Chapter 26.2

At the next set of tapings, Mitch ignored Nate’s entire existence. Though his heart felt like it may implode at any moment, the task itself was surprisingly easy. Nate made several attempts to get his attention, until Jodie ran interference and dragged him into her office. When he re-emerged, his head was low, and if he had a tail it’d be tucked between his legs. 

Aside from not being with Sandy and Louis, the other downside to this huge blowoff with Nate was that Mitch couldn’t participate in Lupercalia’s Tournament of Revelry. It was Mitch’s favorite event by far due to the absolute chaos that it wrecked. 

These were the rules: 

The winner of the Krampusnacht battle royale chose their tag partner ahead of time, but the other participants were paired up via a lottery system and it led to many random pairings that wouldn’t happen otherwise. At the end of the tournament, the victorious team could either 

1) Stay together as a team and challenge for the Waxing/Waning tag team titles together at the next major live event, or

2) Split up and fight one another that very night, when both competitors were already run ragged from wrestling multiple times that evening. Then the winner of that bout would get a future Full Moon title shot. Zevon and Yours Truly had actually been paired up a year ago, won the tournament, and then chose the latter option. Yours Truly won, but failed to capture the Full Moon title from The Dark Lord.

But that wasn’t the final match of Lupercalia. An unsanctioned hardcore match took place at the end, referred to as ‘The Sacrifice’. Due to the nature of Yours Truly and Zevon’s rivalry and match stipulation, they were offered the spot. So Mitch couldn’t complain too much, because it was a tremendous honor and much more prestigious than anything else he’d done so far in his wrestling career.

Nearly everything was all set, agreements made between Mitch and Nate and contracts signed. All that remained was to announce it, and Mitch found himself nervous on the night that was due to happen.

He and Avi waited for their cues from behind the curtains. Meanwhile in the ring, Coven surrounded their dear leader for the coup d’etat. After the beatdown was over, they’d get the signal to go-ahead and finish the job. Mitch’s palms sweat under the tape, and he was unusually itchy. In one hand, the pillowcase stuffed with the chain and collars grew heavier, almost unbearable; in the other was his kendo stick, light as a feather and dying to be swung, to draw blood. But at least now he had his new tights with Gianna’s sexy little embellishments to make him feel a little better; admittedly, he got off on the idea of being a tease to someone that couldn’t touch him anymore.

The general idea was for both of them to cut promos so that both characters got some satisfaction out of this, or at least that’s how Jodie pitched it. However, Avi had a different idea.

“Hey,” he tugged on Mitch’s jacket sleeve, and Mitch turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. They were due to go out any second, but his expression was urgent. “Don’t make this about me, this is your moment.”

“But-“

“I don’t need this. It’s all you, you’ve earned it.” Mitch wanted to protest, but before he could, they got the signal to move. Rushing past the remaining members of Coven that just finished their brutal assault, Avi slid into the ring first and propped up Nate’s limp body from behind, pinning his arms behind his back. 

With his kendo stick, Mitch wound up and slammed it across Nate’s chest several times, letting out a string of profanity while the violent snap of wood against meat echoed in the room. By the time he finished, parts of Nate’s white t-shirt had holes in it from where the kendo stick made repeated contact. He tossed the weapon to the side and leaned down, firmly grasping Nate’s chin and forcing them to make eye contact.

“What’s the matter, YT?” came Zevon’s voice, raspy and saccharine, but in the way that was obviously a ruse. Below the thin veneer lurked the sadism, the insanity. “All alone? No friends, sweetheart?” Nate went to open his mouth, but Mitch slapped him before anything came out; he reminded himself that Nate consented to all of these spots prior to the segment, it was the only other time they’d interacted between New Years Eve and now, so Mitch continued to lean in.

Because though he may still be livid, they were co-workers, and he was nothing if not professional. “Let me make something so very clear: you don’t get to die unless I kill you,” he snarled, tasting copper and bile in his mouth. “And what do you know? The festival of my people is right around the corner. So at Lupercalia, you’ll be the sacrifice.” As he hammed up the exposition, he turned the pillowcase upside down and the contents spilled out, dropping onto the canvas and rattling. “We’re bound together, you and I. And with these chains, we’ll formalize our bond with a fucking dog collar match.” 

Cheers erupted from the crowd, but it was less excitement for the sport, more guttural and feral. Primitive. It resonated with Mitch in ways that he wasn’t entirely comfortable embracing, but knew that he needed to come mid-February if he wanted to bring the most ruthless version of himself and -more importantly- prove a point. He and Avi took their leave, and Desiree’s voice boomed out that the match was official.

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