Post by Valora on Feb 17, 2024 1:25:36 GMT -6
~~Off Camera~~
~~The Day after Ignite~~
~~Valora’s Compound~~
~~Mexico City, Mexico~~
~~The Day after Ignite~~
~~Valora’s Compound~~
~~Mexico City, Mexico~~
Abbigail and Samantha look at the prone body of Valora, resting on the bed. Abbigail looks at her and turns to Samantha. “So. Is this V? Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Cloning? What the bloody hell kinda sci-fi shite are we lookin’ at here?”
Samantha glanced over at Abbigail and then back to Valora. Finally she shrugged. “We need to observe first. I have some thoughts, but I need more data first.” Valora groaned and started to wake up blinking as she looked at Abbigail and Samantha. “Ugh.. like.. Total wipeout.. Not cool.” She looked around. The place looked familiar but it wasn’t where she should be. “Like.. where’s Blair?”
Samantha steps forward, cutting off Abbigail’s attempted reply and nods. “You uhh pinned Johnny Stylez in the tag match. You jumped off a ladder and hit your phoenix splash move to put him through the table.. Wiped both of you out, we brought you home to recover.” Abbigail comes in. “So, what’s with the new look? New attitude?” Val looks to her student and grins, shrugging a bit. “Well, like. You can’t really play the street punk when you’re making the money I am. If I like, wanna really get to the next level, I need to be a professional. You know, I thought that was like.. Total bull, right? But man, I can’t tell you how much things have changed for me. Jesse Styles seems to be taking me more seriously. I’ve gotten modeling offers, commercial offers maybe even might be able to do some other stuff. It’s like, amazing how much a pretty simple alteration changes everything!”
Abbigail tries to speak but Samantha blocks her yet again and nods. “I see, hey I’m having a ditzy moment here, can you remind me again of if you went to college and what college you went to if you did go?” Val blinks and shrugs. “Like, yeah. I went on a scholarship. USC. Go Trojans.” Samantha nods. “Thank you. So what got you into pro wrestling?” Val laughs a bit at the question and tries to avoid it. “Like.. you know that alright, silly.” Samantha nods. “I do, but Abby doesn’t. Why don’t you tell her. You do know who she is, right?”
Val laughs a bit and tries to play the question off again but grabs the side of her head. “Ugh.” Samantha nods. “Migraine?” Val takes a deep breath, repeating something under her breath and nodding to herself before looking to Samantha and Abbigail. “Yeah… probably side effect of the concussion but damn.. Headaches." Samantha nods. “So, you’ve been hanging out with Blair a lot. Like, an awful lot.” Val nods. “Well yeah, wedding planning! I’m the maid of honor, I like totes have to help her get ready for the big day.” Abbigail comes in here. “So we’ll see you back here a bit more often when the wedding is done?”
Val nods. “Well, like of course, and like totes as World champ! Book it!” Val makes some apologies and hurries out of the door. Abbigail watches her leave and turns to Samantha. “Odd question choices.. But on a scale of 1-10?” Samantha sighs. “I believe I know what they’re doing to her. But I'm not yet sure enough to really verbalize it yet.”
Samantha leads Abbigail into the war room and turns to look at Abbigail. “They seem to be trying to make Valora a better person and on the surface they have succeeded with flying colors.. But. If and this is a big if, if I am right.. All they’ve really done is made Valora even more dangerous than she was previously.”
Abbigail points at the door. “That bimbo is more dangerous than the swearing weapon carrying psychopath?” Samantha holds up a finger. “She’s still a psychopath. You can’t cure that. Ignoring it and pretending it isn’t there is not a solution.” She turns on the monitor and brings up Ignite, pausing at the moment where Roger Wright leaves. “Right here. Valora would have lost her shit. Valora never makes an effort to control her rage. She believes, erroneously, that it empowers her. Here, she would have pounded the mat, yelled, screamed and been distracted.” Samantha hits play. Val watches Roger leave and her face shows no emotion as she simply turns and attacks Jesse Styles without hesitation. Samantha pauses it. “See? Even Jesse was expecting a Valora tantrum. He was caught flat footed for just a second when she watched Roger leave and simply turned to attack her target. You see, Abbs. Valora is a psychopath. With over 20 years of blood on her hand. Sins she has committed and hates herself for. The compiled weight of her violent lifestyle has built itself into a control mechanism of sorts. Valora tries to hold back. She doesn’t go out to end careers.”
