Legacies Collide

The Bright Siblings:

"Woohoo! We finally made it to AFW!"

The black haired boy regarded his adopted sister with a slight frown. "No need to be so loud, Estelle. Do you want the entire federation to know we're here?"

"Why wouldn't we, Joshua?" She peered over the back of her shoulder with a smug expression, a fire alight in his eyes that the boy was all too familiar with. "We've gotta start finding opponents, after all! Strike while the iron is hot! Make our name known, give dad a reason to be proud and all that!"

"The only thing you'd give him right now is a headache." Joshua sighed. "And I can already feel one coming on myself." What had he been thinking, accompanying her to the land of the rising sun? Well, he'd partly been thinking he needed to look out for his sister. He'd also been considering the need to develop his own repertoire and skills in the ring. He might not be a Bright by blood, but he still has high expectations to live up to in the wrestling world. "Let's just get acquainted with the Tension area for now. And please don't go running off again Estelle..."

Blink.

"...Estelle?" Crap. Too late.

Estelle had already rounded the corner of the backstage corridor and was exploring at her leisure, humming a tune. It still felt unreal to her - she was in AFW. Her dad might have helped secure their path into the federation with his legacy as a former champion, but to Estelle, the girl knew she had to make a big impact if she didn't want to linger in her father's shadow for her entire career. And she knew Joshua felt the same too. Both siblings wanted to be recognised on their own merits and names. They were more than simply 'the children of Cassius Bright'.

These thoughts consumed her as she continued to wander, her mind perhaps not entirely focused on where her feet took her...

The Foppish Gilbert Stein:

A downtrodden Frenchman extended his hand towards what was the fifth passerby now scurrying down an adjacent hallway, each one unwilling to assist him in locating Tensions front office. The uptight nobleman, known as one Gilbert Stein, stomped his foot in a thwarted huff before opting to try his luck elsewhere. Daintily promenading himself down the nearest hallway, his fanciful feathers thoroughly ruffled after what he deems to be a workplace environment teeming with outright rudeness and a deplorable disregard for adhering to proper etiquette. Especially when being formally addressed by not only Tensions latest talent acquisition, but a sophisticated nobleman who hails from a respected family of world renown in simultaneously the business and wrestling ethos. Unfortunately, the fact that he was still speaking French towards those who know nothing of the language did not factor into the reasoning for people not conversing with him. Not to mention how he's dressed would assuredly make any average person question whether to steer clear or not.

"BlarGh!!" Gilbert yelped in a high-pitched voice from being tackled out of his blindside as he turned a corner, collapsing straight down onto his posh keister. "Nyah!!! I'll give you whatever you want, just don't harm me!!!" The Foppish Frenchman pleading for mercy and instinctively shielding himself from any further attack as he squinted and recoiled his face away from his assailant, only peeking one eye open at a time to witness his attacker was merely some twin-tailed girlish roustabout. And therefore no threat to him, he figured. Gilbert scowled and started rising up off the filthy floor, patting himself down and neither offering or accepting assistance to get back on his feet. "Tch, is it too much to ask that you be mindful of where place those gigantic clogs you call feet? Signing up with this reprehensible wrestling organization is becoming nothing but a pestiferous nuisance-...wait, I've spied your countenance once before. Whom am I addressing and from where might you hail?" Gilbert inquired with an inquisitive eyebrow perked up, finally remembering to drop his native language.

Many would have deemed the following event inevitable. Estelle was the type to walk first and ask for directions later, and it was only thanks to Joshua that she didn't get lost half the time. But having left her adopted brother behind, the girl was preoccupied with the thoughts of her future wrestling career and not where she was going...which led to her colliding with something...or someone very blue.

"Oof!" Much like her accidental victim, she also fell onto her rear, clutching her forehead. "A-ah, I'm sorry, I wasn't watc-" Her apology was silenced by the deafening, high pitched cry of a foppish, regal looking male. Estelle forgot about her pain as she stared nearly in disbelief at the sight of the cowering male, hands raised in self-defense. "Uh. Its okay, I won't hurt yo-" This time she was interrupted by a scowl as the man rose up off the ground, ignoring her extended hand for assistance nor deigning her worthy to help up himself. Instead choosing to address her with a condescending tone. Okay, he was instantly in her 'dislike' books.

"Geez, it was a simple accident." Estelle retorted back, pushing herself off the ground and dusting her own clothes. "No need to be so dramatic. And what the heck does 'pestiferous' mean?" The trace of an accent from his tongue didn't go amiss on her ears. Now he was demanding her name? "For your information, Sir Fancypants, my name is Estelle Bright. I hail from the US - and you ought to introduce yourself before asking someone else's name. At least, that's what my good old dad says! And as for you..." She folded her arms, taking the time to think and reflect. The man would see the gears turning in her head, as if she was intently concentrating with her face screwed up tightly, finger to her chin...

"I have no idea who you are. But wait, did you say you signed up for this 'wrestling organisation'?" A smirk toyed at the end of her lips, unable to keep a straight face as she half attempted, half failed to hold back a dismissive snigger. "Ha...you must have hit your head hard there...you don't look like you could wrestle your way out of a paper bag...whoever you are."

Whatever this cloddish oaf may have misconstrued for a "high pitched cry", rest assured, nothing as preposterously spineless was uttered from the Foppish Frenchman's mouth. Mayhaps this graceless bumpkin misheard Gilbert or mistook his voice for the passing squawks of a stray pelican from some yonder window. Furthermore, Gilbert's instinctive reflex to cower into a fetal position and begin profusely beseeching his assailant for some modicum of mercy was merely a cleverly devised stratagem that he mastered from within the halls of his prestigious prep school. Where upperclassmen adorned in dapper blazers stuffed him into lockers or strung him up his frilly pantaloons. Well, no bully dared to sully their hands upon Gilbert once he began groveling at the mere sight of them. Albeit it was from abject pity, but twas a victory nevertheless in Gilbert's refined eyes~...

