Running up That Hill

[Mai Everstone]

Mai heard a knocking on the front door of her house, let out a groan as she rolled over to grab her phone to get a look at the time. It wasn't as if she was out partying all night every night. she still had to go to the gym and keep things in shape. But after another loss she'd needed just a little time to act irresponsible. The headache and the smell of someone else's perfume on her pillow told her just how irresponsible she'd been. With a groan she swung herself out of bed and pulled on a old bathrobe as the knocking kept coming on the front door.

She stopped briefly to fix her hair a little before opening the door, "Hell--Dad. Wow. Uh, Hi."

Her father stood there, stern features and hair short cropped to his head and intense blue eyes as he stood in a very plain but fitted blue suit, "Mai." The southern drawl of her name usually only appeared when she'd done something he'd disapproved of.

Mai swallowed slightly, feeling just like a teenager caught skipping school, "...Do you want to come in?"

"Yes, please."

Mai quickly invited him to sit in the living-room that she was very firmly aware was full of too many Betty Page pictures and what one might have referred to as sexy monsters. She quickly tore through her closet and wore a simple black t shirt and jeans to sit down in the living-room with her father who was starring his disapproval at the picture of the long legged ghost in fishnets.

"I see that you have made yourself at home here," He turned towards her leaning on the wooden cane he usually had with him at all times.

"You hate it."

"It looks like a den of debauchery for that horror women you liked to watch."

"That was kind of the vibe I was going for, yeah."

He leaned on his cane, "...There is not a easy way to have this conversation, Mai."

"Did you have a secret family you didn't tell me about?" Mai asked point blank. "Did you parent trap me? Am I a clone?"

Her father sighed, "I... hell's bells..."

"What?"

"You're adopted, sugarplum." He said softly.

"...Adopted?" Mai felt the world shift slightly and she sat down hard on her purple velvet couch.

"You were left in a bus deport. Wrapped in a blanket and tucked next to the pinball machine. We were on a mission trip, my church when I was a lot younger liked to go to poor places in the united states and help rebuild and things. I found you when I heard you crying right before we left. I called the police but... it was a very poor part of the state. They told me it would be a better life for you if I took you instead of waiting on foster care." He tapped his cane on the floor, like he did when he didn't like talking about something. "I'm sorry for-"

Mai got up and walked over to her father and hugged him tightly, she didn't have words. He wrapped one arm around her, holding her close like he always had.

---

Mai is sitting on a purple crush velvet couch.

Okay. So this is the moment. And I mean the big moment. This is likely the next big moment of the women's division. The Iron Maiden is the big match for us. One might argue who wins this match depends on whether the women get to main event Night of the Immortals. Because the women have only headlined that pay per view once. Once since the company opened. Can you imagine that?

I mean, of course you can. Its the company's history. I think the company has a few problems with its division. The basic being most women come, conquer and weep having nothing left to beat before moving on to something else. And that is a problem. I think another problem is there are certain women who come out of retirement only to slap a new rising star down before going back to the sidelines. Its almost as if only a handle full of women get to make it to the top.

And while I hope Shelly Diamond is okay. I also think her being removed from the main event scene honestly opens up some things for the rest of us. It gives us a chance to grow, to climb, to prove our worth to the company to start being seen as a threat.

And you know what? I hope the fuck they do see me as a threat. I hope some has-been who has a bunch of accomplishments from a few years back when this division was the thing carrying this company comes back and decides i need to be put down. I hope they see me as someone who is coming for those accolades and try to throw me back down to the warm up matches. Because I want this division to be strong. I want this division to be so stacked with talent that we have to fight tooth and nail to get noticed as legit talent, not just for taking hot selfies online.

And I've made my feelings about Che clear. She's wasting time. She won a match I was in but she didn't beat me. She just climbed a ladder. And that's fine. But this match? The Iron Maiden? This is where actual talent matter. In this match you actually have to win. You have to be good. Which means, sorry to say, Instagram model and mute Ms Markella is basically out. She barely wrestles and she certainly can't be bothered to say anything. Same could be said for Sara Cross. Who while not as much of a photoshoot girl certainly hasn't bothered to communicate with the fans or anyone else in this company.

Latoya Hixx does show up. She does have something to say most of the time. To be honest she seems to have trouble not saying every thought that has ever entered her head. But honestly? Me too. I do the same thing sometimes. Latoya says she's the best there has ever been and its her world and we are just living in it. I don't vibe with that. I don't think it's anyone's world. I think most of us haven't made the kind of impact on this company to justify that kind of ego. But as they say, pride before the fall. I have no doubt she is going to have a hard wake up call. If she pays attention to anything happening outside of her own imagination.

Then we move onto the two girls that actually make me nervous in this match. We have Caroline, former Women's Champion, women who unseated Shelly Diamond back from an injury just in time to try and get a rematch with the women who took the belt from her. I can't say I'm surprised to see you here. Honestly. Caroline, I admire the effort. I admire the way you dedicate yourself to trying to get back to the ring. I admire all the things you stand for. I appreciate the way you have found a family with RAM, Fiona, Danger and James Gilmore. You trained hard and you made your mentors proud. And you want back to the top. No shame in that. There's a chance you rushed back to being ring ready, and if you did I'm gonna take advantage of that. No hard feelings. Just honesty. I want this win more than you do. You had your moment. I haven't gotten mine yet. So when I throw everything I have to make sure you don't get the win, don't take that personally. I don't dislike you. Promise.

Sorcha. Shit. I wish we hadn't just faced each other last week. You kicked my ass. I can't talk my way out of that. With everything I have been trying to do. Everything I have been working for. You just were better. I'm not going to deny that. You were just better. And I accepted the handshake, and I don't hate you. It would be easier if I did. But I have been looking into how you fight. I have been studying the tapes. And I am not going to be so easy to beat this time. That I promise you.

Because I am dedicated. Because I am driven. Because I know what I want and I am not going to go down quietly. I want to win this match. I want to give the world champion a challenge. I want Jennie Fenix to have to worry about whether she is gonna hold the title a little longer. I want this company to know my name and remember who the fuck I am.

And in order to do that, I need to win this match. 




And that is what I am going to do.