Presenting Cassie Elliot

Cassie drew in a deep breath and tried to let it out slowly while her lips quivered. She tried to wipe her sweaty palms on something, but her thighs were bare and the slick material of her yellow and white suit was no help. She gave up, and only fussed a bit over her short, unruly orange-red hair for a moment before grabbing handfuls of her cape and pulling it tightly around her. Like Batman. Batman was awesome. Wasn't he? Then why did Cassie suddenly feel so, so stupid for wearing a cape to the ring for her first appearance outside of a match?

It was too late for second thoughts. [url=http://youtu.be/66KhzUMY8gE:2jzddxc6]Her new music filled the arena[/url:2jzddxc6], and that was her cue. She had to walk out there, not like some teenaged grappling prodigy with dreams of being a pro wrestler, not as a sweet little girl or as the friend of other successful wrestlers, but as a woman who had talent, ability, and ambition. She had to show them who she was, and that she wasn't going to back down to anyone. That's what Taylor had told her, anyway.

The moment she emerged from backstage and was hit by the bright lights and the sight of the arena and the crowd and the cameras and the ring, all the way down there, it looked so small, all her attempts at mustering some bravado went up in smoke. She curled her hands into fists and pressed them together in front of her chest while she began to take meek little steps down the ramp, peering shyly at the fans lining the way. Her wide green eyes were so unsure and so self conscious that when she broke into a nervous, pretty smile she could hear people on either side say "awww". That was not the reaction she was looking for.

She forced herself to put her hands at her sides, and her arms ended up stuck against her body as if they were glued there. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them she focused on the ring, as if the whole arena was empty except for it. She listened to her music and succeeded in loosening up a little, and when she got to the ring she used the steps and ducked under the middle rope.

She took her place in the middle of the ring and gave the crowd another sweet, nervous smile, this time with a wave, and was so surprised when the crowd cheered back at her that she blushed. She fidgeted for a moment while the crowd collectively adored her, and fumbled with her microphone before she found the on switch and lifted it to her mouth.

"Um..." Her voice reverberated through the arena. The crowd waited. "H-hi?"

The crowd answered back. "Hi!" Cassie's eyebrows went up, and she couldn't help but smile. She bowed her head to the crowd.

"Um, I'm Cassie Elliot." She began, with an evident Canadian accent. "You might've seen me before... Um..." She looked down at her white boots and crossed the toes of one foot over the other. "S-sorry, I'm not really good at talking in front of people like this, but... that's not really my job." She looked back up at the crowd and continued with some more conviction.

"I'm a wrestler. You might not know me, but I'm really good. I'm going to be the best. I've held back for a long time, but I'm not going to do that anymore, and, s-so... Everybody better watch out for me, because I'm going to fight, and I'm going to win." The crowd cheered. Her mousey little voice had some steel to it. "I know things a lot of girls don't, I see what they do and I know that I could beat them. I'm a lot better than most people here, at least... in some ways. I'm going to make those ways the ones that count. I'm going to win. And someday... I'm going to be champion." She said, and then added. "I just hope the belt isn't too big for me."

The crowd laughed and cheered for her, and she smiled again, surprised by the warmth and enthusiasm of everyone. She spread her cape out behind her and put on a big, squeezey-eyed grin. Her giggle lilted through the microphone before she spoke again.

"I hope all you guys can believe in me. And I hope no one underestimates me." She pointed vaguely in the direction of backstage, and the locker room. "Everybody, I'll see you in the ring. I can't wait to compete with you guys. And I can't wait to win!"

She raised her arms triumphantly, grinning away while the crowd cheered.

