Disclaimer: I do not own, know, or represent anyone from any real world wrestling organization. This is just a fan fiction, and the portrayal, likeness, etc are just character depictions and in no way represent the actual personalities of the men and women in the stories. It's just a little story.
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Chapter 3; The Diva Rumble!
A whole day passed since Melina and Shelly got the notice to do their introduction video. A whole day had passed since Melina told Shelly to meet up with her for some training. A whole day had passed since Melina even saw Shelly, and she was practically hyperventilating thinking that she'd have to forfeit her spot in the rumble due to Shelly not showing up.
Smackdown had started taping, and Melina was pacing back and forth in the halls, dressed to compete in her orange and black leopard print attire with her fur boots. She was furious, worried, and extremely anxious. All the girls were in the arena, some were hanging out, some were eating the catered food, and some were warming up for the big rumble. There were women everywhere, and it was no shock that a lot of the Smackdown guys were gravitating toward the little section of the backstage area they took up to try their hand at flirting.
Melina wasn't worried about getting hit on; her relationship was secure. She couldn't even sit down and watch her boyfriend make his return to the ring against Dolph Ziggler.
As she paced, she caught glimpses of young upstarts like Paige, Ivalese Valez, Audrey Marie, and her old nemesis Alicia Fox hanging around. However, it was an overly eager voice that broke Melina's moments of solitude.
"Omigosh! Melina!"
A voice called out and began screaming in joy, which absolutely scared the living hell out of Miss Perez.
When she turned around, she was being smothered by a tight hug from a woman she didn't identify yet. She couldn't breathe at all – it felt like she was getting a bear hug from Vader or someone of that nature. When the woman pulled back with her wide open-mouthed smile, she recognized her to be none other than Mickie James.
"Omigosh, it's been so long!" Mickie said as she held Melina's arms and gave her a quick look-over. "You look great!"
Mickie was cool in Melina's book. She had a very good ring presence, skill, and seemed to have the 'Cena' mindset when things got negative…which was GOOD! However, Mickie had one flaw with Melina…, she never forgot that crazy side of her was somewhere in the mix. She was always cautious about what she said around Mickie in hopes not to set her off and accidentally ignite 'Dark Mickie' as she called it.
"Ohh…hey! Thanks…!" Melina responded with a smile. "I didn't see your name on the um…Diva Rumble. What are you doing here…?"
Mickie cackled and released Melina. "Nope! No partner for me! I got a chance to do something else! Finish up some unfinished business! I'm gonna be shooting over to RAW after this, but tonight I team with Jawn," Her pronunciation of 'John' always sounded like that to Melina. "And Miz tonight sooo…just getting some momentum!" Mickie looked over Melina's shoulder. "Oh, where's your partner?"
Melina froze.
She had to access her file cabinet of amazing lies. There in cabinet 2D, section F, she found the perfect lie. "She went for a run around the arena to get warmed up. It's kind of her ritual, you know? I should get to stretching so I don't get hurt out there, now that I think about it."
"Omigosh," Mickie gasped as she placed her hands over her mouth. "Yes, please do. Don't get hurt! I would totally be your partner, Melina. I think we could kick serious butt together! If things don't work out, look me up okay?"
Melina just half-nodded and half-smiled. It wasn't like Mickie James was a bad choice of partner…, but again…after her thing with Trish, she wasn't sure she wanted to put herself in that position.
After Mickie skipped off, Melina noted the sound of some arguing nearby. It seemed Molly Holly and Maryse were not getting along too famously. After glancing over her shoulder…Mel casually…snuck closer to the duo and pretended to be getting a water bottle. The entire time she was eavesdropping.
"I get top billing! Do you know who I am?!" Molly shouted at Maryse as she pointed to her own chest. "I am a real Women's Champion! I am the beauty of this team, you're beautiful by association, got it?!"
"Whatever…" Maryse rolled her eyes and put her hand up in front of Molly's face. "Molly…you are so lucky you amuse me. Come on…you…?" She motioned her hand from head to toe. "More beautiful than…" She flicked her platinum-blonde hair over her shoulder and pursed her lips firmly. "…Moi?"
