Post by Cupcake on Apr 2, 2017 19:58:12 GMT
Aurora had taken the ferry over to Alcatraz Island, though she’d opted out of the actual tour and sat outside at one of the tables enjoying the weather even though it was relatively cool for April. A little smile played on her lips as she thought about how apt the location was, and really… for a former prison it wasn’t nearly as haunted as the tourism department played up, and she should know. She turned on the low bench until she was facing the camera, held fairly steady by most likely her partner in crime for most things, Aubrey J Parker. They’d left the children back at the hotel with Legacy, not that he minded. Aurora had never seen a man that had such devotion to his daughter as he did - especially a man who had done most of the evil things he’d been accused of in the past, and some things that no one but her knew about.
The breeze ruffled through the the fake fur of her jacket - it was so fine that it was often mistaken for true fur and garnered her quite a few dirty looks on the trip over. That little smile on her lips grew, her dark lashes shaded her gaze as she looked down and started to speak. Gone, was that famous breathy whisper, though her voice still remained soft. She turned and uncrossed her jean clad legs, letting her boots thump on the ground, hands resting lightly on her thighs.
“Faith. Chris Andrew. A team without a name, but a team with a big goal nonetheless. They earned a chance at a match to be the first Phoenix Wrestling Duos Champions. A distinction, a slight change of terminology that allowed Slaine to say that he is right in simply not returning what I never lost in the first place. These are not the tag team championships, no. They are the Duos.”
Now, she looked up and those amazing green eyes focused on the camera as if she meant to look through it to both Faith and Chris.
“So here we are, Masaru Inoue and I, and here you are Faith and Chris. Hopefully you took my advice Chris and had a nice long talk with Faith about what it’s like to face me in a match, what it’s like to be in the ring with a force of… well, with my Masaru. We understand each other, you see. We have that sort of communication every tag team longs for but so few actually have. We know each other, and trust each other to be exactly what we are. We are quite happy to be right where we are, rest assured. This is something we both wanted for a very long time, and were thinking that it would never actually happen. When Phoenix rose again, the thought, the dream, that desire rose with it.”
Aurora’s hands lifted as she spoke, gesturing to accompany her words, and she ended up with her fingers pointing towards the camera in pistol fashion.
“Faith. Understand, I have nothing left I need to prove. I surpassed that mark quite a long time back. Everything I do now? Everything I’ve done since my return? It’s been extra. It’s been special, because it wasn’t something I had to do. I wanted to, and so I did. Yes, it’s true - I didn’t defeat Cassius Reed, retain the Rebirth title, or become the first Iron Queen. There’s always next time for that, because if you remember? I didn’t win the Pentagram on my first try either and we know what happened the second. I am resolved, however in this. I want what is mine, Faith and you and Chris are in my way.
As much as I value the friendship we have, as much effort as I have put in toward training you, to polish what you already have? As much respect as you have shown me, as well… something many have failed to do in the course of my career? It all comes to this, that I want this. I am hungry for it. I ache for it. It’s like phantom limb syndrome for a title belt, and yes I’m well aware how hyperbolic and ridiculous that sounds.
But you know me, Faith. You know exactly, to the very degree what I’m capable of when I want something, and you know how likely it is that I’m going to do exactly what I say I will do. The evidence is right there for anyone to see if they simply open their eyes. I am Aurora, and there is only one of me.
The world certainly couldn’t handle two. So it’s excellent really, that I found Masaru, don’t you think? That I could find someone so perfectly on the same page as I. He knows what I want, and he is full bore going to help us get that thing to share together. There’s only one person in this world that would be a better partner than he, for me. Chris, this is where you need to go and light a candle in the church of your choice and send up a little prayer because Masaru and I just want to win. To become the first Duos Champions. Legacy? Oh my, oh my. Ask Faith about The Monster from Chicago. You won’t be disappointed.”
She relaxed, leaning back to rest against the hard edge of the table, her expression holding a touch of her wicked humor before smoothing out.
“You might feel the need to pee a little? But you won’t be disappointed. Chris, I do want to commend you for being a good partner for Faith. You and Faith made a very good team out of the gate, and that’s exceptionally rare. It’s also exceptionally rare for Faith to trust someone to the level it takes to be an effective team. It’s a protection reflex and it’s served her well. But with you, that trust has built quickly and you paid her back by doing what any good partner should. It’s noteworthy, and you should feel honored. Treat her well, and the pair of you could have an excellent run as a team.
I would hate to see you crumble and lose that potential, and I mean that from the bottom of my little dark heart. It’s not going to stop me from spiking your head into the mat over, and over, and over, and over… because you’re not fast enough to stop me. I want to avoid that with your partner, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to pick up that slack. Seems fair to me, you taking one for the team and all.”
Aurora slowly stood, slapping her hands together and then motioning to ‘dust them off’ before she started walking towards the imposing set of buildings behind her. Part of one of the walls was shrouded in tarps, a restoration in progress and it caught her attention for a moment, her voice gaining a musing quality.
