Pink Blackmail...(For CaptainL)

[Vc0m]

Spoiler

Lucy chilled on a Sunday morning in Tokyo. The world was her oyster today.

"Gym? Naaah, I have no match tomorrow..."

"Stream? Eeeeh...not in the mood...if I game, I wanna do something by myself..."

But for even that, she was too lazy to do. So instead, she lazily checked out youtube on her computer, lazying about on social media, and casually deciding her plans for the day...

...right up until she received a knock on her door:

"Hm...didn't order anything..."

Lucy would approach the door, asking: "Who is it?", behind it...

[CaptainL]

Lucy thought it was over. Little did she know, it wasn't going to be that easy. Not when she had messed with the wrong people.

Not long ago, Lucy had faced AHW United States Champion Mina Morgan in the first round of Outmatched in Oil, an oil wrestling tournament booked in collaboration between LAW and Starship AV Studio. Mina, an accomplished catfighter in her own right and a decorated second-generation champion, with a merciless attitude and a killer instinct in the ring, had been the natural favorite to win. But, in a shocking upset, it was Lucy who managed to score a come-from-behind victory, trapping Mina in a torture rack and forcing her to submit to a gauntlet of punishment both physical and sexual, leaving her humiliated in front of the world - not only for everyone following the tournament, but for all of Lucy's fans and followers, as the pink-haired girl plastered it all over social media. Not only had Mina lost, Lucy was sure to make everyone remember it.

And that would not do at all for Mina's mother Cynara. She had herself been an apartment wrestling champion in her prime, and she was out to elevate her family name to the heights it had enjoyed in the golden age of AHW. If Lucy had taken down Mina, she had become an obstacle to that goal - and an obstacle that Cynara simply couldn't tolerate.

But Cynara had her ways of getting even. She hadn't held her place at the top without being ruthless and underhanded to do so, and she had left many a hopeful challenger crushed beneath her foot through subterfuge and clever tactics, on the carpet and off. She wasn't going to allow Lucy to claim the upper hand for long. No, she was going to ensure they got even.

Fortunately, Cynara had connections. She had fortunes at her disposal. Her husband was a big name in the wrestling press. If she wanted to find something about anyone in the wrestling world, she had the means to do so. She had made up her mind that she was going to have a personal audience with Lucy Lincoln. And, when she wanted something, she would get it.

That had led her here, to Lucy's apartment. She knocked on the door. And when Lucy's response came, that was all she needed to open the door and invite herself inside.

Spoiler

"Call it something of a family friend, honey," she muttered, standing in the doorway. "Name's Cynara Morgan - former AHW Champion, if it doesn't ring a bell. You and I need to talk."

[Vc0m]

Right as Lucy unlocked the door to see who was behind it, her door was swung open. The pinkette only had a moment to step away to avoid her own door swinging in her face!

”Cynara…Morgan…oh…”

The memories of Lucy’s match vs Cynara’s daughter - Mina, flashed in pinkette’s eyes. The spots where Mina savagely clawed at the smaller woman flared up, reminding Lucy of the brutal and lewd battle…

And yet…at seeing her foe’s mother, Lucy could only do one thing.

Laugh:

“Ahahahahahahahaaa…I’m…hahahahahaha…she…the f-jerk seriously went home crying to mommy, huh? Bwahahahahaha…”

[CaptainL]

It seemed like it would take a moment for the gears to turn in Lucy's head after Cynara introduced herself - and that made the blonde let out a huff, crossing her arms. She remembered, in her day, when she would have fans across the country enthralled at every exploit; at every match she was in. Back then, the name Cynara Morgan was not going to be forgotten by anyone. Clearly, if Lucy needed a moment to process where she had heard her name before, Cynara still had work to do in reestablishing her glory - and that was a thought that made her brow furrow in frustration.

What would stoke her ire even more, though, was when Lucy burst out laughing.

It had already been a stroke of luck that Lucy had been able to claim the victory. She shouldn't even have been able to win - it was all just a freak accident. And yet she just had to be this obnoxiously smug about it all; she had to treat this as some sort of point of pride, like a personal victory. It made the bile rise in her throat. The Morgan name was being mocked - and Cynara would never tolerate such a thing. She would have Lucy know she was picking a battle she could never hope to win!

