They sit snuggled together for a few more minutes before Ravyn stands up to get ready. She pulls her new gear out of her bag and starts getting dressed. Black shorts with silvery grey tornados on each side, a studded belt completes her trunks. The new top is a simple black halter top with silver stitching at the hems. Matching kick pads cover her black boots. She takes a look at herself in the full length mirror, adjusting the buckle of her belt. AJ slinks an arm around her waist as he sneaks up behind her. He steals a look at her in the mirror from over her shoulder.
"What do you think?" She asks as she catches his eye in their reflection.
He takes her question as an invitation to stare at her in the mirror. She smiles at his extended glance and watches his perfect lips respond, "You're beautiful. You're always beautiful," he grins impishly. "The gear is a nice touch."
She turns around and swats at him playfully. A quick kiss as she heads back to her bag to grab her leather jacket. Before her fingers can grasp the soft black leather AJ clears his throat. Slowly she looks back over her shoulder to see him holding a box wrapped with shiny silver paper. She stands up and takes the few steps over to him. He holds the package out to her with a huge grin.
"I thought you could use something special for your first Wrestlemania," his eyes sparkle.
Speechless she grips the glossy paper and stands on her toes to kiss him before tearing into the gift. A plain box lies under the paper making her wait just one extra moment to get inside. She sets it down onto a folding chair so she can lift the top off more easily. Inside she's greated by the smell of soft new leather. A black jacket folded neatly inside. Her fingers caress the buttery soft hide. Silver studs and spikes accent the shoulders and waist of the jacket. She lifts it carefully, admiring every stitch. Once it's out of the box she sees the back. A hand painted grey tornado with her 'Destroying Everything You Love' catchphrase splashed across the image in a bright white font with a thick black outline.
"It's... It's beautiful," she stammers, unable to look away from the garment.
"Well, are you gonna try it on?" He laughs. She smiles and lets him help her into the coat. "That looks even better on you than I expected," he admits.
She can't stop smiling as she admires herself in the mirror AJ wraps her title belt around her waist and fastens it in the back. One last look of admiration before he slaps her butt on the way out the door to hair and makeup. She sits patiently while the makeup mavens get her look perfect for the big event. Dark purple and black eye shadows with just a tiny shimmer of purple glitter. Her long colorful tresses loosely curled around her shoulders.
"Ten minutes Ravyn!" Road Dogg calls from the curtain to gorilla.
The girls finish her up and send her on her way to gorilla. She sees AJ waiting for her, knowing he had been keeping an eye on her the whole time. JJ and Dolph arrive just outside of gorilla. The girls look each other up and down fawning over each other's new gear. JJ's new tights are the perfect shade of electric pink, and so very very sparkly. Her name carefully stitched onto each leg and a matching top complete the look. Tyler and Zack join the group of friends waiting for the girls' match. The two women step into gorilla after kissing their boyfriends.
"Nervous?" Ravyn asks.
"Insanely nervous," JJ holds up a trembling hand. "My hands are shaking."
Ravyn holds up her own quaking arm and laughs, "Good, so it's not just me. Any idea what the finish is?"
"No idea. I'm having flashbacks to Survivor Series when I didn't find out until last minute if it was going to be me or Eva," JJ sighs.
"At least this time it's either me or you," Ravyn smiles as she hears JJ's music hit. "Guess I'll see you out there friend. Good luck!"
JJ gives Ravyn a quick hug, "Let's kill it out there!"
With that JJ bursts through the curtain to the top of the ramp. Ravyn watches her friend enter on the monitors set up in gorilla. Pyrotechnics explode from the top of the ramp as the baby face challenger gazes out upon the record setting crowd. She strides down the rainbow colored ramp confidently.
The bright rainbows that had lead JJ to the ring are chased away by grey. A clap of thunder followed by a tornado siren blare over the speakers. The image of a nice house with a white picket fence appears on the Titantron. From off to the side a massive tornado winds across the screen and demolishes the structure. The swirling storm migrates to the top of the ramp and the opening whispers of Ravyn's theme song ring out to the arena.
"Hey," she hears Road Dogg call to her as she's about to step out from the curtain. "Put the kid over!"
