Resurrection - Aidan Carlisle vs. Summer

[Jana Rikar]

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[Max Ironside]

Miami, Florida || Tuesday, May 23, 2017, 11:50 PM (OFF CAMERA)

Kasey seemed to have developed this habit of showing up on doorsteps at the oddest hours, at least where he was concerned. Impatiently, she rang the doorbell twice, wishing she'd called ahead to make sure she wasn't interrupting something important.

The door slowly opened, the man inside surprised by the face which greeted him. "Oh, Kasey, hey." Her boyfriend, Akragth, seemed frozen to the spot. Realising the situation, he jolted back into life and took a step back. "I wasn't expecting you. Did you want to come in?"

She nodded, stepping inside gratefully. "I was out driving around trying to clear my head and I really need to talk to you about something."

Akragth cocked an eyebrow and closed the door behind her. "Okay?" He headed into the front room, where he invited her to sit with a pat of his couch. "What's on your mind?"

Kasey hesitated, wringing her hands. "I… did a thing," she paused, swallowing hard, her face ashen around, "a really, really stupid thing."

He sat back against the couch, arms folded. "Okay... go on..."

"You know when I had that stupid tag match in Pensacola? I… I had a whole bunch of drinks that night and then Max drove me home." She sighed, finally sitting down next to him, "and he told me he loved me." She paused to take a breath, watching his reaction.

Akragth's face remained unmoved, his usual cold coyness at play. "So he said he loves you, so what? That's on him, not you. But you're freaking out, so there's more to this, is there not?"

"I laughed at him. I know that's really shitty and I mean; I closed the door so he didn't hear me but I'm pretty sure he did and he looked so sad, Ak. I swear I never, ever gave him the impression he had a shot." She pushed her hair behind her ears, biting her lip, "well, until I chased him out to his car and kissed him that is."

The coyness slipped a little as his cheeks bulged, the muscles tensed. "You did...what?" He stood, shaking his head, hands first on his hips, then his head, then back to his hips. "You kissed him?"

"Not with tongue or anything," she muttered, staring down at her lap for a second. "I just… I didn't want laughing at him to be the last thing I ever did. I wasn't thinking straight."

"So, what, no tongue makes it okay?" He laughed in disbelief. "You kiss a guy who loves you, but there's no tongue, so never mind it is all just fine?" Akragth wiped a hand over his forehead. He seethed. "Do you love him too?!"

"Ew, no!" Kasey shot to her feet, "no freakin' way! He's," she gestured vaguely towards Ak, "he's NOT you. I mean, I care about him. But the kinda love he wants? No. Never."

"So, what," he threw both hands into the air, "You kissed him because you felt sorry for him?" Akragth scoffed at the notion. "Is he that pathetic, hmm? Or are you just lying about it?"

"Why the hell would I lie?!" She all but screamed the words at him, "I came here to tell you because I've felt shitty since it happened and you don't have to be a giant dick about it!"

"Ohhh, OH, I'm the dick here, huh? What a surprise." He shook his head, teeth bared as his face contorted with his growing anger. "Of course. That's how it always goes, isn't it? I guess I figured you were different - but I was wrong."

"You know damn well that's not what I meant!" Kasey snapped, stabbing a finger at his chest, "don't you start-"

"Start what, exactly?!" He looked down at the hand on his chest, pressing his body forward enough that her finger surely felt it. "Lying? Cheating? Kissing someone else?"

"Ak, please." Tears shone in her eyes but she stood her ground, "it didn't mean anything!"

"So, what, you just did it for fun?" His nose wrinkled as his brows pressed down. "And then you're telling me now because you want forgiveness, even though you kept it from me this whole time?"

"I wasn't thinking!" She blurted, throwing her hands up in the air, "and then the longer I waited to say something the harder it got. Ak, I love you. Only you. It was a stupid mistake."

"You weren't thinking." His repetition betrayed a slight mockery. He shook his head, words eluding him for a few moments. "I don't know what you want me to say right now, Kasey."

