>>21293896(Maaike reply)
>[LILLITH leans forward, ready to answer in some form, when Omega raises a hand and steps between the Chef and the Rookie.]"Let me jump in first, Red. Firstly, kid -- Maaike, anyone who labels ANYONE else as a 'meanie' is a FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT who doesn't deserve the time it takes you say that goddess-above-awful fucking word. It's cliched, but this isn't ballet. Sometimes you have to do things like leave a company, join a new one, or tell someone directly to FUCK RIGHT OFF if you want to make it in this little game we all choose to play."
"And, uh, I didn't know you faced Duna. Sandy ran away scared for such a long time I just assumed the last person she fought was... shit, Gun Girl? I'd put them on the same level in my head. Both wastes of space and too scared to face me."
>[Omega ponders Maaike's summary.]"Your actual record means very little. You know, I tried to give this advice to another one of you half animal girls... or she might have been an alien and not a monkey? I don't actually know. But like I said to her, losing a wrestling match doesn't make you a loser. Every person here has or will lose, one day. Goddess above, I have. Everyone will, even the ones that are apparently made to win. But as long as you don't get a single loss define you, or a pair of losses, or a group or a run or an entire career of them, you'll always be in for a chance at *something*."
"Kid. Maaike. I have no idea how this match is gonna go. But if you ask me, it's the most exciting one of all of them. I know I'm not a Dojo trainer, and I can't imagine Romero or Maria would want me here anyway, but we all gotta start somewhere. This place has produced, what, one graduate? In almost two years? Well, I can see that you have what it takes to be the second."
"And... even if you duck out in round one... tch. I'll be around."
>[Omega steps back and looks at LILLITH.] 