Post by veronicaaaahhhh on Dec 9, 2018 8:34:33 GMT -5
“It’s a stupid move!”, Penny shot back, crossing her arms now as she followed Hopkins into the locker room.
For Penny Shannon, it was a late end to a very, very long day. Tonight was the debut match of ‘Lightning’ Jack Hopkins, Championship Connections' newest acquisition. At 5’11”, the former basketball scholar showed a lot of promise. Then again, all he had was a good body and a handsome face.
Penny sighed as she leaned against the door. She took a moment to look down at the black-and-white pantsuit that covered her body these days. She had come a long, long way from a hoodie and combat boots.
Before her, ‘Lightning’ Jack Hopkins stepped into a crowded locker room with the wide-eyed zeal of a hotshot that managed to survive his first professional match with a win.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your finishing move,” Penny shot out. “What the hell happened to the DDT?”
“Oh, that boring move only fifty-year-olds do?”
“Yeah,” Penny hissed. “That one. The one I spent three days teaching you.”
Hopkins ran the towel now beneath his undercut, “Well, I didn’t want to use it anymore.”
“Why?”
For Penny Shannon, it was a late end to a very, very long day. Tonight was the debut match of ‘Lightning’ Jack Hopkins, Championship Connections' newest acquisition. At 5’11”, the former basketball scholar showed a lot of promise. Then again, all he had was a good body and a handsome face.
Penny sighed as she leaned against the door. She took a moment to look down at the black-and-white pantsuit that covered her body these days. She had come a long, long way from a hoodie and combat boots.
Before her, ‘Lightning’ Jack Hopkins stepped into a crowded locker room with the wide-eyed zeal of a hotshot that managed to survive his first professional match with a win.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your finishing move,” Penny shot out. “What the hell happened to the DDT?”
“Oh, that boring move only fifty-year-olds do?”
“Yeah,” Penny hissed. “That one. The one I spent three days teaching you.”
Hopkins ran the towel now beneath his undercut, “Well, I didn’t want to use it anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s boring.”
“And let me guess, your finishing move isn’t?”
Hopkins walked over to Penny with a smirk, “Yeah. Besides, where’s all this coming from?”
“It’s coming from the fact that you totally disregarded what I taught you for a stupid move you’ve never even tried before tonight!”
Hopkins inched closer to Penny and looked at her right in the eye… Jesus, the strong scent of Axe body-spray overpowered her senses on every level. “You’re a f*****g hypocrite do you know that? You used to finish people off with a dropkick to the butt!”
Penny held her breath and tried not to breathe through her mouth. “That was a different time.”
“And an unnecessary move!” Hopkins shot back, turning away from Penny who found herself very aware that there were literally half a dozen dicks dangling around her. “At least there’s some wrestling in The Tacoma Buster!”
“The Tacoma Buster?”
“That’s right.”
“Okay,” Penny began, just wishing she had a joint in her hand. “Let’s break this down: You begin by putting your opponent into a reverse pump-handle?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then you scoop him into your shoulders, transition into a modified airplane spin-”
“- I call that the spinning, pump-handle elevator!”
“And then in mid-rotation, you jump into the air, and then you drop him with a modified piledriver?”
“You forgot the last part.”
“Oh, the sit-out pin that transitions into a modified Indian deathlock?”
“The Tacoma Driver!” Hopkins shot out with open arms as his shriveled dignity dangled slightly to the left.
Penny rolled her eyes and looked away. “That’s stupid.”
“What happened to you? You used to be all about this cool, new-gen stuff,” Hopkins shrugged. “Now, you’re just kinda lame.”
“Well, you lose an eye and walk around with a broken body before thirty, and you just learn a few things.”
… It wasn’t like Penny was waiting for a reply or something. But she was. Hopkins just seemed concentrated on whatever he was doing in his phone to pay attention to whatever she told him. God, the nerve. What the hell could be more important than wanting to take care of his body?
Wait, never mind. He was apparently busy taking a picture of his dignity. Nice.
“You’re sure going places, kid…”, Penny sighed as she waltzed out of the locker room. “You’re sure going places…”
RISK
A Penny Shannon Roleplay
Penny & Mary's Apartment
Atlanta, GA…
Atlanta, GA…
It was around six in the morning when Penny got home. Given that it was a Monday, she had asked Mary to take the day off so they could make up for the lost time she spent away during the weekend. If anything, it was a bittersweet feeling to be home. Sure, she had the time to unwind, but with so many things going through her mind, it was hard to relax.
After a year or so of hopping around, it seemed only natural that Penny moved in with Mary in Atlanta. They kept a quaint, minimalistic apartment along the more hipster-friendly districts in the city. With a little more work and time, the whole apartment could easily be included in someone’s Pinterest board.
After feeding the kids (cats), Amy and Rory, Penny peeled off her pantsuit and slipped into bed beside Mary.
