Post by Admin on May 17, 2023 18:17:32 GMT
Knoxville, Tennessee
April 28th, 2023
Victoria Strader sits in her locker room, waiting for her match to be called, when a knock comes to the door.
“Oh, I guess your match is up. I don’t like this one bit, babe.”
“It’ll be ok, I’m gonna win this championship for Veronica. For us.”
The door opens and their jaws drop.
“How about I go out there and win it?”
Victoria lets out a bit of squeal and hugs her unlikely twin sister. Brooklyn breathes a sigh of relief, quietly, looking up through the ceiling, thanking whatever is above all of them. Victoria is definitely confused though, as she realizes Veronica is no longer pregnant. Veronica can see the worry on her face, and eases her mind.
“I had her, May 5th, 2079. She’s with Rogue and the Engram of mom.”
Victoria’s hand comes to her chest and sighs with relief.
“Oh, that’s wonderful! Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with her?”
“Vee, I know about the match. I can’t let you walk down that path because if you do, you won't ever come back from that.”
“And you will?”
Veronica smiles weakly.
“I’m already there, Vee. That level of violence it changes a person. I caught your promos pretending to be me, and I am sorry I asked you to do that. We’ve had a long, hard road and I love you, and I want my baby girl to be with her auntie while I take care of this and figure out how I am gonna have her here with me.”
Victoria is about to protest, but she stops herself and lets out a sigh.
“Well, the babe is with Rogue and our Engram mother… I better get there and relieve the Queen of Fixers.”
Ronnie hugs Vee tightly and kisses the side of her head.
“I’ll always be thankful for the sacrifices you made to do this for me.”
Letting go of Veronica, Vee smiles at her.
“Go get’em.”
Victoria’s Condo
Night City, CA USA (Alternate Dimension)
May 5th 2079
Veronica Strader had been through a lot over the last year. Her reign as the OCW TransAtlantic Champion came to an abrupt end after 6 months a top of the food chain but she didn’t care because she had lost her lover, former three-time OCW Champion, Christian “Outcast” Cain into that stupid PORTAL-POTTY. That’s where her identical twin sister had tormented him for what was years inside the time-loop, but only months for Veronica because Victoria thought she had been sabotaged so Veronica could take her spot in the Strader family.
That wasn’t the case at all; Victoria had the memory of her sacrifice to save Veronica in this alternate dimension they had been stuck in for a few years, yet only a handful of months in their home reality.
When Victoria found her way home, she put Veronica in a coma shortly after the return of Outcast to punish her. When Veronica woke up after four months in October, she was reunited with Outcast and their reunion resulted in pregnancy. When she figured out she was pregnant, she knew a place like CU:LT wouldn’t do her well and a remorseful Victoria agreed to pretend to be her while she went back to the dimension that gave them their own lives.
It was this day, May 5th of 2079, Veronica welcomed her baby girl, Christian Michelle Strader-Cain, into the world. Labour went as expected for the child of Outcast and Veronica, long and extremely painful, but it was a game changer for her.
“She’s adorable.”
One would expect Veronica to be the one holding the sweet little baby, but it is Victoria.
“She really is. She has your eyes.”
She makes googly eyes at her tiny niece.
“Are you still mad at your sister for making you switch spots before the match?”
The holographic image sits down beside Meghan’s daughter and tiny granddaughter, tilting her head. Unlike Veronica, Victoria views the Engram of her mom as the actual Cowgirl From Hell.
“At first, yes, I was… it was my chance to claim a title of my own, but I was about to step down a path that I knew I could never return from.”
“Well, unfortunately for you and your sister, you aren’t just Straders, you are part of the Rivers bloodline as well, and darkness is an all too familiar friend for you.”
“Yeah, very true. Dad will love this little girl.”
“Knox won’t know her.”
Veronica walks into the main living area off the gated elevator, and she has looked better. Her face, arms, chest and parts of her body not shown are covered in cuts, gashes and stitches.
