San Antonio Community College
Common Room

”Well then, I guess that’s that!”

After having observed with bated breath, Angelica turned off the live feed. The picks were in, and War Games was ON!

All in all, she wasn’t too disappointed. Of course, being picked in the last round was never fun, but in her eyes, that just meant her Captain had gotten a steal. She had hoped her win over Adi Gold would have caused her draft stock to rise a bit, but that had apparently not been the case. And sure, it would’ve been fun to team with her fellow Vaughn and Dolly, who her sister also held in such high regard.

But with Jenny Myst and Raion Kido, she got two team mates who had beaten her in single’s competition… and Elijah Martin had been a mainstay in XWF for quite some time now. She fancied their chances, but now it was all about making the most of the opportunities ahead of them and gaining some much needed traction and momentum going into the PPV. The upcoming Savage was a golden opportunity, for she was go to face none other than Bobby Bourbz himself.

They had locked horns not too long ago at Leap of Faith, but a multi-person brawl for all was always much different from a good old fashioned one on one contest. And Bobby had undoubtedly been one of the most coveted draft picks in the entire pool, as evidenced by his first round selection. To beat him on Savage would put serious dent in the hopes and aspirations of Team Money Oswald. Whoever said such things didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things were only fooling themselves. Streaks were a thing. Momentum was a thing. For all intents and purposes, War Games had already started. But before the physical battles, there were always… the Mind Games. And apparently, those had already started.

As Angelica got up from her seat and ready to leave the common room, four members of her Kappa Alpha Tau sorority jumped from behind a nearby pillar. The four κατ sisters were dressed in the usual attire, with skirts and crop tops. Angelica thought it was a bit too revealing, especially considering this was a community college, and most of them were clearly past their prime or had really let themselves go. Nevertheless, their heart was in the right place. And that was all that mattered. Angelica exclaimed their names as they popped up.

”Angela! Pamela! Sandra! And Rita!”

And as she continued, the four ‘sisters’ brought out the pompons, ready to turn into Angelica’s very own private cheer squad.

*HEAR US, HEAR US, HEAR US YELL!
BOBBY BOURBON DOES SO SMELL!
HE LOOKS SCRUFFY AND SO MESSED
ANGIE ANGIE IS THE BEST!

GOOOOOooooOOOOO ANGIE!*

Angelica clapped enthusiastically, smiling brightly as she hopped on the spot.

”Awww, you guys!? You did this for meee?”

As her tone of voice went up, her sisters started another yell.

*ANGIE ANGIE HEAR US ROAR
BOBBY BOURBZ LOOKS LIKE A BOAR
KAPPA ALPHA TAU IS #COOL
THAT NO GOOD BASTARD IS A TOOL!

GOOOOOOoooooOOOOOO ANGIE!*

”That’s so totes amazeballs, you guys!! Just don’t get *too* mean, ‘kay? We’re the good guys after all! No stooping down to his level!”

*WE ARE NICE AND WE ARE SWEET
BOBBY BOURBZ IS OBSOLETE
ANGIE’S STRONG AND SUPER TALL
LET’S GO TO THE SHOPPING MALL

GOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOO ANGIE!*

”The… shopping mall?”

It was Pamela who momentarily broke character.

“I know, there isn’t really one around here, but we thought it would lend a real eighties vibe to the whole piece. Besides, the eighties are when most of us actually *were* cheerleaders… Those were the days.”

”D’awwww, don’t be so hard on yourself, Pam! You guys look stunning for your age! I should know, I have some other really old friends, like Roxy, and she also still looks very good for her age so I can tell!”

*ANGIE IS SO #COOL AND KIND
AND AS SMART AS MASTERMIND
BOBBY BOURBS IS OH SO DUMB
ANGIE’S GONNA KICK HIS BUM

GOOOOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOO ANGIE!*

”Hee hee, I can get used to this, axly! Let’s go to the cafeteria, sisters!”

Angelica motioned them over, and the four sorority members followed the leader.

*LET’S HAVE LUNCH THANK YOU AND PLEASE
FRIDAYS ARE FOR MAC AND CHEESE
IT’S SO YUMMY IT’S DELISH
BOBBY BOURBZ IS SUCH A B-*

”Guys! Keep it NICE, I said! Plox and thankies!”

