Alicia Fox’s music cued to an immediate response from the crowd. The pop was phenomenal, almost drowning out the music as the Foxy Lady came down the ramp with a bright, blinding smile. Once in the ring, her music cut abruptly, replaced by the stilted beginning of the ‘Living Dead Girl’ remix accompanied by the lights of the arena going dim. On the downbeat of the song, the lights came on again, revealing Britani Knight at the top of the ramp. Her usual jacket was gone, but the bandage on her arm was still present, this time left uncovered.
She glanced back at the entrance, almost as if she were expecting someone to follow her out. When nothing happened, she arched a dark brow and then shrugged, stepping down the ramp with a mischievous grin, even going so far as to play with the camera, chucking it under the lens with a playful wink. She didn’t bother with the stairs, instead hopping on the apron and draping the women’s belt over the middle rope, calling over the photographer as she posed down on one knee, the other leg hanging off. Another wink and she shooed them away, shoving him by the shoulder when he took too long.
Finally, she got in the ring, leaving the ref to retrieve the belt from the ropes as the bass of ‘Love Disease’ started to boom through the arena to loud jeers. Caylee Turner strutted out, steps in time with her theme as she waved to Britani, sugar sweet to the point of diabetes. Surprisingly, Britani leaned on the ropes cockily, wiggling her fingers back in mock greeting before she rolled her eyes and turned to pay attention to the elder Fox. Caylee took her seat at the announce table and once the referee was sure she wouldn’t be moving, the bell was rung.
The Floridian spitfire ignored the extended hand of both members of the commentary team, her eyes completely locked on the ring as the cameras focused back onto the action.
“A beautiful night to light the cannons, isn’t it?” Caylee’s far-off voice had interrupted Josh’s hype for the match, earning a soft ‘huh.’ “Preparing for the first battle of the bloodiest war you hideous things will ever see.”
When neither men responded, the diva scoffed: “Apocalypse. It’s just getting started, loves.”
Britani and Alicia circled each other, the same eerily calm smirk on the champion’s face as she sized up her opponent. Alicia didn’t seem phased by her sister’s apparent rivalry with the girl before her. She stopped for a second to offer her hand to be shaken, but Britani looked toward the camera with an expression that screamed suspicion. Finally, she began to reach for Fox’s hand only to fake out and land a hard boot to her gut stepping back and admiring her work as Alicia held her midsection and gave her a questioning look.
Shaking her head slowly, Britani’s smirk wouldn’t budge. She grabbed Alicia by her jaw with one hand, looking her in the eye, “The good always suffer for the bad, darling.”
“Clearly a statement truly for you, Miss Turner, do you think -“
“Shut up.”
“Miss Turner, she clearly - “
“Do you not understand the fucking words? Shut. Up. And let. me. watch.” Her tone was harsh before Caylee shook her head, clicking her tongue. “Alicia always trusts the snakes. Has since she was a little girl, I’m not surprised. ‘always the sugary sweet to my bitter spice. Britani’s smart to take advantage. Dumb as a bag of rocks in ‘love,’ but in that ring, she’s got a fuckin’ brain. So kudos, I guess. Snap, snap, baby.”
Ignoring her confused look, she shoved her back into the nearest corner (which ‘happened’ to be one on the announce table side of the ring), Britani pressed her bandaged forearm up against Alicia’s throat and began to choke her. The ref started a five count, Britani breaking at four and putting her hands up, but not moving to let Alicia out of the corner. Again, she choked her with the bandaged forearm, breaking when the count came to four. This time, when she put her arms up, Alicia pushed her backward, causing her to stumble back and giving herself the chance to bring the match into the center of the ring.
Alicia came out of the corner with a vengeance, landing an uppercut when Britani tried to meet her. With the Brit surprised, Fox brought her into a side headlock. Britani didn’t struggle, however, letting her keep the hold on for a few moments before she caught Fox’s inside leg. The takedown looked like Knight had unintentionally caused herself to be DDT’d, but she kept hold of the leg and bridged it into a pin, the ref quickly going down to start the count.
ONE!
Britani broke her own pin, putting her shin on the party girl’s throat and leaning all her weight into it. She counted to four with the referee, the unhinged smirk suddenly coming back after she’d kept herself in control for the last few weeks. Getting up, she made it a point to not acknowledge Caylee’s presence, instead she picked Alicia up by her hair to whip her into the ropes. Alicia reversed it, jumping over Britani as she came toward her the second time. With Alicia’s back to her, she grabbed her and set her up for a Russian legsweep, but Fox blocked it, elbowing her in the stomach.
