Underground: Totality

The Carnage Legion cheers the World/Chaos Champ Catalina Cortes as she steps down and moves to hand the microphone back to Ken Davison, but as he grasps it in his hand, another hand rests on top. Kyra Johnson nods her head and Ken relinquishes his hold on the mic as Kyra takes it and steps forward, shaking her head.

“I’m not really sure I know what to say.. But since this is my last chance – I wanted to at least say something.”

The Legion cheers.

“You all have put up with me and my bullshit for over ten years now, through the good…and the bad. I’m not really sure I can put into words how much that means to me. To all of us. Thank you for always pushing us all to give you the best shows possible – And I hope that we did that. But on a more selfish note…”

Her voice trails off as the crowd continues cheering.

“Thank you for being a part of the majority of my career… I’m going to miss being here, in this old, dusty warehouse. I’m going to miss the Carnage Legion… I’m going to miss it all. Thank you..”

She finishes to applause as she steps back and hands the microphone back to Ken, as she wipes a few tears from her cheeks. Ken takes his turn and steps forward.

“Before I start, I wanted to say a few words about my time here in Carnage Wrestling.”

Ken takes a deep breath before he starts talking.

“When I came here, I was a much different person. Anyone who knows me and my career knows this. I came here because a friend of mine knew my situation and said if I wanted to come back to the business, this was the place to do it. When I stepped into that parking lot at Chaos 75, people thought I was the only person to ever have a heart attack without actually having a heart.”

Ken lowers the microphone for a minute, taking Kyra’s hand while tearing up.

“More fame, more money, more championships… I found what I was looking for. More importantly, I found something I wasn’t looking for. Kyra and I, we weren’t supposed to happen. As luck would have it, I found someone with just as much baggage as I have, but at least it matched. Carnage Wrestling is really the best thing that has ever happened to me, both professionally and personally.”

Ken turns so he is facing Kyra, looking directly into her eyes.

“Now, I’ll admit, when I heard Carnage was closing down, I went back to my old ways and I selfishly asked for this spot. I have loved my time here in Carnage, and I want to go out on a high note. But, there’s something that’s been bothering me. Kyra, I need you to answer one question.”

Ken stops, watching Kyra nervously. Kyra’s eyes widened, her eyes glassy as she noticed the anxiousness in Ken’s face. Ken looks down and lets go of Kyra’s hand, turning his back for a moment. Ken takes a second to compose himself and turns back around.

“So. Kyra…”

Ken drops down to one knee and holds out a ring.

“What are you doing with the rest of your life?”

A tear slides down Kyra’s cheek as she smiles down at Ken. She kneels down in front of him and leans into the microphone.

“Spending it with you, of course.”

Ken reaches over and pulls Kyra in for a deep, passionate kiss. From out of the crowd of wrestlers walk Carnage Wrestling alumni Mac Bane and Hall of Fame Inductee Amber Ryan. Amber embraces Kyra who has an even more surprised look while Ken, who obviously planned this, holds his hand out to Mac who pulls him in and hugs him as twilight falls upon Carnage Wrestling for the final time.

 

Carnage Wrestling is closed.

Not a sentence anyone thought they’d ever hear, especially not one Kyra Johnson and Ken Davison. Over the last six years they’d found success, they’d found elements deep down within themselves that maybe they hadn’t realized existed – Or that they’d thought had been killed long, long ago through the trials and hardships of life.

But most importantly, to them at least – They found one another.

And that fact in of itself, softened the blow of losing their home.

Ken used his final moments as a Carnage Wrestling employee to get down on one knee and ask Kyra what she was doing with the rest of her life. It blew her mind. He somehow turned something so difficult to handle into something positive.

While they were facing the prospect of finding a new place to hone their craft, a place where they could do what they were hoping to do before Carnage closed its doors – attain tag team gold, together; they were also doing their best to come to terms with the sudden loss of something they’d both held so dear, and finding a new sense of normalcy.

Planning a wedding. Raising a young child. Combining their lives into one.

