Date October 5th 2020 / Time 4:19PM / Status Not Recording
Location The Inner Harbor – Baltimore, Maryland

“Adina… Don’t you climb up there…”

My four year old is trying to climb onto the top of the monkey bars, and honestly – I don’t feel like going to the hospital today. The moment she hears the tone of my voice, she growls and turns to me.

“MOMMY I’M FINE.”

She shakes her head and starts trying to climb it again. I sit up on the bench, ready to get up and ruin her hopes of defying me.

“Adina Claire…”

She throws her little arms up into the air and jumps back down to the platform, stomping her feet.

“Mommy you mean.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“I don’t like you ‘nemore.”

I roll my eyes.

“That’s fine, little one. But you’re still not gonna climb on top of that damn thing.”

She screams and stomps away as I sit back, crossing my legs.

“She’s like you, that’s for damn sure.”

A familiar voice says from behind me. I don’t even bother looking back as a mop of blonde hair moves around the bench and takes a seat beside me.

“I didn’t think you were gonna make it down today.”

Lucy shrugs her shoulders.

“Not like I’ve got much going on lately anyway.”

“If you say so…”

I reply, shaking my head. She’s got whatever the hell this is going on with Joe – And some other shit, I think. Admittedly, I haven’t really kept up with what’s been going on in her life. Guess I didn’t expect anything different from her, which is why I’m surprised she even showed up today.

“So you thought I wasn’t gonna show?”

“Not really.”

“You just didn’t wanna field any questions about what’s been going on. That’s what it is.”

I can’t stop my eyes from rolling once again.

“Right.”

I shift my gaze over to my daughter, finding myself pleased to see her actually playing on the equipment the right way. I heave a soft sigh of relief and turn my attention back to Lucy.

“Because I care so much about what everyone thinks of what I’m doing.”

She crosses her arms over her chest.

“I know you don’t. But come on, what are you doing with all this?”

I knew it was coming, I just figured she would have waited a little while before coming right out with it. Oh well.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh for fucks sake, Kyra. You know exactly what I mean.”

She sighs.

“Breaking up with Jack… This whole thing with Ken, treating Mac like he’s–”

“Hold up.”

I say, cutting her off.

“Hold up… Treating Mac like what? Like he’s no threat to me? What in the hell gave you that impression?”

“I saw what you were saying to Amber on Twitter.”

I chuckle, and her eyebrows raise with what I can only imagine is a combination of curiosity and annoyance.

“Please. I was only doing that to make a point. Neither of them realize it, but Amber’s in the same exact position I was in when Jack and she were fighting over the world title. She acted like Jack was no big deal when she spoke to me – So I figured I’d return the favor. The real shame is that Mac didn’t disappear for two months before our match.”

“Kyra… Jesus.”

“What?”

She shakes her head.

“Don’t you think that’s just a little–”

“Petty?”

She nods and I chuckle again.

“Well fucking duh, Luce. That’s the point.”

“It’s fucking stupid. That’s what it is.”

I shrug and take another look over at Adina as I respond.

“Think what you want… I don’t really care.”

“Lovely.”

Silence takes over for a bit while we watch my kid running around the playground like a crazy person. After a few minutes, I pull my phone out of my pocket and bring up the messages between Ken and myself.

          – What are you up to? –

I hit send as Lucy clears her throat. I shove the phone back in my pocket and groan.

“I know you and Mac are friends, I get it. I know you don’t like what I’ve been doing, and that’s fine. Not many people do. But maybe you’ll understand this… I’m trying to move on with my life. I’m trying to get as far away from Jack’s shadow as I possibly can because I realize that that’s what was holding me back. I’m happy now. It sounds so fucking cliche and I’ve said it a bunch of times now, but it’s the God’s honest truth. I feel more like myself now, than I have in years, Lucy. That’s gotta mean something.”

She doesn’t respond right away, she just kinda stares at me with that typical Lucy look. I don’t know how to describe it and I also don’t know if she’s even more annoyed now, or if she’s just listening.

Who knows with her, honestly, so I just keep going.

“And I want this feeling to continue. I feel like things are finally turning my way and I’m finally in a place where I’m content. Of course I’m taking Mac seriously. I take every fight seriously, Lucy..”

“Don’t you think he might see it differently?”

“Who gives a fuck what he thinks? If it makes him bring everything he’s got to our match, then that’s exactly what I wanted. But I’ve got it handled and I’m not overlooking him in the slightest.”

