turning a setback into a comeback.

Looking herself over in the mirror of the bathroom, Lucille's eyes scanned her reflection, hardly recognizing it. After going through what she deemed to be the equivalence of hell, she thought that a change was in order. Her hair was dyed a darker brown shade, extensions covered her trademark shaven section, and another tattoo was added to her canvas.

It was a small crown that wrapped around the band of her right ring finger. When she learned her parents bared similar tattoos, a milestone they had partaken in as young lovers, she believed that getting one of her own would be paying homage to her late mother.

The king, the queen, and their little princess. If only their story had a happy ending.

She huffed out a breath, fogging the glass in front of her momentarily. Her fingers twitched against the counter top as the nerves settled in her head. She should be happy, but fear trumped those emotions instantly. Everything was already laid out before her and she just had to do as she was told. Normally she turned her nose up at taking orders, but she obeyed this time around.

A small knock sounded from outside her room. Recollecting her thoughts, she opened the door to an unfamiliar woman. She smiled at her sweetly, loose papers in hand.

"Are you ready?"

Lucy nodded, her confidence returning as she able to find a bit of strength.

"Let's go."

Rami flipped through the sheets of papers once more, waiting for his cue to emerge. Currently, Stephanie McMahon was belittling the moral of Mick in front of the Miami St. Louis crowd. In her eyes, it was because of him that the show was becoming second best to Smackdown LIVE. In her eyes, he was the one making bad decision after bad decision. In her eyes, he needed to be punished. Rami would no longer stand for her treatment of the Hall of Famer. As the stagehand called him over, he took the microphone from her and found a bit of strength as his music hit. The roar of the fans fueled him and the second glances from the youngest McMahon made him feel his message had such a strong meaning behind it.

"Hey! Stephanie, what you're doing to Mick Foley right now is wrong. As a matter of fact Stephanie, you've been wrong about a lot of decisions. But no one has had the guts to tell you to your face." He rose up onto the the ring apron and found himself face-to-face with the woman herself. But she didn't care for his presence. All she saw was a simple mid-carder who had no right to be in her face.

"Thank you for the morality lesson, Sami. Now if you could help your broken down old mentor down the stairs and to the back, we can move on with the show."

Rami felt appalled by the treatment she was showing the men, but Mick tried his best to convince him that everything would be okay. He proclaimed his name had been through enough and he could take whatever she and her henchmen threw at him. If he continued to go against her, Rami could be in a world of hell, moreso than he'd already been through. Slowly he made his way down the steel steps, even though the fans pleaded for him not to. Rami watched him, finding it hard to move from the spot on the ring. He knew this wasn't right and he wanted that to be known to the woman.

"You know what? You talk about following in my mentor's footsteps? That man has shown more class and integrity in nine months as general manager than you have in your whole life. And now, the fact that you want to erase his legacy, just because he never became the corporate yes-man that you wanted, you should be ashamed of yourself." He declared as he stepped foot into the ring and made his presence known to her. She still couldn't care less.

"I-I'm sorry, Sami. Did you say something? 'Cause I wasn't listening to a word you said. While you may be a very talented guy, and you are, you're certainly not on the level to come out here, interrupt me, and question my integrity. Quite frankly, Sami, you're not on the level to speak to me at all. So why don't you do the smart thing: go back to the locker room and think about how you're gonna make this all up to me, okay?" Sami rolled his eyes at her words, never feeling so degraded by a woman before. She claimed to be all high and mighty, and many people were sick of it. Oh, how he wanted to put her in her place.

Lights flashed over the crowd, who let out a loud pop in response. A familiar theme filled the ears of the trio, causing a smile to come over Rami and Stephanie's jaw to drop. Looking over his shoulder up at the ramp, he saw her.

Lucille. She was back.

He'll admit, he almost didn't recognize her. The changes to her appearance though didn't change the feelings in his heart; if anything, he fell harder for her.

Lucy took a moment at the top of the ramp to drink in the energy of the crowd. Pleasure was also found in the expression her boss bared. It was as if a dark cloud was surrounding the woman, threatening to cover everyone in the building. Rami's sunshine was bright against the darkness, but it was not enough. When Lucy's fire came to fruition, the darkness started to fade; the closer she got to the ring, the more it disappeared.

"Oh, Stephanie, I thought you'd be happy to see me again. You know, Sami's right: it's pretty low for you to cut the career of a man, a legend, like Mick Foley. A man who has given his time, his body, his life to the sport he loves. And what about you? You were handed your position on the same silver platter that everything in life has been handed to you on. Hell, your so-called man of a husband isn't much better. That's like dating the daughter of the soccer coach just so you can become captain of the team. And looking at it from a distance, it's pretty sad, actually. I have not been sitting at home the past two months to watch you run this show into the ground. I think all of us here can agree that the problem here isn't Mick Foley, it's you."