The crowd cheered for a few seconds in response to Cassie's last sentence. The cheers didn't get a chance to die down before a loud sound interrupted them. The sound of a low-tone bell rang loudly through the arena's speakers. There was a pause before another one rang and [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg92QpjRcJk:3s1ta83l]a song[/url:3s1ta83l] followed. After a few seconds of music passed, a girl walked to the top of the ramp from backstage. She was wearing a loose fitting Shinto priestess robe accompanied by a kitsune mask that fully concealed her face. Around the mask was long, flowing brown hair that dropped both in front of the girl as well as behind her. She stood at the top of the ramp for what felt like a whole minute as the guitar-filled song played on. The masked girl just stared down towards the ring as if inspecting Cassie in the ring. This was Dark Angel, a recently debuted wrestler. The more dedicated AFW fans had seen her in a couple matches in the few weeks before but until this day she hadn't stepped into the arena for a reason other than to wrestle.

Before the song got to the voice chorus it died down. The girl continued to stare down at Cassie from the top of the ramp as the arena was quiet...well as quiet as it could be with a lot of the crowd still cheering either for Cassie or this other newcomer who they didn't really know yet. Finally the girl lifted her arm up to her mask, apparently she had been holding a microphone in her sleeve and was just waiting around as long as she could without boring the crowd. Not that she cared what they thought. As the microphone got close to her mouth, she suddenly laughed in an almost sinister way. "How cute..." she said with a hidden smirk. The girl turned herself towards the crowd and lifted her left arm into the air with her palm faced inward. "Ladies and Gentlemen, what we have here is the next big thing!" she announced with a very strong sarcastic tone.

After a very short laugh, Angel turned back to the ring and continued. "A girl who knows she's good...a girl who knows she's going to win...A girl who knows she's the best." The masked girl paused for a moment to look around again before returning her gaze back to Cassie. "And a girl who doesn't know what she's getting herself into." Rather than laugh or smile under the mask, the Dark Angel just stared down the ramp at the confident yet shy wrestler. "Everyday, the Friction roster fills in with new blood. New aspiring women with the motivation and drive to become the best." Once again, Angel paused. With the exception of a sarcastic comment earlier, so far her intentions were still fairly vague. But there was a method to her madness. "And everyday, a new wrestler becomes champion. Oh wait-" she once again trailed off laughing. "I'm sorry...that's not right at all."

"If I'm not mistaken...there haven't been any new champions in quite some time. Sure every now and then, a veteran here or there makes a resurgence to title fame. But at the end of the day, it's always the same few elites that we all know are the best." Angel took a few steps down the ramp then stopped. It may have been by accident, as she didn't seem interested in getting into the ring at all. It was just an instinct to move around since she was speaking to everyone in the arena. "Natalia...Gatt..." Angel almost said a third name but didn't want to give that person the honor of being mentioned. "They're the best and you claim to be better than them. Everyday, new people walk in believing they can compete with the best. And they're always wrong." Her mask noticeably moved up a little bit, probably because of a great big smirk underneath.

"You see...those hopeful, enthusiastic youths don't make it to the top. They never do. Just as many newcomers sign up as they fall out. They may get some successes here and there, but in the end they always end up in the same place. Mediocrity. The mid-card. Whatever you want to call it. The people who don't...get...anywhere." Once again, Angel stared down at Cassie with that empty expression. "But don't worry. You'll have a place here in the AFW that you are very well suited for. I for one welcome a new competitor in the league to freshen things up. After all, the main-carders have to crush someone every now and then to remind the AFW universe how good they are. Otherwise, we'd forget who really is the best. And who is not."

Cassie watched the top of the ramp in wide-eyed anticipation of this new arrival. She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and fidgeted, but when Dark Angel made her appearance Cassie was all smiles. It was so exciting! Maybe it was a challenge!

She gave the masked girl an enthusiastic wave. She had a mask and everything! She looked like some kind of... like something Batman would... fight? She looked like a super villain or something. Awesome!

Cassie shrank up when the girl began to speak. She crossed her toes and put her hand on her other elbow, holding her microphone down by her side, and tucked her chin down while peering at Angel with big eyes. She didn't sound very nice, but that's like what Mamouru was trying to teach Cassie to do, act like a bad guy so she could get over her reservations with going all in fighting people. She didn't hold it against her.