"Tell me it's okay," she whispered, "tell me you still love me?"

He wanted to, but the words weren't there. "I think it's best you go. I need to think…"

Last time I was talking about hindsight, about how things change so drastically in an instant. It was so much like foreshadowing or clairvoyance or whatever that I'm thinking I could be the next Miss Cleo. Alice Quinn didn't show up and I guess a part of me is a little bit shocked while the other is disappointed. I had myself geared up for a great fight, for pushing myself to the limit against one of the most unpredictable competitors in the company. It would have been the greatest preparation ever for this unpredictable match for the Defiant Championship and instead I'm bummed.

I watched how your fight with Mad Max played out, Furiosa. I saw how he almost had you cornered and I've seen all these little changes you've been making over the last few months. New boots. New friends. New battlegrounds. New career opportunities. And now freakin' ThunderDome for the biggest Mad Max franchise fan in the history of ever? Don't they pander to you enough already? Nope. Aidan gets to defend her belt in a domed cage lined with weapons. They're all about enabling her delusions of grandeur and I'm over here laughing my ass off because I don't even have to worry about out-wrestling you like Max did. All I have to do is swing for the fences, cave in your stupid head, try not to get blown away when all the hot air escapes and then climb my way to victory. Piece of cake, Imperator.

But she's gonna say I'm still SALTY over how she called me a nobody and a loser and seriously half the company swallows that pill because she's Morpheus pushing that "let's see how deep the rabbit hole really is" reality in the guise of enlightenment. She calls a spade a club and everyone blindly agrees but I'm over here seeing it more like Donald Trump reciting bogus Fox News stories like an absolute tool.

I really wish Max had beaten you, Aidan. Not because I wanted to see you lose. No. I've got my own personal reasons for that particular name on my list.

I'm not salty. Nope. Not even close. See, it's more like I've been MARINATED, stewing in these juices of hate and envy since Savannah. I'm tender. I'm soaked through to the core, through every fiber of my being that screams out your name and it's time to throw this shrimp on the barbie like Jesus with the loaves and fishes, feeding another helping of Aidan's endless bullshit to the masses! I just can't wait to see what you're going to spoon out this time. Tell them all that I'm unstable, maybe? Tell the world that I'm too FRAGILE, too BROKEN still to come at a big girl like you.

I'm waffling all over the place and your annoying voice is ringing in my ears, telling me I'm not good enough because (insert generic insult #6 here).

Laugh, Kookaburra! Yuck it up. Tell yourself that I'm already beaten without you even having to lace up your stupid boots because if there's anything that Kasey Summers is about, it's the ability to fail upwards spectacularly.

Guess that's not much of a revelation. I've been chasing glory down the Fury Road since I finally got that medical all-clear and I know that every step I take puts me further away from the Kasey of 2012 - that chick who beat several girls who thought they were better, stronger, faster and smarter. Don't even bother to start sharpening the claws, getting ready to tear my little nostalgia trip apart. See, there's this part of me that just can't let it go, can't build that bridge and get over it - I'll end up letting it eat me alive and then I'll be no better than Max, pissed off at the world.

I can reminisce about all the good times I've had in my career and use each one of them as a reason to say I'm justified in judging other people like you do on the daily, Aidan, but the fact remains that those words you saw fit to sling in my direction aren't going to do anything but fuel the fire that I've had burning inside me since I signed that dotted line here in DWF. True story: I am the most legitimate threat you've faced since winning that championship and while you may have worked hard to get to where you are, Aidan, I'm working twice as hard to knock you off that damn pedestal you and everyone else places you on.

It's been too long getting to this point and I'm not about to go to the back of the line; I've only got one recourse and that's taking the Defiant Championship from you the only way I know how, by beating the hell out of you. You're going to feel the fire that I've had brewing in my body for weeks now. You're gonna get burned, Aidan, your precious title reign reduced to cinders as the FIREBIRD emerges trimphant. At the end of the night, everyone is gonna see that Summer is here to stay.

