Turn It Up

The Announcement

Consistently being the bearer of happiness while the rest of the world was seemingly trying to weave nightmares into your mind was becoming exhausting. It was primarily exhausting to watch the whole world around you deteriorate into a shell of what it used to be. Once your mind gets to that point..actually, once it gets passed the point of no return. There is nothing you can really do to save yourself. You get so dependent on others for guidance that you lose yourself along the way. This little fact was most apparent within the heart and mind of two people. Lexi and Mercedes. Two different people from different backgrounds. But they shared the same feelings, the same fears, the same doubt and the same frustration. Lexi was growing increasingly frustrated with basically creative stagnation at work, as well as her crumbling relationship. She had no idea how to put the pieces together on either thing, it seemed as if it was a puzzle, and each time she grabbed one piece of it, it shattered into several smaller pieces, right in her hands. There was seemingly no end in sight for this either, work was just doing the typical work thing. 'Work hard and show up, you'll get rewarded.' That is possibly the most vague and bullshit line she has ever been fed in her entire life. It was almost comical to an extent that they would even try to get her to believe that bullshit. And with Matt it almost felt like he basically didn't give a rats ass about her anymore. The phone calls with him would last mere seconds, and typically end with a 'Talk to you whenever'. Lexi missed the old days, the NXT days where everyone was so close and tight with one another. It was actually like one big ass family who were always there for one another and no one would ever get in between them. Now? It was like the family split up over something stupid and just lost touch. It was so hard for her to understand why on earth Fergal and Pam were just not talking to her anymore. Sure, as of late Rebecca had been taking really good care of Lexi, almost like a big sister which was both great, and out of nowhere. Lexi and Rebecca had spoken only in passing, but now she was basically Lexi's travel buddy? Lexi still felt just as alone as she ever had. Maybe she did something wrong..maybe she somehow really hurt Fergal, or Pam, or both..But all she can think about is the last time she was with Fergal, the fun they had was incredible. It was like nothing had changed from NXT, the clique was back together again. But that was then, this is now. And Lexi was growing increasingly more frustrated as the days peeled onward. At work she was being told she's in the front of the line for a Women's Championship opportunity, but who can actually believe what the WWE would tell you. They're notorious for saying shit like that and in the end you get nothing but a dark match before a show starts.

Lexi felt herself slipping, she felt her health even slipping away from her. This was a girl who used to be a weightlifter. Like a good one too. And someone who battled with an eating disorder already once in her life and won. She thought she was doing well for herself, until she saw an old friend from Ohio who claimed that Lexi looked, 'Smaller' than she did before. This stuck in Lexi's mind like you wouldn't even understand. She was always self conscious about her weight, several times she has posted something on Instagram and saw THOUSANDS of comments talking about her weight. If she even dipped her body to the side ever so slightly and god forbid her skin makes 'rolls'? It's game over, she's seen the hateful fat comments galore..They really stuck, even if it was just social media. That was what people thought about her? Instead of looking at the WRESTLER..they look at the body. Truly, utterly, disgraceful.

If we were to try and dive into what is even going on in Mercedes' life it were to be almost damn near impossible. She was mentally struggling to stay happy at work due to SEVERAL blaring issues that really were not fixable, her love life was so scrambled up you think it were to be served alongside toast and a nice glass of orange juice. And her physical health was SLOWLY going back to where it used to be. Mercedes was another one who just wished it would all go back to the way it used to be. Everyone was so tight back in the day, back when it was simpler than it is right now. She felt as if there was no reason for everyone to be so distant, Mercedes wrote in her little Sailor Moon journal, 'I just wish I could get everyone back in the same room for like a big family dinner. Have a good night with everyone, laugh, talk about life, and work. Hell even air out any issues..I just want my friends back. Is that so hard?' She closed it and locked the little clasp on the front of it before collapsing to the bed in a teary eyed mess. Her issues at work were more of confusion than frustration. She had been RAW Women's Champion twice now and dropped the title both times in..her first title defenses. In her mind it was just not making sense, it wasn't adding up. Why was WWE practically ruining both her and Ashley? Who knows..She just wanted something in her life to make sense, and work was absolutely not that thing. First it was her back, then it was creative direction..Who even knows anymore. Her relationship with Colby was seemingly back to normal until one evening he got very..strange. Mercedes heard rumors that Saraya was back at work somewhere, and as fate would have it, they were on the same show. Colby and Saraya..two people who allegedly slept together, were on the same show and it was totally okay to happen. Mercedes felt her body quiver in rage just at the thought of it. She would never allow Saraya to get close to her man. Even if he made the mistake of entertaining her the night they hooked up. She still felt foolish for even letting him back into her life, that wasn't like Mercedes whatsoever. She was not the person who normally would forgive someone after doing something treacherous like that. Granted if she believed him, then he was innocent. He was basically raped by her in a nutshell. But did she fully believe him? At this point? She didn't even know what was true, and what wasn't anymore. Mercedes had a signing to get ready for, it was something she was actually looking forward to cause at least if anything, her fans would be able to make her smile and make her realize that the rest of the world isn't ending around her.

