May 17
Backstage at Climax Control
Following the announcement that Bella Madison and Malachi were getting a second chance to qualify for a contendership to the Mixed Tag Team championships, the young couple were elated as they emerged from the curtain heading backstage at the Staggs Dungeon. Once they were in the hallway, Bella turned to Mal and grabbed his face, giving him a passionate kiss.
“Well, that went a hell of a lot better than I expected,” she said, cuddling into Mal’s side when he draped an arm across her shoulders as they headed down the hallway.
“Sure did. Though I’m still not entirely convinced I didn’t have a stroke out there,” Mal chuckled. “Christian actually saying he agreed with me? I may have to get that video clip and keep it for posterity.”
“Kinda makes you rethink all those nasty things you said about him and Mark on Twitter, doesn’t it?” Bella said, sticking out her tongue at him as she poked him in the side.
“...maybe a little. But hey, it got us what we wanted, didn’t it? A second chance for a shot at the Mixed Tag titles.”
“And this time, we are not going to let this opportunity get away from us.” Bella’s voice held a bit of an edge as her blue eyes sparkled with determination. “We’re going to bust our asses in training this week, we’re going to push ourselves to the limit, and then we’re going to go beyond those limits. We’re not going to let the fucking Trenton Tigers get past us twice. We’re gonna destroy Char and Vector, and then we’re going to Into The Void and we’re going to win those damn tag belts.”
Malachi stared wide-eyed at Bella, before a smile cracked his face and he leaned in to kiss the side of her head. “God damn right we are! That’s my little hellcat.”
They grinned at each other, before the sound of a light cough drew their attention. They glanced up to see Malachi’s sister Alanah O’Connell standing at the end of the hallway, arms folded over her chest and her dark brown eyes narrowed at them. Despite the fact that half of her face was covered with a light pink cloth mask, there was no mistaking her look of disapproval.
“Lanah? What the hell are you doing here?” Mal said as they approached her.
She raised a slender eyebrow at the question. “What do you mean? Am I not allowed to be here, just because my boyfriend doesn’t have a match? I do have family on this roster as well, you know.”
Mal looked a little sheepish, rubbing at the back of his neck. “That’s not what I meant. You shouldn’t be risking your health coming here if you don’t need to be out.”
“Well, I wanted to see what the whole fuss was with you two and the Trenton Tigers. Sue me for wanting to keep updated with my brother and future sister-in-law’s careers.” Her eyes narrowed further at them. “Which, by the way...what the hell is wrong with you two? What the hell was all that out there? I would have expected that kind of attitude from you, Mal…” Alanah turned to look at Bella. “But not you. He really is becoming a bad influence on you.”
Bella sighed, running a hand through her blonde hair. “Look, it’s just that...well, playing the nice, respectful girl got me absolutely nowhere. And yeah, maybe I was a little pissed off that two people just waltzed on in and took what they sure as hell didn’t earn. Can you really blame me?”
Alanah’s gaze softened slightly. “I guess not...but still, there are better ways to go about it than ranting and raving all over Twitter and nearly losing your jobs!”
“Alright, alright,” Mal said. “I’ve already had my arse thoroughly wrung out by not only Christian in the ring tonight, but by Bella as well. Multiple times.” He gave Bella a sideways look, and she merely smiled innocently at him. Mal rolled his eyes, but held up his hands and placed one over his heart. “If it makes you happy, I solemnly swear that I will be a good boy and not fuck up our second chance at the mixed tag titles. I will stay away from Twitter and not call anyone a cockrag…unless they absolutely deserve it.”
Bella elbowed him sharply in the side, and Alanah couldn’t help but let a little giggle escape. “I’m gonna hold you to that...if only to see how long it takes until you break and you’re back to your old habits,” Alanah said.
“I’m hurt that you would think so little of me!” Mal said, wrapping an arm around Alanah’s shoulder so that both girls were pulled to his side as the trio continued down the hall together. “Like I told Bella, I’m convinced I had a stroke in that ring, so maybe that near-death experience changed my outlook on things. Maybe I’m turning a corner and I’m going to start being nicer to people.”
Alanah and Bella traded rolling-eye looks behind Mal’s back. “Yeah, right, and I’m the fucking Queen of England,” Bella said.