“Ron, dad means well- - -”
“- - - I don’t care, Vee. That bastard has never supported me. He doesn’t praise me like he does our ‘popular’ siblings, and don’t you think it’s a little fuckin’ ridiculous how many there are now?”
Vee shrugs as she makes another googly face at her tiny little niece. Vee wisely changes the subject.
“How are you going to explain this little angel here?”
“No one will believe I had her here, with a digital-holographic copy of our mom helping me, so I’m going to say Christian and I had a surrogate and she came a month early on May 5th 2023.”
“Your mom’s birthday. That is sweet of you.”
Veronica, glancing over at the holographic image of her deceased mother, nods. She didn’t think of the engram of her mother like Vee does, but she found comfort listening to it because it was an exact copy of their mother’s heart and mind.
“Well, she was born on May 5th in this dimension, so it made sense. Her icy blues remind me of mom.”
“Family genetics. I am curious to see who she looks like more; you, Outcast, or maybe someone else in the family?
Veronica’s brow raises up with a nod as she sits down beside her twin sister, taking the little one from her gently. Ronnie holds her up, making silly faces at her and bringing her in close for an “Eskimo Kiss” , making little Christian Michelle giggle, which makes both Vees smile. Veronica winces slightly as the little hands scratch at her wounds from the Taipei Death Match she had been a part of.
“Whoever she ends up looking like, she’ll have the best of her papa and mama.”
“She’s gonna look just like me. The good-looking twin, you know?”
“Cara you mean? Maybe.”
Victoria playfully punches Veronica in the arm and the three laugh. She looks into her daughter’s icy blue eyes Veronica has a warmth run through her body, and holds the little one close and secure.
“No matter what life brings you, you will have more love than you can handle. I promise.”
“When are you sitting down with Auntie Tee about Resist & Disorder?”
“Resist & Disorder?”
Veronica looks up from the wee one over to the large bay window in Victoria’s apartment overlooking downtown Night City, where the hologram of Meghan is leaning against.
“Auntie Tee isn’t doing well without mom and I am looking to break into tag team wrestling, so I have asked her to team with me under that name. I know she won’t ride as the Cowgirls From Hell without mom, but I know she misses it.”
“Well, it’s a good choice. Every tag title the Cowgirls won, Meeka scored the winning pin, and it was always m- - - your mom that took the losing pinfall.”
Veronica nods and stands up with her baby, and nods to Victoria.
“I am heading back home. Take care of yourself, Auntie Vee. Don’t be a stranger.”
As she stands up, Victoria hugs her sister gently as the wee one is between them. She strokes the fine hair on Christian-Michelle’s head before kissing it, and her sister’s cheek.
“I have some contracts with Rogue that I have to finish up here, but when I do, me and Brook will come for a visit. I think Brook low-key wants to move there.”
“Thanks for everything…”
Veronica looked over to the Engram.
“You as well. Thanks for everything, Megz.”
“My pleasure, sweetheart. Hope to see you again soon.”
Scorpions Tail (Bandido and Brother of Mayhem MC Bar Hang Out)
May 5th, 2023
Houston, Texas
Veronica sat at the bar that her grandfather had frequented for years, a bar where many Strader birthday parties have taken place and a high probability of criminal underground business deals. The last time she was here was her mom’s 37th birthday party last year, and maybe she was looking to feel a connection with her. Unlike Victoria, Veronica doesn’t look at the Engram (the digitized psyche of their mother) like it’s their mother, merely a carbon copy. She is happy that Vee is finding comfort with it, however, Veronica worries Vee isn’t dealing with it.
“Vee, your heart is so big… you need to deal with the death of our mamabear. That damn Cara has me calling her mamabear.”
Veronica’s thought is interrupted by a slender yet strong hand squeezing her right shoulder. Looking up with a smile, it is met with one in return by the Strader Matriarch.
