Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2022 11:52:46 GMT -5
Nine year old Kelly sat in the hospital lobby fidgeting excitedly for what was to come. Her Make a Wish bid had succeeded and no amount of leukemia was gonna quell her meeting her hero, the Golden Goddess herself, Lexi Gold. Kelly double checked the gift she’d created for the cherished wrestler then stuffed it into the sack. She eyed the clock next. There was a lot of time to go before the encounter and the wait was unbearable.
A commotion stirred at the lobby doors. Kelly’s parents and hospital staffers stood in alert at first, but then cheered as the approaching goddess trotted toward the throng with arms outstretched. Kelly froze in awe as Lexi swallowed her with a loving hug. When they released she said a few things to her but all the little girl could do was stare with eyes saucered and mouth agape. Kelly had imagined this meeting in her head and what all she’d say, but now that the moment had arrived she was speechless.
“Well, shall we?” Lexi said sweetly as she gestured to the parted doors which had a limousine waiting in view. “Your mom and dad said I could take you out for a little bit and do some fun stuff, so let’s blow this popsicle stand.” She added with enthusiasm.
Again Kelly did not speak, only nodded. She took Lexi’s extended hand and the pair piled into the limo. The first thing Kelly noticed was the smorgasbord of delicious treats spread across the table, most of which she’s not allowed to eat due to her associated illnesses.
“Dig in, Kelly. You’re in the clear today. OH I have a special treat for you on top of that. Hold on a sec.”
Lexi slid out of the limo and shut the door. After a long exhale of self loathing, she gestured to her employer and took the large sum of cash neatly packed into the envelope from her.
“You’re pretty fucking low, Ms. Benson.” Lexi, who wasn’t the real Lexi but a damn good look-alike, remarked with some measure of disgust as she stashed the money in her purse.
“It’s my cross to bear,” Sonya replied while dismissing the actress with simplistic motion.
When the imposter left, Sonya adjusted her Sherbrooke pinstriped pantsuit and opened the door. Norris and Smith piled in first, startling the poor girl. The last entrant was the reviled woman and when she locked gazes with Kelly the poor little kiddo shut her eyes tightly, as if keeping them closed long enough would make the big bad boogiewoman disappear.
“Go ahead. Make a wish, kid.” Sonya goaded with a tone so honeyed one could sweeten their tea with it.
Kelly’s heart thundered against her chest like a jackhammer, but she indeed wished, no, she prayed. For a long moment she heard nothing and didn’t feel the presence around her, only the lurching of the limo in transit. With careful lifts of the lids she snuck a peak. Her heart sank like an elevator in freefall. Flooding her field of view was Sonya and she was grinning at her like a wolf would at a trapped rabbit.
“M-mom… L-Lexi?” Kelly squeaked. She hoped uttering their names would summon them. It didn’t work.
“Awww! You’re adorable,” Sonya quipped with charm. “I could just gobble you up!”
Benson’s smile grew broader and Kelly wondered if the woman really could unhinge her jaw enough to accomplish the act.
“Don’t worry, child. This isn’t a kidnapping. That wasn’t the real Lexi by the way. You’re actually part of my obligatory vignette for Chronic Cokehead Page’s clown rodeo on Monday. Think of this as hmm,” She tapped her chin in thought. “Grand Theft Wish.”
When you’re part of the ruling 1% certain amenities are afforded to you, such as procuring itineraries of businesses and charity organizations. She’d caught wind of WGWF wrestlers doing Make a Wish pledges and was pleased to find Lexi was part of it.
“Norris, Itinerary please.”
He handed her a slip of parchment and resumed recording on his media device which was airing live across multiple social media platforms.
“Oh my, leukemia? Damn, that sucks. Look at the bright side though; you have the Lexi Gold of the cancer family. Can be dangerous, but not often enough. You have a solid chance of beating it.”
The Rich Bitch slid her manicured digit tip down the list of events planned out and remarked scoffingly as she went.
“Trash… garbo… lame… did James Raven orchestrate this? They were gonna take you to Red Lobster. Uh, ew. And mini golf? Did they even ask you what you wanted to do? You waited your whole life for this moment and they were gonna hoodwink you of such a precious moment with these meager activities. Bunch of cheapskates.”
Sonya looked at Kelly expectantly but the frightened child only offered two white knuckled grips on either side of the heated leather seats.
“Turn that frown upside down. You’re part of a video that’s gonna air to millions. You’re gonna be a star. Be thankful I thieved this farce of a Make a Wish they were gonna shortchange you with.”
Benson relaxed against the seat.
“I hijacked this whole thing to ascertain if your hero, Lexi Gold, is really the hero you think she is, or if she’s the liar I think she is. People treat me like a monster always approaching their favorite city, and they pierce me in the heart but can never kill me, but I assure you I’m human and capable of mistakes. Perhaps I’m mistaken about Lexi, buuuuut the evidence is pretty damning. Think about it, little girl, I humiliated her in front of the man who fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. I embarrassed her in front of millions. I traumatized her fans at her expense. Normally a hero would stand up to those things. They wouldn’t let that slide. Vengeance and justice would be exacted with haste. Lexi’s response to my actions was?”
