"Sink Or Swim" - Lights Out #38 RP vs Daniels & Hayden

Morgan Payne,
Your contract application has been accepted and we are pleased to welcome you to Union Battleground. Attached, you will find--

She crumpled the letter that came in the mail into a ball under one hand and dropped it on the coffee table. She must have read it a dozen times after she’d signed the official contract electronically. Her other hand lifted the half gone Newport to her mouth. She wrapped her lips around the filter, taking a deep drag. In the dark living room of The Kingdom’s manor, otherwise known as The Castle, the cigarette’s cherry burned bright, casting a soft orange glow on the young woman’s face. The only other source of light in the room was that of the large, flat screen television where a video was paused, displaying Anna Daniels about to kick some poor, unlucky bastard in the face. Morgan stuck a fresh cigarette in her mouth and lit the end with the cherry of her old one. She then stabbed the butt out in the ashtray and took another heavy drag as she pressed the X on the Playstation controller to resume YouTube. The video resumed with the one known as The Muse systematically beating the bloody hell out of her opponent.

Anna was dangerous and Morgan knew it. She and Michael Hayden had nearly two decades of experience as opposed to her own two years. Coming up here soon, Morgan would find herself contending with both of them at the same time in a triple threat match. Hell of a debut, she thought to herself. She almost questioned the booking decision when she first looked at the card. Was management trying to test her or kill her? Maybe they weren’t, but she knew Anna Daniels would. She tried to kill everyone she stepped into the ring with but Morgan was slowly growing into the same mindset.

She’d also have Michael Hayden’s submission and Strong Style to contend with. She’d already spent hours in the day just researching his career, trying to get a handle on him. He knew the ring and he knew how to adapt and switch things around. It was a trait he and her shared, funny enough, after she had trained in New York and Ireland. Again, he had the experience over her in that department. Morgan had her own tenacity, however. She had also taken to using her size and quickness to her advantage. Perhaps a strength she could use against Hayden. Anna was the one that Morgan felt she needed to study just a bit more closely. Sure, she had a temper that could be exploited; a pride that she could possibly bruise, even though Morgan had grown to appreciate a proud fighter. There was a disdain for being rendered immobile that Morgan seemed to notice about Daniels, as well, but in all fairness, she wouldn’t have liked being put in a straitjacket, either. Who the fuck would?!

Morgan watched the rest of the match, scribbling down little notes she thought were worth taking on a piece of paper that looked all illegible when looked at next to the other scribbles. Notes from the matches she had watched accompanied other little tidbits given to her by people she knew had worked with both opponents before. The notes probably wouldn’t have made sense to anyone else but they sure as shit made sense to her. She just hoped it was enough. Enough to get her passed this first obstacle in Union. Enough to, eventually, get her to him.

The camera fades in on the water. Wait, what? As the frame pans over, the low howl of the wind carries through the scene as a sail is brought into view. The pan continues until finally settling on none other than Morgan Payne. Loose strands of her dark brown hair are tossed about in the wind. The rest of her hair is tied back behind her head. She’s dressed comfortably but her body language gives away how tense she is. Her bare arms, exposed due to the black Na Fianna tank top she wears, yet covered in tattoos, have become more defined since she last made a video like this. There are also notable scars here and there on her arms, shoulders and even face that hadn’t been there before. She leans forward against a railing, looking out over the water, barefoot in her black tank and loose legged swim trunks. The scenery behind her almost looks like...wait. Is she on a boat?! What in the world is she doing?

Well, lighting a cigarette for starters. She sticks a Newport in her mouth, lights the end and exhales the first drag with her eyes closing, savoring the peace if only for a moment before she speaks.

“Hear that?”

She holds her cigarette hand up with a pause. Just listen. There’s the soft sound of the rolling water around her and the gentle breeze

“It’s quiet. Not too quiet but, it’s peaceful, ya know?”

She opens her eyes and drags on her Newport again, lowering her arm across the railing again.

“Been that way my whole damn career, seems like. Ain’t been much of one, I’ll admit. Two years of mediocrity and a shit run in the indies before that. Two years.”

She holds up two fingers.

“Three companies.”

She extends a third finger but hesitates with a thoughtful expression.

“Wait, no. Four? No. Three. It’s totally three.”

Morgan makes a sheepish face as if trying to hide an embarrassing fact. She clears her throat, spits overboard and takes a drag on her cigarette.

“Yeah, totally three. New Frontier, HYBRID and Nova. All I ever been in. This is my fourth right here. Union. The Battleground. I ain’t gonna deny it.”

She closes her eyes, smiles and shakes her head.

“Yinz got some real badass motherfuckers here. Makin’ me feel like the small fish in a big ass ocean.”

She looks across the water again and lets out a humored scoff.

“I came to Union on recommendation from a friend. More like a mentor. He taught me shit that turned my career around for the better. It’s started to, at least. See, he’s more like family. Family’s important to me. It ain’t made by the blood that runs through your veins. Anna knows who I’m talkin’ about. Michael Hayden might, too. Shit, they probably both know why I’m here. It ain’t for the money. It ain’t for the recognition. It ain’t for the competition the roster brings but I know I’m gonna get that. I’ll consider that a bonus. I came to Union for the motherfucker that betrayed his family for…. Tch! I dunno what his reasons even are.”

Morgan sighs heavily and takes a hit off of her cigarette again before she continues.

“Now, Anna Daniels? Michael Hayden? I got no beef with them. I seen them around. I barely know them. If I wanna get my hands on the motherfucker I came for though, I gotta get through them first. Mike. Can I call ya Mike? That cool? I hear you ain’t just the run of the mill wrestler. You like to catch wrestle. You like to shoot. You like to throw knees n’at. Hey I like that shit, too. You might have the experience in years, but I got the tenacity that you no longer possess. An old dog up there in years with a shaken confidence. You’re stepping into the Battleground against a young wolf who’s tired of bein’ fed scraps and wants the choice cut of the kill but again, I gotta get through you first. I gotta get through you and Anna Daniels. Now, Anna….”

Morgan turns and lifts herself up onto the boat railing she’s been leaning against. She shrugs.

“I ain’t got no problem with you. I really don’t. You’re like Hayden. You been around as long as him. Maybe longer.”

She stops and ponders again.

“My grandma swears she seen you wrestle when she was my age.”

Morgan looks at the camera. She shakes her head and waves it off. Not possible...right?

“I’m familiar with your shit. I’d be lyin’ if I said I ain’t been lookin’ forward to this. Would have preferred one on one but hey, always next time, yeah? Till then, I guess I’m the new bitch on the roster here at Union Battleground. The little two year tenured chick taking on a couple of seasoned vets, lookin’ to make some waves. To break the silence in the air around me and achieve what it is I came here for.”

Morgan takes one more drag off of her cigarette, throws the horns to the camera, swaps it for a middle finger, and winks.

“Sink or swim, right?”

She falls backwards and disappears over the edge where a splash can be heard. A moment later, she comes back into view, swimming towards a distant piece of hand as the sun begins to set behind the horizon.