Approximately 3 weeks ago

“Oh come on..” Seb moaned as he caught up with Lucy; the two of them leaving Ken after their little ‘get together’. Lucy didn’t stop walking, choosing to ignore Seb and his voice’s incessant, whiny tone. That didn’t sit well with Seb though, and it certainly didn’t stop him from continuing. “You’re being very sus, I hope you know.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “I assure you, it’s no big deal.”

Seb crossed his arms over his chest as defiantly as he could, given the circumstances. When Lucy didn’t even look in his direction, she glanced down at her phone – Seb leaned right into Lucy’s personal bubble and sighed as loudly as he possibly could.

“That’s not going to change anything, Seb.”

“Well, your indifferent attitude isn’t going to change that I do NOT feel reassured in the slightest! How about that ‘suspiciously secretive Barbie’?”

Finally, Lucy stopped in her tracks which Seb wasn’t expecting as he took a few steps past her. He turned around to face her and the unamused look plastered on her face.

“Listen, I’m just trying to take care of something, Seb. There’s really nothing suspicious about it.”

“Look at it from my point of view here, Lucy Lou…” Seb began, morphing his features into the most innocent expression he could muster. “Normally when we’re hanging out, doing one of these things… You’re here. What am I supposed to think when every time I look up, you’re deep into some kind of…”

Seb motioned towards the phone as Lucy slid it back into her pocket and crossed her own arms over her chest.

“Some kind of… Whatever it is that you’re doing!” Seb spat, obviously a bit flustered.

Lucy sighed.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a bit… Inattentive lately. I’m sure Rogan’s noticed too… It’s just, I’m trying really hard to keep this a secret.”

Seb appeared to take what Lucy said in stride, a thoughtful expression crossing his features. Finally, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.”

“Well, duh. That’s the point of a secret.” Lucy quipped back, smirking when Seb’s face contorted with frustration. “Okay, Seb… You win.”

Seb’s face lit up as if he were standing before a Christmas tree and all of his favorite things were lying underneath, waiting for him to tear into them like a child on Christmas morning. “I win?”

Lucy nodded her head and pulled her phone back out, typing a quick message before focusing back on her BFF. “I’ll show you what I’ve been working on… But on one condition.”

Seb’s eyebrows raised in question. “And what might that be?”

Lucy glanced around them, and then back down at her phone as a response came in. Once it was read and her phone securely back in her pocket, she motioned for Seb to follow her away from where the car they’d arrived here in was parked.

“Rogan doesn’t hear a word about this. Okay?”

The tone of Lucy’s voice told Seb all he needed to know about how important this mystery was to his best (female) friend. He nodded his head in agreement. “Of course. My lips are sealed.”

As they walked off, towards a non-descript street corner, Seb realized then that they were indeed walking away from their ride and as such, he caught up to Lucy again and tapped her on the shoulder.

“But.. Uhm… Do you realize, perchance that we are walking away from our ride?” He asked, taking a cursory glance backwards at the car for effect.

Lucy chuckled and stopped as she reached the corner, Seb nearly running into her again.

“We don’t need that car for where we’re headed.” She said, a mischievous smile crossing her lips as Seb looked around, confused. “It would take too long, anyway.”

“Now what in the world does that–”

Seb didn’t get the chance to finish his question when a familiar, black Buick rolled up to the curb where the Angry Pirates stood. Behind the wheel, Jack sat stoically, awaiting his passengers. Lucy opened the back door of the Buick and motioned for Seb to climb in.

He was hesitant at first, but when Lucy motioned again he shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Lucy climbed in behind him and closed the door.

“Have you met Jack?” She asked, smiling as Jack put the Buick in gear and pulled away from the curb.

And just like that, the Buick was gone from view.

 

Nearly a thousand miles, and a few minutes later…

“And here we are.” Lucy said cheerfully, opening the door to reveal another curb on another road. “Thank you, Jack. I’ll let you know when we need you again.”

She climbed from the Buick and Seb followed suit, looking around him in a combination of amazement and bewilderment. Sure, he’d entered a tent and wound up somewhere else… But this was something else.

He took a look around him at their surroundings and then at Lucy. “Where are we exactly?”

Lucy didn’t answer right away, instead she opted to watch the Buick as it left – and the moment that it left her view, she turned to Seb with a smile.

“Welcome to the Gulf shores, Seb.”

Her answer didn’t immediately ring a bell for Seb as he took a few steps forward, off the sidewalk and onto the sandy beaches. “And where, might I ask.. Is the Gulf shores?”

“Alabama.”

“Chicago to Alabama in…” His voice trailed off as he took in the view around him, shaking his head. “…Amazing. Utterly amazing.”

“It really is.” Lucy said simply, as she too stepped off of the hard unforgiving concrete and onto the soft sand that led to the ocean. A tall building stood a couple hundred feet down the beach from where they stood, and a smaller pink building stood just outside of its shadow. Lucy took a few steps towards them, pointing them out for Seb to see. “This is where Rogan came to settle down when he decided that he was done traveling. I came down here a few times and stayed with him until he offered me a room not too long after I sold my condo in New York.”