Samantha looks to the image of Val and sighs. “Whatever they made her into doesn’t have that guilt. That conscience. I told you I think I know what they’re doing with her. The CIA, NSA, DARPA. They were testing experimental methods both for training and for cover IDs. Basically, the goal of the project was to.. Well in a way, brainwash the cover ID into the person. They would believe they were, say a college student studying in Europe. They would believe completely, until we sent the activation code.”
Abbigail blinks. “Like sleeper agents?! That shit’s real?!” Samantha nods. “Yes. But it’s tough. This Valora considers herself a different person.. But her handlers didn’t completely erase Valora. Her past of going to USC on an Athletic scholarship. So more likely, they tried to remove the parts of Valora they didn’t like and used the acceptable ones to build the core of this new persona.” Abbigail nods. “Okay.. so they got lazy?” Samantha shakes her head. “More like they don’t want to risk a stroke, permanent brain damage or other nasty side effects. The headache? Every single one of the test subjects in the sleeper program reported severe headaches. One of the psychiatrists we had on the program theorized it could be a personality conflict. But in the end it could just been pressure of having more than one person in your mind.”
Abbigail nods. “How sure are you?” Samantha shrugs. “At the moment? Somewhere between 50 and 65%%? But I can’t prove it. Also, if I could prove it, I wouldn’t because it would mean exposing highly classified information and I would very much like not to be disappeared into a deep dark hole somewhere. I can't stress enough that this is a theory, based on what we saw at Ignite, I might be close, I might be completely wrong. Until we know for sure what's going on, it's imperative we act normal.”
Abbigail crosses her arms across her chest. “So why did we let her leave?” Samantha sighs. “You feel like going to jail for kidnapping? Did you forget that Valora’s new friends are a collective of very rich, very influential, very well connected people who could make life very difficult for you and me? We have to bide our time and pick our battles. We’ll wait until after the pay per view and see how things are. Then we will make our plan of attack at that time. Speaking of plans of attack, you need to focus on your NEW Pay per view debut. You’re being given a golden opportunity.”
Abbigail nods. “Yeah. A shot at any title.. And all I have to do is beat 4 other people." Samantha smiles as she and Abbigail walk towards the war room once more. “Your first match here was a 3 way. This is just two people extra.. Same rules. You just need to pin one of them or make them tap out and boom. Title shot of your choice.”
Abbigail nods. “Easy for you to say, have you ever even been in a wrestling match?” Samantha shakes her head. “No. I have been in actual combat with people who actually wanted to kill me, however so, I think I can give advice on combat. Now. Let’s take a look at your opponents.”
Samantha clicks the remote and the monitor turns on, showing Rylee Ruin. “Now we both saw this one. Definitely the weak spot in this match since her mental issues make her a dangerous combination of impulsive and erratic. Luckily for us, she hasn’t gotten it through her head that to advance in this company requires you win a match once in awhile. Ambushing your opponents in a tantrum after you lose doesn’t move you forward.”
Abbigail nods. “Right, but you just said it. The woman’s all sixes and sevens. Totally unstable, so how do we gameplan her?”
Samantha holds up a finger. “You see, the crazy wrestler is counting on that. That they’re unpredictable! They’re unstable. “I’m the macho man, I’m gonna come down to that ring and I’m gonna beat the hair off the man’s damn head and elbow drop into next week oooo yeah!” Samantha’s face takes a deadpan serious look. “What you need to learn is that there are different types of crazy. Valora is dangerous crazy. She has problems. Mainly, she’s a psychopath. But she can concentrate. She can focus. She can fuck your shit up and win the match. Rylee is crazy yes, her insanity controls her, she does not control it. So she will continue to sabotage herself. She will make life in the match interesting, but ultimately she won’t be a real threat to win this match. If you’re lucky, she might tie up or take out one of the people who could be a threat to you.”
