40 Person Taking Hold of the Flame Battle Royal

[Big Bad]

1 of 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xfIy...sp=sharing

[Syren]

I know, you thought I'd quit? Sorry to disappoint. lol

First of two for Syren.

Thanks to Wasley (if he reads this) for listening to the idea I had and reassuring me that it actually did sound like it could be good. This is the first of hopefully many parts to drive this story forward.

Enjoy.



The Syren Song: Verse 381
"It was just so... weird"

[Jay Gold]

"Here we are again.  At the beginning of yet another Rise to Greatness season.  This time however WILL be different!"


Season 5 / Episode 10 / Date With Destiny (Part 1 - Beginnings)

[James Evans]

“Born Again, Part Two”

[Matt Hodges]

The Veil of Belonging, Pt. II

[MattKnox]

Spark

[HardyGirl]

OOC: Quotes from VWA used with permission.
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Taking Hold of the Flame 2024
Click banner

[Big Bad]

2 of 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rpet...sp=sharing

[Team Desire]

Katie Steward | Goddess of Desire | "A Glass Cannon"

A GoPro camera starts recording an old chain link fence that runs along the boundary of some abandoned place in the middle of nowhere. Heavy breathing can be heard on the camera’s mic along with footsteps of a couple of people walking along the fence.

“We’re recording.” A male voice is heard talking to a female who walks in front of the camera. They stop and turn to the camera.  

“We’re almost at the front gate. We parked our car a few ways back just in case. This is an old amusement park that’s been abandoned for a few years. So it’ll be really interesting to see how it has been left alone all this time.” The young female says to the camera, Ava. She’s a female youtuber whose main content is exploring places like this for her audience.

The two adventurers continue to walk to the main gate. The male steps back and gets a shot of the main sign. Some of the letters have faded out along with pictures of carnival tents and ringmaster’s top hat.

“It looks like it says something about amazing acts, I think.” Max says. He’s another youtube whose content explores abandoned places. He and Ava team up to explore this mysterious place.

Ava has her phone in her hand and she scrolls through the internet digging up what she can on the place. “There is no information about this carnival anywhere. I believe it was like a one day event and then everyone just packed up and left, leaving a lot of it behind.”

They walk into the park to continue to look around. Walking by some attraction posters that are posted all over the park. Max stops by a few of them and focuses the GoPro on the posters…

Ace Marshall holding the Ace of Spades card. “The Ace.”

A snowflake next to Selena Frost. “Ice Queen”.

“The Perfect…” The poster is too faded out to show who's on it.

“Hey.” Max calls out to Ava. “Try looking this up. Maybe it’ll tell you something about this place?”

Ava walks over and reads the names off the poster. She searches the internet for information, finding some facts. “They’re wrestlers. I guess they did a show here. Do you think this place is from the early 1900s?”

Max laughs. Clearly this carnival isn’t that old. More like just been a little over ten years or so. They continue to explore the grounds. Finding a fortune teller's hut, weights laying around for a strong woman exhibit, and a completely empty rack with outlines where daggers and swords went.

The two adventurers head over to the house of mirrors. They walk through the maze of mirrors. The GoPro captured the completely normal reflections of the two. Kind of weird that there are no funny reflective mirrors. Whoever ran this carnival knew what they were doing, they figured.

They exit the house of mirrors and look around for their next place to check out. That’s when they noticed a light on in the big tent. They approach it with caution. It could be a transient person living on the grounds or something. They don’t know so they’re being careful. They approach the front of the tent and peek inside. A woman sits on a circus stool in the middle of the floor. She watches old footage of the past shows, showing her with other women working together. They noticed the woman was dressed fairly nice. A nice designer dress. So she probably isn’t homeless and is living on the grounds. They approach her to see what she’s doing at the carnival grounds.

“Uh Hi.” Ava says across the area. The woman hears them and jumps up from the stool and spins around. “We don’t mean to startle you. We were just exploring the carnival for our channels. We saw the light on in the tent and came to check it out. Was this your carnival?”

