The Scarlet Queen (Part 2)

Roxie Hart, one of Diamond Wrestling's top stars, stood tall in the face of many challenges in her four-year wrestling career. Despite this, Roxie didn't count facing a foe as lethal as the Scarlet Queen. Donning a reddish colored bodysuit, full mask, gloves with acrylic nails attached, and a golden crown, the Scarlet Queen attacked Roxie and delivered quite the sinister introduction. In the week that passed, Roxie had been taunted and pursued by the Scarlet Queen in the ring, while out of the ring, Roxie had the admiration of her stepsister, Gabi Prentiss, but dealt with criticism from her stepmother, Lori Prentiss.

However, Lori actually arrived to pick up Roxie from her latest event, as one of Roxie's tires was flat. The drive took them to an abandoned warehouse, where Lori claimed that she visits to "clear her head."

It wasn't all that Lori was doing.

As Roxie learned (the hard way), the Scarlet Queen was none other than Lori herself, and the warehouse had been a hideout used by Lori to operate under her villainous alter-ego and plot a vendetta against her stepdaughter. For a week, only Roxie knew about Lori's heel turn, but that would change at a Diamond Wrestling event, which saw the crowd treated to a video promo that saw the Scarlet Queen make her presence felt, as only she can. With the crowd watching and giving somewhat mixed reactions, the Queen walked towards a mirror and sat down to admire herself.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall," the Scarlet Queen boasted, "who's the baddest of them all?" Following her boast, the Queen turned around to face the camera and the crowd, and for the first time in public, she removed her mask and revealed herself to the jeering fans in attendance.

"Surprise!" Lori cackled, embracing her villainous role as well as the crowd's negative reaction. "You know, a lot of you know who I am, but for the select few who don't, I am Lori Prentiss, the true queen of the fashion world. In fact, that's part of why I had this stunning outfit designed. It's part of my grand vision." Lori gleamed as she made her statements, and she continued to do so as her promo progressed.

"For the many who do know me," Lori continued, "you also know that as devoted as I am to my business, I am more devoted to my family, my precious daughter, Gabrielle. And when I got married again, I did my best to become a devoted stepmother to Roxie." Once Lori mentioned Roxie's name, the gleam in her eyes slowly disappeared, and became quite the sinister scowl.

"At least... I tried to be," said Lori. "I always considered both girls as my daughters. Roxie, I tried my best to connect with you, to bond with you, I even tried to accept this silly little dream of yours to actually wrestle, because I know how much it means to you, and your father. However, I will not accept you trying to come between me and my daughter." The venom in Lori's voice increased with her last statements, as did the boos from the crowd watching.

"So yes, I became the Scarlet Queen," Lori said, "and I made it my mission to make sure you got my message. The look on your face when I revealed myself to you was absolutely priceless. But I'm not done yet. There's still one more thing that will settle this. You and me, in the ring, one on one." That last statement drew massive cheers, as they were looking forward to seeing their hero, Roxie, take on her villainous stepmother, who later started laughing.

"Wait a minute," said Lori. "You don't think I mean tonight? Here? Please. You people aren't worthy of actual royalty." As the boos rained down on Lori, the villainess continued her challenge. "We'll do this next week, in the bright lights of LA, at Diamond Wrestling's Shine Bright event. And I promise you, Roxie, if you win, I promise you, I will never be critical of your career again, and I'll give you the proper respect. However..." As Lori began her next statement, an evil smile formed on her face, a sign that proverbial wheels were turning.

"Since I was forced to get into your world," Lori ranted, "it's only fair that when I win, you will have no choice but to not only leave wrestling for good, you will become my personal assistant. And when that happens, Gabi will also join me--solely because you did. The ball's in your court, dear stepdaughter. See you next week."

Roxie didn't need any convincing after seeing that video. She quickly accepted her stepmother's challenge with one short sentence:

"Show me what you really have."

A week passed, and the moment arrived. Diamond Wrestling's Shine Bright event promoted this contest between Roxie and Lori, dubbed "Stepmother vs Stepdaughter: A Lot on the Line." As for Gabi, who was caught in the middle of this wrestling feud, she actually attended the event and sat in the front row, as she was anticipating quite a heated contest between her mother and her stepsister. First, Roxie's music hit, and she came out to massive cheers from the LA crowd. Though, Roxie had a lot on her mind, and a lot more to compete for, she still brought the energy and embraced the fans in attendance.

Once Roxie entered the ring, the music for the Scarlet Queen hit, and out came Roxie's wicked stepmother, Lori. She was dressed in a diamond covered reddish bodysuit, gloves, facemask, and a crown, though she removed the mask and quickly revealed her true face, with a killer and sinister expression. Lori quickly embraced the boos that rained down on her, while Roxie looked at her stepmother with a mix of intensity and a bit of confusion.

"For someone who appears to not be into wrestling," Roxie thought, "she seems to be really into it."

