What if?

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The crunch of boots on snow is unmistakable to the albino. She lets out a long breath, the plume of opaque mist nearly as white as her own alabaster skin, and the red eyes behind the thick glasses turn to their side.

“Glad you could make it, Sister.”

“Sorries! I was helping Alex with the baby!”

Sarah bites down on the inside of her lips as Angie joins her, standing at her shoulder. Alex. The baby. More. The Grey-Lacklans had a strong amount of influence over their nieces and nephews, even to the point of their first grandnephew’s name being practically chosen by Kenzi, but that did little to make up for the fact that nieces and nephews were all they had. The weight of her inability to have children...and Kenzi’s avoidance at adoption...was a yoke which had grown tight over the years.

“Ugh...you got taller...”

The disdain in Sarah’s voice was not feigned, nor was the smug smile on Angie’s face.

“I’m up to Dad’s height!”

Sarah lets out another long breath at the reality of their height difference, which had started at seven inches when they met as rookie wrestlers, had now somehow stretched to almost a full foot over the years.

“I thought women weren’t supposed to grow after their 20s. And certainly NOT into their late 40s!”

“MID 40s, thank you very much.”

Sarah rolls her eyes again.

“Only YOU would count 47 as ‘mid.’ Regardless, please stop defying anatomical science.”

“I can’t help that I’m special, Sis.”

Sarah grinds her teeth.

“...it has always been all about ‘Angie! Angie! Angie!’”

“Hmmm?”

“Nothing. Did you bring them?”

“Obvs!”

From her thick winter coat, Angie produces a handful of lavender stems, the purple and blue flowers bright in contrast to the starkly white snow.

“Plenty for all of them!”

Sarah takes a few from Angie and gives a nod.

“She would be happy.”

Angie nods and the two make their way through an old fence, as much a wall of wrought iron than anything, and up a hill, Sarah’s short strides needing to double in order to match the legendary long strides of her sister. Before long, they find themselves standing in front of a handful of gravestones, with two withered with time, one more than the other, and a new hunk of stone free from blemish. Sarah lowers herself to her knees and wipes a gloved hand over the stones in turn to show the writing etched into each. The oldest stone held the name Selena Jornagen. The middling, Jean-Paul Lacklan. The newest, Aveline Lacklan.

“Truth be told, I am surprised Mother lasted so long. She has been wasting away for 20 years.”

Angie’s hand on her shoulder makes her jump slightly, but a squeeze reassures her.

“I’ve said it before, but I’m super-dupes happy you two got so close! Its like I always say, ‘Love, not hate!’”

Sarah silently mouths the words as Angie says them. Angie had come up with a lot of sayings over the years (“If you smile all your life, you won’t have a single wrinkle!”), and it was annoying at how accurate they were. For instance, whereas Sarah’s face had hardened over the years, with the stress lines from her long-ago accident deepening to the point where no amount of makeup could ever hide them, Angie’s very few “happiness lines” only seemed to make her that much more pretty.

“You ever wonder about ‘What Ifs,’ Ang? Ever wonder how things could have become?”

Angie raises an eyebrow at Sarah as the ‘older but not bigger’ sister gets to her feet and Sarah gives a small shake of her head.

“Its silly, I know. But sometimes I wonder. Like…”

She gestures to the trio of headstones.

“What if your mother had not run? What if we had been sisters together as children? Or what if I had not pushed Ava away that first time? How would things be different?”

Angie’s lips scrunch up in thought, the famous Lacklan Sister Dimples coming to life.

“What If? What if Ser Alex had never married Chewie? Would he have found another kitty to love?”

“What if Mackenzie’s knee never gave way? Would I still have retired so soon? Would she no longer need her wheelchair?”

“What if I had gotten chocolate chips instead of butterscotch in my pancakes this morning?”

“What if that nasty business with Sloane hadn’t have happened? Would we still be friends all these years later, instead of life-long enemies?”

“Oh Em Gee! What if I hadn’t grown past six feet?!”

Sarah grows as she turns to face Angie.

“For fucks’ sake, Angelica! Can’t you EVER be serious?!”

Angie’s face fills with indignation.

“Abs! And its nabs MY fault that you totes forgot how to have fun!”

Sarah shakes her head and turns back to the three grave markers. Angie’s joins her but her face finds suddenly sullenness

“...what if I had won at Coalescence?”

Sarah doesn’t respond, instead letting the question hang in the cold air between them as she looks at the headstones.

“...it would have saved us a lot of drama, that’s for damn sure.”

Sarah shakes her head and tosses the lavender onto the graves, one for each.

---

Presenting the House of Lacklan Saga Story of:

What if...?

---

Welcome to the Central Hub

Every person in the world has a handful of "What if?" moments. What if they had chosen a different job? Love interest? School? What if they had accepted that internship? What if they had become become a musician? What if they hadn't have left home at 16? What if they had just stayed home the day of their accident?

What if?

What if?

What if?

The possibilities are as endless as they are maddening. Entire lives, yours, those you know, those you never met, would be altered.

For good?

For bad?

Below, you shall find four such stories, four such possibilities, surrounding what could and might have been in regards to the World Champion and the Global Challenge Winner. As always, the hows and whys of your choices matter naught in the end, thus we wish you enjoyment in your explorations.

Yet be forewarned:

While Madness reigns in this Hall, ALL roads lead to Coalescence

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Throughout the latter half of 2017, Sarah Grey-Lacklan was the victim of several assaults by a former childhood friend, Jacob Hargrave. Stalking and attempted grape led to drugging and kidnapping, and a high-speed chase from authorities ended in a car crashing into a wall. The accident left Sarah in a wheelchair for several months, permanent nerve damage to her legs, and an ugly scar along her hip, and Jacob has been in a coma with head trauma ever since. The fallout of this serious of events meant that Sarah was on the disabled list for 9 months, and did not return to full-time wrestling for over a year.

But what if?

What if, on the night Sarah drank so much at that karaoke club that she couldn't see straight, on the night Kenzi was distracted by Milisandre Crowthorne's inappropriately suggestive moves towards a married woman, Redd Thunder had not only smashed Jacob, but had put him into a coma before that dreaded day two weeks later?

What if Sarah had never been 'napped and 'capped?

Angie Vaughn looks all around her with blue eyes full of worry. The other five people in the ring, stars and legends all around, carried impressive auras. She and Baal had battled for the Cooperative Championships. Zane had been the first, and thus far only, Triple Champion in UGWC history. Maggie was a hotshot rookie on the cusp of greatness. Necron was raping and murdering everything in sight, much to the delight of three or four people. Mizore was...well...okay, so four of the five people carried impressive auras. Still, this was the final round of the Outlast Draft Special and everyone important had already been chosen. Her team consisted of Roxy...her first round draft pick granted to her after she won the Captain’s Match the week before...and Lucky...who she chose because his name rhymed with both Angie AND Roxy...and she needed one more choice to help her at Outlast.

