Kill or be Killed

[Vivienne Daniels]

"Her? What has she done to deserve Hall of Fame?"

"Tara has done more in the last year then Vivienne has done in her entire career."

"Jennie was robbed."

"At least Shea and Tara beat Eternity."

"Abby defended the world title more than once. Vivienne doesn't deserve this honor at all."

"You know the only reason she got it is the family name and she's slept with Ulf."

"Pathetic, they really are digging up for scraps not o give the honor to the Feix sisters."

Vivienne heard them all. Had heard them all through dinner at the celebration for the newest class of the Hall of Fame. She had practice of keeping the smile resting on her face seem relaxed. She'd survived worse. Crying in public was something her father had taught her to keep from ever doing again at a young age.


We don't cry. You want to get my legacy? Earn it. If you cry one single tear I'll make it worse, you hear me?

The smile was the mask. A mask she'd practically sewed onto her face as soon as she became a public figure. In public, at home. You never knew when someone was watching. She needed so desperately to be liked, for people to see her as a good person who came from a good family that she had made a habit of sticking strictly to the plan in her life. Wrestle. Win a world title. Get married. Have Kids. That's what good girls did. She was a little out of order but the engagement ring still counted.

This should have been the second-best day of her life, getting recognized for all her hard work. Vivienne whispered an excuse from the photography and the staring faces. All the eyes watching her. All the eyes judging her. She had been weighed and found wanting again. Never being good enough for anyone. Never being taken seriously as a wrestler or main event talent.

She walked into the bathroom, all the way to the last stall, and shut the door. She looked up and noticed all the lights slowly going out with a loud pop each time. She leaned against the cold tile wall and let the tears rip through her. It was school all over again. No matter what she did she was always going to be that girl no one invited or liked. Nothing she did counted towards her success. Only propped up other people now alone in the darkness of a bathroom.

"Hello, Rodgers."

Vivienne knew that voice. Had spent a career fighting that voice. Had thrown her body into the meat grinder again and again to try and stop her...

"No one thinks you deserve this. None of them saw your true potential like I did. They think...because others beat Eternity they deserve this honor more than you." Vivienne saw the yellow eyes in the darkness shining at her. "But we remember she always ran from me."

Vivienne wanted to run.

"And you beat me."

"I..."

"But to beat me you gave into that feral part of you. The part of you that you deny exists. The part of you that is unseemly and ugly to the rest of the world. The part of you that your father and grandfather tried to beat out of you."

Vivienne felt a hand holding her chin, keeping her from looking away.

"Has anyone ever acknowledged it's beauty before?"

Vivienne shook her head 'no'. 

Rowan laughs, "Liar. You know I did. You know what only you and I know. In those moments where only you and I were together. You know that you enjoyed it. And you know that I did too. You know I looked to the very core of you...and accepted. That I saw the real you. The you that you keep way down, and unlike everyone else I didn't flinch away, I welcomed her in." A small pause, "Do you think I'm the only one?"

"Yes?"

"That's a shame. Because I know your wrong. I would very much like to see her again. See you enjoying being her again."

"I-"

"Aren't you tired of your gilded cage? Don't you want to be free?"

"One of the last things I said before I left... was  'I honestly do miss the old women’s division a few years ago. I miss the constant competition. I miss the feeling of fighting gods and monsters to get a shot at the title. I miss the feeling that the real battle was taking place in the women’s division. Where are we right now? We have a hand full of women. Our belt is one'.”

"And here we are. A year plus later. And that has not changed. Oh sure we have some talent who multitask in many companies who come by to grab a title and when they don't win everything run away because how dare a division this small not propel them up to the heights of worship."

"I left. I had kids. I was basically pushed out the door with being told I had nothing of value to give to this company. That the division belonged to Shelly, Tara and Jennie. That I could fight newbies or pack my bags. So I did just that. I left. Men get to decided to take a break because their passion is somewhere else. But I wasn't hot enough anymore. I wasn't recognizable as the uwu innocent girl since I got knocked up."

"That's the thing I think so so funny coming from people like Jennie and Tara screaming how they stayed in the division while other's left. Because of yours they stayed. Management saw them as the new golden idol. The next best thing. No one took them into an office and told them they'd outgrown their usefulness. No one pulled them aside and said their work just wasn't good enough anymore. Because people like them get to flip flop and hold shows hostage while the rest of the division fights for scraps."

"And I probably would have stayed semi retired. Maybe get bored and see if another kid would make me feel whole. But Rowan... my nemesis for most of my career. The women I lost friends, lovers, and even broken bones to. She helped me see what I needed to do. That this division has grown weak and failing to grow because of the weeds choking on the roots. So now, I am going to help burn it to the ground so it can be renewed. So it can thrive again. Because this division does its best work when fighting to survive. So fight. Fight The Murder. Fight me. Fight us."

"Nancy and Candy are innocents you might say. They did nothing to deserve what you are talking about. But they have. They have sat by idlly and not tried to improve. They have accepted the pay check and made no moves to go up the ladder to make the division something more than maybe once a show."

"So fuck them. Fuck all of you who let yourselves get complacent with the status quo. It's time for things to change."

"It's time for The Murder to pick the bones clean and bring this place back to the glory we all know this division can be. Since you need motivation, consider this an engraved goddamn invitation."