Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 22:18:56 GMT -5
Hello, Mister Baal.
Life is weird, ya know? We go through it with various ideas and concepts, have our desires and lusts, have our falls and losses. I was raised with a mouth full of spoons of such a high quality of silver that even sterling sit back and say “Good Lord, that is pure!” I was born to take over this business, genetically superior to just about everyone around me, and believed by many to be the One Lord’s reckoning in this business. I walked into UGWC and shocked everyone with not just my attitude and bravado going into the WrestleStock festival but my dominant victory.
But I failed to defeat Lucy Wylde at In Your Hands for her Cross-Hemisphere championship.
I failed.
I am now 0-5 in championship opportunities. And as I recently told one of the few members of the Cornett family worthy of respect, Zoey Madigan-Star, I do not hide from that fact. I do not run from it. I embrace...because I SHALL persevere.
My record is what it is. All of those fights I get into, all of the fighting across the world, and I am far more successful than people wish I was. My mouth...it makes that bank go into scramble mode for assets...but I have plenty. As I told another person, a veteran who was curious about how well I was doing, and the reality is that, after defeating the CWC #1 Tag Champion contenders, my overall record is 26-12-6
44 fights in eight months.
That is a lot of fights.
Now, what is all of this about? Why does this matter?
Because there is a little secret about me, one of those things which drive my detractors insane. Yes, I am thus far not quite ready to take down champions...I am not quite ready to replace Lucy Wylde as I have said I wish to...but I am successful. And a large part of that success?
Tag team matches.
Team are important to me, Mister Baal. I initially pushed against teams...pushed against having to work with anyone...but I know better now. I have a...happy talent...for that style of match.
Will you do research? Will you look into the past of the largely still unknown albino girl?
No need. Allow me to bring you the relevant information for this match to your feet.
I have never lost cleanly in a tag team match.
Ever.
Now, you may say to yourself, “But lo! You are but a child in our business! But a wet behind the ears rookie! What can you know about tag team matches! How many have you had...three?!”
No, Sir.
Fourteen.
My father was happy that my career started in the tag ranks, as his did. Back in Japan in 1995, Father was placed with what we would now refer to as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter named Okina Itami, the Great Pain. They did not get along initially, but the two became great friends, one of Father’s few, and they were champions together. That nearly happened with myself and Melissa Reeves. The Reaver and I did not get along initially, which I shall admit is more my fault than anything else, but we were successful together.
In FSociety, Melissa and I, coined the Blood Reavers by my Beloved, won three out of four of our tag matches, including my debut which included me taking a veteran twice my size into the Abyss via the Hail Mary, and were unsuccessful in a multi-team match, though we, of course, did not take a pinfall.
In my faux world tour, where I travel across the world to learn new styles and incorporate different ideas, I have teamed with Trixie in the EWC, home of Stranglemania, as well as with El Meido in Hermanos Extraordinarios de Lucha Libre, both victories over three teams featuring wrestlers with vast more experience than myself.
And of course, there is Team Kickass. You have heard of us, yes? Myself and my Beloved, my wife, Kenzi Grey-Lacklan. Travelling the world, she and I have travelled to the United Kingdom with the United Kingdom Wrestling Federation, across the world with Ladies All Star, and into Canada with Empire Pro Wrestling. She and I have won every match we have been a part of. We are unstoppable as a team.
But the best part about my record and capabilities in tag team wrestling?
It includes a win over you.
There are those who believe that Mister Hastings is a buffoon. After all, that was the man who eliminated me from the Massive Melee because he thought I was someone else. And the two of us were booked against you and Lucy. The buffoon and the vlogger giving out hugs...against the top two champions.
I shall not take away the fact that, for three seconds, Lucy Wylde was better than me.
But that night? On August 7th? I was better than her.
How did it feel to watch me choke out your...friend? How did it feel to see the lights go out in her eyes?
For me...for me...it was…
Orgasmic.
I am looking forward to doing the same to you.
I told you a few weeks ago…
...that…
...that I see you, Mister Baal.
Snake for snake.
I appreciate you for who you are. I appreciate what you say and do. I appreciate the Lord of this Mountain.
But next week?
...next week…
I begin my climb up that mountain.
I shall defeat you this week.
I shall outlast Lucy’s team in September.
I shall pull you off your mountain.
Hail to the Queen.
If someone had told a sixteen year-old Sarah Selena Lacklan that not only would she be married before she was twenty, but that marriage would be an interracial same sex marriage, she would have suffocated due to a laughter which would have never seen an end. In the Lord’s Year of 2014, her father Jean-Paul was still regularly crucifying Jews and casting even those suspected of homosexuality out of the compound referred to as Lacklanland. But here she was, at the age of nineteen, marrying a black woman on August 26th, 2017.
The ceremony was attended by not just the 300 or so denizens of the compound but also by a wide variety of friends and enemies alike. Kenzi had opened the guest list to all those who loved or hated, who cared or were indifferent, to show that their marriage was that of love and compassion, of second chances and renewal. And while Sarah had agreed to the “small” ceremony in which Kenzi had requested, the albino queen had done so with her fingers firmly crossed behind her fiance’s back. The “small” ceremony included a salute from her guards, being carried to the front of the cathedral by way of palanquin, the release of 1000 doves as they kissed, and a marching band leading their horse-drawn carriage down the street and to the reception hall. Their dresses, white for Kenzi and black for Sarah, were original pieces created by Renati Brand Apparel and were now officially part of Sarah’s “Firestarter” line.
The amount of people there to congratulate them was dizzying. Friends of her father, old enemies, people who trained her. The close-knit group of friends she had gathered around her the last month, the “Cool Kids,” members of her newly purchased Lingerie Football League team, and the “sisters” who had helped Kenzi along in her life. She had been given away by her godfather, the controversial wrestling figure Dexter Severin, and for a wonder, he did not get into a fight with his ex-wife Zoe Chaos, the woman she still considered to be her godmother.
