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King of the Mountain - Chapter Eight - No Hard Feelings

"Time!"

Mara dropped to her knees with a gasp, a puddle of sweat already forming beneath her as she took in deep gulps of air, the trainer lowered his pads and gestured across to the side of the matted area of what other gym attendees referred to as 'The Pit'. She nodded gratefully and walked across to wear her stuff was, tearing off the gloves she was wearing to grab her water and take a long drink. She allowed herself a look around during her break, other people in 'The Pit' were still going through various drills. Cardio, grappling, strikes, two fighters wrestled around in a caged area at the back whilst their coach yelled advice. Mara tuned it all out again and began looking upwards.

'The Pit' got its name from being just that, a large, matted dojo on the basement level of the gym. The rest of the place was set up almost like an apartment complex, from the bottom she could see right up to the roof, the other floors of the gym forming its own square on the way up. Tanning beds, physiotherapy and various massage rooms were the next floor up, then the weights section, then the cardio, and finally a top floor of clothing apparel, a snack bar and a viewing area where a lone figure leant on the rail looking down at her. She raised a hand in greeting, the figure gave a thumbs up back before stoically carrying on with looking on, she looked down at herself, grimacing at the trail of sweat back to where she'd left. Forget laundry, she may have to burn her workout gear following this session.

"Eight rounds in Mara" her coach commented with a smirk as he approached. "Enough for today?"

She shook her head and began pulling on the gloves again, her trainer suddenly taking on the appearance of a bored looking woman turning her back on her, she blinked and the image faded away.

"Not even close" she walked past him onto the mats. "I can do this all day."

"Don't I know it" the trainer muttered to himself with a sigh, slowly raising the pads again.

"We're worried about her" Jay's voice snapped Jason out of his own thoughts for a moment, he turned his back to the view of the gym to face his friend.

"You say something?"

"I said, we're worried about her" Jay repeated. "We're worried about both of you right now."

Jason made a non-commital noise and turned away again, Jay continued.

"I mean, look at the two of you" Jay stood next to him and gestured down to where Mara was throwing strike after strike, kick after kick, at the pads held by her trainer, not slowing down in the slightest despite how long she'd been going. If anything, the trainer looked like he was running out of steam as he barely raised a pad in time to block a kick aimed at his head. Both men winced, Jason had a feeling Mara was imagining a certain woman being on the end of those kicks.

"Two wrestlers in a gym, Jay?" He muttered sarcastically. "What's next? The sky falling down?"

"You know what I mean!" Jay snapped, exasperated at having this conversation for what felt like the hundreth time that week. "You studying every last wrestler currently active this side of Japan, Mara spending so much time down there that she may as well pay rent instead of a gym fee! Can you blame us for wanting to make sure you're alright?"

Jason conceded his friend had a point on that front, he had been doing nothing but seeking out anyone Ring of Honor related Jim could possibly be bringing in to be part of his proving ground series and studiying their every move, his determination to not allow any potential for Dixie, and by extension Jim, to stop him being in the gauntlet at Slammiversary was causing him some serious strain. Even though Jim's rules of behaving and providing tryouts said nothing about whether he won or lost, he knew anything short of winning every match would give Dixie an excuse to insist Jim overlook him in favour of someone on a more winning streak. This trip to the gym was a rare break from his studying hour upon hour of Ring of Honor wrestlers and alumni, from main event to opening match, from Austin Aries to the Ring Crew Express (though he'd never admit to Jay he was that deep into his studying).

And yet his focus was nothing compared to Mara's. Her mind was laser pointed at Kong, despite her still having to go through Angelina to potentially face her, his girlfriend had studied Kong just as vividly as he had studied potential opponents. Mara, however, had already got her strategy. She knew she couldn't overpower Kong, and, despite her abilities, she knew trying to straight up wrestle the larger woman had a danger of ending up with her falling victim to the power game as well, so, with that in mind, cardio was the plan. Mara was putting in hours of every drill she could find, determined to come in at a high pace and tire Kong out, but, Jason noted with a smirk, she also had a backup plan. No one expected Mara, as good as her strike game was, to take the fight to Kong, hence every day was now spent with a trainer down in 'The Pit' perfecting every kick to the point where even Kong stood a risk of being dropped if they connected.

