Once again, things had gone Lucy’s way as she stepped up onto the sidewalk in front of the Pink Pony Pub late on Monday evening. A quick glance at her watch told her that Monday had turned to Tuesday as she’d made her way back down to the Gulf coast.

The lights were still on in the pub, and as tired as she was from her match against Travis Pierce, she knew there was every chance that Rogan would be inside so she pulled her bag up onto her shoulder and opened the door, letting the smell of booze and tobacco smoke waft out into her face.

“Lucy!”

The door hadn’t even fully closed behind her before Trayvon was greeting her from behind the bar. Lucy smiled and nodded towards him as she made her way to the bar where he’d already had her drink of choice waiting for her.

“Thank you, Tray.” Lucy said, letting her bag drop at her feet while she took a look around at the nearly empty pub – looking for the Dark Man – and finding herself disappointed to not see him. “Rogan’s not here?”

“He left maybe an hour ago? I think it was an hour, at least.”

Lucy nodded her head.

“Then I suppose I’ll just finish this and head home.”

Lucy finished that sentence and paused. That was the first time she’d referred to Rogan’s condo as home. She and Rogan hadn’t really discussed that very much since Lucy had given the house in Western Maryland to Morrie and left with nothing more than what fit in her car.

The truth was, Lucy had been content to travel a bit – maybe put a few miles on her soul before she found herself another place to settle down. She wasn’t really in a hurry to find a place of her own. The reason was simple – everytime she did – It always felt like something happened that ruined it for her.

And then Rogan offered for her to stay with him as much as she wished and she knew it would have been stupid to renounce his offer – Considering she’d already been staying there a great deal. And considering how much they enjoyed one another’s company, it was a no-brainer.

So, as much as Lucy thought she wanted to travel, as much as she thought she didn’t need a ‘home’ in the traditional sense of the word – It seemed that she’d already found one without realizing it. And that brought a smile to the Dark Lady’s face.

“You might wanna stay for a little while…” Trayvon said quietly, leaning over the bar towards Lucy and when she turned towards him, curious as to what he meant – She saw him motioning towards the far end of the bar where a man sat, a head full of messy blonde hair held in place by a black cowboy hat and a pair of striking blue eyes that could rival Lucy’s.

Lucy eyed the strange man up for a few seconds before he glanced up and their eyes met. The man slowly raised the glass in his hand, and downed the rest of the amber liquid contained within, his eyes never leaving Lucys.

“Is that–”

“That’s him.” Trayvon replied.

Poke.

The man Lucy’s been curious about since the week before, after Trayvon had told her that Rogan had been speaking to him rather intensely while she was gone. Lucy wasn’t jealous, but she was curious if Rogan had told this man about what had happened that night at Horizons.

Lucy knew she could have just asked Rogan herself.

Rogan had no reason to be dishonest about anything, and Lucy had no reason to believe he’d lie about something so seemingly insignificant. But that wasn’t the reason Lucy didn’t ask the Dark Man. She knew he’d tell her in his own time. But if this Poke was someone Rogan felt comfortable talking to… Lucy wanted to see him for herself and come to her own conclusions.

And she’d be lying to herself if she wasn’t a bit curious to see what made this Poke easier for Rogan to talk to. So she nodded to Trayvon, taking her eyes off of Poke for a few moments as she slid off of her stool, readying herself to go introduce herself.

But when she turned to move towards the end of the bar, she found herself face to face with him. He was so close to her that she nearly fell backwards, but he caught her by the arm before she could hit the floor. He let her arm go and took a step backwards once Lucy regained her balance.

“Thank y–”

“You’re Lucille Wylde.” He said, interrupting her and extending a hand to her. As much as she dislikes her full name, somehow hearing it coming from him… It sounds right.

Lucy nodded her head. “And you’re… Poke.”

She extended her own hand and the two shook hands before Poke sat down on the stool beside where Lucy had been sitting as Trayvon sat two drinks down on the bar. Lucy stood for a few moments more, before retaking her seat.

“Aaron Farson. But you may call me Poke, if you wish.”

Lucy nodded once more, opting to take a sip of her drink over replying. The two sat in silence for a few moments, as Lucy caught Trayvon casting curious glances at them as he served other customers on the other side of the bar. Eventually though, Lucy cleared her throat and turned ever so slightly to face Poke, but before she could speak – He begun.

“I’ve seen many, many varying realities, encountered fates that most couldn’t possibly comprehend, Lucille – and in many of those, you have been a problem.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “What does that mean?” She asked, trying not to sound as offended as she truly was.

Poke let out a soft sigh. “I don’t mean any offense. But I do, however, only speak of things that I’ve seen in my travels with the Dark Man.”

“So, that’s how you know Rogan…”

“Our… Relationship is a complicated one. But I have, and will always be the right hand of the Dark Man, and for that reason, I need to ask…” Poke said, turning his eyes onto Lucy once more. “What are your intentions towards the Dark Man?”

Lucy was taken aback by the question. Someone she’d never met, was asking her her intentions towards Rogan. In complete fairness, she couldn’t comprehend an instance where she would have anything less than the best of intentions when it came to Rogan.

