Post by Ace Watson on Mar 27, 2016 22:56:23 GMT -6
Breakthrough 42, just after the camera cut away to the next segment after Ace Watson’s hand was raised in victory over Bama Brooks...
The crowd sends out a mixed reaction of boos and cheers to Ace as his hand is raised. Ace looked tired, it was obvious it was his first time in the ring for a while, even if he did not display as much ring rust as others may have expected. He drops his arm back down by his side then rolls out of the ring as the crowd turn their attention to the big screen.
Watson looks up at the screen, noticing Dustin and Jenifer Holt getting mouthy at a cameraman. Christ, is that how me and Bianca were? He thought silently to himself as he walked down the ramp, powering through the exhaustion and future aches he would feel the next day.
Barely two minutes later he arrived in his locker room. Ace closed the door firmly behind him, making sure it was definitely shut. Up until now he had shown no emotion over his win. He had kept a calm and collected look on his face as he had his hand raised and as he walked to the back afterwards. But now he could not help himself but punch the air and let out a bit of leftover adrenaline from his system. Though he had not shown it, the win felt good for Watson. Very good. But he knew why he was here. He needed the money to survive. Ace had to remind himself of that fact multiple times that day. Right now he was here to do his job, not to make friends and not to make enemies.
Ace turned the television on, which had previously been on the broadcast of Breakthrough, so when it was turned back on it started playing immediately, showing the match that was happening in the same building Ace was in. He walked over to the bench where his backpack sat, pulling out his change of clothes and then promptly changing into them and packing away his ring gear into the bag. He kept an eye on the show as he did this, feeling like he needed to be scouting the competition at VoW. There had been a lot of new additions to the roster since he left, and he needed to make sure he saw what each of them had in their locker. After all, Ace wanted a match at Nothing Else Matters, and he would speak to the management to make sure that happened. He did not care for who his opponent was, he just needed to be on that card in some way. There was always the chance that someone wanted a match with him, and Ace had to be aware of every possible challenger. It probably would not be long until he found out who he would be facing, so Watson planned to watch more of the matches he missed once he got back to his hotel room. Ace pulled his phone out of the side pocket of his bag and checked for any notifications, of which there were none. Just how he liked it. He opened up the music app then found his earphones, started listening to Kendrick Lamar's latest album and watched the show.
The next day...
Watson sat in the cafe of the hotel he was staying at in Michigan, soon he would travel to Ontario, but right now he was sat in front of his laptop waiting for the card for Nothing Else Matters to be released. He was watching the clock as it counted down to the release time, and quickly refreshed the VoW homepage to see who he would be facing. Ace had caught up sufficiently on the programming he missed, and had seen all the new-comers to the company fight. He felt he had an okay understanding of their styles and the way they fought, how he may try to defeat them. Ace scrolled down.
Opening Match
- Standard Singles Match -
Owen Gonsalves Vs. Ace Watson
Ace sat back in his chair, feeling a wave of shock wash over him. He had not expected to be facing Owen again. He had spent the entire evening the night before preparing himself for an opponent he had not faced before, to find he was facing one of the two people he was most familiar with in the entire company. Ace, Owen and Tyler Storm were what Watson had mentally dubbed the Shootcamp Three. And Watson had faced both Tyler and Owen once each in one on one competition. He had lost both times. Ace hated the fact he was the least successful of the three. He was jealous of how well Owen and Tyler had done since they arrived at VoW, both of them had had their fair share of high profile victories, and Tyler was a two time I4NI Champion, a title Ace himself had come close to winning twice himself too.
This was where Ace started to feel a little better about this match. He realised it was an opportunity for him to redeem his loss against Owen the last time round, and if he were to win then that might convince a few of the doubters that Ace’s victory over Brooks was no fluke. He might be considered somewhat of an actual threat, which is something he felt he had lacked ever since he joined Visionaries of Wrestling. Chances like this don’t come up often, and he had to take it. He could not allow himself to lose.
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“Owen I think I know why you’ve requested this match against me. You want to prove you can beat me again, and make yourself two and o against me in VoW. I don’t blame you, I’d do the same.
Though, what may come to a surprise to some, I’d actually like to thank you for requesting this match. It’s given me a chance I may not have gotten to prove myself if I have been put against someone I have no history with, or someone who hasn’t been in this company as long as you have. So, in a weird way, thank you.”
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21st of March, 2016
Ace, back in the cafe of the Michigan hotel, with his laptop on the table and a coffee beside him, was just about to book a taxi to get him to Windsor, Ontario later that evening. He started typing in the numbe-
DING
Not now…
Ace sighed, then reluctantly opened the twitter app.
Oh… That wasn’t what I was expecting. How do I reply to that? We’ve been not spoken for months...
Ace typed out a reply, then hit send before he could think it over.
Shit… No now she’s going to think I want money from her… I could delete it then send a different one? No she’s probably already seen it. Shit.
Yeah it sucks. Quickly, move on Ace. Change the topic.
Better.
