Angels of a Different Sort

Cassie sat hunched over on a bench, and drew heavy, even breaths with her arms resting on her knees. Her short, damp orange hair hung about her face. She watched a bead of sweat gather at the end of her nose until it became too heavy and fell and disappeared somewhere on the floor.

Her body ached, her chest burned, she was drenched with sweat, and all of it felt like progress. She'd learned very painfully the cost of her previous misperceptions. The business she had been drawn to was not just friendly competition. It was competition in a truer sense of the term. Her previous "show up and do your best" mindset simply didn't work, given what happens when her best didn't cut it. It all seemed so wrong, but she didn't leave. She still wanted to win. She had a lot to prove to herself and to the world, that she wasn't just some cute little harmless girl, that she had a spine and a will of her own and both were unbreakable. She was drawn to what was wrong with the world because she wanted to fix it, to what was wrong with people because she wanted to help them, and to the AFW because she wanted to fight it.

She leaned back against the lockers, and the cold metal was bracing and refreshing at the same time on her damp t-shirt. It was time to go. She took a quick shower and changed into her street clothes, a light green cap sleeve shirt with silhouettes of a mother duck and a row of ducklings behind her marching around somewhere by her left hip, and a flowy white skirt with lace detailing. She pulled on her snow boots, even though there wasn't much of any snow, and then took her phone from her bag to check for any messages that had come during her workout. There was one, from Taylor.

Dark Angel had come to the AFW complex to discuss some ideas of hers to some officials. The girl had been on a role, and she was looking to step up her level on the card. The idea of opening up the nights was okay...but she was more interested in the later bouts. Contrary to the whole speech she had given to Cassie that day awhile back, she wanted the same thing as the orange-haired girl. She wanted to be one of the best. As she passed by the door to the gym, though, something caught her eye. Orange. She took a step back and looked in. Her suspicions were confirmed, Cassie Elliot herself was working out at this very moment. Dark Angel couldn't help but smile. Still, she didn't want to miss her appointment, and scurried off.

But afterward, she made a deliberate effort to find Cassie. She checked the gym but she had already left. It was when she peaked into the locker room that her face lit up in a smile. She quietly opened the door and leaned against the wall beside it. She had her recognizable kitsune mask on, but her outfit was entirely different than when she wrestled. It wasn't tame, but it wasn't revealing either. She was wearing black tights and a knee-length black skirt that had purple flames on it. She had a thick black coat over a light red undershirt that had a hoot over her head. To hold it all together, she had a black scarf that was wrapped around her neck and tucked into her coat in the front. Really, her outfit was all over the place.

"So...recovered yet?" she suddenly asked with her hands in her pockets.

Cassie didn't notice the door opening, and the voice that came through it made her jump. She quickly pocketed her phone and turned to face whoever it was, and then paused. She furrowed her brow as she inspected the girl, the scarf and hood were mostly concealing her face, but that wasn't all. When she recognized the mask underneath, she felt a thrill as if she would have to defend herself, but the girl was being nice so there was probably nothing to worry about.

"I'm okay, thanks." Cassie said. It wasn't totally untrue. Just mostly untrue. "Um..." She hesitated and started to point at Angel's mask, but put her hand on the back of her neck instead. "Do you... always wear that mask? Like... to buy groceries and stuff?" She asked timidly. She thought for a moment. "Can I see your driver's license?"

Dark Angel shouldn't have been surprised that Cassie missed the underlying sarcasm in her words. But she was. Once again the girl proved harder to upset than she originally thought. So Angel would have to improvise. "I'm always Dark Angel," she stated simply. "I can tell from your shirt that you're not always Cassie the wrestler...right now you're Cassie the veterinarian or something. You won't get anywhere half-assing who you are." In Angel's eyes, it was just something to say to divert the topic away from the question of wearing the mask in everyday life. Obviously the answer was no, but if she said that it'd just make her look less intimidating. She wasn't entirely sure if that was Cassie's intention or not.

"And good. I'm glad you're feeling better." Angel knew better. Her arm was mostly recovered, but it still hurt to stretch or bend it fully. Cassie couldn't have been better off than her. "Because when you get back in the ring, you need to make sure your pride is fully healed. Otherwise when you lose again...well...there's probably no coming back from it." Angel smiled underneath the mask but the orange haired girl probably wouldn't have been able to see it. "We wouldn't want the great Cassie Elliot to fall after only a couple weeks...that's something that should be spread out over a few months...maybe years." The girl got up from leaning against the wall and took a few steps towards Cassie.