The day was exhausting, with high peaks but rather shallow valleys, and one of those peaks occurred when the singer of the live band, No Comply, encouraged everyone to watch the center of the stage as the two brides danced their very first dance to a song special to them, “Love on the Brain.”
Sarah's face hurt from all the smiling, but she couldn't stop. Constant congratulations, hugs, and well-wishes kept her busy, and the newfound weight on her left hand felt both light and heavy at the same time. She snuck in whispers to her bride as they danced for the first time as a legal couple.
"I DO hope that you do not kill me for the extravagance of the day."
Kenzi swung Sarah around, her arms sliding perfectly around her lover's waist, like a hand in a glove.
"You're my heart, and this is your day as well! You deserve all of this and I'm sure your mother and father are enjoying the smile that's been on your face all day long!"
While on display now, the afternoon had been filled with dancing, laughter, and stolen kisses. And as the two danced this monumental dance, Kenzi got a chance to pull her wife in close and tell her just how much it all meant to her.
"Sarah Selena Grey-Lacklan, you have made me more happy than I ever thought possible! I love the fact that I am now yours legally...but I want you to know that I have been your in spirit since the day you left this place and came back to claim me. Thank you for saving me from a terrible existence...one without you."
Sarah's wide smile was genuine, as were the tears threatening to well in her eyes.
"I have not regretted my decision to 'conveniently' move to your town for even one moment.'"
She had risked everything while her father was still alive back in early March. Had left her home, her palace, to live next to Kenzi and hope to make their budding relationship into someone more concrete. Mischievousness enters her eyes as she remembers the day she had flown in and Kenzi had greeted her at LAX.
"I thought about what I was going to say the entire time I was on that plane. Like, I knew what I was going to DO, ya know? Bite the everloving fuck out of you in the car. But say?"
She smiles wider.
"I knew as soon as I saw you in the airport. 'Who dis?'"
Kenzi blushed a bit as Sarah's words washed over her.
"Who dis? Dis your wife...and I will never desert you...I will try my best to never disappoint you...all I want to do is love you and make you the happiest woman on the planet."
Kenzi kissed her wife again, letting her feel the depth of the truth in her words.
"We are in sync.”
Sarah giggles and offers a wink.
"And the Backstreet Boys."
She pulls Kenzi closer into their dance so that she can whisper into her ear.
"I promise to never make you feel secondary ever again. You are my everything."
She giggles again, though this time with heat.
"And I cannot WAIT to take that Virgin Certificate and rip it, and your delicious flower, the FUCK UP."
Kenzi giggles as she nods, her own blood heating up.
"I'm gonna video that shit!"
Sarah's eyes go wide as she presses her cheek to Kenzi's.
"The first marital sexcapade or the ripping up of the certificate?"
Another giggle from Kenzi.
"...both..."
Sarah holds her closer, letting her hands run up and down her back. This was new.
"We talking 'Later tonight' or 'as soon as I drag you into the nearest room?'"
Kenzi was incredibly tempted, but...
"You don't want our first time as wife and wife to be in our own bed?"
She looked around, the people were drinking, laughing and dancing and most had forgotten them.
"We could certainly sneak off."
Sarah rolls her eyes.
"No, you're right."
She moves them back to arm's length to look in her eyes.
"Besides, we have a full week of a honeymoon to almost get caught doing stuff in public."
She smiles.
"Ready for the surprise?"
"Surprise?" She smiles even larger, "You know I hate surprises, unless they are from my Baby!"
"After the tournament? I am taking a full week off. I asked all my employers, from wrestling to Renati, to not schedule me for anything. I just want you and I."
She smiles widely.
"I know we were both looking forward to a few days off during that Juniors tournament, but it fell though, so I figured a week in Japan for us would be fun. We leave Monday morning."
Kenzi continues to sway to her song...sung by her Baby. Her eyes open, filled with love for her Selena as she embraces her.
"I love you so much that it actually hurts...hurts so good! I can't wait Baby...I cannot wait!"
As all wedding receptions do, the night eventually came to close. Revelers dissipated, the servants cleared the room, and eventually all that was left was the two brides making their way to their room. A room which, as built by Kenzi’s own hand, was full of rose petals and two glasses of wine. The gesture had stunned Sarah, as romance was her department, and the tears welling her eyes did not worry about shame or pride. They fell without reservation.
For all of Kenzi’s talk of videoing, their intimacy was pure, honest, and loving. Their sex life had always been one of humor, roleplay, games, and desperate need, two teenagers lost in the fast-paced world of wrestling, a world more often than not filled with drinking and drugs, but this was not the case tonight. Their love held something which both would consider nearly spiritual in its intensity.
Both realized that night, even moreso than at any other point during the day, that this was real. This was not one of their many roleplay sessions where they took on silly roles or scenarios. This was not about one pushing the other to new limits. This was not a television marriage on Hexx like Kenzi had had before. This was real.
They were real.
And they would follow each other into the dark.
Hello, Mister King.
I do not think that you and I have been properly introduced. You partner knows who I am and what I can do, but you? I get the feeling that I, the woman who bound onto the Coalition scene with little fanfare but such impact, has flown under your radar. Allow me a moment to fix the issue of proper introductions.
My name is Lacklan.
My job in this business is rebirth. Unfortunately for most, the time of salvation has come and gone. See, the One Lord God loves this business, He cherishes this business like none other. Wrestling truly is the holiest of sports, and holy in the actual sense: Separated from the rest of the sports world, set apart.
Things were glorious for a time. Wrestling was regarded as the sport of kings across many cultures throughout the centuries.
But things changed, Mister King.
