Breaking the Tension! Episode 4: Jackie Saint-Michael

[This is reposted from the old forum. Original poster and date of each post has been kept for convenience]

by acuya on Thu Sep 25, 2014 8:02 pm
Patty was wearing green. Patty rarely, if ever, wore green. Gaudy color, blue was much better. But this was a special sort of day.

She made her way through the Tension halls with Ran close behind, wearing a green and white variation of her usual outfit. Normally, she would have shied away from such gimmicks - a professional such as herself could capture the audience through sheer charisma alone, hold them with intriguing conversation and thought-provoking analysis.

That being said, a little flair couldn't hurt, and she felt this was one of those times. She was meeting with a fellow Irishwoman!

Sort of!

Patty wasn't fully Irish, she was also half-German. And she wasn't born in Ireland, but instead grew up in Florida. And she hadn't been to Ireland since the last O'Malley family reunion four years ago, and even then, she spent most of the time in the hotel room because her family on the island turned out to be some of the worst planners in Ireland's history. And her knowledge of Irish history pretty much came down to a few sidebars in her history class. The biggest thing she remembered was the potato famine and that still confused her. How the heck do you die because you ran out of potatoes? Was there nothing else on the island to eat at the time? Kill a squirrel.

Her confusion over the socio-economical tendencies of 19th century Ireland aside, she was proud of her heritage. The Irish were a strong and independent people with a rich culture, or so her father always told her. So when she heard that Tension was taking in a new wrestler by the name of Jackie Delilah Saint-Michael - which was an awesome name, really - and that said wrestler was a native to Ireland, Patty took it upon herself to ease her into Japan and make her feel a little at home.

It was time for the audience to see her human side. The caring Patty O' Malley. The loving Patty 0' Malley.

"Patty." Ran chimed in as they walked, nervously doing her last minute checks. "I'm...not sure this is a good idea. I know I've said that before, but..."

Patty sighed, noting her little protege was getting a bit antsier than usual. She didn't blame her - this sort of raw journalism was tough on the body and the mind, a taxing effort that required them both to stay on their toes and go where others didn't dare. "What's on your mind, Ran?" She looked over her shoulder and let the pigtails fly. "Speak, speak, speak."

"I just..." Ran hesitated in her usual way. She was better at most at keeping her composure when Patty was on her A game, but she still had a ways to go. "Are you sure we're approaching this the right way?" She shrugged. "Maybe we should do a little research on Jackie before -"

"Nonsense." Patty waved it away without a second thought. Ran was probably just thinking of the stereotypes, of how the Irish were all so violent and dangerous. Patty knew better. Her family was full of the sweetest people you could hope to meet.

Except for Uncle Benjamin. Crazy, crazy Uncle Ben.

"We Irish have a sacred bond that binds us, even when we're far away from our homeland. We know each other. We understand our legacy. It's a sacred trust that goes without speaking, that marks us all as kin." She made sure to emphasize her Irish accent, which she totally always had and was not now trying to make up at the last minute. "We'll be fine, Ran. Trust me."

"If you say so..."

"I say, 'cause I know so!" She gave Ran a wink to help boost the poor girl's confidence, as they neared their destination - the Tension gym. According to her sources, Jackie was inside training right now, perfect for a good ambush interview, giving the fans a little eye candy. She motioned for Ran to follow close, and opened the door to peek inside...

by ThunderinSilence on Thu Sep 25, 2014 8:35 pm
The burn ran though Jackie's muscles, dull and tingling in her arms from the earlier pull-ups she'd done, hot and ferocious in her legs which she was currently putting though a pretty brutal regime of alternating curling and sprint-running on the treadmill. Her body gleamed with sweat like she'd been oiled up, the fabric of her workout attire clinging close to her figure as she continued to push herself. Thus far it had been a pretty typical day, with several guys taking an interest as they tried to match her while they got a good look, only to start to falter as the relentless pace kept going and the petite Irish woman continued the blistering regime. Eventually they'd drop out, pretending like they'd intended to finish up there all along, and it never failed to make Jackie smile. Her body had been pushed in punishing training regimes such as this for years, to give her the stamina necessary to maintain such ferocious assaults during her matches, and few people seemed to appreciate how intensive it was until they tried it for themselves. They all thought when they looked at her was that if a little thing like Jackie could do it, then surely they could too.

