Beijing, China
July 30th

Tiananmen Square served as a prominent location for not only tourists the world over, but also for the very citizens of the city of Beijing itself. The Square is perhaps best known for the tragic massacre in 1989, following protests and a military crackdown the square is best known for the 1989 protests and massacre that ended with a military crackdown, watched the world over by a global media coverage. These days, however, Beijing citizens as well as people from all across the world visit for the wondrous attractions such as the beautiful floral displays and attractions such as the Tiananmen Tower, the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, the Great Hall of the People and the National Museum of China. But on this particular day, something else was taking place that has attracted the attention of wrestling fans worldwide. Today, Tiananmen Square would serve as host for Sin City Wrestling. Although China was not known for professional wrestling, there was still a great interest in the sport in this country and the fans were hungry for the type of wrestling action that only SCW could provide.

And thus far, the show had been a rousing success with eager fans reaching out to the men and women of SCW, cheering them on their chosen favorites. But while the action continued inside of the ring, more was taking place “backstage” that would affect future happenings. Due to the open nature of the program, special tents and trailers had been brought in for the privacy of both wrestlers and staff alike, allowing them to prepare, get dressed and conduct all business both before and during the show.

One of the more important trailers set up was for the wrestlers’ physical benefits as it served as a proverbial first aid station. Although China did not have a recognized paramedic career for sporting events, Chinese officials worked with Mark Ward and Christian Underwood for a physician and nurse to lend their professional talents for the evening, the better to ensure all were physically well for the evening. In fact, it was just such an instance that had brought our attention toward the First Aid station where Carter McKinney, known best by his in-ring moniker Helluva Bottom Carter, stood stoic as he watched the physician and nurse give his boyfriend Miles Kasey a careful examination.

Miles sat on the table, sans shirt which MIGHT have had something to do with Carter’s intense stare, as the physician lifted his arm and added some pressure just below near the ribcage, asking “Téng ma?”

Miles, like Carter, shifted a look to the nurse who loosely translated, “He asked if that hurt?”

“Be honest.” Carter said simply, arms folded over his chest and Miles shot him a look, knowing how seriously Carter had been taking his injuries. He supposed it was only fair, given Miles acted the exact same way when Carter had been laid up for weeks on end thanks to Austin James Mercer - the very same man who was responsible for Miles’s own injuries.

Carter coughed into his fist, “Payback!”

“What was that?” Miles asked, to which Carter feigned innocence and Miles sighed, then turned to the nurse and admitted, “They do still feel sore when I take in deep breaths.”

The nurse relayed the information to the doctor who took a step back and said, “Ta keyi chóngxin chuan shàng chènshanle.”

“You can get dressed.” The nurse translated loosely, to which Miles grabbed his short that was laid out across his lap while Carter murmured, “Damn.” Miles, of course, overheard this and looked up at his boyfriend with a playful smile before he struggled to get the shirt on over his head with his ribs crying out in protest. The nurse and Carter both lent a hand, and once he had managed, Miles turned to the doctor who was jotting something down on a clipboard.

The doctor looked up and said, with the nurse translating…

“Ni de laoban ràng wo pínggu ni de jìnbù.”
“Your bosses asked me to evaluate your progress.”

“Suirán ni yijing cóng wo dé zhi de qíngkuàng zhong qudéle jìnzhan, dàn wo juédé ni zuì hao zhìshao zài jìngguan yizhou.”
“And while you have made progress from what I have been told, I feel it would be best if you were to sit out at least one more week."

Miles closed his eyes and groaned, disappointed as he had hoped to be back in action the following week in Peru. He asked, “Are you sure?”

The nurse relayed the question to the physician who looked almost affronted at his expert opinion being questioned, to which Miles held up his hands, begging off his own query. Satisfied, the physician then said something additional to the nurse, “Wo quèshí xiangxìn ni de feixíng suo chansheng de qìya shì ni de lèigu réngrán rúci suantòng de yuányin. Rúguo ni méiyou chéngxíng, wo cai ni de jiànkang zhuàngkuàng kenéng huì haozhuan.”

The nurse turned to Miles and Carter to translate, “I do believe the air pressure from your flight here is why your ribs are still so sore. Had you not made the trip, I would guess you could be medically cleared.”

Miles immediately shot a look up at Carter and said, “Don’t say it.”

Smiling with a smug sense of playful righteousness, Carter said, “Hey when you’re as right as I am, you don’t have to say it.”

Moments later, the door to the trailer opened and Miles stepped out first, followed closely by Carter. Waiting outside for word was none other than SCW’s Co-Owner, Christian Underwood. Knowing what is to be asked, Miles turned to face the boss man as Christian asked, “Well? Are you medically cleared?”

Miles could have risked a little white lie in order to get back inside of the ring a week earlier than expected, but it just was not his style. Instead, he openly admitted, “No.” Hands on his hips, he tilted his head back and the frustration was evident on his face, even at that angle.

Carter added, “The doctor said it’d be about another week before he’d get released without risk.”

Christian nodded, having had a suspicion that might end up being the case. He ran his fingers through his hair and said, “Damn shame. I had you scheduled for a shot at J2H next week, Miles.”

If the disappointment was not evident before, it sure as hell was now at the news that he was this close to having a crack at the World Heavyweight Championship only to have it taken away from him just as easily. Mac Bane had once asked when Miles would be challenging for the top tier title in SCW. The answer was seemingly pushed back even further on his professional calendar.

“Christian, I…” But whatever else Miles was going to say to possibly endeavor toward going ahead with the match of a lifetime was stalled by Christian holding up a hand and he said, “Save it. I’m not the nice boss, remember? There’s nothing you can say that is going to put you at any further risk. Especially against someone like J2H.”

Miles nodded, disappointed but altogether understanding of the situation he had been put in. Christian drew in a breath and shrugged his shoulders as he spoke up, “Still, that does put us in a spot because we have scheduled J2H for next week in a title defense so he is going to need a proper challenger.”

Christian’s gaze then turned toward Carter, and the boss clapped him on the shoulder and he said, “Congratulations.” Before Christian took his leave. Christian blinked, then looked first at Miles who seemed just as surprised or caught off guard, before he spun about to the retreating visage of the boss, “Wait… what!?”

 

---

Cuzco, Peru

The weather in Peru had not lived up to what preceded it across the world. China. Jordan. Each stop thus far during the 2023 World of Wonders tour had been graced with blue skies and warm temperatures, but such was not the case in Cuzco, Peru. The skies had been gray and overcast since the arrival of Sin City Wrestling earlier in the week. And just this previous evening, the sky had seemingly opened up and a heavy downpour had erupted from the clouds. Rain poured for hours on end, lasting almost the entirety of the evening and well into the night. It was now the next day, and while the rain had not ceased completely, it had been subdued to more of a light drizzle.

One would think this would be quite enough to keep everyone indoors, but such was not the case where Carter was concerned. He loved the bright sunshine, but one of his favorite scents was the smell of ‘morning after rain’. There just was nothing to compare it to, and that was why Carter worked to convince Miles to go on an extended walk with him out in the countryside of Cuzco. For both a breath of fresh air as well as a break from the confines of their hotel room. After all, how many times could they pass the time by… well, you know!

Thanks in passing from the advice of his own Mom in London, Miles had made certain he and Carter both had packed some form of gear for possible weather related changes. Thus, they were both sporting light jackets to stave off the chill of the wet weather in this higher altitude. The hotel was far enough behind them now and the cityscape slowly faded in the distance as the pair walked comfortably at one another’s side, their fingers interlaced with the other’s hand in a genuine display of comfort at the other’s company and touch. They walked on the side of the road to keep their distance from the random vehicle that passed them by as pavement gave way to grass and buildings to trees and shrubbery. The famed Macca Picchu could be seen in the distance as the sprinkle from the heavens pelted both men’s hair and faces as they simply walked in a comfortable silence.

That is, until Miles broke the silence and asked, “So, did you tell your family about your big match on Sunday?”

“Miles, you know they don’t approve of my wrestling.” Carter answered casually, but still after a brief pause, he admitted, “I did call and tell Grams though, about having a shot at the World Heavyweight title.”

“What did she say?”

“What she always says.” Carter half-laughed. “‘Try not to get hurt.’” He said in his best imitation of his lovely Grandmother. He then added, “Then she wished me luck.”

“And your Mom?”

“I don’t know.” Carter said in a  low tone of voice. “I just talked to Grams.”

“Carter…” Miles stopped walking, and given Carter’s hand was linked to his own, his boyfriend wasn’t given much choice in stopping as well. Miles turned Carter around to face him and he could easily read Carter’s face, knowing this wasn’t a discussion his boyfriend wanted to indulge in. Well… tough.

Miles went on to say, “You haven’t talked to your mom since the cruise.”

“I don’t have anything to say to her.” Carter shrugged. “Not after she brought my Dad onto that ship. Not after everything…”

Miles pointed out, “You know you’re not going to get answers to the ‘why’ until you speak to her, right?” He took Carter’s chin in his fingers and lifted his gaze so he could see those gorgeous blue eyes that always caused a lump in Miles’s own throat. “Right?”

“Miles, I don’t think there’s anything she can say for ‘why’ that’s going to make me feel any better about betraying me.”

“Betray is a little harsh…” Miles started to say, having taken Carter’s Mom and Grams into his heart as if they were his own, and so he felt a subconscious desire to defend or understand what had happened and why. But before he could finish what he wanted to say, Carter turned to continue their walk and Miles had little alternative but to catch up and walk at his side.

Carter said, “Don’t get me wrong, I still love her. I’m just angry with her. Hurt by her. I always knew she never stopped loving my Dad and… vice versa I suppose. It’s just…” He tensed and shook his head, “I’ll talk to her … eventually. But I’m just not ready.”

Miles nodded, understanding completely and it was a start toward fences being mended. Miles knew well enough just how much Carter loved his Mom, and to be separated from her like this was just killing him inside, even if he put on a brave face to deny it.

“How about Grams?” Miles finally asked. “Does she know anything?”

“I think so.” Carter answered. “But she’s so tight-lipped when someone confides something to her that she… Oh ho HO!”

Carter then came to a stop, and a look of utter delight crossed his youthful, handsome face.

“What?” Miles asked. “What is…?” Miles then turned to where Carter’s attention was solely focused and saw a large puddle just off the side of the gravel road and in the grass. He turned as Carter leaned heavily on his shoulder with one arm to remove his shoes with his free hand.

“Seriously?” Miles choked back a laugh. “Aren’t we a little old to be playing in puddles?”

“You’re never too old to play in a puddle in the rain!” Carter protested, stripping off his socks and tucking them into the shoes on the ground. “Growing older isn’t an option, but growing up is!”

Miles just shook his head, but the smile on his face couldn’t be smothered at Carter’s enthusiasm over something so innocent. Carter walked up to the edge of the puddle and Miles called after him, “If you get sick, don’t come crying…” But Carter jumped onto the puddle for a good stomp – and practically vanished beneath the surface of the water! Only the top of his blonde scalp could be seen before he struggled and erupted from the near six foot deep, water-filled hole and Miles fell over onto the grass in a hysterical fit of laughter!

---

“Well, here I am J2H. The challenger you didn’t expect. Probably the last person right now you expected to be setting foot inside of the ring against with your title at stake, hm? Well, if I’m going to be perfectly honest, I have to admit I wasn’t expecting this either. At least I wasn’t expecting it to happen at this point in time. I had a lot of success down in Sin City Underground before its closure, and when I came to SCW, I would like to think that I’ve done pretty well for myself even if not at the same level. I’ve had a number of hurdles thrown in my path. Some I’ve overcome and others… not so much.”

“So imagine my surprise when I get taken aside by Christian Underwood himself and I am told I was next in line after Miles Kasey to get a shot at the top championship for the Superstars. Well, all I can say is deep down I firmly believe that Miles should be the one with this title shot and trust me J2H – you’re damn lucky it’s not him or else you’d be kissing that shiny gold best of yours bye-bye sooner than you’d care to admit. But I suppose you owe Austin James Mercer a fruit basket or something because he’s the reason right now you’ve got me in the ring instead of Miles. But don’t make the mistake of thinking this means things will be going any easier for you because… they won’t.”

“I’ll be the first to admit I was questioning the logic of giving me a title shot at you, because I had a plan of my own. I wanted to work my way up from the bottom to the top, just like I did down in SCU. I wanted to start with the Roulette Championship, then go after the Internet and THEN … the World Heavyweight Championship. I even went so far as to try and talk to Mark Ward about this, thinking it had to have been a mistake. He wasn’t the only one to assure me that my being the next choice as challenger to you wasn’t an error in judgment. Miles. Ariana. And plenty of others have been messaging me, giving me all the support a person could ask for and then some. I was even met with a handful of protests when people suspected I wanted to back out of this match because I didn’t think I was ready or worthy.”

“Of course, that was then. This … is now. You see, you and I J2H? We’re not so different. Oh sure, there’s the simple fact that you have millions of dollars in your bank account and your track record inside of the ring is second to none. But we’re only a few years apart in age and where I am right now? It’s not so different from where you first got your start. I mean… your real start. Not where you started where you were losing matches to teddy bears and were basically the joke of the men’s division. That was not you. Even I can admit that. That was a rich little punk who didn’t know what the hell he was doing and believed his bank account could buy all the success and respect that he THOUGHT that he deserved. No.”

“This is the real you, J2H. The man that is going to be standing proudly across the ring from me. The man that swallowed his pride and went to Atlanta where one of wrestling’s finest tore you down and built you back up to being the man that you are right now. That I can admit. That I can respect. The only thing I ask is that you think hard and acknowledge just how parallel things are between you and I. You see when you entered that Gauntlet match eight years ago, nobody in the world gave you a chance in the world at walking away with the championship. Everyone thought based on your past showings that you’d be eliminated before you even had a chance to start. But… that’s not what happened, is it? You literally shocked the world by outlasting everyone and pinning GOTH of ALL people! After that, you set the world on fire. You set a record for the longest reign ever, and you even came back after losing it to win it a second time – and now, a third.”

“Me? People took one look at me and how I dressed and the way that I acted, and thought I’d be a joke for no other reason than I was a gay kid in a sport filled with macho men. They thought I was in it for the cheap thrill of rolling around with a bunch of men and had no real hopes for any success. But whereas you had Austin Parker to thank for turning you into the man you became, I have the GO Gym, and Gabriel Stevens for doing the same for me. And for all those assumptions of how I’d never make it?”

“SCU Pride Tag Team Champions. Combat Champion. TV Champion. And the youngest ever Underground Champion. And now, here I am… challenging you for the SCW World Heavyweight title. The thing you hold most dear in your professional life. And like you when you first challenged for this title, I don't think too many people are looking at me too favorably right about now. They see me going up against the Great One, and thinking I don’t stand much of a chance. But like you, I intend to shut those critics right up and surprise the world by walking out of Peru with the World Heavyweight title.”

“So do yourself a favor James, and don’t make the same mistake everyone else did when they set foot inside of the ring against me. Don’t look past or through me. Look AT me. Because otherwise you’re going to be leaving the ring, minus something.”

“And it’ll be MY turn to set the world ablaze.”

So, here’s the thing! Have you read Miles Kasey’s promo yet? If you have, well then carry on! If not, then perhaps you best wait and come back to this one because trust me – it’ll make a lot more sense once you do. Either way - tally ho! Or… carry on!

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee - Dollywood
June 13

Dollywood is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to the great Smoky Mountains, as people from across the country have come to know them as. Jointly owned by Herschend Media Entertainment and country music legend Dolly Parton, it is a renowned destination for tourists who aren’t even fans of the country genre of the music industry where nearly three million visitors visit annually. And it is not just your average fan of music and movies who come to Pigeon Forge to visit this cultural amusement park. Celebrities from movies, music and the like are sometimes seen walking the paths of Dollywood, eagerly visiting and enjoying themselves just like any other. In fact, two such celebrities are the entire reason behind why we are visiting today, as standing before the prominent floral hedges and the gateway, bearing the butterfly emblem of Dollywood is none other than…

“I still can’t believe that you pulled this off.” Carter stared in a quiet awe at the sign above the front entrance to the theme park that he had once ranked at the very pinnacle of his “bucket list” of places that he’d like to visit one day. He turned his head toward his immediate right, toward the slightly taller and more physically structured man that stood beside him, his boyfriend Miles. Miles was looking over the park from the outside, watching casually as many visitors walked past them and inside, passing the employees their vouchers for visiting. Carter said, somewhat impressed and a little concerned, “You didn’t go through a lot of trouble on my behalf, did you?”

Miles smiled, all but executing this worry from his boyfriend. Carter was, in most cases, supremely confident in himself and who he was as a person and a member of the LGBTQ community. It was a very large part of what attracted Miles to him in the first place. But Carter was also self conscious in what others did on his behalf. Such as spending money on him. How many times when the two went out on a date to the movies or to a nice dinner, did Carter act timid, almost embarrassed, when Miles got to the check before he did (which was the vast majority of the time). Miles simply loved to take care of Carter - treat him. Spoil him a little even. Privately, Miles thought to himself that it was just something about himself Carter was going to have to get used to. Outwardly however…?