Modern man, like so many other things, ruined wrestling. It applied a stink to it...a stench which makes the nose wrinkle and the eyes water. Weak-minded and bodied fools who allowed greedy promoters to place them in matches they could not win against opponents far greater than them. Pretty faces who looked good on posters or mugs who could sell tickets but could not survive the rigors of this business.
Over the years, these fools have created a true mire of mediocrity, a swamp of broken bodies and crushed dreams.
My job, Mister King, is to take that mire…
...take that swamp…
...take every broken body…
...take them all…
...and burn them to fucking ash.
It is only then that wrestling may be grown anew into the business it was meant to be. It is only then that the world of wrestling may reach the heights for which the One Lord God designed for it. It is only then that this business will be what He wants it to be.
My father did what he could to save the world, to save those pieces of mediocrity. He reached into the muck and pulled out those he could. He spoke of the Light and a path to salvation. He was the Voice and the Savior of professional wrestling.
But me?
I am its reckoning.
I AM the Light of which Father spoke.
And my Light BURNS, Sir.
I appreciate humor, Mister King. I appreciate a laugh as well as the next. My Beloved and I are fond of giggling away at some inane jest or quip. But when it comes to stepping into that ring...stepping into the One Lord God’s true place of worship...the laughs are finished. The jokes are forgotten. Memes and silliness are set aside.
Are you a jester, Sir? Is that your place? To be an admittedly pretty fool?
It seems to be, at times. For while I make the educated guess that my own actions have flown under that aforementioned radar, yours have not. I train like no other, Sir, and that includes watching tape like no other. As with everyone who resides in the Coalition, a company which I am finding...well...not exactly home...but certainly a place of interest...I have watched your matches, listened to your promotional videos. I have seen you, before you triumphant win at In Your Hands, be outsmarted by Eden, lose the Co-Op championship, and not make it to the Final Four of the Massive Melee, as I did.
I have come to the conclusion Sir that, while you are of obvious championship pedigree, you are no king, regardless of your surname. You are just a man as any other, a fool at times, a beast at others.
But I?
I am the Red Queen of Lacklanland.
I am royalty, Sir. Through genetics, sovereignty, and divine providence.
And my path of fire? The Light which makes all the cockroaches in this sport flee in fear of the searing pain of truth?
It is my manifest destiny.
You will learn to bow like all the rest.
See you soon.
Sarah grits her teeth and takes a deep breath to cool her nerves. She had been doing that a lot over the last 12 or so hours. The realization they had faced, the bombshell which had been dropped the day after their wedding at the Ladies All Star show in Vegas, that Kenzi had drunkenly gotten married the year before, was a fresh and deep pain. Their marriage, at least on paper, was illegitimate. And this honeymoon to Japan was, on paper, just a vacation. She felt bad about destroying their hotel room in her anger, but FUCK it felt good. She places her hand on top of Kenzi's.
"I love my company."
Kenzi felt reassured by her wife...or whatever she legally was now. She put her hand on top of hers as she looked at Sarah earnestly.
"If I knew...I swear, I would have told you! I had no idea...I don't know what is going on, but I am going to fix it!"
Sarah bites her lip...again...and does her best to control her shaking. She succeeds. Mostly.
"I have faith. You are my wife, no matter what. We got married on Saturday. This is our honeymoon."
She nearly shakes.
"No matter what."
Kenzi can feel her shaking, but she let her words carry the weight...for now. Once they had more privacy, they could talk things through. She leaned over and kissed Sarah.
"You are my wife...my lover...my best friend...my everything. Forever and ever."
Sarah pulls Kenzi in to hold her head and also look out her window at the Pacific ocean below them.
"Everything. Forever."
Jet lag being what it was, the two sat on the couch of their hotel room after the 14-hour flight, their bodies not even sure what time it was. Kenzi had one of her Scientology information books in her hand, Sarah a copy of Moby Dick. She thought it was appropriate to reread a little Melville as Kenzi dived into her latest obsession. Several times Kenzi tried to make conversation, but Sarah always shut it down with a polite, yet curt, comment. She was not ready for regular conversation, not ready to try to make light of their situation or lives. Anger filled every part of her being, from her toes to her hair, filling her heart. She felt like even her breath was angry fire. She did not want that, did not want an angry fight, did not want to hurt her wife in either body or heart. It was not Kenzi's fault. It was not anyone's fault. And while blaming someone might make her feel better, she knew it would only be for a moment.
"Treat the cause, not the symptom, Daughter."
Wise lessons from her father. And so she sat in silence, her mind reading the word of anger and obsession, her heart hurting, but her legs intertwined with those of her wife. Simple contact on silence, love and understanding and patience being emoted. She would be ready for words tomorrow. In the morning, perhaps. They had not been intimate that day, Sarah had pointedly put off their morning romance, but tomorrow? Perhaps tomorrow.
For now?
Contact, silence, and books.
She had faith.
The following morning, their bodies were still way off from the overseas travel. 5 AM in Tokyo was 1 PM at their apartment, or 4 PM in Lacklanland, and their didn't really even know what day it was. It had rained while they were there, which made for a beautiful sight, but the early morning presently meant being in their hotel room.
Sarah slipped out of the bathroom wearing a new red and black piece of lingerie. She had made many purchases for this trip, from outfits meant for public viewing and those like this meant for only the eyes of her wife, as well as a new toy she thought they might enjoy, but her anger at their situation had left that planned intimacy off the table. She was feeling better, though. Nowhere near happy. But better.
She stands before the chair where her spouse sat reading another of her books while also being dumb online, which was their favorite game to play together, and struck a small pose that helped all of her curves fatten attractively.
"Would you care to watch the sunrise with me on the balcony?"
Ken smiles as she puts her reading away and gives her wife an appreciative whistle.
