Post by Emma Danielson on Aug 27, 2011 3:48:54 GMT -6
Open on Emma sitting in O'Neill's Irish Pub on Third Avenue in New York City itself. She's only got one bottle before her, which can only mean one thing: the evening is young, and she's getting ready to get her party on. Emma looks back to the door, sighing and sipping her beer. She looks back to the door again and grins as she sees the familiar figure of nCw's own Crystal Hilton in the doorway. Crystal seems out of her element, not used to going pub-crawling like this. She nevertheless spots Emma at the bar and walks over, sitting beside her. Emma offers a fistbump, which Crystal returns uneasily. Danielson chuckles, shaking her head.
“Hey, I'm not going to bite. I'm really easy to get along with once you, y'know...cut the pretensions. There's no Starlets and Foundation at the bar, just coworkers. Go ahead, order a drink. Start light though, it'll be a long night and I don't want you inconsolably sloshed within the first half hour. Hell, I think we might be getting a discount for being nuts enough to sit through the threat of a hurricane.”
Crystal nods, signaling the bartender for one of what Emma's having. Danielson grins, taking a sip of her beer, and Crystal starts speaking.
“Emma, you know...all the stuff I said about you and...I was just defending myself. I mean, for all you got worked up about me and Shelly insulting you, do you have any idea how hard it is to be called a cheap piece of eye candy who can't wrestle? It hurts, Emma. I mean, I'm glad you're willing to actually talk, but...”
She sighs, taking her beer as it arrives and taking a huge gulp of it. Emma nods, sipping her own beer.
“Hey, it's only fair. Like I've been saying: if you're here to actually wrestle, then I have no problem with you. If you're going to ramble on about who you've married and who you're related to like that means anything about your wrestling ability, like a certain opponent of yours does, then...well, I'll be more than happy to show them the door, and they'd better pray it don't hit them in the ass on the way out. You? I like you. You know what you believe, and you're finally reminding people that you're not just Zelda's partner, you're a damn fine wrestler in your own right.”
Crystal nods, offering a toast. Emma takes it, and they both knock back their drinks. Emma grins, setting her empty bottle down as Crystal puts down her half-empty one.
"Thank you, Emma...people just don't seem to get it. I've been wrestling for years, and I've always been dead serious about every moment of it. Shelly...she's not serious. She always talks about who she's related to or bloodlines or all that...I worked to become perfection, and she thinks she was born with it? She wasn't born perfect, and neither was I...hey, good luck against Alysson. I know she's tough, but last week was a fluke. You've got her this time, I just know it."
Emma smiles faintly at this.
“Tell you what...I was talkin' about pacing ourselves, but I say we just take care of all our drinking here and...well, don't do anything too stupid. We do have matches on Sunday, and nothing says “dumbass” like showing up for work hung over. Deal?”
Crystal grins at her, her initial uneasiness melting away (the alcohol probably doesn't hurt that.)
“I like that plan...bartender? I'll take a Grasshopper. We're going to have us some fun tonight...”
__________________________________
“You know, of all the calls I expected to get about this week's pay-per-view, one telling me that I would be wrestling Alysson Gardner for the Women's Championship was about the last one I expected. I mean...she beat me last week clean as can be. Of all the women on the roster, I tried to scour my brain and figure out why I would get a shot at her, in Madison Square Garden no less. Then I remembered the last time I was in Madison Square Garden. Tara Fenix. Joanne Canelli. Emma Danielson. Triple threat #1 contender's match for the nCw Women's World Championship. I came out with the W.”
“Now, I'm not saying that coming back to the mecca of professional wrestling is going to change the outcome of our match. But knowing that I've already been here and picked up a win...knowing that I have that sort of momentum...it does help things a bit, eh? Gives me that extra kick in the ass to beat you this time...as if I needed any more of a reason than getting the chance to call myself nCw Women's Champion again. That should be all the motivation any of the women in the back need.”
