Wrestle Angel Beach Vacation~

Clad in a white bikini, with a semi transparent white sarong wrapped around her waist covering her down to about her thighs, Chris Morgan sat at the bar, on her second cup of plum wine. Lost in thought, the blonde's mind was on her ill fated reunion with her former love, Panther Risako. The meeting had turned quite emotional, and things had gotten very confrontational between the two women. And to top it off, the next night, when Chris decided to take the night off from  the AFW to go home and try to sort out her feelings, one of the women she was keeping watch for, Hibiki Izayoi, had struck. The purple haired titan had devastated not only Miss USA, a young pretender to the mask of a former Wrestle Angel, but Mikoto Kusanagi.

*The nerve...Mikoto was a child during our time at the Wrestle Angels, and that Miss USA wasn't even there. Hibiki lashing out at them for what happened is beyond despicable. The one night I relax my guard, she strikes.* she thought as she poured herself another cup from the small decanter in front of her. Her anger turned inward as she thought more about it *But, it happened because I let Risako's words hurt me enough to sit at home instead of being at the arena that night. It's her. Risako, my tangled feelings for her, the memories, they're my weakness. I need to overcome them and her. Or else, Mikoto and all the others will suffer-*

"Ch-Chris Morgan?!"
As if on cue, Mikoto's voice cut into her morose thoughts, making Chris look up in surprise and shock. She saw Mikoto, sitting next to her, a hand over her chest and coughing.
"Mi..Mikoto?" she blinked in amazement. She realized that she must have been so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn't even seen Mikoto enter the place, or even apparently take a seat next to her.
Looking past Mikoto, she also saw Suzumi Ishikawa sitting on the priestess's other side. Fate it seemed, had a truly quirky sense of humor....

Suzumi looked up when she heard Mikoto mention Chris Morgan. Suzumi saw the beautiful, muscular giant of a woman at the bar. Her blood still simmered when she thought of how Chris destroyed Wrestle Angels. Still....was public the best place to start a squabble?

For now Suzumi took the road less traveled.... at least less traveled by Suzumi..... one of tact. "Chris, this is totally a surprise! WhT brings you out here?" Suzumi said, eyeballing Chris. Sexy yet imposing as always. Suzumi downed the rest of her Cosmo, hoping it would ease the sting of her loss to the woman in front of her. Chris also beat Mikoto, although Chris at least inflicted pain in a match u like Hibiki.

No there was a woman Suzumi wanted to face.... even if it may be suicide.

Chris recovered her composure, setting down her cup. Suzumi spoke to her, although Chris was willing to bet the girl's first instinct might have been to throw a drink in her face.

"Oh...just taking a day away from gyms and training." she replied to Suzumi's line of questioning. "It was a gorgeous day out, and I just wanted to go out and enjoy it. It seems I wasn't the only one with that idea though..."

Turning to Mikoto she looked at the priestess.
"Mikoto, I just wanted to say, what Hibiki did was disgusting. It looks like she's just lashing out at anyone who happened to be even remotely involved with old league. I...regret what happened to you."

After having regained her senses from nearly coughing up her sake, Mikoto remained seated and listened intently to the statuesque Phenom casually taking in a summer refreshment like any normal beach-goer. This entire situation just felt so incredibly surreal, Chris Morgan having always come across like a looming, larger than life figure to Mikoto that seeing her partake in something as innocuous as relaxing and enjoying a enjoying a drink at a bar was just...jarring.

Though, perhaps not as jarring as hearing Chris practically apologize for Hibiki's actions, her eyes widening from the genuine show of remorse. Mikoto sighed heavily and looked down at her own empty saucer as she tempered her swirling, conflicting emotions. The priestess had every right to still harbor animosity towards the Phenom for her heinous actions during her reign as W.A. Champion...every right. But...vague threats aside from when they first met...Miko was seeing a different woman depicted through her actions recently, from checking up on Suzu after her loss to the kind words just spoken to her. Perhaps...enough for the priestess to attempt to give Chris another chance...

