Honor and Honour

Styx was doing well, right up until the point where Odessa mentioned Cecilia Northman. Or 'Ceci'. Ugh.

She visibly cringed, and unlike before she didn't even bother trying to cover it. Northman. That woman. Everything wrong with the hardcore division rolled up into one, snotty little rich bitch. Everytime she saw that blonde doofus on a poster, every time she heard one of her braindead sheep cheering her name, it was a reminder of just what she was fighting for and the sort of people she wanted to keep the title from at all costs.

Also, the cunt sat on Styx's face in her first match. One day, she was going to get payback for that.

"No, you're not, and that's the whole fucking problem." She took one final drag and crushed the cigarette in her fist, feeling a bit of the heat through her gloves. It helped. "It's hardcore, it's not supposed to be glamourous. It's not just about hitting people upside the head with chairs and kendo sticks, it's about..."

Styx groaned and stood up off of the table, taking a step towards Odessa. Just to see if she'd flinch. "Before we started, you weren't down with using weapons. But you used one, anyway. Why?"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with being both a dangerous fighter and the sort of woman who cares about her appearance," Odessa would reply. She would put one of her hands on a hip, keeping up a strong posture as she and Styx spoke. "To each her own, of course. But if fighters like Isabella and I are able to hold our own perfectly well against the likes of you and Kaede—and if a woman like Cecilia was able to hold onto the title for, well, years—then I see no reason that the hardcore division can't be glamorous and beautiful."

Odessa didn't flinch when Styx stepped towards her, but she would keep her eyes locked onto the more mannish woman, keeping her guard up, since she seemed to be getting more and more aggressive as the conversation continued. Styx asked her about the weapons thing. Odessa pressed her lips together and thought for a second.

"I don't like using weapons. They're overly brutal and their use detracts from the fairness of the sport. When it's just body against body, it's a game of muscle, and even, sometimes, of intelligence. I feel like the caveman mentality of lugging around weapons to hit each other with cheapens it. Whoever picks out the heaviest stick and is able to bash her opponent when she least expects it can win, even if she doesn't deserve it," Odessa would explain. "However...I did not intend to let our team lose through my own stubbornness. If I have to use a weapon, I will. I don't like it, but I think that, if I hadn't, we might be having a very different conversation right now. I can't really explain exactly why I chose to pick it up just then."

"Because you wanted to win."

Odessa was a strong woman, Styx couldn't deny that. But she saw more there. She was someone who was already dangerous, but could be lethal if she just let go of a few silly notions. There was something wild and chaotic underneath that sizzling, dark skin, and she was sure it could be coaxed out. All it needed was a hard enough push.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing." She took another step, getting close enough for Styx to smell the rich scent of sweat emanating from Odessa's body, mixed with a hint of blood. She shivered and let out a raspy breath. "Fairness, honor, respect - these are words. Just words people say to themselves to feel better after they lose. 'Oh, I got my ass kicked, but I didn't cheat'. No one cares about an honest loser. All that matters is the result, and that's what a hardcore match is. Nothing held back, nothing restrained. You do whatever it takes to win and you get in there and your break your opponent down and it feels good. So good."

She leaned forward, moving deeper into Styx's personal space. Her eyes were focused, honed and straight, but a wild smile started to edge its way along her lips. "You had Kaede down.  You broke her. You demolished her. What was it like?"

"I can't agree with you on that. When it comes to fairness, and honor, and respect, those are all things that are very important to me. You probably realize that I do not lose often, my dear River. I have never once thought of betraying my ideals. I am not the sort of woman to do anything illegal. I will always play within the agreed-upon bounds of the game," Odessa would explain. Had it been a standard match, she would have never attacked Kaede the way she did. The rules were different in a hardcore match, though Odessa still didn't have the easiest time accepting just how brutal she had to get with her opponents. She certainly wasn't going to forego any semblance of human decency, as Styx seemed to be advocating.

When the brutish woman leaned in close to her, Odessa would smirk. "It felt exhilarating. Winning a match is always exhilarating, especially when it is decisive." She would pause, then place a finger on Styx's forehead and push against it. "But had she been permanently injured, that would not have been, in my eyes, a good thing. If she were of a mind to make my acquaintance, I would gladly, graciously accept. I am more than happy to beat a woman silly in the ring, but what you're advocating would inevitably bring every interpersonal relationship in my life spiraling down in flames."

She shook her head. "No, I can be gracious and brutal at once. And I shall be just that."

Styx moved her head back as Odessa pushed against her forehead with her immaculate finger. Typically, she wouldn't have suffered someone touching her like that, pushing her, trying to control how she moved or where she stood, but at the moment she was too bewildered to care. She stared at Odessa like she was from another planet...or maybe she was, herself. Odessa was saying the words, she was speaking in plain English, but Styx just couldn't quite make sense of them.

"You..." She leaned back with her lip shut tight for a moment, considering her next words carefully. "You don't get it. A fight with rules isn't a fight. It's sure as hell not a hardcore fight." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. [color=#000000]"Yeah, you're good. Obviously. In a normal match, in a ring, you'd probably beat me, four times out of five. But that's not what a hardcore match is. It's not about making friends or establishing relationships. It's not about Pokemon Casket matches and softcore porn. It's about violence. Sheer, pure, unadulterated violence."

