MELISSA KILLGRAVES VERSUS ANNABELLE BURCHARD - TAIPEI DEATHMATCH

[The Atoner]

Authors Note: Special guest via permission. Been fun Rupp. Lets close this chapter in style. 

What a main event...


Annabelle Burchard had been slowly making waves in Emerge. What was becoming overlooked due to her ongoing issues with Melissa Killgraves was her not often talked about unpinned streak. The last time she was pinned was in her second match against Yuyo. Since then she has either won matches by pinfall or disqualification. Lost one match via disqualification thanks to The Unforgiven getting involved in her affairs. Invasion: Europe, a strap match wound up being thrown out due to constant interference from Seraglio, Benjamin Flynn and a masked assailant EMERGE staff has yet to learn the identity of. 


Annabelle standing toe to toe against the Emerge RUSH champion wasn’t destined to be an easy feat. Wasley had survived two brutal defenses of the RUSH Championship in South Africa and Europe respectively. Beating the current EMERGE Champion, Jennifer Helms, was a huge feather in his cap. She didn’t need Benjamin to tell how big the stakes were in what she hopes to be many more main event matches. To the shock of many, partially to her, she managed to pull off what many in the audience viewed as an upset. 


How does one celebrate a monumental victory?


The first thing Annabelle did was hop in the shower.


She allowed the steaming hot water to assault her face. 


The white face paint with black eye shadow began further peeling.


She worked up quite a sweet during the match with Wasley. The facepaint was chipping away. The hot steaming shower would finish the job. She wanted to feel her own pure face again without the war paint, leaving her alter ego aside for another day. Once out the shower, she walked back into the locker room with her clothes already prepared by Ben. Same attire she entered the arena in. Blue denim jeans, a short sleeve AC/DC “Back in Black” UK tour t-shirt and black jeans. 


Didn’t take her long to get herself ready. 


There was no one to talk to. 


No post match interview. 


No friends to check in on. 


Annabelle’s path to exit the Motorpoint arena was distraction free. 


Walking down the hallway, an instinctual pull came over her. 


She stopped in front of the general men’s locker room. 


Annabelle thought about it for a moment. Should she walk in there? Taking a deep breath, she knocks on the door. 


No one answered. 


She knocks again.


No one answered. 


Sighing, she pushes open the locker room door. The room appeared empty except for one indistinguishable item...


The Emerge ANARCHY Championship propped up on a steel chair. 


Annabelle smiles. She allowed the allure of Emerge’s brand new championship to seduce her into walking over to get a closer look. 


Standing directly in front of the belt she extends her hand to touch it. 


At the last minute she pulls away. 


“Go ahead, touch it!” a jovial voice calls out to Annabelle. 


Her attention then goes to the owner of the jovial voice, belonging to no other than The Chucke. He is dressed modestly. 


“I shouldn’t have come in here.” Annabelle said. “I’ll leave”


“Don’t worry about it.” The Chucke chuckles. “You don’t need to be modest, Annabelle. The Chucke is no stranger to the ladies lining up outside the locker room after every show wanting to know what The Chucke is baking.”  


He slyly winks. 


Annabelle tilts her head to the side, confused where The Chucke was leading with this.


“Baking?” Annabelle asked. She sniffs the air. “What am I supposed to be smelling? Cookies? Bagels? ”


The Chucke closes the gap between himself and Annabelle. Standing next to each other they are the same height. He just happened to be more portly than she is. Nevertheless he unleashed a hearty laugh. “Don’t worry about it, Annabelle; The Chucke understands.”


Annabelle steals a glance at the Emerge Anarchy Championship. The day Dani announced the inception of the championship, she has done nothing but fantasize about wrapping the belt around her slim waist. She was paying close attention at Invasion: Europe to see who would walk out the very first champion. To her amazement The Chucke became champion. She silently asked herself in the moment how could this over the top guy be the champion of a chaotic division with no boundaries? 


Turning back to The Chucke, she smiles. “Chuck... or do I need to add the... The.”


“The Chucke says you can call him whatever you want.” he says unable to resist winking 


“Ok... Mr. Chuck.” Annabelle half smirks. “Don’t know how to explain it. I felt God telling me to come in here. Are you a believer?”


The Chucke places his hand over his heart. “Damn right I believe in God, without the man upstairs creating the bountiful of beautiful women to admire The Chucke, The Chucke says he would be so damn lonely. The Chuck says the only balls he plays with are his own.” 




Annabelle’s eyes widen. A small part of her felt like vomiting. And then... she started laughing. She laughed at The Chucke? Had to still be on a high after the victory over Thomas Wasley. Had to be the only plausible explanation for Annabelle laughing at The Chucke behaving like women actually dropped their panties at the sight of him. 


“I’ll take your work for it.” Annabelle continued to laugh, not in a mocking way, she somehow finds The Chucke funny? Who would have known. 


