Mackenzie looks down the camera, her haired neatly tied back as the sun beats down on the table the four sit around. She tilts her head slightly to the right.
"Amy Santino..." She says firmly. "Chance two for you but everything Daniel has said is true. The match is already lost for you because you're seeing Jessie everywhere you go. She's got in to your head and she's not leaving any time soon, is she? I mean come on, how many fucking times do you have to sit there and know she's not gonna leave you alone, that she is gonna appear and try and take you out? It doesn't take a fucking genius to work out that she's gonna do it again this week, because she is fucking predictable. Are you that stupid that you can't see the way to end this is to just end her? She's happy with the sneak attacks, you should do the same, sneak up on her while she's in another steak restaurant and stick a fucking fork in her eye or something, put her out of the game for good. Instead of sitting there trying to figure out what footage you're gonna splice in to your promo, and I'm guessing it's gonna be around about where Wyatt tells you to watch out, and you get one over on her, go make a bold fucking move. Until you do something like that, you are forever gonna be looking over your shoulder, you will forever be unfocused and you will forever be someone who couldn't beat us."
Mackenzie clenches her jaw as she looks down the camera.
"I know you've probably had your head banged off too many headboards to sit there and think of things like this, that's why people need to spell it out for you." Mackenzie say seriously. "Every time you step in that ring, you step in there putting yourself in danger, and not because this ain't a fucking dance competition, but because you're looking around the crowd, looking for when someone is about to take you out. The only reason you got away with shit last week was because Claudia Seraphina ain't a wrestler, fuck knows what she is but she sure as shit ain't a wrestler, and you had cowboy Joe spot her before you did. Other than that, you'd be fucked again and not in a good way."
Mackenzie turns her head towards Osbourne.
"What I mean by that is..." Mackenzie says to him. "Ah nevermind."
She waves he hand towards him, causing him to grit his teeth before she looks back at the camera.
"You're a liability every time you step in the fucking ring Amy." Mackenzie tells her with venom in her voice. "You really shouldn't be there, fuck, you shouldn't even really be in SCW, you're nowhere near as good as you used to be and fuck it, we know. During training, we watched tapes of you while we learned how to face anyone, no matter what their style and you used to be worth something, your name used to be worth something but it's worth nothing. While people have a hole in their arses, you will never repeat what you've done in the past, and you won't be the first to be someone who has held every possible title, because you sure as shit ain't getting your spunk covered hands on our belts."
Daniel leans back in his chair at the last comment and looks across at Osbourne.
"There's something you don't hear every day." Daniel says with half a smile.
Mackenzie turns her head towards Daniel.
"Please..." Mackenzie says smugly. "It's probably from multiple fellas anyway, but my point remains the same, not getting her hands anywhere near them. She is a shell of who she used to be, nowhere near as good."
Mackenzie turns her face towards the camera.
"Ain't that right, Amy?" Mackenzie asks "I'm on to you without even fucking trying. Amy Santino is here because of the titles we have. She wants to be known as the first woman to be a grand slam plus one champion, but that is not gonna happen while we're here. You've seen other grand slam champions and you know, male or female, you're the worst of the bunch and you're trying to out do them all by jumping in and trying to take these belts. Keep dreaming sweetheart, you're not gonna get these belts, but I will tell you what you are gonna get and you're not gonna like it."
Mackenzie cracks her knuckles, pushing her left hand over her right hand.
"You're gonna get fucking hurt." Mackenzie tells her. "Seriously fucking hurt. Jessie Salco hasn't put you down yet, but she did put you in a position that is gonna get you hurt without raising a hand to you. The Seraphinas' if they had any sense in their heads, would have took you out last week, they failed to get that job done. We won't fail to get that job done, because if you just happen to be standing in the ring opposite me, you're gonna get hurt. I ain't fucking around, you're gonna get hurt. While you'll looking through the crowd for a giant mouse, or whatever Miss Uncreative wants to come up with next, I'll be focused to rip your arms off and beat ya round the head with them. Or take away your knee and do SCW a favour by getting rid of you once and for all Amy. Go do what so many others here are doing and train a replacement, cause people are tired of seeing you. How long is it gonna be before everyone turns there back on you? How many times are people gonna want to watch you fail over and over and over again trying to get something that's not meant to be yours?"
Mackenzie looks further in to the camera, almost like her narrowed eyes are splitting through the lense.
