't had a chance to check in on him and it doesn't bother him one bit. “I'm a remote student.” That means he attends classes through Zoom.

“Two birds with one stone.” Jeremiah's been fighting with the Philadelphia DMV to register his new Tracker and get a license plate for it.

“Three, actually. I've also been helping Mom around the house now that we have those kittens.” The kittens had been Liam's idea. Their dog Mischief took to them immediately despite being a Rottweiler.

“They're furry little menaces!”

Chance reclaims his jacket and boots from the desk and leans against the wall to take off his sneakers. “Kittens usually are, Adam.”

Jeremiah crouches and unties Chance's shoes for him. “I'm used to helping Dad and Uncle Adam with their shoes when their knees acted up. Of course... Uncle Adam's was worse than Dad's...” He tucks the shoes into Chance's duffel bag and zips it up again. “Make sure you take them out as soon as you get home so they can air out.” Then he puts Chance's boots close to his feet. “And they're calicoes.”

Chance sputters as he puts his boots on. “How did he find two calico kittens the same age!?”

“They're from the same litter.”

“Oh, so they're actual sisters.”

“Yeah. And they look exactly the same.” Jeremiah makes sure the boots are on properly before he stands up holding the duffel bag by the handles. “Mom named them Jinx and Minx.”

“Fitting names.” Chance puts his jacket on and zips it up to just below his throat. “Thanks for helping me, Jeremiah.”

“You're welcome, Chance. I'll have Jericho get me home, Uncle Adam.”

Adam smiles as he takes Chance's duffel bag from his nephew. “He's taken a liking to you, you know.” Jeremiah reminds Jericho of his son Andre. Andre has gone missing again and Jericho is beside himself.

“I know he has... Uncle Adam... I have a bad feeling about Andre.”

Adam turns to see Chance's confused expression. “Andre is Jericho's oldest child and firstborn son. He's gone missing again.”

Chance's hand flies up to his head and he pulls his lips between his teeth at a sudden sharp stabbing pain. Behind his closed eyes he can see a dark colored vehicle pull up to an abandoned house in a remote location somewhere. The doors of the vehicle open and two men get out. One of them goes to the back of the vehicle and puts something over one shoulder. They go up to the house and one of them opens the door. The men disappear from sight for a moment then they come back out and the door gets closed behind them. 'They'll never find him out here... DeLioncourt should have backed down when we gave him the chance.' He snaps out of it with a gasp as his eyes fly open. “Oh God, no!”

“Help me get him outside, Jeremiah!”

Jeremiah pushes the door open and holds it. “I've got the door, Uncle Adam!”

“Come on, Chance, we're going outside.” And Adam takes the unusually pale younger man out into the chilly Denver morning.

Jericho comes up and moves Chance off the sidewalk into an opening between the gym and the business beside it. “What happened in there, Adam?”

“I told Chance about Andre and he put his hand to his head. Less than a minute later he opened his eyes and said 'Oh God, no'.”

Jericho looks around and shakes his head. “We need to go somewhere less public. You're going home, Jeremiah. Your mom needs help with the laundry.” An oval edged in silver opens near the teenager.

Jeremiah doesn't complain. “Is it the washer again or is it the dryer this time?”

“Both.”

“Figures!” And Jeremiah walks through the gate into the living room at home in Philadelphia.

Jericho closes the gate after Jeremiah goes through it and opens another one. “This one will take us to Chance's townhouse. Help me get him through it.”

Adam nods grimly. “Right.” He helps Chance through the gate into Chance's living room and promptly installs him on the couch.

Jericho comes through right after them and closes the gate. Once it's closed, he turns around and walks over to the couch Chance is now sitting on. “Show me what you saw.” And he puts his hand on Chance's head.

Chance exhales and closes his eyes so he can remember everything he saw. He can't help a shudder that makes him wince and rub his right leg again. “It felt like I was right there.”

Jericho watches the whole thing and makes it so he can remember it without robbing Chance of the memory. “You witnessed it in real time... Which means it just happened!”

Adam knows what that means. “Great. A real-time seer.”

Chance rubs his face with both hands after Jericho moves his hand. “What did that guy mean when he said you should have backed down when they gave you the chance, Jericho?”

Jericho's voice is hard and stilted. “They weren't talking about me, Chance...” He closes his eyes and gives his head a good shake. “They were talking about my brother Daemon.”

