Post by Ace Watson on Aug 28, 2016 21:59:52 GMT -6
August 18th
Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia - Doctor’s room.
“Agh!” Ace exclaimed as the Doctor put in the final staple, closing up the large cut above Ace’s left eye. He looked down at his hands, which still had dried blood on them in places, and noticed how fidgety he had become. After having been sat in the chair for what felt like an eternity, Ace was itching to leave. The adrenaline coming off of the victory was still running through him, despite it ending over an hour ago.
Ace had his right eye on the TV in the corner the entire time he was in the Doctor’s chair, keeping an eye on what was happening, trying to distract himself from the pain coming from the entire left side of his face, and the fact that he was relying on only his right eye for vision. It was getting towards the end of the show, Matthew Robinson and Winter Pine vs. Zahara Matisse and Constance Chapin had just finished and the next segment had begun.
Tristan Ambrose’s music hits and Ace scoffed.
“This should be interesting.” Watson mumbled.
“What?” The burnt auburn haired Doctor said disinterestedly, her croaky voice giving off a “too old for this” vibe. Ace clocked her grey roots.
Ace shook his head and winced. “Nothing.” Watson listened intently to what Tristan and Cappotelli had to say, trying not to move too much. Blinking seemed to hurt too.
“What happened when you pinned me at Breakthrough? Oh I went and got payback didn’t I? I pinned you for the title. Moron.” He muttered through his teeth. The Doctor didn’t say anything this time.
Ace laughed quietly at Tristan’s line about “sex crazed female wrestlers,” but that hurt too.
“Since you were seven years old? Wow, congratulations. I’ve practically been here since I was born!”
The Doctor rolled her eyes. She was preparing bandages to cover over the wound and had decided to try to ignore anything else the snarky Zero Gravity Champion had to say.
Tristan’s not-so-subtle shot at Ace’s friend Tyler Storm and Jamilyn Cornett forced another laugh out of him, but the laugh quickly became a cough and Ace wished he had been able to control the laughter.
“Sit still, Watson.” The Doctor felt inclined to say. Ace attempted to shoot her an unimpressed look, to no avail.
He listened further to what Tristan had to say, agreeing with some of his points. But ultimately he did not want to give Ambrose the shot at the belt. Ace had a bad feeling in his gut, not just pain, that if he did get granted the match it would end up being at Breakthrough #50, which gave him barely any time to recover.
The Doctor walked over and sat in the chair beside him, bandages and a washcloth in hand. Without saying anything she started cleaning up any leftover dried blood and wrapped a wool bandage around his head and across the swollen, damaged eye. Ace continued to listen to Ambrose on the TV, unable to see the screen past the woman tending to his eye. She assessed her work, looking it over for any faults or blemishes in the coverage. Standing up, she spoke to Ace, in a serious tone.
“You will be okay to compete again after a week of recovery, but it’s very likely you’ll have to wear some form of protective mask to help prevent any further damage to your eye and orbital bone.”
Ace turned his head to look up at the woman.
“No.” He said bluntly, before turning his attention back to the TV screen. His experience with masks was not a good one.
“You’ll need to check with another Doctor closer to the time, and for the next 5 days I’d like you to stay in Norfolk in case your eye gets worse, and I can look at it.”
Ace nodded, annoyed that he had to have a bandage around his head, and annoyed at the idea of potentially having to wear a mask again. The thought alone terrified him. Ace had no plans on checking with another Doctor.
Tristan Ambrose: I, Tristan Ambrose, will not be competing for VoW until the match reads Tristan Ambrose versus Ace Watson one-on-one for the VOW Zero Gravity Championship. Not at Armed and Dangerous... No no no... I want the championship soon... and I will be damned if I wait over a month to get it.
They better make him wait...
Tristan Ambrose: Trust me... I'm not the kinda person you keep waiting on. Ace Watson.. hold that title boy, because before you know it, it's going to end.
Boy?
Ace stayed still, watching intensely. He still had the bad feeling lingering inside him.
Voice: Hold it, hold it.
Ace’s eye darted around the screen as he recognised the voice.
No…
If his expression could change much, it would be that of distaste, as Ryan Omega stepped out from behind the curtain.
Ryan Omega: I understand your frustration, Tristan. And I absolutely agree. You should have had your one-on-one match for the Zero Gravity Championship at Fate of the Gods II.
I earned my shot too. Prick.