“Uh yeah, I ran a show here a long time ago. Just me and my friends.” The woman tells them. She turns back to the film and watches it. The two youtube adventurers watch the woman. Encapsulated by her beauty. They watch her, watching the film of the woman and her friends putting on the carnival for all the visitors. Everyone is having a good time in the film. The woman is dressed as the ringmaster with the sparkly red sequence shiny on the film and a colorful top hat. Introducing the strong woman, a tall blonde amazonian woman to everyone's applause. The brunette fortune teller reading her crystal ball to her customer. A knife wielding woman having some words with some drunk visitors with the ringmaster running to try and calm her down.

“You guys look like you were all having fun.” Ava says.

“We had our moments.” A smile appears on the woman’s beautiful face. Remembering some good times that the film doesn’t show. “We were so good together. Just me and my girls and we had our fun. We cause trouble. It was the best of times. I was having the best of life. Just the baddest group of girls you’d ever see. Then I had to go and ruin it.” The smile quickly fades away. She starts to shake, having the emotion overwhelm her. “I’m sorry, I have to go. Enjoy your adventure…”

The woman brushes past the two youtubers and leaves the tent. The two youtubers are left spinning in a circle.

“Wait, it’s ok. I’m Ava. This is Max. If you need to talk, we're here for you.” Ava tries reaching out to the woman, but she’s already gone. They’re left alone on the carnival grounds again.

“That was weird.” Max replies.

“It’s not the worst encounter we had during our adventures. Strange, sure.”

Ava and Max continue to explore. They turn off the film player and leave the big top tent.


______________________________________________________________________________________________

Katie’s Porsche pulls into the parking lot of a television studio somewhere in the Los Angeles area. Katie sits in her car for a few moments. Leaning back in the driving seat she catches her breath. Not really like her best self at the moment. She collects her composure and steps out of the car and heads into the TV Studio.

Katie has been kind of down lately so she thought maybe it would be a good idea to go some place that’ll make her happy. A Happy Place for her.

Katie walks down some bleachers on the set of a children’s television show that is filmed at the studio. A show she’d grown up watching as a kid. Princess Adventures. Katie sits down in the front row and looks at the set. She remembers all the adventures of Princess Lily and the messages she taught. The show is the reason Katie pursued acting and becoming a Queen herself. She starts to smile again as the magic in her happy place seems to work.

A young pretty girl walks down the steps of the bleachers behind Katie. She has a dry cleaning bag with a dress tugged over her arm and holding it close. Walking down the steps she notices Katie sitting there by herself.

“Oh, hi, you’re here early.” The girl says getting Katie’s attention standing up from her seat. “I’m Hannah.” She extends her hand introducing herself to Katie.

“Katie.” Katie shakes the girl's hand. “I just came by to look at the set and remember some things.”

“Oh, were you Princess Lily?”

“No. I was just a really big fan of the show. Though she did respond to a letter I did write to her.” Katie beams with light from a smile remembering the letter that she got.

“That’s pretty cool.” Hannah nods at Katie being polite. “I just thought maybe you were Princess Lily. I have never met her before.”

Katie looks at her confused. “What do you mean?  Don’t you work on the show? Aren’t you carrying a Princess Lily dress? I recognize the patterns on the dress.”

Hannah holds the dress closer to her. “This is my dress. I just got it from wardrobe people. I’m the new Princess they just hired. In fact, this is my first episode. Kind of nervous.”

“They can’t replace Princess Lily. It’s her show…” Katie is still in decline about finding out the news.

“They kind of already did. Princess Lily hasn’t been on the show for like 10 years now.”

Katie let out a loud gasp.

“Yeah, it was Princess Lily, then Princess Rose, then Princess Mia though they don’t want to mention her after the controversial firing. Onlyfans account. She’s gone now and I’m her replacement.” Hannah looks very excited about taking on her big role today.

“No. This can’t be right. Replace. They just can’t replace her. I loved her.” Katie sounded more distraught.

“I’m sorry. At least you still have the memories. They can’t take that away from you and they kept the show going so many more little girls can have memories of this too. It’s kind of what makes this role so exciting.”

“No. This isn't right. This is supposed to be my happy place. It can’t be soiled like this. I gotta go…” Katie rushes past Hannah and hurries up the stairs to get away from this place as fast as she can.

“Bye. It was nice meeting you.” Hannah calls out after her. Hoping maybe Katie would hear them.


______________________________________________________________________________________________

At A Steward’s Restaurant and Bar, Katie is in the back office on the computer. She smashes keys on the keyboard putting whatever in the search bar trying to find any information she needs. That’s when TJ Johnson walks into the office and finds her there.