She straightens to her 5’10” height and speaks a hyphenated name into the microphone.



EYES

    ON

        ME



It wasn’t customary for people to come to the ring after they have been chosen, or anything, but Sarah seldom did things because of custom. The Chicago crowd nearly blew the roof off the Synergy Arena after Angie said the name and the Moonlight Sonata (the THIRD! ...movement, obvs) played, and for good reason. As Sarah walked out onto the entrance ramp for the first time since winning her second consecutive WrestleStock Cup...the first to do so...she was laden with gold. She had a championship belt around her waist, one on each shoulder, and another in her hands. At her side, her wife Kenzi, carried another four, and one of their interns...she thinks its #29...carries the final two. “Ten Belt Sarah,” as her Twitter name currently said, was a force to be reckoned with by anyone’s standards, and the perfect “anchor” for her Outlast team.

After Sarah and Kenzi (and #29...maybe?) gets into the ring, Sarah foregoes the usual #CoolKids handshake, too complicated for most to watch must less master, and instead immediately gets in Maggie’s face and holds up the championship in her hand even higher. Sarah had defeated Maggie for the EWC’s FSW title several months ago, number eight of her current ten championships, and she was naturally the foil for Maggie that Angie wanted.

And that the UGWC crowd needed.

“FIGHT FOREVER”

CLAP CLAP CLAP-CLAP-CLAP

“FIGHT FOREVER”

CLAP CLAP CLAP-CLAP-CLAP

And if the smirk on Sarah’s face had anything to say, it was that, yes, she would fight Maggie forever.

In this What If, Sarah was never hurt a week after she defeated Lucy Wylde at Battleground to win the UGWC Cross Hemisphere Championship. This Sarah then went on to wipe the floor with Crystal Zdunich at LAW’s Night of Glory for the Marquee Championship. She defeated champion after champion as she fought the world across the world. This Sarah continued to fight Lucy Wylde, with the two trading the Cross Hemisphere championship several times across the year in more and more brutal matches, with their personal feud including both Maggie and Kenzi coming in for cooperative matches, including facing off in the finals of the first ever Lord of the Trios Tournament, with JC joining Lucy and Angie joining Sarah.

In this world, Kenzi focused on being a tag team specialist, with successful teams alongside every member of the #CoolKids. Her own singles aspirations, initially sparked by Sarah’s accident, never amounted to anything. In the real world, Kenzi won the LAW Breakout Championships because of her desire to do it in honor of a hospitalized Sarah. In this world? She was happy being a support player and would soon call her career off in order to be a manager and mouthpiece for her stable.

Bordy never materialized. Her hopes of seeing Sarah’s career taken away, the hopes of the Mad Frenchwoman, fell dormant along with Jacob. She still resides in an abandoned warehouse where she talks to an undead chicken.

And much like Sarah, Angie never came to call the UGWC her “home” fed, instead continuing to focus on her many other projects. Like Kenzi, Sarah’s accident never brought the #CoolKids together in the UGWC, and Angie the Grand Slammer was but a thing of dreams.

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When it comes to hubris, nothing much outshines Sarah Grey-Lacklan spending her Global Dollars on a night dedicated to herself. However, one needn't look too deeply to realize that, however she might have framed it, the inaugural purchased card was far more a celebration of her story through the lens of time-honored UGWC traditions than mere self pleasure. A match where everyone must include "Bah Bah Black Sheep" in their promotional video? An homage to her very first UGWC title match against Lucy Wylde at In Your Hands. A Cooperative match focused on her love for babies was the backdrop of what was meant to be a show-stealer between two championship teams. Even the silliness of an arm wrestling contest surrounded by haiku was emotionally important, as it involved her "fight forever" Maggie Lockhart. Indeed, far more than simply an evening of "Eyes On Me." 

However

An opt-in battle royal where the promotional time was extremely limited accidentally foretold her doom. The honoring of the way she fought the world across the world, opting into small opportunities and special matches whenever she could, ended with the accidental creation of Team Angell.

But what if? 

What if the "prize" for winning the battle royal was not the next Cooperative Championship match? What if the prize had been something as silly as an autographed book and selfie, as Hide received the following year? 

What if Team Kickass vs Team Angell never happened?

Vinegar: Sarah hitting the ropes and rebounding-

Leiberjosch: Kenzi on the other side!

Covert Jay: DUCK DRAGON, DUCK!

Vinegar: Sarah leaping into the air-

Leiberjosch: Kenzi, too!

Covert Jay: PLEASE DUCK

Vinegar: FALCON PUNCH~!

Leiberjosch: A-Kis’ head just got squished between two supergirl punches!

Covert Jay: *violent sobs into mask...that’s really an old Gabby Montgomery t-shirt…*

Vinegar: Sarah with the cover!

Leiberjosch: Green makes the count and the crowd is counting along!


ONE!



TWO!




THREE!





Mitchell Dennis: Here are you winners...AND STILL...the UGWC Cooperative Champions...the FIVE FOOT TWO-

Crowd: BAY-BAY!

Mitchell Dennis: MAFIA!




Sarah and Kenzi embrace in the middle of the ring as Sam Green brings them their championships. Outside the ring, Zane Scott waves his hands in dismissal at the unconscious Alex Kiseragi, his face a mask of disgust, and the turns and heads backstage. Roxy Malone climbs the steps with a microphone in her hand and approaches the championship duo as Sam tries to revive the dragon.

“Congratulations, G-Ls! You have done it! You have broken the record held by the Thames Valley Hit Squad for the longest Cooperative Championship reign!”

Sarah and Kenzi, their faces shining with sweat, flash massively expensive smiles at the interviewer. With their exact same height, and wearing matching red, black, and silver tights and tops, their skin tones and hair colors and styles are all that separate them, and they look far more a team than the UGWC are used to seeing.

“Thanks, Preferred Roxy!”

Kenzi narrows her eyes at yet another offhand slight from her wife towards Roxy Cotton, but Sarah ignores her while she shoulders her championship title.

“Ya know, everyone thought my Beloved was way crax-crax when she used her WrestleStock Cup victory to earn a Cooperative Championship match against the Court last year, but we have PROVEN that OUR team is the best EVER. We have fought team after team after hotdamn TEAM in the last 300 or so days, from ramshackle couplings like our first defense against Phrixy and RAAAAAB, to established teams like the Piercing Weapons back at WrestleStock, and all the way to Zane pulling out a dinosaur from some stupid gym no one trains at to fight us...RIGHT HERE...in Barcelona!”

The crowd engages in the cheap pop as Kenzi takes over the mic.

