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SOLACE CHOICE PART III

At the realization of being tracked by Solace's mother, her father has no choice but to break his daughter's heart in order to finish the mission. With sorrow in his eyes, he gazes to Solace who is looking at Frankie's stuffing hanging from her unicorn's throat.

Daddy: Baby, we have to leave Frankie here... I'm sorry...

Solace: No!

Daddy: We have to go! Solace! Move!

Solace watches her father toss Frankie into the helicopter away from where she can reach and he pulls her out of her seat as she struggles to grab him.

Daddy: I'm sorry baby! I really am!

Solace: Frankie!!!

He runs from the helicopter with Solace over his shoulder and enters the small plane that is awaiting them to board. Streams of tears flow over her cheeks as she looks at the helicopter that Frankie is still in, abandoned. Her father buckles her and himself up and he signals to take off.

The vehicles surround the chopper and from the passenger side of the first black car, Solace sees her mother, in gown and heels, climb out and rush to the helicopter's door.

Mother: They aren't in here!

Her Driver: That's where the GPS says!

Her mother holds up the unicorn, stuffing pulled out from it's neck, and they all turn their attention to the plane that is beginning to roll away from them down the runway.

Mother: Stop them!

The drivers from each of the cars jump out from their seats, guns aimed at the plane, and begin to fire. The sounds of ricocheting bullets chirp off of the plane's body before her Mother becomes hysterical.

Mother: Stop shooting you fucking idiots! That's my daughter in there!

She watches the plane leave the runway and enter the air, unable to do anything more to stop them.

Her Driver: What should we do?

Her icy eyes turn to her driver with a gaze cold enough to turn a fireball into a snowball, her driver freezes in place.

"FUCKING FIND THEM AND DON'T STOP LOOKING UNTIL YOU DO!" She erupts, "THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO!"

She watches the plane disappear into the dark night sky.

Mother: Mother fucker. You're going to wish you didn't pull this shit, Ekon.

She turns from the sight of the plane and moves towards her side of the vehicle.

Mother: He's gonna fucking regret it!

In the plane, both Solace and her father were starting to calm down. All of this excitement had exhausted Solace, and like any child during high-stress events, she was quickly asleep on the flight to wherever it was they were headed. Her father watched her sleep for the first time since before the bitter divorce, and although Solace's choice haunted her, her father never took it personally. He often wondered how the lawyers could sleep at night even suggesting, and furthermore, going forward with letting a little girl choose between her mother and father. He was more than happy to ease her pain and he would never, ever, hold that against her.

She, on the other hand, could never forgive herself. The guilt and pain she had caused her father would haunt her day and night just as it had since making the hard choice. She looked at her escape as a second chance to make things up to her father, and even though he didn't require it, she would make him the center of her universe from this moment on.

When she woke up, it was still nighttime, but it was hours later.

Solace: Are we safe, Daddy?

Daddy: Yes, my love. I will always keep you safe.

Solace: What about Mommy? Won't she come for us?

Daddy: Don't worry about a thing, baby. I got you.

Solace knew her mother had connections to some bad people. Her Brother, for instance, who she said was from the hood, she would often speak of, and how he rolled around with some real baddies. Solace had seen the darker sides of her mother even directed at her and she wouldn't miss her fury.

Solace and her Daddy had time to catch up on that long flight. He had some connections of his own, in fact, the people that helped him extract Solace from her bedroom were his contacts based out of the Palestinian village of Atara. The mishap at the runway cost the helicopter operator his life, but her father said it was all part of the job description sometimes.

Solace was just glad she'd no longer have to read about Wonder Woman or Osira. The misunderstanding of what makes a woman truly powerful is not what Solace would consider her mother, and since it was her mother who recommended those books, she would reject them entirely.

Her Daddy spent some time mourning the loss of his operator, who he would go on to call Shawn. When asked how long before they would arrive, he said it would be a while... and that first they'd have to land the plane to refuel in Germany, some town named Warstein.