Ryan Omega: Your client, in my eyes, does deserve a chance to become the Zero Gravity Champion. There is no doubt about that.
It’s going to happen, yes, get on with it.
Ace’s hand gripped the arm of the chair.
Ryan Omega: So I have decided, in order to prevent any more hostile situations... that at Breakthrough #50, live from Homewood Field in Baltimore, Maryland... Tristan Ambrose will indeed take on Ace Watson for the Zero Gravity Championship!
Ace shot to his feet and threw his arms up in protest, as if he was stood in front of Omega.
“What the fuck!?!? No!”
He shot a look over at the Doctor,
“There’s no way I’ll be cleared to compete!” Ace points at the screen, still looking at the slightly startled woman. “Tell him I can’t compete!!”
“You should be fine in two weeks, there’ll be bruising and scarring but the swelling will be gone and your sight will be restored.”
Ace scoffed, and turned back to the screen.
Ryan Omega: ...You will also have to contend... with this individual...
As Omega looks towards the curtain, "The Lone Wolf" Jamo suddenly walks out to light cheers from the crowd!
“WHAT?!?! A TRIPLE THREAT?!” His eye widened and his face turned red, naturally this time, and not because of the blood. “And what did he even do to earn the shot in the first place?”
He took a long breath, as if to try and calm himself down.
Axel Reid: Consider that agreement invalid, as done so by Sky Sangue! This is what Tristan gets for running his mouth! If he wants another shot at the Zero Gravity Championship, he will have to do it with Jamo competing as well!
Ruby Parvati: But this can't be good for Ace either! This is a travesty!
“YES! A TRAVESTY! Finally those two get it right!” He turns back to the Doctor, who had stopped paying attention. “Did you know they didn’t even announce my match at the beginning of the show? You know, when they list off the matches the people have to ‘look forward to,’ they didn’t even say ‘Ace Watson defends his Zero Gravity Championship against Katie Moicelle.’ They couldn’t even manage that!”
He turns away, watching the screen again. Still frustrated. Then, he turns back. “And you know what? This isn’t even the first time I’ve noticed it! They do it all the time! Always forgetting my matches!!”
Watson grits his teeth. “I’M A CHAMPION!”
The Doctor looks at him, properly. As he was shouting and ranting at himself and the TV she was looking at him, but at the same time not looking at him. “Ace… You need to sit down.”
“What?” His eyebrow furrowed.
“You’re eye… It’s bleeding again. Sit down and I’ll clean you up again. Try to keep calm, you’ll only aggravate it.”
Ace raised his hand and touched the bandage that was wrapped around his head, he looked down at his hand and saw a small amount of blood had soaked through. He took another look at the screen as Matt Slater vs Seth Iser was being introduced, then defeatedly walked back to the chair and slumped himself down.
He checked his phone as the Doctor fixed up his bandages, expecting to see a message or two congratulating him on his win, or well wishes for his health after the injury he suffered in the match. To his surprise there were none.
The surprise turned to anger as he continued to check his phone throughout the rest of the show. Ace kept thinking he had heard it vibrate to signal a new notification, only to find out he had imagined it or that it was some other unrelated notification. Not one single congratulatory or well wishes message.
Jerry Heisenberg: The winner of the match via pinfall...AAAANNNDD NEEEEEEEEWWWWW VOW WORLD VISIONARY CHAMPION...."DEATH INCARNATE" EEMMMMMMAAAAAA CAAAAARRLIIISSSLLLE!
One day…
Hold on, am I the only champion who successfully defended their title?
I am the only one to have successfully defended their title.
Yet still no one congratulates me.
Ace grabbed his phone off the table beside him and clicked the home button for one last time to check if there was a message for him, but just like the last times he had checked, there was not one. His eyes shot across the room to the Zero Gravity Championship sat on a bench against the wall, Ace let go of his tight grip on the arm of the chair and stood up. He walked over to the belt and picked it up, slinging it over his shoulder.
Axel Reid: ...We'll see you on September 2nd for our milestone 50th edition of Breakthrough! Until then, for my partner Ruby Parvati...I'm Axel
Ace grabs hold of the door handle, swinging it open.
Axel Reid: ...Reid and THIS...IS…
Ace walks out and slams the door behind him.
Axel Reid: ...V....O....W!
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August 27th
A bar in Washington DC.
