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#Post#: 1841--------------------------------------------------
Middle Management - Chapter 1 - Friendly Warfare
By: RampageSports Date: July 28, 2015, 9:39 pm
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Middle Management - Chapter 1 - Friendly Warfare
"What song?" Danni said as we passed each other in the hallway.
I don't quite understand how this game started.
A week or so ago, I was walking back to my office, just as I was
today. At the time, we were rapidly closing in on the next DEF
event, where RSI had a total of ten matches scheduled...
including five title tilts. Normally, something like this would
have me pulling my hair out, but things were running
surprisingly well. The reason the event was so overloaded was
that the UMMA had just realigned the franchises, shuffling
hundreds of fighters into new divisions. It was chaos, but it
was planned chaos. We knew it was coming, and everyone at RSI
had been prepared to pull their weight.
That preparedness allowed for a smooth transition, which meant
we were ready and raring to go for our biggest regular event
ever with days to spare. I was proud of my group, and I had not
been shy about letting them know it.
In other words, I was in a pretty good mood.
As I crossed the door to Danni's office, I caught a glimpse of
her staring at me. I backpedaled and found her eyeing me with a
dopey grin.
"What?" I asked.
"What song?" she said.
I arched an eyebrow, and said, "Huh?"
"I can tell from the way you're walking you've got a song in
your head. What is it?"
Now, there is almost always a song playing in my head. It's
always been that way. I don't know why, and, prior to that
moment, I hadn't cared.
Why did it suddenly matter? Well, because, sometimes, the song
that's playing isn't one I'd care to share.
"What do you care for?" I asked.
"Quit stalling. What song?"
Well, if she really wants to know...
"'Dig a Little Deeper.'"
"I don't recognize it."
"It's from The Princess and the Frog."
Her shoulders dropped as she cast her eyes to the floor. After
a moment, she raised a hand, wincing slightly as she rubbed it
across her forehead.
"I should have known I was going to be sorry I asked."
"Yes," I said, matter-of-factly, "you should have."
Well, she may have been sorry, but that didn't stop her from
asking at least twice a day after that. It drove me crazy, so I
started returning the favor. Next thing you know, the object
was no longer finding out what song was in the other's head, but
to see who could come up with a song that was appropriate to the
current situation.
So, with the event now a few days behind us, Danni was
initiating a new round of our little game.
"'We Are The Champions,'" I said with a smile.
"Niiiice," she said.
The women of RSI are careful not to be arrogant or disrespectful
in public. Some of that comes from experience... you learn not
to shoot your mouth off after a big win once you've been on the
wrong side of big losses. But, most of that humility comes from
Danni. She sets the tone with the way she handles herself. Our
most decorated athletes willingly follow her lead, and the rest
tend to fall in line.
But none of that means we don't take a little pride in ourselves
in private. And after winning four of the five title
contests... well, there was plenty of pride to be taken.
"So," I said, "how are things, Covergirl?"
"Would you please stop calling me that?"
"Probably not until the next magazine comes out, no."
Oh, did I not mention? One of those five title fights... the
biggest one, if you ask me... was Danni's. The franchise
shuffle had brought her the biggest challenge she'd faced in
years in Cheryl Cole. The two had come into the fight as the
highest ranked welterweights in the UMMA, with Cheryl on top by
less than a full point. They left with Danni vaulted well into
the lead, thanks to a dominant performance against her new
divisional rival. More importantly, Danni walked out with the
belt still in her possession.
The win meant little in the grand scheme of things. Cheryl
remained the top contender in the division, and she was sure to
return with a vengeance after losing the way she did. So, if
anything, Danni's life was going to get even harder. But her
victory did have a more immediate benefit... she had scored the
cover spot on the most recent edition of TKO magazine.
It's the first time she's been granted that honor since, well...
ever. I thought that was a strange omission, given her success
in the organization and her standing as the leader of Rampage
Sports.
Strange, that is, until I realized how much she loathed being
the center of attention.