She finally nods her head and sits back on the bench.

“I mean, I figured you weren’t. I don’t know.. Just be careful.”

“Christ. That’s no fun. Personally, I hope he fucks me up good.”

She laughs.

“Of course you do. It’s no fun being able to walk away from a fight.”

“Damn straight.”

She wouldn’t understand that. She’s the polar opposite of me in that aspect. Actually, she’s the polar opposite of me in a lot of aspects. I’m sure there’s a lot of people who don’t even think we’re sisters.

“I’ll never understand your blood-lust.”

“And I’ll never understand your aversion to it.”

It’s her turn to roll her eyes as she takes another look out over the harbor. I take the opportunity to pull my phone out again to check it, knowing that nothing’s come in – you know, since I didn’t hear it ring…

He’s probably busy.

I read a few of our recent messages to one another, before stuffing the phone back in my pocket and looking up to see Lucy staring at me now.

“What?”

“Waiting for someone to message you?”

“…No. Just checking the time to see how long I’ve already put up with your stupid ass.”

“Uh-Huh.  Right.”

She replies almost immediately, a knowing smirk on her lips. She’s so full of herself, I’m glad I’m not like that.

That particular thought makes me laugh while I watch Adina attempt to jump off the top of the slide.

“Adina!”

“Leave me ALONE MOMMY!”

“Sit your ass down and SLIDE.”

She glares at me from across the playground, and instead of doing what I said, she turns and runs away in the complete opposite direction. She’s so my kid. I watch her for a few moments, feeling Lucy’s eyes boring a hole into the side of my head. I let out another, more pronounced sigh.

“Fine.. What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know… Why him?”

Not the question I was expecting, but I’ll take it I guess. At least I don’t think she’s being overly judgemental.

“Because… Ken sees me for what I really am. I don’t know, Luce. When all that shit happened with Jack, I feel like I saw what his true priorities are. I feel like I saw who he really was underneath all that sugary sweet bullshit. And when it was done? He just thought everything could go back to the way they were before without anyone thinking any differently of him. Ken got that. Ken was the only one who understood my anger and…”

My voice trails off and I look away from my sister, watching Adina for a few moments. It’s weird. The entire thing is weird but Ken’s one of the only people who saw what happened and made his dislike for the situation known. He’s one of the only ones who saw the shadow Jack casted over me and everyone else… even before I saw it myself.

“You don’t think it’s just a ploy to get you on his side?”

“I know it was at first, but he wasn’t lying. That’s the thing. He wasn’t telling me anything that was untrue. Everyone, including me at one point, only saw an arrogant asshole who manipulated everyone else to get what he wanted… But now, I just see someone who’s more real than most everyone else around here.”

I shrug my shoulders again and sigh.

“Well..”

Lucy begins, wringing her hands out in her lap.

“Well?”

“I just want you to be happy.”

I smirk.

“I am. We’ve only been out a few times, but I feel like it’s going really well.  It feels good.. It feels right.”

“That’s good. I’m glad. But you must not feel too good about having to hold the flag in his match with Jack then, huh?”

I cross my arms over my chest and scoff.

“I feel just fine about it. I know he can beat Jack, and he will. Amber’s got a lot more to worry about on her side of this fight than I do.”

“Huh?”

I look over to see a confused look on her face and I smirk. Of course she doesn’t get it. I lean forward on the bench, looking down at the ground.

“You see, when Jack and Amber were fighting, they put me in the middle of it. When Amber fought Ken, I stayed out of it. I knew they were both gonna get hurt but I wasn’t going anywhere near it. I learned my lesson. So now? Here I am, on the side I should have been on all along – And it’s gonna be a cold day in hell before I let Jack get one over on Ken. Amber is so blinded by her Daddy’s bullshit that she’s gonna give in long before I do. It’s a forgone conclusion that Jack’s gonna hurt Ken and Ken’s gonna hurt Jack. But hey, that’s what they signed up for. I don’t have a problem with that…”

Her eyebrows raise again.

“…I sense there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

My phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket, much to Lucy’s chagrin – Seeing a new message from Ken.

          – Out of town. Be back in Baltimore either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Got a surprise for you. –

Lucy clears her throat again and I turn my head towards her, unable to hide the smile on my face.  I cock my head to the side as I lay the phone on my lap.

“…But if Jack honestly thinks he’s gonna try to kill him, he’s gonna have to go through me.”

