'Cause even if we're swept away
No one here could save us all
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June 30, 2018
Stacy Lee wasn't sure what to make of Lucy Wylde at first. She knew that Lucy and JC were friends, and she knew that they had wrestling in common. With Lucy having her own romantic entanglements, she never had any reason nor inkling to be jealous or suspicious. Besides, more than anything else, she knew Joe loved her.
But Lucy was damaged goods and it made Stacy worry about her husband, however estranged he may be. Lucy had a tumultuous love life, she had a lot of personal issues and she had, at least in the past, a drinking problem. She was irrational and often led with her emotions instead of her head. None of these were huge issues on her own, but Stacy saw Joe as delicate in a way. The man had bipolar disorder and, similar to Lucy, was prone to acting on what his emotions told him, especially if his medication wasn't working. And it currently wasn't, as far as she knew.
She pulled the rental car up to the house, which was surprisingly still being kept up. Either Joe had a lot of time on his hands or he hired someone to maintain it while he was away.
"Who does she think she is, anyway?"
Lucy had arrived at her sister's house in Oakland and basically read her the riot act about how she should be abandoning Joe. As if Joe was the only one in the world that mattered. Didn't she matter? Didn't their baby matter? Joe understood why she was doing what she was doing. What business was it of Lucy Wylde what she did or didn't do? She wouldn't know the first thing about a successful marriage.
A lot of this was what her sister Michelle had to say, but Stacy couldn't exactly disagree with it. Lucy had her own issues and had no right to barge in on her life. She would have talked to Joe eventually. Eventually. She was sure of it. It was up to him to get his head right. She couldn't do it for him.
And now she found herself outside of the home they purchased together, when she was between jobs and he was committed to being retired from wrestling. They put everything into it, and she left. She hated to leave, but Joe understood. That's what was important, right? They spoke on the phone, he gave her regular updates, she knew they'd get back together.
And yet she felt so distant from this house she stood in front of. Lizzy, asleep in the stroller, happily murmured in her sleep. Her first birthday was weeks away and she hadn't the slightest care in the world. Stacy, however, had a lot of them. Just what was she doing here anyway? Lucy comes to plead Joe's case and she immediately has to travel an hour back to see him? She didn't even know if he was here.
She left the stroller on the walkway and took Lucy with her up the steps on the porch, before raising a hand to knock. Then she stopped, realizing how silly she looked. This house was hers, partially. Why would she knock? But she went through the motion anyway, completing the needless ritual now that she was at least half-committed to it.
At first, when there was no answer, she was actually relieved. She didn't want to have this talk. At the time she did. She missed her husband, no matter how unsafe she felt with his random mood swings and anger issues. Stacy knew he was trying, but she had to put the baby first.
She felt herself growing angry at how condescending Joe's friend Lucy was. How dare she?
Stacy knocked again, just to give him once more chance. She didn't get too far into it, because the door opened.
"Stacy? What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Joe. Can I come in?"
For a moment he looked at her as if she were a stranger. As if this were a first date and he had no idea what he was doing around the attractive woman who was for some reason interested in him. Then he stammered, which she would later think was actually cute, before he waved her to come in.
"Y..yeah, of course you can. It's your house."
She took the baby inside with her as Joe quickly went out and grabbed the stroller, lest the criminals in this suburban New Jersey neighborhood try to sell it on the black market. His mind really was scattered these days. Was it because she wasn't here, or was it because he was off again? She supposed that's why she was here.
"What's...what's going on Stace?"
Stacy shushed him, then placed the baby in her second crib in the same room. Joe definitely looked nervous, like she had caught him doing something he didn't want her to see. But the house seemed fine, so she chalked it up to his surprise.
"I thought we should talk. It's a good thing I caught you now before..."
She acknowledged the bags packed on the couch.
"You left again."
"Oh yeah, that. I'm doing WrestleStock again this year, only I'm in the big tournament. My biggest competition is a Degrassi rerun."
She shook her head, reminding him that she didn't watch UGWC and had no idea who he was referring to. He'd tell her later of course, and then she'd decide she wished she hadn't heard of Sarah Lacklan. She didn't seem like a nice woman.