Miles turned to Carter who looked at him with those gorgeous eyes of his and answered, “Trust me, Carter. It wasn’t any trouble. And even if it was…” Miles took a step closer, feeling the heat rise between the two lovebirds at such close proximity. “It would have been worth it just to see that smile.” To which Carter did indeed smile, showing off those dazzling pearly whites of his.

“Come on.” Miles said casually, draping an arm around Carter’s bare shoulder, both men sporting muscle shirts and shorts ensembles due to the hot Tennessee weather, and escorted him toward the entrance…

And from the moment the pair entered the theme park dedicated not just to Dolly Parton herself, but to the way of life that she had known and valued the entirety of her life, Carter and Miles did not stop moving as both young men wanted to see everything that was offered and explore as much as they could. It was their initial intent to explore today and dedicate tomorrow to the rides and attractions, but that was by far easier said than done as the two gave way to temptation and soon found themselves riding on Big Bear Mountain, one of many roller coasters that Dollywood offered. Carter absolutely loved roller coasters, as did Miles, and both were mildly surprised that such a down home park offered ones that would be the envy of many fair and amusement parks across the globe!

And true to form, it did not stop there for the pair as they found themselves on a raft, speeding down the daredevil Falls ride, water splashing and soaring on both sides! Once they reached the bottom of the ride, the water drenched everyone on board, which given the humid and hot Tennessee weather could be seen as both a bad thing as well as good. Still, neither Carter nor Miles complained as Carter had to grab Miles’s arm to venture further into the park rather than let his man go straight back on the ride for a second go and get even MORE soaked!

There were also games a plenty for anyone to take part in here at Dollywood, whether it be throwing balls or beanbags at bottles with the intent to knock them over and win a prize, or using a squirt gun on ducks on a track with the attempt to knock them over. For the most part, Carter and Miles bypassed these attractions because of the old belief from state fairs that the games were rigged, but then Miles had noticed Carter’s eyes fall to one game in particular - or the prize for that matter. A colorful, patchwork teddy bear dedicated to Dolly and her famed ‘Coat of Many Colors’. The look of appreciation in Carter’s eyes was all the motivation Miles needed, and after a few attempts, Miles sent the bottles flying and the much desired souvenir was handed to Miles, who handed it right over to Carter who held it tight.
 
Of course, the day had only just begun and there was so much more to explore and experience. Carter and Miles visited the Chasing Rainbows Museum, and rode the Dollywood Express Train Depot before closing the visit out by visiting Dolly’s Tennessee Mountain Home, an expert rendition of the small, two-room cabin that Dolly and her large family had grown up in, in the town of Locust Ridge.

6:15 PM
The afternoon was growing late and slowly turning into evening, and while the sun would not descend into the horizon until near 8:00, giving way to night, Dollywood did, in fact, close to the public at the hour of eight. Many theme parks around the world would stay open later, especially given the warm temperatures and tourist seasons, but not Dollywood. Here a vast majority of the attractions employed people from these very parts in the Tennessee hills. People with families that they wished to get home to and Dolly herself thought that was reason enough for these folks to get home and on time. But as evening slowly did approach, that brought up another little birthday dilemma that Miles had wished to solve for the birthday boy.

“So,” Miles broke the soft and brief silence between the pair as they walked along the cobblestone paths amidst the rest of the park’s visitors, Carter’s one arm intertwined in his own, his free arm cuddling the large, patchwork teddy bear Miles had won for him earlier in the day. “There is still the small matter of your birthday dinner.”

From the moment the two men had arrived, they took full advantage of all the many food offerings Dollywood held out before them, and there were plenty. Everything from ice cream to soft serve pretzels were purchased and devoured. Hotdogs. Cotton candy. Hamburgers. Cinnamon bread and they even split a pizza between them for lunch. They were two growing boys and at this rate, they were more likely to grow out than up. But, come on! One of the best reasons to come here, or any amusement park or fair, is the food! And as much as Carter and Miles have both traveled, they had to admit that Dollywood was offering up some of the best.

But we’re getting away from the entire point. Miles had addressed the issue, and the pair paused in the ‘town square’ of the park. They had been walking most of the day without stopping and by their own admission, their dogs were barking. Carter sat on a small partition wall, the teddy bear on his lap, while Miles leaned against a lamp post, creating quite the striking image.

Miles said, “Pigeon Forge isn’t exactly overflowing with five star restaurants but I’ve done some research and there are some pretty nice places we can have your birthday dinner at.”

“Miles,” Carter smiled, shaking his head slightly. “That’s not…”

“If you say it’s ‘not necessary’ I swear you are this close to not getting a spanking.” Miles threatened, playfully wagging his finger at his man. He went on, “It is necessary. It’s your birthday!”

“No, I mean it’s not necessary we have to leave to have my bday dinner.” Carter said. “When we were doing all that walking around, I was checking things out too.”

“I know.” Miles quipped. “I’m blushing.”

“Your fault for wearing tight shorts.” Carter returned fire, then said, “ANYWAY… there’s a place here I thought maybe we could have dinner at?”

“Well, lead on.” Miles offered Carter his hand to help him to his feet and the two started to walk off in the direction that Carter himself intended until they arrived at…

The Front Porch Cafe
A homey cafe/restaurant that offered good, home cooking and many dishes served were of the favorites of none other than Dolly Parton herself.

“Here?” Miles asked, bemused. There were times where he felt he knew everything that there was to know about this wonderful young man beside him, and yet still Carter would tend to surprise him. Carter had great taste in restaurants, and in wine - something Miles believed he had inherited from his Mother and Grandmother up in Seattle. But to pass up the chance to celebrate his birthday in a fancy restaurant, or whatever passed for one in the hills of Tennessee, to want to eat at such an old fashioned and comfortable looking place just made him adore this man all the more than he already did.

“Why not?” Carter shrugged his shoulders. “It reminds me of Cracker Barrel. Mom used to take me there all the time when I was a kid. Plus…” He sighed. “I don’t want to leave before we really have to.”

“You know we’re coming back tomorrow?” Miles smiled. “I got us a two day pass. All the better to get everyone souvenirs when we’re done exploring.”

“Still…” Carter turned from him and looked to the restaurant in front of them as people filed in and out. “... This is where I’d like to go.”

“Well then…” Miles placed a hand gently on the small of his back and the two walked toward the first step up onto the porch. “What the birthday boy wants…”

And only a short wait later, Miles and Carter had been escorted by the hostess to a small table to share between them in the center of the restaurant. Miles had discreetly shared a word with the hostess when Carter was getting settled, and soon enough the pair was enjoying a hearty dinner of old-fashioned, Southern cooking. Carter had always wanted to try fried green tomatoes, and lo and behold, it was one of the appetizers on the menu and he just had to have them. That, along with the Tuscan chicken and a big slab of strawberry shortcake and he was a very satisfied birthday boy. Miles, on the other hand, had a hearty appetite and it showed, as he practically devoured the large portions of chicken street tacos that he had ordered, along with the same entree Carter had ordered in Tuscan chicken but for dessert? There was no way that he wasn’t getting the chocolate cake once his eyes laid upon it on the menu page.

All in all, it was to Carter the perfect birthday dinner as the two ate quietly with casual and flirty conversations between them. They had even been approached once their meal had been finished by a handful of people that recognized them from SCW broadcasts. The fans had waited with good manners until their meal had been finished so as not to interrupt them before approaching for autographs and photos between them. Admittedly this caught Carter and maybe even Miles a touch off guard, as they were in the South and their relationship together was public knowledge. Still, Dolly Parton herself was a big supporter of gay rights and loved her gay fans, and it seemed only natural those that came here would not be so narrow minded as one might find elsewhere.

The waitress had just dropped off the check to the table when a sound that any birthday person dreaded hearing was heard, as the clapping hands of the waiters and waitresses was heard from across the Cafe, and Carter closed his eyes, a deep blush coloring his cheeks as two waitresses and one waiter marched across the cafe, heading right toward their table with a large ice cream sundae being carried by the young man.

Carter opened his eyes and arched a brow at a beaming Miles, saying, “You didn’t!” To which Miles simply answered, “I did!”

The sundae was set down in the center of the table, more than enough to share between the two of them as the trio started to sing for the amusement of all as heads turned to watch,

“I don’t know but I’ve been told…”
“I don’t know but I've been told…”
“Someone here is getting old!”
“Someone here is getting old!”
“The good news is we sing for free!”
“The good news is we sing for free!”
“The bad news is we sing OFF key!”
“The bad news is we sing off key!”

There was some applause from the other patrons and much laughter - most from Miles himself as a tightly smiling Carter just shook his head, trying to hold in the laughter at his own expense despite the embarrassment.

“Thank you!” Carter thanked the staff sincerely as a hard laugh escaped him, and once they had made their escape, Carter just stared at Miles, his own eyes twinkling. Miles tried his best innocent look and shrugged, asking, “What? That part was for my own amusement.”

Reaching for one of two offered spoons, Carter said, “You’re just lucky you’re cute!” And he was about to dig in, despite already feeling ready to burst, when Miles held up a hand.

“Before we start on that, I got something else for you.” He said, reaching into his shorts pocket and standing up.

“Something else…?” Carter frowned slightly. “Miles, you didn’t have to. You already…”

But whatever else he was going to say was cut off by Miles saying simply, “Hush. It’s your birthday and he set the small jewelry box down on the table in front of him. Miles sat back down and watched Carter – and waited. But Carter didn’t move. He seemed almost frozen as his eyes stared down at the small box and they didn’t move from it for even a fraction of a second.

“Well?” Miles prompted. “Open it.” But Carter almost flinched, and his eyes darted up briefly toward Miles with a ‘deer caught in the headlights expression. He swallowed hard, almost shaking, then stared back down at the box but still didn’t move. It was then that the proverbial bulb went on above Miles’s head and he suddenly understood the colossal misunderstanding.

“No,” Miles stood up. “No, Carter. It’s not a ring!” Miles walked around the table and picked the box up and offered it to Carter who seemed to finally take into account what Miles had said and his reassurance. Miles did not sit down, however. He stood at Carter’s side of the table and waited, watching as he gingerly popped open the box and stared down at the jewel necklace with the bright, translucent stone in the center.

Carter shivered and looked up to Miles, his voice cracking slightly, “It’s moonstone.”

“I know.” Miles simply nodded, “You said it was the one thing you’d buy for yourself. Your birthstone.”

Carter blinked, his eyes suddenly stinging as he felt the threat of an unfamiliar emotion coming close to overwhelming him and the walls he had erected around himself. He started to say something, but struggled to get it out for fear of a loss of composure. He sniffed back and finally yielded, asking, “You remembered that?”

“Contrary to popular belief,” Miles smiled. “I do pay attention.”

Carter’s fingers slipped under the thin chain of the pendant necklace and lifted it up, his eyes casting over every part of it as if he wished to commit it to memory.  He finally looked up to Miles, and Miles could see the emotion within. Even if it remained unspoken as of yet. The tears finally streaked from his eyes and down Carter’s cheeks as the young man said, “I-I love it.”

Miles said nothing in response. He took the necklace from Carter’s fingers and stepped behind him and carefully clasped it around his lean neck. Carter lifted the pendant to look at it with appreciation while Miles stepped back around the table to resume his seat. It was then that an elderly man and woman, perhaps husband and wife, stepped up to the side of the table. The old woman placed a gentle hand on Carter’s arm.

“We didn’t mean to overhear but Happy Birthday dear.” The old woman said with a smile. Her husband offered a handshake to Carter which was accepted, and the wish was repeated.

“Thank you.” Carter said as he and Miles watched the two take their leave, the old man shaking Miles’s hand as well as they walked past. Then, as Miles and Carter dug into the sundae, every so often other visitors who had heard stopped by the table briefly to wish Carter a Happy Birthday, one by one each accepted and cherished. There truly was something to be said about Southern hospitality when one more approached…

“I heard it was your birthday!” A woman’s voice spoke with a Southern twang to it. “Happy Birthday!”

Carter turned his head to say, “Thank y-” And found himself face to face with Dolly Parton herself. His eyes shot open wide and he let out a shriek of surprise, falling backwards over his chair and to the floor! Miles simply stares, his eyes almost as wide open as his mouth as Carter rose from where he landed, the top half of his head peeking over the surface of the table where the Queen of Country laughed her girlish laugh.

---

Seattle, Washington
Current

In the family home of the McKinneys where Carter had a late celebration for his birthday with family and friends, Carter was seated at the desk in the bedroom he has had since he was in his early teens, but for the first time ever - he was sharing that bed. Sharing it with someone more special than he had ever dared to dream would enter his life. The lights were out in their entirety, and Carter looked out into the Seattle suburbs from the window, the street illuminated from the lamp posts as well as the moonlight. Carter cast a look back over his shoulder and could not help but smile at the almost-angelic site of Miles sleeping beneath the covers of the comforter bearing the likeness of the animated character, Stitch, his head on top of a mountain of Stitch likeness pillows.

That was something Carter had never grown out of, his love for that Disney character famous from Lilo and Stitch, and his bedroom was adorned with memorabilia of the little chaos bringer. Something he had worried at one point Miles might find amusing at his expense but if anything, the previous Christmas holiday proved otherwise. Carter then turned back and looked back out the window.

“I can’t deny that this past week has been one of the best of my life. If Miles had planned to make sure that my twenty-fourth birthday would be one to remember well then … mission succeeded. Dollywood. Meeting the Queen herself, even if I did embarrass myself in doing so….”

His fingertips caressed the necklace that he wore around his neck, having not taken it off from the moment that it had been gifted to him.

“This. No, more so the fact that Miles had remembered it was something that I wanted very much, and he made it a point to get it for me. Proof positive that the thought behind a gift from the heart means as much if not more than the gift itself. Then my late party with Miles and my family here in Seattle, and Ari and Francisco joining me… I couldn’t have asked for more - or better. And, my birthday week isn’t even technically over.”

“Because this weekend, I have another present presenting itself - an opportunity. I thought for a while that my BFF Ari and I were going to be left out in the cold when our originally scheduled opponents for the Mixed tag Qualifier were announced as not being able to make it. I thought to myself - ‘Well that’s it then.’ We’re out of the running for possibly wrestling at Summer XXXTreme XI and Ari and I won our first titles together since we were the Pride champions in Sin City Underground. But then, lo and behold… our dreams were answered, and things got even better – and a touch more complicated. Because, yes. We do have opponents to earn our way into the Fatal Fourway for the Mixed Tag Team Championship, but we’re up against a woman who means so very much to me as a friend, and a man who, quite frankly, had my number when he and I faced each other a few weeks ago. Kim Pain, and the Roulette Champion, Peter Vaughn. Once again, the Go Gym versus Hellsgate. Team GO against the Saviors, and this will be nothing if not difficult.”

“Because, Kim? The friendship that you and I share … it just kind of came from out of nowhere, didn’t it? Just out of the blue, you were there for me when I needed help. You lent me an ear and a shoulder, and truth be told, a swift kick up the ass when I sorely needed it. When Austin basically beat me into the ground and left me buried, you didn’t even have to pause to think twice. Not knowing me at the time didn’t stop you or Whisper. You reached out and offered me the rehab help I needed to get my career back on track that wasn’t available to me at the time. When Ari and I were betrayed, you responded as if it were you who had been stabbed in the back. The Hallmark of any friendship. You, Cyrus, Kat, Mac and Whisper… you’ve become another family to me. Like everyone I love at the GO Gym, you’ve proven that you can choose your family. That’s why this weekend is going to prove so powerful and hard to bear, because I have to stand back and watch my bestie Ariana and someone I care about deeply tear into one another in order to get that coveted fourth and final spot at Summer XXXTreme XI. And I know that Ari will fight her hardest, but I also know that you will do the same. But, let the chips fall where they may ladies, because what happens in the ring between the two of you – is between just you. I have someone else that I have to face and beat if I want to get to that cruise, and it’s a man who has proven capable of beating me once already.”

“And that man is the man himself, the Roulette Champion - Peter Vaughn. I have to admit that I was bitterly disappointed Peter, when you beat me a few weeks ago in that non-title match. Oh I’m not trying to take anything away from that win because let’s face it, you earned it. I blew it - and not in the fun way. You had me beat hands down, and that is a fact that I’ve come to terms with. No, the disappointment stems from the feeling we all get when we drop a match and the hopes we had going in are so much dashed on the rocks at the crest of a sinking ship. I thought – hoped – that a win against you would be my ticket to a spot in the Ultimate X match. A Summer XXXTreme XI tradition that I’ve been a fan of for many, many years. Sadly though… as I’ve stated, it was not meant to be. But this match this coming weekend, I'd like to think of it as a sort of redemption arc for myself. It won’t get me into the Ultimate X match for your championship like I had originally wished for, but it will serve as my second chance at getting a much needed win against a man of your caliber of talent. It would get me into the World Mixed Tag title match with Ariana at my side and if I’m the one that puts you down for the count, well who knows? It might also put me in line for a one-on-one against you for your gold, should you retain.”

“But, and no offense Peter, considering who they announced on twitter as one of your challengers, that future is looking pretty grim, my friend! So, we’re just going to have to wait and see. This has been the perfect birthday week for yours truly, and I have no desire or intention of letting it end on anything other than a high note. I want that spot for Ari and myself. Summer XXXTreme XI. The Fatal Fourway for the World Mixed Tag Team titles.”

