When Layla, flanked by Beth and Mickie, made her way backstage there were many other wrestlers waiting to offer her congratulations. Humiliating the much-hated Michelle had earned Layla a lot of goodwill. In addition, her victory had gained her a spot in the tournament's final match. This feat was worthy of respect.
Mickie and Beth actually served as makeshift bodyguards and escorted Layla through the other women so that she could make it to the relative privacy of one of the locker rooms. Once the trio were inside, the exhausted Layla took a seat. Mickie smiled at her and started to speak…but was interrupted by Beth.
"Let's get one thing straight," the powerfully-built blonde said as she stared at Layla. "If you think that all is forgiven just because you embarrassed Michelle, you'd be wrong."
The British beauty noted the slight scowl on Beth's face and said nothing. The intoxicating joy of her upset victory retreated and her mood quickly sobered.
"I guess I can't blame you," she said quietly as she looked up at Beth. "All I can say is that I truly am sorry for all the stuff I've done to you in the past." She glanced over to Mickie. "Both of you."
"I wasn't finished," Beth said gruffly. "Embarrassing Michelle wasn't enough to balance the scales…" She paused and her stern expression transformed. There was an almost childlike twinkle in her eye and a huge smile spread across her face. "But handing the clippers over to us…letting us do the honors…THAT was awesome!"
Beth reached out to the surprised Layla and affectionately patted her on the head. It was an odd, almost condescending gesture in a way…but the genuine warmth in Beth's expression kept Layla from being offended.
"Just so you know," Beth continued. "You're off my list of people I plan to break in half...and on my list of people that I can tolerate." She paused. "So don't do anything to screw that up."
With that, the blonde turned and left the locker room.
Layla and Mickie exchanged glances.
"Is she always like that?" Layla asked.
Mickie shook her head. "No. I've never seen her like that before." She hesitated and then grinned at the British beauty. "She usually takes a LOT longer to warm up to people."
"You're joking, right?"
The former champion chuckled. "She gave you her offical head pat of approval. When she and I started to get on good terms with one another, it took weeks before she patted my head the first time. I think she likes you."
Layla pondered this information, and then her eyes widened just a bit.
"Wait, when you say that she likes me, you don't mean she…fancies me, do you?"
Mickie hadn't meant to imply any such thing, but she couldn't help feeling amused at the other woman's puzzled and slightly flustered expression. She said nothing.
"She's not…because I'm not…" Layla stammered out half-formed statements. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just don't want there to be any misunderstandings."
"I can't really speak for Beth," Mickie replied with a straight face. "Maybe you should ask her?"
"No…Beth is straight," Layla went on, trying to sound confident. "She used to date Santino Marella after all."
Despite herself, Mickie couldn't resist teasing her former enemy. "Yes, that proves she's straight. A woman who looks like an amazon goddess was invovled with a clownish buffoon and occassional crossdresser. There was nothing questionable about that relationship."
"Are you saying…?"
"I'm not trying to say anything," Mickie cut her off with a grin. "Beth's a private person and I really don't know what she looks for in the romance department. Anyway, I can't talk now. I've got a match to prepare for."
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Victoria tried to appear nonchalant and relaxed as she made her way to the ring. She was still sore from her earlier battles and she knew she had a big challenge left…but she was more determined than ever to win. The fact that Layla had already qualified for the championship match only added to her motivation. For as battered as Victoria was, she was positive she'd be able to defeat the less experienced and equally exhausted Englishwoman. But first she'd have to go though one last obstacle.
A very significant obstacle.
"And the opponent," the ring announcer called out after Victoria had climbed in the ring and been introduced. "Mickie James!"
The crowd went wild, as it always did for Mickie. Victoria watched her closely as she came down the aisle. Mickie was smiling and waving to the fans as usual…but Victoria noted that her entrance was just a little less chipper and bouncy than normal. Obviously Mickie was worn down from the tournament as well.
Once they were both in the ring, the women waited for the match type to be determined. The announcement, when it came, made the atmosphere suddenly even more serious.
"And there it is," Ivory commented from the announcer's table. "The stipulation for the last qualifying match of the tournament…a Ladder Match."
"Always a dangerous match," JBL added. "And the fact that both these ladies have to be fatigued at this point only adds to the risk. When you're tired you're more likely to make the kinds of mistakes that can lead to serious injury."
"True," Ivory agreed. "But let's hope nothing like that happens here. It's worth reminding everyone though, as entertaining as these matches are…wrestlers are putting their bodies on the line EVERY time they step into the ring, even in standard matches."
"There's a reason they say: don't try this at home," JBL concluded.
The bell rang and the two wrestlers began circling each other. Once they locked up, the match turned into a rather conventional affair. Neither made an attempt to go for the ladder. Each was more interested in testing the other…seeing how much they had left and figuring out what it would take to earn a victory.
Just like any other match between the two…Victoria was the stronger, Mickie was the faster, and they were in a dead heat when it came to technical wrestling skill. But as the battle progressed, it was soon apparent that Mickie was gaining the upper hand. Victoria tried to hide any signs of weakness, but the punishment she'd taken from Beth earlier had sapped so much of her endurance. Her limbs began to feel like lead weights. More and more of Mickie's attacks went unanswered. Moves that Victoria could have normally countered slipped past her defenses.
