Post by K.I.S.S. on Oct 9, 2015 23:00:49 GMT -6
The show was over, the lights in the arena were turned off and the paying customers had gone home. All of the people involved in the production from the arena staff to the security to the UWA personnel were also able to leave for their homes. The competitors in the actual matches had all managed to shower and leave the building, some of them earlier than others.
Both Kenyon Sisters left the show before it was even over, Ashley, after being knocked out by Brody Montgomery in the backstage area after her match against Bethany, had been rushed to the hospital to be checked out because of her injury history and Bethany had ridden with her in the ambulance knowing full well if Ashley woke up, she would not be pleased to see her elder sister there.
But Bethany couldn’t stand the idea of her sister having to take that ride alone so she’d sent Nikki Peltier to bail her boyfriend, her sister’s assailant, out of jail while she rode with Ashley and just as she’d expected, when Ashley regained consciousness, she was not pleased to see Bethany there.
Now, a few minutes later, Bethany walks out of the hospital, shaking her head as her cell phone goes off. She quickly checks the number and then answers.
Bethany Kenyon: Hey, you guys gonna come pick me up?
Nikki’s voice comes back to her.
Nikki Peltier: Yeah, I’m coming to pick you up but…
Bethany frowns.
Bethany Kenyon: But, what?
Nikki swallows hard.
Nikki Peltier: Brody’s not gonna be coming with me.
Bethany Kenyon: Why not, did he…
Before she can finish the question, Nikki answers.
Nikki Peltier: No, he was already out by the time i got there.
Bethany can’t believe her ears.
Bethany Kenyon: What?!!!?
Nikki Peltier: I don’t know, they just told me somebody else had already made bail for him. Said she was basically waiting for him there and had him ready to be released almost before they were done processing him in.
A sinking feeling starts to come over Bethany, different than the one of dread she’d had when Nikki first said brody wasn’t gonna be coming with her.
Bethany Kenyon: She?
Nikki pauses.
Nikki Peltier: Yeah, I think it was…
Bethany cuts her off.
Bethany Kenyon: Jayni Sullivan.
Now it’s Nikki’s turn to be surprised.
Nikki Peltier: How did you…?
Bethany walks over to a bench and sits down, squeezing her phone, her eyes snapping shut as she lowers herself onto the cold metal.
Bethany Kenyon: She’s the only other one who would…
Nikki goes quiet again for a second.
Nikki Peltier: How’s Ash?
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: Concussed and angry.
Nikki Peltier: So she’s awake?
Bethany manages a nod.
Bethany Kenyon: Yeah…
Nikki’s voice falls silent for a second before an engine roars over the line.
Nikki Peltier: I’ll be there in a few minutes, Bethy.
Bethany nods.
Bethany Kenyon: Ok.
Ten days later…
Bethany Kenyon and Nikki Peltier sit together in a coffee shop attached to a grocery store in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a steaming cup sitting in front of each of them as they watch the locals scurry around to find their essentials.
Nikki Peltier: So, how's it been going training up here with them?
Bethany manages a small nod and even a small smile.
Bethany Kenyon: It’s been going really well.
Nikki can’t help but chuckle, the tone in Bethany’s voice striking her as both amusing and slightly worrying.
Nikki Peltier: You sound almost surprised by that.
Bethany nods slightly as she shrugs.
Bethany Kenyon: Didn’t really know what to expect from Talon with this idea, you know?
Nikki snickers, not really knowing what to add to this.
Nikki Peltier: She is quite the specimen…
Bethany’s eyes go wide in momentary disgust.
Bethany Kenyon: Oh God, Nik, don’t say that or you’ll sound like that Cole douche.
With her eyes going wide, Nikki sheepishly grits her teeth and nods in apology.
Nikki Peltier: Sorry…
Bethany nods acknowledgingly and Nikki nods to the door.
Nikki Peltier: I just meant she’s a rather large woman.
Bethany can’t help but smile.
Bethany Kenyon: That she is, I think she’s even got a couple inches on Daisy Thompson.