Adam groans. “They thought Andre was his son instead of Jacobias!”

Chance holds up one hand in a plea for silence. “How many of you are there and how old are you all?”

Jericho can't help a faint smile. “There are four of us and we're the same age.”

“Quadruplets!?”

“Yes. It goes me, Jarred, Michael, Daemon.”

“Why would they want Daemon to back down from something?”

“Daemon's line of work is questionable in every state except Louisiana.”

Chance goes to say something when he gets another flash of imagery behind his eyes. He sees part of a large wooden sign that says 'Pont' but the rest disappears before he can see it. “Goddammit!”

“What is it?”

“I saw part of a large wooden sign!”

Jericho puts one hand on Chance's shoulder. “This is important, Chance... What did you see on the sign?”

“It said Pont. That was all I saw.”

Adam figures it out before Jericho does. “Andre's near Lake Pontchartrain!”

Jericho curses in Creole before talking to seemingly thin air. “Artemis, are you there?”

Artemis is Jericho's law enforcement mainframe. “Yes, Jericho. How can I help you?”

“I just got a lead on Andre's whereabouts. He's in an abandoned cabin near Lake Pontchartrain and he's hurt.”

“Dispatching police and ambulance crews to the cabins near the lake.”

“Thank you, Artemis...”

Chance hears the trembling in Jericho's voice. “He's alive, Jericho... You won't be burying your son.”

That snaps Jericho out of it. “Thanks to you, Chance.” He addresses Artemis again. “Go ahead and tell Jarred so he can get out there to look for clues.”

Artemis sounds like she's laughing. “He's on his way there.” Jarred is a police officer in New Orleans and he's working today.

“Thanks, Artemis. You can go back to what you were doing now. I'll touch base with Orion when I want to go home.”

“All right. Be safe.”

Most people would blink at a computer telling them to be safe. Not Jericho. “I will.”

“Thank you.”

Jericho hears a faint click and rubs his face with both hands before running them through his hair. “I wish I could be there for him but I'd just be underfoot.”

Chance remembers something Adam said right before he saw where Andre had been left. “Adam, what did you mean when you said Andre had gone missing again?”

Adam looks at Jericho and gets a faint nod. “Andre was kidnapped by a sexual miscreant when he was fourteen. There were three teenage girls there when he arrived... He and one of the girls got away. The other two didn't.”

“That's terrible!”

Jericho shakes his head to clear it. “Adam called their kidnapper a sexual miscreant... The girls' parents called him a sick bastard. He got four life sentences for kidnapping them, four life sentences for the sexual assaults and two death sentences for the girls he killed.” He sighs and looks off for a moment. “The girl who escaped with Andre wound up taking her own life before the judge sentenced that bastard. Her brother called it a messed up case of Pavlov's Syndrome.” He's referring to the now infamous Pavlov's dogs experiments.

“How long did he imprison those girls before he kidnapped Andre?”

“Four months... Maybe five? Why?”

Chance chooses his words carefully. “It may not have been Pavlov's Syndrome that caused her to end her life.” He looks at the world's most brilliant computer programmer with a hint of something undefinable in his eyes. “It may have been an undetected case of Stockholm Syndrome.”

“I think you're closer to the truth than her brother, to be honest with you.”

Adam hears a noise and looks at his right arm before pushing the button on what's actually a personal communicator Jericho made for him. “This is Adam in Denver, go ahead.”

The voice they hear is very close to Jericho's. “Adam, it's Jarred. Are you the one who saw where Andre was dumped?”

“No, that was my protege Chance Owens. He saw it as it was happening.”

“I don't think we've had a real-time seer before. It's usually things in the past or in the future.”

“That's what I was afraid of.”

Jericho chimes in. “Is he there, Jarred?”

“He was in the first cabin we checked. There are fresh tire tracks and fresh footprints in the dust inside the cabin.”

Chance rubs his forehead. “There should be fingerprints on or near the doorknob.”

“Who's that?”

Jericho smiles at Chance and traces a helix to help relieve the agony in the young man's head. “That's Chance.”

“Gotcha. Thanks for the tip, Chance, we'll use ninhydrin to check for prints.”

Chance can't help a watery smile. “You're welcome.”

“Andre's on his way to the hospital, Jericho. They smashed his communicator before they left him there to die.”

Jericho growls in the back of his throat. “Pray your fellow officers find them before I do or I'll make Daemon look like Mother Teresa!”

