Post by Samantha on Apr 5, 2023 2:08:03 GMT -5
Sanctuary
Denver, Colorado
Date Undisclosed
It was a cool, but not cold, Friday evening in the Denver area, the kind of evening that even in the mountains marked the undeniable advance of spring. At their massive mansion of a home they'd named Sanctuary, Jace Parker Davidson and Samantha Tolson were set to host a guest for both Friday and Saturday, a new friend they'd planned the two days with. Samantha, for her part, had spent her time earlier in the afternoon making the necessary preparations for hosting their guest, staying on-task to make Sanctuary guest-ready between trips to the gym.
As with the home she had fashioned in Las Vegas, Samantha had virtually demanded that a similar gym be installed here as well. The gym wasn't a standard home gym, what with a machine or two, maybe three, collecting dust and laundry, forgotten by the home's denizens. These were gyms that would make many athletes jealous, with free weights, weight machines, and a complete run of cardio equipment, along with a full ring for training. If their Denver home was called Sanctuary, then the gym inside it could be Samantha's church, her Chapel away from the world where she could focus solely on becoming the best wrestler she could be.
After her second workout of the day, Samantha had showered and put on a nice, if a bit slinky and form-fitting, black dress. She busied herself with final preparations, ensuring that appropriate food and drink were readily and easily available, making final touches to make sure their cavernous home didn't seem as big, but more intimate and inviting.
Her boyfriend, Jace, snuck up behind her, wrapping his muscular, tattooed arms around her waist, drawing her scent in through a deep breath through the nostrils. "Mmm…you smell great."
Samantha purred softly as she felt him against her, letting him envelope her as she worked with her hands, straightening a food tray she'd set on the counter. "It's new perfume. I've been meaning to wear it but this has been my first chance. Glad you like it."
She turned in his embrace, a soft smile on her lips as she looked up at him, the busy hand now caressing the cheek opposite the eye patch Jace had been forced to wear after being stabbed with, of all things, an ink pen. "You don't exactly smell so bad yourself, y'know?" A giggle was followed by a kiss, not a long, drawn out one but not just a peck on the lips either.
Jace grinned down at Samantha, looking at his girlfriend as they broke the kiss. "Mine's new as well. Something I've had around for awhile but just decided to throw on for tonight."
"It's a big night for us, baby." Samantha's hands softly traced down Jace's arms, feeling the definition beneath as she bit her bottom lip. She leaned up for another kiss, lips close enough to touch when her phone chimed on the counter behind her. She groaned playfully, reaching behind herself for her device. "Damn thing. Sometimes I wanna pitch it down the mountain."
Jace simply nodded as she turned around to look at the screen, his lips brushing her neck as she took a deep breath. "It's Dad, baby. I really should take this."
As soon as she'd said that, their doorbell rang out, the deep church-bell tones signaling the arrival of their guest. "Talk to your Dad, babe, but might make it quick. I'll get the door." His lips made their way close to her ear. "Never know what'll happen with this one."
Samantha made a face as she answered. "Hey Dad, what's up?" Her tongue shot out at Jace before he walked away and she gave her attention to the phone call.
"Hey Sam…umm…your Mom and I need a favor "
Samantha leaned on the counter as she heard that, knowing her parents had rarely asked for anything from her. "Sure, Dad. What can I do?"
There was a long sigh at the other end of the line. "It's Michael. He's gotten himself arrested again."
"Again? What did he do this time?" Samantha's mind began to race.
"Well…" A silent pause was the loudest moment of the call. "...he was at the Capitol protesting again…"
Samantha rolled her eyes in exasperation at her younger brother's antics. "I appreciate his passion for gay issues…God knows his efforts benefit me too…but when will he learn there's a limit?"
"There's more, Sam. While the protest was happening, someone called in a bomb threat…and Michael was wearing fatigues to make a point…"
Samantha went silent for a moment, processing what she'd heard. "So…"
"Jeff City police and Highway Patrol assigned to the Capitol arrested everyone outside protesting. Michael needs a lawyer. And we've nearly emptied out our retirements bailing him out before."
Samantha forgot that she was conversing with her father. "Militant little shit…"
"Samantha!!!"
"Sorry Dad." She wasn't actually sorry, but it at least sounded good. "What can I do?"
Her father sighed into his end of the line. "Think you could help us get a lawyer?"
"Sure, Dad. My contract lawyer is still Jeff Thelander there in JC. I'll text him and ask him to help."
"Thanks, Sammy. You have no idea how much we appreciate this."
"Happy to help, Dad. You know I'll always help where I can. Let me get off here and text Jeff…plus Jace and I have a guest that just arrived." Samantha's mind turned briefly to what could be happening in the main room at the moment.
