Fight Forever - A Prelude

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“Look babe! It’s only ten minutes away from the arena! I bet we could save TONS of money if we walked! BONUS EXERCISE!”

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The mood of Team Kickass as they stumbled into the Econo Lodge on Wilson the night after Battleground was not quite as bright and bubbly as it had been when they had booked it earlier in the day. Kenzi and Sarah Grey-Lacklan were a disheartened duo as they checked in, offering little in the way of conversation with the woman at the front counter, and even less for the man who helped them to their room and set the bags down once the door was open.

Showered and with a meager meal of leftover protein bars in them, the two were in very different places emotionally. Kenzi was raging into her phone, livid beyond belief at how Angie Vaughn had “chosen” to side with Dave Rydell in their Cooperative defense against her and Roxy Cotton, while Sarah rested on the bed with a cool and damp towel over her face. And while she laid on the bed and thought over the mistakes she had made while she and Alan Wallace had kicked the shit out of one another in a match that saw the World Champion retain, she could only listen to Kenzi rage at her XWA tag partner so much.

"Not everyone chose someone other than you this week, Beloved."

Kenzi’s head whips around, braids flying wildly and snapping against her back and the side of her head.

“Are you going to make me feel bad now too?! I wasn’t the one flirting online instead of concentrating on their match!”

Kenzi knew she’d been unnecessarily harsh, but it was like she couldn’t stop being a bitch the last few hours. Her filter had been ripped away and it was like her mother was bubbling up out of her. But Sarah couldn’t deny the charge her wife gave her, either. She had lost focus going into her title match, had found herself playing virtual footsy with Amira Kassouri a little TOO much, and the idea that she was “flirting” had caused a problem between the two that had ended up with their television set being knocked to the floor of their rooms in Maine.

"I am QUITE aware that I FUCKED UP big time, tee why vee em."

Sarah shakes her head beneath her towel, her heart sinking at the very thought of her mistakes over the past few days.

"I PROMISE that I will make EVERYTHING right for you."

“Oh? You gonna make my ‘friends’ love me again? Maybe you want to tell them to STOP SHITTING ON ME!”

"Actually, I meant us."

She shakes her head under her towel again. As a form of apology, she had willfully given control of her social media activities to her interns, not allowing herself to engage in her brand of psychological toying that had, to her utter shame, ended up with making Kenzi look bad, as if she didn’t have a committed relationship. Sarah was so committed to Kenzi and their marriage that she had wept at how she had made Kenzi feel, and this was the greatest penance she could offer. Part of what had happened last year forced her to keep a low profile, but verbally sparring with people like Maggie and Carnage's JC had pulled her back in, and before she knew it, she was doing what she always did: Hurting her wife.

"I don't know WHAT Angie's deal is, but I am going to find out."

In Sarah’s heart, she already knew what Angie’s “deal” was. Sarah had seen it first hand in the match that had given “Team Angell” the titles in the first place, and she had been able to see it from a different perspective in their time in the BattleZone where they were both singles champions and on the hunt for “taggie team” gold.

Angie CRAVED to be “all that glitters” as much as Sarah herself did.

“Hey! They are FINE with this...SO FUCK IT...”

Kenzi suddenly settles down, her face becoming almost placid.

“...I don’t know why I’m so mad.”

"Maybe because Angie cares more about victories and championships than you thought?"

Sarah pauses, thinking, chewing her lips under the towel. Perhaps now...

"Ya know...there IS something I have been meaning to talk to you about..."

Kenzi’s shoulders slump as she seems utterly defeated.

“...sure...”

Sarah takes the towel off her head, climbs off the bed, and pulls Kenzi to the floor so that they can face one another, their legs crossed, in Kenzi's position for their "Clarity sessions." This is something that had been bothering her, something she needed to not only get out in the open, but to resolve. It was important enough that she offered it up as leverage to begin building bridges with her step-mumsie, and something that, if they truly wanted to be successful and follow one another “into the dark,” they needed to be open about.

"What is my name?"

“...wut...?”

The look of confusion on Kenzi’s face was clear. Sarah feels herself smirk, knowing what this next thing might sound like, considering how many times they had each told one another this in times of passion:

"Say...my...name."

