Post by Valora on Jan 29, 2024 12:46:38 GMT -6
Valora’s Compound, Mexico City, Mexico After the events of Ignite 3:
Abbigail wakes up and groans. The warnings Valora had given her were.. Definitely right! She hurt all over. Rolling over, she fell out of bed and landed flat on her face with a thud and a groan.
“Bloody hell girl… coulda stayed in Swansea and played football.. But no! We had to give being a professional fighter a go.” She pushed herself up to her feet and yawned. Grabbing a bottle of Pepsi, she made her way downstairs. She needed caffeine, She needed to get her brain going. As she came downstairs, she noticed Samantha waiting for her. “Good, you’re up. We can get started.” She said, heading to the War Room.
As they came in, Abbigail looked around and took a big swig from her Pepsi. “Two things. Why the hell did we have to jet back to Mexico City from Memphis after the match and.. Where’s Val?” Samantha shrugs. “Next Ignite is in New Orleans, and then there’s the ppv Tension in Texas. All in all, we decided Mexico City made a better choice for operations.” The second question brings an annoyed sigh from Samantha. “Valora is.. Indisposed at the moment. Blair needed help with something.” She taps the bottom of her chin. “There’s something going on here. Val has been using that app Blair’s pushing way too much. It’s far and away the most used app on her phone. She’s spending way too much time with Blair too.”
Abbigail blinks. “Wait a minute, how do you know what app Val uses on her phone?” Samantha smirks. “The same way I know you spend way too much time playing mobile phone games and some of the other things you get up to on your phone and laptop.” Abbigail gulps and nods. “ Alright.. You’re not just a sports agent and manager, aren’t you?” Samantha takes a seat and leans back in her chair, thinking for a moment. “Familiar with MIT are you?” Abbigail nods. “Genius school. Tony Stark went there in the MCU.” Samantha nods. “Correct. I went there. I graduated from there and from there the U.S. government recruited me. To put it into terms you would understand better, I was an MI-5 agent, though, here in the States, we refer to it as the NSA. I also did some work for the CIA. Intelligence work is fluid and one often gets bounced back and forth.”
Abbigail blinks. “ You were a spy?! Like James Bond?!” Samantha smirks. “Spy hunter is more accurate. Most of my work was counter espionage. If a movie reference, think the operative in Serenity when he says ‘Secrets, are not my concern. Keeping them, is.’ That was my main job. Make sure things the U.S. government doesn’t want known, remain safely unknown. I had a couple of assignments where I got to play the spy but sadly, it’s nothing like James Bond. The bottom line is. I’m good at what I do.”
She clicks a handheld remote and the screen lights up. “Review time. Your triple threat match. Where to start. You blew away expectations.” Abbigail blinks. “R..really?” Samantha nods. “Really, really. Girl you went toe to toe with a Navy SEAL, one of the very best soldiers the U.S. has and not only did you not die, the argument could be made you won that fight. At the very, very least you held your own.” She clicks the remote again and a clip plays of her getting hit with 2 punches from Rose and then ducking the spinning elbow and bringing her down with a double arm DDT but not going for the cover to play to the crowd. She pauses the clip and looks at Abbigail.
Abbigail sighs and nods. “I shouldn’t have done that, I know but I got.” Samantha nods. “Adrenaline. Yes. It’s to be expected. The fact that you recognize it was a mistake is good, but in truth, this is going to happen until you get more experience. You’ll get a feel for knowing when you can play to the crowd and when not to. You’ll also learn to control your adrenaline rush, make it work for you rather than being at its mercy.” click! The clip changes to Roger Wright hitting a belly to belly suplex but throwing Abbigail into the top turnbuckle of a corner. Abbigail groans as she sees that and nods as Samantha pauses it. “Bloody sore as hell, before you ask.” Samantha nods. “Shirt off.” Abbigail blinks but eventually complies with the request,, taking her shirt off as Samantha moves over and looks at it. “Hmm.. nice bruise, but not seeing evidence that makes me worry about anything more serious.. Would be nice if Val was here but she apparently has more important things to deal with.”
Samantha heads back to continue the briefing and Abbigail puts her shirt back on. Click! The clip comes to the end of the match. “Valora would be proud, this was perfect, you let your opponent do your work for you and picked up the pieces. This was a big win, Abbigail! Anyone in New Edge Wrestling that isn’t taking you seriously right now is a damned fool.” Abbigail nods and drinks her Pepsi. “That match was a trip. But Valora spent all this time telling me about Roger Wright. The man I fought wasn’t the man she told me about.” Samantha shrugs. “This is true, but at the moment that’s a Roger Wright problem. Not a Valora Salinas or Abbigail Dresden problem.” Abbigail nodded and took another drink from her Pepsi, that line of thinking did make sense, after all.
Samantha clicked the remote again. “Next match. Tag team action. You and Justice Cross are taking on Rylee Ruin, aka the girl suffering from dissociative personality disorder, more commonly referred to by laypeople as multiple personalities.” Abbigail nods. “ Right, Val beat the shit out of her and she thinks she did good because she put Val through a table afterwards.” Samantha nods. “Correct her. She is teaming with Priscilla White, who is also a 2nd generation wrestler, scion of a famous wrestler. Priscilla White could be a good partner, but they have never teamed before in New Edge Wrestling. That combined with Rylee’s instability, makes this team easy to exploit. Be on the lookout.
