Rise And Shine

Upbeat music announced the arrival of a sunny-faced little redhead. Cassie walked out onto the ramp, and was surprised by the cheers she still received, even after her recent... dry spell.

She had hibernated the winter away, awash in self-doubt after the pounding she'd taken at the hands of Alaina Sanders, even though she'd won the match, and the crushing defeat she had been dealt by Kelly Conway, by submission. As the sun returned and thawed out the world, Cassie found herself thawing out as well. Now, standing at the top of the ramp in the Friction arena, she was all smiles, and she had a plan.

She was clad in a brilliant white tuxedo coat with tails and fine gold details, a snug vest beneath it and a white leotard under that, thighs bare with gold-laced white boots up to her knees. On her head, rounding out the ensemble, was her brown, crocheted hat with round bear ears on top.

She carried a microphone in her hand while she walked down the ramp, and waved bashfully to the crowd, with a big, unspeakably adorable smile.

She had to wait a moment for everyone to quiet down a little before she could speak, standing in the exact center of the ring.

"Hi! Um..." She giggled nervously, and her cheeks flushed slightly while she squirmed under the spotlight. "How are you guys? Uh... I don't usually do this, but I actually have something I want to say, if that's okay."

The crowd was fixated intently on the earnest and innocent girl while she composed her thoughts.

"Gwendolyn Dupont Bettencourt stole my chance at the Entropy title, kinda. I know I was kinda wishy-washy when Ace challenged me, but I was feeling really bad when that happened. I feel better now, and I want a chance to face Gwendolyn in a match."

Now came the hard part: talking trash.

"Guys, she's not a nice girl. At all. She thinks she's so cool, and she's really pretty and her clothes are to die for, but... I don't think she's very good at wrestling." She expected shock and awe from the crowd, instead she got aww's. "She's a cheater, too! She only beat Ace because she cheated! She only beats anyone by cheating, and I think that if we had a fair match, I'd be able to tap her out pretty quick. So, ummm..."

She swallowed hard. "Gwendolyn, if you're back there, I'd like to challenge you to a match."

Several seconds ticked away after Cassie's "biting" commentary about the heiress and her subsequent challenge, audience members squirming in their seats in anticipation until finally the heiress' unmistakeably pompous theme blasted through the speakers. Yet as blaring loud as it was the accompanying boos seemed to nearly dwarf it, especially once the Entropy champion herself emerged surrounded on all sides by a team of eight trainers/escorts/bodyguards dressed in blue and white track suits.

Sauntering out from behind the curtain in her cobalt blue and floral white dress suit ensemble, Gwendolyn's pretentious smile beamed almost as brightly as the gleaming title belt fastened around her shoulder like a Miss Universe sash. The palpable disdain for the heiress was the anti-thesis of Cassie's welcoming reception, her heinous actions in her match with Alaina still fresh in everyone's memory.

Her elegant stride down the ramp was the definition of perfected poise, the entourage accompanying her pressing against the fans along the barricade to block their "Fake Entropy Chumpion" and "Gwenniecakes" signs from the heiress' view. Gwendolyn's intent-laden hazel gaze never easing up off Cassie as she sauntered up the metal steps and through the ropes opened wider with one of her entourage sitting on the middle rope, though her crew would remain outside for the duration.

Gwen stood tall in front of Cassie with one gloved hand on her title belt sash well after her theme had petered off, an imposing and by now truly infamous figure peering down towards the diminutive grappler. Exuding an aura of absolute confidence in direct contrast to Cassie's mousey demeanor. She was in the building that night simply for business, but apparently all of her cage rattling had coaxed Cassie out of her hibernation, at long last. After several seconds of a piercing stare down with a haughty smirk on her face, Gwen raised the mic in her other hand to finally speak...

"Well...unwarranted accusations of cheating aside, I simply must offer you my gratitude, Cassandra. it's honestly refreshing...to finally...*sigh*...finally...hear my name be pronounced correctly~..." Gwen lowered her mic to appreciate that simple victory. “Allow me to be the first to welcome you back to the squared circle, dear Cassandra. There were those that feared that the exceptionally embarrassing drubbing you suffered at the hands of Kelly Conway may have very well been the last we see of you~…”Gwen would nonchalantly raise her hand to pull and inspect the lapel on Cassie’s suit jacket while she continued speaking.

