Post by Admin on Apr 13, 2023 23:49:35 GMT
Victoria Strader’s Condo
The Glen, Night City, California
“Thanks for the food. Me and the little one needed that.”
The hologram projection of Meghan Kelser-Strader materializes next to the very pregnant Veronica Strader, sitting down beside her on the curved synthetic-leather couch that sits in the middle of the condo. It was still unsettling seeing the engram of her mother in a digital holographic form, even after 3 months had passed by in this dimension. Being six-months pregnant, she was definitely showing and was very thankful for the stress-free environment that a digital copy of her mom had provided. Although, she would be lying if she said she wasn't anxious to get back home.
“You’re very welcome. How’s the little one doing today? Moving around a lot?”
“She’s restless; just like her daddy,” Veronica said. The hint of sadness is heard whenever she mentions Outcast.
“From your mom’s memories, I can say you were the same.”
“You mean Victoria and Cara.”
“You and Victoria were two souls in one body for over 20 years, so I mean it when I say it was you as well.”
Veronica stood up slowly, her back arching as her hand finds the armrest to help push herself up. She walks towards the window and watches the super-cops called MaxTac trying to take down a Cyberpsycho in the middle of the night killing civilians. The Meghan-O-Gram materializes beside Veronica, looking down at the violence below. A stray bullet bounces off the bulletproof window, and Veronica doesn’t flinch. Her hands rub over her belly, and even though her eyes are watching the madness down below at street level, she is lost in thought.
“You are worried about Victoria.”
“Yeah, I AM worried about her but I am also worried about Uncle John, Auntie Tee, Cara, and my toddler twin sister and brother… I am worried about all of them.”
“Your Uncle John and Auntie Tamika, from your mother’s memories and thoughts, I know they're two of the toughest people she has ever known. Even though she was their big sister, she looked up to them.”
“You're right. I just can't help it.”
Meghan-O-Gram places her hand on Veronica’s shoulder and while she couldn’t feel it, she knew it was there.
“Your sister is tough. She can handle whatever is thrown at her.”
“CU:LT isn't Vee's style. I mean, I’m not one for constant Deathmatches either but I enjoy making people bleed. My career has shown that. Vee tho? Vee is all about technical mat work. Like how you were in the ring.”
Veronica doesn’t catch it but the engram of her mother does, and it brings a bit of a smile to her digitized face. She referred to her like she was truly her “mamabear” as Cara called her. It was a strange existential crisis for the digitized psyche of the Cowgirl From Hell.
“If Victoria didn’t think she could do it, she wouldn't be doing it. She has support. Your only concern should be you, and the sweet angel growing inside of you.”
“Yeah, you are right,” Veronica said. Her hands rub her belly as the little one moves around, kicking gently. Her smile is wide and bright as she yawns. “I’m gonna lay down.”
“Ok, sweetheart. I’m here if you need me.”
Strader Estate
Houston, TX USA
April 16th, 2023
Victoria revs her Honda Four Wheeler, painted in her sister Veronica’s signature purple. The headlight lights the coarse terrain, riding towards an unknown destination. Brooklyn has arms wrapped tightly around her lover, Vee, enjoying the wind blowing through her red hair. She kisses Vee on the neck, making the future Strader Queen smile. Vee turns her head back slightly, slowing down, to kiss her girlfriend. Victoria was grateful that Brooklyn had agreed to come to this dimension with her. It was the one thing keeping her sane. Pretending to be Veronica wasn’t exactly tough to do, being that they are identical in looks and voice, but still required a certain amount of acting that would wear on anybody. As they come to a stop, Brooklyn notices three slabs of cement on the ground and a shovel stabbed in a pile of dirt. Brooklyn watches Victoria get off the all-terrain vehicle, staring at her hip-hugging purple jeans, snakeskin cowgirl boots, and a black leather jacket (both boots and jacket belonging to her mom) over top of a white CU:LT sweatshirt. Victoria pulls the hair-elastic off her ponytail, shaking her hair out to put herself into “Veronica-Mode.”