Chance says something before Jarred can. “Apparently they mistook Andre for someone named Jacobias?”

Jarred's voice is laced with something Chance has only ever felt. “Jacobias is Daemon's son.”

Jericho shakes his head and balls one hand into a fist to control his anger. “Tell Jarred what you heard one of them say, Chance.”

Chance rubs his eyes first. “One of them said 'They'll never find him out here... DeLioncourt should have backed down when we gave him the chance'.”

Jarred's voice gains a thick Cajun accent in addition to the barely suppressed rage. “Those boys ain't gonna be glad to see me instead of Jericho or Daemon... Me, I leave scum like that alive.”

“Let the courts deal with them. It's not your job to punish the criminals... It's your job to arrest them so they can go to court for their crimes.”

“Has anyone ever told you how much you sound like Adam?” Jarred means the words Chance uses.

“No, but Adam did say I reminded him of himself at my age.”

“How old are you, Chance?”

“I'm twenty four.”

“Adam was about that age, wasn't he, Jericho?”

Jericho shakes his head with a soft chuckle. “Adam was twenty one, Jarred.”

“And we weren't that much older than Chance back then.”

Chance looks at Adam in confusion. “What are they talking about, Adam?”

Adam only smiles. “I'll tell you later.” Then he whacks Chance's phone again. “Take it off mute. There's a call coming in soon.”

Chance takes his phone out of his pocket and turns the volume back on. His phone rings in his hand mere seconds after he does that. He recognizes the number and tries to hide his trepidation. “Hey, little brother. What's the word about the surgery?” What Leo tells him sends a jolt of something racing down his spine. “What!? He can't do that! It's his fault you need surgery in the first place!” He only gets angrier and angrier as he listens.

Adam reaches over and plucks the phone out of Chance's hand. “Leo, it's Adam. Am I right when I say your doctor is threatening you if you get surgery to clear out your bone infection? I am. Chance is right, though. It is your doctor's fault. He ignored you when you asked him for a walking cast after you broke your leg.” He can see Jericho's lips moving to form the sentence 'I'm calling Michael in for him'. “Hey, Leo? Do you remember me telling you and Chance about Michael DeLioncourt? That's good to know, because Jericho just told me he's calling Michael in to help you.” He grins at Leo's response. “No, I'm not kidding! Would I lie to you? That's what I thought! You can tell that negligent dickhead your physical health is no longer his concern... And if he keeps threatening and harassing you, he's going to get a visit from yours truly! Well, it's either me or Jericho. And Jericho's in a high state of piss-off.” He waves off Jericho's middle finger. “He just flipped me off if that helps. Hold on a second, okay?” He puts Chance's phone on speaker so they can all hear Leo. “Go ahead, Leo.”

Leo's voice comes through clear as a bell. “I repeat, Dr. Leopold, my physical health is no longer your concern. I'm twenty two years old and I can make my own damn decisions. Either you leave me alone or you have someone else to deal with. And you have a choice. You'll either deal with my brother Chance, or you'll deal with Adam Brock or Jericho DeLioncourt!”

Dr. Leopold is a sour, bitter man who always sounds like he has a cold. “I don't appreciate you mouthing off with empty threats, young man... I know what's best for you.”

Chance feels a surge of rage obliterate the pain in his head. “Dr. Leopold, this is Leo's brother Chance. You are on dangerously thin ice if you keep trying to belittle and browbeat him.”

“Hang up that phone immediately! This is between me and your brother!”

“Not any more, it's not! You crossed the line when you threatened him a few minutes ago!”

Jericho points at the phone and holds up three fingers, then counts down to zero. He's the only one who hears a faint pop on the other end of the line. “Dr. Leopold, this is Jericho DeLioncourt. Your days of bullying and neglect are about to come to an end. Leo, look to your right.”

Leo sounds surprised and happy at the same time. “Is this Michael!?”

“It is. He'll be consulting with the orthopedic surgeon about the best way to remove the infection in your shin bone.”

“Thank you so much, Jericho!”

Jericho's smile makes his eyes sparkle. “Anything to help my friends.” Then his voice turns to ice. “As for you, Dr. Leopold, your services are no longer required in regards to Leo Owens. You can leave now.”

The next sound they hear is a door slamming. “He's gone...”

Chance smiles even though Leo can't see him. “He knew he was fucked the second he heard Jericho start talking. Michael?”

