Danger? I Barely Know Her!

It looked like the most posh condo-style studio one has ever seen. Walls painted Vegas Gold with full length mirrors situationally mounted on the four surfaces. An exquisite vanity cluttered up a corner of the residence, the size rather impractical for one person. Various brushes, creams, a hair dryer, a straightener, practically any item a high level cosmetologist would have was somewhere on the dressing table.

A large bar occupied space near one wall. A wine cooler sat behind it, shaded off to the right. Taking up a majority of the space behind the counter was shelving. Stored on it were high priced bottles of different alcohol types; liquor, brandy, whiskey, gin, rum, just about any type of spirit one could name had some space on the rack.

A home theater set-up with a grandiose television was also easily spotted, with a large leather sofa and two plush leather recliners positioned for a comfy viewing experience. Behind a decorated screen in another corner was an Alaska King sized bed with a canopy. Next to it was an enormous wardrobe. Finally, an eye-catching desk sat near an unoccupied wall. Made of gorgeous pink ivory wood, a luxurious office chair was positioned behind it.

There was, of course, a kitchenette that would put some full sized kitchens to shame. A small table and chair sat just outside of it and at this point, you have to know the pieces of furniture were exorbitant. If this were a real place, it would probably cost millions of dollars between the afforded space and the amenities contained within. If it were real…

RIA looked out of place here. She felt out of place. This all felt so… unnecessary. Excessive. She hadn't realized when she opened the gaudy door that it wasn't merely a sign of the environment within, but almost a warning. It was overwhelming, in a way.

“And who the hell are you?”

The voice broke RIA’s concentration. She glanced over towards the desk. The office chair? It wasn't empty. A woman sat there, her thumbs pecking away at a mobile device. She slowly pushed herself up out of the seat and sashayed around the workspace. Straight platinum blonde hair spilled out of her scalp. On her torso was a white short sleeved princess cut button-up dress shirt underneath a pink vest, clinging close to her curves, the top button undone to show a fair bit of cleavage. She wore a skirt matching the vest in color that bordered on being too short. On her feet were pink stiletto heels. Golden sunglasses with mirrored lenses obstructed her eyes.

“Could ask ya the same.” The Psychoberry replied with more than an ounce of uncertainty in her tone. The woman strode towards RIA. The way she walked had an air of nobility to it, but there was a certain risque nature to it as well. As she drew near, the pieces started to fall into place for the Rainbow Riot. She looked very familiar.

“I'm Ria Lockhart. Duh.”

RIA could see it. She did look just like Lockhart, like her, like the Nightshades. The difference was this aura she had, one that seemed to scream that she wasn't to be touched, while provoking such action with her manner of dress and her motions. Her clothing left only her undergarments to the imagination, as her actual figure was prominently displayed. The Psychoberry couldn't keep herself from glaring. It was interesting seeing a personality embrace sexuality. RIA herself was fairly confident in her own body, but this version was arrogant. It was off-putting. Irritating, in a way.

“Lockhart? Ya don't seem to act like her.” The Psychoberry coldly countered. “In fact, ya don't really act like any of us. And I'm RIA. There, introductions outta the way.”

By this point, ‘Lockhart’ had let her focus go back to the smart phone in her hands.

“Like, why would I?” She nonchalantly said. “You're all totally lame. Lockhart is, like, a goody-goody. Those Nightshade bitches are pissy and stuff. Like, if I get mad, I don't wanna just hurt people and junk. I wanna, like, ruin lives. I'm the RiIP. You do not fuck with the RiIP.”

RIA could feel the heat rising off her face. The way this RiIP talked just seemed to rankle her. There was a cold detachment that every word she spoke carried. She was very quickly starting to see why Lockhart had said these two were counter to each other.

“Yeah, well, you seem like a total bitch!” RIA shot back. “Damn. I don't really get along with Blackshade, but I at least kinda understand her. You? Ruinin’ lives? Fuck me, that's just kinda evil shit. What the fuck?!”

The RiIP looked up from her phone. Keeping it held in her left hand, she raised her right hand up to flick her sunglasses down, revealing deep blue eyes.

“So? Why should I listen to you?” She snarked. “You look like a clown ate too much cotton candy and hurled into a dirty puddle. I look like heaven. You look like hell. I am a goddess! You are a peasant! You're nothing!”