“That’s right, babe. People have complained that no one wants to fight in the Cooperative division anymore because we made it bore, but nuh uh! Sar and I have BEAT everyone there is to beat! Every time some group of jackasses decides that they can take down the Mafia, we Falcon Punch them back into their place. Everybody keeps vomiting out a bunch nonsense and we keep making them look stupid.”

“And now, we’re going to walk right into the Melee later tonight, help out our #CoolKidSistren Roxy and Mil, and guarantee that one of us walks out of here with the World Championship match against Angie at WrestleStock. #CoolKidsWrestleStock!”

“Now hit our music!”

“Burn” by the Cure blares throughout La Monumental as Kenzi and Sarah thank Roxy Malone, give one another a quick kiss, and head back up the ramp, clapping the hands of fans along the way.

No one could have foreseen second year star Angie Vaughn and rugged former World Champion veteran Dave Rydell becoming a team and unseating the then-named Team Kickass, much less them defending the titles three times across 175 days, but Sarah’s hubris was powerful. But in this world, the Prime Battle Royal only had one winner, the aforementioned Dave Rydell, but the prize was simply a suckerpunch and an Abyss, followed by a 2-on-1 beatdown as Kenzi and Sarah used him as an example to the rest of the roster. Having literally not a single friend in the world, there was no one to make the save for Dave that night. Angie probably would have, but an upset stomach caused by one too many appletinis the night before had left the woman with the legendary legs unable to compete, despite her theory that there was “never too many appletinis, thank you very much.” Dave later did find someone to fight the loudmouth duo in the surprising form of Phrixus Deimos, but it turned out that the experience was more of a voyeuristic experiment for Fear than any true desire to team with his old rival.

In this world, Sarah slowly made her way back to full-time wrestling, being able to lean on Kenzi’s desire to prove herself, and them, until she was ready. Following the mantras of “We win and lose as a team” and “we iz team,” the two were able to develop a deep understanding of one another that build upon their natural teamwork as a married couple, and proved to be nearly unstoppable in all team-based activities, including winning the second Trios Tournament and going deep in multiple Outlasts.

Bordy did rise in this world, her mind finding some clarity in January of 2018 and rising to become Le Bord de Dieu and the Champion of Chaos, but her influence was limited due to the united front of the #CoolKids. They teamed briefly to dispel the creeping doom that was the Harvester, but the alliance proved short-lived.

Having never been involved in the Cooperative division, Angie’s rise to World Champion status happened quickly, as she defeated Alan Wallace at Battleground. Proving to be “the one” that Vain could not seem to defeat, Angie rode a wave of success that galvanized the company until she eventually ran out of gas at WrestleStock.

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In May of 2018, Angie Vaughn learned that she was born Angie Hightower, the daughter of Mary Hightower and Jean-Paul Lacklan. The news that she was half-sister to her friend Sarah was stunning, and she could not wait to share this and make up for so many lost years. However, her mother Mary cautioned her against this course of action. The full story was that Mary was once not only a follower of Lacklan's Path of the Light Church, but she was one of his numerous wives, and she fled due to the worry that having an unplanned child would disrupt the congregation and cause a civil war. Even as a toddler, Sarah had shown a propensity for violence, and had been dubbed "The Demon Child" by her own mother while still in the womb. Mary was afraid that Sarah's reaction would be as bad now as it would have been nearly twenty years before. 

She was right.

Angelica held the information secret, and only admitted to it some sixteen months later when Le Bord de Dieu broke the silence. Sarah, overcome by suspicion to the point of madness over what else Angie might be hiding or lying about, attacked her, and tried her hardest to permanently injure her newfound sister. What followed was weeks of Sarah pushing the entire world away while she goaded Angie into fighting her in a UGWC, all the while promising to hurt her so bad that she might well choose death over an endless existence of being attacked by the elder Lacklan sister.

But what if?

What if Angie had rejected her mother's advice? What if Angie had walked into the Massive Melee, the very night Sarah was making a surprise, though ultimately unwise, return to part-time action, with the weight of her secret off her shoulders? 

What if Angie had told Sarah immediately? 

If I were a rich (wo)man...with a million or two

I'd live in a penthouse...In a room with a view

Sarah and Angie continue to trade lines back and forth within the studio, laughing and giggling and falling over one another as they sing "If I Didn't Have You," from Monster's Inc. Behind a window of thick glass, Kenzi keeps a critical eye on the soundboard, making minor adjustments to the individual sound levels for future mixing.

"Hmmm?"

She doesn't look up as the door to the producer's booth opens, instead only letting out the distracted sound. She gives a small sigh as she hears heavy footfalls and clanging that she knew well, but keeps her eyes on the board.

"Not now, please. Sar will whoop my ass if this album gets delayed any more. Stupid Coronavirus…"

She sighs again at a question lodged her way and she turns in her chair and takes in a man with a rugged face who holds a large movie camera.

"Listen, bub: I don't have time to do an interview right now, okay? You know how busy the DGP Studios are right now!"

She waves her hand around her, beckoning the cameraman to take in their surroundings. The cameraman obliges, indeed, takes in their surroundings. Crammed into the booth was a copy of every project they had completed, with the vast majority having the same "The Lacklan Sisters" (TLS) written on the front. These include, but are not limited to:

~TLS sing Classic Disney Duets!~

~TLS sing Show Tunes!~

~TLS reenact classic Abbot and Costello bits!~

~TLS play record the piano/bagpipe duet version of UGWC: The Music!~

~TLS break their fast together!~

~TLS go shopping for fancy dresses!~

~TLS have adventures in pet land!~

Posters. Videos. CDs. T-shirts. More. The cameraman takes it all in, turns his attention to the pale-haired duo on the other side of the window (who were presently “breaking it down” in an ad libbed section), and then back to Kenzi. The caramel starlet sighs and gives a nod.

“Fine. But just a quickie, okay?”

---

There was only one person happier than me when I found out Angie was our real sister...like, an actual sister, and not just something like my sister in clarity Roxy...and that was Sarah! Those two had been as thick as thieves from the moment they met, talking about a bunch of white people shit with words that didn’t make sense, but this was different! Once I found out that my manwhore of a father-in-law...you know its true, babe...had done the nasty with Angie’s mama, I knew they were only going to get closer. I was a little worried at first about how Sarah was going to take it, though. My baby doesn’t like sharing things that belong to her...her food...or toys...or purses...and don’t even get me started on how she acts when she thinks something is looking at me too long...hold on, let me sneak in a few more ellipses in her...Angie misses seeing them...one more...okay, that’s enough...so, I was naturally worried about how she would feel about not being the “only” Lacklan anymore. But what happened blew my mind.

Sarah cried.

