The locker room was quiet with an almost sullen mood. Cassandra Beckett had slipped out of her ring gear and was changing into a pair of leather pants and a Fozzy t-shirt and Cassava Onika sat on the bench, head in hands. She had already changed her clothes and was wearing loose fitting blue sweatpants with a matching tank top with the ‘Are You Ready To Sweat” Estrina Starfire insignia on both.
CASSANDRA BECKETT:
CASSAVA ONIKA:
Beckett approached her partner slowly, not wanting to startle Cassava and worsen her mood, “H-hey...Are you okay?”
She lifts her crown of blonde and pink hair and lowers her hands to hang between her knees, she nods once before looking away, disappointed in herself. Beckett looks down at her unrequited love, worried about her state of mind.
“What happened back there?” she finally asks, hesitation about broaching the subject evident in her husky voice, “You were
there! Even after Bates caught ya, all you had to do was bring your hand down!”
“I know…” Cassava answers somberly, her eyes fixed on the floor. Cassandra chews on her lip, her heart breaking at seeing Cassava so crestfallen. She wants to sit beside her and comfort her, but she’s hesitant - given their history, she doesn’t want to push boundaries. At the same time, if they’re going to get Bootyshock back for this humiliating defeat, if they’re going to succeed as a team, they need to be able to communicate.
“Honey,” she begins, putting a hand on her shoulder, “I ain’t mad...Not at you, anyway. I know this was a tough beat, but we gotta be able to talk about it.” This seems to break Cassava from her stupor, and she looks up at Cassandra. Seeing the genuine concern on her face seems to finally get her to speak her mind.
“Fucking Bethany,” she begins bitterly, “keeping us apart so we couldn’t work on our teamwork.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Beckett says soothingly, rubbing Onika’s shoulders, “But look at what we accomplished in spite of all that! Just think of how thoroughly we’re gonna whip their over-injected asses when we actually
do get to work on some shit!”
Cassandra’s encouragement seems to mollify the Online Sensation, as she offers her unlikely partner a little smile, “I'm sorry I let Bates get in my head."
She nods and takes a seat beside Cassava on the bench, “Yeah, I figured it was something like that. Look, what Bates said was
technically true. I mean, you know how I used to be, it shouldn’t come as a shock to you to learn that I used people to get ahead.” Cassava nods in agreement. “But that ain’t me now. Please tell me you don’t buy her bullshit that this is all an act…”
"No.... not really. She just threw me off. I didn't know you guys knew each other. And a lot of what you corroborated really lined up with our own history. I should have known better, but this Loretta person shook me. Plus the choking really makes it hard to think straight, that was not fun." She pauses to rub the thin red welt across her throat, then sits up a little straighter, a realization dawning on her. "Come to think of it, I really don't know much about you. "
Beckett chuckles humorlessly, "Yeah, and what you do know, I'd bet you'd like to forget."
Cassava frowns at that and shrugs, “It’s in the past, Cassie…”
Cassandra chuckles awkwardly, daring to put an arm around Cassava, "Aww, c'mon! I was just kidding!"
Cassava sighs, "The point is, I fought you for over a year in and out of the ring, but I really don't know much about you besides what it's like to fight you.”
Cassandra nods "All right, then. You wanna know what makes me tick? Fire away. I promise I won't hold nothin' back."
"....Not here.” Cassava finally answers after a moment to think about it. “We’ve got to build up our teamwork for the next time we fight those ass implants." Then, after another awkward pause, she squeezes her eyes shut. “God, I can’t believe I’m doing this…” she says with a groan, before opening up her eyes and looking at Beckett, “...Wanna come over to my place?"
Cassandra gasps, putting a hand to her chest, to make sure she didn’t need to restart her heart. "Babe?” She finally finds her voice again, “.....I think you
know the answer to that."
Onika nods awkwardly at that. She’s still not sure how to handle Beckett’s feelings for her, for reasons that she’s not quite clear on. “Right sorry. Let’s grab our stuff and get going, then.”
The pair collect their things and head out of FAWN Arena to Cassava’s Hawkeye gold Nissan Leaf (an electric car, because she cares about the environment!).
"Oh, sweet! So you
did decide to keep it!"