She was getting worked up. Her tone was rising, her fist clenched, eyes bugging slightly. The Psychoberry didn't know how to feel. On one hand, it was a tantrum, the kind a spoiled rich teenager would throw. But there was a danger lying underneath the petulance; this shard seemed to have no conscience. Blackshade was the same way, but almost seemed to approach her anger with a business mentality. Lash out, move on. The RiIP seemed like she wanted to see the suffering before the kill.

“Last I checked, I'm doin’ okay for us.” RIA replied. “Somebody had to clean up the fuckin' mess YOU made of things!”

Where are the answers? That's why she had come in here. But she was quite clearly being stonewalled by a piece of their being that had no interest in being cooperative. Greenshade had been coy, Blackshade was so one track you had to put in work to get her true thoughts and RIA couldn't understand a damn thing Rianana said without that etch-a-sketch. None of those interactions were this frustrating. She glared at the once again seemingly uninterested RiIP.

“I came for answers.” RIA began. “I'm gettin' ‘em one way or another.”

“Is that so?” The Golden Goddess blandly replied.

“Yeah. So maybe it's time we all came together. Tired of these bullshit games.”

RIA stormed over to the entrance to the room. She opened the door, but only stepped halfway out.

“Follow me, or I'll get Lockhart and Greenshade to help me drag your ass outta here.”

The Bushido Thunder dojo in Okayama. The gym was one owned by Raiko Hayashi, better known as simply RAIKO. It was mostly empty at this time. At least, it was empty outside of RIA. She was in the ring setup just off from the middle of the area. She was doing… something. Something that the entering Kohime Mori couldn't quite piece together.

“Miss Ria?” Kohime said. “What are you doing?”

RIA looked up from whatever her project was, her face lighting up.

“Kohime! You came!” The Psychoberry exuberantly greeted her friend. Mori walked up to the ring, doing her best to subtly glance at whatever it was RIA was messing with on the canvas.

“Uh, yes, I'm here!” Kohime tried to hide her curiosity. “I'm a bit surprised RAIKO-sensei actually agreed to let you use her dojo.”

The Rainbow Riot chuckled and smirked.

“Oh c'mon, ‘Hime. If it weren't for ya talkin' to her, she probly wouldn'ta done it!” RIA replied. “Though the other part of my plan took a bit more doin’.”

The Moé Monster leaned forward, her elbows on the apron. Her inquisitiveness was becoming more and more apparent. A plan? One she hadn't heard a shred of previously? With the nature of her best friend, this could be either the goofiest thing ever or terrifying, potentially some odd mixture of both.

“A plan? What is this plan?” Kohime asked after a brief moment of hesitation. A sly smirk worked its way across the Psychoberry's face. She stood up and raised something in her right hand. A bat. A barbwire bat. A barbwire bat with a cord running from two blocks secured to the barrel.

“That motherfucker got no idea what he's done!” RIA half snarled, half giggled. She shook the bat slightly. “This! This is the plan! A barbwire exploding baseball bat! Imma make sure that bitch never forgets this match!”

The color drained from Mori’s face. This bout of one-upsmanship between RIA and Fred Dick had been concerning from the moment it started. A pair of slaps. That's where this began. And now? Now both were putting their bodies on the line, causing potentially irreversible bodily harm over the wrongs done to one another.

“I do not like this, Miss Ria.” Kohime stated, trying to be stern but coming off closer to concerned. “How did you even learn to make one of those?”

The grin on RIA's face shifted, becoming more mischievous. She balanced the lower, unwrapped part of the barrel against her shoulder.

“Okay, so ya know how I got a hold of RAIKO, then I had to bring ya in to kinda finish things off?” She began. “Well I got a holda her after that too. Told her I wanted to make an exploding barbwire bat. At first, she told me to go fuck myself. But then, when I mentioned I was gonna use it on Fred Dick, RAIKO totally changed her tune! Laid out exactly what I needed to do.”

Kohime’s eyes squinted. She gave her friend a skeptical glance.

“And you followed her directions exactly?”

“Sure did!” The Psychoberry confidently replied. “Though she did say one block of explosives was probly enough, she's also practically insisted I add a second one.”

That news didn't exactly ease any fears Mori may have had towards this situation. She knew both women. She knew RAIKO likely didn't care about any ill effects that may befall RIA if the bat malfunctioned in any way. She knew that RIA was so consumed with this war that she herself wasn't concerned with such either.