[Aidan Carlisle]

Aidan's world rocked as a shot from the left got inside her guard. For just a moment the presence of cameras there to film the odd sparring session/promotional spot had distracted her. Spots danced across her vision, but she shook them away as quickly as she dismissed the look of concern from the man standing across from her. “Sorry, love.”

It was still strange to hear the pet name from Blake, but she knew it was more a turn of phrase from him than a term of endearment. Stranger yet that he didn't mind being there, and being filmed. “Don't be. I didn't come here so you could use the kiddie gloves.”

He smirked, and she still found herself surprised not to see the chip in his front tooth she had given him once upon a time. “Come now, have I ever handled you lightly?”

He hadn't, and that was the point. “I'm not a porcelain doll; I'm not afraid of a little pain. I'm not afraid to bleed for what I want.” She unleashed a flurry of strikes at his chest and stomach, only a few of which he managed to deflect.

“Now it sounds like we're talking about this Summers girl, yeah?” He arched a brow as he changed his stance.

“Kasey,” she spat the name distastefully. “The vapid cow.”

“Why is that name familiar?” He threw a jab right at her face, but she danced backward out of his reach, slowly circling the sparring mats at the Milwaukee gym.

“Because I've faced her before, with Amber and Claire, against Claudia Thorn and Shyla Clemmens. She was the millstone that dragged them down. Truthfully, if they'd had anyone else on their team, they probably would have beaten us. She's been the same weak link since the moment I first heard her name.”

“Well now she's got no one to sink with her then?” He feigned another shot, and when she dodged he threw an arm around her neck instead and whipped her over to the mat with a side headlock takedown.

“No, and no one to blame for the loss but herself.” The squeeze of his thick arm across her neck was all but inescapable, much like the fate that awaited Kasey at Resurrection. “Not that she won't try to find an excuse, I'm sure. Maybe she'll try another poorly disguised cry at favoritism. If she shouts it a little louder maybe she'll even start to believe it herself.”

After a few more moments of her struggling Blake released the hold and let her up. “Because of the Thunderdome thing?”

“Mmmhm. As if it has anything to actually do with my movie preferences and isn't because it's a match from DWF history. But y'know, why bother to learn anything about the company she's working for? That might require her to actually do something.” As he threw shot after shot at her head and upper body, she backed around the edges of the mats, looking for an opening. He knew her as well as she knew him, ever-heightening their games of cat and mouse.

“They could have named the match, hell the whole damn show, after Kasey and I wouldn't have given a shit. But no one was going to drop money to watch a pay-per-view called 'Pity Party.'” She went low unexpectedly, hitting a chop block that took him off his feet, though she couldn't manage to wrestle him into a submission hold before he rolled away.

She was about to advance again, but suddenly had to catch a flying towel as he tossed it in her direction, signalling the end of the day's training session. “So what's so special about her?” With her other hand, Aidan took the bottle of water that was offered to her. From the edge of her vision she registered the cameraman moving for a better angle.

“Not a goddamn thing, that's just it. She's as lackluster as they come. Dull, boring, underwhelming, mediocre, substandard; all words pictured right next Kasey Summers in every cheap, knock-off dictionary on the market.”

Blake gave a chuckle as he sat down beside her. It was a low rumbling sound, like some great beast stirring from hibernation. The amusement glittered in his eyes as he looked her over, saying nothing.

“What Kasey doesn't understand—one of the many things, anyway—is that she's walking into the Devil's Playground in El Paso. I pushed her pathetic little lovesick puppy, Max, to the edge in Odessa and he didn't have what it takes to defeat me. I outsmarted him, outlasted him, and outwrestled him like I've done to many others before him. I've got the 66-12-4 record to show that my ring skills are top notch.”

She moped the towel across her face, wiping away most of the sweat on her fair skin. Strands of her brown hair clung around her neck and forehead. For a fraction of a second a smirk touched her lips and there was a far-away look in her eyes.