 

Date October 10th 2020 / Time 2:52PM / Status RECORDING
Location The Horse you Came in on Saloon – Baltimore, Maryland

The camera’s been rolling for a few moments now, as Kyra sits in front of an aged brick wall adorned with varying memorabilia that she hadn’t bothered to take in as she sat. Instead she’s looking around the establishment, cradling a shot glass filled to the brim with an amber colored liquid in her hand. After a few more moments of listening to the sounds happening around her, Kyra finally turns her attention to the camera, bringing the glass to her lips.

“Before… Before I start telling you everything that I think is wrong with you, Mac – Let me start this off by telling you that regardless of how you feel about me as a person, no matter how you feel about my association with your ‘brother’… And in spite of your holier than thou opinions of how I’ve handled certain…situations…”

She stops, her gaze moving across the room and her hand raising into the air, motioning to the table.

“I actually do respect you, Mac. I respect what you’ve done here in Carnage, and what you’ve done with that Baltimore City Championship. As someone who’s from this city, I appreciate your effort and your commitment to keeping that belt as what it’s always meant to be.”

She’s since turned her eyes back to the camera as another shot glass is placed in front of her. She reaches for the glass and runs her finger along the rim of the glass as a smirk comes over her lips.

“…But…”

She chuckles and takes the shot, closing her eyes for a few seconds as the liquid traces a path of fire down her throat. Her eyes open back up and those golden hues smile as the smirk drops from her lips.

“It might sound cliche but high-roading that belt might have been the worst decision you’ve ever made, hun. But before you roll your eyes and tell me whatever it is you’re gonna say – It’s not because you can’t beat me. You’ve made it pretty obvious that you can. Nah, I’m not swinging from that low-hanging fruit. It’s just… Well I’m hoping that when you gave up that Baltimore City Championship, you were really hoping that Eli would’ve beaten me.”

She sits back and shrugs her shoulders as she plays with the empty glass in front of her.

“Maybe you didn’t. Maybe you didn’t care who it was.. I mean that’s what you said, but let’s be real here… You wouldn’t be the first person in a certain redheads life who was a dirty fucking liar. Oh, and before you get all pissy and start throwing the hick equivalent of a hissy fit – Let me explain.”

She reaches down and pulls the Ultraviolent Championship up onto the table in front of her, staring down at the blood stained plates.

“It’s just my position that if you really gave a fuck about Amber, maybe you wouldn’t have put her into the same exact position that I was in before her match with Jack, you know? You, her lover.. And me, her best friend… It’s an unenviable spot to be in. Trust me, I know. To say she’s torn is probably an understatement. And I know, I know that her being her, she’s said something along the lines of ‘I believe in you Mac, and blah, blah blah… You gotta do what you’ve gotta do’.”

She lays her hand on the plate and again she smiles at the camera.

“No? Well, whatever. My point is, do you really think she wants to watch you and I beat each other to a pulp over some belt? I know I didn’t want to watch she and Jack do what they did. That shit hurt my heart.. Tell me, how did you feel watching Amber’s adopted father do those horrific things to her… All in the name of the Carnage World Title?”

She cocks her head to the side, shrugging again.

“Must not have bothered you too badly, considering you’ve all but become Jack’s newest pet project, huh?”

She looks up and motions for another drink, letting the ambient sounds of the bar take over for a little while, her eyes focusing back onto the camera – Letting her words linger for a little bit as a new drink is placed in front of her.

“Oh, but you’re not.. Right? You’d stand up to Jack in a heartbeat if you felt it necessary… What? Like you stood up to Ken? Give me a fucking break, Mac. You have the balls to tell Ken that he’s in the wrong, or that I’m in the wrong when you’re buddying up with the man who NEARLY KILLED the woman you love? Buddying up with the same fuck who practically spat in her face after she lost her title to Ken, coming back like the ‘knight in shining armor’ to avenge what that bad man Ken Davison did to his darling daughter. You don’t think him coming back and doing what he’s doing right now is shitting right on everything that Amber’s worked so God damned hard for?”

She slams her hand down on top of the Ultraviolent Championship, the contents of her new drink spilling over the edge and rolling down onto the table.

