Post by Boardwalk Angels on Jan 13, 2018 13:46:46 GMT -5
”At a relatively young age, I pretty much had pride slapped and scared out of me. Can you imagine a meek, quiet Crimson Angel? Yeah, most can’t. I can, though, and it’s not a state I ever want to return to. Too many good people have given me a hand and led me back to the point where I don’t feel like a waste in my own flesh. I reclaimed a dream and through it found love I never thought I would. I accomplished a level of glory and acclaim alongside my best friend that seemed impossible even without the albatross that was once my father hanging on my every move. And now? Let’s be real: I have everything I could ever want and more. Zoey said a few days ago that complacency is dangerous, though, and make no mistake: I feel the same. Everything I could want and more? That’s nice. But it isn’t enough. Three-hundred-and-twenty days as champions? Not enough. Tag Team of the Year? Still not enough. We can do more. We can do better. And we will.”
* January 12th, 2018, early-evening *
* The Cornett Residence *
* Fort Wayne, Indiana *
”Back in the day, a good two years ago, I was one of the few people who supported Zoey completely when she and Katalina became an item. Given Star’s reputation at the time, everyone figured that Zee was bound to get hurt… if not by Katalina herself then by her cohorts. But I told her straight up that she needed to see it through for herself rather than letting someone else decide for her. Two years later, they’re just about the happiest and most loving couple that I’ve ever known. Even more than Stacy and Jen. Even more than James and myself, for that matter, which isn’t to downplay either of those relationships. What’s more than that is how well they understand each other and are able to separate business from personal. It’s one of those things that Zee still has over me. Don’t misunderstand: I love Katalina like a sister and always will. But I won’t hesitate to kick the tar out of her, either. And last time? I wanted to hurt her. This time? I’d like to hope I can handle the battle more maturely. And if not, well… she can take it.”
* January 13th, 2018, early-morning*
* The Cornett Residence, Basement *
* Fort Wayne, Indiana *
* January 12th, 2018, early-evening *
* The Cornett Residence *
* Fort Wayne, Indiana *
On evenings like these, when frigid weather and icy conditions batter most of the central part of the country, Farrah Cornett finds herself quite happy that she and James splurged on a covered deck for the house. The glass barriers all around allow her to enjoy the outdoors even in the most inhospitable of conditions, whether it be wintry cold or pounding rain or worse. It was necessary to keep a space heater in the area during this time of year, of course, but being used to New Jersey winters meant that Farrah hardly minded. Still, she dressed warmly: a red turtleneck under an artfully-torn white top with the words “Papa’s Little Fallen Angel” scrawled across the back, her favorite faded jeans with red tights showing through each and every hole and her red Chucks. Yes, the lady has a thing for red.
Sipping from a steaming hot cup of Death Wish, her new favorite coffee, Farrah takes in the relative quiet of the evening. Wind and sleet batter the thick glass windows and from within the house she can hear the twins playing with their tablets at the dining room table while Sonia does her yoga in the living room. Well… perhaps it is more accurate to say that Farrah senses it. When her family pursues their joys, a certain kind of energy radiates from them. So devoted to their happiness and safety is the Jersey Hellcat that she can feel the emanations when they’re in their respective zones. She’d have written such things off as silly once upon a time, but over the last year-plus her mind has been changed as well as her senses.
But nothing affects her quite like her husband, James. Before he even lays a hand upon the door she can feel him approaching and the slow smile that spreads across her smooth features? Nothing else in the world can cause such joy in her. When his heavy hands come down upon her shoulders, a warmth spreads through her faster than her coffee could ever accomplish, caffeine be damned. She puts one hand on his, leaning back to look up at him upside-down like, grinning.
”Think about my Dark God and thusly he appears…”
Farrah turns, kissing his deformed hand without a hint of revulsion. Such was one of the things that first caught him off-guard about this woman; that she could plainly see his faults, his weaknesses, his darkness… yet none of it detracted from her feelings or affection for him. Even now it warmed James deep down to experience it.
”I missed you.”
”I was gone for all of an hour, Spice. Just had to check in at the office and make sure everything was in place. Do you expect me to buy that?”
He grins in that unnerving, sometimes-infuriating way that he has. Farrah, however, sees the sparkle in his eyes and nips his finger playfully before turning back to the view.
”Whether you believe it or not don’t make it less true, Sugar.”
