End of the Year Special 2022
October 31
Santa Barbara
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It was mid-morning on Halloween, my actual birthday – as told to me by my mother Gail. Finding out I was born on this day made so many things make sense, such as the fact I always suspected I was a Scorpio, and it turned out to be true. Of course I am, they're the sex demons of the zodiac. And speaking of sex, I was starting my day in one of my very favorite places. On top of a man, riding him hard. We were on his couch, him half-sitting, half-leaning back, and me straddled over him, rolling my hips as slow yet hard-grind as I could. His fingertips dug into my asscheeks as we both moaned through heavy breaths. I felt him tense up and that, as always, triggered my release. I screamed as I bore down harder, and seconds later I felt his warmth explode up inside me. I slowed my movements little by little until I was stopped, then collapsed onto his chest, my head on his shoulder. He whispered 'holy fuck' into my ear.
“I told you.... nothing would change.... just because we got married.” I picked my head up and smirked. A matching smirk appeared on Ashley's face.
What? Not who you thought I was fucking?
“So you said... didn't mean it were gonna be true.”
“I'm just glad I finally got the opportunity to prove it.”
I slid off his dick and sat next to him on the couch, leaning back to catch my breath.
“So am I, but I understand why ya waited a few weeks. You an Tommy needed some time to yerselves after making it official.”
“You were a lot more understanding of that than Bella was.”
Wait. I should probably back up a bit. In case you think you read that wrong, you didn't. Tommy and I got married. Yes, we kept it quiet. There are a lot of things we've kept quiet since I had to back out of the World Championship match against Selena Frost back in April. But more about that later. Point here is... we're all legal now, including me now having a last name I'm not ashamed of and don't hate. The wedding was private and small, with only our closest family and friends in attendance. Both Ashley and Bella, the Ante Up student Tommy had taken an interest in (both athletically and carnally), were there. They had both reacted.... not well, to the news Tommy and I were engaged. They thought it meant they wouldn't have access to us anymore. It took a lot for me to convince Ashley that absolutely nothing was going to change except legal status and my name. Tommy tried his best to convince Bella of the same, and I'll give the girl credit, she tried to continue like nothing was different. But once the wedding was over, she decided she couldn't do it. The next day she told Tommy she was out. We expected her to leave Ante Up too, but she didn't. I think she'll eventually change her mind and try to go back to him, Tommy isn't so sure.
“Yeah, I can't explain that one. Y'know, I tried to convince her it would be alright?”
“You did?” Everyone knew about each other in this weird foursome we had going on.
Ashley nodded. “I thought she were believing it too, when she came to the wedding. But I guess not.”
“Tommy thinks she only showed up to see if we were really gonna do it.”
“I'd believe it. No idear why she couldn't deal with it, its like you said... a piece of paper don't change your agreements.”
I shrugged. “Who knows. Tommy wasn't happy about it, but she made her choice, you know?”
“Yup. And I made mine.” He grinned at me. Ashley had come a long way from the nervous, timid young guy I met when I first started fucking around with Tommy. Some of that change had been me and Tommy's fault... we kinda sorta jerked him around a little. Okay.... a lot. But some of it was just the fact he got older, more experienced with literally everything, and maybe picked up some of me and Tommy's open attitude about relationships and sex. However Ashley evolved, it worked out for me. I grinned back.
“Lucky me. I got to start off my birthday with one of my favorite guys, and I'll end it with the other.”
Tommy had given me one of my gifts early. After the wedding we agreed to keep to ourselves for a little while, but a few days before my birthday he told me to go spend the night before with anyone I wanted. That was last night, and Ashley was my choice. I admit he wasn't my first choice... but Drake had been a ghost ever since I texted him the wedding date.
Ashley pulled his t-shirt and track pants on. I pulled a throw blanket over myself. The room was a little chilly but my clothes were on the floor on the other side of the room. “And in between that, yer going see about getting cleared to wrestle. Sounds like a great day for ya, love.”
I held up my hand, fingers crossed. “Hope so.”
“You'll lemme know, right?”
“Of course. You'll be the first person I call. Well, right after HR if it's the news I want.”
“S'pose that's acceptable.” He smirked again. If he kept that up I wouldn't make it to my appointment. That thought spurred me to get up. I wrapped the blanket around myself as I stood.
“I should get going. I have to go home first before my appointment.”
Ashley didn't try to stop me as I crossed the room, grabbed my clothes, and got dressed. On any other day he would have done his best to convince me to stay, but today was important.
SCW desperately needed me. There was one person standing in my way of returning and showing those clowns how it's done – Dr. Lowen.
* * * * *
Later that afternoon, me and Tommy went to see Dr. Lowen. He's the orthopedist that's been treating us both, and even though its a little outside of normal procedure, we were scheduled for our checkups together. I came to him first when I fucked up my knee training. At first he wanted to treat my ligament strains with rest and physical therapy. It was all going great, until about two weeks before Rise to Greatness....
I bent my knee back and forth while we waited for Dr. Lowen to come in.
"How's it feel?"
"Perfectly fine. It's been fine for like two weeks. I don't know why PT can't just release me to get cleared. I shouldn't have to be here for this."
