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#Post#: 805--------------------------------------------------
The Friendship Test - Chapter 4 - A Strange Relationship
By: RampageSports Date: December 1, 2014, 7:53 pm
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The Friendship Test - Chapter 4 - A Strange Relationship
Something was wrong with the thermostat. Danni was sure of it.
It read the same, even seventy degrees it always did, but the
temperature in her office was clearly much higher. It was the
only way to explain why she was literally sweating to death.
That, and maybe the fact that she was planning to go behind the
backs of her RSI teammates and help a rival stable.
It had seemed so simple just a few nights earlier. She knew
then that it wasn't a great idea. But, it was no big deal,
right? Pop into Dragon's Den, give her friend and fellow stable
leader, Sophia Bush, a few pointers, and get the hell out of
there. But, now that the moment was here... she felt like she
was committing a crime.
Worse yet, she had just realized she had another problem: it was
going to be impossible to get out of the building unnoticed.
On an average day, the RSI facility was basically empty by about
five-thirty. By six o'clock, the only ones usually left were
the stable owner, Richelle Winterfeld, and Danni. The two of
them normally used that time to talk about upcoming events and
just generally bounce ideas off of each other. In the early
days of the stable, the conversations had been awkward and
one-sided. Danni wasn't sure of exactly what her role was, and
Richelle had a way of assuming control of everything. There was
even a point when Danni had considered leaving RSI, feeling that
her position as stable leader was just for show. If Richelle
was going to do it all on her own, then why stay? That was when
she decided to push back. If she was going to give up, she
wanted to be able to tell herself she'd tried everything before
she did it.
To her surprise, Richelle listened. Not right away, mind you.
She was a stubborn, Irish pain in the ass, and she questioned
every word that came out of Danni's mouth. If Danni didn't have
a quick answer ready, then Richelle just rolled right over her.
Again, Danni was left to question why she even bothered.
Then, came Julianne Hough.
From the outset, the one area Danni knew was hers alone was
training. Richelle didn't often set foot in the training area,
and, when she did, she never interfered. So, it was Danni who
had first noticed Julianne's full potential. She was a capable
fighter when she'd signed on, but she was struggling to find
consistency. Danni paired her off to train with Ashley Tisdale,
and it did not take long to see Jules had something special.
Her power and toughness were impressive, but it was Julianne's
speed that really caught Danni's eye. The problem was her
technique. Julianne was constantly trying to take the fight to
the mat, which nullified just about every advantage she had.
Danni made it her mission to break her of the habit, and she
worked for hours at a time with Julianne and Ashley. She
convinced Jules to stay on her feet and use her quickness. They
worked on accuracy and finding the right range. Julianne was a
willing pupil, and, before long, she developed a striking game
that even Danni was envious of. And the training paid off in a
hurry, as Jules stunned everyone with a championship run at the
Red Carpet PPV that year. A couple of months later, she proved
it was no fluke as she took home the title from the Lingerie
Invitational event, as well. At that point, Jules had rattled
off an impressive thirteen wins in a row, and RSI had it's first
home-grown superstar. Next on her plate was a shot at the FAC
divisional title. And that's when the sh*t hit the fan.
The title holder at that time was the same woman that holds it
now... Vikki Blows. During her impressive run, Julianne had
beaten Vikki twice, making it look easy both times. Julianne
seemed assured of a victory, and Vikki knew she needed to make a
change. The change she made was to sign on with UMMA juggernaut
RWB. And, as soon as Danni heard the news, she knew Julianne
was in big trouble.
The RWB philosophy was simple. Crush your opponent quickly,
before she even has a chance to think. It's a technique that
had paid big dividends for them, and Danni had no doubt Vikki
was busy learning the RWB way right at that very moment. This
new Vikki was going to be like nothing Julianne had ever seen,
and she was not ready for it.
Danni marched straight into Richelle's office the next day.
"I'm going to completely change Julianne's training program,"
she announced.