“Duck!” Olivia Watson happily said as Ace approached her at the bar. “Duck” was her pet name for him, one that originated before “Ace” was ever a thing, back when they were both kids, Olivia decided to call him “Duck” instead of “Declan,” his real name. It annoyed “Duck” at first, but it grew on him.
“Hello Olivia! Good to see you.” Ace replied, opening his arms as his sister stood up and did the same. They hugged and then Ace took the empty seat at the bar beside his older sister.
“How’ve you been?” Olivia asked, smiling.
Ace nodded, “I’ve been good, you?”
She smiled again, Ace noticed her smile was just as infectious as always as he smiled back at her. “Yeah things are great! I’ve been teaching a lot lately though, lots of schools have been getting me in for talks and lectures. It’s a lot of work…” She sighed exaggeratingly, then smiles again. Ace always admired Olivia, she was incredibly intelligent. And as smart as Ace thought he was, Olivia was always smarter. He stopped feeling like he was competing with her a long time ago though, thankfully. “And, err how’s the…” she gestures in a circular motion around her eye “How’s the injury?”
Ace chuckled, remembering the large cut above his eye, the slight swelling which still had not gone and the bruising which went around his eye and over part of the side of his face. “It’s okay, it stopped hurting a couple days ago. I know for sure my opponents will try to “fix” that though…” he chuckles, then nods at the bartender who had noticed he was without a drink. The bartender walks towards him and raises his eyebrow slightly, essentially asking “What would you like?” without saying anything.
“Just a water, please.” Ace said, and was greeted with a simple nod from the balding bartender. He had learnt the hard way that alcohol hurt his head. “So you’ve been teaching a lot then?” Olivia taught business to college students and high schoolers across the US and Europe, it was the main reason why it had taken them both so long to meet up. They were never in the same place at the same time. But this time they both agreed that they needed to go out of their way to finally meet, it had been too long. That’s what brought them to this bar in Washington DC. The bartender placed a glass of water in front of Ace, who took a quick sip as his sister answered his question.
“Yeah, I’m having to turn down offers because they clash with other scheduled lectures, it’s pretty crazy.” What was crazy to Ace was that she was doing all this and being so successful before she’s even thirty years old. Ace noticed her smile disappear and a look of something bothering her replace it. “Um, Duck, the Bianca girl… You’re still seeing her, right?”
Oh no…
“Mmhmm…” Ace answered through a mouthful of water.
“Yeah well… I watch a bit of… forgive me… reality TV, in my spare time. It’s just something that relaxes me, I don’t know why I-... Oh nevermind… Bianca doesn’t seem like… The nicest woman you’ve ever been in a relationship with.” Olivia finally worked out of herself.
Ace looked down at the bar and swallowed his water
“And I’m not trying to, I don’t know, be overbearing or… control your life. But I feel as your older sister I have a duty to be an adviser of sorts.” She sits up on her stool, feeling a little more confident in her words now that she managed to string the sentence together properly.
Ace took another sip, a larger one this time. He then looked back at Olivia. “I mean… It’s all a character, on reality TV… She puts it on for the cameras…”
“So she’s not like that at home?” She asked.
Yes. “No not really... It’s mostly for show.” Ace took another sip of his water. He was going to need another one soon. Or a trip to the bathroom.
Olivia looks at him for a moment. “Okay, Duck.” She looks at him again. “You sure?”
Ace turns his head, to look at Olivia. “Yeah… well, she’s trouble.” He laughs, releasing some tension. Olivia takes a sip of her drink, “She’s definitely not the easiest to please, I’ll say.”
“As long as you’re happy Duck.” She nudges him lightly and smiles when he looks back at her. “So, tell me what’s next for big bad ‘Ace Watson’ “
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SLAM
The door closed hard behind him as Ace stormed out of the Doctor’s room at Heatstroke. Watson walked intently through the corridors backstage, headed for the exit, Zero Gravity Championship over his shoulder.
He passed backstage technicians and other VoW superstars, and Ace ignored all of them on his walk through the halls. Not long after setting off he found himself outside the building. Fans had not started leaving the building just yet, but Watson was ready for when they did.
He stood twenty feet from the building, breathing fast with his eyes flicking from exit to exit waiting to see people start flooding out of the building. There he was though, still in his wrestling gear, dried blood on his chest, a bandage wrapped around his head and an intense look in his eye.
