The consequence...

[Gabriel Ellis]

“That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.”
-William J. H. Boetcker

Thursday, April 14, 2016 10:02AM
Gabriel’s residence in Niles Canyon, just outside of Oakland

“Enough!”

“Stop struggling!”

“I’m fine!”

“There’s a bruise as big as my arm on your back that says otherwise!”

It takes a lot to catch me by surprise. It takes even more to do so and knock me down for anything resembling a count. But in a desperate bid for retribution on perceived impertinence, Alex Jones decided to do what all desperate men do. He resorted to means that he felt would give him an advantage. Luckily for Alex, the referee had seen the attack or else that outcome would have been much different. With the match stopped and having spent energy to deal with Javen right before the attack, the unfortunate truth was I was in no position to strike back. And if that weren’t bad enough, like a true coward he ran and “celebrated” his attack instead of at least attempting to finish the job. If Alex Jones wanted to send a message, it was received loud and clear.

Oh, if only he knew…

Instead of a match with him though, I am to fight one of the newest signees in Justin Harmony. I know what this is. In addition to getting me out of the way for the “hero” to take his spotlight, it’s a warning to me that I’m expendable. Ana does not see me as a champion for reasons I can’t quite comprehend truly. So she pits me against this rookie to humiliate me in the eyes of the public, make me seem less worthy of having a belt around my waist. Yes, a conspiracy for lack of a better word and it’s one that is only going to end up with the proverbial cake in her face. A most amusing sight I must admit.

For now though, I had returned home in spite of the stinging welt on my back. Even on my back, driving my motorcycle irritated it ever more in the open, rushing air. And, of course, as my new advocate, Sue York immediately had me taken to get checked out. A waste of time and hospital resources as they determined no lasting damage had been done. It was Christine, however who had insisted on an ice pad on my bed while she covered my back with ice packs and I’d had enough of the coddling. I rise from my bed and throw on a shirt quickly. Heading out to the front room, I see Sue has made herself comfortable on the couch as she reviews Alex Jones previous statements and matches. She regards me as I appear and watch with folded arms.

“The boy has a mouth, I’ll give him that. Too bad he doesn’t use it to say anything intelligent.”

“I’m not sure he has the ability to process it.”

“Probably why she wears the pants in that relationship.”

I scoff even as more of Alex Jones plays on the TV. I’ve known plenty of men who have been subordinate to their wives or female significant others. It probably plays into the contemporary adage “Happy wife, happy life.” I’ve never believed in it personally, but then again, when taking a look at my current situation, perhaps I’d been approaching that incorrectly. After a couple minutes, I simply turn off the constant playback.

“He’s not the one I need to focus on this time though.”

Christine approaches from my room after cleaning up the mess made by my earlier discontent. “Perhaps not, but that match is much closer than it appears to be. You can’t afford to go in ill prepared for something like that last stunt.”

“If he’s as dedicated to the belt as he claims he won’t try it. For now, I’ve got to take on this Harmony guy.”

“Well, not that it’s any real shock, but it’s pretty obvious that this Justin fellow has little actual ‘harmony’ on his mind. Still, I did a little digging into him. He’s nothing special except in his own mind. Certainly he’s no match for the likes of you.”

It’s in Sue’s job description to flatter me and promote me as much as possible, but she does raise a valid point. At this moment, I’m undefeated in VWS, albeit my most recent victory has an asterisk on it. This Justin Harmony has yet to prove himself anywhere it seems. So he will be quite apt to make the largest statement he can.

“Perhaps not, but he cannot risk another incident like Tuesday.”

“I’ll be fine. Justin will only be looking to make his name after all. He is more likely to run once he sees he is outclassed in every conceivable way.”

“There, you see, nothing to worry about. Gabriel will have everything under control this Tuesday. Now I’ve got to handle a few things in town before I head back home. Just wait and see Gabriel. This partnership will be to everyone’s benefit. Except for anyone who wants to be in your way.”

