10-22-2022, 08:40 AM
10-24-2022, 05:20 PM
Cassie would continue her winning ways in SCW getting the win over a local competitor in her second match on Breakdown but her next match could prove to be her toughest one yet as the teenaged prodigy was in action again on the next episode of Breakdown taking on “The Rockstar” Rocky Ramon! A fifteen-year veteran of the sport who was almost two decades older than Cassie, Rocky would prove to be a different challenge for Cassie than Ace or the local competitor as Rocky was more of a technical/striker style wrestler, throw in the fact that he towered over Cassie and outweighed her by over a hundred pounds and this could prove to be Cassie’s toughest opponent yet, can the wrestling prodigy continue her winning ways or will Rocky prove to be too much for Cassie to handle?
Local Starbucks, Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday the 22nd of October 2022, 11:00am
So yeah, a lot’s happened since you last checked in on me.
After I had my first kiss with Zoey and my second kiss with Becky we met up near Hero Academy, no we didn’t meet up for sex, as far as I can tell? We’re still all virgins but I had the feeling that wasn’t going to last for long if things progressed along the steady path that it had since that faithful day.
Let’s get the basic facts out of the way, Becky’s an open lesbian and has been out of the closet for a couple of years now, me and Zoey are still in the closet but whilst I’m still unsure of whether I’m a lesbian or bi, Zoey in a hundred percent sure that she’s not going to be dating guys anytime soon! I’m sure these facts left most of the male students at Hero Academy disappointed to know that they had even less chance of scoring with us than they did before but I digress.
As for the meeting? Well, it went like this, we all found each other hot, that goes without saying if we’re being honest, but we agreed that rather than making me chose between Zoey and Becky (a Jigsaw style choice if I’ve ever heard one!) that we’d share each other in and out of the bedroom, translation? I was dating two hot babes at the same time, Zoey was dating two hot babes at the same time and Becky was dating two hot babes at the same time, we all consented to it and agreed that if either of the three felt like it was getting too awkward that we would respect her wishes to break it off.
Oh, and we agreed that if and when we lost our virginity, it should be in a lesbian threesome! And now I’m beginning to see what Makayla (the Greek Australian wife of my cousin Krystal) meant when she compared it to a scenario from a porn vid!
Speaking of Krystal, even though I’m the only member of her family signed to Supreme Championship Wrestling, when I learned about my next match it wasn’t through the SCW brass like my debut against Ace Sky or that match against the nobody, it was through my older cousin because someone in booking put me down as “The Rebel Princess” Krystal Wolfe rather than my actual name, granted Krystal does work for the other SCW (Sin City Wrestling) but that’s the only explanation for the screw up I’ve got aside from their (maybe joking) admission to wanting to horde all the Australian wrestling talent for themselves!
It's not like me and Krystal are identical twins either, setting aside the fact that we’re cousins? Krystal’s taller, more powerfully built, has blue hair and is from Adelaide proper, I’m short, I have a build better suited to my high-flying style, have dark hair and I’m from a town that most people who aren’t from Adelaide have probably never even heard of until I started making a name for myself as a wrestling prodigy! Unless your from that place in Scotland that happens to share a name with my hometown!
Where was I? Oh, right, my match against Rocky!
Krystal for her part did the research for me on this guy, I know he’s probably old enough to be my uncle at least and has been wrestling for over a decade! Throw in the fact that this guy is 6ft 5 and 240ibs whilst I’m 5ft 3 and 118ibs? Yeah, this is a real Davida vs. Goliath match! I know the old saying goes that the “bigger they are, the harder they fall” and “it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it” (totally using that in my trash talk BTW) but as a highflyer it’ll be difficult for me to use my usual tactics!
Besides, I’m not going for the cliché “Davida vs. Goliath” approach here, I’m going for Dad Rock vs. Modern Metal because this guy calls himself a rockstar! It’s almost like the SCW bosses saw my failed attempt at trolling on Twitter.
Ahh well, this will be a fun test at least!
At the moment me, Zoey and Becky have stopped by a Starbucks for a drink, as far as the rest of the restaurant was concerned we were just three friends who had decided to stop to get a drink (technically true since we could be seen as friends with benefits) and I had drawn the short straw meaning that I had to go up and get the drinks, why was that a problem?
The guy in front of me!
“I’ll tell you when I’ve made my mind up!” The douchebag in front of me said to a clearly annoyed cashier, what comes to mind when I describe someone as a hipster douche? If you answered “man bun, glasses and a goatee” then you described the guy in front of me and I only knew he had a beard because he’d occasionally glance back at the line behind him.
”I swear to god, this guy’s going to get murdered if he doesn’t hurry the fuck up.” I grumbled under my breath before glancing over at my girlfriends, Zoey and Becky were occupying a corner booth and were keeping up the “we’re just friends” charade for now. ”We ate at Wendy’s yesterday they said, we can’t eat fast food all the time they said, I haven’t tried pumpkin spice yet Zoey said, stupid democracy” I grumbled again before turning my attention back to the hipster douche, honestly I was tempted to call Krystal and have her yeet him out of the store, she’s not that much taller or heavier than me but she was a power based wrestler and I bet the douche didn’t even weigh a fifth of the weight of some of the women she’s wrestled in the other SCW’s Bombshell Division!
“Sir, there is a line forming behind you, please make your choice or return to your seat.” The cashier repeated her earlier instructions because well, the line was going out the fucking door at this point. “I have customers to serve.”
“My time is very important, and they can wait!” Screw it, I was about ready to rally the rest of the customers to throw out this douche for that one line alone! How many people were going to be late back from their lunch breaks thanks to this self-important douche nozzle? “Fine! Fine! Get me a Soy Latte to go.”
It was then that the infamous “Cassie Wolfe wit” kicked in and well, considering I sassed one of my trainers over her rotten luck with titles twice? Yeah, I said my next sentence without even thinking. ”Oh, so you’re a soy boy then?”
That had one of two possible outcomes, A: I got into argument with hipster douche and we were both kicked out or b: the hipster douche stormed out of the establishment in embarrassment with or without his latte, fortunately his embarrassment combined with the rest of the restaurant laughing at him (Zoey and Becky were practically dying of laughter) meant that he didn’t even wait for his drink order to be processed before he stormed out, presumably to another Starbucks. “I’d say sorry for the wait, but if anything, I owe you a favour.” The cashier said as I took the douchebag’s place in line and whilst she was pretty cute, I don’t think she meant THAT kind of favour. “I’ll cover your drink order ma’am, so long as you order it a lot faster than him!”
”That will be easy enough, two pumpkin spice lattes and a cappuccino please.” I ordered and once the cashier rung them up and handed the drinks to me I returned to our booth. ”Sorry I took so long guys.” I apologized as I handed my girlfriends their lattes.
”If there’s anyone who owes us an apology it’s that douchebag.” Becky responded as she held up her hands and I nodded as I got the idea. ”That said, we should’ve listened to your suggestion and went to Wendy’s in hindsight!”
”At least we would’ve gotten our orders before I turned twenty-eight!” Zoey joked and we shared a laugh with the biracial girl before she offered a toast. [color= blue]”To Cassie Wolfe, hipster conqueror extraordinaire!”[/color]
”I’m not adding that to my list of wrestling nicknames!” I responded with a face-palm and the other girls grinned. ”For one thing, I’d be calling everyone I’ve defeated a hipster.”
”So Lisa Marie Ashton, Ace Sky, that local nobody and hopefully Randy Ramon!” Becky responded after thinking for a minute and I nodded in response, however once thing had been bugging me since my second match in Supreme Championship Wrestling aired reared it’s ugly head again, namely what happened between me and the other princess on the roster.
”So, you guys figure out what was up with that chick that came out after my match?”
”You mean Magical Cosmic Princess YUYO?” Becky asked and whilst I’m sure that sentence earned more than a few confused looks from the other Starbucks patrons, we paid it no mind. ”We’re not sure, I think she took offence to you being another princess in Supreme Championship Wrestling.”
”I chose the Rebel Princess name for a couple of reasons, one: I’m a rebel, two: every other chick in this sport was either a queen, an angel, or some combination of the two, combine that with me being Krystal’s cousin? Yeah, it seemed like a perfect fit to me! Then again that was before I joined Supreme Championship Wrestling and learned that I wasn’t the only princess in wrestling!” I admitted with a shrug before taking a sip of my coffee. ”And since I’m still in my first year as a pro wrestler? I’m just going to focus on being me whilst forging my path as a wrestler rather than conform to what others expect from me!”
”That wouldn’t be a bad idea for a promo sign off Cass.” Zoey chimed in and I gave her a curious look. ”In a world of queens and goddesses, be a Rebel Princess? I mean, it is a lot better than the Hungry Like the Wolfe line!”
”I know I just said that I wasn’t going to conform to anyone else’s standards, but I’ll see what Krystal thinks, she has been wrestling and cutting promos for a lot longer than me!” I responded and my girlfriends nodded in understanding before the topic drifted in another direction.
Hero Academy, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 25th of October 2022, 11:00am
If I had to sum up the past few days in one word, my word of choice would be hectic!
I’m basically on the outside looking in these days as far as Sin City Wrestling goes but thanks to my ties to several of the wrestlers there, I had a feeling of what was going on, Jessie had a distant cousin come into her life, Ari is dealing with her deadbeat parents again and Krystal? Well, the fact that it started with her young daughter being rushed to hospital with a high fever didn’t exactly bode well for her situation.
Me? My life was relatively drama free at the moment, even as Keira makes me do a bunch of laps every time I make a funny tweet on Twitter! But I did all my laps yesterday and today as I entered my training school to train for my next Supreme Championship Wrestling match, I saw a new face among the regular trainees.
Said trainees were also star struck because of who the newcomer was with.
”Didn’t expect to see you today Jess.” I greeted Jessie Salco as I walked up to the wrestling veteran, Jessie had assisted in my early training back when I was a PTA Gym trainee so yeah, we were tight and Jessie grinned before greeting me with a fist bump. ”Who’s this you brought with you?” I asked as I motioned to the taller teenager with Jessie and the veteran grinned.
”Glad you asked, this is Harper.” Jessie introduced the newcomer who gave me a polite wave. ”She’s starting at Hero Academy today, and she’s been looking forward to meeting you Cassie.”
“After hearing so much about the first Hero Academy graduate I had to meet her.” Harper admitted with a nervous grin and I had to admit that all this ego stroking was lifting my spirits a bit. “Especially since your going to be my first sparring partner.”
Wait, what?
”Your protégé has a funny sense of humour Jess, a girl on her first day as a wrestling trainee taking on the first Hero Academy Graduate?” I asked with a nervous laugh but I realized two things, one: she was serious about this and two: Jess and the trainers at the Go Gym were backing her up completely. ”Throwing her in the deep end, aren’t you Jess?”
”On paper? Yeah, but Harper excelled at ammeter wrestling and so far? She’s proven to be a prodigy not unlike you were when we first met.” Jessie explained and that took me back a bit, I had only known Jess personally for a little under a year but time flies as they say, is this girl really that good. ”If you want to back out I’ll understand, but she did double dog dare you.”
Okay, that’s it, no one double dog dares ME and gets away with it! ”Harper? Get in the ring and warm up, I’ve got to get changed into my wrestling gear!” I told the rookie and she nodded before we did just that.
Only problem, I ended up eating my words, at first I used my speed and agility to my advantage but I quickly learned that there was some truth to Jessie’s words because it wasn’t long before Harper was stretching me like playdough! After a few minutes Keri called off the match and we shook hands.
Hopefully, my ego won’t be to bruised heading into my third match with Supreme Championship Wrestling.
Cassie’s room, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 25th of October 2022, 16:00pm
*promo time*
What do you expect me to say?
”I think it’s safe to say that I’m starting to get noticed in Supreme Championship Wrestling, first I won my debut match against Ace Sky and last week I went and requested a chance to compete against literally anyone they could find, guess what? I won that match too!” I started as I held up the metal horns, both to indicate that I was happy with how things were going in SCW and to show how many wins I had to my name. ”Not bad for a nineteen-year-old girl who has only been wrestling since July, right? Well, it’s clear that the other princess of SCW, “Magical Cosmic Princess YUYU” who, frankly, sounds more like a magical girl anime show than a wrestler came out to confront me because I also happen to be a wrestling princess.”
Insert your own jokes about the British Royal Family here.
”But I’ll deal with her if and when my match against her gets booked because this week on Breakdown I’m taking on a different beast to Ace, that nobody I faced and yes, even YUYU! I’m taking on a guy who’s over a foot taller than me and weighs a lot more than me, that’s right, I’m taking on “Rockstar” Randy Ramon!” I added as I shook my head with a chuckle. ”So, by all logic I should be going for the old “David vs. Goliath” style promo right? I’m 5ft 3, 118ibs, Randy is 6ft 5 and 240ibs, not massive compared to a lot of guys in this sport but he still towers over me, oh, did I mention this guy has been wrestling for fifteen years AND is nearly two decades older than me? So why aren’t I going down the David vs. Goliath route?”
That’s right.
”Come on guys, I’ve been wrestling here for weeks, I would’ve thought you’d have learned by now that I’m a girl who sticks a massive middle finger up at tradition!” I declared with a grin and (after making sure mom wasn’t watching) flipped off the camera to illustrate my point. ”Because I’m calling out Randy for what he really is: Dad Rock: The Wrestler! And yeah, I am making this more about dad rock vs. modern metal and no, you don’t get any prizes for guessing which side this millennial metal chick is taking! Randy, I’m going to use this match to prove why metal is better than ever and why all the boomers who crap all over modern metal are idiots!”
Yes I’m going all in on this idea!
”I mean, honestly? My Spotify playlist and Bandcamp collection doesn’t contain a single album or song released by a metal artist that came out prior to my birth year of 2003, that’s how serious I am about this! And if I get one more fan asking if I’m a fan of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax or Megadeth, I’m going to fucking scream!” But that’s a tangent for another day. ”That’s not to say that I don’t know the difficulties I face in this match going against a striker/technician with over a decade of experience? It’s easy to say that I’ll learn a lot from this match but I’m not just here to learn, I’m here to win and if I have to use my speed and agility to put the old rocker in the retirement home for aging musicians, I WILL!”
It's that simple.
