Marzia Servelli vs. Jonathan Steele - I Quit Match

[CaptainL]

No matter how much it hurt - either physically, from fighting against the pressure of the baseball bat bearing down on her throat, or emotionally to have to listen to an old friend and mentor belittle her like this - Marzia had to keep fighting. That was what all the work she'd put in was all about. She had to grow stronger, to conquer her fears, to show the world she wouldn't be a joke any more! If she let herself falter now, it would all be for naught. She had to turn this around!

When she hurled the microphone straight into Jonathan's face, Marzia smirked, satisfied with her efforts. She watched as he came crashing to his knee, and she felt as though all she had hoped to say, all she had hoped to prove, was at last coming through loud and clear. She'd been faced with a challenge greater than even what she had anticipated going into this match, and still she had refused to bend her knee. She'd looked into the very face that told her she was nothing, and that she'd always be nothing...and told it to back off! "HAH!" she cheered, jabbing a finger at Jonathan. "You see that!? You see? You're not going to scare me with your stupid little act! I'm better than this! How's it feel, huh?" She took a step closer, getting in his face. "How's it feel to watch everything blow up in your face!?"

But Jonathan wasn't even slowed down. He got back up, staring Marzia dead in the eyes - and when he did, the Italian swallowed a gulp. In spite of it all, in spite of how hard she had fought back, Jonathan wouldn't go down. If that didn't work, could anything? And when she listened to his words, that twisted the knife even further. When Marzia heard what Jonathan had to say to her - that she was a traitor, that she'd turned her back on them - it made her freeze in her tracks.

"W-What?! No, no...that's not true..." She wanted to believe what she said. She wanted to shout back in defiance, refusing to even think of Jonathan being right, and she wanted to rub that in his face. And yet, she couldn't. Her voice grew weaker and more hesitant with each word that passed her lips, and her stance began to soften. It was true. She had run away from everyone she'd ever cared about, who ever cared about her, all in the name of feeling better about herself. She'd been selfish. She'd thrown everything she had away to chase after something better. And in all her foolishness, Marzia had thought it wasn't going to catch up to her...until it did.

She clutched at her head, burying her fingers in her hair as she attempted to block out the sound of his voice. "NO!! You're lying!!" she shouted back, squeezing her eyes shut to block the tears that had begun to form. "I just...I hadn't heard from them in s-so long...why wouldn't I think they would j-just pack up and leave!?" But no matter what she said, she knew they were only excuses. She knew she was lying - and that Jonathan was right.

In all of this, Marzia wasn't watching her back, caught up as she was with trying to stand up to Jonathan. That was her greatest mistake. She barely even noticed as Lyra and Kanon both retrieved kendo sticks from beneath the ring, and when they moved into place behind her, standing side by side and ready to strike. Kanon looked back at Lyra and nodded her head, raising her stick up; when Lyra followed suit, they would land their blows at the same time, right across Marzia's back!

[Pegasus]

The strikes on Marzia’s back came in full force as Lyra and Kanon unleashed hell on the Italian’s back as Jonathan just watched. A little bit of boos escaped from the crowd as Jonathan essentially didn’t need to wrestle and could just let his disciples do the ground work for him. He put up both of his hands to call it quits on the assault before glaring down Marzia. Jonathan then turned towards the entrance ramp smirking and raised both of his outstretched arms.

“Gail Whittaker! Where are you? Your friend needs some assistance! Where are you?! Don’t you wish to help your friend? Gail! Gail! Gail, where are you? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!” Jonathan called out for Marzia’s tag team partner knowing the punk wrestler couldn’t hear his calls as she wasn’t there tonight.

Jonathan then turned around at the bowing Marzia as he knelt down looking down with his bright red eyes.

“Looks like the shoe didn’t come on the other foot this time. You saved her and that started this whole debacle. But, I guess she’s not here to return the favor. Who betrayed you now?” Jonathan asked.

Lyra then used the kendo stick to wrap around Marzia’s neck and hold her up as Jonathan grabbed the microphone pointing up the ramp.

“For those that work in production, play the footage,” Jonathan demanded.

The titantron started coming alive with static until full color set in showing Marzia locking in a STF hold on Gail winning their match and then transitioned to Marzia backstage about to run out in order to turn heel in order to help Gail recover. The scene then showed Marzia in her new persona bullying around an alien girl much smaller than her and the crowd fully booing her. The next scene showed Marzia standing up to her former friend, Alizeh Midori, and their war in the ring. Finally, it showed the promo battle between Jonathan and Marzia as Jonathan showed Marzia these moments that led up to this.

If Marzia thought she could resist seeing, Lyra knelt down to confront her.

