“Honey, you need to come home. Now.”
That was it. That was all that it took for the mother of Alleyne Mahoe to get her to drop everything in her current life in Las Vegas, Nevada and to catch the first flight home - her true home - in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her and her brothers’ mother was the rock of their family, a true matriarch in every sense of the word. And this was saying quite a lot considering her father and each one of her brothers had made a chosen career out of serving in a branch of the military; her father Kaimana (power of the ocean) and elder brother Konane (shining moonlight) both served in the army, although their father had only recently retired. And her baby brothers Konane (shining moonlight) and Nohea (handsome) served in the navy. With such a testosterone fueled family career along with her own foray into the dangerous world of bounty hunting, one would be forgiven for mistakenly believing Nalani (the heavens) would be the lesser of the family of strong-willed warriors.
Not so. If anything, it was the exact opposite and the fear her mother had in her voice was reason enough for Tempest to cancel a previous booking in Sin City Wrestling, contact the Stevens to inform them she had to take a personal sabbatical back to Hawaii and did not know when she would be returning. After all, family first, which Gabriel and Odette understood as well as anyone. She had also let Austin know the situation in case he had tried to get in contact with her while she was gone.
Honolulu, Hawaii -
Kuakini Medical CenterAnd small wonder why there was such fear in her mother’s voice as the family’s youngest, Nohea, lay in the hospital bed, fighting for his life as the doctors did everything they could to sustain his life and keep him among the world of the living. The ICU Waiting Room was filled to the brim with anxious family members of the Mahoe family, even distant relatives had dropped everything to come to offer their prayers and comfort to the immediate family. That was simply how theirs operated - pun not intended given the current location.
Nalani sat on the small comfort chair, surrounded by her remaining sons (who had been granted leave from their commanding officers upon hearing the news) and her husband’s arm draped with the loving comforts he had all but perfected through their thirty-five plus year marriage. There was not a face that bared the marks of fear and concern at the possibility of losing one of their own - especially one of their youngest, before his given time. One of the doors to the waiting room opened and the family turned as one, hoping to see the surgeon with good news, but instead saw Tempest - Alleyne – standing there with her own face frozen with worry. Fear that had not subsided from the moment she hung up her phone.
Nalani: Alleyne…
Nalani whispered, her face still wet with recently shed tears as Alleyne power walked toward her mother.
Tempest: Mama…
She knelt down and wrapped her arms around the woman she looked up to (okay, that pun was intended considering Nalani was barely 5’1”) while her father rubbed his daughter’s shoulder.
Once her mother had her fill of her daughter’s embrace, not an easy thing I assure you, Tempest then turned and offered her dad a hug, one which he gladly accepted. Their dad was admittedly not the most emotional type and did not offer up hugs himself that often - it just wasn’t his way - he still was not too proud to accept one when offered freely. He hugged her tightly, massaging her wide back with his strong hands before releasing her and he returned his comforts to the one that truly needed it - his wife.
Tempest then stood upright and embraced both brothers before slowly allowing Konane to steer her away from the crowd so they could speak privately. He led her just outside of the waiting room and they paused, waiting for a passing nurse to go about her business before she turned to her brother.
Tempest: What happened?
Konane: Nohea was home on leave and he and some of his navy buddies decided to go out and have a drink. They went to the Honolulu Tavern…
Tempest: Why would they go there? That gets to be one of the roughest neighborhood bars at night! What was he thinking!?
Konane: It wasn’t Nohea’s idea. I think he got outvoted and that’s just where they ended up. Anyway, there were already some rough sorts there, all drunk. They started treating the barmaids rudely and when Nohea’s buddies objected, a pretty serious fight broke out and one of the guys stabbed our brother with a broken bottle.
Tempest closed her eyes and felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. Her baby brother, stabbed by some drunk and all because he had the heart to stand up for someone and do the right thing.
Slowly she opened her eyes and she asked the obvious;
Tempest: Did the police catch the guy?
Konane: Not yet.
Konane shook his head, his own frustrations over the situation displayed on his face.
Konane: Apparently the bastard had a warrant out for his arrest before this ever even happened. He was on trial for something and skipped bail…
Those very words caused Tempest’s eyes to snap open and they were now inflamed by more than just tears.
Tempest: Skipped bail? Who?
The next thing they knew, Tempest had called the experienced men who worked for her at her bounty hunting business. She informed them about what had happened and told them to drop everything else - EVERYTHING - and find out all they could on the man who had stabbed her brother and was now in hiding somewhere in Honolulu. Of that the police were certain. So she was sending her men out to find the man that stabbed her baby brother and left him lying in a hospital, fighting for his life.
Only this time, Tempest was coming along. And god help that man should she find him before one of her men does.
She slipped the bullet-proof vest over her upper torso before pulling the fitted camouflage short-sleeve shirt over her upper body. She fit the handcuffs and pepper spray to her belt and slipped the baton and taser to it as well. She stood in her office at Mahoe Bail Bonds, staring into the full length mirror fixated to the wall. Her eyes were cold, colder than perhaps they had ever been. Her hair remained pulled back tight into a French braid, allowing her to slip the cap snugly on over her scalp. She slipped her business’s trademark shades over her eyes and stared hard at her reflection.
