We go on together for better or worse, our history is too real to hate
Now and forever we stay until morning, and promise to fight for our fate
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JC hated Lucy Wylde.
He hated her and he hated Shaun Stewart and he hated the entire merry band of idiots they ran around with. His jaw ached as though it were broken, even though he knew it wasn't. Her kick wasn't that strong, although you couldn't convince him of that when it actually landed. Just hours ago she tried to cave in the side of his face, then Stewart split his lip and eyebrow open. They left him in a pool of his own blood.
Worse than that, they left him feeling vulnerable.
He hated feeling vulnerable.
The pale white glow from the hotel room's bathroom light showed him a face that was already swollen and purple in places. It was on the edge of morning and he hadn't slept. He didn't think he could, not after the argument he had with his wife.
She did this. Lucy. Stewart. The whole 'violent' gang. It wasn't him. It couldn't be him. All he did was try to win a match. All he did was try to put Redemption away for good. All he did was admit that he wanted to give them what they deserved.
What they all deserved.
They all deserved to have their little faces smashed into unrecognizable pieces.
He wanted that for them. Especially her. Stewart was one thing, he was a clown in facepaint that he was sure would break easily. But she was better than the entire group and she was lowering herself. As far as he was concerned, she wasted all of her potential in one kick because he was about to snap that leg in two.
He popped another painkiller, not really caring if it was within the regular time limit or not. He was a big boy, he could handle it. The phone continued to ring. Either Stacy was asleep, or she was purposefully ignoring him.
"Fuck."
Fucking Lucy Wylde.
Another sigh escaped his lips and after grabbing his phone, he left the bathroom and stepped into the main room. There was really no point in trying to sleep. His anger would keep him awake for another hour at least, and he really wanted to get in touch with Stacy. Or anyone.
Would Trent still be up? They fucked him up too. Maybe he could talk with someone who would understand.
Understand? Trent got in the way.
Misunderstanding. They're out of sync. It's been seven years since they've worked together in the ring.
He grabbed his phone and tried to ring up Trent, wondering if he might still be up. It picked up after only one ring.
"I hope you're thinking of ways to hurt them too."
Joe's mouth formed into a slight grin that only served to hurt him more, but it was nice to have someone on his wavelength. Trent understood. The only way to answer violence was with more violence, and The Rogues could do that better than everyone.
"Considering I have stitches in my mouth and my jaw feels like it's about to fall off, that's about all I can think about."
"So what's the plan, boss?"
The word 'boss' was always used ironically of course. JC would never boss Trent around and Trent would never listen. Either way, his head was throbbing too much to think. Whether that was pain or hatred he couldn't tell. It all swirled together at this point.
"I'm not sure. I think we have to cut down the numbers and cut them down quick, since it seems we can't even rely on our teammates. Where the fuck were Dynamo and Green?"
"Haven't returned my calls yet."
"Fucking flakes."
"I'm sure they'll have a good reason."
"I doubt it. This whole Inner Circle deal is beginning to feel like a mistake."
"It won't be.You think I would have joined if I didn't think this were going to be a big deal? Come on, give me some credit."
There was some silence now as Joe attempted to will the annoying throb in his head away. This was how addictions to pain medication started. But he didn't want to take too many pills and then be another pro wrestling statistic.
"Yo, are you listening?"
"Yeah."
"I said, that bitch can't have kicked as hard as it looked, did she?"
"You'd be surprised. Pretty sure she's all bone."
"Easier to break, then."
"That's exactly what I was thinking. What is her deal, anyway?"
"Oh, she's pissed at her husband or something. Taking it out on everybody else. Some bullshit like that."
Yes, because that was a mature and healthy way to deal with things. Even for a sport like wrestling, which itself could be inherently silly at times, that was crossing a line of childish behavior.
"I think she should be the first one we target."
"So let me hear what you've got in mind."
He told him. The plan would be easy. Separate her from the rest, appeal to her ego, perhaps, then strike quick and attack in ways she'd likely never been attacked before. Break her.
JC really did hate Lucy Wylde.