"Did you really refuse the cover spot in the past?" I asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Actually, I had it on good authority that she knew exactly what
I was talking about.
When approached in the past, Danni had apparently declined the
prominence of appearing on the cover. She tried to do so again
this time, but the UMMA wasn't taking no for an answer.
The result? Well, since Danni wouldn't sit for a photo, the
UMMA purchased the license to a image of her taken a long time
ago. Back when One Tree Hill was in it's prime, and Danni was
portraying attention-seeking high schooler Rachel Gatina.
The picture wasn't bad. It was just... well, it looked like a
picture an attention-seeking high school girl would take. She
was wearing a tiny white sweater top, mostly unbuttoned and
pulled back to show more than a glimpse of her bra beneath.
Calling it a sweater top gives the wrong impression, to be
honest. It was more like a narrow strip of sweater-like
material that only covered as much of her body as was required
by law. Below the waist, she wore a pair of black, satiny
shorts that also adhered to the minimal legal requirement.
The clothes only told part of the story, though. Next came the
hair... blown out and teased to cover one eye, giving her that
supposedly alluring femme-fatale look. I never quite understood
what was so attractive about that style. It always made me
wonder just how hard those women had to train themselves to be
able to walk around without any depth perception.
Anyway... the real topper was the pose itself. Hands on her
waist, with the front hip jutted out toward the viewer. It
screamed, 'Look how hot I am." And, hey... she was. In fact,
she looked incredible. But the whole thing was very un-Danni...
a point made clear when she did little more than glance at the
magazine cover before declaring she never wanted to see it
again.
"I don't know what you're so upset about," I said. "That
picture looks great."
She silently awaited the punch line she new was coming.
"I mean, maybe if you'd been blowing a gum bubble," I said,
"that probably would have improved it a little."
She sighed and waited some more to see if I was done.
I was not.
"And maybe if they'd had someone there spanking your ass..."
I'm pretty sure I heard her mutter the word "f*ck" as she shook
her head and continued on toward the training room.
"Well, maybe next time you'll let them take the f*cking
picture," I called after her.
"F*ck off."
I laughed and resumed the journey to my office. I hadn't even
sat down before the phone rang.
"You'd better get in here," Danni said, hanging up before I had
the chance to respond.
I hurried back, greeted immediately by the sounds of chaos.
All eyes were on the cage to my left... the one Britney Spears
and Elisha Cuthbert were using when I'd departed. They were
still in there, only now they were screaming at each other...
and they had quite a bit of company, too.
"Who the f*ck are you calling an amateur?" Elisha yelled, as she
struggled to get at her supposed friend and training partner.
She was flailing like an animal, but her progress was heavily
impeded by Emma Watson and Alyson Michalka, who had her pinned
to the side of the cage.
"I'm talking to you, b*tch," Britney called back.
She was corralled on the opposite side of the octagon, with
Steph McMahon standing in her way. Steph wasn't actually
restraining her, but Brit didn't seem too interested in getting
into it with RSI's development coordinator.
"I'm done with you," Elisha spat. "I don't need any help from
some 'champion' who can't cut it when the belt is on the line."
"F*ck you," Britney said.
She took a step toward Cuthbert, but changed direction when
Steph slid in front of her again.
"You wanna quit? Fine," Britney continued. "I'm wasting my
time trying to train you, anyway. You're obviously as good as
you're gonna get."
"Kiss my ass," Elisha shot back.
Britney paced for another few seconds, then silently stalked off
through the cage door, with Steph maintaining her post until the
songstress was down the steps and headed for the locker room.
While Emma and Aly worked to get Elisha calmed, I found Danni at
cageside.
"What the hell happened?" I asked.
"Don't know," she answered. "One minute they were sparring,
next minute they're trying to kill each other."
We stood a moment, considering the possibilities.
"You think this has something to do with the event?" I asked.
She shrugged.
"Only thing that makes sense."