"Would I?!"
She walks over, taking her by the hand as they head out on the balcony. She took a deep breath and looked out over the sights.
"This place is really stunning! It every more amazing than it was when I saw it last year!"
She pauses, realizing that might have been better off kept to herself, but truth was supposed to be the bedrock of their foundation.
"You have been here before?"
Sarah positions them so that Kenzi is holding her from behind yet could press their cheeks together. It was the most physical contact they had had since Sidney and Collin had dropped their bombshell, and she appreciated the closeness.
"I came here many times as a child. The Japanese wrestling fans loved and respected everything about Father's touken retsuden. And there was even a short-lived manga that featured a suspiciously familiar girl with platinum hair and red eyes."
Sarah smiles at the memories if traveling the world with her father.
"I have not been in nearly 10 years, and certainly not under this scenario."
Her face falls as she hugs the arms around her waist.
"I am not mad at you, Ken. I am mad at the situation. And I am aware that destroying our room in Vegas may not have been the most l...well...mature...way to handle my anger...but my mind is more at ease, now."
Kenzi pursed her lips as she considered not answering the question. Sarah had given her an opportunity to gloss over it, but then she realized that to withhold information was as bad as lying about her experience. She hugged Sarah more tightly, out of love...but also out of fear.
"Last year...I was suppose to come her for my honeymoon with Alex. She had given me a choice of three wonderful places to go...and I picked Japan. Needless to say, we broke up before that happened and I was devastated. I wanted to disappear...I wanted to curl up in to a tiny little ball and die. But instead, I took my ticket and I flew here and stayed by myself."
She paused again, marshaling her strength as she continued.
"I'm not going to lie to you...most of my time was spent in an alcohol and drug induced state. I legit wanted to die...and I think I did everything in my power to make that happen."
She sighed.
"Ironically, it was my mother who figured out where I was and came to get me...it was the first time I'd seen her since the accident. When they found me, I was...not in a good place."
She pauses for a moment.
"When you told me that we would come here...it felt like maybe there was some other force at work...something giving me a second chance to come here with the person who was meant for me...to finally have something good...but...like always, I screwed that up as well."
Sarah listened in respectful silence as she held Kenzi's hand tighter and tighter. Sarah was filled with jealousy and rage whenever the names of Alex Yin or Song were mentioned, women who had been former fiances and soulmates to Kenzi. Parker was a silly thing brought on by alcohol, but those two...
"I know well what is it is like to..."
She pauses, thinking.
"May I tell you a secret?"
Kenzi nuzzles her neck, breathing in her lavender scent.
"We have no secrets...just truths we have yet to share."
Sarah shuddered as much for the touch as the words.
"For all intents and purposes, my life growing up was magical. But there are moments of sadness. Little pockets of depression. When I was 8 years old, I realized that I would never meet my mother. I not sure when I realized that my coloring would never change. But I distinctly remember when I was 16. I was very stressed, very sad. Studies were being what they were, private tutors in everything. Couple of years into my lifting program with Father. And he had just started to teach me to wrestle, various holds and whatnot. And it was a particularly difficult day when I found some of my mother's belongings."
She pauses.
"See, not everyone knows, but Mother was not much older than I was when she passed. Indeed, I have outlived her. And that day I discovered some items of hers. Clothing. A necklace. One of the rings I wear now. I was just overwhelmed and overcome with sadness and grief...I did know what to do...didn't know who I could talk to. I could not talk to Father about that. And I was in his room going through mementos of my mother when I found the little box. And inside that little box were little red pills. I knew what they were...I knew what they did I knew what they were for. Drive."
She shakes her head softly.
"For two years, Drive was my support system. Every trial...every tribulation...until you. You are my Drive. But...there are times..."
She shakes her head again.
"It calls out to me, Wife. It sings to me. Sometimes I tremble in the dark while you sleep, my body yearning and needing. It does so now."
Kenzi squeezed tighter.
"I know...I saw you before. I even tried it myself a time or two, but it wasn't for me. You we're enough of a high for me."
She sighed.
"When you stopped using, I knew that you felt the same way I did. That made me so happy...until...New York...and now...Vegas..."
She let go and moved beside her, dropping her head.
"...All I do is fuck up now. I'm not your favorite drug, just your reason for using..."
Sarah takes her hand and keeps her eyes on the sunrise.
"I love you, Ken."
A small smile comes to her face.
"Even when you are crazypants."
Kenzi looks at Sarah, even as her red eyes stay on the rising sun.
"I know you don't blame me for this, but you should. It was my poor decision making that did this. It was my smothering that forced you away, any it's my jealousy that constantly spoils your fun."
Kenzi wipes her face.
"No more...no more crazypants, no more drinking, no more smoking, no more...more! You deserve someone you can be proud of...not a constant fucking failure or embarrassment!"
She took a deep breath as she addressed the elephant in the room.
"I know you think Scientology is hokey and dumb, but...I think it's the answer for a lot of my issues...a lot of the problems that I cause for you. I just...I just want you to keep an open mind, okay?"
She is silent for a while, taking in the sunrise.
"I do not agree with the tenants of what you are reading. But I do not agree with all of the tenants of my own Book."
She turns to face Kenzi and takes both her hands.
"I support you in every road you wish to take. We are one, in sickness and health. I WILL follow you into the dark.”
Kenzi hugs her.
"I love you Baby."
Hello Mister Scott.
I wanted to offer you this final moment of intimacy.
Everything you have seen or heard in this promotional video?
It is the truth.
I was born to change this business.
Born to save it by razing it to the ground.
And in this fight, I am but a rookie, but a child in her rookie year.
Who has become a dominant tag team wrestler.
I will be in the ring on the 4th with all of my skill and energy, all of my emotion and passion.
