"Tori!" Andre said, walking into her hotel room, holding Raven, who was asleep.
"Hey." Tori responded, dryly, looking at the television.
"What's wrong?" Andre asked.
"It's...nevermind, nothing, I'm sorry Andre."
Andre sighed, put Raven down on the couch, and sat next to Tori, putting his arm around her.
"What is it?"
"Well, a couple things. First off I have a fight with a freakish monster, and if I lose, we're homeless. Then, if I do win that fight, I either have to fight the UFC Champion, or my own sister, who hates my guts and doesn't want anything to do with me, who's being trained by my alcoholic father who beat my Mom into a divorce."
"Trina can't hate you, sweetheart."
"She didn't tell me about my fucking mother's death." Tori said, angrily.
Andre fell silent.
"...Andre, I'm sorry."
"No, no, I understand."
Tori began tearing up.
"I never got to say goodbye to her Andre...I didn't get invited to the funeral...I've never seen her since I..." Tori trailed off and started trembling as her tears started flowing heavier. She buried her face in Andre's chest and began hysterically sobbing.
"It's not fair." She muffled.
"It's okay, let it out." Andre said, patting her on the back.
"Why didn't she let me say goodbye?" Tori pleaded, still crying.
"That's a lot of carbs there champ." David said, pointing to Trina's plate.
Trina gave him and angry look, but didn't respond.
"Nervous about the fight at all?" He asked, sitting down across from her.
She looked at him for a while as she slowly finished chewing.
"No."
Trina took a sip from her water bottle.
"You oughta be nervous."
Trina rolled her eyes as she took another slow, methodical chew, upon swallowing her food, she said
"Why?"
"She's the champ for a reason!" David exclaimed.
"I'm in this tournament for a reason."
"But, it might have been a lucky f..."
Trina slammed her fork down on the table.
"No." She said sternly.
"What?"
"Not you too."
Trina glared into David's eyes.
"What are you talking about."
"You think my fight against Rocky was a fluke."
"N...no I didn't say that, I just think that maybe you got a little lucky."
"Let me tell you something right now, the only god damn lucky thing about that fight is that Robbie was filming it. I don't get lucky, I win fights."
"I understand that but you're being too cocky."
"Knowing I'm the best doesn't make me too cocky."
"You've always been too cocky! That's your problem! You need to..."
"I don't have a problem, I don't need anything, and I don't need anyone, I don't need this stupid tournament, I don't need Tori and her little family she abandoned Mom to have, and I most certainly do not need you!"
"Who said anything about Tori?" David asked.
Trina said nothing. She turned on the TV to see Raquel on ESPN.
"And I think that's when it got out of proportion, that's when they started the narrative of 'oh, the champ got knocked out, oh she wants an official fight with her, she wants to fight Monet, she wants revenge on Monet, I'm not worried about Monet, I don't care about a fight with her, if our paths cross, they cross, if they don't they don't."
"That's what Raquel Blue said at the beginning of Sparta on Highly Questionable with Dan Le Batard, when asked how she felt about being on the same side of the bracket as Daniella Monet, and potentially having a fight with the YouTube sensation who knocked her out in one of her training gyms of choice. Now, the hypothetical has become reality, and Blue and Monet will face off, with the winner facing off against the winner of the Dana Koba fight, for the Sparta prize, of $10,000,000. We're here today, on the phone with the champ, Rocky Blue. Rocky, it's been speculated by big fans of Monet that she would upset her first two opponents and this fight would occur, and now we're here, do you feel like you're more prepared now to fight Monet than you were at the Valentine Gym?"
"I can't really say that I am. I haven't gotten a chance to really watch Monet fight, I've only seen her knock people out and leave, so there's no film to go off of." Raquel responded.
"Now, Vegas betting odds have you as the clear favorite, 5:1, how do you feel about your chances going into this?"
"I feel the same way before and after every fight. Like the best fighter in the world. I feel like I have the best chances in the world."
"Before Sparta, you said you didn't want revenge against Monet, you were fine, you didn't care if you never saw her again. But after defeating Cher Jones last night, you were circling the ring screaming 'I want Monet!', have you had a change in heart?"
Raquel smiled a bit.
"I personally am unaffected by Trina Monet, but people keep mentioning her in the same breath as me, and acting as if she is a better fighter than me based off of two fights and a sparring session, so I just got really excited to have a chance to shut those people up."
"Now, Monet is not an opponent you can look past, but if you do beat Monet, you could potentially... let's be honest, Dana Koba WILL be your next opponent if you defeat Trina Monet, have you thought about Koba at all?"
