Michelle held her breath again before setting foot in the ECW arena. Though this was now her second time entering, she still caught butterflies for this new experience. Just a month ago she was wrestling at her old development and training her ass off. Who knew one phone call could impact her so much? All week she's been getting congratulation calls from old friends and family to the point where it became a little annoying at one point. Michelle would never tell though because there is no place to go but up and she was getting there.

Brief glances were drawn to Michelle as she opened and stepped through the door. Everyone went back to what they were doing leaving Michelle as another object of the background within seconds. Damn. Why was it so tense here? She thought. From the crew members to the wrestlers not one smile on their faces. Not one sign of happiness of being here. Everyone looked so serious; definitely not what she had imagined it to be. Though, Michelle was always one to exaggerate this was pretty bad even on a realistic level. She hoped in the next year or so she wouldn't be as miserable looking as them.

Walking down the hall, drawing more temporary glances from the other wrestlers, Michelle made her way to meet the general manager, Paul Heyman. She wasn't scheduled to make a debut for another couple of weeks so she had no idea what this meeting would be about.

Michelle smiled politely greeting her boss who greeted her back saying, "Mackenzie, come in!"

"It's Michelle," the blonde said trying to disguise the slight annoyance in her voice.

"Close enough. I didn't get to tell you last week but welcome to ECW. I'm glad to have you here so far."

"The pleasure is mine." Michelle said.

"As you've known before you're not set to debut for a little while but today I want to talk to you about who you'll be to the fans," he started. "I want to keep your name as is but I have interest in seeing you as a valet. There's a tag team that I think you'll be perfect with. Balls and Spike."

"Come again?" Michelle asked. Those words together didn't sound right at all.

"Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney. I'm sure you'll see them sometime tonight. By first glance they might not look like it but they're a decent tag team around here."

"So you want me to run around with a tag team?" Michelle asked sounding slightly displeased.

"Well, it's a start. I know what you're thinking but you have to crawl before you walk. You have to show these people, and me, a little of you before they can't get enough. You'll never get too far if you shove yourself down these people's throats."

Michelle wasn't sure if he was giving her career advice or slightly flirting with her but either way she didn't care to hear it. "I understand," she lied. "I'll try to have an open mind."

"That's what I like to hear," the GM said with a smile on his face.

Michelle said her thank yous and left the office. Where was she headed now? She didn't know. She wasn't scheduled so she couldn't go into the locker room. She didn't know anyone so she couldn't just hang around and to make things worse, the show wasn't starting for another hour. Michelle did something that she did best. She sat down in one corner, listened to her CD player and played with a rubix cube; not exactly fun but it killed a lot of time.

About forty minutes in, Michelle was interrupted from her deep musical session by the feel over a hard sudden vibration. The blonde looked up to see a live brawl taking place in front of her! Bodies were being driven into wall and tables, steel chairs were flying but no cameras.

Michelle didn't quite know how to react at first. The action was so dynamic that any sudden move could cause danger to her. On the other hand, the longer she stays is the worst it'll get. It was like she couldn't win.

The brawl did indeed get worse even with security and referees trying to calm it down. The blonde saw an opening out of the corner and quickly jumped up.

"Terrance you gotta calm down. It's not worth it," a referee said straining to hold back the powerhouse of a man also known as Rhino. He was so fired up Michelle doubted that he even noticed that he had been busted open by a previous chair shot.

Michelle was almost out of the scramble when she was startled by a loud hiss. "Fuck off!" Rhino shrieked over powering the referee then taking a giant step back then pushing him away again.

Michelle let out a scream of pain as she hit the floor. When Rhino was pushing away the referee one of his elbows were violently introduced to Michelle's nose. It wasn't long before her tongue tasted the sour flavor of blood leaking from her nose. To her surprise the brawl was still going on with not one person aiding to her injury.

The blonde tried to pick herself up, holding her nose she slightly jumped from the pain she felt when doing so. This time she tried moving much quicker than she did before. She successfully got away from the crowd; at least she thought she did until she felt her back being pushed forward nearly stumbling flat on her face again.