“Don’t run away from your truth. You have become the evil from within. Evil from an abyss of hatred and influence. Those that sin are eternally tied to misfortune. You are no different that the demons you want to fight,” Lyra muttered in Marzia’s ears.

“Not to mention, the side of yourself you wish to forsaken,” Jonathan stated as he snapped his fingers beginning his psychological mind games.

Just like against the Heartbreakers, Marzia would only have the solitude of her mind to listen to the garble coming into audible earshot. Instead of crowd laughter, it was a voice. A voice that felt so familiar to here.

“Get out of my mind! You don’t belong here!”

It was her own voice!

[CaptainL]

Both Kanon and Lyra had struck at the same time, and both of their sticks came down hard across Marzia's back. The Italian girl felt her spine sink inward as she threw back her head, letting loose a scream. Almost immediately, she bit her lip. She felt ashamed that she'd cried out, that she'd betrayed that much emotion - that much weakness. She couldn't let herself be pushed around like this; she had to be stronger. But not even her pursuit of strength, of courage, of a Marzia she could feel proud of being, could save her now.

Nor could it save her from what Jonathan was about to do next. She had been left panting for breath, trying to overcome the aches and pains in her back, but as he raised his hands to his mouth, Marzia's eyes grew a little wider, and she looked up. At first, she was confused as to what his plan was - but soon enough, it all fell into place, and when it did, it left her jaw dropping. In calling out to Gail, begging her to come to her aid, Jonathan had struck a blow directly to her heart.

In that moment, Marzia felt small. She had grown more confident - she'd come to feel that with Gail on her side, she was unstoppable, that she wouldn't be held down by all the things that used to cow her into silence. But what could she do when she didn't have Gail? Now, she was in over her head. She had no options - and, as the icy sensation crept into her bones, she realized that she had never grown at all. She wasn't any more independent. She'd just depended on Gail the way she'd previously depended on Jonathan, on Ryan, and on all the others. And now...Gail was nowhere.

"Shut up!! Nngh...shut UP!!" Marzia roared. She clenched her teeth and shook her head, refusing to give in. "That isn't true, and you KNOW it! She...she wouldn't do that!!" But at the same time, in the back of her mind, she already knew it was a losing battle. Jonathan was right. Her voice cracked with doubt, and tears formed in her eyes. By the time she looked up at the screen, Marzia was shaking. And when she saw what was playing out in front of her, she could feel her skin crawl.

There was her, striking down Ashley Lucas and being greeted with a barrage of boos - the first time she had ever been booed like that. There was her laying into Lara Toshinatsu, torquing at her legs no matter how much she cried and begged for mercy. There was her cursing out Alizeh Midori - the same Alizeh Midori who had inspired her and urged her to pursue her craft, now being shown nothing but scorn. All those times, Marzia thought this was who she was now. That she was better - stronger, braver, with nothing to hold her back. Now, though, the woman Marzia seeing on the screen might have looked like herself...but it didn't feel like herself. This wasn't who she was. If anything, this was more like all the fearsome heels that had taken advantage of Marzia's shy demeanor, the kind of people she wanted to stand up to. There was no time it was clearer to Marzia than now - in her desperation to become stronger, she'd become the very thing she'd feared. For those few seconds, it wasn't the same Marzia who was looking up at the screen. It was the old Marzia - the one who had run away.

"N-No...no no no..." Her words of defiance had turned to inarticulate gasps as she tried desperately to cling to some semblance of confidence, of security and self-assuredness, but she could find none. Everything they said just felt so right - as undeniably true as saying the sky was blue. Marzia had turned on everyone - even on herself. She'd left them all behind. Now, she was left to confront all of that.

And then, everything stopped. Marzia couldn't hear the roar of the crowd any more. She could see they were reacting, but they didn't make a sound. She looked back and forth, asking herself if she was dreaming. Instead, all she could hear was a voice - a voice she was sure was hers. But that couldn't be. That was impossible. That didn't make sense!

"W-W-What's going on!? Who's there!?" Marzia cried out, glancing all around her. She hissed through her teeth, grasping her temples tightly enough to squeeze strands of hair out from between her fingers. "Stop that!! Get out of my head! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!"

[Pegasus]

Marzia had been compromised. The psychological torment was starting to set in as the crowd gasped seeing the once former defiant soul of Marzia grip at her hair like a maniac. On the inside of Marzia’s mind, her own voice was shouting at her and telling her to give up control. However, it started turning more snarkier and more blunt….the complete opposite of how Marzia normally was. Sure, she gained confidence and could be somewhat assertive, but this voice had no hesitation. No stuttering. No lack of confidence.

“Run away, little coward.”

“I was here long before you changed your style. It’s nice, but definitely lacking color.”

“I am Roxanne. I am you.”