"I've been thinking about Koba since this tournament began, we're the top 2 fighters, this whole tournament was designed with the idea that the best fighters in the world would fight. So I'm more than prepared to give Dana Koba a real taste of what MMA is like over here in the states. She already got knocked down by Ash Cruz, I think I'd become the first to really hurt her."
"Last question, what do you have to say to any young girls who may be fans of you or idolize you?"
"I just want them to know that there is nothing you can't do, no matter your gender or race or anything, traditionally MMA is a boy's sport, so I'm glad we're having our tournament before them, so Women's MMA can get some more of the attention it deserves."
"Thank you Raquel."
"No problem Scott, thanks for having me."
Trina turned off the TV.
"Remember Trina, we have a press conference in 5 hours." David said, going into the bathroom.
"I'm not going."
"They said if you skip this one, you're getting pulled from the tournament."
He closed the door.
Trina heard a knock at the front door, she went and opened the door.
"Hey Trina."
"Uh hey. Who are you?"
"I'm Andre."
"Doesn't ring a bell."
"Tori's fiancee."
Trina half smiled.
"You're marrying Tori?"
"Yeah."
"So what's Tori's last name gonna be?" Trina said, fully smiling, looking actually interested.
"Harris."
"Wow! That's so cool, goodbye Mr. Harris." Trina said, closing the door.
Andre sighed and knocked on the door. Trina opened it again.
"Can I come in?"
Trina began laughing.
"Can you come in? We'll that's the first time you asked before doing it. I mean, you came into Tori's life and made her love you more than her own mother, you came in between Tori and I, and according to the little mixed girl in the pictures she showed me, you came in Tori, you just love coming into things, huh?"
"Actually, Raven is my niece. We adopted her."
"Oh I see, you just like seperating girls from their mothers, is that it?" Trina asked, her smile brighter than ever.
Andre began to get upset.
"You're one to talk, you didn't even invite Tori to her own mother's funeral."
Trina's smile immediately disappeared.
"Don't talk about things you don't know shit about." Trina said, very seriously.
"I could say the same to you."
"Look, why don't you go back to Tori and your little niece or daughter or whatever you call her."
"I just came here because I want to understand what's going on between you two. Why haven't you talked in 12 years, why...why didn't you invite her to her mother's funeral?"
Trina's smile started to return.
"Has it ever occured to you that if Tori had reached out or called, or made that simple 6 hour drive at any point in the 7 months Mom was in the hospital, or even in the 12 years they were seperated before she passed, that maybe she would've known something? Of course that didn't occur to you. I see why Tori fell in love with you, you're selfish just like her, you two only think about yourselves, get the fuck out of my sight." Trina said, slamming the door in his face and sitting down on the couch.
David came out of the bathroom as Andre knocked on the door.
"Don't open it." Trina said.
"Why not?" David asked.
Andre knocked louder.
"Fine, open it." Trina said.
David opened the door.
Andre extended his hand.
"Andre Harris."
David looked at him as he shook his hand, he thought he recognized him.
"David Vega, don't I know you from somewhere."
"You might, I'm Tori's fiancee."
"Oh! Come in!" David said, sitting on the couch next to Trina, Andre sat across from them.
Trina didn't look at him.
"How's Tori?" David asked.
"Not good." Andre responded.
Trina turned the TV on, David turned it off.
"Trina that's rude." David said.
"I don't see why there's any need for conversation."
"Look Trina, I understand your frustration, but..." Andre began.
"Who's frustrated? I'm not frustrated, I couldn't care any less if I tried. There's nothing we have to discuss. Why didn't Tori know about Mom? She didn't CARE enough to find out. Am I going to make up with Tori? No. Are you inviting me to your wedding? I decline. You want me to babysit the little girl? Pay me. Is there anything else you want to know?"
Andre and David sat in silence for a bit.
"Trina, it doesn't have to be like this..." Andre began.
"I got a press conference to get to." Trina said, walking towards the door.
"The press conference is in 5 hours!" David called out.
"I'm walking there, I better leave now." she lied.
Trina dissapeared from their sight as she closed the door behind her.
Andre and David sat quietly for a little while longer.
"Well, I guess I better get back to Tori." Andre said, walking towards the door.
"Yeah. See ya around...son." David said, cautiously.
Andre smiled a bit.
"See ya later, Dad." he said.
David smiled at him as he closed the door and left.
There were 4 tables arranged near the back wall of the large room, each table was 4 feet long and the tables were about 4 feet apart, each one had 3 microphones. There were hundreds of journalists in front of them with cameras, tape recorders, and notepads, as well as family and friends of the fighters, all inside of a fancy room in a different hotel, near the arena. Andre stood, holding Raven in the middle of the crowd.
