Finally, this was it. Apex was on the horizon, and the participants and their opponents had been declared. Cecilia had put in the effort to make it onto the card, and it had paid off well for her. She'd faced a number of opponents that tested her skills as she fought her way through the qualifiers, taking on
Natalia Dominique,
A I R A, and
Anastasia Akira. In all of her matches, whether she'd won or lost, whether she'd dominated or faced an even battle, Cecilia had always been keen to let her greatest assets shine - her ferocity, her cold-blooded ruthlessness, her willingness to do anything to win, and her knowledge in technical wrestling and submission holds. All of those attributes could make anyone a successful wrestler in and of themselves - but Cecilia had them all, and every time she set foot in the ring, she was keen on bringing them all together into one cohesive, unstoppable whole. When she competed in her qualifiers, she wanted to show the world that those qualities would make her a worthy contender for the title of LAW's first World Openweight Champion - and now that all was said and done, she was one step closer to her goal.
Just thinking about it, Cecilia could feel her smirk growing a little wider. All her life, she had strived for success, reaching for bigger and bigger things. She had come from nowhere, having nothing, living with a single mother on the streets until she lost even that at a young age. As Cecilia saw it, the only direction she could go was up, and if she was going anywhere, she wanted to be on top. But now, she was finally a step closer to that goal. She'd worked hard, she'd faced crushing defeats in her career, but she'd just come back stronger, ready to put everyone who doubted her in her place. Now, all she needed to do was to win her Apex match, and she had a chance at finally achieving everything she'd always dreamed of.
That wouldn't be easy, of course. The announcement of who would face who had gone out, and Cecilia was up against Skylar Jones, the very same woman who was the other half of her tag team, the Street Dogs. With the two of them having trained and fought together, Cecilia knew well how tough Skylar was. She was almost as ruthless as Cecilia herself, and unlike the cool and calculating Cecilia, she was an unpredictable force of destruction who had shocked audiences with her displays of violence. Any match between them was sure to be nothing short of a bloodbath, and Cecilia knew she'd have to be on her guard.
But more than that...she would never admit it to anyone, but although she had first approached a partnership as strictly an alliance of convenience, and she had told herself she would be ready to betray Skylar as soon as she needed to...the time they'd worked and trained together had caused Cecilia to develop something of a respect for the girl. She wasn't about to say they were
friends; that was ridiculous, but...Skylar had still been the only one who even cared enough to approach her, who had wanted to work with her. She was the closet she'd ever had to a friend in...all her life, really...
Now, as she stood backstage, preparing herself for a singles dark match she was booked for, Cecilia found herself questioning how she could expect to handle this. Whether she tried to or not, was she going to hold back, afraid to hurt the closest person she had in her life? And was that going to compromise her chances at the victory she so craved, that she so
deserved? She stared into the mirror, braced against the counter as she was lost in her own eyes, with all of her fears and doubts running through her head.
Cecilia ducked down then, filling her hands with cold water and splashing it onto her face. She shook herself out, rolling her shoulders to prepare herself. She couldn't get lost in her thoughts like this, she told herself. The one thing that mattered, the one thing she was here for, was winning. And above all else, she wanted to win.
It was just then, however, that she heard a familiar voice come from behind her, one that made her stand up stock-still before she turned to face it. As if things couldn't have been more perfectly timed, Skylar was
here. She wasn't even booked for tonight, and she had still dropped by - just to posit herself as
better than Cecilia, at that! Just listening to her voice made Cecilia grow tense, her teeth coming together in a grimace. It was hard to say this about Skylar, but Cecilia was shocked by the audacity she showed! She didn't care if they were a team - Cecilia had to stand up for herself. This was her win, and she would accept nothing less!
"Excuse me?" Cecilia barked, crossing her arms as she spun back around to glare at Skylar.
"You think you can beat me? Do you even know who you're talking to? You've seen what I can do to you, and you're that confident it'll be that easy? Skylar...you and I might be on the same team, but I'm here to win," she added, leaning in to grab Sky by the shoulder.
"Don't you forget that."