Then, it happened. Fans started leaving the arena and heading towards where Ace was stood waiting. He composed himself and stood tall and proud. The Zero Gravity Championship resting very obviously on his shoulder. A few people walked past, many of them looked at him but did not say anything. Ace kept up the proud look on his face and put his chin in the air, watching everyone walk past without saying anything to him, without congratulating him.
More people started passing, larger groups of people. Ace stood tall, still watching everyone as they continued to say nothing to him, just focussing on their conversations between themselves, almost all of them being about the other matches that happened on the show they had just seen. Ace’s eyes started darting from face to face, hoping to see some kind of reaction to him. Getting desperate, he raised the Zero Gravity Championship into the air.
“Katie Moicelle deserved to win that.” A man in a Tyler Storm shirt said to him as they walked past. Ace stared them down, trying to raise the title higher in the air. Then he lost it.
“IT DOESN’T MATTER! I BEAT HER!” Ace was no longer able to keep the proud and confident demeanor about him. “I’M THE CHAMPION!”
He looked around again as a large crowd of people passed him, eyes darting from face to face again, desperately hoping for someone to “CONGRATULATE ME!”
“YOU SHOULD ALL BE BOWING DOWN TO ME! YOU SHOULD ALL RESPECT ME!” He pauses to take breaths, unaware that blood was soaking through the bandage again and turning the white cotton to red.
“I BEAT MOICELLE! I SAID I WOULD DO IT! I’M A TRUE CHAMPION!” He regains his breath again, his mind exploding with rage as no one praised him or commended him on his victory.
“I’M THE ONLY CHAMPION WHO KEPT THEIR TITLE! I’M THE BEST CHAMPION IN VOW RIGHT NOW!!!” Ace stepped in front of people, forcing them to acknowledge him as they stepped aside. Blood now dripping down the side of his face.
There weren’t many people left still exiting the building from that side. Most of them had walked past him and were headed off to the car park or walking home. Ace turned, and started shouting at their backs. “I’M THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE ADORING! I’M THE ZERO GRAVITY CHAMPION! I’M THE CHAMPION NOW AND I WILL BE AFTER BREAKTHROUGH FIFTY!!”
Ace was beyond desperate now, but he knew in the back of his mind that no one was going to say anything positive to him. He turned and looked to see if there were many more people left still to walk past him, but instead spotted a security guard walking towards him, someone employed by the arena.
“Mr. Watson, you need to leave.” The man said, reaching his arm out to touch Ace on the shoulder.
“Get off me! You don’t deser-”
“You’re bleeding.” The security guard interrupted, pulling his arm away.
Ace tested the bandage with his hand, then looked down at it and saw the blood. He did it again, touching his cheek this time and found the blood which had run down his face from his eye. Ace’s breath slowly began normalising, but the rage and anger still lingered within him.
“I’m going to need to escort you back to the building.” The man gestured for Ace to start walking, which he did.
They reached the exit and the security guard let Watson back in. “You’ll need to go to the Doctor’s room.” The man said, as Ace walked away, back towards the room he had left barely ten minutes prior.
The Zero Gravity Champion opened the door to the Doctor’s room, blood still leaking through his bandages. The Doctor from earlier was nowhere to be seen. Likely she had been called away to help one of the other wrestlers who had been hurt during Heatstroke. But Ace did not think it that way. He saw it as even the Doctors and those employed to help him were turning him away. The rage let itself out again as Ace stepped out of the room once again and grabbed the do-
SLAM
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“At the time my match at Breakthrough Fifty was announced, I wasn’t particularly pleased.”
Ace sits on a gym bench. The camera looks up at him from an angle as he looks straight ahead.
“But… Given time, for my wounds to heal and my thoughts to settle… I remembered a few things. I remembered the fact that I won the Zero Gravity Championship in a triple threat match. I remembered that it was me winning multiple multiple-opponent-matches that impressed management enough to convince them to put me in the match at Fate of the Gods II. I remembered that lately, Triple threat and fatal four ways have become a speciality of mine.”
“I thrive in these kind of matches. Because what I do better than anyone else in this company is capitalise on the moment. My ring awareness is unmatched. My ability to know when and where to strike is envied by all.”
He looks down at the camera.
“But… Unless I have to… I’d rather retain my title in a way that no one can deny I deserve. I want to win in a way that no one can say I was the wrongful victor. Of course, that’s not to say that if I have to do the “dishonourable” or “underhanded” and take advantage of someone whose back is turned that I won’t do it. Because I will. I will do what is necessary. But I would much rather break and destroy both of my opponents with my speed, strength and mind. Which is why it’s what I plan to do.”
