Blunt.

---

RESPONSE.

"You are the chokehold of this division. You're the glass ceiling as to why many people find us to be the bottom of the barrel. Turmoil, you've failed to elevate. Now you want to look down on me from your high horse as if I'm nothing to you?!"

She sat down on the chair and held the phone on the desk in her hotel room in her pajamas. Serenity leaned against the edge of the table and held the glass of tequila in her other hand. The number she called led to a voicemail she intently left a message on. Her passionate tone and fiery posture were a clear tell where she stood on the cusp of her third chance.

"You are the biggest hypocrite Teo."

"You would know everything about being second best. That's been your mantra your entire career until now. CruiserClash is the first time in your life you understand what it means to be dominant. From your days of old, you've been the afterthought to many who have retired or doing better in Action Wrestling."

"So don't pretend to be this mighty role model you are. You've been switching masks and gimmicks more than me trying new clothes from Fashion Nova. Yes, you've beaten me twice and I switched up game plans, I've switched up attitudes to be better. If anyone should know, it should be you."

"So why are you crucifying me?"

She downed the glass of tequila in one go and rubbed her lips with the back of her fist before slamming it on the table.

"Because you don't want to go back. You've suffered so much outside of your comfort zone unlike the rest of us. Why haven't you traveled beyond Action Wrestling? Why do you struggle even outside of CruiserClash?"

"You hold the throne. You crave it. When there's even a threat to your kingdom, you do everything to prevent it from happening. You screwed Jenson so many times, your brother who has helped you become a five-time cruiserweight tag team champion."

"You ran Bryan Blaze out because he had your last name."

"Stephen Singh couldn't even last long even though he looked as dumb as you did with a mask on."

"No, you see your world through those shitty red shades and hold that belt hostage. No one but Teo right?"

Serenity's grip on the glass was so tight that it shattered. Luckily, her hand was still intact but she watched the pieces fall off into more crystalized shards across the table as she leaned closer pressing the phone to her ear.

"You want to be metaphorical? Do you want to talk in riddles? Let me be blunt."

"You're cancer to this brand. As long as you have the belt, you'll always be sucking the life out of everyone else for your benefit. A parasite that lives on making us look weak but the moment we strike back, you come out of remission to show you're always there."

"But you did teach me one thing, Teo. You taught me to never settle."

She stood up from the chair and looked herself directly in the eyes from her reflection in the mirror on the wall. The cheek of this symbolic connection was palpable yet comedic. Serenity smiled as she delivered the final words with pure conviction.

"I will never stop on my path to becoming cruiserweight champion. I've shown that I can eclipse you anywhere I go. I brought you to your limit and it was my mistakes that let you continue your reign."

"Fool me once, shame on you."

"Fool me twice, shame on me."

"I will not be fooled again for the third time."

Her palm stroked the mirror gently right next to her face.

"Because I will become the new cruiserweight champion and teach you the one lesson you failed time and time again."

"Evolution."