Shrugging while nodding in agreement regardless, James steps in further, leaning down to kiss the top of Farrah’s head. Her eyes close and she lets out a barely-audible sigh. Unable to resist any further, she places her cup on the table and swings her legs back down to the floor before rising. Stepping into his massive form, she puts her arms as far around him as they’ll reach, her fingertips clinging to his shirt as a means of holding herself closer. James dwarfed her, having at least a foot of height on her. And though he teased her about this, she didn’t care. She loved it. Especially during her rare vulnerable moments.
”What a year…”
”Undefeated in a LAW ring, champions for over three hundred days, two year-end awards and the love of fans across the world… not to mention the respect of a majority of your peers. And that only speaks of wrestling, baby.”
Naturally, the big man reciprocates the physical display of affection. His large arms encompass Farrah and her eyes close peacefully.
”The first Red Mercy CD ready to drop once the final details are handled…”
”Success with C24 as well as HYBRID...
”A title opportunity within Rose City…”
”...it’s enough to make you look past the bad parts of the last year. Not that we ever could. Those holes will never be filled again. But the successes accomplished and the love shared… I’d rather look to that. Wouldn’t you?”
Her response is a silent nod. They’d lost dear family members in the past year while watching others suffer through trials that, sadly, they were either destined or determined to fight on their own. That said nothing of the darkness on the edges of their shining successes, such as the goings-on in the aforementioned HYBRID, the snap and snark from former friends who did not suffer defeat well… taking the good with the bad wasn’t always so easy, no matter how necessary it was in this day and age.
”It’s the only way I could stay sane at this point. Everything we just mentioned is amazing, but I can’t cherry-pick what stays at the forefront of my mind. I have to take it all in. Not as a means of tormenting myself, of course, but to help me keep in mind what’s important.”
”Just mind that you don’t let the darkness get an edge, Spice. Speaking of dark sides, though, I hear that you and Zoey are about to tee off on the Naughty Girls again.”
Laughing lightly, Farrah leans back to look up at James with a snarky grin.
”Yep, though no Katie this time. Not sure if I’m happy or sad about that.”
”Less chance of strange crotch being in your face. That’s a plus. Jessika could be a problem, however. She’s one of those unpredictable types. They’re always a pain in the ring.”
”Still haven’t decided how much of that is playing and how much is real. I don’t buy the girl being a full-on 100% Froot Loop, though. There’s a mind behind the madness. And Katalina has a way of molding people to suit her.”
Lifting a brow, James smirks down at Farrah.
”Should I be worried?”
Opening her eyes and proceeding to roll them, Farrah stares up at James with a grin of her own.
”If you’re referring to Honey, then no. I’ve made it clear to her that I will not forsake what we have for her tastes. She isn’t taking it well, but she’ll come to understand in time.”
”As if I’d question your loyalty to me and our marriage. No, I mean in… other ways.”
”Well, I can’t say I know for sure, but I have a few somethings squirreled away upstairs just in case the urge strikes. And it IS my turn as you should know.”
Now it’s on James to look concerned, but he just grins and Farrah laughs.
”Snarky flirting aside… do you think there’s much to worry about where Katalina and Jessika are concerned?”
”Katalina held the record for the longest tag title reign before Zoey and I won the belts from her and Katie. Say what you will about the woman, and there’s no shortage of shit to poke at, but she’s the type that you always take seriously. Because if you don’t, she’ll embarrass you and laugh about it all the way home.”
”Are we still talking about wrestling?”
Farrah flashes the Look in James’s direction… yes, the Look. The one all women know and the best ones use as a means of withering their boyfriend or husband in to a quivering pile.
Except, in the case of James, that expression just makes him grin.
”I’m in for it now, huh?”
”Damn right you are. In spades. You’re also going to the store for me while I make dinner, Captain Jackass. So hop to it.”
That’s no token slap on the ass she just delivered. But just try and ask James if he minds!
”Yes, ma’am.”
And he scoops her up in his arms, making her squeak involuntarily (and cutely) before placing a deep kiss on her lips. And just like that, Farrah is putty in his arms, her arms wrapping around his neck until he puts her back down. She’s still the faintest bit wobbly as he moves past her with a smirk, grabbing his coat and heading out the door.
”Bastard.”
She says the word with a smile, though...