“You’re home,” Mary yawned, turning over to Penny as she slipped into her arms.
Penny wanted to tell her how happy she was to be back, but with all the things going through her mind, the most she could do as kiss Mary on the forehead and hold her tight.
“How was the show?”
“Hopkins was a pain in the butt,” Penny chuckled, snuggling into Mary’s arms now as he found herself lost in the scent of her.
“As expected.”
“It makes me wonder if I was just as bad as he is.”
“You probably were,” Mary yawned again. “You were also really young.”
“Thanks,” Penny scoffed.
“For making you feel old again?”
“Yeah,”
“You’re not old,” Mary said, burying herself into Penny’s bosom, sniffing. “You just grew up a little.”
“I guess I did.”
“There’s nothing wrong about growing up.”
“I guess.”
“But?”
“I should be happy,” Penny began. “And for the most part, I am. I have you, the cats, a stable job that pays well. I have everything I want.”
“But there’s something missing?”
“Oh god, is it that obvious?”
“A little.”
“Great.”
“Well, what do you want to do about it?”
She had made such a big deal about it two years ago. But it was apparent enough that Penny wasn’t going to say it aloud. Instead, she closed her eyes and started counting backward from a hundred. Work? It didn’t matter. Wrestling? It didn’t matter (as much). But yet, there was something missing.
Penny sighed. All that mattered, at least for right now, was that she was back home, back in her betrothed’s arms, and all she wanted in the world was just to sleep.
“… Baby?”, Penny whispered.
“Hmmm?”, Mary yawned.
“Would you hold it against me if I did it?”
Mary rolled away from Penny and sat up.
Penny took a moment to look at her; a thick head of coffee-colored hair shining perfectly against the morning sun with her brown eyes casting a soft, yet commanding gaze upon her.
“I don’t want to say it’s your life,” Mary began. “You know what to expect if you do it. And I know it’s probably stupid and selfish of me to say, but I just don’t want you to do anything you’re going to regret.”
“Fair enough.” Penny sighed.
“So there,” Mary said.
With a nod, Penny closed her eyes and turned away from Mary. She covered her shoulder with the blankets and curled herself up. She really wished she could just fall asleep, but something didn’t feel quite right.
“Baby?”
“Baby…” Mary sighed.
“Hold me?” Penny murmured. “Like, even for a couple minutes.”
“Of course!” Mary replied, softly now as she tucked herself in and wrapped herself around Penny.
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” Mary sighed. “… Just be smart.”
Dean Manor
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA
Dean Manor, as Penny liked to call it, stood in the center of suburbia outside Metro Atlanta. With everything going on, Josh had told Penny that he reckoned it was a good idea to make the most out of the house. And so, over a bright summer sky, Penny and Mary enjoyed cocktails with Nikki in the backyard as Josh monitored the grill; the scent of brisket watering the pallets.
“Are you sure we can’t help with anything?” Mary asked, leaning over as she sipped her strawberry margarita.
“We’re fine,” Nikki smiled, as she set the table.
In the distance, Josh and Nikki’s boys, friends in tow, excitedly hurled themselves into the pool.
“Watch it!”, Josh shot out, beer in hand as he turned away from the grill. “You boys keep it up, there ain’t gonna be anything for us to eat!”
“Hey,” Penny began, walking over to Josh as she held onto a can of Hawaiian Punch. “Think I can get you away from the grill for a couple minutes?”
Josh gave the brisket one last look before covering the grill, “Sure. What’s on your mind?”
“Plenty?”
“The garage?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Josh led Penny through the house and into the garage. Truth be told, outside of Josh’s car and the family’s suburban assault vehicle, there was so much space in the garage that Josh could have built himself a third office if he wanted to.
“What’s on your mind, Penpen?”, Josh asked, leaning against his tool bench as he lit a cigarette.
Penny pulled out a small joint and lit it up. She gave herself a moment to take it all in, before coughing out to pass it over to Josh, “I’ve been thinking, a lot recently, about coming back as a full-time wrestler.”
Josh took a drag off the joint before passing it over to Penny. “How long have you been thinking about this?”
Penny hit the joint. “Long enough. I'm sorry.”
“Nothin’ to be sorry about,” Josh replied. “I just don’t get it. I mean, look at us: for the first time in a very long time, we’re good. We’re steady, we’re stable. Are you sure you want to f**c that up?”
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
Penny sighed and took another drag off the joint as she walked over to Josh and stood next to him. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate where we are in our lives right now, I do. And I wouldn’t trade it in for anything in the world.”
“But?”
“But,” Penny began. “I get up every morning and put myself through the grind. I do so much work for the benefit of people who sometimes, shouldn’t even have the chance they get. And I’m fine because it pays the bills. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel empty half the time. Like there’s something more I could be doing with myself. And wrestling, that’s the only thing I know. It’s the only place where I feel like what I do matters. And for the first time, in a long time, I want to feel it again.”