"Listen Pepe LePue or whatever the hell your name is." Molly interrupted her while pointing in her face. "You live with me, you travel with me, you learn from me, and you will respect my accomplishments! Speak English, too!"
"…I am." Maryse suddenly looked lost.
Molly put her fist on her hip and shook her head. "What are you, Russian or something? Look, whatever. Listen Ryse-Cup , when you're my partner, you don't spend your time doing a stupid hair flip. You spend your time throwing people over the top rope, and making sure I get the last elimination in. We work as a unit, as one. I get to throw Victoria over the top too. No exceptions."
Maryse scoffed. "…Whatever…."
As Maryse's hand came up again, Molly smacked it aside and shouted. "What is this, 1992?! Stop that! It's stupid! You're-…"
Molly paused as she saw Velvet Sky and Angelina Love…who were known as The Beautiful People walk by…having a bit of a laugh over the arguing women.
Molly and Maryse both lowered their eyebrows at the passing women…and once they were out of earshot…Molly and Maryse spoke at the same time.
"They're getting eliminated first."
As Melina was backing away, she nearly ran into Isis the Amazon and the rather…gothic looking Daffney walking by her. Since she didn't exactly want a confrontation right now, Melina continued on her way, but the partners watched her for a bit longer, and she could feel their eyes burning holes on the back of her head. The two of them seemed like a mis-match, but the mix of Daffney's experience and Isis' power and willingness to learn just felt extremely dangerous to her.
Something inside was just willing her away from them to keep herself from looking like the weak link in any opposition examining the two were doing.
She saw Sarita and Kharma, and the two were isolated from the rest of the teams. They seemed entirely at peace with one another sitting side by side on some of the prop crates in the back. The two of them were just as vicious if not more than any other team in present company. However, before Melina could take another step in their direction to head toward the entry way where she was sure John would be returning through any minute now, she was stopped when someone grabbed her wrist.
"Mel!" Shelly called out to her as she spun her partner around. "There you are! I've been lookin' all over for you chica!" Shelly was dressed to compete with her cut off T-Shirt that had her photograph and name across it. It exposed her abdomen and had a generous cut in the top to allow her cleavage breathing room. Around her hips she had on a black pair of short trunks with skull designs along them with a thick belt fastened around her hips. Of course, this made the perfect presentation for the tattoo on her lower stomach.
Melina was dumbfounded. She curled the knuckle on her right index finger and rapidly rubbed it against her ear as if she was unclogging it. "I'm-sorry-what?"
Shelly held her arms out and awaited a hug that never came. Rather than awkwardly stand there, she kept talking. "I was waitin' for you down at the thing! Remember, we were supposed to get ready, girl! Where you been?"
"I've been waiting for you since -…!"
Melina was cut off as Shelly threw a hug around her, continuing to draw attention to the two of them with how loudly she spoke. "Heeyyy! Haha! Hey," She pulled back and shook Melina by her shoulders. "What's important is that we're together now and we're ready for this match!" Shelly clinched her teeth and spoke lower so Melina could hear her. "Now let's talk strategy and get the hell out of here!"
Before Melina could react to Shelly's odd behavior, she was pulled into a semi-headlock and dragged off away from the others and closer toward one of the less populated areas around the catering tables where some fruits were sitting in a large basket.
Mel pushed Shelly off of her and brought both her hands up to fix her long black hair. As the curtain of lovely hair was parted, Melina's expression was equally confused as she was annoyed. "Okay…okay. What…in the hell is going on with you?"
Shelly grabbed two of the green apples and took a bite out of one as Melina talked. Of course ,she was chewing it rather obnoxiously until she was done. "You're tryin' to get us disqualified by saying I didn't show."
"You're trying to get us disqualified!" Melina gave a hushed yell at her partner while poking her on the chest with a single finger.
Shelly offered the second apple to her partner, but Melina snatched it and placed it back in the basket of fruit. Instead of start a fuss about the rejected apple, Miss Martinez began explaining the situation. "I was trying to get us a win. I spent a lot of time hanging out with our competition. Then I spent time in the laundry mat with my phone, watching all of their matches on Youtube. I'm a student of the game…, playing this smart."