Kenzi expression lightens in understanding.

“Selena...my Selena!”

"Right. One hundred percent. Until the Abyss takes us."

Sarah's smirk turns to a bright smile, memories flooding her. She, and she alone, was allowed to call Kenzi “Mackenzie,” and she had called her “Beloved” from near the beginning, something she had picked up from how her father spoke of her departed mother. In an attempt to find equality and a name only she could call her, Kenzi had suddenly started calling her by her middle name, and Sarah had immediately adopted it the practice and made sure no one EVER called her that any more. But the smile slips into seriousness.

"But what is my full name?"

Kenzi face showed that she clearly didn’t understand, but she played along.

“Sarah Selena...Grey...Lacklan “

Sarah nods at her, excitement in her red-hued eyes.

"GREY-Lacklan. I took your name, Beloved. Which means I took your morals. Your decency. Your willingness to forgive. These things are, quite clearly, foreign to me, but I AM trying. I am TRYING to honor your name. I am TRYING to be someone who honors friendships and relationships. I am TRYING to be a Grey."

She pauses and licks her lips. She was NOT good at those things, as ANY of her relationships outside of the #CoolKids would show. There were people within the UGWC who no doubt could have been friends, but her default position of “fuck a bitch up!” had made those things hard, as well as her propensity for never forgiving or forgetting a slight, no matter how small.

"And what is your name?"

Kenzi bursts out with laughter.

“Don’t you know you are already more of a Grey than you know?! Trust me, there’s nothing decent about that name!”

Sarah's face falls and a look of hurt crosses it. Kenzi had not only blown off her question, she had not even bothered to listen to it. She just wouldn’t LISTEN.

"You know what? Fine."

Sarah pushes herself up to her feet, knees popping loudly in the small room. She very nearly groaned at the pain. Indeed, it had been made clear to everyone in that building that she was not as healthy as she had boasted a week before.

"You obviously don't want to be a part of what I'm trying to do here. I'll...I'll try some other time."

She turns around and storms off, bare feet stomping on the carpeted floor. She pauses long enough to reach into the purse on her nightstand, fishing out a handful of Coffin Nail cigarettes and her lighter.

"I need to figure out how in the flying FUCK I'm supposed to beat the new Cross-Hemisphere Champ next week, anyway!"

She doesn’t bother to see if Kenzi reacted as she walked out through the patio door, slamming it behind her, and looking for the serenity of cool late-night air and the comfort of her nicotine dependency.

---

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~~Presenting the PrincessTwilightSexyFang podcast, as viewed on the triple scoop of hot fudge-covered badass app, CoolTube~~

‘Sup, Fang Gang!

This is the spoon that stirs the soup, the nail that scratches the itch, both the match AND the flame of the revolution, Sarah Selena Grey-Lacklan here for another dosage of the BEST life-of-a-professional-wrestler podcast there has EVER been! Now, as all my baby birds are PAINFULLY aware, I am NOT the NEW Coalition World Champion, as I, along with 61% of the roster, was unsuccessful in my Battleground activities! Vain and I kicked the ever-loving SHIT out of one another, chuckin’ bombs like it was End of Days and we were the Muslims and Jews, and it was NOT my sexy-booty who had their hand raised.

So...now what? Do I crawl in my hole and die? Do I jump in a group chat and bitch to a different roster about how unfair the match was? Perhaps I “write a movie” while still dropping, like, 100 tweets in a few hours to show just how lost I am, or something.

NOPE! Not how I roll! Because while I may not be QUITE as active as I was last year, what with the whole three matches a week thing to learn (and not to try to find relevancy; talk about a shitty take, Vain!), but I AM still ubes busy. And my next stop (maybe? Because the BattleZone schedule is WEIRD!) is in a Coalition Chill arena where I get to kick and punch Maggie in her stupid face.