Penny handed the joint back to Josh who passed in favor for the cigarette between his fingers.
“I’m sorry,” Penny said. “It’s not that I’m not grateful, beca-”
“It’s fine,” Josh said. “You don’t think I feel the same way too? That feeling to get back into the ring hits me every single day.”
“But you ignore it.”
“Because I know the kind of man it was turning me into,” Josh said. “And I don’t like it.”
“I wish I could tell you confidently that it’s not going to happen to me.”
“Either way,” Josh said, taking a drag. “Your mind’s made up. You didn’t come here for my advice, you came for my blessing.”
Penny took a long drag; was she that transparent?
“When you get back into the ring, you’re going to need a plan,” Josh smiled. “And a lot of focus. These last couple years away from the ring have taught you a lot. I reckon it’s time to use it. You consider how long you’ll be coming back for?”
“Not long,” Penny smiled, looking up at Josh. “I’m going to be thirty soon. If there’s any time for me to do something big and something really meaningful, it’s now.”
“’Atta girl,” Josh said, wrapping his arm around Penny. “How ‘about we head back outside to our wives?”
Penny held up the joint. “You wanna finish this?”
“I’m good,” Josh replied, reaching out for the joint.
“But?”
“But one last hit ain’t gonna kill me,” Josh replied taking the joint from Penny’s hand.
Penny stepped away from the bench and gave Josh a moment to enjoy the drag before stubbing it out on the workbench. With a turn on her heel, Penny began her walk towards the door.
“Hey Penny: one last thing?” Josh shot out. “Remember when I told you to get glasses?”
“Yeah, why?”
“When you get back into the ring, you better be at a hundred ten percent,” Josh said as he walked up to her. “So that means, you coming back is going to be one of Championship Connection’s top priorities.”
“You’re gonna make a whole deal about this, aren’t you?
“I’ll have Mary begin work on the press release first thing Monday morning.”
<***>
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
‘Velocity Grrrl’ Penny Shannon to Return to In-Ring Competition
ATLANTA, GA – Championship Connections is proud to announce the return of Penny Shannon to the WFWF. The self-proclaimed Velocity Grrrl was last seen at Superbrawl IX when she defeated former WFWF Dex in a no-holds-barred match. In the time away from the ring, the 28-year-old wrestling superstar dedicated herself to developing some of the top talents the business has to offer including “Lighting” Jack Hopkins, and current SJW Transcontinental Champion, Rachel Enby.
Shannon began her career at the age of fifteen as a ‘backyard’ wrestler. She would begin to establish herself in a number of independent promotions across the country as a wrestler and as a trainer. In 2012, Shannon made her debut in the WFWF has the in-ring mentor for former WFWF World Champion, Scarlett Quinn, daughter of hall of fame wrestlers Wayne and Vanessa McGurk. After Scarlett Quinn’s exit from the company, Shannon embarked on a stellar singles career that saw her defeat some of the WFWF’s biggest names including Turgan Zmey and Philip Schneider. She was also one of the core members of S.O.S with former WFWF Champion Josh Dean, Nikki Dean, and Dave Demento.
“I just want to kick someone’s butt again,” Shannon said recently at a small press conference at the Atlanta Hilton on June 27th, 2018.
What can the world of wrestling expect from the return of what many call, “The Bravest Woman in the World?” Only time will tell! Follow Championship Connections, WFWF, and Penny Shannon on Twitter for more updates!
- 30 -
About Championship Connections
Founded by veteran and former WFWF World Champion, Josh Dean, Championship Connections is the premier agency in the world of Sports and Entertainment. At Championship Connections, every talent is supported by a highly-respected team of trainers and professionals to ensure that they are the best at what they do. Championship Connections: Developing Tomorrow’s Stars Today.
<***>
Lila Slater’s Office
WFWF Headquarters
“I saw the press release.”
“It wasn’t my idea.”
“Josh was right about you,” Lila said, reclining on her seat. “You really have the tendency to undersell yourself.”
“It isn’t like I haven’t heard that before,” Penny replied as she started to pick the hangnail over her thumb.
“If it helps, he says nothing but good things.”
“I believe it,” Penny nodded.
The mid-afternoon sun stood high above the windows, coating Ms. Slater’s rather modern offices with a nice, earthy glow. It had all the markings of a woman who could give it all away tomorrow if she wanted to and move on to something better; event posters, self-help books that CEO types seem fond of, and a small medication seat in the corner of the room.
And so, surrounded by downplayed wealth, both Lila Slater and Penny Shannon stood on opposite ends of a sleek yet busy desk; both women marked by their own respective pantsuits.
“There really is something different about you,” Lila said. “You’re nowhere near as caddy as you used to be.”
“A side-effect of two years spent in a more administrative position built on powerpoints and excell sheets,” Penny grinned.