”I’m sure Randy will look at my promo and say something like “that darn millennial needs to respect her elders, music was so much better in my day without all the advances in production technology or autotune or” BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!” If I could roll my eyes any harder, I would. ”Seriously I got so tired of reading that bullshit I started making an active effort to NOT go into the YouTube comment section of music videos, and if I can use that to motivate me towards defeating this old rocker? I WILL!”
And with that I decided to wrap things up.
”Don’t feel too bad Randy, you can still go down to your favourite rock bar to enjoy some cover band doing a bad impression of Ozzy Osborne or whatever you listen too! Me? I’ll keep flying the flag for the future, both of wrestling and metal music!” I flashed up the metal hons again before I went into the wrap up. ”So, too all my little rebels out there? In a world of Queens and Goddesses, be a Rebel Princess whilst “Dad Rock” Randy Ramon learns that the OG “Rebel Princess” Cassie Wolfe is hungry like the Wolfe! See you in the ring old timer! Don’t forget your walking stick!”
I left my room as the scene fades.
Local Starbucks, Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday the 22nd of October 2022, 11:00am
So yeah, a lot’s happened since you last checked in on me.
After I had my first kiss with Zoey and my second kiss with Becky we met up near Hero Academy, no we didn’t meet up for sex, as far as I can tell? We’re still all virgins but I had the feeling that wasn’t going to last for long if things progressed along the steady path that it had since that faithful day.
Let’s get the basic facts out of the way, Becky’s an open lesbian and has been out of the closet for a couple of years now, me and Zoey are still in the closet but whilst I’m still unsure of whether I’m a lesbian or bi, Zoey in a hundred percent sure that she’s not going to be dating guys anytime soon! I’m sure these facts left most of the male students at Hero Academy disappointed to know that they had even less chance of scoring with us than they did before but I digress.
As for the meeting? Well, it went like this, we all found each other hot, that goes without saying if we’re being honest, but we agreed that rather than making me chose between Zoey and Becky (a Jigsaw style choice if I’ve ever heard one!) that we’d share each other in and out of the bedroom, translation? I was dating two hot babes at the same time, Zoey was dating two hot babes at the same time and Becky was dating two hot babes at the same time, we all consented to it and agreed that if either of the three felt like it was getting too awkward that we would respect her wishes to break it off.
Oh, and we agreed that if and when we lost our virginity, it should be in a lesbian threesome! And now I’m beginning to see what Makayla (the Greek Australian wife of my cousin Krystal) meant when she compared it to a scenario from a porn vid!
Speaking of Krystal, even though I’m the only member of her family signed to Supreme Championship Wrestling, when I learned about my next match it wasn’t through the SCW brass like my debut against Ace Sky or that match against the nobody, it was through my older cousin because someone in booking put me down as “The Rebel Princess” Krystal Wolfe rather than my actual name, granted Krystal does work for the other SCW (Sin City Wrestling) but that’s the only explanation for the screw up I’ve got aside from their (maybe joking) admission to wanting to horde all the Australian wrestling talent for themselves!
It's not like me and Krystal are identical twins either, setting aside the fact that we’re cousins? Krystal’s taller, more powerfully built, has blue hair and is from Adelaide proper, I’m short, I have a build better suited to my high-flying style, have dark hair and I’m from a town that most people who aren’t from Adelaide have probably never even heard of until I started making a name for myself as a wrestling prodigy! Unless your from that place in Scotland that happens to share a name with my hometown!
Where was I? Oh, right, my match against Rocky!
Krystal for her part did the research for me on this guy, I know he’s probably old enough to be my uncle at least and has been wrestling for over a decade! Throw in the fact that this guy is 6ft 5 and 240ibs whilst I’m 5ft 3 and 118ibs? Yeah, this is a real Davida vs. Goliath match! I know the old saying goes that the “bigger they are, the harder they fall” and “it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it” (totally using that in my trash talk BTW) but as a highflyer it’ll be difficult for me to use my usual tactics!
Besides, I’m not going for the cliché “Davida vs. Goliath” approach here, I’m going for Dad Rock vs. Modern Metal because this guy calls himself a rockstar! It’s almost like the SCW bosses saw my failed attempt at trolling on Twitter.
Ahh well, this will be a fun test at least!
At the moment me, Zoey and Becky have stopped by a Starbucks for a drink, as far as the rest of the restaurant was concerned we were just three friends who had decided to stop to get a drink (technically true since we could be seen as friends with benefits) and I had drawn the short straw meaning that I had to go up and get the drinks, why was that a problem?
The guy in front of me!
“I’ll tell you when I’ve made my mind up!” The douchebag in front of me said to a clearly annoyed cashier, what comes to mind when I describe someone as a hipster douche? If you answered “man bun, glasses and a goatee” then you described the guy in front of me and I only knew he had a beard because he’d occasionally glance back at the line behind him.
”I swear to god, this guy’s going to get murdered if he doesn’t hurry the fuck up.” I grumbled under my breath before glancing over at my girlfriends, Zoey and Becky were occupying a corner booth and were keeping up the “we’re just friends” charade for now. ”We ate at Wendy’s yesterday they said, we can’t eat fast food all the time they said, I haven’t tried pumpkin spice yet Zoey said, stupid democracy” I grumbled again before turning my attention back to the hipster douche, honestly I was tempted to call Krystal and have her yeet him out of the store, she’s not that much taller or heavier than me but she was a power based wrestler and I bet the douche didn’t even weigh a fifth of the weight of some of the women she’s wrestled in the other SCW’s Bombshell Division!
“Sir, there is a line forming behind you, please make your choice or return to your seat.” The cashier repeated her earlier instructions because well, the line was going out the fucking door at this point. “I have customers to serve.”
“My time is very important, and they can wait!” Screw it, I was about ready to rally the rest of the customers to throw out this douche for that one line alone! How many people were going to be late back from their lunch breaks thanks to this self-important douche nozzle? “Fine! Fine! Get me a Soy Latte to go.”
It was then that the infamous “Cassie Wolfe wit” kicked in and well, considering I sassed one of my trainers over her rotten luck with titles twice? Yeah, I said my next sentence without even thinking. ”Oh, so you’re a soy boy then?”
That had one of two possible outcomes, A: I got into argument with hipster douche and we were both kicked out or b: the hipster douche stormed out of the establishment in embarrassment with or without his latte, fortunately his embarrassment combined with the rest of the restaurant laughing at him (Zoey and Becky were practically dying of laughter) meant that he didn’t even wait for his drink order to be processed before he stormed out, presumably to another Starbucks. “I’d say sorry for the wait, but if anything, I owe you a favour.” The cashier said as I took the douchebag’s place in line and whilst she was pretty cute, I don’t think she meant THAT kind of favour. “I’ll cover your drink order ma’am, so long as you order it a lot faster than him!”
”That will be easy enough, two pumpkin spice lattes and a cappuccino please.” I ordered and once the cashier rung them up and handed the drinks to me I returned to our booth. ”Sorry I took so long guys.” I apologized as I handed my girlfriends their lattes.
”If there’s anyone who owes us an apology it’s that douchebag.” Becky responded as she held up her hands and I nodded as I got the idea. ”That said, we should’ve listened to your suggestion and went to Wendy’s in hindsight!”
”At least we would’ve gotten our orders before I turned twenty-eight!” Zoey joked and we shared a laugh with the biracial girl before she offered a toast. [color= blue]”To Cassie Wolfe, hipster conqueror extraordinaire!”[/color]
”I’m not adding that to my list of wrestling nicknames!” I responded with a face-palm and the other girls grinned. ”For one thing, I’d be calling everyone I’ve defeated a hipster.”
”So Lisa Marie Ashton, Ace Sky, that local nobody and hopefully Randy Ramon!” Becky responded after thinking for a minute and I nodded in response, however once thing had been bugging me since my second match in Supreme Championship Wrestling aired reared it’s ugly head again, namely what happened between me and the other princess on the roster.
”So, you guys figure out what was up with that chick that came out after my match?”
”You mean Magical Cosmic Princess YUYO?” Becky asked and whilst I’m sure that sentence earned more than a few confused looks from the other Starbucks patrons, we paid it no mind. ”We’re not sure, I think she took offence to you being another princess in Supreme Championship Wrestling.”
”I chose the Rebel Princess name for a couple of reasons, one: I’m a rebel, two: every other chick in this sport was either a queen, an angel, or some combination of the two, combine that with me being Krystal’s cousin? Yeah, it seemed like a perfect fit to me! Then again that was before I joined Supreme Championship Wrestling and learned that I wasn’t the only princess in wrestling!” I admitted with a shrug before taking a sip of my coffee. ”And since I’m still in my first year as a pro wrestler? I’m just going to focus on being me whilst forging my path as a wrestler rather than conform to what others expect from me!”
”That wouldn’t be a bad idea for a promo sign off Cass.” Zoey chimed in and I gave her a curious look. ”In a world of queens and goddesses, be a Rebel Princess? I mean, it is a lot better than the Hungry Like the Wolfe line!”
”I know I just said that I wasn’t going to conform to anyone else’s standards, but I’ll see what Krystal thinks, she has been wrestling and cutting promos for a lot longer than me!” I responded and my girlfriends nodded in understanding before the topic drifted in another direction.
Hero Academy, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 25th of October 2022, 11:00am
If I had to sum up the past few days in one word, my word of choice would be hectic!
I’m basically on the outside looking in these days as far as Sin City Wrestling goes but thanks to my ties to several of the wrestlers there, I had a feeling of what was going on, Jessie had a distant cousin come into her life, Ari is dealing with her deadbeat parents again and Krystal? Well, the fact that it started with her young daughter being rushed to hospital with a high fever didn’t exactly bode well for her situation.
Me? My life was relatively drama free at the moment, even as Keira makes me do a bunch of laps every time I make a funny tweet on Twitter! But I did all my laps yesterday and today as I entered my training school to train for my next Supreme Championship Wrestling match, I saw a new face among the regular trainees.
Said trainees were also star struck because of who the newcomer was with.
”Didn’t expect to see you today Jess.” I greeted Jessie Salco as I walked up to the wrestling veteran, Jessie had assisted in my early training back when I was a PTA Gym trainee so yeah, we were tight and Jessie grinned before greeting me with a fist bump. ”Who’s this you brought with you?” I asked as I motioned to the taller teenager with Jessie and the veteran grinned.
”Glad you asked, this is Harper.” Jessie introduced the newcomer who gave me a polite wave. ”She’s starting at Hero Academy today, and she’s been looking forward to meeting you Cassie.”
“After hearing so much about the first Hero Academy graduate I had to meet her.” Harper admitted with a nervous grin and I had to admit that all this ego stroking was lifting my spirits a bit. “Especially since your going to be my first sparring partner.”
Wait, what?
”Your protégé has a funny sense of humour Jess, a girl on her first day as a wrestling trainee taking on the first Hero Academy Graduate?” I asked with a nervous laugh but I realized two things, one: she was serious about this and two: Jess and the trainers at the Go Gym were backing her up completely. ”Throwing her in the deep end, aren’t you Jess?”
”On paper? Yeah, but Harper excelled at ammeter wrestling and so far? She’s proven to be a prodigy not unlike you were when we first met.” Jessie explained and that took me back a bit, I had only known Jess personally for a little under a year but time flies as they say, is this girl really that good. ”If you want to back out I’ll understand, but she did double dog dare you.”
Okay, that’s it, no one double dog dares ME and gets away with it! ”Harper? Get in the ring and warm up, I’ve got to get changed into my wrestling gear!” I told the rookie and she nodded before we did just that.
Only problem, I ended up eating my words, at first I used my speed and agility to my advantage but I quickly learned that there was some truth to Jessie’s words because it wasn’t long before Harper was stretching me like playdough! After a few minutes Keri called off the match and we shook hands.
Hopefully, my ego won’t be to bruised heading into my third match with Supreme Championship Wrestling.
Cassie’s room, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 25th of October 2022, 16:00pm
*promo time*
What do you expect me to say?
”I think it’s safe to say that I’m starting to get noticed in Supreme Championship Wrestling, first I won my debut match against Ace Sky and last week I went and requested a chance to compete against literally anyone they could find, guess what? I won that match too!” I started as I held up the metal horns, both to indicate that I was happy with how things were going in SCW and to show how many wins I had to my name. ”Not bad for a nineteen-year-old girl who has only been wrestling since July, right? Well, it’s clear that the other princess of SCW, “Magical Cosmic Princess YUYU” who, frankly, sounds more like a magical girl anime show than a wrestler came out to confront me because I also happen to be a wrestling princess.”
Insert your own jokes about the British Royal Family here.
”But I’ll deal with her if and when my match against her gets booked because this week on Breakdown I’m taking on a different beast to Ace, that nobody I faced and yes, even YUYU! I’m taking on a guy who’s over a foot taller than me and weighs a lot more than me, that’s right, I’m taking on “Rockstar” Randy Ramon!” I added as I shook my head with a chuckle. ”So, by all logic I should be going for the old “David vs. Goliath” style promo right? I’m 5ft 3, 118ibs, Randy is 6ft 5 and 240ibs, not massive compared to a lot of guys in this sport but he still towers over me, oh, did I mention this guy has been wrestling for fifteen years AND is nearly two decades older than me? So why aren’t I going down the David vs. Goliath route?”
That’s right.
”Come on guys, I’ve been wrestling here for weeks, I would’ve thought you’d have learned by now that I’m a girl who sticks a massive middle finger up at tradition!” I declared with a grin and (after making sure mom wasn’t watching) flipped off the camera to illustrate my point. ”Because I’m calling out Randy for what he really is: Dad Rock: The Wrestler! And yeah, I am making this more about dad rock vs. modern metal and no, you don’t get any prizes for guessing which side this millennial metal chick is taking! Randy, I’m going to use this match to prove why metal is better than ever and why all the boomers who crap all over modern metal are idiots!”
Yes I’m going all in on this idea!
”I mean, honestly? My Spotify playlist and Bandcamp collection doesn’t contain a single album or song released by a metal artist that came out prior to my birth year of 2003, that’s how serious I am about this! And if I get one more fan asking if I’m a fan of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax or Megadeth, I’m going to fucking scream!” But that’s a tangent for another day. ”That’s not to say that I don’t know the difficulties I face in this match going against a striker/technician with over a decade of experience? It’s easy to say that I’ll learn a lot from this match but I’m not just here to learn, I’m here to win and if I have to use my speed and agility to put the old rocker in the retirement home for aging musicians, I WILL!”
It's that simple.
