Quinning

[Deleted]

[Supposedly the time between WrestleFest and the first Prime show of 2019 was time for the wrestlers of Prime to relax, take a break, refresh and recharge ahead of yet another long year of wrestling. No doubt some of Jonty Kelly's contemporaries would be doing just that, sitting around at home, feet up on the couch, enjoying what they perceived to be a well-earned rest, content with how their years had transpired. Nothing could be further from the truth when it came to Jonty.  

He was incensed with himself at just how many opportunities to have names crossed off his Hitlist.  

He was furious at how he'd let his title show at Hardcore Revolution slip through his fingers, even after all this time had passed.  

He was getting annoyed at how much of a thorn in his side Killjoy Ito and Tommy Love were becoming.  

With all these thoughts swirling around in his head, time for rest and recuperation simply was not an option. Which is why, even though this was supposed to be a break, we find Jonty at the local gym in Manhattan training as hard as he always did. The concept of time off was something that needed to be earned and if he was being frank with himself, Jonty knew he hadn't earned anything as of yet. Yeah, he'd managed to become number one contender for the Prime championship so shortly after joining Prime, but that was akin to a participation trophy. Jonty had had some fantastic matches already in Prime, but with no actual accolades and few names crossed off the Hitlist, there was nothing to show for it. 

Perhaps more importantly, Jonty felt nothing but anger when he thought about how his first six months in the EWC had gone. He hadn’t established himself as much as he would’ve liked, he could tell people were still sleeping on him, when they should have the fear of God in them at the very prospect of facing him. Truthfully, he didn’t know whether all this training he was doing in his break would change any of that, but: 

a) He needed to do something to change things. Nothing was going to change by him sitting on his couch all day, binge watching Netflix, convincing himself this rest was earned and would do him good and that everything would be magically better and different in 2019. Sitting on his couch and resting was simply delusional to Jonty. Things needed to be done, he needed to improve to stand any chance of getting his Hitlist checked off 

and  

b) to Jonty, this was how he punished himself when he wasn’t happy with how things were going. He forced himself to be pushed to his body’s limits…and that was only the warmup. It was brutal, Jonty would happily acknowledge that, and he’d been told many a time that he’d burn out, that he’d overwork his body and be at risk of a serious injury, but Jonty did not care. If an injury happened, that was simply his body telling him he wasn’t tough enough and needed to get tougher 

Jonty was in the middle of sprinting like his life depended on it on a treadmill, a part of his cardio workout. He was completely in the zone, locked in and focused on running. To Jonty, everything and everyone else around him did not even exist. He wore noise-cancelling headphones to tune every sound around him out. It was only when he got the feeling he was being watched that he snapped back into reality. Not wanting to stop to take a look, he simply glanced over his shoulder and saw nothing 

“Focus, Jonty, no time for that shit” Kelly thought to himself 

Jonty tried to refocus, get himself back into the zone, when suddenly the treadmill he was running on abruptly stopped, causing Jonty to fall right off the back of the treadmill, sending his headphone flying across the room in the process as well. It took Jonty a couple of seconds to regain his composure and when he did so, he found himself looking up at a woman in a black t-shirt and jeans 

In her hands was the cord to his treadmill that she’d presumably pulled out]

Woman: Finally, I got your attention 

Kelly: What the fuck are you doing? Are you crazy? 

Woman: Yeah, a little 

Kelly: What kind of psychotic bitch pulls the cord on a moving treadmill with someone on it? 

Woman: And what kind of a man are you to not notice a hot young thing like me standing literally two feet from you trying to get your attention? It was the only thing I could do 

[Kelly picked himself up off the floor, thankfully not hurt in any way]

Kelly: What do you want then? 

