Taking Hold of the Flame 2026

[Team Desire]

Marcus V. Lopez | Dresser Boys | “Rebirth”

Marcus walks into the arena. The site for SCW’s 2026 Taking Hold of the Flame event. He walks through the backstage area  and quickly notices how much things have changed since he’s last been around. Feeling severely underdressed in his old gym wore clothing compared to the fancy suits to most everyone around him. He seriously has no idea what he’s doing here.
“What am I doing here?” Marcus shakes his head in disbelief. He knows this is some crazy shit. He walks up to one of the stagehands backstage that looks to be helping with getting the event in order. “Hello. I’m here for the battle royal.”
“Oh, hi, that’s great. I’ll just get your information then take it to guerrilla, ok. Your name?” The very young intern looks at Marcus.
“Seriously. I’m in the SCW Hall of Fame.” Does she seriously not recognize him?
“Oh yeah, we got a lot of those in the battle royal this year.”
“Of course. That makes sense.” Marcus takes a breath already feeling the humiliation thinking he would like to impress them. “Marcus. Or MV.”
The intern smiles and tells him “Thanks. I’ll let the higher ups know you’re here.”
“Yeah.” Marcus nods along. He watches them walk away. He turns and heads to the locker room with his bag over his shoulder.

You’re probably surprised to see me here. I didn’t think I’d be back for another run. I’m probably not. I know you’re all wondering about where in the world have I been the last few years. For the most part it's all very boring. That is until I reconnect with my daughter, Isabella. She got into NYU so she lives close by and we have a lot of time together now. Also apparently I’m a much bigger influence than I realized when she decided she wanted to try out wrestling for herself. At first, I was against it. Still am, because I do like being alive and all. You know what though, She seems to really be enjoying herself…
A bit of a montage of shows over the last couple of months. The Legacy Dolls having a bit of success on the independence. The word had spread viral all over social media about a hot new masked tag team shocking championship win. The camera then lingers on Isabella’s partner. Her blonde hair flowing out behind her mask.
That’s Ash. Isabella’s apparent best friend that she met in college. I don’t know anything about her. She’s very secretive. Can’t really figure who she is. They’re a team though and somehow I got roped in as their manager. So hopefully as long as Isabella gets her fill of this wrestling bug and gets out of it and I’m still alive. Everything should be good. Nobody would be the wiser anymore.

Marcus walks around the arena looking for the locker room area so he can get ready for the big show. He arrives in the area where most of the participants are gathered. A few of them are warming up. Getting themselves loose and limber for the big rumble match. Marcus’ eyes become fixated on one talent. They stretch one of their legs straight up into the air and hold it there for a few minutes. Like a ballerina. Marcus’ entire body suddenly feels a whole lot of pain from just watching.
“Nope. This is not for my year or any year.” Marcus has seen enough. He definitely is not interested in waking up tomorrow morning unable to move because his own body is sore.
Marcus spins around to try and find some backdoor so he can sneak out before anyone notices him. Or before Sparky decides to show up. However something much worse happened when Marcus turned the corner. Coming face to face with another familiar face that of Robert Sparklett, an old rival.
“Sparklett.” Marcus looks on horrified seeing him.
“Well, well, well look at whose back. I was expecting this.” Sparklett stares back at Marcus giving him a bit of an evil stare.
“But, I haven’t been around in years. How would you know I’d be back?” Marcus questions him.
“Oh, I got the newsletter. Read every issue. I like to stay up to date and in the know of what’s happening everywhere. Now to my surprise I found a certain someone who showed up at a local show in New York.” Sparklett pulls out the said newsletter and flashes the evidence at Marcus.
Marcus gasps, staring at it. “Buy 1, Get 1 Free Drinks with any Combo Order”?
“Ok, so I don’t have the issue on me. I’m not a loser.” Sparklett laughs at the accusation.
“You mean nerd.” Marcus corrects him.
“Whatever. I don’t know what you’re up to, but whatever it is, you’re not getting away with it.” Sparklett points a finger in Marcus’ face. He walks away in disgust.
“I’m just trying to leave.” Marcus pleads.
“Leaving.” Sparky shows up standing next to him. “You can’t leave. Not now. You made a promise. Do you remember?”
Marcus takes a deep breath. “Yes.”