”Back in the day, a good two years ago, I was one of the few people who supported Zoey completely when she and Katalina became an item. Given Star’s reputation at the time, everyone figured that Zee was bound to get hurt… if not by Katalina herself then by her cohorts. But I told her straight up that she needed to see it through for herself rather than letting someone else decide for her. Two years later, they’re just about the happiest and most loving couple that I’ve ever known. Even more than Stacy and Jen. Even more than James and myself, for that matter, which isn’t to downplay either of those relationships. What’s more than that is how well they understand each other and are able to separate business from personal. It’s one of those things that Zee still has over me. Don’t misunderstand: I love Katalina like a sister and always will. But I won’t hesitate to kick the tar out of her, either. And last time? I wanted to hurt her. This time? I’d like to hope I can handle the battle more maturely. And if not, well… she can take it.”
* January 13th, 2018, early-morning*
* The Cornett Residence, Basement *
* Fort Wayne, Indiana *
The sun isn’t up, but Farrah Cornett sure as hell is. One of the most prominent traits she has in common with her partner is how much of an early riser she is regardless of the amount of sleep she gets. Awake before the sun, Jesus and the Mexicans is the Crimson Angel, one-half of the LAW World Tag Team Champions, taking up space in her little sanctum within the basement of the Cornett family home. Call this room exactly what it is: a man cave, except run by a woman. Flat-screen television, a modest stereo, video game consoles, shelves loaded with movies and books and figurines, a small sectional… and Farrah herself is perched on a stool with her red-and-black Fender, the instrument hooked up to a small amp set nearby.
Shortly after the image comes into view Farrah, looking up in the camera’s direction, winks at it and continues her strumming. Now, our Jersey Hellcat is no Kirk Hammett on that axe; she’ll tell you herself that she’s still learning how to play and that her lack of spare time will always be a hindrance. But even with her inexperience, it’s not hard to tell that she’s trying her hand at Metallica’s “Fade to Black” this morning. A minute or so into the recording, though, has Farrah pausing her modest playing and bringing the headphones down to rest around her neck. Comfortable in a red cami, loose-fitting black PJs and bare feet with red-tipped nails upon her toes to match her fingers, the Crimson Angel stills her fingers to focus on the camera.
”Zoey, I think, said everything that needed to be said where the Year-End Awards and all else are concerned last week. But I still need to say my thanks to the fans and our peers for their recognition of our accomplishments. Without you guys’ support, we wouldn’t have made it this far and to be recognized for our hard work means a lot… as well as making us want to do even more amazing things this year. So… thank you. Truly.”
She plays a little more, just strumming a few chords. There’s a faint smile that lingers, though, and a smart guess is that she’s turning back to the guitar before she gets all mushy, the music giving her a chance to center a bit.
”LAW #75 is just a day and some hours away now. And the match awaiting the Boardwalk Angels is one that I feel should have happened long before now. See, I’m of the mind that after you’ve held a title for so long, you’ve earned the right to make another go for it after the inevitable loss. Even if it were just out of respect, even if no one expected them win or conversely thought that Zoey and myself would drop those titles on our first defense, the Naughty Girls should have gotten another opportunity at the LAW World Tag Team Championships.
Maybe the people up top, Lucas and Megan and the rest, just felt it was time for a change. After all, while 274 days is nothing to sneeze at it’s also a long time in wrestling these days. My guess is that Dupree and the rest felt that the fans were ready to see other teams get a chance at the gold. More power to them if that’s the case. It does make me wonder, though: when the time comes that Zoey and I lose these titles will we be shut out of a rematch as well? Just take a look at the past champions. There are no repeats. It’s not like that in any other division save the Marquee. There’s people with multiple title reigns for every other championship. Not taking a shot at management here, folks, though I’ve not been shy about saying exactly how I feel about Megan Helms-King in the past… just pointing out the facts.”
Strumming a little more, this time just to offer a pause, Farrah takes only a moment before she speaks over the soft chords flowing out from the Fender and her fingers.
”Champions like ourselves and the Naughty Girls set standards for tag teams. Our names on the marquee bring new blood into the divisions we dominate, same as names like Amy Jo Smyth, Kenzi Grey and more do. The hopes that they’ll be able to knock us off our perch and take all the glory that comes with it coincides with our getting to face fresh blood and improve ourselves while staving off stagnation. And as a result, the company grows and flourishes. That’s what some champions in wrestling as a whole forget: once you’re the champion, you have an obligation. You do the fan events, you promote the company, its shows and your opponents. You make the world aware of who you are and what you’ve done, challenging them to come up in and shake things up, make an impact. Did the Naughty Girls do that? You’d have to ask those that were in LAW for the duration of their reign. We came in and took their gold in six weeks or so.”
