04-08-2020, 01:01 PM
04-10-2020, 11:42 PM
Melissa was already sick of 2020.
Thus far in the year, all she had going for her was the fact that she was now a part of The Unforgiven and she had gotten a shot at the EMERGE Championship not too long ago. While admirable, Melissa knew she could do far better. She knew she was capable of actually standing at the very top of the mountain. She could win matches, destroy other human beings, make it abundantly clear she wasn’t a woman to mess with and should always be considered a threat.
So why, then, was she still being seen as something of a joke?
She had laid waste to Kali en route to challenging for the EMERGE Title, she had gone to war with Willow Wilkes despite them both being part of The Unforgiven as a warning of ‘if we can do this to each other, imagine what we could do to you,’ she had rallied the troops for a massive fight only for Willow to call them off and then dismantled Annabelle Burchard with the only thing keeping her from simply ending the woman for good being the call that Cindy was still interested in bringing her aboard. Had that not been told to her before that match, then Melissa would guarantee you that woman would never be seen in a wrestling ring ever again.
“If she wants to try and pick a fight with me after that, then next time I’ll just apologize to Cindy because I will not let her have another shot around here.”
Vocal reminders to herself had become a regular tactic to keep her in the frame of mind that Cindy wanted to see her in, even if it made it seem like she was just talking to herself. People might call her crazy for it, but here in her room among the rest of The Unforgiven, she would never be judged for it. Whatever it took to fuel her fire and remind her of why she’d joined them and what this would ultimately do for her, she would do it without a second thought at this point. This was all for her and all for them, and nobody else mattered.
That was why a reminder of how Invasion: South Africa ended was thoroughly burned into her brain, and why she was using a few old photos to make sure that fire never went out.
With every pull-up she did on the bar in her room to warm her up for whatever Cindy had planned for her today, she would lock eyes with two photos she had taped up on her wall. The first was an old photo of her father that was used for virtually every newspaper article written about the kind of upstanding hero he always was, as a reminder of why she was doing all of this in the first place and what continued to drive her to choose her own path in life. Sitting right next to it was one of the old modeling photos of none other than Jennifer Helms, the woman who many believed simply had The Unforgiven’s number. If it wasn’t for the two wins she held over Willow now, it was certainly the fact that despite her best efforts Melissa had been unable to secure so much as a single victory over this woman no matter how many times they crossed paths. Losing the RUSH Title to her was bad enough, but seeing her essentially with the ability to gloat that she’d succeeded where Melissa had failed in becoming EMERGE Champion and now laying claim to having held every single one of the company’s singles titles started to conjure thoughts of trying to tear her apart like some kind of feral animal that wouldn’t go away.
“That bitch… thinks she can take everything from me…”
Melissa spits at the photo of Helms, feeling disgusted with the idea that she’ll never overcome this one challenge no matter how much harder she busts her ass than she knows Helms can regardless of who her family is. She knows she can beat her, and she’s pushed the woman far beyond her limits in every encounter they’ve had, so it was only a matter of figuring out what was missing. All she needed was one more shot… a shot she knew she likely wasn’t going to be getting as the balance of power seemed to be shifting. A non-title match would’ve been enough for her, knowing she could have another crack at the top at some point if she won, but she knew what needed to fuel the anger that would ultimately make her a dangerous force that would convince everyone she could have that match in the first place.
Right now, her path of destruction had to start with Danny Darko.
Melissa’s ears picked up what sounded like screaming from a room down the hall, but she did her best to maintain her focus. Knowing it was probably just someone being dealt with for one reason or another, her eyes kept burning a hole straight through the photos before her as her pull-ups continued. She knew what Darko represented to The Unforgiven, having been the first to target them in response to what happened to his wife, though it seemed like he was sidetracked to some degree by having to be one-half of the DUOS Champions with Sierra Swann. To him, this seemed like the perfect chance to return to focusing on his original reason for being here, but this wasn’t the same scenario as with Annabelle. Melissa had no plans on letting Darko off easily, though she also wasn’t planning on throwing away the victory this time just to send a message. Crushing Danny both physically and mentally would surely be far more effective than just trying to end his career at the expense of her own.
“Danny’s going to learn firsthand what The Unforgiven has done for me… and then he’s going to regret ever thinking he had a hope in hell of taking us down.”