Carter stood up from his desk.

“That’s a present I plan on getting for myself.”

Carter then carefully walked back around to the bedside, the only light being shone in through the windows. He sat down carefully so as not to disturb the sleeping form of Miles and he laid back. And Miles’s bare arm reached over around his upper body and pulled him in close as the scene faded.

“Okay, so here’s the thing. I know some of what I am going to say might upset some people that I actually have a very high level of respect towards. And no, it’s not because I am about to go woke on anyone. And no, I do not take being called woke as any form of insult, even if it’s intended to be. To me, being woke means to be awakened toward the needs of others. It’s having the desire to make the world a much better place for everyone - not just the people who live like you do or how you believe they should or just those that have the same beliefs as you. Everyone. So please, by all means, call me woke. I take it as a compliment!”

“But… I also don’t consider myself the typical member of Generation Z, the young men and women my age or relatively close who will freely go around and tell anyone who will listen - willingly or not - how offended they are by even the slightest of slights. If I am going to be perfectly honest, there are times when my generation actually embarrasses me with how easily they get butt hurt over just about anything. Comedy. Politics. Religion. Food - pretty much everything gets under the skin of my generation it seems.”

“Of course what I’m saying isn’t limited to just my generation. I’ve seen people of all ages, men and women alike, cry about this or that offending them and expecting the world to bend over backwards to accommodate them. I read the news about how older generations are banning books from libraries because they feel the literature will be bad for younger minds. Okay, I mean, yeah. Sure! If by bad you mean bad that they’ll learn truths from your older generation that you don’t want them knowing about. Despite separation of church and state in politics, some older generations want everyone to live as they do - dictated to by their church and their religion. They firmly believe that since their religion says that they can’t do this or that, that it also means that you can’t or shouldn’t do this or that. Sort of like someone being on a diet and telling me that I can’t buzz saw through that pint of cherry cordial ice cream Same thing!”

“I mean, yeah. I’d be lying if I told you that some things don’t annoy or offend me. I just don’t make it a habit to try and force my views on the world around me. I don’t try to axe beloved cartoon characters like Apu from the Simpsons or cost someone their job because they express an excited interest in a video game. There’s right and there’s wrong. Just don’t try to tell me how I should think and act or else I’m going to sit down at a table full of vegans and order the bloodiest thing on the menu, just to be a bitch.”

“But I can see that I’ve gotten off track here to some degree, but trust me when I tell you that I have a point that I’m trying to make. When the Saviors first debuted in SCW, it was before the closure of Sin City Underground and before I moved on up, and while a part of me regrets not being there for the heyday of this group that made such a huge impact upon its arrival, another part of me breathes a sigh of relief that I wasn’t just another statistic of that team. Because when they first came to SCW, the Saviors were legit feared because you never knew who was next on their agenda. Every week it seemed someone new, someone unexpected, came under their radar and suffered the consequences. Even if it seemed like there was no reason for who they were targeting or attacking, the implications were clear to anyone paying attention. They wanted all eyes on them, and they certainly succeeded in accomplishing just that! They were going after everyone from Bill Barnhart to Jack Washington and even Aron, Fenris’s little brother, got attacked. The Saviors were on their way to becoming the single most dominant stable in SCW history – until they weren’t. And it wasn’t because they weren’t successful inside of the ring because they were! Mac Bane’s string of championships is proof of that! It’s just that, all of a sudden, the attacks stopped and people stopped being afraid. When that happened, the aura of invincibility that they enjoyed for so long was just gone. Poof! Mac continued being a badass inside of the ring, and they even brought in top guys like Ken Davison and Peter Vaughn, and some tough as nails women like Kim Pain. But still… not the same as it once was. Especially when they actually brought in the Troll and Krystal Wolfe as new members. I could almost see Krystal, but the Troll??? And the sad thing is – the Troll has lasted longer! Krystal didn’t even last a month on that team before they kicked her to the curb!”

“And then … Mac left. I know he’s watching and no Mac, I’m not saying any of this in an obvious attempt to try and talk you into returning to SCW. I mean, I hope that day comes and I hope it happens soon, but dude – I respect you and I can understand why you needed time away. It’s just that I always saw you as the life force of the Saviors. The heart, I guess you could say. With you gone … again, not the same.”

“Just my opinion.”

---

Harry Reid International Airport -
Las Vegas, Nevada

How many people here knew that after 73 years as the McCarran International Airport, the state commission voted unanimously to rename the airport to the Harry Reid International Airport? I certainly didn’t. But after the negative publicity surrounding McCarran and certain views the man held, it happened – in 2021. I guess it would help to do better research. Thanks a lot wikipedia! But I digress!... Here we are, in the airport that delivered thousands of tourists each and every day! Yes, day. It has been recorded that just under 110,000 people come to the famed “City of Sin” each day, and this day was certainly no different as Harry Reid International was absolutely flooded with tourists from all over the world, male and female, young and old alike. One might be forgiven for thinking it had everything to do with being so close to the weekend but the truth is, that the scene is just as familiar on a Tuesday morning as it would be on a Friday afternoon.

But this isn’t entirely about someone arriving - it is and it isn’t. This also has much to do with the one being visited. Carter McKinney, known to the SCW Universe by the unique ring moniker of Helluva Bottom Carter, waited rather impatiently at the airport’s arrival in the lower level, as crowds descended from the escalator to retrieve their luggage and be on their way. Carter had slyly maneuvered his way to the forefront of the many who held signs with names on them, hoping to attract the attention of whomever they were waiting for, be it business or pleasure.  As he glanced around while he waited, he saw some who were holding up signs with names on them, hoping to catch the eye of one person or another. Carter was really no different, but anyone could hold up a cheap piece of poster board from the dollar store with a name scrawled on it. Carter? He had six colorful balloons floating above, tied to his upper arm; one for each color of the rainbow. If that didn’t attract the eye of this very special lady coming for a visit, nothing would! Not unless… a whiff of a fresh scent attracted his attention, and to his right, from the corner of his eye, Carter spotted a rather large bouquet of orchids in the hands of his boyfriend, Miles Kasey who just reappeared after wandering off.

Carter looked from Miles to the flowers and back again, with a raised, inquisitive eyebrow. To which Miles simply shrugged his shoulders with an air of innocence and asked, “What?”

“So that’s where you wandered off to?” Carter smiled, adoring this man and how he managed to find new ways to surprise him every day. Spoiling his family just added to the feelings between the two men. Carter added, “I can’t believe there’s a floral boutique in the airport.”

“There's not.” Miles mused. “I found that out the hard way. I lucked out and got these from this cute little old woman selling flowers near the stores.”

“First you buy out that flower shop for Mother’s Day, and now this.” Carter chuckled silently, casting a sidelong glance to the man beside him with the heart of gold. “You’re going to spoil them, you know?”

To which Miles just smiled and answered with a quip, “Hey your Mom and Grams have to love you. I’m earning it.”

“Earning what?”

Carter answered casually, “Your love.” Before he realized who had approached to ask the question, and then realized, “Grams!” And practically threw himself at the older woman who played such a vital role in his life, from his years as a child to his awkward teen years - clear up until now. The loving embrace was returned with mutual affection, as Joan hugged her beloved grandson, Miles noting the calm and loving look on her face - a look only a loving grandma could truly pull off.

Once she separated from Carter, Joan aka “Grams” turned to Miles and her face lit up even more, if that were at all possible, at the sight of the loving man who had entered their lives in the most meaningful of ways. Miles played such a pivotal role in saving her grandson from a downward spiral that would have quickly led to tragedy if not for their forced intervention. And while Carter had convinced himself from the get go that good things like Miles did not happen to him, for the first time ever, Joan was over the moon at her grandson having been proven wrong. Joan quickly enveloped Miles in the same, warm embrace while he returned the hug with one arm, holding onto his welcoming gift with the other hand.

After adding a soft peck on Miles’s cheek, Grams separated from him and took a step back, her attention turning toward the orchids in his hand. She looked up to him through her lashes and smiled, “Are those for me?”

“Who else?” Miles smiled, offering them over to her to which she accepted gratefully. Her fingers stroked the white and purple petals with care, before she brought them in close for a sniff of their fragrance. She then lowered them and said, “Thank you dear, they’re lovely.”

She then teasingly turned toward her grandson and added, “I’m glad to see someone knows how to welcome a lady properly.”

Carter’s jaw fell open, as Miles offered her his arm, “Shall we go get your luggage? Your carriage awaits.” Joan then slid her arm into Miles’s offered one and Miles started to escort her toward baggage claim with Carter right beside. Miles leaned over as they walked to add for his man, “Grams gets shotgun.”

“Fine.” Carter said without thinking clearly. “I guess I get your backseat.”

Grams stopped and turned to look at Carter without saying a word. Her face was without expression as Carter came to a halt and saw her looking at him with a twinkle in her eye. He asked, “What?” Then after a brief moment’s pause, the proverbial light bulb lit up and his face flushed a charming shade of pink. Grams just smiled and patted his warm cheek and resumed being escorted forward through the crowd while Miles cast a glance back over his shoulder and gave his boyfriend a coy wink.

---

“I guess I need to elaborate a little further because I’ve come to know and respect a few members of the Saviors, Kim Pain, Kat Jones and Mac bane chief among others. And, by association, that fabulous lady known as Whisper. I don’t want anyone upset with what I said earlier or taking offense because I wasn’t intending it. I was just trying to say that the Saviors were one of the more feared and dominant groups ever in SCW, their success rate not having been seen since the Seven Deadly Sins stable. And while their in-ring success continues, the fear factor has just slipped away. With Mac gone and Goth’s injury, things just aren’t the same and speaking from the heart, I hope that all changes. Because I’ve had experience against the Saviors inside of the ring. I learned firsthand what Mac Bane is capable of inside of the ring. He’s one of the best ever in SCW, and even though I like to flatter myself and say I gave as good as I got in that match, truth be told the man handed my ass to me. So, I’m familiar with being in there with a Savior, which is a good thing because I find myself returning this week to face another Savior.”

“Peter Vaughn, the brand new Roulette Champion. I watched that match happen in London and even though I have to admit I was pulling for Malachi, I can’t say that I am surprised that Vaughn walked away with the gold. It could have gone to any of the three, but Vaughn brought a championship back to the Saviors. Which just goes to prove everything I’ve said about the team is true, that their track record just keeps continuing and they were meant to bring gold into the fold. But then again, I’d like to take the time to flatter myself for a moment and say the same thing about myself. Now maybe I am tooting my own horn but … toot toot! I know I have yet to win a championship here in SCW, but I’m not exactly without having held a title or two during my time down in SCU. Pride tag titles. TV. Combat. And, yes – the top tier title, the Underground title. Now, I have to admit that in the end my head wasn’t into things the way they should have been and I wasn’t the Underground champion that SCU deserved, but that’s the past. This is the present and the future is where my mind is right now.”

“Because despite what some have hinted toward, no. I am not insulted or upset at the fact that this match against Peter Vaughn is a non-title match. I mean, why would it be? This is my first match back since Blaze of Glory XI - in March! Ironically in the same city then that we will be in soon - Vegas baby! So no, I couldn’t justify getting a title shot after being out for three plus months, even if I wanted to. Peter worked his ass off to win that title, and if I want to get a crack at it, I’m going to have to work my ass off in order to earn it. That right there is where my future lies. Because this is what I had in mind… should I – when I – win this match against you Peter, I’m not going to do what others have done and immediately cry for a title shot since I beat the champion. I’m going to be patient instead, and just ask that I be entered into the traditional Ultimate X match for the Roulette title once Summer XXXTreme rolls around and we board that cruise. That’s all I ask. And if somehow I don’t win this match…?”

“I guess that would mean it’s back to square one with no hard feelings.”

“What I said on Twitter, I meant Peter. I’m booking forward to this match because I’m still in my formative years in this business and I am never going to rise and get better without getting in there against the best. And the opportunities just don’t get any better than by getting inside of the ring with a reigning champion. Belt at stake or no, win or lose (and I hope to win!), I’m going to be satisfied enough that Peter Vaughn walks away from this match knowing who he was up against.”

“Me, myself and I.”

January 31 -
Las Vegas

The entire world had found out about what happened between Miles Kasey and Carter McKinney quite by accident thanks to ‘loose lips’ on a live edition of Climax Control, and even their respective family who might not watch their loved ones put their bodies on the line like modern day gladiators would have found out eventually thanks to neighborhood gossip. The thing was, Carter did not want his own family finding out through second hand gossip. Knowing his Mom and Grams, that would hurt them worse than any bad news - and this was most definitely not anything of the sort. When Miles was fighting to protect him over the turbulent time of discord with Lazarus, Grams and Mom both simply adored him. When Miles accepted their invitation to spend Christmas with the family, that simply elevated their affections toward the man Carter had grown increasingly fond of.

They deserved to hear from him and him alone. It was why he had messaged the two of them ahead of time to ask if they would be available at the earliest possibility because he needed to talk to them about something. Joanna, his Mom, went into immediate protective mode out of concern for her only child and tried to get him to divulge what was wrong, then and there, thinking perhaps that he had gotten injured somehow in that barbaric sport that he calls his profession. He had to assure her time and again that this was not the case before she finally yielded and agreed to set up a video chat for him with Grams and herself.

And that time was now. Miles was out at the gym, keeping that fabulous toned body fit. Carter wanted to go with because he loved watching Miles do the squats but such was life; he could not always get what he wanted it seemed. Plus, this was more important than staring lustfully at Miles’s ass. Well, almost.

“So what is it dear?” Joanna asked from her end of the video call, prompting Carter to gaze about and ask, "Where’s Grams?”

Joanna answered, “She’ll be joining us in a moment. She’s making herself a cup of tea. That gift set Ariana and Francisco gave her is being put to very good use.” Apparently so, as Carter’s two friends knew that Joan aka Grams loved tea so for Christmas they had gifted her with a gourmet gift set of different blends from across the globe. And soon enough, the beloved matriarch of the family arrived on the screen, blowing into the cup she held between both hands.

“Hello dear!” Grams smiled brightly, as she always did when she was greeting her grandson. Once she took her offered seat beside her daughter, Joanna then turned to face Carter and she asked, “Now what’s so important? You sounded worried before.”

Carter shook his head and answered, “No, not worried. It’s just … something happened and I wanted to tell you personally before you found out from someone else.”

“Sounds important?” Grams spoke up, more of a statement than a question, to which Carter nodded in agreement.

“It is.” He said. “Everything I was feeling for Miles was… well, it was actually hurting to a point at the time. You knew how I felt in the airport and I thought maybe it’d be better if I just left his condo and stayed with Ari and Francisco instead.”

“And did you?” Joanna asked, to which Carter shook his head in the negative and answered, “No. Miles caught me trying to sneak out and we had a long talk.”

“And…?”

“And we…” Carter drew in a deep breath and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Carter smiled. A smile that felt as genuine on the outside as it did on the inside. He looked to both women on the laptop screen and he said, “He told me he feels the same way.”

This bit of news caused both ladies to sit up a little straighter and his mom curled her fingers over her lips, the smile for her son’s happiness threatening to overwhelm her emotions as she asked gently, “You mean… you and Miles…?”

To which Carter nodded and Grams sipped at her tea and simply observed, “It’s about time!”

“Mother!”

---

February 3rd -
Las Vegas

It felt like, well, like an eternity since he had returned to Miles’s condo at the Turnberry Towers, in the very same building that the brothers Baltasarsson called their home here in the famed “City of Sin”, just two floors down from Fenris and Aron. Carter had offered Miles his personal time alone with his visiting Mom and sister, having even offered to find a hotel for the duration of their visit, privately hoping that he would not only agree but actively encourage the idea but alas - it was not to be. Miles did not want him to be wasting money on a hotel without need, and he simply wanted Carter to be there. This was, after all, a very big step for Miles as a son and brother, coming clean to his blood as a pansexual man, and also one who had recently become involved with Carter himself.

Simply put, Miles wanted him there and Carter knew that if this was going to succeed between them, he had to set aside his own personal insecurities and be there for this wonderful, wonderful man. The one instance that Miles did yield to Carter was the thought that Miles alone should pick them up from the airport so that he could have some time with them to discuss everything before bringing Carter himself into the equation. At the time, Miles had not been altogether certain how any of his family would take the news of not only his sexuality, but he was tired of hiding who he was - and that trait Carter could understand and support. So as Miles prepared to head for McCarran International Airport, Carter himself opted to do a little damage at the nearest Mall close to the Vegas Strip, the Wynn Plaza. As Miles had left for the airport, he made Carter promise that he would return in time so they could take his Mom and sister out to dinner on their first night in Las Vegas. A promise Carter agreed to and sealed with a kiss.