Can’t WAIT for that! Maggie and I have not had a proper singles match in well over a year (and no, the arm wrestling contest THAT SHE TOTALLY CHEATED TO WIN did not count), so it makes sense that a totes legit MONEY match would be the two of us headlining Chill. I was a money match when I systematically destroyed Kem (never gonna live down how lopsided that was, Tubby!), and Mags was the money match the following show (which I MAY have had an INFINITESIMALLY SMALL part in), so it makes absolute sense to make it a thing this time. And believe you me, I will NEVER turn down a chance to punch my BUDDY in her stupid face!

But!

Oh, holy hell BUT!

Before I do that, I have something special to cover in this here podcast. In a move that just HAS to be a rib on my buddy and I, since we BOTH have had our fair share of run-ins with him lately, the Consortium has tasked Magster and I with coming up with 10 new nicknames for our world champ. Now, with my previously-established (for those who actually check out promos, anyway; ‘sup, Raab!) skill with lists, you would figure this would be a home run for me, ya know? But I know that the Magmeister needs a little help whenever she fights me (‘sup, Lucy!), so I didn’t want to abuse my advantage in this little psychological game. So, instead of compiling the list myself, I delegated it to one of my interns! I would like to have her join me at this time.

Ladies and gentlemen….

Baby birds....

Fang Gangers…

You know her as Legion Employee Number Twenty Three…

But I know her as Ashley!

C’mon on in, Ashley! Take a quick selfie with me!

That is a SWEET selfie, let me tell you. Welcome to the show!

Thanks for having me, boss. And might I say that those blue contacts of yours look stunning!

Thanks, Ash! They are my special-made shade that matches Daddy’s. Now! MOST of the Fang Gangers are quite familiar with your work, though they wouldn't necessarily know it. You handle a lot of the IT around here, as well as head up the #CoolRankings division of CoolTube.

Yes, Ma’am!

I take it that you are ALSO the person that is doing those coolio match compilation mega threads for everyone.

Oh yeah, that’s me. I have all the #CoolRankings info at my fingertips at all times, everything from a wrestlers’ win and loss record to their impact rating and championship valor.

Now way! That is a LOT of confusing words there!

It’s not that confusing, Matron. We look at whether a wrestler wins or loses, how many wins they have in how many matches, and how they do in title matches, which are the most important. And while the weekly #CoolRankings are purely wins and losses, there will be bonus points given to high achievers at the end of the year which may throw the whole system for a loop!

That is ubes amazeballs, Ash! Now, what have you guys been working on this week.

Well, we have a Top Ten list of new names for Mr. Wallace! We did a survey of thousands and thousands of people and have the ten best names for him.

That is awesome sauce! Now, I have NOT seen or heard these names yet, so this is a tobvs unrehearsed moment here. Lets check it out and see what you’ve done. Put the first name on the screen!

~~The Top Ten New Nicknames for Alan Wallace~~

~~#10: Mr. Shitty Entrance Music~~

Hey now! I don’t think Saliva is all that bad! I mean, its not like its Taylor Swift or anything!

True, Matron. Anything by HER would be the WORST POSSIBLE choice. But it IS excruciatingly bad. In fact, according to my latest #CoolRankings research, if Ms. Dynamo bases forty-seven to fifty-three percent of her argument for Horizons purely upon the “Ladies and Gentlemen” song, she has an increase of thirty-six percent chance of winning.

But not if you factor in Vain’s ability to give one hundred and twenty-five percent of his effort once every six weeks! Then her chances of winning drop down to twelve percent!

Hey! Speaking of that…

~~#9: Mister Once Every Six Weeks~~

Hey, he may be an embarrassment as the face of the company eighty-three percent of the time, but that seventeen percent was good enough to beat me!

Wow! Nice segway!

Whadya mea-

~~#8: Vainy the Vampire Slayer~~

.................
.................
.................

Vampire Slayer. Because I’m a vampire. And he beat me.

Ha.

Ha.

Haaaaaaaaa.

~~#7: Mr. Six Pack~~

Okay, he DOES have nice abs. But his abs are NOTHING compared to Kenzi’s! Seriously, they are SO tight now that-

“EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!”

Hold up, I’m getting a text from Angie. Gimme one sec…

Angie of the Legs of Legend

OMG! For the LOVE of GOD! Will you PLEASE stop talking about Kenzi’s abs! WE KNOW, SAR-SAR! WE KNOW!