”I’m sure Randy will look at my promo and say something like “that darn millennial needs to respect her elders, music was so much better in my day without all the advances in production technology or autotune or” BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!” If I could roll my eyes any harder, I would. ”Seriously I got so tired of reading that bullshit I started making an active effort to NOT go into the YouTube comment section of music videos, and if I can use that to motivate me towards defeating this old rocker? I WILL!”
And with that I decided to wrap things up.
”Don’t feel too bad Randy, you can still go down to your favourite rock bar to enjoy some cover band doing a bad impression of Ozzy Osborne or whatever you listen too! Me? I’ll keep flying the flag for the future, both of wrestling and metal music!” I flashed up the metal hons again before I went into the wrap up. ”So, too all my little rebels out there? In a world of Queens and Goddesses, be a Rebel Princess whilst “Dad Rock” Randy Ramon learns that the OG “Rebel Princess” Cassie Wolfe is hungry like the Wolfe! See you in the ring old timer! Don’t forget your walking stick!”
I left my room as the scene fades.
10-24-2022, 08:56 PM
Chapter 1
December 2006
Detroit Rock City, USA
A brand new 2006 Dodge Charger, black as night with a bright red stripe down the middle, pulls up in front of a dilapidated, run down house on the outskirts of Detroit. The sounds of the 425-horsepower engine cut through the noise of children playing games in the street. The driver cuts the engine, and the noise from under the hood is replaced by a voice that calls out from inside the house.
“Randy, is that you?”
Randy Ramon, who has yet to earn the “Rockstar” moniker, steps out of the car. His hair is the length that the viewer is accustomed to, but his face is clear of the years of battle scars that he has since earned.
“Yeah, Dad!” he calls out as he climbs the broken steps of his parents’ home, a small cottage with a wide wooden porch and an overhanging awning that has seen better days. He called from the studio to let them know he was dropping by, but the roar of the engine probably gave it away anyway.
“Lunch is almost ready!” again comes the voice from inside.
“When did you learn to cook?” he asks as he swings the creaky screen door open and steps inside.
“Don’t give me that shit, I’m perfectly capable of putting cold cuts on bread. Hope you still like turkey.”
He crosses through the living room, passing the furniture that is so worn and beaten that it could have been found in a ditch. Pictures of Randy and his siblings adorn almost every wall and table, but their parents had never been good at keeping a clean home. It’s part of why he struck out on his own at such a young age. He’s always stayed close though. In fact, he changed studios – from one in beautiful Southern California to another in decrepit inner-city Detroit, just so he could be around to help his parents when he could. Especially now.
“Where’s Mom?” he asks as he enters the kitchen, noticing that his father was alone.
His father closes the refrigerator, two-liter of Pepsi in hand. “She’s out in the garden. Growing another gourd, or carrot, or something.”
“Still with the gourds?”
He shrugs. “She likes doing it. It keeps her focused, and the doctors say it’s good for her to keep busy.”
He crosses the kitchen with a couple of plates of sandwiches. His father had come straight from the construction site, a fact made clear by the stains on his dirty overalls. He was disheveled and looked exhausted. The dark circles beneath his eyes would suggest he’s not sleeping well.
Randy took the plates. “The gardening may be helping, but do we need any more cucumbers? You can’t even give them away quick enough.”
His father laughed. “Shut up and eat. Chips?”
“No thanks.” This was a perfect encapsulation of their relationship. Dance around the important topics in favor of the small talk. “Where did they find her?”
“Near the corner market on Greenview. She got confused. Turned around. Ended up going the wrong way. Luckily, she had it together enough to call Riley.”
His sister must have called his father, who in turn called Randy from the work site, worried and half panicked. He’s on thin ice with the foreman and couldn’t afford to leave. Ten minutes later he called again. His mother was home safe. Still, Randy knew a quick visit was in order.
“Is she still taking her meds?”
“Of course. I make sure she takes them before I leave for work each morning.”
His mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, very early stages, shortly after Randy moved out to Hollywood to pursue his dreams. It started with little things. She was headed to the store and forgot where she left her keys or wanted to call him and couldn’t remember his telephone number. Things like that. The doctors said that the sudden empty nest syndrome might have brought forth symptoms that may have otherwise remained dormant. Her mind had a difficult time processing her new life. Eventually the bouts of forgetfulness were accompanied by frustrated anger.
“Why don’t you take this out to her? I’ve got to check in with the foreman."
Randy nods, taking the plate from his father. “Maybe we need to talk about a live-in nurse.”
His father immediately shakes his head. Stubborn to a fault, he’s consistently avoided this discussion. He’s let it slip that he sees the need, but his mother wouldn’t appreciate it. Further, he should be able to take care of her. She’s his wife. But the situation was weighing on the household, on him, on the family.
“When’s the last time Riley or Joey came by?” His younger siblings have never been as family oriented as Randy, not for a lack of caring, but they’ve just had trouble separating their professions from their personal lives.
“Oh, you know how they are. You know how they can be.” Randy shakes his head. In truth, Randy felt comfortable making the move to Hollywood BECAUSE his two siblings chose to stay local. He thought they would be more involved and would step in as needed, but their inability to be there for his parents, even after his mother’s disease came to light, has led to a groundswell of his own anger and guilt.
He can understand their side of it, obviously, since he himself moved across the country. Enough so that, as mentioned, he’s caused himself to be closer to home to make up the difference.
Who knows, maybe 'running away from uncomfortable situations' runs in the family.
With the plate in hand, Randy heads for the back door, his father watching on. “She’ll be happy to see you.”
Randy wishes he could say the same. It pains him to see her like this. Such a strong, independent woman reduced to conversations about live-in nurses and fugue states.
Randy headed for the garden out back. He could hear the sounds of Tom Petty coming from inside the open garage. His mother frequently poked fun at him for his own taste in music, asking why he couldn’t make music more like “Tommy,” so it’s almost too fitting that “Last Dance with Mary Jane” fills the air as he approaches.
He can see her hunched over a patch of carrots, or it could be potatoes, for all he knows. His thumb is about as green as the blue sky. She wears her trademark red t-shirt. Her so-called "lucky" shirt. She wore this specific shirt when her beloved Red Wings closed out the 1997 and 1998 Stanley Cup finals, so she figured it MUST be lucky.
She started wearing it on other special occasions, and more often than not she got the result she wanted, whatever it might be. It's only weird if it doesn't work. It doesn't seem to have been that lucky as of late, however. Now, due to her lapses in memory, there's a better chance she's wearing it than not wearing it most days.
“Mom.” He says.
Her ears perked and she quickly turned, wrapping her arms around him. She was a foot shorter, but her personality was larger than life. She was the life of every party, and everyone was better off when she was around. She used to teach elementary school science and was the type to give any shirt - other than the lucky red one of course - off her back for a friend in need. Unfortunately, the onset of Alzheimer’s forced her into early retirement nearly a year ago.
“You didn’t have to come all the out here, I know how busy you are!”
She pulled away from the embrace.
“How else would we get this sandwich to you?”
“Your father made it?”
“You know Dad. Trying his best.”
“He really does. He’s such a good man.”
“So,” Randy takes a deep breath, “heard about your incident with the corner store.”
She turns away, ashamed that she’s in the state she’s in and that she needed help to cover the three blocks from the corner store to their home.
A long pause ensues.
“This goddamn sucks...” she says softly, turning back around and breaking the silence.
He points to the garden. “Kale certainly does...”
She grins. “You’re just like your father...”
“The gourd doesn’t roll far from the patch I suppose.”
Another awkward moment of silence.
“Really though, I’m fine. You don’t need to rush over here every time I misplace my hat.”
Randy pauses. He knows she’s right; she has his father and sometimes the neighbors will chip in when he is stuck at work. There’s no NEED for Randy to be here, but who knows how much longer she’ll remember him?
He dares not say it out loud, but there’s a knot behind his sternum... a part of him that knows he’s running out of time with her. It's an eternal battle between spending time with her and making his own life. One he hoped he'd never have to fight, and now that he's here, he struggles with it every day.
“Where did you get these sandwiches?” she asked, taking a bite. “They’re delicious.”
There’s that stomach knot again. He keeps a level face and calm tone.
“Dad made them."
A bit of confusion followed. “Oh... yeah.”
Their eyes met, and he could see the fear, confusion, and shame she felt at this moment.
“Mom...I...”
“Go grab a beer with your father. I’m sure he’d like that. I’ve got to finish up out here.”
“I...”
Before he can finish his thought, a loud ringing comes from his pocket. He pulls out a brick-like cell phone and checks the caller ID.
"It's the studio... I've... I've got to go."
She shakes her head. "I understand."
The two embrace as the scene fades.
Chapter 2
June 2010
Detroit Rock City, USA
It’s a dark, stormy day on the outskirts of Detroit. Rain falls from the sky, pitter-pattering in the puddles that have formed on the ground below.
A black-clad crowd gathers around as a beautiful scarlet coffin is slowly lowered.
Closest to the coffin stands Randy Ramon, loosely flanked by his siblings. Their father is a step behind, unable to bring himself to move any closer.
The thick, dark sunglasses on Ramon’s face hide the swollen, teary eyes that he holds open sheerly out of determination. Every fiber of his being wants to close his eyes, or look away, just for a temporary reprieve from the hurt, and pain, and guilt that overwhelm him at this moment.
His shoulders have heaved up and down haphazardly ever since he saw them place her lucky red shirt in the coffin. It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep his umbrella vertical.
Eventually even that falls to the wayside, and the downpours cause the rest of his body to become as soaked as his eyes and face.
All he can think about is the guilt that threatens to send him to the ground in a heap of misery and despair. See, after all of the talk about being closer to home in order to help out, he did not follow through.
The last time he saw his mother, on that afternoon in 2006, he received a phone call from the record studio. It was his agent informing him that Ragnarök Records, an up-and-coming label in Southern California, agreed to sign the Revolution to a record deal, and would front the costs to finish the album he hoped to finish in Detroit.
The only catch? He had to go BACK to California.
After copious amounts of inner reflection and turmoil, he called his parents from the airport to discuss, but to say there was actually a discussion would be a misnomer. His mind was already made up, he just
needed to feel some semblance of their approval.
His mother, in her typical fashion, didn’t hesitate to tell him to go. He could tell his father was less thrilled about it, but he didn’t tell him not to go. His next call was to his sister, Riley, in an attempt to get her more involved with their parents, to get her to take his place. He begged her, pleaded with her. Made it known that this was something he felt he needed to do, and he'd regret not doing if he didn't. She was skeptical, but to her credit, she DID step up. Probably not to the extent that Randy would have been involved, but she was there when she was needed.
Things became a blur once he landed in California. At first, he called home every day to check in. Eventually, every day became every week, then every month, then just for holidays, and then barely at all. The last call was nearly two years ago.
He felt justified in the moment.
His album was released, then went triple platinum (more than 240,000 copies sold). Then came the legendary world tour, and then they were back in the studio looking to avoid the sophomore curse. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what felled them a year later. Their second album barely sold a tenth of what the first album sold, and their ride was over almost as quick as it began.
It was at this point he virtually decided to go home, get a “real” job, and be part of the family again. At the last possible moment, however, guilt about being away for so long and anxiety over explaining himself and his actions sent him in another direction: a wrestling career.
He toured the country with his first, smaller promotion, but could never bring himself to stop home, even when the promotion held a show in Detroit.
No, this... this is what it took to get him home. He was on the road last week driving from Milwaukee to Indianapolis when he got the call: his mother had succumbed to complications from Alzheimer’s at the young age of 52.
Apparently, she had been on hospice care for several weeks, but no one bothered to call him, and who could blame them?
So, here he stands, beneath the weight of his guilt and the decisions he’s made, as the person he cared most for in the entire world is lowered six feet underground. He's never felt so alone while surrounded by people.
Needless to say, he’s barely holding it together.
As of his arrival this morning, he planned to go to the wake this evening. But as he accepts a rose from the undertaker and steps forward to lay it upon the coffin, his anxiety places him in a vice grip. He can’t bring himself to face his family yet, and so he makes the decision to head directly to the airport.
He has a show tomorrow in Los Angeles, and the early arrival home will give him a chance to mentally prepare and move on – in his own way – from today’s events. So, after laying the rose, he makes an abrupt U-turn and heads directly for the limo that brought him here. As he extends his hand to open the limo door, a familiar voice calls out from behind.
“Randy, wait!” his sister calls out.
At first, he sighs and hangs his head, unable to turn around. After a beat he mentally talks himself out of it and slowly turns to face her. A long pause ensues as neither of them speaks. After a several beats, both siblings lunge forward simultaneously and embrace in a loving, soggy hug. No further words are spoken as they separate, and she places her hands on his shoulder. She looks him in the eye, then gives a reassuring nod, as he turns and ducks into the limo and out of the rain.
As his eyes adjust to the difference in lighting, a box-shaped package comes into view on the seat beside him. It’s wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. Before he can even process this information, the driver’s voice echoes through the speaker system. “Uh, sir, your father dropped that off. He said your mother wanted you to have it.”
Randy’s head whips towards the window, and his eyes dart back and forth, but his father is nowhere in sight. He thanks the driver and cautiously motions for him to move out.
Later that afternoon, he sits in a window seat on an American Airlines flight from Wayne County Airport to LAX. The package rests on his lap. Initially confused by the gift and disinterested in opening it, curiosity now gets the better of him, and he is compelled to untie the string. The removal of the brown wrapping paper reveals a perfectly constructed and maintained mahogany box. A sealed white envelope rests on top.
At the behest of the flight attendants who make their departure announcements, he tucks the mahogany box under the seat in front of him and confirms that his seat is in the full and upright position.
After takeoff, once the craft has reached its cruising altitude, he opens the envelope with a tear in his eye. He pulls out a folded sheet of paper. Its frayed edges and slightly discolored hue suggest she wrote this a long time ago, probably even before the Alzheimer’s even set in.
Randy takes his time reading the letter, his red, damp eyes occasionally shifting to and from the box on the floor. After a deep breath, he folds the letter and tucks it into the inside pocket of his jacket, which has finally dried out from the rain.
As he processes the information held by the letter, he can feel the exhaustion of two consecutive sleepless nights wash over him. Armed with the knowledge that there are at least four hours left on this flight, he allows himself to rest his eyes, and eventually drift off to sleep.
Upon arriving at his Los Angeles apartment, he sets his belongings down on the couch and plops down in his favorite chair, with the mahogany box resting on his lap. The place is a mess. Clothes on the floor, wrestling gear on every other surface, empty pizza boxes. It looks more like a college dorm room and less like the apartment of a grown man.