“Can The Chucke ask you a question?” 


Annabelle nods. “Sure. What’s on your mind?”



The Chucke clears his throat. “The face paint... The Chucke wants to know if you ever paint yourself up when you are doing the wild thing if ya know what I mean.”



Annabelle looks off to the side. There was no grey area to The Chucke’s pretty direct question. Running her hands through her hair, Annabelle looks directly into The Chucke’s eyes. She responds, “No. Does nothing for me.” 


“The Chucke says he loves the aesthetic you got going.” Giving Annabelle two thumbs way up Siskel and Ebert style, The Chucke continues, “You should think about it.”


Annabelle rubs her forehead. “Noted.” 


“Before The Chucke forgets, congratulations on the huge win out there. The Chucke wishes he was a great wrestler like you and Thomas Wasley. The Chucke doesn’t see himself main eventing an Emerge or a pay per view for that matter. The day The Chucke main events anything is the day Emerge goes out of business.” he says with a hearty laughter. 


Annabelle tilts her head to the side. “Hey, don’t talk like that, you pushed me to my limit in our match back in Exeter. I’ll never forget it. God placed you in my path for a reason, Mr. Chuck. Can’t promise the next time we met will be as... sportsmen like. Next time you’ll see my true face.”


The Chucke pinches Annabelle’s cheek. “The Chucke like this one.”


Annabelle raises her eyebrow. She smiles. Taking a deep breath, Annabelle says. “I should get going. Benjamin is probably wondering where the hell I am.” 


“Anytime you want to see what The Chucke is baking, He isn’t a hard guy to find.” 


Annabelle nods. “I’ll keep that in mind.”


She walks towards the door, taking one last glance at the Anarchy Championship, she waves goodbye to The Chucke and leaves the room. 



It took roughly five minutes to exit the building. Annabelle makes a beeline to the rental car.  She sees Benjamin Flynn leaning up against the drivers side door. 


With his hands tucked into his pocket, he sighs at her. “What took you so long?”


“I had a... unique conversation with The Chucke.” Annabelle confessed. 


“Come again?” Benjamin asked, wanting confirmation of what he just heard. 


“I said--” Annabelle began to say. Her train of thought is broken at the sight of  Benjamin smiling. A rare sight.  


Her confidant pats Annabelle on the shoulder. “I’m proud of you. You are already thinking three steps ahead. Lull that fat bastard into a false sense of security, just like that..” Ben snaps his fingers “--you will take his Anarchy Championship when he least expects.” Benjamin continues to beam with pride. “His known weakness is the power of an attractive woman. Grant it, most men’s weakness is an attractive woman, that is besides the point. No way he will go the extra mile to seriously hurt a potential conquest. Come on, like you would drop your pants for that loser.” 


Benjamin can’t help but laugh. 


Annabelle glares at him.


This doesn’t stop Benjamin from getting carried away. “Tomorrow we should go shopping, pick out some clothes that will get The Chucke’s attention.”


“Ben--” Annabelle tries to interject. 


His excitement is too strong. “I knew you had it in you, Anna. He won’t see his destruction coming. So--”


“BEN!!!” Annabelle screams. 


Benjamin finally shuts up. 


Annabelle shakes her head. “I am not manipulating The Chucke, ok?”


Benjamin blinks twice. “I don’t get it.”


Annabelle sighs in frustration. “He’s not a mark, ok? I don’t know why I walked into the men’s locker room. Seeing the Anarchy Championship did give me chills. I did imagine how good it’ll be to wrap that belt around my waist. Mr. Chuck is... quite funny in an odd way. I appreciate that.”


Benjamin raises an eyebrow. “Please tell me you don’t legit like that guy!!”


“The only thing I know Ben is Mr. Chuck is one of the good ones.” Annabelle says confidently. 


She opens the passenger's side door. She gets in the car.


Ben opens the drivers side door and steps inside. 


Reaching into his pocket to pull out the car keys, he sticks the key into the ignition. 


Him and Annabelle lock eyes. “Now is not the time to fraternize with anyone. Especially someone who has something you want. All business. Do you understand?”


She turns to look straight out the windshield. 


Ben continues to stare. “Are we clear, Annabelle?”


Annabelle folds her arms into her chest. “Can we go back to the hotel?”


Ben sighs. “Fine. We’re not done talking about this.” 


He turns on the engine. 


She shrugs her shoulders. “Has it occurred to you Ben that I am tired of keeping myself isolated from the rest of the roster?” Annabelle shifts her attention to look at Ben who has his attention fixated on the Rav 4 not too far away. 


