Punking the Ace (For Blue)

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, there was a small part of Ace telling her she was being irrational and impulsive, the only keeping her actions from being labeled a temper tantrum was that she wasn't stomping her foot and screaming "I hate you!"
Far worse then all of that, she was being impolite and displaying improper behavior. Her parent's would have been horrified.

Had she listened to that part, she probably would have realized her errors, apologized profusely for them, and gotten the hell out, giving Taylor and "the thing" much laughter.

Instead though, she had Taylor mocking her again, which, combined with today's events, made Ace feel like her original suspicions were right, that this was all a set up, meant to mock her and make her look bad for a laugh.

Taking a step towards Taylor, Ace stared at the blonde girl.

"Hit me then..."

She said, her temper having gotten the best of her, causing her to either be bold, or just stupid.

"I took Iron Maiden's hits, I can take yours....do it then..."

Taylor laughed in Ace's face like she was having a great time. Like Ace was hilarious. She kind of was. "Yeah, you took 'em like a champ, too!" Another bout of infectious, effervescent laughter, and then Taylor recovered her composure enough to pick up a magazine of Junko's from the table.

"I want you to know..." She suddenly became serious while rolling it up into a tight tube. "That you brought this on yourself."

Bonk!

She swatted Ace on the forehead with the rolled up magazine, and giggled at the sound it made. "Was that too much?" She touched Ace's shoulder with feigned concern, and then tried to get sort of serious. "A'right, look, you're hilarious and everything, but for real, if you want a shot at me just get your guy on the phone or whatever you do. I'll tell Junko to expect the contract and everything. But after we sign that shit, it's done. You can't back out after that, so if you just want to forgive and forget and go home before something really uncool happens, now's your chance."

Ace blinked repeatedly, needing a second to believe she had just gotten bonked with a rolled up magazine. The surrealism of it actually helped clear her head.

"Ohmygod....ughhhh..."


She hung her head, shaking it.


"I've been acting stupid, haven't I...."

She held her hands up, backing away from Taylor.

"Look uh....I didn't mean to get that upset, my temper got the best of me.."

She paused, wide eyed, as Taylor's offer sunk in.

"Wait....your in? Just have Tai call your manager and its you vs me? Simple as that?...That's AWESOME!!!"

She yelled, grinning ear to ear, showing that she was apparently an excitable youth under the silver hair and attempts to appear tough.

Taylor looked at Ace like she had just claimed to have invented the internet. She glanced back at Morrigan to see if they were on the same page.

"Well..." She began. "I'm real glad we're buddies again, but you've got to know that this shit is serious. I don't turn down fights, man, and I don't take 'em lightly either." She put a hand up and said very clearly "If you step in the ring with me, I will fuck you up. I will ruin that night for you, and every night after it for a couple weeks. I'll make you cry yourself to sleep and wonder if you even belong in there."

She paused. She sort of liked the girl, regardless of her little spat. She would almost feel bad about taking the fight, and she wanted to make sure Ace knew that it wouldn't just be a friendly match. "If that's what you want, man... Have your people call my people."

Ace nodded, trying to control her excitement to show that she DID understand what Taylor was saying, despite her reaction.


She pointed at Morgan before responding.

"I know, I've heard from Tai how good you are, and I appreciate the warning, but its like she said: Trial by Fire. Facing a girl like Mai is great and all, but that match with Iron Maiden, a match with somebody like you, given your hype, that's what I want, that's what I need! You gotta understand, I've given everything to do this, I've changed my name, left my home and family behind, dropped out of school, everything. I don't wanna spend a year or two beating up Kawaii's, then get my ass kicked by a real wrestler and have to leave."

"So maybe you kick my ass, maybe you'll dominate worse then Iron Maiden did and leave me in a puddle of my own blood, proving I don't belong here and should go home. At least I'd have learned it early, rather then getting an ego through worthless wins and humiliating myself worse later on."

Ace smirked suddenly, a trait she clearly picked up from her manager.

"But what if you don't? What if I'm good? What if I do deserve to be here after all? That's what I need to find out! It's not about being famous or being a main eventer or saying "I beat up Taylor or Akashi or whoever!" Hell, it's not even about winning the damn match! It's about proving, to myself and everybody else, that I can hold my own out there, even against the best. Proving that I do belong here and that I didn't just waste the last 5 years of my life for nothing."

Taylor nodded with an approving frown. She couldn't really argue with that, though it was going to be pretty weird to beat this little sweetie-pie to a pulp. "Well, alright," she said. "I guess that's cool. I'd say good luck and junk, but it doesn't really matter. So if you're not going to come at me right now or anything, I'm gonna finish eating. I'm still starving."

She helped clean up the last of the salad mess and set to work on her miso soup and quinoa salad. The days when she was too knotted up to eat in front of people were much fewer and farther between now. It helped that she was on her home turf, Junko's house was almost as comfortable to her now as her own home. She had been pretty surprised by just how quickly she warmed up to her quirky mother-in-law.

"You can, like, stay and hang out or whatever, or put in a workout if you want. I'm gonna take off once I'm done eating, but I'm not gonna kick you out or anything." She looked at Morgan. "And hey, do you want to take a trip to the store with me? If you're not busy with other stuff. I wanna get some stuff that I thought maybe you could help me with."

Ace blinked and went back to her salad, closing the container up.

"Uhh...no, no I should go. That would be a bit odd being in your mothers home by myself. I wouldn't want her being surprised or worried at having a complete stranger alone in her house when she got home either...I'll just pack this and go..."

Packed, she walked over to Taylor again, offering her hand out.


"Soooo....friends for now, kick each others ass later?"

"Sure, Weirdo. Something like that." Taylor breathed a laugh and walked the silver haired girl to the door. "See ya real soon, Pipsqueak."

With Ace gone, Taylor went back to the dining room and stood in front of Morrigan with her hands on her hips. "So..." She said. "Shopping?"

Morrigan just watched the the two from a distance silently as things heated up. She had a scowl on her face. Wasn't Taylor just telling her to knock this crap off two seconds ago? What a hypocrite.

When the air cleared and Ace was seen off, Morrigan watched Taylor. "What a retard. You shoulda let me fuck her up. Greedy bitch." Morrigan grinned widely. "Yeah, I'll go. Could be fun."