“Honestly my dear, such animosity towards my actions. You accuse me of robbing you of your Entropy title opportunity, but be truthful with me…were you really in any conceivable shape to be competing at the level of an Entropy contender. From my point of view, the Cassie Elliot that Haley wished to do battle with was gone…and only a despondent, hollow facsimile stood in her place. Competing in Avalanche in that state...my my~...you can imagine how that would have turned out. I dare say you owe me some manner of gratitude for rescuing you from a stage you clearly were not prepared for and allowing you the time to heal~…” Her velvety voice seamlessly twisted the story in her favor as she would now raise her hand to pinch the bear ears on her crocheted cap, the heiress still trying to piece together just what on earth Cassandra was going for with this outfit…

“But…now that you’re back…tell me…cheater or not...which I am not...what makes you think that challenging the Entropy Champion as your inaugural debut is, in anyway, a smart move?”

Cassie had butterflies in her stomach while she watched the elegant heiress march down the ramp, with her golden curls and her spiffy suit. She wished that Gwen wasn't such a butt, because her clothes really were outstanding, though she was sure she could never afford them.

Though she was undeniably somewhat intimidated, she was equally thrilled that Gwen had showed up at all.

"Uh..." She squirmed slightly when Gwen inspected her unremarkable tuxedo coat, but stood her ground. Gwen could say whatever she wanted about her loss to Kelly, and a lot of it was probably true. The experience of having to tap out to someone like Kelly Conway had leveled Cassie's confidence. Though she knew Kelly had cheated her way to the victory, the simple fact that she ended the match with a submission hold had hurt Cassie deeply.

But nevermind that. Cassie had plans, big plans, and they weren't going to be spoiled by some spoiled brat.

"Well, Gwendolyn," Cassie began at a measured pace. "I've been competing since you were learning about fractions. I really wouldn't call this a debut..."

She let the words linger while she composed her next thoughts. "But... I see you have your helpers with you. As usual, right?" She glanced at the crowd, and they responded with a few isolated hoots. "I saw how you beat Ace, and Alaina. And... I think the referee must have been in on it too... But if not, then, sorry, to the referee. It just seemed like..."

She trailed off for a moment before recovering. "It seems like you've always got a trick up your sleeve, and someone watching your back. But... You might remember from that day in the gym, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, too."

Her giggles lofted out over the arena, and she stamped her feet in excitement. It felt pretty good to rub their gym encounter in Gwen's face, too, since like... Cassie won. With Jiu Jitsu, not with cheating.

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve too, Gwendolyn Dupont Bettencourt! And I think that we should have a match, a fair one, and I've got just the thing to make sure that you don't pull any of your dirty tricks!"

She paused for effect, and then spread her feet wide and struck a superhero-esque pose while pointing up to the ceiling. She drew a deep breath, and in her loudest voice, exclaimed

"Thiiiis iiissss stuuuu-"

"Turpa kiinni! Turpa kiinni! Shut up!" Giggled the diminutive pink haired Finn as she loudly shushed her cousin from their hiding spot. "It's been too long, it's been too long since CassCass called us-"

"Iiiiits time!"

"HYAAAAAA!"

Both Keltainen and Sininen hopped up onto the barrier and puffed out their small chests. Sininen cackled as she produced two smoking balls and threw them at the crowd of track suited cronies.

Keltainen hopped down, pulled up a mask over her mouth and rushed at them. With deadly efficiency, she began to chop Primol Group's finest flunkies down to size while they were bewildered in the smoke.

There was a noticeable twinge in the corner of Gwendolyn's right eye from Cassie's "fractions" remark and her daring reference to that blasted training session gone horribly wrong. It was that abominable showing that served to be the key motivating factor for Gwendolyn to make attaining the Entropy Championship her new mission in life and confirm to the world(including Cassie!!!) that she wasn't the helpless pusover she had seen that day!! That her unparalleled wrestling talents earned her the right to be there!! Whether Cassie knew it or not, it was her trouncing of the heiress that day that served to initiate a chain reaction for everything that had taken place up until now.

The heiress concealed her gnashing teeth behind an obviously forced smile as Cassie demonstrated her adorably innate ability to test Gwendolyn's patience unlike any other, her sunny disposition making her remarks considerably more irritating. Gwendolyn raised her mike to retort after Cassie screeched into her microphone after prattling on about having her own tricks up her sleeve, flinching from the high pitched reverb of the mic.

