Once And For All

Taylor took her time getting to the ring. While her music thundered and the crowd cheered, she stopped to visit with fans on either side of the entrance ramp. She slapped hands and laughed and chatted, in Japanese and in English, and made a full lap around the ring before finally leaping up to the apron and vaulting the top rope.

She wasn't dressed for a match. Her blonde hair was in pigtails, as usual, her eyes dramatic and dark, but she wasn't in her ring gear. She wore a pleated, flame-red skirt, with black fishnets and heavy, black, buckled, knee-high boots, and a tight black tank top with a pink crayon raised fist inside a heart on the front. One broad studded leather bracelet was strapped around her wrist, and a black choker necklace hugged her neck. Her square, slim, muscular shoulders and sleek, powerful thighs were a clear indication of what she was built for.

She wore a big, sharp grin as she settled into the middle of the ring and waited for the crowd to settle down. Only when it was quiet enough did she finally lift the microphone to her lips.

"HEY!" She crowed, and the crowd shouted back. She paced while she looked over the many rows of fans, and then stopped, and spread her feet apart.

"I wanted to come here tonight and tell you that your Friction champion is a fraud," she announced in a loud, confident voice. "I wanted to come here and tell you that Angel is a joke, and she can't fight and doesn't deserve that belt she lugs around. I wanted to come out here and make sure you all knew exactly how big of a hypocrite, a cheating so-and-so, and a conceited dickhole she is. But... I can't."

She paused while she let the crowd catch up.

"I can't say that. Because the truth is... I had my shot at her, and she beat me. She's no joke, and she absolutely deserves that belt. Conceited, yeah... Hypocrite, maybe. But she also might be the greatest champion that Friction has ever had."

As much as it clearly pained her to say it...

"Angel might have beaten a nobody for the belt, but she defended it more times than Akashi, and against tougher competition. Akashi Tanikaze is, and, other than a few little hiccups, will always be the living spirit of AFW and of Friction and Japanese pro wrestling, and she is my sister and I love her with all my heart. But... I have to give credit where it's due. Angel has carried the belt farther than her.

"Angel gave me one of the hardest matches of my life, and I came up short. She beat me fair and square. She did things to me no one else has been able to. She's still got that belt, and for good reason, but there's a problem..."

She paused again. She spread her arms out to the sides and looked out over the crowd, and then brought one hand to her chest and the mic back to her lips.

"I'm better."

The crowd needed a moment to make sense of it, and Taylor gave it to them.

"Angel," she said, addressing the champ directly. "The first time you lost a title match, it was hilarious. Kinda. The second time, the third time, who would ever have thought that you'd be here today?

"Now, I'm not asking for four chances, Angel, because I'm twice the wrestler you'll ever be. I'm only asking for two, and I promise that's all I'll need. One more time, Angel, I know you want to get rid of me. I know everyone else wants to see it. I'll tell you what, give me one more shot, and if I lose I'll leave you alone forever. I'll even admit, in front of everyone, that you're the better wrestler. I won't get in your way." She lifted a hand and wagged her finger with a sly grin. "But if I win... I want the belt, and I want you to admit I'm the best. That's all."

She skipped in a wide circle around the ring, and then stopped and pointed with her free hand to the ceiling. "C'mon, chicaaaa! Come on, mamasita! Whatya say? That's an easy question, dude. I'll give you a hint. The answer is yes!"

When she first started listening to Taylor's speech, Angel really didn't want to go out to the ring to address her. She just wanted to tune her out and forget about her. She had dealt with enough stress thanks to her already. But dammit, she was being civil for once. Respectful, even. As much as she hated it, she knew that ignoring her wouldn't be the right thing to do.

Not to mention, after her recent talk with Akashi, she honestly didn't want to upset the sumo any more, and she knew it wouldn't make life any easier for her if she just ignored her sister like this. She would play nice with Taylor, for now. For tonight, anyway.

It took a few minutes, but eventually, the sound of Angel's all-too familiar theme would herald her arrival, the champion stepping out onto the entrance stage, taking a moment to look down the ramp towards the ring, staring into the ring at Taylor. In one hand, she clutched a microphone, and over her opposite shoulder hung the Friction title belt. Her belt. The symbol of everything she had worked for, everything she had strove to attain. The sign that she was the best, the number one in the entire company.

She wasn't sure what to say at first. She looked at Taylor for a moment longer, then closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Then, she opened them again, letting her words flow out.

