"Stay Down."

[Tara Fenix]

The Blake-Docherty Estate is a large property where many of the family members associated with the two bloodlines have been able to retreat in their downtime. A retreat. A sanctuary. A home where the family that constantly had the crosshairs on them from people that were merely trying to make a name for themselves in the industry were able to let their guard down, and simply… live. It seemed that the success that Angel and Tara, respectively, have had throughout their time in the industry has brought a lot of enemies, and only gave everybody a larger target to attempt to do what no one has ever been able to do: end them. Along with the primary house in which they resided; the property was also home to three more guest houses that were frequently extended out to friends of the family. The details that could go into the size of the property could go on, and on, and on, but our focus is on a single guesthouse.

Tara’s devotion to the industry could never be questioned. She had received scrutiny for how long she had continued to compete while trying to hide her condition, and when it had become common knowledge at the beginning of April, Tara was sidelined for the majority of two-thousand-twenty-two. Proving her devotion, Tara had taken on more roles in the company to try to bide her time until it was time for her to return to the ring. It was the middle of September when Tara would give birth to her daughter, Lilith Ophelia Blake. The newborn brought a number of people that wanted to meet her… family… friends… everybody. The estate was full. Despite all of the frequent visitors, Tara still welcomed another who was not kin. Another, who was not even a friend. Another who was barely even an acquaintance.

“You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you want,” Tara says.

Serenity Holmes stands in the doorframe of the pool guesthouse. The young star had already made quite a name for herself. The second generation star was garnering a lot of attention throughout the industry, both inside and outside of the ring with a recent fight with her father, Andre Holmes. She can’t help but feel a little embarrassed by the situation that she had found herself in as she has a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, and reaches her other hand across to grip at her own elbow. She glances over her shoulder, and then forward again to look around the home that had been extended to her.

“Anything you need, honey,” Tara says again with a smile, “And you can use the pool, of course.”

Serenity purses her lips together, still nervous over her own situation.

“I’ll just…” Tara shuffles her feet, “I’ll let you get settled in.”

Serenity steps further into the home and sets her bag down while Tara goes to walk past her. As Tara gets to the door, she goes to pull it shut, but Serenity finally chimes in, pivoting on her heels as she speaks, “Tara…”

Tara stands there for a brief moment, looking back toward Serenity with her crystal eyes, “Yes?”

“Thank you,” Serenity mutters under her breath, “For everything.”

Tara smiles, and nods to Serenity. Tara closes the door behind her.

The door reopens, but the interior is much different… Whereas it looked like someone had been moving in for a prolonged stay when Serenity had been extended an invitation, it now looked: clean. Empty. It has been a while since someone had been welcomed as a guest on the Blake-Docherty Estate, ever since they had been vilified by many.

Tara re-enters the guesthouse but she is notably dressed differently: a black pair of skinny fit jeans with the leggings going into her traditional pair of combat boots, an untucked graphic tank top, and one of the Fenix Sisters trademarked beanies. Tara drops a duffel bag at the door, keeping the door open, as she ventures into the guesthouse.

“Stay down!” The masculine voice reverberates several times. “STAY DOWN!” The same voice repeats, but much more commanding this time, and as it continues reverberating, it becomes more feminine. “STAY! DOWN!” The words come out a third time, but the voice is now fully recognized as none other than Tara Fenix.

She scoffs as she walks into the guesthouse, and her soft voice raises to the audio, “Stay down…” she mutters.

"I remember those two distinct words as they have come back to me for a long time. When I was a newcomer, I was told… to stay down. I was told that the ring was no place for the likes of me. I was told that I was never going to be anything in this business! I was told that this is a business that I don’t belong to. Do you want to have a little… history… lesson? Hmm?” Tara purses her lips together as if to wait for an answer, and after a couple of prolonging seconds, she resumes, “I am the first of my line. My family– my adopted family– they didn’t know anything about the professional wrestling industry… They didn’t have the connections to bring me into this business, and it wasn’t until I got into this business that I even learned about my birth family. I am the first of my line…” Tara says, and she pivots on her heels to face the camera behind her, “I have been doing this for a long, long… long… time… I have earned everything that I have. Everything that we – Angel and I – have! Now, you can look at everything we’ve acquired, and, without me having to tell you, you can tell that we are damn good at what we do! Throughout my time in this business, I have heard everything from… everyone… saying how I have inspired them. Saying how I am their hero. I am the reason that they are even lacing up a pair of boots! And do you know what else I hear from those people? How much they want to be me.” Tara scoffs.

