Post by Boardwalk Angels on Oct 21, 2017 6:09:28 GMT -5
”It’s safe to say that LAW #70 didn’t go as planned, though I should have expected no less considering half the opposing team. Farrah would probably tell you the same thing where her fight was concerned despite her victory. I look at this situation from the outside, as Katalina is taking a rather strict ‘my mess to clean up’ attitude about the whole thing, and I can see the stress it’s imposing on her. Frankly, I don’t care what Anya or her handler, Amy Jo Smyth, says; the stuck-up brat needs to let go of this nonsense grudge she has against Katalina and live her own life. My wife and I have enough going on that we don’t need a petulant, whiny, self-absorbed woman-child making things more complicated because she thinks she isn’t getting enough attention. And that, friends, is just the tip of the chaotic iceberg. Even in the middle of trying to do something to give back to the family that raised me I can’t escape the darkness.”
* October 18th, 2017, afternoon *
* Carbon Beach *
* Malibu, CA *
Playing the Field
The first view, a ways down Carbon Beach from the building, is of a set of beautiful condos in the southern part of Malibu. Oceanfront with excellent views both within and without, the beauty of the day doing a lot to help the ambiance in its own way. The Outrigger Community is a pricey one to live at, but worth every penny for those who can afford it.
This view fades, taking us within the building in question where a woman in a cobalt blue business jacket and skirt walks, clipboard held against her chest with one arm while the other gestures about the contemporary interior while speaking to a few others who are along for the private tour. Her enthusiasm sounds genuine, which is either a credit to her salesmanship or an example of the pride she has in what she’s offering. The striking blonde stops before the sitting room…
...before turning to look over her shoulder at her guests and address them directly.
”...and as you can see, the condo comes well-furnished. There’s literally not a room within this place that isn’t comfortable. Couple that with the views and being right on the beach and you can see why this place is an absolute steal for the price.”
The realtor gives her most winning smile to the pair now entering, first to the older, casually-dressed woman with dark, wavy hair and captivating eyes. She has a certain familiar air to her, though it isn’t until she smiles at the young blonde that we can recognize why she sets our senses off. Then the other woman walks into the room, her dark hair wrapped into a French braid, her pinstriped black skirt suit pressed and neat. Zoey Madigan-Star nods to the blonde before turning to the older woman and gesturing gently.
”What do you think, Mama? Could you see yourself and Dad enjoying your time here?”
Mrs. Madigan walks a bit further into the room, fingertips stroking over top of the chairs before she comes to the table, her eyes now on the view out the window. Waves crash noisily against the shore as she considers, then replies in a tone more accented than that of her daughter.
”Absolutely, piccola rosa. It is about as close to perfect as we have seen yet.”
Professional though she may be, the glimmer of hope in the realtor’s eyes is hard to mask. Zoey sees this but draws no attention to her observation. Instead, she walks over to where her mother stands, sharing in the view for a moment. After a bit of silence, she turns to the blonde and offers a bright smile in her direction.
”A moment if you don’t mind, Mrs. Jenson?”
”Of course! Take your time!”
Once she leaves the room, Mrs. Madigan’s expression betrays some concern, her attention going to her daughter.
”Zoey are you certain this isn’t overdoing it? You did see the price tag on this place, did you not?”
”Of course, Mama.”
”Do not misunderstand, because when I say I love it, I mean that. And your father will no doubt feel the same. But…”
The Sorcerous Angel quiets her mother with the simple gesture of putting her arm around the woman’s shoulders. At this moment, the scene goes monochrome save for Zoey herself and with a soft pop, another version of the woman herself stands on the magician’s own shoulder. Dressed all in black, in a manner more provocative than Zoey might show off in public, this miniature version of herself rolls her eyes and folds her arms.
”She’s giving you an out, you know. I mean, do you really need a babysitter that badly? Enough that you’d drop, what, close to three mil on a place so mommy and daddy dearest are within driving distance? Because this suggestion of yours is either a case of trying to make use of them for the years that they have left or because you need another security blanket in your life for being unable to deal with the truth.”
Zoey’s expression noticeably tenses, though she’s the only thing moving at the moment. Even the waves outside have stopped; this moment in time is all her… and only her. The dark-clad miniature of her stares at the woman herself, then rolls her eyes.
”What, you waiting on the other side of the argument? Fine.”
She walks past Zoey’s head, vanishing for a moment behind it until she comes out on the other side wearing an exaggerated, comical angel costume over her other clothes, her hands pressed together prayer-like as she affects a pious, holier-than-thou voice, mocking the woman.
”What you’re doing is really nice. Honest. Way above and beyond the call, which they no doubt see through. But yeah… nice.”
The smaller Zoey laughs acidly before popping out of sight, the scene going to normal.
”There’s no ‘buts’ allowed, Mama. You and Daddy deserve to enjoy your best years somewhere beautiful. You’ve both worked so hard all your lives to provide for myself and Drake. It’s time that something like that was done for you. If he were here, he would tell you the same right before fighting with me over whether we should try to talk Mrs. Jenson down a few hundred thousand.”
”Oh, of that I have no doubt. Next thing you know, the price has gone down and he’s earned himself a date with the realtor. Your brother… he never met a young lady he couldn’t charm or a bad situation he couldn’t talk his way out of.”
”So true. It’s like he lived for danger.”
”Died for it, too.”
The words from ‘Dark Zoey’ cause the scene to freeze again, black and white all around save for the woman herself. She cackles in a hateful way as Zoey herself tenses again. She’s almost shaking she’s so rigid. Dark Zoey bends over and taps her on the temple, smirking.
”What, too soon? You were thinking it and you know it. Can’t lie to me any more than you can lie to yourself.”
With another smoky pop she is gone again and Zoey turns to her mother with a soft, yet sad, smile.
”Unless you have more resistance to offer, Mama, I’m going to take your response as a yes. And before you try to talk me out of this again, bear in mind that I learned my determination and obstinance from you. As a matter of fact, I have perfected it. Just ask Katalina.”
Smirking cutely at her mother gets her cheek pinched, then patted firmly, by her aged yet still vital and rather beautiful mother. No doubt she got her looks from this classy lady, among other things.
”You’re not so old that I cannot put you in your place, piccola rosa. Remember that.”
”Yes, ma’am.”
”However…”
One last look at the waves, the sand and the sapphire sky galvanize the older woman’s decision.
”...this place will do wonderfully. I’ll go speak to Mrs. Jenson and see what I can do about a little old-fashioned haggling. Drake learned that from me, after all.”
”He certainly did!”
The two generations share a little laughter before Zoey’s phone rings. Mrs. Madigan excuses herself with kiss to her daughter’s cheek before leaving the room, her voice and Mrs. Jenson’s heard at first though they soon quiet as Zoey answers the phone.
”Hello?”
”It’s me, Zoey. Please… don’t hang up.”
