La Pequena Luz, Penguin & Calvan Greene vs. Kinneck, Cruze and Ravyn Taylor

[Owen]

+++ Miami – 12th December 2022 +++

 

After the events of yesterday, Owen had been glad of the opportunity to get out with his dog, and pound the beach, getting rid of any frustrations he had. He wasn’t sure that leaving Charlotte was the best course of action, but he knew for his own sanity he had to get away for at least a couple of hours. He’d taken his normal route, going miles down the beach where he reached his usual stopping point, and then after five minutes had come back, this time occasionally stopping to play, his dog lapping up the attention. As he arrives back at the house, stopping outside the door and placing his hands on his knees, catching his breath as the dog looks like it’s had no effect whatsoever, he cannot help but feel much better mentality, and ready to take on whatever the day threw at him. Later, today he would be leaving for Houston and the Trios Tournament, and he couldn’t go into that thinking about anything else but that contract. He felt guilty saying it of course, Charlotte going through what she was, but by the same token, the police finally giving up the charge of murder and ‘settling’ on manslaughter could at least bring some relief and a lighter sentence. However, Owen wasn’t sure she wanted a lighter sentence, and would only be satisfied if the book was thrown at her. That sentencing would take place in a week and would close a chapter for her and hopefully allow her to find some peace. But it wasn’t something that was for certain. Owen however doesn’t dwell on it; he couldn’t dwell on it. As Charlotte had said many times, what will be, will be. He had to think that way too. And so, opening the door and letting the dog in, who goes straight for his water bowl, Owen is about to place his phone on the table, when it rings, making him jump.

 

Owen: Shaun… how’s things?

 

Shaun: I’m good man, sure you’re busy, just a quick call?

 

Owen: Cool, what’s up?

 

Shaun: Just thought I’d let you know; I’ve got lunch with Pixie this afternoon. Going to tell her what we know about her boyfriend.

 

Owen: OK, but be subtle yeah, I know what you’re like.

 

Shaun: Excuse me… subtly is my middle name thank you very much. Anyways, how is Charlotte bearing up?

 

Owen: Not great… least the cops didn’t call it murder.

 

Shaun: They couldn’t, not really.

 

Owen: You and I both know how these things can go. But yeah, I just think she wants it all over with now and can’t say I blame her. Must be a lot to deal with.

 

Shaun: Yeah, well give her my love and I’ll see you at Christmas yeah?

 

Owen: Unless I have reason to be in LA before… yeah, Jen and I will be there.

 

Shaun: Good. Well, good luck at Trios and I’ll ring you and let you know how Pixie reacted.

 

Owen: No worries, speak soon Shaun.

 

Owen hangs up the phone, and then scowls. Where the hell was Charlotte? He walks over to the stairs, and shouts up them, still no receiving an answer. This time, he checks upstairs, in the bedrooms, the bathrooms but nothing. That familiar sense of dreads starts to form over him, a dread that intensifies as he walks back into the living room and sees a piece of paper, folded in half and then stood up, Owen’s name on it. He walks over to it, and with a real sense of dread opens, and reads the writing on it.

 

‘I can’t do this. I’m sorry.

 

Thank you for everything.

 

Charlotte.’

 

Owen immediately grabs his phone and dials her number, the dial tone predictably dead. He then runs back upstairs and checks in her wardrobe, all her clothes seemingly still there and nothing having been taken. Owen had a feeling that something was seriously wrong, and something, maybe instinct leads him out the house, across the small patio and to the beach, sprinting down to the water with his dog following in tow. He reaches a jetty where a boat is moored, but vacant, and he stops with a recoil, clothes that he recognizes on the end of the jetty, Charlottes shoes placed tidily on top of them. Owen leans over the guardrail, to the water that is no more than ten feet below, scouring the area for any sign but not seeing anything.

 

Owen: No, No, No…

 

He dials a number on his phone, waiting a few moments till someone answers, not even giving them time to answer.

 

Owen: Max, it’s Owen… is Charlotte with you?

 

Max: No… why?

 

Owen: Fuck… you’d better get down to the house. She’s gone missing and I think she’s…

 

Owen pauses, not able to say the words, but the other end of the phone has already gone dead, Owen still holding the phone to his ear. Owen just stares out across the water, hoping to see something, anything to give him hope, but no hope is forthcoming. Eventually, the phone slides from his grasp, smashing on the jetty, and cracking the screen.

