The argument Victoria had presented was thought provoking to say the least. Lance couldn't simply dismiss it out of hand.
But, after some thought, he did finally discard it.
"It's true what you say about the women who've worked with Trish," he admitted. "And it's odd, I'll give you that. But she's not evil."
Victoria threw her hands up in frustration. "She is! She's unnatural!"
Lance shook his head. "I know her. I've worked with her."
"Yes," Victoria said suddenly. "Yes you have." A thoughtful look appeared on her face, though the disturbing gleam still shone in her eyes. "Tell me Lance…be honest. Who's a better wrestler? Trish or me?"
He gazed at her quizzically, surprised by the question.
"Answer me," she went on. "Be objective, and never mind about who's stronger or tougher. Just from a pure wrestling standpoint…me or Trish?"
"Trish is an excellent wrestler," he began. "And her record-"
"Forget her record," Victoria interrupted. "Who's the better WRESTLER in your opinion?"
Lance shrugged. "If someone held a gun to my head to get an answer, I'd say you were the better technically."
"Because I AM," Victoria declared triumphantly. "And I'm bigger and stronger than her too. Now who's better technically, Trish or Molly? No, don't even answer that," she laughed. "We all know that nobody can match Molly for technique…and she's stronger than Trish too."
"What are you getting at?" Lance asked.
"Mickie is a better wrestler than Trish and faster," she replied. "Gail is better and more agile. Melina is at least as good technically and also more flexible than Trish. Ivory has more experience. So how is it that Trish dominated all of us when it came to wins and losses? Don't you see? She's not natural!"
Lance was quiet for a long while. Then he looked Victoria directly in the eyes. "Please, stop this."
"Why can't you see that I'm right?" she demanded.
"I'm not going to try talking about all the intangibles that play a part in wrestling," he responded. "And I'm not going to try and analyze Trish's level of success compared to anyone else. But I am going to tell you that you sound completely unhinged when you go on about her like this."
Victoria began to shout angrily but Lance, surprisingly, shouted back. The unexpected response silenced her.
"You're an intelligent woman," he said. "Too intelligent to buy into these paranoid theories about Trish. She's not some sort of witch or demon. You need to stop obsessing over her like this."
Seeing that Lance couldn't be convinced, the frustrated woman turned to Mickie.
"You believe me, right?" she asked hopefully. "You know Trish isn't normal."
The brunette's face wore a downcast expression and she refused to meet her lover's gaze as she answered.
"I don't want to talk about this now," she said in a small voice before turning and leaving the room.
******'******
After Lance had left, Victoria sought out Mickie. She found her outside sitting underneath the stately old oak tree in the backyard. Neither of them spoke as Victoria sat down next to her.
"You agree with me about Trish, don't you?" she finally asked Mickie.
The shorter woman let out a tired sounding sigh. "You know, for the past few years I've tried to not think about…the past…with Trish. Everyone told me it was healthy to just move on. After all, I was the one with the problem. The one who'd lost her mind over someone…I could never have."
Victoria's jaw clenched. Even though Mickie's one-time infatuation with Trish was common knowledge, a strong sense of possessiveness surged up in Victoria as she listened.
"Yeah, I had to accept that I was the one in the wrong. And once I did that I was 'better'." Mickie paused. "But after listening to you…and thinking back to how things used to seem to me…I think you might be right. Maybe it wasn't me. Maybe it was always Trish's fault for everything."
She raised her gaze up and turned to face Victoria. "But I don't care anymore."
"What? But-"
Mickie cut her off. "No matter who was really to blame, all I know is that the past couple of years I've been happier because I haven't been obsessing over Trish." She raised a hand and brushed it against Victoria's cheek. "And the past few months, I've been happier than ever…because I have you."
Victoria's rage towards Trish faded as she heard her love's words.
"I think it's best to just put the past behind us," Mickie continued. "And I think I can. But…I'm worried that you can't."
That larger woman put her arms around Mickie and held her tightly. If one could have looked into Victoria's eyes at that moment there would have been no trace of madness.
"If I can just end this thing with Trish," Victoria whispered as tears began to run down her cheeks. "I don't think I'll be able to move on. Not until it's settled in the ring once and for all." She paused. "Not until I've proved I'm better than her. Does that make me a bad person?"
"No," Mickie answered softly. "You're not bad."
"But I have to beat her. I have to."
