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The Same Page
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We are joining Cali Hayama in her apartment kitchen. There are a few dishes left in the sink, but for the most part it is cleaned up well. The open window over the sink shows some pine trees on a sunny morning. The counter has a coffee maker and it finishes up a morning brew of coffee. Cali Hayama is sitting at a table with a laptop, checking some things on her social media. Her hair is in a ponytail, and she has a pink t-shirt on and black shorts. A timer goes off and Cali reaches into her cupboards to grab a mug for her morning coffee. The mug is red with a Nintendo logo on it (Not sponsored). Going over to the fridge, we see a collection of magnets and pictures on it including a calendar held up by a “We Are All Human '' magnet with different colours for each letter. Today is circled with “CHARITY STREAM!” written in bright red. A few days later, “Kick Bridge’s butt” is also circled, showing the day of St Patrick’s Day Smash. The day after, “Date” with a heart circled and following that is “Fly Back to Japan.” The woman seems busy. The MAYHEM member grabs some milk to put in her coffee and she prepares her cup as she gets a notification on her computer. Putting her coffee down on the counter, she checks and it is a message from Saori Suzuki from Japan. Cai has a puzzled look on her face and opens a link she sent to get a zoom call opened up.
On the other end of the call we see the MAYHEM leader herself, lying down in a hotel room, her hair with purple streaks, she has a t-shirt on and the room she is in is only lit by a single lamp. Cali speaks to her in Japanese.
“(Suzuki, why are you calling? It is almost 2am in Japan?)” She looks puzzled at the camera while she sips her drink.
“(Can not sleep.)” Saori responds, “(And I want to check on how our friend is doing back in North America. I watched and you won your match.)”
Hayama nods, “(I still don’t know how I did it, but I’m glad I got that over with.)” She chuckles. “(And I’m just thankful I have a normal match on this show. I don’t mind competing in a specialty match, but I prefer one from this century.)”
“(I know the feeling,)” Suzuki responds, “(But despite that you got a lot of attention. I noticed Bridges challenged you to a match again? Should be a good test for you. No gimmicks, no distractions.)”
Agreeing with Saori, Cali lightly nods again and says “(I’m expecting it. Should be a good palette cleanser. But today we are going to do a charity livestream together.)
Surprised, Saori Suzuki nearly shouts, going, “(What?! Are you crazy, Cali?! You have the match coming soon. Don’t let your guard down against him.)”
“(What? It’s for charity. He does stuff with a charity, and he asked. It’s just a livestream. He’s not the first wrestler I had on it. Will not be the last either.)" She responds.
“(But days before a match against each other? I don’t care how nice he seems, you play too nice, he can capitalize when you face.)” Cali’s mentor stresses to her.
Cali sighs and drinks her coffee before attempting to put her mentor’s worries at ease. “(I’ve been clear I won’t hold back. I made that message when I posted a video online to advertise the match. But I like livestreaming and I always enjoy doing some charity streams. Last year I did Extra Life, then I collaborated with some others for Direct Relief, and even one around Pride Month. But I separate that from what I do when I am fighting in the ring. I was even worried that I would anger him and he would refuse to do the stream.)”
“(I understand.)” Saori nods on her screen before pointing her finger at Cali through the screen, “(Just don’t let all of this make you take him lightly. Out of all the things we want in MAYHEM is to not take our opponents lightly. Friend, enemy, MAYHEM, not.)”
“(Don’t worry, you made that very clear before, and I’m glad we can talk even when I am not in Japan. We’re teammates and friends no matter where we are. Just remember, even if I carry the MAYHEM name with me, what I do in AMA is what I do, not what MAYHEM does. I don’t have someone like you guys backing me up…)” Upon mentioning that, Cali’s voice trails off and thinks back to Manifest Destiny, remembering a conversation she had with Christopher McMichaels. She turns back to her fridge where, on the side where a magnet covers most of it, is the business card he gave her. She mutters to herself which is caught up by Saori “(At least not now.)”
“(Are you talking about that rich guy?)” Saori says which gets Cali out of her thought bubble. “(He needs to work on getting more wins, but he does know how to make a bit of an impact. Took out your world champion at the end of the show.)”