“Auntie Tee, glad you are here,” she said with a sad smile, and her aunt knew why.
“Of course, kiddo. Lots of fun memories in this place. Mine and your mom’s daddy loved this place. So did Megz,” Tamika said, looking around the bar, memories flooding in as she pulls out the barstool beside her niece. “Hey Jed, my usual? Thank you.”
“Three fingers of Gibson’s Finest with two rocks coming up. Another three fingers of Patron Gold for you, Ron?”
She nods and the bartender, who resembles Trevor Phillips from Grand Theft Auto V, makes their drinks. Tamika plops her black leather purse on the bar. The keys to the Indian Scout motorcycle she loved to ride clatter beside the bag.
“Stupid question I most likely know the answer to but,” she says, pausing for a second while her emerald green eyes scan her niece for any sign of emotion, “how are you doing today?”
Veronica, looking down at the beer logo coaster in front of her as her glass of tequila straight up up is placed atop it while Tamika’s whiskey finds its home beside her keys, lets out a small chuckle.
“You mean on what would’ve been mom’s 38th birthday?”
Tamika nods, her brow raising up with the motion.
“It is what it is… cruel, unfair… but really, it should be me asking you… how are you holding up? How’s my little sister and brother?”
“I take it a day at a time. I keep myself busy with running S.I, OCW and soon to be a tag team with my big sister’s firstborn and the kids are little angels. The other day Clay pissed off Lizzie, so grabs my keys,” Tamika said, picking up her keys, gripping them tightly, “ and WHACK!” She makes a smacking motion and slaps her keys down. “She hit him with everything she had, and I couldn’t help but laugh.”
Veronica chuckles and holds her glass up towards Tamika, who does the same, their glasses clinking together.
“Happy birthday, mom.”
“Happy birthday, Megz.
The two Strader women sit quietly for a couple moments of enjoying their poisons of choice. “Unchained'' by Van Halen plays over the jukebox and the women smile, being that the song was one of Meghan’s favourites and the only entrance music she ever used. Veronica eventually breaks the silence, making eye contact with Tamika.
“I know how hard this is for you, Auntie Tee. Outside your brief time as the trio with Carebear and mom in Uprising, you’ve only done this with one person… mom. And how fitting her entrance music plays before this conversation.”
Tamika lets out a small sigh and looks at herself in the Harley Davidson mirror behind the saloon style bar for a moment before catching Veronica’s glasz eyes turning to a blue similar to Meghan’s.
“You’re not wrong kiddo… if I am being honest, I have buried myself in work since your mom passed. Strader Incorporated is pushing forward with our media division that is stemming from ATB Entertainment. I finished the acquisition of OCW that I have been able to combine with older PWA properties and wrestling with that Seattle startup promotion, but I am dropping to part time there…”
“And now I am asking you to be a tag team with me.”
“I do like the name a lot; Resist & Disorder. Your mama would’ve dug it.”
“I know you would never fly the Cowgirl flag without her, and I wouldn’t even dream of trying to fill my mom’s snakeskin boots…”
Tamika looks down at Veronica’s footwear and laughs when she sees Meghan’s snakeskin cowgirl boots on her feet.
“Well, I mean figuratively, obviously. I wear these and mom’s black leather jacket. It makes me feel closer to her.”
Tamika smiles as she reaches into the top of her signature green coloured tank top, brandishing a platinum necklace with a Saint Christopher Patron Saint of Travel pendant.
“This was your mom’s. It was her mom’s, your grandmother. She never rode her Fat Boy or Road King without it. Your mom would never say it out loud, but she believed in God. Was never mine and John’s thing, but it brought her comfort.”
“Wait, mom was a Jesus nut?”
“Haha, no, she was raised Roman Catholic, but she didn’t do church and all that jazz, she just believed in a Greater Power and it gave her some peace,” she said, following it up with a sip of her whiskey. “While the Cowgirls From Hell won’t ride again, I think it’s fitting that I team up with her daughter and the name you gave us. It fits us. The Strader family has always resisted and we have always caused disorder.”
