This Means War!

ACUYA

As Tension came back from the commercial break, a fairly familiar tune, at least to those who'd be keeping up with Tension for the past few - Armando 'Army' Rodriguez was making his way down to the ring.

He came out from the back, not exactly dressed in his usual wrestling gear - not that he even really wore any, since typically he just came down in his boxing attire. Today he wasn't even dressed in that, just wearing some long blue jeans, his dark brown Timberlands, and a Taylor Parker is Overrated t-shirt. Looking like he could be gearing up for a regular walk down the street, nothing special. Except, for the rather large medical tape around his skull.

Army got that little accessory from his fun trip to the emergency room, courtesy of a special new friend he met at the bar a couple of nights back. For a while he thought she'd given him a concussion, but the doctor said he'd lucked up. It wasn't that serious, but it was close enough that he'd have a raging headache for a few weeks. Really, the last thing he needed for his migraine was to be in the middle of an arena full of screaming Japanese people, but he had some things that needed taking care of, and this was really the best way to do it.

Army took a microphone from the ringside and made his way into the ring as they started to quiet down. "Hey, what's up, good seeing you. Look, I'm going to get to my point in minute, but before I do, you guys got to help me with something. You could probably guess, but I'm a little far away from home right now. Feeling homesick, just a bit." He gave his chest a hard thump, loud enough to be heard through the microphone. "So I need you to help me out. I'll say something, you say it back. Simple. Ready?"

Army held the microphone up and gave it hard yell. "Órale!"

"Órale!" The crowd came back, sounding a little weird with all the Japanese accents.

"Not good enough, not good enough. Again, put a little fire into it, light it up, come on! Órale!"

He held the microphone out to the audience this time, and got back a solid return. "Órale!!"

"Much better, much better. Always wanted to do that, thanks, got it out of my system. Bet there's like, two of you who know what that means." He made his way to the ropes facing the ramp and leaned over the top, lazily rolling the microphone around with his hand. "All right, let's get to business. I got a story I want to share with you guys, about a little - and I mean little - girl I met at a bar a few nights back. Cheap-shooting bitch who got the drop on me, caught me off-guard. Thought I'd never see her again, but guess? She works here! She's a new Tension chick!"

He shrugged and looked out to the audience, who seemed a bit confused on how to make of all this. Once his new, special friend came out - if she did, anyway - it would make more sense and he'd be able to explain everything.

"Crazy, right? What are the odds? I'm not super religious, but that? I call that fate. I believe the universe is telling me I need to kick this girl back to whatever trashy, piss-stained Irish tavern she scooted her cute butt out of. So." He pointed to the backstage. "Come on out and face the music, puta. Let's get it all out in the open, you and me, man-to-hobbit."

THUNDERINSILENCE

With Army's declaration made, the crowd waited in a hushed murmur, the seconds ticking by as all eyes were turned upon the entrance stage. As the time lengthened it was uncertain whether this mysterious woman Army was talking about would emerge...and then the music began to play, and for the first time Jackie Saint-Michael stepped out before the Tension audience, her expression a grave and serious mask, one hand set against her hip while the other clutched a microphone. She wore her ring attire, a sports top and shorts of red and off-white, her dark brown hair tied back, looking every inch the professional, no-nonsense wrestler as she raised the mic to her lips.

"Firstly, to all of you here tonight or watching from home, It's a real privilege to be here, competing with some of the best athletes in the world," she began, scanning her eyes across the crowd to take in the whole room, "It's a real honour to be part of something so professional as the AFW. But sadly, no matter how excellent your standards are, a few pieces of trash slip through the cracks and try to bring everyone down to their level. People like that guy standing over there," she raised her hand to gesture to the ring, and the man who stood in the middle of it.

"See, I'm still pretty new here, getting used to the place, and I don't have many friends yet," Jackie continued, pacing a little as she recounted her tale, "So I happened to find myself alone in the bar the other night. Now, when a friendly stranger approached and tried to strike up a conversation I figured 'where's the harm?', after all we were two foreigners a long way from home. It was easy to connect with that, to sympathise...which is what he wanted."