Pausing briefly, Zoey looks over her shoulder toward the other room, then steps further toward the balcony’s glass doors as she lowers her voice a little.
”Casey? Is that you?”
”Yeah. Before you ask, I called your parents’ house and your father gave me this number. Please don’t be upset at him…”
”Well… isn’t that magical. Maybe she has a message from those twats you should have left lying a few weeks ago, eh? Can’t believe you let them walk…”
Monochrome once again, with Zoey in color, still taking the call. This time, ‘Dark Zoey’ stands on her shoulder and leans with one hand against the side of her head, looking bored.
”I’m not… but that doesn’t explain why you’re calling me out of the blue. If Deanna or one of the others put you up to this as a prank or something…”
”I’m calling from the hospital, Zoey. After that altercation, I decided to take a leave of absence from working for them. But I got a call the other day saying that someone jumped them outside a club a week or so ago.”
”...what?”
Acrimonious relationship or not pertaining to Zoey and the women in question, Casey’s news gives her serious pause. Dark Zoey, on the other hand…
”Ooooh! The plot thickens!”
Plopping down on Zoey’s pinstriped shoulder, Dark Zoey snaps her fingers, creates a bucket of popcorn, and starts munching as a shocked Zoey listens to Casey.
”It’s nothing they won’t recover from; bumps and bruises, a sprain or two. It’s the mental and emotional side of things. They should be out of the hospital by now but they’re really freaked out. All I could get out of them was about how the person was screaming things at them… nasty, hurtful things. None of them want to repeat them.”
”Probably telling them what they really thought of their stupid faces. I bet they squealed like burned pigs.”
Zoey looks as though she isn’t sure how to react and, as such, she isn’t reacting at all. Her silence goes on long enough that Casey speaks up again, worried.
”...Zoey?”
”Still here. Sorry. Just… the news blindsided me is all.”
”I know the relationship between us all isn’t great but I felt like you should know. I’m sorry if this is a bad time…”
”There’s never a good time for this kind of news, Casey.”
Between mouthfuls of popcorn and gulps of a soda that appeared out of nowhere, Dark Zoey laughs openly.
”If you had the guts you’d have done it yourself. Lucky you that karma cleaned up the mess you ignored. What do they call that? Serendipity or something?”
She laughs again as a forlorn Zoey stares at the waves.
”Thanks for telling me, though. Try and take care of them, Casey. I’ll… I don’t know. I’ll come see them or something.”
”That’s hardly necessary-”
”I feel as if it is. I’ll talk to you soon, though. I have a little business to settle up here…”
Dark Zoey, sending the bucket and cup back into limbo, or wherever, gets to her feet and dusts herself off with a look of comical exasperation.
”You’d apologize for the rain, I swear. How boring.”
Disappearing in a pop, the apparition is gone and Zoey is staring at her phone silently as Mrs. Jenson and Mrs. Madigan return to the room, the blonde as bright and chipper as ever.
”Mrs. Madigan is quite the negotiator, Mrs. Madigan-Star! But I believe we’ve settled on a deal and a price for the place, if you would like to have a look?”
Her smile is back on when she turns, nodding to Mrs. Jenson and accepting the clipboard held before her. Zoey’s mother looks at her, mom-senses tingling, knowing that something happened in her brief absence. She raises a brow at Zoey who shakes her head gently before putting her attention on the clipboard. A few moments later, she hands it back to Mrs. Jenson, smile firmly in place.
”Wonderful. I’ll come by your office… let’s say Tuesday morning? We’ll take care of the rest of the details then. That is, if you’re able to hold the place for us until then?”
”All considered, Zoey, I would be more than happy to.”
Mrs. Jenson shakes hands with Zoey, then with her mother, before leading the way out of the condo. Falling into step with her daughter, Mrs. Madigan speaks quietly to the young lady.
”Bad news?”
”That’s the question, Mama… and I don’t know the answer.”
”You will, sweetheart. You always do, after all.”
”I wonder sometimes.”
Still, she does her best to brighten her own mood for the sake of those around her, does Zoey, as they leave the condo and the scene fades to black.
”The call from Casey, more than some events of the past several months, taught me more than I wanted to know about the changes coming over me. Deanna and the others… they weren’t my friends. Perhaps they never were. In fact, they nearly reached the level of Yolanda and her gang whom Farrah mentioned recently before high school was over. Still… I’m not a cold-hearted person. I don’t wish pain and suffering even on people who I do not like. But what I felt in that moment, or perhaps didn’t feel, worried me. The saying goes that the day you stop showing compassion for the enemy is the day you become the enemy. Am I… the enemy?”
* October 20th, 2017, afternoon *
* House of Hope Arena, Convention Level *
* Chicago, IL *
Perspective
A day away from the LAW Halloween Fan Event, and two days before LAW #71, finds the Boardwalk Angels back in the Windy City helping to oversee the setup of the arena’s convention level for the big shindig. Zoey Madigan-Star and Farrah Cornett move along the crew members, offering helping hands where they can, either through guidance or directly lending a hand, to make sure everything is just right. For Farrah, it was becoming easier and easier to take charge of situations like these. Not that the strong-willed Crimson Angel ever had issues with telling other people what to do, but given how serious her position within Cornett Enterprises had become of late, it wasn’t an attitude anymore so much as it was natural state of being situationally.
Zoey, on the other hand, was considerably less at ease. None of the workers could tell; her smile was on full-mast and she was quick to offer an amusing remark or to lend her assistance as she went up and down the area’s interior. However, when her partner looked her way, she did not see the magician at her magical best: she saw someone putting every drop of effort into obfuscating what was really happening inside her pretty head. And, as a friend, Farrah was worried. Still, everything was soon in hand and the Angels were able to step back and watch as the brainchild of themselves and Team Kickass began to further come to life. Falling back to a safe location, Farrah set a hand on Zoey’s shoulder. The Sorcerous Angel turned to her partner with a smile which was returned before casting her gaze upon the workers again. Farrah picked her spot.
”So I hear you and Mama found a place, huh?”
”Hm?”
Not expecting that particular question, Zoey maintained her smile and nodded. It helped that Farrah’s tone was gentler than usual and helped the magician recall better times; she had one of those mothers that everyone called Mama… both out of respect and, in rare moments of bad behavior, a bit of fear.
”Oh… yes, in South Malibu. Beautiful place. I’m honestly a little jealous but Mama loves it and she feels that Daddy will, too.”
”As long as your Dad has a spot to relax and a spot to work on his crafting, he’d be happy in a repurposed storage container. Speaking of, how’s that pet project of his coming along?”
”The chess set? Oh, wonderfully. Mama showed me a picture of it while we had lunch. He’s nearly finished the ‘light side’ of the pieces. I’ll show you later.”
Now Farrah was smiling too, but not for the same reason as Zoey.
”So when are you going to tell me what’s eating you?”
