Training w/ Ruby, Danni, Donovan, and Jason Perry
Sept 6, 2017 19:12:08 GMT -5
Merry Christmas likes this
Post by Austen Blackwell on Sept 6, 2017 19:12:08 GMT -5
Inside of the West Coast Genesis Performance Center in Long Beach, California, Austen Blackwell arrives first of his group of friends. He walks in along with his girlfriend, Mercedes Carter, as they walk inside.
Austen: Danni and Ruby should be here soon. I think Donovan is coming, and they are bringing a friend.
Mercedes: Okay babe. I’ve got some recording to do in the studio.
She leans into him and kisses him.
Mercedes: Have fun. And take it easy on that knee.
Days earlier, Austen had tripped and landed bad on his knee. It had swollen up and bruised but it finally healed itself after some rest.
Austen: Okay. I love you.
Mercedes: I love you, too.
They kiss again as Austen heads for one of the empty rings inside of the performance center.
As Austen stands in the ring, a large, imposing figure emerges from the men's locker room, dressed in black shorts and a black tank top, his long black hair pulled into a ponytail. Not that far behind him is Donovan Basch, who is similarly dressed, albeit in blue. From the women’s locker room, Danni LeBlanc walks out, wearing black yoga pants and the tank top Ruby gave her for her birthday. She spots Austen standing in the ring, then taps on the shoulders of the two large men to get their attention.
Danni: Okay… there’s Austen. I wonder where Ruby is, though….
Donovan and the larger man turn to face Danni.
Donovan: Hello, Nixy…..
He leans down to give his fiancee a kiss on the cheek.
Donovan: Is Ruby coming along?
Danni shrugs her shoulders.
Danni: I didn’t see her in the locker room, so I don’t know if she’s here yet. Well, I guess we should join Austen in the ring and introduce him to the big guy here…
She playfully elbows the large, black-haired man in the side. The black-haired titan lets out an exaggerated growl, letting the pair know that he’s not genuinely upset with their playful antics.
Danni: Come on, Perry the Sourpuss….
She giggles as Donovan gives her a confused look, mouthing the nickname she just uttered.
Danni: Ask Alicia. She’ll explain that one.
Once the trio enter the ring, Donovan greets Austen and ushers him over to the others.
Donovan: Austen, allow me to introduce you to our trainer, Jason Perry. Jason, this is a good friend of ours, Austen Blackwell…
Jason extends his hand for Austen to shake.
Austen: Nice to meet you.
He shakes Jason’s hand.
Austen: My girlfriend Mercedes is in the studio, or else she’d say hello too.
Austen nods at Donovan and hugs Danni.
Austen: I think Ruby is running late, but we can get started. We have to take on those….
He rolls his eyes.
Austen: Messiahs.
Jason tilts his head slightly and cocks an eyebrow.
Jason: Messiahs? Seriously?
Danni shakes her head, placing a hand on Jason’s shoulder.
Danni: Remember those Dark Carnival idiots back in the AWA? Well, slap some Cape Fear over that and you’ve got the Messiahs. Emphasis on the “MESS.”
Austen laughs.
Jason: Nimrods with a God complex…. Wonderful.
Donovan: If your definition of “wonderful” means you wonder how three sacks full of garbage can be considered wrestlers….
Danni covers her mouth, trying hard to hold in a laugh… and failing miserably.
Austen: Well… I guess we are all in agreement and our feelings.
He looks up at Jason.
Austen: So, did you have some tips in mind for us? I guess you are the dude that is the next in line to beat Gray Malone?
Austen even knew of Gray’s reputation.
Jason: Yeah, but I’ll hold off on that until I can see what you’ve got going for you as far as ringwork goes….
Danni gestures toward Jason with a big smile on her face.
Danni: This guy right here has been at it for over 25 years. He’s been in the ring against all sorts of weirdos. From wanna-be vampires to psychotic clowns… and yes, Gray Malone. The number of times he’s kicked Gray’s ass could fill its own Blu-Ray.
Jason: She exaggerates… a little. But we have a number of different things to work on. Donovan, you’ve got some cocky showboat to deal with, right?
Donovan nods.
Jason: And Danni, you’ve got a six-person tag match?
Danni nods her head in Austen’s direction.
Danni: You’re looking at one of my partners right there. We’re just waiting on the other one.
Jason: Donovan, since you and I have singles matches coming up soon, we can work on some things until their partner shows up. Sound like a plan?
Austen: Danni and I can start to work in the ring as well, until Ruby shows. Cool with me.
Danni nods her head.
Danni: Works for me!
Donovan: Works for me as well…
Austen and Danni head off in the direction of another ring as Jason and Donovan take the ring they were all standing in.
Austen: So without Ruby here yet, probably loosen up a bit. I need to work my knee out some.
He gets down on the mat as he starts to stretch.
Danni: Stretching… never a bad idea.
She nods, moving to a corner of the ring where she props a foot up on the middle turnbuckle.
Austen: So I was thinking strategy. Did we want to try and think about matchups? Savage is the smallest of them all. But I am sure Ruby would be ready to matchup against whomever she needs to; she is like a Chihuahua.
Danni: You see… that’s another reason why we brought Jason. The bulk of his experience is in tag team wrestling. He and Alicia have been training together for almost 12 years. But yeah… it would make sense to go after the smallest guy, even though none of us has been in the ring with him before. As for the other two, there’s always more than one way to chop down a big-ass tree.
