“See, but don’t be seen.” That was the directive. The blonde was getting her first live field test. Paige Lewis considered herself a fair driver. Even with her hearing impairment, she’d finished top of her class in the driving program back home. She was most comfortable in her Mustang, but the organization had given her an old, slightly beaten, nondescript vehicle. Inconspicuous, that was the word used. She’d been sitting in the car for over an hour, looking at the photograph in her hand, and the entrance to the office building.
They were in Seattle, Washington for the operation. Her orders were to follow the man in the photo, and report back. After nearly two hours, she finally saw him exiting the building. A short, balding hispanic man, the target had a scar across his face. A tinted SUV pulled up to the front of the building. The organization had provided Paige with several instruments. The binoculars could see through tinted windows. She made a note of the 4 armed guards inside, as well as the two who walked him out of the building. A second SUV pulled up, and the pair of guards entered, before the two vehicles glided out of the lot.
Paige Lewis: Alright, they’re moving.
There was no answer in the earpiece, but Paige already knew what to do. Turning the engine over, she began following them. Flipping through the radio stations, she found some obnoxious metal station, and cranked it up. Tapping on the steering wheel, humming, dancing in the seat, and moving her head along with the music, someone looking directly at her wouldn’t think much. She’d pass as a college student getting “turnt.”
The entourage made one stop while in the business district. A Columbian restaurant. One of the associates of the target went inside, and came out with an envelope several minutes later. As they were leaving, Paige put on a hat and some large cheap sunglasses, and then changed the radio station. Country, it landed on. Perfect contrast to the metal from the last several minutes.
**********
That evening, after Paige had been ordered back to headquarters, she was shocked to see one of the men she’d been following. One of the men who exited the building initially with the target. He had a badge clipped at his waist that identified him as FBI Special Agent Eric Rojas. He saw her staring and walked over to her, his hand extended.
Agent Rojas: So, you were following us?
Paige Lewis: Yes. Undercover?
Agent Rojas: 2 years of hard work, backed by 5 years of hard intel. You’re a good tail. I never saw you.
Paige Lewis: See, but don’t be seen.
Agent Rojas: Lt. Brown loves that phrase. Mind if I…have my hand back?
Paige hadn’t even realized she was still holding his hand. Blushing, she released his hand and looked away with an embarrassed smile.
Agent Rojas: So, you’re the British woman he can’t stop raving about. How’d you get involved with the organization?
Paige Lewis: I was doing an endurance course, and he liked what he saw, I suppose. He still hasn’t seen fit to enlighten me as to what this organization is, or what the purpose is. So long as it doesn’t interfere with my wrestling, I don’t really care about the details so far.
Agent Rojas: Wrestling? You doing some amatuer grappling?
The blonde felt herself standing a bit taller as she lengthen her back and puffed her chest out a bit.
Paige Lewis: I am a professional wrestler. I am the two time and current World Heavyweight Champion of the promotion I work for.
The hispanic man looked impressed.
Agent Rojas: Really? A little thing like you? I suppose now I see why Lt. Brown adores you. You’re much tougher than you look at first glance.
Paige Lewis: I do what I have to do to stay on top. Only been knocked off once. I learned an important lesson. So, if they’ve already placed you in his organization, why did I need to tail you?
Agent Rojas: Your training, of course. You may or may not become involved in this particular operation. And, it might be better if you don’t. You’re rather fair for his liking.
Just then, Lt. Brown beckoned Paige, and she said excused herself.
Lt. Brown: You did good today, Miss Lewis. You know the drill. Money will be deposited into your account within 48 hours, and if you come back, we’ll double it next time. This is visit 9, if I’m not mistaken. Jones! 9 is the quarter, yeah?
Someone answered back, “Nine’s the quarter, ten’s the half.” Lt. Brown chuckled a bit and led Paige to the elevator. She turned her head to see Agent Rojas eyeing her with a smile. She smiled back before looking forward.
Paige Lewis: So, you’ll eventually tell me what I’m training for, right?
