Mendez Interview Subject 1: Alizeh Midori

[Taskmaster12]

Now she was getting somewhere. Alizeh’s response to the idea of losing even if it was a learning experience showed she had some reservations about losing at all. All competitors did by the nature of what they did. You didn’t get far by being able to brush off a loss with a smile even if you were good at hiding it. For now Robin would avoid the topic and keep going through her questions, it was enough to know she had something she could push for later. The topic of Alex enticed Alizeh enough when she seemed to enjoy the thought of winning one of the titles presented and even being relaxed enough to joke about winning both titles. The important part was Karen Meadows. Robin had avoided her before because she didn’t want Alizeh to get upset early in the interview because under her Mindy Midnight name she had used Alizeh’s previously mentioned charity event to humiliate Alizeh by going past what they agreed upon. Why she had done this was something only the actress could answer and since she was acting as if she was a character in one of her shows that answer might not satisfy anyone. Robin didn’t care one bit for her answers, only how they could be used on Alizeh.

Since Alizeh bright her up Robin felt it was safe to do the same without coming off as an instigator to the general public or her superiors. “Karen Meadows has made a few enemies recently. All while masquerading as a show character come to life despite still acting like an actress all the same. Her identity crisis aside recent results show she has found some success with this act she’s been putting on. She’s even said that the increased focus on both you and her has been all of her genius. It can’t be denied that it’s brought some attention to both of you and she would tell us all that it makes it worth it. Something I’m sure after she trounced you at your own charity event you would like to dispute for everyone.” Now she could start seeing if she could get some sparks out of Alizeh.

[Bare]

Alizeh didn't have an issue with losing... well not much of one at least. After all losses always stung and she didn't like to let them sit quietly. More than anyone in LAW she had a history of winning her rematches, especially when against someone who previously beat her. It was just a part of her naturally driven and competitive instincts that had basically been hardwired into her. However Alizeh wouldn't have the chance to sit on these thoughts for long, instead she was immediately thrown into another heated topic for her. That being Karen Meadows, otherwise known as Mindy Midnight.

The name alone made Alizeh's blood boil... the topic in general wasn't off limits for her. After all it was confirmed that Mindy would be her opponent for Apex so... Not like she couldn't but she absolutely detested the narrative that the bitch was trying to make, and as Robin mentioned Alizeh was sure as hell gonna fight it. "Yeah dispute is an understatement." Alizeh said bluntly, annoyance towards Mindy being clear in her voice as she took a second to collect her thoughts before continuing. "Between us both its no stretch to say I've been the more active one in building my name and brand, after all not everyone can coast on a failed acting career." Alizeh said just having to throw that dig in towards Mindy before continuing.

"Honestly I think it was all planned from the start. Her worming her way into that charity event and humiliating me to pick a fight. Let alone all this other dramatic bullshit. She's a parasite, attaching herself to my name, and my reputation and now that our match has so many eyes to it because of ME, she's trying to do her own stuff to take credit for it." Alizeh said, her aggressiveness coming loud and clear as she took a breath to calm down before sitting back. "Like I said, she's nothing but a parasite. Leeching off outside factors to make others believe her own hype, had she pulled this with someone else I guarantee that it wouldn't have worked as well as it right now. But come apex, this ends, and I crush her like the parasite she is." Alizeh said, already bracing herself for whatever response Robin would have for her next.

[Taskmaster12]

Mindy was juicy hook she was looking for. Alizeh wasn’t shy about her thoughts about her future opponent and even gave something to chew on regarding how random the meeting between them was. Not only was she sure that she was better than Mindy, she thought very little of her opponent that it would have had her coworkers grabbing popcorn. Robin restrained herself from smiling at the goldmine in her hands before she pulled out a few nothings she had acquired in preparation for this meeting. Anything about anyone Alizeh had met was in her notes in case she needed them. The profile between her and Mindy was some of the newest material but that made it easy to gather. “I’m grateful you are confident enough to hold nothing back. Anyone could look into those beautiful eyes of yours and see that you meant every word. If I later found out you were lying I’d call you a better actress than Karen Meadows in your sleep.” The smile almost showed her true intentions. She held it together only enough to pull up the first thing on her notes. “I must disagree with this tall tell you were given on principle, much as I would like to not call you out.” Robin would show Alizeh a transcript of emails back and forth between LAW and the charity manager. “The World United Fund for Children was gracious enough to send us the email conversation they had with LAW to make the event what it was. Here we see that LAW recommended a small list of wrestlers to be your partner in that event and they picked Mindy because she was someone they knew people would recognize even if they weren’t wrestling fans. They wanted a cute face with broad appeal. The WUFC has already apologized for what happened and denied any part in Karen’s actions. I’m sure they sent an apology to you as well since they did come under fire for the event getting lewd without any warning. With that in mind I must say it’s poor form to put them in the spotlight again by implicating them in being in on Karen’s schemes.” It was obvious that blaming them was not what Alizeh meant or was even alluding to. Robin was only interested in tricking the average droll viewer that it was. All she needed with something concrete as her base and she could flip a narrative with just a few words. “You have passions yet those cannot bend the truth. For which we can say that this former actress with a name that anyone thinks they can use to help better a brand took advantage of you. No one denies your grievances and everyone in this room would be rooting for you in getting revenge and ending this delusion that Karen has put herself under. The problem is I can’t abide these delusions either. Karen pretends she’s telling a story like this is another show of movie. Something you’ve picked up to think that an actress with a working brand needs someone young and new to keep herself relevant. I say this to help you of course. So many young girls have gotten egos that they let get to their heads and soon all that promise vanishes. So please make sure to humble yourself before you become the parasite.” She was sure she heard the cameraman cough wondering what the hell Robin was talking about. Somehow she kept a neutral tone and face while watching Alizeh to see if she would blow up or keep some level headedness. From what she had seen she knew that one was more likely than the other. To make it easier. “Shall we continue?”