She smiles and nods. Ravyn lets the first few lyrics play before emerging from the back. The swirling vortex stays with the champion as she makes her way to the ring. She hops up on the apron and steps between the ropes and watches the grey circle engulf her opponents feet. Ravyn poses with her back to the camera and looks back over her shoulder to the hard cam with a sultry glare. She winks to the fans at home then looks up as she watches the Smackdown Live women's championship gets hoisted high above the ring.
The bell sounds and Ravyn immediately dives to the outside to go for a ladder. JJ follows her and cuts her off. They battle back and forth on the outside. The two best friends hit each other with everything they've got. The crowd is thoroughly behind the challenger as she seems to have the upper hand. JJ rolls into the ring, sets up a ladder in the center and begins to climb. She gets three quarters of the way up before Ravyn drop kicks the ladder sending her crashing back to the mat. Ravyn takes advantage of her downed opponent and resets the ladder. She doesn't get more than three rungs up before JJ slips underneath her, grabs her legs and hits her with a power bomb from the ladder.
They stay grounded for a few minutes before JJ knocks Ravyn to the outside. In a move of desperation Ravyn flings JJ into the steel steps. With the challenger laid out momentarily she fishes under the ring for a table. Instead she finds a steel chair that she tosses into the ring. She goes back under the apron to actually get a table. She sets it up in front of the announce table and stalks over to grab the redhead by a fistful of her hair.
She shoves JJ's head down between her thighs and sets her up for a power bomb. Ravyn lifts the other girl up but JJ starts fighting back with punches to Ravyn's head. Ravyn staggers backwards towards the ring with JJ up around her shoulders. JJ steps onto the apron and out of Ravyn's grasp, a kick to the chest scents the defending champion scrambling. Ravyn slides back into the ring and the girls scuffle again. Ravyn begins climbing the ladder while JJ is down, but the redhead just refuses to give up.
Ravyn drops from the ladder onto JJ giving her a tornado DDT. Not sure if the DDT will be enough Ravyn sets her friend up for a slingshot between the bottom and middle rope. She places a ladder on top of her for added emphasis. The crowd roars as Ravyn begins climbing the tallest ladder in the center of the ring. She reaches for the belt but fumbles with the strap. JJ's hand grabs her ankle and Ravyn looks down at her best friend.
"Push me over," Ravyn whispers harshly from under her mass of hair. "Through the table!"
JJ suddenly understands. She steps off the side of the ladder and pushes with everything she has, toppling the metal a-frame. Ravyn goes sailing through the air as the ladder bounces off of the top rope. She crashes through the table she had set up at ringside just minutes earlier.
Though the arena is buzzing the whole world seems to stop for Ravyn. From her spot on the floor amongst the rubble she watches her best friend climb to the top of the ladder and claim her very first championship. The bell rings behind her and she hears JJ's music play in the arena. Two referees help Ravyn to the back as JJ celebrates. Once she's backstage she thanks them for their assistance and hobbles her way to gorilla.
"You okay?" AJ asks as she limps over.
She smiles at his concern, "I'm fine. Just a little sore."
He kisses her forehead softly and pulls her in for a hug, "Sure you aren't hurt?" He double checks.
She nods, "I'm sure. Is J back yet?"
"Any moment now," he takes her hand and leads her into gorilla where Tyler, Dango, Vince, Hunter and Road Dogg are waiting.
The new champion comes back through the curtain with Dolph and Zack close behind her. Ravyn tackles her with a massive hug the moment she sees her. The two of them are the closest to happy tears as they've ever been. The rest of the crew congratulates her. Road Dogg pops a bottle of champagne splashing JJ with it. Ravyn watches her friend bask in the glory of being victorious. Satisfied with their performance Ravyn leads AJ out of gorilla to let JJ have her moment.
"Miss your belt already?" He jokes.
She smirks, "Well you know what they say. Life is like a game of Tetris. The mistakes pile up and the accomplishments disappear... I'll get it back eventually."
Thats the end for now. There's a possibility of an epilogue if anyone is interested. Thanks for sticking with this story for so long! Your reviews made writing it so much more fun.
And a friendly reminder that "Life's Zig Zags" is a companion piece to this story from JJ's POV.