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#Post#: 183--------------------------------------------------
The Cuthbert Exception
By: RampageSports Date: August 19, 2014, 10:23 am
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Britney Spears and Elisha Cuthbert have become two of the most
well-known faces in the RSI stable. They are known for their
skills in the cage, and they are known for the tight,
unbreakable bond they have formed outside of it. They are also
known for constantly aggravating the sh*t out of me, but that's
a separate topic. Before "Britney and Elisha" became a singular
object, there was Britney and there was Elisha. Both were
talented but struggling fighters, looking to break through to
the next level. Britney had tons of raw talent, but she hadn't
been able to tap into it fully. Elisha, on the other hand, was
not as gifted, but she was blessed with an unstoppable spirit.
Now, I'll give myself credit for bringing them together in the
hopes that they would push other to succeed. But, I can't claim
I knew then how well it would work out. And, the truth is I
almost blew the whole thing.
Not long after RSI got off the ground, Britney and Elisha found
themselves face to face inside the UMMA octagon. The result was
a gut-wrenching scene... Elisha writhing in pain as she clutched
at her shattered ankle... Britney curled against the mesh on the
other side of the cage, looking physically ill. It was a scene
I swore I would never allow to happen again. But, as we've
learned, I don't really make the rules around here, do I?
Anyway... the following is the untold story of what happened
after that difficult evening. Believe me... it was a learning
experience in more ways than I can count.
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April 29, 2013
A few weeks after the incident, I phoned Elisha at home and
asked her to come to my office. The next morning, I heard a
rhythmic thudding sound outside my office door. In clomped
Elisha, sporting an unwieldy looking walking boot and a pair of
crutches. However, I was surprised to see she was also dressed
in full training gear.
As I sat with my mouth hanging open, Elisha said simply, "I'm
ready."
Another couple of beats passed as I tried to comprehend the
situation. "Ready for WHAT?" I finally managed.
"I'm ready to get back to training."
Clearly, I was still missing something. "Training? You can't
train. You can't even walk."
Setting her damaged foot firmly on the floor, she tossed away
her crutches with a clatter. "I can walk fine. And, I'm ready
to get back to work."
I sighed heavily. "Look, Elisha... this is going to be hard
enough..."
"NO! You can't let me go just because I got hurt!"
"It's not that. It's just..."
"Let me FINISH!"
My temper flared, but I checked it. This was going to get out
of control if we just started screaming. So, I sat back and let
her have her say.
"I need this. I have worked too long and too hard to get to
this point. This..." she spread her hands in an encompassing
gesture. "It's working. I was just floundering around when you
found me. Now, I have a team... a strategy. I feel
comfortable. It's WORKING."
"Elisha, you won one fight..."
"The first of many. You just have to give me the chance."
I stared at the floor while I considered my response. When we
brought Elisha on, it was her scrappiness and heart that lured
us in. She didn't have the physical tools most of the girls
have, but she never let that stop her. And, now, here she was.
Staring me down with those icy blue eyes, refusing to accept
what had already been decided. I felt bad, but I just couldn't
shake the memory of her lying in the middle of the cage,
clutching her ankle as a clearly shaken Britney looked on. No.
This had to be done.
"Elisha, I'm sorry. I really am..."
"Are you listening to me? I..."
"Dammit, Elisha!" I yelled, slapping my open palm down on the
desk. "I DID listen to you! Now, YOU need to listen."
She stared past me out the window, her arms folded angrily
across her chest. I'm about to fire her, and she's hitting me
with the "go f*ck yourself" look. Scrappy.
"I'm not letting you go because you got injured. I'm letting
you go because you can't get injured like that again. I..."
"Injuries happen all the time!"
"NOT like that, they don't! It's bad enough I had to watch you
two face each other. But, to have an injury happen... it was
just too much. Now, you're out of action, and Britney..."
"...will have to learn to deal with it," said a voice from out
in the hall.