"Holy shit," she heard a masculine voice utter before her. She had no care in the world who it was because at this moment masculine was the enemy.

"Are you ok?" the same voice asked. This time the blonde didn't have a choice but to look who the voice was coming from. The guy who spoke had blonde hair cut short with dark brown facial hairs; Michelle couldn't help but notice how small he was standing at about five feet nine inches; he couldn't be more than 175 pounds tops. By the athletic tape on his arms and the kneepads underneath his overalls it seemed like he was one of the wrestlers. How can a guy this small possibly be a part of this?

"Not exactly" she said. Wasn't it obvious?

"Stupid question, I know. Let's get you out of here," he said.

The little guy signaled her away from where they were and started down the hall. Michelle, of course, followed despite the fact that she didn't know who he was. They stopped at a red door that read MEDICAL on it. The guy opened the door allowing Michelle to go in. Inside looked like a doctor's office with a sink, pictures of corny jokes pertaining to health, and a bed. But no doctor, nurse or anything.

"Now this is unprofessional," the guy said.

"We still have another fifteen minutes before the show starts," Michelle said looking at the clock.

"That's no excuse. I swear for such a dangerous place you'd think the medical team would be more attentive."

Michelle chuckled then halted after she felt a drop of blood fall onto her leg.

The little guy drew some paper by the sink and handed it to the blonde.

"Thank you," she said holding the tissue onto her nose.

"I'm Spike," the little guy finally said extending his hand.

Michelle giggled looking down at her left hand that had dry blood on it.

"Oh, right," he said.

"I'm Michelle," shaking his hand with her other and non-bloody hand.

"Tell me Michelle, are you new here?"

"Can't you tell?" She said harsher than she wanted to but played it off by giggling. "My second week here and I find myself in the middle a homicide brawl."

"Be prepared for that. There's really no way around it except for being where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there."

"I had nowhere to go. One minute I'm listening to music, innocently may I add, next minute I look up to see a riot."

Spike chuckled. "Also be prepared for that. You really don't get much of a warning."

"Can you believe I got elbowed in the nose and no one even looked my way?"

"I guess it's safe to say welcome to ECW."

It was an hour into the show and Michelle had found herself a friend. He might be little and as far as protecting her from future outbreaks like the one that occurred earlier he was useless, but dammit Michelle had found herself a friend. At first impression he talked a little too much and his jokes were corny sometimes but the blonde appreciated the effort he put into being a nice person. It didn't seem like there were many of those around.

"I'm sorry again about your nose," Spike said as he watched the show from the backstage monitors.

"I'm sorry I have to wear this big ol' brace on my nose. I look like an idiot," Michelle said tracing the outlines of her bandaged nose. "So much for being the new girl. Can you imagine what people are saying about me?"

"To be quite honest with you no one really cares about you."

"Ouch," Michelle said. She felt her stomach turn slightly and was urged to get up and leave.

"No one cares about me either, I've been here for three years and I can't get half the locker room to say my name right!" Spike said in a slightly frustrated tone.

"So you're saying there's no chance of earning respect around here?"

"Correct."

"Well that sucks."

"Not really. When you love being in the ring as much as I do, pity locker room respect becomes an illusion."

"I must admit I like where your mind is. Right before the brawl I went into the GMs office to touch up on what I'd be doing as far as a gimmick."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing I wanted to hear. He basically said I'd be a valet till further notice."

"That's not so bad; who knows if you hang with the right people it could be a lot of fun. Who are you gonna work with anyways?" Spike asked.

Michelle opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the sound of commotion.

"Champ. Champ wait up," a guy that looks to be an interviewer said in an out of breath tone. It was like he was running after someone but the person he was running after was behind him. It was probably for the camera.

The guy who was behind the interviewer wore a belt around his waist, the "champ", looked rather annoyed. His face was sweaty and he looked out of breath himself. He probably just competed.