“See, Aly...I know you're one of the best in the business. You bust your ass day in and day out, and I respect you for that. But each time someone mentions this 'war' between Starlet and Foundation or Plastic and Natural or anything in between...you act like we're a bunch of idiots for fighting about this. You step to the side and say “well, I'M not getting involved in any of it.” You know why I'm fighting for this? You know why Ayla and Rayne and Tara and I are doing this? We fight to prove all the people who would try to limit and pigeonhole us WRONG.”
“It's because of people—men AND women—who think that all we're good for is a quick bit of T&A. Leonard Fox, who's willing to play hardball with the biggest draw he has and undercut her because he figures “hey, she's a little girl, I can screw her out of her money.” Nikki Michaels, who acts like she's an independent figure but in reality is just another mouthpiece for Fox's viewpoints. Aly, we're not fighting just to fight...this is for all of us. It's a dangerous precedent, and one I don't want to see continue.”
“Fox...if he has his way, if women like Sanderson, Shelly and Richardson are atop this division...we'll be reduced to a sideshow. Just a five-minute piss break so people don't have to miss the riveting athletic exhibition that is Jimmy Zane versus Joe Everyman in a Charisma on a Pole match. I won't have what we've worked for so hard be reduced to that. I know you wouldn't roll over to Fox if he started making those sort of stupid demands to you. Neither will I. Aly...I've been to the mountaintop. I've seen the promised land. And I need to redeem myself. To lay to rest the questions all of my doubters have had for so long. I want to be able to say I beat the best we've got...and to be able to be champion again.”
“I've never been one for speeches, so I'll keep this short and simple...Aly? From one Hardcore woman to another...you give me the damn best you've got, 'cause I don't want any less. And to all those people out there that doubt us? That want to cut us down? We're going to show you just what we're capable of. Bon nuit, Alysson. Bon nuit, et bon chance.”
__________________________________
We fade in several hours later on Emma and Crystal staggering through Central Park, laughing with each other. Both are obviously drunk, but Crystal seems to have gotten the worst of it, her slighter frame and not nearly as rampant history with alcohol meaning that once they started on the harder drinks, it was just a matter of time before she was completely wrecked. Emma laughs, snorting and gently shoving Crystal.
“Bull****! He doesn't sleep with it! What kind of a lunatic would sleep with a title belt?!”
Crystal laughs, nodding and wiping a tear from her eye as they walk along.
“I'm not kidding! He snuggles up to it an' ****, whispers to it like it's...well, like it's me, which is kinda creepy when you think 'bout it...I swear, he's in love with the thing. I'm gonna hide it one of these days just to see him flip his **** trying to find it.”
Emma nods, grinning.
“You...you gotta record that on camera and sell that ****. Steve Awesome hunting for his title belt like a crackhead looking for a fix...YouTube sensation, I'm tellin' ya...hey, check out the lake...”
Emma staggers over to the bridge, leaning on the rail and looking out at the lake in the park. She smiles, sighing and taking in the sounds and sights of the city. Crystal walks over with her, leaning there as well. Emma glances over at her, cocking an eyebrow and grinning smarmily.
“So, come here often?”
Crystal looks at her for a moment before breaking down laughing. Emma snickers too, unable to resist.
“You just HAD to say it, didn't you?! You big jerk! Oh man...that was so stupid...”
Hilton pulls herself to her feet. Emma looks at her with a mischevious twinkle in her eye. Crystal looks back at her oddly.
“What's that look for? Emma...?”
Danielson says nothing, just grinning wider. Crystal's about to ask again, but Emma reaches over and scoops her up into a military press. Crystal yelps at this sudden elevation, dropping her purse on the bridge, and Emma quickly press slams her into the lake, roaring with laughter as a splutteringly indignant Crystal surfaces.
“What the hell?! Why do people keep throwing me in lakes?!”
Emma calls back down to her, grinning.
“DTA, baby! Don't trust anybody! Now watch out, 'cause here I come!”
Emma whoops and quickly empties her pockets into Crystal's discarded purse before jumping up onto the rail and leaping off with a modified version of her TNT corkscrew senton bomb into the lake, causing a big splash. Crystal shelters her face as Emma resurfaces, laughing heartily. She swims over to Crystal, who shakes her head ruefully.
