AF24: Sandy Deserts vs. Thrash

[Viola Moonlight]

Sandy Deserts has struggled since losing her tag team partner, Celeste Crimson, to the sinister clutches of Steven Holmes. After a loss to Isabel Stone last round, she'll try to get her groove back against Thrash, also struggling and on the wrong end of a decision against Dr. Zeus. Which superstar will begin their climb back to the top?


Deadline is Tuesday, June 11th 2013, at 11:59 P.M. (Central Time Zone)​

 

[Kermit]

Sandy Deserts has been granted a 24hr extension.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

“I’ve never felt like this in my life. My entire body is shaking from head to toe; Dr. Zeus has been my ruining.”

Walking through the back after his match, Thrash passes The Beard and Grizzly Bob, who look over at him like a disease, like if they were to touch him, the same things would happen to them. Thrash take a seat on the bench, his legs wobbling up and down, he can’t seem to stop moving. His throat lit up a bright red, the silence is broken by his loud coughs, along with the odd wrestler going past, talking about how their match went on the night of this Aftershock, an episode of Aftershock that will always stick in the mind of Thrash. Having felt as though he’d overcome the mental problems that he was facing, they all seemed to pile back on as Zeus took the victory over the “Rocking” superstar. A face a paler white than the clouds in the sky, it’s a surprise Thrash hasn’t been sick yet.

“Where the fuck was Alex? All these times that he said he’d be there for me and the one time that I needed him the most, he wasn’t here.”

The sound of plastic hitting the floor can be heard from around the corner in the corridor and Thrash, still shaking, starts to move his head towards the doorway. He can’t see anybody, but he can hear somebody scrambling around outside in the corridor.

“Who’s that out there?!”

Silence, as the person who is obviously standing listening refuses to respond. Slowly, trying to make sure that he has his balance in check, Thrash gets to his feet. He moved towards the door, passing through the doorway carefully, in case Dr. Zeus is back to finish off what he started. Carefully moving into the corridor, Thrash’s face is one of apparent shock as to who he can see in front of him.

“You. What are you doing here?!”

There’s a woman standing in front of Thrash, in a pair of a jeans and a fluffy purple sweater. Her face gives off a warming glow, but her eyes look stern.

“Michael. It’s nice to see you. Somebody gave me a warning that things on your end might be getting difficult, so I’ve decided to seek you out, so we can talk.”

The shaking body of Thrash is obviously giving off warning signals to the lady talking to him, who puts a hand on his shoulder. As quickly as she does, Thrash is as quick to brush it off.

“Who gave you a warning? Actually, don’t even bother answering that, I know it was Alex.”

“Alex? No, it wasn’t Alex. I’ve not heard from Alex in years Michael! It was-“

“I don’t care who it was right now…Laura. Can’t you see that I’ve got better things to be taking care of right now?”

The woman standing in front of Thrash is his former Doctor, Laura. Her papers are all over the place, having dropped them on the floor previously, but she walks towards Thrash, leading him back into the Locker Room. She signals her free hand towards the bench where Thrash sat only a few minutes ago and he sits back down again. Laura sits down, underestimating how low the bench is and hitting her backside down hard on the wooden slats. As she does, a pair of boxer shorts falls on her shoulder. She picks them off, examining them closely and reading the writing stitched on the label inside.

“Action Saxton’s property; hands off! *Sniffs* they’re still sweaty…lovely.”

In an attempt to cheer up Thrash, Laura looks in his direction, she can see it hasn’t worked.

“You’ve changed. You used to be the serious Doctor, not taking anybody’s crap. But now you’re trying to make jokes and be all cutesy? Maybe I should be the one examining you.”

“Michael, now isn’t the time for sarcasm. I’ve been told that you’ve been having problems and look at you; your face is a shade of white that shouldn’t be visible, your hands and legs are shaking more than they were back when you were 16 and well, your voice is cracking at least once per sentence. I know I’m a Doctor, but even the stupidest of people could tell that something was wrong with you. Now, you know why I’m here, but it’s not up to me to force it out of you, or try and torture it out of you, it’s up to you whether or not you need someone to truly help you get through this.”

