Since losing the RUSH Championship, Melissa has been on a tear, fully justifying this rematch. Jennifer Helms wants to make sure her year doesn't end on a bad note. If this match is anything like their first, it could be a classic
DEADLINE ONE - 3250 ROLEPLAY 15TH NOVEMBER 2019 2359 EST
DEADLINE TWO - 750 WORD SHOOT / SEGMENT 17TH NOVEMBER 2019 2359 EST
Melissa had this feeling burning away in the back of her head for some time now, but could never seem to fully grasp it. She didn’t fully understand what it was, but she knew it bothered her, and not being able to just be rid of it only infuriated her. At first, she thought it might be because of losing the RUSH Championship, but the more she thought about it the more she realized it’s been there for far longer. She could almost feel it tearing her mind apart back when she first won that gold, and even sometime before that… it was simply harder to really notice because it wasn’t as prevalent as it had been lately.
As she sat there, she kept going over the past few months repeatedly to try and sort it all out, but nothing really seemed to click for her. She would have much rather preferred to be in the middle of one of her last workouts in Bridgeport before heading off overseas for Invasion, but she couldn’t seem to slam her thoughts back on track. Considering she was due for a rematch with Jennifer Helms to try and get her title back, not being able to really focus on her was truly a problem and she knew it, but she couldn’t seem to shake off the feeling that something just didn’t feel like it was there.
Her eyes slowly turned down to her hands as she sat there, practically locked inside her own head. Not too long ago, those hands had been stained with blood. She’d literally beaten Thamuz to a bloody pulp, vented all her frustrations from the back-to-back failures where Helms was standing across the ring from her, and she didn’t feel any better. It was an attitude she’d never displayed in the ring before, but the lunatic’s laughter and begging for more made it feel like it had been for naught. Had that been how her entire career had been so far? Perhaps even her life? All for naught, no matter the successes she did find?
“Yeah, she’s here. I know you’re friends and all, but… I can’t begin to tell you what kind of frame of mind she’s in right now.”
Matt’s voice snapped Melissa out of her thoughts, but she knew it wasn’t directed at her. She glanced back at the doorway and saw her trainer step aside to let Claire and Jennifer in, both of them looking very concerned. She also took notice of the fact that they were holding hands, which was a new development… she wanted to assume they finally had the talk she knew Claire had been hesitant to initiate, but she shelved the thought for now knowing they’d want to get to the bottom of what’s been going on with her first.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“Well, we know you’ll be off to Munich soon for Emerge, and we wanted to talk before you left.”
“We’ve been worried about you, and we know Matt’s been the same way. We were hoping that, maybe, you’d want to talk about it?”
The fear was easy to pick up in the redhead’s voice. Melissa knew the approach all too well from back in school when the author was forced to approach her for conversation, and even if things were much different now it was still possible the military maiden could try to rip her head off in response. She flinched a bit as Melissa shot an annoyed glance at her before turning away from them, her eyes going back to looking over her hands.
“I honestly don’t know… I want to lie and say that everything’s fine but I know it’s not. I have an idea of what it is, but I don’t want to accept it. I just feel like… like all of this has been for nothing.”
Claire and Jennifer exchange glances before the blonde’s hand rests on Melissa’s shoulder.
“This whole wrestling thing has not been for nothing Melissa. You’ve been unstoppable for most of the year, and you even won a title despite no one giving you a chance!”
“Yeah… but for most of the year, I’ve also barely had anybody that’s truly been a threat opposing me. Sundown was my first real threat, and while I won the title match I lost our second round. It was all because of that giant freak that went after him… I think Cindy Todd hit the nail on the head about me. No one takes me seriously or truly treats me like a threat, and instead of actually proving something I keep expecting sympathy because of how I got to this point in the first place.”
Melissa exhaled heavily, hating that she was even saying any of this. She’d left home and started wrestling for the sole purpose of becoming her own person, and yet every step of the way she’s now come to realize she’s made no progress on that front. She was still in the same city where he patrolled and practically kept order, she fell back on the military appearance that she hated because of him… she even doubted any of her strength could be attributed to her own doing because it was all thanks to his years of training her to follow in his footsteps, right down to the fact that she’d barely done more than win matches and not really push people around like she did even back in school. Her first steps at perhaps finally going a truly different route and the man she beat half to death simply laughed in her face when all was set and done.
“You can’t honestly sit here and believe she actually meant any of that. It was all to get in your head, like all the trash you tend to talk before a match.”
“Besides, she doesn’t know who you really are. Would you really feel happy becoming somebody’s puppet after trying to stop feeling like you were one to your dad?”