Yet now Carter stood outside of the door to the condo, listening to the vices within. He had arrived back at the Towers near twenty minutes ago, wondering if he would be too early or too late. Airline arrival times were notoriously unreliable, even at worldwide renowned ones such as the Vegas airport. But pulling his little yellow beetle into the parking garage, he saw Miles’s own vehicle in its reserved spot and the butterflies ignited even further inside of his stomach, making him feel almost ludicrous. By his mother’s definition, Carter was a ‘social butterfly,’ a people person. But meeting a man’s family was something else altogether different. It was serious, and it was a situation that Carter had never found himself in before. Lazarus was his first SERIOUS boyfriend, and the topic of his ex’s family was never broached. For good reasons, obviously. But when it came to meeting Carter’s mom and Grams? Miles did not so much as hesitate, even when the circumstances were different. He dove right in and never once looked back. Well…

Carter scooped his bags up and extended a hand for the condo door. If Miles could be so brave for his sake, how could Carter not do the very same?

Once inside, he heard a pause in the conversation between the occupants inside, obviously having heard someone enter.  His arms full of shopping bags from such boutiques as Hermes, Breitling and Nutridrip, he used his arm to carefully shut the door as quietly as possible, suddenly feeling very self conscious. Once having done so, Carter carefully swept past the main foyer and into the hall where he could make his grand escape - er, I mean, set aside his shopping bags before joining Miles and his family, when –

“I thought you were just going window shopping?”

The voice right behind him caused Carter quite the start as he jumped out of his skin, calling out, “Jesus!” Carter spun around to face a very bemused looking Miles whose eyes were roaming over the bags in his hand with an inquisitive look. “Miles, you have got to STOP doing that!”

Ever the curious sort, Miles took a step closer and that act alone made Carter feel flushed but Miles’s attention was on the contents of the bags he had been carrying, using a finger to poke around and…

“If you’re trying to snoop to see if I bought you anything,” Carter quipped. “You’re going to have to wait until later.”

“Window shopping, hm?” Miles teased, stepping back and Carter looked down and realized that perhaps he had bought more than he intended - or realized. He shrugged his shoulders and looked back up into the teasing eyes of his man and simply retorted, “So I was weak and bought the windows.”

Miles just chuckled to himself, knowing Carter well enough that he did enjoy going shopping but the shops at the Wynn Plaza were high end and even one of those bags had to have cost a bundle. As if he could read his mind, Carter sighed, “I know, I’m supposed to be saving to get my own place but… “

Miles held a hand up, waving off any further thoughts about his spending habits. He said, “hey, so long as there’s a little something in there for me, I won’t judge.” He winked and then asked, “So, are you planning to put those down and come join us? Mom and Bri want to meet you.”

Carter shifted his gaze down the hall and toward where the aforementioned women would be waiting, most likely in the living room or at the bar island. He swallowed hard, and felt like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car before he looked back to Mlles and he started to say, “Maybe-maybe this isn’t the best time? You haven’t seen your family in awhi-Miles! What are you…!?” Carter yelped in surprise as Miles simply stepped forward and dumped Carter over his shoulder, shopping bags and all, and did an about-face to bring him back up the hall to the living room where his Mom and sister watched with amused and interested expressions.

“Well, he has a cute butt.” Brianna said. “I’ll give him that.”

“Brianna!” Mora chastised her daughter with good humor as Miles arrived, front and center with his favored “baggage”. Miles said, “Mom? Bri? This is Carter.” Miles then turned around so the dangling form of Carter could look up from his awkward position and wave as best he could with his arms full.

“Hello?” Carter smiled, despite the awkward circumstances, before Miles turned back around so that he could face his family. Carter then asked, “Are you going to put me down now?”

Miles then glanced back over his shoulder and asked in turn, “Are you going to make a run for it? Because I’ll sit on you if you do!” After a moment’s pause, Miles frowned and looked back over his shoulder and asked, “You’re thinking it over, aren’t you???”

---

A classroom setting…

The young grappler known now to the SCW Universe as Helluva Bottom Carter, stood at the forefront of the classroom setting, a chalkboard behind him with random mathematical equations etched on in colorful chalk and the desk behind him and just to his right side, neat and tidy with a stack of papers and an apple for the teacher front and center. And Carter himself? Carter was dressed most uncharacteristically in a tweed suit with checker pattern and patches on the elbows, his hair slicked back and thick rimmed glasses worn over his eyes. 

“Class, tonight’s lecture is one that we’ve all been looking forward to. It is about False Prophets, and the art of near truths. I’m sure we’ve all experienced now and then someone enters our lives who has mastered the art of half-truths. You know the sort; the type of person who will tell stories of their own personal experiences, whether to play the role of hero or victim, but leave out crucial details in order to ensure those they are speaking to see them as either the hero or a somewhat sympathetic figure. These half-truths leave out details that might seem small and insignificant, but in truth are quite vital to the overall story and serve as the main catalyst in how we see the subject. A visual aid…”

Carter walked around the desk to arrive at the chalkboard where he picked up a pointer stick and then reached up and drew down the screen to show a blown up picture of none other than the reigning Internet Champion, Alexander Raven. Pointer in hand, Carter directed everyone’s attention to the championship figure with the gold and jewel encrusted belt worn around his waist.

“Class, this here is a prime example of a master of half-truths. Alexander Raven, a championship caliber wrestler but an artist in making himself look good, even when the situation does not warrant it. Now this man won the Internet Championship as far back as October of last year, defeating Lachlan Kane for the title. October… this marks his reign at a very impressive five months, and since that night in Sparks, Nevada, the new champion has defended successfully against the likes of Austin James Mercer, Fenris and yes, even Miles Kasey!”

There are recorded boos now emanated from the classroom, to which Carter raised a hand and nodded knowingly with eyes closed.

“I know, I know. Those names and a handful of others have all fallen to the wayside of this ‘Broken Messiah’ as he likes to call himself, and the more wins he racks up against established stars, the more he believes himself to be the proverbial King of the Mountain. I believe he phrased it best when he stated he was ‘melting down the crowns of the former kings to make his throne’. Former kings - as in former World Champions such as Mercer and Fenris and many, many others. He would have you believe that his wins sullied the reputations of those men while further strengthening his own.”

Carter wagged a finger toward the camera, clearly against this notion.

“Not so, if you ask me! If anything, I would dare say the exact opposite is true if you were to take the ‘half-truths’ he spews regularly on social media and promos and see the entire picture for what it is! A charade, a fantasy land of make believe where Alexander Raven likes to sit in his ivory tower and look down at the world around him and all of the so-called peasants who would seek to dethrone him. But… let’s take into account HOW he won, and in many cases, how he has managed to keep hold of that crown of his, shall we?”

“His match against the then-champion Lachlan Kane was an epic contest, to be certain. Saying otherwise would be a lie, or a ‘half-truth’. But did Alexander REALLY defeat Lachlan for the gold? Did he pin his shoulders to the mat for a three count?”

He shook his head no.

“Did he force Lachlan to tap out and thus yield his crown?”

Again, Carter shook his head no.

“No, in fact, he did neither. He did trap Lachlan in his submission finisher, but Lachlan did not give in. His body did. Lachlan Kane passed out in the Boston Crab hold and the proverbial torch was passed, without what many would call a decisive victory. Now…!”

Carter walked back around the desk and had a seat on the edge.

“How about High Stakes XI, and the first real threat to the new King’s crown? A threat by the name of Austin James Mercer? I admit, I was one of the MANY who was involved in the getting pools for this match, and the odds were most definitely not in the favor of the wannabe King! More often than not, people were placing bets that Austin would rise again and reclaim his throne from this usurper, but as Alexander would have us all believe, the former King fell in defeat. But the simple truth is neither man won that day. The battle ended in a double count out - a stalemate! And when they met once again in a rematch to decide then and there who was the real and true King? Indeed Alexander did indeed retain his title - but had to use his finishing touch onto a steel chain to deal the extra bit of damage to walk away the winner.”

“Then of course there’s the threat of ‘the White Wolf’. This was brought about because Fenris simply refused to give in to Alexander raven’s delusional fantasies about being the King. In fact, Fenris barely acknowledged him at all! Fenris wanted nothing to do with him, and even less to do with the Internet Champion! A narcissist like Alexander could not abide by this and he all but coerced Fenris into this unwanted championship match and yes again, Alexander shocked the world by dealing a rare defeat to ‘the White Wolf’ – technically. I say technically because Alexander did not pin Fenris. On a technicality, Fenris pinned himself. The fact simply worked in the champion’s favor, allowing him to retain.”

“Then of course, there was the most recent challenge to your throne, it took place just this past week! The challenge where the King Raven was brought to the very brink of defeat by Prince Miles before the King (again) snuck past by the skin of his teeth in order to keep hold of his championship just a little while longer! But once again, he did so by a mere technicality as he had Miles trapped in a submission finisher, and like Austin before him, Miles passed out in the hold rather than deign to give Alexander the satisfaction of a decisive victory.”

“Not to hear Alexander Raven tell it, of course. If you were to listen to him and him alone, he would have the world believe his victories were a mere formality and he won decisively and dominantly! When the facts could not be further from the truth!”

That being said, Carter casually tossed the pointer back over his shoulder, the length of wood clattering against the chalkboard and falling to the tile floor. He then whipped off the glasses from his face and gave them a nonchalant toss. He leaned back heavily in his seat on the edge of the desk, his hands gripping the edge with white knuckles.

“Okay, that being said, I think it’s time to cut all pretenses of fun and games and call this for what it really is; a fact check! Broken Messiah… False Prophet… Alexander, you can call yourself whatever your little delusional heart and soul desires. I can’t stop you. I wouldn’t even if I could. But do you know what I can call you? You are seriously and without a doubt the absolute luckiest champion in the history of Sin City Wrestling! You won that title by mere chance, and ever since then, you’ve managed to get past every challenge to your gold by either chance, luck, breaking the rules - or a combination of one or the other! Or, all three! Of sure, you can go by the old adage of ‘doing whatever it takes’ in order to succeed, but what the whole truth of the matter is, you’re really just a champion here through sheer, dumb luck!”

“But this here?”

He motions with a forefinger between the camera and himself.

“What we have approaching us in a mere matter of days? This isn't a match for your crown. It's not even a one-on-one non-title event. No, this is a match that is allowing me to do what I love to do best. Team with my best friend Ariana to face some quality competition! She and I ruled the tag team division down in SCU, and it is just a damn good thing that Mark and Christian decided to retire the Mixed Tag titles or else we’d be doing the exact same thing here! And while you're better half did not exactly succeed in her debut, I won't fault her for that. None of us win all the time. And in her defense, you did train her if I’m not mistaken so you probably forgot to teach her all of your underhanded tricks of the trade. But I have all the faith in the world that Ariana can and will handle her when it's their time in the ring. And as for us, Oh Mighty Alexander the Great? You've been so focused on dismantling the crown and putting the former Kings of Sin City Wrestling beneath your boot, you went and looked right past what could be your biggest threat. You have yet to acknowledge the queen!"

“I’m not ‘Godly’ Ken Davison, but a part of me wishes I was because after this match between us? The world is going to see you for the paper champion that you are. If Ari gets the win over Luna, great! Terrific! But my personal end game is to get the win over…”

He twirls his finger around and points it right into the camera.

“You. For both personal and professional satisfaction. For doing what nobody else in recent memory has been able to do. Not since last year! I missed my chance against Barnhart and the Roulette title. Beating you..? I won’t try to muscle in on Ken’s chance against you at the Supercard, but beating you will force you to acknowledge the one simple truth that has so far escaped your delusional little mind.”

“I. Exist!”

Quirky.

If Carter had a single word that he could best use to describe his BFF, Ariana Angelos, it would be just that; quirky. Her love of all things chef-related, even some of her more nefarious recipes that were probably behind the true reason for the success rate of Recipe 4 Disaster. Her sense of humor was bubbly with just a hint of mischievousness - which he would partially blame himself for. But above all else, Carter would say that she was absolutely loving and loyal, she would die on that proverbial hill were it in defense of a loved one; be it friend or family. Or a friend who she loved as family.

Like him. Why he didn’t see this coming.

Given ‘his Ari’s’ personality traits, he often thought her choice of house in Las Vegas was oddly fitting. It was a very quaint and humble two-story house, unlike the mega mansions one hears about so many wrestling stars claiming for themselves in this day and age. Many men and women wanted to flaunt their wealth or status in the wrestling industry by purchasing the absolute biggest and grandest estate that money could buy. Not his Ari. When she had moved out of his tiny little apartment, seeking her own space, she wasn’t looking for grand or extravagant. She just wanted a simple home. And in Carter’s opinion, she found just that. It was just on a slight lift of a hill in the neighborhood, just on the outskirts of famed Las Vegas with steps that led from the street to the covered front porch alongside a street-level drive where she and Francisco parked their cars. The exterior of the house itself was a soft shade of a robin’s egg blue; Ari’s favorite color. If you had asked Carter, he would have said that his bestie’s home looked like it had stepped right off the screen of a 1960s TV show - and he sincerely meant that as a compliment.

The yellow 2001 Volkswagen Beetle slowly pulled to the curb right in front of the house itself and came to a stop. The engine turned off, and as the driver’s side door opened, out stepped Carter McKinney himself. This is where Carter shared a few quirky traits with his bestie. Because where many stars, especially the younger generations, would spill their wallets and bank accounts to buy the flashiest car imaginable, Carter went for “style over substance” in his own choice of vehicles. Carter loved the charm and individuality of this make of car, and endured teasing from friends and colleagues but he couldn’t care in the least. It was his baby. He loved it - end of story.

Carter shut the door behind him and stared at the house, slightly apprehensive and small wonder why - the passenger door opened and out stepped his boyfriend, Lazarus. The controversial figure who, for weeks now, has been at the forefront of every one of his close friend’s minds when it came to the accusations of abuse. Carter’s friends and family had done everything in their power to shield Carter and save him from himself and from the violent nature of this seemingly devil in an angel’s guise, but to little avail. Such was the nature when one suffered from the belief that one could do no better, and that deep down you were truly in love with your abuser and would be good for them and that they needed you as much as you did they. No matter what they did, no matter how badly they would beat you down, you kept going back believing that it would be the end.

Stockholm Syndrome.

“I still don’t get why you insisted on coming along.” Carter said as Lazarus closed the door and walked around the vehicle to join his boyfriend as they started up the path to the front porch. He went on to say, “It’s just a special DnD game Krystal invited me to.”

“Oh well maybe because the last time I left you on your own, your friends stole you away from me?” Lazarus said without a hint of remorse or guilt, given he himself was the reason they had done so. They found Carter beaten absolutely bloody in Lazarus’s latest fit of rage and they wasted no time in getting him out of there, whether he wanted it or not.

“I came back, didn’t I?” Carter tried to reason, feeling as if he were walking on eggshells with his man, not knowing what might set him off this next time. And the truly frightening thing was he knew that there would indeed be a next time.

Lazarus paused and stared at Carter, almost making the young grappler feel the need to flinch under the hot gaze. “Yeah.” Lazarus chided. “After how long?”

Carter sighed, “I can’t win.” as they reached the porch and while Lazarus expected Carter to ring the doorbell or knock, Carter simply took a key from his key chain and unlocked the front door. He went to open it when he noticed Lazarus’s curious glare from behind him and he shrugged, “What? Ari gave me a key when she first bought the place. She said to let myself in.”

He opened the door wide and stepped aside to let Lazarus enter first, pausing to look around at the side street of the neighborhood and didn’t spot a few recognizable cars. “And it doesn’t look like everyone is here yet.”

After Lazarus entered, Carter soon followed and shut the door behind them. The inside of Ari’s house could best be described as having a modern Greek flare. The dominant color was Ari’s favorite blue in varied shades, but she played up her Greek ancestry beautifully with touching decor that befit her heritage. Not overdone, just enough to make this home seem elegant in its own way.

Stepping past the foyer and en route to the front room where the DnD game would be set up, Carter cast a sidelong gaze toward his man and said, “Laz, you should know Ari may not be happy about my bringing you along…”

“Actually… we were counting on it.” The voice of Miles Kasey startled them both as they turned the corner to the living room, and they found more - many more - people than they had expected to be there for this “game”. Ariana and Francisco. Krystal and Cassie Wolfe. Miles. Aron Baltsarsson and his older brother, Fenris. Gabriel Stevens. But without the doubt the most conspicuous - Carter’s mom Joanna and grandmother Joan were right there in the midst of this gathering – whatever it was! They were all seated, save for Fenris who stood upright against the near wall, and all eyes were on the two young men who stood like two prisoners facing the gallows.

“Well, well, well…” Krystal shook her head. “Look what the cat dragged in.” Krystal looked at Joan and said in a stage whisper, just loud enough to be heard by all present, “This couldn’t have worked out better had we planned it this way.”

“Planned. What?” Carter felt the color in his cheeks rise, the heat of his flesh growing from the neck up. All eyes were on him and he felt like he was having one of those humiliating dreams where he went to class without any clothes on. Carter’s eyes found Ari who was seated on the sofa beside Francisco. “Ari? What’s going on?”

Ari being Ari, she almost felt the need to hide her gaze as her hand found itself in the warm comfort of Francisco’s own. She took a moment to gather herself before she found it within herself to meet Carter’s eyes and give him her most hopeful and imploring expression, “Carter, we’re here for you. To talk.”

“Talk to me about WHAT?”

