Kyra Johnson wakes up and groggily looks around her. She finds herself in bed, surprisingly alone. She rubs her eyes, looking around for her other half as she would expect him to be laying by her side. Kyra hits up, sensing that something is not quite right. She gets out of bed and walks out into the hallway, using her hand to brush her hair out of the way to get a better look. Kyra reaches back and grabs a bathrobe before walking out into the hallway. She makes her way into the kitchen. She inspects it and finds that it is in pristine condition, the only thing out of place is an open cabinet.

Kyra walks over to the cabinet and looks up, a look of surprised concern crosses her face as she slowly closes the door, making certain to not make any noise, for fear of waking Adina and having to listen to ‘Under the Sea’ for hours on end until the child falls back asleep. She makes her way to the front room where the shadows stretch across the hardwood floor. It feels like the entire room is moving as a car goes by, causing the shadows to move before the headlights are past, returning the shadows to the original resting place.

“Oh, fuck no!” Kyra shouts, suddenly not concerned with waking Adina. She’d much rather listen to any song in “The Little Mermaid” on repeat than see what she is witnessing in this moment. Sitting in front of her is her beloved, Ken Davison, looking rather haggard.

This wasn’t the surprise, Ken hadn’t been sleeping right since his match against the Lab Rat King was announced, now that the match has happened its worse. What was surprising was the smell of alcohol on his breath. It had been almost two years since Ken had last had a drink. Kyra can still see the seemingly hundreds of puncture wounds on Ken’s back.

While the open bottle of Jack Daniels sits on the small table next to him, he’s got his head hanging down, looking at the floor. At least, he was before Kyra found him. Now he is looking up at her, a look of guilt etched upon his face.

“Hey, babe!” he utters as he slowly waves his hand back and forth. “Whatcha doin’?”

“I should be kicking your ass is what I should be doing!” Kyra exclaims, not quite yelling at this point. Ken looks at her and raises his pointer finger up.

“Should be,” Ken weakley pokes Kyra in the shoulder with all the strength he can muster. “But you’re not.”

“Holy shit. What I am going to do with you?”

“Take me to bed and fu-”

“Now is NOT the time.” Kyra takes the bottle from off the table. “Let me take this and put it away. I’ll be right back.”

Kyra kisses him on the forehead before standing up. She leaves him sitting for just a few moments and we hear a cabinet shut from in the kitchen. She walks back into the front room, turning on a small light so it won’t hurt Ken’s eyes. All her years of having been on the opposite end of this equation have left her with the knowledge of what she should and should not do.

“You wanna tell me what’s going on, Ken?”

“So. No on the sex?”

Ken gives Kyra a look and Kyra shakes her head.

“Not right now.”

Ken crosses his arms and tries to sit himself farther down in the chair like Adina does when she doesn’t get her way.

“Later?”

“No.”

“Fine.” Ken lets the word drag out. Kyra rolls her eyes, knowing that she needs to let it go.

“So, what the hell is going on? This isn’t you. You haven’t been eating. You haven’t been sleeping. And now, this.”

She says, motioning to him in his current ‘condition’.  One thing she always knew about him was that while she took pleasure in a drink or two (or however many it took), Ken hadn’t touched the stuff in years and it worried her to see him like this.

“I messed up, babe. I had my chance to give King the Jack treatment and I didn’t. I should have. But…” Ken trails off.  Kyra’s eyebrows raise as she waits for him to continue.

“But, what?”

“All that blood he was coughing up. I’ve never seen anything like it. He told me to finish him and I didn’t. So, now I’m sitting here like a little bitch. I let him get away with talking shit about you and get away with it.”

Kyra sighs and shakes her head.

“You just said that twice in one sentence. And you didn’t let me down. You could never.”

“Then what am I good for?” Ken reaches over for the bottle that is no longer there. “I am supposed to take care of you and I am supposed to protect you. I didn’t do that. Tell me, what am I good for, mama.”

Suddenly, the sound of thundering footsteps comes down from the stairs. Adina busts in and jumps into Ken’s lap. Despite the alcohol numbing some of the pain from his match against the Lab Rat King, Ken winces as his back is forced into the back of the chair by Adina. Kyra winces, not entirely sure how Ken is going to reacted in his present state of mind.

“Hey, baby girl.” Ken’s words are suddenly not as slurred. He’s making a very conscious effort to not show Adina the pain he’s in. “A little late, don’t you think?”

Adina doesn’t answer with words, but leans her little head into Ken’s chest. He gently strokes Adina’s hair as Kyra watches, relieved. Ken can’t do anything but smile.