No small amount of snark there if you decide to listen to her words that way, but Farrah’s tone over the notes of her playing has little semblance of that which would indicate a jab at the former champions. It’s her usual matter-of-fact, I-don’t-care-about-feelings way of speaking.
”The idea that we might be forgotten when the end comes is motivation. Except that isn’t going to happen. When these titles are taken from us, we aren’t going to lie down and die. We’re going to tear through everyone and everything in our path to get another shot and then we’re going to start a new reign to shame the first.”
The harder her tone and words, the harder she goes at those strings. It’s as if her fingers are translating her words into music.
”Reasons like those are why I’m going to be coming into the ring in D.C. with a little more fire under my ass than usual. Sure, part of it is because the Naughty Girls deserve our best just like the fans do, but the other part is to show just how serious Zee and I are about staying champions as long as angelically possible. If we fall to the former champions, that’s not an auspicious start to the new year; that’s telling the world that the complacency Zee warned everyone about is just what she says it is: dangerous.
That puts you in a bad spot, Katalina. But it puts Jessika Hyde in a worse spot. See, she wasn’t part of the conversation last year when we were storming through the tag team division like an out-of-control tank. That was Katie Klein. Remember her, folks? The World’s Horniest Hand Puppet? She was the one who put in the work and toil to help Kat create that 274-day reign of dominance. Not the bee-loving Jessika. And before you get the wrong idea, I don’t dislike Jessika and I’m not saying she won’t roll up and give it her all to please her Mistress. That isn’t the case at all. But…”
The music trails off as Farrah presses her palm over the strings. A slow smile is forming as she places the guitar back on the rack and then removes her headphones, putting them upon it top portion as well.
”Zoey was nicer about your situation. But I don’t do nice. Not even if I like people sometimes. So here’s the God’s honest truth from me to you: you’re a long way away from filling Katie’s boots in the ring. Both Katalina and Katie herself know this. One of them is hoping that you’ll find a way to come out on top while the other is begging for you to fail. You’re getting pulled from both ends, stretched like sexy taffy, and in the middle of all that is the Boardwalk Angels, charging your way like a bullet train coated in gold and glory.”
Rising from the stool, she turns off the amp and gathers up the portable camera, keeping it on her as she exits the room and turns off the light in passing, proceeding through the basement while continuing her address.
”Maybe it isn’t fair to put that pressure on you, Jess, but there it is. You got yourself into this situation and there’s no way out of it except through us.
Which means… there’s no way out of it.”
At the top of the steps she cuts off the lights in the basement and makes her way into the kitchen. The house is warm and still with no one else yet awake at this hour. Farrah takes the camera into the kitchen and a few moments later she has it positioned so that she’ll remain in sight as she starts gathering what she needs to cook breakfast. Pots and pans and such, eggs and bacon and sausage and a shot of Death Wish put in her single-up Keurig to be dispensed into her favorite ‘Devil Girl’ mug while she toils. With everything in order she starts to speak again.
”Problem is, Jessika? You’re going to tear yourself apart before you even get to the ring. Whatever you think of Zoey and myself, know that we don’t see you as stupid or broken or someone who should be stowed away in some Victorian mental hospital. We see you as a threat, as someone who should be taken seriously despite your inexperience and certainly because of your devotion. And Zoey? She likes you. She may or may not have said much, but she does. She wants you to be happy with Katalina and the rest. And be real: when’s the last time anyone wanted that for you? You need to center yourself a bit, kid. Once you manage that, you’ll see just how silly you sound talking about us and realize that maybe, just maybe, you should take us more seriously.”
The Jersey Hellcat peers over her shoulder and that edge returns to her words.
”Don’t be stupid, Jessika. Don’t think that our work in Rose City Wrestling or in our personal pursuits is going to somehow overwrite our focus on being the best tag team in LAW and all of wrestling. Don’t think that we’re taking you and Katalina lightly because of the notoriety we’ve earned. And for the love of all that’s holy and unholy stop telling yourself and the world that we’re just going to be chew toys for you to rend asunder at LAW #75. You’re not that thick. You know better. And if you don’t, you’d better let Katalina beat it into before it’s too late. Poetic threats aside? If you roll up on Zee and I like that in Washington, D.C. I swear to you that you’ll make an uglier noise than any of that tossed furniture when we drive you into the canvas.”
