Early afternoon
Saxon Hotel, Las Vegas
Sitting on the balcony of his family suite in the Saxon Hotel, Lachlan Kane was enjoying the warm desert air. He glanced at the digital poster glowing across the street from him on the side of a building, advertising the latest SCW card coming up on Sunday night. The various match banners flashed across the screen, and he smiled as he saw the image of himself and Sierra advertised for their upcoming tag match against the Trenton Tigers.
“Just like old times, huh?”
Lachlan smirked as Sierra came up behind him, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and resting her chin on his shoulder. “Yup, reliving the good old days.” He turned his head to give her a bit of a concerned look. “Are you OK with this?”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean teaming with me again. I know we said we wanted to forge our own paths for a while…”
“Lachy, I’m just glad to finally have a damn match. The fact that I get to team with my husband is just an added bonus.” Now she was the one giving him a concerned look. “What about you? Are you OK with it?”
He turned slightly so that he was able to pull her down to sit across his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a boyish grin. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I know you’ve been busting your ass to get your first singles title. I just don’t want you to feel like this is a step backwards.”
“Why would I think that? I’m incredibly proud of everything we accomplished as a team. Of course I do want to make my name in the singles scene, but I am more than happy to be teaming again with my gorgeous, sexy, dangerous wife who’s going to show everyone that she is not a woman that is to be overlooked.”
Sierra rolled her eyes and slapped at his chest playfully, but he could see the faint blush in her cheeks. “Sweet talker.”
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Later that night
As the city slumbered below him, Lachlan Kane gazed down on the neon glow from the rooftop bar, drink in hand and feeling relaxed. He took a sip of the Jameson, savouring the taste as his clear blue eyes moved to the camera lens in front of him.
“Well, seems like you got the attention you were so desperately craving, didn’t you Tigers? But now that you do, I can promise you that Sierra and I will make you regret it in the worst possible way. You’ve bitten off way more than you all can chew, and we’re ready to make you choke.”
A cocky smirk appeared on Lachlan’s face as he set his glass down on the table next to him, leaning forward and pressing his fingers together in front of his face. “See, the Tigers all like to try to talk their big game and act like they’re big and intimidating, but the fact of the matter is they’re nothing more than a broken record. All they seem to talk about is how my brother Malachi and Bella Madison only got the opportunities they did by whining and complaining about it.” Lach shook his head. “Nah, you got it all wrong. What they did was call out the bullshit as they saw it. I can assure you that if it had been Sierra and I in that position, we would have done the exact same thing they did. We would have put you on blast for trying to pull a fast one over the division with that last-minute ‘freebird’ horseshit.” He gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. “You’re just pissed that you got caught, and you’re trying to twist the narrative and make it sound like they didn’t earn every single opportunity they got.”
“But, that’s not why we’re here today. No, we’re here because you four just don’t know when to stop running your mouths. You made this open challenge to any mixed tag team on the roster, and boy, did you sure get a lot of callbacks! Everyone came out of the woodwork to answer your little challenge...including the longest-reigning mixed tag team champions in SCW history. You certainly had your pick of the litter in opponents for your little challenge, and you decided on us.” Lachlan put a hand over his heart and fluttered his eyes a little bit, in a clear mocking effort. “You like us! You really really like us!” He laughed slightly, his face relaxing back into its regular look. “See, I know exactly why you picked us. You’ve probably got this deluded belief that you’re going to score the biggest win of your careers over us, and that’s going to catapult you back into title contention. Am I close?”
He shook his head ruefully. “Only one problem with that little fantasy, mates - it ain’t gonna happen. So maybe Sierra and I’s singles careers haven’t exactly worked out in our favour...but when the two of us are a team, we are unstoppable. How else did you think we held on to the mixed tag belts for a record-setting 175 days? We stepped up to every challenge before us, and we put everyone away, save one team. But then again, that team went on to disappear with their tails between their legs, never to be seen again. Isn’t that right, Char?” The cocky smirk was back on his face. “Now you’ve found yourself a new team to ride the coattails of, but it seems like it hasn’t exactly been coming up roses for any of you. You’ve become nothing more than the laughingstock of this division, as much as you try to deny it. And once you step into that ring with Sierra and I on Sunday night, we’re just going to drive the point home.” The grin on his face turned somewhat sinister. “And just remember one thing after all this - you asked for it.”