"Yeah, environmentally friendly, plus its cute. I had to-HEY!"
Cassava was reaching for the door and suddenly jerked still and turned sharply to her partner. Beckett blinks stopping in her tracks as she opens the passenger door
"What?"
"You put that cash in my locker didn't you?"
In their fan-favorite Falls Count Anywhere at the Phoenix promotion L.A.W, Beckett used Cassava’s car as an obstacle to beat the apple bottomed rookie against like laundry, denting and damaging the car’s chassis. Days later Onika would find a wad of cash in her locker with a note attached that read ‘for the car.’
"Shit...busted,." Cassandra places her hand on her hip and drops her gaze to the pavement before looking back at her unrequited crush, "In my defense, would you have accepted it if I'd have offered it to you?"
Cassava scrunches her face, playing out the scenario in her mind, “Mmmmggggmmmpropably not. Thanks"
She shrugs "I felt bad. It was…
is...a nice ride*
"Thanks” Onika smiles and opens the driver’s door, “the leather in the seats repurposed from Miriam Gaimen's unused bondage wear," she adds before stepping in.
Beckett’s face goes blank for a moment, trying to map out the elaborate process of how Cassava tracked down such items and converted them to her vehicle’s interior. “Wow, you really do live the gimmick.”
20 minutes later -
Pulling into the driveway of Onika’s home, Becket became awash with nervousness. Just kinda nervous. This is a bit out of her comfort zone. For well over a year now, she’s pined for the woman sitting to her right. And now, here she was, about to be inside her home! Sure, there was nothing romantic going on -
yet, she told herself hopefully - but still...this was a huge step in their relationship.
"I invite you in,” Cassava references a favorite tv show of hers while extending a welcome, noticing Beckett’s apprehension.
She smiles shyly and bows her head to her, "I'm honored, madam Onika." she replies with a flirtatious tone, trying hard to maintain her air of coolness. She wasn’t really sure she was succeeding.
Onika’s domicile is big but not overly so, the Hipster is always conscious of her carbon footprint. Clean with a pine scent lingering in the air, past the foyer and down the hall the duo head into living room which also acted as Cassava’s main recording space for her online show, FAWN Finds. Along the walls were shelves filled to the brim with wrestling memorabilia; a special glass cabinet for anything related to her hero Kylie Sanders stood by the entryway to the kitchen. Other wrestling and various other fandom memorabilia decorate the apartment. A camera set up on a tripod stood in front of one of the more elaborately decorated sections of the house for when Cassava needs to be in person. On one side of a 40 inch flat screen, Onika had a gaming chest containing various consoles for her ‘Let’s play’ videos, on the other side a wire tower chock full of video games.
Cassandra gives a low whistle as she walks through the front door, scanning her surroundings. "Nice digs! Guess that comes from being an internet starlet since you were like 12 or something, huh?"
"Yeah I was a pioneer of unboxing videos, but schools won't mention that for black history month!"
"You'll get yer day in the sun someday, sweetie."
Cassava quickly takes a PS3 from the chest, which was actually from the Molly O’ Cannon merch line, featuring an outline of her head and hair with crossed swords underneath her on the front of the wooden box. The Superfan kneels down working connect the device to her television "alright here's my plan, we need to know each other well enough to solidify a tag team, in a short amount of time."
Beckett nods, trying not to eye Onika’s round ass, "Sounds right."
"So we're going to do an episode of my show, we'll talk history, trade stories, motivations, maybe laugh a bit"
As Cassava resets her station to record audio Beckett nods to herself, looking a little apprehensive at the notion of conversing with Onika in her prime element. "O-okay...Sounds....good."
Onika gets up and pats her on the shoulder, “Relax, ‘let’s play’ videos are beating ‘Late Night’ talk shows because they cut out the awkwardness, we’re doing that by playing something as we talk.”
The Red Cloud native lets out a breath, "yeah, okay. I can do that."
*Alright,pick a game, any game" Onika points to the tower, strategically placed in front of a cardboard cut out of Shea London and Kylie Sanders side hugging
Cassandra shakes her head "You really do live the gimmick, don'cha? Hmmm...How about....this one?"
