"Did ya see that, Ivory?! Did ya?! I beat her!" Daffney Unger exclaimed with enthusiasm that seemed to be oozing from every inch of her skin. Ever since she had showed up at the arena that morning, the raven-haired woman hadn't shown many signs of life, but now she was absolutely beaming. But was she even aware that Stevie Richards had helped her out?
"Uh... yeah, Daff, that was great!" Ivory replied, reluctant to go along with Daffney at first, but then deciding it was best not to cause any trouble right now. "You really proved yourself out there tonight, kiddo! Great job!"
Daffney giggled happily and jumped up and down as if she could barely contain her excitement. For a moment, she was the old Daffney... the one who screamed and laughed as loud as she could whenever she wanted to because she didn't care what anyone else thought. She had beaten Molly Holly, arguably the best female wrestler in WWE, and seemed to be on top of the world. If she knew what had happened to cause her to win that match, though, Ivory doubted she would be this overjoyed.
"So, who's tomorrow?" Daffney asked, breaking Ivory out of her daze.
Before the older brunette could answer, there was a chuckle that seemed to come from behind her. She and Daffney had been standing in the middle of a fairly empty hallway, with only the occasional technician or crew member walking through it. Now, though, there was definitely someone there who had the intent of interrupting their conversation.
"You've got me tomorrow..." the voice informed Daffney. "Not that you'll last long."
Without turning around, Ivory now knew who that voice belonged to. It was low and rough, with a hint of masculinity that couldn't be ignored. It was the redhead that Ivory loved to hate... Lita.
"I'd say she'll do just as well against you as she wants to, Lita," Ivory responded, turning around to face the younger woman.
Lita laughed again, "right, right... after she needed help to beat Molly, she's no match for me."
"If Molly wasn't better than you by miles, I would say Daff would need to give you some sort of credit for your abilities," Ivory replied, "however, you don't even hold a candle to Nidia, Lita."
"That may be what you think, Ivory," Lita chuckled, "but the last time I checked, it doesn't matter what you think, especially since you haven't been on television in about... oh... six months. The fans probably don't even remember your name."
The last comment got Ivory steamed, to say the least. She knew that WWE had kept her off of television for awhile, but it wasn't like she was just sitting around. Ivory had been a trainer on Tough Enough and had also been down to OVW, working with the new girls there. However, the last thing she wanted to hear was Lita, a woman Ivory considered to be miles behind her in terms of all skills needed to be a wrestler, trying to put her down.
"Maybe I haven't been on television, but at least they trust me teachings the new recruits," Ivory said. "Which reminds me, why do you think they haven't called on YOU to teach some of these girls, Lita? I mean, practically everyone else has gotten to go down to OVW and show them a different style. Last time I checked, they asked Molly to show them the cruiserweight moves that you seem to think you 'specialize' in. Why didn't they ask you?"
The redhead rolled her eyes and gave another short, irritating chuckle, "I've been way too busy to bother with OVW. I've got meet-and-greets with Matt and Jeff, photo shoots for magazines, interviews... it's just too much for me to take time off to go down there."
"I'm sure... that and the fact you almost broke Molly's neck the last time you tried that wonderful 'Litacanrana' of yours," Ivory said, the last part said under her breath.
"Whatever, Ivory, just get over your jealousy, God... you and those other bitchy divas who think they're hot stuff. Obviously, I'm the person the fans want to see, so no matter what you think, that doesn't change anything," Lita informed her, then returned her attention to Daffney. "But I didn't come here to argue with you, Ivory, I just came here to warn your friend... Daffney."
Daffney looked a bit nervous now that the attention was on her. She had been caught off-guard by the mini-war of words between Ivory and Lita, but now all she wanted to do was get away from the redhead that seemed to want to bring trouble here. Chewing a bit at her bottom lip, she spoke up, "um... yeah?"
Lita rolled her eyes again, "sad excuse for a diva... but, what I wanted to say was that tomorrow, you might want to leave your little friend, Stevie Richards, in the back. Not that he's man enough to cause any sort of distraction for me, but I'd hate to see you get disqualified when he tried to interfere. I want the satisfaction of beating you in front of all of those wonderful fans and showing that you're just another nobody..."
With those words, Lita walked away, thinking she had caused Daffney to be a bit frightened of her. Any fear the raven-haired diva might have felt, though, was dismissed as soon as Stevie Richards interfering in the match was mentioned. She had no idea what Lita was talking about.
"What'd she mean by Stevie interfering in the match?" Daffney asked Ivory, looking completely discombobulated.
"I, uh... I have no idea!" Ivory answered. "Maybe she just saw you and Stevie talking earlier and thought you were planning something. It's usually best not to worry about anything Lita says, she probably just made it up as she was standing there."
