Sasha's music hit and the crowd pop was deafening. Everything in the arena went electric, all swollen with tension and excitement. Nikki could feel it right through her body. The tension wound around her, up through her spine, like catgut strung too tight just about to snap. The whole night was an exercise in shock and anxiety. She was mad at Stephanie, and she was nervous about Team Bella, and she was annoyed at the other Divas, but really it was something else tugging on that taut wire.

It was Sasha. It was her her her. It was always her. Sasha had it. Everything about her was full and real and tangible, brimming with newness and confidence. And Nikki had to see for herself. Nikki was the alpha jock, beautiful but tough, solid and unafraid, but Sasha was something else, a tight coil of razor wire set inside velvet.

The whole crowd was at Sasha's mercy, wide eyed and slack jawed as she posed and walked down the ramp. They were enraptured by her boasts and taunts when she got into the ring. She was completely herself. Truly fearless, truly confident, ready to show the world exactly who she was as she waved mockingly at Nikki from across the ring. The crowd popped for Becky and Charlotte, but it was Sasha they really lost it over, frozen with anticipation, anxious to just see her unfold in the ring. Just to bear witness.

Every time Nikki had given an interview in recent months where she got bold and declared that she wanted to be a fighting champion, wanted more opponents, wanted more time, wanted to elevate the division, she was being sincere. And she was also thinking of Sasha. That was who she really wanted to face. But she couldn't tell if she wanted to beat Sasha, or be destroyed by her.

So when Nikki felt Sasha's weight on her solar plexus, felt the heat of her as she contorted into the Bank Statement and took control, Nikki was almost breathless. This was it. This was Sasha. And she was incredible. The heft of her body felt like warm marble, strong and well-hewn, but compact and efficient, tight little bones against taut skin. She was the softest machinery.

Everything was a blur of color and pain as Nikki strained to glance around her, seeing all the other members of Team Bella now trapped in different submission holds. The pressure of Sasha on Nikki's spine felt like the most brutal paradise, and she took it until her eyes started to water, and then finally, in agony, right before her vision whited out, right before she snapped in half, she tapped.

Team Bella retreated from the ring, walking away sore and defeated, aghast. Nikki played her part. Limping softly, incredulous; wounded heroine out for revenge, but inside of her everything was swimming. She almost wished Sasha had broken her in half, she almost wished she could feel that honeyed pressure pinning her down forever. And yet she also wished she had hoisted Sasha above her and then dropped her with no mercy into the Rack Attack. As she moved farther and farther from the ring, her eyes stayed on Sasha. She followed the lines of her body, memorized her shape and movements as she continued on fighting Paige and Becky and Charlotte. She was an opponent, she was a mystery, she was a... Something.

Nikki could feel it moving inside her, this thing, this something, touching her viscera. Growing into something unwieldy, a mix of curiosity and competition. And she knew. She knew that this was just the beginning.