Ken Davison sits up and looks at the plain black and white analog clock on the dingy, dirt stained white wall. The time is 5:13. The morning sun is just beginning to vanquish the horrible night. He lets out a deep sigh before turning to add more weight to the bench press. It was unusual for Ken to be in the gym this early in morning but lately, he felt like his best wasn’t good enough.

Laying back down, he repeatedly benches the rack, all the while hyper-focusing the last year or so of his career. He was a world champion. He ran roughshod over men and women considered legends in this business. Names such as Amber Ryan, Jack Michaels and JC had all fallen at his feet. Not only had he been good enough, he had been the best, the Kendamned best. But, now, Ken felt like he wasn’t even a joke. He was the fucking punchline.

But that was exactly why he was here, in some crappy Baltimore gym at 5:13 in the morning. The one thing Ken and Kyra had going for them was that when it was only the two of them, they were unbeatable… so far. There was one team that had their number. One team in UGWC could claim victory over Baltimore Elite. That was their opponents, the UGWC Cooperative Champion, Incendium.

Throughout the entirety of his career, this match was the most important, save one. That was his last match in 1997. The was the night that “Godly” Ken Davison was born. That was also the first match he had without his valet, his fiancée, Crystal. She was killed by a drunk driver walking home from a Christmas party on his 19th birthday. As if that wasn’t the tip of the iceberg, she was carrying their unborn child, a fact that Ken was unaware of until after her passing.

The next 24 years were a blood stained love letter to that which was lost. A career defined by making others feel the pain he lived with each and every day, that was the legacy he forged. That changed when he met Kyra Johnson.

Ken does a couple more presses before releasing the bar. He looks up at the clock again. 5:15. All these thoughts run through his head because this is their moment. This is their chance. For Ken, this was his ‘their.’

In the beginning, Kyra was meant to be a pawn. Through their interactions, Ken realized that Kyra was not a pawn, but a queen. He never meant to let her in. She was never trying to get in. Then, somehow, it just happened. There she was, in his arms, their lips locked. Ken couldn’t speak for Kyra, but he felt a fire in his chest he hadn’t felt in almost 25 years. That kiss had awakened his soul. The man he was, the man who died on December 19th, 1997, had suddenly resurrected. This was why Ken hadn’t retired when Carnage closed its doors. This was why Ken joined UGWC. This was why this match, this moment, this opportunity meant so much. Kyra had given him everything he had lost back. He could not let her down.

For all the hardships Kyra had endured, it still amazed her how much she actually felt like a queen these days. Ken had given her something she didn’t even know she deserved. Contentment. Happiness. But even though things were good, there were still many things the two of them had yet to figure out. Kyra knew Ken was on edge, for the lack of a better word – and she knew their upcoming match against Gabriel and Eden was of particular interest.

Ken wanted to beat them, Kyra did too. But she felt that their reasoning was different. Whether they were or not was up to their perceptions. Regardless, Ken was putting a lot of effort into being ready for the challenge of Incendium while Kyra continued on with her usual routine.

This day was no different. After getting Adina off to preschool, Kyra had taken an extended run around the Inner Harbor before getting back just in time for her biweekly appointment with her therapist. She wasn’t sure if the sessions were actually helping, but especially after she and Lucy had their little ‘sparring’ session, she found herself feeling better.

“Good morning, Kyra.”

Kyra wiped some sweat from her brow as she acknowledged the therapist on the screen of the tablet leaning against one of Adina’s stuffed toys as she reclined back on the couch.

“How’s it going, doc?”

“I’m doing just fine, thank you for asking. How are you doing since our last conversation?”

Kyra shrugged her shoulders. “Been good. I don’t really have much to say about it.”

Things haven’t gotten worse, and in Kyra’s mind that was a positive thing. Of course there were always things looming over her head, much like it was for Ken, she assumed. Kyra might not admit it out loud, but she felt a lot of pressure heading into Infinity. And granted, she, Centurion and Dave Rydell had won their cooperative match against Gabriel and the other two – But Kyra came out of it much like she said she would.. Like nothing was accomplished.

