Against All Odds

It had been a little while since the Tension crowd heard this music playing over the speakers. Mako felt they were long overdue.

Ministry's music filled the arena, followed by the sounds of roaring engines as the Valkyrie's made their entrance. They came bursting out from the back on their motorcycles, leaving smoke and coughs in their wake as they took a slow ride down the ramp. Mako led the pack, decked out in her usual biker gear, her skull helmet shined up for the occasion. Stone was in blue jumpsuit, and Divine looked slick in her leather pants and red bikini top They were meeting a world champion today, after all. Had to look good for the man.

The Valkyrie's did a quick circle around the ring, soaking in the chorus of boos and curses as they came to a final rest right in front h of the ramp. Yes, it was showy. Yes, it made the arena smell like a highway. Yes, it bathed the paying customers in noxious fumes. That was the whole point.

Mako took off her helmet and smiled, earning a fresh wave of hate from the audience. She liked it. Loved it, even. Which probably meant that something was going to ruin it, soon.

"Mako." And there it was. Stone's worried voice as she took off her helmet and popped the kickstand. Just in time to kill Mako's buzz. "I hate to keep harping on this, but are you sure this is  a good play? Sure you thought it through?"

"I'm sure you're gonna give me a headache if you ask that question again." She looked over her shoulder, just so Stone could see her eyes roll. "You're overthinking this. It's a simple plan, nothing's going to go wrong."

Stone just shook her head. "You're thinking short term. You need to think beyond this, what's going to happen after. You're escalating things, here." She looked to Divine with a quick glare, like she expected her for some backup. Somedays, Mako honestly thought Stone forgot who she was talking to.

"Don't look at me." She held her hands up. "I'm just glad we're doing something after the Amanda thing went wrong. At least this'll end with everyone getting to have some fun, not just our glorious leader." As usual, Divine put way too much sarcasm in there for Mako's liking.

"You're just mad because I got good pussy." Awesome pussy. Amazing pussy. The best damn pussy of her life. Seriously, no matter what happened with all this stuff, Mako had to make it back to Amanda's bed at some point. It had only been a few days, and she felt like she was in withdrawal. "Come on, let's get it done. Sooner we get this out of the way, the sooner we can have some real fun."

She tossed her helmet into the ring and grabbed a microphone from the announcer table while Stone and Divine slid into the ring. Mako joined them a few moments later, taking her place in the center while they held up the sides.

"Hey yo." She gave a long wave to the audience and propped her foot up on her own helmet. "Did you bitches miss me?" She held out both of her arms and soaked in another wave of jeering, so loud it almost seemed to rumble the ring.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Still hate me. At least...you say you do." She chewed her lip for a moment, appearing to be lost in some deep thought. "But you don't, really, do you? I mean, sure, you heap the hate my way, but at the end of the day, you watch my matches. You sit there, and you look, and even when I'm doing shit you hate, you're still paying attention. You're involved. And it's not just me, and it's not even just Tension. AFW as a whole makes money like gangbangers, and what are the highest rated matches?" She ticked them off with her fingers. "Matches were people get destroyed. Or raped. Or both. Matches with guys like King. Matches with girls like us. At the battle royal, the match with Clyde and the Roses got almost as many views as the royal itself. Why? You knew what would happen. You knew Clyde would lose. But you people watched him get ripped apart. Because, admit it or not, you enjoy the spectacle. You like the blood. You look down on people like me, like Stone here, like Divine." She gave her girls two pats on their back. "But, end of the day, you're just as bad. Maybe even worse." Most of those statistics were made up. Didn't matter. They were pissed, and it was probably close enough to truth that no one even thought about looking it up to be sure.

She stepped away and walked towards the ropes, looking out to the entrance as she took a leisurely stroll around the ring. "But that's all right. That's okay.  You people want the bloodsport, that's what you get. I'll gladly give it to you, even worse than Clyde got it. I'll give you something to remember." Mako hopped up on the bottom and leaned towards the curtains with eager eyes. "John. I know you're here, tonight. I know you can hear me. Come on out. I've got a little surprise for you."

She said that last bit with a singsong voice, sounding every bit like the cute schoolgirl she could have been.

There was a delay. It’s not like the Tension Champ, or anyone really, just sat around anticipating being called out. But, within a few minutes, John’s theme began to play.

Soon, John appeared. The title belt was draped over his shoulder, resting against his bare arms and chest. He had his dark green trousers on, with his black boots. In one hand, he held a microphone. With a determined, hard look on his face, he came out about a meter, then stopped.

When his music died down, John slowly raised the microphone to his lips.

Everyone knew what this would be. Everyone knew, the big muscular wrestler would come out…talk tough…make threats…insult his enemies…threaten revenge.

But, John had a strange propensity for doing the unexpected in these situations. The microphone slowly came to his face, and he started, in a calm and measured voice, to speak.