Randy again allows himself to get lost in the words of the letter. After a beat, he begins fiddling with the hinge of the box, preparing himself to open it.
After several tries, he ultimately decides that he’s not ready, mentally or emotionally, to do so.
He turns and sets the box down on the end table next to the chair, directly next to a bottle of 15-year Glenfiddich Scotch. He observes the deep brown color of the liquid as he takes the bottle in his hand.
In that moment, the weirdest thing happened: his mouth began to water. As if he could taste the Scotch.
Why is that weird?
It's weird because he's never tasted this scotch before, or ANY scotch for that matter.
It’s weird because Randy doesn’t drink.
Never has, actually. Not one drop. It’s always been a point of pride. He told himself, years ago, that he would not let the Rock and Roll lifestyle consume him or change who he was.
He’s succeeded to this point.
He didn’t even buy this bottle. This was a gift from his new wrestling partner, Chris Palmer, after their recent Tag Team Championship victory.
He thanked Chris and told Chris that he could enjoy it the next time they got together outside of wrestling, otherwise it would just collect dust on his end table.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
Or, at least that’s what he tells himself as he removes the cork from the bottle and takes a swig.
The deep, smokey flavor burns at his throat on the way down, and he’s surprised to find that he... likes it?
The initially painful burn helps distract from the happenings of the last few days, so he takes another. He finds that the more he takes in, the more he forgets, so he takes another.
And another.
And another.
And anoth-
December 2006
Detroit Rock City, USA
A brand new 2006 Dodge Charger, black as night with a bright red stripe down the middle, pulls up in front of a dilapidated, run down house on the outskirts of Detroit. The sounds of the 425-horsepower engine cut through the noise of children playing games in the street. The driver cuts the engine, and the noise from under the hood is replaced by a voice that calls out from inside the house.
“Randy, is that you?”
Randy Ramon, who has yet to earn the “Rockstar” moniker, steps out of the car. His hair is the length that the viewer is accustomed to, but his face is clear of the years of battle scars that he has since earned.
“Yeah, Dad!” he calls out as he climbs the broken steps of his parents’ home, a small cottage with a wide wooden porch and an overhanging awning that has seen better days. He called from the studio to let them know he was dropping by, but the roar of the engine probably gave it away anyway.
“Lunch is almost ready!” again comes the voice from inside.
“When did you learn to cook?” he asks as he swings the creaky screen door open and steps inside.
“Don’t give me that shit, I’m perfectly capable of putting cold cuts on bread. Hope you still like turkey.”
He crosses through the living room, passing the furniture that is so worn and beaten that it could have been found in a ditch. Pictures of Randy and his siblings adorn almost every wall and table, but their parents had never been good at keeping a clean home. It’s part of why he struck out on his own at such a young age. He’s always stayed close though. In fact, he changed studios – from one in beautiful Southern California to another in decrepit inner-city Detroit, just so he could be around to help his parents when he could. Especially now.
“Where’s Mom?” he asks as he enters the kitchen, noticing that his father was alone.
His father closes the refrigerator, two-liter of Pepsi in hand. “She’s out in the garden. Growing another gourd, or carrot, or something.”
“Still with the gourds?”
He shrugs. “She likes doing it. It keeps her focused, and the doctors say it’s good for her to keep busy.”
He crosses the kitchen with a couple of plates of sandwiches. His father had come straight from the construction site, a fact made clear by the stains on his dirty overalls. He was disheveled and looked exhausted. The dark circles beneath his eyes would suggest he’s not sleeping well.
Randy took the plates. “The gardening may be helping, but do we need any more cucumbers? You can’t even give them away quick enough.”
His father laughed. “Shut up and eat. Chips?”
“No thanks.” This was a perfect encapsulation of their relationship. Dance around the important topics in favor of the small talk. “Where did they find her?”
“Near the corner market on Greenview. She got confused. Turned around. Ended up going the wrong way. Luckily, she had it together enough to call Riley.”
His sister must have called his father, who in turn called Randy from the work site, worried and half panicked. He’s on thin ice with the foreman and couldn’t afford to leave. Ten minutes later he called again. His mother was home safe. Still, Randy knew a quick visit was in order.
“Is she still taking her meds?”
“Of course. I make sure she takes them before I leave for work each morning.”
His mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, very early stages, shortly after Randy moved out to Hollywood to pursue his dreams. It started with little things. She was headed to the store and forgot where she left her keys or wanted to call him and couldn’t remember his telephone number. Things like that. The doctors said that the sudden empty nest syndrome might have brought forth symptoms that may have otherwise remained dormant. Her mind had a difficult time processing her new life. Eventually the bouts of forgetfulness were accompanied by frustrated anger.
“Why don’t you take this out to her? I’ve got to check in with the foreman."
Randy nods, taking the plate from his father. “Maybe we need to talk about a live-in nurse.”
His father immediately shakes his head. Stubborn to a fault, he’s consistently avoided this discussion. He’s let it slip that he sees the need, but his mother wouldn’t appreciate it. Further, he should be able to take care of her. She’s his wife. But the situation was weighing on the household, on him, on the family.
“When’s the last time Riley or Joey came by?” His younger siblings have never been as family oriented as Randy, not for a lack of caring, but they’ve just had trouble separating their professions from their personal lives.
“Oh, you know how they are. You know how they can be.” Randy shakes his head. In truth, Randy felt comfortable making the move to Hollywood BECAUSE his two siblings chose to stay local. He thought they would be more involved and would step in as needed, but their inability to be there for his parents, even after his mother’s disease came to light, has led to a groundswell of his own anger and guilt.
He can understand their side of it, obviously, since he himself moved across the country. Enough so that, as mentioned, he’s caused himself to be closer to home to make up the difference.
Who knows, maybe 'running away from uncomfortable situations' runs in the family.
With the plate in hand, Randy heads for the back door, his father watching on. “She’ll be happy to see you.”
Randy wishes he could say the same. It pains him to see her like this. Such a strong, independent woman reduced to conversations about live-in nurses and fugue states.
Randy headed for the garden out back. He could hear the sounds of Tom Petty coming from inside the open garage. His mother frequently poked fun at him for his own taste in music, asking why he couldn’t make music more like “Tommy,” so it’s almost too fitting that “Last Dance with Mary Jane” fills the air as he approaches.
He can see her hunched over a patch of carrots, or it could be potatoes, for all he knows. His thumb is about as green as the blue sky. She wears her trademark red t-shirt. Her so-called "lucky" shirt. She wore this specific shirt when her beloved Red Wings closed out the 1997 and 1998 Stanley Cup finals, so she figured it MUST be lucky.
She started wearing it on other special occasions, and more often than not she got the result she wanted, whatever it might be. It's only weird if it doesn't work. It doesn't seem to have been that lucky as of late, however. Now, due to her lapses in memory, there's a better chance she's wearing it than not wearing it most days.
“Mom.” He says.
Her ears perked and she quickly turned, wrapping her arms around him. She was a foot shorter, but her personality was larger than life. She was the life of every party, and everyone was better off when she was around. She used to teach elementary school science and was the type to give any shirt - other than the lucky red one of course - off her back for a friend in need. Unfortunately, the onset of Alzheimer’s forced her into early retirement nearly a year ago.
“You didn’t have to come all the out here, I know how busy you are!”
She pulled away from the embrace.
“How else would we get this sandwich to you?”
“Your father made it?”
“You know Dad. Trying his best.”
“He really does. He’s such a good man.”
“So,” Randy takes a deep breath, “heard about your incident with the corner store.”
She turns away, ashamed that she’s in the state she’s in and that she needed help to cover the three blocks from the corner store to their home.
A long pause ensues.
“This goddamn sucks...” she says softly, turning back around and breaking the silence.
He points to the garden. “Kale certainly does...”
She grins. “You’re just like your father...”
“The gourd doesn’t roll far from the patch I suppose.”
Another awkward moment of silence.
“Really though, I’m fine. You don’t need to rush over here every time I misplace my hat.”
Randy pauses. He knows she’s right; she has his father and sometimes the neighbors will chip in when he is stuck at work. There’s no NEED for Randy to be here, but who knows how much longer she’ll remember him?
He dares not say it out loud, but there’s a knot behind his sternum... a part of him that knows he’s running out of time with her. It's an eternal battle between spending time with her and making his own life. One he hoped he'd never have to fight, and now that he's here, he struggles with it every day.
“Where did you get these sandwiches?” she asked, taking a bite. “They’re delicious.”
There’s that stomach knot again. He keeps a level face and calm tone.
“Dad made them."
A bit of confusion followed. “Oh... yeah.”
Their eyes met, and he could see the fear, confusion, and shame she felt at this moment.
“Mom...I...”
“Go grab a beer with your father. I’m sure he’d like that. I’ve got to finish up out here.”
“I...”
Before he can finish his thought, a loud ringing comes from his pocket. He pulls out a brick-like cell phone and checks the caller ID.
"It's the studio... I've... I've got to go."
She shakes her head. "I understand."
The two embrace as the scene fades.
Chapter 2
June 2010
Detroit Rock City, USA
It’s a dark, stormy day on the outskirts of Detroit. Rain falls from the sky, pitter-pattering in the puddles that have formed on the ground below.
A black-clad crowd gathers around as a beautiful scarlet coffin is slowly lowered.
Closest to the coffin stands Randy Ramon, loosely flanked by his siblings. Their father is a step behind, unable to bring himself to move any closer.
The thick, dark sunglasses on Ramon’s face hide the swollen, teary eyes that he holds open sheerly out of determination. Every fiber of his being wants to close his eyes, or look away, just for a temporary reprieve from the hurt, and pain, and guilt that overwhelm him at this moment.
His shoulders have heaved up and down haphazardly ever since he saw them place her lucky red shirt in the coffin. It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep his umbrella vertical.
Eventually even that falls to the wayside, and the downpours cause the rest of his body to become as soaked as his eyes and face.
All he can think about is the guilt that threatens to send him to the ground in a heap of misery and despair. See, after all of the talk about being closer to home in order to help out, he did not follow through.
The last time he saw his mother, on that afternoon in 2006, he received a phone call from the record studio. It was his agent informing him that Ragnarök Records, an up-and-coming label in Southern California, agreed to sign the Revolution to a record deal, and would front the costs to finish the album he hoped to finish in Detroit.
The only catch? He had to go BACK to California.
After copious amounts of inner reflection and turmoil, he called his parents from the airport to discuss, but to say there was actually a discussion would be a misnomer. His mind was already made up, he just
needed to feel some semblance of their approval.
His mother, in her typical fashion, didn’t hesitate to tell him to go. He could tell his father was less thrilled about it, but he didn’t tell him not to go. His next call was to his sister, Riley, in an attempt to get her more involved with their parents, to get her to take his place. He begged her, pleaded with her. Made it known that this was something he felt he needed to do, and he'd regret not doing if he didn't. She was skeptical, but to her credit, she DID step up. Probably not to the extent that Randy would have been involved, but she was there when she was needed.
Things became a blur once he landed in California. At first, he called home every day to check in. Eventually, every day became every week, then every month, then just for holidays, and then barely at all. The last call was nearly two years ago.
He felt justified in the moment.
His album was released, then went triple platinum (more than 240,000 copies sold). Then came the legendary world tour, and then they were back in the studio looking to avoid the sophomore curse. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what felled them a year later. Their second album barely sold a tenth of what the first album sold, and their ride was over almost as quick as it began.
It was at this point he virtually decided to go home, get a “real” job, and be part of the family again. At the last possible moment, however, guilt about being away for so long and anxiety over explaining himself and his actions sent him in another direction: a wrestling career.
He toured the country with his first, smaller promotion, but could never bring himself to stop home, even when the promotion held a show in Detroit.
No, this... this is what it took to get him home. He was on the road last week driving from Milwaukee to Indianapolis when he got the call: his mother had succumbed to complications from Alzheimer’s at the young age of 52.
Apparently, she had been on hospice care for several weeks, but no one bothered to call him, and who could blame them?
So, here he stands, beneath the weight of his guilt and the decisions he’s made, as the person he cared most for in the entire world is lowered six feet underground. He's never felt so alone while surrounded by people.
Needless to say, he’s barely holding it together.
As of his arrival this morning, he planned to go to the wake this evening. But as he accepts a rose from the undertaker and steps forward to lay it upon the coffin, his anxiety places him in a vice grip. He can’t bring himself to face his family yet, and so he makes the decision to head directly to the airport.
He has a show tomorrow in Los Angeles, and the early arrival home will give him a chance to mentally prepare and move on – in his own way – from today’s events. So, after laying the rose, he makes an abrupt U-turn and heads directly for the limo that brought him here. As he extends his hand to open the limo door, a familiar voice calls out from behind.
“Randy, wait!” his sister calls out.
At first, he sighs and hangs his head, unable to turn around. After a beat he mentally talks himself out of it and slowly turns to face her. A long pause ensues as neither of them speaks. After a several beats, both siblings lunge forward simultaneously and embrace in a loving, soggy hug. No further words are spoken as they separate, and she places her hands on his shoulder. She looks him in the eye, then gives a reassuring nod, as he turns and ducks into the limo and out of the rain.
As his eyes adjust to the difference in lighting, a box-shaped package comes into view on the seat beside him. It’s wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. Before he can even process this information, the driver’s voice echoes through the speaker system. “Uh, sir, your father dropped that off. He said your mother wanted you to have it.”
Randy’s head whips towards the window, and his eyes dart back and forth, but his father is nowhere in sight. He thanks the driver and cautiously motions for him to move out.
Later that afternoon, he sits in a window seat on an American Airlines flight from Wayne County Airport to LAX. The package rests on his lap. Initially confused by the gift and disinterested in opening it, curiosity now gets the better of him, and he is compelled to untie the string. The removal of the brown wrapping paper reveals a perfectly constructed and maintained mahogany box. A sealed white envelope rests on top.
At the behest of the flight attendants who make their departure announcements, he tucks the mahogany box under the seat in front of him and confirms that his seat is in the full and upright position.
After takeoff, once the craft has reached its cruising altitude, he opens the envelope with a tear in his eye. He pulls out a folded sheet of paper. Its frayed edges and slightly discolored hue suggest she wrote this a long time ago, probably even before the Alzheimer’s even set in.