“But matches like these, like this Thunderdome, are where I made my name, starting back in England. I earned the name The Queen of Extreme because can I dish out untold amounts of pain, and take even more, to survive and rise victorious. She has no idea the sorts of things I'm willing to do to people that I have no quarrel with in the name of winning, let alone to people I think should be wiped from the face of professional wrestling.”

“You really hate this girl, don't you?” She could feel him studying the side of her face, though she kept her eyes on the camera.

Finally, Aidan gave a shake of her head. “Hating her would require more of my attention than she's worth. She's nothing and she never will be, even she knows that. She hates herself enough for everyone. All she does is throw petty tantrums, try to start shit with people better than she is, and wonder why no one likes her. Maybe if she put half as much work into wrestling as she did being a bitter little bitch, she would actually be decent.”

It was hard not to smirk when she could feel the amusement rolling off of him. “You're going to eat her alive, aren't you?”

“I absolutely am. She doesn't have the strength to hit hard enough or the stamina to last long enough to keep me down so she can escape. She'll hit me, oh I know she will. She'll find a weapon that her feeble arms can lift and swing with all the non-existant might in her pathetic little body. She'll give it everything she has in the attempt to stop me. But all she is going to see in return for her efforts is me laughing in her face.

“No matter what she tries, it won't be enough. No matter what she has up her sleeve that she thinks is her golden ticket out of that Thunderdome, I've already experienced worse in my life. The look in her eyes when she realizes there is nothing she can do to stop me is going to be priceless.” In spite of the macabre subject, Aidan gave a perversely melodic laugh.

“She's already exposed her weakness, her achilles heal: That injury that she waves about for pity and uses like a crutch. I have no pity for her, and there will be no mercy for her. She's painted that big red bullseye on her neck, and I will exploit it if the opportunity presents itself.

“I am going to paint the canvas with her blood. I am going to fill the arena with the sounds of her screams. I'm going to make sure that everyone hears her pleading for me to stop. But I'm not going to stop. I am going to break Kasey. I am going to beat her until she is an unmoving body in the middle of the ring. And when I climb out of the top of the Thunderdome she isn't going to do so much as twitch, because there will be nothing left of her.

“No Resurrection waits for Kasey Summers in El Paso, only a crime scene.”

With one last lingering and wicked smirk to the camera, Aidan unwound her legs and stood up, heading toward the locker rooms.

T h e B i t c h B l o g

Listening To: “Champion” – Matteo Feat. Lee More
Eating: The Snack of Champions
Feeling: Like a Champ
From: Champion's Roost, Milwaukee

Dear Kasey,

I	Because when I want something, I do whatever it takes to earn it. I don't want handouts nor do I need coattails to ride.	Y
A	Because when I say that I'm going to do something, I damn well do it. Unlike you I can, and do, back up my words.	o
m	Because I define myself by what I do in the ring (Spoiler: It's win), not who I'm fucking—or in your case, cheating on.	u
T	Because I'll never be so pathetic that I cut a promo on myself hoping it takes the sting out of my opponent's words.	W
h	Because I don't compulsively lie to the world about who I am in the hopes that I'll believe my own bullshit one day.	i
e	Because I will fight until my last drop of blood to keep what is mine and you give up when things don't go your way.	l
C	Because I have the fires of passion for this business burning within me and your cold ashes are scattered on the wind.	l
h	Because it is in my nature to rise up and leave a legacy, and it is in yours to drown in your failure until you fade away.	N
a	Because wherever I go I make my success, and wherever you go you flee the moment you realize you'll have to work.	e
m	Because I come back better than before after my losses, and you refuse to ever step up and become more than you are.	v
p	Because you think childish whining equates to desire. Because you mistake entitled petulance for strength character.	e
i	Because you want reward without effort. Because you expect reputation without merit. Because you just don't get it.	r
o	Because you may one day hold a title belt in your hands, but you will never have what it takes to truly be a Champion.	B
n	Because I am Defiant; in life, in the ring, and in all things, and you are nothing more than the trash you made yourself .	e