“This is certainly interesting: a brand new, dare I say, matured Penny Shannon. There’s a lot you can accomplish with this new disposition of yours. Have you thought about what you wanted to do?”
“Outside of doing what I always do? Come in and kick people’s a***s?” Penny shook her head, tugging at the hangnail. “No, not yet.”
“You know as well as I do that if you only kept yourself together, you would have made it,” Lila says. “Probably a lot farther than Josh.”
“Why? Because I’m a gay woman, who wrestles men almost exclusively?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact,” Lila nods. “Even after all these years, given the current socio-political climate this country is in, there’s a lot that you can do.”
“Well, how about we get there when we get there and let’s see how I feel about it?”
“Fair enough,” Lila nodded, rising from her seat as she motioned over to Penny’s side of the desk. “However, I’d like to believe this meeting of ours is nothing more than a social call for the sake of formality.”
“Oh, this is purely for the sake of formality,” Penny said, looking up at Lila as she sat on the desk before her. “But, now that we’re here, I wouldn’t mind knowing exactly who you have in mind for me?”
“Depends on how soon you can start.”
“December?”
Penny took a moment to watch Lila… God, this was an awful idea, but it had just occurred to her that years ago, in another life, Penny probably could have had her without even trying. She was strong, assertive, and comfortably feminine in a way that only women in their thirties were. She would have been an experience.
“Let me guess, you need the extra time to clean up some ring rust?”
“Nope,” Penny shook her head, licking her lips a little. “There’s just one really big thing I need to take care of.”
“I see. Well then,” Lila said, turning her back to Penny for a moment as she reached for her iPad. “Considering you won’t be returning for some time, I do have someone in mind for you. She’s a little rough around the edges, but she’s got it where it counts. With a little work, she can really be something.”
“And she is?”
Lila handed Penny the iPad. “Mesh.”
Penny took a moment to scroll through her profile. “Cute girl.”
“Very,” Lila nodded. “Given my plans for Mesh, I do think she’ll be ready for a challenge by the time you get back.”
“Should be a piece of cake.”
“This works both ways for me,” Lila said. “We get to see how two years away from the ring has treated you, and if Mesh is lucky, she might just have the biggest win of her career.”
“I always pegged you a woman who enjoys it both ways,” Penny snarled.
“Come again?”
“Nothing,” Penny shrugged. “Let’s see what she’s got.”
Two Weeks Later…Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle Hospital
Atlanta, GA
“Hey, hey she’s starting to come to…”
That voice… That sounded like Nikki Dean.
“Baby,” That sounded like Mary’s soft, almost angel-like voice. “We’re right here.”
“Let’s give our homegirl some space.”
Okay, that was definitely Josh.
Oh, this was such an exquisite feeling. Penny hadn’t felt this high in a long time. Like, to compare the feeling would be the same as smoking a big fat joint, stuffed with premium Indica. And popping a valium right after. As good as the high felt, Penny began to feel a small rush of dread: Like, she wasn't supposed to be here, feeling this good. All this was for something else, and as soon as she could, she just wanted to hit the ground running.
Penny pushed herself off the bed, but Mary came over to ease her back down.
Penny pushed herself off the bed, but Mary came over to ease her back down.
“Easy, you’ve been out of it for the last few hours.”
“Did it work?”
“The doctor said we'll know soon,” Mary said, sitting on the bed now as she tucked a lock of Penny’s hair behind her ear. “But you need to rest.”
“You have no idea how high I am right now!”
“Feels good?”
“It’s like I’m on the f***ing clouds.”
“You know,” Nikki chuckled. “That is the first time I’ve heard you curse in a long time.”
“Really?”
Josh put his arm around Nikki and nodded. “Well, at least around the missus.”
“Nice,” Penny said, as she allowed herself to slump down on the hospital bed. “Was I really out for that long?”
“Yup,” Mary nodded. “They wheeled you back in here a few hours ago.”
“It all feels like it was a second ago. Is that weird?”
“Nope,” Josh said. “Seems perfectly normal, given what you went through.”
“So, what’s the deal? Do I get to try it out or what?” Penny asked looking up at the loved ones that surrounded her.
And just then, in a moment of complete and utter coincidence, there was a knock on her door and not even a beat later, her doctor walked in. Dr. Cecil Gartner came recommended by one of the medical consultants' Championship Connections had on staff. He was young, tall, and a little dorky. Like, he almost reminded her of a nerdier version of that doctor from E.R. Not Clooney… But the other guy, the one who looked like he was still stuck in puberty.
“Mrs. Shannon,” Dr. Gartner smiled as he came her way. “I hope you don’t mind me checking in.”
“Nah dude,” Penny began. “You came right in the nick of time. So, what’s the deal? Can I see out of my eye or what?”
“I'm sorry, but we won't know until tomorrow if your body has accepted the implant,” replied Dr. Gartner.
