You're Welcome, Toddy. But You Won't Like It.
Nov 18, 2023 7:52:35 GMT -5
Austin & Todrick Ramsey likes this
Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2023 7:52:35 GMT -5
Indoctrinated Winning.
A glimpse.
20 years ago.
The crack of the baton sent a warm jolt through Artemis’s leg. Though only ten years old, this punishment was something she’d become accustomed to.
”Wrong key.”
Petra, her private music teacher, wagged the baton at Artemis’s face yet didn’t instruct her on how to resolve the mistake. This was done on purpose. If you punish a pupil enough they will figure it out for themselves.
Artemis cracked her aching fingers and whisked her blood-sored fingertips across the piano keys for the 100th time during the 3-hour session.
*Crack*
Another pained leg. Artemis fought the urge to cry, knowing it would bring another swatting from her strict and some would way cruel music tutor.
Petra: Again.
The wrinkles life had bestowed upon Petra’s face scrunched into a mesh as she waved the baton threateningly.
Artemis paused and wrung her throbbing hands.
Artemis: Miss Petra, I’m sorry but may I please take a break? My fingers hurt and I have art class later.
Petra’s bushy brows arched.
Petra: Do you want to win?
Artemis: At what, ma’am?
Artemis wasn’t aware of any competitions, not at ten years old in music and art that she’d become a prodigy in.
Petra: At everything. Art. Music. LIFE.
Artemis: Umm, yes ma’am.
Petra jerked her into a face-to-face.
Petra: Well, I’ll tell you something about winning that nobody else will. Winning’s not loyal to you. It doesn’t care about you. Winning doesn’t care how sore you are. Winning doesn’t care how much sleep you get. Winning doesn’t care how hard you work. Sometimes others won’t outwork you but still win. It’s not fair. Winning requires all of you and more but promises you nothing. It’s a master of creating doubt and it causes setback after setback. You have to be willing to sprint when the distance is unknown.
The ten-year-old’s eyes crossed from the flood of information she wasn’t expecting nor should be getting this early in life.
Artemis: Then why chase, ma’am?
Petra leaned in closer, the smell of spaetzle coalescing her words.
Petra: Because the only guarantee in life if you don’t chase it, is losing.
Having recited the winning mantra, Petra placed the baton against Artemis’s chin and guided her face toward the sheet of music that most students wouldn’t be taught until later in life.
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It’s said that heroes and villains always have the same backstory. Pain. The difference is what they chose to do about it.
The villain says “The world hurt me, I’ll hurt it back.”
The hero says “The world hurt me, I’m not gonna let it hurt anybody else.”
Heroes use pain. Villains are used by it.
Whoever said that never stepped into WGWF, because I’m heroic but half the wrestleverse thinks I’m the bad guy.
Haven’t I exposed Candice and Chris Page for the flea-infested dogs they are? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was disgusted over how they treated me and others and he banned them from Amazon. So, the answer is a resounding YES.
And so here we are, Todrick. I pulled the proverbial mask off Candice’s wrinkled sperm canvas on Brawl. She realized I was her better when I exposed her ploys to assassinate my career. I left her weapon, Kelly Taylor, humiliated, having defeated her at my leisure to the tune of three masterpieces on my whim.
So, Candice had to commence damage control and repair some of the bad PR, and what better way to do it than inserting me into the Intercontinental Qualifying Match? She could say, “See, Artemis was just being over dramatic because if I wanted to sabotage her career I wouldn’t put her in this match” … She also thought people would forget how she sent you and your hubby to slay me on Dark a few weeks ago.
You’re welcome btw, Todrick. Had I not exposed the Pages for using the Show Stealerz as henchmen against me you wouldn’t be in this match and Austin wouldn’t be contending for the world title. You won’t see it that way though. You’re thinking all of your hard work, Rockstars, and sacrifices you gave to the sport and your family earned you this opportunity, despite some of your recent outings where you and your hubby got folded like lawn chairs by comedians ripping off 80s gimmicks.