 

+++ Houston – 13th December 2022 +++

 

Although everything pointed to a possibly suicide. Charlotte not able to swim, and surely drowning in the deep waters around the jetty, if she had indeed plunged into the waters. The Police had now only designated it a ‘missing person’, and though not saying it in as many words, put it down to Charlotte attempting to escape justice. Owen didn’t believe that for a second, Charlotte wanted to pay for her crimes. But had she passed the ultimate cost and taken her life for Scott’s. Once again Owen couldn’t allow himself to think that way, at least until a body had been found. By the same token, he wasn’t allowing that familiar guilt to fester, at least not until he knew for sure. So, sat in a room, what looks like a recording studio, Owen prepares to give his thoughts on the upcoming trios tournament and his chances of victory, once again doing the one main thing Daisy had taught him. The ability to separate the personal from the professional. He was going into this tournament as good as he had ever felt and was ready to finally go deep in a tournament that hadn’t always gone well for him. And it is with a confident tone that he starts to speak.

 

“The hits just keep on coming, don’t they? No sooner has one opportunity been realized, than another comes along. Of course, I will be talking about the Trios Tournament, and how Kinneck, Ravyn and I will be doing all that we can to claim those contracts, but it would be remiss of me to not talk about what happened just last week. When my professional career came well and truly fully circle. I don’t think I need to explain what this means to me going forwards. I’m sure there will be a time and a place to talk about that again. What I do need to say however is clearly, I am stoked to once again be the SCW World Champion. It is my privilege to once again carry this belt. And Glory Braddock? For trying to ruin my moment, because let’s face it, nothing was going to achieve that. But for your actions, I promise you that a receipt will be forthcoming. Sister, I’m almost as English as you, so lose the pomp and circumstances because I ain’t buying it.”

 

He lifts the World title off camera and holds it aloft.

 

“You want this Braddock, come and get it sweetheart. Because I WILL be waiting.”

 

He places the belt carefully down, his demeanor changing to suit.

 

“Now, the Trios Tournament… honestly, this event hasn’t exactly been the kindest to me. Any team I have been on has struggled to either compete or be on the same page. As far as I am aware, I have no issues with Kinneck. Happy for you to tell me otherwise, and deal with it off camera. But the same cannot be said for Ravyn Taylor. Whether it be Shaun, or me. Whether it be Syren or indeed Ravyn. There is a whole lot of history going on. History, that I must accept, could once again derail my chances. So Ravyn, what do you say? Can we let bygones be bygones, drop the bullshit and at least try to co-exist? Or will this be another of those ‘games you play’? What I can promise, is that no matter how those cards fall, there will be at least one person fully focused on advancing through that quarter-final and into the next round. That person, unsurprisingly enough, will be me. I guess we will see if my teammates decide to come along for the ride.”

 

Owen shrugs his shoulders, knowing full well that if they didn’t, this tournament was likely to end in the exact same way as all the others.

 

“Because let’s face it, it doesn’t matter how good any individual is, none of that matters if you can’t play a part of the team ethic required to win Trios. I’m sure of the course of the years there have been many stand out performances that have seemingly carried a team to victory, but on every occasion, I can assure you, the other two members of that team will have helped to make it happen. Someone may well make the pinfall and finish the match but that is only a part of the job, a part that EVERY member of the team has to understand to succeed. And on paper, our opponents on December the 15th are probably more likely to have that, than we are. La Pequena Luz, my old friend the Penguin, and of course Calvan Greene. As far as I can see, none of them have any reason but to do the very best for each other. They cannot be discounted for a single second, especially if they have that unity. But more importantly, because all three of them will know EXACTLY what a Trios Contract could do for their careers.

 

For instance, Luz, to not understand fully what her motivations are coming into this match would be foolish. This is someone who was part of a Tag Team who so very nearly became the tag team Champions last year and could have well been well on the way to a standout SCW career as we came to this point. From what I understand, Luz was seriously concussed by my old mate Adam Allocco cheap shot to the skull, and thus spent a lengthy spell on the sidelines, waiting for the moment when she and her partner were ready. Can you just imagine just how frustrating it has been for her to not only watch the Golden Boys go on to be tag team champions, but then Adam Allocco claim Taking Hold of the Flame, and then in turn the World Championship. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know if she had ideals on the World title, but still, there has to be an element of ‘that could have been me’. And element that would surely motivate her right now going into this encounter. The contract giving her the perfect opportunity to jump back on the horse.

