Extinguishing the Blaise

Tonight's Tension was just about to start on its second hour, coming off of a commercial break. It was a great show so far, some solid matches, a few good skits, but there was some confusion about how things would go down in the latter half. Nothing was scheduled, no match, and for all the audience knew there would be nothing but blank  space when the show came back on.

That was what they expected. What they got, however, was Mako.

By the time the show started back up, she was already in the ring, her music was fading and the crowd was still booing with all their impotent might. Booing only her, for once - she was out here all by herself, for perhaps the first time since she’d appeared on Tension. It was a rare sight, and it had more than a few members of the audience confused as to what business she would have. They were about

"Hello, all you happy people." Mako said with her usual shit-eating grin, walking around the ring and waving to her fellow Japanese. ”I know, I know you’re all so happy to see me. I can really feel the love you’ve thrown my way since I came here. The kinship from my countrymen...” Mako clutched her chest and closed her eyes, trying her best to look touched. She hadn't done that in some time. Needless to say, she couldn't quite pull it off.

"I want to talk about Blaise Cameron." And, sure enough, before Mako could even say his last name, the crowd all began to rise up and cheer for the gaijin. Claps, shouts, posters by people who thought his name was spelled 'Blaze'. It qwould've been a heartwarming type if Mako wasn't the sort of person to vomit at this sort of thing. Fortunately for all those involved, she kept her lunch down.


She clapped along, rolling her eyes as she went along with it. "Yeah, that's right. Give your little hero a round of applause, pat him on the back - but do you people really know what you're clapping to? I don't think you do. Because the fact of the matter is that all you guys are doing is propping a grade-A, no class, unquestionable fucking loser!"

The boos came back harder and heavier than ever before. You would've thought Mako insulted the Pope in the middle of the Vatican. "Oh, that's right, shoot the messenger. But you know what? You don't even have to believe me. See, there's this wonderful new site up, might have heard about - Youtube. And I did a little searching the other night and stumbled on some interesting footage." She pointed at the screen, as her smile grew even wider. Full blown. "Roll it."

The arena darkened as the titantron lit up, playing a little clip that Mako had 'persuaded' some of the guys in the back to create. It showed clips from Blaise's pre-AFW, matches. The finishes for them, at least. They had Blaise taking on a variety of opponents men of all different shapes and sizes, but they all had one thing in common: embarrassing, crippling loses against Tension's wanna-be hero.

"Oh, oh, here's my favorite!" Mako hopped up on the bottom rope and leaned forward, as some seven-foot tall Undertaker-looking motherfucker grabbed Blaise for a chokeslam, lifted h im up, held him high and... "BAM!"

Mako was the only person cheering in at least a two mile-radius, as the footage ended with Blaise getting laid out, flat on his back, staring up at the roof of some rinky-dink arena in America. The lights came back on and Mako nodded, approving of the work. She might actually have to apologize for punching that one fat tech guy in the face. Not likely, but she was considering it.

"That's your hero, ladies and gentleman." She pointed at the screen one last time, then threw her hands up. "A low rent, no-talent, piece of shit trash that they picked up some people like Emilia Hawthorne would have some one to dominate. Yeah, he's had a couple of close calls. But you know what? It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, Blaise Cameron is a fuck up. Getting some close loses doesn't change that - if anything, it just makes it more tragic."

Suddenly, the strains of Blaise's entrance music kicks on, playing a few measures before the curtain is thrown back and the spunky upstart in question strides out into view! He clearly wasn't anticipating making an in-ring appearance, given his wardrobe choice; white cargo shorts, a powder blue tanktop, and white sneakers. It's likely the least intimidating attire anyone has ever worn, so it goes perfectly with the cheerful, upbeat smile on his face. Just as Emilia discovered in her match with him, Blaise Cameron's spirit is Hellishly hard to squash; close as it came with the Valkyries' first interruption.

Once he trots out a few steps, he turns around to peer up at the titan-tron. Prominently featured is the still image of him with his crap in ruins following the chokeslam.

"Oh-ho-ho, man," says Blaise into his microphone, "I remember that one. Nasty."

Suddenly, the teen whirls on heel and ends with an accusing point towards Mako, "But that was then, and this is now! What exactly are you tryin' to say here, chick-a-dee?"

He paces to one side of the aisle and props a hand on a bystander's shoulder, his focus still on the girl in the ring. "Are you trying to point out how much I've improved? Or are you trying to point out how much your strongest fighter sucks?" He allows the question to hang in the air for only a couple tense seconds, a challenging smirk edging its way over his lips. He angles the microphone towards the audience member beside him and asks a simple, unexpected, "What do you think?"

The man can only stammer, having been put on the spot.