“Katie? When did you get here? I didn’t even see you come in.”

“I came in through the back so no one would see me.” She explains. “Now go away, I’m very busy.”

TJ just stands there. Not bothered by her as he knows her too well.

“Wait, don’t go. I need your help.” Katie spins around in the chair to him. “I need you to look someone up for me.”

Katie hops off the chair to give it to him. He reluctantly accepts it and sits down at the computer.

“Ok. Who am I searching for? Is it some ex boyfriend or something?” TJ asks clearly, fighting off the jealousy.

“No. I bought this to help try and find them.” Katie holds up an envelope with an address on it. “I just need you to find out if they still live at the address or if they moved. I don’t know. Just find them for me.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” TJ grabs the envelope and does his magic for Katie.

It feels like Katie waits for minutes, but it’s just a matter of seconds that TJ turns back around with the envelope to hand back to her with a piece of paper with the address she’s looking

“There you go. That’s the address where they’re living. I hope you two hit it off again.” TJ again, totally not playing the jealousy card.

Katie takes the papers out of his hand. Annoyed at his acting. “It’s not an ex and thank you. I needed this.” Katie gets a bit emotional and she hugs TJ for helping her. Showing her gratitude. Katie turns and leaves the office. Now she is going to get the answers that she wants. To find out what her future holds.


______________________________________________________________________________________________

Katie drives her Porsche up to a house in the Hollywood Hills. She gets out of her car and walks to the front door. Holding the envelope and paper in her hand she checks one last time and then rings the doorbell.

Katie takes a breath as she waits for someone to answer the door. “It’s ok. Just relax. You’ve looked up to this woman your whole life.She’s just a normal person. She just played a Princess on TV.” Katie gets a confused look on her face. “What am I saying? I don’t want my fans thinking this of me. I’m there, Queen. She is my Princess.”

Katie scoffed at herself for thinking such a silly thing. The door opens and a much older Ms. Lily, who Katie remembers, answers the door. Katie looks at her beaming with excitement.

“You don’t have my order from UberEats, do you?” She asks Katie noticing her hands are empty except for some paper.

“Uh no. I’m not with UberEats. I just came here to see you. I wanted to talk about something that’s bothering me and Oh My Goddess, you’re Ms. Lily.” Katie can’t hold it in and she ends up freaking out.

“Oh Lord, you’re one of those kinds.” Ms. Lily shakes her head.

“I’m sorry. I’m better now. I’m rarely on this side of the conversation. Can we talk?” Katie asks her, holding her hands together.

“Sure. I have time before my meal gets here.” Ms Lily steps aside and lets Katie into her home. No, her castle. Yeah, Katie is in her idol's castle.

Katie looks around amazed at everything inside. The beautiful decorations and pieces inside the home. It’s not how she pictured it, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.

“Is that for me?” Ms. Lily asks Katie looking at the envelope in her hands.

“No. Actually this is the letter that was sent back after I sent you mine.” Katie explains. Ms. Lily holds out her hand wanting to look at it and Katie hands it over.

“Ms. Katie Steward. You had a lot of questions about what it was like about being a Princess. I hope my answers were satisfactory for you.” Ms. Lily skims through the letter and hands it back to her.

“Oh yes, it was amazing. I mean yes, very interesting. Good to know it wasn’t all about the glamor, but a lot of other attributes went into being a good princess. You taught me so much.” Katie nods her head. “What happened?”

“I’m guessing you are asking about why I left the show? It was just my time.” Ms. Lily answers.

“Really?”

“No. They just wanted to replace me with someone younger and prettier.” Ms. Lily explains to Katie.

“I knew it. They can’t get away with this. You’re Princess Lily.” Katie demands putting her foot down. Finally like a Brat ready for war.

“Oh Sweetheart, it’s been over a decade since I wore that crown. I’ve moved on and I’m over it. I’ve gone on to do some theater. Found a good man and settled down. It’s how it is.” Ms. Lily tells Katie trying to calm her down.

“No. That can’t be it.”

“It’s the nature of the business. At least for us women. Do you act?” Ms. Lily asks.

“Yeah. I’ve had a lot of roles.”

“And now?”

