—
Backstage, thirty minutes before the match, Shimmerlace chose a nice empty shower stall and sat with her head on the ground, legs kicking in the air, Irish "death metal" pounding in her ears.
(This so-called "death metal" really had more notes of punk-pop with notes of celtic instrumentation and accents roughly as authentic as her own—but fuck it. What did she care if Dropkick Murphy wanted to pretend at edge? A bop was a bop)
Such was an old habit with Shimmerlace, who liked to find odd ways to spend the minutes before a match with her mind simmering somewhere outside the proverbial quadrilateral prism. But today, her pose was stiff, and though she'd closed her eyes, she knit her forehead, as if there was something unpleasant behind her eyelids that wanted out.
Her mind drifted to her opponent.
Brielle.
Oh, there was buzz aplenty about ol' Brielle. Word on the street was she'd already locked arms with madame Cleo herself — another name illumined by increasingly neon lights — and that she was sure to soon rocket to the top of everything, given her immense, one might even say prodigious athletic talent. Here was a could-have-been football superstar, had she not instead been drawn to the squared circle. She had, naturally, like all great luminaries, given the Young Lioness program a hard pass, thank you very much, as a playground for babies that would ill-suit one of her immense stature.
(Not that Brielle'd put it in quite those terms, but your girl could read between the lines)
Shimmerlace grunted, sliding off the wall and plopping to the tiled floor with a frustrated thud. She sighed, popping the earbuds out. She was trying not think about the match. At least—she was trying not to think about the who of the match. Les peuples. Had it been visions of diving off the top rope, of locking her legs around a turnamajig crucifix power glitter bomb. Sure.
But the opponent? The fans? The goddam fuckin' announcer?
"Only shit what matters," growled the Feychild at the empty lockerroom ceiling, "Is the magic you can conjure. All else is..."
All else—that being the audience reception of course. From Kaguya at We Are LAW V, to the almost-empty seater with dear little Rai, to that shitshow with Audrey, they'd been victories every one of 'em, and yet the reception had been...
"Pure bullshit."
—
...At Five foot eight and onnnnne hundred and forty pounds! The Feychild herself—Shimmerlace! Snuggleblossom!
And here comes the music:
When the truth is found—to be lies! And all the joy within you dies...
Don't you want somebody to love? Don't you NEED somebody to love?
And up she rose, back straight as a board, as if her heels were on a hinge with the ground. She threw up her arms and grinned as wide and naive and bright as the day of her first match (she hoped).
The Feychild in Mist
Fucker, thought Shimmerlace before banishing that thought into a mental pit as she raced up to the apron. She caught the top rope, slingshot herself straight up, and got both feet on the rope. Up she popped, arms in the air as she balanced, and her theme crashed into quiet.
"Gooooooood evening! Ladies and gentlemen, mortals and immortals, and allllll the lovely shades betwixt, ye splendid people of the eassssstern hemispherrrrre!"
She was awash in every spotlight, gleaming pink and white and violet while her pale foundation and blush burned hot and greasy on her cheeks. She panted. The crowd mumbled.
OK then—Shimmerlace flicked her wrist. Those who blinked missed it, and so did those who did not, but somehow an apple POPPED into her hand. She bit down into the sweet, crisp red skin, grinned, and sat atop the ring post.
"...I understand tonight we face a competitor blessed by the gods with a prrrrrrrodigious—"
"Get on with it!"
Shimmerlace choked. Her eyes stormed over the crowd. She'd missed whoever it was, but she could see pockets of laughter, even if they were too quiet to make it from the stands to her ears. She grit her teeth, brow knitting.
"...A prodigious...Footballer talent. Welllll, says I. Tonight our wide receiver is sure to receive something, yeah? A good kick to her wide ass!"
There was a long pause. Shimmer's mouth crooked while her eyes lidded and her jaw went tight.
Fuck it.
She tossed the apple over her shoulder and slid into her corner.





