"True Colors"

"True Colors."

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25th, 2021
UNKNOWN -- MOJAVE DESERT

Foolish.

That’s precisely how Beth felt when she realized she was fighting an uphill battle. Separately, Tara and La Andalucera were more than formidable, it’s true. Thus, she didn’t prepare for having to take on a combined might of such magnitude. They say luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Beth had such an opportunity, but had prepared for a different match and lost the opportunity altogether. Still, she went out the only way she knew how. Swinging.

Watch closely to their colors…

She hadn’t realized it just yet, throwing hands with Andalucera inside the ring. Andalucera had managed to get the better of Beth by stooping low and raking her eyes. Beth swung around, trying to connect but getting nothing but air. Andalucera took advantage, hitting the Bucking Bronco. Beth managed to fight out of the corner, stumbling of course, before seeing Tara. It was at this moment, as Andalucera didn’t move for Tara, that Beth realized she was fighting a much different match.

…you can always see who people are…

She’d forgotten the advice of her grandmother, she’d forgotten to read the patterns that had been laid out for her. Had they even touched each other the entire match? No they hadn’t! All this and more sailed through her head as she ate the Devil’s Kiss and then the pin to end the match. She blamed herself for not seeing the signs. Never again would she forget. She’d make sure of it.

Beth repeated her abuela’s words over, and over again in her mind as she attempted to transcend. She could never bring herself to smile on a day like today, when plenty of Americans did. Her knees had long since touched gravel, the smallest pebbles now embedded into the sides of her legs. She had been kneeling for an unknown amount of time, here in the darkness, here in the dirt. The visuals had displayed her in such a place, but there was nothing but darkness at first. Without warning, the smallest of flames was lit from a single match. The flame was just enough to light up Beth’s face.

“Annihilation was a bit of a wake up call for me. I haven’t been in Pro Wrestling Excellence for very long, so the Annihilation in a Cell match was my very first challenge. I knew it was going to be tough, so I wouldn’t say I was in over my head, but it did end up being much more surprising than I had originally anticipated. I must give props where they’re do, Tara Ayla and La Andalucera pulled the wool over our eyes when they decided to team up together. Personally, I don’t rightfully know what Andalucera gets out of their situation, but that’s not for me to find out.”

With a WHISH she blew out the match that had begun burning her fingers a smidge anyway. There were a few seconds of sounds in the darkness that resembled someone rustling amongst the debris. Not long had passed before Beth had lit another match. This time she held two matches, creating a larger flame that emitted more light. Now you could see the beads of sweat that dripped down her face, her extravagant facepaint on her right portion melting away.

“My biggest weakness lies within the chaos of multi-person matches and you can’t get much more chaotic than throwing us all inside of a cell. I’ve made no moves to hide that weakness, and I wouldn’t lie about it when asked. I see no reason to. That and being outnumbered by the end, certainly lead to my downfall. Maybe Chelsea and I should’ve teamed up, and we would have been granted higher odds of walking out with the win. However, Chelsea and I don’t know one another and when you’re in the moment, trust is the furthest thing on your mind. Despite this I fought on, and I fought hard. I don’t make excuses though, Tara got her hand raise and the number one contendership…I just hope Miss Ayla can keep the same level of success moving forward without the element of surprise to fool her opponents.”

Beth shrugged her shoulders with just enough light left for the ones watching the feed would see. However, it was time for these matches to go out, as well. Again, there was rustling around in the darkness for a few seconds, before three matches replaced the previous two. As before, there was more light and thus, now Beth’s surroundings had begun to show. She appeared to be in some sort of saved, the sighting of a dirt wall behind her.

“Even if it was the entirety of the roster inside that cell, odds are I wouldn’t have been able to find someone to fight with me, simply because they do not know me. I don’t blame them, look at me. I heard what some of the others had to say before our match at Annihilation. They think I’m strange, think I’m distracted, and that the way I choose to live my life will never lead me to the top of the mountain.”

Just as the others had, these matches had also reached their end. More rustling as the same motion repeated itself. However, now Beth had jumped to five matches, casting light upon just how small and cramped this cave was. She was kneeling on the dirt, walls on either side of her, and what appeared to be an opening at the top that had been sealed.