"I'll admit though" Jay spoke up again. "She is in the best shape of any of the women right now."

Jason smirked, Jay was right on the money again, whilst Mara had always looked after herself and kept herself in shape, the current training regime had her on another level. She wasn't jacked by any means (she joked that she needed to keep some femininity about herself), but she was toned to the point even the die hard gym rats had begun asking her for tips on how to cut.

"Jay, we're fine" he finally answered, but in a tone that left no room for argument. "We're both fine, we both just have big opportunities coming up and it's living in our heads right now."

"No kidding" Jay muttered, though he seemed more at ease now Jason was answering properly. "But you gotta understand how I need to ask Jase, we've never seen the two of you this focused on something. If you looked up 'tunnel vision' in a dictionary right now all you'd see is a picture of you two."

Jason allowed himself a laugh. "Look, just because the others aren't here doesn't give you an excuse to be the responsible one" he mocked playfully, before turning his mind to the others with a sigh. This week's IMPACT would just be him and Jay representing the group. Sonjay had been given a week to rest up following Chuck Taylor's piledriver whilst Chris and Alex were away in Japan doing a ten day long tag league. He and Jay had teased them about missing out on their opportunities to get into the gauntlet only for Chris to show them a message from Jim saying that if they represented TNA well then their tickets were punched. The two had taken this on board and in the 5 days they'd been going so far had won four of their matches.

"And you KNOW that one loss is gonna be killing Chris inside"

"One of us has to" Jay suddenly answered back. "Though, we do need to start having fun again..." he trailed off as the two watched Mara finally finish up with her relieved looking trainer and head for the showers, he looked to the next floor down and gave a whistle. Val looked up, gave a nod and turned off the treadmill she'd been jogging on and made a beeline for the stairs.

"She wants to have the same talk with Mara" Jay shrugged at Jason's quizical look. "Plus we both wanna run an idea past the two of you, the others are already on board..."

"Does Alex think this is a good idea?"

"He does, actually..."

"I'm out!" Jay rolled his eyes but let out a laugh, Jason turned to face him. "This idea is?"

"You're gonna love it..."

"A road trip to Nashville?" Mara repeated as she dressed herself, Val nodded happily.

"Yeah, it's ten hours on a good day right? We book a van, change our hotel bookings to a day earlier, take a nice chilled drive there on Friday and spend Saturday at the hotel all together before Slammiversary on Sunday."

Mara nodded. "Ten hours?"

"Give or take."

"In a van?"

"Yup."

"With Alex Shelley?"

Val cringed. "Well, when you put it like that..."

Mara shrugged and focused on her shoes, Val pressed on.

"It's just, we know things haven't been the same since Lockdown and Jay wants us all to do something fun, get back to how things were and help you and Jason unwind before going into a big show where you'll be in big matches, plus I've never done a wrestling road trip before so..."

"I get it Val" Mara laughed. "I'm in, it'd be nice to remind Jason he's still meant to be young and enjoying life."

"Says the girl..." Mara cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"I know, I know, pot and kettle" she sighed. "But you're right, we need to have fun again, so two days with everyone... even Alex, would be good for us both."

Val grinned at her. "Great! I'll let Jay know when we get upstairs, he should have convinced Jason by then."

Mara nodded and grabbed her bag to follow Val, catching a glimpse of the mirror she frowned as her reflection took the form of a larger woman snorting dismissively before turning her back, as if Mara wasn't even worth her time, she blinked and her reflection returned as she went to follow Val, trying hard not to think about how it suddenly looked nervous.

"Styles and Sting against Christian and Tomko?"

"Make that the main" Jim replied as Matt continued writing the show out on the board. "Jarrett can go on halfway through assuming he doesn't try and weasel out of it."

"Hi Jim" Dixie Carter's annoyingly chirpy voice cut into him but he forced a smile to his face as he turned. "Got me a show for tonight then?"

"Almost" Jim replied as Matt smirked at the tense tone to his voice. "Assuming you have no surprise signings or run ins on the roster to squeeze in?"

"Not this week" Dixie smiled back, oblivious to Jim sarcastically mouthing this week over at Matt. "Buuuut" she ran her eyes over the board. "I think we can make a change to make it better."