Good job on that btw. Now there are naked men in TV title matches and literal clowns signing contracts. So much for your stalwart vows to ensure the prestigious tag straps didn’t fall into the hands of belly-laughers. The word is out now. Comedians can come and disgrace the title scenes with their egregious nonsense. If the Emperor and Empress of WGWF can’t stop them, then nobody can.
Right?
Wrong.
I can stop them from claiming the Intercontinental Championship.
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4:30 A.M. Present Day
Millcreek Canyon Trails.
Utah.
Fifteen miles of hilly terrain to suffer through. That's one of many horrors Artemis selected to help prepare her for the most hellacious competitor she’s faced and perhaps ever will face.
Todrick
Tabor
Ramsey.
Her muse, Donatello, led the way on an ATV because he wouldn’t make it a mile on foot, and she needed the lights affixed on the back to help her see the trails ahead. Starting this early wasn’t ideal for either of them, but if Mike Tyson’s psalm about getting up and training hours before his opponent gets out of bed had merit, Artemis was going to implement it.
Most would tout the delicious chocolate Wonder-Toddy for her barrier-shattering dominance alongside Austin across several promotions. That in itself is alarming for the blue chipper with artistic flair, but those accomplishments aren’t as unnerving as the supremacy Todrick carved in singles competition.
Thus Artemis sat off, enduring the terrain while portions of Todrick’s singles career played in her mind.
Todrick’s decimation of Vitorre. Profound. That could be the Artiste if she’s not careful. Artemis dug in, punishing the earth with rapid footfalls.
Chris Page entered her Brainscape next, as she tore across another mile. A lot of Chris’s opponents needed uncouth means to defeat him, but not Toddy. She had beaten him clean. Every moment of that match played in Artemis’s mind as she surged headlong into the next stretch, recounting every exploitable slip-up Page could have countered Todrick with.
Donatello: Hey! Slow down! Cripes!
She didn’t hear him. Her mind was too littered with images of victims who’d tried to wrest the Manhattan Championship from Todrick in FIGHT! These weren’t bland faces attached to vacant names. These were adversaries of Toddy’s who themselves had dispatched foes with the same dominance she had displayed. Names that are familiar even today. The Dickie Watsons.
They all fell to Todrick.
One by one.
Month after month.
Clapped by the Cutie with the Booty.
Bloody hell she’s good!
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I’m not like the others in WGWF, Toddy. Some fools would look at your tenure in WGWF and think you’re a tag specialist out of your element stepping into singles. Oh no, Chile. I KNOW you’re far more dangerous in singles. I’ve studied the film. AGW. OPW. FIGHT. The whole kit and caboodle.
And I’ll study it again before we meet.
This isn’t a qualifying match for me, you see? This isn’t just for a shot at the IC Championship. If I beat you, then I KNOW I can beat any of the talent dominating WGWF. This is for all the marbles because you know as well as I do, if Austin wasn’t in the world title match you would be.
Oh, wait. No, you wouldn’t. You’d still have the Pages moving you like the pawn you are for them. Just like you were to Chris Page back in February when one of Austin’s twenty-eight personalities had their first sensical thought and brought up how Page was not a good guy and just using you two.
OOOOH where have I seen that before? Oh, I know. As soon as the ink was dry on my contract and I took one look at this place. Pretty obvious.
The fact you’re okay with it has given me more motivation to paint a masterpiece with your defeat since you and hubba-hubba were willing to do the Pages bidding a few weeks ago.
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She sped through the last vestiges of the challenging incline and fell flat, lungs flared with pain and legs reduced to jello-filled pillars.
Donatello: I can’t believe you passed me up back there! I could have rolled this thing off the mountain by the way.
He puttered the ATV to a halt and rendered water upon her glorious lips. She wheezed a laugh. That last burst of running must have looked like she was being chased by the ghosts of all those Toddy had defeated.
And then J Mont came to mind. The man who’s held as many titles as he has zeroes in his bank account. Despite the convoluted love-hate redundancies between him and the Ramseys, Toddy put him down clean, 1-2-3, like the rest.
