The Second Coming

Lukretia tapped her pen on her desk as she looked down at a few pieces of papers that she had been sifting though a few minutes. She had been watching the recent events with Cassie and Dark Angel but when Cassie finally made an appointment on her own, Lukretia was a little surprised. Well, she might have been surprised if she hadn't also received requests pending for the termination of the contract between herself and her managing partner Mamouru Higurashi. When that came in and an appointment followed, she was definitely not surprised.

Lukretia clicked off her pen and set it down as she heard the buzzer that told her that Cassie was here. She buzzed back her secretary and immediately Hilde escorted Cassie in and closed the door behind her.

"Villkommen, Fraulein." Lukretia said with a passing gesture, gazing back down at the papers in front of her after giving Cassie a quick glance. "Please have a seat. I'm sure you are egaer to get zis over vith."

"Hi Lukretia," Cassie said. "Yeah."

She was eager to get it over with, all of it, and more than Lukretia probably imagined. She hated every moment of this ordeal. Dark Angel seemingly came out of nowhere and wasted no time raising hell in AFW. She also seemed to have picked Cassie as her favorite target, and Cassie had no idea why. "Why" was a question to which she had no answers, for any aspect of it all.

Cassie quickly padded over to the desk and sat in the chair in front of it. She folded her hands neatly in her lap and sat up straight, but couldn't quite bring herself to look Lukretia in the eye.

"Um," she said. "D-do you know why I'm here?" She asked, and glanced up at the German, and then at the things on her desk. "I want a match. You might know which one..."

Lukretia frowned at Cassie's casual greeting in a clearly professional setting. However, she did nothing more and instead focused on the task at hand when Cassie sat down. "Yes, of course." She said simply. "You have been quite busy lately. I admire your persistence." She began as she looked down at the papers.

"Fraulein Engell has already contacted me numerous times, of course. I vas merely vaiting for aze other party to step forvard." Lukretia nodded her head and with a gentle maneuver, flashed her palm towards Cassie.

"I suppose now zat you are back to representing yourself, you are eager to take on Dark Angel. Vunderbar!" She only gave a hint of elation to her tone. "However, zere is a slight discrepancy.

Lukretia swiveled a piece of paper and pushed a contract over to Cassie. "Here is ze contract as written up before you terminated ze contract vith your manager. I vant to make sure ze terms are still suitable." Lukretia slid her finger a spot on the paper and tapped it. "Do you still vish to have Ms. Tanikaze as ze special guest referee? I know zat Fraulein Engel vill accept any terms set before her so really, you are ze one holding ze cards vhen it comes to deciding vhat match you vill be in." Lukretia smiled. "After you run it by myself, of course."

"Thanks," Cassie said. She had always felt like maybe she'd get along with Lukretia outside of a professional setting, though she was never quite sure what they would actually look like.

"Discrepancy?" She said. "Oh. That... heh." She laughed uncomfortably. "Um... Well, at the time I really wanted to keep... Dark Angel... honest. I didn't want her to feel like it was okay to cheat, or that she had to. Or that she could get away with it. But now... I really don't care. I just want to beat her, really bad. I really don't care if there is a ref at all."

Lukretia raised an eyebrow at Cassie's words. "Oh my." She said and licked her lips. Now there was an enticing and surprising thought. "Ze desire to vin, to conquer, is great indeed. Vhat a strong voman you have become. I am... quite proud... zis is also how I believe zat real vomen settle things.

Lukretia pulled the papers back to her side of the desk and looked at them. "Vhen it is just you and ze one you desire to face. Nothing standing in your vay between each other. Zat is vhen a real voman is truly alive. Zat is vhen you find out who you really are, Fraulein. However, in zis place zere are still formalities zat must be addressed. Vhat vould you like me to do vith ze two of you?"

Lukretia looked up at Cassie and tilted her head as she searched the girl's face. "Put ze two of you in a cage? A pit? Do you vant me to set up cameras in a back alley? A street fight, perhaps? Do you even vant zere to be a live audience? If you don't vant her to run avay I could alvays strap ze two of you together. Maybe you don't vant it to end until one of you is bleeding? unable to stand? Hospitalized? Ms. Elliot, Please decide ze terms vith vich you shall crush your opponent."