Austen: And hot tags should be a part of our strategy, right?
Danni: Absolutely. We need to be ready for whatever they throw at us, and that means tagging in whenever the opportunity strikes. We can’t always wait for that hand to come out. Also, we have to factor in Venus. I wouldn’t put it past her to stick her nose into things.
Austen: You are right, I didn’t think. So they have the numbers and the size. We have the speed. Plus… I fought Ruby. You fought Ruby. We know each other's ins and outs pretty well.
Austen heads up to his feet, jumping a bit to finish getting loose. Danni finishes stretching, then rolls her head to work the kinks out of her neck.
Danni: Sorry… having to look up at the faces of a couple of nearly 7-foot-tall men is a little rough on the neck.
She smirks.
Danni: Yeah… between the three of us, I think we’ve got this. It’s not going to be a cakewalk, but it’s more than doable.
Austen nods.
Austen: So speed… agility… maybe even high risk? I know I can do that. I am sure you are more than ready.
Danni: You can say that again.
Austen meets Danni in the middle of the ring.
Austen: Well, we both wrestled Ruby… so I guess here we go.
He smiles as they lockup. Austen takes control, but then Danni reverses it. She sends him into the ropes with an Irish Whip as he rebounds, she takes him to the mat with an arm drag.
Austen: Okay. Good.
Danni waits for Austen to get to his feet, bouncing from one foot to the other to stay in motion. Once Austen is back up, they lockup again, but this time Austen transitions into a headlock before taking her down to the mat. She manages to wriggle out of Austen’s grasp, and both of them roll up to their feet.
Ruby: Sorry! Sorry!
The South Bay Champion comes rushing into the performance center with an apologetic cringe on her face. It intensifies when she sees that her partners are already sparring in the ring without her. Luckily, she's already dressed for training in a pair of tights and a pink tank top.
Ruby: I lost track of time between packing and… it's not important. I'm here! Let's just jump right in. Did someone make a joke about the Messiahs yet? Oh wait. They did by being themselves.
She giggles to herself but once again cringes as she isn't sure how well it's gonna go over. She's not much for insulting her opponents, so who knows if she's even doing it right!
Austen laughs.
Austen: We were discussing strategies. Using speed. And lots of hot tags. Best to keep fresh in the ring with them.
Danni: And as far as trash talk goes, I’ve got someone that can help with that, too. In fact, he and Donovan are right over there… HEY GUYS!
Danni looks over at the two behemoths in the other ring. Donovan and Jason turn their attention to Danni, who waves them over.
Danni: Ruby’s here!
Donovan and Jason walk from one ring to the other, standing on either side of Danni, who looks ridiculously short compared to the two large men. She smiles as she gestures toward Jason.
Danni: Ruby, this is our trainer, Jason Perry. Don’t worry… he only LOOKS scary.
She pauses.
Danni: Unless you piss him off. Otherwise, he’s a big softy!
Jason cocks an eyebrow at Danni as he shakes his head.
Jason: Even my wife wouldn’t agree with that one, Danni.
Danni: Yeah, well Alicia’s not here!
She sticks her tongue out at Jason as Donovan stifles a laugh.
Jason: I’ll remember that, Danni….
Danni: Yeah, sure…
Jason: Anyway… looks like we’re going to do this 3-on-2. You have a problem with that, Donovan?
Donovan: Not really….
Jason: Besides, the main focus is on countering a size disadvantage.
Donovan: Having faced the Messiahs is another thing we have in our favor; it gives us a bit of insight as far as how they fight.
Ruby eyes the two large men standing in the ring and how they tower over Danni, who is already taller than Ruby. She climbs into the ring, doing her best to hide the intimidation but she's not got the best poker face.
Ruby: Us three against… against those two?
She asks hesitantly, in a way that is practically begging for the answer to be no.
Danni: Well, what better way to prepare for a couple of huge, so-called monsters than by stepping into the ring with these two beasts?
Donovan stands with his hands on his hips, smirking as he whispers something to Jason. Jason stands silent, merely nodding his head in response.
Donovan: Danni, what have I told you about flattery?
Danni: Oh, don’t act like you don’t eat it up, Spidey….
Jason: Danni’s right, though. The best way to learn how to use your opponent's’ size against them is with hands-on experience.
Austen: I have to agree. Come on Ruby, you are the champ. No matter how it happened or under what circumstance, you did get past Danni and myself. Twice.
He looks at Danni who gives him a sort of nod in agreement.
Austen: You go ahead and start us off Ruby, sound good? Remember. Speed. Agility. And hot tagging.
Ruby gives a nod that surprisingly looks confident. Either she's feeling it, or she's a damn good actress. Whichever one it is, she takes the confidence as she squares off against Jason first. She shoots a glance to Austen and Danni in her corner while Jason wastes little time in getting them in a position where he's between her and said corner.
They move in for a lock-up and Ruby ducks behind him. She delivers a kick to the thigh when he spins around and her second attempt gets caught by him! She hops on one foot for a moment, surprised at his quickness. She jumps onto his thigh and leans back with her all her body weight to send him up and over with a monkey flip! She scrambles to her feet quicker than Jason and charges with a front dropkick that throws him back into their corner where she makes a quick tag to Austen. Hot tags and speed would continue to be the driving force for the trio of friends as they took on Jason and Donovan to help train for their match at Hype. The outcome of the training session did not matter, but the knowledge gained of how to overcome a size different inside of the ring.