A smirking Kyra Johnson stands across the Carnage Wrestling ring from a much less thrilled Lucy Wylde. It’s the Season of the Witch, and for Kyra.. The Witch is about to pay… In blood.

Before referee Ed Hawkersby can even call for the opening bell, Kyra flies past him and blindsides Lucy with a running forearm, knocking her sister into the corner. The referee tries to admonish Johnson, but she’s deaf to his words as she continues pummeling Lucy with fist after fist until she grabs a handful of platinum blonde locks and dumps her through the ropes, out onto the floor below.

Above them, the steel cage that was going to contain them had only made it about three-quarters of the way to the floor. And as Kyra looked up at it, and back at her sister, slowly climbing back to her feet… suddenly a lightbulb lit up in her mind, and a plan emerged from the depths within.

Kyra grabbed Lucy once more, and slammed her face first into the ring post, sending Wylde back down to the ground – this time Kyra dropped down and laid her sister out, checking the cage above them a few times.. Positioning Lucy in such a way that the cage will come down squarely onto Lucy’s neck. Seconds pass like minutes as Kyra keeps Lucy pinned to the ground, her hands wrapped around Lucy’s throat – Keeping her in place for the moment the unforgiving steel meets the delicate flesh of her sister’s neck.

A rage like nothing she’d ever experienced coarsed through Kyra’s veins as she watched the steel grow ever closer to snapping Lucy’s neck and she smiled. The moment the metal touched her throat, Lucy began struggling, gasping for air… reaching out to grab something… anything to free her from the suffocating feeling of literal tons of steel growing ever heavier on her windpipe.

And in that moment, all Kyra did was stare down into the eyes of her sister.. Watching mercilessly as a faint cracking sound can be heard as the cage snaps Lucy’s trachea and the life slowly begins to drain from those bright blue eyes.. Kyra sneers and spits in her sister’s face, one final act of revenge for years of physical, emotional and mental torture…

“Goodbye, Lucille…”

 

Eyelids fly open, and a pair of golden hues dart around the darkened room as sweat pours down Kyra’s face. She’s in the comfort of their bedroom, with Ken’s sleeping form beside her. But even now, in the dead of the night… She can still feel the hot spotlights on her, she can feel the fire running through her veins.

But even more so, she can still see a pair of dead blue eyes staring back at her.

Sitting up carefully, so as to not wake Ken, she pulls the blanket off of herself and lets her legs hang off the side of the bed.

It wasn’t real.

She tells herself, just like she’s told herself every night lately.

But it is real.

She didn’t need the incessant dreams to tell her what she already knew. She didn’t need help reliving what she’d done to Lucy nearly two years ago now. She didn’t actually kill her sister. But she could have, and at that moment two years ago… She wanted to.

That was something she’s had to live with ever since, and will be something she lives with for the rest of her life.

Her feet touch the floor and she stands, turning towards the door. There’s no use in tossing and turning for the rest of the night and risk waking Ken. Kyra knew she wasn’t getting back to sleep, almost as if this had become her new reality or something.

And to make matters even more interesting, she and Ken were gearing up to face Sloane Taylor and the woman who’s made it her life’s work to avenge everything that’s been done in the name of hurting Lucy Wylde.

Kyra knew she couldn’t be off her game when she came face to face with Maggie Lockheart… or Jenova because she and everyone else knows that when it comes to hurting Lucy… Kyra’s just as, if not more guilty than anyone else that Maggie potentially wants to repay the favor to.

Just as she reached out for the doorknob, she heard Ken move in bed.

“Kyra? What’s going on?”

Ken said, sleepily as he slowly sits up in the bed.

“Nothing, go back to sleep. I’m just gonna get something to drink.”

She turned back just long enough to see that he’d already laid back down and then she quietly slipped out of the room.

 

Hours later, Kyra stood at the kitchen counter – her head down in her hands, fighting the ever growing weight of her eyelids. Across from her, Adina sat perched on the stool – shoveling cereal into her mouth like it was going out of style.

“What the matter Mommy?”

