Old Frenemies

"Well first of all," she said, sounding indignant as she tried to make herself be heard over Taylor's own workout routine, she needed to say something "You can't really call it an ambush. Ambush implies sneakiness and attacking from behind. Yeah it was after a match, but it wasn't exactly a long tough one, and so was Dixie against you, and you're not going to complain about her ambushing you after you took on Brittany are you?" Adrian asked, "Kelly's the one who's going around ambushing people here, and she's a total asshole." That... was probably not the right thing to start off with, especially considering Adrian was planning for this not to be as confrontational as the phone call.

"But... Rebecca was totally out of line saying that kind of stuff about Akashi, and really went too far in the match..." the former cosplayer admitted "Watching it was, pretty uncomfortable for me so I can't really imagine how bad it must have been for you."

Taylor took a long, slow breath and let the elliptical machine coast to a stop. She stood with one leg straight and the other bent, resting with her hands on the machine's handles.

"Yeah," she said. "I've had to watch one of the people I care about most in the whole world get beaten and hurt and humiliated, twice, by someone who hates her. I don't know if you know he that feels and I hope you don't find out.

"I beat King's face in like that once, because he was going to really hurt Johnny. I didn't like it, but I'd do it again, and worse. What Rebecca did wasn't wrestling, and she wasn't protecting you. Akashis biggest crime is that she really cares about you, even enough to stand up to that monster."

"She cares about me? That's why?" Adrian asked, confused. Akashi was effectively bashing her head against a wall for her sake. "Why the fuck would she think that bringing me up like I'm her her ex or something be a good... nevermind." She shook her head, groaning. Even when Adrian was at her worst, Akashi seemed to have a somewhat maternal, for lack of a better word, instinct towards the former cosplayer. Probably was what made that night so awkward she mused to herself.

"Okay, okay. I don't know what it's like to watch someone I care about get really hurt. But I've been hurt like that. Just crushed, nearly crippled, by someone who hated me before, which probably made Rebecca really scared too. You. So cut me some slack, I'm not pulling this stuff completely out my ass."

"Adrian..." Taylor closed her eyes and let her forehead slump against the backs of her hands while she clung to the elliptical machine for support. "If I could have traded places with Akashi and taken the beating myself, I would've. In a heartbeat. Except, I'd probably be dead."

She finally stepped off the machine altogether. It was clear she needed to take a minute before she could really get down to her workout. Talking to Adrian was like holding onto fireworks while the fuse burned down, and she really wasn't in the mood for anyone to blow up.

"Fuck..." she muttered, shaking her head. "Adrian, for real, can I just ask you one favor? Can you just, like, be cool?" She heard Johnny's voice in her head. It'd be cool if everyone was just cool. "I mean, like, can we not do the thing where we start yelling and hating each other? The whole reason I called you last night was because I didn't want the thing with Akashi and Killer King's female twin to make us kill each other." That, and the hope that Adrian could help Taylor feel better somehow. "This just really sucks. This really, really sucks, and I feel like there's nothing I can do to help."

"Yeah..." Adrian sighed "Well... I'm trying to be, it's just a shitty situation. I know you're worried about Akashi, but the way you lay everything out, the way Akashi laid everything out, everyone just seems to want me to chose between them and Becks. And no-offense, but do you really expect me not to automatically side with the woman who's been with me since like high school? Come on, that'd be like trying to get Cassie to help someone going against y- oh." She stopped herself, Cassie hadn't exactly directly helped Taylor, it was mostly the Canadian schooling the American on the mat, but it did get her to think about things differently and despite Cassie's insistence that she learned nothing from her, maybe she owed her the slight favour, even if she did help a little Rebecca would probably win the rematch, but if it was to just put Taylor at ease without jeopardizing much. "Well..."

"Something you can do... something you can do..." she mumbled to herself "Well the easy option would be to tell her to back off, but..." that means admitting your scared to Akashi she added to herself, it was probably tearing Taylor up just asking Adrian "She might not take it the right way. For all I know she's recovered and already wants a rematch, going and telling her 'no' is probably gonna end in tears."

"You said it yourself, you can't just go around and smack Rebecca in the face for being an asshole, she can smack back harder. But if she was as unstoppable as you think she is, she'd be like ten and oh, with the world belt around her waist. I know Angel said that if she put her mind to it, she could be champ in a heartbeat, and she probably could, BUT no-one's perfect." The cosplayer began to think hard, while she was out of her element with gym equipment she was really good at analysing things in the ring. She wasn't going to give Taylor a game plan, but maybe if she started thinking about things a little more logically, it might help. Heck, someone putting a bunch of logic into her might have helped when she was going off the wall and panicking back after the I quit match.

"Akashi really relies on being the bigger woman and pushing the little girls around, she may like a challenge but it's playing away from her strengths. I'm probably one of the better technical wrestlers, if not the best," she added with a small smile, before going back to a serious expression, no time for ego trips, serious business "I mean, I can salvage victories from nearly any situation, legit ones too, but I tend to struggle to stay in control for long periods of time, and generally do better reacting than acting so even when I win I usually get my ass kicked. You're like the reverse, really good at staying in control but you... kinda suck at dealing with flash counters when you're in your groove. Think of how I got the first fall off you, think of how Kelly beat you."

"Also, don't be too bummed about that, I mean. I lost to Kelly too..." She snapped out of her analysis, trying not to get Taylor too bummed about the whole thing. "What I'm trying to get at is that, you can't fight Rebecca on the spur of the moment, it's shit you have to plan and get a strategy for, I mean I'm not going to tell you how to beat her, not that I don't know or anything, but it can be done. If Akashi's really freaking determined to throw herself back at Rebecca, you could make sure that this time she's really prepared for it. But if you could like... convince Akashi not to try and kill Becks... that would be awesome..."