But before Ari or anyone else could say anything to answer, it was Carter’s own grandmother who spoke up from the love seat she shared with her daughter, “Maybe about why you snuck out like a thief in the night to go running back to the bastard who beat you bloody.”

“Mother…” Joanna lightly reprimanded her mother at the same time Lazarus glared at Joan, “Excuse me!?”

Carter looked back and forth between those who he was closest to sitting there before him, united as one and for his own well being. He closed his eyes and shook his head before he confirmed, “So… there was never a game tonight? You just said that to get me here for this… what? Intervention?”

His eyes found Ari's, whose own brown eyes were filled with hope for saving her bestie from himself, from becoming more than just another statistic in a domestic abuse case and something far, far worse.  Carter sighed and shook his head with sadness before he turned to Lazarus, “Let’s go.”

Lazarus bore a satisfied smile but before they could make their exit, Miles wrapped an arm around Carter’s shoulder and gently - but firmly - steered him in a wide circle away from the head of the living room and more importantly, away from Lazarus, and he set him down gently, but firmly, in the chair that he himself had just vacated. Carter looked up with surprise at Miles who tried to give his best firm but stoic expression, brooking no arguments from his friend.

Gazes that were sympathetic. Disappointment. Worried. Angry.

Then eyes turned toward Lazarus who stood there like a deer in headlights at the open hostility focused now on him, arms held out as he looked toward Carter… “Carter? Are you just going to…” But before he could say anything further or protest further, Fenris grabbed him by the back of his collar and unlike Miles’ gentle handling of  Carter, Fenris all but threw him around the surrounding seats to a vacant chair and released him, pointing at the chair.

“Why don’t you play nice and have a seat?” Fenris said but his tone laid it all out that this was not by any means a request. But Lazarus was either blind to the obvious or he was putting on false airs because he looked first to the open chair and then at Fenris and he all but sneered at the volatile “White Wolf” and dared him in asking, “Or what? Huh?”

But that was perhaps the wrong thing to ask because Fenris was not one to have his bluff called, because the man simply didn’t bluff. He simply took one step forward and stared right into Lazarus’s eyes and he answered, “Or else I make what Miles did to you look like a love tap.”

“I’ll call the police…” Lazarus started to say but was quickly interrupted by Fenris simply stating the obvious, “Be too late. Plus… there’s not a person in this room that won’t tell the cops that you swung first. … Sit!”

Their eyes continued to be engaged in a deadlock until Lazarus slowly, and perhaps most wisely, yielded to a seat in the chair. Fenris then resumed his place against the wall but his eyes were solely on this abuser while Ari’s voice broke the discomforted silence that permeated the room.

“Carter?” Ari’s voice wavered, but he looked to her as she shook her head, wanting so hard to understand what was going through her bestie’s mind. “Why did you leave? Why did you sneak away like that?”

Carter took a deep breath but this time it was almost like he was prepared for battle in some strange way, as they had exchanged these barbs for months where his life was concerned and now here he was, having been tricked into being the center of attention - and not in a fun nor pleasant way.

“Look!” He started to say slowly but his words were filled with both desperation and anger. “I told you all before that I was sick and tired of being treated like a damn prisoner! I didn’t ask to be taken away from my home and dropped into the last place I’d ever want to be…!”

“Carter…” Aron did his best to offer his best. “My brother and I did everything we could to make you feel welcome in our home.”

“And we just wanted to keep you safe.” Krystal added, but that was when Lazarus broke his silence with a disbelieving scoff, “Safe from what exactly?”

“Maybe from the man who beat my son’s face in so badly that his own mother could barely recognize him?” Joanna said from where she sat, the mother bear tone of voice rising to confront the man who had been badly abusing her only son, her baby boy.

Lazarus picked up the gauntlet, still fighting to maintain this innocent facade that he had well established through deceit and subterfuge for so long as he rolled his eyes, “And what exactly makes you think I’m the one who did that?”

“Carter.” Miles answered before anyone else could. “He told us you did it.” And this caused Lazarus to very slowly, very deliberately, turn his head and his almost serpent-like gaze became focused on Carter and it was absolutely gut wrenching to everyone in attendance the effect that look had on Carter as if a scolded child in fear of a lashing from a belt - or worse.

“You told them I did that to you?” He said in a tone of voice that could almost rival Fenris’s own in the calm, dangerous stage. Where you could hear the smoothness of the words but it had a threat of danger beneath the surface.

“He did.” Joan aka Grams said from where she sat beside Carter, gripping her grandson’s hand in the comfort only understood between a child and his grandma. Her age notwithstanding, she bore no sense of fear when it came to speaking in defense of her special boy. “And we swore from that moment that we would do everything to protect him from you!”

By now, tears were starting to well up in Carter’s eyes as he was clearly going through an intense, mental struggle. Lazarus stood up suddenly and he snarled, “I am not going to sit here and listen to any more of your lies!”

And Joan stood up just as easily, just as determined, and she said, “The only lies here tonight are the ones that you’ve filled your own head with.” Joan stared him right in the face with a finger upright in his face for emphasis and she said with finality, “I have known men like you my whole, long life. And you are a great many things my boy, I am sure, but a man is not one of them!”

“Look…!” Lazarus suddenly grabbed Joan’s wrist to pull her hand from his face and she winced. “I am not going to let you break Carter and me up with your lies!”

“You’re hurting me!”

And… It happened. It was as if a cloud had been lifted, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. It would be hard pressed to explain why so suddenly the veil had been lifted from Carter’s senses. Carter looked every other way when Lazarus laid a hand to him. He made every excuse heard by counselors the world over, but the moment someone, ANYONE, put a hand on his beloved Grams…

Not a single soul present didn’t step forward the moment Lazarus grabbed Joan, but it was one in particular was the fastest, and the last Lazarus would have expected. Carter’s fist shot out at lightning fast speed and met Lazarus in the side of the head with such ferocity that it knocked the man loose from Joan and he was sent tumbling back into the chair he had just vacated and fell backwards and over it, crumbling to the floor!

“Mom…?” Joanna was at her mother’s side, comforting her as the elder rubbed her wrist from where it had been clenched in the vice-like grip. Miles and Ariana checked on her as well but Joan nodded that she was okay. All heads turned from where Lazarus had landed hard on the floor, and they turned to see Carter staring at his handiwork, visibly shaking. As if in disbelief at what he just did.

“Carter…?” Ariana started to ask, causing Carter to turn to his best friend. His eyes had now spilled over with tears streaking down his cheeks. She made a move to offer him a hug when Joanna suddenly cried, “Look out!” And Lazarus suddenly tackled Carter, knocking the both of them into one of Ariana’s end tables and sending them to the floor amidst the shattered remains!

Miles made a move to intervene but Gabriel Stevens held an arm out, shaking his head and saying one simple word, “Wait…”

After having so much free reign of abuse over Carter for so many of these past months, Lazarus was under the woefully mistaken impression that his dominant role over Carter would allow him to maintain dominance as he straddled Carter and grabbed him by the clothes and slammed the back of his head into the floor of the house repeatedly! And that was the moment Carter’s training took over, and his defiance against the adversity he had faced with this man for so long! He kicked his legs up and he scissored Lazarus’s head and literally tore him off! Miles, Gabriel, Fenris, Aron and Francisco moved to get Joan, Joanna, Krystal, Cassie and Ariana out of the way as Carter was back on his feet, grabbing Lazarus’s arm as he swung and Carter counted with a shot that practically caused Lazarus’s nose to EXPLODE!

Carter kept hold of the arm and utilized it as a fulcrum, pivoting around and taking Lazarus with him, slamming the man’s face down onto the coffee table! The table didn’t break but Lazarus did! Keeping hold of his arm at length, Carter KICKED Lazarus in the gut! Then again! And again! The floodgate had been opened and Carter unleashed all of his pent up anger and humiliation over the past several months as he continued to kick Lazarus in the stomach and ribs until the inevitable happened; Lazarus started to wretch and got violently sick!

“Carter-Carter!” Joanna, his mom, quickly tried to end this justified carnage but Carter had been blinded by rage over everything he had suffered through these many months, and what Lazarus had just done to his lovely Grams!

“Enough!” Miles said as he suddenly grabbed Carter by the arm. “Carter, stop!” And he finally pulled Carter off, leaving Lazarus lying on the floor of the living room in his own blood and sick. Carter stepped back and he was shaking so badly, as if he was coming down from the emotional high that had just been turned loose! He turned to Miles, wide-eyed, as if in shock and Miles wrapped his arms around his friend in one of those famous hugs of his as Carter simply broke at that very moment, his friends surrounding him.

“It’s going to be okay.” Ari whispered as she joined in on the hug, rubbing her hand on her bestie’s trembling back. “Everything’s going to be alright.”

---

“Wow. I can’t even begin to describe where my head has been for the longest of times, because as much as it ashamed me to admit it, it hasn’t been where it should have been. My career. My friends. My family. For months it seems that I’ve managed to cast aside and isolate every pillar that I had built in my life, and for what?”

Carter scoffed as he looked away.

“Apparently for a fantasy life that I was never meant to be a part of. I offended some of the people I care about the most. I insulted men in this business I always looked up to with respect. I fell into a trap of my own making and it almost cost me everything. If it hasn’t already. I guess that was one good thing about being put on the shelf for so long. It gives you time to think. Make you realize where you stand and if I can be so bold, just how badly you’ve fucked up both personally as well as professionally. Then then moment I got cleared, I thought the clouds had parted and the sun was just beginning to shine down on me, even if for just a little bit.”

He said as he pinched a thumb and forefinger closely together. Carter then sighed and shook his head.

“Which makes me then ask myself… is Mac Bane my best Christmas gift possible or the biggest lump of coal Santa could possibly fit in my stocking?”

“I mean, please don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against Mac or being given the opportunity to face one of the best modern veterans that SCW has on its roster. The man even made an effort or two to reach out to me during my…”

He cleared his throat and cast a look heavenward.

“Personal issues… but like everyone else, I played the effort off as just another person trying to interfere where they had no place or right. Ignoring the hand that simply reached out, wanting to help for no other reason than he saw another human being crying out in pain and in need of help. For that, I have to thank you Mac for your effort, and apologize for my own indifference. Folly of youth, as my Grams would say. Kids tend to think they know it all, and are invulnerable. I’ve learned the hard way that I am anything but. But maybe this… our match Mac? This is my chance to turn things around.”

“The only interactions you and I have had with Mac that were even remotely social were, ironically rough, on social media. We’ve never really hung out before, during or after shows. We just have different cliques and there’s no harm in that. The fact you still wanted to help me, it speaks volumes on you as a man. You are a hardcore bad ass through and through. I’m no liar and I’m sure as hell not blind enough to deny the fact. But you also have a heart, even if you do like to keep it buried so no worries.”

Carter playfully ‘tick a locks’ his lips and ‘threw away’ the key.

“That part of yourself can be our secret. But the man you are inside of the ring? That’s no secret. The world knows just what you are capable of inside of the ring. I’ve sat back and watched you absolutely annihilate men who have pissed you off, to facing and besting men you considered a friend or respected peer in friendly competition. And here you are now, one of three number one contenders to the world championship facing… little ol’ me?”

Carter paused as if in thought, trying to contemplate the fact. He nodded once and continued.

“Hunh. My first match back after over a month out is against a two-time former World Heavyweight Champion who may very well be on his way to become a three-time champion. Mac Bane who is a locker room leader, the sort of man who commands respect just by walking into that dressing room. I make no pretense that this match will be easy – for either of us. Mac, I know that you have me beat when it comes to size, strength, experience….”

He raised a hand and then blinked.

“Okay I think I forgot where I was going with this…”

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and continued on.

“Mac, I know this will be one of the most physically demanding matches that I’ve had ever since I was first signed to SCW. But I just ask that you understand despite all your advantages, this won’t go down as easily as some armchair experts might assume. I don’t know if you paid very close attention to what went down in SCU before it closed but…”

He counted off of his fingers.

“Pride Tag Team Champion. TV Champion. Combat Champion. The youngest Underground Champion in SCU history… I’m not trying to brag or throw my success rate in your face Mac. I just want you to not look at me and assume that just because I look soft, that I also compete the same. Nobody thought I could succeed in the Combat division down in SCU and it was my pleasure proving them wrong. You don’t grow up the way I did without knowing how to defend myself. I can only fight because I had to. Being a flamboyantly open gay teenager in a public school wasn’t the easiest life. But I made it then, and I’m going to make it now.”

“All I ask is that you give me that same respect.”

The GO Gym -
Las Vegas

You know the place, or at least you should. Given the reputation is academy of future champions holds in Sin City Wrestling, one would not be easily forgiven for not recognizing the established reputation of this training facility. Having pumped out such esteemed personalities such as Evie Jordan, Fenris and Krystal Wolfe, the GO Gym has a reputation for not being only one of the best academies of professional wrestling, but also one of the strictest. Not only is it difficult to be accepted as a student, but once you are, you are held in high regard and are expected to maintain that reputation even after graduation. Many men and women who have passed through these hallowed halls continue to return to keep their brain skills sharp, as the proprietors Gabriel and Odette Stevens believe that you only stop being one of their kids when you retire. And even then it is called into question.

One factor that has spelled out so much of their success was how they were able to tailor training regimes towards each prospective student. A super heavyweight could not logically be trained properly by someone who weighed under 200 lb and vice versa. Gabriel and Odette recognized this fact and accommodated for it. They both possessed many friends in the business, former students and not, who they regularly employed to come in and assist them when needed.

Which was why it such an odd sight to see that Carter was currently involved in a training session in one of the two rings against a member of the London Underground faction, the gargantuan Osbourne. The Silent Sentinel dwarfed Carter by over six inches and a hundred pounds of rock hard muscle.

Gabriel called from the corner of the ring where he stood watching over both men, silently critiquing both, "Come on Carter! You're not supposed to let him get hold of you! That's the whole point of this exercise!"

Osbourne slung the diminutive Carter up as it for a scoop slam, but the smaller man slid out of the larger man's grasp and ended up on his back like a monkey, legs wrapped around his other body and his arms wrapped around his tree trunk neck.

"That's easy for you to say!" Carter called out from his unique predicament. "He has half the ring cut off without even trying!"

Gabriel cannot help but chuckle at the awkward truth of the situation that he had put his student in. In fact, another one of his students that had taken a break from the free weights, and Carter's closest friend, Ariana Angelos, found herself at her mentors side, watching her friend in the six-sided ring.

Gabriel saw her from the corner of his eyes and smirked, "Tempest actually let you take a break from the weights?"

"Yeah I think she just wanted to call someone enough to get a look at Osbourne shirtless." Ari quipped. "Gabriel? Do you mind if I ask why you have Carter training with Osbourne? You usually train with him yourself or with Despy."

"Well the situation our boy's in this time around is slightly different." Gabriel observed. "I'm training in the same way I did when he was down in SCU at the Combat Champion. The roulette division and combat divisions are similar so I want to make sure he's ready for anything Miles or the division can throw at him."

A moments pause while watching the tussle inside of the ring, Gabriel quietly asked, "His boyfriend is out of the country this week, isn't he?"

"Mm hm." Ariana nodded. "He's in Canada for a photo shoot. Why?"

"No real reason." Gabriel shrugged. "I just can't help but notice he seems to be mostly back to his old self without his boyfriend around me."

"Yeah my bestie seem to have his spunk back. I'm so happy!" Ari smiled as inside of the ring, Carter let go of Osbourne and dropped to his feet behind him, wrapping his arms around him from behind and running his hands over his muscled upper torso. Osbourne IMMEDIATELY started struggling to get free of this touchy feely spot while Gabriel's brow rose.

"Yeah I'm not too sure Osbourne shares your sentiment."

Well! Speak of the Devil!

That’s what we would be saying as at that very moment, right outside of the Gym, the entrance door opens and in steps the man himself just recently spoken of, Carter’s boyfriend Lazarus. He glances around with skeptical eyes, obviously taken in just as many others had been in the past with the misleading exterior that some have compared to a grunge warehouse when the REAL ‘magic’ took place inside. He set foot into the air conditioned hall of the lobby and walked through until he came upon the front desk which was manned by Despayre who’s eyes were glued onto the computer screen in front of him and the airing of the latest episode of She-Hulk Attorney At Law. Lazarus looked around, then at this unusual site and he slowly approached the front desk.

“Excuse me…” Lazarus started to say when Despayre, being Despayre, simply said, “I accept your apology.” Bringing Lazarus to a confused silence as something on the screen caused Despayre to jump back in his seat and cover his mouth with both hands.

“Does your boss know you’re watching TV on the clock?” Lazarus asked with a frown, judging this book by its proverbial cover, but not one to turn away an innocent enough gauntlet, Despayre turned his attention from the show to the guest in Gabriel and Odette’s lobby and answered, “I’m not watching TV. I’m looking at my laptop.” Before he turned back to what he was doing before. Lazarus, his impatience growing, rolled his eyes and asked, “This is the GO Gym, right?”

“Right-a-roonie!” Despayre declared with a smile, taking his cue to do the VERY important job that Gabriel and Odette bestowed upon him as he clocked the pause button and now turned to Lazarus and clasped his hands on the desk, trying to look all businesslike. “Are you here to apply or start your training?”

