Sam Raine vs. Aaron Blackbourne

[Ruppy]

OOC: Kind of went in a different direction with this one because I saw the opportunity. Considering Blackbourne's love interest Liane is a Michigan native and Detroit's not that far away from the town where she grew up, I figured this was probably my best chance of taking a shot at introducing the rest of her siblings into the fold. I know, it's starting another part of Aaron's CD story, but I'm starting to move towards wrapping up one of them, and considering one of the eventual obstacles for whenever Aaron and Liane tie the knot will be her parents, I figured starting it sooner rather than later would at least get the ball rolling. I had fun writing it regardless... not so much for the promo because I think I drained myself a little too much from writing the CD, but I still took a shot at making it work regardless.
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It goes without saying that everyone deserves some downtime in order to mentally recharge and sort through whatever’s on their mind, including Aaron Blackbourne.

Of course, downtime is a luxury that’s hard to come by if you’re a wrestler, and doubly so when you’re also a freelance artist and designer on top of that.

To say that Aaron was in need of some downtime was an understatement at this point as the last few weeks had been fairly hectic for him. He’d gotten a bit of it after Tabula Rasa before SCW resumed activities, but while it was helpful the pay-per-view took place in his hometown to save him the flight back it was also bittersweet given how things had gone down in his hometown. He’d wasted no time in getting things turned around when he gave Jordan Majors a reality check the very next Breakdown, but just because things were fairly quiet on the wrestling front for the moment didn’t mean the creative soul was in the clear just yet.

If anything, right now SCW was the eye of the storm.

Before leaving Seattle to hit the road again, Aaron had a startling phone call from Pete in regards to a bizarre human canvas of his that gave him every right to be concerned, considering this person not only was trying to pry into Aaron’s personal details through the few people they knew they could try to put the screws to on the west coast, but they also got a tattoo of a design that was only ever ‘public’ to anyone who saw it wherever Andrew had gotten it tattooed himself. Of those Aaron knew were the most likely to see it, their family was an obvious one that could easily be ruled out after the surge of emotions that had brought them all back together at long last. That left the few people his brother could still call a friend after most of those bridges had been burned in disagreement over his relationship, and of course the other half of said relationship who the tattoo was originally dedicated to. Somehow, Aaron had a feeling the latter was involved in some way, but to what extent he couldn’t piece together just yet. Still, between that and the threat he’d been mailed before this turn of events, Aaron had not only asked Pete to keep an eye out on the homefront considering there was little chance he was going to need his proverbial ‘war paint’ for a while, but he’d also informed the landlord of his apartment to be on alert for anything suspicious regarding his place while he was gone, something the man was all too eager to agree to given that his status as an SCW wrestler made Aaron arguably his most high profile tenant.

Of course, this storm was currently still nothing compared to the one that continued its path of destruction within his head. He knew battles were still being waged between Nemesis and the Twin Stars but for the moment his plans for dealing with it were in a state of flux. What had started out as a dream drop into his imagination to quietly begin recruiting his own little army to put an end to this once and for all had been cut off almost immediately by Gleeful, but that wasn’t what continued to slither through his thoughts like a serpent hunting for its prey. What lingered was where their conversation had turned, because no matter how many times he played it back to be absolutely sure he saw and heard it all correctly, there was no denying that Gleeful seemed very out-of-character for a rare moment and opened his eyes to a possibility that even he had somehow never considered. Knowing what he knew now, part of him really couldn’t blame the spectral superpowers for acting as they were created in order to get in on the proverbial party he was throwing, and the more he pondered it the more he realized that once the war had truly begun it had been almost exclusively Nemesis that had continued to torment him on top of the other affairs.

Perhaps there was something to be said about Gleeful and Dreambender actually playing the good guys to help him keep control, but given who he was talking about he was still hesitant to fully back them just yet.

“Still trying to put the puzzle together babe?”

Aaron was shaken from his thoughts a bit as he turned to glance at his fiancée, who was giving him that infectious smile of hers that always brought one to his own no matter what was going on in his head. She had taken the wheel as they’d touched down in Detroit, given that this was her neck of the woods growing up so she knew her way around much better than he did from only just stopping here on wrestling business. Aaron didn’t mind, considering it gave him plenty of time to try and sort through it all and figure out his next plan of attack. The real problem right now was the fact that despite getting a bit of a break with the last Breakdown not really needing him for anything despite being present, he still had to keep some of his focus on what lay ahead as the next show would see him right back in the ring looking to continue building momentum for the battle royal he already knew he was throwing his name into.