Nikki’s eyes go wide.
Nikki Peltier: Wow… twin towers.
Bethany nods.
Bethany Kenyon: Yeah, they would be…
She sighs as she sips her coffee and Nikki can’t help but notice her friend’s decided lack of her usual zip.
Nikki Peltier: Has Brody… ?
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: That night, I called around. Tried home, nothing. Tried the beach house cause he has a key, nothing…
Nikki frowns.
Nikki Peltier: He has a key?
Bethany nods sadly.
Bethany Kenyon: I didn’t want him to have to sleep outside anymore if he went there.
Nikki ponders this for a second and then nods approvingly.
Nikki Peltier: probably a good idea…
Bethany nods gratefully.
Bethany Kenyon: So then I tried his cell, nothing. Couldn’t even leave him a message for some reason.
Nikki cocks her head.
Nikki Peltier: How’d he manage that?
Bethany shrugs.
Bethany Kenyon: I don’t know, I barely know how to use mine.
Nikki smiles knowing full well how well-versed she’s personally made sure Bethany is with cell phone usability.
Bethany Kenyon: So, then, I tried hers…
Nikki’s eyes go wide.
Nikki Peltier: You got through?
Bethany nods.
Bethany Kenyon: She answered, apologized, told me he couldn’t face me, apologized again.
Nikki’s eyes narrow.
Nikki Peltier: She hung up on you?
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: No, she just told me Brody wasn’t…
Trailing off, Bethany looks away.
Bethany Kenyon: You know, Dorian and Brody both made fun of me when we went up to Tennessee for that barbecue, said I had baby rabies…
Nikki’s mouth starts to fall open.
Nikki Peltier: Bethy, don’t do this to yourself…
Bethany’s gaze moves to the floor and then slowly comes back to Nikki.
Bethany Kenyon: Then last week, Katrina and Chris let me watch their kids. Made me take a drug test and let them run a full background check on me to do it…
Nikki nods.
Nikki Peltier: I know, I was the one they asked to run the check…
Bethany snickers slightly.
Bethany Kenyon: What am I gonna do, Nik? My family’s falling apart little by little and i can’t seem to stop it no matter what I do!
Nikki reaches across the table and takes Bethany’s hand.
Nikki Peltier: You’ve still got me, Bethy. I’m not going anywhere.
Bethany nods sadly.
Bethany Kenyon: I just want him to come home…
Nikki smiles.
Nikki Peltier: He will, Bethy. He loves you.
Bethany nods and squeezes Nikki’s hand.
Bethany Kenyon: Thanks, Nik, for everything.
Nikki shrugs, smiling broadly.
Nikki Peltier: It’s what family does, right?
Fifteen minutes later, Bethany sits alone in front of a camera with a blank grey background behind her.
Bethany Kenyon: I realize this is kind of drab and boring for a match featuring two champions and a tag team from a brothel and porn palace in Las Vegas but…
She trails off into silence, looking down, somewhere between an apology and being ashamed.
Bethany Kenyon: This seems appropriate for how it feels right now when the crowds are gone for all of us.
She nods and looks around the room.
Bethany Kenyon: No glitz, no glamor, no parties, no fun, nothing but a cold room with nobody else in it.
She looks down to the floor and swallows hard.
Bethany Kenyon: You know, it’s almost like somebody planned this for us, guys.
She nods, looking up slightly.
Bethany Kenyon: Look at us…
She holds up an index finger like she’s starting a list.
Bethany Kenyon: The Silver Baron’s constantly lashing out at all of his own people and then trying to redirect it back outside at everyone else with empty threats that come off like somebody who desperately wants to be taken way more seriously as a badass than he is leaving him in a constant state of trying to make amends so he won’t be left utterly alone.
A second finger joins the first.
Bethany Kenyon: Fraser Freeman comes back to try and save something eh abandoned and now isolates himself from everything because he lost his woman, his bike and his daughter in the same night…
A third finger joins the other two.
