Are you ready?

The camera isn’t pointed at the usual brown leather chair this time. This time, Rosalie Knight can be seen stepping out of the training ring, grabbing a towel from the rack and dabbing away the sweat. Ethan Garret follows her out of the ring, and tosses her a water bottle. She catches it without a problem, and then exchanges quiet words with him. The mic isn’t on yet, but he can be seen gesturing to the camera over in the corner.

As she listens, Rosalie’s face alternates between showing incredulity and amusement, and something that looks like it could be annoyance. After a moment, she reaches out and grabs Ethan’s smartphone, and looks something up. She laughs and shakes her head after a moment of reading, and then leans in to kiss Ethan’s cheek. There’s a look on her face that says, ‘leave this to me’.

The Lady Knight saunters toward the camera, and reaches for the mic that the cameraman hands to her. Clipping it to her bright blue sports bra, she takes a long drink of water before facing the camera more fully.

“Ah, Latoya Banks. Why you gotta hate, sister?”

Rosalie smirks, the same smirk that she knows pissed the other woman off the other night. If there’s one thing that could be said for the blonde, it’s that she’s really rather difficult to intimidate. Even with the way that Dark Archangel dominated the match last week, her confidence doesn’t seem to be shaken very much.

“What’s the matter, sugar? You’re saying that IWF isn’t your home anymore? Because you’re no longer the queen bitch? Sorry, honey, you’re gonna have to get used to it. You’re the one that left, and maybe I’ll never be able to understand your reasons. But you left, and you left a void that needed to be filled. Guess what? Here we are, filling the void. Here I am, filling that hole that you left behind.

Now maybe I haven’t won any titles yet. But if you look at the matches that I’ve been given, and if you look at what I’ve been up against, I think it’s safe to say that I haven’t been given a shot at a title yet. What I have done, honey, is put Loca Rocsi back in retirement when she came back saying almost the same things that you are. What I have done is make almost everyone who has faced me work hard for whatever victories they’ve achieved against me, and come out with a few of my own because they couldn’t handle my relentless drive.

And hey, yeah, I lost focus last week in my match against the Dark Archangel. Not Dan Alexander, honey. You might want to get your facts straight. I never faced Dan, and I never will now. But that’s beside the point. My fans are, I’m very sorry to say, not quite right. That little spat we had? Not enough to wear me out before a match, not by a long shot. The point is we all lose focus. Don’t we? Or maybe I should go ask Cyborg Santos about that, hmm?”

At this point she grins, a smug look intended to bring her opponent’s temper up even further.

“Let me tell you what, sugar. We all get to lose focus once in a while. It’s part of being human. But what I don’t do is make the same mistake twice. My match against you this weekend is going to be nothing but focused. Lasers have nothing on the sort of focus that I’m going to be demonstrating.

So girl, you better bring it. You better put your money where your mouth is. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Everyone knows that makes a woman dangerous, and I’m no exception. What do you stand to lose, Latoya? More importantly, have you come to terms with what you stand to lose? I have, and that’s what makes me a legitimate threat.”

Rosalie pauses now to take a long drink of her water, and she looks down at the floor for a moment like she’s gathering her thoughts. She seems as though she might even be getting emotional.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve followed this sport. I’ve loved it, I’ve imitated it, I’ve sought it out, and now I’m living it. I’ve done everything I can to be the strongest woman I can be. You, on the other hand, seem to have become nothing more than a spoiled bitch. What gives you the right to attack someone who is just doing their job? What gives you the right to attack a stage hand who already apologized for an accidental bump into you?"

Now she’s starting to look angry. But it’s not a hurt sort of angry. No, this is the sort of “holy mother of god she’s going to wreak holy righteous vengeance on people” angry. This is the look for which the Lady Knight earned her title. It’s not just because of her last name.

“Honey, you may be a Diva, and a big-ass diva at that. What you’re not is a woman. You’re nothing more than a girl, a child who throws a fit when things don’t go her way. You’re a girl who doesn’t know how to behave well to those who aren’t as famous as you, a girl who doesn’t know how to lose graciously and come back better for the experience. You need to grow up, and I’m really hoping you grow up before you come to the ring.

Otherwise, you’re just wasting my time, and the time of IWF fans. You’re wasting your own time. We women of the IWF have the potential to be so much more than the backstabbing cats of other federations. We have the potential to show divas everywhere that we don’t have to shake our asses and scream at each other in order to pander to the male majority of the fanbase. No, we can give all those girls that are watching with their dads and brothers and boyfriends something to look up to, something that is MORE.

So when you lose to me this week, sugar, I hope you can do it graciously, and I hope we can make this match count for more than just you and me. Like it or not, this is the beginning of a new era in the IWF. Either you can come along for the ride, and give the fans the entertainment they’re craving, or you can take your toys and go home. You already know which one I’m not doing. The only retirement party that might come out of this match, honey, might be yours. So save that cake, and save your balloons… You’re going to need them.”

Rosalie smiles up at Ethan as he comes to see if she’s finished or not, and as she un-clips the mic so that she can talk to him without every word being captured, the camera fades to black.