"Playing it smart is training and working hard! Sitting and watching videos isn't going to make you wrestle better..!" Melina was getting a feeling she should just go hunt down Mickie James…but the big match was going to start as soon as John's was over. There was no time…
Melina began taking deep breaths as Shelly seemed absolutely fine with her methods in approaching the match.
As Mel was keeping her anger intact, Shell swallowed another big chunk of her apple and spoke with a slap to her partner's shoulder. "You worry too much. You act like this is just you going in there alone! Trust me, I got your back."
Shelly's word was going to be put to the test, as within seconds of her speech, John Morrison was victorious in his match. The only sore spot Melina has was the fact that she missed his big win, but immediately the excitement of competing in the ring again overtook her. The feeling was comparable to leaving a sauna and falling right into a freezing cold pool; the rush was refreshing but at the same time incredibly terrifying.
From the moment J-Mo came through the curtains in the back, Melina knew they only had seconds to get ready to rock. She spent only a couple seconds with John – of course giving him a big hug on his successful match despite how sweaty he was. Once the announcer introduced the Diva's Battle Royal and its rules, Melina and Shelly were given a number for their entry. They were number fifteen, close to dead last to enter the ring.
All of the entrances had to be fast…they were going to start the match with an overly crowded ring. Each entrance took around…twelve seconds at most, and Melina was sure over half of them were blanketed by commercial breaks as usual. However, this particular situation was highly understandable.
When Melina and Shelly's time came, she heard the familiar riffs of her old theme song and immediately got in her zone. She emerged from the back as if she'd practiced every step for hours, and Shelly oddly enough shared a similar gait. No red carpet or paparazzi this time, but Melina still struck her dramatic pose at the height of the ramp, and Shelly well…she did her thing. It was a little less PG with her Sable-worthy grinding in the air while stroking her hands down over her frame.
However, accidental or not, the two stepped forward at the exact same time and maintained an even pace. Melina pointed out over the crowd to the many hands reaching out for her. She moved to the side of the ramp to tag a couple of hands, but Shelly had her eyes trained on the other teams in the ring with her lips puckered out and her dark lined eyelids lowered. While Melina was being the show-woman of the two, Shelly was as serious as Lance Storm in a staring contest.
There was no time for Melina to do her trademark split, so the two women climbed into the ring and under the middle rope to join the anxious and nervous females waiting on the last entrants.
Shelly and Melina stayed in the center of the pack of she-wolves, as each corner had been occupied by teams, and even along the ropes. There was no safe place in the ring, but arguably Melina and Shelly were the safest as they were near no ring ropes at the time being.
The last entrants were Mio and Io Shirai – the Japanese sisters who were wasting no time to run down to the ring. They both hopped onto the apron, then flung their bodies up onto the top ropes. The young women dove into the ring and delivered a cross body attack into the crowd!
The bell sounded – and Melina was taken down as Io Shirai landed on her as well as Maryse and Tamina. All Melina could hear was the rumbling of the ring and the roar of the crowd as the brawl broke out. It was absolute chaos – the ring was packed end from end and all the women were just swinging at whatever moved!
Once Melina got up, she felt one of the infamous stiff kicks from Mio Shirai right into her stomach. It felt like all of the air shot out of her lungs as she doubled over. The next thing she knew she was on the mat again after Mio's shin smacked her over the side of the head.
Seeing her partner was in danger, Shelly pulled herself away from chopping Shaul Guerrero across her chest to assist Melina. "Mel!" She shouted out as she dove over a toppled Maryse to crack her forearm over the head of Mio. Shelly's success didn't last long, however, as she was soon clubbed in the back by Naomi Night and taken down!
Melina gained her wits about herself…and a wild swing of her arm clobbered Ric Flair's daughter Charlotte across the jaw. Feeling lucky, Melina noticed a vulnerable target in Shaul Guerrero who had been on the wrong side of Isis' fist. Mel charged her and slammed her forearm across her chest to clothesline her clean over the top and to the outside!
Elimination number one was made! "Shaul and Charlotte Flair are eliminated!" The announcer called once the official clarified both her feet hit the ground. Not three seconds after the elimination, Naomi Night managed to hike Maria from the turnbuckle to the outside of the ring as well!
The buzzer sounded and the announcer spoke. "Maria and Lena Yada are Eliminated!"