Jackie stopped her pacing, shooting a glare right at Army, full of disgust and anger as she went on, "That man, Armando Rodriquez, wasn't satisfied with just talking. He saw a lone woman in a bar and he made up his mind what that meant for him. When he started to get grabby I told him I wasn't there to pick up a cheap throw-around, but that wasn't enough for him, oh no. I could see where he was going to go, he was drunk, and he was getting pissed at getting turned down, so when he went for me, I beat him to the punch. I'm not afraid to say that, I mean jesus, just look at him!" Jackie exclaimed, waving a hand to the huge monitor behind her that displayed the far larger build of Army in the ring, "I've fought enough big men and women to know that if he'd grabbed me, it would have been all over. So I beat him down hard, to try and hammer home a little respect through that pig's skull, but here we are now, with him having the brazen balls to act like he's the victim here! So what now Army, you've gotten me out here to talk, so lets hear what you've got to say," Jackie lowered the mic as she finished, keeping the smirk off her lips as she waited to see how her earlier victim would respond.

ACUYA

Army opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He wasn't speechless, he just didn't want to talk over the sound of boos.

He had a feeling she might try some shit like that, but for some reason he assumed the audience might be willing to hear both sides of the story. Like normal people.. Nope. Not happening. It was the same double-standard bullshit that had been dogging him since he came to the AFW. They didn't care what he had to say, they'd already made their mind up, because there was no possible way a big, 200 pound boxer could get ever his ass kicked by a girl half his size.

...though, now that he thought about it, it did kind of look bad. But, no problem, he could reign this in. Jokes? Jokes could help.

"Okay, first off - Skillet? Really?" He backed away from the ropes as the crowed started to quiet up a bit. "You could have at least gone for something that really fit you. LIke Freakshow, or Circus for a Psycho. Or, hell, Comatose. For when I'm done with you."

And now the boos were back in full force, almost deafening. Not quite as bad as vuvuzelas, but close. "Oh, come on, you are not seriously buying this pollyanna bullshit!" The continued sound of boos told him that they were, in fact, buying this pollyanna bullshit. Bunch of marks.

THUDERINSILENCE

It was an effort of will for Jackie to keep a straight face as the booing swelled. She'd expected to sway the crowd easily enough, the story of a vulnerable lone girl being preyed upon by a strong and brutal man was an easy one to win over the white-knights in the crowd, while the women could rally behind the idea that she'd put him on his arse for trying to get physical when she'd said no. People always underestimated her frame, and the average person would default to feeling protective of her, a fact she'd long become used to exploiting, even though she despised such treatment.

What she hadn't expected was for the thick-skulled idiot to help her out with some frankly weak comebacks about her choice of intro music, only further digging a hole as the crowd viciously jeered at him. She lifted the mic to her mouth once more.

"Seriously? You call me out here, waste everyone's time with your bitching that you got a very well-deserved beating from a girl that must be half your size, and you go with the intro song?" she shook her head, playing up at being frustrated and angry at the pettiness of it all, "I came to the AFW because I heard that it was a place where the best in the world could really make a name for themselves, so how the hell did they let someone like you in? Did you save enough cereal box lids? Win a raffle? Because it sure wasn't your charming personality and professional conduct."

ACUYA

So, that was wasn't going to work. No jokes. The crowd still hated him, and he wasn't really surprised. It was the same crap he'd been dealing with since minute one in this company - he was big, so he had to be the bad guy. If he went all out against a girl that wasn't named Ro Laren, he must've been fighting dirty or something, so they had to boo, even when he did the thing they were paying him to do - fight girls. It was the same old double-standard bullshit. These were the same people that'd watch Clyde getting raped in the middle of the ring and Youtube the hell out of it, then turn around and make him heel for even looking at a girl the wrong way. Hypocrites.

So, fuck them. Getting their approval would've been nice, but he didn't need it to kick Jack's ass, which was all he came out here to do.

"Oh, you want to make a name for yourself?" He held his hand out and motioned for her to come. "Bring your bony little ass on down to the ring. I'll make you famous, you fucking troll doll."

