Introduction
Introduction Statistics Contact Development Disclaimer Help
Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
UCC (UMMA) Managers Forum
https://umma.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
Return to: Rampage Sports
*****************************************************
#Post#: 1849--------------------------------------------------
Middle Management - Chapter 4 - A Smashing Performance
By: RampageSports Date: August 3, 2015, 9:29 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Middle Management - Chapter 4 - A Smashing Performance
I found Elisha in the locker room again the next morning. This
time, I was dressed for more rigorous activity.
"What's this?" she asked.
"You don't want to work with Britney," I answered, "so you get
me."
"I didn't say I didn't want to work with her," she said. "I
said I thought we needed a change."
"Well, we can discuss the significant differences between what
you said and what I said some other time. I'm here and
Britney's not, which is what you wanted. Now, let's go."
I made my way to the training room without waiting for a
response.
I picked out Danni immediately, working with Britney in a cage
on the far side of the room. Steph was also there, observing
from the floor outside the octagon.
Elisha caught up to me a few minutes later.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked.
"Nothing," I said.
"Seems like more than nothing to me."
"You know what? Don't start," I snapped. "You made yourself
clear yesterday, and you didn't seem willing to discuss it. So,
we're trying to make it work."
"You don't want to work with me?"
"No, it's fine. But I can't be a full time training partner,
for you."
"What about the others?" she asked.
"What others? You'll still work with Jen Stano, J-Law and Anna
once in a while... same as you did before. But none of them are
going to work out for you, long-term. You need someone with
more experience."
The look on her face told me she hadn't really thought about
what would happen once she and Britney parted ways.
"So, what's the next best choice?" I continued. "Pull someone
from another weight class? I don't like that for a lot of
reasons. The biggest one being that I don't want to break up
any of the current pairings that are working."
"Well, I didn't..."
"Forget it," I said. "It's not yours to worry about. We'll
figure something out."
I led her to the cage nearest the locker room door. I could
hear Danni's voice carrying across the vast training area. I
couldn't make out what she was saying, but I glanced that way
and saw she and Britney were involved in a very animated
discussion. They weren't so loud that it stood out from the
general din of the room, but you could pick them out if you were
listening for them.
I was listening. So was Elisha.
"That doesn't look good," she said, nodding in that direction.
I looked toward Danni and Britney for a few beats, appearing as
though I hadn't previously noticed the skirmish. Then, I
shrugged.
"Everyone will adjust," I said, softening my tone. "Besides,
that can't be permanent, either. Danni has enough going on
already, on top of her own training."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"We're working on it. Like I said, it's not your problem. If
the training isn't working, then we have to make changes.
That's on Danni and I... maybe on Steph, a little."
"I didn't really think about all that."
"You don't have to. Both of you were clear that a change is
needed. We'll find a way to do it. I'm not going to force
something that isn't working."
She held on the other pairing for a few more seconds.
"Yeah," she said. "I guess you're right."
As I ascended the steps to the cage, I picked up a pair of focus
mitts I had set out on the apron, earlier.
"Oh," Elisha said. "Britney and I usually jump right into
sparring. That's how we like to warm up."
"Things are going to be different," I said as I strapped the
mitts to my hands. "That's what you wanted, right?"
"Right," she said, her voice lacking the conviction it had
yesterday.
I got myself set and put the mitts up.
"You and I have never done this before," I said. "You're gonna
have to go easy, until we get a feel for each other."
"Maybe I'll just let go, and see if you can keep up," she
teased.
"You ever been slapped in the head with one of these mitts?"
"No..."
"Then, go easy," I said sternly.
We stared at each other for a moment. Then I gave her a smile,
and she slowly returned it.
Unfortunately for her, that was the only moment of levity we
had. From that point on, nothing I did was right. She didn't
like the combinations I called. She didn't like my movement.
None of it. We were out of sync, and her frustration hit its
peak after only twenty minutes.
"Enough," she said. "Let's just... take a break."
Everything we were experiencing was common when a fighter trains
with someone knew. Fighting, especially on this level, is
almost like dance. Your movements are fluid and graceful, each
one leading to the next. Obviously, it doesn't look very
graceful when your opponent is trying to stop you. But, with
something like the mitts, you expect perfection. When
everything is just right, you feel it... you know you're nailing
it. And, for the first time in years, Leesh wasn't feeling it.
Because she was dancing with the wrong partner.
Elisha leaned back against the cage, then let herself drop to
the canvas as she ran her fingers through her hair.
I glanced outside, and found Emma holding the heavy bag for her
partner, Tiffany Mulheron. I gave her a small nod, and she then
nodded at Tiffany. Emma let the bag go and Tiff continued to
work solo.
