Trust Judgement, Trust Championships.

The now former Unified World Tag Team Champions, The Next Gen Renegades, walk down the hallways of the backstage area. The show is over, they lost to Lipnick & Reeves. Despite that and most of all despite CloudCutter’s (formerly Respawn) many mistakes, they’re walking together still as a unit, still as friends. There’s pain behind all the steps they take, physical and emotional from the intense four weeks they’ve both had. Yet tomorrow is another day, tomorrow is the time to upgrade. They trust each other, obviously, they’re former tag champs. But they also made the mistake of trusting something else, trusting a bit foolish thing really,

trusting the idea that the new champs wouldn’t pay them another visit.

From behind with no concept of dignity and respect toward the men they went to war with, the NEW champions mug them from behind! Reeves with a running yakuza kick STRAIGHT to the back of Young’s head, Lipnick with a running forearm to the back of CloudCutter’s head. Both men are immediately stunned and caught off guard, crashing into walls and trying to grab anything to hold themselves up. Which, of course, doesn’t help them because the assault only continues. Reeves continues to absolutely kick and knee the hell out of Jay and Lipnick continues to slap and bang the head of Johnny around with only one hand, as the other is holding the very deadly weapon known as a sledgehammer.

Before long, both men are already very much dismantled from the rapid assault. Young stays laid near a wall, using it to hold himself up only slightly. His partner however, is on his knees before Lipnick who’s kneeling down to see eye to eye with him.

John Lipnick:
You’ve made three fatal mistakes, Mr. CloudSpawn! The latter two well, y'all have no gold anymore so I’ll ex them out from my own mind, your partner over there, I ain't so sure if he can forgive ya for botching that hurricanrana then underestimating John Lipnick’s ring IQ.

Now,  I ain’t one for braggin the obvious, but I beat you under two minutes and the very next time we see ya you got a whole new game! You’re clean shaven! Whole new gear that looks mighty fine if I could say so myself, but most of all a new mentality. You’re a new Johnny, not the Johnny that lost in a minute and thirty seconds, so you thought anyway. I’m all about second chances, look at Ace! He got new muscle on em, he got a new brotha to help him out.

But but but BUUUT…

You turned my zero to a one, my 13-0 to a 13-1, by not even pinning me. Don’t think I have anything against Ace for that, forgiveness is my speciality and he understands I forgave him. My forgiveness is really really important Johnny, so, imagine how much of a spit in the face it is to me that you get a whole new identity and try to begin over when I can’t begin over. I can’t erase that loss, and I care so so much about presentation. Sure, being undefeated in single matches works great for me, but just y’know…

That one in my record really really bothers me and if it bothers me, I’m gonna fix it. You gave me an one, I’m taking an one from you. It’s fair.

Lipnick pretends he’s stepping up to the batter’s plate, he’s going for a homerun but the baseball for some reason looks like CloudCutter’s stomach here. John takes two heavy breaths and wiggles the sledgehammer up and down in his hands, adjusting to the weight. Lipnick points up to the nonexistent outfield with his left hand, a gesture that makes Ace giggle.

Which gives Jay Young the perfect chance to lunge at his partner and his assaulter for the save! He grits his teeth and moves like a bullet toward Lipnick! He will save his tag partner, who he just declared he’d focus on competing with!

So he thought, after all, match 3 of Supremacy #65 proved that just one small microsecond can make the whole difference. One late microsecond of a save can make you lose a streak, one late microsecond of a save can make you lose one of your best friends.

The sledgehammer’s uncovered head collides straight into the gut of the newly arrived CloudCutter like a homerun swing that gets the ball straight out the park. The sound of 20 pounds of steel breaking someone’s insides is a disgusting sound, so is the sound that the person that’s hit with it makes. One very loud grunt followed with the sound of him falling limp against concrete with no restraint from his body trying to stay standing. Young? Well, he was just a few inches away from grabbing his partner and pushing him out the way. Too bad Ace caught him.

Jay Young:
Y-YOU…

BASTARD!

Moving with nothing but his blood boiling, he doesn’t break free he just POWERS free from Reeves again. With his brain empty, his act of revenge isn’t coordinated in the slightest, just a wild haymaker straight to the cheek of John which sends him stumbling backwards and dropping the sledgehammer from recoil. Then UNLIKE match 3 of Supremacy #65 someone does manage to make the save and it’s Ace Reeves who clobbers Young with a roundhouse straight to the left side of his ribs. Then he follows it with a punch to the back of the head and double axe handles to his back! Continued blows but Young still keeps himself from looking up at the lights, he eventually manages to turn around to block some of the stiff shots from Reeves! But behind him the infamously hard to keep down Lipnick has his hands wrapped around the wooden shaft of the sledgehammer, ready to go 2-2 for the night. That is until... wait, WAIT WAIT

AMBER REED?! THE UNDISPUTED CHAMPION IS HERE!

Making the clutch save that John or Ace didn’t expect at all, she comes running in and with all her speed sends Lipnick yelling for Reeves to get back over to him! The Gravity Manipulator obeys, absolutely confused by who could incite that sort of reaction from his savior, then he sees HER. The holder of the Undisputed Championship, the same belt that helped cause Ace’s downfall! He’s ready to lash out and continue before Lipnick places his arm in front of him and begins walking away from Reed and the now recovering Jay Young. Lipnick and Reed lock eyes but there is no manipulative comment or anger inducing jab from Lipnick, just the undefeated singles competitor for once looking outclassed. Instead, they make their ways the hell outta there. Young is about to follow suit until he remembers and hears the loud coughing and groaning of Johnny who’s holding his very wounded insides. Even though both Reed and Young competed just six or seven days ago for that Undisputed Championship, the monstrous deed of Lipnick and if his partner is ever going to recover is what he's completely focused on at the moment.