"Well anyway, it's good you were home."
He smiled wanly at her. He didn't want to tell her to get to the point, not her, but she could tell what he was thinking. It was that sort of mental telepathy that people really in love had. And regardless of their issues, they still were.
"Okay, so...I had an interesting conversation yesterday, and it made me think that I should at least come over here to talk."
He tilted his head to the side, curious.
"Michelle actually had something interesting to say?"
She laughed at this. Joe and Michelle never got along, and in his defense, her sister could sometimes be a bitch.
"No, actually. She told me not to come over. Basically the same shit as when I was in rehab."
"Yeah I don't think we'll ever get along."
"But no, I actually talked to Lucy."
"Lucy? As in our Lucy?"
His eyes shifted, as she noticed him look away from her and instead turn to the baby, who was actually up now. She cooed peacefully as he walked over. It seemed random that he would suddenly decide to go to the baby, but he hadn't seen her since February. She felt bad about that.
"Yeah, she basically got up in my face about what a good guy you were and how I was an unfeeling bitch for leaving you."
"She said that?"
He picked up the baby now, rocking little Lizzy gently in his arms. Stacy felt her heart melting a little. Maybe Lucy was right. How could this man ever hurt her? Or the baby? It was insane to think about.
"Well, no. Not in so many words. She did say 'selfish,' though."
"Stace, I'm sorry, I didn't..."
"No, I know. You didn't send her over. You wouldn't do that."
"I can talk with her if you want."
After she sat down, Stacy gave a smile back, then raised her hand up. He simply turned back to his daughter. He wasn't exactly ignoring her, but he did seem a little cold. She just assumed it was because she left him for so long, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. Why did he tense up at Lucy's name? Were they having problems?
"She seems like she's a mess, Joe. And she told me what happened with her dad. Well, some of it."
"That son of a...I guess part of me is glad he was dead when we found her."
"He was...dead?"
"Yeah, it was a whole mess. I didn't do anything, but I do wish I had. I know that's not what you want to hear, but if you knew the things he did..."
"I understand."
This time he looked at her, genuinely shocked.
"You do?"
"Look Joe, I didn't leave because you wanted to hurt someone. Everyone wants to hurt someone at some point. I thought about clocking Lucy for bitching me out but then I realized she could kick my ass. I took off because you gave into your impulses and that made me feel unsafe. I was scared, Joe. I was scared of losing you like I did before. We almost didn't get you back."
Those were hard times. Joe was out of his mind, had refused treatment and nearly crippled his best friend. This was all two years ago, almost to the month. She managed to soothe him after he took off and they eventually got back to a stable place. 2016 was a rough year. There was no doubt about that. She never wanted to have a year like that again.
For Joe's part, he simply lowered his head in shame. She was used to that. She got up and placed a hand on his shoulder and actually felt him tense up. Joe, who was always relaxed around her, felt like he was anxious. He moved away to put the baby back in her crib.
"Joe, is...everything okay?"
"I'm just...I know why you left. I do. But it hurt. And I would think that after all the support I've given you over the years, after all the rough patches we've been through, you'd know me better than to think I'd ever lay a finger on you or the baby."
Stacy felt her eyes watering up. It was a rash decision, but she felt justified at the time. All she felt now was how much she clearly hurt him.
"I'm sorry, Joe."
He turned back to her and noticed the tear that was now freeing itself from her eye and escaping down her cheek. He walked over and gently placed his hand up, wiping it away.
"Stacy, you were just protecting our baby. I understand that. It hurt, but I understand."
Without thinking, Stacy moved forward and shoved her face into his, locking lips. He was taken aback at first, but then easily submitted and returned the favor. She had no idea why she was doing it. Maybe she missed him more than she thought. Maybe she realized how stupid she was being. But in the moment she felt she had to do it.
"Fuck, Joe. I missed you, okay?"
"I missed you too."
"So what do we do now?"
"I don't know. Do you still want to live with your sister?"
She laughed again, then kissed him again, this time adding just a trace of her tongue. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was scolding herself for losing it. What the hell was she thinking? She was letting her emotions push her back into this when she should get out.
"I want us to work this out."
"I do too. I...I really do."