The microphone is angled back. "Yeah, me too. No idea. Enlighten us."

Hook, line, and sinker.

As sure as the sun rose and set, Blaise came out. That was the way it always seemed to work with these deals- you call out, guy shows up. Just like with King, almost a year ago, and Mako wasn't complaining. So far, everything was going according to plan. The people in the crowd who were cheering their blue-eyed hero were looking around, as if expecting Stone or Divine to come at Blaise from behind at any moment, but they were in for a little surprise - tonight, Mako intended to handle business herself. From the onset, at least.

"Wrong on a couple of points, dumbass. First thing," She held up one finger. "You're not improving. You Americans got a saying about blind squirrels and nuts that perfectly applies here. Yeah, you had some good moments. Moments. Don't think that makes you a hero, stud. Almost doesn't count. Second," She held up another finger, as her eyes began to narrow. "'Strongest fighter'? Strength doesn't mean jack shit. I've beat Stone before. So. Fucking. What? You think that means shit to me?"

"As a matter of fact, I do!," chirps Blaise.

He takes a moment to pat the audience member's back before drifting more to the center of the aisle again.

"I think it matters enough that you'd rush the ring just before she gave in to me. You knew I was proving in front of aaall theeese people," he turns a slow spin, free arm outstretched to indicate everyone, "just how mortal your little group is, and it didn't just scare you once! It scared you twice!"

He takes a few steps closer to the ring, his smirk growing along with that defiant spark behind those bright blue eyes. "See, I thought that, knowing everyone would be watching you, you'd keep that panic in check. But all ya did was prove me right! And last time, it didn't even change the result! I won!"

By DQ, which isn't nearly as meaningful, but screw it.

The teen glances left, then right, then back up to Mako. He affects an innocent tilt of his head. "So what's. The. Point of all this?"

Blaise's response earned a laugh from Mako. Not even an evil cackle or anything like that - a straight up, honest-to-goodness laugh. "That's funny. You are a funny little man, Blaise." She pointed his way and shook her finger as she struttered around the ring, moving about like she owned it. "But I wonder how funny you'll be when you're face down in the middle of the ring with a bloody nose and a broken back?"

She made her way back to the front of the ring and ducked down, looking at him from between the ropes like a tiger peering out through her cage. "So, here's the deal - I want to find that out. You're in such a hurry to get your ass kicked by me, I'll give that to you. You and me," She pointed between them. "I Quit match. So I can show the whole world how much of a squealing bitch you are."

The crowd still wasn't exactly thrilled with her, but the prospect of the match definitely got them cheering, rooting for Blaise to show her up. Good. The more excited they got, the more disappointed they'd be when she beat the shit out of him and left him laying in the middle of the ring.

"What lady doesn't appreciate a guy who can make'er laugh?," submits Blaise with a wide grin.

But he digresses. He lets Mako get out what she means to say. And as it happens, it's a match - this time with the leader! "Hah! Last couple times I tangled with a Valkyrie, it looked like it'd be the other way around! So, what, you're demanding a vocal submission finish? Fine by me!"

He turns his back to her and lifts his free arm, engaging the surrounding audience. "Who here wants to hear that scuzzy poser beg for mercy!? Lemme hear ya!"

Mako was fairly familiar with slang words in both Japanese and English, but she wasn't sure she was too familiar with the word 'scuzzy'. Probably just some stupid word he'd made up off the top of his head. Regardless, the crowd was eating it up and egging him on, which was just what she needed them to do. Nothing stoked an eager male fire like peer pressure.

"In fact," She rubbed her chin and put her boot up on the bottom rope. "What do you say we up the ante? Make it mean something. It's not just an 'I Quit' match, it's an 'I Really Quit' match. Loser has to leave Tension. Forever."

That got the crowd pumping to a new level, for all the obvious reasons, and Mako nodded their way.

Oh.

Wait.

What?

Blaise blinks slowly out at the roaring audience. Her words have barely had time to sink in for him, and they're already demanding he has to do it. But this is his life; wrestling is his life. Tension picked him up when the last federation dropped him. Without Tension, he doesn't have anywhere to go. Moreover, without Tension, he's out of a job. He could be deported over this. He could lose everything.

"DO! IT! DO! IT! DO! IT!"

Blaise turns around to the ring, the humor gone from his face. He stares up at the cocky biker. His frame rises as he draws in a slow inhale, and sighs it out again tensely. His fingers wrap around the grip of his microphone a little tighter, and his free hand lifts to wave down the audience, shushing them.

A hush falls over the stadium.

The microphone is raised.

"You're on."

The arena explodes with energy. Amidst the crescendo, a defiant smile finds the teen's face. Without another word, he turns to stalk up the ramp to take his leave.