It all sounded easy, but yet it all sounded so difficult at the same time. And yet, both of them said they could walk away from the business and be satisfied with what they’d accomplished. They said they’d both be happy with their lives if they never wrestled another match again – but the itch remained.

Deep down inside of them they knew they still had more to give and they just couldn’t let the sun set on their careers without knowing if they could succeed without the orange and black – Without Carnage Wrestling.

 

Mid July, 2021

After sitting around for a little over a month with nothing to do, and no one to fight, it was safe to say that Kyra was restless. Sure, she enjoyed spending the extra time with her daughter and her new fiance and it was almost a relief to not have to take time out from her life to recover from whatever fight she’d been in every other week. But she missed it.

She missed going out there and getting roughed up. She missed the plentiful opportunities that others gave her to rough them up.

Ken, on the other hand, was a little more relieved at having the time off. His last few matches had been brutal. Still, the itch was there. He could see it in Kyra’s eyes. It was a part of who she was. Ken felt it when he was forced to take time off after his heart attack. Back then, wrestling was all he had. Now, he had so much more and he valued every second of it. However, there was no better high than being in the ring with Kyra.

At this moment, however, Kyra was sitting in the living room of the home she shared with Ken in Baltimore, mulling over a nondescript envelope she’d just received in the mail.

“What is that Mommy?”

Kyra glanced up, surprised to see her daughter standing in front of her, a quizzical look on her little face. At first she was surprised that she didn’t notice the unmistakable racket of Adina’s footfalls as she ran through the house like a bandit – But upon remembering that her daughter is as close to being a smaller, angrier her, she simply shook her head and glanced back down at the small stack of papers she pulled from the envelope.

“Just something about work, baby girl.”

The little girl tilted her head to the side as she stared at her mother.

“But I thought you was not working no more.”

Kyra shrugged her shoulders as she noticed Ken stepping into the room out the corner of her eye.

“Well we’re not, at least not right now..”

“But…”

Ken said, sliding down onto the sofa beside Kyra and leaning in to take a look at what Kyra was looking at. His eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Take a look for yourself.”

She handed the papers to him and the expression on his face grew more curious as he read the contents of the unexpected parcel.

“Really?”

Kyra nodded her head.

“Really. Bet you didn’t expect that, huh?”

Ken shook his head.

“No, but it’s a welcome surprise.”

“What? What is it?!”

Adina pleaded with her mother as she climbed up onto Kyra’s lap and leaned over onto Ken, trying to see what was on the papers – Even though everyone in the room knew that she needed a lot more practice before she would be able to understand what she was looking at.

“Mommy and Ken might be going back to work soon.”

Kyra wasn’t one to sugar coat things, even for her four year old daughter – Although she knew that Adina wouldn’t really take the news with much enthusiasm. As expected, Adina threw herself down flat on Kyra and Ken’s laps and let out an aggravated sigh.

“Awwww… No!”

Kyra and Ken shared a glance above her as she flailed about, but that was short lived. Ken grabbed his soon to be step daughter up into his arms and squeezed her tight.

“Hey..”

Ken said softly, rocking the little girl in his arms.

“It’s going to be okay.”

“No it’s NOT!”

Adina retorted with just about as much anger and vitriol as her little body could muster. There was no doubt that she had her mothers temper. But it didn’t deter Ken as he quietly shushed her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Sure it will. It’ll be just like it was before. Mommy and I will be back, just like always.”

Adina shook her head.

“Mommy always comes back HURT!”

Kyra sighed and laid a hand on Adina’s back.

“That’s just a part of the job, sweetie.”

“Why do you guys do work that makes you hurt?!”

Adina asked, casting a glance at her mother – The disappointment in her eyes was enough to make Kyra second guess any want she had to return to the ring. Kyra opened her mouth to respond, but Ken beat her to it.

“Because we love it. Sure, being hurt is no fun because we can’t always play with you and have fun with you..”

“But we’re good at what we do, baby girl and we’d never do anything that would keep us away from you. Sure, sometimes we come home with boo-boo’s but… Well, you’ll understand when you figure out what you wanna do when you grow up.”

Adina doesn’t say anything right away, a thoughtful look covering her face. Finally, the little girl sighs and slides down off of Ken’s lap, turning to face the two of them, her hands on her hips.