She kissed him again, forcefully this time, and eventually hopping up so he could catch and hold onto her. His libido did the rest, as it was a full on makeout session at this point. They stumbled through the doorway towards the bedroom, with the baby happily relaxing and playing with a stuffed animal, none the wiser as to what was going to happen.
Later on, when they slept in their bed for the first time in months, she would wake up and think. Think about the way he tensed up at her touch. Think about how nervous he seemed about his friend Lucy.
The wheels would turn, and she would wonder.
Then she would dismiss the thoughts. She was safe now. She had her husband back and they could put this latest obstacle behind them.
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So make up your gods
And take them in
Love is dead
And it's all right
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“There you are Luce. You’re harder to track down than a reason for people to care about Jet.”
Joe had been searching all over the New Orleans City Park for Lucy, and now he found her. Actually, it felt more like he'd been searching all over New Orleans, given how little time he had before his match with Elizabeth Blackwell and how the UGWC World Champion seemingly didn't want to be found.
He actually arrived in New Orleans that day, missing the first day of WrestleStock entirely. Perhaps some would considered that "disrespectful" to UGWC but he had more important things in his life. He had a wife that wanted to work things out and a baby that he missed four months of time with. More important, he had his own inner thoughts to deal with.
Joe had a lot on his mind in the past few weeks. In between saving Lucy's life and seemingly getting the cold shoulder from her, he had learned he was in love with her. It was an odd position to be in, particularly since he didn't even realize it until Lucy's current girlfriend told him all about it. Since then he'd been grappling with his emotions, trying to play off Lucy's scorn as PTSD and struggling to channel his conflict into his matches. At least on the latter score, he was successful. He beat Holden Orson into a fine paste and then went to Carnage mere hours later to kick the World Champion's head off.
He was actually feeling confident and sure of himself prior to June 30, when his wife showed up and informed him they could start again. It was confusing to him. He loved Stacy. He knew he did. He was ecstatic, at least partially that she was back. The fact that they made love twice that night was not something he would have done if he didn't. JC was always old-fashioned that way. But there were times, even when he absolutely shouldn't have been, that he thought about his feelings for Lucy.
Perhaps it was a combination of guilt that brought him to New Orleans to find her, as well as his contractual obligations.
Lucy turned around, surprised to see JC standing behind her.
“Oh, hey Joe…”
She still didn't look like she was ready for competition, considering what she had been through. But Kem Dynamo was nothing like Gabriel Baal, and at the very least Lucy could handle herself. When you did the match, his brother beat Kem and Lucy beat GI, so by that simple logic she probably had it.
Plus, the Dynamos were by and large the laughing stock of the wrestling world and everyone knew it but them.
“So, just before I got here...Stacy came over.”
She raised her eyebrows to question him. Was she really playing dumb? Maybe she didn't want to take credit. He could still some yellowing under her shades, as best as she tried to hide it. The surgery on her face was obviously still healing, although she was likely in the clear now.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. She wants to work things out.”
“Wow. That’s great. I’m.. glad.”
Lucy turned away from him, content with looking through the curtain to watch the Cooperative Roulette that she didn't really have an interest in. He walked up anyway, determined to get what he had to say out.
“There’s a little more to it than that and you know what I’m talking about.”
She looked back at him and shrugged.
“It doesn’t really matter. She needed to be there for you and now she is. End of story.”
Joe walked up and, without really thinking about it, wrapped his large arms around the smaller frame of the distant Lucy. He was sure it surprised her, because it surprised him. But he felt the need to thank her the best he could.
“You have no idea what that means to me, Lucy. I don’t know exactly what you said, but...thank you.”
She tensed up and loosely wrapped her arms around him for a fleeting moment, unsure how to handle this show of affection from him.
“Um, you don’t really have to thank me. I’ve been horrible to you lately.”
“Moody, maybe. I wouldn’t say horrible. And you’ve been through a lot.”
She pulled away, raking her hand through her hair.
“Doesn’t really matter anyway.”
There she went again, beating herself up. Joe got it, at least partially. She was trapped for a while, receiving constant cruelty from a man who honestly died too quickly. All as part of a trap from a man that just wanted an advantage in a title match. A man that, by all rights, should not still be breathing. A man that probably deserved a knife to the back as much as Gary Johnson did.