Daddy: I'm sorry about Frankie, Sol.

Solace: He was my favorite.

Daddy: I know baby. Let me tell you a story that might make you feel a little better. When I was young and first in the military, I was stationed in Qatar. Disallowed from getting mail from my Momma due to security and all I had was her necklace I would keep on me. It was almost like, she was there with me as long as I wore it. Well, we would search local farms for hidden opium operations and, heavens to Betsy, one time, a Granger pulled a machete on me... right to my neck. All I could think about was my Momma and how I wished I could just see her one last time before I'm done in. That machete was pushed so hard against my throat that it cut the necklace right off, and I felt like I lost my Momma. They took me prisoner for almost two months before the U.S. military got me out of there and out of that damned country. I got home, I hugged your grandmother as hard as I could, and I never looked back... You see, Sol... That necklace, that was just a temporary Band-Aid for the real thing...

Solace: Did you worry you would never see her again?

Daddy: Of course, baby. But you know, if you want it bad enough, nothing is impossible. You got a goal? You can sit and do nothing... or you can travel, erase your doubts.

Solace: I never felt that way about Mommy.

Daddy: Your mother's behavior would make a great Docudrama... "The Real Life Cruella D'ville"

Both Solace and her Daddy begin laughing at her mother's expense.

Daddy: That ain't right. I shouldn't disrespect your Mommy like that in front of you.

Solace: She did you wrong, Daddy.

Daddy: I know baby. But that doesn't mean she ain't still your Momma... look out the window...

Solace looks where her Daddy is pointing.

Daddy: You see that tall black building over there?

Solace: Are we landing?

Daddy: That is called "The Kieran Hotel" and my company built that. The wealthy owner of that complex insisted on incorporating over a ton of obsidian just to coat the outer-layers.

Solace: I guess that's... interesting.

Daddy: I made that up. I just wanted to see if you believed me or not.

Her father laughs and she joins in with him. She missed him greatly.

Solace: I'm sorry, Daddy....

Solace begins to cry against her attempt to resist it.

Daddy: Hey now, why the waterworks? Sorry for what baby?

Solace: I'm sorry I hurt you!

Solace breaks down into a sobbing mess and her father moves from his seat to sit beside her, embracing her in his arms. He uses his large fingers to gently move her chin up to look at him.

Daddy: Don't you dare beat yourself up. You didn't hurt me, baby... those lawyers did. Your mother did. Everyone except you. I could see it in your eyes that you were scared and that's okay, Sol. You don't ever blame yourself for what happened back then.

Solace: I wish I could take it back. I wish I could go back in time and just pick you instead.

Daddy: All that matters is the here and now, my baby. I'm gonna take care of you now.

Solace: I'm gonna take care of you, Daddy.

Daddy: Hey, we're gonna take care of each other. Okay?

Solace: I love you, Daddy...

Daddy: I know you do, Sol. I love you too.

The plane touches down on the small runway to refuel, and from there, Solace and her father would begin their life together, finally reunited; finally how things should have been from the beginning.

---------------------------------PRESENT DAY----------------------------------

"Look, I'll tell you when we get in the car..." Solace submits to Lien's cross-armed refusal to drive anywhere until she knows where she's going, "How are you going to drive there without knowing?" Solace bangs her head as if it's common sense that she'd have to tell her.

Lien grimaces, stubbornly resisting Solace's persuasions.

"I just wanted to surprise you guys!" Solace laughs while trying to gently force open Lien's stiff arms from her chest, "Don't be a hard ass!"

Lien narrowed her eyes, not one for liking – nor wanting – surprises. She looked pleadingly to Katia, hoping she could talk some sense into her.

“I’m not driving aimlessly around while you tell me to ‘turn here’ or ‘go this way’ and then, subsequently, get us lost in the process,” Lien moans, as if this whole thing has happened once before.

Smirking at Solace. Lowering her sunglasses to look back at Lien, “Russian women never snitch my dear” Katia laughed, “You need to trust the process” as she put her sunglasses back on.