We also face Ailyn Ruin-Darrington. Another product of her family’s. Ahem, combat training center.” Abbigail cuts in here. “You and Val both attacked it. What’s wrong with that place, I mean if I wasn’t training with Val, I’d consider checking it out.” Samantha raises an eyebrow. “Well, I suppose it depends on how you want to judge the effectiveness of a school. If you want to look at the trophy room, to my knowledge they have nothing for pro wrestling. So for MMA, they might be a good choice but pro wrestling they have yet to prove themselves. Now, I consider a huge black mark against the school that they took a woman who is a threat to herself and others and taught advanced martial arts. Rylee Ruin should have been denied any kind of advanced training.” Abbigail nods. “Devil’s advocate. Val got training and she also admits she ain’t sane.”
Samantha nods. “Valora was sane when she began training as far as she and I can tell. Perhaps Rylee was in the same boat in which case, I’d withdraw my last remark. But I’m operating with the information I have at the moment. Now, I find myself wondering why the bookers chose not to pair you with Ailyn, the two of you could have been a great pairing, both being young, very promising prospects. Anyways, before we take a look at Ailyn and her partner, let’s take a look at your partner.” Samantha clicks the remote and a picture and profile of Justice Cross comes up.
Samantha begins. “This is also a very solid choice of partner for you. This woman is experienced, she has held titles in multiple feds and is even a hall of famer in one of them. She also seems to favor a technical style of wrestling so she should mesh very well with you.” Samantha pauses here for a moment and continues. “She’s a 3rd generation talent, but entered pro wrestling against her family’s wishes.” Abbigail blinks. “Why would a wrestling family stop one of their kids from going into wrestling?” Samantha shrugs. “Lots of reasons, could be the father wanted something more for his daughter, could be simple fear of something bad happening to her. It’s really not something to worry about for now. Here’s what we need to worry about.”
Samantha clicks and footage of Justice Cross in a ladder match plays, Abbigail, sees the ladder tipped over, she can guess what the one tipping it over was trying to do, but they got the timing wrong, As she falls and hits the mat, Samantha pauses. “Fractured her leg there. Right now, she’s your partner, so be prepared to help cover for that if it need be. Overall, Justice Cross seems to be experienced and she could be a good person to learn from. A good partner for you given three tag teams.”
Abbigail nods. “Mm.. how does that work?” Samantha nods, wishing Valora was here. “Well, good question. My understanding is that usually 2 people are in the ring at a time. Anyone can tag anyone at any time.. First time to meet victory conditions, in this case, putting their opponent through a table, wins the match. Now, your last opponents. Ailyn and Andrew Garrison. Ailyn is much like you. Very young, very new to professional wrestling. As such, I’m not going to spend a lot of time on her, not out of disrespect but she’s an unknown variable at this moment and knowing how things are for you is a good measure of what she’s dealing with too. The person to worry about is Andrew Garrison. 6’5 and over 250lbs. Former Rugby player. This guy looks like your typical musclehead but he does have a brain and is willing and able to use it. Brains and Brawn is a dangerous combination so I would recommend staying mobile. Do not allow this man to get you into a toe to toe fight.”
Abbigail nods. “I guess that works for Val so worth a shot.” Samantha nods. “Not just Val. Think of Natasha Romanoff from the MCU movies. How she fights. Val’s style, while not exactly the same, is in the same general genre and I believe we should have a similar end goal in mind for you as well.” Abbigail nods. “Makes sense. I don’t think I can stand up to a big bloke like that for long.” Samantha nods. “Well no, you can’t. That being said, there are several advantages women have over men. We, generally speaking, have a lower center of gravity than men do. This is why women can excel so easily as martial arts like Judo and Akido and the like. Our bodies are very well designed to use the momentum and force of a bigger attacker against them. So if you are forced into combat with a bigger foe.. Well, look to Swansea’s soccer team for inspiration. Defend, counter attack. When I say defend I do not mean hard block.”
Abbigail blinks. “Hard block?” Samantha sighs. “I have a mace, I swing as hard as I can. You lift your shield and block. Not deflect or push, just hold the shield and block. That’s a hard block. Against a bigger and/or stronger opponent, this is risky because the attacker might simply break your block. Even if they don’t it’s still going to hurt. No. When I say defend, I mean duck, dodge, weave, dance around. If you have to block, look to deflect. I punch you, instead of trying to stop the blow short, knock it away.”
Abbigail nods, while idly taking out her phone. These strategy meetings were important, she guessed but ugh.. So tedious. She opened her phone and pulled up twitter and was shocked at what she saw. “Umm.. Sam?” Samantha turned and, seeing Abbigail on her phone, rolled her eyes. “Oh for the love of.. Can’t you kids stay off that th-” Samantha trails off when she comes around and notices the picture Abbigail was looking at. The social media photo is from a high end dress boutique in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Val and Blair are in the picture. Abbigail turns to Samantha. “So umm.. When did Val get blonde hair? Or wear makeup? Or clothes that didn’t consist of a hoodie and jeans? Or have any kind of a handbag let alone a pricy one?”
Samantha adds in. “Or drink red wine.. Let’s see.. High end shop in the French Quarter which is a high end area..” Abbigail shrugs. “Didn’t know Val liked Red wine.” Samantha smiled and nodded. “Well, like most alcoholics, Val won’t be picky if she needs alcohol, but if I had to guess, I say it’s more likely champagne. These type of shops like to serve champagne and the like. So it could be a rosé, or something similar.” Abbigail nods. “Think the new look is for the wedding?” Samantha internally doubted that, very highly. But she didn’t want to alarm Abbigail yet and nodded. “Let’s hope so. Val and Blair have been friends for a long time, maybe Val is trying to be a team player and blend in with the look of the bridal party.”
