109AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the conclusion of this story; a huge thank you to everyone who has stuck by it since I began back in November of last year and, of course, to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter.
Jeremy Shane – thanks, here is some more.
Cornholio4 – thank you, I'm glad you liked it.
Darck Ben – thanks. No cameo this time but perhaps in their future (more of that at the end).
Consort of Chaos – yes we saw how they reacted to Sheddie celebrating the conclusion of the fight. We'll see a little more in a moment.
M.D.G1986 – thanks; I'm glad you thought it worked.
Challenge King – whether or not Marissa exactly approves is a moot point really; she doesn't get too much of a say in her son's life anymore and alienating him could just mean that he doesn't deal with her or visit anymore. I think she does see Shelby as preferable to the "other options" across the hallway but I'm sure she doesn't entirely approve of how the girl earns her living or – by extension – how her son earns his.
Fanfic-Reader-88 – we'll see how the vanquished opponent is after the fight and how able she is to still speak soon. I think Mr Marx knows that her daughter can take care of herself so he doesn't need to threaten too much. As for the web hostesses, yes they were rather surprised and not overly impressed.
JagerBomb1818 – here's the ending; I hope it lives up to your expectations.
Jafkdb – I didn't want the fight scene to be TOO long (it might have made things drag for those who weren't too interested in it). There is always someone out there better than you are, that's correct; maybe Shelby will meet her match one day – and maybe she just got a little lucky this time that she knew her opponent's "tell" and exploited it.
SoraOblivian62 – thanks.
Martial Arts Student – Freddie and Sam... doubtless they will cross paths again one day and have to deal with the fall-out of the evening.
Mkpunk – pretty much nail on the head regarding Marissa (as I said in response to Challenge King above). I think a lot of the fans could be disappointed but most of them were likely already angry with Freddie after the girls blamed him for the show's demise.
Guest – the interviews will doubtless cover quite a few things, including the 'post-fight entertainment'. Again, Sam's reaction to next encountering Freddie (and Carly's for that matter) remain to be seen. I doubt he's in too much of a hurry to deal with either of them – or particularly cares what they think.
Sunshine-Midnight123 – It's great that Shelby won. If she does meet her match someday then at least she has a volunteer to provide some TLC...
That's the reviews so on with the final chapter of ShelbyVision; I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 8
Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza,
Seattle, WA
Sunday, 22nd July 2012.
Sam and Spencer sat and watched agog as the brunette sprinted upstairs; Carly ignored them as they snapped from their trances and called urgently after her. They turned to look at one another; Sam wore a questioning expression while Spencer's face displayed more surprise than anything else (he recalled talking with his little sister about the whole 'Freddie' situation some time ago but she hadn't said anything that would suggest she could react so badly to what they had just witnessed). The pair winced as a loud slamming of the brunette's bedroom door reverberated around the apartment.
"I'll go talk to her," the blonde volunteered.
"Thank you," Spencer looked relieved that he wouldn't be having to have some sort of 'feelings' talk with his younger sibling.
Sam clambered up the stairs, balling her fist as she approached the younger Shay's closed bedroom door. She cocked her head as she heard a miserable-sounding voice drifting towards her.
"Can we bring yesterday back around? 'Cos I know how I feel about you now.
I was dumb, I was wrong, I let you down..."
The blonde dropped her hand and turned away from the door, at a loss about what to do regarding the situation. Her mind reeled with the thought that, adding it all up, Carly seemed to now have developed real feelings for Freddie… Freddie. The trio's past romantic entanglements made the prospect complicated to say the least; that he was making out with the world's best pound-for-pound female fighter suggested that if her friend did want something to happen with him she could be literally fighting a losing, and painful, battle. She stepped away from the door and sat on the top step, resting her chin on her hands and sighing deeply. It seemed that whatever Carly (or indeed Sam herself) may think about the situation was largely irrelevant; Freddie looked to have made his choice, she'd made her own when she cut ties with him after he got the job with Shelby's staff and quit iCarly. Carly… she'd stayed in touch with him a little, visiting him after graduation (against Sam's wishes), visited his new place once (which the blonde had flatly refused to do) but she'd then shunned him when he visited his mother and declining his invitations to join them. Sam shook her head again, got up and went back to the brunette's bedroom door; she listened cautiously, hearing nothing and knocked on the door again.
"Carls? Carls? C'mon kiddo, open up," she demanded; her request was met with a muffled, garbled reply so she simply tried the door. It opened and she walked in, seeing her former co-hostess sprawled on her front on her bed. Sam took a perch next to her and rested her right arm on Carly's right shoulder. "Talk to mamma, let it all out."