“Yeah, babe. What’s going on? You look like you’re going to pass out.”

Ken catches Adina in his peripheral shaking her head in emphatic agreement.

Upon hearing Ken’s voice, Kyra looks up and shakes her own head.

“I’m good.”

She grabs the coffee cup in front of her and takes a sip of hours old, cold coffee and does her best impression of someone who’s enjoying what she’s consuming. They don’t need to know that she’s been awake for what feels like the majority of the last few weeks, tortured by her own mind as she’s trying to rest.

“See? Got my coffee and got baby girl breakfast. Peachy keen on this end.”

“That’s bullshi…”

Ken is interrupted by the feeling of a plastic spoon having him in the side. He looks down to Adina giving him a disapproving look.

“That’s a big, fat streaming pile of ponyloaf and you know it.”

Kyra frowns at both of them, turning her back to them to dump out the remaining coffee in her cup and pour herself a new one.

“So, I was thinking that before we head out to Chicago, we could nail down a date for the wedding.”

She says, hoping her soon-to-be husband will take the hint that she isn’t quite in the mood to discuss the big fat steaming pile of ‘ponyloaf’ in the room.

“Well, what about a spring wedding? I figure with all of the fall birthdays we’ve got in the house, it gives us time after that and the holidays to recharge and plan things.”

Ken knew Kyra was deflecting. She never wasted good coffee. Making a new cup was her way of not having to make eye contact with Ken. He also knew that discretion is the better part of valor and as such, he would let her insomnia go… for now. Adina didn’t need to see that anyway.

“Its just an idea.”

She turns around, her eyes turned downwards and focusing on the spoon she was using to stir the coffee in the mug.

“I like it. That’s not a bad idea. May would be nice. Maybe.”

“I think that’s perfect. I was leaning towards May 30th, myself.”

May 30th. One year to the day that Carnage had closed. More importantly, one year to the day of their engagement.

“Sounds good to me.”

Kyra replies, taking a sip of her fresh cup of coffee, thinking to herself that she’s going to need an IV of the stuff to get through the day. Truth be told, she was so exhausted that she wasn’t entirely sure why May 30th was such an important date, but in this moment, it fit the bill and it got them off of the subject of how tired she looked.

“You want breakfast? I can get you something.”

She asks Ken, motioning towards the fridge.

“I’m okay right now. I’m just going to have a bowl of cereal, I think.”

Ken pauses a moment.

“Can I, uh, talk to you about something? Nothing bad. It’s about work.”

Kyra tilts her head to the side, her eyebrows raised in curiosity. She notices Adina just finishing her bowl of cereal and reaches across the counter to take the bowl.

“Sure. Why don’t you go and play, baby girl.”

Adina sighs and rolls her eyes.

“I already know you beat people up..”

“Maybe you don’t gotta know everything, hmmm?”

Kyra snapped back, giving her daughter a look before Adina hopped down off the stool and muttered something about how mean her Mommy was before she trotted off through the doorway.

Kyra shook her head as she listened to the little girl stomp her way up the stairs.

“Our daily reminder that she has your sass. So…”

Ken realizes he’s stalling, his tell is as obvious as Kyra’s was when she made new coffee. He softens his tone, knowing that this is not going to go over well.

“I think we need to talk to Hitmaker.”

The look on Kyra’s face when he says that confirms Ken’s thoughts exactly.

“Why in the hell would we need to do that?”

“Because Titmilker owns our contracts, at least for a few more months. We’ve had one co-op match since we’ve got here. Now, we’re against Maggie and Sloane, who aren’t even a team. Talented as fuck, but that’s not the point. Something needs to change. If he owns our contracts, then it’s his job to do something for us.”

Kyra still looks unimpressed.

“You honestly think he’s got our contracts? Come on, Ken…”

She replies, shaking her head.

“That’s awful naive of you.”

“Naive? Like Trent didn’t have his lawyers all over that? Trent might be a great many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, that he did buy the contracts. You don’t think a weasel like him couldn’t schmooze his way into getting us what WE want? Everyone that isn’t us in the division hates his guts. Hence and thus, he’ll get us the matches we want. Let’s use him.”

