New Recruits

Chapter 22

Entering the backstage area at Full Sail, Sonya felt excited for the night ahead. She and Mandy had talked about little else all day, so hyped had they been about what might be in store for the Golden Gloves on the three episodes to be taped that night.

"I've got a feeling this is going to be a good night, Son," Mandy said.

It hadn't taken long in their relationship for Sonya to learn to trust Mandy's intuition. If she had a good feeling, or indeed a bad one, about something, it usually turned out to be accurate.

"What do you think is going to be good about tonight?" Sonya asked. "Obviously we know we're performing because we were told we're going to beat down Daga. But you're thinking of something more than that."

Mandy nodded. "I am. But I don't know what that something is."

"Now I'm intrigued," Sonya said.

Moments later, they reached the locker room. Sonya pushed the door open and was halfway inside when she froze in her tracks. She stopped so quickly that Mandy walked into the back of her.

"Oh my God," Sonya said, trying to keep her reaction in check as best she could. There was no mistaking the person standing with her back to the door. A white baseball cap with two dark brown pig tails poking out from under it could only belong to one person.

Hearing the door open and Sonya's expression of surprise, Clementine turned around. In the act of doing so, she revealed that Trish Stratus, her tag team partner and the other half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, was also in the room. Two of the main roster's most popular superstars were standing in the locker room at Full Sail as if they had never left.

"Hi, we haven't met," Clementine said with a warm smile, stepping forward and offering a handshake to Sonya. "Clementine."

Sonya realised that she was standing with her mouth open, looking like she was catching flies. She managed to accept the handshake and pull herself together a bit. "Sonya. This is Mandy." She gestured to her girlfriend and looked at her, seeing a dumbstruck expression on her face.

Clementine offered her hand to Mandy. "Call me Clem."

"This is... Great to meet you," Mandy said, stumbling over her words.

Trish came over next, and further humbled them by her choice of words as they shook hands. "I've been looking forward to meeting you guys. I've heard great things."

"That means the world to me... us," Sonya clarified.

"Pick your chins up off the floor and get that door shut," Sasha Banks said from the back of the room.

Glancing behind her, Sonya saw that she had left her travel case standing in the doorway, and it was propping the door open. She quickly moved it, and the door closed itself.

"Why are you guys here?" Mandy asked, at last able to speak legibly.

"Before we won these," Trish said, patting her recently-won championship belt that she had been showing to Bayley and Becky before Golden Gloves' arrival, "Ms Thorne told Clem and I that beginning with our reign, the women's tag titles will be defended on all brands, including NXT."

"We're making an appearance on the show tonight to make that announcement," Clementine said. "It's been kept quiet, so it'll be a total surprise for the fans when we go out there. I have goosebumps thinking about it."

"Girl, that's nothing like the goosebumps we'll have, or those fans will have to see you back on NXT," Bayley said excitedly.

"Yeah, this is a genius idea from Thorne," Becky added.