[Bare]

Alizeh would be lying right now if she said she wasn't a little on edge right now. Thats just how she was when she talked about people she disliked, especially one Karen Meadows. However there was something about Robin too... Alizeh just couldn't quite place it, the woman's natural disposition had been brisk and somewhat unpleasant no matter how she tried to mask it, or at least thats how Alizeh had pieced it at first with that initial burst of unpleasantness, but Alizeh just couldn't shake a bad feeling. Speaking of lying though Alizeh would give an awkward shuffle at what she thought was an attempt at a compliment. "Uh thanks." Alizeh said as she sat back, waiting as Robin continued on. As she did however Alizeh's eyes would slowly widen further and further as Robin basically went out of her way to discredit everything Alizeh had said, even implying that she was directly blaming the charity that hosted the event. "Hang on I never said that they-" However Alizeh was cut off before she could defend herself, Robin pressing on ending off in what felt like a reprimand that left Alizeh's mouth open in shock. Needing a moment to process what Robin said Alizeh would hold a hand up to stop her form speaking again. "No nuh uh back up." Alizeh said as she pulled herself together and focused on Robin with a very much upset look on her face. "Do you have some kinda problem with me?" Alizeh asked the woman before leaning forward. "Cause it does not sound like you wanna help me. It almost sounds like you're deliberately trying to upset me, or even pick a fight with me so whats the deal?" Alizeh asked, definitely not sure what the woman was all about or what she was intent on doing, all Alizeh knew was that this so called interview was starting to feel more like a trap.

[Taskmaster12]

As expected the pretense of a fair interview could not hold up to Robins words for very long. Even if Robin was being sincere in her concerns the amount of insults she had thrown Alizeh’s way were too much to go unnoticed and unappreciated. The fact they had no sincerity whatsoever besides trusting respect and acknowledgment of Alizeh’s many talents in the ring meant that like anyone she would come to see through Robins act a little. Robin no longer cared, the only thing that mattered was keeping the fans convinced that she was only giving out harsh truths so that she could continue to do her job here and maintain a presence in LAW’s infrastructure. A safe cushy job that kept her out of the line of fire that was the wrestling ring while planning to rule it. “Alizeh I know my tone is not a comforting one but you must understand that I would be out of a job if I was dumb or evil enough to bring you here to offend you. If you listen to my conferences my usual candor between Jenna’s biases and Tammy’s overt peppiness keep a grounded approach to help the viewers see the truth. Many have accused me of having problems with them and while this is unfortunate it is still my job to pry on these matters. It unfortunately means that I must scrutinize those that are popular but I’ll have you know I’m no less critical of you than I am anyone else. To be a tad blunt you’re not so important that I would try to intentionally set you off. Why else would I not bring up your embarrassment at Karen Meadows hands until you mentioned her first if not to make sure I had your blessing to discuss her at all?” More words. Specks of honesty mixed with complete bullshit. Detectable to the recipient but hidden from any third party. Robin would go back to her notes like she didn’t say anything out of place. “We are getting off track. New question for you Alizeh. What are your plans if you win a title at Apex? I know you had a list of opponents you wanted to face. Would you be interested in making them one of your first time defenses? And since this is a possibility I must ask this as well, what are your plans should you fail to win anything at all?” Without saying it out loud she asked a question designed to bring out a reaction for clicks and cameras. How else would you react to someone asking you what are going to do next if you lose the biggest match of your life?