They started walking down the hall towards the cafeteria. It didn’t take long for an old familiar face to start speedwalking beside her. Small, bald and bespectacled, clad in a cheap suit without a jacket, the campus Dean had some bad news to deliver. Angelica saw the look in his eyes the second they made contact.

”Oh noes! I know that look. You, sir, are the bearer of some bad news, aren’t you?”

With a deep sigh, the dean reached up and rested his hand on Angelica’s shoulder. The leggy blonde of legend was easily a head taller than him. The gesture was enough to make her halt. Her long, long strides were hard to keep up with the Dean, who wanted to deliver this news privately.

”Listen, Miss Vaughn, we received your appeal regarding our decision not to make ‘Vuvuzelamous’ the new school theme song. After hours long debate with the school board, and carefully collaborating with the finest musical minds in all of Southwestern San Antonio, I regret to inform you that you have not been withheld.”

”OH! So wait, does that mean I win, or…”

”Ummmm no, it means the opposite. I think. Anyway, just thought I should let you know.”

As Angelica cast her eyes down in disappointment, the κ α τ girls translated her feelings with song and dance.

*THIS IS STUPID AND ABSURD
DEAN MUST NOT KNOW BIRD’S THE WORD
CAN’T BELIEVE HER SONG GOT SHUNNED
DEAN WHY ARE YOU SUCH A C-*

”Guys!”

”Hey! Rude!”

”Like, sers, keep it PG will you? Next thing we know, Ruby will pop out from behind one of these pillars and I am *not* looking for a lecture right now regarding the sanctity of clean language. NINETY THREE minutes I had to listen to her last time, going on about how our right to use the F-word is technically not protected by the Constitution! And I didn’t even say it, it appeared in a song that popped up on a random Spotify playlist! That’ll teach me for not filtering out the explicit songs, I guess…”

”And I mean, ISN’T that right protected, though? Technically?”

”Well technically, we both are Candaian, so I guess that’s what she’s referring to.”

”I didn’t even know Canada had a Constitution.”

”Of course they do, don’t they? I don’t know what it says though… Wait, did you think that ONLY America has a Constitution?? You know pretty much EVERY country has one, right?”

”Erm, yeah. Of course! But ours is the best!”

”Wow, you are SO Texan, Dean. N-E-Ways, let’s not get into that right now. We can discuss human rights violations by the US Supreme Court some other time. It’s the last day of school and I want to have some fun! I KNOW! Girls, we can try our hand at another school theme song! Y’all can do the backing vocals! And since the San Antonio Community College CLEARLY does not appreciate my sweet-as-flame vuvuzela skills, I can dust off my old bagpipes!”

Not a euphemism. In any case, the Dean went from a normal shade of pale to something grey-gooish. The fear in his eyes was tangible.

”On… on… you mean on school grounds? Please don’t! We had all the windows replaced two years ago, we really can’t afford to do it again!”

*THAT IS RUDE AND TOTES UNFAIR
BREAKING GLASS WE WOULD NOT DARE
DEAN OH DEAN YOU ARE SO MEAN
DEAN IS SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN!*

”Yes, yes, I get the picture! In any case, so help me, I will close this school EARLY if I have to!”

”Ugh, fine! We’ll just have a glass of wine to celebrate the end of the year and commemorate the fact we all had passing grades, I guess!”

”You… you mean to imbibe ALCOHOL?? ON CAMPUS GROUNDS!? Perish the thought!!”

”Mister Dean sir, not that I want to turn snitch or rat, but at least four teachers have a bottle of bourbon in their office, and there is a literal vat of red wine under the sink in the teacher’s lounge. How do you not know these things?”

”There’s wh-? Erm, I have to go aaaaand… check something out! Unrelated, I swear!”

The Dean buzzed off, speedwalking as fast as he could, swinging his arms wildly for extra momentum (which is important, as was established earlier). Angie’s four sorority sisters looked puzzled as they watched him dart off. Again, it was Pamela who spoke up.

“Angie, why did you tell the dean there’s a vat of wine hidden in the teacher’s lounge? It’s hidden in the janitor’s closet.”

”Because he was rude, that’s why! I’m not usually vindictive or vengeful, but he hurt my pride when he talked trash about my music! That, I cannot allow! After all, I AM… ‘THE’ #Vaughnemous A.N.G. who kicks in the door! So let’s go, girls! Mac ‘n cheeze ‘n wine are in our immediate future! GOOOOOOoooooOOOOOO κ α τ !!”

