Apocalypse 2025 #1
Taking Hold of the Flame came and went. Amy was pleased with her effort, even though she didn’t win. She hadn’t set out to win. She set out to let James Evans know she was coming for him and his crew. She did exactly that in more ways than one. Somehow, Giovanni Aries became World Champion, but that was no matter to Amy. She didn’t need the title involved to get her payback. Except, she didn’t the chance. Evans was hurt in a match with Chris Dumont, and rumored to be out for a while, if not for good. Amy was annoyed but not deterred. She simply turned her attention to Waylon Creek – the man who had physically thrown her off the stage, trying to injure her permanently. Amy was Relentless (see what I did there?) in her pursuit of Creek, to force his hand into facing her at Rise to Greatness. He tried to manipulate his way out of it by using Ryan LeCavalier, but Amy saw through it easily and foiled the whole thing.
And thus, at Rise to Greatness Amy found herself across the ring from Waylon Creek. The man who, likely at James Evans’ direction, had tried to end her career for her. The list of men (and women) who had tried and failed to do exactly that was as long as her arm, and by the end of their match, one more name was added to the list of failures. Creek didn’t make it easy, he’s a tough and strong sonofabitch, but in the end Amy stood tall. Some might say she only prevailed because she had help by the way of the Shinigami Foundation, but Creek had LeCavalier interfere on his behalf first, so in Amy’s mind, the Foundation simply evened the odds. Before that though, Amy found herself starting to dig deep into a place she only went to when nothing else worked – that dark place that has existed inside since the first year of her career and some very deep brainwashing, with a touch of Stockholm Syndrome thrown in. Amy had done her best to wash her psyche of that experience, in both healthy and unhealthy ways. Despite that, there is a part of that darkness that she just can’t rid herself of. Maybe because a part her doesn’t really want to, but Amy would never admit to that, not even to herself. Thanks to the Foundation’s help, Amy didn’t have to go as far as she thought she might when Creek proved to be almost too much for her. They screamed at her that she owed them…. And she agrees, but for the reason they think.
{{Tuesday, August 5th
Marrero, LA
West Jefferson Medical center))
Just over a week after Rise was over, Amy sits in a hospital waiting room. Not for anything bad this time. No, something incredibly good. The universe decided that Bree giving birth on Amy’s birthday was a fantastic idea. Amy, Wyatt, and Loki are in the waiting room together, while Josh was in the back with Bree. Their kids, Heath and Jalyn, were at home with Jaina. She volunteered to stay with them; Jaina never did like hospitals. They didn’t know if the baby was here yet, or even if Amy would have a new nephew or niece. When Bree had Heath, she and Dom had decided to find out if they were having a boy or girl. This time, Bree and Josh decided not to. It reminded Amy of when she was pregnant with Loki, and she and Dustin had let themselves be surprised.
It's afternoon, and Wyatt has stepped out to pick up some food for a late lunch.
“Just think, Mom. We could all be at the academy instead.” Loki grins. BOA was supposed to start tomorrow, and Amy had planned to take Loki there by himself for a one-on-one talk, much like she did with Bree when Amy had agreed to train her. Instead… Bree woke up at 3AM in pain and knew it was time to go. Amy was woken up by a phone call shortly after, and here they were.
“We could be. But… it’s just you and me here right now. We don’t have to be at the gym for me to do what I planned.”
“We don’t?”
“No. It was always going to be more of a mind-training thing. I did the same thing with Bree, like your Uncle Heath did with me when I started.”
Loki shakes his head a little. “I still wish I had some memory of him at all.” Loki had been a baby, less than a year old, when Heath was killed in a car accident.
“So do I.” Amy lets the moment hang a few seconds before continuing. “So, I’ll ask you the same thing he asked me, over twenty years ago. Have you decided what kind of wrestler you want to be?”
“In what sense? Like…. Attitude, or—”
“No, I mean a style. Technical, flyer, striker, brawler, that sort of thing.” Loki had grown a lot during his teenage years and was now a little taller than Amy, broad shouldered, and while he was still thin, the years of MMA classes had made him muscular. He could theoretically work any style he wanted with the right training.
“Oh, that. I think striker would probably make the most sense, right?”
“I thought you might say that, but I wanted to ask you first. Going with what you know to start off with is a good idea.”
“Maybe some technical stuff and submissions as secondary? We did some of that at the dojo but not enough for me to be super comfortable with it.”
“Also a good idea. If that’s the route you want to go, I suggest paying close attention to Josh once you do start classes. He really helped Aunt Bree improve her holds, training with her.”
“I noticed. Do you think I should talk to him before we start?”
Amy looks around the waiting room. “Under normal circumstances, I would say yes. But with this going on…. I don’t think he’ll be in the gym when we get started.”
“Fair. Doesn’t mean I can’t talk to him though. I mean, they live next door.” Bree and Josh had bought Kara Abheri’s former house, next door to Amy’s. The gate she and Kara had installed between the two backyards was still there; the previous owners (who purchased from Kara) had simply kept their side locked.
“True… just make sure it’s a good time before trying to pick his brain. Having a newborn around isn’t easy.”
Loki nods his understanding. “Yeah, I figured. I have some ideas for video I can watch in the meantime to prepare. Like, make notes and all, like you do.” Amy had a habit of studying film and making physical notes on paper when preparing for particularly important match. She smiles.
