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	#Post#: 1841--------------------------------------------------
	Middle Management - Chapter 1 - Friendly Warfare
	By: RampageSports Date: July 28, 2015, 9:39 pm
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	Middle Management - Chapter 1 - Friendly Warfare
	"What song?" Danni said as we passed each other in the hallway.
	I don't quite understand how this game started.
	A week or so ago, I was walking back to my office, just as I was
	today. At the time, we were rapidly closing in on the next DEF
	event, where RSI had a total of ten matches scheduled...
	including five title tilts. Normally, something like this would
	have me pulling my hair out, but things were running
	surprisingly well. The reason the event was so overloaded was
	that the UMMA had just realigned the franchises, shuffling
	hundreds of fighters into new divisions. It was chaos, but it
	was planned chaos. We knew it was coming, and everyone at RSI
	had been prepared to pull their weight.
	That preparedness allowed for a smooth transition, which meant
	we were ready and raring to go for our biggest regular event
	ever with days to spare. I was proud of my group, and I had not
	been shy about letting them know it.
	In other words, I was in a pretty good mood.
	As I crossed the door to Danni's office, I caught a glimpse of
	her staring at me. I backpedaled and found her eyeing me with a
	dopey grin.
	"What?" I asked.
	"What song?" she said.
	I arched an eyebrow, and said, "Huh?"
	"I can tell from the way you're walking you've got a song in
	your head. What is it?"
	Now, there is almost always a song playing in my head. It's
	always been that way. I don't know why, and, prior to that
	moment, I hadn't cared.
	Why did it suddenly matter? Well, because, sometimes, the song
	that's playing isn't one I'd care to share.
	"What do you care for?" I asked.
	"Quit stalling. What song?"
	Well, if she really wants to know...
	"'Dig a Little Deeper.'"
	"I don't recognize it."
	"It's from The Princess and the Frog."
	Her shoulders dropped as she cast her eyes to the floor. After
	a moment, she raised a hand, wincing slightly as she rubbed it
	across her forehead.
	"I should have known I was going to be sorry I asked."
	"Yes," I said, matter-of-factly, "you should have."
	Well, she may have been sorry, but that didn't stop her from
	asking at least twice a day after that. It drove me crazy, so I
	started returning the favor. Next thing you know, the object
	was no longer finding out what song was in the other's head, but
	to see who could come up with a song that was appropriate to the
	current situation.
	So, with the event now a few days behind us, Danni was
	initiating a new round of our little game.
	"'We Are The Champions,'" I said with a smile.
	"Niiiice," she said.
	The women of RSI are careful not to be arrogant or disrespectful
	in public. Some of that comes from experience... you learn not
	to shoot your mouth off after a big win once you've been on the
	wrong side of big losses. But, most of that humility comes from
	Danni. She sets the tone with the way she handles herself. Our
	most decorated athletes willingly follow her lead, and the rest
	tend to fall in line.
	But none of that means we don't take a little pride in ourselves
	in private. And after winning four of the five title
	contests... well, there was plenty of pride to be taken.
	"So," I said, "how are things, Covergirl?"
	"Would you please stop calling me that?"
	"Probably not until the next magazine comes out, no."
	Oh, did I not mention? One of those five title fights... the
	biggest one, if you ask me... was Danni's. The franchise
	shuffle had brought her the biggest challenge she'd faced in
	years in Cheryl Cole. The two had come into the fight as the
	highest ranked welterweights in the UMMA, with Cheryl on top by
	less than a full point. They left with Danni vaulted well into
	the lead, thanks to a dominant performance against her new
	divisional rival. More importantly, Danni walked out with the
	belt still in her possession.
	The win meant little in the grand scheme of things. Cheryl
	remained the top contender in the division, and she was sure to
	return with a vengeance after losing the way she did. So, if
	anything, Danni's life was going to get even harder. But her
	victory did have a more immediate benefit... she had scored the
	cover spot on the most recent edition of TKO magazine.
	It's the first time she's been granted that honor since, well...
	ever. I thought that was a strange omission, given her success
	in the organization and her standing as the leader of Rampage
	Sports.