“I...I am NEVER letting you convince me to do this again! Ever! You hear me?”
Emma grins at her mischeviously.
“So same time next week, eh?”
Crystal remains stoic for a few seconds before a grin breaks out on her face.
“Probably...now, let's get out and call a damn taxi...”
Emma nods, and the two swim towards the shore as we fade to black.
“Hey, I'm not going to bite. I'm really easy to get along with once you, y'know...cut the pretensions. There's no Starlets and Foundation at the bar, just coworkers. Go ahead, order a drink. Start light though, it'll be a long night and I don't want you inconsolably sloshed within the first half hour. Hell, I think we might be getting a discount for being nuts enough to sit through the threat of a hurricane.”
Crystal nods, signaling the bartender for one of what Emma's having. Danielson grins, taking a sip of her beer, and Crystal starts speaking.
“Emma, you know...all the stuff I said about you and...I was just defending myself. I mean, for all you got worked up about me and Shelly insulting you, do you have any idea how hard it is to be called a cheap piece of eye candy who can't wrestle? It hurts, Emma. I mean, I'm glad you're willing to actually talk, but...”
She sighs, taking her beer as it arrives and taking a huge gulp of it. Emma nods, sipping her own beer.
“Hey, it's only fair. Like I've been saying: if you're here to actually wrestle, then I have no problem with you. If you're going to ramble on about who you've married and who you're related to like that means anything about your wrestling ability, like a certain opponent of yours does, then...well, I'll be more than happy to show them the door, and they'd better pray it don't hit them in the ass on the way out. You? I like you. You know what you believe, and you're finally reminding people that you're not just Zelda's partner, you're a damn fine wrestler in your own right.”
Crystal nods, offering a toast. Emma takes it, and they both knock back their drinks. Emma grins, setting her empty bottle down as Crystal puts down her half-empty one.
"Thank you, Emma...people just don't seem to get it. I've been wrestling for years, and I've always been dead serious about every moment of it. Shelly...she's not serious. She always talks about who she's related to or bloodlines or all that...I worked to become perfection, and she thinks she was born with it? She wasn't born perfect, and neither was I...hey, good luck against Alysson. I know she's tough, but last week was a fluke. You've got her this time, I just know it."
Emma smiles faintly at this.
“Tell you what...I was talkin' about pacing ourselves, but I say we just take care of all our drinking here and...well, don't do anything too stupid. We do have matches on Sunday, and nothing says “dumbass” like showing up for work hung over. Deal?”
Crystal grins at her, her initial uneasiness melting away (the alcohol probably doesn't hurt that.)
“I like that plan...bartender? I'll take a Grasshopper. We're going to have us some fun tonight...”
__________________________________
“You know, of all the calls I expected to get about this week's pay-per-view, one telling me that I would be wrestling Alysson Gardner for the Women's Championship was about the last one I expected. I mean...she beat me last week clean as can be. Of all the women on the roster, I tried to scour my brain and figure out why I would get a shot at her, in Madison Square Garden no less. Then I remembered the last time I was in Madison Square Garden. Tara Fenix. Joanne Canelli. Emma Danielson. Triple threat #1 contender's match for the nCw Women's World Championship. I came out with the W.”
“Now, I'm not saying that coming back to the mecca of professional wrestling is going to change the outcome of our match. But knowing that I've already been here and picked up a win...knowing that I have that sort of momentum...it does help things a bit, eh? Gives me that extra kick in the ass to beat you this time...as if I needed any more of a reason than getting the chance to call myself nCw Women's Champion again. That should be all the motivation any of the women in the back need.”
“See, Aly...I know you're one of the best in the business. You bust your ass day in and day out, and I respect you for that. But each time someone mentions this 'war' between Starlet and Foundation or Plastic and Natural or anything in between...you act like we're a bunch of idiots for fighting about this. You step to the side and say “well, I'M not getting involved in any of it.” You know why I'm fighting for this? You know why Ayla and Rayne and Tara and I are doing this? We fight to prove all the people who would try to limit and pigeonhole us WRONG.”
