Fiona took Gwen's hand to help herself up, meeting her awkward smile with a grimace, a mix of embarrassment and frustration, but certainly no hard feelings. Fiona liked her as a sparring partner, as a more self-centered competitor might've tried to use her chance to fight a rising star like Fiona as a springboard for their own career. Gwen was definitely making herself look good by repeatedly introducing Fiona to the cage surrounding them, but she seemed genuinely interested in doing the job of helping her prepare.

Fiona ducked between the ropes back into the ring, huffing for breath and tucking some long strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail back behind her ear. She wore all-black training gear, a stark contrast to the white and light blue gear she had lined up for her big match on Friday. She couldn't deny she was beginning to dread it. Fiona had been slow all morning, still struggling to shake off the effects of last week's brutal extreme rules match despite the light Monday. She had to hope her competition was feeling similarly battered, as Fiona was finding it hard to imagine she'd be at her best by Friday night.

Especially if she kept getting worked over trying to get used to this cage. She followed Gwen out and accepted a water from Kendra, wanting to cool down a little before getting some food, as well as just get a few minutes away from the trainers and anyone other than her best friend.

"This is going about as well as I expected so far," she said, sitting down on a steel folding chair, exactly the kind she'd taken across the back just a few days ago. "The other two have to be hurting just as much, right? I mean, Raven had to go through [i]Isabella[/i] to get here."

Saying it out loud had the opposite effect she'd been hoping for. Raven Veyn was the clear favorite for the title now that Isabella was out of the picture, and if Isabella couldn't take her, what chance did Fiona have? Especially considering Elina Zamora would be there too, just a few weeks removed from her convincing debut win over none other than Fiona.