"No, I'm just Cassie." She said. She wasn't great. She certainly didn't try to be someone she wasn't. She stubbornly stood her ground when Angel approached her, although the simple fact that she felt the need to stand firm meant that the masked girl was getting to her.

"You really don't like me, do you?" She asked. She was honestly a little confused by the whole thing. "Well... I don't think I like you very much either. You have no respect, and you fight dirty. You're probably just mad that even though you beat me, I'm still better than you and you know it." She said. Her stomach fluttered when she said it, but it was all true. At least, that was what she thought.

She kept her eyes locked on that creepy mask, and did her best to look tough.

"Mad?" Angel asked with a laugh. "I'm not mad at all. And I think you're confusing some things as being different when they're the same." The masked girl took another step closer to Cassie so she was within arms reach of the girl. "I. Beat. You." Angel gestured to herself than to Cassie as she said those three words. "That's all there is to it. You claim you're better than me yet- You. Lost."

"You thinking you're better than me means absolutely nothing. I won. That's all there is to it. Akashi Tanikaze may have been better than Sarah Gatt but it didn't matter. Gatt won the match and the title. That's why she was champion. Akashi didn't get any award for being better. It doesn't matter if she was, no one cared. All they cared about was that she lost to Gatt. Just like you lost to me. The world saw you tap out, and that's the end of it." Angel took another step forward so she was only a foot away from Cassie. "No one cares what you think, they only care what you do."

"And what you did was lose. So start acting like it. If you keep pretending you're better than everyone else you're going to get hurt. Opening your mouth when you're weak nearly got your arm broken. Sooner or later, no one's going to be around to save you." Angel reached out with the intention to put her hand roughly on Cassie's shoulder but it retreated behind her head to scratch her neck. She wasn't comfortable having limbs in the open like that after what Cassie had done to her. "I like you Cassie, I really do. You're smart, caring...innocent. You'd make a great housewife. But not a wrestler here in the AFW. The sooner you realize that, the sooner we all can move on with our lives and just forget this little dream of yours. Because frankly, it'll always just be a dream."

"Well, it means something to me..." Cassie said under her breath. Since when did cheating your way to win a match mean more than your skill and athleticism and heart? Nobody like those kinds of people, the cheaters, not even themselves.

There was no doubt that Angel was threatening her, trying to bully her and intimidate her, and Cassie didn't like it. After what she did in the ring, all the disrespect that she showed not just for her but for the institution and the sport and the fans as a whole, Cassie was not going to take this lying down.

Cassie knew that she would make a good "housewife", though she preferred the term "mom", but when Angel said it like that something happened: she lost her temper.

"You're a jerk!" She shouted suddenly. "Shut up! Why are you even talking? You fight like a loser! Do you really think a good fighter has to cheat and hit someone on the head with a pipe to win? Do you think that people think you're confident and stuff just because you wear a mask and you go too far? Winning matches doesn't change anything! It definitely doesn't change who you are! You can wear that mask all you want, I can still see who you really are. You're a LOSER!"

Cassie started to move forward like she was going to push Angel, or even go after her. She could so easily put her on the floor and have her begging Cassie to let go in seconds. She didn't do it, though, she held herself back, and drew a breath.

"I think people like you need... a hug. And someone to listen. And... I can do that. But if you won't hug back and you won't talk, then I think maybe you need to get something broken. Maybe the only way you'll learn is to have your arm broken. I could do so much worse, but I know how to control myself. I don't want to hurt you. So... the next time we fight, you're going straight from the mat to the hospital, and you won't bother anyone for... about two months."

Cassie was breathing heavily and her face was flushed from the excitement of it, and she even surprised herself with her outburst. It felt like such a release, like she'd just let loose everything that had been building up since she started with Friction. It felt... really good.

Even though it was her intention all along to illicit some response from Cassie, Dark Angel really didn't expect the girl to snap the way she did. The way she lost her temper really surprised her. Her head jutted back when she was called a jerk, though more out of the way it was said than the actual word. But as the girl emptied her thoughts onto Angel, the masked girl stood her ground. Though some of the things Cassie said made her clench her fist, she wasn't about to lose her temper her. After all, that was what she wanted Cassie to do. As the orange haired girl moved forward, Angel leaned a little closer as well to stare right back at the fuming girl. She may had been afraid of Cassie's talent, but even after all this the girl's personality didn't intimidate her in the least bit.