Donatello: Brrr. It’s nippy up here. Hop on so we can get some breakfast.
He patted the seat but she waved him off.
Artemis: I’m going round trip on this one. I have to. I can’t slip up even for a fraction preparing for her.
Her muse stamped his feet but it did nothing to sway her as she darted off into the next phase. Toddy is taller and heftier than her. One of the few advantages Artemis would have is cardio and she was intent on utilizing an overabundance of it to frustrate and run Empress Ramsey ragged on Monday.
Jessie Hart, the WGWF-Show Stealerz superfan, made quite the impression during her encounter with the famed tag-team several weeks ago. The influence of social media had taken her from New York to Salt Lake City, home of the approaching Monday Night Brawl. It’d been a hell of an upgrade from superfan to VIP, and Jessie was living large as the honored guest of the best damn promotion on the planet.
And now, her eyes stretch with awe as she steps into the confessional booth made famous by the Ramseys through their reality show escapades. Sacred ground, so to speak, for a superfan benefiting from exclusive perks at the World’s Greatest Wrestling Convention that WGWF likes to put on leading into events.
Donatello: Psst! Artemis! There’s that Jessie superfan girl!
The Artiste doesn’t reply. Her unpatched eye bounces to and from parents herding their misguided children into loserdom. When she was the age of these children, she was mastering the stroke of a paintbrush and mending sad souls with her piano.
Artemis: If only these kids had Petra in their lives as I did.
Before they can draw a crowd, Donatello guides her toward the confessional booth.
Donatello: Let’s crash it!
Artemis grins. Toddy is susceptible to emotions and frustrations. Trampling on one of Todrick’s most endearing fans might be a way to knock her off her game.
Or get Artemis’s ass kicked even worse.
The “suffering” artist yanks the velvet cloth aside and barges in, sending Jessie reeling with a shriek. Donatello grabs the fan’s cell phone and spams it with his face.
Jessie: My phone! HEY!
Artemis sits next to her and eases the superfan back into their chair.
Artemis: Calm down. He’s giving you memories. It’s confession time, right? Isn’t that what this nonsense is about? You should confess why you’re wearing a Show Stealerz shirt and not a Guardians shirt like last time.
The Artiste motions to the camera but Jessie balks, unsure of how to deal with this.
Artemis: Bandwagon fan, right?
It takes a moment for Jessie to collect herself and calm down when Donatello tosses the phone back to her.
Jessie: No, I’m not!
Toddy’s special fan waves her memorabilia scrapbook in Artemis’s face, even opening it and flinging the section dedicated to the Show Stealerz at her.
Artemis: Fiery! Just like Todrick. How cute.
Artemis flips through the pages, snickering, mocking it all.
Artemis: So much dedication but such a bad judge of character.
Jessie snatches the scrapbook away and holds it close to her chest like it’s the most precious artifact in the world.
Jessie: Toddy is the greatest character ever!
A realization hits the superfan. She’s totally in a promo with a professional wrestler right now. Holy shit! She’s literally co-starring in it. Jessie’s posture shifts from defensive to more confident and excited.
Jessie: Toddy’s got it all and she’s gonna be the next IC champion. That’s a character unlike you doing that stupid protest stuff.
Artemis chortles and gives her the ‘really’ expression.
Artemis: Great wrestler? Yes. Great character? Nah. Your girl gave up her singles career to team with Austin and has used that as a trump card to get whatever she wants from him and his family even when she’s in the wrong. Austin loses a match they’re in, he gets blamed. Toddy loses a match they’re in, Austin still gets blamed.
Jessie’s mouth moves but Artemis is quick to cover it.
Artemis: Shush. Manners. Austin moved mountains for her, spent hours and loads of money visiting her in Vegas when trying to court her to New York, and she didn’t reciprocate outside of giving up her booty. While Austin was slaving away with the twins, working at the Rabbit, studying film, and doing the work of two people while twenty-eight personalities controlled him, Toddy was living it up on the Real Housewives of Wrestling. Should I bring up Daniel while I’m at it? She’s letting him get mind-spiked by that dirtbag Mac Bane. She’s fully aware of it, but meh, doesn’t care. I guess that’s what happens when someone compares having children to owning dogs.