Upon the word ‘down’ Melissa releases the bar at the height of her pull-up and lands on her feet with an audible thud. She turns her glare back to the photos one last time before turning and leaving her room, contemplating what she did have going for her up to this point. True, momentum did seem a little scarce right now, but the newfound vicious streak she’d been showing would hopefully make a few people just a little wary of having to cross paths with her. Between that and the grit and durability she was showing when pushed, one would think it was only a matter of time before that changed. Naturally, Melissa wanted it to change much faster, but she trusted Cindy and her methods and was doing her best to keep that in mind so she didn’t end up going rogue and making an unnecessary mistake at this point in time.
As she headed down the hallway in search of Cindy, Melissa once again heard the screams, unconsciously following them under she found herself standing before the door they were coming from. As much as she knew she should probably track down Cindy, curiosity was starting to get the better of her as she began reaching for the doorknob. Just as she was fingertips away, the knob suddenly turned and the door was opened. Out stepped the members of Seraglio, slowly filing out in a line as each of them briefly acknowledged Melissa before heading down the hall in the direction she just came from. Melissa watched them leave with an eyebrow raised before peering into the room, and the sight that met her eyes immediately had her bolting in.
“Are you guys alright? What the hell happened!?”
She knelt down beside Claire and Jennifer, who were both only wearing their underwear and covered from head to toe in nasty-looking cuts and bruises. The blood was still trailing down their skin in some areas, and Claire looked like she had a black eye while Jennifer’s bloody upper lip was quite swollen. The two of them held one another close, flinching a bit at Melissa’s touch but slowly loosening up once they saw it was her. They said nothing, just staring in shock that their friend had found them in this state, though they began to look concerned when the military maiden stood up and began swiftly moving towards the door.
“I don’t know what the hell they think they’re pulling, but I’m not about to-”
“Melissa, wait!”
Melissa was only stopped by Claire frantically reaching out and grabbing her wrist, despite a hiss of pain in doing so. Her grip was fairly weak too, leading Melissa to believe some kind of damage had been done that she couldn’t ascertain right now. She was only seeing red, but Claire’s desperation did get her to turn around. To her surprise, Claire was getting back to her feet as though nothing had happened despite needing to use her friend’s body for assistance. She then reached down and took Jennifer’s hand to help her back up as well with a bit of difficulty. Despite how bad they looked and the pain they definitely seemed to be in, they were both brushing this off quite easily, which stunned the toughest of the trio.
“I… don’t understand…”
“Cindy left you a note…”
Despite being a bit difficult to understand due to her messed-up lip, Jennifer punctuated what she said by pointing towards a small table settled up against the wall near the door, where an envelope with Melissa’s name was resting. Melissa looked back to her friends to see them nod to her before checking on one another before she carefully retrieved the envelope, muttering something incomprehensibly under her breath as she tore it opened and read aloud what the note inside said.
“‘Melissa, I have a feeling you’re going to be curious and protective the moment you see your friends battered and bruised, so I prepared this to prevent you from misplacing your aggression. Jennifer and Claire are both coming along surprisingly well, considering I will be honest in admitting I did not expect much from them when we first put together our arrangement. Their devotion both to you and each other has proven to be quite the fuel to keep them going regardless of what happens. That said, I need you to understand that there will come a time when you cannot protect them. Even if they are with you at all times, they are still part of our family, and you know well The Unforgiven has many enemies that will not hesitate to take advantage of the first opening that presents itself. If they view your friends as weak links, they will exploit them without hesitation. At their own request, I asked Seraglio to test them and push the limits of their own pain thresholds. While I am not expecting them to match yours yet, the longer they can hold out the better they can serve us in the grand scheme of things. Take pride in them for being willing to push themselves, and direct your anger towards the man who deserves to be beheaded for his repeated defiance against us.’”
Melissa slowly turns towards her friends, who give her a somewhat sheepish look in response despite how bad they look right now.
“You asked for this!?”
“Melissa… Cindy made a great point. Like it or not, you can’t always protect us, and you shouldn’t have to allow yourself to be derailed just because someone thinks going after us would be a great way to get to not only you but The Unforgiven. We’re slowly proving we can defend ourselves, but we also need to be as tough as you to be absolutely sure we won’t become a liability to you.”
“…you girls could never become a liability to me. Only more fuel to my fire…”
Melissa places a hand softly onto theirs as they smile to her as best as they can, but the moment is interrupted by Seraglio’s return, carrying medical kits to bandage the girls up so they can be presentable when necessary. Melissa backs away a bit before turning her gaze towards the doorway where her eyes meet those of Cindy Todd. No words were exchanged in that staredown, but the look in Cindy’s eyes was clear:
Claire and Jennifer needed to be stronger for her and for them, and she needed to use their desire to assist her however they could as a reminder of why she’d come to this point and what kind of weapon her anger should be against those who dared to threaten or harm their little family.