Yes, THAT Sarah. MY Sarah. She fell down on her knees, hugged Angie’s scrawny Big Bird Legs, and CRIED.

And then got up and told her that she had so much to teach her.

Its been over a year since that day, and nearly everything we’ve done at DGP has been for them! I mean, I like Disney and all (WAKANDA FOREVER!), but enough’s enough! I’m Disney’d out, mang! All they do is sing songs and go to that damn park! How many times can you ride Peter Pan and watch Fantasmic?!

Anyway, yeah, that’s been my life for the past year and more. Nothing but “magical sisters” and “lifelong (non-spouse) bffs” and other stuff. I barely get ANY alone time with Sarah, anymore! Its always “we’re going to do this” and “we’re going to do that.” Its not all bad, of course. Now that we know there’s another “heir” to Dad’s money...besides my dumb bitch “mom” Ava, anyway...the pressure of us having kids is off. THANK TOM CRUISE. I really didn’t want to have no stupid kids!

In this world, a world where Angie didn’t hide the truth for fear of the reaction from “the Demon Child,” Sarah accepted her “magical secret sister” with arms more open than any one or thing she had in her life. The two were inseparable both in and out of the ring, with Sarah teaching Angie her family history, and with Angie helping to bridge the gap between the family and church’s conservative views, which were wrought with aggressive punishments and racism, and the modern views of Sarah’s “Reformation” on the West Coast. The love the two held for one another was a powerful message throughout all of Maine, and the church quickly followed their example. By the end, even Bordy, well known to reject any doctrine which would sway from the original teachings, found herself bending before the sisters.

In this world, there was no Champion of Chaos, there was no feud between the sisters, there was no feud between Kenzi and Bordy. In this world, the family came together over the realization of who Angie was. In this world, the #CoolKids stayed together, instead of being broken apart across fissures caused by the anger and feeling of betrayal within Sarah, and they dominated much of their known wrestling world as a team.

How different the world could have been had Angie not held onto her secret for sixteen months.

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In October of 2019, at a harvest festival at the Path of the Light Church in the Maine compound known as "Lacklanland," Le Bord de Dieu followed through on a threat to Angie Vaughn that, if she refused to tell Sarah about them being sisters, she would do it for her. Angie, in a mixture of fear and worry, could not bring herself to do it, and thus Sarah found out the truth from a source other than her new sister.

She reacted poorly.

After bringing her in for a hug, Sarah attacked Angie and tried to kill her in that room before Sarah pulled her off, yelling and screaming.

This general activity would continue for many weeks.

However, over the course of the winter, the combination of Angie's genuine guilt and Kenzi's heartfelt encouragement were enough to pull Sarah away from an emotional and mental Abyss, and away from the influence of the vile and manipulative Lacklan matriarch. After a bitter and frank conversation with Mary Vaughn, Sarah came to believe Angie's story of only knowing for sixteen months, and not for a lifetime wherein she was plotting to steal everything Sarah had and was, and the two began to heal. To this date, while Sarah has still been not quite "ready" to have the relationship she had with Angie before, they have again grown close and have tried to make up for much in the way of lost sisterhood time. The most recent example of this was after Synergy, which featured the second week in a row of them acting as cooperative partners in clashes with the Uncommonwealth before their first ever singles match at Coalescence, wherin Sarah gave Angie her own YSL handbag for her birthday.

But what if? 

What if Bordy's influence over Sarah had not waned? What if Sarah had not believed Mary? What if Sarah's focus was still on ending Angie's career in as brutal way possible in front of the world in a UGWC ring?

What if Angie and Kenzi had not been able to pull Sarah back from the Abyss?

“Kenzi! Come quick!”

Kenzi looks up from her iPad at the commotion, and immediately grimaces when she sees HER Cutie burst through the door.

...stupid pink hair…

But Kenzi’s eyes open wide when she sees pure panic in Sloane’s.

“It’s Angie! And Sarah! QUICK!”

Sloane turns and runs, and Kenzi is right behind her, carelessly tossing her work aside. Through the halls of the UGWC Arena they run, halls Kenzi knows well from the past few years, until they get to a door most people know is locked, though likely not why. Ichabod-

...my wife’s one-time mentor or benefactor or admirer or whatever…

-had clued them into the special room a couple of years ago, and the G-Ls had somewhat commandeered it ever since. As Sarah had been fond of saying, “It was good to be the Queen.” Sloane turns to Kenzi with a face full of panic.

“Sarah convinced Angie to go inside. Said she had her birthday present for her. Angie promised she would be okay. I stayed here, though, and pressed my ear to the door, while Seb ran to go get help. I heard some commotion, and then I heard Angie scream, and then I ran for you and I don’t know what to do and-”

Kenzi blocks out Sloane, who has begun to jabber in her panic, and presses her ear to the door, just as Sloane had done. Her eyes again go disk-wide as she hears the muffled sound of singing.

“...haaaaappy BIIIIRTHDAYYYYYY….dear siiiiisterrrrrr…”

…oh, this is going to be GREAT...

Kenzi pulls her copy of the key out of her shorts pocket, unlocks the door, and throws it wide. Sloane gasps behind her as she sees the scene before them: Angie, her face covered in red mist, is laying on her back on the floor, a YSL bag at her feet. Sarah, with a smile on her face, stands above her, one of her heeled boots pressing down on her left arm to keep it pinned, held a cinderblock up above her head with both hands, poised to slam it down on Angie’s exposed hand.

“SELENA!”

Sarah’s head snaps to the side at the sound of Kenzi invoking her middle name, her version of “Beloved,” and Kenzi’s nearly gasps at the crazed look in those red eyes.

“Never again, Kenzi! There will be no EW! this time!”

“What?!”

“The EW! The Mandible Claw! That’s how she won last time. But never again. NEVER AGAIN! I will NOT fail you AGAIN!”

“Kenzi! We can stop h-OW!”

Kenzi turns at Sloane’s cry of pain and she growls in fury.

“YOU! This is YOUR fault!”

With a bald head full of ugly scars, Aveline Lacklan smiles in vicious glee at Sloane’s unconscious body at her feet. She looks up, emerald eyes flashing in the light, and she holds up the Knocker before her.

...hate that ugly cultist bitch...

“Tu en veux, ma fille?”

Kenzi turns away from her, refusing to become distracted.

“Babe! Listen!”

“No, YOU listen, Beloved! Angelica has been BEGGING for this. BEGGING FOR IT. She covets EVERYTHING I have! Even her JEALOUSY of my goddamn ACCESSORIES made her blind to what awaited her a week before I ruin her at Coalescence. I will NOT allow this to continue! I WILL NOT ALLOW HER TO STEAL YOU FROM ME!”

“NO!”