MAYHEM’s Slayer Queen sighs, “(Yes, him. Him and Max made a bit of noise last show and you told me as long as I’m loyal to you guys in Japan I can find allies here too, MAYHEM or not, but I don’t know.)” Cali opens up a bit to her mentor. “(I’ve seen a couple shady rich guys in my time. Like that Brian Toogood guy I met backstage in LDW. That guy was a prick. Christopher reminds me a bit of him but, yet, he seemed a bit genuine in how he was complimenting me. Like he actually thinks he sees money in me and potential even if it was masked by his arrogance.)”
“(We knew you were talented the first day you tagged with us,)” Suzuki responds, “(You just needed some edges roughed out, or maybe an edge to get and you proved you have it. You have to be an out of touch old man not to recognize that. But I know you are unsure. On one hand, you have a team possibly with one legend and another younger guy and both can do things that MAYHEM do for you but in America and they recognize your talent. On the other hand, you don’t seem to trust them fully and they seem different than you.)”
“(And also a 22-year old woman in a group with a 50-year old man living like a Rockstar isn’t a good look.)” Cali responds and Saori Suzuki laughs.
"(Exactly. But don’t rush a decision. You seem capable on your own already. But I know how helpful a group can be. That is why we see them a lot in Japan and even America again. Make the decision best for you. We all want the best for you, and if they can’t handle a ‘no’ or you say yes and they betray you, we are willing to make some time to travel there and make them suffer for it.)” Saori Suzuki has a wicked smirk on her face and Cali, having a bit of deviousness in herself returns it.
“(Now you’re speaking my language. If I need to talk more, I will send a message. But I think-)” Cali is interrupted as she hears a knock on her door. “(Yes, Marquise is here to do some preparations before our stream today. Please, Saori, get some sleep for once.)”
The leader of MAYHEM chuckles and nods “Sayōnara,” and waves. Cali gives her a small bow of respect, saying "Arigatō" and exits the zoom call. Grabbing her coffee, she takes another sip to finish it off before heading to the door to open it.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” She says as she opens it and sure enough, Marquise Bridges is standing there. He has on a pair of green sweatpants with a gray sweater and some very cheap looking sneakers. Completing his look is a green beanie covering his hair.
“So should I say hello or should I squeak? Cat’s do bring in mice after all.”
Cali rolls their eyes “Great, we got a pun-ster, that will either do well or terrible for the stream or even both. I’ll show you around.”
Heading down to the other end of the apartment, Cali Hayama opens the door to her streaming room and it looks similar to what it was when Cali shot her video to promote the match. The shelves of gaming memorabilia remain along with some posters, and some custom lights. At her three monitor set up, she has an Elgato Set-up to make her streams easier along with her many consoles on the wall near it. Now there are two chairs, one Cali’s usual gaming chair, and the other an office chair, although still rather usable. Cali grabs one of her plushies, a very fluffy Zorua plush from Pokémon and holds it up.
“Before I explain anything stream related, heads up because this meme has been going insane on my channel, the chat is obsessed with this one plush I have. Whenever I play Pokémon, if I don’t have this near me, they ask where it is. They call her ‘Ruby,’ after one I had during a Pokémon challenge run where it carried us to a win, so if the chat freaks out saying where she is, this is what they are referring to. I know, it is a bit stupid, but it is almost like a mini-mascot.” Cali chuckles after explaining an ‘in joke’ for one of her streams.
“Strange, but who am I to hate on something that’s special to people?” Marquise chuckles.
“Yeah, I have a weird mix where I say half the people watching follow me wrestling, another third don’t but always ask about it, and the rest only find out when they ask. But it’s a fun community.”
Walking over to her computer, Cali keeps the very chonky Zorua in her arms and explains the setup.
“Here are my three monitors. The main one is where we will see our game, and the one on right is where we will see the chat. Usually on the other one I have Twitter open just in case I need to post stuff there.” Then she points to some buttons under her main screen. “These buttons I use to help run the stream. So, don’t touch them, but usually this helps me transition between screens, run ads occasionally, and start and end the stream.”