"It...It's alright. Hibiki just...just seemed to be a snake waiting for her moment to strike this entire time. It was bound to happen eventually...And I'd rather it happen to me than someone else who may have been unable to handle a wrestler of her caliber. Now all the other former angels know to keep an eye out for her. Heh...honestly, facing you may have ended up toughening me up for that encounter." Miko turned to Chris with a slight smile on her face, partially to mask the pain felt from that day. "You know...you're...you're much different in person than the media depicts you, Chris..." Miko coyly remarked while lifting her small cup towards the decanter in front of her gesturing to partake in whatever Chris was drinking. "May I?"

Listening as Mikoto talked, Chris smiled wanly. A side of effect of her return turned out to be a toughening up for another Angel? Well at least something good had come out of it.

"Don't sell yourself short Mikoto." Chris told her. "You nearly beat me, you know."

Taking another drink, Chris frowned as Mikoto mentioned the media.
"Well, the media loves to make villains out of people sometimes, even before they know all of the story. But, I had my part to play." She said cryptically.

She slid the decanter close to Mikoto. "It's plum wine. It was something Risa- I mean, someone from the old league introduced me to. It's really sweet....but strong." Chris told the priestess.

"W-well, thank you...but I...I'm sure you would've kicked out. I suppose in the end...I just...defeated myself I guess, if that makes any sense. Heh, m-maybe it was for the best. Can you imagine the fallout? Someone like me defeating the "Phenom" herself..." Mikoto kept up her cheerful demeanor while she poured the wine into her cup, though curiously raising an eyebrow to Chris' ominous statements about how the media portrays people. An obvious allusion to the downfall of Wrestle Angel and the controversy afterwards. It made her feel like their was a piece of a puzzle she was missing when it came to the collapse of the league...

"Hmm...you know, I...I remember their being a fair bit of controversy over the shut down of W.A. The financial dealings were sort of, well, glossed over. I wouldn't mind hearing more about the decision making behind the scenes, right Suzu? Heh...we actually came here to celebrate the forming of a new tag team before we ran into you..." Mikoto would pour some of the plum wine into Suzu's empty glass. There was more than enough for everyone, and Miko thought that everyone sharing a drink was a good way to break the ice...

Suzumi closed her eyes as the other two spoke. Right before the downfall she suffered her injury that led to her first retirement. An injury Chris capita.ized on recently. "Yes, do tell more about the behind-the-scenes details Chris." Suzumi began to say before smiling at Mikoto who poured her a drink.

"I wasn't there when our old home was shut down. I had that nasty quad tear that forced me to retire so I missed the actual fall. I would love to know the whole story!" Suzumi was more wary of Chris than Mikoto, however she did recall Chris seemingly warning her of Hibiki, giving her a heads up. "Also.... thanks for the heads up about Hibiki..."

Chris frowned as Suzumi asked about the downfall of the old Wrestle Angels league.
"It's a long story, and a depressing one. And, really, you shouldn't be focused so much on the past, especially when you've got such a bright future ahead of you. I mean, are the two of you forming a tag team?"

She poured herself another drink before going on.
"That's good, if you are. Partners can watch each other's backs, and help each other train. Not to mention, this league could use some help in the tag team division."

"Yeah, we are gonna show everyone what we can do!" Suzumi said happily before turning somber. "That place was like home though.... I got lucky that I found acting and did well. That and...."

Suzumi paused and took a deep breath. She was about to say something that had been on her mind for quite some time. Something she was scared to even think about. "...and I was better back then. I was at my best in Wrestle Angels. Now I am must trying to get back to that point even though my speed will never be back. I just have to keep up with Mikotothough and we'll be tag champs in no time though!"

Mikoto noticed Chris Morgans sly dodging of any inquiry into the collapse of Wrestle Angel, though any lingering curiosity would have to be put on hold as the priestess turned her head to hear her new partners soulful testimony. She wanted to outright deny what Suzu was saying about her waning skills for the sake of her friends feelings, but by this point knew it'd only be patronizing. Suzu would know her body and it's limitations better than anyone else. Instead Miko would put a hand on her partner's shoulder with a warm smile on her face.

"C-come on Suzu...this isn't like you. You're going to get back to the way you were, absolutely. And you know I'll be right by your side and in your corner the whole time, just like Chris said. Besides, maybe...maybe we can make a new home here at AFW. It may never be what we once had...but it's still a start, right?"