Shelly's heart was pounding in her chest. She was regretting not hitting the gym already, as she was feeling like taking a five minute break to get her head in the game. People were throwing fists left and right, and Shelly ended up having a short conversation with Ayako Hamada's forehead after a vicious head-butt.
Dazed and confused, Shelly backed into a corner…and was immediately pounced by AJ Lee! The small woman was all over her with Hamada, trying to hike Shelly up over the corner!
"Mel!" Shelly called out as she saw her partner focusing on trading forearm shots with Sereena across the ring.
The buzzer sounded again – Tamina had successfully caught Io Shirai in mid-leap and dumped her clean over the top! The impact was violent and loud most of all with the younger of the sisters shouting in pain.
"The Shirai Sisters are eliminated!" The announcer called out.
Shelly felt like her name was going to be next as she was lifted up over the top turnbuckle. She grabbed the ring ropes and held on tightly. "MEL!" She called louder in hopes to penetrate the cheers and reactions from the fans.
Melina finally got free of her battle with Sereena and rushed across the ring best she could to assist Shelly. She pulled AJ Lee off, and got the taste punched out of her mouth as a reward from Miss Lee. With her jaw aching, Melina staggered away and met backs with Kharma, who was currently squeezing the life out of Victoria.
Shelly tried kicking at Hamada, but she had a good grip on her, and all she needed was better leverage to eliminate Shell! "Melina! You gonna help or what?!"
While Mel was trying to fight off the wild and rowdy AJ, Shelly pulled a trick out of the ol' Ric Flair book and popped her thumb against Hamada's eye while…no one was looking of course! When the woman backed off, Shelly hopped back down on the mat. She rushed to Mel's aid and yanked AJ off of her by the hair. AJ's head went right beneath Shelly's arm and she was spiked down suddenly with a DDT right near the corner of the ring!
Molly Holly's voice was heard nearby as she shouted. "Get over the ropes, fat ass!" She said just seconds before the buzzer went off again! She'd tossed Beth Phoenix over the top! "Woo! I'm the best! I'm the freaking greatest!" She turned around with her arms up and fingers pointed in the air.
Just as the announcer relayed the elimination of the Divas of Doom, Molly was put down by a clothesline from one half of the Beautiful People, Angelina Love.
It was sheer chaos in the ring still, but things were moving fast. Twenty Four Women were left in the ring, and despite Melina and Shelly successfully knocking AJ Lee down to the mat…they turned around to face the massive Kharma, who knocked the both of them down to the mat with a clothesline from each of her arms that sounded like they each got smacked down by the hands of God.
Melina folded up on the mat with her feet over her head, and Shelly curled into the fetal position beside her partner while coughing for air.
"Mel…seriously…"Shelly wheezed out a breath. "You can do that pose later with John when we win. "
"You're real funny." Melina wheezed out as well as she rolled onto her side. "Okay, new game plan. Kharma and Isis. Get them the hell out."
"You take Kharma." Shelly started on her hands and knees. "I'll watch." By this time, Shell was in trouble as her vulnerable state got the attention of the beautiful vultures; Angelina Love and Velvet Sky.
Melina had no time to assist Shelly since she was getting pulled up to her feet by Christina Von Eerie. The punk rock princess had control over Melina and was dragging her toward the corner. Mel suffered a quick, but very furious beat-down in the corner until her arms hung loosely over the top ropes.
With a little bit of room cleared, Christina backed up and ran at full speed to try and cleave through Melina with a spear into the turnbuckle.
Christina threw all of her weight toward Melina's abdomen, but somehow her shoulder felt nothing but air until…PING! Christina's entire shoulder region felt like she'd tried to body slam Yokozuna after she collided with the ring post.
Melina was sitting split-legged on the top rope, having used her flexibility and agility to avoid contact with the blue-haired rocker. As Christina backed out of the corner, Melina put her legs back down on the mat. She grabbed the girl by the back of her hair and tossed her up and over the top! Boom, another elimination!
At the same time on the other side of the ring, Isis the Amazon had Victoria and Gail Kim by the throat in each hand! Both women were choke slammed over the top rope and to the outside mats!