“That right there. That’s one of the many things you’re good for.”

Ken looks down at Adina, who has already fallen back to sleep in Ken’s arms.

“I guess you’re right. Still, I feel as though I didn’t do what I was supposed to. Lab Rat King needs to pay.”

“Does he? You saw what he did at Chaos.. He stopped Silvio from whatever it was that he thought Silvio was gonna do. Besides, who doesn’t talk sh–“

Kyra stops, taking in the scene in front of her. It seems Adina isn’t the only one who’s fallen asleep. Ken has also drifted off, Adina still in his arms. Kyra turns around and grabs a throw blanket off of the back of the couch behind her and places it over the two most important people in her life. She can’t help but smile, realizing that this is her life now.

The next morning, Kyra walks down to find only Ken, still lying in the chair. Adina is nowhere to be found, but “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” can be heard coming from upstairs.

“Thank God it’s not the Little fucking Mermaid,” Kyra thinks outloud. She takes the blanket off of Ken, carefully placing it on the back of the couch before going into the kitchen. She emerges in the living room a couple of minutes later, holding two mugs of coffee, one orange and one yellow. She sets the orange cup next to Ken and takes a sip out of hers before carefully trying to wake Ken. Ken groans for a moment, before shooting awake from the pain.

“Son of drunken Iranian camel salesman!”

Kyra looks shocked for a split second before she cocks her head to the side.  “Um… why does he have to be Iranian?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not trying to curse in front of Adina…”  He sits up slightly and glances around him, “Where is that little shit, anyway?”

Kyra looks at Ken, slightly amused.

“Shit! I said the brown word…. Shit! I said it again. I quit. I can’t today today.”

Kyra shakes her head and sits down.

“Nope. Can’t quit. Besides, have you seen how I talk around her? A sailor would be better.”

“Fun fact: my dad was both a truck driver AND a sailor and I can make him blush. Still, I try not to be that guy.”

Ken timidly takes a sip of his coffee as Kyra sits back, cradling her own mug in her hands as silence settles between them for the moment.  Finally Ken sits forward a little more, taking the pressure off of his sore back, and he turns his attention to Kyra.

“About last night, I’m sorry. I just… I don’t know… I feel like I fucking let you do… dammit! I said the orange word!”

“Are all your bad words color coded?”

Kyra asks, an amused smirk on her lips as Ken nods his head.

“Yeah, pretty much. So, you wanna, you know, orange later?”

Kyra rolls her eyes and chuckles. “You’re such a dirty old man. We need to get you in the tub and change your dressing first.”

“…Because it’s my turn. I took care of you after Ultimate Carnage.”

Ken just smiles, worn out from his lack of sleep and appetite. Kyra gets up and walks over and Ken wraps his arms around Kyra’s waist and pulls her onto his lap. He winces as she sits down, but tries his best to smile through it.

“Ken, what’s going on with you lately? You’re not acting like your usual self.”

“Well, with Carnage shutting dow…”

Kyra shakes her head, cutting him off.

“Don’t give me your brown word excuses. I want the truth.”

Ken sits in silence.

“Well…”

Finally Ken sighs and closes his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts.  Finally he opens them, letting them rest on Kyra.

“Its more than that, but it plays into it. First, I wasn’t sure I could just let it slide. I get it was an Ultraviolent match, but it fucking kills me to see you hurt. Then, he sits there… King had the balls to fucking taunt me.”

Ken gives Kyra a little squeeze, more for his benefit than hers.

“I’m not going to lie, not that I could, but at first I wanted to tear him limb from limb like I did to Jack. Hell, old me would have gone after his woman, but there is that ‘whole eye for an eye makes the world go blind’ thing. But when I saw him start coughing up whatever that shit was, I couldn’t do it. I feel like I let him get away with something. I’m not a nice guy. I’m not a monster. I’m certainly not the good I pretend to be. So, what am I?”

“You’re Ken Davison, and I love you. But I think you’re looking too deep into this. Sure he said some shit.. Who cares? I’ve heard a lot worse than anything he could say. And the fact that you did what you did after he couldn’t keep going? I think that proves more about how good you are and a lot less about how… much you might think you fucked up.”

He doesn’t let go of her, but he does look down – a look of defeat on his face.

“I just hate being this insecure. Like, I know you love me. I know you won’t leave me unless I totally fuck up. Doesn’t it bother you that I need validation constantly? It makes me crazy and I’m the one doing it.”