"Harrumph, I say. I bestow honorable introductions upon whomever I deem worthy of the privilege, you ill-mannered demoiselle. And just for the record, these pantaloons are of exquisite craftsmanship and are deserving of a far more prestigious descriptor than merely...fancy." Gilbert's snobbish harrumphing continued onward as the point of Estelle's derogatory wording went far over his blue-haired head. However, identifying herself as Estelle Bright started initiating some cogs to be turned in his thought processes and memory banks. Until he recognized with stunned chagrin and an aghast gasp exactly where he remembered that rather luminous name from. Highlight reels of his Father's matches replaying within his head until he'd recognized how all fate's pieces came together this day. Gilbert regaining his poised stance with a condescending smirk to match his tone of voice.

"Hmm, Estelle Bright you say. Well Well Well, isn't this most fortuitous~...Perhaps introductions are indeed in order. For you see, although you may not recognize mine own sophisticated visage...the name behind these regal features should jog more than it's fair share of bells. For you see, our respective Fathers were once entwined in a gentlemanly yet competitive duel within the wrestling ring for many years. Ones from which mine Papa suffered from your cheating Father's unscrupulous tactics. And now I, his noble heir, have decided to reclaim my family's honor with that fabled squared circle. For I am none other than~..." A flourishing spin and striking pose taken by the Frenchman now sniffing from a crimson red rose, glittering stars now sparkling all around his portrait in all its garish glory. All before dramatically extending his hand to have the rose directed square at Estelle with a winking face behind it. "Gilbert François Hubert Stein~..."

The man introduced himself with a flourish. A crimson rose plucked so swiftly she hadn't even seen where he'd been hiding it. She bet he was imagining himself with glittering stars around his 'charming' portrait. This was a guy who valued himself more than he was worth. He spoke a lot about history, treating Estelle as if she should be well aware just who she was in the presence of. She watched expressionlessly. No surprise. No recognition. Not even an acknowledgement that she knew of him.

"Er. Never heard of you." Was her curt, flat response. One could easily imagine the air deflating out of the pompous windbag when she delivered that most fatal of blows. His pristine image shattering like a broken mirror. Despite crushing his soul with that reply, some of his words were of interest to her. "But you say your dad was in a wrestling rivalry with mine? Funny, he didn't mention anything of the sort to me. Maybe your dad just wasn't very memorable?" She smiled, knowing such words were about to get under the thinly veiled skin of this pretentious peacock.

"I'll correct you on one thing though." Estelle would brush the arm pointing the rose directly towards her. "My dad never cheated. He was too smart to resort to those kind of tactics. Strong, too. Sounds to me like your daddy dearest just made excuses for his losses." She stared at Gilbert, her look as hard as steel. She had something to prove to this poser. "If you want to learn just how good the Bright Family is in the ring, I'll be more than happy to wrestle you in his stead." She smirked impishly.

"Unless you're...scared~"

In his boundless generosity, the Fabled Gilbert Stein would permit this unkempt country bumpkin all the time necessary so that she may collect herself upon learning of the Foppish Frenchman's true identity. Gilbert would understand if she were to faint with a swooning breath taken from sheer abject shock from being in the presence of the Stein Family's scion. A wrestling lineage recently interwoven with the Bright Family's own paltry grappling heritage thanks to their respective Father's fearsome engagements throughout their glory years. One-sided, though the win loss ratio may appear to be within their bitter rivalry, Gilbert was assured in his belief that Cassius Bright simply earned those victories through unscrupulous methods in order to explain how he could have bested his own Father that many times. Gilbert presenting both himself and his baseless theories to the twin-tailed Bright girl with star speckled brilliance shimmering all around his smirking countenance~...

...but those stars fizzled out along with the glamorous portrait around him shattering from being so callously unrecognized and unappreciated!! The rose in his hand deflating to a slackened droop along with his overall demeanor and posture as Estelle continued onward with her endless haranguing. "Wh-Wh-What??!! How can you not be even remotely familiar with the Marvelous Gilbert Stein and the contentious feud between our two families??!!" Gilbert queried with a crestfallen expression before regaining both his composure and a disdainful scowl as well. "Hmph. What fathomable reason do I have be fearful of an invitation I myself intended to extend regardless?" A silk white glove being produced from his pocket before fancifully swatting it lightly against Estelle's face. "Challenge accepted, you oafish brute. Prepare for a lesson in civility, wrestling etiquette, and through education about how the pitiable Brights are doomed to be outshined by the flawless grace of the Stein family~..." Afterward taking his leave by spinning in place while beginning to walk back down the hallway.

How could she be unaware of the great Gilbert Stein? Blissfully so, actually. Gilbert had the look of a wounded puppy until his face perked up with disdain, something Estelle found herself returning as they stared each other down. "I'd say great minds think alike, but you obviously don't have one to begin with." When he smacked Estelle's face lightly with that white glove of his, the expression she gave him could have struck fear into the most hardened of criminals. "I don't know what deluded dream you think you're having, but I'll be the one to give you a rude awakening when we meet in the ring!" She called after him as he turned on the spot to take his leave.

"Estelle!" Joshua came up from behind her, relief on his face. "I thought you'd gotten lost..." He glimpsed the back of the pretentious Gilbert walking back down the hallway, and the smirk Estelle was wearing on her face as he felt his stomach churn. "Estelle...I swear, I take my eye off you for one second...just what have you gotten yourself wrapped up in...?"

"Just my first match against some clown who is totally gonna lose!" She declared, a fire in her eyes as she glanced back at her adoptive brother...