Abbigail shrugs and moves to call Val but Samantha cuts her off. “We don’t know where they’re at in the dress fitting and shopping and such. These places are very high end and tend to run on ‘by appointment only’ type scheduling. Even so, we really don’t want to talk over the phone about this sort of thing anyways. I’m sure she will check in.” Abbigail nods. “Blonde hair though. Man, I won't let her forget this anytime soon.” Samantha laughs a bit. “Well, it seems more blonde than it actually is because Val’s natural hair color is black. But it’s more of a brown/dirty blonde-ish hair color. Let’s hope she doesn’t decide to go full platinum blonde as is very, very popular with the SoCal valley girl type.” Abbigail blinks. “ SoCal?” Samantha nods. “Southern California. A lot of people from the region call it SoCal for short. I guess they think it sounds ‘cool’ Samantha says using her fingers to make air quotes.
Abbigail nods as she listens and Samantha cuts off further conversation on the topic for now. “We need to focus. You have an idea for going on camera and talking about the match?” Abbigail is once again, taking a look at her smartphone. “Hmm. Not the worst. A bit more humid than back home, but still similar temps.. If it were spring time.” She then notices Samantha waiting on her and nods. “Oh umm yeah. I have some ideas.” Samantha nods. “Alright. Well let me know what you need and we’ll head out and get ready to do it.”
A short while later, the duo pack up and head off to New Orleans to get ready and make final preparations for the show. Soon enough, things are ready to go and we jump to:
On Camera promo portion, New Orleans, Louisiana:
Abbigail is shown at her first location, where she takes a drink from her pepsi as she walks along the sidewalk. “Hello New Edge fans. Greetings and salutations from.. Well. mostly sunny New Orleans. First things first. Last match. Each European country has their own unique relationship with the military. The UK is probably the closest to the Americans in terms of respect for those who choose to wear the uniform. I take great pride, for example, in the fact the Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, herself served in the military during World War 2. As a mechanic, no less. So Rose. I respect you for serving your country and it was an honor to go toe to toe with you. I can only hope you view losing to me as slightly better than losing to a man that spent the entire match acting like the both of us were a waste of his time, but from my days as a footballer, I also know a loss is a loss at the end of the day. But I wanted to wish you good game, or match in our case, and best of luck in the future.”
She narrows her eyes. “Roger. Wright. Valora spent so much time talking you up. Roger Wright the legend. Roger Wright has been wrestling about as long as you’ve been alive, Abbigail. Roger Wright.” Abbigail hesitates and shrugs. “Roger Wright the fraud. For someone who acted like the match was a waste of his precious time, you managed to lose. I’m sure you would say it’s confidence but when you act all superior and aloof and then lose the match, it looks to most of us like you’re just arrogant. Either way, a win is a win. I’ll take my 3 points and continue my climb up the table.”
Samantha’s voice is heard from behind the camera. “Most Americans are not going to get the soccer reference.” Abbigail winces and nods. “Right. Sorry. I’ll take my win and continue my climb up the rankings?” Abbigail apparently gets a signal that this is better and nods. “Right. So now onto my next match..”
Abbigail rounds the corner and comes to one of the famous ‘haunted’ mansions in New Orleans and a few moments later is inside the house. “Alright fans. As per the agreement I made with the operators before coming here I can only film certain areas. Don’t want to spoil too much for people planning on coming here and obviously, the people that operate this place need money to keep the lights on and such so I can’t give the whole tour on film or something.”
She looks around and nods. “So why am I here? Rylee Ruin. The sore loser who thinks a sneak attack and temper tantrum somehow is better than losing a match. Well with a line of thought like that, I agree you are definitely all sixes and sevens, luv. In the UK we’d probably have sectioned you by now.” She looks around the house again, moving over to what looks like a small organ or similar instrument as she sits down. “Rylee. Imagine this mansion as your mind. No, it’s not empty, not callin’ ya daft or anything like that. What I am sayin, however is you have the opposite problem.Too many people in the flat that you call a brain.” Abbigail sighs. “For what it’s worth, I feel for ya. I can’t imagine more than one voice in my head. I can’t imagine how.. Lonely and frightening the world has to be, going through life constantly afraid you’re gonna lose control. Hard to get close to someone because one of the other guests in the brain might hurt them, getting tired of seeing the looks of pity mixed with fear from strangers let alone family and friends.”
Abbigail plays a couple of keys on the piano she sits at. (For those curious, she is playing this song:
We now resume our promo in progress.) After she finishes, she smiles and nods.”Well Mum will be happy the piano lessons stuck.” She turns around. “So I know. Right now, one of the voices in your head is asking what the bloody hell is the point of coming to a Haunted house, but not showing any ghosts or goblins or nasties and just playing some piano.”
[Abbigail shrugs. “Flair for the dramatic, I suppose. Now most of us know how haunted houses actually work. Tell a scary story, lead people through the house, actors jump out. Scare the bejesus out of the tourists and rinse and repeat. But we’re talking about you. This is you in a nutshell, Rylee. Your all scary on the outside. But if you can build up the courage to walk on in.” She looks around. “You’re just sad and lonely, maybe a little dusty.. Just like this empty old house. I hope. I sincerely hope I get to be the one who puts your arse through a table. But unlike you, I’m here to work with my partner and to win. My partner can trust me.”