But that didn't explain why she was cold to him. Perhaps it was how he felt or perhaps it was his stubbornness, but he pressed on.
“Okay, you’re going to have to let me know what’s going on here. I get that you’ve experienced some trauma but come on. It’s me. You know I’m always going to be around for you. That’s what friends do.”
She looked uncomfortable, like she was thinking hard about something. He hoped she wasn't reflecting on the last month. All he wanted was for her to get over that, even though he felt it was probably impossible. We never really get over our traumas.
“There’s no guarantee for that Joe. Just like I might not be around all that long either… Who knows, right?”
Joe lowered his head for the second time in a week. He really had messed her up. There was a really good chance that the Lucy Wylde he knew from just earlier this year was gone. That Lucy had her problems, sure, but she at least had perseverance. This Lucy had nothing but a defeated look in her eyes. The world as it was was getting to be too much and the heartless denizens of UGWC had stooped to mock her over it. Sure, this was a business and all about competition, but some things were too low.
He found that line of thinking ironic given his own past, but he did like to consider himself a new man these days.
“Lucy, I’m...I’m sorry I let him get you. I should have been there. I should have stopped it. I know I said some bad things before, when I was angry, but you really are a good person.”
“I wish I believed that, but hey.. You’ve got a match to prep for, right? More important things to worry about.”
“My match can wait. Elizabeth Blackwell is a rookie. I’ve got this, easily. I’m more worried about you.”
She closed her eyes and shakes her head. To Joe, it seemed like she was having an argument in her head. But she would likely never tell him if he was right or not.
“Worried about me? I’m perfectly… perfectly fucking fine, Joe.”
“You’re acting distant and you know it. But I’m not going to press it. You’ll come around when you want. Just know you do have friends, whether you want to believe it or not.”
Her lip trembled as if she was set to cry right then and there.
“What if I--”
She stopped for a moment. When he turned his complete attention on her, she shook her head.
“What if I went away?”
“Why would you do that?”
“I-I.. I don’t know. It’s just a question.”
“An odd question. But if you went away, I’d probably find you. Best friends are hard to come by. You can’t exactly get them at a store or anything.”
She smiled, but its one of those fake kind of smiles. She then reached out and touched his arm. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt as if he had been shocked by a current.
“Good luck tonight.”
With that, Lucy turned and left him there at the curtain. His music would be playing soon, and he knew he had to focus on the Open, but there was way too much trouble behind her eyes.
He didn't like it. It felt like she had a death wish. And it felt like he was helpless to stop it.
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It's all right
We belong to each other tonight
In a world that looks for a fight
We got a deathwish closing our eyes
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It occurs to me that this is truly a chance to define my career.
Don't get me wrong, I've been around the world and won more titles than most people in this business. I beat Jesse Williams so bad for the OWF title that all he was able to do is post a bunch of vague tweets and vanish again. I am a five-time World champion. But I'm also not the type to rest on my laurels and I feel I've done that lately. I'm not exactly taking Carnage by storm. A couple of tag title reigns and a part-time schedule is not the grand finale to my career that I was expecting.
But returning to UGWC and Wrestlestock, one year removed from dropping Jet Somers on his mop-topped head and proving why he's a fluke, I can cement my legacy over the course of several nights. Win one match, win another, make history. I think I would automatically be the greatest Wrestlestock Cup winner in history. I mean, what the fuck could be considered my competition? A Dynamo? Gossip Girl season seven? I mean I guess Jesse Williams would have to be a contender, although considering I beat him twice in a row I think we're well past thinking he's a contender for anything. Probably why I refused to induct him last year. Fuck that guy.
I guess I should talk about Sarah Lacklan, since what I say about her will actually be intelligent and worth listening to, unlike those masturbatory rants she calls promos. See, I know exactly who you are, Sarah...I just don't care. You're simply not a threat to me. Do you get that? Is the hair dye cutting off your ability to think in more than what fashion choice is in this year? There's nothing you've done that's impressed me.
