Post by Jessica | Rémiel on Mar 4, 2018 21:07:03 GMT -5
J e s s i c a | S e a r s
D e a n | M a t t h e w s
Nerd Paladin, Level Up!
File 009: Friendship | 友情
A camera was set up within the executive room of Jessica Sears and Dean Matthews. The design, colors, and decor were recognizable from Hotel Le Marquis Paris within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower. Jessica stepped out of the bathroom, dressed as her favorite anime character, Sailor Moon, and she twirled around in the custom-made cosplay outfit. Even her long blonde hair was styled in the same way as the character.
There was, however, a distinctive addition of the outfit. A black knee brace was secured around her right knee to continue to mend it as the clock ticked away towards showtime. She stopped for a moment and exhaled slowly.
“I haven’t worn this in a while, but I thought it was appropriate for the upcoming match. Round two of the Global Cup against Aurora Graves… I almost don’t want to go through with this.”
Behind her, from the other side of the room came the second figure, this one with long dirty blonde hair pulled back into a tight braid and a thick blonde beard. He wore a simple pair of jeans and a black tank top, but his chest and abdomen were wrapped tightly beneath the black fabric. The man lounged happily in a chair, watching the beautiful blonde walk from the bathroom dressed as her favorite character. When he saw her a faint smile split his lips and he shook his head in amusement. She was such a kid at heart and that made him happy, or it made him happy to see her so excited in her outfit.
“Why wouldn’t you want to go through with this? You have to go through her to get to the next round. It’s not personal Jessi, it’s business.”
“I know it’s just business, Dean. That doesn’t make it any easier.”
She stuck her tongue out towards him before she placed her left hand on her hip.
“To me, it’s always more of a challenge to wrestle a friend than an enemy or even someone in between. I really like Aurora. We’re Moonies! We’re nerdy in similar and different ways. We’ve been friends for a long time now, but we actually haven’t had the chance to hang out in person… Maybe we can change that after tonight!”
He listened to her, the way she spoke about her opponent and the friendship they had, and unwound himself from the chair in which he was seated. As he did, a groan left him and he pressed his arm to his right side gripping the arm of the chair so hard his knuckles turned white. After a moment to simply breathe and adjust, he looked up at her.
“Do you remember when we first met? At that gym in LA?”
A slight frown crossed her face as she made her way over to him. She always offered support for him to lean on. The size difference never mattered to her as she reached down and took his right hand in her left hand gently.
“Yes, I remember… and you’re still the same Tree Ent from before.”
“I am not a Tree, woman.”
Though the words may sound harsh there was a small smile playing on his lips as he looked up at her. He pushed himself from the chair and whipped his head back to throw the braid over his shoulder before turning his icy cold blue eyes on her.
“You doubted yourself so much and yet you learned a great deal. Became something new, something to be respected again. Do you want to have this friendship? Perhaps an after-show dinner between friends? Ask her after the match, Jessi. During the next twenty-four hours, she’s no longer your friend. She’s your opponent. A roadblock between you and the next round in the tournament. Lower your shoulder and run her over.”
He paused a moment and looked away for just a brief instant before looking back at her.
“Do you think I became Grand Champion… by treating Ashley Kenyon like a friend, Jessi? She had something I wanted, so I took it.”
She nodded and sighed softly. He was right, she knew this very well. This wasn’t the first time she was facing a friend in a professional wrestling match. It was certainly not going to be the last. With a light swallow, she parted her lips and sucked in a breath of air.
“I know… The truth is I wanted this match to happen. I wanted to defeat Kaylee so I could advance to the next round. I wanted Aurora to defeat Maria so she could advance to the next round. I wanted the two of us to finally have a singles match against each other, but now that this quarter-final round IS going to happen…”
She let out a sigh.
“I know what I have to do. She knows what she has to do. In the Global Cup, she represents Ireland and I represent Germany. We have to give this match one hundred percent, nothing less. I want the both of us to succeed. Unfortunately, when it comes down to it, only one of us can advance to the semi-finals. It has to be me. I want to face Mason Moore or Alan Envy in Dublin, Ireland in two weeks. Adrien and I have a guaranteed title shot at the NGW Tag-Team Championships. Why not add another guaranteed title shot by winning the entire tournament?”
