The Real You

Clyde's eyes widened a bit as Cassie raised her voice. He began to wonder if he should avoid this subject and just skip to what he wanted to know about D.A. and her.

"Well... You did what had to do and you're sorry you went too far and that's about it, right? Hopefully you wont have ta' do that to anyone that isn't DA though... Maybe." Suddenly Clyde felt bad for wishing ill on DA when he was just taking Jocelyn side a few seconds ago. Sure D.A. was a huuge bitch but for some reason it didn't seem right to wish horrible harm on someone.

Clyde made a face and wondered when did he get so sappy and weak? That's what it was right?

But upon hearing her last statement, Clyde looked to Cassie and frowned just slightly. He kept his cool though "Now hold up. Whaddya mean I'm one to talk?" That was an interesting statement.

"I care because well, you were nice ta' me....... When. I. Was. Drunk and yeah." Clyde would explain quite bluntly before his eyes darted to the side as he remembered something quite regrettable. He knew he was a dick to Taylor and Jonny all because he was sour over Heather leaving him. (The most regrettable 3 to whatever months of his life.) Cassie had every reason to let Jonny and Taylor fuck him up but all she did was want to help him.

He still didn't know why she hit him with a bucket though. Maybe he said something perverted. "Aw hell." That had to be it! Great job, Cowboy.

"Well... you... um..." Cassie stammered. She frowned at her feet. "Sorry," She said, and nowhere was her Canadian accent more noticeable.

Her eyes wandered across the room and away from Clyde. "I'm... glad you're not drunk. You're much nicer when you're not drunk," she said, and then looked at him. With some hesitation, she added "I didn't realize how little you are. You're almost my size!" She felt a pang of regret, like maybe she shouldn't have said that out loud.

"Well, anyway. What's done is done, now I just have to worry about the rematch. I'm going to make sure that she doesn't do that to anyone else." She wasn't totally sure how she would accomplish that by beating her up badly enough to put her in the hospital, but she was at a loss for how to deal with the masked menace. For once, she at least wanted the satisfaction of proving to some loud-mouthed bad girl that she was better.

"At least... maybe I can shut her up."

"It's a'right." he assured her with an understanding half-smile.

His pleasant expression shifted into a more bothered look when Cassie commented on him being sober. He wasn't upset with her, rather he fully agreed and the frustration he felt was all towards himself. "Well....T-Th-Thank you. I think I like me better when I ain't drunk too. Heh." He loved whiskey and loved getting hammered he also was tired of doing stupid things when he was drunk. He wanted control of his life for once.

The somber, soul-searching questions Clyde was contemplating inside his head were cut short when Cassie commented that he was... short. "Uh." He made a grunt like noise sharply. He wasn't wearing his cowboy boots, so he could in fact be quite close to 5'6. "Y-Yeah I guess I am." He'd say with a nervous chuckle that hid some damaged pride, agreeing that he was almost the same size as this petite Canadian girl...

His head perked up when Cassie spoke about a rematch. It took a second for him to remember she was talking about Dark Angel. "So you have fought her before..." He didn't know the whole story.

"I thought about doin' the same actually." He did want to get even for both himself and Shauna. But he didn't know what the deal was between D.A. and Cassie. He had a gut feeling it was bigger than what he had going on with the masked woman right now. Especially with how Cassie sounded so... determined to put a stop to Dark Angel.

"You mind me askin' what started yall's feud? She's attacked me before I don't really know why." He wanted to see if he could figure out something

"I don't even know!" Cassie cried and threw up her hands. "She just hates me! She showed up and started being a huge jerk to everyone, especially me!" Her face soured at the thought of it, and she subconsciously smoothed her short orange hair back behind her ears.

"I was down... like... in the ring you know. To talk to everyone," she explained, gesturing with one hand while her other stayed on her shoulder. "And she showed up and started just being really mean to me, for no reason. At first... well, it bothered me, but I thought maybe she just needed... someone to not be a jerk to her. So I did that. I guess that's not what she needed." She quickly scanned the lobby with her eyes out of habit, as if she was expecting her to be summoned out of thin air by speaking her name. "And then we had a match, and she cheated. She hit me on the head with a pipe! And... no one saw it, but it really hurt. I almost had her, but I, uh, didn't." She blinked.

"And now she's not just going after me, but other people try to get to me, and I just can't stand it. I'm going to do way worse to her than I did to Jocelyn," she said, her voice so cold that it seemed to change her whole appearance.