"I'm not finished." Cynara grabbed Lucy by the shoulder then, tightly enough to let her nails dig into the pink-haired girl's shoulders. "In fact, I had a proposal to make. Something to set the matter straight. That last match between Mina and you...I don't think it does any justice to what my daughter is truly capable of. That's why I think you two are due for a rematch, to set the matter straight. Now, do you agree? Or..." She squeezed Lucy's shoulder even harder. "Do we have to do this the hard way?"

[Vc0m]

On the one hand, Lucy going "I don't know who you are" to a legend of apartment wrestling was the right way to go...but she couldn't help but laugh at the situation, how her rival behaved like a spoiled girl, running home to mommy at the first sign of trouble. As much as she disliked the blonde, she had some respect for her after the brutal battle they had...but that was evaporating fast.

What stopped the laugh was Cynara, grabbing Lucy harshly by her shoulder, and digging her nails in, making her proposal known to Lucy as her grip tightened, the pinkette hissing as she grabbed at Cynara's arm, trying to pull it away:

"Mggh! Look here! I don't care for your daughter's ego! She gave up to me in the first round of a tournament. That sounds VERY definitive win to me. I have no wish to fight her again. And if "the hard way" is what I think it is...well, I would feel bad to beat an old woman up..." she would say, once she finally pulled the older woman's arm from her shoulder!

[CaptainL]

In truth, considering Cynara had gone as far as to track down where Mina's opponent lived and was confronting her face to face, she never really figured they were doing things the easy way to begin with. But even by those standards, Lucy was quickly ensuring she wasn't going to be let off the hook. The moment she started laughing at the Morgans' expense, a scowl came over Cynara's face, and she glared daggers into the pink-haired girl's eyes. Even if it had been decades since she had held a title and enjoyed all the attention her champion status entailed, Cynara's ego hadn't shrunk a bit. If Lucy was going to mock her or her family for it...then Cynara would ensure she regretted it.

Her eyes narrowed, and her gaze grew more intense as she leaned in closer. A hiss crept out of her lungs as her fingers coiled tighter, digging harshly into Lucy's skin. Even staring an angry Cynara dead in the eye, she still had the nerve in her to talk back. Well, Cynara wouldn't allow her to get away with that level of flagrant disrespect.

Eventually, Lucy managed to pull free from Cynara's grasp, but the former champion took a step back and dusted herself off with a huff. "My dear," she began, "we both know that I'm in no condition to put up a fight these days, much as I would like to. It doesn't have to be quite that hard, though. After all...I think settling on brute force is so uninspired when one has the options at their disposal that a woman of my status does. Don't we agree?"

Then, reaching into a bag at her shoulder, Cynara withdrew a manilla envelope. She opened it and pulled out a few documents, thumbing through them. "I should understand your father was a wrestler in his heyday, no? Hm, funny, it seems you and Mina have more in common than I'd suspected. In any case...Larry Lincoln. That's a name you're quite familiar, I'm sure?" She stopped, looking over one sheet, and there, a wicked smile came over her face.

"Our...researchers, as it were, were able to dig up some...very interesting information on him." She passed the stack of papers over to Lucy. "Is there a reason, then, that his name is on this receipt for...a drug deal, by the looks of it?" Then she flicked another one on top of the pile. "Or this letter, which mentions him supplying the substance in question along with the ring equipment?" Finally, she laid down a polaroid of Lucy's father holding up a bag of what seemed to be some illicit substance. "And...this is a face you recognize, is it not?"

Cynara's smirk would only grow as she stared Lucy down. By all accounts, she had her cornered - and she was eagerly anticipating the look on her face when she realized the grip she was in.

[Vc0m]

Lucy knew she was being disrespectful. That was the idea. The idea that the brutal fight she fought against Mina "didn't count" and that a rematch was in order was insulting to her. With Mina's reputation, she was actually quite proud of that win, even if she didn't end up winning the tournament as a whole. So no matter what Cynara was going to offer her, be it an actual threat or anything physical, Lucy wasn't going to accept it.

