“Charlotte, North Carolina,” Lauren Duke mumbles as she aimlessly scrolls around the XWF website on her iPhone. Seated back on a swivel chair, she absently spins as she glances over at Penelope, who is otherwise preoccupied.

“What the hell is there to do in Charlotte?”

No answer. Penelope Plimmswood was busy with some sort of crazy science experiment. While it wasn’t quite as amazing or elaborate as the Tom & Jerry setup, with all the flasks, bunsen burners, and oddly colored liquids swirling through tubes and retorts… it still came as a bit of a surprise to Lauren. I guess you never really ask how the sausage is made–

Raising her brows after a few moments of waiting for a response, Lauren cleared her throat to grab her newfound friend's attention.

But still, there was nothing.

Bending down in front of a glass measuring cup that looked like something of an oversized beaker, Penelope pulled tinted safety goggles down over her eyes with her injured hand… which caused her to hiss, shaking out as much as the medical brace she was wearing would allow.

“Infernal casket…” She grumbled.

Aggravated by the pain – not to mention the memory of how she’d injured her hand – she went back to work using a precision dropper to add a couple of drops of what looked like a radioactive neon-orange liquid into the mixture. It instantly bubbled up like some sort of vile, sulfurous goo, which caused her to let out a bit of a sinister laugh as she took a step back.

“Perrrrrfect–” The words rolled from her venomous tongue.

“What’s perfect? What the hell are you even doing?!” Lauren asked, completely forgetting about her previous question.

“Helping you,” She finally responded. “You requested an orange mist, did you not? I’m granting your wish.

“Orange mist it is.

“Neon orange to be exact.”

Lauren somewhat laughed, “I was kidding when I asked for basic-bitch mist the color of pumpkin spice, Penny.”

Standing upright, Penelope gazed lovingly at her simmering concoction, “I wasn’t. And don’t call me Penny.”

Lauren rolled her eyes.

“Whatever you say Penny–” she jokingly responded, but a mere glance from Penelope caused her to change what she was saying mid-word. She quickly pivoted and added an awkward “--elope…” to the end of the word.

“Better.”

Turning her attention back to the neon orange goop, she continued, “This is a bit stronger smelling than usual. I had to alter the mixture to make the orange color pop, and make it a bit more… well, 'you'… for lack of a better word.”

“A bit more me?”

“Yeah, its fragrance is noticeably sweeter than the one I use, but with just as much burn.”

Lauren smiled, “Aww…”

“And make sure you oil your mouth really well before the match, unless you wanna look like you’ve been sucking on orange Jolly Ranchers all night–”

Nodding along, Lauren thought about that for a moment.

“Do they even make orange Jolly Ranchers?”

Penelope paused, lifting her safety goggles up onto her head. "They don't any more, but they did. It was one of the first flavors introduced after the initial three. Shame they discontinued it, they should bring it back. And if they did… I’m sure that’s how it’d make your mouth look. So like I said, oil your mouth before you use this.”

Penelope let an evil little smirk curl her lip, “This is gonna look so amazing sprayed all over Carmen Santana’s stupid little face…”

Sahara’s brow furrowed, “Who?!”

“Carmen Santana,” Penelope nonchalantly replied. “Your opponent on Madness.”

Penelope glanced over, noting the confused bunny look coming over Lauren’s face. “Good God, Thaddeus warned me about this. Maybe you should read more than where a show is taking place, my dear, and to answer your question from earlier, there is absolutely nothing to do in Charlotte other than vacate it immediately when you’re done–”

“Woah, woah, woah… what?! I’m wrestling on Madness?!”

Lauren instantly lifted her iPhone in disbelief, her baby blues darting around the screen as she scrolled through the posted card for Monday Night Madness. She stops, not noticing the opening match, or the main event… or the XWF X-Division Championship match.

None of that mattered…

What did matter was what she saw right there in the middle of the screen: Sahara vs Carmen Santana.

She didn’t even hear the words escape her lips, “Who the fuck is Carmen Santana?”

“Unbelievable…” Penelope let out a sigh. “Thaddeus wasn’t kidding about you–”

“Why?! What’d he say?!”

“That you’re a bit… shall we say absentminded?”

Lauren shrugged, relenting to reality, she nodded in agreement. “Yeah. True. So who is she?”

“An annoying little bitch,” Penelope started as she sauntered over, situating herself behind the woman who somehow married Thaddeus Duke... twice.

“I need you to do me a favor on Madness. You’re going to send a message. Not just to your opponent, but to the entire roster. You’re going to make an example of little miss Santana. Paint her pretty little face a dazzling shade of orange for me, won’t you?”

It wasn’t really a question as much as it was a demand.

And Lauren understood.

A smirk slowly formed on Sahara’s lips as she looked up at Penelope.

“I’ll make her look like a dented fuckin’ pumpkin for you…” Sahara replied with a sinister little smile of her own.

Penelope gently patted her newfound friend on the shoulder.

They understood each other.

Completely.