With all of my fire.
Mind the flames.
Life is weird, ya know? We go through it with various ideas and concepts, have our desires and lusts, have our falls and losses. I was raised with a mouth full of spoons of such a high quality of silver that even sterling sit back and say “Good Lord, that is pure!” I was born to take over this business, genetically superior to just about everyone around me, and believed by many to be the One Lord’s reckoning in this business. I walked into UGWC and shocked everyone with not just my attitude and bravado going into the WrestleStock festival but my dominant victory.
But I failed to defeat Lucy Wylde at In Your Hands for her Cross-Hemisphere championship.
I failed.
I am now 0-5 in championship opportunities. And as I recently told one of the few members of the Cornett family worthy of respect, Zoey Madigan-Star, I do not hide from that fact. I do not run from it. I embrace...because I SHALL persevere.
My record is what it is. All of those fights I get into, all of the fighting across the world, and I am far more successful than people wish I was. My mouth...it makes that bank go into scramble mode for assets...but I have plenty. As I told another person, a veteran who was curious about how well I was doing, and the reality is that, after defeating the CWC #1 Tag Champion contenders, my overall record is 26-12-6
44 fights in eight months.
That is a lot of fights.
Now, what is all of this about? Why does this matter?
Because there is a little secret about me, one of those things which drive my detractors insane. Yes, I am thus far not quite ready to take down champions...I am not quite ready to replace Lucy Wylde as I have said I wish to...but I am successful. And a large part of that success?
Tag team matches.
Team are important to me, Mister Baal. I initially pushed against teams...pushed against having to work with anyone...but I know better now. I have a...happy talent...for that style of match.
Will you do research? Will you look into the past of the largely still unknown albino girl?
No need. Allow me to bring you the relevant information for this match to your feet.
I have never lost cleanly in a tag team match.
Ever.
Now, you may say to yourself, “But lo! You are but a child in our business! But a wet behind the ears rookie! What can you know about tag team matches! How many have you had...three?!”
No, Sir.
Fourteen.
My father was happy that my career started in the tag ranks, as his did. Back in Japan in 1995, Father was placed with what we would now refer to as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter named Okina Itami, the Great Pain. They did not get along initially, but the two became great friends, one of Father’s few, and they were champions together. That nearly happened with myself and Melissa Reeves. The Reaver and I did not get along initially, which I shall admit is more my fault than anything else, but we were successful together.
In FSociety, Melissa and I, coined the Blood Reavers by my Beloved, won three out of four of our tag matches, including my debut which included me taking a veteran twice my size into the Abyss via the Hail Mary, and were unsuccessful in a multi-team match, though we, of course, did not take a pinfall.
In my faux world tour, where I travel across the world to learn new styles and incorporate different ideas, I have teamed with Trixie in the EWC, home of Stranglemania, as well as with El Meido in Hermanos Extraordinarios de Lucha Libre, both victories over three teams featuring wrestlers with vast more experience than myself.
And of course, there is Team Kickass. You have heard of us, yes? Myself and my Beloved, my wife, Kenzi Grey-Lacklan. Travelling the world, she and I have travelled to the United Kingdom with the United Kingdom Wrestling Federation, across the world with Ladies All Star, and into Canada with Empire Pro Wrestling. She and I have won every match we have been a part of. We are unstoppable as a team.
But the best part about my record and capabilities in tag team wrestling?
It includes a win over you.
There are those who believe that Mister Hastings is a buffoon. After all, that was the man who eliminated me from the Massive Melee because he thought I was someone else. And the two of us were booked against you and Lucy. The buffoon and the vlogger giving out hugs...against the top two champions.
I shall not take away the fact that, for three seconds, Lucy Wylde was better than me.
But that night? On August 7th? I was better than her.
How did it feel to watch me choke out your...friend? How did it feel to see the lights go out in her eyes?
For me...for me...it was…
Orgasmic.
I am looking forward to doing the same to you.
I told you a few weeks ago…
...that…
...that I see you, Mister Baal.
Snake for snake.
I appreciate you for who you are. I appreciate what you say and do. I appreciate the Lord of this Mountain.
But next week?
...next week…
I begin my climb up that mountain.
I shall defeat you this week.
I shall outlast Lucy’s team in September.
I shall pull you off your mountain.
Hail to the Queen.
If someone had told a sixteen year-old Sarah Selena Lacklan that not only would she be married before she was twenty, but that marriage would be an interracial same sex marriage, she would have suffocated due to a laughter which would have never seen an end. In the Lord’s Year of 2014, her father Jean-Paul was still regularly crucifying Jews and casting even those suspected of homosexuality out of the compound referred to as Lacklanland. But here she was, at the age of nineteen, marrying a black woman on August 26th, 2017.
The ceremony was attended by not just the 300 or so denizens of the compound but also by a wide variety of friends and enemies alike. Kenzi had opened the guest list to all those who loved or hated, who cared or were indifferent, to show that their marriage was that of love and compassion, of second chances and renewal. And while Sarah had agreed to the “small” ceremony in which Kenzi had requested, the albino queen had done so with her fingers firmly crossed behind her fiance’s back. The “small” ceremony included a salute from her guards, being carried to the front of the cathedral by way of palanquin, the release of 1000 doves as they kissed, and a marching band leading their horse-drawn carriage down the street and to the reception hall. Their dresses, white for Kenzi and black for Sarah, were original pieces created by Renati Brand Apparel and were now officially part of Sarah’s “Firestarter” line.
The amount of people there to congratulate them was dizzying. Friends of her father, old enemies, people who trained her. The close-knit group of friends she had gathered around her the last month, the “Cool Kids,” members of her newly purchased Lingerie Football League team, and the “sisters” who had helped Kenzi along in her life. She had been given away by her godfather, the controversial wrestling figure Dexter Severin, and for a wonder, he did not get into a fight with his ex-wife Zoe Chaos, the woman she still considered to be her godmother.