That thought made her think twice, though. “Are you telling me that… other Lucys–”

Poke nodded. “Yes.”

“I don’t know that I need to reassure you that my intentions towards my partner are pure. But they are.” Lucy’s replied, matter of factly before hitting Poke with a question of her own, one that had been gnawing at her since her conversation with Trayvon a week before. “Has Rogan confided in you about…”

“What happened to him at Horizons?”

Lucy nodded.

“He didn’t have to.”

Her head tilted to the side, curiously – But before she could question that statement, Poke turned his head and grinned devilishly at Lucy.

“I was there.”

 

By the time Lucy left the pub, the sun was beginning to shed its first morning light over the coast. Compared to the dim lighting inside, it was almost blinding to Lucy as she lugged her tired self back to Rogan’s condo.

Home.

And much like the week before, when she stepped through the door, she found the Dark Man once again on the couch – But this time, he’d fallen asleep with her pillow in his hands and the radio playing softly in the background. She took care to close the door as softly as possible before she tiptoed across the room and sat down gingerly beside him.

As she watched him sleep, the conversation between herself and Poke played through her mind. Of course, it wasn’t a particularly enlightening conversation. Once he’d revealed that he was there during whatever happened when Rogan disappeared behind that door in San Jose – Lucy couldn’t get anything else out of him.

She should have expected as much.

Poke was The Dark Man’s protector, at least in some messed up way that Lucy had trouble wrapping her head around. Then again, there were many things in Rogan’s world that Lucy still struggled to understand. But what she did understand, as she sat there watching his chest rise and fall with every soft, relaxed breath, was that Poke has competition when it comes to taking care of Rogan MacLean.

If she could help it, she’d go to the ends of the earth to make sure the Dark Man knew how important he was.

“Hey.” His groggy voice brought her back into the present, and Lucy couldn’t help but smile as she glanced at his sleepy eyes and crooked smirk as he reached out for her.

She let him pull her into his embrace as he placed a kiss on her forehead. “Did I wake you?”

He shook his head.

“Good.” She said, relaxing into his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating. It would be all too easy for her to fall asleep right here, right now – But now that he was awake, she didn’t really want to. “So, I met someone a little while ago.”

“Hmmm?” Rogan replied, his hand softly tracing the curves of her back.

“Passed by the pub when I got in, and I stopped by thinking you might be there. You weren’t, obviously. But someone else was.”

His hand stopped on her back and when she glanced up at him, she noticed a bit of a concerned look on his face.

“And you already know what I’m going to say.”

“Poke.”

She nodded her head.

“Poke.”

“And what did you two… talk about?” Rogan asked as they both sat up at the same time.

Lucy shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t really say I understand a lot of it, but apparently he’s very protective of you. And apparently in other realities… I’ve been a problem.”

This statement made Rogan grin. “Is that really a surprise?”

“It is when I couldn’t imagine being anything but…” She motioned between Rogan and herself, “this. You know?”

Rogan nodded. “No, I understand that. But maybe I’m not so… Charming in other realities.”

Lucy let out a scoff.

“Right, Dark Man.”

He reached out for her hand and pulled it up to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand. A bit of pink rose to her cheeks. “Then again, maybe you’re onto something. But after talking to him, I just… I just wanted to say that I’m not going anywhere.. And whatever you need…”

“I know, Lucy.”

“Do you? I know that whatever happened at Horizons.. It was hard, but you made it back. You made it back to me, and everything is okay.”

“You’re the only thing that kept me going for all those years.”

Her eyebrows arched in surprise and the moment the words left Rogan’s mouth, Lucy could tell that he hadn’t meant to say so much.  But now Lucy’s mind was reeling. 

He wasn’t exaggerating, was he?  

“All those… Years?”

 

Another week.

Another door.

Contrary to a lot of the shit I said last week about Travis Pierce, beating him means a great deal to me. My record against him hasn’t always been spectacular, and in the past I’ve proven a lot of the things he’s said about me to be correct – But my hope is that last week was yet another step in the direction of showing him, and everyone else that their assumptions about me might not be so correct anymore.

Did I go out there last week expecting to beat Pierce? Hell yes.

Did I go out there the week before last, expecting to beat Mac Bane? Definitely.

But not because my ego is so big that I don’t think I could lose. Nah, it’s more so because I know my own abilities and I know I’ve got what it takes. I expect greatness from myself. After years of simply expecting whatever I can pull out of my hat, I finally realize that that’s not enough. If I want to be as God damned good as I know I am, I gotta expect that from myself, week in and week out.

Mac Bane wanted that win and those points just as much as I did. Travis Pierce wanted to keep himself from falling further into a hole that he might not be able to climb out of just as much as I wanted to keep climbing up that ladder towards first place in this tournament. Each man had the ability and the opportunity to keep me down, I’ll never deny that fact.

But they didn’t.

And you won’t this week either, Jaclyn.

