Post by Stormm on May 18, 2014 19:35:51 GMT -5
"Hey Linds, you got a minute?" Justin had walked into their bedroom on the second floor of Michaels Manor to find his wife scrambling around. She was half dressed, and didn't seem to catch her husband's question. "Linds?" He called out to her again with the same result.
It was a fine Sunday afternoon; all the windows in the mansion were wide open, letting the fresh breeze of the Midwest spring day roll through. The curtains on the double doors leading out to the second story porch were tossed around by the slow gusts of wind, and would have been the perfect weather for a nice relaxing day at home.
As she threw on a pair of jeans, and tossed on a t-shirt, other than being ignored, the view had been its own reward. "You're lucky our neighbors live a mile away on the other side of the tree line." Justin joked, doing his best to catch her attention. "Though you really should be careful, I can't say I trust either of my siblings to not have been standing outside our open bedroom door gawking." He chuckled, but she still seemed too rush, and it was almost as if she were purposefully ignoring him. "Earth to Lindsay..."
The blonde bombshell let out a heavy sigh as she threw on a watch and gave herself a once over in the mirror at her vanity, giving a quick tousle to her hair before turning and heading towards the door; she paused. "Babe, I'm sorry, I told you I needed to take care of some things in the city today before we take off for Greenville tomorrow." She threw her arms around Justin's neck and planted a big one on him before heading out of the bedroom and for the stairs.
"When will you be back?" The Force of Nature asked in vain.
Lindsay stopped and turned, and one look at her husband she could tell he had something important to talk about. She was no stranger to the position she was putting him in, as she had been put there a lot herself. "I should only be gone a few hours."
Her response seemed to be less than pleasing to Justin, but he knew that getting upset about it would only make things worse; and making things worse was the last thing he wanted to do when everything was starting to get back to a really great place in their marriage. "Alright, I guess I'll see you later this afternoon." He acknowledged, but in a way that was lacking a tone he didn't intend to use.
"Justin, I'm running late!" Lindsay fired back. "I'm sorry, I'm just busy."
There it was, he knew what he had done, and he knew he deserved every bit of that response. "I'm busy" was a classic Michaels response. She wasn't using it as an excuse to avoid him like he had done to her in the past, but instead, as a means to the end of their conversation as she had to leave immediately to ensure arriving on time for an appointment.
Justin allowed her to keep to her schedule without any more fuss, and waited outside their bedroom doors for a moment so as not to follow her down the stairs.
"Aaron!" He called out for his younger brother. As his feet touched the marble floor at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer, he called out for the youngest Michaels sibling again." Aaron, where the Hell are you?!" Only the breeze slipping through the screens of the opened windows answered him back as the cool breeze was nothing less than refreshing against Justin's skin.
He had just come in from an afternoon run around the estate, and had yet to find a reason to put a shirt back on. As he stood in the entrance hall to the family mansion, he contemplated what the rest of his afternoon was going to consist of. He had wanted to take Lindsay on a walk to have a talk with her, but that went out the window. Now, as he wondered where his younger (not so much "little" anymore) brother was, it seemed like a quick workout inside of the squared circle in the small gym that was built on the Michaels Manor estate was going to be tossed out of the window as well.
"Aaron!" Justin shrieked.
The front doors busted open, but it wasn't the sibling he had been calling for. "What's with all the yelling?" Morgan questioned as she stepped inside the home, her hands full of luggage.
"What's with all the, well..." Justin pointed to her suitcases, and that spoke for itself.
She shrugged. "Oh, you know." Her answer was vague, and not at all helpful to his curiosity.
They stood in awkward silence for a moment before Morgan pushed past Justin and made her way for the stairs. "Aaron!" He blurted out once more, even louder than the previous three times, but had failed to realize that the young Michaels had made his way to the top of the stairs, dripping wet, and covered only by a towel.
"What?!" He yelled back. "I was in the shower."
"Oh." Justin said back.
"Yeah..."
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go get a workout in before dinner."
Aaron hesitated, wondering if his older brother was really asking him that given the situation. With one hand still gasping the towel, he used his freehand to motion back at him, and in true Michaels fashion, not using words to communicate very poorly.
"You have a date?" Justin questioned sarcastically.
"Yeah..."
"What?!" Justin blurted out, shocked.
"I'm going over to Katie's to have dinner with her and her parents." Aaron answered, and turned on his heel to head back towards the shower he was interrupted from. He didn't make it far, however.
Justin rushed up the stairs. "Who's Katie?"