”It doesn’t matter.”
”A decade and a half, Zee. Haven’t you learned in all that time that you can’t b.s. me? Maybe no one else in here sees it, but I do. Just tell me what’s on your brain.”
It isn’t the words, but the tone. Couple that with the lack of energy for several outstanding reasons and Zoey makes the decision to just be out with it rather than having Farrah hound her until she gets what she wants.
”Let’s have a seat somewhere quiet…”
The two move off and the scene fades briefly, coming back to one of the extra tables set near the corner of the convention area. Out of the way and out of earshot of the workers, Zoey and Farrah sit, a bottle of water for each near at hand. We return just after Zoey finishes explaining and Farrah sits and stares at her water while Zoey takes a sip of her own. Shaking her head a little, the Crimson Angel chuckles quietly; not because she finds the tale funny but because… it was the only reaction she could come up with.
”Y’know, every bit of me wants to call it karma, but… for some reason, I just can’t, you know? Those three needed an attitude adjustment, that much I’ll warrant. But jumped and damn near traumatized by someone out of the goddamn blue? That kind of thing screws with you for a long time after the fact. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
”That’s what has me in this mood, Farrah. I… I can’t honestly say that I feel the same way. There’s no joy in me for this happening to someone, even if it’s someone who treated me like crap for years and then picked up where they left off years later without missing a beat. But there’s also no empathy. I don’t feel anything.”
”They treated you like scum on their shoes for years. What’s wrong with not feeling anything where they’re concerned, minor tragedy or otherwise? I’d almost call that healthy, Zee.”
Zoey smiles, albeit faintly, and shakes her head before taking a sip of water. She has no good response to Farrah’s comment and so leaves it be. She nods to the Crimson Angel’s bag, though.
”That time, eh?”
”Before I lose control, yes. Please.”
Not questioning her this time, Farrah goes into the bag for the digital camcorder and within moments we have a shot of Zoey from her partner’s perspective. She smiles pleasantly, leaning back a little in her chair and taking up her water for a moment before speaking.
”Hello, Sarah and Kenzi. If you’re anything like Farrah and I, I’m betting that the excitement hasn’t flagged even a little and that you’re waiting just as eagerly as we are for tomorrow and a chance to give back to the amazing LAW fans here in Chicago for all the support they’ve given us as we pursue our hopes and dreams in the ring. Being able to sit down with you two a few days ago and get this all planned out… I could never have seen it coming after all the acrimony we shared nearly a year ago. It’s one of those rare cases where I’m quite happy to be wrong.”
She lifts her bottle toward the camera for a moment, her smile looking far more natural now… perhaps due to the private conversation which happened before she took to addressing their opponents.
”Two things before I go on, though: the first is that we have to do that again sometime… but just for the fun of it. Just because. And secondly? No clowns, Kenzi. You have my word. Coulrophobia is no joke.”
”Matter of fact, we’ve got some alternate and spare costumes set aside for the fans coming in. Just in case they didn’t notice in the ads and on the websites that clown costumes are a no-no.”
Zoey smiles to her partner off-camera, then refocuses.
”So you’re handled, dear.”
Polishing off her water, Zoey barely gets the opportunity to toss the empty plastic unerringly into a nearby recycling bin before she’s tossed a full one by someone off-camera… presumably Farrah, but given the direction…
”I’m not going to feed you two falsehoods today. Not that I would do so to anyone, mind you, but it is important that I make the distinction clear. At first, this event was just a fun idea to me. It was a way to do something for the company that gives us the chance to shine and the fans whose patronage allow us to keep doing that week in and week out. Admittedly, a small part of me was challenged to do so simply based on Sarah’s constant assertions on Twitter about the ‘real main event’. Pride is a dangerous thing, even in small doses; arrogance is the black monster in the shadows of pride, waiting for the opportune moment to tear it down like a lion upon a gazelle.
But the more I gave her feelings and thoughts credence, the more I realized that Sarah is 100% right. And not once have I felt disrespectful toward our other champions and top stars in LAW since coming around to that way of thinking. All four of us, with a few notable others, put it all out there not only in the ring, but outside of it both physically and on social media. It isn’t just events like what we’re hosting here tomorrow. It’s our attitude and how we strive to bring attention to what we do, proceeding to back it up in the ring each and every time out. Placement on the card doesn’t dictate what a main event is. Anticipation, attention and preparation are. LAW’s tag team division could challenge that of any other wrestling company and win handily nine times out of ten. That’s not just as a result of Farrah and I, but of teams like yourselves, the Queens of Wrestling, the Naughty GIrls and more. Drink to that, friends. You’ve earned it.”
Zoey does just that, spinning off the cap and taking a long swig of the clear, cold liquid within. She licks a stray drop off her purple-painted, glossy lips and smiles in satisfaction at the camera.
”But with such status comes pressure. We feel it every time the lights go up and Somethin’ Bad starts playing. ‘Can we make it happen again tonight?’ ‘Will they still like us if we lose?’ ‘What if we screw something up?’”
”Those questions and many more. Every single show. Standing behind that curtain, waiting to burst through and feel the heat of the spotlight and the roar of a packed arena, we’re second-guessing and doubting and straight-up stressing. And then…”
”...then we step out and we feel that rush. The lights burn up the butterflies in our tummies, the fears and worries melt away like snow in a frying pan and, just like that, it’s time to fly. Tell me true, ladies: is it not the same for you? Because you don’t have to be a champion to feel this way. It’s been the same for me since October two years ago when I made my debut as a professional wrestler, a week from this coming Tuesday in fact, in Cardiff, Wales for Visionaries of Wrestling. It feels like so long ago at this point, but I treasure the memory right down to the most powerful case of jitters I’d ever felt. Ask Farrah. She can vouch for that.”
”It’s true. Zoey here was shaking harder than a marital aid cranked up all the way on fresh batteries.”
There’s no way they couldn’t both laugh long and loud at that horrible-yet-accurate analogy. Once Zoey composes herself, a tear brought on from the laughter squeezed out of her eye, she continues with that smile back in place.
”It’s going to be that way Sunday night as well. Old opponents, new perspective. And I’m very much looking forward to it. As a tandem, the two of you are extremely impressive in and out of the ring. I admit to some envy toward your outside-the-ring successes, in fact. However, inside the ring is where the Boardwalk Angels are at their absolute best. No matter how wonderful our newfound friendship may be, ladies, when that bell tolls we are going to deliver and keep our undefeated streak as a duo alive while holding our titles high. Dinner will be on us after the fact, of course.”
”I personally acknowledged a few days ago how highly we think of you two and how, more so than any other team before you and most likely more so than most teams we’ll face after you, you two have the capability to stop our streak. The key word there is ‘capability’. You have the ‘potential’ to do so. Can you turn capability into success? Can you transform ‘potential’ into ‘kinetic’? Perhaps that isn’t the best question. Of course you can. But will you? And if you do, will it be enough?”
