The Marlowe The Merrier
The mystery of Samantha Marlowe was still ringing around the head of Melissa Aki as she sat as always looking out at the valley from the edge of her swimming pool. A drop of blood from the top right corner of her scalp fell into the pool and she saw it turn into some weird dark red and brown colour as it splayed out on the surface of the water. She watched it as her thoughts turned to Jessie Salco.
This wanton little hussie didn’t even admit she had pulled her down at summer XXXtreme. She could have forgiven her for trying to hold onto her chance of winning the roulette bombshell’s championship. She could have forgiven Jessie just eliminating her but to lose your footing and bring someone down was too much to bear. She knew why she had done it now. She is a nobody, hopping around the bombshell division hoping to find someone with actual relevance to climb on and ride to some kind of infamy.
There is always some in every single person’s life that you do not understand how they have had so much success, she mused, you’re suffering from ignomynity. It breeds this little tinge of jealousy that builds up into resentment and then into a war where you will need to do all it takes to take that person down so you hatch this plan, where this person who stands in your way of getting everything you want will fall and you will take their place and have the life you always dreamed of.
Usually, you need to hatch a plan, someone so exalted would see through any old ruse so you must act as if it was nothing to do with you or wasn’t intentional on your part. You grabbed a leg not knowing who it was you will say. They will be mad as hell but you will say your piece about how they shouldn’t blame you for their failures. It’s a perfect strategy and you will usurp them as they fade into obscurity with the weight on their back from carrying you to any sort of echelon on the Sin City ladder.
A steady stream of blood started to drip into the pool, as she had mindlessly begun clawing at her stitches. She immediately stopped and thought she had to control those emotions. She drifted back to her thoughts as she toe’d the blood on the surface.
The thing with revenge plans that had no basis in real life was hard to accurately predict. How could you predict if they would fail or not? Nothing is guaranteed. Not even wins in the ring.
What was the best way to get someone’s attention? What was the best way to show that parasite that you would do everything to eviscerate it from existence for piggybacking on your reputation? The art of war states that little inconveniences lead to bigger defeats so make her lose to someone who is even more moronic than her. Costing Salco the match was just the start of her plans and she knew it would stir that vacuous bitch to come back at her at least ten fold.
Oh she did and then some but what Salco had not realised was that when she was in mortal danger and don’t get it twisted, Jessica Salco had tried to kill her, the demoness would come out and she did. She loved the blood and violence, the pain of her vessel drove her on but what has been lost in all of this was the very beloved, legendary bombshell, Samantha Marlowe was just another on a list of victims. What galled her was that people and by that she meant these idiotic reporters calling it a lucky victory. She had dominated from bell to bell and used a legitimate wrestling move to win. When was a roll up victory, lucky? She had vanquished another in the bombshell division as she pushed towards her goal of bombshell gold. She obviously was happy to have a chance at Evie and her title but the most inane decision to make it a battle royale. There were so many better choices like a gauntlet or beat the clock but she would take this match, win and kick Salco out of the match. She had never won a battle royale in her career but there’s a first time for everything!
The First Time - A Flashback
In a time when following her dream to the United States to create a career in pro-wrestling had not even entered her subconscious and she didn’t even realise it was a dream of hers. She had wanted to make her daddy proud. She was good at fighting in her neighbourhood, she had become a natural striker while working in her spare time for her Dad’s promotion called the British Championship Wrestling Federation. She had been able to spend more time with him than her bitchy and bratty little sister who quite obviously deserved to die.
Since she had debuted in front of fifty paying guests, she had got quite a following and they called themselves the Melissa Marks. Everytime she came out they would holla and scream for her which was quite unfortunate as she was just seventeen and more akin to a stick insect than a wrestler but she was tall and these fans were mainly middle aged men who wanted to imagine themselves bending her over a table and having their wicked way with her and she would pant for more, which of course would never happen in their lifetimes but it was a following and the attention hit something in her. To be adored, wanted, sexualised and her narcissism came out in her but was it not the way for all wrestlers? You wrestle because you live for the adulation that you do not get in ordinary life. That is why no one ever retires and literally every single wrestler suffers from depression because they need to get that next fix of attention. That is why they do these daredevil moves and she herself lived for deathmatches for that buzz it gave her but to let the feeling of abusing someone, to get that feeling of everyone’s eyes on her.