I threw my hands up in frustration as Britney rounded the
corner. I immediately suspected some sort of conspiracy, but
the look on Elisha's face told me she was as surprised as I was.
So, then what the hell WAS this?
"Looks like everybody has to have a say on this, eh? Fine.
What's on your mind, Britney?"
"I just think she deserves better than this, that's all."
"I don't disagree with that, but what do you want me to do?
That injury basically took both of you out at once. You and I
both know it bothered you, so let's not pretend otherwise, OK?"
"You can't let her go because I couldn't take it."
Rising out of my chair, now. "I'm not letting her go because
you got upset. But, we can't have this sort of thing."
"You mean YOU can't have it."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you can't let her go because YOU can't take it,
either."
As she was talking, Britney had slowly advanced into the room.
She now stood shoulder to shoulder with Elisha, both of them
staring me down. Britney KNEW she'd hit home, and Elisha seemed
to pick up on it pretty fast, too.
I tried a half-hearted defense. "It's not good for the
organization to have this..."
Britney came at me, again. "Save it. Plenty of organizations
have more than one fighter in the same division. You and I both
know what happened hurt you, and we both know it hurt me. So,
the solution is that Elisha gets a broken ankle AND she gets
fired?"
I let out a deep sigh as I collapsed back into my chair.
"Dammit," I muttered as I shook my head resignedly. Both of
them knew they had me. Still, I wasn't ready to yield. I went
back at Britney.
"You've been walking around here looking like your dog died for
the past few weeks. You're in the same division, and you're
right behind each other in the rankings. If I keep both of you,
you're going to have to fight each other again."
"That's my problem."
"The hell it is. You work for me..."
"It's still my problem. Like I said, there are other stables
where this happens. If I can't deal with it, then you cut ME.
Not her."
Not much I could do after that. I threw another "Dammit" in
there, just for show. Then, I gave in.
"Fine. She can stay. On one condition."
"Anything!" said the eager and suddenly girlish Elisha.
"Not you," I replied as I pointed toward Britney. "Her."
Elisha looked hopefully at Britney, who kept her gaze focused on
me. She knew what was coming, and I knew it was going to kill
her. But, screw it. She had nailed me to the floor. It was
her turn.
"Explain yourself."
"Explain what?"
"This," I said as I spread my arms in their direction. "I've
watched the two of you beat the living hell out of each other
day in and day out. I have had serious thoughts about splitting
the two of you up, you go at it so hard. Now, you're in here
pushing my buttons to make sure she stays on. Why?"
"Maybe I just like kicking her ass." The queen of evasion.
I shook my head. "Don't bullsh*t me, Britney."
Britney suddenly found something very interesting on the floor
in front of my desk, and there must have been a fire outside my
office, because Elisha was riveted to the window.
"Britney," I said again.
The pop songstress gently kicked at an invisible pebble and blew
out a sigh. "I kinda li hrm," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry. WHAT was that?"
"I SAID I KINDA LIKE HER, OK?" she shouted back at me.
The room went quiet as we all considered that one. My gaze slid
back and forth between the blond fighters. Britney was still
watching her shoelaces, and Elisha was still looking for rare
birds, or whatever she was doing. But, a small, almost
imperceptible smile had found it's way onto her face. Hmmm.
"So, let me get this straight," I said with a bemused grin.
"The reason you put everything you have into trying to literally
crush her is because you LIKE her?"
Britney turned toward Elisha and said simply, "Yeah."
Moving was more of a challenge for the booted Elisha, but she
managed to turn and face her... nemesis? Friend? Oh, who the
f*ck knows?
"I never been pushed like this before," continued the pop star.
"I've also never fought anyone like you. You're so..." She
struggled for a word.
"Tenacious?" I offered, knowing full well what Elisha's most
valuable skill was.
"Oh, God... you're a pain in the ass! It's like trying to fight
one of those boppy toys! No matter what I do, you come back for
more."