“Then you’re part of the fucking problem, Mac Bane. You’re just as fucking bad as Jack Michaels. And you say that I’m the one mistreating Amber. No, motherfucker.. I’m the only one that can tell her the God damned truth! And here’s a little more truth for you, Mac. Ken’s better than you. He’s better than you in every way and that eats at you, doesn’t it? He was the Baltimore City champ well before you and now he’s the Carnage World Champion. Sure, what he supposedly did to Amber bothers you… But what bothers you more is that he succeeded where you would only fail.  Not to mention that the last time you and him faced off… He put you through a flaming barbed wire table.  Hmmm… Maybe that’s why you’re going after me…  Because you know you can’t cut it against him.”

She grabs the glass and takes the shot, putting the glass back down forcefully.

“Or maybe that’s why you’re trying to be Amber’s savior, huh?  Everyone is out here trying to protect the Distorted Angel, the Painted Hurricane – but has it ever occurred to you idiots that she doesn’t fucking NEED your protection? She fucking survived what Jack did to her and she fucking BEAT him… What Ken did to her is a fucking pinprick compared to what her so-called father did. Yet here you are, bitching at me because I’m the only person, other than your ‘brother’ who’s got the fucking balls to say it.”

“You’re blind, Mac. You’re blind to the fact that your girl is just as shitty as the rest of us – Even moreso, sometimes.”

Her eyebrows raise and she shakes her head.

“She said it, I’m just repeating it.”

Kyra sighs and lays both hands on the belt in front of her, taking in a deep breath before continuing.

“Truth be told, I’m glad she has you. Hell, I’m glad you have her. But remember, you’ve made a choice that puts her in a very difficult place – And I can only wish you luck when you go to look that woman in the eyes after you go out there in a few days and try to kill me, Mac. Good luck living with yourself after you go out there and do what you want to do to me for my imagined slights against the woman you love. All I know is that I won’t have one God damned problem looking her dead in the eyes after I bleed you out like the stuffed pig you are, you backwoods motherfucker.”

Kyra scoffs.

“She did the same fucking thing to me and I REFUSE to be shamed for who I am and what I do. I refuse to hold back just because she’s gonna have to watch me rip your flesh open and tear you apart like I promised I would and I’m gonna enjoy every single, solitary second of it, Mac. I’m gonna make sure she sees your blood on my hands, I’ll make sure your blood stains that towel I’m gonna be holding across the ring from her while her ‘daddy’ avenges her… But I won’t feel a God damned thing about it.”

“You know why?”

She tips the empty shot glass over, a loud clunk following as she stares at the lens.

“Because you wanted this. You wanted to do exactly what Jack’s trying to do and you’re gonna fucking fail. Just like he is. We might be the bad guys, but at least we can look ourselves in the mirror every day because we know we’re not the fucking problem, Mac. It’s not our fault that the truth scares you. It’s not our fault that you’re so desperate to prove yourself such a wonderful and virtuous human being that you’ve blinded yourself to what’s REALLY going on around here. And it’s not our fault that you’ve put yourself AND your girlfriend in the positions that you’re currently in…”

Kyra rolls the glass around under her fingertips.

“..No, that’s all on you Mac. That’s on you for drinking the Jack Michaels Kool-Aid and buying into the same bullshit that I bought into for FAR too long. It’s on you for adding even more stress and turmoil to an already unstable woman’s life. What I do? Well, Mac… What I do is on you too. Because I’d of been just as happy beating a Mitch Heart, or a Matt Knox for this belt, but you HAD to make it personal. You had to stick your nose into my business and now you’re gonna pay for that.”

“So, remember that when I try and send you off to join your dearly departed wife. Think about what that’s gonna do to Amber. Her tears, her grief… That’s all on you, Mac. The product of your rage, your narrow-mindedness and your unwillingness to just leave us the fuck alone…”

“You’re going to break her, just like good old Jacky boy is going to… So good luck living with that, Mac. Good luck living with that after I beat your ass and send you packing like the Wannabe that you really are. If I were you, I’d apologize to her before you go out there on Monday… because you might not get the chance to afterwards…”

A dark smile comes over Kyra’s lips as she shrugs one last time.

“I’ll see you on Monday, Sweetheart. The Goddess of Ultraviolence is gonna turn the ‘Cowboy’ into what he really is… and I get the distinct pleasure of doing so with my bare hands. You might think you’re at an advantage because I’ve decided to play your little game, but contrary to popular belief – Eh, I’ll let you figure it out on Monday.”

She winks and blows a kiss at the camera before the picture cuts to black.

 

OOC: Word Count: 3734.  Good Luck Jim!   It’s been a pleasure, as always!!!<3