Jeez...so what if I take pride in my wife’s dedication to her core...kill joy…

~~#6: He Who Has Better Hair Than Jet~~

Okay, now THIS is a debatable subject. Everyone likes giving J-Som crap for his LUXURIOUS hair, the likes of which makes Samson weep from sinful envy, right? But how come no one gives Vain shit for HIS hair? Its JUST as glorious! Seriously, do what I did: Smash him in the face with a camera, cut him open so that he looks like freakin’ Carrie, and run your hands through his blood-soaked hair. Not a single tangle!

~~#5 The Man With the 2nd Best Smile in the Business~~

This is CLEARLY because his most-recent vanquished foe is the one with the #1 Smile in the Business. Seriously, just take a look real quick:

See these chompers? There is an entire ritual that goes into these babies! Perfectly straight, bright enough to make the sun wear sunglasses, and worth more all of the funds in Baal Holdings. In fact, just the tooth-paste, which is farmed from virgin-

Mmmm...sorry to cut you off...but we got a complaint delivered by a snail the other day. Apparently, no one cares about the extreme lengths you go for your things...

Ugh...God I hate Maggie...whatever...

~~#4: The Gifinator~~

Ugh...ya know, its bad enough when Dynamo feels the need to steal all of my bits on Twitter (you know you do!), but now THIS, too! I don’t agree with this one. And you know why? Because all he does is post gifs that other people have made, which is as shitty of a take as people who quote Bible verse or song lyrics in their entirety instead of doing something challenging, like referencing it or using them as allegory. I, on the other hand, CREATE the vast majority of media I employ. I cut, and I add text, and I crop, and all that shit. Vain is just a lamer in this regard. Lets get to the Top Three!

~~#3 The Once and Future Blessed Razzie Winner~~

Now THIS is something I can get behind! I don’t know WHAT has gotten into the dude lately! I mean, sure, his proxy is GREAT at being HIM, which means he just needs to only give fifty goddamn percent most of the time and everyone still kisses his ass like he’s hot shit, but the other way around? Vain SUCKS at this acting gig he’s trying out! So, yes, he will ABSOLUTELY be adding a Razzie or two to go with those Yahtzee trophies!

And believe you me, I know EXACTLY what it takes to be a killer actor! Not only has The Blood Princess Bride, my FIRST feature WAY back before Kenzi and I were banging, had a TON of downloads over the last two years, but my death scene in All That Glitters (#SpoilerAlert) was voted the 3rd BEST death scene in ALL of cinema history! That's right, Fang Gang, I have the plaque from the Official Movie Death Scene Association right on my mantel next to my WresteStock Cup!

~~#2 The Vag-Crushing Overlord~~

What the-

Oh please.

Listen, I get it. The Clit Whisperer. God’s gift to women, or some shit, right? Bitch, please. I got a “straight” woman who wasn’t “into girls” to come out of the closet and marry me. If ANYONE is the-

“I love Vexx!”

Hold on, getting a text from Kenzi…

Kenzi, Owner of the SWEETEST booty in ALL the land

OH EM GEE, Kenzi! You MARRIED me! That makes you a lesbian, no matter WHAT you say!

“I love Vexx!”

Kenzi, Owner of the SWEETEST booty in ALL the land

WE BOTH ARE, DAMNIT

“I love Vexx!”

Kenzi, Owner of the SWEETEST booty in ALL the land

Whatever! Just get to number one already….

~~#1 The Uncrowned Cross-Hemisphere Champion~~

…what?

What?

...what is that last one?

It is what he called himself on Twitter, Matron. The day after Battleground, he and Ms. Lockheart were discussing how she defeated Jet for the Cross-Hemisphere Championship, and how he “dropped” it. He responded by saying that he never lost it and-

You may go, Ash.

What?

GO. NOW.

Sarah, Matron of Pigeons

Turn on my podcast, buddy. RIGHT FUCKING NOW

You there Mags? You listening? You watching? You better be.

FUCK

YOU

AND

VAIN

You guys want to joke and jest about that title? You want to talk about how he’s the undisputed champion? How he’s STILL champ because he was never BEATEN?!