Lukretia couldn't help herself and a small chuckle escaped her lips. If she had it her way, she'd throw them both in a pit with her as the ref just so she could have the best seat in the house.

Cassie shifted in her seat. Lukretia seemed so at home with all the things that kept Cassie up at night. She did want to win, though. That part wasn't new or anything. Or maybe it sort of was? Maybe it was about priorities.

"Oh, um..." She hadn't ever thought of it as being anything but a normal match in the ring, but the possibilities Lukretia began listing off all sounded... horrible. And scary. She couldn't imagine wanting to do any of them, and wondered... except that one.

She was silent for a moment longer, and then looked Lukretia in the eye.

"Hospital."

Lukretia watched carefully as Cassie seemed to mull over the buffet of choices that the German domme had offered. When the red head finally decided with a single word, glee spread over Lukretia's face and she threw her head back and laughed heartily.

"Ja! Ja! Ja!" She cheered, clapping her hands together. Lukretia swiveled on her chair and stood up. She brushed her hands down her sleek red dress and eased around to where Cassie was sitting. lukretia leaned forward and reached out an arm. She let her fingers slide through Cassie's hair and pressed Cassie's head against her chest in an almost motherly embrace.

"I vill make zis happen for you, Fraulein." She said in an unusually gentle tone. Lukretia then pulled away and strolled to the door. "Ve are done here now. I vill send you ze papervork so at you may sign it. No need to vait, am I right?" She said, with a wide smile still on her face.

Cassie stiffly endured Lukretia's embrace. There were few things she loved more than a hug, and this one included, but it left her feeling dirty. She wasn't entirely sure why at the moment, but she her mind was occupied with things other than hugging.

"Thanks," she said. "But... I'd rather wait. Here. Get whatever I have to sign, and I'll sign it before I leave. I want everything to be done." She stood up and faced Lukretia. "And... I-I'd like it to be a surprise. If that's okay."

Lukretia raised an eyebrow at Cassie's words. "I see. Very vell. I suppose it vill not take long to draw up the necessary papervork." Lukretia slid back to her desk gracefully and eased into her chair. She began searching through her computer as the screen flashed in her eyes.

After a moment, she turned and pushed the button on her intercom and rifled off some quick German. "A surprise? I think zat Fraulein Engel vill accept a match vith terms unspecified. Zis should be no problem." She said and waved her hand at Cassie.

A few moments later, Hilde popped in through the door with docuiments in her hand. "Here are the documents, Ms. Von Creuzfeldt." She said with her eyes lowered. She moved over to a small desk inside of the office and motioned for Cassie to sit and set down the papers. Lukretia stood up and moved to the desk as well.

"Please sign here." Hilde said and grabbed the pen to hand it to Cassie. "Ms. Elliot." Hilde said with a soft tone. "Please take a moment to understand what you are about to sign. You want to engage in a fight with another woman.... with the intention of crippling her so badly, she has to be removed from the arena by a stretcher. Or... the same could happen to you...."

Hilde bit her lip when Lukretia gave her a stern look. Hilde turned her head and set down the pen. "Forgive me. I'm sure this isn't an easy decision for you, Ms. Elliot." She added finally.

Cassie sat back down in her chair to wait. While Lukretia worked, she stared off blankly into space and mulled over her situation. She wondered, like she often did, if she was doing the right thing. Lately, she'd wondered more what that even meant. Was there one right thing she should be doing? Was it wrong to stand up for herself? Was it wrong to try to put an end to Dark Angel's terrorism by giving her a taste of her own medicine?

She only wanted to be respected. She didn't want to be someone that people thought they could walk all over. She didn't want anyone to get hurt. Earlier, she'd called the masked girl a cancer, in front of everyone. When people found cancer, they cut it out, and it hurts and then they heal. Maybe Cassie had to cut Dark Angel out, painfully, and maybe things would be better afterward. Maybe this was an uncomfortably adult decision, and she had to go through with it even if it didn't feel good to her.

She picked up her head when Hilde spoke, as if she'd just awakened from a dream. She mindlessly took the pen, but her eyes were focusing on the contract. She wanted to cry.

"Hilde..." She'd never spoken to Lukretia's sister before, but she felt instantly at ease around her. "I... I'm scared." She admitted quietly.