That and, she felt like she didn’t contribute enough. It seemed to her like she spent a good portion of the match being ganged up upon, and when it came down to the end, ‘The Jawdropper’ hadn’t even made an impact. It was disappointing and it made her put a lot of pressure on herself. She didn’t want to let Ken down.

“How did your visit with Lu–”

The doctor was interrupted by Kyra’s phone ringing, and when she glanced down at it, she saw that it was Adina’s school.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this.”

Kyra didn’t even wait for the doctor to respond, as she answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Johnson?”

“Yes?”

“Hi, this is Teresa Hines – Adina’s teacher… I um, I’m not quite sure how to put this…”

Kyra rolled her eyes. “What did she do now?”

“Oh! Nothing! I mean that’s not entirely true, but that’s not why I’m calling. You see, Adina fell from the top of the slide and she hit her head on the–”

Kyra stood up and made a dash for the door. “I’ll be right there.”

 

When Kyra stepped through the front doors of the school, she could hear Adina’s crying echoing through the halls. She could also hear Ken carrying on like a crazy person.

“What do you mean I can’t even hold her?”

“You aren’t on any of the paperwork. I’m sorry.”

“Why would her mother tell me to come here if I wasn’t welcome. For fuc… this is ridiculous.”

To say Kyra’s stomach was tied in knots would be an understatement – and when she entered the front office, she saw a few people huddled around Adina, who was holding an icepack on her head. A small blonde woman saw Kyra and stepped towards her.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Johnson. I–”

But Kyra wasn’t having it. She sidestepped the lady and made a beeline for her daughter.

“Mommy!” Adina cried out as Kyra lowered herself onto her knees in front of her.

“Are you okay baby girl?”

But Kyra didn’t get a response as Adina just continued crying.

“NOW can I hold my daughter?” Ken says, lowering his tone but still making sure to coat the words with as much venom as he can muster.

Kyra shoots a glance back at Ken, “Now isn’t the time.” She picks Adina up and turns to leave the room. “Come on sweetie, let’s get you checked out.”

Ken walks over and opens the office door so Kyra and Adina could get through it unimpeded. Ken made it a point to stare down each and every other person in the office while Kyra was focused on her daughter. Time or not, his feelings would be made known.

The ride to the emergency room was a tense one. Ken and Kyra decided to drive there together and come back for their other vehicle later. There was a lot of crying and tears, with Adina crying, Kyra consoling her, and Ken sitting silently behind the steering wheel. The school had called ahead, so there was no waiting for Adina to be seen. Children falling six feet onto their skull tends to get you moved to the front of the line.

Eventually, it came time for Adina to go for X-rays. Putting on a brave face, Adina assured them that she would be okay. Having more concussions than he could count, Ken knew she would be. Kyra, despite her personal experience with brain scans, felt differently. I mean, this was her baby, of course she would be nervous.

“She’ll be fine, mama. I promise.” Ken puts his hand on Kyra’s, knowing full well it wouldn’t help.

“Yeah, yeah. If she’s got a head as hard as mine.. She’ll be alright.” Kyra shrugged, staring down into her hands.

“I really thought I was going to get arrested back there. I was NOT happy. I told them who I was. Adina fucking told them. Didn’t matter. If you hadn’t gotten there when you did, it could have gone south quickly. They wouldn’t even let me hold her hand.”

Kyra sighs. “They’re just doing their job. It’s my fault anyway, they told me I needed to add you to the paperwork and.. It just slipped my mind I guess. But I’ll get it fixed once we’re out of here. We don’t need her getting kicked out of school.”

