vs. Aidan Carlisle (posted on May 25, 2017)

Kasey seemed to have developed this habit of showing up on doorsteps at the oddest hours, at least where he was concerned. Impatiently, she rang the doorbell twice, wishing she'd called ahead to make sure she wasn't interrupting something important.

The door slowly opened, the man inside surprised by the face which greeted him. "Oh, Kasey, hey." Her boyfriend, Akragth, seemed frozen to the spot. Realising the situation, he jolted back into life and took a step back. "I wasn't expecting you. Did you want to come in?"

She nodded, stepping inside gratefully. "I was out driving around trying to clear my head and I really need to talk to you about something."

Akragth cocked an eyebrow and closed the door behind her. "Okay?" He headed into the front room, where he invited her to sit with a pat of his couch. "What's on your mind?"

Kasey hesitated, wringing her hands. "I… did a thing," she paused, swallowing hard, her face ashen around, "a really, really stupid thing."

He sat back against the couch, arms folded. "Okay... go on..."

"You know when I had that stupid tag match in Pensacola? I… I had a whole bunch of drinks that night and then Max drove me home." She sighed, finally sitting down next to him, "and he told me he loved me." She paused to take a breath, watching his reaction.

Akragth's face remained unmoved, his usual cold coyness at play. "So he said he loves you, so what? That's on him, not you. But you're freaking out, so there's more to this, is there not?"

"I laughed at him. I know that's really shitty and I mean; I closed the door so he didn't hear me but I'm pretty sure he did and he looked so sad, Ak. I swear I never, ever gave him the impression he had a shot." She pushed her hair behind her ears, biting her lip, "well, until I chased him out to his car and kissed him that is."

The coyness slipped a little as his cheeks bulged, the muscles tensed. "You did...what?" He stood, shaking his head, hands first on his hips, then his head, then back to his hips. "You kissed him?"

"Not with tongue or anything," she muttered, staring down at her lap for a second. "I just… I didn't want laughing at him to be the last thing I ever did. I wasn't thinking straight."

"So, what, no tongue makes it okay?" He laughed in disbelief. "You kiss a guy who loves you, but there's no tongue, so never mind it is all just fine?" Akragth wiped a hand over his forehead. He seethed. "Do you love him too?!"

"Ew, no!" Kasey shot to her feet, "no freakin' way! He's," she gestured vaguely towards Ak, "he's NOT you. I mean, I care about him. But the kinda love he wants? No. Never."

"So, what," he threw both hands into the air, "You kissed him because you felt sorry for him?" Akragth scoffed at the notion. "Is he that pathetic, hmm? Or are you just lying about it?"

"Why the hell would I lie?!" She all but screamed the words at him, "I came here to tell you because I've felt shitty since it happened and you don't have to be a giant dick about it!"

"Ohhh, OH, I'm the dick here, huh? What a surprise." He shook his head, teeth bared as his face contorted with his growing anger. "Of course. That's how it always goes, isn't it? I guess I figured you were different - but I was wrong."

"You know damn well that's not what I meant!" Kasey snapped, stabbing a finger at his chest, "don't you start-"

"Start what, exactly?!" He looked down at the hand on his chest, pressing his body forward enough that her finger surely felt it. "Lying? Cheating? Kissing someone else?"

"Ak, please." Tears shone in her eyes but she stood her ground, "it didn't mean anything!"

"So, what, you just did it for fun?" His nose wrinkled as his brows pressed down. "And then you're telling me now because you want forgiveness, even though you kept it from me this whole time?"

"I wasn't thinking!" She blurted, throwing her hands up in the air, "and then the longer I waited to say something the harder it got. Ak, I love you. Only you. It was a stupid mistake."

"You weren't thinking." His repetition betrayed a slight mockery. He shook his head, words eluding him for a few moments. "I don't know what you want me to say right now, Kasey."

"Tell me it's okay," she whispered, "tell me you still love me?"

