Chapter Text
It's 7:00AM and the world is alive.
In an otherwise empty gym a cacophonous series of bangs come from the wrestling ring prolifically featured in the middle of the bottom floor. In the ring a veteran luchador is putting a promising luchadora through the motions.
"You ok down there?" Hector Alvarez looked down upon his young trainee. They had been going pretty hard on teaching her how to bump and she was slow to rise from the most recent back body drop he had administered to her.
"Just kinda dizzy and out of breath." Olivia Smith stared back up at him. Her first conversation had stirred something within her and a few more conversations with Hector later she made her decision.
I'm gonna be a wrestler.
Olivia finally got up. It had taken her another several months to get her body into good enough shape that she could begin in-ring training but she could say she was proud of the results so far. 125 lbs, up almost 30 from where she was at a little over a year ago. Her cardio had gotten to the point where she could run two mile laps around the block with Maria. She still had a long way to go but she was growing stronger, faster and more limber. She was finally a proper athlete who had her own strength to rely on rather than that of a magical girl. Compared to all that getting thrown around in a ring was the easy part.
"Had enough?"
For his part Hector Alvarez couldn't believe he was training at the family gym again. For years he had all but estranged himself from the rest of the Alvarez/Burke family, only showing up at the gym on the nights when he was booked to wrestle. He went as far to as sneak into the laundry room in the middle of the night so he wouldn't accidentally run into anybody he didn't want to see. Outside of that nobody in the family saw Hector outside of holidays and some birthdays. Gloria and Gail tried to maintain contact. Hector felt a sort of kinship with Gloria, both of them being cursed with mediocrity while their siblings were blessed with greatness, not that Gloria minded nearly as much as him. As for his mother; Gail would never let him completely sever from the rest of the family, not that he'd ever want to. He loved his mother even though he felt she never believed in him. After what happened when she did give him the opportunity to shine Hector couldn't blame her.
"Nope! I wanna get in as much training as I can before Ma has to move the ring."
"Well there's not much else we can do for right now. There probably isn't enough time to start with chain wrestling progressions."
"Let me throw you then!"
"Olivia I'm 3 inches taller than you and have over 50 pounds on you, you need to learn that with somebody closer to your own size."
"Then more bumps."
Hector was taken aback. For most trainees learning bumps is the thing that drives them away from training. For that reason it was the first thing that was taught.
"Well I guess I haven't taught you to take out of the ring bumps yet..."
"WHOO! Finally! I'ma get thrown out like a bag of trash!"
"Don't put it like that."
"Oh sure, when you wanna put it like that it's cool but when I do it it's all Olivia, stop self-deprecating."
"Young lady I am your elder and as such it is my job to tell you only I am allowed to treat myself like trash."
"Pfft, people in their late 20s have all the fun." Olivia looked at him with false incredulousness.
"You scoff, but it's how I justify eating an entire box of fruit pies in one sitting."
Olivia was stunned. "You still eat the store-bought stuff? I just can't. That stuff is gross."
"Yeah we don't all have girlfriends who are amazing bakers who can make them fruit pies whenever they want."
"Yeah well don't do it again. Candi's planning on bringing a ton of baked goods to the afterparty tonight and even more at Maria's proper birthday party tomorrow."
"Holy crap that sounds awesome. Can I put in an order for apple pie!"
"Already done. There's gonna be enough for everybody tonight. Ma basically commissioned her and some of her college friends to cater."
"Fucking sweet." Hector's eyes gained a certain shine to them, hearing about a future of baked goods gave him new life. "Now let's throw you over the this top rope!"
"Whoooo!"
"Ok, the trick to taking an over the top rope bump is to not land flat. You need to spread the impact over several smaller mini-impacts using the ropes, the apron and the barricade."
"Wait, the barricade isn't..."
"Here we go..." Hector began the motion and Olivia instinctively went along with it despite her concern. Things went well at first, Olivia grabbed the rope to try to control her fall but she flew a little bit too far and couldn't use the apron to absorb part of the impact or adjust her descent. She wound up landing on the floor on one foot, causing her to instinctively try to maintain her balance by putting her other foot down. This caused her to careen into the chairs at ringside, taking out half a dozen of them before landed in a heap of toppled chairs.
"Holy shit Olivia. I'm sorry I got carried away. I should have explained better. I should have fucking noticed the barrier wasn't up and...
Hector's concern was answered by Olivia jumping up from the stack of chairs in triumph!
"THAT WAS AMAZING! I FEEL SO ALIVE RIGHT NOW! I haven't been knocked around like that since my magical girl days! My heart is pumping and adrenaline is just SURGING through me and it's awesome and I wanna try going through a table next!"
"Nobody is going through a table at 7AM what is wrong with you child?" The interior door closed behind Ma Alvarez. "Hector! You call that training? You gave her a sentence of explanation and then you just hucked her like a sack of potatoes."
Hector looked ashamed. "I'm sorry ma. I guess I kinda suck at this whole training thing."