“I’m convinced you would call the Devil himself a shitheel right to his face,” Alanah teased, poking her brother in the side.
“Well, if he deserved it…”
They all shared a laugh as they rounded a corner and disappeared from view.
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May 20
Saxon Hotel
“The hell do you mean, you’re not having a bachelor party?”
Malachi’s incredulous voice echoed in the hotel suite belonging to his older brother Lachlan Kane, as well as Lachlan’s fiancee Sierra Williams and her two daughters. Currently it was just the two brothers occupying it, as Sierra had taken Jade and Olivia down to the pool to let the boys talk about the plans for Lachlan and Sierra’s wedding coming up on the 30th. The brothers were sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen area of the suite, each with a glass of (what else) Jameson.
Lachlan gave a shrug of his shoulders as he took a sip of his drink. “Well, for starters, I don’t even want one. And besides, even if I did, how in the hell would you pull it off with the state of the world right now? We’re not even allowed to leave the hotel, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“OK, so we can’t have a full-on rager like I had originally planned.”
Lach narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. “What do you mean, ‘originally planned’?”
“Lach, I’m your best man. Planning your last night as a free man is in the job description.”
Lachlan shook his head and gave an exasperated sigh. “Continue.”
Mal clapped a hand to his shoulder. “Look, just cause we’re locked down in a hotel doesn’t mean we still can’t celebrate. We just gotta use what we have available. There’s a bar on the rooftop, so at least we’ve got the alcohol covered.”
Lachlan smirks a little. “How is that different from any other Saturday night back home in Waterford?”
“I’m getting there! Just need to figure out a bit of ‘entertainment’…” Mal gave a suggestive wink.
“Ooooooohhhhh no. Don’t even think about it,” Lachlan warned him, with a stern finger pointed at his chest. “Besides, where the hell would you even get strippers when everything’s locked down?”
“Have you seen some of the women this company employs? I’m sure one or two of them moonlight.”
Lachlan hangs his head with a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? You just have to be an asshole 24/7.”
Mal shrugs. “Part of my charm, what can I say?”
“Yeah, well...from the rumours I heard, your ‘charm’ nearly got your arse fired, not to mention Bella’s.”
The easygoing grin faded from Mal’s face, replaced by a look of chagrin as he took a shot of his drink. “Yeah, thanks for the reminder. You think I don’t feel bad enough about it? I was fine taking the heat for all that...but Bella shouldn’t have been dragged into all this.”
“Well, that’s part of being in a relationship. Everything you do is going to be reflected on her...good or bad. You’re really gonna have to mind your p’s and q’s if you’re really serious about the two of you making a real go in the mixed tag division.”
Mal ran a hand through his hair, pulling at it slightly while letting out a dejected sigh. “I know, I know. That woman deserves the world, but if I keep running my mouth, I could fuck it all up. Not only for me, but for her.”
Lach gave him an encouraging smile. “Now you’re getting it. I’m not saying you can’t still be your...charming self, but you just have to pick and choose your battles from now on. Although I’d highly suggest that you not pick your battles with Mark or Christian if you wanna stay around SCW.”
“Yeah, I'm starting to realize that. Those guys are not even in the vicinity of fucking around when they make threats. Not gonna admit this to their faces...but on the off chance that Bella and I do end up losing on Sunday, I’m slightly worried as to what exactly Christian would have in store for me at Into The Void.” Mal shuddered slightly.
“Well...guess that’s just even more motivation for you to win this Sunday, isn’t it?”
“Damn straight.”
“Well, then let’s drink to yours and Bella’s victory.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.”
The brothers shared a grin as they clinked their glasses together.
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May 22
Early evening
Saxon Hotel
Even though humanity seemed like it was going to hell in a handbasket, the world itself carried on as normal. That much was evident in the brilliant sunset that painted the skies over Las Vegas on this Friday evening, tinting the atmosphere in warm hues of yellow, red and orange.
This was one of those nights that Malachi wished he was back home in Ireland, standing on the coastline outside his childhood home and watching the sunset across Waterford Harbour. But he was here in the US, watching as the country’s citizens slowly lost their ever-loving minds. It baffled him to no end how people could be so god-damn ridiculous as to protest measures meant to protect their health and safety, while his home country and its citizens (among hundreds of others across the world) did everything they could to keep the spread of the virus contained. He shook his head as he stared at the television playing the news before reaching for the remote to shut it off. Any more of that and he was liable to start bashing his head against a wall.