“Have you got time for this? You’re lucky that I still trust you Laura, I know what you can be like remember, you told her what you shouldn’t have.”

“That’s off the topic Michael and you know very well that I can’t talk about that, even to this day! Now, can you start by telling me when these emotions kicked in?”

“Right, start listening. Just before I found out that I would be facing Dr… you know who, the anger issues started to re-appear. Like before, I don’t know where they came from or what it is that’s exactly causing them, but they’re resurfacing. Not as bad as they were before, nothing could be that bad. But being a Wrestler now, the aggression helps, you know?”

“It makes sense to me Michael, but if your anger is switching on in little ways like that, it’s nothing to worry about. What you need to remember is, that what you’ve experienced in the past is nothing compared to fighting to defend a friend. With your past actions, you’re lucky to be here in the business right now, so I’m sure that your anger problems aren’t anything to worry about, what seems to be the true problem now, is your current mental state. Can you explain some more about that to me?”

“Last week, I found out I was facing, well, you know who by now, forget that he even exists. Johnny Klamor taunted the shit out of me, talking about mental problems, the fact that…you know who was a Doctor and that he had a thing for ending the lives of people that he thought weren’t mentally capable. Gradually, my nights were filled with cold sweats, shivers and nightmares. Nightmares progressed night by night, becoming more vivid and eventually so shocking that they were causing me to react in my sleep. Just look, you can still see the cuts on my hands where my nails pierced the skin.”

Thrash holds out his hands to Laura, as she looks at the cuts on his hands, shaking her head in disappointment.

“It seems like they’ve really done well to get into your head. Why did Mr. Klamor taunting you set off the mental trigger?”

Thrash, starting to settle now for the first time in weeks, stands up from the bench.

“He started to talk about problems in my life, like he knew everything. Whether somebody had told him or not is beyond me, but he knew absolutely everything that happened in my past, I can tell. That was when I started to think back on what I had done, when I was younger. You know what I’m talking about Laura, images of that came back into my mind. I just couldn’t cope with the guilt from the past, remembering everything that I’d done to her.”

“It’s ok Michael, you don’t need to carry on, I understand. I remember how you reacted back then and it isn’t something that you constantly need to have set in your mind, it was a horrible event and well, it’s nothing to be proud of, but it’s nothing that should set your future off of course.”

“You know what? I think I’ve said too much to you Laura. Thanks for the help, but you shouldn’t have to stay around and talk to me any longer. I’ve definitely said far too much and well… there might be somebody listening around the corner.”

“You don’t have to worry, I’m sure that everyone’s gone.“

“Laura, you can go!”

Laura stands up, but doesn’t leave the Locker Room, only turns to face Thrash.

“Michael, what’s taking over you all of a sudden?! You were fine, but now…you’re just, angry!”

Thrash picks up his bag, his hands steady at last. He moves to the doorway, turning round to look at his former Doctor, now confidant.

“Laura, I told you it was enough! Now, I’m going home, I’m going to relax and for a change, be calm.”

Thrash starts to walk away, muttering to himself under his breath, as Laura stands in the Locker Room alone, looking slightly disheartened.

“But Michael! I didn’t tell you who it was that contacted me.”

Laura moves towards the doorway, looking as Thrash exits the building.

“It was her.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Day Of Aftershock

*Slam!*

Through the bedroom window, the sound of mail being put into the mailbox wakes up Thrash. As he looks over at his alarm clock and it reads “06:12am”, he can see why the noise of the mailbox woke him up.

“There’s no chance that was the mailman, no chance in hell. Screw it, may as well go and see what it is now, they’ve gone to the trouble of waking me up after all.”