With a scream, Sarah throws the cinder block down to the ground. Angie’s own scream as the block bursts into chunks big and small while it breaks her hand fill the room. Kenzi is too late in getting there, but she is able to at least pull Sarah away afterward and out of the room.

“I WILL PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE NEXT WEEK, SISTER! FOREVER!”

Kenzi feels sick to her stomach as she pulls Sarah down the hall as officials and UGWC run towards the room and the screaming Angie, led by Sebastian. She finally gets her out of the building through a side door, the cool Chicago air being a welcome relief to what had become a stifling hell. She holds Sarah before her by the shoulders and shakes her.

“Are you crazy?! What are you DOING?!”

Sarah laughs in response, her face filled with a pleased smile.

“Winning, Beloved! I will do ANYTHING to win at Coalescence! ANYTHING to put that evil, thieving, lying WHORE of a sister in her place. ANYTHING to stop her from trying to steal my life. From stealing my World Championship. From trying to steal YOU!”

Kenzi leans forward and presses her forehead to Sarah’s and sighs, happy that the touch that goes back to their earliest days had the calming effect she wanted. Closing her eyes, she lowers them both to the ground so that they can rest on their knees.

“...I love you, Sarah...will follow you into the dark...but you have GOT to stop doing stuff like THIS…”

She sighs again as Sarah mumbles a refrain over and over again.

“...I will do ANYTHING to keep you from her…”

One has to wonder how likely this world could have been. Angie’s delay in telling Sarah about her secret parentage ultimately caused Sarah to react with fear and suspicion, made her feel as if one of the small handful of people she implicitly trusted was, in fact, using her. As far fetched in likelihood as the idea of Angie trying to steal Sarah’s life, from her career to her home to, yes, even her wife, might be, it was very real in Sarah’s head.

In this world where the darkness consumed Sarah, in a world where she was pulled into the Abyss by a mother-in-law eager to gain control of a l'enfant demon hell-bent on destruction, there was little in the way of light. Angie was broken down in body, mind, and spirit, by repeated attacks from Sarah. Sarah, seconded by a returning Bordy and a Redd Thunder who did not fall on his face, terrorized the roster with Global Dollar manipulation to pit friend against friend on a regular basis, and utilized brutal sneak attacks to keep an advantage in her World Championship defenses. Kenzi was powerless to stop Sarah, powerless to influence her away from Bordy, powerless to tear down the wall of hate and fear that had surrounded her wife. And unfortunately, in this world, Kenzi ultimately broke down and fully converted to the Path of the Light Church, leaving only Angie to fight for good.

Let us rejoice that this world, which was on the razor’s edge of existence, was not meant to be.

[cooltubesource]

Sarah Lacklan lowers herself between the bottom and middle ropes and slowly walks to the center of the ring. Dressed in a brilliantly purple version of her ring gear, with the phoenix designs being a full gradient of violet to lavender and the spider web designs along her boots glinting with diamond dust, she is every inch the UGWC World Champion. She looks up above her head and stares at the empty seats of the UGWC Arena, normally the host of Synergy, but, in a few hours, the home of the 10th anniversary show. All around her, crewmen set up chairs, put the finishing touches on the ring’s special banner’s with the name Coalescence in hand-painted lettering, and plug in electronics. Now and again, a member of the crew stops what they are doing to drink in the image of the World Champion in all of her glory, face laden with war paint even hours before the show. She was the lioness at rest upon her rock, calm and collected, yet ready to spring from her muscled haunches at the very hint of battle.

Stopping in the center of the ring, head moving left and right to guide herself off the ropes so that she can be in the direct center, she lowers herself down onto the mat and crosses her legs. She unbuttons her jacket enough to reach into her top, where her iPhone sets nestled among cleavage, and removes it. After pressing a few buttons, she sets it on the mat before her, takes in a large breath, filling every inch of her lungs, and lets it out slowly.



Hello Sister

There are many in this company who would blink their eyes in surprise, perhaps even press that little “refresh” button on their browsers, at seeing the main event of Coalescence. Surely, the reigning and defending World Champion to celebrate ten years of existence would be Alan Wallace, yes? Donovan Hastings? Jet Somers? Some ghost from the past, some representative who is proud of the days of yore, some man or woman who championed the likes of a racist penguin, or a monster of a man whose favorite dating practice was grape, or any other number of embarrassing moments of Coalition history. The champion certainly wouldn’t be some young waif of a girl, for instance.

But I knew better. I always have. But more on that in a bit.

The universe tried its hardest to make sure that one of those ghosts walked into Coalescence with the gold around their waist. Those same forces of the universe who ushered in the unstoppable rise of Roxy Cotton, the forces who fell into the trap of a sensationalist nothing worth little more than the monstrous plastic surgery required to craft that thing she called a body, never believed that I could be champion after Outlast.

They were proven wrong at Battleground.

Those forces believed that I would falter against a bitter old man hellbent on becoming my father.

They were proven wrong at Horizons.

Yet again, those forces believed that Dave Rydell, of the original World Championship match back at No Holds Barred, would be my undoing, and in so somehow restore “honor” to it by way of his particularly pungent brand of mediocre stink.

They were proven wrong at Infinity.

And again, those same forces, those same mouth-breathing fools ever but a moment away from spilling their Jolt sodas on their keyboard as they shout “ACTUALLY!” into the air when they disagree with me, tried yet another time. Three men, all storied and powerful and unstoppable and surely the answer to having a “legend” defend at Coalescence.

They were proven wrong at In Your Hands.

I REFUSED to allow the universe to ROB THE WORLD of the match that they have EARNED, that they DESERVE

I DID

Time and again, without a break to be seen, without an excuse to be given, I fought the universe, I fought the Coalition, for the RIGHT to give them what they deserved at Coalescence. Even the new rules regarding championship matches seemed to wish to take away our match! If I were pinned at ANY TIME during the first three months of the year, ANYONE could find themselves with some odd advantage and chance to give the forces what they want.

But I REFUSED

Any time I was put into a position to have OUR MATCH taken away, I made sure that it stayed

Because that is what big sisters do. They take care of things. They take care of their little sisters.

Where is my thank you, Angelica?

I beat up Dave for you when you couldn’t.

I beat up Baal for you when you never were able.

Where IS my thank you?

Sorry...got a little sidetracked by your selfishness again. I’ll try to stay on task!

While I know that you are looking forward to this match, looking forward to getting your first true shot at the title you lost so spectacularly at Grand Slam last year, you have NO inkling how much I am. Sixteen months, and all.