Except that she listed Natalia but not Taylor as being among the best. Taylor beat Natalia! Everyone saw it! That wasn't fair. But then no one really knew about Taylor. Not like Cassie did.

Finally, it was Cassie's turn to speak. She lifted her microphone and sternly told herself not to stutter like a dork.

"So... You didn't mention your name with all the best people. Does that mean that you'll end up in the middle with me?" She said suppressing a little smile. She brushed her short orange hair out of the way. "You're right, I don't know what I'm getting into, though, not really. I'll find out, though, and I'll learn and I'll get better and I'll never quit. I know I'm not ready to face someone like Akashi or Sarah Gatt yet. I'd be scared to death of Sarah!" She exclaimed. "But not Akashi. I like her."

Cassie was so utterly undefeated by Angel's attempts to tear her down that the irony was not lost even on her. Still, she wasn't going to go out of her way to be more offended. That'd be silly.

"Soooooooo... you left out the part about how you want to have a match. To see which one of us is better and stuff." She swished her cape in front of her and struck a dramatic pose on one knee. "But I accept anyway!"

Dark Angel wasn't sure how Cassie would have replied to her little motivational speech. She knew it wouldn't crush the girl's hopes, not at all. Well, at least not yet. The way she so confidently threw her own words back at her, though, was a bit of a surprise. Angel wasn't sure if her words had deflected off Cassie, if Cassie was really good at hiding what she felt, or if she was oblivious to what Angel had meant by it. Regardless, the girl look unfazed after her long story. Admittedly, Angel was a little irritated by that. It was far and away her best microphone performance, and she felt that simply saying "You suck," would have gotten the same reaction.

Angel smiled underneath her mask when Cassie brought up the fact that she didn't list her own name among Natalia's or Sarah's. She especially enjoyed how Cassie replaced Natalia with Akashi in her example. It was a surprise even to Angel, as she fully expected the girl to have thought of Taylor Parker before Akashi. Angel's left hand twitched a little bit after that last thought. It had been awhile since the name popped into her head in a public setting. She wasn't fully in control of herself just yet. After Cassie mentioned that she liked Akashi, Angel couldn't help but let out an eerie, almost psychotic kind of laugh. Of course you would.

And of course there was irony in Angel's words. In fact, Angel knew better than anyone else just how ironic it was for her to be giving Cassie such a speech. But she didn't care. Not anymore at least. She had stopped caring what other people thought of her. Her speech was meant to knock Cassie down a few notches but if anything it only made her more assertive. But more importantly, Angel's speech wasn't to make her look tough. She didn't need words to do that. Angel was more than willing to show just what she meant with action. People ironically listened more to that than words. If only words weren't necessary sometimes.

Angel lifted her microphone up to her lips and laughed into it. "See...I don't claim to be one of the best. Anyone can claim anything but in the end it'll all be words. Words don't win matches. Instead of wasting everyone's time, you could have done what I did and fought to prove your point. I know what I am. I don't need to tell people what they should think about me. But there are so many cocky and arrogant girls in the AFW like you who really don't know what they are. You come in here and talk, talk, talk about how great you are and why everyone should care about you." Angel couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry Cassie, but they don't care about you. They cheer because you're a hot girl who is promising them girl on girl action. They don't have faith in you." This received a somewhat mixed reaction from the crowd. It was sort of a shot at them so some people booed. But it also wasn't targeted at them, so others didn't. "No one does."

As she said those last words, Angel started down the ramp towards the ring. It was as if she was answering Cassie's mock challenge without saying a word. The crowd suddenly started cheering as if there was about to be a fight. Still holding the microphone in her hand, Angel rolled into the ring and to her feet. "You see Cassie, I don't need to tell people what to think of me..." she trailed off as she got very close to Cassie and stared at her in the eyes. Through the entire sequence of entering the ring, Angel didn't break eye contact with the girl.