Lazarus scoffed, a frown on his face, “No! I’m here to see someone.”

“Oh.” Despayre went to turn away from him. “Never mind then.”

“Never mi-?” Lazarus was a little lost, clearly not knowing who Despayre was or anything about him or his personality quirks. “What do you mean ‘never mind’? Can I go in or not?”

“Nope.”

Lazarus looked around at the emptiness of the lobby and assumed from the sight before him that they weren’t busy so he held his arms out and wondered aloud, “Why not?”

“Because Odette and Gabriel say so.” Despayre declared, citing a long standing rule of the Stevens that their gym remains private and not for public display or entertainment. “And because you’re not a student.”

“Stop talking about this place like it’s a college, okay?” Lazarus said snottily. “I’m dating one of the…” **air quotes** “students here anyway!”

“You are?” Despayre turns back to look him over briefly before resuming his stance. “Wow. Tempest really lowered her standards on this one.”

“I am not dating someone named…” Lazarus started to say when Despy’s words really caught his attention, both his ego and temper suddenly flaring, “What do you mean ‘lowered her standards’!?” He shook his head, “You know what? Forget this!”

And straight away, Lazarus marched toward the double doors that led to the GO Gym’s interior, determined to get inside when suddenly he found Despayre standing in front of him, arms spread wide to better block his path.

“You can’t go in!” He declared, determined to do his and Angel’s duty, but Lazarus was having none of that. The hot-headed male model who was used to getting his way tilted his head back and sighed before he looked down at Despayre who stood a good few inches shorter than him.

Lazarus smiled in a cool, sinister way and said, “Don’t make me move you physically little man… oh what the hell?” And he suddenly put a hand on Despayre’s arm and shoved him aside roughly and reached for the door…

When suddenly from inside of the Gym, all heads turned as all hell seemed to break loose from just outside of the doors to the lobby! The heads of Gabriel, Odette, Tempest, Carter, Ariana and Osbourne spun around in silent alarm…

“What the hell…?” Gabriel started to say when he took off for the doors with all present right on his heels! Gabriel grabbed the doors and shoved them wide open and came to such a fast halt that the others almost bowled him over from behind! Their eyes looked down and came upon the comical sight of…

“GET OFF OF ME GODDAMNIT!!!” Lazarus shouted from where he was pinned face and chest first on the floor with Despayre sitting on the back of his head, holding him in a double hammerlock! Lazarus’s legs kicked but he was effectively subdued. “YOU’RE HURTING ME!!!”

“Despy!” Gabriel called out. “What’s going on!?”

Despayre looked up and his face immediately brightened from the situation and he answered, “He started it! He tried to force his way in!”

“He…” Carter started to ask when he got a closer look at who Despayre was restraining physically and he was mortified, “Lazarus!!”

“Lazarus…?” Gabriel started, then turned to Ariana who stood just off his side, who looked pale at the sight of Carter’s alleged abuser. He gave her a questioning gaze and she answered silently with a nod to both Stevens who returned their attention to the situation before them.

“Get OFF him…!” Carter bellowed, storming forward when Osbourne’s grip tightened on his arm, knowing full well what the ramifications would be if he laid a hand on Despy, even to get him off of his boyfriend. Carter turned to Osbourne, “Let go…”

“Despy…” Odette spoke up, giving the little guy an assuring nod. “It’s okay. You can let him go.”

That was all he had to hear as Despayre let go of Lazarus’s arms and rolled off of his back, jumping to his feet and taking his dutiful spot right in front of Gabriel, his best friend and ‘big brother’. Carter was immediately at his boyfriend’s side and helped him to his feet, Lazarus’s normally handsome face filled with humiliation and anger as Carter tried to comfort him and ask, “Are you alright?”

To which Lazarus shrugged his hands off of his arms and shouted, “Do I LOOK alright!?” He turned and pointed a finger at Despayre and snarled, “I should sue you! I should call the police and have you arrested!”

“For what exactly?” Gabriel asked with skepticism, disliking this young man almost immediately. “Despy here said that you tried to force your way into our Gym.”

“That’s a lie!” Lazarus declared, causing Despayre to gasp, wide eyed, at the audacity. “I was just here to surprise Carter!”

“And for that Despy roughed you up?” Odette asked, a frown of her own to match her husband’s.

“I didn’t!” Despayre swore, crossing his heart as he turned to her, pleading. It was not needed as Odette simply nodded, patting him on the arm to assure him that they believed him.

Lazarus blinked, “So are you calling me a liar?”

“I would NEVER say that!” Despayre said simply. He then turned his head to look up at Gabriel and he added, “He is, but I wouldn’t say it.” Causing Osbourne to snort back a laugh but he quickly smothered it with a hand.

“Let me tell you something… Lazarus, is it?” Gabriel spoke up, a warning tone behind his words. “First of all, there’s a simple fact I learned over the past several years.”

“Which is?” Lazarus rolled his eyes, showing his disrespect almost immediately.

“Despy doesn’t lie.” Gabriel stated simply, and Despayre stuck his tongue out at Lazarus from his side. Then Gabriel continued, “Also, take no chances in business.” He pointed up, causing all heads to look up and spot the small but distinctive security cameras installed in each of the lobby’s four corners. All heads turned back down and stared ahead at Lazarus who glared at Gabriel to Despayre and back again.

Odette then added, “I think you need to leave.”

“I have a right to be here…” Lazarus started to say when Gabriel interrupted, “Wrong. This is a private business on private property! Which is why WE could not only call the police on YOU for trespassing, but I’m willing to bet if we gave them the security footage, for assaulting Despy here!”

“Yeah!” Despayre added just because, jetting his chin out at Lazarus as if to say, “So there!” without actually saying it.

“So you don’t trust me.” Lazarus stated simply, more of a statement than a question.

“No offense,” Gabriel answered. “But I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you.” He then blinked and turned to address the amazon Tempest who was standing just behind the Stevens, almost protectively. Her eyes had not left Lazarus from the moment she set foot in the lobby and Gabriel asked her, “How far do you think you can throw him?”

“Where’s your property line?” She asked, her eyes burning into Lazarus who appeared alarmed, his confident demeanor shaken. Lazarus shook his head,
Fine! This place sucks anyway!”

He turned to walk toward the exit when he paused to look at his boyfriend, “You coming or not?”

All heads turned now to  Carter who seemed to desperately want to shrink back into nothing as he felt absolutely torn apart - like he was being pulled in two completely opposite directions. He looked at Gabriel’s expectant gaze, and at Ariana's caring, worried one, before he looked at Lazarus before ultimately…

“I’ll get my bag.” he turned and walked toward the Gym doors, when Odette spoke up, “Carter, your session isn’t finished.” Giving him pause as his hand reached for the door. He then started to move again, grabbing the door handle and this time it was Gabriel speaking up, but not his friend or mentor, a man he looked up to. It was the businessman, the proprietor of the GO Gym who spoke.

“Carter.” he said simply, calmly, which should have been enough warning. “If you walk away from this session, you’re suspended until further notice!”

Carter started, then turned his head and he looked fearful at Gabriel whose own countenance remained passive, all eyes staring at the young man. Carter glanced around, then back to Gabriel and the fear flickered away and he turned and shoved the doors open to get his things…

Lazarus smiling with satisfaction behind them.

---

“You know what’s funny? All of the people that are closest to me, from family to friends, have always told me that I never seem to be at a loss at knowing just what to say in any given situation. Now I don’t know if that means they think I’m witty or a smart ass, whether it’s a compliment or a bit of a hidden dig that I need to watch myself and what I say. But I can admit that it’s not entirely true, especially where Miles Kasey is concerned.”

“You see Miles, I hope you understand the difficult position that you’ve put me in. And yes I know what I said and no, I didn’t mean it the way it came out. Just a happy coincidence I guess. What I mean is, it’s usually very easy to know what to say when we’re expected to shoot these promos in regards to our matches and our opponents. You come in, talk a little trash, throw a few insults around and boom! Say you’re going to kick some ass and win and call it a day. But with you, Miles? It’s not so easy a thing to accomplish because I can’t say any of those things where you’re concerned. I don’t hate you. I don’t even mildly dislike you. Truth be told, I am actually quite fond of you and again, I know what I said. I would go on record and say that Miles ranks right up there with names like Ben Jordan and Candy as being the nicest people in SCW. You’re one of those rare gems that doesn’t take long to warm up to someone or a person who is comfortable enough in their own skin that you mind  them being exactly who they are. In fact, you seem to encourage it. You find someone even in a highly competitive sport like wrestling that you like and call a friend, you don’t abandon them. Ever. Do you have any idea just how rare of an occurrence that is in this day and age where everybody seems to look out only for themselves and being concerned with number one?”

“But that’s you, Miles, and that’s why I just don’t know what I’m supposed to say going into this match against you for the third time. Things haven’t exactly taken off for me the way that I had hoped. Sure I got a couple good wins against you and Bulldog, but lately…? I don’t know. I just haven’t been the same me that I’m used to being. I don’t know what’s wrong and I don’t know how to correct it. But I’m hoping that when we have our tie-breaking rubber match, that the third time is the charm and not only do I break this slump that I’m in, but I win my first SCW championship. The Roulette division in SCW is a lot like the Combat division was in SCU, and I am pretty proud to admit that I surprised a LOT of people by how well I was able to handle myself in such a division.”

“You see Miles, I’m not like guys like you or Ben or Mac Bane. I’m me. Everything you see in front of you is who I am, and I can admit from experience that it’s not easy growing up when you’re … me. I can fight, but I didn’t have much choice. I wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of curling up into a ball. I can fight because I had to, growing up. So whatever the roulette calls for us on Sunday? I can handle it. It’s you that I worry about. This is the third time we’ve met, and we each walked away with a win. Third time we’ve met, and this one is for the championship.”

“Third time is the charm, Miles. Good luck.”

Chandigarh, India -
Country Inn & Suites

Like every other set up that Carter has had the pleasure of enjoying since the India Summer 2022 Tour had first commenced, the young 22 year old was not disappointed in where he had been set up for the duration of his stay. The unusually named hotel here in Chandigarh resembled a first class hotel (not that he was particularly familiar with such five star establishments) to his mind’s eye, rather than a ‘country inn’ or the like from its name. His room wasn’t as large as one might ex[ect, but it was more than comfortable enough in its simplistic decor and the chestnut wood paneling and white accented walls.

Carter sat at the polished desk that was set up against the front wall of his room, the open window less than a foot to his right, allowing for a warm breeze to drift in, offering him a dose of fresh air while not being outside in the overly blazing sun. He could have closed the window and cranked up the A/C as he was certain most everybody was doing who had checked in, but he was able to hold off just enough to indulge himself in the fresh air, a scent of jasmine tickling the senses.

Lazarus asked, "So, how's your lip?" Yes, Carter had his laptop opened on the desk and he was talking to his boyfriend Lazarus who was by now back from his photo shoot in Bangkok and home in Las Vegas.

As if by instinct, Carter reached up in touch the fingertip to the tip of the scab where his lip had been busted open less than 2 weeks ago.

HBCarter answered almost absently, "Fine." And just like that, his tone of voice went from warm and inviting to tense and somber.

"Hey." Lazarus spoke up, pulling Carter away from his private new musings and focus them instead on where they should be, namely Lazarus himself. He said, "I already apologized for that once, right?"

"Mm." Carter found himself admitting, yielding to the point his boyfriend was making with a nod of the head. He then however, opened his eyes and stared at Lazarus hard, saying, " But did I accept?"

"Come on, don't be like that." Lazarus stressed in a relatively calm voice, his tones soothing to the frazzled nerves that Carter himself was feeling. Lazarus said, "I mean, we both know why what happened, happened."

---

And now we come to a lovely little thing called a flashback. Useful tools indeed when you have more time now to tell a bit of a tale then what you might have had in the past. We are back toward the beginning of August, the fifth of the month to be more precise, when SCW first appeared in Bangalore, India. Lazarus had just surprised his boyfriend by showing up at his hotel room door, Carter having had no indication at all that Lazarus was going to be present and he was absolutely thrilled at the prospect!

“So, who are you working with this time?” Lazarus asked, using the choice of words ‘working with’ as opposed to ‘wrestling’. It was simply his way. Unlike the majority of the significant others of the Superstars and Bombshells, Lazarus did not like wrestling. In fact, he abhorred it altogether, considering it a barbaric way to earn a living. The young male model took a seat on the small loveseat in the room while Carter fetched a water from the suite’s mini fridge,

“Miles Kasey.” Carter answered without a second thought, passing over the bottled water to Lazarus’s waiting hand before taking his seat beside him. They would now assuredly be meeting the girls for a drink later in one of Bangalore’s many ‘watering holes’.

Lazarus huffed in annoyance, his eyes rolling so hard that you could have sworn you heard them.

“What is it?” Carter asked, to which Lazarus pulled the bottle from his lips before he could fully take a drink and looked at his boyfriend in startled wonder.

“You’re serious?” Lazarus asked. “You don’t know?” To which Carter could only shrug his shoulders and shake his head in the negative, having no sense of what could be wrong with the idea of his wrestling Miles in just a few days' time.

“Wow!” Lazarus stood up from the sofa, but Carter remained right where he was, staring up at him while Lazarus paced briefly before turning around to face him, looking down on him as he said, “I don’t believe you. Even face to face, you’re playing innocent. Acting as if you aren’t cheating on me!”

“Cheating-” Carter started to repeat, but his words were cut off as Lazarus stressed, “Especially with that Miles guy! It would be like a day without orange juice if you weren’t trying to get in his pants!”

“Wait, what?” Carter exclaimed. “Trying to get - Laz! Where in hell is all of this coming from!?”

“Oh come on, Carter!” Lazarus’s voice raised, surprising Carter as his boyfriend had never raised his voice to him. Not once! “All anybody has to do is bring up your Twitter feed and they can see for themselves! You’re all over the guy every chance you get! Hell! You’re all over any reasonably attractive guy on Twitter every chance you get!”

“I don’t mean anything by it!” Carter claimed, but Lazarus scoffed openly and audibly.

“Really?”

“Really!” Carter stressed. “Laz, I never wanted you to get upset! I’m just a big flirt. I don’t mean anything by it!”

“So if Miles Kasey or that weird looking Jack Russow guy decided they wanted to fuck your brains out, you’d turn them down?”

“Yes.” Carter said almost immediately. This entire confrontation caught him completely off guard. Lazarus had never spoken a word against the way he interacted with his male peers in the business, and to be confronted so openly and hostile had thrown him completely off guard. “If it’s been bothering you so much, why didn’t you ever say anything before now??”

“I shouldn’t have to!” Lazarus shouted. “I should have to tell my boyfriend to stop flirting with other men!? What color is the sky in the world in that dim head of yours, Carter!?”

Carter shot to his feet at the moment Lazarus took a dig at his intelligence, and he started to raise his voice himself as he started, “Stop being so goddamn anal, Laz-!” But the rest of his words were knocked right out of him, as Lazarus swung his hand around - the one still holding the bottle of chilled water, cracking Carter right in the mouth!

The impact knocked Carter’s head back and to the side, and silence fell on the hotel suite all at once! Carter’s eyes were wide in shock, as he held a hand to his mouth and when he pulled away, he looked at his fingers and they were stained red with the crimson dripping from his bottom lip. He looked at Lazarus, his voice barely a whisper.

“You hit me…” And Lazarus seemed almost as shocked as Carter felt himself…

---

“So, did you tell anybody about what happened?” Lazarus asked from his end of the facetime chat, noting that Lazarus used the phrase ‘what happened’ as opposed to ‘what really happened as that would force a note of guilt on Lazarus’s part.

“That you hit me?” Carter reiterated. “That you busted my lip open?” He simply shook his head no and said in a soft voice, “No. Everybody thinks it happened in my match that night.” He scoffed, almost - almost smiling at the absurd nature of belief. “Most of them thought Miles did it. Hell! Miles thinks that Miles did it.”

“Well,” Lazarus shrugged, completely indifferent in voice as well as in his composure. “It’s probably for the best.”

Carter raised his brow and questioned, “It’s for the best that everyone is blaming Miles for busting my lip open and causing me to get a stitch in my mouth?” His face remained impassive but his eyes darted from left to right and he lifted his shoulders, asking, “How?”

“Well he’s not exactly what you’d call a close friend.” Lazarus was able to reason as if the effort was nothing, like the words had been rehearsed or even worse - the ‘without guilt’ reasoning simply came naturally. Lazarus said, “I am sorry Carter. It won’t happen again - I promise. But Miles isn’t in our social circle so telling everyone it wasn’t him won’t really hurt anybody.”

Won’t hurt anybody save for Miles, Carter thought privately to himself. Miles felt horrid about that busted lip having ‘ruined’ his pretty face, and had been blaming himself since. Lazarus then started talking again, or perhaps he never stopped? Carter had a difficult time differentiating between the two possibilities.

He said, “I do have a surprise for you, though.”

Carter finally looked up, a twinkle in his eyes as he remained hopeful in spirit. “Oh yeah?”

“I had my agent clear my schedule for two weeks.” Lazarus said. “I’ll be coming to New Delhi for that two week period.”

