The Calm after the Storm

Talia excitedly followed the group into the building. As they stepped onto the elevator, she nervously stared at her feet. She wasn't very good with heights. Fortunately, they got off rather quickly and made their way to the room. As the door opened up, Talia's jaw dropped. Their apartment was huge. "Oh my gosh...you have a balcony..." she muttered quietly in awe. As she looked around, she couldn't hide her smile as if she was a little kid. When Chigusa sat down on the couch, Talia's suddenly felt like crap. It was as if she only then had realized she was the reason Chigusa had to use crutches. And now she was inside her apartment as a guest. How did this happen? How could she be this nice? "Y-Yes a tour would be nice," she said with a nervous tone in her voice. Despite their hospitality, she felt uncomfortable again.

As Megumi showed her around, Talia paid attention but was more concerned with being out of place than being impressed. That was surprising considering how nice the apartment was. Even the bedrooms were grand and amazing. While before she was amazed, now she just felt inferior. She didn't have any of this. Talia wasn't a champion or idol, and until recently hadn't won any matches. She was barely getting by and yet here was Chigusa and Megumi with their luxurious lifestyle. Talia sat on the couch as suggested and sighed. Maybe if she was in the right mindset, she would've kept quiet and respectful in someone else's apartment. But she wasn't.

"You two have such a wonderful place..." she said as she pounded her head backwards onto the couch's headrest. "Do you have anything that tastes good?" she responded as she turned to Megumi. "Like diet soda or flavored water...or beer..." Talia then turned her head back to watch the television. "I never did understand the game shows here..."

Megumi nodded and headed into the kitchen, leaving Chigusa and Talia alone while she got the drinks. Chigusa turned to Talia and gave her a rather hazy look. "Heh, she's feeling it," Chigusa thought as she saw Talia relax on the couch as they watched the game show. Like all Japanese game shows, it was weird. A male contestant was trapped inside a huge balloon and it was up to a female contestant dressed in a fat suit to climb up a tower and jump down to break the balloon. "I've actually been on this show," Chigusa said, "And I did this event. It's surprisingly difficult." The normally athletic Chigusa had a hard time adjusting to all the extra space the fat suit took up. It reinforced the need to stay fit in her mind.

"So Talia-chan, I hope you don't mind me asking something personal," Chigusa said, "What gives? Reputation-wise you were supposed to be this nice girl, kinda a creampuff. All of a sudden you're back wearing a mask and acting all mean. Were things that bad for you?" The idol was genuinely curious. She didn't know Talia's match history that well nor what really happened beyond getting concussed by her interference, and now getting injured after a gruelling match. She wondered how and why Talia was doing such things.

Megumi soon came over with a small tray. She set down three glasses on the coffee table, and put a wine cooler in front of each of the girls along with a bucket of ice. "I hope you don't mind these," Megumi said to Talia, "They do taste good!" She scooped a little ice into each cup before pouring some drink into Chigusa and Talia's cups since they weren't very mobile. Chigusa took a small sip, waiting for Talia's answer.

"You were on this show?" Talia asked after Chigusa said it. The girl withheld her comment that the game show looked rather stupid to her. She's glad the idol told her that before she blabbed something that could have been an insult. "It looks hard," she stated with a poker face. It did look hard, it just looked more stupid. But Chigusa's question got her off guard. In hindsight, she should have known it was coming. After all, not many people knew she was that new...crazy Dark Angel girl. Talia coughed to herself to try and buy some time so she didn't have to answer the question.

Fortunately, Megumi came in at that moment. She poured them drinks and handed one to Talia who gladly took it and immediately sipped. "Mmm, it is good," she stated with a smile. Still, she couldn't just ignore Chigusa's question like she wanted. It was something she thought about herself quite a bit. "...Sorta..." she started before sipping more of her drink. "It's a long story...but it's because I didn't want people to know who I was." She neglected to mention who she didn't want to know. "I didn't want people to keep thinking I was that...weak girl that just got beaten up every week."