Veronica smiles slightly and nods happily. This was the beginning of something special, something that both of the Strader women needed, to help grieve a sister and a mother. Tamika knew her niece too well; she read exactly like her mother would have.
“So, kiddo, as much as I appreciate you having my back, why are you attacking people I don’t care about on social media?”
Veronica chuckles, but Tamika sees the fire burning behind her eyes. They haven’t burned like that since January 2022, when she was trying to murder her opponents.
“I don’t know. I’m really fuckin’ angry, Auntie Tee. I don’t know why. I have a beautiful little girl with the man of my dreams, oh right, who’s dead, and of course I would lean on my mother, but she had been sick for a year, slowly deteriorating and died shortly after Christian did. Oh! On top of all that, a digital copy of my dead mother helped me through my pregnancy in a place people don’t think fuckin’ exist. I feel like I have absolutely zero control and I want to feel control again and calling out arrogant wind bags seemed like a good way to do that.”
Tamika sighs and places a hand on her niece’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
“You and Vee have been through more in your short lives than me or your mom. Daddy did a lot of crappy things to us but when I think of your emotional traumas I- - -”
“- - - but see now you are worried about me and that just pisses me off more cause you shouldn’t be. You are raising two toddlers, your own son, running a wrestling promotion that the previous management really fucked up politically, lost your sister, best friend and tag team partner all the while the others shit all over you because of self doubt and… it’s not fair! Fuck!”
Their glasses of preferred poison rattles on the bar with Veronica’s fist slamming down on it. The bartender looks over and Tamika just waves him off as she does have clout here. Tilting her head, she gives Veronica the Strader Sneer, but not in the same regard saved for others.
“Ronnie, darlin’, your mom put the proverbial Strader Crown of thorns upon my head because I am the one that needs to be strong. She knew I would always have my family around me, and even though she’s gone… she’s always going to be with us. You need to focus that anger, that resentment into motivation to be something more. Something more than those two irrelevant bitches who mean absolutely nothing to us. Trust me, I’ve known one of them for over a decade and she’s still the arrogant self entitled bitch she’s always been, especially when she tried to replace me at Simon’s side when the world thought I was dead. Fuck them. They stick to comfortable circles ‘cause they fear an actual challenge. Just look how they responded? But you don’t need to feed it.”
Veronica is frustrated because she knows her auntie is right, but that won’t stop her.
“It’s fine. They just made excuses anyway. I knew they would. I know you were lending your name to help the startup, but it smells rigged. Look who the first two champions of the BWF brand were. The coward and the seventeen-year-old jailbait you and mom wiped the mat with. I love my sister and brother, but you just know that belt will end up on her. Did they ever tell you what the finish would be for your matches?”
Tamika shakes her head.
“Not me, but I can’t speak for others. Don’t be spreading rumours like that though, the last thing we need is a slander case slapped on us. I know B-Wing, he’s not gonna book me again, and if he does? It will be to bury me. He’s always been passive aggressive like that. I am fairly confident I have wrestled my last match, and good on FM for breaking the tie, conveniently forgetting that it took all she had to beat me the first time, and I beat her the second time to earn a shot I never got. We got CU:LT, Ronnie. Resist & Disorder is going to rise to the top like the Cowgirls From Hell did.”
“The Scorpion and the Cowgirl will become the Double Homicide Champions.”
Tamika raises her whiskey glass.
“To this!”
“… To this,” Veronica said with a scrunched up nose and a curled upper lip, unsure of what that means.
“We’ll film our promotional video this weekend for CU:LT because like The Big Bifford says: it’s a karma thing. If you don’t film one, you are guaranteed to lose.”
The Strader women nod and finish their drinks as a couple drunk guys coming sauntering up to them…
TO BE CONTINUED