But then the older woman happened to mention her father.

Lucy froze at hearing her father's name. What did he have to do with anything?

And then Cynara kept talking...her sources managing to uncover some dark stuff he was doing in the background of helping other wrestling companies. Lucy's expression was souring by the second, until finally, Cynara showed photographic proof of her father's deeds.

"Wh...what the fuck...?" was all Lucy was able to say in her stunned state to these revelations about the nature of her dad's "work" after retiring from the ring...

[CaptainL]

Oh, this was perfect. Lucy might have thought she had outsmarted Cynara, embarrassing her and forcing her to lose her cool, a moment ago, but now, that didn't bother her in the least - now, the shoe was quite certainly on the other foot. Cynara had been involved with the underbelly of the wrestling business, and had a close ear to the people who ran it, for long enough to know that she could count on just about anyone in the industry to have their fair share of dirty secrets. But it was quite a stroke of luck for her when she did some research on Larry Lincoln and found that she had plenty of evidence that could well shatter his legacy if the word got out. But of course, it wouldn't have to get out - not if his daughter played nice.

Seeing the look on Lucy's face, Cynara could only snicker, and her sly smile crept wider and wider. "Is it really that much of a surprise, my dear?" she scoffed. "I was around at that time, and I certainly know how the parties could be. But, if it's that much of a shock to you, I'm sure it'll be just as much of a shock to everyone else - right?~" She leaned in closer, crossing her arms at her chest to loom imposingly over Lucy. "That is, unless you want me to hold off on telling you. And if you do, well, there's just one little thing I need you to do. You help me out, and I help you..." She chuckled - Lucy already knew what she meant.

[Vc0m]

Lucy's mind was racing with thoughts, as tears were welling up in her eyes. Her father? A criminal? She could definitely imagine something as small as a minor theft, after all, she herself was guilty of that. But contraband? Potentially something like a drug deal?

No. Ludicrous. This had to be forged...

"But...how long has this existed?"

This was an aged photograph. Someone had it for a while...someone had this dirt on her dad for so very very long. It made no sense that this was a fake.

Then...this meant...

Cynara's voice would snap Lucy out of her panicked thought train, as she laid out her terms loud and clear for Lucy to understand:

"Wrestle your piece of shit daughter or my dad has his life ruined, is that it?"

This was barely a choice. For as big and as dark a secret as her dad kept, she would go to hell for him if it meant keeping him safe:

"...when I am done with her...she would not DARE show her face in LAW ever again. I will make sure that our oil match was just a small embarrassment compared to how badly I will destroy her in this match. THAT, I hope will help you out big time.", Lucy would practically growl her sentences out...

[CaptainL]

A contented smirk came to Cynara's face as she watched Lucy's smug, defiant expression turn to a wide-eyed gape of shock. Seeing the once-proud girl snapped out of her illusion of being in control - of ever having any notion of superiority against the Morgan Dynasty - brought about a feeling of vindication that was well worth the work it took to get here. If Cynara left here and now, she would've been satisfied - the moment she saw panic and doubt creep into that swollen little head of hers, she knew she'd already gotten what she came here for. But of course, there was still more to come. This wasn't a moment Cynara could keep to herself. No, her work here wouldn't really be done until Mina beat Lucy in the ring, and proved once and for all that her victory had only been a fluke. Lucy's undoing had to be broadcast to the world, and everyone needed to know the consequences of defying the Morgan Dynasty.

Luckily for Cynara, Lucy was just as loyal as she was proud - and she was willing to concede to Cynara's terms. "Oh, you could say that, I suppose," the veteran chuckled. Not even Lucy's threats were going to dampen her mood. It didn't matter to her in the slightest that Lucy thought she could destroy Mina's good name. Cynara already knew that Mina would be ready for this match - and that no matter what Lucy thought she could do to her, it wouldn't be enough!

"My, we're passionate, aren't we?" Cynara continued, the droll tone in her voice never slipping. "Then it sounds like we have a deal." She gave Lucy a pat on the shoulder. "I would only give you one piece of advice, dear...don't get your hopes up. It won't be that easy. I'd hate to see you set yourself up for so much disappointment..."