Jonathan would look on at his victim and just step back to enjoy watching this as Ryan kept a close eye on his wife. He grabbed the microphone just in case Marzia would say those magic words that would end this match, but definitely not her torment. It was only getting started for the poor shy woman currently having a breakdown.

[CaptainL]

On the outside, Marzia only seemed to be crumpled on the mat, grabbing at her own head and writhing like a madwoman. But, on the inside, a desperate battle was raging. She was being confronted by someone stronger, someone more confident. But it wasn't just anyone - it was her. Marzia didn't believe it at first. It had to be some sort of trickery; Jonathan had to be throwing his voice to convince her to join his side, or something like that! There was no other way she could just accept she was hearing voices like this. This wasn't her. She wouldn't have thoughts like these. She knew herself; she would never think this way.

Or...would she?

This voice - this Roxanne - Marzia couldn't deny there was something powerful in it. Something compelling. All this time, she had been trying to uphold herself as a stronger person, now that she had realized her new, better, more assertive side with the help of Gail. But the truth was, Marzia didn't even believe it herself that she had changed. There were always doubts; there were always hesitations. She was always stammering nervously even when she was making threats, terrified that her old self would seep through, or that no one would believe in the change she'd committed to. The old Marzia never went away - she'd just gotten better at hiding it. At least, she thought she had; she wasn't even sure of that any more now that all of this was thrown in her face.

But this Roxanne...she was everything Marzia wanted to be, and for real. It all made sense now. This was the side of Marzia she'd buried away all this time, afraid to let it out - the anger that consumed her whenever she felt wronged, whenever she was pushed to her limits. She'd only affected it up until now - but this was the real thing.

Were they trying to convince her of a lie? Or rather...were they telling the truth all along? Were they trying to help her realize her dreams, the way she never quite could? The more Marzia thought about it, the more everything seemed to fall into place...

"W-What...do you want..?" she muttered, looking back up at Ryan through one eye as he held the microphone in front of her face. She was hanging onto the last gasps of defiance, even now. But she already had a good idea of what he wanted. And perhaps worst of all was the fact that she could reason it out at all.

[Pegasus]

She was getting prepared for her end. Marzia needed a push into her inner darkness and it seems the voice in her mind was slowly convincing her. She let it escape her and replaced it with a facade of what she thought she wanted. Marzia was no street rat like Gail was and she was definitely no ruthless brawler no matter how much she wanted to convince herself. Marzia couldn’t hurt a fly with knowing how shy and innocent she is. She could pull off devastating submissions and make people submit on the mat to give her victory, but that was a generic standard. Marzia needed this other side to be free from everyone. To finally put her doubts to rest and be the confident self she always wanted. No more fear. No more resentment. No more self-doubt.

“I am not the one who you should be defying. I never abandoned you. I never left you out to dry. What mercy can I give to make you see that? You realized it, didn’t you? You made the wrong call. You made the wrong choice. But he always forgives. He always saves. This ain’t no religion. This is salvation. Marzia, you can finally have things the proper way. Finally be the woman you truly want to be. Just give in to Roxanne and she’ll guide you back to being….whole again,” Jonathan explained as he grabbed the mic from Ryan to emphasize his points.

Jonathan waited eagerly to see if Marzia would come willingly or if he had to make drastic measures happen. He was near so her answer had better be worth it.

[CaptainL]

Marzia was lost in her own head, and she was fighting a losing battle. All her doubts, all her worries and concerns, they were all coming to the forefront, burying her beneath a relentless onslaught of regrets and embarrassments. And when her psyche was already straining against the burden of what the Anomaly showed her, leaving her questioning everything she knew, if she even knew what was and wasn't real, Marzia could hardly handle it. Her breaths quickened into a haggard pant, and a cold sweat trickled down her side even as her temperature flashed hot with fear. She couldn't take this any more. Her teeth were clenched in a grimace, fighting to hold back the urge to scream. She just wanted it to be over.

But when Jonathan spoke again, Marzia was reminded, for however fleeting a time, that she was here, in the world. This was real. And she wasn't alone. For just a few fleeting seconds, her body went still. Every hair stood on the back of her neck, but the nervous fidgeting ceased. This alone was enough to command the whole of her attention; she simply couldn't look away. Slowly, Marzia turned to face Jonathan. Her eyes opened from their tight squint as she stared back at him for what felt like an eternity. Even when she drew in breaths, the Italian girl barely moved.

His words pounded in her head, enough to push out any other thoughts. Now, there was only one feeling that Marzia could focus on. Should she do it? Perhaps she had turned her back on friends and family. Perhaps she had been in the wrong. And now, it was Jonathan who stood in front of her, welcoming her back - giving her the chance for everything to be normal again. This was her chance to make everything right. Or...was it Jonathan? Was it truly Marzia's old friend and mentor? He didn't act like this, and he didn't talk like this. If Marzia took him up on his offer...then what, truly, was she agreeing to?