”We do not intend to let that happen.”
Smiling or not, Zoey gets intense in a hurry and it isn’t out of the question to imagine that, behind the camera, Farrah has the same look to match her tone.
”Work ethic and broader range of experience notwithstanding, Sarah, I have no intentions of becoming another notch on your belt, nor does Farrah. You’ve earned every inch of respect you currently possess, but so have we. I have made a career since the very start of snatching victory from situations that heavily favored my opponents, defeating longstanding and well-respected champions almost as a point of habit. Their names would likely not mean anything to you for the most part, which is fine. You ply your trade across the world in multiple companies. I have attempted to branch out in the past but… LAW is my home. I am content to put my full focus on this company and the championships Farrah and I have earned here. Farrah would tell you the same.”
The camera purposely bobs as if to simulate nodding, which makes Zoey giggle quietly behind her hand before getting back on point.
”Around your message, well-meaning and respectful though it was, was that red-tinged edge of which you are so well known. You all but guarantee yourself and your partner’s victory, Sarah, and if that came from almost anyone else in LAW, we would laugh it off. But we said ourselves that you and Kenzi were the one team who has the capability to beat us by matching and perhaps surpassing our most important trait as a team. But you sort of… fall off the train when you talk about taking down Gabby Camacho. No disrespect to that young lady, but singles success isn’t the same thing as tag team success. Is beating her something worth lauding? Absolutely. I’ve faced her myself in the midst of a six-woman tag and can vouch for her talent and tenacity. But, also by your admission, as a duo Farrah and I are as close to unstoppable as exists in LAW. And no matter your success across the world or your evolution since our first encounter, you still owe one of the notches in your loss column to us.”
She takes a brief sip of water, pinky extended, before resuming.
”And most certainly your tag team record outshines ours, but that again comes from a multitude of companies and not just LAW. I wouldn’t deign to discredit your success or make some idiotic claim about those wins beyond these borders ‘not counting’. That would be petty, as well as several other unclean adjectives. What you have to understand though, Sarah, is that there is something to be said for dedication to one company, to one goal within that company and wholehearted effort toward making those goals a reality. As well, there’s measurable benefits to that dedication on the physical end of things. Jetting across the world multiple times a month, sometimes within a week, to put forth grueling matches as well as promotional duties and personal interests? No one is immune to the wear and tear, physically as well as mentally and emotionally, that that puts on a person.
In your effort to be the best, effort which we do indeed applaud, you risk becoming the proverbial candle burning down at both ends. No amount of chemistry and intimacy between yourself and Kenzi can compensate for fatigue multiplying the aches and pains that all wrestlers fight through day after day, show after show. The Boardwalk Angels are fresh, Sarah and Kenzi. No myriad booking dates dotting the planet, no football and no grand spate of extracurriculars to sap our strength and focus. This event here?”
She gestures to the convention center, the work going on still, while Farrah takes in a shot of it even as Zoey continues.
”This is no hinderance. Again, Sarah, much respect is genuinely offered for who you are, what you’ve accomplished and what you’ll be bringing to the ring Sunday night. But regardless of all that? You’re still fighting from behind… or in this case, below. You’re not going to reach the heights to which we soar without us taking you there, and it will be only for a moment that you experience the glow and glory before we send you crashing back down, weighted by the truth. And that truth?”
”That truth is what we’ve been saying for nearly eight months: that we are the best team in Ladies All-Star Wrestling. Hands down.”
The Crimson Angel swings the camera back around and, as the sudden stability notes, mounts it so she can scrape a chair over near Zoey’s and take a seat next to her, putting the tag team champions in frame together.
”All the effort you put into knowing the intimacies, the ins-and-outs, of all the talents within LAW… there’s something to be said for that. There’s no shortage of pain and suffering that has nothing to do with the in-ring shenanigans that are displayed week in and week out. And for a lot of what you mentioned, consequences are damn well warranted. It’s clear that your message about wanting what’s best for LAW and taking it to the next level are genuine. Yet in the same vein as your globetrotting career, what does all of that do to avail you against us? We like you, Sarah. Hell, I’d go so far as to say that we admire you.”
”But knowing who is sleeping with who, recalling which of the Sugay Sisters forgot to put the cap back on the toothpaste or which Queen of Wrestling polished off the orange juice without buying a new carton… none of that, not one iota, matters between the bells when you’re clashing with the LAW World Tag Team Champions. It might make for a fine game of Wrestling Jeopardy, but in that rope-bordered canvas battleground, it will avail you little. Kenzi, I know you’re watching right now. Talk to your lady love, your exquisite wife. Make her see. Because after all this build, I do not want to think of the drop that will occur should the Angels defeat you two in Chi-Town.”
”If you two beat us, it will be because you earned it. Not because you know all of LAW’s dirty little secrets or have the ear of the powerful in the office or because you’ve padded your record in multiple companies. It will be because you, somehow and some way, got one over on the champions in the middle of the ring. If that happens, we’ll extend our hands and show you even more respect than we already have. Hopefully, when we put you two down, though, you will do the same.”
Both Angels look quite serious at this point. Not that they haven’t been up until now, but the anticipation is causing their intensity to flare hotly.
”And we will, ladies. We WILL put you down.”
Was that a darkening of the color in Zoey’s eyes? Seemed like it, but only for a heartbeat. Perhaps a trick of the light…
”We recognize the possibility of defeat, but that does not mean we accept it. We do so to open our minds and the strategies contained therein. Most people who promise victory over and over, who refuse to acknowledge that they might have faults, shortcomings, cracks in their heretofore-unbreakable armor… they tend to be taken to task rather effectively and the fallout from that shattering of their perspectives is hard to take. You are not unbeatable, Sarah, nor is Kenzi. You will not storm into that ring and run over the Boardwalk Angels regardless of your considerable merits in LAW and elsewhere.”
”Do you want a reason why that is? Do you require verification of why we feel so strongly about our chances of victory? Because we have over 230 of them.”
”Think for a moment of how closely your message resembles that of Vaughn and Williams and, to a similar extent, Roxy Cotton. They said much of the same, though to varying levels of intensity and veracity. And they came up short. Chalk that up to miscalculations or missed cues if you would like, ladies, but bear in mind that, with no disrespect intended to our dear Stacy Jones, that they were also not facing the Angels in their purest form. Nor were you when it was three-on-three. So as much as you have improved and insinuated yourself deeper and deeper within the inner workings of LAW, for all your intense knowledge and prowess… you are still fighting from below.”
Zoey sits back a bit, though Farrah remains leaned lightly upon the table, letting her partner take the lead as she is so often wont to do.
”We know your name and who you are, Sarah and Kenzi, so let us tell you who and what WE are in terms matching your own.”
”We are the Seraphim of LAW, the Possessors and the Guardians of the tag team division.”
