Book One: The Viper's Bite

The Viper's Bite

I'd never felt anything as exhilarating as I did in this moment. The screams, the shouts. The flashing lights and waves of colour. My heart beat erratically in my chest as I strode on. A mask of confidence and smug awareness hid my true feelings, and as I stepped out, the roar of equal parts cheers and boos dragged me out of my own mind. The lights of the Gorilla flashed my name, clips of my success appearing on the huge pixelations. My music, the chorus of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", came nowhere close to drowning out the reaction from the crowd, and I threw up my arms and sprinted down the ramp, giving the audience the bird. An eruption of screams boomed.

This was the first time after my conflict with Tamina that I had made an entrance. Her superstar father couldn't bail her out of the hole she'd dug herself into - being AJ's right hand man, and taking her crap left right and center. I'd come out onto the mat, took the microphone and blasted them both, wondering if Tamina was ever gonna try and be anything without AJ, and vice versa. I'd been interrupted by them both stomping out after me, and had squared off with AJ right then and there, but been screwed over by Tamina grabbing my hair and yanking me back, and tripping me into the turnbuckle, giving AJ the opportunity to pin.

Now I grabbed the mic from an official, giving him a bad look before I turned to my adoring horde. I lifted the mic to my mouth, opened, but before I could even start I was interrupted by the piercing notes of "Let's Light it Up". Great.

AJ danced out, Tamina flanking her left, and Dolph on her right. A ripple of anxiety rushed through me. Calm. Be Calm. Stay Calm.

" - bet you're feelling pretty smug," AJ was saying. Her eyes lit up with the crazy glint that she was never without. "But if there's one thing you don't get, its me. You'll never get your hands on this belt." She tilted her head. "So just go on, insulting us and saying your petty insults. Because nobody cares."

I smiled, a close-lipped, forced smile, and listened as the crowd quieted down. "Well don't you make a formiddable opponent?" I squeaked, doing a purposely botched impression of her baby voice. "Lucky for me, I don't care." I stepped forward, staring her down. "You and me, tonight. I'll fight you for your title, no interference." With this I glanced at Tamina, barely flicked my eyes at Dolph.

AJ let out a giggly cackle, then skipped around to the announce table, handing an official her belt. "I don't need them to beat you," she sniveled into her mic. She folded herself under the bottom rope and into the ring, and the bell sounded.

*********************

Goddamn.

Pain spiked up my back, and I winced while I flexed my arm. AJ was no better; she had fairly limped out of the arena.

I had dove for her feet, caught her, and pulled her into a boston crab. I thought I had her, but she pulled herself to the ropes, and I had to let go. She stood, and I had grabbed her arm and threw her into the opposite ropes. She propelled towards me, but as I had made to grab, she had slid to her knees and then stood behind me, then jumped and wrapped me into a black widow.

I'd never felt anything so excruciating in my life, excpt maybe when I couldn't take it anymore, throwing myself onto my back, loosening AJ's death grip but nearly breaking my shoulder in the process. As I rolled to one side, AJ slid out under the ropes and got her belt. The ref hadn't seen her leave, but thank Foley that he saw her bash me in the back of my head while I was trying to get up.

Of course, because she was disqualified, she lost but retained the title. I stumbled towards the infirmary, irked beyond redemption.

Inside, two other wrestlers were hanging out: Damien Sandow was sitting, his wrist wrapped in a warm towel, an ice pack on his knee. Across the room Randy Orton lay back, an ice pack pressed to his shoulder, his head tilted back, nose clenched tightly with a blood-stained towel.