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Lacklan · (06-10-2023)

“Win some, lose some, huh?”

Sarah Lacklan stands in a courtyard, the bottom of her black and red kimono, with curiously puffy sleeves, flapping gently in the soft breeze of a mutedly warm day. All around her, cherry blossom trees sway in concert to the hem of the kimono, the flowers atop the trees in a contrast with the spider web design spun throughout the dress.

“That, in and of itself, is the largest problem with Robert Bourbon. Neither the day-to-day nor the long-term matters to him. Not wins and losses, victories and defeats. All that matters to him is the unending, unceasing, unyielding churn of nothing..”

A shake of her head sends her loose hair flying to and fro, the platinum locks bouncing lightly against the pointed chin resting beneath the translucent black veil clipped into her hair and hanging down her face.

“Years ago, when we first met, I questioned which Robert I was going to find in the ring. Was it going to be the XWF Universal Champion who Robertbombed his way through the lockerroom? Or would it be the man who laid down for a fifteen year old girl and whistled ‘Happy Trails’ while he flipped off the entire premise of our industry? That particular night, I somehow got both, as while he did, indeed, sleepwalk his way through the promotional period, he also reminded everyone that he wins matches as inexplicably as the Lion. At that moment, those years ago, he was in the middle of ‘reinventing’ himself, which he has done, by my count, as many times as seventeen Ozzies. All the while because he has never, not even once, given a flying fuck about anything for more than five seconds. He won some. He lost some.

“Many have inadvertently echoed my appraisal from those years ago, including Corey just the other day: Robert is immensely talented…when he wants to be. And that lack of consistent wanting, that inability to focus, has led not only to a career as inconsistent as an Anarchy viewing party, but also to a lack of respect and admiration from his fellow competitors. Robert wishes to entertain fans and peers alike, but all he’s ever really been able to do is get a few chuckles from the Barney Greens of the world while making his brethren and sistren scratch their heads in both confusion and consternation. And for the record, should Corey ever view this: Yes, I did wonder which Robert I was drafting. And no, it was not the one I wanted. His relative survival notwithstanding, War Games was not the smoothest sailing my ship has ever encountered. Though, to be fair, that is mostly on the shoulders of this week’s Television Championship contender. I may have pinned my sister within the confines of our War Games match, but in the grander scheme of the event, Angelica Vaughn defeated Sarah Lacklan. Her theft of Vita Valenteen threw off my entire plan, and I ended up with a team I didn’t anticipate nor want.”

A small smile comes to the lips beneath the veil.

“I have never been more proud of her.”

“Babe?”

Sarah turns her head slightly at the call of the voice. In her peripheral, she sees the dark silhouette of Kenzi Grey, which turns her half-smile into its full, infamously expensive form. She turns on her heel, the slippers on her feet feeling painfully thin in place of her usual heeled boots, and gives that smile to the caramel starlet.

“Beloved.”

Kenzi’s eyes roll, not quite at the Lacklan Level, but her smile is just as sardonic.

“How thankful I am that you’re not in ‘Wife’ mode.”

Sarah’s eyes crinkle in humor at this, the red dots shining in the warm light.

“How could I be when we’re here?”

She raises her arms and gestures around at the trees in the courtyard before holding them out, beckoning to Kenzi. Like Odysseus caught by the Siren within the Messina Strait, Kenzi makes her way toward Sarah. As the two embrace, Kenzi flips up the veil across Sarah’s face, grumbling inaudibly at the necessity, so that the two can press their foreheads against one another. Both close their eyes, savoring the intimacy of the moment as they gently rub their heads back and forth. That moment of intimacy, stretching back to their earliest days, was nearly a talisman for their continual sanity when wrapped up in a sport known for the opposite.

“Done yet?”

Kenzi’s question was tinged with hope, and she sighed after Sarah’s head move turned from it’s gentle caress to one with more firmness. In response, Sarah moved her head downwards, her lips heading towards Kenzi’s, but the starlet pushed her to arm’s length.

“Not until you’re done, babe.”

Once opening, Sarah’s eyes filled with fire, but Kenzi simply smirked and looked over her shoulder and to the XWF Interview Drone she knew would be there.

“Don’t let her talk too long, Todd! You know how she gets.”

Todd does, indeed, know how she gets.

Kenzi gave Sarah’s hand a squeeze and pulled away, but was stopped by the sweetest words she ever heard in her life, words the Kenzi introduced to the masses in The World According to Sid over a decade prior never would have thought:

“I love you, Mackenzie.”

Kenzi smiled so brightly that her chocolate eyes shined.

“I love you, Selena.”

They both squeezed their hands one more time before Kenzi pulled away. Sarah’s eyes followed her as she made her way back into the small house, one of many belonging to her brother, and she couldn’t help but track the rear end she had always touted as being the sweetest the world had ever seen. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as the door closed. She turned around, her eyes squinting behind her glasses even with the soft light, and regarded the Interview Drone settled among the cherry blossom branches.

