Valora: Honoring a Promise

OOC Note: Kronin and his characters used with his consent, Ivan Strickler appears with owner's knowledge and consent

Kronin’s Hotel room, San Jose, California

Valora came into the room walking with Kronin, an irritated look on her face.

“Look, I just spent half the fuckin’ night being tossed around like a fuckin’ ragdoll by you! I thought we had a fuckin’ agreement and now you drag me here saying it’s important…”

Kronin rolled his eyes. “I betrayed you before you could betray me. I know you, Val.. and we need a doctor.”

Valora looks incredulously at him “A doctor?! Do I fuckin’ look like a doctor to you?!” Valora is about to continue but is cut off as she sees the bloody and beaten body of Ivan Strickler. Kronin nods. “Kara and I did what we could but our medical training is from the military and limited to making sure he doesn’t die. And I’ve seen your college transcripts. The ones you’ve hidden. This man needs your help, Valora…”

Valora looks at him and Kara steps forward. “We work for German intelligence and despite the lies the CIA tells… Germans and Israelis have the best intel networks. I imagine your medical training comes in handy.. He needs that right now.”

Valora steps closer and inspects Ivan Strickler. “This… this is the work of a pro.” Kronin nods. “I thought of you.” Valora smirks. “If it had been me… he’d be dead. Right…here’s what I need.” She says as she rattles off a list. Kara darting off to get them. A few minutes later, Valora begins her work. Hours pass as Valora does the best she can without the modern medical equipment of a hospital. A few times she presses in on his ribs and Strickler groans in pain. Kara blinks. “The hell are you doing?” Valora sighs. “I don’t exactly have a fuckin’ X-Ray machine here, do I?! I need to see if any ribs are broken. A few hours pass as Valora makes use of her knowledge to help Strickler. Finally she nods. “He’ll live but… he needs a hospital.” Kronin nods. “Why?” Valora sighs. “Because I’m seeing evidence of internal bleeding. I’d need to perform surgery to do that and I don’t have a sterile environment… opening him up is asking for an infection and I’d prefer not to kill the man. Also I think he has at least one broken rib.” Kronin nods. “Is the internal bleeding bad?” Valora shrugs. “Doesn’t seem to be… might be a bruised organ or something too.. I don’t have the proper equipment to do my job here and this stab wound over here… it looks deep but I can’t tell if it damaged any tissue or organs or something.” Kronin nods. “And a hospital by law needs to report this right?” Valora nods. “Yes this man was obviously tortured, the doctors would contact the authorities.” Kronin nods. “You and I both know who did this… so what happens to Strickler when they force him to say who tortured him?” Valora thinks for a moment. “You understand that me treating him here will come close to torture, right? We don’t have anaesthesia. This is about as far from a sterile environment as you can get. I can keep him alive… if he doesn’t go to a hospital it’ll take longer to recover fully.” She then looks at Strickler and sighs. “Why can’t I just go back to being me?” She asks under her breath. Kronin steps forward. “Because you’re a good person. I’ve never trusted or really liked you because your entire career you’ve run from that. You’ve spent so much time trying to convince the world you’re something you’re not.”

Valora glares at him. “Yeah… well tell anyone about my training and you’ll see how fuckin’ evil I can be. I do quite well with the world thinking I’m just some dumb thug from the barrios…” Valora says as she goes back to work . Finally Strickler regains consciousness and sees Valora standing over him with bloodstained latex gloves, looking at his eyes with a pen flashlight and nodding. “Okay Strickler… careful… you’ve got a concussion as well as a shit ton of other injuries.. I’m guessing Mudcock didn’t appreciate your efforts to get us insurance?” Strickler groaned and Valora nodded. “It’s okay… I can do the math.” She looks at Kronin. “I’m not fighting.” Kronin nods. Valora looks back at Strickler, concern uncharacteristic for the tough latina on her face. “I’ve done what I can… Kronin and Kara found you… they gave you basic medical care and called me in… now it looks like you were stabbed I’m guessing… I can’t tell how much internal damage you have.. I think you also have at least one broken rib… so you might want to get checked out at a hospital. As it is right now… you should make a full recovery… but a hospital will be able to give you care that will heal you faster and well they will also give you pain killers.” Kara nods. “Can’t you write prescriptions?” Valora rolls her eyes. “That would make certain things public that I’d prefer to stay private…” She looks back to Strickler. “By the way… I talked to some old friends at USC… Sato’s hospital bills are taken care of.” She turns and walks over to Kronin on her way out. “Might wanna tell Sato where his manager is…” She says before taking the gloves off, throwing them into a bag with other bloody cloths and taking the bag with her when she leaves.

A couple of days later, Los Angeles

Valora sits in her gym. Across from her Samantha sighs. “If you don’t fight, you’ll be stripped of the title.” Valora nods. “And whoever gets it next will be illegitimate. Mudcock can’t strip me of the belt. I’m required to defend it once a month. I’ve defended it. He strips the belt from me, he devalues it. Plus I got the belt… right here.” Valora says, holding it up. “Possession is nine tenths of the law and all that.” Samantha leans forward. “But-” Valora leans forward. “I made an agreement with Strickler and the other wrestlers. No insurance, No fighting. When Mudcock isn’t making the nice nice money that I’m bringing in. That Kronin is bringing in. That the other fighters aren’t bringing in.. we’ll see how he fares then. Strickler made a reasonable request and Mudcock had him beaten nearly to death. Sato isn’t anywhere near healthy enough to fight and hes in a K.O. match against me?! No. This stops now.” Valora says as she gets up and storms off to get something from the small break room. Samantha sighs and looks at Abbigail. “You might wanna head up to San Francisco. We might need you up there”