“I freaked out. Last time I got a call saying ‘there’s been an accident,’ I lost everything. I didn’t know what happened outside of Adina hitting her head and then I’m told I can’t help her. I can’t hold her. It felt like I was a spectator in my own life.” Ken lets out a sigh. “I know this isn’t about me. I’m not trying to make it about me. I’m just trying to explain things, I guess. I don’t know. I’m sorry I didn’t help the situation. I’ll apologize to the school tomorrow… or whenever.”

“It’s fine.” Kyra said quietly. “I knew when I called you that you were gonna be worried. I wish I could say I understood why, but I don’t. I can’t blame you for it though, I can only assume I’d react the same way in your spot.”

“When I say I lost everything, I mean everything. I told you about Crystal. I didn’t tell you that she was pregnant when she was killed. I should have told you. That’s why this has me so fucked up. I know she’s not technically mine, but I think of her that way. When I proposed to you, I didn’t propose to just you. I also asked that little girl to be a part of my life. It’s that simple. When she hurts, I hurt. I don’t care if she ever calls me daddy. I don’t care if I am always Ken. What I care about is the fact that I love her.”

Ken manages not to sob, but still, a few tears stream down his cheek.

“I’m sorry. I need to stop this overemotional bullshit.”

Kyra shakes her head and gives Ken’s hand a squeeze. “No you don’t. You’re fine. I’m sorry.. I can’t imagine what I’d do if something happened to Adina. But she loves you Ken. She worships the ground you walk on. I’m glad she has you.. Hell, I’m glad you have each other.”

“Sorry. That was a lot. Wasn’t it?”

Kyra nods her head. “Yeah..”

“Maybe I should start talking to someone. Do you feel like it’s helping you?”

Kyra doesn’t get the chance to answer. The hospital bed rolls in with Adina looking to be in better spirits. She’s obviously not one hundred percent, but she’s got a pretty decent smile on her face.

“They gave me a sticker for being a good girl!” Adina says with pride. She holds her hand up, showing off the light blue “Allergy Warning”.sticker.

“As long as it makes her happy,” Ken quips.

“At least one person in this room doesn’t give doctors a hard time.” Kyra smirks. “But not without a bribe. That’s my girl.”

“Just wait until the CAT scan. She’s going to think she’s a cat.” Ken squeezes Kyra’s hand and leans in. “Trust me.”

Both of them slide their chairs over as the nurses go over what happens next, with Adina laying on her side trying to read what the label says.

 

“Why?”

Ken stops, letting the word hang in the air.

“Why would I allow THIS to happen?”

Clips of Eden Morgan hitting all of her best moves on “Godly” Ken Davison during their last match, if you could call it that, play.

“Why would Kyra just stand there and allow such a beating to occur?”

Ken pauses again, making sure to allow a chance for the words to linger.

“It is because I asked for this. I told Kyra no matter what happens, do not interfere. I went into my match against Eden Morgan with a plan. As I said, every thought has reason. Every action has purpose. What I did not count on was Eden Morgan going easy on me. I had this grand plan to functionally sacrifice myself, to allow myself to evolve, like when Gandalf went from Gray to White. Instead, it’s like I went from lead to fog.” Kyra gives Ken a questioning look, “What am I supposed to say? I went from gray to slightly lighter gray? The point is that I expected great things from you, Eden. If that is the best you have, I have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Kyra rolls her eyes. “That’s definitely not the best she’s got. Hell, we’ve faced these two before – We know what they can do in the ring. The way I figure, it’s going to be a lot more of that. And that’s not saying that I’m taking ya’ll lightly because well, I think we all know that that’s just foolish. What’s funny though, is that I can’t say the same thing about you two, huh?”

Kyra shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders.

“You two make a Kyradamned living out of taking people lightly. I wouldn’t be surprised if you came up with some stupid fucking gameshow like you did when you went up against my sister and her…” Kyra coughs. “Partner. And I’ll give you credit, a lot of the time it works out for you. A lot of the time you end up beating these poor fucks and you come out smelling like the proverbial rose. But your bullshit is fittin to bite you in the ass eventually, and I’d love to be a part of knocking you two down a few pegs.”