Chigusa nodded, understanding where Talia was coming from. The girl had a bad experience and she was trying to run away from it. To have the bravery to still enter the ring, albeit under a new name, was quite remarkable. The dark turn was understandable too. Talia didn't want to be seen as weak, so she made herself strong. Her ruthlessness payed off, since she had a string of victories and even managed to hospitalize one of the biggest stars in AFW.

"So things were that bad," Chigusa said. She took a gulp of the wine cooler, not bothering to taste it before guzzling a large amount down. "Ahh! Drinking is good!" Chigusa said. Megumi shook her head and smiled, quietly taking a sip. She knew that once Chigusa was high the girl would chug sweet drinks without any limits.

"Well I think it's impressive that you've gotten so strong so quickly," Chigusa said, "You were gone for... three months? What kind of crazy training did you do?" She was genuinely curious, since Chigusa couldn't understand how Talia the creampuff could possibly hospitalize her. Her legs were brutally mangled after all, and Talia took that ferocious beating like a champ.

"I mean...I guess I just went to the gym a lot more. A friend of mine in Tension trained me in kicks and punches which really helped me a lot." But there was a lot more to it. The desire to win and become famous wasn't enough to motivate her to be ruthless and do such mean things. The desire for vengeance, on the other hand...

"It really helps to hate people...you know..." Talia accidentally slipped. However, once it was said she had to elaborate. She didn't want Chigusa to think she hated her. "There are...some specific people I kinda want to get back at for past...umm..." Talia took a few more sips out of her glass. "...I guess it really kinda...flipped a switch in me or something..." It was really awkward to talk about it with Chigusa and Megumi. Hell, if Chigusa watched the replay of when Talia smacked her with the chair than maybe she knew who the girl was referring to.

"But what do you two do to train? I mean...you two have been champions for a long time now!" Talia asked sincerely wanting to change the topic. Hopefully the two would be more than happy to talk about their successes.

Chigusa frowned a little at Talia's hesitant tone, realizing that at the time the girl probably envied her. It didn't seem fair that Chigusa could be so successful so young, but in Japan that was the only way it was possible. You start young and you go from the beginning. Maybe there were times that were difficult, and maybe Chigusa didn't really want it at some points. But she made it, and that was enough payoff for the idol. She reached over and patted Talia's shoulder, looking at her with a reassuring smile that she didn't take anything personally. So long as they were friends now things would be ok.

"We have to train everyday just to maintain our physical conditions," Megumi said as she drank. She had her legs tucked on the couch and was swilling wine coolers directly from the bottle, "The secret training is secret, so we can't tell that to anyone. Sorry!"

Chigusa laughed. "It's not that big of a deal," she said. She took a drink from her cup. "Though I guess we do want to keep certain parts private..." She gave Megumi a wink, making the brunette blush and look away. Chigusa wondered what Talia made of her very lesbian relationship. She wondered what Talia liked. Probably not men now after what happened in Tension.

"But yeah, tag teams come and go, and none of them are good enough to beat us, so we're still the champions," Chigusa said, shrugging, "I kinda wish we get a good tag match. It feels like every opponent we face isn't serious enough to beat us."

Talia hadn't intended the question to seem very investigative or anything so she felt a little guilty when Megumi jokingly said it was a secret. But at least she wasn't offended or anything by it. In fact, Chigusa seemed to take the opportunity to tease Megumi a bit. Talia took big note of that. She suddenly became extremely jealous of the two. They were partners, roommates, lovers, everything! No one remotely came close to that in Talia's life. Still, the way Megumi shied away made her smile. "That's so cute," she blurted out while looking right at Megumi. The wine and marijuana were really making her neglect basic courtesy. Talia stared at the blushing woman with that smile fixed on.

"I was serious!" Talia shouted jokingly as she turned back to Chigusa. "But...I guess it doesn't matter since I don't have a partner. Not anymore at least..." Talia trailed off bitterly. She had never gotten over how Akashi just kinda left her hanging. It wouldn't have mattered much if they only had the one match together as a team. But they shared a lot more than that. It may not have been significant to Akashi, but it had been very special to Talia. And that had made it all the worse in the end.

Determined to feel good, she finished off her glass of wine. She nodded her head toward's Megumi and held out her empty glass with a grin. "But...as long as I...cheat a little bit I think I could beat you two," she added with another grin trying to be playful.