Still, even Jackie had limits, and as she finished the final curl, she let the weight tumble back with a rattling crash, panting heavily as she let the cramping pain sear though the meat of her legs for a few moments, savouring the sensation. Jackie never felt more alive than when her body was on its last dregs like this, ever nerve tingling with painful sensation. She wiped a hand across her brow, unsticking her dark brown hair that had been pasted there by sweat, and glanced at her watch. A good time to wrap it up, find something to eat and then hit a bar somewhere. She was drying herself off with the towel draped across her shoulders, still seated on the curling bench, when she caught a flash of green out the corner of her eyes, glancing up with a curious expression.

by acuya on Fri Sep 26, 2014 5:11 am
It was all in the approach. Too quickly, and Patty risked scaring the newcomer away or putting them on the defensive...the violent defensive. Too slow, and they would just leave or start talking with other people, ruining the entire scenario. It was all about the way she came, moving in behind Jackie and making sure to stay out of her line sight, until her prey finally glanced behind her. The game was afoot.

"Dia duit!" Patty burst on the scene with a Gaelic greeting, one of many useful phrases that she'd spent the previous night memorizing. Deep research.

Ran turned on the camera and let her light shine, as she backed off and got them both into focus. "I'm Patty O' Malley with Breaking the Tension!, the premier interview show of the AFW! Sorry to catch you off guard, but we heard word of an exciting new talent in among the Tension ranks, and we just had to come check her out - Jackie Saint-Michael, would you care to share some words with your future fans?"

She poured on the charm and put on her million dollar smile, staying bubbly and light as she bounced around on her heels. Jackie was a sweaty mess, but that was all the better for her rating - guys liked their girls shiny, that's what the focus groups said.

by ThunderinSilence on Fri Sep 26, 2014 5:34 am
Jackie gave a slow blink, turning her gaze first from the manically beaming woman in the green, then to the woman holding the camera, not quite sure what to make of either of them. She draped her sweat-damp towel over her shoulders as she sat up a little more straight, taking her time as she ran what this girl (Patty was it? The girl's gob had been running at a mile a minute, she'd barely caught a word she'd said) had said though her head. The welcome sting of the workout had ebbed to a dull leaden weight in her limbs, and she was more than a little pissed off that her buzz had been killed by the sudden interruption, but apparently the girl wanted to interview her and she'd barely been here a couple of weeks.

Well, she had to make a presence sometime, right? She eased her lips into a practised smile as she extended a hand towards Patty.

"Tá áthas orm bualadh leat freisin" She replied back in Gaelic, not expecting for a moment that the grinning little idiot knew more than the basic introduction she'd led with. Hell, the only reason Jackie knew is at all was because the teachers at the Catholic school had drilled it so deep into her skull that she doubted it would ever escape her skull, "You sure you want to chat right now? I'm not exactly at my best, as you can probably tell," She added, keeping her tone light and conversational, scooping a water bottle from her bag and squirting a quick stream into her open mouth to cool the heat of her parched throat, then another quick spray over her head to wash some of the sweat clear.

by acuya on Fri Sep 26, 2014 5:57 am
...oh, crap, Jackie actually knew Gaelic? Who the heck actually spoke more than, like, a few words of that language? Patty couldn't even get a reliable translator on Google to make a few stock phrases. And there Patty was, standing there with her mouth open, no clue what she even said or how to respond. She couldn't even tell if she'd been asked a question. But she couldn't look stupid, not now, she had to respond with something or the watchers would think she was some clueless bint.

"...aye!" That worked. Irish people said 'aye', didn't they?

"Yes, I'm quite-" It was just then that Patty realized how small Jackie was. Really small. Patty was only an inch over five feet, and even she cold look over this girl's head. That was new.

"I'm quite sure." She stood as straight as she could get, wanting to seize this opportunity to look tall. "The people want to see you like you'll be in the ring - raw and ready, strong and steadfast. This is the perfect time, Jackie. You're shining. Let the world see you shine!"

by ThunderinSilence on Fri Sep 26, 2014 6:13 am
Jesus fucking Christ, but this girl could talk bollocks. Jackie felt the corner of her left eye twitch slightly as Patty gave her rather weak reply...with a phrase most commonly used in Scotland. Jackie was hardly the guardian of the Irish culture, but even she felt insulted at just how clueless this girl was. It was becoming an increasingly difficult job to maintain her fraying smile, and she quickly hid the fact by taking another squirt of water, setting the bottle down as she swilled the liquid around her mouth, the tang of iron coating her tongue. She let the woman prattle on, realising after a moment that the girl had finally closed her mouth for more than the time it took to take a breath.