“See, I really want to touch the buttons now. You can’t tell me to not touch the buttons and then expect me to not touch the buttons, haha.”
“Not unless you want everything to blow up and the money we use for the charity stream goes to fixing my PC.” and Cali sticks her tongue out at her future opponent. “Kidding! At worst it may end the stream accidently.”
“Anyways, just to make sure we got it, you said you are free for like, six hours in total, right? Obviously we’ll have a break for pizza or something, but that’s the stream.” Cali asks Marquise.
“Sounds good to me, Cali. Looking forward to seeing what we play.””
“Good, because I think what we’re going to do is mix up the games a bit during that time so we’re not too tired of doing one thing. I’m thinking we do an hour of Mario Kart 8 to start because it is a pretty casual game but can be fun and chaotic. Then, just to watch the madness, we’re going to do a viewer’s choice where you, being the noob…” She leans in and mutters “No offense,”
“None taken, it’s a fact.” Marquise chuckles.
“They pick the game you play from a list. I’m thinking Elden Ring, Skyrim, GTA 5, Hitman 3 since they loved when Trixie played that and hit everyone with a fish repeatedly,”
“A hitman beating people with a fish?” He asks, confused. “Is this hitman named Ol’ Long Johnson or something? I’ve never heard of a hitman using a trout.”
“You’ll see if they pick it. The game barely makes sense as it is, but that is part of its charm. Also a Pokémon game, probably either Legends Arceus or the Gen 4 remakes. Then after we do that for an hour or two, we’ll probably take a break then play a game of Mario Party then finish with a Minecraft build competition. Basically I have a server for Twitch subscribers and once a month we usually do some build competition with a theme. Winner gets merch. There, you’ll probably build a bit,”
“Well my thing might be ‘building bridges’, but that’s more of a saying and a philosophy than a literal thing. Hopefully I don’t flop.” He jokes.
“Even if you suck at a game, as long as you’re entertaining, it’s all good. But that may be a chill way to end the stream. I’ll set up a donation link where people can donate directly. Also all Twitch bits in the stream will be used for donations, and every new subscriber and re-subscribe during the stream, I’ll donate a dollar from… I’d do more but I’m not made of money.” Cali folds her hands, “Any questions? Maybe a game you want to play to practice?”
“Actually before I get completely wrecked in whatever we play, I kinda wanted to bring up what you said in that video promoting our match. Y’know, I expect nothing but the best from you, but man you laid it on pretty thick there haha.”
Cali folds her arms, “Well, I didn’t want to hold anything back…” She mutters.
Marquise smiles and laughs a bit. “Yeah I know, and honestly I respect it. That’s what I want out of this. I mean, I don’t want this to be like one of those savage matches you have in Japan…I think I had enough of Japan for a little while…”
“Oh yeah, I saw that. You know, there are better ways to get ‘Young Lion training,’ just saying, and this is coming from someone who didn’t do that but knows a lot about it.” Cali jokes.
“-But I appreciate you taking this seriously enough to treat me no different. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just keep in mind that I’m a man of my word. There won’t be any fooling around on my end, I promise you that.”
Cali puts her tongue in her cheek. “I mean, what did you expect? Me to call all my buddies from Japan to rush the ring? Use a chair then hit you with a fireball? Hit you in the balls 100 times behind the ref’s back? I have a code, MAYHEM has a similar code, and that isn’t included.”
“Funny you should say that, my buddy Mac did say you might try kicking me in the jewels…Actually, forget I mentioned Mac at all.”
Cali jokes and chuckles, “If he has a thing for me, tell him he’s too late and I already have a date lined up after the show. First time in forever because of COVID and me being busy as fuck.”
“That’s really good, genuinely happy for you, Cali.” Marquise then sighs and continues, “Back on topic, something I’m actually worried about though is that creep in the suit. I know you’re a decent person, but someone like him…they usually have ways of getting in a person’s head. It would suck if that was a thing.”
Taking a look at her future opponent, Cali thinks and looks at his eyes. There is actually something genuine behind them, something rare, especially in wrestling. She sighs.