Samantha clicks the remote again and the picture changes to Scotty Adams. “Scotty Adams. A Aussie. A lot of pros and cons with this one. First off, he’s an all rounder. Ie a Jack of all trades, master of none. He’s tall, but not very heavy. In a match like this, he should have an advantage but not against the people piled up in this match. This match features a number of top tier fighters, each of whom specialize in what they do. I think someone like Scotty Adams is as likely to struggle in the match as he is to come out on top.”
Abbigail nods, thinking about this. “An Aussie. Hmm. I imagine he’ll feel right at home in Texas. A desolate wasteland filled with loud mouths. Only difference between a Aussie and a Texan is a Aussie is able to back up their talk while Texans wear the funny hat and talk a good game and don’t back it up.” She turns to Samantha. “Did I get that American saying right?”
Samantha laughs. “All hat and no cattle. Primarily a Texan saying but adopted by a lot of the South to mean someone who is ‘all talk.’ This reminds me though. When you do your on camera promo, you might want to avoid politics.” Abbigail blinks. “You want me to agree with the bigots?” Samantha sighs. “I want you to avoid saying anything. Focus on your opponents and the fight, the opportunity before you. Don’t need to get the crowd against you. Not sure you’re ready to walk into a stadium full of people who hate you.”
Abbigail grumbles and Samantha clicks the remote. Omar Azure comes up. “Now here is one of the real threats in this match. A big advantage we have over him, is an unfortunate one. His wife suffered a concussion way back in the first or second show and has been recovering since. That has understandably taken up a great deal of Azure’s focus. Still, don’t look past this guy. By my reckoning, you. Omar and our next competitor are the big threats to win this match. Now he is also an all-rounder, so once more, jack of all trades, master of none. But my sense from watching him in NEW so far is that he might be a bit better then Scotty Adams.”
Abbigail nods. “ Well he seems to rely a lot on martial arts, so he should give me lots of chances to counter, get hold of him and twist him into a pretzel.” Samantha nods. “ True, British style catch wrestling could definitely be effective here against him.. And that brings us to..
Samantha clicks the remote again and Nathan O’Connell appears on the monitor.
“Father Nathan O’Connell. Irishman. Professional boxer, and former NEW World Champ. Former NEW Trans-Atlantic Champ. Former NEW Youngblood Champ. If he isn’t a Hall of Famer now, I promise you he will be by the time he finishes this run in the company. This man is dangerous. He’s big, He’s strong. He can throw you around the ring and his fists are deadly..his Heart punch is a fight ender. I have never seen anyone recover from it so try to avoid that if possible.”
Abbigail raises a hand. “How is he married if he’s a Catholic priest? I thought the Church had some silly superstition against that.” Samantha laughs. “It’s not superstition. A single priest who dies gives his property, estate and assets to the Church. But they have a clause that says if you come from another religion and are married they will allow you to remain married. Nathan left the church to have and raise a family. They need more priests, I would assume they made a deal and like so many Catholic rules, the Church chose to ignore the rules when it suits them to do so..”
Abbigail nods. “So he’s the fave to win the match?” Samantha nods. “Yes. But we do have advantages, in this case, you’re not fighting him alone. There are other fighters in this battle who can wear him down or help you take him out of the fight and give you a window of opportunity. Now. Do you have an idea for a promo?”
Abbigail stops and thinks for a moment. "I think I have an idea. Will take some time, do some studying and look into it. But.. just to be clear, it would be bad for me to point out that I’m literally being paid to go to Texas and that's absolutely the reason I would even think about setting foot there?” Samantha nods with a sigh. “Yeah.. that’s going on the list of things you shouldn’t mention.”
Just then Abbigail’s phone beeps and she checks the text. “Umm really?! He does remember that I beat the crap out of him, last week, right?!” Samantha raises an eyebrow and Abbigail slides her iphone to Samantha who looks at it. “Ah. It’s Jesse Styles. I told you he used to be a wrestler. It was a match, he won’t hold much of a grudge.. Though I wouldn’t rub it in his face and also, he did beat you around a bit too. So, we going to Florida?” Abbigail shrugs and looks at Samantha. “Advice?” Samantha nods. “Go. He might take is an insult if we don’t. And get togethers like this can be good opportunities.”
