The Nightingale Descends... (NON-CANON)

The AFW's audience was on edge tonight. There had been rumors that another alumni from the now out-of-business Rumble Roses federation had recently signed a contract with the AFW, joining up as a member. Even more exciting to the many fans in the audience, was that there was another rumor that whoever it was that got signed was planning to make an appearance on tonight's show. There was a brief break between matches at the moment, and the crowd was abuzz wondering if this was when they would see if the rumors were true or not.

Luckily for them, it was.

The arena darkened for a moment, the crowd going silent as they waited breathlessly to see what was going on. A brief instant later, a series of pyrotechnics went off on either side of the entrance ramp, as a [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8K-lBCGGzE:2mrh8gz4]funky entrance theme[/url:2mrh8gz4] began to blare over the speakers of the arena. Out from behind the stage stepped none other than Anesthesia, the Dark Nightingale of the former Rumble Roses federation, flanked on each side of herself by a woman in a business suit, each one wearing dark sunglasses and carrying a briefcase. Anesthesia herself carried a microphone in one hand, and a dark, sly smile on her face. She stood atop the entrance ramp for a moment, letting it sink into the crowd that she was here, then signalled to her two assistants. The three began their way down the ramp towards the ring, every one of the nurse's steps filled with sheer confidence.

The crowd was both at once curious and shocked at what was happening. Of all people, it turned out to be Anesthesia? It seemed that rumors surrounded her like flies on fruit. Even during the brief time the Rumble Roses federation was active, there was rumors that she was up to dark deeds behind the scenes, and when the company finally closed it's doors, there her name was again, the blame for the happenings being placed on her. She had fallen out of the public eye after the company shut down, so her appearance here, as apparently a new wrestler for the AFW, was both shocking and intriging for the attending fans.

When Anesthesia reached the ring, her two assistants slid their briefcases into the ring, then jumped up onto the apron, holding open the middle and top ropes. Anesthesia herself then stepped up onto the apron, passing through the open ropes and heading to the center of the ring. Her assistants were soon to follow, retrieving their briefcases and going to join her. The Nightingale's entrance music soon died down, the crowd falling silent as Anesthesia lifted her microphone to her lips.

"I suppose all of you have questions. Wondering why I'm here, wondering what really happened with the Rumble Roses..." A smirk crossed the nurse's face, as she looked out over the audience, continuing. "Well, I'm here tonight for several things, one of which is settling those rumors. Firstly, I want to assure you, any rumors you've heard about me are absolutely false. Mere muckraking from the actual owners of that outdated, silly organization. They couldn't stand that I had quickly risen to such a high position in the company. They wanted someone like the cowgirl, or the orphan, that they could push to the top. Someone more marketable than poor, little, me." She paused again, this time shaking her head, tsking softly under her breath.

"Well, I suppose I showed them in the end. Everyone that was part of that company knew that I was the real power behind the scenes. And now, in the end? Well...any rumors that Rumble Roses is dead are completely wrong." Anesthesia signalled to one of her assistants, the woman stepped forward and opening her briefcase, revealing a small stack of papers inside. Anesthesia lifted these with her free hand, gesturing towards them with a smile. "Rumble Roses, as a company, was a complete failure. Too many egos and too many cooks, not wanting to let nature take it's natural course. A pity, really. At the end of the day though?" She lifted the papers up, nodding towards them. "When the owners of the company were ready to shut it's doors and shut the entire thing down, when the federation was completely broke, and all of the talent had left? That's when I swooped in."

She turned back to her assistant, placing the papers into the briefcase, letting her close it back. "These papers, which I am ever so fond of? The rights to the Rumble Roses name and everything else that's left of the company. When the investors and owners were trying to make back some of the money they had lost, they were quick to accept the offer I made for it." She stepped away from the first assistant, taking a few slow steps towards the second, letting her words settle into the crowd. "That's right. I am now the sole owner of the Rumble Roses federation. Of course, the company is completely dead. Technically I'm the only employee left. The funny thing about that, though?" She nodded towards her second assistant, who opened the briefcase quickly, revealing a single championship belt lying inside. Anesthesia couldn't help but grin at the sight of it, going to lift it from the briefcase and turn back to the audience, letting them have a full view of it.

"You see this? The 'esteemed' Rose of Roses championship title? It's a bit funny...if there's no one else in the federation, that means the title defaults to me, doesn't it?" The dark skinned nurse stifled a laugh, lowering the belt back down, draping it over her shoulder, the second assistant closing her briefcase and lowering it to her side. "Those ignorant fools that owned the federeation couldn't give me a push, couldn't give me a chance to have the title I oh-so-deserved. After all, you can't have a bitch like me as champion, right? But now it seems the joke's on them. I'm going down in the records as the final champion of the Rumble Roses. It's almost poetic, isn't it?"

Suddenly, Anesthesia deeply sighed, lowering her head and slowly shaking it side to side before continuing. "But, this belt is meaningless. Rumble Roses is completely dead, and I have no plans to revive it. I'm merely holding onto the name and the rights for my own personal benefit, my own uses. I'm here now, in this wonderful AFW company." Her voice took on a nasty, sarcastic tone as she said the word 'wonderful'. "The owner of this company was...gracious...enough to hire me, a poor refugee from a defunct federation. I suppose I should consider myself lucky, even though once again, I find myself at the absolute bottom rung, forced to fight my way back to the top..."