"Um... all right," Daffney mumbled, still confused but fairly sure there was more to this than what Ivory had said. Even if Lita was a bit off, like she was being led to believe, she was sure that saying something about Stevie interfering didn't just come to her at random. Daffney had never even met the man before tonight, so even if the other woman had seen her talking to him, why would she really suspect anything?
"You have no idea, Ivory? I find that hard to believe if you actually watched the match," another random voice said from behind the two. Ivory sighed loudly in frustration, becoming very annoyed with the people who were deciding to randomly interfere in this conversation.
The two women turned around to find themselves staring at the man that Ivory had already declared was a completely lost cause: Raven. There he stood, looking just as unhappy as he always did, with a look of disappointment in his eyes.
"You know, I had almost expected more from a new recruit," Raven began, "since you have all been spoken so highly of. The new women Vince has decided we need here on the Raw brand shows were supposed to be hard-working, talented girls who could hold their own in the ring with anyone."
"She can!" Ivory said in defense of her friend, who looked even more worried than she had when Lita decided to show up in their conversation. Raven had completely thrown her for a loop when he chose to show up.
The male wrestler gave Ivory a sarcastic half-smile, "that's wonderful, Ivory, but I think Daffney can speak for herself, right?"
"Y-yeah... I suppose," the younger woman replied, her gaze turning to the ground. Ivory looked annoyed at, basically, being removed from the conversation, but what was she going to do? To continue talking would be pointless since she knew that Raven would just ignore anything she said.
"So... you and Stevie Richards..." Raven said, mostly to himself, but he still got a reply from Daffney whether he wanted it or not.
"What about him? I've only talked to him once..." Daffney said, still completely in the dark about why everyone kept talking about Stevie like they had been joined at the hip.
"It looks like he's interested in more than just talking with you," Raven informed her. "I mean, it's not very often that someone who just wants to 'talk to you' runs down to help you in a match that you're obviously going to lose."
"Huh?" was Daffney's immediate reply, but even as she gave that small sound the realization of what must have happened dawned on her.
"Oh, so you didn't ask him to push Molly off of the top rope?" Raven asked her, even though it was obvious by her reaction that she hadn't. That, or maybe she was just an idiot, but Raven hoped for the former rather than the latter.
"No! I don't need anyone's help, I'm a good wrestler," Daffney answered him, the part about being a good wrestler said more to convince herself than anyone else.
"I'm sure you are," was his response, "but now everyone's going to see you and immediately associate you with that idiot, Richards. He's not someone you really want to hang around you, Miss Unger, I can assure you of that from personal experience. Nothing good will come of a partnership between the two of you."
"He's not THAT bad, Raven," Ivory interjected, despite the fact that she thought Raven would ignore her. He didn't, however, and turned his attention towards the older female wrestler.
"I wouldn't think you would be defending him, Ivory, especially considering your history together," Raven replied. "I mean, wasn't he the one who suddenly became 'immoral' and wanted to do things that you didn't believe were right for someone in the Right To Censor to do? Why don't you inform us of just what those things were?"
The brunette looked more than a little annoyed at those statements, and although she wanted to reply, she couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make her seem just as much at fault as any of the other members of the now defunct RTC. When the group had crashed and burned not too long ago, Ivory had walked out of the wreckage still holding herself in a high regard as far as whether or not the destruction of the group had anything to do with her. To this day, no one had stepped forward to refute her claim of purity while in the stable. She knew she wouldn't be able to get a lie past Raven, though, no matter how perfectly constructed she thought it was.
"No reply? That's a pity... I'm sure it would have been a very... interesting story," Raven chuckled. The hardcore wrestler then returned his attention to Daffney, who had been silently praying that he would leave after he had finished with Ivory. "I'll be watching you... and I still suggest you stay away from Richards... you might not like what happens if you don't."
With those words, Raven walked right past the two ladies, still laughing to himself. Daffney, however, was not amused at all about this conversation. She didn't need Stevie Richards's help, no matter what he or anybody else thought. Daffney couldn't believe that the nice guy who had merely suggested a partnership earlier in the night would have gone out of his way to interfere in a match that had nothing to do with him.
"Hey, hun, don't worry about that... Stevie was just trying to help you out," Ivory tried to convince her friend, who, at the moment, couldn't see past the fact that she hadn't won the match on her own. "It's not that big of a deal... people help each other out all of the time, it doesn't mean you're a bad person or anything."
"Hey guys!" Stevie Richards's voice called from down the hall. He jogged a bit down the hallway in an attempt to get to them a little bit quicker. "Daff, did ya-...?"
The male wrestler didn't get any words out after that as he was met with a sharp slap to the face from the woman he had helped out earlier that night. With a loud scream, Daffney ran in the other direction, not wanting to deal with her frustrations openly at this moment. Behind her, she left a very confused Steven Richards, who was nursing the cheek he had been slapped on, and Ivory, who was giving Steven a disappointed look.