Michael sounds like he's smiling. “I'm here, Chance.”

“You can bring Leo home. That's where Adam, Jericho and I are.”

“We'll be there in a few minutes. He's trying not to cry right now.”

“I don't blame him one bit. We're in the living room when he's ready.”

“All right. Hey, Jarred, I'll be at the hospital to help Andre within the hour.”

Jarred can't help laughing. “Zambuko is already running triage to see what the damage is.”

Jericho chimes in with a laugh of his own. “Thanks, Michael... Oh. I fixed your communicator. I'll give it to you before you go see Andre.”

Michael's chuckling. “Sounds good to me... See you soon, Chance.”

Chance smiles again. “See you soon, Michael.” He takes his phone back and taps End on the screen.

Jarred's laughter carries through the airwaves loud and clear. “Finding Andre will help your blood pressure, Jericho... I'll have Silas alert you when we find those fuckheads.” Silas is Jarred's personal mainframe.

Jericho grins. “Works for me... You'd better get back to work.”

“Right. Talk to you later, bro.”

“Talk to you later.” There's a click to signal closure of the channel.

Adam pushes the button to close it on his end. “I don't think anyone's ever come that close to making me mad since before Maxine and Kimber died.”

“Other than your former employers, you mean.”

“No, Jericho, they nearly broke me. It was Liam they pissed off.”

Chance snorts loudly. “That's not how I remember it!”

Adam looks between Jericho and Chance and realizes he's better off not arguing with them. “I know when I'm outnumbered.”

Chance puts his phone on the coffee table, checks his hands and grumbles before rubbing them on his sweatpants. “Stupid phone case!” The case is silver.

“I'll rig up the video camera while we're waiting for Michael and Leo... You have a title match looming on the horizon, Chance.”

Jericho perks up at that. “Gimme details!”

Chance can't help laughing at Jericho's enthusiasm. “I wrestle for a company Adam used to wrestle for back in the day... Supreme Championship Wrestling based in Toronto.”

Adam holds up one hand asking Chance to wait until the camera's running before he says anything else. “Okay... We're rolling.” He comes back to hunker down on his heels with the remote for the camera in one hand. “Go ahead, Chance.”

“As I was saying, Jericho... SCW has a pay per view coming up on Sunday and I'm on the card.”

Jericho's smile is a thing of beauty. “What kind of match is it and who are you gonna kick the crap out of?”

“His name is Josh Hudson... He's the United States Champion...”

“Hold on a second! You have a title match!?”

“Yes. The company founder himself made the match on the last Breakdown.”

“What's the founder's name?”

“I don't know his full name... Everyone just calls him Mr. D.”

Adam can't help a wistful comment. “Being around Chance makes me wish I'd stayed in the SCW longer than I did. Maybe things would have been different.”

Jericho chuckles. “You could always go back to it, you know... I'm sure Liam's happy to see you getting out of the house now that his band is back together.”

“I'll consider it. But this isn't about me, it's about Chance.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Chance smothers a laugh. “That's okay... Now where was I?”

Adam reminds him. “Josh Hudson.”

“Thanks, Adam. Mr. D wasn't happy about all the chaos that's been going on since Shaun Cruze left the company without an on-site authority figure... He was especially upset about how Josh Hudson threatened me during the Trios tournament. So he booked Josh to defend his US title against me at Body, Heart and Soul. That's the name of the pay per view, by the way.”

“That's quite the name.”

“That's one of the shorter pay per view names they have. But I digress.”

Jericho frowns heavily. “How did he threaten you, Chance?”

“He told me if I blew it and let our team down, he'd make me wish I was dead when he got through with me.”

“What an ass!”

“That's the right word for him... He knew I only had four matches under my belt when he said that.”

“Now I know why Adam took you under his wing. He saw your potential the way I saw his.”

“The first time he had me go to the gym, he told me I had the potential to be one of the greatest wrestlers the world has ever seen.” Chance lightly rubs his leg. “I don't quite know if I believe it yet.”

“How many matches have you had in total?”

“Six.” Chance grimaces. “I only won two of them.”

“So use those losses as learning experiences. Find out where you went wrong and work on not doing that again.”

“It's hard. Thinking about those losses makes me think I don't have what it takes to be a wrestler.”

Adam makes a rude sound. “He went toe to toe with the SCW TV champion two weeks ago, only for her to steal the win with a handful of tights and keep her title.”