Carter lifted his eyes to meet those of his boyfriends and Lazarus offered him a loving smile, to which Carter’s face lit up with a hopeful smile. “Really?”

“Happy?” Asked Lazarus.

“Ecstatic!” Carter answered.

---

In his suite at the Country Inn & Suites, it is now nighttime and before Carter could even think about going to sleep in pursuit of the Sandman, he sat in the small, leather cushioned chair at the window and looked out from the fifth story floor and across the night sky. The lights of the city cast their illumination high up into the night sky, but the stars remained vigilant as ever.

“Wow! When the lineup for this card first went up, all anybody could talk about was the big tag team match between Ben Jordan and Chris Page against Goth and ‘Godly’ Ken Davison - and understandably so! It’s a big match with four of the best in the business, including Page who is a legend in this sport! I was backstage when I first heard about it, and that's all I was focused on admittedly until Ari caused me to scroll further down the text, and saw what they had in store for yours truly and all I could say was…”

He silently mouthed ‘Wow!”.

“Suddenly the tag team match didn’t seem like the highlight of the show or the biggest match in existence, for me at least! Because as great as all four of those men are, I saw I was up against a man that has GOT to be a candidate for a future Hall of Fame induction here in SCW. “The Bulldog” himself! Bill Barnhart! You can’t be involved in this business and NOT know who this guy is! I was following his career as far back as his days in the old Asylum Wrestling Alliance where he did it all! World Championships! Tag team titles! And yes, an AWA Hall of Fame award!”

Carter shook his head.

“The man has so many years of experience in this sport, a veteran of the ring in every sense of the word! And who gets to step inside of the ring against this barrel-chested, bull of a man?”

Carter twirled a finger around in the air and poked his forefinger right in the center of his own sternum. He then nodded.

“Yup! Yours truly gets to face one of the most experienced wrestlers - male or female - in the entirety of SCW! When I contacted Gabriel about this match, all the guy who brought me into this sport was whistle. He called it a real ‘battle for the ages’ and no, he wasn’t taking a shot at Bulldog’s age or how he seems to be living under the narcissistic fantasy that he’s still in his early thirties. He was talking about the fact that here was a man that is built like a Sherman tank and has a wealth of knowledge and experience over the last fifteen plus (?) years in this business, against me. A man that debuted not even a full three years ago! Now three years in this sport isn’t anything to just scoff at, but that does not a ring savvy veteran make! And it means that I have to come up with an entirely new game plan going into this match because no matter what strategy or tricks I think I have up my sleeve, ‘the Bulldog’ has already seen them, dealt with them, and come up with ways to use them against me! How does one in my position even hope to counter that type of experience?”

He held his arms out.

“Change things up. Do the unexpected. I think it’s safe to say that Barnhart has watched everything that I’ve put out there and has a sound strategy for this Sunday. That’s what guys like him do. They strategize every single detail, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant. So it only stands to reason that I am going to fight fire with fire and do the same thing, right?”

He stared ahead at the camera, then shook his head.

“Wrong. Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m not looking over or past ‘the Bulldog’ nor am I taking him lightly. Only a damn fool would do any of the above. I’ve watched every match I could of the guy’s. He’s built like a bulldozer. He’s strong. He’s a fierce brawler who took Fenris to the limits a few times. And with his experience, he can come up with a solid, technical game plan. He loves to roughhouse. He can out brawl and overpower most men, and… he can toss the fists out the window and wrestle a technical masterpiece if he sets his mind to it. But me…? I’ve watched him, studied him. It’s what the Stevens integrated in me and my training. I know where to strike and when. And as much as I told the truth and hyped the man, I also know my own strengths and what I can do that he cannot. I just need to use his own strategy against him, and whatever he thinks he knows about me, throw that out the window and kick things up a notch!”

He set his glass down on the windowsill and turned back to the camera, leaning in at the waist and resting his forearms on his bent knees.

“Now this next thing I’m about to say? It’s directly for the Bulldog. Directly for you… Bill. I guess by now you understand that I have all the respect in the world for you as a wrestler and what you’ve accomplished. I just don’t want you looking at me and thinking that you’re in for an easy night. That is a stigma that any wrestler in the LGBTQ community seems to face and personally speaking? Any time that I’ve faced that professional prejudice, it pissed me off. It is sheer disrespect to think one of us can’t fight or be a fantastic wrestler, just because of who we’re in bed with. Or, might you be taking one look at me and how I dress and carry myself and think this match is going to be easy sleazy? Well…”

He smiled with a little fiendish delight, shrugging.

“I admit that is intentional. People look at the colorful hair and makeup and booty shorts and think I can’t be half as good as I am. Then that bell rings and oo baby! Do they find out differently! Lesson learned, Bill. Just because I look soft on the outside, doesn’t mean that I do business softly inside of the ring. It’s a hard, cold fact that so many in SCU learned when I won the Combat championship. Nobody expected that out of me, but I proved to each and every one of those critics who were against me that I could fight! I could defend myself and hold my own against guys that were bigger and stronger. I can fight, Bulldog, because I have to be able to. Living the life I’ve lived or looking the way that I do didn't make for an easy, peaceful life in my Red State hometown.”

“Why am I telling you all of this? Why am I offering up a warning rather than let you make those same errors in judgment and walk away with a win, made all the simpler based on ignorance and prejudice?”

He shrugged, smiling.

“What can I say? I’m a sportsman. Plus, flamboyant looks aside, I want you to take me seriously. I want you to be at your absolute best because if you take it easy and psyche yourself out, that wouldn't make me look any better as the winner than if I were to lose this match. Oh and… newsflash?”

“This is only my second singles match, ‘Bulldog.”

Carter faced the camera, holding up two digits.

“I lost my first. I’m not about to lose a second one, back to back!”

The final show. My last championship defense. I thought I had it all planned out. I was already planning on leaving Canada still the SCU Champion and forever being so. There is something to be said for being the final champion as the sun sets on a promotion. You remain the champion, forever undefeated for the title. It’s a bargaining chip when negotiating contracts and it’s a reminder of where you’ve been as you sit back and look at that trophy case in your home and see that championship belt sitting there; a reminder that you were - are - the best. There, at the very least. If I were to be signed to SCW, I had this image in mind of walking into whatever building still holding onto the Underground championship belt, maybe even trying to get them to book a title versus title match against Mac Bane who had come to win the World Championship for a third time. I guess this is what’s called ‘rookie tunnel vision’ when you plan for everything to go one way, and you don’t even take into consideration that it might go an entirely different direction.

“Here is your winner and NEW SCU Underground Champion… Stewart Mason!!!”

I had to have laid on that mat for an eternity, at least in my own mind, and not once did I open my eyes to look at Stewart holding what used to be MY title. I can’t fault the man for winning. He fought hard. He put in the effort that I - admittedly - didn’t match. That DDT move rattled my brains but not to the point I was going to go the route of so many other former champions that we’ve seen that cried foul and tried to convince the world that we were cheated or our titles were stolen. Stewart Mason didn’t steal anything. He beat me, fair and square. I was just having trouble accepting the fact. The fact that my title was gone. Accepting the fact that all my plans had just flown out the window. Accepting the fact that I had let down the people that had put their faith in me to be a good, strong and worthy champion. Ariana. Gabriel and Odette. Holly. I had to make that ‘walk of shame’ backstage and wait for Stewart to come through the curtains so that I could congratulate him because that was what is expected from a mature and respected champion when all I really wanted to do was curl up and cry like a big baby at its first pity party. Ari and Krystal met me right there in the gorilla position. So did Holly. They gave me the hugs and words of platitude that I knew were coming, but I also knew that I didn’t really deserve any of it. Because let’s face facts;

I was a shitty champion.

No, it’s true. I was so focused on the fact that I was the youngest Underground Champion in SCU history and caught up in wanting to keep it that way, that I lost sight of every other obligation that was expected of me. I showed up when and where I was expected to, and all I thought about was who I was defending the title against. I didn’t think of what happened before, or after the matches. I loved to stay after the show and sign autographs or pose for pictures. Sometimes I even went through the crowd after the last match to do so. But any other extra activities that were expected of a champion? Personal appearances? Pre Match interviews? Hell! Post Match interviews! I failed where that was concerned. I either waited too long and when I thought to do so or was reminded, it was too late, or I simply didn’t bother as I had other things on my mind. And now? It’s over. SCU is a thing of the past, and my own future is one great big question mark.

SCW hasn’t made any overtures toward me in months. Last I heard from them was way back when Ariana left SCU to sign with them. I had to admit at the time I felt completely abandoned because I had no more support backstage save for Holly and she had her own career to focus on. She couldn’t spend all her time playing ‘mother hen’ with me. Mark Ward had told me SCW was interested in signing me after SCU announced it would be closing its doors, but no. I had to be stubborn. I had to stay loyal to SCU because they were the first ones who had wanted to take a chance on me and gave me so many opportunities after I signed that dotted line.

“Excuse me, sir?” The voice of the stewardess, an older woman who at first glance SORT OF reminded me of my Grams, drew me out of my own toxic thoughts. I looked up at her as she stood to my left up in first class, pushing that all too eagerly awaited cart of drinks. She asked me, “Can I get you anything to drink?”

I sighed as my eyes fell from her to the cart. My eyes roamed the small row of bottles that carried what I really wanted; something strong to take a bit of the sting off of recent happenings and make my arrival home a little less burdensome. But I didn’t want to fall into that same trap that so many other former champions (and current too!) did and drown myself in alcohol. So my attention went instead to the soft drinks and I gave her my best tight-lipped (and phony) smile.

“Can I just get a Dr. Pepper please?” I answered. She smiled without saying a word and dished a scoop of ice into one of those little plastic cups and passed that, as well as the entire can over to my thankful hands. One benefit of first class accommodations; you get the whole can whereas in coach or whatever, you barely get half. I never really did understand that but I tried to push that stray and totally random thought aside as I moved to pop the tab, when I got a bit of a pleasant surprise as a second can was set down in front of me, along with an extra package of cookies.

I looked up at the stewardess and she didn’t say a word. She just gave me a friendly wink and went about her duties toward the other passengers. Maybe she sensed something was wrong and I needed a little cheering up. Maybe she was just being the doting grandma I suspected that she already was. Grandmas are scary that way, even if they're not your own. I don’t know. I just know that here I am, right now, on the flight back home from Canada to Las Vegas, caught in my own little private world of ‘woe is me.’

I looked to my left and there was Krystal and Makayla in the next row, and to my right? Who else but my Ariana who looked up from her book to give me a wisp of a smile before she went back to her reading and tearing into her own snacks. Both Ari and Krystal knew that I was depressed over losing my championship, but I don't think either one of them really realized the scope of how I was feeling or the spot I had placed myself in. It's true what they say you know? The people surrounded by the most loved ones can be some of the loneliest people in the world. And the people that put on the bravest faces, the brightest smiles and have the most people laughing can be the ones hurting the most deep inside.

I tried to deflect from my mood. I tried to pick up my own phone to surf the net or watch a movie, but I kept putting it back down. That is sort of the dilemma one faces when they suddenly find themselves out of work. I knew my mom and Grams would be expecting me to return to Seattle now that SCU had come and gone, and I would be lying if I said I didn't miss them both - a LOT. But I just wasn’t ready yet to close this chapter in my life. Or at least, I didn’t want to. I also wasn’t ready to have that particular chat with Ari. Not sure how she’d react to my returning to Seattle but I can’t think it would be good.

That was about when I felt that familiar vibration from my pants - pocket you pervs! I’m talking about my phone! I set my Dr. Pepper back down, still untasted, and fished out my phone and had a look at the latest of text messages that have been flung my way since my loss. I already heard from Gabriel and Odette. They told me that they were very proud of everything I accomplished in SCU and told me to swing by the gym first chance I got when I got back to Vegas. I thanked them but I still can’t help but feel I let them down in the long run. But no. One look at the screen and saw that it was a text from my mom.

It read, “Call me when your flight lands so your Grams and I know you got back safely.”

Typical “mom text”. Translated it probably means “Call me so we can talk about your coming home and maybe going back to school and getting a real job.” She and Grams never did fully accept my foray into wrestling, and I can guarantee you that they didn’t watch my match. They never liked or appreciated the sport and couldn’t accept me being involved in something so ‘barbaric’. And the thought of seeing me get beat up in the ring or, dare I say, losing? Unfathomable to either of those fabulous ladies. And Lazarus? I haven’t really heard much from him after my loss. Just the usual “checking in” text and a late night call between us. He’s a lot like mom and Grams in how they see wrestling and he has an even  deeper lack of interest. Still… one would think my boyfriend would at least try to be a touch more supportive or sympathetic.

I sighed, careful not to disturb Ari next to me or draw another line of questioning from my bestie as to whether or not I was alright. God love her, she’s to the point of obsession when she thinks something is wrong where I’m concerned. I didn’t want to spend the rest of the flight assuring her that I was – even if I was not. I set my phone back down on the tray and picked up my drink, but it seems that the fates were against me partaking in any refreshment because the moment the cup touched my lips, my phone started to vibrate again with yet another text.

I paused, getting ‘that look’ on my pretty, pretty face and sighed as I set the cup down and picked my phone back up. I would have left it to vibrate but it was doing that “washing machine shuffle” across the tray and almost dumped itself into Ari’s lap.

I gave one look at who was texting me, and I almost dropped my phone - again. Mark Ward. “Hot Stuff” Mark Ward! The more favorable of the SCW bosses… I quickly checked the text and it simply said, “Swing by the office when you get to Vegas to sign your contract.”

I put my hand over my mouth and tried to collect myself but I could feel my eyes watering and the weight of the world suddenly being lifted from off of my shoulders. Mark didn’t question me. He didn’t ask if I wanted to… he simply never took the offer from all of those months ago off of the table. That was confidence. That was faith. And Mark and SCW as a whole had that faith and confidence in yours truly. I quickly calmed myself before anyone could notice and ask questions. I simply replied, “I’ll be there first thing in the morning. Thank you!” and hit ‘send’. I then set the phone down and picked my drink up, and I could not help but relax back into the comfort of the plush seat. SCW thought that highly of me that they waited until my obligations with SCU were complete and kept my contractual offer ready for me.

I was not going to disappoint them.

---

The Gateway of India

The Gateway of India was built over one hundred years ago as a welcoming gesture to the visiting dignitaries King George V and Queen Mary when visiting British India at the time. Resting on the banks of the Arabian Sea, perched at the Apollo Bunder waterfront, the Gateway had become one of the single most treasured and popular landmarks in the entire nation. It served as a gathering spot in Mumbai for tourists and locals alike, to people watch and/or indulge in many of the savory foods offered by the nearby street food vendors. And standing at the very edge of the wall at the base of the arches with Hindu and Muslim designed carved into the framework, was none other than the newest acquisition to the ranks of SCW’s Superstars, Helluva Bottom Carter.

Me, myself and I.

Straight from Sin City Underground, I, surprisingly so, had been signed almost immediately after SCU’s closure, remaining one of the loyalists who refused to abandon their home territory for greener pastures until all of my obligations had been met and fulfilled. Now look at me! Here I am, moving from one tour of Canada to another over seven thousand miles away to SCW’s “India Summer 2022” tour. With one of the more popular delicacies in my hand - the behelpuri, I munched away at the puffed rice snack as my eyes turned away from the people watching that I had been indulging in and focused instead on the many yachts and ferries that sailed across the waterfront and toward the sea while the sun slowly set and cast a memorable brilliance on the open waters.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything that’s happened this past week. Losing the Underground Championship. SCU closing. Being out of work for maybe twelve hours at the most and then signed to Sin City Wrestling without question. I’ve experienced a lot since my debut two years ago, and everything that was crammed into the last few days?”

I smiled and paused as I shook my head in a sense of self disbelief, taking a bite of my savory treat.

“It’s overwhelming when you consider by professional standards, I’m still something of a wet behind the ears rookie. Pride Tag Team titles. TV title. Combat title. And yeah… the Underground Championship I failed so miserably at. And now here I am, starting a whole new path to my career. It’s not my first foray in the SCW ranks, but my previous two matches were more like guest spots. Ari and I challenged for the Mixed Tag Team titles and then got a match with Levi Russow during his so-called ‘Farewell tour’ that we didn’t know was. And admittedly…”

I shrugged somewhat helplessly.

“I could have done better. I mean, literally! Osbourne of London Underground pretty much made me his bitch in that title match, and Levi? Well he could have made me his bitch any day, but I still lost that match to him. Nothing to be ashamed of, but I wasn’t sure if both of those losses caused SCW’s stock in me to plummet. Yet here I am, and I need to correct a few mistakes of the past so I can move ahead into the future. And it starts this weekend when I make my OFFICIAL debut, teaming with my GO-GO Girl Krystal Wolfe to go up against Zoey Lukas and Sex On Legs, I mean … Miles Kasey.”

