Chapter 8: First Night as Champ

Thursday, September 1st, 2016 - Backlash: 10 Days Away - Las Vegas, NV

It was just 2 days removed from James winning the Intercontinental Championship on SmackDown Live in Dallas, Texas. It was momenmental night for him. It was his first championship up on the main roster and it meant that everything he had ever worked for up until that point was all worth it. He was forever gonna be remembered as another name in the long list of wrestlers who had the honor of becoming the WWE Intercontinental Champion. And at the top of that list as the latest name, it was gonna say Zack Mercer.

Currently James sat in his matte black 1970 Ford Mustang GT with a pair of sunglasses on his face. He was dressed in a pair of blue skinny jeans with one of his t-shirts and a black leather jacket to go with his black Chelsea boots. He had a simple gold chain around his neck. Lexi wasn't with him; currently she was back at the hotel getting ready from them to head out to Anaheim to stay with James' sister, Elizabeth. But before they left Vegas, James had something he had to do. Something he had to do alone.

James sighed, grabbing the title from the passenger side of his car and stepping out. He looked forward with a frown on his face walking into a cemetery. He stopped in front of a headstone that read: Beloved Mother: Brandi McGrady -1967 - 1990.

"Hey mom." James whispered, placing his hand on the headstone.

"It's been a while. I'm sorry. I've just been busy trying to live out my dream. I know that's no excuse but it's true. I wanted to show you this." He said as he placed the title on the ground in front of her headstone.

"In a way this one title means that I'll forever be a part of WWE History. It's crazy to think that I can be out there in the ring doing what makes me happy and making you proud at the same time. I miss you more than anything. I wish you were here right now so I could hug you and tell you everything that's going on. I met this girl. Her name is Lexi and she's a pretty good girl, a great girl if I'm being honest. She's my friend but if I had it my way she'd be something else but I would've loved for her to meet you." James sighed as he placed his hand on the headstone.

"I love her mom. I don't know if she knows that but I do. The only problem is she and I both have partners that we're currently with. As much as I love Lexi, I love Cassie. I feel like me and Cassie could be something more but Lexi gets me in a way that no one else can. She's the light to my darkness. She completes me. She can make me smile like nobody else can. As much as I want to be with her, she's with Matthew and I'm with Cassie." James shook his head looking down at the ground.

"I got only a few minutes to be with you and I spent all this time talking about me and my problems, spewing negativity. Let's not talk about the negative, let's instead speak on the positive." He said with a smile as he started to speak about some of the positive things continuing to spend the free time he had with his mother.

A Few Days Later - Tuesday, September 6th, 2016 - Backlash: 5 Days Away - Lincoln, Nebraska

James was walking backstage with the WWE Intercontinental Championship around his shoulder as he walked around the back dressed in blue faded jeans that were ripped with his classic 6 Inch "Wheat" colored timbs with a white t-shirt and black and red flannel shirt. He had his oily hair flowing down his shoulders

He stopped once he reached the catering area and heard the girls talking around the table. He was smiling before he walked away from the scene to let Lexi have some time with her friends, they spent a long time together with James' family in Anaheim. She needed some time away from him to be with herself and her friends.

Catering Area

Lexi sat in a chair sitting around the table with her usual. She was smiling ear to ear and the girls knew that there had to be something going on to make her smile that. She hadn't smiled like that in a long time.

"Okay so I called Will yesterday and I picked up nothing but voicemail. I'm worried he's cheating." Leath said as all the girls were looking at her with concern.

"If that Jon had ever done something like that to me. I swear he's sleeping on the couch for a weeks until I decide that I can count on him to answer the phone." Trinity said as Nicole started to laugh at her response.

"John has a problem answering the phone too. I swear I call him like 4 times before he picks up." Nicole said.

"I bet you James picks up immediately." Rebecca teased Lexi who looked up at her and rolled her eyes shaking her head.

"He probably answers your phone calls more than he does with his own girlfriend."Leah joked making Lexi chuckle as she looked down.

"Something weird happened a few days ago. I was in Anaheim staying with his family, his sister and her family. And his sister basically told me that I was the first girl that Drew had ever taken home." Lexi said making Nicole, Leah, Rebecca and Nattie all look her with a confused frown.