"Sorry to have to ask, honey. Thank you again, and we love you."
"Love you too Dad. Don't worry, I'll get this taken care of." She pulled her phone from her ear, swiping to end the call. She then tapped out a text to her lawyer. "Michael arrested again. Need your help. Bill me for everything. He's in county most likely. Make sure the militant little shit knows he owes me."
Samantha sent the text, then took a long, deep breath. What she really wanted was a drink, but didn't want their guest to feel left out of any potential revelry. So she collected herself, allowed herself to think of the things that might happen shortly, and exited the room with a small smile on her lips as she opened the door.
Sanctuary
Denver, Colorado
Tuesday, April 4
"Chris Mosh. A master strategist, at least in his own mind. An indomitable champion of champions, or at least Marisol Vilaro has him believing it."
"So, let's look at some of those strategic supermen throughout history."
"Genghis Khan. A man who spent most of his life uniting the various Mongol tribes, then led them to create the largest empire of his day."
"Napoleon Bonaparte. Turned France into the mega-power of Europe through aggression and ruthlessness."
"George Custer. Outmaneuvered a celebrated Confederate counterpart with an outnumbered regiment that cemented his acumen as a calvary leader."
"George Patton. Swept through much of Europe like a hot knife through butter during World War Two with decisive and swift action."
"If I had to guess, Mosh, you believe yourself to be a man at least equal, if not greater, in stature to all four of them. Decisive, intelligent, a leader of men and women as the self-professed face of Uprising. A man worthy of lengthy and detailed historical examination and infinite praise. If your nonchalance at Lethal Lottery was any indication, a man capable of defeating anyone in any situation."
"But like all four of them, you also don't understand that there is an endpoint, a reckoning that comes at the hand of fate."
"Khan died staving off a revolution by one of the very Mongol tribes he had earlier untied with the others. Bonaparte, well, we all know about Waterloo."
"Custer died at his vaunted Last Stand, outdone by his own hubris and belief in his ability. Patton died somewhat ignominiously in a car accident, not on the field of battle."
"Very different ends, in the summation of history, but they met an end all the same. Now, granted, aside from something no one can forsee, you won't be meeting your end in Korakuen Hall."
"But your time as Uprising World Champion will find itself subject to the same fate. The end."
"Five times now, you and I have met. You've won three, two done well, one with chicanery. I've won two, one because you were outflanked, once because there were two men, plus myself, with a shared determination to ensure you weren't the inaugural Silver State Champíon."
"Bet you forgot about that match, didn't you? Then again, had I been dismissed from it like a little bitch, I'd want to forget it too. Or how you ran from Five Boroughs like a scalded dog upon learning I was the World Champion."
"What will happen at Equinox, Mosh, is war. Gritty, dirty, nasty, painful war. A war you've been directed into by your own stupidity and the guidance of a woman out to turn a money printing machine off what precious little you offer."
"Me? I'm the woman who designed Devil's Playground, a steel cage match with razor wire for the lower half of the walls, the ring littered with assorted and sundry weaponry."
"Vilaro keeps your balls in her fanny pack, parroting your accomplishments while you remain mostly silent, speaking only when you feel you have something worthwhile to say. Even then, it's propped up by Workout Barbie, hoping to pull the wool over the collected eyes of this sport."
"Come Equinox, Mosh, I'm going to expose your lack of guts to the world. No walking, talking blowup exercise doll at ringside to help you. It's you, on your own, in front of humanity, naked and vulnerable against a woman who wants nothing more than to batter you mercilessly until you beg for mercy."
"I'm not merciful, I'm militant. A soldier who always marches forward to face the task at hand with steeled nerves and the cold heart of a killer."
"Korakuen Hall is your Western Xia, your Waterloo, your Last Stand, a car wreck coming you'll never admit is coming."
"In Korakuen Hall, one of the most hallowed buildings in our sport in any country, you will prance and preen and be cocky as always. Then you will look across the ring, you will see the look in my eyes, and you will see your end as Uprising World Champion."
"I will beat you, Mosh. I will expose you to a worldwide audience as the fraud and coward of a champion you've been since the second you pinned Molly Hatchet. This is your greatest test as a wrestler, and you will be found flat on your back at its conclusion, staring up at the lights, knowing that you just can't measure up when the lights are brightest and the stakes are at their zenith."
"You have the tools, much as I hate to admit it. What you'll never have is a big enough set of nuts to go with it, a lack of courage and fortitude that is at once hilarious in your denials and shocking for someone in this sport."
"I am coming to Equinox to end your face of a reign, and there isn't a damn thing your bitch ass can do about it."