At the table on the far right, Tori sat in between Beck and Jade. At the table to her left, Dana Koba sat in between her trainer and her english translator. Left to her was Raquel Blue with her manager and her father, an esteemed mixed martial arts trainer and trainer of all fighters in the RAQ-STAR camp. To Raquel's left was Trina, David, and Cat.
"Okay first question."
"This question is for the champ. Rocky, just how much are you looking forward to the Monet rematch?"
Raquel smiled.
"Rematch implies that we've ever had an official fight. It was a sparring match, and too answer your question, I'm looking forward to this match just as much as I look forward to every fight."
Trina rolled her eyes.
"This one's for Vega. You've had a storybook run in this tournament, but do you think you can actually beat Koba?"
Tori chuckled a bit and looked at Beck, then back at the reporter.
"To be honest, if you asked me last week how far I would've made it in the tournament, I would've told you I'd be lucky to make it out of the first round with True. But if there's one thing I learned in this tournament, it's that when you're in the cage, anything can happen. So yes, I am very confident with fighting Koba."
"Mrs. Monet, you have skipped every press conference leading up to the tournament, is there any reason you have attended this one."
"I'm participating in this press conference so I don't get removed from Sparta."
"Monet, what will be your strategy, facing the champ a second time."
"My strategy is to attend this press conference, so I'll be allowed to fight tomorrow night."
"Uh, this one is for Monet's trainer, since both of your fighter's fights have ended in immediate K.O.'s, there are huge questions about her preparedness and gameplan for a long fight, do you think she's prepared incase this fight goes into later rounds?"
"I'll take this one. I'm sitting here at this table so I don't get removed from Sparta."
The reporters looked at each other as Tori chuckled to herself.
"Um, this one's for Koba. Would you rather face Monet or Blue in the tournament finale?"
"Chto by vy borot'sya Blue ili Monet v final turnira?" Koba's translator repeated.
"Eto ne imeyet znacheniya." Koba responded.
"Koba says, 'that's irrelevant'."
"Monet, when you were a Marine, where were you actually deployed?"
"Today, I've been deployed here to attend this press conference so I don't get removed from Sparta."
"Monet, do you plan on answering ANY questions this evening?"
"I plan on fighting in Sparta tomorrow evening, and my attendance at this press conference is a prerequisite to that happening."
Tori looked over at Beck.
"Trina knows what prerequisite means?" She whispered.
Beck chuckled.
"Monet, is it true that you declined an offer from RAQ-STAR promotions."
"Yes." She responded. Giving in.
"You offered her a contract!?" Raquel asked, turning to her manager.
"Yeah, after I knocked you out he said he wanted me as an insurance policy just incase your career started to decline." Trina said, half-smiling.
"Why don't you knock me out tomorrow night?"
"If there weren't all this money on the line, I'd knock you out right now." Trina said.
Rocky and Trina both stood up and glared at each other as their representatives and several Sparta workers got in-between them.
"C'mon, let's go, what are you scared of, YOU knocked ME out, come do it again. Don't just stand there like a little bitch." Rocky taunted.
Trina gave her a half smile, before lunging at her unsuccessfully as a bunch of people broke them apart.
"Fuck this." Trina said, leaving the room of reporters and people frantically holding Raquel back and walking into the front lobby.
Soon David walked out of the room as well and caught up to her.
"I forgot the car keys." Trina said, turning around.
"I'll wait outside." David said, leaving the hotel building.
She went in to the room again and grabbed her keys as Raquel launched more insults and taunts that she ignored.
She walked out of the room and heard someone follow her. She turned to see Raven standing there.
"Aunt Twina!" Raven yelled, running up to hug her leg.
Trina rolled her eyes.
"Aunt Trina." Trina whispered to herself, annoyed. "They taught her to call me 'Aunt Trina'."
"Hi." Trina said aloud.
Raven extended her arms and looked up for Trina to pick her up.
Trina sighed and rolled her eyes again. She picked Raven up.
"What is your name again, kid?"
"Waven." Raven smiled.
"Right, right."
"Mommy misses you."
"What?"
"Mommy misses you Aunt Twina."
Just then Tori ran out of the room, into the lobby.
"Raven! Where are you!? Raven!? Ra..." She stopped and saw Trina holding her.
Tori and Trina looked at each other for a little bit.
"Bye Raven." Trina said. She put her down and left the hotel.
"Bye!" Raven called out as Tori watched her sister leave, unable to say anything