Michelle couldn't speak at all now. The only thing she could do was look ahead of her, staring down what she saw taking place in front of her. It was like heaven on earth, better yet heaven in hell, the "Champ" being heaven and harsh environment of ECW being hell. His features were beyond description. He stood at average height; his ring attire played a role in exposing his perfectly toned body, he had dark hair that came up to his shoulders in length the way it put back in a ponytail. He spoke in such a calm tone despite the fact that he was being annoyed; and as he annunciated his words the dimples in his cheeks would show itself.

"…That won't be the case the next time he steps in the ring with Rob. Van. Dam," as the champ said his name he showed off a taunt to go with it. After that he walked off with the cameras still on the interviewer. Just like that he was gone. It wasn't fair to Michelle who still didn't answer Spike's question. She wasn't mentally capable of doing so after what she just witnessed, who she had witnessed. Part of her wanted to get up and run after him but the Michelle she really was stayed in her seat with her eyes glued on where Rob had just been standing.

"And this is the part where you answer me question?" Spike said sounding a little annoyed.

Michelle regained her composure, not even sure when she lost it. "I'm really not a forgetful person but what exactly was your question again? I'm sorry."

"You said Heyman had a role for you, what was it?"

"Guess."

"Dr. Death's wife?"

"As a matter of fact don't guess," Michelle chuckled. "We're going to be working together."

"What are the odds?" Spike said with a smile on his face.

"He also said something about working with a guy named Balls. I was too disturbed to ask any further."

"You mean Big Balls?"

"Yo," said a third voice in the two voice conversation. Michelle and Spike looked over to see a heavyset man with arm tattoos wearing a skirt—right next to them. Besides all of that he was rather unattractive.

"Wassup, Balls?"

"Sup Spike?" Balls said after the two exchanged their hand greetings. "And hello to you," he said looking at Michelle.

Michelle had never been looked at like she was being looked at right now. She felt weird trying to fight back the disgust by putting on a smile. "Hi."

"Balls, relax this is Michelle. Michelle this is Balls." Spike sensed that Michelle was uncomfortable.

"Nice to meet you," Balls flashed a toothy smile to show off his not-so-toothy mouth.

This really made Michelle feel sick. How was it that just a few minutes ago she had seen the most beautiful thing to walk this earth now she was looking in the face at the complete opposite?

"Michelle was just telling me that all three of us are going to be acquainted onscreen," Spike continued.

"Not to be rude but what happened to your nose, sweetheart?" Balls asked.

Michelle felt on the cast on her nose. She was so caught up in the activities in front of her she forgot about her injury. Maybe it was a good thing? "I got myself into a little mix-up earlier."

"Holy shit, you were in that?" Balls sounded so impressed. "I overheard someone talking about it when I was on the toilet, you know dropping my kids off?" he said gesturing to Spike.

Spike grinned back then remembered Michelle, who was still very uncomfortable. "Balls, that's disgusting man."

"Right, my bad," Balls continued. "You ok though?"

"I could be worse, thanks for asking. That's the last time I sit in the main lobby." Michelle joked.

"Woah, you were just sitting in the main lobby?" Balls asked.

"Yes, I had nowhere else to go…" Michelle said.

"Michelle you can't just sit in the main lobby it's a death trap. There's always something going on there," Spike said.

"I had no idea. I guess I learned my lesson the hard way," Michelle said. "But if that's the case shouldn't there be tighter security or consequences for things like this?"

Balls and Spike said nothing and only looked at each other before letting out a shared chuckle.

"Do you know where you are? This is Extreme Championship Wrestling." Balls said.

"You are working with ex-criminals and just straight up messed up people who show no sympathy to the human anatomy, male or female." Spike added. "The only thing unrealistic here are the lines we have to read before airing. Otherwise there are no rules."

Balls let out another chuckle. "You sound like Spike on his first day."

"Fuck you Balls!" Spike said slapping him on his tattooed arm.

Michelle couldn't help but giggle. As intense as the introduction to her new workplace sounded she wasn't as afraid as she thought she would be. Something gave her the feeling that as long as she stuck with these two everything might be just alright.