Bethany Kenyon: Sentinel wins the World Championship, but has to go to places he forgot he had to get it and alienates damn near everyone around him in the process so he has to make constant amends as well…
A fourth finger pops up next to the first three.
Bethany Kenyon: My best friend, my sister and my boyfriend are all currently in a state of radio silence when it comes to me for one reason or another…
Her hand lowers and her gaze raises up to the camera as she sits up in the chair.
Bethany Kenyon: If I didn’t know better, I’d think somebody wanted us all isolated and afraid. They want us all to feel just like this, like the world is coming down around us and we all have to constantly look and go, what’s coming next and what am i gonna do?
She nods slowly and then stands up.
Bethany Kenyon: Now i know, the two of you are still gonna look at us and tell us to watch our asses. That you’re not impressed by shiny championship belts or anything else we’ve done because… insert bullshit posturing here…
She nods, raising her hand up as if to say stop.
Bethany Kenyon: Save the threats, save the talk of what you’re gonna do to us because we all know what each other can do. We’ve been in the ring, we know we’re all capable. When the crowds are gone, none of that matters anyway, so why should it when the crowds are actively watching us? Somebody is trying to fuck with all of us and if we don’t decide to say enough of this shit and stand together in some fashion, we’re all going down.
She drops her hand and nods to the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: Now i know you two CAN go if you get your heads out of your asses and quit trying to measure the monsters with whoever is standing in front of you. Trust me, if you try to get into a measuring contest, you lose and i don’t even have a monster to throw in. I know my partner, i know I can’t count on him in ways the two of you have never had to worry about so put it away and forget the whole measuring thing in the first place. I know when the crowd are gone, Dorian and I will still stand together no matter what, can you two say the same?
She nods for a second and then shrugs.
Bethany Kenyon: I spose we’ll see, won’t we? I hope the answer is yes because if you can’t, we’re all of us here in the UWA, gonna be in a world of hurt. There are things circling us all that we can’t take down alone and the only way we don’t end up like that is if guys like you stop trying to tell the world you can… so ask yourselves...
The camera zooms in tightly.
Bethany Kenyon: When the crowds are gone, where do you stand?
Both Kenyon Sisters left the show before it was even over, Ashley, after being knocked out by Brody Montgomery in the backstage area after her match against Bethany, had been rushed to the hospital to be checked out because of her injury history and Bethany had ridden with her in the ambulance knowing full well if Ashley woke up, she would not be pleased to see her elder sister there.
But Bethany couldn’t stand the idea of her sister having to take that ride alone so she’d sent Nikki Peltier to bail her boyfriend, her sister’s assailant, out of jail while she rode with Ashley and just as she’d expected, when Ashley regained consciousness, she was not pleased to see Bethany there.
Now, a few minutes later, Bethany walks out of the hospital, shaking her head as her cell phone goes off. She quickly checks the number and then answers.
Bethany Kenyon: Hey, you guys gonna come pick me up?
Nikki’s voice comes back to her.
Nikki Peltier: Yeah, I’m coming to pick you up but…
Bethany frowns.
Bethany Kenyon: But, what?
Nikki swallows hard.
Nikki Peltier: Brody’s not gonna be coming with me.
Bethany Kenyon: Why not, did he…
Before she can finish the question, Nikki answers.
Nikki Peltier: No, he was already out by the time i got there.
Bethany can’t believe her ears.
Bethany Kenyon: What?!!!?
Nikki Peltier: I don’t know, they just told me somebody else had already made bail for him. Said she was basically waiting for him there and had him ready to be released almost before they were done processing him in.
A sinking feeling starts to come over Bethany, different than the one of dread she’d had when Nikki first said brody wasn’t gonna be coming with her.
Bethany Kenyon: She?
Nikki pauses.
Nikki Peltier: Yeah, I think it was…
Bethany cuts her off.
Bethany Kenyon: Jayni Sullivan.
Now it’s Nikki’s turn to be surprised.
Nikki Peltier: How did you…?