"Off to a rough start, eh?" she said as she ambled up behind
Elisha.
Elisha only grunted in response.
"Well, maybe it will get better once you start training with a
real fighter, instead of Richelle," Emma said.
I narrowed my eyes at her. Though this moment was planned, the
ad-libbing was all Emma.
"Long way from that," Elisha said sadly.
I noticed she made no effort to dispute the insult Emma had
directed my way. I guess I should just consider myself lucky
she didn't add to it.
"That's not what I hear," Emma said.
"What do you mean?"
"I heard Kirsten Dunst is on the verge of signing."
"Kirsten DUNST!" Elisha said, accentuating the last name as
though that was the part that was bothering her.
"Where the hell did you hear that?" I asked angrily.
Emma looked at me, wide-eyed.
"From Danni," she said.
I shot a look over to where Danni and Britney were, then ripped
the mitts from my hands and stormed out of the cage.
"What the hell's the matter with you?" I yelled when I was only
halfway across the room.
Danni and Britney stopped what they were doing and turned in my
direction.
Of course, so did everybody else.
"The thing with Dunst is nowhere near done," I said, zeroing my
gaze on Danni. "Why are you telling people?"
"Dunst?" Britney said.
"They want to bring in Kirsten Dunst!" yelled Elisha, who, along
with Emma, had trailed behind me.
Britney looked at Elisha, then whirled around to face me.
"For WHAT?" she said.
We had chosen Kirsten for two reasons. The first was that she's
the highest ranked middleweight not currently signed. So, she's
the most sensible choice, given that we were looking for someone
who could keep pace with Britney and Elisha.
The second reason was that neither Britney nor Elisha liked
Kirsten very much. There had been an incident a while back
between Dunst and Jen Stano, where Kirsten had used some
questionable tactics to secure the win. The reaction from our
two senior middleweights... and also from myself... had been
swift and furious.
Truth was, what happened wasn't a big deal. But, no one from
RSI had any cause to interact with Dunst after that, so the
anger and resentment lingered.
I ignored Britney's question and kept my eyes on Danni.
"I'm not telling people anything," she said.
"Then why does Emma know?" I shot back.
Danni looked at Emma with an expression that said 'you have a
big mouth.'
"You knew how sensitive this was going to be," I continued.
"You shouldn't have told anyone!"
"Relax," Danni said. "It's not like they weren't going to find
out, eventually."
"Why would you bring her here?" Britney asked.
I spun so that I could see both Britney and Elisha at the same
time, and stared at them in astonishment.
"What did you two clowns think was gonna happen?" I said. "We
need someone for both of you to train with."
"It doesn't have to be her!" Elisha said.
"Who else, Leesh? Everyone else is signed."
"We could have found some other way," Britney said.
"Geez. You guys..." I stammered. "I mean, really..."
"I told you this was gonna happen," Danni said.
I turned on her instantly.
"Well, maybe if we'd handled it properly, it wouldn't be so
bad," I snapped. "Now, it's a mess!"
My expression left no doubt whose fault I thought the mess was.
Hers left no doubt that she didn't appreciate my tone.
"Don't talk to me that way," Danni said.
Her voice was so dark and cold, I had to take a moment to
compose myself so I didn't laugh.
"Well, next time, don't shoot your mouth off!"
"Don't... talk to me... that way," she repeated, gritting her
teeth and stretching her words out for emphasis.
I took a step in her direction, but Emma stepped in front of me.
Danni mirrored my movement. Suddenly, Steph materialized to
stop her.
Danni and I glared at each other, and I hoped this would be the
end of it... mostly because I wasn't sure I could keep this up
with a straight face.
Luckily, I didn't have to.
"Stop," Britney said. "Just stop."
She descended from the cage and walked over to Elisha.
"This isn't going to work," she said quietly.
"It's only the first day," Elisha said.
"Look," Britney said, gesturing toward Danni and I. "It can't
be like this. They can't be fighting because of us. And I
don't want Kirsten here, and neither do you."
Elisha was quiet for a minute.
"We're not getting anywhere," she said.
"You're doing fine, Leesh," Emma said. "You've had a bad
streak. It won't last forever."
"I don't care about that..." Elisha began.
"I know," I cut in. I nodded toward Britney and said, "You're
more worried about her."
"And she's more worried about you," Danni added.
"You guys have been in this together for years," I said.
"You're invested in each other, and neither of you is going to
find a better partner to train with."
The two middleweights looked at one another, each with a small
smile on her face.
Then Elisha's smile faded, and she was quiet again as she cast
her eyes to the floor.
