Diamonds Are Forever

Walking through the backstage corridors of Arena Mexico wasn’t exactly as foreign as it was to most of the PRIME roster for Elise. Actually, it was a bit nostalgic. There was a time when Arena Mexico was the Mecca. The end-all be-all of the business. If she were going to succeed in her quest to be the greatest luchadora of all time and stick a middle finger up to her father, this was the place it was going to happen. However, times change. Plans change. Results change.

“Elise. D. A word?” The astute voice of a petite red-haired rang upon familiar ears, snapping the Leading Lady of PRIME out of her field trip through nostalgia and back into the present. Backstage in Arena Mexico in 2026, flanked by The D and Klein fresh off a victory over a couple of Intruders. They weren’t the ones she wanted to kick in the face but who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth, “That was an impressive victory for the Pop Culture Phenoms. Tag team division wins have been hard to come by in PRIME, any words on what led to your success?”

The D, giddy to find the time to gloat for the first time in what seemed like an eternity opened his mouth to answer… but it was the voice of Elise Ares that came out.

“Angie, BBY, we’re the Pop Culture Phenoms. We expect to win.” Accompanied by the usual arrogant smirk, Ares hid the exhaustion with an abundance of confidence.

“You do expect to win, Elise, but the PRIME roster recently picked teams for Culture Shock and both you and The D were left on the sidelines with no takers. Would you say it’s fair to say this is the first step in righting the ship, at least in the eyes of the PRIME roster and the fans here?” Angelica Brooks followed up, hoping to get the right soundbite. A true professional. She knew what buttons to push.

And push she did.

~*~----------------------------------------------------------~*~

Two decades earlier, in the exact same spot. Translated to English for your reading pleasure.

“What the fuck was that?!” A boisterous male could be heard echoing through the corridors of Arena Mexico as Amethysta, the purple-themed comic super-villain luchadora pushed a curtain aside between gasps for air. Growing up affluent with superior genetics, being fit and beautiful was never something a young Ivelise Guerrero had to do much work to achieve… but being fit and being ‘ring ready’ were two entirely different animals.

“Don’t you dare try to blame me for this.” A second male responds as Amethysta desperately chugs down a water, “I have told you since day one this was a huge mistake. No daughter of mine should ever step foot in that ring, especially not her. There is not a thing she’s taken seriously since the day she was born. This is your mistake, Hector, not mine.”

Opening a second curtain, Amethysta steps into a confrontation between a man in a tan colored suit jacket and unbuttoned white dress shirt and a larger, more muscular man wearing a dragon themed blue-sequined lucha mask opened to reveal a deep brown goatee. Proud but exhausted, Ivelise forced a smile to try to lighten the mood.

“See. I… told you… I could do it.” She forced through deep gasps, “I got this.”

Both men looked the sixteen year old luchadora up and down, almost at a loss for words before the luchador spoke up.

“That was the single biggest embarrassment anyone has caused to this family, and you come back here with a smile on your face?” The man looked defeated in anger, “My cousin Juan accidentally shot and killed himself during firearms training for the military and THAT was less embarrassing than… I don’t even know what to call that! In the middle of Arena Mexico of all places! I’ll never be able to show my face to Hector again!”

“Please dad, you’re over reacting.” Amethysta’s natural defense arose due to sixteen years of living with this man on and off while he traveled the world, “Hector, can you talk some sense into him?”

“I can’t. He’s right.” Hector says wiping his hand across his bald head, “If your father doesn’t go have the greatest match of his career, these fans may never let us back in this building again.”

“Over what?!” The defiant teenager regained her breath and held out her arms in confusion.

“Let’s see where do I start…” The luchador jumped in, “First off, if you were half as concerned about lucha libre as you were showing your tits off, you wouldn’t have to be tucking them in every five seconds because your areolas are showing. Second, you fell on your ass six of the seven times you tried to jump onto the ropes. Third, you care so little about anything except being a whore that you accidentally broke your opponent's jaw and knocked them unconscious so that match never even ended!”

“The crowd didn’t know what to think.” Hector sighed, “There was silence followed by a few boos. Over a dozen fans have already gone to the ticket window and asked for their money back.”

“Buuuut did I win?”