The Rich Bitch gestured for Kelly to fill in the blank. It wasn’t gonna happen. The child was still too scare-struck to verbalize anything.
“Exactly. Her response was silence. She didn’t even vow an oath of enmity against me. What kind of hero allows the ‘good citizens’ they champion to get trampled over at their expense and just says ‘meh, oh well?”
Sonya comically shrugged her shoulders in an exaggerated way.
“Maaaybe Lexi? Oh I’m sure now that she’s facing me in a qualifying match for that stupid fake gold glued to cheap leather she’ll bring it all up. She’s gonna make all kinds of promises and spam post stereotypical encouraging crap on Twitter that I am 100% sure she has a hireling posting for her. After all, she’s in 579,219 promotions, holds championships or challenges for them, and often competes in matches across different continents at the same time. I don’t see how she has time to post or train or eat or sleep or use the bathroom. I’m surprised she was even booked for this holiday season ‘Make A Wish’ fiasco.”
“YOU’RE MEAN!” Kelly’s sudden outburst caught Sonya off guard, making her flinch. “LEXI’S GONNA BEATEDED YOU UP!” The little girl prophesied, her grip no longer clamped upon the seat, tiny hands balled into fists at her sides now.
“Beateded?” Sonya chuckled at the adorable error. She wiggled her fingers, feigning fear. “With what? One of her eight finishing maneuvers that she doesn’t seem to know how to use according to her *checks invisible notepad* porous WGWF win-loss record? Lexi’s one of the few across the wrestling spectrum I have a chance to defeat in a wrestling contest without having to exhaust resources scheming.”
“SHE BEATEDED YOU IN PROJECT HONOR!” Kelly quickly countered, but she swallowed hard next, thinking she probably shouldn’t have said that.
Sonya guffawed and slapped herself across the knee to emphasize the humor in Kelly’s remark.
“Ah yes, the three versus three where Lexi didn’t do much while the Queen of the Murder Charity Cruises, Tara Fenix, beat up my partners and tried to get me. Fair point, I suppose.”
Sonya couldn’t possibly care less about the one time they crossed paths before. On Brawl Benson would have the advantage. There wouldn’t be a Tara Fenix there. The Rich Bitch would have Smith and Norris to stack the deck just in case. She’d also be reinforcing her usual throng of nameless and unimportant red shirts if John ‘the least’ Cable reared his fugly head.
“Be that as it may be, we’re here now to test your hero’s legitimacy. This is a social experiment. I’ve just robbed you of a moment you would have cherished forever. Norris is recording it live. Thousands are watching me commit a dare of Lexi’s justice, a contempt of her integrity, and most importantly the violation of her mercy. If Lexi doesn’t put her heart and soul into beating me and doesn’t walk out the victor, you’re gonna know I was right about her. Nobody with even a fraction of temerity would let me get away with this. Of course this could be settled much sooner. If you meet Lexi later today, ask her to shave off all of her hair to be more like you.”
Sonya pointed to the WGWF themed ball cap Kelly wore, which hid the bald head underneath. The Rich Bitch turned her attention away from the girl and stared into the lens of the device Norris held, then appealed to Lexi personally.
“Surely a paragon like you would do it, especially after the day Kelly’s had. Celebrities do it. Parents do it. Nurses and doctors do it. Some wrestlers have done it believe it or not. Your luxurious blonde tresses are the last authentic thing on your plastic infused body reinforced by six miles of makeup on that moon-pie face, which means this would be all the more special for Kelly. Don’t be afraid.”
She snapped her attention back to Kelly as if suddenly remembering something.
“Hey, Kellster, what’s one of your biggest fears?”
Kelly was taken aback but instinctively answered for reasons she couldn’t explain. “Heights??”
“Done. We’re gonna do something none of these phony heroes do for kids like you. We’re gonna conquer that fear! Driver, to the airfield. It’s skydiving time.”
The little girl protested and Sonya countered with chicken-winged taunts.
“Is Kelly a chicken? Cluck Cluck Kelly! Cluck Cluck Kelly! That’s your new name if you don’t jump out of a perfectly good airplane today.”
Sonya’s plan worked. Kelly was so upset by the mocking that she agreed, and in short order she was jumping out of an airplane alongside Sonya, each strapped to a jumpmaster. When they reached the ground, Kelly was flooded with emotions. She felt weird because she ACTUALLY wanted to go back up and do it again. Sonya was exhilarated, not because of anything associated with Kelly, it just felt good to jump again. The last time was eons ago with her brother.
After that, Sonya took her to Dorsia, the mecca of fine dining. Kelly kept her guard up during the meal but secretly enjoyed every morsel and fell in love with the French dessert she couldn’t pronounce. Once finished there, they were back at the hospital. Before Kelly could exit the luxury vehicle, Sonya snatched the gift she’d made for her hero, a doll. Kelly fought to retrieve it but Sonya was too strong and gently push-kicked her from the vehicle, almost causing her to fall.
“Tell ya what, if your hero beats me she can have it. If she loses, I’m gonna tear it up on live TV.”
The limo pulled away, Kelly tugging at the door handle to get the doll back but to no avail. The kid cried when she saw Sonya using the toy’s hand to wave bye-bye at her.