Libby "Liberty" Vella (C) vs. River Styx - Walk Tall

...okay, something was wrong, here.

The fight had started out very promising. Liberty was the champ, after all, she didn't beat Brittany's crass ass by being a weakling. She was feisty, tough, wild and raw, the sort of girl this world just didn't have enough of, in Styx's humble opinion. This should have been one hell of a fight, good and bloody, the sort of thing the AFW was sorely lacking and she herself hadn't had in far too long.

But this wasn't doing it for her. Liberty was like a rag doll now, her struggles easily rode down, helpless in her grasp. As confident as Styx was in her own abilities, even she could admit she wasn't that good. The ring should have been running red before this fight was over, but now it seemed destined to go out with whimper. Unacceptable. Completely unacceptable.

Styx grunted with genuine frustration and started to stand up, pulling Liberty with her. She loosened up on the choke enough to let Liberty get in some fresh gulps, but kept her in place. "Hey, serious question, what's wrong with you?"

Liberty was struggling as best she could but, to her dismay, she couldnâ€t make much headway. It felt like Styxâ€s grip was ridiculously strong. She cursed her sluggish senses for letting herself get caught like this. If she hadnâ€t been out on her back then she wouldnâ€t have got dragged into such a gruelling content.

Her vision was starting to get spotty and she wondered whether she could muster a decent clawing attack at Styxâ€s face. It was desperate, but that was all she really had in her toolbox right now. Before she could try that, though, she felt the grip on her throat weaken, mercifully letting some air into her aching lungs.

“Ghhhnghh…” she spluttered, the red-faced girl trying to get her bearings. Her brain ached, and it sounded like Styx had insulted her.

“The fuck you mean, whatâ€s wrong with me!?” she gasped, still mouthy despite being brought low. Libertyâ€s hands went up to Styxâ€s arms, trying to make that loosening more permanent, although still struggling to make much headway. She wanted to show Styx that nothing was wrong with her, but that was proving embarrassingly difficult.

Even with the fresh air she'd taken in, Styx had no problem riding down Liberty's feeble struggles. It was easy. Embarrassingly easy. The crowd, which had been getting into the match for a while, was starting to lose interest. Even though she didn't really give a single shit, she couldn't blame them - this was hardly much of a fight, anymore. It was looking to be the world's most uneventful title change.

Yeah. Fuck that.

Styx let Liberty go and gave her a hard shove, pushing her into the corner. She didn't move to follow up, though. Didn't come after her with anything. She just stood there, hands on hips, her head canted to the side while she gave the hardcore champ a good look over. "I meant what I said and I said what I meant. What the hell is wrong with you? You're the champ, you're seriously going to make it that easy for me to come in here and take your title?" She threw her hands up. "I thought we were gonna show these people how real fighters get down. What happened to that?"

Liberty grunted as she was pushed towards the corner. She rubbed her head and slumped against the ring post, looking up at Styx as she berated her.

Wincing, because it pained her to admit this, she tried to explain. “Look, my head really fucking hurts,” she began. “So Iâ€m not at my sharpest. I went through a lot of shit at the PPV and the doctors told me not to fight. But fuck that, right? You came down here with your speech, and I kind of agreed with you, so I wasnâ€t going to back down.”

“Iâ€ll be honest, I might not really have thought this through… I mean, Iâ€m not an invalid or anything, give me the right weapon and I would happily fuck you up but… yeah. Itâ€s not great.” Liberty frowned. She hated admitting to a weakness, but Styx was being surprisingly honest so she was owed a little truth in return.

River looked on at Liberty with a blank stare as she explained, occasionally blowing what few strands of hair she had away from her face. It figured, really. She should have known this was too good to be true. She had to admire Liberty's balls for coming out here and accepting the fight despite her injuries, but she wasn't going to win a fight on sheer testicular fortitude.