The camera shifts angles and Abbigail turns to look at it. “Speaking of which, Priscilla. Can you really trust yours? She is all sixes and sevens.. I know you’re an American so I’ll translate. Barmy. Loony. Crazy. Insane. A complete and utter nutter. Rylee might be trustworthy.. But are you sure it’ll be her the whole match? Cause I’m not. I’m honored I get to team with Justice Cross, who not only seems to be like, really talented but also has the bonus of not being a complete and utter nutter. I don’t have to worry about her suddenly deciding she’s a sexy seductress or a female detective, or a rampaging monster, or she babbles in tongues or some shite. No. The Justice Cross I enter the match with, will be the same Justice Cross I work through the match with and leave the match with. You, on the other hand, can’t say that about your partner. Good luck with that.”
Abbigail checks her watch. “Time to get on to the next locale. See you all in a bit.”
Lower 9th Ward, Habitat for Humanity work site:
We next see Abbigail working and helping to build a house. She listens carefully as her portion of the job is explained to her, works with the people teaching her, and soon gets a hang for it. We see through time lapse that she moves through a few hours of doing this before finally taking a break and making her way over. “Whew! Lemme tell you, hard work this, but damn if I can’t think of a better charity to lend time to. Kinda like you, Ailyn. Well you and me, really. We’re both sort of in the same boat. I mean I haven’t been hit by cupid’s arrow and such ain’t jumping on the marriage trend going around NEW as of late. But you and me.. We’re both in a very literal sense, just starting out in life. Taking our first steps, much like building the foundations of a house, we’re each hoping to lay the foundation and build our lives upon it.”
Abbigail smirks and takes a drink from her pepsi bottle. “And yet here you are. Completely convinced that you, at 18, are completely and utterly convinced you found your soul mate. Never gonna find a bloke better than the one ya got?” Abbigail pauses here, knowing the point she now has to make, but obviously, not wanting to. She thinks a moment, taking another drink to cover the silence. “Alright, lemme try to come at this from a less.. Confrontational side, yeah? I remember the first time I fell in love. I’ll spare the details of who the lad or lass was because it’s not really relevant to our conversation. I told my mum, of course, asked her for advice. Got the same line from her I just gave to you. My mum asked me if, at 16, I had really found my soulmate. I said yes. My mum looked right in the eye and said. “Then you’re either very lucky or very foolish.”
Abbigail nods. “Ailyn. You’re either very lucky, or very foolish, and for someone who not only allows others to call her ‘silly girl’ which is not the most endearing term where I come from, but calls herself silly girl and plasters it on her profile as her nickname. Well, I’m going to assume those around you have decided you merited the nickname.”
Abbigail shrugs. “Takes all kinds, I suppose, and since you don’t take it as an insult when others call you Silly girl, I hope you won’t take it that way from me. You’re actually someone I could see being mates with.” She winces and sighs. “Friends. Sorry. Mates sometimes has a different meaning outside the UK don’t want to confuse anyone. However, for this match at least, we find ourselves on opposing teams. So I can only fall back on football and wish you luck, and hope that we both have a good match, regardless of the outcome. Also, I hope it’s the fact you’re really lucky. Andrew Garrison. Now that’s a name I’ve heard of. Yes, I’m a proper Welsh girl. The two most popular sports in the area of Wales I come from, Football, or soccer as you Americans call it, and Rugby. I’ve heard of your exploits in New Zealand, and while not exactly the same, we both moved past our sports for similar reasons. In my case, women’s football is woefully lacking in equality with no real way to change that. As a professional fighter, I can prove my worth, I can fight all types and showcase my talents. I mean, I’ve had 1 match here and I beat a Navy SEAL and a living legend and NEW Hall of Famer! That’s like me getting called up to the Welsh Women’s National team and putting up a clean sheet against the U.S. Women’s national team!”
She clears her throat a bit and nods. “You left because you wanted more exposure and better earning potential. Not exactly the same but also not completely dissimilar from the reasons I left. Now I gotta say, I definitely am not liking the prospect of having to face off against you. You are one well fit lad lemme tell ya. Luckily for me this match is likely to be pure chaos and with some skill and a bit of luck, I can maybe find a way to help my team come out on top. I know this, avoidin’ a scrum with you in the match is definitely tops of my to do list. But while your size would seem to give you an advantage, I respectfully beg to differ, Mr. Garrison.” Abbigail smirks, yes fans she was not going to let that low hanging fruit go without taking the bait and making the south park reference.
Abbigail recovers from the reference and nods. “You see, you might be bigger and stronger than any of us in the match. But bigger stronger blokes take more energy to move, and to keep moving. I fought in a triple threat match. I am a trained footballer whose been training to be a pro footballer since I was 9 and I was bloody spent by the end of that match. I think you’re going to find yourself in quite the challenge from a conditioning standpoint. At any rate, good luck to you, Mr. Garrison.”
Abbigail ended the promo video portion and looks over at Samantha. “Not much in the trash talking department.” Abbigail nodded. “Really? I not only implied but outright told Priscilla she can’t trust her partner, heavily implied that Ailyn’s nickname might be the cutsie thing she thinks it is and pointed to her rushing off and aloping as proof positive of that and further made the easy south park reference by referring to Andrew as ‘Mr. Garrison.’ and further implied that big and strong as he is, us girls might wear him out as he tries to keep up with our pace. I’ve got 4 opponents this week, 1 of whom I’d prefer to have as a friend rather than an enemy. I don’t think I have time to pick apart each of the 4 and go into an extended, detailed breakdown of them and such. Besides, I think we have other concerns to deal with.”
Samantha nods at this. “We just might at that. Alright, let’s get back to the hotel and get ready. If we’re lucky, you and your partner can talk and try to plan a bit.”