Her father, Michael, was sitting in a very small office, behind a little desk. He had photo frames of Melissa, her sister Hannah and her little brother Sebastian. On his desk were many different faces as he studied them; she walked in without knocking.
”Hey Daddy!”
He nodded and pointed to the chair in front of his desk, not taking his eyes off the photos he was arranging in front of him. ”Shut the door first, muffin.”
She had just sat down and in her teenage way she got up and sighed loudly, closed the door and then sat back down again. ”Are you even going to acknowledge the presence of your first born?”
He looked up at her for the first time and frowned.
”What happened to your face, kiddo?
”Bitches be trippin’. It says it on my cap.That’s all Dad.”
”You being bullied again, Melly? Did I not tell you to use the wrestling moves we have been training you, for times like this when in self defence?”
She shrugged. ”Maybe I did and maybe I won the fight. It doesn’t matter. What are you up to with those photos?”
He was still arranging the photos as best he could into an order that agreed with his design he had in his brain. Maki just could not get her head around what he was doing. Why was he moving wrestlers faces around an oak desk? She peered over and could not see her own photo on the desk which perplexed her.
”Sorry muffin, this is very difficult to work out. I don’t mean to ignore you. Sometimes, you need to find a way to maximise the output without thinking overly about it.”
She was even more confused now. What the hell was her father on about? Where was her picture? Why was he ignoring her question and what was with all the cloak and dagger games?
”You going to answer me or what, Dad?”
”Yes. Yes of course.Sorry pumpkin. I am working out the Rumble match.It is not as easy as it seems. I need specific people in at a certain time to maximise crowd reaction. Like, I cannot have three heels in at one time unless I go for a babyface to get beaten on. I cannot control who will get thrown out but I need to control when to have tweeners, when to have heels and babyfaces in the ring. No one will buy it if we have all heels and all faces. It’s tough to work out.
She pondered his words and then thought to herself, ‘am I a babyface?’ She got good reactions from the perverted crowd but then she had heard some jeers lately from a few of the female section and she perversely enjoyed them being bitchy at her because they were jealous. So did that make her a heel? As she mused this she came to the conclusion that she was a tweener. She wasn’t good or bad. She just beat people up for fun or who got in her way. She would be the good girl against the baddie and the baddie against the goodie. She enjoyed that chameleon existence in wrestling. She wasn’t straddled with one or the other but she could embrace both at the same time. Nine years later she would think about this conversation, her thoughts on it, realising she had been a tweener from this moment on.
She snapped out of her reverie when a deep seated pain in the pit of her stomach started to grow, she could feel the heat inside her, she enjoyed the sensation of her own pain as it transformed her face into a reddish tone, she felt her sweat glands opening up as her body tried to cool itself down. Why was she not included? That now infamous Maki temper was boiling just under the surface but she didn’t want to show her Dad and head booker of BCWF that side of her again. He had seen it so many times and only recently had he seemed to be pleased that she was a lot calmer now she was fighting people for money on a weekly basis. She was about to speak again but then the heat was firing out of her pores.
”WHY IN HELL IS MY PHOTO NOT ON YOUR DESK WITH THE REST OF THOSE MORONS? YOUR LITTLE GIRL NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE IN A BATTLE ROYAL WITH THOSE IDIOTS?
He stopped placing the photos in the order he had suddenly desired, looked up at his daughter, who had kicked out the chair from under her and was seething with anger as she slammed her fist on the table. Melissa and her temper tantrums, he thought. That girl needs to stop living on her emotions. He placed his hands in the air in a gesture to placate her.
”Melly, you need to control yourself. Remember mindfulness, Yoga and meditation? Your mother will meditate with you after I call her…
He went to grab his flip phone but Melissa was faster and grabbed it out of his reach. He shook his head in sad resignation.