“Long ago, a storm was heading for an ancient city. Everyone took protection within the walls, except for one man who remained outside despite the Oncoming Storm. A legionnaire went to him and asked what he was doing. ‘I am not afraid,’ he said. ‘I will not hide my face behind stone and mortar. I will stand before the wind and make it respect me.’ Not wanting a fight, the legionnaire shrugged and went back inside.” John let his voice skip a beat, adding a very slight pause. “The next day, the storm came…and the man was killed.”

He paused for a second longer, then spoke again.

“The wind does not respect a fool. Do not stand before the wind.”

If Ro were here, she’d have face palmed at the cliché story. Amanda would have loved it, though. John had that deep, bass voice. It made the story sound very wise and bad ass, at least Amanda would have thought so.

In any event, the meaning was clear. They had called out the Oncoming Storm, and now they were standing in front of it foolishly.

John put his mike down and stayed at the top of the entrance ramp, waiting for their response.

Mako listened. And listened. And listened.

She exchanged glances with Divine while John told his story, and she looked every bit as confused. Stone just had this soft look on her face, and if Mako hadn't been 100% sure that she was a straight lesbian, she would have thought there was some sort of soldier-love thing going on between the two of them. It was one of the weirdest minutes of Mako's entire life and when it was finally over, she just stood there with her head cocked to the side for a few moments.

She opened her mouth. Brought the microphone up. Prepared to speak. "What-" She brought it down again and scratched her head. "Okay, I'll bite. What the fuck was the point of that story? What...you're the storm, is that what you're saying? Very high opinion of yourself."

It was pretty clear that at least ONE of them understood the story. The symbolism was pretty clear, at least John thought so. Stone seamed to get it right away.

Maybe Stone just realized that, as the famous quote from Admiral Yamamoto goes (though John was aware that he probably never said this), the Valkyries had done nothing but awaken a great sleeping giant and fill it with a terrible resolve.

John raised an eyebrow when Mako spoke. He didn’t respond. The crowed began to murmur, as this was hardly what they expected. Then John raised the microphone again. “These guys don’t want to see you smash anyone. They want to see the oncoming storm smash you. Let me put this simple enough for you to understand. Go inside before I smash you.”

At that, the crowed finally began to cheer and holler for their champion. Now things were getting interesting.

Now, this was more like it. Chest-thumping. A little bravado. Getting the crowd pumped up. Good. Perfect, even. Put him on a nice, solid pedestal, just begging to be kicked down.

Mako nodded and stepped back, trying her best not to look too cocky. Probably not doing the best job of it, though. "The 'oncoming storm'. Cute. You talk like you've just been this unbeatable force since you got that belt, but that's not quite the case, is it? You pretty much lucked into the belt because Kent Quick was a total dumbass, and even though you had a good defense against Makie, you've not got the pushing you really deserve."[/color] She held her arms out and stepped back as the cheers died down and the jeers rose up. 

"What these people want is to see you take on a challenge. A real fight. And you know what, John?" She gave him a little wink and tapped the microphone along her chin. "You're going to give it to them, Mr. Oncoming Storm. You're taking us all on. Same time, same ring. Cage match. Prisoner of War."

She looked out the corner of her eye to see Divine smiling wide at the last part. Taking John home for a little fun was her idea, after all, and she was probably imagining all the things she could do to him before the sun rose.

John was shaking his head slightly when Mako spoke, until she issued the challenge. He stopped, then raised both eyebrows. John didn’t quite know how to respond to that. His pride told him not to back down, but his brain said that was stupid. But…after showdown…that new rule.

He couldn’t refuse the challenge. There was no way to. He HAD to participate.

He thought about this for a second. A dry chuckle escaped his lips. He looked down for a second, shaking his head.

Then eh looked back up and brought the microphone to his lips. “Nuts.”. He said the word suddenly, sharply, like one might say ‘fuck off.’ It was an obscure reference, and he made it more for Stone than for anyone. Seventy years ago, one freezing and battered US Army paratrooper division, trapped in the town of Bastogne, surrounded by Nazi tanks, was asked to surrender. Their commander sent back one reply: “nuts!” Those American soldiers then held out for days longer than anyone could have asked, winning until the rest of the army poured in and rescued them.

Stone would probably know the ‘nuts’ story.

John was grinning now. For the benefit of the audience, and everyone else, he said more than one word. “You want a war, you’ve got one. If you need three of you to beat one of me, then that’s how we’ll play this out. I’m ready when you are.”

"Don't need to, John." Mako craned her neck back and looked straight up, as the faint sound of whirring machinery started to rise above the audience's din. "Want to."

The cage came down, descending on the ring, slowly dropping and giving John plenty of chance to close in before it enclosed the ring. Soon, it would be just the four of them. No rules. No interference. No refereee. Just the three Valkyries having a good time, while the loving AFW fanbase watched their idol get demolished., She was done with teasing this guy and playing games. The World Champion was going to be ripped to shreds, and she would have the honor.

She was still curious about something, though. "'Nuts.' He said 'nuts'." She looked back to Stone, who was getting her serious face on. Ready for combat, like usual. "That an American thing?"

Stone shook her head and started to undo her jacket. Just like they'd planned, she was leading the charge.  "Military. I'll explain it later."