This is the second of two chapters being posted today. Enjoy it. c:
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
DEAR entered first for the night, Ashley and Victoria entering. Ashley was all smiles about her win, making a triangle with her fingers as Victoria pretended to choke at the top of the ramp. The crowd began to boo them, but Ashley waved that off as she and Victoria took a step forward.
The crowd changed to cheering as Ashley and Victoria fell to the metal ramp and rolled to the end, and then their opponents for the night, Michelle McCool and Veronica, picked them up and threw them where they wanted them-Veronica throwing Ashley into the ring, and Michelle throwing Victoria to ringside.
"Ring the bell!" Veronica shouted as Ashley got back up to her feet from the surprise assault.
The referee did just that, and Veronica snapped up her leg to kick Ashley across the face, spinning her body around and using her other foot to kick her in the abdomen. Ashley fell back, but charged on Veronica, grabbing her to put her in a headlock.
Ashley fell back again as Veronica slammed her elbow into Ashley's sternum. By now, Victoria was cheering Ashley on from the corner, shouting to get tagged in, but Veronica made sure that she had Ashley in her own corner. She continued to attack Ashley continuously, even tagging Michelle in and then getting herself tagged back in, before throwing her at Victoria.
"I dare you to tag yourself in, but you'll get your ass kicked harder. Try me." Victoria looked between Ashley, on the floor, breathing hard and barely holding her hand up for a tag, and then to Veronica. It was a hard decision to make, between her friends and her enemies, but Veronica laughed before she could decide. "Too late."
Veronica grabbed Ashley by the leg and dragged her across the ring by her leg, back in the direction of her own corner. Ashley was still almost unmoving as Veronica climbed all the way to the top rope. She jumped off, spinning in midair and hitting a 450 Splash on Ashley, winning the pin and the match as she and Michelle left Ashley in the ring, walking around to get a microphone.
Victoria got into the ring and helped Ashley to her feet as Veronica moved to stand on top of the announce table, Michelle next to her.
"If I could have your attention, please." Veronica mimicked Michael Cole's droning voice, before laughing dryly and then beginning to really speak. "For those of you who couldn't guess, I dedicated this match tonight to my best friend, Kennedi, and to the man who she cares about more than air itself… and the man who returns those feelings. Edge."
Ashley had slowly recovered enough that she was watching Veronica now.
"Kennedi went to the hospital after Capitol Punishment, to check and make sure that she was alright. She was released this morning with permission to wrestle again starting next week on Raw Roulette. And what better way to bring back Kennedi, a hero, an inspiration… than to have her in a match against the woman who took her out. What do you say, Ashley?" Ashley went to respond, but Veronica held her hand up. "No, don't worry. Don't try to respond now. Just get back to us by next week, if you've got it in you."
Veronica handed the microphone to Jerry Lawler and jumped down, leaving ringside with Michelle, whose theme music was now playing.
The next night after the SmackDown taping, Edge pulled the girls aside and entered the Diva's locker room with the Divas and bodyguards in tow. He locked the door behind them and smiled as he did so. Everyone was looking at him like he was absolutely insane, including Kennedi and Veronica, who had no idea what he was up to.
"I know that I can't really train you, because of my neck, but I've brought in someone who can… the heavy artillery, if you will."
"And if we won't?" Kennedi smirked, but Edge just rolled his eyes and ignored her.
"This person is going to help you defeat DEAR… and they're in this room right now." The girls all spun around then, trying to find them, before the bathroom door clicked off of its frame and around the group of girls walked someone that… well, not many of them recognized. AJ jumped on the balls of her feet with a small smile, but no one else really recognized the woman standing in front of them now.
"It's time to begin your work, ladies. The arena's abandoned by now, but they have orders to leave the ring up. DEAR's already out of the building. Follow me." No one moved as this woman walked to the front of the room, opening the door and getting halfway through it before turning around. "Follow me, I said." She waited for anyone to move, and then walked back into the room, standing parallel with Tamina, who stood front and center.
"Hey! Attention all bimbos! Follow me to get your ass to the goddamn ring. From now on, we're leaving the punching bags alone, and we're not going to work with dummies anymore. Dummies are for girls with fake-ass extensions and weaves-which you're getting rid of." Edge smiled as this woman spoke to the girls, clearly confusing most of them. "From now on, I'm going to be calling the shots… so, move!"