“That sucks.”
“I know,” Dr. Gartner smiled. “But this is all pretty standard. If anything, we performed the keratoplasty at just the right time. The nerves started to show signs of acute deterioration.”
“So, the nerves would have died if she hadn’t undergone surgery?”, Josh asked.
“Precisely.”
“So, I’m just going to have to wait and see aren’t I?” Penny snorted.
“Pretty much,” Dr. Gartner chuckled. “Mrs. Shannon, you’re just going to have to allow yourself to rest. If everything goes according to plan, you’ll be seeing out of both eyes in no time.”
Penny decided to make the most of her morning and went to the McDonalds’ a couple blocks from their apartment to get some breakfast. She didn’t know what it was, but there was always something about a Sausage McMuffin with Egg and an iced coffee that always just seemed to lift her senses. Unfortunately, Penny had finished the McMuffin by the time she got to the building, and as per Slanted’s instructions, she decided to finish her iced coffee, enjoy her vape, and wait… They had something to show her apparently.
Now, Dr. Gartner had explicitly told her to keep out of the sun. Said it’d ensure there weren’t any complications. But she had the patch on and her shades right over them. So she figured a little sunlight wasn’t going to do any harm. She had time. Slanted was always pretty bad at keeping time. And so with that, she sat on the steps and looked up Mesh’s work online on her phone.
Lila was right; Mesh was rough around the edges, but the kid had a lot of spunk. You could tell she was still pretty green by how she moved, but she seemed to be aware of herself enough not to repeat the same mistakes over. It was funny; Penny actually felt a little bad about just going in there and beating the life out of her. It was hard to deny the heart Mesh was putting into her matches.
Penny heard the honk a mile away to know that it was indeed Slanted and Enchanted. And with that, Penny rose from the steps, slipped her phone into her back pocket, and walked over to the sidewalk to find- holy hell- the most hipster RV in the world coming her way.
“Penny!”, Slanted called out with a friendly wave as the RV came to a sudden stop.
Truth be told, it had been a good four years since Penny last saw Slanted and Enchanted. And by the looks of the well-groomed, yet totally hipster, beard on his chin, it was obvious a lot had changed.
The RV doors swung open a moment later as Enchanted, too, called out, “Penny!”
Like Slanted, Enchanted had changed too. While she was always on the round yet lean side, there was a warm glow to her. Gone was the typical Lord of the Ring t-shirt and ripped jeans, in favor now for a light summer dress and a welcoming smile.
“Holy crap, dude!” Slanted cried out. “It’s been too long.”
“Right?”, was all Penny could muster up herself to say.
“Gimme a sec?” Slanted asked as he rushed over to help Enchanted unload the RV.
“Go for it,” Penny replied sipping her iced coffee. “Need some help?”
“We’re fine,” Enchanted said, waving Penny off as she emerged from the RV and carefully held a baby in her arms.
“Holy crap, dude!” Penny shot out.
“Shhh,” Enchanted murmured, gently cradling the baby as she walked up to Penny. “Sated, meet your Aunt Penny!”
“Sated?”
“Yeah, Sated,” Slanted called out as he stepped out of the RV with a stroller and a bag. “We kept on going back and forth with the name.”
“Until we realized that it was best to stick with something more gender-neutral.”
“Oh…”
“Just for now, maybe?” Slanted said as he scratched the back of his head. “Until little Sated here’s old enough to decide who they are and how they want to express themselves.”
“Oh…”
“I know it’s unconventional,” Enchanted shrugged. “But we really felt it was important that they get the chance to grow up away from the rigid structure of the current gender norms.”
“Fight the power, my dudes!” Penny shot out. “Wait, is it okay for me to call your baby a dude?”
“Penny” Enchanted began. “We’re all dudes.”
It took some time to get Slanted and Enchanted settled inside the apartment. While Penny and Mary had offered them the couch, they were pretty insistent on parking the RV somewhere nearby and spending the night inside.
And so, like the gang of reasonable twentysomething they’ve all become, the three of them settled down in the living room to try the kombucha Slanted and Enchanted brought over from their recent trip to Portland.
“So, where’s the wifey?” Slanted asked, as Sated quietly slept on his chest.
“In the office, but she’ll be home early,” Penny replied. “I hope you guys are fine with Thai for dinner.”
“As long as there are vegan options, we’re up for anything!” Enchanted replied.
“You guys are vegan now?”, Penny murmured. “What happened to us?”
“Isn’t obvious?” Slanted asked.
“We grew up,” Enchanted said.
“There’s something about having a kid that changes you, you know?” Slanted said. “It’s like, you see something you and another person made by accident and you start to want to give them all the chances you never had.”
“Aren’t you worried you’ll f*** up?”
“Doesn’t bother us,” Enchanted replied. “I mean, we’re all f****d up to begin with. Might as well be okay with it and learn how to move on.”