Walking down the stairs in his underwear, Thrash steps out through his front door and it’s just starting to get light, luckily nobody else is outside to see him searching his mailbox at this time of the morning. Inside is a piece of card, folded in half. On the front, is the advertisement for “WZCW Aftershock” and on the front it reads, “Sandy Deserts vs Thrash – First Time Ever!”. Thrash smiles at the card, thinking it to be a nice way of bucking up his mood, along with getting him ready for his next match in WZCW. However, he realises the card is ever so slightly sealed around the edges, so he forces it open, where the message inside is less of a mood enhancer, but a mood killer, for Thrash. It’s been scrawled in pen, attempting to look threatening. It reads;

“So, Thrash takes on Sandy Deserts. You drew yourself a woman, didn’t you tell them what you do to women? Somebody better not let his actions get the better of him, or there will be two of me. I’ll be watching…”

Immediately, Thrash tears the card up. He walks back to the house, dropping it into the garbage can outside, before slamming the door behind him. He picks up the phone, frantically dialling a number into it, before slumping against the wall. The phone rings into his ear, before he sighs, as someone picks up.

“Laura, I’m sorry, I know it’s early, but we need to talk, right now.”

He sits there with his head hung, listening to the voice of the Doctor that he didn’t want to talk to just a week ago.

“I know that I snapped at you, I’m sorry! Look, I just had something put in my mailbox…yeah, I know it was too early for the mailman, just listen! There was a card in the mailbox, at first I thought it was just managements way of telling me who my next opponent was, as a way of cheering me up, but then I opened it.”

Hitting the floor out of unknown frustration a couple of times, the look of fear that had only recently left the face of this man has returned. Tiny beads of sweat begin to appear on the brow of Thrash, slowly dripping down his face.

“I was just getting to that Laura, hang on. I opened it and it had to be, it was a message from her. I couldn’t mistake it, she was hinting at everything! Somehow, she’s trying her best to weasel her way back into my life and remind me of that day over and over again. It has to be her, there’s no way that anybody else knows about this.”

He stands up, slowly pacing around, starting to make a circular motion round his couch.

“Look, I can’t keep going on like this. If she has that much of an issue with me after all these years have gone by, then I’m not going to be able to cope. I know that what happened between us is horrific, but there’s no way she can do this to me! Look, I’m gonna try and shake this off, I’ve got a match tonight, I need to prepare. Sandy Deserts may have lost her match last week, but she’s definitely an opponent I can’t mess with. Oh god, Laura, what if it happens again? What if she ends up the same way? I want to win, but I’m going to have to be careful, if anyone tries to push my limit on that night, there’s no way I could face her in the ring. She’s a former mental patient herself Laura, this could get extremely messed up. She’s a good wrestler, but I’m just going to have to clear my head and stay one step ahead of her at all times, because for once, I’m stepping through the ropes with someone that I can really respect.”

He slumps down on the couch, feeling slightly more relaxed, putting his feet up and stretching out.

“Shit, sorry Laura, I’ve taken up too much of your time talking about wrestling, I didn’t even realise. Maybe Sandy could be the help I need to get my head back on track, or maybe something pushes me over the edge before I step out there and ends everything. I know what happened in the past is in the past, but demons resurface, always. Let’s just say, at least I’m not face to face with her. I think then, I would truly crack. I’ll talk to you after the show, thanks again Doc.”

Thrash disconnects the call and gets up out of the sofa, not looking as stressed as he just did, but still moves slowly up the stairs, making his way into his room. Throwing some clothes on and putting his ring gear into a Gym Bag, he dawdles downstairs, grabbing his car keys from the windowsill and making his way off. It’s showtime.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

10 Minutes To “Deserts vs Thrash”

"Thrash! It’s nice to see you looking so much better after your loss to the Doctor last week, where you left in a state that we’d never seen before here in WZCW! You looked almost lost, but here you are now, ready to face off one of the few female’s we have here in WZCW, Sandy Deserts. How are you feeling?"

Thrash is stood opposite the best looking member of WZCW's "Crew", Becky Serra, who cornered him before he began warming up for his match against Sandy Deserts.