Taylor's breath caught in her chest while Adrian spoke. Everything about it put her on edge, and made her heart pump so that she felt her pulse in her hands as she squeezed them into fists. But then, Adrian began to talk about... fighting Rebecca?

She furrowed her brow, but didn't interrupt. With something else to focus on, she relaxed slightly. Talking shop and strategy was almost therapeutic for her, and she didn't raise a fuss when Adrian pointed out the reason for her recent losses.

"And Angel, too," she said. She nodded, staring off at the floor. "Akashi has been really hurt and humiliated and betrayed by your girl. She used to like her. She's not trying to kill her, she's trying to... well, regain her honor, which really means she's trying to feel like a woman again, and not a disgrace. If Rebecca apologized... Maybe it would all go away."

She rolled her eyes and waved her hands indignantly. "But Rebecca has probably never done that before. Has she ever admitted when she's wrong? No one can make her do it, so she'd probably just kill me if I talked to her. Like, shit, she was causing property damage in Tokyo just because you and me had a rough match. Whatever.

"I don't want to fight Rebecca..." And that was the truth. "I don't. And you know why... Probably more than one reason. But..."

Maybe she could at least throw herself between Rebecca and Akashi, if it would stop Akashi from being pounded to a pulp again. Maybe she could stand to have a strategy, though just the thought of it scared her to death.

"I'm like... a race car, and it's a really fine line I have to hold onto, while going really fast, and when I lose it, I get wrecked. Angel did it to me all night long, those flash counters or whatever, and people like you and Kelly who can keep it together and pull that stuff off are like... Bad news for me. You're way better than Kelly, though. You should know that. I've been in there with both of you, and she's only got you on self confidence. If you fight her again, just remember that I believe in Adrian Kytes."

She paused, and held Adrian's eyes for a moment. Her face softened considerably. "I never hated you, ya know. Not really." She looked down at the floor. "But... I think I hate Rebecca. And you already know that... I'm... scared. Of her. And... maybe all I can do is throw myself over Akashi to protect her and take the beating myself, and... I can do that."

She looked up again, as if she had just remembered something.

"Oh right," she said. "By the way. Thanks."

"She used to be apologizing for like everything, probably because she was worried about being shot by the cops..." Adrian mused darkly, half the time though it seemed to be Rebecca apologizing for the brunette's actions and never her own, maybe that was because she was at her peek cheatyness but thinking more about it, maybe that's why Rebecca seemed to turn into a bigger asshole when Adrian wasn't around as much, she was cutting loose after worrying about the cosplayer all the time and because of how strong she was and how leinient things seemed to be with AFW in Japan, that's why she was pushing it so far "Maybe that's why she's gone full asshole, it's like the first time in like forever where she can get away with stuff and it's gone to her head. I mean, it went to your head a little when you started teaming with Akashi, although that kinda sorted itself out in time."

"I mean some of the stuff she said, was kind of my idea. Not that I told her to say that or that I wanted to piss Akashi off, it's just after the Sumo hall stuff she was pretty pissed off at Akashi herself so I was trying to make everything like seem a little better, how both of them kind of got some victories out of it like how Rebecca proved how strong she was and Akashi maybe started opening the door for women's sumo to become like kinda legit and maybe after a while they could talk it out but then Akashi started doing the whole anti-USA thing and uggggghhhh." The cosplayer groaned, it was pretty much a shit situation all around and the feeling that she was making it worse was just eating away at her, "I mean, if I could get Rebecca to apologize, and mean it, would Akashi even want to know? I mean she's going for like full redemption and stuff. Maybe if I talk to Akashi if she thinks she's doing it for my sake... at least take that angle out of it so the rematch is calmer..." She thought out loud, pretty much resigned to the fact that her and Taylor were probably going to end up watching their friends kill each other, again. She couldn't really blame Taylor for not wanting to really fight Rebecca, Adrian really didn't want to fight Akashi either, although probably for different reasons.

"Oh! Thanks!" The brunette let out as Taylor thanked her "So could you like tell me which machine is better for me to work out with? I don't want to just to Turkish sit-ups and other free-weight things."

Taylor did her best to keep the skepticism off her face. Adrian really was reaching to justify her buddy being an unrepentant rage monster. She should be a writer or something, making up stories just came so naturally to her.

But the part that made her twitch was the crack about Kamikaze. Taylor scowled, but waited.

"No, Adrian..." She said. "I meant thanks for the other thing." She knew what other thing. At least, Taylor was mostly sure.

"And while we're on the subject... How exactly did tagging with Akashi go to my head?" She folded her arms over her chest in an effort to control her hands and look less angry, but it didn't work.

"It was a long time ago and was only a little bit of a head inflation over the base Taylor ego." Adrian quickly adlibbed, maybe going that far down memory lane wasn't a good idea "And what do you mean by other thing? Isn't this like the first time we've seen each other in like... months?" The cosplayer had a pretty firm idea of what Taylor meant by the other thing, but she wasn't going to admit it until she had confirmation.

Taylor shrugged. Who knows, maybe it had gone to her head a little bit. But who could blame her? Tagging with the champ as a relative rookie was quite an ego boost.

As for her base Taylor ego, people might be a little surprised if they knew the whole truth.

"Yeah, well..." she said, looking Adrian in the eye. "I've got your back when you get your rematch against Kelly."