He wanted to, but the words weren't there. "I think it's best you go. I need to think…"

Last time I was talking about hindsight, about how things change so drastically in an instant. It was so much like foreshadowing or clairvoyance or whatever that I'm thinking I could be the next Miss Cleo. Alice Quinn didn't show up and I guess a part of me is a little bit shocked while the other is disappointed. I had myself geared up for a great fight, for pushing myself to the limit against one of the most unpredictable competitors in the company. It would have been the greatest preparation ever for this unpredictable match for the Defiant Championship and instead I'm bummed.

I watched how your fight with Mad Max played out, Furiosa. I saw how he almost had you cornered and I've seen all these little changes you've been making over the last few months. New boots. New friends. New battlegrounds. New career opportunities. And now freakin' ThunderDome for the biggest Mad Max franchise fan in the history of ever? Don't they pander to you enough already? Nope. Aidan gets to defend her belt in a domed cage lined with weapons. They're all about enabling her delusions of grandeur and I'm over here laughing my ass off because I don't even have to worry about out-wrestling you like Max did. All I have to do is swing for the fences, cave in your stupid head, try not to get blown away when all the hot air escapes and then climb my way to victory. Piece of cake, Imperator.

But she's gonna say I'm still SALTY over how she called me a nobody and a loser and seriously half the company swallows that pill because she's Morpheus pushing that "let's see how deep the rabbit hole really is" reality in the guise of enlightenment. She calls a spade a club and everyone blindly agrees but I'm over here seeing it more like Donald Trump reciting bogus Fox News stories like an absolute tool.

I really wish Max had beaten you, Aidan. Not because I wanted to see you lose. No. I've got my own personal reasons for that particular name on my list.

I'm not salty. Nope. Not even close. See, it's more like I've been MARINATED, stewing in these juices of hate and envy since Savannah. I'm tender. I'm soaked through to the core, through every fiber of my being that screams out your name and it's time to throw this shrimp on the barbie like Jesus with the loaves and fishes, feeding another helping of Aidan's endless bullshit to the masses! I just can't wait to see what you're going to spoon out this time. Tell them all that I'm unstable, maybe? Tell the world that I'm too FRAGILE, too BROKEN still to come at a big girl like you.

I'm waffling all over the place and your annoying voice is ringing in my ears, telling me I'm not good enough because (insert generic insult #6 here).

Laugh, Kookaburra! Yuck it up. Tell yourself that I'm already beaten without you even having to lace up your stupid boots because if there's anything that Kasey Summers is about, it's the ability to fail upwards spectacularly.

Guess that's not much of a revelation. I've been chasing glory down the Fury Road since I finally got that medical all-clear and I know that every step I take puts me further away from the Kasey of 2012 - that chick who beat several girls who thought they were better, stronger, faster and smarter. Don't even bother to start sharpening the claws, getting ready to tear my little nostalgia trip apart. See, there's this part of me that just can't let it go, can't build that bridge and get over it - I'll end up letting it eat me alive and then I'll be no better than Max, pissed off at the world.

I can reminisce about all the good times I've had in my career and use each one of them as a reason to say I'm justified in judging other people like you do on the daily, Aidan, but the fact remains that those words you saw fit to sling in my direction aren't going to do anything but fuel the fire that I've had burning inside me since I signed that dotted line here in DWF. True story: I am the most legitimate threat you've faced since winning that championship and while you may have worked hard to get to where you are, Aidan, I'm working twice as hard to knock you off that damn pedestal you and everyone else places you on.

It's been too long getting to this point and I'm not about to go to the back of the line; I've only got one recourse and that's taking the Defiant Championship from you the only way I know how, by beating the hell out of you. You're going to feel the fire that I've had brewing in my body for weeks now. You're gonna get burned, Aidan, your precious title reign reduced to cinders as the FIREBIRD emerges triumphant. At the end of the night, everyone is gonna see that Summer is here to stay.