"What'd I do?" Stevie asked.
"Uh... yeah, Daff, that was great!" Ivory replied, reluctant to go along with Daffney at first, but then deciding it was best not to cause any trouble right now. "You really proved yourself out there tonight, kiddo! Great job!"
Daffney giggled happily and jumped up and down as if she could barely contain her excitement. For a moment, she was the old Daffney... the one who screamed and laughed as loud as she could whenever she wanted to because she didn't care what anyone else thought. She had beaten Molly Holly, arguably the best female wrestler in WWE, and seemed to be on top of the world. If she knew what had happened to cause her to win that match, though, Ivory doubted she would be this overjoyed.
"So, who's tomorrow?" Daffney asked, breaking Ivory out of her daze.
Before the older brunette could answer, there was a chuckle that seemed to come from behind her. She and Daffney had been standing in the middle of a fairly empty hallway, with only the occasional technician or crew member walking through it. Now, though, there was definitely someone there who had the intent of interrupting their conversation.
"You've got me tomorrow..." the voice informed Daffney. "Not that you'll last long."
Without turning around, Ivory now knew who that voice belonged to. It was low and rough, with a hint of masculinity that couldn't be ignored. It was the redhead that Ivory loved to hate... Lita.
"I'd say she'll do just as well against you as she wants to, Lita," Ivory responded, turning around to face the younger woman.
Lita laughed again, "right, right... after she needed help to beat Molly, she's no match for me."
"If Molly wasn't better than you by miles, I would say Daff would need to give you some sort of credit for your abilities," Ivory replied, "however, you don't even hold a candle to Nidia, Lita."
"That may be what you think, Ivory," Lita chuckled, "but the last time I checked, it doesn't matter what you think, especially since you haven't been on television in about... oh... six months. The fans probably don't even remember your name."
The last comment got Ivory steamed, to say the least. She knew that WWE had kept her off of television for awhile, but it wasn't like she was just sitting around. Ivory had been a trainer on Tough Enough and had also been down to OVW, working with the new girls there. However, the last thing she wanted to hear was Lita, a woman Ivory considered to be miles behind her in terms of all skills needed to be a wrestler, trying to put her down.
"Maybe I haven't been on television, but at least they trust me teachings the new recruits," Ivory said. "Which reminds me, why do you think they haven't called on YOU to teach some of these girls, Lita? I mean, practically everyone else has gotten to go down to OVW and show them a different style. Last time I checked, they asked Molly to show them the cruiserweight moves that you seem to think you 'specialize' in. Why didn't they ask you?"
The redhead rolled her eyes and gave another short, irritating chuckle, "I've been way too busy to bother with OVW. I've got meet-and-greets with Matt and Jeff, photo shoots for magazines, interviews... it's just too much for me to take time off to go down there."
"I'm sure... that and the fact you almost broke Molly's neck the last time you tried that wonderful 'Litacanrana' of yours," Ivory said, the last part said under her breath.
"Whatever, Ivory, just get over your jealousy, God... you and those other bitchy divas who think they're hot stuff. Obviously, I'm the person the fans want to see, so no matter what you think, that doesn't change anything," Lita informed her, then returned her attention to Daffney. "But I didn't come here to argue with you, Ivory, I just came here to warn your friend... Daffney."
Daffney looked a bit nervous now that the attention was on her. She had been caught off-guard by the mini-war of words between Ivory and Lita, but now all she wanted to do was get away from the redhead that seemed to want to bring trouble here. Chewing a bit at her bottom lip, she spoke up, "um... yeah?"
Lita rolled her eyes again, "sad excuse for a diva... but, what I wanted to say was that tomorrow, you might want to leave your little friend, Stevie Richards, in the back. Not that he's man enough to cause any sort of distraction for me, but I'd hate to see you get disqualified when he tried to interfere. I want the satisfaction of beating you in front of all of those wonderful fans and showing that you're just another nobody..."
With those words, Lita walked away, thinking she had caused Daffney to be a bit frightened of her. Any fear the raven-haired diva might have felt, though, was dismissed as soon as Stevie Richards interfering in the match was mentioned. She had no idea what Lita was talking about.
"What'd she mean by Stevie interfering in the match?" Daffney asked Ivory, looking completely discombobulated.
"I, uh... I have no idea!" Ivory answered. "Maybe she just saw you and Stevie talking earlier and thought you were planning something. It's usually best not to worry about anything Lita says, she probably just made it up as she was standing there."
"Um... all right," Daffney mumbled, still confused but fairly sure there was more to this than what Ivory had said. Even if Lita was a bit off, like she was being led to believe, she was sure that saying something about Stevie interfering didn't just come to her at random. Daffney had never even met the man before tonight, so even if the other woman had seen her talking to him, why would she really suspect anything?