If that meant making sure Danny Darko could no longer walk after the next show, then so be it.
Thus far in the year, all she had going for her was the fact that she was now a part of The Unforgiven and she had gotten a shot at the EMERGE Championship not too long ago. While admirable, Melissa knew she could do far better. She knew she was capable of actually standing at the very top of the mountain. She could win matches, destroy other human beings, make it abundantly clear she wasn’t a woman to mess with and should always be considered a threat.
So why, then, was she still being seen as something of a joke?
She had laid waste to Kali en route to challenging for the EMERGE Title, she had gone to war with Willow Wilkes despite them both being part of The Unforgiven as a warning of ‘if we can do this to each other, imagine what we could do to you,’ she had rallied the troops for a massive fight only for Willow to call them off and then dismantled Annabelle Burchard with the only thing keeping her from simply ending the woman for good being the call that Cindy was still interested in bringing her aboard. Had that not been told to her before that match, then Melissa would guarantee you that woman would never be seen in a wrestling ring ever again.
“If she wants to try and pick a fight with me after that, then next time I’ll just apologize to Cindy because I will not let her have another shot around here.”
Vocal reminders to herself had become a regular tactic to keep her in the frame of mind that Cindy wanted to see her in, even if it made it seem like she was just talking to herself. People might call her crazy for it, but here in her room among the rest of The Unforgiven, she would never be judged for it. Whatever it took to fuel her fire and remind her of why she’d joined them and what this would ultimately do for her, she would do it without a second thought at this point. This was all for her and all for them, and nobody else mattered.
That was why a reminder of how Invasion: South Africa ended was thoroughly burned into her brain, and why she was using a few old photos to make sure that fire never went out.
With every pull-up she did on the bar in her room to warm her up for whatever Cindy had planned for her today, she would lock eyes with two photos she had taped up on her wall. The first was an old photo of her father that was used for virtually every newspaper article written about the kind of upstanding hero he always was, as a reminder of why she was doing all of this in the first place and what continued to drive her to choose her own path in life. Sitting right next to it was one of the old modeling photos of none other than Jennifer Helms, the woman who many believed simply had The Unforgiven’s number. If it wasn’t for the two wins she held over Willow now, it was certainly the fact that despite her best efforts Melissa had been unable to secure so much as a single victory over this woman no matter how many times they crossed paths. Losing the RUSH Title to her was bad enough, but seeing her essentially with the ability to gloat that she’d succeeded where Melissa had failed in becoming EMERGE Champion and now laying claim to having held every single one of the company’s singles titles started to conjure thoughts of trying to tear her apart like some kind of feral animal that wouldn’t go away.
“That bitch… thinks she can take everything from me…”
Melissa spits at the photo of Helms, feeling disgusted with the idea that she’ll never overcome this one challenge no matter how much harder she busts her ass than she knows Helms can regardless of who her family is. She knows she can beat her, and she’s pushed the woman far beyond her limits in every encounter they’ve had, so it was only a matter of figuring out what was missing. All she needed was one more shot… a shot she knew she likely wasn’t going to be getting as the balance of power seemed to be shifting. A non-title match would’ve been enough for her, knowing she could have another crack at the top at some point if she won, but she knew what needed to fuel the anger that would ultimately make her a dangerous force that would convince everyone she could have that match in the first place.
Right now, her path of destruction had to start with Danny Darko.
Melissa’s ears picked up what sounded like screaming from a room down the hall, but she did her best to maintain her focus. Knowing it was probably just someone being dealt with for one reason or another, her eyes kept burning a hole straight through the photos before her as her pull-ups continued. She knew what Darko represented to The Unforgiven, having been the first to target them in response to what happened to his wife, though it seemed like he was sidetracked to some degree by having to be one-half of the DUOS Champions with Sierra Swann. To him, this seemed like the perfect chance to return to focusing on his original reason for being here, but this wasn’t the same scenario as with Annabelle. Melissa had no plans on letting Darko off easily, though she also wasn’t planning on throwing away the victory this time just to send a message. Crushing Danny both physically and mentally would surely be far more effective than just trying to end his career at the expense of her own.
“Danny’s going to learn firsthand what The Unforgiven has done for me… and then he’s going to regret ever thinking he had a hope in hell of taking us down.”
Upon the word ‘down’ Melissa releases the bar at the height of her pull-up and lands on her feet with an audible thud. She turns her glare back to the photos one last time before turning and leaving her room, contemplating what she did have going for her up to this point. True, momentum did seem a little scarce right now, but the newfound vicious streak she’d been showing would hopefully make a few people just a little wary of having to cross paths with her. Between that and the grit and durability she was showing when pushed, one would think it was only a matter of time before that changed. Naturally, Melissa wanted it to change much faster, but she trusted Cindy and her methods and was doing her best to keep that in mind so she didn’t end up going rogue and making an unnecessary mistake at this point in time.