Lt. Brown: I promised I would. In the past, this program, has let the trainees in on the secrets too soon. Let’s just say…it didn’t turn out well.
Paige Lewis: I see. Very well. You’ve still got me interested. Today’s exercises were interesting. It was nice to get outside today for one of them. Call me when you need me.
****
3 hours later, Paige Lewis was in the air, flying across the Atlantic, heading home. The business class seat was paid for by the organization. Paige was on the edge of napping. Closing her eyes, she thought about SCW. She had somehow withstood Alzy Hawkshaw. Even Princess Kiya was impressed with her. Something in her had indeed changed. Ever since she lost the belt to Jessica Tendonin at Survival, Paige had been driven to get a message across. The Black Princess was not to trifled with.
A smile came to her face. She had ran through Jessica Tendonin like a freight train with a maniac at the helm. Next, she earned herself a shot at the SCW Alternative Championship. She now realized she’d failed. The goal was to face Desmond for the belt before she reach a year, but Mr. Walker had other plans. Paige still had a pending match, but the issue was, Desmond now qualified to challenge her for the SCW World Heavyweight Championship at any time.
Paige pushed those thoughts from her mind. She had a more pressing matter to think about. Veronica Rodriguez. Fury, they called her. Former 450WRESTLING Heavyweight Champion. Hall of Hendrickson Inductee. The Wrath of the Desert. And then, Paige was falling. She didn’t know how she got out of the plane, but she was falling towards the earth. Looking up, she saw the British Airways jet flying away.
Paige Lewis: Wait! Come back! Please!
They couldn’t hear her. She felt someone grabbing her arm, and she looked over to see her master, Princess Kiya. Paige was no longer falling. Instead, she and her master was floating in midair.
Princess Kiya: What troubles you, my pupil?
Paige Lewis: I’m not sure, master. I feel…conflicted.
Princess Kiya: Talk to me, young one.
Paige Lewis: I wonder if I’m good enough.
Princess Kiya: Your success speaks for itself, Paige.
Paige Lewis: I know. There is a horrible rumor going around that Jessica Tendonin laid down for me in our second match. They say Jessica wouldn’t have let go of a world title that easily, and must have jobbed. Why do these people continue to doubt me? I have worked so hard to get where I am! I ignored the rumors of giving sexual favours to Mr. Walker in exchanged for bribed wins. Now, they are trying to take away one of my most dominant moments.
The Egyptian woman remained silent.
Paige Lewis: I won’t stand for it.
The master smiled now, seeing the fire burst forth.
Paige Lewis: I HAVE WORKED SO HARD! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS NONSENSE! I WILL CRUSH EVERYONE IN FRONT OF ME!
Princess Kiya: Yes! Feel the anger! Let it be your strength! Let it fill you, drive you!
The blonde looked her master in the eye, and Princess saw her eyes aglow, and knew Paige Lewis’ wrath would be great. Paige sat forward, awaking with a start. The jet was on final approach to Heathrow. Her heart was pounding from the nightmare still. But, her resolve was hard as iron.
************
The camera was recording. The deck was being bathed in the morning. It was still damp from the rain a few hours before. The rays of sunlight reflected off of the large golden belt that rested on the lap of the blonde woman. Paige Lewis had been waking up the last few months and getting her run in, and then coming home to watch the sunrise. Sitting in the wicker chair, the sweaty woman sighed loudly before speaking without turning to the camera.
Paige Lewis: Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
She looked down at the ground briefly, and then turned to the camera, where her angry facade was clearly seen.
Paige Lewis: For over a year, now, I’ve sat atop the SCW promotion. I’ve doled out defeats to all who came seeking something else. I briefly was dethroned, but I have even rectified that mistake. This championship here, I’ve aligned my career with it, and together, it and I have begun to merge. Can you hear it? The living, breathing, growing spirit that is…the SCW World Heavyweight Championship.
