Post by Izzy Roxx on Oct 14, 2017 15:02:43 GMT -5
C2Con, San Diego, California
Thursday, October 12, 2017
'Hey, Iz! Check this out!'
Isabelle Collingwood – alias Izzy Roxx – put the final flourish on the skull she had been drawing above the 'I' in her name, and handed the convention program back to the miniature version of herself waiting expectantly in front of her.
'Keep rocking, Big Steph,' she said, slapping five with the pre-teen. Only then did she turn her attention to her best friend, who had been flapping his arms for several seconds.
'What's up, Sethster?'
'Check it out,' Seth Walton said, handing his friend a phone. Izzy squinted at it, then – as she realized why her friend had been so excited – let out a gasp of disbelief.
'No way. NO. WAY!'
'Yes way,' Teagan Quinn said, grinning broadly as she stepped forward.
'A...a title shot?!' Izzy was still having difficulty speaking clearly. 'I have a title shot?!'
'You sure do,' Teagan said, still smiling.
'But...why?!' Izzy looked up at her friends, her expression bewildered, but found no clearer answers than she herself had.
'I dunno,' Seth shrugged. 'Don't ask me. Ask the Genesis guys.'
'Guess they thought you were good enough,' Teagan added.
'Are you serious?!' Izzy's expression became even more agitated. 'I'm not ready for a title shot! I can't even beat a guy without fumbling!'
'Oh yeah?' Seth held out his arm, pointing straight ahead over Izzy's head. 'Then why are they all here?'
Izzy followed her friend's finger and saw the still considerable line of people waiting to meet her. Most of them were her age or younger. Some wore 'I'm an Izzynaut' shirts she herself had sold to them earlier that day. Others clutched copies of Lipstick Taser's first demo, Izzy's proudest achievement in her almost eighteen years. But most of all, they were all here to see her. Izzy Roxx. The five-foot-nothing high-schooler who couldn't even hit her move. The rookie who barely hung on against people much stronger, much older, and much more experienced than her. The person they all looked up to. The person who had inspired them – the underweight high-school juniors in glasses, the little girls in Pierce the Veil t-shirts, the pimply overweight twenty-somethings – to be the best version of themselves they could be. The person who had brought them all together, here, at this moment. The person they would hate forever if she let them down.
She wasn't ready.
But she had to be.
'What'cha waiting for, Sethster?'
Izzy turned back to her pudgy best friend, a smile dawning where a moment ago there had been an expression of uncertainty. Caught by surprise by his friend's sudden change in demeanour, Seth could do nothing but gawp as Izzy shoved his phone back into his hand.
'Uh...' He scanned Izzy's face, looking for some sort of clue about what she meant.
'We''re making a video, doofenshmirtz!' Izzy grinned. 'For Lorson and for Ruby Lance.'
Seth felt a smile break through his own features as the girl next door turned towards the crowd behind her.
'And not just us, either,' she said, raising her tone. 'The WHOLE IZZYERSE is gonna be in it!'
She raised her fist as the crowd broke into a cheer. Seth felt incredibly proud of his lifelong best friend at that moment and – as he cast a sideways glance at Teagan – he could tell the third wheel in their group felt the exact same way.
'All right,' he said, reaching over to the table across from him to pick up his trusty camcorder. 'You guys ready?'
The crowd cheered in deafening affirmation as Seth took a step forward and raised the camera up to eye level.
'Okay,' he said, as he motioned for Izzy to get into position, 'let's do this.'
(Check the on-camera section for Izzy's promo!)