This week is interesting though. You and I are both up 2-0 in this thing, and this match, in my opinion, is gonna decide who ends up at the top of the ‘A’ Bracket. Maybe that’s a bit of an insult to everyone else in our bracket, but then again… None of them have exactly proven to be at our level, huh Jacky?

I’m in no place to deny that you’ve made a difference here in UGWC. There hasn’t been much that you haven’t won, and normally… I’d respect that.

But unlike the respect I have for Mac Bane as a person, and as a wrestler… and unlike the respect I have for Travis Pierce, as a wrestler…

I don’t respect you at all, Jacky.

I don’t respect a damn thing about you.

I’m sure you’re gonna listen to my words and you’re gonna think that my short sightedness is going to be my downfall, right? You probably think you have me all figured out, just like you’ve had just about everyone else figured out thus far but see, that’s where you’re wrong.

I see right though you, hun.

You want everyone to be intimidated by you because you’re ’crazy’. You want people to worry because they ‘don’t know what to expect’ from you. And I’ll give you credit, with a lot of people, that approach has worked. It’s worked pretty damn well, actually.

It’s just.. I’m not really buying what you’re selling, Jacky.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think you’ve mastered the art of manipulating others into believing your narrative in order to distract them from what’s really going on behind that ugly face paint. Unfortunately for you though, the cracks are starting to show in your ‘armor’ and it’s only a matter of time before everyone else sees what I see in you.

And what is that, I’m sure you’re asking..

You’re using this ‘crazy’ schtick to disguise the fact that without all your over the top bullshit, you’re just a mediocre wrestler with no real talent to speak of. And that’s why I think you’ve done a masterful job, because who would have thought with one gun and a shit ton of gibberish… you’ve managed to somehow elevate yourself into someone that people have come to see as a real contender here.

But you’re not, are you?

There’s nothing fantastic about you.

There’s nothing about you that’s truly threatening to me. You don’t bring anything new to the table, Jaclyn. And if we’re talking intimidation factor? Tempest is far more intimidating than you are.

And if you haven’t already noticed, I’ve seen through him too and if I may be so bold… I’m the one inside his head… Not the other way around. I took his coveted Chaos championship away from him. He claimed to be Chaos… and I proved him wrong. Not once, but twice.

I’m the reason your little boy toy scurried away from the Chaos division with his tail tucked squarely between his legs. I’m the reason he decided to focus on another championship entirely and if not for him having to relinquish that belt… I might have ended up the one to take that belt from him too.

Who knows.

The point is, Jacky… You’re not as good as he is and I think you know it. You’re just a scared little girl, wondering when Tempest and Montague are gonna realize that you don’t elevate the creeps, and instead realize that you’re the reason they’ve stagnated. That you’re the reason that they’ve gone from legitimate threat to laughing stock.

But that’s not fair, is it?

Well, life isn’t fair, Jacky.

Frankly, I’m looking forward to seeing your next temper tantrum after I whoop your fucking ass on Monday. I’m looking forward to seeing you cry and complain about how you should’ve, could’ve and would’ve beaten me because of reason A, B or C – But really, when you lose.. It’ll be because I was right.

I am right.

But your head is crammed so far up your own ass that all of my words are gonna fall on deaf ears, and I know that too. But hey, while I’m here – let me just reiterate the fact that I’m like no one that you’ve ever gone up against, Jacky. Nothing, and I do mean nothing you could ever do to me could compare to the shit I’ve already been through.

So why don’t you just grab your phone and send out a few more tweets about you vs my mom, or some of the other nonsensical bullshit you use to fill that endless void in your soul.

At the end of the day though, Jacky.. The only fact that means anything between you and I is that I’m fucking better than you and I’m gonna be the one to come out of Synergy this week as the sole front-runner in the Global Challenge.

Second place is more your speed, sweetie. Any maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to get that Cross-Hemisphere Championship at Infinity since your ‘man’ had to give it up. But even if you do get that consolation prize… I sure hope you don’t choke like you did against Centurion for that Conquest championship, you know?

Too soon?

I know, I know.. I lost to him too. But unlike you, I didn’t try to downplay him after having my ass beat because nothing screams bitter like throwing a fit over losing to someone that you don’t think you should have lost to. The word ‘respect’ isn’t in your vocabulary though, but to be fair neither is the word ‘substance’.

Could explain why you have none.

There’s nothing wrong with losing, Jacky. And I know I’m talking a whole hell of a lot of shit on you right now and you could prove me wrong.

But the burden is solely on your shoulders; and frankly, I don’t think you’ve got it in you. As much as I don’t like Tempest and the Creeps… It truly is a damn shame to see someone like you weaseling their way into their ranks and acting like you’ve got anything to offer them besides what I’m gonna assume is some form of dick-sucking ability.

On Monday we’ll get to see if I’m just a stupid bitch that’s full of hot air or if you’re just some false psychopath who wouldn’t know what to do if she were faced with real crazy.

This is the beginning of the end for you, Jacky and I’m all too happy to be the start of your downfall… Just like I was for Tempy.

See you in a few days.

Bang.

 

《frm》