”Clad in the gold emblems of excellence, bearing wings and blades at the ready to defend what is ours, that which we share with all.”
”Whether flying beyond the clouds or into the flames of Hell, we never falter nor turn from a challenge to our thrones.”
”Bring your fire and fury. Get ready to fly... and fall.”
One last shot of the champions, Zoey sitting forward once more next to her partner as they gaze firmly into the camera until Farrah sets it to end the recording.
* October 18th, 2017, afternoon *
* Carbon Beach *
* Malibu, CA *
Playing the Field
The first view, a ways down Carbon Beach from the building, is of a set of beautiful condos in the southern part of Malibu. Oceanfront with excellent views both within and without, the beauty of the day doing a lot to help the ambiance in its own way. The Outrigger Community is a pricey one to live at, but worth every penny for those who can afford it.
This view fades, taking us within the building in question where a woman in a cobalt blue business jacket and skirt walks, clipboard held against her chest with one arm while the other gestures about the contemporary interior while speaking to a few others who are along for the private tour. Her enthusiasm sounds genuine, which is either a credit to her salesmanship or an example of the pride she has in what she’s offering. The striking blonde stops before the sitting room…
...before turning to look over her shoulder at her guests and address them directly.
”...and as you can see, the condo comes well-furnished. There’s literally not a room within this place that isn’t comfortable. Couple that with the views and being right on the beach and you can see why this place is an absolute steal for the price.”
The realtor gives her most winning smile to the pair now entering, first to the older, casually-dressed woman with dark, wavy hair and captivating eyes. She has a certain familiar air to her, though it isn’t until she smiles at the young blonde that we can recognize why she sets our senses off. Then the other woman walks into the room, her dark hair wrapped into a French braid, her pinstriped black skirt suit pressed and neat. Zoey Madigan-Star nods to the blonde before turning to the older woman and gesturing gently.
”What do you think, Mama? Could you see yourself and Dad enjoying your time here?”
Mrs. Madigan walks a bit further into the room, fingertips stroking over top of the chairs before she comes to the table, her eyes now on the view out the window. Waves crash noisily against the shore as she considers, then replies in a tone more accented than that of her daughter.
”Absolutely, piccola rosa. It is about as close to perfect as we have seen yet.”
Professional though she may be, the glimmer of hope in the realtor’s eyes is hard to mask. Zoey sees this but draws no attention to her observation. Instead, she walks over to where her mother stands, sharing in the view for a moment. After a bit of silence, she turns to the blonde and offers a bright smile in her direction.
”A moment if you don’t mind, Mrs. Jenson?”
”Of course! Take your time!”
Once she leaves the room, Mrs. Madigan’s expression betrays some concern, her attention going to her daughter.
”Zoey are you certain this isn’t overdoing it? You did see the price tag on this place, did you not?”
”Of course, Mama.”
”Do not misunderstand, because when I say I love it, I mean that. And your father will no doubt feel the same. But…”
The Sorcerous Angel quiets her mother with the simple gesture of putting her arm around the woman’s shoulders. At this moment, the scene goes monochrome save for Zoey herself and with a soft pop, another version of the woman herself stands on the magician’s own shoulder. Dressed all in black, in a manner more provocative than Zoey might show off in public, this miniature version of herself rolls her eyes and folds her arms.
”She’s giving you an out, you know. I mean, do you really need a babysitter that badly? Enough that you’d drop, what, close to three mil on a place so mommy and daddy dearest are within driving distance? Because this suggestion of yours is either a case of trying to make use of them for the years that they have left or because you need another security blanket in your life for being unable to deal with the truth.”
Zoey’s expression noticeably tenses, though she’s the only thing moving at the moment. Even the waves outside have stopped; this moment in time is all her… and only her. The dark-clad miniature of her stares at the woman herself, then rolls her eyes.
”What, you waiting on the other side of the argument? Fine.”
She walks past Zoey’s head, vanishing for a moment behind it until she comes out on the other side wearing an exaggerated, comical angel costume over her other clothes, her hands pressed together prayer-like as she affects a pious, holier-than-thou voice, mocking the woman.
”What you’re doing is really nice. Honest. Way above and beyond the call, which they no doubt see through. But yeah… nice.”
The smaller Zoey laughs acidly before popping out of sight, the scene going to normal.
”There’s no ‘buts’ allowed, Mama. You and Daddy deserve to enjoy your best years somewhere beautiful. You’ve both worked so hard all your lives to provide for myself and Drake. It’s time that something like that was done for you. If he were here, he would tell you the same right before fighting with me over whether we should try to talk Mrs. Jenson down a few hundred thousand.”
”Oh, of that I have no doubt. Next thing you know, the price has gone down and he’s earned himself a date with the realtor. Your brother… he never met a young lady he couldn’t charm or a bad situation he couldn’t talk his way out of.”
”So true. It’s like he lived for danger.”
”Died for it, too.”
The words from ‘Dark Zoey’ cause the scene to freeze again, black and white all around save for the woman herself. She cackles in a hateful way as Zoey herself tenses again. She’s almost shaking she’s so rigid. Dark Zoey bends over and taps her on the temple, smirking.
”What, too soon? You were thinking it and you know it. Can’t lie to me any more than you can lie to yourself.”
With another smoky pop she is gone again and Zoey turns to her mother with a soft, yet sad, smile.
”Unless you have more resistance to offer, Mama, I’m going to take your response as a yes. And before you try to talk me out of this again, bear in mind that I learned my determination and obstinance from you. As a matter of fact, I have perfected it. Just ask Katalina.”
Smirking cutely at her mother gets her cheek pinched, then patted firmly, by her aged yet still vital and rather beautiful mother. No doubt she got her looks from this classy lady, among other things.
”You’re not so old that I cannot put you in your place, piccola rosa. Remember that.”
”Yes, ma’am.”
”However…”
One last look at the waves, the sand and the sapphire sky galvanize the older woman’s decision.
”...this place will do wonderfully. I’ll go speak to Mrs. Jenson and see what I can do about a little old-fashioned haggling. Drake learned that from me, after all.”
”He certainly did!”
The two generations share a little laughter before Zoey’s phone rings. Mrs. Madigan excuses herself with kiss to her daughter’s cheek before leaving the room, her voice and Mrs. Jenson’s heard at first though they soon quiet as Zoey answers the phone.
”Hello?”
”It’s me, Zoey. Please… don’t hang up.”
Pausing briefly, Zoey looks over her shoulder toward the other room, then steps further toward the balcony’s glass doors as she lowers her voice a little.
”Casey? Is that you?”
”Yeah. Before you ask, I called your parents’ house and your father gave me this number. Please don’t be upset at him…”
”Well… isn’t that magical. Maybe she has a message from those twats you should have left lying a few weeks ago, eh? Can’t believe you let them walk…”
Monochrome once again, with Zoey in color, still taking the call. This time, ‘Dark Zoey’ stands on her shoulder and leans with one hand against the side of her head, looking bored.