Amethysta tried to get her point across only to be smacked across the face by the lucha legend across from her. She didn’t even have time to brace herself or feel the pain before the purple mask was ripped off of her head. Ivelise hit the ground. The world went black for just a second. Then fuzzy. Everything spun and then came back into focus through the blur of tears welling up in her eyes. The ringing stopped and the muffled became words as she looked up at her father, Azure Dragon III, perhaps the most decorated luchador of his generation leaning over her on one knee as she looked up from the fetal position.

“Never again. Do you understand me?” He spoke. His lips quivered in anger. She quivered in fear.

“But I…”

“Never. Again.” He interrupted, “You’re done embarrassing me. You’re done embarrassing this family. Never. Again.”

“Y… yes sir.” She choked the words out through her closing throat.

“It’s taken care of Hector.” Azure Dragon III turned around and spoke to the promoter, Hector Aguilar who sighed in frustration, “I can’t undo the damage she did to your house tonight, but I can promise it’ll never happen again. You have my word.”

The two men shook hands before Hector walked away and Azure Dragon III tossed the Amethysta mask into a nearby trashcan. On the floor, Ivelise checked her jaw before wiping the tears out of her eyes. Her father wouldn’t even look at her.

“Get up.” He said before he walked away, “Go find your mother. Maybe you’ll be more successful as a second generation drunk with her than a fourth generation wrestler.”

~*~----------------------------------------------------------~*~

“I’m fine with not being picked.”

“Growing up with the weight of family expectations wasn’t easy. My father was a great fighter but a terrible person… just like his father and his grandfather before him. Women weren’t allowed to wrestle in my family, so I had to get training from whoever I could no matter how reputable they were. Some were better than others. All are worse than me.”

~*~----------------------------------------------------------~*~

It had been too long.

That’s the phrase that repeated in Elise’s head over and over and over again as she scrolled through her phone. Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. Whatever she could find to take her mind off of the potential news at hand she tried to weaponize.

It didn’t work.

Every few seconds she would jump back into her messages to make sure the little bubbles weren’t popping up in her group chat. They still weren’t there. Then she’d put her phone back down on the table and try to do something else, but even that would only last a few minutes at best before she was back to the phone checking messages.

Maybe she should’ve taken Derek up on his invitation to go to the bar to take her mind off of DEFIANCE’s decision, but as someone who has spent her entire life being told she wasn’t taking something seriously enough… maybe that wasn’t the right look. It sure would’ve made the wait easier though. He was right about that.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

The vibration shot through her body like a rush of purified adrenaline and her cellphone nearly jumped out of her finger before she grabbed it and looked at the screen and took a deep breath.

“MARYLYNN MAYWEATHER. DEREK EDWARDS.”

In a conference call. She expected to hear from one of them individually… but not both. Why? She slid her finger across the phone screen and put the call on speaker.

“I’m here. What’s the verdict?” She said before she got up from her seat and began to pace back and forth across her kitchen.

“I’m with her, what’s the news Mary-Lynn?” Derek spoke, seeming a bit less stressed than Elise, but that might be the alcohol talking… not to say she hadn’t had her own share. There was just a lot less noise in the background.

“Well…” MLM hesitated for a moment before she continued, “I just got off the phone with DEFIANCE officials and they have some… concerns about bringing you guys on board they would like addressed and I told them I would reach out and go over them with you.”

“Concerns? About what?” Edwards was the first to speak, “I think everything speaks for itself. We’ve both been successful in other places. Not with each other, sure, but you can’t deny the chemistry.”

“DEFIANCE has a reputation.” Mary-Lynn chose her words carefully, “There is a certain amount of grit and technical ability that has become their brand. So when I came to them with your resumes it was met with a lot of questions.”

“Questions? Do the championships and achievements not speak for themselves?” Elise chirped in, “I feel like 25% of the roster has ties to PRIME. I held two titles there.”

“Well they feel there is a difference between the package Lindsay Troy brings to the table as a wrestler and what Elise Ares may bring to the table.” Mary-Lynn tried to explain.

“We’re not one of them.” Derek spoke in, “Stop trying to sugar coat things Mary-Lynn. I know what they’re trying to say.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, Derek.” MLM continues, “There was another application that came in right before yours for a Mikey Unlikely?”