“Okay, I’ll be honest. Yes, I have been thinking about that. It is tempting. Like, a faction in wrestling is like something big especially these days and I know how it can help. It’s done loads for me. That’s why even here I rep my girls from Japan and carry their way. I’m kind of grateful for them because I came there after a break due to a pandemic and they sort of saw something in me and wanted to help me. I can honestly say I didn't just get back to where I was, but I got better and they became genuine friends. But that’s the thing, you need someone’s trust in wrestling and Chris, I don’t know if I can trust him. But if it makes you feel better, I haven’t talked to him since Manifest Destiny, and I haven’t told him I’d join him and Max.”
She shrugs, “And honestly, for me to say yes, he’d have to do a lot more to earn that trust. So you’re good. If it means that much to you, then I will assure you, I have no plans on doing some ‘funny business’ in our match. After the wack Bunkhouse Stampede, I’m happy with a normal match.”
Then she pauses then adds. “Speaking of wack, they decided to go back to 1890 with that match with Daniel and Norman! Imagine if we got stuck with that?”
“I think I’d rather do a mud pool match in some short shorts than that.” He laughs.
“Jokes aside,” Marquise extends his hand, “Let’s shake on it being a good, clean, match.”
Looking at Marquise’s hand, Cali quips, “Well, doesn’t mean I won’t kick you in the face as hard as I can or I won’t knock you into the pool they have for this show, but I think I’ll take it.” Then she shakes his hand back.
“I doubt that will be so easy, but we'll see. Now how about I make you taste a turtle shell in the only game I can probably win at?”
He puts on an exaggerated smile to get a reaction. Cali gives a friendly laugh and goes to set up her Switch.
“I have you know, they call me the Drift Queen as well as the Slayer Queen. Consider your ass handed to you as you fall off of Rainbow Road over and over.”
The two chuckle, getting on the same page about their match and put any stresses about their AMA careers aside as they get set up to play some games and stream as the scene fades away.
OOC: Thanks to @Nostradamus who played Marquise. Also tagging @Chris since you are referenced a good bit
OOC + 2: Also meet Ruby.
"Look trainer, I made my wrestling debut" -Ruby, probably
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We are joining Cali Hayama in her apartment kitchen. There are a few dishes left in the sink, but for the most part it is cleaned up well. The open window over the sink shows some pine trees on a sunny morning. The counter has a coffee maker and it finishes up a morning brew of coffee. Cali Hayama is sitting at a table with a laptop, checking some things on her social media. Her hair is in a ponytail, and she has a pink t-shirt on and black shorts. A timer goes off and Cali reaches into her cupboards to grab a mug for her morning coffee. The mug is red with a Nintendo logo on it (Not sponsored). Going over to the fridge, we see a collection of magnets and pictures on it including a calendar held up by a “We Are All Human '' magnet with different colours for each letter. Today is circled with “CHARITY STREAM!” written in bright red. A few days later, “Kick Bridge’s butt” is also circled, showing the day of St Patrick’s Day Smash. The day after, “Date” with a heart circled and following that is “Fly Back to Japan.” The woman seems busy. The MAYHEM member grabs some milk to put in her coffee and she prepares her cup as she gets a notification on her computer. Putting her coffee down on the counter, she checks and it is a message from Saori Suzuki from Japan. Cai has a puzzled look on her face and opens a link she sent to get a zoom call opened up.
On the other end of the call we see the MAYHEM leader herself, lying down in a hotel room, her hair with purple streaks, she has a t-shirt on and the room she is in is only lit by a single lamp. Cali speaks to her in Japanese.
“(Suzuki, why are you calling? It is almost 2am in Japan?)” She looks puzzled at the camera while she sips her drink.
“(Can not sleep.)” Saori responds, “(And I want to check on how our friend is doing back in North America. I watched and you won your match.)”
Hayama nods, “(I still don’t know how I did it, but I’m glad I got that over with.)” She chuckles. “(And I’m just thankful I have a normal match on this show. I don’t mind competing in a specialty match, but I prefer one from this century.)”
“(I know the feeling,)” Suzuki responds, “(But despite that you got a lot of attention. I noticed Bridges challenged you to a match again? Should be a good test for you. No gimmicks, no distractions.)”
