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NRG Stadium
Houston, Texas
02-11-2023

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3…



Sidney could still hear the echo of the referee’s count as she pinned Oswald to the mat and punched her ticket into the second round of the tournament. The referee raised her hand, but a sharp pain in her chest caused her to jerk away from them. Everything hurt. It hadn’t been easy, in fact, it has seemed nearly impossible for a majority of the match. She had been rag-dolled without mercy by the huge man, but strength alone was no substitute for experience and wickedness, which she possessed in great abundance. She hadn’t stuck around to savor the moment, only to hazard a look down at her fallen adversary, their eyes locking for a brief few seconds. She remembered his words, and she would hold him to it…to be by her side, if he truly did believe.

Her mind turned quickly to other matters, her thoughts drowning out the boos and jeers of the crowd who abhorred her for the role she played in Ruby’s exit from The XWF. There would be time enough to crow about that. She wiped her sweat soaked hair from her face as she scanned the crowd for any sign of her daughter, who she knew would be there watching…but apparently not her match.

That was disappointing.

Her body creaked and groaned with the stress of many years, but she held up her head, determined not to show how it had worn on her. She had an image, and that of a broken-down ring veteran wasn’t it. Once she got to the privacy of the locker room, she could collapse and fall to pieces. There, away from the cameras, she could be who she really was. Until then, she was spurred on by the cameras.

“…for fuck’s sake…” she whispered under her breath, her hand absently going to her chest. She dropped it, knowing better than to show weakness to anyone now that she had advanced. There would be no rest for the weary as Steve Sayors was waiting for the usual post-match bullshit session where she would crow about how easy her win was and how it didn’t matter who was next.

Even though it wasn't easy and it did matter.

“Ms. Grey! A moment please.” Steve said as he approached, with more than a bit of apprehension after the way their last interview had gone. “Please don’t hit me or take off your clothes again.”

‘Good times’ she thought to herself, but the cameras were on her now. She steeled herself, getting right in Steve’s face, causing him to step back. “Don’t be coy Sayors, that was the highlight of your XWF career.”

Steve swallowed, “Well…” deciding to ignore the question. “…congratulations on your win tonight, but now things only get more difficult. You’ll face the winner of Isaiah King versus Dolly Waters.” He shoved the microphone in her face. “Do you have a preference?”

Sid rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’d like to face the worst one, obviously, DUH!” Sid couldn’t help but to chuckle at the look on the interviewer’s face. “Do you think I’m like one of these slack-jawed idiots pretending to want to face the best competition? NO! I want to win this fucking tournament and the easier the path, the better!”

Steve gathered his composure. “I’m sorry for the question. Allow me to rephrase it; which of the two do you feel you have a better chance against?”

“Now you’re getting it Sayors. One day you’ll grow up to be a real boy!” Sid scoffed, before answering. “Isaiah King is one incredibly handsome man. I’d probably lay down and let him cover me…the only problem is, I probably wouldn’t let him get off.” Sid turned and looked into the camera as she mouthed the words, ‘but I would’ and turned back to Steve. “Dolly, on the other hand…that’s an altogether different story right there, isn’t it? Dolly’s no push over, she’s very accomplished in the ring, but, more importantly…”

Sid paused, her inner thoughts turning to her daughter's fondness for Dolly Waters. The two of them had once had a particularly playful working relationship on social media before Dolly had taken a break. She didn’t know where that relationship stood now, but if she knew her daughter, she’d still be a mark for Dolly and she would be guaranteed to be watching a match between the two of them.

“But?” Steve asked, trying to pry a response out of her.

“…but, we will see.” Sid put two fingers on the microphone and pushed it away as she brushed past the interviewer, her total focus on getting to the locker room and getting peeled out of her wrestling gear. She wanted to face Dolly, regardless of the fact that she wouldn’t get to lay her hands all over the ebony Adonis that was Isaiah King. Sometimes, if you prayed hard enough, things just seemed to come together, and that is exactly what happened.

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SOMETIME LATER

Dani Chow sat in the lounge chair of the locker room, chuckling to herself as she fired off a few fun tweets, crowing about how Ruby had been sent to the hospital after her Anarchy match with Sid on Thursday and promising to put on a HUGE retirement celebration for her.





In truth, Sid had managed to cheat her way to a win against XWF’s resident heroine and had even taken things a step further with a post-match attack, but it had been Gina Van Zyl that had really done the deed, likely driven to the brink of insanity by Sid’s constant attacks. Of course, in true Sidney Grey fashion, she had taken all the credit for dispatching Ruby, and she planned on capitalizing on every last bit of it…especially since Van Zyl wasn’t jumping up and down to be recognized for her actions.

