WOW, I am so sorry. Talk about an absence. However, I'm back, and this fic will continue to be updated now! The way that 's uploading functions now looks a lot different from how it used to and I now have no way to separate the sections of the chapters, so I'm going to have to just block quote between them or something. I'll figure it out. Thank you for sticking around and for your patience, and without further ado, some more of The Return: Remixed!
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
In DEAR's dressing room a few minutes later, the swimsuit girls had gone into their private bathroom to change, and were in their underwear, getting re-dressed in their designer jeans and t-shirts.
Trish was still livid.
"I can't fucking believe Jerry Lawler would do something like that to me… I am a record-setting, seven-time Women's Champion! No one has come close to beating me in this day and age! No one!" She threw her bathing suit to the ground, and Mickie wordlessly picked it up to shove it into Trish's bag. "I mean, what the fuck was he thinking?! He used to love me-he used to love all of us-the way that he loved them, what the hell changed?! We're all just as sexy now as we were, then! And what the hell was that out there-we lost a brawl against them?! Being outnumbered has never been a problem, what was that bullshit?!"
"Trish." Lita spoke then, and the other seven girls turned around, including Trish, to listen to her. "It's not your fault or mine, it's none of their faults." She motioned to the other girls, who Trish had been ready to chew out before Lita had spoken. "It's the Diva's Army. They're different now than they were when we got here. They've changed and improved. I think they've been getting training."
"It's probably Edge-he said they were his army, after all." Ashley had just finished putting her hair back with a clip so that it was held out of her face.
Lita shook her head at this idea, however. "No, no… Edge retired because of his neck problems. Besides… they know all of our styles now, and they know how to defend against us because of that… There's a former Diva helping them out, there has to be."
After the show, the Diva's Army had been redressed in their gear or workout clothes, and ready to leave, when Edge walked into their locker room after a few knocks.
"Girls, put on your camouflage or your sweats or whatever, we're leaving."
"What? We haven't gone out yet, babe." Kennedi was in the middle of stretching, and looked up from her center splits. "We've got to go out there. Isn't the ring still set up?"
"No, I told them to take it down with the schedule-their limo hasn't left yet. DEAR is still in the building, and they're keeping a watchful eye out." Edge helped Kennedi to her feet as the girls moved to gather around him. "They know you're being trained, now that you've beaten them. We're moving all of the practices off-site from now on, and we're booking in hotels away from DEAR. Across town, if we can manage it."
Wednesday morning, on July 6th, the girls were in Tucson, Arizona, from the SmackDown taping, and didn't have plans to leave until Thursday. DEAR had packed up and their private jet was already on its way to a photo shoot for WWE magazine's "Jerk of the Month" spread, so the Diva's Army was free to practice.
They had taken up residence, privately, in an independent wrestling school for the day. Thanks to Edge and Jazz, this had been effortless, and the owners were sworn to secrecy.
The girls were doing push-ups and pull-ups, lifting weights, and trading off different colored arm bands that the group had invested in to fight against red for "Victoria," brown for "Mickie," and other members of dear based on the color of the band. In the ring, Kelly had just begun a practice match against Kaitlyn, and had taken the lead at Jazz's instruction.
Kelly whipped Kaitlyn into the corner, and waited just a moment to hear an order, a move, whatever, that Jazz would tell her to do. Instead, she heard, "What would you do next?"
Kelly paused, and then moved into a back handspring elbow smash, which dropped Kaitlyn down, arms on the second rope. "You took too long. Try again. What would you do next, now?"
Kelly, without a second thought, spun around, calling for the Stinkface, and stepped back, hitting it on Kaitlyn flawlessly. She didn't expect thanks or congratulations from Jazz, but she certainly didn't expect what happened next.
"What the hell was that?!" Jazz shouted, getting into the ring as Kaitlyn rolled out. "Answer me! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, BLONDIE?!"
"That was the Stinkface."
"I know good and well what the Stinkface is, but what the hell did you do it for, Blondie?!"
"I don't see what the problem is!" Kelly raising her voice at Jazz caused some of the other girls to slow down what they were doing, still continuing but watching intently. "The crowd cheers for me whenever I do it! They love it."
"The fans only cheer for it because you're a hot blonde, Kelly, and they just want to fuck you. As for what the problem with it is… fine." Jazz moved to stand where Kaitlyn had, and dropped down to sit in the corner, arms on the second rope, watching Kelly. "Do it to me."
"Jazz, I don't know if I can-"
"Blondie, just do it!"
"My name is Kelly!"
"Are you scared, Blondie!? Scared this proves that you're as worthless as the next blonde bimbo standing in line at a modeling agency?!"
"Stop it!"
"Then hit me with the Stinkface!"
Kelly turned around and began to back up, the girls around the ring completely stopped in shock as she did. Jazz used the top ropes to pull herself to her feet and grabbed Kelly by her hair, throwing her to the mat and beginning to beat her within an inch of her life with her feet. "Never turn your back on your opponent, do you hear me?!" Kelly couldn't respond, crying out and flailing, trying to defend herself against Jazz's feet before Jazz shifted to punching her in the jaw, shoulders, arms, and face. "Never! Turn! Your! Back! On! Your! Opponent!"
Jazz kicked Kelly in the side, finally, leaving her beneath the bottom rope. Kelly, bleeding from the mouth by then, started to cry as she slid out of the ring. "I can't take this anymore!"
"Can't take what anymore, Blondie?!"
"I can't take you, and the yelling, and the ridicule! I'm leaving! I quit the Diva's Army, I quit!" Kelly turned around, tears flowing from her eyes as Alicia Fox ran after her to the locker room. "I quit!" she screamed again as she opened the door and slammed it behind her.
"Kelly, come on, you can't leave." Kelly had wiped the blood from her face, but was still crying, as she packed her bag. "You can't go. What will we do without you?"
"I'm sure Jazz thinks you're better off without me." Kelly pulled her UnderArmour tank top over her head and replaced it with a flowing floral shirt instead. "And what Jazz thinks counts the most, right?"
"Kelly-"
"Edge didn't defend me, did you notice that? No one did. You didn't, Eve didn't. Eve was trying to get the ring rust off of her and was doing pushups, and she didn't even bother to say a word. No one said a word. You're all afraid of Jazz, too, admit it!"
"Of course we're afraid of Jazz, but do you want DEAR to take over the company?"
"At this point?" Kelly slung her black workout bag over her shoulder and wiped a tear from her cheek. "At this point, they can have the company. I'm gone."
"Well, that's wonderful, isn't it." Jazz paced back and forth in front of the line of Diva's Army women, now, including Alicia Fox, who had returned after Kelly left. "We're better off without her. She's worth nothing to our cause. Isn't that right?"
The session had finished in practically silence after Kelly left, excluding the other practice matches which had gone on, and the trade-offs for who would be Trish, Lita, et cetera, from DEAR, for the practicing outside of the ring.
Eve stepped forward, and Jazz turned to face her. "With Kelly gone, since I haven't been wrestling, I'd like to take her place in the Diva's Army. I'm medically cleared."
"You haven't been in a ring in months, Eve."
"I know, Nattie, but I've been working off the ring rust, slowly. I should be fine."
"Should be fine, huh? Alright, you've got yourself a place."
"Welcome to the Diva's Army." Edge finished for Jazz. "Dismissed."
Ooh, gosh. Drama everywhere. Kelly quitting the Diva's Army, Eve stepping up to take her place after a long time out of the ring... how do you think it'll turn out? Let me know!