Jim closed his eyes for a second, of course she would. "A change?"

"Yes, Gail Kim against Kong, Gail thinks, and I agree, that she needs an extra week to prepare for an opponent she's never faced before."

"OK, so the Women's Title tournament Semi-Final we promised the fans..."

"We have Angelina and Mara, don't we?" Dixie responded as if Jim was a child. "We can switch that to this week."

"Well, I don't think that's entirely fair on either of them, when we booked the tournament it was so everyone could have two weeks between the first and second rounds, now Gail and Kong are having three weeks and Mara and Angelina only one..."

"But" Dixie interrupted again. "The winner of Kong and Gail will only have three days to prepare for the final at Slammiversary so it balances out. Angelina and Mara should be fine to get their head in the game at short notice."

"And yet Gail needs an extra week to get hers in the game?" Jim bit back before composing her. "Fine, it's your show, make sure they know as soon as they get here."

Matt nodded at the order and took his leave to wait for the wrestlers in question to arrive, Jim clenched his teeth and returned his attention to Dixie.

"Any other changes to make the show... better" he asked, Dixie beamed at him.

"Just one Jim, I'm a bit worried that our audience won't be too familiar with the Ring of Honor wrestler you're bringing in so..."

"The Xplosion match!" Jason snapped at the board as he and Jay looked up their matches, Matt winced.

"Dixie changed it" he sighed. "She felt more people knew who Chuck Taylor was after last week so they switched you and Jay around."

Jason frowned, whilst there was nothing necessarily wrong with being in the match taped for Xplosion, he knew it got a fraction of the audiance IMPACT did, which, in turn, meant his proving ground opponent would hardly be showing off his skills to a large audiance.

"Dixie really has soured on us hasn't she?" He tried to joke to Mara, she just stared at the board, a week of preparing for Angelina had been lost so she was strategising fast, having to take her damn near sweating herself into a puddle earlier into account as well...

"Go get ready" she said suddenly, her brain going through every potential outcome for the night. "You need to be ready and focused for whoever you got since you're on early, I have a good few hours to prep for Angelina, I'll meet you at the tunnel..."

"Sure you don't want to focus on your match?"

"You need to win to keep momentum up" she replied with a teasing smirk. "And you need me to help you prepare for whoever Jim has for you, especially since they've probably had a week to prepare for you. We'll plan for Angelina once we get you a 'W' next to your name."

With that she took her bag towards the women's locker room, Jay gave an impressed whistle.

"OK, maybe her being so laser focused is a good thing..."

Jason could only nod before heading for their locker room, whoever his opponent was he hoped it was someone he was familiar with...

Doug Williams whistled casually to himself whilst rocking back and forth in a perfect neck bridge position, he'd been dressed from the moment he'd arrived at the arena, a good thing too given how early his match was, and spent his time stretching and going over every move Jason Cena had to throw at him... his whistle trailed off as a pair of feet appeared in his line of vision.

"Nicholas."

"Doug!" The only other English accent in the building greeted him. "You finally made it here then?" Magnus grinned down at him.

"Thanks to you constantly mentioning my name to Cornette, no doubt" he replied, still not breaking his bridge, Magnus grin vanished.

"Yeah... look mate, I had to get my foot in the door before I could get you in, you know how it is..."

"Yeah, I know how it is" Williams fell silent and carried on rocking, Magnus sighed.

"Look, can you stop that for a second? I need to talk and you're making me want to see my chiropracter.." Williams finally stopped bridging and stood up.

"What is it... mate?"

"Just wondered if you fancied some backup for your match against the kid..."

"No."

"No?" Magnus repeated in shock. "Doug, mate, I think you should..."

"I watch the show, I know you have a problem with Jason" Williams gave him a glare. "I have no problem with the lad, and I'm not being part of your game with him."

Magnus frowned. "OK, me and him? He rubbed me up the wrong way, I admit it. But I'm actually asking for you."

"For me?"

"Yes mate!" Magnus tone went grave. "Look, there's a reason why your match is suddenly on the Xplosion taping rather than IMPACT you know..."

Williams finally met his look, Magnus continued.

"Look, just think, Jimmy Rave gets on IMPACT but you, Doug Williams, one of the best technical wrestlers on the planet only gets on Xplosion? I don't wanna say this but... they've written you off mate."