Solace cheeses at Lien, nodding to her slowly as if she knows she'll give in.

Lien hated being outnumbered, but felt that way most of the time when these two were involved. Occasionally, Katia would side with her – whether for pity’s sake or because their ideals would, actually, align for a change. Lien knew when she was beat, heaved a big sigh, and motioned for the two to “come on already”.

“Cao wo (fuck me),” Lien groaned, “Next time, I’m asking that driver my talent agency sent over to chauffeur us around. I hate driving in new countries, especially when I don’t know where I’m going. Also, if I forget which side of the road that I’m supposed to drive on, I’m not to be blamed for the three of us dying in a fiery car crash.”

"Yes! I knew you would come around... oh, and Katia, I need you to document everything! This is a big, big, big day for me!" Solace holds up her own phone to poke the camera lens before reaching for the doorknob and opening her apartment door. Her face turns to stone as she stands face to face with a strange gentleman dressed in black suite and tie.

"Solace Tatum?" The man asks, his heavy Armenian accent mutters out a bit unconfidently.

"Uhhh... and you are?" Solace raises an eyebrow, suspicious of the man and his uninvited presence.

"Tigran... uh, Tigran... Adamyan. I was sent here by your father to look after you." The man answers.

Solace stares at the man for a moment before looking back to Lien and Katia, asking them mentally whether they trust this strange visitor.

Katia rarely trusted anyone, but Solace and Lien these days. She had been betrayed by so many. Katia looked at Solace and then at the man before them. Shrugging her shoulders towards Solace

Solace didn't need much more clarification, turning back to the man with a not-so-friendly look, grabbing his tie and yanking him into her apartment. She pushes him easily against the wall as Katia kicks the door shut, locking it as she peeks out the peep hole. Solace holds his throat with her forearm, her other hand balled into a fist and back ready to throw into his horrified face.

"Wait!" The man pleads...

"Lien." Solace doesn't look from his eyes, "Call Daddy. See what's up."

Again, another surprise, this one in the form of a random man showing up at her door; this day was already becoming tiresome for Lien, and it wasn’t even noon yet. She had heard Solace issue the order, but her friend may as well have been speaking an alien language. Lien reluctantly pulled out her phone and began randomly hitting buttons and apps, not quite sure which one she was looking for. Ending up on some random photo filter that turned her face into a dragon whenever she opened her mouth, Lien pleadingly looked to Katia to “help her”.

Katia grabs the phone from Lien.

“For goodness sakes Lien, it’s the 21st century, you need to figure these things out” Katia says snarkly

“Call daddy” Katia says softly into the phone.

Lien’s eyes went wide in horror as Katia uttered those specific words. She quickly snatched the phone out of her hand and hit the “cancel” button.

“Uh,” Lien looked around, awkwardly. “Wrong daddy…?”

Since Katia was nice enough to get her halfway to their desired outcome, Lien was able to figure out the rest as she called the appropriate number and an image of Solace’s father came to life on her phone.

"Minky? Didn't expect to hear from you... are you with Solace?" Ekon Tatum addresses his daughter's friend.

“Where else would I be?” Lien shrugged, turning the phone’s camera around and showing the current predicament they were in. “This one of yours…?”

"I don't know who that man is..." Ekon squints his eyes as Solace winds up.

"Mr. Tatum!" The man shrieks.

Ekon just begins to laugh, "Okay, okay... let poor Tigran alone. Yeah, I sent him."

Solace releases him and he begins readjusting his collar and tie, "Than-" and begins to cough.

Solace turns to the image of her father on the screen as Lien holds it up at her.

"Hi Daddy!" Solace smiles.

"Hey baby!" Her daddy smiles, "I miss you. I saw you got your first win, lookin' good baby girl."

"Thanks, Daddy." Solace smiles.

"Excuse me... but..." Tigran mutters from the background.

"Oh, what's up with this, Daddy?" Solace asks.