Sixteen

months

Not minutes or hours. Not days. But months. I know, I know. You were scared. You were worried. You were afraid that our relationship, that what WE built, would be thrown into suspicion, if not outright lost. And...considering how I reacted...you may have had a reason to fear me. Hell, you still do. And if you don’t, then you really ARE daft. Because this isn’t some silly battle alongside your friends who are going to come up with a bunch of hashtags like Sloane and Seb. This isn’t some midcard clash with Dave. This isn’t some clusterfuck featuring the dregs of our business like Salvatore and Raab wherein the only prize is a tiny bit of self worth. And this CERTAINLY isn’t one of those weeks where you get to take the day off and simply not be around while I’m living the example of what a champion does.

I think you’ve had enough of THOSE the last couple of weeks, thank you so much, must less those many, MANY Synergies you have taken off during your time as a full-time member of this roster.

THIS is about YOU fighting ME

THIS is about someone who has been handed EVERYTHING in this business facing someone how has EARNED everything she has.

Now, I will allow a couple of seconds to pass while people’s heads explode a bit at that particular charge. No doubt Baal is apoplectic with desires to say hypocrisy and Raab is preparing 15 consecutive run-on sentences to call me a liar. I will allow them a moment of respite to gather their thoughts and pull out their wedgies.


Sarah leans back away from the phone, extending her arms to allow her weight to press down on her wrists. Red eyes scan the rafters of the Synergy Arena up above, rafters who have played host to Lord knew how many bits and gimmicks and intense entrances over the years. Not unlike a certain 5’11” World Champion skydiving into an arena in the hick town known as Connecticut. A lot of good THAT did for the champion. Sarah pushes herself forward and smirks into the camera.



Okay, everyone should be able to breathe now!

I would like to explain myself, of course. Now, I know there are people who are expecting me to be funny and use a bunch of fake words or write a letter full of emojis or otherwise go on some crazy adventure. But that isn’t what this is about, Angelica. No. No no. This is about everyone understanding that, while you are an EXCELLENT wrestler, you are NOT who everyone thinks you are. Or who you yourself may well think you are. No, I’m not going to call you some bastard or anything (even IF you are the daughter of some servant girl who took advantage of my father in a moment of weakness!), but I AM going to do the thing that OUR FAMILY does best.

Hold up the mirror so that world may see your reflection for true.

Much like how I said in the Best Of DVD for the Coalition last year that I would never be foolish enough to say that my title reign, at that stage, was the greatest thing in the history of forever (getting there, though!), I will NOT sit here and say that you are a shitty wrestler or that you’d be nothing with management behind your or that your some trumped up media gimmick who can’t stand up to a real wrestler. All of that would be patently false. But what I AM going to say...and show my work, of course...is that, without ME, literally no one in the WORLD would know who you are.

“BUT SARAH!”

Oh, they cry.

“BUT ANGIE WAS CHAMPION OF SOME COMPANY IN MEXICO THAT SHE COULD NEVER REMEMBER THE NAME OF”

Oh pish posh. Let us think of companies and leagues filled with true challenges or with pedigree filled with merit, yes? Let us dispense with the approximately 1,294 title reigns the two of us have had in 59 companies which last six months to a year and FOCUS on what MATTERS.

Like Ladies All-Star.

When you joined LAW, you were this fresh-faced rookie with a handful of weeks of training who was nipping at the heels of a woman who couldn’t last one round of shots with the rest of our circle. Coming in with the hopes of tag team glory (Daddy would have approved of that, by the way, though I’m pretty sure that’s one of the many MANY things you’ve never cared to ask about), you ran into a wall of being unable to put more than three relevant sentences together. Oh, you had silly adventures full of witty observations (Kenzi was absolutely correct when she coined your styles as “witty”), and you made US laugh, but the rest of the company didn’t even bother to pay you mind. Hell, the BOSS never even remembered you were trying to get tag matches! He just figured you were nothing more than filler for Tolson. And, at the time, he was right.

Good thing I noticed you.

We ALL know now why we gravitated toward one another as soon as we met (that whole secret sisters thing), but at the time it was just that you were someone knew and fresh in a company filled with old warriors more worried about their overly detailed entrances and how many nudes they could snap in a day. You were refreshing! You needed a LOT of promo work (you still do!), but I knew there was something special about you. You AND Mil. And thus the Cool Kids were born. Born because I decided we needed something more in this business, because, even though I was somewhat avoiding it at the time, I knew that we needed to CHANGE the business. I wasn’t doing the whole “eyes on me” thing quite yet, but certainly all bodies were gravitating toward me.

You are welcome for any relevance you found in LAW, Sister.

That’s another “thank you” I am waiting for.

To the surprise of no one who pays attention, you came into the Coalition not only with little fanfare, but little success. Those who are just tuning into Synergy over the last year or so would be shocked to know that the second youngest World Champion in history (I think!), one of the fastest to become a Grand Slammer (I’ll try not to bring up how pathetic over half of those reigns were, but no promises...you know how I am…) started with as much failure as any zucchini salesperson. Hell, you might have been better off just selling the zukes! It took you forEVER to get yourself an actual, real-life win in Chicago that wasn’t predicated on being supported by the stable I created. Hell, you took an L from Mizore! Mizore freakin’ PAINE! And here I thought only Roxy jobbed out to the Anime Appreciation Club on Chill! But, nope, you found yourself in a winning percentage hole nearly as fast as a member of Team Johnny! No wonder you get along with that group of flunkies!

And don’t EVEN get me STARTED on how often you lost to Ava! Oh, sure, you have had her number since you got settled...and lets face it, just about everyone does unless its in that completely shitty and unnecessary, God-forsaken Chaos division...but more on THAT for the NEXT cycle...but it took a LONG time for that settling to happen. Legitimate, the ONLY important victory YOU had in the first six months of your career here was winning the Cooperative Championships in the Prison Break match, and THAT was ONLY because Vain LET you win so that he could keep tormenting Eden! YOU “won” that match was much as Roxy “won” that first match you guys had when you just didn’t want to keep hearing her crying. THAT is not a REAL victory, Sister. THAT is a bunch of bullshit. And the proof was in the chocolate and cream pudding but a few weeks later when you dropped the belts right back to the Court, Ms One Half of Team One-and-Done!. Sorry, can’t ignore those shitty title reigns.

Of course, that’s when I got my squat booty out of my wheelchair and got back in the ring at the Melee. YOU got your bony butt pretty well kicked that night (Mags made you look BAAAAAD in the “how long can #1 and #2 entrant last?” contest), but I did pretty damn badass, considering my limitations. And from there? Sky was the limit for you. With me around, with me to push you, with me to press you, with me to work you and teach you and LEAD YOU, your UGWC career flourished. You finished off Ava (I think of THAT “Bordy” as being the mid-boss version, like when you face Sepheroth before he turns all Genova) and then found yourself the co-winner of MY battle royal

And then, of course, THAT night


Sarah pushes herself up off the mat and paces back and forth a few times, her face suddenly flushed. She growls and hits the ropes, rebounding with a few steps, and then stops in front of her phone again. She leans down, picks it up, and holds it before her face.


