Akashi Tanikaze vs. Valley Doll - Pride and Prejudice

Now that the action had slowed and Valley had time to think, she recalled that this wasn't the worst beating she had taken in her career, or even since she joined the AFW. No, that honor went to Amethyst Velour and the unadulterated beatdown in the AFW gym that put her in the hospital for a while. This wasn't quite so bad as that - Valley was hurt, and she would be staying out of the ring for two or three weeks, but it was nothing some leisure time wouldn't cure.

It was worse in other ways, though. Amethyst had turned off the lights and ambushed her when there wasn't anyone around to watch. This was a fair fight. She'd been fairly battered into oblivion. And since this was Akashi's return match, it was a safe bet that anyone who watched AFW at all had seen it happen. Even Ace. Especially Ace.

She had plenty of time to ponder all these lovely thoughts, too. She'd been too busy trying to survive to notice, but apparently Taylor Parker had been lurking nearby. The mouthy New Yorker popped in and turned up the fanfare, revving the crowd to a fever pitch. It was a great moment, Valley had to admit. The return of Japan's celebrated champion. If she were in the audience, she would have been swept away with it.

But she wasn't. Instead, she was that person. The one who's getting dunked on in someone else's highlight reel. The jobber. And as much as she wanted to throw some heat back at Taylor for the cracks and defend her honor, she wasn't in the mood. More than anything, she wanted to be any place that wasn't here.

She gave them a listless glance as they finished up, then started to roll out of the ring and make her way up the entrance, doing the walk of shame with an aching back to make it even slower.

Akashi didn't see Taylor sneak in but she certainly heard the girl's voice. She grinned as Taylor seemed to cheer her on and get the crowd roaring to new heights. It was such a nice gesture. However, by the time Taylor finished, Akashi was off the turnbuckle and had her arms crossed under her chest. She had one elbow raised and the faintest smile on her face as Taylor continued.

Akashi was behind Taylor and when she was shouting Japan to the world, the big sumo reeled her hand back and then swatted Taylor's ass with all her might, cracking it hard and grinning.

"You wish you could have beaten her as fast as I did, Imouto-chan."

"Eep!" Taylor jumped and covered her butt with one hand, and then turned to Akashi. "Don't interrupt, hon," she said, half into the microphone.

Then she was right back into character. "Now, don't go anywhere! Because we've already got Akashi's next challenger ready to go! She's here to take away Japan's honor like it's lunch money, tear it up, and stomp on it. She's Akashi's most feared rival of ALL TIME! Everybody watch out... for SARAH GATT!"

Taylor dramatically swept an arm towards the entrance ramp and pointed her microphone up at the stage while the crowd buzzed with speculation. Several long seconds ticked by, and there was no sign of anyone showing up. Finally, Taylor broke into a grin and brought the mic back to her face.

"Nah, just kidding. But as long as we're taking really easy fights and acting like it means anything, maybe you'd like to take on..." She spun once, went down on one knee and dynamically pointed off toward the commentator's table. "THIS POTTED PLANT!"

Akashi grinned when she smacked Taylor's ass. She didn't mind the ribbing but it seemed like Taylor wasn't done. Or had something else in mind...

As she listened to Taylor's words, Akashi actually started to believe that Taylor had found another opponent. However, she couldn't actually believe that she had gotten Sarah to come back, even though she looked on like everyone else.

However, when Taylor revealed her prank, Akashi's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Her teeth clenched and she smiled thinly at Taylor. She walked behind Taylor and gripped her shoulders, leaning in and massaging them as hard as she could.

"My imouto is ever the beacon of American civility, isn't she?" Akashi said do the microphone could pick it up. "Not all of us get to face big competition like you, Taylor-san. Some of us have to start small before we can work our way up to fight people like the kawaii champion."

"Is that who you're gunning for?" Taylor grinned. "At least you're setting realistic- ow." She flinched when Akashi's thumbs dug painfully into the nerves in her shoulders. "It's good to set realistic- OW!"

She ducked and squirmed away from Akashi and spun to face her. "Don't bully me, bully!" She exclaimed, and lowered her head so that the top was facing Akashi. She jumped in and butted Akashi several times like a sheep. "Pick on someone your own size! Like a moose!"

She leaped back out of reach, stuck out her tongue, and turned her hips and smacked her butt at Akashi. "Good luck with Wells, or whoever, because you'd never have a chance against a real bad ass American chick! I should know, since I'm the only one!"

Akashi raised her eyebrows as Taylor began talking. And Headbutting. Akashi batted at her with each thumb but stood her ground. She crossed her arms after a moment and then tilted her head.

"Wells-san is free to challenge me if she wants.i heard she's one of the toughest in the league." Akashi said, rolling her eyes. "It was an open challenge, I'm not responsible for who comes down to face me. Besides, I did say FIFTY girls. There's bound to be some duds among the group. We can't all be awesome like you, Taylor-san." She said as she unfolded her arms and leaped at Taylor to put her in a tight bearhug.

"I'm not fighting you so we'll just have to see who else isn't scared to fight me, right?"

Akashi let go. "I'll take on anyone else so if you want to go find a challenge amongst your countrywoman, go head." Akashi said with a bright grin.

Taylor's smile faded slightly, but she recovered well.

Instinctively, she lifted her hands and braced her palms against Akashi's face when she came in for the bearhug, shoving her face back so that she couldn't completely crush Taylor's guts out. She bent one leg at the knee and daintily pointed her foot, as if she were a girlie-girl embracing her special guy-friend.

"You'd have better luck with 'whoever's stupid enough to try'. But not me, no. You're not stupid enough to try." She gave Akashi a sassy wink and planted her hand on her hip. "Well, I know that no one from my country is a challenge for me. But it's the same with Japan, and Canada, and the UK..." She grinned. "It's lonely at the top, Kashi. Let's get out of here and get into some trouble."

She dropped her microphone to her side and started to head out of the ring, but paused as she passed Akashi. "Hey, for real," she said quietly, unsmiling, so only she could hear. "Angel Splitter, and then you just drop her on her head? Talkin' some trash is one thing, but show some respect, eh? Win or lose, if they're in this ring they're putting it on the line. No need to kick 'em when they're down."

She didn't wait for a response. She vaulted over the top rope, and her feet skipped once off the floor before she landed in a neat forward roll. On her way up the ramp she took some time to slap hands with fans and flash her irresistible smile.

Once again, Akashi let Taylor go off. Yes, she was singling out the united States but not because she didn't think she could cut it against anyone else or whatever nonsense Taylor was saying. She already thought she could beat anybody. She didn't have to keep saying it. But it was pointless to argue with Taylor and even if she could succeed, she didn't WANT to. As taylor left, Akashi bowed politely to the crowd until she heardTaylor's parting shots.

Akashi shook her head. She didn't do anything unnecessary. She didn't go past the bell or inflict punishment on Valley. She ended the match as soon as she was able to. Maybe she put the Doll on display but it wasn't in an extracurricular way. The girl was a professional, or so she claimed. Akashi'd been dumped like that plenty of times. Taylor too. It wasn't something she was going to dwell on.

Winner via Submission - Akashi Tanikaze