Aaron quickly turned back to his brother with a furled brow. "My girlfriend." But he could tell by the blank stare on Justin's face that he was clueless. "You know, the girl I've been dating since the beginning of the school year? The one you had me invite over for two of the weirdest dinners ever while Lindsay was gone?"
"Aaron, I'm sorry, I just don't..." He was interrupted.
"Of course you don't!" He shouted as he turned back around. "You know what, forget it, I'm just too busy right now to care about how much you've neglected me the last year."
There it was. Two for two. Justin certainly was getting a taste of his own medicine, and quickly turning a perfect Sunday afternoon into the most dreadful one in recent memory. He skulked back down the stairs, and popped a squat on the bottom step while he rested his chin on his hands. While the spring air greeted him again, it was far less refreshing now than it had been just moment earlier.
"Well, I'm taking off."
Morgan was running back down the stairs with her suitcases a little heavier this time than they were on her way in. "Where are you off to?" Justin didn't even bother to see if she had time to talk, or do anything before she took off, but instead just accepted that he was spending the day by himself.
"Greenville." She quickly responded. "I met this really great guy a couple months back after one of your first matches back, and we've been spending a lot of time together recently."
"You're just now telling me?"
Morgan let out a heavy sigh. "Justin, don't start!"
"I wasn't..."
"Yes you were!"
Another awkward silence between the twins befell the Michaels Manor foyer, and Morgan set her luggage down and turned to her older brother. "Look, it's none of your business, really, but I didn't tell you about him, because I wanted to make sure things were going in the right direction before I introduced him to this family."
"What the fuck does that mean?!" Anger came rushing to every inch of Justin's body as he rose to his feet.
Morgan smiled. "Don't act like that actually offended you." She said. "You know damned well that if you had a second chance, you would have waited before dropping Lindsay in the middle of all the shit you've been through; why do you think you chased her away?"
His feigned anger was immediately replaced by honest dismay. "I..."
There were no words that he could speak. Morgan even gave him ample time to respond, but he couldn't. "Listen, I'm sorry, I'm happy that you and Lindsay are working things out, but maybe you need to quit focusing on one single thing at a time, and try taking on a little more." She explained. "We all understand that you are afraid of getting in too deep like you've been before, but you are only going to make things worse again by completely ignoring everything else around you too."
While her statement hadn't been completely true, there was enough truth in it to knock the wind out of his sails completely.
"Anyway, we're all busy right now, and the car is still running out here, so I really do need to get going. Love you, and tell Lindsay and A.J. that I'll see you guys at Trauma on Tuesday, okay?"
She didn't wait for a response before bumping her brother on the shoulder with the side of her fist, grabbing her luggage, and heading out the door.
Three for three.
The cherry on top of the shit sundae of a Sunday was, after everything Morgan had just said, he wanted to focus on his family as a whole that day. He wanted to spend some time with all of them, on a personal level, while also getting their thoughts on his direction inside of the squared circle, since all of their opinions were very dear to him.
After all, it was Icemann Invitation Tournament time again.
It had been eight years since Stormm had claimed the trophy the first time, and earned the right to challenge for any title he desired. He took out Proof in the first round, and Brad Moore in the elite eight; two guys that no longer graced Pure Class Wrestling’s squared circle. Then in the final four, he took on the combined efforts of 2Guys in a handicapped match and prevailed. While their protégé, Andy D, was making waves in PCW these days, there were two more that no longer actively competed in PCW that he had taken out eight years of.
Then of course, in the final at Living a Legacy 2, the controversial ending. Yet another former competitor that is no longer on the active roster, Andreas Lasiewicz took the victory at the pay-per-view after the match was restarted. The decision was reversed at the following Trauma, and in a best of five series, Stormm came out victorious.
Eight years had gone by, and the only other active wrestler that was in the tournament that year, Michael Wryght; a man who would surely be looking to claim the trophy this year as well, but given his current situation, whether or not he'd be able to.
Was it a sign? Was Justin's time running out? Would this be his final Icemann Invitational? Would this be his last chance at a run towards the top? He had passed the first test; winning and defending the Genesis Championship. He had no doubt that he'd still be Genesis champion still, had it not been ripped out from underneath him to make way for the Underground, a division he had no interest in.
With the North American Championship as a bonus for this year's winner, too, what better way to continue his pilgrimage back to World title contention than to win the tournament for a second time. He could claim the North American title in the process, and set himself up to challenge for the International title at some point in the future as well.