“Then one thing led to another and–”

Lucy put a hand up in the air, stopping Seb. She shook her head. “That came much later than you think.”

“Mmmhm.” Seb replied, a smirk on his lips. “It’s a nice area, I can see why he liked it here.”

Lucy nodded.

“He loves it. And that..” She pointed at the pink building. “That’s the place we frequented, the Pink Pony Pub.”

Seb was less impressed by the lonely pink building, but he nodded his head anyway. “Quaint.. But this doesn’t tell me what exactly you’ve been doing down here, dear.”

“I’m getting to that.” Lucy replied, giving Seb a bit of a side eye before she continued. “I’m just giving you a little background. So, anyway… The lease was up on the condo and Rogan and I decided to buy and RV and travel. And then… As you know, we ended up in New York. Rogan bought that apartment for us as a surprise.”

She can’t help but smile as she recalls the little moments, the landmarks of their relationship. Seb watched her, amused and he laughed when she noticed him – her cheeks glowing a bright shade of pink.

“That’s sweet, it really is.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She shook her head. “But yeah, Rogan wanted to buy the Pink Pony at one point in time. He loved the place so much that he wanted to be the one that took care of it – but that didn’t work out. So I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and I knew that if the Dark Man couldn’t charm his way into that bar, then I wouldn’t have much of a chance in doing it either.”

Lucy turned around and began walking the other way, Seb following her. Not too far down the beach, they came upon another smallish building – pitch black on the outside with bright wood accents.

It looked a bit aged, but once they stepped up onto the wood plank deck that stood on one side of the building overlooking the ocean, Seb could see that that was on purpose.

“Wow.” Seb said quietly, walking around the deck and looking at the blank slate that stood before him. “And this is…”

Lucy pulled out a set of keys from her pocket and used one to unlock the accordion-style glass doors that met at the corner of the building, pushing one side open and then the other before she turned back towards Seb, grinning from ear to ear. “This is ’The Waystation’.”

As Seb strode quietly around the place, very obviously still under construction, he found himself impressed. It was plain to see how very proud Lucy was of the place as she followed him silently, watching him for any reaction. He stepped up to where the bar was, laying his hands on the unfinished wood. “This is spectacular, Lucy. It truly is.”

“I know it doesn’t look like much now, but if you’d have seen it when I first bought the building… It really is one hell of a transformation. I wanted him to have something that’s… his, you know? There’s a chance he won’t return to wrestling, and I don’t know how much time I’ve got left, so I… I just wanted him to know that our future will be taken care of. That there’s more to life than all of that.”

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“Well, yeah. I have. I thought my career was over when my trachea got crushed. He thought his was over when his ankle got snapped. It’s always there, looming. The day when we won’t be able to do it anymore.” Lucy replied, letting the weight of her words weigh on her shoulders for a few moments until she shook it off and another smile replaced her more serious expression. “But I’m not trying to be a downer. This is supposed to be something for him to enjoy.”

Seb nodded his head. “I think he’ll do just that. I can’t wait to see it when it’s finished.”

“Me either. But you haven’t even seen the best part.”

“There’s more?” Said Seb, looking around the empty building. Lucy motioned for him to follow her, and in the middle of the room, just behind the bar she flipped a nondescript switch and a door slid open, much to Seb’s surprise. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“No, you shouldn’t. Come on.” She allowed Seb to step through first, and when he did, he found a familiar sight. Granted it wasn’t all there, but he couldn’t help but smile when he saw a large fire pit in the center of five long logs, placed around it. Behind them stood a few large white tents, all in various degrees of assembly. The area was surrounded by a tall, wooden fence with no gate to be seen.

“The Waystation.” Seb said, knowingly. Lucy stepped up beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“A secret place, only for those whom the Dark Man wants to invite to hold Palaver.”

“You’ve really outdone yourself, Lucy. Consider me impressed.”

Lucy chuckled. “Thank you. It’s been a lot, but… Hopefully he’ll be happy with it.”

Seb glanced at her incredulously. “I cannot believe there’s a single doubt in your mind on whether or not he’ll enjoy this. I’m not even sleeping with the man and I know he’ll love it.”

Lucy shook her head. “He’s done so much for me. He deserves it… This.”

“So.. I take it you’re not unhappy then?” Seb asked before he’d realized it.

Lucy looked over at him, confused at first and then after a few moments of thought, a lightbulb went off in her mind. “Rogan thinks I’m unhappy?”

“I didn’t say that…” Seb tried to cover up his blunder, but he already knew that he’d said too much.