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s all absolutely flattering! But throughout my time in this business, there is another thing I’ve just lost count of: the number of people who said they were going to break me… the number of people who said they were going to end me. People come through those doors every single day, and the first thing out of their mouth isn’t even about taking the IWF Women’s World Championship: it’s about ending me. When I look around…” She holds her hand out, directing the viewers to also look around, “I don’t see one person that is ever going to accomplish that task. And that… includes… you… Serenity…”

Her gaze falls away from the camera momentarily, and she chuckles under her breath whilst walking a little further into the guesthouse. She shakes her head, and sneers as the name escapes, “I don’t want you to misunderstand me, Serenity. There was– something– about you that I truly… admired… When I first saw you compete, I was impressed.” She licks her lips and fixes her gaze back onto the camera, a sparkle in her crystal eyes, “I saw a girl that was born into this business, but paving her own path! I saw a girl who was commanding attention… I saw a girl who was reaching the top of the mountain in her first year in this business, and you know what? You earned my attention. But–” Tara raises a finger in protest, “I also saw a girl fighting her demons. I saw a girl who needed help fighting her demons.”

The camera turns away from Tara and swoops toward the open door frame… Just as the blinding light hits it, we transition from the present-day back to the past.

A beautiful day with a gentle breeze. Barely a cloud in the sky. The nearby guesthouse was quite close to the pool, and all of the curtains of the guesthouse had been pulled shut. Jennie sat on a floaty flamingo in the pool whilst sipping a margarita, and Tara just sat at the edge of the pool with her feet in the water… she splashed a couple of times by kicking her feet, feigning a smile.

“How come you invited her?” Jennie asks while taking another sip of her margarita.

“She needed help,” Tara says with a shrug.

“Yeah, but y’know… you’re not responsible for her. You’ve got Lilith, you’ve got the rest of the kids around here, and you’re just in no condition for– well, anything,” Jennie says, “So why bring her in? Like… couldn’t you have just covered her hotel costs or something?”

“I–” Tara stutters and snickers, “I feel like if I can be there for her in a way that I wish someone had been able to be there for me, she can… do better. She can be better. I had Liliana at the time, but I just wish– I wish that I had someone more. Someone who could get me out of there right then and there. I can give her a break– a break from her family, because you know how it is with family. They can be–"

"Overbearing." Jennie says with a nod, and sips her margarita carelessly.

Tara blinks a couple of times, and takes a deep breath, "That's not what I was going to say, but–"

"It fits." Jennie says and nods again.

"Fine," Tara mutters, "Either way, I just feel like– I feel like I need to be there for her."

"Mmmkay! She's a good kid! I just wanted to make sure you understood the severity of the chaos going on throughout the house!" Jennie says. The curtains of the guesthouse move slightly, as the imagery moves up before fading back to the interior of the guesthouse.

Tara sits on the couch, hunched forward. Her elbows on her knees, and her hands folded together as she just looks blankly toward the ground, subtly shaking her head when the words resonate inside of her head.

“My life hasn’t always been kind to me… Everybody knows what I went through as a teenager. It’s not a mystery. Life– took everything from me. Life beat me to the ground, and I had that voice in my head telling me to stay down for a long time, but I didn’t let that voice control me! I didn’t let that voice command me!” Tara says through gritted teeth, and she lifts her head to look at the camera again whilst cocking her head to the side. The traditional Docherty smirk is on her face along with a sense of pride that she felt for herself for having the will to stand back up despite everybody and everything trying to tell her that she didn’t belong.

“I am not going to sit here and tell you that I didn’t have help. I had my older sister– Liliana… there for me. She was there to pull me back to my feet, and she was there to push me forward! She was there to– make me– succeed. But there was only so much she could do for me, and so much more that I wish I could have… I wanted to get away. I needed an escape, and the only escape that she could provide at that time was listening… And, while that was enough because that’s all she could give, anyone who has been down in their life could tell you about their dreams– their fantasies– their need to get away! I saw you fighting your demons, Serenity, and all I ever wanted to do was help you. All I wanted to do was give you something that I didn’t have access to. All I ever wanted to do was assure you that you would always have someone there for you, and it would be me… I see–” Tara taps her finger near her eye, “–what you want. I know what you want to be in this business, and all I wanted to do was help you get there! You needed a place to stay… A place to escape… and I gave it to you. I didn't ask for ANYTHING in return! However, some lunatic decides he has a vendetta against my family. He wants to rally everyone against us, but… he needs numbers. He needs people capable of being able to fight us! He needs people capable of taking us down, and so… he wants to speak with you. Did you not think that I knew what he wanted out of you? Did you not think that I knew he was seeking to bring you into a fight that didn't concern you? After I asked for nothing from you after I took you in, all I asked for– all I wanted in exchange for everything I’ve done for you was to stay out of a fight that did not concern you.” Tara’s nostrils flare when she snorts out angrily, shaking her head with betrayal and rejection written on her face.