“Something that my detractors loathe about me is that, despite a variety of challenges presented in my life, I win. The vaunted ‘Hashtag, Sarah Wins, Laugh Out Loud.’ Because I have always understood what was important to me, important to life, and important to victory. And what victory means at it’s core. No matter the pain or dejection I may encounter, from odd reactions to the way I look to talking heads on podcasts crying about how ‘mean’ I am, I will always have Kenzi, I will always have my family, I will always win. I planned for these wins, I fought for them, I triumphed for them. And I, daily, feel and show appreciation for those victories.

“An advantage I have over Robert, and this applies to most wrestlers but him in particular, is that I understand the importance of victories and defeats. I understand how a victory can propel you towards another, and another, into a string to weave into my web. Someone of my caliber, of a world class athlete born and bred to inspire the world by competing in arenas across the globe, can be the most dangerous opponent possible when wearing the armor of a winning streak. In the past, I have dominated both this company and the entire business when going on streaks of victories, including holding multiple ‘world’ championships at once. Such is the future I am crafting, such is my road through Anarchy’s restoration and the retrieval of my second briefcase at Leap of Faith.

“But I also understand the importance of defeats. I understand how one can use a crushing loss, whether physical or emotional, and use it as fuel to grow greater still. Everyone should know about the physical setbacks I’ve had, from a car crash that put me in a doom-casting wheelchair in 2018 to my issues the last two years that kept me out of an XWF ring, but defeats are more than just what have happened outside of work. Before, the Lion incorrectly stated the amount of losses I once suffered in a row…a little ‘fact’ that our wonderful champion is allowed to utter without the world caring that it was a falsehood…and while the actual number was inflated, the existence of that string of losses is not. I was in a bad place mentally for a time, arguing with my family and friends, and it reflected in my performance. It was not until I set my family right, not until I focused on those mental and emotional defeats, that I was able to translate that into greater victory. I was able to use them to push through, to fuel my fires, and win more championships and tournaments. And such will be the same for me this week, though by no means from any deeper level of loss than at other times.

“If Mister Flynn were to employ his team to look at my numbers this year for Robert’s sake, he would find a head-scratching situation: Robert’s friend Thunder Knuckles, who is one of many in the running for this year’s Fang Gang Leader election, recently quipped that I haven’t done anything worthwhile this calendar year of my return. Just losses and unimportance. But to the contrary, he would find Flynn’s numbers to show a record of 12-and-5, which includes two of the fastest wins in XWF history, multiple wins in the same night, and two championships. T.K., ever the bastion of truth and responsibility, would be forced to take Flynn’s head-scratching numbers and show Robert that I am, as ever, Sarah goddamn Lacklan, and that the last few months ‘full’ of losses, despite what someone like BoB or the Lion would erroneously say, is naught be the teeniest tumbling block. While comparatively small, I understand the importance of these losses for the purposes of fueling my drive, as much, if not moreso, than those aforementioned victories.

“Robert understands none of these. All he cares for is his relentless grind into the conflicting worlds of fantasy and mundanity in the pursuit of what he thinks is ‘entertainment.’ But I have focus, dear friends. So while Robert finds himself in the need to transport to fantasy realms alongside the Omegas of the world, while he twiddles his thumbs waiting for the next opportunity to compete in a ridiculous match filled with moronic side quests like he’s stuck in one of my sisters’ video games, my ship has her bow pointed directly at the future victories and company-defining moments for the XWF:

“The Anarchy Championship, the Leap of Faith Rafters Match, and Collision Course.”

Sarah smiles widely, the full worth of her lips and teeth on display.

“Robert has been spinning his wheels for more years than I have in this industry, spinning as relentlessly and fruitlessly as a bike held upon pegs, staying in the same spot for eternity. Certainly, he’ll be funny, or entertaining, or interesting, as he might falsely label his actions, but since he never seems to want anything, he’ll never actually do anything, or go anywhere. Such is the man who thinks a flash of rainbow flair for BoB should be considered a momentous occasion. And while he may well have a date with the Doctor after such a violent exchange at War Games, whether it be now or a year henceforth, he’ll still be in the same place, saying and doing the same things, all under a false veil of diversion coated with distraction. While he focuses on nothing and achieves it, I will use this next victory to remind the XWF what direction and plans look like, remind them that while I have been focused on relationships this year, I am still very much the Queen. Remind them that while Robert has been both King and Universal Champion…so have I.

“Win some, lose some? This week, all Robert will have is the latter while he watches me focus on the former.”

She gives a small curtsy, as far as the kimono will allow, and follows after Kenzi.

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode Leap of Faith, Part I: Apathy tempers respect
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