"I know." Mickie kissed Victoria gently on the cheek. "You need the feud to end and then you can move on. We both can move on…together."
The thought of that appealed greatly to Victoria, but also triggered an almost overwhelming worry within her. She did believe that ending her long war with Trish vital to her future happiness.
But she still had no idea how to accomplish that goal with one match.
******'******
Talk of the Trish Stratus and Victoria match was seemingly everywhere. The FWF benefitted greatly from the publicity, but that didn't mean that everyone was happy about it.
Michelle McCool, for example, was rather annoyed.
And at the next television broadcast, with Kong at her side, she voiced her feelings quite clearly during an in-ring interview segment.
"Why is everyone so interested in a couple of has-beens?" she asked in a mocking tone. "I'm the FWF World Champion. I should be in the main event match at MegaClash…but I don't even have an opponent yet!"
The crowd jeered, but McCool paid them no mind as she went on.
"Fortunately for all of you, I am the most fair-minded and courageous woman in the wrestling business today," she declared. "Because I'm going to determine the number one contender for my title right here tonight!"
This statement was intriguing enough to quiet the crowd's disdain for a moment. They began to listen more intently.
"I am going to give anyone who's brave enough a chance for a title shot. Any woman in the back, if you want to face me at MegaClash, all you have to do is come out here right now…and face Kong!"
The crowd began to jeer once more as Michelle detailed the 'rules' of her challenge. While it was true that anyone was free to come out and face Kong, to secure a title shot they would have to defeat the dangerous woman in five minutes or less. It was clear that McCool's plan was less about finding a challenger for the pay-per-view and more about luring out someone for Kong to brutalize.
But that didn't mean that there weren't a number of wrestlers backstage who were willing to take the risk.
"I'm going out there," Beth Phoenix said with a determined look in her eyes.
"Wait," Layla warned. "Are you sure?"
"You bet I am."
"But you know Michelle isn't going to let this be a fair fight," the British beauty pointed out.
"So what else is new?" Beth countered. "And I'm itching to take a shot at Kong anyway. I'm going to take care of her, and then crush Michelle at MegaClash for the title."
"Well, let me go out there with you at least," Layla said. "I'll watch Michelle and make sure she stays outside the ring."
Beth smiled and patted her friend on the back. "Let's do it, Lay."
However in the time it took the two to make their plans, another wrestler rushed by them.
"Too slow, bee-yotches! BAM!" ODB laughed before heading through the curtain and out towards the ring.
Beth cursed in frustration while Layla looked to her friend apologetically.
"I'm sorry," the shorter woman said. "I should have just gone out there with you instead of slowing you down by talking about it first."
"Ah, it's okay," Beth said. "I'm going to tangle with Kong eventually." She patted Layla's head affectionately. "And I'd rather have more than five minutes for a match anyway."
Layla grinned and pointed to a nearby monitor. "Well, let's watch and see how ODB does."
******'******
The fans in the arena were more than happy to see ODB rush out to accept McCool's challenge. The wild brawler took a swig from her lucky whiskey flask and then high-fived fans as she made her way to the ring.
Once the bell rang, ODB showed no hesitation in going on the attack. Kong responded with equal aggression and the two collided in a flurry of hard hitting blows and wild swinging arms. But while adrenaline and the support of the crowd bolstered ODB's fighting spirit, the size and strength advantage of the seemingly invulnerable Kong was too much to overcome.
"I think that last shot stunned ODB," Ivory commented from the announcer's table.
"Yeah, it's not a good idea to try and match power with Kong," JBL added. "Whoa! Look at that! Kong just picked up ODB like she was weightless!"
Indeed, the mammoth woman hoisted her groggy opponent high into the air and then brought her crashing down to the mat.
"Awesome Bomb!" Ivory called out the name of the dreaded maneuver. "But Kong's not going for a cover!"
"It looks like she wants to dish out some more punishment," JBL said as Kong again picked up ODB, this time holding the brawler upside down. "Oh no, not this!"
"She's setting her up for the Implant Buster," Ivory observed.
"Exactly!" JBL exclaimed. "And with a gal built like ODB that move could cause a major explosion!"
Ivory reached over and smacked her broadcast partner's arm. "Will you be serious?"
Even as that question was asked, Kong crushed ODB to the mat and then turned her over for the pin.