“I already know what I wanna do! I wanna be a animal doctor!”

Kyra nodded her head.

“You’ll–”

“Or a firefighter!”

The little girl exclaimed as Kyra chuckled.

“I’m sure you’ll be a fantastic firefighter or animal doctor.. Or anything else you wanna do. But what Mommy and Ken wanna do.. Well we wanna be wrestlers.”

“Look at it this way, baby girl. What we do is kind of like what a firefighter does because we can get hurt, right?”

“Kinda…”

Adina said while trying to figure out how the two connect.

“Firefighters help people by saving their lives. We help people by showing them a good time. For some reason, people like watching other people beat each other up. Your mom and I are just very good at what we do.”

Kyra nodded her head as she and Ken shared a glance. But Adina wasn’t convinced as she stood, defiantly in front of them.

“But why?”

“Why what, baby girl?”

Kyra asked, cocking her head to the side. Adina stomped her foot, frustrated.

“Why you gotta beat people up? Why can’t you just be home all the time like Daddy is?!”

Kyra shot Ken a glance as she tried not to roll her eyes. To his credit, Ken manages to only make a face that says ‘I’m not sure how to handle this one.’ Adina’s father, Kyra’s ex-husband wasn’t the best example of anything, really. But for some reason the little shit picked now to show she really does pay attention.

“Well, Daddy…. Daddy used to do the same thing I do. But he… he got tired. So now he stays home.”

Kyra let out a sigh as she finished that explanation and leaned back on the sofa.

“Why aren’t you tired then?”

Adina looked between Ken and Kyra, an expectant look in her eyes. To her it was simple as it could be. But it never was just that easy.

“Because, sweetie… I…”

Kyra’s voice trailed off. She honestly didn’t know what to say. How do you explain to a nearly five year old that’s seen her mother at her very worst, nursing injuries that anyone else would have given up after sustaining, that her mother isn’t tired of ‘beating people up’ because she enjoys the rush she gets. What child would ever understand something like that?

“Well, Adina, that’s a tough question. In my case, my dad was a wrestler. I saw him and I looked up to him and I wanted to be just like him. It’s not that I wanted to beat people up or get beaten up. I did it because I wanted to be tough like my dad. I trained my hardest and busted my butt and I’d like to think that I did pretty well at it. Besides, without wrestling, I never would have met your mother. So, I’d say it worked out for us.”

Ken turns his head and gives Kyra a soft smile. Kyra, on the other hand, looked a bit troubled as Adina turned her attention to her.

“Well, my reasoning is nowhere near as… touching.”

Having not heard her, Adina moved forward and leaned her arms on Kyra’s legs and looked into her mothers eyes with curiosity.

“What about you Mommy? Did you wanna be like your Daddy too?”

Heat rushed to Kyra’s cheeks as she shook her head.

“My Daddy wasn’t a very nice man. He was really mean to me and your aunt. The truth is, baby girl.. Mommy just likes it. I didn’t have anyone to look up to growing up. I just… I just stumbled upon this job and I enjoyed it and I wanna be the best at it.”

Kyra wasn’t about to tell her daughter the complete truth of why she’s a wrestler. Perhaps when she was an adult herself.. Maybe then Kyra would explain the reasoning behind everything that Kyra had put herself through professionally.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to open that can of worms.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Kyra replied, laying her hand on Ken’s leg as she grabbed her daughter with her other arm, kissing her forehead as Adina struggled against her.

“I’m here, and I have you two so what is there to worry about?”

“Mommy! Let me go!”

“Why? Afraid of the worms?”

Ken says as he tickles Adina. Laughter fills the room as Kyra joins in and the two of them tickle Adina until she eventually slips from their grasp and hightails it out of the room, leaving Ken and Kyra by themselves. Kyra lets out a sigh as she leans back and slides over until she’s able to lay her head on Ken’s shoulder as he too sits back and relaxes – his arm over Kyra’s shoulder.

“So…”

Ken sighs.

“Back to the grind. I’m not going to lie, we needed this. I think I finally learned how to walk straight again.”