"Our championships, they're never meant to be yours and they won't be yours." Mackenzie says coldly. "It's gonna take a lot better person than you to get them off of us, much bigger, much better, and not so past it people to get the belts of us. You've got no fucking chance at all Amy. Time to accept it now, because you and this title, will never be together."
Mackenzie points to Charlotte.
"Take it from here." She tells her. "I can't be bothered to talk about that waste of space anymore."
Charlotte nods as the camera turns around to face her, her hair, like Mackenzie's, is neatly tied back and away from her face.
"I think Amy must be sensing a trend here." Charlotte says matter-of-factly. "People just simply wanna kick her arse. I mean she hasn't done much to me, but even I wanna kick her arse. Something about you Amy, something about your intentions here that doesn't ring true, but at least you know who the strongest team in the division is. There's a reason that we are the strongest team in the division Amy. We defeated every other team mentioned, two of those teams with a third team involved, you and Wyatt, we defeated you all. We defeated Casey Williams and Dani Weston too, so what in your right mind makes you think that you two have grown enough to actually make things different this time around? I mean judging by your rankings of teams, sticking the Seraphinas' as the weakest team in the division, which yes, we agree on, and them being the only team that you've actually beat, what make you think that you now have what it takes to beat us?"
Charlotte pauses for a second.
"I'm presuming you rate yourself as team number two behind us?" She asks. "I mean you wouldn't admit weakness compared to Jessie and Joshua, or Dani and Casey, correct?"
Charlotte nods her head, as if to answer for Amy.
"What have you ever done to put yourself there?" Charlotte asks. "On what planet do you rate yourself as the second best team there? The truth is, none of you have done a damn thing to put yourself there and that thing you called a promo last week couldn't sell a damn thing, you couldn't sell an ice cream to someone in one hundred degree heat! I seriously hope you do a better job this week, I really do, or people will be out of the arena quicker than a Germany world cup team."
The rivalistic dig from Charlotte, born out of being English, and Germany exiting the World Cup sooner than expected, brings a smile to the group.
"Amy, you're meant to get people interested in a match." Charlotte tells her. "Judging by your effort last week, it wouldn't get a kid interested in watching a cartoon. The only reason people are gonna be watching this match is because of us. People know what we can do, people have seen it, people have lived it and people have loved it. Couldn't give a damn if they boo us, we're getting a reaction, you get people leaving the arena whenever you appear. It would be the worst thing to possibly happen to SCW if you were to get these belts, the absolute worst thing to ever happen to SCW. Who wants to see the belts on someone who gets beat up by an idiot like Salco every week, and an absent cowboy?"
"No one." Mackenzie chimes in.
"Too bloody right." Charlotte says. "We're the bad guys, the ones everyone boo, the ones who think we're in to bad shit, and they right, but they would much rather see us holding the belts than you two ever holding them. We put arses on ringside seats, you put arses on toilet seats."
Osbourne tries to hide a smile, as he slowly shakes his head.
"I'm sure you've probably worked it out but just in case you haven't, I'll spell it out to you one more time." Charlotte says convincingly. "There's not a way you could think of, or come up with that will allow you to beat us in any way. You could put together the finest minds in the world alive or dead, and there's no chance they will come up with a way for you to beat us Amy. You will not become talented overnight and you won't be leaving New Orleans on Sunday with the belts. Os or Danny, me or Kenz, doesn't matter, facts will remain the same, the championships will stay in the same place, Wyatt will probably quit, you will be even more washed up than before, the fans will still boo us, we won't care and maybe, just maybe you'll learn that until we decide to, or until we're gone from here, you Amy Santino will never be SCW Mixed Tag Team Champions with anyone."
Charlotte looks deep in to the camera.
"Stick to your pointless rivalries with people like Salco." She tells her. "Cause you're not cut out to mess with the big boys."
"Very well said." Daniel comments. "But it's time we took a little leave from here and head to Devona's house. Need to get us some wheels first..."
The four stand up as we speed forward a few hours...
It's always nice to get invited to people houses when you're in the area.... Not that in our line of business away from the ring, we get many invites, we invite ourselves so to speak, unexpectedly I might add. It's especially nice to be invited to someone's house you haven't seen in a while, just out of the kindness of one's heart. Devona and us lot came from the same gym, the same trainers in Odette and Gabriel Stevens, instantly making us family members in everyone's eyes, but hey, even family members fight and break away a little. She was the ray of sunshine in the family, a smile never far from her face, or words of encouragement from her lips. You couldn't help but like her, she brought a gentle atmosphere to a gym full of anger at times. She'd be away and out of SCW for a while, no one really knew why, I think that will be her story to tell someday hopefully, but she had returned to her hometown of New Orleans, which happened to be where SCW would be passing through.