”Always has to be this way, doesn’t it? Give me my damn phone or get out. I am the parent and you’re almost an adult. It is high time you started behaving like one, you selfish brat! Thank you. Now you’re mad I take it because I have not included you in the rumble?
She nodded her head as her fury was still in charge of her motor functions.
”Good. If you want to make this into a career you should be mad about certain things but remember it is not a good idea to freak out on the head booker, the one person who will go and kick arse for you. Second, do not freak out on your dad. It will never end well for you. So, grab the chair, sit down and listen to your dad!
She sullenly picked the chair up off the floor, sat down and pretended to be fine, tightening her ponytail and placing a cap on her head. She smiled at her Dad who eyed her suspiciously.
”Melly, you have done so well here and I made it hard for you because I did not want you to be tarnished with the nepotism brush. You have done it under your own steam without my help at all. Winning this rumble means the winner gets a shot at Mad Matt and his title. It is not that I think you’re not worthy of a title shot but it is that you have never been in one before and what if you get thrown out and land badly. You could have your career ruined or even your life and all because you were not ready and I allowed the business to come before family. I cannot and will not ever let anything come before the safety of my baby girl. You’re not ready yet. End of discussion.”
Her eyes narrowed but she knew that with her father usually when he said that you had no comeback but to let the discussion end. Yet, she knew how to get around him.
“Look Daddy dearest. I love you. You’re my rock. I look up to you in every way. You are the best man in the world and I will never ever know anyone as special as you but I am not a child anymore. I am forging my own path and on the whole you have always supported my dreams. Do you want to be the one who denied me a shot at my dream? Put me in it and see how I do. Make it protective around the ring so we don’t get hurt. I like pain, Dad. I enjoy it and I enjoy inflicting it on others. You know that. Just let me go out and be me. If I fail then I fail and I will learn from it and improve and if I win then you get to see me ascending the echelons of this place and you can be proud either way. Put me in it, Dad, you won’t regret it.
He leaned back and digested her words. Of course he knew she was playing him but also knew she meant the words from her heart. As he looked at his little girl that he held in his arms all those years ago grow up and want to follow in his footsteps he realised he couldn’t trample on her dream,
”Fine! Melly, you get a shot. I will place you somewhere in the middle. You will need to train non stop. You have ten days to prepare. I want to see you jumping on mats, being thrown out by the coaches and I want to see how you land. This is your first time and you will be part of thirty people involved so take any number you’re given and if you outlast just one person that’s a win. This is not an easy match to be in, so not only training, I want you to do your homework on how it works. I will be testing you every night on the rules and what could go wrong for you. Don’t make me regret this. It’s almost six. Get your shit together your mother is expecting us.
She left the office and grabbed her gym bag, smiling to herself. She would finally be in a battle royale. She had always loved watching the rumble and was always her favourite match to watch. The drama of it all was pure adrenaline to her. She would win this and prove why she is going to be the face of BCWF and defeat Mad Matt as well. She was going to prove why she was the next greatest british female wrestler.
What she didn’t know at this time was that she would last eight minutes and get dragged over the top by her nemesis, Little Vixen, illegally but she had outlasted four other competitors. It would lead to an unenviable record. In her odyssey around the world and mainly in the states, she had only once been in the final two and had never won a battle royale. At climax control she had to make sure this changed. She had to face Evie. She had to decimate the moronic Jessie and take out her frenemy Alicia. She had to win!
The Hateful Eight (Sorry Quentin.)
Not all things come to pass no matter how much you want them to happen. Maki knew this. She had wanted to have a few days in Vegas to train but all the hotels were full or shut. She would have to train at home in her own gymnasium. In the Santa Barbara area her gyms were well known with billboards everywhere advertising the Next Gen Gym. She would need to work out here. She spent all night hitting the weights and cardio machines. She felt ready in herself but with her track record of Battle Royales she needed to prepare so she hastily headed to the gym where they had cleared out all of the machines and erected a ring, with double matting on the outside.