"Well, it was a game effort," JBL observed. "But it looks like ODB won't be challenging Michelle at MegaClash."
This was a fact that McCool herself was stressing to the fallen ODB in the ring. She laughed and mocked the brawler as ODB crawled over to the corner and grabbed her lucky whisky flask. ODB took a drink as the champion continued to taunt her…and then she spat a mouthful of whisky into Michelle's face.
"Shut the hell up, ya skank," the defiant brawler growled at the mortified blonde.
The fans in the arena laughed, but their mirth faded quickly when Michelle directed Kong to attack ODB once more. The brawler was dragged back into the middle of the ring and then both Michelle and her monstrous lackey repeatedly kicked the all-but-helpless woman.
"Somebody needs to stop this!" Ivory complained. "The match is over!"
But Michelle had no intention of stopping, she was too angry from being spat on. And Kong simply reveled in the violence. The referee was tossed from the ring when he tried to halt the beating. Ringside workers tried to enter the ring to restore order, but Kong and McCool knocked them back to the floor before they could step through the ropes.
Michelle then took a moment to slide out of the ring herself and grab a steel chair which she tossed into the ring.
"HURT HER!" she yelled to Kong.
"No!" Ivory cried out from the announcer's table as she saw Kong position the chair around ODB's leg, much as she had done with Melissa weeks earlier. "Not again!"
"Security is coming out now," JBL said as he spied a number of personnel head out from the backstage area.
Unfortunately, Michelle saw them as well. She grabbed another steel chair and swung it threateningly at the approaching men…keeping them at bay and blocking their path to the ring. Kong smiled cruelly as she prepared to crush her fallen foe's leg.
Seeing how dire the situation had become, more security guards emerged from backstage and rushed towards the ring. Other wrestlers came out as well, led by Beth and Layla.
"The cavalry is on the way," JBL commented.
Ivory however, kept her focus on Kong and ODB. "They're too far away," she said. "They won't be able to…Damn it!"
To JBL's surprise, his broadcast partner stood up and ripped off her headset microphone.
"What are you doing?"
But Ivory's only answer was an angry yell of "This isn't happening again!" as she ran to the ring.
Coming from an unexpected direction, the wrestler-turned-announcer had no problem in catching Kong unaware. She leapt on the large woman from behind and was just in time to prevent Kong from breaking ODB's leg. Ivory struck at Kong's head repeatedly with one arm from her piggybacked position, but this seemed to do little more than annoy the dangerous giantess.
The crafty veteran was not above improvisation however. Before Kong could shake her off, Ivory used her fingernails to rake her foe's eyes. This caused an unusual cry of pain from the normally silent woman. With Kong momentarily blinded, Ivory hopped off her back and then boxed the large woman's ears. This further disoriented the giant and threw off her equilibrium. The crowd roared its approval as they saw the feared Kong trip and fall.
By this time, Michelle had noticed the surprising turn of events and scrambled back into the ring. But Ivory caught her with a kick to the gut, doubling the tall blonde over. With McCool in that position before her, Ivory's old instincts took over. She reached out and grabbed both sides of Michelle's head, entwining her fingers in the blonde's expensive extensions…and then driving McCool's face straight down to the mat with a perfectly executed facebuster. A move once known as the…
"Poison Ivory!" JBL shouted out the maneuver's name as he continued to call the action. "Yes, the FWF Champion has just eaten a mouthful of canvas thanks to my broadcast partner's old finisher."
The ring filled up with security guards and wrestlers after that. Kong had recovered, but found herself forced to retreat from overwhelming numbers. Michelle though remained facedown on the mat a while longer, stunned. When she came to her senses the first thing she noticed was the pain from her newly broken nose. But that sensation was replaced by anger when she saw the several long strands of artificial hair that had been torn from her scalp. And unintended consequence of Ivory's finishing move.
Though truth be told, Ivory wasn't exactly apologetic about it.
"YOU!" Michelle screamed as she pointed to Ivory. She kept screaming even as she was pushed out of the ring by security. "You'll pay for this!"
"I've had enough of your crap Michelle!" the veteran responded, not intimidated in the least. "You want to try and cripple someone? Try that with me! It'll be the last thing you do!"
Further shouts and threats were exchanged as the broadcast came to an end.
******'******
To be continued…
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author's notes: Please review. I crave feedback. Seriously, I do. What do you think of the latest developments?