“I would be lying if I didn’t admit to doubting myself since I’ve come to this company. Look at my record. It’s less than stellar. The one doubt that I have never had is the connection between ‘The Ultraviolent Goddess’, “The ‘Jawdropper’ Kyra Johnson and the GKD, “Godly” Ken Davison. The thing is, I did not come here to win titles, plural. I came here for one reason and that was to win the Cooperative Championships. That is it. This match isn’t just a match for a title. For me, this is my be all, end all. There is nothing else.”

Kyra smiles. “And how perfect is it that the opportunity we’ve been waiting for comes against the two of you? I love it when everything falls into place.”

“We haven’t forgotten what happened the first time we met in the ring. We haven’t forgotten and we sure as hell haven’t forgiven. As you’ve said, we stepped into that match on short notice. And despite the fact that we weren’t expecting to be in that match at Incursion and the fact that back then, Kyra and I weren’t the finely tuned machine that we are now… We STILL gave you one hell of a challenge.”

“So, while you two have been vacationing, and sitting at home with your thumbs up your asses.. We’ve been here, putting in work and beating every other team they’ve thrown in front of US. If you want to scoff at that and downplay it, be our guest. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before. And it’s sure as hell nothing we haven’t proven wrong before either. You two are damn good. But so is every other team around here. You’re not special, and contrary to what your buddies say about you.. You’re not funny. You’re not clever. You’re just childish and while that’s gotten you this far.. I hate to be the one to tell you that nothing lasts forever.”

“The fact of the matter is what happened in the past is exactly that… the past. All the teams we’ve beaten to get here don’t matter. The fact that you have beaten us before does not matter. What matters is the here and now and right now, I am ready to tear your head’s off and shit down the hole. I don’t care if you are Johnny’s enemies. I don’t care if you are Lucy’s friends. What I care about is the fact that you have something that we want. We have proven ourselves time and time again. If nothing else, our deathmatch should have showed you the lengths that we are willing to go through to get what we want.”

“But we’d be morons if we actually thought that you gave one solitary fuck about what we’re saying. Because we’re boring and blah blah blah.. Right? I don’t know, maybe we are. But I’d rather be boring and still have some semblance of a soul, rather than needing to use syringes of poison and pretending to be dead in order to continue living the life ya’ll do. But that’s just my opinion.”

“So, here is the deal. I am sick and tired of all of the bullshit we’ve had to walk through to get to this point. All I have asked for is the chance, the opportunity, to prove ourselves against the best teams that this company has had to offer. You, for now, are that team. We have dealt with the scraps, the leftovers and whatever random two people they wanted to throw together. We have been the most consistent cooperative team this company has seen in our entire time here. You sat around and were just handed your opportunity. We earned this. We paid the toll in blood. Now, you shall do the same.”

“See you Monday.”

Ken crosses his arms over his chest while Kyra blows a kiss as the scene fades out to black.

…

…

Unexpectedly, the camera turns back on some time later, but instead of seeing Ken Davison and Kyra Johnson – The audience sees a little girl with long brown hair as she takes a step back and stares into the lens – her deep brown eyes deep in thought.

She waves to the camera.

“Hi! This is how my mommy and Ken talk to the people they are gonna fight. Sometimes they say some mean things…”

Her voice trails off as an ornery smile crosses her lips.

“They say bad words.”

She whispers.

“They must be fighting some really big meanies because they were saying LOTS of bad words to you guys. But you wanna know what I think? I think my Mommy and Daddy are gonna beat you! They are gonna… shit down your heads!”

She giggles and covers her mouth. A noise can be heard off screen, followed by Kyra’s muffled voice calling out her name. Her little eyes widen and she rushes the camera, and the scene cuts out suddenly.