“Honestly Becky, I’m still not 100% up in my mind, but I’m still here for the guys at home and the guys out in the arena, that call my name out every week! I’ve been through a lot in the past fortnight and like you saw when I lost to Dr. Zeus, it really affected me. I won’t lie, there are still thoughts running through my head that aren’t doing me any good and the feeling in my gut still makes me thing that something’s going to go wrong very soon, but you know what? I’m here, I’m ready for a fight, so let’s go!”

Becky smiles at the upbeat mood of Thrash, but inside, she knows it’s all a show for the cameras.

“Talking about a fight, tonight you face Sandy Deserts. You’ve not faced a woman in WZCW before, how have you taken to preparing?”

Shuddering slightly at what he’s been thinking of recently, Thrash turns away from the camera. But he quickly turns back, looking as positive as he can.

“Well, I’ve not been preparing any differently really, I’ve just had to get my head in the right place for this fight, I wasn’t expecting to have to battle with any women in WZCW! The demons are sure getting their own back with me right now, but when it comes to the match, Sandy is definitely a formidable opponent. We both suffered big losses last week, mine in a match where I had more of a chance than Sandy, so who knows what could happen in this one? I respect Sandy and honestly, we’re not too dissimilar. I won’t go into detail, but myself and Sandy have been through some tough things in our lives, only some of them try their best to stick around and worm their way back in, to throw you off course. I’m doing my best to keep my head in the game and I hope Sandy is, otherwise unfortunately, it’s going to be The Final Countdown for her!”

Serra looks at Thrash, mildly confused, but eventually smiles in his direction, before offering her hand for a handshake. The two shake hands and as fake the smile is on his face, Thrash is trying to look happy.

“Thrash, thank you for those words! Is there anything that you’d like to say before you go?”

“Let Yourself Go” hits on the speakers and Thrash clicks into motion, as he’s due out on the stage.

“Sorry, I’ve gotta run!”

Thrash runs towards Gorilla and you can hear the chanting before he’s even made his entrance. In the distance, a voice can be heard calling out.

“Mike! Mike!”

Surprisingly, it’s not Becky Serra calling out, but a lady, limping in his direction as fast as she could, which unfortunately, wasn’t fast enough. Becky stops her in her tracks though, not recognising her as Thrash is gone from view.

“Excuse me, should you be back here? I’m not sure I know who you are.”

Smiling slightly sadistically, she looks at Becky with a fixed stare.

“Oh, I’m here to see Thrash, well Michael Sullivan as I know him better. I was here to give him a surprise."

Becky accepts the lady now, thinking she must be a friend of Thrash’s, lost backstage like Alex always was.

“So, are you a friend? He’s always got someone running around back here!”

“No, I’m not a friend, or any form of acquaintance anymore. The name’s Vicky.”

”Nice to meet you Vicky, I’m Becky!”

Vicky doesn’t give her a second thought, as her face moves in closer to Becky’s, who is looking ever more intimidated.

“Did I say you could talk? My name, is Vicky Sullivan. Michael’s former love, his ex-wife or as you could put it… the lady he almost killed. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's really "showtime.""

Becky looks shocked, as Vicky limps off in the same direction Thrash went. Is she a crazed fan just looking to make her way backstage, or is the past of Thrash, the past he never wanted to forget, finally catching up with him?

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Aftershock 23
Somewhere Backstage​

Sandy Deserts walks down a corridor, dabbing sweat off her neck. She looks up, seeing another figure walking towards her pushing a hospital bed. This catches her interest and stares at the man, who looks at her as well... giving her a smile. For a second, Sandy is lost in time as she stares at this man before shaking her head and walking down the corridor. She walks for a few more paces before turning around, seeing the man turn the corridor with his bed and disappearing from sight.

Sandy squints her eyes, pondering why this man has made her double back and investigate, apart from the fact that he was pushing around a hospital bed.

"Why is he familiar?" Sandy says to herself.