Abbigail wakes up and groans. The warnings Valora had given her were.. Definitely right! She hurt all over. Rolling over, she fell out of bed and landed flat on her face with a thud and a groan.
“Bloody hell girl… coulda stayed in Swansea and played football.. But no! We had to give being a professional fighter a go.” She pushed herself up to her feet and yawned. Grabbing a bottle of Pepsi, she made her way downstairs. She needed caffeine, She needed to get her brain going. As she came downstairs, she noticed Samantha waiting for her. “Good, you’re up. We can get started.” She said, heading to the War Room.
As they came in, Abbigail looked around and took a big swig from her Pepsi. “Two things. Why the hell did we have to jet back to Mexico City from Memphis after the match and.. Where’s Val?” Samantha shrugs. “Next Ignite is in New Orleans, and then there’s the ppv Tension in Texas. All in all, we decided Mexico City made a better choice for operations.” The second question brings an annoyed sigh from Samantha. “Valora is.. Indisposed at the moment. Blair needed help with something.” She taps the bottom of her chin. “There’s something going on here. Val has been using that app Blair’s pushing way too much. It’s far and away the most used app on her phone. She’s spending way too much time with Blair too.”
Abbigail blinks. “Wait a minute, how do you know what app Val uses on her phone?” Samantha smirks. “The same way I know you spend way too much time playing mobile phone games and some of the other things you get up to on your phone and laptop.” Abbigail gulps and nods. “ Alright.. You’re not just a sports agent and manager, aren’t you?” Samantha takes a seat and leans back in her chair, thinking for a moment. “Familiar with MIT are you?” Abbigail nods. “Genius school. Tony Stark went there in the MCU.” Samantha nods. “Correct. I went there. I graduated from there and from there the U.S. government recruited me. To put it into terms you would understand better, I was an MI-5 agent, though, here in the States, we refer to it as the NSA. I also did some work for the CIA. Intelligence work is fluid and one often gets bounced back and forth.”
Abbigail blinks. “ You were a spy?! Like James Bond?!” Samantha smirks. “Spy hunter is more accurate. Most of my work was counter espionage. If a movie reference, think the operative in Serenity when he says ‘Secrets, are not my concern. Keeping them, is.’ That was my main job. Make sure things the U.S. government doesn’t want known, remain safely unknown. I had a couple of assignments where I got to play the spy but sadly, it’s nothing like James Bond. The bottom line is. I’m good at what I do.”
She clicks a handheld remote and the screen lights up. “Review time. Your triple threat match. Where to start. You blew away expectations.” Abbigail blinks. “R..really?” Samantha nods. “Really, really. Girl you went toe to toe with a Navy SEAL, one of the very best soldiers the U.S. has and not only did you not die, the argument could be made you won that fight. At the very, very least you held your own.” She clicks the remote again and a clip plays of her getting hit with 2 punches from Rose and then ducking the spinning elbow and bringing her down with a double arm DDT but not going for the cover to play to the crowd. She pauses the clip and looks at Abbigail.
Abbigail sighs and nods. “I shouldn’t have done that, I know but I got.” Samantha nods. “Adrenaline. Yes. It’s to be expected. The fact that you recognize it was a mistake is good, but in truth, this is going to happen until you get more experience. You’ll get a feel for knowing when you can play to the crowd and when not to. You’ll also learn to control your adrenaline rush, make it work for you rather than being at its mercy.” click! The clip changes to Roger Wright hitting a belly to belly suplex but throwing Abbigail into the top turnbuckle of a corner. Abbigail groans as she sees that and nods as Samantha pauses it. “Bloody sore as hell, before you ask.” Samantha nods. “Shirt off.” Abbigail blinks but eventually complies with the request,, taking her shirt off as Samantha moves over and looks at it. “Hmm.. nice bruise, but not seeing evidence that makes me worry about anything more serious.. Would be nice if Val was here but she apparently has more important things to deal with.”
Samantha heads back to continue the briefing and Abbigail puts her shirt back on. Click! The clip comes to the end of the match. “Valora would be proud, this was perfect, you let your opponent do your work for you and picked up the pieces. This was a big win, Abbigail! Anyone in New Edge Wrestling that isn’t taking you seriously right now is a damned fool.” Abbigail nods and drinks her Pepsi. “That match was a trip. But Valora spent all this time telling me about Roger Wright. The man I fought wasn’t the man she told me about.” Samantha shrugs. “This is true, but at the moment that’s a Roger Wright problem. Not a Valora Salinas or Abbigail Dresden problem.” Abbigail nodded and took another drink from her Pepsi, that line of thinking did make sense, after all.
Samantha clicked the remote again. “Next match. Tag team action. You and Justice Cross are taking on Rylee Ruin, aka the girl suffering from dissociative personality disorder, more commonly referred to by laypeople as multiple personalities.” Abbigail nods. “ Right, Val beat the shit out of her and she thinks she did good because she put Val through a table afterwards.” Samantha nods. “Correct her. She is teaming with Priscilla White, who is also a 2nd generation wrestler, scion of a famous wrestler. Priscilla White could be a good partner, but they have never teamed before in New Edge Wrestling. That combined with Rylee’s instability, makes this team easy to exploit. Be on the lookout.