"Victoria and Gail Kim have been eliminated!" The announcer called after his report of MsChiff and Christina Von Eerie being eliminated from the contest.
Isis was amped up. Daffney, while she was standing on the throat of Maryse who was laid out under the bottom turnbuckle, shouted out commands to Isis. "That's right! Kill them! Just like I told you!" Her screams pierced through the roar of the audience, and let everyone in the ring know that the big woman was on a mission.
Sarita and Kharma took notice, but Kharma was seemingly vulnerable to the combined assault of Tamina and Jazz stomping her into the corner. Sarita was going toe to toe with both Bella Twins in the center of the ring. She chopped one, punched the other, then drove both of their heads together just as Isis had finished her most recent elimination.
Melina turned and walked right into a large boot to her face from Isis, and was staring up at the ceiling lights as more loud rumbles resounded as Isis claimed victims in her path. Mel placed her hand on her aching head…and heard the shrill scream of Daffney telling her to 'Kill' Kana and Sereena.
Despite Sereena's best effort to spear Isis…she was too big. Sereena's shoulder rammed Isis' gut, but the Amazon coiled her arms around her waist quickly and picked her up off the ground. Kana attempted to assist her, but she was yanked to the ground by her hair once Daff was done with Maryse.
"..They're gonna be a problem…" Melina said to herself while taking this moment to recuperate.
The buzzer went off as Sereena was dumped over the top by the large woman.
The announcer relayed the official's call. "Kana and Sereena have been eliminated!"
Cameron Lynn, Naomi's partner didn't let Melina's breather last too long, but something happened that changed the landscape for the entire match. As Daffney celebrated early with her monster of a partner, Kharma and Sarita charged them both. Kharma clotheslined Isis and Sarita took Daffney and sent both women over the top ropes as punishment for their premature victory celebration.
"Daffney and Isis have been eliminated!"
As the announcer made it official, Daffney let out a shrill scream of anger into the air. The referees told her to return to the back…but she refused. She shoved one of the referees who was nearest to her in anger.
"I'll have you suspended if you touch me again!" The referee warned her with a stern point to her face.
As the action in the ring was going on, Daffney looked up to her recovering partner and pointed back in his face. "Kill them all!" She grit her teeth as Isis now grabbed the referee by the throat! He was lifted and choke slammed down on the outside mats! This was repeated as the other official came to his aid, all while Daffney flipped the ring apron up! "Get something!" She said as she pointed beneath the apron. The gothic veteran stormed toward the commentary area and shoved the announcer aside to claim their chair. She slapped the chair shut…and since no one was present to officiate the match, she slid back into the ring. Isis climbed in as well, now holding a Singapore cane tightly in her grasp.
Shelly saw the entire scene unfold…and she was the first to 'greet' Daffney. "…Oh sh-…" Crack! All the lights in Shelly's eyes went out as she hit the mat. She heard more cracking of steel, the thwack of the cane, and the groans and cheers of the crowd with each impact.
By the time Shelly came to fully, she saw that every woman in the ring except Isis and Daffney were out cold on the ground. The crowd applauded this and began to chant in favor of the two clearly extreme Divas. Daffney tossed her chair down, and barked more commands to her monster while she selected a victim.
She got two handfuls of Sarita's hair while Isis climbed out of the ring. Within a few seconds, a table was pushed into the ring by Isis. Clearly this wasn't going to end well.
As the table was set up in the corner of the ring, Daffney 'fed' Sarita to Isis. The large woman clutched Sarita's throat and gave the 'Wonderful' Diva a reward for all of her charity – a choke slam into a table all for her!
The sickening crunch of the wood made Melina cringe as she clutched her lower back where Daffney struck her during her rampage. The crowd appreciated the actions of the two, but Melina hoped the 'killing spree' was over.
Referees and security were well on their way to the ring, but Daff and Isis split out and headed through the crowd. It didn't matter though; they definitely made their mark on the match and the tournament to come!
While everyone was trying to find their way back to their feet, the announcer informed the crowd that the match will continue immediately despite the violent turn of events.
Shelly crawled to Melina and flopped down on her chest beside her partner. "I'm dyin', Mel. Why'd I let you talk me into this?" She whined as her legs bent at the knees and dropped down on the mat repeatedly.