Kyra shakes her head.

“Doesn’t bother me at all. You know why?”

She looks down at him and cups his face in her hand.

“Because it shows me how much you care. It shows me how truly unselfish you are, especially when it comes to me and that little shit up there. That’s what makes you different and that’s why I’ll never stop reassuring you when you need me to.”

“Would you two shoosh the brown word up? I can’t hear my Simbas!”

A little voice comes echoing down the hall, obviously annoyed at the ‘noise’ the grown ups are making.  Kyra can’t stop herself from chuckling as Ken shrugs his shoulders.

“Well, I guess she’s cursing less. That’s a plus.”

Ken smiles up at Kyra making the same realization she had made the night before. This is his life now… and it couldn’t be better.  No matter what comes next.

The Carnage Arena.

To many it’s just a warehouse in Sparrows Point, Maryland. From the outside it looks like it’s seen better days, but anyone who knows anything about this warehouse knows that the moment you walk through the doors of that old dilapidated warehouse… Knows that this place, this hallowed ground… Is home.

And outside this arena is where we find Kyra Johnson and Ken Davison, leaning against the hood of Ken’s 1989 Pontiac Grand-Am, hand in hand as the both of them stare at the structure before them.

“Just a few days, huh?”

Kyra says as the view shifts, moving around the vehicle until Kyra and Ken’s faces come into view. Kyra turns her gaze, looking up at Ken’s face as he continues staring at the arena, nodding his head.

“Yeah.”

Ken replies, turning his head to look at Kyra, the two of them sharing a soft smile before Kyra turns away, shaking her head.

“It’s hard to believe..”

Kyra says softly, the smile slowly falling from her lips.

“But hey, one last show. One last time to bask in Carnage… One final show for the Legion to enjoy before we all go our separate ways.”

She looks down as Ken brings her hand to his lips, placing a kiss.

“Except us.”

Ken states, kissing her hand once more. Nodding her head, Kyra’s cheeks turn a bright shade of pink.

“Except us.”

The sounds of the Baltimore streets take over as Kyra and Ken share an embrace. After a few moments, Kyra turns her eyes back to the lens.

“So.. Underground: Totality. Ken and I, trying to become the final Carnage Wrestling Tag Team Champions, and doing so against some very stiff competition.”

She waves.

“Hey, Ax. Hey, Jon. I feel like it’s been so long since we became the number one contenders… So long since our destined meeting was set in place. But before I say anything else about the match – Jon, I hope you’re good. I hope you’re ready for Underground, and most of all, I hope you’re feeling better. I’m really sorry that you’ve been out of action for so long, missing so much shit because someone wanted to hurt you. But we all know that you’re a strong man, and you’re not one to let anything keep you down”

Kyra shrugs her shoulders.

“But… I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the competitor in me wonders if you’re going to be ready for Underground. And part of me knows that you might very well be our ticket to ending our stint here in Carnage as the tag team champs.”

She shakes her head.

“But that just doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t like that someone took away a few months of your career and now if Ken and I somehow beat you guys it’ll be labeled as a fluke because ‘Jon wasn’t at 100%’. The both of us have worked our asses off to prove we’re worthy of this.. And I don’t wanna be labeled as someone who capitalized on something terrible.”

“I wanna beat you at your best. Hell, I wanna beat both of you at your collective best so that there’s no more doubt. So, here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna put all that shit about what happened out of my head. I’m gonna assume you’ll be at Underground and you’ll be Jonathan Willis, better and stronger than ever. I’m gonna come into Underground assuming that you two are gonna give us the fight of your lives and you should because as much as Ken and I want those belts… This is your final stand too. This is your FINAL chance to do something that no one else will be able to say they did… Ending your Carnage career with those tag titles. Walking out of Carnage Wrestling for the final time as a champion.”

She finishes as Ken shifts his position upon the car, releasing Kyra’s hand and wrapping his arm around Kyra’s shoulder.

“I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I have the same reservations as Kyra. After my experience in the Rat Cage, I’m not exactly in the best condition myself. Between King’s attempts to cave my skull in and having so many puncture wounds that I can’t sit on the bowl without help, I’m pretty Kendamned beat up. But, that’s not an excuse, that’s just another obstacle to overcome.”

Kyra nods her head.

“I don’t usually try to throw this out all too often because I’m here to do my job just like everyone else. But it took me a long fucking time to get to where I am right now. Carnage might be important to a lot of you, but I’ve been here from day one. I’ve fought. I’ve bled. I’ve cried for this place and I’m not walking out of here for the final time without one of those belts wrapped around my waist. I’m sorry boys. You’ll move on. You’ll find another place to shine and maybe your new home will be to you what Carnage is to me..”