LOOK ME IN THE GODDAMN EYE AND SAY THAT

You guys wanna make JOKES about that title? You want to LAUGH about being uncrowned?

FUCK

YOU

Lets get to the heart of the matter, eh, Mags? Eh, BUDDY? I NEVER talk about it. I NEVER joke about it. I NEVER let ANYONE ask me about it. But people like you, Lucy, Eden, Baal, AND MORE, just LOVE FUCKING TALKING ABOUT IT.

So, lets talk about it.

Monday at Chill will be two days shy of the anniversary of the FUCKING WORST DAY OF MY LIFE. The day where SOME GODDAMN PSYCHOPATH drove himself and me INTO A FUCKING WALL and STOLE MONTHS OF MY LIFE. RIPPED MONTHS AWAY FROM MY NEWLYWED WIFE. And I Have been KILLING myself to get anywhere even CLOSE to where I was physically before it happened.

And you all think THAT ITS FUCKING HILARIOUS

Well, I guess that is consistent coming from you, who did dumb shit like ANSWER ASK.FM QUESTIONS ON TWITTER the morning after the love of your life went missing because of Baal.

I NEVER lost that Cross-Hemisphere Championship. I had it taken from me BECAUSE I WAS IN A GODDAMN WHEELCHAIR.

You two idiots want to joke about how he is THE UNCROWNED Cross-Hemisphere Champion?

FINE, Mags. Lets do it.

I am the uncrowned Cross-Hemisphere Champion.

While MOST people have had to do underhanded shit or use proxies or any other level of horse shit to win that title, I did it CLEAN AS A BOILED WHISTLE in the MIDDLE of the ring when I beat Lucy for it last year. And the ONLY reason she got it BACK was because she beat YOU for it!

HOW GODDAMN CONVENIENT

So here’s, my pitch, BUDDY. Here’s my dealio. You and Vain want to joke? You and Vain want to giggle? You and Vain want to lob dumbass twitter bantz at one another? Give yourself a REAL challenge rather than vomit the pedantic nonsense Vain calls humor.

Defend the title against me.

See, NO ONE cares about the upcoming battle of Vain and Dynamo. NO ONE cares about whatever crazy-ass Chaos match Ava will be in. NO ONE cares about what excruciatingly over-the-top unnecessarily violent match Baal is going to end up in. There is only ONE match at Horizons that people actually WANT to see.

Lacklan vs. Lockheart

We are BOTH hardcore champions in our respective ventures outside of the Coalition, with you the Ultraviolent in Carnage and I the 24/7 in the Battlezone. We are BOTH the epitome of why the Court bound together in the first place. We are BOTH seemingly forever chasing the shadow of Lucy Wylde. And we are BOTH drooling at the mouth for an opportunity to kick each other in the teeth on the biggest card of the year.

So let’s fucking do this.

I’m going to beat you on Chill, Mags. Just like I did to Dynamo. Just like I did to Cynric. And when I take you down in the middle of that ring, every member of the Consortium is going to take notice. Ichabod is going to take notice. Hastings is going to take notice. And every single of one of them is going to realize that we NEED to have this match. That I DESERVE the chance to get MY title back. That you MUST insist on defending against me at Horizons.

And if you don’t?

If you do some dumb shit like “Back of the line, BUDDY” or “I’ve already beaten you” bullshit?

I promise

I PROMISE

That I will make your life a LIVING FUCKING HELL

[Harvey the Grim]

One of several things that continues to impress me with your work is your dedication and consistency both to story and to straight talk. You seem to almost always find just the right mixture, just the right balance, never significantly sacrificing one part for the other. While I thoroughly enjoy the batshit crazy antics of Bordy, having gone to war with her and got the battle scars to remind me of it, I absolutely enjoy Sarah's razor keen wit and biting snark. The story with Sar trying to calm Kenzi, and their relationship troubles while mined for nuggets of comedic effect on occasion, really does show a tenderness to her, a look into the real Sarah when she isn't being a badass fighting the world around the world. I enjoy Sarah's frenemy rivalry with Maggie, and I hope to see more of it in the near future. It's certainly worthy of a ppv event or three, at the very least.