Honolulu, Hawaii
The home that Tempest once shared with Malulani served as a tense setting for the storm that was quickly rolling in. And when we say storm, we are not referring to a simple thing such as a force of nature. Not a hurricane or monsoon, but a disagreement between two women, once linked by the same blood. A man, both a brother and a husband. Maile, the older sister of Malulani and the next in line as family matriarch, and in being so, she had come to expect her every thought to be revered and every judgment to be followed. However, she had run into someone who simply did not play by her foolish rules, the widow of her deceased brother and now the adoptive mother to her niece.
Maile stood in faux shock as she watched Tempest stand on the opposite side of her bedroom in the house, putting the finishing touches on packing the bags that she would need when traveling overseas.
"You can't be serious!" Tempest stood rigid as she faced off once again with her former sister-in-law, Maile, sister to her deceased husband Malulani. Maile held her arms out as she said, "You're actually going to go on this stupid tour!?"
"I don't actually have much choice in the matter, Maile. It is my job, after all." Tempest said in this heated exchange between (former) family, and anyone will tell you that family can and will make for some of the most heated battles because blood is involved. Tempest closed her luggage and drew the zipper across. She stood upright with a smile that was more bitter sarcasm than one of mirth and amusement.
"Oh, sorry." Tempest said. "I think that's the first time anyone said the words 'Maile' and 'job' in the same discussion. Seeing as how you've never had one!"
"How dare you say something like that to me!?" Maile was aghast, clearly affronted at the mere accusation that she did not work. She said, "I am a mother and homemaker and THAT is the toughest of jobs!"
"Hm, true." Tempest nodded, despite herself. "And I'd probably be more open to giving you credit for just that if your husband hadn't hired a nanny to do the majority of the work raising your kids and a housekeeper to take care of the house. After all that, what's left? Taking spa days with your girlfriends and having morning mimosas!"
"Don't you DARE speak to me that way!" Maile hissed through clenched teeth, growing angrier by the second at such blatant disrespect. "As matriarch you show me res-"
"You are NOT the family matriarch, Maile!" Tempest threw her clothing luggage to the floor in an act of anger and annoyance. "You think just because your mother is gone that means you're matriarch and people have to kiss your ass the same way they kissed her's!?"
Maile stormed across the bedroom and around the bed to confront the woman opposite her, her right arm stiffening for an obvious blow to come but Tempest just stood there and stared at her, calmly stating, "I would think very carefully before you do what it is that you're thinking about doing. Because I can - and will - throw you through that wall."
Maile shook her head, "I regret ever calling you about my mother. I regret telling you about Anela!"
"You didn't have a choice in the matter, as I recall." Tempest stood right up to her, looking down at her dear Malulani's sister. And credit due, the woman did not back down from Tempest despite the vast size and strength differences. But before she could say anything else, anything more scathing that might leave Maile without the skin on her body, Tempest closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.
"Listen to me..." Tempest finally said. "I am no more thrilled at the idea of taking this time away than you are of my doing it. But I don't have a choice! It IS my job and I can't take her with me into another country while the adoption process is being finalized so she is safe and secure!"
Maile looked away, her lips pressed so tightly that they practically disappeared. But then Tempest spoke up, taking a step closer to the woman and she turned her head back to look her in the eyes.
"Listen." Tempest said quietly now. "I do not like you, and I know that you have no love lost for me. But this isn't about either of us. There is a little girl in there that needs some semblance of comfort and familiarity! That is why I called you! That is why I asked you to stay here with her as opposed to my own mother! Because she knows you! I mean, have you any idea the level of trust I am putting on your shoulders right now??? You could easily wait until I'm in Jordan and then pull the same act your mother did..."
"I won't." Maile said simply. Tempest nodded and said, "I know. That is the other reason why I asked you."
In that given statement, more was said than mere words between the two women. One did not have to like a person in order to show them the proper respect.
Tempest was standing at the very site that had led Sin City Wrestling to the city of Amman, Jordan and more importantly, to one of the modern Wonders of the World -- the Ancient City of Petra. The 6'3" amazon stood stoically, arms crossed as she stared straight ahead at the carvings in the mountainside. Carvings that had withstood both the ravages of nature and the tests of time, remaining not only standing to this day, but in remarkably superb shape. The heat was intense, even for a woman whose wrestling career was based in Las Vegas which was smack dab in the middle of the Nevada desert.