The audience was starting to boo, but she waved them off and threw the Up Yours gesture their way...which just made them boo even louder, but whatever. They probably would have been happy with a beating, and she would, too, really, but not like this. Winning the title didn't mean anything if the fight itself wasn't good. She came to the AFW for some challenge, to get a thrill - if just downright mugging people was all it took to get her motor motivated, she would have stayed on the streets.

So, the match was a wash, but she still had an opportunity. It was rare for Styx to meet someone who was on the same page - hell, even the same book - as her. She couldn't let that go to waste.

"Huh." Styx finally spoke after a long pause, folding her arms as she contemplated the situation. She centered her back on her 'opponent', a calm expression on her face, like they could have just been two people meeting at the water cooler. "I'm gonna go get a beer. Want to come with?"

This was unexpected. Liberty would have thought that her mean-looking opponent would have pounced on weakness like a feral dog. Instead, she was holding back. Almost merciful.

Still, the black-haired girl wasnâ€t one to judge based on appearance, so would take Styx at her word. Grimacing, she grabbed onto the ring ropes and hauled herself into a standing position.

“Well, I do really need a drink after that,” she replied, rubbing her head. “What about your title challenge?”

Styx stared at Liberty for a moment, rubbing her chin, contemplating. After the moment passed, she dropped down to her knees and tapped the canvas - sure enough, the bell rang.

"Look at that, you win." She popped back up and shrugged, as the crowd went into a booing frenzy and started tossing their overpriced concessions into the ring. "I just want to have fun. Beating you around when you're not at your prime isn't fun. It's that simple." She rocked her head back, dodging a Coke can by a few inches. "Maybe we can try again when you're not busted to shit. For now, though? Drinks."

She started to make her way out of the ring. "You can't give me a good fight, might as well give me a good conversation. Haven't had one of those in a long time, either."

Liberty laughed as she watched Styx “submit”, an amusing mockery of the ring rules. “Itâ€s alright, I donâ€t think Iâ€ll be adding this one to the career stats,” she smiled.

Liberty went to fetch her belt, grabbing it with her right hand while casually flipping the bird to the booing fans with her left. She was about to leave the ring, when a thought struck her. She turned to grab the mic and suddenly turned on the audience with unexpected venom.

“Fuck you, you empty-headed shits! You just saw a genuine fucking noble act there, a fucking sacrifice in the name of actual real fighting, and you boo it like a bunch of retards!? Go back to your pretend wrestling and your half-baked pornographic grappling make-out sessions, bitches!”

After that vicious outburst, Liberty instantly switched back to a pleasant demeanour as she turned to Styx. “Ok good, lets go,” she beamed. “ Iâ€m gonna want something stronger than beer, though,” she grinned as she exited the ring.

Styx punctuated Liberty's outburst with a pair of middle fingers, held high and proud as she backed up. The ungrateful bastards didn't know a good thing when they saw it - they wanted the sellouts, the makeouts, the itty-bitty-tittied girls canoodling in the middle of the ring. Styx and Liberty just wanted the fight, the whole fight, and nothing but the fight. So Japan could just suck a chode.

She smirked and started walk straight up the ramp as Liberty caught up, only taking a moment to bat away some incoming popcorn. "Harder than beer, huh?" She folded her arms and passed through the curtain. "Thought about ripping off a concession stand, but most of that piss is watered down."

She thought for a moment and weighed her options, looking around to make sure no one was in earshot. "I might, hypothetically, possibly, potentially have a stash with some vodka around. Bicardi. Everclear, if you think you can handle it. Maybe." She tapped her chin. "Sort of in a secret spot, but I'll show you."

Styx started to head away from the main preparation area, going towards the storage.

“Aww, we can still rip off a concession stand, that sounds fun. I think the AFW beer is basically a soft drink, but we can sip some later. For now, though, I could use some vodka. Medicinal purposes and all that.” Liberty smiled. “I think I might have some in my locker, I used to deal with some Russians who liked to throw that stuff around,” she added.

Rubbing her head, she followed Styx backstage, the two hardcore fighters utterly indifferent to the incensed and insulted crowd they had left behind them.