Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

“I have.”

“The day I saw my daughter hit by a car right before my eyes - my world stood still. I seriously contemplated giving this whole game away, but I realised something - if I stopped doing this and I lost my daughter I would have nothing to live for, so I made a commitment that day that I would stand for what I loved no matter what happened to my loved ones. It’s a selfish stance in the eyes of some.”

“I’d rather live for something.”

“Then die for nothing.”

“So now you know why I am still here. Still slaving over a bloody canvas, when every piece of conventional wisdom says hang up my boots and be a mother, else I become Tatianna Jolee. Sorry, Niobe - that’s not me. I’m going to break in my ring, well before I quit. I might not finish my career as storied as some, but I fucking guarantee you that I will rock the world like Krakatoa. Win or lose - the desire to take my hands to those in front of me, it’s a fire, burning me from the inside out.”

“Like Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road, this is a journey I must take, Niobe. Unlike Dorothy, I’m not looking for the Wizard to take me home, Niobe. I am home. and I will do anything and everything from evicting me from my sanctuary. This Television Title, my championship, it invites marauders to my door and it affords me the luxury of repelling your invasion, without having to track and hunt you. It brings you to me, yes, that’s somewhat lazy. But, the champion must always be challenged. When you wake up in my world, Niobe, you will find that I am no scared fuckin’ lion.”

“While we’re talking fantasies and fairy tales, surely you realise that you’ve followed the white rabbit down the hole into a world of madness that is the wonderland of Action Wrestling, and just like the Queen of Hearts when you enter my realm, I will be the one to take your fucking head. Except, unlike the stories told, you won’t be waking from your slumber to save yourself from your circumstance.”

“Certainly not.”

“Once you are in the confines of my wonderland, I will have to do with you what I wish. I will hurt you, no for any significant reasons, but to make a statement. To remind everyone in Action Wrestling that I am the Television Champion and if you ever want to wrest it from my grasp, you’ll damn near have to pry it from my cold dead hands. Simply, because I am the Baddest Bitch to step into the ring - and while people like Teo will use my shouting it from the rooftops as a reason to teach me with ridicule and derision - I will continue to scream it loud under someone proves me otherwise.

“Could it be you?”

“Maybe.”

“Will it be you?”

“Doubtful.”

“Why would I think that? Simple, you lack the cognitive recognition of the world that’s turning around you to ever be a real threat to my championship. You look like the fire to hit me with more than a courteous slap to the face just once before I grab your fingers and break them into a million pieces. Sure, that might seem a little violent, but I’m just waiting for you to tell the world in an embarrassing moment that you misread my name on the sheet as ‘Baddy’.

“Fuckin’ Idiot.”

“While you remain mesmerised by the idiot’s lantern and try to conjure up as many horrifying nicknames as possible. Do you really think the masses are going to take you seriously when you are a pretty blonde thing with a fading Hot Topic pink dye job as the Living Nightmare? I fucking hope not, Niobe. Because I don’t. I see you as a poor little girl that’s throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks in a desperate bid for attention. Well, for this week at least, you have my attention. All of it, with a laser focus as disrupting the chaos you proudly preach from your pedestal about. Not because I like order, but because I want to prove to you that you can be better than the bullshit you spill from the pulpit.”

“You’re not a nightmare.”

“You’re not waking me in fear.”

“It’s just not something that’s going to happen no matter how many times you think saying so will make it so. Niobe, this isn’t Aladdin - you don't have three wishes to escape the slums. You grunt and grind, and maybe you make it or maybe you don’t.”

“This week you don’t.”

“The real test for you - is to take Marcus Collins route, tuck tail and run for the fucking hills or do you play the Alexandra Calaway and keep striving for glory. That’s your measure, because this week is nothing more than another check mark in your loss column for what has been an underwhelming beginning to your stint in the greatest federation of them all.”

“I would say I’m sorry for consigning you to failure, but I’d be lying. And what would be the point of that when I don’t care if I hurt your feelings as much as I hurt yours. It's a pity that you’re so pretty, Niobe. I don’t want you to have to explain to the police that your black eyes and bruised kidneys aren’t the result of a drunken husband. I’m sure it will be embarrassing to you that you’ve been so bad in the ring by me that people forget you’re actually a professional at this.”

“You are not good enough.”

“I’ll hurt you.”

“I’ll break you.”

“I will win.”

“This isn’t a fairy tale. This isn’t fantasy.”

“This is real life.”

“That’s what happens.”