“It’s a common practice within psychiatry to use small amounts of MDMA to enhance therapy. Ancient and modern religions from across the world speak of vision quests to make you wiser or seek the spirit realm for knowledge using peyote or ayahuasca. Desert sweat lodges exist to assist one into a hallucination state to learn about themselves. Even states like Oregon have decriminalized the magic mushroom due to increased research on the benefits of microdosing. For the entirety of humananity, we’ve sought ways to understand the world and ourselves – why does admitting that make me strange? Why does it make me distracted? In actuality, I’m the most focused I’ve ever been.”

Almost on que, the group of matches had their flame extinguished. This time, the rustling lasted a bit longer, and where there was expected to be a flame, there was not. Instead, Beth had pushed upon the top of the cave, creating a bit of light that breaks through. From there she pushes and punches a few more times, until the light coming through is far greater than that of any match. She paused to take a breather, catching her breath through her speech.

“I see people for who they are, and what they can become. In truth, I should’ve seen the rouse that Tara and La Andalucera were putting on, but one can only see so far. The next time we meet, I’ll know what I’m up against. It also allows me to see one’s potential, such as Chelsea Skye. Chelsea has a bright career ahead of her, of that I’m sure. Not to mention her fist is mighty hard. It lets me understand Sapphire Delgado's potential, despite her attitude that needs to be put in check from time to time. Another who I can tell has massive amounts of potential, is Ruby Steele.”

She gave the top one final giant push, breaking through into the light on the other side. There on the floor was a man, supposedly keeping time, who had fallen asleep. As Beth lifted herself up, he was awaken from his slumber. He expected to be screamed at, but Beth, happy for the experience, forked over some money to the man. She nodded, and he walked away almost stunned. Possibly from forgetting her in the cave, Beth still paying him, or a combination of the two.

“I don’t know much about Ruby when it comes to her in-ring style, but I can confidently say that I think we’ll get along swimmingly. She’s a rocker chick that looks like she’d be a lot of fun. Hell, maybe we can even catch a drink after our match. Just seems like that’s the kind of broad that Ruby is. She’s rather young, and I know that she’s only just recently had her professional debut this year! There’s nothing like that first year of wrestling, ya know? Trying to get your name out there, soaking up anything and everything you can. Ruby is already under contract here in PWE as a rookie, and I bet she’s got tons to prove. I want to see everything she has to offer. That’s why I’m rather excited to go up against Ruby in the opening match of Victory V. I want to see what they’re teaching the rookies of today.”

She looked down at herself, covered in dirt that had fallen upon her when lifting out of the cave. She didn’t mind it much, it gave he character. Still, she brushed some of it off of her shorts with two hands.

“For as much as I talk about Ruby’s potential to go far, I do worry that I am projecting a little onto her when I look into her motives and goals a little more. As I said before, she’s young, and boy does she show it. Ruby has done the youngster thing and missed large chunks of her public bio. I suppose as a rookie there wouldn’t be much to put, but the PWE Faithful want to learn about you, they want to connect with you. Taking this for granted and brushing off parts of the business isn’t going to give you the experience you need to make it far. In fact, she’s depriving herself of getting that full experience. I can’t make someone take notes and accept my words into their heart, but I do hope Ruby Steele learns from our match. If she does that, I know I’ll see her name in the main event at some point.”

Beth reached up to her hair, pulling it back and sliding the band off her wrist. She had forgotten her hands were now covered in dirt, managing to smear it through her hair and among the facepaint that was left on her face.

“What she chooses to do after this point is up to her, it’s her own journey. However I can promise that I’m not going to go easy on her simply because she’s a rookie, or simply because I think we’ll get along. The worse thing I could do is take it easy on her, I would be doing her a disservice. I know we’re going to have a powerful match, but I’ll be showing Ruby how to rebound after a loss. One needs to showcase more power and motivation than they ever have before. My drive to climb that ladder has been reinvigorated. True colors have a way of showing themselves, on November 29th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the rest of PWE will see how bright mine can shine!”

Acid Beth turned to the sun, blocking the blinding light from her face. She looked a mess, face covered in dirt, sweat and facepaint. But she was alive, and she lived to fight another day.

She smiled, and walked into the light.