The young woman climbed the steel steps and ducked in between the ropes to face the Queen. Out of the corner of her eye, Rami admired her in awe, causing a small wave of heat to come over her. God, how she missed him. During her time away, he was the one to step up and make sure she was still in one piece. He asked her about her day and tried his hardest to make it better when it had been bad. She couldn't thank him enough; without him, she wouldn't be here.

"You seem to only want the best of the best, and you cast aside anyone who you deem to be unworthy. You push aside talent like Bayley to be nothing more than a child. You push aside those like Sami to be nothing more than a form of wasted talent to put over the bigger guys. And for what? When will you get it through that thick skull of your's that being good doesn't mean being weak?"

"Mykie, Mykie, Mykie." Stephanie tutted,  finding a bit of her thunder again, "First of all, I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your mother. It must tough for you. But do you really think you're in good enough condition to be back here? We all know how you crack under the pressure. If I were on your shoes, I'd very careful where you stepped."

"Don't you dare bring my family into this. Whatever you have to say is strictly between you and me." Lucy's jaw gritted as a warning sign to the woman. Stephanie just smiled.

"Touchy subject, eh? It must be heartbreaking to have to carry such a heavy burden on your shoulders like the destruction of your family. Nonetheless, I said it before and I'll say it again: you and your little boyfriend over here are not on the level to address me in any sort of way. I come from wrestling royalty, the most powerful family this company has ever seen. You... you're nothing."

Chills came over the fans as their favorite revolutionist reacted to the poison filled words of her boss. She took a lot of it to heart, yes, but she wouldn't let that smother her flame. Looking over her shoulder at Rami, in his eyes he seemed to share a bit of his courage with her. She let out a small breath before turning back towards Stephanie.

"You know what? You're right. The McMahon's are powerful. But you are all far, far away from the picture perfect family you claim to be. I mean, look at your father, the owner of this company. Let's see, he faked his own death, pretended to drug your own mother, got kinky with women with too big of boobs and deemed he could use them as disposable toys because he hired them, and he disregarded the deaths of former workers like Chris Benoit and Chyna because one of you had bad relations with them. He and the rest of you are as far away from saints as you can get."

Everyone was shocked about the words that came from her mouth. Such controversy she spoke of. And all of it was true; no one had really thought about it before. Stephanie found it hard to string together the right words to say, feeling utterly embarrassed by the woman.

"How dare you-" She spat.

"No, how dare you." Lucy interrupted, causing the crowd to roar. With her enemy taken aback, the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile, "What's wrong, Stephanie? Not used to someone stepping up to you. Clearly, I am worthy to step up to your level and address you.

"I can see it in your eyes, honey. This burning desire to slap me across the face because you have no idea how to control me. You want to beat me? You want to shut me up? You want to shut my revolution down? Then why don't make things interesting. If you claim so highly that your family is so superior, if you want to stop the impending change, why don't you, Stephanie McMahon, fight little old me at WrestleMania 33?"

Excitement came over the crowd in bewilderment. Their praise and cheers for a match many believed to be nothing but a dream caused a flutter to form in her heart. Even Rami could feel it, causing his heart to race. Their stride was lost though when Stephanie let out a snarky laugh.

"That's one thing you must of forgotten while you were away, Mykie. I have all the power here. You don't get to call the shots around here, I do. I own you. So, no, I will not fight you at WrestleMania. Instead, I will make sure such a hell like your mother is facing right now is brought down upon you."

When Lucy tried to lash out against the woman, the strong arms of Rami wrapped around her torso and stopped her abruptly. She tried to push him away, but he merely tightened his grip. He wasn't going to let her make a choice she could regret later. Stephanie continued to laugh half a ring away at the sight of her.

"Since you look to be in the mood to fight, why don't you two head to the back and get ready to face Samoa Joe and Nia Jax in the main event tonight."

The fans' reaction was boisterous, excited to see the two different styles collide later that night. Rami's grip loosened on the smaller woman, who continued to stare daggers into their boss, before he escorted her out of the ring. Mick sent him a meaningful nod as they passed, causing him to let out a breath. He watched his friend make her way to the back to change, his heart filling with the desire to help set her straight in her quest.

As confident as Rami felt before the bout, Nuufolau "Samoa Joe" Joel Seanoa made sure his drive was gone as soon as the match began. The two had been battling for the past couple weeks as Joel made it his goal to make sure his life was hell. Sure, much of it was at the orders of Stephanie, but if he were to ignore her, what would happen?