Jericho leans back and crosses his arms as he looks at Chance. “You had a title shot two weeks ago and she used your tights against you?”

Chance grumbles under his breath. “Yes.”

“I hate to break it to you, kid, but she was afraid of losing.”

Chance shakes his head. “I was distracted by the possibility of Josh Hudson jumping me during the match.”

“Hey. That was a legitimate concern because of how he phrased his threat. Look at it this way. It was either lose by her grabbing your tights or lose by having that asshole beat the hell out of you when he wasn't part of the match.”

Chance can't help a faint chuckle. “I called him an asshole after he left my locker room that night.” Then he sighs and rubs his face with both hands. “I did some digging after I set up my computer last week... Guess who used to be in the military?”

Adam stares at him. “No fucking way! Josh Hudson is ex military!?”

“He is. I couldn't find any details about his deployments, though.”

“It would've been nice... But that doesn't matter.”

Chance gives Adam an incredulous look. “What do you mean that doesn't matter!?”

Adam looks right at him. “He's not the only one with hand to hand fighting experience.”

“He was trained to kill, Adam! I'm a self-taught street fighter!”

Jericho leans forward and rattles Chance's shoulder. “Your experiences are fresher to you than Josh's training is to him.”

“That doesn't exactly make me feel better, you know... He's old enough to be my dad. He's known how to fight and how to kill a lot longer than I have!”

Adam shakes his head. “You're putting too much stock in his past and not enough stock in your present and your future. What happens when you don't have much of a challenge in your life any more? What happens when you get into a rhythm or routine without anything coming along to disrupt it?”

Chance goes to ask Adam what the hell he's talking about when it hits him. A glimmer of something appears in his eyes as he gives Adam the three words he's waiting to hear. “You get complacent.”

“And what happens when you get complacent?”

“You get sloppy. You make mistakes. You leave yourself open to failure.”

Jericho picks up Adam's train of thought. “What happens when someone capitalizes on a mistake you made?”

Chance knows the answer Jericho's looking for. Jericho wants him to speak for himself. “You learn from it so you don't make that mistake again.”

Adam has the next question. “What did you learn from your loss against Polly Playtime?”

“Not to get distracted no matter what.”

“And what did you learn when Josh Hudson threatened you after your first round match in the Trios tournament?”

Chance doesn't even have to think about that. “He felt threatened.”

“By?”

“Me.”

“Why would he feel threatened by you?”

The words come slowly but they're from the heart. “He doesn't know me. He can't predict what I'm going to do.” Something ignites behind his eyes and turns those pale blue orbs into pits of living flame. “He can't stop me because I'm like a tornado. I make my own damn path and nobody can tell me otherwise!”

“There we go! There's that caged beast I was talking about!”

Jericho rejoins the conversation with a wicked grin people who know him would recognize. “Does Josh Hudson's past still intimidate you?”

Chance's eyes are blazing with barely contained emotion. “Fuck no! If he wants to stop me from getting anywhere near the goals I've set for myself, he's going to have to kill me and he's welcome to try!”

“What's going to be the outcome in your match with him at Body, Heart and Soul for the United States Championship?”

Chance's left hand balls into a fist. “He's going in as the champion... But he's not coming out that way. That title is mine!”

“How are you going to accomplish that goal?”

“I'm going to give him a beating the likes of which he's never seen!”

Adam grins. “What did I tell you when I mentioned your wrestling style that day in the gym?”

Chance's response is immediate. “You told me not to be afraid of playing to my strengths.” He looks at Jericho. “I'm a brawler/submissionist.”

Jericho's face is alight with something Chance can't quite put his finger on. “And you think being a street fighter didn't help you prepare for being a wrestler?”

Chance has to laugh at himself. “I was being human. It's totally normal for us to doubt ourselves.” The fire is back in his eyes. “I don't doubt myself any more.”

“Good.”

Adam speaks up again. “What are the odds of Josh Hudson keeping his title at Body, Heart and Soul?”

Chance's grin belies the fire in his eyes. “The odds are not in his favor!” The grin deepens. “His chances of winning are slim and none... And Slim just left town.”

Jericho claps his hands together with a laugh. “I knew you were a smartass... I just knew it!”

Chance laughs and gives Jericho a cheeky grin. “I've been told it's my best feature.”

“It's one of them, that's for damn sure.” Jericho's still smiling but there's no amusement in his words. “Being a smartass won't help you against Josh Hudson, though.”