“But what if something bad happens?” Kohime let her internal worry pour out into words. “There is no way to know what might happen if you actually use that thing in your match.”

“Aha!” RIA exclaimed with a finger pointed towards the Japanese woman. “I'm not that dumb, ‘Hime! I'm gonna test it right now!”

The Psychoberry motioned over towards a striking dummy in the ring that had gone unnoticed previously. It was a peach colored head and torso, attached to a black weighted base. Usually, one would use it for its intended purpose. RIA, though? She was about to conduct a possibly very dangerous test.

“I do not like this, Miss Ria!” The Moé Monster attempted one last appeal. “You could still get hurt doing this! This is not a good idea. Please do not do this!”

“It'll be fine!” The Rainbow Riot replied with a lazy hand wave. “I don't even know if anythin' will happen. Don't worry about it!”

Clutching the bat handle with both hands, RIA’s line of sight fell to the training mannequin. She turned, taking up a batting stance. With her smile growing, she lifted her front leg and swung…

Dear reader, I would like to take a second for you to consider what may happen here. Maybe it's nothing, or perhaps a disappointing little spurt of smoke. Maybe the weapon ends up functioning properly and all this concern and buildup is for nothing? What if it turns out the bat is actually too powerful and tragedy follows? Let's see where this goes…

The bat swung forward. The moment it connected with the dummy, a loud explosion rang out through the empty dojo. It flew back, hitting the middle rope before plopping down onto the mat. And RIA? That bitch flew back the moment the bat blew up, landing hard on her ass. Speaking of which, the spiked instrument shot out of the Psychoberry’s hands, careening out of the ring and smashing against a wall. After a moment, she let out a pained groan.

“Yep…” RIA said, still laying on the mat. “One block is enough. More than enough…”

Kohime, who had been paralyzed by both the action and noise of the carnage, rushed over to her downed friend.

“Nante koto da! Daijobou desu ka?!” Mori yelped out in Japanese as she assisted the Rainbow Riot into a sitting position. Another groan escaped from RIA's lungs.

“I dunno what ya said, but if you're askin' if I'm okay… Eh, I've been worse. But I been better too.” The Psychoberry rolled her neck. RIA stumbled to her feet, leaning on the ropes for support. “On the plus side, it works! So take the good with the bad, I guess.”

“Maybe we should take you to the hospital.” Kohime suggested.

“Nope, there'll be plenty of time for that after the match.” The statement from RIA was casual enough, but carried a certain weight to it. “For the record, though? I plan to walk outta that ring. Ain't lookin' to afford Fred that same courtesy.”

All six were gathered out in the hallway; Ria Lockhart, Rianana, RIA, both the green and purple Nightshades and the RiIP. Looks were exchanged back and forth. The harshest were between Greenshade and the RiIP. The Toxic Queen shot daggers at her counterpart, ones sharpened with hatred. The Golden Goddess responded with a look of absolute disgust, though a hint of fear seemed to flash across her mug here and there.

“So here we are.” RIA said, her tone sounding increasingly worn. “This all of us or is there some other random-ass version of us hidin’ somewhere else?”

Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Lockhart crossed her arms on her chest and shrugged.

“Nope, that's all. Oh, except that one.”

She nodded towards the end of the hall where only darkness could be seen. A small light flickers before fully illuminating. One last door. This one was far less conspicuous than the others; a plain wooden door. No paint job. No stickers or emblems. Literally a standard, boring door. Well, mostly. There were two things interesting about this door.

For one thing, the hinges were on the outside instead of the inside; that meant the door could only swing outward, not inward like the other doors. However, there was no way for the door to do so, thanks to a bevy of heavy chains that covered it. Intrigued, RIA moved to the entrance. She tugged on the chains, which were quite taunt, as well as having thick links. She turned back to the group.

“Uh, yeah. Ain't no fuckin' way those things are gonna give.” She stated before walking back over to join the group.

“Heh, heavy security.” Greenshade noted. “I wonder what's in there? Someone worse than any of us? Some kinda monster? Makes ya curious, right?”

RIA looked back to the Hardcore Harlot and tilted her head.

“Wait, ya don't know what's in there?”

Greenshade earnestly shook her head. Lockhart sighed, her arms uncrossing and her hands moving to her hips.

“I'm the only one who knows.” Lockhart said bluntly. “And quite frankly, I have no desire to share.”

