Chapter 10

Austin sat on one of the many steel chairs occupying Generation Next's locker room and watched as Madison zipped up her knee high wrestling boots. Neither one of them had said a word to the other after their run in with Team Canada earlier in the evening. There was a crackling of uncomfortable tension lacing the room, neither Alex nor Rodrick had arrived yet, and their lack of presence meant the room was dead quiet.

Austin shook his head – this wasn't going to work if something wasn't done. There was no way in hell they could ever be an effective team the way things were now. A successful team was built on foundations of communication and trust; neither which were present between them and Madison.

He stood up and walked over to where she was sitting, this had to be solved now if they were going to have any chance of success tonight.

"We need to talk Maddy" he said as he sat down next to her. She didn't look up at him, instead focusing her attention of some little spot on her boot.

"About what?" she replied, now polishing with her thumb the invisible mark on the toe of her boot.

"About this, about you ignoring me, and about what happened at your place on Tuesday"

Madison looked up at him before looking over at the clock on the opposite side of the room.

"Are you serious? You wanna have one of those chats fifteen minutes before my match?" she said, with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Yeah, because we aren't communicating here – incase you haven't noticed! How are we going to work out there if we can't even have some form of communication back here?" he shot back, annoyance lacing his voice.

"Don't take that tone with me, alright! I'm fine with you – I'm certainly not ignoring you. As for what happened at my place, well I'm sorry for biting your head off – but my personal business is just that, personal business" she replied, standing up and stretching her back out. It had somewhat improved from earlier in the week and the bruising was only faint now.

Austin stood up beside her.

"Look, fine. I understand you want to keep some things private. But when we are getting ambushed every week because of something that's obviously happened between you and D'Amore I think it would be nice if you would at least let us in so we can help you!"

Madison looked at him with an exasperated look on her face, and placed her hands on her hips.

"For the last time, what makes you think he's after me? He is..."

Austin cut her off.

"Don't pull that shit on me again – he is clearly after you. I'm not deaf – I heard those little comments he dropped out there before!"

Madison just looked away – what was she suppose to do? If she told Austin the truth, he wouldn't want to be anywhere near her. But if she didn't, there was a good chance she would be kicked out of the group anyway. She sat back down on the seat – for once in her life she wasn't going to be able to avoid the subject.

"Fine, you want to know why D'Amore hates me so much? I'll tell you"

Austin sat back down beside her and watched her carefully. Judging by her body language this was something she was dreading having to share.

"Remember when I said I was trained by D'Amore? Well….."

She was interrupted by the loud voices coming through the door – it was Alex and Rodrick.

"Hey there, you ready to kick some Canadian ass tonight?" Alex yelled on the top of his voice.

Madison smiled, she had never been so happy to see two people in her whole life! Austin on the other hand just dropped his head into his hands – so close, yet so far.

Rodrick turned his attention to Madison.

"Well, Madison it all begins with you little lady. You ready to kick some skanky Toronto ass?"

"Hey! Remember I'm from Toronto too!" she pouted.

"Okay, okay. Ready to kick some skanky brunette Toronto ass?" he repeated.

"Hell yeah!" she replied with a huge smile.

"Alrighty then. Austin, you have her back right? Keep her in one piece, we're gonna need her tonight for our match to keep D'Moron in line"

Austin just nodded, silently wanting to kick their asses all over the locker room for having the worst timing in the world.

"Ten minutes Madison" the agents voice came from the other side of the door.

Madison smiled and grabbed her elbow pads before looking at Austin.

"You ready?" she questioned as she headed for the door. He just gave her a half smile before following her out.

--

"Making her way to the ring, being accompanied by Austin Aries, from Toronto Canada – Madison Mendes"

Madison walked confidently to the ring, taking in the large crowd cheering her on.

"And making her way to the ring, being accompanied by Matt Bentley, TNA Women's Champion – Traci Brooks"

Madison glared at the stunning brunette as she entered the ring. She couldn't believe that this was the same woman who gave her such a warm welcome during her first week with the company. Then again, she should know better then anyone not to judge someone on first appearances.

Traci walked up and got straight in Madison's face.

"You think you have any chance you little bitch, well think again" Traci muttered as she went face to face with Madison.

Madison just smiled at Traci. One thing she learned in Japan was that the quickest way to give your opponent the opportunity to beat you was to get drawn into verbal bouts. Here Traci was, waiting for her to come back with an argument. It was all the opening she needed.

Madison stepped back and quickly laid a well placed elbow into the side of Traci's head. Seeing her opponent stunned, she quickly smacked a few more into the side of her jaw before grabbing her left arm and whipping her into the nearest corner.

She lined Traci up in her sights and ran at her with a strong clothesline. Traci fell to the ground, trying to regain her breath. Madison pulled her up to her feet by the hair, before kicked her in the mid-section and flooring her with a DDT. Seeing she was stunned, Madison quickly covered her.

"1, 2..." Traci quickly raised her shoulder before the referee could finish his count.

Madison smiled, she was quite happy to dish out more punishment if that's what Traci wanted!

She pulled Traci up so she was on her knees, and then proceeded to pepper her more than ample chest with a few straight martial arts kicks. She heard Traci cry out in pain each time the kick connected. Madison watched as Traci rolled over on the mat, trying to regain her breath again.

Madison turned around to see Matt desperately thumping the mat, encouraging Traci to get up and continue to fight. She looked out to the crowd, most of which were watching with interest. It was sad to note though that they didn't seem even half as interested in their match as they had been for the earlier matches on the card.

Madison turned her attention back to Traci, who greeted her with a kick to the stomach. Traci grabbed her by the arm and whipped her into the far ropes, nailing her with a rough spear upon her return. She then proceeded to roll Madison over and lay several strong stomps into her recovering back.

Madison cried out as her tender back was once again being punished. She looked over at Austin who was shouting words of encouragement to her. She looked up and noticed that Traci had been distracted by the crowd and took the opportunity to pull herself over to the nearby turnbuckle. She sat there for a few moments, trying to rub some feeling back into the lower section of her spine.

"You okay Maddy" Austin questioned from the outside of the ring.

"Yeah, she's gonna pay for that" Madison replied as she pulled herself up to a standing position.

She walked over, somewhat gingerly due to the pain still present in her lower back, and tapped Traci on the shoulder. Traci turned around only to be met by a chick kick to the side of the head. Madison, ignoring the growing throbbing in her lower back, then proceeded to pull Traci towards the corner of the ring. She attempted to then climb to the top of the turnbuckle, with views of ending the match with a moonsault of sorts.

Madison wasn't exactly known for her high flying skills, usually preferring to keep on the ground. Striking moves such as martial arts kicks and submission moves were more her specialty.

However it was not to be on this night. As she stood up on the rope, she felt a hand promptly push her off the turnbuckle, sending her crashing not to the inside of the ring, but the mat on the outside. The impact was instant, and if her back wasn't aching before hand, it definitely was know.

She laid on the ground for what seemed like eternity, before looking up to see a returning Frankie Kazarian attacking Austin on the entrance ramp. Before she could do anything, however, she felt herself being pulled up by the head. She looked up to see Matt picking her up and shoving her back in the ring.

She gathered all her strength and managed to pull herself to her feet. She looked around the ring, trying to find where Traci was. Her head was throbbing from the impact to the outside and her vision was starting to become a little blurred. She eventually turned around to the corner near where Matt had thrown her in, only to be met with Traci's Pie in the Sky maneuver.

It was too much for her as she lay there – she had nothing left to fight out with.

"1, 2, 3" the referee counted and signaled the end of the match.

"Your winner, and still Women's Champion; Traci Brooks!"