“Aah, excellent choice. FAWN's Kylie and Cozy: Adventures Through Heel-Land.” In Beckett’s hands she holds a game with a cover of a cartoon Huggable and Kissable jumping and smashing blocks with their fists
"Lemme guess...You're callin' dibs on Kylie?"
"no you can play her....I like to watch" Cassava voice gets a little husky, her finger tracing a little circle on her hero’s body.
Beckett blinks and licks her lips "I...see..."
Cassava stares intently at the game cover, not noticing Beckett observing her, she shakes her head clear of distracting fantasies.
"Let's get playin"
Beckett smiles and picks up a controller
LEVEL 1
Done in high level 2D animation, cartoon versions of Kylie Sanders and Cosette LebBlanc back in their white meat babyface days bounce and flip across the street of FAWN’s headquarters, fighting a small army of tiny Dominique Dayls who explod in a burst of confetti when stomped
Deep in concentration, Cassandra sticks out her tongue out the corner of her mouth as she plays, a habit that’s persisted since she was a child. Onika notices this quirk and thinks
aawwww. She starts the dual interview.
"Alright, when did you start wrestling?”
"I...I started training when I was 15...Had my first match the day after I turned 17."
"started early huh, trained by anyone I would know?"
"Uhm...To be honest, I hadn't heard of him either. Bob Simmons...I did some research, and found out he was a minor star in the 80's in the midwest, and spent some time in the big leagues as a jobber.
"Shout out to Bob Simmons,thanks for paying it forward"
LEVEL 2
The adorable duo are parkouring on the furniture of what seems to be a large and elborate sex dungeon,dodging the whips of FAWN legend Miriam Gaimen, with a submissive and leather bound Sophie Mitchell at her feet.
"Oh, this is straight bullshit!" Cassandra yells in anger when Kylie is whipped onto the pommel horse.
"Remember to double jump when Sophie Mitchell licks Gaimen's boots, that's the tell"
"Wow, really? Okay...So, uh...How about you? I know you idolize Kylie Sanders and all, but who trained you?"
"A lot of people really, I wanted to make sure I was ready before I started wrestling since it was my dream for so long. My basic wrestling skills I learned from Holly Hotbody if you can believe it"
"Huh. Not a bad name to start with."
"Yeah she really improved as a person since leaving FAWN, for my booty moves I trained under various masters, including wrestlers, dancers, strippers, and high level escorts"
Beckett blinks and does a double take at that, "E-escorts? Seriously?"
"Yep, super expensive kind. really taught me how to use all the power I can in my pelvis. Gonna come in real handle for penthouse matches"
"W-wow...I...uhh...." she is momentarily at a loss for words as she tries to chase away the mental picture Cassava just provided
"AHAH!" onscreen Kylie grabs a fallen whip and starts flailing Gaimen and Sophie,. the bosses seem to be REALLY enjoying it. "That's how you do it!" Beckett says grinning, enjoying the game again.
LEVEL 3
Cassava and Beckett are button mashing madly, trying get Kylie out of Cynthia's Mortal Cyn submission and Cosette out Ivy's figure four leglock, the background an approximation of the Sanders’ Family barn
Biting back her instinctive hatred that comes up when she sees the Hell’s Belles, Onika continues the interview, "Weirdest wrestler you ever faced?"
“Oh, that has to be Funhouse Fiona. Scary clown gimmick. Kinda like that Roulette chick without the sexual shit."
"Eeeeeeeeeh" Cassava is not a fan of the mental image Beckett just provided, and tries to block it with her answer.
"For me it was Elvira Menphis, female Elvis impersonator turned wrestler. Never breaks character, and constantly stealing moves from Black wrestlers and taking credit."
"You definitely run into some weirdos in the indies."
"Yeah, people try to be more creative toGAAHHH!"
"OH, SHIT!!"
Cynthia forces Kylie to tap out, then flips her in the air like a top, the Iowans landing on er back with a THUD. The wrestling dynasty climbs atop and starts riding Sanders’ face with impunity.
Ivy does it cozy moments later, adding a titty twisty to rub in the failure.