Again the nurse paused, and when she continued again, her voice took on a harder, colder tone, her accent crisp as she spat her next words into the microphone. "It doesn't matter though. I may not be too fond of the higher ups here, I have no qualms about admitting that, but I've seen what passes for the competition here. Before anyone here realises what's happening, I'll be on top. Oh, trust me." Her voice took on a lighter tone, her smile slowly returning to her face. "I will be in a position of power in this company, and even with this warning, there is nothing that any of you can do to stop me."

With those words, Anesthesia dropped her microphone to the mat, letting it bounce on the canvas and roll aside, turning away as if to leave, muttering softly under her breath. "Though, I would love to see one of these ladies try, I really would..."

Suddenly, a loud sound like an eagle shrieking filled the entire stadium and led the microphone to scream, making the crowd terrified as they covered their ears. Then, an explosion of black smoke came from the entrance of the walkway. Once it was clear, Paramore's "Misery Business" began to play and there stood a girl with dark purple and black hair. Her clothing consisted of a dark shining purple sleeveless zippered suit with the collars covering the bottom of her face, long black fingerless gloves, and black army boots.

She would glare at Anesthesia with her glowing red eyes, saying nothing as if she was waiting to tear this horrid nurse to pieces.

Before Anesthesia could make it to the side of the ring to leave, the dark-clad girl suddenly appeared, as if from out of nowhere. When the smoke cleared and the girl stepped forth, the nurse glanced over her, an amused smirk crossing her face. She signalled for one of the woman that had followed her to the ring to grab her microphone and hand it back to her, and once the woman did, Anesthesia lifted it to her lips, her speaking into it again.

"What is this...?" She asked, the tone of her voice somewhere between amused, playful, and stern. "Did some lost little girl stumble out here to ask me help find her mommy? Did a little bird fall out of it's nest?" She stopped, stepped towards the ropes, leaning against them with crossed arms, staring up at the girl. "Tell me something...to who do I owe the pleasure of this meeting, hmm? What's your name, little girl?"

The girl stood there emotionless as the nurse was taunting her. She watched as Anesthesia came to her and looked up, showing that she was interested but not at all intimidated. When asked for her name, she would slowly unzip her cover and let out her own loud shriek to make the microphone screech again. After the high noise ceased, she simply said, "Deathbird...And which of your ladies helped you out of your rolling crutches?"

"Deathbird...?" Anesthesia asked curiously, looking even more amused than before. "So you are a little baby bird fallen out of it's nest." She pushed back off the ropes, stepping back towards the center of the ring slowly. She ignored Deathbird's question for now, instead opting to ask her another. "Tell me something else then, little baby bird. What made you think it was such a great idea to come out to the ring tonight to meet me? Did you perhaps want to join me in my rise to the top of this pathetic company? Or perhaps you wanted to try to make yourself look good by beating up on the helpless nurse?"

Her voice had taken on something of a cruel tone by this point, the nurse narrowing her eyes towards Deathbird slowly. "Perhaps you'd like to actually come down to the ring, so we can...discuss...things further?"

Deathbird zipped up her gag and raised her eyebrow as she followed Anesthesia to the center of the ring. She would reply, "Would it be appropriate to say that I'm a big fan of your work? And in the contrary, I would like YOU to help ME...Even I have no shame on sending a hag back to the retirement home while I always go off as a free bird." She was anxious to face Anesthesia and was enthusiastic enough to face her in a match sometime.

As Deathbird entered the ring, Anesthesia motioned for her two assistants to slip out, the two women obeying her silent command. They left the ring, but stayed at ringside, each of them keeping a careful eye on both the nurse and Deathbird.

Anesthesia herself listened to Deathbird's words, the amused expression never dropping from her face. "A big fan of my work? I suppose you saw some of my matches, then, back from the old days of the Rumble Roses?" Her voice softened a bit, losing a bit of it's hard edge as she continued. "But...help you? And you want to send a 'hag' to the retirement home? Little baby bird, I hope you're not thinking of squashing me here in this ring, right now, in hopes of making yourself look good..." She let her voice trail off, but the intention behind her words was clear. It was a verbal threat, a sign to Deathbird not to try something stupid and get herself on Anesthesia's bad side.

Deathbird would reply, "Oh, I've watched your matches since I was still an orphan. I was inspired by how you've taken every cautious step in order to rise to power. As of now, I want to do the same. And that's why I need you now. I probably can't consider you a Mom since we're not the same blood, but there's something else in our blood that makes us common. I don't expect to rip you apart now, you're a veteran and you probably know better than me." This showed that she wasn't at all intimidated by Anesthesia's threat.

Anesthesia let the girl finish speaking, then raised the microphone back up to her lips to continue. "So what is it that you want, little baby bird? I'm still not sure why you're here. Are you asking me to take you under my wing, to carry you along with me to the top of this company?"

Deathbird would put a finger on her chin in thinking and replied slyly, "Well, sometimes I'm skeptic when it comes to veterans who haven't got back in the game for so long. If you want me to come with you, you need to show me if you still got it. How about a match right here right now? Then the whole world will know who you really are."