Bethany walks over to a bench and sits down, squeezing her phone, her eyes snapping shut as she lowers herself onto the cold metal.
Bethany Kenyon: She’s the only other one who would…
Nikki goes quiet again for a second.
Nikki Peltier: How’s Ash?
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: Concussed and angry.
Nikki Peltier: So she’s awake?
Bethany manages a nod.
Bethany Kenyon: Yeah…
Nikki’s voice falls silent for a second before an engine roars over the line.
Nikki Peltier: I’ll be there in a few minutes, Bethy.
Bethany nods.
Bethany Kenyon: Ok.
Ten days later…
Bethany Kenyon and Nikki Peltier sit together in a coffee shop attached to a grocery store in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a steaming cup sitting in front of each of them as they watch the locals scurry around to find their essentials.
Nikki Peltier: So, how's it been going training up here with them?
Bethany manages a small nod and even a small smile.
Bethany Kenyon: It’s been going really well.
Nikki can’t help but chuckle, the tone in Bethany’s voice striking her as both amusing and slightly worrying.
Nikki Peltier: You sound almost surprised by that.
Bethany nods slightly as she shrugs.
Bethany Kenyon: Didn’t really know what to expect from Talon with this idea, you know?
Nikki snickers, not really knowing what to add to this.
Nikki Peltier: She is quite the specimen…
Bethany’s eyes go wide in momentary disgust.
Bethany Kenyon: Oh God, Nik, don’t say that or you’ll sound like that Cole douche.
With her eyes going wide, Nikki sheepishly grits her teeth and nods in apology.
Nikki Peltier: Sorry…
Bethany nods acknowledgingly and Nikki nods to the door.
Nikki Peltier: I just meant she’s a rather large woman.
Bethany can’t help but smile.
Bethany Kenyon: That she is, I think she’s even got a couple inches on Daisy Thompson.
Nikki’s eyes go wide.
Nikki Peltier: Wow… twin towers.
Bethany nods.
Bethany Kenyon: Yeah, they would be…
She sighs as she sips her coffee and Nikki can’t help but notice her friend’s decided lack of her usual zip.
Nikki Peltier: Has Brody… ?
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: That night, I called around. Tried home, nothing. Tried the beach house cause he has a key, nothing…
Nikki frowns.
Nikki Peltier: He has a key?
Bethany nods sadly.
Bethany Kenyon: I didn’t want him to have to sleep outside anymore if he went there.
Nikki ponders this for a second and then nods approvingly.
Nikki Peltier: probably a good idea…
Bethany nods gratefully.
Bethany Kenyon: So then I tried his cell, nothing. Couldn’t even leave him a message for some reason.
Nikki cocks her head.
Nikki Peltier: How’d he manage that?
Bethany shrugs.
Bethany Kenyon: I don’t know, I barely know how to use mine.
Nikki smiles knowing full well how well-versed she’s personally made sure Bethany is with cell phone usability.
Bethany Kenyon: So, then, I tried hers…
Nikki’s eyes go wide.
Nikki Peltier: You got through?
Bethany nods.
Bethany Kenyon: She answered, apologized, told me he couldn’t face me, apologized again.
Nikki’s eyes narrow.
Nikki Peltier: She hung up on you?
Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany Kenyon: No, she just told me Brody wasn’t…
Trailing off, Bethany looks away.
Bethany Kenyon: You know, Dorian and Brody both made fun of me when we went up to Tennessee for that barbecue, said I had baby rabies…
Nikki’s mouth starts to fall open.
Nikki Peltier: Bethy, don’t do this to yourself…
Bethany’s gaze moves to the floor and then slowly comes back to Nikki.
Bethany Kenyon: Then last week, Katrina and Chris let me watch their kids. Made me take a drug test and let them run a full background check on me to do it…
Nikki nods.
Nikki Peltier: I know, I was the one they asked to run the check…
Bethany snickers slightly.
Bethany Kenyon: What am I gonna do, Nik? My family’s falling apart little by little and i can’t seem to stop it no matter what I do!