In her wisdom she had decided to record it for her latest DVD for her merch stand in Vegas on the weekend. She was going to call it “The Ropes are monsters” but even that sounded stupid to her but ho hum she will work on that after the weekend’s activities. She had trained with her sparring partner, Izzy Ramirez as well as her wife and everytime she tried to hold on to the ropes she would fail to grasp them properly and fall to the outside. This was not going well.
She had an idea. She called a friend of hers who made mannequins come to life, a bit like Mercedes Vargas. She sat on the top turnbuckle as the mannequins arrived and looked very much like her opponents on Sunday. They were put in different positions in the ring. She started to strike them with her educated feet and they went tumbling. She was unsure if this was even realistic but forged ahead and then covered in sweat, her purple yoga pants had gotten very dark indeed and she felt her workout top and found her chest covered in beads of sweat. She inhaled deeply as she hated to sweat and abhorred it but boy did she love to bleed. She was certain there would be blood at the end of this.
She saw their faces, these damn mannequins, and it really riled her up. The hateful eight she had coined them all but in reality she stole that from the movie but still it worked for her. Apart from Alicia who she liked in her personal life just not professionally as she was so damn good. As she sat from upon high on the turnbuckle, her legs wrapped around it as she hated to be so high up, she looked at them all and clicked her fingers to the camera man to point that massive object her way.
”Evie. Look at us all posturing and clamouring for your attention. You gave me some on twitter and I like the way you interact. We all know how tough you are. Hell, if you can beat Alicia Lukas twice then you are one of the toughest bitches on the planet. The interesting thing is that you play off like you want to be adored and loved and then use sarcasm to cover what we all know is your blatant insecurity but why? You’re the god damned champion and have proven yourself as the one to beat so why need to deflect? Maybe you’re scared of what I can do or if Daniela comes out to the fore. Who knows but I like the cut of your jib. You are at the top of the mountain and we are all crazily trying to reach you. You can defeat that waste of oxygen on the same night as you see all your competitive future opponents beat the living shit out of each other. Big win for you, honeylove. I will not guarantee I will win as hell it’s well documented that I suck in these matches. I prefer one on one and to be up close and personal but boy I so want to face you. I want to see for myself if you’re as good as you say and the locker room spouts or if it’s purely psychological. If I don’t win you and me will happen sooner or later. That is a guarantee I definitely can make!”
She sat back on the turnbuckle, almost toppling off it but steadied herself just in time. She stared at each mannequin in front of her. Almost each one had the desired effect of pissing her off and standing in the way of a bombshell title shot.
”I find it almost laughable that these opponents, these competitors, even have an ounce of intellect. I have seen the many reports, the comments about how each one will win and face Evie. They do not for one second seem to appreciate how hard it is to circumvent everyone in the ring at the same time. Multiple people can throw you out or you could get in the way of Alicia Lukas or Kate Steele arse kicking and accidentally fall to the outside. Yet, here they come boasting about how they will easily win and everyone else will lose. Do you not even comprehend the variables in a match like this? It is exactly why I am intellectually and psychologically superior to you all. Does that mean I will win? No. It just means I will be able to navigate the minefield far better than the rest of you because I know the pitfalls involved and I know each of the opponents and what they can and will do but I am no mystic. I cannot guarantee each person’s antics from one minute to the next. All I can do is use my cunning, my will to win at all costs and the homework I have done on them all to try to gauge what they might do but humans rarely stay on one path and quite often veer from it. If you add the emotional element to it there is no way you can possibly state with any ounce of accuracy what will happen and the fact these ingrates all believe they will win is pathetic and shows how deluded they have been and how egotistical they are. This is the worst kind of match to be in and such lazy booking but as they state we are all contenders which I highly doubt. As if Vargas or Salco even deserve to be in this company of strangers but whatever. Booking sense doesn’t really matter in wrestling anymore anyway!”
She still never kept her eyes off the mannequin versions of her opponents. That heat was rising but then her eyes grew heavy and she awoke in a bathtub. How had time gone so fast? Why was she not on the turnbuckle? As she wiped her eyes, she looked at her hands and they were covered in blood. She looked down and the water was that dark red colour of blood. What the frick had happened to her?
