04-03-2021, 01:03 PM
Taking Solace -->
In the mirror, it's hard not to see just the flaws. It's hard for Solace not to see only the fresh tears of disappointment streaming over her sore, tender cheeks. All of her training, all of her research, and all of her heart weren't enough to surpass Miss Fury at March Madness. For a young, up-and-coming talent who had already endured so many obstacles in her life, this was a humiliation that felt like a tattoo on her forehead: "Failure." She assumed everyone could read it themselves, and part of her wanted to crawl into a hole so nobody ever could. This was her truth, and what she saw when she looked into the mirror was a reminder that despite her best efforts to reach perfection, she was far from it.
She feels an ache in her shoulder; surely the remnants of Miss Fury's submission and another reminder of her failures. Sure, she won the Billion Dollar Championship, upsetting the much larger Big Money Oswald to avenge her first XWF loss, but the night ended unfavorably for Solace. She couldn't let it go, and she knew deep down that she wouldn't be able to.
She is tired of seeing herself as the victim, and snorts her runny nose, and wipes her tears on either side of her face. She looks back into the mirror, clearing her throat and blinking away any tears that may have continued collecting, wiping each eye one last time for good measure. Then, a long exhaling breath.
"You're a champion, girl..." Solace reminds herself, "It's a bullshit championship but you're still an XWF champion."
She wonders if giving back the belt was considered a forfeit of the title itself, and knowing Big Money Oswald, there was certainly a small print on the contract that was printed in white-colored text but it didn't matter. She won. The title was on the line because he put it up, and he ate that cage like he eats everything else in front of him. The belt was a material object... but the title... that was hers, no matter what kind of B.o.B. stipulation they tried to sneak in.
"I don't need that belt." Solace nods, her eyes narrowing in renewed confidence, "I own the title... I'm going to make it my own."
Solace stews with the idea of buying her own physical belt, having the metal of it installed to reflect her own personality, leaving the billion-dollar championship belt to deteriorate around Oswald's rotting waist.
"The Tatum Championship." Solace says it out-loud as she watches herself say it in the mirror, "No... hmm... i'll have to think about it."
She turns from the mirror, now re-energized after her loss, and ready to look towards the future. She knew she couldn't let go of Miss Fury's defeat and yearned for another chance to avenge her loss... but since Miss Fury refused a rematch at Anarchy, the management found a place for Solace in the second to last match for the night against two members of the Misfits, Scarlett and once again, Vonn Bonn.
She opens her laptop to see the card again, but it's blocked by messages received. She feels her stomach shrink, wondering if her peers were sending her malicious messages in defense of the B.o.B. but when she opens the mailbox, she is pleasantly surprised. One is from Betsy Granger, congratulating her on a well-fought match, and her personal phone number to talk about something important. She also made sure to compliment Solace on the win against Oswald. Another email was from Ash Quinn offering to help her against B.o.B. and The Left Hand.
Solace, once again, remembers back to when she made a pledge to avoid these dark stables and just focus on her own career... her aspirations to do such, now impossible. So many enemies already, and now allies are stacking up as well. It seemed that she was in the middle of an already waging war and now, she would be forced onto a side; a side that she was already decided by default.
She knows that Ash Quinn was once a loyal member of the cult, but also knows she's spent the last couple of months the target of some very vicious attacks for her departure. Surely, teaming with Ash Quinn would align Solace against the likes of the Left Hand... but on the same token, being at odds with B.o.B. would lead down the same road. Solace would need all of the allies she could facing a stable with such numbers.
That's something she could ponder, and on that same issue, Betsy surely would try to recruit Solace for her own brand of resistance against the same enemies. Solace could feel her anxiety rising. She remembers to take each moment as it comes, closing her eyes to breathe slow enough to control her breath. "Focus on the now." Just as Daddy would suggest.
"Okay... Anarchy." Solace clicks back to the card to see she is teamed with none other than the Anarchy champion, Ruby. She didn't know much about her, but what she did know, and all that mattered, she wasn't a member of the B.o.B. To Solace, at this point, it was good enough.
She opens up Ruby's profile and clicks "Compose." to begin a new message to her Anarchy team-mate.
"Hello, Ruby. I see we are paired up for this Thursday against The Misfits. I just wanted to reach out and let you know that although I'm still pretty new, I do have some experience against Kris Vonn Bonn. A win over him, to be more specific. I'm not keen on underestimating my opponents, but I can tell you that I do not think you and I will have much trouble handling Scarlett Donaldson and "The Hammer", in fact, I think as long as we can work well enough together, we could probably handle the entire Misfits collective, including the "Mastermind." Anyway, if you want to talk strategy, hit me up.
-Solace"
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