Silence came over the call as both Elise and Derek came to the realization at the same time.

“Actor. Wrestler. Bigger box office. More mainstream appeal.” Derek sighed, “I’ve seen his work. He’s good. I’d love to work with him myself and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t try but he never exactly returned my calls.”

“Mikey Unlikely big-leagued you?” Elise cut through confused, “Why in the world would he do that? Did he not read your Lake Placid IV script? It’s breathtaking. It easily has the potential to get a 2 month theater run! I can get the script into his hands and once he reads that, he’s sure to come around! His assistant must’ve just trashed it or something.”

“Or something.” Derek said before he could be heard taking a long draw of something on the other side of the call.

“So the big question is… would you be willing to change your presentation?” Mary-Lynn proposed, “Give DEFIANCE something they don’t have. Maybe you two can put the movie on the backburner and join the roster as something a little grittier like a hit-squad? Or maybe a masked pair with a mysterious past?”

“No.” Elise responded immediately, she didn’t even realize the words that came from her mouth when they did and it took her an awkward second to finish the thought as the others waited, “I am who I am now. I’m not going back. Take it or leave it.”

There was silence over the phone. Five seconds felt like five hours before a voice rang through.

“I’m with Elise.” Derek said, “Pop Culture Phenoms. Elise. The D. Klein. If DEFIANCE doesn’t want the act someone else will. Their loss.”

“Ooookay.” MLM did what she does best, make the best out of a situation, “For what it’s worth I agree with you. It’s a great package. DEFIANCE should be happy to have it. I’ll go to bat for you guys and when I know more, I’ll touch base.”

~*~----------------------------------------------------------~*~

“I’m fine with not being picked.”

“Eight years in DEFIANCE. A record breaking Tag Team Championship reign and a record breaking Southern Heritage Championship reign later and I can confidently say that the Favoured Saints still never ‘got it’ through the day we left. I was never their type. I was never their first choice. The irony is that DEFIANCE never realized that to be DEFIANT was to not conform to their wants and expectations. They hated me for being the very thing they claimed to be. I am more DEFIANT than DEFIANCE ever was.”

~*~----------------------------------------------------------~*~

It had been three weeks since Elise’s home was robbed and she still felt violated.

It had been three days since she convinced herself to leave The D’s couch and go back home.

It was in three hours she needed to leave for Mexico for ReVival 84 and Camila wasn’t there.

Instead, her nineteen year old cousin Camila had been couch surfing for the entire week. Not a single time had she come back to the guest house on the other side of the pool to gather any of her belongings since the robbery. As a matter of fact she had forced the policy department to come to her to get an account of what she was missing (spoiler: it was nothing.) and an official statement. Despite the tragedy that you’d think would bring the fractured family members closer together, the truth was it made the unreliable house sitter somehow even less reliable.

So imagine Elise’s feelings as she walked up to a low income apartment in Santa Monica with no further information than a police report and a dream. A dream that Camila will be there and come back home to watch her damn cat so she can go back on the road.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Accompanied by only the smell of black mold and large quantities of reefer, Ares listened to the murmurs on the other side of door 210. Tapping her foot, she checked her phone to see if her flight was still leaving on time before startling the residents with another knock.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

“Camila, I need you. Please come and answer the door.” Elise paused and listens to more rustling from the other side, “Swarmaoski can’t be left alone.”

Before she even finished her sentence the door cracked open, chained shut from the inside. A blond, broccoli-headed male with facial stubble looked through the door.

“I’m sorry, she isn’t here.” He said, “If she comes by I can let her know.”

“I can hear her inside.” Elise stated.

“Oh shit, you didn’t tell me she could hear you.” The man turned around from the door and said.

“Well now she knows I’m here you fucking idiot, you just told her.”

“I’m sorry.” He said, “You told me your cousin was like 30. That chick is hot.”

“Shut the fuck up, Aiden. UGGGGGGGGGGH.” You could hear the Latina say as she reluctantly approached the door. “Whaaaaaaaat?”

“You have a job to do, Camila.”

“Elise, I know you understand, you have to. I can’t go back there again.”