Tempest: I am going to kill that bastard…
Gabriel: But you didn’t, did you?
From his side of the Facebook Messenger chat, Gabriel had been listening closely to his student explaining why she had to leave Las Vegas so suddenly just a short time ago. He could not fault her for leaving, the reasons behind it being family and all, but he could not help but feel proud to know this woman who also set out personally to bring her brother’s attacker to justice herself. She had the tools and the position to aid the authorities, and that was exactly what she did. From her end, Tempest shook her head in the negative.
Tempest: Obviously, but not for a lack of wanting to. He was just damn lucky that two of my men cornered him in that attic before I was able to make it there.
Gabriel: It was probably for the best, Alleyne. Your brother being nearly killed was bad enough. If you had gone to prison for doing the same to this guy?
He shook his head.
Gabriel: That wouldn’t have made things any easier on your family.
Tempest: Don’t you think I know that? Jace brought him out of the house in the cuffs and all I could do when I laid eyes on the man that stabbed my brother was imagine grabbing him by the head and slamming his skull into our van over and over until it resembled a Halloween pumpkin in January. But…
She sighed and shook her head.
Tempest: All I could do was picture the disappointment on the faces of my parents and I just let the boys handle him.
Gabriel: But you and the police got him, and your brother? He’s going to be alright?
Tempest nodded, picking up the drink from her end of the call.
Tempest: He had to have extensive surgery to repair the damage the broken glass did to his insides but yes. He’ll make a full recovery – eventually. I think our mom is a little too happy to have her baby home where she can take care of him and spoil him rotten.
Gabriel smiled, a soft chuckle escaping from his lips.
Gabriel: Well that’s a mother for you.
Tempest: Only downside is there’s a very good chance that Nohea’s career in the navy is over now because of the severity of the injuries. And he already told his CO that he would refuse a desk job. It’s not what he signed up for.
Gabriel: He’s alive, that’s what matters. And if he's anything like you, he’ll adapt and find other means to live his life happily enough.
To this, tempest only smiled but did not respond with a spoken word. She just nodded and Gabriel was observant enough to take notice of her demeanor.
Gabriel: Speaking of, how are you holding up?
Tempest: Me? I’m fine, why?
Gabriel: You can’t blame a man for asking. You all but fell off the radar even after your brother’s recovery and your capture of this douche who hurt him. Even Austin called the Gym, asking if we’d heard from you. It took me making the first step to find out what was going on. Call me selfish but I was kind of hoping to have you back by now.
Tempest: Yes, well … I admit I wasn’t altogether certain when I would be back. Or if…
Gabriel: Beg pardon? “If”? You were thinking about staying in Hawaii without telling anyone here?
Tempest: Well I haven’t exactly got a lot of reasons to want to return to Vegas.
She held up her hand to forestall any protest or words of disappointment that might come from her trainer’s side of this exchange.
Tempest: Professionally, I mean.
Gabriel: I’m not certain that I understand. You’ve been doing terrific…
Tempest: My career has been in a nose dive for months, Gabriel! I haven’t been booked since the end of July in that Battle Royal! Almost three months between then and now. I used to be someone that they talked about! Someone that was actually making noise in that division and all of that just…
She held her arms out and shook her head, a cross between an expression of perplexed confusion and disappointment on her face.
Tempest:... Vanished. Poof! Now my time teaming with Mercer was the best thing that happened in my career because I learned a lot. Held my first championship and made probably one of my closest friends, but there’s no denying the truth. My time in a tag team was the peak of my career and it’s all been downhill since then.
Gabriel: Come on now, Alleyne. You don’t mean that.
Tempest: Actually, I do. I have had nothing of import happen since, and very little to speak of before. It seems to me that they either don’t know what to do with me, or don’t want anything to do with me. Either way, I can’t think of one good reason why I’d want to return only to waste my time.
Gabriel leaned back in his office chair and exhaled, looking down at the printed contract for High Stakes XII on the surface of his desk, and then back up at the computer screen from his eyelids. He cracked a smile despite enduring the disappointment on behalf of his and Odette’s student. When one of their charges’ careers was not going the way they had hoped, it wasn’t just the student who felt the sting of disappointment. Gabriel and Odette did as well. Still…
Gabriel: Well, I think I may be able to give you a reason that you might want to stick around.
Tempest: Oh yeah? And what’s that?
“Zoey Lukas.”
Tempest sat alone upon a stool in the center of the ring inside of the GO Gym where she had first honed her craft and the Stevens did the seemingly impossible task of transforming this hulking amazonian female bounty hunter into a professional wrestler. Freshly showered, she was dressed in her street clothes of a white, long sleeve blouse with her tanned aviator jacket, tight denim jeans and t, heel boots.
“That is the reason. You…”
She gazed straight into the camera.