Cassie perked up. "But I like to talk to everyone! I was really nervous at first, but- oh." She was still talking. Cassie waited her turn.

She furrowed her brow when Angel called her arrogant. Cassie wasn't arrogant at all! Was she? She hoped she wasn't. Angel's next bit snapped her out of her train of thought and she broke into a huge grin.

"Me? You think I'm hot?" She glanced at the crowd and down at her yellow lycra clad body. Was she really a hot girl? She knew she had grown into a body that was more adult than she let herself think. The image she had in her head didn't always match what was in the mirror. Her curvy hips and thighs and full breasts seemed so out of place to her. She hadn't figured out what to actually do with them. She wished she could be like Taylor, she was always so comfortable in her own skin, and knew just what to do with her body. "Wow..." She said, and her cheeks turned ever so slightly red.

"Well, I guess I can't expect them to have faith in me yet. They don't know me. That'd be silly. But you never know! Maybe people will believe in me even when they don't have a reason to, those people are the best kind."

Angel was getting closer and closer, and Cassie wasn't sure what to do. Was she going to fight her right then and there? She shifted uncomfortably, and when the girl was close enough she did the only thing she could think of. She stuck out her hand for a handshake.

"I like your mask!" She said. "It's really awesome."

Angel stood very close to Cassie. She hadn't actually planned on doing anything. After all, she knew Cass wasn't going to be threatened by her. Not yet at least. The girl was far too trustworthy for her own good. As much as she wanted to get into Cassie's head, as long as the grappler didn't take her seriously it wouldn't matter. When Cassie randomly commented on her mask, Angel thought for a split second that Cass recognized her. When she shifted into offering her hand, though, Angel mentally breathed a sigh of relief. However, she had no intention of shaking her hand. It wasn't her image. It wasn't that she didnt want to shake her hand. It was that Angel's last experience with Cassie made her extremely cautious. She wasn't about to offer her arm out so close to the grappler. So she just stared into Cassie's eyes with an unwavering gaze.

Finally, the Angel's mask shifted a little upward probably indicating a smile or smirk on the girl's face. But still, she didn't shake Cassie's hand or even say a word. She didn't have to. After everything she had said, it'd be the greatest disgrace not to agree to wrestle Cassie. Angel took a step back and nodded. She wasn't being clear with how simple her actions were but perhaps she preferred it that way. Maybe she didn't want to give Cassie any answers. After all, there were some secrets she didn't want Cassie to know about her. Well, not yet at least. Angel took a few more steps back and stopped nodding. She slid through the ropes and to the ground. As she walked back up the ramp, her theme song started up again right on queue. She'd have to remember to tip the stage manager. At the very least it helped her make a great exit. As she got to the top of the ramp, she stopped and turned around to look back into the ring once more. She tilted her head a little higher, then shook her head and left.

Cassie tried to put on a mean face as Angel got up in her face and blew off her handshake, which didn't work. She tried her best to at least keep a straight face, but it was no use, she was too excited. She couldn't hide her bright little smile.

The girl's silence though was a little weird. She settled down and just stared back at her with her big green eyes. She let her hand flop back down to her side. She wasn't sure if she should say anything, or what was going to happen, or how long the fox-girl was going to stand there staring at her. Her eyes flicked to over to the crowd, as if to ask them for suggestions.

Her body tensed as Angel began to move, even though she was only backing up. She was ready in case she tried anything funny, and she felt hot adrenaline in her chest that tingled down her legs, her breathing became tight in anticipation of something that never came. The girl just left.

"O-oh... Okay. Bye!" Cassie waved. "Um, are we gonna have a match? Just... let me know I guess. My manager will handle it I guess, or... if you don't want to that's okay too. I don't really know how that works."

Then she was left standing by herself in the ring. She looked around at the crowd and felt rather awkward. After an uncomfortable moment, she waved to the crowd with a big grin.

"Bye guys!" She said, and then walked back up the ramp.