“Yeah, and I still feel no closer to really having any answers. I know the easy thing to do might be to take a break from SCW so it’s one less concern on the list, and I wouldn’t exactly be lying if I told them it was because of some personal issues, but I’ve never been one to do things the easy way… for better or worse.”

“Well Dr. Liane thinks you deserve a day of no stress whatsoever, just letting your imagination take a break before you really overthink things while you hang out with good people.”

“Do I have your guarantee on that prescription doc? I mean, this is the first time I’m meeting most of them and not everything you’ve told me in the past-”

“A lot of it’s in the past Aaron. True, there was a time when my siblings were all against me and my antics, but even the ones who once stood by mom and dad are starting to change their tune, and this is all as much about meeting you as it is giving me a chance to reconnect with a lot of them face-to-face.”

This was something Aaron mulled over a bit as the car pulled into the parking lot for a fairly big park, one that Liane claims their family loved to come down and visit a lot when the kids were all growing up. Considering it was fairly early in the afternoon on a weekday there wasn’t much of a crowd out enjoying the beautiful weather just yet, which would hopefully make finding who they were here to see much easier. The two of them walked hand-in-hand across the grass, with Liane a bit torn between excitement and concern that this might not go as well as she was hoping while her man was doing his best to try and shut down his brain for a bit on ‘doctor’s orders.’ After a few minutes, Liane suddenly began running ahead a bit, forcing Aaron to have to pick up the pace to keep from being literally dragged along as she led him towards a picnic table where a surprisingly large crowd of people of varying ages were seated. When they started taking notice of the couple coming their way, the smiles and waves were all the sign Aaron needed to know they’d found who they were looking for, though Liane letting go of his hand to throw herself into a huge embrace between everyone before his very eyes certainly sealed the deal.

“I missed you guys so much!”

“We missed you too Liane. We’re sorry about everything that happened the last time we saw you…”

“Affirmative. April Fools or not, our parents’ actions were uncalled for in every respect.”

The hug lasted for a few moments longer before everyone finally separated, and this is when Liane’s grin somehow got even bigger as she grabbed Aaron by the arm and pulled him closer. To say he was nervous was an understatement… normally he wasn’t one for shying away from meeting new people and making a good first impression, but seeing for himself that Liane hadn’t been kidding about the absurdly large number of siblings she had was throwing him for a loop a bit.

“Of course, how can I forget about my newfound reason to keep smiling? Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you, the artist and wrestler extraordinaire… Aaron!”

“Heh… thanks, hon. It’s very nice to finally get to meet you all.”

Aaron sheepishly extends his hand, and he was surprised when the first one to take it was a woman who, had it not been for the fact he already had Liane, probably would’ve left him stunned and stuttering at her beauty combined with a very clear knowledge and display of fashion sense that would make even the members of the Beauty Factory envious. The woman couldn’t resist screaming a bit like she was a fangirl at a concert as she rapidly shook his head, to the point where Aaron wondered if his arm would fall off.

“OMG! It is totes nice to finally meet you! You’re just as cute as you look on TV and in Liane’s photos! I hope my gifts were of some help too…”

“I guess that means you’re Lina?”

The blonde enthusiastically nodded almost like a bobblehead doll as she made it fairly obvious from that last line alone who she was. That was the name Aaron remembered when he and Liane discussed her sister that was a master fashion designer, especially considering she was the one responsible for both the bikini that Liane would’ve used to silence a certain red-headed witch many months back if she wasn’t such a sore loser at her own game as well as the spark that had ignited certain other flames of passion between the artist and the comedian. After a moment, the excited blonde was pulled away by another blonde that appeared to be the oldest. One by one they each introduced themselves in ways that easily reflected their respective personalities as Aaron ran the proverbial gauntlet much like anyone else who first met the entire Forte clan did.

“It’s nice to finally meet you Aaron. I’m Lorelei, the oldest Forte and possibly the most mature out of everyone here. And don’t deny it guys: I AM the one working her way up on the business world right now, after all.”