"You have no idea, Ivory? I find that hard to believe if you actually watched the match," another random voice said from behind the two. Ivory sighed loudly in frustration, becoming very annoyed with the people who were deciding to randomly interfere in this conversation.
The two women turned around to find themselves staring at the man that Ivory had already declared was a completely lost cause: Raven. There he stood, looking just as unhappy as he always did, with a look of disappointment in his eyes.
"You know, I had almost expected more from a new recruit," Raven began, "since you have all been spoken so highly of. The new women Vince has decided we need here on the Raw brand shows were supposed to be hard-working, talented girls who could hold their own in the ring with anyone."
"She can!" Ivory said in defense of her friend, who looked even more worried than she had when Lita decided to show up in their conversation. Raven had completely thrown her for a loop when he chose to show up.
The male wrestler gave Ivory a sarcastic half-smile, "that's wonderful, Ivory, but I think Daffney can speak for herself, right?"
"Y-yeah... I suppose," the younger woman replied, her gaze turning to the ground. Ivory looked annoyed at, basically, being removed from the conversation, but what was she going to do? To continue talking would be pointless since she knew that Raven would just ignore anything she said.
"So... you and Stevie Richards..." Raven said, mostly to himself, but he still got a reply from Daffney whether he wanted it or not.
"What about him? I've only talked to him once..." Daffney said, still completely in the dark about why everyone kept talking about Stevie like they had been joined at the hip.
"It looks like he's interested in more than just talking with you," Raven informed her. "I mean, it's not very often that someone who just wants to 'talk to you' runs down to help you in a match that you're obviously going to lose."
"Huh?" was Daffney's immediate reply, but even as she gave that small sound the realization of what must have happened dawned on her.
"Oh, so you didn't ask him to push Molly off of the top rope?" Raven asked her, even though it was obvious by her reaction that she hadn't. That, or maybe she was just an idiot, but Raven hoped for the former rather than the latter.
"No! I don't need anyone's help, I'm a good wrestler," Daffney answered him, the part about being a good wrestler said more to convince herself than anyone else.
"I'm sure you are," was his response, "but now everyone's going to see you and immediately associate you with that idiot, Richards. He's not someone you really want to hang around you, Miss Unger, I can assure you of that from personal experience. Nothing good will come of a partnership between the two of you."
"He's not THAT bad, Raven," Ivory interjected, despite the fact that she thought Raven would ignore her. He didn't, however, and turned his attention towards the older female wrestler.
"I wouldn't think you would be defending him, Ivory, especially considering your history together," Raven replied. "I mean, wasn't he the one who suddenly became 'immoral' and wanted to do things that you didn't believe were right for someone in the Right To Censor to do? Why don't you inform us of just what those things were?"
The brunette looked more than a little annoyed at those statements, and although she wanted to reply, she couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make her seem just as much at fault as any of the other members of the now defunct RTC. When the group had crashed and burned not too long ago, Ivory had walked out of the wreckage still holding herself in a high regard as far as whether or not the destruction of the group had anything to do with her. To this day, no one had stepped forward to refute her claim of purity while in the stable. She knew she wouldn't be able to get a lie past Raven, though, no matter how perfectly constructed she thought it was.
"No reply? That's a pity... I'm sure it would have been a very... interesting story," Raven chuckled. The hardcore wrestler then returned his attention to Daffney, who had been silently praying that he would leave after he had finished with Ivory. "I'll be watching you... and I still suggest you stay away from Richards... you might not like what happens if you don't."
With those words, Raven walked right past the two ladies, still laughing to himself. Daffney, however, was not amused at all about this conversation. She didn't need Stevie Richards's help, no matter what he or anybody else thought. Daffney couldn't believe that the nice guy who had merely suggested a partnership earlier in the night would have gone out of his way to interfere in a match that had nothing to do with him.
"Hey, hun, don't worry about that... Stevie was just trying to help you out," Ivory tried to convince her friend, who, at the moment, couldn't see past the fact that she hadn't won the match on her own. "It's not that big of a deal... people help each other out all of the time, it doesn't mean you're a bad person or anything."
"Hey guys!" Stevie Richards's voice called from down the hall. He jogged a bit down the hallway in an attempt to get to them a little bit quicker. "Daff, did ya-...?"
The male wrestler didn't get any words out after that as he was met with a sharp slap to the face from the woman he had helped out earlier that night. With a loud scream, Daffney ran in the other direction, not wanting to deal with her frustrations openly at this moment. Behind her, she left a very confused Steven Richards, who was nursing the cheek he had been slapped on, and Ivory, who was giving Steven a disappointed look.
"What'd I do?" Stevie asked.