Agreeing with Saori, Cali lightly nods again and says “(I’m expecting it. Should be a good palette cleanser. But today we are going to do a charity livestream together.)
Surprised, Saori Suzuki nearly shouts, going, “(What?! Are you crazy, Cali?! You have the match coming soon. Don’t let your guard down against him.)”
“(What? It’s for charity. He does stuff with a charity, and he asked. It’s just a livestream. He’s not the first wrestler I had on it. Will not be the last either.)" She responds.
“(But days before a match against each other? I don’t care how nice he seems, you play too nice, he can capitalize when you face.)” Cali’s mentor stresses to her.
Cali sighs and drinks her coffee before attempting to put her mentor’s worries at ease. “(I’ve been clear I won’t hold back. I made that message when I posted a video online to advertise the match. But I like livestreaming and I always enjoy doing some charity streams. Last year I did Extra Life, then I collaborated with some others for Direct Relief, and even one around Pride Month. But I separate that from what I do when I am fighting in the ring. I was even worried that I would anger him and he would refuse to do the stream.)”
“(I understand.)” Saori nods on her screen before pointing her finger at Cali through the screen, “(Just don’t let all of this make you take him lightly. Out of all the things we want in MAYHEM is to not take our opponents lightly. Friend, enemy, MAYHEM, not.)”
“(Don’t worry, you made that very clear before, and I’m glad we can talk even when I am not in Japan. We’re teammates and friends no matter where we are. Just remember, even if I carry the MAYHEM name with me, what I do in AMA is what I do, not what MAYHEM does. I don’t have someone like you guys backing me up…)” Upon mentioning that, Cali’s voice trails off and thinks back to Manifest Destiny, remembering a conversation she had with Christopher McMichaels. She turns back to her fridge where, on the side where a magnet covers most of it, is the business card he gave her. She mutters to herself which is caught up by Saori “(At least not now.)”
“(Are you talking about that rich guy?)” Saori says which gets Cali out of her thought bubble. “(He needs to work on getting more wins, but he does know how to make a bit of an impact. Took out your world champion at the end of the show.)”
MAYHEM’s Slayer Queen sighs, “(Yes, him. Him and Max made a bit of noise last show and you told me as long as I’m loyal to you guys in Japan I can find allies here too, MAYHEM or not, but I don’t know.)” Cali opens up a bit to her mentor. “(I’ve seen a couple shady rich guys in my time. Like that Brian Toogood guy I met backstage in LDW. That guy was a prick. Christopher reminds me a bit of him but, yet, he seemed a bit genuine in how he was complimenting me. Like he actually thinks he sees money in me and potential even if it was masked by his arrogance.)”
“(We knew you were talented the first day you tagged with us,)” Suzuki responds, “(You just needed some edges roughed out, or maybe an edge to get and you proved you have it. You have to be an out of touch old man not to recognize that. But I know you are unsure. On one hand, you have a team possibly with one legend and another younger guy and both can do things that MAYHEM do for you but in America and they recognize your talent. On the other hand, you don’t seem to trust them fully and they seem different than you.)”
“(And also a 22-year old woman in a group with a 50-year old man living like a Rockstar isn’t a good look.)” Cali responds and Saori Suzuki laughs.
"(Exactly. But don’t rush a decision. You seem capable on your own already. But I know how helpful a group can be. That is why we see them a lot in Japan and even America again. Make the decision best for you. We all want the best for you, and if they can’t handle a ‘no’ or you say yes and they betray you, we are willing to make some time to travel there and make them suffer for it.)” Saori Suzuki has a wicked smirk on her face and Cali, having a bit of deviousness in herself returns it.
“(Now you’re speaking my language. If I need to talk more, I will send a message. But I think-)” Cali is interrupted as she hears a knock on her door. “(Yes, Marquise is here to do some preparations before our stream today. Please, Saori, get some sleep for once.)”