The audience still wasn't on his side, but they cheered at that. They'd paid to see fights, after all.

THUNDERINSILENCE

Jackie liked few things better than being in control of a situation, and she had the crowd eating out of her hand, Army's belligerent attitude just adding fuel to the fire. She could see their reaction had wormed its way under his skin a little, and he sought to redress the balance by tempting her into the ring. As tempting as it was, she had an image to preserve, albeit an entirely artificial one, so she gave a shake of her head.

"Believe me, I'm more than happy to make a name for myself beating trash like you around the ring, but I'm not some mindless brawler that'll charge straight into the ring at the slightest provocation," she said, piling the falsehoods high as she continued to feed the crowd what they wanted, the fiction of a brave, strong woman willing to face off against brutish thugs, "This is the AFW, and there's a right way of doing things. You're in luck though, because I was doing a bit of homework earlier and I found this little gem."

With that, she raised her arm to point to the massive screen that dominated the wall above the entrance stage, which flickered and came up with the very familiar face of Melissa Sellers. The image wasn't live, but rather a recording taken from a few months back, and it played the following;

True to the stipulation of the Showdown PPV, I can proudly announce the winning gender in the battle between males and females to be, in fact, females . As they were successful in displaying their superiority in this event, all females on the Tension roster will be gifted with a golden ticket if you will. An opportunity to demand one non title match against a male competitor with any stipulations they choose fit.


The screen returned to its panorama of the ring, and Jackie gave a smile as she locked eyes with Army. "So, looks like I've got the right to call out any one guy in Tension to a non-title match of my choosing, and I get to set the conditions. Got any suggestions for who I could cash that in with Rodriquez?"

ACUYA

Oh, God, Jack was full of so much bullshit Army could have sworn it was leaking out of her ears. She was just so smug as she lied her face off, and these idiots just lapped it up, down to the very last drop. Army wasn't sure what pissed him off more - the crock of shit she was selling or the way they all bought it at full price.

All he knew was that he'd never, in his entire life, wanted to hit a woman more than he did at that moment. And he hated that he felt that way. And he really hated that he hated that he felt that way, because if there was ever a woman who deserved a punch, it was this bitch.

Army was about to just throw it all away and bring the fight right to her - ref, no ref, ring, no ring, he'd fight her anywhere he could. But life just couldn't be that simple, could it? He'd heard a little about the golden ticket nonsense, and he was more than willing to let Jack pull the trigger on it if it meant getting a match.

He placed his hands on his knees and leaned over, smiling at her through the ropes and mirroring her own look. Bitch that she was, he knew that look in her eyes. They were both hungry for it.

"Name the time and place, puta. I'll take you down anywhere you want, anyway you want, as many times as you like."

THUNDERINSILENCE

When she'd made her big reveal, Jackie hadn't been completely sure how Army would react. The prospect of having her setting the conditions might have made someone who was thinking more clearly pause, but it was clear that Army was just driven to get at her that he'd run headlong into whatever match she chose. He's heedless eagerness was something she could use to her advantage though.

"Well, since you're so keen to make this a brawl, lets see if this wets your whistle. You, me, tomorrow night, no-holds barred, falls count anywhere. And since this all started in a bar, how about the loser pays the winner's tab for a year?" The last condition sounded innocent enough, but to Jackie it would be just another way to constantly remind him of that night she'd utterly blindsided him. Besides, it'd be awesome to be able to drink without restraint and know someone else would be footing the bill, "Who knows, maybe if you're paying for someone else's drinks you'll be less inclined to get boozed up again and try something with another woman half your size," she added as an extra twist of the knife.

ACUYA

Army was down with this, nodding along with every little thing she added on to the match...until she came to the last part. An entire year of paying the drinks for a girl he absolutely loathed. That wasn't just an insult, that was torture. His sister would have his balls for cutting into their money like that, and he'd be living it down for the rest of his life.

If he lost. But he wasn't going to lose, was he? Jack was demon-fast, he'd learn that last time, but she was small, and that meant he only had to get one, maybe two good punches to put her down. He beaten badder and tougher and better. He could win this.