“It's because of people—men AND women—who think that all we're good for is a quick bit of T&A. Leonard Fox, who's willing to play hardball with the biggest draw he has and undercut her because he figures “hey, she's a little girl, I can screw her out of her money.” Nikki Michaels, who acts like she's an independent figure but in reality is just another mouthpiece for Fox's viewpoints. Aly, we're not fighting just to fight...this is for all of us. It's a dangerous precedent, and one I don't want to see continue.”
“Fox...if he has his way, if women like Sanderson, Shelly and Richardson are atop this division...we'll be reduced to a sideshow. Just a five-minute piss break so people don't have to miss the riveting athletic exhibition that is Jimmy Zane versus Joe Everyman in a Charisma on a Pole match. I won't have what we've worked for so hard be reduced to that. I know you wouldn't roll over to Fox if he started making those sort of stupid demands to you. Neither will I. Aly...I've been to the mountaintop. I've seen the promised land. And I need to redeem myself. To lay to rest the questions all of my doubters have had for so long. I want to be able to say I beat the best we've got...and to be able to be champion again.”
“I've never been one for speeches, so I'll keep this short and simple...Aly? From one Hardcore woman to another...you give me the damn best you've got, 'cause I don't want any less. And to all those people out there that doubt us? That want to cut us down? We're going to show you just what we're capable of. Bon nuit, Alysson. Bon nuit, et bon chance.”
__________________________________
We fade in several hours later on Emma and Crystal staggering through Central Park, laughing with each other. Both are obviously drunk, but Crystal seems to have gotten the worst of it, her slighter frame and not nearly as rampant history with alcohol meaning that once they started on the harder drinks, it was just a matter of time before she was completely wrecked. Emma laughs, snorting and gently shoving Crystal.
“Bull****! He doesn't sleep with it! What kind of a lunatic would sleep with a title belt?!”
Crystal laughs, nodding and wiping a tear from her eye as they walk along.
“I'm not kidding! He snuggles up to it an' ****, whispers to it like it's...well, like it's me, which is kinda creepy when you think 'bout it...I swear, he's in love with the thing. I'm gonna hide it one of these days just to see him flip his **** trying to find it.”
Emma nods, grinning.
“You...you gotta record that on camera and sell that ****. Steve Awesome hunting for his title belt like a crackhead looking for a fix...YouTube sensation, I'm tellin' ya...hey, check out the lake...”
Emma staggers over to the bridge, leaning on the rail and looking out at the lake in the park. She smiles, sighing and taking in the sounds and sights of the city. Crystal walks over with her, leaning there as well. Emma glances over at her, cocking an eyebrow and grinning smarmily.
“So, come here often?”
Crystal looks at her for a moment before breaking down laughing. Emma snickers too, unable to resist.
“You just HAD to say it, didn't you?! You big jerk! Oh man...that was so stupid...”
Hilton pulls herself to her feet. Emma looks at her with a mischevious twinkle in her eye. Crystal looks back at her oddly.
“What's that look for? Emma...?”
Danielson says nothing, just grinning wider. Crystal's about to ask again, but Emma reaches over and scoops her up into a military press. Crystal yelps at this sudden elevation, dropping her purse on the bridge, and Emma quickly press slams her into the lake, roaring with laughter as a splutteringly indignant Crystal surfaces.
“What the hell?! Why do people keep throwing me in lakes?!”
Emma calls back down to her, grinning.
“DTA, baby! Don't trust anybody! Now watch out, 'cause here I come!”
Emma whoops and quickly empties her pockets into Crystal's discarded purse before jumping up onto the rail and leaping off with a modified version of her TNT corkscrew senton bomb into the lake, causing a big splash. Crystal shelters her face as Emma resurfaces, laughing heartily. She swims over to Crystal, who shakes her head ruefully.
“I...I am NEVER letting you convince me to do this again! Ever! You hear me?”
Emma grins at her mischeviously.
“So same time next week, eh?”
Crystal remains stoic for a few seconds before a grin breaks out on her face.
“Probably...now, let's get out and call a damn taxi...”
Emma nods, and the two swim towards the shore as we fade to black.