But Nevada was one thing. Jordan was a true desert! Her tanned flesh glistening under the sun, she watched as the SCW ring crew busied themselves, setting up the ring before the Gates of Petra.
"I'll be the first to admit that I have a temper. If something is bothering me, I speak up on it. If I think I've been wronged, then I will happily call someone out. I have absolutely no qualms in telling anyone how I feel and if it upsets anyone listening..."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Well that sounds like a 'you problem' more than anything else. I call things as I see them, and the thing about people is this; when you're calling them out, the more truthful you are, the more upset people tend to get. People do not like it when you're being honest - ESPECIALLY when that honesty is directed toward them. But here's the thing... I'm here because of exactly that situation, but I'm caught at a bit of a crossroads. Because I feel that I have been wronged, but the people who are getting something that I feel I and another are owed, did me no wrong. They accepted the hand dealt them, so where do I go? Who do I speak to?"
She turned her head toward the camera and unfolded her arms, setting her hands firmly on her hips in an open stance of defiance.
"The world, that's who! This match I was given against Alexandra Calaway... this whole Queen For A Day thing? It's a bone that I've been tossed by the top brass. Same for Austin in his opportunity against Miles Kasey. They're giving us this consolation prize because they gave something that we're owed, to someone else. Now this is no knock against Ben Jordan because, well who doesn't like that guy? And no REAL knock on Sam Marlowe because... maybe she's not so bad. But here's the thing... that's the team that Mercer and I beat to get to the Mixed Tag Team Fatal Fourway at Summer XXXTreme XI! We advanced to that championship final event! We were the team to beat and while we didn't win, we also were not the team that lost so MIkah and Kris Ryans 2.0 could win! You know what that tells me? That tells me that Austin and I should be fighting for that championship! But nope!"
She threw up her hands and shook her head.
"Instead that honor has gone to Saint Ben and Sammi Girl for this next Supercard and where are Mercer and myself? Split up and put into singles matches to give us a shot at these King and Queen spots. Now yeah, I get it. This would mean that when we get that far and win the whole deal -- and we WILL -- that we can book whatever we want, including a mixed tag title shot. Fine. Then. How the hell does that do anything for us now? We are talking about a championship match at the climax of this tour, at Violent Conduct IX as opposed to handing yourself a title match on a normal show. We are talking about being recognized and rewarded for something you deserve by the top brass -- as opposed to using your one day of power to gift yourself something that should have been yours in the first place! The bosses gave this opportunity to someone else, and left me with scraps as a means to TRY and mollify me. And heavy emphasis on the use of the word 'try' because trust me -- it doesn't work!"
"Which puts this so-called 'queen' Alexandra Calaway in a really bad spot because she's the chick I have to go through in order to make it to Violent Conduct IX, and angry as I am over this whole scenario? She's the one I get to take everything out on, all in one fell swoop. Now I admit I have watched Calaway, and she's earned her spot. Okay I admit SOMETIMES she seems to get over stimulated on her own hype and it bites her right in the ass, but she's a fighter. And that's a trait that is going to come in very useful where I am concerned because the chick is going to have to fight if she wants to survive. Let alone win! She showed she could fight with that Luna Vanity, and even though she dropped that one, she showed she wasn't afraid to bleed in order to get the job done."
Tempest nodded.
"Respect. And she even beat the chick that got a win over me last time around when she won against Bobbie Dahl. That loss still bothers me but I can't fault Dahl for getting one up on me, and for Calaway to take the win there? Well, she earned it the hard way. Too many girls want to get ahead and 'earn' their spots in this business with their tits and asses hanging out but Calaway simply fights for it. That's someone after my own heart so yeah... this match won't be as easy as some might think. I'm not delusional enough to assume just because I'm twice her size, that it'll make it so. Calaway will give me a fight, that much is certain. Because if she doesn't, that would just piss me off all the more and make me hurt her even worse."
Tempest shook her head in mock dismay.
"And that's not something I want, Alexandra. And not something you want, either. I have no real beef with you, other than you simply being put in the path of an oncoming storm. And that, Alex, is where the most damage gets done."