Megumi blushed a bit more at Talia's comment, not responding though as she focused on the TV. Talia was being unreserved, which was a good thing, though Megumi did wonder what she thought of the relationship between the two idols. They were certainly very close and had been lovers for a long time, but they also had quite a lot of fun outside their relationship. Sometimes they even got jealous of each other's conquests. But they always made up in the end, they were right for each other after all.

Chigusa raised an eyebrow at Talia's comment. The girl did have a point, as her roughness and cheating had gotten her a victory over Chigusa. Against Megumi though... that was another matter. Chigusa couldn't take hits nearly as well as Megumi, and despite her best abilities she couldn't deal out punishment the same way either. If Talia wound up so injured after facing only Chigusa, Megumi would probably destroy the girl. She seemed quite pleasant now, but Chigusa could tell she didn't like Talia very much.

"Don't be cheating too much Talia-chan," Chigusa said, "Otherwise nobody will take you seriously. Look at what happened to Adrian." She genuinely meant for Talia to stop being so cruel. The girl couldn't maintain it for long, as it wasn't her character. If she was able to drink and smoke and laugh with her opponents now, then she didn't have it in her to be a heel.

Talia poured herself another glass from the wine cooler and happily sipped it. The girl seemed completely oblivious to the apparent tension in Megumi and just brushed off the lack of a response as shyness on her side. But she was rather distracted by Chigusa's somewhat serious statement. She disagreed wholeheartedly with her. "I don't...always cheat. Just when I need to," she tried to pass it off. Who cared if she cheated anyways? "Besides...people didn't really pay attention to me until after I started winning." Cheating didn't seem to be much of a deterrent.

"Before I cheated and...started winning, I was nothing," she suddenly stated very seriously while looking at Chigusa. This was clearly a rather serious thing for Talia, far more than she wanted to admit. "No one helped me. No one stood up for me. I was just this nobody that got abused and beaten week in and week out." Talia felt herself nearly shatter the glass in her hand but she stopped before doing so. She placed it on the table and crossed her arms. "No one cared who I was until I put on the mask," she added at the end. "If I don't act mean and do bad things, people will take advantage of me. They always have and they always will." With the mood suddenly killed, Talia just stared at the television. She wasn't watching, of course, as her thoughts were running. But she really didn't seem interested in saying anything else at that moment.

Chigusa raised an eyebrow as she continued to sip her wine cooler. Talia seemed to take this stuff really seriously, even when Chigusa was saying it half in jest. It must've weighed pretty heavily on Talia for her to become so defensive. Or maybe the girl still couldn't shake her insecurity. She knew how Talia felt; like her Chigusa was small and got taken advantage of often in the ring, especially when she was just starting out. Being an idol certainly didn't help as everyone assumed she was a creampuff to squash easily, and for a while she was exactly that. It took a lot of training before she got to her level. And along the way she had Megumi supporting her as well. Talia, with little support all alone in a foreign land, stood no chance.

"Don't take things the wrong way Talia-chan," Chigusa said, "Believe it or not, I fully support what you are doing. You've got to take on these people your own way, and if it involves playing dirty then so be it." Chigusa reached over and patted Talia on her leg. "There's some benefit to winning fairly I admit, but you're not at the phase when you can take advantage of that. It's a dog eat dog world, and you gotta survive any way you can. Maybe when you're more comfortable you can turn face again." She paused to think for a second. "Or better yet, don't. Goodness knows this league needs some proper heels who aren't just violence addicts!"

"Don't go putting ideas in her head," Megumi chided. Chigusa stuck out her tongue at her friend. "You know what a proper heel would do Talia-chan?" Chigusa said, "You gotta go around causing trouble behind the scenes. Don't just be mean in the ring. You've made a point already by injuring me! Now you gotta take things further. Get back at some of those people you don't like. Mess with their heads. Get them all emotionally riled up and seriously committed to fighting. And then, step back and watch the show!" She grinned, patting Talia's shoulder.

"I've never been a good girl," Chigusa said, "But circumstances made me the fan favorite. You've got a great opportunity Talia-chan, use it to have some fun!"