Cassava is hilariously enraged and high pitched in her response, "AAAH! You Inbred hicks! I'm the Videogame Girl! I'm the one who wins!"
"Fuck! What do I do? Cass, what do I do?"
"Nothing we can do, just gotta wait for them to finish and start the fight over. Gragh! I hate losing to these two!"
Cassava takes out a throw pillow with Cynthia's face and punches it repeatedly, her only purpose for buying it, purchased secondhand to make sure FAWN’s antichrist would not receive a royalty check. After a through pounding she passes it to Cassandra.
"Here it makes you feel better"
"Dammit!" punches the pillow as it's offered, "Thanks. That
does kinda feel good."
"No problem, I used to have one of Ivy but she came out with more merch with the confederate flag a some years back so I burned it"
"Good call. Fuck that bullshit."
"I know, right?"
LEVEL 4
Kylie and Cozy have been transported to a fainting couch as large as a city block. Overcasting it are two loud whistling sounds accompany a pair of ever increasing giant shadows. The Ameri-Franco team must stay away from them to avoid being flatine by Lakeisha Bates and Kendra LaRue meteo-sized butts as they fall from the sky.
Cassandra glares as Kylie does a kick flip off Bates’ hip, "These fucking bitches..."
Onika has similar feelings, "Even the game designers couldn't hide how lopsided their asses are."
Beckett growls as her character dodges and hops around, "Swear to god, these two sluts are gonna pay next month."
"Damn skippy, press B in 3, 2,1-SECRET MOVE!"
Timing it perfectly the virtual tag team each jump deep into the badonkadonk landing zone, Kylie produces a giant cob of golden corn behind her back, and LeBlanc a similarly sized light brown baguette, spearing Bootyshock’s mainstreets as they come down.
Cassandra blinks "Well! Alrighty then..."
Cassava laughed like a baby taking ice cream for the first time, "hahah! Take it you evil bitches! I heard this was based off an unsanctioned fight at Kylie's farm, the baguette was a week stale"
"Geez..."
"They had it coming"
“Oh, no doubt.”
LEVEL 5
A black and white chess board is the battlefield, after fighting wave after wave of pawns, they face a suitably well endowed Emily west armored in a Victorian style mech suit. Styled in a manner befitting a queen she wielded oversized medieval weapons.
“Alright, I got a weird one for you,” Cassandra warns, making her Kylie avatar do a somersaulting backflip off the steampunk boss’s boobs, “first videogame crush?”
“Mmmmmm,” Cassava preuses her answer as virtual Cosette summons the Arc de Triomphe as a super move.
"Mine is Smokey The Bear, he had big arms, active lifestyle, and he was always concerned with my safety"
Onika doesn't see it but beckett glances at her own biceps and nonchalantly says, "I go camping sometimes"
“That’s cool. So who was your first animated paramour?”
“Dana, from Batman Beyond, she was just so cool and danced SO sexy.”
“Nice! Love that show!” The Superfan saves the game, "Biggest win of your career?"
Cassanada scrunches her face, weighing the possibilities. "Um....Match itself, or win?"
"Win, I mean," she clarifies.
"Hmm...Tough call. Obviously my first LAW title is up there...But I think my third title win was the biggest."
The Red Cloud native has her character eat a pie made by Roxanne McCrimmon to increase her health, as she goes into detail.
"That goody-two-shoes Darla Garrett did everything she could to keep me from getting the title shot I'd earned! And when she was finally backed into a corner, she tried every dirty trick she could think of to leave with the title. But I was ready for her."
The corners of Cassava’s mouth perk up at the mention of Garrett, who was kind to her in the onset of her wrestling career.
"I like Darla, how's she doing?"
Beckett shrugs "I think she went to California for a bit, try out something new and all that."
"Darla @ me! let's set something up, get you on the show."
Beckett makes a small, unseen frown at Cassava’s outgoing message coming so soon after the Queen Bitch spoke of her hostility toward Darla, but she would admit her rival did try her best to protect her love while she was vulnerable… often from Beckett herself. Cassava offers her highpoint victory after laughing at the fact that Cosette’s pie had a little French flag sticking out of it.
"Mine was beating the Amazing Emma... but now it's beating you. No offense."