“Hell, I was worried he was unhappy. His ankle, the doctors appointments… The uncertainty of it all. And then, I told him… That I’d be finished if I’d lost the world title match with Ken and Montague, and I ended up winning. So I signed another contract for a few shows… And I worried that he was disappointed that…”

Seb nodded his head. “He’s so proud of you, Lucy. I don’t think he could ever be disappointed in anything you do. But what is this nonsense about being ‘finished’?”

Lucy shrugged her shoulders. “The time comes for all of us eventually and it’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly.”

One look at Seb’s face immediately made Lucy feel bad. But instead of wallowing in that feeling, she took hold of Seb’s arm and pulled him back towards the building. “Come on, don’t worry about it right now. You know some endings aren’t really endings at all. And this chapter isn’t anywhere near over…”

Seb did his best impression of a grumpy toddler as he allowed Lucy to pull him back into the main building. “If you say so…”

 

Rumor has it, this match was supposed to be a completely different match. Far be it from me to speculate, but something tells me you weren’t the first in line to get this shot against me, Phrixus. Yet, here we are.

We’ve been here before, no?

Me, sitting here and telling you a bunch of shit that you won’t listen to anyway… you scribbling away in your little journal, telling tales of how you’re the only one who can save the UGWC from whatever evil befalls it this go around. You know, same old, same old.

The Embodiment of Repetition, am I right?

All jokes aside, I know you’re probably thinking that I’m looking at this match like it’s a gimme. Like there’s no God damned way you can step into the ring with me and leave with the UGWC World title. Sure, you’re a UGWC original and that’s a fantastic thing to put on a resume.. Or a hall of fame plaque. But to me, it’s nothing but a title. Something you can rest your laurels on when the world tells you that you’ve lost a step or twenty.

Someday, Phrixus.. Your gravestone will say ‘Here lies Phrixus Deimos – UGWC Original’, and at that moment, it’ll come full circle. It’ll finally be clear how meaningless that accolade is.

The only thing that means anything right now, is what you bring to the table… or the ring in this very moment. Past championships, past accomplishments don’t mean a fucking thing to anyone. Your first World championship win won’t win you this one, I can damn well guarantee you that. Living in the past is only good for one thing… Forgetting the present.

And while I don’t know your life, Phrixus… I can tell you right now that mine is going pretty fucking well and I don’t wanna forget a second of it. Everything I’ve done before, it didn’t win me this belt. My talent. My determination and my heart are why I stand here before you as your world champ. And if you wanna debate that, hell, you wouldn’t be the first.

You won’t be the last either.

But we all know there’s more to you than that kind of thinking, don’t we? We know you’re full of so many conspiracies and prophecies that Rogan could probably sit for days on end and never tire of listening to you weaving your stories around the fire.

What comes of it at the end of the day though, Phrixus?

How many of those tales have you actually had any hand in preventing or succeeding at? How many times have you sat idly by and told everyone who could bear to listen that bad things were a foot and you were the only one who could right the ship, only to… make no difference at all in the end.

You told us Tempest would be the end of the UGWC.

Instead, Tempest is nothing but a memory. Nothing but a memory that I, and my best male friend sent whimpering into the night. I cracked the facade of the UGWC’s spider king.. And Sebastian broke him entirely. All without you. So what does that make me, Phrixus? I stand where Tempest stood. I hold the belt that he held.

Am I the next evil that you must thwart?

Are you the only man who can keep me down, once and for all?

Well, I’m sorry to say that Ken Davison left you in the dust. Granted, he didn’t keep me down once and for all – but he did take this belt from me. Once again, while you stood by with your thumb up your ass and did less than nothing to try and take the place you somehow see as rightfully yours atop the UGWC pedestal.

Come on Deimos. Show me something. Prove me wrong. Make me see the bigger picture. Make me pay for my ignorance. Battleground is your swan song, are you ready to sing?

Or are you ready to do what you’ve done so many times before… and choke when it really matters.

The decision is all yours.

The Dark Lady awaits your answer, come Battleground.

 

A few days ago

Lucy stepped out of the Buick and waved Jack off – same as she’d been doing for months now and began the short journey to ‘The Waystation’. She was excited for the day, because construction crews were finally nearing the end of construction and she was here to pick out flooring and paint and anything else that was needed to get the bar finished and ready for the Dark Man’s touches.

She was happy, even if the things she saw on twitter worried her. Problems between SEb and Sloane made her think of moments in which she was exactly where Seb was, feeling the same feelings of helplessness and wanting to disappear. She hoped to talk to him sooner rather than later – but she also didn’t want to push herself where she wasn’t welcome.

Seb would come to her if he needed her.

She hoped.

In the meantime, however, she focused on the secret she’d been keeping from Rogan – all while doing her best to make sure Rogan knew that she was indeed happy, and that he had nothing to worry about. It was a balancing act, and she knew she didn’t have much time to finish this feat before he finally had had enough of the mystery she’d been hiding.

But when she finally glanced up at the building that she’d been so lovingly putting together for the Dark Man…. Her stomach dropped.

“Oh my God…”