The leader of MAYHEM chuckles and nods “Sayōnara,” and waves. Cali gives her a small bow of respect, saying "Arigatō" and exits the zoom call. Grabbing her coffee, she takes another sip to finish it off before heading to the door to open it.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” She says as she opens it and sure enough, Marquise Bridges is standing there. He has on a pair of green sweatpants with a gray sweater and some very cheap looking sneakers. Completing his look is a green beanie covering his hair.
“So should I say hello or should I squeak? Cat’s do bring in mice after all.”
Cali rolls their eyes “Great, we got a pun-ster, that will either do well or terrible for the stream or even both. I’ll show you around.”
Heading down to the other end of the apartment, Cali Hayama opens the door to her streaming room and it looks similar to what it was when Cali shot her video to promote the match. The shelves of gaming memorabilia remain along with some posters, and some custom lights. At her three monitor set up, she has an Elgato Set-up to make her streams easier along with her many consoles on the wall near it. Now there are two chairs, one Cali’s usual gaming chair, and the other an office chair, although still rather usable. Cali grabs one of her plushies, a very fluffy Zorua plush from Pokémon and holds it up.
“Before I explain anything stream related, heads up because this meme has been going insane on my channel, the chat is obsessed with this one plush I have. Whenever I play Pokémon, if I don’t have this near me, they ask where it is. They call her ‘Ruby,’ after one I had during a Pokémon challenge run where it carried us to a win, so if the chat freaks out saying where she is, this is what they are referring to. I know, it is a bit stupid, but it is almost like a mini-mascot.” Cali chuckles after explaining an ‘in joke’ for one of her streams.
“Strange, but who am I to hate on something that’s special to people?” Marquise chuckles.
“Yeah, I have a weird mix where I say half the people watching follow me wrestling, another third don’t but always ask about it, and the rest only find out when they ask. But it’s a fun community.”
Walking over to her computer, Cali keeps the very chonky Zorua in her arms and explains the setup.
“Here are my three monitors. The main one is where we will see our game, and the one on right is where we will see the chat. Usually on the other one I have Twitter open just in case I need to post stuff there.” Then she points to some buttons under her main screen. “These buttons I use to help run the stream. So, don’t touch them, but usually this helps me transition between screens, run ads occasionally, and start and end the stream.”
“See, I really want to touch the buttons now. You can’t tell me to not touch the buttons and then expect me to not touch the buttons, haha.”
“Not unless you want everything to blow up and the money we use for the charity stream goes to fixing my PC.” and Cali sticks her tongue out at her future opponent. “Kidding! At worst it may end the stream accidently.”
“Anyways, just to make sure we got it, you said you are free for like, six hours in total, right? Obviously we’ll have a break for pizza or something, but that’s the stream.” Cali asks Marquise.
“Sounds good to me, Cali. Looking forward to seeing what we play.””
“Good, because I think what we’re going to do is mix up the games a bit during that time so we’re not too tired of doing one thing. I’m thinking we do an hour of Mario Kart 8 to start because it is a pretty casual game but can be fun and chaotic. Then, just to watch the madness, we’re going to do a viewer’s choice where you, being the noob…” She leans in and mutters “No offense,”
“None taken, it’s a fact.” Marquise chuckles.
“They pick the game you play from a list. I’m thinking Elden Ring, Skyrim, GTA 5, Hitman 3 since they loved when Trixie played that and hit everyone with a fish repeatedly,”
“A hitman beating people with a fish?” He asks, confused. “Is this hitman named Ol’ Long Johnson or something? I’ve never heard of a hitman using a trout.”
“You’ll see if they pick it. The game barely makes sense as it is, but that is part of its charm. Also a Pokémon game, probably either Legends Arceus or the Gen 4 remakes. Then after we do that for an hour or two, we’ll probably take a break then play a game of Mario Party then finish with a Minecraft build competition. Basically I have a server for Twitch subscribers and once a month we usually do some build competition with a theme. Winner gets merch. There, you’ll probably build a bit,”
“Well my thing might be ‘building bridges’, but that’s more of a saying and a philosophy than a literal thing. Hopefully I don’t flop.” He jokes.
