Post by Charlotte Shimizu on Feb 3, 2024 4:35:55 GMT
Charlotte blinked at her phone’s caller ID, and couldn’t help but wonder what catastrophe had befallen now.
She swiped to answer and held the phone to her ear. “Davey, if this has anything to do with Bianca again, I’m hanging up.” Harsh? Perhaps, Charlotte thought idly, but she had a huge match coming up, and the last thing she needed right now was her brother’s workplace drama.
“I was actually wondering if you and Hanners got Rini’s phone situation figured out.”
“Yes…” Charlotte answered, mild confusion making her draw the vowel and sibilant out. “I put her on my plan since she didn’t have enough of a credit score to have her own plan… Why?”
The long silence on the other end made Charlotte more worried. “Just wondering…” David tried to respond casually. “Ma and Chi-san wanted to know. They were gonna offer their plan as an alternative. They like her, y’know?”
Charlotte had known her brother for far too long for that lame reply to fool her. “You mean you like her and want her phone number.” It wasn’t a question.
“I wasn’t asking for her number!” David protested.
“I notice you didn’t deny the other part of that,” Charlotte retorted quickly.
“She’s your friend, Charlie! Why on earth would I be interested in her?” David shot back hotly.
Charlotte smirked to herself, able to hear that he was forcing the denial. “Because, unlike any of Hannah’s friends, she hasn’t given you more than the time of day, and she can kick your ass eight ways to Sunday.”
David was stammering on the other end of the line, and Charlotte barely restrained a laugh at her older brother. “How about this? I’ll give her your number and she can decide if she wants anything to do with you beyond the fact that you’re my brother. If she does, I’m questioning her sanity.”
“I hate you, Lottie.”
This time Charlotte did laugh. “Love you too, bro.”
“No, I really hate you.”
Charlotte was still laughing when the call ended. Immediately, she dialed up Hannah.
“Hanners,” she said as soon as Hannah answered. “You and Rini need to come back like… now… You won’t believe what’s going on with Davey.”
The feed opens on Charlotte’s home gym again, the décor similar in juxtaposition to where she’s previously filmed; an odd mix of indigenous and Japanese wall hangings and designs that somehow meld together cohesively. This time, however, Charlotte’s sitting on a bench in a pair of red leggings and plain white sports top, covering everything but leaving very little to the imagination.
“Nick Knight… Allow me to extend my belated congratulations on winning your belt off of Calaway. I feel like I should have said something sooner since you kindly gave me a shout out in one of your promos just before I debuted, but as you might’ve noticed, I had a little bit of a time readjusting to being back stateside.”
Charlotte offers the camera a sheepish smile as she leans back on her hands. “Oh I’ve had some good showings. I consider pinning Virginia Stepanov a huge badge of honor; Paul Michael still flinches when I pass his table at ringside; let’s not forget I went toe-to-toe with Brooklyn Madrox and she didn’t defeat me. There will be people who will say that I technically lost to Brooklyn, and that’s fair enough… but she couldn’t put me through a table like she wanted to, so I call that at least not a loss. Regardless, I’m guessing that respectable showing is why I was tapped for this.”
Charlotte leans forward, folding her arms across her legs as she stares into the camera with an earnest expression. “I told Brooklyn I wasn’t interested in her gold. And I’m not. Even if I did want it, I’d probably have to exorcize it, smudge the fuck out of it, and soak it in flea dip before I brought it home, and frankly, it ain’t worth it to me right now. Imma be real, Nick… If I want any belt right now, it’d be yours.”
Charlotte pauses a moment, looking thoughtfully towards a high window, then gets to her feet, pacing back and forth. “The Invictus Title is about the spirit of the fight. That speaks to me, Nick. It’s the first intergender title, but it’s also the newest title, which means the identity that comes with that belt is what the bearer makes it, and what we all make it. It’s been defended all of eight times since it was created, which I see as a crying shame. Even the fucks at Neo-Honshu pretended to put their belts on the line more often than that.”
She stops her pacing and returns to the center of the frame, her expression all earnestness. “Back in Japan, we didn’t do all this posturing shit outside the ring, which might be why my promos still lack any memorable flair. We let the fight tell the story. So I’m just gonna play this straight with you, Nick… I’ve only had chances at chances, and I’ve not capitalized on them. But I don’t regret losing in Queen’s Gambit, or not pulling out the stops sooner. I needed that time to be ready for this test.”
“You’ve had the title all of sixty days and defended it twice in that time. Both were very decisive victories, so I have no illusions about what it could take from me to pry that belt off your waist. You’re a bit fucked in the head, but I do respect the idea behind what you’re trying to do. You want the belt to be respected again after what Calaway did. Don’t blame you for that… A champion with divided loyalties isn’t someone who should hold company gold.”
“You may tell me to not show up, to save myself the pain you’ll undoubtedly inflict on me, but that would only prove that you don’t know me at all. I know you saw it before you got the title, when you said you’d prefer a match with me or Shea over fighting Hijou. You know, deep down, that the only reason I’ve quit once was in order to be true to myself, my ability, and to the sport we both love.”
Charlotte offers the camera a confident smile. “If, by some quirk of fate, I walk away from Long Island with gold, I want you to know that it won’t go the same way, and the open challenge will remain there. And if I limp away from this one, I’ll buy you a drink once my internal organs are back in their proper places.”
“May the best fighter win.”
Charlotte’s hand comes up to cover the lens. The feed cuts.