There was silence for a moment, almost like the tension was going allowed to thicken, before Melissa finally moved. She reached down into her bag and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a card, which Claire and Jennifer noticed had an address on it and nothing else.
“Let me ask you girls this: aside from you two becoming a couple, what’s actually changed for us?”
The blonde and the redhead looked shocked that Melissa knew, having figured it out based on an assumption. They hadn’t been together for very long, with Claire only working up the courage recently to open her heart to the author about what she’s been feeling for a very long time. It took Jennifer some time to come to terms with it, but she ultimately decided to give it a shot and see if things worked out better for her with a woman in her life. Lord knows having a man fill that spot only left her a broken mess up to this point.
“I’ve… I guess nothing for me…”
“My mom and stepdad have been supportive of what I have now with Claire, and my brother’s too wrapped up in his weird interests to really bother. My birth father and our extended family, though… the second they heard, they practically disowned me…”
Jennifer turns her gaze to the floor as Claire looks shocked by this revelation, tightening her grip on her now-girlfriend’s hand. Melissa glances at the redhead as well, her gaze slowly slipping into one burning with anger at finding this out. She slowly rises to a stand, turning to fully face her friends.
“Why do we even need others to basically define our lives? We’re all more than capable of redefining ourselves, and yet we let others do all of that for us and I’m sick of it! You don’t deserve that Jennifer… you’re written best-sellers and inspired many with your stories, and you have every right to decide how your own story should be told. And Claire, you shouldn’t have to feel like you’ll always be the ‘spoiled little princess’ just because you have some wealth, nor should you have to feel ashamed for wanting to explore beyond your upbringing no matter what your family thinks of everyone below them. Hell, I finally want to be out of my father’s shadow once and for all and stop being his precious little soldier and feeling like I can’t accomplish a damn thing without someone else being able to take credit for it! For God’s sake, I literally beat a man to a bloody pulp last show and the son of a bitch just laughed about it!”
“And I’ll consider that a confession.”
The gym went so silent you could hear a pin drop on the other end of the city. Slowly, all eyes turned to the doorway, Melissa’s slowly narrowing into a look of pure disdain as she found the man half responsible for her existence on this earth returning the look. To her surprise, he didn’t come alone either, as several officers flanked him and blockaded the entrance with their bodies. Matt had been busy setting up a few weight routines for Melissa when she was ready to get back to work, but the sight of his old brother in arms had him immediately putting himself between the two sides before anything escalated.
“What brings you to my gym, Brett?”
“That’s an easy one Matt: I’m here to bring my daughter home.”
“And what makes you think I want to go back to that hell!?”
Claire and Jennifer were trying to restrain Melissa as she slowly began closing the distance, but they weren’t able to slow her down for very long before she slipped free. The only thing keeping her from getting nose-to-nose with her old man was Matt keeping himself between them.
“Look, Melissa, I’ve let this slide for long enough. As much as I hate the way you’ve carried yourself, I’ve allowed this wrestling nonsense go on hoping you’d either come to your senses or actually start serving the greater good in a professional setting. Clearly, I was wrong to do so, as you’ve had nothing but bad influences talking you down a dark and dangerous path that I refuse to let my little girl-”
“Bad influences!? I don’t care how you want to perceive the stuff that happens on the shows dad, but you know damn well Matt is far from a bad influence on me. He’s been more of a father to me than you’ve ever been! And Claire and Jennifer? At least they’re willing to support me even when I’m not exactly being the best of friends and help keep me on the path I want to walk in my life! When have you ever given me any freedom to decide something for myself for a change!?”
If looks could kill, Melissa and her father would’ve blown one another’s heads wide open several times over by now, and the only reason things hadn’t escalated was because Matt had the strength to keep his student from making any drastic mistakes. After a moment, the elder Killgraves finally sighs and shakes his head, almost looking like he’s actually admitting defeat. Melissa knew better though… Sgt. Brett Killgraves doesn’t surrender for any reason, and the words that followed proved it.
“If I can’t do this the easy way anymore, then we’ll do this the hard way. Melissa Killgraves, you’re under arrest. Maybe some time behind bars will set you straight.”
There were a few gasps in response to this, the loudest coming from Claire and Jennifer who, especially the latter, were witnessing firsthand how valid Melissa’s claims had been about the kind of controlling father this man could be. Matt was taken aback as well, the look he gave to his fellow soldier flat out questioning what he thought he was doing, but once Brett practically shoved his badge in the man’s face he reluctantly stepped aside. Even a few of the officers reacted in this fashion, and Melissa could hear from some hushed conversations between them that they weren’t expecting this when basically called by their Seargent to back him up on something important. The military hero’s daughter, however, simply folded her arms, daring him to close the distance.