Emerging from the bathroom wrapped in a plush bathrobe, Bella Madison took the seat next to him on the couch. “Had enough of the news?” she asked.
“If I saw one more protest sign saying ‘I need a haircut’ I was gonna fly to Michigan with a pair of clippers and start shaving every last one of those morons bald,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Sorry to say babe, but your country is populated with dumbasses.”
“Believe me, you are preaching to the choir,” she said, giving a roll of her eyes. “But why don’t you take that rage and direct it to a more pressing matter? Like, say...our match coming up on Sunday?”
“Well, that’s just putting me at a whole new level of rage, thinking about that,” Mal replied.
Bella rolled her eyes again, but gave him a shove so that he was forced to rise from the couch. “Go tear ‘em apart with your words before we tear them apart on Sunday.”
With a cocky grin across his face, Mal made his way out to the balcony of their hotel suite, sitting down at the small table and chair set up. From the table, he picked up a deck of cards, shuffling them idly in his hands while he stared off across the distance, the sunset giving his skin a golden glow and making his blue eyes sparkle. After a moment of quiet contemplation, he turned his gaze towards the camera, his face taking on an aloof curiosity.
“Yunno, I’m still trying to figure out what kind of hokey bullshit voodoo magic that Hastings chick has over the Trenton Tigers. I mean, how fuckin’ brainwashed have you got Daniela and Brandon for the two of them to pull off the impossible and beat Bella and I for a shot at the Mixed Tag titles, only for those two other shitheels Char Kwan and Vector Rodgers to come waltzing in and claim that contendership for themselves without a second thought? Hell, if I were Brandon and Daniela, I’d be furious.” A devious smirk came across Malachi’s face. “Then again, who's to say they aren’t? Maybe they’re keeping up appearances, acting like everything's A-OK in your merry ol’ land of Oz, but deep down inside they’re boiling. If I were the two of you, I would watch your backs come Sunday night.” He shrugs his shoulders lazily. “But hey, why would you listen to one half of the team that’s about to kick your asses across every square inch of that canvas? Don’t blame you if you don’t. After all, I could be lying to you. Trying to sow the seeds of dissention in your ranks to make it easier for Bella and I to steamroll over you on our way to our rightfully deserved title shot.”
He leaned forward in the chair, his blue eyes darkening with a stormy rage. “Here’s the thing though - Bella and I don’t need the advantage. We are walking into that arena on Sunday night more focused, more determined, and more pissed off than we have ever been. We are going in with one singular goal in mind - to annihilate you pretenders to the throne.”
He finished shuffling the cards in his hands, laying the deck face-down on the table. Picking up the top two cards, he flipped them towards the camera, showing a pair of jokers. “Well, would you look at that. Couple of jokers, the most useless cards in the deck. Seems fitting to compare them to the two of you. After all, you did come crawling up from the depths, expecting to be handed something when you didn’t do a god-damn thing to earn it. Yeah, I admit...I was pretty pissed that Daniela and Brandon beat us. But at least they stepped into the ring and earned their shot. But if you think lightning’s gonna strike twice…” He flicked the cards towards the camera lens, watching as they spun through the air to land on the floor. “You’ve got another thing coming.”
He picked up the next two cards in the deck, glancing at them with a cocksure smirk before flipping them around, revealing the King and Queen of Spades. “Now this? This is Bella and I. Or it will be, soon enough. Once we put you two chumps back in your damn place at the back of the line, we’re going on to Into The Void, and come hell or high water, we are walking out with those championships held high. And once we do, my original offer still stands. If the mighty Trenton Tigers wanna be the first to step up and challenge us, then by all means. You can even invoke that dumbass Freebird rule and have any combination of you dopes show up. It won’t make a lick of difference. Once we get those Mixed Tag belts in our hands, we are going to become the gold standard for this division. And no little dopey-ass ‘freebird’ team is going to stop us. But for right now, on Sunday? The two of you become the example of what happens when you give us a second chance. We will take that chance, and we will make it count.”
He placed the cards face up onto the table, leaning over them and filling the screen with his face as he leaned towards the camera. “Heavy is the crown...but only for the weak.”