Penthouse Suite, Seattle Marriott Waterfront,
2100 Alaskan Way
Tori Vega picked up her phone, having received the text alert; that the text had come from Jade did not fill her with a great desire to read it. Nonetheless she opened the message, looking utterly bewildered as she read it.
"Making out with Freddie on live TV? Oh wait. It wasn't you."
The half-Latina wondered what on earth her long-time rival was talking about; her mind did drift a little to Freddie, the boy from Seattle she and the others had met the previous year. They'd stayed in touch a little and he'd visited once but nothing had really happened between them; neither had been looking for anything at the time. The singer sighed at the prospect of a boring evening cooped up in her hotel room, luxurious though the suite was (she was having a little luxury ahead of a grueling tour schedule and endless hours in the Tour Bus). She thought of the bodyguards in the adjacent rooms and how furious they, and Mason Thornsmith her manager, would be if she simply gave them the slip. I want to have some fun though, she thought, figuring that it was a rare chance to do so with her gig taking place the following evening and then a hectic schedule ahead; moving on to the next city and the next gig every day in the coming week. She pulled up the internet on her phone, searching for local under-21 clubs. One of them sounded to her like it could be a promising place, and wasn't too far from the hotel; her decision was made.
Tori crawled up her bed until she reached the bedside table; she picked up the phone and dialled the next door room.
"Yeah, it's me. I'm going to a club for a few hours; I just want to relax and have a bit of fun with not having a gig tonight." She listened to the reply. "Then come along and keep an eye on me, but I'm not just staying in here all night," she stated firmly. "Right, I'll see you in five minutes." She hung up. "Better get dressed then," she muttered, heading for the wardrobe and picking out a pair of smart, deep blue skinny jeans and a tight-fitting T-shirt. Once she had changed into them she checked her reflection. "Looking good," she smiled approvingly, skipping to the bathroom and fixing her make-up before slipping her bare feet into a pair of heels just as the bodyguard knocked on her suite door. "Ok? Let's go," she smiled, seizing her purse and leaving the room; her minder had to hurry to keep up with the eager girl.
Memorial Stadium,
401 5th Avenue N
Shelby continued to lap the octagon, soaking in the adulation of the crowd; the screams had intensified, particularly from her female fans, at the sight of her kissing her boyfriend, though a number of the male fans felt disappointed at the demise of their fantasy. She was taking care to avoid her fallen opponent as Kuznetsova's representatives worked on getting her back to her feet. From the corner of the brunette's eye she could see the blonde talking to her manager, though she was struggling to even get to her knees just yet. Her cyclic route took her back to her team; she hugged and kissed Freddie again as she reached him, raising their joined hands to salute the crowd as they cheered wildly again at the couple's affection.
Finally she saw the Russian get to her feet; although still dazed and wobbly on her legs she managed to struggle over to Shelby and embraced her. In faltering English she congratulated her on being the better fighter with the better plan; Shelby returned the praise, claiming that she simply got lucky in being able to anticipate the other's signature combo, which led the blonde to promise that she would have a new one in time for their eventual rematch; this drew a chuckle from Shelby. The girls, and their teams, left the cage, heading towards the locker room; Shelby knew that she would be waylaid by interview requests en route and just continued to enjoy the evening.
"Have you got my phone?" she asked Freddie; despite his proximity to her she had to shout to make herself heard over the din of the audience.
"Yeah," he dug it from his 'Team Shelby' jacket pocket.
"Great, can you call my mom? We can let her know it's safe to watch," she cried joyfully, hugging her grandmother again.
Locker room
In the relative quiet of the locker room, Shelby sat down, letting the adrenaline rush of the bout subside; Juan responded to her request for a towel and mopped her face and neck. Freddie held her phone up to her, allowing her to relay the message to her parents that she had come through the fight unscathed and that she could watch the replay. The call was followed by a steady stream of reporters from the television and radio stations that had covered the fight (including, of course, her own channel; her manager took the job of interviewer for the evening, talking to her about the fight in general before ending with a question or two about the incident that had garnered more interest and generated more talking points than any other.
"The post-fight kiss," he began with a grin; he knew, of course, that the two were dating (having seen them interact over the last couple of months he was a little surprised that it had taken them so long), "what's the story behind that?"
"That's my boyfriend, obviously; Freddie," she smirked to the boy in question, stood pointing the camera at them. "I'll admit we didn't exactly plan to go public that way but," she shrugged, "hey, it works for me."