Kyra chuckled.

“It’s nice to be fully healed for once. I can’t deny that.”

“You know, I could get used to this. So…”

Ken is doing that thing where he says ‘so’ and drags it out because he’s stalling.

“We’re really gonna do this? I’m a little tired of starting over.”

Kyra’s eyes widened as she turned and gave Ken a look.

“If you don’t want to, I mean.. I’m not gonna force you into anything, but I want to find out if I can keep up in a place that isn’t named Carnage.”

“I get that. I just… I don’t know. Carnage, the Legion, they knew me. They knew my journey, our journey. I mean I could walk in here like an insufferable prick, but that’s not who I am anymore.”

Ken looks Kyra in the eyes.

“Is it?”

Kyra smirks and kisses him on the nose.

“Nah. That never really was you. But come on. It’ll be great. Let’s just enjoy it for what it is. An opportunity to do something different… to beat up some different people for a change.”

She winked.

“I mean, I guess it gives me a new list of future Hall of Famers to beat.”

Ken chucked as he finished his words. While true, at least in Carnage, Ken had been around the block enough times to know that what he did before getting to UGWC meant nothing here.

“What the hell have you done to me, woman?”

 

UGWC Synergy
August 9, 2021

“Guess it’s time to formally introduce myself, hmmm?”

Kyra’s voice can be heard before a hand is seen in front of the lens, grabbing and turning the camera towards her. She smirks and steps back, showing off her wrestling gear – An orange tank top, cropped just below her bust and grey cargo pants, bunched up underneath her knees. Kyra feigns a bow as she continues speaking.

“As you guys already know, I’m Kyra. Ken, well, he’ll be along shortly but I just wanted to take a few moments to talk to you all… Get a few things off my chest, you know?”

She tilts her head to the side and crosses her arms over her chest.

“I’ve seen how the majority of you treat people who end up here in the good ol’ UGWC after their previous home closes, and I gotta say, good for you.”

Finishing that sentence with a small round of applause, Kyra continues.

“No, I mean it. Really. How else are you supposed to weed out the weak ones? How else are you supposed to make sure your home only has the best and brightest? Treat em like shit, tell em they don’t belong here and they don’t deserve to take up precious broadcasting time. See who breaks… And who fights back. Then you know who you’re really dealing with.”

She shrugs her shoulders, a mischievous expression crossing her features as she approaches the lens once again.

“Gonna let you know right now though, I’m one of the one’s that’s gonna fight back. Not because I wanna be included in what ya’ll got going on here. But because it’s what I do. I fight. So please, give me a reason to knock your teeth down your fucking throat. I’ve been trying to be good lately, I’ve been trying to turn over a new leaf but I don’t mind losing a few steps if any of you are feeling froggy.”

She winks.

“They don’t call me the Ultraviolent Goddess for nothing.”

Kyra pauses for a few moments, collecting her thoughts.

“Now. Couple of other things. I know a bunch of you are dying to compare me to my dear, dear sister. I’ve heard it all, folks. ‘Kyra is the less talented Lucy Wylde’. That’s the favorite amongst those who know both of us. And that’s fine. That’s fucking great, actually because I don’t wanna be Miss Goody two shoes. I don’t wanna be your friend. I don’t wanna see the good in any of you. Hell, I wouldn’t even be here right now if my real home wouldn’t have fucked up and collapsed under the pressure.”

She sighs.

“And I know you vultures are going to jump on that fact, trying to rile us up. Which is even better. Carnage was my home. It was my home for many, many years. I even owned the joint at one point. Fucked that up pretty spectacularly if I do say so myself. Just do me a favor… Be creative when you’re trying to piss us off, okay? That’ll make it even more sweet when we, you know, beat your asses.”

Kyra’s gaze shifts away from the camera, following something just out of view. She bites her lip as Ken Davison steps in beside her and places a kiss on her cheek.

“Speaking of beating peoples asses…”

Kyra says, turning her golden hues back onto the camera as Ken does the same.

“The Time Jumpers, huh?”

Ken states, rolling his eyes ever so slightly.