When Cassie yelled and threw her hands up, Clyde drew his head back like he was avoiding a swing, eyes a bit wide from the sudden exclamation. This girl, geeze.

The situation was quite serious for Clyde. He wanted to know what this masked chick's deal was. She couldn't have been anyone from his past in AFW because... Sadly... about 90% of Clyde's opponents were either around his size or bigger. D.A. was toned but still a small gal. Who could she be? Clyde didn't know so he paid extra attention to Cassie's story, which was informative but it only raised more questions. Randomly being a bitch to people and picking a fight with little Cassie Elliot?

[size=95:1qjan7wc]"That sounds like anybody debuting in the company..." He muttered but loud enough for Cassie to hear. Some folks just joined with a bad attitude and took out on anyone they could find, they couldn't be reasoned with, they just wanted to pick a fight and try to mess you up if possible. Either that or Dark Angel had it out for Cassie on day one. Maybe a jealous indie wrestler who had been watching her on TV?

Still, Clyde listened to Cassie and nodded intently the whole time she explained, honestly feeling bad for the girl who seemed out of her element when she dealt with a cheater. He certainty admired her desire to go after this girl because Dark Angel was targeting others to get to her and the Canuck wanted to end all that but when Cassie spoke of doing something worse than what she did to Jocelyn, Clyde's expression turned into a troubled frown.

He paused for moment. Her tone bothered him. He believed in retribution, especially for someone like Dark Angel but he always felt there was a fine line between Getting Even and Going Overboard. Maybe Cassie didn't do anything really all that bad to Jocelyn, even if she wasn't the real bad guy. It wasn't like her leg was broken.

"I think... I think you gotta give the bad guys what they deserve, kid. Just make sure you don't go too far... Especially on someone ain't the bad guy." He hoped Cassie caught what he was getting at. It pretty much spelled how he felt about Dark Angel and Jocelyn. Clyde always did want to get even with Nha and Sha. They beat him half to death. He wanted to return the favor but he wasn't sure he could do the same to them. That fine line between justice and cruelty was so blurry.

Mamouru adjusted his tie as he stepped off the elevator. His head was turned towards Aurora as they made polite conversation. After they had trained, and then had sex, they cleaned up and were out to get some food. Everything seemed to be going quite well and he certainly never expected things to happen so quickly. Or at all, really. Still, Mamouru was feeling quite good.

"So, Aurora-chan, where would you like to eat?" He said as the he slipped out from the doors, smiling at her. "Is there any place else you'd like to try?" He asked. "Unless you still haven't had your fill of steak, perhaps I could show you some of the delicacies we have here in Japan. I assure you that you will not be disappointed." He said as he made his through the lobby with Aurora, pushing a lock of his still damp hair out of his face.

Aurora finished retying her left boot as the elevator door opened and she looked at Mamouru with a smile. She nodded and grinned. "No, I think you've given me my fair share of Japanese meat for one day." That was stupidly corny. And not in a cute kinda way. Just stupid. "What about a noodle house?" she asked quickly trying to drown out that pun-ish statement right before it. "I haven't been to an authentic Japanese noodle house yet." And she was really looking forward to it. Japan hadn't disappointed her yet. She inadvertently slid her hand into his as they walked through the lobby.

"Especially on somebody who ain't the bad guy. Isn't." Cassie corrected Clyde automatically in lieu of having anything else to say. She turned away from him and stared off into space, as if she hoped she could dissolve into the air and float away.

Her ears registered the ding of the elevator doors opening, but she paid no attention to them. She turned back to Clyde, but out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of him.

Mamouru. He had his back to Cassie by the time he left the elevator, and he was with someone. A girl. A woman. And she was... And they were talking about...

"[size=50:hqlbdcv6]Oh..." Cassie stared slack jawed at Mamouru until the two of them were out the front doors. She felt like someone had just socked her in the stomach, and her knees wobbled. She fought to control herself. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, and let it out slowly, ironing out the knots in her stomach until her breath came smoothly. A moment later she looked back at Clyde, and she was a blank slate.

"I'm going to make sure she gets what's coming to her," she said in a short, business-like voice. "So mind your own business and don't tell me what to do, okay? Bye, Clyde."

Cassie started for the front door, but the risk of bumping into Mamouru and his new friend was too great. She opted instead to cut through the lockers and find the side exit, and she wasted no time getting there.

Clyde rolled his eyes at Cassie's English correction. Stuff like that had been getting on his nerves from elementary school to the present day, especially with the Ain't vs. Isn't thing. He almost always got that one back in school.

