Post by Aurora Graves on Jun 2, 2017 2:58:28 GMT -5
Windsor Arms Hotel
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Rebel Ink’s management team – Alicia and Jason Perry – always traveled in style. But then again, they were billionaires; they could most certainly afford to indulge on the finer things when out and about. For the Redemption Tag Team Champions Damon and Aurora Graves, it was an added perk of being their clients. On the flipside, however, it often involved babysitting the Perrys’ three children – Darion, Jaina, and Alleria – while their parents enjoyed a few hours of child-free bliss.
On this particular occasion, 4-year-old twins, Darion and Jaina, sat on the floor of the living room of a lavishly-appointed suite, in front of a coffee table set on its side. Behind the upturned coffee table, a pair of legs protruded from either end, one pair clad in thick denim, the other in a pair of black leggings. Above the table, a pair of crudely decorated sock puppets peeked out from behind – one pink, one blue. The pink sock puppet was decorated with several strands of yellow yarn attached at the – for lack of a better term – head, while the blue one boasted a pair of yellow pom-poms attached to either end of a piece of pipe cleaner sewn onto the back and a black yarn fauxhawk attached to the head.
Pink Sock Puppet: Hello, kids! My name is Honey, and I’m like one half of the Young Cubs, the team that’s gonna take on Rebel Ink at WrestleForce, the biggest show of the year and stuff! Isn’t that exciting?
The sock puppet’s “voice” was exaggeratingly high-pitched, and spoke as if fueled by several servings of triple-shot espresso. With every movement of the puppet’s “mouth,” the googly eyes sewn above it rattled in every direction.
Blue Sock Puppet: It sure is, Honey! And I just know we’re gonna do great against the Tag Team Champions!
Pink Sock Puppet: It’s like, my first-ever shot at a championship and stuff... I can’t wait! Strawberry Kit-Kats for everyone... YAY!!!
The pink sock puppet ducked down behind the coffee table, popping back up with a “mouthful” of bite-sized, pink-wrapped packages that were launched up into the air, landing in tiny soft thuds on the carpet in front of the twins, who looked down at the candies in clear disapproval.
Jaina: I don’t even like REGULAR Kit Kats.
Darion: And they look like Hello Kitty turds! YUCK!
From behind the table, there was some light snickering. The sock puppets turned to face each other, then at the twins, then back at each other.
Jaina: This whole thing is STUPID!
Darion: Yeah, stupid!
Pink Sock Puppet: You know what?
Those first three words were uttered in that exaggerated, high-pitched voice. The rest of the words, on the other hand, were uttered in a much more familiar tone of voice.
Pink Sock Puppet: You’re absolutely right!
Aurora and Damon Graves sat up from behind the table, pulling their respective sock puppets off of their hands. As they tossed the sock puppets aside, the annoyed sneers on their faces turned into slightly amused grins as they turned their attention to the twins.
Damon: I should’ve known you two wouldn’t be entertained by something as lame as a couple of sock puppets. I’ll tell you what... It’s pretty much your bedtime anyway, so how about I tell you a story... one that isn’t anywhere near as lame?
Darion & Jaina: Okay, Uncle Damon!
Darion got up first, heading out of the room with his sister following behind him. Damon followed the twins into the next room as Aurora looked on. Once the others were out of sight, she chuckled lightly.
Aurora: Now that the little ones have left the room, I can finally start talking like an adult. Which is more than I can say for at least ONE half of our opponents at WrestleForce.
Aurora smirked as she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She sat down on the plush, cream-colored sofa, crossing her legs at the knees.
Aurora: You see, on the one hand, we have a guy acting like the white knight – doing everything he possibly can to shield his girl from the harsh reality of the world he lived in. On the other, we have the protected little bubble gum princess who is unwittingly being hidden behind a wall of nepotism, being the cousin of Devlin Scott’s girlfriend, and all. I mean... how else would you have landed that one-night gig as GM of West Coast Genesis?
Well, this Sunday at WrestleForce, my husband and I will serve as the sledgehammers that will destroy those walls, and expose the Young Cubs to the harsh reality of the wrestling world, and how being a champion isn’t the parade of champagne and caviar that you think it is. You want to treat it like it’s your golden ticket in life; like winning the Tag Team Championships will etch your names among the elite in professional wrestling...
Oh, you poor, naïve children.
She shook her head slowly, clicking her tongue as she waggled her finger back and forth.
Aurora: Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Let’s look at the facts – the very path that Damon and I took to get here, shall we?
She pulled out her cell phone, which she had tucked away inside of her bra. A few swipes, and she turned the phone around to display its built-in calendar.
Aurora: Saturday, July 2, 2016. This was the night that Damon Graves and I took that first step on the road to cementing ourselves as one of the greatest tag teams in the business today. It was on this very night that we won the NGW Tag Team Championships – a reign that would last until the company shut its doors. And where, I ask, were the Young Cubs when this happened? Why, you two weren’t even a blip on the radar. And while it’s true that Damon and I had only been a tag team for a few short months when we won those belts, we showed the world that from Day one, we would be a force to be reckoned with.
She swiped her finger across the screen a few more times before once again showing the screen to the camera.
Aurora: Fast forward to September 18, 2016... our journey continued as we stepped through the unfamiliar doors of FSociety Wrestling, competing in the tournament to crown the promotion’s first champions. For 92 days, we held those titles, until another team that had fought just as hard as we did stepped up and took their place at the top of the mountain. Even in defeat, we carried ourselves with dignity, because our reign opened up new doors for the both of us.