It’s later released in both Japanese and Cherokee languages.
She swiped to answer and held the phone to her ear. “Davey, if this has anything to do with Bianca again, I’m hanging up.” Harsh? Perhaps, Charlotte thought idly, but she had a huge match coming up, and the last thing she needed right now was her brother’s workplace drama.
“I was actually wondering if you and Hanners got Rini’s phone situation figured out.”
“Yes…” Charlotte answered, mild confusion making her draw the vowel and sibilant out. “I put her on my plan since she didn’t have enough of a credit score to have her own plan… Why?”
The long silence on the other end made Charlotte more worried. “Just wondering…” David tried to respond casually. “Ma and Chi-san wanted to know. They were gonna offer their plan as an alternative. They like her, y’know?”
Charlotte had known her brother for far too long for that lame reply to fool her. “You mean you like her and want her phone number.” It wasn’t a question.
“I wasn’t asking for her number!” David protested.
“I notice you didn’t deny the other part of that,” Charlotte retorted quickly.
“She’s your friend, Charlie! Why on earth would I be interested in her?” David shot back hotly.
Charlotte smirked to herself, able to hear that he was forcing the denial. “Because, unlike any of Hannah’s friends, she hasn’t given you more than the time of day, and she can kick your ass eight ways to Sunday.”
David was stammering on the other end of the line, and Charlotte barely restrained a laugh at her older brother. “How about this? I’ll give her your number and she can decide if she wants anything to do with you beyond the fact that you’re my brother. If she does, I’m questioning her sanity.”
“I hate you, Lottie.”
This time Charlotte did laugh. “Love you too, bro.”
“No, I really hate you.”
Charlotte was still laughing when the call ended. Immediately, she dialed up Hannah.
“Hanners,” she said as soon as Hannah answered. “You and Rini need to come back like… now… You won’t believe what’s going on with Davey.”
The feed opens on Charlotte’s home gym again, the décor similar in juxtaposition to where she’s previously filmed; an odd mix of indigenous and Japanese wall hangings and designs that somehow meld together cohesively. This time, however, Charlotte’s sitting on a bench in a pair of red leggings and plain white sports top, covering everything but leaving very little to the imagination.
“Nick Knight… Allow me to extend my belated congratulations on winning your belt off of Calaway. I feel like I should have said something sooner since you kindly gave me a shout out in one of your promos just before I debuted, but as you might’ve noticed, I had a little bit of a time readjusting to being back stateside.”
Charlotte offers the camera a sheepish smile as she leans back on her hands. “Oh I’ve had some good showings. I consider pinning Virginia Stepanov a huge badge of honor; Paul Michael still flinches when I pass his table at ringside; let’s not forget I went toe-to-toe with Brooklyn Madrox and she didn’t defeat me. There will be people who will say that I technically lost to Brooklyn, and that’s fair enough… but she couldn’t put me through a table like she wanted to, so I call that at least not a loss. Regardless, I’m guessing that respectable showing is why I was tapped for this.”
Charlotte leans forward, folding her arms across her legs as she stares into the camera with an earnest expression. “I told Brooklyn I wasn’t interested in her gold. And I’m not. Even if I did want it, I’d probably have to exorcize it, smudge the fuck out of it, and soak it in flea dip before I brought it home, and frankly, it ain’t worth it to me right now. Imma be real, Nick… If I want any belt right now, it’d be yours.”
Charlotte pauses a moment, looking thoughtfully towards a high window, then gets to her feet, pacing back and forth. “The Invictus Title is about the spirit of the fight. That speaks to me, Nick. It’s the first intergender title, but it’s also the newest title, which means the identity that comes with that belt is what the bearer makes it, and what we all make it. It’s been defended all of eight times since it was created, which I see as a crying shame. Even the fucks at Neo-Honshu pretended to put their belts on the line more often than that.”
She stops her pacing and returns to the center of the frame, her expression all earnestness. “Back in Japan, we didn’t do all this posturing shit outside the ring, which might be why my promos still lack any memorable flair. We let the fight tell the story. So I’m just gonna play this straight with you, Nick… I’ve only had chances at chances, and I’ve not capitalized on them. But I don’t regret losing in Queen’s Gambit, or not pulling out the stops sooner. I needed that time to be ready for this test.”
“You’ve had the title all of sixty days and defended it twice in that time. Both were very decisive victories, so I have no illusions about what it could take from me to pry that belt off your waist. You’re a bit fucked in the head, but I do respect the idea behind what you’re trying to do. You want the belt to be respected again after what Calaway did. Don’t blame you for that… A champion with divided loyalties isn’t someone who should hold company gold.”
“You may tell me to not show up, to save myself the pain you’ll undoubtedly inflict on me, but that would only prove that you don’t know me at all. I know you saw it before you got the title, when you said you’d prefer a match with me or Shea over fighting Hijou. You know, deep down, that the only reason I’ve quit once was in order to be true to myself, my ability, and to the sport we both love.”
Charlotte offers the camera a confident smile. “If, by some quirk of fate, I walk away from Long Island with gold, I want you to know that it won’t go the same way, and the open challenge will remain there. And if I limp away from this one, I’ll buy you a drink once my internal organs are back in their proper places.”
“May the best fighter win.”
Charlotte’s hand comes up to cover the lens. The feed cuts.
It’s later released in both Japanese and Cherokee languages.
Well howdy there pardner.