A few more seconds go past before Sandy shakes her head once more, snapping herself out of her deep thought before turning around and bumping into another person, knocking them down to their back. Sandy, a little shocked, begins apologising and goes to pick up the fallen person but for the third time, Sandy stops as she looks at who she bumped into who gives a huge smile as the person flicks their long hair back.

"Jessie?" Sandy asks with a shocked look on her face.

The former Minnesota governor and wrestling legend Jessica Venturo grabs the extended hand of Sandy and pulls herself up, hugging Sandy tightly as Sandy seems quite surprised.

"Sandy! My old friend..." Jessica exclaims.

The Next Night
9pm - At an Unknown Local Bar​

Loud, uncontrollable laughing echoes throughout the almost deserted bar as Sandy Deserts and Jessica Venturo sit at their private booth, getting another round of drinks delivered to their table by the lone barman. Sandy is the only one who can muster the breath to thank the gentlemen as he walks off behind the bar, continuing to clean her glasses from the night as the two girls try to stop their laughing. Sandy whips her eyes from the tears generated from the previously funny conversation and looks around, appreciating the décor of the primarily wooden-finish establishment; a modern spin on log cabins. She decided to wash away the last remaining laughs with a big gulp of her alcoholic beverage of choice before looking at Venturo who had also ceased her violent laughter to talk to Sandy.

"I still cannot believe how much you enjoy a fine bottle of scotch or whiskey. You never much cared for the stuff back in the day" Jessica remarks as she leans back into her chair, drinking her own beverage.

Sandy smiles at her, swirling her drink around.

"The Professor changed me." She answered before taking another swig. "I'm not the Sandy you once remembered, Jessie."

"But the old Sandy was fun!" Jessie added, as Sandy opens her mouth with a shocked but happy look on her face.

"You're not the one who should be talking! You've changed yourself," retorted Sandy, "all these fancy suits and professional attire and politicking... well, maybe except for that last one. It's the only logical explanation to you getting yourself a contendership match against me at such an old age."

In a disgusted but friendly manner, Jessie lightly slaps Sandy on the arm as the two share a bit of a laugh once more.

"There might have been a little politicking..." Jessie admits, pushing her thumb and index finger together as she begins laughing.

"I knew it! You bitch!"

The barman looks up and is ready to see trouble but instead, the remark caused the girls to continue laughing at each other as their glasses clashed and the two finished another drink before calling over the barman for another round. He shakes his head with a small smile as the girls continue.

"If we didn't have to leave in half an hour I'd be sitting here in this bar with you Sandy reminiscing about the adventures we've gone through... we had a lot of fun back then, didn't we?"

Sandy nods slowly before answering: "We also had some pretty crazy matches too - I still consider you to be in my Top 5 of the best opponents I've ever faced even after all these years."

"I'm surprised you don't admit me as number one, Sandy." Jessica cockily replies. "That 'Bust Breaker' I performed on you whilst we were both dangling upside down on that ladder in the Tokyo Dome was pretty gnarly."

"Especially when you lost your footing and we both crashed into the canvas below head first, effectively pile-driving ourselves. I'm surprised we were able to finish that match" says Sandy with a surprised tone "I thought that was the end of my career."

"It was the beginning."

Sandy looks directly at Jessica who has a very serious look on her face. Sandy knows where Jessica is going with this and turns away, preparing herself for a story she didn't want to hear.

"That night changed you into something far more dangerous; tearing through Mexico, Japan and Europe as one of the most feared competitors in the independent world - you became the Sandman." Sandy clenched as she heard that word. "I couldn't believe that the up-and-coming Sandy Deserts who had been one of the most respectful and friendliest competitors in the wrestling scene became a monster."

Sandy is staring in a different direction at this point, taking hold of the fresh new beverage that the bartender had just served and playing with it in her hand.

"I didn't want to believe it either, Jessie... I didn't want to believe it either. I'd give anything to change it all."

Jessica shakes her head as Sandy refuses to look at the former Minnesota governor, looking away as well for a moment before turning back.