“Even if you suck at a game, as long as you’re entertaining, it’s all good. But that may be a chill way to end the stream. I’ll set up a donation link where people can donate directly. Also all Twitch bits in the stream will be used for donations, and every new subscriber and re-subscribe during the stream, I’ll donate a dollar from… I’d do more but I’m not made of money.” Cali folds her hands, “Any questions? Maybe a game you want to play to practice?”
“Actually before I get completely wrecked in whatever we play, I kinda wanted to bring up what you said in that video promoting our match. Y’know, I expect nothing but the best from you, but man you laid it on pretty thick there haha.”
Cali folds her arms, “Well, I didn’t want to hold anything back…” She mutters.
Marquise smiles and laughs a bit. “Yeah I know, and honestly I respect it. That’s what I want out of this. I mean, I don’t want this to be like one of those savage matches you have in Japan…I think I had enough of Japan for a little while…”
“Oh yeah, I saw that. You know, there are better ways to get ‘Young Lion training,’ just saying, and this is coming from someone who didn’t do that but knows a lot about it.” Cali jokes.
“-But I appreciate you taking this seriously enough to treat me no different. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just keep in mind that I’m a man of my word. There won’t be any fooling around on my end, I promise you that.”
Cali puts her tongue in her cheek. “I mean, what did you expect? Me to call all my buddies from Japan to rush the ring? Use a chair then hit you with a fireball? Hit you in the balls 100 times behind the ref’s back? I have a code, MAYHEM has a similar code, and that isn’t included.”
“Funny you should say that, my buddy Mac did say you might try kicking me in the jewels…Actually, forget I mentioned Mac at all.”
Cali jokes and chuckles, “If he has a thing for me, tell him he’s too late and I already have a date lined up after the show. First time in forever because of COVID and me being busy as fuck.”
“That’s really good, genuinely happy for you, Cali.” Marquise then sighs and continues, “Back on topic, something I’m actually worried about though is that creep in the suit. I know you’re a decent person, but someone like him…they usually have ways of getting in a person’s head. It would suck if that was a thing.”
Taking a look at her future opponent, Cali thinks and looks at his eyes. There is actually something genuine behind them, something rare, especially in wrestling. She sighs.
“Okay, I’ll be honest. Yes, I have been thinking about that. It is tempting. Like, a faction in wrestling is like something big especially these days and I know how it can help. It’s done loads for me. That’s why even here I rep my girls from Japan and carry their way. I’m kind of grateful for them because I came there after a break due to a pandemic and they sort of saw something in me and wanted to help me. I can honestly say I didn't just get back to where I was, but I got better and they became genuine friends. But that’s the thing, you need someone’s trust in wrestling and Chris, I don’t know if I can trust him. But if it makes you feel better, I haven’t talked to him since Manifest Destiny, and I haven’t told him I’d join him and Max.”
She shrugs, “And honestly, for me to say yes, he’d have to do a lot more to earn that trust. So you’re good. If it means that much to you, then I will assure you, I have no plans on doing some ‘funny business’ in our match. After the wack Bunkhouse Stampede, I’m happy with a normal match.”
Then she pauses then adds. “Speaking of wack, they decided to go back to 1890 with that match with Daniel and Norman! Imagine if we got stuck with that?”
“I think I’d rather do a mud pool match in some short shorts than that.” He laughs.
“Jokes aside,” Marquise extends his hand, “Let’s shake on it being a good, clean, match.”
Looking at Marquise’s hand, Cali quips, “Well, doesn’t mean I won’t kick you in the face as hard as I can or I won’t knock you into the pool they have for this show, but I think I’ll take it.” Then she shakes his hand back.
“I doubt that will be so easy, but we'll see. Now how about I make you taste a turtle shell in the only game I can probably win at?”
He puts on an exaggerated smile to get a reaction. Cali gives a friendly laugh and goes to set up her Switch.
“I have you know, they call me the Drift Queen as well as the Slayer Queen. Consider your ass handed to you as you fall off of Rainbow Road over and over.”
The two chuckle, getting on the same page about their match and put any stresses about their AMA careers aside as they get set up to play some games and stream as the scene fades away.
OOC: Thanks to @Nostradamus who played Marquise. Also tagging @Chris since you are referenced a good bit
OOC + 2: Also meet Ruby.