2 Days later, San Francisco, California:

Valora sighs as she settles into her seat. Across from her sits Rose Johnston, who smiles and looks at the camera. “This is Rose Johnston for UOW and I’m here with the Franchise Champion, Valora Salinas! First things first Valora. Can you tell us about your big win and how you’re feel-”

Valora cuts her off. “No.” Rose Johnston blinks in confusion and looks back at the camera before looking back at Valora. “W..what do you mean no?” Valora shrugs. “No. As in a negative response to your question. You’re a smart girl, Rose. Connect the dots. Wait a minute.. Forgot the world we’re in at the moment… lemme spell it out. I don’t want to talk about my match. I beat Kronin. I beat Vastrix. It was good fun, Mudcock failed to relieve me of this belt. End of fuckin’ story.” Rose Johnston clears her throat. “Alright… what do you want to talk about?” Valora smirks. “What do I want to talk about? Last show, Mudcock was presented with a choice. He could choose to provide Healthcare for his employees, the people who go out and beat the ever living shit out of each other for his fuckin’ amusement and to add money to his bank account. Or, he could choose to find himself new wrestlers. He seems to want the latter so I’m making this announcement. I will not fight Takuma Sato for the belt.. And given that Takuma Sato is a man of honor, I doubt he’ll be showing up either.”

Rose Johnston’s jaw drops. “B..but you could be stripped of the title!” Valora smirks. “My lawyer seems to think otherwise and I’ll wager she’s better at her job than any of the soulless leeches that give lawyers a bad name that Mudcock can drag up. I am required by contract to defend my belt once every month. I’ve done that. I am required to make public appearances and help the fed. I’m doing that right now by doing this interview and by making the case that giving healthcare coverage is good business sense.”

Rose nods. “But isn’t he required by law to give healthcare?” Valora shrugs. “Well yeah, but apparently the law doesn’t apply to you if you’re the head propagandist for The fascist regime that has seized power in this country. Or if you’re white… and if you’re rich and white.. Well you got it made in the shade.”

Rose counter punches here. “Speaking of rich… I’ve done some research into your career and you are...quite wealthy yourself. Can you really play the populist? Doesn’t your socialist policies and agenda mean you suffer?”

Valora laughs. “Socialist.. Well least you didn’t call me a communist like Mox news likes to. Yeah. Socialism means higher taxes for me. But you know what? Fuck it. If it helps people. If it makes sure our railway system and powergrids aren’t antique dinosaurs slogging through the mud.. If it means you can drive over a fuckin’ bridge without worrying if it will collapse.. If it means people can get healthcare and take care of themselves and their families then I’ll pay the extra fuckin’ taxes… and yes.. I probably could afford my own healthcare here.. But most of the fighters on the roster can’t! The wrestlers of UOW made an agreement. No Healthcare, no walking down that aisle and fighting. I’m calling on all wrestlers in UOW to honor that agreement and to not fight until such time as Mudcock decides to come down off that ivory tower of his and meet with Ivan Strickler. I’d throw my name into the mix but I can’t get close enough for chatting and given that Strickler’s last meeting ended with him being beaten half to death, I don’t feel comfortable offering a meeting with my lawyer or my agent.”

Rose blinks. “Are you accusing Mr. Mudcock of beating Strickler?” Valora shakes her head. “No, because I have no evidence that he did. But I will be speaking to Ivan and seeing what details he can provide. All I know is that he met with Mudcock to discuss the issue of providing healthcare for the wrestlers of UOW and Kronin found Strickler beaten nearly to death in a dumpster. I’ll let people draw their own conclusions as to how one event ties in with the next.”

Rose nods. “So, to be clear… fans will not see you wrestle?” Valora shrugs. “Whether I set foot in the ring is entirely up to Mudcock. He either decides to provide us with healthcare Or he can watch an empty ring. I honor my word. I gave a promise to Strickler and the other wrestlers that I would not wrestle without a guaranteed healthcare plan in place. I honor my word. I guess we’ll find out how many other wrestlers are willing to do the same. I also think we’re done here.”

Valora ended the interview and walked out of the room onto the balcony that overlooked the bay and took in the sights. Samantha walked out next to her. “You’re taking a big risk here.” Valora smirked. “I’m in the Liberal capital of the world, chica. There are only a small amount of things I could do to piss the people here off.” Samantha nodded. “I meant the other wrestlers. If Takuma Sato walks out to that ring and you don’t. You really think Mudcock won’t strip you of the title?” Valora smirked and nodded. “Too bad I got the belt. Guess he’ll have to make a new one, huh?” Valora waved her hand dismissively. “Mudcock isn’t the first fed head/owner I’ve butted heads with… and he’s far from the most dangerous of them, Shit, Jesse Styles of New Edge.. now there was a dangerous fed head… He made shit fun. Mudcock? He’s an amatuer. He might think he’s the next Goebbels, but being okay at Propaganda doesn’t mean you’re okay at running a wrestling fed.” Samantha nods. “There is another danger. If Ivan talks and mentions how he recovered…” Valora shook her head. “Strickler won’t say anything. He’ll wait until he needs a favor from me and use his leverage then.” Samantha nods. “ If he does.. Your carefully built illusion falls apart.” Valora shrugs. “Or I tell the truth.. That I stabilized him and allowed him to get real medical treatment. Pretty hard to prove beyond a doubt that I myself did anything more than a experienced trauma nurse couldn’t do. So yes.. If Strickler talks.. People might find out.. But Strickler was half conscious when I left so doubtful he even remembers. Second, if people find out.. It’s hard for them to prove what they’ve found out. Thirdly… I didn’t exactly have a choice…”