"So he's never taken any girl over there before? Not even Cass?" Leah asked.

"No and that's strange for a couple who's been together for a year and half." Lexi replied.

"You're right that is strange. Maybe they're not super serious." Nat responded.

"They live together so it's gotta be serious." Rebecca said.

"Maybe it means you're the one for him and not her." Nicole said, making Lexi frown. She was dating Matthew. And had been for a while. He was dating Cassie and had been dating her for a while. But Lexi was the first woman who he had revealed himself to and the first woman who he had actually shared his history with. She was the first woman who he actually spilled his heart out to. She was the woman that he trained when he first got to NXT.

Minutes Later

James was walking backstage with a grin on his face that couldn't be erased. This was his first appearance on SmackDown since his title win last week. He was looking forward focused on getting to the ring until a certain member of the SmackDown Live team caught his attention wearing a black dress.

"Damn Charly, who told you to come to work looking this good?" Charly looked up from her phone seeing James standing there making her giggle as she looked at him.

"You know if you keep saying stuff like that people are gonna think we're something."

"Friends can't compliment friends?"

"I suppose you have a point."

"It should be illegal to come to work looking that fine."

"Stop." Charly giggled once more, rolling her eyes.

"I'm serious. You worried about me looking at you, you keep coming to work looking like that, you might have a bunch of eyes on you."

"You don't look too bad yourself. Although your jeans look a bit snug."

"Well that's what happens when you wear skinny jeans."

"You know the title actually looks good on you. You did pretty good in your match by the way." She said pointing to the title on his shoulder making him smile as he looked at it.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. I gotta run but I'll try to catch up with you later." Charly said before she walked away leaving James standing there with that same smile on his face as he watched her walk away.

Minutes Later - Smackdown Live Ringside Area

"Bully" Hits

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Please welcome the WWE Intercontinental Champion: Zack Mercer!" Greg Hamilton announced as the fans cheered very loudly.

The lights were going off in blue and white. Zack walked out with the title in his hands. He raised the championship title up in the air while the fans cheered for him again but louder. He then walked down the ramp slapping the hands of the fans with his left hand as the fans that were going crazy until he reached the ringside area.

Once he reached the ringside area he looked around at the crowd. He walked around the ringside area to the ring and got up onto the ring apron similar to the miz. He held onto the middle rope while he raised up his title. He got up to his feet and entered the ring before he made his way to the center of the ring where he held up the title while Pyro went off behind him.

Zack smiled as he held his hand out for a microphone as his music faded away.

"Bully" Fades

Zack put the mic up to his mouth but the fans cut him off with their loud cheering. Zack chuckled as he lowered the mic while he looked around. It was crazy to him how quickly he had risen among the ranks. He could officially be known as the WWE's fastest rising star. Of course, he didn't win a world title yet but he still felt like one of the biggest stars.

"I just wanna say Thank You." Zack said in the mic earning more cheers from the fans.

"I wouldn't have kept doing this without each and every single one of you. When I was in NXT, I wanted to quit. I saw no point in doing this if I couldn't win a single championship in NXT but each and every single one of you stood by me in NXT and you told me to keep pushing through it and for that I wanna Thank You." Zack said in the mic as he took the title off his shoulder and kept his eyes on it.

Just then the fans started to chant his last name as he put the title back on his shoulders.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Lincoln, Nebraska, How you doin?" He asked into the mic again, making them cheer.

"Now Miz is not here mainly because he's out getting his teeth redid after I kicked some of them down his throat, so let me make this clear. In 5 days at Smackdown Live's first exclusive Pay Per View, Backlash. I will put this title on the line in a rematch against The Miz." He said in the mic.

"Now tonight I have the night off." Zack said in the mic as the fans booed now.

"I'm gonna go in the back and sit around drinking a few Zackweisers and kickback with the Female members of this roster. And Miz, Sorry. Not Sorry." He said as he threw the mic up in the air.

"Bully" Plays

A/N: Well that's it for that one. I included the part where James went to his mother's grave to show some of the emotional side that he has. Next Chapter is gonna be Backlash where The Miz will be getting his rematch for the Intercontinental Championship.

This is the ZackAttack signing out!

Peace!