"Um, alright then, well what you see if what you get, yeah?" She said, spreading her arms so the camera could get a good look at her physique. Jackie wasn't typically the type to show off much, but she knew her toned form draw a lot of attention and she wasn't above using that to earn a little extra credibility. As a new face to the AFW, every advantage she could claw up was an advantage she could possibly leverage when the time was needed, and it wasn't costing her anything other than to play along with the wannabe Irish gob-on-legs. Feeling that perhaps a little more was expected of her, she gave a shrug and continued, "I'm sure it'll be a disappointment to some of the fans to see I'm not really the type to get all dolled up for a fight, I'm more the sort that deals in sweat and tears."

She made a conscious effort to leave blood off the list.

by acuya on Fri Sep 26, 2014 6:37 am
Nailed it. Totally.

Patty breathed a sigh of relief as she hit Jackie's curveball and sent it flying out of the park to the sound or uproarious applause. Now that the pleasantries and flavor were out of the way, they could get down to the meat of the interview.

"True, I think you'll be a different sort than the average Tension wrestler - fighters like yourself are in short supply." Patty stifled a laugh and gave Jackie a nudge and a wink, letting her laugh along. Just a little witty humor. Patty knew what it was like to be a little person, she was sure they could share in that bond as well. More common ground could only be a good thing.

"Now as, you can see, I'm wearing green today, in respect for our shared homeland." She spun about and made sure the camera caught her from every angle. It had cost her a pretty yen to get a redesign of her typical outfit with a green color scheme, and she was going to get as much mileage out of this as humanly possible. Maybe she could convince Jackie to do a St. Patrick's Day episode...

"You've come from the land of saints and scholars to the land of the rising sun. What drew you the AFW, in particular?"


by ThunderinSilence on Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:58 pm
Had she...was she being serious? Had she actually just made a crack about her height? Jackie's fake smile became brittle and her eyes widened with barely-supressed rage for a split-second, and it took a tremendous amount of her willpower to swallow it down. Snapping and lunging for the clueless bitch in front of the camera would be pretty bad for her image, and so she tried to ignore the rising anger that stung in her throat and smoothed her expression over once more. "I figure I'd agree with you there lass, I'd say there's not many like myself out there," she managed to chew through the words without losing her composure entirely, "And it's quite the lovely dress, very....patriotic," she finished, her mind failing to find anything more pleasant to say about the attire Patty was flaunting like it was supposed to be the most incredible thing ever. Personally Jackie had always hated the colour, red was much more her scene.

"Why the AFW? In a word, opportunity. I'd been wrestling for a time in some of the independent European circuits, dabbled a little in America, but never felt like I ever fit in there," She said, which was technically not a lie, although she felt no need to mention that a few of her relocations had been influenced by the fact she'd left someone a ruined mess and she'd simply attempted to dodge any repercussions, "They were all wrapped up in gimmicks and flashy nonsense with no real meat behind it all. That's when I heard about the AFW and figured to myself, hey, couldn't hurt to try it out, right? There's still plenty of flashiness to it all, but it's got some solid wrestlers to back it all up, men and women who know their business."

by acuya on Fri Sep 26, 2014 3:29 pm
Was it just Patty's imagination, or did Ran just hop back with an expression filled with unimaginable and barely restrained terror for some reason? Patty took a quick look behind her, but didn't see anything that would have frightened her like that. Just a few gym bunnies and bears, lifting weights and giving the background some action.

She kept her smile up as she turned back to Jackie, nodding along with her reasoning. This girl embodied the old Irish fighting spirt, just looking for some real competition, and that would resonate well with her audience. After all, the episode with Charlie got a fair bit more views than the one with the Takeuchis, clearly her viewers preferred more wholesome subjects. Charlie being hot, sweaty and topless probably didn't hurt matters, either.

"Well, you've come to the right place. There's a reason we call it Tension Pro." She gave a hard wink at the audience, appealing to the die-hards. Surveys showed that Tension did well with the more old-school, pure wrestling audience.

"So, tell us a little about the style you're bringing to Tension? You'll be up against a wide variety of opponents, most male, but perhaps even some females from time to time. What can we expect from you in the ring, and what drew you to Tension over Friction, the flagship brand?"

by ThunderinSilence on Fri Sep 26, 2014 4:02 pm
Jackie was relieved that Patty had singularly failed to notice her brief slip into fury, although by the way the camera-girl was cowering behind her equipment it seemed someone had noticed at least. Her limbs were feeling heavy still, but getting lighter with each deep breath, so there was little else to do but to continue to play along.