“Oh, we're keeping secrets now? That's, like, sooooo shocking coming from you.” The RiIP snarked while messing with her phone. RIA glared in the woman's direction.

“She's been pretty honest with me so far.” The Psychoberry shot back. “Maybe you're the problem, ever think of that?!”

“All of this arguing is such a waste of time.” Blackshade grumbled. “What are we accomplishing here? Not a fucking thing. What are we accomplishing out there? Not a fucking thing.”

“Banana.” Rianana replied. “Banana banana. Banana? Banana! Banana banana.”

RIA, purple Nightshade and the RiIP look towards Lockhart and the green Nightshade for translation. Lockhart shrugged her shoulders, apparently over this group interaction already. Greenshade rolled her eyes.

“She said the angry bitch has a point.” The Toxic Queen started. “Rainbow has two pretty important matches coming up. Is this really the time to be divided? No! We should be supporting her.”

“Gross.” The Golden Goddess replied, her attention once again back on her phone. But for her part, the Rainbow Riot looked a bit more at ease. A bit lighter, it seemed.

“You're right, Rianana.” She said. “I gotta fuck Fred Dick up and try to win that Manhunt thing.”

“Why does it matter?” Blackshade snarled. “Can you even win one of those? I think you're fucked.”

“Hey, fuck you!” Greenshade shot back before RIA could respond. “I got faith in her. We gotta. Or do you want this shit to go sideways?”

“Who cares?” The RiIP said, voice dripping with boredom. “Does she, like, even have what it takes? She's all cuddly and junk. Nobody takes her seriously.”

RIA walked over in between the two minorly separated groups. She glanced back and forth between Blackshade and the RiIP.

“Neither of ya two get it.” The Psychoberry said. “This Fred Dick match? It fuckin' matters to me. Everythin’ he's done to me? Done to my friends and loved ones? He's payin’ for that. Not just that, I'm gonna make sure that bitch thinks twice from now on before he opens his stupid mouth or gets another dumbass thought in that near empty head of his!”

Greenshade smirked and nodded her head. Lockhart moved forward, coming face to face with RIA. She said nothing for a moment before reaching a hand up and gently placing it on the Rainbow Riot’s shoulder.

“You know what? Forget those two. The rest of us? We do believe in you. We've got your back. You just gotta go out there and do what you do best. Let that rainbow shine.”

The words from the alpha brought a big smile to RIA’s face.

“Fuck yeah! I got this shit!” The brightly colored personality stated with confidence. She began bouncing back and forth between the two gatherings as she spoke. “I ain't the biggest. I ain't the strongest. But fuck, I got one-a the biggest hearts outta anyone in PRIME! I'm one-a the toughest bitches not just on this roster, but in the whole world! Can't speak to how the Manhunt is gonna go, but Fred? Oh, that motherfucker is screwed!”

Lockhart, expression neutral, at least offered a confident nod of the head.

“Hey.” She spoke, her attention towards Greenshade. “How about we talk strategy with Rainbow? We've got the most experience with these matches. I think it's worth the time.”

The Toxic Queen cackled maliciously, both her eyes and smile growing wide.

“Oh yeah! We can get her ready to fuck that stupid fat douchebag up! He ain't got a chance! We'll make sure that bitch don't leave the match in one piece!”

“Really wish you wouldn't call him fat.” Rainbow RIA gently mumbled. Greenshade rolled her eyes in response.

“Yeah yeah, fat shaming ain't cool.” The Hardcore Harlot conceded. “But fuck him! He's an asshole! He don't deserve respect!”

“Not the point. He's got plentya other flaws we can rip him apart verbally for. We can be better than that.” RIA responded.

“Look, forget that for now.” Lockhart cut in. She walked over to her designated space, taking the doorknob in her hand. “Winning the match is the main goal. We can worry about proper etiquette later. If you wanna help, follow me.”

Lockhart opened the door and walked in. Rianana followed inside. The green Nightshade strode in shortly after. RIA was in right after. Only Blackshade and the RiIP were left in the hallway.

“Such a waste of time.” The posh version of Lockhart snarked, focus still on her mobile device. Blackshade glanced over at her.

“You and I have something to discuss later. But for now? Those nagging bitches are right, at least in the short term.”

She walked over to the room, entering before closing the door. The RiIP strode over to her own space and entered, leaving the group to strategize.