Randy takes his time reading the letter, his red, damp eyes occasionally shifting to and from the box on the floor. After a deep breath, he folds the letter and tucks it into the inside pocket of his jacket, which has finally dried out from the rain.
As he processes the information held by the letter, he can feel the exhaustion of two consecutive sleepless nights wash over him. Armed with the knowledge that there are at least four hours left on this flight, he allows himself to rest his eyes, and eventually drift off to sleep.
Upon arriving at his Los Angeles apartment, he sets his belongings down on the couch and plops down in his favorite chair, with the mahogany box resting on his lap. The place is a mess. Clothes on the floor, wrestling gear on every other surface, empty pizza boxes. It looks more like a college dorm room and less like the apartment of a grown man.
Randy again allows himself to get lost in the words of the letter. After a beat, he begins fiddling with the hinge of the box, preparing himself to open it.
After several tries, he ultimately decides that he’s not ready, mentally or emotionally, to do so.
He turns and sets the box down on the end table next to the chair, directly next to a bottle of 15-year Glenfiddich Scotch. He observes the deep brown color of the liquid as he takes the bottle in his hand.
In that moment, the weirdest thing happened: his mouth began to water. As if he could taste the Scotch.
Why is that weird?
It's weird because he's never tasted this scotch before, or ANY scotch for that matter.
It’s weird because Randy doesn’t drink.
Never has, actually. Not one drop. It’s always been a point of pride. He told himself, years ago, that he would not let the Rock and Roll lifestyle consume him or change who he was.
He’s succeeded to this point.
He didn’t even buy this bottle. This was a gift from his new wrestling partner, Chris Palmer, after their recent Tag Team Championship victory.
He thanked Chris and told Chris that he could enjoy it the next time they got together outside of wrestling, otherwise it would just collect dust on his end table.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
Or, at least that’s what he tells himself as he removes the cork from the bottle and takes a swig.
The deep, smokey flavor burns at his throat on the way down, and he’s surprised to find that he... likes it?
The initially painful burn helps distract from the happenings of the last few days, so he takes another. He finds that the more he takes in, the more he forgets, so he takes another.
And another.
And another.
And anoth-
TO BE CONTINUED...
10-25-2022, 03:23 PM
Chapter 3
A.D. 430
Mount Parnassus
Greece
It had been over thirty years since the last time she stood here on this temple’s porch. It had been a full generation, but she could remember the bone chilling cold as if it was yesterday. She stood here as a child that day, with little knowledge of what was occurring, but a deep understanding that she had a more important role to play in the maintaining of ancient traditions than she could possibly imagine. More important than her peasant upbringing, more important than the woman who had brought her here, and more important than the ongoing war that continued to change the course of human history.
The flames that formerly shone bright in this place no longer danced in the night, but they’ve left behind a diminished illusion of times gone by: an overflow of gold and jewels, armies-worth of statues carved by the finest artists, and crowds of people who traveled far and wide to hear the words of the Oracle.
But no more.
On that fateful day so long ago, she stood here with the Oracle of Delphi, believed at the time to be the final Oracle, and the last to be called Pythia. But on the seventh day of the seventh month, as the Roman legions climbed the mountains below, and Apollo swung his chariot high to bring the sun into the morning sky, the Oracle was able to perform the sacred ritual and cause Anthea to inherit the powers that were fated to be lost that day. Her mission. Her only mission. Her life’s mission: do not let the way of the Oracle fade to nothing. Do not die, do not perish, do not get captured until able to perform the same ritual and pass the lineage of the Oracle to another innocent.
But she had failed. In hiding for the vast majority of the previous three decades, she was unable to locate the next in the Oracle line. She spent the last two years searching far and wide under the canvas of the night sky, safe to stay out of the sight of the Roman soldiers who now inhabit the area, but it was not enough. Now she had fallen victim to the Plague of Athens, an ancient disease that was thought to have gone dormant, and she can sense that her end is near. Thought to have been caused by a Roman soldier eating meat from an unclean rodent, the highly contagious epidemic killed swiftly and efficiently. The time from incubation to death merely days, it killed nearly twenty-five percent of the population of Athens and nearly ten percent of the population of all of Greece.
So, she has returned to the place of her creation, with hours to live, and minutes until sunrise. Through great effort and pain, she has bathed in Castilia’s silver spring, drank from the Kassotis spring, and sacrificed bay leaves to the eternal flame on the black marble alter near the temple entrance. She performed the preparations for the sacred ritual the same as the first Oracle had centuries ago, but without an innocent to absorb the lineage of the Oracle, she’s laid her faith into an absolute last resort:
The Forbidden Ritual.
It was said that the twelfth Pythia transferred the power of the Oracle into a statue of Apollo, only to be stricken down by the god for violating the Oracle’s sacred oath. As the story goes, Apollo unleashed the power of the sun and burned her in her place, before passing the powers to the next Pythia himself. Normally she would not be one to take such a risk, but when faced with the prospect of losing the Oracle’s lineage to a murderous virus, the wrath of Apollo did not sound so bad.
She pulled a sack from her back and opened it, revealing the only item she could procure on her secret escape to this location: a bible taken from the luggage of a Roman soldier. She nearly had to laugh at the irony of the situation, at the fact that the thing most prominently driving these Romans to conquer these lands could end up being the one thing that would keep the local traditions alive in the world.
As she lowered herself and knelt on the cold ground, the sun began to peek over the mountaintops in the distance. Knowing she was almost out of time, she quickly lowered her head, laid her hands on the book, and hurriedly whispered the sacred invocations required for the ritual.
A deep, final breath escaped her lungs as the last bits of sun that had remained hidden came into view. One way or the other, her fight was over. Completely exasperated by her long journey, she let the virus take her and fell to the ground, lifeless. She would go to the grave without the knowledge of whether her ritual was successful, or if she had truly failed.
But as the sun reached its highest point in the sky, a gust of wind pushed back the cover of the blessed book, revealing that the pages within have been cleaned.
It was as if each page had been bleached and prepared for a new story to be written.
Chapter 4
Present Day
Hollywood, CA, USA
The front door of a house in the Hollywood Hills swings open and in steps the “Rockstar” Randy Ramon. If his 2010 apartment looked like a single man’s first bachelor pad, then this home looks like a grown-ass man’s second house. Everything is clean, everything is in its place, and there’s not a speck of dust to be seen. He drops his keys in a bowl near the door, sets his bag down and heads directly for the bar in the corner of the room.
On his way he stops and clicks on the false fireplace that rests under the flat screen TV and across from the couch. After pouring himself a glass of a nondescript brown liquor, he plops down on the referenced couch and lets the events of the past few months wash over him.
Losing his one and only World Championship under false pretenses.
Nearly dying attempting to exact revenge on the man responsible.
Being saved by someone who refuses to make themselves known.
The instructions that keep rolling in from said someone, with no end in sight.
It’s a lot to deal with, feeling like the rug is being pulled out repeatedly, so he does what he does best and finishes off his first glass of brown.
Randy clicks the TV on, but doesn’t really pay attention to it, instead allowing himself to be alone with his thoughts.
His mind drifts back to the various losses he’s had to endure over the years: a partner, a friend, another partner-turned-brother. It’s been a lot.
Unfortunately, this line of thought has sent him back to that day, to those feelings, to that pain, to... that box. He remembers the words of his mother in the accompanying letter, when she told him that the contents of the box would change his life, forever, when he was ready. He wasn’t ready then. He’s probably not ready now. But as he thinks about it, he’s not sure he’ll ever be MORE ready than he is at this point, ahead of the biggest match of his career. And if something is going to “change his life,” what better place than here, what better time than now?
A short time later, after ripping his closet apart and emptying its contents across his bedroom, he’s back on the couch and the mahogany box rests on the coffee table in front of him. His head rests in his hands as he surveys the edges and considers the contents. After a long pause, he finally – after nearly twelve years – allows himself to open the box. Inside rests a single golden key and a rolled-up piece of papyrus.
Randy unravels the scroll and opens it, much to the chagrin of the material, which loudly crinkles as it’s flattened. The words within detail aspects of Randy’s family history that he now learns for the first time. Apparently, his family descends from the same bloodline as the last Oracle of Delphi. That’s not to say that any member of his immediate family possesses the power of the Oracle, but they’ve been charged with protecting the Book of Wonder.
Before perishing, the last Oracle was able to transfer the powers of the Oracle into a book, which was found by an invading Roman soldier. The Romans did not understand the meaning behind the book, or what it could do, and merely added it to their collection of treasures ravaged from ancient Greece. The book is said to be completely empty, not a single mark on any page. But there are several instances of viewers claiming that they saw inscriptions on the pages, and that those words were the exact ones they needed to hear at that time. Randy is skeptical but continues reading.
At some point during the crusades of the late fourteenth century, the book ended up in the hands of an Italian merchant, who brought it with him in 1492 on the voyage that brought Columbus to North America.
It bounced around in various museums from there, but ultimately ended up back in the possession of the Oracle's blood line. Randy’s great grandmother eventually passed it down to his grandmother, who passed it down to his mother, who placed it in a safety deposit box in suburban Detroit. The key in the mahogany box will open that vault. It’s now his responsibility to protect the secrets of the Oracle. The scroll ends there.
A few moments of reflection follow, before Randy allows the scroll to return to its rolled form, sets it back in the box, and takes the key in his hand.
After a moment of contemplation, he drops the key back in the box and chuckles as he leans back on the couch. “There’s no way, right?” he says to no one in particular, in a tone that suggests he’s trying to convince himself more than anything.
But then his mind is drawn back to various shenanigans from his past that seem to keep happening for inexplicable reasons.
Stacked up against those events, maybe this isn’t so crazy, he thinks to himself.
“God damnit,” he mutters to himself.
A few minutes later he’s booked a flight to Detroit, the key is in his pocket, his wrestling gear is in hand, and he’s back out the door.
Chapter 5
Present Day
Detroit Rock City, USA
Standing outside of the First National Bank of Detroit, he can’t help but feel the weight of the moment. It’s as if there’s a stabbing knot in his stomach telling him that something big is about to happen, but he has literally no idea what. Randy is going to walk inside and retrieve the book, assuming the thing even exists and is still here after all these years, and then who knows from there.
He gathers himself and walks through the double doors, crosses the lobby, procures the help of the Bank Manager, and is led into a small side room within the apartment-sized bank vault. The room is lined with safety deposit boxes – there must be at least a few thousand of them. Probably more. As they approach box number 1026 a chill runs down his spine. So much for coincidence - this is feeling more and more like fate. The manager inserts his key on the left, then Randy does the same on the right. The box is removed from the small vault and laid on a glorified card table in the center of the room.
Randy takes a seat at the table as the manager leaves the vault, with instructions to holler when he’s finished. He takes a deep breath as he undoes the hinge and flips the lid back. Excitement rushes through him. He didn’t believe it would be there. He convinced himself that this was just some elaborate prank his mother was playing on him from beyond the grave, but lo and behold.
Before him lays the Book of Wonder.
He carefully and gently slips the book out of the box, which is not much bigger than the book itself, and sets it on the table in front of him. After another deep breath, he flips the cover open, and is taken aback by what he sees. There are just six words strewn about the page:
At first, he’s confused. What could this possibly mean? He expected something... bigger. More grandiose. Secrets of the universe, maybe even tomorrow's lottery numbers. This makes no sense.
But then tears well up in his eyes, for as he rereads it, he can practically hear it in his mother’s voice. Shocked, he quickly slams the book shut and jumps from his seat. It this real? What kind of witchcraft is this?
Before he can even begin to contemplate the answers to those questions, a different feeling hits him: relief. It feels like a five-hundred-pound gorilla has been lifted from his back. He feels... free. Free of the guilt that has hung on him for so long. That’s not to say he’ll ever NOT regret moving to California and basically abandoning his family, but his mother’s words – whether physically hers or brought to him through some mythical magic – have lifted years of anxiety and deep self-degradation from his spirit in a matter of seconds. It’s an incredible feeling.
He finds that within moments, all feelings regarding his family, his mother, and nearly everything else have gone to the back of his mind, replaced by a new stress surrounding what might be the biggest opportunity of his life: his second chance, this time in SCW.
It worked once, why not try it again? It doesn’t take much self-convincing to bring himself to sit back down at the table and turn to the second page of the book. Incredibly, the pages are filled with words and sentences that he’d swear weren’t there a minute ago. As he reads, it’s as if he’s reading a letter to himself written by his future self:
Epilogue
Breakdown
October 26, 2022
The day has finally arrived. It’s that time. It’s this moment. Randy stands in the gorilla position, ready and waiting for his music to be ready. In the days leading up, seconds have felt like minutes, minutes have felt like hours. But now, it’s so close that he can taste it. After reading the words within the Book of Wonder, he’s let everything that he’s held onto fall away. All of his doubts, his angers, his guilts, his anxieties, his concerns. They’re all gone in support of a stronger notion: It’s finally his time.
He learned something this week – the confidence he felt in the past was just a series of mirages. It wasn't real. There was too much baggage piled on top of anything that could help him. But now, thanks to his family - the thing that most weighed on him for his entire career, the curse has been lifted.
Past losses were minor setbacks, steppingstones on the winding path to this exact moment. It’s clear to him now. He wasn’t ready yet.
Unfortunately for the SCW and Cassie Wolfe, he’s ready NOW, and that’s all that matters.
Randy can hear the anticipation of the crowd growing louder and louder, waiting for the first notes of his theme song to hit. The producer gives him a thumbs up, letting him know everything is ready. He takes a deep breath, calms himself, and nods to the producer at hand.
He looks to his left, at the ghost of wrestling past.
Then to his right, at the ghost of wrestling future.
He takes in one last chest-full of air and lowers his chin to his chest, exhales, and allows a few final words to slip through his lips.
“This one’s for you, Mom.”
…
…
…
RIIIIIIIIIISE!!!
A.D. 430
Mount Parnassus
Greece
It had been over thirty years since the last time she stood here on this temple’s porch. It had been a full generation, but she could remember the bone chilling cold as if it was yesterday. She stood here as a child that day, with little knowledge of what was occurring, but a deep understanding that she had a more important role to play in the maintaining of ancient traditions than she could possibly imagine. More important than her peasant upbringing, more important than the woman who had brought her here, and more important than the ongoing war that continued to change the course of human history.
The flames that formerly shone bright in this place no longer danced in the night, but they’ve left behind a diminished illusion of times gone by: an overflow of gold and jewels, armies-worth of statues carved by the finest artists, and crowds of people who traveled far and wide to hear the words of the Oracle.