"None taken. I know it was a big thing for you to get past that. I'm glad you were able to, if that makes sense."
"It does, glad we can finally move past this together"
Beckett nods, and steels herself for a potentially sensitive subject, "Say… when I first showed up in FAWN, you were reacting to one of the matches at FAWNMania...Do you remember?"
"Yeah Akiyama vs Lethbridge, Merle and Kanako had a cute moment. Kerle 4 eva!"
"Besides, I heard Kanako is hooking up with that Decker chick.”
“What!” Cassava squeaks whips her head to look at a slightly startled and amused Beckett, “that throws off my ship chart! Aah, I'm sorry Merle. You will find love one day."
Cassandra chuckles, "Funny, I wouldn't think that Decker chick would be her type."
"Kanako seems like she needs some hugs, Trixie’s probably affectionate, If someone's near Kanko right now give her a hug. Above the waist!" She adds..
Cassandra chuckles again, "Yeah, I definitely wouldn't wanna be on that girl's bad side, seeing what she's done to those who are."
She smirks at that "That dweeb Merle wishes he could get a chick as hot as Akiyama! You seemed to take quite a shine to Akiyama, if you don't mind me saying."
"She awesome!” Cassava insists, ”plus I loved her movies and TV episodes, her acting on ‘My Stepmom Is A Heel Champion’ was fantastic"
Beckett tilts her head and makes a ‘you don’t say?’ expression.
"Interesting...I don't know...I figured she was a little too...hardcore...for your taste. The way she tore shit up until she got injured was...Well, damn...."
"She got a little intense for a few months but she's better now I hear. Plus I picked up a few things if I ever do a hardcore match, though i won't use light tubes. not my thing."
She raises an eyebrow "A few things, huh?"
LEVEL 6
The game shifts back to a side-scrolling, beat’em up format. Huggable and Kissable stroll down a sunny beach, fending off attacks from bikini clad beach goers, and super fit gym rats that pose for selfies.
"Who the hell thinks of this shit?" Beckett says with a chuckle
Cassava explains, “Apparently Bethany Christian was heavily involved, and Carol Courage to balance the scales.”
"Huh. Is that so? Who knew?"
"All day Brthany used to just think of ways to humiliate Kylie and Cozy, this is all based off a dream she had.." Their characters fire off side by side Superkicks, knocking a busty lifeguard into the surf, "dream opponent and match?"
"Oh, gosh...Well, before she turned into such a cunt, I would say Jenny Jacobs… now? I dunno...I guess if she would come out of retirement, I'd love to test myself against Sydney Deschain. How nuts is it that she's
still the bar set by everyone?"
Cassava adjusts her seat on the couch to lean forward more, "oh yeah, she's a fantastic wrestler when it comes to skill. Title wise you got to go with Shea London though."
"Yeah, nothing wrong with that pick."
The simulation Huggable and Kissable enter a sandcastle the size of Buckingham Palace, a sign saying “No Putzes Allowed” is posted over the drawbridge.
"For me, it's a three way dance between Kylie Sanders and Emily West. Loser marries the winner, I pin both of them at the same time," Cassava reveals with a broad smile and a wistful gaze.
She looks at Onika sideways, before shaking her head "To each her own, I guess."
"true that. AAH!"
A surprisingly, charmingly drawn Chrissy Daniel bursts through a sandwall wall like a curvy Robocop, wrapping Kylie and Cozy in a simultaneous smothering, pressing each of their adorable faces in a corresponding boob.
Cassandra is caught unprepared and is scrambling to escape, "SHIT!! What the fuck?!"
"Hit her spongey belly, that's her weak spot!" Cassva’s voice takes on a slight edge when referring to the Beach Cat, a longtime tormentor of her goddess Kylie and her hero Shea London.
"Can't wait to fight chrissy one day, I'm going to bury her neck deep in sand, and sit on her face till she admits Kylie’s better"
She gets another sideways glance, and a shrug from Cassandra
Onika continues, ''Plus she left a mean comment about my fanfilm of Rachel Raker, which just got optioned for a feature film. Not to brag,” she gives her shoulders a little shuffle in self satisfaction.
"Really? I never knew that!"