“I think the fucker couldn’t ’schmooze’ his way out of a wet paper bag.”

Kyra says dryly, shooting Ken a look before grabbing her cup and heading out of the kitchen.

“It ain’t worth it to shit on our image anymore just to try and get something out of that useless pile of shit.”

She leaves the room and nearly stumbles in doing so as she makes her way to the couch to sit down.

“For fuck’s sake! Kyra!”

Ken follows Kyra out to the living room, but stands facing the couch with his arms crossed.

“Would you just listen to me? I get it. If Johnny had one more brain cell, it would be awfully lonely. But, look at what he’s done for Hide.”

“He LIKES Hide, Ken!”

Kyra says, raising her voice just a touch as she crosses her arms over her chest in defiance.

“Even IF he does have OUR contracts, don’t you fucking think he only did that to get one more thing over on Carnage?! Why would you want to entertain something like that? I ain’t giving him the satisfaction of anything.”

Kyra knows she’s being stubborn, but the grumpiness was far outweighing any common sense she had in her body, buried deep down somewhere beneath exhaustion and guilt.

“I don’t even know how to deal with this. I’m trying to fucking help! I’m tired of being lost in the shuffle. We’re better than this. We DESERVE better than this.”

This hasn’t happened between them belt. For him, he hasn’t put himself to be in a position to argue with anyone like this since he was a teenager. Ken looks over at Kyra on the couch and decides it’s just too much.

“Listen, I’m going upstairs. We’ll talk about this later when I can process everything.”

Ken turns to walk away and sees Kyra shake her head and pull her knees up to her chest.

“Hey.”

Ken waits for Kyra to look up.

“I love you. I just can’t… I’m overwhelmed. I’m sorry.”

“No reason for you to be sorry. I’m just… I’m just tired.”

“I know, mama,”

Ken says softly.

“I know.”

 

“I’m going to be honest with you all. I am sick and tired of the way Baltimore Elite have been treated by the management here in the UGWC. How is it that you have a team come into this company, tell you that their sole purpose is to chase the cooperative titles and the people in charge decide that in a month they only get one cooperative match? Is there no justice here?”

Ken Davison’s voice comes through the speakers, even before the picture fades in. As he finishes speaking he appears standing next to “The Jawdropper” herself, Kyra Johnson. Both are decked out in plain black T shirts, a sharp contrast to the white marble behind them.

“UGWC’s got a lot of great teams, we get it. But it just seems a damn shame to let some of us to waste.”

Ken throws his arms in the air and lets out a loud sigh.

“I mean, I tried to be a good employee. I tried to keep quiet and wait for our turn. Now, I’ll give management some credit, just a little bit. They finally remembered to put Baltimore Elite in a cooperative match. My only issue is that they couldn’t put us in a match against one of the other teams in the division. They put us in a match with Maggie Lockheart and Sloane Taylor. I understand that those two ladies are amazing challengers, but they aren’t even a team.”

Kyra nods her head as Ken looks on.

“Yeah, but some of the best teams around here started out just like Maggie and Sloane will on Monday. The good ol’ Coalition has a real knack for throwing people together and sometimes things just work out and they end up with yet another team worthy of that Cooperative gold. I don’t think that’s gonna be the case this time though. Maggie and Sloane, you two are obscenely talented individuals.. I’ve seen it first hand. And while Sloane is someone who’s I honestly believe could work with a bologna sandwich and somehow win matches, Maggie’s got herself a track record for not exactly being the best partner.”

Kyra shrugs her shoulders.

“And I know what you’re gonna say, Maggie just worked a match with Rogan and Lucy and things went just swimmingly. But come on, you know why that is, don’t you?  Anyone who’s got a brain knows why.”

She rolls her eyes.

“If it’s got to do with Lucy Wylde, Maggie ain’t going to fuck it up. If there’s anything that’s consistent about Magdalena Lockheart besides her affinity for violence, it’s that.”

Ken takes a small step forward, his eyes narrowing at the audience.

