Behind the Scenes:

Coming up Short.. Again.

Civil Unrest S5

Greensboro, North Carolina

 

Step 1 of the plan had worked, the Upstarts eliminated Kat Hale, and each of the three Upstarts played a part, starting with Abby then to Akame and finally Fiona leaping off the turnbuckle and hitting her finisher.

 

But now they had to deal with each other.  Of the three Upstarts left in the match, 2 of them were in the situation of badly needing a title win and the third.. Well, she was, for Fiona’s money, the best talent in CWF.  

 

As it turned out, it was Abby, who ended Fiona’s dreams of getting her hands on a title.  That damn flip piledriver.  Even if Fiona had wanted to try and weaken Abby’s finisher by kicking out, she didn’t have the ability to.  Fiona noticed she was dead-on about Valora’s count though.  Faster than the normal refs by maybe a blink of the eye or so, but faster.  Also, consistent.  Valora had called the match right down the middle.

 

After the match, the three celebrated and enjoyed Akame’s win.  While celebrating, they resumed a discussion.  Finding a nickname for Abigail.  “Doesn’t the Awen work?”  Abby said, while playing Star Wars Zero Company, running her team through the battle.

 

“The Eternal Grove have sort of high jacked the Welsh and Celtic sounding languages for their bullshit.  If you go with it now, it will come off as trying to ape off of or copy what they’re doing and it’s too niche.”

 

“Better to stick with English.  People can understand that.  Besides, ‘Awen’ can have different meanings depending on context and such so it’s best to reduce confusion and go from there.”  Fiona added in.  The discussion continued late into the night even ending up at a Denny’s where Rayven joined the group.  It had been Rayven that suggested using taking a phrase from Abby’s own promo when she had referred to herself as ‘the Inspiring one of the Upstarts.’  This had led Rayven to shrug and offer.  “How about ‘the Inspiring one.’?  Short, simple.  To the point and her record can back it up.  Other than that, my suggestions start moving towards super heroine nicknames more and more with each suggestion.”

 

This got a laugh out of the four girls.  When the discussion broke up for the night, the matter had been narrowed down a bit but still left unresolved.  The next morning began with a call from Abigail’s mother, and technically, Fiona’s boss, Valora Salinas.  Fiona dragged herself out of bed and prepared herself for the meeting ahead.

 

Behind the Scenes

Next Steps.

Valora’s Hotel room

 

Fiona made her way to Valora’s room and knocked, the door opening soon after and Valora nodding.  “Right.  Get your ass in here, chica.”

 

Fiona came in and closed the door behind her.  “So, umm what do you need?”  Fiona asked.

 

“Right now, I need someone to put the Eternal Grove down for the fuckin’ count,.  But at the moment, most wrestlers will get the usual text from me.  But I’m done playin’ by the rules.  So I’m building a team.  Your father has already picked a fight with the Grove shits.  Your Upstarts have also done so.  I need you to turn it up to 11.  To that end, I’m keeping you open on titles.  I’m considering you for both Skirmish and Valor title shots.”  Valora says, leaning against the wall, her eyes scanning the young Irish woman in front of her.

 

“Why?  I haven’t been able to win a CWF title yet.”  Fiona said with a sigh.  

 

Valora’s reaction was literally the last she would have expected.  Valora smiled.  “Hang in there, kid.  It took me round about a year or so before I got my first belt.  CWF or not, you are a champ  You won the belt.  You defended the belt.  That makes you legit in my book.  You damn near beat Abby for her Conquest title.  I know Almost only counts in hand grenades and all that, but still.  In her entire career, Abby has only lost 6 singles matches in CWF.  She walked into FWA which is, if I’m honest, a better fed than ours at the moment, and won a title on her first night there.  And you.  Came with in a split second of victory.”  Valora walked over and put a hand on Fiona’s shoulders.  “I need less moping and more of that Irish stubbornness.  Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again.”

 

Fiona nodded.  “Aye.. thanks.  So.. am I goin’ for both titles then?”  

 

Valora shook her head.  “Yes and No.  Right now, both the Skirmish and Valor titles are held by teammates or friends of yours.  So for the time being, I want you to be my ace in the hole.  My insurance policy.  If Rayven or Akame falter.  I want you there to swoop in.  If your father is the one to falter and I don’t like who takes my belt from him, I might even throw you after the Elite title.  But my preference is to hold Abby for that.”

 

Fiona nods.  “So, what are we getting out of this?”  

 

Valora raises an eyebrow.  “Good, kid.  Make sure people know your worth.  What you get is twofold.  Hopefully, we get in a better position to weaken or eliminate the Eternal Grove.  And more immediately, you’re getting into multiple title pictures.  But for you, personally, I’ll go one better.  I’ll put you in the main event of Warzone for Episode 6.”

 

Fiona blinked in surprise.  “Main event?  Against?”  Valora shrugged.  “Madd Morales.  I’m working on setting up some more direct action against the Grove, but for now, I need you to be able to make a viable title challenger and I also want to see how you handle  the flipside.”

 

“Flipside?”  Fiona said, tilting her head to the side, confusion marking her face.