But no more.
On that fateful day so long ago, she stood here with the Oracle of Delphi, believed at the time to be the final Oracle, and the last to be called Pythia. But on the seventh day of the seventh month, as the Roman legions climbed the mountains below, and Apollo swung his chariot high to bring the sun into the morning sky, the Oracle was able to perform the sacred ritual and cause Anthea to inherit the powers that were fated to be lost that day. Her mission. Her only mission. Her life’s mission: do not let the way of the Oracle fade to nothing. Do not die, do not perish, do not get captured until able to perform the same ritual and pass the lineage of the Oracle to another innocent.
But she had failed. In hiding for the vast majority of the previous three decades, she was unable to locate the next in the Oracle line. She spent the last two years searching far and wide under the canvas of the night sky, safe to stay out of the sight of the Roman soldiers who now inhabit the area, but it was not enough. Now she had fallen victim to the Plague of Athens, an ancient disease that was thought to have gone dormant, and she can sense that her end is near. Thought to have been caused by a Roman soldier eating meat from an unclean rodent, the highly contagious epidemic killed swiftly and efficiently. The time from incubation to death merely days, it killed nearly twenty-five percent of the population of Athens and nearly ten percent of the population of all of Greece.
So, she has returned to the place of her creation, with hours to live, and minutes until sunrise. Through great effort and pain, she has bathed in Castilia’s silver spring, drank from the Kassotis spring, and sacrificed bay leaves to the eternal flame on the black marble alter near the temple entrance. She performed the preparations for the sacred ritual the same as the first Oracle had centuries ago, but without an innocent to absorb the lineage of the Oracle, she’s laid her faith into an absolute last resort:
The Forbidden Ritual.
It was said that the twelfth Pythia transferred the power of the Oracle into a statue of Apollo, only to be stricken down by the god for violating the Oracle’s sacred oath. As the story goes, Apollo unleashed the power of the sun and burned her in her place, before passing the powers to the next Pythia himself. Normally she would not be one to take such a risk, but when faced with the prospect of losing the Oracle’s lineage to a murderous virus, the wrath of Apollo did not sound so bad.
She pulled a sack from her back and opened it, revealing the only item she could procure on her secret escape to this location: a bible taken from the luggage of a Roman soldier. She nearly had to laugh at the irony of the situation, at the fact that the thing most prominently driving these Romans to conquer these lands could end up being the one thing that would keep the local traditions alive in the world.
As she lowered herself and knelt on the cold ground, the sun began to peek over the mountaintops in the distance. Knowing she was almost out of time, she quickly lowered her head, laid her hands on the book, and hurriedly whispered the sacred invocations required for the ritual.
A deep, final breath escaped her lungs as the last bits of sun that had remained hidden came into view. One way or the other, her fight was over. Completely exasperated by her long journey, she let the virus take her and fell to the ground, lifeless. She would go to the grave without the knowledge of whether her ritual was successful, or if she had truly failed.
But as the sun reached its highest point in the sky, a gust of wind pushed back the cover of the blessed book, revealing that the pages within have been cleaned.
It was as if each page had been bleached and prepared for a new story to be written.
Chapter 4
Present Day
Hollywood, CA, USA
The front door of a house in the Hollywood Hills swings open and in steps the “Rockstar” Randy Ramon. If his 2010 apartment looked like a single man’s first bachelor pad, then this home looks like a grown-ass man’s second house. Everything is clean, everything is in its place, and there’s not a speck of dust to be seen. He drops his keys in a bowl near the door, sets his bag down and heads directly for the bar in the corner of the room.
On his way he stops and clicks on the false fireplace that rests under the flat screen TV and across from the couch. After pouring himself a glass of a nondescript brown liquor, he plops down on the referenced couch and lets the events of the past few months wash over him.
Losing his one and only World Championship under false pretenses.
Nearly dying attempting to exact revenge on the man responsible.
Being saved by someone who refuses to make themselves known.
The instructions that keep rolling in from said someone, with no end in sight.
It’s a lot to deal with, feeling like the rug is being pulled out repeatedly, so he does what he does best and finishes off his first glass of brown.
Randy clicks the TV on, but doesn’t really pay attention to it, instead allowing himself to be alone with his thoughts.
His mind drifts back to the various losses he’s had to endure over the years: a partner, a friend, another partner-turned-brother. It’s been a lot.
Unfortunately, this line of thought has sent him back to that day, to those feelings, to that pain, to... that box. He remembers the words of his mother in the accompanying letter, when she told him that the contents of the box would change his life, forever, when he was ready. He wasn’t ready then. He’s probably not ready now. But as he thinks about it, he’s not sure he’ll ever be MORE ready than he is at this point, ahead of the biggest match of his career. And if something is going to “change his life,” what better place than here, what better time than now?
A short time later, after ripping his closet apart and emptying its contents across his bedroom, he’s back on the couch and the mahogany box rests on the coffee table in front of him. His head rests in his hands as he surveys the edges and considers the contents. After a long pause, he finally – after nearly twelve years – allows himself to open the box. Inside rests a single golden key and a rolled-up piece of papyrus.
Randy unravels the scroll and opens it, much to the chagrin of the material, which loudly crinkles as it’s flattened. The words within detail aspects of Randy’s family history that he now learns for the first time. Apparently, his family descends from the same bloodline as the last Oracle of Delphi. That’s not to say that any member of his immediate family possesses the power of the Oracle, but they’ve been charged with protecting the Book of Wonder.
Before perishing, the last Oracle was able to transfer the powers of the Oracle into a book, which was found by an invading Roman soldier. The Romans did not understand the meaning behind the book, or what it could do, and merely added it to their collection of treasures ravaged from ancient Greece. The book is said to be completely empty, not a single mark on any page. But there are several instances of viewers claiming that they saw inscriptions on the pages, and that those words were the exact ones they needed to hear at that time. Randy is skeptical but continues reading.
At some point during the crusades of the late fourteenth century, the book ended up in the hands of an Italian merchant, who brought it with him in 1492 on the voyage that brought Columbus to North America.
It bounced around in various museums from there, but ultimately ended up back in the possession of the Oracle's blood line. Randy’s great grandmother eventually passed it down to his grandmother, who passed it down to his mother, who placed it in a safety deposit box in suburban Detroit. The key in the mahogany box will open that vault. It’s now his responsibility to protect the secrets of the Oracle. The scroll ends there.
A few moments of reflection follow, before Randy allows the scroll to return to its rolled form, sets it back in the box, and takes the key in his hand.
After a moment of contemplation, he drops the key back in the box and chuckles as he leans back on the couch. “There’s no way, right?” he says to no one in particular, in a tone that suggests he’s trying to convince himself more than anything.
But then his mind is drawn back to various shenanigans from his past that seem to keep happening for inexplicable reasons.
Stacked up against those events, maybe this isn’t so crazy, he thinks to himself.
“God damnit,” he mutters to himself.
A few minutes later he’s booked a flight to Detroit, the key is in his pocket, his wrestling gear is in hand, and he’s back out the door.
Chapter 5
Present Day
Detroit Rock City, USA
Standing outside of the First National Bank of Detroit, he can’t help but feel the weight of the moment. It’s as if there’s a stabbing knot in his stomach telling him that something big is about to happen, but he has literally no idea what. Randy is going to walk inside and retrieve the book, assuming the thing even exists and is still here after all these years, and then who knows from there.
He gathers himself and walks through the double doors, crosses the lobby, procures the help of the Bank Manager, and is led into a small side room within the apartment-sized bank vault. The room is lined with safety deposit boxes – there must be at least a few thousand of them. Probably more. As they approach box number 1026 a chill runs down his spine. So much for coincidence - this is feeling more and more like fate. The manager inserts his key on the left, then Randy does the same on the right. The box is removed from the small vault and laid on a glorified card table in the center of the room.
Randy takes a seat at the table as the manager leaves the vault, with instructions to holler when he’s finished. He takes a deep breath as he undoes the hinge and flips the lid back. Excitement rushes through him. He didn’t believe it would be there. He convinced himself that this was just some elaborate prank his mother was playing on him from beyond the grave, but lo and behold.
Before him lays the Book of Wonder.
He carefully and gently slips the book out of the box, which is not much bigger than the book itself, and sets it on the table in front of him. After another deep breath, he flips the cover open, and is taken aback by what he sees. There are just six words strewn about the page:
“It is okay. I forgive you.”
At first, he’s confused. What could this possibly mean? He expected something... bigger. More grandiose. Secrets of the universe, maybe even tomorrow's lottery numbers. This makes no sense.
But then tears well up in his eyes, for as he rereads it, he can practically hear it in his mother’s voice. Shocked, he quickly slams the book shut and jumps from his seat. It this real? What kind of witchcraft is this?
Before he can even begin to contemplate the answers to those questions, a different feeling hits him: relief. It feels like a five-hundred-pound gorilla has been lifted from his back. He feels... free. Free of the guilt that has hung on him for so long. That’s not to say he’ll ever NOT regret moving to California and basically abandoning his family, but his mother’s words – whether physically hers or brought to him through some mythical magic – have lifted years of anxiety and deep self-degradation from his spirit in a matter of seconds. It’s an incredible feeling.
He finds that within moments, all feelings regarding his family, his mother, and nearly everything else have gone to the back of his mind, replaced by a new stress surrounding what might be the biggest opportunity of his life: his second chance, this time in SCW.
It worked once, why not try it again? It doesn’t take much self-convincing to bring himself to sit back down at the table and turn to the second page of the book. Incredibly, the pages are filled with words and sentences that he’d swear weren’t there a minute ago. As he reads, it’s as if he’s reading a letter to himself written by his future self:
"As you stand here at the beginning of the long road that will be your SCW career, there are a few things you need to know:
First, you’ve done this before. You did it in GWA when you climbed to the top of the mountain and knocked cocky Blake Oliver from his shiny pedestal. You did it again when you reached the pinnacle of the FWA, dethroning Chris Kennedy and kicking Danny Toner’s teeth in.
Those stories may not have the happiest endings, but they say time heals all wounds.
And you? You're in your PRIME.
Why not you? Why not now?
Cassie Wolfe is merely a speedbump on your own personal Audubon to the top of the SCW. Jamison Logan was the first, and you dispatched of him with ease. The same will be true of Cassie. She’s a joke. You know as well as anyone that to defeat you is to kill you. So then – why have they sent a child to do the work of an assassin? It’s beneath you on your worst day, and a ridiculous punchline on your best.
Your trajectory is pointed squarely in the upward direction, and it’s only a matter of time until you stand across the ring from Xander Valentine and fulfill your destiny. Xander – now there’s someone worthy of your attention. Someone who understands what it takes to reach the top. Someone who would do whatever it takes to stay there. But first… the “Rebel Princess” will see her kingdom burnt to the ground, sifting through the ashes of her own broken dreams.
You know this to be true. So, before you go on listening to the experts, or the podcasts, or whatever they call themselves nowadays, remember that you belong here.
You’re not an ‘old man’, or ‘washed up’, or whatever the descriptor of the week will be. You’ve heard it all before.
They don’t know it yet, but they will.
Remember, they said that you couldn’t survive without Ayla El. Then they said the same of Devin Golden. They said you wouldn’t make it as a singles act.
They were SO sure of it that they stripped you of a single’s title shot when you entered the tag team division. But you’ve already proven them wrong!
They tried to end the revolution before it began, but they failed!
They said you weren’t championship material, but you were!
They said you’d never be a WORLD Champion. But you did it!
You’ve been doubted and second guessed at literally every single turn of your career, but you’ve ALWAYS come out on top!
That was YOU.
That was the Rockstar.
That was Randy Ramon.
They can never take that away from you.
This is it. This is the moment you’ve fought tooth and nail for, for almost fifteen years. You've already cemented yourself as one of the BEST TAG TEAM COMPETITORS of all time.
The SCW doesn’t know it yet, but they will.
This is your LAST chance to climb the ladder and win the industry's greatest prize, and cement yourself as one of THE BEST, full stop, of all time.
Why shouldn't you? You've got the biggest weapon.
Your kick is LETHAL.
NO ONE has ever kicked out of yours.
One moment is all it takes, and it's over.
They don’t know yet, but they will.
So, do it. Get on that plane.
Walk into that stadium.
Walk down to that ring and kick their teeth in.
Do what you do.
Kill them...
...and claim your birthright."
Epilogue
Breakdown
October 26, 2022
The day has finally arrived. It’s that time. It’s this moment. Randy stands in the gorilla position, ready and waiting for his music to be ready. In the days leading up, seconds have felt like minutes, minutes have felt like hours. But now, it’s so close that he can taste it. After reading the words within the Book of Wonder, he’s let everything that he’s held onto fall away. All of his doubts, his angers, his guilts, his anxieties, his concerns. They’re all gone in support of a stronger notion: It’s finally his time.
He learned something this week – the confidence he felt in the past was just a series of mirages. It wasn't real. There was too much baggage piled on top of anything that could help him. But now, thanks to his family - the thing that most weighed on him for his entire career, the curse has been lifted.
Past losses were minor setbacks, steppingstones on the winding path to this exact moment. It’s clear to him now. He wasn’t ready yet.
Unfortunately for the SCW and Cassie Wolfe, he’s ready NOW, and that’s all that matters.
Randy can hear the anticipation of the crowd growing louder and louder, waiting for the first notes of his theme song to hit. The producer gives him a thumbs up, letting him know everything is ready. He takes a deep breath, calms himself, and nods to the producer at hand.
He looks to his left, at the ghost of wrestling past.
Then to his right, at the ghost of wrestling future.
He takes in one last chest-full of air and lowers his chin to his chest, exhales, and allows a few final words to slip through his lips.
“This one’s for you, Mom.”
…
…
…
RIIIIIIIIIISE!!!
10-26-2022, 12:59 PM
Cassie’s third match in Supreme Championship Wrestling was drawing near as was the anniversary of a tragic event that had happened in her family, namely the murder of her aunt (AKA her old cousin Krystal’s mom) at the hands of her husband but Cassie would have to set that aside if she wanted to continue her winning ways, especially after a heart-to-heart talk with her trainer Keira over comments the teenager had made on her Twitter account! Can Cassie get the win over Randy?
Cassie’s home, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 25th of October 2022, 21:00pm
In case you were wondering, yeah, my leg still hurts!