"Akashi kicked my ass at the first Summer Splash," she began. She beat me down, and made me scream, and made me submit like the little rookie bitch that I was. And you know what? I'm glad for it. I shouldn't have even been in that match. I was an absolute nobody back then. I was a nobody from the middle of nowhere with barely any matches under her belt, up against the greatest champion this company has ever had, someone from a family with a history of being complete badasses." She still wasn't sure what to think of Taylor's praise. It was a weird thing to hear from her, all things considered. Kind of unsettling, honestly. "She beat me, and she deserved to beat me. But you know what? It didn't stop me. It didn't slow me down.

"The next year? On that very same beach? Sarah Gatt kicked my ass. More then that, she humiliated. I had my ass handed to me by the worst champion this company has ever had. That didn't feel good. That didn't feel good at all. But, guess what? It didn't stop me."

She started to walk down the ramp, looking straight at Taylor's face, looking deep into her eyes. "Then I fought Heather. I'm not even going to dwell on that mess of a match. That was the lowest damn part of my career, chica. I was almost, almost ready to walk out of here and call it quits. But I didn't. I stuck around. I kept pushing myself, harder and harder and harder."

When she finally reached the ring, she paused, sliding under the ropes and climbing up to her feet. She kept her distance from Taylor, and continued on, saying what she had to say.

"When I finally, finally got this belt, chica, I thought I was going to die." She reached up, lifting it off of her shoulder, holding it in front of her with one hand, lowering her gaze to stare down at it. "You have no idea, no idea what winning this belt meant to me. You have no idea what I went through to get it. The countless losses. All of the nay-sayers saying I couldn't do it, that I was just a joke that was getting title shots to make the champions look better." She went quiet for a moment, a dark sneer growing across her face. "Idiots like that bitch from R&D saying that I was a 'token Latina' they threw into the rankings just to look good." She shook her head and looked back up at Taylor. "So when I finally won this belt? When I finally claimed the title and proved to everyone that I was the best? That they were all wrong about me? You can't imagine how that felt. You cannot imagine what that felt like to me.

"And you can't imagine what it felt like when you came out here and began to badmouth me. When you tried to say I didn't deserve the title. When you said I didn't know what it's like to leave every single thing I've got in the ring. You have no idea how pissed I was. You have no idea how pissed I still am, knowing that you've still been running your mouth backstage about me."

Angel stopped, taking a deep breath, and slowly began to lift her belt into the air, holding the title aloft as she continued her speech. "This title represents everything I've worked for in this company. All of the hardships I've been through. Every single loss I've had and every single victory I've had against people like you who have underestimated me. You say you're better? You're not, chica. You're close, I'll give you that. You're damn close. I know how dangerous you are in the ring. I've always known that. But you're not close enough. You're not ready to fight me again.

She felt herself trembling, just a little. "But...I want this to be over. I don't like having loose ends behind me, and right now you're the biggest loose end I've got. You want another match with me? Then fine. You've got it. I've kicked your ass twice before, and I'm more then willing to make it a hat trick.

"We'll fight again, chica. We'll fight one more time, and I'll show you one more time why I'm the champion."

Taylor made an "eek" face at the crowd when Angel appeared. She could hardly stand still while she waited in the ring for Angel to come down. She danced in place and wiggled her hips and tugged on her pigtails. She wore an unrestrained smile, and nearly hummed the tune in her head.

Still, she waited until Angel was finished. Without breaking eye contact, she lifted her microphone.

"Thanks for the history lesson, esa!" She said cheerfully. "I've heard it before, but thanks. More than once, actually. AFW Friction champ, sure, but AFW personality champ... no."

Taylor began to prance in a circle around Angel, reaching out with one hand to trail her finger down the latina's shoulder. "I hate to burst your bubble," she said. "But I haven't said anything backstage. I know you want the attention and all, but I'm only interested in you for one thing, and it's not your winning personality, or your great big latin ass... It's that great big piece of leather on your shoulder."

Of course, she'd said plenty to Akashi, but she sure as hell wasn't bringing her into this.

"Let me give you some advice, chica. Don't worry so much about what people say. Definitely don't worry about what I say. If I were you, I'd be scared to death worrying about what Taylor was going to do. I'd sweating bullets thinking about how hard and how fast Taylor's gonna hit me. I'd be really worried that she had me figured out after that last match. But... I'm me, and you're you. So I've got nothing to worry about."

Taylor completed her circle and stood in front of Angel. She forward bent at the hips and booped Angel's nose with her finger before leaping back into a playful fighting stance.

"Just tell me where and when, dude, and I'll give you an epic beating you'll never forget. I might even beat my record. What was it? Thirty-four seconds?"

Her grin was so coy and self-assured, it was like a slap across Angel's face.

Angel stayed calm, as Taylor began to dance around her. In fact, she put on her own usual cocky smirk, letting out a bored yawn as she listened to Taylor running her mouth again.

