This World Will Never Be

Talia looked away in frustration. This was all a pointless endeavor. Taylor was right about some things. But she also grossly neglected to mention many things. She didn't know what it was like to be her. "Yea, I fucked up. There was no reason I did anything. No one did anything wrong to me and I did everything because I was stupid." Talia raised her voice sarcastically as she took a few steps towards the door. Before she got to it though, she stopped and turned around. She couldn't leave it the way it was now.

"Do you know what it was like in my shoes while you were-" Talia almost yelled Being a little bitch. "...having issues with Akashi and Johnny?" Talia ground her teeth together with her mouth closed. "I was a newbie...fresh in Japan. I didn't know anyone in the business." She hated that memory. It really shaped not only her career but also her very personality. She would never recover from those first experiences. "And then I met a few people. People who I thought would help me."

Talia crossed her arms in discomfort. Taylor had just said she wasn't on her side. She was here purely for Cassie and not to hear Talia's side of the story. But even if Taylor wasn't interested, Talia was going to make sure she heard her side of the story. "I have a match with a man named Johnny who goes after me fast and hard like I've done him wrong. He even resorted to humiliating me to win. Then afterward, I'm trying to just...walk home and prepare for my next match. He comes running after me to apologize and even ask me out on a date. He only did that because you and him were having problems. He even gave me my first kiss. And then when you two got back together...I was dumped on the side like a cheap whore."

"Then, maybe...a month later, I run into someone at the gym. Someone who goes apeshit on the punching bag and lifts me up like I did something wrong again. Then she puts me down and...brings me back to the locker room for funny business. I was...lonely and desperate for some positive attention especially after Johnny dumped me. So I let her have her way with me. My first time. We even teamed up as tag partners. And then...As soon as you two make up...I get dumped on the side like a cheap WHORE."

"Then, when my sister came to Tokyo to be apart of the AFW, a certain boyfriend of Cassie's decides to go out of his way to fuck her JUST to get back at ME. He even goes so far as to visit me in the hospital to mock me about everything that Cassie did and to make it clear that he was fucking my sister purely out of vengeance."

"And while ALL of this is going on...a certain grappler randomly bumps into me at the gym. And after she discovers who I am, she makes it her duty to force us-YOU and me to be friends. I didn't want it but she was dedicated to forcing me to like someone I loathed. She thought that I should like you even though you're the reason I had nothing because she-knew-better. And then when I snap and can't take ALL of the abuse you're stupid little group afflicted on me, your little angel decides to make things right by nearly murdering me." As much as she felt that last sentence was far and away her most compelling argument, Taylor really didn't seem to care. Cassie could probably murder a kawaii girl and Taylor would find a way to justify it as well.

Talia then opened her mouth as if to give some grand conclusion to all of this. But nothing came out. She hadn't noticed the tears that had already been running down her cheek. She opened her mouth to speak again. But nothing came out. She looked back up the hallway towards the staircase and started off towards it. She really just wanted to go to bed and not come out for twenty years. She couldn't take this. This was all too much for her. Taylor probably didn't care about any of what she just said. And that was what made it so hard to bear. No one cared. No one ever cared. From start to finish she was just a training dummy for people to bash out all of their problems on and dump aside. Maybe Taylor was right. Maybe she should just quit and leave Japan.

Taylor opened her mouth to get in a word edgewise more than once, but each time she closed it again without a sound. She became uncomfortable as she listened to Talia's side of the story. She grabbed her elbow and shifted from foot to foot, her eyes wandered around the lobby. She had never really thought about what had brought Talia to the point of acting like a psycho, but... she wasn't totally sure if it mattered either.

"I..." She was clueless. She watched Talia turn for the stairs, and she had to say something, but as she opened her mouth she had no idea what would come out. "I-I know you hate me... because of Johnny, and because... of who I am." Her usually brash, self assured attitude seemed to melt off her and sink into the floor. She fiddled uselessly with her hands and stared at the floor, avoiding looking directly at Talia. She might not even be listening. "And that's okay." She nodded.

"But you've got it all wrong!" She pleaded. "You... I'm sorry that you found Johnny when you did, but there's nothing I can do about that. Or Johnny. What are we supposed to do? You're just going to hate us forever because you lost out, but you know that I was the right call for Johnny. Would you really feel better if you kept us apart? Are you really just going to wonder 'what if' forever?