“On what grounds do you possibly think you can arrest me?”
“Well, between your own admission minutes ago and video evidence, you beat a man to a bloody pulp. That qualifies as assault-”
“What I do in Emerge doesn’t qualify for shit! If it did, wrestling wouldn’t even exist because we’d all be rotting away in prison for what we do on a regular basis! Besides, that roster has far worse people than me on it, so try taking any of this up with them before you do something you’ll regret in court.”
“I plan to. Not only did you go too far, but I’m also not too fond of that woman who’s been whispering in your ear a bit lately. Cindy Todd, her name is? I know she’s been a person of interest considering your wrestling company filed some police reports on somebody going missing recently after she and her thugs abducted him during the show, and if you’re going to listen to someone like that then not only are you better off being locked away, but I will do what those who tried before were too weak to do and put her away as well.”
Melissa could only blink in response to this, dumbfounded by her father’s logic. The man was a military mastermind, hence why he was so highly regarded around here for his service even before donning a police badge. But this? This was insane rambling she’d never heard from him before, and a chance to look deep into his eyes made it clear that he wasn’t quite the same as the man she’d marched away from some time ago. It was almost like she was staring into an empty shell of the man Sgt. Killgraves used to be… a man who was so desperate to get his daughter back in line when she didn’t need to be saved that he was dictating with his heart instead of his head and making wildly irrational decisions.
“You’ve lost it, and if you think bringing me home is going to fix anything, then that shows how little you cared for the reason I left in the first place!”
She tried to turn away from him, but suddenly found her arm being yanked and realized too late he’d grabbed and half-cuffed her. She tried to pull away, but the bigger and stronger body in this struggle simply pulled her closer, causing her to involuntarily shoulder check him. While he barely flinched from it, he did use the momentum to spin her around and actually drive her facefirst into the wall. It was force he showed with uncooperative criminals, but never to his own flesh and blood under any circumstances. Even some of his fellow officers looked horrified by what they were witnessing.
“I’m sorry sweetheart, but this is for your own good. After that, consider yourself charged with assaulting an officer. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of-”
As Brett read his daughter her Miranda Rights and tried to finish cuffing her, she suddenly felt something snap inside her mind. Memories of how he raised her and cared only for her becoming just liked him, her attempts to try and garner sympathy for any of it from others without realizing it, even the haunting accusations of how weak she truly was to take pride in an effort that wasn’t entirely her own… these things that made her mad before almost seemed like they’d finally hit a breaking point. Before anyone knew it, she’d managed to get her other arm free and drilled her father with a back elbow right to the eye. As he stumbled back, she turned and hurled her body full force into tackling him to the ground, using the handcuffs still attached to her other wrist to start pummeling him with no remorse. Some of the officers started to move to break it up, but ultimately stopped and watched in the same disbelief as everyone else in the room. Everything Brett tried to take control of the situation, his daughter subconsciously countered using his own training and tactics against him. Finally, his body went limp, and Melissa slowly removed herself from him before grabbing his key and freeing herself from her partial shackles. She turned to the other officers who slowly surrounded the father and daughter, and after a moment she was a little surprised that one motioned that she was free to go, deciding he was the one who needed to be dealt with considering how out of line his actions were in this moment.
“Come on girls… we’re leaving…”
Melissa slowly walked through the opening the officers made for her before walking past Claire and Jennifer, who were picking their jaws up off the floor at what they’d just seen. She retrieved her bag before marching out with the two of them in tow, pausing only twice: once to shoot a look of apology to her flabbergasted trainer, to which Matt managed to at least agree that maybe she was better off getting away for a bit, and once to give one last parting glare to her father as his fellow officers collected him. Once the three girls were outside, the silence was finally broken.
“Melissa… that was…”
“He deserved it… all of it. And I’m giving you girls a chance to try and see if you’ll be allowed to join me.”
“…join you in what?”
“Finally being free to live our own lives.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the card she was looking over earlier. She found it resting in an envelope on her bag after she finished brutalizing Thamuz at the last show. The address on it was all she had, but she’d done her research and had a pretty good idea of exactly what would be waiting for her there. Whether or not she was making a mistake with this was still up in the air, but after all of this she had a feeling in her gut that if she was to truly break free of everything that had been holding her back thus far and keeping her from being the threat she could truly be, then this endeavor would be worth the risk.
She only hoped that it would benefit Claire and Jennifer as much as it might benefit her at the end of the day.
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