"Sami, come on!" Lucy yelled from her corner of the ring as she stood on the bottom ropes, hoping her words would reach her partner.

The fans added to her energy, trying to get the adrenaline back on Rami's side. Slowly, he started to feel it as he found it in himself to get back to his feet. Desperately trying to get out of his opponent's grasp, his stride was halted abruptly with a hard right hand. Joel then bounced off the ropes for momentum, but was knocked down by a big clothesline by the Canadian.

Lucy urged him on as she saw the opportunity for a tag. Clapping sounded from the crowd to egg him on as she reached out as far as she could. Even though he was dazed for a moment, he followed the sound of her voice back towards their corner. Her hand started to shake as the adrenaline took over her body, how badly she needed to get into that ring. Small repetitive chants sounded under her breath as he inched closer and closer. Just fingertips away, Joel managed to capture his leg to keep him from his partner. However, he countered with a swift Enziguri, knocking him out of the ring, before reaching up and tagging her in.

Lucy was driven by pure determination. With twinkle toes that were just a little too quick for Savelina, she found her advantage quickly. Forearm smashes seemed to come out of nowhere and kicks threw her off guard. She just couldn't keep up with the smaller woman.

As she knelt on the mat, Lucy sized up her opponent for her next attack. She didn't have the capability to throw her over her shoulder like she could with other competition. Instead, she attacked with a swift kick to the midsection before rushing the ropes for a Shining Wizard. Her eyes spotted an opportunity to climb the turnbuckle and make her return prominent. The fans rose to their feet as she settled herself atop it. A smile formed on her face as she stared down her opponent.

"I'm back!" She cried out before leaping off the top and hitting the Spiral Tap. The fans cheered loudly as Mike Chioda gave her the three count.

"Here are your winners: Sami Zayn and Mykie!" Joanne called from ringside to the delight of the fans.

Lucy licked her lips after letting out a breath of relief. The arm of Rami wrapped around her in a hug as they congratulated each other. Mike then took their wrists and raised them high in victory. The fans revealed at the sight.

The revolutionist and the underdog were victorious.

Rami raised their hands high again and the fans continued to cheer for the pair. However, the celebration was cut short by the song of the she-devil herself. Their hands were lowered as they watched the woman take center stage; like two lions trapped in a cage, they scowled at her.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your little victory, but I have thrilling news to share. You know, I've had a lot of time to think about it, and Mykie, your little proposition caused a lot of talk backstage. After talking to a couple executives, we came up with an idea: if you are able to beat an opponent chosen by me at Fastlane, you can have your precious match at WrestleMania."

Lucy's heart soared at the thought of getting her hands on the woman. The fans seemed thrilled too, expressing their excitement with a loud cheer. Her mind began to list the possible opponents for the match. Knowing Stephanie, she would want to pit her against someone she didn't have a chance against. Perhaps Savelina, though she had proven to beat her that very night. Maybe she'd have a trick up her sleeve and have her fight against a surprise talent, like Kia "Karma" Stevens or Elizabeth "Beth Phoenix" Kocianski-Copeland. Whoever it was, she knew it was going to be quite the feat.

"Your opponent for Fastlane is...

Sami Zayn!"

Shocked and confused, Lucy looked over at the bearded man who bared a similar expression as her. Even the fans were confused, but they understood why she did it. Stephanie wanted to make sure that there was no way that Lucille would win her match. Many were excited, though; an intergender match during the PG Era, it was unheard of.

"And one more thing, because Sami I didn't forget about you. If you win at Fastlane, you will be given the opportunity to face Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania."

With the stakes high on both sides of the playing field, Lucy suddenly felt sick as she stared down her newly announced opponent. No one had asked for this match, but everyone knew damn well that Lucille would take full advantage of her opportunity:

the opportunity to show that women can go toe-to-toe with the men.

Rami's head was spinning as well. The chance to challenge for the Universal Championship was such a massive push that was just a hair away. But at what expense? He had had his rare moments of standing a ring away from female competitors in the independents. But Lucy was something else entirely. She was determined, motivated, and willing to fight to the very end if it meant getting what she wanted. However, Rami had something strong to fight for too, and he wasn't ready to let anyone stand in his way again.

She would gain respect from winning.

He would gain mass amounts of hate from winning.

But both were fighting for something they longed to gain, and nothing would get in their ways.

I decided to switch up the look of Lucy's attire, so I hope you guys like it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. How did I do? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading. And until next time, heart you. ♥