"Written me off?"

"Yeah, they think the kid is gonna wipe the mat with you, so there's no point putting you in front of a bigger audience" Williams was starting to frown, as though the words were sinking in, Magnus pressed on. "So, Doug, you need to beat him tonight, or it's curtains, no IMPACT contract, no consideration for future bookings. So, as your mate, I'm telling you, you need me out there tonight..."

"Are you saying I can't beat him by myself?" Williams was seeing red.

"Of course not, I know you can beat him, you know you can beat him, I just think a little... moral support, would go a long way tonight."

Magnus offered a hand, Williams looked down at it and sighed.

"OK, you wanna be out there? Fine. But you do not get involved, Alright?"

"Perish the thought Doug" Magnus grinned as his handshake was accepted. "Good talk, see ya out there mate."

"Xplosion?" Jim Cornette sighed as the teen walked past him towards the tunnel.

"Not my idea kid" he replied defensively. "I'd rather my tryout guy got his match on IMPACT as well but... management."

Jason frowned but nodded in understanding. "Does this affect..."

"No, our deal still stands, keep winning and behaving, then you're in."

"Don't suppose you'll at least tell me who I got tonight?"

Cornette gave him a grin. "Wouldn't that make it too easy?"

Jason grinned back before charging towards the tunnel where Mara, already in gear, was waiting.

"Sorted out your plan for..."

"Let's get your one done first shall we?" She cut him off with a grin. "There's time for Angelina later."

Jason was about to make yet another comment about overlooking her opponent but his music hit to drown out his voice, with a shrug he led Mara through the tunnel and to the ring, all the way there and even as he paced back and forth names were running through his head.

"Danielson? Nah, no way he'd only be on Xplosion. Jacobs? Tyler Black? Davey or Eddie? Maybe one of the Brisc..."

The music finally hit and Jason couldn't surpress a grin as Doug Williams appeared on the ramp, he turned to make a comment to Mara but found her frowning up at the stage, he turned back and also frowned as he saw Brutus Magnus flanking his fellow Englishman.

"He really can't stay out of my business can he?" He muttered, Mara gave his hand a squeeze.

"Focus on Doug, I'll keep an eye on that moron."

Magnus stopped at the bottom of the ramp as Williams stepped in the ring and offered Jason and handshake, the teen hesitantly took it but kept hold as Doug went to walk away.

"What's your buddy doing here?"

"He's out for support, nothing more" Williams replied, nodding at Mara as if to imply it was similar to her presence.

"If you believe that I have some prime snake oil I can sell you" Jason hissed before backing away to a corner, leaving Williams to glance back at Magnus before going to his own corner, the referee called for the bell and the two immediately locked up.

Straight away Williams took control of Jason's arm and took him down to the canvas in a wristlock, Jason quickly tried to roll to his feet but Williams expertly took back down again in the same hold, the teen frowned to himself then kipped up to his feet and spun out only for Williams to pop a perfect cartwheel to stay on his feet.

"No one does tech like the Brits!" He yelled to a round of boo's from the crowd and a round of applause from Magnus, Jason laughed in spite of himself and stepped forward only for Williams to dart behind him, grab him around the waist and take him down before immediately rolling his shoulders to the mat, Jason kicked out at one and tried to grab a hold but Williams spun out himself and rolled to his feet with another flourish leaving the teen frustrated on the canvas.

"You won't out tech him" Mara whispered as he passed near her. "But he's no X-Division wrestler..."

Jason cut her off with a smirk. "He's no pain in the ass either" Mara gave him a look of confusion. "Watch..."

The teen suddenly shot forward and attempted to push Williams back against the ropes only for him to switch positions, he went to throw Jason across the ring only for him to roll straight through to his feet.

"I can roll too Dougie!"

Williams frowned then shot forward and tried to throw Jason again but this time the teen hand sprung straight to his feet with a smirk. Angered Williams tried a throw again but Jason handsprung again then jumped on the middle-rope and backflipped to his feet with a pose.

"Showmanship is nothing if you can't back it up!"