"Shush your face child it's your first time. Just be happy Olivia didn't get hurt." Ma Alvarez then turned to Olivia, still standing in a pile of chairs. "You are alright yes Olivia. There's no bones sticking out of your skin or anything is there?"
"I think most of my bones are in place...except this one." Olivia said playfully as she 'checked out' her right pinky. "Nope, sorry. Pinkie's broken. I'm dead now." She continued as she collapsed back into the chairs, causing even more of a mess.
"Well you've done a good job teaching her to be a smartass like you. Now get outta the ring and give your ma a proper hello." Ma smiled as she made her way to ringside.
Hector could only oblige. He jumped out of the ring and squeezed his mother between his arms in a giant bear hug. "How are you today Ma!"
"I am fantastic." She said, pulling gently on Hector's ear to get him down to 'kiss on cheek' level. "It is SO good to have you back around. You know I missed you Hector."
"Ma, I've been training Olivia for a few months now. And you saw me during shows."
"It's not the same as the shows and you know it. Always so miserable."
"Ma..."
"No, no let's not get into that now. This is a HUGE day. FINALLY my baby is gonna have her day! And EVERYBODY is going to be here for it."
Hector's face darkened.
"Hasn't she been having her day for the last 5 years as a magical girl?"
"Oooh that's different and you know it. Tonight she will finally become...a luchadora."
Hector took a somewhat condescending look around the gym. "Yup, tonight she finally makes it. For a second there I was sure..."
Olivia had been listening from in her nest in the pile of chairs and knew where this was going.
"LITTLE HELP HECTOR! YOU KILLED ME AND NOW YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO GIVE ME A PROPER BURIAL!"
Hector's face brightened with a tiny grin as he turned to Olivia.
"Olivia if I wanted to bury you I'd put you in a frog costume...."
Ma was not blind to what was happening. She knew that though Hector might be beginning to heal there was still a long road ahead.
Hector made his way over to Olivia and offered a hand up.
"You actually ok Olivia?"
"Are you?" Olivia's voice lowered to a near whisper, Hector followed suit.
"What?"
"You know what. Chill."
Hector sighed. "I know, I know. Just...she didn't treat my debut like a holiday."
Olivia gently squeezed Hector's hand. "Hector, chill. Just chill alright. I know, today will be hard. But do your best ok."
"...yeah, sorry."
Olivia decided to bring Ma back into the conversation before the silence got suspicious.
"Where is the birthday girl anyway?"
"Not where she's supposed to be that's for sure. She's already out of bed and she isn't here. I hope that daughter of mine isn't tiring herself out on her big day, she needs her rest."
"Oh like she ever listens."
"She's a brat. Not like you Olivia. Even though you crash into chairs and you don't say hi to your ma." Ma said as she approached the wreckage.
"Hi ma." Olivia consented to pressing her forehead against Ma's as a familial greeting. As the months passed she felt closer and closer to her. As the months turned into a year she felt less and less like an intrusive artifact from her daughter's past and more a valued member of the extended Alvarez/Burke family. But nobody save Candi had 'hug Olivia' privileges so the head bump was the next best thing.
"How's the world of lucha treating you dear? It doesn't sound like this little botch dampened your enthusiasm any."
"Nope! That was crazy. And awesome. And Hector is a great trainer!"
"I always knew he had it in him. Hector, how is she coming along?"
"She's not always the most graceful gazelle but she's got the basics down and can take bumps for days. She needs some time from a trainer closer to her size so she can learn offense."
"Gloria can handle that?"
Olivia chimed in "Would she? I know she had a big hand in training Maria but I thought she only did it because Maria was insistent."
"Of course Gloria will do it. You're family." Olivia cracked a small grin but wasn't so sure Gloria really saw her as a sister. "Besides, she's a natural trainer and she'll only get better as she get more experience."
"I mean, I'm not expecting to be Maria." A small wave of relief rushed through Ma's body. "I'm just amazed I've been able to come this far. I never thought I could be a professional athlete at all. I'm not going to be doing phoenix splashes that's for sure. I'll just be content to not make an ass of myself."
"Don't worry dear I won't feed you to the wolves." Ma interjected. "You train with Gloria. Once she says you're ready and Hector says you're ready you'll make your debut..."
"...I still haven't figured out what name I wanted to go by. I am absolutely not going by Power Weapon but Olivia Smith isn't a very...lucha name you know?"
"Sounds like the name of a notary with 3 cats." Hector said as he took to setting the chairs back up.
"You have a problem with cats all of a sudden?"
"Nope, I just draw the line at 2. Flame and Frost are all I can handle."
"You just don't want to introduce a love triangle." Olivia giggled, knowing that Hector's cats, much like their namesakes, are extremely affectionate with each other.
"Ok enough about Hector's gay cats. They are very lovely. Olivia, don't worry about your name too much right now. You'll be making your debut under a mask."
"Wait? Why? I thought you said I'd be marketable?"
"Yes, of course, Very much so. But the time needs to be right and you need time to..." Ma's talk was interrupted by the sound of the outer door opening.