She sniffs and wipes a wayward tear from her cheek and shakes her head.

“Carnage defines my past, hell, this place defines a piece of my life. It showed me what real hard work is. It showed me who I really am deep down underneath it all. Carnage gave me some of the worst moments of my life…”

She turns her eyes up at the man she loves.

“…But it also gave me the very best moments too. I’ve given everything to Carnage, and I’m ready to help her go out in style. But I’m taking something with me when I go…”

Ken winces, leaning forward.

“Those of us that have been here long enough, Carnage has taken its proverbial pound of flesh from all of us. My shoulder is still messed up from the Mean Machine Stretch at Chaos 100. It’s a good thing I’m from New Jersey, because the fact is that JC jacked up my fingers so badly that I can’t bend the middle one the right way. Hell, Kyra and I have done things to each other in that ring that most wrestlers would be afraid to even think of. This building might be brick and mortar, but it’s has been held together by the blood of the men and women here. It has been held together by OUR BLOOD! Blood that neither one of you has even dared to wager.”

Ken shakes his head as Kyra snakes her arm around Ken’s back and nods.

“Your accomplishments aren’t any less important than ours, that’s not what we’re saying here.   But… in time served?  In blood spilled?  In years taken off of our lives?  Boys, we’ve got you beat by a country mile.   You’re good guys, I know it.  But that’s not what’ll keep you those belts at Underground.  Being willing to put it ALL on the line, being willing to give every ounce of yourself to our match is.  And with everything you two have gone through… I’m not sure you are.  But when you step into that ring, one hundred percent or not… It’s time to work.  It’s time to get the job done and that’s what Ken and I are prepared to do.”

Kyra narrows her gaze at the lens and sighs.

“I respect you two as competitors.  Hell Jon, I can see your passion just oozing out of you every time you climb into the ring.  You’re a star.  That much is obvious.  You’ve made mistakes along the way, but haven’t we all?  You’ve got the shit end of the stick on more than one occasion here too.  I don’t know Jon.. It’s a damn shame that we’ve gotta go in there and take something that I’m sure means a lot to you and Ax.  But it is what it is, I suppose.”

She lowers her head and nods as Ken takes over.

“What this match is going to come down to is our bonds. I feel like Kyra and I have the strongest bond out of any two people in this company. We support each other in every situation. That is why when I faced Jack Michaels, she was the one holding the towel. She was the only person that I could trust. We went home and she focused on making sure I was okay. She didn’t go and whine, piss and moan about people not checking in on me. Seems like a lesson that you, Young Ax, could and should learn. Because, from the optics of someone on the outside looking in it sounds like you want attention more than you want Willis to recover.”

Ken sits up, resting his hand on Kyra’s leg.

“I’m going to give it to you straight. I didn’t ask about Jonathan because he has no bearing on my life. We’re not friends. We’re not buddies. We barely say hello to one another to each other in the arena. Maybe I’m just a little cold. Maybe, I’m still just an asshole with no soul. Or maybe, just maybe, my priority is in taking care of my own and not worrying about anyone else.”

“Just because everyone wasn’t chomping at the bit to say something or do something about what happened to Jon, doesn’t mean they don’t care.”

Kyra says, shooting Ken a side eye.

“All that matters is that Jon is good, you’re good and that’s all that should matter to either of you.  Going through something like that can do one of two things, it can strengthen your bonds or it can fracture them so badly that they can never be fixed.   I hope it’s not the second one, guys.  I hope we see you two out there as a unit, as the same team we’ve seen out there since you two got together.”

“The two of you, you’re damned good wrestlers. You’re going to say what you need to say to build up your own egos, but the fact of the matter is that Kyra and I have been to the proverbial mountaintop. We have learned from mistakes that the two of you haven’t even made yet. Adrienne Levi caught me off guard because I was so full of myself that I allowed myself to be taken advantage of. If you dare make that mistake, the mistake of underestimating us, you will be punished.”

Ken pauses for a moment, his eyes narrowing.

“Now, Axton, why don’t you run along and go get your equal attention cake?”

Kyra shakes her head and looks at the lens, a soft smile on her lips.

“We’ll see you out there.  Good luck, boys.  You’re gonna need it.”

With that, Kyra and Ken turn their attention back to the Carnage arena as the scene slowly fades to black and an old school Carnage Wrestling logo.