"Um… no offense, really, but…" Tamina ran a hand over her hair and then looked into the eyes of the woman in front of her. "Who the hell are you? And why should we be listening to you at all right now? How do we know that you're-"
A punch directly to Tamina's jaw connected flawlessly, sending Tamina to the concrete and leaving her there, holding the side of her face. The Divas around her stepped back, leaving an indent in the lineup where she lay.
"That's why you should listen to me. Because I'm the only Diva that Trish ever feared, I'm a multi-time Women's Champion from back before your two favorite bitches called Lay-Cool cut the title in a merger match. My name's Jazz." AJ smiled and bounced up and down before getting a glare, and cooling back down. Michelle and Layla exchanged a look of slight sadness and definite confusion before Jazz continued to speak. "I'm here to teach you how to fight DEAR and how to take what they give you, every punch, kick, and grapple, without falling down and crying about them pulling your hair or you breaking your nails. Got it?"
The girls nodded together, and Jazz snapped, "Follow me to the ring!"
They rushed after Jazz then, following quickly as she led them down to ringside. Indeed, the barriers had been stripped down, the doors were closed, and the only things left were a single ring of lights above the ring, and the ring itself.
"Are we going to practice post-show every week?" Nikki asked, her head tilting somewhat sideways as Jazz turned to face her. "I mean, that seems sort of exhausting. Why not on the off-"
"The off-days. I know what you were about to say, but you can shut up before you say it. We're not going to be practicing like this all the time, but when we can get the ring, we're using it. It's better than the gym, which is where you girls will be spending much of your time. At independent wrestling school gym areas, working out and dealing with taking hits."
The girls nodded, AJ still intent on learning from Jazz, before she snapped her fingers and pointed at four girls. "Alicia Fox, Kelly Kelly, Michelle McCool, AJ Lee. Get in the ring for a tag team match, now. If I see you do something wrong when I order you to do it, you all do pushups, before I come into the ring to correct your mistakes. I'll be the ref." The four girls slid into the ring and teamed up, Alicia and Kelly against Michelle and AJ.
Jazz turned back to the other girls. "Girls on the floor, you're running some laps around the audience area. Bodyguards, go fuck yourselves elsewhere, I don't need you." The bodyguards quickly backed out as Jazz continued to boss the girls about. "I want to see you lap the room twice, twenty jumping jacks, and then fifteen pushups. If you aren't breathing hard by then, you're repeating."
Jazz turned back to the girls in the ring, who had completely prepared for their match. "Ding!"
A few hours later, it was well into the early morning, and most of the girls lay in the locker room.
AJ, Kaitlyn, Veronica, and Kennedi were discussing how much they could learn from such a talented veteran like Jazz. Kennedi brought up the strain she'd faced, but she was more exhilarated than tired.
Tamina and Natalya sat back-to-back on a bench, leaning against each other as they untied their boots and got ready to take quick showers.
"I thought Samoans were bad, but they're nothing compared to Jazz… my jaw still hurts…"
"Your head ought to hurt, too." Tamina swatted Natalya on the top of her head as she stood up, Nat turning to face her. "That was like the Hart Dungeon in there… but worse."
"I'm just happy I got to participate!" Eve laughed, pulling her hair up into a bun. "I'm covered in sweat but beyond excited."
"Where'd the Bellas go? I think Jazz hated them almost as much as she hated me…" Kelly frowned, pulling a tank top over her bra as she walked back in from the showers. "She was totally singling me out when we were out there, did you see that?" Just as Michelle was about to respond to Kelly, the door opened, revealing Jazz.
"That's because when you were 19 years old, you had no wresting training to say the least, and the only reason you got hired was because you looked good in a bikini and liked taking your clothes off." Jazz snatched a clean towel and walked into the showers, pulling a curtain around her as she did this, but still speaking to Kelly. "Trish made the transition when I kicked her ass back then. You didn't the first time, let's see if you can do any better now, Blondie."
Oh, you didn't know that Jazz is one of the most hardcore, kick-ass women to ever wrestle under contract with the WWE? Well, now you do. Prepare for the journey of a lifetime under Jazz's reign, girls. It's gonna be fun. Let me know what you think in a review, or a favorite. I'm looking forward to it.