"Well, I can't tell you too much about my style, I wouldn't want to give anything away too early, right?" She said with a wink of her own, idly using the edge of the towel to mop some of the perspiration from her neck and chest, patting herself down, "What I will say though is I bring my A-game to every match I walk into. Wrestling is entertainment, sure, but it's also a sport, and I give my all every time I step into the ring, just like I expect it from my vi-opponents," she partially stumbled, her mouth almost framing the word "victim" before her brain could auto-correct.

"As for why I picked Tension over Friction, it really came down to keeping my options open. All the respect in the world to the girls over in Friction, there's some world-class talent there, but if you aren't willing to take on male opponents, you're cutting off the possibility to take on a ton of great wrestlers," She leant back a little as she let the spiel play out, a tract she'd practised in front of the mirror for a long while for just such an occasion to make her appear both respectful yet ambitious, "The way I see it, it's not impossible for me to arrange something with one of the Friction girls if I ever have a mind to, but the reverse couldn't be said if I wanted to take on one of the guys from Tension if I'd joined up with the other show. I'm here to take on some of the best wrestlers in the world, men and women alike." She finished with a smile aimed directly at the camera, wondering just how many people she'd end up luring with a line like that.

by acuya on Fri Sep 26, 2014 4:23 pm
Ah, Jackie was an equal opportunity butt-kicker. Patty could relate, working in such a male-dominated field. Neither of them wanted to limit themselves in their endeavors. Jackie wanted to fight as wide a variety of opponents as possible, and Patty wanted to appeal to a wide audience, getting more than just straight guys and gay gals who wanted to stare at her boobs. They took their craft seriously, consummate professionals.

"That's a good spirit to have, Jackie - a little bit of energy like that can go a long way, I can tell you from personal experience." Hm, maybe that joke wasn't obvious enough. She'd have to accompany it with some funky music in the final version. "But Tension has quite a few capable wrestlers, both men and women, with similar drives, and you've come at a time when the competition is revving up. New faces are showing up, bigger challenges are being taken. Things are getting interesting in a hurry."

She took a step back and leaned against the...what was this called? The bench press? Sounded about right. She leaned against it to give her some tough-talk appeal. "What sort of matches can we expect for you to focus on? Any competitors in particular that you're gunning for?"

by ThunderinSilence on Fri Sep 26, 2014 5:34 pm
CLANG!

Jackie felt a jolt of electric pain course along the length of her arm as she drove her fist against one of the weights she'd been using to curl with, only just managing to keep herself from slugging Patty in her stupid face for that latest short pun. She focused on the pain and used it to chain her anger again, shivering slightly as she tried to come up with an explanation for her actions.

"...Sorry, had a really fierce cramp there," she said, trying to brush it off before anyone could really question the logic in what she'd said, "Happens sometimes after a really long workout."

Diving into the questions she'd been posed, Jackie leant forward with her hands folded on her lap, "Well as for things getting interesting in Tension, I can't say I'm disappointed to hear it. Provided they give their all when I'm in the ring with them, then I welcome every new face that arrives on the scene. For me, the bigger the challenge, the more I get fired up for it."

"Match wise, I'm willing to give as good as I take," she continued, although it was a blatant lie, she was hardly willing to let an opponent get even close to the same amount of offense in if she could help it, "Pro-style, submission and NHB are all preferred options, although I'm willing to consider other offers if I find the opponent especially interesting. Right now I'm still pretty new, haven't met a lot of folk from here yet, so there's no one I'm really aiming for just yet, but time may tell."

As she finished her answer she glanced up at the time display on the wall of the gym, and gave as apologetic a look to Patty as she could muster, "Look, not that I'm trying to rush you or anything, but I could probably do with hitting the shower and getting a bite to eat, so mind if we wrap this up in the next question or two?"

by acuya on Fri Sep 26, 2014 6:21 pm
Patty jumped back herself when Jackie slugged the weight bar, and Ran started to back away like a dangerous predator was approaching. That actually looked exceedingly painful, but the aspiring new wrestler was taking it like a champ. Kind of weird, though. Patty had a little workout routine herself, getting down with WiiFit every other night to keep her girlish figure, and she'd get a cramp every now and then. Nothing that ever made her do that, but then again, she didn't have muscles that looked like they could grate cheese. So...

"Fair enough, lass. One more question, and then we'll be out of your hair." Bah, this would make for a shorter episode than she preferred, but she could work it out. Maybe intersperse a few clips from Jackie's first match to pad things out.