“...Are the reason. The reason why I am back in Las Vegas. The reason why I think a fire just got rekindled in this career of mine. Because I will admit to everything. I had bigger hopes when I first came here and signed with Sin City Wrestling. I admit that I dreamt of being the champion and making headlines everywhere I went. Well, I admit that I made headlines because when I wasn’t getting the attention that I thought I should have, I went out and took it myself. I didn’t care who I had to beat down or whether or not I put someone in the hospital. In my mind, if the higher ups had just given me the attention that I was due and actually BOOKED me, none of it would have been necessary. I gave no mercy and asked for none in return. I came into this division filled with Barbie dolls and suddenly everyone was talking about me. But…”
She held up a hand and shook her head, her lips slightly puckered.
“That’s about as far as it went. A singles championship to call my own? I’m no closer to that goal now than I was when I first debuted almost two years ago. I’ve had an opportunity or two, sure. And chances AT opportunities I guess, but still things never panned out the way that I had hoped and you know something? It was really starting to piss me off and upset me. Then, ironically enough given who my current opponent is, I had Alicia Lukas to thank for not only keeping those fires going, but for being indirectly responsible for not only my first championship match, but for my first championship win. True, I was teamed with Austin James Mercer who turned out to be an incredible partner and yes - a damn good friend. But none of it would have mattered had Alicia not used her ‘queen’ status to team us together against the Barnharts, the champions at the time. But then after what was one of the more dominant reigns - and one that I would pat myself on the back and state I think made the titles mean something again - it happened. The inevitable. There is one hard, cold truth in this business and that is the fact that every champion will one day be a former champion.”
“I mean unless you’re a complete dick and you retire with the championship to avoid that very thing happening.”
“But after that title loss?”
She shook her head.
“It was as if my career was caught in slow motion and I just could not move forward no matter how hard I tried. Austin went and did his thing and the tag team division slowly died because nobody could be bothered to trust anyone else and share in the spotlight. I just went - nowhere. Do you have any idea just how frustrating and disheartening it was to be a former champion and just get shuffled to the bottom of the deck and only get brought out when a card needed to be filled? Or when some tart that pissed off one of the bosses needed to be punished? I came in with what people were telling me was such a bright future and such potential and there I was being used – as a damn attack dog!”
She shook her head in disgust.
“I have never once thought of myself as being a quitter but where else do you go when you’re basically being held in place and not being allowed to move forward? What else do you do when you and others think you have the potential to do more but those in power simply keep you where you are and use you as something akin to a special attraction – or a freak show. I was getting so frustrated, so angry and disheartened, that I was dropping matches to women I never should have been losing to in the first place! The very same Barbie doll types that I was taking a personal stand against for painting such a bad picture for the entirety of women’s wrestling! I had my own teammates wanting to sabotage me. So tell me then…”
She held out her hands in question.
“Were you me, would you have stood there hoping for the best and waste your time and life, or would you have said ‘f**k this’ and simply returned to your roots where you at least had some semblance of control over your life? That is where I was just days ago. That was the point of no return I was THIS CLOSE…”
She pinched a thumb and forefinger closely together.
“... To calling it quits. Until you, Zoey. Until Gabriel told me that they wanted you and I at the biggest event of the year. High Stakes XII. That is the only reason. YOU are the only reason I stepped back onto that jet and returned to Las Vegas. Because for the first time in a very long time, I felt that fire again. The excitement at the prospect of an opponent that I could actually turn myself completely loose against!”
She shook her head and had a smile on her face like a kid on Christmas morning.
“I haven’t felt this way, felt this free, since my run in against Bobbie Dahl! I would gladly decimate any chick that gets in the ring with me and I will laugh while I do it, but do you have any idea how rare it is finding a woman in this business that can hand it right back just as well as I can hand it out? Only one so far in two years, Zoey.”
She held up one finger.
“Bobbie. Until now, that is.”
She held up the second finger.
“I’ve watched you every step of the way since you first showed up, and personally I wondered if there would be any amount of nepotism considering who your sister is. But imagine my surprise when you used none of that backstage politics and you went out to do things on your own, as if you wanted everyone to know you as Zoey Lukas, the wrestler. Not Zoey Lukas, the sister of Alicia Lukas. And you’ve done quite well for yourself, by yourself. I mean, unbeaten in singles competition. And, I am sorry but considering you were not the one beaten in that tag team match, I wouldn’t count that loss against you. Sadly though, your career isn’t going forward any quicker than my own did when I first showed up. I’ve seen plenty of instances where you got passed over in favor of other women - even your own sister or your Wolfslair teammate Kayla. Girl, I still think that should have been you in that Roulette qualifier but…”
She shrugged.
“What do I know? I’m not one of the bosses. I’m just the woman that you are going to be standing across the ring from in a matter of days. I am the woman who was standing right there in the hallway, face to face, when you were complaining about not having any actual competition. Well, congratulations girlfriend. You got your wish. You got your competition. And as much as you remind me of me, and I like and respect you? You’re also going to have your first loss.”
She stood up from the stool.
“They can call this match between us whatever they want. Battle of the Amazons. Clash of the Titans. Hell! They can call it Bitch Fest 2022 for all I care! But I am going to tell you one, hard and cold truth about our match, Zoey.”
She stepped forward and looked directly into the camera.
“It is going to be EPIC!”
