Desperate Times

Talia was nervously tapping on the table. The mall was a nice and public place. Lots of people kept walking past her. Even if Johnny...or Cassie...or anyone else saw her there, they couldn't do anything. It was bad enough that she knew one person was out to kill her. Now there was another one. And even though Cassie was certainly capable of hurting her, Johnny was a whole new level of potential disaster. And it also meant she had no where else to hide. Both Friction and Tension had people out to get her.

She checked her phone, hoping to see a message from Taylor confirming that she was almost there or something. She wasn't sure what she was going to tell her. She wasn't even sure Taylor would believe anything she did say. She couldn't do nothing, that was for sure. Then she'd be dead by the end of the month. And it was made worse by the fact that no one would even notice she was gone.

The ominous text had appeared on Taylor's phone earlier in the day. "We have to talk asap." It was from Talia, and Taylor assumed that someone had just informed her of something scandalous she'd done while drunk at the club the other night. The thought was a little funny, but Talia didn't elaborate at all when Taylor replied. they only set a meeting place.

Talia was already on her way to Tokyo. Taylor told her she'd be home to Kyoto by the end of the weekend, but here she was, pacing through the mall and looking for the newly christened redhead. Even Taylor had to admit that the girl seemed to be hitting a stride with things. She had been working out, and it showed, and she looked amazing. Taylor really dug her whole look these days.

She spotted the lust-red colored hair and strolled over to meet her. "Hey," she said, putting her hand on Talia's shoulder and pulling her against her hip as she passed in an impromptu hug. She sat down across from her and out of habit put her boots up the table. "So here we are, where's the fire?"

Talia jumped when Taylor said hey to her. "Oh...hey Taylor," she managed to reply in a normal tone. The hug was unexpected, but just as nice as the first time. "Thanks for coming on such short notice." The redhead then stared down at the table, unsure what to say. "So umm...yea...so..." Talia sighed. In her mind she wanted to scream out what had happened in the gym earlier. But she wasn't sure what to say. Johnny tried to strangled me. Yea that didn't sound too good.

"So...I had a great time at the club, you know? But...we umm..." She looked back up at Taylor and sighed. "We kissed. And Johnny saw. And...he really didn't like that...he let me know earlier today when he...yea he thinks I'm trying to ruin his life or something...just because of what happened last year." That was a lot. All at once too.

Taylor's eyebrows shot up. "We did?" She said, not in disbelief but in the half-amused and unquestioned acceptance one has for things done while way too drunk.

She made a face while she listened to the rest of it that said very clearly that she wasn't taking her seriously. She assumed she was just being dramatic. Maybe she'd had a bad day. She knew first hand how crazy Talia had got over Johnny the first time around... maybe she just didn't get all the crazy out of her system.

"Ew." She held up her hands apologetically. "I don't mean, like, that you're gross. I don't know if you're gay or anything, but I just mean that I'm not... into girls, ya know. So... wow. That's crazy. How much did I have to drink?" She put her hands behind her head and looked up at the ceiling.

"But Talia, Johnny doesn't think you're trying to ruin anything. I talked to him, I think..." Had she talked to him? She couldn't remember. She'd been very, very busy lately with traveling back and forth from Tokyo to Kyoto for her return. She had very quickly warmed to Johnny's idea of moving to Hamamatsu, if it meant shortening her commute. She shrugged. "Johnny's cool, though. If he really was pissed that I kissed you, he'd tell me. If he really had a problem with it, then we already would've fought about it. Everything's fine, man, like you did kind of lose your shit last year but I understand, kinda. There's a lot of pressure and junk, and I... I think everyone needs a second chance sometimes. And I think you just need to chill out a little."

Talia sighed when Taylor didn't take her seriously. It was something. It was something very serious. But how could she convince Taylor that was the case? She knew their friendship was already extremely thin because of her actions in the past. She really didn't want to break it now, not when everything was going so smoothly. "I'm sorry...I guess I'm a little paranoid and all..." She sighed again and looked away. "I'm always...looking over my shoulder...and peaking around corners...I feel like someone's always out to get me."