“It seems to me…”
The bearded man looked back at the beautiful blonde before him and crossed the room to her. An arm lifted, allowing him to brush his fingertips over the edges of her hair near her left ear, and his lips pulled up again into a smile.
“...That you know exactly what needs to be done, my Paladin. Defeat Aurora Graves, friend or foe, then move on to the next round and keep going. Take your shot at that disgusting piece of filth and his partner and take the Tag Straps from them without so much as an ounce of hesitation or restraint. You know what needs to be done….”
He came to stand beside her and pointed directly at the camera that was filming all of this. He leaned to the side then and whispered into her ear.
“...So do it.”
This whisper sent a chill down her spine but in a pleasant manner. She looked up at him, his size easily towering over hers, yet she moved up on the tips of the boots and whispered something in his ear that was inaudible to the camera’s mic. That whisper in his ear caused his muscles to tense and his body to shake slightly as a shiver ran through his own form. In return, he leaned in, pressed his lips to her ear and whispered in return before turning and returning to the chair so she could finish. A cute little blush caressed her cheeks as she giggled. She quickly shook off the blush before she turned to regard the camera, that look of determination in her eyes. A confident smile crossed her face and she spoke up.
“It really does come down to this, doesn’t it, Aurora-chan?
I still remember the triple threat match between you, me, and Alex Jones in early January. It was a whirlwind of ups and downs, lefts and rights, but no Konami Code. Something went wrong in the registration of the buttons and I was the one who took the pinfall. AJ of the Rebel Society claimed the victory over us and it kinda sucked. But ever since then, I’ve wanted to face you one-vee-one. Just you, me, and the referee.
You’re a renowned tag-team wrestler. You and Damon Graves, Rebel Ink, make one of the best tag-teams in the modern wrestling industry. However, that doesn’t take away from your ability scores as a singles wrestler. You’ve fought with the best of them. You’ve defeated my own tag-team partner, Adrien Cochrane, TWICE. That’s not something that a lot of wrestlers can say they’ve done in their careers. You’re well on your way to contending for your very first singles championship in New Generation Wrestling and I want to see it happen. I want you to succeed, I really do!
But this isn’t a match where the both of us can win. We’re going to earn EXP, but only one of us is going to level up. Only one of us is going to advance to the semi-finals to face Moore or Envy in Dublin. You want to earn an NGW title shot and I imagine you’d want to go for the biggest prize of them all, the NGW Championship. It would be your first-ever singles championship… I’ve been there. Remember? April 2016, I earned the opportunity to face Jacob Daniels for IPW Heavyweight Championship, and one month later in May, I won. I became the top-tier champion of the entire company. I know that’s what you want for yourself in NGW.”
Raising her right hand, she wags her index finger in the same gesture as Miles Edgeworth.
“...I can’t let you get past me. Maybe it’s a little selfish, but I want to be a champion in this company. I want to represent both Spirit and Pride and New Generation Wrestling and be a double champion. I want to continue to prove to myself that I do belong in this industry. I want to show the world that I am here to stay. If you were in my position, I’m sure you’d have the same ambition. We’re both young. We’re going to have more opportunities in the near future. But this opportunity in the Global Cup can’t go to the both of us. There can only be one.
I am the One.
After the bell rings, after this is all set and done, I’d love to enjoy Sailor Moon over dinner and drinks with you. Maybe we can ask Dean and Damon to join us so it’s a double date. But that’s for later. In the City of Love, there’s bound to be tough love in our match, Aurora.
Level up or shut up. Game on.”
The whole time Jessica spoke, addressing Aurora Graves, Dean sat in silence and listened. The whisper playing over and over again in his mind. When she finally finished he lifted those cold blue eyes, first looking over the curves of one of her best features behind her, before lifting his sight up to the back of her head.
“Come here.”
His voice was a snarled growl, a command filled with desire and he grabbed her by the hips pulling her backward. She fell with a squealing laugh into his lap with one arm around her waist. The other reached up as he locked eyes with the camera, fingers wrapping around the cables behind it.
“What do they call this… fade to black?”
He smirked and pulled the cables from the camera interrupting the video feed and sending the video to static, as all Matthews men tended to do. The last thing the camera caught was him leaning down and kissing the beautiful blonde passionately.