"I notice you're quite well-built, exceptionally so." Not an exaggeration, either. If there was any fat on Jackie's body, Patty couldn't see it. "Most Tension women tend to lean towards the lighter size, favoring agility and flexibility in contrast to the bulkier males.You seem to be striking an interesting balance. Can you give the viewer at home a little insight into your training regime? I'm willing to bet there's more than a tiny bit of interest in how you managed to sculpt such an amazing body."

by ThunderinSilence on Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:35 am
Somewhere, in the depths of Jackie's subconscious, her already worn sense of self-control threw up it's arms and cried "You know what, fuck it, choke the bitch out!", and the Irish woman felt a hot pulse of anger lance through her limbs. Almost trembling from the sudden rush as her body began to tighten up, she flashed Patty a grin tinged with manic ferocity.

"Sure lass, I'll be happy to give you an idea of what I went through to get a body like this, but doesn't that guy behind you want something?" She asked quizzically, gesturing past Patty's shoulder. Fully expecting the witless interviewer to take the bait, Jackie lunged from her seated position, covering the distance between her and the camerawoman in a heartbeat, her right hand reaching for her throat, the left gripping the camera's lens and tilting it upright to face it and the directional microphone away from her.

"I suggest you edit this to make me look like a fucking saint love, 'cause if you don't I'll ram that camera so far up your arse you'll be filming what you had for breakfast," She snarled into the girl's face, giving the camera a hard yank to drag it from the woman's hands before dropping it to the floor. That done, she wheeled around to face Patty, "As for you, you feckless bitch, we need to have ourselves a chat about all those funny, funny jokes you seemed to think were a good idea."

by acuya on Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:34 am
Patty sighed when Jackie pointed out an approaching fan. She knew it was coming. She dreaded it. With her show nearing the six digits in subscribers, it was only a matter of time before she had to start worrying about fans interrupting her interviews. It was just the burden she had to bear from popularity, Patty supposed. She'd give the guy a quick smile, a John Hancock, and send him on his way.

...except, when she turned around, there was no guy. No anyone. Not even close. Patty looked about, confused. "I don't see-"

Patty froze in sheer, unadulterated, unfettered fear when she saw Ran, choked in Jackie's cruel clutches as their camera was tossed away...and then Jackie came for her. The day that Patty had feared for ages had finally come, the inevitable moment of dread. She was dealing with an insane wrestler.

She didn't hear nor care what Jackie had to say. Instead, she did as she'd practiced for this exact situation: she tossed the microphone at the midget maniac, turned around, and ran like hell.

Or tried to. In her terror fueled haste, she'd forgotten about the bench press right behind her, and she tumbled over it before she even got three steps away, falling flat on her face with an undignified crash. She crawled forward on the floor, frantically reaching in her pockets as she went. Where was it, where was it...

by ThunderinSilence on Sat Sep 27, 2014 3:42 pm
Jackie knew it was a gamble to flare up like this in the middle of the gym, but the look of absolute horror on Patty's face made it worth the risk all by itself. Jackie released her claw hold on the camerawoman's throat and took a single threatening step towards the interviewer, who made a noise not unlikely a squeak of fear in the back of her throat, flinging the microphone at Jackie and turning to make a bolt for the exit. In her blind panic to retreat however, Patty had entirely forgotten the bench press that lay immediately behind her, and the woman went tumbling over in a played heap, accompanied by the clatter of the bench as it rocked from the collision. Jackie's eyes flickered up to take in the rest of the room, her body tensed like a predator that had just been startled by something, but the other people in the gym seemed absorbed in their own efforts, and she prowled closer to the downed Patty.

"Now here's the thing love; I hated Catholic school," she said conversationally as she approached, her tone holding all the promised threat of a drawn blade as she neared the downed woman, "Absolutely fucking despised it, but credit where it's due, they knew how to let a girl know when she'd done wrong. So I'm going to do to you what they did you me," her voice lowered to a growl as she reached down to grab Patty's shoulder, the other hand bunching into a fist, "I'm going the tell you what you did wrong, and then I'm going to beat it so deep into that thick skull of yours so you never forget it."

Jackie leant her face in close, her eyes hard and burning with anger, "Never. Mock. My. Height," each word was spoken with such raw aggression that it almost burned Jackie's throat to say them.

by acuya on Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:13 pm
Patty could hear Jackie coming up behind her as she crawled, and she swore, if she ever got through this, she was hiring a bodyguard. Some big lug from the Tension roster who didn't have anything better to do with his time, probably. Because this was just ridiculous. She was an AFW employee, and that meant she had a very attractive insurance package, but she wasn't in any hurry to use it! Where the heck was security? Did this place even have security?