”I’m not… but that doesn’t explain why you’re calling me out of the blue. If Deanna or one of the others put you up to this as a prank or something…”
”I’m calling from the hospital, Zoey. After that altercation, I decided to take a leave of absence from working for them. But I got a call the other day saying that someone jumped them outside a club a week or so ago.”
”...what?”
Acrimonious relationship or not pertaining to Zoey and the women in question, Casey’s news gives her serious pause. Dark Zoey, on the other hand…
”Ooooh! The plot thickens!”
Plopping down on Zoey’s pinstriped shoulder, Dark Zoey snaps her fingers, creates a bucket of popcorn, and starts munching as a shocked Zoey listens to Casey.
”It’s nothing they won’t recover from; bumps and bruises, a sprain or two. It’s the mental and emotional side of things. They should be out of the hospital by now but they’re really freaked out. All I could get out of them was about how the person was screaming things at them… nasty, hurtful things. None of them want to repeat them.”
”Probably telling them what they really thought of their stupid faces. I bet they squealed like burned pigs.”
Zoey looks as though she isn’t sure how to react and, as such, she isn’t reacting at all. Her silence goes on long enough that Casey speaks up again, worried.
”...Zoey?”
”Still here. Sorry. Just… the news blindsided me is all.”
”I know the relationship between us all isn’t great but I felt like you should know. I’m sorry if this is a bad time…”
”There’s never a good time for this kind of news, Casey.”
Between mouthfuls of popcorn and gulps of a soda that appeared out of nowhere, Dark Zoey laughs openly.
”If you had the guts you’d have done it yourself. Lucky you that karma cleaned up the mess you ignored. What do they call that? Serendipity or something?”
She laughs again as a forlorn Zoey stares at the waves.
”Thanks for telling me, though. Try and take care of them, Casey. I’ll… I don’t know. I’ll come see them or something.”
”That’s hardly necessary-”
”I feel as if it is. I’ll talk to you soon, though. I have a little business to settle up here…”
Dark Zoey, sending the bucket and cup back into limbo, or wherever, gets to her feet and dusts herself off with a look of comical exasperation.
”You’d apologize for the rain, I swear. How boring.”
Disappearing in a pop, the apparition is gone and Zoey is staring at her phone silently as Mrs. Jenson and Mrs. Madigan return to the room, the blonde as bright and chipper as ever.
”Mrs. Madigan is quite the negotiator, Mrs. Madigan-Star! But I believe we’ve settled on a deal and a price for the place, if you would like to have a look?”
Her smile is back on when she turns, nodding to Mrs. Jenson and accepting the clipboard held before her. Zoey’s mother looks at her, mom-senses tingling, knowing that something happened in her brief absence. She raises a brow at Zoey who shakes her head gently before putting her attention on the clipboard. A few moments later, she hands it back to Mrs. Jenson, smile firmly in place.
”Wonderful. I’ll come by your office… let’s say Tuesday morning? We’ll take care of the rest of the details then. That is, if you’re able to hold the place for us until then?”
”All considered, Zoey, I would be more than happy to.”
Mrs. Jenson shakes hands with Zoey, then with her mother, before leading the way out of the condo. Falling into step with her daughter, Mrs. Madigan speaks quietly to the young lady.
”Bad news?”
”That’s the question, Mama… and I don’t know the answer.”
”You will, sweetheart. You always do, after all.”
”I wonder sometimes.”
Still, she does her best to brighten her own mood for the sake of those around her, does Zoey, as they leave the condo and the scene fades to black.
”The call from Casey, more than some events of the past several months, taught me more than I wanted to know about the changes coming over me. Deanna and the others… they weren’t my friends. Perhaps they never were. In fact, they nearly reached the level of Yolanda and her gang whom Farrah mentioned recently before high school was over. Still… I’m not a cold-hearted person. I don’t wish pain and suffering even on people who I do not like. But what I felt in that moment, or perhaps didn’t feel, worried me. The saying goes that the day you stop showing compassion for the enemy is the day you become the enemy. Am I… the enemy?”
* October 20th, 2017, afternoon *
* House of Hope Arena, Convention Level *
* Chicago, IL *
Perspective
A day away from the LAW Halloween Fan Event, and two days before LAW #71, finds the Boardwalk Angels back in the Windy City helping to oversee the setup of the arena’s convention level for the big shindig. Zoey Madigan-Star and Farrah Cornett move along the crew members, offering helping hands where they can, either through guidance or directly lending a hand, to make sure everything is just right. For Farrah, it was becoming easier and easier to take charge of situations like these. Not that the strong-willed Crimson Angel ever had issues with telling other people what to do, but given how serious her position within Cornett Enterprises had become of late, it wasn’t an attitude anymore so much as it was natural state of being situationally.
Zoey, on the other hand, was considerably less at ease. None of the workers could tell; her smile was on full-mast and she was quick to offer an amusing remark or to lend her assistance as she went up and down the area’s interior. However, when her partner looked her way, she did not see the magician at her magical best: she saw someone putting every drop of effort into obfuscating what was really happening inside her pretty head. And, as a friend, Farrah was worried. Still, everything was soon in hand and the Angels were able to step back and watch as the brainchild of themselves and Team Kickass began to further come to life. Falling back to a safe location, Farrah set a hand on Zoey’s shoulder. The Sorcerous Angel turned to her partner with a smile which was returned before casting her gaze upon the workers again. Farrah picked her spot.
”So I hear you and Mama found a place, huh?”
”Hm?”
Not expecting that particular question, Zoey maintained her smile and nodded. It helped that Farrah’s tone was gentler than usual and helped the magician recall better times; she had one of those mothers that everyone called Mama… both out of respect and, in rare moments of bad behavior, a bit of fear.
”Oh… yes, in South Malibu. Beautiful place. I’m honestly a little jealous but Mama loves it and she feels that Daddy will, too.”
”As long as your Dad has a spot to relax and a spot to work on his crafting, he’d be happy in a repurposed storage container. Speaking of, how’s that pet project of his coming along?”
”The chess set? Oh, wonderfully. Mama showed me a picture of it while we had lunch. He’s nearly finished the ‘light side’ of the pieces. I’ll show you later.”
Now Farrah was smiling too, but not for the same reason as Zoey.
”So when are you going to tell me what’s eating you?”
”It doesn’t matter.”
”A decade and a half, Zee. Haven’t you learned in all that time that you can’t b.s. me? Maybe no one else in here sees it, but I do. Just tell me what’s on your brain.”
It isn’t the words, but the tone. Couple that with the lack of energy for several outstanding reasons and Zoey makes the decision to just be out with it rather than having Farrah hound her until she gets what she wants.