"There is no reason to deny your existence before you were admitted to the loony bin. Whatever our match unlocked inside of you turned you into a legend through the winds. The first legitimate hardcore female wrestler who wasn't afraid of getting her hair burned off or her face put through a cheese shredder... and yet you hide that side of yourself? You were a fierce competitor whether wrestling with weapons or not and now, you can't even win a single match."

Sandy's hand slams on the table, this time alerting the barman but Jessie signals to him that everything is okay. Sandy turns back to Jessie and looks her straight in the eyes.

"I'm not resurrecting that part of myself again, Jess. It crippled me mentally and I became clinically insane. Do you know what it feels like to have doctors upon doctors checking on you 24/7 with security guards watching your every move so you don't run off and roll around in grass? It's demoralising, even when I wasn't stable enough to have free thought. I can't go back to that, Jessie."

"And become what? A normal person again before that accident? You'll never be normal Sandy, not after the things you've been through. Hell, I still even see a psychologist once a month and re-stock my cabinets with pills just to get by..."

"So why are you questioning what I should or shouldn't be when you've changed yourself?"

"Because I've moved on, Sandy."

The comment struck Sandy deep as she is at a loss for words whilst the two sit in silence. The longer no-one spoke, the chance the comment had to sink inside Sandy.

"I've left that part of my life go, Sandy. I don't wrestle any more despite how many fans come up to me and beg me for one last match nor do I wish to even commentate... I'm in the political scene whilst dabbling as an author. Where are you now - back in the ring of the most demanding company in the world. You won't be able to last without reverting back to your old self, especially with that Dr. Zeus guy roaming the corridors."

Sandy looks at Jessie with intrigue. "How do you know Dr. Zeus?"

"You were staring at him when you bumped into me at Aftershock, remember?" Sandy nods but is slightly disappointed at the answer, wanting to hear something else. "I heard through the grapevine at what he did in his debut match...

"The same man I've got in my match this week; Thrash."

Jessie lets out a chuckle "Need to go to a pharmacy?"

"Thrash, with an 'A'." Sandy retorts, not laughing at the joke.

"I know, I'm just... never mind, you seem pissed off with me anyway to have any more fun so I'll just leave."

Before Venturo is able to get up, Sandy grabs her hand and holds it on the table. Jessie stops and gets comfortable as Sandy lets go of her hand.

"It's not that... I saw what Zeus did to Thrash and I saw the same look that my opponents used to have. I don't wish to be that person again and I'm sure as hell not going to choke the life out of Thrash in our contest this week... all I want is pure competition where the best competitors wins, nothing more."

"You don't have to be that angry, insane person and that's not what I'm asking from you - I want to see the Sandman perform in the ring, not outside of it. I want to see the intensity you brought and made sure that whoever you faced off had to step up their game if they even wanted any chance in hell to get the better of you. I want to see that side of Sandy Deserts and not have to listen to those terrible names of your moves like the 'Dreamcatcher' or the 'Mist of Rheum'... what the hell happened to the 'Nightmare Moonsault' or 'The Black Plague'? Where's that Sandy gone?"

"Trapped inside Davy Jones' locker."

Jessica takes a deep breath. "Well... if you feel that is what is right then I'm not going to stop you but just remember my advice when someone like Dr. Zeus comes after you."

"Who says he'll come after me?" Sandy questions.

Jessica gets up from her seat and puts on her coat as she finishes her last drink. She looks down at Sandy and puts an hand on her shoulder.

"Because he reminds me of you; one crazy mother... and if I know crazy, he'll want a chat with you sooner or later and the only way to deal with crazy is to become crazy as well."

The two share a moment of silence before Sandy stands up, hugging Jessica for a few seconds before allowing her to leave.

"I'll catch you around, Sandy."

Jessica leaves the bar, knocking down the count of people inside to just two; Sandy and the bartender. She doesn't look at the bartender though as she is too busy staring at the door before looking down, going into deep thought despite the alcohol intake... with seemingly one thing on her mind.

"Why is he familiar?" Sandy whispers.​