Denver, Colorado
Date Undisclosed
It was a cool, but not cold, Friday evening in the Denver area, the kind of evening that even in the mountains marked the undeniable advance of spring. At their massive mansion of a home they'd named Sanctuary, Jace Parker Davidson and Samantha Tolson were set to host a guest for both Friday and Saturday, a new friend they'd planned the two days with. Samantha, for her part, had spent her time earlier in the afternoon making the necessary preparations for hosting their guest, staying on-task to make Sanctuary guest-ready between trips to the gym.
As with the home she had fashioned in Las Vegas, Samantha had virtually demanded that a similar gym be installed here as well. The gym wasn't a standard home gym, what with a machine or two, maybe three, collecting dust and laundry, forgotten by the home's denizens. These were gyms that would make many athletes jealous, with free weights, weight machines, and a complete run of cardio equipment, along with a full ring for training. If their Denver home was called Sanctuary, then the gym inside it could be Samantha's church, her Chapel away from the world where she could focus solely on becoming the best wrestler she could be.
After her second workout of the day, Samantha had showered and put on a nice, if a bit slinky and form-fitting, black dress. She busied herself with final preparations, ensuring that appropriate food and drink were readily and easily available, making final touches to make sure their cavernous home didn't seem as big, but more intimate and inviting.
Her boyfriend, Jace, snuck up behind her, wrapping his muscular, tattooed arms around her waist, drawing her scent in through a deep breath through the nostrils. "Mmm…you smell great."
Samantha purred softly as she felt him against her, letting him envelope her as she worked with her hands, straightening a food tray she'd set on the counter. "It's new perfume. I've been meaning to wear it but this has been my first chance. Glad you like it."
She turned in his embrace, a soft smile on her lips as she looked up at him, the busy hand now caressing the cheek opposite the eye patch Jace had been forced to wear after being stabbed with, of all things, an ink pen. "You don't exactly smell so bad yourself, y'know?" A giggle was followed by a kiss, not a long, drawn out one but not just a peck on the lips either.
Jace grinned down at Samantha, looking at his girlfriend as they broke the kiss. "Mine's new as well. Something I've had around for awhile but just decided to throw on for tonight."
"It's a big night for us, baby." Samantha's hands softly traced down Jace's arms, feeling the definition beneath as she bit her bottom lip. She leaned up for another kiss, lips close enough to touch when her phone chimed on the counter behind her. She groaned playfully, reaching behind herself for her device. "Damn thing. Sometimes I wanna pitch it down the mountain."
Jace simply nodded as she turned around to look at the screen, his lips brushing her neck as she took a deep breath. "It's Dad, baby. I really should take this."
As soon as she'd said that, their doorbell rang out, the deep church-bell tones signaling the arrival of their guest. "Talk to your Dad, babe, but might make it quick. I'll get the door." His lips made their way close to her ear. "Never know what'll happen with this one."
Samantha made a face as she answered. "Hey Dad, what's up?" Her tongue shot out at Jace before he walked away and she gave her attention to the phone call.
"Hey Sam…umm…your Mom and I need a favor "
Samantha leaned on the counter as she heard that, knowing her parents had rarely asked for anything from her. "Sure, Dad. What can I do?"
There was a long sigh at the other end of the line. "It's Michael. He's gotten himself arrested again."
"Again? What did he do this time?" Samantha's mind began to race.
"Well…" A silent pause was the loudest moment of the call. "...he was at the Capitol protesting again…"
Samantha rolled her eyes in exasperation at her younger brother's antics. "I appreciate his passion for gay issues…God knows his efforts benefit me too…but when will he learn there's a limit?"
"There's more, Sam. While the protest was happening, someone called in a bomb threat…and Michael was wearing fatigues to make a point…"
Samantha went silent for a moment, processing what she'd heard. "So…"
"Jeff City police and Highway Patrol assigned to the Capitol arrested everyone outside protesting. Michael needs a lawyer. And we've nearly emptied out our retirements bailing him out before."
Samantha forgot that she was conversing with her father. "Militant little shit…"
"Samantha!!!"
"Sorry Dad." She wasn't actually sorry, but it at least sounded good. "What can I do?"
Her father sighed into his end of the line. "Think you could help us get a lawyer?"
"Sure, Dad. My contract lawyer is still Jeff Thelander there in JC. I'll text him and ask him to help."
"Thanks, Sammy. You have no idea how much we appreciate this."
"Happy to help, Dad. You know I'll always help where I can. Let me get off here and text Jeff…plus Jace and I have a guest that just arrived." Samantha's mind turned briefly to what could be happening in the main room at the moment.