I nod as Sue stands and gathers her things. Sue leaves and the sound of her car driving off follows only minutes after as Christine and I simply stare at each other for a moment. Finally, she moves for the couch and I head into the kitchen. My back is starting to bother me a little more than I would honestly care to admit. Perhaps an ice pack is in order after all...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, April 16, 2016 1:31 PM
Boothby's Gym and Training Center, Oakland, CA

Fortunately, it seems all my back needed was a few days rest and it seems to have healed rather nicely. The sting to my pride will take much longer to heal, but that too will come in time. There were plenty of matters for me to attend to while I was home. One was helping Christine out with a matter that was rather personal for her. She may have not really earned this assistance, but I couldn’t deny that she would need someone to help her through this particular time. Her first mentor had passed rather unexpectedly which had led her to my door a couple weeks ago. Now there were matters that had apparently been left to her by him. The lawyer had met us at the gym Boothby had almost literally built from the ground up, a small, but highly respected place with more to offer than most of the larger gyms that had started to spring up in the area.

“So everything checked out and the will was quite clear. He left the gym and all proprietaries to you Ms. Willyerd.”

“This is… a lot to process.”

“I understand and I have contacted all the clients who have agreed to return as soon as this place reopens so I figured you would want to know as soon as possible.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

The lawyer nods and hands Christine the keys to the building. Christine can really only stare at the keys in her hand as the lawyer smiles and walks off. Finally Christine looks up and around the gym with its various training and exercise equipment. Much of it is in need of repair, but most still has use left before it will need any replacing. I take a look around and nod.

“This will be a great responsibility.”

“It will and it means Boothby trusted me enough to train others as he once trained me. I’ve never felt more in place. But…”

“But?”

“I’m going to need help. If I have learned anything recently, it’s that I’m good on my own, but I am better when I have someone with me.”

My lips purse together as she looks at me. For someone who prides herself on being able to let her actions do more than her words, Christine has said a lot more in two sentences than I think she has said in her entire life. Second time I got roped into something just because I was supposed to listen to something from someone I trusted.

“What do you want from me?”

“You trained me after Boothby did. I want you to train others here as well.”

“Under your direction?”

“I’ll leave the training decisions to you, Gabe.”

Christine catches that last word in her mouth. The last time she had called me that was… a long time ago. Almost another life. She looks away and starts walking away. I catch her quickly and she looks back at me confused.

“What we need then is to establish the training regimen. And we’ll do it together.”

“I thank you.”

“Inspirational leaders need to have a winning mentality in order to inspire respect. It is hard to trust in the leadership of someone who is half-hearted about their purpose, or only sporadic in focus or enthusiasm.”
-Sebastian Coe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi folks, Sue York here, speaking for my client Gabriel Ellis this time. Now right off the bat you probably noticed that unlike many advocates I didn’t introduce my client with any taglines or nicknames. That would be because he has no need of anything of that sort. His actions speak so much louder than his words do and he has already proven that not only by becoming the number one contender for the World title in his debut match, but by being undefeated in his run thus far. There is no other man on the roster that can make that same claim. Certainly not his opponents at Uprising and most definitely not the upstart he is facing at the coming Tenacity.

“Greatness Personified” is just another moniker that my client will be only too happy to disprove. Just another reason that my client doesn’t need to use one. I mean really, when you are sever feet, 365 pounds of sheer destructive force and have run roughshod over everyone and everything in your path what good is a nickname? Is it supposed to make you seem intimidating? Just because you give yourself some glorified label that was out of fashion by the 1990’s doesn’t make you any better. If anything it makes you worse because you’ve built yourself on this cliffside that’s collapsing faster than cliffside erosion. Oh sorry, that might be a little too advanced for you. It will be collapsing faster than Kim Kardashian’s ridiculous champagne photoshoot.

Mister Justin Harmony. What a quaint little name you have there. Perhaps you’ll sing a little medley for my client. Get a little choir going to sing your praises on the way to the ring as if you actually had any accolades to come in with. In all seriousness though, who is Justin Harmony? Someone who VWS just picked up off the street and said “hey we need you to take someone down a peg”? Did they not tell you mister what would be waiting for you at the other end of that rainbow? Or are you that ridiculous combination of brave and stupid that you have convinced yourself you stand a chance?

It doesn’t honestly matter in the end what the answer to these questions may be. The fact remains that my client will be at Tenacity and he will run through Justin Harmony as easily as he has run through everyone who has gotten in the ring against him. As the great bard wrote, opportunity knocks but once and this is going to be Justin’s one shot, wasted on a match that was set up only as an attempt to “teach a lesson” to my client. Well, there’s only one lesson that’s going to be learned and that’s on the part of Justin Harmony. The lesson is one that soon Alex Jones and Jevan will both be learning at the upcoming Uprising, but Justin will make a good message boy for my client...

He’s not a good guy and he will destroy you if you stand in his way.