You won the WrestleStock Cup. Yeah, okay. And you beat Maggie Lockheart in the finals. Granted she was a rookie then and has improved by leaps and bounds since but sure, let's pretend that beating someone in their rookie year is a feat. Made the Massive Melee final four....and that's it? You didn't exactly win, did you? Who cares how long you last if you can't even get the job done. Congratulations for almost not sucking, I guess. Oh and this is my favorite. "Year End Award for Feud of the Year." You won a single match, in a series of them, and then got a boo boo so you skipped out on having to face the possibility of losing again. What a stunning accomplishment, a year-end award for a feud that you lost. Celebrate that. You won an award by proxy because people enjoyed seeing Lucy Wylde beat your bobble-headed ass across the country.
The thing is, I bet it really burns you up that this "old man" can't be bothered to worry about you, doesn't it rook? You're someone who desperately longs for the attention of everyone, which is probably why you kept doing your dumbass little "cool" rankings while you atrophied in a wheelchair. You have to keep what little relevancy you had, even though the world is moving on. Then in your grand return, the match that was supposed to put you on the map, you lost. I'd say that talking like a teenager when you're in your twenties isn't cool, but you don't actually believe in that stuff. It's a gimmick to keep your legion of sheep content so they don't leave you for someone more important.
As I said before, wake me when you win a World title. Wake me when you win a match this year that matters. Maybe you'll get lucky a few weeks before December.
There are others in this tournament, of course. I'm not even facing Sarah Lacklan although I'd like to. It'd be nice to get an easy win before the final a couple of days later. So no, I don't care about you. I don't need to. I know who you are because I've seen your type before and put it in a coma.
Next up is a man named Kid Dynamo, which is funny because he's neither a kid nor a dynamo at much of anything. Maybe at long-winded speeches no one can be bothered to pay attention to. How's it going KD? You look different since I last kicked you in the face. Did you change something? Oh that's it, you grew out your hair and you have a little bitch goatee now. That's nice.
Kid Dynamo, the man who tucked his tail between his legs and took off from OWF when the competition got a little too rough. Kid Dynamo, the man who wasn't around for the OWF's demise and didn't seem to give a shit one way or another, but flogs the corpse to "represent" it in Wrestlestock when the rest of the world has moved on. Kid Dynamo, a man I beat with relative ease who somehow thinks he could still best me even though I've only improved since then.
Kid Dynamo is a chump, kids. He was a joke in OWF and if you give him time, he'll be a joke here too. Just like his self-righteous daughter, who will no doubt make the same mistakes before someone beats her in a title match and she exits the fed again. And what a shock, it'll be a former OWF star who does it.
Those are really the only ones I have a personal beef with, but sure, let's go down the list and look at the rest of the field, full of people who will try hard but ultimately realize that JC is not to be fucked with.
Elizabeth Blackwell is my opponent in the first round, and that's entirely unfortunate for her. Who the hell did you piss off, Liz? Did you and your AnimeCon rejects upset Donovan Hastings or Deimos or whatever the hell else is running this place these days? You must have, because there's no way that fate would be cruel enough to give you me in the first round. Look at me, and look at you. You're nothing but a rookie, one that's way in over her head. And the reason I haven't paid you much attention is because you haven't earned it. I doubt very much you'll have earned it when the match is over.
Who else is there? Kenzi Grey Lacklan? Oh sure, she's a bit more noble than her...wife? Paid love interest to keep up appearances? I don't know. She may have a bit more nobility but I've also seen how little she actually does around here. Eliminated at Outlast. Sure, I was too, but I've also got a little more than that to my name. Eliminated at Massive Melee. I mean, at least you're not trying to bullshit that into a positive like Sarah, but it's still a loss. And yet, you have the same deluded belief that you'll win.
I could go on and on about the rest of you. I really could. But there's no point. Angelica Vaughn, David Sanchez, Captain 80s, fucking Antichrist Superstar wannabe, late-to-the-late-90s party Necron...none of you are the real solution to the dire situation the state of UGWC wrestling is in. This place has been in need of a solution in a while. Douchebags run amok and people get by on being assholes instead of talent.
That's where I come in.
My name is JC. I'm a five-time world champion and the best in the world.
It's time to show all you fuckers why I'm The Answer to all your problems.