Williams lost his cool at the taunting and charged, Jason sidestepped and immediately met him with a backdrop as he came off the ropes then a dropkick to send him out to the floor in front of Magnus, he started to step forward but Williams waved him away then turned back to the ring only for Jason to fly over the top-rope onto him! The teen threw him back in then was straight up on the top-rope and flew off with a cross-body for a near fall, Williams decided to retreat to the ropes where the teen met him with a whip, Williams reversed it and tried for a backdrop of his own but Jason blocked it by dropping to his back and punching him in the face, he reeled round and charged only to be met with a snap powerslam for another close two-count. Again he retreated, this time to a corner but the teen immediately followed with a stinger splash then a neckbreaker as he staggered out for yet another two-count.

Magnus snarled in frustration as Williams fell victim to a reverse DDT for another near fall and started to step towards the ring, Jason saw him coming and immediately turned to face him.

"Oh, please get in here!" He laughed. "Make my night!"

Magnus hesitated but his distraction was all that Williams needed to roll Jason up! The teen kicked out and threw a wild clothesline but Williams ducked and came off the ropes with a flying European Uppercut! He immediately made a pin but Jason kicked out at two. Williams was quick to stay on Jason, headbutting him in the gut to double him over then uppercutting him back upright, he repeated this until Jason was back against the ropes then whipped him across the ring and met him with a big elbow to knock him down before dropping another elbow across his ribs for a two-count. Magnus yelled encouragement as Williams hit a snap-suplex and covered, Jason kicked out but Williams immediately transitioned into a gutwrench-plex for another two, then used Jason's kickout from that to move into a northern lights suplex for yet another! He grabbed the teen for an exploder suplex but Jason elbowed free from it, he charged but Williams caught him and hit the exploder into a corner! The impact shot the teen back out to the middle of the ring but again he kicked out of Williams pin attempt.

Mara began pounding the mat to encourage Jason as Williams tried to wear him down with a sleeper, the teen fought up and elbowed free but as he hit the ropes Williams immediately caught him back in the hold again, the teen elbowed free again and when Williams tried to catch him in it again blocked it with a jawbreaker that sent Williams to a corner, he charged for another stinger splash but Williams moved! Jason hit the corner hard then turned in time for Williams to give him a flying knee to the midsection, he staggered out to the middle of the ring where Williams met him with another high knee to put him down for another two-count.

Williams decided to try and finish the match then and there and hooked the teen for his Chaos Theory German Suplex but the teen blocked it and elbowed free. He threw Williams into a corner and charged only to eat a boot then be met with Williams flying off the middle-rope with another European uppercut! He made the pin and slapped the mat in anger when Jason kicked out again. Magnus called for the Chaos Theory again and Williams complied, he ran the teen into the corner and rolled him back but when he went for the deadlift part of the suplex Jason rolled through it into a pin! Williams kicked out and grabbed the teen's head, intending to run up the ropes into a tornado DDT but Jason blocked it whilst he was in mid-air then deadlifted Williams over into a suplex!

Jason jumped to his feet and quickly took the fight to Williams, bouncing him around with clotheslines, Williams created some distance and charged only to be met with Jason launching him into the air to fall on his face, he popped up to his knees and Jason was there with a shining wizard for a very close two-count. Williams got up in a corner and went to the top-rope but Jason cut him off and climbed up planning for a superplex, Magnus made his way to the bottom of the ring steps drawing his attention allowing Williams to fight free and shove him down then follow with a huge knee drop from the top! He made the pin but Jason just got his shoulder off the canvas at two.

Williams immediately decided on the Chaos Theory again but Jason switched behind him out of nowhere and hoisted him up in the torture rack! he went to spin him into the powerbomb but Williams clung on and rolled him into a crucifix pin! Jason just kicked out again and the two charged only to meet in the middle with a double clothesline.

Magnus was now at the ring apron as both he and Mara began yelling encouragement at their charges, Williams and Jason fought their way up and began exchanging uppercuts to cheers and boos from the crowd, Williams backed up and swung a big one at the teen but Jason spun with it and rolled him over to the canvas for another close two-count. Magnus had seen enough and started to jump up on the apron but felt his ankle get grabbed and found himself yanked back to the floor. He spun around and found himself met with a glare from Mara, composing himself he laughed as she stared a hole through him.

"Look love, I don't put hands on women unless it's in the bedroom, so why don't you back away before..."