"You know what, I can't be there for you as you know I want to be, so I sent Tigran to keep a watchful eye on my only daughter. So be nice."

"This guy? this guy here? Protect me? Him?" Solace is flabbergasted.

"Be nice, Solace... he's a good guy. I wouldn't have sent him if I didn't trust him."

"Fine." Solace isn't pleased, but does what her Daddy says.

"Thatagirl." Daddy Tatum says, "all right girls, I have an important meeting so I have to go. Tell Katia hello for me. Bye now."

Lien flipped her phone around, turning the video app off and turned her gaze to Tigran, looking him up and down, clearly not impressed.

“Since when do you need a bodyguard Sol?” Lien suspiciously asked Solace, questioning whether this man could even fight his way out of a paper bag.

"Hey... this clown is NOT my body guard." Solace corrects Lien quite firmly.

"Actually, your father said..." Tigran begins.

"What is that? Russian accent or something?" Solace interrogates him further.

Katia slowly takes down her glasses as paced around Tigran eyeing every inch of him.

“kto poslal vas” (Who sent you) Katia stopped and stared at him.

"What did she say?" Tirgran asks, "I'm not Russian!"

"Whatever." Solace rolls her eyes, "Can we go now?"

Solace opens the door and begins to walk out, Tigran treading behind.

"Oh, you don't have to come..." Solace says, hoping Tigran would stay back.

"Your father was very clear... he said wherever you ladies go, I go. So, let's go get your first car!"

"God damnit!" Solace says, "You ruined the surprise, fool!"

"Wo bù xiangxìn ta" (I don’t trust him),” Lien states, turning to Katia. “Ciwài, women bùshì zài tánlùn zhè zhenggè “bàba” de shìqíng" (Also, we're not talking about this whole “daddy" thing)”.

Rolling her eyes at Lien.

“I vas a goddamn prostitute.. You got paid more to say daddy” Katia winked at Lien.

"You guys need someone to document?" Tigran offers.

-----------AT THE DEALERSHIP---------

The three young women and Tigran pull into the California dealership and Solace is the first out of the passenger side of the car.

"I'm going to throw up." Solace bends over to regain her stability as Lien gets out, looking over at Solace on the other side.

"Don't be a drama queen." Lien rolls her eyes.

"Mayve nex time, I drive." Katia bumps her elbow into Lien before helping Tigran out of the back seat, but as he reaches still land he loses his composure and throws up on the shiny purple paint of Lien's car door.

"Zhè TA ma de jiahuo" (This fucking guy.) Lien grumbles, as Solace laughs on the other side of the car.

"Gross, dude." Solace returns to her critical stance on Tigran.

"I'm sorry..." Tigran wipes his mouth clean of vomit, then tries to wipe the mess off of Lien's car.

"Stop." Lien orders, "You're smearing it. Can we just go do what we gotta do here?"

"Yeah, let's do this!" Solace says as the girls and Tigran begin wandering around the dealership's car lot, "Like idiot here said when he ruined the surprise, I'm going to get my very first car and I want a sick one."

Tigran lifts up his phone to begin recording the girls as per Solace' request.

"Vhut kind are you looking for?" Katia asks.

"I don't know!" Solace says, "There's a few... maybe a Spider... I'm thinking maybe a 300M... maybe a..."

"Why not a Mercedes-Benz?" Tigran interjects.

"Mercedes?" Solace repeats, "Aren't they overrated?"

"No way." Tigran says, "Mercedes is a beautiful, luxurious, and prominent vehicle of high class value."

"Sounds like hype to me." Solace dismisses him, "Where the hell are the sports cars?"

"Is this going to take long?" Lien is ready to head home already.

"Try the Mercedes... you won't regret this." Tigran insists.

"Fine." Solace says, "But if it's a piece of shit waste of time, let the record show you are a fool and moron."

"Fair enough." Tigran smiles from behind the camera.

Just then, a man in a pink suit approaches the trio plus one and offers a million dollar smile as he places himself in their conversation.