But at no point would it be easy. It never was, and never would be; much like he found out last year as he tried his hand at a second TIIT victory, being knocked out in the elite eight by the man who went on to win it all, Ace Anderson. Ace had won the first Icemann Invitation the year before Justin had won his. Was this another sign? Chances were slim, but it never hurt to look at this from any angle possible.
As the sun shifted in the sky, as did the shadows that the trees cast on the front yard to Michaels Manor, causing the foyer to darken slightly. The breeze continued, and acted as a reminder to Justin that he had more to do than sit on the bottom step pondering. That, and Aaron came rushing down the stairs that brought him out of his stupor.
"I'll be back later tonight. See ya!"
"Hold it right there!" Justin's voice boomed. "You're still coming with us this week, right? Since school is out and all?"
"Yeah, I guess." Aaron never missed a beat as he continued to the front door.
"If you have Katie's parents give me a call, maybe she could come along?"
That was definitely something that caught the young Michaels' attention. "Are you freaking serious?" Aaron squealed.
Justin stood up and crossed his arms, giving his younger brother a serious look, before nodding with a smile. "I've had those extra ringside tickets for years for Mom and Dad, and well, we both know neither one of them will be there." The comment caused both of them glance at the floor in disappointment, knowing all about the issues the family had been having for the last couple of years, while at the same time still looking for the answers they needed to straighten everything out.
"I'll ask them as soon as I get there."
"Be sure to have them call me no matter what they tell you two. Hell, if it's too big of a deal, ask them to come too!"
While that last bit caused some of the excitement to leak out, Aaron was still pumped at the idea of getting his muse ringside for one of his big brother's wrestling matches.
"Tyler Scott doesn't stand a chance with all of us at ringside backing you!" Aaron ran up to his brother for a YOLO fist bump, or whatever it was the kids were doing these days, before bolting out of the front door in a bigger hurry than he was in before.
Tyler Scott, indeed. The first rung on what may very well be the last ladder Stormm has to climb to the top. His first round opponent in this year's tournament just happened to be his second opponent in a row that he had never faced one on one, but one step beyond, that he had never been in the same ring with before.
Despite his loss last week, Justin we feeling pretty good about his chances, at least in his first round match. It wasn't any loss, but a very close match against another former World Champion. A victory for his opponent that he was certain she never expecting to work so hard for.
For Stormm to win this thing he had to continue with what he accomplished at Trauma One Fifty-three; he had to be a little more Force of Nature than his opponents were expecting.
And so the climb continues.
It was a fine Sunday afternoon; all the windows in the mansion were wide open, letting the fresh breeze of the Midwest spring day roll through. The curtains on the double doors leading out to the second story porch were tossed around by the slow gusts of wind, and would have been the perfect weather for a nice relaxing day at home.
As she threw on a pair of jeans, and tossed on a t-shirt, other than being ignored, the view had been its own reward. "You're lucky our neighbors live a mile away on the other side of the tree line." Justin joked, doing his best to catch her attention. "Though you really should be careful, I can't say I trust either of my siblings to not have been standing outside our open bedroom door gawking." He chuckled, but she still seemed too rush, and it was almost as if she were purposefully ignoring him. "Earth to Lindsay..."
The blonde bombshell let out a heavy sigh as she threw on a watch and gave herself a once over in the mirror at her vanity, giving a quick tousle to her hair before turning and heading towards the door; she paused. "Babe, I'm sorry, I told you I needed to take care of some things in the city today before we take off for Greenville tomorrow." She threw her arms around Justin's neck and planted a big one on him before heading out of the bedroom and for the stairs.
"When will you be back?" The Force of Nature asked in vain.
Lindsay stopped and turned, and one look at her husband she could tell he had something important to talk about. She was no stranger to the position she was putting him in, as she had been put there a lot herself. "I should only be gone a few hours."
Her response seemed to be less than pleasing to Justin, but he knew that getting upset about it would only make things worse; and making things worse was the last thing he wanted to do when everything was starting to get back to a really great place in their marriage. "Alright, I guess I'll see you later this afternoon." He acknowledged, but in a way that was lacking a tone he didn't intend to use.
"Justin, I'm running late!" Lindsay fired back. "I'm sorry, I'm just busy."
There it was, he knew what he had done, and he knew he deserved every bit of that response. "I'm busy" was a classic Michaels response. She wasn't using it as an excuse to avoid him like he had done to her in the past, but instead, as a means to the end of their conversation as she had to leave immediately to ensure arriving on time for an appointment.
Justin allowed her to keep to her schedule without any more fuss, and waited outside their bedroom doors for a moment so as not to follow her down the stairs.