Whatever his threat was Mara never heard it as Jason ducked a wild swing from Williams and nailed him right in the back with a baseball slide sending him over the rail into the front row! Mara shrugged to herself then turned to meet Jason's grin only to see Williams grab her boyfriend from behind for the Chaos Theory again! He ran Jason into the corner but the teen held on leaving him to roll back by himself, he tried to roll right through to his feet but had only made to his knees when Jason nailed him with a superkick! He rocked back and forth on his knees in a daze before the teen dragged him up int the torture rack, walked to the middle of the ring and spun him into the powerbomb! Jason made the pin, and three seconds later had the win.

"Two down!" Mara yelled as she rolled into the ring, joining the referee in raising Jason's hand.

"And one to go!" He grinned back, pulling her into a victory hug as the two watched Magnus climb back over the rail in a rage, he shot a furious look at the two teens then stormed off up the ramp, not giving Willams a second glance as he lay on the canvas. Jason squatted next to his beaten opponent and offered his hand, pulling Williams up to a seated position when it was accepted. He gave the Englishman a respectful pat on the shoulder then rolled out to the floor and walked up the ramp with Mara, pausing only to pose on the stage as he went.

"I just think we need to do something before Magnus becomes a bigger pain in your ass" Mara commented as the two waited by the tunnel, her match set to immediately follow Jay's bout with Chuck Taylor, Jason shrugged.

"I'll deal with him when I deal with him" he replied, pulling his feet up onto the production case he was sat on and hugging his knees. "Right now my priority is makign sure you get past Angelina."

"I will" Mara said calmly, her face a picture of determination, I'm not gonna fall for any tricks by her little buddy either."

"That's what ODB said..."

"I'd like to think you have me down as smarter than her" Mara fixed him with a playful glare. "I know all their tricks, and I know you'll be out there again like last week to stop them like you did Bentley."

"Yeah" Jason winced as Jay went to the top-rope for his elbow drop only for Taylor to 'accidentally' push the referee into the ropes and make him crotch himself on the top. "I think management may frown upon me superkicking Sky though."

"Shame" Mara muttered as Taylor hooked Jay for the same piledriver variation he gave Sonjay only for Jay to flip through to his feet! Taylor looked shocked then threw a wild punch only for Jay to duck and hit him with the Lethal Combination for the win.

"Jay's kinda rolling right now" Jason commented as their friend hugged Val at ringside.

"Ooooooooooo yeah!" Mara laughed before taking a deep breath, getting her game face on for the match, she turned to the tunnel but froze when Jason spoke up.

"What do you want Angelina?"

Mara spun around to see the blonde woman approaching, Sky trailing behind but both wearing matching smirks.

"You wanna start now?" She challenged but Angelina didn't even blink.

"Actually I just came over to say best of luck and no hard feelings for what happens out there tonight."

Mara gave her a sceptical look. "That's suspiciously mature of you..."

"I'm not talking to you" Angelina cut across her before giving Jason her full attention. "You were right last week, I shouldn't have to play head games before this match, and as your friend I'm telling you that no matter what happens out there against your girlfriend we're still good, OK?"

"You're actually doing this" Jason muttered as Mara fixed Angelina with a death glare, the blonde woman smirked back at her but before she could explode her music hit, and she marched away down the tunnel, Angelina smirked as she went, Jason took his turn to glare.

"Really Angelina?"

"What?" She shrugged innocently.

"If you had any real value for us as friends..." he trailed off with a shake of his head, Angelina smirked again.

"By any means necessary..."

"Whatever" Jason muttered, as he went to turn away Angelina grabbed his arm, suddenly looking sincere.

"I mean it though, no hard feelings, right?"

The pulled free and shot after Mara, catching her halfway down the ramp as they approached the ring.

"I'm going to murder your friend" Mara said calmly as her music cut off. "Murder in cold blood."

"I don't blame you" he shrugged, knowing full well she was capable of just that. "Just don't..."

"Let her know she's in my head?" Mara smirked coldly as Angelina and Sky appeared on the stage doing their full routine. "You know I haven't once been looking past her right? I know I have to get through this to stand a chance of facing Kong."

"I know but..."