Well she’s not changed since we last spoke…
Reality TV? Well that’s new, can’t say I’m surprised, she liked that sort of thing. That sort of thing being the spotlight. I don’t really know what else I can say though, maybe I should move the conversation to somewhere private. We definitely shouldn’t talk about us in public twitter. We aren’t children. Yes that is what I’ll-
DING
She beat me to it.
@malibuqueenb: Hey, come over we should talk
Travel all the way to Malibu?
@theacewatson: yeah we should, but I dont think ill be able to right now, ive got to head to canada tonight for the next vow show, Ive got my hotel booked
@malibuqueenb: its okay we can change the hotel dates. And I’ll pay for your flights, I know you’re having money problems
I knew I shouldn’t have said that…
I know we need to talk. We can’t just leave it as it was. But flying all the way to Malibu and back again… I don’t know…
@theacewatson: Is there any way you could meet me in Windsor?
@malibuqueenb: I can’t, I need to be reachable in Malibu, my agent is waiting on a call
It would have been so much easier if you could travel to me Bianca…
@theacewatson: Okay. I’ll be there tomorrow.
This better not be a huge mistake…
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“Owen we know each other well enough to know that we will both give it our all at Nothing Else Matters. Not only are we opening the show but we are fighting for our reputations. I’m looking to continue off my win at Breakthrough 42 and you are looking to redeem yourself after your defeat to English at Breakthrough 41. Yeah, I saw that match.
And then, again, there’s the case of redemption for myself in that I’m trying to prove to everyone that I can beat you. Something which I have done in the past but not since we joined this place. A victory for me would put us equal.
Also, we’re opening the show. We both know the business, we’ve both been here what, five, six years now? We know that the opening match sets the bar for the rest of the show. And we both want to make sure that bar is set high. We want the fans in attendance to be comparing what they see in the next matches and in the main event to what they saw in our match. I know I do.”
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The next afternoon and an 8 hour flight later...
Ace climbed out of the Uber, thanking the driver and grabbing his bag before walking up the driveway to Bianca’s house. He went to knock, but hesitated. Ace took a deep breath then went to knock, but before he could the door opened and Biancahttp://i.imgur.com/qdRoTNj.jpg stood there with a slight smile on her face. Ace seemed to forget just how stunning she was when he was away from her.
“Hi.”
Ace said unintentionally bluntly.
“Come in.” Bianca invited. Which of course, Ace did, as he did not fly eight hours to stand outside the house he had considered home for at least nine months. Not much had changed since he left, if anything. Though a few things had changed places and it looked as if the television in the open living room had been replaced by a bigger one.
“Tea?”
“Um, no thanks.” Stop sounding so damn nervous will you Ace…
“Okay, have a seat, I’ll join you in a moment.”
Watson sat on the clean white sofa, waiting for Bianca. Two minutes later, she walked over and sat on the chair opposite, tea in hand. They both shared a look for a moment, almost waiting for the other to speak.
“Where do we start-”
“I want to say sorry.” Ace let out. “I wasn’t fun to be around.”
He looked down at the floor.
“I was hating myself, and you suffered for it. I honestly don’t know how you put up with me as long as you did. First it was the mask then that… I’m sorry.”
There was a silence, which to Ace felt like an age, then Bianca moved over to sit beside Ace.
“It’s okay. I know I wasn’t the easiest girlfriend to keep around. I was always making demands...”
Bianca had a small moment of realisation.
“Just like I did yesterday, getting you to come here…”
“This is different, this needed to happen. We couldn’t leave us how we did.” Ace said, reassuring her that what she did was okay.
“Hell, I was just about to send you a message to try and arrange a day we could meet when you messaged me.”
“Really?” Bianca asked, sounding slightly surprised. Ace nodded.
“I thought, because you hadn’t spoken until I tweeted you that you... gave up on me.”
“Gave up on you? No, of course not... I’ve just been going through things, and I’ve not dealt with it all very well. My mind has been all over the place.”
He looked at her properly for the first time since they started talking, until now he had been looking off across the room or down at the floor as he spoke. She looked sad, and Ace hated seeing her upset. He had an idea.
“How about we go get some drinks. We can go to that bar down the road. Catch up.”
Bianca nodded, “Yeah, I’d like that.” She smiled lightly, “I want to get changed first though.”
“Okay, that’s fine. Be ready in twenty minutes though, we can get there before it starts getting busy.”
Ace was taking charge, something he rarely did when they were together. It was probably what they needed, they were both so tense and closed off as they were, so maybe a few drinks would help them both ease up a little, and perhaps not put too much thought into what they said, making them go round in circles.
“Plus I want to hear about this reality TV show.” He said lightheartedly as Bianca walked off to go get ready. This evening better go well…
The morning after…
Ace rubbed his eyes as he woke up, the memories of the night before slowly flowing back into his mind. Then he realised. Bianca lay half naked next to him in bed…
Oh... shit…
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“Owen, at Nothing Else Matters I will show the VoW fans and the locker room that I am not to be taken lightly. And despite my intentions for returning not really being the most ideal, I still strive to be the best. I still want to leave a legacy. And if beating you is what it would take to get me closer to those goals, then I will not let you get in my way.
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