TRIGGERFINGER SEASONS 2 - 3 (THE PROSPECT TRIALS/CHAOS CARNIVAL)

S02E09 Ash's Return! A Shocking Revelation!

Jake, still smirking, got off of Shade and took a step back, eyeing Ash up and down, who stood perfectly still, his gaze fixated on Jake. That stupid kid, Red thought to himself. He just caused Jake to win via interference. Red clenched his teeth. Still, he might be our only shot at victory.

"Here is your winner by interference..." Red huffed. "Jake!"

Rhys grinned in response, looking around at all the jeering Aces of Spades. This Ash kid must have been two sandwiches short of a picnic, securing his own pals' loss. Then Rhys's grin disappeared, as a figure he knew of all too well entered the training arena's entranceway. Ronin Stamos. Stamos looked around, observing the situation, his eyes locking with Rhys's. He walked over, and Rhys could feel Stamos's overwhelming power radiate off of him. It was almost as though Stamos was showing off, a power play to show him who was in charge around here. He gave Red and Blake a nod, and right when Rhys thought Stamos was going to stop and introduce himself, he walked straight past him and towards Ngaire and Kore.

"Kieran filled me in on the situation," Stamos told them, glancing back at the ring. "Not looking good, huh?"

"You guys showed up just in time," Ngaire said. "Kore, go get Shade. Give him a gummy."

Kore nodded and stepped into the ring to pick up Shade, cradling him in his arms before slowly walking him back over to the sidelines. He carefully placed him on the ground and slipped an invigoration gummy in his mouth. Meadow and Bolt rushed over to check on him as he came to, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light. He smiled, and pushed himself to his feet, looking at Meadow.

"One hell of a victory, huh?" He said proudly.

"S-Shade..." Meadow answered, concerned.

"Yep," Shade continued. "Jake didn't know what hit him. There was no hope for him honestly. Although it looked like he had the upper hand for a while, I sure showed him who's boss."

Shade turned to look at the ring, his smile quickly vanishing as he saw Jake still on both feet, Ash only a mere few feet away. Shade rubbed his eyes, were they deceiving him? Not only was Jake still standing, Ash was there too? He turned back to Meadow, his fists clenching at his sides.

"I didn't win, did I?" He asked, sorrow in his voice.

Meadow shook her head, tears in her eyes.

"No, you didn't," Kore spoke up in her place. "But it was a valiant effort and for that, you should be proud. After you passed out, Jake continued wailing on you. He would have left you a bloody mess had Ash not intervened."

"So, I lost because Ash interfered?!" Shade barked.

"Things weren't looking great for you, Shade. That Jake kid has no sense of remorse."

Shade looked over at Ash, how infuriated he was. He could feel his blood boiling. How dare that idiot interfere with his own affairs. He would have snapped out of it, come to, and beat Jake just like he envisioned had it not been for Ash sticking his beak where it didn't belong. He was even more angry at Ash than he was at Jake, he felt betrayed, weak, pitied. Now he didn't care if the Aces of Spades won the gauntlet, if that meant he got to watch Ash suffer at the hands of defeat.

Back in the ring, the tension could have been cut with a knife as Ash and Jake stared each other down. Jake continued to smirk, tilting his head from left to right. Ash on the other hand stayed motionless, the fire in his eyes still raging. Jake walked forward, expecting Ash to make some kind of movement but he remained as still as a statue. Jake lifted a finger towards Ash's nose, and went to lightly poke it. This is when Ash finally moved, swatting Jake's hand out of the way.