“DANI!!!”

Sid’s scream from the shower was so loud that Dani nearly dropped her phone. She hurriedly checked to be sure her hair was tied back tight before she leapt up to see what had happened. She rushed to the shower as Sid stood there with a towel held loosely around her, her eyes fixed on a large painful bump on the side of one of her breasts. “Ms. Grey, you okay?”

Sid glared at her, “DO I LOOK OKAY?!” She dropped the top of her towel and thankfully the pixelization kicked in to spare any virgin eyes. “Look! This one is crooked! I think Oswald broke one of my boobs!”

Dani stared at them, her head going from one to the other, then finally leaning way down to the right as she followed the trajectory of one of her rapidly deflating implants. “Maybe no one noticey if you wear a just one high heel. Make crookedy look more straight.”

“You’re a fucking idiot! You know that?” Sid spat out as she covered herself. “I don’t even know how this happened!”

Dani shrugged, “Maybe it voodoo? Dolly Water like a voodoo.”

Sid scrunched her face in confusion. “What?”

“Dolly Water!” Dani elaborated, “She beat hot chocolatey. Probably she already know you next.”

Sid stood there, lost in thought for a moment, the pain in her likely cursed boob temporarily forgotten. This actually was what she wanted, a match that her daughter would be sure to be watching. Mackenzie couldn’t ignore her forever, especially now. She hadn’t gotten any attention for her antics, but this would be something that she wouldn’t ignore. She smiled, “Next best thing to taking on Sarah.”

Again, Dani chimed in. “No worry, rat eye girl no beat Kido. Not even with help from Dolly Water.”

This news stunned her, as she muttered to herself, “…how long was I in the fucking shower…?” In fact, Sid had missed a great deal, all of which Dani passed on in broken English. Dolly has been a busy little bee…




There was much to unpack here, Sid had publicly backed Kido in the hopes of getting a rise out of her daughter, but she truly never thought her daughter-in-law, the little troll that she was, would actually lose. Sid felt a pang of anger and jealousy for not being the one responsible for ousting Sarah herself, but that might have further alienated her from her own daughter. Still, this outcome could be worked to her advantage, if she played her cards right…

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Dolly Waters, you had yourself one hell of a night in the first round of the tournament! You changed the course of two out of three matches; you gave Blondie a fancy new chair hat, sending Charlie to the next round and then you went digging around in Isaiah’s sexy little eye sockets and punched your own ticket to round two. BRAVO, Dear! Of course, that puts you and I on a bit of a collision course, but we can talk about that later.

How about Dolly and Sarah, sittin’ in a tree; K. I. S. S. I. N. G.

Well, probably not kissing, but thick as thieves, none the less. Not even Sarah lifting a title from your shoulder was enough to sour the…waters, between you two. That’s intriguing to me, because you and I are a lot alike. Two girls chalk full of talent, with a mean streak a mile long and looking to make their mark on the XWF. You busting heads with chairs and clawing out eyes, me handing out concussions like candy and retiring dime store superheroes, all in the name of putting our names on everyone’s lips. I’d be proud and maybe a little bit nervous, if it wasn’t for one glaring difference, and that’s how you can so easily turn a blind eye to Sarah Lacklan, who literally punched a title out of your hands…yet there you are bumping that same fist and trying to help her advance.

I’ll admit this much Dolly, Sarah can be beguiling, I mean, just like she absconded with your Tag Team Championship, she did the same with my daughter. Not to compare my child to a few pounds of gold, but you’d never catch me helping that little pale bridge troll con a billy goat into paying a crossing fee, let alone advance in a championship tournament.

Are you gullible, blind, stupid…or perhaps none of those? Maybe you were just playing the long game. You got a little heat with Kido, so helping Lacklan and finally getting your revenge at the end in the finals is all the sweeter? I could almost respect that, but I don’t. Stupid is as stupid does Dolly. If you want this to be your year, you can’t compromise, even for the sake of delayed revenge. You should have drawn Sarah in and put her down, even done the same to Kido. That’s a statement that anyone can respect.

Round one would have been Dolly Waters running roughshod through three matches and leaving the fans with a single image; you standing alone while your enemies pick at your leavings for the chance to get beaten by you again in the finals. Instead, you bet on a loser and now you just look like an inept henchman playing Rock em’ Sock em’ Robots with Buster Gloves at ringside. That makes me sad, Dolly…but, it also motivates me. You see, I don’t lose to lackies, flunkies, or failed confederates, and I certainly don’t compromise when all eyes are on me…and they are.

This might still be your year Dolly, but this isn’t your tournament. I’ll see you soon, cursed titty and all.  School will be in session, Dear.