"I don't know," she said, shaking her head.
"Hey Leesh?" I said.
"What?"
"Laura called Brit a 'washed-up dinosaur.'"
It was like flipping a switch. Elisha's head came up slowly,
and her eyes held on me.
"What?" she said. Not a question so much as an expression of
anger and disbelief.
I nodded.
"Saw the quote this morning."
Elisha's head rotated very deliberately in Britney's direction.
"That true?" she asked.
Britney shrugged.
"It's not a big deal, Leesh."
"The f*ck it isn't," Elisha replied. Then, she shook her head
and asked, "That f*cking cow said that?"
Nobody said anything, which Elisha took as confirmation.
"Let's go," she said to Britney, then marched up the steps
without waiting.
"I think Leesh is back," Danni said with a smile.
"What about Dunst?" Britney asked.
"I haven't spoken to her," I said. "I'm sure she's doing fine,
though."
"You haven't spoken to her?"
I shook my head.
"So, this was all bullsh*t," Elisha said from inside the cage.
"Yep," I said simply.
"And this little show you two put on?" Britney asked, indicating
Danni and I.
"Just a little theater, for your benefit," I said.
"Screaming at each other was the best plan you could come up
with?" the songstress asked.
"That was her idea," Danni said, pointing at me.
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"
Britney shook her head as she started toward the cage.
"It's like working in the loony bin, sometimes."
That sounded a lot like a politician calling someone else a
liar.
Of course, the irony of the statement didn't make it untrue.
Everyone else resumed their training, while Danni, Emma and I
stood and watched as the blond pair went back to doing what they
do best.
Meanwhile, Steph had disapparated as quickly as she'd appeared.
Maybe Emma taught her how to do it.
Speaking of our youngest champion... I brought my hand up behind
her, and flicked the back of her ear.
"OW!" she yelled as she spun to face me.
"'A real fighter instead of Richelle?'" I quoted.
"I was trying to sound authentic," she said, massaging her ear
lobe between her fingers.
Then, she pushed me with her other hand and whined, "Dammit!
That hurt!"
I smiled at her, then turned to Danni.
"You were pretty good," I said. "You should probably think
about doing a little acting, on the side."
"I'll keep it in mind."
We watched for another minute or two as the blonds sparred.
Britney backed Elisha up to the cage with a series of
combinations, but the wiley actress pushed her way inside and
spun the singer around at the last second. She landed a quick
combination of her own before Britney squirted free, and the two
reset near the center of the octagon.
"Think they'll be okay?" Danni asked.
"Sure," I said. "It's Britney and Elisha. What could go
wrong?"
[hr]
Character Reference
[img]
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0Bz8YsEjMxOhMODlHdGhIanZrTWs[/img]
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: 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: Stephanie McMahon
Nickname(s): Steph
Background: RSI's fighter development coordinator, reigning SCQ
super heavyweight champion
https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
Name: Tiffany Mulheron
Nickname(s): Tiff
Background: Reigning ESL featherweight champion, training
partner and romantic partner of Emma Watson
https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
Name: Jennifer Stano
Nickname(s):
Background: ESL middleweight contender
https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjM…
Name: Jennifer Lawrence
Nickname(s): Jen, J-Law
Background: FAC middleweight contender
[img]
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0Bz8YsEjMxOhMZkZCcTdxdmNicEE[/img]
Name: Anna Silk
Nickname(s): Lost Girl
Background: SCQ middleweight contender
#Post#: 1851--------------------------------------------------
Re: Middle Management - Chapter 4 - A Smashing Performance
By: Dragons Den Date: August 3, 2015, 10:08 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Wow, you're prolific! ;)
Great work as always, Richelle. Great to see some Elisha
stories. And great to see Brit and Leesh working it out, even if
they needed a push. Nicely pushed, by the way. Haha. A smashing
show indeed!
#Post#: 1858--------------------------------------------------
Re: Middle Management - Chapter 4 - A Smashing Performance
By: RampageSports Date: August 4, 2015, 8:03 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I knew you'd enjoy something a little more Elisha-centric. I
wanted Richelle to be the one to talk with Elisha, so I could
keep the focus on her. I like my Britney character just fine,
but Elisha's a little more... spirited. :D
Thanks. ;)
#Post#: 1864--------------------------------------------------
Re: Middle Management - Chapter 4 - A Smashing Performance
By: Dragons Den Date: August 4, 2015, 3:31 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
:D Spirited is a good word for her. And I like spirited. ;)
Looking forward to all the more things! :)
*****************************************************
You are viewing proxied material from gopher.createaforum.com. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.