He asked a couple more questions, intentionally avoiding questions about who he was and where he worked (given the negative reaction he'd suffered from quitting iCarly); she'd responded to the question of how they met with the pre-agreed cover story of him working on the web show when she'd had her exhibition fight and simply explained that they'd met again at the gym recently and had hit it off.
Interview completed the cameras and equipment were stowed and the group moved seamlessly from interview mode to team mode, celebrating her successful defence of her title together. Their numbers swelled further as her friends Brenda, Maria and Hannah arrived; she watched with a slight frown as the latter greeted Freddie with a warm hug.
"Relax," the black haired girl chuckled as she looked back at her fellow fighter (though she kept an arm draped teasingly around the boy's shoulders), "didn't Bren tell you the story of that night?" she asked innocently.
The couple turned to the blonde, who faced them with an unapologetic smile. "Yeah, I talked her into a little dirty dancing with Freddie," she shrugged, "I just wanted to give you a little nudge; it was so obvious that you two had a thing for one another. I'm glad it worked out, though I wish you'd told us before the 'public announcement'."
Shelby's frown remained in place. "Well, thanks I guess," she managed gruffly; Brenda felt it was the wrong time to mention the financial inducement she'd given Hannah, especially as the champion added, "though if any of you try that again with Freddie I'll put you down with one punch." The girls laughed, knowing that she was maybe partially joking.
"Anyway," Maria clapped her hands, "what say we take this to Foundation when you guys are ready?"
"Oh, well," Shelby looked awkward; she wouldn't mind going but there was her gran to consider. Meeting her granddaughter's eyes, the older lady smiled.
"Don't worry about me, dear, call your parents to pick me up from your apartment and you go and have fun with your friends and your boyfriend."
The fighter smiled gratefully at her and hugged her.
Foundation,
2218 Western Avenue
"Hey!" a patron greeted Tori as she and her bodyguard entered the club. "Nice performance tonight!"
"Uh… thanks?" she replied in confusion.
"That guy not with you?"
Tori quickly reached the conclusion that she was talking to a complete nut; she mumbled an awkward 'no' and headed towards the bar, only to find that a steady stream of people were approaching her to congratulate her, which only served to increase her bewilderment. I wanted a night of fun, found a place and I picked a nuthouse instead of a club, she lamented privately, shaking her head as she leant against the bar and waited to catch the barman's eye.
There was a slight commotion by the door; she spared it a passing glance and spotted a gaggle of teenagers entering and a number of the other patrons gravitating towards them; the club's doormen moved to intercept the advancing throng and she shook her head again, all too familiar with the trappings of fame and glad for a little less recognition for once, maybe a chance to be a 'normal' teenage girl for a night, though she was rather perplexed by the way that people seemed to be confusing her with somebody else.
Reflecting on that, she realised that, in spite of herself, she was feeling a little disappointed about it; she had starred at the Platinum Music Awards a few months earlier, after all, so she expected to be recognised, not confused with somebody else.
With the doorman providing something of a buffer for the new arrivals, Freddie was able to edge in front of the girls and detach himself from them, offering to pick up some drinks while they found a table near the dance floor. Shelby led the others to an appropriate table and took a seat, surrounded by her three fellow fighters; their looks were sufficiently menacing to dissuade most of the fans from lingering for too long after offering their congratulations to the brunette on her victory.
The channel producer couldn't believe his eyes when he made it to the bar and saw his girlfriend's doppelganger propping it up in front of him. "Hey, how did you get here, I thought you were getting a table…" he began before pausing as he realised that it wasn't Shelby; while she was just as pretty as his girl, the clothes were different, the hair styled differently and the body, while equally appealing, wasn't as toned as the one he'd been admiring so much in recent times. "Tori?" he asked in amazement as the penny dropped; he glanced over his shoulder and spotted the girls, including Shelby, he had arrived with sat at a table chatting.
"Yeah," she smiled, though she felt a little hurt that even he hadn't immediately recognised her; she glanced over his shoulder as her security detail made to approach and waved them away to show that the boy she was talking to wasn't a threat; he glanced in the direction of her wave briefly but didn't see anything out of the ordinary so he returned his attention to the girl, giving her a shrewd look.
"Wow, this is creepy." He seemed to be talking at her rather than to her.
"Hey, Shelby," the barman, having spotted Tori now 'greeted' her, "just the two of you tonight?" he grinned. "Well after that little show I guess you want a little alone time," he added; his tone seemed unnecessarily seedy to the singer… and who the hell is Shelby? she wondered.
"Logan, this isn't Shelby," Freddie explained with a smile. "I know there's… more than a passing resemblance but this is Tori Vega."
