CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

In the DEAR dressing room on RAW, Lita stood behind Ashley, who was getting ready for her match that night with a smirk on her lips. She was completely ready to demolish whoever the Diva's Army was sending out for her. She started doing stretches once she was dressed, and Lita just stood by.

"I think you've got this in the bag. If anyone can get us back on our feet, it's you. You've improved a lot in the last week, almost even more than you improved before our return." Lita smiled as Ashley lay flat on the floor like a pancake, and Lita heard the joints popping as she slowly sat back up. "Good job. I'm really liking your style."

"Thanks, Lita." Ashley held out a hand, and Lita helped her friend back to her feet. "I was sore for the first few days, but now, I'm beyond ready to kick some ass out there tonight. I'm ready to get us back to being winners."

"Good. Let's go."

"Rockstar 101" began to play and out walked Ashley, while the men on commentary explained the very big losing streak DEAR had been on, and the reveal of who exactly had been training the Diva's Army-former WWE Diva Jazz.

Ashley stood in the ring a moment later, bent at the knees and rocking back and forth as she looked at the stage. The Diva's Army had also received a TitanTron, apparently, one based around their growth as a group. It started with Michelle and Layla, sprawled out across the floor at Extreme Rules in May, and then showed their return and the reveal of Kennedi and Veronica, who came up next. The entire first minute of the TitanTron showcased each member being attacked-except for Kennedi and Veronica-and how they had come back stronger. It felt very M.A.S.H. in Ashley's opinion, but she wasn't going to take any of that.

During all of this, the Diva's theme song had been playing, "Feelin' Me" by Jim Johnston. The Tron continued playing, but the song faded out.

"What?" Ashley stood up, visibly confused as she looked at Lita, who looked just as confused as she was. Out of the silence came a song that Ashley recognized as "All Black" by Good Charlotte after a long second of trying to figure it out.

The song went on for thirty seconds before a figure walked out in a Diva's Army hooded jacket, and the entire uniform as far as Ashley could tell. Brown hair came down from the hood.

Once Joel Madden started to sing, the head beneath the hood flipped back and the girl threw off the jacket. In front of Ashley, standing on the stage, was none other than…

"King, that's Kelly Kelly!"

Ashley actually threw her head back with laughter. "It's just Kelly. I told you, Lita, I'm getting us back on track. Tonight will not be a loss." She smiled and Lita got out of the ring as Kelly stalked down the ramp, an indifferent look on her face as she walked up the steel steps and got into the ring. "Welcome back, Kelly. Ready to get your ass kicked?"

"Ring the bell." Kelly pointed to the referee, her eyes almost soullessly glaring into him.

Charles Robinson nodded as he recited the rules of the match and then motioned to Mark Yeaton to ring the bell, which he quickly did.

"Look at her. Thinks she's all that because she's not a blonde anymore." Ashley rolled her eyes and dove in, throwing Kelly to the floor quickly. "You're not all that."

Kelly was thrown around the ring for a moment, before gaining the offensive. She began to execute unthought-of moves, especially for her being Kelly Kelly, and finally got Ashley to the mat with a boot to the gut followed by a scissor kick.

She kneeled down then, picking Ashley up and grabbing her in the ankle lock as Lita started to scream for Ashley to get out of it and pound the apron.

"This maneuver has got to be especially painful for Ashley, King. She fractured two parts of her ankle back in 2006, and has screws inside of it. This move could do her in."

"Enough talk about Ashley, just look at Kelly! She's a completely different person now, Cole."

Kelly flipped her head back a bit so that her hair was out of her face as she glared at the referee. "Ask her!" Charles kneeled down, asking Ashley if she was tapping, and Ashley finally tapped out with a sob of pain. Kelly threw Ashley's leg to the mat and "All Black" started playing again.

Friday Night SmackDown rolled around the next night, when Mickie James, Maria, and Candice Michelle were set to go up against the Chickbusters, with Michelle McCool.

Trish entered with Mickie, Maria, and Candice, remaining outside of the ring and even taking a seat on the steel steps in the DEAR corner while she waited for the girls in the ring to move back.

The new entrance video for the Diva's Army began playing, and the girls in the ring pretended to be visibly bored. When the first minute had passed by, this time, "Feelin' Me" didn't fade out, continuing to play as the three girls came out to stand on the stage.

AJ was still all smiles and excitement, while Michelle and Kaitlyn were just smiling, not jumping up and down. AJ skipped a bit before looking to Kaitlyn and Michelle on either side of her. With a nod, the three girls took off in a run, sliding through the bottom rope. Michelle stood up and turned to the other girls.

It was decided that AJ, all pep and dynamite ready to explode, would start off against Maria, who was waiting impatiently on the other side of the ring. Michelle and Kaitlyn got out of the ring to stand on the apron, and after the bell was run, AJ dove in.

The match went on as all of the matches did, with the Diva's Army being surprisingly able to gain the offensive, and just as Michelle was about to get the win, Mickie got up onto the apron and started yelling for the ref. He looked over to her, telling her to get down as Trish got into the ring and reached into her cleavage. She decked Michelle across the face with the brass knuckles, and then dove out as the referee turned back around and saw Candice laying out across Michelle, earning DEAR the win.

The girls cheered as they got out of the ring, what with it being the first-albeit, dirty-win they'd gotten for almost a month.

Trish cheered the girls on as they walked back up the ramp, hugging her DEAR girls as the Diva's Army comforted Michelle in the ring, all of them glaring up at DEAR.

The mood in the DEAR dressing room was quite different when Candice, Maria, and Mickie got back. Trish was in no happy mood.

"That was the sloppiest match I have ever seen the three of you competing in. What the hell happened to you, Candice? And especially you, Maria. I thought you were supposed to be better now. All I saw in that ring was an airhead." Maria gasped, insulted, and turned away from Trish to change out of her ring gear and into normal clothes. "Mickie, I expected better of you."

Lita, sitting on the couch, shrugged her shoulders. "I'd like to see you do better."

Trish turned around. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you haven't been in a match since WrestleMania. That was before our return, and you were all smiles back then. I haven't seen bitch Trish in quite a long time." Lita stood up from her place on the couch, the girls around them silent. "Don't you want to show the Diva's Army what's really up?"

"Fine, Lita. I'll fight those worthless brats. Next week, on RAW."