”Let’s have a seat somewhere quiet…”
The two move off and the scene fades briefly, coming back to one of the extra tables set near the corner of the convention area. Out of the way and out of earshot of the workers, Zoey and Farrah sit, a bottle of water for each near at hand. We return just after Zoey finishes explaining and Farrah sits and stares at her water while Zoey takes a sip of her own. Shaking her head a little, the Crimson Angel chuckles quietly; not because she finds the tale funny but because… it was the only reaction she could come up with.
”Y’know, every bit of me wants to call it karma, but… for some reason, I just can’t, you know? Those three needed an attitude adjustment, that much I’ll warrant. But jumped and damn near traumatized by someone out of the goddamn blue? That kind of thing screws with you for a long time after the fact. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
”That’s what has me in this mood, Farrah. I… I can’t honestly say that I feel the same way. There’s no joy in me for this happening to someone, even if it’s someone who treated me like crap for years and then picked up where they left off years later without missing a beat. But there’s also no empathy. I don’t feel anything.”
”They treated you like scum on their shoes for years. What’s wrong with not feeling anything where they’re concerned, minor tragedy or otherwise? I’d almost call that healthy, Zee.”
Zoey smiles, albeit faintly, and shakes her head before taking a sip of water. She has no good response to Farrah’s comment and so leaves it be. She nods to the Crimson Angel’s bag, though.
”That time, eh?”
”Before I lose control, yes. Please.”
Not questioning her this time, Farrah goes into the bag for the digital camcorder and within moments we have a shot of Zoey from her partner’s perspective. She smiles pleasantly, leaning back a little in her chair and taking up her water for a moment before speaking.
”Hello, Sarah and Kenzi. If you’re anything like Farrah and I, I’m betting that the excitement hasn’t flagged even a little and that you’re waiting just as eagerly as we are for tomorrow and a chance to give back to the amazing LAW fans here in Chicago for all the support they’ve given us as we pursue our hopes and dreams in the ring. Being able to sit down with you two a few days ago and get this all planned out… I could never have seen it coming after all the acrimony we shared nearly a year ago. It’s one of those rare cases where I’m quite happy to be wrong.”
She lifts her bottle toward the camera for a moment, her smile looking far more natural now… perhaps due to the private conversation which happened before she took to addressing their opponents.
”Two things before I go on, though: the first is that we have to do that again sometime… but just for the fun of it. Just because. And secondly? No clowns, Kenzi. You have my word. Coulrophobia is no joke.”
”Matter of fact, we’ve got some alternate and spare costumes set aside for the fans coming in. Just in case they didn’t notice in the ads and on the websites that clown costumes are a no-no.”
Zoey smiles to her partner off-camera, then refocuses.
”So you’re handled, dear.”
Polishing off her water, Zoey barely gets the opportunity to toss the empty plastic unerringly into a nearby recycling bin before she’s tossed a full one by someone off-camera… presumably Farrah, but given the direction…
”I’m not going to feed you two falsehoods today. Not that I would do so to anyone, mind you, but it is important that I make the distinction clear. At first, this event was just a fun idea to me. It was a way to do something for the company that gives us the chance to shine and the fans whose patronage allow us to keep doing that week in and week out. Admittedly, a small part of me was challenged to do so simply based on Sarah’s constant assertions on Twitter about the ‘real main event’. Pride is a dangerous thing, even in small doses; arrogance is the black monster in the shadows of pride, waiting for the opportune moment to tear it down like a lion upon a gazelle.
But the more I gave her feelings and thoughts credence, the more I realized that Sarah is 100% right. And not once have I felt disrespectful toward our other champions and top stars in LAW since coming around to that way of thinking. All four of us, with a few notable others, put it all out there not only in the ring, but outside of it both physically and on social media. It isn’t just events like what we’re hosting here tomorrow. It’s our attitude and how we strive to bring attention to what we do, proceeding to back it up in the ring each and every time out. Placement on the card doesn’t dictate what a main event is. Anticipation, attention and preparation are. LAW’s tag team division could challenge that of any other wrestling company and win handily nine times out of ten. That’s not just as a result of Farrah and I, but of teams like yourselves, the Queens of Wrestling, the Naughty GIrls and more. Drink to that, friends. You’ve earned it.”
Zoey does just that, spinning off the cap and taking a long swig of the clear, cold liquid within. She licks a stray drop off her purple-painted, glossy lips and smiles in satisfaction at the camera.
”But with such status comes pressure. We feel it every time the lights go up and Somethin’ Bad starts playing. ‘Can we make it happen again tonight?’ ‘Will they still like us if we lose?’ ‘What if we screw something up?’”
”Those questions and many more. Every single show. Standing behind that curtain, waiting to burst through and feel the heat of the spotlight and the roar of a packed arena, we’re second-guessing and doubting and straight-up stressing. And then…”
”...then we step out and we feel that rush. The lights burn up the butterflies in our tummies, the fears and worries melt away like snow in a frying pan and, just like that, it’s time to fly. Tell me true, ladies: is it not the same for you? Because you don’t have to be a champion to feel this way. It’s been the same for me since October two years ago when I made my debut as a professional wrestler, a week from this coming Tuesday in fact, in Cardiff, Wales for Visionaries of Wrestling. It feels like so long ago at this point, but I treasure the memory right down to the most powerful case of jitters I’d ever felt. Ask Farrah. She can vouch for that.”
”It’s true. Zoey here was shaking harder than a marital aid cranked up all the way on fresh batteries.”
There’s no way they couldn’t both laugh long and loud at that horrible-yet-accurate analogy. Once Zoey composes herself, a tear brought on from the laughter squeezed out of her eye, she continues with that smile back in place.
”It’s going to be that way Sunday night as well. Old opponents, new perspective. And I’m very much looking forward to it. As a tandem, the two of you are extremely impressive in and out of the ring. I admit to some envy toward your outside-the-ring successes, in fact. However, inside the ring is where the Boardwalk Angels are at their absolute best. No matter how wonderful our newfound friendship may be, ladies, when that bell tolls we are going to deliver and keep our undefeated streak as a duo alive while holding our titles high. Dinner will be on us after the fact, of course.”
”I personally acknowledged a few days ago how highly we think of you two and how, more so than any other team before you and most likely more so than most teams we’ll face after you, you two have the capability to stop our streak. The key word there is ‘capability’. You have the ‘potential’ to do so. Can you turn capability into success? Can you transform ‘potential’ into ‘kinetic’? Perhaps that isn’t the best question. Of course you can. But will you? And if you do, will it be enough?”
”We do not intend to let that happen.”
Smiling or not, Zoey gets intense in a hurry and it isn’t out of the question to imagine that, behind the camera, Farrah has the same look to match her tone.
