[center][h2]THE FOLLOWING WEEK…[/h2][/center]

The excitement in the thriving young NMW fandom was reaching a feverish peak in the mid-August heat, as the first round of the Rubicon Gauntlet was completed, leaving six competitors standing for both the men's and women's titles. Isabella Cadiz rounded out the fighters heading into the women's second round with a victory over Keysha Wayne to end the show. Fiona had to admit she was seriously impressed by Keysha's performance, a fearless and gutsy display that pushed the former NMW champ hard, but experience and strength won out in the end, and Isabella was able to get the win by pinfall to punch her ticket to the extreme rules round.

Every day of the week was packed with activity and promotional work for the upcoming fights. Every afternoon Fiona was called into the studio for something, whether it was a new photoshoot, a meeting with social media managers, filming a promo, picking out and testing gear... it was exhausting. For the fourth time in her four matches, Fiona was going in as the underdog, and her two-and-one record in those matches didn't seem as impressive with the way Kendra and Choi Minji had helped her upset Shin Choon-hee.

Her promos were all about how she wasn't afraid of the challenge, how she was eager silence the doubters, to prove that she belonged even on the toughest stage, and how she was ready to get extreme and show the NMW fans a side of her they'd never seen before.

She might've considered going for an easier week of training to make sure she didn't burn out, but this wasn't the week for that. As long as the title was up for grabs, Fiona planned to push herself to her limits. She could rest when she was on the other side of this. That, and she knew she needed all the preparation she could get to have a chance against Tanya.

She wasn't lying in her promo about embracing the challenges, it was part of why she wanted to wrestle... but she couldn't deny Tanya Redd intimidated her. Fiona's previous two attempts to beat her ended in failure, though the second match snowballed from a tag team communication error, and for better or worse, Fiona would be facing her old NMWW rival completely alone.

She went to watch back her singles match against Tanya. It was her first match back from time off due to her ankle injury, and she went with a similar strategy to what she'd just tried against Shin Choon-hee, targeting the shoulder and arm and trying to work towards a submission. She did a decent amount of damage to the arm, but couldn't withstand the swings in momentum; Tanya's offense targeted Fiona's body with knees, slams, and elbow drops, leaving her vulnerable to an abdominal stretch submission that proved to be too much, and forced a tapout. Fiona expected a similar approach on Friday, a straightforward battering and trading of blows that she wouldn't be able to match. Tanya wasn't subtle, and unless Fiona adapted, she wouldn't need to be.

Her best opportunity was in the extreme rules, and she knew it. For better or worse, the weapons on offer would give Fiona the firepower she would need to break through Tanya's toughness, and that was how Fiona and Kendra trained all week. They didn't beat each other with kendo sticks and metal chairs, using softer approximations instead, but Fiona knew she needed to practice striking with them, and defending herself from the same, as well as maneuvering outside the ring. Not a lot of it came naturally to Fiona, with Kendra repeatedly striking through her defense, usually with the kendo stick. The chairs needed long windups to do real damage, usually enough for Fiona to roll away or intercept them.

And then there were tables, and that was just what they knew about. There was always the potential for surprises. Fiona's confidence was shaky as the week went on, despite Kendra's frequent encouragement. The extreme ruleset was just as likely to demolish her as it was to help, she knew. Still, she made sure to keep the negative thoughts from overwhelming her, and she was extremely thankful for her tag partner's help. Tanya was strong and tough, but sloppy, and far enough in her career that she wasn't likely to change. Fiona was tougher and had more experience under her belt since their last match, evolving with every fight, and she was confident she would have the fans at her back, willing her on.

Fiona knew she'd need every bit of that support to weather the storm that was coming on Friday.