Author's note:

There are original characters in this series which were created by my readers. I offered the chance to have a character feature in the story and selected the ones I liked the most from the submissions I received. I'll list the characters and their creators below so that everyone has the credit they deserve for creating them.

May Devany - created by Willow Edmond

Anna Hollenbeck - created by Debwood-1999

Alexis Styles - created by Shiki94

Sarita Lopez - created by Chaka1967

I thank all of the people named above for the use of their characters and the time they put into creating them.

PROLOGUE

Newly crowned WWE Divas Champion Ronda Rousey felt unable to separate herself from her title belt, even on a run to catering to get a coffee for herself her boyfriend, Seth Rollins. This was in part due to the fact that she had only won it a couple of hours earlier, but also because it was the culmination of more than two months of very hard work in training to become a part of the Divas division. The fact that she had been given the title on her debut was not a popular decision with many of the Divas in the locker room, but that was not something that bothered Ronda. She was the kind of person who did not give a damn what other people thought of her, and would tell them so if it became necessary. The male side of the roster of course did not have much of an issue with her incredible push, so when John Cena walked into catering just as she was about to walk out, she was greeted with a smile.

"Congratulations. It looks good on you," John said warmly, gesturing to the belt that Ronda had over her shoulder.

"Thanks, John," Ronda smiled, noticing that John did not have his own recently acquired United States title belt with him. "Don't you carry your belt everywhere?"

"I did the first few times I won one," John smiled. "You get used to it, to some extent at least. I bet Seth's carrying that WWE title belt around like it's a baby you guys have just had?"

Not only was Seth Rollins Ronda's boyfriend, he was also the new WWE Champion, having won the title the previous night at Wrestlemania by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase. "Yeah, something like that," Ronda said. "Don't talk to me about kids, though; not my thing."

John seemed to find the comment a little strange, as if he thought that all women would have the desire to have children at some point. "Well, congrats again. You sure did a number on Nikki, she's got a real fat lip coming on already."

With that, John made to head into catering but Ronda spoke once more and stopped him. "I feel bad about that. She did tell me to hit her as hard as I could with that clothesline but even so..." Ronda's finishing move was the Clothesline from Hell, and she had almost knocked Nikki Bella out cold with it in the ring during their match earlier in the night.

"It's not hitting hard that's the problem," John advised. "Just lower it a bit. You shouldn't make contact with the face, it should be the upper chest."

Ronda nodded, thinking advice about botching moves was a bit rich coming from Cena. "I'll remember that. Thanks John, I'll let you get on."

They parted ways and Ronda headed back to the locker room that she shared with Seth. As she walked, she decided that she should go and check on Nikki before leaving the arena. They had spoken briefly after returning to the back after their match, but not since Nikki had been checked out by the doctor. Going to see her friend felt like the right thing to do to.

Nikki and Brie were the only two Divas who Ronda could call friends, as the three had shared a locker room during Ronda's time as a referee, which had been her job when she had joined WWE. Before heading to see the Bella twins, she stopped off at her own locker room to deliver Seth's coffee to him. "There you are, asshole," she smiled as she handed the plastic cup over to him. Somehow, asshole had managed to become an affectionate nickname.

"Thanks," Seth smiled. "I'm ready to leave when we've had these, if you are?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to go check on Nikki, then we can take off."

"Okay," Seth agreed, sipping his hot coffee.

Ronda headed off towards the locker room that Nikki and Brie shared, looking forward to getting back to the hotel and enjoying dinner with Seth in the restaurant there. The walk to the twin's locker room was not a long one, and she was half way there when a young guy wearing a black t-shirt with a WWE logo approached her, walking in the opposite direction. A crew member or something, she thought, not that she really paid much attention until the guy spoke to her.

"Hey, can you tell me where Daniel Bryan's locker room is?" the guy asked.

"Sure." Ronda stopped and pointed back in the direction she had came from. "Right along here. Four doors along on the left, I think. His name will be on the door."

"Thanks."

The guy walked off, so Ronda carried on towards the Bella's locker room. When she arrived, she knocked and walked in without waiting for a response, knowing that the twins would not mind her entering. In any event, she saw as she closed the door behind her that Nikki and Brie were almost ready to leave as they were just packing up the last of their things. "Hey Nikki, Brie," Ronda greeted them. "I just wanted to come and make sure you're okay, Nikki? Again, I know I hit you real hard, and I didn't mean to get you in the face."

Ronda could already see that John Cena had not been lying; the left side of Nikki's bottom lip was swelling up nicely, but the former champion smiled anyway. "I told you after the match, it's fine. I've been hit hard before, and I've hit people hard before. It happens. The title looks good on you," Nikki added.

"She's right," Brie agreed with a smile of her own, "You're going to make a great champion."

"Thanks, both of you," Ronda said. She wanted to say more, but she was not the kind of person who said the kind of thing that she wanted to say very often and she felt awkward. "Listen, you guys have always been good to me since I started here and I want to, uh, say that I appreciate it. I'm going to head off now, we're ready to leave."

"You got it," Nikki grinned, amused by Ronda's awkwardness, but trying not to let on too much.

Ronda left the locker room and closed the door. At that moment, she heard a loud bang from somewhere further down the hallway, followed quickly by another. Her eyes narrowed as she walked along the hallway, wondering if the sound could possibly have been what she thought it was. Surely not, she told herself, feeling panic trying to take hold of her.

She could see that John Cena was on his way back from catering, entering the opposite end of the hallway, walking towards her. John was much closer to the source of the sound, and she could see a look of concern on his face as he approached a locker room door on the left from her point of view. Everything began to go into slow motion for her. She knew what the sound had been, and she knew which locker room John had just opened the door to.

At the exact moment that she walked past her own locker room, Seth opened the door and stuck his head out. "What was that?" he asked Ronda, but she was unable to compel herself to answer him. She was also unable to stop herself walking towards the locker room further along the hallway as Cena reappeared, yelling for security. John saw her coming and moved closer to her, making sure to get between her and the open door, stopping her approaching it. "Daniel?" she asked quietly as her blood began to run cold, clearly asking if Daniel was okay. She could already see the answer in John's eyes as she asked the question.

"No," John almost whispered, shaking his head slightly. Ronda's coffee cup dropped from her hand and hit the floor, sending the hot liquid splashing up her leg, not that she even noticed. She knew exactly what had happened without asking John, or looking into the locker room for herself. The young guy she had spoken to only a minute before had shot and killed Daniel Bryan, and then done the same to himself.