Earlier I had a sparring match with a new trainee at Hero Academy called Harper, and whilst I am a prodigy of the high-flying wrestling style, Harper is pretty much the same when it comes to Submission Wrestling, something that has been a weakness of mine since day one.
Well, that and the bum leg from the days were I played Soccer for my high school, my leg was feeling a lot better but I was going out of my way to avoid putting any weight on it, even if that meant spending all day in bed playing on my Nintendo Switch.
If only my mom could see it that way.
“Cassandra I won’t tell you again.” My mom said as she hooved the floor around my bed and I rolled my eyes as I continued to play Metroid Dread. “Keira said that your injury wasn’t that bad, you made it up the stairs okay, you can help me with the chores!”
Ugh, as if today can’t get any worse. ”Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you knew my leg injury better than I do!” I snapped at my mom as I sat up in bed and put my Nintendo Switch on sleep mode for the time being, thank god I wasn’t trying to win a boss fight at that point. ”Or that you had your injured leg stretched out by a submission prodigy! I probably won’t be able to put any significant weight on this thing until tomorrow!”
“That’s no excuse for being lazy or rude young lade!” My mom responded and my eye twitched in response, calling me lazy when I had been busting my ass for months trying to get recognition as the future of this business? All because I wanted to avoid hurting my leg more? Yeah, I wasn’t standing for that. “As long as you live with me and your father you’ll listen to what I have to say Cassandra, I am your mother and I know best……….”
”NO, YOU FUCKING DON’T!” I interrupted my mom mid rant and she nearly dropped the vacuum cleaner in response. ”I’ve been working my ass off trying to get recognition in the wrestling business since I graduated from Hero Academy, how dare you call me lazy!”
“You worked four matches and got to go to India on Krystal’s dime young lady, I wouldn’t call that hard work!” My mom responded and I rolled my eyes, hard, this was the last thing I wanted after a hard day like today. “You wouldn’t know the meaning of hard work young lady, not when you’ve been coddled…….”
”Don’t even get me started on that! Wrestling training was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, the most exercise you’ve ever done is that damn step aerobics class!” I retorted as I ran a hand down my face and my mom looked ready to explode, to make matters worse? My dad had heard the argument and had come into the room, presumably to back up my mom. ”And what do I have to show for it? Trainers telling newbies to target the bum leg that ended my soccer career before it even began, being unfairly banned from the fed that employs Krystal because I got into an argument with a contracted talent, AFTER I stumbled upon him getting the shit beat out of him by his boyfriend……….” I trailed off after realizing that I had said the last part but it was too late and it didn’t take long for the mood in my room to change. ”Forget it! I’ve said too much.”
“What are you talking about Cass?” My mom asked with a much more sympathetic tone than she had a few minutes ago and I sighed, there was no way I was going to unring THAT bell now. “You were witness to a domestic violence incident? When?”
”It happened during the India tour, Ari, err, Krystal’s Greek friend, had decided to throw an Indian feast for her bestie’s arrival in New Delhi.” I sighed as I swung my legs over to face my parents. ”After the feast, I realized that I had left my phone in the bestie’s suite so Ari gave me her key card so I could go get it, only I came back in and was greeted the sounds of them arguing which turned violent in a hurry.” I sighed as I looked down at the floor, off all the times for my tears to come up. ”I told the others right away but when he found about my involvement, we argued on Climax Control and I ended up getting banned.”
“Cass, that trip to New Delhi happened in the first week of September, why did you wait this long to tell us?” My dad chimed in and I shook my head, I honestly wasn’t sure why I had waited until now to tell them.
”Don’t you think I wanted too? But everything’s been so hectic since my career took off that I haven’t had a chance too!” I pointed out with an exasperated sigh as I brushed some hair over my shoulder. ”But yeah, that’s the whole reason why I haven’t been able to attend Sin City Wrestling shows, because Carter complained about me to management and they didn’t even bother to ask for my side of the story before banning me!”
“I’ll talk to them.” My mom decided almost immediately and I ran a hand down my face, I knew exactly how overbearing my mom could be and I had a feeling I knew exactly what she was going to say.
”Keira tried to get them to lift that damn ban after Team Hero’s last ever tag team match was made official and I still couldn’t attend! She’s about to go into their Hall of Fame, what chance do you think you have?” I sighed in annoyance as I glanced over at my mom, I’d say that I wish Christian would remove his head from his own ass but at this point? You’d need a crowbar. ”Keira’s giving it one last shot so I can actually attend my first High Stakes as a wrestler but I’m not holding my breath!”
My dad left the room at that point and I could’ve sworn I heard him mutter “unbelievable” under his breath but my mom stayed behind, great, I’m about to get the heart-to-heart treatment for the second time in a day, aren’t I? UGH! “Cass, you know you shouldn’t keep stuff like this bottled up.”
”I tried to tell you, but every-time we’ve talked since I graduated you’ve gone full soccer mom on me!” I sighed as I sat up in bed. ”And between my wrestling commitments and my driving test, not to mention training at Hero Academy? I haven’t had time to just sit back and relax lately! And the one time I try to rest and relax, you called me lazy because I said that I couldn’t help you with chores!”
“Whilst you are living in my house I expect you to help out around the house, injured leg or not, you still have working arms.” My mom responded and I rolled my eyes again, I swear if a freak wrestling accident left me wheelchair bound for the rest of my life my mom would still try to get me to do stuff around the house. “Is the Carter situation being dealt with? I still remember what your aunt went through in the final years of her life?”
”Krystal and Ari are dealing with that the best they can but they’ve hit a few stumbling blocks along the way, mostly Carter being in denial about everything.” I sighed in response as I brushed some hair over my shoulder. ”I wanted to help that night in New Delhi but I just froze until I retrieved my phone and got the hell out of there! I felt so helpless, Carter’s my friend, I should’ve come to his aid!”[/font]
“Or you could’ve made the situation worse, you never know with abusers.” My mom reminded me but that didn’t do much to make me feel better. “You were saying about Ari and Krystal?”
”Their efforts combined with the efforts from at least two other male wrestlers have made some progress, but well, Carter wrestled his last match with a broken finger whilst Krystal and Ari are swearing up and down that he didn’t get whilst training, take that for what you will.” I explained to mom and it didn’t take mom long to realize what I meant by that, the look on her face said it all really.
“They’ll get through to him, I’m sure.” My mom assured me and I let out a deep breath, I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say next. “Just promise me that you’ll never do anything that reckless.”
Yep, called it. ”Mom, the pain in Carter’s hand was so great that he tapped out to a Hammerlock, that’s one of the most basic moves in a wrestler’s arsenal, literally one of the first moves your taught in wrestling school, even if that didn’t happen I’d still know better.” I responded before glancing over at the wall, it was at that point that my mom cleared her throat and I turned my attention back to her. ”What? I thought we covered everything?”
“Almost everything, I just wanted to apologize for starting that argument in the first place.” My mom stated before she pulled me into a hug which I wasn’t about to turn down after the day I’ve had. “You know that no matter what happens in your wrestling career, your father and I will be here for you right?”
”I know and apology accepted.” I responded before mom broke off the hug and left my room, I noticed that she had left the vacuum cleaner by my bed but I wasn’t in the mood to point it out just yet. ”Can today just end already? Things were bad enough when I had that chat with Keira!” I sighed to myself before glancing over at my phone which was next to my switch, in all the commotion I hadn’t even noticed that I had texts from Becky and Zoey so I leaned over to pick up my phone and read the,.
So glad I checked these texts after mom had left the room, my girlfriends still had their clothes on in the pics that they had sent me but well, it was pretty blatant that they were meant to be sexy pics. ”Figured you could use a pick me up after what happened with Keira.” Becky’s accompanying text read and I grinned to myself before reading Zoey’s text.
”I’m pretty sure Becks has the same idea but here’s something to cheer you up.” Zoey’s text read and I took a moment to look over the pics before laying back in my bed.
”Guess it’s not all bad.” I muttered to myself as I stared at my bedroom’s ceiling, after a few minutes something just clicked in my mind and I grabbed my phone before starting a video call with Zoey and Becky. ”It’s not too late to chat with you guys, is it?” I asked once they picked up and they shook their heads as I hopped out of bed and made my way into the en suite bathroom figuring that my parents couldn’t hear me from there.
”If it was literally anyone else? Yeah, I think it would be.” Becky responded as I sat down on the toilet with the seat down. ”What’s up? You look stressed.”
”Oh, just an argument with my mom and finally told her about the incident in New Delhi, no big deal.”[/font] I responded sarcastically and my girlfriends winced in response. ”Everything’s made up between us now but it did get ugly, thanks for those pics by the way, they helped me realize something about myself.”[/font]
”How lucky you are?” Zoey asked and, while true, I still shook my head at the biracial girl’s comment. ”Then what?”
”Something I’ve been wondering since I met Becky on the Summer XXXTreme cruise ship.”[/font] I admitted and it didn’t take long for either of my girlfriends to realize what I meant. ”I don’t know if that incident with Travis was the catalyst or something but I’ve finally realized that I’m 100% gay, I’m just not ready to come out yet.”[/font]
”Is that why you’re in your bathroom?” Zoey asked in a teasing tone and I sighed, given the number of times the girls had been in my room since the three-way relationship started I’m surprised it didn’t come out sooner. ”I just assumed that you called us whilst needing the bathroom.”
”Careful Zo, I might just flush the toilet to mess with you.” I joked and my girlfriends shook their heads with a laugh. ”All that’s left to do is for us to officially come out, Krystal was right, we’ll know when the time is right.”
”I’ve been out for a few years so if you girls need any help let me know.” Becky instructed us and we nodded with grateful looks on our faces. ”Unless your parents are listening in on this! I know you’re in your en suite bathroom Cass but you never know.”
”Great, now you’ve got me worried.” I responded before I stood up and left the bathroom, thankfully I was the only one in my room and a quick peak out of my bedroom door confirmed that my parents were nowhere to be seen. ”It’s late, so maybe my parents an early night.” I whispered into the phone as I quietly closed the door behind me and returned to the bed. ”But the only way I can see us keeping up this charade so I can come out as a lesbian when I’m ready is either getting a place of my own or I start spending time at your places.”
”You got windfalls from Jenny right? Can’t you access that money?” Zoey asked and I shook my head. ”Let me guess, trust fund?”
”Yup, and I can’t touch that money until I turn twenty-one, I’m not waiting two years to come out of the closet.” I sighed in response before I let out a yawn. ”I’d better call it a night, see you girls in the morning.” I added before we ended the video call and I started getting ready for bed.
Hero Academy parking lot, Las Vegas, Nevada
Wednesday the 26th of October 2022, 14:00pm
*promo time*
Managed to get some time away from the current class to get a quick promo done, so here we go.
”So, to recap my Supreme Championship career so far, I aced Ace Sky, beat up a nobody, annoyed a girl who’s name sounds like a magical girl anime show and I’m about to fight an aging rockstar, honestly that sounds more like a “walk into a bar” joke than anything else and I’m not even old enough to drink yet! Wrestle? Sure, drink alcohol? Nope, gotta wait two more years before I put that stuff into my body!” I commented as I rolled my eyes. ”Sometimes I wonder if those people who make alcohol laws are heavy drinkers themselves! Whatever, I’ve got a match to promote!”
One of life’s great mysteries.
”Last time I made it all about dad rock vs. modern metal and don’t get me wrong, in my mind that’s still what this match boils down too but two heart to heart chats in a row with my trainer and my mom, no, they’re not the same person, have me thinking that maybe I’m not taking the fact that I’m fighting a dude as big as Randy in my third ever match for this company, especially when he’s a former World Heavyweight Champion in other places.” I admitted before scoffing as I shook my head. ”But being a champ elsewhere won’t help you much when I’ve got your shoulders down for the three count Randy! Good luck facing everyone you beat as champion after you’ve been beat by a petite nineteen-year-old girl who isn’t even you’re your weight!”
Yeah, he aint living that down.
”Because at the end of the day, we both want the same outcome from this match Randy and that’s to win and move on! I’ve yet to taste defeat in a Supreme Championship Wrestling ring and I’m not in a hurry to have that bitter taste in my mouth either!” I stated as I flipped some hair over my shoulder. ”And once I win this match my stock as a wrestler will skyrocket faster than you can say “what do you mean the former World Heavyweight Champion lost to a rookie?” never mind the fact that the rookie is a foot shorter, over a hundred pounds lighter and a girl!”
Or he’ll drive me through the matt, take your pick!
”Randy might be a rockstar but once I’m done with him? He’ll be reduced to playing in cover bands in some dingy bar in some small town that no one’s heard off and that’s if he’s lucky!” I added with a grin as I leaned against mom’s minivan, how do you think I got here? I’m still taking my driving test! ”But me? Suddenly people will realize that I’m the hot young talent in wrestling to watch and no one else! And I’m sure someone will make a joke about my looks so I’ll cut them off at the past and say: yes, my wrestling will be a hot mess too!”
Wait…….
”Did I seriously just call my wrestling AND my looks a hot mess?! And here I am talking about my opponent never living something down! At least I left my sex life out of that conversation……..” I quickly moved on before any of the students caught on. ”ANYWAY, Randy, when you go up against me, you’ll be on a Highway to Hell whilst I’m on a Stairway to Heaven and if I reference another dad rock song I’m going to scream! I may as well reference one of the few dad metal songs I like, namely the Sepultura classic Inner Self!”
How?
”Nonconformity in my Inner Self, only I guide my Inner Self!” Once I had looked up the lyrics to the song I continued. ”I’m not saying that those lyrics totally sum up my wrestling persona as “The Rebel Princess” but until someone finds metal lyrics that better describe me, I’m sticking with them! Honestly “Inner Self” would probably be my theme song if I hadn’t decided that Wolf Within fit me better but I digress! Regardless of what song I come out too Randy, you’re in for an ass kicking!”
It's that simple.
”Because I may as well show the other SCW what they are missing out on by unfairly banning me from their shows! I just hope that Randy’s ready for what I’ve got in store for him because otherwise? The fantasy of the former World Heavyweight Champion being pinned by the petite female rookie will become a reality!”
And with that I decided to wrap things up.
”And trust my Randy, if I have to embarrass you to get the win I will, to all my fans remember to be a Rebel Princess in a world of queens whilst I show Old Man Randy why this whippersnapper is Hungry Like the Wolfe!”
I headed back in as the scene fades.
Cassie’s home, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 25th of October 2022, 21:00pm
In case you were wondering, yeah, my leg still hurts!