Could you imagine the cheers she'd get if she appeared on the show? Hint, hint Devona, hint hint!
Ahem, anyway, as I was saying, she and the brothers, Beauty and Beast, also trained by Gabriel and Odette, had returned to New Orleans and with SCW passing through, an invitation was made to me, Os, Charley and Kenz to visit... By Devona's Grandmother. She was curious to meet Devona's friends from the other side of the world and how could we say no to such an offer?
The four members of London Underground sit in a rental car, Osbourne behind the wheel, with Daniel sitting next to him in the passenger seat, both women sitting in the back of the car. The car moves past a row of houses in midtown New Orleans. Daniel looks curiously out of the window, seeing what Devona had described to him as a shotgun house. He didn't have a clue what it meant but did his best to guess which belonged to Devona's grandmother. Devona had described it as quaint and homey, painted violet, soft blue, lime green and white.
"There." Daniel says, pointing his hand towards a house matching that description.
Mackenzie, next to the closes window where Daniel pointed, looks out of the window, winkling up her nose.
"Blimey, that one's hard to miss." She says surprised.
It really was hard to miss, standing out like a sore thumb in the row of other houses. Thin and narrow looking, the house was situated on grass, just a little from the main road.
Osbourne slows the car down, moving it slowly across the road before coming to a complete stop outside the front of the property, just covered with a front door and a couple of windows either side.
"So shotgun house must mean narrow?" Charlotte muses.
Osbourne turns the engine off and the four open their doors, stepping out on to the street of the quiet road, and shutting the doors behind them. The front door opens and the familiar face of Devona can be seen. Wasting no time, she charges toward the group and jumps at them, wrapping her arms around them, initiating a group hug.
"It's so great to see you guys!" She tells them with a happy tone.
It had been a while. None of the group had seen Devona since SCW has closed down in January, everyone made their way back to where ever they called home, but Devona had kept in touch with her wrestling family.
"You too." Daniel says as the group hug breaks apart. "You're looking well."
"So do you!" Devona gushes. "All of you do."
Daniel looks up to see an older woman walking from the house walking over to join you group.
"My my my." She says. "I know you said he was cute but woooooo."
The woman fans her face as she looks at Daniel, causing Devona to blush, and of course drawing a snigger from Charlotte and Mackenzie.
"You must be Daniel." She says looking at him.
"I am." Daniel says, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you Mrs..."
The woman shakes her head.
"We'll have none of that Mrs stuff." She says. "Y'all can all call me Gram."
"Well it's nice to meet you, Gram." He says extending his hand once more.
"Boy, you're in N'Orleans now. We don't shake hands..." She tells him. "We hug!"
Catching Daniel by surprise, the woman jumps at him, pulling him in close with a bear like hug, squeezing him firmly for a few seconds before letting him go. As she does, she turns to Osbourne.
"This is Osbourne." Devona says.
"Does he come with a first name or is he just like Madonna?" Gram asks.
"He doesn't even come with speech." Mackenzie mutters to herself.
She jumps at him and wraps her arms around Osbourne, the big man trying to keep a stony look on his face. Gram steps back, once again fanning her face.
"I could feel his muscles underneath his shirt." She tells Devona.
Devona turns her head away from her grandmother, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
"This is Charlotte." Devona says pointing to Charlotte.
"Nice to meet you Gram." Charlotte says politely.
"Such manners your friends have." Gram comments. "Except muscles, he don't say a lot."
"The string on his back broke years ago." Mackenzie mutters once more.
Osbourne overhears and looks towards Mackenzie, overlooking Gram and Charlotte embraced in a hug. They break off the hug and Gram looks towards Mackenzie.
"And this is Mackenzie." Devona says, completing her introductions.
"What a fine name." Grams says as she wraps her arms around Mackenzie.
Mackenzie's face turns to pure awkwardness, never really been comfortable with hugging strangers, her face told that exact story. Gram releases Mackenzie, much to her relief and turns to Devona.
"Why don't you take your friends around the back and check on the smart one and the foolish one." She tells Devona. "And I'll be out in a minute."
Devona nods to her grandmother as she walks back towards the house. Devona points around the side of the house and the group begin to walk in that direction.