Around that same time, we made it to the finals of the tournament in Redemption Wrestling to crown RW’s first tag team champions, and while that didn’t go the way we had wanted, once again, we carried ourselves with the confidence that you would expect from a pair of multiple time champions, because we knew that one day, there would be gold around our waists again.
Sure enough, on December 19, 2016, that time finally arrived, when Damon and I beat Chaos Love to win our third championship in the short time frame of a mere seven months. And again... it was a reign that didn’t last anywhere near as long as we wanted it to, but not even a month after losing the belts, they were back around our waists, and they’ve been there ever since.
And normally, I don’t speak for my husband, but I can assure you two that we are in no hurry to relinquish these symbols of our hard work.
But at the same time, the weight of a championship belt is far more than just the mass of the metal and leather acting on the force of gravity. Once that gold is around your waist, all eyes are on you, as people clamor over just who it is that will earn the right to be the next ones to try and claim the prize you fought so hard for. It’s been said that winning a championship is the easy part; holding onto that championship is the REAL test of a champion’s skill.
Alechs, you say that you want to humble us? Don’t make me laugh, boy! It’s like I’ve said... we’ve savored the sweet aroma of victory, as well as the foul stench of defeat. Not once have we ever said that there’s not a tag team alive that can beat us. So you can take that “humble” crap and shove it where Honey’s sun doesn’t shine.
Aurora’s eyes narrowed as she leaned forward, with a scowl on her face and disdain in her voice as she continued.
Aurora: At least I can look at my husband every day, knowing that there’s not a single solitary thing that he’s ever kept from me, which is more than I can say for you. My husband never shied away from the fact that his wasn’t exactly an auspicious upbringing. But I hardly expect someone like you to understand. You don’t know what it’s like to spend your teenage years as a ward of the state, being bounced from one foster home to the next, all the while fighting just to keep some semblance of your own identity.
But no... you hide the truth of your past from the one you claim to love because you don’t think she can handle it. Or is it that because deep down, you’re ashamed at the way you grew up? Deep down, can it be that you’re envious of the upbringing your girlfriend was blessed with, so you bury your own? That hardly sounds like a team that has the faith in each other necessary to take down a team that has seen each other at their worst, only to let it carry them through to the better times.
She leaned back, shrugging her shoulders as a sarcastic smile spread across her crimson-tinted lips.
Aurora: But by all means, Alechs. Keep up the white knight attitude. Because I would love to just watch as it eats away at your soul until you simply can’t take it anymore. When one lie leads to another lie, to another lie, because that’s all you’re doing by not letting her see the REAL Alechs Aurelio. But what do I know? It’s not like I grew up in some gang-infested cesspool...
She paused, then leaned forward with an arm draped over her knee.
Aurora: Oh, wait; I DID!
She scoffed, shaking her head.
Aurora: That brings me to you, Little Miss Sunshine. Let me tell you another little story. And believe me when I tell you that it isn’t exactly worthy of a Disney movie. But that’s fine with me, because I was never into fairy tales as a child.
You see, when I was your age, I wasn’t anywhere near the naïve, bubbly little princess that you are. I wasn’t coasting along, relying on my family’s connections to have me sitting behind the desk, getting to direct traffic at West Coast Genesis. While you were busy shoving strawberry Kit Kats down your gullet, my teenage ass was busy honing my craft as I learned how to cut men three times my weight down to size. I was learning how to keep my own face from showing the tell-tale bruises of the wife of an abusive alcoholic, so that the rest of the world remained oblivious to the hell I experienced on a daily basis. All the while trying to live out the dream I’d had ever since I was a little girl – to not just be as good a wrestler as my two older brothers, but to surpass them.
She glanced first to the left, then to the right, a mild smirk on her face as she once again stared straight ahead.
Aurora: And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t see the names of Leander and Orion Quinn headlining anywhere outside the Employee of the Month board at IKEA. Still, even after being disowned for four years simply for being my father’s daughter, I’m now the shining star of the Quinn family.
But I digress...
She smirked, waving her hand dismissively as she uncrossed her legs, her knees leaning to the left as she shifted her weight slightly on the sofa.
Aurora: I was never the type of girl to be motivated by praise. No, the best way for me to get motivated is to take what my detractors have said and prove them wrong. From the beginning, people have gone out of their way to tell me that I’ll never get the job done; that I’ll fail no matter what I do. But I use that as fuel to prove that when they say I can’t, I’ll show them that I can. Even today, I bust my ass to become an even better wrestler than I was the day before, and tomorrow, I’ll push myself that much harder. I know I’m not going to get anywhere listening to people tell me what I want to hear; I’m going to show them that I’m better than their expectations of me.
Bottom line, Honey... you may have been able to hold your own against us one on one, but combined, Rebel Ink is a whole different animal. And trust me when I say that if you even expect to have a remote chance against us, then both you and your boyfriend have a LOT of growing up to do.
Right now, Damon and I aren’t even thinking about the next tag team that’s going to be coming after the titles; we’re too busy focusing on the ones right in front of us. Good for us, but not so good for the two of you. This Sunday, I can guarantee that you two will have our undivided attention. Give us a good fight, and you may actually earn a small amount of respect. Just don’t expect us to throw you any parties, because Honey, you’re not old enough for the kind of parties Rebel Ink throws.
We’ll see you at WrestleForce... kids.
Aurora waved her hand as she got up from the sofa, shutting the light off as she walked out of the room.