Another wince ran through her body as she bit down on her lip. Marzia had made her choice. She couldn't sit around doing nothing any more. This whole time, she was being weak and hopeless. She was sitting at an impasse when she should have been taking action. She needed to get over herself. She had to take matters into her own hands. If she was going to succeed at anything, if she was going to be strong and capable like she wanted to be, she had to make a choice. Even if it was hard...she had to take those decisions.

Marzia sucked in a breath. She bowed her head lower in a nod. And with that, as the fans looked on in stunned silence, she began to crawl closer to Jonathan.

[Pegasus]

Jonathan looked to see what Marzia would choose and as fate would have it, Marzia lowered her head and started the crawl across the ring towards him. The crowd would watch in silence as the Italian girl was left to a shell of who she used to be. She started the match as a certified brawler and talking down anyone that tried to reason with her. Even if she did a terrible convincing job, Marzia was the new persona ever since her last match with Gail Whitaker and when she intervened on Gail’s behalf. However, Marzia was reduced to a miserable mess of mass catastrophes. The mental lock on her mind couldn’t be broken and she had no choice, but to give in. Even if she wouldn’t say the famous words to end the match, the crowd knew it was over before it began.

Jonathan knelt down taking Marzia’s hands in his and helped her back to her feet. He rested his palms on Marzia’s temples as he closed his eyes as the crowd knew what was going on. They had seen The Anomaly do this before and it didn’t work out so well for Kyoko and Misako when they were rendered unconscious during their match against Jonathan and Ryan. Jonathan seemed to be going for a similar victory here, but he muttered words only to Marzia in an attempt to get her to coordinate.

“Bring Roxanne back to us.”

[CaptainL]

When Marzia felt Jonathan reach down and wrap his hands around her temples, a cold, clammy sensation broke out all across her body. When she felt herself being hauled up to her feet, her heart thumped hard in her chest with each passing second. She glanced nervously from side to side, desperate to turn her attention to anywhere but Jonathan so she wouldn't have to contemplate her fate - but every time, she was too afraid to look away, lest in those few split-seconds she miss something that could seal her fate for good or ill. But the closer he got, the more Marzia could feel a presence bearing down on her - an aura; a sense of being that was so strong and so unshakeable as to be oppressive. Her body flashed between hot and cold, and her breaths quickened into pants. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as her teeth clenched in a grimace - she simply couldn't bear to look at this any more. All Marzia knew was that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

But then, something clicked in her. What was she doing? She was...running away. Turning her back on her fears and her problems. Wasn't that what had gotten her into all of this to begin with? Wasn't that exactly what she hated about herself the most? She had to be better than this. Stronger than this. No, she knew she was stronger than this! The one thing Marzia knew was that she couldn't run away now, when more was on the line than ever. She had to fight back!

"GET AWAY!!" she roared. Her hands swung up from her sides suddenly, her fingers curled into claws. She grabbed for Jonathan's shoulders and shoved as hard as she could, putting all her strength behind driving him away from her. There wasn't a hint of fear or hesitation in her voice. She was determined to stand up to him, and determined to be strong. And once she had forced the two of them apart, she looked Jonathan dead in the eye, her teeth clenched in a snarl.

"Don't touch me!! Don't fucking touch me!" she snapped, her fists balled tightly at her sides. A few of the fans cheered what was surely a great step forward for Marzia, to at last stand and face her fears. But others were wary. This didn't seem quite like her...

[Pegasus]

Jonathan had not noticed the seething anger building up in Marzia’s body and when her temper flame finally flared, she took his arms and shoved him away. Jonathan went straight across the ring and almost stumbling onto his backside as he looked back over and saw Marzia snap at him. Telling him not to even dare touch her or he surely would be getting the beating of a lifetime. However, this wasn’t Marzia. Marzia would’ve probably went for a low blow when she had the opportunity in order to continue the match and there was no stuttering or fear in her hateful tone. This is Roxanne. Marzia let her take full control and now, Roxanne felt cornered and confused as to what was going on. The fans started cheering Marzia on as if she was standing up for herself as Jonathan just chuckled.

Jonathan then held a stern gaze in Marzia’s direction and didn’t flinch from her glare. He simply walked forward and pressed his right hand to her forehead in order to bring some familiarity to Roxanne. The healing touch of The Anomaly. It would soothe her worries and make her understand the truth. No Marzia in her way this time and she had the reigns of the mental carriage. Jonathan closed his eyes as he spoke to Roxanne.

“It’s okay, Roxanne. You’re back where you belong.”