She reached up and grabbed Odessa's by the wrist of her poking hand, squeezing tight. Not hard enough to cause real pain, but approaching it. "When I get the hardcore title, I'm going to bathe it in blood. I'm going to turn the hardcore division into something this company's never seen before. Anyone who gets in my way, gets broke. Period."

“I can’t agree with you. Every fight has rules; if they aren’t official rules laid out by the sponsoring company or federation, than they are simple, fundamental rules of combat sports that are ingrained into each and every athlete in the world,” Odessa would reply coolly. “Even someone such as you wouldn’t try to kill your opponent. That is what separates us from the animals. Hardcore fighting—even wrestling in general—is a bloodsport, but we are still human beings. No matter how hard you fight, there is, at the very least, that one rule you will always follow. We do not kill because it would cause society to break down. Killing in such a meaningless context has no purpose, no value. I take my beliefs a step further. Allowing yourself to feel hatred for those who have never done you wrong is pointless. We’re all here for the same thing. We have bonds that tie us together as wrestlers and as fighters, and I feel that rules, manmade or natural, must always be in place to remind us of them.”

Odessa wasn’t too surprised when Styx grabbed her hand. She had expected the barbaric woman to get violent at some point. Odessa was ready, though she wasn’t quite sure she could best Styx right here and right now. “I fully expect you to make good on those promises, or, at least, you’ll try. And the hardcore division is a bloody business. I prefer to spill as little of it as possible, myself…but, to each her own.” She smiled.

That was it. That was all Styx could take.

Odessa's speech was the same pollyana, saccharine crap that Styx was used to hearing from mouths that were far less kissable. This was the problem with the AFW, this was the reason the hardcore division had become a laughing stock. It was a shallow, shriveled shell of its true potential, and it was of women like this, who had the potential to be so much greater, but settled for the watered down product Lukretia was feeding them. Words couldn't show Odessa what she needed to see. She required action.

For a moment, she calmed down. Kept her grip on Odessa's arm, but put less pressure into it. Relaxed, as if her mind had reached the calm center of the storm raging through it. "We are animals."

Styx abruptly hardened back up and ended the discussion by jerking forward, ramming her forehead right into Odessa's million dollar smile. The bell would ring whenever, but as far as she was concerned, the match for the hardcore contendership started now.

Odessa waited. Styx seemed to really be chewing on something in her mind. She remained still, and actually seemed to calm down. Odessa wouldn't relax, though, before her erstwhile ally began to speak again. She spoke one simple phrase, and then, just like that, the kill switch was flipped on.

Odessa tried to move her free hand up to protect her face as Styx threw her head forward, but it was too late. The brute's thick skull slammed into the beautiful features of the glamorous, goddess-like ebony woman, knocking Odessa's head back, and forcing her back a step. She blinked once, twice, trying to clear her vision.

She would retaliate. She wasn't about to let Styx walk all over her. Odessa would ball her free hand into a fist and then launch a hard uppercut right for Styx's chin, hoping to knock the woman back so that she might have some room to breathe.

Styx wasn't naive enough to think that Odessa wouldn't fight back. If anything, she was looking forward to it. She welcomed the aggression. No more false smiles or genial pleasantries, they could finally get to the real meat of the situation and just blugeon each other until one of them couldn't move anymore. And, perhaps, a bit more beyond that.

But she didn't expect her to hit with quite that much force, and to make matters worse, she wound up taking it right on the chin as she moved in for the followup. Her teeth gnashed together and crushed her tongue between them, slicing into the meat and giving her the taste of blood as she fell back.

It was a small room, which meant there were plenty of annoying things to trip over for a big girl like Styx. Like the chair behind her, which she awkwardly tripped over while she stumbled, making her fall flat on her back with a less-dignified-than-usual grunt. She shot her foot out and kicked the chair at Odessa, more out of annoyance than any real attack, then tried to scramble back up to her feet before she could get caught in a bad position.

Odessa managed to catch Styx just as the brute was moving in for a follow-up attack. The ebony beauty’s fist slammed into her opponent’s chin, snapping Styx’s head upwards for a second, knocking her back and giving Odessa room to breathe. Room to think and strategize. That, she felt, was one major advantage she had over the impulsive, overly violent River Styx.

Styx did not watch where she stumbled, because the very first thing she did was smack right into a chair. Her legs became entangled, and she lost her balance. With quite the undignified fall, Styx was suddenly flat on her back, just a few feet in front of a now particularly advantaged Odessa.

Styx was not going to stay still for long. She kicked the chair hard, and Odessa would have to step to the side quickly to avoid it. As she did, her foe began to get onto her feet. “Oh, no, you don’t,” Odessa would say, rushing forward, trying to throw her body into Styx’s, using her gorgeous, yet strong figure to try to slam the other woman back into the wall, sandwiching her between Odessa and the plaster, with Odessa aiming an additional punch to Styx’s cheek for good measure.