The day was exhausting, with high peaks but rather shallow valleys, and one of those peaks occurred when the singer of the live band, No Comply, encouraged everyone to watch the center of the stage as the two brides danced their very first dance to a song special to them, “Love on the Brain.”
Sarah's face hurt from all the smiling, but she couldn't stop. Constant congratulations, hugs, and well-wishes kept her busy, and the newfound weight on her left hand felt both light and heavy at the same time. She snuck in whispers to her bride as they danced for the first time as a legal couple.
"I DO hope that you do not kill me for the extravagance of the day."
Kenzi swung Sarah around, her arms sliding perfectly around her lover's waist, like a hand in a glove.
"You're my heart, and this is your day as well! You deserve all of this and I'm sure your mother and father are enjoying the smile that's been on your face all day long!"
While on display now, the afternoon had been filled with dancing, laughter, and stolen kisses. And as the two danced this monumental dance, Kenzi got a chance to pull her wife in close and tell her just how much it all meant to her.
"Sarah Selena Grey-Lacklan, you have made me more happy than I ever thought possible! I love the fact that I am now yours legally...but I want you to know that I have been your in spirit since the day you left this place and came back to claim me. Thank you for saving me from a terrible existence...one without you."
Sarah's wide smile was genuine, as were the tears threatening to well in her eyes.
"I have not regretted my decision to 'conveniently' move to your town for even one moment.'"
She had risked everything while her father was still alive back in early March. Had left her home, her palace, to live next to Kenzi and hope to make their budding relationship into someone more concrete. Mischievousness enters her eyes as she remembers the day she had flown in and Kenzi had greeted her at LAX.
"I thought about what I was going to say the entire time I was on that plane. Like, I knew what I was going to DO, ya know? Bite the everloving fuck out of you in the car. But say?"
She smiles wider.
"I knew as soon as I saw you in the airport. 'Who dis?'"
Kenzi blushed a bit as Sarah's words washed over her.
"Who dis? Dis your wife...and I will never desert you...I will try my best to never disappoint you...all I want to do is love you and make you the happiest woman on the planet."
Kenzi kissed her wife again, letting her feel the depth of the truth in her words.
"We are in sync.”
Sarah giggles and offers a wink.
"And the Backstreet Boys."
She pulls Kenzi closer into their dance so that she can whisper into her ear.
"I promise to never make you feel secondary ever again. You are my everything."
She giggles again, though this time with heat.
"And I cannot WAIT to take that Virgin Certificate and rip it, and your delicious flower, the FUCK UP."
Kenzi giggles as she nods, her own blood heating up.
"I'm gonna video that shit!"
Sarah's eyes go wide as she presses her cheek to Kenzi's.
"The first marital sexcapade or the ripping up of the certificate?"
Another giggle from Kenzi.
"...both..."
Sarah holds her closer, letting her hands run up and down her back. This was new.
"We talking 'Later tonight' or 'as soon as I drag you into the nearest room?'"
Kenzi was incredibly tempted, but...
"You don't want our first time as wife and wife to be in our own bed?"
She looked around, the people were drinking, laughing and dancing and most had forgotten them.
"We could certainly sneak off."
Sarah rolls her eyes.
"No, you're right."
She moves them back to arm's length to look in her eyes.
"Besides, we have a full week of a honeymoon to almost get caught doing stuff in public."
She smiles.
"Ready for the surprise?"
"Surprise?" She smiles even larger, "You know I hate surprises, unless they are from my Baby!"
"After the tournament? I am taking a full week off. I asked all my employers, from wrestling to Renati, to not schedule me for anything. I just want you and I."
She smiles widely.
"I know we were both looking forward to a few days off during that Juniors tournament, but it fell though, so I figured a week in Japan for us would be fun. We leave Monday morning."
Kenzi continues to sway to her song...sung by her Baby. Her eyes open, filled with love for her Selena as she embraces her.
"I love you so much that it actually hurts...hurts so good! I can't wait Baby...I cannot wait!"
As all wedding receptions do, the night eventually came to close. Revelers dissipated, the servants cleared the room, and eventually all that was left was the two brides making their way to their room. A room which, as built by Kenzi’s own hand, was full of rose petals and two glasses of wine. The gesture had stunned Sarah, as romance was her department, and the tears welling her eyes did not worry about shame or pride. They fell without reservation.
For all of Kenzi’s talk of videoing, their intimacy was pure, honest, and loving. Their sex life had always been one of humor, roleplay, games, and desperate need, two teenagers lost in the fast-paced world of wrestling, a world more often than not filled with drinking and drugs, but this was not the case tonight. Their love held something which both would consider nearly spiritual in its intensity.
Both realized that night, even moreso than at any other point during the day, that this was real. This was not one of their many roleplay sessions where they took on silly roles or scenarios. This was not about one pushing the other to new limits. This was not a television marriage on Hexx like Kenzi had had before. This was real.
They were real.
And they would follow each other into the dark.
Hello, Mister King.
I do not think that you and I have been properly introduced. You partner knows who I am and what I can do, but you? I get the feeling that I, the woman who bound onto the Coalition scene with little fanfare but such impact, has flown under your radar. Allow me a moment to fix the issue of proper introductions.
My name is Lacklan.
My job in this business is rebirth. Unfortunately for most, the time of salvation has come and gone. See, the One Lord God loves this business, He cherishes this business like none other. Wrestling truly is the holiest of sports, and holy in the actual sense: Separated from the rest of the sports world, set apart.
Things were glorious for a time. Wrestling was regarded as the sport of kings across many cultures throughout the centuries.
But things changed, Mister King.