“I still can’t believe this is what the planet could look like without the wastelands,” Brooklyn said while looking around at lush green land the Strader family poured money into. “If only they took better care of the planet.”
Vee sighs, and looks back at her lover with a weak smile.
“Honestly, babe… we aren’t far off from becoming like your dimension. Planet is crying for help. Auntie Tee has a green energy initiative here in Texas, but the State is still too Red for it to be taken seriously. Luckily the efforts in California are paying dividends."
“Red?”
Victoria smirks.
“Think of Red being Arasaka and Blue being Biotecknika.”
“So politicians here are a bunch of gonks?”
“Yeah, pretty much. Anyway, we have a promo to film!”
“Oh, shimra! This camera is cute,” Brooklyn said. She looks at the HD Samsung camera in her hands. “So where do you want me to film from?”
“Just over there, away from the headlights of the four-wheeler,” Victoria said, grabbing the shovel in the pile of dirt. “Ok. Ready? At the count of one hit record.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Brooklyn said with a wide grin.
“Three… two… one!”
~START TRANSMISSION~
“Sometimes in life, things don’t always go the way we plan. For example, I had hoped to make a mark in the Killdozer Cup. You know, the one that Lissie Hope’s bottom boy ended up winning. Why did I lose? Was I outwrestled, out work... out? We'll never know.”
“Chester decided he needed to make his presence felt. Attempting to play mind games before our match. If he had any brains, he wuld've let me compete without his interference, so I would be far from 100% when we finally met for the fir- - - er, the second time.”
“Veronica” continues to dig, slinging the dirt to the side of the hole.
“Three Ring Barney has been dominant. They have held onto the Jason Voorhees belts (I am surprised Victor Miller hasn’t sued) for a long time. Sure they lost them once, but the very next show? Snagged them back and have kept an iron grip on them.”
“And Chester has been a dominant SNUFF champion since he laid out the extremely talented Addy A in December at The People Vs. Casanova English. I wouldn’t dream of taking those stats from him as he truly earned it. But I will be adding to his statistics, at least not in the way he wants.”
“But see... Us Straders? We don't sell people short. Our egos aren't a detriment to our ability to see that there are many talented wrestlers in the industry. We have zero issues acknowledging individuals that deserve recognition. I acknowledge your dominance as champion and as the leader of your British carnie folk, Chester.”
“Veronica” turns to face the camera, leaning on the shovel that she holds steady in the ground with her boot. The sneer starts to creep across her face slowly.
“I had to laugh during my studying of you, thinking you are better than everyone else because you happen to be part American. I mean, that stacks for that line of thought, thinking they are better than the rest of the world. So you have that going for you at the very least.”
“Then there is me, my sisters, baby brother, my aunt and uncle, all born in Canada, but grandpa Scott was born on US soil. The Strader Estate is just north of Houston. We are proud of the ties to Texas and Canads. What I am saying in drawn out way (for you to grasp it) is that I am Canadian and American. Not a wannabe like you.”
“Veronica” turns back to the hole, continuing the task at hand.
“I don’t believe that my nationality makes me any better or any worse than anyone. It’s who I choose to be that makes the person I am, not where I was born or raised. Nor does it make me a better or worse wrestler than my co-workers in OCW or CU:LT. I know what I am capable of. I have put down future Hall of Famers in OCW like The Lost Soul, Dylan Thomas and Supreme Machine. I had one of the quickest wins in CU:LT history when I beat Cogan in less than thirty seconds. I even have a victory over Peter Vaughn. If you don't know who that is, you should consider having surgery to remove your head from your ass.”
“Come CU:LT TV Episode 2, I am going to correct the wrong of you successfully defending the SNUFF title against me last February. I was focused on Peter Vaughn, but this time you have my absolute full attention. I am going to even up our record and be crowned the CU:LT SNUFF Champion and start a reign of pure unadulterated violence.”
The camera moves closer to “Veronica” inside the hole, close to finishing her task.
“And you, Chesty? You won’t take me as the threat that you know I am, deep down in your heart of hearts. I know this."