Richelle gave her a puzzled look. "She's been crushing everyone
in her path. Why would you change things, now?"
"Vikki is with RWB, now," Danni replied. "The way they fight...
Jules isn't ready for that."
"The fight is only a few weeks out," Richelle said. "How big a
change can Vikki make in that much time?"
"With RWB?" Danni said. "Vikki will be ready. And if we don't
get Julianne ready to handle it, she's going to get
slaughtered."
Richelle thought about it for a moment, and then waved her hand
dismissively. "I don't see how they could pull off a total
overhaul of Vikki's game in that short amount of time. And
you'll end up training Jules for an opponent that doesn't
exist."
"They're going to do it," Danni said. "Trust me."
For the first time during the conversation, Richelle looked
Danni square in the eye. Danni saw a glint of something there,
but she wasn't sure what to make of it. Whatever it was, it
didn't make the stable owner back down.
"Jules is our first big success, and I think you're panicking,"
she said. "Stick to what you've been doing. It's been working
just fine."
Danni decided that enough was enough.
"No," she said firmly. "I know what I'm talking about."
Again, Richelle took a moment to measure her before she spoke.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Have you ever watched the RWB fighters?" she said. "Have you
ever wondered why they're so successful?"
Richelle said nothing, so Danni continued.
"I've been in there with Cheryl Cole. That fight was over
before I knew what happened," she said. "The same thing will
happen to Jules if we don't get her ready."
Richelle continued to stare at her. It was like she'd suddenly
discovered something new and interesting, and she was studying
it closely.
"Okay," she said with a nod. "We'll do it your way."
Danni actually felt the muscles between her shoulders unknot
themselves. Until that moment, she hadn't realized just how
tense she had become.
"What do you have planned?" Richelle asked.
"She's going to train with me," Danni replied.
She saw Richelle's eyes widen as she said, "You're three weight
classes above her."
"That's right," Danni said simply.
Again Richelle paused before giving a firm nod. "Okay," she
said again.
Danni felt like she'd just won a five round slugfest, but she
was in no mood to celebrate. Instead, she found herself wanting
to walk around the desk and punch Richelle in the face. That
seemed like a bad plan, so she decided to just take her victory
and go.
The training with Julianne was intense. Danni was brutal, which
was her intention from the start. Julianne actually broke down
a few times, but Danni didn't care. If Julianne could learn to
stand in there with her, then she would have a fighting chance
against Vikki. That was the only thing that mattered.
Two weeks later, fight night came. Vikki came out at the bell
like a woman possessed, just like Danni thought she would.
Julianne withstood the early onslaught, and battled back
ferociously. A fight that lasted less than three minutes saw
both women bruised and bloodied. But, it ended with Julianne's
fist in the air.
Danni felt a surge of pride that night. She was the one to make
the call on Julianne's training. She had battled to make it
happen, and Julianne had won because of it. On top of that,
Jules actually pulled her into her post-event press conference
and thanked her publicly. It was a moment Danni would never
forget.
Suffice it to say, she was in a pretty good mood when Richelle
found her in the locker room later on.
"You were right," Richelle said as she walked up from behind.
Danni looked back at her and simply nodded.
And you were wrong, she thought to herself.
Though she may not have said it, Danni's silence spoke for
itself. But Richelle didn't seem offended.
"Listen," the owner said as she sat down next to her team
leader, "whatever happened in my office that day... don't be
afraid to do it, again."
Danni didn't know what to say to that, so she just sat there
silently.
"If you think I need my ass kicked," Richelle said, "then kick
it. I didn't bring you here to 'yes' me to death."
"Whenever I say anything else," Danni replied, "you ignore me."
"Then don't let me do that," Richelle said.
Danni squared her gaze with Richelle's, and she saw the same
look she'd noticed that day. Only this time, she recognized it
for what it was... respect.
"I know I'm a b*tch, Danni," Richelle said. "I had the feeling
you had some of that in YOU, too. I saw it for the first time
the other day."