	Strange, that is, until I realized how much she loathed being
	the center of attention.
	"Did you really refuse the cover spot in the past?" I asked.
	"I don't know what you're talking about."
	Actually, I had it on good authority that she knew exactly what
	I was talking about.
	When approached in the past, Danni had apparently declined the
	prominence of appearing on the cover. She tried to do so again
	this time, but the UMMA wasn't taking no for an answer.
	The result? Well, since Danni wouldn't sit for a photo, the
	UMMA purchased the license to a image of her taken a long time
	ago. Back when One Tree Hill was in it's prime, and Danni was
	portraying attention-seeking high schooler Rachel Gatina.
	The picture wasn't bad. It was just... well, it looked like a
	picture an attention-seeking high school girl would take. She
	was wearing a tiny white sweater top, mostly unbuttoned and
	pulled back to show more than a glimpse of her bra beneath.
	Calling it a sweater top gives the wrong impression, to be
	honest. It was more like a narrow strip of sweater-like
	material that only covered as much of her body as was required
	by law. Below the waist, she wore a pair of black, satiny
	shorts that also adhered to the minimal legal requirement.
	The clothes only told part of the story, though. Next came the
	hair... blown out and teased to cover one eye, giving her that
	supposedly alluring femme-fatale look. I never quite understood
	what was so attractive about that style. It always made me
	wonder just how hard those women had to train themselves to be
	able to walk around without any depth perception.
	Anyway... the real topper was the pose itself. Hands on her
	waist, with the front hip jutted out toward the viewer. It
	screamed, 'Look how hot I am." And, hey... she was. In fact,
	she looked incredible. But the whole thing was very un-Danni...
	a point made clear when she did little more than glance at the
	magazine cover before declaring she never wanted to see it
	again.
	"I don't know what you're so upset about," I said. "That
	picture looks great."
	She silently awaited the punch line she new was coming.
	"I mean, maybe if you'd been blowing a gum bubble," I said,
	"that probably would have improved it a little."
	She sighed and waited some more to see if I was done.
	I was not.
	"And maybe if they'd had someone there spanking your ass..."
	I'm pretty sure I heard her mutter the word "f*ck" as she shook
	her head and continued on toward the training room.
	"Well, maybe next time you'll let them take the f*cking
	picture," I called after her.
	"F*ck off."
	I laughed and resumed the journey to my office. I hadn't even
	sat down before the phone rang.
	"You'd better get in here," Danni said, hanging up before I had
	the chance to respond.
	I hurried back, greeted immediately by the sounds of chaos.
	All eyes were on the cage to my left... the one Britney Spears
	and Elisha Cuthbert were using when I'd departed. They were
	still in there, only now they were screaming at each other...
	and they had quite a bit of company, too.
	"Who the f*ck are you calling an amateur?" Elisha yelled, as she
	struggled to get at her supposed friend and training partner.
	She was flailing like an animal, but her progress was heavily
	impeded by Emma Watson and Alyson Michalka, who had her pinned
	to the side of the cage.
	"I'm talking to you, b*tch," Britney called back.
	She was corralled on the opposite side of the octagon, with
	Steph McMahon standing in her way. Steph wasn't actually
	restraining her, but Brit didn't seem too interested in getting
	into it with RSI's development coordinator.
	"I'm done with you," Elisha spat. "I don't need any help from
	some 'champion' who can't cut it when the belt is on the line."
	"F*ck you," Britney said.
	She took a step toward Cuthbert, but changed direction when
	Steph slid in front of her again.
	"You wanna quit? Fine," Britney continued. "I'm wasting my
	time trying to train you, anyway. You're obviously as good as
	you're gonna get."
	"Kiss my ass," Elisha shot back.
	Britney paced for another few seconds, then silently stalked off
	through the cage door, with Steph maintaining her post until the
	songstress was down the steps and headed for the locker room.
	While Emma and Aly worked to get Elisha calmed, I found Danni at
	cageside.
	"What the hell happened?" I asked.
	"Don't know," she answered. "One minute they were sparring,
	next minute they're trying to kill each other."
	We stood a moment, considering the possibilities.
	"You think this has something to do with the event?" I asked.