“Well my agent is seeing about getting me a really good spot on directing the next big Hollywood blockbuster.” Katie answers her and Ms. Lily’s face lights up.

“Oh that’s good to hear. It sounds like your agent is looking out for you.”

“Yeah. She is really good to me. Help steer me away from a lot of the bad that the industry has. I still don’t like this. You were my idol.” Katie stares at the floor. She holds on top the envelope in her hand so tight it crumples in her hand.

“I know. It isn’t fair, but it is what it is. I’m happy with the show and I’m still glad that it is still going after I wasn’t on it. So all little girls can have their own princess like you had me.” Ms. Lily holds onto Katie and gives her a light hug.

“Thanks. I really needed that. I just don’t know what to do anymore.” Katie hugs her idol tight. Not wanting to let go of her, but she does.

“Well whatever you decide Sweetheart, I just hope it isn’t giving up.”

Katie nods as she knows she has to be strong. She goes to leave and opens the door just as the UberEats guy is about to knock.

“It’s about time. Do you know how long it’s been? You have some nerves.” Ms. Lily grabs her meal from the guy and goes into the other room to get her purse. Katie’s face lights up with a smile watching the scene. She goes to leave, walking by the guy.

“I love her so much. She’s amazing.”


______________________________________________________________________________________________

Katie Steward walking into the building at Wembley Stadium. She slides her shade sunglasses up on top of her head and looks around the place. Her bag on her shoulder. TJ steps inside the stadium behind her with the rest of her bags. TJ walks ahead of her and goes off to find the dressing room while Katie straggles behind. Her frame of mind is heavily inflected by thoughts of how things have been the last couple of days. She’s in London. A place where having her Brats tag along with her would be an absolute experience, but at last they’re not with her anymore. It makes her heartache missing them. She has no one to blame really, but herself for that.

That is not the only thing that weighs heavily on her mind. Katie did have her Brats on her mind, but also she had a nice talk with someone she admired so much as a little girl growing up. That chat, the words still ringing in her head. Now wherever she looks in the stadium she can’t help, but have the words screaming in her head.
Katie walking by SCW banners that are draped everywhere in Wembley. She is looking at Selena Frost. Their champion. The face is different. Of course the marketing department made her face so clean. Selena doesn’t even think about it. Katie now can't unsee it. Telling her fans to believe and they do this to her. Then she turns to the other side of the banner. To a not so clean Xander Valentine and that’s gone Katie just sees red.

Katie marches forward trying to catch up to TJ, but the pressure continues to be pressed on her mind. She knows she’s one of the oldest ones in the battle royal tonight. Knowing there is no way of her winning it. No one would want it to happen. Everyone knows her time will be up as soon as she clenches her Supreme Champion status. A nice consolation prize. Katie just keeps seeing red and she doesn’t like it.

She turns her thoughts to Gigi. She knows how hard she’s fighting to push herself t o succeed. Though what world is she helping build for her to succeed in? Katie does her best to help look out for her like she has someone looking out for her. Is that enough though? Everything just piles down on her mind and then a hand taps Katie’s shoulder.

Katie spins around and just a punch right into the gut of TJ. He has the wind knocked out of him and collapses to one knee.

“Oh My Goddess! I’m so sorry, TJ. Why did you startle me like that?” Katie screams out at him.

“You’re right. I’m the one that’s sorry.” TJ repeatedly tried to catch his breath. “You were lost in your head for a second. I knew that. Anyways, your dressing room is this way.”

TJ leads Katie to her dressing room and she follows along. She slips back into her thoughts. Thinking of the words that her idol told to her and they come ringing back in her mind. Telling her not to give up. Katie breathes hard and puffs out her chest. She knows what she needs to do. She’s not someone who takes things laying down. She is a fighter. She is one who breaks through the glass ceiling. She fought and won the SCW World Championship and then went on to have the first women’s main event for that very title. Katie isn’t finished with her goals yet and she isn’t going to settle for consolation prizes. She is going to take everything that she is owed. She is going to be Taking Ahold of the Flame whether they like it or not. Nobody can or will ever replace her.

[Syren]

Second RP for the match. While writing this, and thinking back to Sherlexy Holmes back in the day, I feel like Lexy missed her calling as a cosplay girl on Instagram.

Enjoy.



The Syren Song: Verse 382
"I don’t even know if there are words to describe how that feels!"