Chance sobers and his eyes become smoldering embers waiting to erupt into flame at the right moment. “That's true, but I know what will help.” He lifts his chin and the new placement of his face makes it look like his eyes are actually on fire. “My best attributes are my speed, my strength, my wits... And my instincts.”

Jericho's breath catches in his throat for a few seconds. “How good are your instincts?”

“They've kept me alive since I was thirteen. I learned to listen to them very early on.”

“Good. What are they telling you right now?”

Chance's voice deepens and gets rougher. “They're telling me to have my head on a swivel because he could come at me from any direction.”

“He will. He wants to punish you for something you couldn't have predicted.”

“It's like I said earlier, Jericho. If he wants to stop me from reaching my goals, he's going to have to kill me and he's welcome to try.”

Adam nods at the confidence in Chance's voice. “Any final thoughts on Josh Hudson?”

“I do have one more thing to say...” There's a bit of a growl in his voice now. “If he wants to walk out of Body, Heart and Soul with the United States Championship, he has to go through me.”

Adam pauses the recording with the remote. “I have to make sure it actually recorded all that, so excuse me while I check the playback.”

Jericho stands up as well. “I'll check the manufacturing code on the camera to see if it's one of the flawed ones.” Several batches of Simalcron video cameras and video recorders were made with faulty parts and nobody noticed until they were already on the market.

“Sounds good to me.” Adam walks over to the video camera where it's sitting on the tripod. “You got a password on your computer, Chance?”

Chance scowls as he shakes his head. “Every time I go to set one, the damn thing crashes!”

Jericho frowns as he turns on the monitor and jostles the mouse to wake it up out of sleep mode. “That shouldn't be happening on this kind of computer.” Chance has one of his Scavenger hybrid computers; it can handle even the most resource-intensive games and any kind of research or music Chance can throw at it while editing videos or creating graphics for his own use.

“It is... That's the only problem with it. Anything else I do it works fine.”

“This'll only take a minute.” Jericho accesses the files for setting a password on the computer and studies the code. “Hm, I'm not seeing anything suspicious here in the coding... But that doesn't mean anything.” He plucks something out of thin air and plugs it into one of the computer's USB ports.

Chance knows better than to interrupt a genius at work. So he sits there and watches.

Jericho taps a few keys then nods to himself. “That got it. There was an undetected flaw in the registry. It won't crash on you any more.” He puts a card on the desk and goes to check on the video camera. “I left you my phone number so you can call me directly if anything goes wrong after this.”

“Thank you. I hope nothing goes wrong but I'll let you know if it does.”

“I like giving people peace of mind.” He finds the code he needs without making Adam stop what he's doing. “Hm, this code doesn't ring any bells...” He traces his finger over it and gets a report almost right away. “Well that's a relief! This one isn't flawed.”

Adam's retort is dripping with sarcasm. “It'd be a hell of a thing if it was flawed because then I'd be asking how it managed to retain a recording with such amazing quality.”

Jericho laughs. “This is one of the reasons you and Liam are like family to me, Adam. Your sarcasm is second to none.”

Adam grins as he stores the recording. “It's ready for uploading, Chance.”

Chance pushes himself off the couch and goes over to the computer. “Let me check to see if the wireless connection is still working.” He finds where he needs to check and nods with a smile. “Okay. Let's get this out into cyberspace.” He sits down and proceeds to make the recording available for everyone to see. A few more taps of the keys and he sits back with a happy sound. “And done!”

Michael comes downstairs at that particular moment and shakes his head. “Poor Leo cried himself to sleep. I just put him in his bed and took off the leg brace so he could be comfortable.”

Chance sighs. “Thanks, Michael.”

Jericho takes something out of his pocket and hands it to Michael. “There you go... Good as new.”

Michael puts his communicator on his left arm just below his wrist. “Thank you...” He turns to Chance and tilts his head before smiling a little. “Diagnosis... Charley horse. Be careful with that leg for a bit.”

Chance shakes his head even as he leans down to lightly rub the back of his calf. “Thanks again.”

“You're welcome.” Michael holds up his right index finger for a moment and shakes his head. “You need a humidifier in here. The air is insanely dry.”

“We've been talking about that and we're trying to find the right one.”

“That's good. I need to go check on Andre... And Jarred.”

“Jarred's still out at the cabin Andre was dumped at.”