"Yeah... Yeah..." He muttered in response to her correction while he started to think more about school, remembering how the other kids who were bigger liked to push him around. It was easy to pick on the little guy, and it wasn't until Clyde displayed a backbone that people started to back-off. Somewhat. (That actually attracted more trouble from time to time.)

Clyde compared that situation to Cassie. Maybe Dark Angel just found it easy to fuck with the smaller, innocent looking girl to make herself feel all badass and powerful? Maybe Cassie getting a little mean is what it took to show folks like Dark Angel and even Jocelyn, that she wasn't to be fucked with? Maybe bashing Dark Angel with a pipe was just what Cassie NEEDED to do to get Dark Angel off her (and everyone else's) back?

It seemed like that could be a simple solution. But Clyde remembered how Heather got even with Natalia during their first match. It reminded him that getting even didn't always seem right.

All of this made Clyde's head start to hurt. So lost in thought he didn't realize he hadn't said anything to Cassie and it wasn't until he heard a quiet 'Oh' that he snapped out of it. "Hm?" He'd say while looking at Cassie, raising an eyebrow at how she appeared with wobbling knees and a sudden deep breath, he turned to see what she was starting at but he didn't see anything.

"Uh. Miss? You okay?" He asked just before she spoke about giving it to D.A. and that he should mind his own business. And she was gone after saying a sudden goodbye.

"H-Huh?" That was sudden. He frowned and his head lowered as she took off, thinking he said something wrong. Like telling her to do something he probably wouldn't have even done. Clyde just watched her leave and didn't know what to think. Far too confused and somewhat worried to be irked at the sudden brush off. "Eugh." He made a mental note to leave people to their own devices next time. Clearly he wasn't any help.

"Best wishes..." He'd say before taking off. A big part of him wishing he had been sober that day he met Cassie. Not too many nice folks like her.

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LATER THAT HOUR
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Clyde stepped out the elevator with his bouquet of flowers, straightening up his navy blue suit with a white under shirt and red tie. It had been a long time since he talked with Mercy, maybe she was still mad at him? Was she mad at all? She either didn't talk to him because of the match or the fact she had been away in Hawaii. Both answers registered as plausible and he didn't know what was what anymore.

They weren't even dating. The last time they were together she kissed and then said it wasn't (necessarily) an indication of things to come. Which to the mind of nearly 22 year old kid with a 9th grade education meant, everything was still maybe. If ever. Everything in this 'relationship' was sort of frustrating and yet blissful at the same time. Normally he would bail on someone this difficult but for better or worse, Mercy made him do things he wouldn't normally do for anyone else. Spend money on suits and have him wear them frequently was among them.

Marching up to Rally's door, Clyde released a nervous sigh and tried to slick his hair back but it flopped forward. He then knocked on the door while holding the flowers behind his back in his other hand.

Mercy's ankle bobbed as she clacked away at her computer's keyboard. Rally was gone for the day and she had the place to herself until she finished up her work. It was nice, for a change, and since she would not have to deal with people coming in to see Rally, she could work in peace and quiet. And the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTHvblrUrBg:1edm53rt]music[/url:1edm53rt] that she had blaring out from her computer.

Things hadn't been going so well for her lately. It seemed to be cyclical in that way and she was pissed off that things were swinging around to the back end after they had been going so well before. After that disastrous Conway's Crib, she just wanted to focus on her work. She'd managed to shut herself off pretty well. She barely even remembered how her 'so called' friend Taylor made her relationship with Clyde a matter of public mockery.

She wrinkled her nose. After his match with Lilly, she couldn't bring herself to get hold of him. She WANTED to because she had to make him hers just to spite Lilly. But she also knew that HE should contact HER. She couldn't make the decision and let it flitter inside her until the Crib episode. After that, she certainly couldn't just get hold of him! She'd absolutely die. He was RUINING her life single handedly!

When the knock came on the down, she slapped her hand against the desk. "UGH!" She groaned. and stood up. What kind of idiot knocked on a secretary's door?

Mercy stood up and marched to the door. She threw it open. "What!?" She barked. "Rally's not he-"

She blinked as she looked at Clyde, looking him up and down. Without saying a word, she yanked him into the office and then pushed him against the door to close it. She gripped his shoulders, digging her fingers into him and stared him down coldly. She pushed her face close, so their lips were almost touching and glared at him.

"What are you DOING here!?" She questioned, her mouth opened as she impatiently waited for an answer.