“I’m glad you picked that habit up from me, at least.”
The door to the hallway leading to the back opens, and both Amy and Loki look up. Josh walks out, pulling off a mask revealing a smile that most of the world would think looks out of place on his face.
“We have a daughter.”
“I love nieces.” She smiles in return. “How are they?”
“Bree’s pretty exhausted, there was a minor complication, but they’re both fine now.”
“How minor are we talking?” Amy’s concern is instant.
“We’ll explain later. She’s really fine now, though. Don’t worry. At all.”
Amy lets out a relieved breath. “Okay. Thanks for that.”
“Of course. I just came out to let you know, I should get back.”
Amy makes a “shoo” motion with her hands. “Go, go. I’ll be here when she’s ready to see me.”
Josh gives her a nod and a grin and turns back through the doors.
A moment later, Wyatt steps off the elevator, with a brown paper bag in hand.
“You just missed Josh.”
“Of course I did. Well, did you get a niece or a nephew for your birthday?”
Amy laughs. “That’s right… it is my birthday today. I guess I don’t mind sharing with our niece.”
Amy explains what Josh said as Wyatt sits and they unpack the food. Loki is already on the phone with Jaina to tell her. All thoughts of the academy, the ring, and any lingering emotions from Rise, were non-existent for the rest of the day, into the evening.
{{ Tuesday, August 12
Harvey, LA
Amy’s house }}
It’s been a week since the newest member of the Lancaster family made her debut. Bree had been ordered to bed rest, so Josh hadn’t started at BOA with the season’s new class, who’s first day was yesterday. There was too much to handle at home with two toddlers, a newborn, and a recuperating partner. They had lots of help of course, but Amy insisted that Josh take a few weeks before going back to work.
It’s late afternoon, and Amy is in her kitchen, putting together a bag of food she’d made to bring over to them for dinner – half a pot roast she’d done up in the slow cooker, with some mashed potatoes for the gravy. The sturdy thermal bag in hand, Amy steps out the back door and goes to the backyard gate to bring it over. As she steps closer, she hears Josh and Loki talking; Amy didn’t know Loki had gone over there. She was going to just go through the gate, but something she heard made her stop before they saw her… and listen.
“—more dangerous, damaging, fighter than just that.”
“Not sure what you mean, kid.”
“Well… like Mom gets sometimes when people piss her off. Like Simon-who-was-really-Ryan. And her VWA stuff. And… I guess like you, sometimes.”
Amy leans on her side of the fence, hearing Josh sigh heavy. She felt guilty listening in like this, but something told her that she needed to, that interrupting would be a bad idea.
“You think you want that now, but trust me… you don’t.”
“Yeah, I do. I—”
“No. You don’t. Listen… I know you’ve seen what your mom's been through, but you can’t really know. You have no idea what kinds of experiences she went through, or the things I had to endure to be able to go that place when it seems like the only option. And for your sake, I hope you never know.”
“I know more than you think I do. I don’t say a lot but I watch. I listen. At least with Mom. I have a pretty good idea what she went through. I lived it, too.”
Amy wants to look, to see their faces, but she doesn’t want to risk being seen.
"Okay… then you must have also seen the regret. It’s one thing to decide crossing certain lines is necessary, it’s completely another to live with it afterwards.”
Amy hears her son sigh. She has a feeling she knows what he’s going to say.
“Yeah… I’ve seen that. Heard her say it even. But she’s different, she—”
“No, she isn’t. All of us who go to that level eventually look back on it and wish they hadn’t gone so far.” Amy decides to crack the gate ever so slightly, to see if she could see them. She does, seated next to each other on the steps of the back porch. Josh giving Loki one of the stares that bores into your soul, making it impossible to ignore the message he’s trying to convey. “And not just because of what they did to the other person, although that can be a part of it. But because of what it does to themselves. Here…” Josh points to his his chest. “And here. Understand?” Josh taps his temple with those words. Amy can’t see Loki’s face so she can’t tell what he may be thinking. “You are way too young to fuck yourself up like that.”
“It’s too late, though. I’m already fucked up like that, ever since I was a little kid. I never had a chance not to be, it’s literally in my blood.”
Amy closes her eyes at her son’s words. He’s clearly referring to Dustin, his biological father.
“Maybe. But you do have the choice now to not embrace it. Not make the same mistakes some of us old men made.” An extended silence makes Amy open her eyes again and peek. Loki has his head tilted down, as if looking down and taking the words in. Josh puts his hands up. “Listen, you’re close enough to being an adult that you can make your own choices. It’s just some worldly advice from an old man. You can take or leave it. If you decide to pursue this anyway… I will do my best to help you out any way that I can.”
Loki looks up, and nods. “I know. Thanks.” Josh gives a nod, and Amy can see a handshake between them. Loki could have a worse role model for violence, she thinks. It’s not the path she would choose for her son, though. He was supposed to be different than Dustin. Better.
Loki claps his hands together one time. “Okay, so. How’s Aunt Bree and the baby?”
“As good as can be expected. You can come in and say hi if you want. They’re probably awake now, it’s about time for that little girl to eat again.”
“Yeah, sure.”
The men – yes, Amy makes herself think of Loki as a man now – stand up and go inside.
Amy makes herself wait until she hears the back door close before opening the gate and going through, carrying the bag with dinner inside. She doesn’t want them to suspect she heard anything.
More than that, Amy wishes she hadn't.