"All part of the plan" she turned to face him, a wicked glint in her eye. "If even she thinks I'm looking past her she'll get frustrated, she'll play a head game, probably using her friendship with you to annoy me, then think she's got me riled up so I'll make mistakes. Which means she'll let her guard down thinking she's in my head. All she's done is prove to me she's predictable..."

Jason stared at her. "You're... an evil genius sometimes."

"You're too kind" Mara smirked as the two reached the bottom of the ramp. "Now, I gotta go to work so... scoot."

Jason nodded and slapped her on the back before rolling out to the floor as Angelina and Sky straddled the middle rope, teasing a kiss before pointing the cameraman to get a shot of their backsides, Angelina focusing solely on Mara the whole time before almost flirtatiously blowing a kiss at her, Jason sighed. Friendship or not, Angelina was as devious as they came, though he reluctantly gave her props, it would have been easy to openly flirt and aim the entrance at him to try and get under Mara's skin that way, by doing it towards Mara she was sending a different message. 'I know you look down on me for how I carry myself so I'm going to double down on it because it annoys you', he shook his head and pitied how badly it was about to end for her.

The referee called for the bell as Sky rolled out to the floor but before Angelina and Mara could move the familiar and ominous music hit and Awesome Kong emerged on the stage again to watch the match, Jason began to walk around the ring to the side she was on but Mara only glanced up at Kong before turning her attention back to Angelina, Jason walked back to his corner with a relieved sigh, missing the second glance that Mara gave up to the stage, Angelina noticed and gave Mara a smirk.

"Looks like I'm not the only one in your head tonight" she mocked, Mara just smirked back.

"You're right, you're not in my head tonight."

Angelina's smirk vanished and she briefly appeared unsure of herself, she quickly pushed it down and started forward, the two women locked up and battled for position, Mara backed Angelina up a step but the blonde woman grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked hard, using it to back Mara right up to the ropes, the referee counted and Angelina broke on four, making sure to give Mara's hair another hard yank before releasing, the teen stepped forward with her fist raised but Angelina stepped behind the referee for protection.

The two locked up again but this time Mara kept her hair out of Anglina's reach, powering her opponent back to the corner in seconds, she held the hold until the referee began counting then broke with a smirk to be met with a shove to the face from a frustrated Angelina, she started forward again but the blonde woman swung herself out to the apron as the referee stepped in, telling her to back up and let Angelina back in, she shot him a look then complied. The two circled again but as they went to lock up Sky took a swipe at Mara's leg, she instinctively took a kick at the hand allowing Angelina to blindside her and knock her into the ropes. The blonde woman laughed mockingly then whipped Mara to the ropes and threw a clothesline only for Mara to duck and hit an armdrag, she bounced up but took a second armdrag, then a hiptoss, then a dropkick, Mara planted her feet and swung a wild kick that Angelina cowered away from, ending up seated in a corner as Mara smirked down at her, Sky jumped up on the apron to shoot her mouth off only to shriek and fall off as Mara threw a kick at her. Rattled, Angelina fixed her hair and slowly stood up as Mara continued to smirk, they stepped forward to lock up but Angelina suddenly slapped Mara in the face!

"Oh, shit..."

Mara held the spot she'd been slapped with an angry look forming on her face as Angelina stood there shocked at her own actions, one hand up defensively as Mara turned her eyes back towards her, Angelina took a second to weigh up the best course of action... then bolted to the floor with Mara right behind her. She sprinted past Jason and all the way around to Sky's side of the ring with Mara in hot pursuit, she slid in and leapt to her feet as Mara started to slide in, with a laugh she threw herself at the teen with an elbow drop only to miss as the teen slid back out.

Jason knew what was coming before it even happened, Angelina began thrashing on the mat holding her elbow, this drew the referee over to her as Mara climbed up on the apron, before Jason could shout a warning Sky shot forward and yanked the apron from out under Mara, she lost her footing and fell face-first onto the apron before crashing to the floor. Angelina was immediately miraculously recovered and tried to go out to the floor after Mara, when the referee stopped her she began arguing, keeping him turned allowing Sky to clothesline Mara on the floor before rolling her back in. The referee only acknowleged Jason's yells to tell him to stay back from the ring as Angelina snapmared Mara over then met her with a low dropkick to the face for a two-count.