"Mickie's taken control of this match," JBL commented. "I'm betting she'll go for the ladder before too long."
But Mickie was too familiar with Victoria, and had too much respect for her ability, to assume the larger woman was beaten yet. She thought it best if she could ensure her opponent was utterly spent and unable to stop her from climbing to ladder. Thus her attacks continued. Wrestling tactics were abandoned and Mickie simply began launching strike after strike at her foe.
Nonetheless, Victoria would not go down. The audience became completely enthralled in the drama that developed before their eyes. Victoria's arms were at her sides, she couldn't even make a token show of resistance…yet still she stood, helpless but unbowed.
Why do you have to be so stubborn? Mickie thought with equal parts frustration and admiration. She also realized she was using the wrong kinds of tactics at this point. There was no sense in trying to beat Victoria down when she could simply be outmaneuvered. She took hold of her foe and used a basic takedown to get her to the mat. She then rolled the woman out underneath the bottom rope so that she dropped to the floor at ringside. Then, alone in the ring, Mickie went for the ladder.
"I think Mickie's got this," Ivory announced. "I'm not even sure Victoria's aware what's going on."
But just as she uttered those words, the dazed wrester pulled herself back to her feet by holding onto the ring apron. She looked up and saw that Mickie was halfway up the ladder.
Exhaustion…fatigue…pain…all of it could be damned! Competitive spirit and the need to win forced movement into Victoria's leaden limbs. She slid back into the ring…she staggered to her feet…and she dove towards the ladder. The intent was to climb up after her foe…grab her leg…pull her down. But in Victoria's battered state, her agility suffered. She collided with the ladder and sent it toppling.
Mickie realized what was happening. She didn't panic. After all, it wouldn't have been a ladder match if the ladder hadn't been tipped over with someone on it at least once. As it began to fall she made ready to jump to the side.
But as she went to push off with her legs, one of her feet slid off the rung on which she was standing. Her leg plunged into the ladder as it fell and she let out a cry of pain.
A cry of pain that was nothing compared to the wail of agony that followed a few short moments later.
Still dazed, Victoria's head suddenly cleared at the most disturbing sound she'd ever heard. As a wrestler, she'd been exposed to many of the sounds that different kinds of pain could cause. She'd made many of those sounds herself over the course of her career. But the cries she heard now were unlike any she'd heard before.
She looked over to Mickie, on the mat, underneath the fallen ladder. The woman was alternating between sobbing and screaming…and who could blame her? One of her legs was twisted in the ladders rungs. It was bent just below the knee.
Bent about ninety degrees…in a direction that human legs were not designed to bend.
In a few moments, other loud shouts joined Mickie's screams. Ivory and JBL were both yelling into their microphones, urging the backstage EMTs to get to the ring. Victoria cried out Mickie's name and grabbed hold of her hand…and nearly had her fingers crushed crushed in a pain fueled vise-like grip.
Mercifully, the backstage personnel had been watching closely and rushed to the ring immediately.
The sequence of events that followed were not entirely clear to Victoria. All she knew is that time seemed to slow to a crawl, and it was hard for her to focus on anything but the pain etched on Mickie's face. Somehow she found herself following the EMTs down the aisle as they stretchered Mickie backstage. She didn't hear the bell ring or the announcement that she'd won the match by default. Indeed, it wasn't until she felt a strong set of arms take hold of her and pull her away from the medics tending to Mickie that Victoria felt fully reconnected to reality. She began to protest and tried to fight off the person holding her…until she realized it was Lance.
"Calm down," he said as he looked at his friend's stricken face. "Just let them take care of her. It will be fine."
"But her leg…" Victoria said in an anguished voice. "I didn't mean…"
"I know you didn't," he replied, and then gave her a meaningful look. "And she knows you didn't. It's just something that happened. Part of the job."
"But-"
"Part of the job," he repeated. "Now come on…you need to sit down and recover while you can. You've got one more match."
The professional part of Victoria's mind agreed. It began trying to shout down the other turbulent feelings in her head. But while her demeanor became more subdued, there were still powerful emotions inside her that refused to quiet completely.
"We can go see Mickie at the hospital tonight," Lance reassured her. "Everything will be fine."
"Sure," she answered in a quiet voice. "It's all fine." She took a deep breath. "All fine."
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To be continued…
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author's notes: Please review. Feedback is important. I'd like to know everyone's reactions to how things are going for Victoria, Mickie, Layla, etc.
I've not been feeling well so it took a long time before I could get back to this story. I'm pretty bummed about that and wish I could turn out the chapters at a faster pace.
In the real wrestling world, not a lot I feel like commenting on since the last chapter was posted...except: Yay Layla - new WWE Women's Champion! Nice to see that her hard work has gotten some rewards. Of course, if WWE decides to split up Layla and Michelle and has them become enemies...remember, I did it first in this story. :)