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June 27, 2019
Joe loved Lucy. He wasn't crazy about the Wylde name, but he sure did love Lucy.
Perhaps that was why he was enduring his third visit to an eye doctor in as many days, all at the behest of a many who would probably make him see a fourth just out of spite. That man stood there now, as he hadn't been to the previous two visits and was somehow convinced that JC had lied about being cleared by those doctors.
To JC's credit, it hadn't been the first time he lied to a wrestling promoter this summer. He had, after all, lied about his health to CWF to get in the Golden Intentions rumble. Didn't win, but he did better than anyone expected him to with zero coordination and half of his vision.
Ever since the eye injury, Lucy had been taking care of him. Usually against his wishes, because he was stubborn. He wasn't sure if she blamed herself for not being out there (ridiculous, it was a one on one match), but she was there constantly. He never asked her for anything and she was always forcing the help on him.
Pain meds, around the clock until he had to almost jab a finger in his healing eye to tell her he didn't hurt anymore. Other medication, the same thing. She changed his bandages without a single complaint, only complaining the first couple of nights when he attempted to do so himself in spite of lacking the hand-eye coordination to even remove them properly.
She made him feel vulnerable.
Normally he hated feeling that way, but for some reason, it was okay with her. He felt like he could be that way around her. He could lower his defenses. He rarely felt that way about anyone.
"Okay, Mr. Lee, just try to look straight ahead, this is the last real test now that we've dilated it. just need to look and make sure nothing inside is damaged."
"Yes, it's the same thing that the last two doctors did."
"The last two..?"
"We just want to be sure, doctor. Isn't that right, JC?"
"You really don't need to be in here for this, Jason. I'm a qualified optometrist, you know."
"I don't trust my own employee to be honest. He has a history."
"Gee boss, would I lie to you?"
CW President Jason Bridges' face frowned at him and JC smirked. The fact was, Bridges knew JC was cleared by the first doctor and he had the data delivered to him. It was all standard thanks to insurance. He was making him jump through hoops to get clearance just because he could. Just because he was an asshole. While JC and Lucy were pretty low on the Bridges hate list compared to the Will Prydors of the world, he guessed they were on there simply because they were anti-authority.
But he'd jump through as many hoops as he had to. He could wait to get cleared in any other situation. But this was for Lucy. She wanted this match and he wanted her to be happy. And wrestling a match just for fun would be a nice feeling, especially considering Carnage had turned into a wasteland devoid of that. At least they could go to UGWC and represent what the company could be, if the right people were in charge and on top.
"Okay, Mr. Lee. as I said, straight ahead."
Joe did as he was told, and looked straight ahead. He noticed that he had vision in his right eye, which was leagues better than the night a chunk of glass was stuck in it. However it was also blurry, cloudy even, which worried him. The last two doctors had said he was still healing. However possibilities like cornea replacement, glasses or simply accepting that the eye might never be the same were floated out there. None of them were ideal. And yet, if he was cleared, they must know more than he did.
The doctor shined his pen light across JC's left eye, then into his right for comparison. He frowned for a moment, then inched closer for a better look.
"I don't like that tiny bit of cloudiness in the cornea, could signal scarring. But that's something we have to monitor. Otherwise everything is healing properly. The glass, as far as I can tell, only scratched the cornea and just damaged the skin outside the eye. Granted it was a deeper scratched cornea than I'm used to and you're very lucky, but still a scratched cornea. Are you able to see well with it?"
He motioned for JC to cover his left eye, and he did so. He held up a finger and Joe looked at it. As the doctor moved it, JC's right eye followed it. As it went back, JC was able to see it, mostly in detail.
"I can mostly see, but the lights still hurt quite a bit. Details are fuzzy in places."
"Well, that should clear up. If not, we might have to fix that scarring with laser surgery down the road. At worst, you might need reading glasses."
"Corneal transplant was mentioned by another doctor."
Bridges chimed in, almost mockingly. He had read the other file. JC wanted to punch him. He breathed inward and reminded himself that this was for Lucy.
"Heavens no. It's not that bad."