"Scared of you...?" she asked, putting a curious tone into her voice. "Scared of...what, exactly? That when I knock you out this time, you might fall onto me and cover me in your drool? Or maybe I should be scared that this time, I'm going to kick you so hard that I break a leg?"

She briefly scowled as Taylor booped her nose, but quickly put her smirk back on. "You can talk as big as you want, chica, but you keep forgetting something. I've beaten you twice already, and knocked you out a third time." She lifted her arms, putting her hands on her hips, thrusting her hips out to the side and giving Taylor a big, mocking grin of her own. "I'm pretty sure I'm the one who has nothing to worry about.

When Taylor told her to pick the time, she knew exactly how to answer. Whether it was leading her team to victory in the Temple Games to earn her title shot, or fighting Heather Sunderland to a standstill, or defeating Adrian to fully secure her place as champion, it seemed that her title always brought her back to one place in particular.

"You. Me. Avalanche." She kept her words short, and simple. She figured Taylor would run her mouth enough for the both of them.

Taylor stepped up to Angel and stood toe-to-toe, and eye-to-eye. She couldn't deny that she felt a thrill shoot through her body at the notion of fighting for the title at the biggest AFW event of the year.

"A'right," she said, looking her straight in the eye with a smirk. "But maybe wait for the match to start before you start trying to kick me in the head. Cheap shots from behind are just a liiiiiiiiittle dirty, don'tcha think? Little miss I worked so hard for everything, blah blah blah."

She took a small step closer, so that her nose was almost Angel's. "Maybe you wanna take another shot right now? I'll give it to ya, go ahead. So everyone can see how tough you are, beating up someone who isn't fighting back. Like me. Or Nikolette."

Her eyes hardened. The fun was over. Her voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "You're mine, little girl. I'm gonna break your legs. I'm gonna make you wish you never even laid a finger on that belt. And afterward, tell ya what, I'll even help you up." Her indigo eyes blazed fiercely, her jaw and her fists clenched tightly. "Worry about that."

There it was. No more games. No more silly insults.

Angel stood her ground, staring right back into Taylor's eyes, her smirk finally dropping from her face to give Taylor a cold, hard glare. She could feeling her heart pounding faster, beating against her chest harder and harder. Part of her wished that she could go after Taylor right now. Just unload on her and let it all come out. But she wouldn't. She was better then that.

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" she snarled back at Taylor, dropping her microphone to the mat, letting her hands curl into a pair of tight fists at her side. "You'd just love for me to prove you right, wouldn't you? And you know what? I would love to. I would love to jump onto you right now and beat some goddamn respect into you."

Her entire body had grown tense, ready for action. "But I'm not. I won't. It'll be more satisfying to wait. I can wait a few more weeks, if it means getting to kick your sorry ass in front of the biggest damn crowd imaginable." She glanced down and to the side, to her belt hanging over her shoulder, then looking back at Taylor, and let out a single, soft chuckle. "After all, I'm a damn patient woman. I know how to wait for what I want.

"So, go ahead and make your little threats," she continued, her voice growing harder again. "Say you're going to break my legs. Say you're going to make me regret getting the belt. Say whatever you want, because here's a promise from me. I'm going to end you. I'm going to make you wish you had never came back. By the time I'm done tearing your worthless ass apart, by the time I'm done making you scream for me to stop, you're going to wish you had never came back out of retirement. "

Taylor's microphone bounced off the mat as well.

She leaned her forehead against Angel's. "You already proved me right, bitch. Start practicing your speech."

She stared Angel down for several tense moments, the crowd waiting in suspense to see if the two would come to blows, but then she took a step away and turned her back on the champ. She swung her hips to the side, cocking her butt at Angel, and raised her fist in the air, just like the drawing on her tank top.

The crowd cheered, and Taylor looked back over her shoulder at Angel with a haughty sneer. She gave the girl a wink, and skipped off to the ropes to make her exit. She figured she would let the champ get soak up the crowd. She had to go train, anyway.

Angel pushed forward, when Taylor's forehead met her own, the Latina feeling her breath quickening. If Lukretia had walked out at that moment and said the match had to happen right now, she wouldn't even bat an eye. She was ready. She might have been a patient woman, but she certainly wasn't going to turn a fight down if it broke out now.

She almost, almost felt disappointed, when Taylor finally backed down, turning away from her and thrusting her butt in her direction. Her breath slowed a little, and she took a step back, flashing Taylor a sneer in return as the blonde looked over her shoulder at her. She waited patiently, watching as Taylor slipped out of the ring and headed out of sight, listening to the sounds of the crowd as she left.

Then, finally, she went to slide out of the ring herself, going to make her own exit. She had her own work to take care of, and only a few short weeks to prepare for what might be the biggest match of her career.