“Name’s Liza, soon-to-be rock goddess, and it’s so rockin’ to finally meet you dude! Maybe you can help my band with some cover art sometime?”

“I’m Lucille. Sorry if I’m not really showing how excited I am to meet you… emotions are usually only something I express in my writing. Maybe we can share stories later?”

“I’m Leila, and this is my twin Laila. I know it’s confusing, but I’m the girl to go to if you want to talk about animals or mechanics. She’s… pretty much my exact opposite on that front.”

“Greetings, I am known as Louise. Consider me the resident future Harvard graduate and scientific pioneer of our family.”

“I’m Lillian. It’s nice to meet someone who helped make my big sister happy again.”

“And I’m Lucas, the only boy of our all-L pack. Maybe I should see how some of the comics I’m working on hold up to what you do, huh? Maybe I can even get some tips.”

Aaron chuckled a bit once introductions were all out of the way. He did notice that Leila seemed to speak on behalf of both herself and her twin sister, who despite looking like she was ready to hit the red carpet seemed almost like her mind was in an entirely different place right now. There was another party missing from this scene, and Aaron wasn’t the only one who realized it.

“Hey… where’s Lane?”

Liane chiming in immediately turned some of the expressions of her vast array of siblings. Most seemed to go from the joy they had over finally meeting Liane’s significant other to either sorrow or rage, which Aaron raised an eyebrow at. He was silently thankful none of it seemed to be directed at him, though that didn’t make what he heard next any less painful as Lorelei took the lead.

“She’s… not coming, I’m afraid. She wanted to, even though she already reconnected with you Liane and met Aaron when she threw herself into that one open match thing at the end of last year, but she got into a bit of an argument with mom and dad about coming back through here, even though we managed to keep them out of our hair about ruining this by pooling our money to have them take a little vacation. She said she still didn’t want to make a scene, so instead, she took off for Mexico to keep training to try and completely break into the wrestling business.”

“Mexico? We just came from there because of the last Breakdown… I wasn’t booked and didn’t really do anything, but still. If I’d have known she was down there, maybe we could’ve stopped and seen her.”

“Doubt it. She only just left yesterday, so I don’t think you could’ve caught her.”

Even knowing this, Aaron still lamented that he couldn’t have still caught up with her. Hearing that Lane was being serious about trying to completely break into the world of wrestling brought a smile to his face and he was curious to see how far she’d come since what he’d both seen and experienced from the End of the Year Special. It didn’t last for long though, especially as Liane leaned against the edge of the picnic table, almost afraid to ask what she knew she needed to.

“What was the argument about? Anybody know?”

“Unfortunately. Lane’s pretty much finally on the same vibe we all our right now about the ‘rents: we’re tired of them treating us like their golden geese instead of their actual children and what we do with our lives should be because it’s what we want, not because they can start rolling in dough from it.”

Aaron couldn’t help but notice that this revelation didn’t take long to get under Liane’s skin, and her expression began to mirror that of her siblings. He couldn’t blame any of them, though… after all, the whole reason he was constantly willing to fight for true creative freedom in the world was because that was the kind of world he wanted to live in, and everyone had the right to do what made them happy if it meant they could get the most out of life. He started to open his mouth to throw his two cents into the mix, but he was cut off as all eyes turned to Laila when she finally spoke, her voice sounding a bit broken as a sign she’d been through a lot more than her appearance would indicate.

“They were always putting so much pressure on me before, but with Lane bailing after everyone else that could finally started to take their lives back, they’ve been hammering me down with how much I’m their biggest shining star right now. I’m always one for the attention… but this is too much even for me. I feel like I’m literally going to be crushed if I make so much as one mistake… I thought I left that all behind when I stopped being one of those Toddlers and Tiaras brats and transitioned into slowly becoming a child movie star…”

Laila looked like she wanted to continue, but her words started coming out as mumbles as she slowly broke down crying, dropping to her knees and trying to hide her face and running makeup in her hands. Liane wasted no time in leaping from the bench and going to hug her younger sister, and several of the others weren’t too far behind. Surprisingly, not all of them joined in on this, as Aaron felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to lock eyes with Lucas, who proceeded to answer the question that he didn’t even realize until now was on his mind.