“The fact of the matter is the Maggie Lockheart is here because she is bored. She’s been a big fish in a small pond for, what, eight months now? I guess she hasn’t leveled up enough. I guess that being the final boss in a children’s game isn’t that fun. Am I right, Maggie, or do I need to throw a couple of veiled jabs your way?”

Kyra shoots Ken an uncomfortable glance.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna go down that road, but I am gonna throw something out there. Maggie’s been on this mission for God only knows how long now, protecting my sister, Lucy Wylde. I know you’re in UGWC right now for the same thing, even if you’re saying it’s because you wanna shed some light on the end of CJ Wylde’s life. And we both know, Maggie, what I did to Lucy.. But what I don’t know is what you’re going to do about it on Monday, if anything. I’d like to think that some things can be put into the past, but… This one? I guess I’ll find out on Monday.”

A short silence fills the air before Ken clears his throat.

“You know, I’m going to be honest. Kyra doesn’t want to go down that road. So, I won’t either. I’ll take you both down MY road. I’m sick and tired of being nice. I’m sick and tired of being respectful. The only feelings I care about are hers.”

Ken points over at Kyra to emphasize his point.

“I didn’t even win Kyra over by being nice. I won her over by being honest. If I’m being honest with everyone, myself included, I know I’m not the man I was in the past. I feel like if I am going to be successful in that ring, if I am going to provide for my family, for the woman I love, then maybe I need to remember who I used to be. Or, perhaps it would be better to help YOU know who I am.”

“I think we both have been trying a little too hard to be something we’re not. That don’t mean we can’t recognize a tough fight when we see one. That doesn’t mean we’re blind to the staggering number of people who want a place at the front of the line as much as we do. But maybe that means we need to take matters into our own hands, just a little bit more.. To make ourselves stand out just that little bit more than our competition.”

Kyra nods her head.

“I know we’ve done a lot of talking about Mags, but that don’t mean I’ve forgotten about you Sloane. How could I possibly forget about you?”

“Forget her? I don’t even know her. Don’t think for a moment that means I’m going to underestimate you, Sloane. I might not know you, but i know your resume and that’s more then enough to tell me what kind of fight we’re in for.”

She shrugs.

“Sloane Taylor is legitimately one of the brightest spots in the UGWC. She’s fucking blinding. She didn’t strike me as the type of woman who could possibly hold her own in an Ultraviolent match, yet she took me and Mia Rayne to our limits back at Isolation last year. I won that match, but God damn if it couldn’t have easily gone her way too. I respect someone who can do anything. It pushes me to wanna do it better. It pushes me to wanna prove why I deserve to be where I am, doing what I’m doing. But Sloane…”

Kyra wags a finger at the camera.

“…We all know this is your first match in months. And I don’t wanna be that bitch, but when it comes down to it, I can’t go easy on you. Neither of us can. I don’t wanna be the reason you’re on the shelf again for another God knows how long, but you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette, am I right? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not going out there on Monday looking to injure you. You ain’t done shit to me. Neither of you have. But all I can say is this… Stay out of our way.”

She turns her head to glance at Ken, who shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head.

“Don’t look at me. If you listen to certain people, I’ve caused a brain tumor. What kind of jacked up crap is that? Regardless, I’m certainly going to try and hurt you, but I’m not trying to take away your livelihood. I just want to do enough damage to put you down for three. I don’t care which one.”

Kyra shakes her head.

“Well there you have it, ladies. We’re not gonna put you out of commission but we’re definitely gonna hurt you. Seems like all we gotta do is put our money where our mouths are on Monday, huh?”

“Girls, we’ll see you then. Just realize that the two of you might think you are the better team, we are going to show you beautiful ladies that justice isn’t blind, but, in fact, doesn’t exist at all. At least, there will be no justice for you.”

The camera angle tilts upwards, showing that Ken and Kyra have been standing in front a sculpture of Lady Justice the entire time.