"Now, I couldn't help hearing you were interested in testing out one of our Mercedes? Which one of you lovely ladies is looking to take a test drive?" the man walks right up to them until Katia's fist stops his chest from continuing.

"Too close." Katia's fiery glare stops the man's snake oil style.

"My apologies, ma'am." The man says, "Well, I took liberty of bringing out a key if you were interested in taking a ride."

Katia snatches the keys from the man, never losing her distrusting stare, "Thanks."

Katia tosses the key to Solace and she catches it with a disappointed sigh, "Which one?"

"Press that button there, Missy." The salesman winks.

When Solace presses it, the green vehicle three cars away lights up and chirps.

"Meh." Lien isn't impressed, "I can turn mine on from my phone."

"Vhut you can't figure out the phone to do it!" Katia reveals.

"Anjìng" (Silence) Lien barks to her friend.

"Let's get this over with." Solace starts for the Mercedes, the others following, and all get into the car.

"It smells like fish in here..." Solace remarks.

"That might be Tiger's vomit." Lien suggests.

"My name is Tigran." He corrects her.

"I like tiger better." Lien says.

"But my name is.." Tigran begins.

"Shut up, Tiger." Solace says, "You are Tiger now."

"Fine." Tiger says.

"Yeah, I smell the fish... I don't think it's Tiger though." Katia realizes.

"Ugh." Solace tries to find the window button but none of them work, "Look, it has the window picture here but it's not working."

"Is the car on?" Lien asks.

"Yes, Minky." Solace mocks Lien, "The car is on... but the stupid window buttons don't work."

"Oh, you know what... it says here that it's a common problem with Mercedes that people mention in the reviews. The... how you say, brain doesn't always function correctly." Katia reads from her phone.

"Great start, Tiger." Solace narrows her eyes at her passenger, and unwelcome 'bodyguard.'

"The dealership can probably fix that free of charge," Tiger says, "Take it for a spin."

"Sure. Maybe the wheels will fall off when I go to back out." Solace rolls her eyes as she puts the car into reverse.

"Misalignment of wheels are known to vall off when life of car exceeds 100,000 miles..." Katia reads further.

"C'mon, that is typical maintenance." Tiger defends the car's reputation.

"Maybe you should see if this place is hiring or something." Solace remarks to Tiger.

"Why?" Tiger asks as Solace shakes her head, turning herself to back out of the parking spot. She then peels off, sending Tiger back against the seat as she goes from zero to 30 to the end of the parking lot, and whips out onto the main highway for her test drive.

"We're going to die." Lien accepts her fate.

"Oh, stop." Solace dismisses her fears, "I'm surgical with this bitch."

Tiger is tense, holding the 'oh-shit handle' for dear life above him, Lien begins meditating, and Katia can't remove the roller coaster expression of thrill from her face. Solace weaves in and out of traffic as if it's a video game, redlining the accelerator as she tries to max out the RPMs. She reaches 90 before the engine begins to groan and the body of the car begins to vibrate.

"Whoo!!!!" Katia is having the time of her life, while Lien believes these are this is the final time of hers.

"Seriously?" Solace gets frustrated, "It can't breach 90? What is this shit?"

"When will you need to surpass 90???" Tiger asks, still recording Solace as best he can while his other hand turns white gripping the safety handle.

"Let's take this bitch off-road!" Solace says, twisting the steering wheel, bringing the party and now smoking Mercedes to a dirt path parallel with the highway.

The car takes every bump personally as Solace directs the vehicle over rocks and uneven terrain, Lien's meditation interrupted as her head bounces against the top of the felt ceiling.

"You are giving me a headache!" Lien scolds Solace, "At this rate, I won't live until my next match!"

"I know you feelin' sorry for yourself after losing to JunkoPOP, but don't take it out on me!" Solace bites her lip, smiling at roasting one of her best friends for her loss last First Class when she feels Lien reach around the front seat and put her in a chokehold.