"I didn't talk you into this!" Melina hissed silently. "Get a hold of yourself! We need a plan!"
"I wanna go home…"
"Shh!" Melina peeked up to see The Beautiful People were the first ones up, and doing the smart move of trying to get Sarita up so they could eliminate her and Kharma. "Look…we have a good chance here to get some easy eliminations. We take out the power houses first, okay?"
"I…I think I'm dead." Shelly was still loopy from the chair shot, and gasped! "…I can't feel my face!"
"Shut up!" Melina silently yelled at Shelly and reached up to smack her cheek once.
After the smack, Shelly immediately pinched Melina on the side of her torso and twisted her wrist to make it hurt all the more!
Contorting in pain, Mel shoved Shelly off of her until the two rolled away form one another. There was a loud rumble as Kharma rushed across the ring and knocked down both members of the Beautiful People! The two blondes were clutched by their hair and brought to their feet. It was just long enough for Kharma to toss both of them over!
Now with Shelly and Melina up, they charged the rising Jazz and delivered a well-placed double drop kick to her chest to send the ECW Diva up and over the top! As the partners landed, Shelly slapped the mat with her palm.
"WHY does it hurt more to land than the kick does?" Shelly silently complained as she and Mel got to their feet.
"Shut up and just fight like crazy!" Melina spoke quickly as they now worked in unison for the most part. "Flapjack!" Mel called out while Nikki Bella rushed them. The two ducked down and claimed each of the Twin's legs and hoisted her high in the air. They wanted to eliminate her, but instead she landed chest first across the top rope!
The brawling erupted as almost all the women, except Sarita, were up and at it again at a slightly sluggish pace due to the chair shots prior.
Cameron Lynn was thrown over the top by Maryse soon after the fighting started to liven up. The cocky Molly Holly was working on AJ Lee nearby, but a sudden high kick to the side of her head from Hamada sent Molly onto the top rope half-dead from the looks of it!
Brie Bella was tossed out of the ring by Shelly and Melina who were sticking close together, and their behavior was mimicked by AJ and Hamada, who worked together to toss Molly's carcass over the top and to the outside.
Now it was down to the final teams; AJ Lee and Hamada, Melina and Shelly, and Kharma with the barely rising Sarita.
Tensions were rising as Shelly and Melina backed into a corner to face the two remaining teams.
"…Kharma, right?" Shelly said as she caught her breath. Her breathing was vastly more labored that Melina's, since she hadn't trained at all.
"…Yeah, Kharma." Melina patted Shelly on her back. "…I'll watch."
"…I'll grab that chair." Shelly noticed the bent steel chair near the back ropes, but so did AJ Lee. Nobody wanted to make the first move, but with Kharma protecting Sarita, everyone had to focus on the big woman due to her extreme power advantage.
Melina rushed Kharma first, but was taken down by a single punch. Hamada was next and she shared a similar fate. AJ Lee chose a different path; she snuck behind Kharma and went to work beating away at Sarita to get her near the ropes.
Shelly on the other hand fulfilled her goal and stole the steel chair. As Kharma was on her way toward her…BANG! A steel chair cracked her right in the shoulder! As she backed off and favored her shoulder, Shelly stuck her tongue out. "Hey! Kool-Aid!" She mocked the woman as she drew the chair back up…
POP! Kharma punched the chair right back into Shelly's face when she attempted to swing it, effectively putting the woman's lights out instantly!
AJ was set to eliminate Sarita, but as she went to knock her over the ropes, the Canadian veteran ducked down and pulled the ropes. AJ flipped over the top but landed on the apron. Ever the quick one, AJ was standing up on the apron facing Sarita's back. What she didn't see, was Hamada charging Sarita head on!
The injured diva dove aside and caused Hamada to collide with AJ who fulfilled the 'go over the top rope' side of the elimination process. The impact sent AJ off the apron and in turn eliminated the team of Hamada and AJ, much to Hamada's horror and AJ's fury!
With another team down, the match was left down to StocKharma and S n' M. The crowd was abuzz as the four women…well…two women since Sarita and Shelly were both on the mat, were now facing off. Melina had the opportunity to prove herself as a singles star once again…at least in her mind.