“Ol’ sis has better ring awareness than people realize. Former champion for a reason and all, people seem to ignore that.”
“Do you think she’ll present a true challenge for the current champion?” Josh paused only for a second before continuing. “Your opponent at Apocalypse.”
“…We’ll see.” There was almost a detachment in the Floridians voice before the commentary booth went silent.
Undeterred, Britani went for it again, but Alicia countered it into a bulldog, leaving the champion flat on the mat for a few moments. As she stirred, she began to laugh rather loudly, causing Alicia to tilt her head to the side as Knight pulled herself up using the ropes. They were deep, belly laughs, and Alicia shook her by the shoulder as though she could get her to stop. It did, but only because Britani landed a hard right fist to the Foxy Floridian’s face, smirking again when it seemed Alicia would be perpetually confused by her actions throughout the match.
“…that’s what I was waiting for.”
“What?” The evident shock in Cole’s voice didn’t even prompt the younger member of the Fox to speak.
Britani motioned for Alicia to come at her, offering her face for a retribution shot. Fox wouldn’t take it so she slapped her hard enough to snap her head to the side. That seemed to get the reaction she was looking for as Alicia hit her back, but she was unable to wipe the smirk off the young girl’s face. In fact, Britani hurriedly looked back up and gestured for her to do it again. This time she took it, figuring if the girl was really that intent on getting hurt, then she might as well take the opportunity to take down the women’s champion.
“C’mon, knock her fuckin’ teeth down her throat, V… Stop playing fuckin’ nice. You know better than that.” Clearly speaking to no one at all, the young Floridian’s irritated tone earned the attention of Cole.
“Do you think - “
“Shut. Up. And watch the fuckin’ match, will ya’? All that matters is what happens in that goddamn ring. Go on and comment about the serious downward slope Knight’s on, and I’ll get back to you.”
At the second shot, Britani grabbed her wrist before she had the chance to pull her hand back. She grinned at her, eyes wild, and shook her head at her before pulling her into a headbutt. Dropping her wrist, she took hold of her hair instead and once again headbutted her. Ignoring the ref when he asked her to let go of her hair, Britani headbutted Alicia a third time, then stepped away. She held her arms up in triumph for a moment, getting a mixed reaction from the crowd before starting a ‘polite’ clap. The few diehards in the audience joined in, and she cockily tossed her hair, seeming to have gotten her lost confidence back as she turned back to her rival’s sister.
She moved slowly, as though she had an actual method to her madness, and maybe she did. Alicia caught her in a quick snap suplex, but instead of seeming to discourage her, Brit began to laugh again. She picked the goth up and set her up for a powerbomb, but Britani countered it and flipped her onto her back, driving her knee into Alicia’s groin several times. With Alicia down, she turned her over onto her stomach and began to set her up for some sort of submission hold.
“Miss Turner, is that…?”
“If you don’t know what that is, remove yourself from the commentary team.” Caylee only momentarily paused, shaking her head. “One of the deadliest submissions in the game. Going for that painful finish, aren’t ya’, Brity-baby?”
It was obvious what it was once the Regal Stretch was locked on. They were in the center of the ring, and Brit kept a close eye on her opponent as she put more and more pressure into the hold. When Alicia seemed ready to tap, Britani broke the hold out of nowhere and drug her up with her as she stood. She irish whipped her only to keep hold of her and pull her into a hard knee to the midsection. Flipping her hair out of her face, Britani rolled her shoulders, the smirk that had been mockingly happy suddenly full of malice.
“…And there’s the anger. Atta girl, Brit. Give me everything I want, will you? Christmas is coming early.”
“Aren’t you concerned for your sister?” Cole’s question earned a loud scoff before a new silence fell between them.
Not letting her go, Britani whipped her into the ropes and hit a sick lariat, Alicia falling flat onto her back. The Foxy Lady tried to get up and mount some form of offense only to thrown back down with a definitive shout from the anti-diva. She threw her head back, about to scream before Alicia took hold of her ankle and pulled her leg out from under her. Crashing to the mat, the now expected laugh began as she rolled to her stomach and crawled over to where Alicia was still recovering. Moving like some sort of big cat, Brit grabbed hold of Alicia’s by her jaw yet again and slammed her back, blatantly choking her with her hand this time.
She broke the choke almost immediately and began to slam Alicia’s head into the mat by her hair. Her brow furrowed when the ref made them separate, instantly back on top of Fox when he moved and picking her up, pushing her backward into a corner. Repeatedly, she kneed her in the midsection, stepping away to wipe the sweat out of her eyes. Alicia tried to come out of the corner, not yet deterred, and she took her down with a drop toe hold, linked into another Regal Stretch.