She began to get ready for the event, showering and getting into a decent pair of clothes. It was a process for her to get into 'Sasha Banks' mode. Not something that on an off day you'd ever really WANT to get into. But she had to get into her character. On the way there, she realized that Fergal was advertised for the event too. She immediately got nervous, feeling like if she even so much looked at him then Pam would leap out of the shadows like a ninja and stab Mercedes in the face. It was actually a thought that scared Mercedes quite badly. She just now was getting back in good graces after her idiotic surprise visit to Fergal's house, she in no way was trying to intrude on Fergal or his love life. She loved him, sure, but as a friend. She cherished all of her friendships no matter who they were. Mercedes lived her life on the motto of, 'Don't waste my time, and I'll give you the world' and that was apparent with her friends, she chose them carefully for they were the best influences on her. Ever. She of course also couldn't avoid Fergal this whole time, there was going to be an instance where they did have to interact at some point in time. Mercedes silently hoped it was early, so this thought didn't weigh on her the entire time..

When she arrived, she already saw several little girls dressed up as her, it warmed her heart to even see people show up to meet her, I mean these people are in the freezing cold, standing in a big ass gross line, just to say, 'HI SASHA' and get a photo. It was the most humbling and amazing feeling to know that so many people cared so much just to even get two minutes talking to you. That small two minutes can make someone's entire day, week, month even. Some people use the WWE as an escape, they use it as a way to see people they can vicariously live through and get away from their own personal hell. Hence why Mercedes loves this job so damn much, people that were behind her were so important..Reason why the creative problem bothered her so much. She felt like she was letting all of those people down in the end and it sucked ass more than anything. Mercedes looked to her left and saw a tiny blonde walking up to the table, "Oh, hey Lex. What's going on??" Lexi was also scheduled for this little event, Mercedes forgot due to her mind being in a thousand different places at once. Lexi offered a fake smile that no one would detect, "Hey 'Cedes. Not much, just signing stuff. How have you been? You look great!" Lexi tried to make some small talk with her former close friend. They drifted due to..you guessed it. The brand split. "I'm good, I'm good. Wishing I had the Little Boss still, but that's okay. You look amazing too sweetheart!" Lexi smiled and got more situated in her seat. At that time the fans roared, the two ladies were confused as to what was going on, the yelling soon turned into chanting and they were chanting a name. 'Finn, Finn, Finn, Finn, Finn!' Ah, makes sense. Fergal had arrived and everyone was just a little to a lot happy to see him. The fans were still not a hundred percent ready to see him be injured like he was, so seeing him anywhere caused them to go into an almost frenzy like state. Fergal walked up the steps to the table and sat in the middle. "Hey superstar. What's..up?" Lexi didn't even know how to begin talking to him, the brand split really hurt almost all of her relationships as a whole. "Hey there. I'm great, got good news that neither of you can tell literally anyone. At all. Got it?" Fergal made sure that the serious nature of this was emphasized fully. Lexi and Mercedes both nodded and leaned closer to have this little secret dropped on them. "What is it Ferg? Tell me you didn't get Pam pregnant..I'll actually kill you.." Mercedes whispered quietly and her threat caused Lexi to silently giggle to herself.

"What? No! I didn't. Oh nevermind. No, I got news from my doc.." Lexi's eyes widened and shined in the light, she had an idea where this was going and she was two seconds from being so happy for her friend. Mercedes on the other hand felt nerves set in, she was honestly worried that when Fergal came back, backstage would be like a battlefield. But then again, Pam isn't like that, she's a little sweetheart. Tiny little angel who is just protective over her man. Mercedes soon erased her fearful thoughts. "Go on..?" Mercedes whispered as Fergal almost couldn't contain his own happiness, "I'm cleared to come back. You can NOT tell Pam. Either of you. I literally want to show up backstage and surprise her soon. Okay? I don't have details on when..But please for all that is holy, don't tell her." Lexi squealed loudly for a moment and then did a little zipper motion on her lips before locking it and throwing the key away. "I won't tell a soul, and I'm so happy for you Ferg!" Mercedes smiled too, a little calmer than Lexi of course, that little crazy fireball she has grown to be. "I won't tell anyone either, just make sure that I'm close so I can see that little angel's reaction when you surprise her, literally, nothing will be more innocent and adorable than her face, oh goodness I'm actually excited now..." Fergal nodded slowly with a smile, "You got it, Boss."