Marcus walks with his daughter, Isabella back to her dorm on NYU campus after spending the day together.
“This is nice.” Marcus smiles. He hasn’t seemed this happy in years.
“Yeah. It’s been great getting to know each other. Also I’m so happy that you’ve calmed down about the whole wrestling thing. I know how mom feels about it, but Ash and I were talking about it. We just thought it might be fun to try out. Who knew that we were good.” Isabella laughs. She was amazed at just how much she enjoyed it.
“Well, I mean, you are my daughter. So it’s not really that much of a surprise that you’ll be gifted. People always said I was special. Got a lot of looks my way.” Marcus continues to smile.
“Why don’t you get back into the ring, Dad?”
“What? No. I can’t do that. I’m pretty much retired.” Marcus shakes his head, refusing the idea.
“Come on, isn’t there some little part in you that wants to give it another go. Like Ash and I actually won our debut and I saw you. You were smiling. You looked really happy.” Isabella nudges her dad in the arm pushing him a little.
“Ok, sure. That was a nice moment. A lot of things were running through my head also. Me wrestling again. That is not one of them.”
Isabella lowers her head. Looking a little disappointed. “I understand. I know seeing me happy is probably all the happiness that you want to see from now on. I was just thinking that I also want to see you happy. Didn’t mom tell me that it was your dream of winning the big one?”
“Yeah, she might have said that. It’s also the reason why she hates it and blames me for ruining everything. Also why will she kill me if she finds out you’re doing it now.”
“Yeah, I know and I told you, Ash and I are being very careful about that.” Isabella tries to make her dad less stressful over it, but she continues to push on a return. “I just, I would love to see you wrestle in a ring and not old matches on a jail broken firestick.”
“Hey, Sparky paid a lot of money for that. It was definitely worth it too.”
“Right. Just do it for me. I’ll be rooting for you.” Isabella hugs her dad. She turns and heads into her dorm finally reaching the end of their walk together.
“Return to the ring.” Marcus says to himself. “I can’t do that. Can I?”

“I wasn’t talking about that promise.” Sparky interrupts.
“Of course, you’re probably referring to some obscure promise that I apparently made to you.” Marcus getting pissy with him.
“As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I was referring to. Don’t forget this was our goal long before you reconciled with your daughter.” Sparky puts his arm around Marcus and spins him around. Leading him back inside towards the arena. “Sure Taking Hold of the Flame is one of the most stressful and grueling experiences one can endure. One false move and you’re flat on your ass and it’s all over. You got me though. I’ll make sure you reach the finish line. Then you can look like a champion for Isabella.”
“I was just there. Watching everyone pairing for it. I already hurt.”
“That is not a problem, Marcus. I can help slim down the competition.” Sparky winks at Marcus with sinister intention.
“No. We’re not poisoning anyone or breaking kneecaps. Or giving explosive diarrhea."
“Sorry about that.” Sparky lowers his head a bit ashamed.
“Those cookies were delicious though.”
“Ok fine. I’ll be on my best behavior then, but you’re not leaving. Not until after we win this thing. Now if you don’t mind. I’ll just go and take some notes on your competition. I’m sure knowing weaknesses for strategicness  is something you’ll be ok with.” Sparky wanders off into the crowd leaving Marcus alone.
Marcus stands there. He thinks of what Sparky said. Remembering Isabella’s words. So he’s probably going to be in a lot of pain after this. Though it’ll probably be something Isabella would always remember seeing. Marcus nods his head along. “It’ll be worth it.”
Marcus looks up and from across the room he sees Robert Sparklett watching him. Sparklett making the ‘watching you’ jester. Marcus slowly turns and hurries away. Far away from the lunatic.[/i]