“I'm going to give you credit here, and say that while you're young, you're not stupid! Just like me, you knew exactly what he wanted. All you had to say to him was: NOT. INTERESTED. How'd you respond? By hearing him out? By calling him uncle? By calling him family? The same person who was trying to tear my family apart! This person who couldn’t give two shits about you when you needed someone, and now that you climbed to a point that you were truly getting all the recognition you deserve– now he can be seen with you. Now he can be mentioned in the same breath as you! That’s who you wanna align yourself with? You need to understand, honey, that when I took the first strike against you; that was a warning shot. I needed you to receive that message… loud and fucking clear… I needed you to know: stay out of it! I needed you to understand: it didn't concern you."

She takes a brief moment to take a breather, now sitting back on the couch. She spreads her arms across the backrest and tilts her head to the side, far enough to hear the low cracks, and then the other way as that smirk crosses her face yet again.

"But…" Tara smacks her lips together and chuckles under her breath, "I should have seen this all coming. I should have known that you were not going to comprehend, because it's like I say: you remind me of a younger me. Brash. Willing to run into the line of fire all for the sake of making a name for yourself! And– damn it, I can't even hate you for that. I can't even blame you for that. But– you really should've listened. You really should've backed down. You really should've stayed down, because honey: everything you heard about me… all the intensity I can bring to the ring, all the violence I bring with me! ALL OF IT! Is true… but what you don't understand: you think I'm getting older. You think I'm losing my edge. Honey, I haven't even reached my peak. This Sunday, you see why I am The Great Phoenix! Why I am the Queen of Queens and the Queen of Kings! I am everything they say, and more. And my legacy will continue. See you Sunday."

Tara blows a kiss at the camera, and then stands up from the couch. She walks toward the door, and picks her duffel bag up, giving one more glimpse inside of the room before shutting the door behind her. The scenery fades out.

…A couple days later…

The crowd at the SAP Center cheers whilst Tara sits at the table for her own press conference, tapping her nails on the table while bouncing Lilith carefully up and down on her knee. A pair of earmuffs protect Lilith’s ears from the noise of the audience, and the familiar voice of Cliff Cook reverberates in the speakers.

“Does anyone else have any questions?” Cliff asks while walking to the center of the stage, prepared to close out the sequence for open questions for The Fenix Sisters.

“I DO!” a voice calls out from the audience.

The accent catches the attention of Tara as she raises her head, and narrows her eyes in the direction of where the voice came from. The crowd is already cheering as the person stands up, and Tara’s opponent for Legacy is standing there with a beaming smile on her face. Serenity Holmes looks back and forth at the crowd giving them a brief acknowledgement before turning her attention all the way to Tara.

“What’re you going to do after I kick your ass?!” Serenity screams into the microphone.

Tara carefully passes Lilith over to Jennie, who takes her in and plays with her to keep her attention diverted away from the ongoing situation. Tara stands up from her seat, and points out to Serenity, “Do you want to come up here and say that to my face?” she asks.

The crowd erupts into cheers as Serenity pushes her way past everybody, and makes her way up to the stage. Serenity enters across the stage from Tara, and Tara walks toward her as the two clash near the center of the stage but both of them keep themselves from swinging! Cliff is trying to hold the two back while they start mouthing off at each other, and the audience doesn’t want to wait until Sunday.

“W-w-w-whoa, ladies!” Cliff nervously states, glances at Jennie, but sees that she’s protecting Lilith, knows he won’t get much help from her. “Come on! Come on! Just a few more days, right?!”

Cliff takes one step back, as the photographers flash their cameras like crazy with Serenity Holmes and Tara Fenix standing nose-to-nose with each other. The scene ends on the final faceoff.