The blood water was up to her neck but instead of being alarmed by it she smirked and looked up at us through the grainy CCTV. She wondered briefly how unethical it was to have cameras in a bathroom and decided to remind herself to have words with the gym manager and possibly fire him later. As she thought this, the blood water at the end of the bath swooshed towards her and out of it came the vision of herself rising between her feet, she pulled her legs towards her chest as she was watching herself, blood water draining off her, the long black hair covered in blood just sat there and then…
“JESSIE SALCO. WE WANT HER SOUL. WE WANT HER SOUL, VESSEL. WE WANT IT NOW. THE REAPING HAS BEGUN. END THE SALCO. GIVE THE SOUL UNTO US. DANIELA NEEDS TO FEAST. WE NEED TO APPROPRIATE THE END OF HER HUMAN EXISTENCE. GIVE THE SOUL TO US, VESSEL.”
A white flash appeared before her eyes and she was back on the turnbuckle on the ring in her gym. She had always been in the moment with Daniela but she had never just been taken like that into a dream like state. This was new for the demoness that dwelled inside her. She had to focus again on the match at hand and not on the nonsensical whitterings of the stupid demon.
”Look, those dim witted ignorant fools down there in that ring have to take me out and it won’t be as easy as some of you think. I know what you will do and say before I even have to think about it. You will beat everyone but first you will have to lay out how you will take apart and defeat every single opponent. Why do you feel the need to list every single person’s flaws and strengths and outline how you will win over them? It is passe and just plain ignorant. Literally the main ones in the hateful eight will probably be there at the end. The ones proving themselves every damn week. So I will not be talking about each individual as that’s pathetic as I stated. Candy and Bea Banhart I already beaten and proven I can beat them whenever I feel like it. They won't last until the end. Pointless even mentioning them. I do, however, have words for certain participants.
Let’s start with my favourite delusional moron - Jessie Salco. Oh Jessie, I am so glad my little stunt got your attention. I have heard your words and seen your actions. You want to play with the big girls then you need to deal with the consequences. Do you think busting me open would really give you the desired effect or maybe retribution? You see both sides have an equal and opposite reaction. When I caused you to lose that wanton tramp, Holt that was what made us even. I was willing to leave it there and move on from someone as debased and insignificant as you as I have higher priorities but oh no you decided to then destroy me for daring to even up the ying with the yang. What you didn’t countenance and what no one does is that I enjoy it. I enjoy my own pain and suffering. It is like a hit of meth for people like you, it gives me sensations like you wouldn’t believe and focuses my mind on what I need to do. Though, I do know you will come at me in this match and try to eliminate me and I welcome it. You may even once again get thrown over and pull me outside with you. I wouldn’t be surprised. Yet, there cannot be three actions for one action in retaliation. So, while you are trying to battle your nightmares, trying to take out that fear on me, be careful of what the reaction brings.”
She wrinkled her nose as she leaped down and Makihouse kicked Bea Banhart, Candy and Jessie Salco mannequins and they exploded in a plume of white ash as she navigated around the others to the other turnbuckle and sat on top of it unsteadily again.
”I am not even going to bother mentioning Kiera. She didn’t get payback for the clothesline she gave me which is fine and dandy. I expect everything and anything. She will get herself eliminated by her pure conceit and I hope someone busts that botox in her face as she goes flying out. Would be fun if it was me but hey you cannot guarantee it. Andrea Hernandez is a tough fighter and she will be hard to get rid of by everyone and one hell of an athlete but in the end I know exactly why she will fail. You can be as tough as they come and have prowess and talent coming out of your nostrils but when you lack anything inside your cranium you’re bound to lose.
Mercedes Vargas. Oh the simpleton of Sin City. We have locked up a few times and I mistakenly said you had not beaten me but back in the day when I was developing does not count. The past is the past and I live in the present. When I was at my lowest ebb, dealing with ankle injuries the last time we faced the best you could do was a countout. Look, you even sucked against the biggest suck job here in Crystal, so how do you fathom you’re at my, Alicia or even Kate’s level? Hell, though, maybe you get lucky as the main women fight each other. You could just saddle up and bang you’re in the final two or three. Crazy I know but you’re the luckiest son of a bastard I ever seen. This kind of match is perfect for you. I mean, you can suck all night long but everyone else could eliminate each other and you get a chance to be annihilated by Evie. Stranger things have happened. You come near me though and I am knocking you out before you even touch the outside. That is one thing I can guarantee!