The bell sounded following Lori's entrance, and shortly afterwards, Lori walked closer to her stepdaughter and taunted her. "You know," Lori said, "I am going to love having you as my assistant. How about some practice? On your knees and bow down to me." Roxie responded to her stepmother's order by delivering a right across her face, and the fight was on. A wave of emotion went though Roxie as she delivered several blows to Lori. A small part of Roxie still saw Lori as the woman who filled an emotional void following her mother's passing, but in the heat of the moment, that was replaced with seeing Lori as a villainess attempting to take her livelihood from her.

Lori attempted to back off, and even plead with Roxie, only for that false bit of helplessness to allow Lori to toss Roxie towards the middle turnbuckle, and then deliver lefts and rights to Roxie in the corner, narrowly avoiding going past the referee's five count. Just as Lori was about to deliver the same punishment to Roxie again, Roxie fought back and gave her stepmother a taste of her own medicine, only for Lori to rake Roxie's eyes and attack her. The action increased Roxie's bewilderment, as Lori took to the wrestling environment very well despite her statements against it.

Roxie wasn't the only one who noticed this, as Gabi also saw that this match was closer than she expected, and that her mother was competing like a seasoned veteran. The match continued to be back and forth for 10 minutes. Neither woman was backing down. Lori was determined to defeat her Roxie, and was frustrated with each two-count.

"Give it up, Roxie!" snarled Lori.

Roxie, on the other hand, refused to back down.

"You will not break me!" shouted Roxie.

"We'll see about that!" shouted Lori, who then grabbed Roxie's arms and delivered a modified facebuster to her stepdaughter. The count was made, but somehow, Roxie kicked out at two, and that had Lori screaming in deranged anger, while Gabi watched, concerned for both women in her life.

"How dare you?!" Lori shrieked as she kicked Roxie right in her back. A kick to the back and that facebuster left Roxie at her sinister stepmother's mercy, and Lori cackled evilly as she looked down at Roxie.

"It's all over now, Roxie," taunted Lori. "Just remember: I am the Queen, and the Queen gets what she wants." Lori was about to set up Roxie for the facebuster again, only for Roxie to counter with what looked like an inside cradle, but instead, she set up Lori for the Hart-break Hotel, and that ended up finishing the match!

Roxie's name was announced as the winner, and she was absolutely stunned. She didn't expect Lori to put up such a fight. She didn't expect Lori to have any semblance of a wrestling prowess. She did expect Lori to resort to dastardly measures, but overall, Roxie was ready for her stepmother. Roxie's wrestling career could continue on, Gabi was in her seat showing immense elation over what she had seen, but as for Lori, she staggered out of the ring feeling the agony of defeat.

Lori continued walking in the hallways of the arena, when she heard a voice from behind her calling for her. She turned around and saw Roxie, with a smiling Gabi, standing across from her.

"Well, Roxie," Lori said, "you won. Congratulations. You get to continue your career."

"I don't think I'm the only one who can," said Roxie.

"Excuse me?" asked Lori.

"That wasn't your first match, was it?" asked Roxie. "You've done this before, haven't you?"

"I... I don't what you mean," replied Lori.

"You were a pro out there, Mom," said Gabi. Upon hearing those words from her daughter, and with so much pride, Lori gave a deep sigh.

"Fashion has always been my passion," Lori said, "but my biggest passion was wrestling. I had wanted to wrestle ever since I was a teenager." Gabi was stunned by her mother's confession, while Roxie gave a look that suggests that her suspicions were confirmed.

"Mom, why didn't you?" asked Gabi. "You were great out there!"

"I really did, sweetheart," Lori said somberly, "but neither of my parents would hear of it. They kept saying it was too... unladylike. I actually snuck out a few times and operated as a wrestler, but after my parents found out, they put a stop to it. Thankfully, I was already into fashion, so I did get to enjoy one passion without any scolding. But I felt like I had a bigger passion taken from me." After telling her story, Lori walked up to Roxie.

"Roxie," said Lori, "I know that none of what I just said is any excuse for my actions, and I know I broke a vow I made a long time ago to never be like my parents when it comes to my children living their dreams. But, I am sorry for the stunts I pulled, and Gabi, sweetheart, you do what your heart wants you to do, even if that means wrestling." The three women all hugged it out, a warm family embrace between them.

"I love wrestling," said Gabi, "but I prefer being a fan, I'll leave the actual fighting to you two." Lori protested the possibility of actually continuing to wrestle, but Roxie had to speak her peace.

"Gabi's right, Lori," said Roxie. "You were great in the ring. You were a heel in your earlier matches, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was," Lori said with a sly smile.

"No surprise," Gabi said, drawing a stern look, followed by a smile, from Lori. "But yeah, you'd be a perfect heel in Diamond Wrestling. Please? Pretty please?" Lori looked at Gabi and Roxie, and thinking about it, she gave that same smirk, and said:

"The Queen is not done yet."

So with that statement, Lori finally started combining her two biggest passions: fashion and wrestling. Roxie, Lori, and Gabi bonded over their shared love for wrestling, with Gabi enjoying watching her mother and stepsister in action. Roxie continued to be one of Diamond Wrestling's most popular babyfaces, while Lori continued her glamorous heel role as the Scarlet Queen, and while they continued to be on opposite ends of the moral pendulum in wrestling, their real life saw their bond become stronger than ever.