He straightened up after a flash of uncertainty, folding his arms and chuckling. "That supposed to scare me? Look at you, you're a buck nothing, tops. Probably can't even knock down five dollars worth of drinks before you start blowing chunks. Me, though? I can go for hours."

He spat to the side and stamped it out. "You're on." He held his hand out. "Come down here and shake on it?"

THUNDERINSILECE

Jackie rolled her eyes at the machismo rhetoric Army was spewing, far from impressed by all the bluster. Still, it was clear he stilled underestimated her, assuming that he'd gotten the full measure of her in that brief ambush at the bar. While Jackie would have loved to repeat her thirty-second demolition of his muscular frame with the addition of a live audience to witness it, she knew she was going to have to play the long game with him, although that in itself held appeal, prolonging his suffering out over an extended period. Either way, she already had several ideas in mind for how best to take down the big Hispanic male.

When Army called her out to the ring to seal the deal with a handshake, she didn't hesitate to start walking down the ramp towards him, looking entirely unafraid as she approached. Of course, she expected some kind of ambush from him, or at least retaliation of some description, but she felt confident that she could avoid it. Hell, it might even be better for her to take whatever swing he might make in order to well and truly cement the fan support behind her. Sometimes you had to take a little pain in order to benefit in the long-run after all.

As she reached the outside of the ring, she leapt up, reaching the apron without difficulty despite her short stature, and slipping between the ropes, striding confidently towards Army, head tilted back so she could keep her eyes locked with his own. This close up, the size difference appeared almost comical, but it was schmucks like this guy that Jackie most enjoyed taking apart, piece-by-piece. Without a word, she extended her arm, hand held out, almost daring him to take it.

ACUYA

Army hesitated for a moment, expecting Jackie to lash out with some sort of cheap shot. Maybe even hoping for it. All she had to do was screw up and take advantage of the situation, and everyone would see what her deal was. He'd get to deck her and be completely justified for it. No questions asked. Hoped she would. Prayed she would. It was like every fiber of his body was aching to go at Jackie, full force.

He took her hand and gave it a solid shake. Very solid. He didn't squeeze down hard enough to break her hand or even come close - if he could even do that - but it was enough pressure to give her some idea of what she was really dealing with. Just a show of force, and he kept his eye sharp to see if she'd try anything. He got the feeling she wouldn't, but it never hurt to look.

He leaned down and got her face, head to head, eye to eye, and spoke in a low whisper. Off the microphone, as close to a private talk as they'd get without ripping each other apart.

"You know I'm totally gonna wreck your shit, right?" A wild smile crossed his face.

THUNDERINSILENCE


As the bigger man reached out to take her hand, Jackie's body was tensed and ready to fire, knowing that she would be most vulnerable while he had a solid grasp of her. Her eyes locked with his, she sought out any hint that he was about to try something, as his large, rough fingers grasped around her palm, squeezing tightly. Jackie wasn't about to get caught up in trying to out-power the big guy's handshake, simply letting her hand remain limp, giving nothing away, no sign of how strong her grip could be in turn. What interested her more was the near-animalistic hostility in his eyes, the clear urge to simply tear into a prey-beast that Jackie was intimately familiar with. This fight wouldn't come down to who was bigger, or faster; it would be resolved by which of them was truly the better predator.

As Army leant down to make his softly-spoken threat, Jackie merely returned his smile with an equally feral grin, "Oh you'll try to. And that'll make the loss all the more painful for you boyo."

ACUYA

Despite the way they stood right now, Army did admire Jack. She was a fierce sort of woman, the kind that always drove him crazy. Army liked his women feisty, and simply beating his ass wasn't enough to tick him off. Ro Laren beat him, they got along well. Really well. Amazingly, sexually, sensually well. He wasn't some pig asshole who thought no woman could beat him. He knew they could. Some of them, anyway.

But that was the thing, though - Ro didn't just beat him, she beat him fair. In another universe, he and Jack could have gotten along, but in this one she was a cheating bitch. With that, Army could just not get.

"Keep talking. Just keep talking." He shoved the handshake off and walked past her, heading out of the ring and back up the ramp. He had some hard training to do.