Angelina's gameplan came straight into affect as she choked Mara down in the corner, when the referee backed her up she again argued with him allowing Sky to choke Mara from the floor, when Jason tried to point this out to the referee Angelina took the chance to put the boots to Mara whilst Sky held her before dragging the teen out to the middle of the ring, with a confident smirk at Jason she actually danced over Mara before hitting a legdrop for a two-count again. Mara tried to fight up to her feet but Angelina quickly cut her off with a jawbreaker to stagger her then an enziguri to put her down for another two-count.

Mara again tried to fight up but Angelina tackled her back into the corner, driving her shoulder into Mara's ribs a few more times, she backed away and charged to do it again but Mara swung herself up onto the ropes then rolled down her back behind her, Angelina spun round in shock to be met by a big STO to bring her down for a two-count. She staggered up and walked into a series of kicks from Mara but managed to duck the roundhouse only for Mara to keep spinning and drop her with a discus forearm! She covered again but Angelina kicked out and rolled to the floor to avoid any more punishment. As Sky helped her up she clocked Mara up on the top-rope and dived back into the ring as the teen flew off leaving Sky to take the blow herself! Mara jumped up to the apron and met Angelina's charge with a kick before springing to the top-rope and hitting a big missile dropkick for another two-count.

Angelina staggered back to the corner and kicked Mara away as she approached before going up herself, she made it to the top but Mara kicked her legs out from under her causing her to fall and crotch herself, Mara climbed up for the superplex but Sky grabbed her partners ankle from the floor preventing the lift! Angelina shoved Mara down then followed with a flying cross-body for a two-count of her own. She backed away as Mara got up and charged forward looking for her bicycle kick but Mara slid under it and hooked her for the Angel's Wings! Before she could be lifted she spun out, hooked the teen and dropped her down on her face with a reverse STO! She covered but Mara got her shoulder up at two. Angelina yelled at the referee in frustration then dragged Mara up by the hair, she hooked the teen for a reverse DDT but as she threw herself into it Mara held the ropes causing her to crash to the mat alone, she staggered up but Mara nailed her in the head with the roundhouse kick! She collapsed in perfect position for the Best Moonsault Ever but as Mara jumped into it Sky pulled Angelina out of the way! Mara adjusted and landed on her feet to avoid it then immediately took a wild swing at Sky, this allowed Angelina to meet her with a huge spinning heel kick to the back of the head! Mara crumpled to the mat and Angelina covered but again it was only a two-count!

Angelina didn't waste any time and again prepared for her bicycle kick, Mara staggered up and she charged forward but the teen grabbed her leg! She hopped on one foot for a moment looking worried then Mara threw her leg back and met her with a huge knee right between the eyes as she fell forward! Dazed she staggered around and felt Mara hook her arms for the Angel's Wings again! In a panic she shot forward crushing Mara between her and the referee in the corner! He went down and Mara turned to check on him with Jason allowing Angelina to grab her from behind, as the teen tried to fight free she found herself being pushed towards Sky and heard Jason shout. At the last second she realised and squeezed her eyes shut, throwing herself forward just as she heard the hiss of hairspray followed by Angelina's scream of pain. Opening her eyes she saw Sky on the apron with the hairspray looking horrified and a blinded Angelina reeling away to the middle of the ring, Sky looked up but was too late to do anything as Mara nailed her with a kick to the head leaving her slumped on the apron. With a smirk she advanced on Angelina, the blinded woman lashed out with a punch but Mara caught it then pulled Angelina in close.

"No hard feelings" she whispered before hooking her arms and finally landing the Angel's Wings! She made the pin, the referee counted and Mara punched her ticket to the final!

The teen couldn't hide a smile as Jason pumped his fist at ringside to her victory, she turned her look up to Kong only to once again see the other woman already walking away, this time not even bothering to look back as she vanished down the tunnel. Sky was still laid out on the apron and Angelina was frantically trying to clear her vision as Jason rolled in, he hesitated as he walked past her causing her to frown up at him and sigh.

"Please, spare me the 'I told you so' kid" she muttered, slumping back against the ropes as he shrugged and mouthed "no hard feelings" down at her before standing at Mara's side where she was still looking after Kong, a frown slowly forming on her face.