"Right," he nodded, humouring the boy. "Good cover story."
"I really am," the singer insisted; the barman nodded again, clearly still not believing them.
"Can I get you guys anything?" he asked, eyeing the burgeoning mass of customers waiting to be served.
"Uh, I'll get four peppies," Freddie began, then turned to Tori, "and can I get you something?"
"Sure," she smiled gratefully, "make it five peppies?" she asked Logan; he nodded again and began pumping their drinks.
"You should join us," Freddie grinned wickedly at the singer as he handed a few bills to the barman, "you'd cause a real stir."
"Ok," she shrugged, figuring that it would be good to hang with a friendly face and that the night couldn't get any weirder than it already was; she was to be proved wrong on the second count as Freddie led her over to the table (her security kept her in his line of sight but remained a discrete distance apart) and the four girls looked in amazement at the new arrival.
"Girls, this is Tori Vega; a friend of mine from Los Angeles. She sang at the PMAs," he supplied (Hannah nodded her recognition; she'd noticed some resemblance to Shelby when she watched the event but had dismissed it; in person it was staggering just how alike the two looked), "Tori," he waved at the girls in order, "Hannah, Maria, Brenda and… my girlfriend Shelby. Shelby's a CFC fighter and we're celebrating her win in a title fight this evening."
The pieces of the puzzle fell into place for Tori; that was why she was being congratulated, that was why people were mistaking her for someone else… and that must be why Jade had made a snide comment about her and Freddie making out; she drew the conclusion that they must have kissed on camera during the evening.
She began to feel a little uncomfortable as the girls gawped at her. "Sorry," Brenda offered, "it's just that this is crazy. I mean, you two… wow."
The lookalikes' eyes met and they grinned in unison, increasing the creep level for everyone (apart from Freddie who by now was finding the whole thing hilarious).
"So you have your own security detail?" Shelby asked her doppelganger during a lull in the dancing; Freddie was on the dance floor with Maria but the other girls had retreated to their table (Hannah had gone for more drinks).
"Yeah, they follow me everywhere," Tori grinned. "At least they don't… get in the way, like tonight," she thought it was as good an example as any, "I know they're there of course but they're not breathing down my neck or in people's faces all the time. You don't have any?" she asked her fellow celebrity.
"Uh…" she grinned, "CFC fighter, these three," she gestured to the two girls with her and to Hannah, who was returning with more drinks (and a boy she had co-opted into helping her bring them over; she thanked him and batted her eyelashes flirtatiously, leaving him to depart with a spring in his step."
"Boys…" the black-haired girl remarked smugly.
"Anyway, as I was saying," Shelby continued, "the four of us are all CFC fighters," Tori's eyes widened at the news. "I reckon we could hold our own against most threats or unwanted attention," she laughed softly.
Tori nodded her comprehension. "I'm guessing that Freddie's attention isn't unwanted then," she added slyly.
"Not when it's directed at me," her lookalike smirked, raising her soda in a toast; the two brunettes smiled and touched glasses, leaving the other girls feeling almost as if they were watching someone interact with a mirror.
Monday, 23rd July 2012.
"Thanks, guys, it's been an awesome night," the singer smiled as they left shortly after midnight (Shelby was feeling the aftermath of her day; even though the fight itself hadn't lasted too long she was physically and emotionally drained from the whole event).
"Oh, you're heading off too?" Shelby asked in disappointment (the three others lived in the same area so they'd left together); she'd had a great time with her 'twin' and the others and was happy to add her to her circle of friends (though she had to suppress a pang or two of jealousy over how comfortable she and Freddie looked when talking – or dancing).
"Yeah," she gestured to the bodyguard who had exited just behind them, "we need to head back to the hotel."
Shelby looked on the verge of suggesting something before she relented with a nod. "Ok, have a good night."
"And good luck with the gig tomorrow; you'll knock 'em dead," Freddie encouraged; Tori smiled gratefully.
"Thanks. Hey, do you two want to come?" she asked as the thought struck her. "I can always get a couple of tickets and leave them at the will-call for you, back stage passes too," she promised temptingly.
The couple looked at one another, communicating non-verbally before both nodding. "Sure, that would be awesome," Shelby agreed.
"Cool, then I'll see you after the gig?" They nodded and went their separate ways.