~~Off Camera~~
~~2/13/2024~~
~~Jesse Style’s Secret Getaway~~
~~Somewhere in Florida~~
~~2/13/2024~~
~~Jesse Style’s Secret Getaway~~
~~Somewhere in Florida~~
Abbigail took another drink of Gatorade and let out a breath wiping the sweat off. “By the Goddess.. How do people live in this climate?” Samantha grins. “You’ll get used to it. Stay hydrated.” Abbigail nods. “Are we doing something here?” Samantha nods. “Two things, actually. As you know, you’re still technically under contract with Swansea City Ladies football team. The Chicago Red Stars have made an enquiry about taking you out on loan and given you are wrestling predominantly in the U.S., the team decided to loan you out. Professional football is too hot a chance to pass up for someone your age.” Abbigail blinks. “A pro team wants me?” Samantha nods. “As a backup goalkeeper, but yes. They want to take a look at you. As luck would have it, there’re down here for pre-season. After this, I scheduled a couple of charity opportunities.”
Abbigail went and tried out. Then it was making trips to a couple of areas around the state where Abbigail played soccer and generally hung out with some kids from various backgrounds and areas of Florida served by such charity groups. Her charity tour ended with her working in a clinic to help teach soccer both to school kids and to kids with learning disabilities and the like. All in all she felt good about being able to do some good and have some fun doing it.
Time passed and Abbigail made a niche for herself poolside adjusting her sunglasses and taking a drink from her gatorade as she debates her next activity when Andy walks over to her. “Umm.. Ms. Dresden?” Abbigail looks at him, slowly lowering her sunglasses as she looks at him. “Andy.. you’re older than I am.. You can me, Abbigail. Maybe Abby. We’ll see. What’s up?” She says with a smile. Andy relaxes a bit and nods. “Umm Mr. Styles wants to see you.”
Abbigail lets out a sigh. And nods. “ Yeah.. I’m sure he does…”
A few minutes later, Jesse Styles was treated to a not so pale skinned Abbigail walking in in her bathing suit, removing the sunglasses as she looks at Jesse Styles who looks her over and Abbigail clears her throat. “Umm you’re mad about Ignite, right?”
Jesse lets off a shot laugh. “Heh. Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t upset. But I get it. She’s your mentor. I can appreciate loyalty. That’s your free pass. The next time you choose to insert yourself in my business again, there are consequences. That contract goes both ways. It can give you great opportunities like I’m giving you at the pay per view, it also means I can sit your ass on the bench or consign you to house shows until I remember you exist and promote you back up to the show. It also means I can book you against Valora. Or maybe Hunter Valentyne. Or maybe a good old fashioned gauntlet match. Now, I’m actually not here to talk to you about that..”
He leans forward. “What the fuck happened to my Hardcore Icon?! I don’t know who that was, but it wasn’t the Valora I hired. The Valora I made famous, the Valora I hired specifically because she’s a bloodthirsty psychopath?!” Abbigail shrugs. “She’s here.. Why not ask her?!”
Jesse sighs, leaning back in his chair. “I did. I got self improvement hippie bullshit.” Abbigail nods. “Trust me. I wish I knew.. It’s giving me freaking invasion of the body snatcher vibes.” Jesse nods. “Well.. fuck! She better get her head right. I’ve spent a shit ton of money advertising two legends fighting for the World Title!”
Abbigail nods. “Umm the match I’m in. I’m just wondering how many times you get to have a chat with the boss, right? Why am I in it? Do you really think I’m that good?”
Jesse sighs. “Initially, I signed you because Valora was interested in you. I know she’s got that shit gym that makes the shit gym in Rocky look like state of the art facilities, but she’s never shown any interest in training a pro wrestler. So the mere fact that you got Valora’s attention is noteworthy. But she said you were good. Then she showed me the clip from your fed you’re in. The woman’s got an eye for talent and you’ve shown me you have potential. As for why you’re in the match? Honestly? You’re still very new, I’m throwing you a bone. That’s what I do. I give people a chance to succeed. I try to light a fire under their ass and push them to reach for that next level. Your success is my success. You’re generating streaming subs and VOD buys from the U.K. So yeah, I’m going to put you in a spot to succeed and see what you can do.”