Penny chuckled as she sipped her kombucha, which was really good, by the way. “I just can’t get over it, I guess? I mean, look at where we all were five years ago? Getting stoned all the time, thinking we could just take over the world? Did we really change that much?”
“I’m still a bit of a dork,” Slanted said. “I think we both are. We just learned to accept it and enjoy life more.”
“At the end of the day, we didn’t have anything to prove to anyone but ourselves,” Enchanted said. “We let go of all that angst.”
“I wish I had it as well figured out as the both of you…”
“You seem to be doing well,” Enchanted said. “You found the girl of your dreams, you’re making money, and you’re getting back into wrestling. What you’re doing is incredibly powerful.”
“That’s what I keep hearing,” Penny said. “But that’s also what I’m worried about. I don’t want to lose any of this, but at the same time, if I don’t come back and do this now, it’s never going to happen.”
“That’s something me and Enchanted talk about a lot: the big, ‘what if?’,” Slanted said. “Us? We’re too comfortable to give that all away.”
“So you think it’s okay to feel unsatisfied even though I’m in a comfortable place?”
“Yeah, you’re hungry,” Enchanted replied. “And that’s a powerful thing. I’m just saying, if you could juggle all that and still manage to be successful, there is nothing in the world that can stop you.”
“Just saying, but the Penny Shannon we grew up with wouldn't second guess herself like this.”
And just as soon as those words escaped Slanted’s furry lips, Sated began to cry. Slanted leaned against the foot of the sofa as he gently rocked the baby in his arms, murmuring sweet things, until he looked over at Enchanted and said, “I think they’re hungry.”
Enchanted reached over and gently took Sated from Slanted’s arms. Looking at Penny, she asked, “Do you mind?”
“Go for it.”
And with that, Enchanted pulled down the strap of her summer dress and began to nurse her baby. There was a glimmer in her eyes in the way she just looked down and watched her child feed on her body. Granted, it was a million miles away from Penny's situation with Mary and the cats, but there was something about the whole scene she could relate to… And it dawned on her: Penny had spent her entire life caring about no one else but herself. And now that she’s caring for somebody else, it was only natural for her to worry about the future.
“I can do it…” Penny murmured.
“Hmm?” Enchanted asked, looking up at Penny for a moment.
“I said I can do it,” Penny said. “I can wrestle and take care of my family. It’s funny, it kinda feels like I’ve been preparing for it my whole life without my knowing.”
“Funny what a little love can do to a person?” Slanted chuckled, sipping his kombucha.
“It’s f****d up,” Penny shot back. “But it’s not impossible.”
Like any set of adults juggling constant responsibility, the four of them called it a night by 10:30. And even that, for some odd reason, felt late for a Thursday night. After leaving Slanted and Enchanted to their RV, Penny and Mary walked up to their apartment.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Mary began, walking ahead of Penny, like she always did whenever they got home. “I wanna go with you.”
“What?”
“It wouldn’t be that much of a problem since I already have to travel for work,” Mary replied. “And I know you: You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself without me.”
“Oh that’s true,” Penny chuckled. “I hate you for that, you know? It’s like I don’t even know how I survived on my own without you.”
“You're so melodramatic,” Mary said, stopping now as she turned to face Penny. “You’d be fine on your own. But I want to be there, however way I can.”
Penny didn’t know what to say, so she did the one thing that came naturally to her whenever Mary did something that made her melt inside: she kissed her. And because Mary was standing a step above her, Penny didn’t have to lean down or anything!
“I love you.”
“I love you,” Mary smiled. “And I’m so proud of you.”
Penny looked down as a Chelsea grin crept across her face. “Make it up to you when we get upstairs?”
Mary raised her eyes and grinned.
Quickly, Penny scooped Mary into her arms and pressed her against the wall. “Is someone trying to be a good girl?”
Mary closed her eyes for a moment and bit her lip. “Only for you, baby…”
“That’s what I wanna hear.”
Penny & Mary’s Apartment
Atlanta, GA
Now, Dr. Gartner had explicitly told her to keep out of the sun. Said it’d ensure there weren’t any complications. But she had the patch on and her shades right over them. So she figured a little sunlight wasn’t going to do any harm. She had time. Slanted was always pretty bad at keeping time. And so with that, she sat on the steps and looked up Mesh’s work online on her phone.
Lila was right; Mesh was rough around the edges, but the kid had a lot of spunk. You could tell she was still pretty green by how she moved, but she seemed to be aware of herself enough not to repeat the same mistakes over. It was funny; Penny actually felt a little bad about just going in there and beating the life out of her. It was hard to deny the heart Mesh was putting into her matches.
Penny heard the honk a mile away to know that it was indeed Slanted and Enchanted. And with that, Penny rose from the steps, slipped her phone into her back pocket, and walked over to the sidewalk to find- holy hell- the most hipster RV in the world coming her way.