“If you were facing anyone but Masaru Inoue and I? My money would more than likely go to you. Take it for the compliment that it is. Never, not for an instant think that I underestimate either of you. I’ve spoken more of Faith than Chris, and that’s because she and I have gone around more than once. I know her, Chris. After this match? I’ll know you too. You might find it odd, that I would warn you in advance what I intend to do to you. Funny, right? But like I said, I’m too fast for you to stop me - but I invite you to try.
Hell is Waiting.”
Waiting for the rest of the tour crowd to come back out, Rori leaned on the railing at a point she could watch the entrance and the dock where the ferry was moored. Aubrey had gone in to get something for them to snack on while they waited and Rori contented herself for the moment with a strawberry Twizzler, white teeth worrying at the red candy while she kept flicking her gaze back and forth. Building, ferry, phone. It was cool, but the fur jacket and jeans were more than enough to keep her temperature to at least as normal as it ever got. Chewing thoughtfully she checked her messages, a tiny hint of smile as Legacy had sent her pictures of Nikoleta including one she was pretty sure was the baby kissing the phone and she sent a couple of selfies with Alcatraz in the background to him, Twizzler and all. With a sigh she finished the one she had and put her phone away before digging another free of the pack. Just as she bit into it, the air around her plunged from pleasantly cool, to cold enough that she could see her breath on the exhale and she sighed again before she pushed off the railing and turned around.
Well that’s new.
“What do you think it is, you’re accomplishing?”
Rori blinked, but who could blame her as manifested before her was the spitting image of herself, save she was dressed in an outfit straight out of the Roaring 20’s complete with long strands of pearls, bugle beads on the spangly dress, a cloche hat in the same sort of light violet coloring, and those ridiculous chunky heels with the buckles. The bob haircut suited her at least, she had to admit.
“What, you mean just now? It’s part of what we do, being wrestlers. We talk about our matches, what we want to do, what we know we can, and try to brush over the gaps where they may appear. It’s time honored.”[/colored] A wry twist of her plush lips. “Later if I have time? I’ll get to see if Faith or Chris had anything to say to us. The fans seem to enjoy these little things. It makes them feel a part of the action, I suppose.”
Her doppelganger dramatically rolled her expressive eyes, grasping her pearls and twirling the longest strand. “Sounds boring as hell, do you have any whiskey? Gin?”
Rori’s husky laugh echoed in the area. “If I did I certainly wouldn’t share it with you.”
“God how did I become you? You’re such a wet blanket! I know for a fact it’s legal as anything, what ya take me for, a Dumb Dora?” She paused and walked around Rori for a minute before coming back in front of her with her hands on her hips. “The hell are you wearing anyhow? The coat’s swanky enough but those are cheap ass cowboy pants!”
Rori snapped her fingers, a classic ‘eureka’ expression on her face. “Oh I get it now, I must have slipped leaning on the rail and hit my head because there’s no way you’re real. I’d never be caught dead in that dress.”
Other details started catching her attention though, even as she narrowed her amazing green eyes at the tone being taken with her. Rori noticed that there were small broken blood vessels in the eyes of the woman looking at her, a ring of bruises around her throat that when she turned her head to toss it and scoff showed the blurred bars of thick fingers. While it wasn’t unusual for her to see those who died a violent death, this was the first time that one of them was an echo that looked so much like her. A great-great-great grandmother? An aunt of the same stripe? Obviously father’s side if it was, as the matrilineal line was European and Rom, through and through.
Rori’s tone softened. “What was your name… and you know you’re dead, right?”
The woman grimaced, shaking her head but then she sighed, smoothing her pearls. “Dorothy.” A sly look, but she shook her head again. “Yeah, I know. Came here to try and help my man break out, and the head guard had him other ideas. Was a good plan, though. Woulda worked too. I wonder if Frankie ever made it.”
“Frankie?”
A hint of a smile, though her bloodshot eyes lit up. “Yeah Frankie Morris. We was going to get married.”
Rori made a note to look the name up later, and kept her voice gentle. “If he escaped, which it sounds like he did? You know he’s not coming back. Why stick around here? Why not go on, see if you can’t find him again?”
Her lips worked, and in a few spots the spectral skin seemed to darken, with the weight of grief, or fear one. “I tried to. Couple times. He’s always in the way. See? He’s already out looking for me…”
Rori shivered as the air went blast chiller cold, she saw a dark and blurry form that was moving their way after coming out of the tarped over wall. The shape and form reminded her of a guard, but the malevolence that rolled off the form made her wonder if the man had been possessed while he was still alive. “Come on. It’s been over fifty years, it’s time you got out…”
She reached out, taking the hand of the ghost and while her teeth were chattering from the cold, she focused enough to do it. In her mind, seeing how the woman was dressed there was an extra forty years between when this woman as a ghost met Frankie after she’d died so Rori wondered who she’d actually tried to help, and how the guard had ended up dead too. That would wait. “Just hold on. He’s not going to stop me.”
A hint of a smile as Rori moved, her shielding flaring as the darker form tried her protections. “Not when I have a goal in mind. No one will.”
Word Count: 2319