Woman: Well, I’ve gotta say I’ve followed you so far in EWC and I- 

Kelly: Save it, toots, I’m not giving you a picture or my autograph after you could’ve killed me 

Woman: Woah, woah woah, who said anything about a picture or autograph? No no, I’m after something a little more personal than that 

[Kelly looked the woman up and down. Her actions with the treadmill aside, she was pretty hot] 

Kelly: Well, I suppose you could make it up to me for that little stunt you pulled by giving me an extra cardio workout…

Woman: Don’t flatter yourself. How about you just shut up and let me speak. My name is Quinn Collins. I used to be a wrestler just like you. I was The Bitch from Brooklyn…well I mean I still am a bitch from Brooklyn, but not THE Bitch from- you know what, I’m rambling. Anyway, early last year, I suffered a neck injury. It was serious, serious enough that it meant that as soon as I recovered, I was forced to retire because the doctors told me it was too risky to continue wrestling 

Kelly: Look lady, Quinn, bitch, whatever you want to be called, that’s a nice little sob story, but I’ve got training that needs to be done so 

[Kelly turned to leave, but Collins yanked on his arm, pulling him back and close to her] 

Collins: I can help you put an end to Tommy Love and Killjoy Ito 

[Quinn had piqued Jonty’s interest]

Kelly: And how do you plan on doing that?

Collins: Well, if you’d let me finish the first time, now that I can’t wrestle anymore, I want to remain in the business as a manager. I’ve seen quite a bit of your work and I’m impressed 

Kelly: As you should be 

Collins: I see a lot of me in you. Not in a master and apprentice type of way, but in a we have a lot in common way. We both liked to keep to ourselves, you’ve openly said you don’t like working with other wrestlers and I couldn’t stand teaming up with anybody when I wrestled either. We both love to beat people up. I can see it in your eyes when you wrestle, this desire, this hunger to tear your opponent limb from limb, to leave him knocked out cold in the middle of the ring, the exact same hunger I had when I wrestled. Now, I may not have had a Hitlist as comprehensive as yours, but there were certain individuals that I wanted to put on the shelf and I did just so 

These similarities are why I was attracted to you when I was looking at who to approach to be my first client. So, here’s my offer: I want to manage you for the rest of your time in the EWC. I promise you, I will keep you focused on your goal of finishing your Hitlist. I’ll aid you in getting through the G1. But most importantly, I’m here to even the odds when you inevitably face Ito and Love again, as well as with anyone else you need me to. I understand how you operate, you’re a man of great pride, who wants to get things done by himself, without assistance and I will let you do that…all I am is an insurance policy to make sure the deck is never stacked against you 

Oh, and if you still think I’m just a pretty face, that I can’t get physical, you just watch, I’ll take care of anyone you need, because I’m a bad bitch from Brooklyn… So, what do you say? 

[Kelly stood there for a moment, trying to take in everything that Collins had just told him. Initially, he was apprehensive, but the more and more he thought about, the more he warmed to the idea of having a manager, especially one like Quinn Collins. She had a little crazy in her and that, for some reason, was what appealed to him the most. There was a chance she might be bullshitting him, but it seemed like an awful lot of work to go through just to bullshit. She seemed to know him fairly well, she’d even namedropped Ito and Love.  

Just to be sure, Kelly grabbed his phone and did a quick google search for Collins’ name…her story seemed to check out. A smile unknowingly crept across Jonty’s face] 

Collins: Is that a yes, then? 

Kelly: You’re fucking crazy, you know that? You show up here, you pull the cord on my treadmill, you give me this big spiel and you expect me to believe you and take you up on your offer…. I don’t know who’s crazier, you or me for agreeing to it 

Collins: Really? 

Kelly: If you’re as big of a badass bitch as you’ve talked yourself up to me, you’ll be a valuable asset to me in evening the playing field with Ito and Love and all the other wrestler/manager combinations I’ll face along the way 

Collins: Believe me, honey, you won’t regret this. Just don’t get any…amorous idea, yeah? This is strictly business 

Kelly: As long as you don’t get any ideas about giving me any extra help for my matches. I’m my own man, I want to cross people off my Hitlist by my own accord. You simply even the odds when necessary, no interfering in matches you have no business interfering in 

Collins: Understood…Well now that we’ve got that sorted, I’ll let you get back to your workout, plus I’ve got a party with some Giants players that as a Giants fan, I’m not missing for the world 

Kelly: You’re a Giants fan, too? I feel better about my decision already 

[As Quinn left and Jonty returned to the workout that had been so rudely interrupted, two questions swirled through his mind: What the fuck have I just done and how did she find me here? ]