“Penny!”, Slanted called out with a friendly wave as the RV came to a sudden stop.
Truth be told, it had been a good four years since Penny last saw Slanted and Enchanted. And by the looks of the well-groomed, yet totally hipster, beard on his chin, it was obvious a lot had changed.
The RV doors swung open a moment later as Enchanted, too, called out, “Penny!”
Like Slanted, Enchanted had changed too. While she was always on the round yet lean side, there was a warm glow to her. Gone was the typical Lord of the Ring t-shirt and ripped jeans, in favor now for a light summer dress and a welcoming smile.
“Holy crap, dude!” Slanted cried out. “It’s been too long.”
“Right?”, was all Penny could muster up herself to say.
“Gimme a sec?” Slanted asked as he rushed over to help Enchanted unload the RV.
“Go for it,” Penny replied sipping her iced coffee. “Need some help?”
“We’re fine,” Enchanted said, waving Penny off as she emerged from the RV and carefully held a baby in her arms.
“Holy crap, dude!” Penny shot out.
“Shhh,” Enchanted murmured, gently cradling the baby as she walked up to Penny. “Sated, meet your Aunt Penny!”
“Sated?”
“Yeah, Sated,” Slanted called out as he stepped out of the RV with a stroller and a bag. “We kept on going back and forth with the name.”
“Until we realized that it was best to stick with something more gender-neutral.”
“Oh…”
“Just for now, maybe?” Slanted said as he scratched the back of his head. “Until little Sated here’s old enough to decide who they are and how they want to express themselves.”
“Oh…”
“I know it’s unconventional,” Enchanted shrugged. “But we really felt it was important that they get the chance to grow up away from the rigid structure of the current gender norms.”
“Fight the power, my dudes!” Penny shot out. “Wait, is it okay for me to call your baby a dude?”
“Penny” Enchanted began. “We’re all dudes.”
It took some time to get Slanted and Enchanted settled inside the apartment. While Penny and Mary had offered them the couch, they were pretty insistent on parking the RV somewhere nearby and spending the night inside.
And so, like the gang of reasonable twentysomething they’ve all become, the three of them settled down in the living room to try the kombucha Slanted and Enchanted brought over from their recent trip to Portland.
“So, where’s the wifey?” Slanted asked, as Sated quietly slept on his chest.
“In the office, but she’ll be home early,” Penny replied. “I hope you guys are fine with Thai for dinner.”
“As long as there are vegan options, we’re up for anything!” Enchanted replied.
“You guys are vegan now?”, Penny murmured. “What happened to us?”
“Isn’t obvious?” Slanted asked.
“We grew up,” Enchanted said.
“There’s something about having a kid that changes you, you know?” Slanted said. “It’s like, you see something you and another person made by accident and you start to want to give them all the chances you never had.”
“Aren’t you worried you’ll f*** up?”
“Doesn’t bother us,” Enchanted replied. “I mean, we’re all f****d up to begin with. Might as well be okay with it and learn how to move on.”
Penny chuckled as she sipped her kombucha, which was really good, by the way. “I just can’t get over it, I guess? I mean, look at where we all were five years ago? Getting stoned all the time, thinking we could just take over the world? Did we really change that much?”
“I’m still a bit of a dork,” Slanted said. “I think we both are. We just learned to accept it and enjoy life more.”
“At the end of the day, we didn’t have anything to prove to anyone but ourselves,” Enchanted said. “We let go of all that angst.”
“I wish I had it as well figured out as the both of you…”
“You seem to be doing well,” Enchanted said. “You found the girl of your dreams, you’re making money, and you’re getting back into wrestling. What you’re doing is incredibly powerful.”
“That’s what I keep hearing,” Penny said. “But that’s also what I’m worried about. I don’t want to lose any of this, but at the same time, if I don’t come back and do this now, it’s never going to happen.”
“That’s something me and Enchanted talk about a lot: the big, ‘what if?’,” Slanted said. “Us? We’re too comfortable to give that all away.”
“So you think it’s okay to feel unsatisfied even though I’m in a comfortable place?”
“Yeah, you’re hungry,” Enchanted replied. “And that’s a powerful thing. I’m just saying, if you could juggle all that and still manage to be successful, there is nothing in the world that can stop you.”
“Just saying, but the Penny Shannon we grew up with wouldn't second guess herself like this.”
And just as soon as those words escaped Slanted’s furry lips, Sated began to cry. Slanted leaned against the foot of the sofa as he gently rocked the baby in his arms, murmuring sweet things, until he looked over at Enchanted and said, “I think they’re hungry.”
Enchanted reached over and gently took Sated from Slanted’s arms. Looking at Penny, she asked, “Do you mind?”
“Go for it.”