"SPY TEAM?! What on Earth are you blathering abou-!!" An explosion of while clouds from behind would cut off the heiress, her golden curls fluttering forward before she spun in place with widened eyes!!! The sly little mynx had set a trap for her and her crew!! Her steadfast entourage were enclosed in a huge puff of smoke, sputtering, coughing, and wiping their eyes in utter confusion!!

"Wh-wh-what's going on??!?" The clearly rattled heiress back pedaled until she nearly reversed into the still posing Cassie, turning back to face the devilish trickster as the heiress clutched her Entropy title belt for dear life!!

"Oooph!! Eeek!! Hey!!"

Gwendolyn pivoted back towards the swirling gas cloud when she recognized the distorted moans of her attendants being knocked senseless!! The arena was in utter pandemonium at this point with the audience in a fever pitch of raucous cheering!! The heiress scurried towards the ropes and leaned over them to bark orders and questions from inside the ring away from the smoky clouds herself.

"Hey!!! I demand someone answer me!!!"

Cassie was overcome by an uncontrollable giggle-fit as Kel and Sin leapt into view. When she recovered, she straightened up and flung her arm up at the ceiling again.

"BEHOLD! The- wait, what are you guys doing?" She leaned around Gwen to look at the cloud of smoke. That wasn't part of the plan. Was it? And the hitting, was that really necessary?

"Okay, c'mon, guys. Come up here! Let 'em see what they're up against!"

"Hei! Hei!" Sininen chirped as Cassie called the Finns up to the ring. Both of them slipped into the ring and brushed past Gwendolyn. When they got to Cassie, they spun around. Sininen held out her arms and kicked out her leg, pressing her back against Cassie's shoulder.

"Hah-cha!" She said, as she flashed Gwendolyn a bright smile. "Secret agent Sininen, reporting for duty!"

Keltainen just folded her arms as she stood next to Cassie. "Hm, hm, hm!" She said and turned her nose up at the whole thing.

Cassie struck a pose along with Sininen and pointed dramatically at Gwendolyn while she raised her microphone to her lips again.

"Your evildoing has gone unchecked for too long, Gwendolyn Dupont Bettencourt! But now, you and your goon squad have met your match! We're going to put and end to your dastardly shenanigans, and I'm going to show everyone what a good wrestler you're not! When you step in the ring with me, I'll have you tapping out in no time!"

She pointed at Sininen. "Introducing... Secret Agent Sininen!" Then Kel. "Secret Agent Keltainen!" She pointed her thumb at herself. "Secret Agent Cassie Elliot! And together, we are...

"The Cassie Elliot Top Secret Super Action Spy Team!"

Gwendolyn clung to her title belt with a vice like grip as if it were her sole life-line to reality in the ensuing chaos taking place all around her, the audience in an uproar at the flashy spectacle of Cassie and her teams' sentai poses. The end of the ramp was now littered with the unconscious members of her entourage, leaving a flummoxed heiress to fend for herself!!

Gwendolyn seethed and glared at the cherubic grappler making a mockery of the heiress and her crew of trainers, stomping her boot and fearlessly approaching Cassie's espionage team. Boldly pointing her index finger at the coordinated posing trio as she spouted her indignant retort!!!

"YOU DARE MAKE LIGHT OF ME AND WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF!!! THIS UNMITIGATED DERISION WILL NOT GO UNANSWERED!!! CONSIDER YOUR PITIFUL CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!! THIS ASSEMBLY OF RAGTAG MISCREANTS WILL SERVE ONLY TO BE THE FRONT SEAT WITNESSES TO YOUR INEVITABLE DESTRUCTION!!! THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT!!! MARK MY WORDS, YOU WILL RUE THE DAY THAT YOU EVEN CONSIDERED THE NOTION THAT YOU COULD DEFEAT ME, CASSIE ELLIOT!!!" The fuming heiress was teeming with outrage after having lost complete control of the situation!! Cassie was apparently still not taking her serious as a competitor with this farce, and in her anger Gwen was unintentionally playing up to be the perfect villainous foil in contrast to Cassie's heroic persona!!

Cassie stood defiantly across from Gwen, shoulder-to-shoulder with her little spy allies, and let her dispense with the villainous diatribe. She sure looked funny without her dignity.

"Spare me the bravado, Gwendolyn Dupont Bettencourt! Nothing you can say can change the fact that you're nothing but a dirty cheater, and everyone knows it!" She pointed her thumb back at Sininen without taking her eyes off of Gwen.

"Sininen! Give her... The Omega Bomb!"