"Smart one and the foolish one?" Mackenzie says "Beauty and Beast?"
Devona nods as she looks towards her.
"Yes, they are here." Devona confirms.
Charlotte points a finger at Mackenzie.
"No distracting him with a spoon this time." Charlotte tells her.
"Can't promise anything." Mackenzie replies, a wicked smile crossing her face.
The group walk around the back of the house to see a long table set up, covered in plates and covered over pots. Family style was a big thing in New Orleans and Devona and her grandmother were very big on traditions. All rested on a brightly covered tablecloth, everything seemed brighter in New Orleans, and this tablecloth was no different. Steam could be seen coming from many of the pots on the table. Three chairs sat either side, while two sat on the end of the table. Standing to one side, stood the man know as Beast, a huge man mountain, yet as gentle as could be. He looks up, noticing the groups arrival and swiftly moves to greet them.
"Wonderful to see you all again." He says with a warming smile.
"Good to see you too mate." Daniel says with a cheery tone to his voice.
Mackenzie holds her hand up to him.
"I just learned you all hug to greet down here." Mackenzie says "But if you do that, you'll break me."
Beast smiles at her. He was against the stereotypes of most big men, very well read, polite and educated.
"Then a simple handshake would suffice." He tells her.
He extends his hand toward the group. Each shaking his hand in turn.
"Where's the other one?" Charlotte asks.
Beast jets a huge thumb towards the patio door, where Beauty can be seen looking at his own reflection in the tall glass door.
"How long has he been there?" Daniel asks, stifling a laugh.
"About two hours and twenty seven minutes." Beast replies without a hint of sarcasm.
The group can't help but smile and shake their heads.
"If you would all like to take a seat." Devona says pointing towards the table. "I'll go help Gram with the drinks."
The group do as instructed, moving towards the table and sitting down in various seats as Devona enters the house, breezing past Beauty without batting an eyelid. A minute passes before Devona comes back out of the house, carrying a jug of iced tea, followed by Gram carrying another jug. She stops and looks at Beauty.
"Boy if you don't get your behind to the table now, I will take away your reason for looking at yourself." She tells him. "If we didn't tell him it was dinner time, the boy would starve."
"I got this." Mackenzie says.
She stands up from the table picking up a spoon from the table and moves towards Beauty. She reaches him and holds the spoon in front of his face.
"OOOO!" Beauty squeals, seeing his reflection in the spoon.
"Come on boy." Mackenzie says with a smile.
She starts to move the spoon away from him, causing Beauty to turn and follow it, constantly looking at his reflection. Mackenzie leads him to the table and stands him in front of a free seat. Mackenzie takes the spoon away, leading to a disappointed look on his face.
"Boy sit!" Gram tells him.
Beauty snaps out of it and sits down at the table.
"If brains were dynamite, Beauty." Gram starts "You wouldn't have enough to blow your nose."
Beauty's face lights up with a smile.
"Thanks Gram!" He says with a happy tone.
Beast looks across at Daniel.
"I don't know how he has survived this long." He says to the London Underground leader, causing a smile coming back in his direction.
Devona and Gram start to remove the lids from the pots, revealing the feast for the first time. Cajun BBQ ribs, Shrimp étouffée, Gumbo, Po' Boys, Maque choux, Crawfish, and Cajun fried chicken cover the table along with smiles on the faces of everyone around it. Devona takes a seat at the head of the table and Gram sits at the other end.
"This looks amazing." Charlotte comments.
"I don't know what half this stuff is." Mackenzie adds "But it smell so good."
"Well don't just wait around." Grams says "Dig in."
The group start to eat, moving their hands to various dishes, but Devona leans in to Daniel, her voice lowered as she talks to him.
"Why did you say not to tell Osbourne about the spice?" She asks him in a hushed tone.
Daniel looks at Osbourne, his strong fingers wrapped around a piece of Cajun fried chicken and lifts it to his mouth, taking a huge bite.
"You see, he just thinks that's normal fried chicken but...." Daniel says with a smile.
Osbourne's face starts to turn red, sweat running down his forehead. He picks up a napkin and starts to dab his forehead as the sweat starts to run down. He looks around the table, picking up the jug and drinks straight from it, gulping down mouthful after mouthful, emptying the jug as quickly as humanly possible.
"Os never was a spice man." Daniel says with a wide grin. "And I never get sick of seeing that."
Devona smiles as the group look towards Osbourne and the camera fades out.