He looks thoughtful for a moment, then looks back to the camera.
“A moment ago I spoke about deserving things… Which brings me nicely onto one of my opponents, Jamo.” Ace turns his body to face the camera properly. “Now, Jamo, if you don’t watch the pre-shows, is someone who until his match against Dustin Holt at Heatstroke, had yet to gain a win to his name. But somehow, later that night, he’s given a title shot! I don’t know about anyone else around here, but I certainly wasn’t given a title match the first time I won a match, and I had a similar streak of losses to what he had before I got mine. Though, mine was not so extreme as his.”
He chuckles, then pauses seemingly thinking something over that had just come to his mind. And it wasn’t something that was particularly positive in Ace’s mind.
“And you know what? Yeah… I actually see this not only as a disrespect to me, but a disrespect to my title. You can’t just go around handing out shots at this Championship to someone who won one match! Makes it look like you don’t even need to work hard to win this accolade. And if you didn’t already know I worked very hard to get a shot at this. I definitely wasn’t handed it. At Breakthrough I’m going to prove exactly how little Jamo deserves this match when I show how little he is in comparison to me and my abilities.”
He gives himself time to calm his rushing thoughts.
“Of course I can’t mention one opponent without talking about the other too… So, Tristan Ambrose. Onto you. Believe it or not Tristan, I have tried to like you. I have. I even agreed with a few things you said at Heatstroke. Not the things you said about me, of course. The opinions you say yourself rather than your puppet, regarding the company and some things going on here, reflect mine in some ways.”
He nods.
“But when you then go on to disrespect me and say I did not earn my shot at the title in the first place. Which I very much did. You got a screwy win over me and went on to do nothing worthy of note, while I won multiple matches where the odds were stacked very heavily against me.”
“THAT is how I earned my shot at the Zero Gravity Championship. And when I beat you at Breakthrough you will see exactly why I deserved the shot and why I deserve to still be Zero Gravity Champion. See Ambrose you seem to be forgetting that I pinned you to win this in the first place. And don’t doubt for a second that I wouldn’t gladly pin you again. Hell, I’ll even make you tap out if it’s what it takes to teach you that I am the rightful champion. By the end of it all I’ll make you wish you left the company rather than accept this match.”
Once again he gives himself time to think things through, calming his thoughts.
“I’m not sure if anyone else noticed this, but I was not only the only Champion to defend and retain their title at Heatstroke, but I’m also the only one that isn’t wanting to run off. Now I mean no disrespect to Tyron Bickerton or English, but I can’t help but think that being the only one to retain makes me look a hell of a lot better than they did. Especially considering I won my match when I only had vision in one eye!”
He points to the cut and bruising on the side of his face.
“This is an injury that nearly prevented me from being able to compete at Breakthrough and I still… won… the match!”
“Why are people still not impressed by that? It doesn’t make sense! They’re all too busy talking about how I used underhanded or dishonourable tactics to win. Well I don’t know about you but last time I checked there was nothing about capitalising on an opponent with their back to you that is against any rules. And it was Katie’s decision to not take a victory over me, and subsequently my title when I was down for that count. It was her fault that she was not aware and ready enough for a sudden strike of the Disasterpiece. She forgot how good my ring awareness is. She forgot I can see oppourtunity in any situation. Even when I can barely see!!”
“I showcased the things I can do in a triple threat or a fatal four way match, in a singles one versus one match! And I know I didn’t even fight to my fullest strength in the match against Moicelle! This match I’ll be ready for something like what Katie did for my eye. I’ll be ready for both Tristan and Jamo to target my ‘weak spot.’ You will both have the exact same strategy when it comes to me, but you’ll both fail to see ahead of time that you’ll need a plan B for when you realise I can still fight back with a bashed up eye.”
“See, even without full use of my senses I can beat even the most respected of opponents. It’s about time I proved again why I deserve this title. Beating Katie Moicelle wasn’t enough for you all so how about I go and beat Jamo and Tristan Ambrose at the same time? Then congratulations will be in order.
“Because not even an injured eye can stop my legacy. The legacy that I’m building my way… And it just so happens that this time, my way involves me standing tall over both of my opponents at Breakthrough Fifty. A Breakthrough that will be remembered as the night Ace Watson proved all of you wrong.”