We also face Ailyn Ruin-Darrington. Another product of her family’s. Ahem, combat training center.” Abbigail cuts in here. “You and Val both attacked it. What’s wrong with that place, I mean if I wasn’t training with Val, I’d consider checking it out.” Samantha raises an eyebrow. “Well, I suppose it depends on how you want to judge the effectiveness of a school. If you want to look at the trophy room, to my knowledge they have nothing for pro wrestling. So for MMA, they might be a good choice but pro wrestling they have yet to prove themselves. Now, I consider a huge black mark against the school that they took a woman who is a threat to herself and others and taught advanced martial arts. Rylee Ruin should have been denied any kind of advanced training.” Abbigail nods. “Devil’s advocate. Val got training and she also admits she ain’t sane.”
Samantha nods. “Valora was sane when she began training as far as she and I can tell. Perhaps Rylee was in the same boat in which case, I’d withdraw my last remark. But I’m operating with the information I have at the moment. Now, I find myself wondering why the bookers chose not to pair you with Ailyn, the two of you could have been a great pairing, both being young, very promising prospects. Anyways, before we take a look at Ailyn and her partner, let’s take a look at your partner.” Samantha clicks the remote and a picture and profile of Justice Cross comes up.
Samantha begins. “This is also a very solid choice of partner for you. This woman is experienced, she has held titles in multiple feds and is even a hall of famer in one of them. She also seems to favor a technical style of wrestling so she should mesh very well with you.” Samantha pauses here for a moment and continues. “She’s a 3rd generation talent, but entered pro wrestling against her family’s wishes.” Abbigail blinks. “Why would a wrestling family stop one of their kids from going into wrestling?” Samantha shrugs. “Lots of reasons, could be the father wanted something more for his daughter, could be simple fear of something bad happening to her. It’s really not something to worry about for now. Here’s what we need to worry about.”
Samantha clicks and footage of Justice Cross in a ladder match plays, Abbigail, sees the ladder tipped over, she can guess what the one tipping it over was trying to do, but they got the timing wrong, As she falls and hits the mat, Samantha pauses. “Fractured her leg there. Right now, she’s your partner, so be prepared to help cover for that if it need be. Overall, Justice Cross seems to be experienced and she could be a good person to learn from. A good partner for you given three tag teams.”
Abbigail nods. “Mm.. how does that work?” Samantha nods, wishing Valora was here. “Well, good question. My understanding is that usually 2 people are in the ring at a time. Anyone can tag anyone at any time.. First time to meet victory conditions, in this case, putting their opponent through a table, wins the match. Now, your last opponents. Ailyn and Andrew Garrison. Ailyn is much like you. Very young, very new to professional wrestling. As such, I’m not going to spend a lot of time on her, not out of disrespect but she’s an unknown variable at this moment and knowing how things are for you is a good measure of what she’s dealing with too. The person to worry about is Andrew Garrison. 6’5 and over 250lbs. Former Rugby player. This guy looks like your typical musclehead but he does have a brain and is willing and able to use it. Brains and Brawn is a dangerous combination so I would recommend staying mobile. Do not allow this man to get you into a toe to toe fight.”
Abbigail nods. “I guess that works for Val so worth a shot.” Samantha nods. “Not just Val. Think of Natasha Romanoff from the MCU movies. How she fights. Val’s style, while not exactly the same, is in the same general genre and I believe we should have a similar end goal in mind for you as well.” Abbigail nods. “Makes sense. I don’t think I can stand up to a big bloke like that for long.” Samantha nods. “Well no, you can’t. That being said, there are several advantages women have over men. We, generally speaking, have a lower center of gravity than men do. This is why women can excel so easily as martial arts like Judo and Akido and the like. Our bodies are very well designed to use the momentum and force of a bigger attacker against them. So if you are forced into combat with a bigger foe.. Well, look to Swansea’s soccer team for inspiration. Defend, counter attack. When I say defend I do not mean hard block.”
Abbigail blinks. “Hard block?” Samantha sighs. “I have a mace, I swing as hard as I can. You lift your shield and block. Not deflect or push, just hold the shield and block. That’s a hard block. Against a bigger and/or stronger opponent, this is risky because the attacker might simply break your block. Even if they don’t it’s still going to hurt. No. When I say defend, I mean duck, dodge, weave, dance around. If you have to block, look to deflect. I punch you, instead of trying to stop the blow short, knock it away.”
Abbigail nods, while idly taking out her phone. These strategy meetings were important, she guessed but ugh.. So tedious. She opened her phone and pulled up twitter and was shocked at what she saw. “Umm.. Sam?” Samantha turned and, seeing Abbigail on her phone, rolled her eyes. “Oh for the love of.. Can’t you kids stay off that th-” Samantha trails off when she comes around and notices the picture Abbigail was looking at. The social media photo is from a high end dress boutique in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Val and Blair are in the picture. Abbigail turns to Samantha. “So umm.. When did Val get blonde hair? Or wear makeup? Or clothes that didn’t consist of a hoodie and jeans? Or have any kind of a handbag let alone a pricy one?”
Samantha adds in. “Or drink red wine.. Let’s see.. High end shop in the French Quarter which is a high end area..” Abbigail shrugs. “Didn’t know Val liked Red wine.” Samantha smiled and nodded. “Well, like most alcoholics, Val won’t be picky if she needs alcohol, but if I had to guess, I say it’s more likely champagne. These type of shops like to serve champagne and the like. So it could be a rosé, or something similar.” Abbigail nods. “Think the new look is for the wedding?” Samantha internally doubted that, very highly. But she didn’t want to alarm Abbigail yet and nodded. “Let’s hope so. Val and Blair have been friends for a long time, maybe Val is trying to be a team player and blend in with the look of the bridal party.”