“Who is going to watch my fucking cat, Camila? My flight leaves in three hours.”

“I don’t know. You have money. Just pay someone.” Camila responded in a nonchalant manner, “I mean that’s how you got me.”

“No, I got you because you ran away from home and were smuggled across an ocean and had nowhere else to go.” Elise stated, “I didn’t even ask for you. You just showed up.”

“Yeah well, you didn’t need me then and you don’t need me now.” Camila stated, “I’m someone else’s problem. You’re ‘free’ or whatever.”

As frustrated as she may be, Elise remembered feeling exactly the same way Camila did now. When she lived at home, she was a burden. An excuse for her mother to get in trouble. An “embarrassment” to her father’s name. When she left for America, it started as couch to couch from one burden to the next, but eventually things broke the right way… by hook or by crook.

Alright, it was mostly crook, but a feeling came across Elise that she didn’t often feel, if ever.

Empathy? Is that a word? Or is it entropy? Probably one of those.

“Camila, I know you’re totes like ‘American’ now or whatever, but you do remember what Guerrero means, right?” Elise questioned.

“It means leave me the fuck alone.” Camila answered immediately.

“No, it means ‘Warrior’ you dumbass.” Elise quipped, “To be a Guerrero is to be strong in your own way. Like my dad wanted me to be physically strong like a man… let’s be honest he just wanted a boy and I wasn’t one. So he used to beat me because that’s what his father did to him to make him strong.”

There was a long silence, but Camila didn’t walk away or close the door.

“But I am strong and my dad is a fucking prick.” Elise continued, “I’m strong mentally and I’m strong physically. To be a Guerrero isn’t to be invulnerable, it’s to never stop fighting. You need to fight to keep going no matter what happens to you.”

“You weren’t there.” Camila finally answered, a nearly unnoticeable quiver in her voice “I was so scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared....” Elise answered, “but fighting against the current is in your blood, Camila. You’re a Guerrero. When the world tells us what to do we tell them to fuck off.”

Another long silence occurred as Ares could hear this Aiden fellow approach the door and Camilla threw something at him. Probably a pillow. Hopefully a brick.

“So why can’t I tell you to fuck off?” Camila sounded defeated.

“Because I’m a Guerrero too, so grab your shit and come watch my fucking cat, bitch. I have a plane to catch.”

~*~----------------------------------------------------------~*~

“I’m fine with not being picked.”

“I wasn’t picked to be a wrestler… but I became one anyway. I wasn’t picked to become an actress… but I became one anyway. I wasn’t picked to be a champion… but I became one anyway. So now I’m in PRIME… and you didn’t pick me. That’s fine.”

“I’ll become PRIME anyway.”

~*~----------------------------------------------------------~*~

Elise’s smirk never waivered. Not even for a second.

“BBY… let me make something PER-FECT-LY clear. We don’t give a fuuuuuck what the PRIME roster thinks and I certainly don’t give a fuck what the PRIME fans think. Pick me or not, it’s totes their loss. I am not the captain, I’m not even the ship, I’m the STAR. Not A STAR, THE STAR. The brightest star that all ships navigate towards.”

Angela Brooks doesn’t respond, she lets Elise say her piece.

“BBY I have been under pressure since the day I climbed out of my mother’s womb. Pressure builds diamonds and bitch, there isn’t anyone on this planet who shines brighter than me. That’s why we won tonight. That’s why I won the PRIME Tag Titles. That’s why I won the PRIME 5*Star Champion, and that’s why I’m winning the Silver Ticket… and BBY, I’m not making the same mistake Kazys did. I’m not selling SHIT.”

Angie couldn’t help but ask…

“Then what do you plan on doing with it?”

Elise looks over at The D and Klein, who look back at her questionably.

“I guess you’re gonna have to watch and find out, huh BBY?” Ares begins backpedaling, leaving the conversation with PCP following her. “Let’s end on a cliffhanger. Put that on your marquee.”

The Leading Lady of PRIME waved goodbye to Angelica before turning her back towards the interviewer and swaggering her way backstage. Under her breath you could almost hear her say the word “bitch” as the scene faded to black. Except Elise. Who continued to shine.

Because diamonds are forever.

Bitch.