YOU, Angelica Mary Vaughn, got LUCKY

LUCKY

ONE FUCKING TIME

I’ve covered it before, but it bears repeating: I NEVER should have been in that ring. I wasn’t ready to return at the Melee, and sure as HELL shouldn’t have gone after my second WrestleStock Cup...a tournament wherein I won TWICE as many matches as YOU, Ms Given A Bye to the Final For No FUCKING Reason. And while I will forever love the faith put into me by Kenzi, I NEVER should have accepted her offer to go after the Cooperative Championship. YES, we were strong enough to get past Eden and Jet, but I will be the first to admit that it was NOT the real Court, as they were beyond fractured at the time, and it was HEAVY usage of that dumbass paralytic poison Baal thinks is perfectly fine to have in a wrestling ring. By the time we got to YOU...and a universe goddamn OBSESSED with raising you up into the heavens...I was too hurt to BE the Sarah Lacklan you see today. Factor ALL of that in with the fact that YOU were holding onto an AMAZING secret and advantage of what our relationship actually was, and LUCK was in your favor. LUCK and that DISGUSTING move that should be ILLEGAL

BUT NOT THIS TIME GODDAMNIT

NEVER AGAIN, ANGELICA

……………………..

……………………..

It was an excellent reign, of course. Truly, only outshone by your ability to take down Vain any time you want, a feat in itself. You becoming the World Champion was a moment I will forever be proud of, even IF the REASON you did was because of ME. Was because of MY blood.

I want you to think about this for a moment, Sister: Do you realize how selfish you are? Oh, I don’t you even think of it, but that is part of the problem. For quite some time now, you have lamented how you don’t have a “thing” to call your own in accordance with the House of Lacklan. But in that, you are wrong. And not just wrong, but perhaps a liar. Because what you have? What you have of our family, of our blood, of our father? It is something that I can never EVER have.

You have his blood.

And NONE of the pain.

Lo! The great and powerful Angelica Vaughn! Six days of training at some halfway house after she ran from home! However was she able to garner so many championships with so little ability?

Lo! The great and terrible Angelica Vaughn! A smile on a her face as she kicks people so hard in the head that they have to go to the hospital, all without understanding the hows and whys of her inherent skills.

Lo! The great and selfish Angelica Vaughn! Who was able to quietly hoard the benefits of being a second generation star, of being the daughter of a Hall of Famer, without having to deal with the REALITY of Jean-Paul Lacklan.

Your ‘daddy’ was mean to you and didn’t let you out of the house? Mine was a racist who, quite literally, hanged infidels from the Jew’s Cross.

Your whore servant girl mother was too timid to raise you right? Mine DIED in childbirth so that I could live.

You had to fight and claw for what you have achieved? Bitch, please. I watched our father wither away from a strong and powerful man to nothing more than a whisper of who he was as the cancer ripped through him.

You don’t know this...because you literally have NEVER asked...but our father died before my eyes.

Literally.

Not in some “oh noes! Daddy died the day after I talked to him!” self-important melodrama bullshit most people would spew. I was working on a vlog in preparation of my first-ever world title opportunity (lost, but that makes sense, all things considered) and I got a call. Daddy was at the end. Kenzi took care of the arrangements to get us from our old apartment in Hollywood to the Compound (I was nearly catatonic), and we got there as soon as possible. I saw him. I was at his bedside. We spoke a little. He was delusional...asked about a match he had had months before as if it just happened...and he gave me one last piece of advice.

And then he died.

Right in front of me.

Why do you get ALL of his blood, ALL of his skills, ALL of his pedigree, but NONE OF THE PAIN?!

I...AND I ALONE...SUFFERED THROUGH THE PAIN

I shouldered ALL of the pain for you, Sister! *I* was the one who grew up with the racist father who literally HATED what I secretly was. *I* was the one who helped him change his ways and realize his faults. *I* was the one dealing with a LIFETIME of whores like your mother trying to steal my Daddy and what belonged to us. And *I* was the one who had to see the last of the Light leave his eyes and carry on his legacy.

NOT YOU

All YOU had to do was take the gifts of God and NONE OF THE RESPONSIBILITY

WHERE, oh dear Sister, is MY THANK YOU?!

And

GODDAMNIT, AND

When you DID find out, when you DID realize that you had a responsibility, you HID it

FOR SIXTEEN MONTHS

………………..

………………………………..

I love you, Angelica, but by GOD have you EARNED this ass-kicking I am going to give you



Sarah takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Eyes closed, shoulders square, in through the nose and out the mouth in measured beats. After a while, the color leaves her face and the tension leaves her shoulders. She sits back down on the mat and crosses her legs.


But you know what REALLY drives me nuts, outside of your NEED for ME to help you excel in all things? Outside of your selfish use of the gifts from our family but without ANY of the responsibility? How the universe, that same universe who begged and pleaded for the story of Coalescence to be Old vs. New, a request I was able to set on fire and circumvent to give us the match the WORLD needs, is just DYING to have YOU be the face of the business. How the universe of mouth-breathing idiots you call ‘fans,’ that sludge-like mass of sticky-fingered, fedora-wearing neckbeards who hate how RIGHT I am all the time, would give their left nut for you to be propped up as a hero. Hell, even our COMPANY wants that, or at least one of those idiots who work under Todd the Intern Eternal. Know how I know that? Here, check THIS out:

Dates are important to me, right? Records, streaks, wins and losses, all of those threads which, as I have said before so poetically, create the tapestry of our careers (go back and listen to that a few times, I know big words confuse you, you’ll get it eventually). And THIS little state REALLY irks me, all things considered:

One hundred and fifty two.

THAT, dear Sister, is how many days you were World Champion before they put out that Essential Collections.

Think about that: There have been legends of this sport, some of whom will be joining us at Coalescence, who waited YEARS to be honored with one of those DVDs. But you? Someone who has been in the company less than a year and a half? YOU get that honor WAY before those people, and with FAR fewer overall title reigns in your cap. Why? WHY?! Because the goddamn UNIVERSE wants ANGIE GODDAMN VAUGHN to be the HERO for the world. Because they want to HAND HER Hall of Fame honorifics before she’s even gotten out of her training bra or kissed a boy. Because EVERYTHING is about ANGIE ANGIE ANGIE

One hundred and fifty two days! You even GOT BEAT by that vapid and USELESS friend of yours LESS THAN A MONTH LATER, and what did THAT get you?

Consideration for the most influential World Title reign?!

WHAT THE FUCK, ANGIE?!