“Don’t get us wrong Aaron: we love our parents dearly. But, you see… they’ve kind of had their dreams crushed beyond repair in their eyes. Mom works as a dental assistant but she keeps trying to write a novel so she can become a best-selling author, and dad’s in IT but the way he works the kitchen makes it clear he would love nothing more than to either be a big shot chef somewhere or maybe even run his own restaurant. They both think they’re too far into life now to make either one actually happen, but instead of trying to lecture us about ‘reality before our dreams’ or anything like that, they realize we’re all finding what we’re good at and want to do pretty early in life and think we can make the profits they can’t make themselves, so they’re riding us all too hard and losing sight of who we even are to them.”

That explanation didn’t help Aaron at all as he felt like he wanted to vomit upon hearing it. Seeing for himself how large their family was, he could understand being strapped for cash, but even that excuse had its limits. He should know, considering how hard he was pushed for the longest time into being the main financial backbone of his own family, which was almost half the size of the Forte clan. Thinking back, it also brought into perspective at long last some of what he knew about Liane’s own issues with her mom and dad, as comedy was a notoriously tough business to break into and if they had already become this short-sighted about their kids, it wasn’t that surprising to believe a daughter trying to become a comedian was a potential waste of time in the making to them. He believed in her though and was proud of how far she’d come already, just like what he’d heard so far about her sisters and brother made him want to smile at how happy they were trying to seem in the face of all of this.

You only stopped when you found out you were kind of beaten to the punch by some nerds online who used a similar idea and tied it to a TV show for some fanfiction project they were making or something. You all but abandoned us because of that…

Gleeful’s words suddenly ran through his head again, though Aaron wasn’t in the right mindset to bother with trying to figure out if that was intentional on her part or his mind getting back to work on wanting to sort that out. After all, this outing had suddenly become the exact opposite of what he and Liane were hoping it would be. That ringing voice in his head did spark a thought relating to the present situation, however… Lucas had filled in the ‘why’ blank behind their parents’ actions, and Aaron realized he didn’t just disagree with it because it was wrong, but also because he could relate the more he thought back on things. How long he felt like he had to put his own endeavors on hold long before he fled from his family before the fairly recent make-up, how he felt when his big plans for the Twin Stars got shelved because of one minor little detail that still burned in his brain even now… he knew firsthand what this situation was, and that was what drove him to slowly walk over to Laila and help her to her feet with a determined smile that almost seemed to ignite something in the aspiring child actress as well.

“Don’t worry guys… I know what you’re all going through, believe me. Liane can vouch for me on that one, and she can also vouch for the fact that I’m more than happy to do my part in fixing all of this. My family was able to make up after a long road build on so many bad memories and moments of butting heads with one another, and I know yours can to. And if your parents really think they can do this to you because they believe their time has passed? Maybe my future in-laws could use a lesson on knowing how to fight to make your dreams a reality, Aaron Blackbourne style!”

With a fist pump in his own growing excitement that punctuated the statement, the Forte siblings all shouted in glee and joined him with fists raised high. Naturally, Liane couldn’t resist almost tackling her fiancé to the ground and kissing him, generating a natural mixed reaction of “awwwws” and “yucks” from her family. They all had a good laugh out of it, and the next couple of hours were spent doing exactly what this was intended to do: Aaron got to know more about the eventual massive addition to his family tree and vice versa while everyone just relaxed and enjoyed themselves on that beautiful day.

Aaron would look back on this as he headed into the Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night and wonder briefly if he’d made a mistake. After all, he’d essentially taken on yet another obstacle he would need to navigate in hopes of terminating all the stress trying to drag him down into the darkness once again. Then again, this was one he knew he would have to tackle eventually whether he wanted to or not, and as he’d told Liane once already… he was never one to go about things the easy way if he could help it.

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Why do we do this?

It’s a simple question, but one that honestly needs to be asked every now and again to see if someone’s answer will change on you. We all have our reasons for doing what we do, and I’m not just referring to the wrestling business either. The choices we make beyond the ring and the impact and potential consequences that exist right alongside them… what is the method to the madness? We all have our reasons… true, some don’t like sharing those reasons, but it’d make things a lot easier if they just said they weren’t comfortable talking about it as opposed to concocting all these stories and excuses to dodge the proverbial bullet. Maybe then we wouldn’t have some of the scenarios that exist not just within SCW, but the world as we know it.