 

Later that same morning, Kyra’s still seated on the couch where she was earlier – an empty coffee cup laying sideways in her lap.. A bit of coffee had leaked out onto the leg of her pants. Kyra herself hadn’t noticed, as she was staring at the television.. Watching some kind of infomercial intently – Trying desperately to keep her eyes open.

She wanted nothing to do with falling asleep.

Truth be told, she wasn’t sure what to do since Ken had gone upstairs. She didn’t like that she’d instigated an argument that didn’t need to happen. Then again, she really didn’t like anything about how she feels right now. Adina did not help with that, landing across Kyra’s chest with a cross body. Kyra glanced up and sees her betrothed standing in front of her, apparently having slowed himself to be used as Adina’s launching pad.

“Got to love those high ceilings.”

Kyra, still in a daze, just looks up at Ken. He picks Adina up by the waist and sits down, and puts her on her mother’s lap.

“So, can we talk… about before? I didn’t want to ask the little diva to go since she’s worried about you.”

“That’s me!”

Adina giggles.   Kyra wraps an arm around Adina and nods her head.

“Yeah, sure.”

“You know I’ve been… I don’t know… in my emotions since Dad passed. I’m tired of losing. War beat me. Pierce beat me. I didn’t do shi… Sorry, kiddo. Savage best me then I didn’t do crap in the Melee. I’ve lost more here in two months than I did in the entire last year. I’m frustrated. How is this going to work if I can’t provide for our family? I know going to Hitmaker is an act of desperation, but I’ve sat here and picked my brain and I can’t think of anything else I can do. I just want to make our lives better”

Ken reaches over and takes Kyra’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I went upstairs because I was mad. I didn’t think sitting here and saying something I might regret was the right idea. My first instinct, after all the years I spent tearing people apart with my words, was to do that to you. I couldn’t do that, not to you. I’m sorry.”

Glancing over at his hand holding hers, Kyra chuckled.

“Honestly, it wouldn’t have been the first time.”

She says, but when she finally looks up into his eyes, she takes on a more serious expression.

“But.. You ain’t got anything to be sorry for. I know I’m not the easiest person to deal with, especially not now. Hell I’m the one that should be sorry for saying all that shit I said earlier.”

“Mommy…”

Adina says, shooting daggers at her mother. Kyra side eyes her kid and shakes her head.

“If you think I’m making up words to appease you, your highness.. You’ve got another thing coming. But anyway…”

Adina scoffs and folds her arms over her chest as Kyra continues.

“I know you’re only looking out for us and our future, and you’re trying to figure out the best way to do that. I still don’t wanna do it, but if that’s what you think we need to do? I’ll go along with it and we’ll go visit that fucker… because I care about what you think, even if I don’t always act like it. So, I’m sorry for being a gigantic bitch about it.”

Kyra sighs and rests her head on her hand while Adina has a full blown fit on her lap. But Kyra’s far too tired to even care about anything Adina’s doing to call attention to the fact that her mother’s saying ‘bad’ words.

“I know. I just hate playing the whole I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this whole relationship thing. But, I think I’ve done okay. If you can think of anything else, I’ll listen. I shouldn’t be pig headed and stubborn. How about we go to bed and take a nap. We all know you need it. I don’t know what’s keeping you up. All I know is that I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Kyra shakes her head, the thought of going to sleep and seeing all that again making her sit up on the couch and open her eyes up wider. As if that’s going to help anything, but she hoped it would.

“I’d rather not, in all honesty.”

Ken frowns as he turns to Adina.

“Hey, baby girl. Why don’t you go watch The Little Mermaid.”

“I told you,”

She answers in the most snobbish voice she can summon.

“It’s Moana now.”

“Go watch that. I’ve got to talk to your mom.”

Adina slides down and scampers off as Ken pulls Kyra closer.

“It’s okay, mama. You don’t have to tell me. But whatever it is, we will make it through this, together.”

Ken wraps his arms around Kyra and holds her gently, but firmly, while she lays her head on his shoulder and let’s out another deep sigh.  She’s just gotta believe him, even if she isn’t exactly sure how she’s going to deal with everything going on in her head right now.

“Yeah…”