Modern man, like so many other things, ruined wrestling. It applied a stink to it...a stench which makes the nose wrinkle and the eyes water. Weak-minded and bodied fools who allowed greedy promoters to place them in matches they could not win against opponents far greater than them. Pretty faces who looked good on posters or mugs who could sell tickets but could not survive the rigors of this business.
Over the years, these fools have created a true mire of mediocrity, a swamp of broken bodies and crushed dreams.
My job, Mister King, is to take that mire…
...take that swamp…
...take every broken body…
...take them all…
...and burn them to fucking ash.
It is only then that wrestling may be grown anew into the business it was meant to be. It is only then that the world of wrestling may reach the heights for which the One Lord God designed for it. It is only then that this business will be what He wants it to be.
My father did what he could to save the world, to save those pieces of mediocrity. He reached into the muck and pulled out those he could. He spoke of the Light and a path to salvation. He was the Voice and the Savior of professional wrestling.
But me?
I am its reckoning.
I AM the Light of which Father spoke.
And my Light BURNS, Sir.
I appreciate humor, Mister King. I appreciate a laugh as well as the next. My Beloved and I are fond of giggling away at some inane jest or quip. But when it comes to stepping into that ring...stepping into the One Lord God’s true place of worship...the laughs are finished. The jokes are forgotten. Memes and silliness are set aside.
Are you a jester, Sir? Is that your place? To be an admittedly pretty fool?
It seems to be, at times. For while I make the educated guess that my own actions have flown under that aforementioned radar, yours have not. I train like no other, Sir, and that includes watching tape like no other. As with everyone who resides in the Coalition, a company which I am finding...well...not exactly home...but certainly a place of interest...I have watched your matches, listened to your promotional videos. I have seen you, before you triumphant win at In Your Hands, be outsmarted by Eden, lose the Co-Op championship, and not make it to the Final Four of the Massive Melee, as I did.
I have come to the conclusion Sir that, while you are of obvious championship pedigree, you are no king, regardless of your surname. You are just a man as any other, a fool at times, a beast at others.
But I?
I am the Red Queen of Lacklanland.
I am royalty, Sir. Through genetics, sovereignty, and divine providence.
And my path of fire? The Light which makes all the cockroaches in this sport flee in fear of the searing pain of truth?
It is my manifest destiny.
You will learn to bow like all the rest.
See you soon.
Sarah grits her teeth and takes a deep breath to cool her nerves. She had been doing that a lot over the last 12 or so hours. The realization they had faced, the bombshell which had been dropped the day after their wedding at the Ladies All Star show in Vegas, that Kenzi had drunkenly gotten married the year before, was a fresh and deep pain. Their marriage, at least on paper, was illegitimate. And this honeymoon to Japan was, on paper, just a vacation. She felt bad about destroying their hotel room in her anger, but FUCK it felt good. She places her hand on top of Kenzi's.
"I love my company."
Kenzi felt reassured by her wife...or whatever she legally was now. She put her hand on top of hers as she looked at Sarah earnestly.
"If I knew...I swear, I would have told you! I had no idea...I don't know what is going on, but I am going to fix it!"
Sarah bites her lip...again...and does her best to control her shaking. She succeeds. Mostly.
"I have faith. You are my wife, no matter what. We got married on Saturday. This is our honeymoon."
She nearly shakes.
"No matter what."
Kenzi can feel her shaking, but she let her words carry the weight...for now. Once they had more privacy, they could talk things through. She leaned over and kissed Sarah.
"You are my wife...my lover...my best friend...my everything. Forever and ever."
Sarah pulls Kenzi in to hold her head and also look out her window at the Pacific ocean below them.
"Everything. Forever."
Jet lag being what it was, the two sat on the couch of their hotel room after the 14-hour flight, their bodies not even sure what time it was. Kenzi had one of her Scientology information books in her hand, Sarah a copy of Moby Dick. She thought it was appropriate to reread a little Melville as Kenzi dived into her latest obsession. Several times Kenzi tried to make conversation, but Sarah always shut it down with a polite, yet curt, comment. She was not ready for regular conversation, not ready to try to make light of their situation or lives. Anger filled every part of her being, from her toes to her hair, filling her heart. She felt like even her breath was angry fire. She did not want that, did not want an angry fight, did not want to hurt her wife in either body or heart. It was not Kenzi's fault. It was not anyone's fault. And while blaming someone might make her feel better, she knew it would only be for a moment.
"Treat the cause, not the symptom, Daughter."
Wise lessons from her father. And so she sat in silence, her mind reading the word of anger and obsession, her heart hurting, but her legs intertwined with those of her wife. Simple contact on silence, love and understanding and patience being emoted. She would be ready for words tomorrow. In the morning, perhaps. They had not been intimate that day, Sarah had pointedly put off their morning romance, but tomorrow? Perhaps tomorrow.
For now?
Contact, silence, and books.
She had faith.
The following morning, their bodies were still way off from the overseas travel. 5 AM in Tokyo was 1 PM at their apartment, or 4 PM in Lacklanland, and their didn't really even know what day it was. It had rained while they were there, which made for a beautiful sight, but the early morning presently meant being in their hotel room.
Sarah slipped out of the bathroom wearing a new red and black piece of lingerie. She had made many purchases for this trip, from outfits meant for public viewing and those like this meant for only the eyes of her wife, as well as a new toy she thought they might enjoy, but her anger at their situation had left that planned intimacy off the table. She was feeling better, though. Nowhere near happy. But better.
She stands before the chair where her spouse sat reading another of her books while also being dumb online, which was their favorite game to play together, and struck a small pose that helped all of her curves fatten attractively.
"Would you care to watch the sunrise with me on the balcony?"
Ken smiles as she puts her reading away and gives her wife an appreciative whistle.
