Devil's Whisper

Styx canted her head to the side, a bit confused, then straightened up. "Why would you be surprised? You weren't there, I don't have any beef with you. Hell, I don't have any beef with them, really. Just a match."

Styx began to idly shuffled through the various articles on the tabe between them, looking for a magazine she could read without putting her mid-level Japanese to the test. "Besides, I'm sort of a fan of yours, truth told." She took a pause to look up and study Alaina's face for a moment. "And you're different from Julia and Taylor. As I see it."

Alaina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, well thanks! Its always nice to meet someone who is a fan although I don't see how I am different from them except for wrestling style of course. If it weren't for Taylor I'd probably still be trying to find my first win." Alaina said. Sure, Julia and her were great friends and trained together more than anyone.... but those days seemed like so long ago the way the two co-champions had gotten along in recent days.

"Well, the wrestling style is part of it. Also the matches you take." Styx started to tick them off on her fingers. "Your match with King, for instance. Not a conventional choice. And you seem a lot more hardcore-minded than either of them. You've got the build for it." She nodded Alaina's way and looked her over, head to shoulder. Smaller girl, but solid. "And then there was that whole thing with Akino..."

She went back to sifting through the pile, until she found a USA Today from three weeks ago. It would have to do. "That's just my take, though. You and Taylor sound super close."

Alaina nodded as River spoke. She did make a few good points, she was more hardcore oriented even if they weren't matches she had chosen per se. The mention of Akino made Alaina cringe a bit. "I went too far with Akino. I was out to show that I wasn't just some floozy jobber and took it out on someone. I made amends with her though, thats the important part."

Alaina sat back and let River's last statement sink in. "Yeah, we're close. She has always been cool with me ya know? Like because her and Julia are more similar in style they train together a lot. I work more with Akashi, even though we're different kinds of power wrestlers." Alaina said with a shrug. She dare not call Akashi fat. Akashi was simply bigger and less mobile, thats all.

Some Japanese salaryman started to come over while Alaina spoke, but a quick glance from Styx made him sit farther away, giving them a wide berth. Smart man. She wanted this conversation to stay private.

”I get that. You were new, you wanted to be taken seriously, so you made a statement. And it worked. That’s the important thing.” She cracked her knuckles to emphasize the point, but quickly softened back up. ”But it’s great that you have a role model with Taylor. Me, I never really had that sort of bond. Not a lot of camaraderie in the hardcore division. What little hardcore division there is, anyway.”

Her eyebrow arched as a thought occurred, and she leaned forward to voice. ”So where was Taylor? After the three way, I mean. I kinda expected her to be there after you guys took Gwen down - big moment for you both, group hugs, pinkie swears - but she never showed.”

"I am very lucky to be where I am at, but after I have my title run who knows where I'll end up? I have seen the hardcore division and I feel like I have a shot at making some noise over there." Alaina said with a smile and shrug. As much as she loved the entropy title, hardcore was a "move up" so to speak in prestige, and closer to her ultimate goal of Friction champion. How could she not consider it?

Alaina sat back. She was told by Taylor a couple times that the triple threat match was a bad idea, and Taylor's disapproval of that situation is why she wasn't there. A handicap match. Everyone said that, but they must have missed the parts where Alaina and Julia were going at it as hard as they went at Gwendolyn. When Alaina had Julia in the dead center of the ring, primed to tap before Gwendolyn's entourage intervened. Or when Alaina took the fight to the other two, nearly pinning both at once. Also, she couldn't forget their coordinated super kick that sent her to la-la land, busting her open. All the negative talk about that match, no matter the source, bothered her. Taylor, and two of her friends during a spar gave off those vibes too which made it that much worse. Alaina recalled Taylor saying that the right thing to do would be have one of the dojo girls back out and wait for their shot after the other beat Gwendolyn one on one. It seemed like everyone forgot how Gwendolyn cheated to keep that belt. Alaina also couldn't help but wonder if she made that suggestion to Julia about the triple threat match, or did she think Alaina had less of a shot and should have been the one to back out? After her disastrous loss to Brittany, Alaina was curiously left out of dojo tag matches against Kelly's crew as well....

After thinking and carefully considering her response, Alaina had little to say. "Taylor thought it was a cheap match to have two dojo girls against Gwendolyn so she stayed out of it."

The idea of Alaina 'making noise' in the hardcore division was an interesting one, but she kept that note in her pocket after the last thing her new 'friend' said.

"Oh?" Styx tried to sound and look a lot more surprised than she actually was. She'd expected about as much, really - it certainly didn't seem like the match Taylor would've taken, so it was odd to see her girls going for it. "Mother knows best, I guess." She casually glanced between Alaina and the Op Eds. "You went through with it, though. Didn't forfeit. I'm guessing you disagreed?"

"I already got screwed over by Gwendolyn and her slow count referee, where I won the match but didn't officially. She screwed Julia over too. Karma is a bitch and at least whoever wins at Avalanche will fight the right way for the title." Alaina said with a sigh of exasperation, sitting back in her seat.

"The next time I am in an airport after Avalanche, I am gonna have a nice little trinket just like that." Alaina said as she leaned her head down towards the belt River had. There was nothing that was going to stop her from being the Entropy champion. Sure it wasn't as big a deal as Friction champion by any stretch, but it would be her first belt. It was a big deal to Alaina. If anyone wanted to downplay it, they could. Alaina would simply ask them to see her in the ring before setting them straight.

"Exactly." Styx spared a quick glance at the board, making sure her flight wasn't coming up, then turned back to Alaina. "You already tried doing it the fair way with Gwen, you both did. She fu..." She stopped herself mid-curse. Might be best to keep it PG-13 with someone so saccharine. "...she screwed you. As long as she was champion, all she had to do was get a DQ and she could screw you a hundred times over. You could either wait to get a match with fair rules, which probably wouldn't happen because Lukretia doesn't care..." She huffed and shook her head. "...or you could take the opportunity when it came. Maybe the only one you'd get. Smart choice."

She held the belt up for Alaina to take a closer look if she wanted. It wasn't the genuine article, but she was still proud of it. Symbolisim and everything. "We both will. Real ones."

["Attention, attention."] A monotone voice droned out over the intercom in Japanese. ["Flight 111 to Mongolia, boarding now. Flight 111 to Mongolia, boarding now."]

She checked her ticket and sure enough... "That's me." She stood up and started to gather her things.

Alaina nodded along as River spoke, listening as River's flight was called. Alaina glanced at the belt, daydreaming of the Entropy title around her own waist. "Good luck, I will see you around." Alaina said with a smile. Did she just have a civilized conversation with River Styx?

Alaina didn't fully trust this woman, but at the same time River wasn't the type to fake. She was as subtle as getting smashed in the face with a brick. Maybe she was just different outside the ring and all her anger took place in matches only? Alaina wasn't sure, but she did have some bitter feelings bubble up from the depths she hid them. The dunce student was going to walk into Avalanche, pin the star student, and walk out as a champion.