But why? Who would ever want to hurt her? "I'm Dark Angel," she suddenly stated. Talia looked down at the table. Wow. She then looked back up at Taylor with a cringing face. "Please...please don't tell Akashi...or...Johnny...or god no, please don't tell Cassie. Johnny...he attacked me earlier today at the gym. If...if he finds out what I've done he'd kill me. And Cassie..." Talia suddenly regretted ever opening up to Taylor. She was their best friend, tag partner, husband...why would she ever keep something like this from them. This was just another one of her horrible ideas. Her right hand started shaking. She was clearly afraid.

Taylor laughed out loud. That was funny, Talia was Dark Angel?

But then she caught the look in her eye. She wasn't kidding, and then neither was Taylor. She slowly put her feet back on the floor, and every trace of a smile vanished. She stared, unblinking, at Talia while she spoke. She watched her quivering hands, and even while she cowered in fear she was still telling lies.

She couldn't stand another word. She swatted the table out of the way and it flipped and clattered to a stop several feet away. There was nothing separating Taylor from Talia, and apparently Dark Angel. All the things she'd thought of to do if she ever had five minutes with the masked terror, and now...

She seethed, but her body remained relaxed. She didn't stand up, she didn't have to. If Talia made a move, Taylor would still beat her to it, she was confident in that. She locked her intense blue eyes on Talia's and didn't need to speak to tell her what she was thinking.

"I own you, motherfucker. You're not going anywhere."

The table's untimely demise had drawn some attention from the people around them, but no one did anything. When Taylor spoke, her voice was heavy and low, on the verge of snapping. "Johnny attacked you, huh? I didn't think that'd be a problem for Dark Angel." Her voice was dripping with venom. "But don't tell Johnny? You're saying he came after you, Talia, and it had nothing to do with a little white mask? You're a real piece of work, ya know that? You fuckin' cunt. I might kick your face in just for the personal fucking satisfaction. Do you even care about the shit you did, or are you too busy playing the victim in whatever sick fantasy world you live in?"

Talia jumped back when Taylor knocked the table out of the way. She didn't think Taylor would react that badly. Then again, her judgment was shit. It never got her anywhere in life. You'd think she'd have gotten use to this all. "I...I guess Johnny kinda figured it out...that's why he came after me." But that didn't matter anymore. Taylor didn't seem to care. Maybe she never cared. "You think I'm playing the victim like...this is all some kind of game?" Talia was rather offended by the last accusation. "Yes, I enjoy playing the victim. I enjoy getting used and abused by everyone. I enjoy the idea of choking on my own blood while my face is crushed." As if on queue, her jaw clicked painfully.

Talia took a deep breath. "I told you who...I came to you to apologize...I wanted to...to somehow...to just try to make up for the things I did." That seemed like such a lame thing to say. For the first time she was telling the unfiltered truth. And it sounded stupid. She should've just kept lying. "But I can tell you don't want things to be normal. You're just like Cassie, aren't you? You don't want an apology. You just want vengeance." Her jaw cracked again. She cringed and grabbed her chin with her palm. Her eyes began to water. She knew pain like this was just gonna happen all over again the next time Cassie bumped into her. She really hoped things were going to be different with Taylor. Talia thought that just maybe, she had a found a friend for once. But it was all just a foolish dream of hers. "So go ahead. Kick my face in. If that's what it would take for all of this to be over, then do it."

"Just don't rape or strangle or drown me in my own blood. Because that would be unoriginal."

Taylor snorted. An apology? That's funny. She didn't really seem all that sorry when she was wearing the mask. She just wanted to end her miserable existence right then and there, but she knew that she couldn't do that to Cassie. No amount of revenge would ever help Cassie put this thing behind her.