Toddy’s valiant defender shoves Artemis’s hand away.
Artemis: Your favorite wrestler remained with CCPE after the CEO of it aided the Young Lions in causing tumultuous problems professionally and personally with them and their family. Flowergate. All the defacing. Kat Jones was there saying ‘just business hehe’ and Todrick was too weak to leave CCPE. All 28 of Austin’s personalities got tired of Toddy’s capricious bullcrap and bailed, that’s why he’s dual-balanced now. No cap, as the cool kids say.
Artemis finger-flicks her on the forehead.
Jessie: Don’t touch me again or I’ll scream, and you better shut up about Toddy!
Artemis: What? No actual clapback? This is a confessional so you gotta confess I’m spitting facts.
Jessie darts up with hands on her hips.
Jessie: I confess she’s a better wrestler than you! Take that! And she’s never abandoned her partner in a match like you did, so you can take that too!
Artemis gasps. She’s getting owned on the mic by a damn fan.
Artemis: Why you little…*grr*.. I didn’t abandon my teammate. The match was a hitjob and my onion-eyed piglet partner was more focused on snatching eyelashes off Toddy for one of her cartoonish spells so I tactically egressed. But you need to confess that I took the best the Show Stealerz could dish out, two-versus-one, and I scored near falls on both of them.. ALL! BY! MYSELF! Confess, I compel thee!!!
Jessie channels her inner Todrick, sasses her, and then noses her with all the fearlessness of the woman displayed on her shirt.
Jessie: Make me confess!
Despite their passionate debate, Artemis notices the excitement the superfan displays and how much fun the girl is having. It’s adorable. The Artiste can’t suppress the grin that pushes through.
Artemis: Fine, I’ll do the confessing, no, the spoiling. I’m gonna beat your homegirl. I’m not Zara Ivory. Todrick’s been desperately training with Austin and others to mimic my prowess as she predictably does with everyone, but I’ve been training to do the opposite of what she expects thanks to the tutelage of Professor Wrestling and Palestina. She’s gonna make vows to Dom and Diana, to Rockstars, to family and she’s gonna die trying to keep it. She’s gonna wanna make her buddy Cholo proud too, which is sad..
She leans in close.
Artemis: Because Cholo’s reign was spent raining dildos and partying. He could’ve used the platform to bring more awareness about world sufferings or he could’ve stood up to evils like CCPE, Sonya, and the Fortunate Ones. He didn’t. He’s the world champion now and instead of making a strong statement about the Fortunate Ones, he wimped out and slandered someone who’s not here anymore.
She pokes Jessie’s forehead.
Artemis: But I, on the other hand, would use that platform to bring evil to heel and expedite the renaissance so urgently needed in wrestling. Two months in with no main events to my name and I’m already on the Pages radar and I didn’t beg like Jordan Reed did. Imagine what I’ll do with champion status. Your idol would be more concerned with how cute her IC title looks next to Austin’s championships. She, like Cholo, would be an absentee landlord letting the lowlifes romp. I would be in their faces though, so perhaps you should confess that you WANT me as champion, because I will BE champion.
Defiant like her heroes, Jessie roars with a headshake.
Jessie: Nu-uh. Not if Toddy beats you and becomes IC champ at First Dance. She has friends who will help her clean-house. But you don’t have friends, just that weirdo. Nobody wants to join your Renaissance thing.
That hurt Artemis’s feelings but she bluffs it with composure.
Artemis: They will join when I win the IC title because people rally around champions. When my ceremony commences after First Dance, you’ll be my title bearer, Jessie. You will be the one who fastens it to me. You’ll be my superfan, I swear it. I'll win you over. That’s not a prediction…
Artemis guides her by the chin toward the booth camera, shades of how Petra once did her.
Artemis: That’s a spoiler.
~Finito~