As she finished her little threat, Angel just stared at her. Thank god for the mask, it really did wonders to hide her expression which was one of anger. But for now, she knew she couldn't be angry. Not if she wanted to get into Cassie's head. "That's it, threaten to break my arm. Go ahead and pretend you wouldn't want to do it either but I know the truth. Lying to me is fine, that's what people like you do. But don't lie to yourself. You know you want to hurt me. I've seen what you do to friends, I can only imagine what you want to do to enemies." That last statement really made Angel's hand twitch. That time months ago when Cassie twisted her arm and put her out of commission for awhile still brought fury to the little girl's thoughts. Somehow, someway, Angel managed to contain herself for now. "You see, you're really not that different from me when you get down to it."

Then, Angel rather uncharacteristically giggled. It wasn't a cheerful giggle, it had a rather psychotic undertone. "You know I even use to think the same way as you. I thought a simple hug could solve all my problems." And then some. "I was wrong. Very wrong. All I had to do was lower my guard once for everything to cave in around me." Okay, that was getting a little too personal. After a second, Angel spun the topic away from her original meaning. It pained her to make another Akashi reference but she had to. "Take a look at Ms. Tanikaze. She uses them to squeeze the life out of people. She breaks people in half with her hugs. If you just realize how selfish and sinister everyone in the AFW really is, you'll be sparred the inevitable pain from learning it the hard way."

The more Dark Angel spoke, the more the satisfaction of Cassie's outburst evaporated. She couldn't believe this girl was saying these things to her. She couldn't understand why she would, and they were just so false and so unfair, and on a very, very deep level she knew that some of them might just be a little true. But Cassie didn't want to hurt anybody!

She was tearing up before she opened her mouth to speak. She felt wronged and she felt wrong, and she felt such overwhelming sympathy for Angel that she didn't know how she'd ever be able to fight her again. She began to cry, a tear rolled down her cheek, and she had to try to speak twice before her voice came unstuck.

"Even if..." She said. "Even if everything did cave in around you, it sure looks to me like you're living in the mess instead of trying to put it back together."

That was it. She had nothing else to say. She stared at the masked girl with conflicted eyes, torn apart and needing to be held as much as she needed to hold the girl.

When Cassie began to tear up, something happened that Dark Angel never expected. She felt guilt. The way the orange haired girl struggled to form a sentence just made Angel feel terrible. For a moment, she just stared. Even after all she had been through, there was still this underlying feeling inside of her that made everything she had been doing seem wrong. She always suppressed it out of belief that it was a weakness of hers. She couldn't keep feeling sympathy for her enemies as that would just be stupid, right? But at least for a moment, this side of her took over and she stared with a (covered) frowned face. But Angel wasn't a hypocrite. There was no way she was about to let her guard down again. After a few seconds of planning her words carefully, the masked girl finally spoke again.

"I'm thriving in this mess. There's no reason to try to...put things back together because there's no reason to want to go back. I've learned what it takes to survive in this league. And I learned it the hard way. I'd be an idiot to forget that lesson." Angel wanted to continue on with her rant but the look in Cassie's eyes made it nearly impossible. The girl sighed, though remarkably never broke her stare. "And you should accept that too. Before you have no choice but to face the worst consequences of it." It started to become clear to Angel that the whole point of rubbing it in had changed drastically. This wasn't bragging at all. It felt like she was giving a life speech or something. It did, however, feel more fulfilling than anything else.

"Or you can just quit and save yourself all the physical, emotional, and psychological pain that awaits you. There's plenty you can do out there...far better than what you could do here. It's not like you'd be letting a mountain of people down. Sure there will be disappointment now but it's better than waiting till later. At least you won't snap and quit the AFW during the peak of your career at the disappointment of the world like...who was that...Taylor Parker." Angel shook her head at the mentioning of the name. It may had been implied that she shook her head in pity at the girl but it was really out of rage at the very name of Taylor. Pretending to not know who the blue...black...whatever colored hair that girl was nearly made Angel laugh at herself.