"Get...off...of...me..." Solace uses one hand to control the car, while fending off Lien's hold of her neck at the same time.

"Not everyone got an easy first round!" Lien squeezes Solace tighter as Katia just laughs at the chaos.

"Uh... girls..." Tiger tries to gain their attention to warn them of the upcoming bank leading to a small stream of spring water, but to no avail. All except Tiger are surprised as their bumpy ride becomes a descending tumble into the coursing water that they are now floating in.

Lien breaks her hold finally as Solace unbuckles her belt.

"What are you going to do?" Tiger asks, wondering if Solace is unbuckling to get out and exit the vehicle, but instead, she turns around and reaches into the backseat to attack Lien. The two girls begin struggle against each other's grapple as Katia continues to laugh. Tiger now rediscovers his parent's religious teachings as he pray for the Holy Ghost to redeem whatever sins he must've committed to have been granted the current life he was thrust into.

The car itself, the absolute least of their concerns, finds itself naturally caught sideways in the water parallel with a fallen log, and a smooth offshoot of land directly accessible to the back of the car.

Once Solace is satisfied with her and Lien's stalemate, she returns to the cockpit and throws the vehicle back into reverse, peeling out from the water with just enough friction under the back tires to end up back on the land.

As Tiger bats his eyes, coming to terms with the uncanny reality he is witnessing in real-time, he is in silent disbelief at the undeserving luck this trio seems to have in lieu of their careless decision-making.

Once back on the land, Solace has nowhere to do a K-turn, so she simply continues in reverse in spite of the smoking engine, wobbling tires, and now wet floor beneath their feet.

"Back it up, and reverrrse it." Solace begins to sing the Missy Elliott song as she eventually reaches the same highway she had veered off of, only backwards and into oncoming traffic. Tiger screams at a higher pitch than you would expect from this man, and Katia can't stop laughing.

"Relax vittle man." Katia chuckles as she squeezes Tiger's left shoulder playfully.

HONK! BEEP! HOOOOONK!

"Cali drivers are the worst." Solace mutters as she switches from reverse to drive, peeling off again, leaving a smoking trail behind her as she swerve in between two cars, forcing them off the road completely.

"Meh, this isn't the ride for me." Solace decides.

"This car isn't designed for Solace's driving!" Tiger corrects her.

"That might be true..." Solace realizes, "Can't blame the car, I guess... Mercedes can't handle Solace Tatum. No shame in that."

"Just like Queen Vic couldn't handle Katia Fyre." Katia smiles, "just like Anya Sharapova couldn't handle Solace Tatum, or 'The Crimson Lotus' couldn't handle Junko!"

"I lose one match and you both act like I have the most losses in this group!" Lien grows frustrated, "Let's not forget The Russian Ghost!" referring to Solace's opponent in their last organization, a woman Solace struggled to defeat, but Solace is unbothered, turning to give Katia a high five for their victories at the last event.

"Xiaochou" (clowns) Lien folds her arms, staring out her own left side window before pushing the automatic window button to be reminded it doesn't work.

"Pò che" (Shitty car.) Lien mutters to herself.

Before long, Solace pulls the smoking, wobbly, and quite damaged Mercedes-Benz back into the dealership's parking lot. With Lien's feelings temporarily hurt, Katia's excitement stirred, and Tiger's blood pressure traumatized, Solace arrives back into her original spot feeling dissatisfied, and pretty bored with the Mercedes.

Solace and company get out of the piece of shit and come to it's rear side to meet the salesman, who is brought unequivocally to awe, unable to do anything other than stand there with his mouth open as she hands him the key.

"Yeah, this isn't gonna work for me." Solace regretfully admits, "You really should get the computer looked at... the windows didn't work at all. It was hot and the air conditioner was more like a ceiling fan. Not great."