*MAC AND CHEESE AND ALSO WINE
THIS LAST DAY WAS JUST SUBLIME
WHEN IT’S DARKEST BEFORE DAWN
JUST LOOK UP TO ANGIE VAUGHN

GOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOO ANGIE!*

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”Hi-hiiiiiiiiiiii! Welkies to all of my #coolest cats and all of my #coolest kittens! What an amazeballs past few weeks it’s been, hasn’t it?

I accomplished some things, and… didn’t accomplish some others. I beat Adi Gold, like I said I would, for starters. It was a good bout, though, and it wasn’t easy. And I’m glad to say she was somewhat sporting about it. Much more so than my next opponent will be, I bet.

N-E-Ways, even though I said I was going to beat Adi, I also said I was going to aim for the first round of the War Games draft! Unfortunately, I didn’t have as much time on my hands as I thought in order to sway the Captain’s minds. But that’s fine, you know… I guess it was mostly vanity talking. In the end, where you get drafted doesn’t matter nearly as much as where you end up when all is said and done, right? And even though my opponent this week IS a first round draft pick, he’s also nuot as untouchable as he believes himself to be.

See, for all his posturing before Leap of Faith, in the end he ended up on the losing side, just like anyone not named Raion Kido, my new teamie, by the dubs! Sounds like he’s not nearly as fearsome when he’s not synergizing with those inside of his comfort zone. And that’s fine, don’t get me wrong. But it also means that you’re vulnerable this week. I’m sure you’ve got some shenanigans planned, and the referees in the XWF are erm… Well, I guess they do their best, but… Let’s just say that errors have been made in the past. But that’s not an excuse I’m going to hide behind.

There is, however, something that’s been kinda bothering me? I noticed it in the run-up towards Leap of Faith. I noticed it when I first faced Jenny Myst. I noticed it when facing Edgar, Reggie and even then-Chameleon. There seems to be this going impression of me that I am some sort of prissy princess straight out of a Grimm fairytale. Someone who’s weak and vulnerable, who needs protecting, and is both snobbish and spoiled. I *really* wonder why people think that, because that’s not me. That’s never been me. Maybe they just assume these things because of who my sister is, but that would be lazy and unfair. Maybe they see a blonde girl and assume these things, but that would be dumb and sexist. Maybe they see me wear the occasional fancy dress when I go to fancy parties, and assume that that’s my life 24/7, which would be completely foolish. I work on a farm. I wear overalls! I go to a community college. I wear comfy hoodies and loose slacks so I can sit comfortably at a bench for many hours a day! Sure, when I go out to town or go to a party I make sure my outfits are on point, but do you have any idea how much that means to me? How liberating that is? I didn’t get to choose my own outfit until I ran away from home, when I was almost 18 years old. Every time I open up my closet, I get this rush of endorphins, because it makes me feel *free*.

So judge me all you want, I guess. But even then, outfits and attires and make-up and style should in no way, shape or form decide my capabilities in the ring. I’m not a snob or a vain socialite. I am just a girl who tries to make the most of her life. Which means I want to make the most of what I am given, and that I want to grab opportunities that present themselves. Exactly like War Games.

War Games means a lot to me already. I want to show the XWF and its fans that I am competent enough to be both a team player and a strong link in the chain. I *will* make it work, and I am going to prove to Jenny that drafting me was the best decision she made that night. I’m going to show Raion that even though he has beaten me twice already, I am more than strong enough to stand beside him. And I’m going to show Elijah the meaning of team spirit! And how do I do that? Easy: by beating you.

And when I say ‘easy’, I am talking about the layout of the plan. The execution will be somewhat different, because you’re a great competitor, Bourbz. That’s never been in question. Sure, the packaging isn’t very nice, and there’s no fancy bow on top, and it’s a bit dinged up, but all in all it’s a very sturdy parcel that you bring to the table. Beating you would be a mighty feather in my cap, and I look forward to adding it to my collection. I look good in feathery hats!

So I’ll see you all in Seattle, my lovely Vaughnstars! It’s not too far from my old hometown either, so I hope to see plenty of Vancouverites as well! This is Angie Vaughn, signing off on #CoolTube! Be nice to animals!”

-fin-