Knuckled Up (Holly Vixen vs Knuckles Nadine)

Welp, Holly's in the hole again. She's late on rent payments and the landlord of the building is threatening legal action if she can't pay the back rent. Business has been pretty slow since the second wave of the pandemic, and Holly's in need of a miracle.

"I'm goin' out," she said before getting up and walking through the door, her head tilted towards the ground the whole way. Her employees have noticed her change in spirit lately. "Hey boss, I hear ole Mick's been looking for another round with ya," one of her guys jests. "Heh, maybe I'll let him win this time." She didn't turn around or crack a smile like normal. That's when everyone knew it was bad.

She walks down the street, trying not to think about the auto shop. She passes by a TV in a window-display of a nearby record shop. It's playing a commercial of someone promoting fitness during the pandemic. "Damnit, Janet. You don't get enough of a workout pleasing network exec's for airtime? Damn airhead." While brooding, someone (a past customer) driving past honks the car horn and throws a crumbled up paper at Holly, screaming "you must get your car skills from your mom!" Holly clenched her fists, wanting to shout back, but hesitated. "Damnit, can't start something now. Can't go back to prison."

Holly grabbed the ball of paper to throw it away when suddenly she noticed that the paper is a dark purple, one of her favorite colors. Because of that, she decided to open it. She sees that it's a flyer, advertising a western movie. In big yellow letters, she reads "Knuckled Up, starring the queen of the west, Nadine!" Holly scoffed. "Maybe I should've taken up Nadine's offer to co-star in films with her." Wow. Things really are bad.

Holly made it to the trash can to dispose of the flyer, but as she extended her hand to drop it in, she caught a glimpse of the bottom in blue block-lettering, she reads "HELP WANTED: STAR WITH NADINE IN THE BLOCKBUSTER OF THE SUMMER! PAID GIG!" Holly looked at the sky. "Crap."

Holly knew she needed the money by next week. After coming to terms with never forgiving herself for this, she reluctantly calls the number on the flyer. She's told that the original actress took one punch from Nadine and got her jaw broken. "Glass Josephine, huh," she thought to herself. The producer then went on to say that they're now paying triple what the original actress was getting because everything was already in place for the release and the need to finish one more scene. He said they won't even have time to edit it, meaning they'll take it as is as long as Nadine's opponent can survive. a round or two. After hearing all this, Holly says she'll audition, but the producer says that that won't be necessary and offers the part right away. She receives details and the deal is struck.

She meets the producer at the studio two days later to sign the paperwork. Since this is a rush job, they won't even change her current clothing. They send her immediately to makeup and get her into the ring. The director, relieved to see a replacement, rushes up to Holly to give her the score. "Ok, Beautiful. You're gonna get in there and-" "Knock her a$$ out and have her comeback like Rocky?" The director paused. "Ah...well, the thing is, that was the original plan. However, when Nadine heard that it was you filling in the part, she then demanded that your role be changed to a non-punching role...more like a punching bag, if you will." Holly jumped back. "What?! Never. I won't let some hillbilly talk me into being her toy." The director pleaded. "I'm sorry, Gorgeous, but she's the star, and this was non-negotiable. If she walks, no one here gets paid. So, please, I'm beggin' ya!" Then Holly remembered why she was there. "Crap..."

Needless to say, the show went on. Holly entered the ring. Then Nadine climbed in. "Well well well. Finally taking me up on my offer, huh?" Holly turned her head in disgust. Nadine went on. "Honey, I'm doin' this for both of us. When little girls see how long I can keep punchin' without takin' break, they'll go and fight all them boys who give them trouble. And you, steady gettin' up after every knockdown, those girls'll be ready for whatever the world throws at them. We'll be inspirations to all them, AND you get paid!" You'd think Holly would be inspired by this...

"Listen, great speech, but I'm just here to get paid. Pound away." Nadine looked her up and down. "Oh trust me, I'm happy to help these women out, but I'll enjoy this a couple different ways..." When the director yelled "Action," Nadine smirked.

WHAM POW BOOM THUD "Knockout!" 4 knockdowns. Holly thought the worst of it was over. "Great work, ladies," said the director. But, we do need a couple more angles for the director's cut, so...PLACES!" Holly looked at Nadine. "Good. I'm just gettin' warmed up, Sugar. But don't worry, I'll make it worth it for you off camera..."

"ACTION!"

Be careful what you wish for.