And with that, Enchanted pulled down the strap of her summer dress and began to nurse her baby. There was a glimmer in her eyes in the way she just looked down and watched her child feed on her body. Granted, it was a million miles away from Penny's situation with Mary and the cats, but there was something about the whole scene she could relate to… And it dawned on her: Penny had spent her entire life caring about no one else but herself. And now that she’s caring for somebody else, it was only natural for her to worry about the future.
“I can do it…” Penny murmured.
“Hmm?” Enchanted asked, looking up at Penny for a moment.
“I said I can do it,” Penny said. “I can wrestle and take care of my family. It’s funny, it kinda feels like I’ve been preparing for it my whole life without my knowing.”
“Funny what a little love can do to a person?” Slanted chuckled, sipping his kombucha.
“It’s f****d up,” Penny shot back. “But it’s not impossible.”
Later that night…
Like any set of adults juggling constant responsibility, the four of them called it a night by 10:30. And even that, for some odd reason, felt late for a Thursday night. After leaving Slanted and Enchanted to their RV, Penny and Mary walked up to their apartment.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Mary began, walking ahead of Penny, like she always did whenever they got home. “I wanna go with you.”
“What?”
“It wouldn’t be that much of a problem since I already have to travel for work,” Mary replied. “And I know you: You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself without me.”
“Oh that’s true,” Penny chuckled. “I hate you for that, you know? It’s like I don’t even know how I survived on my own without you.”
“You're so melodramatic,” Mary said, stopping now as she turned to face Penny. “You’d be fine on your own. But I want to be there, however way I can.”
Penny didn’t know what to say, so she did the one thing that came naturally to her whenever Mary did something that made her melt inside: she kissed her. And because Mary was standing a step above her, Penny didn’t have to lean down or anything!
“I love you.”
“I love you,” Mary smiled. “And I’m so proud of you.”
Penny looked down as a Chelsea grin crept across her face. “Make it up to you when we get upstairs?”
Mary raised her eyes and grinned.
Quickly, Penny scooped Mary into her arms and pressed her against the wall. “Is someone trying to be a good girl?”
Mary closed her eyes for a moment and bit her lip. “Only for you, baby…”
“That’s what I wanna hear.”
Oracle Arena
Oakland, CA
WFWF Interview Booth
WFWF Interview Booth
“Surprise b*****z, thought you’d see you’d seen the last of me? Because the Velocity Grrrl is finally back home right where she belongs in the WFWF! It’s taken me two years to come back where I – wait… Can I start over?”
“Go for it, we’re still rolling… Whenever you’re ready.”
“Surprise, b*****z. I bet you all thought you’d seen the last of me! It took me two years, but I’m finally back home. I can’t promise much, but I can tell you this: You’re all looking a brand new, slightly more grown-up Penny Shannon. And just as always, I’m here to kick butt and leave nothing more than a trail of bodies as I cement my name in greatness once and for all.”
Penny gave herself a breath. “Now, tonight I’m coming in to take on your first and current WFWF Vanguard Champion, Mesh. And I know she’s probably watching this right now, so I’m going to make this short and sweet. Mesh, if I wanted to, I could storm to that ring and end you without even breaking a sweat. I’ve been in the ring with every big name this company has put my way. And if I didn’t beat them, I left them with something very lasting to remember me by.”
“This match is only the beginning of a new list of bodies I’m leaving behind in my wake. So I want you to listen close. Tonight, I want you to bring it. I want you to show me and the entire world that you deserve to call yourself the WFWF Vanguard Champion. You have never been in the ring with someone the likes of me. It’s not going to be easy because I will push you to your limits. I will take you an inch close to certain death. And when I do that, I want to see you bring everything you’ve got to take me down.”
“Trace Demon, Philip Schneider, Dex, Devilkiller… The list goes on. They’ve all tried, but they couldn't stop me. Because you see, my only real enemy is myself. I don’t have to prove anything to anybody but me. And because of that, I am more determined now that I have ever been in my life.”
Penny chuckled.
“If you all thought I was dangerous before, just you all wait and see what I’m capable off now that I’ve grown up. This ain’t wrestling. It’s adulting. So Mesh, if you think you’ve got what it takes to really go the distance tonight, I dare you- no, I double dare you to take me out. Because there is nothing in this world that can stop me.”
Penny took a moment to let those last words sink in as she glared at the camera.
“And cut!”
“How was that?”
“It was great!”
“Good,” Penny nodded. “Can someone send me or the wifey a copy? I’ll put this up on my Instagram in a bit.”
“Sure, we can send that over in an hour.”
“Cool.”
And with that, Penny straightened out her eye-patched and walked over to Mary, who was watching from a distance.
“Whatcha think?”
“Truth?” Mary began. “That was hot.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen you that intense in a long time.”
“Good to know,” Penny grinned, taking Mary’s hand in hers as they walked over to catering. “Absolutely good to know.”