You know how long I have been champion? How long I have reigned? As of right this moment, 196 days, longer than you, longer than all but FOUR of the thirty-eight World Championship reigns before me (there’s ANOTHER stat you would have ZERO KNOWLEDGE OF if it were not for me!). And, unlike you, I didn’t win this title by defeated a tired and worn out Vain, who is the REAL “most influential” World Champ ever (at least for now!). No no, I did it in a venue you have gotten nowhere even CLOSE to when I won Outlast.

Listen, I’m not going to play some dumb game of “you beat THIS guy but I beat THAT guy” or anything, but I will say this:

Two of your title retentions are against Ava...who, as we mentioned before, can’t buy a win against you any more in the same way that Vain can’t...and a “failing upward” Zane Scott who was well on his way to damaging every bit of credibility he has created over his career. You also beat my Beloved, a rare feat within the confines of the Coalition, but then got outsmarted by Vapid and Useless.

And me?

Me?

I beat up Johnny the guy trying to be our dad.

I beat up Dave for you.

I beat up Baal for you.

Where is MY Essentials Collection?

WHERE IS MY THANK YOU, ANGELICA?!

Sarah takes another long breath to steady herself.

But I understand now. I understand that, in order for me to get the thank you I deserve, the thank you for providing so much of your inspiration, the thank you I have earned for making you what you are, that I am going to have to beat it out of you. And I WILL beat it out of you, Sister. Because I HAVE done all of those things.

How many times?! How many times have YOU drawn inspiration from MY creations? How many times?! How many times have YOU suckled at the teat of MY heat? How many times?! How many times have YOU found yourself raised to the level of World Class because of MY foundation? I created the Cool Kids, the group that took you from nothing tag team to singles star. I paved the way to the Coalition, the home of the mouth-breathing tryhard fans who drool over your legs. I embraced your dumb words and excitable nature and gave it what little fire and life it has. I have been the hateable figure for the world’s neckbeards to focus on so that you could skate by. I have been the workhorse who propped up this company so that you could pick and choose when the REAL Angie Vaughn would bother to show up.

Just IMAGINE how GOOD you would be if you ALWAYS did what I told you to do! Just IMAGINE how prolific your career would be if you took ALL of my ideas! Hell, just look at the last two weeks! All I wanted to do was go to your STUPID farm and work on US. Work on OUR moves. But no! Instead of bearing down and focusing, we had to do fucking irrelevant FARM CHORES like it was some stupid movie! And then the match! All I wanted to do was for us to go down to that ring and kick ass, but no! YOU insisted on doing dumb shit like jumping up and down and playing to those idiot fans. And where did that get us? Where?! The goddamn LOSER’S WINDOW?

I DON’T GO TO THE LOSER’S WINDOW, ANGELICA

And that shitty knee of yours almost did it to us again! But I REFUSED to let YOUR inabilities become MY downfall again. Just like I refused to let the universe prop up some busted old man who should have retired years ago keel over and die at Coalesence so that you can once again ascend and make the world right, I REFUSED to lose last week. And I REFUSE to lose THIS week.

That knee of yours? I am going to go for it, Angelica. HARD. My entire STYLE is built around exploiting that kind of weakness. YOUR style, of course, is to throw around a few off-balance kicks and hope that a complete lack of understanding in chain wrestling will provide enough hope. MY style is to kick, punch, strike, break, tear, and wear down joints. Joints like that busted knee. The Pigeonwing is all about the shoulder, but I have a few MEAN knee locks, too. I am going to kick that leg of yours so hard and often that you crumple like a broken gazelle and then it will be OVER.

And if that’s not enough? If your plucky grit is too great to submit? If you, fueled with what will no doubt be a week of doing dumb shit like playing with your kitties or hoeing your crops or whatever irrelevant adventure full of admirable wit you have found yourself in, are strong enough to withstand the pain? I will send you into the Abyss itself, by ANY means necessary.

And that is a major difference between us that is going to be your downfall, and will ALWAYS be your downfall, until you finally LISTEN TO ME and do what I TELL YOU, instead of just picking and choosing from my lessons like its some kind of buffet. You do NOT have the killer instinct to beat ME. Not in the main event of a Pay-Per-View for MY World Championship. Sure, I’ve seen you do some crazy things, like get set aflame in that match with Bordy almost two years ago, or sucker Roxy into a pinfall to set yourself up for the Global Challenge (amazing how Rox hasn’t said SHIT about THAT! Almost as if only I’M the bad guy and NEVER you!), but you will NOT be able to do what I am willing to do.

I will do ANYTHING to win, Angelica.

Will you?

No. You are going to fall short of what NEEDS to be done. You are going to all short of the effort, the homework, the thought, the agonizing, the DRIVE. You are going to do what you always do: Wait until the last minute to prepare while you are focused on your dumb farm or cafe and then throw up something that you hope makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy inside. And that may have been good enough to get past all of those others, but it will NOT be enough to beat ME in a MAIN EVENT for MY World Championship.

One final thing before I head to the back. One final lesson.

Do you ever wonder about who things might be different? Ever have any “What Ifs?” Kenzi loathes even talking about that kind of thing, but I think it is a fun mental exercise. For instance, though I know this is a difficult thing to cope with:

In a world where there was no Angie Vaughn, Sarah Lacklan would still be the World Champion.

But in a world where there was no Sarah Lacklan, Angie Vaughn would just be a lower-tier tag wrestler always on the cusp of getting her break, but being unable to figure out the “it” factor.

Normally, this is where I would do the whole “My name is” thing, but I have prepared something special for you, since you and this match ARE special. I want this to go through your head, to ring in your ears, every moment of the last few hours before we clash, be in your skull and in your mind and in your heart until it fills your ears again at the end.


Sarah stands up and straightens herself, her back stiff and her chin elevated slightly. She points outside the ring, and Mitchell Dennis takes his cue and speaks into a microphone.

“Your winner...by submission…”

His voice echoes through the empty arena, filling it like a dense fog, and all of the other workers stop what they are doing and take it in.

“....AND STILL…”

Sarah’s hands rest upon the title around her waist.

“...the UGWC WORRRRRLD CHAMPIOOOOOOOON…”

He takes a deep breath.

“SARAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

Sarah slowly raises her hand as he holds out her name, the sound of his voice starting to waver as he holds it an obscene length of time, and then she clenches her hand into a fist and he cuts off. Her name rebounds over and again in the arena, unmistakable and unavoidable. After a long moment, she raises her hand, as a conductor to their orchestra, and drops a downbeat for Mitchell to finish.

“LAAAAAAAACKLAAAAAAAAAAAN”

Many moments pass as Sarah stands in the middle of the echoes of her voice. Eventually, she gives a small nod and a final whisper before turning off her phone:

“...I’ll take that ‘thank you’ now, Baby Sister.”

~~la fin~~