She climbed down and as before she Makihouse kicked the Vargas, Kiera and Hernandez mannequins and then made her way to the third turnbuckle.
” Kate Steele. You know when my agent asked me about Sin City I wasn’t sure. I had turned down various offers from different federations. Griffin spoke to me about signing, he spoke to me about how tough it was here, mentioned Evie. All of it looked good to me but then I was informed that you and Alicia were here. I can go anywhere and win a title, I can kick arse all over the world but I wanted a place where I was pushed to my limits. As soon as I had that match with Amber I knew but hey one person doesn’t make a roster. The overall feeling was that I had always wanted to cross paths with you but never had and this was my chance. Unfortunately, so far we hadn’t had a chance to fight and when this ridiculous match was announced one name flashed from it and that was yours. Kate, you’re one of the best and I know in a one on one match you and I would have a merry dance and who knows who would win but in this match anything can happen. I just hope we get some time beating the living crap out of each other. I respect you and I know when it is down to it that we will be in the last three in this match but do not take my respect and my graciousness at your talents as weakness because they aren’t and I will do whatever it takes to get you out of the way as soon as possible. After I knock you out I will give you some super strength tylenol as a gift of appreciation.”
She leaned to the side for no perceptible reason and almost fell off but steadied herself with the ropes again. She really wasn’t one for heights or balance.
”Now it brings me to my frenemy Alicia Lukas. The clear favourite here. Why is she the favourite? I have fought her many times and I have won a couple and so has she but she is in the top three toughest women I know and have faced and for that she has to be a favourite if I am excluded. I mean, Alicia, we all know you and how hard you hit and your relentless spirit. Your never say die attitude is one that is on a par with no one else. I know you must be hurting about Evie having your number and sadly that day happens to us all. You walk out at every match and just be reputation and your history. You have the match sixty percent won. When your opponents see you they already think it's an uphill battle much like Evie. I don’t agree with that estimation when it comes to myself. Yet, there you are. Now you have been very vocal about proving yourself and fighting back up to a place where you can defeat Evie and some morons said you’re given this chance but Vargas is so dense so forget about it. This is not an easy match to win but I know it will be down to you Kate and me at the end. After the match we will hug and talk about everything that happened but I know you and you know me and we will fight to the end. We will break each other’s faces to win and I would have it no other way. Sooner or later we will meet like Kate up close and personal but for now you are but another mannequin standing in my way and you must be eradicated.”
She jumped down and Makihouse kicked Alicia and Kate mannequins and she was alone with her thoughts. She suddenly realised she had literally spoken a little about every opponent and stamped her foot in frustration.
”Stupidly I went and did what years of wrestling mind control has told me to do and mention every single person against my better judgement so let’s end this with why I think I am going to win, though, obviously it is not cast in stone. No matter how easy or hard my opponents are this is not a typical match and I will still end the night with only one blight on my record which is Amber and we will make sure that is taken care of at a future date but these women they are tough to eliminate in their own ways; some out of stupidity and some out of mental and physical toughness but the one thing people think about me is that I am scary and that I am tough and hard to beat and will scratch and claw in an effort to win at all costs which is true. I have that killer instinct and it's in my genes but that is not why I will win. It is because I am a master at psychological games and I am in the heads of all my competitors and even that is still not enough to win or a big enough reason why I should be seen as the favourite. The reason is that I have a game plan. With my superior intellect I can navigate these murky and choppy waters ahead and come out the other side in the docks and the only survivor because I live on my wits and I know how to win, I also have a demon inside me and I will finally banish the past battle royale defeats and god help Evie when I do. I want that title and I am going to get it!”
She pushed the cameraman away and strode confidently towards the locker room and the shower of the damned.