"Us Straders and Knoxs? We are the Rodney Dangerfield of wrestling... we get no respect. Your arrogance and ignorance, while well-earned to some degree, is going to be your eventual downfall come April 30th. I am going to put an end to your reign, snuffing you out… and your little dogs too.”
“Veronica” throws the shovel up and a slender hand reaches forward from behind the camera to help her out of the hole. Brushing off the dirt on her knees, “Veronica” stands in front of the three freshly dug holes. The Strader Sneer is in full effect, the glasz eyes turning a steel grey much like her dad, Matthew ‘The Raven’ Knox. Fire dancing behind them.
“Unlike so many others in this industry of debauchery, us Straders don’t put weight on the main event slot, or top titles. For us, it’s what you make of the situation. My Auntie Tee and myself? We were the third and fourth tier champions of OCW. BUT we were so successful becoming two of the longest reigning champions of 2022 (and any year) and made the titles actually mean something, if not more than the OCW Championship itself.”
“That’s exactly what I am going to do when I become the SNUFF Champion. I am going to make it the hottest title in CU:LT. I am going to make wherever I am placed on the card be the true main event that no other wrestler will be able to top.”
“You’ve heard it before, but it’s important that you remember this Chesty La Roux... when I SNUFF you out and spit on your grave I want you to remember….”
The Fire burns behind the steel grey her glasz eyes have turned, making her sneer even more unnerving.
“God forgives.”
“I don’t.”
The camera pans back to see “Veronica” standing in front of three tombstones with Chester Roosevelt etched in on the far left, with the middle and right etched with “Little Dog #1” and “Little Dog #2” on them. We fade out on the sneering face of The Raven and The Cowgirl spawn.
~END TRANSMISSION~
Victoria lays in the pink silk sheets on the King Size sleigh style bed in the master bedroom. It is the third house on the Strader Estate, best known as the late Cowgirl’s Ranch. Not just a name as there are twenty dairy cattle on it and in the barn for the evening. There are also horses and ponies, the very ones Victoria told Craig Cogan that he could ride.
The candle lit room feels romantic. The light of the master bathroom door fills the room as the door opens and out walks Brooklyn in a red silk robe, hitting the light switch on the way out. Victoria has been smitten with her redhead girlfriend since the day she met her. It only seemed to grow stronger every day. She hadn’t put her heart out there since her ex, now part of OCWs security team in Maxine “Mad Max” Riggs, had an affair with the late Scott Nash Strader. A terrible father and even worse grandfather.
“You become more beautiful every day. It’s unfair,” Victoria quipped with a playful smile.
“Oh, don’t be a gonk, you are the one who gets more beautiful every day,” Brooklyn said back to her. She climbed under the covers, snuggling under Victoria’s arm. Her head laying just above Victoria’s breast, listening to Vee's heart beat.
“Are you homesick at all?” Victoria asked, nervous of the answer.
“Honestly, I thought I would be, but your world is a paradise compared to Night City and the apocalyptic badlands… plus I am here with you. You are all I need.”
Victoria smiles, squeezing Brooklyn tightly. They lay in silence, looking through the skylight up at the stars. Brooklyn breaks the silence with a question.
“What is a Taipei DeathMatch?”
Victoria takes a moment because she knows the answer is just going to make Brooklyn worry. She looks down at her lover's curious face with a smile. Vee gently runs her fingers through her red hair.
“Well, we both tape up our fists, cover them in an industrial glue, then dip them in shards of glass.”
Vee feels her tense up with worry.
“What’s with being booked in matches with so much broken glass?”
“Easier to cut a bitch,” Vee said. “Don’t worry, babe. I have survived way worse. I’m gonna do everything in my power to win this strap, not just for me, but for Veronica as well.”
“Just be careful. Don’t be a gonk, ok?”
“Never,” Vee said, moving down the sheets, kissing her girlfriend gently on the lips. The lovers continue to kiss one another while their bodies are intertwining.
“Love me.”
Victoria happily obliges.