As she finishes her assessment, a rumbling can be heard by all, prompting them to turn and look at the Mercedes behind them. Just as they look, at once, the wheels fall off and begin to roll away, the body of the car drops with a crash and the doors fall sideways, the smoking engine seems to break apart and fluids of different colors begin pouring out as the car itself no longer looks like anything other than a pile of mangled steel. Just when it seemed to have finished crumbling, the driver's side window slides down with ease.

"Oh, my mistake." Solace smiles, "Windows are fine."

The salesman simple turns around and heads back for the manager's office to find something with strong enough alcohol to finish his day out. Solace turns to Tiger to make sure he is still recording like the obedient fool he is...

"Here, keep it on me, Tiger... earn some stripes..." Solace centers herself as he fights his trembling body to keep the camera still on her.

"Well, this was supposed to be my big day..." Solace says disappointed, "But I can't say I'm surprised my experience with a Mercedes was lackluster and disappointing; I can only assume that at First Class, I'll have a similar experience with Miss MJ. Is your mileage high or something? Because judging from your performance against Robin Vengeance, who has one leg, mind you, it seems to me you are reaching that point in your career where the rust starts to spread, your alignment starts to shift, and your 'First Class' luxury starts to fade in the light of your Second Class quality. I never cared much for fashion anyway, but when it comes to function, I don't think you can survive a Solace road test... and girl, come First Class, I'm going to ride you until the wheels fall off, which judging from what I've researched about you, won't be far from the parking lot. At this point, you're more valuable as scrap... so, like scrap, I'll disassemble you, sort you into piles of useful or non-useful parts, and probably end up just trashing you altogether; because there's nothing there worth salvaging."

Solace laughs to herself before shaking her head for not following her intuition.

"I should have just went with my initial gut feeling and test drove a Spider, or a Chrysler 300, because my gut is never wrong... something just screamed out to me 'Don't listen to this idiot suggesting a shitty German whip... Don't even waste your time with a Mercedes' but I went against my instinct and tried her out... sure enough, it was a total failure of modern manufacturing. Great choice, moron."

"Sorry!" Tigran shouts before hiding behind the camera.

"It's funny, though." Solace smiles, "It got me thinking about you, Mercedes, and all of your failures... all of your pitfalls... all of your flaws, and malfunctions, and incompetence and here we are... a similar spot we'll be in come First Class... me standing here unstimulated... and you, in shambles, collapsed into a clatter of junk."

"Reep her apart!" Katia growls, excited, with closed fists.

"That's it! Junk. Between you and Anya, I feel like IIW has me just cleaning up garbage, but hey, if that makes a gal a Queen, then make my throne out of trash cans because my rule will be built on trash like my first and second round opponents... and maybe in the finals, if Katia can't take care of it, I'll have more Junko to add to my collection. Anyway, let me refocus on the current waste in today's dumpster fire... MJ."

Solace seems to stop in the moment to question something in her own mind.

"Is Mercedes even your real name? Who named you? Your Mama? Did she name you after the shitty car or is that just where you were conceived? Either way, poor handling. Now, I know everyone wants to ride in a Mercedes, and knowing this girl, everyone who did probably got the chance... not sure how you made it into the second round of a tournament designed to crown "The Queen" of a professional wrestling company, when you aren't even the queen within your own group of professional wrestlers! I'm sorry, don't take it personally.. Mercedes, let's be honest here... You are second rate. Your show on Netflix... is second rate. And a queen... well, she's First Class, something you just aren't meant to be, as long as Solace Tatum exists in the same kingdom."

Solace uses both hands to draw a crown in midair in front of her forehead.

"So, put your seat belt on... update your insurance and registration, sign your will and leave your Wiccan spell books to your next of kin, because when you reach the cross roads... you're en route for a head on collision with the 18-wheeler named Solace... and after the debris is swept away from the surface of the asphalt, and your fiery wreck is towed to the junkyard, Mercedes will only be a name attached to a flower wreathe on the side of the road to IIW's Queen of the Ring."

Solace gives Tiger a signal to stop recording by dragging her finger across her throat in a cutting fashion. He is slow, but he realizes it and hits "STOP."