They continued to stare at each other as Danni let the words
sink in.
"I want to see that more often," Richelle continued. "It's what
I've been waiting for."
Danni couldn't help but smile. "There's something seriously
wrong with you."
"No doubt," Richelle admitted. "But that doesn't mean I don't
know what I'm doing."
Danni thought of her earlier struggles... the way Richelle had
pushed her... her own thoughts about just giving up. Had the
owner done that deliberately?
Richelle seemed to read her mind. "C'mon," she said. "Tell me
you wouldn't love to put me in my place."
Danni shrugged and decided to take the honest approach. "I've
actually had thoughts about kicking your ass all around your
office."
Richelle smiled. "That's the spirit."
Danni just shook her head. This woman was clearly nuts.
Richelle then turned more serious. "Nice job on this," she said
as she rose. "You protected your fighter, and you gave her the
tools she needed to win a championship. Not bad, Miss Leader."
The words made Danni's heart soar, but she kept her emotions to
herself.
"Oh," Richelle said as she turned to leave, "maybe we could try
that ass kicking idea some time, too."
Danni's eyebrow went up and she looked at her stable owner as if
she were a loon.
Richelle shrugged. "You never know. I might surprise you."
She turned and left the room, leaving Danni to ponder what the
hell had just happened between them.
In the months that followed, the two of them had gone
head-to-head almost constantly. Discussions would turn into
debates, debates would turn into arguments and arguments would
turn into wars. And every time, Danni stood her ground. After
a while, she actually looked forward to the battles. Richelle
would push, and she would push hard. But, she was always
willing to let Danni push back. In the end, they usually came
to a resolution they could both agree on. As crazy as the
approach had seem originally, it produced results that were hard
to argue with.
Hell, they had actually given that "ass kicking" thing a try.
And, as predicted, Richelle was more than a little surprising.
More recently, though, something strange had happened. They no
longer had to argue. They had gone at it so often, they had
each begun to predict what the other was going to say. They
developed the ability to have full conversations where they both
hardly spoke. Instead, they seemed to read each other's
thoughts. On top of that, they had come to trust each other
completely. Somehow, they had formed a bond that neither could
have predicted in the beginning.
Now, Danni was about to put it all at risk. And she couldn't
even explain why.
All of this added up to the more immediate problem Danni was now
faced with. She needed to leave earlier than usual to make it
to Dragon's Den, help Sophia and hope to get home at a
reasonable hour. Doing so would definitely catch Richelle's
attention. And sneaking out wouldn't work, either. Richelle
would eventually notice she was gone.
Danni decided that, if she was going to go down, she would do it
with her head held high. So, at five o'clock on the nose, she
popped into Richelle's office.
"I'm heading out," she said innocently. "I'll see you,
tomorrow."
Richelle glanced down at her watch. "Half day for you?"
"No, I just have some things to do," Danni snapped.
Smooth work, genius.
Richelle's remark had been nothing more than a playful jab.
Danni's response had been an unbridled overreaction.
"Woah!" Richelle said. "Take it easy! I was kidding."
Danni shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "I've just got a
lot going on."
She reasoned that part truth was better than no truth, at all.
Richelle looked at her with concern. "You okay?" she asked.
Danni nodded. "I'm fine," she lied.
"Okay," Richelle said, looking unconvinced. "See you tomorow,
then."
"Yeah," Danni said as she turned and walked away.
Tomorrow. Danni liked the idea of that. Tomorrow, this would
all be nothing but a memory.
As long as she didn't have a stroke before she got that far.
#Post#: 806--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Friendship Test - Chapter 4 - A Strange Relationship
By: TIG stable Date: December 1, 2014, 11:51 pm
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Ok so now the Raccoon girls need a rabies test, and the RSI
girls need to take a lie detector test.
#Post#: 808--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Friendship Test - Chapter 4 - A Strange Relationship
By: Raccoon Date: December 2, 2014, 6:08 am
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You just made Night Hamster's list...
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