Abbigail shrugs and moves to call Val but Samantha cuts her off. “We don’t know where they’re at in the dress fitting and shopping and such. These places are very high end and tend to run on ‘by appointment only’ type scheduling. Even so, we really don’t want to talk over the phone about this sort of thing anyways. I’m sure she will check in.” Abbigail nods. “Blonde hair though. Man, I won't let her forget this anytime soon.” Samantha laughs a bit. “Well, it seems more blonde than it actually is because Val’s natural hair color is black. But it’s more of a brown/dirty blonde-ish hair color. Let’s hope she doesn’t decide to go full platinum blonde as is very, very popular with the SoCal valley girl type.” Abbigail blinks. “ SoCal?” Samantha nods. “Southern California. A lot of people from the region call it SoCal for short. I guess they think it sounds ‘cool’ Samantha says using her fingers to make air quotes.
Abbigail nods as she listens and Samantha cuts off further conversation on the topic for now. “We need to focus. You have an idea for going on camera and talking about the match?” Abbigail is once again, taking a look at her smartphone. “Hmm. Not the worst. A bit more humid than back home, but still similar temps.. If it were spring time.” She then notices Samantha waiting on her and nods. “Oh umm yeah. I have some ideas.” Samantha nods. “Alright. Well let me know what you need and we’ll head out and get ready to do it.”
A short while later, the duo pack up and head off to New Orleans to get ready and make final preparations for the show. Soon enough, things are ready to go and we jump to:
On Camera promo portion, New Orleans, Louisiana:
Abbigail is shown at her first location, where she takes a drink from her pepsi as she walks along the sidewalk. “Hello New Edge fans. Greetings and salutations from.. Well. mostly sunny New Orleans. First things first. Last match. Each European country has their own unique relationship with the military. The UK is probably the closest to the Americans in terms of respect for those who choose to wear the uniform. I take great pride, for example, in the fact the Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, herself served in the military during World War 2. As a mechanic, no less. So Rose. I respect you for serving your country and it was an honor to go toe to toe with you. I can only hope you view losing to me as slightly better than losing to a man that spent the entire match acting like the both of us were a waste of his time, but from my days as a footballer, I also know a loss is a loss at the end of the day. But I wanted to wish you good game, or match in our case, and best of luck in the future.”
She narrows her eyes. “Roger. Wright. Valora spent so much time talking you up. Roger Wright the legend. Roger Wright has been wrestling about as long as you’ve been alive, Abbigail. Roger Wright.” Abbigail hesitates and shrugs. “Roger Wright the fraud. For someone who acted like the match was a waste of his precious time, you managed to lose. I’m sure you would say it’s confidence but when you act all superior and aloof and then lose the match, it looks to most of us like you’re just arrogant. Either way, a win is a win. I’ll take my 3 points and continue my climb up the table.”
Samantha’s voice is heard from behind the camera. “Most Americans are not going to get the soccer reference.” Abbigail winces and nods. “Right. Sorry. I’ll take my win and continue my climb up the rankings?” Abbigail apparently gets a signal that this is better and nods. “Right. So now onto my next match..”
Abbigail rounds the corner and comes to one of the famous ‘haunted’ mansions in New Orleans and a few moments later is inside the house. “Alright fans. As per the agreement I made with the operators before coming here I can only film certain areas. Don’t want to spoil too much for people planning on coming here and obviously, the people that operate this place need money to keep the lights on and such so I can’t give the whole tour on film or something.”
She looks around and nods. “So why am I here? Rylee Ruin. The sore loser who thinks a sneak attack and temper tantrum somehow is better than losing a match. Well with a line of thought like that, I agree you are definitely all sixes and sevens, luv. In the UK we’d probably have sectioned you by now.” She looks around the house again, moving over to what looks like a small organ or similar instrument as she sits down. “Rylee. Imagine this mansion as your mind. No, it’s not empty, not callin’ ya daft or anything like that. What I am sayin, however is you have the opposite problem.Too many people in the flat that you call a brain.” Abbigail sighs. “For what it’s worth, I feel for ya. I can’t imagine more than one voice in my head. I can’t imagine how.. Lonely and frightening the world has to be, going through life constantly afraid you’re gonna lose control. Hard to get close to someone because one of the other guests in the brain might hurt them, getting tired of seeing the looks of pity mixed with fear from strangers let alone family and friends.”
Abbigail plays a couple of keys on the piano she sits at. (For those curious, she is playing this song:
We now resume our promo in progress.) After she finishes, she smiles and nods.”Well Mum will be happy the piano lessons stuck.” She turns around. “So I know. Right now, one of the voices in your head is asking what the bloody hell is the point of coming to a Haunted house, but not showing any ghosts or goblins or nasties and just playing some piano.”
[Abbigail shrugs. “Flair for the dramatic, I suppose. Now most of us know how haunted houses actually work. Tell a scary story, lead people through the house, actors jump out. Scare the bejesus out of the tourists and rinse and repeat. But we’re talking about you. This is you in a nutshell, Rylee. Your all scary on the outside. But if you can build up the courage to walk on in.” She looks around. “You’re just sad and lonely, maybe a little dusty.. Just like this empty old house. I hope. I sincerely hope I get to be the one who puts your arse through a table. But unlike you, I’m here to work with my partner and to win. My partner can trust me.”
