Kate Astrofey and her manager Kristine Harper sit in a dimly lit hotel room. a single dim lamp flickers As Kate stands up and begins to pace between the beds.

"I swear to God, Kristine." Kate said, "This place is a dump, you stick me in another shit hole like this and I'll kill you."

Kristine lit a long cigarette and exhaled with a breathy sound. "You can't kill me. And this is an exercise."

"Exercise my ass!" Kate exclaimed "We just did a week around the friggin world in training! Why the fuck can't I just chill for a night in a decent hotel?"

"No." Kristine said through wafts of cigarette smoke, "You, my dear, are in constant training."

"Well what the fuck for? I am like the best and craziest person in the XWF!"

"You." Kristine says forcefully while pointing at her with two fingers pinching her cigarette "Need. As. Much. Training. As. Possible."

"Oh fuck you Kristine." Kate replied with a smirk. "What's living in a dumpy hotel supposed to for me anyway?"

"Hardship makes hard people." Kristine replies. "When you wake up in the morning, presuming you sleep, you're going to be ready to get your ass kicked and still kick some ass."

"You're so full of shit."

"Maybe. But the moment you start getting comfortable you'll start losing matches."

"You'd do that to me?"

"You'd do that to yourself, dear." Kristine said as she stubbed out the remains of her cigarette in a plastic hotel ashtray.

As Kate sat down on her bed she began to adjust her body to lay down, "This bed is shit, I can feel the springs stabbing me. Good buy sleep."

Kristine didn't acknowledge Kate's complaint but reached for the phone which began to ring as her hand touched the receiver. She picked it up before the second ring could sound.

"Yes, Jim." She said into the dirty phone more as a statement than the typical question of "Hello?"

Kate, now laying down turned her head towards Kristine and watched as she listened intently on the phone while reaching for another cigarette.

"Wow. Really?" Kristine said as the newly lit cigarette dangled from her lips.

"OK, right. I'll let her know. She'll be there."

Kristine hung up the phone and exhaled a rapid cloud of smoke.

"What's up?" Kate asked from her reclined position.

"You've got a title shot." Kristine replied between long drags.

"No way! It's about time! I told you I had this shit under control!" Kate exclaimed but did not move from her laying down position.

"You are not the only one in the match up."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"De Sade is the title holder. He's going to defend full time during the show and on into the night. So it's you, De Sade and everyone else... for the title."

"Awesome. I've got this. Presuming I get some sleep tonight."

"Well see about that."

"What do you mean?"

"You're going to have to earn it. If you want Victory, you need to deserve it."

"Ugh.... I hate you."

"No surprise there." Kristine said as she took another long drag from her cigarette.

"Earn it Kate. This is your time."

"I damn well will!"

"That's the attitude you need, Kate. Just let it simmer over night and in the morning you'll understand how hardship makes stronger people. So when you turn up at the arena, you're ready to kick de Sade's ass in the moment he walks in the door."

"Excellent."

Kristine put out her cigarette and reached for the pack to light another.

"You're not going to sleep again, aren't you?" Kate said as Kristine lit her next cigarette."

"Probably not. I don't need it. I've got a shit ton of work to do, might as well use my time constructively. And yes, it's too much to ask for me to go outside to smoke while you try to sleep."