Apartment 610, Tower 801
801 Pine Street, Seattle, WA
Despite having had a lot of fun throughout the day, Freddie was really looking forward to a little alone time with his girl when they got in, so he was surprised when she gave him a warm hug, a lingering kiss and a "goodnight" before disappearing into her apartment, leaving him stood in the hallway. He watched her go and stood staring at the door in disappointment for a few seconds before shrugging, "World of Warlords it is then I guess," and entered his own home. He smiled as he pulled up his e-mail, seeing a handful of messages from acquaintances and a couple of the guys from Hollywood Arts that he had kept in touch with, congratulating him on the kiss earlier. His smile fell a little as he read Spencer's message ("Nice going bro. Carly's was shocked; ran from the room, Sam's talking to her") and he got the feeling that at some point he would hear from the girls about it. Oh well, it's none of their business, he reasoned, and that's all that I have to tell them.
Still wondering about Shelby's abrupt departure he loaded up his MMORPG and settled down to catch up with some of his old on-line friends that he hadn't seen too much of recently.
He had completely lost track of time; a knock on the door pulled him away from the virtual world and back to the real one. To his amazement, daylight was forcing its way through the curtains and a glance at his clock told him that the time was approaching 8 a.m.
Shelby stood awkwardly on the other side of it when he opened it. Her awkwardness did not decrease when he invited her inside, though they did kiss as she passed him.
"Look," she began, "I just wanted to explain about last night. I uh… well," for some reason she seemed to be struggling to speak; at a gesture from her boyfriend she took a seat on the couch.
"I was thinking we'd hang a little, just the two of us, to unwind and just have a little us time after the craziness of the day," he commented, "so yeah, it was a bit of a surprise when we didn't."
She was relieved that there was no anger in his tone, just a little curiosity and the faintest trace of hurt, no matter how much he was trying to suppress it. "I wanted to," she looked at him earnestly and vaguely registered that he still seemed to be wearing the same outfit as he had when they were at the club; not wanting to dwell on that and knowing that she had to explain, she continued, "but the thing is… well," and she tailed off again and took a breath. "I uh… well."
"You've said that already," Freddie teased, finding great amusement in his girlfriend's predicament, even though he had no idea where she was going with this, if anywhere.
Finally Shelby realised that she just had to go for it. "Have you ever heard of battle lust?" she asked in a rush.
Freddie cocked his head; he had a vague familiarity with the term. "A little."
"I… I kinda get it after a fight," she confessed, "and I didn't want to risk that suddenly we could have our first time… my first time," she admitted at little more than a whisper, "in those circumstances. It's not quite how the romantic in me sees it happening."
To his immense credit, the boy managed not to laugh at her disclosure. "It's ok," his sensitive side kicked in, "it's not quite how I saw it happening either."
"Also," she added, "in saying that I uh… I'm not sure I'm… y'know ready for us to do that together…" she gestured awkwardly to him.
"Don't worry," he smiled reassuringly, "we have plenty of time yet; we've only been together officially for a few days so we don't have to be thinking about that yet."
While she appreciated the sensitivity he was showing outwardly, she could also see that he was working extremely hard to keep his face straight at what she had admitted to him; now that she had said it and they'd talked about a couple of things, though, it all seemed a lot funnier and she was suddenly struggling not to laugh either.
"So what did you do with your night then. I see you never changed."
"Uh, yeah, I kinda got lost in World of Warlords," he admitted.
"You're gonna have to show me what's so good about it some day," she demanded.
"Are you busy now?" he asked with a grin.
"Not at all," she smiled, taking his hand and allowing him to lead her towards his room where the computer was set up.
AN: And there, gentle reader, is where we leave this story but fear not, for the adventures of "Sheddie" are not quite over yet. Thanks to the encouragement of those of you who have read and reviewed this work I have decided to continue their adventures in a couple more stories. The next one will be a series of one-shots tracking their lives over the coming years and leading to a story that will parallel another that I intend to write in the future. I'll go into more detail nearer the time. Until then, a huge thank you to everyone who read and reviewed this story, Challenge King, M.D.G9186, DrDoom2006, chirui chikorate, Consort of Chaos, Fanfic-Reader-88, Jeremy Shane, Darck Ben, Agent-M-0167, KoiChoco, JohnOTastic, MBB, Izzy, SoraOblivian62, Leny95, NaruandHarrHaremFan, Cornolio4, thedarkrid, mkpunk, ArtisticAngel6, Sportsfan64, SeddieHeartLand, SamIsMyHero, pbow, OneHorseShay, star445, Sunshine-Midnight123, Finder18, JagerBomb1818, Martial Arts Student, jafkdb, the anonymous guests and a special thankyou to Challenge King for pitching the original premise to me; I hope that you think I did it justice. Thank you all for your feedback and I hope to have more stories for you later. PD.