 

Valora grinned.  “Norfolk is Morales’ hometown.  The moment you step out there, those people are going to hate you.  Doesn’t matter that Morales is an asshole, he’s *their* asshole.  I wanna see if you can tune that out and still function,.  Because if the Eternal Grove pull another stunt like they did after the pay per view, you might need the ability to deal with hostile crowds.”

 

Fiona nods as she listens to Valora and considers the situation before giving a shrug.  “Well, I’m in the main event so I guess I cannae complain over much.  As for what comes later with the Eternal Grove and such, I’ll be ready for whatever comes next.”

 

The meeting with Valora ended soon after and Fiona went back to her normal routine.  After all, now she had an opponent to prepare for.

 

Madd Morales.  The now former Valor champion, who had home field and was likely going to be spoiling for a fight given his recent loss.

 

Behind the Scenes

Meeting up with friends and preparing for the match

Fiona had met up with her friends at Dennys and spent some time speaking to them, bringing them up to speed on her main event match against Madd Morales.  Rayven and Akame in particular had some tips on Madd.  Try as they might, business talk soon devolved into normal friend talk, from there back to comparing assignments on the upcoming show, and thus back into business talk.  One bit all of the girls present agreed on, the Eternal Grove had gone too far with that black rain on the crowd stunt.  However, revenge would have to wait as no member of the Upstarts or Bad Company was booked against the Eternal Grove.  But they also expected the Grove might interfere in one or more matches and so all 4 girls made a vow to be at both shows to make sure if anyone attacked Rayven or Fiona, there was backup ready.

 

Eventually, things wound down and the 4 went back to their next destinations.  For Fiona, that was her hotel room and some more match prep.  She watched Madd Morales’ last 2 matches.  Against Rayven that went to a time limit draw, and the pay per view match with Trelisa in the mix as well.   Much like Rayven Fiona had quite literally grown up in the business of pro wrestling.  She’d watch her father train, when she hit her teen years she often helped him train and trained with him,  Madd Morales was turning out to be exactly what he seemed.  She had put in the study, confirmed her initial appraisal of the man, and was ready to begin putting together the next step.  The promo.  

 

Behind the Scenes

Druid training and promo prep

Somewhere in Virginia

 

The promo would come soon.  For now, there was travel to Virginia and taking some time to get in tune with the local nature spirits of the area.  She was still getting used to these gifts, getting used to being in a situation not unlike Storm from the X-men.  She had been warned about her emotional state having an effect on the weather.  At first she took that to mean any level of emotion, but now she was beginning to discover that the strength of the emotion dictated the strength of the effect on nature.  She got to a heartbreaking part of a video game she was playing, in this case, the death of Mordin in Mass Effect 3.  Fiona was prepared for this, she’d played before but it never failed to make her cry and this time she was surprised that her tearful goodbye to a valued companion had led to a surprise rainfall.  That had served as lesson 1 as both her Upstart teammates, Abby and Akame had been quick to point out that “it’s raining because you’re sad, Fi.”  

 

Now she was getting ready for a match that was important.  Main event of Warzone.  A lot of eyes were going to be on her and Madd.  Surely he had to be aware of how important a match up this was.  Fiona also had to be aware of potential interference from the Eternal Grove.  She had planned as best she could with her allies for the interference.  All she could do now was focus on cashing in on this golden opportunity she had been given.

 

On Camera Promo

Main Event

 

The camera comes into focus to show Fiona standing in the ring.  She is wearing her wrestling attire and give the camera a slight smile.  “Main Event.  A main Event match on Warzone.  This is my second time in the bright lights of the Main Event on Warzone.  My first main event was against Abigail when she was Conquest championship.  Originally, it wasn’t supposed to be a title match but Abby took a page out of her mother’s book and made it one.  That did admittedly throw me off.  In the end, it was a great match but I came up short.  My second main event match is against..”

 

She rolls her eyes.  “You.  Madd Morales.  Aka the FORMER Valor champion.  Also the man that had so much potential and hasn’t seemed to ever really cash it in.  You were Elite champion  The most remarkable part of that was, the Elite X match you won to grab it and then.. The way Kara Reinhardt tore through the entire nKo and then ripped that belt from your hands.  You won the Valor title and had a good run, but Trelisa and Rayven were too much for you and you lost another title.”

 

Fiona shrugs.  “Me?  I’m in danger of becoming you.  High potential, never seems to cash it in.  I can win titles outside of CWF.  I am the 4 Winds Tempest champion, but I’ve lost pretty much every CWF title match I’ve been in.  So.  now we get to the point.  I dunnae care we’re in your hometown.  It’s my time.  I dunnae care that you just lost a title and are looking to rebound.  It’s my time.  I dunnae care about you, Madd Morales.  I dunnae care that you’re all balmy and talk to yourself like you’re feckin’ gollum or something.”

 

Fiona gestures to the ring.  “What I do care about is this.  I want to be a title contender.  I want to be in the main event or at least mid card.  Right now, you’re in my way of that so I comin’ into this match bound and determined to remove you from my path.  And I am definitely capable of doing that.  I plan a grand display for my return to the main event.  I just hope you can keep up, old man.   Cause me?  I’m going to fly through the air and hit you like a hurricane.  I’m going to rain down punishment on you and I begin my path to a CWF title starts with you.  See you in Norfolk.  Warzone.. Main Event.  You’ll be the one looking up at the lights.  I’ll  be the one enjoying the spotlight.”