“I have no qualms in admitting I am greatly relieved that SCW doesn’t allow for intergender matches because Zoey Lukas is a bombshell among Bombshells, but she’s bigger than any of the rest of us in this match and probably stronger, too! So far this bad ass babe has done very well for herself, being unbeaten since she signed, but let’s face facts. Success is in Zoey’s blood because she is, after all, a Lukas! But while I’ve sat back and listened to a handful of people refer to her as ‘the sister of Alicia Lukas’ and saying some pretty cold shit, like she only got her job in SCW because of Alicia - and so on, and so forth. Well one, I don’t buy that for a second. As far as I know, Mark and Christian don’t play the nepotism game. They may give relatives of established stars a chance to impress, but if they don’t, they’re out the door.”

I closed a hand over my mouth and fake-coughed, “*cough*BrittanyWilliams*cough*!”

I patted my chest and smiled at a passer-by.

“Pardon me. Bone. My point is, Zoey has done nothing BUT impress. Winning the tag match for her and her sister, and gaining her first solo win a few weeks ago. And now here she stands opposite the ring from my girl Krystal, and you know something?”

I shook my head.

“I’m not worried. Look at who we’re talking about. Krystal Wolfe. The record-setting Bombshell Roulette Champion! A winning streak that went on for months before her eventual title loss. Krystal turned back so many challengers of every shape and size, so I have every confidence in the world that she’s going to be able to handle herself just fine when she’s up against Zoey. I just hope after the match that we’re all good because I like Zoey. She’s big, she’s bad and of course, she’s beautiful. And I have to say…”

I looked back and forth, jokingly ensuring that there were no witnesses nearby who might overhear what I was going to say next, when there was nothing BUT witnesses all around me. I then turned to the camera and beckoned it closer with a wave of my finger. The camera moved in ever so closer and I cupped a hand around my mouth to stage whisper.

“She has great taste in men!”

The camera pulled back as I straightened up and gave the camera a coy wink.

“And speaking of great tasting men…”

I stared off, losing myself in the moment before I shook it off.

“You know what I mean, I am, of course, referring to her partner and my opponent in this match - Miles Kasey. Funny thing, for all our interactions on Twitter … or should I say my unabashed flirting and Miles being the open minded gentleman in responding, I never really thought my first official match would be against him. Not that I’m complaining about having to get into the ring and get it on with that marvelous mass of mancake, but I honestly don’t know what to say or how to react because – I like the guy! And I don’t mean that from a physical standpoint but Miles is one of the single most genuine people on the entire roster. He ranks right up there with Ben Jordan. You just can’t help but like the man.”

“You also can’t help but feel for him as well, given everything that he's been going through over the past few months. I mean, over the entire course of the Summer XXXTreme X cruise, I felt like we were watching some morbid hybrid of the Amber Heard trial and Fatal Attraction. All rolled into one. I know it was the topic of conversation amongst many tables on the cruise and in the locker rooms. I also know that it embarrassed Miles because he never wanted his personal life to become so public. That was the crazy girlfriend’s doing. But it did, and I would have liked to have done nothing more than to be there for the guy. Not as an admirer or a seducer, but as a friend. Just an ear he could bend for his woes, but I can’t say that I put myself out there in a position to do so, or even if Miles would have accepted.”

“But that’s neither here nor there for now, because in a couple of days, I have to set aside any ideas of friendship because I’m in this match to win. I can’t be thinking about Miles’ good looks or how tight that bubble butt of his is looking in whatever outfit he sleeps in and has to compete in for this Strange Bedfellows match. I have to look past the boyish charm and wanting to be there for him for all the right reasons, and do whatever it takes to pin his shoulders to the mat.”

“Not an easy task, I know. Miles may not have won singles gold - YET - but in my opinion and in the minds of many, he’s got to be the greatest wrestler in SCW to have yet to do so. I’ve watched his matches from more than just a wanton admirer's point of view. As a professional, the man is incredible inside of the ring. Whether it be wrestling on the mat or flying through the air, Miles is an incredible athlete and I know it’s going to be a real challenge to walk away with ANY sort of advantage over him! But – I’m going to. I’m not just going to walk away with the advantage, but I’m going to walk away with the win. I have to. I have Krystal depending on me, and I have a new path that I have to forge here in SCW. And on a personal note? I’ve messed up a time or two recently and now…?”

Just then I felt an arm slip around my shoulder and I turned my head to see my bestie Ariana snuggling up against me to watch the ships and the sunset. After a few enjoyable moments between close friends, she then snaked her arm into my own and led me away.

“It’s time to start fresh. Because for a new path to mean anything, you have to forge it yourself.”

 
Earlier this week…

It was early morning, and the small apartment building on the outskirts of North Las Vegas was relatively quiet as the majority of the occupants were either asleep or already having left for the drudge of their blue color jobs. One resident was a garbage man, another worked as a bar back in one of the casinos of the famed Vegas Strip. An older woman even was rumored to be a private eye for the Las Vegas police department. And the newest tenant who had moved in mere months ago -- was a professional wrestler.

The lobby door to the individual building slid open and Carter McKinney, known in wrestling circles as Helluva Bottom Carter, or simply HBCarter, paused to hold the door open for his best friend Ariana Angelos, to set foot into the building before him, carrying her single piece of luggage in her hand for her overnight stay. Carter then followed, pulling along his own wheeled luggage from his wrestling travels.

Carter: I still think that this is ridiculous. I don’t need a baby sitter.

Ariana: Well tough beans, Carter. You heard what the doctor said; 24 hours under observation, just in case.

Carter huffed a sigh of annoyance before he started through the lobby and toward the stairwell that would take him and his guest to his third floor studio. Ariana, having been here many times before, followed behind with a wisp of a smile and could not help but tease her bestie by asking…

Ariana: Would you prefer that the doctor had called your mom to fly here and stay with you?

Carter whipped around, his face aghast.

Carter: God no!

But he clapped a hand over his mouth as in this old building, built at some time in the early 1950s, had great acoustics and his voice carried just a bit. Ariana nodded knowingly.

Ariana: I thought so. So buck up! I’m your roomie for the next 24 hours.

Carter: Fiiiine!

They turned back around and continued toward the stairwell, Ari popping her forefinger from her lips and drawing an imaginary number one in the air before her. Of course Ari could tell his tone was done so teasingly. Carter loved having her over to hang out, as he loved hanging out at her place as well. They had discussed staying in her house, given that it was much larger than his simple studio, but Carter’s smaller place was chosen for obvious personal comfort.

But no sooner did they reach that first step than the door to the immediate left opened and an elderly woman, the epitome of the sweet old lady image; complete with curly white hair, thick rimmed glasses and a shawl over her shoulders, took a single step outside into the hall.

Carter: Hello Missus Wagner.

Ariana then noticed for the first time just how thick the old woman’s glasses were when she looked up at her friend with rheumy eyes and blinked.

Mrs. Wagner: Oh hello dear! Finally back home from your travels?

Carter: Yes ma’am! Took us all night too so we’re just going to get settled in for the day.

The old lady then turned her attention to Ariana and a smile softened her lips.

Mrs. Wagner: Oh she is lovely.

She took one step further out and the narrow hall made it close enough that she might pat Ariana on the wrist.

Mrs. Wagner: You’re a lovely young lady.

Ariana’s cheekes blustered a charming pink under this sweet old lady’s misguided notion that she was Carter’s girlfriend, but she didn’t have it in her heart to correct the stranger. At least, not yet.

Ariana: T-thank you.

Carter waved ‘bye’ as he led the way upstairs as his neighbor went back into her own apartment and closed the door behind her.

Ariana: She thinks I’m a lovely young lady.

Carter: Don’t get too worked up. She’s blind as a bat and thinks I’m a lovely young lady.

---

The door to Carter’s apartment then swung open and Ariana stepped inside first, and smiled as she looked around. She had been here so many times before but she still had some difficulties in understanding how Carter liked living in such a small space; despite the fact he repeatedly said that it was comfortable and more than enough for a single person. His abode was roughly 450 square feet, and had minimal decor and furniture inside. Ari understood that Carter was a neat freak inside of his apartment, and if there was anything that he had a dislike for, it was clutter.

You know what a studio apartment is, don’t you? It’s pretty much what one might expect. It was wide, open space the moment you set foot inside, the ‘living room’ the predominant area and just to the right, well to call it a kitchen might be generous but it served its purpose. Or would if Carter had any rea interest in cooking but if it weren’t microwaveable or cold be delivered by the Uber Eats, then he wasn’t very interested. The floor was wood paneling, and the artistic side of Carter prompted him to liven up the drab drywall with a soft colorful paint job. The only real furniture that he had in his living space was his desk along the far wall, and an entertainment center; a sofa that could be pulled out into a bed (he had gotten that for Ari), and a couple of chairs in case of guests - so far only Ariana and Gabriel and Odette had gotten too call themselves that. In fact, Gabriel had tried to talk Carter into letting him help in getting the twenty year old a larger place, but Carter was quite happy with what he had. Unlike so many others that shared his lifestyle, Carter was not particularly materialistic. In fact, his pride and joy was just past the partisan wall, in the far corner of his home where the bedroom (?) might ordinarily be located.



Built against the corner of the studio in its own sectional was a bed, just up a small set of steps and cordoned off by its own wall setting. On the exterior of the sectional’s wall was a built-in closet and some shelves for the idle collections that Carter did allow himself to indulge in. Little knick knacks like his obsession with the TV series, Supernatural, and a few Siamese cats statues and plushies.

Ariana knew Carter desperately wanted a Siamese cat to call his own, but there was little chance of that happening given he was gone for lengths of time, either training or touring with her for SCU. Plus there was the fact his landlord didn’t allow pets but Ari had little doubt that somehow Carter could and would find a way around this little obstacle if he had a like mind to do so.

Carter sighed.

Carter: Well, I guess I can’t put this off any longer.

Ariana had a seat on the sofa, having stashed her own luggage just to the side and out of the way so as not to cause either to trip or just to be unsightly to her neat-freak best friend.

Ariana: What is it?

Carter took off his leather studded jacket and then hung it up beside the front door. He fished his phone from an interior pocket (Christ Ari sometimes wondered just how many pockets that thing had!) and he had a seat beside her before switching it on. He rolled his eyes and shared a look with her before explaining.

Carter: The `rents. They watch everything I’m on and even though I didn’t tell them we were going to be on the last episode of Climax Control, chances are they watched anyway since they know about our match Sunday.

Ariana: So… you think they saw what happened?

As if to answer, Carter held up his phone so that Ariana could have a look at the screen and her eyes opened wide and lips pursed as a low whistle escaped from them, seeing that Carter had missed almost two dozen messages since the night he had to be admitted to the hospital to be under observation for a possible concussion.

Carter pressed a ‘return call’ button, and switched it to video feed and in no time at all, the familiar face of Carter’s mom Dawn McKinney filled the screen.

Dawn: Carter! Ohmygoodness!  Are you alright!? Your father and I were watching and we saw what that brute did to you…

Carter: Mom… mom….

But every time he tried to get his mother’s attention, she continued to talk over him until he waved his hands in front of the screen and barked ‘mom!’ before she calmed herself.

Carter: MOM! … I’m alright! Really! And Bobbie Dahl did not do that to me. I just fell trying to catch a speeding bullet named Ari!

Carter jetted a thumb to his side, and Ari leaned into the shot so his mom could see his guest and Ariana waved at her with a small, almost apologetic smile since she still blamed herself for Carter being hurt.

Dawn: Oh, hello Ariana dear. Are you alright?

Ariana: I really am, Missus McKinney.

Dawn nodded, then turned a worried eye to her only son.

Dawn: Carter, what were you thinking?

Carter: I was thinking of trying to break Ari’s fall, otherwise she would have taken a nose dive right into that guard rail!

Dawn: But what did the hospital say?

Carter: What makes you think I was in a hospital?

Dawn: Well you had better be young man, or else it just means you were ignoring the messages from me and your father.

Ariana again leaned into the shot so she could whisper just loud enough for both Carter and his mom to hear…

Ariana: Busted!

Carter gave her the ol’ side-eye before he turned back to his mom and he sighed in annoyance.

Carter: Okay, fine. I was in the hospital. But I didn’t have a concussion the doctor said and I didn’t call you yet because I didn’t want you or dad to be worried.

Dawn: You didn’t think we’d be worried after seeing what happened and we weren’t able to get a hold of you?

Ariana tried to repeat her ‘busted’ routine but Carter smirked and gently nudged her back out of the way.

Dawn: And you know how your father and I feel about you wrestling! You could get hurt!

Carter closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath before he opened them again.

Carter: Mom, we’ve been through this. A lot. This is my dream, not yours or dad’s. I put myself through this, earned it all on my own. It would be nice to get at least a little support.

Dawn: Carter, if we didn’t support you at least a little bit, do you think we’d be watching you on TV? At all?

Ariana: She’s got a point.

Dawn: And YOU dear…

Ariana turned to the screen with wide eyes and a soft ‘eep!’

Dawn: You are much too young and pretty to be engaging in such fisticuffs.

Carter turned to Ariana and smiled widely, returning her own mocking words.

Carter: Busted! Hahaha!

But unlike Carter, Ariana could not put up much of a defense. She adored his om too much to get sassy, and Dawn understood. She quickly put Ari out of her misery by turning back to her son.

Dawn: You can’t blame your father and I for worrying about you. We love you. We supported you ever since you told us that you were gay at fifteen.

Carter sighed.

Carter: I know.

Dawn: So just let us be parents and worry about you. It’s what we do best.

Carter smiled.

Carter: Okay.

Dawn then turned to Ariana.

Dawn: And you’re staying with him?

Ariana: Yes ma'am. The doctor wanted him watched for 24 hours after he left the hospital.

Dawn nodded, satisfied.

Dawn: Okay, good. Keep a close watch on my boy. And Carter?

Carter: Hm?

Dawn: Don’t let this happen again? Answer us when something like this happens!

Carter simply nodded, and Dawn’s face softened into a loving and warm smile.

Dawn: Love you!

Carter: Love you too.

He turned his phone off and set it down on the table before turning to Ariana.

Carter: You see the kind of things I have to deal with?

Ariana looked back and forth between Carter and the phone, blinking like her friend was nuts.

Later that night…

In the dead of night, Carter stirred awake in his bed and opened his sleepy eyes -- to find Ariana staring down at him with a mirror under his nose.

Carter: AHH!!

Ariana: AHH!!

And as Ariana fell back off of his bed, Carter’s surprise caused a struggle and him getting entangled in his own bed spread!

---

“Okay, I get it. I've been hearing it from practically everyone ever since I showed up in Phoenix to accept the open challenge of London Underground. You’ve only had one match whereas London Underground has had many. You've never teamed with Ariana before while London Underground have turned it into an art form. You're only in your first week as an active wrestler where has London Underground has been going for almost 3 years. Trust me, there is nothing that you can tell me that everyone else has it already said before. But you know what I have to say to that?”

“So what? You're out there saying things that you seem to think I haven't thought of myself? I know what situation that Ari and I are in. I know that we are outmatched. I know that we are the underdogs. I know that London Underground has the advantage in this match in every conceivable way! Hell! Ari and I won't even really know who we are up against, whether it will be Daniel or Ousborne, Mackenzie or Charlotte, in this match until literally they make their entrances! That puts the ball entirely in their Court, and how Ari and I react is entirely laid out at our feet! So why did I do this to us? Why did I ‘accept’ the open challenge? The answer is really very simple.”

“Why not?”

“The first goal of every wrestler in this business is to Simply get better. And you're not going to get better unless you get inside of the ring with the very best that the sport has to offer. I understand that, and I am hoping that Ari understands it as well. Did I jump the gun when I accepted the challenge without even discussing it with my best friend first? Maybe. I won't even try to deny that, but I don't regret it. Not for a single moment. I mean, look at what's happened ever since I did it and Daniel Morgan accepted the challenge!”

“Our bosses in Sin City Underground have booked us in and even bigger match, in our mixed tag team match against the Good Shepherds, one of who is the SCU Women’s Combat Champion! Slowly but surely, we're moving up. I haven't been pinned yet, and the only reason my bestie got pinned in her last singles match was because that walking STD had to cheat! I would say that we're doing very well for ourselves, and a lot of that is because of my taking the initiative to step out onto the main stage and stake a claim at a world championship!”

“So Ari and I learned a lot from Gabriel and Odette when they gave us a crash course in tag team wrestling, and that was because of my Ari’s own initiative because I have to admit I wouldn’t have thought of asking. Why, I don’t know because Gabriel and Despayre wrote the book on tag team wrestling and Odette knows Gabriel better than anyone. So the question on everyone’s mind is; are we ready? I’d like to believe so. At least, we’re as ready as we ever will be given the current place we are in our careers, and the fact we are heading right into the unknown.”

“London Underground has a lot going for it, and the biggest edge they have is the Freebird rule they operate under. They’ve shown that they can operate and succeed in any combination between the four, even if there is the slightest level of antagonism between Osbourne and Mackenzie. But where Ari and I are concerned? It’s not business like it is with Daniel Morgan and his employees. Ari and I are best friends. We have been ever since we met at our training. I’m sure there has to be some level of friendship between London Underground, but can they say that they’re as close with one another as Ari and I have been in the past year? Would Charlotte say she loves Daniel the way I can say I love my Ari?”

“I guess we’ll find out come Sunday in Los Angeles. I have always wanted to visit LA! The lights! The glamour! And this weekend? We face the best of the best!”

“What have I gotten us into?”