"And... I don't know much about what happened with you and Akashi, but I'm sure that she could give you a speech just like the one you just gave me. Everyone's got their shit that they deal with, and sometimes they do bad things. You just can't hold grudges forever. Right?

"But me and Johnny and Akashi are tough, and we can take care of ourselves. But no matter how much Cassie wants to be that way, she just isn't. She's better." She shook her head and brought a hand up to her mouth as she began to fall apart. "I just can't stand it, Talia, I can't. The way she cries. Because of what you did. I have to make it stop." Her voice stopped all on it's own, and she made a face. She wasn't going to cry, but her throat wasn't cooperating. It was with a certain amount of effort that she was able to speak again.

"It's just not fair."

Talia stopped walking away. She didn't turn around and instead just stared at the ground. She wiped away her tears but they seemed to keep coming out. Bringing up all of those memories at once overwhelmed her. Even though those were the things she always thought about, it was far harsher to admit them out loud like she did. And Taylor's words were hardly reassuring. As expected, she didn't have any real answers. She couldn't speak for Johnny or Akashi or Mamouru or even Cassie.

Talia had never heard Taylor choke up the way she did. It was extremely surreal. Then again, considering what Talia was confessing to her, it was somewhat tame. Even after all that had been said and done, the old Talia may have wanted to make things right. To just...apologize and try to forget everything that had happened. Then, despite all the hardships and wrongdoings, everything could be alright. Everything could go back to normal. Even if maybe they couldn't all be friends, at least there would be peace.

But Talia wasn't the innocent, young, and naive girl who landed at Narita International Airport a year and a half ago. She had changed. Dramatically. Slowly, Talia turned around and looked right into Taylor's eyes. Who cared if Cassie cried? What about Talia? What about everything that Taylor's group had done to her? What about all the times she had cried because of them? What about all the bad things she had done because of them? With a choked voice, Talia forced out the words, "You guys never helped me. Why would I ever help you? There were plenty of times that Johnny could have said sorry. There were plenty of times that Akashi could have said sorry. Even Cassie had a chance to say sorry. All of this could have been avoided."

"But they didn't. None of them did. You're the only one to ever show any form of remorse. And I'm sorry but..." Talia then just shook her head and turned back around. She wasn't even going to finish the sentence. She would never apologize to Cassie. Not after everything that had happened. As bad as Cassie had it, Talia had it far worse. She really couldn't sympathize with Taylor's problem. As bad as she may had felt about it in the past, Talia had no interest in Cassie feeling guilty. She should feel guilty about what she did. Talia then took a few more steps back towards the staircase.

Taylor could only shake her head. Talia was a lost cause. She was never going to own up to the things she did, and she would always blame everyone else around her for the way her life turned out. It was exceedingly difficult for Taylor to have any kind of sympathy for her. She was an inch of pathetic and a mile of rancid bitch.

Her eyes stung with tears that didn't quite come, and she found that her breath came in uneven, halting heaves. She still couldn't look at Talia, but when the girl turned to walk away...

She lunged at her and grabbed her by the hair and the back of her pants. She swung her around and ran her to the nearest wall and flung her forcefully into it so that she hit with her back. She followed immediately by a short, hard uppercut to her stomach.

"You've had this coming for a long fuckin' time, mothafucker," she snarled, like a rabid animal, tears spilling from red eyes onto reddened cheeks. Her taught, muscular physique and her sheer athleticism, uncontrolled, were frightening. She shoved Talia down to the floor and braced her hands against the wall while she began to stomp repeatedly on Talia's stomach.

Akashi was not pleased. She only came here so that Taylor would stop screaming at her. So they wouldn't end up fighting. How could Taylor even WANT to apologize to Talia after she found out the girl was Dark Angel? It made Akashi think about their lone encounter. if she had known, then maybe she might not have left Dark Angel off the hook. Maybe she could have stopped things before they even escalated as far as they did. She felt like she could have done a lot of things differently. But whats he couldn't do was take sitting around. Certainly not when Taylor was busy making up with the girl.

She swung the car door open, stepped out, closed it hard and adjusted her kimono. "I just cant. I can't forgive that girl no matter what." She said to herself as she watched the two slowly inch back into the apartment complex.

Akashi quickly cleared the distance, catching the door as she peeked inside. She thought she saw teary looks from both girls but when she caught sight of them, Taylor was working the smaller girl over. Akashi's eyes widened and she threw the door open and raced forward.