Soon, the underlying sound is the sizzle of meat in the skillet and the beeps of the oven as it reaches the appropriate temperature. She slides a foil-lined baking sheet laden with bacon in the oven before turning the sausage in the cast-iron skillet. It would be mere minutes before the family started coming down the steps toward the good smells… Farrah would have to kick this message in the ass to polish it off before her space was invaded.
”As to you, Katalina… this is a long time coming between our sides, as I said before. There’s been a lot of times that we haven’t seen eye-to-eye but over the past year you’ve become very special to me. Jessika and the rest aren’t the only ones spending time under the learning tree with you and everything that you’ve shown me has been, in a word, amazing. There’s been some hiccups along the way, but there’s not much I wouldn’t do for you, girl, and I hope you know that. This may not be for the titles, but we’re treating it as if it were and I want you to treat it the same despite how difficult I know it must be for you to have to face Zoey again.
You deserve a rematch, whether it’s Katie or Jessika following at the other end of your leash. Not just because of your long reign, but because Zoey and I say so. We have to face the best to stay the best, and after us there’s no better team in LAW. They can scream and cry and bitch all they want to the contrary but they haven’t accomplished half of what you have. Team Kickass was cut off before they could reach the peak of their potential and now Kenzi Grey has singles gold to tend to. The Queens of Wrestling? I think we’ve proven that they’re not mature enough to be champions. The Dynasty are a joke, too. But the Naughty Girls set a standard that we had to bust ass just to meet, then to shatter. Your names are right there, right beneath our own. Where they’re going to stay.”
Just had to slip that in there, she did, chuckling as she starts sauteing vegetables in another pan, leaving them be while now mixing eggs, milk and spices in a big bowl.
”Did you expect me to get all mushy, Kitty? It isn’t happening. As much as I adore your saucy self, that sentiment isn’t going to stop me from showing you your place where the ring’s concerned: behind us. I know that sort of thing motivates you, though, so I’m probably setting myself up for a drubbing by saying that, but my response is simply ‘you’re welcome’. What I’ve seen out of you lately isn’t exactly promising but I know that somewhere beneath it all that fire remains. You remember what it was like to hold those straps up high and to be lauded as the best. You want it again. I know you do. Forgetting all the drama you have elsewhere, you want what we have for the second time.
But what will you do to get it? How far will you go?”
Farrah turns around after finishing her mixing, folding her arms across her chest. She moves out of sight for a moment, returning with her half of the tag titles, placing it on the island counter in direct view of the camera, holding it with the care of a mother cradling a newborn.
”This match is going to tell us that. Are you going to be able to move past your love for your wife and your concern about what others may think of the two of you clashing for a third time? Will you be alright with Jessika kicking the hell out of both of us in front of you, knowing it might get you another chance at these as part of the sacrifice? You’d better ask yourself those questions and more, Katalina. You’d better reach down deep and find that wicked, deliciously-dangerous Dominatrix that the wrestling world knows and fears, dragging her kicking and screaming if you must, and bring her to the fore. Because that’s the only way you’re going to come close to getting these titles again.”
She gets sharper, louder, as she goes… but not so much that she’s yelling or anything. Then, she grins. Predatory, heatedly… beautifully.
”Or… you can kneel. Kneel and take the sweet punishment that’s coming. Kneel and accept the place you’ve carved out for yourself for the last year after almost nine months of pure dominance. But that isn’t you, Katalina, and we all know this. Leave your heart in the locker room and your feelings in a jar under the sink. Come to that ring and show us that we still have something to learn, reminding us of those to whom we owe our reason to strive.
Or else.”
She lifts a brow, her grin growing.
”Or else what? Let me put it to you like this: we’re already tossing Jessika just for her bold mouth and bloody threats. Your only saving grace if you fall to show up at your best will be that when you come crashing down, you’ll at least have have her to break your fall.
Get ready to fly.”
She turns, title still in sight as she adds eggs to the pan of vegetables, our last image of her turning to check the deep fryer where the potatoes cook. There’s a few squeals of childish delight as the twins come down, but that’s not seen. Farrah comes over and cuts the feed, sending the scene to black.