It lives. It breathes. It is an entity of its own fashioning. It longs to be held by those worthy. I will soon be competing for the first time in over 3 months. Some say I’ve been getting time off as a favor…in return for something. I’ve noticed, though, that nobody has seen fit to address these concerns with me directly. I don’t ask for weeks at a time off, but when that’s how I’m booked, I train. If I’m not in the ring, I’m on the mat.
Becoming the SCW World Heavyweight Champion did not absolve me of the duty to improve. Becoming the champion for the second time did not preclude my ability to continue growing. I’ve got much to learn. I may be the record setting two time SCW World Heavyweight Champion, but I’m also a second year rookie.
With that, the blonde paused for a moment, and began caressing the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. With a smile, she continued talking.
Paige Lewis: That brings me to my next opponent. Veronica Rodriguez. Whereas I’m a rookie in this business, she’s a woman who has carved out a nice niche of success for herself. A champion nearly everywhere she goes, a name that is said to strike fear into the hearts of men and women alike who know they will falter before her, a true gladiator of the ring, a veteran of this art.
Veronica Rodriguez, your success in this business cannot be overstated. I will be honest. I’ve only found myself looking across the ring at someone with a star that matched your brightness on a couple occasions. But, I’ve bested them. I dominated Jessica Tendonin for nearly an hour before my body gave in. And in return, I dominated her again to regain this piece of me that had been taken.
I withstood the brutality meaded out by the No Limits Phenomenon, Alzy Hawkshaw, and held onto this championship. I’ve stood tall in hell, Veronica. I’ve stared the devil in the eye, and when it was over, turned my back to him, and marched out of hell with my head held high, and this championship in my hands. I’ve bore the weight of this honour with a heavy resolution. I’ve resolved to push myself to the absolute limit, and when it is over, to reel myself back in, victoriously.
I’ve no doubt that you will test me in ways I’ve not been tested before. But I truly do wonder if your head is where it needs to be. I’ve observed your fall to Brian Kennedy in pursuit of the 450Wrestling Duke of Wrestling Championship, who in turn fell to the Other. I’ve put Brian Kennedy down twice now. And I know you will surely check up on me, to formulate a plan of attack. But, only one person walking this earth has successfully put together a plan to stop me.
The blond inhaled deeply before continuing.
Paige Lewis: I remember the night well. The time of my first, and thus far, only professional defeat. I remember the thunder of the fans as the unstoppable force met the immovable object. A Legend versus the rookie champion. For 8 months, I’d reigned as the SCW World Heavyweight Champion. And then, Jessica Tendonin brought my reign to a screeching halt.
In superhero cartoons, you see a train that won’t stop, and is speeding up towards disaster. Then, the hero, if you will, jumps in front of the train and manages to stop it. That is what it feels like Jessica did. She stopped my unstoppable march. I truly believe in the idea that losses teach you more than victories. I learned my lesson. In my rematch, in my hometown, in front of all of my friends and family, I regained my glory.
Five minutes. In a mere five minutes, I obliterated the most decorated woman in this companies history. It took me five minutes to tear Jessica Tendonin apart and regain the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. If you’re wondering if you should be impressed, then you haven’t been paying attention. But, worry not, for soon, I shall dish out more of the same. It’s become clear that a great deal of people have viewed my continued success as less than earned.
I’ve been angered by this, because I know how hard I work to stay at the top of my game. I’ve felt great wrath over these remarks. But my fans and I know the truth. I spend so much time improving, while others tweet and snap. I was SCW’s first dual singles champion. The first person to win the world title on more than one occasion. I know better than to be angered by these fallacious words of fools. But I’ve been angered now, and I must deal with it. And so too, must you, Veronica.
You and I are a lot alike, actually. We don’t take anything, from anyone, laying down. We right wrongs done to us, and we rise to the occasion when called. What you’re getting, Veronica, is an up close and personal look at the new SCW. The new SCW, which I’ve laboured to make in my image. To go one on one with the SCW World Heavyweight Champion. This championship may not be on the line, but I will treat you like it is. For this championship, I will go to war, and drag the souls of my adversaries down to hell.
The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests…with me.
The scene fades to nothing.