She looked over her shoulder at Ran, still gasping and choking on the floor, next to their probably broken $1,000+ camera. Great, just great, it would take another week before she got the funds to afford another one, and that was going to put a serious dent in her schedule...

Patty's trained of thought as wrecked as Jackie lifted her up and held her close, saying the words that would surely precede an unrestricted beatdown. Her face would be ruined. Her ratings would suffer. Her subscribers would leave. She might even have to open a Patreon account to make ends meet. But no! She was a professional, and a professional always came prepared. She had her own card to play.

Patty brought up her can of mace and sprayed it right in Jackie's face!

by ThunderinSilence on Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:29 pm
Jackie had her hand balled into a fist, considering where to start; a throat punch would rob her victim of her voice for a little while, keep her quiet and prevent her from calling for help and drawing attention their way. That move made the most sense, but really Jackie just wanted to go straight for the head and keep pounding away until Patty went limp. She mused over her options for a moment, weighing the pros and cons in her mind.

The hesitation left an opening that Jackie hadn't really even considered Patty would exploit, but to her surprise that was exactly what she did. Patty's hand shot up clutching at something, there was a sharp hiss, and Jackie's vision exploded into a black, stinging fog, roaring in surprise and pain as she reeled back sharply, stumbling as her back hit the bench press. Her hands pawed at her face, tears streaming down her cheeks from red, raw eyes, and she thrashed her heels in pain while she gagged and spluttered.

"You fucking rat!" She managed to wheeze out, struggling to try and see past her puffy eyelids, but it was all a dark, indistinct haze of splotches, "You fucking maced me!" Jackie tried to spill out a further string of expletives, but the breath caught in her throat at the heady stink of the foul spray, and her barrage of insults devolved into rasping coughs.

by acuya on Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:09 pm
Patty closed her eyes, fully expecting for her shot to miss or for Jackie to get off some lethal blow before the mace could do its job or any number of extremely painful outcomes, but...none of that ever happened. Instead, Jackie fell back, rolling around from pain and sparing Patty from what would have surely been a long and painful facial reconstruction surgery.

As the tiny terror rolled around on the floor, cursing up a storm, Patty decided it would be a good idea to put some distance between the two of them and move to a slightly safer location. Like, perhaps, Australia.

"Ran!" Patty dashed over to her camera woman's side as quickly as her high-heels could take her, scooping up the camera along the way. "Are you okay?"

"Patty?" She let out a final cough and started to stand. "You...you do care about-"

Rambling. Ran was rambling, and they really did not have the time for it. "Shut up! Shut up, grab the camera, and run!" Ran immediately saw the prudence in these actions as she eyed the infernally enraged body builder beside them, and she immediately did as asked, scooting out of the room. Patty did the same, only stopping to give Jackie a quick kick in the shin. "That was for the camera, jerk! Top o' the morning to ya!"

And with that, she bolted like her life depended on it. Because it did.

by ThunderinSilence on Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:44 pm
Jackie howled and raged as she clutched at her burning eyes, incensed beyond any ability to form it into coherent words. She could hear Patty scampering around, joined by the hurried footsteps of her camerawoman a moment later as they began to retreat...but not before she felt the sting of a kick to her shin, sloppily executed as it was. Jackie made a blind lunge for where the strike had originated from, but met only empty air, her fists flailing around her savagely.

"Still with the jokes, eh!? Won't be fucking laughing when I wrap my hands around your neck and twist your empty head off your shoulders!!" Jackie hissed, seething, but she could hear other footsteps now, louder, heavier ones at that, and approaching rather than receding. The altercation had clearly finally drawn some attention, and Jackie's abused eyes could just make out the blotchy dark shapes of approaching figures. She sucked in air through her teeth, jaw clenched tightly as she bit back the rage and anger, and considered a plausible explanation for the whole ordeal.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said, waving to one of the closer outlines as she bent over, hands braced on her knees, "The daft girl was just startled is all. She'd tripped over the bench press, and when I went to help her up she panicked and hit me with the mace. Just a misunderstanding," Jackie forced herself not to growl the last few words. With Patty gone she doubted anyone would really question her story too hard, and she felt confident that if the interview footage had survived, they'd edit it like she'd told them too; from the look on their faces, they had taken her very serious threat to heart.