”Work ethic and broader range of experience notwithstanding, Sarah, I have no intentions of becoming another notch on your belt, nor does Farrah. You’ve earned every inch of respect you currently possess, but so have we. I have made a career since the very start of snatching victory from situations that heavily favored my opponents, defeating longstanding and well-respected champions almost as a point of habit. Their names would likely not mean anything to you for the most part, which is fine. You ply your trade across the world in multiple companies. I have attempted to branch out in the past but… LAW is my home. I am content to put my full focus on this company and the championships Farrah and I have earned here. Farrah would tell you the same.”
The camera purposely bobs as if to simulate nodding, which makes Zoey giggle quietly behind her hand before getting back on point.
”Around your message, well-meaning and respectful though it was, was that red-tinged edge of which you are so well known. You all but guarantee yourself and your partner’s victory, Sarah, and if that came from almost anyone else in LAW, we would laugh it off. But we said ourselves that you and Kenzi were the one team who has the capability to beat us by matching and perhaps surpassing our most important trait as a team. But you sort of… fall off the train when you talk about taking down Gabby Camacho. No disrespect to that young lady, but singles success isn’t the same thing as tag team success. Is beating her something worth lauding? Absolutely. I’ve faced her myself in the midst of a six-woman tag and can vouch for her talent and tenacity. But, also by your admission, as a duo Farrah and I are as close to unstoppable as exists in LAW. And no matter your success across the world or your evolution since our first encounter, you still owe one of the notches in your loss column to us.”
She takes a brief sip of water, pinky extended, before resuming.
”And most certainly your tag team record outshines ours, but that again comes from a multitude of companies and not just LAW. I wouldn’t deign to discredit your success or make some idiotic claim about those wins beyond these borders ‘not counting’. That would be petty, as well as several other unclean adjectives. What you have to understand though, Sarah, is that there is something to be said for dedication to one company, to one goal within that company and wholehearted effort toward making those goals a reality. As well, there’s measurable benefits to that dedication on the physical end of things. Jetting across the world multiple times a month, sometimes within a week, to put forth grueling matches as well as promotional duties and personal interests? No one is immune to the wear and tear, physically as well as mentally and emotionally, that that puts on a person.
In your effort to be the best, effort which we do indeed applaud, you risk becoming the proverbial candle burning down at both ends. No amount of chemistry and intimacy between yourself and Kenzi can compensate for fatigue multiplying the aches and pains that all wrestlers fight through day after day, show after show. The Boardwalk Angels are fresh, Sarah and Kenzi. No myriad booking dates dotting the planet, no football and no grand spate of extracurriculars to sap our strength and focus. This event here?”
She gestures to the convention center, the work going on still, while Farrah takes in a shot of it even as Zoey continues.
”This is no hinderance. Again, Sarah, much respect is genuinely offered for who you are, what you’ve accomplished and what you’ll be bringing to the ring Sunday night. But regardless of all that? You’re still fighting from behind… or in this case, below. You’re not going to reach the heights to which we soar without us taking you there, and it will be only for a moment that you experience the glow and glory before we send you crashing back down, weighted by the truth. And that truth?”
”That truth is what we’ve been saying for nearly eight months: that we are the best team in Ladies All-Star Wrestling. Hands down.”
The Crimson Angel swings the camera back around and, as the sudden stability notes, mounts it so she can scrape a chair over near Zoey’s and take a seat next to her, putting the tag team champions in frame together.
”All the effort you put into knowing the intimacies, the ins-and-outs, of all the talents within LAW… there’s something to be said for that. There’s no shortage of pain and suffering that has nothing to do with the in-ring shenanigans that are displayed week in and week out. And for a lot of what you mentioned, consequences are damn well warranted. It’s clear that your message about wanting what’s best for LAW and taking it to the next level are genuine. Yet in the same vein as your globetrotting career, what does all of that do to avail you against us? We like you, Sarah. Hell, I’d go so far as to say that we admire you.”
”But knowing who is sleeping with who, recalling which of the Sugay Sisters forgot to put the cap back on the toothpaste or which Queen of Wrestling polished off the orange juice without buying a new carton… none of that, not one iota, matters between the bells when you’re clashing with the LAW World Tag Team Champions. It might make for a fine game of Wrestling Jeopardy, but in that rope-bordered canvas battleground, it will avail you little. Kenzi, I know you’re watching right now. Talk to your lady love, your exquisite wife. Make her see. Because after all this build, I do not want to think of the drop that will occur should the Angels defeat you two in Chi-Town.”
”If you two beat us, it will be because you earned it. Not because you know all of LAW’s dirty little secrets or have the ear of the powerful in the office or because you’ve padded your record in multiple companies. It will be because you, somehow and some way, got one over on the champions in the middle of the ring. If that happens, we’ll extend our hands and show you even more respect than we already have. Hopefully, when we put you two down, though, you will do the same.”
Both Angels look quite serious at this point. Not that they haven’t been up until now, but the anticipation is causing their intensity to flare hotly.
”And we will, ladies. We WILL put you down.”
Was that a darkening of the color in Zoey’s eyes? Seemed like it, but only for a heartbeat. Perhaps a trick of the light…
”We recognize the possibility of defeat, but that does not mean we accept it. We do so to open our minds and the strategies contained therein. Most people who promise victory over and over, who refuse to acknowledge that they might have faults, shortcomings, cracks in their heretofore-unbreakable armor… they tend to be taken to task rather effectively and the fallout from that shattering of their perspectives is hard to take. You are not unbeatable, Sarah, nor is Kenzi. You will not storm into that ring and run over the Boardwalk Angels regardless of your considerable merits in LAW and elsewhere.”
”Do you want a reason why that is? Do you require verification of why we feel so strongly about our chances of victory? Because we have over 230 of them.”
”Think for a moment of how closely your message resembles that of Vaughn and Williams and, to a similar extent, Roxy Cotton. They said much of the same, though to varying levels of intensity and veracity. And they came up short. Chalk that up to miscalculations or missed cues if you would like, ladies, but bear in mind that, with no disrespect intended to our dear Stacy Jones, that they were also not facing the Angels in their purest form. Nor were you when it was three-on-three. So as much as you have improved and insinuated yourself deeper and deeper within the inner workings of LAW, for all your intense knowledge and prowess… you are still fighting from below.”
Zoey sits back a bit, though Farrah remains leaned lightly upon the table, letting her partner take the lead as she is so often wont to do.
”We know your name and who you are, Sarah and Kenzi, so let us tell you who and what WE are in terms matching your own.”
”We are the Seraphim of LAW, the Possessors and the Guardians of the tag team division.”
”Clad in the gold emblems of excellence, bearing wings and blades at the ready to defend what is ours, that which we share with all.”
”Whether flying beyond the clouds or into the flames of Hell, we never falter nor turn from a challenge to our thrones.”
”Bring your fire and fury. Get ready to fly... and fall.”
One last shot of the champions, Zoey sitting forward once more next to her partner as they gaze firmly into the camera until Farrah sets it to end the recording.