"Aaron!" He called out for his younger brother. As his feet touched the marble floor at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer, he called out for the youngest Michaels sibling again." Aaron, where the Hell are you?!" Only the breeze slipping through the screens of the opened windows answered him back as the cool breeze was nothing less than refreshing against Justin's skin.
He had just come in from an afternoon run around the estate, and had yet to find a reason to put a shirt back on. As he stood in the entrance hall to the family mansion, he contemplated what the rest of his afternoon was going to consist of. He had wanted to take Lindsay on a walk to have a talk with her, but that went out the window. Now, as he wondered where his younger (not so much "little" anymore) brother was, it seemed like a quick workout inside of the squared circle in the small gym that was built on the Michaels Manor estate was going to be tossed out of the window as well.
"Aaron!" Justin shrieked.
The front doors busted open, but it wasn't the sibling he had been calling for. "What's with all the yelling?" Morgan questioned as she stepped inside the home, her hands full of luggage.
"What's with all the, well..." Justin pointed to her suitcases, and that spoke for itself.
She shrugged. "Oh, you know." Her answer was vague, and not at all helpful to his curiosity.
They stood in awkward silence for a moment before Morgan pushed past Justin and made her way for the stairs. "Aaron!" He blurted out once more, even louder than the previous three times, but had failed to realize that the young Michaels had made his way to the top of the stairs, dripping wet, and covered only by a towel.
"What?!" He yelled back. "I was in the shower."
"Oh." Justin said back.
"Yeah..."
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go get a workout in before dinner."
Aaron hesitated, wondering if his older brother was really asking him that given the situation. With one hand still gasping the towel, he used his freehand to motion back at him, and in true Michaels fashion, not using words to communicate very poorly.
"You have a date?" Justin questioned sarcastically.
"Yeah..."
"What?!" Justin blurted out, shocked.
"I'm going over to Katie's to have dinner with her and her parents." Aaron answered, and turned on his heel to head back towards the shower he was interrupted from. He didn't make it far, however.
Justin rushed up the stairs. "Who's Katie?"
Aaron quickly turned back to his brother with a furled brow. "My girlfriend." But he could tell by the blank stare on Justin's face that he was clueless. "You know, the girl I've been dating since the beginning of the school year? The one you had me invite over for two of the weirdest dinners ever while Lindsay was gone?"
"Aaron, I'm sorry, I just don't..." He was interrupted.
"Of course you don't!" He shouted as he turned back around. "You know what, forget it, I'm just too busy right now to care about how much you've neglected me the last year."
There it was. Two for two. Justin certainly was getting a taste of his own medicine, and quickly turning a perfect Sunday afternoon into the most dreadful one in recent memory. He skulked back down the stairs, and popped a squat on the bottom step while he rested his chin on his hands. While the spring air greeted him again, it was far less refreshing now than it had been just moment earlier.
"Well, I'm taking off."
Morgan was running back down the stairs with her suitcases a little heavier this time than they were on her way in. "Where are you off to?" Justin didn't even bother to see if she had time to talk, or do anything before she took off, but instead just accepted that he was spending the day by himself.
"Greenville." She quickly responded. "I met this really great guy a couple months back after one of your first matches back, and we've been spending a lot of time together recently."
"You're just now telling me?"
Morgan let out a heavy sigh. "Justin, don't start!"
"I wasn't..."
"Yes you were!"
Another awkward silence between the twins befell the Michaels Manor foyer, and Morgan set her luggage down and turned to her older brother. "Look, it's none of your business, really, but I didn't tell you about him, because I wanted to make sure things were going in the right direction before I introduced him to this family."
"What the fuck does that mean?!" Anger came rushing to every inch of Justin's body as he rose to his feet.
Morgan smiled. "Don't act like that actually offended you." She said. "You know damned well that if you had a second chance, you would have waited before dropping Lindsay in the middle of all the shit you've been through; why do you think you chased her away?"
His feigned anger was immediately replaced by honest dismay. "I..."
There were no words that he could speak. Morgan even gave him ample time to respond, but he couldn't. "Listen, I'm sorry, I'm happy that you and Lindsay are working things out, but maybe you need to quit focusing on one single thing at a time, and try taking on a little more." She explained. "We all understand that you are afraid of getting in too deep like you've been before, but you are only going to make things worse again by completely ignoring everything else around you too."
While her statement hadn't been completely true, there was enough truth in it to knock the wind out of his sails completely.