“One can only wonder what’s tinkering inside the head of Miss Knight. Whether or not she’s using that as a bit of revenge for your recent mind games, Miss Turner.”
“Mind games? For me learning the Deal Breaker from Brad Maddox, himself? Using it in my arsenal simply because it’s so sudden and devastating?” Caylee’s tone was soft. “His hands on me as he taught me motion by motion?”
The two men didn’t opt to speak before Caylee continued: “If it is, the British baby doll is failing. Let’s hope it’s just an homage to ol’ William, shall we?”
After a few seconds, she got bored with it, and let go, moving to stand in a far corner and let Alicia get up on her own. She locked up with her, coming out on top with a wristlock before shoving her forward roughly, making her trip and fall to her knees. Britani landed a hard kick across her back, aiming for her kidneys. When Alicia went forward onto her stomach, Britani went down with her, getting next to her ear and whispering something inaudible, but the obvious disgust and horror on Alicia’s face was enough to guess at what was said. Britani only laughed, seemingly innocent and childish giggles tearing from her throat. She hauled Alicia up by her hair only to throw her back down, this time onto her back, grinning when the back of her head hit the canvas with a thud, leaving her visibly dazed.
She dropped a knee down into her stomach a few times, giving her a concerned look before having to work to pick her up and straighten her for more offense against her. She was obviously beginning to wear down, to the point that she was just reacting to the moves as fast as she could, no longer trying to predict them. In one desperate attempt to get some momentum back, Alicia charged Britani only to have the top rope pulled down and go over it, landing on the outside in front of the announce booth. This pleased Brit enough to smile, rolling under the ropes and taking hold of her to throw her into the steps. As she landed against the steel with a crash, Brit started up another mocking round of applause for herself. Still, she wouldn’t look at Caylee, the message clear.
She looked slightly contrite as she ‘helped’ her up, taking her by the face again and giving her a dark look as she told her, “This is not for you.”
All three women knew who it was for, though.
“A strong statement from the champion to her competitor: ‘This is not for you,’ Miss Turner, do you think - “
“If you point out the obvious one more fucking time, Cole, I’ll lean over this table and rip your fucking throat out.” She paused, seen in the background as she cocked her head to look at him. “Happy fucking Holidays.”
She only paused briefly before continuing, raising her voice. “Ain’t gonna get into my head by beating your opponent, regardless of her lineage, honey, keep tryin’!”
The ref’s count had gotten to five, so Brit rolled them both in and broke it back to one. Dragging her around the corner of the ring and climbing the stairs with her, only to knee her in the stomach before she superplexed her from the apron onto the floor. Both women were hurting, Alicia more than Britani, who forced herself to stand and bring them both back into the ring before they were counted out.
“If things are escalating to this degree with Alicia, one can only wonder what the war will be like on Sunday. Much more hatred, much more reason. A title on the line.” Cole’s statements were nearly carried on by Josh before both were interrupted.
“If I get what I want, there’ll be blood. Sweat. Tears. Destruction. Not one person is going to be able to look at either of us the same way again.” Caylee sung the words slightly. “Like I said, boys… tonight? Apocalypse… It’s just the start. If you think it’s anywhere near over, well…”
Picking her final spot carefully, Britani began to set her up for what seemed like it might be the Knight Light. Instead of the buster, though, she brought Alicia up on her shoulders fireman’s carry, hooking one of her legs before slamming her down. It was a definitive finisher, Alicia more than dazed as Britani went for the cover.
One.
Two.
Three.
Finally, at the three, she looked up to see Caylee watching. She stuck her bottom lip out and pouted, tilting her head at her rival with wide eyes, mockingly feigning innocence. Caylee tilted her head to stare back, openly laughing towards the woman in the ring as she removed her head set, yet remained sitting. Britani pushed away from Fox’s limp body and raked her hands through her hair, breathing hard. The ref handed her belt and tried to raise her hand, but she pushed him away violently. Taking the belt, she brought it down onto the back of Alicia’s head several times over, seemingly in a frenzy. Like a shark that had scented blood, she had to forcibly pulled off and corralled into the back, her eyes not once leaving Caylee’s.
As Britani was jerked to the back, Caylee lifted up from her chair, keeping her eyes on the entrance ramp before they momentarily went to Alicia. As Alicia was helped out of the ring and dropped down to the outside, Caylee knelt down beside her to speak to her lowly; the two sisters exchanging words as Raw continued on.