"Wait..." Elisha's smile crinkled into something far less
pleasant. "So now I'm a punching bag?"
Brit laughed. "You WERE, in the beginning. But, now..." She
paused, unwilling to follow through on the compliment.
"Now, what?" Elisha teased, the smile back and bigger than ever.
Britney shrugged. "You've learned a lot. Like I said, you push
me. Sometimes, it's like fighting my mirror image. Only with
more heart."
Elisha's eyes misted over. "Why do you think I want to stay so
bad? Training with you has made me ten times the fighter I was
before. I can't lose this. I can't..."
"Can't what?" said the singer, with a mischievous,
two-can-play-at-this-game grin.
"I can't lose you," replied the actress as she locked eyes with
her training partner.
Next thing I knew, two women who I'm pretty sure had come to RSI
as natural enemies were hugging in the middle of my office. All
part of the plan, right?
"Do I still need to be here?" I asked with feigned annoyance.
"Nope," Britney said.
"We're good," chirped Elisha.
"Well, go be good somewhere else," I shot back. "This is my
office."
They both laughed as they broke the embrace. Britney helped
reclaim Elisha's crutches and they turned toward the door.
"Guys?" I called after them.
They both looked back at me expectantly.
"Thanks," I said with a warm smile.
They smiled back, and then continued out of the office.
"Don't think this means I'm gonna start going easy on you," I
heard Elisha say.
"You're easy anyway, little girl."
"Don't call me that, b*tch!"
"Make me stop, then."
Yeah... this is gonna be great.
"Well, that went well," said a smiling Danneel Harris as she
rounded the corner and leaned against my office door frame.
"Ahh, geez... what the f*ck are YOU doing here?" I groaned.
She laughed. "I saw Britney heading this way, and I didn't want
to miss out on the fun."
"Oh yeah... it was a blast. They worked me over pretty good."
She shrugged as she eased her way into one of my guest chairs.
"They knew things about themselves you didn't. Besides... you
were overreacting."
I shrugged right back at her. "Everyone's a critic." I
gestured with my chin toward the door. "So...what do you
think?"
She turned and looked thoughtfully at the exit Britney and
Elisha had just passed through. "I think we'll see Red," she
said hopefully. "I think we'll see."
Yeah. I guess we... wait... who's Red?
I was about to comment on that one when another thought suddenly
hit me.
"Hey Danni?" I said as I narrowed my eyes at RSI's team leader.
"How did Britney know I was meeting Elisha today?"
She turned to face me with her best "who me" look. "I haven't
the slightest clue."
She was so full of it, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I
also couldn't help but wonder where RSI would be without Danneel
Harris.
#Post#: 185--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Cuthbert Exception
By: Raccoon Date: August 19, 2014, 10:38 am
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:)
(Now everybody is using different colors...)
#Post#: 186--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Cuthbert Exception
By: RampageSports Date: August 19, 2014, 10:56 am
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Yep... I shamelessly stole that right from you and Dragon's Den.
It looks great, and makes the whole thing more readable. ;D
Now, if we could only figure out a way to work around the
etiquette gestapo...
#Post#: 187--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Cuthbert Exception
By: Raccoon Date: August 19, 2014, 11:13 am
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Space between the letters.
#Post#: 188--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Cuthbert Exception
By: Dragons Den Date: August 19, 2014, 11:23 am
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Haha, the colour idea was all Raccoon. I stole it too. ;D
Love it, Rampage! Awesome to see you get in on the RP. You've
knocked it out of the park, too! Looking forward to seeing all
you come up with. :)
#Post#: 189--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Cuthbert Exception
By: RampageSports Date: August 19, 2014, 8:42 pm
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Speaking of color... the colors on the machine I originally
posted from showed Elisha's text as light, but readable.
However, I took a look at it now that I'm home, and it's
practically invisible. So, she's been upgraded to a color you
can actually... you know... read. ;D
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