Earlier I had a sparring match with a new trainee at Hero Academy called Harper, and whilst I am a prodigy of the high-flying wrestling style, Harper is pretty much the same when it comes to Submission Wrestling, something that has been a weakness of mine since day one.
Well, that and the bum leg from the days were I played Soccer for my high school, my leg was feeling a lot better but I was going out of my way to avoid putting any weight on it, even if that meant spending all day in bed playing on my Nintendo Switch.
If only my mom could see it that way.
“Cassandra I won’t tell you again.” My mom said as she hooved the floor around my bed and I rolled my eyes as I continued to play Metroid Dread. “Keira said that your injury wasn’t that bad, you made it up the stairs okay, you can help me with the chores!”
Ugh, as if today can’t get any worse. ”Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you knew my leg injury better than I do!” I snapped at my mom as I sat up in bed and put my Nintendo Switch on sleep mode for the time being, thank god I wasn’t trying to win a boss fight at that point. ”Or that you had your injured leg stretched out by a submission prodigy! I probably won’t be able to put any significant weight on this thing until tomorrow!”
“That’s no excuse for being lazy or rude young lade!” My mom responded and my eye twitched in response, calling me lazy when I had been busting my ass for months trying to get recognition as the future of this business? All because I wanted to avoid hurting my leg more? Yeah, I wasn’t standing for that. “As long as you live with me and your father you’ll listen to what I have to say Cassandra, I am your mother and I know best……….”
”NO, YOU FUCKING DON’T!” I interrupted my mom mid rant and she nearly dropped the vacuum cleaner in response. ”I’ve been working my ass off trying to get recognition in the wrestling business since I graduated from Hero Academy, how dare you call me lazy!”
“You worked four matches and got to go to India on Krystal’s dime young lady, I wouldn’t call that hard work!” My mom responded and I rolled my eyes, hard, this was the last thing I wanted after a hard day like today. “You wouldn’t know the meaning of hard work young lady, not when you’ve been coddled…….”
”Don’t even get me started on that! Wrestling training was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, the most exercise you’ve ever done is that damn step aerobics class!” I retorted as I ran a hand down my face and my mom looked ready to explode, to make matters worse? My dad had heard the argument and had come into the room, presumably to back up my mom. ”And what do I have to show for it? Trainers telling newbies to target the bum leg that ended my soccer career before it even began, being unfairly banned from the fed that employs Krystal because I got into an argument with a contracted talent, AFTER I stumbled upon him getting the shit beat out of him by his boyfriend……….” I trailed off after realizing that I had said the last part but it was too late and it didn’t take long for the mood in my room to change. ”Forget it! I’ve said too much.”
“What are you talking about Cass?” My mom asked with a much more sympathetic tone than she had a few minutes ago and I sighed, there was no way I was going to unring THAT bell now. “You were witness to a domestic violence incident? When?”
”It happened during the India tour, Ari, err, Krystal’s Greek friend, had decided to throw an Indian feast for her bestie’s arrival in New Delhi.” I sighed as I swung my legs over to face my parents. ”After the feast, I realized that I had left my phone in the bestie’s suite so Ari gave me her key card so I could go get it, only I came back in and was greeted the sounds of them arguing which turned violent in a hurry.” I sighed as I looked down at the floor, off all the times for my tears to come up. ”I told the others right away but when he found about my involvement, we argued on Climax Control and I ended up getting banned.”
“Cass, that trip to New Delhi happened in the first week of September, why did you wait this long to tell us?” My dad chimed in and I shook my head, I honestly wasn’t sure why I had waited until now to tell them.
”Don’t you think I wanted too? But everything’s been so hectic since my career took off that I haven’t had a chance too!” I pointed out with an exasperated sigh as I brushed some hair over my shoulder. ”But yeah, that’s the whole reason why I haven’t been able to attend Sin City Wrestling shows, because Carter complained about me to management and they didn’t even bother to ask for my side of the story before banning me!”
“I’ll talk to them.” My mom decided almost immediately and I ran a hand down my face, I knew exactly how overbearing my mom could be and I had a feeling I knew exactly what she was going to say.
”Keira tried to get them to lift that damn ban after Team Hero’s last ever tag team match was made official and I still couldn’t attend! She’s about to go into their Hall of Fame, what chance do you think you have?” I sighed in annoyance as I glanced over at my mom, I’d say that I wish Christian would remove his head from his own ass but at this point? You’d need a crowbar. ”Keira’s giving it one last shot so I can actually attend my first High Stakes as a wrestler but I’m not holding my breath!”
My dad left the room at that point and I could’ve sworn I heard him mutter “unbelievable” under his breath but my mom stayed behind, great, I’m about to get the heart-to-heart treatment for the second time in a day, aren’t I? UGH! “Cass, you know you shouldn’t keep stuff like this bottled up.”
”I tried to tell you, but every-time we’ve talked since I graduated you’ve gone full soccer mom on me!” I sighed as I sat up in bed. ”And between my wrestling commitments and my driving test, not to mention training at Hero Academy? I haven’t had time to just sit back and relax lately! And the one time I try to rest and relax, you called me lazy because I said that I couldn’t help you with chores!”
“Whilst you are living in my house I expect you to help out around the house, injured leg or not, you still have working arms.” My mom responded and I rolled my eyes again, I swear if a freak wrestling accident left me wheelchair bound for the rest of my life my mom would still try to get me to do stuff around the house. “Is the Carter situation being dealt with? I still remember what your aunt went through in the final years of her life?”
”Krystal and Ari are dealing with that the best they can but they’ve hit a few stumbling blocks along the way, mostly Carter being in denial about everything.” I sighed in response as I brushed some hair over my shoulder. ”I wanted to help that night in New Delhi but I just froze until I retrieved my phone and got the hell out of there! I felt so helpless, Carter’s my friend, I should’ve come to his aid!”[/font]
“Or you could’ve made the situation worse, you never know with abusers.” My mom reminded me but that didn’t do much to make me feel better. “You were saying about Ari and Krystal?”
”Their efforts combined with the efforts from at least two other male wrestlers have made some progress, but well, Carter wrestled his last match with a broken finger whilst Krystal and Ari are swearing up and down that he didn’t get whilst training, take that for what you will.” I explained to mom and it didn’t take mom long to realize what I meant by that, the look on her face said it all really.
“They’ll get through to him, I’m sure.” My mom assured me and I let out a deep breath, I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say next. “Just promise me that you’ll never do anything that reckless.”
Yep, called it. ”Mom, the pain in Carter’s hand was so great that he tapped out to a Hammerlock, that’s one of the most basic moves in a wrestler’s arsenal, literally one of the first moves your taught in wrestling school, even if that didn’t happen I’d still know better.” I responded before glancing over at the wall, it was at that point that my mom cleared her throat and I turned my attention back to her. ”What? I thought we covered everything?”
“Almost everything, I just wanted to apologize for starting that argument in the first place.” My mom stated before she pulled me into a hug which I wasn’t about to turn down after the day I’ve had. “You know that no matter what happens in your wrestling career, your father and I will be here for you right?”
”I know and apology accepted.” I responded before mom broke off the hug and left my room, I noticed that she had left the vacuum cleaner by my bed but I wasn’t in the mood to point it out just yet. ”Can today just end already? Things were bad enough when I had that chat with Keira!” I sighed to myself before glancing over at my phone which was next to my switch, in all the commotion I hadn’t even noticed that I had texts from Becky and Zoey so I leaned over to pick up my phone and read the,.
So glad I checked these texts after mom had left the room, my girlfriends still had their clothes on in the pics that they had sent me but well, it was pretty blatant that they were meant to be sexy pics. ”Figured you could use a pick me up after what happened with Keira.” Becky’s accompanying text read and I grinned to myself before reading Zoey’s text.
”I’m pretty sure Becks has the same idea but here’s something to cheer you up.” Zoey’s text read and I took a moment to look over the pics before laying back in my bed.
”Guess it’s not all bad.” I muttered to myself as I stared at my bedroom’s ceiling, after a few minutes something just clicked in my mind and I grabbed my phone before starting a video call with Zoey and Becky. ”It’s not too late to chat with you guys, is it?” I asked once they picked up and they shook their heads as I hopped out of bed and made my way into the en suite bathroom figuring that my parents couldn’t hear me from there.
”If it was literally anyone else? Yeah, I think it would be.” Becky responded as I sat down on the toilet with the seat down. ”What’s up? You look stressed.”
”Oh, just an argument with my mom and finally told her about the incident in New Delhi, no big deal.”[/font] I responded sarcastically and my girlfriends winced in response. ”Everything’s made up between us now but it did get ugly, thanks for those pics by the way, they helped me realize something about myself.”[/font]
”How lucky you are?” Zoey asked and, while true, I still shook my head at the biracial girl’s comment. ”Then what?”
”Something I’ve been wondering since I met Becky on the Summer XXXTreme cruise ship.”[/font] I admitted and it didn’t take long for either of my girlfriends to realize what I meant. ”I don’t know if that incident with Travis was the catalyst or something but I’ve finally realized that I’m 100% gay, I’m just not ready to come out yet.”[/font]
”Is that why you’re in your bathroom?” Zoey asked in a teasing tone and I sighed, given the number of times the girls had been in my room since the three-way relationship started I’m surprised it didn’t come out sooner. ”I just assumed that you called us whilst needing the bathroom.”
”Careful Zo, I might just flush the toilet to mess with you.” I joked and my girlfriends shook their heads with a laugh. ”All that’s left to do is for us to officially come out, Krystal was right, we’ll know when the time is right.”
”I’ve been out for a few years so if you girls need any help let me know.” Becky instructed us and we nodded with grateful looks on our faces. ”Unless your parents are listening in on this! I know you’re in your en suite bathroom Cass but you never know.”
”Great, now you’ve got me worried.” I responded before I stood up and left the bathroom, thankfully I was the only one in my room and a quick peak out of my bedroom door confirmed that my parents were nowhere to be seen. ”It’s late, so maybe my parents an early night.” I whispered into the phone as I quietly closed the door behind me and returned to the bed. ”But the only way I can see us keeping up this charade so I can come out as a lesbian when I’m ready is either getting a place of my own or I start spending time at your places.”
”You got windfalls from Jenny right? Can’t you access that money?” Zoey asked and I shook my head. ”Let me guess, trust fund?”
”Yup, and I can’t touch that money until I turn twenty-one, I’m not waiting two years to come out of the closet.” I sighed in response before I let out a yawn. ”I’d better call it a night, see you girls in the morning.” I added before we ended the video call and I started getting ready for bed.
Hero Academy parking lot, Las Vegas, Nevada
Wednesday the 26th of October 2022, 14:00pm
*promo time*
Managed to get some time away from the current class to get a quick promo done, so here we go.
”So, to recap my Supreme Championship career so far, I aced Ace Sky, beat up a nobody, annoyed a girl who’s name sounds like a magical girl anime show and I’m about to fight an aging rockstar, honestly that sounds more like a “walk into a bar” joke than anything else and I’m not even old enough to drink yet! Wrestle? Sure, drink alcohol? Nope, gotta wait two more years before I put that stuff into my body!” I commented as I rolled my eyes. ”Sometimes I wonder if those people who make alcohol laws are heavy drinkers themselves! Whatever, I’ve got a match to promote!”
One of life’s great mysteries.
”Last time I made it all about dad rock vs. modern metal and don’t get me wrong, in my mind that’s still what this match boils down too but two heart to heart chats in a row with my trainer and my mom, no, they’re not the same person, have me thinking that maybe I’m not taking the fact that I’m fighting a dude as big as Randy in my third ever match for this company, especially when he’s a former World Heavyweight Champion in other places.” I admitted before scoffing as I shook my head. ”But being a champ elsewhere won’t help you much when I’ve got your shoulders down for the three count Randy! Good luck facing everyone you beat as champion after you’ve been beat by a petite nineteen-year-old girl who isn’t even you’re your weight!”
Yeah, he aint living that down.
”Because at the end of the day, we both want the same outcome from this match Randy and that’s to win and move on! I’ve yet to taste defeat in a Supreme Championship Wrestling ring and I’m not in a hurry to have that bitter taste in my mouth either!” I stated as I flipped some hair over my shoulder. ”And once I win this match my stock as a wrestler will skyrocket faster than you can say “what do you mean the former World Heavyweight Champion lost to a rookie?” never mind the fact that the rookie is a foot shorter, over a hundred pounds lighter and a girl!”
Or he’ll drive me through the matt, take your pick!
”Randy might be a rockstar but once I’m done with him? He’ll be reduced to playing in cover bands in some dingy bar in some small town that no one’s heard off and that’s if he’s lucky!” I added with a grin as I leaned against mom’s minivan, how do you think I got here? I’m still taking my driving test! ”But me? Suddenly people will realize that I’m the hot young talent in wrestling to watch and no one else! And I’m sure someone will make a joke about my looks so I’ll cut them off at the past and say: yes, my wrestling will be a hot mess too!”
Wait…….
”Did I seriously just call my wrestling AND my looks a hot mess?! And here I am talking about my opponent never living something down! At least I left my sex life out of that conversation……..” I quickly moved on before any of the students caught on. ”ANYWAY, Randy, when you go up against me, you’ll be on a Highway to Hell whilst I’m on a Stairway to Heaven and if I reference another dad rock song I’m going to scream! I may as well reference one of the few dad metal songs I like, namely the Sepultura classic Inner Self!”
How?
”Nonconformity in my Inner Self, only I guide my Inner Self!” Once I had looked up the lyrics to the song I continued. ”I’m not saying that those lyrics totally sum up my wrestling persona as “The Rebel Princess” but until someone finds metal lyrics that better describe me, I’m sticking with them! Honestly “Inner Self” would probably be my theme song if I hadn’t decided that Wolf Within fit me better but I digress! Regardless of what song I come out too Randy, you’re in for an ass kicking!”
It's that simple.
”Because I may as well show the other SCW what they are missing out on by unfairly banning me from their shows! I just hope that Randy’s ready for what I’ve got in store for him because otherwise? The fantasy of the former World Heavyweight Champion being pinned by the petite female rookie will become a reality!”
And with that I decided to wrap things up.
”And trust my Randy, if I have to embarrass you to get the win I will, to all my fans remember to be a Rebel Princess in a world of queens whilst I show Old Man Randy why this whippersnapper is Hungry Like the Wolfe!”
I headed back in as the scene fades.