As she headed down the hallway in search of Cindy, Melissa once again heard the screams, unconsciously following them under she found herself standing before the door they were coming from. As much as she knew she should probably track down Cindy, curiosity was starting to get the better of her as she began reaching for the doorknob. Just as she was fingertips away, the knob suddenly turned and the door was opened. Out stepped the members of Seraglio, slowly filing out in a line as each of them briefly acknowledged Melissa before heading down the hall in the direction she just came from. Melissa watched them leave with an eyebrow raised before peering into the room, and the sight that met her eyes immediately had her bolting in.
“Are you guys alright? What the hell happened!?”
She knelt down beside Claire and Jennifer, who were both only wearing their underwear and covered from head to toe in nasty-looking cuts and bruises. The blood was still trailing down their skin in some areas, and Claire looked like she had a black eye while Jennifer’s bloody upper lip was quite swollen. The two of them held one another close, flinching a bit at Melissa’s touch but slowly loosening up once they saw it was her. They said nothing, just staring in shock that their friend had found them in this state, though they began to look concerned when the military maiden stood up and began swiftly moving towards the door.
“I don’t know what the hell they think they’re pulling, but I’m not about to-”
“Melissa, wait!”
Melissa was only stopped by Claire frantically reaching out and grabbing her wrist, despite a hiss of pain in doing so. Her grip was fairly weak too, leading Melissa to believe some kind of damage had been done that she couldn’t ascertain right now. She was only seeing red, but Claire’s desperation did get her to turn around. To her surprise, Claire was getting back to her feet as though nothing had happened despite needing to use her friend’s body for assistance. She then reached down and took Jennifer’s hand to help her back up as well with a bit of difficulty. Despite how bad they looked and the pain they definitely seemed to be in, they were both brushing this off quite easily, which stunned the toughest of the trio.
“I… don’t understand…”
“Cindy left you a note…”
Despite being a bit difficult to understand due to her messed-up lip, Jennifer punctuated what she said by pointing towards a small table settled up against the wall near the door, where an envelope with Melissa’s name was resting. Melissa looked back to her friends to see them nod to her before checking on one another before she carefully retrieved the envelope, muttering something incomprehensibly under her breath as she tore it opened and read aloud what the note inside said.
“‘Melissa, I have a feeling you’re going to be curious and protective the moment you see your friends battered and bruised, so I prepared this to prevent you from misplacing your aggression. Jennifer and Claire are both coming along surprisingly well, considering I will be honest in admitting I did not expect much from them when we first put together our arrangement. Their devotion both to you and each other has proven to be quite the fuel to keep them going regardless of what happens. That said, I need you to understand that there will come a time when you cannot protect them. Even if they are with you at all times, they are still part of our family, and you know well The Unforgiven has many enemies that will not hesitate to take advantage of the first opening that presents itself. If they view your friends as weak links, they will exploit them without hesitation. At their own request, I asked Seraglio to test them and push the limits of their own pain thresholds. While I am not expecting them to match yours yet, the longer they can hold out the better they can serve us in the grand scheme of things. Take pride in them for being willing to push themselves, and direct your anger towards the man who deserves to be beheaded for his repeated defiance against us.’”
Melissa slowly turns towards her friends, who give her a somewhat sheepish look in response despite how bad they look right now.
“You asked for this!?”
“Melissa… Cindy made a great point. Like it or not, you can’t always protect us, and you shouldn’t have to allow yourself to be derailed just because someone thinks going after us would be a great way to get to not only you but The Unforgiven. We’re slowly proving we can defend ourselves, but we also need to be as tough as you to be absolutely sure we won’t become a liability to you.”
“…you girls could never become a liability to me. Only more fuel to my fire…”
Melissa places a hand softly onto theirs as they smile to her as best as they can, but the moment is interrupted by Seraglio’s return, carrying medical kits to bandage the girls up so they can be presentable when necessary. Melissa backs away a bit before turning her gaze towards the doorway where her eyes meet those of Cindy Todd. No words were exchanged in that staredown, but the look in Cindy’s eyes was clear:
Claire and Jennifer needed to be stronger for her and for them, and she needed to use their desire to assist her however they could as a reminder of why she’d come to this point and what kind of weapon her anger should be against those who dared to threaten or harm their little family.
If that meant making sure Danny Darko could no longer walk after the next show, then so be it.