Ethan's smug as he walks backstage. He'd won the hair vs hair match against Spud, officially ending their feud in his favor and with a bloody clump of Spud's hair in hand. The TNA wrestlers and knockouts had watched the match from a monitor backstage and as he walks past them, they all stare at him in disgust. He waves the hair at them jauntily and smirks as they recoil in response to the gory mess.
It's a relief to take his arm brace off, flexing his fingers and taking a deep breath before he changes into his street clothes. He's putting the brace in his luggage when it dawns on him- it's officially over... He had succeeded against Spud, and now it's time for the next step in his career. He's not sure what this means, glad to have some time to think before the next event.
Tyrus leaves to get the car and Ethan goes to get a bottle of water for the road but he's barely left his personal locker room when he hears distressed murmurs and confused conversations being held around him. Curious to see what's going on, but not caring enough to actually ask, he lurks around, pretending that he's looking at his phone until he hears Spud's name. This attracts his attention, causing him to look up.
A hapless tech is walking nearby so Ethan pulls away from the wall and grabs him, glad that no one's paying attention to him. "What's going on?" he demands, ignoring the disgusted, frightened look on the man's face.
"Spud's missing," he mutters. "He disappeared after the match and no one can find him."
Ethan stares down at him, his words not registering. The match, upon reflection, had been pretty rough- the blood, hanging Spud upside down on the turnbuckle as one last humiliation before he shaves him. And now... Closing his eyes, he releases a slow breath and walks away from the tech. "I am surrounded by idiots."
How an arena full of people could lose a short, ridiculous British man dripping blood all over the place, Ethan's not sure, but it's easy enough to find the trail. The show's over so the hallways are shadowy and quiet, and it's not hard to spot the signs. He turns in a circle, eyes searching the floor of each hallway branching off from where he's standing.
The first few drops of blood on the floor are hard to see but he thanks his 20/20 Carter vision as he follows it down the hall quietly, eyes locked on the ground as he goes. The splotches of dark red on the ground are steady enough, but are smeared more and more the further he goes. As if Spud, dizzy and weak, stumbled through his own blood while doing... whatever it was he was trying to do.
It takes a minute for Ethan to realize that the blood has abruptly disappeared, his brow furrowing. "Dammit." There are no doors this far down the hallway, just production crates and things of that nature, so he turns back around and starts to retrace his steps when he realizes. The blood had ended only a few steps back and... there's a stained shoe poking out from behind one of said crates. He sighs heavily and walks over, nudging it with his foot. "Spud. Get back to the trainer's so these idiots will leave and stop costing my aunt more money." There's no reaction and he nudges again, harder this time.
Spud is still quiet, motionless, so Ethan gives up and kneels down so he can see, staring through the shadows at his former friend's blood-stained face. He's clearly unconscious and Ethan grimaces, looking around. He's considering calling someone, making them come get Spud, but... he doesn't have anyone's phone number in his phone. "Dammit, so much for being done with you," he sighs.
Leaning in, he drags Spud out from the shadows of the trunk and lifts him up, glad that the shirt he'd put on was one he never exactly liked as Spud's bloody head rests on his shoulder. "You idiot," he mumbles. "Should be getting stitched up right now, not passing out in some unused hallway." The rest of the walk is spent quietly, Ethan relieved not to meet up with anyone else as he walks into the trainer's office.
He lays Spud down on the cot and stares at the trainer as he begins to rush around, trying to clean his forehead off and see what needs to be done for him. Ethan watches for a moment before tugging the trainer to him. "Call Borash or Mandrews in here," he tells him. "Spud will freak out less if he's not alone when he wakes up."
He looks back over at Spud, clearly arguing with himself over what to say or do. In the end, Spud's unconsciousness spurs him on. "You fought well tonight. You should be proud." Turning back to the trainer, he stares menacingly down at him. "I wasn't here. Understand?"
The trainer nods, desperate to finish fixing Spud up. "Understood."
Ethan lets him go and heads for the door, pausing to look over his shoulder once more at Spud's face, almost unrecognizable due to all of the blood. Sighing, he walks out, brushing the flaky blood off of his hands. He looks up when Tyrus joins him. "Car ready?"
"Yeah, boss." If Tyrus is wondering where Ethan had wandered off to, or why his clothes are stained anew, he doesn't ask, so Ethan doesn't offer an explanation, following him out of the arena.