"They're just being careful, covering their ass. They don't want to be held responsible if you go back to work and immediately hurt yourself again."
I gave Tommy a look. "Babe, you saw me three days ago have a legit match with Ashley in front of the students. Did I look anything less than ready to you?"
"Of course not. But like the doc said last time, you're actually recovering from two traumas to your knee. You have to be extra careful."
I shook my head in annoyance. As if I could forget. "Yeah, yeah, I know. If that fucking brat would have put his phone down instead of t-boning my car and damn near killing you.... we'd both be back in the ring already."
Tommy moved his arm around a little, flexing his shoulder. "No shit. But, I choose to look at the bright side. I didn't get more maimed than this, and your PT is going great. Mine... well, it was a more involved procedure. But I'm getting there."
My surgery was right before Rise to Greatness. Tommy's was after, since he'd been booked to appear for signings. I was too... except my knee smashed into the dashboard, and the impact caused the strained ligaments to completely tear. That had to be repaired the day after the accident. And Tommy? Well, the kid hit my car smack inbetween the front and back passenger doors. I was driving, so Tommy got most of the impact. Remember seeing Tommy at Rise with his arm in a sling? Yeah.... forearm fracture, torn labrum and rotator cuff. He's still rehabbing that. It sucks. The door frame banged his head too and gave him one motherfuck of a concussion. That's healed for the most part, but he still gets a headache every now and then. Still, we were lucky, if the stupid kid had hit the front door directly instead of the support beam, Tommy could have been hurt a lot worse, or maybe even killed. The whole thing really affected Tommy, and I don't blame him. It was his idea to move the wedding up. We had been planning 2023 sometime, but after all of this? He didn't want to wait. I had no argument, so mid-August, as soon as he was able to remove the arm sling after his surgery, we did the thing. Closed down the Starmaker for the night, invited those closest to us, and had a killer party.
"Yeah, you are. I can tell it's better than a month ago."
"Oh yeah? How so?"
"Cause you can lean over on top of me longer without making me switch." I smirked. Tommy chuckled.
"True. Imagine if I told my PT trainer about that progress."
"You should. It is an exercise in strength..." We both laughed.
Our amusement was broken up by Dr. Lowen coming in. "Good afternoon, Kandis, Tommy. How are you both feeling?"
"Good, actually. Really good. You should have my PT records, Steve says my strength is almost a hundred percent." I pulled up the leg of my tights to expose the surgical scar, I knew Dr. Lowen would want to take a look, and do some range of motion shit. He nodded with a small smile.
"Good to hear you're feeling well. I've looked over the PT records, and we'll go over that." He turned to Tommy. "And you?"
"Better." Tommy made a show of moving his arm, rotating his shoulder. I saw a small wince cross his face though. "Not great though."
"We'll take a closer look today. Maybe we should run another set of scans."
"Can't hurt."
Dr. Lowen nodded. "We'll get that done." He turned back to me. "Alright Kandis, let's get a look here."
Dr. Lowen sat on the little wheeled stool and scooted closer to me. I lifted my leg and he grabbed it. He inspected my incision, even though it's healed now. We went through the range of motion and strength tests, some with me laying on the table. I sat up when he was done.
“What do you think? Cut me loose?” Dr. Lowen looked up at me, and I didn't like his expression. “What? I don't like that look.”
Dr. Lowen sighed. "Well, I have good news and bad news." I made a face. "The good is that your range of motion is completely back to normal. Your PT records show this, I just saw it myself.”
“But?”
“But... I did feel your resistance strength waver a bit, as if your leg was going to give out. I'm not comfortable releasing you just yet.”
“What?! Didn't my records mention the whole actual match I did with one of our students a few days ago? I was fine, I even won!”
“Be that as it may, it was still a student and not real competition. I'd like you to do a few more PT sessions, and if that waver is gone by say.... November 21? I'll sign your papers.”
I felt myself glaring hard. “You don't understand. I'm trying to go back to work. SCW HR is literally waiting on my clearance paperwork. There's a pay per view this weekend and I need to be there! They're holding a block of time for my surprise return!”
Dr. Lowen shook his head. I felt Tommy's hand on my shoulder, the way he touches me when he's trying to keep me calm. But this is bullshit, I can't be calm!
“I'm sorry. I can't let you go with a good conscience.”
I leaned over closer to the doc, so much that he actually wheeled his stool back a little. “I don't think you really understand how important this is. SCW will be holding the End of the Year show soon, and they have a vote every year for someone who's never had a World Championship match to get one. I never had mine because of this injury, I'm still eligible for the list. I want my shot!” Whether or not people would vote for me, I had no idea. Selena Frost wasn't World Champion anymore, but I didn't care. It was now Xander Valentine and I had some unfinished business with him, too. The fans knew that, so maybe. It's not like there's a standout in the field this year.
“I know you do baby, and you'll get it. Dr. Lowan said mid-November, you'll still be back in time before the vote.”
“No! I won't! Cruze's peon told me anyone eligible for the list has to be on the active roster by Under Attack to be included. If I can't show up this weekend, I'm screwed!”