The camera shifts angles and Abbigail turns to look at it. “Speaking of which, Priscilla. Can you really trust yours? She is all sixes and sevens.. I know you’re an American so I’ll translate. Barmy. Loony. Crazy. Insane. A complete and utter nutter. Rylee might be trustworthy.. But are you sure it’ll be her the whole match? Cause I’m not. I’m honored I get to team with Justice Cross, who not only seems to be like, really talented but also has the bonus of not being a complete and utter nutter. I don’t have to worry about her suddenly deciding she’s a sexy seductress or a female detective, or a rampaging monster, or she babbles in tongues or some shite. No. The Justice Cross I enter the match with, will be the same Justice Cross I work through the match with and leave the match with. You, on the other hand, can’t say that about your partner. Good luck with that.”
Abbigail checks her watch. “Time to get on to the next locale. See you all in a bit.”
Lower 9th Ward, Habitat for Humanity work site:
We next see Abbigail working and helping to build a house. She listens carefully as her portion of the job is explained to her, works with the people teaching her, and soon gets a hang for it. We see through time lapse that she moves through a few hours of doing this before finally taking a break and making her way over. “Whew! Lemme tell you, hard work this, but damn if I can’t think of a better charity to lend time to. Kinda like you, Ailyn. Well you and me, really. We’re both sort of in the same boat. I mean I haven’t been hit by cupid’s arrow and such ain’t jumping on the marriage trend going around NEW as of late. But you and me.. We’re both in a very literal sense, just starting out in life. Taking our first steps, much like building the foundations of a house, we’re each hoping to lay the foundation and build our lives upon it.”
Abbigail smirks and takes a drink from her pepsi bottle. “And yet here you are. Completely convinced that you, at 18, are completely and utterly convinced you found your soul mate. Never gonna find a bloke better than the one ya got?” Abbigail pauses here, knowing the point she now has to make, but obviously, not wanting to. She thinks a moment, taking another drink to cover the silence. “Alright, lemme try to come at this from a less.. Confrontational side, yeah? I remember the first time I fell in love. I’ll spare the details of who the lad or lass was because it’s not really relevant to our conversation. I told my mum, of course, asked her for advice. Got the same line from her I just gave to you. My mum asked me if, at 16, I had really found my soulmate. I said yes. My mum looked right in the eye and said. “Then you’re either very lucky or very foolish.”
Abbigail nods. “Ailyn. You’re either very lucky, or very foolish, and for someone who not only allows others to call her ‘silly girl’ which is not the most endearing term where I come from, but calls herself silly girl and plasters it on her profile as her nickname. Well, I’m going to assume those around you have decided you merited the nickname.”
Abbigail shrugs. “Takes all kinds, I suppose, and since you don’t take it as an insult when others call you Silly girl, I hope you won’t take it that way from me. You’re actually someone I could see being mates with.” She winces and sighs. “Friends. Sorry. Mates sometimes has a different meaning outside the UK don’t want to confuse anyone. However, for this match at least, we find ourselves on opposing teams. So I can only fall back on football and wish you luck, and hope that we both have a good match, regardless of the outcome. Also, I hope it’s the fact you’re really lucky. Andrew Garrison. Now that’s a name I’ve heard of. Yes, I’m a proper Welsh girl. The two most popular sports in the area of Wales I come from, Football, or soccer as you Americans call it, and Rugby. I’ve heard of your exploits in New Zealand, and while not exactly the same, we both moved past our sports for similar reasons. In my case, women’s football is woefully lacking in equality with no real way to change that. As a professional fighter, I can prove my worth, I can fight all types and showcase my talents. I mean, I’ve had 1 match here and I beat a Navy SEAL and a living legend and NEW Hall of Famer! That’s like me getting called up to the Welsh Women’s National team and putting up a clean sheet against the U.S. Women’s national team!”
She clears her throat a bit and nods. “You left because you wanted more exposure and better earning potential. Not exactly the same but also not completely dissimilar from the reasons I left. Now I gotta say, I definitely am not liking the prospect of having to face off against you. You are one well fit lad lemme tell ya. Luckily for me this match is likely to be pure chaos and with some skill and a bit of luck, I can maybe find a way to help my team come out on top. I know this, avoidin’ a scrum with you in the match is definitely tops of my to do list. But while your size would seem to give you an advantage, I respectfully beg to differ, Mr. Garrison.” Abbigail smirks, yes fans she was not going to let that low hanging fruit go without taking the bait and making the south park reference.
Abbigail recovers from the reference and nods. “You see, you might be bigger and stronger than any of us in the match. But bigger stronger blokes take more energy to move, and to keep moving. I fought in a triple threat match. I am a trained footballer whose been training to be a pro footballer since I was 9 and I was bloody spent by the end of that match. I think you’re going to find yourself in quite the challenge from a conditioning standpoint. At any rate, good luck to you, Mr. Garrison.”
Abbigail ended the promo video portion and looks over at Samantha. “Not much in the trash talking department.” Abbigail nodded. “Really? I not only implied but outright told Priscilla she can’t trust her partner, heavily implied that Ailyn’s nickname might be the cutsie thing she thinks it is and pointed to her rushing off and aloping as proof positive of that and further made the easy south park reference by referring to Andrew as ‘Mr. Garrison.’ and further implied that big and strong as he is, us girls might wear him out as he tries to keep up with our pace. I’ve got 4 opponents this week, 1 of whom I’d prefer to have as a friend rather than an enemy. I don’t think I have time to pick apart each of the 4 and go into an extended, detailed breakdown of them and such. Besides, I think we have other concerns to deal with.”
Samantha nods at this. “We just might at that. Alright, let’s get back to the hotel and get ready. If we’re lucky, you and your partner can talk and try to plan a bit.”