Abbigail smiles and nods. “Ohh one more question. Can I maybe do an on camera promo from here?” Jesse Styles considers this for a moment and nods. “Don’t do it within earshot of your opponents and be careful not to give the location away. I don’t want fights breaking out nor do I want uninvited guests. Break any of these rules and you’ll wish I had just fired you by the time I’m done.”
Abbigail nods and heads out to track down Samantha.
~~The On Camera Portion pt 1~~
~~2/16/2024~~
~~Jesse Styles Recreation Invitational (British for invite only vacation at the Casa de Styles)~~
~~Somewhere in Florida~~
~~2/16/2024~~
~~Jesse Styles Recreation Invitational (British for invite only vacation at the Casa de Styles)~~
~~Somewhere in Florida~~
The scene opens up to show Abbigail sitting back in a chair, in her bathing suit, near a pool, kicking back as she calmly drinks a Mountain Dew baja blast as she lowers her sunglasses and winks at the camera.
Abbigail: “That’s right, I’m also having a blast.”
Abbigail takes a big swig from her bottle and bounces and dances in her seat a bit before she decides to continue.
Abbigail: “And, really? Why wouldn’t I be having a blast? I have spent half of my life training to be a professional athlete, and while the type of pro athlete I am now is not necessarily the type I spent so much time training for, I have spent a lot of time training to be a wrestler and that training allowed me to beat the shadow of a man I’m told used to be Roger Wright who used to be great and now doesn’t even count as a has-been. I also in that match got the chance to go toe to toe with a Navy SEAL and came out on top over her too.
Then I had a tough tag team match and Justice and I came up a bit short. It happens, but that same night I got to help my mentor out when her partner decided he need to go try out for the part of a zombie on the walking dead or something. That put me in the room with the World Champ, on paper, and the man that made the champ the champ, the owner of the company himself, the man who hired me. Jesse Styles.. And not only did I get to live the dream of punching your boss in the face, not only did I not get fired or have charges pressed against me, but he rewards me by putting me in this amazing opportunity of a match.”
Abbigail takes another drink of her baja blast and nods.
Abbigail: “So yeah.. All in all, it’s pretty cool to be me right now. Now, before I really get into things, honestly, I want to thank Jesse Styles. Not only for giving me a chance. Not only for not firing me after our little brawl but for inviting me down here to Florida. Yes, it’s hotter than the fires of hell and yes my skin is burning as we speak, but it’s still been fun to relax and kick back while preparing for the Pay Per View.”
Abbigail takes another drink and pauses for a moment.
Abbigail: “Speaking of the pay per view. I find myself with a huge chance. I am precisely 1 win away from getting a shot at any title I choose! Now. I know how this goes, I’m getting the hang of it.. You wanna hear me talk about my opponents.”
Abbigail nods because of course you do. You wouldn’t be here unless you’re interested to see what Abbigail thinks about her opponents, or unless you’re Jesse reading this to pick a winner in which case, hi Jesse.
Abbigail: “Let’s start with the woman who, in any civilized country would have been sectioned for her own good as well as to protect society. Rylee Ruin. I don’t hate this woman. I don’t feel animosity towards her. I feel pity for her. Instead of getting the help she needs, she has been made to suffer because no one wants to combat the ugly stigma of mental illness. If a member of our family was declared to be all sixes and sevens (British slang for crazy, American viewers), then that might look bad for our family and might definitely impact the reputation of our business venture. So because her parents were too self-absorbed and were more concerned with their reputation than helping their daughter, Rylee has been made to stuff for Goddess knows how long. Now, the really sad thing is I don’t know if she could be helped now. But here comes the fun part, fans. Monster or not, you don’t scare me, Rylee.. I’m descended from the actual Britons. We kill Monsters. Tame Dragons. The Celts and Druids, King Arthur.. My homeland is the literal birthplace for a good deal of stories you’ve heard so call yourself a monster and make a arse out of yourself ranting about faces on tables.”