"So you're clearing him to wrestle too?"
"I don't see why he can't. Just wear the soft eye patch outside the ring, hard protective patch inside of it."
"Thank you, doctor."
JC slipped out of the chair and shook the doctor's hand. Now it was Bridges' turn to frown.
"Yes...thank you, doctor. I guess that means we can clear him for WrestleStock."
"Well, I guess I can go tell Lucy the good news. I'm sure you'll want to handle the payment, won't you boss?"
Joe clapped Bridges on the back, as if they were old friends, with a little oomph into it to remind him that, in fact, they were not. His boss winced and was knocked half a step forward. He then slid past his employer and out of the room.
He walked toward a mirror and pulled the eyepatch out of his pocket. Before he put it on, he glanced at his face. The cuts were healing up nicely. He noticed that his eyelid had a nice scar, which was about the weirdest place he ever heard of to have a scar. But then, whoever heard of a partially severed eyelid? At least the facial cuts were superficial. At least he kept his eye. At least he could wrestle.
JC put on his eyepatch, not really caring about the pirate look at the moment. He was cleared to wrestle, and he was going to wrestle someone he cared about...for fun. It was weird, but it was nice. He actually felt happy. His hand wrapped around his phone and he found her number, ready to give her the good news.
Joe really did love Lucy Wylde.
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I gotta say, Luce. You caught me off guard. But then, you've been doing that every since I've known you.
What made you do this? Did you lose a bet? Did someone put you up to it? I guess I should just be happy that I finally get to test myself against you, something I've wanted since I stepped into OWF and saw you beating the piss out of CJ.
Yeah, I signed my new OWF contract at the show where you had your match with him. You lost that match, but only because you thought it was a fight and CJ thought it was just another game he was playing with you. He did that a lot. I'm sorry you had to put up with that for so long. The fact that he's nothing more than a footnote in the business he loved is a fitting punishment, I think. Some of the things you told me he did, well, he probably deserves more. But he's gone and mostly forgotten, and I think that's for the best.
My point is, I knew you were going to be something special then. Sure, we ended up as enemies. I didn't like you. I probably even hated you at one point. But you'd have to be an idiot to watch Lucy Wylde in the ring and not see she was going to be amazing. I'm not going to recap your career to you, but you proved me right and everyone else wrong. And along the way you became someone I fell in love with.
I'm not going to lie. This match is very weird to me. I've never had a match just for fun, and that's weird. I'm not going to hold back and I don't expect you to either, but at the same time, neither one of us are trying to hurt the other. We're just out there to compete and see who's better.
It's weird to be cutting a promo on someone that I love, but have no intention of hurting. I've cut promos on my brother. I've cut promos on my best friend, but I had goals in mind. I had to hurt them. I had to get them out of the way for whatever I thought was best at the time, even if that wasn't actually what was best. I wasn't always a good person, but then, you know that.
You know that, and you accept me. Lucy Wylde, unlike some, has studied tape. She knows every awful thing I've ever done. She knows the darkest thoughts I've had in my head. She knows how hard I've worked to be a better person. Lucy Wylde gave me my first chance at redemption when not even I thought I deserved it.
Enemies to friends to well, whatever we are now. What do you call emotionally damaged people who find each other after multiple failed relationships?
I've wanted a match with you since I first saw you in the ring, although some of the reasons have changed over the years, one of them has remained constant. You're great at what you do. You always have been. I knew it the first time I saw it. And when I see someone with your level of talent, I have to test myself against them. I have to prove that I'm better. So three years later, I finally get my chance. You understand, of course, you're the exact same way.
So my eye may not be 100%, but I've got a patch on and I've got doctor's clearance for impact. That's good enough for me. I'm going to give it my all and you'd better do the same. I don't want anything less than that. This may be our only shot to face each other, let's make it memorable not just for each other, but for the world. Let's give them a show they'll never, ever forget.
There's no Carnage, there's no UGWC, there's no Paragon or anything else. There's you, me and the ring. When the bell sounds we live, and we'll give them the show of their lives til we die.
See you out there, babe.