"Would I?!"
She walks over, taking her by the hand as they head out on the balcony. She took a deep breath and looked out over the sights.
"This place is really stunning! It every more amazing than it was when I saw it last year!"
She pauses, realizing that might have been better off kept to herself, but truth was supposed to be the bedrock of their foundation.
"You have been here before?"
Sarah positions them so that Kenzi is holding her from behind yet could press their cheeks together. It was the most physical contact they had had since Sidney and Collin had dropped their bombshell, and she appreciated the closeness.
"I came here many times as a child. The Japanese wrestling fans loved and respected everything about Father's touken retsuden. And there was even a short-lived manga that featured a suspiciously familiar girl with platinum hair and red eyes."
Sarah smiles at the memories if traveling the world with her father.
"I have not been in nearly 10 years, and certainly not under this scenario."
Her face falls as she hugs the arms around her waist.
"I am not mad at you, Ken. I am mad at the situation. And I am aware that destroying our room in Vegas may not have been the most l...well...mature...way to handle my anger...but my mind is more at ease, now."
Kenzi pursed her lips as she considered not answering the question. Sarah had given her an opportunity to gloss over it, but then she realized that to withhold information was as bad as lying about her experience. She hugged Sarah more tightly, out of love...but also out of fear.
"Last year...I was suppose to come her for my honeymoon with Alex. She had given me a choice of three wonderful places to go...and I picked Japan. Needless to say, we broke up before that happened and I was devastated. I wanted to disappear...I wanted to curl up in to a tiny little ball and die. But instead, I took my ticket and I flew here and stayed by myself."
She paused again, marshaling her strength as she continued.
"I'm not going to lie to you...most of my time was spent in an alcohol and drug induced state. I legit wanted to die...and I think I did everything in my power to make that happen."
She sighed.
"Ironically, it was my mother who figured out where I was and came to get me...it was the first time I'd seen her since the accident. When they found me, I was...not in a good place."
She pauses for a moment.
"When you told me that we would come here...it felt like maybe there was some other force at work...something giving me a second chance to come here with the person who was meant for me...to finally have something good...but...like always, I screwed that up as well."
Sarah listened in respectful silence as she held Kenzi's hand tighter and tighter. Sarah was filled with jealousy and rage whenever the names of Alex Yin or Song were mentioned, women who had been former fiances and soulmates to Kenzi. Parker was a silly thing brought on by alcohol, but those two...
"I know well what is it is like to..."
She pauses, thinking.
"May I tell you a secret?"
Kenzi nuzzles her neck, breathing in her lavender scent.
"We have no secrets...just truths we have yet to share."
Sarah shuddered as much for the touch as the words.
"For all intents and purposes, my life growing up was magical. But there are moments of sadness. Little pockets of depression. When I was 8 years old, I realized that I would never meet my mother. I not sure when I realized that my coloring would never change. But I distinctly remember when I was 16. I was very stressed, very sad. Studies were being what they were, private tutors in everything. Couple of years into my lifting program with Father. And he had just started to teach me to wrestle, various holds and whatnot. And it was a particularly difficult day when I found some of my mother's belongings."
She pauses.
"See, not everyone knows, but Mother was not much older than I was when she passed. Indeed, I have outlived her. And that day I discovered some items of hers. Clothing. A necklace. One of the rings I wear now. I was just overwhelmed and overcome with sadness and grief...I did know what to do...didn't know who I could talk to. I could not talk to Father about that. And I was in his room going through mementos of my mother when I found the little box. And inside that little box were little red pills. I knew what they were...I knew what they did I knew what they were for. Drive."
She shakes her head softly.
"For two years, Drive was my support system. Every trial...every tribulation...until you. You are my Drive. But...there are times..."
She shakes her head again.
"It calls out to me, Wife. It sings to me. Sometimes I tremble in the dark while you sleep, my body yearning and needing. It does so now."
Kenzi squeezed tighter.
"I know...I saw you before. I even tried it myself a time or two, but it wasn't for me. You we're enough of a high for me."
She sighed.
"When you stopped using, I knew that you felt the same way I did. That made me so happy...until...New York...and now...Vegas..."
She let go and moved beside her, dropping her head.
"...All I do is fuck up now. I'm not your favorite drug, just your reason for using..."
Sarah takes her hand and keeps her eyes on the sunrise.
"I love you, Ken."
A small smile comes to her face.
"Even when you are crazypants."
Kenzi looks at Sarah, even as her red eyes stay on the rising sun.
"I know you don't blame me for this, but you should. It was my poor decision making that did this. It was my smothering that forced you away, any it's my jealousy that constantly spoils your fun."
Kenzi wipes her face.
"No more...no more crazypants, no more drinking, no more smoking, no more...more! You deserve someone you can be proud of...not a constant fucking failure or embarrassment!"
She took a deep breath as she addressed the elephant in the room.
"I know you think Scientology is hokey and dumb, but...I think it's the answer for a lot of my issues...a lot of the problems that I cause for you. I just...I just want you to keep an open mind, okay?"
She is silent for a while, taking in the sunrise.
"I do not agree with the tenants of what you are reading. But I do not agree with all of the tenants of my own Book."
She turns to face Kenzi and takes both her hands.
"I support you in every road you wish to take. We are one, in sickness and health. I WILL follow you into the dark.”
Kenzi hugs her.
"I love you Baby."
Hello Mister Scott.
I wanted to offer you this final moment of intimacy.
Everything you have seen or heard in this promotional video?
It is the truth.
I was born to change this business.
Born to save it by razing it to the ground.
And in this fight, I am but a rookie, but a child in her rookie year.
Who has become a dominant tag team wrestler.
I will be in the ring on the 4th with all of my skill and energy, all of my emotion and passion.
With all of my fire.
Mind the flames.