"Yeah it went viral and someone big noticed, plus her life story is SO interesting it had to be put on screen."
Beckett gives another nod in agreement, "You think she's lost some of her edge? She used to have this huge chip on her shoulder. I don't get that as much anymore."
"I think she was able to reconcile a lot of her past, good to see some justice done"
"I guess. I think she and...wassername?...Sharpe? They've got unfinished business."
"Yeah, they got a reckoning coming. Finishing move! PVD!"
Simu-Kylie hits her signature Death Valley Driver on Chrissy, defeating her and causing a ripple throughout the structure, collapsing the sandcastle.
"YEAH! Get her!!" Cassandra cheers.
"Take that you beached whale!!"
A few minutes later Kylie and Cozy are trying to escape hugs and kisses from Shea London and Juliet Bloodwind, the ending cutscene for the game.
"Aaaw," Onika coos at the sight.
Beckett smirks as she sets the controller down "So...I guess that's it! Fun game."
"It is, FAWN has a great track record,” Cassava suddenly looks she has a bad taste in her mouth, ”except for the Sue Burlingame mystery game, I don't care if the rich girl loses a diamond."
She looks to her new tag team partner, "I'm glad we did this I feel like I know you a lot better"
Beckett smiles "I'm glad. I really enjoyed myself. I'll be honest, I thought this was gonna be...a lot tougher."
"That's the beauty of the ‘Let’s play," Cassava turns her head to look at a wall mounted clock.
"It's 2 am, do you want to sleep over? The couch is a fold out, the blanket is a close up of Beck Clayton's abs"
Cassandra's eyes widen and she blushes a little "Sleepover? With you?"
Onika seems a little flustered, "Yeah.. I mean not WITH me , separate rooms but in the same domicile," she gestures around her home.
"I mean....yeah....yeah, I knew what you meant. Sure. I'd like that."
"Cool, I'll get you some jammies"
Beckett bites her lower lip as a hundred thoughts turn around in her head, soon Cassava comes back with a pajama set of a long sleeve button shirt and long pants, with multiple pictures of Chloe Field’s Strawbeary printed on them
"Cute."
Cassava hands the clothing to her overnight guest, “thanks, weirdly it's blueberry scented.”
Beckett takes a quick sniff "Hmm! Nice!" she begins to take her shirt off
It takes Cassava a moment to realize that her partner is getting undressed. Once it dawns on her what Cassandra is doing, she quickly turns away, though not before getting a look at a topless Beckett, albeit from behind. In that moment before turning away, though, she does note the unmistakable relief map of scar tissue along the curve of her spine. She wonders why she’s never noticed that before now, before dismissing that, and other, more...confusing...thoughts. “I, uh...I’ll set up the guest bed for you.” She takes a couple steps towards the hallway leading to the guest room before stopping and turning just in time to see Cassandra wiggling out of her leather pants, a sight that causes even more confusing thoughts as she pauses to admire the view. “Hey…” she finally says, causing Beckett to turn her head to look back at her, “you got any plans for tomorrow?”
"Uhm...I didn't have anything specific in mind.” she answers, “Why? What were you thinking?" She turns to face Cassava, now completely naked, save for a pair of white cotton panties.
Cassava inadvertently licks her lips, which does not pass Cassandra’s notice, before she shakes her head rapidly, seemingly trying to shake the stray thoughts that just intruded on her loose. “Uhm...I was thinking we could hit the gym, work on our tag team chemistry between the ropes, maybe come up with some combos?"
Cassandra can’t help but blush, which likewise doesn’t escape Cassava’s notice, "I'd like that...a lot...The more time we can spend together, the better as far as I'm concerned." She manages an awkward smile.
Cassava nods, feeling her own ears growing hot. "Cool,” she says as she turns to hastily return to the task of preparing Cassandra’s bed, before she was tempted into doing something she might regret, “see you tomorrow then. Good night, Cassie."
"Okay, Cassava,” she answers as she begins to put the jammies on, noting how nice and soft they felt on her skin, “good night." As she hears the door down the hall close, she realizes what Cassava just said. “Wait a minute...did she just call me Cassie?” she asks herself aloud, wondering if things between them were finally easing up.
