Reunion (Invite)

[Larissa Darling]

Again. It had happened again. Larissa Darling was the verge of overcoming a personal haunting, ready to finally grace into first place, ready to finally have a token to prove her self worth, but at the end she choked. A feeling she was far too familiar with, a situation she had grown accustomed too, and a predicament she had grown absolutely tired of. Wasn't this her time? Wasn't this her chance to finally prove to herself that she was more than just a constant failure? Everything seemed right. She had won her debut match for the company, she had earned her opportunity to face the champion by the following week, she had promised to give it her all, not only to herself but to Angel as well, but...it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to break that threshold. Something kept pulling her back, something kept preventing her from finally achieving glory, and that infuriated her.

Walking on the entrance ramp, her forehead drenched in sweat from her latest failure, she could feel the joy in her audience. They were all smiling, pointing, eying Larissa with the utmost of joy. Their villain had failed when she promised victory. Her match was anything but hold-for-hold carnage, but it may has well been her first debut within a wrestling ring two years ago. Clenching her fists, trying to suppress her anger, Larissa tried to prevent herself from a public outburst. She couldn't, she wouldn't allow their actions to influence her. Larissa wasn't that failure anymore! She was great within that wrestling ring, her technique was as close to flawless as she could imagine herself being, Larissa wasn't her sloppy, self-caring, wreck of a "wrestler" she originally was. Yet, why did she still feel like it? Why wasn't that feeling going away?!

Trying to calm hers breaths, trying to focus her anger elsewhere, Larissa headed backstage. She had to remain to uncaring to her watching public. She had to look strong, look like this defeat was nothing more than what it was, when it reality it was a visual metaphor for everything she tried to achieve in her life. Loser. Loser. Loser. Trying so hard to just fail, constantly. Reaching her locker room, she kicked the door open, and let it slam itself into place as she sat down at the closest bench and placed her elbows on her thighs. Massaging her forehead with the tips of her fingers, she closed her eyes and tried to focus her breathing. She couldn't be angry at this, she couldn't. There was always next time, there was always next time!

"SO I CAN JUST FAIL THAT TOO?!"

Ripping off her glove, Larissa crunches it into a ball and throws it in the distance. Slinging her arm down to her side, Larissa could feel she was losing, even to herself. Everything just lead to disappointment. Everything just lead to this. Tightening a grip on the brim of her skirt, Larissa kept replaying the match in her head. Where did she go wrong? Where was the mistake? That match was hers? Wasn't? Did she just convince herself that she was better, when reality she was still that same Larissa Owens from two years ago?

"Am I just a mistake?"

[Madi$on]

She slipped into the scene taking a seat next to her on the bench.
The camera didn't show her face yet as it was focused on Larissa
Her voice spoke out to be heard as the camera panned over to her

Your not a mistake! That match WAS yours. You had it completely in the palm of your hand. She just got on a quick roll at the right time, and capitalized perfectly. That comes with the experience she has in this business. You can't win them all, that's for sure. Look at me, I came in last year on a hot streak like I was the future of womens wrestling. I won the title here, and all of a sudden, the bullseye was on me. Every little dirty secret that could be made up about me, was, and the world all got to hear it, believing it all to be true before I could even speak up and speak the truth. It ended bad last season, and still I pushed for you to sign here. Because I knew deep down, you had everything it takes to succeed, and climb from the hole your in. You can start that climb, and reach the peak, shedding the bad taste in your mouth from the past.

Besides, if we both just curled up and gave up over a few losses, we'd be doing our training, and trainer wrong. I sure don't want to be on his bad side. He worked us to hell getting us ready for this business, I can only imagine he'd work us over even worse if he knew we were having a pity party.

She laughed to herself for a second before slipping back into the serious supportive role. Larissa was a good friend, and she knew she had to help her shake this off. That is the one draw back to being a women it seems. You clinch onto the negative things and let them dictate how you proceed with your life, instead of focusing on the good.

[Larissa Darling]

Larissa recognized that voice. Possibly one of the only voices within the company she did. Madison was the reason Larissa was even on contract, Madison was the reason Larissa had such an opportunity at the I:W Amazon Championship, and Madison was the reason she was sitting on the bench at this very second. All her anger towards herself, all her inner-turmoil semi-vanished the moment her voice echoed off the walls of her locker room. Sitting back, listening to her speak, Larissa had to force herself to not reminisce. Once enemies, now the best of friends, Larissa began to feel silly, something Madison made her feel often.

"Sorry, sorry."

Closing her eyes, Larissa held her grip on the bench and leaned back, stretching her shoulders while letting out a loud-ish sigh. Sitting back up-right she then gave Madison a smile and a half-hug, laughing a little with her. Larissa had let her emotions get the best of her, allowing her to seem childish. An old habit she was still having trouble trying to mend. Soaking in another relieving sigh she then faced her friend, and looked downward, just trying to give a voice to how she was feeling.

"I just...really, really wanted it. It felt like vindication, the idea of holding something to finally give myself some sort of worth. I couldn't believe I managed to win that ladder match. It just felt like tonight was the time. I felt ready for it, and I didn't have doubt until that very last moment. But, sorry. You shouldn't have had to see that. I didn't mean any disrespect for the training we shared together."

She weakly half-smiled. Larissa and Madison were both students of the same wrestling academy, and although their personalities may have been vastly difference from one another, they had managed to develop a friendship between them. In Canada, Larissa was known as "The American Darling" a masked, patriotic-gimmicked wrestler and in order to keep her identity an absolute secret Larissa seldom took off her mask, even in public. It was during a similar emotional outburst like tonight that Madison had first seen the unmasked Larissa Darling, so Larissa could only imagine the memories surfacing through her friend's head and she turned quiet. Suddenly, Larissa realized this was the first time she had seen Madison since coming into the company.

"HEY! Where have you been?! I can't believe I overlooked this, but Madison. We're in the same wrestling company together, in the same locker room. Our goals, they're being met!"