[Bare]

Alizeh sat back and waited, listening to what Robin would have to say. Knowing that it would decide the fate of the rest of this interview and, quite possibly Robin's face depending on how it affected Alizeh. As she spoke though it became clear and clear that it was what Alizeh expected. A steaming pile of bull. She was trying to sound calm yet harsh as she had throughout the interview and brought up her conferences as examples but Alizeh wasn't buying it, she had watched those conferences and while Robin was harsh it was only because Jenna and Tammy were so rambunctious and argumentative, nor was she anywhere near as antagonistic towards them as she was Alizeh. Then, after all that Robin had the sheer gall to carry on as if nothing happened at all, asking her another question designed to get a reaction from Alizeh. Well fine, if Robin wanted a reaction, she would give it to her. Standing up quickly out of her chair everyone around the two immediately held their breath wondering if a fight was about to break out given the look on Alizeh's face. But there wasn't going to be a fight, not physically at least, and not yet. Instead Alizeh locked her eyes with Robin's. "Apologies but right now there's only one person I can possibly imagine fighting right now, and its not Mindy, or anyone else I've been wanting to." As she said this Alizeh stepped closer to Robin and leaned down to the dark haired woman. "Its you." She said which definitely started some panic among the crew workers so before they could start calling security or before Robin could spin this to her side Alizeh would continue before anyone could get the wrong idea. "Not here obviously. I'm not like certain people that start fights anywhere just cause. Instead I want you in the ring where you can put those big words of yours up to the test. Unless you're scared to get humbled yourself." Alizeh said challengingly towards Robin with a glare.

[Taskmaster12]

Alizeh’s boots hit the ground loud enough to get everyone’s attention when they expected a fight. Her preparations with security kept her calm in the face of a face that was barely holding back the boiling anger under her skin. Security ended up not being necessary, instead of starting a fight here and now Alizeh had everyone shocked when she challenged Robin to a match. Robin had to contain herself. She was being called out by the person she was supposed to interview in public. Robin knew she didn’t have a choice but to accept now. “Unacceptable.” Now she was angry and she would stand up and get as close as possible to Alizeh. She had destroyed reputations and ruined lives back home. No one who knew what she could do would dare get in her face and demand a fight like this. It didn’t matter how much it would blow her cover, the insult of having someone try that here would not stand. “You think because this the wrestling world that you can get in my face and call me out like that? Me!? Foolish actions have dire consequences. Maybe my time out of the ring has deceived you. Allowed you to gain the foolish faith in your own abilities that you would ever think this display was acceptable. Never again will this happen after I’m done with you. I accept on the condition that I get to pick the match. If you don’t like that you can sit back down.”

[Bare]

Needless to say Robin wouldn't take Alizeh's challenge sitting down, or well for that matter. Almost immediately after the woman would stand up, staring into Alizeh's eyes and refusing to back down as she made it clear how unappreciative she was of Alizeh's tone and desire to fight her. While of course trying to make her out to be the bad guy for doing so. But if that's how things turned out than so be it, Alizeh wouldn't mind it all so long as she got her hands on this damned woman, and it turned out she'd get her, but only if Alizeh let Robin make the terms for the match. A last ditch attempt at trying to intimidate her she supposed, but Robin already stood almost more than half a foot taller than Alizeh as is and Alizeh hadn't backed down yet, so Robin choosing the match type wouldn't dissuade her. "Name the match." Alizeh said simply and bluntly as she leaned up, almost to the point their faces were touching, if not for said height difference. "I'll beat you in any match type under the sun." She said, waiting for Robin to name the contest they'd go at it in.

[Taskmaster12]

“Any match?” Robin remained intrigue with a curl of her lips to show she liked the idea of naming her match. She knew what she wanted to do and how she could use it to her advantage. She looked down at Alizeh before giving her an answer. “Thinking you can talk to me like that deserves a punishment that you can’t wash away. So no matter what the results will be a Prisoner of War contest and the match that you will have your fate sealed in is a São Paulo themed Falls Count Anywhere match. The values of my culture and city will be your demise Alizeh Midori.” Robin knew that a match with few rules was a match with few boundaries and one that she could succeed in even if Alizeh proved to be the better wrestler.

[Bare]

Alizeh was fearless and confident, always had and always will be, as a result she wasn't one to back down to anyone even when they would have the advantage. This was the case she found herself in now after challenging Robin with the only way the woman would accept being if she could set the terms. But that was just fine with the green haired girl, especially after she made the challenge Alizeh wouldn't back down, even if the match was to be a prisoner of war street fight match. "All of that is fine by me. I'll be able to beat your ass with your own schtick and then I can take you home to beat some respect into you." Alizeh said seathingly with a glare on her face, leaning up as much as she could to be in Robin's face as much as possible. "Hope you're ready to get humbled, Robin Mendez." Alizeh said coldly while staring into the woman's eyes.