Abbigail pauses and takes a big drink from her mountain dew baja blast.
Abbigail: “Too bad there won’t be any tables in our match. Because without a weapon of some sort, you’re pretty shite at fighting. I could say your twitter feed is entertaining but I’d be lying. Because it sums up as . “RAWR! I’m a scary monster! Oh wait.. We we are a scary monster. Monsters? Monstars? Damn it.. English is hard, we want face on table!”
Abbigail shrugs and claps slowly and sarcastically.
Abbigail: “Well done, you. Now all you need to do is come up with a gimmick that hasn’t been done to death 5 million times. Because the way I see it, Rylee. One of these has to be true. 1. You’re country’s ability to handle mental illness is woefully below even a 3rd world country and you are the victim of woefully and criminally inept mental health professionals. 2. Your parents are at best criminally negligent and at worst, criminally abusive to not get you the help you need and deserve or 3. You’re not actually crazy and you’re just using this to help your career and to excuse you from having to follow the accepted rules of civilized society. Take your pick. None are good options. Moving on.”
To emphasize her point, Abbigail visibly moves her hand and makes a swiping motion as she drinks her mountain dew and looks at her iphone where she has her notes.
Abbigail: “Ah. Father Nathan. I know Valora respects you and Jesse clearly does as well from his video where he went over the card for Tension in Texas. Seeing your return to the ring in New Orleans, I can understand why. On a comedic note, if I had 1 pence for everytime someone mistook me for being Irish, I wouldn’t need to work. Nothing against the Irish just the comedic way accents tend to confuse people. Moving onto the match. I think you are definitely the favorite here and, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I would like to think I’m also a contender to win the match. Truth be told, this match is going to be so chaotic I would imagine anything can happen. I’ve got nothing bad to say about you. You seem like a good man and while what representatives of your religion did to representatives of my religion would today be considered a crime against humanity, I’m not interested in a holy war, especially for sins that happened over a thousand years ago. You seem like a good man and I look forward to competing against you. Moving on.”
Abbigail takes a look at her iphone and nods.
Abbigail: “Omar Azure. It seems you’ve been all over the world and learned many different ways of approaching a fight. This makes you a dangerous opponent. I’m actually excited to test myself against the best and with you and Nathan in this battle, I definitely am getting a dose of elite competition.
Next up, we have Scotty Adams. It’s funny, when I think of Australians, I think of the usual suspects. Mel Gibson and his wacky, borderline insane personality. Crocodile Dundee, Steve Irwin. You know, Australia has this reputation of a place where the land itself is actively trying to kill you every second of every day.”
Abbigail finishes her Mountain Dew Baja Blast and shrugs.
Abbigail: “Then there’s you. You make Steven Segal look like Charlie Sheen.. There’s just this complete void of personality and your fighting ability.. Well I guess we’ll see if you can deliver in the big match. Moving on.”
Abbigail make a big motion of checking the list and blinking in mock surprise.
Abbigail: “Huh. Guess it’s just me left. I heard Jesse’s take on me, and I think our boss is dead on. I am the wild card. I’m brand new to this sport, in terms of NEW, I am getting ready for my third match ever. If we open it up to the other fed I have matches in, that number goes up to 7, NEW and the other place. So overall less than 10 matches. I am as new as new can be. But I am starting to believe that Valora was right. Because Jesse Styles is saying that too. He said it by signing me. He’s fought me personally in the ring and out of the ring throughout the stadium in New Orleans. He booked me in this match on the first pay per view since his company came back. He took a big risk putting a rookie in one of his marquis matches…”
Abbigail punches the palm of her hand, narrowing her eyes and nods her head. “I intend to show him his faith is well placed. I plan to build my reputation. Tension in Texas is my coming out party. That’s where I add a new role to my name. Not just rookie, but prime time player. A girl who deliver in the big match. Someone that needs to be taken seriously…”
Abbigail winks and nods.
Abbigail: “Someone who has a shot at any damn belt I want. Ding ding. It’s game time people!”