“Shit, really? I didn't know there was a cut off...”
I turned back to Dr. Lowan. “Can I at least appear, and not get in the ring? They were gonna throw me an impromptu match but-”
“I don't think so. I don't feel comfortable with a conditional release. It's too easy to misinterpret, you're either cleared or your not. And as of today, you're not. I'm sorry Kandis, but I can't do it.”
I sighed hard, making my anger at this decision known. I was given a few more PT sessions and an appointment for November 21. I sat there and fermented in my own juices while Dr. Lowan examined Tommy. I barely heard them talking, I could just tell Dr. Lowan seemed pleased with the progress, but Tommy was not. He's progressing on normal schedule for the procedures he had, but it's not fast enough for him. I couldn't even try to make him feel better, I could relate. We were silent on the drive to the imaging center for Tommy's new scans. I didn't even have it in me to text Ashley.
That November 21 appointment? Took all of about five minutes. Dr. Lowan glanced at my PT records, did half the motion tests as before, and gave me full clearance. I sat on the information a few weeks, I had gotten good at keeping things quiet. But even though I said nothing to no one except Tommy and SCW HR, I decided right there in Dr. Lowan's office...
End of the Year Special. It was going to be my comeback show.
ON CAMERA
I told y'all I was cleared, didn't I?
If things had gone my way, I'd have been back to this place a lot sooner, early enough to get back on the list for the World Championship shot being held on New Year's Eve. I wanted it, I am owed my shot since I was forced to pull out of the match against Selena due to injury. Does the SCW fanbase agree with that? I don't know. I'm either hated or loved, and we'll never really know, since I wasn't cleared for return until just a few weeks ago, after Under Attack and therefore after the cut-off to be active and included on the ballot.
If I wasn't angry enough about not being cleared in time, then I had to sit home and watch Owen fucking Cruze become World Champion! It could have been me on this New Year's Eve show facing that sniveling kid, and kicking his ass to claim the championship I should have claimed in April. But no... without a legitimate option for the people to vote for, we're now forced to watch this ridiculous Penguin guy have a chance at the World Championship! This dude, who was one half of the tag team responsible for making the Tag Division and the Tag Team Championships look like a complete joke for half the year... could actually end the year as World Champion.
Think about that, dolls.
I almost feel like I should apologize for getting hurt. If I hadn't blow my knee apart, I could have put an end to Selena's reign months earlier than it actually ended, and maybe me and Tommy could have finally been asked to save the Tag Division again, leading us to break that record we've been itching to break. But you know what? I'm not gonna apologize for anything. Whatever runs this world or universe has a funny way of playing things out, and instead of bitching and complaining about it... the pain, the surgery, the fucking car accident that made my recovery take longer and kept Tommy out of the ring to this day... yeah, in case you were wondering about him, that's what happened. No, I'm not gonna complain.
Because this open invitational gives me an opportunity. For those who may not remember, this match is where I made my wrestling debut five years ago. I know most people think I started in Emerge, but my actual first match was this... the End of the Year Special battle royal. With my original return plans denied by my doctor, I couldn't think of a better way to make my comeback than here. I mean, think about it. I have to be one of the most experienced and decorated people entering this thing, right? Look at the entrants so far. A couple of noobs, a few hasbeens, a handful of neverwas, and maybe one or two actual challengers. A few others may enter at the last minute but the way it looks now? This thing is ripe for me to pluck the win, dolls. What better way for me to make it crystal fucking clear that I am back and I mean business than to walk into this after being out for eight months, and beat every single person in the battle royal and win my return match?
There isn't a better way, that's what.
On top of that, one of the prizes is a brand new car, and let me tell you... I could use one, after the accident that turned my sprained ligaments into torn ones that needed surgery and destroyed Tommy's shoulder, also totaled my car. Yeah I bought another one, but after everything I've given to this company, everything I've done for this company, all the bullshit I went through this year.... SCW owes me a whole lot more than a car. The two-fifty K? We can just call that a belated wedding gift.
That's right. While rehabbing after our surgeries me and Tommy took some time out to make it official. Surprise! And before anyone asks, no, I will not be adding to my ring name, fuck knows there are already enough Valentines running around this place.
But, as I was saying. I couldn't have the return I wanted, add my name to the ballot for the title shot, so I'm just gonna have to make my presence felt in another way. But don't for one minute, not even a half-second, think that I'm taking my eye off the prize. I'll be keep close watch on the outcome of Cruze and Penguin. I admit it's a little weird for me to be pulling for Owen Cruze to win anything. But when I get the title match I am owed - and make no mistake, I am owed – one way or another, I really want the the World Champion to be him. I'd love to find out first hand if he's learned anything since the last time I kicked his ass. But, if hell freezes over and Penguin somehow steals the belt? I'll be happy to kick his ass one on one, too.
Until then though, I want everyone watching New Year's Eve night to keep their eyes open wide when I hit the ring. All of SCW has been fucking around for far too long, and all of you are about to find out exactly how motivated and ready I am to shake things up and take things over.
I am owed – the spotlight, my title shot, everything I want!
I'm coming to collect... with interest.