You might believe it’s not my place to go probing for such information, but this is where I remind you that I’m an imaginative spirit who sees the value in asking these kinds of questions because often times the ‘why’ is much more interesting and valuable than the ‘what’ in question. The method behind the madness is often times the key to solving any situation no matter how convoluted it may become, regardless of whether or not that explanation is a simple one in actuality. For example, I’ve made it clear time and time again that I do this not just because it’s something I enjoy doing, but because it allows me to express myself and share my vision, my message with the world on a platform many don’t consider where it still holds plenty of weight.

Make no mistake… people are listening, they are being inspired, and the seeds are being planted for a more creatively open world that will ultimately bring about a rebirth that will allow us all to move forward once again as opposed to being held back by those who think that a monopoly on resources automatically gives them the right to make any declarations they so desire.

The last time I competed was a perfect example of this. I stepped into the ring with a woman who has a bright future ahead of her but has already decided the easiest way to the top is the only suitable way to get there. Life doesn’t always work that way, however, and by the time the bell rang I left her with a lot to think about. Jordan Majors can try to play it off all she wants and rant on and on about what she thinks was the reasoning behind the outcome, but the fact of the matter is that I proved that her false bravado and petty games simply didn’t match up to my passion and resolve to keep moving forward. The fact that she was legitimately knocked out by the Unchained Creativity was not my intention no matter how she tries to spin the tale, but perhaps now she’ll think twice about lobbying around the threat of her own strikes now that she knows what it truly feels like to have your lights turned out. I can see, clear as day, that I’ve opened her eyes to the fact this isn’t as easy as she thought it would be, and no facade she puts up can hide that doubt once she realizes there are plenty more where I came from in that locker room that share that same drive.

It kind of feels fitting that drive is our current topic considering the storm awaiting me on Breakdown.

As we roll into Detroit, making our way from my home towards where my fiancée grew up, I find myself once again crossing paths with the woman known as Samantha Raine. The last time we found ourselves sharing the ring, we, unfortunately, found ourselves being eliminated from the Trios Tournament fairly early. Neither one of us are at fault despite giving it our best shot, but I also don’t hold anything against our partner that night for her desire to prove herself, even if it got a bit out of hand. Still, I know that feeling has to be one that Sam shares in right now, considering the time of the year it is and how much every win feels like a much-needed momentum boost towards that hope of surviving the ultimate test of endurance and gaining one hell of a prize in the process.

I can’t help but admire the drive that keeps you going Sam. No matter what anyone says about you, no matter the outcome, you keep pushing forward and trying to find a way to make your mark on this business. Maybe you don’t feel like that’s worth anything, but I can promise you it’s a trait that a steadily growing number of people are unfortunately losing sight of with each show that goes by it seems. Those people may look at matches like this and question why it’s even happening, but to that I say… why not? Why not have two people determined to make an impact for different reasons put on a match that, for all anybody knows, could become an underrated classic? Why not see just how wrong we can make anyone who thinks this match is better off being scrapped from the card just so certain egos can be fed because they can’t understand the reality that the world doesn’t revolve around them?

Why not see what happens when a woman willing to brand herself a thousand different identities to tell her story clashes with a man who has so many different ideas and creations running through his head there’s no way to keep count of them all?

Trust me when I say this Sam: considering what happened when we were in Seattle for Tabula Rasa, the idea of potentially defeating you in the city where you grew up doesn’t sit well with me, but I also know that nothing ever comes easy in this world and the more you’re willing to challenge yourself, the greater the ending to your masterpiece will turn out. For that reason, I’m not afraid to walk into Detroit knowing you plan on doing whatever it takes to move things in the right direction at my expense, and I won’t hesitate to give you everything I’ve got to build on where I stand now even just a tiny bit more. Trust me when I say that it’s nothing personal Sam… and trust me when I promise you we’ll give the people of Detroit a battle they won’t forget for a long time to come.

In the end, I know we’ll both walk away from this stronger than before… but I hope you understand that despite all of this, I can’t afford to take my foot off the gas pedal if you truly want to prove you deserve this win more than I do come Wednesday night. Good luck Sam, and I’ll see you at Breakdown.