Ooh wee wee, ooh la la... or something like that

With my heart pounding inside of my chest so hard I could feel it in my throat, I hook my fingers into the corners of Mr Bubbles’ mouth and yank back with everything I have. It has been a one-sided match from the beginning, but his size has made it a bit difficult to keep the upper hand. Of course, using my veteran savvy and unequaled technical proficiency, I was able to slow him down enough to get him into position and make him smile. Now all I need is for him to tap, to realize that he was in an uphill battle with skates on since the bell rang.

As I continue to lean back further, I cannot tell if Kennade's focus is directed at me or her Stand. All I know is that she looks worried, but if I want to pull this off her face is the last thing I need to have on my mind. No, my focus has to remain on applying more pressure…make his damn lips reach his ears. With drool dripping off my fingers, I give one last tug and swear I hear flesh rip before the sound of the bell dances in my ears.

Jimmy taps me on the shoulder, so I relax a bit before my eyes meet KStarr's. Bubbles didn't quit, she is the one that knew he did not have it in him so she made the tough decision. Definitely the right choice, if you ask me.

I roll out under the bottom rope, landing on my feet with the agility of a cat and stare back into the ring. The way she's staring at me and he's glaring at me, I know the result isn't what they were expecting when the match was announced.

Not with the record I have had recently.

Still, I know that I need to turn things around.

I have to get back on track and make my way up the rankings to face people like Nate and the neck collector again.

Lindsay has a shiny new toy in Stronk Godson, so I'm going to need to give her a reason to notice me again. I need her to realize that all these new faces showing up around here – and even some of the old ones – pale in comparison to what I can bring to the table.

Yeah, I might even start to believe it myself.

=-=-=-=-=

“Well, I appreciate the heads up,” with my cell pressed against my ear, I continued to speak as my ex and daughter stared at me from across the table. “but I knew the risk when I took her with me to London.”

I paused for a moment, as the person on the other end of the line asked me a question.

“I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.” Another pause, this one even shorter than the last. “Alright, I appreciate you giving me a heads up.”

“Cats out of the bag?”

I hadn't even pulled the phone away from my ear when she asked the question she already knew the answer to, so a nod was the only confirmation she needed.

I knew it wouldn't be long before someone found out about the little family I had tucked away in San Antonio, but I put it off like I always do. Now I'm sitting here with my back against the wall as time continues to tick away.

“You should just rip off the bandaid,” she said, flashing a curt smile at our daughter.

Victoria has had her concerns about people finding out that Olivia was my daughter, because she knows first hand what this business is like and the extent some people will go to hurt me using the people I care about. A thing of the past, I had told her when she brought it up. The times when people would kidnap your kid, or torture a spouse to get you to do what they wanted only happened in the old days. Today's PRIME is different. Here, people are going to hurt or maim me before they would go after someone in my life.

Telling her something and believing it myself were two totally different things though.

Apart from my own distrust of my enemies, I really wasn't sure why I hadn't made the news official. I was super proud to be able to call Olivia my daughter, and despite my flaws she never hesitated to call me her father.

“Should have ripped it off months ago,” I replied, then turned my attention to Olivia before I continued. “Are you going to be able to control yourself and stay out of trouble when we do?”

“Trouble found me,” she answered with a quick wit that rivaled my own. “It just figured out too late that it should have never come looking.”

I really love this girl.

Her mom too, but the side eye she gave me right now would not even be classified as bombastic. She has not been happy with her daughter's attitude as of late, and considered me to be the source of said attitude change.

Cannot say I blame her, I've been a bit of an asshole myself over the years. I've just never been the type of person to accept my part in making a bad situation worse, and don't plan on changing that anytime soon.

“No more fighting,” Victoria pointed her index finger in our daughter's direction as she spoke, getting suspended from school once was enough for her. “I don't care what someone has to say about you or your father, you find a teacher and explain what's happening. If it continues, and the teacher isn't doing anything to correct the situation…”

“That's when we'll talk about how you handled it yourself,” I interjected.

“No,” Victoria sighed audibly, her own frustration with me had started to rise. “That's when we talk about what the next step is going to be. Violence is not going to be the answer. Is that understood?”

“Yes, ma'am,” we both answered at once, then looked at each other and laughed. It was pretty obvious which one of us Victoria was talking to, but I didn't want to take the chance I was wrong. It at least got her to smile for a moment.

“I'll try my best, mom.”

“And I'll do my best not to encourage it,” the smile was already on my face, it couldn't be helped. Still, we had such a good time in London, and I felt Victoria and I had gotten a little closer. I didn't want anything to change that, unless it was to make that gap even smaller.

As far as I knew she wasn't seeing anyone else, and I didn't need to fly out to Paris until the night before the show, so my plan was to spend as much time together as we possibly could. I needed her to know that they were my priority, and that I considered her to be more than just the mother of my child.

“So who's up for a movie,” I asked nonchalantly, and hoped we could focus on something else. I could deal with the rumors later, I had at least another week before they ended up in Rumor Mills. I'll take care of it before then, and they'll never make the light of day.

I have plenty of time, just need to make sure I don't wait until the last minute.

=-=-=-=-=

“Why are you ignoring Zapp?”

“What?”

I looked up from my plate of French toast. My second plate of French toast of the night, since the first one ended up a sticky mess on my pants when Zapp flipped it out of my hands. I don't think I've had anything sticky on my pants since 11th grade, when Mrs. Gunderson's breasts had brushed against my shoulder when she picked up my test and I pretty much lost it.