"Anyway, we're all busy right now, and the car is still running out here, so I really do need to get going. Love you, and tell Lindsay and A.J. that I'll see you guys at Trauma on Tuesday, okay?"
She didn't wait for a response before bumping her brother on the shoulder with the side of her fist, grabbing her luggage, and heading out the door.
Three for three.
The cherry on top of the shit sundae of a Sunday was, after everything Morgan had just said, he wanted to focus on his family as a whole that day. He wanted to spend some time with all of them, on a personal level, while also getting their thoughts on his direction inside of the squared circle, since all of their opinions were very dear to him.
After all, it was Icemann Invitation Tournament time again.
It had been eight years since Stormm had claimed the trophy the first time, and earned the right to challenge for any title he desired. He took out Proof in the first round, and Brad Moore in the elite eight; two guys that no longer graced Pure Class Wrestling’s squared circle. Then in the final four, he took on the combined efforts of 2Guys in a handicapped match and prevailed. While their protégé, Andy D, was making waves in PCW these days, there were two more that no longer actively competed in PCW that he had taken out eight years of.
Then of course, in the final at Living a Legacy 2, the controversial ending. Yet another former competitor that is no longer on the active roster, Andreas Lasiewicz took the victory at the pay-per-view after the match was restarted. The decision was reversed at the following Trauma, and in a best of five series, Stormm came out victorious.
Eight years had gone by, and the only other active wrestler that was in the tournament that year, Michael Wryght; a man who would surely be looking to claim the trophy this year as well, but given his current situation, whether or not he'd be able to.
Was it a sign? Was Justin's time running out? Would this be his final Icemann Invitational? Would this be his last chance at a run towards the top? He had passed the first test; winning and defending the Genesis Championship. He had no doubt that he'd still be Genesis champion still, had it not been ripped out from underneath him to make way for the Underground, a division he had no interest in.
With the North American Championship as a bonus for this year's winner, too, what better way to continue his pilgrimage back to World title contention than to win the tournament for a second time. He could claim the North American title in the process, and set himself up to challenge for the International title at some point in the future as well.
But at no point would it be easy. It never was, and never would be; much like he found out last year as he tried his hand at a second TIIT victory, being knocked out in the elite eight by the man who went on to win it all, Ace Anderson. Ace had won the first Icemann Invitation the year before Justin had won his. Was this another sign? Chances were slim, but it never hurt to look at this from any angle possible.
As the sun shifted in the sky, as did the shadows that the trees cast on the front yard to Michaels Manor, causing the foyer to darken slightly. The breeze continued, and acted as a reminder to Justin that he had more to do than sit on the bottom step pondering. That, and Aaron came rushing down the stairs that brought him out of his stupor.
"I'll be back later tonight. See ya!"
"Hold it right there!" Justin's voice boomed. "You're still coming with us this week, right? Since school is out and all?"
"Yeah, I guess." Aaron never missed a beat as he continued to the front door.
"If you have Katie's parents give me a call, maybe she could come along?"
That was definitely something that caught the young Michaels' attention. "Are you freaking serious?" Aaron squealed.
Justin stood up and crossed his arms, giving his younger brother a serious look, before nodding with a smile. "I've had those extra ringside tickets for years for Mom and Dad, and well, we both know neither one of them will be there." The comment caused both of them glance at the floor in disappointment, knowing all about the issues the family had been having for the last couple of years, while at the same time still looking for the answers they needed to straighten everything out.
"I'll ask them as soon as I get there."
"Be sure to have them call me no matter what they tell you two. Hell, if it's too big of a deal, ask them to come too!"
While that last bit caused some of the excitement to leak out, Aaron was still pumped at the idea of getting his muse ringside for one of his big brother's wrestling matches.
"Tyler Scott doesn't stand a chance with all of us at ringside backing you!" Aaron ran up to his brother for a YOLO fist bump, or whatever it was the kids were doing these days, before bolting out of the front door in a bigger hurry than he was in before.
Tyler Scott, indeed. The first rung on what may very well be the last ladder Stormm has to climb to the top. His first round opponent in this year's tournament just happened to be his second opponent in a row that he had never faced one on one, but one step beyond, that he had never been in the same ring with before.
Despite his loss last week, Justin we feeling pretty good about his chances, at least in his first round match. It wasn't any loss, but a very close match against another former World Champion. A victory for his opponent that he was certain she never expecting to work so hard for.
For Stormm to win this thing he had to continue with what he accomplished at Trauma One Fifty-three; he had to be a little more Force of Nature than his opponents were expecting.
And so the climb continues.