“You're gonna need training so you don't get a migraine every time you see something that lasts longer than a few seconds.”

Chance rubs his face and leans back in his chair. “You'll forgive me for sounding skeptical...”

Adam smiles and puts one hand on Chance's shoulder. “I get it. Your entire generation is wary of certain things.” His voice softens. “I was twenty one when I found out I could see the future.”

Chance looks at Adam and can't see any hints of deception. “You... You can see the future?”

“I can. I'm what Michael's wife calls an Astral Seer.”

Michael nods. “They call me the Healer. Jericho over there? He's the Visionary.”

Chance barely has time to put his hands on his head before something passes behind his closed eyelids. He's leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs when it lets him go. “...You'd better hurry, Michael. Andre just got shocked back to life.”

“Damn! I'll come back another day so I can get an assessment on what the extent of your sight is.”

“I don't know how to reach you.”

“Adam does.” Michael lightly taps his communicator before walking through a gate into the hospital where Andre is.

Jericho waits for the gate to close before he looks at Chance. “How bad was the pain this time?”

Chance finally looks at Jericho and Adam. “Worse than earlier today.”

Adam sighs. “He had an almost migraine at the gym. I gave him some of the OTC migraine meds I always carry.”

Jericho nods a bit. “About what I was expecting, actually.” He touches Chance's temple with one finger and puts a barrier up in the younger man's mind. “This will keep things at bay until Michael can assess you properly. You won't have to worry about being blindsided.”

Chance can feel the pain subsiding already. “Thank you. I have enough to handle as it is.”

“Any time, kid.”

Chance can't help laughing. “Adam calls me kid too.” He knows it's because of his age and he's okay with it.

“So you know he isn't using it as an insult.”

“I do.” Chance can't help smiling. “I'm a fair bit younger than you two.”

“Andre's only about a year older than you, Chance.”

Adam chimes in with a grin. “Jeremiah's only eighteen, but he acts like he's a lot older.”

“That nephew of yours is gonna be a lady-killer when he allows himself to love again, you know.”

“Yeah, I know... Lauren is not looking forward to that.” Lauren is Liam's wife and Jeremiah's mother.

“Just like Liam isn't looking forward to Kimmy and Andrea starting to date when they're old enough.” Kimmy and Andrea are Jeremiah's eight year old twin sisters.

“Right.”

Chance can only laugh and shake his head. “Leo and I were the subjects of many an overzealous teenage girl when I wasn't getting into one scrape or another during high school.”

Jericho laughs. “Naturally none of them could handle the reality.”

“Unfortunately for them.” Chance leans forward and tags Adam's leg with his hand. “I bet that was your story too.”

Adam smiles and shakes his head. “It was, actually...” He waves Jericho over to the overstuffed armchairs. “Let's take a load off while we wait for Leo to wake up.”

Jericho's eyes light up when he sees the chairs. “Gladly! I just need to take care of something for Chance first.” He takes Chance's running shoes out of his duffel bag and puts them on a thin mat near the closet. “There.” Now they can air out. He comes back to sit in the chair Adam isn't sprawled out in.

Chance just smiles a little as he leans back in his chair again. “So tell me how this all started.” He's referring to the discussion they were having before Michael had to leave. Some things need a catalyst before they can become reality in someone's mind... That's just how the world works sometimes.
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^Banner courtesy of Mad Marlowe
#3
OOC: Good luck.

A History of Violence: Book II: The Mission, Chapter Four

[Image: hudson2020v2.png]
Josh Hudson Career Accomplishments
2023 Feud and Match of the Year
2022 Feud and Match of the Year
2018 SCW Trios Tournament Winner
2013 SCW Hall of Fame
SCW World Heavyweight Champion(3x)
SCW United States Champion(3x)
SCW Television Champion(1x)
SCW Tag Team Champion(2x)
2008 Tag Team of the Year award(Josh Hudson & Justin Davis)
Conquered Tactical Warfare 2010
HCCW World Heavyweight Champion (4x)
HCCW World Television Champion (1x)
HCCW United States Champion (1x)
XWE InterContinental Champion (1x)
XWE World Tag Team Champion (3x)
IWC World Heavyweight Champion(1x)
EAPW World Heavyweight Champion(1x)
TNW World Heavyweight Champion(1x)
WWA United States Champion(1x)
Ended Xander Valentine's 25 Match Winning Streak (2005)


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