"Sorry to have to ask, honey. Thank you again, and we love you."
"Love you too Dad. Don't worry, I'll get this taken care of." She pulled her phone from her ear, swiping to end the call. She then tapped out a text to her lawyer. "Michael arrested again. Need your help. Bill me for everything. He's in county most likely. Make sure the militant little shit knows he owes me."
Samantha sent the text, then took a long, deep breath. What she really wanted was a drink, but didn't want their guest to feel left out of any potential revelry. So she collected herself, allowed herself to think of the things that might happen shortly, and exited the room with a small smile on her lips as she opened the door.
Sanctuary
Denver, Colorado
Tuesday, April 4
"Chris Mosh. A master strategist, at least in his own mind. An indomitable champion of champions, or at least Marisol Vilaro has him believing it."
"So, let's look at some of those strategic supermen throughout history."
"Genghis Khan. A man who spent most of his life uniting the various Mongol tribes, then led them to create the largest empire of his day."
"Napoleon Bonaparte. Turned France into the mega-power of Europe through aggression and ruthlessness."
"George Custer. Outmaneuvered a celebrated Confederate counterpart with an outnumbered regiment that cemented his acumen as a calvary leader."
"George Patton. Swept through much of Europe like a hot knife through butter during World War Two with decisive and swift action."
"If I had to guess, Mosh, you believe yourself to be a man at least equal, if not greater, in stature to all four of them. Decisive, intelligent, a leader of men and women as the self-professed face of Uprising. A man worthy of lengthy and detailed historical examination and infinite praise. If your nonchalance at Lethal Lottery was any indication, a man capable of defeating anyone in any situation."
"But like all four of them, you also don't understand that there is an endpoint, a reckoning that comes at the hand of fate."
"Khan died staving off a revolution by one of the very Mongol tribes he had earlier untied with the others. Bonaparte, well, we all know about Waterloo."
"Custer died at his vaunted Last Stand, outdone by his own hubris and belief in his ability. Patton died somewhat ignominiously in a car accident, not on the field of battle."
"Very different ends, in the summation of history, but they met an end all the same. Now, granted, aside from something no one can forsee, you won't be meeting your end in Korakuen Hall."
"But your time as Uprising World Champion will find itself subject to the same fate. The end."
"Five times now, you and I have met. You've won three, two done well, one with chicanery. I've won two, one because you were outflanked, once because there were two men, plus myself, with a shared determination to ensure you weren't the inaugural Silver State Champíon."
"Bet you forgot about that match, didn't you? Then again, had I been dismissed from it like a little bitch, I'd want to forget it too. Or how you ran from Five Boroughs like a scalded dog upon learning I was the World Champion."
"What will happen at Equinox, Mosh, is war. Gritty, dirty, nasty, painful war. A war you've been directed into by your own stupidity and the guidance of a woman out to turn a money printing machine off what precious little you offer."
"Me? I'm the woman who designed Devil's Playground, a steel cage match with razor wire for the lower half of the walls, the ring littered with assorted and sundry weaponry."
"Vilaro keeps your balls in her fanny pack, parroting your accomplishments while you remain mostly silent, speaking only when you feel you have something worthwhile to say. Even then, it's propped up by Workout Barbie, hoping to pull the wool over the collected eyes of this sport."
"Come Equinox, Mosh, I'm going to expose your lack of guts to the world. No walking, talking blowup exercise doll at ringside to help you. It's you, on your own, in front of humanity, naked and vulnerable against a woman who wants nothing more than to batter you mercilessly until you beg for mercy."
"I'm not merciful, I'm militant. A soldier who always marches forward to face the task at hand with steeled nerves and the cold heart of a killer."
"Korakuen Hall is your Western Xia, your Waterloo, your Last Stand, a car wreck coming you'll never admit is coming."
"In Korakuen Hall, one of the most hallowed buildings in our sport in any country, you will prance and preen and be cocky as always. Then you will look across the ring, you will see the look in my eyes, and you will see your end as Uprising World Champion."
"I will beat you, Mosh. I will expose you to a worldwide audience as the fraud and coward of a champion you've been since the second you pinned Molly Hatchet. This is your greatest test as a wrestler, and you will be found flat on your back at its conclusion, staring up at the lights, knowing that you just can't measure up when the lights are brightest and the stakes are at their zenith."
"You have the tools, much as I hate to admit it. What you'll never have is a big enough set of nuts to go with it, a lack of courage and fortitude that is at once hilarious in your denials and shocking for someone in this sport."
"I am coming to Equinox to end your face of a reign, and there isn't a damn thing your bitch ass can do about it."