	She shrugged.
	"Only thing that makes sense."
	As I said, RSI won four out of the five title fights it was
	involved in in Rochester. The lone loss? Britney... who missed
	out on her third straight title chance. She had dropped two
	title fights in a row to Malin Akerman, but the realignment had
	pushed Malin up to the SCQ. Unfortunately, it had also brought
	Laura Vandervoort up from the ESL to be Britney's new foil.
	'New' is probably not the right word. Laura and Britney
	actually have a considerable history together. Though
	Vandervoort enjoyed a considerable advantage in their rivalry,
	things were going to be different, this time. Britney's game
	was revamped and revitalized. Coming off a huge win over the
	renowned Doutzen Kroes, Brit was confident she was going to put
	on a better performance than she had in the past against Laura.
	And, she did. She put on a much better performance.
	She just didn't win.
	Normally, Brit would have Elisha to lean on at a moment like
	this. Except, Leesh didn't seem to be feeling all that
	charitable, right about now. No doubt, she was still getting
	over her own disappointing loss. The spirited actress had been
	thoroughly outclassed by Lindsay Ellingson in one of the many
	undercard matches. Long story short, she was disgusted with the
	way she'd fought, and she wasn't making any attempt to hide it.
	"Isn't this when you're supposed to work your magic?" Danni
	asked.
	I angled my head her way and looked at her sideways.
	"Isn't it our magic, now?" I said.
	She looked at Elisha, who was still pacing furiously around the
	cage as Emma and Aly tried to talk to her.
	"I don't want any part of this," Danni said.
	"Too bad," I said. "Pick one."
	She sighed.
	"Britney, I guess."
	"Sure, leave me with the wild animal."
	"Just try not to get into a fight, huh?"
	I watched Leesh some more. Emma tried to put a gentle hand on
	the blond's arm, then had to suppress the urge to react when
	Elisha angrily batted it away.
	"I'm not making any promises."
	[hr]
	Character Reference
	https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
	Name: Richelle Winterfeld
	Nickname(s):
	Background: Owner of the RSI stable, former underground fighter
	https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
	Name: Danneel Harris
	Nickname(s): Danni
	Background: RSI stable leader, reigning DEF welterweight
	champion
	https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
	Name: Britney Spears
	Nickname(s): Brit, Queen B
	Background: Team leader of Britney's Brutal Beauties, DEF
	middleweight contender, training partner and close friend of
	Elisha Cuthbert
	https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
	Name: Elisha Cuthbert
	Nickname(s): Leesh
	Background: Team leader of Leesh's Lethal Ladies, DEF
	middleweight contender, training partner and close friend of
	Britney Spears
	https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
	Name: Stephanie McMahon
	Nickname(s): Steph
	Background: RSI's fighter development coordinator, reigning SCQ
	super heavyweight champion
	https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
	Name: Emma Watson
	Nickname(s): Dr. Watson
	Background: Reigning FAC featherweight champion, training
	partner and romantic partner of Tiffany Mulheron
	https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
	Name: Alyson Michalka
	Nickname(s): Aly, Hellcat
	Background: Team leader of The Aly Cats, FAC light heavyweight
	contender
	#Post#: 1843--------------------------------------------------
	Re: Middle Management - Chapter 1 - Friendly Warfare
	By: Dragons Den Date: July 30, 2015, 7:10 pm
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	Fantastic! And congrats to Danni on the cover!! She deserves it.
	I remember that shoot. Sophia says she remembers the shoot too.
	We both concur that it was pretty hot. :P
	Good luck with that feud! Glad it's you and not me in the middle
	of that one.
	Then again... :D
	#Post#: 1844--------------------------------------------------
	Re: Middle Management - Chapter 1 - Friendly Warfare
	By: RampageSports Date: July 30, 2015, 9:57 pm
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	You're a good man, Charlie Brown. Thanks, as always, for the
	compliments. :D
	Though I'm sure you don't need much of an excuse to be within
	Elisha's orbit, now might be a good time to steer clear. She's,
	well... you'll see. :P
	So, I take it you're safely home. Good to hear from you, and I
	hope you had an excellent trip. ;)
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