Annabelle continues. “Talking to Mr. Chuck was... fun. He was a little extra... I could sense that he was coming from a good place. I doubt he has a line of women lining up every night outside the locker room to smell the donuts that he’s cooking, you have been in Emerge from the beginning. How many people in the company are afraid to step into the light? The men and women who choose to do the right thing, how many of them are self righteously overbearing? I miss some form of camaraderie. Ben, I appreciate that you took time out of your busy schedule to have my back, more than you’ll ever know I am eternally grateful, you are only one person. I need someone to remind me that I am not a complete monster. Something tells me Mr. Chuck can be that person. Don’t overreact. I won’t marry the man. He isn’t that bad, just eccentric. Who am I to judge, I wear face paint.”


“And--” Ben dramatically pauses. “-- the daughter of a serial killer.”


“Thanks for the reminder.” Annabelle sharply says. 


Ben turns to look at Annabelle. “I’m just reminding you of your reality. Never lose sight of that. I want the best for you, I swear. Can’t spend unneeded time trying to make friends in Emerge. Once The Unforgiven threat is neutralized, they will turn on you. The self righteous always need a demon to bring down. Remember that. The Chuke is not your friend. No one in Emerge is. Only a matter of time before the jackals paint you as the villain.” 


He shifts his attention to look out of the windshield. 


Annabelle does the same. 


She’s tired. 


She is done talking.


Leaning back in her seat, she relaxes as Ben finally pulls out the parking lot. 


==


<PROMO TIME>


The scene opens with Benjamin Flynn standing in a dingy alleyway. A chain link fence is behind him. One orange bucket is situated to his right. Another orange bucket is situated to his left. He gets down on both knees. Maintaining his focus on the camera he starts to speak.   



“Ladies and gentlemen, imagine taping up your fist like a boxer does before slipping on a thick pair of boxing gloves.” 


Benjamin reaches into his pocket, pulls out a spool of thick tape. At a moderate pace he demonstrates the action of taping up both his hands. Holding his hands up to show they are properly taped up he continues. 


“Next, imagine submerging those same hands in a bucket of glue.” 


He sticks his hands in the orange bucket to his right.  


“Don’t stop there. Remove your taped up hands from the glue bucket, submerge those same glue soaked, taped up hands into a bucket of broken glass.” 


He removes his hands from the bucket with the glue. Immediately he sticks his hands in the other orange bucket. 


“Now, remove them from the bucket. Look at your glue soaked hands with shards of glass melded to the tape.” 


He removes his hands from the bucket of broken glass. He marvels at the sight of his hand. 


“Do you salivate at the level of carnage you can inflict on another human being?”


He shakes his head. Benjamin stands up. He gazes blankly into the camera. 


“In fairness, Dani can’t phantom the decision she just made.”


“Dani comes across like a sweet girl. A little naive. Wet between the ears. Her soul ambition is to prove beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt that she is capable of holding a job no other General Manager before her, including me, could withstand for any length of time.”


“The post of General Manager broke Vanilla Skky.”


“Led to Dexter becoming a gimp for The Unforgiven.”


“The GM post forced me out of the company I would lay down for.”


“Decisions like this are the reason why Dani will ultimately become a victim of the seat she was chosen for.”


“Heavy Is The Crown is a bit of a self profiling phoprocey.”


Benjamin winks. 


“The fans will be entertained by Melissa and Annabelle tearing each other limb from limb. Dani, have you bothered to ask yourself what are the possible consequences of the brutal, life changing match you recklessly signed off on? How can you honestly believe this Taipei Deathmatch will solve anything?”


“Silly girl.” Benjamin shakes his head.  “What you have done is open up a literal Pandora’s Box I no longer have control over. The more Annabelle bludgeons Melissa Killgraves into submission the more Anna feeds into her bloodlust. With each blow that cuts Melissa up like a butcher cutting through steak, the more Anna is reminded of the darkness she chose a life of solitude for five years to protect the world from.”


“Giving an addict a means to fulfill their addiction is not a smart play. Win or lose, Annabelle Burchard will never be the same again, is that your end goal, Dani? To give Annabelle the means to explore some of the dark fantasies that float in her mind on a weekly basis? Fantasies she doesn’t act on outside of wrestling, thank goodness. But you need to understand Dani, if you believe the more aggressive primitive side of Annabelle is not who she is, handing her the means to ensure the humiliation of Melissa Killgraves is not a great long term play.”

“Hey, I don’t blame you, The Unforgiven are a menace to this company. They need to be dealt with once and for all. Without Melissa, who else is left to pick up the slack with Willow all but ex-communicated from their ranks. I caution you Dani... be careful what you wish for. Bloodsports like the match that will happen on the 3rd of August can define your legacy.”


Ben takes a deep breath. 


“August 3rd could be the day you regret for the rest of your tenure. Bet you are surely aware of the adage, He who fights with monsters is sure to become one. I have a maxim of my own, don’t tempt a monster to do bad things. Nature versus nurture is a curious beast. Nurture usually wins out. Annabelle’s nature will be the reason Melissa finally learns she bit off more than she can chew.”


“You’ve been warned.”


“All of you have.”


Benjamin Flynn walks away as the scene fades to black.