As I said, RSI won four out of the five title fights it was
involved in in Rochester. The lone loss? Britney... who missed
out on her third straight title chance. She had dropped two
title fights in a row to Malin Akerman, but the realignment had
pushed Malin up to the SCQ. Unfortunately, it had also brought
Laura Vandervoort up from the ESL to be Britney's new foil.
'New' is probably not the right word. Laura and Britney
actually have a considerable history together. Though
Vandervoort enjoyed a considerable advantage in their rivalry,
things were going to be different, this time. Britney's game
was revamped and revitalized. Coming off a huge win over the
renowned Doutzen Kroes, Brit was confident she was going to put
on a better performance than she had in the past against Laura.
And, she did. She put on a much better performance.
She just didn't win.
Normally, Brit would have Elisha to lean on at a moment like
this. Except, Leesh didn't seem to be feeling all that
charitable, right about now. No doubt, she was still getting
over her own disappointing loss. The spirited actress had been
thoroughly outclassed by Lindsay Ellingson in one of the many
undercard matches. Long story short, she was disgusted with the
way she'd fought, and she wasn't making any attempt to hide it.
"Isn't this when you're supposed to work your magic?" Danni
asked.
I angled my head her way and looked at her sideways.
"Isn't it our magic, now?" I said.
She looked at Elisha, who was still pacing furiously around the
cage as Emma and Aly tried to talk to her.
"I don't want any part of this," Danni said.
"Too bad," I said. "Pick one."
She sighed.
"Britney, I guess."
"Sure, leave me with the wild animal."
"Just try not to get into a fight, huh?"
I watched Leesh some more. Emma tried to put a gentle hand on
the blond's arm, then had to suppress the urge to react when
Elisha angrily batted it away.
"I'm not making any promises."
[hr]
Character Reference
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Richelle_100x120.jpg
Name: Richelle Winterfeld
Nickname(s):
Background: Owner of the RSI stable, former underground fighter
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Danni_100x120.jpg
Name: Danneel Harris
Nickname(s): Danni
Background: RSI stable leader, reigning DEF welterweight
champion
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Britney_100x120.jpg
Name: Britney Spears
Nickname(s): Brit, Queen B
Background: Team leader of Britney's Brutal Beauties, DEF
middleweight contender, training partner and close friend of
Elisha Cuthbert
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Elisha_100x120.jpg
Name: Elisha Cuthbert
Nickname(s): Leesh
Background: Team leader of Leesh's Lethal Ladies, DEF
middleweight contender, training partner and close friend of
Britney Spears
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Stephanie_100x120.jpg
Name: Stephanie McMahon
Nickname(s): Steph
Background: RSI's fighter development coordinator, reigning SCQ
super heavyweight champion
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Emma_100x120.jpg
Name: Emma Watson
Nickname(s): Dr. Watson
Background: Reigning FAC featherweight champion, training
partner and romantic partner of Tiffany Mulheron
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Aly_100x120.jpg
Name: Alyson Michalka
Nickname(s): Aly, Hellcat
Background: Team leader of The Aly Cats, FAC light heavyweight
contender
#Post#: 1843--------------------------------------------------
Re: Middle Management - Chapter 1 - Friendly Warfare
By: Dragons Den Date: July 30, 2015, 7:10 pm
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Fantastic! And congrats to Danni on the cover!! She deserves it.
I remember that shoot. Sophia says she remembers the shoot too.
We both concur that it was pretty hot. :P
Good luck with that feud! Glad it's you and not me in the middle
of that one.
Then again... :D
#Post#: 1844--------------------------------------------------
Re: Middle Management - Chapter 1 - Friendly Warfare
By: RampageSports Date: July 30, 2015, 9:57 pm
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You're a good man, Charlie Brown. Thanks, as always, for the
compliments. :D
Though I'm sure you don't need much of an excuse to be within
Elisha's orbit, now might be a good time to steer clear. She's,
well... you'll see. :P
So, I take it you're safely home. Good to hear from you, and I
hope you had an excellent trip. ;)
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