 

And what about Calvan Greene, where do his motivations lie? I’m not going to pretend I know Calvan well. I won’t pretend I know Luz either. But from competing in that Chamber, probably the biggest match of Calvan’s career, I think I have a good idea what makes him tick. Calvan fought so hard for that opportunity, knowing a World Championship match at stake. He gave everything, but ultimately came up short as Adam and I battled to the end. Surely it stands to reason that now having tasted a mere hint of success, he will do whatever is in his power to edge that little bit closer? The Trios Contract does that in a heartbeat. It allows you to make your dreams come true, and ultimately places your direction in your own hands. If Calvan Greene can do his part and bring his team to the finals, who knows what he could achieve with that leg up. And that’s the thing, no one is beyond help. No one. Everyone needs that little boost occasionally, I most certainly did. What more motivation is there, than a springboard to wherever you want to be. The Trios Contract, if you chose, can do that for you. And you can bet Calvan Greene will have no problem working with Luz and Penguin to achieve that.

 

And although on paper, Kinneck, Ravyn and I may well the favorites going into this match, it would again be foolish for us to place any weight behind that. Especially considering the third member of their team, and the underdog story he has been on the last eighteen months. No one ever gave him a chance of achieving anything. Everyone thought that he was just a joke character that would never amount to much. ‘Hairless Penguin’, it brings a smile to my face every time I say it, I’ll admit it. But I, unlike others, know precisely what he is capable of. I didn’t… I was as clueless as everyone, but then he dumped me out of Taking Hold of the Flame, and ALMOST did the same to Adam Allocco. Of course, I would get some measure of revenge to a couple of months ago, what some might call the catalyst for this momentum I’ve been on. But if there is someone who thrives in seeing themselves placed as an outsider, you can bet that it’s the Hairless Penguin. And anyone would didn’t take heed of that fact would be foolish. Even if our team does bring wealth of accolades, and experience to the table.”

 

For all the flowers that Owen had given to his opponents, there was no question that many would see this match as a foregone conclusion, but not Owen, not for a single moment. He’d seen situations like this blow up in his face countless times, and he wasn’t going to be the reason it happened again.

 

“And that’s the defining factor in this match isn’t it? Will Ravyn use her undoubtedly championship caliber to propel us into the next round? Will Nicole use every piece of her experience to avoid the obvious pitfalls that lie in our way. Make no bones about it, pound for pound, and experience alone, we three put together the performance we can, we WILL win. But if there is a single percentage lost, we most certainly won’t. We ‘SHOULD’ win, there is no question that we should. But that doesn’t make it definitive that we will.

 

So, from a personal standpoint at least, I don’t want this to be yet another hard luck story for me, of a Trios tournament that once again went bad. I don’t want to see someone use that well earned contract, potentially on myself, to jump a queue and find themselves face to face with a World Championship opportunity. I don’t want to see someone put together a gimmick match, lessening the worth of the world championship. I don’t want to see someone use it so that someone like Adam Allocco is kept away from a title he most certainly deserved a rematch for. And the only way I can assure that doesn’t happen… well, barring my partners of course, is by claiming a Trios for my own.

 

So that’s what I am going to do.

 

I’m going to put aside a bad feeling mine and Ravyn’s family may have, for the benefit of the greater good. I’m going to shelve any doubts I have about Nicole coming to the ring and not take this as seriously as needs be. I’m going to put away in a small little box, any thoughts I feel for Luz, Penguin and Calvan, and how massive a victory of this magnitude would be for them, for one reason. Quite simply to benefit OUR team. I don’t see a Nicole, or a Ravyn, or an Owen… I see a unit. I see three people who without single question, could win this whole thing if those stars align. There are other amazing teams in this tournament, some who perhaps have even bigger claims than we do. The Adam Allocco’s, the Selena Frosts. The Josh Hudson’s and the Bree Lancaster’s, and so many more, all with two eyes on the exact same prize.

 

And that’s doesn’t instill fear in me.

 

I’m not scared going toe to toe with any of those guys. I’m not petrified at the thought of Josh Hudson making me tap out again. In fact, I’d love to test myself against him again, because that’s what we do as competitors. This has all been about redemption yes, but it’s also been about forming my OWN legacy, whilst at the same time banishing my own personal demons. I couldn’t have done that without challenges. Challenges like this one which I will relish. Bringing the team together, and winning the whole damn thing, that would be one heck of an accomplishment. Not just for me, but for Nicole and Ravyn as well. Tell me Luz, Calvan and Penguin, would YOU bet against us advancing on December the 15th?”

 

Owen grins, and gives a confident shake of the head.

 

“No? Me neither. I got a feeling that if this all goes to plan, Nicole, Ravyn and I are about to embark on something special. Might not work out that way, these things have every chance of going sideways. This all could just blow up in my face, no question about it. But no matter what, I’m going to make sure that for probably the first time, I enjoy my Trios opportunity.”

 

Owen winks at the camera, the smile still etched on his face.

 

“Because as I’ve found, you never know when you could be potentially looking at your last.”

 

Scene fades