Despite her enthusiasm, Melina's rush forward was comparable to a Tonka Truck going full speed downhill to a brick wall. The wall had no give; and in return Kharma wasn't budged by anything Melina did. It became a slugfest quickly, and this was not something Mel could beat Kharma at! The shots rocked her backward toward the ropes, but then Melina used her head – her right leg shot out and kicked Kharma at the side of her knee!
The first shot made her cringe, but the second, third, and fourth shot progressively made her back up toward the middle of the ring and down to one knee.
With the powerhouse cut down to size, Melina hit the ropes she jumped up with both of her feet going straight to her face. The front dropkick was effective; with Kharma falling onto her back, Melina had a chance to follow up as soon as she was back on her feet!
With adrenaline rushing through her body, Melina trained her sights solely on Kharma. She pulled her black-and-blonde braids in both of her hands to urge the monster to her feet. Once she was on one knee again, Mel rushed the opposing ropes to gain momentum again.
All the air was knocked out of her lungs after she was caught in the waiting arms of Kharma and drilled spine first into the mat with a spinning sidewalk slam that she was pretty sure shook the entire ring. The crowd's support was behind Kharma now, and Mel was scrunched up on the mat with absolutely no momentum. She wasn't even thinking about Shelly; she was sure both her and Sarita were still out cold. This was her duty, it was her time, and it was her challenge.
Despite her willingness to continue, her body did not respond to her mind's urges. Kharma's weight may have been the thing most people thought of first when slammed to the mat by her…but it was her power that was the icing on the cake. She moved like a monster, and it was never easy to compete against her unless on your absolute A game!
Kharma's gloved hands wrapped around Melina's head and drew her to her knees. The crowd was reacting to the pending end of the match, and Mel was waiting for the perfect opportunity. The Eddie Guerrero handbook stated in rule #3; always wait for the opportunity to exploit a weakness, and that was what Mel was doing as her head was stuffed between the legs of the larger woman and her waist was being latched by the strong arms.
Mel was lifted up with ease in a power bomb position, and she rotated her arms out on either side of herself to try and get momentum to counter as Kharma approached the ropes. Her left hand gripped the top of the woman's head and the right began to rain down on her with rapid strikes to try and throw off the monstrous woman's focus.
Melina leaned back once she had the proper momentum, and draped her lower shoulders on the top rope while hooking her arm in the top rope. Her ankles crossed behind Kharma's head as she leaned back and used all of the strength she had left to drag Kharma over the top rope and spilled to the outsi-…!
The elimination buzzer went off!
Melina sat on the apron with her hand on the top rope as she looked down to the behemoth she just overcame. She was beaten up, tired, and excited to have made her mark on the match…
"Shelly Martinez and Melina…"
Melina held her other arm up in victory…!
"Have been eliminated!"
Once the announcer said that, Melina looked into the ring with wide eyes. She saw Sarita draped over the top rope after tossing the knocked out body of Shelly over to the outside.
Melina was furious as StocKharma gained the victory. She hopped off the apron and moved around the outside of the ring to confirm her suspicion. She caught her breath while both her hands held her hips. She saw Shelly laying out cold on the protective mats. She knew Shell couldn't go the distance, she knew she was going to hold her back, so instead of help her up…Melina turned her back and headed toward the locker room in complete disappointment…
Notes: If I can avoid it…I'm going to try not to do a Royal Rumble type match again. It was a little more difficult than a normal 'fight' scene. When it got down to two teams I was able to make it feel more like a 'match', but otherwise it was 'a lot of right punches' as Hugo Weaving said to describe his fights in The Matrix Reloaded.
Anyway, setting up the tournament brackets, and I will not be doing each match individually. I'm focusing on Shelly and Melina's journey after all! I hope you enjoyed the cameo from Mickie James – I may have a second story in the works (which is why some divas like McCool, Layla, Trish, etc are missing from this story.) Other than that, I just love being able to toss Mickie in, since my interpretation of her character is pretty fun.
Also, the Rumble doesn't really do anyone's wrestling style justice, but I'll try to get more of 'them' in their individual battles coming up. Do you think S n' M can go the distance? Find out next time on… Dragon…ball…Z!
...Oh wait.