She held up a hand and rubbed the pads of her thumb and index finger together. "Aw, so sad. You've had such a hard time. You didn't want to go after Cassie and Johnny and whoever else you fucked with from behind that stupid mask, you had no choice!

"Let me back this up a little though, just to refresh your memory. When you didn't have anybody, I offered to show you around, even though you were trying to date Johnny at the time. What did you do? You flipped out on me, when I was fresh out of the hospital, and tried to put me right back in. Then, when I finally healed up enough to come back, I was about to beat Chigusa and you stepped in. You ruined everything for me. And when you were trying to murder me with a chair, Cassie set you straight.

"Then, apparently, you're Dark Angel. You pussed out and hid behind a mask and went after Cassie for god knows why. You came after her, and she tried to give you a hug and help you, because that's Cassie. But you kept coming, you kept messing with her, and finally she fucked you up, and now you're crying about it like Cassie's a bad person?

"Let me tell you something, if Cassie wanted me to, I would make drowning in your own blood seem like a weekend at the beach. I would make you hurt in ways you've never felt before. Because I know Cassie, and I can see what you did to her. Do you have any idea? Do you have any idea what you've done?" She stared daggers at Talia and waited for her to answer. She wasn't letting her off the hook.

Talia began to remember why she hated Taylor way back then. That guilt of doing something bad seemed to just melt away as the blonde questioned her. It never ever was about her feelings after all. Just everyone else's. "I didn't know you were that injured back then. I was angry. Johnny led me on and you seemed to just ignore that fact...like we it was all good. Well it wasn't." Talia crossed her arms as if sulking. "I shouldn't have done that...I know that now...but I was upset...I didn't know what else I could do. I wanted to blame someone for all the nothing going on for me..."

"And then Cassie dislocated my arm. She never called or texted or showed any interest in even hoping for an apology. Same with Akashi." Talia's fist clenched at the mentioning of that name. She really didn't like having to bring Akashi up. "She never asked me why or how I was. She didn't care about me. Akashi used me and dumped me aside like a cheap whore...what was I suppose to do?!?" The redhead sighed heavily, her eyes watery. "Say 'Oh I'm sorry Cassie, but since you broke my arm, I know I should never do anything to make you upset or face the crippling consequences, will you please be my friend?'"

Talia then looked away, annoyed by the story in her own words. "She can't just...injure people whenever they disagree with her...or challenge her. I didn't make her that way, that's just how she responded to being challenged. But like you said, it's okay for her to do it because she's sweet and innocent Cassie. If she does something wrong, it's not her fault. It must be someone else's fault! So I'm just going to keep encouraging her!"

Then something else clicked in her head. "Were YOU the one who encouraged her to make that ambulance match? She told me it was her idea solely...but I doubt someone as 'sweet and innocent' would ever do something like that."

Taylor scowled and shook her head while Talia talked. She couldn't believe the sheer volume of bullshit that came out of this crazy bitch.

"Bitch, please. Does it really make you feel better to pretend like everyone else is secretly a terrible person? I tried to help you, and you fucked me. Cassie tried to help you, and you fucked her. It's no one's fault but yours that someone eventually got fed up with your bullshit. You deserved every second of what you got, and I was on my feet cheering when you started puking blood." That part wasn't true. That sight turned Taylor white, and it still turned her stomach to think about it.

"You're out of your goddamn mind," she shook her head again. "You and me have a problem. You and pretty much the whole world have a problem, and if you ever want that to change you've got to get your head on straight. Killer King fucked with you, so that makes it okay for you to come out and give me a concussion in a match that didn't even involve you? But it's not okay for Cassie to come out and stop you from killing me? You're fucked."

She stood up and leaned in toward Talia. "The next time I see you, we're not talking. I will fuck you up no questions asked, unless I hear from Cassie that you apologized to her for everything. You better find a way to make this up to her."