Nikki reaches across the table and takes Bethany’s hand.
Nikki Peltier: You’ve still got me, Bethy. I’m not going anywhere.
Bethany nods sadly.
Bethany Kenyon: I just want him to come home…
Nikki smiles.
Nikki Peltier: He will, Bethy. He loves you.
Bethany nods and squeezes Nikki’s hand.
Bethany Kenyon: Thanks, Nik, for everything.
Nikki shrugs, smiling broadly.
Nikki Peltier: It’s what family does, right?
Fifteen minutes later, Bethany sits alone in front of a camera with a blank grey background behind her.
Bethany Kenyon: I realize this is kind of drab and boring for a match featuring two champions and a tag team from a brothel and porn palace in Las Vegas but…
She trails off into silence, looking down, somewhere between an apology and being ashamed.
Bethany Kenyon: This seems appropriate for how it feels right now when the crowds are gone for all of us.
She nods and looks around the room.
Bethany Kenyon: No glitz, no glamor, no parties, no fun, nothing but a cold room with nobody else in it.
She looks down to the floor and swallows hard.
Bethany Kenyon: You know, it’s almost like somebody planned this for us, guys.
She nods, looking up slightly.
Bethany Kenyon: Look at us…
She holds up an index finger like she’s starting a list.
Bethany Kenyon: The Silver Baron’s constantly lashing out at all of his own people and then trying to redirect it back outside at everyone else with empty threats that come off like somebody who desperately wants to be taken way more seriously as a badass than he is leaving him in a constant state of trying to make amends so he won’t be left utterly alone.
A second finger joins the first.
Bethany Kenyon: Fraser Freeman comes back to try and save something eh abandoned and now isolates himself from everything because he lost his woman, his bike and his daughter in the same night…
A third finger joins the other two.
Bethany Kenyon: Sentinel wins the World Championship, but has to go to places he forgot he had to get it and alienates damn near everyone around him in the process so he has to make constant amends as well…
A fourth finger pops up next to the first three.
Bethany Kenyon: My best friend, my sister and my boyfriend are all currently in a state of radio silence when it comes to me for one reason or another…
Her hand lowers and her gaze raises up to the camera as she sits up in the chair.
Bethany Kenyon: If I didn’t know better, I’d think somebody wanted us all isolated and afraid. They want us all to feel just like this, like the world is coming down around us and we all have to constantly look and go, what’s coming next and what am i gonna do?
She nods slowly and then stands up.
Bethany Kenyon: Now i know, the two of you are still gonna look at us and tell us to watch our asses. That you’re not impressed by shiny championship belts or anything else we’ve done because… insert bullshit posturing here…
She nods, raising her hand up as if to say stop.
Bethany Kenyon: Save the threats, save the talk of what you’re gonna do to us because we all know what each other can do. We’ve been in the ring, we know we’re all capable. When the crowds are gone, none of that matters anyway, so why should it when the crowds are actively watching us? Somebody is trying to fuck with all of us and if we don’t decide to say enough of this shit and stand together in some fashion, we’re all going down.
She drops her hand and nods to the camera.
Bethany Kenyon: Now i know you two CAN go if you get your heads out of your asses and quit trying to measure the monsters with whoever is standing in front of you. Trust me, if you try to get into a measuring contest, you lose and i don’t even have a monster to throw in. I know my partner, i know I can’t count on him in ways the two of you have never had to worry about so put it away and forget the whole measuring thing in the first place. I know when the crowd are gone, Dorian and I will still stand together no matter what, can you two say the same?
She nods for a second and then shrugs.
Bethany Kenyon: I spose we’ll see, won’t we? I hope the answer is yes because if you can’t, we’re all of us here in the UWA, gonna be in a world of hurt. There are things circling us all that we can’t take down alone and the only way we don’t end up like that is if guys like you stop trying to tell the world you can… so ask yourselves...
The camera zooms in tightly.
Bethany Kenyon: When the crowds are gone, where do you stand?