“Why would you say that?”

“I said that out loud,” I was certain I hadn't, but needed to confirm.

“Yes, but don't know why you would say what.”

Relief washed over me as Johnny took a seat on the other side of the table.

“My question so crystal clear, bird would fly into it with beak.”

“Oh, right, yeah…” an awkward smile peeked out from behind my scar and made Johnny wince slightly. “the whole Morty thing.”

Johnny wasn't aware that we ran into each other already, or why he was interested in having an audience with me to begin with.

“He wants to be called Zapp,” Johnny corrected me. “I tell you this already.”

“Zaaaapp,” heavy emphasis on the ah sound for effect, as I placed my fork on the table. Once again interrupted from my breakfast for dinner, I attempted to remain calm. “Wanted to have a sit down with me so he could offer me an envelope of cash to turn the other way tonight. I can't do that, Johnny.”

“Once a Bandit,” Johnny frowned, the disappointment clear on his pale white face. “Always a Bandit.”

“Exactly,” I pointed at him with a quick nod, an acknowledgment to his acknowledgement. “The nerve of him to think that I was just going to drop everything because he was back, and get the band back together like he's the missing piece we needed to finish the puzzle.”

“I thought same too,” Johnny chimed in with a couple of pennies I didn't ask for, but what he said next was what caught me off guard. “Even Frank and Dom were happy to hear Zapp back.”

Despite the sudden way I dismissed them when I decided to join the Bandits, they still ‘ADORED’ me. I knew Frank had tried to reach out; checking up on me he had said, but I thought for sure Dom was done with me.

“Not going to happen, Johnny,” my words burst the last bubble that hovered over his head. “it's better off this way. I've never been the guy needing to be the center of attention anyway. It felt nice to be adored, but I need to head back into the shadows of far greater men where I belong.”

“Nobody puts Tony in the corner.”

“I'm putting myself in the corner, Johnny,” he's always been supportive, and while I appreciate that – he doesn't understand why I'm stepping out of the spotlight. “I've had my time at the top, made the hall of fame, and held countless titles. When I brought the G.A.S. together, I had convinced myself that I had what it takes to give it another go…that I could actually win the Universal championship.”

I paused briefly, and allowed myself a moment of reflection before I continued.

“I realize now that it is not going to happen, so I'm going to go back to not caring about where I am in the standings. I'm not going to worry about title opportunities, unless Troy decides to bring the tag titles back because Bobby and I would be a lock to win those.”

A joke, because I have a better shot at winning the Universal championship than PRIME has of the tag titles returning.

“I know Zapp is the reason we even brought you in and you two…”

A knock pulled my attention toward its source, and I realized what time it was. I walked over and pulled the door open to find The Anglo Lunchbox and Cardboard Dan Ryan staring back at me, and the only thing I could think about was my damn French toast.

=-=-=-=-=

“The Poor Whoresmen.”

Jonathan Rhine's favorite wrestler.

“I have to say I'm impressed by the creativity.”

The man with the Gazillion dollar Grin.

“That may be the only thing that impressed me though.”

Tony Gamble, and the true star of the show.

“Not to say that you're nothing special, Harvey. I'm sure you're one hell of a stuntman, and have put your life on the line for some of Hollywood's top stars.”

That's right!!!11!1337!!

“I'm talking more about the group as a whole, because I really don't know much about you apart from what I've seen from your matches. Let me start by saying, you've got a sack on you stepping into the ring at your age with limited expertise.”

Finally, The Stool has returned to Gamble’s promo.

“Guess you can teach old dogs new tricks. Or in your case, get drunk off your ass and hope for the best.”

In all his wooden greatness, with legs longer than Darin Zion's tenure in PRIME and a face people just want to sit on.

“I'm sure you'll end up getting your feet under you, figure shit out, and become a terror in the ring. Hell, it might start in the ring against me. Seriously, I've been more of a Permascar Sortastar than a Superstar lately, and my win against Mr Bubbles was probably more of a fluke than a sign of things to come.”

Still, when he's around, Tony plays second fiddle. Sort of like everywhere else Tony is, so he's probably used to it.

“So what if you couldn't beat Coral in fifteen minutes, no one else could either. It's a tough thing to do, and why he chose that stipulation, so don't beat yourself up so much that you end up drinking yourself into a stupor.”

One time when he was in action movies, he was used to smash across the back of Chuck Norris and he refused to break. Rumor has it, Chuck fractured his collarbone, but when questioned he chose not to comment. Tony is still here, in case you forgot.

“Having been on a team with Daytona Dimebag, I'm glad the Bandits and I had such an influence on him that he went and formed a merry band of misfit toys of his own.”

You should never forget, though.

“I hope you don't get lost in the crowd, Harvey. Unable to compete for screen time amongst guys like STRONK, Diamonds, and Dick that live up to the name as whoresmen while you're playing the role of the drunk uncle they drag along for comedy relief.”

Because that's what gets you in the end.

“Because if I end up losing to you, and you end up flaking out like Swanny did, it's really going to make me want to rethink what I'm even doing here.”

Forgetting who you're in the ring with.

“So make sure this is what you want, what you really really want.”

=-=-=-=-=

There was something else I needed to do this week, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. 

Oh well, I have a plane to catch. 

Maybe next time.