“You mean to tell me these two are from the future, and are here to… What was it again?”

“To show up their Mommys and their Daddys, apparently.”

Kyra adds in, shrugging her shoulders.

“Essentially, they couldn’t hack it in their time, so they’re hoping to come to ours and do what exactly? Prove that point right? Oh, ladies.. Dare I say that that’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard in my life. If you’re here because your parents are better than you in the future, nothing is going to change that fact. But hey, who am I to judge? UGWC just put the two of you in our way and we’re here to help good old mommy and daddy by making sure you know your place in the world.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. You are telling me these two chose to come back in time, to NOW? We’re in the middle of a pandemic where millions of people are getting sick, can’t travel, losing their jobs and all this other crap… just to prove they are better wrestlers than their mommy and daddys?”

Ken looks over at Kyra with an amused look on his face.

“They could have gone back to the 80s or early 90s, where the stuff we do now was revolutionary, become big stars before their parents even existed. And they chose to come here?”

Ken makes a face of feigned shock.

“You know, I know a 12 year old who if you can wait about 5 minutes is due to come back as an 18 year old and would help us kick your asses. Maybe it will just be like soap opera age progression. Who knows?”

Ken suddenly stops making faces and turns to the camera, completely serious.

“Before you traveled back here, how many times did your parents drop you on your heads? If you actually chose this point in the space time continuum, let alone disregarded that by even existing now, you could mess up the very future you two come from? Or… maybe I’ve just watched more science fiction movies than you two idiots.”

Kyra chuckles.

“Things ain’t started out too good for you though, have they? You went into that Level Up, Multiplayer tournament thing with high hopes. Really believing that you’d walk out of there with those championships to rub in your parent’s faces.. But that didn’t happen, did it? So, just to recap… You’re a disappointment in the future and now? In the past? Yep. Still a disappointment.”

Ken nods his head.

“They haven’t disappointed me. That would require me to have any kind of expectation of them.”

Kyra shrugs her shoulders.

“Okay, that’s true. And while I know the last time any of you saw us in action at Incursion, we lost to the now former Cooperative champs. But if you think I’m ashamed of that, then you’d be wrong. At least we’re not two little bitches who had to tuck tail and run away from their real home because they were scared they’d never be able to step out from their parent’s shadows. I’ve made a living out of stepping out of other people’s shadows and I’ve got no problem making sure you two realize the grave mistake you made by coming here.”

The mention of Gabriel and Morgan causes one of the veins in Ken’s head to protrude a little bit. If nothing else, he’s never taken losing well.

“Here’s the thing. Where we come from,”

Ken points back and forth at Kyra and himself.

“We do things a little bit differently. Where we come from, Jurassic Park looks like a petting zoo. Compared to where we come from this is the petting zoo.”

“We might be here in UGWC. We might be here to take anything and everything we can get our hands on. But our hearts bleed orange. Ain’t a damn thing going to change that.”

“The two of us are here to do the same Kendamned thing we’ve done before, and that is to run roughshod over the competition. I don’t care if it’s the Time Jumpers. I don’t care if it’s Beavis and Butthead. I don’t care if it’s the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We’ve made a career… no! We’ve made a lifetime out of taking a beating and coming back stronger than before. Carnage closing could have been the end of our careers. Instead, it breathed new life into our careers. After 25 years in this business, the fact that I am this excited about starting over is great news for UGWC, but bad news for its members. In fact, I got one of those little sports almanacs from 2069 and it says UGWC Synergy… August 9th, Kyra Johnson… Ken Davison… Baltimore Elite defeated The Time Jumpers.”

Kyra looks completely lost as Ken sees her expression.

“It’s a movie from the 80s. We’ll borrow the Time Jumpers wibbly wobbly timey wimey thing and go back to 1985 and see ‘Back to the Future 2’ in theaters. What I just said will make total sense after that. I promise.”

She shakes her head and gives her fiance an exaggerated thumbs up.

“Whatever you say, babe.”

She chuckles and gives him a look before turning her attention back towards the camera and blows a kiss at the whomever is watching.

“I guess we’ll see you two in a little while.”