"Imouto-chan!" She barked, raising out her hand. She dropped it and cleared the distance, wrapping Taylor up with a tight bearhug and giving a hard yank to try and separate her from Talia. She couldn't believe it. Every instinct in her wanted to hop right in next to Taylor and beat the piss out of Talia. But it didn't seem like a fight. It seemed like Taylor was just going to kick Talia's ass. Something in Akashi couldn't just let that happen. There were other ways to beat a lesson into someone. More honorable ways.

Talia never saw the attack coming. She should have. After all her experiences in Japan, she should have at least have expected it. She cried in pain as she was thrown against the solid wall by her hair. Before she had a chance to even protect herself, Taylor uppercut her right in the stomach. It sent the air rushing out of her lungs and she would have keeled over herself had Taylor not then thrown her to the ground. And the assault didn't stop. Taylor sent kick after kick down at Talia. She tried to block or catch each kick with her hands.

But one of Taylor's kicks came too high into Talia's stomach and hit her lowest right rib. The not fully healed rib sent a jolt of extreme pain through Talia's body paralyzing her. The rest of the kicks connected uncontested. By the time Akashi had run in and pulled Taylor off of her, Talia was too distracted by what she felt to even notice her. The pain was excruciating. She couldn't breath in enough air.

Taylor struggled violently and threw elbows behind her at the face of whoever was grabbing her. It took her a second to realize it was Akashi.

"Fuck you, Kashi, let me GO!" She screamed, her voice cracking tearfully and loaded with rage. "You know she deserves it!" She struggled, but in vain, and eventually she gave up trying to get free and instead glared at Talia.

"Yeah, YOU. FUCK you. You think this is a game, bitch? You fucked us, man. But I don't fuck around! You think it's our job to hold your fuckin' hand, you little cocksucker? C'mere, I'll hold your little neck, you bitch! Eat shit and die, you dirty cunt!"

She gave another burst of effort to get free. "You're MINE, you hear me? I fuckin' OWN your ass, and if I was you I'd fuckin' pack a bag and punch a ticket, because the next time I see you I gonna put you in a mothafucking hole in the ground! You understand me? Huh? You fuckin' mask-wearing clown!" Her voice was raw and ragged from screaming, and she became hoarse enough that she had to stop.

"You're mine." She rasped.

Akashi endured the elbows and squeezed even tighter. She wasn't worried about holding onto Taylor even though the girl was in a mood. As she held on tightly, she heard all the words that came out of Taylor's mouth. all the things that SHE wanted to say to Talia. But when they were said by someone else, they didn't seem right at all. Or, rather, the fact that Taylor was saying them instead of her was the real problem. But Akashi needed to keep her cool. It took more effort not to let Taylor GO than it took to restrain her but she had to. She began to walk backwards slowly as Taylor struggled violently once again and Akashi grunted as her grip almost slipped.

When Taylor was finally finished, Akashi turned her so that her body was between Talia and Taylor and Taylor was facing the door. "Get in the car, Imouto-chan." Akashi said in a stern voice. She wasn't scolding Taylor with her tone but she definitely wasn't making a suggestion either. She loosened her grip just enough so that if Taylor was going to listen, she'd be free, but if she was going to keep yelling at Talia, or try and go after her again, Akashi could have her in her grip just as quickly.

Taylor glared, wild-eyed, at Akashi, and prepared to fire back an argument, but the stone-faced look on Akashi convinced her otherwise. She settled down in a few moments, and did all the talking she needed to with her eyes. Without a word, she turned and left for the car.

She got in, slammed the door, and put her forehead on the steering wheel. Once the adrenaline started to dry up, she could feel the emotion in her welling up like a pot about to boil over. She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Johnny.

Akashi watched as Taylor left. Her face softened but she didn't turn around until the apartment door clicked close. Akashi whirrled around instantly and looked down at the girl down on the floor.

"I don't know what the fuck you said to her." Akashi said pointing down at Talia. "But SHE came here to apologize! I'M the one who came to beat your ass but I stayed in the car because she was trying to make things right."

Akashi crossed her arms. "She wanted me to apologize too. I can't see why, though. What the hell did I ever do to you, huh?!" She snapped. "Was it that time I met you as Dark Angel? Because you fucking deserved that!"